Death in the Cornfield
Here in the northeast part of the Reid cornfield, the left-most regiments of Union General Isaac Stevens’ division began to waver as volleys of Confederate musket fire tore through their ranks. The fire came from behind fences bordering the surrounding woods where the brigades of Major General Lawrence Branch (NC), Colonel John Brockenbrough, commanding Field’s brigade (VA), and Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg (SC) of A.P. Hill’s division formed their lines.
When Stevens’ attack was finally repulsed during the thunderstorm, Brockenbrough and Gregg withdrew a short distance and Thomas’ brigade of Georgia troops and part of Pender’s North Carolina brigade moved forward to occupy this line across the cornfield (in the vicinity of today’s Monument Drive).
As the rain continued, the battle then shifted to the southwest part of the cornfield and the woods beyond. There, Union Gen. David Birney’s brigade of Kearny’s division attacked the Confederate right and tried to move around Branch’s flank. While the fighting raged there, the action here was quiet.
Then, toward the end of the battle, in the rain and darkness, the 21st Massachusetts advanced from the open field southeast of here and encountered Thomas’ skirmishers in the trampled corn. General Kearny was shot in this cornfield and died instantly.
The dead officer was the one-armed general Philip Kearny. Many soldiers claimed to have shot him. The earliest known account, published in 1864, says that Kearny “was killed by Sgt. John McCrimmon of Company B, [49th Georgia]…who succeeded in capturing his horse and accoutrements.”