In Forney's Field   
The 11th Pennsylvania Monument and Iverson's Brigade

"In Forney's Field" 
The 11th Pennsylvania Monument and Iverson's Brigade
Image Size 15" x 22"
Release Date: July 2002
Edition size 400: 40 A/P: 20 P/P 
Price: $100.00

                                                               “IN FORNEY’S FIELD  ”The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument
                                                           
                                                                                         There is no marker in Forney’s field
                                                                                         Of bronze or granite that heals the earth
                                                                                         Where men in gray fell down to rest
                                                                                          Like rows of wheat before the leaded scythe.
 
                                                                                          Walk now silently across that ground
                                                                                          And feel the echo of their march
                                                                                          Gently pervade your quiet soul
                                                                                          Then stop and stand and listen still
                                                                                           As you become their monument.
                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                          Paul R. Martin III
                       
                        “The skirmishers had been a short time engaged, and about 1 PM the firing became general along
             the entire line.  The enemy after several attempts, finding it impossible to force our position, commenced
             moving his troops toward the left, under a galling and effective fire from our line.  While this was being
            done, a sally was made by part of the brigade... my own regiment engaged in it, which resulted in the
             capture of about 500 of the enemy.”
                                                                                                                                           Col. Richard Coulter
                                                                                                                                           11th Pennsylvania Infantry
 
             “In Forney’s Field” on July 1, 1863,  Iverson’s Brigade of North Carolinians marched unsuspectingly into a devastating volley of musketry fired from behind a stone wall by Baxter’s Brigade.  I find it moving to walk across that field and to follow their footsteps to the front of the 11th Pennsylvania Monument and the brigade’s position.  A poignant sense of  loss is felt there, where hundreds of confederate soldiers, killed instantly, fell in the rows of their line of march.
 
                        “There were within a few feet of us, by actual count, 79 North Carolinians laying dead in a straight
             line.... It was perfectly dressed.  Three had fallen to the front, the rest had fallen backward; yet the feet of all
             these dead were in a perfectly straight line....They had all evidently been killed by one volley of musketry and
             they had fallen in their tracks without a single struggle.”     
                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                             Pvt. Henry Robinson Berkley
                                                                                                                                             Confederate Artilleryman
           
            The 11th Pennsylvania Monument was sculpted by E. A. Kretschman and dedicated on September 3, 1890. The monument features a soldier preparing to fire.  On the front of  the base is a small bronze sculpture of Sallie, the regiments pet dog and mascot who was killed at the Battle of Hatchers’ Run, Virginia on February 6, 1865.
            No monument stands to the men of Iverson’s Brigade.  “In Forney’s Field” is my simple attempt to rectify that.  Touched by their story and the actions of both armies on July 1, 1863, I was inspired to compose an image of serene tranquillity, ironically juxtaposed to the stark brutality and intensity of the fighting that occurred there.  I also felt moved to place the subtle apparitions of Iverson’s North Carolinians angling across that now peaceful field.  Standing watch in silent repose are Sallie and an infantryman of the 11th Pennsylvania.  Locked together in history forever, the two images appearing in this drawing, stand as testimony to the honor and bravery exemplified “In Forney’s Field” 134 years ago.  Each man left an empty chair at the table of his family.  All of their sacrifices are indicative of the great loss of loved ones suffered by American families during the Civil War. This image is dedicated to the memory of Iverson’s Brigade and the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment.
                                                                                               
                                                                                                Paul R. Martin III, October, 1997