Fleeting Fall

 Fall, or Autumn is a time of year when, along with the temperatures, annoying bothersome bug populations tend to decline, along with other seasonal events.  The change to the landscape is most marked by the changing color of deciduous trees and shrubs.  The colors provide a painters palate marked against a baby blue sky, that would make the iconic Bob Ross happy, or at least his trees.  On second thought, given how many cloudy days have been around, the tree back drop should be a grey.  For some reason, I felt that fall was fleeting this year. 

Autumn Purple Ash at Full Color

If it was not the relatively cold temperatures, it was the heavy wind, which removed the leaves more quickly than what one could expect.  I recall looking at the Autumn Purple Ash tree in my front yard and marveling at its golds, yellows on the bottom side of the leaf, and the purple or bronze on the top side of the leaf.  The leaves were gently starting to fall the following day.  However, the following Sunday night to Monday it was windy and rainy and I looked out that Monday morning to see the tree now a skeleton of branches with its leaves gone, but for a few stragglers near the top.  The leaves were scattered over my yard, the street and neighboring lawns.  It was a wake up call to how fleeting and fickle fall actually is.  

September 202 Temperatures Compared to Normal High and Lows
Source:  Accuweather 

I think back to much of the month of October, and of how it seemed quite cool, if not cold.  There was one week of warm weather, but for much of that week there were wind gusts of 20+ miles per hour. Leaves could be seen moving horizontally across your view-shed. Beyond that one week, temperatures seemed to be below normal, and in some cases, well below normal.  To find out if my supposition was correct, I looked up Madison high and low temperatures compared to normal high and lows for September and up to Oct 28. Perhaps it is the cold days that I recall, but September had over half its days where the high temperature was below normal.  In fact, it had three consecutive days where the high temperature was at or below the normal low for the day. 

October (through Oct 27) Temperatures
Compared to Normal High and Low
Source: Accuweather

What made me think about this topic, was looking at the daily paper and noticing that the high temperature for Oct 25 and 26 was had a high at or below the normal low temperature.  I cannot recall, but in either September or October Madison had set a new record for it lowest high temperature.  Given how low the high temperature was on Oct 19, maybe it was that day.  Between recorded and predicted temperatures for Oct 28-30 we will have had 11 days with the high temperature being above the normal high; that means that 20 of the 31 days of the month will have had a high temperature below the normal high. The temperatures are only one part of the equation.  For example, the week of October 19 it was not only cold, but mostly if not all cloudy and with a good deal of rain.  I think we had 3" of rain in one 24 hour period, and that was probably Wednesday to  Thursday when it rained most all day.  I can attest to that, because I got my walk, during a light rain/drizzle but came back both days chilled and wet. Funny, how the radar indicated it was not raining. I realized I may need a new raincoat. My ever thoughtful wife made me some tea. 

Autumn Purple Ash at full color

Yet, I do not despair, because it is days like Oct 28, sunny and moderate wind that is a great day to be outdoors.  Take advantage of good weather when you can. It was a good day to hike.  The wife and I went to Donald County Park.  This almost 800 acre park is near Mount Vernon, and walked a few of its trails.  Most of our route took us along the wood edge or through prairie, likely former tilled land, with great views from certain high ridges.  Our last hiking day was on Tuesday, Oct 13 at Wyalusing State Park. The later part of that second week of October or early the third full week was, or may have been peak color, but the winds and rain of the following week did a number on the colors of many trees. This is why I saw it as a fleeting fall.   The lack of color was certainly noticed on the drive to and at Donald Park, with a few yellows, but mostly the dark crimson of the oaks that tended to stick to the branches.    

Maple tree in backyard at its most vibrant

Some trees do not well hold their color. My hickory trees are yellow for a day or so, and then turn brown.  Some leaves are falling, but other hickory leaves will fall into December and perhaps beyond. It is not unusual for snow to be covered with brown leaves. 

Donald Park

The fleeting, fickle nature of fall is epitomized by the change of color, the loss of leaves, the changing temperatures and reduced day light hours.  The dark mornings, and the onset of early evening darkness portend the coming of winter and the change of season. Now, dear readers, here is a piece of particularly useful information: there is more daylight (10 hours 27 minutes) on February 13, than there is on Oct. 28 (10 hours, 26 minutes, 16 seconds).  At this time of year we lose over 2 and 1/2 minutes of daylight a day, so that in just three days, October 31, All-Hallows Eve, daylight hours for Madison are at 10 hours 18 minutes 26 seconds.  Although, this drop in daylight is better than most of September into early October when we lost almost three minutes a day of daylight (about 2:54).  The fleeting day light will be temporary, of course, as on Dec 21 it will slowly start to increase until February when we pick up daylight time, as quickly as it was lost in late summer and early fall (by calendar seasons).  

Donald Co Park

The moral of the story is do not take fall for granted, because with Wisconsin weather you can turn around and the weather may have completely changed--not to mention all the leaves having fallen off a tree. Take advantage of a nice weather day when it is available, because it is fleeting.

With move to Standard Time in the early hours of Nov 1, sunset that day will be at 4:48 pm, but look at the bright side, the sun will rise at 6:32 am. 

Fall Food

Fall in the United States involves two main activities:  football and harvest.  And, in that order. Thanksgiving is a celebration of when, many years ago, two different cultures came together to recognize a bountiful harvest. While Thanksgiving predates football, American culture has become less attuned to harvest as the the number of persons in agriculture as a percent of the population has decreased. One hundred years ago, over 30% of the population was engaged in farming, but today only 1.3% is involved in such activity. Most Americans know little of how their food is produced and where it is grown. As bountiful as the land in the US  may be, the US still imports about 15% to 20% (depending upon source) of its total food supply.  Gardening has grown in popularity since the great recession, and this year it took another bump as more persons were home due to Covid-19. Food security has been a big word in the planning field for many years now, but regardless of actions taken most people are still divorced from their food supply.  But, a garden can produce some bountiful harvest.

Cold frame on Raised Bed, Oct 22, 2020
Lettuce, Radicchio and Radishes
Frame made out of old Storm Windows and Deck Wood

What the bounty of a garden can provide hit home a couple weeks ago when my spouse made dinner.  For that dinner, everything of substance that was put on the plates came from our garden.  For dinner she took eggplant that we grew and froze, and made eggplant meatballs, which are balls made with eggplant, some egg and bread crumbs. Essentially, eggplant replaces the meat.  It may seem illogical for us to call them eggplant meatballs, instead of, for example, eggplant balls, other than convention. Is the the use of eggplant meat balls illogical?  They contain no meat, but the dictionary identifies meat, and in its first definition, as "1. Food, especially: solid food as distinguished from drink." Given this, eggplant meatball is a proper descriptor.

Cold Frame closed

Playing off the meatball theme, my wife also made spaghetti sauce, of which the tomatoes we canned in  later part of August into September, and seasonings like garlic, basil (this year) and possibly the oregano came from our home garden. Some homegrown pepper was also added to the mix. Onion and the tomato paste (thickener) had been purchased. I used to grow onions, but stopped a few years ago since our heavy clay soil is not conducive to well formed, large onions.

Cold Frame made several years ago out of Repurposed 
Shower Doors and Deck Wood
Lettuce, Spinach, and Radicchio

Meatballs and tomato sauce are customarily served over spaghetti, but for this meal she cooked up a spaghetti squash.  While we grew spaghetti squash this year, we have plenty left from 2019, so we used one that was over a year old.  Hence we had eggplant meatballs, spaghetti squash, and tomato sauce on the main plate, with a side plate consisting of a salad.

Some of the Kale remaining

For the salad we used all homegrown garden produce consisting of radicchio, spinach, lettuce, arugula, and a curly green I am not sure what it is called. The lettuce and spinach was from a second or third planting, while the rest of the greens were continually harvested from the initial planting. Some of the arugula was derived from what was planted and some were volunteer plants growing from their own seed dropped last year.  Fresh greens are a nutritious side for most any meal.

Kale and Cold Frame
Garden was overseeded in September with 
predominantly Rye Grass

The greens are still growing, and I hope to extend as long as possible.  As readers of my blog are well aware, I use some cold frames to start a small planting area earlier, and so it is that I am not using cold frames to keep the plants going.  The nice thing is the plants can take some light frost, and we shall see how long they may last when we start to get temperatures that will freeze. I am not too optimistic, but am giving it a try.  The decreasing daylight does not assist in growing and keeping the soil at a sufficient warmth to head off cold temperatures by helping to trap heat in the cold frame.  The only other crop remaining in the garden is kale, although that is too tall to fit in a cold frame, so that may well be more at the mercy of mother nature.

View of Lake Kegonsa State Park 
on Park Road near Dog Park Parking lot
Oct 21, 2020

Fall is also a good time to enjoy soup. This year we have made tomato soup with our home grown tomatoes.  It was sufficiently cool this year that when the tomatoes stopped ripening, the ripe ones available I used in a fresh homemade tomato soup. A fitting end to the tomato harvest season.

Chicory Flower, Lake Kegonsa State Park, on trail to beach
Oct 21, 2020

We made not have had a feast like the first Thanksgiving, but I think we have done pretty well with our garden produce.  At some point we will be back to buying greens, but we have been fortunate, but for perhaps a couple weeks during the summer, our home grown greens filled our plates. Summer turned to fall and it is only suitable that we eat the bounty the earth has provided, and for which I join past and varied generations, and cultures in giving thanks. 

Author photos from Oct 21 and 22, 2020

Drift

 Drift can apply to a number of items.  My spouse says when I drive the car will drift, or veer, to the side when I decide to look out a side window.  Soil can drift, the loess plains of the United States is evidence of this fact. Those who live in the north are most familiar with snow drifts which can reach several feet high.  But, drift also refers to the glaciers, and notably Wisconsin is unique among the northern tier of states as it contains what is known as the driftless area, an area not subject to glaciation. This past Tuesday my wife was fortunate to experience at least two of the above noted drifts: my drifting while driving (although with lane deviation assist is more tame (otherwise the wife app would have been in overtime mode) and experiencing part of the dirftless area of the State on a trip to Wyalusing State Park.

View of Wisconsin River from Wyalusing State Park
If one had stood here about 12,000 years ago
you would have seen "rolling bluish-grey floodwater"
coming through and scouring the valley

The driftless area composes much of the southwest quarter of the state.  Yet, it also reaches what we would call the northern part of the state as it reaches almost as far north as the Eau Claire area. Over historical time, during the ice age, four glaciers are thought to have covered much of Wisconsin.  But, the driftless area was not covered by any of the main four glaciers that came south of the Laurentian ice shield in Canda.  There is an area that was covered by one or more of the previous glaciers, but not the last glacier. The last glacier is known as the Wisconsin Glacier, or in parts of Europe as the Wurm Glaciation. The Wisconsin Glacier consisted of three main lobes: Lake Michigan to the east, Lake Superior (and its subsidiary lobes) to the north, and the Green Bay Lobe, between the two  The demarcation line between the unglaciated and glaciated landscapes in some cases is easy to determine, and in others not.  For example, even though the glacier did not reach the driftless area, that does not mean that area was not impacted by the glacier. Glaciers held significant amounts of water, stored as ice, and as they retreated the meltwater flowed out.  Besides leading to some really interesting geographical features, such as kames (Holy Hill is a kame, part of an interlobal moraine, that sits atop the Niagara Escarpment, providing its commanding view.) and eskers, it led to what is known as Glacial Lake Wisconsin and the vast region of sand country in the central part of the state. 

Sandstone at Wyalusing, Oct 2020 photo

Glaciers had large reaching effects along river or stream valleys.  Devil's Lake was created when the glacier reached its terminus and deposited debris, known as the terminal moraine, near blocking and re-routing river flow and creating Devil's Lake. Some say the Wisconsin River used to flow through this area, and it was re-routed by the deposition of the moraine material. The road entry to the north shore of Devil's Lake was covered with glacial ice, but the glacier did not affect the high uplands of the Devil's Lake area.  The bluffs of Devil's Lake are a monadnock, old mountain range that has eroded.  A terminal moraine plugged two ends of the river course creating what we know now as Devil's Lake.  

Map of Moraine in relation to Devil's Lake
Clayton et al, 1990

When I was much younger, as a pre-teen and a teenager, the old wives tale was that Devil's Lake was very very deep, some say it contained large turtle like sea monsters.  While popular with divers, the lake is about 35' deep.  My wife, in her pre-Tom life, scuba dived Devil's Lake. The large quartz and sedimentary rock bluffs sitting either side of the lake can easily give a false impression of remarkable depth, as the rocky bluffs and boulder fields rise out of the water. As an old river bed, it would not be expected to be overly deep.

Extent of Glacial Lake Wisconsin

The meltwater also affected areas far west in the state. For example, while the Prairie du Chien area is known as the former home of Campion Academy, and saw much in terms of teenage antics of Joseph R. Sweeney, it sits near the confluence of the Wisconsin River with the mighty Mississippi River.  Glacial meltwater was carried down the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers and in so doing deposited sand and gravel, part of its debris, as it scoured down the erosion carved valleys.  

Dolomite Cave at Wyalusing, Sept. 2017 photo

The neat thing about traveling west from Madison area to Prairie du Chien is the varied landscapes through which one travels, or in my case the car drifts side to side as I marvel and think about the geography and geology of the regions and the power of nature.  Just east of McFarland, I see drumlins, and we can view recessional moraines, cross the terminal moraine and head to the hill and valley area of the Coulee region.  Scattered throughout are mounds, such as Blue Mounds, which along with others  and others are capped by Silurian chert and/or dolomite.  These mounds punctuate the landscape of southwest Wisconsin.  High on a ridge as we travel on Hwy 18 to Prairie du Chien, the vast overlook of provided from the ridge allows one to view miles distant of contoured cropped farm fields with mixed hardwood woodlands that cover the steep slopes, too steep to properly farm.  

Sandstone Cave and Waterfall at Wyalusing, Oct 2020 Photo

As Hwy 18 approaches Prairie du Chien we travel a few miles on county roads to Wyalusing State Park.  This park provides vast and stunning views of the Mississippi and Wisconsin River valleys. These valleys were formed by erosion of water and wind, and accepted the glacial surcharge of water further scouring the valley. With Wyalusing being underlain by sandstone and limestone, there arise some highly interesting formations.  A sandstone cave next to a creek flow, but probably carved out by larger water flows now distant.  There also exist a limestone cave and the karst topography of sink holes created by water flow dissolving limestone or dolomite.  The running water dissolves calcium in the dolomite leaving crevices which then can lead to sinkholes.

Wisconsin Glaciation

Seldom do we take the time to understand the underlying nature of our landscapes.  We see the hills, and valleys, ridges and plains; we see rivers and lakes; but we really do not fully comprehend why and how that landscape came to be formed? The physical geography of the state influenced, and to this day still influences, settlement patterns and human activity.  The human landscape types that we see cannot be ignored, but to a large degree are formed by the landscape. The more we know about our natural and human landscape types perhaps the more appreciation we can have of their existence, and the value they provide to our heritage. As you travel across Wisconsin, you should come to appreciate the varied natural, or physical landscape types, and then examine how we humans have interacted with, and changed, the landscape. Perhaps you may drift, but be careful as you discern the landscapes in which we find ourselves.

Dolomite Outcropping, Wyalusing, Oct 2020 photo

Sock Drawer

It has been over two years since I retired (2 years and four months, not that I care), but over a week ago I realized that my sock drawer had not kept pace with my retirement driven lifestyle/attire changes.  Since I no longer work, my clothes needs have completely changed.  At work I used to dress pretty much what would be described as business casual, that is slacks, and a polo shirt, or button down shirts of short or longed sleeved.  I wore jeans only one day in my 32 years at Fitchburg, and that when I was in the field most of the day, and only wore shorts on my last day at the office. In the winter, due to the cool temperatures in my office, I wore a sweater most everyday.  Well, the type of socks required with dress or casual dress slacks is quite different than what I wear with shorts, or jeans.  I realized, that my sock drawer was still dominated by the dress socks I wore to work, and only a small part was assigned to the socks I now wear pretty much everyday. 

Woolly Bear Caterpillar

As the weather had started to get colder, at least a week ago, I realized I could switch my sock drawer around and make more room for the heavier weight socks that I wear in the winter--wool, or Smart Wool socks or heavier weight cotton socks.  These could be moved from a container in my closet to the sock drawer. The advantage is I would not have to bend down to get the socks from the container in my closet.  I would pack away my extra dress socks, keeping a pair or two of the main colors in the dresser. As I thought of this on my morning walk, I figured I should accomplish the task as soon as I got home.

Token Creek County Park

Well, I had a major timing error.  That morning, while I was out for my walk, my wife decided it was a good day for her to change around her summer clothes to clothing for colder temperatures.  She was completing this task as I got upstairs.  I should have waited until she was out of the room and on to another one of her make work activities. As I was going through socks, she started grabbing them and looking to see what kind of shape they were in, and sorting out those that in her mind should be dumped.  So, it went sock pair by sock pair, until she got bored, or disgusted, by my keeping socks she thought unsuitable.  That simple project was somewhat upended by my wife--the organization woman.  She suggested that I should examine each pair of socks and ask myself if that pair sparked joy.  Really, who needs a pair of socks to spark joy? To me, socks are utilitarian, they need not spark joy. I am not sure if she was kidding or not, but since she is a fan of Marie Kondo, I doubt she was kidding. As I worked to pull out some dress socks, but save others, she started commenting on my clothes in my closet, and how I should switch my summer shirts out for the fall-winter-early spring wear. She then looked into a dresser drawer with varied clothing items like long underwear, exercise clothes, swim suits, and pajamas.  As only she could be, she was perplexed as to this "lack of organization."  I noted it only needed to make sense to me.  She then commented: "This is stressing me out!"  She likes to be very organized and well, my methods are, apparently, not up to snuff in her mind, or for that matter Marie Kondo's mind. A few years ago she had Marie Kondo'd my t-shirt drawer and was now displeased to see that, while the shirts sit on edge (a difficult way to put shirts back in a drawer) some were in the "wrong way."  I do not properly Kondoize my t-shirt drawer. 

Black-eyed Susan

If I got rid of every t-shirt that she thinks is unsuitable, I would be left with perhaps half or less of my current t-shirts. I would be like Frank Barone, in the one Episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" when Marie cleans out all his clothes (she donated them to a second hand shop showing they could not have been all that bad) and buys him a new wardrobe.  My wife, several years ago, suggested that should be done for my clothes.  I will admit my clothes are not very trendy, but they are me.  To me everything is circular--my clothes are so out of style at this point that by next year they may well be back in style.  One example is the short rise or no rise for ankles on socks.  By the time I was "forced" into wearing them they now seem out of style.  If one thinks of teenagers as trend setters, I can say that I now see teenagers with high rise socks, sometimes black or navy blue, with shorts no less.  So you have old men wearing the socks the kids used to wear, and now the kids are wearing socks old men used to wear.  I have yet, however, to see a young person wearing tall black socks with sandals. Perhaps that will be the style next year, and if it is you know the world has gone full circle. Yes, the world is topsy-turvy and it was happening before Covid. 

The wife likes to organize and she organizes differently than do I.  For example, when I put my t-shirts away, I simply find space and try to nudge them in, or perhaps more accurately shove them in, doing the difficult on-edge, Marie Kondo method, or my variation of her method. I shove the row of existing shirts to the back of the drawer, with one hand and stuff the other freshly laundered shirts into that row. Sometimes, due to lack of space in one row, I have to pull some pull some that I tried to stuff in back out and do repeat the procedure with those shirts in another row.  Needless to say, this manhandling causes some of the folding to be somewhat undone.  (I can't wait to hear how stressed out she gets when she reads this blogpost and about how I put my t-shirts in the drawer.) What began as a sock drawer task now was larger.  Of course, my folding of t-shirts is not up to snuff either, probably adding more stress to her life. When we do laundry I try to help fold, but she often refolds what I folded. As I pulled out my t-shirts to refold some and replace I set them aside in piles, and she asked if I was going to organize by color, which she had done originally.  I said no, I organize by type of wear.  For example, those that are nice t-shirts go on one pile, those that are well used (most commonly worn) and stained go on another, and third for the in-between.  She seemed to be somewhat pleased with my response.  Or, perhaps she was just getting too stressed out to wish to be involved.  Although, it is not like they stay that way. I just happened to do it that way to get an idea of how many not nice and not nice t-shirts I have. At that point, I really did not know.

Trail heading to I-90/94

As I worked on my t-shirts, she replaced my polo shirts in the closet with long sleeved shirts.  When she was about to do this, she found a polo shirt hanging where button down casual shirts go (she organized my closet a few years back, too). I  heard about the polo being out of place, not once, but twice.  Then she pulled out a nice and decent polo shirt and said it should be thrown, and I asked why, and she said because it is too worn, to which I asked where is it worn.  She said it is piled on the front, which I had trouble finding. Heck I even took off my glasses and held it up near my face to see if I could find the pilling. Then she pointed to some pilling on the front of the shirt. I suggested it has plenty of wear left, and I could use it for more everyday wear.  We compromised when she suggested I place it in my t-shirt drawer for everyday wear. I guess, her organizing has only the better polo shirts hung in the closet. So, my t-shirt drawer now contains a polo shirt that feels like it must be on the island of misfit shirts.  I am not sure if I can expect Santa to come and rescue it from the t-shirt drawer this Christmas or not.

Prairie 

Well, the job may have become larger than intended, but it was a cold rainy day, so it was not like I could have been outside enjoying the weather.  I did however, find out that the condition of my drawers causes stress in my wife.  I may not be as organized as she, and may not place things in order by color, but I seldom pay great attention to what I wear.  I suppose she will say, "and it shows." For now, the sock drawer is in order, and I will see how it holds through the coming winter. But the best part is that I will not have to bend down for my winter socks.

Photos by author at Token Creek County Park, Oct 5, 2020

The Iron Brigade

To those who study the history of the Civil War the name Iron Brigade will stand out.  The original Iron Brigade was composed of three Wisconsin and one Indiana regiments. Later a regiment from Michigan would be assigned.  Some of the Wisconsin members hailed from Grant County, which saw original settlement for trade (along the Mississippi River) and, somewhat ironically given the role lead played in ammunition at the time, lead mining. The Iron Brigade was organized on this date, October 1, in 1861.  Over its 3.5 year span of service in the war of rebellion, it came to be recognized as one of the most celebrated organizations in that war to save to the union and free the slaves. Its service came at a great cost.  Lieutenant Earl Rogers would write, after witnessing the white flags that flew over the confederacy on Palm Sunday 1864, there "stood 'the remnants and shattered battalions' of Rufus King’s Division of 1861, which had fought the battles of their country for nearly four years. Many had fallen by the wayside, while others had pressed forward to the end.” Few of the original men of the Iron Brigade would be with it to the end as most of the regiments suffered some of the highest casualty rates in the war. A grim statistic showing a high price paid to meet the goals of the war.

Part of the Battlefield as shown on Google Maps

The Iron Brigade received its name from a conversation between General McClellan (then General of the Army) in 1862, and Corps commander General Joseph Hooker.  McClellan had seen the brigade  follow a Confederate army up a mountain in Maryland.  McClellan would say to Union General Joseph Hooker that they performed like iron.  Hooker then responded: "By the Eternal, they are iron! If you had seen them at Bull Run as I did, you would know them to be iron.” They not only performed admirably at Bull Run, but at Antietam and elsewhere.  However, their strongest performance came at the most crucial of time (about 10:45 am on July 1) in what would be the turning point of the Civil War--the Battle of Gettysburg. Robert E Lee, after having conducted several successful battles, had taken his armies north of the Mason-Dixon line in order to bring war to the north in a psychological and political attempt to demoralize the northern population which he hoped would lead to demand a settlement to the conflict.  Joseph Hooker was replaced by General George Meade, as the head of the Army of the Potomac just a few days before the start of the Gettysburg conflict on July 1, 1863. 

Part of Battlefield with downed soldiers

By the time of Gettysburg, The Iron Brigade was the First Brigade of the First Division of the First Corps in the Union army.  Due to losses at Gettysburg their ranks were reconstituted and they lost this designation of "Firsts."  Gettysburg was their greatest triumph, and their greatest tragedy. 

The two brigades of the First Division of the Union Army moved to quell a rapid advance by the Confederate Army under General Heth. The Confederates were pushing through Herbst Woods and were concealed by the woods from the Second Brigade, whose flank was wide open to attack of which the Rebels were moving to occupy and envelope.  It is at this point that the Iron Brigade, at about 10:45 am approached the unsecured flank at a run with the 2nd Wisconsin in the lead. A colonel from the 2nd Brigade would have them fix bayonets, and said "You have not a second to lose, the enemy are upon you." (Trudeau, 182). A young girl, Catherine Ziegler,  who lived with her parents on the grounds of the Seminary snuck out to get a view of the action occurring in Herbst Woods, which she would recall as being an "awe inspiring scene." She soon realized she was in a predicament and skedaddled home as minie balls went nearby and a Union soldier keeping watch of movement from the Seminary Cupola told her to get home.   As the 2nd Wisconsin entered the Herbst Woods and reached the top of a hill the Rebel advance was upon them. The 2nd Wisconsin ran into the eye of the storm and a Captain would say at that point the initial blast cut down 30% of the infantry soldiers of the regiment. Battle hardened, the soldiers of the regiment stayed and fought rather than retreat. Col. Lucius Farichild was wounded in one of the first exchanges of fire from which he would lose an arm. The next in command was killed.  The overall Corps Commander, the person who Meade thought should have been appointed head of the Army of the Potomac in lieu of his appointment, John Reynolds was next to Herbst woods urging the 2nd Wisconsin forward to "drive those fellows out of the woods." He turned to ask for the advance of the 7th Wisconsin and at that moment was hit by a bullet in the back of the neck and died instantly. 

Monument to 7th Wisconsin Regiment
Gettysburg

The Wisconsin 7th took position next to the 2nd and as the Confederates moved to the open flank of the 7th, the Indiana 19th moved in to take advantage of the now exposed Confederate flank. By the time the last Iron Brigade regiment entered, the 24th Michigan, Rebel skirmishes were ahead and easily scattered. Trudeau commented in his book Gettysburg, that the "better coordinated Iron Brigade broke up Archer's three right regiments" and sent them scattering (p 185).  The Confederate advantage and organizational control collapsed as the Iron Brigade met the Archer regiments from the east, north and south. A soldier from the 2nd Wisconsin would ask for Archer's surrender. 

Lucius Fairchild

It was at Gettysburg where the Iron Brigade rightfully won a place in American military history. By throwing back the Confederate advance, it allowed the Union to gain control of the high ground south of Gettysburg that became the key defensive position to Union victory.  The Iron Brigade would suffer significant casualties at this and other engagements throughout the day.  Later in the day they would need to retreat, but that morning engagement allowed other Union forces to gain key positions on the important defensive high ground.  Of the 1,883 men of the Iron Brigade engaged on that mild and cloudy first July day of 1863 in Gettysburg, 1,153 were killed, wounded or missing.  Nine of the fourteen field officers were killed or wounded.  Grant County saw eighty of its men die or downed.  Among the 80 Grant County casualties was Sgt. Jefferson Coates of the 7th Wisconsin who hailed from Boscobel.  Coates who would be shot in the face and lose his eyesight, would earn the Medal of Honor for a"for extraordinary heroism on 1 July 1863, while serving with Company H, 7th Wisconsin Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for unsurpassed courage in battle, where he had both eyes shot out." (militarytimes.com).  Trudeau, notes that he was the only Iron Brigade member to be so honored. He received this honor three years later on June 29, 1966. At Gettysburg, the Michigan 24th would lose 80% of its men, with the 2nd Wisconsin losing 77%.  Famed Civil War historian Bruce Catton would write in his book Mr Lincoln's Army  "Over the length of the war the 2nd Wisconsin was to win the terrible distinction of having a higher percentage of its enrollment killed in action than any other regiment of the United States Army." Few members of the Iron Brigade would answer roll call on the morning of July 2, 1863. Of the many bloody battles of the Civil War, Gettysburg was the bloodiest. 

Jefferson Coates with his Medal of Honor

Lucius Fairchild, would go on to serve three terms as Governor of Wisconsin (1866-1872) and later serve as minister to Spain. He was a fervent supporter of civil rights for blacks. He died in Madison at age 64 in 1896.  Herbst Woods is now named Reynolds Woods, in honor of General John Reynolds who was killed as he was looking back to advance the 7th Wisconsin into battle.  Jefferson Coates was among the 7th Wisconsin members moving forward as Reynolds looked back, and Coates would take up the craft of making brooms.  He would marry in 1867, and would be the father to five children.  Sometime after 1870 he and his family moved to Nebraska where he died in 1880 at age 36 of pneumonia.  Coates was just one of many men of the Iron Brigade who hailed from Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, and with their family members, paid a high price and heavy burden for the part they played in bringing about the end of slavery and to preserve the union.