Few beverages are more internationally associated with America than the humble bottle of whiskey. George Washington ran a distillery at his Mount Vernon Estate, Pennsylvanians once fought a rebellion over rye whiskey taxes, and during prohibition backwoods stills became famous for providing an illicit source of “white lightening.”

On September 17th, 1862, it was the promise of a whiskey ration that spurred a regiment of Pennsylvania soldiers to take an important bridge over the Antietam Creek, potentially changing the outcome of one of the most well-known battles of the Civil War. Led by the father of the 28th Infantry Division, then Colonel John Hartranft, the 51st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry of Norristown was a combat-hardened regiment. After service in the Carolinas with General Ambrose Burnside's famed IX Corps, the 51st joined the Army of the Potomac to help repel Lee's invasion of the northern states.

In the hot afternoon sun of the 17th, the IX Corps was struggling to take the critical bridge which would allow them to strike the Confederate Army's southernmost defensive line. After the failure of several assaults on the stone bridge, General Burnside ordered Colonel Edward Ferrero, commanding the 2nd Brigade of his 2nd Division, to launch an assault and seize the crossing with the 51st Pennsylvania and its sister regiment. Ferrero made an appeal to Colonel Hartranft and his men, calling out that the General had requested them by name.

From the back of the formation came a strong voice, Corporal Lewis Patterson, who shouted above the din of battle: “Will you give us our whiskey, Colonel, if we take it?” The startled Ferrero answered that they would receive their ration back, a right which had been suspended after some imprudent behavior in the Carolinas. With a rousing cheer the 51st Pennsylvania followed Colonel Hartranft over the bridge and seized the key terrain, launching the IX Corps into the faltering flank of the enemy.

Today the battle streamer earned assaulting the bridge still flies from the colors of a Pennsylvania National Guard unit. The descendant of those whiskey-fueled warriors from Norristown is today's Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry, still serving in the same recruiting area.