The Project Gutenberg eBook ofAntietam National Battlefield, Maryland

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofAntietam National Battlefield, MarylandThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Antietam National Battlefield, MarylandAuthor: Frederick TilbergRelease date: August 23, 2017 [eBook #55413]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, MARYLAND ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Antietam National Battlefield, MarylandAuthor: Frederick TilbergRelease date: August 23, 2017 [eBook #55413]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Title: Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland

Author: Frederick Tilberg

Release date: August 23, 2017 [eBook #55413]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, MARYLAND ***

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR · March 3, 1849

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER THIRTY-ONE

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents. Washington. D.C. 20402.

ANTIETAMNational Battlefield · Marylandby Frederick TilbergRevolverNATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 31Washington, D.C. · 1960(Revised 1961)Reprint with minor corrections 1980

by Frederick Tilberg

Revolver

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 31Washington, D.C. · 1960(Revised 1961)Reprint with minor corrections 1980

The National Park System, of which Antietam National Battlefield Site is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspiration of its people.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE · DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Focal point of the early morning attacks, the Dunker Church and some who defended it.From photograph attributed to James Gardner. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Cannon and crew.

In Western Maryland is a stream called Antietam Creek. Nearby is the quiet town of Sharpsburg. The scene is pastoral, with rolling hills and farmlands and patches of woods. Stone monuments and bronze tablets dot the landscape. They seem strangely out of place. Only some extraordinary event can explain their presence.

Almost by chance, two great armies collided here. Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was invading the North. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was out to stop him. On September 17, 1862—the bloodiest day of the Civil War—the two armies fought the Battle of Antietam to decide the issue.

Their violent conflict shattered the quiet of Maryland’s countryside. When the hot September sun finally set upon the devastated battlefield, 23,000 Americans had fallen—nearly eight times more than fell on Tarawa’s beaches in World War II. This single fact, with the heroism and suffering it implies, gives the monuments and markers their meaning. No longer do they presume upon the land. Rather, their mute inadequacy can only hint of the great event that happened here—and of its even greater consequences.

On September 4-7, 1862, a ragged host of nearly 55,000 men in butternut and gray splashed across the Potomac River at White’s Ford near Leesburg, Va. This was Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia embarked on the Confederacy’s first invasion of the North. Though thousands of Lee’s men were shoeless, though they lacked ammunition and supplies, though they were fatigued from the marching and fighting just before the historic crossing into Maryland, they felt invincible.

Only a week before, August 28-30, they had routed the Federals at the Battle of Second Manassas, driving them headlong into the defenses of Washington. With this event, the strategic initiative so long held by Union forces in the East had shifted to the Confederacy. But Lee recognized that Union power was almost limitless. It must be kept off balance—prevented from reorganizing for another drive on Richmond, the Confederate capital. Only a sharp offensive thrust by Southern arms would do this.

Because his army lacked the strength to assault Washington, General Lee had decided on September 3 to invade Maryland. North of the Potomac his army would be a constant threat to Washington. This would keep Federal forces out of Virginia, allowing that ravaged land to recuperate from the campaigning that had stripped it. It would give Maryland’s people, many of whom sympathized with the South, a chance to throw off the Northern yoke.

From Maryland, Lee could march into Pennsylvania, disrupting the east-west rail communications of the North, carrying the brunt of war into that rich land, drawing on its wealth to refit his army.

Lee’s army crossing the Potomac; Union scouts in foreground.From wartime sketch by A. R. Waud. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

LEE INVADES MARYLAND

Larger political possibilities loomed, too. The North was war weary. If, in the heartland of the Union, Lee could inflict a serious defeat on Northern arms, the Confederacy might hope for more than military dividends—the result might be a negotiated peace on the basis of Southern independence. Too, a successful campaign might induce England and France to recognize the Confederacy and to intervene for the purpose of mediating the conflict.

So it was that the hopes of the South rode with this Army of Northern Virginia as it marched into Frederick, Md., on September 7.

On that same September 7, another army assembled at Rockville, Md., just northwest of Washington. Soon to be nearly 90,000 strong, this was Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Its goal: To stay between Lee’s army and Washington, to seek out the Confederate force, and, as President Abraham Lincoln hoped, to destroy it.

Hastily thrown together to meet the challenge of Lee’s invasion, this Union army was a conglomerate of all the forces in the Washington vicinity. Some of its men were fresh from the recruiting depots—they lacked training and were deficient in arms. Others had just returned from the Peninsular Campaign where Lee’s army had driven them from the gates of Richmond in the Seven Days’ Battles, June 26-July 2. Still others were the remnants of the force so decisively beaten at Second Manassas.

Gen. Robert E. Lee.From photograph by Julian Vannerson. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan.From photograph by Matthew B. Brady or assistant. Courtesy, National Archives.

In McClellan the Union army had a commander who was skilled at organization. This was the reason President Lincoln and Commander in Chief of the Army Henry Halleck had chosen him for command on September 3. In 4 days he had pulled together this new army and had gotten it on the march. It was a remarkable achievement.

But in other respects, McClellan was the object of doubt. He was cautious. He seemed to lack that capacity for full and violent commitment essential to victory. Against Lee, whose blood roused at the sound of the guns, McClellan’s methodical nature had once before proved wanting—during the Seven Days’ Battles. At least so thought President Lincoln.

But this time McClellan had started well. Could he now catch Lee’s army and destroy it, bringing the end of the war in sight? Or, failing that, could he at least gain a favorable decision? A victory in the field would give the President a chance to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which he had been holding since midsummer. The proclamation would declare free the slaves in the Confederate States. By this means, Lincoln hoped to infuse the Northern cause with regenerative moral power. Spirits were lagging in the North. Unless a moral purpose could be added to the North’s primary war aim of restoring the Union, Lincoln questioned whetherthe will to fight could be maintained in the face of growing casualty lists.

And so, followed by mingled doubt and hope, McClellan started in pursuit of the Confederate army. McClellan himself was aware of these mingled feelings. He knew that Lincoln and Halleck had come to him as a last resort in a time of emergency. He knew they doubted his energy and ability as a combat commander. Even his orders were unclear, for they did not explicitly give him authority to pursue the enemy beyond the defenses of Washington.

Burdened with knowledge of this lack of faith, wary of taking risks because of his ambiguous orders, McClellan marched toward his encounter with the victorious and confident Lee.

Maryland was a disappointment to Lee. On September 8, he had issued a dignified proclamation inviting the men of that State to join his command and help restore Maryland to her rightful place among the Southern States. His words concluded with assurance that the Marylanders could make their choice with no fear of intimidation from the victorious Confederate army in their midst.

First Virginia Cavalry at a halt during invasion of Maryland.From wartime sketch by Waud. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Maryland took him at his word. Her people did not flock to the Confederate standard, nor were they much help in provisioning his army. No doubt Lee’s barefooted soldiers were a portent tothese people, who had previously seen only well-fed, well-equipped Federal troops.

Deprived of expected aid, Lee had to move onward to Pennsylvania quickly. For one thing, unless he could get shoes for his men, his army might melt away. Straggling was already a serious problem, for Maryland’s hard roads tortured bare feet toughened only to the dirt lanes of Virginia.

By now, Lee’s scouts were bringing reports of the great Federal army slowly pushing out from Rockville toward Frederick.

Lee’s proposed route into Pennsylvania was dictated by geography. West of Frederick—beyond South Mountain—is the Cumberland Valley. This is the northern half of the Great Valley that sweeps northeastward through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. That part of the Great Valley immediately south of the Potomac is called the Shenandoah Valley.

Lee planned to concentrate his army west of the mountains near Hagerstown, Md. There he would be in direct line with his supply base at Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley. After replenishing his supplies and ammunition, he could strike northeast through the Cumberland Valley toward Harrisburg, Pa., where he could destroy the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River. Once loose in the middle of Pennsylvania he could live off the country and threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.

Before launching this daring maneuver, Lee must first clear his line of communications through the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester and to Richmond. Blocking it were strong Federal garrisons at Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg. Unaccountably, they had remained at their posts after the Confederate army crossed the Potomac. Now they must be cleared out.

Lee decided to accomplish this mission by boldly dividing his army into four parts. On September 9, he issued Special Order 191. Briefly, it directed Maj. Gen. James Longstreet and Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill to proceed across South Mountain toward Boonsboro and Hagerstown. Three columns cooperating under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson were ordered to converge on Harpers Ferry from the northwest, northeast, and east. En route, the column under Jackson’s immediate command was to swing westward and catch any Federals remaining at Martinsburg. Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws, approaching from the northeast, was to occupy Maryland Heights, which overlooks Harpers Ferry from the north side of the Potomac. Brig. Gen. John Walker, approaching from the east, was to occupy Loudoun Heights, across the Shenandoah River from Harpers Ferry. Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart’s cavalry was to screen these movements from McClellan by remaining east of South Mountain.

LEE’S SPECIAL ORDER

(At this point a fateful event occurred—one which was destined to change the subsequent course of the campaign. D. H. Hill, Jackson’s brother-in-law, had until this time been under Jackson’s command. Unaware that a copy of Lee’s order had already been sent to Hill, Jackson now prepared an extra copy for that officer. Hill kept the copy from Jackson; the other was to provide the script for much of the drama that followed.)

Lee was courting danger by thus dividing his force in the face of McClellan’s advancing army. Against a driving opponent, Lee probably would not have done it. But he felt certain that McClellan’s caution would give Jackson the margin of time needed to capture Harpers Ferry and reunite with Longstreet before the Federal army could come within striking distance. That margin was calculated at 3 or 4 days. By September 12, Jackson’s force should be marching north toward Hagerstown. As soon as the army reconcentrated there, Lee could begin his dash up the Cumberland Valley into Pennsylvania.

So confident was Lee of the marching capacities of the Harpers Ferry columns, and so certain was he that McClellan would approach slowly, that he made no provision for guarding the gaps through South Mountain.

Maj. Gen. James Longstreet.Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.From photograph by George W. Minnes. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Lee’s army departed Frederick on September 10. Two days later leading elements of McClellan’s army entered that city. On September 13, came McClellan himself with his usual cavalcade of staff officers.

That same afternoon a copy of Lee’s Special Order 191 was discovered in the encampment grounds previously used by the Confederate army. Quickly it was passed to McClellan. The handwriting was recognized as that of Col. R. H. Chilton, Lee’s assistant adjutant general; the document’s authenticity could not be doubted.

The fate of Lee’s army literally lay in McClellan’s hands. If he slashed swiftly through the South Mountain gaps and planted his army squarely between Longstreet’s force near Hagerstown and Jackson’s columns at Harpers Ferry, he could overwhelm the Confederate detachments in turn.

But again McClellan was methodical. Not until the next morning, September 14, did his heavy columns get underway. This crucial delay was to give Lee the chance to pull his army together at the small town of Sharpsburg.

By September 12, Lee had begun to worry. Stuart’s scouts had reported the Federal approach to Frederick. McClellan was moving too fast. Next evening things looked worse. Jackson had not yet captured Harpers Ferry, and already McClellan’s forward troops were pushing Stuart back toward the South Mountain gaps. Delay at Harpers Ferry made these passes through South Mountain the key to the situation. They must be defended.

The Battle of South Mountain.From lithograph by Endicott. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

South Mountain is the watershed between the Middletown andCumberland Valleys. The Frederick-Hagerstown road leads through Middletown, then goes over South Mountain at Turner’s Gap. At the eastern base of the mountain, the old road to Sharpsburg turned south from the main road and passed through Fox’s Gap, a mile south of Turner’s Gap. Four miles farther south is Crampton’s Gap, reached by another road from Middletown.

On the night of September 13, Lee ordered all available forces to defend these three passes. D. H. Hill, with Longstreet coming to his aid, covered Turner’s and Fox’s Gaps. McLaws sent part of his force back from Maryland Heights to hold Crampton’s Gap.

Next morning the thin-stretched Confederate defenders saw McClellan’s powerful columns marching across Middletown Valley. Up the roads to the gaps they came—ponderous and inexorable. The right wing of McClellan’s army under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside assaulted Turner’s and Fox’s Gaps. The left wing under Maj. Gen. William Franklin struck through Crampton’s Gap. By nightfall, September 14, the superior Federal forces had broken through at Crampton’s Gap; and Burnside’s men were close to victory at the northern passes. The way to the valley was open.

By his stubborn defense at South Mountain, Lee had gained a day. But was it enough? McClellan’s speed and shrewd pursuit, together with Jackson’s inability to meet the demanding schedule set forth in Special Order 191, had fallen upon Lee with all the weight of a strategic surprise. No longer could he command events, pick his own objectives, and make the Federal army conform to his moves. Rather, the decision at South Mountain had snatched the initiative away from Lee. His plan for an offensive foray into Pennsylvania was wrecked. Now it was a question of saving his army.

Harpers Ferry looking east toward confluence of Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Ruins of armory in right foreground. Maryland Heights, left; Loudoun Heights, right.From 1862 photograph by Brady. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

The first step was to call off the attack on Harpers Ferry. At 8 p.m., September 14, Lee sent a dispatch to McLaws stating,

ATTACK ON HARPERS FERRY

“The day has gone against us and this army will go by Sharpsburg and cross the river. It is necessary for you to abandon your position tonight.... Send forward officers to explore the way, ascertain the best crossing of the Potomac, and if you can find any between you and Shepherdstown leave Shepherdstown Ford for this command.” Jackson was ordered “... to take position at Shepherdstown to cover Lee’s crossing into Virginia.”

But then came a message from Jackson: Harpers Ferry was about to fall. Perhaps there was still hope. If Jackson could capture Harpers Ferry early the next day, the army could reunite at Sharpsburg. Good defensive ground was there; a victory over McClellan might enable Lee to continue his campaign of maneuver; and should disaster threaten, the fords of the Potomac were nearby.

At 11:15 p.m., Lee countermanded his earlier order; the attack on Harpers Ferry was to proceed. Shortly after, Longstreet’s divisions began to march through the night toward Sharpsburg.

The village of Harpers Ferry lies at the gateway cut through the mountains by the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, whose waters join there. Situated at the apex of the triangle of land between the rivers, the town is completely dominated by Loudoun and Maryland Heights. By nightfall of September 14, McLaws and Walker had artillery on these heights ready for plunging fire into the town; Jackson had stretched his lines across the base of the triangle between the rivers.

Caught in this trap were nearly 12,000 Federal troops commanded by Col. D. S. Miles. Their position was indefensible.

At daybreak on September 15, the surrounding Confederate artillery opened fire. At 8 a.m., the hopelessness of his position confirmed, Miles ordered the surrender; he was killed in the last moments of the battle.

Jackson immediately sent word of his victory to Lee. Then, after assigning Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill’s division to dispose of prisoners and booty, he prepared the rest of his troops for the hard march ahead.

The same dawn that signaled Jackson’s guns to open fire on Harpers Ferry revealed Longstreet’s tired soldiers taking position on the rolling hills around Sharpsburg. As he watched them, Lee still did not know whether to fight or to withdraw across the Potomac. Decision waited upon word from Jackson. The word came; it was good; the crisis was past. Even now Lee’s messenger hurried to direct Jackson’s veterans toward Sharpsburg. Confident that the entire army would soon be at hand, certain that he could whip McClellan, Lee decided to fight.

Sharpsburg shortly after the Battle of Antietam. Taken from crest of Sharpsburg Ridge, looking west down Boonsboro Pike toward Potomac River. Hagerstown Pike heads north (right) just beyond large tree in left-center. Lee’s headquarters were in Oak Grove in distance, just to right of Boonsboro Pike.

Lee’s decision to make his stand on the low ridge extending north and south of Sharpsburg might well have led to disaster for the Confederate army. A large part of his force was still scattered and several miles away. Backed against the coils of the Potomac River, with only the ford near Shepherdstown offering an avenue of withdrawal, a reversal in battle could result in rout and consequent loss of thousands of men and scores of guns. Longstreet voiced disapproval of battle at Sharpsburg. Jackson, hurriedly examining the ground on his arrival from Harpers Ferry, strongly favored Lee’s choice.

The village of Sharpsburg lies in a small valley at the western base of Sharpsburg Ridge. From the village, the Boonsboro Pike leads east across the ridge, then across Antietam Creek. The Hagerstown Pike extends northward on the crest of the ridge.

From the Hagerstown Pike, gently rolling farmland spreads a mile eastward to Antietam Creek and the same distance westward to the winding Potomac River. A mile north of Sharpsburg was a heavy patch of trees known as West Woods; it was about 300 yards wide at its southern limits, tapering to 200 yards or less asit stretched away northwest from the pike. Half a mile east of Hagerstown Pike was another patch of trees called East Woods; it was 200 yards wide and extended a quarter mile south across the Smoketown Road. North Woods, a triangular plot of trees, stretched east from the Hagerstown Pike over the Poffenberger farm. Half a mile to the west looms Nicodemus Hill, a prominent landmark near the Potomac. Artillery on its heights would command the open ground lying between the patches of woodland. In this open area east of the Hagerstown Pike lay a 40-acre cornfield. West of the pike were outcroppings of rock running nearly parallel to the road—ready-made fortifications. Adjacent to the Hagerstown Pike, on a slight rise near the lower end of West Woods, stood a Dunker Church, a small white building framed by massive oaks. Southeast of Sharpsburg, rolling land broken by deep ravines extends a mile beyond to a sharp bend in Antietam Creek.

Crossings of swiftly flowing Antietam Creek were readily available. The road extending northwest from Keedysville went over the stream at the Upper Bridge, the road to Sharpsburg from Boonsboro over the Middle Bridge, and the road to Sharpsburg from Pleasant Valley over the Lower Bridge. The stream could be crossed, also, at Pry’s Mill Ford, a half mile south of the Upper Bridge, at Snavely’s Ford, nearly a mile south of the Lower Bridge, and at other unnamed fording places.

With its advantages of woodland and outcroppings of rock ledges, Lee believed that the ridge north of Sharpsburg offered a strong battle position. Though he had ample time to construct earthworks, the Confederate commander chose to rely wholly on natural defenses.

As Lee’s men approached from Boonsboro during the morning hours of September 15, they turned left and right off the pike to form their lines on Sharpsburg Ridge. Brig. Gen. John Hood, with only two brigades, held the ground at the fringe of the West Woods—from the Dunker Church northwest to Nicodemus Hill near the Potomac. Here, Stuart’s cavalry protected the left end or flank of the line. From Hood’s position southward to Sharpsburg, D. H. Hill placed his five brigades east of and paralleling the Hagerstown Pike. Brig. Gen. Nathan Evan’s brigade occupied the center of the line in front of Sharpsburg; his men straddled the Boonsboro Pike. The six brigades of Maj. Gen. D. R. Jones extended the Confederate front southeast nearly a mile to the Lower Bridge over Antietam Creek. The fords over the Antietam at the extreme right of the line were guarded by Col. Thomas Munford’s cavalry brigade. Artillery was placed at vantage points on the ridges.

Throughout the 15th, Lee presented a show of strength with 14 brigades of infantry and 3 of cavalry—about 18,000 men.

Army supply train crosses Middle Bridge over Antietam Creek. After ascent of ridge in background, Boonsboro Pike dips into a ravine, then ascends Sharpsburg Ridge and enters the village.Courtesy, National Archives.

Against this pretense of power, General McClellan marched cautiously on the forenoon of the 15th, over good roads and in fine weather. By noon, he arrived at the Confederate front with a force of nearly 75,000 men. McClellan hesitated, and the day wore away.

As the early morning fog of the 16th cleared, Lee’s artillerists caught sight of Federal guns on the high bank beyond Antietam Creek. The thunder of a prolonged duel between Lee’s guns and Brig. Gen. Henry Hunt’s powerful Federal batteries soon rolled through the hills. There was no question in McClellan’s mind now that Lee intended to hold Sharpsburg Ridge.

In midafternoon of the 16th, McClellan prepared for battle. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s I Corps was instructed to take position opposite the Confederate left on the Hagerstown Pike. Maj. Gen. Joseph Mansfield’s XII Corps and Maj. Gen. Edwin Sumner’s II Corps were to extend the battleline from Hooker’s left to the Smoketown Road and on to Antietam Creek near Pry’s Mill Ford. The V Corps, Maj. Gen. Fitz-John Porter commanding, was directed to occupy the center of the Federal line on the Boonsboro Pike.Burnside was to place his IX Corps just east of the Lower Bridge over Antietam Creek. Maj. Gen. William Franklin’s VI Corps was to support the entire front. In the center, on the high east bank of Antietam Creek, and south of the Boonsboro Pike, General Hunt placed four batteries of 20-pounder Parrott rifles, the most powerful cannon on the field.

McClellan’s plan called for an initial attack on the Confederate left flank on the Hagerstown Pike with the two corps of Hooker and Mansfield. McClellan intended to support this mass charge with Sumner’s entire force and, if necessary, with Franklin’s corps. If the powerful thrust against the Confederate left should succeed, McClellan would send Burnside’s corps across Antietam Creek at the Lower Bridge and strike the Confederate right flank on the ridge southeast of Sharpsburg. Should Burnside succeed in turning the southern end of Lee’s line, he would be expected to carry the attack northwest toward Sharpsburg. Finally, if either of these flanking movements appeared successful, McClellan would drive up the Boonsboro Pike with all available forces to smash the Confederate center.

Meadow just beyond trees bordering Antietam Creek marks top of bluffs where many of Hunt’s Union batteries were placed. This view from one-half mile in front of Confederate gun emplacements on Sharpsburg Ridge.

It was a good plan. If the Federal attacks could be delivered in concert, McClellan’s preponderance of power must stretch Lee’s smaller force to the breaking point. But the story of Antietam is one of piecemeal Federal attacks—a corps here, a division there. This failure in execution allowed Lee to shift troops from momentarily quiet sectors to plug the gaps torn by the succession of Federal attacks. As each threat developed, Lee rushed his troops there and beat it back. Taking advantage of his interior lines, he repeatedlyachieved a local advantage of numbers, though larger Federal contingents were always nearby.

Brig. Gen. W. N. Pendleton, Lee’s chief of artillery.From Miller’s Photographic History of the Civil War.

Brig. Gen. Henry Hunt, McClellan’s chief of artillery.

At 2 p.m. on the 16th, Hooker marched from his camp near Keedysville, crossed the Upper Bridge, and late in the afternoon reached the Hagerstown Pike. Under cover of the North Woods, his divisions formed for the attack on both sides of the pike. A massed force of more than 12,000 men was ready to advance on the Confederates.

Union artillery in battery line.From 1863 photograph. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Lee’s thin line, 3 miles long, had been reinforced early on the 16th by the arrival of Jackson’s troops from Harpers Ferry. They were placed where they could support the northern part of theConfederate line. John Walker’s division, arriving from Harpers Ferry in the afternoon, took position south of Sharpsburg.

Jackson now commanded the Confederate front north of Sharpsburg; Longstreet, with a part of his force north of the village, extended the line nearly a mile south.

When Lee’s outposts near Antietam Creek informed him in midafternoon that Hooker’s Federals were massing north of Sharpsburg, Lee moved some of his men to advance positions. Hood established a line east of the Hagerstown Pike, with part of his troops in a cornfield and others extending the front to the East Woods. Skirmishers spread out far in front. Additional troops were rushed from reserve near Lee’s headquarters at the Oak Grove west of Sharpsburg; they extended the line west across the Hagerstown Pike.

It was dusk by the time Hooker’s force was ready to charge. With Maj. Gen. George Meade’s men leading the way, they struck Hood’s Confederates at the edge of the East Woods and in the adjacent fields. A brisk artillery fire from opposing batteries forced the men to seek cover. The gathering darkness made it difficult for the forces on either side to locate their marks. Gradually the opening skirmish at Antietam ended. The thrust of the Federal skirmishers, however, made it clear to Lee just where the next Federal blow would fall.

Brig. Gen. John B. Hood.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker.From photograph by Brady or assistant. Courtesy, Library of Congress.

Even as Hooker’s Federals withdrew to the cover of the NorthWoods, strong forces were moving to their aid—the two powerful corps under Mansfield and Sumner. Mansfield would lead the XII Corps across Antietam Creek about midnight and encamp 1½ miles northeast of Hooker. Sumner’s II Corps would cross the Antietam at Pry’s Mill Ford at 7:30 the next morning to lend additional support.

Lee, too, was counting on reinforcements. McLaws’ division was expected to arrive on the field by midmorning. A. P. Hill, who had been left at Harpers Ferry to handle details of the surrender, would arrive late in the day.

On the evening of September 16, picket lines were so close that the men on both sides, though unable to see each other, could hear footsteps. They knew that a tremendous struggle would begin at dawn. Some tried to sleep, but scattered firing throughout the night made this difficult. Others cleaned and cleaned again their rifled muskets, whose huge bullets made holes as big as silver dollars. Artillerists brought up ammunition for their smooth-bore Napoleons—so deadly at close range—and for the long-range rifled Parrott guns. And so these men got through the night, each one facing the impending crisis in his own way.

Union signal station on Elk Ridge. From here, McClellan’s observers spotted Confederate troop movements during the battle.Courtesy, National Archives.

A drizzling rain fell during the night. The morning of the 17th broke gray and misty, but the skies cleared early. As rays of light outlined the fringe of trees about the Dunker Church, restless Federal skirmishers opened fire. A line of rifle fire flashed from the southern muskets far out in front of the church. Soon, powerful Federal guns on the bluffs beyond Antietam Creek poured a raking fire of shot and shell into the Confederate lines. The first stage of McClellan’s plan of crushing Lee—folding up the Confederate left flank—was about to begin.

Hooker struck with tremendous force. With skirmishers still hotly engaged, 10 brigades moved out from the cover of the North Woods. Brig. Gen. Abner Doubleday’s men advanced along the Hagerstown Pike. Brig. Gen. James Ricketts’ force charged down the Smoketown road toward the Dunker Church. Part of Meade’s division in the center was held in reserve. Hooker’s artillery, massed on the ridge near the Poffenberger house, raked the Confederate lines. Heads down and bent to the side, like people breasting a hailstorm, the wave of Federals charged southward, spreading over the front from East Woods to the fringe of West Woods.

From left and from right, Confederate brigades poured into the fray to buttress Jackson’s line of battle. D. H. Hill sent three brigades from the Sunken Road, dangerously weakening his own line—but then, first things first, and this is the story of the Confederate defense throughout the day. Hood’s two brigades stood in reserve in the woods adjoining the Dunker Church. Eight thousand Confederates awaited Hooker’s assault.

East Woods on left; Miller cornfield, where Lawton’s men were hidden, on right. This view looking south, as Hooker’s men saw it at dawn.

While most of Jackson’s men formed a line from east to west in front of the Dunker Church, Brig. Gen. A. R. Lawton had sent a strong force into the Miller cornfield, 300 yards in advance, concealed, he believed, from the enemy.

View from the south, as Jackson’s men saw it. Cornfield ahead; East Woods at right.

Doubleday’s Federals came upon the cornfield. “As we appeared at the edge of the corn,” related Maj. Rufus Dawes, “a long line of men in butternut and gray rose up from the ground. Simultaneously, the hostile battle lines opened a tremendous fire upon each other. Men, I cannot say fell; they were knocked out of the ranks by dozens.” Hooker, nearby, saw farther in the field the reflection of sunlight from the enemy’s bayonets projecting above the corn. Ordering all of his spare batteries to the left of this field, the Federal guns at close range raked the cornfield with canister and shell. “In the time I am writing,” Hooker later wrote, “every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before. It was never my fortune to witness a more bloody, dismal battlefield.”

Those Confederates who survived the slaughter in the cornfield now fled before the Federal onslaught. Heading for West Woods, they had to clamber over the picket-and-rail fence bordering the Hagerstown Pike; many were shot in the attempt and lay spread-eagled across the fence or piled on either side.

One soldier recalled the hysterical excitement that now gripped the Union troops: The only thought was victory. Without regard for safety, they charged forward, loading, firing, and shouting as they advanced. In contrast were the fallen—as waves of blue-clad troops swept by, wounded men looked up and cried for aid, but there was no time to stop.

Cornfield Avenue, marking southern limit of “bloody cornfield.” Federals charged from right; Confederates counterattacked from left. From photograph taken on anniversary of battle, showing corn as it stood when the fighting began.

While Doubleday’s division charged through the cornfield, Rickett’s men, on the left of the attacking columns, pushed through the East Woods to its southern fringe. Capt. Dunbar Ransom’s battery broke from the cover of the East Woods and fired shot and shell into the staggering Confederate lines.

For more than an hour, the battlefront flamed along an extended semicircular line from the open fields of the Mumma farm northwest through the cornfield to the rocky ledges in West Woods. The fury of the Federal attack had carried Doubleday’s and Ricketts’ men deep into the Confederate line, and now Meade’s reserve brigades rushed forward.

In this critical stage, Jackson launched a driving counterattack. Hood’s men, supported by D. H. Hill’s brigades, battered the Federals back to the cornfield but were halted by the pointblank fire of Union guns in East Woods.

As the remnants of Hooker’s command sought shelter under the cover of powerful Federal batteries in front of East Woods, a new threat faced the Confederates. Mansfield’s XII Corps, which had encamped more than a mile to the rear of Hooker during the night, had marched at the sound of Hooker’s opening guns. At 7:30 a.m., almost an hour and a half later, Mansfield’s force wasapproaching from the north in heavy columns.

Seeing Hooker’s plight, Mansfield now rushed to the forefront of his men, urging them to the attack. But his work was cut short by a Confederate ball; mortally wounded, he was carried from the field.

Without pause, Brig. Gen. Alpheus Williams moved up to command and the attack swept on over ground just vacated by Hooker. On the right, Brig. Gen. Samuel Crawford’s division bore down the Hagerstown Pike toward the Confederates in West Woods. Attacking in separate units, however, their lines were shattered by Brig. Gen. J. R. Jones’ men, fighting from the cover of projecting rocks. J. E. B. Stuart’s artillery, from the hill a half mile to the west, rapidly dispersed the remnants.

On the left, the Federals fared better. They pounded Hood’s men back across the fields toward the Dunker Church and opened a great gap in the Confederate line. Into the hole plunged Brig. Gen. George S. Greene’s Union division. Only a desperate Confederate stand stopped Greene’s men at the Dunker Church. There they remained, an isolated salient beyond support—the Federal assault had shot its bolt.

Attacking separately, the two corps of Hooker and Mansfield had each come within a hair of breaking Jackson’s line. What if they had attacked together? Again and again through this long day, the same question—changing only the names—would apply.

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