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THE FIELD OF ANTIETAM.
But at Sharpsburg was sprung the keystone of the arch upon which the Confederate cause rested. Jackson was quite satisfied with the campaign, as the Virginia papers made him the hero of Harper’s Ferry, although the greater danger was with Me-Laws, whose service was the severer and more important. Lee lost nearly 20,000 by straggling in this campaign—almost twice as many as were captured at Harper’s Ferry. . . .
tribute the failure to the Lost Despatch; though I believe he was more inclined to attribute the loss of the despatch to the fault of a courier or to other negligence than that of the officer to whom it was directed.
Our men came in so rapidly after the battle that renewed hope of gathering his army in great strength soon caused Lee to look for other and new prospects, and to lose sight of the lost campaign.
NOTE TO MAP.
On the afternoon of September 16th, Hooker’s corps crossed at the two fords and the bridge north of McClellan’s headquarters.
A.	—From near sunset till dark Hooker engaged Hood’s division (of Longstreet’s corps) about the “ East Wood,” marked A on the map. Hood was relieved by two brigades of Jackson’s corps, which was in and behind the Dunker Church wood (or West Wood), C.
B.	—At dawn on the 17th, Hooker and Jackson began a terrible contest which raged in and about the famous corn-field, B, and in the woods, A and C. Jack-son’s reserves regained the corn-field. Hartsuff’s brigade, of Hooker’s corps, and Mansfield’s corps charged through the corn-field into the Dunker Church wood, General Mansfield being mortally wounded in front of the East Wood.
Jackson, with the aid of Hood, and a part of D. H. Hill’s division, again cleared the Dunker Church wood.
J. G. Walker’s division, taken from the extreme right of the Confederate line, charged in support of Jackson and Hood.
C.	—Sumner’s corps formed line of battle in the center, Sedgwick’s division facing the East Wood, through which it charged over the corn-field again, and through Dunker Church wood to the edge of the fields beyond. McLaws’s division (of Longstreet’s corps), just arrived from Harper’s Ferry, assisted in driving out Sedgwick, who was forced to retreat northward by the Hagerstown pike.
D.	— About the time that Sedgwick charged, French and Richardson, of Sumner’s corps, dislodged D. H. Hill’s line from Roulette’s house.
E.	— Hill re-formed in the sunken road, since known as the “Bloody Lane,” where his position was carried by French and Richardson, the latter being mortally wounded in the corn-field, E.
F.	—Irwin and Brooks, of Franklin’s corps, moved to the support of French and Richardson. At the point F, Irwin’s brigade was repelled.
G.	—D. H. Hill, reinforced by R. H. Anderson’s division of Longstreet’s corps, fought for the ground about Piper’s house.
II.— Stuart attempted a flank movement north of the Dunker Church wood, but was driven back by the thirty guns under Doubleday.
J.	— Pleasonton, with a part of his cavalry and several batteries, crossed the Boonsboro’ bridge as a flank support to Richardson, and to Burnside on the south. Several battalions of regulars from Porter’s corps came to his assistance, and made their way well up to the hill which is now the National Cemetery.
K.	—Toombs (of Longstreet) had defended the lower bridge until Burnside moved Rodman and Scammon to the fords below.
L.	—Then Toombs hurried south to protect the Confederate flank. Sturgis and Crook charged across the Burnside bridge and gained the heights. Toombs was driven away from the fords.
M.	—After 3 o’clock, Burnside’s lines, being reformed, completed the defeat of D. R. Jones’s division (of Longstreet), and on the right gained the outskirts of Sharpsburg. Toombs, and the arriving brigades of A. P. Hill, of Jackson’s corps, saved the village and regained a part of the lost ground.
hurriedly for one of his dignified manner, threw his arms upon my shoulders and said:
“Here is my old war-horse at last.״
When all the reports ־were in, General Lee decided that he would not be prepared the next day for offensive battle, and would prepare only for defense, as we had been doing.
The next day [the 18th] the Federals failed to advance, and both armies remained in position. During the day some of the Federals came over under a flag of truce to look after their dead and wounded. The following night we withdrew", passing the Potomac with our entire army. . . .
General Lee was not satisfied with the result of the Maryland campaign, and seemed inclined to at-
149
AFTER THE BATTLE —POSITION OF THE CONFEDERATE BATTERIES IN FRONT OF DUNKER CHURCH.
During the progress of the battle of Sharpsburg, General Lee and I were riding along my line and, D. H. Hill’s, when we received a report of movements of the enemy and started up the ridge to make a reconnoissance. General Lee and I dismounted, but Hill declined to do so. I said to Hill, “If you insist on riding up there and drawing the fire, give us a little interval so that we may not be in the line of the fire when they open upon you.” General Lee and I stood on the top of the crest with our glasses, looking at the movements of the Federals on the rear left. After a moment I turned my glass to the right — the Federal left. As I did so, I noticed a puff of white smoke from the mouth of a cannon. “ There is a shot for you,” I said to General Hill. The gunner was a mile away, and the cannon-shot came whisking through the air for three or four seconds and took off the front legs of the horse that Hill sat on and let the animal down upon his stumps. The horse’s head was so low and his croup so high that Hill was in a most ludicrous position. With one foot in the stirrup he made several efforts to get the other leg over the croup, but failed. Finally we prevailed upon him to try the other end of the horse, and he got down. He had a third horse shot under him before the close of the battle. That shot at Hill was the second best shot I ever saw. The best was at Yorktown. There a Federal officer came out in front of our line, and sitting down to his little platting-table began to make a map. One of our officers carefully sighted a gun, touched it off, and dropped a shell into the hands of the man at the little table.
When the battle was over and night was gathering, I started to Lee’s headquarters to make my report. In going through the town, I passed a house that had been set afire and was still burning. The family was in great distress, and I stopped to do what I could for them. By that I was detained until after the other officers had reached headquarters and made their reports. My delay caused some apprehension on the part of General Lee that I had been hurt; in fact, such a report had been sent him. When I rode up and dismounted he seemed much relieved, and, coming to me very
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