WARFARE HISTORY NETWORK PRESENTS:

THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

The Longest Day of
the American Civil War
 Warfare History Network Presents:

THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM

The Longest Day of the American Civil War

3: A Brief Moment of Glory

When Union general Joseph Mansfield fell at Antietam, he became the oldest general
on either side to be killed in combat.

9: Little Powell’s Big Fight

After a breathtaking forced march, A.P. Hill’s Light Division still had more than
enough fight left in it to turn the tide of battle at Antietam.

20: “Will You Give Us Our Whisky?”

The 51st Pennsylvania Volunteers rush Burnside’s Bridge at Antietam.

33: The Antietam Battlefield Today

© Copyright 2014 by Sovereign Media Company, Inc., all rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without consent of the
copyright owner. Sovereign Media Company, 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite A-100, McLean, VA 22101 • www.warfarehistorynetwork.com
A Brief Moment of Glory
WHEN UNION GENERAL JOSEPH MANSFIELD FELL AT ANTIETAM, HE BECAME THE OLDEST
GENERAL ON EITHER SIDE TO BE KILLED IN COMBAT.
Steven L. Ossad

For more than 45 years, Joseph Mansfield prepared himself for the ultimate test
of a soldier—high command in time of war. After a long and successful career
marked by bravery in the field and rapid promotion during the Mexican War,
celebrated achievements as a military engineer, and a distinguished tenure as
inspector general of the U.S. Army, the moment he had and his wife, Mary Fenno Mansfield, at New Haven,
waited for all his life arrived early on the morning of Sep- Conn., on December 22, 1803. Just months after his
tember 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Md. birth, his mother was granted a divorce on grounds of
Mansfield, a descendant of the first English colonists adultery after she discovered her husband openly living
and the youngest of five children, was born to Henry with a woman in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Soon after-
Mansfield, a prosperous Connecticut East Indies trader, ward, the family moved to Middletown so that Mary

This 1887 painting called “Battle of Antietam,” by Thure de Thulstrup, shows the charge of the Iron Brigade near the Dunker Church on the
morning of September 17, 1862. The twelve-hour battle was the bloodiest day in the history of American combat.

ANTIETAM 3
could be close to her family.
Lieutenant Colonel Jared Mansfield, an uncle and
professor at the new military academy at West Point,
began lobbying for young Joseph’s admission, writing
frequently to President James Monroe and Secretary
of War John C. Calhoun. In 1817, still shy of his 14th
birthday, Joseph was accepted to the academy, the
youngest member of his class and one of the youngest
ever admitted to West Point. Graduating second out of
40 in the class of 1822, he was commissioned in the
prestigious Army Corps of Engineers just before his
19th birthday.
With America planning long-term defenses in order
to give teeth to the Monroe Doctrine, such a commis-
sion was a dream assignment for the bright young engi-
neer. Mansfield spent the next quarter-century as a mil-
itary engineer, mostly building coastal fortifications
along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. He met his
greatest challenge in 1830 when he was dispatched to
Georgia to take over the construction of Fort Pulaski.
A massive, five-sided stone edifice with mounts for 150
cannon, the fort was built on Cockspur Island at the
mouth of the Savannah River to protect the city of
Savannah from naval attack. One of the first junior
officers assigned to Mansfield’s command was another
recent West Point honors graduate, 2nd Lt. Robert E.
Lee, who was responsible for preliminary site develop-
ment and design. For more than 14 years, Mansfield
supervised the major construction project.
Thanks to his familiarity with the Texas coast as a Mansfield spent months in Washington politicking for a field com-
result of his frequent expeditions to locate suitable sup- mission. He got his wish when he was given command of XII Corps
ply depot locations, Mansfield was appointed head two days before Antietam.
engineer of General Zachary Taylor’s Northern Army
at the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846. Accom- offensive. Mansfield led a band of soldiers out of the
panying Taylor on the march across the disputed ter- fort and blew up Mexican fortifications, bolstering
ritory between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers, morale. Taylor’s subsequent victories at Resaca de la
Mansfield’s first major assignment was the construc- Palma and Palo Alto forced a Mexican withdrawal.
tion of Fort Texas (later renamed Fort Brown), a star- Mansfield was brevetted major for “gallantry and dis-
shaped, earthen fort opposite Matamoras, near pres- tinctive service” in defending the fort. He was not mod-
ent-day Brownsville, built to anchor the American est about his achievements, observing in a letter to his
position on the Rio Grande. wife, Louisa, that General Taylor owed his success
Several weeks after the opening skirmishes of the war, “more to my opinions before the battles of Palo Alto
Taylor marched his main force to the coast to secure & Resaca than to any other circumstances.”
his supply lines, leaving behind several officers, includ- That September, during the approach to the city of
ing Mansfield, and 500 men to defend the fort. Mexi- Monterrey, Taylor’s army came under artillery fire that
can gunners opened their assault on May 3, 1846, and halted their advance. Mansfield, accompanied by a
for six days kept the fort under siege and artillery fire. squadron of dragoons and a company of Texans, led a
With no relief in sight, the Americans boldly took the small group of engineers forward to conduct a recon-

ANTIETAM 4
naissance of the Mexican defenses. Such assignments
were typical for the engineers of the time, whose train-
ing, drafting, and map-making skills made them
invaluable to their commanders for conducting intelli-
gence and planning missions. Mansfield’s field obser-
vations were crucial to the final attack plan, and on
September 23, 1846, he personally led a column of vol-
unteers, with a sword in one hand and a spyglass in
the other. Seriously wounded in the leg, he was brevet-
ted to lieutenant colonel for “gallant and meritorious
conduct.” Visited daily by Taylor during his five-month
convalescence, Mansfield recovered sufficiently to act
as an adviser during the Battle of Buena Vista on Feb-
ruary 23, 1847. He was brevetted yet again, this time
to colonel, becoming one of a very few officers who
received three brevets during the war, a list that
included Robert E. Lee, George McClellan, and Joseph
Hooker.
In spite of his record, however, Mansfield remained
a captain in the engineers, the result of reductions in
the Army and a glacially slow system of advancement.
On May 28, 1853, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis,
impressed by Mansfield’s work on the board of engi-
neers and a witness to Mansfield’s courage in Mexico,
promoted the 50-year-old captain to colonel and
inspector general of the Army, with responsibility for
the vast territory west of the Mississippi. It was a rare
instance of an officer jumping several ranks in contra-
vention of the normal seniority rules. General-in-Chief
Winfield Scott, Taylor’s rival during the Mexican War,
opposed the move, viewing Mansfield as a “Davis
man,” but the new inspector general proved to be both
effective and independent in his duties.
For the next eight years, Mansfield was one of the
most traveled men in the country. He toured the New
Mexico Territory, the Division of the Pacific, the
Departments of Texas, Utah, California, and Oregon,
and finally returned to Texas, where he remained until
that state voted for secession. After a danger-filled jour-
ney back to the capital, Mansfield was placed in com-
mand of the Department of Washington on April 27,
1861, and three weeks later he was named one of the
first of the newly authorized brigadier generals in the
Regular Army.
With responsibility for the defense of Washington
and its environs, Mansfield put his vast expertise on
defensive fortifications to work, supervising the plan-
ning and construction of the entire system of earth-
work installations that protected the capital through-
out the Civil War. One of his most important decisions
was to seize and fortify the southern bank of the
Potomac, especially Arlington Heights, without wait-
ing for orders and over General Scott’s objections.
In August 1861, Mansfield was assigned to the
Department of Virginia, first commanding a brigade
at Norfolk, then a division at Suffolk. It was essentially
occupation duty, boring and routine, except for one
dramatic moment. While on duty at Newport News,
Va., on March 8, 1862, Mansfield witnessed one of the
great moments in naval history when the ironclad CSS
Virginia (better-known as the M errim ack) savaged the
Union fleet, sinking the USS C um berland and captur-
ing the USS C ongress.Personally directing the shore
batteries and the riflemen of the 20th Indiana Volun-
teers, Mansfield ran between the exposed positions
with his white head bared, inspiring his men and help-
ing to rescue C um berland’s survivors. The encounter
was not without some risk, as Mansfield described in
a letter to his wife: "I came very near being killed again.
I had just dismounted & stepped into my room to write
a telegram to Genl Wool when a large shell from the
Merrimac went through smashing everything before it
& knocking down my chimney & stopped just behind
my chair as I was writing. Fortunately it did not burst
& I was saved again.”
Mansfield was serving as military governor of Nor-
folk when Maj. Gen. George McClellan selected him
to command XII Corps, formerly Maj. Gen. Nathaniel
Bank’s II Corps in the Army of Virginia, in the after-
math of Maj. Gen. John Pope’s defeat at Second Bull
Run. Mansfield was seized with a premonition of
impending disaster. At the close of a visit with Navy
Secretary Gideon Welles, an old friend from Connecti-
cut, he took his leave, declaring, “We shall probably
never meet again.” Just hours before departing Wash-
ington on September 13, 1862, Mansfield penned a
brief note to his old West Point teacher Sylvanus
Thayer “to say that if I never see you again, that I have
not forgotten your inestimable favors to me.”
Arriving on the eve of what everyone expected would
be a great battle, Mansfield was completely unac-
quainted with his hastily assembled staff. In the two
days that preceded the battle, he did not impress the
officers in his corps. Although well aware of his repu-
tation and struck by Mansfield’s distinguished physical
appearance, senior division commander Brig. Gen.
ANTIETAM 5
Union troops under Maj. Gen. Joseph Mansfield exchange fire with Confederates defending the Cornfield at Antietam in this sketch by Alfred
R. Waud for Harper’s Weekly. By then, Mansfield had already been mortally wounded.
Alpheus S. Williams described him in a letter to his
daughters as “a most veteran-looking officer, with head
as white as snow,” but also as “a most fussy, obstinate
officer.” Mansfield, for his part, seemed overwhelmed
by his responsibilities, and perhaps in compensation
intervened often in the movement and deployment of
brigades, regiments, and batteries, bypassing the chain
of command and causing even more than the normal
confusion in the ranks.
The ordinary soldiers of the corps, however, had a
distinctly positive reaction to their new commander,
whose genuine enthusiasm and warm personality out-
weighed his apparent inexperience in leading combat
troops. Hit hard during the Second Bull Run campaign,
the men needed all the encouragement they could get.
Williams’s 1st Division had lost nearly all its field offi-
cers, and its ranks were so reduced that several of the
old regiments mustered only 100 men. Five new regi-
ments had been added, all green and barely three weeks
away from home. In the rapid marches from Frederick,
Md., many had been lost to straggling and desertion.
Altogether, XII Corps numbered 12,300 soldiers,
including noncombatants, and contained 22 regiments
of infantry and three batteries of light artillery. It was
the smallest corps in the Army of the Potomac.
After receiving orders just after midnight on Septem-
ber 17 to support Hooker in his dawn attack, Mans-
field’s men crossed Antietam Creek via the upper
bridge at 2 AM and bivouacked on the Hoffman and
Line farms, about a mile behind Hooker’s left. Because
of the nearness of the enemy, the men were ordered to
lie down with their arms; but few were able to sleep,
including the commander. Mansfield moved constantly
among his troops, waking Williams several times with
new directions before finally spreading his blanket near
a fence corner close to the Line house, where he was
able to get a few hours of fitful sleep.
At the first explosion of cannon fire at daybreak,
Mansfield led his corps toward the sounds of battle
without waiting for food or coffee. He had no idea
what his mission was—general support of Hooker,
exploitation of a breakthrough, or defense against a
possible Confederate counterattack. McClellan had
issued no specific instructions. From the moment they
started to move, his men were under fire from four bat-
teries of Confederate artillery sited on the plateau
opposite the Dunker Church. Slowed by the cannon
fire, the advance was even more confused because of
Mansfield’s frequent pauses for unit detachments and
reattachments, although none of the halts was long
enough to allow the men to boil their much-needed
coffee.
Reflecting attitudes developed over a lifetime in the
Regular Army, Mansfield had little confidence in the
ANTIETAM 6
Civilian volunteers help load a wounded soldier into a wagon while others assist a field surgeon with an amputation, one of thousands at
Antietam.
volunteers and ordered his men deployed in “column
of regiments in mass.” In such a formation, regiments
were deployed 10 ranks deep, instead of two ranks as
in the conventional line of battle. Williams’s division
was on the right and Greene’s was on the left, with the
line extending from farmer David R. Miller’s house on
the Hagerstown Pike southeast across the Smoketown
Road.
From the first, Mansfield seemed to be everywhere,
riding up and down the line, shouting encouragement
to his men and generally behaving like a junior com-
mander whose blood was up. While at first he appeared
to the men as “a calm and dignified old gentleman,” he
soon seemed “the personification of vigor, dash and
enthusiasm,” riding “with a proud, martial air and full
of military ardor.” By 6:30 AM, the head of his lead col-
umn had reached the middle of an open field west of
John Poffenberger’s woods, and Mansfield rode for-
ward to personally reconnoiter the ground. Williams
then ordered Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford’s brigade
of regulars and green Pennsylvania men to abandon the
massed formation and deploy into line of battle. At the
same time, Mansfield was informed that I Corps was
hard pressed and needed immediate help.
Riding back to his command, Mansfield saw Craw-
ford’s men maneuvering and immediately ordered
Williams to halt the deployment. Even though the men
were still under intense artillery fire, he ordered them
again to mass in dense columns. Williams protested,
but Mansfield refused to allow the men to spread out
in the open field, repeating once again his concerns that
if the green volunteers were deployed in line they would
be impossible to control and might break and run.
Mansfield planned to move his corps via the Smoke-
town Road to the northwest corner of the Cornfield
and into the East Woods and renew the attack against
the left of the Confederate line held by Maj. Gen.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The earlier attack by
Hooker’s I Corps had nearly broken through, dissolv-
ing only after terrible losses. Another push might crack
the weakened enemy line, and the old soldier was deter-
mined to make the attempt at the head of his corps.
Ignoring his staff, Mansfield personally guided the vet-
eran 10th Maine Volunteers to its position in the van
of Crawford’s brigade as it entered the East Woods.
He then turned back to guide the green 128th Pennsyl-
vania to the field.
Astride his horse on a knoll just behind the front line,
ANTIETAM 7
Mansfield paused with a group of officers and watched
the rest of Crawford’s brigade move into position. As
soon as his men opened fire, however, Mansfield
spurred his mount and rode up to the front rank of the
10th Maine. Fearing that they were shooting at
Hooker’s men retreating through the East Woods from
the carnage of the Cornfield, he started screaming,
“Stop, you are firing into our own men!” The Maine
veterans, whose colonel had just been felled by Rebel
sharpshooters, insisted that the men to their front were
the enemy.
Sergeant E.J. Libby and Private Thomas Waite, stand-
ing close by, told Mansfield that “we were not firing at
our own men for those that were firing at us from
behind the trees had been firing at us from the first.”
Other members of Company K also pointed out that
the men facing them—veterans of the 21st Georgia and
4th Alabama Regiments—were dressed in gray and
Mansfield’s grave. He was the oldest general killed in the war.
were even then aiming their rifles at them. Finally con-
vinced that he had erred, Mansfield said, “Yes, yes, you
are right,” and almost immediately was struck in the well-being of his comrades and uttering words of
chest by a bullet. His head drooped and his body prayer, Mansfield gradually weakened and died just a
sagged against the saddle, but he was able to guide the few minutes after 8 on the morning of September 18.
stricken horse along the Hagerstown Pike toward the Mansfield’s moment of glory had lasted less than a
rear. At first no one knew that the general had been half-hour. All around the spot where he fell were the
wounded. Then the wind blew open his coat, revealing mortal remains of his shattered corps. At least 275
his blood-soaked shirt. At this point some soldiers men lay dead and another 1,470 wounded were
helped Mansfield dismount and took him to the rear. crowded into the small area around the East Woods,
The lines of battle rolled forward and the attack of XII a casualty rate of nearly 20 percent of those engaged.
Corps proved to be just one more futile effort to force Posthumously confirmed as a major general of volun-
the Confederate line. teers, Mansfield was the longest serving soldier on the
Mansfield was taken in an ambulance to the field that day and the highest ranking casualty of the
makeshift hospital at Line’s house less than a mile Battle of Antietam. He was also the oldest graduate
away. There he was attended throughout the next 24 of West Point, as well as the oldest general, to be killed
hours by a team of three surgeons, as well as Captain in battle during the Civil War. He died at his post, with
Clarence H. Dyer, his faithful aide-de-camp, who his face turned toward the enemy—a fitting epitaph
stayed at his side throughout the ordeal. Drifting in for any soldier, no matter how long the service or brief
and out of consciousness, alternately asking after the the glory.

ANTIETAM 8
 Painting © Dale Gallon
Little Powell’s Big Fight
AFTER A BREATHTAKING FORCED MARCH, A.P. HILL’S LIGHT DIVISION STILL HAD MORE
THAN ENOUGH FIGHT LEFT IN IT TO TURN THE TIDE OF BATTLE AT ANTIETAM.
By William E. Welsh

By mid-afternoon on September 17, 1862, the Army of the Potomac and the
Army of Northern Virginia were locked in mortal combat on the rolling hills
overlooking the sluggish waters of Antietam Creek in northwestern Maryland.
The two sides had been fighting each other since daylight in what would turn
out to be the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War.
As the sun began its slow descent in the sky, Confeder-
ate General Robert E. Lee feared that victory lay within
his foe’s bloodied but emboldened grasp.
Throughout the day, Maj. Gen. George McClellan’s
Union forces had steadily bled Lee’s much smaller
army of its reserves. Increasingly desperate, Lee had
pulled one unit after another from his right flank to
strengthen other sectors of his hard-pressed line, and
now the Federals were massing for a final assault on
his weakened flank. When they struck, Lee feared that
there would not be sufficient numbers of Confederates
to hold them back. The army’s last line of retreat
would be severed, and the war in the East would be

Clad in his famous red battle shirt, General A.P. Hill leads the Light Division across Beotler’s Ford during their trek to Sharpsburg in this
painting by Dale Gallon.
ANTIETAM 9

A ragged column of Confederate troops passes through Frederick,
Md. in an extremely rare photograph depicting Southern troops in
action.
as good as over in one fell swoop.
Lee had one last card to play, however. His ace in the
hole was Maj. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill’s Light Divi-
sion, which was somewhere on the road between
nearby Harpers Ferry, Va., and Sharpsburg, the small
Maryland town around which Lee’s line of battle was
tightly wrapped. One of Lee’s last acts on the eve of
battle had been to send Hill an urgent dispatch order-
ing him to rejoin the army immediately.
Hill received Lee’s dispatch at 6:30 AM. Leaving one
brigade behind to complete the parole of the last of the
11,000 Federal prisoners captured at Harpers Ferry,
Hill quickly put his five other brigades on the road to
Sharpsburg. As the Federals began their final advance
on his lines, Lee had no idea where Hill was or, worse
yet, when he would arrive. At his headquarters on the
outskirts of Sharpsburg, the Confederate commander
anxiously watched and waited for Hill’s appearance.
Hill and several members of his staff rode breath-
lessly into Lee’s headquarters at 2:30 PM A man of
slight build with a bright chestnut-red beard, Hill was
affectionately known as “Little Powell” to the Confed-
erate high command. At the time of the battle, he was
the youngest major general in the Confederate Army.
Having shed his jacket in the heat, Hill was easily iden-
tified by his troops on the march by his famous red
“battle shirt,” which he wore whenever the day prom-
ised to produce a good fight. After a quick greeting,
Hill informed Lee that his infantry was at that very
moment fording the Potomac River three miles away
and would soon be on hand. When it arrived on the
battlefield, Lee instructed, the reinforcements should
support the right flank. Having received his orders,
Hill and his staff returned to the infantry column.
At 3 PM, Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s IX
Corps began advancing on a broad front toward
Sharpsburg. The Federals outnumbered the Confeder-
ates in that sector three-to-one. If Hill’s troops didn’t
arrive soon, the Southern right flank would collapse
and disintegrate. The battle would be lost.
Lee’s eyes were riveted on the Harpers Ferry Road
south of Sharpsburg, where the battle was intensifying
and the Light Division was expected to arrive any
minute. When he spied a column moving from the
southeast, Lee called to an artillery officer nearby.
“What troops are those?” Lee asked.
The officer offered Lee his spyglass. “Can’t use it,”
Lee said, raising his bandaged hands. The general had
been thrown from his horse at the start of the cam-
paign and had broken one of his hands and sprained
both wrists. The officer raised his glass and focused the
lens on the column. “They are flying the United States
flag,” he said.
Lee pointed to another column to the southwest and
asked the same question. The officer trained his glass
on the new column. “They are flying the Virginia and
Confederate flags,” he said.
Lee sighed with relief. “It is A.P. Hill from Harpers
Ferry.” If the Light Division could get into battle
quickly enough, it might be able to save Lee’s army
from what a few minutes before had seemed like cer-
tain destruction.
Lee had little need to worry about whether Hill
would arrive in time. In the halfdozen major engage-
ments since the beginning of the war in which Hill had
led troops, he had shown himself to be a prompt, de-
pendable, and hard-hitting commander. He pushed his
troops hard, followed orders well, and never lost his
cool in battle. A fighter by nature, Hill had conducted
only one major defensive action since the war began.
If Lee could rely on any of his division commanders to
launch a successful counterattack, it was A.P. Hill.
Hill was bred from the same colorful cavalier Vir-
ginia stock as such other well-known Confederate of-
ficers as Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. Born in Culpeper on
ANTIETAM 10

LEFT: Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. MIDDLE: Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill.
RIGHT: Brig. Gen. David R. Jones.
November 9, 1825, Hill entered the United States Mil-
itary Academy at West Point in 1842 at the age of 16.
In the kind of ironic twist that typified the Civil War,
he would become closely acquainted with the two in-
dividuals who would be his principal opponents at the
Battle of Antietam. His first-year roommate was
George McClellan. Although Hill should have gradu-
ated the same year as McClellan, he was held back a
year because of a chronic illness. Thus, Hill and his
close friend Ambrose Burnside graduated 15th and
18th, respectively, in the Class of 1847.
In August 1847, Hill received orders to report for
service with the U.S. 1st Artillery Regiment in Mexico.
He arrived at the port of Vera Cruz after the regional
capital had fallen and participated in a limited fashion
in two of the closing battles of the struggle. When the
Americans sacked the town of Huamantla, Hill ob-
served firsthand the great harm that volunteers were
capable of doing if not properly disciplined. This ex-
perience deeply ingrained itself on the young lieutenant
and afterwards would inform the authoritarian way in
which he led those who served under him.
After the Mexican War, Hill served a year of garrison
duty at Fort McHenry, Md., before shipping out with
his unit to western Florida, where he participated in
the ongoing suppression of the Seminoles. After five
years of service in Florida, Hill transferred to the U.S.
Coast Survey, in which post he was serving when the
first seven Southern states seceded from the Union fol-
lowing the election of Abraham Lincoln. Despite being
urged by his comrades to remain in the service, Hill re-
signed in February 1861 and returned to his home
state, hoping to receive an appointment commensurate
with his extensive military experience.
Much to his chagrin, Hill was passed over for a gen-
eralship by Virginia Governor John Letcher and in-
stead was named colonel of the 13th Virginia Infantry.
The regiment comprised 10 companies, all drawn from
Virginia with the exception of one company from Bal-
timore. Hill began training the regiment at Harpers
Ferry, where it was part of General Joseph Johnston’s
Army of the Shenandoah. Little Powell drilled his men
several times a day. His training was so effective that
Johnston commended the 13th Virginia for its “vet-
eran-like appearance.” When Johnston received orders
from Richmond on July 17 to move his army to Man-
assas to support Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard in
a major battle then taking shape along the banks of
Bull Run Creek, the 13th Virginia traveled by train to
Manassas Junction, but saw no action at the ensuing
Battle of First Manassas.
I
N FEBRUARY 1862, HILL WAS APPOINTED
brigadier general commanding the First Brigade of
Maj. Gen. James Longstreet’s Second Division.
When McClellan, the new commander of the
Army of the Potomac, landed in April with 120,000
Federal troops at Fort Monroe at the tip of the penin-
sula between the James and York Rivers, Hill’s brigade
marched to the aid of Maj. Gen. John Magruder, who
had established a defensive line across the peninsula’s
lower portion to thwart the Federal advance.
Hill’s first major action in the Civil War occurred on
May 5 at Williamsburg. Longstreet ordered him to
drive back Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Federal divi-
sion. Hill led his men against a strong enemy position
in thick woods on the outskirts of Williamsburg. The
two sides fought at close range in the driving rain
throughout the afternoon. Just before nightfall, Hill’s
troops launched a successful charge that routed
Hooker’s troops and resulted in the capture of 160
prisoners, seven flags, and eight artillery pieces.
In May 27, in recognition of his role at Williamsburg,
Hill was promoted to major general. He had risen
from colonel to major general in just 90 days.
Hill called his new command the Light Division, a
name that stuck with it throughout the war. The divi-
sion, which comprised six brigades, was actually the
largest in the Confederate Army, and Hill gave no ex-
planation for the name he had chosen. In the absence
of such an explanation, the nickname came to be as-
sociated with his troops’ ability to march fast and take
little more than their rifles, cartridge boxes, and haver-
sacks into battle. Division Private Wayland F. Dun-
away recalled later that “the name was applicable, for
ANTIETAM 11
we often marched without coats, blankets, knapsacks,
or any other burdens except our arms and haversacks,
which were never heavy and sometimes empty.”
Hill solidified his growing reputation as an aggressive
general during the Seven Days’ Battles that followed.
When Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines, Robert
E. Lee assumed command of the Confederate Army
around Richmond. Shedding Johnston’s defensive
mindset, Lee at once sought to take the offensive and
drive the Federals away from the city. In his first battle
as a division commander, Hill launched a costly frontal
attack on June 26 without support against Federals en-
trenched behind Beaver Dam Creek. Maj. Gen.
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson was partly to blame
for the debacle by failing to carry out an expected flank
attack. Perhaps because Hill had shown initiative,
which was notably lacking in some of his fellow gen-
erals, Lee did not rebuke him for his rashness.
The pattern of piecemeal attacks continued
throughout the Seven Days. Whether from fatigue or
a lack of familiarity with the countryside, Jackson re-
peatedly failed to strike at the time and place in-
structed by Lee. At Gaines’ Mill on June 27, Hill’s
men were badly mauled when they attacked en-
trenched Federals on a rise behind Boatswain’s
Swamp. Hill lost more than 2,600 men in the battle.
Despite these defeats, Hill showed a knack for carry-
ing out orders and an ability to pin down large bodies
of Federal troops and make it difficult for them to dis-
engage. His star continued to rise.
The Light Division’s marching skills were put to the
test in the next phase of the campaign when Hill’s
troops made a forced march to attack McClellan’s
army on its retreat to the James River. At Frayser’s
Farm on June 30, Longstreet advanced first. When the
Federals threatened to outflank Longstreet, Hill’s divi-
sion joined the battle. The Light Division drove the
enemy back and captured 18 guns.
Although officially part of Magruder’s command,
Hill’s division had been attached to Longstreet for the
last part of the Seven Days’ Battles. Following the cam-
paign, Lee transferred Hill to Jackson’s command for
a new campaign unfolding in central Virginia against
Maj. Gen. John Pope.
Because Jackson had failed to support him through-
out the Peninsula campaign, it was with some reserva-
tion that Hill joined him at Gordonsville.
A twist of fate put Hill’s division in the rear on the
march to Culpeper, which led to the Battle of Cedar
Mountain. When Jackson’s left flank collapsed on the
afternoon of August 9, Hill immediately stabilized the
main Confederate line with his troops. Once it was sta-
bilized, the Light Division advanced and swept the
field. Although Jackson was too proud to admit it, Hill
had saved his skin at Cedar Mountain.
That same month, Hill anchored Jackson’s left flank
behind the unfinished railroad bed on the old Bull Run
battlefield. The Battle of Second Manassas was Hill’s
first defensive fight. With three brigades forward and
the other three held in reserve, Hill repulsed six sepa-
rate attacks on August 29. When the Federals pierced
his line, he skillfully shifted his forces to close the
breach. He showed a remarkable ability to coordinate
movements among his units in the heat of the two-day
battle. He received rare praise from the prickly Jackson
for repulsing superior enemy numbers.
A
N ONGOING DISPUTE BETWEEN HILL
and Jackson over marching procedures,
which could be traced back to Cedar
Mountain, reached crisis proportions at the
outset of the Maryland campaign, Lee’s ambitious late-
summer invasion of the North. Jackson required that
the troops begin marching before sunrise and rest 10
minutes every hour. When one of Hill’s brigades was
not ready to march from Dranesville, Va., to the
Potomac River on September 4, the first day of the
campaign, Jackson’s mood turned sour. To make up
for lost time, Hill decided to forego Jackson’s manda-
tory rest period each hour. When Jackson halted one
of Hill’s brigades without consulting him, Hill offered
his sword to Jackson in disgust. Jackson immediately
placed him under arrest, turned command over to
Hill’s senior brigadier, and ordered Hill to march at
the rear of his division.
After two days in Frederick, Md., Lee divided his
command into three parts. Jackson would command
the part of the army entrusted with the capture of the
Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, which lay across the
Confederate line of retreat. Sensing that battle was im-
minent, Hill requested through a member of Jackson’s
staff to be temporarily reinstated to his command for
the fighting that lay ahead. Without hesitating, Jackson
agreed.
Jackson and his forces drove a contingent of Federals
from Martinsburg on September 13. The retreating
ANTIETAM 12
Federals took refuge with the larger
force based in Harpers Ferry. Next,
Jackson divided his command into
three separate forces to invest
Harpers Ferry. Lee’s schedule for the
campaign allowed no time for a pro-
tracted siege, so Jackson moved
quickly to attack. While other units
occupied the heights across the Po-
tomac and Shenandoah Rivers from
the town, Jackson’s corps bottled up
the town on September 14 by occu-
pying the neck of land behind
Harpers Ferry.
The Light Division, which held the
Confederate right flank along the
Shenandoah River, drove the Federals
back and captured the high ground,
where Hill, the old artillery officer,
carefully placed the division’s guns.
At first light the following day,
Southern guns began shelling the
town from three sides. After an hour-
long bombardment, the Federals
replied with desultory fire. At that
point, Jackson ordered the Light Di-
vision forward again. At 9 AM, the
Federals waved the white flag and
surrendered to Jackson. The Confed-
erates captured 11,000 prisoners,
12,000 rifles, 70 guns, and countless
supplies.
Because the Light Division had
borne the brunt of the fight, it was
given the honor of paroling the Union
prisoners. During their two days in- Federal troops driving towards Sharpsburg were attacked suddenly on the left flank by
side the town, many of Hill’s soldiers Hill’s troops, who had just reached the battlefield after marching from Harpers Ferry.
exchanged their ragged clothes for
parts of new Federal uniforms in storage. Since Lee donned his familitar red battle shirt, buckled on his
needed all available Southern troops at his new posi- dress sword, and began issuing orders to his brigadiers
tion at Sharpsburg, plans were made to parole the pris- for a forced march. Telling Colonel Edward Thomas
oners and permit them to march home, provided they to remain with his brigade at Harpers Ferry to com-
not rejoin the Union Army until they were properly ex- plete the surrender, Hill ordered Brig. Gen. Maxcy
changed. Jackson’s other two divisions departed for Gregg to get his troops on the road immediately.
Sharpsburg the night of September 16. The next morn- Gregg’s South Carolinians were on the road within the
ing, Hill received Lee’s dispatch instructing him to join hour. Rather than sending his division by the shortest
the army immediately for a major battle. route to Sharpsburg, on the north bank of the Po-
After receiving Lee’s dispatch at daybreak, Hill tomac, Hill chose instead to send his troops on a route

ANTIETAM 13
 Warfare History Network’s Special Issue
THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
“I remember… the bullets whistling over us, and the stone wall bristling
with muskets, and the line of our men, sweating and grimy, firing and load-
ing, and firing again, and here a man suddenly lying still, and there another
rising all bloody and cursing and staring for the surgeon.”
– Major Abner Smalls, 16th Maine, Gettysburg

Of all the famous battles of the Civil War, it is Gettysburg When you open our Special Gettysburg Issue, you’ll …
that captures our imagination the most. Not only the largest
battle fought in Union territory — it’s often described as the • Gain new appreciation for the courage of the men who
turning point in the entire war. were trained for war — and those who were not.
• Pore over the most stunning Civil War paintings, historic
Every imaginable detail of this most iconic of Civil War bat- photos, battlefield sketches, and detailed maps.
tles, from start to finish, is here in Warfare History Net-
work’s comprehensive Special Issue, THE BATTLE OF • Learn new details about well-known Gettysburg figures,
GETTYSBURG. and “meet” new ones who will astonish you.
• Become more deeply informed on the Battle of Gettysburg
Each word of this Special Issue puts you in the heart of the
than ever before.
battle. Above all, you’ll be astonished at the new details
you’ll learn about this most terrible of Civil War battles, • And enjoy a deeply engrossing “read” more than almost
and gain a new appreciation of the facts you already know. anything ever before!

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY NOW!

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG is now available in digital format, only from Warfare History Network.
Use the web address below and get reading about one of the most important battles in American history.

“ We Gained
NOTHING
In the humid stillness of a July afternoon,
12,000 Confederate troops began marching The Confederate high tide at
Gettysburg broke at the low

slowly across open farmland toward the aptly stone wall known as “the Angle,”

but Glory”
BY ERIC NIDEROST
named Cemetery Ridge. “This is a desperate thing
to attempt,” said one Rebel general to another.
where Pennsylvania, Massachu-
setts, and New York regiments
beat back the heroic but doomed
assault depicted in this epic
painting by Peter F. Rothermel.

There’s the
Devil to Pay
Without the experienced eye of Union cavalry commander John Buford,
Robert E. Lee’s Confederates might have marched into Gettysburg unopposed.
Instead, they had to fight their way into town, one step at a time.
BY JOHN WUKOVITS








JULY 3, 1863, dawned clear and bright, the
warm sun promising even greater heat to come. By noon,
temperatures were already in the low 90s, a typically hot
and humid summer day in southern Pennsylvania. The
action on the ground would soon get even hotter. Five days
earlier, General Robert E. Lee’s formidable Army of North-
ern Virginia, some 75,000 strong, had invaded the North
for the second time in a year, hoping to win a decisive vic-
tory over Union forces. The 90,000-man Army of the
Potomac, commanded by recently appointed Maj. Gen.
68 GETTYSBURG

George Gordon Meade, was holding on for dear life.
The two armies had been fighting around the small town of
Gettysburg for two days and during much of that time the
Confederates had seemed to be on the brink of success. Vic-
tory had so far proved elusive, but Southern morale remained
high in spite of horrific casualties. A combination of poorly
coordinated attacks, missed opportunities, and a Union Army
stubbornly defending its own soil had prevented Lee from
achieving his goals. Nevertheless, the Virginia-born comman-
der was firmly convinced that one more determined attack,
this time on the Union center, would give his army the
epochal victory that thus far had proved maddeningly elusive.
Lee had been sick with diarrhea, and his physical discom-
fort possibly clouded his judgment. More than that, he was a
victim of his own success. A brilliant tactician, his past victo-
ries over inferior Union generals had bred overconfidence,
and that overconfidence in turn fostered a certain intransi-
gence whenever his ideas were challenged. Believing that
Meade had weakened his center to reinforce his battered
flanks, Lee was convinced that a massive attack on the Union
center would cut the enemy army in two. Lt. Gen. James
Longstreet, commander of the Army’s I Corps, respectfully
disagreed. “I have been a soldier all my life,” he told his com-
mander. “I have been with soldiers engaged in fights by cou-
ples, by squads, companies, regiments, divisions, and armies,
and should know as well as anyone what soldiers can do. It
is my opinion that no 15,000 soldiers ever arrayed for battle
can take that position.” Longstreet’s passionate and well-rea-
soned pleas fell on deaf ears. Lee would attack.
The Army of the Potomac was in a strong defensive posi-
GETTYSBURG 69


 



J OHN BUFORD KNEW A BATTLE WAS COMING—
he could feel it in his bones. The veteran Union cavalry
commander had fought too long and too hard not to
realize that something unusual was in the air. As he sur-
veyed the situation outside the small Pennsylvania town of
Gettysburg on the evening of June 30, 1863, Buford grimly
concluded that daybreak would bring more than sunlight for
the outnumbered soldiers under his command, the 1st Cav-
18 GETTYSBURG
www.WarfareHistoryNetwork.com/store/Gettysburg
alry Division of Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade’s Army of
the Potomac. Buford knew—or at least sensed—that Con-
federate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
was close by. When one of his subordinates, Colonel Thomas
Devin, insisted that the enemy soldiers they had spotted ear-
lier that day were merely part of a scouting expedition and
that his own troops could handily brush them aside, Buford
retorted, “No, you won’t. They will attack you in the morn-
ing and they will come booming—skirmishers three deep.
You will have to fight like the devil to hold your own until
supports arrive.” Those prophetic words were an accurate
description of the fateful battle about to commence, with
Buford and his troopers smack in the middle of it.
The roots of Gettysburg stretched back to the previous
September, when Lee embarked on his first invasion of the
North. In a bloody confrontation on the banks of Antietam
Fistfighting breaks out on McPherson’s
Ridge as Federal soldiers attempt to
retake their captured colors from Maj.
Gen. Henry Heth’s Confederates in this
painting by artist James Walker.
Creek near Sharpsburg, Md., Federal troops battled the
invaders to a draw, forcing Lee to pull back. By May 1863,
however, the Confederate leader once again felt strong
enough to leave the friendly confines of the South. Com-
pelling reasons nudged Lee into an audacious plan. A victo-
ry over Abraham Lincoln’s Union forces—particularly one
achieved on Northern soil—might still persuade Great
Britain and France to join the war on the Confederacy’s side,
GETTYSBURG 19
that was slightly longer on the south bank to avoid
running into any stray Federal units that might delay
him or bar him from reaching Lee.
Spirits were high in the ranks as the division marched
north along a narrow dirt road that led toward Shep-
herdstown, where it would ford the river. The men in
the column were well fed and wearing new clothing
taken from the vast stores at Harpers Ferry. As they
marched, the men could hear the boom of cannon
ahead in the distance. The troops in the front were told
to set a brisk pace. The shout frequently heard up and
down the line was, “Speed the march, close up, close
up!” Hill rode back and forth along the column prod-
ding stragglers with the point of his sword.
The column stopped only two or three times for just
a few minutes to allow the men to catch their breath
before resuming the march. Such stops were not
enough to keep dozens of men from dropping out of
the ranks from exhaustion. Hill and his officers were
able to produce a near superhuman effort from the
men by telling them that their beloved commander Lee
was counting on them.
When Hill’s troops reached the river, they began
crossing immediately. Holding their muskets and car-
tridge boxes high above their heads, they plunged into
the water, doing their best to maintain their balance
while walking over jagged ledges on the river bottom
that ran perpendicular to the swift current.
The high expectations that Hill had for himself and
his men are readily apparent in an episode that oc-
curred after the division had forded the river. When he
spied a second lieutenant crouching in fear behind a
tree, Hill rode over to the officer, demanded his sword,
and broke it across the man’s shoulder. Without speak-
ing a word, Hill returned to the column. When he re-
ported to Lee, he would have in hand a force of some
1,900 soldiers to put into battle.
M
EANWHILE, HILL’S OLD ROOMMATE,
George McClellan, had sent orders to their
mutual friend Ambrose Burnside, instruct-
ing him to take the lower bridge, known as Rohrbach
Bridge, over Antietam Creek. In his battle plan, Mc-
Clellan envisioned that Burnside would cross the
bridge in the morning and be in position on the west
bank of the Antietam by noon to exploit the costly ad-
vantages won by earlier Federal attacks on the Con-
federate left and center.
But Burnside was not in a cooperative mood. Having
been stripped of Hooker’s corps following the Battle
of South Mountain, where he served as commander of
the army’s right wing, Burnside was having a hard time
adjusting to the role of a mere corps commander. In
fact, he still fancied himself a wing commander, and
therefore had placed Brig. Gen. Jacob Cox in direct
command of the IX Corps. Even after receiving multi-
ple orders from McClellan ordering him to advance,
Burnside made only a half-hearted attempt to get his
men across the creek. After several repulses, two regi-
ments of Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrero’s brigade of Brig.
Gen. Samuel Sturgis’s division finally carried the bridge
at 1 PM.
Although IX Corps would make its attack alone, un-
supported by any other elements of the Union Army,
it had enough manpower to wreck the Confederate
right flank if handled properly. At his disposal, Burn-
side had four divisions numbering about 8,500 men.
If he could get his men into battle quickly, the pressure
he applied to Lee’s right flank might be enough to
make the entire Confederate position implode. But
once across the creek, Burnside squandered the oppor-
tunity for surprise by taking two hours to replenish his
troops’ ammunition and shake them into a new line of
battle before advancing.
Once under way, the Federals found the going tough.
The terrain south of Sharpsburg rose gradually from
Antietam Creek to the Harpers Ferry Road. Between
the creek and the north-south road, the ground was
wildly uneven and characterized by steep ravines that
afforded a marked advantaged to whomever occupied
the higher portion of a given slope. Hard by the road,
which ran from the lower bridge to Sharpsburg, were
two farms. At the time of the battle, the farms on the
north and south sides belonged to Joseph Sherrick and
John Otto, respectively. The crux of the battle between
Hill and Burnside would mainly occur on the farm be-
longing to the latter, notably in his 40-acre cornfield.
The fields were divided by stone and rail fences that
would provide a distinct advantage to whichever side
reached them first.
IX Corps advanced in three lines at 3 PM On the left
was Brig. Gen. Isaac Rodman’s division, which had
crossed two miles downstream at Snavely’s Ford; on
the right was Brig. Gen. Orlando Wilcox’s division. Di-
rectly behind them was Cox’s Kanawha Division
under the command of Colonel Eliakim Scammon.
ANTIETAM 15
Artillery men of Joseph Knap’s Pennsylvania battery pose proudly beside their guns near Smoketown.
Sturgis’s division, which bore the brunt of the attack
on the bridge, thereafter to be known as Burnside’s
Bridge, formed the reserve. The Federal infantry not
only had the support of the long-range guns on the east
bank of the Antietam, but also close artillery support
from four batteries comprising 22 guns that followed
the infantry over the bridge.
Facing them were the badly depleted ranks of Con-
federate Brig. Gen. David Jones’s division. Down to
less than half its original number, the division was all
that stood between Burnside and Sharpsburg. Jones
had five of his six brigades on hand for the lateafter-
noon fight, having relinquished Colonel George “Tige”
Anderson’s brigade to support the Confederate center.
By mid-afternoon, each brigade in the division was
down to the size of a single regiment.
Despite his paper-thin ranks, Jones enjoyed ample ar-
tillery support, thanks to the foresight of Lee and
Longstreet. The Confederate high command had as-
sembled 28 guns to support Jones in what would be
the last major clash of the day.
More guns would be added to the Confederate de-
fense. Captain David McIntosh, who commanded the
first of Hill’s units to arrive on the field, quickly un-
limbered three guns from his battery along the Harpers
Ferry Road. They soon joined the other Confederate
guns in shelling the Federal batteries opposite them.
The Federals, for their part, advanced steadily over
uneven ground. The Confederate gunners switched
their fire from the enemy batteries to the sea of blue in-
fantry as it drew ever closer. Still, the Union tide surged
forth. The Federals drove Jones’s division back into
Sharpsburg. Some of his troops shifted to the north side
of town, while others entered city streets where enemy
shells had set homes and buildings ablaze.
At that moment, Hill’s infantry arrived.
Without taking time to reconnoiter the battlefield,
Hill threw his troops into the fight at 3:30 PM Gregg’s
South Carolinians were first up. Following a quick dis-
cussion with Jones, Hill ordered Gregg to relieve Brig.
Gen. Robert Toombs’s hard-pressed brigade. His fel-
low division commander “gave me such information
as my ignorance of the ground made necessary,” wrote
Hill in his battle report. Armed with the scanty infor-
mation, Hill committed the first of his five brigades to
the battle. With a shout, Gregg’s five South Carolina
regiments advanced onto the Otto Farm. Hearing
Gregg’s men give the Rebel yell as they advanced on
the enemy, Jones’s weary soldiers found renewed
strength. They weren’t the only ones affected—Lee’s
demeanor changed noticeably from fear of defeat to
confidence in his army’s ability to withstand the latest
Federal assault.
“My troops were rapidly thrown into position,
[Dorsey] Pender and [John] Brockenbrough on the ex-
treme right, looking to a road which crossed the Anti-
etam near its mouth, [and Lawrence] Branch, Gregg,
and [James] Archer extending to the left and connect-
ANTIETAM 16
ing with D.R. Jones’ Division,” Hill wrote afterward.
In addition, Hill oversaw the deployment of his divi-
sion’s remaining batteries. He ordered Captain Carter
Braxton’s battery to a rise on Gregg’s right and the bat-
teries of Captains William Crenshaw and Willie Pe-
gram to high ground on the left, where they would
have a wide field of fire.
When the Light Division arrived on the field, Colonel
Edward Harland’s brigade of Rodman’s division was
pushing its way through the large cornfield south of
the Otto farmhouse. Harland’s four New England reg-
iments—the 8th Connecticut, 11th Connecticut, 16th
Connecticut, and the 4th Rhode Island—would face
the full fury of the Confederate counterattack spear-
headed by Gregg’s veterans. The two brigades collided
head-on in the tall corn.
The 8th Connecticut was the farthest forward of
Harland’s regiments. Due to a mix-up in orders, it was
directed to advance before the other regiments in the
brigade. The regiment’s objective was McIntosh’s
guns. As the 8th Connecticut bore down on its objec-
tive, McIntosh switched to canister. Realizing that if he
tried to withdraw his guns in the face of the enemy he
would lose his gunners in the process, the cool-headed
artillery captain instructed his gun crews to abandon
their pieces and retire to the rear. They did so just as
the bluecoats swarmed over the three pieces.
Hill assessed the situation from a point along the
Harpers Ferry Road. “My troops were not in a mo-
ment too soon,” he wrote. “The enemy had already
advanced in three lines, broken through Jones’ divi-
sion, captured McIntosh’s guns, and drove them back
pell mell.” Both Hill and his brigadiers felt the weight
of the moment and rose to the occasion. “Branch and
Gregg, with their old veterans, sternly held their
ground, and, pouring in destructive volleys, the tide of
the enemy surged back, and, breaking in confusion,
passed out of sight,” Hill reported.
At several key moments during IX Corps’ attack,
Federal regiments would hold their fire when they saw
troops wearing blue uniforms nearby. These units
would invariably turn out to be troops belonging to
Hill’s division who had appropriated parts of new Fed-
eral uniforms to replace the torn and tattered clothing
they had been wearing when they captured Harpers
Ferry. One such unit was the 4th Rhode Island. Fearing
that it might shoot into friendly troops, the regiment
momentarily withheld its fire and received a deadly
volley from Gregg’s men before realizing its mistake.
Meanwhile, from a strong position behind a stone
wall on the Otto Farm, Gregg’s troops unhesitatingly
blasted the 4th Rhode Island and 16th Connecticut.
The Connecticut unit, a green regiment that had only
been in the army for three weeks, had the unfortunate
luck to face crack Confederate troops in its first fight.
The well-aimed fire was more than the Connecticut
soldiers could stand. The regiment broke for the rear,
carrying the 4th Rhode Island along with it. The
tragedy was compounded for the Federals when a
Confederate sharpshooter fired a round that struck
Rodman flush in the chest and left him mortally
wounded. Gregg was also struck by a bullet in the hip
that knocked him from his horse. When he realized
that the bullet had only grazed him, the feisty brigadier
returned to his command.
The brigades of Branch and Archer moved to support
Gregg. Branch bolstered Gregg’s thrust into the Otto
cornfield, while Archer’s troops moved at the double
quick along Gregg’s left flank to support Jones’s line,
which was fast unraveling as a result of a coordinated
Federal assault.
Although Gregg had managed to check Harland’s
brigade, three more Federal brigades were closing in
on Sharpsburg. By 4 PM, Colonel Harrison Fairchild,
commanding Rodman’s other brigade on Harland’s
right, smashed the brigades of Brig. Gens. James Kem-
per and Thomas Drayton and reached the very gates
of Sharpsburg.
Just north of Fairchild, the two brigades of Wilcox’s
division under Colonels Thomas Welsh and Benjamin
Christ were locked in desperate combat with Jenkins’
brigade, commanded by Colonel Joseph Walker. Un-
like Kemper and Drayton, Walker was holding his
ground by taking advantage of cover afforded by the
Sherrick Farm buildings and the terrain. His brigade
was the last unit left between the Federals and Sharps-
burg. With Gregg preoccupied with Harland, Hill or-
dered Archer’s brigade to charge the enemy.
Strengthened by elements of Jones’s division,
Archer’s men overwhelmed the 8th Connecticut and
recaptured McIntosh’s guns. The hapless Union regi-
ment lost fully two-thirds of its men before retreating.
Next, Archer formed his men into line of battle along
the Harpers Ferry Road and advanced east toward
Antietam Creek, driving Fairchild before him.
At one point the three Confederate brigadiers—
ANTIETAM 17
The 9th New York Zouaves, in their distinctive baggy uniforms, repulse a Confederate charge from behind a rail fence outside of Sharpsburg.
Archer, Branch, and Gregg—were conferring about
how best to press the attack on the Federal left flank
when a sharpshooter put them in his sites. When his
attention was directed to enemy soldiers closing on his
flank, Branch raised his glass to have a closer look. At
that moment, a bullet tore into his right cheek and ex-
ited from the back of his head. The shot killed him in-
stantly. The North Carolinian collapsed near his
fellow generals.
T
HE ROUT OF HARLAND’S BRIGADE BY
Gregg’s South Carolinians threw the entire IX
Corps offensive into jeopardy. In an immediate
sense, it exposed Fairchild’s flank to attack by Hill’s
division. For this reason, Cox ordered the withdrawal
not only of Fairchild’s brigade, but also Wilcox’s divi-
sion. Although they were furious at having to give up
the ground they had captured, Cox’s subordinates
complied with his order. By 4:30 PM, the Federals were
in full retreat.
Colonel Hugh Ewing’s brigade of the Kanawha Di-
vision fruitlessly tried to try to plug the gap created by
Harland’s troops, who were streaming to the rear. His
three Ohio regiments advanced toward Gregg’s posi-
tion on the Otto Farm. Like the 4th Rhode Island Reg-
iment before them, the Buckeyes mistook soldiers
wearing blue for fellow Federals. While they held their
fire, Gregg’s men blasted their ranks mercilessly, drop-
ping large numbers of Federals. The Ohio troops
made a valiant try to wrest a stone wall from Gregg’s
veterans, but were forced to fall back with their re-
treating comrades.
The last major action of the battle occurred when
Cox committed a portion of his reserves to stabilize his
ranks. He sent forward troops from Sturgis’s com-
mand to form a new line he was constructing along the
bluffs overlooking the creek. By that point, the Con-
federates had clearly gained the upper hand. More
than 40 Southern guns posted along the high ground
around Sharpsburg swept the landscape across which
the Federals were retreating. Most of the Union guns
on the far bank had run out of ammunition by this
point in the battle, and the batteries that had advanced
with the infantry found themselves outgunned. The ac-
tion gradually died out, and both sides were content
with their new positions.
ANTIETAM 18
 Because of the Light Division’s late entrance to the
battle, it came away with just 63 killed and 283
wounded from the 1,900 soldiers who participated in
the battle.
Hill’s performance at Antietam was nearly flawless.
The battle highlighted his best attributes as a com-
mander, most notably his ability to move his troops
promptly and motivate them on the battlefield. At
Antietam, Hill exhibited a willingness to fight a
pitched battle against his foe without second-guessing
himself, unlike many of the Federal commanders he faced
that day. At the same time, the battle masked his short-
comings as a commander—his repeated failure to recon-
noiter ground before attacking and his bad habit of
leaving a gap in his lines for the enemy to exploit when
he was on the defensive.
Hill’s performance was not overlooked by Lee or his
principal lieutenants at the battle, Jackson and Longstreet.
Although Hill had had a falling out of sorts with
Longstreet after he left his command earlier that year, Old
Pete found it in his heart to mention Hill’s “exemplary”
performance in his battle report. He noted that Hill’s
Light Division had helped check the advance against his
corps in the vicinity of Sharpsburg. “The display of this
force was of great value, and assisted us in holding our
position,” wrote Longstreet.
Following Antietam, Hill led the Light Division in the fa-
mous battles at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville. After
Jackson’s tragic death at the latter battle, Hill was pro-
moted to lieutenant general on May 23, 1863, and placed
in charge of the III Corps of Lee’s newly reorganized Army
of Northern Virginia. During the army’s second invasion
of the North one year later, Hill attacked Federal forces he
stumbled upon at Gettysburg, thus helping to ignite that
epic battle. Little Powell participated in the Battle of the
Wilderness in May 1864, but because of illness was absent
from the Battle of Spotsylvania later that month.
Still dogged by chronic illness, Hill participated off and
on in the series of battles between Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant
and Lee that culminated in the siege of Petersburg. On
April 2, 1865, Hill was convalescing at his temporary res-
idence in Petersburg when news reached him that the
Confederate line had snapped. He immediately rode to
his troops and was in the process of trying to rally them
when he was killed by enemy fire.
With the exception of the fight at Spotsylvania Court
House, when he was too ill to lead his troops, Hill fought
in every major battle of the Army of Northern Virginia
waged by Lee. But his performance at the Battle of Anti-
etam stands as his greatest achievement as a general. To
say that Hill single-handedly saved the Army of Northern
Virginia that day is an overstatement, but he certainly
played a major role in the repulse of McClellan’s much
larger Union army. There can be little doubt that Anti-
etam was the Culpeper Cavalier’s finest hour.
ANTIETAM 19
“Will You Give Us Our Whisky?”
THE 51ST PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS RUSH BURNSIDE’S BRIDGE AT ANTIETAM.
By Rob Willis

Colonel John F. Hartranft surveyed the blue-jacketed ranks to his front with a
mixture of frustration and humiliation, and some of the men returned the favor.
It was July 20, 1861, and the entire Federal Army under the command of General
Irvin McDowell was marching south toward the first, and hopefully last, major
battle of the war. already reenlisted in new regiments, they felt that the
The men of Hartranft’s 4th Pennsylvania would not Army had used them badly and they wanted a break.
be going with them, however, because today their 90- Hartranft turned his back on his regiment and rode
day enlistments had expired and most of them wanted south with the rest of the Army to volunteer his services
to go home, at least for a while. Despite speeches, accu- to the staff of Colonel William B. Franklin—an act that
sations, and even a personal plea from McDowell, the would win Hartranft the Medal of Honor after the
men of the 4th had had enough and, while many had war—while the 4th began its march north to Washing-

Union soldiers advance across the bridge on the Confederate left flank while others take shelter on the bank and behind its low bordering wall.
Beyond, Confederates do their best to stem the attack. The painting was done by an eyewitness in the 2nd Vermont Infantry.
ANTIETAM 20
General Ambrose Burnside at a captured Confederate battery in New Berne, NC. Burnside had success invading the Carolina coast early in
the war.
ton. The next day, July 21, the Army would be defeated
at the first battle of Bull Run, and McDowell would lay
some of the blame at the feet of the 4th Pennsylvania.
Hartranft was perhaps the classic example of the vol-
unteer officer, having served in his local militia unit
before the war started. A former civil engineer and
deputy sheriff, the 30-year-old had passed the county
bar exam in 1860 and was practicing law in Mont-
gomery County, Penn., when the South seceded.
Elected colonel by the militia companies of Mont-
gomery County, Hartranft offered their services to
Washington and was soon appointed head of the 4th
Pennsylvania Regiment. Even before the 4th had
turned their backs on the Union that July day, Har-
tranft realized he might be of further service and, eager
to prove himself, asked for and received permission to
raise a second regiment. Thus in mid-September 1861
the first men of the new, three-year 51st Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry began arriving at Camp Curtin near
Harrisburg to be organized and mustered in.
The men of the 51st were drawn from Montgomery,
Northhampton, Centre, Snyder, Union, and Lycoming
counties. In fact, many of them had served in the ranks
of the old 4th, and had felt driven to clear their repu-
tation after the disaster at Bull Run and McDowell’s
indictment.
As the new officers and men of the 51st labored
through September and into the late autumn to get the
regiment into shape, the rain, their poor campsite,
scant clothing, and the indifferent attitude of the U.S.
Army were too much for some of the recruits and
desertion became an alarming problem, although one
that the regiment would weather successfully.
The hardier souls of the 51st found “unofficial” ways
to improve their lot, and such actions led some
observers to look upon the 51st—to the regiment’s
apparent delight—as a pack of rascals. Beyond the
pedestrian offenses of roughhousing, drunkenness, and
generally raucous behavior, one incident stood out in
the memories of the men that autumn.
In early November, after suffering through miserable
rations for too long, a dozen men slid past the perime-
ter guard one dark evening and made their way to an
Army supply train not far from the camp. They
selected a fine, 250-pound hog from the livestock car,
killed it, and, slinging it in a blanket, made their way
back to camp, envisioning a wonderful meal for their
efforts. Unfortunately, they found themselves chal-
lenged by a picket but, thinking quickly, proclaimed
themselves to be “railroad hands” who had found a
sick soldier some distance up the tracks. Feigning
grave concern for the “sick fellow,” the men convinced
the guard to let them pass, only to run into the camp’s
interior guards, who were also in the process of believ-
ANTIETAM 21
ing the story until the Officer of the Day approached
while on grand rounds. In no time, stories of nonex-
istent physicians and harmful vapors were invented by
the culprits, and the tale was related with such urgency
that the OOD was fooled as well. The cargo, borne
by its terrified owners, finally returned to the safety of
the company street at 1 AM.
O
N NOVEMBER 5, 1861, GOVERNOR
Andrew G. Curtin presented new state col-
ors to the 51st, 52nd, and 53rd Pennsylva-
nia in a joint ceremony, and thus gave the
51st Regiment a unique characteristic: Because Colonel
Hartranft had preserved the national and regimental
colors that the old 4th Pennsylvania had carried, and
presented them to the 51st as well, the 51st was one of
very few Civil War units to carry three flags—two
national colors and a blue state flag.
By mid-November the regiment finally received
orders to move to Baltimore and, feeling that they
owed Harrisburg one last “fling,” almost half of the
51st broke guard during the evening of November 15,
went into town, and proceeded to throw themselves a
party. Colonel Hartranft, fearing unimagined chaos,
ordered what was left of the regiment into town to
escort the revelers back to camp under guard. Unfor-
tunately, most of the guards—many of whom were
allegedly temperate to begin with—were talked into
“just one toast” by the renegades, and before it was all
over the “rescuers” were carried back to camp in a ter-
rible state of intoxication by the “rescued.”
The 51st moved by rail toward Baltimore and
reached Annapolis on November 18. Along the way
the boys found time to forage for food that resulted in,
among other things, the theft of a watchdog, his chain,
and the larder he was supposed to be guarding. Mov-
ing outside the city, they took up quarters at “Camp
Burnside” and commenced the dreary job of winter
drill. On December 24, the 51st was formally assigned
to Brig. Gen. Jesse Reno’s Brigade, together with the
51st New York, 21st Massachusetts, and 9th New Jer-
sey. Thus the regiment passed into the new year as part
of Ambrose Burnside’s Coast Division; few men real-
ized at the time what that meant.
During the first week of January 1862, the regiment
was split into halves and boarded Navy transport
ships with the rest of Burnside’s command for a gru-
eling, month-long journey down the wintry coast
toward destinations unknown.
The Scoutand C ossack were only two of over 100
vessels that comprised Burnside’s large but inexperi-
enced amphibious force and, as the fleet moved slowly
south, it was revealed that its goal was Hatteras Inlet,
NC. Over the next 30 days the men of the regiment
suffered horrible conditions on the two ships, including
sweeping seasickness (most of the men had never even
seen a ship this large, let alone sailed through stormy
waters), ship collisions, lack of proper accommoda-
tions, and disease. Rations were very short, even
absent, for days at a time and the men resorted to
drinking vinegar for several days because the fresh-
water supply had run out.
The officers tried to drill the men during calmer
moments, but the sound of hundreds of rifle butts
thumping on the hurricane deck compelled the ship
captains to order such activity to cease, because the
sailors couldn’t hear orders over the din. Several sol-
diers died during the journey despite the efforts of the
Navy to provide decent conditions, and by the time the
regiment was put ashore on Roanoke Island on Febru-
ary 7, 1862, the soldiers were thoroughly prepared to
embrace dry land again, Rebel forts be damned. The
next morning, Burnside’s force attacked the Rebel posi-
tions and forced the surrender of the island, although
the 51st was only lightly engaged.
When Roanoke Island was cleared of Confederate
troops, the regiment began a miserable occupation.
They found occasional distraction harassing the locals,
but staying warm and fed was their chief concern. On
March 3 the men were delighted to give up their old
“pig-iron” rifles for new Enfield rifled muskets, and
were simultaneously ordered to pack up and re-board
their ships. Conditions afloat were just as bad as before
but the duration of the journey was mercifully shorter
and, on March 13, 1862, the brigade again reached
land.
T
HEY DEBARKED AND BEGAN MARCH-
ing north toward New Berne, NC, through
“the muddiest mud ever invented,” and made
about four miles before their first halt. There
they were confronted by a Marine artillery officer
whose six-gun battery had become so bogged down
that the Marines could no longer pull it. The 51st Penn-
sylvania had no choice but to pitch in, and soon the
exhausted men were pulling inland both the Marine
ANTIETAM 22
battery and two large rifled guns brought ashore by
the C ossack’s Captain Bennett.
Through near-constant rain and loaded with their
own equipment, the soldiers pulled the guns for more
than 14 miles through boggy, muddy tracks until they
were within range of the Rebel works surrounding
New Berne. The unusual anchor-and-cannon corps
badge that the future Ninth Corps would adopt much
later was a direct reference to the monumental endeav-
ors of the Coast Division during this period.
Thankfully, the Pennsylvanians were only slightly
engaged in the infantry battle that followed and suf-
fered only a handful of wounded. After New Berne
fell, the entire Federal force worked to consolidate
their gains and improve their living conditions, while
making occasional expeditions into the surrounding
countryside.
By April 1 the 51st’s ranks had thinned substantially,
the original 981 men who had left Camp Curtin the
previous autumn having been reduced to about 350
effectives. Hartranft himself took leave to return to
Norristown where two of his children were gravely ill;
tragically, they would soon die within a week of each
other. During this period, the regiment was in the
charge of Lt. Col. Thomas Bell, who was Hartranft’s
straight-laced and well-respected second-in-command.
The 51st moved its camp again in early April. Once
they were situated, Bell commenced a rigorous pro-
gram of drill and also tightened the regiment’s disci-
pline. Bell reduced 12 noncommissioned officers to the
ranks for improper conduct. This “conduct” was actu-
ally part of a larger problem, namely the uncanny abil-
ity of the Pennsylvanians to find supplies of whiskey
even in what appeared to be the most destitute areas
of the Confederacy.
Bell attempted to teach the regiment to drill by the
bugle, but so many of the men were “tone deaf” that
the experiment was a dismal failure. Also instituted
was the standing order to bathe every Saturday (when
possible)—a tradition that stuck with 51st until it was
mustered out.
The regiment again boarded ships in mid-April and
sailed northeast to participate in an amphibious land-
ing near Elizabeth City, NC, as part of an expedition
under General Reno. The 51st and Reno’s other regi-
ments were accompanied by Colonel Rush Hawkins’
Fourth Brigade.
The combined command moved over dusty roads
On their way north from Carolina, the 51st Pennsylvania made vari-
ous stops on a path that led them to Antietam. One, shown here,
was at Culpeper, Virginia.
inland (again pulling along cannon—this time it was
two 3-inch rifles) with the mission of making a
“demonstration” against Norfolk, Va. The force
encountered a Rebel brigade at South Mills in Camden
County, NC, and, after a confused and exhausting
fight, Reno abandoned the advance and ordered his
brigades back to their ships. The 51st lost 30 men killed
and wounded at South Mills—their first significant
combat casualties.
Fatigue rendered the march back difficult. Arriving
in Currituck Court House, the worn-out Pennsylvani-
ans could not resist the temptation of some illicit “fun”
and proceeded to release all of the prisoners from the
town jail, after which they cleaned out the local coun-
try store, which was owned by a mouthy secessionist.
The used-up troops then marched the final three miles
to the landing, brought their wounded aboard the wait-
ing transports, and collapsed after a nearly continuous
nightmare-like march of over 40 miles.
Arriving back in New Berne on April 22, 1862, the
men were delighted to be met by Colonel Hartranft,
who had just returned from Norristown. The Pennsyl-
vanians were given a few days to organize themselves,
and it was at this time that they received their first issue
of oilcloth blankets, which the men found both novel
and useful.
On April 25, a whiskey ration arrived in camp and
was put under guard for distribution by the regimental
quartermaster. The proximity of the whiskey was too
much for the guards to withstand: The detail tapped a
ANTIETAM 23
keg and sucked the whiskey through a dis- saw that R ecruithad rammed their old
assembled rifle barrel, which earned each friend C ossack, and the Pennsylvanians
of them a fine hangover and 10 days in a bellowed cheer after cheer when Captain
barrel-shirt for their trouble. Bennett appeared on the C ossack’s deck.
In the last week of April, life began to The fleet was supposed to land its
take on a more attractive quality for the troops in support of McClellan’s Army of
hard-used men of Burnside’s command, as the Potomac, which was then at Harri-
excellent rations and other supplies found son’s Landing on the York-James Penin-
their way down the coast. The 51st Penn- sula, but on July 3 word passed through
sylvania settled to the more mundane but the Pennsylvanians’ ranks that Richmond
generally less dangerous business of camp had fallen. Accordingly, the fleet reversed
existence. April faded into May, and bar- its course and landed at New Berne on
ring some camp gossip of a rumored July 4. The next morning the sour truth
attack by the retreating Rebels, little of that the Army of the Potomac had been
note occurred. An exception to the tedium driven away from Richmond circulated
came on May 24, when an unpopular through the division, and once again the
order was issued that required all non- men were ordered to strike camp. The
commissioned officers to remove their regiment reboarded the R ecruit early on
green wool chevrons and trim for replace- July 6 and headed north for another
ment with standard-issue blue chevrons. earnest try to take the Rebel capital,
As June arrived, Hartranft began to rec- although this attempt would also soon be
ognize that even with frequent moves of abandoned. Moving to Fortress Monroe
camp and steady drill his men were getting and finally Newport News, the regiment
itchy, and his company officers began to John Hartranft led the 51st again made landfall on July 10 and estab-
get creative to fill the men’s time. On June Pennsylvania in the assault lished a new quarters that they quickly
across Antietam creek.
22, during the regular Sunday-morning dubbed “Camp Lincoln.” Although the
inspection, Captain William Bolton campsite was adequate, the men were not
decided to offer cash prizes to the three best-groomed prepared for the oppressive summer heat and humidity
enlisted men of his Company A, and competitive spirits of the Virginia Tidewater region, and life at Camp Lin-
ran high. The two best men were so closely matched coln was very uncomfortable. The 51st nevertheless
that the tie had to be broken by Hartranft himself, and found some amusements, and baseball was a popular
only an upside-down coat button on one of the men pastime among the officers and men alike. Colonel
decided the close contest. From that day forward, the Hartranft himself was hailed as one of the best players
companies of the 51st held competitions with one in the regiment.
another for similar honors and, until the regiment mus- During this period, Colonel Edward Ferrero of the
tered out, took great pride in the condition of their 51st New York was given command of the brigade,
weapons and accoutrements. much to the annoyance of the Pennsylvanians. Ferrero
was not particularly popular in the brigade to begin

A
S MCCLELLAN’S PENINSULA CAM- with, and his challenging new schedule of daily drill
paign to the north drew to a close after the did not further endear him to the men. In a few weeks’
Seven Days’ battles, orders came for the 51st time he would further insult the 51st Pennsylvania by
Pennsylvania to break its tedium and move. suspending their whiskey ration as punishment for one
On July 1 the regiment was ordered to strike the tents of their transgressions. The constant work and summer
and next day boarded the schooner R ecruit, which heat conspired to make the July days pass slowly.
made its way down the Neuse River in a rain squall. R ecruitsailed up the Potomac River and, on August
The vessel collided with another Union ship, causing 4, the regiment landed and moved by rail to Freder-
mass confusion among the tightly packed soldiers. The icksburg. After a short rest the 51st, along with the rest
Pennsylvanians’ anger turned to amusement when they of the newly organized Ninth Army Corps, began mov-

ANTIETAM 24
ing north by hard marches and railroad. The men
arrived at Culpeper on August 14. It was apparent that
a major campaign was under way.
Moving again on August 15, the suspicion that some-
thing big was brewing was confirmed when the regi-
ment watched Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates mak-
ing camp on the heights above the 51st’s new position
at Raccoon Ford, northwest of Fredericksburg.
Thus began a great game of cat-and-mouse as the
blue and gray armies, again on the move after the Seven
Days’ battles, began pressing one another for an advan-
tage, and in the intense heat the men grudgingly threw
away or stored their excess clothing. In general, the
Confederates advanced while the Yankees moved
northward toward Washington, DC. During the sub-
sequent days, the 51st Pennsylvania served as the rear
guard of the Ninth Corps’ 2nd Division and lost several
men captured by Jackson’s fast-moving vanguard. On
August 19 the brigade reached Kelly’s Ford after a 29-
mile march and settled down for a rest. While the short
break was welcome it was also nerve-wracking due to
constant probing of the brigade’s picket line by Con-
federate cavalry.
Over the next 10 days the regiment marched hard
through the rain and heat with almost no food. On
August 29, the Pennsylvanians, in a state of near-
exhaustion, reached Manassas Junction where they
joined up with the rest of the Federal Army of Virginia
under General John Pope. The Second Battle of Bull
Run was already under way in earnest, and the 51st
found itself laying in support of Durrell’s Battery D,
1st Pennsylvania Artillery, and standing picket duty.
By nightfall on August 30 the battle was over and
Union forces were withdrawing toward Washington.
Mercifully for the 51st, it had not been committed to
the main part of the fighting, although Ferrero’s
Brigade was ordered to provide the division’s rear
guard during the retreat. This order cost the 51st their
knapsacks, which had been unslung, neatly stacked,
and subsequently overrun by the enemy. Although
pressed hard, the brigade managed to avoid disaster
and made its way to Centreville, soaked to the skin by
a rainstorm and minus 13 men who had been wounded
or captured during the withdrawal. In the short time
they lingered at Centreville, the 51st Pennsylvania man-
aged to steal the stored clothing of a German regiment
(“whose ‘Cod fer tams’ were frequent and loud”) to
replace some of what they had lost a few days earlier.
After again supporting Durrell’s battery during the
sharp engagement at Chantilly on September 1, the reg-
iment made its way to Alexandria, Va., where the men
enjoyed a short rest and their first hot meal in weeks.
Drawing a few items of clothing but still on scant
rations, the men moved first to Washington and then
to Brookville, Md., on September 9. During the march
Ferrero’s Brigade was reorganized and was now com-
posed of the 51st Pennsylvania, the 51st New York,
and the 21st and 35th Massachusetts.
During the march through Maryland, the brigade
enjoyed the attention of loyal citizens and was allowed
a short rest at Brookville that featured plentiful rations
and time to clean up a bit. The brigade again took to
the road on September 11 and on the 14th arrived near
Fox’s Gap in South Mountain, where yet another
engagement was in progress.
Laying down once more in front of Durrell’s guns,
the lads of the 51st watched their artillery wage a rous-
ing duel with Rebel cannon until the late afternoon. As
the sun headed toward the nearby peaks, the brigade
was ordered up the side of South Mountain to consol-
idate gains made in the day’s fighting.
Moving into a field bordered by heavy woods, the
brigade saw all around them the wreckage of the des-
perate fight for Fox’s Gap. Earlier in the day the rookie
17th Michigan had pushed the Confederates out of a
nearby field and farther up the mountain. What Fer-
rero, Hartranft, and the 51st did not know was that
the 17th Michigan had not stayed there. As Ferrero’s
Brigade filed into the field to stack arms and boil coffee,
the dark tree line to their left exploded with a tremen-
dous flash of musketry. The Confederates had retaken
their previous positions after the Michigan troops had
moved to another part of the mountain, and the 51st
Pennsylvania was caught in a perfect ambush.
Scrambling to form a line and fight back, the brigade
lost cohesion and, as the 51st wheeled into line to face
their attackers, the green 35th Massachusetts to their
rear fired a volley into the surprised Pennsylvanians.
The 51st New York hurriedly stepped up and threat-
ened to volley into the confused Massachusetts men if
they fired again, and this gave Hartranft’s troops a
chance to charge the woods and chase away the Con-
federate threat.
In the aftermath of the sharp fight, the 51st Pennsyl-
vania shook out a strong picket line and grimly tallied
their losses: 6 men killed and 24 wounded. The damage
ANTIETAM 25
 Brother vs. Brother
The American Civil War Chronicled Like Never Before
CIVIL WAR QUARTERLY
Finally, a Civil War magazine designed to be passed from
generation to generation! CIVIL WAR QUARTERLY is a
beautiful, hardbound journal of America’s War Between
the States. Each hard bound issue is full of beautiful
maps and illustrations, rare photographs, and the best
research, writing and editing available today.
CIVIL WAR QUARTERLY will put you in the
center of the action. Here’s just a sample:
• In “Death of Beau Ideal” the killing of General Robert
McCook by Southern guerillas sparked angry reprisals.
• In “War Cloud Lowering,” Stonewall Jackson
won the day at the Battle of Manasses and won a new
nickname in the war’s first major battle.
• “The Treetops were Alive with Sharpshooters” details
the battle of Chancellorsville, when the 37th New York
Volunteers tried unsuccessfully to stem the panicked
Union rout.
• “Through The Gate of Ire” details Union Admiral
David Farragut’s taking of Confederate minefields, forts
and ironclads to pierce impregnable Mobile Bay.
All in a Hard Bound Volume which will
grace your home library.
Visit our website below to reserve your
subscription right now…

Civil War Quarterly

Curtis 02108
Stonewall
JA
THE
CKSON
BR AWL
AT
BRAWNER’S FA
RM
CIVIL WAR QUARTE

Cavalry Clash
RLY

Braatndy Station
I
Volume 1, No.
4

4TH U.S. REGU 150TH ANNIV

ERSARY
LARS AT GET TYSBURG

GET TYSBURG Civil War Quarterly

Curtis 02108
PREMIER ISSUE!

CAVALRY CLASHG
CROSSROADS AT GET TYSBUR
OF DESTINY
Battle of the Wilderness Gettysburg Day Two
CIVIL WAR QUARTERLY

P'S HILL
STORMING CUL
BOTCHED ATTA
CK AT KNOXVI nta
n

Bloody Battle for Atla

Volume 1, No.

LLE
1

+
EARLY SUMMER 2014
BAT TLE OF THE HEM Wretched Captivity Confederate
P BALES, LINCO ONS
SIOUX UPRISIN LN VS. FREMONT CIVIL WAR PRIS INVASION OF
AND MUCH MOG OF 1862, RED BADGE OF
KENTUCKY
RE INSIDE! COURAGE, Lee’s Brilliant Victory Early Summer 2013

RETAILER DISPLAY at Chancellorsville

UNTIL AUGUST 18 R, SIEGE OF
UNKNOWN SOLDIE DE-RUNNERS,

+
GETTYSBURG'S DERATE BLOCKA UNTIL AUGUST 27

PENSACOLA, CONFE
RETAILER DISPLAY

INSIDE!
AND MUCH MORE

CIVIL WAR QUARTERLY is also

available in digital format for iPad,
iPhone, Android, Kindle, and
more. See our website for details.

www.WarfareHistoryNetwork.com/Magazine
was worse than they knew at the time
because Maj. Gen. Jesse Reno, who
was temporarily commanding the
Ninth Corps, had been one of the first
to fall during the initial volley and
died shortly thereafter. The news was
a sore blow to the already-stunned
51st and the corps had just lost an
irreplaceable leader. Burnside, who
was temporarily responsible for the
right wing of the entire Army of the
Potomac, gave command of the Ninth
Corps to Brig. Gen. Jacob Cox of the
Kanawha (4th) Division.

P
USHING FORWARD AFTER
a troubled night’s sleep, the
regiment looked in wonder at
the number of dead draft ani- The 51st Pennsylvania took a circuitous route to get in position for a successful rush of the
mals that lined the road. The Rebels bridge.
were in retreat and the Ninth Corps
marched westward in pursuit. Over the next two days the stream. Cox dispatched Brig. Gen. Isaac Rodman’s
the corps captured a number of Confederate stragglers. Division well to the south and Colonel George Crook’s
On the afternoon of September 16, Ferrero’s Brigade, Brigade to the north,with orders to move close to the
with the rest of its division, halted east of Sharpsburg, banks of the Antietam and search for fords that were
Md., about a mile from an arched stone bridge across rumored to be in the area. Brigadier General Orlando
Antietam Creek. The 51st Pennsylvania bedded down Wilcox was to keep his division in reserve near the high
and passed a reasonable night’s sleep, disregarding the ground just vacated, thus leaving Brig. Gen. Samuel
ever-increasing noise of nearby skirmishers’ rifles, Sturgis’s 2nd Division—including the 51st Pennsylva-
which seemed to erupt from everywhere at once. nia—in the center, in close proximity to the stone
Well before daylight, Ferrero’s men were awakened bridge they had glimpsed the night before. Sturgis posi-
by the sound of heavy artillery fire, followed by the tioned his 1st Brigade, under Brig. Gen. James Nagle,
distant rattle of musketry as the sun rose. While mak- in a field south of the Rohrbach farmhouse, with Fer-
ing a hasty breakfast, the 51st Pennsylvania was rero’s 2nd Brigade slightly east and south of Nagle’s.
“somewhat cheered” by the surprise arrival of a bag The 51st moved to the edge of a cornfield and, as
of mail. Captain Bolton of Company A received a letter reported by one member of the regiment, “came to a
from his sister, “and after reading it, [I] destroyed it, halt near a large log barn near Antietam Creek. Here
and placed the envelope in my pocket, thinking if any- we found a fine spring of water.”
thing happened to me it might be of use to me.” Although no one had yet told them so, it was clear to
With daylight it became obvious that the massed most of the Ninth Corps that the stone bridge had to
Ninth Corps was in a less-than-ideal location: Several be taken, and it was equally clear that the Confederates
Yankee batteries had unlimbered on the high ground did not intend to give it up. During the slow march
between the infantry and Rebel batteries on the oppo- down the hill around 9 AM, the 51st heard a sharp
site side of Antietam Creek, and the two sides were exchange of musketry that turned out to be a probe of
trading iron in the growing daylight. As Rebel over- the bridge by some skirmishers from the 11th Ohio.
shots began to fall among the four helpless divisions, About an hour later, the firing suddenly increased
General Cox ordered them to move west and then again, when the 11th Connecticut of Rodman’s Divi-
south toward some sheltering hills that lay closer to sion made a frontal attack on the bridge. Portions of

ANTIETAM 27
the Nutmeg regiment made it to the creek north of the
bridge, and a few men even plunged into the four-foot-
deep water to ford the creek, but they suffered heavy
losses and retreated in shambles.
As the 11th Connecticut fell back, General Burnside,
who had reassumed direct command of the Ninth
Corps and was receiving increased pressure to take the
span and attack the Confederate right, ordered Stur-
gis’s 2nd Division forward. Singling out Nagle’s
Brigade to make the attempt, Sturgis even offered a
general’s star to Lt. Col. Eugene Duryea of the 2nd
Maryland if he led a successful assault over the bridge.
Duryea agreed and moved the 2nd Maryland from the
cornfield down to the Bridge Road on his left, followed
closely by the 6th New Hampshire, with the 9th New
Hampshire and 48th Pennsylvania in support. Firing a
wild volley into the Rebel position, the two lead regi-
ments took off down the road in a deadly race toward
the bridge, which was nearly 400 yards away.
As soon as they passed the bend in the road near the
barn, Nagle’s formations were hit by constant rifle and
cannon fire and, though a few men did reach the
bridge’s eastern end, they were unable to remain there.
Nagle’s two chewed-up regiments retreated up a slop-
ing hill to the east and sought cover. Meanwhile,
Nagle’s two supporting regiments tried to move closer
but were also repulsed; afterward, the 48th Pennsylva-
nia moved across the plowed field to their right to
rejoin their battered comrades, while the 9th New
Hampshire huddled along a fence near the creek.
After Nagle’s Brigade marched from the cornfield,
Ferrero’s regiments filed into Nagle’s former positions.
The 51st Pennsylvania stacked their blanket rolls and
knapsacks and placed their left company closest to the
Bridge Road near the barn, which by now was serving
as a field hospital. The 51st New York formed on the
Pennsylvanians’ right, and the 21st and 35th Massa-
chusetts took up supporting positions slightly to the
north and east.
As the sounds of Nagle’s attack diminished into an
artillery exchange, Ferrero’s men were finally able to
get a glimpse of what was happening. Captain Bolton
wrote in his diary, “The road leading to the bridge is
strewn with … dead and wounded. It is a sickening
sight.” For nearly an hour, Hartranft’s men had been
watching other soldiers disappear into the tall corn,
then heard the hellish noises of battle. Now the grisly
epilogue to those assaults became evident when groups
of mutilated men came stumbling back through the
cornrows, headed to the rear. The sight nearly
unnerved the inexperienced troops of the 35th Massa-
chusetts, and none of Ferrero’s men had any illusions
about what was happening at the bridge.
O
NCE AGAIN THE VOLUME OF FIRE
rose, as Nagle’s partially reformed brigade
again tried to take the bridge, this time
charging from the hill where they had gone
to ground. Almost before it had started, the attack
ended in disaster, and the beaten Marylanders and New
Hampshire men fell back again. It was just before 11
AM and Nagle’s Brigade was used up. After Nagle’s
failed assaults, Ferrero’s Brigade was next.
Burnside was nearly beside himself by this time and,
in a final desperate bid, sent a message through Sturgis
for Ferrero to “Take the two 51sts out of the 2nd
brigade” and let them try. Sturgis reported, “[I]
directed them to charge with the bayonet. They started
on their mission of death full of enthusiasm.”
Ferrero, knowing his brigade was already worn out
from the hard campaigning of the previous days, was
hoping instead to ford the stream at a less dangerous
point. After a series of short but heated exchanges
between Ferrero’s aide, Lieutenant John Hudson, and
Sturgis, Ferrero bitterly obeyed. Captain Bolton
recorded, “Finally at 11 o’clock a.m. the dreaded order
came from Burnside to Ferrero to take the 51st PA and
the 51st NY holding the 21st Mass. in reserve, and take
the bridge at all hazzards [sic].”
For his part, Ferrero was eager to regain some of his
regimental commanders’ respect, because he had made
an embarrassing, errant order earlier that morning that
led to an argument with Hartranft.
Ferrero rode up hard to his brigade and, ordering
them to their feet, shouted,“It is General Burnside’s
special request that the two 51sts take that bridge. Will
you do it?” The cynical silence that followed was bro-
ken when Corporal Lewis Patterson shouted from the
Pennsylvania ranks, “Will you give us our whiskey, if
we take it?” Eyes alit at the opportunity, Ferrero
wheeled around and exclaimed, “Yes, by God, you
shall all have as much as you want, if you take the
bridge!” In a quick hedge that was not lost on the sol-
diers, he continued, “I don’t mean the whole brigade,
but you two regiments shall have just as much as you
want, if it is in the commissary or I have to send to
ANTIETAM 28
New York to get it, and pay for it out of my own pri-
vate purse, that is if I live to see you through it! Will
you take it!?” The deal was struck when a resounding
“YES!” filled the air. Afterward, Patterson’s bold sug-
gestion was looked on with some wonder because he
was an abstainer.
After some consultation the brigade began marching
by the left flank toward the Bridge Road with the 51st
Pennsylvania in the lead. Along the way, Hartranft
encountered Lt. Col. Duryea of the 2nd Maryland who
warned him “not to go up the road”—good advice,
but difficult to heed. With the 51st New York follow-
ing, the Pennsylvanians moved along the road and past
the barn just as Nagle’s Brigade had done earlier.
As they reached the fork in the road south of the
bridge, the men were astonished when Hartranft sud-
denly led them to the right—away from the bridge—
up the fenced lane that led to the Rohrbach farm,
which was near the hilltop that overlooked the bridge.
The 51st Pennsylvania had turned their backs to the
Rebels dug in across the creek. Nevertheless, according
to Bolton, “from that moment the regiment received
volley after volley of grape, musketry, shot and shell,
filling our faces and eyes with sand and dirt, all this
time reserving our fire.”
On gaining the crest of the hill, the 51st Pennsylvania
turned left and jumped over the fence that lined
Rohrbach’s lane, entering the same depression in the
field on the north side of the road where the remains
of Nagle’s Brigade had gone to ground. Following the
Pennsylvanians, the 51st New York also filed right off
the Bridge Road into Rohrbach’s farm lane but stopped
at the base of the hill, perpendicular to the creek and
facing upstream. The 21st Massachusetts formed a
short, oblique line on the New Yorkers’ left flank, par-
allel to the Bridge Road.
From their new positions, the “twin” 51sts could
finally see what they were up against. The bridge
crossed the creek from the open ground on the eastern
bank, but terminated at a small lane on the far side.
Overlooking the bridge and lane was a steep and
wooded bluff that rolled higher and higher to a hill
nearly half a mile to the west. The wooded slope near
the bridge seemed alive with well-dug-in Confederate
soldiers, and the distant hill was crowned with Rebel
guns that had been refining their aim on the bridge all
morning as they pounded the Federal batteries and
infantry with everything they had including, according
to one account, chunks of railroad track.
Across the creek the Rebel defenders saw the new
Yankee troops massing and, for the fifth time in three
hours, began throwing metal as fast as they could. Sit-
uated in trees and rifle pits on the west bank of the
creek were two Georgia regiments: the 2nd (south of
the bridge) and the 20th (to the north). These two small
regiments had covered the span with a paper-thin line
all morning, often with eight feet or more separating
each man from the next. Worse, the persistent Yankee
artillery and musketry had thinned the gray line even
further, and the remaining men were getting tired.
T
HE SUPPORTING CONFEDERATE GUNS
on the hill behind the Georgians were worn
out and bloodied too, but both little groups
believed they had one more good fight left in
them. Colonel Henry Benning, in local command of
the dwindling Confederate force, thought so too. Part
of Benning’s confidence stemmed from the excellent
ground his troops occupied. The controversial politi-
cian-general Robert Toombs, in overall command of
the Rebel forces near the creek, described the position
in his official report: “From the nature of the ground
on the other side, the enemy were compelled to
approach mainly by the road which led up the river for
nearly three hundred paces parallel with my line of bat-
tle and distant from fifty to a hundred and fifty feet,
thus exposing his flank to a destructive fire the most of
that distance.”
The scores of dead and wounded Federals littering
the far bank confirmed Toombs’ words. Unfortunately
for the Southerners, confidence alone could not ease
Toombs and Benning’s growing problems. The bridge-
head’s two defending regiments had less than 400
men, and their ammunition was nearly exhausted. Sev-
eral hundred yards downstream, a Yankee regiment—
the 28th Ohio of Rodman’s Division—was forcing its
way across the creek. Further, the Federals had
brought up more artillery that was, by now, pounding
the wooded slope with round after round of canister.
Toombs sent word to the Georgians that, should the
blue troops manage to get across the bridge, they
should retire to the patchwork Confederate line that
was being formed in the direction of Sharpsburg. It
was a little after 12 noon, and it was clear that the
Yankees were going to try again.
Immediately after the 51st Pennsylvania had jumped
ANTIETAM 29
the fence along Rohrbach’s farm lane near the summit
of the little hill, they were ordered to form by company
into line just behind the prone ranks of Nagle’s 2nd
Maryland and 6th New Hampshire, whose men were
still taking potshots at the Rebels from the crest of the
knoll. As soon as the regiment sorted itself out, Har-
tranft ordered the 51st to fix bayonets, and reformed
them “in close column of division just behind the crest.
When the formation was complete I ordered the move-
ment upon the bridge.”
The energetic Lieutenant Hudson was with Colonel
Ferrero at the base of the hill near the barn when he
heard a strained cheer come from the knoll and, look-
ing up, “saw the 51st Pennsylvania rush (not very
fast—tired soldiers don’t go very fast)” directly toward
the bridge.
As the Pennsylvanians’ column of divisions (two
companies abreast) moved through the New Englan-
ders to their front, the world seemed to explode. The
remains of Nagle’s Brigade lining the knoll began firing
with a will at the Confederate positions, and elements
of Nagle’s 48th Pennsylvania and 9th New Hampshire
began scrambling forward on the flanks of the 51st to
offer what support they could. Meanwhile, the 21st
Massachusetts, back along the creek bank at the inter-
section of the Bridge Road and Rohrbach’s lane,
increased their fire, as did the 51st New York, and all
the while the Federal guns on the hills behind them
redoubled their efforts, throwing enormous quantities
of shot over the creek.
Despite all this, the Georgians were ready and, as the
51st Pennsylvania stumbled and ran down the slope,
hundreds of muskets turned a murderous fire on them.
Men began falling from the careening column at what
seemed like every step, and the Pennsylvanians broke
into a run in a bid to get to the small stone wall that
ran along the creek bank north of the bridge. The 51st
New York, taking a cue from their “twin” regiment,
jumped over the fence along Rohrbach’s lane to their
front and raced toward the bridge with equal determi-
nation. They finally stopped in a line behind another
rail fence directly south of the crossing.
Avoiding the bodies that remained on the slope from
the previous assaults, Hartranft’s men finally tumbled
into line behind the little wall and took a moment to
catch their breath. As he ran toward the cover of the
bridge abutment, Hartranft realized to his frustration
that a stout rail fence, which was linked into the abut-
ment itself, blocked the 51st’s route onto the bridge—
the regiment was trapped. He quickly ordered a hand-
ful of enlisted men to tear down the fence and, under
tremendous fire from the Southerners, they managed
to remove a few panels. Pennsylvanians tumbled
through the new opening and threw themselves down
on the road behind the stonework parapets: the eastern
entrance of the bridge was theirs!
Simultaneously, a squad of New Yorkers made their
way to the east end of the bridge as well, and both
51sts began to return the Rebels’ fire with a vengeance,
discharging round after round into the just-visible Con-
federates. It was the Georgians who began to suffer
now, but they nevertheless maintained a steady fire into
the paralyzed Yankee regiments while their own
artillery continued to bark from the hill behind them.
Hartranft was directing fire and shouting orders with
a steadily failing voice when Lieutenant Hudson made
a sudden appearance near the northern abutment, bear-
ing Ferrero’s impatient demand to move the 51st over
the bridge immediately. Hartranft was a bit shocked—
the Rebel fire was certainly slackening, but the eager
Federal artillery was sending a wall of fire just over the
top of the bridge, threatening to decimate anyone who
tried to cross.
Realizing he had little choice but to obey, Hartranft
took Hudson in tow and scurried to the southern side
of the bridge to find Colonel Robert Potter of the 51st
New York. Ordering Potter to follow the Pennsylvani-
ans across, Hartranft ran back to his men and passed
the word: It was time.
In a moment of electric excitement, Captain William
Allebaugh of Company C found First Sgt. William
Thomas nearby. Accompanied by the three color bear-
ers and one other member of the color guard, Alle-
baugh and Thomas made a dash for the bridge.
Rounding the corner and pushing a few feet onto the
bridge itself, they planted the colors on the road and
called back to the startled 51st Pennsylvania. Har-
tranft, waving his hat toward the colors, rasped out,
“Come on, boys, for I can’t halloo any longer!” and
was gratified to see his veterans suddenly stand up,
rush through the gap in the fence, and pour onto the
bridge, stopping only to fire or to avoid the men who
fell in front of them.
Allebaugh’s Company C seems to have been the first
onto the bridge, followed by Captain William Blair’s
Company G. However, the order that the companies
ANTIETAM 30
After a hard-fought battle for the bridge, Burnside’s Division rushes toward the Confederate position.
reached the bridge really did not matter because almost
immediately all was chaos, and any order or formation
melted away as hundreds of men in blue tried to push
through the bottleneck. Just as he was about to lead
his Company A onto the eastern approach, the obser-
vant Captain Bolton suffered a vicious hit, a Southern
bullet smashing out all the teeth from his right jaw and
exiting just below his left ear. Bolton stumbled to the
rear and fell senseless, eventually waking up in the
barn-turned-hospital from which he’d started an hour
before. To add to the congestion and chaos, Colonel
Potter was standing on the southern parapet, scream-
ing like a madman and urging the men of his 51st New
York to move across as well. Allebaugh’s little group
turned, raced across the span and, as the colors went
forward, so did the 51st Pennsylvania. They were over!
G
ENERAL STURGIS REPORTED, “THE
Stars and Stripes were planted on the oppo-
site bank at 1 o’clock p.m., amid the most
enthusiastic cheering from every part of the
field from where they could be seen.” At the opposite
end of the bridge the quick-moving regiment turned
to the right and ran north along the Bridge Road. The
leading elements began to find cover and fired at the
occasional target. To their surprise, the Pennsylvani-
ans took several Rebel prisoners. Hartranft managed
a peek at his watch and was amazed to discover the
attack had lasted only 13 minutes; it had seemed
much longer.
The Georgians had finally had enough. Nearly every
one of them was now out of ammunition, and most
began to fall back over the bluff as ordered; however,
there were scattered groups that could not or would
not leave, while others were simply too tired to run
and surrendered. When they finally reformed, there
were fewer than 250 men remaining of Toombs and
Benning’s original 400, but even so it was a remark-
ably low price to pay in trade for what they had done:
The little group had nearly defeated an entire Federal
division and had stymied a whole corps for several
critical hours.
ANTIETAM 31
Two Confederates lie dead near Burnside’s Bridge. They put up a stout defense for much of the day until overwhelmed.
The Pennsylvanians moved north along the Bridge
Road far enough to make room for the 51st New York
to file in on their left and, except for the occasional
artillery round, Confederate resistance at the bridge
had completely crumbled. The numbed men of the 51st
Pennsylvania were nearly out of ammunition (a testi-
mony to the intense firefight at the stone wall), so,
being veteran soldiers, they did the only thing that
made sense to them: They stacked arms by the stream
and began boiling coffee.
Like his men, Hartranft began to recover his bearings
and, as he surveyed his situation, he noticed something
peculiar—the two 51sts were by themselves on the
western side of the creek. The Federal commanders had
concentrated so hard all morning on taking the bridge
that they had neglected to design a follow-up plan.
Simultaneously, Ferrero, still on the eastern bank,
unhappily watched as the 51sts stopped their advance
and called for his Massachusetts regiments to immedi-
ately cross the bridge. As quickly as the order was
delivered, the 21st and 35th Massachusetts moved
toward the bridge, but the bruised regiments of Nagle’s
Brigade suddenly wanted the honor of crossing the
span next, and a stampede ensued. Men from every
command in Sturgis’s Division made for the bridge.
The nearly solid blue-clad mass pushed for the far
side and, in so doing, grabbed the attention of the still-
feisty Confederate artillerymen on the far hill. As flying
shells began to make the crossing a very hazardous
place once again, Ferrero’s Massachusetts men made
it to the far side and filed right, then up the bluff, push-
ing the Pennsylvanians farther north.
Lieutenant Colonel Bell of the 51st Pennsylvania,
who had gone looking for reinforcements a few min-
utes earlier, was returning from the bridge after his
redundant errand, and became one of the regiment’s
final casualties that day when a Southern canister ball
grazed his skull. Rolling down the creek bank into the
regiment’s stacked muskets, Bell seemed only stunned
at first, but he died a few hours later. This was a hard
blow to the 51st, and a harder blow to Hartranft, who
would mourn his dear friend for a very long time.
Over the next two hours Ferrero’s Brigade, which
had moved north and west along the top of the bluff,
waited in disbelief for other Union regiments to cross
over and take up the fight. While they waited, the sys-
tematic Confederate artillery fire caused the Pennsyl-
vanians to lose another handful of men wounded, and
the regiment’s beautiful, blue flag was torn to pieces
when a shell passed through it.
Well over an hour after they had fired their last
round, the 51st was finally relieved by the 45th Penn-
sylvania. The 51st had totally exhausted its ammuni-
tion and, after holding a forward position with nothing
more than their bayonets, Hartranft ordered the regi-
ment back
ANTIETAM 32
The Antietam Battlefield Today
T
he State of Maryland established the Antietam but a collection of local bed & breakfasts welcome trav-
National Cemetery on March 23, 1865, three elers. Accommodations and other information can be
weeks before Appomattox. The Battlefield Park had at the Washington County Convention and Visitors
was established on August 30, 1890, the second one to be Bureau in Hagerstown (888-257-2600).
set aside by the War Department (Chickamauga, Georgia, On the battlefield itself are 97 statues and monuments
was the first). It was transferred to the National Park and 41 field guns. Six vertical cannon monuments stand
Service in 1933. On Decoration Day of 1900, the Mary- in honor of the six general officers killed (three from
land Monument was dedicated, and 20 years later the each side) and 236 cast iron tablets trace the movements
New York Monument, perhaps the most impressive on of the various units during the action. Corn is still grown
the field, was solemnized.
Dunker Church, the most
notable landmark on the field
and which served alternately as
cover for rifleman, observation
post for artillery and field hos-
pital, was destroyed by a freak
hailstorm in 1921. It was
rebuilt in 1962, the same year
the Visitor Center was com-
pleted.
The park encompasses 800
acres and contains eight and a
half miles of paved road over
which a self-conducted auto-
mobile tour may be enjoyed
from the comfort of your car
(walking and biking are possi-
ble also and encouraged). Burnside’s Bridge as it appears today.
Tapes and tape players are
available at the Visitor Center
to talk you through the one and a half-hour trip (by car). in the famous field that bears the name of the site where
There are living history shows and displays throughout so many brave men from each side fell—the field
the summer season—a schedule is available by writing changed hands time and again on that fatal forenoon of
the Antietam National Battlefield, P.O. Box 158, Sharps- September 17, 1862. And, of course, Burnside Bridge
burg, MD 21782 or visiting the Web site at still spans Antietam Creek, silent sentinel to the feverish
www.nps.gov/anti. attack and parry on the Confederate right.
The village of Sharpsburg itself is a charming 19th-cen- Nearly half a million people visit the Antietam battle-
tury farming town that has even fewer residents today field each year. They are welcomed by permanent staff
than at the time of the famous battle. Located at the members and the many volunteers that make up the liv-
junction of state highways 34 and 65, it lies 10 miles ing history displays during the summer season.
south of Hagerstown. There are no hotels in Sharpsburg Keith Milton

ANTIETAM 33