GeorgeCrecy
07-06-2014, 05:37 AM
Antietam, Cont.
Sumner's Attack
The battle paused for an hour, during which McClellan called on Major General Sumner, commander of the II Corps. He asked him to also help to support Hooker on the northern side of the battlefield with two of his three divisions. So, Sumner led French's and Sedgewick's divisions across Antietam Creek at Pry's Mill Ford, while Sumner's last division remained to guard the long range artillery.
The two divisions arrived by 9:00 AM at the East Woods. The command rested momentarily before continuing into the carnage, but they did not move in a unified manner. The two divisions split around the command of General Greene, French moving to his right, and Sedgewick moving to the left. As the three brigades of Sedgewick advanced past the Cornfield and towards the West Woods, the 34th New York Infantry accidently detached itself and moved towards Dunker Church. There, they met the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry, which had similarly strayed from Williams' Division a while ago.
Sumner personally led Sedgewick's Division into the West Woods, the men climbing over the fence rails on both sides of Hagerstown Pike, before entering the woods themselves. The lead brigade commanded by Brigadier General Gorman reached the far side of the woods near A. Poffenberger farm and began to engage some remnants of Jackson's command. Sedgewick's other two brigades remained in the woods and awaited orders. When Gorman's men came out from the woods, they were engaged by the men of Lawton and J.R. Jones, however both were considerably damaged from earlier actions.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map8.jpg
The Rebels rushed to meet this new threat from Gorman. Early and his brigade moved east towards the West Woods to help support Jones and Lawton. Earlier that morning, Pelham and his 14 pieces of artillery had moved south from Nicodemus Hill, and set themselves up on the heights to the west of the Poffenberger farm. Additionally, General Lee sent Walker up from being in reserve to the south, along with the newly arrived division of McLaws from Harper's Ferry. Now 8,000 men strong, they stormed into the West Woods between the divisions of Greene and Sedgewick, knocking back the lonely regiments of the 125th PA and 34th NY. They then turned left and struck the rear and side of Sedgewick's division. The two brigades that had not attacked with Gorman tried to stand and return the favor, but were forced northward in retreat by the Confederate onslaught. Gorman was also attacked, but had more time to respond, and were able to act as a rear guard to the division as they retreated.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map9.jpg
They retreated to the guns of the I Corps, and Williams' division, who were able to stop the Confederate advance, driving them into the West Woods once again. Sumner's attack had been a complete failure, and Sedgewick himself had been wounded along with casualties accounting for 40% of his division. At the time of this failed attack, the other division of II Corps commanded by Brigadier General French continued on past Greene and past the Mumma and Roulette farms towards a small road called the Sunken Road, soon to be known as Bloody Lane.
Waiting for French's division was 2,500 men of D.H. Hill's rebel division, who piled up fence posts in front of their position as they saw the lines of blue advancing towards them, and as Hill sent urgent messages to Lee for more men.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map10.jpg
The Union soldiers crested a ridge over the Sunken Road, and were withered by a volley from the Confederates, stopping them cold. G.B. Anderson received a wound in the foot which would kill him a month afterward, and the regimental commander that stepped up to replace him was immediately shot and killed as the two sides settled to exchanging volleys. The Confederates on the left of Hill's line repeatedly tried to rise from the road and charge, but were continuously pushed due to their uncoordinated efforts.
Around 10 AM, Lee answered Hill's pleas by sending Richard Anderson's division fresh from Harper's Ferry to join him. On the Yankee side, McClellan had sent the 1st Division of Sumner's II Corps commanded by Major General Israel Richardson from guarding the long range artillery to help French. Some of the first to arrive on the scene of his division were the brave Irishmen of Brigadier General Thomas Meagher's Irish Brigade, who fired several volleys into the Confederates, before continuing the fight with close combat. However, they were standing in the open and were mowed down by the rank by the Rebel troops. Of the 1,400 men in Meagher's Brigade, over 1,000 men lay dead or dying, and Meagher himself was carried off wounded when his horse was shot from underneath him.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map11.jpg
While Anderson and Richardson went at it in Bloody Lane, Union General Greene charged his division into the West Woods, knocking aside some of the men of Walker's division. But, while he held his position in the woods for two hours, Greene was concerned as to the lack of support he was requesting, and that he might very well be surrounded, so he retreated all the way back to the East Woods.
His retreat allowed Walker and his men to reoccupy the West Woods, but at the same time also opened up the flank of the Union men fighting in the Bloody Lane, which the 3rd Arkansas and 27th North Carolina quickly went to take advantage of, and they were soon joined by several friendly commands that were left of Rodes' Division. French ended his attack on the Confederates in the Bloody Lane, and turned his whole division to meet the new threat on his right. Richardson sent a small portion of his men to help support French. Additionally, Major General William Smith came onto the scene with the 2nd Division of the VI Corps, which was the final straw for the Confederates attacking French.
By now it was 12:30, and the Rebels in the Sunken Road had long since run low on ammunition, were suffering from heavy casualties, and had also been given confusing orders, all of which contributed to their retreat from the Sunken Road after several bloody hours of fighting and utter hell. As a final casualty, seeming to be a spiteful attack from the fates, Richardson himself was mortally wounded by a shell fragment as his division crossed the road.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map12.jpg
Unfortunately for the Confederates, the loss of the Sunken Road also meant a complete breach of the middle of their line, splitting the army into two. As James Longstreet reported his post-war book,
"It was easy to see that if the Federals broke through our line there, the Confederate army would be cut in two and probably destroyed, for we were
already badly whipped and were only holding our ground by sheer force of desperation."5
As Longstreet and his staff witnessed the possible destruction of the entire Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet noticed two cannons to the south of the Union positions, which he had his staff man while he held the horses. General D.H. Hill grabbed a musket and cartridges from a Rebel soldier and tried to lead a counterattack with some 200 men, which did not succeed.
On the Union side, McClellan had an excellent opportunity, with Franklin's IV Corps, Porter's V Corps, and the whole cavalry division fresh and ready, but instead ordered the division of fallen Richardson to hold their position. The battles to the north and center of Lee's position around Sharpsburg came to an end. Trouble however, is miserable when not in the fore, and made its way south to the Lower Bridge, where Burnside and Toombs were about to face off.
Southern Antietam
The men in the south could hear the guns from farther north, where Richardson was mounting his assault on the Sunken Road, when they also heard the shouts of their officers to move out. Burnside was finally on the move again. Beginning his attack with the IX Corps commanded by Cox, against only 400 men under Toomb's command, along with another 100 men detached from the brigade of Brigadier General Thomas Drayton's Brigade and a company of men from Jenkin's Brigade.
Starting at around 10:00, the attack was unfortunately very piecemeal, with the 11th Connecticut leading the first assault, but suffering heavy losses and the death of their commander were pushed back. And, as they were being dealt their rear end, Rodman's 3rd Division went south and around the bends of Antietam in search of a passable ford. The first ford he came to would not work, considering that the bank on the other side went up 160 feet. The next ford he came to was Snavely's Ford, which was only waist deep.
An aide from McClellan came near the bridge to get an update, and was met with the retreating men of the 11th Connecticut. Once the message had been delivered that little progress had been made at the Lower Bridge, McClellan ordered Burnside to take the bridge at all costs. By 11:00, Burnside had ordered the 2nd Maryland and 6th New Hampshire of Sturgis' 2nd Division to move to the bridge, but they were pushed back like the 11th Connecticut.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map13.jpg
Again the aide of McClellan had to report the bad news, and this time McClellan sent the army's inspector General, Colonel Delos D. Sackett, to reinforce the order that the bridge was to be taken, even if Burnside had to be led to it by the point of a bayonet. Sackett was ordered to remain there until it was taken. at 1:00 the 51st Pennsylvania and 51st New York were brought up along with support from a howitzer at the abutment of the bridge. Rodman's 3rd Division crossed the Creek at Snavely's Ford, as did several companies of the 28th Ohio from the fabled Kanawha Division in the north near the Sherrick farm. Toombs, being surrounded in such a way was forced to pull back towards the town of Sharpsburg.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map14.jpg
Despite the success, McClellan was unhappy with the fact that the assault took 3 hours, and it would take another 2 hours beside for all of IX Corps to cross the bridge and reform. He ordered Burnside to continue the attack, to which Burnside continued his advance uphill towards the town of Sharpsburg. It was then that a detachment of the Signal Corps on the east side of the Antietam Creek flagged Burnside that "Look out well on your left; the enemy are moving a strong force in that direction[,]"6 though there are doubts that Burnside actually saw the message.
And who else was the subject of this urgent message than the long awaited A.P. Hill with his division from Harper's Ferry, and arrived at the scene by 2:30 after 17 miles of forced marching. Lee immediately ordered them to attack the advancing Union assault. The brigades of Brockenbrough and Pender guarded Hill's left, while the combined brigades of Branch, Gregg, and Archer attacked Burnside on his left flank. However, the 17 mile forced march had taken a toll on the bedraggled men, which also were severely depleted from what was normal regulation strength, and in total did not breach 2,000 men, Archer's Brigade didn't number more than 350 men.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map15.jpg
Wilcox's 1st Division continued their advance up to Sharpsburg, but Rodman and his 3rd Division was stopped in their tracks when A.P. Hill's men attacked. A portion of the Kanawha Division came up to try and help support Rodman, but were having quite a bit of trouble distinguishing who was friend and who was foe among the smoke of the battlefield. Plus, many of the men in the secessionist regiments were partly wearing Union blue taken from the stores of Harper's Ferry. So, as the Kanawha helpers came up, they were outflanked by Gregg's Brigade and were forced back.
Rodman himself was killed early in the attack, him being the third Union General killed during one very gory day. But he was but one of 2,000 men that died in the Federal assault on the town. General Branch was also killed as the fighting drew to a close near 5:00, bringing the Confederates also to 3 dead major officers. Burnside, being flanked, withdrew his men to the Creek and set up a defensive perimeter. The Confederates, exhausted as they were, were more than happy to stay on the heights near Sharpsburg.
The Day After
It was September 18th, 1862. The day before, 22,700 men lost their lives at the word of their commanders, and at the shot of rifled-musket and cannon. With the possibility of attack or waiting before McClellan, it was little surprise he chose the latter, though giving out the order that an attack would be made again on the 19th. On the other hand, Lee was more than willing to make a stab at the Army of the Potomac, but he had little to make such an attack with. Another 5 to 6,000 stragglers had caught up to his army, and he made plans to turn McClellan's flank to the north near Nicodemus Hill, but Hooker had much too many artillery there for such an attack to work. Instead, Lee was obligated to return to Virginia during the night of the 18th. He did hope to cross again at Williamsport and attack McClellan's rear, but again the ragged condition of his men forestalled such ambitions.
Much to the surprise of McClellan, the enemy had vanished from his front. While his army was retreating, Lee left two infantry brigades and his special horse-artillery reserve under William Pendleton to guard their rear at Boteler's Ford near Shepherdstown. As evening drew near, Union General Charles Griffin - under Porter's V Corps tasked with pursuing the Confederate host - found the enemy and sent the 1st US Sharpshooters and 4th Michigan Infantry to attack. They captured four of Pendleton's guns, but were called back. Pendleton sent a report to Lee which accidently stated that all 44 of his guns had been captured, rather than just 4.
Early on September 20th, Porter sent two brigades to do some reconnaissance of the enemy, and were met with the two brigades of A.P. Hill's "Light Division." The Federals opened up with a heavy artillery bombardment on Hill's men as they tried to attack, giving them terrible casualties as the Union brigades attempted to get back to the ford. Porter ordered two more brigades across the ford to help out, ordering the other two back. The Colonel of the green 118th PA, however, did not receive the order to withdraw from the proper chain of command, and so decided to stay and fight, which cost them a 38% casualty rate when the Confederates attacked them before they did withdraw with the rest of the Yankees back across the ford.
President Abraham Lincoln, for his part, grew increasingly furious at McClellan's inactivity in the weeks following the battle of Antietam, urging him to cross into Virginia and attack the Army of Northern Virginia in their weak state, as he should have tried to do directly afterward. Instead, McClellan sent back complaints that his horses were fatigued and suffering from sore-tongue. Lincoln sent a telegram back to him stating, "I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?"7
It was not until October 26th that McClellan began to move the army over the Potomac River, though they had still not fully crossed after a week's time, to which an exasperated Lincoln took McClellan off of his position and replaced him with Ambrose Burnside.
From this came the events which led to the terrible Union defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg, but also the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which dashed away any Confederate hope that England and other powerful European nations might officially join in, which was one of the lynchpins of the Rebel plan to stay afloat in their war against the more powerful factories and manpower reserves which the Northerners had in their corner.
After the Battle of Antietam, McClellan wrote that any other devices of the Confederates to invade Pennsylvania had been forever ended. However, Lee had another opportunity lying in wait for him, residing in the summer of 1863....
5Longstreet, James. "The Invasion of Maryland." From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. Philadelphia, PA: J.B.
Lippincott, 1896. N. pag. OpenLibrary.org. 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 6 June 2014.
<https://archive.org/stream/manassasappomatt00longrich#page/n21/mode/2up>.
6McClellan, George Brinton, and William Cowper Prime. McClellan's Own Story: The War for the Union, the Soldiers Who Fought It, the Civilians Who
Directed It, and His Relations to It and to Them. New York: C.L. Webster, 1887. 138. Print.
7Harsh, Joseph L. Sounding the Shallows: A Confederate Companion for the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2000. 485. Print.
Sumner's Attack
The battle paused for an hour, during which McClellan called on Major General Sumner, commander of the II Corps. He asked him to also help to support Hooker on the northern side of the battlefield with two of his three divisions. So, Sumner led French's and Sedgewick's divisions across Antietam Creek at Pry's Mill Ford, while Sumner's last division remained to guard the long range artillery.
The two divisions arrived by 9:00 AM at the East Woods. The command rested momentarily before continuing into the carnage, but they did not move in a unified manner. The two divisions split around the command of General Greene, French moving to his right, and Sedgewick moving to the left. As the three brigades of Sedgewick advanced past the Cornfield and towards the West Woods, the 34th New York Infantry accidently detached itself and moved towards Dunker Church. There, they met the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry, which had similarly strayed from Williams' Division a while ago.
Sumner personally led Sedgewick's Division into the West Woods, the men climbing over the fence rails on both sides of Hagerstown Pike, before entering the woods themselves. The lead brigade commanded by Brigadier General Gorman reached the far side of the woods near A. Poffenberger farm and began to engage some remnants of Jackson's command. Sedgewick's other two brigades remained in the woods and awaited orders. When Gorman's men came out from the woods, they were engaged by the men of Lawton and J.R. Jones, however both were considerably damaged from earlier actions.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map8.jpg
The Rebels rushed to meet this new threat from Gorman. Early and his brigade moved east towards the West Woods to help support Jones and Lawton. Earlier that morning, Pelham and his 14 pieces of artillery had moved south from Nicodemus Hill, and set themselves up on the heights to the west of the Poffenberger farm. Additionally, General Lee sent Walker up from being in reserve to the south, along with the newly arrived division of McLaws from Harper's Ferry. Now 8,000 men strong, they stormed into the West Woods between the divisions of Greene and Sedgewick, knocking back the lonely regiments of the 125th PA and 34th NY. They then turned left and struck the rear and side of Sedgewick's division. The two brigades that had not attacked with Gorman tried to stand and return the favor, but were forced northward in retreat by the Confederate onslaught. Gorman was also attacked, but had more time to respond, and were able to act as a rear guard to the division as they retreated.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map9.jpg
They retreated to the guns of the I Corps, and Williams' division, who were able to stop the Confederate advance, driving them into the West Woods once again. Sumner's attack had been a complete failure, and Sedgewick himself had been wounded along with casualties accounting for 40% of his division. At the time of this failed attack, the other division of II Corps commanded by Brigadier General French continued on past Greene and past the Mumma and Roulette farms towards a small road called the Sunken Road, soon to be known as Bloody Lane.
Waiting for French's division was 2,500 men of D.H. Hill's rebel division, who piled up fence posts in front of their position as they saw the lines of blue advancing towards them, and as Hill sent urgent messages to Lee for more men.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map10.jpg
The Union soldiers crested a ridge over the Sunken Road, and were withered by a volley from the Confederates, stopping them cold. G.B. Anderson received a wound in the foot which would kill him a month afterward, and the regimental commander that stepped up to replace him was immediately shot and killed as the two sides settled to exchanging volleys. The Confederates on the left of Hill's line repeatedly tried to rise from the road and charge, but were continuously pushed due to their uncoordinated efforts.
Around 10 AM, Lee answered Hill's pleas by sending Richard Anderson's division fresh from Harper's Ferry to join him. On the Yankee side, McClellan had sent the 1st Division of Sumner's II Corps commanded by Major General Israel Richardson from guarding the long range artillery to help French. Some of the first to arrive on the scene of his division were the brave Irishmen of Brigadier General Thomas Meagher's Irish Brigade, who fired several volleys into the Confederates, before continuing the fight with close combat. However, they were standing in the open and were mowed down by the rank by the Rebel troops. Of the 1,400 men in Meagher's Brigade, over 1,000 men lay dead or dying, and Meagher himself was carried off wounded when his horse was shot from underneath him.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map11.jpg
While Anderson and Richardson went at it in Bloody Lane, Union General Greene charged his division into the West Woods, knocking aside some of the men of Walker's division. But, while he held his position in the woods for two hours, Greene was concerned as to the lack of support he was requesting, and that he might very well be surrounded, so he retreated all the way back to the East Woods.
His retreat allowed Walker and his men to reoccupy the West Woods, but at the same time also opened up the flank of the Union men fighting in the Bloody Lane, which the 3rd Arkansas and 27th North Carolina quickly went to take advantage of, and they were soon joined by several friendly commands that were left of Rodes' Division. French ended his attack on the Confederates in the Bloody Lane, and turned his whole division to meet the new threat on his right. Richardson sent a small portion of his men to help support French. Additionally, Major General William Smith came onto the scene with the 2nd Division of the VI Corps, which was the final straw for the Confederates attacking French.
By now it was 12:30, and the Rebels in the Sunken Road had long since run low on ammunition, were suffering from heavy casualties, and had also been given confusing orders, all of which contributed to their retreat from the Sunken Road after several bloody hours of fighting and utter hell. As a final casualty, seeming to be a spiteful attack from the fates, Richardson himself was mortally wounded by a shell fragment as his division crossed the road.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map12.jpg
Unfortunately for the Confederates, the loss of the Sunken Road also meant a complete breach of the middle of their line, splitting the army into two. As James Longstreet reported his post-war book,
"It was easy to see that if the Federals broke through our line there, the Confederate army would be cut in two and probably destroyed, for we were
already badly whipped and were only holding our ground by sheer force of desperation."5
As Longstreet and his staff witnessed the possible destruction of the entire Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet noticed two cannons to the south of the Union positions, which he had his staff man while he held the horses. General D.H. Hill grabbed a musket and cartridges from a Rebel soldier and tried to lead a counterattack with some 200 men, which did not succeed.
On the Union side, McClellan had an excellent opportunity, with Franklin's IV Corps, Porter's V Corps, and the whole cavalry division fresh and ready, but instead ordered the division of fallen Richardson to hold their position. The battles to the north and center of Lee's position around Sharpsburg came to an end. Trouble however, is miserable when not in the fore, and made its way south to the Lower Bridge, where Burnside and Toombs were about to face off.
Southern Antietam
The men in the south could hear the guns from farther north, where Richardson was mounting his assault on the Sunken Road, when they also heard the shouts of their officers to move out. Burnside was finally on the move again. Beginning his attack with the IX Corps commanded by Cox, against only 400 men under Toomb's command, along with another 100 men detached from the brigade of Brigadier General Thomas Drayton's Brigade and a company of men from Jenkin's Brigade.
Starting at around 10:00, the attack was unfortunately very piecemeal, with the 11th Connecticut leading the first assault, but suffering heavy losses and the death of their commander were pushed back. And, as they were being dealt their rear end, Rodman's 3rd Division went south and around the bends of Antietam in search of a passable ford. The first ford he came to would not work, considering that the bank on the other side went up 160 feet. The next ford he came to was Snavely's Ford, which was only waist deep.
An aide from McClellan came near the bridge to get an update, and was met with the retreating men of the 11th Connecticut. Once the message had been delivered that little progress had been made at the Lower Bridge, McClellan ordered Burnside to take the bridge at all costs. By 11:00, Burnside had ordered the 2nd Maryland and 6th New Hampshire of Sturgis' 2nd Division to move to the bridge, but they were pushed back like the 11th Connecticut.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map13.jpg
Again the aide of McClellan had to report the bad news, and this time McClellan sent the army's inspector General, Colonel Delos D. Sackett, to reinforce the order that the bridge was to be taken, even if Burnside had to be led to it by the point of a bayonet. Sackett was ordered to remain there until it was taken. at 1:00 the 51st Pennsylvania and 51st New York were brought up along with support from a howitzer at the abutment of the bridge. Rodman's 3rd Division crossed the Creek at Snavely's Ford, as did several companies of the 28th Ohio from the fabled Kanawha Division in the north near the Sherrick farm. Toombs, being surrounded in such a way was forced to pull back towards the town of Sharpsburg.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map14.jpg
Despite the success, McClellan was unhappy with the fact that the assault took 3 hours, and it would take another 2 hours beside for all of IX Corps to cross the bridge and reform. He ordered Burnside to continue the attack, to which Burnside continued his advance uphill towards the town of Sharpsburg. It was then that a detachment of the Signal Corps on the east side of the Antietam Creek flagged Burnside that "Look out well on your left; the enemy are moving a strong force in that direction[,]"6 though there are doubts that Burnside actually saw the message.
And who else was the subject of this urgent message than the long awaited A.P. Hill with his division from Harper's Ferry, and arrived at the scene by 2:30 after 17 miles of forced marching. Lee immediately ordered them to attack the advancing Union assault. The brigades of Brockenbrough and Pender guarded Hill's left, while the combined brigades of Branch, Gregg, and Archer attacked Burnside on his left flank. However, the 17 mile forced march had taken a toll on the bedraggled men, which also were severely depleted from what was normal regulation strength, and in total did not breach 2,000 men, Archer's Brigade didn't number more than 350 men.
http://www.history.army.mil/StaffRide/Antietam/Images/Map15.jpg
Wilcox's 1st Division continued their advance up to Sharpsburg, but Rodman and his 3rd Division was stopped in their tracks when A.P. Hill's men attacked. A portion of the Kanawha Division came up to try and help support Rodman, but were having quite a bit of trouble distinguishing who was friend and who was foe among the smoke of the battlefield. Plus, many of the men in the secessionist regiments were partly wearing Union blue taken from the stores of Harper's Ferry. So, as the Kanawha helpers came up, they were outflanked by Gregg's Brigade and were forced back.
Rodman himself was killed early in the attack, him being the third Union General killed during one very gory day. But he was but one of 2,000 men that died in the Federal assault on the town. General Branch was also killed as the fighting drew to a close near 5:00, bringing the Confederates also to 3 dead major officers. Burnside, being flanked, withdrew his men to the Creek and set up a defensive perimeter. The Confederates, exhausted as they were, were more than happy to stay on the heights near Sharpsburg.
The Day After
It was September 18th, 1862. The day before, 22,700 men lost their lives at the word of their commanders, and at the shot of rifled-musket and cannon. With the possibility of attack or waiting before McClellan, it was little surprise he chose the latter, though giving out the order that an attack would be made again on the 19th. On the other hand, Lee was more than willing to make a stab at the Army of the Potomac, but he had little to make such an attack with. Another 5 to 6,000 stragglers had caught up to his army, and he made plans to turn McClellan's flank to the north near Nicodemus Hill, but Hooker had much too many artillery there for such an attack to work. Instead, Lee was obligated to return to Virginia during the night of the 18th. He did hope to cross again at Williamsport and attack McClellan's rear, but again the ragged condition of his men forestalled such ambitions.
Much to the surprise of McClellan, the enemy had vanished from his front. While his army was retreating, Lee left two infantry brigades and his special horse-artillery reserve under William Pendleton to guard their rear at Boteler's Ford near Shepherdstown. As evening drew near, Union General Charles Griffin - under Porter's V Corps tasked with pursuing the Confederate host - found the enemy and sent the 1st US Sharpshooters and 4th Michigan Infantry to attack. They captured four of Pendleton's guns, but were called back. Pendleton sent a report to Lee which accidently stated that all 44 of his guns had been captured, rather than just 4.
Early on September 20th, Porter sent two brigades to do some reconnaissance of the enemy, and were met with the two brigades of A.P. Hill's "Light Division." The Federals opened up with a heavy artillery bombardment on Hill's men as they tried to attack, giving them terrible casualties as the Union brigades attempted to get back to the ford. Porter ordered two more brigades across the ford to help out, ordering the other two back. The Colonel of the green 118th PA, however, did not receive the order to withdraw from the proper chain of command, and so decided to stay and fight, which cost them a 38% casualty rate when the Confederates attacked them before they did withdraw with the rest of the Yankees back across the ford.
President Abraham Lincoln, for his part, grew increasingly furious at McClellan's inactivity in the weeks following the battle of Antietam, urging him to cross into Virginia and attack the Army of Northern Virginia in their weak state, as he should have tried to do directly afterward. Instead, McClellan sent back complaints that his horses were fatigued and suffering from sore-tongue. Lincoln sent a telegram back to him stating, "I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?"7
It was not until October 26th that McClellan began to move the army over the Potomac River, though they had still not fully crossed after a week's time, to which an exasperated Lincoln took McClellan off of his position and replaced him with Ambrose Burnside.
From this came the events which led to the terrible Union defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg, but also the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which dashed away any Confederate hope that England and other powerful European nations might officially join in, which was one of the lynchpins of the Rebel plan to stay afloat in their war against the more powerful factories and manpower reserves which the Northerners had in their corner.
After the Battle of Antietam, McClellan wrote that any other devices of the Confederates to invade Pennsylvania had been forever ended. However, Lee had another opportunity lying in wait for him, residing in the summer of 1863....
5Longstreet, James. "The Invasion of Maryland." From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America. Philadelphia, PA: J.B.
Lippincott, 1896. N. pag. OpenLibrary.org. 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 6 June 2014.
<https://archive.org/stream/manassasappomatt00longrich#page/n21/mode/2up>.
6McClellan, George Brinton, and William Cowper Prime. McClellan's Own Story: The War for the Union, the Soldiers Who Fought It, the Civilians Who
Directed It, and His Relations to It and to Them. New York: C.L. Webster, 1887. 138. Print.
7Harsh, Joseph L. Sounding the Shallows: A Confederate Companion for the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2000. 485. Print.