The First Maryland Campaign and Hoods Texans By Gerard Mayers Part I Note: The author is a re-enactor, first a recruit in the 4th Texas, now a member of the Signal Unit, Longstreets Corps, and a fine amateur historian specializing in Lees Maryland Campaign. The month of September is a special one for students of the Regiments comprising Hoods Texas Brigade. While Hoods Texans won fame and renown on other fields of battle, the Brigade immortalized itself in Civil War history by its participation in the counter-attack into The Cornfield during the Battle of Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. The Battle of Sharpsburg was the culmination of a move by Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland in a three-pronged effort to: first, keep the tactical and strategic initiative {so illustriously won during the Seven Days Battles and the just-concluded Second Manassas campaign} on the side of the Southern Confederacy ; secondly, to draw Federal forces out of northern Virginia and the Valley of Virginia in order to allow for the gathering-in of vitally needed crops and foodstuffs; thirdly, to operate sufficiently north of the Potomac to give Maryland an opportunity to officially join the Confederacy and possibly also take the war into Northern territory {i.e. Pennsylvania}. Advancing into Maryland as part of the Wing of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Hoods Division encamped from September 7 to September 11 {approximate dates} in the general area between the Monocacy Junction railway bridge/aqueduct and the town of Frederick. While there, the Texans had a chance to wash their clothes and bathe, oftentimes in the same operation, and rest from the ardors of the previous weeks. Leaving Frederick on September 11 in accordance with its operational orders received as part of Special Order No. 191, the command marched from Frederick to Boonsboro along the National Turnpike, passing through Middletown en route. The macadamized surface of the road and undulating nature of the terrain caused much suffering among the Confederates, as many had worn out their brogans from all the marching and fighting of the previous weeks. Following an overnight rest at Boonsboro, Longstreet {with Lee accompanying} reached the Hagerstown area on September 13 after a forced march of thirteen miles. In the meantime, Major General Daniel H. Hill, entrusted with the rear guard of the Army of Northern Virginia, held his Division around Boonsboro and the passes through South Mountain. An unlucky accident of the discovery of a copy of Special Order No. 191 gave Union General George B. McClellan {commanding the Federal force comprised of units from the Army of the Potomac, the former Army of Virginia which Lee defeated at 2nd Manassas, the IX Army Corps under Ambrose Burnside from North Carolina and the Kanawha Division from the western portion of Virginia} a fairly good idea of the location of the scattered elements of Lees Army. About two-thirds of the Army of Northern Virginia had gone with Stonewall Jackson to capture Harpers Ferry and secure Lees communications and supply lines through the Valley to Winchester. With S.O. 191 in his hands, McClellan ordered an energetic advance against the Confederates on the South Mountain passes and a relief column composed of William Franklins wing of the Federal army to raise the Confederate siege of Harpers Ferry. As he stood on a prominence not far from his headquarters at the Old Mountain House in Turners Gap [through which the National Turnpike passed}, D.H. Hill saw two entire Federal Corps advancing against his small command holding not only Turners Gap but also Foxs Gap to the south. Hill later commented that he had never understood the passage in the Old Testament about an army being terrible in battle array until that morning. Hill knew what he had to do and fast! A heavy Federal column was advancing against Foxs Gap and another column was heading straight for Turners Gap. It was Foxs Gap that gave Hill the most concern. Loss of that pass through South Mountain would give the Federals the ability to not only flank him off the mountain but also seriously endanger the reserve artillery train and supply trains of the Army of Northern Virginia. Both trains were parked around Boonsboro. Orders went to George Andersons Carolina Brigade on the road from Boonsboro to Hagerstown to advance quickly to the top of the mountain at Turners Gap and take the wood road to link up with the small Brigade commanded by Brigade General Samuel Garland holding Foxs Gap along with portions of Bondurants and Carters Artillery Batteries. A message went from Hill to Lee explaining the situation at hand, and stating the urgent need for re-enforcements. When Andersons Brigade {half commanded by Col. C.C. Tew of the 2nd North Carolina and the other half commanded by Anderson himself} reached Foxs Gap, it found a scene of total chaos for Confederate arms. Not only had Bondurant and Carter been forced back from their Artillery positions, but also the brigade commanded by Garland had been routed and its commander mortally wounded. {Garland would essentially bleed to death on the porch of the Old Mountain House at Turners Gap.} Though they did not know it at the time, elements of the Federal IX Corps succeeded in turning Hills flank! The North Carolinians pitched in and restored the situation somewhat in favor of the Confederates. A nasty and see-saw battle erupted which basically left the Federals squarely on the eastern {or southwestern} part of the gap but unable to advance. But the Confederate hold on Foxs Gap was tenuous at best; a determined Federal push would leave no option but retreat. Hills urgent message to Lee pleading for reinforcements had its effect. Lee ordered Longstreet to turn around and march immediately for Boonsboro and the crisis on the mountain. Along with others in Longstreets Wing, Hoods Division marched toward the fighting. As members of the Texas Brigade marched through the little village {named for a brother of Daniel Boone of Kentucky fame during the Revolutionary War period}, they encountered Lee who had reached Boonsboro in advance of them to assess the situation and confer with Hill. The Texans loudly shouted, Give us Hood! Give us Hood! Hood, marching in the rear of his division and under arrest as a result of a squabble with Gen. Nathan Shanks Evans over some ambulances captured by the Texas and others of his Division during Second Manassas, was asked by Lee to forget about his claim to the ambulances and the matter would be dropped. Hood, on point of honor, refused to back down from his position. Owing to the desperateness of the moment, Lee restored Hood to command of his division after extracting a promise for Hood to return to his position of arrest once the emergency had passed. {The matter of Hoods arrest seems to have been forgotten by Lee; the matter was never again brought up owing to the Confederate fight for survival at Sharpsburg and Hoods later promotion to Major General late in October.} To the echo of cheers and shouts, Hoods Texans willingly resumed their rapid march with Hood again in the lead. Arriving atop Foxs Gap after the grueling and dusty forced march from Hagerstown, Hoods division helped stabilize the state of affairs and hold off further Federal advances on that front. At Turners Gap, the Confederates had, by nightfall, stopped Federal advances on both sides of the Turnpike. North of Turners Gap, Federal advances up the mountain had been successful but darkness put an end to the fighting. The Confederate resistance at South Mountain had not held back Federal assaults without price. At Cramptons Gap, Federal units under Franklin forced the Gap after pushing the Confederates from just outside Burkettsville. The Confederate defeat there enabled a Federal advance into Pleasant Valley at the northern side of the mountain. At Foxs Gap and Turners Gap, the fighting had been savage, confusing and deadly. One of the few completely successful bayonet charges of the entire War occurred during the Turners Gap fight. It was during this engagement that John Gibbons Brigade of Wisconsin and Indiana Regiments was given the Iron Brigade nickname. Late in the night of September 14 and early morning of September 15, the Confederates at Foxs Gap and Turners Gap retreated en haste down South Mountain, leaving their many wounded and dead comrades for the victorious Federals to deal with. With the chaos, confusion and very dark night, some Confederates became separated from their units and left to their own devices to return to Virginia. A member of Company E, 4th Texas, deserted and went over to the enemy during this period. {A large Confederate field hospital at Boonsboro also was left to the Federals in the retreat towards Keedysville and Sharpsburg.} As the Army of Northern Virginia retreated, the Confederates were not only hungry; they were exhausted. The combination of the forced marches, the weather (it had been warm and humid) and the lack of sleep created a situation where straggling became excessive. Many soldiers simply concluded the campaign was over and Lees army was in retreat back to Virginia; there they headed. Lee was indeed considering retreating back to Virginia and admitting his Maryland campaign a failure. But, as he moved his army closer to the Potomac and encountered the Sharpsburg Ridge, he realized the defensive possibilities of the terrain. He also knew that, while the Potomac made a large bend directly behind Sharpsburg, any engagement with McClellans army meant fighting with ones back against the wall. A Confederate defeat anywhere near Sharpsburg would mean disaster! As he pondered his options, Lee ordered his weary veterans into defensive positions enabling them to watch the three bridges crossing The Antietam Creek on the highest possible terrain features available. {The northern, or upper, of the three gave access to the area north of Sharpsburg near the North and East Woods. The middle bridge gave direct access from Boonsboro to the little village of Sharpsburg along the Boonsboro Turnpike after climbing the Sharpsburg Ridge. The lower bridge, soon to be known forever as Burnsides Bridge, provided access to the village from the south.} At almost the same time, Lee received a note from Stonewall Jackson of the successful reduction and surrender of the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry. This Federal surrender was the largest of US Army troops until the fall of Bataan and Corrigedor in The Philippines during the Second World War. With this good piece of news, Lee decided to make a stand at Sharpsburg and ordered Stonewall to return with his portion of the Army of Northern Virginia. The stage was now being set for what would be the bloodiest single day of any military action in American history. In the late afternoon of Tuesday, September 16th, the I Corps under command of Major General Joseph Fighting Joe Hooker began its crossing of The Antietam Creek at Prys Mill into the sector of the North and East Woods. During the same afternoon, Hoods Division held position in the fields east of the Dunkard Church {called by many Confederates as St. Mummas Church} and the Hagerstown Turnpike. At the approach of Hookers Corps, Army of the Potomac, the Division moved to the left and formed a line of battle. Resting its left on the Hagerstown Turnpike, the division extended along the south edge of D.R. Millers cornfield {The Cornfield} and anchored its right flank in the East Woods. The 4th Texas, Woffords Brigade, sent forward about a half mile as skirmishers, encountered the Division of Pennsylvanians under Major General George G. Meade and, with heavy fighting, were forced back from the North Woods. Re-enforced, however, on the right by the 5th Texas and receiving support from Laws Brigade, the Fourth held the East Woods until darkness concluded the engagement. In this pre-cursor of things to come, the Confederate infantry received assistance from Lanes battery of Georgia Artillery, two guns of Rhetts South Carolina battery located between the Mumma house and Smoketown Road, one gun of Cutts Artillery Battalion to the west near the Hagerstown Turnpike and Poagues Rockbridge {Virginia} Battery of Jacksons Division about thirty yards west of the Hagerstown Turnpike. All the Confederate artillery elements engaged Union Artillery deployed on the high ground to the north and east of D.R. Millers. During the engagement, Colonel Liddell, 11th Mississippi, Laws Brigade, received a mortal wound. At about 10 PM, Hoods Division was withdrawn to the woods west of the Dunkard Church after being relieved by Lawtons and Trimbles Brigades of Ewells Division. At the time of its being relieved from the line, Hoods Division had been promised by its commander to be held available to be called upon by Stonewall Jackson in event of any emergency. {It was the only way Hood could persuade Jackson to allow the men to come off the line.} Hoods men had had little sleep; they were starving. The weary men bedded down to get whatever sleep they could whilst awaiting their first hot meal in days. At about 5:30 AM on the morning of Wednesday, September 17th, Hooker advanced his Corps from the North Woods area and the Joseph Poffenberger farm due south on both sides of the Hagerstown Turnpike with its objective the high ground immediately around the white-walled Dunkard Church. {Interestingly enough, the Federals thought the Dunkard Church to be a schoolhouse.} The churchs location in a little cul-de-sac along the West Woods made it stand out prominently in the early morning mist. With this action, the Battle of Sharpsburg {Antietam} began. Almost immediately, the air was alive with the shriek and noise of mortal combat. Artillery from both sides began to rend the air with all sorts of sound and explosions. Confederate Artillery began to take out members of Federal units within moments of the beginning of the advance; particularly as they passed alongside and around D.R. Millers farm astride both sides of the Turnpike. It did not take long for the fighting to become desperate and reach a level of severity unequalled in the War to date. Confederate units belonging to Stonewall Jacksons Wing entered the fray and, within minutes, were compelled to fall back to or beyond their original positions due to the lead filling the air and horrific casualties. Lee and Jackson, along with the cooperation of Longstreet, kept finding fresh units and shuttling them to where they would help hold the line. Federal units also would enter the fight and be compelled to retire to their rear from battle fatigue and casualties. The fighting often occurred at practically point-blank rank in the area from D.R. Millers down to the southern edge of Millers Cornfield. Already, Millers Cornfield had become a piece of real estate bitterly contested with repeated Federal and Confederate attacks and counter-attacks. Hookers men, while taking horrendous casualties, had effectively put Lawtons and Trimbles troops out of action. (continued)
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 13:08:56 +0000
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