32 CWN August 2020

had not had time or opportunity of Monday and Tuesday, arriv- to cook what they had. All the ing at Sharpsburg at daylight on troops had been without sleep Wednesday morning, September during the night previous, except 17. As a consequence, many had while waiting in line for the wag- become exhausted and fallen on trains to pass over a pontoon out on the wayside, and all were bridge at Harpers Ferry…. [N] worn and jaded.” otice was sent to me to hasten the Brig. Gen. , troops to Sharpsburg. I…started commanding another in the command at 3 p.m. Halted this , reached the main after dark…within 2 miles of Confederate force about 9:00 Shepherdstown, when, receiving a.m. “The battle was then, and orders to hasten forward, com- had been, raging for several menced the march at 12 o’clock hours,” Barksdale wrote, adding that night, many of the that “a portion of my men had still without provisions.” fallen by the way from loss of There was no time to lose. sleep and excessive fatigue, hav- Perspectives on McLaws’s report continued: ing been constantly on duty for Sharpsburg, Phase One “On the morning of the 17th, five or six days, and on the march about sunrise, the head of my for the whole of the two preced- In previous columns we column reached the vicinity of ing nights.” Barksdale took 800 viewed the General Lee’s headquarters near men into the fight. from the perspective of Federal Sharpsburg.” McLaws located Many weary troops fell out on officers whose troops contended Lee, received orders and moved the way, but much of the division with their Confederate enemies his into the battle al- was present in time to advance throughout the day in the woods ready well underway. McLaws against Federals who had driven and fields around Sharpsburg. wrote: “I was, of course, entire- back those troops in line when In one of the most famous epi- ly ignorant of the ground and the the struggle began. sodes of the war, Maj. Gen. A.P. location of the troops [of other The division commanded Hill’s Division, hastening from commands].” by Brig. Gen. Harpers Ferry, arrived on the bat- One of McLaws’s brigade was in place earlier, near the tlefield late in the day just as the commanders, Brig. Gen. Joseph Dunker Church, on the after- Federals were breaking through Kershaw, described this march noon of the 16th. After the divi- the Confederate right. Hill’s at- and the condition of his men sion helped slow the Federal ad- tack halted the Union advance when they arrived at Sharpsburg: vance at Turner’s Gap, Hood’s and turned what was about to be- “Owing to the exigencies of the force served as the rear guard come a disastrous defeat into a service, my command were with- on the 15th and the morning of tactical draw. out their usual supply of sub- the 16th as the army fell back to Hill’s Division was not the only sistence from Monday morn- Sharpsburg. In his memoirs Hood Confederate unit that had a long ing, September 13, until the described the condition of his and hurried march to the battle- night of the 17th. They were men. “My troops…were sorely in field. Other components of Lee’s also under arms or marching need of shoes, clothing and food. dangerously divided army raced nearly the whole of the nights We had had issued to us no meat to Sharpsburg from Harpers Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws. Library of Congress. Ferry and beyond, entering the fight as they arrived, footsore and rush to Sharpsburg. At 7 a.m. on and at 1 o’clock the march com- hungry, to check the Federals’ September 15 the Federal force menced. Reaching the Potomac at dawn attack on the Confederate at Harpers Ferry surrendered, sunrise, the division was hurried left. In this column we will hear “much to the joy of the toil-worn across and on to Sharpsburg.” from officers who led the troops soldiers, who were ready to en- The division was allowed a in the bloody melee at this end of counter the enemy again if nec- two-hour rest, then “was again the line. essary. At 3 p.m. orders were put in motion, and took up its po- Job number one for Lee was to received to march back to camp sition on the extreme left….” unite his dispersed army. and cook two days’ rations and be The men under Maj. Gen. In his report Brig. Gen. John ready to march. The cooking was Lafayette McLaws also had a R. Jones described his division’s complete by 12 o’clock at night, long march to the battlefield. McLaws’s report went into some detail about the marching and ’S CONFEDERATE fighting and the final dash to the climactic battle. MONUMENTS “The entire command was In Honor of a Fallen Nation very much fatigued. The bri- gades of Generals Kershaw and Gould B. Hagler, Jr. Barksdale had been engaged on This unique work contains a complete Maryland Heights on the 12th, photographic record of Georgia’s 13th, and 14th, and on the 15th memorials to the Confederacy, a full had been marched from the transcription of the words engraved heights to the line of battle up upon them, and carefully-researched information about the monuments the valley, formed to oppose that and the organizations which built of the enemy below Crampton’s them. These works of art and their Gap. Those of Generals Cobb, eloquent inscriptions express a nation’s profound grief, praise the Semmes, and Mahone…had been soldiers’ bravery and patriotism, and engaged and badly crippled at pay homage to the cause for which Crampton’s Gap, and all the oth- they fought. ers had been guarding important points under very trying circum- www.mupress.org stances. A large number had no 866-895-1472 toll-free provisions, and a great portion Brig. Gen. William Barksdale. Library of Congress.