Antietam - IX Corps Attacks, Burnside Bridge and Beyond
September 17, 1862
Burnside Bridge
General Burnside commanding the IX Corps was ordered to attack the Confederates to his front. Two poorly organized attacks failed to capture the stone bridge over Antietam Creek. For the third attempt, Col. Ferrero choose the 51st Pa. and the 51st NY to storm the bridge. First, artillery was rolled down near the creek to blast Confederate defenders with canister shot. The two Union regiments charged down to the stone wall and opened fire. Georgians under Gen. Toombs defended the hilltop above the bridge and poured fire into the advancing Yankees. Eventually, men of the two regiments charged across the bridge. After enduring sniper fire, Rodman's division crossed downstream at Snavely Ford and threatened to flank Toombs' men. (The ford had been protected by Walker's division earlier in the battle, but Walker had been sent north for the West Woods counter-attack.) In danger of being flanked and low on ammunition, the Georgians fell back. They had inflicted 500 Union casualties and held up the Union advance for hours. It was now 1 P.M.. Burnside's corps would now provide McClellan's main effort.
View From Below the National Cemetery
It took until 3 P.M. for Burnside's corps to deploy across Antietam Creek. All that kept Burnside from taking Sharpsburg and destroying Lee's army was the division of D.R. Jones, which he outnumbered by more than five to one. All remaining Confederate troops were committed, and the only hope for reinforcement was A.P. Hill's division approaching from Harper's Ferry.
Burnside deployed Willcox's division on his right - straddling the valley visible here with the Otto and Sherrick houses. Christ's brigade of Willcox's division reached here and threatened Confederate artillery on the hill on the right of the panorama, an area which is now the national cemetery. The Yankees met skirmishers as they advanced, and clashed with a South Carolina brigade on this hill. In advance of the rest of the corps, and taking artillery fire from near modern Branch Ave, Christ halted until he got support on his left flank. The Rebels were forced back some, but the Yankees were low on ammunition and halted. Part of the Union artillery, cavalry, and V Corps had crossed Antietam Creek on the Boonsboro Pike. They could have made a decisive contribution to the battle, but they were not committed by the cautious McClellan.
Rodman's division was on Burnside's left, and Sturgis' division was in reserve. They advanced in a line roughly parallel to the monuments visible here just below Branch Avenue. These Federals were on course to capture the Harpers Ferry Road and push Lee back into the Potomac. Their "high water mark" is the Hawkins Zouaves monument.
Kemper and Drayton Pushed Back
|
 |
Trail to Zouave Monument
Attacking along the axis of this paved trail toward the Harpers Ferry Road, the Union troops of Fairchild's brigade approached the Confederates defending a fence near the monument. The Rebels waited until the Yankees were within 60 yards to open a devastating fire. After a firefight, the Federals stormed the fence and the Confederates of Kemper's and Drayton's brigades fled to the Harpers Ferry Road, Lee's vulnerable line of retreat. The monument to the Hawkins Zouaves, the 9th NY Regiment, marks the furtherest advance of Burnside's corps. Although the battle was all but won, the exhausted Federals did not pursue. On the right of the panorama, McIntosh's battery, an early arrival of AP Hill's division, was attacked by the 8th Connecticut, which forced the Confederates from their guns.
The situation was desperate for Lee, but soon the infantry of A.P. Hill's division arrived just beyond where you can see the Harpers Ferry Road disappear in the right-center of the panorama. Hill would save the day. With the attack of Powell Hill, Hawkins was ordered to withdraw, and the brigades of Kemper and Drayton returned to their position here on the heights.
Miller's Sawmill Road
At Harper's Ferry, A.P. Hill had left a small detachment to handle the paroled Yankees and the surrendered equipment and marched his division to join Lee. The Potomac River is visible on the left half of the panorama. Approaching from across the river on the left of the panorama, Hill's men passed upstream of here to cross at Boteler's Ford. Marching along the road back toward the camera, the Confederates turned left up Miller's Sawmill Road and marched uphill along a creek to arrive on the battlefield just in the nick of time. Having marched 17 miles in seven hours, only around 3,000 men - or half the division - was available for battle. Despite their small numbers, they would prove decisive.
A.P. Hill Counterattacks
This is the view from the right flank of the Confederate army. The Harpers Ferry Road on the far left was defended there by Toomb's brigade. The guns here were early arrivals of Hill's division. Pegram's battery is represented by the guns visible here. McIntosh's battery was up the Harpers Ferry Road on the left of the panorama. Kemper's and Drayton's brigades had made their stand against the attacking Yankees near the Hawkins Zouaves Monument. Burnside's corps had originally deployed on the wooded ridge beyond the north/south portion of the Park Service's Branch Road and were now advancing toward the Harpers Ferry Road.
Harland's brigade on the extreme Union left flank was disorganized and wasn't keeping up with the rest of the IX Corps. Most of the brigade was in the 40 Acre Cornfield, located just beyond the North / South section of Branch Ave. The only regiment to advance, the 8th Connecticut, accompanied by brigade commander Harland and division commander Rodman, pushed back Toombs' brigade to the Harpers Ferry Road, getting to with 60 yards of Pegram's guns firing double canister, forcing the artillerymen to abandon the guns. Division commander Rodman had been mortally wounded, though, and Harland had a horse shot from under him, so the Union effort continued to be disorganized. The isolated 8th Connecticut was counterattacked in front and flank by Toombs' brigade and Hill's arriving infantry.
A.P. Hill's division was arriving from the Miller's Sawmill Road on the right of the panorama and deploying along the Harpers Ferry Road. Two of his brigades protected the right flank. Archer's brigade advanced directly into the 40 Acre Cornfield while Gregg's brigade advanced into its southern end. Both brigades attacked Harland's brigade in flank, shattering it. The Yankees fled in panic. Branch's Confederates moved up the hill on the left of the panorama, threatening the Union troops which had captured the stone wall near the Hawkins Zouaves monument. The whole XI Corps was in danger of being outflanked, and they fell back toward Antietam Creek having lost one fifth of the men.
A.P. Hill Counterattacks Part 2
This is the view from near where Branch Ave turns sharply right to climb up to the Harpers Ferry Road. Hill's attacking infantry moved from near the modern house on the far right along the axis of the descending portion of Branch Ave and into the Union flank. (The 40 Acre Cornfield is on the left of the panorama.) Lee's army was saved. Although XI Corps still far outnumbered its opponents, the attack was over. McClellan would not commit his V and VI Corps and his cavalry. Another 12,000 men arrived that night, but McClellan did not attack the next day.
Lee remained on the field the next day and withdrew across the Potomac that night, lucky that his army had survived the fight. The Union's best chance ever to destroy Lee was lost, but the momentum of Confederate success started in June was now over. Lee lost 13,000 men compared to Federals losses of 12,000 men. The Confederacy could not afford these unnecessary casualties. Worse still for the Southern cause, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, virtually eliminating any hopes the Confederacy may have had for European intervention and drastically escalating the Union's wartime objectives. Without a vigorous after-battle pursuit, Lincoln became increasingly frustrated and replaced the timid McClellan. Lincoln would later sack McClellan's replacement as commander of the Army of the Potomac, Burnside, then Hooker, before settling on Meade in June 1863. Although the battle at Antietam Creek was a frustrating tale of lost opportunities for the Union, for all these reasons many historians consider Antietam to be the turning point of the war.
Copyright 2008, 1998 by John Hamill