U.S. History Accelerated. I had some other stuff today (Demands of the Populist movement), but it's already good and done. And so, without further ado, I present to you... STUFF!
Battle of Antietam: Late Morning-Early Afternoon AttacksBy this time in the afternoon, the Union forces had manged to shift the focus of the battle to the center of the Confederate lines. However, a battle-eager Brig. Gen. William H. French led his division south after spotting some CSA skirmishers. The II Corps, led by Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, ordered French to divert CSA attention by pushing forward and attacking their center. Eventually, he ran into the forces of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill. hill had only 2,500 men, less than half of French's forces, but they had a strond defensive position atop a gradual ridge, which formed a natural trench. French launched a series of brigade-sized assaults against Hill's improvised breastworks at around 9:30 a.m. The first brigade to attack, mostly inexperienced troops commanded by Brig. Gen. Max Weber, was quickly cut down by heavy rifle fire. (Neither side deployed artillery at this point.) The second attack, more raw recruits under Col. Dwight Morris, was also subjected to heavy fire, but managed to beat back a counterattack by the Alabama Brigade of Robert Rodes. The third, under Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball, included three veteran regiments, but they also fell to fire from the sunken road. French lost 1,750 casualties (of his 5,700 men) in under an hour.
Robert E. Lee sent his final reserve division, under Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, some 3,400 men, to bolster Hill's line and extend it to the right, preparing an attack that would envelop French's left flank. But at the same time, the 4,000 men of Maj. Gen. Israel B. Richardson's division arrived on French's left. This was the last of Sumner's three divisions, which had been held up in the rear by McClellan as he organized his reserve forces. Richardson's fresh troops struck the first blow. Gen. Richardson personally dispatched the brigade of Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell into battle around noon (after being told that Caldwell was in the rear, behind a haystack) and finally the tide turned. Anderson's Confederate division had been little help to the defenders after Gen. Anderson was wounded early in the fighting. Other key leaders were lost as well, including George B. Anderson (no relation) and Colonel John B. Gordon of the 6th Alabama. (Gordon received four serious wounds in this fight. He lay unconscious, face down in his cap, and later told colleagues that he should have smothered in his own blood, except for the act of an unidentified Yankee, who had earlier shot a hole in his cap, which allowed the blood to drain.) As Caldwell's brigade advanced around the right flank of the Confederates, Col. Francis C. Barlow and 350 men of the 61st and 64th New York saw a weak point in the line and seized a knoll commanding the sunken road. This allowed them to get enfilade fire into the Confederate line, turning it into a deadly trap. (A sergeant of the 61st New York wrote, "We were shooting them like sheep in a pen. If a bullet missed the mark at first it was liable to strike the further bank, angle back, and take them secondarily.") In attempting to wheel around to meet this threat, a command from Gen. Rodes was misunderstood by Lt. Col. James N. Lightfoot, who had succeeded the unconscious John Gordon. Lightfoot ordered his men to about-face and march away, an order that all five regiments of the brigade thought applied to them as well. Confederate troops streamed toward Sharpsburg, their line lost. Richardson's men were in hot pursuit when massed artillery hastily assembled by Gen. Longstreet drove them back. A counterattack with 200 men led by D.H. Hill got around the Federal left flank near the sunken road, and although they were driven back by a fierce charge of the 5th New Hampshire, this stemmed the collapse of the center. Reluctantly, Richardson ordered his division to fall back to north of the ridge facing the sunken road. His division lost about 1,000 men. Col. Barlow was severely wounded, as was Richardson himself (mortally, in his case). Winfield S. Hancock assumed division command. Although Hancock would have an excellent future reputation as a division and corps commander, the unexpected change of command sapped the momentum of the Federal advance. The carnage from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the sunken road gave it the name Bloody Lane, leaving about 5,600 casualties (Union 3,000, Confederate 2,600) along the 800-yard road. And yet a great opportunity presented itself. If this broken sector of the Confederate line were exploited, Lee's army would have been divided in half and possibly defeated. There were ample forces available to do so. There was a reserve of 3,500 cavalry and the 10,300 infantrymen of Gen. Porter's V Corps, waiting near the middle bridge, a mile away. The VI Corps had just arrived with 12,000 men. Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin of the VI Corps was ready to exploit this breakthrough, but Sumner, the senior corps commander, ordered him not to advance. Franklin appealed to McClellan, who left his headquarters in the rear to hear both arguments, but backed Sumner's decision, ordering Gens. Franklin and Hancock to hold their positions. Later in the day, the commander of the other reserve unit near the center, the V Corps, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, heard recommendations from Maj. Gen. George Sykes, commanding his 2nd Division, that another attack be made in the center, an idea that intrigued McClellan. However, Porter is said to have told McClellan, "Remember, General, I command the last reserve of the last Army of the Republic." McClellan demurred and another opportunity was lost.
3rd and last installment to come!
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