[Illustration: 9138]
ALPH arose {130}from the heap of leaves and brush which had served him
for a bed the night through, with his bones aching and sore. The army
was already stirring, for although the Passes were won, there was
promise of another engagement at once. Word was passed along the line
that General Lee had withdrawn his forces and crossed the Antietam,
where he took up his position on a high bluff near Sharpsburg, and was
thus able to command a view of the whole country. But he had met with
great losses, from the dead in battle, and from stragglers. He realized
the injury the latter had done him; indeed, he complained openly and
bitterly, saying that his army was “ruined by straggling.” But the
best men of his army were still left with him--picked men, of splendid
courage and vast endurance. He was determined that the coming battle
should decide the campaign, and he waited calmly its issue.
“Lee has the choice of positions,” the men said. “He has both flanks
resting on the streams. He has the whole four bridges across the creek
well guarded; that is, all but one, and that's the point we have to
take. We intend to call the attention of the Johnnies to our point of
attack, and throw our entire strength against the bridge that is left
unguarded, and then cross. They say Lee hasn't much over 40,000 men, but
they are a body we shall be proud to meet, and whip.”
The artillery practice on both sides was sharp all day, but not much
execution was done. At nearly five in the afternoon General Hookers
corps made, a dash across the upper bridge, and advancing through the
woods, fell upon General Hoods brigade, and a fierce skirmish followed,
but the darkness brought it to {131}a close for that night, and both
armies rested, eager for the morning light, that they might rush at each
other again.
Before sunrise General McClellan hurried Mansfield's corps to Hookers
aid, while Sumner was ready to follow.
The renewal of hostilities began early. As the sun rose, his beams
lighted up the two armies, angry and threatening. General Hooker threw
his forces with vigor against General Jackson's, and pressed him so hard
he fell back. The batteries came promptly to the front, and raked the
Confederates with shot the entire length of their line, breaking their
ranks in wild haste.
Crowding and forcing them back, General Mansfield came to the Unionists'
aid, when a shot struck him, and he fell dead, but his command kept on,
and entering the woods, got their position and held it, against immense
odds. General Hooker here received a serious wound, and was carried
away, just as General Sumner crossed the stream, drove the boys in gray
before him, and entrenched his men near the little church of Dunker.
Here the fighting raged so madly, and the artillery fire was so heavy,
that a historian relates that years after, when the trees were cut down
and sent to a sawmill to be made into logs, the saws were torn to pieces
by the quantity of metal that had pierced the trees, and been hidden
there by the growth of the wood. But in spite of this vigorous fire, no
irresolution was shown, and as fast as men were shot down at the guns,
others were ready to take their places, with undismayed zeal.
A lull occurred, and as the sounds of firing seemed to die away, there
was great rejoicing, for to the Federal army a victory was apparently
assured, when the hope was suddenly dispelled by the arrival of two
divisions of the enemy, who, with a loud yell, threw themselves into
a gap in Sumner's line, forcing him from his position, and across the
meadows and cornfields, where he made a stand, but the foe retired again
to its own position.
{132}
[Illustration: 0140]
“Harry, see those regiments,” Ralph said to a fellow soldier--“look
at the race. Which will come out ahead, I wonder? They are pretty well
matched--both are fleet-footed.”
It was a race, indeed. A New Hampshire regiment was marching parallel
with a Confederate regiment, and each were intent on reaching a certain
high piece of ground. As they ran, the bullets whizzed {133}back and
forth, from both sides, and these pleasantries were kept up.
“The Johnnies are ahead--no, they have fallen back a little. The New
Hampshire boys are in the lead now. They've reached the ground. Hurrah!”
shouted Harry, and in his excitement he threw up his cap, and caught it
on the point of his bayonet. As soon as the winners gained the coveted
point, they poured shot into their late rivals' ranks.
[Illustration: 8141]
The artillery was heaviest near the church, and the dead lay so thick
that they could have formed a foot bridge the entire length of the line.
“Wonder why Porter and Burnside keep so still?” This question was
asked again and again. “See the rebs mowing down our men like ripe
grass! Why don't they come to our assistance?”
“They are keeping their troops as reserves. The Confeds don't hold any
of their men back, but launch every one of them at us.”
“That don't seem to me to be the right policy,” said Ralph. “But
look--Franklin has come up from Crampton's Gap just in the nick of time.
He is very welcome, for there are fresh troops advancing, from the right
flank of the boys in gray.” Franklin's opportune coming infused new
hope, and the boys' {134}eyes brightened, cheery words went round, and
muskets were handled with a will.
“General Burnside's orders are to take that bridge. We've got to do
it; it won't be very much work, and then we'll soon be over to see our
friends on the other side.”
“You think that's easy, do you? Wait and see. We're on low ground here,
but the land over the other side is higher, and the road runs alongside
the stream. Those fellows have their guns well placed, and can damage us
bad.”
The bridge they were expected to take, was of stone, and rather narrow.
The first brigade to attempt to cross was General Crook's.
“Hark! he's gone the wrong way. The rebels are pouring shot into him.
He'll be cut all to pieces.”
The General had struck the wrong road, and was being subjected to a
heavy fire. A Maryland regiment and a New Hampshire followed him on the
double quick, but retreated, as they could not stand the fire!
“There is help for us now,” said Ralph, “for they are bringing up some
guns that will speak loud for our side.”
Two heavy guns were soon thundering over the ground, and commanding
the boys in gray who were guarding the bridge? Their persuasive tones
opened the passage, and triumphantly the Union men crossed the bridge,
and secured the position.
Four hours had been consumed, and thus General Lee improved his chance
to bring fresh troops to his aid, who drove Burnside from the heights,
and retook a battery which he had captured.
The battle was over. When the rattle of musketry is heard, the smoke of
battle, and the wild plunging of the frightened horses, and the shouts
and fierce onset of a maddened mass of human beings is felt, there is an
excitement, a fever in the blood that strengthens the arm, and
hardens the muscles--thoughts of self are forgotten. But when those
accompaniments are missing--when the awful stillness of a deserted
battle-ground succeeds them, then the heart grows faint and cold.
{135}
[Illustration: 0143]
Both {136}armies were glad to rest; both sides had been rent and
dismembered. Many regiments in both lines had been slaughtered
unmercifully. The victory belonged to McClellan, but the sorrow and
anguish belonged to those who loved the fallen ones--to the friends
alike of the blue and the gray, in cottage and mansion, all over this
broad land of ours.
[Illustration: 8145]
Daily papers were a luxury, and the boys in the army were always glad
to purchase them at a good round price. The newsboy is ubiquitous. He
is the product of the century, and will never be shelved as are so many
useful things. Their cries were welcome to those men, who were anxious
to know what each day was bringing forth and when one galloped into
camp, two days after the battle of the Antietam with a bag heavily
freighted with New York dailies, he was surrounded at once, and his
stock rapidly melted away.
“Good news!” flashed through the ranks as they eagerly devoured the news
of the battle of Iuka, with Rosecrans at the head.
“It was a daring attempt,” Ralph read aloud to the eager group; “the
account says that the Union forces attacked Price's men in a narrow
front, with ravines filled with undergrowth, where it was difficult to
maintaining a foothold, with but one battery, and with hosts against them,
three to one. Yet they swept down the enemy, and fought till darkness
overtook them, and in the night the Confederates beat a hasty retreat.”
This {137}news cheered the hearts of the boys in blue, and while they
were giving vent to their joy in different ways, Ralph's heart was
filled with a solemn thankfulness, for to him it seemed as if One above
surely ruled their destinies.