Meanwhile, Gen. William H. French’s division of Sumner’s corps moved up
to support Sedgwick but veered south into Confederates under Gen. D. H.
Hill posted along an old sunken road separating the Roulette and Piper
farms. For nearly 4 hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., bitter fighting
raged along this road (afterwards known as Bloody Lane) as French,
supported by Gen. Israel B. Richardson’s division, also of Sumner’s
corps, sought to drive the southerners back. Confusion and sheer
exhaustion finally ended the battle here and in the northern part of the
field generally.
Southeast of town, Union Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s troops had been
trying to cross a bridge over Antietam Creek since 9:30 a.m. Some 400
Georgians had driven them back each time. At 1 p.m. the Federals finally
crossed the bridge (now known as Burnside Bridge) and, after a 2-hour
delay to reform their lines, advanced up the slope beyond. By late
afternoon they had driven the Georgians back almost to Sharpsburg,
threatening to cut off the line of retreat for Lee’s decimated
Confederates. Then about 4 p.m. Gen. A. P. Hill’s division, left behind
by Jackson at Harpers Ferry to salvage the captured Federal property,
arrived on the field and immediately entered the fight. Burnside’s
troops were driven back to the heights near the bridge they had earlier
taken. The Battle of Antietam was over. The next day Lee began
withdrawing his army across the Potomac River.
[Illustration: “If I cannot whip Bobbie Lee, I will be willing to go
home.”