Existing comment:
"With Flags Flying":
The Cornfield was quiet. The first two Union attacks had failed to breach the Confederate line.
Union Major General John Sedgwick's division formed up i column of brigades: three brigades -- each with more than 1,700 men -- each brigade double rank extending a half mile.
The lines moved toward the West Woods:
"With flags flying and the long unfaltering lines rising and falling as they crossed the rolling fields, it looked as if nothing could stop them."
A second observer saw a different picture:
"The total disregard of all ordinary military precaution in their swift and solitary advance was so manifest that it was observed and criticized as the devoted band moved on."
The lines crossed the Hagerstown Turnpike:
"Not an enemy appeared. The woods in front were as quiet as any sylvan shade could be."
Southern artillery officer Colonel Stephen D. Lee was worried. His commander, General Robert E. Lee, reassured him:
" 'Don't be excited about it, Colonel, go tell General Hood to hold his ground. Reinforcements are now rapidly approaching between Sharpsburg and the ford. Tell him that I am coming to his support.' ... he called me and pointed to McLaws' division, then in sight, approaching at a double quick."
Confederate Brigadier General Jubal Early's brigade was west of the woods, and there were two Southern divisions approaching at a double quick. Major General Lafayette McLaws had marched his division through the night from Harpers Ferry, and Brigadier General John Walker's division had come up from south of the town, where the Federals were still quiet. |