Existing comment:
"We May Never Meet Again":
A few days before the battle, bidding farewell to a friend, Union General Mansfield said:
"We may never meet again."
At the Antietam Battlefield, six cannon are mounted muzzle down. Each marks the spot where a general officer, North or South, was mortally wounded.
- Brigadier General William E. Starke, CSA: He led the counterattack that helped stop the first Union attack down the Hagerstown Pike. He was hit by three bullets and died with the hour.
- Brigadier General George B. Anderson CSA: His brigade was posted in the Sunken Road -- Bloody Lane. His ankle wound did not seem serious, but he died October 16 and age 31.
- Brigadier General Isaac P. Rodman, USA: During the last Union attack, between Lower Bridge and Sharpsburg, Rodman saw the Confederate counterattack coming and galloped ahead to warn his leading regiments. He was killed by a bullet in the chest.
- Major General Joseph K. F. Mansfield, USA: At age 59, two days before the Battle of Antietam, he was finally given a combat command. He was wounded as he prepared to lead his corps out of the East Woods into the Cornfield. Carried to the rear, he died a short time later.
- Major General Israel B. Richardson, USA: Richardson was a division commander in the Union Second Corps attacking the Sunken Road. Trying to organize the attack that might have well won the battle, he was wounded by a shell burst. He died November 3.
- Brigadier General Lawrence O'Brien Branch, CSA: Branch was with the Confederates that Rodman tried to stop He was shot and killed his men pursued the Union troops toward Lower Bridge.
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