Existing comment:
The Battle for Fox's Gap: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here":
As Confederate Gen. D.H. Hill's division struggled to hold the gaps of South Mountain on September 14, 1862, the fighting here at Fox's Gap raged throughout the day. About 9am, Gen. Jesse L. Reno's corps attacked Confederate Gen. Samuel Garland's line approximately 3/4 of a mile south of here and began pushing the men north toward Fox's Gap. Sometime around midmorning, Garland fell mortally wounded and the Confederates scattered into the gap.
The fighting died down at midday as both sides delivered more men to the contest. Hill sent two regiments of Gen. George B. Anderson's brigade to replace Garland's scattered forces. Union Gen. Jacob D. Cox posted his regiments south of here along the edge of Daniel Wise's field and waited for the remainder of Reno's corps to reinforce him. As more units arrived, Hill sent Gen. Thomas F. Drayton's and Col. George T. Anderson's brigades along the "wood road" to attack the Federals. They formed in the Sharpsburg Road and attacked about 4pm.
B this time, the rest of Reno's corps had pulled itself up onto the mountain. As Draytons' men moved through Wise's open field, well-aimed Union volleys struck them from behind stone walls. The Federals then counterattacked, and some Georgia troops sheltering in the sunken road soon found themselves trapped. Outnumbered four to one and suffering 51 percent casualties, Draytons' brigade broke and fled down the mountain. Fox's Gap was in Union hands by 5:30pm. |