Existing comment:
No Way Out:
At 1pm on September 14, Confederate artillery began firing at the Northern troops on Bolivar Heights and Camp Hill. The Union artillery's return fire to Maryland Heights and Loudoun Heights was ineffective at such long range and elevation. The only comfort to the Northern soldiers that day came from the sound of cannon east of Maryland Heights on South Mountain, where their eagerly awaited reinforcements battled with the Southerner's rearguard. But any hope of rescue sank when the sound of the guns faded with the setting sun. The Union force sent to save Harpers Ferry stalled in the valley to the east of Maryland Heights. During the night, Northern infantrymen fired their last shots in defense of Harpers Ferry as Southerners probed the center of Bolivar Heights. The morale of the Northern soldiers plummeted, especially among the raw recruits. Alone, outnumbered, and trapped, how long could they hold out?
"... pass the enemy's lines, and try to reach somebody that had ever heard of the United States Army, or any general of the United States Army, or anybody that knew anything about the United States Army, and report the condition of Harper's Ferry."
-- Union Colonel Miles' instructions to his messenger
Sometime between 9 and 10pm on September 14, fighting broke out along the Union skirmish line on the western slope of Bolivar Heights. Colonel Jesse Segoine's 111th New York held the center of the line. During this final infantry engagement, Segoine came to the aid of Private James O'Hara and loaded a rifle for the disabled infantryman who had no right thumb.
The Union troops on Bolivar Heights dug trenches and changed position as far as they could to protect themselves from the Confederate bombardment. Albert Sabin of the 9th Vermont Regiment wrote, "We went over the hill to escape the fire, cavalry and infantry together, our batteries replying. No sooner were we nicely out of fire there, than a battery opened on us from the opposite direction, and we sought a ravine for protection."
"At 6pm marched to the foot of the hill. An awful fight on the eve. We atacted [sp] in front and rear."
-- Union Corporal John Paylor, 111th New York
"I was ordered out in front of our camp to skirmish as the Rebs were getting rather thick... It was a dangerous position, but I felt as if I did not care whether the Rebs had me or not. One hundred men were detailed and put under Lt. Munson & myself. You ought to have seen us hunting our way down Bolivar Heights.... At last we reached our position... Soon on the right of our position firing commenced."
-- Union Lieutenant George Yost, 126th New York
Troops and artillery on Camp Hill (in foreground looking west to Bolivar Heights) gave Colonel Miles a strong interior position. However, on the afternoon of September 14, as the report of a Major Henry McIlvaine pointed out, "The enemy opened fire from Maryland Heights with one and from Loudoun Heights with two batteries; from Charlestown road a battery of two guns, and one heavy gun from Shepherdstown road. Their fire was brisk and range good, rendering it almost impossible to work the guns on Camp Hill." |