Existing comment:
South Mountain and the Attack on Harpers Ferry:
"Now I know what to do!" exclaimed Union General George McClellan on September 13, 1862. McClellan's cavalry scouts had failed to discover Robert E. Lee's position up to that point. But after McClellan's men literally stumbled upon a lost copy of Lee's Special Orders 191, the cautious General resolved to attack Lee's divided army and send a force to rescue the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. Eighteen hours after the "Lost Orders" were found, McClellan's resolve "to cut the enemy in two, and beat him in detail" finally led his vanguard to three gaps along the crest of South Mountain. It took a full day of fierce but uncoordinated assaults to push back the grossly outnumbered Southerners. The time spent by the Northerners and gained by the Confederates in this action weighed heavily upon the action at Harpers Ferry and the outcome of the Maryland Campaign.
At Crampton's Gap, the southernmost of the three gaps on South Mountain, the Union Sixth Corps under General William Franklin fought the rearguard of Confederate General Lafayette McLaws. Franklin had been instructed by McClellan, "Having gained the pass your duty will be first to cut off, destroy or capture McLaws' command and relieve Colonel Miles... I ask of you, at this important moment, all your intellect and the utmost activity that a general can exercise."
McLaws men had to hold their ground against Franklin's attack, seal off the escape routes out of Harpers Ferry and cannonade the Union troops trapped there -- all at the same time. When McLaws' small rearguard lost Crampton's Gap, Franklin had the opportunity to overrun the rest of McLaws' troops and save the Northern soldiers at Harpers Ferry. But Franklin thought he was outnumbered, and waited until the next day to move toward Harpers Ferry. On the morning of the 15th, with his back to the Potomac River and mountains on both flanks, McLaws formed a thin line of battle across the valley between South Valley and Maryland Heights. It was a show of strength that bluffed Franklin again and sealed the fate of Harpers Ferry. |