General Hill, after stating that the brigades on the Virginia side were making preparations to hold their position, thus describes the situation: "I formed my division in two lines—in the first, Pender, Gregg and Thomas, under Gregg; in the second, Lane, Archer and Brockenbrough, under Archer. The enemy had lined the opposite hills with some 70 pieces of artillery, and the infantry who had crossed lined the crest of the high banks on the Virginia shore.... The advance was made in the face of the most tremendous fire of artillery I ever saw." Mr. Caldwell, in his history, says: "We were under the fire of their batteries the whole time, though they did not open heavily upon us until we cleared the cornfield; then their fire was terrific! Shot, shell and canister swept the whole surface of the earth. Yet the advance was beautifully executed. It excelled even the marching of the enemy at Sharpsburg.... The roar of the pieces and the howl and explosion of shells were awful. Sometimes a shell burst in the ranks, tearing and mangling all around it. In Pender's brigade I saw a man lifted in the air. But all in vain. The ranks closed up, and the advance continued without a falter." Alluding to this heroic advance, General Hill says: "Too much praise cannot be awarded to my regiments for their steady, unwavering step."
Describing the fighting with the infantry, General Hill said that his left brigade was so hotly engaged with the enemy's infantry that Pender called on Archer for help, and the latter moved his own brigade to Pender's, thus putting four brigades on the front line. The One Hundred and Eighteenth Pennsylvania, confused as it was, with damaged arms, could hardly have done so much against a line of battle that had marched to the attack through such an artillery fire as both sides report was poured upon it. At close quarters with General Porter's troops, Hill ordered the final charge, and the brigades of the Fifth corps were driven into and across the river, hundreds being drowned, over 200 prisoners taken, and the dead and wounded left on the field of battle.
In this battle the heaviest loss fell on Hill's left flank. The greatest loss of the South Carolina brigade was in the Fourteenth regiment, which had 10 killed, among them the gallant Capt. James H. Dunlap, and 45 wounded, most of them by the artillery fire. In the other regiments of Gregg's brigade, 8 were wounded, including Lieut. D. H. Hamilton, adjutant of the First.
After this engagement General Lee camped his army behind the Opequon, and the weary soldiers enjoyed a rest. Regiments and brigades were assigned new commanders to take the places of those who had fallen on the field. Men who had greatly distinguished themselves for personal gallantry in the ranks, were either elected to office by their fellow soldiers, or promoted upon special recommendation of their superiors.
The description which Mr. Caldwell gives of the condition of the troops at this time is so graphic, and the writer, from his observations and experiences, knows it to be so true to the facts, that he quotes it here entire, as applicable to all the commands of Lee's army, after their marches and battles and toil and suffering in the memorable months of August and September, 1862:
It is difficult to describe the condition of the troops at this time, so great and various was their wretchedness. They were sunburnt, gaunt, ragged, scarcely at all shod—specters and caricatures of their former selves. Since the beginning of August they had been almost constantly on the march, had been scorched by the sultriest sun of the year, had been drenched with the rain and the heavy dews peculiar to this latitude, had lost much night rest, had worn out their clothing and shoes, and received nothing but what they could pick up on the battlefield. They had thrown away their knapsacks and blankets, in order to travel light; had fed on half-cooked dough, often raw bacon as well as raw beef; had devoured green corn and green apples, and contracted diarrhea and dysentery of the most malignant type. They now stood, an emaciated, limping, ragged mass, whom no stranger to their gallant exploits could have believed capable of anything the least worthy. Orders were published for instant and thorough ablution, and the men were marched by squads and companies to the Opequon.
[E] Captain Boyce mentions all his officers, Lieutenants Jeter, Porter, Scaife and Monro, and Sergeants Glenn, Humphreys, Bunch, and Young, and Corporals Rutland, Byrd, Watts and Schartle; and Privates Scaife, Garner, Hodges, Shirley, Simpson, Gondelock, A. Sim, L. H. Sims, Willard, Peek, Gossett and Franklin, for distinguished gallantry in the battles from the Rappahannock to Antietam.