On the following day, the 30th, cannonading and some skirmishing occurred until about 4 o'clock. The enemy began to advance in a number of successive lines. Soon the battle became sanguinary and determined and extended along the entire front. The Confederates on the left occupied a favorable position and repulsed the onslaught made upon them. As one line was repulsed a fresh one took its place, and thus the battle raged over the dead and wounded Federals who fell on this oft' traversed field. The main Confederate army, which had now reached the field, and Jackson's worn and decimated corps were now contesting the field with a brave army of superior numbers; but a change of conditions must come, and again the psychological moment arrived and was availed of by the Confederates, pressed to the last inch of endurance. Our right now held by Longstreet pressed the enemy back, this invigorated the whole Confederate line, which now with eager and invincible will simultaneously joined in the forward movement and pressed upon the still stubborn and equally determined foe, resisting with bayonet the onward rush; but the tide turned against the Federals and they fled precipitately, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. The Confederates now opened upon the fleeing Federals and their loss at this time, as during the day, was very heavy. The Confederate loss was also heavy. A number of pieces of artillery and many stands of small arms fell into the hands of the Confederates. The enemy continued his retreat.
Pursuit was taken up by Jackson's corps in the lead and, on the first of September, the enemy in force was again encountered at Ox Hill. Here a sanguinary battle of much fury occurred, lasting for some time, when a heavy storm brought a cessation of the contest for a time, during which the enemy retired about night and by the next morning had disappeared. On the following day, the 3d, Jackson's corps moved toward Loudoun county and on the 4th went into bivouac near Leesburg.
CHAPTER NINE
Capture of Harper's Ferry. Battle of Sharpsburg. Return to Virginia. Battle of Fredericksburg.
About the fifth of September Jackson's corps crossed the Potomac into Maryland near Leesburg, moving toward Frederick, Md.; and on or about the 10th moved toward Martinsburg, recrossing the Potomac near Williamsport. On the following day the course was down the right bank of the Potomac toward Harpers Ferry, near which on Bolivar Heights a Federal force under General Miles was hemmed in by the Confederates who occupied Maryland and Loudoun heights and all the passes leading out from the Federal position. In the contest little else occurred than artillery firing, which continued for about two hours, resulting in but few casualties on either side. Realizing their inextricable position the Federals "on the morning of the 15th surrendered unconditionally all the force, consisting of approximately 12,000 men, 74 pieces of artillery, many thousands of small arms and large military stores." The details of the surrender were left with A. P. Hill's division to adjust while the balance of Jackson's corps left in haste for Sharpsburg, where Longstreet and D. H. Hill were already engaged with the enemy who by greatly superior numbers had forced the passes of South Mountain, causing the Confederates to take position near Sharpsburg behind Antietam Creek on the morning of the 15th. Early on the morning of the 16th Jackson's corps, except Hill's division, arrived.
On the afternoon of the 15th, the enemy had advanced and the batteries on both sides were immediately engaged. On the 16th artillery firing continued during the entire day. Jackson's old division occupied the left from Hagerstown road to the Potomac. At dawn on the 17th, the enemy's artillery opened with great vigor on Jackson's line. The battle was hot and furious from the start and continued for many hours with alternate success. The Federal lines were forced back several times, but new lines of fresh troops were met, and in turn the Confederates were forced to retire before them, but would again return to the contest and again clear their front, but to be again pushed back as before. This was the part of the Confederate line against which the enemy had concentrated and was now hurling the strength of his army, and by overwhelming numbers turning the Confederates left; but reinforcements from our right arrived in time, and now the battle raged with still greater fury and determination. But the onslaught of the Confederates was not to be successfully resisted, hence they swept the Federals back and reestablished their lines, which were held against further attacks of the day. Between these hostile lines lay hundreds of dead and dying of both sides, fighting being so continuous as to prevent proper attention to them. I do not now recall the names of any of these, except that of a younger brother, the late Judge M. B. Wood, whose wound was severe, and naturally I was impressed. The main attack was now shifted from our left to the center. This was finally repulsed and the battle along the line was now reduced to a more moderate degree; heavy attacks, however, were made occasionally on different parts of the Confederate lines. Hill arrived from Harpers Ferry late in the afternoon and attacked the enemy on our right, and drove him from his position back across Antietam, inflicting much loss.
On the morning of the 18th the Confederates held their entire lines and awaited an advance by the enemy, he having superior numbers and equipment; but he did not advance. That night, owing to the enemy being about to receive large reinforcements as was then understood, and the rains which had fallen causing a rise in the Potomac which would thus cut off the Confederates from their base of supplies, Lee withdrew his army to the Virginia side, crossing at Shepardstown without loss. The best that could be claimed by either side was that the battle was a draw; neither side won.