The Army of Northern Virginia concentrated at and near Fredericktown on the 9th of September, 1862, numbered a trifle over 61,000, all arms. General Lee’s estimate of his troops engaged at Sharpsburg was 37,000. This may not include his cavalry arm, conceding which, his force on the field should have been about 41,000. Estimating the cavalry loss at 500, our losses of battle should be 13,687, which leaves 20,000 to be accounted for as lost by severe continuous labor and marches. This, added to the losses in action, makes a grand total of 33,687 lost in the Maryland campaign. The losses from overwork were only temporary. Most of them were back in the ranks within fifteen days after the return to Virginia. But all of these large figures are trifles compared to the lamentable loss of the fruits of devoted service from the Chickahominy campaign to the Potomac.
The casualties of the Union side, reported by official count, were 12,410.
The best tactical moves at Antietam were made by Generals McLaws, A. P. Hill, Gibbon, and Patrick, and Colonels Barlow and Cross. Generals D. H. Hill and Hood were like game-cocks, fighting as long as they could stand, engaging again as soon as strong enough to rise. General Toombs and Colonel Benning performed very clever work at the Burnside Bridge. Of Colonel Cooke, the Twenty-seventh North Carolina Regiment, Captain Miller, Sergeant Ellis, and their men of the Washington Artillery, General Lee said, “They were heroic.”
General McClellan’s plan of the battle was not strong, the handling and execution were less so. Battles by the extreme right and left, divided by a river, gave us the benefit of interior lines, and it was that that saved the Confederate army, for it became manifest early in the day that his reserves were held at the bridge No. 2, which gave us freer use of our inner lines.
Following is a condensed but accurate presentation of the organization of the contending armies in the battle of Sharpsburg and the Maryland campaign:[71]
Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee commanding.
Longstreet’s Corps, Major-General James Longstreet.
McLaws’s Division, Maj.-Gen. Lafayette McLaws:—Kershaw’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. J. B. Kershaw; 2d S. C., Col. John D. Kennedy; 3d S. C., Col. James D. Nance; 7th S. C., Col. D. Wyatt Aiken and Capt. John S. Hard; 8th S. C., Lieut.-Col. A. J. Hoole. Cobb’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Howell Cobb, Lieut.-Col. C. C. Sanders, Lieut.-Col. William MacRae; 16th and 24th Ga., Cobb’s (Ga.) Legion, 15th N. C. Semmes’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Paul J. Semmes; 10th Ga., Capt. P. H. Loud; 53d Ga., Lieut.-Col. Thomas Sloan and Capt. S. W. Marshborne; 15th Va., Capts. E. M. Morrison and E. J. Willis; 32d Va., Col. E. B. Montague. Barksdale’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. William Barksdale; 13th Miss., Lieut.-Col. Kennon McElroy; 17th Miss., Lieut.-Col. John C. Fiser; 18th Miss., Maj. J. C. Campbell and Lieut.-Col. William H. Luse; 21st Miss., Capt. John Sims and Col. Benjamin G. Humphreys. Artillery, Maj. S. P. Hamilton, Col. H. C. Cabell; Manly’s (N. C.) battery, Capt. B. C. Manly; Pulaski (Ga.) Art., Capt. J. P. W. Read; Richmond (Fayette) Art., Capt. M. C. Macon; Richmond Howitzers (1st Co.), Capt. E. S. McCarthy; Troup (Ga.) Art., Capt. H. H. Carlton.
Anderson’s Division, Maj.-Gen. Richard H. Anderson:—Wilcox’s Brigade, Col. Alfred Cumming; 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Ala. Mahone’s Brigade, Col. William A. Parham; 6th, 12th, 16th, 41st, and 61st Va. Featherston’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Winfield S. Featherston, Col. Carnot Posey; 12th Miss., 16th Miss., Capt. A. M. Feltus; 19th Miss., 2d Miss. Battn. Armistead’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Lewis A. Armistead, Col. J. G. Hodges; 9th, 14th, 38th, 53d, and 57th Va. Pryor’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Roger A. Pryor; 14th Ala., 2d and 8th Fla., 3d Va. Wright’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. A. R. Wright; 44th Ala., 3d, 22d, and 48th Ga. Artillery, Maj. John S. Saunders; Donaldsonville (La.) Art. (Maurin’s battery), Huger’s (Va.) battery, Moorman’s (Va.) battery, Thompson’s (Grimes’s) (Va.) battery.
Jones’s Division, Brig.-Gen. David R. Jones:—Toombs’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Robert Toombs, Col. Henry L. Benning; 2d Ga., Lieut.-Col. William R. Holmes and Major Skidmore Harris; 15th Ga., Col. W. T. Millican; 17th Ga., Capt. J. A. McGregor; 20th Ga., Col. J. B. Cumming. Drayton’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Thomas F. Drayton; 50th Ga., Lieut.-Col. F. Kearse; 51st Ga., 15th S. C., Col. W. D. De Saussure. Pickett’s Brigade, Col. Eppa Hunton, Brig.-Gen. R. B. Garnett; 8th Va., Col. Eppa Hunton; 18th Va., Maj. George C. Cabell; 19th Va., Col. J. B. Strange, Lieut. W. N. Wood, and Capt. J. L. Cochran; 28th Va., Capt. Wingfield; 56th Va., Col. William D. Stuart and Capt. McPhail. Kemper’s Brigade, Brig.-Gen. J. L. Kemper; 1st, 7th, 11th, 17th, and 24th Va. Jenkins’s Brigade, Col. Joseph Walker; 1st S. C. (Vols.), Lieut.-Col. D. Livingston; 2d S. C. Rifles, 5th S. C., Capt. T. C. Beckham; 6th S. C., Lieut.-Col. J. M. Steedman, Capt. E. B. Cantey; 4th S. C. (Battn.), Palmetto (S. C.) Sharp-shooters. Anderson’s Brigade, Col. George T. Anderson; 1st Ga. (Regulars), Col. W. J. Magill; 7th, 8th, and 9th Ga.; 11th Ga., Maj. F. H. Little. Artillery, Fauquier (Va.) Art. (Stribling’s battery),[72] Loudoun (Va.) Art. (Rogers’s battery),[72] Turner (Va.) Art. (Leake’s battery),[72] Wise (Va.) Art. (J. S. Brown’s battery).