The corps of Jackson numbered now, after so much fighting and marching, less than seven thousand men, but this little band held the ground throughout the day, and bravely drove back every assault of the enemy.
When night closed the bloody fray, each army held its own position. On the next morning, General Lee awaited another attack, but General McClellan had received so heavy a blow that he would not venture another battle until fresh troops had come up.
The 18th was spent by both armies in burying their dead and caring for the wounded. In the evening General Lee, learning that large bodies of fresh troops were reaching McClellan, determined to recross the Potomac. As soon as night came, the troops began to move towards the ford at Shepherdstown. “For hours,” says Dr. Dabney, “Jackson was seen seated upon his horse, motionless as a statue, watching the passage until the last man and the last carriage had touched the Southern shore.” The battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam (An tē′tam), as it is sometimes called, was a drawn battle—neither side was victorious, each losing in killed and wounded about twelve thousand men.
The Southern men were so worn out and foot-sore from constant marching, and weak from starvation, that they were really unfit for the battle of Sharpsburg. More than half of Lee’s army was left behind along the Virginia roads, and those who, wan and gaunt, fought the battle, were kept up during that bloody day only by their devotion to the Southern cause and leaders. Fortune also had smiled upon McClellan by revealing to him the plans of Lee. An order setting forth Lee’s line of march was picked up in D. H. Hill’s deserted camp, and taken to McClellan, who then, of course, knew just where to strike Lee.
On the morning of the 19th, a force of Federals crossed the Potomac at Boteler’s ford, but were met by A. P. Hill’s division of Jackson’s corps, and driven back into the river with great loss. On the northern side of the river, seventy large cannon were planted, which rained grape-shot upon the Southern men, but they rushed forward and hurled hundreds of the Federals into the water, and then picked them off with steady aim until the river was black with floating bodies.
While this was going on, a messenger from General Lee found Jackson watching the progress of the fight. His only remark was, “With the blessing of Providence, they will soon be driven back.” McClellan made no further attempt to follow Lee.
For some weeks Lee’s army lay quietly resting in the lower Valley. But Jackson was never idle. He was now busy in getting clothes and shoes for his men, and filling up the ranks which had been so thinned during the summer. His regiments were at the time filled up by the return of the sick and the foot-sore and by new recruits.
Jackson had now become the idol of his men. Their pet name for him was “Old Jack.” Whenever he rode by they would cheer themselves hoarse; and his devotion to them was just as great. This story is told of him by an eye-witness of the scene: “When Jackson’s men were on their famous march to Manassas, at the close of the first day, they found Jackson, who had ridden forward, dismounted, and standing upon a great stone by the road-side. His sun-burned cap was lifted from his brow and his blue eyes gleamed in the rays of the setting sun. His men burst forth into cheers, but he at once sent an officer to request that there be no cheering, as it might betray their presence to the enemy. Instantly the cheering stopped, but as they passed their General their eyes told what their lips could not utter—their love for him. Jackson turned to his staff, his face beaming with delight, and said, ‘Who could not conquer with such troops as these?’” Well might he be proud of men who had been marching and fighting for five days, many of them having no rations and living upon green corn found along the way, yet whose courage and devotion knew no bounds!
Crĕs′çent, shaped like the new moon. Băr′rier, a bar, a defense. Swamp, soft, low, and spongy ground. De-vō′-tion, love. Re-vēal-ing, making known.