The 1962 Stinson Study: Eighth Entry

The situation in the West Woods at
09:00 hrs. Cope Map, 1908.

Fifty years ago, National Park Service historian Dwight E. Stinson, Jr. set out to “present a definitive study of the operations of Sedgwick’s Division at the Battle of Antietam.” 

What follows is the eighth (and last) entry from his report: Appendix E-Confederate Order of Battle.

"Appendix E--Confederate Order of Battle

From the Confederate viewpoint, the operations against Sedgwick's Division involved such an assortment of units and timing factors that they will be the subject of a separate report.

The diagrams in the body of this report indicate Confederate units present in the various phases of the action thus rendering a written resume of the units beyond the scope of the present project.

The Confederate forces which at one time or another engaged Sedgwick seem to have numbered between 7,000 and 10,000 men.



The table below lists the units and the estimate of their numbers as given by Palfrey and Allan.

	Palfrey[1]	Allan[2]
Early's Brigade of Lawton's Division	1,000	1,000
J.R. Jones' (Jackson's) Division (4 badly reduced brigades under Colonels Grigsby and Stafford)	600	300
McLaws' Division (Cobb's, Barksdale's, Kershaw's & Semmes' Brigades)	3,000	- - - -
McLaws' Division (less Cobb's Brigade)	- - - -	2,550
G.T. Anderson's Brigade of D.R. Jones' Division	600	600
Walker's Division (Ransom's and Manning's Brigades)	3,200	3,000
Other mixed units	1,600	- - - -
Total	10,000	7,450

It is believed that Allan's is the better estimate of the two because he deducts Cobb's Brigade which was engaged elsewhere and rather than attempt to estimate the numbers of the 'Mixed' units he states that, regardless of strength, they were made up for by the units of the I and XII Corps which were also in the general area.

This concentration of force to meet the crisis was effected through Lee's use of interior lines. The list below gives the units of the attack force and their location at 8:00, at which time Sedgwick's Division was already west of the Antietam.

McLaw's Division	In reserve at Lee's Headquarters, 2 miles from the Dunker Church.
G.T. Anderson's Brigade	In line of battle (not engaged) on the site of the National Cemetery, about 1 1/4 miles from the Dunker Church.
Walker's Division	On the extreme right of the line covering Snavely's Ford, about 2 1/2 miles from the Dunker Church.

It hardly needs to be mentioned that a serious Federal demonstration or attack directed against Lee's right between 8:00 and 9:00 would have compromised the allocation of these forces.

 The remainder of the Confederate Army was disposed as follows:

J.R. Jones' Division	On the left in the West Woods seriously depleted from the morning's combat.
Lawton's Division	In worse condition that above. Three of four brigades off the line attempting to regroup. Early's Brigade supporting Stuart and in good condition.
Hood's Division	Engaged in Cornfield-East Woods. Losses so heavy that it will be pulled off line before 9:00.
D.H. Hill's Division	Three brigades heavily engaged in support of Hood. Will be practically dispersed by 9:00. Other two brigades responsible for Sunken Road front.
Evan's Independent Brigade	Responsible for front between Sunken Road and Boonsboro Road.
D.R. Jones' Division	Responsible for long front between site of National Cemetery and Snavely's Ford.
R.H. Anderson's Division	In reserve at Lee's Headquarters
A.P. Hill's Division	In Harpers Ferry area, 8 hours removed from Sharpsburg.

Notes ====

Cope map is Antietam Battlefield Board, Maps of the Battlefield of Antietam. 14 sheets. Surveyed by Lieut. Col. E.B. Cope. Washington: United States War Department, 1904 and Revised 1908.

 [1] "Palfrey 89-90." Francis Winthrop Palfrey, The Antietam and Fredericksburg (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1882)."

 [2] "Allan, 405-406. William Allan, The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892).