Found

As recorded here previously, the West Woods never ceases to surprise those who enter its green confines. 

Fellow guide, Laura Marfut, came across this little scene sheltered under a mossy rock ledge deep in the woods.

Long may the mysteries live!

Memorial Day 2019

Camp Fires of the Boys in Gray

by Private Carlton McCarthy [1]

The substance of this paper was delivered in response to a toast at the banquet and reunion of the Richmond Howitzers, November 9th, 1875.

For the full paper, see http://www.civilwarhome.com/campfires.htm

"The camp fires of the Army of Northern Virginia were not places of revelry and debauchery. They often exhibited gentle scenes of love and humanity, and the purest sentiments and gentlest feelings of man were there admired and loved, while vice and debauch, in any, from highest to lowest, were condemned and punished more severely than they are among those who stay at home and shirk the dangers and toils of the soldier's life. Indeed, the demoralizing effects of the late war were far more visible 'at home' among the skulks, and bombproofs, and suddenly diseased, than in the army."

"And the demoralized men of today are not those who served in the army. The defaulters, the renegades, the bummers and cheats, are the boys who enjoyed fat places and salaries and easy comfort while the solid, respected and reliable men of the community are those who did their duty as soldiers, and having learned to suffer in war have preferred to labor and suffer and earn rather than steal in peace."

"And, strange to say, it is not those who suffered most and lost most, who fought and bled -- who saw friend after friend fall, who wept the dead and buried their hopes -- it is not these who now are bitter and dissatisfied, and quarrelsome and fretful, and growling and complaining -- no, they are the peaceful, submissive, law abiding and order loving of the country, ready to join hands with all good men in every good work, and prove themselves as brave and good in peace as they were stubborn and unconquerable in war."

=====

1. Carlton McCarthy joined the Second Company of the Richmond Howitzers on October 31, 1864; he was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. NARA RG 109 (Virginia) M324/Roll0315. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Virginia units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 7

This is the seventh entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps.

Camp on Battlefield near Sharpsburg
Md. September 20, 1862.

My dear John.

I have written to Father giving an account of the late battle. I have received 2 letters from you of the 12th one from Mother of the 8th and one from Mary Ann, and one from Father of the 9th inst. Which I have not yet acknowledged.

Yesterday I went over the field, and it was really a most awful sight. The dead were really piled up and lay in rows. The slaughter was more awful than anything I ever read of, for it is not a small field on which the dead lay thickly scattered as if there was a separate fight at that one place, but a vast extent of country several times as large as the Commons⁠[1] where there is no place which you can stand and not see the field black with dead bodies as far [as] the eye can reach. Then the wounded gathered into barns &c. are an awful sight. The Rebels let them lay for 2 days without care, and would not allow our men to either take them off, or dress their wounds, as they lay, although their own men robbed them of everything and often stripped their clothes from their bodies. No description I ever

Location of the 20th Massachusetts in the West Woods.
Detail from Cope/Carman Map, 1904. Library of Congress.

read begins to give one an idea of the slaughter and the horrible sights of this battle-field. We drove them for about 1/2 miles, and they then repulsed us from the ravine into which we were too hastily advanced.⁠[2] The Artillery was by far the heaviest we have ever yet heard.

The 20th has lost about 150 about of about 400, and it never acted better or better supported its reputation for perfect steadiness. The advance of our Division was a splendid sight. I had 2 very narrow escapes. The spent ball made a hole in my coat and only scraped up the shirt a little and made me lame for a day. The Cannon ball I saw distinctly. It first hit the branch of a tree, glanced, passed between my legs slightly burning my knee and leaving a black mark on my pants. It struck the ground behind me and again glanced up and smashed the shoulder of Corporal Campion⁠[3] of my Company. A great many of our men were killed by the grape shot they piled into us from the top of the hill⁠[4] about as far off as from our house to Charles St.⁠[5] 

Well, it is over, and we may not see another such battle for many months.

Much obliged to you for your attention to my things. Your recruit has not yet come. James is doing better of late and [seems] capable of improvement. I should not take an enlisted man for a servant. Col. Lee⁠[6] is well and in command of the Brigade, Genl. Howard⁠[7] of the Division; Capt. Dreher⁠[8] of the Regiment. Herbert⁠[9] is all right and unhurt. So are all other friends except those I mentioned as wounded. We have beaten the enemy badly and they acknowledge it. I should not wonder if the war was now brought to a speedy end.

I have heard that our left was unprotected in consequence of Genl. French taking a wrong road. He should have been there.

I have received the pistol &c. And have determined to keep John Bradlee⁠[10] and send home the heavy one. Have not seen Lieut. Morse⁠[11] of the 2d. They were out near us for 2 days. Saw Caspar⁠[12] and Forbes⁠[13] of the Cavalry the other day. Murphy⁠[14] and Abbot⁠[15] were left sick at Frederick and were not in the battle.

Your affectionate brother,

Henry


Source NoteThe source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. The original transcription can be found at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library.

Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the center piece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.

Notes

1 The Boston Commons.

2 The location of the 20th Massachusetts in the West Woods placed them in a broad depression between two limestone ridges. See, illustration.

3 This was Irish-born Corporal Edward J. Campion. He and his brother, Sgt. Patrick J. Campion, served in Company K, 20th Massachusetts. The medical history of Corporal Campion follows: “Campion, Edward J., Corporal, Co. K, 20th Massachusetts, aged 31 years. Antietam, September 17th 1862. Shell fracture of right temporal bone. Baltimore hospitals. Removal of spicular of bone. Discharged March 10, 1863. Examiner David Choate, M.D., reports, November 27th, 1863, that the patient is subject to vertigo, palpitation, and morbid wakefulness. He was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Togus, Maine on September 20, 1887 where he lived until his death on December 26, 1910. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1870), p. 238; 62d Congress, 2d Session (December 4, 1911-August 26, 1912) House Documents, Vol. 121 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1912), p. 287; National Archives, Record Group 94, (M544, Roll 0006). Alphabetical card index to the compiled service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units from the State of Massachusetts.

4 This would be Hauser’s Ridge.

5 The 9:00 to 9:30 location of the 20th Massachusetts is marked on the Antietam Battlefield Board Atlas a little less than 600 yards from Brockenbrough’s and D’Aquin batteries located on Hauser Ridge. The distance from the family residence on 92 Beacon Street and Charles Street is 500 feet. Cope/Carman Map 1904; Boston Directory… for the Year Commencing, July 1, 1862 (Boston: Adams, Sampson, & Co., 1862); Mitchell’s New General Atlas, Plan of Boston (Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1866).

6 Colonel William Raymond Lee (1807-1891), attended West Point but dropped out in 1829. John C. Ropes, “William Raymond Lee,” Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 28 (May, 1892-May, 1893), pp. 346-348.

7 General Oliver O. Howard (1830-1909), took command of the division vice the wounded John Sedgwick. Cullum’s Register.

8 Captain Ferdinand Dreher (1822-1863) commissioned as Major on September 5, 1862 will be wounded at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862 and die in Boston on April 30, 1863. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with reports from the Quartermaster-General, Surgeon-General, and Master of Ordnance for the Year Ending December 31, 1862 (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1863), pp. 676-77; NARA, RG 15, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861 - 1934, Application Number WC8673.

9 Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1884), Harvard College, 1862, will be severely wounded in the West Woods.

10 Unknown reference.

11 Lt. Charles Fessenden Morse (1839-1926), Harvard (1858) served as Captain of Company B, 2nd Massachusetts.

12 Caspar Crowinshield (1837-1897), Harvard (1860), originally with the 20th Massachusetts, was a captain in the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry. The regiment, deployed across the Middle Bridge and finding some refuge in the hollows and banks adjacent to Antietam Creek as the “air was full of shot and shell.” Ezra A. Carman, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Vol. II: Antietam. Thomas G. Clemens, ed. (California: Savas Beatie, 2012), p. 363.

13 William Hathaway Forbes (1840-1897), Harvard (1861), served in the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry. Obituary, The Harvard Crimson, October 31, 1897.

14 Lt. James Murphy would resign his commission on August 28, 1863 due to wounds received at Chancellorsville. He will serve as one of Henry Ropes’ pallbearers.

15 Lt. Henry Livermore Abbott (1842-1864), Harvard College, 1860 will be killed at the Battle of the Wilderness.

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 3

This is the third entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. 

Camp 20th Regiment
Tennallytown near Washington, D.C.

September 5th 1862.

My dear Father.

Battery Martin Scott in the District
of Columbia overlooking Chain Bridge.
Harper's Weekly, August 24, 1861.

I wrote to you last from Alexandria, day before yesterday, telling you of our heavy marches to and [1] I was unable to march yesterday and came in an ambulance with Col. Hinks⁠ [2] of the 19th Regiment, a very pleasant man. He told me that we marched 30 miles on Sunday, from 2 A.M. till 12 P.M., and that taking the 3 days together we marched 65 miles in 64 consecutive hours. This march quite used up my foot, and I found yesterday that I was quite unable to march, but to-day it is much better and I have no doubt a few day’s rest will quite restore it.
from Fairfax Court House. Yesterday the Brigade (under Col. Lee) marched to this place crossing at Chain Bridge. Our Corps, and Banks’ is here, and I understand Banks is to-day to move up the river to Poolesville.

We are now on very high land and shall probably be very comfortable.[3] I have written to Poolesville ⁠2and ordered my two boxes there to be sent home to you by Adams’ Express. I enclose the keys. They are filled with Camp equipage which, I could not carry with me from Poolesville. Please open the boxes and make any use of the contents. Some of the things I may need and if so will send for them.

[Notation in pencil: “For close see close of letter 26 September /62_” The “close” from September 26th is amended below. Someone has added a notation in pencil to this amendment that “This is probably the close of a letter dated Sept. 5, 1862 “].

From all I hear, McDowell [4] made a bad job of his retreat and our loss was heavy, and a great deal of valuable Stores and many wagons fell into the enemy’s hands. I can see no excuse for this. A good firm rear guard can stop almost any pursuit. We have now twice covered a retreat, and both times with success.

Jackson seems to strike terror everywhere. I hope Sumner [5] will meet him some day and turn the tables. We expect to be here several weeks. I am perfectly well as usual. Herbert [6] is quite strong and well, and stood the hard marching perfectly. I have written to John [7] to get me a number of things, and I have no doubt it will take up much of his time to see to them, be he is very kind in attending to everything, and I think I have now found out exactly what I need.

Best love to Mother and all. I shall write soon and answer all letters when I can get a tent up.

Ever your affectionate Son

Henry.


Sources
The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence that constitutes this and the following items in this series is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the centerpiece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three hand-written transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.


Notes

[1] Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland.

[2] Colonel Edward Winslow Hinks (Hincks) (1830-1894) commanded the 19th Massachusetts. He would be seriously wounded in the West Woods.

[3] Tennallytown, District of Columbia, at 500 feet elevation, is on one of the highest points of the District.

[4] Gen. Irwin McDowell led the III Corps of the Army of Virginia under John Pope.

[5] Edwin Vose Sumner commanded the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac.

[6] Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1884), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded in the West Woods.

[7] John C. Ropes, his brother.

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 1

This is the first entry of correspondence by 2nd Lieutenant Henry Ropes written between September 3 and October 5, 1862 to his father, mother, and brother. Ropes served in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. The letters give Ropes' perspective on the day-to-day affairs of the regiment as it advances to Sharpsburg and eventually to the West Woods.  See Sources, below, for more information on the Ropes correspondence.

Camp, 20th Regiment near Alexandria, Va.

September 3d 1862

My dear John.⁠[1]

I have just received from the Colonel your letter, the pail, soap, stamps, straps, and shaving brush for all of which I am very much obliged. Col. Lee⁠[2] looks very well and so does the Major.⁠[3]  The

Henry Ropes. Massachusetts
Historical Society.

Colonel asked me to mention in my letter that he arrived here last night safely and well and requests you to send word to Mrs. Lee and the family.

I think we shall move toward Chain Bridge⁠ [4] and stay there for some time. All quiet now. I believe I never acknowledged the receipt of the following letters. From Father⁠ [5] August 23d and 27th, Mary Ann [⁠6] 19th and 26th, and you of the 19th and the one by Col. Lee. Please thank all. In answer to your questions, Sedgwick ⁠[7] sent word to Col. Palfrey [8] that he might want an Officer for 2 or 3 days, and asked if he could send one in case he should need him. Col. Palfrey said he could spare one and asked me if I would go. I said I would but was never called for. Sedgwick had before asked for Peirson⁠ [9] or Whittier⁠ [10] but both were sick. Whittier is now on his staff. I was detailed to command Company E, but now Patten⁠ [11] has returned and assumed command, and I am still in K. James⁠ [12] does pretty well, but do keep a look out for a really good man. Strength to carry a heavy load and willingness to endure discomfort are absolutely necessary.

About 75 recruits joined us but were unarmed and had to be sent to the rear when we advanced.

I feel very sorry to trouble you so much in getting such things for me, but you see my equipment has to do for a house, pantry, kitchen, bath room, and everything else, including butcher, baker, and tailor, and all this has to be carried on my back to be of use to me at the right time, and so I have to be very particular to have good articles and of the lightest materials. You no do doubt will think it silly of me to give such particular directions about small things, but remember that to have a couple of eyelet holes in the wrong place in a tent may make me wet to the skin for 24 hours, instead of keeping me dry, and a slight alteration of the the straps of a knapsack may cut my shoulder and disable me, instead of leaving me perfectly sound and well. Now I wish to be perfectly prepared for active operations immediately, and therefore, after much thought, I have determined on what I want and ask you to see to the procuring of the same, in accordance with the enclosed directions. I want the following articles:

Pair of Boots. Rice⁠ [13] made me a perfect pair of Army shoes last December, and probably has my measure yet. Those shoes were very loose and comfortable, and very long, exactly as I want the boots. They must go on easily, even when wet. Please order a pair at Rice’s, not of excessive thickness, but of the leather best calculated to keep out water. Perhaps it would be well to have Cork soles put on (not inside Cork soles covered with Lamb’s wool). Let them be loose about the ankle bones, hight, nearly to the knee and very large in the calf. My calf is very large. Let no expense be incurred for ornament, and none be spared for strength and durability. As they are to be worn in rain and mud, let the “counters” be very stiff. Should Rice not have the measure, perhaps Rogers⁠ [14] has (who made the Army shoes you sent out). But let Rogers make them a little wider than the shoes. Clauser⁠ [15] has my measure in Cambridge, but if he makes them, tell him to make them large. I prefer Rice.

2d. A Knapsack. Please call Roulston’s⁠ [16], Tremont Street, and order a knapsack, made exactly like the one he made lately for Lieut. Wilkins⁠ [17] and Herbert Mason⁠ [18], with this alteration: instead of

"Knapsack." Ropes
Transcript, Vol 2.
Boston Public Library.

side straps for shoes on the outside, let there be on each side a small pocket, large enough for a sponge, for instance, fastened by a lappet and button, or buckle. Let the Knapsack be made as light as possible, and of the very best material. It’s cost is, I believe, $4. I will give you a little representation of the pockets I wish. He will understand what I want for Wilkins’ is my model. I wish to have “Lieut. Ropes, 20th Mass.” Distinctly marked in small letters in white paint just above (or under) the left-hand pocket, as I have represented. This is very necessary. Wilkins’ had a little inside pouch or pocket for comb tooth brush &c., and I wish one like this, with a lappet and fastening.

3d. Wool Blanket. I wish one of some color not very light, blue preferred. Size, regulation about 6 feet by 4. I want a very light thin blanket, not more than 1/2 as heavy as the common kind sold. Let it be as warm as possible for its weight, and therefore I suppose it must be made either of fine wool, or of silk and wool. Do not spare expense, but get the greatest amount of warmth and the least weight possible.

4th. India Rubber Blanket. I wish the lightest Rubber that is strong enough to bear careful usage. Patten has an excellent one. Let it be very large, say (if possible) 7 feet by 5, with strong edges, and one eyelet hole in each corner, and besides 3 others along each long side and 2 along each short side. Let this and the wool blanket be marked with my name “H. Ropes”. Do not get a lined blanket, only the light “linen rubber” (as I believe it is called).

5th Rubber Pillow. I have lost my old one. Please get a very small light one. Let it be marked with my name “H. Ropes”.

6th. A crockery Plate, Cup and saucer. Perhaps this seems to you to be very luxurious, but I assure you to eat so long from tin is very tiresome, and a crockery cup is a great luxury. These must be very small and light. I should prefer some of that old set which you remember I had in Cambridge. The cups were small and the material was light. If you buy anything, get it white.

7th. A Shelter tent. As this is an article of the very greatest importance, I enclose a description. [See below for enclosure]

8th A Lantern (Ropes’ Patent) Description enclosed. [18a]

9th A very small light and sharp Hatchet with a little leather case and strap to go over the shoulder. This for James to carry.

This is all, I believe. I really feel ashamed to trouble you to such a fearful extent, but if you were here and could go to the front a week or so with me, I am sure you would appreciate my wants, and see the absolute necessity of everything I have sent for, and the need of having the best of everything and thus the lightest.

The Adams Express Company, Boston
 offered to “forward packages
 and parcels daily to the “‘South,”
occupied by Federal Troops.”
From Boston City Directory, 1862.

Everything I have written for can be packed
in the knapsack, and if possible let it be sent on by some faithful man. If you can find no man, let Adams & Co. [⁠19] take it. One thing Mother [⁠20] can send me, if she pleases, 4 little linen bags like the former ones she sent. If three of these are filled with white sugar, tea and coffee, I shall be much obliged.

Another thing: 2 small boxes, tin or pewter, very light to hold each about 1 gill⁠ [21], for salt and pepper. Not with holes in the top for scattering the contents over the food.

I think everything can be made and sent off in 10 days after you get this, and so in 3 week’s I can get all.

I expect a campaign in Autumn, and I want to be as well protected from wet and cold and as generally comfortable, as possible. I have no news. Very sorry for your eyes. You had better go to Lenox⁠ [22] and try to enjoy that female society you say you consider so dull for a ‘steady drink”.

No news. All steady here; no desponding. We have arrived at our “Torres Vedras”,⁠ [23] and I look forward to our last advance before long.

Herbert, Macy, Hallowell, Abbot, Murphy, Shepard, Patten and others desire kindest regards.⁠ [24]

Your affectionate brother,

Henry [⁠25]

P.S. Black India Rubber for the blanket, unless white is stronger or lighter.

[Enclosure]

Hall's Rubber Clothing Company.
From the Boston City Directory, 1862.

I wish to explain to you the triangular end of the tent. It is a triangle divided in the centre into 2 right angled triangles, each of a base of 3 1/2 feet (because the tent is to stretch 7 feet wide) of a hypothenuse of 6 feet (because the 2 sides together are 12 feet long) and 4 feet 10 in perpendicular, because of the other dimensions. But to keep out rain I want a flap 6 inches wide, and to fasten this securely there must be 2 sets of tapes or strings, one outside, one inside. Then the ridge pole must have room to come out at the end, and be supported by a fork stuck in the ground, so the tops of these triangles must be cut off a little. The piece of strong canvas will sufficiently cover this opening.

I hope this description is plain, and that it will not trouble you very much.

Herbert has seen this and wishes one just like it. Can you order 2? Please do so for him. Better make one first and show it to you. Hall's, Milk Street, is the best Rubber store, I think.

Source.

The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. The original transcription can be found at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library. 

Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the center piece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. 

For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.

The sources for annotations for the September 3rd letter from Henry to John C. Ropes are: George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906); Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005); Martin T. McMahon, “The Death of General John Sedgwick” in Battles and Leaders; Massachusetts Historical Society, “Ropes Family Papers, Guide to the Collection”; Harvard Memorial Biographies, T.W. Higginson, ed. (Cambridge: Sever and Francis, 1866); U.S. Census Record for Massachusetts (1850 and 1860); Robert F. Mooney, Nantucket Hero: General George Nelson Macy (Nantucket Historical Association website); Harvard College, The Second Report of the Secretary: The Class of 1862 (Boston: Alfred Mudge and Son, 1872); Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Massachusetts in the Army and Navy During the War of 1861-1865, in 2 Volumes (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1895); John C. Ropes, “William Raymond Lee,” Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 28 (May, 1892-May, 1893), pp. 346-348; Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with reports from the Quartermaster-General, Surgeon-General, and Master of Ordnance for the Year Ending December 31, 1862 (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1863); Boston Directory, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens and a Business Directory, for the Year Commencing July 1, 1862 (Boston: Adams, Sampson & Company, 1862); Wikipedia and Find-a-Grave entries.

Notes.

¹ John Codman Ropes (1836-1899), brother of Henry Ropes came  from a prominent Boston family whose mercantile fortune came through trade with Russia. A graduate of Harvard College (1857), he suffered a childhood spinal infection and resultant deformity left him unfit for military service as the war broke out. Following the death of his brother at Gettysburg, he undertook the writing of a number of monographs and unpublished histories of the events of the war many of which appear in the Military Historical Society’s publications which he helped found. Richard Miller, in his study of the 20th Massachusetts notes that he “determined to memorialize Henry’s life and the history of his regiment.” He is the founder of the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray. 
² Colonel William Raymond Lee (1807-1891), attended West Point but dropped out in 1829. 
³ Major Paul Joseph Revere, grandson of Paul Revere and Harvard graduate (1862).
⁴ Chain Bridge crosses the Potomac between the District of Columbia and Virginia. The mention of moving toward Chain Bridge is the first indication that this letter was begun prior to its noted date of September 3rd for on August 28th the 20th had moved from the environs of Alexandria to Cloud’s Mills adjacent to Fort Worth near the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. And it was here that 72 recruits joined the regiment. On August 29th, the 20th moved to Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy on the Virginia side of Chain Bridge; and on August 30th the regiment bivouacked near Tenallytown, District of Columbia probably near another defensive outpost, Fort Pennsylvania. 
⁵ William Ropes (1784-1869) established a number of trading enterprises in Boston in the early 19th Century. He married Martha Reed and had ten children. In 1830 he sailed with his eldest son to St. Petersburg, Russia to lay the groundwork for an import/export business there. While there Martha Reed died. In 1803 he founded the import/export firm of William Ropes & Co. In 1832, he re-married to Mary Anne Codman. The following year he established William Ropes & Co. in St. Petersburg. He returned to Boston in 1842, leaving his four eldest children to manage the St. Petersburg business. 
⁶ This is probably Ropes’ sister Mary Ann Ropes (b 1842). 
⁷ Major General John Sedgwick (1813-1864), West Point, 1837, commanded the Second Division of the II Corps (Sumner). Shot in the wrist, leg, and shoulder in the West Woods on September 17. He survived, but lost his life at Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, 1864.
⁸ Col. Francis Winthrop Palfrey (1831-1889), Harvard College, 1851, Harvard Law School, 1853. He would be hit with grapeshot in his shoulder in the West Woods on September 17. 
⁹ 1st Lt. Charles Lawrence Peirson (b. 1834). In 1865 his sister, Harriet Lawrence Peirson (1831-1880), would marry Henry’s brother William. 
¹⁰ 2nd Lt. Charles Albert Whittier (1840-1908) eventually joined Sedgwick’s staff and witnessed his death at Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, 1864. 
¹¹ Second Lt. Henry Lyman Patten (1836-1864), Harvard College (1858), would die in Philadelphia on September 10, 1864 of wounds received at Deep Bottom, Virginia on August 17th. 
¹² James Smith wrote to John C. Ropes on November 5, 1863 “a few lines in accordance with the expressed wish of your late Brother Lt. Ropes with whom I was a servant…” He signed his letter “James Smith, Head Qrs, 3d Brig., 2d Div., 2nd Corps, A.P.” 
¹³ After the war, bookmaker William B. Rice the shoe making firm of Rice and Hutchins Shoe Company in Boston (October 1866). The company prospered in the following decades opening factories in Europe and South America. It was dissolved by Rice's sons in 1929.  
¹⁴ This was probably Nathaniel H. Rogers who is listed in the 1862 Boston City Directory as a bootmaker at 147 Salem Street, Boston.
¹⁵ Peter Clausen was a Cambridge shoemaker.
¹⁶ Edward A. Roulstone dealt in “trunks and military goods” at 7 Tremont Street, Boston. 
¹⁷ Lt. Henry E. Wilkins would be severely wounded at Fredericksburg. 
¹⁸ Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1888), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded at Gettysburg on July 3 and left the regiment in July 1864.
^18a Description not found.
¹⁹ The Adams Express Company, operating out of 84 Washington Street, Boston offered to “forward packages and parcels daily to the “‘South,” occupied by Federal Troops.”
²⁰ Mary Ann Codman married William Ropes in 1832. Their children were Catherine Ropes (1833-1835) and John Codman Ropes (1836-1899).
²¹ A gill equals a quarter of a pint or 118 ml.
²² The reference appears to be to Lenox, Massachusetts.
²³ The Portuguese town of Torres Vedras anchored a line of 152 forts and 628 redoubts that extended to the Atlantic Ocean. Ropes may have been comparing the forts circling Washington with this fortified system. At the time of this letter, the 20th Massachusetts was inside the Washington defensive system at Alexandria and headed for Chain Bridge on the Northwest boundary of the city. Ropes seems not to have finished his letter until the 20th had moved to this location. 
²⁴ Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1888), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded at Gettysburg on July 3 and left the regiment in July 1864; Lt. George Nelson Macy (1837-1875 from one of Nantucket’s oldest families would rise to General by war’s end; Lt. Norwood Penrose Hallowell (1839-1914), Harvard College, 1861 would be severely wounded in the arm in the West Woods; Lt. Henry Livermore Abbott (1842-1864), Harvard College, 1860 would be killed at the Battle of the Wilderness; Lt. James Murphy would resign his commission on August 28, 1863 due to wounds received at Chancellorsville, Murphy and Hallowell would serve as Henry Ropes’ pallbearers; Capt. Alan Shepard who commanded Company K would be severely wounded at Fredericksburg and transfer to the Invalid Corps in September, 1863.
²⁵ 2nd Lt. Henry Ropes (1839-1863), born in London, came from a prominent Boston family whose mercantile fortune came through trade with Russia. A graduate of Harvard College, he joined the regiment on November 25, 1861. He participated in all of the regiment's campaigns without a wound until he was killed at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. 

Semmes' Brigade in the West Woods: Stores Correspondence, Part 2

This is the second of two posts of correspondence from Captain William J. Stores, 32nd Virginia, Semmes' Brigade, to Ezra Carman of the Antietam Battlefield Board. 

============

Possible location (x) of the 32nd VA.
The 1st MN lay due North of this
position adjacent and probably
in the Poffenberger cornfield.
Note the rocky ledge to the
right of this position.

"Office of County Supt. of Schools.
Tabb, York Co., Va., January 18, 1900.

Genl. E. A. Carman

War Dept. Washington D.C.

My Dear Sir,

Yours of the 18th inst. To hand_ I will gladly give any information as the position and movements of the 32nd Va. Regt. Semmes’ brigade, that is in my power_

Now I am making this statement under the belief that the 15 Mass. 82nd N.Y. & 1 Minn. Were the advanced union line_ that these were the troops that Semmes’ brigade engaged_ Whatever portion of that line was in front of the 32nd was certainly in a Cornfield when the engagement commenced;[1a] and the 32nd Va. was in an open farm field in which there seemed to be a slight rise in or rocky ledge about 75 or 100 yds from the cornfield_

You ask_ “in going forward to the woods did we pass through any Corn before reaching the woods”_

We did go through this cornfield to the woods, thence through the woods to an open field, thence to a barn & stack in this field_ I do not remember seeing any Confederate line of troops, or passing through an orchard_ The only Confederates I remember of seeing were wounded soldiers coming toward the left, just before we turned into the where we first met the enemy. There possibly may have been some of Jackson’s men who had been engaged near the orchard_

You ask_ “If Barksdale was in the woods from which Stuart came to us while at the Barn and Stacks”_

Detail from the "The fight on Sumner's
left at Poffenberger's
farm" by Frank Schell. The
Poffenberger barn at left and the
Locher Cabin at right. The cabin still
stands; the barn foundation is all that is left.
Becker Collection, Boston College.

No. I suppose he was to our right & rear, as Stuart went in that direction to look for him_ We ⁠[1b]_ I found several wounded men and two wounded Officers from my Company, at this Hospital or barn, and I remained there all night with them. Next morning I found my Regt. near an Orchard, where we remained all day_ Fatigue parties were sent out to bury the dead_ and that night we returned & crossed the Potomac River.

[R]emained at the barn & stacks about 15 or 20 minutes_ When the enemy commenced to shell the barn we retired through the woods in a S.E. direction to an open old field_ where we remained a short while. When I image the whole brigade was reformed; and thus it was that we moved to the stone fence along the Road to Sharpsburg and where we remained until late in the afternoon_ I am quite sure the whole brigade was there_ For I heard Genl Semmes tell one of his aids “to go and tell the Regmt commanders to take their Regts. back to the rear_ out of the range of the guns_ and make them Comfortable for the night_ they would not be needed any more that day”_ I obtained permission to take a file of men and go to the battle field of the Morning to look after a wounded Officer_ When I reached the field, I found him dead_ I found a man there wounded in the leg who could not walk, so I carried him to the Hospital, which was located in a barn, with some stacks close about it_ this must have been the barn near A. Poffenberger’s

"I found several wounded men and two wounded Officers from my Company,
at this Hospital or barn..." The Alfred Poffenberger barn foundation
remains visible today. In the distance is Hauser Ridge over which Semmes'
Brigade advanced on Willis Gorman's Brigade, Sedgwick's Division.

You ask in another letter of the same date “Where was the Cornfield from which the Union line opened fire on us.”

It must have been the field N.W. of A. Poffenberger’s_ a portion of the Union line⁠ was in this Cornfield,[2] and we charged through it, to the woods, and then through the woods to the barn & stacks beyond in an open field_ This barn & stacks⁠[3] must have been the same marked on the map, about south of D.R. Miller’s_ I recollect very distinctly the rocky ledge with considerable under growth of bushes S.W. of the barn; and there was an old rail fence running along the base of this rocky ridge. It was at this very place I heard the Conversation between Semmes & Stuart referred to in a former letter[⁠4]_ I do not remember passing a [thin] line of Confederates, or do I remember passing the Poffenberger house. I think we must have come to the left of the Poffenberger house_

I recollect seeing a line of union troops beyond the barn & stacks, apparently behind a stone fence_ it might have been the turnpike⁠[5] they were in_ but it surely was [no] more than 30 or 40 feet from the barn_ I took this line to be the reserve forces around which the retreating Regts. were rallying. It seemed, as if beyond this union line, the ground was sloping_looked to be a meadow_

Detail from the Cope/Carman 9:00 a.m.
map (1908 edition). 1 and 2 are David R.
Miller's stacks and barn; 3 is the Miller
farmhouse; 4 is the stone fence that bordered
the Hagerstown Pike on the East at that point;
5 is the "rocky ledge...S.W. of the [Miller]
barn." Library of Congress.

Was not Antietam Creek over in the direction about west-north-west? I could see General officers

mounted away over beyond this meadow looking field, on hills and rising ground watching the movements_ I would like to visit the battle field_ I think I could locate some of these fields unless things have very much changed_

I can only say that our advance was to a barn & stacks with wood on the right & left_ the woods to the left was much farther from the barn, than the woods on the right and toward the north, an open field, stretching out away across to what seemed to be a meadow.

I am respectfully yours.

Wm. J. Stores

==========

Source: Antietam Studies, Record Group 92, National Archives.

William J. Stores was the Captain of Company I, 32nd Virginia. 

Notes :
1a See Stores to Carman, December 30, 1899 where Stores states he believes that they may have  engaged the 1st Minnesota in the Poffenberger cornfield.

1b This is the Alfred Poffenberger farmstead that consisted of the Locher Cabin and outlying farm buildings including a substantial barn.

2 This was probably the 1st Minnesota.
3 See Hotchkiss and Carman maps.
4 See Stores to Carman, 12/30/1899
5 This is the Miller farm house and barns that are across the Hagerstown turnpike.

Semmes' Brigade in the West Woods: Stores' Correspondence, Part 1

What follows is the first of two posts of correspondence from Captain William J. Stores, 32nd Virginia, Semmes' Brigade, to Ezra Carman of the Antietam Battlefield Board.
============

 "Office of County Sup. of Schools
Tabb, York Co., Va., Dec. 30th 1899

Genl. E. A. Carman

Washington D.C.

Dear Sir,

My recollection of the battle of Sharpsburg is very vivid and clear. But the topography as prepared by your Board a little strange at this date.

On the night of the 16th we made a forced march from near Harpers Ferry (marching all night) crossed the Potomac River just about the break of day, marched up in an open field, near a large dwelling house stacked arms and proceeded to get something to eat. 

Possible location of the 32nd VA
is marked by an X. The 1st MN
lies ahead and probably has
moved into the Poffenberger
Cornfield. Cope/Carman Map,
1908 edition. Library of Congress.

We were soon, however, in line again, and on the march. We proceeded up a road in a northerly direction and turned to the right into an open old field where we were ordered to throw off knapsacks and blankets. We continued our march across this fallow field in Column of fours — the 32d Va. At the head of the Brigade. We were thus marching when the enemy opened fire upon us from a Cornfield.

In formation line of battle, and advancing upon the Enemy in his partly concealed position, was the time we suffered mostly * (the command was halted as Col. Montague[1] reports “under cover of a slight hill” or rocky ledge).⁠[2]

Soon however the Enemy in our front gave way but we were ordered to charge_ Now this hill or rocky ledge referred to above, and reported to in Col. Montague’s report, must have been the one just above A. Poffenberger’s home_ [3] but it was not in a cornfield but in an open fallow field_ we had not reached the Cornfield when we halted_ If the position of the 15th Masst. And the 1st Minn. Are correctly reported, then there must have been the troops we engaged.

When routed from this Cornfield, the Enemy was pushed back, in a North, NorthWest direction, through a body of woods to an open field beyond. Thence across this field to a Barn and Haystacks where he attempted to rally, but we were too close on him, and he went some distance beyond the barn & stacks to a stone fence where it seemed the reserve forces were reemploying. We captured some prisoners at the barn, stacks, but they were hurried to the rear and I did not learn from what Regt. they came.

Detail from the Cope/Carman 9:00 a.m.
map (1908 edition). 1 and 2 are David R.
Miller's stacks and barn; 3 is the Miller
farmhouse; 4 is the stone fence that bordered
the Hagerstown Pike on the East at that point;
5 is the "rocky ledge...S.W. of the [Miller]
barn." Library of Congress.

Now this barn & stacks to which we advanced must have been the barn & stacks marked near D. R. Miller’s_ Because the barn and stacks near Nicodemus are not situated with relation to each other, as the barn & stacks were at which we advanced. These stacks were certainly on the right hand side of the barn.

I remember distinctly that we had a man killed standing on an old drag frame between the barn and the stacks.

Genl. Stuart’s Calvary was in a body of woods just to our left_ for Stuart came from the woods, across an open field at full speed, to the barn & stacks where we were and asked to what Command we belonged to and inquired for Genl. Semmes_  Just then a battery from the Enemie's side opened fire on the barn and stacks_ Anxious to hear what so distinguished a General as Stuart would have to say to our Brigade Commander[4] I pressed up close and heard him say, “General that battery must be taken” Semmes replied “General! My men have been in this engagement all the morning. Barksdale’s brigade is through the woods there unexposed_” Stuart dashed off, as if in search of Barksdale’s brigade. I turned about and found that my Regt. had retired through the woods to a less exposed position & when ammunition was brought up and the Cartridge boxes were refilled, we advanced no farther than the barn and stacks alluded to above.

My impression was that we were occupying the extreme left of the Confederate Infantry. Late[r] on we were ordered to the Center of our line, where it was said the Enemy was very stubborn. But we were not engaged any more during the day.

Allow me to say, that I hardly think that this dead of the 10th Geo. & 15th Va. were buried when they fell. [5]

Yours very Respectfully &c

Wm. J. Stores

Capt. Co. I 32nd Va Infantry

========

Source: Antietam Studies, Record Group 92, National Archives.

William J. Stores was the Captain of Company I, 32nd Virginia.

Notes:

1. Col. Edgar Burwell Montague (1832-1885) commanded the 32nd Virginia at Antietam. Brian Downey's Antietam on the Web under entry from Edgar Burwell Montague.

2. See Montague's Official Report at Antietam on the Web.

3. This was Alfred Poffenberger's Farmstead (Locher Cabin).

4. Brigadier General Paul Jones Semmes (1815-1863).

5. See further: "'It getting dark and plank scarce:' Philologus H. Loud and the 10th Georgia in the West Woods" posted here.

New Antietam Blog Opens

Ranger Alann Schmidt takes
visitors on a Ranger Led Hike like
the ones listed on the new
Antietam Journal blog.

The Rangers at the Antietam National Battlefield Park have opened a new blog: Antietam Journal. 

The blog includes calendar events, historical articles, photographs, and other information useful to visitor and student alike.

In the blog so far...

Ranger Alann Schmidt delivers an excellent mini-history of the Dunker Church. Located on the eastern edge of the West Woods, the whitewashed church became a highly visible reference point for commands on both sides. Alann writes that "this house of worship, dedicated to the principles of peace and goodwill, would ironically end up being in the middle of the worst part of the worst battle our country has ever seen."

Ranger Mannie Gentile, explores
the West Woods terrain.

Ranger Mannie Gentile introduces the reader to the role terrain played during the battle. Through photos and narrative, Mannie reminds readers and visitors that "to really understand the battle, there is no substitute for walking the actual ground and discovering an appreciation of the difficulties faced by those who fought over this very dynamic, and confusing landscape nearly a century and a half ago."

You will want to bookmark this important new resource at: http://antietamjournal.blogspot.com.

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).

The 1962 Stinson Study: Seventh Entry

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 seventh entry from his report: Appendix D-The "Ambush" Question.

--------
"Appendix D-The 'Ambush' Question

The West Woods 2013

Efforts have been made during the past year or so, on the part of the staff of the Antietam National Battlefield Site, to have the term 'ambush' condemned as a description of Sedgwick's defeat in the West Woods. The effort has been successful to the extent that labels in the new visitor center will refrain from use of the word. However, the heading 'Jackson Prepares an Ambush' has not yet been changed in the battlefield Handbook, nor the story of a deliberately laid trap which follows. Popular accounts of the battle have also propagated this misconception. There are two major reasons why it is important that Sedgwick's defeat should not be called an ambush.

1. An 'ambush' is defined as 'a post or tactical trap of troops in wait, concealed for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise.' The term carries a connotation of stealth and deliberate concealment. For reasons that will be denoted later, this simply did not occur. Use of the term 'ambush' implies that they did and is therefore incorrect.

2. Other parts of the battle story must conform when the term 'ambush' is used, thereby, giving rise to further false information. This is particularly true with the operations of Greene's Division and those of the 34th New York and 125th Pennsylvania, both of which must be misrepresented to clear the area where the 'ambush' is supposed to have been set up.

It is hope that the Operations section of this report has supplied evidence to discredit use of the term 'ambush' in connection with Sedgwick's defeat. The following points should bolster the facts in that section and prove beyond any doubt that no ambush took place in the West Woods.

1. Jackson made every effort to contain Sedgwick's advance and to drive him from the West Woods before McLaws and Walker arrived. This is evident by the artillery fire directed at Sedgwick during his approach and the desperate resistance encountered by Gorman's Brigade.

2. The 125th Pennsylvania and later the 34th New York were engaged in the very area where an ambush would have to have been set up, before the main part of Gorman's Brigade crossed the Pike.

3. If the above was not sufficient warning that trouble might be expected from the left, the fact that the two regiments were driven out before all of Sedgwick's Division entered the woods surely was. Colonel Owen of Howard's Brigade even suggested that the brigade oblique to the left to meet the danger. None of this implies the sudden springing of a carefully laid trap.

4. Confederate reports indicate that their reinforcements were committed to the attack upon arrival with no attempt at concealment or waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The following extracts from the reports of the commanders directly concerned with Sedgwick's defeat are offered to support this point. 

A. (Maj. Gen. T. J. Jackson) 'The force in front [of Early] (the 125th Pennsylvania and 34th New York) was giving way under this attack when another heavy column of Federal troops was seen moving across the plateau on his left flank. By this time, the expected re-enforcements...arrived, and the whole, including Grigsby's command, now united, charged upon the enemy, checking his advance, then driving him back with great slaughter entirely from and beyond the wood..." [1]

B. (Brig. Gen. J.G. Walker) '...we at once formed line of battle, and...the division, with Ransom's brigade on the left, advanced in splendid style, firing and cheering as they went, and in a few minutes cleared the woods, strewing it with the enemy's dead and wounded.' [2]

C. (Maj. Gen. L. McLaws) 'My advance was ordered before the entire line of General Kershaw could be formed. As the enemy were filling the woods so rapidly, I wished my troops to cross the open space between us and the woods before they were entirely occupied. It was made steadily and in perfect order, and the troops were immediately engaged, driving the enemy before them in magnificent style at all points, sweeping the woods with the perfect ease and inflicting great loss on the enemy.' [3]

D. (Brig. Gen. J.A. Early) (Narrative begins just after Early's Brigade had drive out the 125th Pennsylvania and 34th New York.) 'I also discovered another body of the enemy moving across the plateau on my left flank, in double-quick time, (Dana and Howard) to the same position, and I succeeded in arresting my command and ordered it to retire, so that I might change front and advance upon this force. Just as I reformed my line...McLaws' division came up, and the whole, including Grigsby's command, advanced upon this body of the enemy, driving it with great slaughter entirely from and beyond the woods..." [4]

To conclude this discussion it may be said on the basis of all available evidence, use of the term 'ambush' in reference to Sedgwick's defeat is not only misleading but grossly incorrect." [5]

Next: Appendix E--Confederate Order of Battle

Notes==========

Statements and words bracketed by (  ) and [   ] above are Stinson's.

[1] "O.R., 956 (Jackson)." Stinson notes in his bibliography that "All references [to the Official Records] are from Volume XIX, Part I unless otherwise cited. "[References] will be cited O.R. followed by the page number and the name of the person who submitted the report, as follows: O.R., 275 [Sumner]."

[2] "O.R., 915 (Walker)."

[3] "O.R., 858 (McLaws)."

[4] "O.R., 971 (Early)."

[5] "Longstreet 246 exhibits a diagram which shows Sedgwick's Division moving through the West Woods, passing across the fronts of J.R. Jones on its right and Walker on its left. Longstreet's account of the operation (pp. 245-248) is as incorrect as his diagram and bears no resemblance whatsoever to the West Woods action which it is supposed to be describing. This work is completely useless as reference material for this phase of the Battle of Antietam." James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox (Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co., 1896). 

{Author's note: "Ambush" in the West Woods has a long history. While neither Palfrey or Walker use the term in their studies of the fight in the West Woods, Carman, writing later, states "It would be a simple matter to say that Sedgwick's Division of 5,000 men marched into an ambush, ..." About a hundred years later,  September 2013 tour participants were promised that they would "walk the advance of Sedgwick's division to their impending ambush in the West Woods." }

The 1962 Stinson Study: Sixth Entry

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 sixth entry from his report: Appendix C-Accusation of Rashness.

"Appendix C--Accusation of Rashness

It is hoped that the complexities of the situation facing Sumner prior to his ordering Sedgwick forward have been discussed thoroughly in the Analysis Section of this report. Because of them, many writers of the battle have sought a simple explanation requiring little space but still satisfying the reader as to why a corps commander would voluntarily expose one of his divisions to annihilation and allow the other two to stray off without his guidance. This has led to two theories, which, because of their widespread belief, should be commented on.

Francis A. Walker
Duke University

The most common of these, seemingly coined by Palfrey and Walker, is that Sumner had spent 'all his life in the cavalry' and 'had the instincts of a cavalry commander.' [1] The implication of irresponsible charges at the head of madcap horsemen is clear and conveys the thought that Sumner plunged into the West Woods with the same amount of consideration he would have given to an attack against a band of hostile braves. The fact is, that while most of Sumner's 43 years service had been in the cavalry he was a trained officer and quite aware of the capabilities and employment of infantry. At least his first four years in the army had been spent as a lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry. [2] More significant is that his recent experiences as commander of an infantry corps on the Peninsula surely had made him aware that his capacity was no longer that of commanding a few companies on the Indian frontier.

The "headstrong" concept is carried along in the second theory and frequently the two are combined. This centers around the fact that Sumner had been ordered to hold the II Corps in readiness to march one hour before daybreak yet had not received the order to advance until 7:20. It is often said that Sumner became so agitated at the delay that when he finally was released, he rushed headlong into the action. But even in granting that he was not happy with a passive role, it is going beyond sound historical judgment to assign his hasty advance solely to this reason. It is unreasonable to suppose that an officer of Sumner's experience would discard common sense merely to get into action.

Two other theories should be given more credence and are, when the situation and Sumner's orders are considered, certainly more plausible. Ropes has stated one of these as follows:

'There can be little doubt that representations made to General Sumner of the urgent need of reinforcements on this part of the field of battle influenced him greatly, and account in great part for the impetuosity of his attack. ' [3]

This is closely allied with the fourth theory, advanced by Sumner's son, to the effect that the XII Corps has just about spent its offensive potential and to keep up the momentum of the attack Sumner had to throw in Sedgwick immediately. [4]

In summation, careful study of every known ramification of the problem leads the writer to the conclusion that the last two theories are correct. If the XII Corps successes were to be exploited they would have to be done so immediately, and by the II Corps, which, after all, had been committed for that very purpose in the first place. As we have stated in the analysis, Sumner's error was not in ordering an immediate advance but in accompanying it personally to the exclusion of this other units which would be needed to protect Sedgwick and drive the attack home."

Next--The "Ambush" Question

Source: Dwight E. Stinson, Jr. Operations of Sedgwick's Division. Unpublished, National Park Service Report, 1962. This typescript report is at the Antietam National Battlefield Library and Archives. All notes to Stinson's report are enclosed in quotes; bibliographic citations are from Stinson.

Notes:

1. "Walker, 103." Francis A. Walker, History of the Second Corps in the Army of the Potomac (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886).

2. "Heitman I, 936." Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army. 2 Volumes (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1903).

3. "Ropes, 365-366." John C. Ropes, The Story of the Civil War: The Campaigns of 1862 (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1898). 

4. "14 HMSM, 10 (S.S. Sumner)." Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. Volume XIV. Paper read by S[amuel] S. Sumner before the Society on 2 January, 1917.