"* (* O.R. volume 19 part 1 page 55.)
Considering that McClellan had been in possession of the left bank of
the Antietam since the forenoon of the previous day, all these
preliminaries might well have been completed before daylight on the
16th. That a change in the dispositions of a few batteries, a change
so unimportant as to pass unnoticed in the Confederate reports,
should have imposed a delay, when every moment was precious, of many
hours, proves that Lee's and Jackson's estimate of their opponent's
character was absolutely correct. While McClellan was reconnoitring,
and the guns were thundering across the Antietam, Jackson and Walker
crossed the Potomac, and reported to Lee in Sharpsburg.* (* According
to Jackson's staff officers he himself reported shortly after
daylight.) Walker had expected to find the Commander-in-Chief anxious
and careworn. "Anxious no doubt he was; but there was nothing in his
look or manner to indicate it. On the contrary, he was calm,
dignified, and even cheerful. If he had had a well-equipped army of a
hundred thousand veterans at his back, he could not have appeared
more composed and confident. On shaking hands with us, he simply
expressed his satisfaction with the result of our operations at
Harper's Ferry, and with our timely arrival at Sharpsburg; adding
that with our reinforcements he felt confident of being able to hold
his ground until the arrival of the divisions of R.
Pages:
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174