(MAP of Approximate positions of the Troops during the attacks of
Hooker and Mansfield on the Confederate left, at the Battle of
Sharpsburg.)
9 A.M.
At this moment, as if by common consent, the firing ceased on this
flank of the battle; and as McClellan's Second Army Corps, led by
Sumner, advanced to sustain the First and Twelfth, we may stand by
Jackson near the Dunkard Church, and survey the field after four
hours' fighting.
Assailed in front by superior numbers, and enfiladed by the batteries
beyond the Antietam, the Confederate left had everywhere given back.
The East Wood was in possession of the enemy. Their right occupied
the Miller House; their centre, supported by many batteries, stood
across the corn-field; while the left, thrust forward, was actually
established on the edge of the West Wood, some five hundred yards to
northward of the church. But if Jackson had yielded ground, he had
exacted a fearful price. The space between the woods was a veritable
slaughter-pen, reeking under the hot September sun, where the blue
uniforms lay thicker than the grey. The First Army Corps had been cut
to pieces. It had been beaten in fair fight by Jackson's two
divisions, counting at the outset less than half its numbers, and
aided only by the cavalry.
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