“For fully ten minutes the bullets were hissing near my ears. . .” : A Virginian remembers the fighting at Crampton’s Gapp

Philip F. Brown

                             

On September 14, 1862, the 12th Virginia Infantry of  Mahone’s Brigade, commanded by Colonel William Parham, was in position along the Mountain Church Road at the base of South Mountain. Within the lines of this regiment was Philip C. Brown serving in Company C. He would write a reminiscence of his experience in the war, first, as a series of articles in a local newspaper and then in book form that was published in 1917. The following is an excerpt from this book. In it he describes the aftermath of the fighting at 2nd Manassas as he works to rejoin his regiment after guarding the baggage not carried into battle, the march into Maryland, and the fighting at Crampton’s Gap.   Brown would be severely wounded in the arm and taken prisoner as Federal forces sweep up the mountain side.  Brown begins with camp being set up following the Battle of 2nd Manassas.


" When night came on we were not close enough to the battlefield to be disturbed by the wounded. It was a lonely vigil that Sidney Jones, Gus Durphy and I had that memorable night.  Before going to sleep, I deemed it wise to save a few coals for a fire next morning as we had used the only match in our party to start our evening fire. In raking up the ashes to cover the coals some cartridges accidently were caught up, and their explosion burnt my right thumb and singed my eyebrows.
We made our breakfast of hardtack, boiled in a tin cup, with a small piece of bacon, a dish that had become famous on the march, and known as “cush.” After turning over to the wagon train the belongings that were left with us the evening before, we started off to overtake our command. In doing so we saw the horrors of the evening previous. The ambulance corps of the enemy had been given permission to enter our lines, and care for their dead and wounded. The fields and roadway were strewn with them, and many sickening sights were seen. In several places the limbs and heads had been severed from the body by the artillery wheels, or mashed into a mangled mass by the hoofs of the cavalry trampling over them. At other places we counted where more than thirty bullets had struck a tree of not more than eight inches diameter, and in the height of a man. It was two days before we could overtake our command, as the line of battle before night had been pushed several miles from the point of first attack, and the regiment had one day start of us.

When we camped on Goose Creek, a few miles from Leesburg, John Pritchard and I obtained permission to go into town to provide a few articles for our mess, and, as it was nearly sunset when we left, it was understood that our return would be next morning. After purchasing tobacco and a small quantity of sugar and coffee, we sought rest on the lawn of a beautiful mansion, and were soon in a sound slumber, from which we were awakened by the music of several regimental bands passing through the town at the head of their commands. We little dreamed that ours was among the number, but so it was, and we marched off to overtake it. We forded the Potomac at Williams’ crossing (I think that was the name) about 10 A. M., and after dark arrived on the banks of Monocacy River, and still we had not overtaken our regiment. We were afraid to venture in the water not knowing its depth, and the September nights were growing cool. Leaving the road and entering the tall timber along the banks, we came to a stop, where we found many others were halted in a like manner. At last we found a suitable resting place. I took the precaution to unbuckle my bayonet belt, and pass it under my head for pillow, the bayonet scabbard under my rubber cloth. We were so exhausted from our long day’s march that our sleep must have been very sound, for, when I awakened, the sun was up, and my head flat on the ground. My belt had been unbuckled, and the bundle, containing coffee, sugar and tobacco, was stolen from under my head. Did I grow angry? Well, if my dear comrade, John Pritchard, is still alive, I would like for him to answer this! Fortunately for my sense of honor, no money had been given me to buy these articles, and the loss was, therefore, all my own.
Without a mouthful of breakfast we forded the stream; it was not deep, and we trudged along the dusty road and during the morning came to another point of the same river, where the railroad crossed on an iron bridge, and found it was being destroyed by some artillery command, to prevent its use by the enemy. Before night we were once more in the ranks of our own command, and felt a great relief. Very strict orders had been given by General Lee, that no property of any kind should be disturbed in passing through the enemy’s country, and, as our own wagon train was some distance in the rear, our rations were cut very short. Apples and green corn (when it could be had) were our principal diet. We passed through Frederick City on the morning of September 12, 1862, and the Twelfth Virginia made a handsome spectacle, as we marched through the streets, open order, arms resting on knapsacks. By this maneouvre [sic] four men abreast extended across the street, and caused our force to look much larger than it really was. Our next stopping point was the little town of Burkettsville, where we rested over night, and Saturday marched through Crampton’s Gap, in South Mountain, and camped in Pleasant Valley.

Sunday, September 14th, we received orders to retrace our march, re-crossing South Mountain, to defend the Gap against Franklin’s Corps, which was aiming to relieve the siege of Harper’s Ferry. I was nearly a mile from camp hunting for milk and bread, when I heard the drum corps beating the “long roll” and had to run fast to be in line when my name was called. The 12th was under the command of Lieutenant Col. Field, as Lieutenant Col. Fielding Taylor, though ill, was on the firing line and received a mortal wound. John Crow, of the Rifles, saved Col. Taylor’s gold-head cane by sticking it in the muzzle of his rifle as he retreated up the mountain.

All this was learned after my return from the North. I also learned that Leslie Spence, Ned Aikin, Captain Patterson and John Laughton were wounded same evening. General Thomas T. Munford, now eighty-six years old, living at “Oakland, ” near Union Town, Ala., on March 8, 1917, wrote me the following: “When I opened your letter, the Crampton’s Gap Fight, where you gave your blood, came back to me like a flash of lightning, revivifying the scenes that developed there as General Franklin moved out to attack the Gap.”I had orders to hold, with ten times our numbers visible. “To-day those scenes are forgotten, except by the handful who witnessed them — that campaign was  written in blood — as precious as soldiers could furnish, and General Lee’s audacity as a great soldier was never crowned more brilliantly.”

As we descended the mountain, we could see in the distance clouds of dust rising above the trees on the several roads leading to this point. Such an ominous sight made us feel that in a few hours a battle would be fought. I have never known how the 6th, 16th and 41st regiments were placed along the base of the mountain. I only know that the 12th was where the road diverged, right and left at the base. We were deployed eight feet apart; in order to extend our line as far as possible. We were behind a rail fence, with just enough distance from the road to lie down at full length, and rest our rifles on a low rail, where good aim could be taken. I suppose we were in position nearly as hour before the enemy’s advance column appeared in our front. About two hundred yards distant was another rail fence, a freshly fallowed field lying between us. We had strict orders not to fire until the enemy was in good rifle range. For fully ten or fifteen minutes after arriving at the point mentioned, they hesitated to make a charge on us. Finally a great cheering, as if greeting some welcome reinforcements, swelled along the line, and over the fence they clambered, and started for us at double quick time. When they had advanced about fifty yards, a deadly rifle fire hurled them back, leaving a line of killed and wounded. By the time they reached the point from which they started, another volley was poured into them. From these two opposite points, a desultory fire was kept for some time. Then another great cheering (more fresh troops) and over the fence they came again. I was in the act of firing my rifle when the cheering commenced [sic] ; and, seeing an officer with his hat lifted on the point of his sword, as he mounted the fence, I took deliberate aim, but the smoke of my rifle prevented my seeing what effect it had. I do know, however, that they moved only a few feet before they doubled back, and kept up their fire from behind the fence.

In the meantime, a battery of artillery in our rear was delivering a plunging fire of shot and shell into their ranks. Their force outnumbered our own so greatly that while we were holding them back in our front, they had lapped around our right and left for some distance ; when at a given signal they made a desperate rush upon our line. Though we popped our rifles as rapidly as possible, it seemed evident that we would soon be overwhelmed. When they were about twenty yards distant I was shot in the left arm, about three inches below the elbow, the bullet passing between the two bones, then through the elbow joint, and lodged in the muscle of the arm. I do not know whether it was the excitement, or what, but I felt no more pain at the time than if a brush had hit me; but the blood trickling to my finger tips, and the utter uselessness of or inability to move the arm, made me realize that it was broken, and before the enemy reached the fence I pulled myself into the road.

At this moment Cobb’s Georgians came to our relief, and enabled all who could, to escape, for they halted the enemy at the fence from which we had, only a few minutes before, been firing at them. While lying in the wheel rut of this road, with the Yankee guns not more than ten feet to my left, my face resting on my blood covered hand, I could not help thinking of the shocking sights seen after the battle of Manassas, for should a battery of artillery or a squadron of cavalry move I would be ground or trampled into an unrecognizable mass.

For fully ten minutes the bullets were hissing near my ears, and as soon as the enemy crossed over this road I held my shattered arm in my right, and took refuge in an old cooper shop near the roadside, where a number of Federal soldiers were making good use of several barrels of fresh cider. I passed by them, and seated myself on the back sill, feeling quite faint from the loss of blood. I was not there more than a minute when one of the number brought me a tin cup of the cider, addressing me as “Johnnie.” He seemed very much interested in my condition, and insisted on going with me to have my wound attended to. I was utterly amazed at this mark of kindness, and I soon followed him over the field, where many evidences of the effectiveness of our fire was seen. About midway my eyes rested on the finest canteen I had ever seen, and I hardly thought it would be violating the Tenth Commandment if I asked him to appropriate it for my use, and this he did most cheerfully.

I was taken to five operating “field” hospitals before a surgeon could be found, who could spare the time from their great number of wounded, to attend to me. In an apple orchard, near a brick house, about one mile in the rear of the battlefield, a very noble and kindly disposed Federal surgeon, about sixty years old, with a sharp knife ripped my sleeve open, and cut it off about two inches below the shoulder. Then for the first time I knew the course of the bullet heretofore mentioned. He wished me placed under the influence of chloroform, as it would be exceedingly painful to extract the bullet so firmly embedded in the muscles. I objected to this, and told him I preferred to stand the pain. An incision about two inches long was made through the ligaments, and fastening the forceps on the bullet, they failed to remove it, until the fourth or fifth effort. When it yielded to his strong arm, the blood flew in all directions. He crammed a bunch of lint into the opening. The next minute everything turned pitch dark and I lost consciousness for several minutes. When I recovered, this kind doctor was bathing my face in cool water, and had such a sympathetic countenance that I felt he was a friend. He remarked, in a pleasant manner, “Young man, you stood the operation bravely, but you pinched my leg blue.” After placing the bullet in a pan of water to wash off the blood, he handed it to me with the remark, “You can now see why that bullet was so difficult to remove.” The point was turned back like a brim of a “rough and ready hat.” My arm was neatly bandaged and I remained sitting, with my back resting against a tree in the apple orchard. The Union soldier who accompanied me from the battlefield had remained by me, and as it was about sundown he brought me a small bowl of corn meal gruel, which refreshed me very much.

 A little while later who should come up but one of my company comrades, W. C. Smith, who had been slightly wounded in the shoulder. He informed me that Thomas Morgan and George Bernard, of the Petersburg Rifles, and Charlie Pritchard, of my company, were wounded and fellow prisoners, but I did not see them until next day. I laid on the upper porch floor of the brick house that night, on a bed of loose straw, brought by this kind Federal soldier, who also brought a canteen of fresh water, which proved a great blessing, for my thirst was insatiate, and I could not sleep. On the same porch floor with me were six or seven wounded Federal soldiers, two of whom died before daybreak. Next morning my soldier friend brought me another bowl of gruel and a cup of coffee. About 10 o’clock all the wounded who were able to walk were marched to Burkettsville [sic], and a church was converted into a hospital.”

During his stay in Burkittsville, Brown would find himself in very crowded conditions as surgeons worked feverishly to tend to the wounded. From here, he can clearly hear the distant rumbling of artillery and musketry as intense fighting takes place at near Sharpsburg. He also, successfully, fends off the surgeon’s knife as he is told the his arm must be amputated. He manages to remove himself from the hopsital and into the care of a private citizen who tends to his wound and saves his arm, for the time being. Eventually, he recovers enough to be placed on a train in Frederick and taken to Fort McHenry in Baltimore where he is paroled and awaits exchange. After being exchanged and sent to Richmond, his wound is not fully healed and becomes rather infected. After a quick surgery by a family doctor, fragments of clothe and bone are taken out of the wound. Luckily for Brown, he receives an honorable discharge from the Confederate Army due to the nature of his wound, his elbow being crooked. He would work in a Richmond hotel for the remainder of the war, witnessing its fall in the Spring of 1865.


Sources:
Brown, Phillip F.  1917.  Reminiscences of the War of 1861 – 1865. Richmond, VA: Whittet & Shepperson Printers. Google Books: Phillip F. Brown

Captain Augustus C. Thompson, Co. G, 16th Georgia Infantry

This is a photograph of Captain Augustus C. Thompson, commanding Company G, 16th Georgia Infantry. He would lead his company in the fighting and be wounded at Crampton's Gap on September 14,1862.

Captain Thompson was born in Georgia in 1828 and when war broke out, he would be elected captain of company G on July 20, 1861. He would command his company during the grueling marches and battles during the Summer of 1862. Entering Maryland in September, Thompson would find himself in Howell Cobb's brigade of Lafayette McLaws' division. On September 14, the 16th Georgia was positioned at Brownsville in the rear of McLaw's division as they worked to capture Maryland Heights during the operation against Harper's Ferry. When fighting broke out at Crampton's Gap, Cobb's brigade was ordered to the immediate support of the small Confederate force holding the gap. Arriving at the gap, Thompson would lead his company down to the Burkittsville Road to support the Confederate right. S the regiment was going into position, the Confederate center broke under the weight of the Union assault. Seeing a golden opportunity, the 16th Georgia and Cobb's Infantry Legion, under Jefferson M. Lamar, go into line of battle and begin pouring a murderous flanking fire into the, now, unorganized Union lines. Unknown to these two Confederate regiments, Alfred Torbert's New Jersey Brigade was advancing up the Burkittsville Road and slammed into the flank of Cobb's Legion. The two regiments would be mauled and during the fighting Captain Thompson would be wounded. Following the battle, Thompson would recover from his wound and remain in the Confederate service until he resigned in August 1863.

Sources:

Library of Congress. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/item/2012650008/ [Accessed 6/23/13]

USGenweb Archives. Roster: Company G, 16th Georgia. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/jackson/military/civilwar/rosters/cog16.txt [Accessed 6/23/13]

Wiggins, David N. Remembering Georgia's Confederates. [Arcadia Publishing, 2005], pg. 32

Men of the Phillip's Legion

Listed here are a few photographs of men that would find themselves fighting for their lives during the savage afternoon fighting that would swirl around the Daniel Wise Cabin at Fox's Gap.

Captain Hamilton, 1864

 Captain Joseph E. Hamilton, Co. E:
Born in April 1839, Captain Hamilton was only 23 when he lead his company into the maelstrom that was the afternoon fighting at Fox's Gap. Commanding his company during the three regiment assault order by brigade commander Thomas F. Drayton, Hamilton would lead his company into the teeth of the massive Union 9th Corps. Under heavy musketry, the Hamilton would pull his men out of the fight but only after he was wounded and fortunately, he would be able to make his escape off the mountain. Hamilton would continue fighting until he was captured during the retreat to Appomattox. He would survive being sent to a northern prison and would live until 1907.

Capt. Johnson, circa 1863

Captain James M. Johnson, Co. L:
A native North Carolinian, Captain Johnson would spend much of his life living in Georgia where he would attend the Georgia Military Institute. He would serve in the 14th Georgia Infantry before returning to Georgia after being discharge for disability in December 1861. Not wanting to miss out on the war, he enlisted in what would become Company L, Phillips' Legion and was given command of the company as it's captain. Leading his company at South Mountain, Hamilton would be wounded in the thigh and the nature of his wound would cause him to fall into the hands of Union forces. He would be paroled and returned to Richmond by October 1862. He would survive the fighting at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg but would fall, mortally wounded, during the attack on Fort Saunders near Knoxville, Tennessee in late 1863. 

Lt. Jones, 1850's

1st Lieutenant Abraham Jones, Company D:
Initially serving as part of a Georgia State Brigade, Lieutenant Jones would find himself serving in Phillips' Legion in August 1861. Jones would serve with the regiment in the western Virginia campaign in late 1861 before the legion was sent back to the deep south to protect coastal areas. By July 1862, Jones was back in Virginia with the Legion as part of the newly created brigade of Thomas Drayton. During the ensuing campaign and victory at Second Manassas, Jones would write home that he believed the army was about to cross the Potomac. With his belief a reality, Jones would march on the roads of western Maryland eventually reaching Hagerstown on September 11. On September 14, Jones would find himself marching back towards South Mountain. Arriving on the mountain, Jones would find himself at Fox's Gap advancing through farmer Daniel Wise's South Field and into a woodlot. Suddenly firing breaks out and after a severe firefight, Phillips' Legion is forced from the field. Tragically, Jones would not be among the survivors. At some point during the fight, he would fall and he would be listed as killed as a result of the fighting. He would be buried with his fellow soldiers in mass graves in the fields around Fox's Gap. Here he would rest until the mid-1870's when the Confederate dead were recovered, if possible, and re-interred in Hagerstown, Maryland. If his grave was found, he is likely listed as an unknown among the over 2,000 Confederates buried in Hagerstown.

Chaplain George Gilman Smith:
Serving as the pastor of a small church in Georgia prior to the war, Chaplain Smith would find himself serving with the Phillips Legion when war broke out. He would, to his disdain, receive the moniker "fighting chaplain". Smith would find himself with the Legion's battle line as it advanced into Wise's South Field at Fox's Gap.  With the advance and confusion of the coming fight, Smith served as a sort of courier for the Legion to help avoid a friendly fire situation and also to warn General Drayton of a Union column advancing up the Old Sharpsburg Road. After warning Drayton, Smith saw that the Confederates were under fire from three directions. Rushing to warn the commander of the Legion, he saw them retreating in utter confusion. At this point, Smith would be severely wounded in the throat with a bullet entering his throat and exiting near his spine, paralyzing an arm. Smith would be carried off the field by a group of soldiers who believe his wound was mortal. Smith would survive his wounds and live until 1913. He wrote an account of his experience on the mountain that can be read here.


Sources:

Kurt Graham. Phillip's Georgia Legion - Infantry Battalion. Biographies-Photos-Reminiscences. [accessed 9/1/2012]

"His place can hardly be filled....": Captain Wilson Cowell, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry

This is a photo of Captain Wilson Cowell of Co. B, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry. Captain Cowell was killed in action leading the skirmishers that were covering the advance of the 2nd Wisconsin along the National Pike towards Turner's Gap.

Cowell was born April 12, 1827 the oldest of five children. In 1858, after working for his father, Cowell moved to La Cross, Wisconsin and founded the Katayan Bank. Becoming deeply involved with his new home, he was elected as mayor of La Cross in April 1861 but events on the national level would cause Cowell to instead enlisted on April 18, 1861, just having turned 34 years of age. Having served as a captain in a pre-war militia unit, Cowell was quickly given the rank of captain.  He would lead Company B in the fighting at First Bull Run, Groveton, Second Bull Run, and Chantilly before losing his life at South Mountain. He was extremely loved by the men of his company and a story that veterans later remember was during the First Battle of Bull Run when an artillery shell struck within his company. Cowell, calmly taking out his pipe and lighting it, sat in the spot where the shell struck stating that lightening does not strike twice in the same spot.

Cowell's remains would be transported back to his birthplace of Kittanning Cemetery in Kittanning, Pennsylvania.  A poem, entitled Tobacco Road, was written by a soldier in Company B following his death. A brief excerpt:

'Twas an evening in September,
When we charged famed "Turner's Pass,"
That we found our brave commander
Lying bleeding on the grass.

A comrade gently raised his head
To see if there was life;
But alas, the vital spark had fled
With his last words, "Oh, my wife!"

Before we ceased our cannonade
Into the South Mountain's door,
A wail went from the Iron Brigade,
Brave Colwell is no more.

Captain Cowell's final resting place

 Sources:

1.Unknown author. Wilson B. Cowell page  [accessed 4/17/12]

2. Ralph Sattefield.  findagrave.com (Cowell Grave). [accessed 4/17/12]

2nd Lieutenant William G. Dekle, Jr., Co. F, 50th Georgia Infantry. KIA Fox's Gap

This is a photograph of 2nd Lieutenant William Grissom Dekle, Jr. who served in Co. F, 50th Georgia Infantry. He enlisted in the 50th in the spring of 1862 and was elected 2nd lieutenant in June of 1862. Dekle would find himself crossing the Potomac into Maryland with Thomas F. Drayton's brigade in early September 1862 as Robert E. Lee moved his army northward for the first time in the war. On September 14th, the 50th would find itself marching to the aid of Daniel H. Hill's division, which had come under heavy pressure from Union forces advancing against the vital gaps on South Mountain. The 50th would march towards Fox's Gap and would constitute the  Confederate left during the afternoon fighting with  Co. F marking the extreme left.

At around 3 P.M., General Drayton ordered the Philip's (GA) Legion, the 3rd South Carolina Battalion, and the 15th South Carolina out of the Old Sharpsburg Road and into Daniel Wise's South Field. With this movement, the 50th moved from a position in Wise's North Field and into the road to support the advancing Confederate infantry. Suddenly, the roar of musketry broke the afternoon silence and the three regiments sent into Wise's South Field came under heavy attack to the front as well as their left. Lieutenant Dekle's Company F, along with the remainder of the 50th and the 51st Georgia, supported the exposed regiments the best they could. The company began to take fire from the left flank and rear as the fight reached a climax. The fire was coming from the 45th Pennsylvania and 46th New York from Thomas Welsh's Union brigade  and devastating volleys of musketry were coming from the 17th Michigan infantry (Benjamin Christ's brigade) that had gain the rear of the Confederate battle line. The devastating fire swept the 50th Georgia, especially Company F, leaving Confederate dead and wounded laying thick in the Old Sharpsburg Road. When the fighting had ended, Company F had lost 12 killed, 17 wounded, and 7 missing, the number of men from Company F escaping unscathed can be counted on one hand. Among the dead was Lieutenant Dekle. He would be buried in an unmarked grave beside the dozens of Confederate dead that littered the fields around Fox's Gap.  Dekle's remains would remain at Fox's Gap until after the war when in the 1870's an effort was begun to re-inter the Confederate dead from South Mountain and Antietam in on cemetery. Dekle is now buried, as an unknown, along side over 2,000 Confederate soldiers in the Washington Confederate Cemetery at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland. To note, Dekle's wife, Susan, upon her passing in 1911, requested to be buried in an unmarked grave as her husband was in 1862.

Sources:

1. Thomas County Historical Society and Museum of History.

2. Photo

Lieutenant Colonel Owen K. McLemore, 4th Alabama

This is a sketch from a photo of Lt. Colonel Owen McLemore who commanded the 4th Alabama Infantry in the brigade of Colonel Evander Law. A West Point Graduate, McLemore resigned his commission in April 1861 just days before the firing on Fort Sumter. He would travel home to Alabama where he would help raise the 14th Alabama Infantry and was appointed the regiment's major.

Following the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas, the heavy casualties suffered by the 4th Alabama left the regiment without any field officers to lead it. By order of the Confederate Congress, McLemore was re-assigned to the 4th Alabama where he drilled and lead the regiment in the fighting that occurred on the Virginia Peninsula in May, June, and July of 1862. He would lead the regiment at the Battle of Second Bull Run/Manassas and on into Maryland in September 1862. Leading his regiment in the forced march from Hagerstown on September 14th, McLemore leads his regiment up the mountain and down the Woods Road, as survivors from Drayton's Brigade filter back towards Turner's Gap, and into line. With bayonet's fixed, the 4th advanced along with the rest of John Bell Hood's Division. The counterattack was successful in ending the Union threat. It was during this attack the McLemore would receive a mortal wound. He would be carried off the mountain and transported to Shepherdstown, (West) Virginia for treatment.

After the Maryland Campaign ended, he would be taken to Winchester, Virginia where he would succumb to his wounds. He was 27. His body would be taken home to Alabama and he is buried in the Lafayette Cemetery in Lafayette, Alabama under a simple headstone.







Sources:

Brian Downey, Owen Kenan McLemore, aotw.org
 
Photo, Owen McLemore, history-sites.com

Grave photo, findagrave.com

Captain William Horsfall, Killed in Action, September 14, 1862

This is a photo of Captain William Horsfall. He commanded Company E of the 18th New York Infantry Regiment in Brigadier General John Newton's brigade. Captain Horsefall was mustered into service as a 1st Lieutenant of Company E in Schenectady, New York on May 16, 1861. He would be promoted to Captain in December of 1861. During the fighting at Crampton's Gap, the 18th New York advanced against the Confederate positions during the final climactic assault. Lt. Colonel George R. Myer's describes Captain Horsefalls final moments:

 On rising the hill to the road, which ran along its side, we received a terrific volley from the enemy. It was here that I met my heaviest loss, the fire of the enemy being well directed and fatal. At this point, the lamented Captain William Horsfall was killed while gallantly leading his men to the charge...

He was 46. Captain Horsfall's body would be returned to Schenectady where he was buried in T-31 of Vale Cemetery.  The people of Schenectady gave Captain Horsfall a memorial. From a newspaper describing the monument:


MONUMENT TO CAPT. WILLIAM HORSEFALL.
—A beautiful Italian monument, to be placed over the remains of the late Captain William Horsefall, who fell at the battle of South Mountain, Maryland, has just been completed by our fellow townsman, William Manson, will be forwarded to Shenectady [sic] to adorn the Cemetery at that place.
The monument is made of the finest Italian marble, and is beautifully and artistically cut and engraved. The front represents a projecting shield, with three stars upon it, backed by a sword and spear, and entwined together with a wreath of evergreens.
Beneath this in projecting letters, is the following:

Captain Horsfall's grave

"Captain William Horsefall,
18th Regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers.
Born April 7th, 1816;
Died September 14th 1862.
On the base is the following:--
"He died in the defence of his county."
On the opposite side, engraved upon the stone, is the following:--
"He fell cheering his men in the gallant and successful charge made by Gen. Slocum in the Battle of South Mountain, near Burkettsville, Frederick Co., Maryland, Sept. 14th, l862.”
The monument is surrounded with a fatigue cap, hewn from the stone, on the foot of which is a shield, with initials, in old English letters, N. Y.
It is certainly a monument choice and beautiful in design and reflects great credit upon the maker as a work of art.


Sources:

1. Newspaper clipping describing monument, New York State Military Museum
2. Roster, 18th New York Infantry, New York Military Museum
3. Photo, Captain Horsfall, New York Military Museum
4. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of of the records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Series 1, Volume 19 (part 1), pg. 398.

Lieutenant James W. Schenck, 22nd New York Infantry

This is a photo of Lieutenant James W. Schenck who was serving as the quartermaster of the 22nd New York during the Maryland Campaign. He would enlist in as a private in a company of the 93rd New York before he was discharged for promotion to the staff of the 22nd New York in September 1961.

Lieutenant Schenck was commended by his brigade commander, Colonel Walter Phelps, Jr., for his role during the brigades fight at South Mountain. Acting as quartermaster, Lieutenant Schenck job was not to take part in any battles but to ensure that the regiment was fully equipped and supplied when the battle started. At South Mountain, he would be acting as one of two aides to Colonel Phelps and as a result he would be required to carry orders to the brigades various commanders under fire.

Colonel Phelp's commendation: 

"I cannot allow the conduct of Lieutenant Cranford, Fourteenth New York State Militia, and Lieutenant Schenck, Twenty-second New York Volunteers, aides to myself, to pass by unnoticed. I was often obliged to send them, through a galling fire, to different parts of the field with orders. Their conduct on this occasion was most gallant, and all that I could have desired. It was more striking that their line of duty not require their presence on the field at that time, the former being acting commissary of subsistence, and the latter regimental quartermaster."

Sources:


1. New York State Military Museum. Photo, Lieutenant Schenck

2.The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of of the records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Series 1, Volume 19 (part 1), pg. 232.  

Allan Ogborn, 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Allan Ogborn, Company B, 19th Indiana

Above is a photo of Allan Ogborn from the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Born in March 1840 Ogborn enlisted as a private in Company B, the "Richmond City Greys", in Wayne County, Indiana in July 1861. He is pictured here as corporal in late 1861. He would fight with the 19th in the battles of the late summer and fall of 1862, including South Mountain where the 19th Indiana assailed the right of Alfred Colquitt's confederate brigade. He would survive the fighting on the mountain. He would be promoted to sergeant and serve in this capacity until Gettysburg. At Gettysburg, he would receive a mortal wound on July 1st during the Iron Brigade's epic stand on McPherson's Ridge. He would be transported from the battlefield to a hospital in Philadelphia where he would pass away on July 18, 1863. His body was returned home to Wayne County where he is buried at the Sugar Grove Cemetery.  

Sources:

1. Corporal Allan Ogborn, Indiana History

2. 7thwisconsin.org: 19th Indiana, Co. B roster

Private Albert H. Davis, Company K, 6th New Hampshire

This is a photograph taken of Private Albert H. Davis who served in Company K of the 6th New Hampshire Infantry. He enlisted on October 22, 1861 in New Ipswich, New Hampshire. At the Battle of South Mountain, the 6th New Hampshire was held in a reserve position in support of the right of the Union 9th Corps as it advanced up the Old Sharpsburg Road. During the battle, the regiment was bombarded by Confederate artillery has it lay in waiting. Little is known about the service of Private Davis but in December 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, he was listed as killed in action. His place of burial is unknown, but he is likely buried in Fredericksburg National Cemetery among the thousands of unknowns.


This photo can be found among the hundreds of photos in the Liljenquist Family Collection at the Library of Congress. To browse this collection, follow this link: Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress

Private George Detrick, a fallen Ohioan



The Detrick Brothers



This is a photo of George and Samuel Detrick. George, seated on the left, would enlist in Company F, 23^rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry on June 5, 1861 at the age of 22 and his enlistment would be for three years. He would fight in the campaign that would secure what is today West Virginia for the Union in the Summer of 1861 and early 1862. When Confederate forces invaded Maryland in September 1862, Detrick would find himself marching with the Army of the Potomac in pursuit of the Confederates. On September 14, George Detrick would lose his life as the 23^rd Ohio was engaged in heavy fighting for control of Fox’s Gap. He is buried in grave 1409 at Antietam National Cemetery. His brother Samuel would enlist in the 63^rd Pennsylvania in August 1861. He would survive the war.

Sources:

Lilenquist Family Collecton, Library of Congress George and Samuel Detrick

State of Ohio. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion: Vol. III. (Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1886), pg. 105

"If you will permit, I will tell you about the afternoon at South Mountain in 1862..."

Chaplain George Gilman Smith was a member of Philips (GA) Legion and participated in the heavy fighting that occured in the afternoon at Fox's Gap. During the course of the fighting he would recieve a rather dangerous wound. Smith writes about his motivation for going to war and the unexpected and bloody fight at Fox's Gap. He would survive his wounding and the war, writing several books. Born on Christmas Eve in 1836, he would pass away in 1913.

" If you will permit, I will tell you about the afternoon at South Mountain in 1862, when I recieved a bullet through the neck, and when night alone saved General Lee's army from capture. A year before I had been the pastor of a charming little church in a beautiful valley in upper Georgia. I was just married and ought to have been content to have staid at home, but in my veins was the blood of those who had fought in the Revolution, and when I saw my parishioners going to the front I went too, as the chaplain of the Phillips Legion. We had fifteen companies- nine of infantry, five of cavalry, and one of artillery- commanded by Col William Philips. We had had our share of hard work, but until the summer of 1862, we had no serious fighting. On the Sunday monring (September 14) on which the battle of South Mountain began, we were in camp at Hagerstown. We were expecting quite a time of repose when the order come to move towards Boonsboro. I had not the remotest dream of any hot work, nor do I think any of us had, for we had no idea that the army of the Potomac could be reorganized and mobilized so soon. We thought the assualt upon our lines was merely a feint of cavalry. This was evidently General Lee's opinion, or else he would not have allowed Jackson to have crossed the Potomac; but it was soon evident from the rapid motion of the artillery and infantry that hot work was before us. My regiment had gone and I ambled off as rapidly as I could toward the front.

Somehow I got the name of the "fighting chaplain', and candidly I did not like it, for it was neither just nor complimentary, I did not go to the army to fight, I did not fight after I got there. I had as little stomach for fighting as Falstaff had. I went to the army as a chaplain, and as a chaplain I did my work, and yet that day I got a bullet through my neck. I ought no to have gone where the bullets were flying, but I did go and I got hit, and this is how it came about.

I found Generals Lee, Longstreet and Jones, standing at the base of the pass, and with them was one of the staff officers of our brigade, Captain Young. Inquiring of him for my regiment, he told me that it was behind a stone fence on the right of the Boonsboro and Frederick Pike, and I immediately repaired to that place. A battery of light artillery was firing overhead and we lay quietly looking toward the south. Suddenly the order came to change front. We were now to face towards the west. The turnpike wa narrow, and the enemy were upon us. The change of position called for a change from line of battle to column, and then from column into line. My own regiment did beautifully and for a moment we looked to the woods expecting the Federals to charge upon us, but instead we were ordered to leave the protection of the stone wall and charge into the woods. As we entered the woods I saw a poor fellow fall and heard him say, "Lord Jesus, recieve my spirit." I went to him and said, "My friend, that's a good prayer, I hope you feel it." He answered, "Stanger, I am not afraid to die; I made my peace with God over thirty years ago." Just at that moment I heard Cook, our commander, say in a loud voice, "For God's sake don't fire; we are friends!" I turned and saw a body of our troops ready to fire. I said, "I will go back, colonel, and stop them." As I ran back to the fence, I looked down the very road we had just left, and saw a body of Federals moving upon us. Something had ot be done, and I ran to General Drayton, our commander, and told him the position. A feint certainly must be made; if the Federals should know that the stone fence was abandoned, they would sweep upon the fence and capture the last man. Major Gest, when he saw how matters were, placed the few men had had in position; and I started for my regiment. As I came to the pike, I saw a soldier shooting towards the east. It took but a moment for me to see that the Federals were east, south, and west of us.

The firing was now fierce, but I felt that my regiment must be brought out of that pocket at all hazards, and I started to warn it, when I found it retreating. Poor Ellis, a Welchman, had run the gauntlet and given them the warning, and the regiment was now retreating in a broken and confused manner. One of the boys, Gus Tomlinson, in tears said: "Parson, we've been whipped; the regiment is retreating." "And none too soon either," said I, "for we are surrounded on all sides but one." Just then I felt a strange dizziness and fell, my arm dropping lifeless by my side. I knew that I was hit, and I thought mortally wounded. But where was I hit? Was my arm torn off by a shell? No, here that is. Was i shot through the breast? or- yes, here it was - blood was gurgling from my throat. The dear boys rushed to me, laid me on a blanket and bore me off the field. I thought I was mortally wounded; so did they. "Yea, parson," said they, "It's all up with you." The ball had entered my neck, and ranging downward, came out near my spine paralyzing my arm. How does a man feel under such circumstances? Well one thing I felt, and that was, that it's a good thing in such an hour to have faith in in Christ and love towards all men. I had been in battle but there was not one of the soldiers of the Federal ranks for whom i had any feeling other than love. As we came out Hood's division went in, but it was the caution of the Federals and the cover of the night that saved our army from a worse defeat and from capture."

Source:

W.C. King and W.P. Derby. Camp-Fire Sketches and Battle-field Echoes: A Fighting Chaplain Experience at the Battle of South Mountain - Fierce Mortar Duels. (Springfield, Mass: King, Richardson, & Co., 1886). 147-149.