"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]

"With their usual gallantry": Hood's Division stems the tide at Fox's Gap

While going into battle at dusk on September 14th, Brigadier General John Bell Hood's division of would go into line of battle and, as General Hood stated in his report that he ordered his division, "to move forward with bayonets fixed..." and this movement towards Fox's Gap helped stem the tide of Union infantry that had all but destroyed the brigade of Thomas Drayton and was advancing unopposed in the growing darkness. The timely counterattack by Hood saved the Confederate foothold on the mountain and allowed the Confederates to withdraw towards the hills around Sharpsburg.




At the outset of the Maryland Campaign, General Hood would find himself marching at the rear of his division, under arrest for insubordination as a result of a dispute over the rightful ownership of captured Union ambulances following the Second Battle of Manassas/Bull Run between Hood and Brigadier General Nathan Evans. Hood was ordered to Culpepper for court martial but, General Lee rescinded that order and Hood remained with the army as it marched into Maryland. As a result of his arrest, according to Hood in his post-war memoirs, his division,upon it's arrival in Hagerstown would demonstrate a certain degree of insubordination and Hood advised his subordinates that the issue of his arrest would be decided in a short time.

Hood's prediction would come true on September 14th. Reports of a heavy Union presence threatening the division of D.H. Hill at the mountain gaps on South Mountain would cause the "main body" of the army to stir out of its encampments near Hagerstown and onto the National Pike in a forced march to the relieve of Hill's division. Surely, as the men of James Longstreet's command marched towards South Mountain, they heard the distant thunder of cannon and the sharp crack of musketry as Hill's division found itself in a stubborn fight for survival and all knew that deadly work was ahead and quickened the pace.

Longstreet's command would begin arriving at the base of the mountain in early to mid-afternoon after a dust-filled and exhausting march. Hood's division would begin ascending the mountain at about 3:30 pm and Hood, still at the rear of his division, faintly heard the cry's from his Texas brigade demanding of General Lee, "Give us Hood!". Coming upon  General Lee as his division walked by his headquarters, Lee called Hood into a meeting. Lee requested that Hood show regret for his dispute with General Evans and Hood politely declined, both attempts by Lee for the admittance of guilt. Seeing that he would get nowhere with Hood, Lee promptly released Hood from his arrest to re-take command of his division and the matter of the ambulance dispute would be settled at a later date.

Hood quickly mounted his horse and rode to the summit, amid the cheers of his division, and reported to General Longstreet, who was then placing his command into defensive positions on either side of the National Pike. Hood was ordered to deploy his division on the left of the pike with his right resting near the pike. From this position, Hood witnessed "the advance of McClellan's long lines" that had the evident appearance of forcing the Confederates from the mountain. Remaining in this position for a short time, Hood was ordered by Longstreet to shift his division to the South of the pike to shore up the Confederate line there. At this time, Drayton's brigade was heavily beaten back and the Union 9th Corps was across Fox's Gap. Hood quickly put his men on the move down the Wood's Road, described by Hood as nothing but a "pig path".

Hood's counterattack, Union positions (blue) are generalized.

Hearing the distinct shouts of the Union advance and fighting through remnants of Drayton's brigade, Hood order his division to deploy.  The alignment of Hood's battle line is up for debate, but from research, it is assumed that Hood deployed his division with Colonel Evander Law's brigade on his left and Colonel William Wofford's brigade on the right facing in a Southeasterly direction. Hood ordered that his division fix bayonets and when the Union troops were within 75 to 100 yards, the order to charge was given. Meeting little resistance from the Union lines, Hood's division regained a foothold near Fox's Gap and brought the fight to a close, remaining in position until about midnight when it was ordered to cover the army's retreat off the mountain. It is also to note, that a bullet fired by Hood's men may have been the fatal bullet the took the life of Major General Jesse Reno of the 9th Corps. As the Confederates withdrew towards Sharpsburg, Hood's division along with cavalry would supply the army with a determined rear guard.

 Arriving near Sharpsburg, Hood's division would first go into position on the Confederate left and would fight a severe skirmish for possession of the East Woods on the 16th. Hood would get his division pulled from the line and into position in an area  a few hundred yards to the rear of the Dunker Church where it would remain until called into action, delivering a heavy blow Union forces advancing down the Hagerstown Pike and in return suffering heavily for it.

Hood's hard-fighting division would suffer roughly 50 casualties, the majority in Evander Law's brigade, during its attack at dusk on September 14th. While this attack is not as famous or severe as that which would occur at Antietam on the 17th, it allowed the Confederates to keep a hold on the mountain long enough for night to come and another day to be bought for the reduction of Harper's Ferry by Stonewall Jackson.

Sources:

John Bell Hood. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of of the records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Series 1, Volume 19 (part 1), pg. 922.

John Bell Hood. Advance and Retreat: Personal experiences in the United States and Confederate Armies. Hood Orphan Fund, G.T. Beauregard: New Orleans, LA. 1880  pgs. 38-41.

"Well, captain, your men fight like devils..."

The following excerpt is from the memoirs of Sergeant Archibald F. Hill of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves that were published in 1866. Sergeant Hill enlisted in the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves regiment as a private in June 1861 and was promoted to corporal in July 1861 and eventually to sergeant in May 1862. He would serve with the regiment on the Peninsula and would find himself in the fight at South Mountain. He would survive the battle, but three days later at Antietam, he would be wounded in the leg as his regiment advanced to a point just to the north of the Cornfield. Archibald would be carried by his comrades in a blanket to an ambulance that was awaiting just beyond the regiments bivouac beyond the North Woods. He would be transported to a barn and then eventually a school house where he would  have his left leg amputated. He would find himself recovering in the Smoketown Hospital during the fall of 1862 and he would receive a surgeons certificate and be discharged in December 1862. The excerpt begins following the arrival of the Hill's regiment arriving and going into camp near the Monocacy River near Frederick.

Chapter XXXVII

South Mountain

When night came and there were no indications of marching, we wrapped ourselves in our blankets and sought repose. 

The morning of Sunday, the fourteenth of September, was beautiful--the sky clear. Before noon, however, it became clouded over, and there was every appearance of rain. We had time to breakfast before we were ordered to fall in. At last we were on our way again--westward. An hour after we passed through Frederick, where the number of flags and white handkerchiefs waved at us from doors and windows was truly gratifying.  At almost every door stood some bewitching creature with a pail of clear, cold, sparkling water; while others stood with glasses in their hands inviting us to drink. They talked pleasantly with us, and manifested every indication of preferring us to the rebels. I can't for the life of me tell what made me so thirsty that morning; for I must have stopped a dozen times for a drink of water; and each time it chanced (?) I was helped to a glass by a beauty.

As we progressed the sound of artillery began to be heard in front. We had marched twelve miles and were certainly within two miles of the firing when it ceased. A little after three o'clock we found ourselves almost at the base of a tall mountain. Here taking a by-road we (our division) filed off the pike to the right. We had marched nearly half a mile when a rebel battery which was posted at the summit of the mountain opened upon us with shell and round shot. By left-oblique movement, we soon succeeded in gaining the cover of an abrupt ridge near the base of the mountain. The battery then ceased to play. A line of battle was now formed and preparations made to move forward.

About this time Lieutenant Carter said to Captain Conner--

"Captain, I think there will be a fight!"

"No doubt there will," replied the captain.

"Captain," he continued earnestly, " I know I shall be shot."

"Oh,  nonsense!"

" But I will; I am an unlucky mortal. I was shot while on the Peninsula almost the first chance I got--I was only wounded there; to-day I will be killed; I know it."

"Come now, lieutenant, it's only a foolish notion that has got into your head; get rid of it; cheer up: you will come out all right."

"I wish I could think so. I will fall doing my duty, captain," said the brave fellow; for he was a brave man. 

"I know you will do you duty, lieutenant."

About four o'clock we began to advance. We toiled up the steep ascent in front of us, when we discovered that a valley lay yet between us and the main ascent of South Mountain. While passing through a corn-field upon the hill, the enemy's artillery again opened upon us with solid shot. Down the hill we went--across the small valley--up the steep ascent of the mountain. A few hundred yards from the base of the mountain was a stone-fence. Below this, the ground was clear; above, the face of the mountain was covered with trees and rocks. When withing fifty yards of the stone-fence, a murderous fire of musketry was opened upon us by the rebels, who lay concealed behind it, and swarms of bullets whistled about our ears. With a wild shout, we dashed forward--almost upward--while volley after volley was poured upon us; but we heeded it not; we rushed madly on. The rebels, intimidated by our voices,and taken aback by our recklessness and disregard of their bullets, began to give way. We reached the stone-fence,and sprang over. The rebels reformed among the rocks, and fought with remarkable obstinacy.

Captain Conner had left his horse at the rear, and he and Lieutenant Carter were just springing over the wall, withing a few feet of each other, when the later was struck in the head by a bullet, and fell back--dead. 

We pressed the rebels closely. They stood awhile, loading and firing, but at last began to waver. Directly in front of the right of our regiment, they gave way; and several companies from our right--ours among them--pressed forward, becoming detached from the regiment. We soon found ourselves thirty to forty paces ahead of the regiment, having gained the flank of the Seventeenth South Carolina. We were within twenty or thirty steps of them, directly on their left, and they did not see us; then we mowed them down. Poor fellows! I almost pitied them, to see them sink down by dozens at every discharge! I remember taking deliberate aim at a tall South Carolinian, who was standing with his side to me loading his gun. I fired, and he fell into a crevice between two rocks. Step by step we drove the rebels up the steep side of the mountain. By moving a little to the left, I reached the spot where I had seen the rebel fall. On my arrival thither, he arose to a sitting posture, and I was convinced he was not dead yet, I inquired whether he was wounded, and he very mournfully nodded assent. The blood was flowing from a wound in the neck. He also pointed to a wound in the arm. The same bullet had made both wounds; for at the time I fired, he was in the act of ramming a bullet home--his arm extended vertically. He arose to his feet, and I was pleased to find him able to walk. I informed him that, in the nature of things, he was a prisoner; and I sent him to the rear, under charge of one of the boys. 

Having done so, I threw myself upon the ground, and crawled among the rocks to a position fifteen paces in advance of the company, with the intention of taking some unwary rebel by surprise, and getting a fair shot at him. Cocking my rifle, I abruptly arose from my position, which was protected by a rock three feet high. Oh, horror! there, scarcely ten paces from me, stood a great grim rebel, just on the point of bringing his gun to an aim--right at me, too, and his dark eyes scowled fiercely upon me from beneath the broad brim of a large ugly hat. Now it is sheer nonsense to talk about taking a cool aim under such circumstances. Therefore, with a little more agility than I had ever before exhibited, I blazed away at random, and dropped behind the rock--every hundredth part of a second seeming like an age; for I felt sure that the rebel bullet would catch me yet, ere I could drop behind my redoubt. A bullet tipped the rock above my head as I dropped.

Step by step, the rebels retired. I waited at my new position till the line came up. Our boys had just reached me, when Dave Malone was struck in the head by a bullet, and he fell back, quivering and gasping for breath. He soon expired. After the battle, he was buried in the wild, lonely mountain--where he fell. 

By sunset we had driven the enemy to the crest of the mountain. Many were dead and the wounded they left lying among the rocks. Many prisoners were taken. Among the wounded left on the field was a rebel officer of manly appearance. He was wounded in the thigh, and appear to be suffering intense pain. Captain Conner approached him, and said:--

"You are wounded, are you not?"

"Yes in the thigh--and badly," was the reply. 

"May I inquire your name?"

"I am Major Meanes, of the Seventeeth South Carolina. May I ask you the same question?"

"I am Captain Conner, of the Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves."

"The--the--Pennsylvania Reserves!"

"Yes:

"Well, captain, your men fight like devils; they are driving our men right up this steep mountain; I never could have believed it!"

"Ah, major, there is blood in Pennsylvania as well as in South Carolina."

"I am convinced of that."

About dark, the rebels abandoned the mountain at this point, and the firing ceased. At the left and centre, however, the fighting continued till nine o'clock, when it ceased, and the whole rebel force gave way. O that it had been daylight, that we might have pursued them at once! Under the circumstances, however, it was impossible. The night was very dark, and the ways of the mountain obscure. We lay down among the rocks and slept.

Our whole loss at the Battle of South Mountain was twenty-three hundred; that of the enemy, more than four thousand. If there was every a victory gained, in any war, in any campaign, the Battle of South Mountain resulted in a most decided and complete Union victory.


Sources:

Hill, Archibald F., Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potomac. Phila: John E. Potter, 1866. Pgs. 394-398.

 Ibid, 405-410.

Gayley, Alice J. Roster, Co. D, 8th Pa Reserves (www.pa-roots.com) [accessed 3/21/12]

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

"They were so numerous that it looked as if they were creeping up out of the ground..." George Neese, Chew's Artillery, on Crampton's Gap

The following is a recollection from George M. Neese, a gunner in Chew's Horse Artillery. Roger P. Chew's horse battery was in position about half-way the mountainside in the area of Crampton's Gap, the primary artillery support for the Confederate defenders along the Mountain Church Road at the base of the mountain. Neese writes:

September 14- This morning the shades of night were still lingering over the landscape when we left camp, and early dawn found us on top of South Mountain, looking over the beautiful Middletown Valley that was lying before us like a diversified illuminated map, with its wooded hills, pleasant fields, hamlets, and towns reposing in the quiet calm of a peaceful Sabbath morning. But before the sun shots its first golden lance across the Catoctin range to kiss away the early dew, the booming of Yankee cannon came rolling across from the Catoctin hills, announcing in ominous thunder tones that the Yankee hosts were advancing, and that there would be but little Sunday for soldiers to-day in this part of Uncle Sam's domain. As soon as we found the whole Yankee army was on the advance, we moved about halfway down the mountain and went in battery ready to work on the first bluecoats that ventured within range of our guns The cannon we heard  so early this morning were at Jefferson, where the Yanks were shelling woods searching, I suppose,  for masked batteries, of which they were most awfully afraid. 
There are two principal gaps in South Mountain through which the main roads pass that lead west through the Middletown Valley. Turner's Gap is the most important one, as the National Road which passes through Frederick City, Middletown, Boonsboro, and Hagerstown leads through Turner's Gap, consequently the heaviest portion of the Yankee forces was hurled against the defenders of that pass to-day. We were at Crampton's Gap, which was some four or five miles south of Turner's and, judging from the small force we had there for its defense, it was not considered of much importance from a Confederate point of view. However, the Yankees did not so consider it, from the heavy force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry they brought to bear against it before the day was over. We had only three companies of infantry, Munford's brigade of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery to defend the pass against at least two, perhaps three, divisions of Yankee infantry, with accompanying artillery and a big bunch of cavalry. At about ten o'clock we saw the first of the Yankee host, about three miles away, approaching our gap cautiously and slowly. As they drew nearer the country seemed full of bluecoats. They were so numerous that it looked  as if they  were creeping up out of the ground -- and what would or could our little force of some three or four hundred available men standing half-way up the bushy, stony mountain side do with such a mighty host that was advancing on us with flying banners? As they came nearer to the mountain they threw out a heavy skirmish line of infantry on both sides of the road, and were still advancing  very slowly when their skirmish line came to within about a mile of our position , so we opened on it with our rifled guns. Our line of fire was right over the village of Burkittsville, and completely checked their skirmishers about a half a mile from Burkittsville. The Yanks now brought up a battery and opened fire on us, but they were about two miles off and all their shell fell short. I fired at them in return, but in doing I disabled my gun. The mountain where we were in battery was a little steep and my gun is a vicious little recoiler, and the recoil space of our position was too sloping, rough, and limited for a free kick, consequently with the second shot I fired--with two mile range--at the Yankees my piece snapped a couple of bolts of its mounting, entirely disabling it for the day. After my gun was damaged there was nothing for me to do but leave the field of action, but before I left I stood awhile and gazed at the magnificent splendor of the martial array that was slowly and steadily moving toward us across the plain below like a living panorama, the sheen of the glittering side-arms and thousands of bright, shiney musket barrels looking like a silver spangled sea rippling and flashing in a midday sun. 
The remainder of the battery held its position, and when the enemy advanced to a closer range opened fire and kept it up until nearly night; but late this evening the enemy forced the pass by flanking and fighting, with overwhelming numbers, and compelled our little force to retire. To observe caution with which the Yankees, with their vast superior numbers, approached the mountain, it put one very much in mind of a lion, king of the forest, making exceeding careful preparations to spring on a plucky little mouse. For we had only about three hundred men actually engaged, and they were mostly cavalry, which is of very little use in defending a mountain pass like Crampton's Gap, where there is one narrow road leading up the mountain and all the remainder of the surroundings heavily timbered  and thickly covered with regular mountain undergrowth and large, loose rocks and boulders.
Crampton's Gap is really neither gorge nor gap, only a little notch in the crest of South Mountain, and nearly all the fighting to-day in trying to defend it was done on the eastern face of the mountain. It is marvelous how a few hundred  of our men held in check nearly all day two divisions of Yankees, besides their artillery and cavalry, and I will venture the assertion that, as usual, correspondents of Northern newspapers will say that a little band of heroic Union patriots gallantly cleaned out Crampton's Gap, that was defended by an overwhelming force of Rebels strongly posted all over the mountain and standing so thick that they had to crawl over each other to get away. 
In retiring our disabled gun from Crampton's Gap we went to Boonsboro and moved southwest direction about four miles on the Shepherdstown road to our wagons, where we arrived at ten o'clock to-night, and camped. In going from Crampton's Gap to Boonsboro we passed within a half mile of Turner's Gap, where a portion of General Longstreet's forces were engaged, fighting desperately right in the gap, which the enemy was assaulting vigorously with a heavy force. The artillery fire was very heavy and the deep-toned thunder of Longstreet's guns, mingled with the crash of fierce and incessant musketry, raged and roared and rolled along the mountain slopes and made the craggy battlements of South Mountain tremble from base to crest.
Boonsboro is a pretty little town at the western base of South Mountain, on the National Road. The houses are nearly all built of brick and kept in good condition all through the town. Before we got to Boonsboro, we passed through Rorhersville, a small hamlet in a pleasant valley, three miles south of Boonsboro. We also passed through Keedysville, a small village three miles southwest of Boonsboro. 
Pleasant Valley is a beautiful little mountain vale a mile wide, extending toward Harper's Ferry along the western foothills of South Mountain. 

Neese would move with Chew's artillery through Williamsport to Martinsburg and onward toward Shepherdstown, (West) Virginia where the unit went into camp as part of the artillery reserve. On the 17th, Neese reported clearly hearing the booming of the cannon and sounds of the battle that was raging in the fields ourside of Sharpsburg. Chew's battery was ordered to Sharpsburg late in the day, arriving just as the fighting ended. The battery would remain in position until the 19th, when the Confederates retreated back across the Potomac. Neese would marched with his men over much of the Berkeley and Jefferson counties in (West) Virginia and remained in the Shenandoah Valley for the remainder of 1862.

Sources:

1. Neese, George M. Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery. New York and Washington: The Neale Publishing Company. 1911.

2. photo of George Neese. 

"I never before saw the ground covered with dead..." Letter from Private Thomas Williams, Co. K, 12th Ohio Infantry

The following is a letter from Thomas Williams of Co. K, 12th Ohio that was published in The Highland Weekly News on October 2, 1862. The paper was the local paper for Hillsborough, Ohio. Thomas enlisted in the 12th Ohio in June 1861 at the age of 18 and was discharged from service in December 1862. He was wounded at South Mountain, reporting here that he had his index finger on his left hand "tapped". He writes of his experience in the battle, the hospital scenes in Frederick, his views on the scenery of western Maryland, and casualties of the 12th Ohio.

Middletown, MD, Sept. 16, 1862

Dear Brother:
      
 I am well at the present time, with the exception of a sore hand. I suppose you heard of our severe engagement with the enemy on last Sunday. (the 14th inst.)

In the evening, I got "tapped" with a ball, which took off a finger on my left hand - the one next the little finger.- It is very sore a present. It will have to be cut off again, which will be a painful operation. Brother John escaped unhurt. So did Sylvanus Cox - or had, at least, up to yesterday evening. I don't know whether our division is in the engagement to-day, or not. It was not yesterday, as it was resting.  Thomas Stonestreet was killed; he never moved after he fell. Our regiment suffered a great deal up to the present time. I know of 4 killed, 7 wounded, and 8 taken prisoners - the latter were sent ahead as skirmishers - in our company alone; so you may know that there was a big loss. 

Gen. Cox's Division was in the advance, so we were in the fight all day Sunday. We made three different charges during the day, and drove the enemy every time. Once we got close enough to prick some of them with the bayonet. We took a great many prisoners during the day; I suppose our regiment alone took about 300. John captured one fellow. When he had his gun half loaded, he ran up to him with bayonet presented, and told him to "hand over his traps." The rebel replied, "Here, I am a prisoner," (handing over his "traps") and John marched him off with the rest, half scared to death.


In the last charge (just before dark) I was wounded, while within fifteen feet of the rebels, who were behind a stone wall, and I went to the rear; but the regiment pushed on and drove the rebels again. I was sent to the hospital at Middletown, where I now am.


The prisoners say they never saw men fight like our division did there- that there was not such fight before Richmond. We didn't stand off and let them shoot at us: but as soon as we could get sight of them we would charge, and that they couldn't stand. Our division has won a great praise among the officers. Gen. Cox thinks he can go anywhere with it- he has such confidence in the bravery of his men. And Col. White thinks there is not another such a regiment as his "gallant 12th." Major Cary was wounded; Capt. Wilson (Co. A) do; Captin Leggett reported killed. A Lieut. of Co. "G" was wounded. 
 
I suppose you saw an account of our "advent" into Frederick City. I tell you we went in there nice. The citizens of Maryland are nearly all Union people, and they are very clever to us. All of the wounded who are able to walk will be sent from here soon, to give room for those who are badly wounded; but where I cannot say. There are over 200 wounded in this hospital and there are nine or ten [hospitals] more in town. I tell you I have seen "sights" before, but this is the greatest I ever saw. I never before saw the ground covered with dead as it was with "Secesh" where we charged. We were so close to them, that we could not well miss them, when we fired, and we just "rolled" them. Those that the balls from our guns hit were nearly all killed. 


I have seen many pretty places, but never as pretty a country as that between here and Washington; no exceptions whatever. When you write again to John, direct as before. I cannot tell you yet how to direct to me; but I will write again as soon as I learn where I am to remain until my hand gets well.


My love to all, and remember me, as ever, your Brother,
Tom

 

Source:

1. Roster Co. K, 12th Ohio

2. Library of Congress. Chronicling America: Historic Newspapers, The Highland Weekly News, October 2, 1862. article [accessed Feb. 17, 2012].

"The conduct of the troops on this occasion is worthy of commendation."

The following is the official report of Brigadier General William T.H. Brooks, commanding the Vermont Brigade. Brooks would lead the brigade it its assault against the extreme right of the Confederate line.

Headquarters Second Brigade, Smith's Division.

Hagerstown, September --, '62

The Assistant Adujutant-General,

Division Headquarters, 

Sir: I have to report on the operations of this brigade in the battle of Crampton's Pass, September 14:

The brigade was ordered to pass through the town of Burkitsville, with the view of support Slocum's main attack on the right, by following the main road that crossed the mountain. After passing through the town, under a heavy fire of artillery from the crest of the mountain on the left, we found the enemy in position behind a stone wall at right angles with the road. From this position they kept a harassing fire, not only on this brigade, but upon Slocum's left. Skirmishers were thrown out to dislodge them, with little effect. As soon as the nature of the ground and the exact position of the wall could be determined, the Fourth Vermont, Lieutenant-Colonel Stoughton, was deployed with the Second Vermont, under Major Walridge, in support in second line, and the other three regiments in support on the edge of town. In this position an advance was made against the wall, which was carried immediately, and some 15 or 20 prisoners captured. The advance was continued by the Fourth and Second without further opposition, until the top of the mountain was reached, when the Fourth was ordered to take the crest to our left, toward the battery that fired upon us as we passed through the town. The Second continued on down the other slope of the mountain and reached the base as the troops of Slocum's division had scattered the enemy. The Fourth proceeded on the crest of the mountain about a mile, and captured another party of prisoners, all belonging to the Sixteenth Virginia. In the last party was the Major of the regiment, who commanded, and the battle-flag of this regiment was also captured. The other regiments followed the above movements by the main road. The brigade bivouacked at the point where Slocum's division ceased the pursuit, and, on throwing out pickets, a 12-pounder howitzer, with horses, &c., complete, and but slightly disables, was found abandoned by the enemy, which was turned over to Captain Cowan. 

The conduct of the troops on this occasion is worthy of commendation. Exposed to a plunging fire of artillery while passing over a space of a mile and more, and afterward to that of the enemy sharpshooters, not the least hesitancy was observed. It gives me pleasure to call especial notice to the good conduct of Lieutenant Colonel C.B. Stoughton, commanding Fourth Vermont, and Major Walbridge, commanding Second Vermont, also to Lieutenants Parsons and Wheeler, of my personal staff, who were active in the discharge of their respective duties. 

Very respectfully,

W.H.T. Brooks,

 Brigadier-General, commanding brigade. 

Source:

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of of the records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Series 1, Volume 19 (part 1), pgs. 407-408.