Bringing Home the Confederate Generals killed during the Maryland Campaign

   There were eight generals, four from the Confederate army and four from the Union army, killed or mortally wounded at the battle of Sharpsburg in September 1862. None of the eighth are buried on the battlefield along Antietam Creek. All were taken back to their respective states and interred therein.

   Samuel Garland, Jr. was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1830. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1849, he obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia, setting up practice in Lynchburg. Garland was commissioned colonel of the 11^th Virginia Infantry in April 1861. His regiment was involved at First Manassas, and at Dranesville, and he was wounded at Williamsburg. Promotion to brigadier general came on May 23, 1862, with Garland being assigned a brigade in D.H. Hill’s division. The battles of Seven Pines and the Seven Days followed. Hill’s command was back with the Army of Northern Virginia as it made its way to Maryland. Hill’s division was tasked with guarding Fox’s and Turner’s Gaps at South Mountain, protecting the rest of Lee’s army engaged with the capturing of Harpers Ferry.[1]

   At Fox’s Gap, Garland was checking on his hard-pressed left flank when he was struck in the left hip. Garland told Colonel Ruffin “Col. I am a dead man, send for Col. McRae to take command.” Garland was placed in a blanket by four men and taken off the field, dying on the porch of the South Mountain Inn about fifteen minutes after his wounding.[2] Garland’s remains were first taken to Richmond, arriving on Thursday, September 18.[3] They were then transported to Lynchburg where he was buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery on September 24, 1862.[4]

   William E. Starke was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1814. Prior to the war, he operated a stage line then moved to Mobile, followed by New Orleans, working as a cotton broker. When the war came, he returned to Virginia, serving as an aide to Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. Later, Starke was commissioned as colonel of the 60^th Virginia Infantry, fighting during the Seven Days battles. His commission as brigadier general came on August 6, 1862, and he commanded a brigade in Jackson’s division. He led the brigade at Cedar Mountain, Groveton, and Second Manassas (where he held division command).

   During the Maryland Campaign, Starke was placed under arrest by Jackson. Some “Foreign” troops were accused of vandalizing a store in Frederick. Starke commanded the Louisiana brigade, containing the famed Louisiana Tigers. Ordered to return to Frederick with his brigade so the culprits could be identified, Starke refused unless the other brigades in the division also returned. Jackson placed Starke under arrest but allowed him to remain in command. He helped with the investment of Harpers Ferry, and at Sharpsburg, was rushed to the Confederate left to shore up the line.[5] Starke, commanding a demi-brigade, rushed out of the west woods into a clover field, countering the Federal advance. His brigades were caught in a crossfire. As Starke attempted to help get the brigade of Alabama and Virginia troops moving toward the Federals, he was struck by three bullets. Sources differ on whether he was killed instantly or died about an hour later.[6] Starke’s remains were taken to Richmond, arriving on Sunday, September 21, 1862. His funeral was held in St. Paul’s Church on September 24, and he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.[7]

   Geroge B. Anderson was born near Hillsboro, North Carolina, in 1831. A graduate of both the University of North Carolina and the United States Military Academy. When North Carolina left the Union, Anderson resigned from the United States Army. He was commissioned colonel of the 4^th North Carolina State Troops. At Seven Pines, Anderson commanded W.S. Featherston’s brigade and was promoted to brigadier general shortly thereafter. Anderson’s brigade was assigned to D.H. Hill’s division during the Seven Days battles, where he was wounded. They missed Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas, but were back with the Army of Northern Virgina for the Maryland Campaign.[8]

   Anderson was heavily involved at the battle of Fox’s Gap, but survived unwounded. At Sharpsburg, his brigade was posted in the Sunken Lane (now Bloody Lane) during the middle portion of the fight. As the struggle for the Sunken Lane heightened, Anderson was struck in the foot, near the ankle joint.  Under fire, he was hauled out of the Sunken Road and taken to the Piper Farm, where his wound was examined and declared to be not dangerous. He was later borne via a stretcher further to the rear, under fire, placed in an ambulance, and taken to Shepherdstown where he found refuge in the Boteler home.  As the Confederate Army pulled back, Anderson was placed in a wagon and made his way to Staunton, catching a train through Richmond and on to Raleigh. It took him over a week to make the journey. Not long thereafter, it was discovered that the ball was still lodged in his ankle. Infection set in, and although the limb was amputated, Anderson died of his wounds on October 16, 1862, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh.[9]

Lawrence O’ Branch was born near Enfield, Halifax County, North Carolina, in 1820. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton College) in 1838, and later studied law. Prior to the war, he was the president of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad and served in the United State House of Representatives. He declined to serve as Secretary of the Treasury in the Buchanan administration. At the start of the war, he served as quartermaster of the state of North Carolina, colonel of the 33^rd North Carolina Troops. Branch was promoted to brigadier general on November 16, 1861. He commanded the Confederate forces at the battle of New Bern in March 1862 – a Confederate defeat, and a brigade at Hanover Court House in May 1862, also a Confederate defeat. Following Hanover, his brigade was placed in A.P. Hill’s Light Division. Branch led his brigade through the Seven Days, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, and Chantilly.[10]

 At the start of the Maryland Campaign, Jackson had Hill under arrest, with Branch leading the Light Division. He was active in the capture of Harper’s Ferry and made the seventeen-mile march from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg on September 17, arriving late in the day. Most of the members of Branch’s brigade were posted on the hill overlooking Antietam Creek. Late in the day, as Branch was conferring with two other officers, a Federal soldier fired into the group, striking Branch as he was in the process of raising his field glasses to his eyes. Branch was instantly killed. One of Branch’s staff officers, Maj. Joseph Engelhard, escorted the general’s body home. In Richmond, Engelhard was met by four men, including William Blount and William Rodman, both relatives and former staff officers under Branch. When Branch’s remains arrived in Raleigh Thursday evening, military forces met the train and escorted the General's body to the Capitol rotunda, while providing a guard throughout the night. All businesses were closed on Friday morning, and the number of people on hand were said to rival the visit of Henry Clay in 1840. The next morning, funeral services were conducted by Episcopal clergyman Rev. Dr. Mason inside the Capitol. Branch was laid to rest in the Old City Cemetery, Raleigh.[11]

   The Federal generals killed during the campaign were Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno; Maj. Gen. Joseph K.F. Mansfield, Maj. Gen. Israel B. Richardson (mortally wounded), and Brig. Gen. Isaac P. Rodman (mortally wounded). They were likewise transported North for burial. Reno is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; Mansfield is buried in the Indian Hill Cemetery, Middle, Connecticut; Richardson is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan; and, Rodman is buried in the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

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[1] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 2:165.

[2] Hartwig, To Antietam Creek, 319; Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 25, 1862.

[3] Richmond Enquirer, September 23, 1862.

[4] Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 25, 1862.

[5] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 5:199.

[6] Sears, Landscape Turned Red, 194; Hartwig, I Dred the Thought of the Place, 64.

[7] Richmond Dispatch, September 23, 1862.

[8] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 1:18-9.

[9] Pawlak, Shepherdstown in the Civil War, 82, 103-4.

[10] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 1:118-9.

[11] Weekly State Journal, October 1, 1862; The Raleigh Register, September 27, 1862, October 1, 1862.

Just when did Lee know?

   It had been a successful (but costly) summer campaign. In late June 1862, Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had pushed the Army of the Potomac from the outskirts of Richmond back down the Peninsula. Then, portions of Lee’s army tangled with another Federal army at Cedar Mountain in August, scoring a victory. In August, Stonewall Jackson stole a march on his Federal counterpart, destroying a large Federal supply depot, then falling back into a defensive position and inviting the Federals to attack. They did, and Jackson was able to hold on until Lee arrived with the rest of the Army, beating the Federal army in detail. This was followed by another small victory at Chantilly on September 1.

   Lee and his lieutenants had faced a couple of different commanders. Major General George B. McClellan had commanded the Army of the Potomac during the Seven Days Battles, while Jackson had faced off against Maj. Gen. John Pope at Cedar Mountain. Lee, Jackson, and James Longstreet fought Pope, reinforced by elements of McClellan’s command, at Second Manassas.

   The campaigns in Virginia had led Lee to the outskirts of the Washington, D.C., the Federal campaign. However, with wrecked rail lines and a war-ravaged countryside, Lee was unable to support his army. He chose to move north into Maryland, hoping that the people of that state would rally to the colors and carry the state out of the Union. Lee would go on to fight a Federal force led by McClellan at South Mountain, Sharpsburg, and Shepherdstown.

   McClellan was an early rising star of the Federal army. After winning a victory at Rich Mountain, McLellan was brought in to take command of the Army of Potomac following the defeat at First Manassas. When General-in-Chief Winfield Scott retired in November 1861, McClellan was appointed to the role. McClellan was a brilliant organizer.  However, he failed to use the army he had built. In the spring of 1862, Abraham Lincoln removed him as General-in-Chief. McClellan then allowed the Confederates to slip away from a thinly defended line in Northern Virginia, back behind the Rappahannock River. After landing on the Peninsula east of Richmond, McClellan squandered an opportunity to brush aside a small Confederate force and capture Richmond, instead becoming bogged down in a month-long siege at Yorktown. Eventually he was able to advance to the outskirts of Richmond, not so much a deed performed due to his daring, but because the Confederate command at the time was trying to draw McClellan away from his naval support. In a series of bloody battles, new Confederate commander, Robert E. Lee, pushed McClellan back down toward his base. Unable, or more likely unwilling, to take the offensive, McClellan was ordered to abandon his position at Harrison’s Landing on August 3 and transfer the army to Washington, D.C. The movement began on August 14 and was completed on August16. McClellan was without a field command from the time he left Harrison’s Landing until September 2, when he was placed in command of the troops in the fortifications around Washington, D.C.[1]

   However, Henery Halleck, who had been appointed General-in-Chief after McClellan, testified that the meeting between Lincoln, Halleck, and McClellan took place on the morning of September 7.[2]

   So the greater question is just when Lee knew McClellan was back in command of Federal forces in and around Washington, D.C. On August 30, 1862, Lee writes Davis that he has won “a signal victory over the combined forces of Genls. McClellan and Pope.” While there were elements of McClellan’s army present (like Porter’s Corps) it was in no way a combined army. If McClellan had been present, he would, by nature of rank, have assumed command of both forces.[3] Lee wrote Jefferson Davis on September 3 that there were now “two grand armies of the United States that have been operating in Virginia.” Lee wrote that he had “been told by some prisoners” that “Pope’s army, and. . . that the whole of McClellan’s, the larger portion of Burnside’s and Cox’s, and a portion of Hunter’s, are united to it.” Lee never states that McClellan was in command or even present.[4] Lee’s missive the next day refers to “the movements of McClellan’s army,” and that his “latest intelligence shows that the army of Pope is concentrated around Washington and Alexandria in their fortifications.”[5] His letters to Davis on September 5-7 make no mention of the commanders of Federal armies. On September 8, Lee writes that “nothing of interest, in a military point of view, has transpired.”[6] Again on September 9, he writes that “Nothing of interest, in a military point of view, has transpired since” the previous day. Lee does have intelligence that Federals-- Sumner, Sigel, Burnside, and Hooker--are advancing along the Potomac River toward Seneca Mills.[7]

   In a postwar account, Maj. Gen. John G. Walker recalled meeting with Lee on September 9 in Frederick. As Lee laid out the upcoming campaign to Walker, Walker recalled Lee directly mentioning McClellan.[8]

   What do the historians say? Stephen Sears writes that Lee had learned of McClellan’s reappointment as army commander when Lee wrote to Davis on September 3.[9] Michael Korda writes that Lee “could not have guessed that McClellan would replace the ignominious and clumsy Pope as his opponent…”[10] Freeman writes, regarding McClellan assuming command right before Sharpsburg, that “It was known that McClellan had replaced Pope in general command, and that was not pleasant news, for Lee regarding McClellan as the ablest of the Federal commanders…”[11] Clifford Dowdey: “McClellan had just been restored to command and, given his second chance…”[12] Emory Thomas: Sooner “or later, Lee knew that McClellan or someone else would lead the Union army out of Washington to confront him.”[13] Joseph Harsh: “Unknown to Lee, John Pope had already been stripped of army command. The very panic that Lee had worked so hard to create had impelled Lincoln—over the angry protest of his cabinet—to restore George McClellan to a measure of authority.” However “by midday of the 9^th Lee did surmise he would be contending against McClellan [;] his assumption was based on inconclusive information he had received within the last twenty-four hours.”[14] 

   Every one of the accounts by historians misses a key point. What evidence did Lee have that McClellan was not in command? McClellan was the ranking field commander. If McClellan and Pope’s armies were merging into one unified fighting force, McClellan would, by nature of seniority, have been in command. When McClellan arrived in Washington, D.C., he would have assumed command as the ranking officer (Henry Halleck, as General-in-Chief, would technically outrank McClellan due to his position. However, Halleck’s confirmation to major general was dated February 10, 1862. McClellan’s confirmation was August 3, 1861.) Many of Lee’s missives mentioned McClellan, and Lee must have assumed that McClellan exercised some element of command. It does not seem that the conflict between McClellan, Lincoln, and the cabinet filtered into any of Lee’s correspondence at the time.

   We will probably not ever really know the answer to this question and speculation will continue for some time.

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[1] Sears, Georga McClellan, 259-60; Carman, The Maryland Campaign, 1:121.

[2] Hartwig, To Antietam Creek, 703, n4.

[3] Freeman, Lee’s Dispatches, 60.

[4] OR, 19, 2:590-91.

[5] OR, 19, 2:591-2.

[6] OR, 19, 2:600.

[7] OR, 19, 2:602.

[8] B&L, 2:605.

[9] Sears, Landscape Turned Red, 66.

[10] Korda, Clouds of Glory, 462.

[11] Freeman, R.E. Lee, 2:356.

[12] Dowdey, Lee, 303.

[13] Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 257.

[14] Harsh, Taken at the Flood, 84, 141.

PTSD, General John R. Jones, and Confederate History

Combat changes many men. Confederate General John R. Jones seemed to be one of those men. Born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1827, John Robert Jones was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and then ran a military school in Urbana, Maryland. When the war came, he raised a company that became a part of the 33^rd Virginia Infantry. He was commissioned a captain in June 1861, fought at First Manassas, and then was promoted lieutenant colonel in August of that year. In 1862, when the 33^rd Virginia was reorganized, Jones ran for colonel, and he lost. He attempted to regain his old position of lieutenant colonel, and again, he lost. At Jackson’s urging, Jones was promoted over others to brigadier general in June 1862, leading a Virginia brigade in the Seven Days campaign.

Southern Illustrated News, January 16, 1864

A wound in the knee at White Oak Swamp, followed by a bout with typhoid fever, kept Jones from the battle of Second Manassas, but at Sharpsburg, he led Jackson’s old division into battle. Yet Jones seemed to be a different man. Partway through the action, Jones headed to the rear, claiming that the explosion of a nearby shell had disabled him. Then, at the battle of Fredericksburg, while back in command of his brigade, it was rumored that Jones had been found hiding behind a tree during part of the battle. Word eventually made its way to Stonewall Jackson. Charges were preferred, and Jones was tried for cowardice. The officer panel on Jones’s trail included A.P. Hill, Jubal Early, Isaac Trimble, Robert Rodes, Henry Heth, James Archer, and William D. Pender. Jones was found not guilty and was acquitted. At Chancellorsville a couple of weeks later, Jones led his brigade, but, once again headed to the rear, this time due to “the ulcerated condition of one of his legs. Jones was relieved of his command, and a newspaper later reported that Jones had resigned.[1] For some unknown reason, Jones was captured on July 4, 1863, at Smithsburg, Maryland, and imprisoned at Johnson Island, and later at Fort Warren. Was he following along behind the Army of Northern Virginia, or simply traveling? It is really not clear why Jones was in Maryland. He was not released until July 1865.[2]

Jones returned to Harrisonburg, Virginia, sold farm equipment, and was a commissioner in chancery of the county court. He was married twice, divorced once, and had two different African-American families. Jones died in 1901.[3]

Stonewall Jackson, who had nominated Jones for promotion, was troubled and humiliated at the court martial of Jones. Jackson told Tucker Lacy “I have almost lost confidence in man. When I thought I had found just such a man as I needed, and was about to rest satisfied in him, I found something lacking in him. But I suppose it is to teach me to put my trust only in God.”[4]

So how have historians viewed the career of John R. Jones?  Douglas Southall Freeman wrote that he  even hated  to mention John R. Jones’s name in connection with the Army of Northern Virginia. Later, in chronicling the part of Jones’s role at Chancellorsville, Freeman wrote that the general “probably had written himself off the army roster by leaving the field because of an ulcerated leg.”[5]

Joseph L. Harsh held the view that Jones was “clearly wanting in ability.”[6]

Robert E. L. Krick thought Jones “spectacularly awful as a Confederate officer.”[7]

Robert K. Krick wrote that Jones “performed with so little personal poise at Sharpsburg that he came under formal charges.”[8]

John R. Jones’s post-war relationships with African-American women certainly influenced late 19^th and early 20^th century historians and their treatment of his role in history. However, given the charges of cowardice leveled at him after the Seven Days campaign, his military career came to an ignoble end following the battle of Chancellorsville. It seems very likely that his issues may have been related to
PTSD. One has to ask – what happened to John R. Jones?

If you are interested in Jones’s romantic entanglements, please check out Freedom’s Child: The Life of a Confederate General’s Black Daughter, by Carrie Allen McCray (1998).

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[1] Southern Illustrated News, January 16, 1864.

[2] A note in his file from the National Archives concerning his capture states that Jones was “Formally in C.S. Army – now a citizen.”

[3] Davis, Confederate General, 3:206-207.

[4] Quoted in Freeman, Lee’s Lieutenants, 2:500.

[5] Freeman, Lee’s Lieutenants, 2:500n, 665.

[6] Harsh, Sounding the Shallows, 142.

[7] Krick, The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy, 122.

[8] Gallagher,  Antietam: Essays on the 1862 Maryland Campaign, 50.

Churches in the Crossfire

    Battles fought during the 1860s often encompassed great swaths of ground. Gettysburg alone comes in at almost 18 square miles. As these battles rolled back and forth, they passed by people’s homes, their farms, and their community structures, like railroad depots, schools, and churches. Churches were community spaces. Besides religious services, they often held schools during the week, and could be the place where political oratory was presented as elections drew near. As the soldiers squared off to fight, many churches could become hospitals. The following list is nowhere complete, but just an introduction to some of these historic sites and structures.

Dunker Church, Sharpsburg, MD

   Dunker Church, on the Antietam National battlefield, is probably the most recognized church of the war. One of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought around the church in September 1862, and a photograph taken by Alexander Gardner right after the battle, showing the church, has become a staple of images in many war-time histories. The Dunkers were a part of the German Baptist Brethren, and the church near Sharpsburg was built in 1852 on land given by local farmer Samuel Mumma. During the battle, Confederate artillery and infantry were posted in and around the Dunker Church. While modest in structure, the church was a focal point during the early morning fighting on September 17. During the battle, the church was struck with small arms and artillery projectiles, and then went on to serve as a makeshift hospital. The building was used as a church after the battle, but in the early 1900s, the congregation moved to town, and the building fell into disrepair. What was left of the original building was dismantled. After passing through several hands, the property was acquired by the Federal government; in the 1960s, using many of the original materials, the structure was rebuilt and re-dedicated on September 2, 1962. (You can read a more in-depth history here.)

   The Shiloh Meeting House, on the Shiloh National Battlefield in Tennessee, was a one-room log structure built by the Methodists in 1853. In April 1862, Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman posted his division on either side of the church. They considered Shiloh Church a “rude structure in which…the voices of the ‘poor white trash’ of Tennessee mingle in praise to God.” The Confederates attacked on April 6, and two hours later, succeeded in driving Sherman’s Federals from their position. Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnston’s body was carried into the church after his death, and later, Confederate Lieutenant General P.G.T. Beauregard established his headquarters at the building the next day. After the battle, the Federals reportedly tore down the structure, using the logs to build breastworks. Ironically, Shiloh means “place of peace.” A log chapel was reconstructed in 2001. (You can read more here)

Salem Church was a focal pointing of the fighting of the second battle of Fredericksburg, a part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of May 1863. Sometimes, this fighting is actually called the battle of Salem Church. The church was originally constructed in 1844 by local Baptists. The main part of the battle was a Federal flanking maneuver to the west, an action that bogged down at Chancellorsville. The second part of the action featured a Federal advance from Fredericksburg. The thin line of Confederates left behind in the trenches were unable to hold and fell back toward the west. Brigadier General Cadmus Wilcox’s Confederate brigade was reinforced by Confederates from McLaws and Anderson’s divisions, concentrated on a line around the Salem Church. Federals were able to break the line around the church, capturing Confederates from Alabama firing out of the windows of the church. A counterattack by Wilcox drove the Federals back and recaptured the area around the church. Salem Church, now a National Park Service site, is an original structure. You can learn more about the battle by following this link

Fredericksburg Baptist Church 

Fredericksburg Baptist Church likewise saw its share of the war. Built in 1855 of brick and standing two stories tall, the building was one of the most elaborate examples of the Gothic Revival architecture in the area.  There were a dozen holes in the building that had to be patched following the end of the war. The building served as a hospital during both battles of Fredericksburg. The building survives, although it has been heavily expanded over the past 150 years.

Old Bluff Presbyterian Church was host to Federal soldiers during Sherman’s march to the sea. Old Bluff Church is in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Scottish immigrants founded the church in 1758 and constructed the present building in 1853. While there was a skirmish nearby, no large battle was fought near the church. Instead, the church served as a headquarters to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman on the night of March 15, 1865. The original church building survives. You can learn more about this church
here

Mt. Zion Christian Church in Madison County, Kentucky, was constructed in 1852. During the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, in August 1862, the building was struck by artillery fire. It was used as a Federal field hospital in one of the most overwhelming Confederate victories of the war.

There are countless churches that doubled as hospitals during the war. A sample listing would include St. Mark’s Episcopal in Raymond, Mississippi; Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Morristown, Tennessee; Blanford Church in Petersburg, Virginia; Old Stone Church in Ringgold, GA; and Old Christ Church in Pensacola, Florida, just to name a few.

There is also much research left to do on this topic, church history, and the war in general.

General Lee’s Headquarters at Sharpsburg

 

   A week ago, I had a chance to visit to Sharpsburg and the Antietam Battlefield. For the first time, I sought out General Lee’s Headquarters. It is a beautiful spot, in a grove of old trees, with a monument and plaque, and it is located on Main Street or Shepherdstown Pike. However, looking at several different maps may lead one to conclude that Lee’s headquarters seem to be elsewhere.

   Lee arrived in Sharpsburg early on the morning of September 15. He first surveyed the ground from the Pry farm, crossed Antietam Creek, and moved to a hill near the Lutheran Church Cemetery, where he was joined by Longstreet, and then Stuart. Later that day, Lee set up his headquarters, but the location is not certain. William Owens, a member of the Washington Artillery, wrote that Lee spent the night in a house on the edge of town, with Longstreet using the same structure. (Owen, In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery, 139) Ezra Carman, writing after the war, tells us that Lee, Longstreet, and Jackson held a war council at the home of Jacob A. Grove “at the southwest corner of the Sharpsburg town square.” (Clemens, The Maryland Campaign, 2:30). Scott Hartwig writes that Lee spent the night of September 15 “camped in a small woodlot about three questers of a mile west of the center of Sharpsburg.” (To Antietam Creek, 596)

      Lee was mobile on September 16, riding over the field, meeting with generals, positioning troops. It seems that his daylight headquarters were on Cemetery Hill, now the site of the National Cemetery. Later that day, Lee moved back to the wooded lot on the western edge of town. This spot was Lee’s headquarters for the remainder of the battle. However, just where was this spot? Was it the location traditionally known as Lee’s Headquarters on Main Street?

Maps from the time period show many different sites. The recently-found Elliott map (1864, New York Public Library), places Lee’s Headquarters well south of the Shepherdstown Pike.

 

The Robert K. Sneden map (Library of Congress), also war-time, places headquarters at the S.D. Piper farm. The Piper farm was located off what is today Snyder’s Landing Road.

 

Another Sneden map (Library of Congress),  shows the headquarters just outside of town.

 

The Atlas of the Battle of Antietam (1904, Library of Congress), places Lee’s headquarters about where the marker is today.

 

Finding and documenting the location of any Confederate commander’s headquarters site is a challenge. While generals and staff officers frequently tell us that they met a commanding general, they frequently do not tell us where.

Floridians in the Sunken Road: The 8th Florida at Sharpsburg.

     Slowly the little band of twenty-eight enlisted men and four officers sloshed through the mud over the top of a hill and down into the hamlet of Appomattox Court House. On orders, they halted, front faced, fixed bayonets, and for a final time, stacked their rifled-muskets. Cartridge boxes were removed and placed beside the weapons. Some of their comrades placed their beloved banners across the stacks, but this stalwart band had lost that flag in battle a few days earlier. With the surrender over, the former soldiers made their way back to camp to await their paroles. Later, with prized papers in hand, they started back to their homes.

      Three-and-a-half years had passed since the once 1,122-man-strong regiment had made its way from the piney woods and swamps of Florida to the battlefields of Virginia. Companies from all over the state, including men from Orange, Hillsboro, Duval, and Madison counties, had answered the call from the Confederate government for more volunteers. On May 16, 1862, the companies were mustered into service at Lake City, Florida, and given the designation 8^th Florida Infantry Regiment. Richard F. Floyd, a fifty-two-year-old native of Georgia, was elected colonel.

     Like many units formed after the passage of the first Confederate conscription act, the regiment was almost immediately plagued by desertions. Company B, from Gadsden County and under the command of Captain Robert A. Walker, lost 16 men before the regiment could even leave the state.

     Despite the loss of unwilling soldiers, by early July, the regiment was in Virginia and soon assigned to Roger Pryor’s brigade. Their first taste of combat came during the battle of Second Manassas. Pryor’s brigade was assigned to Wilcox’s division, under the command of Longstreet, and made the march through Thoroughfare Gap to help save the embattled Jackson. During mid-afternoon on August 30, an opportunity arose on Wilcox’s front to destroy a portion of the exposed Federal flank. Wilcox ordered Brigadier General Winfield Featherston to take his own brigade, and Pryor’s, and attack. Much to the dismay of Wilcox, Featherston was slow in moving the two brigades, and nothing came of the action. Later that afternoon, events fell into place and Longstreet attacked.

     Pryor’s men, the 8^th Florida included, were subjected to a severe artillery fire from Dogan Ridge. At 6:00 pm, the brigades of Featherston (on the left), then Archer, Pender, and Pryor, formed for an assault. Pryor placed the 8^th Florida in the front, along with the 3^rd Virginia and 14^th Alabama. Featherston attacked the batteries in the flank while Pryor charged them head on. Many of the Federal gunners fled, and nine cannons were captured. The “Eighth Florida, though never under fire before, exhibited the cool and collective courage of veterans,” Pryor wrote in his official report.

Sunken Road, Sharpsburg 

     Little rest would follow for the men of the 8^th Florida. After participating in the investment of Harper’s Ferry, the regiment marched toward the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The regiment, still in Pryor’s brigade but now in Richard Anderson’s division, arrived just after sunrise on September 17, went into a reserve position, and was ordered to rest. Instead of an all-out assault by the Federals on the thin Confederate lines, the battle of Antietam was a series of disjointed attacks. The first had come early that morning on the Confederate left. The Southerners were able to hold, and during mid-morning, the second phase of the battle began, this one aimed at the center of the Confederate line. In this sector, the Confederate defensive line was located in an old sunken road. The area in front of the line was cleared and gradually rose. Behind the sunken road, the ground, planted in corn followed by an orchard, rose steeply. Occupying the old farm lane were regiments from D. H. Hill’s division.

     It is estimated that there were 2,500 men in the sunken lane, being attacked by 7,500 Federal soldiers. The Confederates were soon hard pressed, and General Robert E. Lee committed his only reserves: R. H. Anderson’s division. Anderson brought 3,400 men to the fight. The 8^th Florida was barely in any shape to participate. One officer estimated that there were only 120 men present. Colonel Floyd was seriously ill and had been left behind. Lieutenant Colonel John N. Pons was also out sick, and Major William I. Turner had resigned. Just prior to the battle, General Pryor had placed Lieutenant Colonel Georges Augustus Gaston de Coppens in charge of the 8^th Florida. At the beginning of the war, Coppens had organized a battalion of Zouaves. At Sharpsburg, this Zouave battalion was under the command of his brother, and Georges, being supernumerary, was placed in command of the 8^th Florida.

     Just as Anderson was receiving the orders to advance toward D. H. Hill’s position in the sunken lane, Anderson was wounded in the thigh, and Pryor assumed command of the division. Pryor was unaware of Anderson’s orders. Robert Rhodes, in command of one of the brigades in the sunken road, was at a loss as to the disposition of his reinforcements. He went back to find Pryor and when advised of the situation, Pryor ordered his own brigade, which was positioned on the crest of the hill, to advance. The brigade quickly formed. The 2^nd Florida was on the left, followed by the 8^th Florida, 5^th Florida, 3^rd Virginia, and 14^th Alabama. Colonel John C. Hately of the 5^th Florida was in command of the brigade.

8th Florida

     Pryor’s brigade advanced into the Piper orchard and beyond. As soon as the Confederates became visible targets, the Federals, not having much luck against the Confederates in the lane, turned their fire upon the reinforcements. Federal artillery across the creek did likewise, causing considerable damage. Finding the trees of the orchard and cornstalks did little to stop the combined artillery and small arms fire, the brigade pushed ahead. The color guard of the 8^th Florida was quickly struck down and the flag staff shot in two. Captain Richard A. Waller of Company B took the colors and wrapped them around his body. Lieutenant Colonel Coppens was killed, and Waller assumed command of the regiment, only to be “almost immediately” killed, the regimental banner still draped across his shoulders. Captain William Baya, of Company D, then assumed command of the regiment.

     Even with such a small number of men, growing smaller each moment due to the destructive Union fire, the 8^th Florida surged ahead. The Florida soldiers came in behind the 14^th North Carolina, of George B. Anderson’s brigade. Some of the 8^th Florida fell in with the North Carolinians. Other members of the regiment surged past the sunken lane and engaged the Federals, but “were quickly driven back with great loss...” These brave men joined their comrades in the farm lane.

     Featherston’s brigade came in next, ordered by Pryor to support the three brigades already in the lane. The Mississippians came in behind Pryor and Anderson, but they did not stop in the lane. Colonel Carnot Posey took the Mississippians past the road and engaged the Irish Brigade. They advanced 30 to 40 yards, but after five minutes, were “driven back with great loss.” Fresh Federal troops began arriving. Colonel Posey tried to extract his brigade from the lane in an attempt to alleviate some of the overcrowding. Many men mistook this action as a call for the retreat, and the Confederate line began to collapse.

     Colonel Floyd, who had been left sick with chronic fever and diarrhea in Winchester, arrived on the field as the action of the 8^th Florida was drawing to a close. On September 22, he wrote to Gov. John Milton in Florida of the conditions that he found on the field: “Finally I met several of our poor fellows, coming [off] wounded, some mortally; and asking them for our Regt. they piteously replied [‘]They are all killed, wounded or dispersed[...’ The] remnant of the 8^th Regt... was in the thickest of the fight and were almost annihilated... The next day it was difficult to find any men at all of these Regts except the wounded who were brought off. All our dead remain there unburied.” 

      Casualties for the 8^th Florida during their struggle in the orchard and fields of the Piper farm and in the Bloody Lane are unknown. For the overall Maryland campaign, the regiment had suffered 12 killed and 56 wounded, the highest of the regiments in Pryor’s brigade. If Colonel Floyd was correct about the 120 men present, then the 8^th Florida suffered fifty-seven percent casualties.

     Following the fight at Sharpsburg, Pryor was relieved of brigade command and sent to Richmond. Governor Milton, worried about the condition of the three Florida regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia, asked that they be returned to the Sunshine State to rest and recruit. The petition was denied. However, Lee chose to place the 2^nd, 5^th, and 8^th Florida regiments into their own brigade, and promoted Colonel Edward A. Perry of the 2^nd to command. The new Florida brigade remained in Richard H. Anderson’s division, Longstreet’s corps. Perry, a Massachusetts native, graduate of Yale University, and a lawyer, had moved to Florida in 1857. David Lang, Captain of Company C, was promoted to colonel on September 17 and took command of the 8^th regiment.

     The small regiment continued to render gallant service. At Fredericksburg, on December 11, 1862, the 8^th Florida went to the support of two Mississippi regiments from Barksdale’s command. Fighting in the streets of the town, the regiment, probably numbering 200 men, lost 7 killed, 24 wounded, and 20 captured. Once again they were thrown into the fray at Chancellorsville and earned the praise of General Anderson, who wrote that “Brigadier-General Perry and his heroic little band of Floridians...showed a courage as intrepid as that of any others in their assault upon the enemy in his entrenchments on the third and in their subsequent advances on Chancellorsville.”

      When Lee reorganized his army following Chancellorsville, Anderson’s division became a part of the new Third Corps, commanded by A. P. Hill. Gettysburg followed, with Colonel Lang leading the brigade for an ailing Perry. During the action on July 2 along the Emmitsburg Road, the 8^th Florida’s color bearer, “made himself conspicuous advancing to the front and waving his flag.” The color bearer soon fell, along with his guard, consisting of two corporals. When the 8^th Florida fell back, the flag was not missed, and Sergeant Thomas Horan, of the 72^nd New York, picked the banner up “by the dead color-bearer.”  The 8^th Florida had lost 17 killed and 76 wounded during the fight. After the battle, Lang was only able to report “22 line officers and 233 enlisted men” in his entire brigade.

     The regiment continued to add laurels to its fame, fighting at battles now synonymous with the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. During the Wilderness campaign, General Perry was among the wounded and forced to retire. Colonel Lang commanded the brigade until June 1864, when Perry’s old brigade was consolidated with three new Florida regiments and placed under the command of Olustee hero Joseph Finegan. Finegan’s brigade, now composed of the 2^nd, 5^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th regiments, was in Mahone’s division of Hill’s corps. The fighting continued, and the 8^th Florida saw action along the Weldon Railroad, at Reams’s Station, and Hatcher’s Run. Finegan was relieved of command on March 20, 1865, at the request of the Florida governor. Colonel Lang resumed command of the brigade. On April 2, the line of breastworks surrounding Petersburg collapsed, and the 8^th Florida began making its way west with the rest of the once-mighty Army of Northern Virginia. After seeing action at Sailor’s Creek on April 6, where the 8^th Florida’s battle flag was captured by First Sergeant Albert A. Clapp of Company G, 2^nd Ohio Cavalry, the remnants of the regiment moved toward Appomattox Court House and the conclusion of their war.