Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 9.
Frank Moore, Ed.

capture of Harper's Ferry.

The brigade left Ox Hill on the third of September, and, marching through Dranesville and Leesburg, crossed the Potomac into Maryland at White's Ford on the fifth. They rested at Monocacy Junction, near Frederick City, until the tenth, when, in order to perform their part in the investment and capture of Harper's Ferry, they commenced a forced march, and, making a large circuit by way of Boonsboroa, Williamsport, and Martinsburg, reached the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, from the Virginia side, on the thirteenth. Sunday, the fourteenth, the brigade moved down the Winchester Railroad, on the left bank of the Shenandoah, and were engaged during the night, until two o'clock the next morning, in getting into position on the plateau between the Shenandoah and Bolivar Heights, the latter place being held by a strong force of the enemy. Here morning dawned upon the command, ready to storm the heights. The view was magnificent, presenting such a spectacle as is rarely seen. At early dawn the batteries of McIntosh and Davidson opened upon the left of our position, and soon after other batteries commenced firing upon the enemy from the Loudoun Heights, beyond the Shenandoah. When everything was ready for the assault, a white flag was seen displayed by the enemy as evidence of surrender, and, at half past 7 o'clock on the morning of the fifteenth September, Major-General A. P. Hill entered the captured works. At nine o'clock the brigade was marched up to the heights, and employed in guarding prisoners, arms, &c. We sustained no loss in these brilliant operations.

Sharpsburg.

At Harper's Ferry, during the sixteenth, heavy cannonading on the Maryland side was distinctly heard, and on Wednesday we made a forced march up the river, crossed the river at Boteler's Ford, a short distance below Shepherdstown, and arrived on the field of Sharpsburg in the afternoon, about two miles from the Potomac, reaching the actual presence of the enemy at forty minutes past three o'clock P. M., which was not a moment too soon for the fortunes of the day. The general line of our army seemed to be in front of the town of Sharpsburg, facing the east, with its right flank stretching toward the Potomac. The enemy were in front, along the line of the Antietam River. We came upon the field on the extreme right of our line, perhaps two miles from the Potomac. It was seen at once that a large force of the enemy (said to be Burnside's division) were in the act of sweeping down the Antietam, and around our right, with the object manifestly of cutting off our army from the Potomac. The light division came from the proper direction, and at the right moment, to meet this column, and drive it back across the Antietam. Gregg's brigade was placed in position on the right. The Fourteenth South Carolina volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Simpson, being the leading regiment, was thrown out to hold a position on the extreme right, being the point of our line nearest the Potomac. The enemy, checked in his flank movement, never got so far to our right, and consequently that regiment was not actively engaged. The First South Carolina volunteers, Colonel Hamilton, the Twelfth, Colonel Barnes, and Thirteenth, Colonel Edwards, formed in line of battle, were directed to enter the field to the left of the Fourteenth, and drive back the enemy. This line advanced to the top of a hill, in a cornfield, and there engaged the enemy, who appeared advancing in force upon the opposite hill, and held a fence in the ravine between the hills. They checked at once the advance of the enemy. Colonel Edwards, on the left, took up a strong position behind a stone fence, and held it. Colonel Barnes advanced down the hill, and, with a charge, gallantly drove the enemy from the fence in front. He was, however, in a few moments, flanked by a large body on the right, and had to retire his regiment a short distance up the hill, the enemy immediately re-occupying the fence. Colonel Barnes soon returned to the attack, and, upon the same ground, charged with his fine regiment three times, and the last time drove them from the fence, and up the hill beyond, with great slaughter.

In the mean time, Colonel Hamilton, feeling a heavy pressure upon his right, obliqued his regiment in that direction, and gallantly drove them, clearing the front, and at the same time covering the right of Colonel Barnes. A heavy body now appeared on the right of Colonel Hamilton, and Captain Perrin, commanding Orr's rifles, was sent out to sweep the field in that direction. He led his regiment up a hill, discovered the enemy in the hollow beyond, dispersed them at once, and held the position, which was somewhat in advance of the general line. Thus the columns, which were enveloping the right of our army, were driven back at all points, and, at the last moment, Sharpsburg made a victory for the Confederate arms.

The brigade held its position on the field all night, the next day, and until three o'clock in the morning of Friday, the nineteenth, when they joined the division, and moved toward Boteler's Ford, on the Potomac which was crossed without losing a man. In the critical operation of crossing the river in the face of so large a force, the light division, General A. P. Hill, was the rear guard, and Gregg's brigade was in rear of the division. Two companies of the Fourteenth South Carolina volunteers, under the command of Captain Brown, were thrown out by Lieutenant-Colonel Simpson as skirmishers, in a cornfield, about a mile from the river, thus covering the passage of the army. About nine o'clock A. M., whilst the light division was crossing, Captain Brown's small detachment was attacked by cavalry; but, dispersing them by a single volley, they succeeded in reaching the river, and crossing in safety.

The fighting at Sharpsburg was severe, and the loss considerable, being in the aggregate one hundred