Here, in the old sunken road connecting the
Hagerstown and the
Keedysville Turnpikes, lies the mute testimony of the stubbornness with which the
Confederates stood their ground in the most heroic resistance of the day. North of this sunken road was the original position of the
Confederate center under
General D. H. Hill when the battle opened at dawn.
As the fighting reached flood-tide,
Hill sent forward the brigades of
Colquitt,
Ripley, and
McRae to the assistance of
Jackson at the left.
“The men (says
Hill) advanced with alacrity, secured a good position, and were fighting bravely when
Captain Thompson, Fifth North Carolina, cried out: ‘They're flanking us!’
This cry spread like an electric shock along the ranks, bringing up vivid recollections of the flank fire at
South Mountain.
In a moment they broke and fell to the rear.”
Rallied again at the sunken road, the forces of
Hill now met the combined attack of the divisions of French and
Richardson of
Sumner's Corps, freshly come on the field.
It was resistance to the death; reenforced by the division of
Anderson,
Hill's men, in the face of the deadly fire poured upon them in the sunken road, bravely assumed the offensive in a determined effort to flank the
Federal forces to both left and right.
Seizing a vantage-point on higher ground to the left, the
Federals drove them back; while on the right
Barlow, changing front with his two regiments, poured in a rapid fire, capturing three hundred prisoners and two standards.
Then came the direct assault; swept by the enfilading fire from both sides, the remnant of the brave men in the sunken road was driven back, leaving the “bloody lane” behind them.
It was not an easy victory for the
Federals.
The determined fire of the
Confederates had brought down a heavy harvest, among which was numbered
General Richardson, mortally wounded, who had handled his division in this sanguinary contest with his usual valor and skill.
