[340] by the soldiers of the regiment was twenty-five, his men fired but five each. Though others kept up a tremendous roar, he observed that, after the first volleys, no balls came towards him, and directed his men to fire only when they saw something at which to take aim. For this he was afterwards complimented in the regimental report of operations. Night came, and brought a welcome end to the unfortunate day. Save a little skirmishing, the next seventeen days were spent by Sykes's division in marching. Temple now found himself at Antietam; but in this renowned battle he was a mere spectator. Most of the division was in reserve, or rather supporting the heavy guns in the centre, where there was no attack. Temple had so fine a view of the entire field, that he writes that it seemed to be a magnificent spectacle merely for his benefit. In a letter to a friend he makes no claim for himself or the division. ‘Our heroism in this fight consisted in looking on with an eye of approval, from a safe position, upon the fierce battle swaying to and fro before us.’ Two days after Antietam a reconnoissance was made across the Potomac. It was an ill-conducted affair, and the whole force had a narrow escape from capture or being driven into the river. However, it was a good day for Temple; he was in the skirmish line, and showed himself to be pre-eminently cool and brave. The campaign was now over, and he thus sums it up:—
I have had a good deal of valuable experience since I last wrote in this journal. The position of the Army of the Potomac has been changed from the Peninsula to the Northwest of Maryland. We have seen some fighting, been defeated, and gained victories, and passed over hard-fought fields that other of our battalions had won for us. We have suffered somewhat from hardship; have slept in bivouac for nights in succession, without covering of any sort, or fire, and often without sufficient food; have had hard marching to do occasionally, and hard fighting afterwards, sometimes under able leaders and sometimes under generals unfit for their position, who had not our confidence to start with, and who would have lost it if they had.
