Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 12.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

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[528] long range guns, east of Antietam, showered shell and shrapnell into their flank and rear, and Pleasanton crossed four batteries at the Keedysville Bridge and fired in their rear. They were surrounded by a circle of fire from front, right and rear. Hooker's lines came into the cornfield, into the west woods, through the east woods. And the foot cavalry went at them, with that yell they had heard at Gaines's Mill and at Second Manassas. Gibbon went back on Patrick, Meade was thrust back out of the cornfield, Ricketts whirled back into the east woods. When the second line of Hooker moved gallanty forward, it was hurled back by a blow struck straight in front. When the reserves were brought in, the fierce attack of the Confederates drove them also back through the corn. Hood had come up to the assistance of his comrades. And the Confederate line was intact. But the loss on both sides was fearful. The two lines tore each other to pieces. Hooker was borne from the field badly wounded, and before 7 o'clock the First corps was annihilated for that day. Ricketts lost 1,051 men, Phelps 44 per cent., and Gibbon 380 men. The Confederate loss was as great; Jones and Lawton, division commanders, had been carried off disabled or wounded; Starke, who succeeded Jones in command of Jackson's division, was killed; Lawton's brigade lost Douglas, its commander, killed, and five regimental commanders out of six, and 554 men out of 1,150. Hays lost every regimental commander and every member of his staff and 323 out of 550. Walker, commanding Trimble's brigade, lost three out of four regimental commanders and 228 out of 700. Grigsby and Stafford rallied 200 or 300 men of Jackson's division and kept them in line. But Trimble, Lawton, and Hays were so cut up that they could not be brought up again.

Early had been detached at daylight to the left, to Stuart, but after awhile had been ordered back in haste to take command of Lawton's division, on Lawton being wounded.

When he got back to Hood's, he found the west woods well in possession of the Federals. On the destruction of Hooker, Mansfield had moved forward to take his place with the Twelfth corps of two divisions of ten thousand one hundred and twenty-six men. He was killed while deploying his troops; but the first division, under Crawford, moved right down the pike with Green's division on his left, marching over the same ground from which Hooker had just been driven. Crawford was met and checked by Grigsby, and Stafford, with their handfull of Jackson's division, and Green was easily held back by Hood. It was now about 9 o'clock.