Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 2.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

Lee, who had scarcely more than twenty-five thousand men to oppose him, had confined himself to rectifying his line of battle. Longstreet formed his right and D. H. Hill his centre; both occupied the hills which commanded the Keedysville and Rohrersville roads; the general-in-chief had concentrated nearly all his artillery in front of them, so as to cover the passes of the Antietam against all attacks on that side. Hood, at the head of two brigades, guarded the important position of Dunker Church on the extreme left. Jackson, with his two small divisions, had been posted in the vast space which separated Hood's right at Dunker Church from Hill's left on the Antietam, so as to connect them as far as possible.

From early dawn both sides waited for the signal of battle; and whenever a slight clearing of the fog permitted, the hostile batteries posted on each side of the river exchanged their murderous salutations. At last, toward two o'clock, McClellan's plan was decided upon; the positions were reconnoitered, the orders given, and Hooker put his troops in motion. He was to cross the Antietam at the fords and the upper bridge, which were already in possession of the Federal cavalry, and come by way of the isthmus to attack the left flank of the enemy. He was not, however, to be alone in this movement, for it was against that point that McClellan directed his main effort. Recognizing the difficulty of charging the enemy's positions in front, and carrying the Antietam passes, he resolved to turn them. Burnside, with the Ninth corps, was to remain alone across the Rohrersville road, Sykes' division facing the bridge of the Keedysville road; and all the other troops present on the ground—that is to say, Mansfield's and Sumner's corps, commanded by the latter—were to hold themselves ready to cross the Antietam in the rear of Hooker, and to support him in his attack. The latter met Jackson's outposts on the cross-road we have before mentioned, three kilometres on the other side of the Antietam. The Confederate sharpshooters were promptly supported by Hood, who had hastened from Dunker Church, and the battle was engaged in the woods surrounding