The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-09 00:00:00

AN7IETA2II.

At Antietam, on the 17th September, the PRE-
SIDENT of the United States, surrounded by the
representatives of all nations, and hundreds of his
most celebrated countrymen, performed a cere-
mony which well commemorated perhaps the
greatest event of the mighty war of which even
then there remained wrecks around them. On that
day, amidst prayer and thanksgiving, the cemetery
containing the dead of Antietam was conse-
crated. The event the distinguished assembly
were met to celebrate will ever find in the
American heart a thrilling response. It was
exactly five years before that General M'CLELLAN
in command of a Northern army, hastily gathered,
and numbering 87,000 men, attacked the Confede-
rates posted upon the position of which the ceme-
tery forms part, and after a struggle, rarely equalled,
compelled the invading army, in the confusion of
defeat, to evacuate the State of Maryland. The
strength of the Confederates under LEE has never
been accurately given. Accounts differ widely—a
difference in a measure due to the fact that during
the engagement LEE'S army was largely reinforced.
The most probable estimate places the Confederate
strength at 60,000 men. LEE asserts that he com-
menced the action with 40,000, while M'CLELLAN
estimates the number at upwards of 97,000.
Those who recall the days preceding the great
Battle of Antietam shudder when thinking on the
train of disasters which had befallen the Federal arms.
The mighty force so carefully drilled, so magnifi-
cently equipped, which M'CLELLAN had led over the
Peninsula when marching on Richmond, striken
by seven days of hard fighting, had been compelled
to re-embark, leaving the country strewn with
dead. At Cedar Mountain General BANKS had
sustained a disastrous repulse, and General POPE,
after a series of desperate actions, had been driven
behind the defences which covered Washington.
Throughout the South it was loudly asserted and
fully believed that Maryland was Confederate in
every feeling, the sentiment of her people being
smothered beneath the weight of Northern armies.
Baltimore bad given to this unmistakable ex-
pression. Thousands of Marylanders had joined
the Confederate ranks, and the song that touched
to the quick those exiles from their State was often
heard at the Confederate bivouack, one of the
sweetest inspired by these stormy times—

"Maryland, my Maryland."
The dash and gallantry of the Confederate sol-
diers filled both themselves and their commanders
with the greatest confidence. The extraordinary
skill and military aptitude of the people were
seen in their judgment in selecting leaders.
When LEE crossed the Potomac to carry the
war into the enemy's country he brought with
him an army whose morale had been established
by many victories, who thought itself invincible,
and who entered Maryland firmly believing that the
whole State would rise in response to the call.
LEE'S first step was to publish an appeal to
Marylanders, and it was not for many days after,
that even a doubt crossed his mind the Con-
federacy was mistaken in the general feeling
of the people. M'CLELLAN had to form his army
as he marched, and he moved on in ignorance and
dread of the designs of his skilful opponent. It was
not till he began to feel the weight of the enemy in
front that he knew he was in the right direction.
On the 10th September LEE evacuated Frederick,
retiring on Antietam. A copy of LEE'S order
of march, dated the previous day, fell into
INI‘CLELLAN's hands on his arrival at that town,
which gave the Federal General a clear insight into
his opponent's plans. LEE was surprised at the
vigour and discernment of the steps immediately
taken by M'CLELLAN. He detached Him, and
LONGSTREET to check the quick advance of the
Federals, and on the 14th was fought the first
action, in which General RENO and 1,500 Union
soldiers fell in carrying the heights on which
these generals were posted. On the afternoon of
the 15th M'CLELLAN halted on the east bank of
the Antietam. The Confederate army had crossed
the stream and were arrayed for battle on the opposite
side. M'CLELLAN had brought his great foe to
bay, and the two mighty armies on the evening of
the 15th September of the eventful year 1862
stood facing each other to decide the destinies
of a continent. It was then that M'CLELLAN
received the PRESIDENT'S last command and
benediction : " God bless you and all with
you ; destroy the rebel army if possible." The
16th was devoted to perfecting the arrangements