The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-16

Of the only corps remaining available for pur-
noses OF attack General Sumner was earnestly
oppos ed to any further attempt upon the enemys
position by our right, as portions OF our troops
had become much scattered and demorallzeQ'
The order was therefore issued by the command
ing General for the corps commanders to hold
their present positions, and await developments.
The corps OF General Fitz John Porter had
been posted on the east side of the Antietam,
opposite the enemy's centre, thus filing the in
terval between our right and the forces of Gene
raj Burnside on our extreme LETT General
Mcclellan considered It imperalively necessary
TO guard this portion of the line carefully, lest
the enemy should break through, assault our
rear and capture or destroy our supply trains.
The attack on the enemy's left was to have
been supported by an attack on their right by
General Burnside, who held the left OF our line,
opposite the second bridge from the mouth OF
the Antietam. At O'Clock in the morning an
order wss sent to Burnside, requiring him To
carry the bridge in bis front, to gain possession
of the heights beyond the Antietam, and then TO
advance along their crest upon Sharpsburg and
its rear This order was twice repeated, at last
with the Injunction to make the assault at all
hazards, and TO carry the bridge at the point OF
the bayonet, II necessary. After delay OF three
hours the 6lst Pennsylvania and the 5lst New
York succeeded in gaming q foothold upon
the disputed structure, when the opposite
bank was occupied, and the enemy forced to
retire to the heights beyond. This advan-
tage was brilliantly achieved at about O'clock,
and Burnside then halted until 3, when
he was ordered to advance upon the heights
without delay, and to carry them, if possible,
even at great sacrifice OF life, as this move
ment was vital 10 the success of the whole army,
Burnside then resumed his advance, the
enemy we're galantly driven from their guns,
the heights we're carried and a portion of the
corps just before darkness set in, found itself
in the outskirts of Sharpsburg. But reinforce
ments had by this time reached the enemy from
Harper's Ferry, and Burnside received an
ass ault on his left flank, which obliged him to
retire to lower line of hills nearer the bridge
by which he had crossed the Antietam. And
thus the battle closed
Gen eral Mcclellan, IN his official report, CEN
sures General Burnside for his delay, claiming
that, IF this important movement had been
consummated two hours earlier, a position would
have been secured upon the heights from which
our batteries might have enfladed the greater
part of the enemy's line, and turned their right
and rear. Our victory" says Mcclellan, might
have been much more decisive"
After the Battle.
General Mcclellan concluded that success
tul attack upon the enemy on the 18th was
matter OF great uncertainty. The perilous
situation of affairs, the danger to which the
seaboard cities would be exposed in case of
defeat, the fatigue and exhaustion of his troops,
the great number of men who had struggled
away from their commands, the great diminu-
tion in the artillery and other necessary sup
plies, and an expectation OF fourteen thousand
men by way OF reintorcement-such are the
reasons which, according TO his official report,
concluded General Mcclellan from renewing
the contest before the morning OF the 10Th.
airy advance reached the river it was found
that, under cover OF the night, and protected by
eight batteries OF artillery, posted strongly on
the high bluffs 10 the south OF the Potomac,
nearly the whole of the enemys force had abau-
doned their position q the 18th and retired to
the Sacred soil" OF Virginia. So there was no
battle fought on the 19.h of September 1862.
Then followed long and grievous delay,
which slckened the hearts of the people with
hope deferred 1t was terminated on the 7th of
November following, by au order which relieved
Majo1-GeneTal George B. Mcclellan from the
command of the Army OF the Potomac, and
turned II over to the control of Maj General
Ambrose E. Burnside.
What We Gained and What We Lost.
We have already quoted that portion of
McClellan's report which asserts that, but for
Burnside's delay, "our victory might have been
much more decisive" In subsequent portion
OF his report, Mcclellan thus sums up the result:
Might closed the long and desperately contested
ana five hundred pieces OF artillery were for ourteen
tackled the enemy in position selected by the ex-
perenoed engine er then in person directing their ope.
flank ana secured fS0Lng within + on the other,
erect incident to pFsyS1s p had
the prestige of Our soldiers slept that
night, conquerors, on field won by their yalor, and
The spoils of war during the contests at South
Mountain, Crampton's Pass, and Antietam,
amounted to thirteen guns, thirty-nine colors,
upwards of fifteen thousand stand OF small arms,
|
not single gun or color was lost by our army.
| But in the battle of Antietam alone our loss in
| killed numbered 20l0, in wounded 94l6, and in
! missing l043-a total of l2,469; and in the pre-
! yious encounters we lost 312 killed, 1894
| wounded, and % missing-a total of 1868,
! making the entire loss from the l4th to the 18th
! of September l4,037.
The results of the battle, as viewed from the
Rebel STANDPOINT, are thus stated in the CORES
pondence of the Charleston COWler:-
Judged by all the rules of warfare, it a victory
to our armies. If failed TO rout the enemy, 1t was
ony because the nature OF the ground prevented him
from running Wherever we whipped him, we either
drove him against his own masses on the right left,
and centre or into tue mountains; and against the
latter position il would have been impossible to ope
rate successfully. Nowhere did he gain any perma-
| nent advantage over the Contederates. Varying as
may have been the successes OF the day they lett us
intact unbroken, and equal masters OF the field with
our antagonist. Last night we were inclined to be-
ieve it drawn battle and the impression gene
rally obtained among the men that, because they had
not in their usual style, got the enemy TO running,
they had gained no advantages but to-day the real
Indeed, achieved another victory. Twenty thousand
additional men could not, under the circumstances,
| have made IL more complete"
Nevertheless, we are glad that twenty thou
sand additional men were not present.
The Ceremonies on the Battle fie cid To-
| Morrow.
Tomorrow, September II, is the fifth ami
versary of the great conflict described above,
and is, therefore, fitting occasion for laying
the cornerstone of the monument to be erected
on the scene of the battle, in memory OF the
brave men who pershed there. As is well
known, the dead were buried where they iell,
and since then a National Cemetery has been
instituted, so that they will not be disturbed IN
their glorious repose.
W m a