The National tribune., 1902-02-20

| CORN
line Of infantry and artillery, and far in
the rear the endless wagon trains.
Suddenly we heard in the distance what
seemed hardly more than a murmuring
sound. but which gradually swelled into a
roar, and looking back we could see caps
going into the air and could hear a mighty
cheer which was taken up succesSively by
regiment after regiment as Mcclellan with
his staff rode rapidly by the marching
line.
Whatever might have been our views
when we were coldly criticising his cam
2aigns, we were all alike brought under
the influence of his personal presence and
the spirit Of the occasion, and at that mo-
ment Mcclellan was the hero and idol of
the army. II was a sight and sound TO
stir the blood. and the General. as he ap-
neared to us then, seemed worthy of all
his ovation.
He was a handsome man. and he looked
every inch n soldier, with his clean-cut
ace, strong figure and cose-ftting uni
form. He was q fine rider and always
rode good horse, and he might have been
selected as a type of perfect horseman and
soldier. so far as all external attributes
are concerned. The cheers died away in
the distance in our front. and we marched
on. very confident that everything would
he all right for our side in the battle
which was coming in a few days.
Another impressive sight was the mass
ing of troops on the afternoon before An
tietam, in the fields in the rear of what
afterwards became the line of battle.
Before making Il deployment on to this
line at least 10000 men were Inassed as
closely as the lines could be brought to-
gether, and the entire mass did not cover
but few acres of ground
Out of this field of troops, as the after
noon went on. thin lines Of blue wormed
themselves away, and late in the evening
the Twelfth Corps moved across the An
tietam to a position near the extreme
right. and in the rear Of HOOker'S First
Corps.
Before dawn we quietly ronsed our men
TO get their coffee. and with the first
Strcaks of daylight the hattie opened
fiercely in our front. Mansfield. our gray
haired commander, soon galloped back
from the front where he had been watch |
ing events. and ordered our division for
ward.
Fortune favored this movement. as the |
right of our line Tapped little by the en-
emy's left, and we found ourselves in an |
orchard on the flank and very close to the |
rebel line in cornfeld.
After few moments sharp fighting the |
cnemy's line wayered, and we swept for
ward with rush which carried us
through the cornfeld and into the open
field beyond.
1t fell to the lot of the 2d Mass to en-
counter the 11th Miss. Of Hoods Division;
in this charge. and the hattlr-fi flag of the
after was seized from the hands of the
COlor-Sergeant as he fell. by q Sergeant
# our own regiment. Later on in the
n"rning we saw the grand advance Of
summers Corps In three lines of battle
nto the woods by the bunker Church,
Gr.ZT
'ly cut up. Still later in the day our
First Division again moved forward. and
n the ensuing action we suffered Sc
rerely.
The field of Antietam was not so pic
as that of Gettysburg but it was
fine, open country, made up of cultivated
ields with groves of fine timber and n
relt of woods along the Potomac 1t was
rot like the fighting-ground in the Viii
'crness of Virginia and northern Georgia
md from many points of view the move
nents OF both armies were plainly Wis
ble. In the morning of the day the corn
Ield which is mentioned so prominently
n all accounts of the battle stood high
with corn ready for the harvest. nut be
ore night it was level with the ground
md thickly sprinkled with the dead OF
both armies.
The groves Of fine large oaks were torn
% pieces by shot and shell, branches wer,
opped off and strewed the ground much
IS II Western tornado had swept
hrongh them.
That night we bivouacked on the field
surrounded hy the bodies Of the dead.
which lay thickly about us, and we went
o sleep possessed with the iden that with
he first streak Of dawn the battle would
'e renewed and pressed TO a successful
The night passed peacefully and the
lay broke without sound, except an oc-
'asional shot on the picket line. The bat
lie was over.
1t was only given n few commanders in
'ur war To know the supreme moment
when II was safe to risk everything for
'ictory. Grant and Sheridan had this in
tinct, SO had StOnewall jackson. Nc
;lellan did not possess It; if he had. Lees
r1ny would never have crossed the Po- ,
omac, except in scattered fragments. and
he great civil war might have ended
much sooner. =
My own regiment lost heavily in this