The National tribune., 1907-12-26

I
tablets known as Sarsatabs. 100 0dosesSl.
horse in a withering blaze of fire. This
| is strongly shown in the battery records
| by the story of their fearful losses at
Antietam. Battery Il, 4th L. S. Art, lost
| that day nine killed and 81 wounded.
| Thompson's Battery a. 1st r. l.. lost
four killed and Is wounded. Monroe's
Battery ID, ist r. l., lost three killed.
seven wounded and eight missing. I
of the 1st y. Y. Art; \ of the 1st n.
H Art: f of the 1st Pa. and the
Ind'p't Pa. Battery all suffered heavily
in this attack on the right, mostly from
deadly infantry fire poured in at close
range.
The Second Corps Arrives.
About Q O'Clock the Twelfth Corps
seems to have spent its fighting force.
and had gone as far as it could. Knipe's
Brigade. on the extreme right was slow
ly retiring Gordon's Brigade. after its
terrific fighting, was reforming its shat
tered ranks with view to advancing
Greene's Division, with a small part of
Rickettss. maintained its place obsti-
nately in the woods near the bunker
Church. where it kept up a singing
fire upon Hoods right and rear.
The Second Corps was unusually for
tunate in the quality of it's division and
brigade commanders. Splendid old I.
B. Richardson, of Michigan. command
ed the First Division, with the three
brigades under him commanded by
Meagher. Caldwell and ]. r. Brooke.
The Second Division was under the
command of steady. reliable Pap"
Sedgwick, with the brigades command
ed by German, Howard and Dana. The
Third Division was led by VIM. H.
French. an old Regular of Maryland
blood, who was a splendid division COM
mander. no matter what he may have
shown himself to be in command of
corps. The brigades were commanded
by Kimball, Morris and Weber. The
lateness of the cOrps's arrival on the
ground is explained by. Sumner not hav-
ing received his orders to march till
1920 a. M, when he put Sedgwick in
motion with the Second Division and
sent French to follow him. Richardson
did not move for an hour. the reason
given being that Morell, who was to
occupy the ground Richardson was to
take, had not arrived. This put the
three divisions of the Second Corps into
battle at three separate times, instead
of having the weight of that magnifi-
cent fighting machine delivered as a
unit, when it would have been effec-
tive in securing results.
SedswiclS's Division.
same ford over which the other two
corps had passed, and each brigade as
it reached the other side turned its head
toward the battlefield upon a different
road from the others, SO that the divi-
sions entered the East Woods from the
south in three separate columns. The
East Woods were a fine open growth of
timber, unincumbered by underbrush
so that the division could manuver,
which it did by facing to the left and
forming a column of three brigades,
Gorman's first, DanaS next and How
ards third. This brought the column
facing west parallel to the Hagerstown
pike, and separated from it by the corn
field, soon to have a permanent place
in history. The corn was high and at
that season of the year the stalks were
hard and stiff as wood. Thru this corn
the division marched, into the open
ground, beyond where We're seen few
if any of the men of the First and
, Twelfth Corps, who had been struggling
there. Greene, Knipe and others claim
to have remained on the field and par
ticipated in the ensuing fight, but Sedg-
wick's men We're not aware of this, and
probably the inequalities of the ground
and woods hid them from each other
Gen. Sumner rode with SedgWick at the
head of the division, and, passing thru
the cornfield, the division swept rapidly
10 the pike 1t must be kept IN mind
all the time that the division was in
columns of brigades, with each brigade
in line of battle and no fianking parties
sent out. 1t was noticed by those who
had seen the formation that this usual
precaution had not been observed, and
the fact commented upon; that is, after
the event men said they had noticed
this and commented upon it at the time.
All such statements made after the
event. must, however, be regarded with
suspicion. AS the column was reaching
the West Woods, with its left near the
bunker Church, it came under sharp
artillery fire, which told rather severely
upon the column formation. Gormans
and Dana's Brigades entered the West
Woods, but did not maintain equal dis
tances between the brigades, so that
while the left almost touched there was
a long interval between the two on the
right. Sedgwick had now reached the
farthest point of any Federal advance,
but he was entirely alone with Stuarts
concealed batteries sweeping his lines
with canister. French, for some rea-
son, was far behind Sedgwick, and not
supporting him, as had been intended
and expected. On Sedgwick's left a lit
tie wood road ran thru the West Woods
to the bunker Church. There We're also
many ledgeS of limestone OutcroDping