Battle for the Bridge - Repulsed Again and Again

Battle of Antietam

September 17, 1862

Before you read this get all symbolism out of your mind associated with flags, read this as a person who is noticing patterns repeating that lead to the Civil War. This article will be from a Confederate perspective at the battle for what is now known as Burnside Bridge. This information is hard to find on a battlefield that was won by the Federal Army, but it is there. If you ever visit, you will find an abundance of monuments erected for Union commanded brigades. After the battle, blood of thousands flowed in the creek, the forest, and the cornfields... Confederate soldiers were given shallow graves, right next to where they died, unmarked and sometimes in mass graves. Some of the Federal soldiers that died that day are buried at Antietam Nation Cemetery, which I will cover in a separate article... The Union Soldier's graves have no information about them on the stone, they are only numbered. "Not for themselves, but for their country."

It's important to remember that Abraham Lincoln wrote in a letter to Horace Greeley the following statement:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views."

View from Federal Soldier's side of bridge

Throughout the early hours of the battle, Confederate Gen. Lee moved soldiers from this (see map) part of his line north toward the Cornfield and the West Woods. This shift resulted in division, numbering about 3,000 men and commanded by Gen. R. Jones, holding the southern end of Lee's line.

Fewer than 500 Confederate troops, commanded by Gen. Robert A. Toombs, lined Antietam Creek from the top of the hill at the bridge to Snavely Ford. Col. Henry Benning commanded the men that were guarding the bridge. A Union soldier, who attempted to cross the span, remembered that the Confederates "were snugly ensconced in their rude, but substantial breastworks, in quarry holes, behind high ranks of cordwood, logs, stone piles, etc." In other words, the Confederate soldiers used the land to their advantage.

General Robert Toombs

52 year-old Toombs was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Georgia. He served briefly as Confederate Secretary of State before resigning to take a military command. Toombs wrote in his official battle report that "the enemy were compelled to approach mainly by the road which led up the river for near 300 paces, parallel with my line of battle... exposing his flank to a destructive fire for most of that distance."

3. At about 9:30AM, the first of three major Federal assaults to take the bridge moved forward. The first attack, Toombs reported, "was repulsed with great slaughter and at regular intervals... other attempts of the same kind, all of which were gallantly met and successfully repulsed..." After defending the area for over 3 hours, the Confederates began to run low on ammunition.

General David R. Jones

This 37 year-old graduate of West Point was this division commander responsible for the Confederate right flank. He wrote that "on that morning my entire command of six brigades comprised only 2,430 men, the enormous disparity of force with which I contended can be seen." Jones' soldiers killed his brother-in-law, Col. Henry Kingsbury, who led the first Union attack on the bridge. Jones died 4 months after this battle from heart disease.

View from the center of the bridge, looking out onto the Antietam Creek

4. A Union division, commanded by Men. Isaac P. Rodman, moved downstream in an attempt to ford the Antietam. The combination of Rodman's troops crossing Snavely Ford on their flank, depleted ammunition, and a third Federal assault toward the bridge, eventually forced Toomb's men from their overlook. At about 1:00PM the Confederates pulled back towards the Harpers Ferry Road to await the final Union attack.

Colonel Henry L. Benning

Nicknamed the "Rock," Benning was a lawyer, legislator, and justice on the Georgia Supreme Court before the war. 48 years-old at Antietam, Col. Benning commanded the troops defending the bridge. He stated: "During that long and terrible fire not a man, except a wounded one, fell out and went to rear- not a man. The loss of the enemy was heavy. Near the bridge they lay in heaps." Fort Benning in Georgia is named for him.