After invading Maryland in September 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee divided his army to march on and invest Harpers Ferry. The Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan pursued the Confederates to Frederick, Maryland, then advanced on South Mountain. On September 14, pitched battles were fought for possession of the South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. By dusk the Confederate defenders were driven back, suffering severe casualties, and McClellan was in position to destroy Lee's army before it could reconcentrate. McClellan's limited activity on September 15 after his victory at South Mountain, however, condemned the garrison at Harpers Ferry to capture and gave Lee time to unite his scattered divisions at Sharpsburg. Union general Jesse Reno and Confederate General Samuel Garland, Jr., were killed at South Mountain.
Result(s): Union victory
Other Names: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps
Location: Frederick County and Washington County
Campaign: Maryland Campaign (September 1862)
Date(s): September 14, 1862
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan [US]; Gen. Robert E. Lee [CS]
Forces Engaged: Corps
Estimated Casualties: 4,500 total
Source:
On the morning of Sept 14,1862, the outcome of the Confederate invasion of Maryland hinged on the passes through the South Mountain in Maryland. Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia lay west of the mountains in five widely scattered increments, To the east, Union Maj. Gen George B. McClellan's powerful Army of the Potomac, spurred into action by the discovery of a lost copy of Lee's orders (see Lee's lost order), was moving toward the defiles. If the Federals penetrated South Mountain, Lee's army faced the possibility of being carved into pieces.
The Federal army advanced in two wings. the left segment under Maj. Gen William B. Franklin, angled to the southwest toward Crampton's Gap. Franklin, with orders to relieve the Harpers Ferry garrison and to cut off the surrounding Confederates, moved into the pass and engaged the southerner's in the Battle of Crampton's Gap.
McClellan's right wing numbering nearly 30,000, marched on the National road, the road that passed through the mountain at Turner's Gap. A mile to the south of Turner's Gap a smaller road snaked through South Mountain at Fox's Gap. These 2 gaps and a network of trails were crucial to lee's army and his wagon train. As the Federals approached, only 1 confederate brigade of Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill's division manned Turner's Gap.
Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton's Union cavalry opened the battle engaging Hill's lone brigade. As the opponents skirmished, Hill brought up one of his remaining 4 brigades and deployed it. Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, directing the Federal wing, then sent Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno with the IX corps against Fox's Gap. Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox's leading division replaced the Union horsemen about 9 a.m., and the fighting intensified. Cox's division charged through the open pastures below Fox's Gap. Brig. Gen Samuel Garland's brigade of North Carolinians responded. In a jumbled confusing battle the Federals broke one of Garland's regiments. Garland was killed, as was Reno. By noon the remainder of the IX Crops had arrived, pressing the attack through the gap. But then the Federal attack stalled and a 2-hour lull ensued.
These 2 hours probably saved Hill by 2 o'clock Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson's brigade had reached the crest and moved to support the North Carolinians at Fox's Gap. Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes arrived with his Alabamians, extending Hill's left beyond Turner's Gap. Bri. Gen. Roswell S. Ripley's Georgians also soon came up the mountainside and moved into position on Anderson's left. Down in the valley, behind Hill the division of Maj. Gen. David R. Jones and Brig. Gen. John B. Hood were racing toward the gap through dust-choked roads
Late in the afternoon the ponderous Union command resumed its advance on Fox's Gap and launched a long-over-due assault at turner's Gap. Maj.Gen. Joseph Hooker's I corps climbed toward Hill's main position across the National road. Musketry cascaded along the mountainside as Federal hammered at Confederate. The Southerners stubbornly defended open knolls and patches of dense woodland. Jones's and Hood's veterans arrived, bolstering the confederate line. One Confederate brigade delivered a spirited counterattack down the wrong side of the mountain.
By 10 p.m. the Federals had seized the high ground commanding Turner's Gap. The exhausted Confederates began withdrawing about midnight and marched toward Sharpsburg MD, where Lee had ordered a reconcentration of his army along Antietam Creek. The Federals lost 325 killed, 1,403 wounded and 85 missing, for a total of 1,813. An aggregate of 2,685 Confederates were listed as casualties, with 325 killed, 1,560 wounded and 800 missing. But Hill's, then Jones' and Hood's veterans had given Lee crucial time to regroup and saved the army's supply train.
Source:
Last Updated 03 May 2002
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