Near noon on Saturday, September 13th, the
Regiment halted about one mile outside Frederick, Maryland. It was here that
the Regiment heard for the first time the sounds of battle. The fighting was
between the Union skirmishers in advance and a rear guard of the Confederate
cavalry on the outskirts of the city. Lee's main body of troops had left
Frederick just the day before. After a short delay the Regiment was ordered to
camp, occupying the same fields the Confederates had used the day previous.
On Saturday afternoon the Regiment was marched into
Frederick City. A halt was made on Main Street. When the Regiment received the
command to fall out, the soldiers made a dash for the stores. They eagerly
purchased such items as fresh bread, pies, sugar, coffee, whisky and other
luxuries of home. Considering the experiences of the past few days the troops
were willing to pay almost any price for these items. The soldiers were well
received by the citizens of Frederick, who tended to be Union sympathizers.
In their conversations with the people of Frederick,
the soldiers would usually ask about size of the Rebel army, how the
Confederates had conducted themselves while in town, and whatever information
they might know regarding the enemies destination or campaign plans. Later
that evening, after investigating the town, George and Henry Harrison along
with the remainder of Company D, gathered to sing Company D's favorite and
popular hymn "Then let the Hurricanes Roar". The sounds of their
hymn filled the streets where earlier there had been gunfire. Their march
through Frederick would remain a pleasant memory the men would carry the rest
of their lives.
At 8 a.m. Sunday morning, September 14th,
the command marched out of the Frederick area moving westerly towards a range
of mountains known as South Mountain. These mountains are north and east of
Harpers Ferry. As the command marched they frequently had to halt, as the main
road became jammed with wagons, artillery trains, and troops. It was then
decided to move the command off the main roads, and cross-country in order to
make better time. The command moved across the fields trampling down
acre upon acre of crops. They passed over the Catoctin Mountains west of
Frederick and into and through Middletown Valley. The men had marched almost
continuously for sixteen hours.
On this same day the battles of Turners and
Crampon's
Gap had been fought on South Mountain. These gaps were the main passage routes
over the mountain though there was several other smaller passes. During the
march the Regiment could distinctly hear the sounds of distant artillery as
the Union troops battled to gain control over these passes.
It wasn’t until after midnight Monday morning
September l5th that the 13th Regiment or what remained of it,
halted and bivouacked in a field "fragrant with Pennyroyal" near the
town of Bolivar at the base of the South Mountain. It had been another
exhausting march, and the men were still not yet used to marching long
distances. Of the entire command, only twenty-seven muskets were stacked when
Lt. Col. Swords
halted for the night. The discipline and physical endurance of
the new men left much to be desired.
The reason for this march was due to General
McClellan having received a copy of Lee's orders #191 dated September 9th.
These were the famous "Lost Orders" which had been found by
two soldiers of the 27th Indiana Regiment on the fields they occupied while
camped outside of Frederick. These orders disclosed Lee's plan to divide his
armies. Lee planned to send Jackson's command and Walker's Division across the
Potomac to take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and to capture
the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry.
McClellan realized it would be to his advantage to
put his forces between Lee's Armies as quickly as possible inflicting severe
injury on the Confederates and at the same time relieve the garrison at
Harpers Ferry. McClellan had told
General Gibbon: "We will pitch into his center, and if you will only do
two good days of marching I Will put Lee in a position he will find hard to
get out of."(7)
During the night of September l4th the
enemy abandoned their position in the gaps on South Mountain and pulled back
moving towards the town of Sharpsburg and the Potomac River.
On Monday morning September l5th at 8am,
the Union Arsenal at Harpers Ferry was surrendered. In the afternoon of the l5th
the command was ordered to pursue the enemy forces, which had left South
Mountain the night before.
The 12th Corps, now under General Mansfield's command
along with the 1st and the 2nd Corps, were to follow the Old National Highway
to and through Boonsborough. About 1 p.m. Monday afternoon the march resumed.
The sun soon burned relentlessly, creating another day of marching in the
intense afternoon heat.
The command then crossed South Mountain where they
saw the evidence of the struggles of the day before. The 12th Corps crossed
the mountain at Turner's Gap and marched towards Boonsborough along the
National Highway.(7A) (Now Route 40 alternate).
The Regiment reached Boonsborough and encamped for
the night just beyond the town, along the Pike leading southwest from
Boonsborough to Keedysville. Evidence of the terrific battle of the day before
was everywhere. Human gore, groaning wounded, dead men, and horses. Churches,
houses, barns, tents, almost any shelter available were used as a hospital.
Surgeons were everywhere dressing wounds and amputating limbs. These wounded
were the men of General Hooker's and Reno's Corps who had fought the day
before in Turner's Gap. General Reno had been killed in this battle. These
sights told a sickening tale of things soon to become familiar to the men of
the 13th.
On Tuesday, September l6th, Mansfield's
12th Corps, including the 13th Regiment, moved from Boonsborough to the
vicinity of Keedysville, a distance of about 3
miles. The
Corps then went into camp near Keedysville for the remainder of the day. The
men cooked rations, cleaned their weapons, and spent the day resting in
preparation for the clash they knew was soon to follow.
During the night of the 16th the sky
became cloudy. It began to drizzle. Near midnight orders were received for the
12th Corps to move forward immediately. Near 12:30 a.m. on
September l7th, the command was given specific instructions to
cross Antietam Creek moving as quietly as possible. There was to be no loud
talking, rattling of tins, or the lighting of a match.
After crossing Antietam Creek at the upper bridge and
a ford nearby, the Regiment made a brief march and moved into position with
the reserves on the extreme right of the 12th Corps, about a mile
in the rear of Hooker's Corps. They arrived in this position near 2 a.m. Here
in a piece of woods near the George Line House, on the upper end of the
Smoketown Road, the Regiment camped "close column by division". The
Regiment lay down in the leaves hoping to get some sleep before the impending
battle.
As George Harrison lay there he could hear lively skirmishing in the distance between Hooker's advanced troops as they came upon the enemy hiding in the morning darkness. To the men of the new 13th N.J. Regiment, the approach of dawn became a dreaded event. Some feared it was to be their last day on Earth. The drizzling rain slowed to a stop. The grayness of the morning began to clear as the sun climbed over the distant mountains. Mists were soon floating over the fields. Morning had come.
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