A.P. Hill March

By Joseph Bordonaro · Originally published December 2017 · pp. 18–19

“At this time General A. P. Hill came up, and, charging, drove them from the field.” Major B.W. Frobel, Major and Chief of Artillery, Commanding, Army of Northern Virginia, Oct. 1, 1862. The above quotation, from an eyewitness, refers to the rescue of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on Sept. 17, 1862, during the Battle of Antietam. General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, which vastly outnumbered Lee’s army, had been pounding away all day at the thin Confederate line. Lee had conducted a masterful defensive battle, but by around 3 p.m. time was running out. All Confederate units had been committed to battle, leaving no reserves. After taking an inordinate amount of time, General Burnside’s IX Corps of the Union Army had taken Rohrbach’s Bridge (ever since known as Burnside’s Bridge) and was pushing into the outskirts of Sharpsburg. If they gained the center of town and blocked the Hagerstown Turnpike and the Harpers Ferry Road, Lee’s army would be cut off from retreat and would be forced to surrender. General A.P. Hill’s “Light Division” had been left in Harpers Ferry processing the surrender of the 12,000-man Union garrison captured there. They were enjoying the fruits of victory, reequipping themselves with new clothing and stuffing themselves on captured food stores. Their victory party came abruptly to an end, however, when word came early on the morning of the 17th that they were needed immediately in Sharpsburg. Leaving Harpers Ferry about an hour after Lee’s courier brought the order, they marched a 17-mile route to Sharpsburg at a blistering pace. Crossing the Potomac near Shepherdstown at Botelor’s Ford, they were faced with a last, very steep, road (Miller Sawmill Road) to the battlefield. While his soldiers struggled up this final obstacle, Hill galloped up and found Lee. “Lee stated in his first official communique that

Hill “drove the enemy immediately from the position they had taken, and continued the contest until dark, restoring our right, and maintaining our ground” (General A.P. Hill, by James “Bud” I. Robertson Jr., page 147.) An excellent map of this phase of the battle can be found here: https:// www.civilwar.org/learn/maps/ antietam-final-assault-330-dark Every year, for the past 17 years, Sandy Andrews of the 14th Tenn., Co. B, has organized a recreation of this famous march. This year, helped by Joshua Mason, of the Chesapeake Valley Guards, and Alan Eney, of the 14th N.C. Inf., Co. I, Sandy recruited about 50 marchers to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the original march. Each marcher also donated $20 toward preserving Confederate flags. Camping out near the Dunker Church on Antietam National Battlefield, the marchers were shuttled to Harpers Ferry very early in the morning of Sept. 16, 2017. Leaving town about 6:30 a.m., the marchers retraced the steps of the “Light Division” down Bakerton Road to Botelor’s Ford. Crossing the Potomac, the marchers continued down the C&O Canal to the bottom of Miller Sawmill Road. Trudging up the steep hill was the final challenge, but the marchers arrived on the battlefield at about the same time Hill’s men did, at 3 p.m. Very tired, but feeling proud of their accomplishment, the marchers took time to have the moment recorded by collodion artist Dave S. Wilson and then dispersed. If they paused a few moments longer, though, and listened carefully, they may have heard the faint echo of exultant rebel yells as Hill’s soldiers saw they landed squarely on the enemy flank.

Joe Bordonaro is a USAF veteran (1973-1977) Glassboro State College graduate (1980), Catholic school teacher (St. Joseph’s Pro-Cathedral, 1983-1988) and retired public school teacher (Mullica Township School, 1988-2009) He has been involved with Civil War reenacting/living history since 1999. Joe began submitting articles to the Civil War News in 2005 and is also a book reviewer. Joe lives in Mount Laurel, N.J., and has been married to his wife Karen for 29 years. He is currently in training for next year’s 155th Anniversary Commemoration of the Union Army’s Sixth Corps March to Gettysburg, which will involve a march in Civil War uniform, including brogans, from Edward’s Ferry, Maryland, to Little Round Top in Gettysburg National Battlefield. If you wish to contact Joe, you may send an email to [email protected].