gade, and who had gallantly led it into action, was severely wounded in the arm by a musket ball, and forced to leave the field. Our line moved steadily on, not once giving way or faltering. The enemy were driven from their shelter, and steadily pursued up the mountain till the summit was nearly gained by our men, when, all our ammunition having been expended, Duryea's brigade having come up and taken its position in front of us, portions of the Ninth, Eleventh, and Twelfth (through a misconception of orders) fell back to supply themselves with ammunition. The Tenth Regiment, which had been ordered forward to fill up the gap between our right and Seymour's left, and which had fought its way gallantly up to the other regiments of the brigade, was ordered to hold its position. When the Ninth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Regiments fell back it was dark, and 11 o'clock before they were supplied with ammunition. The firing having ceased before these regiments left, and our forces being in quiet possession of the crest of the mountain, it was not thought advisable to order them up the mountain again that night; another consideration being that the men were much fatigued by a long march and their exertions upon the field.

My report of the battle of South Mountain closes with the remark that it was a severe one, and that every officer and man of this command did his duty nobly.

Respectfully submitted.

ROBERT ANDERSON,

Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Brigade.

Numbers 38. Report of Major General Edwin V. Sumner, U. S. Army, commanding Second and Twelfth Army Corps, of the battle of Antietam.

HEADQUARTERS SECOND AND TWELFTH CORPS,
Harper's Ferry, October 1, 1862.

SIR: I have the honor to report that, on the evening of the 16th ultimo, I received an order at Keedysville to send the Twelfth Corps (Banks') to support General Hooker, and to hold my own, the Second Corps, in readiness to march for the same purpose an hour before daylight. Banks' corps, under General Mansfield, marched at 11.30 p. m., and my own corps was ready to move at the time ordered, but did not receive from headquarters the order to march till 7.20 a. m. on the 17th. I moved Sedgwick's division immediately in three columns on the receipt of the order, followed by French's division in the same order. Richardson was ordered to move in the same direction by the commanding general about an hour late. On arriving at the place where Hooker had been engaged, I found him wounded, and his corps, after a severe contest, had been repulsed. Banks' corps, under the immediate command of General Mansfield, had gone into battle on Hooker's left, and was engaged when I came upon the field. General Mansfield, a worthy and gallant veteran, was unfortunately mortally wounded while leading his corps into action. My First Division (Sedgwick's) went into battle in three lines. After his first line had opened fire for some time, the enemy made a most determined rush to turn our left, and so far succeeded as to break through the line between Banks' corps and my own until they began to appear in our rear. In order to repel this attack from the rear, I immediately faced Sedgwick's third line about,