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486 Series I Volume XIX-I Serial 27 - Antietam Part I

Page 486 OPERATION IN N. VA., W. VA., MD., AND PA. Chapter XXXI.

General Gordon, commanding Third Brigade, to proceed with his command to the support of Major-General Franklin.

It was now night; the action had ceased; when, exhausted from the loss of blood and the state of my wound, I reported to the general commanding the corps, and left the field. The regiments composing my command did the duty nobly, but it is my duty to call the special attention of the corps commander to the bearing and conduct of the new regiments that had so recently joined the command. Their service in the field were most valuable, and, considering the fact that they were for the first time under fire, their conduct merits the warmest commendation. In my absence the subordinate reports will be made to me successor, and officers and men who have distinguished themselves will be specified, doubtless, by their commanding officers. Brigadier-General Gordon, commanding Third Brigade, was active and efficient during the whole day, and his brigade rendered important service. Colonel Knipe, of the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania, who commanded my brigade after I had assumed command of the division, will undoubtedly report to you the services of the First Brigade after I left it. Of my staff officers, I desire to mention Captain Frederick d'Hauteville, my assistant adjutant-general, who was indefatigable in rendering me the most important services on the field; also to Captain Livingston, aide de-camp; to Lieutenant Witman, aide-de-camp, who conveyed my orders most intelligently, and often under circumstances of great personal exposure, from first to last. Our casualties were 1,076 killed, wounded, and missing.*

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. W. CRAWFORD,

Brigadier General U. S. V., late Commanding 1st Div., 12th Corps, Army of Va.

Brigadier General ALPHEUS S. WILLIAMS,

Commanding Twelfth Corps, Army of the Potomac.


Numbers 168. Report of Colonel Joseph F. Knipe, Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, commanding First Brigade, of the battle of Antietam.


HDQRS. FIRST Brigadier, FIRST DIV., TWELFTH (BANKS') CORPS,
Sandy Hook, Md., October 1, 1862.

In the absence of Brigadier-General Crawford, who commanded this brigade in the action of the 17th ultimo, I presume it becomes my duty, as senior officer in the command, to forward a report of the part taken by in the engagement. My whole time during the action was principally occupied in maneuvering my own regiment, and I had but lite leisure to observe the movements of others composing the brigade, with the exception of those in the immediate vicinity of my own. A resume, therefore, of the parts taken regiments it is impossible for me to give and it is only left me, to fill this vacuum, to refer you to the reports of the different commanders, which you will find herewith inclosed.

At an early hour of the morning of the 17th September the different regiments were set in motion. The Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Tenth Maine, Twenty-eight New York, One hundred and twenty-fourth, One hundred and twenty-fifth, and One hundred and twenty-eighth Pennsylvania took position in the rear of a belt of woods, the other side of which our troops were engaged with the enemy; the Tenth maine, the

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*But see revised statement, p. 199.

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Page 486 OPERATION IN N. VA., W. VA., MD., AND PA. Chapter XXXI.