** September 14, 1862, 5:30 PM
Updated troop estimates are currently at 21k for us, less than 16k for them. Same range as expected. I'm told we have three hours here to accomplish our task.
Grant's men are massed east of here, well on the other side of the river. It seems best to focus most of our efforts on the forests, flanking them to the north and south if possible. One division to the north, one in the center where we'll have the best firing positions for most of the artillery, two divisions south where we'll have better cover and can get closer before we press home the attack.
Or so goes my theory. It is not a plan without risk -- but then what is? Attacking from the south gives us better cover, but also puts us at lower elevation.
** 5:39 AM -- Skirmishers met us on the east side of the river, and there was more significant opposition on the west side; close-placed artillery and multiple infantry brigades. The division assigned to the center would not be able to do more than hold our side of things.
** 5:47 AM -- McRae's Brigade here didn't feel like waiting, aggravated at some of our skirmishers and nearly a thousand men charged across immediately. They got into the woods, but we were still able to give them a rather rude reception.
Definitely not a slow positional beginning here. Soon afterwards, we noticed they had one brigade in the north, and a second shifted up that way from the center; but nobody was guarding the crossing to the south. Perhaps we'll have a chance of flanking from that direction, and orders were sent out for all units to proceed forward so long as there was no enemy contact.
** 5:56 PM -- McRae routs, having lost well over 200 men in about ten minutes. The artillery refocuses on Ripley & Anderson, who hold the most advanced positions in the rebel center. Meanwhile, with the enemy pulling back a bit in the north, our most ... uh ... 'disposable' brigade out that way, 1500 infantry under Averell with Farmer's muskets, were sent across the stream to claim a small grove of trees, with the other two infantry brigades in support. This is also where
Bryan Baldwin is deployed; his cavalry are backing up that flank.
Current casualty report: 94 Union, 272 Confederate. I'll take that.
** 6:04 PM -- A couple of brigades push our way in the south; we're further west down here, and a couple of units(Kitching and Harker) engage them while more infantry is coming up behind them and also to push round the flank. Most of the cavalry is further west now, and reports no enemy activity. Circling around them in this direction still appears to be possible.
** 6:14 PM -- The Confederates appear to be shifting south en masse. Ripley, Drayton, and Anderson here, their former center, are all heading that way. Meanwhile in the north Averell was slowed by skirmishers but the rest of the rebels appear to have retreated or redeployed It seems we should be able to push forward now in the center and north. Cautiously, we do so, moving into apparently-abandoned footholds on the western side of the stream.
A few minutes later,
Gen. Longstreet is spotted in the vicinity of the southern flank, confirming these reports.
** 6:49 PM -- While the rebels are holding in the center where there is no action, and in the north where they have enough numbers to make further attacking foolhardy, we've got them encircled pretty well in the south. This is where we will continue focusing our efforts, hoping to gradually roll them up northwards.
** 7:26 PM -- Having circled around behind the rebel position,
BG Clyde Canfield got himself wounded.
The terrain was just too rough, too many Confederate guns, too little time. A general attack up the hillside would have fared even worse. Night fell with the Battle of South Mountain appearing to be the first clear Defeat of the war for the Union -- but in fact Grant deserves credit for the casualty numbers achieved, and for not getting his Corps shot up more than it was. Longstreet just had too many things in his favor on this night.