1862 September 15th

September 15 1862 Monday

Surrender of Harper’s Ferry, VA (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory)

Smith’s Invasion of Kentucky
Bragg’s Invasion of Kentucky – Siege of Munfordville
Maryland Campaign
Harper’s Ferry Campaign – Siege of Harper’s Ferry
Kanawha Campaign
Second Corinth Campaign

Kentucky. Confederate Brigadier-General James Ronald Chalmers reported to General Braxton Bragg about his unauthorised attack and failure to capture Munfordville. Angered by the undesirable confrontation, Bragg resolved to march with his entire four divisions to begin siege operations against Munfordville. Major-General William Joseph Hardee’s corps marched during the evening on a direct route via Cave City while Major-General Leonidas Polk’s corps crossed the river a few miles above the town to occupy bluffs overlooking the town on the opposite bank.

Louisiana. Expedition to Pass Manchac and Ponchatoula ended.

Maryland. Skirmishes at Boonsboro, Conrad’s Ferry, and White’s Ford

Maryland. Skirmish at Antietam Creek near Keedysville.

Maryland. Union Major-General George Brinton McClellan’s Army of the Potomac remained fairly passive after his capture of the passes at South Mountain. The head of McClellan’s army began to arrive along the eastern bank of Antietam Creek, east of Sharpsburg. The first two divisions of the Union Army of the Potomac arrived during the afternoon and most of the remainder of the army later that evening. Although this gave McClellan an overwhelming advantage in numbers, his mistaken belief that Lee had over 100,000 men caused him to delay any attack.
At this point, Confederate General Robert Edward Lee had barely 18,000 men present, and no more than 40,000 would be present even when all his dispersed divisions had arrived. The Confederates used the time to prepare defensive positions and allowed most of Major-General James Longstreet’s command enough time to arrive from Hagerstown.
This slow advance Lee some time to unite his dangerously scattered divisions at Sharpsburg. Lee’s plan to invade Pennsylvania, to destroy the Susquehanna Bridge at Harrisburg, and to threaten Baltimore or Philadelphia or Washington was abandoned. Lee deployed his immediately available forces (no more than 18,000 men at this point) near Sharpsburg. They deployed along a low ridge parallel to and west of Antietam Creek. It was a reasonable defensive position but it was not an impregnable one. The terrain provided some good cover for infantrymen, with rail and stone fences, outcroppings of limestone, and little hollows and swales. The creek to the front was only a minor barrier, ranging from 60 to 100 feet in width; it was fordable at many places and was crossed by three stone bridges each a mile apart. It was also a precarious position because the Confederate rear was blocked by the Potomac River with only a single crossing point (Boteler’s Ford at Shepherdstown) available for retreat. The next ford was at Williamsport, ten miles northwest of Sharpsburg, but the disposition of Union forces soon made it impractical to consider a retreat in that direction.
Confederate Major-General Lafayette McLaws’ division was the most vulnerable to being cut off and Lee ordered him to evacuate his exposed position on Maryland Heights, cross the Potomac below Shepherdstown, and rejoin the army at Sharpsburg. Jackson was further from Sharpsburg than the Union force at Crampton’s Gap and he was urged to hurry the march to avoid being trapped. The forces of Longstreet and Major-General Daniel Harvey Hill also left their positions on South Mountain and marched for Sharpsburg immediately.

Maryland. Lieutenant-Commander Samuel Magaw, commanding USS Thomas Freeborn, reported the seizure and burning of the schooner Arctic in Great Wicomico River.

Missouri. Incident at Shelbourne.

Missouri. Union scouting expedition in Rails County began.

South Carolina. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard arrived in Charleston to take up the command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia. He was given a tumultuous hero’s welcome by the people of Charleston.

Virginia. Incident at Aquia Creek.

Virginia. Union Major-General Joseph King Fenno Mansfield was finally given field command of a Union Corps, after pleading for such an opportunity. He had a distinguished career as Inspector-General of the US Army from 28 May 1853 until 27 April 1861 when he took over the Department of Washington at a critical time. His organisational skills served him well and he then led 1^st Brigade of 1^st Division of the Department of Virginia in early 1862. He then took over the Division of VII Corps at Suffolk, on 22 July 1862. Mansfield felt that his seniority and experience merited command of a Corps and he was given XII Corps in the Army of the Potomac, superseding acting corps commander Brigadier-General Alpheus Starkey Williams. Despite his many military accomplishments, his lack of experience in command of troops in battle would soon be exposed.

Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. By morning, Confederate Major-General Thomas Jonathan Jackson had placed nearly 50 guns on Maryland Heights and at the base of Loudoun Heights, in position to enfilade the rear of the Union line on Bolivar Heights. Jackson began a fierce artillery barrage from all sides and ordered an infantry assault for 8 am. Union Colonel Dixon S Miles realized that the situation was hopeless and had no expectation that relief would arrive. His artillery ammunition was in short supply. At a council of war with his brigade commanders, he agreed to offer to surrender. Miles was mortally wounded by a shell soon afterwards and died the next day. It was the largest surrender of Union forces during the war.
In the early afternoon, Jackson received an urgent message from General Robert Edward Lee to move to Sharpsburg as quickly as possible. Jackson left Major-General Ambrose Powell Hill at Harper’s Ferry to manage the parole of prisoners and began the march to rejoin the army with his other five divisions.
The Confederate Army sustained 286 casualties (39 killed, 247 wounded), mostly from the fighting on Maryland Heights, while the Union Army sustained 217 (44 killed, 173 wounded). The Union garrison surrendered 12,419 to 12,520 men, 200 wagons, and 73 artillery pieces. (CWSAC Major Battle – Confederate Victory)

Union Organisation

USA: Major-General Joseph King Fenno Mansfield assumed command of XII Corps (Potomac), succeeding Brigadier-General Alpheus Starkey Williams.

USA: Henry Jackson Hunt promoted Brigadier-General USV 15 September 1862.

USA: Brigadier-General Julius White was captured at Harper’s Ferry.

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Edwin McMasters Stanton
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

North Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Phillips Lee
South Atlantic Blockading Squadron: Samuel Francis Du Pont
West Gulf Blockading Squadron: David Glasgow Farragut
East Gulf Blockading Squadron: James Lawrence Lardner
Pacific Squadron: Charles H Bell
Western Gunboat Flotilla: Charles Henry Davis
Potomac Flotilla: Andrew Allen Harwood

General–in-Chief: Henry Wager Halleck

Department of the Mississippi: Henry Wager Halleck

District of Corinth: William Starke Rosecrans
District of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant
- Sub-District of Jackson: John Alexander Logan
- Army of the Mississippi: William Starke Rosecrans
- Army of West Tennessee: Ulysses Simpson Grant

Department of the Missouri: Henry Wager Halleck

District of Missouri: John McAllister Schofield
District of Southwest Missouri: Egbert Benson Brown
- Army of the Southwest: Frederick Steele
District of Northwest Missouri: Willard Preble Hall

Department of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

District of Pensacola: Lewis Golding Arnold
Army of the Gulf: Benjamin Franklin Butler

Department of Kansas: James Gilpatrick Blunt

Army of Kansas: James Gilpatrick Blunt

Middle Department: John Ellis Wool

District of the Eastern Shore of Maryland: Henry Hayes Lockwood
VIII Corps Middle: John Ellis Wool

Department of New Mexico: Edward Richard Sprigg Canby interim James Henry Carleton awaited

District of Arizona: Joseph Rodman West

Department of New York: Edward Denison Morgan

Department of North Carolina: John Gray Foster

Department of the Northwest: John Pope awaited

District of Wisconsin: Washington Lafayette Elliott

Department of the Ohio: Horatio Gouverneur Wright

District of Louisville: Jeremiah Tilford Boyle
Army of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell

Department of the Pacific: George Wright

District of the Humboldt: Francis James Lippitt
District of Oregon: Benjamin Alvord
District of Southern California: George Washington Bowie
District of Utah: Patrick Edward Connor

Department of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan

Army of the Potomac: George Brinton McClellan
- I Corps Potomac: Joseph Hooker
- II Corps Potomac: Edwin Vose Sumner
- III Corps Potomac: Samuel Peter Heintzelman
- V Corps Potomac: Fitz John Porter
- VI Corps Potomac: William Buel Franklin
- IX Corps Potomac: Jacob Dolson Cox temporary
- XI Corps Potomac: Franz Sigel
- XII Corps Potomac: Joseph King Fenno Mansfield

Department of the South: John Milton Brannan temporary

X Corps South: John Milton Brannan

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Virginia: John Adams Dix

IV Corps Virginia: Erasmus Darwin Keyes
VII Corps Virginia: John Adams Dix

District of the Ohio: Don Carlos Buell

Military District of Washington: Nathaniel Prentiss Banks

Confederate Organisation

CSA: Matthew Duncan Ector confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 23 August 1862.

CSA: Edward Aylesworth Perry confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 28 August 1862.

CSA: John Gregg confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 29 August 1862.

CSA: John Calvin Brown confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 30 August 1862.

CSA: Alfred Holt Colquitt confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 1 September 1862.

CSA: Junius Daniel confirmed Brigadier-General PACS 15 September 1862 to rank from 1 September 1862.

CSA: Joseph Robert Davis promoted Brigadier-General PACS 26 September 1862 to rank from 15 September 1862

CSA: William Henry Fitzhugh Lee promoted Brigadier-General PACS 26 September 1862 to rank from 15 September 1862.

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: George Wythe Randolph
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Military Adviser to the President: Vacant

Department of Middle and Eastern Florida: Joseph Finegan

Department of East Tennessee: John Porter McCown

Army of Kentucky: Edmund Kirby Smith

Department of Henrico: John Henry Winder

Department of North Carolina: Daniel Harvey Hill

District of North Carolina: James Green Martin
- Sub-District of Cape Fear: William Henry Chase Whiting

Department of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee

Army of Northern Virginia: Robert Edward Lee
- Longstreet’s Command Northern Virginia: James Longstreet
- Jackson’s Command Northern Virginia: Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Valley District: Daniel Harvey Hill temporary

Department of Richmond: Gustavus Woodson Smith

Department of South Carolina and Georgia: John Clifford Pemberton interim Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard awaited

District of Georgia: Alexander Robert Lawton
District of South Carolina: Roswell Sabine Ripley
- 1^st Sub-District of South Carolina: Arthur Middleton Manigault.
- 2^nd Sub-District of South Carolina: Johnson Hagood
- 3^rd Sub-District of South Carolina: William Stephen Walker
- 4^th Sub-District of South Carolina: William Stephen Walker

Department of Southwestern Virginia: William Wing Loring

District of Abingdon: Humphrey Marshall

Trans-Mississippi Department: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

District of Missouri: Sterling Price
District of Arkansas: Thomas Carmichael Hindman
District of West Louisiana: Richard Taylor
District of Texas: Paul Octave Hébert
- Sub-District of Houston: Xavier Blanchard Debray
Western District of Texas: Henry Eustace McCullough
- Eastern Sub-District of Western Texas: Xavier Blanchard Debray
- Sub-District of the Rio Grande: Hamilton Prioleau Bee
District of Arizona: Henry Hopkins Sibley
District of Indian Territory: Douglas Hancock Cooper
Defences of Pass Cavallo: John W Glenn

Western Department: Braxton Bragg

District of the Mississippi: Daniel Ruggles temporary
District of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: vacant
- 1^st Sub-District of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: vacant
- 2^nd Sub-District of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: William Nelson Rector Beall
- 3^rd Sub-District of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: Martin Luther Smith
District of the Tennessee: Sterling Price
Gulf District: John Horace Forney
Army of Mississippi: Braxton Bragg
- Right Wing Mississippi: Leonidas Polk
- Left Wing Mississippi: William Joseph Hardee
- Reserve Corps Mississippi: Jones Mitchell Withers
Army of the West: Sterling Price

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

George Brinton McClellan
John Charles Frémont
Henry Wager Halleck
John Ellis Wool

Major-General USV

Asterisk indicates concurrently Brigadier-General USA

John Adams Dix
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Benjamin Franklin Butler
David Hunter
Edwin Denison Morgan
Ethan Allen Hitchcock
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Irvin McDowell*
Ambrose Everett Burnside
William Starke Rosecrans*
Don Carlos Buell
John Pope*
Samuel Ryan Curtis
Franz Sigel
John Alexander McClernand
Lewis Wallace
Ormsby McKnight Mitchel
Cassius Marcellus Clay
George Henry Thomas
George Cadwalader
William Tecumseh Sherman
Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Edwin Vose Sumner*
Samuel Peter Heintzelman
Erasmus Darwin Keyes
Joseph Hooker
Silas Casey
Fitz John Porter
William Buel Franklin
Darius Nash Couch
Israel Bush Richardson
Henry Warner Slocum
John James Peck
John Sedgwick
William Farrar Smith
Alexander McDowell McCook
William Nelson
Thomas Leonidas Crittenden
Joseph King Fenno Mansfield*
John Gray Foster
John Grubb Parke
Christopher Columbus Augur
Robert Cumming Schenck

Brigadier-General USA

Brackets indicates concurrently Major-General USV

William Selby Harney
(Edwin Vose Sumner)
(Joseph King Fenno Mansfield)
(Irvin McDowell)
Robert Anderson
(William Starke Rosecrans)
Philip St George Cooke
(John Pope)

Brigadier-General USV

Andrew Porter
Charles Pomeroy Stone
Thomas West Sherman
George Archibald McCall
William Reading Montgomery
Charles Smith Hamilton
Rufus King
Jacob Dolson Cox
Stephen Augustus Hurlbut
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss
Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Alpheus Starkey Williams
James Cooper
James Brewerton Ricketts
Orlando Bolivar Willcox
Michael Corcoran
Henry Hayes Lockwood
Louis Blenker
James Samuel Wadsworth
George Webb Morell
John Henry Martindale
Samuel Davis Sturgis
George Stoneman
James William Denver
Egbert Ludovicus Vielé
James Shields
John Fulton Reynolds
William Farquhar Barry
John Joseph Abercrombie
Lawrence Pike Graham
George Gordon Meade
Abram Duryée
Oliver Otis Howard
Eleazar Arthur Paine
Daniel Edgar Sickles
Charles Davis Jameson
Ebenezer Dumont
Robert Huston Milroy
Willis Arnold Gorman
Daniel Butterfield
Horatio Gouverneur Wright
William Thomas Ward
John Gross Barnard
Innis Newton Palmer
Seth Williams
John Newton
Winfield Scott Hancock
George Wright
George Sykes
William Henry French
William Thomas Harbaugh Brooks
John Milton Brannan
William Wallace Burns
John Porter Hatch
David Sloane Stanley
William Kerley Strong
Albin Francisco Schoepf
Lovell Harrison Rousseau
James Scott Negley
Thomas John Wood
Richard W Johnson
Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich Von Steinwehr
George Washington Cullum
Jeremiah Tilford Boyle
Schuyler Hamilton
George Washington Morgan
Julius Stahel
John McAllister Schofield
Thomas Jefferson McKean
Zealous Bates Tower
Jefferson Columbus Davis
James Henry Lane
John McAuley Palmer
James Abram Garfield
Lewis Golding Arnold
Frederick Steele
William Scott Ketchum
Abner Doubleday
John Wynn Davidson
Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana
David Bell Birney
Thomas Francis Meagher
Henry Morris Naglee
Andrew Johnson
James Gallant Spears
Eugene Asa Carr
Thomas Alfred Davies
Daniel Tyler
William Hemsley Emory
Andrew Jackson Smith
Marsena Rudolph Patrick
Isaac Ferdinand Quinby
Hiram Gregory Berry
Orris Sanford Ferry
Daniel Phineas Woodbury
Henry Moses Judah
Richard James Oglesby
John Cook
John McArthur
Jacob Gartner Lauman
Horatio Phillips Van Cleve
John Alexander Logan
Speed Smith Fry
Alexander Asboth
James Craig
Mahlon Dickerson Manson
Gordon Granger
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
Grenville Mellen Dodge
Robert Byington Mitchell
James Gilpatrick Blunt
Francis Engle Patterson
Quincy Adams Gillmore
Amiel Weeks Whipple
Cuvier Grover
George Lucas Hartsuff
Rufus Saxton
Benjamin Alvord
Napoleon Bonaparte Buford
William Sooy Smith
Nathan Kimball
Charles Devens
James Henry Van Alen
Carl Schurz
Samuel Wylie Crawford
Henry Walton Wessells
Milo Smith Hascall
Leonard Fulton Ross
John White Geary
Alfred Howe Terry
Andrew Atkinson Humphreys
James Henry Carleton
Absalom Baird
John Cleveland Robinson
Truman Seymour
George Dashiell Bayard
Henry Prince
Abram Sanders Piatt
Thomas Turpin Crittenden
Maximilian Weber
Pleasant Adam Hackleman
Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan
Alvin Peterson Hovey
James Clifford Veatch
William Plummer Benton
John Curtis Caldwell
Isaac Peace Rodman
Neal S Dow
George Sears Greene
Samuel Powhatan Carter
John Gibbon
Erastus Barnard Tyler
James Birdseye McPherson
Charles Griffin
George Henry Gordon
James Madison Tuttle
Julius White
Peter Joseph Osterhaus
Stephen Gano Burbridge
Washington Lafayette Elliott
Albion Parris Howe
Green Clay Smith
William Bowen Campbell
Philip Henry Sheridan
Benjamin Stone Roberts
Alfred Pleasonton
Jacob Ammen
Joshua Woodrow Sill
Catharinus Putnam Buckingham
Fitz-Henry Warren
Morgan Lewis Smith
Charles Cruft
Frederick Saloman
James Streshly Jackson
Cadwallader Colden Washburn
Francis Jay Herron
John Cochrane
John Basil Turchin
Henry Shaw Briggs
Conrad Feger Jackson
James Dada Morgan
Johann August Ernst Willich
Henry Dwight Terry
James Blair Steedman
George Foster Shepley
John Buford
Francis Preston Blair
John Reese Kenly
John Potts Slough
Godfrey Weitzel
Gabriel René Paul
George Crook
Thomas Leiper Kane
Gershom Mott
William Rufus Terrill
Edward Ferrero
Henry Jackson Hunt
Calvin Edward Pratt

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (Quartermaster-General)
Henry Knox Craig
Lorenzo Thomas (Adjutant-General)
James Wolfe Ripley (Ordnance)
William Alexander Hammond (Surgeon-General)

Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

General ACSA/PACS

Samuel Cooper
Robert Edward Lee
Joseph Eggleston Johnston
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg

Major-General PACS

Leonidas Polk
Earl Van Dorn
Gustavus Woodson Smith
Theophilus Hunter Holmes
William Joseph Hardee
Benjamin Huger
James Longstreet
John Bankhead Magruder
Mansfield Lovell
Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Edmund Kirby Smith
George Bibb Crittenden
John Clifford Pemberton
Richard Stoddert Ewell
William Wing Loring
Sterling Price
Benjamin Franklin Cheatham
Samuel Jones
John Porter McCown
Daniel Harvey Hill
Jones Mitchell Withers
Thomas Carmichael Hindman
John Cabell Breckinridge
Lafayette McLaws
Ambrose Powell Hill
Richard Heron Anderson
James Ewell Brown Stuart
Richard Taylor
Simon Bolivar Buckner
Samuel Gibbs French

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Charles Clark
John Buchanan Floyd
Henry Alexander Wise
David Rumph Jones
Henry Hopkins Sibley
John Henry Winder
Daniel Smith Donelson
Robert Augustus Toombs
Arnold Elzey
William Henry Chase Whiting
Jubal Anderson Early
Isaac Ridgeway Trimble
Daniel Ruggles
Roswell Sabine Ripley
Paul Octave Hébert
Albert Gallatin Blanchard
Gabriel James Rains
Thomas Fenwick Drayton
Lloyd Tilghman
Nathan George Evans
Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox
Robert Emmett Rodes
James Heyward Trapier
William Henry Carroll
Hugh Weedon Mercer
Alexander Peter Stewart
William Montgomery Gardner
Richard Brooke Garnett
William Mahone
Lawrence O’Bryan Branch
Edward Johnson
Maxcy Gregg
Raleigh Edward Colston
Henry Heth
Johnson Kelly Duncan
Sterling Alexander Martin Wood
John George Walker
John King Jackson
George Edward Pickett
Bushrod Rust Johnson
James Patton Anderson
Howell Cobb
George Wythe Randolph
Joseph Brevard Kershaw
James Ronald Chalmers
James Johnston Pettigrew
Carter Littlepage Stevenson
Daniel Leadbetter
William Whann Mackall
Robert Ransom
John Bell Hood
Daniel Marsh Frost
Winfield Scott Featherston
Thomas James Churchill
William Booth Taliaferro
Albert Rust
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne
Samuel Bell Maxey
Hamilton Prioleau Bee
James Morrison Hawes
George Hume Steuart
William Duncan Smith
James Edwin Slaughter
Charles William Field
John Horace Forney
Paul Jones Semmes
Lucius Marshall Walker
Seth Maxwell Barton
Dabney Herndon Maury
John Bordenave Villepigue
Henry Eustace McCullough
John Stevens Bowen
Benjamin Hardin Helm
John Selden Roane
States Rights Gist
William Nelson Pendleton
Lewis Addison Armistead
Joseph Finegan
Martin Luther Smith
Franklin Gardner
William Nelson Rector Beall
Thomas Jordan
William Preston
Roger Atkinson Pryor
Henry Little
John Echols
George Earl Maney
Jean Jacques Alfred Alexandre Mouton
John Stuart Williams
James Green Martin
Thomas Lanier Clingman
Wade Hampton
Daniel Weisiger Adams
Louis Hébert
John Creed Moore
Ambrose Ransom Wright
James Lawson Kemper
James Jay Archer
George Burgwyn Anderson
Beverley Holcombe Robertson
St John Richardson Liddell
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Johnson Hagood
William Dorsey Pender
Micah Jenkins
Martin Edwin Green
Fitzhugh Lee
Harry Thompson Hays
Albert Gallatin Jenkins
William Edwin Starke
William Barksdale
Edward Dorr Tracy
Matthew Duncan Ector
Edward Aylesworth Perry
John Gregg
John Calvin Brown
Alfred Holt Colquitt
Junius Daniel
Abraham Buford
William Steele
James Fleming Fagan
William Read Scurry
Allison Nelson
Francis Asbury Shoup
Joseph Robert Davis
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee