Retreat from Antietam: The Battle of Shepherdstown, September 19-20, 1862

“Ford near Shepherdstown, on the Potomac. Pickets firing across the river” by Alfred R. Waud, September 1862 (Library of Congress)

On September 17, 1862 the armies of Generals George McClellan and Robert E. Lee fought to a bloody stalemate at the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, MD. On September 18, Lee ordered the Confederate army to withdraw from the battlefield and retreat back to Virginia. They used the ford near Shepherdstown, VA (now WV) known as Blackford’s, Pack Horse, or Boteler’s/Butler’s Ford. Cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee guarded Lee’s crossing at the ford while the rest of the Confederate cavalry rode to Williamsport. The Confederate army finished crossing the ford without any resistance on the morning of September 19th.

As the Confederate wounded streamed into Shepherdstown and the surrounding area, and Lee’s army pushed on in its retreat, Brigadier General William Pendleton was ordered to guard the ford to prevent a Union pursuit. He had a force of Lee’s reserve artillery (10 batteries) and about 600 infantry on the Virginia side to protect Lee’s retreat. Once Lee had successfully left Sharpsburg, Union General McClellan sent cavalry under Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton to follow. He captured 167 prisoners from rear elements of Lee’s retreat, placed artillery (3 batteries of the 2nd U.S. Artillery) on the Maryland side of the Potomac, and began firing across the river towards Shepherdstown and the Confederate forces. This cannonade between the artillery lasted for a couple of hours while Union infantry from the 5th Corps under Fitz John Porter came up and got into position on the Maryland side of the river.

A. P. Hill

In the afternoon of September 19th, Union soldiers from Major General George W. Morrell’s division, Union 5th Corps, crossed the Potomac and engaged with the Confederate rearguard, successfully pushing back the Confederate skirmishers. Later in the evening Porter sent the 4th Michigan across to scavenge the abandoned Confederate equipment, securing several of the abandoned guns. After this assault, Pendleton retreated and reported to General Lee that his position and all of his guns were lost. Hearing this news, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson ordered A. P. Hill to turn back and take his force to Shepherdstown to protect the crossing. Hill discovered that in reality only four or five of Pendleton’s guns had been taken by the Union.

A. P. Hill placed his troops southeast of Shepherdstown, near the road to Moler’s Cross Roads, and sent the brigades of William Pender, Maxcy Gregg, and Edward Thomas to the front. Hill had artillery but was unable to get them to the front in time for the engagement. On the morning of September 20, Porter sent two brigades from Morrell’s division across the Potomac to capitalize on the success of the previous night. Climbing the bluffs near the cement mill (Potomac Mills) and using the Trough Road, the Union infantry deployed in the field west of the road. The Union troops met Hill’s force at the top of the bluffs and were surprised by the large Confederate force in front of them. Hill’s troops were able to overwhelm the Union force and cause them to retreat. Unfortunately for the Union men, this meant retreating down the bluffs and cliffs, 50-70 feet high, and escaping across the open river under Confederate fire. The Confederate forces were able to inflict many casualties as the Union troops tried to retreat down the bluffs and across the Potomac.

“The Philadelphia Corn Exchange Regiment Fording the Potomac Neat Shepherdstown—sketched by Mr. A. R. Waud.” Harpers Weekly, October 11, 1862.

The biggest loss was in the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry. A brand-new unit of green troops, the Colonel of the 118th PA refused an order to retreat and his men became trapped between the bluffs and the oncoming Confederates. In the fight, many of the men discovered that their newly issued Enfield rifles were defective and would not fire, giving them no means of defense. Of the 363 Union casualties of the Battle of Shepherdstown, 269 were from the 118th Pennsylvania. The regiment reported 36% casualties (269 out of 739 men engaged), and Shepherdstown was the unit’s first and deadliest battle of the entire war.

With 624 casualties—363 Union and 261 Confederate—the Battle of Shepherdstown is one of the largest engagements fought in the modern state of West Virginia (it was still Virginia at the time of the battle in 1862). It was largely inconsequential in the course of the Antietam Campaign because it essentially harassed, but did not stop, Lee’s retreat. However, for the men engaged in the battle it was considered a significant event, particularly for the new troops of the 118th PA.

American Battlefield Trust (Map by Steven Stanley)

Dr. Kathleen Logothetis Thompson earned her PhD in Nineteenth Century/Civil War America from West Virginia University, and also holds a M.A. from WVU and a B.A. from Siena College. Her research is on mental trauma and coping among Union soldiers and she is currently working on her first book, tentatively titled War on the Mind. She currently teaches history at several colleges and university. Kathleen was a seasonal interpreter at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park for several years, led tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, and is the co-editor of Civil Discourse.

Sources:

Visit the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association

Bushong, Millard Kessler. A History of Jefferson County, West Virginia. Charles Town, WV: Jefferson Publishing Company, 1941.

Engle, Stephen Douglas. Thunder in the Hills: Military Operations in Jefferson County, West Virginia, During the American Civil War. Charleston, WV: Mountain State Press, 1989.

Murfin, James V. The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign, September 1862. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 2004.

Redding, Nicholas A. A History and Guide to Civil War Shepherdstown: Victory and Defeat in West Virginia’s Oldest Town. Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder Publications, 2012.

Snell, Mark A. West Virginia and the Civil War: Mountaineers Are Always Free. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2011.