He failed to win because he was out out fought by better generals, Lee, Jackson and Longstreet, he failed to win because AP Hill drove his men past exhaustion for 9 miles as the crow flies from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg with these underfed, barefoot, thirsty and exhausted rebels forced marching to the sound of guns, many passing out along the way.
All day Lee had masterfully defended his interior lines against overwhelming odds, shifting assets from one threatened point to another until the close of day when he was out of troops to shift and the Yankees were finally breaking through at Burnside Bridge.
The scene is as dramatic as it gets, Lee seeing dust to the south and east, asks a younger officer with younger eyes, " what is that dust there"? The officer replies, "Yankees." Lee points to another, dust column and repeats the question. The officer replies, "they are Confederates, sir."
Lee's only comment, "it's AP Hill come from Harpers Ferry." He might have added AP Hill is coming to the survival of the Army of Northern Virginia, to the survival of the Confederacy and AP Hill comes to end America's single bloodiest day. The exhausted men slammed into the Yankee flank to end the bloodletting.
Both Lee and Jackson fought at the ragged edge of disintegration throughout the day. Indeed, few American generals, perhaps George Washington among them, have so often been put to this ultimate crisis as have Lee and Jackson. His composure in the face of seemingly inevitable disaster measures Lee's greatness. It is his integrity, among so many other character attributes, that distinguish R E Lee and George Washington as America's greatest generals.
My ancestors were there defending Dunker church and the cornfield under Stonewall Jackson. This evening in 2022 on the anniversary of this battle, I expect to participate in a class reunion when the question that haunts is how would the revelation that my great-grandfather and great uncle were with Stonewall Jackson at the battle of Sharpsburg in America's single bloodiest day be received by these highly educated, woke classmates?
Of course, they will be polite, they will be no less polite about Philistine political opinions as are those who populate faculty lounges. But what of the atmospherics behind the politeness?
