Maryland, Washington County, Sharpsburg
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"I do not hesitate to affirm that the Confederate position was virtually impregnable to a direct attack over the bridge."
Gen. Jacob Cox, Union 9th Corps
Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, whose division did most of the fighting here at the bridge, wrote in his official report just five days after the battle that, "Orders arrived from General Burnside to carry the bridge at all hazards. I then selected the Fifty-first New York and the Fifty-first Pennsylvania from the Second [Ferrero's] Brigade, and directed them to charge with the bayonet. They started on their mission of death full of enthusiasm, and taking a route less exposed than the regiments which had made the effort before them, rushed at a double-quick over the slope leading to the bridge and over the bridge itself with an impetuosity which the enemy could not resist, and the Stars and Stripes were planted on the opposite bank at 1 o'clock p.m., amid the most enthusiastic cheering from every part of the field from where they could be seen."
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
"I do not hesitate to affirm that the Confederate position was virtually impregnable to a direct attack over the bridge."Gen. Jacob Cox, Union 9th Corps
Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, whose division did most of the fighting here at the bridge, wrote in his official report just five days after the battle that, "Orders arrived from General Burnside to carry the bridge at all hazards. I then selected the Fifty-first New York and the Fifty-first Pennsylvania from the Second [Ferrero's] Brigade, and directed them to charge with the bayonet. They started on their mission of death full of enthusiasm, and taking a route less exposed than the regiments which had made the effort before them, rushed at a double-quick over the slope leading to the bridge and over the bridge itself with an impetuosity which the enemy could not resist, and the Stars and Stripes were planted on the opposite bank at 1 o'clock p.m., amid the most enthusiastic cheering from every part of the field from where they could be seen."
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
