Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 39.djvu/49

 The Battle of Boonsboro Gap. 37

in a perpendicular direction to the road, with the 27th Georgia next, the 13th Alabama still further to the left, but not reach- ing to the base of the mountain spur, on the south side of the road. In order to prevent any flank movement on that south side, the sharpshooters or skirmishers of Colquitt's brigade, consisting of one company from each regiment, trained for that work, under the command of Captain Arnold, of the 6th Geor- gia, were deployed on the left of the 13th Alabama.

The whole of the ground in front, except just near the road, was covered with heavy timber, and in front of the 28th and 23rd Georgia Regiments it Vv'as rough and rocky. Captain Lane's battery, which on that day was attached to Colquitfs brigade, was placed in position in an open space on the moun- tain side in rear of the 23d and 28th Georgia Regiments, and fired at intervals at the Federal troops forming in the valley and on the side of the mountain south of the pike, but such a concentrated fire was poured upon it from Gibson's heavy bat- tery at the foot of the mountain, and the Federal batteries at Fox's Gap, that it was forced to retire to the crest of the moun- tain early in the day.

In a magazine article written by General Hill, in 1886, he says that when he reached the Gap on the morning of the battle, he found Colquitt's brigade stationed at the foot of the moun- tain on the east side, and that he moved it back near the top of the mountain, and on the map which he gave with his article, he placed Colquitt's brigade just in front of the Mountain House. In this I am satisfied General Hill's memory is at fault. He made no such statement in his official report, written but a few days after the battle of Sharpsburg, and I am sure that I can't be mistaken in the position the brigade held, and from which position General Hill says "it was not moved an inch during the whole day." About the first of July, 1899, I received a letter from General Carman, of the "Antietam Battle Field Board," asking if I could help to locate the position of General Colquitt's brigade on the. battlefield of South Mountain, of which his board was preparing a map, and stating that they had