press immediately forward to reap the fullest
benefit of it, or whether it was practically a drawn battle, with the
possibilities of an early retreat, we did not then know. We had no idea
of what the name of the battle would be. My diary calls it the battle of
"Meyer's Spring," from that magnificent fountain, on our line of battle,
described in the last chapter. The Confederates named it the battle of
Sharpsburg, from the village of that name on the right of their line.
Two days later, after the rebels had hauled off--which they did very
leisurely the next day and night--we received "Little Mac's"
congratulatory order on the great victory achieved at "Antietam."

So far as our part of the battle was concerned, we knew we had the best
of it. We had cleaned up everything in our front, and the "chip was
still serenely resting on our shoulder." But what had been the outcome
elsewhere on the line we did not know. That our army had been
terrifically battered was certain. Our own losses indicated this. We
were therefore both relieved and rejoiced on receiving the
congratulatory order. I confess to have had some doubts about the extent
of the victory, and whether, had Lee remained and shown fight, we would
not have repeated the old story and "retired in good order." As it was,
the tide had evidently turned, and the magnificent old Army of the
Potomac, after so many drubbings, had been able to score its first
decisive victory.

On the twenty-second day of September we were again on the march, our
regiment reduced in numbers, from casualties in the battle and from
sickness, by nearly three hundred men. Lieutenant-Colonel Wilcox was now
in command. The body of our late colonel had been shipped to Scranton
under guard of Privates S. P. Snyder and Charles A. Meylert, Company K,
the "exigencies of the service" permitting of no larger detail nor any
officer to accompany it.

We were told the army was bound for Harper's Ferry, distant some eight
to ten miles. We passed through the village of Sharpsburg--what there
was left of it. It had been occupied by the rebels as the extreme right
of their line on the morning of the battle. It presented abundant
evidence of having been well in the zone of the fight. Its buildings
were riddled with shells, and confusion seemed to reign supreme. We
learned that Burnside, with the left wing of the army, had a very hot
argument with Lee's right during the afternoon for the possession of the
stone br