ll." The 17th (17th Michigan) made its
reputation that day as a fighting regiment.

When we got up to the fighting line the Johnnies were falling back and we
simply followed them up clear to the top of the range, and by six o'clock
they had apparently withdrawn from our front. The fight in our part of the
field was then over and our brigade was resting in a field at the top of
the range in Foxes' Gap. The road we were following over the range passed
along on the right side of the field in which the brigade was resting. At
the lower right corner the road made a right angle, turning to the left,
passed along behind an old stone wall directly in front of us, at the
lower edge of the field for a few rods, then turned to the right and went
off down the west side of the mountain.

We had been resting there only a few minutes when we were opened fire on
by some Johnnies from behind the wall in front of us. They were evidently
a company of sharpshooters, who in their retreat had turned back,
determined to look for an opportunity to get a crack at us. They had
evidently come up that road until they reached the turn, there they formed
themselves along behind the wall at the lower edge of the field, and
opened fire. General Reno, his staff, and two or three other officers were
sitting on their horses just to the rear of the brigade, which was massed
there by regiment. General Reno was hit at that time and in that way, and
died about eleven o'clock that night. There were not more than thirty or
forty shots fired. A regiment back to the rear in a place where it could
be handled better than we could in our massed state, moved around on to
the Johnnies' right flank and opened fire on them, killing and wounding a
number, and the rest retreated.

About nine o'clock the morning of September 15th, we started down the west
side of the mountain range, heading in the direction of Sharpsburg. As we
clambered along down the hill, an incident occurred that amused us quite a
little, we were meeting little bunches of prisoners that were being taken
to the rear from time to time, they were in the main, stragglers that had
been picked up by our cavalry. Glancing down a little side road we saw a
squad of Johnnies approaching us, they were being followed by a mounted
officer wearing the blue. We were soon able to see it was one of General
Ferrero's staff. This officer, we learned later, was an inveterate forager
and as the general and his staff pass