ester. McClellan was content with seizing the Maryland Heights
at Harper's Ferry, and except the cavalry patrols, not a single
Federal soldier was sent across the river.

The organisation was absolutely imperative. The Army of the Potomac
was in no condition to undertake the invasion of Virginia. Not only
had the losses in battle been very large, but the supply train,
hurriedly got together after Pope's defeat, had broken down; in every
arm there was great deficiency of horses; the troops, especially
those who had been engaged in the Peninsula, were half-clad and badly
shod; and, above all, the army was very far from sharing McClellan's
conviction that Sharpsburg was a brilliant victory. The men in the
ranks were not so easily deceived as their commander. McClellan,
relying on a return drawn up by General Banks, now in command at
Washington, estimated the Confederate army at 97,000 men, and his
official reports made frequent mention of Lee's overwhelming
strength.* (* Mr. Lincoln had long before this recognised the
tendency of McClellan and others to exaggerate the enemy's strength.
As a deputation from New England was one day leaving the White House,
a delegate turned round and said: "Mr. President, I should much like
to know what you reckon to be the number the rebels have in arms
against us." Without a moment's hesitation Mr. Lincoln replied: "Sir,
I have the best possible reason for knowing the number to be one
million of men, for whenever one of our generals engages a rebel army
he reports that he has encountered a force twice his strength. Now I
know we have half a million soldiers, so I am bound to believe that
the rebels have twice that number.")

The soldiers knew better. They had been close enough to the enemy's
lines to learn for themselves how thin was the force which manned
them. They were perfectly well aware that they had been held in check
by inferior numbers, and that the battle on the Antietam, tactically
speaking, was no more of a victory for the North than Malvern Hill
had been for the South. From dawn to dark on September 18 they had
seen the tattered colours and bright bayonets of the Confederates
still covering the Sharpsburg ridge; they had seen the grey line,
immovable and defiant, in undisputed possession of the battle-ground,
while their own guns were silent and their own generals reluctant to
renew the fight. Both the Government and the people expected
McClellan to complete his success by a