ment to suggest the best position for us to take. He delivered his message, and on returning to his regiment was shot in the throat and fell apparently dead; but after the rebels had fled I found that he was still alive and conscious; suffering terribly, he tried with pitiable earnestness to give me some last message, but died without being able to make himself understood. TOTAL CASUALTIES IN THE UNION AND REBEL ARMIES AT THE BATTLES OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN AND ANTIETAM. General McClellan's official report gives the casualties in our army at the battle of South Mountain as 443 killed, 1,806 wounded (no missing or prisoners); and at Antietam as 2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded, and 1,043 missing. Total Union loss in the two battles 14,794. The rebel official table of General Lee's losses in the Maryland fights, which makes no separation of the losses suffered in these two battles, gives their killed as 1,567, wounded 8,724. Total rebel losses in Maryland fights by their reports 10,291 killed and wounded, with no report of prisoners and missing. The rebel loss in prisoners was at the lowest estimate 5,000 men; and many of their missing men must have been killed, as besides burying about 500 of their dead at Antietam, they left unburied on that field alone about 3,000 of their dead who were buried by our troops. See Official Reports "Rebellion Record," vol. v. p. 465, and vol. ix. p. 583. September 20th. The regiment remained in bivouac near the mouth of the Antietam. The great event of the day was the ceremony of wetting down General Ferrero's star his appointment as brigadier-general had been announced to us on the battle-field of Antietam; and to-day he furnished the brigade with a handsome ration of very good whiskey in which to drink his health. September 21st. The following orders, from corps and division headquarters, lamenting General Reno's death, and congratulating us on carrying the bridge, were read at dressparade. GENERAL ORDER No. 17. HEADQUARTERS 9TH ARMY CORPS. MOUTH OF ANTIETAM, September 20, 1862. The commanding general announces to the corps the loss of their late leader, Major-General Jesse L. Reno. By the death of this distinguished officer the country loses one of its most devoted patriots, and the army one of its most thorough soldiers. On the long list of battles in which General Reno has fought for his country's service, his name always appears with the brightest lustre; and he has now met a soldier's death while gallantly leading his men at the battle of South Mountain. For his high character and the kindly qualities of his heart in private life, as well as for his military genius and personal daring as a soldier, his loss will be deplored by all who knew him, and the commanding general desires to add the tribute of a friend to the public mourning for the death of one of the country's best defenders. By command of MAJ-GEN. BURnside, LEWIS RICHMOND, Lt-Colonel and A. A. G. HEADQUARTERS 2D DIVISION 9TH ARMY CORPS. GENERAL ORDER No. 11. The general commanding the division avails himself of this lull iu the roar of battle to return his thanks to the officers and troops for their handsome behavior in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam Bridge, and to say to them that he has been assured by General Burnside that General McClellan considers the carrying of the bridge as having saved the day. While therefore we have reason to be proud of our successes, we should remember that they were achieved through the loss of many of our brave comrades, among whom was the gallant and distinguished Major-General Jesse L. Reno, who led this division so often to victory. He was a classmate and bosom friend of the general commanding, a man of the highest integrity, and one who loved his country beyond all earthly things, and shrank from no danger in defending it. His last words were, "I can be no longer with my men; let them know that I will still be with them in spirit.” His spirit was with them indeed, and led them across Antietam Bridge, thus serving the army, even after death. By order of BRIGADIER-GENERAL STURGIS, WM. C. ROWOLLE, Captain and Chief of Artillery. We did not receive our just share of credit in the official reports of our brigade and corps commanders, for our participation in the successful assault upon the bridge. General Ferrero, the brigade commander, with strange ignorance of the movements of the different regiments of his brigade, in his report dilutes our glory by adding the 35th Massachusetts to the assaulting regiments; while General Cox, the corps commander, robs us of our dearly-bought fame by naming only the two 51sts as having done the glorious deed.2 As I for the first time saw these reports in the "Rebellion Record" ten years after the war, my blood boiled with indignation and disgust at the ignorant indifference of these officers to the preservation in history of the blood-bought honors won equally by these three regiments (the two 51sts and the 21st), and by them alone, in this famous passage at arms. It was some slight consolation to find that the war correspondent of the Boston "Journal," a close eye-witness of the battle of Antietam, in his report published in that newspaper at the time, gives the whole glory of the deed to the three regiments; and the "Journal" in an editorial shortly afterwards, in combating the somewhat prevalent idea that the Union troops did not attack with the reckless bravery often shown by the rebels, says that the heroism of the assault upon the bridge by the three regiments was unsurpassed, either on the rebel or Union side, in the annals of the war. A very interesting fact associated with the battle of Antietam is its connection with the proclamation of emancipation to the slaves, issued by the President September 22, 1862. In President Lincoln's own words, as given in Carpenter's "Six Months in the White House," It had got to be mid-summer, 1862. Things had gone on from bad to worse until I felt that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan of operations we were pursuing; that we had about played 1 Unfortunately no regimental official report was made by the commander of the 21st of the part taken by the regiment in the battle. — ED. 2 General Burnside's and General McClellan's reports follow the corps report in this respect. — ED. our last card, and must change our tactics or lose the game. I now determined upon the emancipation policy; and, without consulting with or the knowledge of the cabinet, prepared the original draft of the proclamation, and, after much anxious thought, called a cabinet meeting on the subject. This was the last of July or the first part of the month of August. This cabinet meeting took place, I think, upon a Saturday. Nothing was offered that I had not already fully anticipated and settled in my mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. He said in substance: "Mr. President, I approve of the proclamation, but I question the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The depres sion of the public mind, consequent upon our repeated reverses, is so great that I fear the effect of so important a step. It may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government a cry for help; the government stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the government." His idea was that it would be considered our last shriek on the retreat. The wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me with great force. I put the draft of the proclamation aside, waiting for a victory. Well, the next news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. Things looked darker than ever. Finally came the week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. I MADE A SOLEMN VOW BEFORE GOD, THAT IF GENERAL LEE WAS DRIVEN BACK FROM MARYLAND, I WOULD CROWN THE RESULT BY THE DECLARATION OF FREEDOM TO THE SLAVES. CHAPTER XI. SEPTEMBER 23 - NOVEMBER 8, 1862. REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY AFTER THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. -MISS CLARA BARTON. ADVANCE UNDER MCCLELLAN HIS REMOVAL FROM COMMAND. WE remained in camp near the mouth of Antietam Creek until about the first of October, during which period we drilled a little, and performed easy picket duty along the Potomac; then we marched some six miles into Pleasant Valley, and went into camp about five miles from Harper's Ferry, a real camp with tents, and slept under shelter for the first time since leaving Fredericksburg, on the 12th of August, to take part in the campaign which resulted in Pope's disastrous re treat. One of the great incidents of our stay in Pleasant Valley was the review of the army by President Lincoln, on the 3d of October, when most of us saw the good President for the first time. Soon after the battle of Antietam, numbers of town committees visited the army, bringing plenty of kind messages and delicacies in the way of food. There was one thing about them which we were much dissatisfied with, namely, that they invariably came to the new regiments. We could get along very well without the goodies, but we could not see the justice of the favoritism. Our true friend, Miss Clara Barton, however, a 21st woman to the backbone, was now permanently associated with the regiment, and, with two four-mule covered wagons, which by her untiring efforts she kept well |