Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 14.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

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[113] behind Hooker, came to his assistance, and once more ensued a struggle of the fiercest and bloodiest character. Gradually Jackson and Hood yielded to the pressure and were forced to the west side of the Hagerstown turnpike, while Hill's men were driven back upon the remainder of his division along the ‘Bloody Lane.’ The Federals got for a time a foothold near the Dunker church; but if the Confederates on Jackson's wing had been forced to yield ground, they had exacted a fearful price for it, and at 9 o'clock in the morning Mansfield's corps was fought out. There was nothing left of it but a few fragments, in no condition of themselves to renew the attack. Mansfield had fallen and Hooker had been borne wounded from the field. Now it was that McClellan threw in Sumner, whose corps made the Federal force that had been launched against the left of the Confederate army, in all 40,000 men. Sumner's corps became divided in moving to the attack. Sumner himself, leading Sedgwick's division, followed the track of Hooker and Mansfield and moved against Jackson's weak lines in the woods north of the Dunker church. Sumner found that at this time Hooker's corps was not only repulsed but dispersed. He says: ‘I saw nothing of his corps at all as I was advancing with my command on the field. There were some troops lying down on the left which I took to belong to Mansfield's command. General Hooker's corps was dispersed. There is no question about that.’ Though it is plain from this that Jackson had nothing to fear from Hooker and Mansfield, the advance of Sedgwick's five or six thousand fresh men threatened to overwhelm the weak Confederate line. But one brigade (Early's) of Jackson's command had not been seriously engaged. Early was instructed (in conjunction with the other forces at hand) to hold the enemy in check if possible until reinforcements could arrive. Fortunately McLaws and J. G. Walker were rapidly approaching. Stuart, with his artillery, and Grigsby, with a handful of Jackson's old division, clung tenaciously to some ground in Sedgwick's front, while Hood, in the woods near the church, fiercely contested every inch he was forced to yield.

A bold and skillful move of Early defeated and drove back some of Mansfield's men, who were pressing Hood, and opened the way for a crushing flank attack upon Sedgwick. In a few moments this attack was made by McLaws, Walker, and Early, all in conjunction, and in twenty minutes two fifths of Sedgwick's men were hors de combat, and the remainder were driven in confusion to the refuge of the Federal batteries from the line of which they had advanced.