"The Jaws of Death"

Sedgwick's division entered the West Woods and swept forward into devastating fire as Confederate infantry and artillery struck the Union lines from three directions. A long sheet of flame burst from innumerable gun barrels, unseen batteries pelted the lines with an iron storm, and Confederate bullets tore into the advancing men. Sedgwick was wounded, and Major General Edwin Sumner, commander of the Second Corps, could only order a retreat. In about 15 minutes, Sedgwick's division lost almost 2,300 men killed and wounded, about half its original number, and the ground where the line had stood was covered in blue. The Confederates pursued the Federals out of the woods but were themselves cut down by waiting infantry and artillery. When the fighting was almost over, a Twelfth Corps division commanded by Brigadier General George Green, left over from Mansfield's earlier attack, finally reached the Dunker Church, but without support it was driven back after a couple of hours.

Keedysville, Maryland · United States