Longstreet's Command

On September 17, 1862, Ransom's Brigade of Walker's Division in Longstreet's Confederate command, led by Brig. Gen. Robert Ransom, Jr., and composed of the 24th, 25th, 35th and 49th North Carolina Infantry with Branch's Virginia Battery, reached Sharpsburg during the afternoon of September 16th and was held in reserve until daybreak of the 17th, when it took position on the extreme right observing Snavely's Ford. Between 8 and 9 a.m. it moved left and supported McLaws in his attack on Sedgwick's Division. After arriving abreast of the southwest edge of the West Woods, it advanced northward until opposite this point, then wheeled right and encountered the enemy at the Poffenberger buildings and on the high ground to the east. Attacked on the flank and in front, the Federal line was compelled to retire. The brigade pursued until near the Hagerstown Pike, where destructive Federal artillery fire checked it and forced it to seek shelter in the undulations of the ground.

Keedysville, Maryland · United States