Doubleday's Division, First Army Corps

On September 17, 1862, Brigadier Gen. Abner Doubleday's Division of the First Army Corps moved from its bivouac on the Joseph Poffenberger Farm at 5:30 a.m. with Gibbon's Brigade in advance, supported by Phelps' and Patrick's Brigades, while Hoffman's Brigade was held in reserve. The three brigades advanced with their right resting on the Hagerstown Pike until Confederate skirmishers behind a rocky ledge west of and nearly parallel to the pike fired on Gibbon's right flank. The division then deployed, with Gibbon placing two regiments on either side of the pike and Battery B, 4th U.S. Artillery, in his right rear; Phelps moved up on Gibbon's left, and Patrick crossed west of the pike to support Gibbon's right and the battery. The three brigades became heavily engaged and advanced south toward the Dunkard Church, but after more than an hour of obstinate fighting with varying success, they were withdrawn first to the fields north of D.R. Miller's and later to the cover of the high ground beyond Joseph Poffenberger's.

Shepherdstown, Maryland · United States