Throughout the early hours of the battle, Confederate Gen. Lee shifted soldiers from the southern end of his line north toward the Cornfield and the West Woods, leaving Gen. David R. Jones's division of about 3,000 men to hold that end of the line. Fewer than 500 Confederate troops under Gen. Robert Toombs lined Antietam Creek from here southward to Snavely Ford, while Col. Henry Benning commanded the men guarding the bridge. Protected by breastworks, quarry holes, cordwood, logs, and stone piles, the Confederates repulsed the first of three major Federal assaults on the bridge beginning at about 9:30 a.m. and held their position for more than three hours. As their ammunition ran low, a Union division under Gen. Isaac P. Rodman moved downstream to ford the Antietam, and the combination of Rodman's crossing at Snavely Ford, depleted Confederate ammunition, and a third Federal assault toward the bridge forced Toombs's men from their overlook. At about 1:00 p.m. the Confederates withdrew toward the Harpers Ferry Road to await the final Union attack.
