A Yell of Defiance: With Hawkins’ Zouaves at Antietam

Advancing over a series of hills and ridges south of Sharpsburg on the afternoon of September 17, 1862, one member of Hawkins’ Zouaves remembered the devastating impact that a volley of Confederate musketry had upon his regiment.

          “An entire Rebel division was drawn up behind the stone wall to receive us,” he wrote. “As we mounted the last crest of the hill, directly in front of the wall, we were received by a volley of musketry and a discharge of grape. My God, it was terrible! Over 20 of our men were killed by that one discharge and nearly 60 wounded. A yell, a wild shout of agony from those that had fallen, a yell of defiance from those that were left, and we rushed on the foe without cartridges.”

During the Maryland Campaign, the Hawkins’ Zouaves, also known as the 9th New York Volunteer Infantry, was assigned to Colonel Harrison S. Fairchild’s First Brigade of General Isaac P. Rodman’s Third Division of the 9th Army Corps, led by General Ambrose Burnside. This account, written by an unknown soldier of the 9th New York to his brother in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, first saw publication in the October 21, 1862, edition of the Daily Milwaukee News.

“The stirring scenes which occurred during the bloody conflict at Antietam will be ever new to the mass of readers,” the News opined. “The views of battle are kaleidoscopic. We get as many phases of the contest as there were persons present to witness it and write about it- every scene resonant with the clash of crossed steel, the sharp roar of musketry, and distinguished by the flow of human blood.”

 

The dramatic charge of Hawkins' Zouaves at Antietam as depicted by Keith Rocco. "Our color guards were cut down almost to a man and Kimball, our hot-headed lieutenant colonel, finally seized the flag himself and wrapped it around him," one Zouave later recalled. Captain Adolph Libaire of Co. E was later awarded the Medal of Honor for taking the regimental colors and carrying them to the front while urging the line forward. The regiment went into action with eight companies totaling 373 officers and men and lost 235, a 63% loss rate. 


Pleasant Valley, Maryland

October 10, 1862

Dear brother,

          We had a desperate fight at Antietam, the hardest, I believe, ever fought on this continent. Where our brigade charged, the Rebels had 14 pieces of artillery, eight of which played on us during our charge. Shot and shell, grape and canister, tore through our ranks with fearful effect, sweeping down numbers of our men. No hesitation, no hanging back, our men kept on led by brave [Edgar N.] Kimball.

          An entire Rebel division was drawn up behind the stone wall to receive us. As we mounted the last crest of the hill, directly in front of the wall, we were received by a volley of musketry and a discharge of grape. My God, it was terrible! Over 20 of our men were killed by that one discharge and nearly 60 wounded. A yell, a wild shout of agony from those that had fallen, a yell of defiance from those that were left, and we rushed on the foe without cartridges.

 

“The boys charged gallantly over two ridges of ploughed land up to the mouths of the guns, but their ammunition failing there and getting no support from the second brigade appointed to act in concert with us, we were forced to fall back after holding the newly taken position 15 minutes in the face of a withering fire. Our color guards were cut down almost to a man, and Kimball, our hot-headed lieutenant colonel, finally seized the flag himself and wrapped it around him. Strange to say, he was uninjured.” ~ Private Edward K. Wightman, Co. B, 9th New York Infantry

 

Matthew Brady image of a group of officers and men from Hawkins' Zouaves

          With cold steel we gained the wall, went over it, and after the flying foe, who ran for an orchard towards our right and near Sharpsburg. Here they tried to make another stand, but Colonel Kimball divining their intention and knowing that our left had already been turned, he shouted “Forward, Zouaves!” And on we went through the orchard, the foe flying before us. Coming down on the main road leading to Sharpsburg [Harper’s Ferry Road], a halt was ordered. We did not have 300 men in the brigade; the 89th and 103rd New York Volunteers have nobly seconded us all through the fight.

          I remarked above that our left had been turned. When we charged up the hill driving back the Rebel center, a large force of the enemy came out of the cornfield on our left and attempted to cut off our retreat. The boys of the Second Division were ordered up to drive back the enemy. Our charging and driving the enemy in our front in such confusion and so quickly prevented us from falling into a nice Rebel trap. That night, we rested on the battlefield.

The monument to the 9th New York is located just south of Sharpsburg near the old Avey Farm towards whose orchard the Zouaves charged on the afternoon of September 17, 1862.
(John Banks photo)


To walk in the footsteps of the 9th New York as they made their assault at Antietam, I recommend Project Past's video on YouTube, Battle of Antietam: The Final Attack, In the Footsteps of the 9th New York Infantry.

Sources:

Letter from unknown soldier in 9th New York Volunteer Infantry, Daily Milwaukee News (Wisconsin), October 21, 1862, pg. 1

Longacre, Edward G., editor. From Antietam to Fort Fisher: The Civil War Letters of Edward King Wightman. Cranbury: Associated University Presses, 1985, pg. 38

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