Pennsylvania 62nd Infantry Regiment

Regimental History: Campaign in Maryland

62d Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg


Campaign in Maryland

Organization

The 62d Pennsylvania's place in the organization of Army of the Potomac at the time of the Battle at Antietam, 17 September 1862:

Regimental History

Defense of Washington, 4 to 12 September 1862
Perhaps in reaction to the actions during the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Fifth Corps was detached from the rest of the Army of the Potomac (the Army of Virginia being very short lived). The corps did ungo some reorganization with several regiments being added to reinforce several brigades, but for the most part the corps was simply being kept far from the action.
March to Sharpsburg, 12 to 16 September.
With reports that the Confederate army was moving into Maryland to threaten both Pennsylvania and Washington, D. C., the Fifth Corps was ordered to rejoin the bulk of the army. Most days the marches were more than 20 miles. On 14 September it passed through Frederick, Maryland. The march then took the regiment over both the Catoctin range and the South Mountains, passing through Turner's Gap on the 15th, where in the vista before them it saw the rest of the Army of the Potomac stretched out below them.
BATTLEBattle at Antietam, also known as Sharpsburg, 17 September 1862
Porter's Corps was posted in reserve in the center of the line. One report indicates that the Second Brigade of the First Division of the Fifth Corps was assigned to support a twenty piece battery. McClellan was criticized for not deploying the Fifth Corps, but at this point in time he was not repromanded, and when Lincoln came to review troops later in October, it was the Fifth Corps that was selected for the honor. The report in Thomas Livermore's Numbers and Losses in the Civil War is that "Morell's Division, although present, was not engaged, and had no influence on the result." The 62d had no report of casualties.
BATTLE Engagement at Blackford's or Boteler's Ford, near Shepherdstown, 19 September 1862.
The 62d saw more action in the maneuvers immediately following Antietam than it did during the battle. Lee had begun a withdrawal of troops to the other side of the Potomac crossing at a ford near Shepherdstown on the evening of 18 September.The ford was known as the Shepherdstown Ford, Blackford's Ford (named for the Blackford farm on the Maryland side, and also as Boteler's Ford (named for Boteler's mill on the Virginia side. The 62d was part of a reconnaissance mission by the Fifth Corps , which was at full strength since it had been held in reserve at Antietam, to find out whether the Confederates were in full retreat or remaining in a position to reenter Maryland and press on with the campaign. The Union force crossed the Potomac at the same ford. Companies L and M were deployed as skirmishers in advance of the corps. The Confederate army was in disarray and, beyond a few stragglers who were pursued and captured, this initial advance met no resistance. On the following day, A.P. Hill’s division had returned to the Shepherdstown ford to counter the Northern advance, and the armies fought for four hours. Now heavily outnumbered and in a weak position below a bluff, the Union forces withdrew to the Maryland side of the Potomac. The Corn Regiment (118th), from the Fifth Corps' 3rd Brigade, a raw unit, suffered severe casualties. Union batteries returned fire, and the Confederate forces remained on the Virginia side.
Encampment and duty along the Potomac, 20 September to 30 October.
The highlight of the encampment occured on October 1st, when the regiment had an opportunity to see Abraham Lincoln, when the President reviewed the Fifth Corps. Some companies of the 62d were involved in an action called "Reconnaissance to Smithfield," 16-17 October 1862. It had the potential to become a small battle or skirmish, but it mattered to very little. I have seen no report of casualties among the 62d.

Casualties

Antietam
None reported or unavailable.

Back to the Pennsylvania 62d Infantry Regiment Page?

This page authored and maintained by John R. Henderson (jhenderson@ithaca.edu), Lodi, NY.
Photo of the Monument at Gettysburg dedicated to the Pennsylvania 62d Infantry Regiment is from Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, 1893
Last modified: 17 September 2012, the 150th anniversary of the Battle at Antietam
URL: http://www.icyousee.org/pa62d/antietam.html