xact spot of the wounding.

It is necessary now to go back to 1862 and tell the story of the battle as seen by the 10th Maine; and as since the war a generation has grown up that knows nothing of the way soldiers are arranged for marching and fighting, it is best to give a great many explanations that may seem unnecessary to an old soldier.

 

THE PART TAKEN BY THE 10TH MAINE.

The 12th Army Corps, Mansfield commanding, marched on the Boonsboro pike, late at night of Sept. 16th, from “the center” through Keedysville to the farm of George Line (G. Lyons on the old maps) and there rested till daybreak. Gen. Mansfield slept on the west side of a fence which ran south from Line’s[Pg 9] garden to woods. His bed was the grass and his roof a blanket. The 10th Maine was on the east side of the fence (see map), and some of our boys who indulged in loud talk were ordered by the General to lower their tones to a whisper. The other regiments of our brigade were near us, while the other brigades of the corps appeared to be behind ours (or east). Our brigade[6] was the advance of the corps, and marched a little before 5 o’clock on the morning of the battle, first to the west across the Smoketown road, and nearly to John Poffenberger’s, and then south to nearly abreast of Joseph Poffenberger’s (marked 6.20 on the map), and there halted for almost an hour, during all of which time, that is from before 5 A. M., Hooker’s corps was fighting in and around “the great cornfield,” the enemy being south and west of it.

As well as could be judged, all of the 12th corps followed our movements, and halted to the right or left of the rear of our brigade.

The 124th and 125th Penn. were detached