The Battle's Aftermath

The Battle's Aftermath. "I Never Want to see Such a Sight Again". , As the Confederates retreated south towards Waynesboro, Hunter marched into Staunton the next day, destroying military stores and seizing Confederate clothing and munitions depots. Days later he captured Lexington and burned the Virginia Military Institute., The battlefield around you was covered with the fallen. More men were killed and wounded at Piedmont (over 800 Union and 550 Confederate soldiers) than in any single engagement of Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign. In addition, over 1,000 Confederates were captured, a devastating loss of manpower for the South., Local families cared for many of the wounded, including Pvt. Peter Kite of the 39th Tennessee, who had been shot through the head and left for dead. An elderly Piedmont woman found Kite after the battle, took him into her home, and nursed him back to health., The Union army also established hospitals in the area. Sgt. James McNally of the 5th New York Heavy Artillery (serving as infantry) was severely wounded in his arm and taken to New Hope Presbyterian Church. Surgeons amputated the mangled limb, but when the army pulled out, he was left behind, captured, and taken to notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia - although he survived the harrowing experience., After the battle, Union Col. William Tibbits rode along the Confederate defensive line. Behind the rail fortifications, he found over a hundred wounded Confederates, many "having the flesh torn off the body by splinters from rails" that had been shredded by cannon shells. The exploding shells had also set aflame the flesh of many of the Confederate dead. Observing the same scene, Union Sgt. George Setchell wrote, "I have heard of men being torn to pieces, but I never want to see such a sight again.", Nearby, Tibbits saw a group of wounded Confederates under the shade of a tree. He later remembered their "audible prayers and psalm singing" a stark contrast with the roar of musketry that had raged all day., (Captions):, Union Sgt. James McNally, An image of fallen Confederates after the Battle of Antietam. The scenes here would have been similar. , Boston Public Library, Union Col. William Tibbits , Library of Congress