the eagle that surmounted it was cut off in the contest. The commander of the color-company saved these precious emblems, and earnestly shouted, when the lines were re-formed: 'Eleventh, rally round the pole!' which was then, if possible, more honored than when it was bedecked in folds of bunting. General Grover, who displayed the gallantry throughout this action that he had exhibited upon the peninsula, waved his hat upon the point of his sword to animate his brigade and prepare for a renewal of the fight. Many were scarcely able to speak on account of hoarseness caused by intense cheering, and some officers blistered the palms of their hands by waving swords when they charged with their commands." [Illustration: GATHERING UP DÉBRIS OF POPE'S RETREAT AFTER THE SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. (From a War Department photograph.)] [Illustration: GENERAL HANCOCK AND FRIENDS. (From a war-time photograph.)] {174} [Illustration: HARPER'S FERRY IN POSSESSION OF THE CONFEDERATE FORCES.] {175} CHAPTER XV. THE ANTIETAM CAMPAIGN. CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND--THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC SENT AGAINST THEM--LEE'S PLANS LEARNED FROM A LOST DESPATCH--CAPTURE OF HARPER'S FERRY--BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN--BATTLE OF ANTIETAM--TERRIFIC FIGHTING AT THE DUNKERS' CHURCH AND THE SUNKEN ROAD--PORTER'S INACTION--FIGHTING AT THE BRIDGE--GENERAL CONDUCT OF THE BATTLE--THE RESULTS. After his success in the second battle of Manassas, and the retirement of Pope's army to the defences of Washington (September 2, 1862), General Lee pushed northward into Maryland with his whole army. His advance arrived at Frederick City on the 8th, and from his camp near that place he issued a proclamation to the people of Maryland, in which he recited the wrongs they had suffered at the hands of the National Government, and told them "the people of the South have long wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen and restore the independence and sovereignty of your State." At the same time he opened recruiting-offices, and appointed a provost-marshal of Frederick. The reader of the classics will perhaps be reminded of the shrewd advice that Demosthenes gave the Athenians, when he counselled them not to ask the assistance of the Thebans against Philip of Macedon, but to bring about an alliance by offering to help them against him. But the Confederate chieftain was sadly disappointed in the effect of his proclamation and his presence. When his army marched into the State singing "My Maryland," they were received with closed doors, drawn blinds, and the silence of a graveyard. In Frederick all the places of business were shut. The Marylanders did not flock to his recruiting-offices to the extent of more than two or three hundred, while on the other hand he lost many times that number from straggling, as he says in his report. Several reasons have been assigned for the failure of the people to respond to his appeal, in