A portion of Lee's line on the morning of that day was weak and thin. Longstreet held the right, opposite Burnside; D. H. Hill was on Rulet's farm, Hood was at the Dunker Church, and Jackson northwest of it, in front of Poffenberger's house. Hood's men were exhausted; they had marched rapidly to reach the field, and had been sent to the front upon their arrival, to keep Hooker in check, as he moved through Hoffman's cornfields on the afternoon of the 16th. Lawton, commanding Ewell's old division in Jackson's corps, relieved him during the night. At daybreak the "Ragged Texans," as Hood's men were called by their comrades, were cooking their cakes and frying their pork in the fields south of the church. Lee's head-quarters were on a hill beyond Sharpsburg, so high that he could overlook a large portion of the field. He saw that McClellan intended to turn his left, and threw all his available troops towards the Dunker Church. On the morning of the 17th a breeze from the south swept up the valley, rolling dark clouds upon the mountains. There was a light fog upon the Antietam. Long before daylight the word, which roused the men from sleep, passed along the lines of Hooker's divisions. Without a drum-beat or bugle-call the soldiers rose, shook the dewdrops from their locks, rolled their blankets, and ate their breakfast. The pickets of the two armies were so near each other that each could hear the rustle of the corn as they paced to and fro amid the rows. Occasionally there was a shot. Once, in the night, there was a volley beyond the woods towards Muma's. General Hooker was asleep in a barn near Hoffman's. He sprang to his feet, stood by the door, and listened. "We have no troops in that direction. They are shooting at nothing," he said, and lay down once more. HOOKER'S ATTACK. Five o'clock. It is hardly daylight, as the pickets, straining their sight, bringing their muskets to a level with their eyes, aim at the dusky forms stirring amid the corn-leaves, and renew the contest. There are bright flashes from the strip of woods, and from the ridge behind Poffenberger's. The first Rebel shell bursts in the Sixth Wisconsin, prostrating eight men. Hooker's guns, in the edge of the woods west of Hoffman's, are quick to respond. Meade's division, composed of Seymour's, Magilton's, and Anderson's brigades, was in the center of Hooker's corps, and also in the advance. Doubleday was on the right, and Ricketts behind Meade. The order was given to Meade to move on, and to Ricketts and Doubleday to keep within close supporting distance. The direction taken by Meade brought him through the strip of woods northeast of Miller's house. Lawton's division of Jackson's corps held the ground by Miller's house, with Ripley, of D. H. Hill's division, joining on the narrow road north of Muma's, a quarter of a mile in front of the church.