The main fighting now took place at the center of the Confederate line in order to divert Rebel attention from the West Woods.

            One of the Federal II Corps’ divisions, led by Brigadier General William H. French, lost contact with Major General Edwin V. Sumner, the II Corps commander, and Major General John Sedgwick, another division leader, and engaged in skirmishes to the south.  He was found by Sumner’s aide who delivered orders to attack the Confederate defense’s center at the sunken road.

            Major General D. H. Hill’s 2,500 men were less than half of the Union forces they faced, having lost 3 of their total 5 brigades in earlier fighting.  He was the weakest point in Confederate Major General John Longstreet’s line, but his position in the sunken road, a natural military trench, was a very strong defensive position.  At 9:30, French launched his brigades in attacks of Hill’s breastworks.  The initial two brigades, the first commanded by Brigadier General Max Weber and the second by Colonel Dwight Morris, consisted of mostly inexperienced soldiers.  They were cut down by heavy rifle fire, though the second brigade did manage to repel Robert Rhodes’ Alabama brigade’s counter-attack.  The third brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Nathan Kimball, contained no less than three experienced regiments but was still driven back.  In less than one hour, French’s men suffered 1,750 casualties of their total 5700 man force.

            By 10:30, 3,400 rebel reinforcements under Major General Richard H. Anderson arrived to support Hill, and 4,000 of Major General Israel B. Richardson’s troops arrived to aide French.  The fresh Union troops launched the first attack of the reinforcements, beginning the fourth attack against the sunken road.  Union Brigadier General Thomas F. Meagler’s Irish Brigade lost 540 men to heavy fire before being told to withdraw.

            Around 12:00, the deployment of Brigadier General John C. Caldwell’s brigade turned the tide of the fighting.  The brigade marched on the right flank of the Confederates.  While doing do, Colonel Francis C. Barlow and 350 men of the 61^st and 64^th New York seized a knoll overlooking the sunken road.  The road became a death trap for the Confederate soldiers.  Rodes’ orders to Lt Colonel James N. Lightfoot went awry when, instead of only one regiment retreating, all five regiments marched away from the battle, breaking the rebel line.  Only General Longstreet’s quickly assembled artillery drove the pursuing Yankees back.

            Hill helped prevent the total collapse of the center by leading his 200 men in a counterattack around the enemies left flank.  Even though the 5^th New Hampshire drove them back, the goal of not totally losing the center was achieved.  Richardson ordered his men to fall back north of the ridge facing the sunken road, leaving behind 1,000 casualties.  Both Barlow and Richardson were wounded, Richardson fatally.  Command of the troops shifted unexpectedly to Winfield S. Hancock, and the Union’s advance lost momentum.

            By the end of the Mid-day Phase the Confederate line of defense was split.  The sunken road, stretching only 700 meters, became known as Bloody Lane, due to the 3,000 Union and 2,600 Confederate casualties.  Had the break in the line at the sunken road been exploited, General McClellan could have split the Army of Northern Virginia in two and defeated General Lee.  Though the North did not lack the manpower to decisively win the battle and quite possibly the war, General McClellan did not exploit the weakness.  When the plan was readdressed by Major General George Sykes, Major General Fitz John Porter, whose men would have made the attack, protested.  Thus the Mid-day Phase, which could have ended the battle, came to a bloody and inconclusive finish.