Even before the conclusion of the chaos at the sunken road, the fighting shifted to the southern portion of the battlefield.

Major General Ambrose E. Burnside commanded the Union forces against the defensive line of Confederates commanded by Brigadier General David R. Jones.  Jones, due to a withdraw of his supporting divisions, had a mere 12 guns to compliment his 3,000 troops to defend the ridges near the city, mainly focusing on Cemetery Hill.  400 men of the 2^nd and 20^th Georgia, led by Brigadier General Robert Toombs used their two artillery batteries to hold Rohrback’s Bridge.  The west bank had a large wooded bluff that gave sharpshooters ample cover and range to snipe would-be invaders.

            Although Antietam Creek was merely 50 feet wide and had many areas that only came waist high and were out of Confederate range, Burnside planned his attack to storm the bridge while having another group, led by Brigadier General Isaac P. Rodman, cross a ford a half mile away to flank the rebels.  However, the Union soldiers found the banks at the ford too difficult to scale and marched through rough brush toward Snavely’s Ford, located 2 miles away.  Meanwhile, the Ohio brigade under Colonel George Crook, with help from a division led by Brigadier General Samuel Sturis, prepared to attack the bridge.

            The first assault on the bridge was led by the 11^th Connecticut but only lasted 15 minutes.  Heavy Confederate fire forced the yankees to retreat, losing a third of their troops (139 men including their commander, Colonel Henry W. Kingsbury).  Crook’s main forces, led astray from the bridge by his lack of familiarity with the area, ended up spending the next few hours exchanging fire with Confederates about a quarter of a mile upstream.  The 2^nd Maryland and the 6^th New Hampshire led the second assault on the bridge at noon, but like the first attack, they also fell apart.

            At 12:30, a third attempt was made to capture the bridge, this by the 51^st New York and the 51^st Pennsylvania.  This was much more successful, as the men managed to charge down the bank and took up positions on the east bank.  Using a captured gun, they managed to come within 25 yards of the Confederate enemy, who were beginning to run low on ammunition.  By now, Rodman’s troops were finally moving into position to flank the Confederates, and Toombs ordered his men to retreat.  He lost less then 160 men while managing to stall the Union advance for over three hours and cost them over 500 casualties.

            While Burnside’s men struggled to get supplies and forces across the bridge, General Lee shored up his left flank.  Although he did not send support for Jones’ outnumbered troops, help was on the way in the form of Hill’s Light Division, a Confederate force 3,000 men strong.  Burnside’s plan to crumble the rebel right flank and cut Lee off from his Potomac escape route seemed to proceed well at first.

            The 79^th New York led the assault, overwhelming Jones’ division.  The rebels retreated back to the city, which became a center of chaos with all of the troops trying to escape clogging the streets.  By 3:30, however, Hill arrived with his reinforcements.  The men of the 16^th Connecticut, which had only seen three weeks of service, were cut to pieces, suffering 185 casualties.  They fared no better than the 4^th Rhode Island, which, disoriented by the tall cornstalks and Confederates in Union uniforms, broke and ran.  This left the 8^th Connecticut isolated, and they were soon surrounded and driven back to the creek.

            Burnside was unnerved by the loses, and although he still commanded twice more troops than the enemy, he retreated all the way back to the west bank of Antietam.  He requested more forces but was denied his request and spent the remainder of the day guarding the bridge they finally managed to capture.