July 14, 1863, The New York Herald
DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE FIELD IN PROSPECT.
HARRISBURG, Pa., July 11, 1863.
All eyes are now strained towards Hagerstown and Williamsport. With breathless eagerness and anxiety does every one here strain his ears for the first echoes which shall bring the sounds of victory final and crowning from the two great conflicting armies on the bank of the Potomac. The rebel right, which is the key of the enemy’s position, rests on the hills which encircle Hagerstown and extend back towards Williamsport in one direction and Clear Spring in the other. The road, about half a mile from Hagerstown towards Williamsport, passes through a gorge, with a swamp close on one side, extending about three hundred yards, and precipitous wooded hills beyond, while the other side of the wood is skirted by an almost perpendicular chain of hills. These hills extend about two miles back towards the river from the point at which they commence, and on one side they undulate as far as the Antietam creek, and on the other they are continuous till they reach the mountains beyond Clear Spring. All the way beyond them, as far as the Potomac, they rise occasionally, till you arrive within half a mile of Williamsport, when there is a gradual descent towards the river. As it is more than probable that the grand closing scenes of the present campaign will take place over the ground, and as I am thoroughly acquainted with it, I conclude that the above short description will not be void of interest. What fortifications the enemy may have erected are in the vicinity of Hagerstown; but how extensive they are or their precise nature or location I know not. The attack will not be made upon Hagerstown, but from the direction of the Antietam, so as to cut off the enemy from Williamsport and compel him to abandon his fortifications at Hagerstown. The bridges over the Antietam destroyed by the enemy will require to be replaced before our army can move on. This has probably been done already, and this is undoubtedly the cause of the unaccountable delay in making the attack upon the enemy’s present position. The Antietam is a sluggish, deep stream for its size; but it is not over twenty-five yards wide in most places; consequently it can be bridged rapidly and often with pontoons. So much for the probable battle field, bearing in mind that it is well sprinkled with woodland.
This city has resumed its wonted aspect. Business goes on now, just as it did this day month, except that our market is not so well supplied with the products of Cumberland valley, and our prices are a little higher than usual. The desire to hear the news is universal and intense.
The farmers have all returned to their homes in the valley, and the contrabands have been sent back to their homes at the expense of the State.