Excerpt from Adjutant Lewis Crater's
"History of the Fiftieth Regiment,
Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, 1861-65,"
"Judging by the loss sustained by the regiment in the engagement
of September 14th
(South Mountain) ,it might be supposed that it did very little
service. Not a single man
was killed and only two wounded Privates Henery Kline of Company"E"and
Partial
Kennedy of Company "J".
But the efficience or hard work which a regiment
has done is not always to be judged
of by the loss it sustained. If an object can be obtained or a position
regained without the
loss of a man, it is all the more creditable to those who accomplished
it......"
he continues
"General Cox said to me that day that we had
the most important position in the army
, and afterwards highly complemented the regiment for it's
service.
I was present when a staff officer came to Willcox
, saying Cox was hard pressed and wanted two regiments immediately .Willcox
turned to me and said "Take the fiftieth over
,it is better than two ordinary regiments.""
