midnight
But at the other gap the North had not achieved equal success . Longstreet , marching thirteen miles that day , had come upon the field in time , and when darkness fell the Southern troops still held their ground there . But later in the night Hill and Longstreet , through fear of being cut off , abandoned their positions and marched to join Lee . Dick and his comrades who did not lie down until after midnight had come , felt that a great success had been gained . McClellan had been slow to march , but , now that he was marching , he was sweeping the enemy out of his way . The whole Army of the Potomac felt that it was winning and McClellan himself was exultant . Early the next morning he reported to his superior at Washington that the enemy was fleeing in panic and that General Lee admitted that he had been `` shockingly whipped . ''