Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 07.djvu/378

form me that he had been wounded, and urging me to advance rapidly, and that the command of the brigade had devolved on me. The command lost no time; and as we were approaching the two redoubts, with space to pass between them, inasmuch as General Hill had informed us that they were occupied by South Carolina troops, Lieutenant-Colonel Badham, on the right of the regiment, at my request, rode forward to communicate to the officer in charge who we were, and that he did so I am sure, for the men in that redoubt cheered the regiment lustily as we passed. About this time the enemy's line opened fire upon us, but almost at once became discomposed by our advance, and soon broke into retreat; and what seemed to be one regiment, immediately in our front, was thrown into confusion, which increased until it ran into the extreme left redoubt. While the regiment was passing the first redoubt, I left its line for a few moments to put myself in command of the Twenty-fourth Virginia. I rallied some of its men who were around the redoubt spoken of by Colonel Bratton as that in which he was, and finding the Twenty-fourth prepared, I ordered its advance at the same time—a part of the enemy's line being in some woods in front of it, beyond a narrow field which opened at right angles with the parallelogram I have before spoken of. While all this was going on, I felt much concern because the two remaining regiments of the brigade put in no appearance. I saw that the enemy was disconcerted, and, if pressed with sufficient force, might be routed; but I saw also the hazard of advancing with so small a force against a superior enemy, with one regiment occupying a redoubt and supported by a formidable battery; for although the body of troops which ran into the redoubt was in confusion, and the others of what seemed to be from the flags three other regiments retreated to the rear of it, yet the battery had been retired en echelon with great precision, and there was no such manifest disorder as would justify storming the redoubt. So I hurried my Adjutant to General Hill, with substantially these instructions: "I am pushing the enemy rapidly. He is in confusion. Some of his troops have moved into a redoubt in seeming disorder. The battery is in full view and is under my fire. But he has a large force outside the works supporting, and I am too weak to go forward alone, and retreat is impossible without great loss. If he will throw out the two regiments to support me, I can capture the redoubt, and perhaps the battery. Tell him by all