Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 4.djvu/137

Rh the fratricidal strife, 11,657 Federal soldiers lay dead or wounded on the river slopes, and almost 10,000 Southerners lay near them. The choicest soldiers of two great armies of countrymen had met, wrestled to sheer exhaustion for victory, and yet, as the day closed, the line of battle stood nearly as it began.

As soon as it was light enough to see, Hooker moved his three divisions against the Confederate left flank. The attack fell first on Jackson, and Ripley, of D. H. Hill’s left, went to his aid, and fierce and bloody was the encounter. The two lines,&quot; as Palfrey says, &quot;almost tore each other to pieces.&quot; The carnage was simply frightful, and yet it was only beginning. Between 6 and 7 o’clock Mansfield pressed forward to support Hooker. The Twenty-first North Carolina and the First battalion, of Ewell’s division, and the First and Third regiments of D. H. Hill s division were so far the only North Carolina troops engaged. Hood is now sent for, and the Sixth regiment, Major Webb, enters with him. G. T. Anderson enters to brace the Confederate left. Doubleday’s attack was driven back, Gibbon and Phelps suffering terribly; the Confederates, however, were repulsed in an effort to follow their advantage. Hofmann and Ricketts, and subsequently Mansfield s brigades, moved further toward the Confederate center, and this brought into action the brigades of Colquitt and Garland, of D. H. Hill’s division. Garland s brigade was commanded by Col. D. K. McRae, and included the Fifth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-third North Carolina regiments. The artillery, under Col. S. D. Lee and Major Frobel, watched for its opportunity, moved for every commanding position, and was most handsomely served. During this time men had fallen as leaves fall. So thick were men lying that General Hood found difficulty in keeping his horse from stepping on wounded men. On the Federal side, General Mansfield was killed; Generals Hooker, Hartsuff, Crawford and many subordinates were