Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 4.djvu/37

Rh Ricketts that the elevation of his guns lessened their deadly effect, and its close-range volleys soon drove back the supporting zouaves and terribly cut down his brave gunners. At this juncture Capt. I. E. Avery said to his courageous colonel, who was also his close friend, &quot;Now we ought to charge.&quot; &quot;That is right, captain,&quot; answered Fisher, and his loud command, &quot;Charge!&quot; was the last word his loved regiment heard from his lips. In prompt obedience the seven companies rushed up to the guns, whose officers fought them until their men were nearly all cut down and their commander seriously wounded. But the charge was a costly one. Colonel Fisher, in the words of General Beauregard, &quot;fell after soldierly behavior at the head of his regiment with ranks greatly thinned.&quot; With him went down many North Carolinians &quot;whose names were not so prominent, but whose conduct was as heroic."

Just as the Sixth reached the guns there was a lull in the fierce contest, and officers and men sought a moment s rest. Young Wiley P. Mangum, exclaiming, &quot;I am so tired!&quot; threw himself under the quiet shadow of one of the guns, so recently charged with death, and Captain Avery, Lieuts. John A. McPherson, B. F. White, A. C. Avery and others gathered around the battery. Just then, from a wood in their left front, the Second Wisconsin regiment fired into the Carolinians. This regiment was dressed in gray uniform, and from this fact, as well as from its position, the officers of the Sixth thought it was a Confederate regiment and called out to their men who were beginning to return the fire not to shoot, and made signals to the supposed friends. Young Mangum, who had sprung to his feet at the sound of the firing, fell mortally wounded, and several others were killed or disabled. Not knowing what to do, the regiment fell back in some confusion to the point where —