Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/507

26 with 3 prisoners and 15 stand of arms he had captured. There he maintained his position under fire, and about ten o'clock assisted Capt. Welborn and J. C. Campbell of the Eighteenth, who had reinforced him on his right, in driving the enemy from the front of the latter. About this time Captain Fletcher came up and entered into action, skirmishing about the Jackson house, and Colonel Jenifer with a body of cavalry also joined the Mississippians and took command. About one o'clock, the Eighth Virginia arrived, and a line of battle was formed, and an attack begun on the Federals, who were strongly posted on an eminence with an open field in front, their right protected by woods, their left by woods and a deep ravine, and with artillery advantageously placed. At 2:30 o'clock, the Eighteenth Mississippi, under Colonel Burt, which had reached the scene of battle, was ordered to attack the enemy’s left flank, and made a gallant charge, the force of which was broken by an unexpected and heavy fire from a body of the enemy concealed in a ravine. Now the Seventeenth came up, breathless after a double-quick march of two miles, to the support of Colonel Burt, and the fight raged with increased severity. In one of the early charges of his gallant regiment, Colonel Burt fell mortally wounded. This hero was a native of South Carolina, In speaking of his untimely death, Governor Pettus, in a message to the legislature, said: "It is my painful duty to inform you that Col. E. R. Burt, auditor of public accounts, fell mortally wounded at the battle of Leesburg, while gallantly leading a regiment of Mississippi's brave sons to one of the most brilliant victories which has crowned our arms during the war."

The battle raged all day, finally culminating toward six o'clock in a gallant charge all along the Confederate line. The Eighth Virginia, with the companies of Captain Upshaw, Seventeenth; Fletcher, Thirteenth; and Kearney and Welborn, Eighteenth, having exhausted their