Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/603

120 ground over which Barksdale advanced was thickly strewn with the dead and wounded of the enemy, far exceeding our own, and their dead were much more numerous than their wounded.

Col. Carnot Posey, who commanded Featherston’s brigade at Sharpsburg, was mentioned by Longstreet as among the most prominently distinguished of his division. His brigade suffered a loss of 44 killed and 260 wounded. As an instance of the experience of the Mississippi regiments in this desperate battle may be mentioned the Sixteenth, under Captain Feltus, which took 228 men into action and lost 144 in killed and wounded.

In November, 1862, the Second and Eleventh regiments were detached from Law’s brigade and ordered to Richmond.

At Fredericksburg, December 11th, Barksdale with his Mississippians occupied the town, and posting his men in rifle-pits, cellars, and behind any shelter that offered, repulsed nine desperate attempts of the enemy to complete their pontoon bridges over the Rappahannock river. They were finally driven from their position by a terrific cannonading.

The Seventeenth Mississippi, three companies of the Eighteenth and ten sharpshooters from the Thirteenth, were all the troops that were actually engaged defending the crossings in front of the city, there being no place for a greater number. The brigade made another stand on Princess Anne street, after the enemy entered the town.

This street-fighting continued until 7 p. m., when Barksdale was ordered back to the famous stone wall below Marye’s hill. Colonel Luse, with the Eighteenth, had held the enemy back, below the town, until 3:30 in the afternoon. The brigade was relieved at the stone wall by Cobb’s brigade and then took position in the general line. The loss of the Seventeenth at the river was 106 killed, wounded and missing. General McLaws in his report said: "The brigade of General Barksdale did