Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/327

 the right and the Third on the left. The Ninety-fourth Illinois infantry and a section of a Missouri battery crossed the river and opened fire on the enemy, but were soon compelled to retire before a heavy fire of artillery concentrated upon them by the Confederates. Opening a road through the woods half a mile away to divert attention of the enemy and draw their fire, General Herron, now under cover of the fire of eighteen pieces of artillery, threw his infantry across the ford and deployed into line on the south side of the river. The artillery opened on both sides of the river. The artillery opened on both sides with increased energy and for an hour the steady roar of cannon continued. Many of the enemy’s batteries were disabled and General Herron firmly holding his ground determined to assault the Confederate lines on the protected ridge, trusting that General Blunt, hearing the roar of artillery, would hasten to his aid. He realized the danger that confronted his little army facing a foe whose numbers exceeded his own more than three to one. With a river in his rear, on an open plain, he kept the enemy in check by the skillful handling of his artillery which poured a constant storm of missiles into the Confederate lines. At length a strong force was seen moving from the ridge to charge on our left. Colonel Orm’s Brigade was sent to was sent to meet the assault, while the First Brigade, under Colonel Bertram, charged directly upon the enemy’s right center. The batteries supported by the Nineteenth and Twentieth Wisconsin advanced over the open ground, hurling shell and canister into the woods in front. Their ranks were thinned by a battery on the hill and a continuous fire of musketry as they moved steadily on to the assault. When within a hundred yards of the hill the artillery halted, and with fixed bayonets the two regiments captured the guns and moved steadily on to the assault. When within a hundred yards of the hill the artillery halted, and with fixed bayonets the two regiments charged up the hill, drove the support from the battery, captured the guns and moved on. Colonel McFarland, who was leading the Nineteenth Iowa in this desperate charge, was pierced through the heart while cheering his men to deeds of valor, his manly form being a conspicuous