Page:History of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry in the War Between the States.djvu/139

Rh As Lieutenant Ball advanced against a line of dismounted men who occupied a body of woods about two hundred yards in front of him a heavy fire of rifles from the right was concentrated upon his squadron. He was now ordered to form a line on the right of the road, and to charge into the small body of pines from which this fire came. The charge was promptly and beautifully made, the squadron dashing into the pines and up to a barricade too high to leap, behind which, and partly concealed by a young growth of pines, the enemy was in force. The flashes of rifles (it was now growing dark) revealed the fact that the enemy's line ran far to our left. The dismounted men of the Tenth and Thirteenth regiments were withdrawn. Ball was reforming his men under fire on the knoll from which he had made the charge, when he was ordered farther back. About twenty men retiring wounded, or with wounded horses, gave the appearance, as they filed past, of our having sustained a considerable loss. Private D. P. Slocum, of Company D, was mortally injured.

The enemy now advanced, showing in line a number of men quite double that of our own, and seemingly determined to force a passage at Sappony. The location here was admirable for defence. The meeting-house stood upon a narrow tongue or strip of land flanked on either side by a small stream, and the intervening ground not over five hundred yards wade, and passable by cavalry only at one or two points. It was past twilight when we reached the church-yard, and were ordered to dismount and occupy the road and ground to the left, between the two regiments already in line. Seizing upon rails, boards, the stalks of green corn, any and everything we could get hold of, the best barricade we could make was hastily thrown up. The Yankees were within two hundred and fifty yards of us, and a vigorous charge at this time would, by sheer weight of numbers, have carried our position, for we had no support in reach. Fortunately, they halted to form a barricade and to bring up their artillery.

In the dark their guns opened with shot and shell, riddling