Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/188

 Official Reports of the Battle of Gettysburg. 187

First Texas Regiment in the engagement of Thursday, July 2d, 1863, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to-wit:

The regiment, together with the brigade, having been ordered forward to the attack about 4 o'clock P. M., continued to advance by the front for a distance exceeding half a mile; the Fourth Texas upon the right and the Third Arkansas upon the left, when company I, commanded by Lieutenant I. H. Wooters and thrown out as skirmishers, engaged the skirmishers of the enemy, driving them back upon a regiment supporting the enemy's battery, and then, aided by volunteers from this (First Texas) regiment, engaged the regiment and artillery, succeeded in driving back the regiment and silencing the enemy's guns, taking and holding possession of the latter. While this regiment was closely following our skirmishers and had reached to within about one hundred and twenty-five yards of the enemy's artillery, the Third Arkansas regiment, upon my left, became hotly engaged with a strong force of the enemy upon its front and left, and to preserve and protect its left flank, was forced to retire to a point some seventy five or one hundred yards to my rear and left, thus leaving my left flank uncovered and exposed, to pro- tect which I halted and threw out upon my left and rear company G, commanded by Lieutenant B. A. Campbell (some forty men) which soon engaged the enemy and drove them from their threatening position to my left and the front of the Third Arkansas. It was while in the execution of this order that Lieutenant Campbell, a brave and gallant officer, fell, pierced through the heart. Owing to the failure, as informed by Brigadier- General Robertson, of the troops that were assigned to the position on the left of this (Robert- son's) brigade to arrive promptly, neither this nor the Third Arkan- sas regiment were able to advance without advancing against a vastly superior force, and with the left flank of the Third Arkansas, protect- ing my left, exposed to attack. After the lapse of several minutes, Benning's brigade made its appearance, but instead of occupying the ground to the left of Robertson's brigade, so as to enable the latter to move forward with its left flank secured from attack, occu- pied the ground still occupied by a portion, at least, of this brigade (the Fifteenth Georgia regiment falling in and remaining with the First Texas regiment.) After several ineffectual efforts upon the part of both the commander of the Fifteenth Georgia and myself to separate the men of the two regiments, we gave the order to move forward, when both regiments thus commingled moved forward and occupied the crest of the hill some one hundred yards or more to the