Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/26

 Gregg 's Brigade in the Second Battle of Manassas. 25

selves to retire in confusion. As they fell back, however, cheers told us of other and fresh troops advancing-.

The Federal reports of this battle are very curious reading to us, especially of this attack. General Schurz claims that Colonel Schim- melfenning not only got possession of the embankment on his right (our extreme left), but that he advanced beyond it. He admits that he fell back under heavy pressure, but he insists that he held the embankment.* Krzyzanowski's skirmishers had two mountain howitzers, from the effect of the fire of which, we are told, it was said the Confederates recoiled for a time, then he, too, advanced and gained the embankment which Schurz claims that he continued to hold until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.f Now, the earth from the excavation, over which all this fighting took place, made an em- bankment on each side, and if the Federals mean that they held their side and we held our side, I have no question to make with them. But they were the assailants. Their purpose was to dis- lodge us from our side before Longstreet came up, and if they did not do this, I do not see the cause of the exultation. We had no objection to their remaining there until Longstreet was ready to make his attack. But if they mean to say that they ever got posses- sion of the embankment on our side before Grover's attack in the afternoon, they say what you and I, my comrades, know is not so. I here say before you all, who were participants and witnesses, that Gregg's brigade never yielded a foot of ground until Kearney's attack late in the afternoon. Not even Grover's brilliant assault moved our brigade an inch.

But, as I was saying, as Schurz' s troops fell back from their attack, cheers in the distance told us of fresh troops advancing.

General Gordon tells us:

''It was now two o'clock. The fight again broke out in the centre; but the struggle there was carried on by the division of Heintzelman's corps, commanded by General Hooker, and by a brigade from Reno's division. The contest was maintained by a Federal line, of which Robinson was in command on the right, Hooker in the centre, and Milroy rampant generally on the left."

These were the troops whose cheers we heard when Schurz's divi- sion fell back, and the right of this assault on our centre lapped over until it struck our brigade, which was on the left. The attack was


 * Rebellion Records, volume XII, part 2, p. 298.

t Army of Virginia, Gordon, p. 259. \ Ibid, p. 262.