Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/559

 Campaign of 18f^4 and 1865. 553

ing immediately in my front. I knew at once that the enemy was assaulting again, but as he had just been handsomely repulsed at that very point, I felt so sure that the result would be the same now that I did not even rise up from the ground. Major Willis F. Jones, my Adjutant-General, who was standing up near me and could see all that was going on so near us, suddenly said, very excitedly, " Gen- eral, they are breaking "; thinking he referred to the Yankees, I re- plied, "Well, I knew they would;" but he immediately exclaimed, "but, General, it's our men," and, jumping to my feet, I saw at a glance the most appalling, disheartening sight of my life. The brigade just before me — Girardy's Georgia — had, from some entirely inexplicable cause, given way without firing a shot hardly, and the brigade on its left, a North Carolina one, seeing this, immediately did the same, and, at the moment of my looking, both brigades were coming back in disordered squads, and the Yankees were jumping over the works they had just vacated in close pursuit, and cheering like all the wocld. Jumping on my horse in a moment, I dashed up the line to reach the left two brigades, which were now cut off, and which I wished to attack in flank, whilst with the rest of my dis- posable troops I met him in front. Though I rode parallel to, and not over fifty yards in front of the enemy for some distance, the mo- tion of my horse, and the great excitement of the enemy, made him miss me, though numerous shots were fired at me. But I could not reach the brigade on my left — the enemy were between us — had broken the army in two, and were pouring through the gap left by the two brigades which had broken.

These two brigades for a time at least seemed to dissolve, but they were afterwards rallied, and aided in restoring things, the North Carolina one particularly doing good service.

At this time not only the day but Richmond seemed to be gone. There were three roads (the New Market, Darbytown and Charles City) radiating from Fussell's mill and leading to Richmond. The enemy had possession of these roads, was fronting two of them in heavy masses, and with my left entirely cut off, I had not at hand a single regiment to oppose him. I felt that nothing but a miracle could save us. My own gallant division had never yet failed when called upon, and sending an order to General Gregg commanding it to bring me every available man he had, to leave only a skirmish line to hold his works, and to come quickly, in a few minutes this division had formed a line of battle f under cover of the forest) in the enemy's path; we advanced against the enemy, and after a hard