Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/152

 146 Southern Historical Society Papers.

dashing and impetuous, but the enemy were at length repulsed with terrific slaughter. They were rallied, reformed and advanced three times, but did not succeed again in getting into our works. Colonel Sargent, mounted on a cream -colored horse, displayed great gallantry in rallying his broken regiment. It was of no use. The brave fellow and his horse were killed by a shell that tore the animal almost to pieces.

The enemy left all of their dead and many ol their wounded, and a great many arms and accoutrements on the field. Our troops buried two hundred and fifty-six of them and took one hundred and seven prisoners, forty of whom were wounded. The Confederate loss was thirty-six killed and sixty wounded. Among the killed were several gallant officers and some of our best men. I wish I could name them all, and offer a tribute to the memory of each one who, on that day,

" Gave to the roll of death his glorious name."

I rode over a part of the field after the battle and, notwithstanding the furious cannonading, I saw but two men and one horse killed by artillery. All the others seemed to have been killed by musket balls. An unusually large number were shot in the head, showing that our troops fired too high. (This was, as I afterwards found, a very com- mon mistake by the troops on both sides ) The enemy's wounded were carefully looked after by our surgeons.

The ambulance corps was not then well organized. We were obliged to send our wounded to the rear by details made upon the occasion. Company B was never very large, and it required all of them not disabled to carry their dead and wounded to the Field Infirmary.

June 77, 1862. To-day we were assigned to the command of Brigadier-General S. R. Gist. It was reported that he had been put in command of the east end of the entrenchments and that we would be moved nearer the city. Our pickets report as many of the enemy's unsepulchred dead on the west side of the Secessionville road as were left on the field. Some more of the enemy's dead left on the field were buried to day by the Confederates. The enemy were perfectly quiet all day.

June /#M.-^The enemy sent a flag of truce to inquire after their dead and wounded. A suspension of hostilities was agreed upon for the day to ^nable them to bury such of their dead as the Con- federates had not Already interred. Before the truce was out, a gun-