Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/59

 Incidents of the Skirmish at Totopotomoy Creek. 53

When they got nearly to the brush, which lined the creek's banks, a well directed fire blazed all along our line of rifle-pits. Every man had taken dead aim, and almost the whole front rank of the enemy went down. The confusion among them was great. They struggled forward a few paces, only to receive another rattling volley, and then broke and ran back to the shelter of the pines, followed by the yells and cheers of our brave fellows. Again there was a lull in the firing, and we could distinctly hear the officers berating their men in the pines for giving away before a picket line. Oaths, and even sabre blows, could be plainly distinguished as the lines were reformed, and we knew we were to have it again very soon, and prepared for the tug of war which it was plain was now upon us.

"Forward! Forward! March!" were the orders we heard repeated from many voices along their concealed line, and then out of the thicket they burst. " Double-quick! " and down the hill they swept in a long trot, many, many times our numbers. When they reached the " dead line " we again poured a well directed fire into their ranks. Scores fell in their tracks, but they answered with another volley, a huzzah that went to our hearts, and plunged into the brush and through the creek; no stop now, and on our side they came, and now it was plain that the time when we "could not stand any longer and must retreat" had come. " Retreat! Retreat!" rang out along our long, thin line. The boys hustled out of their pits and away they scampered up the hill, pursued by the yelling enemy and volleys of ball. Many fell, but the others pressed on to the top of the hill, paused in our old breastworks to turn round and give them a parting volley and then pushed on again across the wide level towards the distant wood where our division lay by this time well entrenched. But now, as ill-luck would have it, danger appeared from a new direction. The enemy, under the cover of the piece of wood on our left, had sent a force around with a battery and flanked us, and had we been a few minutes later abandoning our position they would have been in our rear and bagged the whole force. As it was, they poured a galling fire into our flank, while the batteries from the hills in our late front, now our rear, opened on us to add to our discomfiture. Thus, admidst the whistle of minies, the bursting of shells and the whir of grape, we made our perilous way over the open fields. Our only chance was to make a show of resistance, by loading as we ran, facing about and firing back at our pursuing foe, while the thinness and irregularity of our line was in our favor, for it took a good shot to bring down one of our men, and we had a comparatively close