Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/75

, was completely routed; and Beauregard had i^amcd tin- l>-,t fought battle of tlu- war. In boldness of conception and cxrmtion, ta< tical skill, thorough grasp of all the- conditions of the situation, and command of his fmvs conducted by him in person on the field, it was nnsur|>assrd hy any tiiidit on this continent; and hut for Whit- ing's moving from his position on the turnpike in Butler's rear, thus allowing him to escape without molestation to Bermuda Hundreds, it would have 'resulted in the capture of his entire army. It is diffi- cult now to understand how so many blunders could have been com- mitted at critical moments by Confederate generals in important commands, save that the hand of Fate had penned the decree of our defeat; but of all those which contributed to our downfall, that of Major-General Whiting, on the afternoon of May 16, 1864, was one of the most glaring and stupendous. Soon after the battle opened, the Twenty-fourth and Forty-ninth Regiments were ordered to the right flank of Hushrod Johnson's Brigade, on the right of the turn- pike facing towards Petersburg, and which was heavily engaged on the immediate right of our brigade. Moving at double-quick through thick woods, we came upon the enemy's first line of works, and drove them from it with great loss. Pursuing the foe, we ad- vanced to the attack of the second line under a very heavy fire in our front and a severe enfilade from our right. Quickly responding to the orders of Colonel W. J. Clarke, of the Twenty-fourth, and the movement of his own regiment, we turned to the right and drove the enemy from the position, which enabled the enfilade fire to harass us, capturing his colors, inflicting heavy loss upon him. Moving directly forward, we again attacked the second line of their works, and had nearly reached them, when we were ordered to fall back and reform our lines. This was done under shelter of a skirt of woods, and in a short time Major James T. Davis, Colonel Mc- Afee having been slightly wounded, and Lieutenant-Colonel Fleming having been left in command of the brigade skirmish line when we were moved to the right, gave the command to advance with Cap- tain Chambers' company deployed as skirmishers at an oblique angle to our right. In this attack, aided by the flanking movement from our left, the works in our front were readily taken. In these two charts of this day the Forty-ninth lost heavily in officers and men. When tlu- works had been taken, the dead body of Captain Ardrey was recovered. Besides the wounding of the Colonel, Lieutenants \\ . 1' Harnett, of Company F, and H. C. Conley, of Company A, killed. Captain ( i. W. Lytle, of Company A, was mortally