Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/145

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Company A, Captain I hilanev, to the right, and Company B, Cap- tain ( irimslry, directly up tin- turnpike.

COMPANY B.

"Company B was first upon the enemy, and charged most gal lantly right through their lines, breaking them and throwing them into confusion. This company was supported by Company V. from the left, and Companies K and A on the right. The enemy was driven from this position, but soon reformed in an orchard on the right of the turnpike, where these companies again charged and put them to complete route.

"When the charge was commenced, their cavalry took to flight. The two pieces of artillery were abandoned and taken, and nearly the entire infantry force taken prisoners.

"Company D, Captain Richards, and Company I, Captain Row, came up in time to engage in the pursuit. The other companies of the 6th and 2d Regiments were prevented from coming in time to take part on account of the difficulty in crossing the bridge, which alone prevented their taking the most active part in the right.

"The officers and men engaged acted with the greatest intrepidity and courage, executing every order with promptness, and gained a complete victory over the enemy."

In his report of the fight at Winchester, after referring to the absence of the cavalry under Generals Ashby and George H. Steuart, and the failure of the latter to pursue the enemy promptly when or- dered to do so. on the ground that the order did not come through < k-neral Ewell, under whose immediate command he was, General Jackson says:

' ' There is good reason for believing that, had the cavalry played its part in this pursuit as well as the four companies under Colonel Flournoy two days before in the pursuit from Front Royal, but a small portion of Banks' army would have made its escape to the Potomac.

The reports of some of the subordinate Federal officers engaged in this fight are somewhat amusing, inasmuch as they estimate one attacking force all the way from 3,000 to 10,000 men, and one even says that we attacked them with these overwhelming numbers, carry- ing a black flag, and giving no quarter this in the face of the fact that no one ever saw a black flag in Virginia during the war, and of the further fact that we took alive about 700 prisoners, which shows