Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 25.djvu/17

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h.t/.tnl of trusting its drli-iiM- .i^.iin to so small a force. He imme- diately reinforced us by sending the 26th and 34th of our command, still retaining the 59th and a portion of the 34th, west of the Appo- mattox; and this ami some increase of the local forces, increased our effective force to just 2,200 men of all arms. This force could not in a thin skirmish line reach from battery No. i below the city to tlu- plank road. The 46th and 26th were posted on the left from battery No. I to battery No. 6; tho 34th from battery No. 14 in tin- centre-, and tlu- Georgia battalion and the militia and irregular forces on the extreme right. Whilst in this position, the enemy number- ing 22,200, including Hincks' corps of colored troops, commanded by (Wm. F.) " Baldy " Smith, advanced from City Point and Cobbs, at 3:30 o'clock A. M., and attacked Graham's battery and some of Dearing's cavalry below our line on the river road, by 8 A. M.., on the 1 5th of June, 1864, and advanced in a body upon our left, from No. i to No. 5 where the worst constructed line of the war made a sharp salient angle, leaving the most commanding ground outside of our line in front. The battle was pressed hard upon the left until about i P. M., without making an impression, but our whole force had to be closed to the left, and at that hour a portion of the enemy deployed and advanced upon our centre, in front of the 34th with about 5,000 men, and took our rifle pits. The 34th charged and' drove them out. Again the enemy retook the pits and were again driven out; and when they advanced the third time upon the pits, the whole regiment leapt the parapets and gloriously repulsed them. All this time the enemy was engaging the left, and this caused us necessarily to close upon the left and centre, and made a gap from battery 6 to battery 8, through which about 3,000 entered upon the right flank of the left and captured from battery 3 to battery 8 inclu- sive. We immediately closed upon the inner line from battery 2 to battery 14, and continued the struggle until 10:30 P. M., when we were reinforced by our 59th regiment and by (Johnson) Hagood's South Carolina brigade; the other reinforcements coming up before the morning of i6th. By daybreak that morning we opened with Bogg's battery upon the' enemy, and the fight was continued that day until about eleven o'clock at night. Bushrod R. Johnson's old brigade was on a hill on our extreme right, and between it and our 26th regiment the space was not filled by any troops whatever. Colonel Page was there in command of our brigade, General Wise being in command of the District. The latter however was on the ground with Page all the day of the i6th and parted with him at n