Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 28.djvu/220

 214 Southern Historical Society

some distance southwardly from the traverse at the end of covered way; (3d) that it was at this little arbor that he stood when, upon being informed by Hinton that Weisiger was ready to charge, he said: " Tell Colonel Weisiger to wait for an order from me or Cap- tain Girardey; " and (4th) that General Weisiger was not wounded immediately upon reaching the breastworks, but between n and 12 o'clock A. M. after the Georgia Brigade had made two unsuccess- ful charges, and upwards of two hours after the Virginia Brigade made its charge.

The statement of Judge Hinton is as follows:

"At the end of the covered way along which we passed to this ravine, and at the point at which it intersects with the ravine, was General Mahone, standing by a traverse, to which a horse was tied. Here he directed Colonel Weisiger, who was leading the brigade, to move up the ravine and prepare to charge. Colonel Weisiger promptly did as directed, and placed his brigade along the slope of the hill with his left resting some distance from the traverse referred to.

TO FIX BAYONETS.

' ' Colonel Weisiger, being now on the right of the line of battle, directed me to order the men to fix bayonets and lie down, and then to inform General Mahone that he was ready to charge. I did as directed, going along down the line and repeating the order to the regimental commanders, and adding that the men had better reserve their fire until they could see the whites of the enemy's eyes. When I reached General Mahone he had moved southwardly from the tra- verse, and was standing by a mortar under a little arbor about thirty steps from the left of our line. General Mahone, receiving Colonel Weisiger' s message, said: ' Tell Colonel Weisiger to wait for an or- der from me or Captain Girardey ' which I understood to mean an order from himself in person or delivered through Girardey.

"Soon after I reached the right of the line and delivered General Mahone' s response, Captain Girardey came to where Colonel Weis- iger and myself were standing. Just at this moment a magnificent looking Federal officer stepped out from our works, and, as we could perceive by his gesticulations, was calling upon his men to form line preparatory to a charge. The call was indifferently obeyed. Here and there a man would jump out from the works, but the great mass of the men in the trenches failed to respond. At this juncture Colonel Weisiger said to Girardey, ' Captain, had I not better go in