Taking different positions during the morning, in the afternoon the brigade advanced, under orders, from the major-general commanding division, through a heavy fire of artillery, to a dense wood in close proximity of the enemy's position, where it lay for a time in reserve.

At about 5 o'clock it was ordered to take position in a jungle near the hill upon which the enemy was established and to the left of General Anderson's brigade, which it did in the following order: The Forty-eighth Georgia was on the right, the Third North Carolina, the Forty-fourth Georgia (about 170 men of which had rallied and been brought by Captain Beck and other officers),and the First North Carolina on the left, under Lieutenant-Colonel [William P.] Bynum, of the Second, who had been detached from the command of the First Regiment.

In obedience to the orders of General Hill I made a reconnaissance of the enemy's position, and found him immediately in our front in strong force, with a battery well advanced toward us and supported by strong lines of infantry. The number of his guns could only be judged of by the rapidity of his fire, owing to the nature of the country.

At about 6.30 or 7 o'clock an attack was made by the troops on our right, and we were, with the other brigades in advance, ordered by General Hill, to move forward at once and attack the enemy. Gordon's and Anderson's brigades were on my right, and the troops of the three mounted the hill in a gallant manner. At its brow our troops were met with a furious fire of shot, shell and musketry; officers and men fell fast, but they maintained their ground, opening and keeping up a sever fire upon the enemy in return, before which his advanced battery fell back and his troops wavered. He pressed hard upon our left however, and while moving his regiment to its support the gallant and accomplished Carolina Regiment, fell. Meanwhile Garland's and Colquitt's brigades had been advanced and made good the action on the right.

Darkness, however, was rapidly approaching and, not knowing the extent of the enemy's suffering, the troops fell back to the road near the brow of the hill; other portions withdrew to the cover of the rising ground, and the night coming on, there was much confusion from the loss of officers and the nature of the country. Dense, dark, and in many places marshy, observation could reach but a short distance, quick movement was impossible, and in the din of battle the voice could be heard but a few yards.

Fresh troops were ordered forward, and the troops of the brigade were collected in parties by such officers as they fell in with. A portion remained in the vicinity of the field during the night, and the remainder, with portions of other brigades of the division having been collected, were retired a short distance on the Charles City road. During the night the enemy fell away from the hardly contested field.

On Wednesday morning the brigade was reformed at the church in front of the battle-field and with the division, whence it marched a short distance, to the bivouac, at and near which it remained until the movement of the 9th to its present vicinity.

The movements and actions of the brigade under my command during the six days' operations of the army being but a constituent portion of those of the division and army, a more detailed report is believed unnecessary.

The aggregate force which entered into the series of engagements on June 26 was 2,366, including pioneers and the ambulance corps. Of this our loss has been 45 officers and 844 non-commissioned officers and privates in killed, wounded, and missing the latter class number