ceived an order from the major-general commanding the corps to march immediately toward Gettysburg. The column was put in motion at once, and by noon had arrived at the position occupied by the First and Second Divisions of the corps, near the Gettysburg and Hanover turnpike. At 2 o'clock an order reached me to form my command at once, and proceed toward the left flank of our line, when my position would be indicated by a staff officer. The First Division of the corps, which I had been directed to follow, had taken a different road from that indicted to me. Under the guidance, however, of Captain Moore, an aide of the general commanding the army, who had come from the field for fresh troops, I pushed rapidly forward, and arrived in a short time upon the field, and reported to Major-General Sykes. I received orders at once to mass my troops upon the right of a road running through our line, near our left flank, and which, descending a rocky slope, crossed a low marshy ground in front to a wheat-field lying between two thick belts of woods beyond. The position occupied by our troops on the left was naturally a strong one. A rocky ridge, wooded at the top, extended along the left of our position, ending in a high hill, called the Round Top, whose sides, covered with timber, terminated abruptly in the plain below, while the entire ridge sloped toward a small stream that traversed the marshy ground in front. Beyond this lay two thick masses of timber, separated by a large wheat-field, and skirting this timber a low stone wall ran from right to left. The movement indicated had not been completed when I received a subsequent order to cross the road to the slope of the rocky ridge opposite the woods, and to cover the troops then engaged in front, should it become necessary for them to fall back. In carrying out this order, I received instructions to detach one brigade of my command, to go to the left of Barnes' division, on the crest of the ridge. The Third Brigade, under Colonel J. W. Fisher, was detailed, and moved at once. The firing in front was heavy and incessant. The enemy, concentrating his forces opposite the left of our line, was throwing them in heavy masses upon our troops, and was steadily advancing. Our troops in front, after a determined resistance, unable to withstand the force of the enemy, fell back, and some finally gave way. The plain to my front was covered with fugitives from all divisions, who rushed through my lines and along the road to the rear. Fragments of regiments came back in disorder, and without their arms, and for a moment all seemed lost. The enemy's skirmishers had reached the foot of the rocky ridge; his columns were following rapidly. My command was formed in two lines, the second massed on the first. The Sixth Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Ent, on the right, the First Regiment, Colonel Talley, on the left, and the Eleventh Regiment, of Fisher's brigade, under Colonel Jackson, in the center. The second line consisted of the First Rifles {Bucktails
, Colonel Taylor, and the Second Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Woodward. Colonel McCandless, the brigade commander, commanded the whole. Not a moment was to be lost. Uncovering our front, I ordered an immediate advance. The command advanced gallantly with loud cheers. Two well-directed volleys were delivered upon the advancing masses of the enemy, when the whole column charged at a run down the slope, driving the enemy back across the space beyond and