ordered some distance to the right, to meet the enemy`s cavalry, which we soon dispersed. There we remained in position until dark, when the remainder of the brigade moved to our rear, and were ordered to connect with it on the right, where we remained until the morning of the 4th.

Both officers and men behaved with much coolness and gallantry, and many brave and good soldiers fell, a noble sacrifice to their country`s cause. The official list of casualties handed in will show the total of our casualties to be 87.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, &c.,

L. H. SCRUGGS,

Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Fourth Alabama Infantry.

Colonel [JAMES L.] SHEFFIELD,

Commanding Law`s Brigade.

Numbers 444. Report of Colonel William C. Oates, Fifteenth Alabama Infantry.

AUGUST 8, 1863.

SIR: I have the honor to report, in obedience to orders from brigade headquarters, the participation of my regiment in the battle near Gettysburg on the 2nd ultimo.

My regiment occupied the center of the brigade when the line of battle was formed. During the advance, the two regiments on my right were moved by the left flank across my rear, which threw me on the extreme4 right of the whole line. I encountered the enemy`s sharpshooters posted behind a stone fence, and sustained some loss thereby. It was here that Lieutenant Colonel Isaac B. Feagin, a most excellent and gallant officer, received a severe wound in the right knee, which caused him to lose his leg. Privates [A.] Kennedy, of Company B, and [William] Trimner, of Company G, were killed at this point, and Private [G. E.] Spencer, Company D, severely wounded.

After crossing the fence, I received an order from Brigadier-General Law to left-wheel my regiment and move in the direction of the heights upon my left, which order I failed to obey, for the reason that when I received it I was rapidly advancing up the mountain, and in my front I discovered a heavy force of the enemy. Besides this, there was great difficulty in accomplishing the maneuver at that moment, as the regiment on my left (Forty-seventh Alabama) was crowding me on the left, and running into my regiment, which had already created considerable confusion. In the event that I had obeyed the order, I should have come in contact with the regiment on my left, and also have exposed my right flank to an enfilading fire from the enemy. I therefore continued to press forward, my right passing over the top of the mountain, on the right of the line.

On reaching the foot of the mountain below, I found the enemy in heavy force, posted in rear of large rocks upon a slight elevation beyond a depression of some 300 yards in width between the base of the mountain and the open plain beyond. I engaged them, my right meeting the left of their line exactly. Here I lost several gallant officers and men.

After firing two or three rounds, I discovered that the enemy were