The enemy then charged our left with great spirit, driving us back 40 feet; but I strengthened the left, and we rallied and repulsed him, regaining our ground and driving him back out of the woods with great loss. The enemy then reformed, and was re-enforced by a regiment from his left. The distance between us at this time was about 150 yards. The advantage of position was about equal, except that the rebel battery on our right continued to throw shells into the woods, generally overshooting us, while the rebel battery on our left and front, which seemed to pay particular attention to Lilly's guns on the road, would drop a shell in front of or over our right wing occasionally. In this position we fought about half an hour. In the meantime, I sent Sergeant-Major Thompson to ask General Elliott (under whose immediate command I was placed early in the fight) to send a regiment to support my position, as I wanted to charge the rebel battery on our left, and he replied that he could send me no assistance.

When I learned this the enemy was pressing us very closely and was forming in line of battle diagonally to our right and front, as I thought, to charge us on the right, for the double purpose of flank-ing us on the right and taking Lilly's battery.

I knew if this movement of the enemy succeeded we, as a regiment, would be lost, because we had suffered severely in killed and wounded, and the men thought they had no support to fall back upon. So I determined to forestall the enemy and try his pluck with cold steel. For this purpose I ordered the regiment to cease firing, fix bayonets, and shoulder arms. I then told the boys what I wanted them to do to crown the victory so gallantly won. We then charged out of the woods, and charged bayonets at doublequick up the hill. The enemy preserved his line well until we got within about 100 yards of him; he then gave us a parting volley (by which I only lost 3 men), broke, and fled in great disorder to the left, through the corn-field, and along the road into the woods, and everywhere out of sight, sao much faster that we could run that when we reached the top of the hill in our front I ordered the men to halt and lie down; it was vain to pursue any farther, as the rebel artillery on our left had ceased firing as soon as they saw our bayonets, and limbered up and were in full gallop along the road when we reached the top of the hill. Besides I was afraid to venture too far from my position without orders, lest some unforeseen maneuver of the enemy should put it out of my power to regain it.

We therefore fell back after a few moments to our old position in the edge of the woods. During the whole fight a regiment of sharpshooters were hidden, or rather covered, by the bank of the railroad, about 300 yards to our right, and to them we attributed the most of our loss on the right wing. After returning to the edge of the woods we continued to fight the sharpshooters on the railroad on our right and the skirmishers still in the woods on our left until we were ordered to fall back by General Elliott, to support Lilly's battery on the hill in our rear. We fell back in splendid order, and here it gives me pleasure to speak of the uniform steadiness of every company, and of the regiment, as a whole, in all the movements performed during the trying hours we were under fire. After the regiment fell back to the hill we replenished our ammunition, and when the battery moved out to the chase we marched in support about 2 miles. Ninth closed in. The enemy had been completely routed by our brave comrades of other regiments ; the field and day were ours. Victory perched