the One hundredth Pennsylvania, Major David A. Leckey commanding, and the Forty-sixth New York, Colonel Rudolph Rosa commanding, being in support. A storming party, consisting of Companies C and F, commanded by Capts. Ralph Ely and Richard N. Doyle, of the Eighth Michigan Regiment, was in the advance, followed by Company E, Serrell's Engineers, Captain Alfred F. Sears commanding. Four guns of the Connecticut Light Battery, Captain A. P. Rockwell commanding, followed the First Brigade, and Company H, First Massachusetts Cavalry, Captain L. M. Sargent commanding, followed in rear.

The strictest orders were given to maintain the most perfect silence; for each regiment to follow the preceding regiment within supporting distance, and to rely exclusively upon the bayonet n encountering the enemy, restoring to firing only in case of manifest necessity.

At the break of day, or about 4 o'clock, it being a dark and cloudy morning, the entire command was in motion. My aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Benjamin R. Lyons, with a negro guide, was at the head of the storming column. My aide-de-camp, Captain W. T. Lusk, guided the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts. The command pushed forward, surprised and captured the pickets at the house occupied by them, entered the fields beyond, and as they came within the effective by them, entered the fields beyond, and as they came within the effective range of grappa and musketry pushed forward into line of battle, and the entire Eighth Michigan Regiment, at about 100 yards from the enemy's works, the main body being preceded only about 40 feet by the two storming companies, received his fire of grape, musketry, and canister.

At this period of time the entire three regiments of Fenton had passed the hedge some 500 yards from the enemy's works, and I was engaged in directing the attacking and supporting force of Colonel Leasure. They were ordered to keep to the left and push up to the work, regiment following regiment, as in the case of Colonel Fenton. Up to this period not a shot had been fired, although 5 men of the Eighth Michigan had been wounded by the pickets, who were surprised and captured.

The firing now became general and continuous in front. The advance of the Eighth Michigan was on the parapet. The light battery of Rockwell's was immediately pushed to the front, and took its position at the second hedge, and the Highlanders, led by Morrison, seeing the hot fire to which the Eighth Michigan was exposed, pushed forward at the double-quick, and moving from the left to the right of the field entered a narrow opening, gained the parapet to the right of the point reached by the Eighth Michigan, and shot down the enemy whilst serving the guns.

The front on which the attack was made was narrow, not over 200 yards in extent, stretching from the march on the one side to the marsh on the other. It was at the saddle of the peninsula, the ground narrowing very suddenly at this point from our advance. On either hand were bushes on the edge of the marsh for some little distance. The whole space at the saddle was occupied by the enemy's work, impracticable abatis on either hand, with carefully prepared torus de-loup on our left and in front a ditch 7 feet deep, with a parapet of hard-packed earth, having a relief of some 9 feet above the general surface of the ground. On the fort were mounted six guns, covering the field of our approach. The whole interior of the work was swept by fire from the rifle pits and defenses in the rear, and the flanks of the work itself and the bushes lining the marsh on either hand were under the fire of riflemen and sharpshooters stationed in the woods and defenses lying between the work and the village of Secessionville.