Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1862-08-07
ood 2fIere aszanother dilemma. =

Gu. lHt urueEsWaS Stfou' w SuaiSo'' Htua
q, a,cheer our boys sdashsd across the open
field. The old story Z spattering of mus;
kerry, scores Of dead and wounded on both
sides; batda swept triumphant charge,
bearing down everything in. its path
The woods Msrssnleared, tsand the, enemy
routed for q quarter Of a mile fastening
back, our two regiments&erossed the Will;
liamsbarg road again, and q single regit1,
menthaving come up, as reinforcement,
the skirmishers3Rera called ih2 and q line
formed on the: left Of the Williamsburg
road and obliquely to lit, so as to- face the
enemy as he approached fromlEabeye, and
also any troops who might be raliedsin the
woods Just attached, and advanced from!
that position. I should say here that pre-;
vious to this we. had captaredsa cannon and
two caissons on tie Williamsburg road,
which we're successful Withdrawn. ~ s.. :
The enemy were now heard coming with
a cheer, and an aoficer reported that they
were on the double quick; lt'4ytea eOeu
meet them at The double quicis," said Jen-
kins. The Boys silently and Significantly
sfxed bayonets the regiments moved on
until they reached the crest Of q hill: =
Woods and swamp we're Immediately IN
front, and the Federals we're less than a
hundred yards distant Fire was opened:
As yet, however, With Title result to us:--
Our men being protected The Federalls
Thought to make an ASSAULT aud advanced
for the purpose. THE moment this was
discovered the order rang along our lines,
cup, boys and meet them-now's your
time" The Paimettos aud Sixth South
Carolina arose from their kdees, in which
position they had fred once d twice over
the crest of the hill, and. from this period
there was the old steady movement forward
not fast, butfrm, deliberate, loading and
firing as they went on. Ny infurulant ra,
marked that he had neversesn acooler sci
Of men or more determined bnap@uvre ID
his life. The enemy did not yield readily,
for they outnumbered us three to one, and
the antagonists approached each other until
they were within thirty yards. : BY tbit
time We had crossed the swamp, our troop:
dragging themselves through: mud and va,
ter waist deep. Here again we lost heavi,
ly, but no man there thought of death OF
retreat. The two regiments having ctossed
the ravine, now redoubleds fire, Still advau
cling, and it was not long before a potion
Of the Federal lines were observed to be il
disorder. Ten minutes more and che DAY
was ours. The. cheers Of our victoriou:
boys following the routed Yankees asthe,
scattered in every direction for more thar, !, :
mile. .... ,s:rlsS
The fifth South Carolina Regiment has
meanwhile arrived upon the ground from
whence our last start was made, just ip TIM
to whip the rallied enemy whohad emerget
from the woods on the right ofthe Viii
liamsburg road, and but for this proyiden
tial interference would have attacked Us il
the rear. The battle was now closed,
being nearly eight o'clock, P. M. ~
The results of tie glorious achievement
may be briefly summed up. The Palmett
Sharp Shooters, out of 600 men, lost il
killed and wounded 242.s The casualtie
of the 9th Regiment bave forgotten'-
We had fought the enemy steadily fol, owe
five hours, and driven him from seven dii
I ferept positions where be was strongly post
ed. In two of Colonel Jenkins color con-
panies, forty out of eighty men were kilIe
and wounded, and out of the eleven gallan
fellows who constituted the color guard te
were shot down: The flag itself wa
pierced by nine balls. - '..'. ~ Z,
I may here remark, par parent1es's, thha
it was fully demonstrated in this battle tha
officers on horseback invariably suffere.
more than when on foot. President ,DaVi
has accordingly made the suggestion, tina
hefeafter Colonels and subordinate officer
shall not enter an engagement mounted
The injury to flags is pretty good evidenc
of the correctness of the Preside initial judg
ment. ''''.~'.
Among the incidents I have heard rels
ted is one concerning the company Of Capt
Cololough. With only forty-seven men, h
captured one captain, five lieutenants, an
one hundred and thirty. three privates, wit
Enfield rifles in their hands. Some on
1 Joking the Yankee officers about the dis
crepancy of numbers, the latter replied, b
"didn't care so much about being taken.
, prisoner, but to have it done by such
darned contemplate little squad, was q
nough to make man mad" He suggest
ed thereupon that we should return ther
their arms and let them fight it out. "Tha
wouldn't be fair" was the reply, but II
tell you what we will do,-we'll all tax
turns, man for man, and give your one hun
dred and thirty fellers the best off han
licking at fis ticuff you ever read about
The officer turned away from this barbarou
proposition in disgust, thinking doubles
that we were little better than tribe 0
wild Pategouians. *. .>.....
Altogether we captured about two hun
{ dred and fifty prisoners. Had we more tim
or troops, we might have treblcd the number
AS it was, many were admitted through GU
lines who had lain down their arms an
started for our rear.
As an evidence of the spirit of the men
it is related that four consecutive times tn
f colors of jenkins Regiment were sho
down and caught up before they touche
the ground. The fifth bearer was likewls
! fshot, but he held fast to the flag refusing t
give it up, until a second shot struck hin