The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-02-05

luE IdctS -
4 felt confident that if the enemy coul
long maintain his aivan ed position on
centre would give way
Gen. Johnston. evidently impressed wit
the gravity Of the situation, exclaIme II
"a loud. earnest vuice-''TI Just hni thre
''reqtmeats .i--.Jusf three repimentSf
Il looked 10 the rear through the opet
field. and said Here they are. General
'He took "a haSty glance To the rear an,
SAID, They are too far off | wan, then
now. The nearest of the regiments wa:
Wv thin less than a quarter OF a mile. tn,
men bending Onward. marching up hill a.
fast as possible. They passed 30 or II
yards to the left and entered the pines.
moving by the flank, directly roward'
Ricketts, battery. With
IN ID minutes or less after Fishers regi-
"ment passed out OF view. suddenly the
crash Of musketry redoubled in volume and
that battery became silent. 1t did not fire
another gun that day
1t has before been said the Southern army
on that famous Sunday was a mere mob.
wherein each company and regiment Tough,
on its own hook While this may not have
been true of all brigades, it was true of a
large portion as y illustrated by the action
Of Kirby Smith in quitting the cars, to run
across the fields, to get into the battle, with
out going on to Manassas as ordered and
also in this instance of the 9th reglnlaAt hur-
| rying forward without guide. or order, and
by accident getting III precRely at the right
| place.
His horse having been wounded Lear the
Lewis House, Col. Fisher marched on loot at
the head of his men, armed with "a rifle, and
| pistols. Perhaps a little nettled by a sug-
| gestion that as he was not familiar with
tactics, Lt.-Col. Lighttoot "a former instruc-
tor in a military academy be allowed to
form the regiment In line OF battle, he re-
piled briefly that he intended to command
that day himself; and without pausing to
deploy the regiment he marched straight
through the woods towards the foe. To un-
derstand the situation it is we'll to remember
that the Henry House plateau slopes down
on three sides, of its ~paralelogram, to small
water courses which enter Bull Run half a
mile South of Stone Bridge. These slopes
are ~irregularly cut up by ~ravines, and clumps
Of stunted cedars, or pines. Ricketts, bat
terry had taken position at the Southwest
corner of the plateau, at the extreme right
of the Federal line Gas then developed, } and
beyond our left, which was composed of the
49th Virginia regiment, supported by a por-
ton of the End Mississippi.
Col. Fisher marched up the hollow, pass
ing around the rim Of the plateau, and sud
denly found himself directly under, that is
| to say about 40 yards to the left of the bat
terry, whose shells were making SO much
mischief! Fire on the batteryr'-he cried,
at the same time discharging his own piece.
The regiment being strung Out, I'm column
offours.' only three or four companies were
in a position to see the enemy but these
poured in a volley which cut down the can
%noniers before they could wheel their pieces
| 70 f,oo this Rohol nr1pfIOn RJctntt'S hh-
ing wounded, and Lieut.. Ramsey killed.
| AS the men started to reload, Capt. Isaac
| Avery shouted I'VE ought to charge
| w%hereupon Col. Fisher cried yes, come
on! Well charge the battery!' There
was an hasty rush forward, headed by Free
lands Durham company the pieces were
taken and Lieut.. Willie =. Mangum was
shot while stopping to pick up the trail Of
one gun to turn it on the foes At this mo
ment the New York Fire Zouaves,
and a Massachusetts, regiment, who were
TO the right and rear of the battery poured
a voiley into the Sixth, which had become
badly '.jumbled,' by the rush OF the rear
companies to get into the fight. At the
Obliuue fire at the Zouaves, which caused
the cry among the Carolinians that they
were being tired upon by friends Col
Fisher ran forward some twenty rods to gel
a clearer view Of the situation. and o,
emerging from a clump OF stunted cedar
received a ball in the brain!
The regiment fell back into %ravine, and
lay for some time inactive, until Cash 5, ano
kershaws, South CaroIinians came around
on the left, forming a junction with the
right Of Elzy's brigade, just from the cars
whereupon Col. Lightioot and Maj. Webb
led the available portion of the regiment IL
H.
ed, the Federals, across Bull Run.
Before proceeding with the narrative o
the battle. it may be admissible to mentor
that Col. Fishers untimely fall aroused
widespread regret in the State and in tht
Simultaneously. The funeral cortege wa:
received at Richmond, at Petersburg, a
Raleigh, and lesser points by a formal turn
out Of all the local military and civic au
thorities. together with vast assemblages 0
the people. Flags were placed at half.mas
along the route; and at Salisbury the depo
and many other buildings were draped II