The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-05-25

.ne gallant Eighteenth, who extricated
themselves from the bank which covereG
.nem, came rushing down the trenches
an9 as many as could picked up guns
ana began firing. For conside sablf
!lme the firing was done entirely by The
infantry In a few minutes after the oy
plosion Major Colt, who commanded the
ID u ehecti7e artillery on our side. came
up TO see il any Of his guns vera unin.
Jured: AS soon as he could reach
mrights Battery of four guns, in the
faVine TO the rear of Ransom's BRIGADE
"hlch was at least half an hour after the
SAPio'lon, ne began to fire, aud shot ak
n'.hared balls into the divisions of Pot
ler, wilcox and Ferrero. which succeed.
ca Ledlie's Division. These guns were
Ihe only ones on our lines which. besides
enn!aolng the enemy at close range
our lines. ''' "'" P''' :"
MAJOR Gibbes, who had only one gun
on the right of the Confederate line
capable of enfilading the enemy. began
WIN this gun about one hour after The
explosion, and killed many of the enemy
One or two hours later Major Gibbes and
MAJOR Haskell moved their mortar bate.
ries and dropped nur,ber of balls in
the Crater and lines.
Ia niteen or twenty minutes after the
explosion Gen. Elliott came up thronoh
cue crowded ditch, followed by Col.
cmitn, OF the Twenty-sixth Regiment,
MIN MIN lew OF his men, and ordered the
i:."ehty-sixth and Seventeenth to form a
.ine on the crest Of the hill and charge
Tue Crater. He and few mea gallantIy
Jumped up on the crest Of the hill, about
htty y..fds of the Crater he pointed out
the line and was in less than FIVE minutes
shot down and brought back. The com
mand then devolved on your Colonel.
who countermandrd the order to form on
the crest of the hill, which was utterly
impracticable, and formed some of Inc
men in the bitches, which went to the
rear and commanded some yards in the
rear of the crater. Courier after courier
was sent to the division commander, and
one courier to the regiments on the right
OF the Crater. I ordered Col. Smith To
take his regiment, with three companies
OF tue Seventeenth, under Capt. Craw-
ford, (which then were larger than the
Iwenty.sixth Regiment) to form in the
ravlne In the rear of the Crater. and
cover up the gap, there to lie down and
TO rise up and fire when necessary. so as
10 prevent the enemy from rushing down
the hill and getting in the rear of our
lines. This order was promptly exc.
cuted, and gave the remainder of the
Seventeenth in the main trench more
room to use their guns.
The damage done-let the enemy tell.
Gen. Meade says the assault came prin
cipally from his right four lefty Of the
Crater. The enemy brought guns from
all points and threw shells into the
Crater. Gen. Potter began his move.
ment towards the crest, and was met by
another force of the enemy, and was
compelled to fall bnck.
Gen. Potter says: "The next fire saw
came from the right; there was battery
behind some timber, which it was very
difficult for our batteries to reach. or
dered my own batteries to turn their
whole attention to that one, but they
apparently produced no effect"
Many officers testified that repeated
assaults were made to secure the crest :;
some say they saw them make two dis.
tinct charges early in the morning, but
were repel!e1 by men who rose up in the
rayine. One fixes the number of these
men at 200, some as high as 500. These
men who repelled these charges were the
Seventeenth and part OF the Twenty
sixth.
The negroes, numbering 1900 muskets,
under Gen. Fcrrero, rushed to the mine
at s o'clock, and one distinct charge, as
alleged, occurred soon after. Some of
the officers allege their men got 200 Yards
towards the crest, which was 500 Yards
TO the rear, but this is clear mistake.
None ever advanced so yards beyond. for
watched their efforts with great anxiety
up to about Q o'clock, as 1 believed the
fate of Petersburg depended on it. The
officers frequently attempted to urge their
men forward, and some would rush across
few yards and then run back. Col.
Smith informed ME after the battle that
the enemy made charge, and upon his
men rising and pouring in volley they
did not make the attempt again. Capt.
Crawford, who commanded the detach-
ment of the Seventeenth, says the Fed.
eral officers succeeded in getting about
200 men, three different times, outside of
the Crater, and they never advanced
more than 80 yards before his men drove
them back.
We saw at one time fourteen beautiful
banners waving in the Crater, and gallant
officers trying to urge their men on in the
direction of Cemetery Hill. But all
efforts to reach this point, from the rear
of the Crater, failed hy o'clock; and
they then attempted to effect their pur-
poses by taking the lines north of the
Crater, which would secure them a
chance to reach the point Of their desti-
nation by the ravine which passed
through Ransom's lines. This, together
with the conformation of the ground
necessarily forced the burden of the bat
tie on the Confederate line north of the
Crater and in close proximity to it; and
especially on Elliott's brigade, the right
of Ransom's brigade, and the artillery
under the command of Maj. Colt.
The enemy, thus having changed their
tactics, would occasionally rush on our
right flank. We made barricAdes to op-
pose them. Then they would run down
the front of the line and jump over and
were met with the 5ayonet and clubbed
with the musket. Generally they were
repelled; occasionally they succeeded
and captured some men. Private Hoke,
of Company A, was thus cut off, and re-
fused to surrender, and struck down sew
eral of the enemy before he was bayon-
eted. Few battles could show more bay.
onet wounds than this.
After a severe hand to hand fight, die
putting every inch, and losing the gallant
Lieuts. Lowry, Pratt and Mcdowell, and
Capt. Dunovant, whose arm was shot off,
and many brave men, we were driven
down the hill to Ransom's brigade,
which at this time was pouring in an en-
filading fire.
The fourth division, in front of the
lines of Elliotts brigade, must have