The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1896-05-09

S & and were ordered to charge the
q don't think it was 90 minutes.
anyway not 30, that out of 25 officers
in my line and about 400 men 10 Off
GERS were killed at the first blow, s
were wounded and gao odd men killed
and wounded All this was from bullets
fired from the stone wall. AT one in
slant tho captain of my color company,
marching at any right side, was killed,
my adjutant, on my left, was killed, and
as both fell dead at my feet was shot
through the side. AS my wound was
only i'll the flesh l went right on. My
loss in officers was never exceeded in IL
single battle but once in the whole war,
and that was in the storming of Wag-
ner-and, by the way, it occurred i'll a
Seventh regiment, too, the Seventh New
Hampshire. The Seventh New Hamp-
shire lost ii officers killed in front of
Wagnor's parapet, and lost 10 III front
of the stone wall at fredericksburg.
1T was the stone wall that slaugh-
tered us at Marye's Hill. We did not
know of its existence, or at least its ex-
act nature, but we knew that we had
an able enemy around and that the lay
of tho land offered good covering for his
soldiers to save themselves while pick
ing us off. You can judge what good
targets we made when tell You that in
the is regiments of Hancock's division
10 regimental commanders were shot
down and disabled in that brief hour.
Others, like myself, were hit, but kept
i'll the field. Our brigade of four regi-
ments went in with ZIG officers, and of
these GO were killed or wounded. TIE
commander, General Caldwell, was
wounded and turned the command over
to me. 1t was perhaps lucky that was
wounded that day and still more lucky
that l was able to stay in the fight and
take command of the brigade, for re-
ported 10 Hancock i'll person after the
fight and was complimented by him by
boIng ordered to take my command and
all others l could rally and hold the
railroad passes against an expected coun-
ter attack of the enemy. That attack
never came, by the way, and it is said
that Stonewall jackson disappointed
Lxae Mt that time because he wouldn't
attack us and drive us into the river
They could have done it MS we'll as not
However, they didn't try it, but l had Il
good line ready to pay them back for
the punishment we had received from
the stone WALL and got a brevetfo it.
That was my second brevet of the war;
But we are getting away from the
stone wall and its hot fight The bull
lets poured from the wall like hail be-
fore hurricane. The men behind the
wall were Cobb's Georgia legion, and
they did not fire shot at us until we
passed a rayine part way mp the slope,
which was a secondary dead line. Be
yond that ravine no line of organized
troops could live for an instant, but
some Of the bravest and luckiest men
passed on, and all the way for 100 yards
the bodies lay in groups and masses as
they were cut down in struggling for
ward. Then came another dead,line,
beyond which no man passed and lived
that day, but many passed and died
One of our officers fell dead within 80
PAGES of the wall.
This famous wall was shoulder high
and banked with earth on the outside
AS the bank was sodded, its surface,
looked at from distance, seemed to be
part of the terrace Of the hill. After the
repulse of the charges that preceded
ours the ground in front was choked
with bodies of the fallen so as to inn
pede our march. Still we pushed on.
and it is said that General Lee, watch
ing from the crest Of Marye's Hill, be.
came alarmed at our persistency. Gen
eral, he exclaimed to Longstreet, who
commanded at that point, they are