The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-09
TWO WAR STORIES.


poured vollcy after volley into their
ranks and they, too, jumped into the
crater. 1t continued much the same.
As the rcinfOrccmcntS Of the enemy
were brought up they would be sub
jcct to the same langcrs aud would
invariably junp into the crater until.
rs said before, 900 Federal troops
were in that crater, 100 feet long, 80
feet deep aud - feet wide, with Il
bank surrounding them ID feet high.
All organization was oblitcratc1, their
officer, had lost control Of them. and
they wcrc A. helpless rs 50 many cat
tie In thrir position tncy could not
retire They were hcnmcd in on three
sides by Elliott 5 men and Iia>kcll's $
batteries and could not advance. while
if they attempted to retire they would
be moved down like wheat before the
scythc by the batteries on the right
and left. Therefore they preferred to
surrender.
had the honor Of being the com
mandcr OF Il company in the 18th 5.
&. Y. aud was officer Of the day Of my
regiment on tho 10Th day Of July,
1864. The right Of my regiment rest
cd on the battery NBranch ) that was
bowed up and the whole right wing
was cnvclopcd, covered up with tim
bcrs. earth and debris Those Of US
who were not struck by flying timbcrs
emerged from the debris and attacked
the enemy at once. Being officer of
the day Of my regiment | deemed it
my duty TO assume the direction Of af-
fairs in my Immediate ncghborhood,
and if possible grasp the key of the
situation before it was too late
Thy AZ was 50 filled with smoke
and dust that VIC could not see ten
feet away, but was satisfied the enc
my were upon us. ordered the men
to fire over the brcastworks. | then,
with the assistance of Adjutant Sims
and Lieutenant Anderson, gathered us
many men as could be spared from the
left of the regiment, and with them
occupied a line Of works running
around the rear Of the battery, now
the crater. The dust and smoke were
still dense; in fact, we were cropping
in the dark. Suddclily We came in
contact with about 200 Of the enemy
They ordered us to surrender. In re-
ply we gave them the contents of oar
rifles. They returned the fire and
now hat the guns were al empty Il
hand to- hand fight cnsucd Swords,
bayoncts and the butts Of rifles were
freely used.
This lasted only for few moments,
however, for shell thrown from our
mortar battery in our rear fell among
us, bursting with crash. 1t hurled
Confcdcratcs and Fcderals right and
left, killing and wounding several,
and completely separating the contest
ing parties.
The Fcdcrals now dashed over into
tho crater, where they could fight
from cover, while we were unpro-
ted. We fell back to n cross-ditch
that mad been laid off and prepared by
our engineers to fight from in case Of
disaster. The fire from the crater was
very severe and wo retired, walking
backward, fighting as We fell back, the
officers using their pistols, while the
men used their rifles. Adjutant Sims
was mortally wounded and Lieutenant
Anderson and half the men with us
were killed before We reached the
ditch. The balance Of our regiment
had taken position in this ditch be-
fore VIC arrived under Capt. Bridges
Wo now received orders from Gen.
Elliott, through \. a. e. Evans, to
hold and fight from the cross ditch,
and only to fire when the enemy
showed themselves. Then Gen. FL
lott drew out the 26th S. G. V. from
the left Of the brigade aud made di-
rect charge on the enemy in the crater
but Elliott was shot down and his
men were drawn back.
Col. Smith then made another at
tempt to charge the crater with the
10Th 5. [. v, but Smith was wounded
and his brave men again driven back.
The enemy then hurled Fcrrcro $ div
ision of drunken negroes against our
left, and they did succeed in driving
back our left near the crater. So that
the line or ditch We occupied was en-
filadcd by their fire and we were com
pclled to fall back to another cross
ditch 100 feet to our rear.
Seeing us fall back the negroes
charged US, yelling, "No quarter: Re-
member Fort Pillow!' We gave them