The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-02

two divisions and tive battAnons or ar
 tillery surroundins tns sown ,n,1S hr 2. eam; ssc
 he did not try to capture the town but
 kept the enemy oooped up in it until
 he could have the country foraSed out
 and the supplies ostsinsa Tor ,hs. ,ne Con C"
 until he failed to jeln Lee until after
 the battle of Chancellorsville was fought though repeatedly ordered to do %.
 wth SSs s'U ss sn a1ssn' vss o
 sesnefinas on the sd suSPM of Nay Lonsstrest who had
 been informed of the impending battles
 of ChancellorsviIle between Hooker snd
 been repeatedly ordered for three days
 to the support of the latter, finally moved.
 The troops were put on forced march
 and the old dilapidated railroad when
 reached beyond Black River was used as
 an cid. We hurried through Petersburg
 and Richmond, but before we reached
 Frederick Hall we heard that the battle
 was over. that Hooker's army was on
 the north side of the Rappahannock. and
 that "Stonswalr' Jackson was mortally wounded and dying. We who had served under him felt that his loss was more ire parable than the loss to our cause of 20,000 men. While here Colonel Perry's two companies, having been exchanged at City Point, rejoined their regiment. The Pennsylvania campaign was the next
 great movement made by the army of
 
 tie of Gettysburg and on the End day of July, Colonel Perry commanded his
 regiment in the assault made upon
 Round-top Mountains and of which Long,
 after the war, that the Divisions of Hood
 and McLaws' did the best three hours
 fighting ever done by N.0co men on any
 field in the history of warfare The Ath
 Brigade of Alabamians. behaved nobly
 and sustained heavy losses. Col. Perry
 went gallantly through the Ire with his
 men until overcome by heat and exhaus-
 ton.
 Years after the great battle General
 Perry wrote in his happy. horid style,
 the following account of the part which
 he and his regiment took In 1t and es-
 gecialiy. in the stormins of The Devirs
 to directions and distances. but consid-
 ering the fact that he never visited the
 field after the war his recollection of 1t
 was remarkably clear. His account is
 'H's"Ss HE FIFE DEVILS DEN.
 Three or four miles south of Gettys-
 burg. Pa. is wild. rocky labyrinth.
 which. from its weird. uncanny features:
 the vinicity "The Devifs Den" The
 fierce conflict which was waged within
 and around 1t on the evening of the End
 of July. 1883, has rendered 1t historic. high, are thrown together in confusion over a considerable area. and yet so dis
 posed as to leave everywhere among them winding passages carpeted with moss. Many of It's recesses are never visited by the sunshine, and a cavernous coolness pervades the air within 1t. A short distance to the east. the frown- ing bastiens of Little Round Top rise 200 feet above the ieyel of the plain, An nab aS- itself buttressed with rocks.l constitutes tha wsssern Boundary of this strange fornati ton. On the south of The Den Is an open space less than a hundred yards wide. and then begins a forest. which extends to, and covers, large hill known as Big Round Top. Toward the west, c narrow valley of cultivated land lying
 between: Is Seminary Ridge: ss. on on which nn the Upon the position I have described rested the left of the Federal line when the battle of the End of July began. The
 rocks were filled with infantry. and on the adjacent elevation were three pieces of artillery.
 The storning and capture of this form idable position by the Southern troops was the opening act of the bloody drama of Gettysburg. The unexpected encounter of the advance corps of the two armies the evening before being the prologue. Three bodies of troops have laid claim to the honor of the achievement: Ben ning's Brigade of Georsians. the 4th Texas Regiment of Robertson's Brigade. and the 44th Alabama Regiment of Law s Brigade. The Commissioners of the Get tysburg National Military Park. unable or unwilling to discriminate. seem to have settled the dispute by dividing the honor among the claimants.
 As the commander of the body of troops last named, even at the risk of incurrfng precisely what occurred, as I saw and understood it at the time. and remember 1t now. I do so for the sake of the truth of history. and as an act of justice to a rF Nf,ak an nry t1~ true soldiership. had few superiors in the Army of Northern Virginia. Laws Brigade arrived on the battle field during the afternoon of the End of July after a forced march of twenty-two miles. tt ther made with the cotps a tedious march of three or four miles in circuit. to gain the point on the ex- treme right from which the attack was of battle on the crest of Seminary Ridge. facing about due east, and fronting the | two Round Top hills. The other brig ades of Hoods Division formed on its loft. The view was imposing, Little Round | Top, crowned with artillery, resembled | volcano in eruption while the hillock near The Devils Den. the distance be- | perspective. appeared as a secondary | crater near its base. It was evident that formidable task was before us The regimental commanders were or I
 misfortune. They should have remained | mounted. at least, until the rugged | ground beyond the valley was reached. | Three out of five, believe. were pros- l trated keiore the battle closed.
 The Brigade. as soon as Its formation | was co,npieteo, moved steadily down the slope. into the valley. When near the
 middle of .te valley, received an order ! to cao,u~e tho battery at 'The Devils
 Den" Of" course the name and the na- | ture of the place was then unknown It | was perhaps 200 yards to the left Of the | line on which we were advancing. TO l execute the order, 1t was necessary to | swing loose from the brigade. change l direction, and move upon the position l without support on either flank. at | once resolved to make the attack from
 the woods south of the battery. My l Regiment, which was near the center.
 having been disengaged from the advanc- | ing line by a short halt. was thrown l to the left of the Brigade by an oblique 1 march. It then moved directly forward until the edge of the woods was reached. 1 Here 1t wheeled so as to face to the
 north and at once moved upon the point | of attack.
 The enemy were as invisible to us as
 battery of artillery of course implied the
 presence of a strong supporting force Of | infantry. Of its strength. its position, l and the nature of its defenses. we were
 in total ignorance. We were soon to 1 learn.
 As the line emerged from the woods | into the open space mentioned above, a | sheet of flame burst from the rocks less | than fifty yards away. A few scattering l shots in the beginning gave warning in | time for my men to fall flat. and thus | largely to escape the effect of the main