and saw that it could
poke its muzzle well over the dirt, and look around comfortably in every
direction; got some rails, and chocked her tight, so that she couldn't
run back. Then we got a lot of cartridges, and piled them down safely
behind the works, and in front of the guns, so that we could do very
rapid firing. Lieutenant Anderson called attention to the fact of these
pine woods, in front, which came up to within two or three hundred
yards, and that the enemy could get up very near us, under cover, before
they started to charge, and we would have to put in our work while they
were charging across the narrow open ground. "So," he said, "Have plenty
of 'canister' by your guns. Break loose some canisters from the powder,
so you can double-shot; you'll need it." We cannoneers had already
thought of this; the edge of that wood was in canister range, and we had
put little else but this short range missile in our pile; only a few
case-shots to make it lively for them in the woods before they came out,
and to follow them into the woods, when they were broken, and keep them
going. We were now all ready and waited for customers. They soon came!

It was still early in the morning, about five or six o'clock, and, as
yet, all was quiet in our front; we hadn't even seen a Federal soldier.
Suddenly! out of the woods to our right, just about five hundred yards
in front, appeared the heads of three heavy blue columns, about fifty
yards apart, marching across the open field toward our left. Here was
impudence! Infantry trying to cross our front! _That's_ the way it
seemed to strike our fellows. I don't know whether they knew our guns
were there, but we took it for an insult, and it was with a great deal
of personal feeling, we instantly jumped to our guns and loaded with
case-shot. Lieutenant Anderson said, "Wait till they get half way across
the field. You'll have more chance at them before they can get back
into those woods." We waited, and soon they were stretched out to the
middle of the field. It was a beautiful mark! Three, heavy well closed
up columns, fifty yards apart, on ground gently sloped upward from us,
lovely for ricochet shots,--with their flanks to us, and in easy range.
Dan McCarthy went up to Ned Stine, our acting gunner, who was very deaf,
and yelled in his ear, loud enough for the Federals to hear, "Ned, aim
at the nearest column, the ricochet pieces of shell will strike the
columns beyond." "All right," he bawl