ly delivered, for it passed over our heads,
not a man being hit, I think. The morning was lowering and misty and the
air very light, so that the smoke made by the rebel volley, not more
than fifty yards away, hung like a chalk line and indicated their exact
position. The sudden retirement of our lieutenant-colonel at this point
placed the command of the regiment on me, and I shouted to the men to
aim below that line of smoke and then gave the order, fire by battalion,
and we emptied our guns as one man, reloaded, and receiving no reply to
our volley, moved forward through the thick brush and undergrowth. We
soon came upon the rebel line, and a dreadful sight it was. The first
officer I saw was a rebel captain, an Irishman. He ejaculated, "We're
all killed! We're all killed!" and offered to surrender. The commanding
officer must have suffered the fate of his men. Most of them were either
killed or wounded. The hundred or so living promptly threw down their
arms, and Colonel Albright sent them to the rear under guard. This Irish
captain vouchsafed the remark sotto voce that he was glad to be
captured, that he'd been trying to get out of the d----n Confederacy for
a year. Our battalion volley had exactly reached its mark and had done
fearful execution. There must have been more than two hundred lying
there either dead or wounded, marking their line of battle. This was the
only instance in my war experience where we delivered a volley as a
battalion. The usual order of firing in line of battle is by "file,"
each man firing as rapidly as he can effectively, without regard to any
other man. The volley they had delivered at us was a battalion volley,
and it would have effectively disposed of our advance had it been well
delivered. Fortunately for us, it was not, and their smoke-line gave us
the opportunity to deliver a very effective counter-stroke. It had to be
quickly done, we were so close together. There was no time to meditate.
It was us or them. Instantly I resolved to give them all we could,
aiming well under their line of smoke, and take our chances with the
bayonet if necessary. The order was calmly given and the volley was
coolly delivered. I have never heard a better one. The value of coolness
in delivering and the effectiveness of such a volley were clearly
demonstrated in this instance.

We again moved forward, working our way through the tangled undergrowth,
and had gained probably five or six hundred yards when w