t intervals along the
entire line solitary shots were fired, as if intended for signal guns
of preparation. These were quickly followed by others, and in a few
moments there burst forth from the whole Confederate line a most
terrific fire of artillery. One hundred and twenty guns concentrated
their fire on that portion of Meade's position held by the Second
Division, Second Corps. Shell, round shot, Whitworth bolts, and
spherical case were flying over and exploding about us at the same
time. Almost every second ten of these missiles were in the air;
each, as it went speeding on its message of death, indicating its
form by a peculiar sound. The shrieking of shells, or the heavy thud
of round shot, were easily distinguished from the rotary whizzing of
the Whitworth bolt.

"When these agents of destruction commenced their horrid work, no
portion of the line, from the front to a point far in the rear of the
Taneytown Road, afforded any protection against their fury. Men who
had been struck while serving the guns and were limping towards the
hospital, were frequently wounded again before they had gone a
hundred yards.

"In spite of the ghastly forms of mangled men and horses, and in
spite of the dismantled guns, exploding limbers, and other scenes of
horror, produced by Lee's attack, the guns of Meade roared back their
defiance; while the infantry, powerless for the moment, rested on
their arms awaiting the bayonet charge they knew was sure to follow.

"Webb reports: 'By a quarter to three o'clock the enemy had silenced
the Rhode Island Battery, all the guns but one of Cushing's Battery,
and had plainly shown, by his concentration of fire on this and the
Third Brigade, that an important assault was to be expected. I had
sent, at two P. M., the Adjutant-General of the Brigade for two
batteries to replace Cushing's and Brown's. Just before the assault,
Captain Wheeler's First New York Artillery had got into position on
the left in the place occupied by the Rhode Island Battery, which
had retired with the loss of all its officers but one.'

"When the New York Battery arrived and went into action, Lieutenant
Cushing had but one of his guns left, and it was served by men of the
71st Regiment. The Lieutenant had been struck by a fragment of shell,
but