lf before he gave the order to the soldier on his left. The
crack of rifles began, and followed each other in rapid succession.
With the fourth discharge five men had fallen, including the foremost
of the two officers on the flank, whom Butters had brought down
himself.

Apparently not one of the sharpshooters missed his aim. They adopted
the method used in the battle on the hill, and kept behind the trees,
so that the enemy could see only the puff of smoke as each weapon was
discharged, and the men were out of sight, or nearly so. Not less than
twenty men had dropped, either killed or wounded. The sharpshooters
were Kentucky riflemen, whose fame had been celebrated in story and
song, and their weapon had been their plaything from their earliest
years.

Suddenly a hoarse command was heard; but its meaning could not be made
out till the men in column dropped upon the ground, and extended
themselves at full length, with their feet directed towards the woods.
At the same time another order was given nearer to the stream, and the
troopers in the water began to remount their horses. The men in the
meadow began to crawl back as hurriedly as possible to the brook. The
troopers hurried their horses as much as they could in the water, and
their progress was tolerably rapid.

The stream continued to extend at about an equal distance from the
forest. The men on the ground continued to drag themselves like snakes
on the sod of the meadow till they reached the water, and mounted their
horses; but not a few of them were shot in their progress, though their
position on the ground was not favorable to the aim of the riflemen.
Deck saw that the enemy would soon be out of the reach of the rifles if
they continued to follow the creek, and he ordered Butters to move his
men to the left.

Butters sent the command down the line from man to man till it reached
the thirtieth man, who led the file to the point. The riflemen
continued to fire as fast as they could load their weapons, but still
in the order designated at first. Butters at his first shot after the
change of position had brought down the lieutenant in command near the
head of the column; and he believed the captain of the company had been
the first to fall by the ball from his rifle on the meadow.

The men dropped rapidly under the fire of the concealed riflemen, and
an officer who had taken the place of the one near the head of the
column in the water was evidently appalled