e first
section, under Lieutenant Graham, went immediately into action in front
of Hamilton's Crossing.

"In conjunction with Stuart's horse artillery it was our mission to meet
Burnside's movement against General Lee's right wing, resting on the
Rappahannock. With the exception of brief intervals, to let the guns
cool, we ceased firing only once during the entire day, and this was to
move about a hundred yards for a more effective position. Excepting the
few minutes this occupied, our guns and limber-chests remained in the
same position all day, the caissons plying steadily between the
ordnance-train and the battle line, to keep up the stock of ammunition.
I do not recall the number of casualties, but our losses were heavy.
When we came to make the change of position mentioned above, more than
half the horses were unable to take a single step. One of the drivers,
Fuller, was lying on the ground, his head toward the enemy. A shell
entered the crown of his head and exploded in his body! Not long after
this I heard some one calling me, and, looking back, I saw 'Doc'
Montgomery prostrate. I ran to him and, stooping at his side, began to
examine his wound. 'There is nothing you can do for me,' he said; 'I am
mortally wounded, and can live but a little while. Take a message for my
mother.' (His mother was a widow.) 'When the battle is over, write and
tell her how I died--at my post--like a man--and ready to give my life
for the cause. Now, Frazer, pray for me.' When the brief prayer was
ended I resumed my place at the gun. It was about this time, I think,
that Pelham came up and said, 'Well, you men stand killing better than
any I ever saw.' A little later, just after sunset, I received two
severe wounds myself, one of them disabling my right arm for life; and
so I had to commit brave 'Doc's' dying message for his mother to other
hands."

The third and fourth pieces, twenty-pound Parrott guns, were on the hill
west of the railroad, and there Lieutenant Baxter McCorkle, Randolph
Fairfax and Arthur Robinson were killed, and Edward Alexander lost an
arm. This section of the battery was exposed to a fire unsurpassed in
fierceness during the war. The ground, when it arrived, was already
strewn with dead horses and wrecked batteries, and two horses that were
standing, with holes in their heads through which daylight could be
seen, were instantly killed by other shots intended for our guns.

Captain Poague told me since, that th