h is about seven miles from
Five Forks. On Friday morning, General Ayres took the advance with one
of its three divisions, and marched three-quarters of a mile beyond the
plank-road, through a woody country, following the road, but crossing
the ubiquitous Gravelly Run, till he struck the enemy in strong force a
mile and a half below White Oak road. They lay in the edge of a wood,
with a thick curtain of timber in their front, a battery of field-pieces
to the right, mounted in a bastioned earthwork, and on the left the
woods drew near, encircling a little farm-land and negro-buildings.
General Ayres's skirmish-line being fired upon, did not stand, but fell
back upon his main column, which advanced at the order. Straightway the
enemy charged headlong, while their battery opened a cross fire, and
their skirmishers on our left, creeping down through the woods, picked
us off in flank. They charged with a whole division, making their
memorable yell, and soon doubled up Ayres's line of battle, so that it
was forced in tolerable disorder back upon General Crawford, who
commanded the next division. Crawford's men do not seem to have
retrieved the character of their predecessors, but made a feint to go
in, and, falling by dozens beneath the murderous fire, gave up the
ground. Griffin's division, past which the fugitives ran, halted awhile
before taking the doubtful way; the whole corps was now back to the
Boydtown plank-road, and nothing had been done to anybody's credit
particularly.

General Griffin rode up to General Chamberlain in this extremity.
Chamberlain is a young and anxious officer, who resigned the
professorship of modern languages in Bowdoin College to embrace a
soldier's career. He had been wounded the day before, but was zealous to
try death again.

"Chamberlain," said Griffin, "can't you save the honor of the Fifth
corps?"

The young General formed his men at once,--they had tasted powder
before,--the One Hundred and eighty-fifth New York and the One Hundred
and ninety-eighth Pennsylvania. Down they went into the creek waist
deep, up the slope and into the clearing, muskets to the left of them,
muskets in front of them, cannon to the right of them; but their pace
was swift, like their resolve; many of them were cut down, yet they kept
ahead, and the Rebels, who seemed astonished at their own previous
success, drew off and gave up the field. Almost two hours had elapsed
between the loss and the recovery of the