, bursting of shells and the rattle of
muskets, with hissing and whistling of minie balls and battle-smoke
lowering down upon us. There were men dropping here and there and all
the horrid experiences of war. Still we kept on; there was a short turn
to the right and in single file we commenced ascending through a deep
ravine. Wading through water, stumbling over and under fallen trees, we
finally came to a pit about six feet deep; when we had gotten out of
that we were on the side of the hill where we had to prepare to make a
charge. It was a wicked place to charge. The nature of the ground was
such it was impossible to form in battle line, so to make the attack in
three columns over felled trees which were cris-crossed in every shape
imaginable. We waited here for a few moments with beating hearts,
waiting for the forward charge. The word came and with a terrifying
yell we rose to our feet and rushed forward. It was a terrible time,
when bounding over the last tree and crashing through some brush we
came out within a short distance of the enemy's entrenchments, and it
seemed as though a thousand rifles were cracking our doom. This fire
was too deadly for men to stand against. Our brave fellows, shot down
as fast as they could come up, were beaten back. Then occurred one of
those heroic deeds we sometimes read about. The colors of the One
Hundred and Fifty-ninth were left on the hill, their color sergeant
having been killed. Corporal Buckley of our regiment calmly worked back
in that terrific fire, picked up the dear old flag and brought it in,
turned to pick up his gun and was killed. He was a noble fellow and
much beloved in the regiment.

Resting here a short time, we made a second charge with the same deadly
results. Our regiment and the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth New York lost
80 men killed and wounded. It was a terrible position we were in.
Sharpshooters on the left picking us off; sharpshooters on right giving
it to us and the rifle pits in front. Here we had to stay till after 10
o'clock that night when the order came to fall back, which we did,
bringing off our wounded. I was so tired I fell asleep and barely woke
in time to get away. We had several killed and wounded in our regiment.
I will say here that our little company was not entirely dissolved at
this time though reduced to less than 20 men. Our colonel we missed
sadly, but earnestly hoped to welcome him back soon. Our regiment
numbered 162 men and eight