d wagons had now
passed. The enemy, too, was closing in upon us, and his fire was the
hottest. We moved off in good order; but our loss in killed and wounded
was quite heavy, considering the length of time we were under fire.

Among the killed was Lieutenant P. Marion Holmes of Charlestown, Mass.,
of whom it might well be said,

"He died as fathers wish their sons to die."

Lieutenant Holmes had been wounded at the battle of Blue Springs a
little more than a month before, and had made the march from Lenoir's
that morning with great difficulty. But he would not leave his men. On
his breast he wore the badge of the Bunker Hill Club, on which was
engraved the familiar line from Horace, which Warren quoted just before
the battle of Bunker Hill,--"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." In
the death of Lieutenant Holmes, the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts offered
its costliest sacrifice. Frank, courteous, manly, brave, he had won all
hearts, and his sudden removal from our companionship at that moment
will ever remind us of the great price with which that morning's success
was bought.

The enemy now manoeuvred to cut us off from the road, and pressed us
so hard that we were obliged to oblique to the left. Moving on the
double-quick, receiving an occasional volley, and barely escaping
capture, we at length emerged from the woods on the outskirts of the
little village of Campbell's Station. We were soon under cover of our
artillery, which General Potter, under the direction of General
Burnside, had placed in position on high ground just beyond the village.
This village is situated between two low ranges of hills, which are
nearly a mile apart. Across the intervening space, our infantry was
drawn up in a single line of battle, Ferrero's division of the Ninth
Corps held the right, White's division of the Twenty-third Corps held
the centre, and Hartranft's division of the Ninth Corps held the left.
Benjamin's, Buckley's, Getting's, and Van Schlein's batteries were on
the right of the road. Roemer's battery was on the left. The
Thirty-sixth Massachusetts supported Roemer.

The enemy, meanwhile, had disposed his forces for an attack on our
position. At noon he came out of the woods, just beyond the village, in
two lines of battle, with a line of skirmishers in front. The whole
field was open to our view. Benjamin and Roemer opened fire at once; and
so accurate was their range, that the Rebel lines were immediately
broken, and