uld have been captured. As
soon as they could stand the Yankees off, they came to the railroad, and
we all went up the railroad to the next line of defense, abandoning that
line. The Yankees followed us up and fortified a position, and kept up a
fire on us all day and night during 14th and 15th. General Ransom was
wounded in the arm about 9 a. m. on 15th, standing in rear of Company F,
exposing himself, I thought, unnecessarily, in company with some other
officer. I was looking at him and expecting it when he was hit. Beauregard
had now come up from Charleston and gathered up eighteen or twenty
thousand men. Tradition says Jeff Davis told Beauregard to drive Butler
away from there; Beauregard said he could not take the responsibility with
the force he had.

Jeff Davis told Beauregard to drive Butler away from there. Beauregard
said he could not take the responsibility with the force he had. Jeff
Davis: "I will take the responsibility." Beauregard: "All right, then I'll
do the fighting." On the night of the 14th and 15th of May our Company F
was ordered out in the open field in front of our breastworks on picket or
vidette duty, and lay all night in the open field under fire from the
enemy's sharpshooters.

We did not return the fire, or they would have killed us all. As it was,
they could only guess at our position in the dark. The bullets were
striking the ground around us with a noise as if they were as large as
goose eggs. Mike Crowder was severely wounded while we were taking
position.

On Monday morning, 16th of May, a very dark, foggy morning, Hoke's
division, I think, with Barton's Virginia Brigade leading the charge,
assaulted Butler's right next the river, breaking his strongly fortified
line and capturing two thousand prisoners the first dash. Then pressing
his broken flank with a strong force and throwing regiment after regiment
against his front, carried the entire line by 10 a. m. Ransom's Brigade,
commanded by Col. Leroy McAfee, made a front attack west side of Turnpike
road, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Forty-ninth leading, supported by
Thirty-fifth and Fifty-sixth regiments. When our regiment got in the
enemy's earthworks their whole line was falling back. James S. Powell and
W. Cathey Wolfe, Company F, were wounded. We saw President Davis and
General Beauregard together on the field.

Our loss was three thousand killed and wounded. The Turnpike road, over
which the wounded were carried, was drenc