At dawn on the morning of the 6th the enemy, having been re-enforced
by the 9th army corps under Gen. Burnside, and a fresh division
commanded by Wadsworth, advanced.
The intervening space between the position now held by our brigade,
and the point at which we fought on the 5th, was occupied by our
(Hill's) corps camped in irregular order, and in no condition for an
assault; consequently, when the enemy made their advance and attacked,
these forces were thrown into confusion and driven back to the line
where our brigade had formed the night previous. After a severe
contest a portion of Heth's and Wilcox's divisions were overpowered
and forced to fall back; our brigade, under protection of our hastily
constructed earthworks, held its position. The condition of affairs
was now assuming a very critical phase, when Kershaw's brigade of
South Carolinians, of Longstreet's corps, arrived upon the scene and
for a short while arrested their further advance. The repulsed
portions of our divisions were in considerable disorder, and the
battle began to rage with intense fury.
General Lee, anxious and appreciating the impending crisis, rode up
with hat in hand, dashed among the men, and calling upon them to
rally, said he would lead the charge. The reins of his horse were
seized by the men and he was told he must go "to the rear," or they
would not go forward. Being evidently touched at this manifestation of
anxiety upon the part of his men the great, grand, and towering old
hero waved his hand and retired. In a few moments Anderson's gallant
Texas boys came up at a double-quick, deployed into line of battle,
and, with Longstreet at their head, went forward with a yell. Major
Webb, while standing on our works cheering, was severely wounded and
retired to the rear. In a short while the ground lost by our troops
was recovered, and the enemy forced back to the position originally
held by them. General Longstreet now took the defensive, and about
mid-day made an attack on their rear and left flank. The assault
resulted in their utter rout, and they were forced back some distance
in rear of the lines occupied by them on the 5th. So far, this
movement was a complete success, and Longstreet began preparations to
follow up his advantages with a flank movement by the Brock road.
While advancing at the head of Gen. Jenkins' brigade, a portion of his
flanking column, which had continued through the woods in the former
charge, mistaking the brigade for the enemy fired into them, killing
Gen. Jenkins, and seriously wounding Gen. Longstreet. This unfortunate
and strange fatality checked our forward movement, and afforded the
enemy time and opportunity to rally and reform behind their
entrenchments.
At dark we began to move slowly to the right, and after we had
proceeded about one mile a rebel yell, as if a rushing mighty wind,
rolled down upon us from the right of our lines. Our army now was in a
continuous line of battle, and the cheering was taken up spontaneously
by brigade after brigade until it swelled into one exulting roar of
defiance. At first it seemed like the soft murmuring of the wind in
the tree tops, and as it came nearer it made one vast tempest of
sound, and thus it swayed back and forth for some time. Its effect was
tragic in the extreme, and I readily recall the sensation it produced
upon all at the time. The enemy's pickets thought we were making a
grand charge and fled so precipitately to their main line that, as the
prisoners we captured the next day informed us, they were fired into
by their own men and many of them killed.
On the morning of the 7th an advance was made and Grant was found to
have retired from his line of works on his right. We had several
skirmishes, and desultory firing continued during the day.
He now attempted by a flank movement to secure possession of
Spottsylvania Court-House, and Warren's corps, of his advance guard,
marched out of the Wilderness by the Brock road. On his arrival at the
Po River, on the following day, he found in his path, ready to dispute
his passage, Gen. R. H. Anderson's division of Longstreet's corps.
Each army, now forming on its advance guard as a nucleus, swung round,
and on the 9th confronted each other in line of battle.
On our march on the 8th we were interrupted by several skirmishes, and
were frequently shelled by the enemy. In the evening we reached
Spottsylvania Court-House, and were placed in line, without regard to
alignment, a short distance to the left of the court-house building,
where we at once proceeded to fortify. We were moved afterwards to
different parts of the lines, but finally took our position not far
from where we first halted.