William Swinton, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac

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[352] made, it would be difficult to rally the men upon the new line. Yet this imposed obstinacy cost the terrible sacrifice of half his small division. What of its remains was collected on the original line was the debris of many regiments—hardly more than an ordinary battalion, though with many colors.¹ Three guns of one of its batteries had been left on the field, owing to its heavy losses in horses and cannoneers. And now the enemy began to surge against the base of the crest, and it became urgently necessary to form a bulwark of men to resist his oncoming. This was not an easy task, for the action, as it rolled on, had fully involved Sykes' corps on the left, and a large part of the Second Corps had been thrown in to aid the Third at different points, and was shockingly cut up.

With all that could be done the front was still only patched, and wherever the head of a column could be thrust through, the enemy was quick to do so. Thus Hancock, in riding along the line, suddenly met a force of the enemy, which having, unobserved, approached very close to the line, under cover of a fringe of undergrowth, was about to pass through an unprotected interval. Opportunely, the First Minnesota Regiment came up at this moment, and, making an exceedingly spirited charge, drove it back in disorder, capturing its colors. The line being, however, still incomplete, Stannard's brigade was brought up, and General Meade led forward in person a part of the Twelfth Corps, consisting of two regiments of Lockwood's Maryland brigade, which were placed further to the left. This was enough, for the enemy's efforts were now little more than the frantic sallies of an exhausted wrestler. A terrible price had been exacted for the success he had won: General Barksdale, the impetuous leader of the boldest attack, was mortally hurt, and lay within the Union lines, and many other Confederate officers were killed and wounded. When, therefore, Hancock ordered a counter-charge, the enemy easily gave way. This was made by the portions of the different corps that had come up to the assistance; and Humphreys'