[231]
28,000 infantry in hand.
Richmond Address.
The willingness of the great Confederate commander to do battle against such odds is an enduring tribute to the fighting qualities of his followers.
In
General Ewell's corps were these
North Carolina troops:
Daniel's brigade, composed of the Thirty-second,
Colonel Brabble; Forty-fifth,
Colonel Boyd; Fifty-third,
Colonel Owens, and Second battalion,
Major Hancock;
Ramseur's brigade, made up of the Second,
Colonel Cox; the Fourth, .
Colonel Grimes; the Fourteenth,
Colonel Bennett, and the Thirtieth,
Colonel Parker;
Johnston's brigade (absent the first day), constituted as follows: Fifth,
Colonel Garrett; Twelfth,
Colonel Coleman; Twentieth,
Colonel Toon; Twenty-third,
Colonel Blacknall; and the First,
Colonel Brown, and Third,
Colonel Thruston, in
Steuart's brigade.
Ewell's battle of the 5th was entirely distinct from
Hill's fight of the same day. As
Ewell advanced—
Jones' brigade in front, followed by
Battle's and
Doles' on
Battle's right—
Griffin's division of
Warren's corps, composed of the brigades of
Ayres,
Bartlett and
Barnes, fell upon
Jones and drove him back.
Jones' men somewhat disordered
Battle's line as they gave way, but
Doles held steady on the right.
General Daniel was sent to the aid of
Doles, who was hard pressed, and
Gordon a little later formed on
Daniel's right.
These North Carolinians and Georgians gallantly dashed against
Griffin's men, forced
Ayres across the pike, and restored the
Confederate line.
Gordon being on the flank captured many prisoners.
Wadsworth's Federal division, supported on the left by
Dennison's brigade, advanced through the dense thickets to reinforce
Griffin.
He reached the firing line, says
Humphreys, just about the time that
Daniel's and
Gordon's brigades got on the ground, with his left flank toward them.
They
took instant advantage to attack, and his front line being so entangled in the wood as not
