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[469] hill, where the fire was hottest, and ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson to take command of them and hold the hill at every hazard, till I could get ammunition and have it distributed. I soon procured the ammunition, and refilled my cartridge-boxes. At this time, one of the Major-General's staff came to me and informed me that I was ordered to hold the hill on which the brigade was formed; that I was not permitted to advance, and must not retire if it were possible to hold my position. I therefore moved my command at once some twenty or thirty paces to the rear of the crest, and on the side of the hill, for cover, leaving a body of sharpshooters behind trees on the top of the hill to keep up a fire with the enemy. The enemy's fire soon slackened down to a contest between the skirmishers. At the same time, he advanced a line of skirmishers toward the open space between my command and Brigadier-General Polk, on my right. I soon received information from Lieutenant-Colonel Coit, then commanding Wilkes' regiment, that the enemy was moving around my right flank in force. I ordered him to throw out a company of flankers and engage them. In less than twenty minutes I was informed that our skirmishers were retiring before the enemy. I immediately ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchinson to reinforce the skirmishers with one company from his regiment, which was promptly done. Still hearing of this flank movement, I ordered Captain Kenard, of Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson's regiment, to reinforce the other two companies with his, take command himself of these companies, put his men under good cover, and hold the enemy in check at all hazards. He very promptly moved with his company to the ground, assumed command of the three companies, repulsed the enemy's skirmishers, and held his position without a serious struggle. A straggling fire was kept up between the enemy and my sharpshooters till late in the evening, when the advance of our left wing caused him to abandon his works and take to his heels. The troops of my command, both officers and men, behaved with the greatest bravery, coolness, and self-possession during the whole engagement. They advanced with a steady step, under a heavy fire of shell, canister, and musketry, to their position, and held it with firmness and unwavering fortitude throughout the fight. Texans vied with each other to prove themselves worthy of the fame won by their brothers on other fields, and the little handful of Arkansas troops showed themselves worthy to have their names enrolled among the noblest, bravest, and best of their State. It is scarcely possible for them to exhibit higher evidences of courage, patriotism, and pride on any other field. They were not permitted to advance, and would not retire, but, as brave men and good soldiers, they obeyed the orders of their General and held the hill. Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchinson, and Major Taylor, remained constantly on the line, handled their commands with ability, and conducted themselves gallantly through the entire action.

I most respectfully refer you to the reports of subordinate commanders for particular acts of gallantry, lists of casualties, etc. I feel it my duty, however, to record here the names of Lieutenant Matt. Graham, of Company C, Tenth Texas regiment, and private William McCann, of Company A, Fifteenth Texas regiment, as worthy of honorable mention for their conduct, more than ordinarily gallant, on the field. Lieutenant Graham several times volunteered, and insisted on being permitted, to carry orders and messages up and down the line, where he was constantly exposed to the thickest fire. His services were highly beneficial to Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, who speaks of him in terms of highest praise. Private McCann was under my own eye. He stood upright, cheerful, and self-possessed in the very hail of deadly missiles, and cheered up his comrades around him. After he had expended all his ammunition, he gathered up the cartridge-boxes of the dead and wounded, and distributed them to his comrades. He bore himself like a hero through the entire contest, and fell mortally wounded by the last volleys of the enemy. I promised him during the engagement that I would mention his good conduct, and, as he was borne dying from the field, he turned his boyish face upon me, and, with a light and pleasant smile, reminded me of my promise.

The First Texas battery, commanded by Captain James P. Douglas, belonging to Deshler's brigade, was not engaged on the nineteenth. On the twentieth it followed the brigade as far as the open field, covered thickly with felled timber, when, finding it impossible to follow us further, Captain Douglas moved towards our left flank and came into another field, where he was exposed to the enemy's fire. He immediately opened fire on Douglas from two of his batteries, killing one of his horses and knocking down one of his wheels. He extricated himself from this position, and, by order of Major-General Cleburne, took position on the hill with the brigades of Brigadier-Generals Wood and Polk, in rear of my line. He afterwards moved down on the right to where Brigadier-General Polk was warmly engaging the enemy, disengaged his horses and carried his pieces by hand in the very face of the foe. He fired a few rounds at sixty or eighty yards distant from the enemy, advancing his pieces by hand with the line of Brigadier-General Polk's brigade. The enemy were soon routed and fled the field. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on Captain Douglas and the officers and men of his battery, for their gallant conduct. They were not engaged for any considerable length of time, but the very short quarters at which Captain Douglas threw down the gauntlet soon decided the enemy to yield the field to a battery that could charge a brigade of infantry behind their rifle-pits. Captains J. L. Hearne and B. F. Blackburne, and


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