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[449] morning, and it was now poured in from every available gun. The honor of the assault which is popularly but erroneously attributed to Meagher's Irish brigade,1 was assigned to the second corps under Couch, who designated French's division to lead and Hancock's to follow. The formation of each division was ordered to be “brigade front with intervals of two hundred paces.” 2 French's brigades was in the following order, viz: Kimball's, Andrews's, Palmer's, Hancock's, Zooks's, Meagher's and Caldwell's. The strength of the column was nine thousand men. At the foot of the hill against which this column was to move, and behind the stone revetment of the telegraph road already described, lay three regiments of Cobbs's brigade, and in a ditch on their left, between the Telegraph and Plank roads, was one regiment of Ransom's brigade, the whole under the command of General T. R. R. Cobb.3 On the crest of the hill at intervals on a front of about four hundred yards were the nine guns of the Washington artillery under Colonel Walton.4 Two hundred yards behind the guns and sheltered by the slope of the hill was Cooke's brigade of Ransom's division. Four hundred yards in rear of this, lay the remaining three regiments of Ransom's brigade under General Ransom, who was specially charged with the care of the position, and behind the infantry Moseley's battery of six guns was held in reserve. The whole force numbered about six thousand muskets, of which about two thousand were in the front line. About 12 o'clock M., General Longstreet ordered Colonel Alexander to throw a hundred shells down the streets of the city and towards
1 Meagher's official report, to be found in the Rebellion Record, Vol. VI, Doc. page 80, exhibits the following facts. This brigade formed the second line in the second column of assault. General Meagher marched it to the shelter of the hill across the canal whence the assault was made, and gave the order for the charge, but at the same time being too lame to accompany it further on foot, he returned to the city for his horse which he had left there. He had hardly mounted when the fragments of the brigade joined him, having been already repulsed. During the course of the day General Meagher marched his remnants (two hundred and eighty rallied out of twelve hundred who went in action), across the river where he remained until next morning. Ten officers were killed and wounded in the five regiments of this brigade.
3 These regiments were the Twenty-fourth North Carolina, Philips's Georgia Legion, Twenty-fourth Georgia, Eighteenth Georgia.
4 These guns were four light 12-pounder guns, three 10-pounder rifles and two 12-pounder howitzers, composing the first company, Captain Squires; third company, Captain Miller, and fourth company, Captain Echleman.
Richmond, VA. 1882.
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