Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1.

[508] Union soldiers seemed inevitable. The Zouaves were then advancing through the wood to the morass, but, believing it to be impassable, their commander

<*>Attle at Big Bethel.

ordered them to retire. Townsend was pressing vigorously on toward the right of the foe, but was suddenly checked by a fatal blunder. In the haste of starting, two companies of his regiment had marched unobserved on the side of a thickly hedged ditch opposite the main body, and, pushing rapidly forward, came up a gentle slope at some distance in the front, where the smoke was thick, to join their companions. Their dress, as we have observed, was similar to that worn by the insurgents, and they were mistaken for a party of Magruder's men out-flanking the New Yorkers. Townsend immediately halted, and then fell back to the point of departure. At that moment, General Peirce had placed himself at the head of the Zouaves, to lead them to an attack, and Bendix and the rest of the Newport-Newce detachment were pressing forward, in obedience to orders. Some of them crossed the morass, and felt sure of victory,. when they were driven back by a murderous fire. The insurgents, having been relieved on their right by the withdrawal of Townsend, had concentrated their forces at the battery in front of this assaulting party. Major Winthrop was with the Newport-Newce troops at this time, and had pressed eagerly forward, with private Jones of the Vermont regiment, to a point within thirty or forty yards of the battery. He sprang upon a log to get a view of the position, when the bullet of a North Carolina drummer-boy penetrated his brain, and he fell dead.

Townsend's retirement, the repulse on the right, and the assurance of Colonel Duryee, that his ammunition was exhausted, caused General Peirce,. with the concurrence of his colonels, to order a retreat. Greble was still at work, but with only one gun, for he had only five men left. On receiving the order, he directed Corporal Peoples to limber up the piece and take it away. At that moment a shot from the insurgents struck a glancing blow upon his right temple, and he fell dead, with the exclamation, “Oh! My God!” Thus perished, at the very opening of the civil war, one of the most promising of the young officers who had hastened to the field in obedience to the call of the President. He was the first officer of the regular Army