[86] Fort Gregg and Whitworth, two strong enclosed works, the most salient and commanding south of Petersburg. The former of these redoubts was manned by Harris' Mississippi brigade, numbering two hundred and fifty men, and this handful of skilled marksmen conducted the defence with such intrepidity that Gibbons' force, surging repeatedly against it, was each time thrown back; at length a renewed charge carried the work, but not till its two hundred and fifty defenders had been reduced to thirty. * * Gibbons' loss was four hundred men.Swinton does not mention the Washington artillery in the fort: he also errs in putting the number of Mississippians at 250. General Harris says there were 150. These, with the 64 artillerists, make a total of 214 men, and these men put hors du combat 500 of the enemy, or an average of more than two men each.
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Richmond, VA. 1877.
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