The last act in the great battle.
This was the last act in this celebrated battle—a battle won by the charge of three small brigades of
Virginia,
Georgia and
Alabama troops, numbering less than 2,000 muskets, with the aid of the artillery, which rendered effective service to the charging columns, over an army of 70,000 men behind breast-works, which surrendered to this small force nineteen flags.
General B. R. Johnson, who commanded the lines which were broken by the explosion and upheaval of the Crater, in his report of the battle, said: ‘To the able commander and gallant officers and men of
Mahone's Division, to whom we are mainly indebted for the restoration of our lines, I offer my acknowledgments for their great service.’
Secretary of War James A. Seddon said: ‘Let appropriate acknowledgment be made to the gallant general and his brave troops.
Let the names of the captors (of the flags) be noted on the roll of honor and published.’
Nowhere in all the history of war were greater odds driven out of fortifications and defeated.
The charge of the three brigades of
Mahone's Division is a record of triumph unsurpassed in warfare.
