264 Norte Carorina Troops, 1861-’65. ening back ground. Then Gordon’s assaulting force, con- sisting of our division (Walker’s) and Grimes’ division, sprung over the Confederate works and rushed forward. Hacking, tearing our way through the hostile abatis, we pressed onward under fire too hurried to be other than wild. In a few minutes Fort Stedman and a large section of the left of Grant’s works was in our hands and our part of the line, at least, had penetrated several hundred yards further. But the troops expected to support us failed to appear. For an hour or more we held on. Broad daylight came. Gun after gun, battery after battery, from the right, the left, the rear of the Federal line was brought to bear, till it is said that 200 guns were concentrated on us. No command to retreat reached us, but we could see the other troops being driven back. To remain where we were or to attempt to retreat meant, it seemed, annihilation. About two thousand of the assaulting force surrendered. Our brigade was among the troops that came back. Every foot of the retreat was swept by a tre- mendous tempest of shot, shell, grape, canister—every missile that the engines of war cast from their iron lips. The artil- lery ploughed and tore up the ground so ceaselessly that in all but color the flying earth looked like a wind driven snow storm. The Twenty-third had not many men to lose, but of these few a large proportion fell; how many there are no records to tell. General R. D. Johnston, commanding the brigade, sus- tained a severe sprain of the ankle as he climbed the Federal works, while unfelt for a few minutes in the excitement of the battle, it soon rendered him unable to walk for the rest of the war. Colonel Lea, of the Fifth Regiment, commanded the brigade for the remaining weeks of the war. Soon after the bloody and unavailing assault on Fort Stead- man, our brigade was moved out and placed on picket be- tween Swift Creek and Appomattox river. Here for a little while we had rest. Early on Sunday morning, 2 April, the brigade leaving its position on picket, was hurried on the double quick through the streets of Petersburg. The enemy had broken over and captured part of the works held by Grimes’ division and we were the only available troops to re- TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 265 take it. This break in the line was about a mile south of that part of the line we passed over to carry Fort Steadman. Captain B. M. Collins, of the Twelfth Regiment, then Ad- jutant-General of the brigade, gives me the following graphic account of this, the last day’s fighting around the doomed city: ‘We moved out through the covered way, nearly knee deep in mud. We could see our captured works swarming with blue-coats. The fire was so hot that to expose an inch of the person above the protection meant death or wounding. Colonel Lea sent me back to report to General Walker, our division commander, that to assault such a force with his weak brigade of about 250 men was a desperate undertaking. General Walker repeated the order to assault, adding that Captain Hobson (father of Lieutenant Hobson, the hero of Santiago) commanding a force of sharpshooters, would make a diversion in our favor. The diversion amounted to noth- ing. We crept up within one hundred yards of the enemy, sprang from the ditch and charged. A small part of the works were taken in this rush. This position we set to work to widen, shooting to right and left along the line. There were traverses along the works at frequent intervals made of timber and earth. The ends of the traverses next to the works were roughly fitted, leaving many holes and openings. Through these holes some of the men fired away at light-blue legs while the bulk of the command fired over the traverses at dark-blue heads. ’ The Federals fought us, but not with the spirit which their immense superiority in numbers would have justified. An attack half as vigorous as ours must have swept over us and captured Petersburg in an hour. For a while no attack at all came from our front.