Meee ee ee! 7 Ate

232 NortH Caroiina Troops, 1861-65.

possession of the gun-chamber, despite the fire of the fleet.
As my men would fall others would take their places. It
was a soldier’s fight at that point, for there could be no or-
ganization ; the officers of both forces were loading and firing
with their men. If there has ever been a longer or more
stubborn hand-to-hand encounter, I have failed to meet with
it in history. The Federal column inside had advanced no
farther, and seemed demoralized by the fire of the artillery
and the determined resistance of the garrison. I had brought
back with me more than a hundred of my old garrison, and I
threw them in front with those already engaged. Those who
had been driven from the parapet had taken position behind
the old work. I went to the bomb-proof where the South
Carolinians were and appealed to them to help save the fort;
they were in a position to flank a part of the column, and they
promised to do so. I proceeded to the sally-port and ordered
the gallant Adams to bring his guns out and open fire on the
head of the column, and if he had not men left to serve the
guns to get volunteers from other companies. I went along
the galleries and begged the sick and wounded who had re-
treated from the captured bomb-proofs to come and make one
supreme effort to dislodge the enemy. As I passed through
my work the last time, the scene was indescribably horrible.
Great cannon were broken in two, and over their ruins were
lying the dead; others were partly buried in graves dug by
the shells which had slain them.

Still no tidings from Bragg. The enemy’s advance had
ceased entirely; protected by the fleet, they held the parapet
and gun-chambers, but their massed columns refused to move
and appeared to be intrenching in the work. I believed a de-
termined assault with the bayonet upon their front would
drive them out. I had cautioned the gunners not to fire on
our men, and had sent Lieutenant Jones, of the navy, to
Battery Buchanan, asking for all the force they could spare,
and to be careful not to fire on us if we became closely en-
gaged with the enemy. The head of the column was not over
one hundred feet from the portion of our breastwork which I
occupied ; I passed quickly in rear of the line and asked the
officers and men if they would follow me; they all responded

THE DeFence oF Fort FIsHEr. 233

fearlessly that they would. I returned to my post, and, giv-
ing the order “Charge bayonets,” sprang upon the breast-
work, waved my sword, and, as I gave the command ‘For-
ward! double-quick, march!” fell on my knees, a rifle ball
having entered my left hip. We were met by a heavy vol-
ley, aimed too high to be effective; but our column wavered
and fell back behind the breastworks. A soldier raised me
up; 1 turned the command over to Captain Daniel Munn and
told him to keep the enemy in check, and that I would band-
age my wound and soon return. Before I could reach the
hospital I was made to realize that I was incapacitated from
joining my men again. In the hospital I found General
Whiting suffering uncomplainingly from his two wounds.
He told me that Bragg had ignored his presence in the fort
and had not noticed his messages. I perceived that the fire
of my men had slackened, and sent my Acting Adjutant,
John N. Kelly, for Major Reilly, next in command (Major
James M. Stevenson being too ill for service.) Reilly came
and promised me that he would continue the fight as long as
a man or a shot was left, and nobly did he keep his promise.
I again sent a message to Bragg begging him to come to the
rescue. Shortly after my fall the Federals made an advance,
and, capturing several more of the gun-chambers, reached the
sally-port. The column in the work advanced, but Major
Reilly, rallying the men, among them the South Carolinians,
who had all become engaged, drove them back. About 8
o’clock at night my aide came to me and said the ammunition
was giving out; that he and Chaplain McKinnon had gath-
ered all on the dead and wounded in a blanket and had dis-
tributed it ; that the enemy had possession of nearly all of the
land face; that it was impossible to hold out much longer, and
suggested that it would be wise to surrender, as a further
struggle might be a useless sacrifice of life. I replied that
so long as I lived I would not surrender the fort; that Bragg
must soon come to the rescue, and it would save us. General
Whiting remarked, “Lamb, when you die I will assume com-
mand, and I will not surrender the fort.” In less than an
hour a fourth brigade (three were already in the fort under
General Ames) entered the sally-port and swept the defenders