e were awakened by the firing of the enemy. By the time that the
muskets could be retaken from the stack, squadrons of cavalry were upon
us. These were easily repulsed, not, however, until riding down in
front of our line they had mortally wounded General Pettigrew at the
head of his division. General Heth, riding rapidly along behind our
line, was crying out, "Keep cool, men, keep cool!" But judging from the
tone of his voice and his manner of riding, he seemed to me to be the
only hot man on the field.

The color-bearer of the 47th exclaimed, "Come on, boys; it's nothing but
cavalry," and ran forward into the valley, showing more bravery than
intelligence or discipline, for infantry does not charge cavalry, and he
had no right to advance without an order. The color-bearers of the other
regiments of the brigades, not to be outdone, likewise advanced, and
some of the bolder spirits followed their respective flags. This action
was so unwise that I requested Colonel Brockenbrough to authorize me to
recall these brave fellows to their original and better position; but,
to my surprise, he directed me to order all the men to join their
colors; and this I tried to do, but the men would not obey, saying that
their muskets were unfit for action. However, I went myself, though
Colonel Brockenbrough and many men of the brigade remained behind. I
never saw him again.

A spirited contest ensued, which I shall dignify with the name of the
battle of Falling Waters, for a real battle it was, although it is not
mentioned in the histories that I have read, and the number engaged was
small. On one side were portions of the four regiments of
Brockenbrough's brigade, with their bullet-pierced battle flags, and on
the other side were dismounted men of the 8th Illinois cavalry regiment
armed with their seven-shooting carbines. There were officers present
who held higher rank than mine, but, as they knew me to be of the
brigade staff, they permitted me to exercise authority over the entire
force. For an hour we held the Yankees in check at close quarters.

While the action was in progress I observed that one of our enemies was
protected by a large tree in the field, from behind which he stepped
frequently and quickly to fire upon us. As he seemed to be taking
special aim at me, I requested one of our men, who had a beautiful
Colt's rifle, to give me his gun, and I shot at the man the next time he
emerged from behind his natural protection.