s attempt, by Warren and Hancock, to force our
position ceased. And as we saw, out in front, the heavy losses of the
enemy, and still had every one of our men ready for duty, we thought
"_we_ could stand this sort of thing, if _they_ could, and just as long
as they chose to keep on." They lost in dead and wounded about twelve
hundred men to about four of ours. Certainly, we could stand it! So we
piled some more canister in front of our guns, and watched to see what
they would do next.

The long hours crept on until three o'clock,--when the warming up of the
Federal artillery fire warned us of another attack. Soon came another
stubborn assault by Warren's Corps. Same result. Line after line pushed
out from the woods, only to be hurled back, bleeding and torn, leaving
on the field large additions to the sad load of dead, and wounded, with
which it was already encumbered. They effected nothing! Very little loss
to us, heavy loss to them. We were using double shot of canister nearly
every time, on masses of men at short range; the infantry fire was rapid
and deadly. Our fire soon swept the front clear of the enemy. We piled
up more canister, and waited again.

There was now an interval of comparative quiet. We could walk around,
and talk, and look about us, a little. Now and then a bullet struck the
ground close to us, and presently one of the infantry was struck
slightly. It was plain that a concealed sharp-shooter had our range, and
we began to watch for him. Soon one of us caught a glimpse of him; he
was up a tree some distance out in front, and he would cautiously edge
around the trunk and fire, dodging back behind the trunk to load again.
One of the Texans went over the works, and stole from stump to stump off
toward the left, and for some time was out of our sight. Presently, we
saw that sharp-shooter slyly stealing around the tree, and raise his
rifle. The next instant, we saw a puff of smoke from a bush, off to the
left, and that sharp-shooter came plunging down, headforemost out of the
tree, dead as Hector. Our man had crept round so that when the Federal
slid around the tree, he exposed his body, and the Texan shot him.

Robert Stiles, the Adjutant of the Battalion, who had been, until
lately, a member of our Battery, and was very devoted to it, and his
comrades in it, had come to the lines to see how we were getting on, and
gave us news of other parts of the line. He, Beau Barnes, and others of
us were standing