very urgent. We cannoneers of the Left
Section had the guns limbered up, and into the woods, in about a minute;
we, double-quicking alongside. We went by a narrow wood road, which
entering the woods straight ahead of us, went obliquely to the left down
a deep ravine, crossed a little stream, and up the hill, into the open
field beyond.

Passing through that pine wood was a mean job! The Minie balls were
slapping the pines all about us, with that venomous sound, with which a
Minie crashes into green pine wood. It is a mean piece of work anyhow,
to go from the rear up to a fighting line! But, away we went, excited
and eager to get through, and see what was going on. The road, cut
through the steep banks down to the stream, was so very narrow that it
barely admitted our wheels, and when they went farther down the cut, our
hubs stuck in the bank, on both sides, and the gun was held fast. From
this point the road ran straight up to the edge of the wood. We could
see men running about, and yelling, and shooting in the open ground. We
could not tell whether they were our men or the enemy, and the fear
seized us that the enemy might be pressing our people back, and would
catch us, helpless and useless, in this ridiculous fix.

Gracious! how the driver did whip, and spur! and how the cannoneers did
strain, and tug at those wheels! Captain McCarthy jumped off his horse,
and put his powerful strength to the wheel. The men from the other guns
joined us, and, at last, when we were nearly wild with excitement, we
gave one tremendous jerk, all together, and lifted the whole thing
bodily out of that rut, and over the bank. The horses, as excited now,
as we were, snatched the gun over the bank, across the stream, nearly
upsetting it, and then went tearing, at a full gallop, up the hill; we
running at top speed to keep up. The third gun following. At this pace,
we dashed into the open field, and were upon the battle ground. We ran
the guns into the line of battle, along a slight work Kershaw's men had
hurriedly thrown up, just to the left of the part of the line which the
Federals had taken, and were still holding. We pushed up, until we got
an enfilade fire upon their lines. A few case-shots screaming down their
line sent them flying out of that, and our line was restored.

The Colonel of one of their regiments, captured by our men, said that
his regiment was lying down behind our captured line, and one of our
shells cut down a large