e encountered
another line, and sharp firing began on both sides. We could see the
enemy dodging behind trees and stumps not more than one hundred yards
away. We also utilized the same shelter, and therefore suffered
comparatively little. Suddenly I found bullets beginning to come from
our left and rear as well as from our front. Two of these bullets had
been aimed at me as I stood behind a small tree on our line. The first
knowledge I had of them was from the splinters of bark in my face from
the tree, first one and then the other in quick succession as the
bullets struck, not more than three inches from my head. They were
fairly good shots. I was thankful they were no better. But now I had to
move a couple of companies to the left to meet this flank attack. It did
not prove a serious matter, and the enemy was quickly driven back. The
same thing was tried shortly after on our right flank, and was again
disposed of the same way. They were probably groups of sharpshooters
hunting for our officers. One of them, I happened to know, never went
back, for I saw one of our sergeants kill him. I was at that moment
standing by him, when he clapped his hand to his ear and exclaimed,
"That was a 'hot one,'" as a bullet just ticked it. "There is the devil
who did it. See him behind that bush?" and with that he aimed and fired.
The fellow rolled over dead.

We soon had the better of this fighting and our opponents withdrew. We
seemed now to be isolated. We must have been nearly a half mile from
where we entered the woods. We could not see nor hear of any troops on
our immediate right or left. Colonel Albright came back to consult as to
what was best to be done now. The brush and undergrowth were exceedingly
dense. What there might be on our right or left we could not know
without sending skirmishers out. The colonel said his orders were to
advance and engage the enemy. No orders had come to him since our
advance commenced, two hours and more before. We had met and beaten two
lines of the enemy. Should we continue the advance or retire and get
further orders? My advice was to retire; that with our small force, not
more than five hundred men, isolated in that dense wood, we were liable
to be gobbled up. The colonel agreed with this view and ordered the line
faced about and marched to the rear. I mention this consultation over
the situation because here we were, two young men, who knew almost
nothing about military matters beyond obeyi