stood by his piece as calmly as if on parade, and as the
Confederate infantry commenced to emerge from the woods opposite,
Cushing quietly said, 'Webb, I will give them one shot more;
good-bye.' The gun was loaded by the California men, and run down to
the fence near the 69th, and at the moment of the last discharge,
just as the enemy reached the line, the brave Cushing fell mortally
wounded.

"At three o'clock the enemy's line of battle left the woods in our
front, moved in perfect order across the Emmettsburg Road, formed in
the hollow of our immediate front several lines of battle under a
fire of spherical case-shot from Wheeler's Battery and Cushing's gun,
and advanced for the assault.

"The Union batteries increased their fire as rapidly as possible, but
this did not for a moment delay the determined advance. The rude gaps
torn by the shells and case-shot were closed as quickly as they were
made. As new batteries opened, the additional fire created no
confusion in the ranks of the enemy; its only apparent effect was to
mark the pathway over the mile of advance with the dead and dying.
None who saw this magnificent charge of Pickett's column, composed of
thousands of brave men, could refrain from admiring its grandeur. As
they approached the rail fence their formation was irregular, and
near the front and centre were crowded together the regimental colors
of the entire division; the scene strangely illustrated the divine
words, 'Terrible as an army with banners.'

"Now our men close up their ranks and await the struggle. The
Seventy-second, by direction of Webb, is double-quicked from its
position on the left and fills the gap on the ridge where Cushing's
Battery had been in action. Just at this moment Pickett's men reach
the line occupied by the Sixty-ninth and the left companies of the
Seventy-first. General Armistead, commanding the leading brigade,
composed principally of Virginians, in advance of his men, swinging
his hat on his sword, cries out, 'Boys, give them the cold steel!'
Just then the white trefoil on the caps of our men is recognized, and
Armistead's men exclaim, 'The Army of the Potomac! Do they call these
militia?'

"The final effort for success now commences. The advance companies of
the Seventy-first are literally cr