eyed, the line preserving its order as upon
drill. Upon arriving at the ditch there was no wavering, but
every man jumped into the trap from which but one man
returned that day (George W. Washington, Company D.)

"'Upon looking about us after getting into the ditch we
found there was but one face where the enemy could not touch
us, so all the survivors rallied at that face. Then
commenced a scene which will always be very fresh in my
memory.

"'Capt. Weiss gave orders to raise men upon the parapet,
which was done by two men assisting one to climb. Capt.
Weiss, having from thirty to forty men up, attempted to gain
the inside of the fort, but he with all of his storming
party were knocked back, either killed or wounded, into the
ditch. A second attempt was made with the same result,
Lieut. Ferguson being wounded by a bullet across the top of
his head. A third attempt was made with no better success.

"'The enemy during this time had been rolling shell upon us,
and calling upon us to surrender, which was answered by some
of the men in the words, 'we will show you how to
surrender,' at the same time rising and firing into the
fort. One of these men I remember to have been Perry
Wallace, Company D.

"'Upon a consultation of the officers who were in the ditch,
it was decided to surrender what was left of the command. I
was still upon the face of the parapet, when Lieut. Sherman
passed me a handkerchief which I raised upon the point of my
sword. But the rebels, fearing it was only done to gain a
foothold, would not take notice of it, but called upon me to
come in, which I did, and met with a warm reception at their
hands, being plucked of all they could lay hands upon. An
adjutant of an Alabama regiment coming up, ordered his men
to return to me what they had taken, but this was not done,
however. I stated that our men had disarmed themselves and
were ready to give up the hopeless struggle. Still they
would not believe me, but made me mount the parapet first,
when they had the courage to do so themselves, when the
remnant of the four companies marched into the fort.

"'The march to Richmond was one continued insult from the
troops that were hurrying to the front; one man being
determined to kill Capt. Weiss, whom he though