distant no more than
four hundred yards; the smoke rolled heavily through the thickets,
and on the right and centre, where the fight was hottest, the
impetuosity of both officers and men carried them forward up the
slope. An attempt to deliver a charge with the whole line failed in
combination, and such portion of the division as advanced, scourged
by both musketry and artillery, fell back before the fire of the
unshaken Federals.

In the wood to the right Ewell met with even fiercer opposition. So
hastily had the Confederate line been formed, and so difficult was it
for the brigades to maintain touch and direction in the thick covert,
that gaps soon opened along the front; and of these gaps, directly
the Southerners gained the edge of the timber, the Northern
brigadiers took quick advantage. Not content with merely holding
their ground, the regular regiments, changing front so as to strike
the flanks of the attack, came forward with the bayonet, and a
vigorous counterstroke, delivered by five battalions, drove Ewell
across the swamp. Part of Trimble's brigade still held on in the
wood, fighting fiercely; but the Louisiana regiments were
demoralised, and there were no supports on which they might have
rallied.

Jackson, when he ordered Hill to the front, had sent verbal
instructions-always dangerous-for the remainder of his troops to move
forward inline of battle.*

(* The instructions, according to Dr. Dabney, ran as follows:--

"The troops are standing at ease along our line of march. Ride back
rapidly along the line and tell the commanders to advance instantly
EN ECHELON from the left. Each brigade is to follow as a guide the
right regiment of the brigade on the left, and to keep within
supporting distance. Tell the commanders that if this formation fails
at any point, to form line of battle and move to the front, pressing
to the sound of the heaviest firing and attack the enemy vigorously
wherever found. As to artillery, each commander must use his
discretion. If the ground will at all permit tell them to take in
their field batteries and use them. If not, post them in the rear."
Letter to the author.)

The young staff officer to whom these instructions were entrusted,
misunderstanding the intentions of his chief, communicated the
message to the brigadiers with the addition that "they were to await
further orders before engaging the enemy." Partly for this reason,
and partly because the rear regiments of his