ank they became
exposed to the enfilade fire of the columbiads. When, in mounting
the narrow gorge that led up the hill, the head of the column,
necessarily shattered as it was by this concentrated fire, had
gained a point within about two hundred yards of the crest, suddenly
every gun opened on them with canister. This was more than any
man could stand. Bassett's men gave back in disorder on their
supports, then in the act of crossing the creek, and the whole
column retired in confusion to its position near the sugar-house
on the north bank. Here both regiments were soon re-formed and
again moved forward in good order, anticipating instructions to
renew the attack; yet none came, and, in fact, the attack was not
renewed, although the contemporary accounts, some of them even
official, distinctly speak of repeated charges. In this abortive
attempt, Captain Andrew Cailloux and Second Lieutenant John H.
Crowder, of the 1st regiment, were instantly killed. Cailloux,
who is said to have been a free man of color, although all the
officers of his race were at that time supposed to have resigned,
fell at the head of the leading company of his regiment, while
gallantly cheering on his men. The 1st regiment lost, in this
brief engagement, 2 officers, and 24 men killed and 79 wounded--in
all, 105. The 3d, being far less exposed, as well as for a shorter
time, lost 1 officer and 5 men killed, and 1 officer wounded--in
all, 7.

The morning was drawing out when these movements were well spent,
and the advanced positions simply held without further effort to
go forward. The hour may have been about ten o'clock. Grover,
Paine, and Weitzel listened in vain for any sounds of musketry on
their left to indicate that either Augur or Sherman was at work,
yet no sound came from that quarter save the steady pounding of
the Union artillery. Now Weitzel believed that, by pursuing his
advance in what might be called skirmishing order and working his
way gradually forward from the vantage-ground of Fort Babcock, he
might gain, without great addition to his losses, already heavy,
a foothold on the high ground held by the Confederate left; yet of
the character of the defences of this part of the line Weitzel knew
but little, and of the nature of the ground behind these defences
and the direction of the roads, neither he nor any one in the Union
army knew any thing. The topography of the ground in sight afforded
the only indication of