yard
to be refreshed after the labors of the day. There was a group of men
reciting incidents. The Adjutant overheard Free say He had gone into
an officer's den for a few minutes to shade his head from the heat of
the sun, as he was suffering from an intense headache, and as he began
to creep out he saw the trench full of negroes. He dodged back again.
Joe says he was scared almost to death, and that he "prayed until
great drops of sweat poured down my face." The Adjutant knew that his
education was defective and said, "What did you say, Joe?" "I said
Lord have mercy on me! and keep them damned niggers from killing me!"

It was an earnest and effective prayer, for Mahone's men in an hour
afterwards released him.

In a recent letter received from Captain E.A. Crawford, he says the
enemy formed three times to charge, but we gave them a well directed
volley each time and sent them into the rear line in our trench. When
Mahone came in and formed my three companies charged with him.
Colonel Smith told me they charged four times. Cusack Moore, a very
intelligent private of Company K, said they charged five times. After
the charge Captain Crawford requested General Mahone to give him
permission to report to his regiment, and he ordered him to report to
General Sanders, and he joined in that charge with his men. Company
K had fifty-three men, Captain Cherry; Company E, forty, and Captain
Burley, Company B, twenty-five; in all, one hundred and eighteen men.

Lieutenant Colonel Culp was a member of a military court doing duty in
Petersburg at the time of the explosion, and could not get back until
he reported to me at Elliott's headquarters. I made some extracts from
his letter recently received: "I recollect well that in the charge
(the final one) which we made that model soldier and Christian
gentleman, Sergeant Williams, of Company K, was killed, and that one
of the Crowders, of Company B, was killed in elbow touch of me after
we got into the works. These casualties, I think, well established the
fact that Companies K and B were with me in the charge, and, as far
as I know now, at least a portion of all the companies were with me.
I recollect that poor Fant was with as very distinctly, and that
he rendered very efficient service after we got to the 'Crater' in
ferreting out hidden Federals, who had taken shelter there, and who,
for the most part, seemed very loath to leave their biding places. I
feel quite confident that Ca