Preston's Division

On September 20th 1863 at 4:30 p.m., Preston's Division of Buckner's Corps, under Brigadier General William Preston, was brought over from near the Brotherton House, where it had been temporarily massed, to assist in the assault on Snodgrass Hill, with only Trigg's Brigade having thus far been engaged. Shortly before 5 p.m., Gracie's Brigade, with Kelley's on its left, assaulted the fronts of Harker, Stanley, and Brannan in an attack that lasted over an hour. The assault failed in front of Harker, although Gracie gained possession of the salient of the Union line in Stanley's center, then commanded by Colonel W.L. Stoughton, held it for an hour, and was finally forced to retire. Kelley's Brigade bore to the left and, on reaching the crest of the ridge, encountered the 89th and 21st Ohio and the 22d Michigan, three Union regiments left on the line by mistake when Granger's troops withdrew at sunset to the next ridge in their rear. Trigg's Brigade passed to the left of Kelley's Brigade, crossed the ridge at dusk, turned to the right in the rear of these regiments, and acting with Kelley captured a large portion of them. The brigades then tried by a similar movement to capture Van Derveer's Brigade on Brannan's right, but they were discovered and the attempt was defeated. This was the last fighting of the battle. The total strength in action during the assault was 4,078, with a total loss of 1,336, or 32.71 percent in an hour and a half.

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia · United States