As the North feared the day was lost, the 54th Massachusetts and the 1st North Carolina U.S. Colored advanced and briefly staggered the enemy. Around 5:00 p.m., fire slackened on both sides as soldiers ran low on ammunition and searched the pockets of fallen comrades for cartridges. Fresh ammunition reached the Confederates, and their whole line advanced under the lead of the 27th Georgia, driving Union forces from their positions. Fighting raged fiercely all along the line with terrible slaughter, and the 54th Massachusetts, claiming to be the last to leave the field, rallied when Lt. Col. Hooper urged them to hold the line, fix bayonets, and stay in their tracks. Gathering cartridges from the field and cheering as the enemy advanced, they made the Confederates think a trap awaited and caused them to fall back for a time before the men were withdrawn a short distance, formed another line, and then fell back in stages off the field as the army retreated.