Buying Time

Colonel Augustus Van Horne Ellis and the men of the 124th New York watched determined Confederates advance despite formidable artillery fire from the 4th New York Battery. The 1st Texas moved in behind a stone wall and unleashed a deadly fire that silenced the battery. Scrambling over the wall, the Southerners charged across the triangular shaped field. The 124th returned deadly fire and the Texans hesitated. Ellis told Major James Cromwell, "The men must see us today." Mounting their horses, they jumped the wall and led their men in a charge that momentarily checked the Texans' advance. Ellis and Cromwell were soon killed. Battered and leaderless, the 124th lost momentum, but bought an hour's time before a fierce wave of Confederates overwhelmed the New Yorkers.

Freedom Township, Pennsylvania · United States