"Save yourselves if you can"

As an imperiled Union brigade huddled in the ravine before this position, General Mahone recognized that its bold assault was unsupported and ordered General Harris to send a regiment from these trenches against it. At 6:45 p.m., the 12th Mississippi emerged from its earthworks and charged down the slope to the front, firing a volley at point-blank range, while the 8th and 11th Alabama struck the exposed Union right flank. Ledlie’s men broke for the safety of the trees behind them, and several Union commanders tried unsuccessfully to rally them. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Chandler of the 57th Massachusetts, the most prominent among them, fell mortally wounded into the muddy ravine. Colonel Merry B. Harris of the 12th Mississippi ordered Chandler brought into the Confederate line, where he died a few hours later after being kindly cared for, an act that led the 57th Massachusetts regimental historian to write, “Such noble characters do honor even to a bad cause.”

Virginia · United States