As Confederates fell back in confusion, General Thomas Smyth's Brigade was ordered to cross the railroad into a pine thicket and attack the Confederate flank. With fixed bayonets, the Federals entered the thicket, where visibility was only a few yards. Smyth then saw a new Confederate line approaching his position and opened fire before receiving orders to fall back onto the railroad. The Confederate troops were Brigadier General Carnot Posey's Mississippians and Brigadier General Edward Perry's Floridians, part of the support that Hill had promised Heth earlier. Casualties in this small fight were few but select: a shell fragment struck Posey in the thigh, leading to his death almost a month later. William Haines of the 12th New Jersey recalled that General Hays had to send an aide to bring the men back in line because they were eager to keep fighting after having driven back attacks twice that day.