It was a good fight! About 24 of us fought 80 or so Confederates. We had the guns on top of the same hill. They had the cavalry again. They came at us from all sides, we were turning the cannons back and forth to face each attack. The end game came when Capt Rahlo Leonard brought his company through sutler town and came on the field through the spectators directly in our front and then all Confederates came at us from all sides. Capt Bradd Craver wanted to abandon the artillery and make a stand at the edge of the woods behind a berm, but, like Lee at Richmond, I could not abandon the guns and the crews who had fought so valiantly. I tied our fate to theirs and we died or were captured together. It was a sanguinary end to a valiant effort...

My hat's off to the men of the Charlotte Artillery and the Columbia Flying Artillery! I've never seen cannon crews fight so hard. It was an honor to serve with such men!

I could see the wisdom in Capt Craver's request, but, with the colors planted in our midst and the artillery having held off the advancing Confederates so well, I could not bear to leave them alone to face their end...