Cox as "less than 3,000." "The Thirteenth North Carolina, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ruffin, and the Twentieth, under Col. A. Iverson, were furiously assailed on the left. Both regiments were under tried and true soldiers, and they received the assault calmly. Lieutenant Crome ran up a section of artillery by hand, and opened with effect upon the Twentieth North Carolina; but the skirmishers under Captain Atwell of that regiment killed the gallant officer while he was serving as a gunner. The Federal effort was to turn the left where the Thirteenth was posted.[1] There General Garland, who had been urged by Colonel Ruffin not to expose himself so needlessly, was killed. "Upon the fall of Garland, Colonel McRae assumed command, and ordered the two regiments on the left to close in to the right. This order was not received, or it was found to be impossible of execution. The main attack was on the Twenty-third North Carolina behind the stone wall. Its namesake, the Twenty-third Ohio, seems to have been particularly zealous in this attack. The Federals had a plunging fire upon this regiment from the crest of a hill, higher than the wall, and only about 50 yards from it. The Twelfth North Carolina, only 72 men strong, could not offer much aid. It was, says Minor, commanded by an inexperienced captain, and under his order fell back and was thrown in some disorder from a severe fire, but nearly half of its members attached themselves to the Thirteenth, and received Colonel Ruffin’s commendation for bravery and "efficient aid. The fight in front of the wall was of the stubbornest nature. Some of the Ohio men broke through a gap, and for a few seconds bayonets and clubbed muskets were brought into play. Cox s numbers enabled him to fall on both flanks of the Carolinians, and this, with an assault on their center, broke them in confusion. Garland’s death at the most critical time had also a depressing effect. Colonel Ruffin and part of his regiment were
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- ↑ General Hill, in Battles and Leaders.
