When the Sixth Alabama moved back, the right wing of the Twelfth Alabama, under command of its lieutenant-colonel–Col. R. T. Jones having been killed a few minutes before, while leading forward his men–retired with it and took position on its left behind the intrenchments. The left wing also started to retire, but at the command of its Major (S. B. Pickens) promptly resumed its position, but afterward fell back to a position in front of the intrenchments. At this time a portion of the Heavy Artillery Battalion retired and, I regret to say, headed by their officers, took refuge in the ditches in front of the enemy’s redoubt, a position from which I had much difficulty in dislodging them when they were called upon to man the redoubt.
I did not attempt to re-establish either this portion of the battalion of the Twelfth Alabama Regiment in the position from which they had withdrawn, because it was evident that nothing could be effected toward an advance while the right wing of the brigade was so exposed. A part of the battalion, the Fifth Alabama, and Twelfth Mississippi Regiments continued to hold their ground steadily, though subjected to a constant fire from the enemy’s musketry, which inflicted a severe loss upon them. The enemy’s batteries in the mean time had been silenced, but while the contest between them and our own was going on the Twelfth Mississippi and a portion of the Fifth Alabama, which were directly between these batteries, maintained their posts without flinching.
Just after the Twelfth Alabama had fallen back and about an hour after the brigade had assumed its most advanced position, during which time it had been under constant fire of musketry, re-enforcements commenced to arrive, and in assisting General Kemper to place his brigade, so that it could move forward to relieve my advance regiments, which by this time had been under fire fully three hours, I received a wound in the arm, which in a short time became so painful as to compel me to turn over the command of the brigade to Colonel Gordon, of the Sixth Alabama. I did not leave the field, though, until sunset.
The loss in the brigade, and especially in the Sixth Alabama and Twelfth Mississippi Regiments, had already been serious, but in this second forward movement, and while holding the advanced position, the loss inflicted upon it was far heavier, the Sixth Alabama having lost more than half its force.
