now ordered to withdraw his four guns by General Egan, and massed his battery near Lieutenant Roder's. He had expended all his ammunition except canister. At about 3 p. m. the enemy commenced a furious attack on our right, and succeeded in driving the line back for a time to the Boydton road. They swept over Lieutenant Metcalf's section by the time he could fire a halt dozen shots. Their fire killed nearly all the horses, severely if not mortally wounded Lieutenant Metcalf, who was made prisoner and carried off by the enemy. Many of the men were killed and wounded, and it was impossible to get the guns away. The enemy hauled one of the limbers off into the woods and it was not recovered. The movement of General of General Egan's division, made about this time, forced the enemy to retire, and the infantry hauled the guns off by hand. As General Egan's division returned from the brigade for the purpose of attacking the enemy, who were in their rear, a staff officers of General Egan's directed Lieutenant Smith to withdraw his section to the tavern and join the rest of the battery at that point. He did so, and at the moment of arrival received a mortal wound, from which he has since died. The battery commenced firing to the rear and continued to do so as long as there was any ammunition left; as only the limbers were there the supply was small. After the charge of Egan's division the battery retired down the plank road and massed near Mrs. Rainey's house without serious loss in men or horses.

At the moment the attack commenced Lieutenant Roder was directed to put his battery in position on the right of the plank road, near its junction with the wood road, covering the edge of the wood toward which the enemy were advancing. He did this with great rapidity; Lieutenant Beck's four guns took position on his left. Lieutenant Beck obtained a supply of ammunition from Lieutenant Roder, and accurate fire was opened upon these eight light 12-pounders. A brigade advancing checked the enemy's and the fire of spherical case in addition to that of the infantry forced them to retire at this point, and skirmishers reoccupied the edge of the woods. Our line being a few yards in front of the guns an attack on the rear and attempted to force their way up the plank road from south. The cavalry were severely engaged with them, and as a precautionary measure, Granger's battery, was placed on the west of the road and facing toward the threatened point. Soon after taking up this position Lieutenant Granger was shot through the body. It is that the wound will prove mortal. The battery, was left without officers. Lieutenant E. S. Smith, of Roader's battery, was directed to take command, and Lieutenant J. G. Deane (Sixth Maine Battery) acting aide-de-camp, sent to assist his. Until some time after dark the enemy kept up a heavy fire of artillery on the position held by the troops. The attack on the cavalry was repulsed, and by 7 p. m. all was quiet. About this time I sent to the rear with the ambulance train, under an escort of the Seventeenth Maine Infantry, Beck's and Smith (late Grangers) batteries. They moved back to the Yellow House and parked there. Lieutenant Roder was ordered to report to General Egan, and moved back with him. The battery halted at Hatcher's Run until 6 p. m. of the 28th, and then returned with the Second Division. The commands moved back to the points from which they had stared, and the batteries camped at the same.

The limber of Beck's battery, which the enemy drew back into the woods, was not recovered. The loss of this and horses rendered it necessary to abandon one caisson body, which was destroyed.