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ready for battle, and appreciated the emergency.
Portions of Hooker's sand Mansfield's corps were attacking farther to Jackson's left, and Sumner's fresh corps was terribly aggressive.
General Lee had ordered Walker from the extreme right, and he arrived in good time to join with McLaws.
These commands, with portions of the troops that had been fighting all the morning, confronted the new advance, assailed it, beat it back, broke its order, and gained the position from which Sumner had advanced.
Sedgwick was overwhelmed, but Richardson retired in order.
The attack of Sumner on Lee's left and left center had failed, and failed by reason of the heroic, aggressive battle of McLaws and Walker, and the rallied fragments of Jackson's, Hood's, Hill's and Jones' troops.
In this great achievement Kershaw's South Carolina brigade, of McLaws' division, bore a distinguished part.
Arriving on the field just as Jackson's battle had been driven into the woods south of the chapel and the enemy were in plain view, McLaws advanced Kershaw against him in direct attack, the Second South Carolina leading.
The struggle to be made was for the possession of the wood west and north of the chapel.
Kershaw threw the Eighth, Seventh and Third forward to Kennedy's support, and they pressed their battle into the wood and beyond the chapel, supported right and left by their comrades, and by the fire of Read's battery.
Aiken approached within 30 yards of a Federal battery, drove its gunners off, and was about to seize the guns when a flanking battery opened upon him with canister and drove him back.
The enemy reinforced made assault after assault, and were as often repelled.
Kershaw had established his line beyond the church, and here he held his battle throughout the day. Reporting upon the conduct of his brigade, he said that the Eighth, under Lieut.-Col A. J. Hoole, carried in 45 men, rank and file, and lost 23; the Second, first to attack and drive the enemy, suffered the loss of Colonel Kennedy from a severe
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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