General Stephen Elliott, the hero of Fort Sumter, a fine gentleman and a superb officer, came up soon after the explosion. He was dressed in a new uniform, and looked like a game cock. He surveyed the scene for a few minutes; he disappeared and in a short time he came up to me accompanied by Colonel A.R. Smith, of the Twenty-sixth, with a few men, who were working their way through the crowd. He said to me: "Colonel, I'm going to charge those Yankees out of the 'Crater'; you follow Smith with your regiment."
He immediately climbed the counter scrape. The gallant Smith followed, and about half a dozen men followed. And in less than five minutes he was shot from the "Crater" through his shoulder. I believe it was the first ball shot that day from the northern side of the "Crater." He was immediately pulled down into the ditch, and with the utmost coolness, and no exhibition of pain turned the command over to me, the next ranking officer. Colonels Benbow and Wallace were both absent on furlough.
I immediately ordered John Phillips, a brave soldier of Company I, to go around the "Crater" to inform the commanding officer of the serious wounding of General Elliott, and to inquire as to the condition of the brigade on the south side. Major Shield replied that Colonel Fleming and Adjutant Quattlebaum, with more than half the Twenty-second, were buried up, but with the remainder of his men and with the Twenty-third, under Captain White, and a part of Wise's Brigade we had driven the Yankees back, and intended to keep them back.
Being satisfied that the object of the mine was to make a gap in our line by which General Meade could rush his troops to the rear, I ordered Colonel Smith to take his Regiment, and Captain Crawford with three of my largest Companies, Companies K, E and B, containing nearly as many men as Smith's, to proceed by Elliott's headquarters up the ravine to a place immediately in rear of the "Crater"—to make the men lie down—and if the enemy attempted to rush down to resist them to the last extremity. This was near 6 o'clock A.M., and the enemy had not made any advance on the North side of the "Crater."
By this time the "Crater" was packed with men. I counted fourteen beautiful banners. I saw four or five officers waiving swords and pointing towards Petersburg, and I supposed they were preparing for a charge to the crest of the hill.
ELLIOTT'S BRIGADE.
The line and strength of the Brigade from left to right was as follows: Twenty-sixth Regiment, two hundred and fifty men; Seventeenth, four hundred; Eighteenth, three hundred and fifty; Twenty-second, three hundred; Twenty-third, two hundred. In all one thousand and five hundred men, a full estimate.