Existing comment:
18th Mississippi Infantry:
The 18th Mississippi Infantry was sent from nearby Edward's Ferry and arrived near here around 3:00 p.m. Colonel Erasmus Burt ordered his men forward across the then open field unknowingly into a deadly crossfire between the two winds of the Union formation. This was the single major tactical error made by the Confederates during the battle. About half of the 18th Mississippi's 85 casualties that day came during this brief encounter. Among the wounded was Colonel Burt who was shot through the hip and taken to Leesburg where he died on Octorber 26.
Lt. Col. Thomas Griffin assumed command, ordered the regiment to fall back, and split it into two battalions. Seven companies worked their way around to the right into the ravine at the bottom of this ridge. The men moved along the ravine and made a series of assaults on the Federal left flank during the course of the afternoon. Each of these assaults was repulsed by the Union troops, though the 18th participated in the final successful assault with its sister regiment, the 17th, just before dark. |