Palmer got his orders quickly. He was to move
down the road toward Rossville to an indicated point, then form his
division _en echelon_ by brigade from the left, and move off the road to
the right and attack. When he struck the enemy's left flank he was to
envelop and crush it. The formation _en echelon_ was to facilitate this
enveloping and crushing.
Moving off the road as ordered, the division passed through several
hundred yards of forest, and came upon a wide open field of lower
ground, through the centre of which ran, parallel to our front, a narrow
belt of timber. The skirmishers passed through this belt and a few yards
beyond, and were then driven back by an overpowering fire from the
enemy's skirmishers. Our main line came up to the timber and passed
through it to the farther side; and then the edge of the forest beyond,
in front, on the right and on the left, was suddenly fringed with a line
of flashing fire, above which rose a thin white smoke. The tremendous
crash of musketry was measured by the deep thunder of artillery farther
back, and soon columns of dense white smoke rising above the tree-tops
indicated the positions of several swift-working batteries. A storm of
bullets whizzed through the ranks of the attacking echelons, while
shrieking shells filled the air with a horrid din, and, bursting
overhead, sent their ragged fragments hurtling down in every direction.
In an instant a hundred gaps were opened in the firm ranks as the men
sank to the ground beneath the smiting lead and iron.
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