demand his surrender. Colonel Moore responded that an officer of the
United States ought not to surrender on the Fourth of July, and he must
therefore decline. Captain "Ed" Byrne had planted one of the Parrott
guns about six hundred yards from the earthwork, and on the return of
the bearer of the flag opened fire, probing the work with a round shot.
One man in the trench was killed by this shot, and the others ran back
to the abatis.

Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was in advance, immediately dashed
forward with the 3d and 11th Kentucky to attack the main position.
Artillery could not be used, for the guns could bear upon the abatis
only from the crest of which I have spoken, and if posted there the
cannoneers, at the very short range, would not have been able to serve
their pieces. The position could be won only by direct assault. The men
rushed up to the fallen timber, but became entangled in the network of
trunks and branches, and were shot down while trying to climb over or
push through them. I reinforced Johnson with a part of Smith's regiment,
the 5th Kentucky, but the jam and confusion incident to moving in so
circumscribed an area and through the dense undergrowth broke the force
of the charge. The enemy was quite numerous enough to defend a line so
short and strong and perfectly protected on both flanks. We had not more
than six hundred men actually engaged, and the fighting lasted not
longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Our loss was about ninety, nearly
as many killed as wounded. Afterward we learned that Colonel Moore's
loss was six killed and twenty-three wounded. When General Morgan
ordered the attack he was not aware of the strength of the position; nor
had he anticipated a resistance so spirited and so skilfully planned. He
reluctantly drew off without another assault, convinced that to capture
the abatis and its defenders would cost him half his command. Among the
killed were Colonel D.W. Chenault and Captain Alexander Treble of the