Iverson's brigade went into action on the left of the Confederate line and to the left of the plank road; Rodes' brigade was on Iverson's right. Both of these were supporting brigades and in the third line. The Fifth regiment, the left regiment, became entangled in the dense undergrowth and had to be moved to the right to get forward. This left the Twelfth on the flank. Lieut.-Col. R. D. Johnston, of the Twenty-third, was that day in command of the Twelfth and he deployed skirmishers on the flank and the brigade moved on the enemy. Iverson reached the front line as it was falling back from its assault on the third Federal position. General Doubleday, of the Union army, says:
Then another front attack was organized by the enemy, and Nicholls', Iverson's and O'Neal's brigades charged over everything, even up to Best's batteries at Fairview. Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, p. 48.This attack, however, divided itself into two parts. A portion of Iverson's brigade and a portion of Pender's and two regiments of O'Neal's, under the personal leadership of Pender, assailed the part of the enemy's battery and line resting on the road. General Rodes said of this movement:
The enemy was compelled to fall back, and pressing on, Colonel Hall's two regiments (Fifth and Twenty-sixth Alabama), together with the Twenty-third North Carolina, Colonel Christie, carried the heights in magnificent style, planting their flags inside the works. Official Report.The rest of Rodes', Iverson's and Pender's troops were repulsed, and this exposing the three regiments Pender had in advance, they, too, fell back. At this juncture the flank attack of French, and later Humphreys, struck the Confederate left. Iverson and Thomas hurried some troops there, and Colston and Colquitt soon stopped the movement, and the general Confederate advance followed. Iverson's brigade loss was 370 men.
While these North Carolinians and others were striking
