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10 a. m. on the 30th on a line near the north bank of a small stream about three miles south of Grahamville station, occupying some light intrenchments that had been made upon ground called
Honey hill, ten or twelve feet above the water level.
On the right there was a dense forest, on the left an open pine wood, with an open space in front.
The road on which the
Federals approached was bordered closely by dense forests.
Colonel Colcock was put in command of the line of battle, and
Major Jenkins of the cavalry, while
Captain DeSaussure,
adjutant-general of the district, remained with
General Smith. ‘Within five or ten minutes after these dispositions had been made,’ said
General Smith, ‘the battle began by an advance piece of our artillery firing upon the enemy.
Their line of battle was soon formed, and from that time until near dark made continuous efforts to carry our position.
We had actually engaged five pieces of artillery, and it is due to the
South Carolina artillerists that I should say I have never seen pieces more skillfully employed and gallantly served upon a difficult field of battle.’
In an hour the enemy had so extended and developed their attack that
Smith was compelled to put in his last
Georgia regiment, making his force engaged about 1,400 muskets.
The valor with which they fought may be inferred from the report of
General Foster, who said:
The enemy's infantry, rather over 4,000 and nearly equal to our own in number, was posted behind intrenchments in the woods on each side of the road.
This position was immediately attacked with vigor and determination, but . . . we were unable to drive the enemy.
After an obstinate fight of several hours, General Hatch, finding that the enemy's line could be neither successfully assaulted nor outflanked, retired after dark to a strong position about 2 1/2 miles from Boyd's Neck.
Our loss was 88 killed, 623 wounded and 43 missing.
‘Our loss in every arm of the service,’ General Smith reported, ‘was 8 men killed and 42 wounded. The enemy ’
