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between 3 and 4 p. m. With
Longstreet were the South Carolina brigades of
Evans and
Jenkins, the Fifteenth South Carolina with
Drayton, and the
Hampton legion with
Wofford.
Evans' brigade, under
Col. P. F. Stevens, was marched to the left of
General Hill's battle to support
Rodes, who was nearly overwhelmed.
Stevens put in the brigade on the right of
Rodes, and was at once assailed.
The Seventeenth, under
Col. F. W. McMaster, held its ground on the right of the brigade, supported by the Holcombe legion, but the pressure of the attack pressed back the Twenty-second and Twenty-third until these regiments, rallied by their gallant commanders,
Lieut.-Col. T. C. Watkins and
Capt. S. A. Durham and
Maj. M. Hilton, returned to the battle, and supported by the Eighteenth,
Col. W. H. Wallace, held the battle, in line with the Seventeenth and the legion.
But not for long; the enemy crowded up the mountain in such strength that
Rodes and
Stevens could not hold their line and were driven from the crest.
In this brief struggle, Lieut.-Col. Thomas C. Watkins fell in the thick of the fight, rallying his regiment.
His fall was a loss to his command and to his country, but he died as he wished to die, fighting for the independence of the Southern Confederacy.
He was succeeded by Major Hilton, who rallied the regiment and restored its position on the crest.
In the same contest Lieut.-Col. R. S. Means, of the Seventeenth, was severely wounded.
At the moment of his fall the crest was carried, and Colonel McMaster ordered him borne from the field, but he generously refused the aid of his comrades, seeing they must inevitably be captured.
Colonel Stevens especially commended the conduct of Colonel McMaster, Major Hilton, Captain Durham and Adjt. W. P. DuBose.
The latter officer was captured after night while endeavoring with a small force to reconnoiter the enemy's front.
The loss in the brigade was comparatively small: Seventeenth, killed 7, wounded
