John Dimitry , A. M., Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 10.1, Louisiana
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

[233] came at double-quick toward the embankment, heedless of what might be behind it. Then the rifles of the brigade awoke. Our bullets came swiftly, and from close quarters made havoc in the advancing column. Charge after charge was each time repulsed with appalling loss. While this slaughter was going on, the Louisianians began to run short of ammunition. Already some of the men were relieving the dead bodies of their comrades of cartridges. Another Federal advance, in force, came up closer than before to our position at the railroad. Company E, Montgomery Guards, First Louisiana, earliest out, first called for cartridges. Starke had already been notified by Nolan, commanding the regiment, that ammunition was running out. Directly in the rear of the Montgomery Guards was their leader, Capt. Thos. Rice. The eyes of Captain Rice, from his station on a slight elevation of the slope, moved, here, there, everywhere. Nothing but a great quantity of rock was lying around, broken in fragments of moderate size, as they had been blasted when the railroad was building. Captain Rice drew upon his experience in the Crimea. He recalled that battle with stones, fought in a rock quarry at Inkerman, close to the redan—one of the bulwarks of Sebastopol—which had now come to him like a flash, born of the need. Quick as the thought, Rice picked up a piece of rock and calling out loudly, ‘Boys, do as we did at Sebastopol!’ hurled the first stone. Ambulance men, being idle just then, gathered stones at the word. The company, the regiment —even other commands of the brigade—followed with more stone, pelting the enemy savagely in their faces, with good aim. Excellent work was done with these rocks—a work certified to by both pelters and pelted. Some of the enemy crawled up the bank and voluntarily surrendered themselves to escape the deadly stoning.

By this time the men had warmed to the work. A fresh assault of the Federals, in formidable array, came up to the railroad. Major Barney, commanding the Twentyfourth