Final Stand

Final Stand. . , Branch's retreat order never reached Colonel Avery or Colonel Vance. The 26th and 33rd North Carolina had continued to hold off the repeated attacks of the Federal army for over three hours. Initial indications of trouble on the other side of the railroad began around 11:30 AM as Major Lewis and his four companies of the 33rd North Carolina at Redan 1 began to take fire from their rear. Facing enemy attacks on three sides, Lewis and his men ran down the railroad in order to clear the Federals now assembling to attack. With Major Carmichael of the 26th North Carolina dead, Colonel Avery of the 33rd North Carolina ordered the men in Redan 3 to retreat. They fought the Federals along the railroad as they retreated. When they emerged from the forest into a small clearing they found a Federal battery supported by a regiment blocking their retreat. They were surrounded. Avery and approximately 150 men surrendered., Parke's final attack on the railroad was piecemeal - first the 5th Rhode Island attacked, then the 8th Connecticut, and finally the 4th Rhode Island. As the 4th Rhode Island approached the railroad they began to take heavy fire from the Confederates trying to escape through. the woods on the other side of the railroad. Colonel Rodman ordered his men to charge and for the second time that morning they collapsed the Confederate line. Simultaneously, Reno launched an all-out attack along Bullen Branch. As his men plunged into the icy swamp, the Confederates of Colonel Vance's 26th North Carolina fired one final volley and disappeared into the forest., [Captions:] , Federal navy gunboats advance past the obstructions off Fort Thompson , Final Federal assault by Reno's 2nd Brigade , Colonel Zebulon B. Vance 26th North Carolina , Situation at 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM