In the mean time, to draw the enemy's attention from
this movement, a vigorous onset was made upon his front; and as the
operations upon his flank were not immediately and fully carried out
according to the plan, this front demonstration assumed the character of
a fierce and desperate attack, upon which the fortunes of the day much
depended. General Pierce's brigade formed a part of the force engaged in
this latter movement, in which four thousand newly-recruited men, unable
to bring their artillery to bear, contended against seven thousand
disciplined soldiers, protected by intrenchments, and showering round
shot and shells against the assailing troops.
The ground in front was of the rudest and roughest character. The troops
made their way with difficulty over a broken tract called the Pedregal,
bristling with sharp points of rocks, and which is represented as having
been the crater of a now exhausted and extinct volcano. The enemy had
thrown out skirmishers, who were posted in great force among the crevices
and inequalities of this broken ground, and vigorously resisted the
American advance; while the artillery of the intrenched camp played upon
our troops, and shattered the very rocks over which they were to pass.
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