At last I got pretty close up without knowing it.

The balls commenced to whistle very thick overhead, cutting the limbs of the chaparral right and left.

We could not see the enemy, so I ordered my men to lie down, an order that did not have to be enforced.

We kept our position until it became evident that the enemy were not firing at us, and then withdrew to find better ground to advance upon.
By this time some progress had been made on our left.

A section of artillery had been captured by the cavalry, and some prisoners had been taken.