At about the same time that the 57th North Carolina enveloped the 134th New York on the east end of Col. Charles Coster’s line, Brig. Gen. Harry Hays’ Louisianans approached the 27th Pennsylvania from the north. The right end of Hays’ long line (held by the 5th Louisiana) extended all the way to Carlisle Road—well beyond the left flank of the Pennsylvanians. Coster could now see the futility of remaining in his position and ordered an immediate withdrawal.
The men of the 27th Pennsylvania heard the order and began heading for the rear. As a result, the Louisianans on the right end of Hays’ line did not experience much resistance. Because of the noise and smoke, however, the 154th New York in the center of Coster’s line of battle did not get the message to retreat and remained in place. The men of the 134th New York on the right who had not yet fled also attempted to hold fast on Coster’s defensive line.
Colonel Godwin of the 57th North Carolina recalled the men of the 134th New York “stubbornly holding their position until we had climbed over into their midst.” Firing from the left front of Coster’s line was Captain Heckman’s Federal battery. When Heckman realized the game at the brickyard was played out, he ordered his pieces to safety. He was a few minutes too late, and some of Hays’ soldiers captured two of his guns. During the thirty minutes of action, the battery fired 113 rounds at the Confederates.9
With the brigades of Col. Isaac Avery and Harry Hays overlapping the two ends of the Federal line, the defenders could see that they were in danger of being surrounded. It was now every man for himself. To the Confederates, who were within 30 yards of the defensive position, the Federal troops “raised up like a flock of blackbirds” and fled for safety. “We entered the road [Harrisburg Pike], and fierce hand to hand conflict ensued,” remembered Lt. Alanson Crosby of the 154th New York.
Most of Coster’s Federals did not yet realize that Hays had moved much of his brigade around their left flank and was now in their rear. According to Crosby, the “opposing forces were mingled in promiscuous confusion. Four color-bearers in the 154th New York were shot down in rapid succession. The only resource left was to cut through the enemy’s ranks. The bayonet was used, but alas, what could a mere handful of men do against thousands that surrounded us on all sides.” Another private agreed. “[When] we got to the road it was full of Rebels and they were coming up behind us, so there we had to stay, and but few got away.” As one Louisiana veteran wrote with slight exaggeration, “we ran them thro town & caught more prisoners than we had men in the brigade."10
Coster’s brigade sustained horrific losses in its short sojourn at the brickyard. Of the 922 men in the three regiments who took part in the fight, only 359 made it back to the safety of Cemetery Hill—a loss of 61 percent. Only four Federal brigades lost a higher percentage of men during the three-day battle. The entire detachment of the 27th Pennsylvania sent to the center of Coster’s line fell killed, wounded, or captured; the 134th New York lost sixty-three percent of its men; and the 154th New York suffered losses of eighty-four percent. Only one other Federal regiment, the 25th Ohio (Ames’ brigade, Barlow’s division, XI Corps), lost a higher percentage of men than the 154th New York, although most of the losses (178 out of 200) were captured rather than killed or wounded. Miraculously, not one of Coster’s flags was lost. The 27th Pennsylvania on the left of the line and the only regiment to hear Coster’s orders to withdraw left thirty-nine percent of its men in and around the brickyard.
The crushing defeat suffered by Colonel Coster and his brigade ended the fighting that day between the Federal XI Corps and Jubal Early’s Confederate division.11