Wheaton's division was led by the axmen and 75 skirmishers from the 37th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Oliver Edwards's brigade was on the left, next to Warner's brigade. Thicker, more secure abatis and sharpened stakes slowed Wheaton's division's advance. The Massachusetts sharpshooters were able to suppress Confederate fire to allow the pioneers to open gaps in the obstructions. Edwards's men found that a moat guarded a three-gun battery past the abatis, but soldiers from the 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and 37th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment scaled the earthworks.