J. Mark Smither's letter to his mother, dated 29 July 1863, can be found in the 5th Texas folder of the Robert L. Brake Collection at the US Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA. Smither writes " ... after getting within the timber we encountered the skirmishers and sharpshooters posted behind a stone wall, but we soon had them flying up the side of the mountain. It was here that Jas. A. McDade of Co. 'D' was killed, he was a noble boy." The timber being referenced are the woods on the west side of Big Round Top, extending down to Plum Run, and the sharpshooters were likely the green-clad Second U.S. Sharpshooters, under LCol Stoughton, which fell back before Hood's troops as they advanced across the valley.