BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON, TENN.
On the 3rd of February, 1863, Major-General Wheeler, Brigadier-General Wharton and Colonel Forrest, with five thousand Confederates and twelve cannon, marched on Fort Donelson. They were met half a mile from the fort by a skirmishing party, under Captain McClanahan, sent out by Colonel A. C. Harding, commanding the garrison, which consisted of nine companies of the Eighty-third Illinois, one company of the Fifth Iowa cavalry, and two sections of Flood’s battery, in all about six hundred effective men. The battery consisted of four rifled brass pieces, in addition to which there was one siege gun, a rifled thirty-two pounder, in position. The skirmishers fell inward slowly, firing upon the enemy as they retired, until they were called in. The Confederates now displayed a white flag and demanded the surrender of the fort and garrison. Colonel Harding replied that he “would fight while he had a man left.” He had formed his line of battle, (in the shape of a crescent,) one flank on the river and the other extending to a brick building near the intrenchments; he had sent for gunboats, and was content to abide the issue. The enemy completely encompassed the town; and the fire of artillery opened on both sides. His men were all mounted; and made charge after charge upon the gallant defenders, whose Springfield rifles emptied scores of saddles at each assault. The rebel General Wharton dismounted his men, gained the rear of the town, and they then forced their way into it. Colonel Forrest, who had fired his troops with daring emulation, led his brigade, in line more than a mile long, to the attack. It was met by a perfect storm of lead. The troops pressed on through the fatal hail, driving the Federals from their rifle-pits and chasing them into the town, but here the pursuers were greeted with a deadly shower that threatened them with annihilation, and they wavered, turned and fled. But they were soon rallied, reformed, and again urged into the mouth of destruction; and, in this spirit, was the contest kept up from noon till half past seven o’clock, when another flag of truce was sent in with a second demand for an unconditional surrender.
Flood’s battery had lost forty-eight out of sixty-four horses; one piece, had every gun dismounted, and had fired its last cartridge. The rebels assured Colonel Harding that he had done all that could be expected of a brave man, and that further resistance on his part would only lead to a useless effusion of blood. The hero replied, “I have no orders to surrender, I cannot think of such a thing—I’ll take the consequences.”
The struggle was renewed. It appeared a hopeless one for the Unionists, till a cheering sight appeared on the river. It was the sable Lexington, followed by her consorts moving majestically into the rear of the position. The gunboat, always the rebels’ terror, began to speak in her tones of thunder.
The enemy had posted his main body in line of battle in the graveyard at the westerly extremity of the town, with his left wing exposed to a raking fire in a ravine which led down to the river; and the fire of the gunboats Lexington, Fairplay, Brilliant, St. Clair, Robb and Silver Lake, which fairly rocked the Post with the force of the concussion, did frightful execution among the terror-stricken and fleeing masses of rebels that filled the surrounding valleys and ravines.
In this gallant defence, the Federal loss was sixteen killed and sixty wounded. The cavalry, which had been sent to reconnoitre four hours before the commencement of the engagement, were all captured except four, making the loss in prisoners about fifty. The rebels had fully one hundred and fifty killed, four hundred wounded, and left one hundred and fifty prisoners with the Unionists.
BATTLE NEAR FRANKLIN, TENN.
March 5, 1863.
On the fourth of March, an expedition composed of the Thirty-third Indiana, Twenty-second Wisconsin, Nineteenth Michigan, Eighty-fifth Indiana, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio infantry, with detachments of the Second Michigan, Ninth Pennsylvania, and Fourth Kentucky cavalry, left Franklin, Tenn., under the command of Colonel John Coburn, to meet a force which General Rosecrans was to send from Murfreesboro’ at a point some twelve miles from Franklin. The column had proceeded about three miles when it encountered the enemy, and a slight artillery engagement ensued, in which he was defeated with the loss of ten killed, left on the field. Here the train, which consisted of about one hundred wagons, proving too cumbersome, was, with the exception of the baggage-wagons, sent back, and the army went into camp. The next morning information was brought by two negroes that the enemy under Colonel Forrest was reinforced by Major-General Van Dorn, and now numbered ten thousand men. The negroes were dispatched, under guard, to General Gilbert to whom Colonel Colburn had already sent a letter informing him of the probable number of the enemy and asking for reinforcements. “The Colonel must be scared,” observed the General, as he wrote this laconic order: “your force is sufficient, move forward.”
At eight o’clock A. M. the column resumed its march, throwing out skirmishers; and when it had advanced about four miles, fire was opened from a battery immediately in front. Colonel Colburn drew up his command in line of battle, placed three pieces on its right and two on the left, so that the battery might bear simultaneously on two points. Another of the enemy’s batteries immediately revealed itself on the right, but no force was visible. The Eighty-fifth and Thirty-third Indiana were ordered to take it. They started down the hill, and were received with a murderous volley from infantry behind a stone wall and around the depot, where they disclosed overwhelming numbers. At the same moment another rebel battery opened on the left. The two regiments were ordered to retire. The Eighteenth Ohio battery on the left failed to stand the scathing fire of the enemy’s guns, and being out of ammunition, had also without orders moved down to the pike. The enemy now advanced on the left in line of battle, and Colonel Colburn was leading the Thirty-third and the Eighty-fifth Indiana into the fiery snare laid for them. The Twenty-second Wisconsin and Nineteenth Michigan, on the summit of a hill, held their positions against overwhelming odds. The section of the battery on its right had also kept up a constant fire, but that on the pike was retreating in double quick time, and was only too soon followed by the other section, which had hitherto behaved so well. Lieutenant-Colonel Bloodgood of the Twenty-second Wisconsin, seeing the enemy closing round the hill to cut him off, gave the order to move the regiment in that direction by the flank: one hundred and fifty obeyed the command, and, with that number, he escaped. The cavalry had already retired half a mile from the scene of action. The Union brigade was now driven into a hollow, the enemy closing in upon it on every side, shell and round shot pouring upon it, thick and fast, and bullets raining so rapidly, that further resistance appeared like a useless immolation of hundreds of lives. Colonel Colburn therefore surrendered.
The Union loss in this disastrous engagement was one hundred killed, three hundred wounded, besides many prisoners, and a valuable train. The rebel loss in killed and wounded was much less than that sustained by the Federal forces.
On the tenth of March a detachment of Federal troops, comprising the Sixth and Seventh Illinois cavalry, commanded by Colonel Grierson, surprised Colonel Richardson’s guerrilla band, four hundred strong, near Covington, Tenn, killed twenty-five, captured a number of them, and dispersed the rest.
On the twelfth Major-General Gordon Granger with his division, supported by Colonel Minty, returned to Franklin from an expedition which had been attended with a success so brilliant as to efface in great measure the disgrace of the failure of Colonel Colburn’s expedition. General Van Dorn and his command, flushed with their recent victory over Colonel Colburn, were met by this expeditionary force, and “sent flying” over the Duck river.
On the eighteenth, fourteen hundred men, consisting of the One hundred and fifth Ohio, the Eightieth, and One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois, an Indiana battery, and one company of Tennessee cavalry, under the command of Colonel A. S. Hall, left Murfreesboro’ and started in the direction of Liberty. On the next morning the enemy was encountered, but in numbers so overwhelming that Colonel Hall was compelled to return. He was attacked the next day at Milton by the rebel forces under General John Morgan. A fierce fight, lasting three hours and a half, ensued, but the enemy were finally repulsed with the loss of four captains and sixty men left on the field, dead or mortally wounded, besides nearly three hundred placed hors du combat. Colonel Hall had six killed, forty wounded, and seven missing.
From this time, a great many expeditions of the above description were sent out from time to time with more or less success. A force of rebels, under Major-General Van Dorn, on the 10th of April, attacked the National force under Major-General G. Granger, at Franklin. The rebel force was estimated at nine thousand cavalry, besides two regiments of infantry, and was greatly superior to the Union force, which consisted of only two regiments, under Generals Baird and Gilbert, numbering about sixteen hundred men, and sixteen guns; and two cavalry brigades under General Smith and Colonel Stanley, numbering about twenty-seven hundred men, and two guns. The only natural defence of the place was a fort, not yet completed, and which mounted two siege, and two three-inch rifled guns. This fort was elevated some forty feet above the surrounding country, and commanded most of the approaches to the town. General Granger’s camp was situated on the north side of the river, and about two-thirds of a mile from Franklin. General Baird received orders to check any force of the enemy attempting to cross the fords below, and General Gilbert was so placed as to meet any attack made upon the front, with orders to reinforce either flank if required. About four miles on the road to Murfreesboro’, Colonel Stanley was stationed, and General Smith’s cavalry was held in reserve to reinforce Colonel Stanley. The attack was opened by General Van Dorn on General Granger’s front, which was instantly repulsed. The attack was then renewed on Colonel Stanley, who was driven back before reinforcements could reach him. The enemy pressed close upon them; when they had advanced into an open field, they halted, and the Unionists suddenly faced about, and delivered such a hot fire into their ranks that they fell back in confusion. Speedily recovering, however, the enemy charged again, and were again repulsed with loss. They fell back again; and the Unionists not wishing to follow up the advantage they had gained, continued to retreat till they had neared the town, and there they were charged upon by the whole force of the enemy’s cavalry. The Unionists kept up a continuous firing upon the advancing rebels, but the enemy’s column came steadily onward. The National troops now executed a brilliant, and very skillful movement—each front company delivered its fire, and then retreated to the rear, leaving the next one behind in front, and so succeeding until the one in rear was again in front. In this way the retreating Unionists, still under a hot fire from the rebels, held them in check till the town was gained in safety. Once there, the National troops concealed themselves within the shelter of the houses, yard-fences, hedges, &c., and from this cover they poured into the enemy’s ranks a constant and murderous fire. The siege guns and batteries now opened upon them, also, and succeeded in driving them discomfited from the field. In this engagement, the National loss was very much less than that of the rebels, notwithstanding the latter had so far outnumbered the former.
On the 20th, a skirmish occurred between a Union force, part of Major-General Reynolds’s division, Colonel Wilder’s mounted brigade, and a cavalry force under Colonel Minty, and the enemy, who were stationed at a place called McMinnsville. The rebels formed a line, and charged upon the Unionists as the latter approached the city, where they had been sent from Murfreesboro’, to scatter any Confederate force which might be found at McMinnsville. The National troops encountered the rebel line, breaking through it at once, and drove the whole force, consisting of seven hundred men, from the town. Many men were taken prisoners by this Union force, and much destruction of rebel property accomplished. On the 29th, a small body of Union men, under Colonel Watkins, captured one of the enemy’s camps, taking prisoners one hundred and thirty-eight men.
COLONEL STREIGHT’S EXPEDITION INTO GEORGIA.
May 3, 1863.
About the 20th of April, an expedition was fitted out to proceed into Northern Georgia, in charge of Colonel A. D. Streight, under whose command was placed the Fifty-first Indiana and Eightieth Illinois, together with portions of two Ohio regiments.
Colonel Streight was officially notified that the chief object of his expedition was to push into Western Georgia, and cut the railroads which supplied the rebel army, by way of Chattanooga; and that in pursuance of this plan, he was not to allow incidental schemes, however promising as to results, to involve him in such delays, as would endanger his safe return. In order in deceive the enemy, he was to march long enough in company with the army of General Dodge, to give rise to the belief that he was a part of the expedition of the latter. He was further commanded to refrain from pillage and marauding, but to destroy all depots of supplies for the rebel army, all manufactories of guns, ammunition, equipment, and clothing for their use, which could be done without endangering their return.
In obedience to these instructions, Colonel Streight embarked his soldiers from Nashville, and landed near Fort Donelson. From there he crossed the country to the Tennessee river, thence proceeded to Eastport, and conjointly with the forces of General Dodge, at the time marching upon Tuscumbia, gave battle to the Confederate troops, and defeated them with considerable loss.
At this point, Colonel Streight parted company with General Dodge, and pursued his course toward Rome and Atlanta. General Forrest and Colonel Rody, with a Confederate force, happening to be in the neighborhood of Colonel Streight’s proposed route, were at once apprised of his movements, and falling upon his rear, engaged in a running fight, which lasted full four days, and comprised several sharp skirmishes, and two battles. The Federal troops, however, managed to advance over a hundred miles into the interior of the State, destroying on their way some bridges, a large quantity of meal, and a foundry for the manufacture of shot and cannon. But as the Confederate forces continually increased, and both the ammunition and the men of Colonel Streight finally became exhausted, he was obliged at a point some fifteen miles from Rome, (Ga.) to make a complete surrender. His men, to the number of thirteen hundred, were, according to custom, at once paroled, but his officers were held and imprisoned, on the charge of having incurred the penalty fixed by a statute of the State of Georgia, for inciting slaves to rebellion. In substantiation of this claim, it was stated that black men, uniformed, and bearing arms, were found in the command of Colonel Streight. On the other hand, it was declared that these negroes had marched from Nashville with the raiders.
In consequence of this refusal to parole Colonel Streight, the Government suspended the exchange of Confederate officers, and General Morgan and his officers were thrown into the penitentiary of Ohio.
Colonel Streight was subsequently released from imprisonment.
It was toward the end of June that General Rosecrans commenced a series of movements, which were designed to bring on a conflict between the forces under his command, and the rebels under General Bragg. His purpose was to march small portions of his army on Shelbyville, and by feints give an idea that a serious movement was intended in that direction; while his really decisive blow was aimed at Tullahoma. Accordingly the Twentieth corps, under General McCook, was selected to make the advance on the right; and about seven o’clock General Sheridan’s division, preceded by five companies of mounted infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jones, proceeded on the way to Shelbyville. During the night, this division bivouacked on each side of the wood, and the divisions of General Johnson and Davis advanced six miles on the road, and on the left turned to Liberty Gap. The following day was very stormy—notwithstanding which the mounted infantry under Colonel Wilder, marched along the road leading to Manchester, and were closely followed by General Reynolds, with the remainder of his division.
At about nine o’clock in the morning, Colonel Wilder met the enemy’s pickets eight miles from Murfreesboro’, and drove them, together with all their reserves, on a quick run before him, to beyond Hoover’s Gap, which is a long winding hollow through a chain of hills which divide the Stone and Duck rivers. For about two-thirds the distance through the gaps the rebels had fortified a strong position, but were driven so closely by the men under Colonel Wilder, that before they had time to deploy into their works, the Union soldiers were inside also. The rebels fled instantly, leaving behind the battle-flag of the First Kentucky cavalry regiment, and also forty-two prisoners. For full four miles beyond Hoover’s Gap, Colonel Wilder’s men drove them on a sharp run; when he heard the long-roll sounded in the enemy’s infantry camp two miles beyond the Garrison Fork, down Duck river toward the right. Immediately the proper dispositions were made for an expected fight, for Colonel Wilder determined to hold the gap until General Reynolds with his force should come up to his assistance. Almost on the instant, two brigades of rebel infantry came up on the double-quick, and formed in line of battle; the Unionists poured a volley into their ranks, which caused them to hastily turn about and beat a retreat; upon the right of Colonel Wilder’s column five regiments of rebels had charged, and outflanked the Seventeenth. The Ninety-eighth Illinois, Colonel Fernhouser, hastened to their relief, before whom the rebels did not stand more than five minutes. Wheeling about, the enemy, despite the cries and entreaties of their officers, beat a hasty retreat, and with great noise and clatter carried their batteries away with them, and posted them behind some hills in their rear. General Reynolds’ division held possession of the gap.
During these and subsequent preliminary movements, the rebel position was as follows: Bragg’s main army occupied a strong position north of Duck river, with their cavalry on the right toward McMinnville, and their infantry extending from Shelbyville to Wantrace; on the left, toward Columbia and Spring Hill, Forrest was concentrating and threatening Franklin. Their main base of supplies was, of course, at Chattanooga; but their superior and efficient cavalry force had enabled them to command all the resources of Duck river valley, and the country toward the south. Tullahoma, the large intrenched camp of the rebels, was situated on the “barrens” at the intersection of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad with the McMinnville branch, and was their main depot. The rebel infantry was well protected by a high range of rough and rocky hills; the principal routes passed southward from Murfreesboro’ toward Tullahoma, and the enemy’s line of communications. By the way of McMinnville, Tullahoma is distant seventy-five miles from Chattanooga; the Manchester pike passes the hills above referred to, goes through Hoover’s Gap, and ascends to the “barrens,” through a long and difficult cañon called Matt’s Hollow. The Wantrace road passes through Liberty Gap, and into a road which runs parallel with the railroad at Bellbuckle Gap. The Shelbyville road runs through a defile called Guy’s Gap. A road called the Middleton dirt road, is also situated near here; and the road along Versailles runs into the Shelbyville and Triune roads, neither of which have any passes, and but few defiles.
The enemy held all these passes, his main position being in front of Shelbyville, and strengthened by a redan line which extended from Horse Mountain on the east, to Duck river on the west, and was covered by a line of abattis.
It being still uncertain whether the enemy would advance to test the strength of the whole Union force, the following disposition of the latter was made for the 25th: Major-General Crittenden was ordered to advance on Lannon’s Stand, and from thence open communication with General Thomas, who was then to drive the rebels toward Fairfield, where the Fourteenth corps was stationed to receive them; and General McCook, with that portion of his corps under his own immediate command was to make a feint along the Wantrace road by the way of Liberty Gap. General Stanley, with the cavalry under his command, was to occupy the attention of the rebels at Fosterville; while General Granger with the infantry, was to support Stanley at Christiana. If General Thomas succeeded in his manœuvre, and found the rebels retreating towards Wartrace, he was to cover that road with a division, and thus move on to Manchester with the remainder of his command, while General McCook, moving in on Beech Grove, was to hold Liberty Gap with one division, and after a time to withdraw quietly, leaving a force sufficient to protect it, and move on to Manchester.
During this day it rained heavily and continuously; and General Brannan was, in consequence, prevented from joining the Fourteenth corps as soon as was necessary. Finally everything was in position; General Reynolds’ division advanced upon the heights toward Fairfield, but made no demonstration against the enemy. At Liberty Gap the enemy endeavored to regain possession, but were utterly routed, and compelled to leave it in possession of the Unionists.
The greater part of the movements ordered on the 25th were completed on the 26th, notwithstanding the drenching rain which had continued day and night. The divisions of Generals Reynolds, Rousseau and Brannan, made a combined advance upon the enemy, and forced him to retreat toward Fairfield; Wilder’s cavalry seized Matt’s Hollow, and held it, thus securing the passage toward Manchester for Reynolds to move forward with his division, which the gallant General did during the same night. Headquarters were established in Manchester during the 27th; and in the course of the night all the remaining portion of General Thomas’ corps came in from the different directions in which they had been posted. All was now in readiness to prepare for the coming contest; rations were distributed to the troops, and the column was closed up around Manchester.
While these preparations were going forward, General Rosecrans saw an opportunity for cutting off the railroad in the rebel rear, and thus accomplishing one of his main objects. He therefore sent forward Wilder’s brigade to burn the bridges across Elk river, and to destroy the railroad between Deckhard and Cowan. Brigadier-General John Beatty was sent to Hillsboro’ with a brigade of infantry, to cover, and if necessary, support the movements of Colonel Wilder. Upon reaching Elk river it was found to be so swollen, in consequence of the recent rains, that it was impossible to ford it. Nothing daunted, the brave Colonel proceeded upstream along the banks, till he came to a place where there seemed a possibility of swimming his horse across. A raft was hastily constructed from the ruins of an old sawmill, and he thus floated his mountain howitzer over, by towing it with ropes. The One hundred and twenty-third Illinois, Colonel Monroe, had been sent on to destroy the bridge, but on arriving there found that he was late by about ten minutes, as three regiments of the rebel Withers’ division of infantry had arrived there and were protecting the bridge. Colonel Monroe, therefore, returned from his fruitless errand; and with the rest of Wilder’s command, moved on to Deckhard during the same night. There they had a sharp skirmish with about eighty men of the garrison, but finally drove them out, and in the darkness the rebels effected their escape. Colonel Wilder then destroyed the telegraph wires, captured the instruments, set fire to the depot, and tore up about three hundred yards of the Chattanooga railroad track. From there Colonel Wilder took the road across the mountains to Chattanooga intending to strike the bridges at Cow’s creek, near Stevenson, but was prevented on finding three trains loaded with rebel infantry awaiting him, while the enemy’s cavalry was in hot pursuit of him. Unwilling to give up his object, he next attempted to attack Anderson, ten miles further on, and destroy all the bridges in that direction, but there, also, he found a rebel brigade awaiting him. Being thus threatened on every hand, he was obliged to make his escape in order to save his troops from capture; and, with Buckner’s brigade close upon his heels, made all possible speed to return to Manchester. His men were utterly exhausted; they were out of rations, and the horses, which had scarcely been unsaddled for seven days, were nearly starved. But men and animals exhibited alike great powers of endurance; and by his admirable management, Colonel Wilder got his troops back to Manchester in safety, and without the loss of a single man, at about one o’clock on the afternoon of the 30th, having marched one hundred and twenty-six miles, swam four streams, and tore up three railroad tracks.
In the mean time a force of the enemy’s artillery and cavalry at Guy’s Gap had been attacked by General Stanley’s cavalry, and the infantry under General Granger. The enemy was completely routed, driven from stand to stand, till they reached their intrenchments, where the Unionists made an impetuous charge upon them, and drove them out, capturing three pieces of artillery. From the intrenchments, the rebels fled back to Shelbyville, and gathering together all their remaining force, made another stand, and for a time withstood the National forces with the courage of desperation. It was in vain. The Union cavalry swept down upon them with resistless strength and fire, and drove them back in dire confusion into the river. Large numbers fell on the field, many were drowned, and a large force were taken prisoners, together with much commissary stores, and a quantity of arms. The Union troops then took possession of Shelbyville, amid the waving of flags, and the cheers of welcome from the inhabitants.
Upon the 30th, the whole Union force, in mass, was prepared to move upon Tullahoma; but on the next day a dispatch was received by General Rosecrans from General Thomas, announcing to him that the enemy had evacuated Tullahoma during the night. Pursuit was ordered instantly. The divisions of Brannan, Negley, and Sheridan entered Tullahoma, and took possession. The infantry arrived about noon; and the divisions of Negley and Rousseau pushed on after the retreating rebels, and overtook their rear-guard at Bethpage Bridge, two miles above the railroad crossing. The rebels, in strong force, occupied the heights at this place; and the Unionists engaged in a brisk skirmish with them, in which the National forces entirely routed the rebels. General McCook, in command of two divisions, pursued the enemy, on the next day, along the road which lay west of the railroad. The Elk river was found to be almost unfordable by the cavalry; while the rebel cavalry on the opposite side did everything in their power to resist the attempted crossing by the Union forces. But the rebels were speedily driven away, and the National troops took possession of the ford. General Thomas, with similar difficulty, effected a crossing, the enemy having during the night burned the bridge by which he had expected to cross. The small cavalry force under General Turchin pushed forward to Hillsboro,’ on the Deckhard road; and finding the enemy’s cavalry at Elk Ford, near Morris Ferry, engaged them, and being very soon reinforced by General Mitchell’s troops they forced a passage across the river, after a sharp conflict. Night then closed the pursuit. Upon the 3d July, General Sheridan succeeded in crossing Elk river, and, supported by General J. C. Davis’s division, pushed the enemy to Cowan, where he learned that the rebels, with their artillery and infantry, had crossed the mountains by University and Sweden’s Cove, and that the cavalry alone would be found covering their rear. On the same day General Thomas got his troops across, also; portions of the cavalry from Sheridan’s division, and also from the main column were sent forward, but they only learned that the enemy was gone. The roads were found to be almost impassable from the heavy rains, and the troops being well-nigh out of provisions a halt was ordered until supplies could be forwarded from Murfreesboro’.
Thus ended a campaign of nine days’ duration, in which the enemy had been driven from two strongly fortified positions, and which had resulted in giving the Union forces possession of the whole of Middle Tennessee, and preserving Kentucky from the danger of a second invasion.
The next advance of General Rosecrans was against Chattanooga. General Bragg retreating on the south side of the Tennessee had reached this place, and had there thrown up defensive fortifications. General Rosecrans commenced his movement on the 16th of August; having spent the time from July 3d to the middle of August in making the necessary preparations. The advance was made, of course, across the mountains, its front extending from the head of Sequatchie Valley in East Tennessee to Athens in Alabama, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. The army advanced in divisions, availing itself of various gaps in the mountains, and crossing the Tennessee at various points. In the early days of September the army of the Cumberland was threatening the rebels under Bragg, all along that river from Whitesburg to Blythe’s Ferry.
General Rosecrans, having become convinced, from evidence gathered from various sources, that General Bragg had commenced on the 6th of September, to move on Rome, directed General Crittenden to hold Chattanooga with one brigade and to pursue the enemy vigorously with the remaining force at his disposal. General Crittenden occupied Ringgold on the 11th, but Wilder’s mounted infantry pushed forward, skirmishing sharply with the enemy as far as Tunnel Hill. Logan having joined Crittenden, the whole corps advanced rapidly, on the twelfth, to Gordon’s Mill. Wilder, while engaged in covering this movement, had a desperate struggle with the enemy at Letts’ Tanyard. Negley, who had, in the mean time, been reconnoitering in the vicinity of Dug Gap, where he found the enemy in heavy force, was joined on the 11th by Baird’s division, and, after a severe skirmish with the rebels, secured a strong position in front of Stevens’ Gap. On the twelfth Reynolds and Brennan closed up to sustain these two advanced positions.
General Rosecrans, having now ascertained that Bragg was not retreating on Rome, but concentrating all his forces near La Fayette, behind Pigeon Mountain, where he was receiving reinforcements from Johnston and from Virginia, proceeded at once to concentrate his army. General McCook was ordered to hold Dougherty’s Gap, with two brigades, and to join General Thomas with the remainder of his command, with whom however, he did not close up till the 17th. On the arrival of General McCook’s corps, General Thomas moved down the Chickamauga, toward Gordon’s Mill. A manœuvre was now made to cover the La Fayette road to Chickamauga, but it was retarded by the narrowness of the roads and the disposition of the troops, and, during its progress, Colonel Minty became engaged with the enemy near Reed’s Bridge, and Wilder’s “Lightning Brigade” dashed into a superior force, from which they escaped by the La Fayette road. On the 11th, Minty’s cavalry and Wilder’s mounted brigade, were, after an obstinate struggle, driven by the enemy from Reed’s and Alexander’s bridges, to the Rossville road. General Thomas advanced during the night to Kelly’s House on the La Fayette road, where Baird’s division was posted. Here it was reported to him that a rebel brigade, isolated by the burning of Reed’s bridge, was on his side of the Chickamauga. Brennan, with two brigades, was sent out to capture it, and encountered a strong column of the enemy, bent on turning the left of the Union army, and on getting possession of the road between it and Chattanooga. This movement opened the combat, and on the 19th of September, 1863, was commenced.