flames, which was either the work of the enemy or caused by our shells. About 4 p. m. the brigade moved down the creek, crossing at Byram's Ford and encamping for the night.

On the morning of the 19th, the brigade moved forward, forming line of battle and advancing against the enemy at [11?] a. m., the battery following in rear of the center. Owing to the nature of the ground, and the rapidity with which the brigade advanced, I found it impossible to get the battery into position to render assistance. The dense woods prevented me from checking a movement of the enemy in which he succeeded in taking our left in flank and rear, compelling us to fall back. I placed the battery in position some distance to the rear and opened on the enemy, thus checking his advance.

About 3 p. m. we formed in line of battle to the right of and perpendicular to our position of the morning, taking possession of a ridge, the battery on the right of the brigade. I opened on the enemy in our front and continued firing for a short time, when the command was compelled to fall back to the base of the ridge, partly in consequence of a battery on our left and rear belonging to General Forrest's command firing so closely over us as barely to miss the line. I dispatched 2 couriers to the commander of the battery mentioned, with orders to cease firing. The brigade remained in this position during the night.

General Cleburne's command advanced on the enemy from this position about dusk, when I moved the battery to the right and rear of his line, and for half an hour shelled the enemy's rear, receiving occasional intelligence from Brigadier-General Polk, directing our fire. From this point, on our return to the position occupied by the brigade, I hauled one caisson and limber filled with 10-pounder Parrott ammunition, and two limbers filled with Napoleon ammunition. The Second and Fifth Arkansas hauled to our camp by hand that night one James rifled gun and limber with ammunition, all of which ordnance and ordnance stores were turned over to General Forrest the next morning.

On the morning of the 20th, the command moved by the left flank to a position about 1 mile distant, and after forming line moved by the right flank to a point in rear of and to the right of Breckinridge's command. About 10 a. m. we were ordered forward to support General Breckinridge. After reaching the rear of his command the artillery of the corps was ordered into position to await further developments. In consequence of the infantry being unable to make any progress against the enemy's works at this point, the artillery was ordered to remain in this position and defend it to the last extremity.

About 4.30 p. m. Walker's corps was ordered forward, the battery following by the road and taking position on a hill in an orchard near McDonald's house and on the right of the line. I was not aware that more than one of the enemy's batteries commanded this position, which was a very exposed one, until I opened fire on the only battery visible, posted about 800 yards northwest from my position. As soon as I engaged this battery a masked battery, not more than 200 yards distant from our. right flank, opened upon us, completely enfilading the line of infantry. At the same time a battery opened on us from a position southwest from the one I occupied, distant about 1,000 yards; also two directly on the left flank of the brigade. I engaged the battery northwest of us, disabling at least 2

of its guns (which fact was ascertained the following morning), when it was ascertained that a line of Federal infantry, which was plainly in view, was moving at a double-quick on the left flank of the brigade, which, together with the fire of the five batteries mentioned, made the position untenable for either infantry or artillery. The infantry being thus compelled to give way, I was ordered to retire with the battery, which was done as expeditiously as possible, but on reaching the foot of the hill east of McDonald's house, a line of Federal skirmishers being within 30 yards of us, killed the off wheelhorse in the leading gun, thereby causing the piece to upset and breaking the pole. The rest of the battery passed the disabled piece before the enemy had time to reload. They, however, closed upon the disabled gun quickly, capturing Lieut. W. P. McDonald and several wounded men; also the gunner of the piece (Corpl. Joseph Ashton). I immediately called upon the infantry, which call was responded to by Capt. T. J. Fletcher, of the Thirteenth Arkansas Regiment, who promptly seized the nearest stand of colors, and rallying a few men, gallantly charged the enemy, driving them before him, securing the piece and also one lost by Captain Fowler near the same spot, and recapturing our wounded. I had not only my own gun, but Captain Fowler's, promptly removed to the rear. The moment Captain Fletcher attracted the attention of the enemy, Corpl. Joseph Ashton gallantly fled from his captors and rejoined his command in time to render efficient aid in removing the guns.

A report of the killed and wounded in the battery has been forwarded.

On the morning of the 21st, the battery moved forward to the position occupied the previous day, but no enemy was visible and the battle of Chickamauga was ended.

Respectfully submitted.

H. SHANNON,

First Lieutenant, Commanding Swett's Battery.

Lieut. W. S. SAWRIE,

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

No. 332.

Report of Brig. Gen. Edward C. Walthall, C. S. Army, commanding brigade.

HEADQUARTERS WALTHALL'S BRIGADE,

Near Chattanooga, October 6, 1863. CAPTAIN: I have the honor to submit the following report of the battle of Chickamauga in what concerns my own command:

On Friday (September 18), about 1 p. m., when the head of MajorGeneral Walker's column reached a point about a half mile from Alexander's Bridge, I was ordered by Brigadier-General Liddell, commanding division, to form line of battle with the left of my brigade resting on the road leading to the bridge and to move forward, guiding left and keeping the road to my left. The line was formed almost at right angle to the road, the right slightly retired, and skirmishers covering my entire front were thrown forward about 200 yards. These dispositions made, I moved forward through a dense thicket,

and after advancing about a quarter of a mile the enemy's skirmishers were encountered in front of my left and center, the two regiments on the right (Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel McKelvaine, and Twenty-seventh Mississippi Regiment, Colonel Campbell) meeting no opposition, except in front of the two companies on the left of the Twenty-seventh Regiment.

The road on which my left rested in the beginning of the movement turns to the right at a point 200 or 300 yards from the bridge, forming a right angle. At this point, the Thirty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, Major Pegram commanding, and Thirtieth Mississippi Regiment, Colonel Scales commanding, in advancing passed across the road into an open field, and the Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment, Colonel Brantly (the center regiment of my command), being immediately opposite the bridge, was stubbornly resisted for about fifteen minutes, and in the meantime the regiments to the left of this, driving the skirmishers of the enemy before them, swung round under the enemy's artillery fire through an open field until the line they formed was nearly at right angle to that formed by the other three regiments, conforming in the main to the general direction of the creek. When the bridge was gained by the Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment it was done under a heavy fire from the enemy posted on the opposite bank of the creek, which along my line was narrow, but deep, with steep banks and impassable. The bridge had been torn up by the enemy, but this fact, owing to the density of the undergrowth, could not be ascertained until the bank of the creek was occupied. The Thirty-fourth and Thirtieth Mississippi Regiments, after swinging to the right as above mentioned, in the field, had been halted by their commanders and the men ordered to lie down, the enemy having disappeared in their front. I then directed the skirmishers of these regiments, which I had previously ordered to be pressed forward, to be recalled and the regiments to move by the right flank until they closed up an interval between the Thirtieth and Twenty-ninth near the angle in the line.

Fowler's battery, of my brigade, during the engagement, was put in position, by the brigadier-general commanding, on an eminence to the left of my line, to operate on a battery of the enemy which had been shelling my line, but the enemy withdrew his pieces while Captain Fowler was getting in position, and in the meantime the bridge was taken.

In this action the Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment lost heavily, and in the Thirty-fourth 1 officer and 24 enlisted men were wounded. The Twenty-fourth sustained no loss, and Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth but slight.

When the condition of the bridge was reported to Major-General Walker, he directed me to move my command by the right flank, under the direction of a guide furnished me, toward Byram's Ford, about 1 mile below Alexander's Bridge, where my command, followed by the rest of Major-General Walker's corps, crossed without opposition, and moved about a mile toward Lee and Gordon's Mills, on the Vineyard road.

Night in the meantime coming on, halted under orders from the brigadier-general commanding, and the next morning, soon after daylight, I moved out left in front, following Colonel Govan's brigade. The column had not moved more than three-quarters of a mile when it was halted and rested on the roadside until about 11 o'clock, when I received orders from the brigadier-general com

manding to advance in line of battle. After moving forward 200 or 300 yards he directed me to move by the right flank, and when my right was nearly opposite an old shop near the road, to halt and front and advance in line of battle.

Just here a staff officer from Major-General Walker came to me with orders to move rapidly forward, as Ector's and Wilson's brigades were badly cut up and largely outnumbered by the enemy. Soon the general came in person, and meeting me with my command gave me instructions as to directions, localities, &c. With Colonel Govan's brigade on my left I moved rapidly forward and encountered the enemy, before I had advanced 500 yards, in strong force. The firing indicated that the two brigades had met the enemy along the whole line of both at the same time. After moving forward 100 yards or so my line was checked for a moment by a heavy artillery and musketry fire, but when ordered to advance the whole line moved promptly forward with a shout, breaking the first and then the second line of the enemy, passing over two full batteries and capturing 411 prisoners, of whom 23 were commissioned officers. The prisoners in the main claimed to be from First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixteenth U. S. Infantry, and from Company H, Fifth Artillery, and 1 first lieutenant from Fourth Indiana Battery. A large proportion of the artillery horses attached to the batteries over which we passed having been either killed or wounded, it was impossible at the time to retire the pieces as they were gained. Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds, field officer of the day, with a detail from Thirty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, removed 1 Parrott gun to the rear, which was delivered to Major Palmer, chief of artillery on Major-General Walker's staff. After passing beyond the second line of the enemy, I ascertained that he was turning my right flank, and while making a disposition of my right regiment in the effort to prevent it, Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds, who had been sent to the left of the line to observe the operations there, reported to me that the enemy were already upon the flank of my left regiment. Moving toward the left I discovered a piece of artillery being put in position opposite and within 300 yards of the left of my line, which was already turned. I withdrew my command at once, the engagement having lasted about an hour. The enemy did not pursue, and I took my position, under orders from the brigadier-general commanding, to the right of the position from which Major-General Cheatham's command just then advanced.

In this engagement my command suffered heavily. LieutenantColonel McKelvaine, commanding Twenty-Fourth Mississippi Regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Morgan, of Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment, were severely wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel McKelvaine remained in command of his regiment after he was wounded till the engagement was over.

In the course of two hours from this time, several immaterial changes having in the meantime been made in my position, Lieutenant-General Polk directed me to move by the right flank in extension of Major-General Cheatham's line, taking my position on the right of Brigadier-General Jackson. This was done under the enemy's fire, whose purpose seemed to be to turn General Cheatham's right flank. Colonel Govan's brigade took position on my right, whereupon the brigadier-general commanding ordered his line to advance. My command moved forward some 300 or 400 yards, the enemy contesting the ground, but falling back until the crest of a 18 R R-VOL XXX, PT II

ridge in front of me had been gained. Here the enemy, strongly posted, delivered a very heavy fire of artillery and small-arms. The advance was checked, and in the course of ten or fifteen minutes my line was forced to retire to its original position on Brigadier-General Jackson's right, and I was directed by the brigadier-general commanding to remain there until further orders. Four guns of Fowler's battery were posted during this last movement in rear of Liddell's division, and opened fire on a battery of the enemy which was shelling the troops on the left, and silenced it in a few minutes. One section under Lieutenant Phelan, in an attempt to follow my brigade when it moved to General Cheatham's right, passed, by reason of another command being mistaken for mine, beyond the right of my line, and was put in position at a point where the infantry supporting it was forced to fall back before a superior force of the enemy after a short engagement. All the horses of one piece were killed, and all but one of the other either killed or wounded. One piece was lost, but afterward recaptured; the other was brought off. The loss in killed and wounded in this section was heavy, and the pieces used with great effect.

In the engagement on Saturday afternoon, Major Pegram, commanding Thirty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, and Major Staples, commanding Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, were severely wounded, and Captain Smith, the senior captain of the latter, having been slightly wounded, the command of that regiment devolved on Captain Toomer till the next morning, when Captain Smith reported for duty and assumed command. The command of the Thirtyfourth Regiment devolved on Captain Bowen after Major Pegram was wounded.

When Captain Fowler reported that one of the pieces under Lieutenant Phelan had been lost on my right, the line in the meantime having fallen back and the firing having ceased, the Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, under command of Captain Toomer, was sent to the right, under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds, field officer of the day, to a point opposite where the gun was said by Lieutenant Phelan to have been taken by the enemy, and moved forward, driving back the enemy's skirmishers till it was ascertained that the enemy, who had retired from the position he occupied when the gun was taken, had removed the gun before falling back. The regiment was then ordered back to its proper position in line.

At an early hour on Sunday morning my command was moved by the left flank, by order of the brigadier-general commanding, to the rear of Major-General Cheatham's line, and then back past the position where it had spent the night to the right, a distance of about 14 miles, in rear of where Major-General Breckinridge's forces were engaged, and halted about three-quarters of a mile from the Chattanooga road.

About 12 o'clock (and after one or two unimportant changes of position) Lieutenant-General Polk directed me to move to the left to a point to be indicated by Major Ratchford, of Lieutenant-General Hill's staff, to the support of Brigadier-General Polk. I moved by the left flank to the point indicated by Major Ratchford, who accompanied me, and advanced my line under a heavy fire from the enemy, which commenced before I got into position. I pressed forward 200 or 300 yards under this fire through dense undergrowth until the enemy opened fire on my left flank from the angle of his fortifications just opposite. About the same time an impression, afterward