tion of the disposition of my command, and reported to Major-General Sherman, who approved of the disposition. I learned that General Matthies had been ordered to support Colonel Loomis, who had advanced to a point up the valley, opposite the tunnel. I at once rode out to the front with my staff officers to examine the position of the enemy, and felt confident that he would not abandon his position to attack us in the valley, and supposing General Matthies to be supporting Colonel Loomis, I sent him an order by Captain Lydick, one of my aides, not to advance until he received orders from me. The enemy at this time were moving in the direction of the center in great force, and had four pieces of artillery in position, commanding Tunnel Hill. At about 2 p. m. I saw troops ascending Tunnel Hill, which I then supposed to be Colonel Loomis' brigade, and at the same time discovered the enemy had about-faced on the ridge, and were moving back to Tunnel Hill in solid column. I at once sent one of my aides, Captain Osborne, to inform General Ewing that the enemy were massing in large force on Tunnel Hill, and at the same time was informed that it was General Matthies' brigade that was ascending the hill. Being informed that the Eleventh Army Corps were making an attack in the rear, I at once ordered Colonel Raum to the support of General Matthies, who had now nearly reached the summit followed by Colonel Raum, and were contesting the ground for nearly an hour, when the enemy, heavily massed, charged upon our lines, at the same time bringing a gun within 200 yards of our right flank, and discharged several rounds of grape into ranks, which compelled the two brigades to fall back with heavy loss. The Tenth Missouri Infantry, Colonel Deimling commanding, continued to engage the enemy with effect, until they were withdrawn. It is believed that all our wounded were recovered, although some of them not until next morning. November 26, in compliance with orders received from Major-General Blair, I followed the Eleventh Army Corps in pursuit of the enemy, arriving at Graysville, Ga., November 28; nothing of interest transpired except the capture of a few stragglers, 28 in number; reported to the provost-marshal. I could pursue no farther for want of supplies, and was ordered to return to camp near Chattanooga. There were 480 stand of arms of various caliber, together with accouterments, picked up on Tunnel Hill, and turned over to the ordnance officer at Chattanooga. Our burial parties report 107 rebels buried on the hill, from which it will be seen that their casualties were larger than ours, which are 89 killed, 288 wounded, and 122 missing (see detailed report* forwarded). Twenty-five of our wounded reported have died in hospital since we left Chattanooga. And while rejoicing at our success over the enemy, we sympathize with the bereaved at home, trusting that the time will soon come when such sacrifice of life for the maintenance of our country and flag will be no longer required. I am much indebted to Brig. Gen. Č L. Matthies, commanding Third Brigade, Col. J. I. Alexander, commanding First Brigade, and Col. G. B. Raum, commanding Second Brigade, as well as to the field and line officers of the division, for their hearty co-operation, and to the men for their cheerful compliance with all orders; their endurance amid the discomforts of an active campaign, without food, *Nominal list omitted. at times during forty-eight hours, without a murmur, bespeaks for them the highest consideration as soldiers. Col. J. I. Alexander's long service and soldierly qualities entitle him to the highest consideration of the honorable Secretary of War, to whom I respectfully recommend him for promotion. Also, to my staff, Capt. M. Rochester, assistant adjutant-general; Capts. M. H. Lydick and S. M. Budlong; Lieuts. C. L. White and Ó. Lovell, all of whom sustained their previous reputation won on the fields of Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Iuka, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Vicksburg, for the intrepid and efficient manner in which they discharged their duties. I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Maj. W. D. GREEN, Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 210. Report of Col. Jesse I. Alexander, Fifty-ninth Indiana Infantry, commanding First Brigade. HDQRS. 1ST BRIGADE, 2D DIVISION, 17TH ARMY CORPS, Near Chattanooga, November 29, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of the operations of this brigade since Monday last: In compliance with an order from division headquarters, Brig. Gen. John E. Smith, the brigade moved from camp at 12 m. on the night of the 23d instant to the river bank, where boats were found in readiness to carry the brigade across the river. With perfect silence and the utmost care the command reached the opposite shore in good order. Immediately on reaching the land, the Fourth Minnesota, Lieut. Col. J. E. Tourtellotte commanding, was deployed as skirmishers, covering the brigade front and looking well to our right flank. The other regiments comprising the brigade, viz, Eighteenth Wisconsin Volunteers, Col. Gabriel Bouck commanding; Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, Capt. W. H. Welman_commanding; Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers, Lieut. Col. E. J. Wood commanding, and the Sixty-third Illinois Volunteers, Col. J. B. McCown commanding, were ordered to intrench themselves, and in one hour and twenty minutes the entire command was under cover, where we remained until after daylight and until after the Third Brigade had crossed and formed on our right, when we advanced to, and intrenched on, the second ridge, at which point Lieutenant-Colonel Tourtellotte, commanding skirmishers, sent back to me the enemy's cavalry picket, captured in our front. At 1 o'clock, in compliance with an order from the division commander, I advanced the brigade, formed in column of divisions, to the crest of Missionary Ridge, where the command was deployed in line of battle and ordered to immediately intrench, the Fourth Minnesota still in front as skirmishers and warmly engaged with the enemy at the foot of the ridge. With great labor two guns of the Sixth Wisconsin Battery were drawn by the men and placed in position on the top of the ridge. At daylight on the morning of the 25th, we were well intrenched and occupied a position commanding the enemy's works on Tunnel Hill. At 10 a. m. I received an order from General Sherman to send two regiments to the support of Brigadier-General Lightburn on our left. The Forty-eighth Indiana and Sixty-third Illinois were accordingly sent, the latter being sent forward to relieve the Thirtieth and Thirty-seventh Ohio regiments of General Lightburn's command on Tunnel Hill, where they remained all night intrenched and were the first troops inside the enemy's works on the morning of the 26th instant. The brigade joined the column on the morning of the 26th in pursuit of the enemy as far as Graysville, Ga., and returned to the old camp last night. The following are the casualties: First Lieut. Milan C. Edson, Company C, Sixty-third Illinois Volunteers, severely in the head; Private B. F. White, Company C, Sixty-third Illinois Volunteers; Private Napoleon Whitcomb, Company C, Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, severely; Private Edward Reeble, Company I, Fourth Minnesota Volunteers, severely. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, &c., JESSE I. ALEXANDER, Colonel, Comdg. 1st Brig. 2d Div., 17th Army Corps. Capt. M. ROCHESTER, Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 211. Report of Lieut. Col. John E. Tourtellotte, Fourth Minnesota In fantry. HEADQUARTERS FOURTH MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS, Camp near Chattanooga, Tenn., November 29, 1863. SIR: At midnight on the night of the 23d instant, the Fourth Minnesota Regiment, together with other troops of the Fifteenth Army Corps, crossed the Tennessee River in boats several miles above Chattanooga, preparatory to an advance upon Missionary Ridge. The enemy did not dispute our crossing, and our troops immediately commenced throwing up earth-works and fortifications. My regiment was thrown forward to protect and cover the front and flank of the division. By 10 a. m. of November 24, long and strong lines of rifle-pits had been thrown up, a pontoon bridge had been completed across the river, and a large part of our artillery brought over. About 1 p. m. of that day the advance commenced. My regiment, deployed as skirmishers, advanced, covering the front of our division. We reached the hill and moved straightway up, the enemy falling back from their position on its crest. pushed on, changing direction somewhat to the right, skirmishing with the enemy and driving them before us to the base of Tunnel Hill, where we were ordered to halt and to await orders, as night was approaching and the enemy appeared to be in considerable force. Here we remained, still skirmishing with the enemy, until after dark, when my regiment was relieved. The regiment lost but 1 man, seriously wounded. The next day my regiment was held in reserve and was not engaged. At daylight on the morning of November 26, we started in pursuit of the enemy, who had abandoned their position along the whole line of Missionary Ridge in the night preceding. We followed to Graysville, Ga., whence our division was ordered back to our first camp on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. Your respectful and obedient servant, TEL: J. E. TOURTELLOTTE, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Regiment. Report of Col. Clark R. Wever, Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, Second Brigade. HEADQUARTERS SEVENTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY, Near Chattanooga, Tenn., November 29, 1863. LIEUTENANT: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part borne by the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry during the engagement of the Fifteenth Army Corps at Mission Ridge, on the 24th and 25th of November, 1863: On the morning of the 24th, at 12.30 o'clock, in accordance with orders previously received, I moved my right to the Tennessee River, near the mouth of the West Chickamauga, and rested in line in rear of the Fifth Iowa Infantry, until about 3.30 a. m., when I embarked in small pontoon-boats, landing the regiment near and below the mouth of East Chickamauga Creek, where I formed a line in a corn-field, under cover of a hill. Rested here until 7 a. m., when my regiment, with the brigade, was marched by the left flank about half a mile in the direction of Mission Ridge, where the brigade was formed in column of regiments, the Seventeenth Iowa in the rear. My regiment (with the brigade) was then moved by the left flank to the rear of the Third Brigade, when arms were stacked and the men allowed to rest. At about 1 p. m. my regiment, in common with the whole division, was placed into close column by division, and moved toward Mission Ridge, the Seventeenth Iowa in advance of the Second and following the Third Brigade. In this order we moved through a swamp and close underbrush, about three-fourths of a mile, to the railroad, when I was ordered by Colonel Raum (commanding Second Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth Army Corps) to move my regiment by the right flank and form in rear of the First Brigade, which succeeded in reaching the top of the ridge. Here I rested in line until it was almost dark, when the brigade was moved to the rear about three-fourths of a mile and bivouacked for the night. At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 25th, I was ordered by Colonel Raum to move by the left flank toward Tunnel Hill. We were halted in an open field and the brigade formed in line in front of a rifle-pit occupied by a portion of the Fourth Division (the Seventeenth Iowa on the right of the brigade, its right resting on the railroad), stacked arms, and the men rested here until 2.30 p. m., when the brigade was formed into close column, by division, in two lines (the Seventeenth Iowa forming the right of the first line), and moved forward to support the Third Brigade (Matthies'), which was at this time closely contesting with the enemy a narrow ridge to the left of Tunnel Hill. When within about 300 yards of the base of the hill, I was ordered by Colonel Raum to move by the left flank and follow the Eightieth Ohio up the road that runs along a rocky ledge perpendicular with the hill occupied by the Third Brigade. Here we met a heavy fire from a battery that the enemy had planted on a hill to our right, but reached the base of the hill without casualty. I was here ordered by Colonel Raum to form on the right of the Eightieth Ohio along a rail fence in rear of the Ninety-third Illinois, about three-fifths of the distance from the base to the top of the ridge, and await further orders. I found General Matthies here (wounded), and conferred with him in regard to the position of his brigade. I learned the enemy was heavily posted upon our front and right, but that a portion of the Fifth Iowa was deployed to the right as skirmishers. General Matthies stated that his men were nearly out of ammunition. I saw his acting assistant adjutant-general, who told me they had ammunition sufficient to last fifteen minutes, and I immediately sent my adjutant (Lieutenant Woolsey) to Colonel Baum, who was with the reserve (Tenth Missouri and Fifty-sixth Illinois), about 200 yards in our rear, with a statement of the situation of the Third Brigade, and asking for orders. Colonel Raum came up and ordered me to advance. By this time a large number of men had fallen back from the regiment immediately in front of the Seventeenth Iowa, breaking through its lines. When I had advanced half way up the hill, the whole right of the Third Brigade gave way and fell back through the Seventeenth Iowa and Eightieth Ohio. We had now reached the crest of the hill, and I discovered a heavy force of the enemy on my right, quite close, the left of their line coming up in our rear on a double-quick. Seeing that we were outflanked and outnumbered, I ordered my regiment to fall back, which they did, retreating down the line toward the left. Here the whole line (including a portion of the Third Brigade, which had remained on the hill) gave way and retreated in confusion across the corn-field to the next ridge. I rallied my men here, and sent to Colonel Raum to inform him of the whereabouts of my regiment. I was soon after notified by Lieutenant Nichelson (acting assistant adjutant-general, Second Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth Army Corps) that Colonel Raum was wounded, and, being the ranking officer of the brigade, I directed Major Skeels (who had rallied the Eightieth Ohio) to form his battalion on the left of the Seventeenth Iowa. I reported to General John E. Smith (commanding Third Division, Fifteenth Army Corps), who ordered me to form the brigade upon the ground it occupied before moving to the support of the Third Brigade. Here we bivouacked for the night. I wish to make special mention of the gallant conduct of Adjutant Woolsey (whose coolness and efficiency upon the field are unsurpassed) and First Lieut. George W. Deal, of Company G, to both of whom I owe many thanks for valuable assistance rendered. Accompanying this I send list* of casualties. Very respectfully, Lieut. M. NICHELSON, CLARK R. WEVER, Colonel, Commanding Regiment. A. A. A. G., 2d Brig., 3d Div., 15th Army Corps. *Embodied in revised statement, p. 88. |