companies left with me were those of Captain Rowan and Captain Ward. We were soon hotly engaged with an overwhelming force of the enemy, who made no assault in front of our breastworks, but advanced near the cliff of rocks, taking our position by the left flank and rear. Colonel Jones, with a part of the Twenty-seventh Mississippi Regiment, was on my left. After a hot and prolonged contest the enemy were driven back with great slaughter. He quickly rallied and advanced with overwhelming numbers, when Captain Ward from our extreme right came to me and informed me that the enemy had turned our left flank and was rapidly gaining our rear. The configuration of the ground prevented me from seeing this, but in a few moments he opened fire on us from our left flank and rear. I then gave the order to fall back to the second position occupied by the sharpshooters and indicated by General Walthall. It is proper to state that the enemy were within 10 paces of us when the order was given to fall back. When I reached the line occupied by the sharpshooters of Captain Smith, nothing but a handful of the companies of Captain Rowan and Captain Ward were left, the most of them having been killed, wounded, or captured. I rallied the few who were left around me, but we were exposed to a murderous fire from the enemy's battery on our right flank, before mentioned, and from Moccasin battery, in our rear, as well as from the advancing force of the enemy in front. Here a number of my men fell from exhaustion or were killed and wounded. The thin line of sharpshooters under Captain Smith were forced back by the same concentrated fire. We fell back to the edge of the standing timber, where General Walthall made a stand with a few men, but the fire in front, rear, and the right flank was so severe and the force of the enemy so great we were again forced back. The mass of fallen timber, the rocks, and rough, steep mountain side rendered a retreat in perfect order impossible. A short distance south of the Craven house, by the exertions of General Walthall and his officers, the remnant of the brigade was formed in line of battle and moved back in good order to meet the enemy, my regiment forming on the right. About 1 o'clock re-enforcements arrived, which prevented the enemy from flanking us, and the ground was held until about midnight, when we were marched to McFarland's Spring. The loss of the regiment in killed, wounded, and missing was 199. A large number were killed and wounded, but being forced back over rough ground by a greatly superior force, it is impossible to state the numbers of either accurately. Capt. J. W. Ward was especially distinguished for his gallantry and good conduct. Capt. J. D. Smith and Capt. M. M. Rowan exhibited great coolness, judgment, and courage. The four companies on picket duty on Lookout Creek were cut off. All either killed, wounded, or captured, except Lieut. Col. R. P. McKelvaine, in command of the picket force, who escaped and rendered efficient services in the afternoon. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Colonel Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment. Lieut. J. C. HARRISON, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, Walthall's Brigade. No. 224. Report of Lieut. Col. A. J. Jones, Twenty-seventh Mississippi In fantry. CAMP OF TWENTY-SEVENTH MISSISSIPPI REGIMENT, Near Dalton, Ga., December 4, 1863. CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report that, on the morning of the 24th ultimo, Col. James A. Campbell was ordered out to the picket lines, leaving me in command of the regiment. I was soon after ordered by General Walthall to put my regiment in line of battle across a bench of Lookout Mountain at or near where it had been bivouacked, and to hold that position as long as possible, and very soon the firing commenced between the enemy and our pickets, and the enemy approached rapidly our position, seeming to force everything before them as though there was no resistance. I ordered my men to hold their fire until all our brigade that was in front could pass, which brought the enemy in heavy force within easy range, and at the command "fire" our little regiment poured into their advancing columns a terrible fire with such deliberate aim and coolness, and repeated it, until soon their lines in our immediate front broke and retreated, at which my men raised a tremendous hurrah, and turning on their flanks many a Federal soldier was made to bite the earth, and here I saw one stand of the enemy's colors twice fall, and the contest was for awhile terrible; but the overwhelming numbers of the enemy enabled him to flank us right and left, and it was not long until we were entirely flanked on our right and nearly so on our left, and I gave the order to fall back, but so nearly were we surrounded in our front that 6 commissioned officers of the regiment and about half of the men were captured upon the spot. Lieutenant Snowden, of Company K, was killed; Lieutenant Johnson, of Company L, dangerously wounded and left in the hands of the enemy. Captain Boyd, of Company E, was severely wounded, and a good many non-commissioned officers and privates. I was ordered by General Walthall to rally my men on a little ridge running up and down the mountain, 300 or 400 yards from our first position, which I did, and where the men fought most bravely until, seeing we were flanked, or nearly so, by such overwhelming force, I ordered to fall back; but General Walthall immediately ordered me to hold that point, and I rallied as many men as I could, but in one or two minutes the enemy pointed their guns over logs and rocks within 8 or 10 paces of us, and I ordered to fall back again, in doing which many, compared with our number, were shot down. One or two unsuccessful attempts were made to rally, but the incessant shower of shell and shot from the enemy's batteries and the rush of their heavy force of infantry gave no time for doing so until we had passed around the point of the mountain several hundred yards south of the Craven house, where we, with the remainder of the brigade, formed line and checked the enemy until relieved by General Pettus' brigade, but was very soon ordered to his support, where we remained under the fire of the enemy until about 9 o'clock at night, and was again relieved and retired. We were again in the fight on Missionary Ridge late on the evening of November 25. Captains Kennedy, Baugh, Pegg, and Boyd did their part nobly. Lieutenants Brown, Bailey, Poole, Major, Welch, Hannah, and Allen acted very well, never flinching from their duty, and Lieut. J. J. Hyde exposed himself very much to danger, standing erect waving his sword and encouraging the men in the thickest of the fight; and I must say for my regiment that it never fought better, if as well, before. The sergeant-major, Isom Watkins, was very gallant indeed. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, A. J. JONES, Lieutenant-Colonel Twenty-seventh Mississippi Regiment. Capt. E. T. SYKES, Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 225. Report of Col. William F. Brantly, Twenty-ninth Mississippi In fantry. HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-NINTH MISSISSIPPI REGIMENT, December 4, 1863. CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report that on the morning of the 24th ultimo, my regiment was put in line on the west side of Lookout Mountain facing to the west, and in this position remained until it was ascertained that the enemy was approaching our position in force from a southwesterly direction. I then changed the front of my regiment, forming a line across the mountain, my right toward the west, facing south, but owing to the great number of men required from me to supply the picket line, my command was not sufficiently long to reach entirely across that side of the mountain next to the enemy; hence it became necessary to deploy the line as skirmishers, which I did, and by this time the enemy was upon me in four lines, and soon succeeded in driving me from my position, and in capturing a great many of my men. I then joined with the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-seventh Mississippi Regiments, which were formed in my rear, and was driven with them beyond the Craven house, where the whole brigade was formed, and succeeded in checking the enemy until General Pettus came to our support. I was then ordered by General Walthall to take command of the two pieces of the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Mississippi Regiments and form on General Pettus' left, and to go into the fight with him, which I did, and continued in the fight until 8.20 o'clock at night, when were relieved by General Clayton's brigade. From the nature of the ground and the fact that we were driven from our several positions, it is impossible to give a correct list of the killed and wounded, but I submit the following Exhibit A* to this report. During the night of the 24th, we were withdrawn to McFarland's Spring, and on the morning of November 25 we were, in connection with the whole of Major-General Cheatham's division, put in line on Missionary Ridge to the right of the division commanded by Brig. Gen. Patton Anderson, and our brigade to the right of BrigadierGenerals Moore's and Jackson's brigades, of our division, and in this position we remained inactive until about 4 o'clock in the evening, *Not found. when it was ascertained that our lines to the left of our position had been broken, and that the enemy was approaching us from the position occupied by our troops, when I was ordered by Brigadier-General Walthall to form at right angles to our original position on Missionary Ridge with the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Mississippi Regiments, which I did, and met and checked the enemy until after dark, when we were withdrawn to Chickamauga Station. I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Capt. E. T. SYKES, Colonel Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment. Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 226. Report of Maj. James M. Johnson, Thirtieth Mississippi Infantry. HDQRS. THIRTIETH REGIMENT MISSISSIPPI VOLUNTEERS, Near Dalton, Ga., December 4, 1863. CAPTAIN: In obedience to circular orders from brigade headquarters, dated December 2, I have the honor to submit the following report of the part this command took in the late engagement on November 24 and 25: On the morning of November 24, pursuant to instructions received from the brigadier-general commanding, I placed my command under arms an hour before day. About 9 a. m., the firing on the picket line becoming general, at the request of the officer in command of the pickets, I sent two companies of my command (Companies D and I, under the immediate command of Lieut. W. T. Loggins, Company C) to re-enforce his line. Instructions had been received by me the evening previous from the brigadier-general to do this whenever called upon. About this time the picket line on the left being forced to retire slowly, the remainder of my regiment, under orders from the brigadiergeneral, was deployed as skirmishers to support this line. The enemy advanced in heavy force to within 150 yards of my line before my men fired, and were checked for two or three moments by the rapidity and certainty of the fire delivered by the command." So soon as they discovered my line to be only a line of skirmishers they advanced and drove the regiment back precipitately on the Twentyninth Mississippi, which formed to the right and in rear of my position. The assailing column of the enemy which attacked my line could not have been less than a brigade, as I distinguished several stand of colors. Owing to the rugged nature of the ground, the length of my line, and the tenacity with which my men contested the advance of the enemy-holding their ground until they were within 30 yards of them in some places-many officers and men of my command were captured. A sufficient length of time did not elapse for the rallying of the remnant of my command until after it was driven beyond the Craven house, for it hardly passed the position of the Twenty-ninth Mississippi when that regiment was forced back by the overwhelming force brought against it. As soon as the remnant of my command was brought together, it, with the balance of the brigade, was advanced to the left and in support of Pettus' brigade, which had been formed on a line some 200 yards this side the Craven house, and extending from the cliff of the mountain to the road leading to the Craven house. With this brigade it and the rest of the brigade fought until 8.30 o'clock in the evening, when, the brigade having been relieved, it was withdrawn, and with rest of brigade marched to McFarland's Spring. On the morning of November 25, with the brigade, it moved some 3 or 4 miles up Missionary Ridge toward the right of our line of battle on that ridge. Here, for the purpose of the fight, the regimenţ was thrown with the Twenty-ninth Mississippi, under command of Col. W. F. Brantly. This step was rendered necessary by the losses of previous day. When the line on left and center gave way this regiment was, with the brigade, moved a little to the rear, and formed a line perpendicular to the original line of battle on the ridge. This was done under the direction and supervision of the brigadier-general commanding. This new position was maintained until after night, when, with the rest of the brigade, it was withdrawn to Chickamauga Station. The losses were 3 wounded, and 127 officers and men wounded and captured; 7 of those captured were known to have been wounded, and many more thought to have been. None are known to have been killed, but it is feared that many were, as the fire they sustained on November 24 was fierce and apparently well directed, besides the terrific cannonading kept up from the batteries posted on the eminences across Lookout Creek." I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. M. JOHNSON, Major, Commanding Thirtieth Mississippi Regiment. Capt. E. T. SYKES, Assistant Adjutant-General. No. 227. Report of Capt. H. J. Bowen, Thirty-fourth Mississippi Infantry. SIR: Report of the Thirty-fourth Mississippi Regiment in the late fight on Lookout Mountain on November 24 last: Early on the morning of the 24th, the enemy were observed to be collecting in large force, and at about 8 a. m. the Thirty-fourth Mississippi Regiment was ordered out to strengthen the picket line at the foot of the mountain on the west side, extending along its base for about 2 miles. At about 10 a. m. the enemy, with four lines closely closed up, drove the left of our picket line, and so rapid were their movements that the center and right of the picket line were cut off and eight colors passed by the pickets, when nearly all surrendered. A small number of the pickets made their escape up the river through the cliffs and cut timber below the Craven house, and reported to their brigade, and was in the engagement east of the Craven house from 4 p. m. until 8 p. m., when relieved by General Clayton's brigade. H. J. BOWEN, Senior Captain, Commanding. [Capt. E. T. SYKES, |