as possible, at 11 P. M.; gathering up his men and guns so cautiously that even our pickets were not aware of his Hegira till broad daylight," when too late for effective pursuit; which, in fact, our inferiority in cavalry must at any rate have rendered comparatively fruitless. We do not seem even to have advanced on his track till Monday." turn overmatched and hurled back | menced the movement, as stealthily in disorder; losing four of their guns, the flag of the 26th Tennessee, and a considerable body of prisoners. Had not darkness fallen directly, while a heavy rain had set in, Rosecrans would have pursued the fugitives right into Murfreesboro'." As it was, Crittenden's corps and Davis's division both passed over, reoccupied the commanding ground, and, before morning, were solidly intrenched there, ready for whatever emergency. Another night of anxious watchfulness gave place to a morning" of pouring rain, by which the ground was so sodden as to impede the movement of artillery. We were short of ammunition till 10 A. M., when an anxiously expected train was welcomed. Batteries were now constructed on the ground so handsomely gained on our left, by which even Murfreesboro' could be shelled; and Gens. Thomas and Rousseau, who had for days been annoyed by Rebel sharp-shooters from the cedar thickets in their front, obtained permission from Rosecrans to dislodge them by a charge, following a sharp fire of artillery-four regiments entering and soon clearing the woods, capturing 70 or 80 prisoners. No counter-movement being attempted, the fourth day closed peacefully, and was followed by a quiet night. Quiet on our side only. Bragg had concluded to leave, and com 15 He says, in his report: "The enemy retreated more rapidly than they had advanced. In twenty minutes, they had lost 2,000 men." Wheeler's cavalry, after vigorously resisting our advance to Stone river, had been dispatched" by Bragg to the rear of our army; capturing Lavergne," taking 700 prisoners, and destroying heavy army trains, with a large amount of stores. Thence hastening to Rock Spring and Nolensville, they made still further captures at each; and, having passed around" our army, reached the left flank of Bragg's, just as it commenced its great and successful charge on McCook; guarding that flank, and coming into action as it gained the Nashville turnpike, just north of Overall's creek. Wheeler of course claims the advantage in this fight; but admits that he fell back at the close, numbering Col. Allen and Lt.Col. Webb among his wounded. Next morning, he went up the turnpike to Lavergne; capturing another train and a gun; regaining, by order, the front during the night; and, being again sent, at 9 P. M., to our rear; Thomas, on Monday morning, drove the Rebel rear-guard (cavalry) six or seven miles southward, and that "We learned that the enemy's infantry had reached Shelbyville by 12 M. on Sunday; but, owing to the impracticability of bringing up supplies, and the loss of 557 artillery horses, farther pursuit was deemed inadvisable." 19 Night of Dec. 29-30. 20 Dec. 30. 21 Dec. 31. INNES'S GALLANT DEFENSE OF LAVERGNE. 281 have resulted in great damage to the enemy. I caused the enemy to be charged on three sides at the same time, by Cols. Cox and Smith and Lt.-Col. Malone; and the charge was repeated four times; but the enemy was so strongly posted that it was found impossible to dislodge him." Rosecrans makes his entire force where he, at 2 P. M. next day," had a fight with a heavily guarded ordnance train, which he stopped, and claims to have damaged, but was unable to capture or destroy; returning during the night to Bragg's left flank, and covering his retreat on the 4th and 5th. On the whole, the enemy's opera- who participated in this struggle tions in the rear of our army, during 37,977 infantry, 3,200 cavalry, and this memorable conflict, reflect no 2,223 artillery: total, 43,400; and credit on the intelligence and energy states his losses as follows: killed, with which they were resisted. The 1,533;" wounded, 7,245; total, 8,778, prisoners-2,000 or more-taken by or fully 20 per cent. of the number the Rebels were of course mainly engaged. He adds that his provoststragglers and fugitives, barely worth marshal says his loss of prisoners will paroling; but they figure largely in fall below 2,800. He says nothing Wheeler's and in Bragg's reports. of prisoners taken by him, though we And it is not doubtful that Rose- certainly did take at least 500, beside crans's inability to improve his ulti-wounded. He judges that the Rebmate success was largely owing to the destruction of his trains by these triumphant raiders. The silver lining to this cloud is a most gallant defense made on the 1st by Col. Innes's 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, only 391 strong who had taken post on high ground near Lavergne, and formed such a barricade of cedars, &c., as they hurriedly might. Here they were" attacked, at 2 P. M., by Wharton's cavalry, whom they successfully resisted and beat off. Wharton's official report is their best eulogium. He was in command of six or eight regiments, and here is his account of this affair: "A regiment of infantry, under Col. Dennis, also was stationed in a cedar-brake, and fortifications, near this point. I caused the battery, under Lt. Pike, who acted with great gallantry, to open on it. The fire, at a range of not more than 400 yards, was kept up for more than an hour; and must els had fifteen per cent. advantage in their choice of ground and knowledge of the country; and says that they had present 132 regiments of infantry and 20 of cavalry, beside 24 smaller organizations of cavalry, 12 battalions of sharp-shooters, and 23 batteries of artillery-all which, he estimates, must have presented an aggregate of killed and wounded must have fully 62,720 men. amounted to 14,560 men. If he had buried, and how many wounded (or only told us how many of them he others) fell into his hands, he would have earned our gratitude. He thinks their Bragg, per contra, says he had but 35,000 men on the field when the fight commenced, of whom but about 30,000 werc infantry and artillery; and that he lost of these over 10,000, of whom 9,000 were killed Among our wounded, beside those already named, were Cols. Forman, 15th Ky., Humphreys, 88th Ind., Alexander, 21st Ill., Hines, 57th Ind., Blake, 40th Ind., and Lt.-Col. Tanner, Among our killed, beside those already men. and wounded." He claims to have| Humboldt, Union City, &c., burning taken 6,273 prisoners, many of them by the raids of his cavalry on the trains and fugitives between our army and Nashville; and he estimates our losses at 24,000 killed and wounded, with over 30 guns to his 3. He claims to have captured, in addition, 6,000 small arms and much other valuable spoil, beside burning 800 wagons, &c., &c. It seems odd that, after such a fight, he should have retired so hastily as to leave 1,500 of his sick and wounded (Union accounts says 2,600), with 200 medical and other attendants, in his deserted hospitals at Murfreesboro'." It is a fair presumption that our losses, both in men (prisoners included) and material, were greater than those of the Rebels; and that Rosecrans's army was disabled by those losses for any effective pursuit; but this does not and can not demolish the fact that the battle of Stone river, so gallantly, obstinately, desperately fought, was lost by Bragg and the Rebels, and won by the army of the Cumberland and its heroic commander. On the day" of the great struggle at Stone river, Gen. Forrest, who, with 3,500 cavalry, had been detached" by Bragg to operate on our communications in West Tennessee, and who had for two weeks or more been raiding through that section, threatening Jackson, capturing Trenton, 25 Among his killed were Gens. James E. Rains (Missouri), and Roger W. Hanson (Kentucky); and Cols. Moore, 8th Tenn., Burks, 11th Texas, Fisk, 16th La., Cunningham, 28th Tenn., and Black, 5th Ga. Among his wounded were Gens. James R. Chalmers and D. W. Adams. 26 He says, in his report, that his men were "greatly exhausted" by the long contest and its privations as if they were peculiar in that respect-when they had Murfreesboro' just behind bridges, tearing up rails, and paroling captured Federals (over 1,000, according to his reports-700 of them at Trenton alone), was struck on his return at PARKER'S CROSS-ROADS, between Huntingdon and Lexington, and thoroughly routed. He first encountered Col. C. L. Dunham, with a small brigade of 1,600; who had, the day before, been pushed forward from Huntingdon by Gen. J. C. Sullivan, and who was getting the worst of the fight-having been nearly surrounded, his train captured, and he summoned to surrender—when Sullivan came up at double-quick, with the two fresh brigades of Gen. Haynie and Col. Fuller, and rushed upon the astonished Rebels, who fled in utter rout, not attempting to make a stand, nor hardly to fire a shot. Forrest himself narrowly escaped capture; losing 4 guns, over 400 prisoners, including his Adjutant, Strange, two Colonels, many horses, arms, &c., &c. He fled eastward to Clifton, where he rëcrossed the Tennessee, and thence made his way back to Bragg. He lost in the fight about 50 killed and 150 wounded—the latter being included among the prisoners. Dunham reports his loss at 220: 23 killed, 139 wounded, and 58 missing. Gen. John H. Morgan, who had been likewise dispatched by Bragg to operate on Rosecrans's communithem, with their dépôts and hospitals; while our troops had scarcely a roof to their headsand that "The only question with me was, whether the movement should be made at once, or delayed 24 hours to save a few of our wounded. As it was probable that we should lose by exhaustion as many as we should remove of the wounded, my inclination to remain was yielded.” 27 Dec. 31. RAIDS OF CARTER AND WHEELER. 283 cations, simultaneously with Forrest's his old quarters; having lost but doings in West Tennessee, passing the left of Rosecrans's army, rode into the heart of Kentucky; and, after inconsiderable skirmishes at Glasgow, Upton, and Nolin," pressed on to Elizabethtown, which he took, after a brief, one-sided conflict, capturing there and at the trestle work on the railroad, five or six miles above, several hundred prisoners, destroying" the railroad for miles, with a quantity of army stores. He then raided up to Bardstown, where he turned" abruptly southward, being threatened by a far superior force; retreating into Tennessee by Springfield and Campbellsville; having inflicted considerable damage and incurred very little loss. But his raid was fully countered by one led" about the same time by Brig. Gen. II. Carter (formerly Col. 2d Tennessee) from Winchester, Ky., across the Cumberland, Powell's, and Clinch mountains, through a corner of Lee county, Va., to Blountsville and Zollicoffer (formerly Union Station), East Tennessee, where 150 of the 62d North Carolina, Maj. McDowell, were surprised and captured without a shot, and the railroad bridge, 720 feet long, over the Holston, destroyed, with 700 small arms and much other material of war. Pushing on ten miles, to Clinch's Station, Carter had a little fight, captured 75 prisoners, and destroyed the railroad bridge, 400 feet long, over the Watauga, with a locomotive and several cars; returning thence by Jonesville, Lee county, Va., rëcrossing the Cumberland range at Hauk's Gap; and, after two or three smart skirmishes, returning in triumph to 20 men, mainly prisoners-and killed or captured over 500. Having been ridden all but incessantly 690 miles, with very little to eat, many of his horses gave out and were left to die on the return. 33 Gen. Wheeler, in chief command of Bragg's cavalry, 4,500 strong, with Forrest and Wharton as Brigadiers, passing Rosecrans's army by its right, concentrated his forces at Franklin, and pushed north-westward rapidly to Dover, near the site of old Fort Donelson, which our Generals had seen no reason to repair and occupy. But he found " Dover held by Col. A. C. Harding, 83d Illinois, with some 600 men fit for duty; his battery and one or two companies being absent; but Harding proved the man for the exigency. He at once sent across to Fort Henry for assistance, and dispatched a steamboat down the Cumberland for gunboats; at the same time throwing out and deploying his men so as to impede to the utmost the advance of the Rebels, and opening upon them so soon as they came within range, with a 32-pounder and 4 brass guns, which were all he had. Thus fighting with equal energy and judgment, he repelled alternate charges and invitations to surrender until dark, though nearly surrounded and pressed from both sides by his assailants, who, with reason, confidently expected to capture him. In their last charge, the Rebels lost Col. McNairy, of Nashville, who fell while vainly endeavoring to rally his men. No relief arrived from Fort Henry till next morning; but the gunboat Fair Play, Lt. Fitch, leading four others, all of them convoying a fleet of transports up the river, had been hailed 24 miles below by Harding's messenger, and incited to make all speed to the rescue. Harding was still holding his ground firmly, though nearly out of ammunitionhaving lost one of his guns and 45 out of 60 artillery horses-when, at 8 P. M., the Fair Play arrived, and considerably astonished the Rebels by a raking fire along their line. The other gunboats were soon on hand, and doing likewise, but to little purpose; since the Rebels had taken to their heels at the first sound of guns from the water, leaving 150 dead and an equal number of prisoners behind them. Harding estimates their wounded at 400, and makes his own loss 16 killed, 60 wounded, and 50 prisoners. Wheeler, as if satisfied with this experience, returned quietly to Franklin. Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, with his division of infantry and two brigades of cavalry, under Col. Minty, had been sent" westward by Rosecrans, as if to intercept Wheeler on his way southward. He captured 141 of Wheeler's men, including two Colonels; but returned" to Murfreesboro' without a fight and without loss. Gen. P. H. Sheridan next made" a similar demonstration southward, nearly to Shelbyville, then turning north-westward to Franklin; having two or three skirmishes with inferior forces, under Forrest and Van Dorn, who fled, losing in all about 100, mainly prisoners; while our loss was 10. Sheridan returned to Murfreesboro' after an absence of ten days. Meantime, Van Dorn had dealt us a skillful blow at Spring Hill, 10 miles south of Franklin, and 30 from Nashville, whither Col. John Coburn, 33d Indiana, had been dispatched from Franklin, with 2,000 infantry, 600 cavalry, and a light battery, simultaneously with Sheridan's advance from Murfreesboro'. Before reaching Spring Hill, his advance was contested; and, on the morning of the next day," he was assailed by a far superior force, by which he was in the course of the day all but surrounded; and, after fighting until his ammunition was exhausted, was compelled to surrender his remaining infantry, 1,306 in number. His cavalry and artillery, having run away in excellent season, escaped with little loss. Van Dorn's force consisted of six brigades of cavalry and mounted infantry. A fortnight later, Col. A. S. Hall, 105th Ohio, with four regiments, numbering 1,323 men, moved nearly east from Murfreesboro', intending to surprise a Rebel camp at Gainesville; but he missed his aim, and was soon confronted by a regiment of hostile cavalry; before which, Hall slowly withdrew to the little village of Milton, 12 miles north-east of Murfreesboro', taking post on Vaught's Hill, a mile or so distant; where he was assailed" by a superior Rebel force, under Gen. Morgan. But his men were skillfully posted, supporting a section of Harris's 19th Indiana battery, which was admirably served, and doubtless contributed very essentially to Morgan's defeat, with a loss of 63 killed and some 200 or 300 wounded, including himself. Hall's entire loss was but 55. 36 March 4. Franklin, being occupied by a |