s army about 8,000 strong. Gen. Bertram,
who surrendered Dolinsburg to Gen. Silent, was now holding Knoxburg and
Chatteraugus with some 18,000 men, about equally divided between the two
places.

"Rosenfelt was now compelled to attack his intrenched position or move
to the left, thereby endangering his communication to the rear. This was
somewhat perplexing to him. In marching forward he would be obliged to
leave forces behind him to guard his communications, thereby constantly
diminishing his strength, while the enemy in falling back would lose
none of his strength. Looking at the situation after he was ready, he
again concluded not to move. This caused a terrible clamor both in and
out of the army. Finally he was ordered peremptorily to move forward
against the enemy. He obeyed the order, the army was put in motion, and
a forward movement began. The question was how to out maneuver Biggs. A
feint was made on Shelltown, which lay in the direct route of his march.
This caused Biggs to concentrate his forces at this point. While this
movement was being made our main forces were moved by rapid marches to
Munster on the enemy's right, which jeopardized his communications with
Chatteraugus and the valley south.

"Biggs now finding his forces flanked, and seeing the danger of being
cut off from a junction with Bertram, fled precipitately over the
mountains to Fayette. Rosenfelt finding that Biggs had retreated in such
hot haste, was deceived into the belief that Biggs had gone into Georgia
at or near Romulus, and on finding that Bertram had left Chatteraugus
with his command, concluded that the enemy were re-enforcing the rebel
army in the East, and therefore thought to push on with force enough to
attack and defeat him, at the same time holding the strong points in
the rear. So he sent Gen. Critsinger with his corps to Chatteraugus, and
with the rest of his force marched over the mountain into the valley,
intending to have the larger portion of Critsinger's Corps join him
in the valley, and then to move south. Instead, however, of Gen. Biggs
having sent any portion of his army to re-enforce the rebel army in
the East, he was concentrating all his forces at Fayette and quietly
awaiting re-enforcements from the East. Gen. Longpath, with a corps of
20,000 men, was moving on railroad cars as rapidly as possible to the
support of Biggs. Gen. Rosenfelt was now on the road between Bridgeton
and Fayette without any knowledge as to