to camp, the different commands in the trenches wanted to
know what all that racket meant up the river. "We never heard guns fire
so fast in our lives before." "We thought the ball must be about to
open again, etc." By mid-day we were back in our camp again.

The battery remained in this camp till Tuesday, Nov. 24th, the morning
of the battle of Missionary Ridge, when camp was broken and wagons sent
to rear with all camp equipage. The fighting part was ordered to top of
ridge near Gen. Bragg's headquarters. There we remained with the battle
field stretched out before us, simply ready to move, and viewing the
great disaster to the confederate army to our left, we could take no
part, could get to no point where needed. Below us, in our immediate
front and to our right, our men held their own manfully. Orderlies and
aids galloped to headquarters, orderlies and aid galloping away again.
It filtered down to us that on our extreme left, the Yankees had gained
the ridge and so taking our army on its left flank. In the afternoon
came orders to us, to move to the rear. We soon found ourselves
traveling rearward with lots of wounded infantry and so continued till
we crossed Chickamauga creek and took a position to protect the
crossing if necessary. Here we remained until next morning Nov. 25th
till 9:00 a.m., the boys finding in a deserted smoke house a barrel
about half full of beef tallow. It was broken up and distributed around
and came in afterwards to melt up for biscuit shortening. It tasted
very well, when biscuits were eaten hot, but to be eaten cold it is not
to be recommended.

Hastening to Chickamauga station, we found the torch had been applied
to all the warehouses and commisary supplies that our people had been
unable to move during the night.

Gen. John Breckinridge was at the depot and ordered Capt. George
Little, then on his staff, to get his old Kentucky Brigade and a good
battery and place them in the breastworks around the depot to protect
the rear in retreat.

He found Lumsden's battery and they remained with the Kentuckians until
Sherman's troops had approached within a short distance and were about
to cut them off on the east of the railroad, when Gen. Breckinridge
ordered them withdrawn to a ridge about one-half a mile to the east
where Gen. Cleburne had drawn up his division. As we crossed the
railroad, shells from Sherman's battery were falling around the depot.
Several women were on the station pla