Army of the Tennessee had present on that day at Atlanta and Decatur
about 26,000 men; there were 10,000 in the Fifteenth Army Corps, 9,000 in
the Sixteenth Corps, and 7,000 in the Seventeenth. About 21,000 of these
were in line of battle. Three Brigades of the Sixteenth Corps were absent,
the Sixteenth Corps having 5,000 men in a single line which received the
attack of the four Divisions of Hardee's Corps, Hardee's left, Cleburn's
Division lapping the extreme left of Blair and joining Cheatham's Corps
which attacked Blair from the Atlanta front; and, according to Hood, they
were joined by the Georgia Militia under General Smith. Extending down the
line in front of the Armies of the Ohio and the Cumberland, Stewart's
Corps occupied the works and held the lines in front of the Army of the
Cumberland. The Sixteenth Army Corps fought in the open ground; the
Fifteenth and Seventeenth behind intrenchments.

Where I stood just at the rear of the Sixteenth Army Corps, I could see
the entire line of that corps, and could look up and see the enemy's
entire front as they emerged from the woods, and I quickly saw that both
of my flanks were overlapped by the enemy. Knowing General McPherson was
some two miles away, I sent a staff officer to General Giles A. Smith,
requesting him to refuse his left and protect the gap between the
Seventeenth Corps and my right, which he sent word he would do. Later, as
the battle progressed, and I saw no movement on the part of General Smith,
I sent another officer to inform him that the enemy were passing my right
flank, which was nearly opposite his center, and requested him to refuse
his left immediately, or he would be cut off. This officer (Lieutenant D.
Sheffly, who belonged to the Signal Corps, and acted as my aide only for
the time being) found, on reaching Smith, that he was just becoming
engaged; that he had received orders to hold his line, with a promise that
other troops would be thrown into the gap.

My second messenger, Lieutenant Sheffly, returning over the road upon
which McPherson was a few minutes later shot dead, met the General on the
road with a very few attendants, and turned to warn him of his dangerous
position, assuring him that the enemy held the woods and were advancing.
The General paying no heed to the warning and moving on, my aide turned
and followed him. They had proceeded but a short distance into the woods
when a sharp command, "Halt," was heard from the skirmish-