ggle, lasting from forty to sixty minutes, we succeed in
repelling this also. I send again to General Rousseau, and am soon after
informed that neither he nor Loomis' battery can be found. Troops are
reported to be falling back hastily, and in disorder, on my left. I send
a staff officer to the right, and ascertain that Scribner's and
Shepperd's brigades are gone. I conclude that the contingency has arisen
to which General Rousseau referred--that is to say, that hell has frozen
over--and about face my brigade and march to the rear, where the guns
appear to be hammering away with redoubled fury. In the edge of the
woods, and not far from the Murfreesboro pike, I find the new line of
battle, and take position. Five minutes after the enemy strike us. For a
time--I can not even guess how long--the line stands bravely to the
work; but the regiments on our left get into disorder, and finally
become panic-stricken. The fright spreads, and my brigade sweeps by me
to the open field in our rear. I hasten to the colors, stop them, and
endeavor to rally the men. The field is by this time covered with flying
troops, and the enemy's fire is most deadly. My brigade, however, begins
to steady itself on the colors, when my horse is shot under me, and I
fall heavily to the ground. Before I have time to recover my feet, my
troops, with thousands of others, sweep in disorder to the rear, and I
am left standing alone. Going back to the railroad, I find my men,
General Rousseau, Loomis, and, in fact, the larger part of the army. The
artillery has been concentrated at this point, and now opens upon the
advancing columns of the enemy with fearful effect, and continues its
thunders until nightfall. The artillery saved the army. The battle
during the whole day was terrific.

I find that soon after the fight began in the cedars, our division was
ordered back to a new line, and that the order had been delivered to
Scribner and Shepperd, but not to me. They had, consequently, retired to
the second position under fire, and had suffered most terribly in the
operation; while my brigade, being forgotten by the division commander,
or by the officer whose duty it was to convey the order, had held its
ground until it had twice repulsed the enemy, and then changed position
in comparative safety. A retrograde movement under fire must necessarily
be extremely hazardous. It demoralizes your own men, who can not, at the
moment, understand the purpose of the mov