llinois, which constituted
the right of Cook's advance moving through the timber where a ridge
leads to a battery at a salient in General Buckner's line, suddenly
found itself under fire and retired. Colonel Cook formed his line with
the other four regiments upon a ridge overlooking the enemy's
intrenchments, about six hundred yards from them, separated from them by
a valley dense with timber, mostly cut so as to form abattis, and
remained in this position for the night.

McClernand continued pressing all day to his right, following the course
of the ridge along which the Wynn's Ferry road passes. By night his
right nearly or quite reached the point where the Wynn's Ferry road
issued from the intrenchments. His artillery was very active; the
companies acting at times separately, at times uniting and concentrating
their fire on some well-served battery, they silenced temporarily
several batteries, and in the afternoon shelled some camps. A determined
assault was made on the position held by Maney's battery, supported by
Colonel Heiman with the Tenth, Forty-eighth, and Fifty-third Tennessee,
and the Twenty-seventh Alabama. This position was, at the same time, the
most salient and the most elevated in the entire line of intrenchment.
It was so traced that both faces were swept by artillery and infantry
fire from portions of the works to the right and the left. Colonel
Morrison was directed with his brigade, the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth
Illinois, to assault this position. Colonel Haynie, of the Forty-eighth
Illinois, senior to Morrison, was ordered to join him and take the
command. Morrison, on the right, assaulted the left face of the work;
the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth assaulted the right. Crossing the
valley, they began the ascent, encountered the tangled abattis, and
while striving to tear their way through it, under a plunging fire from
the battery and the infantry above them, they were assailed by artillery
and infantry from a long extent of line beyond. They recoiled from this
toil and this double fire. The Forty-fifth Illinois was sent to
reinforce Morrison. The four regiments started again, forced their way
still farther up the abattis, and were again repelled. Undaunted, they
rushed up the hill-side the third time. Part of the command pierced
through the abattis and reached the rifle-pits. The summit of the
rifle-pits was a blaze of musketry. Maney's guns hurled shrapnel into
their faces. To Morrison's right