came back to me, and said, 'I am pretty hardly engaged here; I
have used a great deal of my ammunition; it is a strong place in front;
it is an excellent position.' It was a little farther out than I
was--near Funkstown. He said, 'I have used a great deal of my
ammunition, and I ought to go to the right; suppose you move up there,
or send up a brigade, or even a part of one, and hold that position.'
Said I, 'I will do so at once, if I can just communicate with General
Sedgwick; I am ordered to take up a position over here, and hold it, and
the intimation conveyed to me was, that they did not want to get into a
general engagement; I will send for General Sedgwick, and ask permission
to hold that position, and relieve you.' I accordingly sent a
staff-officer to General Sedgwick with a request that I might go up at
once and assist General Buford, stating that he had a strong position,
but his ammunition was giving out. General Buford remained with me until
I should get an answer. The answer was, 'No; we do not want to bring on
a general engagement.' 'Well,' said I, 'Buford, what can I do?' He said,
'They expect me to go farther to the right; my ammunition is pretty much
out. That position is a strong one, and we ought not to let it go.' I
sent down again to General Sedgwick, stating the condition of General
Buford, and that he would have to leave unless he could get some
assistance; that his position was not far in front, and that it seemed
to me that we should hold it, and I should like to send some force up to
picket it at least. After a time I got a reply that, if General Buford
left, I might occupy the position. General Buford was still with me, and
I said to him, 'If you go away from there I will have to hold it.'
'That's all right,' said he, 'I will go away.' He did so, and I moved
right up. It was a pretty good position when you cover your troops. Soon
after relieving Buford, we saw some Rebel infantry advancing. I do not
know whether they brought them from Hagerstown, or from some other
place. They made three dashes, not in heavy force, upon our line to
drive us back. The troops that happened to be there on our line were
what we considered, in the Army of the Potomac, unusually good ones.
They quietly repulsed the Rebels twice, and the third time they came up
they sent them flying into Funkstown.

"Yet there was no permission to move on and follow up the enemy. We
remained there some time, until we had orders to mov