he night of the 4th, the division encamped five miles from Lebanon,
upon the ground whence we drove the enemy's pickets. Lebanon was
garrisoned by Colonel Hanson's regiment, the Twentieth Kentucky, and not
far off, on the road to Harrodsburg, two Michigan regiments were
stationed. On the morning of the 5th, the division approached the town,
and a demand for its surrender was made, which was declined. The first
brigade was formed on the right of the road, with two regiments in
reserve. The second was assigned the left of the road. The artillery was
planted in the center, and at once opened upon the slight works which
were thrown up, south of the town. As the regiments in the front line
advanced, the enemy retreated into the town. Both brigades lost slightly
in effecting this, and succeeded, immediately afterward, in dislodging
the enemy from the houses in the edge of the town, both on the left and
on the right. The enemy, then, mainly concentrated in the large depot
building upon the railroad; a few sought shelter in other houses.
Grigsby's and Ward's regiments, of the first brigade, held the right of
the town and the houses looking upon the depot in that quarter. From
these houses they kept up a constant fire upon the windows of the depot.
Cluke's and Chenault's regiments, the latter under command of Lieutenant
Colonel Tucker, were as effectively located and employed upon the left.
Our artillery, although under able officers, proved of little use to us
in this affair. On account of the situation of the depot in low ground,
the shots took effect in the upper part of the building (when they
struck at all), doing the occupants little damage. Lieutenant Lawrence,
however, at length posted one of his guns--the Parrots--on a hill
immediately overlooking the building, and, greatly depressing it,
prepared to fire into it at an angle which threatened mischief. But the
sharpshooters prevented his men from working the guns effectively. This
state of affairs lasted for two or three hours. The Michigan regiments,
before mentioned, drew near and threatened interference, and General
Morgan, who had sought to reduce the garrison without storming their
stronghold, in order to save his own men, at length ordered it to be
carried by assault. Smith's regiment, at first held in reserve in the
first brigade, had, previously to this determination upon the part of
the General, been engaged, but the Second Kentucky was still in reserve.
Major Web