The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-11-29


armies preparing for action; ours, Z
charge upon the rebel works; theirs t
stand upon the defensive 1t was appa
rent that the conflict would be no longe
delayed. Ere the sun disappeared th
great siruggle-not for Chattanoog
merely,-but East Tennessee, would b
decided. If the rebels could hold thei
I position, Longslreet would be enabled &
crush Burnside with impunity; if not
their base of operations would be de
strOyed, the armies separated, and al
their hopes of regaining East Tennessee
blasted. In proportion to the importance
of the stake, would be the stubbornnesl
of the struggle.
At 10 o'clock in the morning Sherman
made feint upon Tunnel Hill, an ina.
portant position from which Missionary
Ridge could be raked, at any point with
in cannon shot. To Courses brigade, Of
Shermsn's division, this task was assign
ed, and LOomis' brigade was sent to his
right, as q support. The charge lasted
for an hour, in which number-say $50
were killed and wounded. General
Course fell dead fighting gallsntIy at the
head of his column, and Col. Loomis re-
ceiVed slight wound. Our forces then
fell back to the rife pits.
Believing this to be real assault, the
rebels continued to mass their forces in
that direction and to confirm their opin-
ions, large bodies Of troops were NOV
ed from the camps at Chattanooga,
through an opening into the Tennessee
Valley, in full view of Bragg's headquar-
ters, as if intended to reinforce Sherman;
and then having reached thick grove of
timber. they were eOuutermarched, and
placed in the woods, opposite the rebel
centre.
At noon, . second attack on Tunnel
Hill was ordered, and Matthias brigade
of Gen. JnO. E. Smiths division, charg-
ed up the hill. Having nearly reached
the summit, they were met by superior
force of the enemy, and fight of three
quarters Of an hour ensued. The men
had seen one brigade repulSed, as they
supposed, and they determined to win a
triumph, not only over the enemy but
over their own friends, by capturing q
place from which they had been beaten.
As soon IS it was discovered that the
rebels were preparing for grand charge
out of their works, upon the assaulting
party, q retreat was ordered but the
men, filed with aTdor, refused to obey,
fought with bravery that has few par
allels in history. A flank movement on
the part of the rebels at length compelled
them to break, and instead of an orderly
retreat, which would nave been practicable
five minutes before, disorderlyrout en-
sued. The rebels pushed on with vigor,
and captured 200 prisoners, but they were
afterward retaken. The men rallied on
the rife-pitF, and there remained
After this movement, a laundering
sound from the PARROTS and Rodmans of
Fort Wood announced the commencement
of the saguinary contest in the centre Our
columns, which had hitherto been con-
cealed behind the underbrush which
skirts the eastern eide of the Chatta-
nooga valley, now pushed out presenting
a bold and solid front to the enemy. This
movement was designed to break the
rebel centre, and the task was assigned
to Gems. Baird, Wood, Sheridan, and
Johnston, whose divisions were posted
from left to right, in the order named.
The right wing, commanded by Hooker,
also moved toward the mountain, but as
they extended far to the south of the en-
emy's lines, they had little opposition to
encounter. They found one or two Sec
tons of artillery and few men; but |
these proved source of little annoyance,
the guns being readily captured. A por-
ton of the men were made prisoners,
while the remainder fed down the hill
in confusion.
Opposite the centre were posted forty
pieces of cannon, in eight commanding
positions, and it was made the duty of
one brigade to charge upon and capture
each battery. The interval of two hun
dred yards between the timber and the
front of the mountain was soon passed,
but the ascent was matter of great diff
fculty. The sides of the hill were ex-
ceedingly steep and covered with loose
rock, and in many places with briars and
underbrush; and as consequence, one
could scarcely reach the summit unin-
numbered. But our brave heroes neither
halted nor faltered, though exposed to
the fire of the whole line of infantry, on
the summit of the ridge, and all the bat
teries in front of them, and raking fire
from Tunnel Hill which did frightful ex-
ecution.
Steadily, however, they proceeded
each brigade vieing with its rivals in the
effort to be the first to place the old stan
dard upon the spots deseerated by the
rebel ensign. They wers half way up
the deadly missiles thickened around
them; but onward they went; they
nearly reached the top; the artillery
could no longer be used against them
The bayonets of the rebels were fixed,
md hand TO hand struggle commenced.
At length . shout was heard, and all
yes were turned toward the spot even
n the din and confusion of the strife, the
'oes found time for momentary pause
/ Thrill of horror ran through the rebel
-anks the heart of every loyal man now I
peat high the 79A Indiana regiment had
Il 1