The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1863-10-03
The Great BATTLES near Chatta
nGOSa.

In the course of the 18th, already
unmlstakable signs indicated that the
enemy had discovered the weak points
of our position, and were masslng their
forces in front of our let-ccutre and
left, for the manifest purpose Of crush
ing those parts Of our lines, or getting
between them and Chattanooga A cor
responding movement by the left flank
was thence made by the whoe army
further down the West Chlckamauga,
so that on Friday morning our extreme
left rested at Gordon's Mill, at the
crossing of the Chlckamauga by the
Lafayette Pike, about twelve miles south
west OF Chattanooga. On the morning
of the 18th (Friday,) portion of the
expected rclntorcements, consisting of
two brigades Of the reserve corps, re-
spectively commanded by Coils. McCook
aud Mitchell, made their appearance
near Chattanooga, ard were Immediately
ordered to make Il reconnaissance toward
Rlnggold, and develop the intentions Of
the enemy from that quarter.
They came upon the advance of Long
streets corps, pushed it back for some
distance, took plumber Of prisoners from
it, and fully established the anticipated
concentration Of The enemy IN front Of
our left. All day Friday the cavalry,
covering our from, s&lrlnlshed with diff
fcrcnt bodies Of the enemy issuing from
the varlou. gaps Of the Pigeon Noun
tans and advancing upon and again re-
firing from our line. No serious COLI
Sion, however, occurred. [, was evident
the Rebel Generals meant 10 create a
false impression as to the points of our
line against which they proposed to
rike Il blow with concentrated power.
! But Gen Rosecrans was not deceived.
The reports from the front al tended to
confirm his previous impression that an
onset in overwhelming numbers was con-
templatcd npon our left flank, and that
it had to be met by still further sniff
ing line toward Chattanooga.
The Scene of all the movements on
the 18th and lSlh was the valley formed
by the Missionary aud Pigeon mountains.
Two roads run about two miles apart,
and west Of Chlckamauga where the
battle Of Saturday was fought.
The section of the valley bordcred by
the two roads is almost plam, covered
with thick woods, which rendered the
field unfayorable for the effective use of
artillery. The line proper, as given
above, rested nearly at the base of the
Missionary Mountains, some distance in
advance Of its right
The early foreno on passed away with
out forewarnng of the approaching con-
hlct but shortly before | | o'clock the
storm that had been brewing all the
morning on the Rebel side bust forth in
the expected direction. At that time a
long mass of Rebel infantry was seen
advancing upon Brennan's division on
the extreme left. 1t first came upon the
second brigade, Col. Croxton command
ing, and soon forced it back despite its
determined resistance. The two her
| brlgades Of the division at once came to
! its assiS ance, and succeeded in checking
the progress of the Rebels and drving
them back but their column being in
turn strongly reinforced, they advanced
again with wild yells. So powerful was
this assault that they pushed Brannan
back TO aud beyond his position in the
line, and thus uncovered the left of
Ba'rd's division. Making prompt use of
their advantage, they changed their
course to The left, aud speedily cnvelopcd
Scribner's and Kings igadcs-the lat
ter of Regulars. They were almost sur
rounded. but managed to disentanglc
themselves after fearful loss.
The crushing Rebel masses next came
upon Johnson's Division, and rolled it
upon Reynolds, which also became
speedily involved in the desperate strug
gle. The stubborn resistance of these
divisions, however, and the sweeping fire