Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-08-22
Septernbef
 20, 1865
Icopyright, 1903, by G. z.. Kilrner.1


 I~there was time to fight another if he only had the troops. His last man had been put in to save the army from be- ing surrounded. A gap less than a mile in length remained to be covered by the Coufederates to make their circle com plete, and they were rushing in from two directions.
 Longstreet was forming his ranks of gray upon spur of Horseshoe ridge to drive the charge nome. His guns were un1imberfng on hill where they could rake Thomas line lengthwise, and that dauntless hero, with die-in- our-tracks look on his face, felt that the hour had come to die. The odds in men and guns were at least two to one against him. He had never yet been beaten in battle, had never yet retreat l ed
 And as things stood at iChicka mauga there would be no chance of retreating with more than a fragment of the troops if Longstreet's men rushed on and closed the narrow gap behind l Thomas. The way of retreat would be shut, the road from Chickamauga creek to Chattanooga through the noun tain pass at Rossville. Back on the Rossville road, four miles from the bat tie field, Gordon Granger's reserve corps had been stationed some days before to guard the rear of the army against surprise.
 1 Throughout the morning of the 20th | the roar of battle and the clouds of dust from moving troops told Granger l of a fierce struggle on Thomas line. SNThey (the Confederates) are concen- trating over there," he said to his staff. There is where we ought to be- He waited impatiently until Il o'clock, scanning the region with his field glass. Then he declared, with an. oath, I'm going to Thomas, orders or no or1ers.''
 ''If you go it may bring disaster upon our army interposed his chief aid.
 There's nothing on my front now but ragtag and bobtail cavalry he ex- claimed. Don't you see Bragg is pi- ing his whole army on ThomasY
 Granger started with two bgigades, leaving third to do the work of guard ing the road. Clouds of dust were stirred up by the marching men, and a couple of miles out the column was fired on by rifle skirmishers, and two guns were planted in open woods. A little farther on the column came to Thomas field hospital and found it in the hands of Forests Confederate cavalry. Granger cleared the hospital of gray troopers and next met an aid from Thomas who had come out to see if the dust clouds raised by the column rz4 e. friends. At 1 o'clock Granger grasped Thomas by the hand as he stood anx- iously watching Longstreet's swelling ranks on Horseshoe ridge. @.Those men must be driven back" said be- pointing to the batteries and the men behind them.
 Gan you do itY' said Thomas.
 s'Yes. My men are fresh and just the fellows for the work
 No time was wasted maneuvering At the command Flight face! For ward mareh!' the brigades of Whfta ker and Mitchell wheeled into line with their division commander, General Steedman, at their head, carrying the flag of a, regiment At that instant Longstreet's guns flashed out on the l eral Steedman: you can see their exact position. You must take that ridgev'
 "I'N do ftr' SteeGlman exclaimed. Granger touched Steednan familiarly on the shoulder and said, "Sted, old boy, it's going to be deuced hot in there"
 ''Yes, general; it looks so." Granger continued, ''Sted, if any thing should happen, you know, have you any requestY'
 "Yes, general Steedman said in the same calm tone. '1f I fall please see that my name is spelled correctly in the newspapers This was hint that the jump from the nickname 'sSted" to Stedman was natural in excited war correspondents.
 In twenty minutes the charge was over and Longstreet,s men flying back down the southern slope of the ridge. After a few leaps forward Stee7man's horse pitched headforemost, throwing his rider violently to the ground The enemy met the charge with shell and canister and then with a murderous ri- fe fire. Steedman lost 1,0OO men out of $500, but Thomas line was now plant ed on the ridge coveted by Longstreet When Granger reached the field Thomas men had used up all their ammunition and the supply train had been cut off. The cartridges brought by Granger's men were divided among the troops on the line, but when the enemy massed new force and dashed for the ridge there was nothing to ! check them but cold steel Steedman mounted fresh horse and rode up and down the line, inspiring his men sto hold the ridge they had captured so l gallantly. When Longstreet's reserves dashed up the slopes again he ordered a battery captain to double shot, the guns. Been doing that for ten rounds, general
 '"Then treble shot them," said Steed- man.
 Never heard of it before," said the young artillerist, ''but what you say l goes. Treble shot them, boysv' The Confederates marched steadily 1 Vrva 41x AI,s-.