The National tribune., 1906-10-04
ARMY OF THE
CUMBERLAND.
On the Left Of the Gap.
frcm pase IL

here? Why are you not with your
commands"
On the Left of the Gap.
When wave after wave of the Con-
federates. led by Hood, Bushrod John
son and Laws. rushed thru the gap they
struck Buelrs Brigade of Woods Divi-
sion, marching in column. slammed it
back like a door, and shattered it, to
quote Col. Thruston's words. Bushrod
johnson then changed direction to the
right, and struck Brannan in front and
| flank. Brannan'S right was driven back,
but his left, joining Reynolds. stood fast.
| Brannan's artillery. uncovered by the
| beating back of it's supports. rushed
| back, and stampeded Van Cleve's Divi-
sion, marching in column to support
| Thomas. The Reserve Artillery. not
properly posted by Negley, was ham
pered by the brush and low trees. Neg
ley had only one brigade with it-Sir-
| wellS-which was swept away, and
went with Negley to the rear. the guns
being captured. A scene of the widest
confusion was presented, with frantic
throng of wounded and unwounded
| fugitives, drivers of caissons, wagons,
| ambulances and cannon, all struggling
| wildly to make their escape thru the
narrow. winding paths and trails.
Gen. Wood made splendid amends for
Brannan kept their heads amid the aw-
full turmoil. and handled their COM
| mands with the greatest courage and
skill. Wood saw Hood moving north
| thru the Dyer Fields. and rallying n
| portion of Buell's men on Harkers un-
| broken brigade. he rushed back to a
! crest on the northern edge of the Dyer
Field, and waited until Hood came
within easy range. Hood had Laws Di-
vision in advance Woo. nnnrah in y
scorching fire of musketry which melt
ed down the head of the division, and
| then followed this by a swift charge.
| Law was so shattered that his division
was not again brought into action, and
kershaw's Division had to take the ad-
vance. Hood received the wound which
cost him his leg. Brannan took advan-
! tage of this check to the enemy to re-
| form his line in a strong position on
Snodgrass Hill. where Thomas had orig
| inally advised Rosecrans to form his
| right.
When the attack was renewed by
| Laws Division Wood retired slowly, and
took up his position on Brannan's left,
on low, open crest. and thus Snod-
grass Hill became the battle center for
the rest of the day.
Before 2 o'clock in the afternoon
everything south of the Dyer-Brother-
| ton road had been swept away, with
heavy losses of artillery, ammunition
| and prisoners. The Commanding Gen
| eral, two corps commanders and four
| division commanders had left the field.
Only four divisions held the ground
upon which they had been fighting
| Baird's, Planners, Johnson's and Rey-
| noldss.
Gen. Negley's Course.
| Gen. Negley was severely criticized
| for his course in the battle, and in his
| report he defends himself, saying that
! his division had been broken up by the
necessity of sending first Gen. John
| Beatty's Brigade and then Stanleys to
the relief of Thomas. leaving him only
| Sirwelfs. He received an order to take
charge and mass all the artillery at
hand on a high ridge facing the south,
which he did, supporting the batteries
with Sirweli's Brigade. He says:
| "One p. m. heavy force of the enemy
was discovered to be moving to cur
| left and rear; also, that Beatty's Bri-
gade was being overwhelmed.
"SirwelPs Brigade was at once sent
| forward to check his advance. while
| Bridges Battery, of Beattys Brigade,
and Smiths (4th Regular) Battery
| were placed in position and immediate
ly opened a very destructive fire upon
him from the ridge facing eastward.
! causing him to fall back, thus tempo
rarity relieving the left wing.
The character of the ground pre-
vented the effective use of all the bat
| teries; they We're placed on a ridge to
the rear. and the 18th Pa. sent to pro-
tect them; the remainder of Sirwelrs
Brigade was deployed at the most ex-
posed points.
| Two p. m, finding that our right wing
and center had given way before the
overwhelming numbers of the enemy.
and being hard pressed on my front
and right. / sent Lieut.. Moody, of my
staff, to Gen. Rosecrans for a brigade.
Upon being applied to, Gen. Rose
| Grams replied that it was too late, that
| he could give me no help.
"At this juncture Gen. Brannan ap-
piled to me for support, and L ordered
the 21st Ohio, of Sirwelrs Brigade, to
| his assistance.
"I then rode forward to the crest OF
| the ridge over which the right wing
and center were retiring. to get posi-
| ton for artillery, when 1 was met by
a strong column of the enemy, who
pressed forward rapidly between me
and the troops on my left. leaving me
but one whole regiment (7Sth Pa.) and
a part of another organized, with the
artillery in my charge. with its ammuni-
| ton nearly exhausted; at the same time
| my ammunition train had been driven
off the field.
/ "At this moment reliable information
reached me that a force of the enemys
| cavalry was moving from our right to
| our rear, and a column of infantry on
our front and left.
Finding it impossible to organize
any of the passing troops, and unable
! to communicate with Gen. Thomas, and
being informed by staff officer tha-
Gems. Rosecrans. McCook and Critten-
den had left the field. deemed it vital
ly important to secure the safety of
| the artillery, which appeared to be
threatened with immediate capture by
a large force of the enemy which was
pressing forward on my front and right
IT Immediately took the 18th Pa. and
marched to the mouth of the gap, two
| miles from Rossville, the first open
ground where the troops could be col
lected and recognized.
| IT found Col. Parkhurst here, with
the 9th Mich, energetically checking
the stragglers. He informed me that
Gen. Crittenden had passed some hours
| before, and had ordered him, with all
| the troops, to fall back to Chattanooga
This 1 stated to him was ineXpedient;
that the troops must be immediately
reorganized and prepared to march to
the front.
| "As soon as had cleared the gap of
| the artillery and transportation, which
| extended back some distance and in
| great confusion. and formed the scat
| tered troops into battalions. / learned
that Gen. Sheridan was close at hand