and so compelling them to abandon the town. The country was open between my command and the town, and afforded no shelter whatever for the troops. I formed the brigade in two lines about 200 yards apart, with a strong line of skirmishers about the same distance in advance of the first line, with a section of artillery in the interval between the infantry lines. As these dispositions were about completed preparatory to ordering an advance of the line a heavy infantry fire was opened upon us from the buildings and cover the town afforded to the enemy, and their fire was taking effect even upon the first line of infantry back of the skirmish line. At this juncture I ordered the infantry to lie down, the artillery to open with shot and shell upon the town, and the heavy line of skirmishers to fix bayonets and on double quick to make the distance between them and the town; to be immediately followed by the main lines of infantry as soon as the skirmishers had reached the town. This movement was entirely successful; we soon had routed the enemy from the town, but had left some forty or fifty dead comrades behind us to be cared for by those in our rear.

As soon as we had driven the enemy beyond the town, we continued the same order with two regiments in line of battle about 200 yards apart to the left of the main pike, and two to the right in like manner, all preceded by a heavy line of skirmishers, and pushed forward with all possible dispatch. A heavy rain set in about the time we commenced the advance beyond the town, which continued all day, so the corn-fields and other plowed fields soon became ankle deep with mud. Nevertheless we pressed forward continuously. If we encountered the enemy in any considerable force, the skirmish line gradually slackened their progress until the main line came up with them. Artillery was brought forward and fired advancing along the road. In this manner we kept up an almost continuous advance, our dead and wounded being cared for by those in our rear. By night-fall we had made an advance of nearly eight miles, to Stewart's Creek. As we approached Stewart's Creek we discovered that the enemy had set the bridge over the same on fire. I immediately concentrated four pieces of artillery on a little eminence to the right of the road, and commenced shelling the enemy beyond the creek. Under the cover of this fire the infantry was ordered forward at double quick, and succeeded in subduing the flames before sufficient damage had been done to prevent the use of the bridge by our army. So rapid had been our advance that three companies of rebel cavalry that had been hovering on our left flank during the advance, were cut off before they reached the bridge, and were captured by us with all their horses and accoutrements. In the evening we were congratulated by all our superior officers for having accomplished a very satisfactory day's work.

This brought us up to the evening of the 27th of December. During the time between this and the afternoon of the 30th of the same month, all portions of our army had pressed forward along the different lines of march laid out for them, encountering the usual incidents of driving in the enemy's cavalry and outposts, until finally at that time our entire army had arrived along the left bank of Stone River, opposite the city of Murfreesboro, some two or three miles further on. Here we encountered the enemy in force and their fortifications were plainly visible all along opposite us on the right bank of the river, between it and the city of Murfreesboro, and here it was very evident Bragg intended to make his stand and accept the gauge of battle.

There was desultory firing all along the line during that memorable afternoon, but during that time our army was finally concentrated, McCook, with his three divisions on the right, Thomas, with his three in the center, and Crittenden, with his three on the left. The whole line, with the intervals for artillery and cavalry, occupying a distance of two or three miles, more or less. Crittenden's three divisions were formed, two divisions in line of battle, and one in reserve, as follows: Palmer's division on the right, Wood's on the left, and Van Cleve in reserve opposite the interval between Palmer's and Wood's, and each division consisting likewise of three brigades, were formed in like manner, two in line and one in reserve. In Wood's division Wagner's brigade was on the right, my own on the left, and Harker in reserve. This arrangement brought my brigade on the extreme left of the entire army. During that evening we were made acquainted with the plan of the attack which was to be made by our army under cover of the gray of the morning the following day, the memorable 31st day of December, 1862. This was for the left wing (Crittenden's) to cross Stone River—which was at that time fordable at all points for all arms of the service—and deliver a furious attack on the enemy's extreme right, this to be followed up by a wheel to the right by other portions of our army in case Crittenden was successful in his attack, until all portions of our army should become engaged and the battle become general all along the line.

This plan was well conceived, and might have worked well enough perhaps, if the enemy had waited for us. The same mistake (or a similar one rather) was made here that was made by Grant at Shiloh, only the latter was much more faulty. In that case Grant was moving his army up the Tennessee River to Savannah, the object being to attack Beauregard, then at Corinth, some twenty miles from Savannah, as soon as he should have made a junction with Buell's army, then at Nashville, Tenn., and which was to march from that place to Savannah. Grant's army proceeding by boats, arrived at Savannah by detachments first, and should have all been landed on the side of the river toward Grant's reinforcements, instead of on the side toward the enemy—unless he considered from the time he landed, anything more than a picket force of cavalry to keep him advised of the enemy's movements on the side toward them—that he had enough to successfully cope with him. If he thought the latter, he should have been with his troops on the side of the river toward the enemy instead of eight miles below on the other side. Thus the most elementary principles of grand tactics and military science, that, in case two armies are endeavoring to concentrate with a view of delivering an attack on a superior force of the enemy, the inferior force nearest the enemy, should be careful to oppose all natural obstructions, such as rivers, mountains, heavy forests, impassable marshes, between it and the enemy until a junction can be made. In this case the detachments of Grant's army were allowed to land on the side toward the enemy, select their locations as best they could without instructions or concert of action of any kind, and this within fifteen to eighteen miles of the enemy in force, in the enemy's country, where it was known to all that he had daily and hourly opportunity from the citizens who fell back before our forces, to find out all the time the exact locations and strength of Grant's and Buel's armies, respectively. Under circumstances like these, the merest tyro in military knowledge ought to have known that an experienced, able officer, such as Beauregard was known to be, would not wait for the concentration, before anticipating the attack. So it was no surprise to any one except the troops on that side the river towards Corinth, and possibly to Grant, then at Savannah, that on that fatal Sunday morning in April, 1862, when Grant had got sufficient troops on that side of the river to make it an object for Beauregard to destroy or capture them, and when Buel's advance had approached within twenty to twenty-five miles of Savannah, that Beauregard determined upon an attack, and declared he would crush or capture the troops on that side, and water his horse in the Tennessee river that night, and that but for the timely arrival by forced marches of Buel's advance of two divisions on the field about four o'clock that afternoon, he would