enemy’s onslaught on the centre had been repulsed, and his victorious troops brought to a halt; the rebels had been stopped, and the key of the battlefield secured, but at a loss of nearly half of the infantry force of the brigade. The new lines along the turnpike and railroad having been formed, troops moved into position, artillery posted to protect and cover the new lines, the right of the brigade received orders to fall back; the movement was executed under the protection of the battery, but unmolested by the enemy, from right to left in perfect order, one battalion moving after the other by the right of companies through the cedars to the rear. Lieut. Ludlow’s section of the battery had been detached to the front and right to cover the retreat of the right of the brigade. It was a bitter disappointment to obey orders then, but as the object of the advance of the brigade had been achieved, its further exposure would have been useless, and could only have resulted in its annihilation; still, this was not understood at the time by the officers and men of the brigade. When the heads of companies debouched from the woods, they were exposed to a tornado of artillery fire from rebel batteries to our left. From the position of the brigade in the cedars to a short distance outside, it was a gentle decline, the ground then again commenced to rise as far as the pike and railroad; about one hundred yards from the woods, on higher ground, the brigade reformed and faced the enemy; as there was no pursuit, it fell back of our new lines and joined again its battery in proper supporting position. Here roll was called, reports were made, and now the loss of the brigade was fully understood. John Beatty’s and Scribner’s Brigades fell back with the left and right of the Regular Brigade, and the artillery opened on the woods as soon as the brigade was out of them.

When the action opened in the cedars, Major Slemmer, of the 16th, was badly wounded, and Capt. Crofton took command; almost immediately after giving the command to retire, Major Carpenter fell, mortally wounded, struck by six bullets, and the command of the 19th devolved on Capt. Mulligan; on the retreat between the cedars and the railroad, Major King, of the 15th, was disabled, and Capt. Fulmer assumed command; in the cedars; in the 1st Battalion of the 18th, Capt. Kneass was killed and Lieut. McConnell mortally wounded; in the 2d Battalion of the 18th, Lieut. Hitchcock was killed and Lieut. Simons mortally wounded; in the 15th Capt. Wise was mortally wounded; Major Townsend had his horse shot under him; the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the 18th had his horse wounded; and the Adjutant of the 2d Battalion had his killed under him. When the brigade was again in its supporting position, its left wing was committed for the remainder of the battle to Major Townsend, the right wing, deprived of its field officers, needing more the attention of the Brigade Commander.

This closed the enemy’s and our operations for that day as far as active participation by the Regular Brigade was concerned; the battery, however, continued to play on the enemy’s position, and when later in the afternoon an attack was made to the left of the brigade, it assisted in the repulse of the enemy in that quarter. During the night parties were organized to collect the wounded of the brigade; the pickets of the enemy and of the brigade were within speaking distance, and one of the parties was captured; another party claimed to be an informal flag of truce, asking for the privilege to collect our wounded, and thus after some parleying was permitted to return. During the night also our lines were straightened out; positions changed; the right of the first division of the left wing posted on the left of the turnpike, by which movement our front was thrown back about three hundred yards; and the left wing formed on a new line toward Stone River; this gave us a shorter line, more reserves, and allowed the Regular Brigade, at about 4 o’clock A. M., of the 1st of January, to fall back to a little piece of woods near General Rosecrans’ headquarters, there to bivouac and seek rest.

Early on the 1st of January, 1863, the brigade, with its battery, was ordered to the right to support McCook’s wing, against which demonstrations were made, and several positions were held by it without coming into action. Shortly after two o’clock the brigade was ordered to Stewart’s Creek; having marched about four miles, it received orders to return double quick, and marched nearly the whole distance at that gait. Night coming on, the brigade bivouacked again to the left of the pike, near General Rosecrans’ headquarters.

On the morning of the 2d of January, before breakfast, the brigade advanced under heavy artillery fire to the support of the left wing, remaining as its support in different positions during the day and night; the battery, being in action off and on during the day, assisted in the enemy’s repulse by the left wing in the afternoon of the day.

On the morning of the 3d, the fourth day of the battle, the battery opened fire upon one of the enemy, which was annoying our troops, and soon silenced and drove it from its position. During the forenoon the brigade and battery advanced again to its position, the key of the field, held on the 31st of December, threw up slight intrenchments and held them for the remainder of the battle. The heavy rains during the day filled the ditches partly with water and rendered them almost untenable, while the surrounding ground was fast turning into a bed of mud; the men, at their option, could stand or recline in water or mud, but not a word of discontent escaped their lips in this trying and painful, as well as arduous and dangerous service. About 6 P. M., under the cover of the brigade and other batteries, an attack was made to the front by parts of John Beatty’s and Spear’s Brigades; this attack, though spreading to the front of the brigade, required on its part only increased watchfulness to prevent surprise in case of a reverse; the battery, however, was actively engaged in shelling the enemy’s position in the woods to our front, south.

Before daylight of the morning of the fourth, the brigade pickets reported the retreat of the enemy. The day, Sunday, was spent in the sad duty of collecting the dead of the brigade, who were interred at night by moonlight and with military honors just in front of the intrenchments.

Thus ended the battle of Stone River, or Murfreesboro’; and here it may be proper to relate a few of the many incidents occurring in and during it, showing the spirit which pervaded the officers and men of the brigade, ready to laugh one moment, the next to suffer, and, if need be, to die.

During the fight at noon of the 31st of Dec., the color-bearer of the 2d Battalion of the 18th was killed by a shot in the head and fell with and on the colors; the color-guard at once raised the flag, when the top became entangled in a low cedar; the Adjutant of the battalion, then still mounted, finally called Lieut. Bisbee to the aid of the color-guard and the colors were at last free again and thrown to the breeze; it was a moment of great anxiety to all near, for it was understood that there was to be no losing of the colors. When the left reformed after leaving the cedars, Major Townsend, when on the rise took the colors and rode along the new line for all to see that and where the stand was to be made. Capt. Douglass, of the 18th, described the rebel artillery fire in the open field, as if a blacksmith shop full of rotten iron was being thrown at the command. When the brigade was reformed near its battery, there was a large pile of knapsacks back of it,