Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 10.
Frank Moore, Ed.

[456] we moved, on the Shallon Ford road, in the direction of Chattanooga. When we arrived at the foot of Missionary Ridge, we formed line of battle on the left of General Maney's brigade and advanced to the top of the ridge, meeting with but little resistance, though the enemy were strongly posted.

Accompanying this will be found the reports of the several regimental commanders, Major William Green, commanding battalion of sharp-shooters, and Lieutenant A. T. Watson, commanding Scott's battery, of the action taken by their respective commands, to which I invite your attention. A list of the casualties of the brigade has already been forwarded to Headquarters.

I cannot close this report without alluding to the very efficient service rendered me by Captain J. W. Harris, Inspector-General on General Smith's staff, in carrying and executing all orders in the most prompt manner possible. Also, Captain Emmett Cockrill, volunteer Aid to General Smith, deserves especial notice for the manner in which he discharged every duty assigned him. Thanks are due to Major King, Brigade Commissary, for keeping the troops so well provided with rations during the campaign from Lafayette, Georgia, to this place. Also, to Major Beecher, Brigade Quartermaster, for the efficient manner in which our wounded were carried from the field. Thanks are also due to Captain Henry K. Beatty, Brigade Ordnance Officer, for the prompt and efficient manner in which the command was kept constantly supplied with ammunition. Also, special credit is due Lieutenant J. W. Cochran, Brigade Provost-Marshal, for the promptness and efficiency displayed in discharging the duties of his office.

Especial attention is called to Colonel Rice's report in reference to the gallant conduct of E. H. Clayton, courier to General Smith.

I am, Major, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by Gregg's brigade in the actions of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth instant), while under my command:

Shortly after five o'clock, in the afternoon of Saturday (nineteenth), the brigade having then been hotly engaged for several hours, I was notified that General Gregg had been disabled by a severe wound in the neck, and had been borne from the field, and that the command in consequence devolved upon me. I accordingly reported to General Johnson for orders. The brigade having fallen back, defensive positions were made for the night by posting pickets in advance and constructing breastworks of logs.

At seven o'clock, the following morning (Sunday, twentieth), I was ordered to take position in rear of McNair's and Johnson's brigades, in reserve. About eleven A. M., the division being ordered forward, we advanced some eight hundred yards, under heavy fire, when the front line first wavered, then halted, in considerable confusion. It soon rallied, but, after advancing about two hundred yards farther, halted a second time, in the face of a heavy force of the enemy, strongly posted behind breastworks of rails and fallen timber. My command suffering greatly in its position in rear, I now proposed to General McNair to permit me to pass to the front. He consented, and my command was ordered forward and succeeded in dislodging the enemy from his position, though not without heavy loss. Major C. W. Robertson, commanding Fiftieth Tennessee (Lieutenant-Colonel Beaumont having been killed the day before) was here severely wounded in the groin, while gallantly leading his regiment. Up to this point all the fighting had taken place in thick cover. Steadily advancing, the brigade now emerged from the timber into a cleared field of considerable extent, gradually sloping down from the further edge, where the enemy had posted a battery of eight guns. This battery I was ordered to flank, leaving it on my right. Across the open field the brigade charged and, supported on the right flank, captured the guns. Four of these pieces, rifled guns of the Ward pattern and three-inch calibre, belonging to the First Missouri (Federal) battery, are now appropriately in possession of the First Missouri (Bledsoe's) battery, belonging to this brigade. A thickly wooded ridge in rear of the captured battery, and commanding the position, was the next point of attack. Ordered by General Johnson, in person, to take this position, the brigade advanced to the assault, again without support on the right. The ridge was carried, and my battery, from the nature of the ground, being unable to keep up, the brigade was halted upon its crest and disposed in such form as to sweep with its fire the slopes and hollows on both sides of the ridge and hold the position until the artillery could come to our support. So soon as the guns arrived, they were placed in position to open fire upon the enemy's battery of five pieces, covering the retreat of an ammunition train. In a few minutes the enemy's cannoneers abandoned their guns; the teamsters were seen cutting loose the horses from their traces, and the whole took to flight, leaving both battery and train in our possession. Later in the day, the contents of the captured wagons served to replenish the exhausted boxes of the brigade, Finding the position commanded by still another ridge in front, but bearing to the right, the brigade was ordered forward, the position in front taken, and my battery of four guns posted so as to secure its possession, while skirmishers were thrown out to ascertain the position and force of the enemy. He was found to be in heavy force on the same ridge on my right. Adjusting my line accordingly, the brigade again