Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 2.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

---

[522] attack. It had traversed the wood at its narrowest point, and had formed in the vicinity of one of the clearings by which it is contracted west of the position that Sheridan had just taken. The remainder of the division, which had borne more to the left by two narrow roads, had, on the contrary, the densest portion of the forest before it, and found itself fronting the main forces, which had just crushed Sheridan and dislodged Negley. The wood was full of disbanded soldiers. The enemy could not be seen, but the rattling of musketry, the smoke and the swarms of fugitives announced his approach; all the artillery blocked up the roads, whence it was impossible to extricate it. Rousseau felt that a speedy retreat could alone prevent a new disaster. Whilst Shepherd's brigade was covering this movement by vigorously resisting the enemy, he caused his artillery to describe a semi-circuit, and brought back all his forces into the open fields, extending between the road and the cedar wood. He hastily re-formed his lines under the fire of the enemy, who had closely followed him, and was already hovering on the skirts of the wood. This delicate operation, which consists in halting a body of troops in retreat and deploying them in line of battle under a shower of missiles discharged by an invisible foe, was successfully accomplished. Thomas and Rosecrans had hastened to the spot to direct the operation in person; for if Rousseau fell farther back, they would no longer be able to connect the left with the new line that was forming on the right, parallel to the road. Thomas, dispassioned and unmoved in the heat of battle, directing the movements of troops as if he were on parade; Rosecrans, excited by the contest, galloping in every direction where danger seemed to be most imminent, giving direct orders to all the chiefs he encountered,—both sustained their soldiers by the courage they displayed and the confidence they inspired. The three batteries of Rousseau's division proceeded to take a commanding position on a height over which the railroad passes through a cut. Placed in front of this cut, their fire covered all the space extending as far as the cedar wood. On their right was the engineer brigade, which, up to this time, had alone kept the hill. More to the right, Van Cleve's division, and then Harker's brigade of Wood's division, had deployed along the margin of the wood which the