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commanders, with statements of killed, wounded, and prisoners, and names as far as can be obtained.
The only real fighting was during the assault by
Morgan's and
Steele's divisions, and at the time of crossing the Sixth Missouri, during the afternoon of December 29th, by the Second Division.
Picket skirmishing and rifle practice across
Chickasaw Bayou was constant for four days. This cost us the lives of several valuable officers and men, and many wounded.
I have the honor to be,
Your obedient servant,
Accompanying this report is a list of casualties, which shows the following losses of each division:
An aggregate of nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, concerning which
General Sherman made the following indorsement:
‘My belief is that, of the missing, four hundred were taken prisoners after reaching the enemy's trenches, and the remainder will turn up on boats not their own.’
From this report of
General Sherman's it will be seen that the very divisions to which he now attributes his failure and upon whose commanders he visits severe censure, were the identical troops and officers he reported at the time as having done his hardest fighting, and accomplished every thing it was possible to perform.
The reports of these division commanders, whom he then commended, in turn relieve the brigade officers he now abuses from the blame he attempts to fix upon them, and show that the conduct of
Generals Morgan,
DeCourcey, and
Thayer, and the fighting of their troops were such as should have commanded high praise, even from
General Sherman.
