Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 4.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[111] Instead of concentrating, as Liddell did, all his forces to strike an irresistible blow upon a narrow front, Cheatham wants to cover with the three brigades of his first line all the ground upon which Walker's two divisions have successively fought. This extension of Cheatham's lines weakens his forces by reducing their reserves. Jackson, on the right, passes beyond Ector's and Wilson's brigades, which, exhausted and decimated, had given up the struggle an hour before. He then advances against Brannan, whose soldiers are not less weary than their opponents. Preston Smith, in the centre, attacks Hazen through the corner of the wood with his wonted vigor: these two antagonists, worthy of each other, have inspired with their valor the soldiers under their command. Fields watered by a creek fringed with trees extend between the two hostile lines. Federals and Confederates have hardly come into the presence of one another when, boldly issuing from the shelter of the forest, they spring forward to gain this border of trees and thence advance against the opposite edge of the wood. But after a struggle all the more bloody because it took place upon open ground, neither of the two can hold its own near the creek, now red with blood. On the left, Wright faces Cruft's brigade, which is supported at a distance by Grose's brigade; the two, separated by the meadows which fringe the wood, exchange shots at long range without daring to come out of the copse. The Southern artillery, posted on the left upon the bare extremity of the little ridge which commands the fields to the southward, inflicts serious losses upon the Federals, whose guns are too distant to respond. Cheatham's second line, consisting of Maney's command on the right and Strahl's on the left, is far in the rear.

However, Van Derveer, threatened on his flank, has had time to wheel to the east. It is true that the fresh troops brought up by Jackson through the woods cause his ill-posted left to yield; but, taking the offensive with his right, he opens upon these troops an oblique fire which makes them pay dear for their first success. Brannan brings to his aid a part of Connell's brigade, and the fight is protracted with advantage for the Unionists, who are, besides, soon reinforced all along the line. Rosecrans has put Reynolds in motion in succession after Johnson as soon as the latter has passed the Glenn house. These two divisions advance rapidly.