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grand wheel to the right.
In his advance Kershaw reached the Dyer house, almost in rear of Brotherton's and half a mile beyond the Chattanooga road.
Manigault reached a point on Kershaw's left and in line with his advance, the divisions of Preston, Hindman, Kershaw and Hood driving the Federal right to Snodgrass and drawing around that point.
Here followed the hardest and most prolonged struggle of the day. The order of the divisions was somewhat broken up, and brigades went in wherever they could assist in a charge.
About 5 p. m. Gracie and Kelly, from Preston's; McNair, with Culpeper's battery, from Johnson's; Anderson from Hindman's, and Law from Hood's, with Kershaw's brigade, all directed by Kershaw, moved on the front and east of Snodgrass, while Hindman with Manigault's and Deas' brigades, Johnson with Gregg's, and Preston with Trigg's, attacked the west flank.
This, says Kershaw, ‘was one of the heaviest attacks on a single point I ever witnessed!
The brigades went in in magnificent order.
For an hour and a half the struggle continued with unabated fury.
It terminated at sunset.’
The hill was not carried.
It was held with splendid courage and was defended by all the forces of the center and right which could be rallied, and by Steedman's division of Granger's reserve corps; the whole put in position by General Thomas, now in command of the field, General Rosecrans having given up the battle as lost and gone to Chattanooga to arrange for the morrow.
As soon as the Confederate right had driven the Federal left, Thomas began the retreat of the center behind his citadel on Snodgrass, and after night withdrew the divisions of Wood, Brannan and Steedman from the hill, and the great battle had been fought to its victorious end.
The losses had been terrible on both sides.
Among the Carolina commands some of the choicest spirits had fallen.
Kershaw lost 488 killed and wounded; Manigault
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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