us to a severe flanking fire. At this time Captain Waterhouse was wounded and was obliged to leave the field, first giving the order to retire. The rear part of one caisson, having been caught among the trees by reason of the rawness of our horses, was necessarily left here. The battery was retiring slowly, under command of Lieutenant A. R. Abbott, when your ordered it to open fire a second time at a point about 100 yards in the rear of our first position. This position was held but a few minutes. The infantry on our left continued to retreat,and the enemy again outflanked us, this time advancing rapidly up the hill upon our left. Lieutenant Abbott, being now wounded, I gave the order to retreat, which was effected under a close fire of musketry, when the enemy had approached to about 50 yards from our position. Many of our men and horses had been wounded, and I was obliged to leave on the field two 4 1/2-inch and one 3 1/2-inch guns. After retiring from action it was found upon examination that the remaining guns were disabled from faulty construction of the iron part of the axle-tree. By your order the battery retired to the river. One gun was so far disabled that it broke down and was left on the way to the river. That night, by your advice, I detailed one lieutenant and 24 men, with 3 horses, temporarily to assist Company B, Captain Barrett commanding. The camp and garrison equipage of the company was almost entirely destroyed.*

The battery is at present unfit for service.

Respectfully submitted

J. A. FITCH.

First-Lieutenant, Commanding Company,

Major EZRA TAYLOR,

Chief of Artillery, Fifth Division, Army of the Tennessee.

Numbers 78. Report of Brigadier General B. M. Prentiss, U. S. Army, commanding Sixth Division.

QUINCY, ILL. November 17, 1862

COLONEL: Upon my return from captivity in the hands of the public enemy I have the honor to submit my report of the part taken in the battle of the 6th of April last, near Pittsburg Landing, by the Sixth Division, Army of West Tennessee, the command of which had been assigned to me. I have the honor to transmit field return of the force which was subjected to my control, as it appeared upon the morning of the engagement, the same being marked A.#

Saturday evening, pursuant to instructions received when I was assigned to duty with the Army of West Tennessee, the usual advance guard was posted, and in view of information received from the commandant thereof, I sent forward five companies of the Twenty-fifth Missouri and five companies of the Twenty-first Missouri Infantry,under command of Colonel David Moore, Twenty-first Missouri. I also,after consultation with Colonel David Stuart, commanding a brigade of General Sherman's division, sent to the left one company of the Eighteenth Wisconsin Infantry, under command of Captain Fisk.

At about 7 o'clock the same evening Colonel Moore returned, report-

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*List of casualties embodied in revised statement, p. 104.

#Embodied in revised statement, p. 112

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