the woods in the gorge below, between my battery and the camp, filled with sharpshooters. Some Texas Rangers, who directed me, lost 4 or 5 of their men from these sharpshooters while pointing out the enemy's position. I opened fire on the camp, advising the Rangers to dismount and enter the woods as skirmishers, which they nobly did, while we effectually shelled the camp. I think this was Colonel Wharton's regiment. They supported us gallantly in all our engagements with the enemy the balance of the day. Colonel Pond's fine brigade was badly cut up in a charge on a battery in one of these camps, which I have always thought might have been avoided had my battery not been withdrawn from the advance I was making on this camp.

This same evening we engaged one of the enemy's batteries and silenced it after about half an hour's firing. Night coming on, we placed our pieces in battery on their parade ground, adjoining a house on the right of their camp, where a number of our dead and wounded lay. This was at the instance of Colonel Ferguson, of General Beauregard's staff. On our left in the woods was our infantry support, Colonel Pond's command. A continual firing from the gunboats was kept up all night.

Daylight in the morning found our teams hitched up, our men chilled through by the cold rain, sleeping without tents or much covering; still, most manfully and cheerfully did they man their pieces to reply to a battery which opened on us. In this position we fought them half an hour, and finding they had our range, and our situation them half an hour, and finding they had our range, and our situation too much exposed, losing some of our horses, I retired about 100 yards to a position which I desired the evening previous. Here we opened our pieces upon them rapidly, and having good command of their batteries, succeeded in silencing them in a little more half an hour's firing, and then opened on a body of infantry which appeared near the position occupied by Colonel Pond the evening previous. During this engagement Colonel Wharton's rangers remained on our right in line of battle, witnessing the duello, and ready to charge any effort of the enemy to take my battery.

At this time an order came from Colonel Pond for me to fall back immediately, he being some distance in our rear. Limbering up, we retired, coming again into battery whenever we could be of service, engaging batteries and bodies of infantry at different points, and while engaged with a battery we found Lieutenant Bond, with his section, doing good execution a short distance to our right. We now came under General Bragg's immediate orders, and our infantry were being hard pressed by the enemy. Advancing the battery in a gallop on a road bringing us on the enemy's left, we came into battery, discharging canister from our six pieces at a distance of 40 or 50 yards, checking his advance and driving him back in the thicket, our troops rallying again. We remained in this position, using canister freely, until recalled by General Bragg to some other position.

We were joined here by an officer with one piece and three or four cannoneers, who asked permission to join my battery, so that we had seven pieces in position.

In this fight we lost one man and had several wounded. One of our pieces got disabled here. The splinter-bar broken and the piece up to the hubs in mud, it was impossible to get it out.

The firing from this time up to the close of the fight was unusually severe from musketry and also artillery, in which we were constantly engaged. General Bragg remaining with the battery up to the last moment of the fight, and after our infantry had withdrawn from the field, he ordered me to withdraw by sections in good order, covering