Today in History:

280 Series I Volume XXX-I Serial 50 - Chickamauga Part I

Page 280 KY.,SW.VA.,TENN.,MISS.,N.ALA.,AND N.GA. Chapter XLII.

rear. Under its protection the pickets of all commands were withdrawn and marched here, Colonel Scribner's brigade, the last, arriving about sunrise.

The campaign thus terminated, although brilliant, has been one of unusual hardship upon the soldier. The labor in marching and transporting our trains over the mountain ridges has been enormous, and from Saturday morning until late Sunday night, throughout two days' of battle, my horses and most of my men were without water. The First Division, thus sorely tried, had not murmured, but with its thinned ranks stands proudly ready to meet any foe. Its record is as bright as any, and all may be proud to have belonged to it. Its losses are heavy, but they were incurred in gallant resistance to overwhelming force. We report 1,034 killed and wounded, and 1,319 missing. Many of the latter we know were left dead or wounded on the field, and in exchange for our prisoners lost we have captured and brought back over 400 of the enemy.

Some of our artillery was lost, but it has all been recovered, a part of it, it is true, temporarily disabled. In the battery of Starkweather's brigade, one limber box was blown up and two axles broken by the recoil of guns during the fight of Sunday. And I must here thank the officer in command, Lieutenant Willits, for the service it rendered.

To my brigade commanders, Brig. General John H. King, Brigadier-General Starkweather, and Colonel Scribner, the country owes a debt of gratitude for the courage with which they maintained the fight, and the good judgment with which their troops were handled. The performance of General King's command upon Saturday morning was particularly brilliant. In the fight upon Sunday, General Starkweather, holding one of the key points of our position, rendered distinguished service by his own coolness, inspiring his men with confidence. He received a slight wound in the leg, but I am happy to say not such as to make him quit the field. Colonel Scribner, who has long commanded one of the best brigades in the army, and has been recommended for promotion after previous battles, has again distinguished himself. Two missiles from the enemy passed through his clothes, one inflicting a slight wound in the face, and another a bruise on the shoulder. I renew the recommendation for his promotion as a reward for the good conduct of his brigade.

I would be glad to name to the general commanding the officers in command of troops belonging to other divisions, who were brought into action in the neighborhood of my own, but I do not know them all. Colonel Barnes, commanding a brigade of General Wood's division, and Colonel Swaine, who reported to me with two regiments of the same brigade, were among the number.

To the officers of my staff I tender my thanks for the efficient service they rendered, and commend them to the notice of the general commanding for their gallant bearing on the field.

A tabular statement* of the killed, wounded, and missing is annexed, and the reports of brigade commanders are likewise inclosed.

Respectfully submitted.

A. BAIRD,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE E. FLYNT,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

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*Embodied in revised statement, p. 171.

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Page 280 KY.,SW.VA.,TENN.,MISS.,N.ALA.,AND N.GA. Chapter XLII.