134 Series I Volume XVII-I Serial 24 - Corinth Part I
Page 134 | WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. Chapter XXIX. |
report of the part borne by my command in the action at Iuka on the evening of Friday last:
Under the immediate command of Brigadier-General Little my regiment (having been detached from the Fourth Brigade in connection with the Thirty-eighth Regiment Mississippi Volunteers) moved forward in line of battle to engage the enemy about one hour before the general engagement closed for the evening. I was ordered by General Little to move forward on the extreme right, with instructions not to fire, as there was a brigade of our own troops between us and the enemy. After moving forward through a dense thicket about 250 yards in direction of the enemy's line we came to an opening, inclosed next to my command by a high fence, which we had to mount. Just as my men were passing over the fence we received a heavy cross-fire upon our right and in front. Under this sudden and unexpected heavy fire by a force evidently more than three to one, with all advantages as to position, and finding my command confronting this greatly superior force alone and having as yet received no positive command for action-attributable, as I suppose, to the sudden fall of the lamented Little, who was to direct our movements-I ordered my men to fall back in rear of the fence we had just crossed for protection until I could hear further from our commander. My men fell back in some confusion, but were promptly rallied by Lieutenant-Colonel Holland and myself, with the co-operation of the company commanders, and brought again into line of battle about 75 yards in rear of the position occupied by the regiment when they were ordered to fall back. This position was occupied until the firing along the line had ceased. I supposed, in the absence of further orders, this to be the most effective position for my command to meet the enemy if an attempt should be made to flank our troops on the right, which I supposed to be the design of the enemy.
The following are the casualties occurring in the command:
Killed.................................. 10
Wounded................................. 30
Captured and missing.................... 38
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Total................................... 78
Very respectfully,
ROBT. McLAIN,
Colonel, Commanding Thirty-seventh Mississippi Regiment.
Lieutenant J. W. McDONALD,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
Numbers 50.Report of Colonel F. W. Adams, Thirty-eighth Mississippi Infantry.
IN CAMP, NEAR BALDWYN, MISS.,
September 23, 1862.
I have the honor of submitting the following report of the part taken by the Thirty-eighth Mississippi Regiment, under my command, in the engagement near Iuka, on the evening of the 19th instant:
When the brigade was formed in line of battle my command and the
Page 134 | WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. Chapter XXIX. |