Numbers 2. Report of Colonel William Cross, Third Tennessee Infantry.

HDQRS. THIRD Regiment, EAST TENN. VOL. INFANTRY,
Mossy Creek, Tenn., March 25, 1864.

SIR: In obedience to the requirements of existing orders, I herewith report that on the 5th day of March, 1864, Captain John H. Cross, of Company C, nd his command of Second Lieutenant L. b. Gamble, Company G; First Lieutenant Jasper P. Buckellew, Company K, and First Lieutenant Edward C. Roberts, Company H, and 100 enlisted men of Companies C, G, H, and K, while on a reconnaissance to Panther Springs, Tenn., were attacked by a cavalry force of the enemy, greatly superior in numbers, and had a sharp engagement for three or four hours, finally repulsing the enemy, killing and wounding several of the, with the loss of.*

All which is respectfully submitted.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. CROSS,

Colonel, Commanding Third Regiment, East Tenn. Vol. Infantry.

Colonel E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Washington, D. C.

MARCH 6, 1864.-Affair near Island Numbers 10, Tenn.

Report of Captain Robert M. Ekings, Thirty-fourth New Jersey Infantry.

HEADQUARTERS U. S. FORCES,
Island Numbers 10, Tenn., March 8, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to report that on the morning of the 6th instant I sent out a party of 12 men under the command of First Sergeant Connor, Company C, Thirty-fourth New Jersey Infantry, to arrest a gang of 3 men who were reported to have murdered a negro the day previous; and also one Joseph Malady, a notorious guerrilla and horse-thief.

The detachment effected a landing on the Tennessee shore shortly after midnight, and proceeding up the river 7 miles made a careful search for the 3 men, but without success. They then surrounded the house they found that he had effected his escape, having received a notification of the attempt to capture him from some source. A thorough search of the premises was made, and several rifles were found and a quantity of ammunition. As the party was returning to the island, those in advance, 6 in number, were fired upon from a thicket by the roadside by a company of guerrillas under the command of Captain Parks. Finding themselves greatly outnumbered, my men gradually fell back, skirmishing all the way, tot he river bank, where, discovering an old raft, they got upon it and floated down to the island, arriving here safely about 8 p. m.

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*Nominal list (omitted) shows 2 killed and 22 captured.

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