No. 177. Report of Colonel Leander Blanden, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry, commanding Second Brigade, of operations December 15-16, 1864.

HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, THIRD DIVISION,
DETACHMENT ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE,

In the Field, December 21, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part the Second Brigade of the Third Division, Detachment Army of the Tennessee, consisting the Eighty-first and Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers and the Forty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, took in the battle of December 15 and 16, at Nashville, Tenn.:

Awoke the men without reveille at 4 a.m., and moved out of camp at 6 a.m. Left the Forty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry on the Charlotte pike as a reserve and to support a battery. Arrived on the Hardin pike 8 a.m. and immediately formed in column by regiment in rear of the First Brigade, in which manner we moved forward. About one mile from this point the command deployed and moved forward about three-quarters of a mile. At 3 p.m. the command changed direction to the left, and in crossing the Hillsborough pike, and for about one-eighth of a mile afterward, the command was under a severe fire from a four gun battery situated to the left, distant about half a mile, and enfilading the entire line. Here the command was formed on the left of the Third Division battery, where it remained until after dark, when the command was formed in column by regiments in rear of the First Brigade. During the night the Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers threw up breast-works in front of the battery. At 5 a.m. December 16 the command moved in rear of the battery to the right on the Hillsborough pike, and during the day was held in reserve to the Twenty-third Corps, and situated on its extreme left. At 4 p.m. the command moved forward into and occupied the works left by the Twenty-third Corps, when it moved forward, where the command remained during the night.

The list of casualties in the command was extremely light, viz: Killed, none. Wounded, Sergt. John Kennedy, Company A, Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers, knee carried away by a cannon ball or unexploded shell; primary amputation of the thigh. Missing, none.

Too much praise cannot be awarded to the officers and men for their coolness, steadiness, and courage while under the severe artillery [fire] at the Hillsborough pike.

I have the honor to be, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

L. BLANDEN,

Colonel Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteers, Commanding Brigade.

Colonel J. B. MOORE, Commanding 3rd Div., Detach. Army of the Tennessee.

No. 178. Report of Major General James B. Steedman, U. S. Army, commanding Provisional Detachment (District of the Etowah), of operations November 29, 1864-January 13, 1865.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE ETOWAH,
Chattanooga, January 27, 1865.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of my command during the recent campaign which resulted in the defeat of the enemy before Nashville and his retreat to Alabama:

In obedience to the orders of Major-General Thomas, my command-consisting of the Eighteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteers, Sixty-eighth