designated, respectively, the First, Second, and Third, each composed, as far as possible, of the officers and men belonging to the corresponding divisions of the Twentieth Army Corps-the First Battalion, with an effective force of 290, was commanded by Captain Hulbert,-Regiment----; the Second Battalion, with an effective force of 304, was in command of Major Hoskins, One hundred and twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteers; the Third Battalion was in command of Lieutenant-Colonel, McManus. One hundred and second Illinois Volunteers, with an effective force of 406 men; making an aggregate effective force of 1,000 men in the brigade. Quite a large proportion of the men thus designated as effective were, in fact, quite unfit for duty in the field-many were still suffering from wounds received in the Georgia campaign; others were fresh from the hospitals and only partly convalescents from attacks of sickness; while a still larger number were raw recruits, utterly uninstructed and not inured to hardship. The recruits represented almost every European nationality, and very many of them were unable to speak or understand the simplest words of our language.

On the 29th of November, 1864, at 5 p.m., my brigade was placed upon the cars at Chattanooga, and shortly after started in the direction of Nashville. (Before starting, however, my First Battalion, Captain Hulbert, was detached and ordered to report to Colonel Malloy, commanding brigade, Fifteenth Army Corps.) At 10 a.m. the following day we arrived at Cowan Station, where the troops were unloaded and placed in position. At 7 p.m. of the same day orders were received from Brigadier-General Cruft, commanding Provisional Division, Army of the Cumberland, to put the troops again upon the cars, which was accomplished by 10 p.m.

At daylight the following day, December 1, the trains were again started in the direction of Nashville, at which place we arrived about dusk without incident. The troops were unloaded and put in bivouac for the night, and the following morning, December 2, were moved and put in position on a hill near the house of Mr. Rains, my brigade holding the right of the line. This position was entrenched and held until the following day, December 3, when we were ordered to retire our line, and were placed in position at right angles with the Murfreesborough turnpike, facing eastward, my brigade in two lines, still holding the right, which rested upon the preemies of Judge J. Trimble. A short line of earth-works was here constructed, protected by abatis and picket work, the Third Battalion occupying the works and the Second being in reserve, except one company, which was placed in rear of J. Trimble's house, to cover our right flank. My command continued to occupy this position, without material change or any important incident, till the 9th day of December, when Captain Hulbert (First Battalion) was ordered to report to me for duty, and was placed in position, on the right of Judge Trimble's house, in a line of works, refused to cover the right flank.

On the evening of the 14th of December orders were received to have the command ready to march at 4 a.m. the following morning, with sixty rounds of ammunition to the man and three days' rations. At the hour named the brigade was in motion, and was conducted to the right and ordered to relieve Kimball's division, of the Fourth Army Corps, by placing a strong skirmish line in the works occupied by that division. This was accomplished shortly after daylight, the right of my line resting on a hill about 300 yards to the right of the Granny White pike, and the left extending well toward Fort CasiNumbers The troops were kept in this position, under arms, during this and the following