duce confusion in its accomplishment, the proximity of the enemy's flanking column, which had been observed by the troops, and the distance and rugged ground between them and the Franklin pike, known to them to be their only outlet, tended and conspired. Everywhere within my view the disorder was great and general, but it was inevitable, the surroundings considered. At Brentwood, on the Franklin pike, the commanding general, seconded by officers from various commands, endeavored to gather up the fragments of his broken forces. The effort was attended with but partial success. Some time after dark we moved toward Franklin, arriving there about 3 o'clock the following morning.

The night of 17th we encamped near Spring Hill, and about 2 p. m. the next day the corps took position north of Duck River, to cover the crossing of the army on pontoon bridge at Columbia. Here we entrenched, Major-General Loring's division on the right and mine on the left, and remained tail 11 o'clock on the night of the 19th, when we moved across the river and encamped a short distance from Columbia, on the Pulaski pike.

Early next morning reaching the quarters of the commanding general, in obedience to a message from him borne me by a member of his staff, he directed me, with a special command to be organized for the purpose, to report to Major-General Forrest to aid in covering the retreat of the army, then in motion toward Pulaski, his purpose being to cross the Tennessee river near Bainbridge, if practicable. This organization was made up of the following brigades, viz: Brigadier General W. S. Featherston's; Colonel J. B. Palmer's; Strahl's brigade, commanded by Colonel C. W. Heiskell; Smith's brigade, commanded by Colonel Olmstead, of Georgia; Maney's, commanded by Colonel H. R. Feild; with three of my own command, namely, Brigadier General D. H. Reynolds'; Ector's, commanded by Colonel D. Coleman; and Quarles', commanded by Brigadier General George D. Johnston. When these brigades were collected I reported to Major-General Forrest, as directed, and was not again under Lieutenant-General Stewart's orders till the evening of the 27th, when I was directed by him, after crossing Shoal Creek, two miles from Bainbridge, to take position at the ford and remain till further orders. The cavalry all crossed during the evening, and at 10 that night he ordered me to leave one brigade at the creek and move up and occupy the works covering the pontoon bridge, from which the rear division of the main army had just withdrawn. Leaving Reynolds' brigade, the balance of my command was carried to the position indicated, and there remained till daylight, when all crossed the river, and a detail was furnished to assist in taking up the pontoon bridge. The brigades of other commands that had been with me on the march from Columbia reported back to their proper divisions, and with my own three brigades and those that made up Major-General French's division, including Cockrell's, commanded by Colonel Flournoy, I moved toward Tuscumbia, passing that place and Iuka, on to Burnsville. We took the road to Tupelo, Miss., and reached its vicinity on January 8. The remnant of my command, after this campaign of unprecedented peril and hardship, reduced by its battles and exposure, worn and weary with its travel and its toil, numbered less when it reached its rest near Tupelo than one of its brigades had done eight months before.

In preparing this meager outline of the operations of my command I have been able to furnish but an inadequate idea of what was done and endured by my brave and faithful troops in the arduous and eventful campaign here imperfectly sketched. The limits of such a report as is