[CHAP. XLII.

Third Division, Eleventh Corps, Colonel Hecker, commanding in pursuance with Special Orders, Numbers 209, headquarters Eleventh Corps, dated October 19.

October 27, the brigade left Bridgeport, Ala., and reached Lookout Valley, opposite Lookout Point, October 28.

October 28 and 29, in the night an engagement took place with Longstreet's corps, which, however, the Second Brigade took little share in. A patrol of 150 men, under the command of Major Clanharty, of the One hundred and Forty-first New York Volunteers, discovered first the movements of the enemy, and much contributed to the favorable results.

Reports of Brigadier General John W. Geary, U. S. Army, commanding Second Division, Twelfth Army Corps.

HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, TWELFTH ARMY CORPS,
Wauhatchie, Tennessee, November 5, 1863.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of my division from the morning of October 27 until November 1, 1863, embracing the engagement with the enemy at Wauhatchie on the night of October 28:

When orders from Major-General Hooker reached me to concentrated my command at Bridgeport, it was extended from Tullahoma to Murfreesborough, Tennessee, and three regiments were at Stevenson, all guarding the line of railroad. These orders were immediately acted upon, but, owing to the limited transportation and difficulty in procuring the same, combined with numerous interferences with the road and trains by hostile parties, much delay was occasioned. I reached Bridgeport with my advance regiment and two sections of Knap's (Pennsylvania) battery on the afternoon of the 25th ultimo, and, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of myself and staff officers sent along the line, only four regiments, the Seventy-eighth and One hundred and forty-ninth New York Volunteers, under General Greene, and the Twenty-ninth and One hundred and ninth Pennsylvania, under Colonel G. A. Cobham, jr., with the four pieces of artillery, had reported up to the hour indicated for the forward movement. With this fraction of my command I moved at 5 a.m. on the 27th, provided with three days' rations and 60 rounds of ammunition per man. I left several staff officers to use every exertion in accelerating the pushing forward of my troops. The speediness of the movement necessarily entailed some embarrassment upon us, as our trains and ambulances, just drawn, were not far from Nashville. Such necessary transportation as accompanied us was kindly furnished by Major-General Howard. We crossed the Tennessee River at 7 o'clock, and, pursuant to orders, camped at 2 p.m. at Shellmound, where the Sixtieth and One hundred and thirty-seventh New York and One hundred and eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteers joined us in the evening. I ordered heavy fatigue details to aid in constructing a pontoon bridge across the river at Shellmound, near Love's Ferry, which was completed at 1 a.m. of the following day.

We resumed the march at 5 o'clock on the morning of the 28th,