At 4 o'clock I received a request from General McCook for re-enforcements, and heard with astonishment that the left had been seriously engaged for several hours and that the right and left of that corps were being turned and severally pressed. Re-enforcements were immediately sent forward from the center; orders were also sent to the right column, under General Crittenden, which was advancing by the Lebanon road, to push forward and attack the enemy's left, but it was impossible for it to get into position in time to produce any decided results. The action continued until dark; some sharp fighting also occurred in the center. The enemy was everywhere repulsed, but not without some momentary advantage on the left.

The several corps were put in position during the night and moved to attack; at 6 o'clock this morning some skirmishing occurred with the enemy's rear guard. The main body has fallen back in the direction of Harrodsburg. I have no accurate report of our loss yet. It is probably pretty heavy, including valuable officers. Generals Jackson and Terrill, I regret to say, are among the number of killed. I will report more in detail as soon as possible.

D. C. BUELL,

Major-General, Commanding.

Major-General HALLECK.

LOUISVILLE, KY., November 4, 1862.

SIR: It is due to the army which I have commanded for the last twelve months, and perhaps due to myself, that I should make a circumstantial report of its operations during the past summer. Such a report requires data not now at hand, and would occupy more time than can be spared at present from Louisville against the rebel forces in Kentucky under the command of General Bragg. I therefore commence this report from that period, premising only, in a general way, that my attention to the condition of affairs in Kentucky was demanded, first, by the minor operations of the enemy, which by the destruction of the railroad had completely severed the communications of my army and left it at a distance of 300 miles from its base with very limited supplies; and, second, by the formidable invasion, which not only threatened the permanent occupation of the State, but exposed the States north of the Ohio River to invasion.

Leaving a sufficient force to hold Nashville, the remainder of the army under my command was put in march for Kentucky. The rear division left Nashville on the 15th and arrived at Louisville, a distance of 170 miles, on September 29. The advance arrived on the 25th. The particulars of the march will, as I have said, be given in a subsequent report, in connection with other matters.

I found in and about the city a considerable force of raw troops, hurriedly thrown in from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, for the defense of the city against the formidable force that had invaded the State under Generals Bragg and Kirby Smith. Under the command of Major-General Nelson, whose untimely death cannot be too much deplored, these troops had been organized into brigades and divisions, and they had some able and experienced officers in Generals Boyle, Jackson, Cruft, Gilbert, Terrill, and others. But the troops were as yet undisciplined, unprovided with suitable artillery, and in every way unfit for active