the fight, many of the men running for shelter in the tents of the One hundred and eighth Ohio, which were in the rear of our line of battle. All efforts of myself and Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, of the Second Indiana Cavalry, to rally them were unavailing.

The One hundred and eighth Ohio, being entirely destitute of field officers, fought well for a short time, but were soon thrown into confusion and retreated, although Captain Piepho and other officers of the regiment did their utmost to keep the men in front of the enemy and to stand their ground. The section of artillery under command of Lieutenant Green did good execution, and all men connected with the battery did their duty nobly and bravely.

After the battle had raged furiously for some time, and seeing the rebels in front commence wavering under the severe and deadly fire of my men, I gave the order to charge, feeling confident that we could cut our way through the rebel ranks. Immediately upon giving the order, the stampede of the One hundred and sixth commenced, which then brought a tremendous fire upon the One hundred and eighth Ohio, they being the center, and were soon flanked on the right, and gave way in confusion. I withdrew the order to charge, and directed the One hundred and fourth to hold the rebels in check until I drew our guns, but they were so scattered that it was impossible to expect any further assistance from them. I then ordered the One hundred and sixth and One hundred and eighth to form by the guns, but they were so scattered that it was impossible to expect any further assistance from them. I then ordered the One hundred and fourth to fall back to the guns, which they did in good order, contesting every inch of the ground. After arriving at the guns, and forming in our new position, an many of the One hundred and fourth being killed and wounded, and being now completely surrounded, and one-half my force captured by deserting their position without orders, I was compelled to surrender, as fighting longer would only increase the number of killed and wounded, as we were contending against a force of ten to one after forming in our new line of battle. I am unable to give you a list of killed and wounded, but presume that during my absence as a prisoners of war you have received intelligence from other sources. The rebel loss, according to their own statement to me, was about 400 in killed and wounded, the greater part of whom were carried from the field.

I have given you a correct history of the battle, and I did suppose that after fighting for one and three-quarter hours we would certainly receive re-enforcements, and had they come to us promptly from Castalian Springs the result would have been different. I indulged the hope, and encouraged the men to fight one hour and we could be re-enforced, but, after one and three-quarter hours' and fighting, we were compelled to surrender, and another hour passed before we were marched out of camp, and still no help. To Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart and Major Hill, of the Second Indiana Cavalry; Captain Slater, of the Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry; Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman and Major Widmer, of the One hundred and fourth Illinois, and all the officers and men of the foregoing regiments and companies, who acted with great coolness and bravery upon the battle-field, and to each and to all of them, I feel indebted for aiding and assisting me in our struggle to overcome the enemy, and had our comrades remained firm we could have held out until re-enforcements arrived. Captain Piepho, of the One hundred and eighth, also performed his duty well. Captain W. Y. Gholson, my acting assistant adjutant-general, while attempting to rally the