on Wednesday morning, my officers and men, without one exception, behaved with great coolness, and are entitled to much credit for the determined and successful effort in preventing a disgraceful rout of a large portion of the right wing of the army.

I remain, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. G. PARKHURST,

Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Ninth Michigan Volunteers.

Major GEORGE E. FLYNT,

Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff.

Numbers 187. Report of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph W. Burke, Tenth Ohio Infantry,

of operations December 31-January 22.

HEADQUARTERS TENTH OHIO VOLUNTEERS, Murfreesborough, Tenn., January 28, 1863.

COLONEL: I beg leave to submit the following report of my command, while posted at Stewart's Creek Bridge, from December 31, 1862, to January 22, 1863:

I remained at Stewart's Creek with eight companies of the regiment, in charge of headquarters train, after detaching two companies of my command, under Captain John E. Hudson, to accompany headquarters in the field.

On December 31, information reached me that the trains of the Twenty-eighth Brigade had been attacked and captured near Smyrna, at 9 o'clock in the morning of that day; and at a later hour, learning that the rebel cavalry were destroying it, I dispatched a party to the scene, and succeeded in saving 8 wagons loaded with supplies.

I had sufficient force to have saved this train entirely, but, owing to the extreme negligence of the quartermaster in charge of the train, in not reporting the fact of capture to me at an early hour, the enemy were enabled to carry away and destroy a large portion of it.

The force that attacked that train was very small, and I understand there was a guard with it, all of whom were paroled.

We were threatened with attack at the bridge during the whole day. I had the large train corralled in close order, and by extreme vigilance prepared to resist any attack during the night.

A large number of stragglers came back from the front, from an early hour of the day. I deployed a line of skirmishers across the country, from the pike to the railroad, with instructions to shoot down every straggler who attempted to force the line, and marched into camp at night over 1,100 of these men.

Regiments of stragglers were organized, officered by my own commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and put on duty.

On January 1, I was re-enforced by four companies of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dickinson, and a section of Company D, First Ohio Battery, under Lieutenant Newell.

Rebel cavalry threatened the post during the day, and their advance guard was twice repulsed by my pickets and reserve. Concluding not to attack at Stewart's Creek, this force, consisting of Wheeler's, Wharton's, Buford's, John H. Morgan's, and McCann's rebel cavalry, with