and apparent strength of the enemy, and from him received instructions as to the disposition of my troops then on the field and of those momentarily expected. Upon the arrival of the Second Brigade the positions of two of its regiments, the Eighty-third and Ninety-sixth Ohio Infantry, were assigned by Major Lieber, of General Banks' staff, on the opposite flank from that determined on by General Banks and myself, and in a position where I should not have placed them. The infantry on the right of the road occupied a narrow belt of timber dividing two large plantations, and having open though broken ground in front and in the rear cultivated fields, which descended to a small creek, and thence arose to the edge of the timber one-half mile to the rear of our line. Nims' battery was posted on a hill near the road about 200 yards to the left of the belt of timber, and was supported by the Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry, which was on the left and behind the crest of the hill with open fields in front. The Sixty-seventh Indiana supported the battery on the right, joined by the Seventy-seventh Illinois, One hundred and thirtieth Illinois, Forty-eighth Ohio, Nineteenth Kentucky, Ninety-sixth Ohio, a section of mounted artillery, and the Eighty-third Ohio, making in all 2,413 infantry. The cavalry and mounted infantry, under General Lee, were posted on the flanks and rear, having Colonel Dudley's brigade on the left and Colonel Lucas' on the right, and also skirmishers deployed in front of the infantry. The skirmishing continued throughout the afternoon, becoming sharp on the right about 2.30 p.m. At this time Colonel Lucas reported that his skirmishers on the extreme right were driven in, and that a few of his men on that flank were captured. About 4 p.m. the enemy commenced advancing his lines across the open fields in our front and east of the road. I directed Colonel Landram to advance our right, consisting of the Eighty-third, Ninety-sixth, and Forty-eighth Ohio, One hundred and thirtieth Illinois, and Nineteenth Kentucky, and he immediately opened fire on the enemy, now in good range and advancing in two lines. We drove back his first line in confusion upon his second, but recovering he again advanced till, unable to endure our heavy fire, he halted about 200 yards from our front, where many of his men laid down and returned our fire. I felt confident that this portion of our line could not be broken, but while moving toward the left flank I was informed that the enemy were pressing our left and that the mounted infantry there were falling back.

At this time Captain White, chief of artillery, reported that the Chicago Mercantile Battery, Lieutenant Cone commanding, and the First Indiana Battery, Captain Klauss commanding, had arrived, and I directed him to place them in an advantageous position on a ridge to the east of the road and near a house occupied as General Banks' headquarters, when they opened on the enemy, who had shown himself in strong force on the left. I sent Lieutenant G. I. Davis, aide-de-camp, to order Lieutenant-Colonel Baldwin, commanding Eighty-third Ohio, to move his regiment to the support of the Twenty-third Wisconsin. He moved promptly, but the Twenty-third Wisconsin and the mounted infantry were already driven back, and I directed him to support the batteries. Our left flank was now completely turned, and the enemy, having taken Nims' battery, were in strong force on the hill and pouring a destructive fire into the batteries of the Fourth Division. I ordered the latter to the rear to a point on the right of the road and sent Captain Dickey, my assistant adjutant-