About midday an order was received to withdraw and preparations were made to do so, the principal difficulty in doing so being in relation to the disorganized mass from the different divisions in the crater. After some time, however, and while the withdrawal was but partially made, the enemy renewed the assault with fresh troops and with great vigor. That portion of the line about the crater, together with the troops in it, speedily gave way and fell back; the rest of the line was withdrawn in good order with little or no loss. The last regiment withdrawn was the Second New York Mounted Rifles, serving as infantry, lying on the right of the ravine and within some twenty yards of the guns of the enemy's batteries. The loss in the division was 89 killed, 404 wounded, and 410 missing [of the last probably 25 or 30 per cent. may have been killed or wounded], total 903, including 77 commissioned officers. I had nearly 3,000 rank and file engaged, including my artillery, Rogers' [Nineteenth New York] and Jones' [Eleventh Massachusetts] batteries, which were most efficiently served.

All the officers of my staff as well as my aides were most active and zealous, conveying orders and bringing reports and intelligence from all parts of the line. Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, who had charge of the mine and whose regiment was doing provost and guard duty, after its explosion volunteered on my staff and rendered most important service. My brigade commanders, Brigadier General S. G. Griffin and Colonel Z. R. Bliss, made every possible exertion to carry out my orders and secure our success, and all the officers and men of the command fought with the greatest courage and determination.

ROBERT B. POTTER,

Brigadier-General.

Lieutenant Colonel LEWIS RICHMOND,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Ninth Army Corps.

No. 184. Report of Colonel Zenas R. Bliss, Seventh Rhode Island Infantry, commanding First Brigade, of operations July 30.

HDQRS. FIRST Brigadier, SECOND DIV., NINTH ARMY CORPS, Before Petersburg, Va., August 2, 1864.

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to submit the following report of the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps, during the attack on the enemy on the 30th ultimo:

I was ordered to the front soon after the mine exploded, and I moved up opposite the crater. General Griffin had not yet got all of his regiments in; the Sixth New Hampshire was in our line. General Griffin went immediately to the front, and soon after the Sixth New Hampshire went in, and I ordered the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, Fourth Rhode Island, and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania to pass through the crater and form on the right of the Second Brigade, and if there was room I would take in the other regiments. The front line near the crater was crowded with troops, and I put the Fifty-first New York and Second New York in our line of works, and the Seventh Rhode Island was ordered under the hill in reserve. As there was no more need of troops in front, I ordered the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts to charge