hour of acting; none of our brave boys have fallen dishonorably or unregretted, and all our dead have received honorable sepulture, even when in the hands of the enemy. Once only has old First Brigade met repulse in these 123 days-the sad, yet glorious, 27th of May-and the rude-made graves of 105 men on the slope of Cleburne's parapets give silent testimony to the pith of the old First's regiments. For a year past it has passed into proved with us that "any battalion can fight itself," not that the officers are lessened thereby in the scale of skill or bravery, but that the men are so disciplined as to preserve the unit in battle or associated action in repulse or advantage. It is not for me pass eulogy upon the First Brigade, of the Third Division. I only ask justice for and mention honorably of its works; for, under the skillful and watchful eye of its division commander, it has performed all acts worthy of honorable mention, and I, in all trustworthiness and candor, leave the same in his hands.

Believe me, captain, though the month of September, enjoyed in peace and glorious recollections in the empire city of the empire State of the South, finds the battalions of the First Brigade shorn of half their numbers, yet the old unconquerable spirit is in the ranks, ready at all times and season to battle for national liberty, national peace, national power, and national unity of half a hemisphere.

Respectfully submitted.

C. T. HOTCHKISS,

Colonel Eighty-ninth Illinois Infantry, Commanding Brigade.

Captain M. P. BESTOW,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Third Division.

Numbers 55.

Report of Colonel William H. Gibson, Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry, commanding First Brigade, of operations August 2.

HDQRS. FIRST Brigadier, THIRD DIV., FOURTH CORPS,
Near Atlanta, Ga., August 3, 1864.

CAPTAIN: I beg leave to submit the following as to my advance of yesterday.

The proper dispositions having been made, the whole skirmish line advanced in face of a heavy fire from the enemy's first line, and at several places reached point within twenty yards of that line, whilst on the right the skirmishers of the Fifteenth Wisconsin, Eighty-ninth Illinois, and Eighth Kansas gallantly swept forward and mounted the enemy's works. At this juncture a battery of four guns, near a house on our extreme right, opened rapidly with shell and grape, completely enfilading our line. At the same time the enemy opened with musketry volleys from his second, or main, line. Our right was then withdrawn to a sheltered position, where it remained until ordered to occupy its old position. In front our center the enemy opened with artillery posted in rear of his lines and beyond, but near our left he used a battery of two guns. The movement demonstrated, first, that there is point to which our skirmish line could be advanced and placed in a tenable position; second, that the enemy's skirmishers are not in pits, but behind continuous