Colonel Funkhouser immediately deployed his command to the right, thus outflanking the rebel left, and opened a rapid, raking fire upon them, caused them to break in disorder down the hill. The fighting for a few moments had been desperate, most of it at a distance of not over 20 yards between the combatants. In the mean time, on the left, two rebel regiments attempted to take our battery. Colonel Monroe, by my direction, ordered three companies, under Lieutenant-Colonel Biggs, forward to a ravine about 75 yards in front of Captain Lilly's position. They had hardly got in position before the rebels came over the hill in their front. They delivered a cautious and deliberate fire upon them, and Captain Lilly gave them a few rounds of double-shotted canister from his guns, while Colonel Miller, of the Seventy-second Indiana, opened an enfilading fire upon them, which caused them to first fall to the ground to escape the tornado of death which was being poured into their ranks. But finding no cessation of our leaden hail, they crawled back as best they could, under cover of the hills, and made no further attempt to take our left. They, however, made another attempt with five regiments on our right, but were easily driven back by Colonels Funkhouser and Jordan, with not over 700 men of the Seventeenth Indiana and Ninety-eighth Illinois engaged. The rebels now fell back all along the line, and opened a furious cannonading upon our battery, without doing much harm or receiving harm in return, they being under cover of the hills.

General Reynolds now arrived with two brigades of infantry, and placed one of them in support of and on a prolongation of our right. About dark we were relieved by a brigade of Rousseau's division, and at 2 o'clock next morning were again in line, and were held in reserve all day. Our entire loss in the action of the 24th of June is 1 commissioned officer killed (J. R. Eddy, chaplain Seventy-Second Indiana), 1 commissioned officer mortally wounded (Lieutenant James T. Moreland, Seventeenth Indiana), and 12 enlisted men killed and 47 wounded.

The conduct of both officers and men was all that the most sanguine could ask. To speak of individuals when all did their whole duty would be unfair. Each officer seemed to appreciate the importance of taking and holding the very strong position of Hoover's Gap, and the men were cager to obey and sustain their officers. Their conduct was the same whether in driving in the rebel outposts or defending their position against fearful odds, or when lying in support of our battery, exposed to a terrible cross-fire of shot and shell, or when advancing against the rebel columns; always earnest, cool, determined, ready, and brave, seeming best pleased when necessarily in greatest dangers.

On the morning of the 26th, we again moved forward, my command, on horseback, debouching into the valley of Garrison Fork, and filing over the chain of hills between that stream and McBride's Creek, flanking the rebel left, and causing it to hastily fall back before the infantry column of General Reynolds, who was advancing on the line of the Manchester pike. We then moved up McBride's Creek to the table-land, and marched rapidly around the head of Noah's Fork for the purpose of turning the strong position of Matt's Hollow; but on arriving at the Manchester pike, after it reaches the table- land, we found that the infantry column was passing, having met no enemy, they having retreated in the direction of Fairfield. We camped that night 6 miles from Manchester, and at daylight next morning moved forward, cutting off a rebel picket post, and were in Manchester before the few rebels there knew of our approach. We captured about 40 prisoners, including 1 captain and 3 lieutenants. Pickets were immediately thrown out,