Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 8.djvu/22

12 order of the following day, thanking his troops for their good conduct at Belmont, he stated that it had been his fortune to be present in all the battles fought in Mexico by Generals Scott and Taylor, save Buena Vista, and he never saw one more hotly contested. The Federal line slowly but steadily advanced until the Confederate forces were driven to the river bank; Beltzhoover's battery was captured and the guns turned upon the Confederate transports; Tappan's camp was captured and his tents and stores destroyed. Of this movement General Pillow, in his report of the battle, states: "When the enemy's lines reached the bank of the river he was met by the fire of Smith's battery, of Cheatham s division, from the opposite side of the river, which, being well directed, together with the heavy guns from the works above Columbus, made him recoil from the point. The siege guns were directed by Maj. A. P. Stewart.

Just as the Federal forces began to retire, the Eleventh Louisiana regiment, Col. S. F. Marks, of McCown's division, reported to General Pillow and was ordered to move up the river, "and by a flank movement take the enemy in the rear." Marks moved to a point "where the fire of the enemy seemed to be the hottest,: and in conjunction with Colonel Russell, of the Twelfth Tennessee, inflicted very serious punishment upon the enemy. His own regiment sustained a loss of 54 killed and wounded.

At the same hour, General Cheatham, who had been sent across the river, a part of his command to follow, reformed the Second Tennessee, Colonel Walker; the Thirteenth Tennessee, Lieutenant-Colonel Vaughn commanding, Colonel Wright having been disabled in the previous engagement; the Thirteenth Arkansas, Colonel Tappan, and a detachment of the Twenty-second Tennessee under Maj. F. M. Stewart; and with this command fell upon the rear of Grant's troops, routed them, recaptured two pieces of artillery, took 40 prisoners, and killed and disabled a considerable number, with