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OLONEL WILSON and I reached Chattanooga from our visit to Burnside at Knoxville, on November 17th. As soon as I arrived I went to headquarters to find out the news. There was the greatest hopefulness everywhere, and both Grant and Thomas told me that they believed the Confederates would be driven from their position south of Chattanooga in a very few days. In fact, the plans for a general attack on them were complete, and the first move was to be made that very night. There were some hitches, however, in carrying out the operations as speedily as Grant had hoped, for it was not until the 23d that the first encounter in the battle of Chattanooga occurred. It was the beginning of the most spectacular military operations I ever saw, operations extending over three days and full of the most exciting incidents.

As any one can see from a glance at the map [see page 434], our army lay to the south and east of the town of Chattanooga, the river at our back. Facing us, in a great half circle, and high above us on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, were the Confederates. Our problem was to drive them from these heights. We had got our men well together, all the reinforcements were up, and now we were to strike. The first thing Grant tried to do was to clear out the rebel lines which were nearest to ours in the plain south of Chattanooga, and to get hold of two knobs, or low hills, where the Confederates had their