Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/75

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to the division. I rejoined tin- division at Tupelo, Miss., where the army was reorgani/ed. and I commanded a brigade in Sam Jones's division till we reached Chattanooga, Tenn., in August of that year, preparatory to the Kentucky campaign.

In August, 1862, while encamped near Chattanooga, the division was reorganized, and was composed of Walker's, Adams's, Ander- son's. and Richard's "brigades. About the middle of August Major- General Sam Jones was assigned to the command of the Department of East Tennessee and the command of the division devolved upon me. On the ist of September I crossed Walden's ridge with my division, following Buckner's division the two composing Hardee's Corps, Army of Tennessee. Throughout this campaign I continued in command of the division, having Brigadier-General Preston Smith's brigade of Cheatham's division added to it in the afternoon of the day of the battle of Perryville. We returned from Kentucky through Cumberland (iap, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Bridgeport to Allisonia, in Franklin county, Tenn., where my division was halted for a fortnight. During this time I visited for the first time in many years the grave of my father at Craggy Hope. From Allisonia the army proceeded to Shelbyville, where we halted ten days, and thence to Eagleville, where, in December, my division was broken up and I was assigned to the command of a brigade in With- ers's division of Folk's corps. This brigade was the one formerly commanded by Brigadier-General Frank Gardner. I was only in command of it a few days when Rozecrans advanced upon Murfrees- boro, where General Bragg determined to give him battle, and for this purpose took his line of battle on the 27th of December about a mile and a half from Murfreesboro on the Nashville and Wilkinson pikes.

The morning of the day on which the line was taken up I was transferred to the command temporarily of Walthall's brigade of Mississippians. This was in consequence of Walthall's sickness and because the brigade was composed entirely of troops (Mississippians) who had been under my command, either as brigade or division commander, since March, 1862. This brigade won many laurels in the battle of 3istof December and the 2d of January, 1863 ; was sent to reinforce Breckenridge on the right, who had been roughly han- dled that afternoon by superior numbers. We reached the scene of conflict about sundown, and after the heaviest fighting was over, in time, however, to have several officers and men of our skirmish line severely wounded ; and, by interposing a fresh line between the vie-