(McLaws’s division of Hood’s corps) were passing through the gorge, together with Bushrod Johnson’s division, which Longstreet •was strengthening with Hindman’s division ; divisions were forming on this ridge for an assault; to their left the guns of a "battery were being unlimbered for an enfilading fire. There was not a man to send against the force on the ridge, none to oppose this impending assault. The enemy saw the approaching colors of the Reserve Corps and hesitated. At 1 o’clock Granger shook hands with Thomas. Something was said about forming to fight to the right and rear. ‘ ‘ Those men must be driven back,” said Granger, pointing to the gorge and ridge. “ Can you do it ? ” asked Thomas. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER, C. S. A. Cavalry commander under Bragg at Cliickamauga. Yes, my men are fresh, and they are just the fellows for that work. They are raw troops, and Bragg is piling his whole army on Thomas ? Iam going to his assistance.” We quickly climbed down the rick, and, going to Steedman, Granger ordered him to move his command “over there,”pointing toward the place from which came the [sounds of battle. Colonel Daniel McCook was directed to hold fast at McAfee Church, where his brigade covered the Ringgold road. Before half-past 11 o’clock Steedman’s command was in motion. Granger, with his staff and escort, rode in advance. Steedman, after accompanying them a short distance, rode back to the head of his column. Thomas was nearly four miles away. The day had now7 grown very warm, yet the troops marched rapidly over the narrow7 road, which was covered ankle-deep with dust that rose in suffocating clouds. Completely enveloped in it, the moving column swept along like a desert sandstorm. Two miles from the point of starting, and three-quarters of a mile to the left of the road, the enemy’s skirmishers and a section of artillery opened fire on us from an open wood. This force had worked round Thomas’s left, and •was then partly in his rear. Granger halted to feel them. Soon becoming convinced that it was only a large party of observation, he again started his column and pushed rapidly forward. I was then sent to bring up Colonel McCook’s brigade, and put it in position to watch the movements of the enemy, to keep open the Lafayette road, and to cover the open fields between that point and the position held by Thomas. This brigade remained there the rest of the day. Our skirmishers had not gone far when they came upon Thomas’s field-hospital, at Cloud’s house, then swarming with the enemy. They came from the same body of Forrest’s cavalry that had fired on us from the wood. They were quickly driven out, and our men were warmly welcomed with cheers from dying and wounded men. A little farther on we were met by a staff-officer sent by General Thomas to discover whether we were friends or enemies; he did not know whence friends could be coming, and the enemy appeared to be approaching from all directions. All of this shattered Army of the Cumberland left on the field was with Thomas; but not more than one-fourth of the men of the army who went into battle at the opening were there. Thomas’s loss in killed and wounded during the two days had been dreadful. As his men dropped out his line was contracted to half its length. Now its flanks were bent back, conforming to ridges shaped like a horse-shoe. informing to ridges shaped like a horse-shoe. fellows for xnai w»n. j . On the part of Thomas and his men there was no they don’t know any better than to charge up there, oimht but that of fighting. He was a soldier who Granger quickly sent Aleshire s battery of 3-mol Granger quickly sent Aleshire’s battery of 3-inch rifle guns which he brought up to Thomas’s left to assist in repelling another assault about to be made on the Kelly farm front. Whitaker’s and Mitchell’s brigades under Steedman were wheeled into position and projected against the enemy in the gorge and on the ridge. With ringing cheers they advanced in two lines by double-quick — over open fields, through weeds waist-high, through a little val- thought but that of fighting. He was a soldier who had never retreated, who had never been defeated. He stood immovable, the “Rock of Chickamauga.” Never had soldiers greater love for a commander. He imbued them with his spirit, and their confidence in him was sublime. To the right of Thomas’s line was a gorge, then a high ridge, nearly at right angles thereto, running east and west. Confederates under Kershaw CRAWFISH SPRINGS. Along the greater part of a front of eight miles the ground was strewn with the intermingled dead of friend and foe. The morning of Sunday, the 20th, opened with a cloudless sky, but a fog had come up from the warm water of the Chickamauga and hung over the battlefield until 9 o’clock. A silence of desertion was in the front. This quiet continued till nearly 10 o’clock; then, as the peaceful tones of the church-bells, rolling over the land from the east, reached the meridian of Chickamauga, they were made dissonant by the murderous roar of the artillery of Bishop Polk, who was opening the battle on Thomas’s front. Granger, who had been ordered at all hazards to hold fast where he was, listened and grew impatient. Shortly before 10 o’clock, calling my attention to a great column of dust moving from our front toward the point from which came the sound of battle, he said, “They are concentrating over there. That is where we ought to be.” The corps flag marked his headquarters in an open field near the Ringgold road. He walked up and down in front of his flag, nervously pulling his beard. Once stopping, he said, “Why the-------- does Rosecrans keep me here ? There is nothing in front of us now. There is the battle”—pointing in the direction of Thomas. Every moment the sounds of battle grew louder, while the many columns of dust rolling together here mingled with the smoke that hung over the scene. At 11 o’clock, with Granger, I climbed a high hayrick near by. We sat there for ten minutes listening and watching. Then Granger jumped up,thrust his glass into its case, and exclaimed with an oath: “Iam going to Thomas, orders or no orders!” “And if you go,” I replied, “it may bring disaster to the army and you to a court-martial.” “There’s nothing in our front now but ragtag, bobtail cavalry,” he replied. “Don’t you see fiercest. Our short-range ammunition from the cannon cut great gaps through the enemy’s columns, and the steady volleys of musketry, aided by our bayonets, did their remorseless work for about thirty minutes ; and then the Confederate left wing, shattered, bleeding, defeated, withdrew from sight. The battle was ended — Thomas had saved the army. . . . REINFORCING GENERAL THOMAS. BY J. S. FULLERTON, BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL, U. S. V. At Cliickamauga ehief-oi-staff to General Gordon Granger. ON the 19th day of September, 1863, the Reserve Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, General Gordon Granger in command, was distributed over a long stretch of country, its rear at Murfreesboro’ and its van on the battlefield of Chickamauga. These troops had been posted to cover the rear and left flank of the army. During September 19th, the first day of the battle, they were engaged in some skirmishing and stood at arms expecting an attack. On the evening of the 19th every indication pointed to a renewal of the battle early the next day. The night was cold for that time of the year. Tell-tale fires were prohibited. The men slept on their arms. All was quiet save in the field-hospitals in the rear. A bright moon lighted up the fields and woods,