Today in History:

124 Series I Volume XVII-I Serial 24 - Corinth Part I

Page 124 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. Chapter XXIX.

this brave Marylander no one could have fallen more dear to me or whose memory should be more fondly cherished by his countrymen. Than him no more skillful officer or more devoted patriot has drawn his sword in this war of independence. He died in the day of his greatest usefulness, lamented by his friends, by the brigade of his love, by the division which he so ably commanded, and by the Army of the West, of which he had from the beginning been one of the chief ornaments.

I have, colonel, the honor to be, with great respect, your, &c.,

STERLING PRICE,

Major-General, Commanding.

Lieutenant Colonel GEORGE G. GARNER,

Assistant Adjutant-General, Department Numbers 2.


Numbers 40.

Report of Brigadier General Louis Hebert, C. S. Army, commanding First Division.


HDQRS. FIRST DIVISION, ARMY OF THE WEST,
Camp Henry Little, Baldwyn, Miss., September 25, 1862.

GENERAL: The fall of the noble and regretted commander of the First Division, Brigadier General Henry Little, in the engagement of the 19th instant at Iuka, makes it my duty as present commanding officer to give an account of its operations from the commencement of the movement against Iuka to the return of the forces to this point. I have the honor to submit the following report:

On the 10th instant three brigades of the division were at Baldwyn and one at Guntown.

On the 11th the march commenced at daybreak, and the entire division united and encamped for the night on Brown Creek, 2 miles east of Marietta.

On the 12th the march was continued to a point 1 mile east of Bay Springs.

At an early hour on the 13th the march was resumed to Peyton's Mill, where a halt was ordered until 11 p. m. At this hour the march was resumed until near daylight, when the advance reached to within 1 mile of Iuka. The enemy having evacuated the place, the division entered it and was encamped by 10 a. m. September 14.

During the 16th, 17th, and 18th, and up to the time of the engagement on the 19th, the division most of the time in line of battle or bivouacked on the field.

On the 19th, up to about 3 p. m., the division was in line of battle on the Brownsville road, with the exception of Second Brigade (Hebert's), which was halted near the line, ready to move to any threatened point. At that hour it received orders to proceed forthwith to the Bay Springs road, south of the town, to check the enemy, reported to be advancing in that direction very rapidly and in strong force. The brigade met him three-quarters of a mile from town, and quickly forming line of battle, not only checked his advance, but drove him from the advantageous positions he had already occupied. Here it became evident that the brigade unsupported could not drive back the superior numbers before it. Soon, however, the Fourth Brigade appeared on the field, and General Little took command of the troops present. Major-


Page 124 WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS. Chapter XXIX.