better body of soldiers in American than it, or who have done more or better service. I wish all to feel a just pride in its real honors. To General Howard and his command, to General Jef. C. Davis and his, I am more than usually indebted for the intelligence of commanders and fidelity of commands. The brigade of Colonel Buschbeck, belonging to the Eleventh Corps, which was the first to come out of Chattanooga to my flank, fought at the Tunnel Hill, in connection with General Ewing's division, and displayed a courage almost amounting to rashness. Following the enemy almost to the tunnel gorge, it lost many valuable lives, prominent among them Lieutenant-Colonel Taft, spoken of as a most gallant soldier. In General Howard throughout, I found a polished and Christian gentleman exhibiting the highest and most chivalric traits of the soldier.

General Davis handled his division with artistic skill, more especially at the moment we encountered the enemy's rear guard, near Graysville, at nightfall. I must award to this division the credit of the best order during our marches through East Tennessee, when long marches and the necessity of foraging to the right and left gave some reasons for disordered ranks.

Inasmuch as exception might be taken to my explanation of the temporary confusion during the battle of Chattanooga in the two brigades of General Matthies and Colonel Raum, I will here state that I saw the whole, and attach no fault to any one. Accidents will happen in battle as elsewhere, and at the point where they so manfully went to relieve the pressure on other parts of our assaulting line, they exposed themselves unconsciously to an enemy vastly superior in force and favored by the shape of the ground. Had that enemy come out on equal terms, those brigades would have shown their metal, which has been tried more than once before and stood the test of fire. They reformed their ranks and were ready to support General Ewing's division in a very few minutes, and the circumstance would have hardly called for notice on my part had not others reported for my wing of the army at a distance of near 5 miles, from which could only be seen the troops in the open field where this affair occured.

I now subjoin the best report of casualties I am able to compile from the records thus far received, viz:

Command. Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total.

Fifteenth Army

Corps:

First Division 67 364 66 497

Second 10 90 2 102

Division

Third Division 89 288 122 499

Fourth 72 535 21 628

Division

Total loss in 238 1,277 211 1,726

Fifteenth Army

Corps

Eleventh Army 37 145 81 263

Corps:

Buschbeck's

Brigade

General Jef. C. Davis has sent in on report of casualties in his division, but the loss was small.

Among the killed were some of our most valuable officers: Colonels Putnam, Ninety-third Illinois; O'Meara, Ninetieth Illinois; Torrence, Thirtieth Iowa; Lieutenant-Colonel Taft, of the Eleventh Corps, and Major Bushnell, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteers.