to set this vast army in battle array, and the sound had hardly died upon the trembling air before the columns were in motion and the plain was soon full of marching squadrons, from Citico on the east to the river on the west, deploying into line of battle with the precision of soldiers on dress parade. WOODS and SHERIDAN'S divisions were the first to strike the Confederate lines, in what is now Highland Park and the National Cemetery, and in less than an hour Orchard Knob was in our possession and the line of battle occupied the ground which, until lately, had been held by the Confederate picket reserves; while their pickets had been down nearly to the Western and Atlantic Railroad, HOWARD'S Corps went into line on the left of the Fourth Corps, and the line of battle was adjusted for the night, and the soldiers slept upon their arms to await the junction of SHERMAN'S army at the north end of Mission Ridge on the following day.

On the morning of the 24th, the troops under SHERMAN could be seen from Fort Wood crossing the river above the city. The weather was the same as the day preceding. GRANT was again at Fort Wood and the officers of the staff were present as on the day before to receive and convey the orders of their commanders. This morning the Eleventh Corps under HOWARD, the Fourth under GORDON GRANGER, and the Fourteenth under PALMER, extending from left to right in the order named, formed the center under the command of GENERAL THOMAS, while HOOKER in Lookout Valley commanded the right flank, and SHERMAN was placing his army in position on the left as fast as the troops could be crossed on pontoons or ferried over the river on the steamer Dunbar.

About ten o'clock in the forenoon, GENERAL GRANT stood on the parapet of the north-eastern angle of the fort, with field glasses in his hand, gazing up the river in the direction of SHERMAN's army, and all eyes were turned in the same direction.

There was no sound of battle along the lines in our front, it being understood that the center was waiting for SHERMAN to gain. his position at the north end of the ridge. While thus employed in looking at SHERMAN's men, we were suddenly startled by the terrific roar of cannon and musketry from the direction of Lookout

Mountain. At this time, I was standing not more than four or five paces from GENERAL GRANT, and, as it was evident that a battle was in progress where apparently least expected, I looked at the general to see if I could make out from his appearance whether the clash of arms was a surprise to him. While the staff officers bent their gaze in the direction of Lookout Mountain, and were questioning each other as to what it all meant, the general commanding continued to look through his glass at SHERMAN'S troops, and paid no attention to the sounds from Lookout, which appeared to be coming toward us. At length, through our glasses, we could see troops sweeping around through the Craven's field on the side of the mountain, and, as they carried the stars and stripes, we knew that the battle of Lookout Mountain had been won by the Union soldiers, for, while the fight was kept up at the southern edge of the Craven's field, where the Confederates made a stand, we felt confident that the enemy could not concentrate a sufficient reinforcement to dislodge our men. It was during this charge that the clouds which hung over the mountain top gradually settled down, and in a few minutes entirely concealed the combatants from our view, and, while we could hear the musketry with wonderful distinctness, we could see nothing more of the fight. I can not refrain from quoting in this place the closing stanza of the beautiful ode of GEORGE D. PRENTICE to grand old Lookout, referring to this combat. After having described the battle,

he says:

"Awful mount!

The stains of blood have faded from thy rocks;
The cries of mortal agony have ceased
To echo from thy hollow cliffs;

The smoke of battle long since melted into air:

And yet thou art unchanged, aye, thou wilt lift

In majesty thy walls above the storm,
Mocking the generations as they pass,
And pilgrims of the far off centuries
Will sometimes linger in their wanderings,
To ponder with a deep and sacred awe,
The legend of the fight above the clouds."

On the morning of the 25th of November, the clouds disappeared, and the sun shone out with that magnificent grandeur which often, in November, cheers the soul and makes us in perfect harmony with inanimate nature. GENERAL GRANT, who had made Fort Wood his field headquarters on the 23d and 24th, now moved to Orchard Knob, where THOMAS stood in command of the center. Having been directed by my superior to remain at Fort Wood for orders, I, of course, continued there, and for the most part had nothing to do but watch the movements of troops. SHERMAN opened the ball about nine o'clock in the morning, on the left, and his men charged up the hill, north of the tunnel, in gallant style, but his line was repulsed, and could not gain a lodgment on the top of the ridge. All day long the Confederate troops continued marching north along the top of the ridge, apparently massing in front of SHERMAN, who kept pounding away with his artillery, and occasionally pushing his lines up the hillside, in a vain attempt to carry the crest. Midday was passed. HOOKER had crossed the valley from Lookout, and had seized the Rossville Gap, then wheeled to the left, and was pressing the Confederates at the south end of the ridge. We now had a continuous line of battle from Rossville Gap to Boyce Station, about four miles long, extending in the form of a crescent, the center of which was in front of Orchard Knob. GENERAL GRANT ordered the Army of the Cumberland, under THOMAS, to advance at three o'clock in the afternoon, and occupy the Confederate rifle pits in our front, at the foot of the ridge. The signal for the advance. was given by six cannon shots fired by BRIDGES'S Battery from Orchard Knob. Owing to a slight delay in forming the troops, the signal was not given until half past three o'clock. Some fifty pieces. of Confederate artillery were massed on the crown of the ridge, and, as our line of battle came within easy range, it was subjected to a plunging fire from the Confederate guns.

But the line moved on, and in about an hour it was in full view on the western slope of the ridge. We had understood that our forces were merely to occupy the rifle-pits, and could not conjecture what this movement up the ridge meant. Was it possible that our

men were actually intent upon scaling the side of a ridge which rose to a height of nearly 400 feet under the fire of fifty pieces of artillery, our lines in many places exposed to a cross-fire from the batteries, as well as the direct fire of the Confederate infantry. The Union line of battle moved steadily upward, and it was soon apparent that our brave men were determined to attempt what seemed to be the impossible task of capturing the Confederate guns and breaking the center of BRAGG'S army. The Confederate artillery was served as rapidly as the guns could be fired, and the only guns that we had which could be made at all effective in reply to the Confederate artillery was our battery of thirty pounder Parrotts, at Fort Wood. The service of siege guns is much slower than field artillery, and our Parrotts did not speak often, but when they did turn loose their thunder we had the satisfaction of knowing that our shells reached the top of the ridge, and while the aim could not be depended upon every time, nevertheless our gunners were encouraged to keep up their firing, and were finally rewarded by seeing one of their percussion shells explode in a Confederate caisson, silencing the battery and demoralizing the men on that part of the line. All this time our line steadily advanced up the hill.

The western sun shone with wonderful brilliancy on the Union line, and as the colors were advanced we could plainly distinguish the movement through our field-glasses, and then the lines would come up again to the colors, and then the brave color-bearers would advance, and the gallant soldiers would again spring forward in line with their standards. We stood tremulous with anxiety as the great guns of the fort roared about our ears, and the crash of musketry and thunder of the Confederate batteries told of the deadly carnage on the slope of yonder hill. Can it be possible those brave fellows will ever pass through that storm of iron and leaden hail and reach the top? They are almost up; another wait; our hearts almost stood still as we watched the last few steps which should bring the line to the summit of the ridge.

Again the colors are advanced and at last they are on the hill, it seems almost simultaneously in several places, and when the enemy's guns were silenced, we knew that the battle was won and the

Confederate line was broken. But the battle was not yet over, for in front of BAIRD's division the spiteful musketry was still rattling on top of the ridge, and at this point the fight did not cease till after dark.

Just as soon as the first lodgment was made on the ridge, I was ordered by GENERAL BRANNAN to proceed at once to GENERALS GORDON GRANGer, Wood, SherIDAN, and BAIRD, and notify them that I was sent by the chief of artillery to take charge of the captured guns. I proceeded at once to BRAGG's headquarters, and as I rode through the Confederate batteries I saw many of the cannoneers lying dead beside their pieces, having laid down their lives in the gallant effort to stem the onward march of the Union veterans.

At BRAGG's headquarters I found GRANGER, SHERIDAN, WOOD, HAZEN, and members of their staff, hilarious with joy at the success of the grand assault of the center by the gallant old Army of the Cumberland.

I delivered my message, which was then and there confirmed, and on behalf of the Army of the Cumberland, I took charge of the captured artillery.

It was ten o'clock that night before I completed my tour and was able to report to my chief that we had captured forty pieces of artillery. The next day I commenced moving the captured guns, and parked them on the vacant lot on the west side of Walnut street between Third and Fourth streets, in front of the headquarters of GENERAL BRANNAN, in Chattanooga.

With this capture our army felt as though the evil fortune of our batteries at Chickamauga had been retrieved, and what was of far greater moment to the national cause, we had secured Chattanooga, forevermore, to the Grand Republic.

The Glee Club started up "Johnny Comes Marching Home," and the meeting closed with the members joining in the chorus.