urther failure. He would concentrate his whole army
into one grand effort to crush General Rosecrans and all under him. His
efforts were spirited and daring, and worthy of a far better cause than
that of trying to split our glorious Union into fragments.

The first movement was to concentrate his army along the east bank of
Chickamauga Creek, and here he awaited reenforcements under Longstreet
from Virginia, in the meantime sending out orders as to how each
division of his command should take part when the general movement
began. All was in readiness by the 17th of September, and the order was
given to move across the stream at six o'clock the next morning; a
portion of his command to go across at Alexandria Bridge, another at
Reed's Bridge, a third at Ledford's Ford, and others to try what could
be done at Lee and Gordon's Mill, or Dalton's Ford. The plan looked to
the destruction of the left wing of our army and the retaking of the
roads leading to Chattanooga. It brought on the battle of Chickamauga,
which lasted for two days, Saturday and Sunday, September 19th and
20th,--a nerve-trying contest neither the wearers of the blue nor the
wearers of the gray were ever liable to forget.

While the Army of the Cumberland was concentrating on one side of the
Chickamauga and the Army of Tennessee on the other, with several outside
forces to aid, if possible, on one side or the other, the cavalry was
employed along the river banks to report all movements of the
enemy,--Minty being on the Union side and Forrest on the Confederate
side. To the Union forces were added the Riverlawns, although they
operated largely as an independent body.

The cavalry were stationed at both Reed's and the Alexandria Bridges,
and beyond them, and in the afternoon of the day before the great
battle, Colonel Lyon received hurried orders to proceed across Reed's
Bridge in the direction of Pea Vine Creek, three miles eastward, to
support some of Minty's cavalry who had encountered the Confederate
forces under General Johnson. The colonel lost no time in obeying this
command, and in less than three minutes after it was delivered the
Riverlawns were galloping along the uneven pike, every company with full
ranks and every man ready to do his duty.

Johnson had left Ringgold early in the morning, his instructions being
to cross the Chickamauga at Reed's Bridge, and then to sweep onward
toward Lee and Gordon's Mill. The way was hard, the roads covered w