Cavender's six twenty-pounders, Silversparre's twenty-pound
Parrotts, and some light batteries--on a commanding position from a
quarter to half a mile from the landing. Immediately above the landing a
wide and deep ravine opens to the river. For some distance back from the
river its bottom was filled with back-water and was impassable. Half a
mile back it was still deep, abrupt, and wet, though passable for
infantry. Here Colonel Webster gathered from thirty-five to fifty guns.
Two of Hurlbut's batteries--Mann's, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman,
and Ross'--had done brilliant service; Brotzman's battery of four pieces
had fired off one hundred and ninety-four rounds per gun. Ross' battery
was lost in the retreat. Brotzman lost so many horses that he was able
to bring off only three guns. These took place in Webster's frowning
line. Hurlbut was joined at this position by half of Veatch's brigade,
which had been with McClernand through the day, and reformed his
division in support of the artillery. General Grant directed him to
assume command of all regiments and coherent fragments near. The
Forty-eighth Ohio, of Buckland's brigade, being then at the landing,
some of W.H. L. Wallace's regiments, that succeeded in breaking through
the encircling force, and other detachments, reported to him. Squads of
men, separated from their commands, fell in. Hurlbut thus gathered in
support of the artillery a force in line which he estimated at four
thousand men.

General Bragg proposed to push his success and attempted to withdraw his
two divisions, Ruggles' and Withers', from the tumult which accompanied
the surrender, and ordered them to press forward and assault the
position to which Hurlbut had fallen back. When Ruggles received Bragg's
order for farther advance, one of his brigades, Pond's, was on the
extreme Confederate left, near Owl Creek; Gibson's brigade was in
confusion, caused by the fire of the gunboats; Anderson's was apart in a
ravine, taking shelter from the same fire. But Ruggles began at once to
assemble what force he could. Of Withers' division, the First Brigade
was scattered. The brigades of Jackson and Chalmers received the order
while they were resting in the field where the Third Iowa had rested and
filled their cartridge-boxes, and where Jackson was about to replenish
the empty boxes of his men. Withers immediately moved these two brigades
forward to the deep ravine whose farther bank was crowned with the grim