noises of the bivouac.
There were no fires, which showed that we were supposed to be in the
immediate presence of the enemy, and that our commander did not want his
position revealed by camp-fires. At some distance past the mills
Palmer's division was halted in the road, and the troops were massed by
regiments, and moved some yards into the thicket to pass the few hours
before daylight.

In the morning it was said that Bragg had indeed beaten in the race the
day before, and had halted at night, if he halted at all, much nearer to
the Rossville Pass than we were. The Chickamauga River was supposed to
be between the two armies, but it is a stream which is easily fordable
in many places, and a mile or two below where we lay was a bridge over
which Bragg could cross rapidly with his artillery and trains, and then
strike our road to Rossville ahead of us. A division moved out early in
the day and went off toward this bridge. Soon after there was lively
musketry and some cannonading in that direction. Word came back that the
enemy had crossed the river in force too heavy to be successfully
encountered by our reconnoitering division. Another division followed in
the path of the first, and there was more firing. Finally, General
Palmer moved his division out upon the road, and along it for some
distance toward Rossville, approaching the firing down by the bridge.
Halting near the Widow Glenn's cottage, about which were a little cloud
of cavalry and many officers, we saw that Rosecrans was there, directing
the movements in person. Palmer got his orders quickly. He was to move
down the road toward Rossville to an indicated point, then form his
division _en echelon_ by brigade from the left, and move off the road to
the right and attack. When he struck the enemy's left flank he was to
envelop and crush it. The formation _en echelon_ was to facilitate this
enveloping and crushing.

Moving off the road as ordered, the division passed through several
hundred yards of forest, and came upon a wide open field of lower
ground, through the centre of which ran, parallel to our front, a narrow
belt of timber. The skirmishers passed through this belt and a few yards
beyond, and were then driven back by an overpowering fire from the
enemy's skirmishers. Our main line came up to the timber and passed
through it to the farther side; and then the edge of the forest beyond,
in front, on the right and on the left, was suddenly fringed with a line