him and
commenced this attack on the character of himself and his
brigade without the slightest provocation, General Toombs
had not only been rallying the troops, but continued to use
his best endeavors to rally them till late at night. I was
with General Toombs the whole time from the commencement of
the action until half or three-quarters of an hour after
the conversation.

The following is the concluding letter of the correspondence:

July 15, 1862.

_General_: I regret that my last note, which was intended
to be conciliatory, has been misunderstood or
misappreciated. I take it for granted that you know enough
of my previous history to be aware that a hostile meeting,
under any circumstances, would be abhorrent to my
principles and character. At this time it would be in the
highest degree improper. I have offered you the only
redress which I could make even after a meeting, viz., an
acknowledgment of error when convinced of that error. As no
good can result from a continued correspondence, it will
close on my part with this communication.

Yours truly,
D. H. HILL, Major General.
BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT TOOMBS.

General Hill was a good man and a brave soldier. His devotion to the
Confederate cause was undoubted, but his zeal sometimes made him harsh,
and more than once he placed himself in the position of reflecting upon
the conduct of others. On one occasion at the battle of Chickamauga,
where General Hill was in command of the extreme right of the
Confederate line, on the second day of the battle information was
brought to him of the sudden and unexpected advance of a strong Federal
force against his line. It proved to be the division of the Federal
General Gordon Granger. General Hill and General W. H. T. Walker, who
commanded two divisions under General Hill, proceeded at once to the
threatened point, to ascertain the situation of affairs, accompanied by
some members of their staff. Arrived at a point where this new arrival
of Federal forces could be seen, General Walker deferred to General Hill
and asked him, "What do you wish me to do?"

"What do I want you to do?" said Hill with severity, and even with
something like a snarl, "I want you to fight."

General Walker flushed up in a moment. He was not a man