stern Dorian, then of a necessity "comes the
tug of war."

On the 22d, McLaws reporting as being ready for the assault, he was
ordered to prepare for it on the night of the 23d. But a report coming
to the commanding General that a large body of the enemy's cavalry
was moving upon our rear from near Kinston, General Wheeler, with his
troopers, was detached from the army to look after them, and did
not return until the 26th, having frightened the enemy away in the
meantime. The officers of McLaws' assaulting column protested against
the night attack, preferring daylight for such important work, which
in the end was granted.

The night of the 24th the enemy made a sally, attacking Wofford's
front; but was soon repulsed and driven back within his lines.
Longstreet now awaited the reinforcement that was approaching with all
speed. Jones' Brigade of Cavalry, from Southwest Virginia, came up on
the 28th, while Bushrod Johnston, with his own Brigade of Tennessee
Infantry and Gracie's Brigade of Alabamians, was near at hand and
moving with all haste. The infantry and artillery promised from
Virginia were more than one hundred miles away, and could not reach us
in time to take part in the pending attack. General Bragg, commanding
the Army of Tennessee after his disastrous defeat at Missionary Ridge,
in front of Chattanooga, was at the head of the war department, and
ordered Longstreet to assault Knoxville at once.

Orders were given and preparations made to commence the attack on
Fort Sanders at early dawn on the 29th by the brigades of McLaws. Fort
Sanders, the key to Burnside's position, was a formidable fortress,
covering several acres of ground, built by the Confederates when in
possession of Knoxville, and called by them "Fort London," but named
"Fort Sanders" by the Federals, in honor of the brave commander who
fell in wresting it from the Confederates. The enemy had greatly
strengthened it after Longstreet's advent in East Tennessee. It was
surrounded by a deep and wide moat, from the bottom of which to the
top of the fort was from eighteen to twenty feet. In front of the moat
for several hundred yards was felled timber, which formed an almost
impassable abattis, while wire netting was stretched from stump to
stump and around the fort. The creek that ran between our lines and
the enemy's had been dammed in several places, forcing the water back
to the depth of four to five feet. The fort was lined on three sides
with t