protecting, without
opposition. General Vaughan took position at Greenville, and my brigade
was stationed, under command of Colonel Morgan, at Rogersville.

Five or six days after these dispositions were made, the enemy advanced
upon Rogersville in heavy force, drove Colonel Morgan away and followed
him closely. He retreated without loss, although constantly skirmishing
to Kingsport, twenty-five miles from Rogersville, and crossing Clinch
river at nightfall, prepared to dispute the passage of the enemy. He
believed that he could do so successfully, but his force was too small
to guard all of the fords, and the next morning the enemy got across,
attacked and defeated him, capturing him, more than eighty men, and all
of our wagons. Colonel Napier took command and retreated to Bristol. I
met the brigade there, and found it reduced to less than three hundred
men.

General Vaughan was hurrying on to Bristol, at this time, but had to
march further than the enemy, who also had the start of him, would be
required to march in order to reach it. On the night of the 13th, the
enemy entered Bristol at 3 or 4 P.M. Vaughan was not closer than twelve
or fifteen miles, and so he was completely separated from the forces
east of Bristol. We now had tolerably accurate information of the
enemy's strength. Burbridge's Kentucky troops composed the greater part
of his force, and Gillem was present with all of his former command,
whom he had succeeded in catching, and one fine regiment, the Tenth
Michigan. General Stoneman commanded. His column numbered in all, as
well as we could judge, between six and seven thousand men.

After the enemy occupied Bristol, I fell back to Abingdon. At Bristol a
large amount of valuable stores were captured by the enemy, and more
clerks and attaches of supply departments caught or scared into
premature evacuation of "bummers'" berths than at any precedent period
of the departmental history. They scudded from town with an expedition
that was truly astonishing to those who had ever had business with them.

Not caring to make a fight, which I knew I must lose, and well aware
that there was hard work before us, I left Abingdon at nightfall, and
encamped about three miles from the town on the Saltville road. At 10
o'clock the enemy entered Abingdon, driving out a picket of thirty men I
had left there and causing another stampede of the clerical detail. The
brigade was at once gotten under arms in expectation of