confiscation of stock in trade, and the assignment of offenders to do military duty as private soldiers. By command of JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. Major-General U. S. GRANT. As far as actual fighting was concerned, it may be safely stated that from June to September, 1862, General Grant's Department was particularly quiet. Skirmishes would occasionally take place between guerillas and the troops occupying small districts, as at Bolivar, on August 30th, and at Medon Station of the Mississippi Central Railroad, on August 31st. On all these occasions the rebel troops were generally worsted, so well had General Grant looked after the defences of these posts. During the early part of September, 1862, the rebel forces in the Southwest began to make a general advance upon the Union positions. General Bragg issued an order on September 5, 1862, which he dated at Sparta, in the most southern part of Alabama, for the purpose of deceiving the Union troops as to his actual whereabouts, while, at the same time, he was at Chattanooga, Tenn., preparing to make a flank movement through East Tennessee and Kentucky, to the Ohio River. The deceitful order certainly misled the commander of the army of the Ohio; but did not impose upon General Grant, nor the officers under his command, as cavalry reconnoissances were continually being sent out to ascertain the whereabouts of the enemy. The rebels soon discovered that General Grant was sending troops to re-enforce the army in Kentucky, and to prevent him from so doing, a portion of the rebel army in the State of Mississippi was detached, to operate against bis lines. General Grant had, however, taken care of his own position while helping the others, and the results were the glorious victories of Iuka and Corinth. CHAPTER XIII. IUKA. CORINTH AND THE HATCHIE. THE careful system of reconnoissance adopted in General Grant's army made the commander of the Department of West Tennessee and his subordinate general officers fully aware of the approach of the rebels upon their lines long before the actual attack took place. Even as early as September 10th, 1862, it was known that General Sterling Price, at the head of a far superior force of rebel troops, was marching upon the little camp at Jacinto, Tishamingo County, Miss. Orders were, of course, quickly given to break up this camp, and take the wagon trains to the defences at Corinth. The men who were ordered to remain behind were thereby compelled to sleep on their arms and in the open air for several nights. On September 17th, a general advance was ordered by General Grant, and at four o'clock on the morning of September 18th the regiments from Corinth and Jacinto were pushing towards Iuka, where General Price had concentrated his forces. The march of the Union troops was made amidst a drenching rain, and along muddy roads, and they advanced upon the place by different routes, the force under General Rosecrans, known as the Army of the Mississippi, making the advance along the road from the south, while that under Generals Grant and Ord approached the town from the north, via Burnsville. At daybreak, on the morning of September 19th, the march was renewed, and the advance of General Hamil ton's Division encountered the rebel pickets at Barnett's Corners, on the road to Iuka. After a sharp skirmish, the pickets were driven six miles towards that town, losing slightly in killed and prisoners. The division again pushed forward until within two miles of Iuka, where they were received with a hot fire of musketry from the rebels who were posted on the ridge which commanded the country for several miles around. The engagement soon became general, on this part of the line, and lasted until dark, when the men threw themselves down on their arms, to take that rest so needed to enable them to renew the struggle on the morrow. The contest had been very sanguinary and fierce while it lasted, nearly one-third of the Union forces engaged being placed hors de combat. During the night the rebel forces under Price evacuated the town, and in the morning General Rosecrans's troops entered Iuka from the south, and began pushing after the flying rebels. Shortly after, the forces under Generals Grant and Ord arrived by the northern route. As the intention of General Grant had been to cut off Price's retreat by that road, and as Price had chosen another towards the east, this part of the army was not engaged, although its position contributed towards forcing the enemy to evacuate the place. The following extracts from a private letter of a rebel to a friend, under date of September 24th, 1862, contain matters of interest: "We held peaceable possession of Iuka for one day, and on the next were alarmed by the booming of cannon, and were called out to spend the evening in battle array in the woods. On the evening of the 19th, when we supposed we were going back to camp, to rest awhile, the sharp crack of musketry on the right of our former lines told us that the enemy was much nearer than we imagined. In fact, they had almost penetrated the town itself. How on earth, with the woods full of our cavalry, they could have approached so near our lines, is a mys tery. They had planted a battery sufficiently near to shell General Price's head-quarters, and were cracking away at the Third Brigade when the Fourth came up at double-quick, and then, for two hours and fifteen minutes, was kept up the most terrific fire of musketry that ever dinned my ears. There was one continuous roar of small arms, while grape and canister howled in fearful concert above our heads and through our ranks. General Little was shot dead early in the action. ** It was a terrible struggle, and we lost heavily. All night could be heard the groans of the wounded and dying, forming a sequel of horror and agony to the deadly struggle, over which night had kindly thrown its mantle. Saddest of all, our dead were left unburied, and many of the wounded on the battle-field to be taken in charge by the enemy. Finding that the enemy were being re-enforced from the north, and as our strength would not justify us in trying another battle, a retreat was ordered, and we left the town during the night. The enemy pressed our rear the next day, and were only kept off by grape and canister. "It grieves me to state that acts of vandalism, disgraceful to any army, were, however, perpetrated along the line of retreat, and makes me blush to own such men as my countrymen. Corn-fields were laid waste, potato patches robbed, barn-yards and smoke-houses despoiled, hog killed, and all kinds of outrages perpetrated in broad daylight and in full view of the officers. The advance and retreat were alike disgraceful, and I have no doubt that women and children along the route will cry for the bread which has been rudely taken from them by those who should have protected and defended them."* The Army of the Mississippi bore the brunt of the fight, but the combinations caused the evacuation of the town. On the morning of the 20th of September, 1862, General Grant sent the following dispatch to the general-in-chief at Washington: IUKA, MISS., September 20, 1862. To Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: General Rosecrans, with Stanley's and Hamilton's Divisions and Misener's Cavalry, attacked Price south of this village about two hours before dark yesterday, and had a sharp fight until night closed in. General * Private letter published in the Montgomery Advertiser, September, 862. Ord was to the north with an armed force of about 5,000 men, and had son.e skitmishing with the rebel pickets. This morning the fight was renewed by General Rosecrans, who was nearest to the town; but it was found that the enemy had been evacuating during the night, going south. Generals Hamilton and Stanley, with cavalry, are in full Pursuit. This will, no doubt, break up the enemy, and possibly force them to abandon much of their artillery. The loss on either side, in killed and wounded, is from 400 to 500 The enemy's loss in arms, tents, etc., will be large. We have about 250 prisoners. I have reliable intelligence that it was Price's intention to move over east of the Tennessee. In this he has been thwarted. Among the enemy's loss are General Little killed, and General Whitefield wounded. I cannot speak too highly of the energy and skill displayed by General Rosecrans in the attack, and of the endurance of the troops. General Ord's command showed untiring zeal; but the direction taken by the enemy prevented them from taking the active part they desired, Price's force was about 18,000. U. S. GRANT, Major-General. The examination of the field, after the first excitement of the battle was over, showed a still more favorable result for the Union forces, as may be judged by the following dispatch: HEAD-QUARTERS, CORINTH, September 22, 1862. Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief : In my dispatch of the 20th our loss was over estimated, and the rebel loss under estimated. We found two hundred and sixty-one of them dead upon the field, while our loss in killed will be less than one hundred. U. S. GRANT, Major-General. General Grant, on the same day as he sent the above dispatch, issued the following order, complimenting his officers and men upon their bravery, not forgetting those who fell on that occasion: HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF WEST TENNESSEE, 1 General Field Orders, No. 1.] The General Commanding takes great pleasure in congratulating the |