The ground was well adapted by nature for a battlefield, and as the attacking party always has the advantage of maneuver and assault in an open field, each commander was anxious to get his blow in first.  So had not Bragg commenced the battle as early as he did, we would most assuredly have had the whole Federal Army upon our hands before the day was much older.  Kershaw’s Brigade, commanded by General Kershaw, stood from right to left in the following order:  Fifteenth Regiment on the right, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Gist; Second Regiment, Colonel James D. Kennedy; Third, Colonel James D. Nance; Third Battalion, by Captain Robert H. Jennings; Eighth, Colonel John W. Henagan; Seventh, Colonel Elbert Bland.

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CHAPTER XXII

The Battle of Chickamauga.

As I have already said, this was a lovely country—­a picturesque valley nestling down among the spurs of the mountain, with the now classic Chickamauga winding its serpentine way along with a sluggish flow.  It was also a lovely day; nature was at her best, with the fields and woods autumn tinged—­the whole country rimmed in the golden hue of the Southern summer.  The battling ground chosen, or rather say selected by fate, on which the fierce passions of men were to decide the fortunes of armies and the destiny of a nation, was rolling, undulating, with fields of growing grain or brown stubble, broken by woods and ravines, while in our front rose the blue tinted sides of Mission Ridge.

Both commanders were early in the saddle, their armies more evenly matched in numbers and able Lieutenants than ever before, each willing and anxious to try conclusions with the other—­both confident of success and watchful of the mistakes and blunders of their opponent, ready to take advantage of the least opportunity that in any way would lead to success.  The armies on either side were equally determined and confident, feeling their invincibility and the superiority of their respective commanders.  Those of the North felt that it was impossible for the beaten Confederates to stand for a moment, with any hope of triumph, before that mighty machine of armed force that had been successfully rolling from the Ohio to the confines of Georgia.  On the other hand, the Army of Tennessee felt that, with the aid from Joe Johnston, with Buckner, and the flower of Lee’s Army to strengthen their ranks, no army on earth could stay them on the battlefield.

The plan of battle was to swing the whole army forward in a wheel, Preston’s Division on Longstreet’s extreme left being the pivot, the right wing to break the enemy’s lines and uncover the McFarland and Rossville Gaps, thus capturing the enemy’s lines of communication to Chattanooga.

The Union Army was well protected by two lines of earthworks and log obstructions, with field batteries at every salient, or scattered along the front lines at every elevation, supported by the pieces of position on the ridges in rear.