REPORT 11

Report of Brig. Gen. Hugh Ewing, U.S. Army, commanding Third Brigade

     SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of my brigade in the late expedition to Rolling Fork:
     An order to move at 6 a.m. of the 17th instant was received at 11.30 p.m. of the 16th, and, at the time specified, I marched along the levee to the upper landing, embarked upon transports, and arrived at Eagle Bend on the evening of the same day.
     On the morning of the 18th, I ordered Colonel Parry of the Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to debark his regiment, and construct bridges over two impassable crevasses in the levee skirting Muddy Bayou. The bridges were completed at 12 m. on the 19th, and the troops of the First and Second Brigades passed over to Steele’s Bayou.
     On the 20th instant, I ordered Colonel Parry to construct a wagon and artillery road from the head of Muddy and Steele’s Bayous, and Colonel Lightburn, of the Fourth West Virginia, to clear a channel through Muddy Bayou sufficient to admit the passage of flat-boats.
     On the morning of the 22d, I embarked on transports, and moved up Steele’s Bayou, leaving Colonel Parry, with his regiment, and Colonel Lightburn, with one company of the Fourth, to complete the road and channel; debarking on Hill’s plantation, at the mouth of Deer Creek, on the morning of the 23d. On the same day, by order of General Stuart, I sent the Fourth West Virginia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dayton, up the left-hand fork of Deer Creek, to meet the gunboats and infantry, which were then returning; and also ordered the Thirtieth Ohio up the west side of Little Deer on picket and patrol.
     On the 24th, Colonels Parry and Lightburn, with their commands, were ordered to join the brigade, which they did the same evening.
     On the evening of the 24th, Colonel Siber, of the Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with his regiment, proceeded up the left fork of Deer Creek, to reconnoiter, and, if possible, discover the force of the enemy reported approaching in that direction.
     At noon on the 26th, I embarked on the gun and mortar boats; at 7 p.m. on the 27th, reached the mouth of the Yazoo; at 11 p.m. changed to transports; and at 12 m., disembarked at my camp at Young’s Point.
     Colonels Lightburn and Parry labored earnestly and successfully at the work assigned them.
     I will forward regimental reports to-morrow.
     I have the honor to be, captain, very respectfully,  your obedient servant,

Capt. C. McDONALD
    Assistant Adjutant-General
 
 

Sources:
Text and Maps:
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR, BY BVT. LIEUT. COL. ROBERT N. SCOTT, THIRD U.S. ARTILLERY AND PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO ACT OF CONGRESS APPROVED JUNE 16, 1880.
The US Government Printing Office
Volume: XXXVI: Pages 430-667

Photographs:
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