and after conversing in a low tone for a few minutes, Johnson said,
so that many heard it, "I will lead _your_ brigade into the fight
to-day; for I intend to show these Tennesseans and Kentuckians that
I am no coward." Poor general! you were not allowed the privilege.
We then advanced in line of battle, and General Statham's brigade
was engaged first. "Boys," said Breckenridge, "we must take that
battery which is shelling Statham. Will you do it?" A wild shout of
"Ay, ay, sir," and "Forward to take that battery," was the word;
but before we reached the ground it was withdrawn. We now advanced,
cautiously, and soon entered the camp of the Seventy-first Ohio
Volunteers. By this time, ten o'clock A.M., the battle seemed to be
raging along the whole line.

A part of the original plan of battle was to have a space several
hundred yards wide between Breckenridge's left and Hardee's right,
and thus invite Grant's men into a trap. They refusing to be
entrapped, and keeping their front unbroken, Breckenridge sent me to
General Johnson for new instructions. When I had come within about
ten rods of Johnson's staff, a shell burst in the air about
equidistant from myself and the staff. The missiles of death seemed
to fill the air in every direction, and almost before the fragments
had found their resting-place, I reined up my horse and saluted.
General Johnson, who was in front of his staff, had turned away his
horse and was leaning a little forward, pressing his right knee
against the saddle. In a moment, and before the dispatch was
delivered, the staff discovered that their leader was wounded, and
hastened to his assistance. A piece of the shell, whose fragments
had flown so thick around me as I came up, had struck his thigh half
way between his hip and knee, and cut a wide path through, severing
the femoral artery. Had he been instantly taken from his horse