General Preston, who had as a guide Dyer, whose house stood on the battlefield near by, and from whom he learned the nature of the topography in the front, followed after Hindman's and McLaws' divisions, which had met a heavy repulse, and moving up a ravine beyond Snodgrass' house, charged the flank of Granger and Steedman, posted with artillery on commanding ridges. It was bloody but effective work, resulting in the complete rout of the enemy and the capture of the Eighty-ninth Ohio, the Twenty-second Michigan, and part of the Twenty-first Ohio regiments. This bold and decisive stroke, which closed the battle as the sun set, was one of the most gallant affairs of the war, and like that of Breckinridge on the right was made upon General Preston's own judgment, as he was ordered originally merely to support Hindman. A British officer present compared Preston to Dessaix and said his charge was one of the greatest in history. The Fifth Kentucky, Colonel Hawkins, was conspicuous for gallantry in this fight.
In the confusion resulting from the change of lines, the smoke of battle, and approach of night, it was difficult to comprehend the full extent of this Confederate victory. The enemy, beaten at every point, availing himself of the favorable conditions, retreated in the direction of Chattanooga, and the Confederate army, worn down by long and arduous labors, with all commands mingled in promiscuous confusion, went to sleep on the battlefield, each where he found himself. The further details of what followed, the fatality which, arising partly from the want of sufficient force, but chiefly from the lack of Stonewall Jackson persistence, lost the full fruits of victory, belong to general history. It has been the aim in this narrative to sketch briefly only so much of the battle as will show
