At 3 o'clock A.M.of the 27th, the boats moved out into the stream under cover of a slight fog.On arriving at a point some two miles below the town, these troops reached the rebel picket line posted on the left bank of the river.The boats passed on unobserved by keeping close to the right hand shore until just at the landing, when the troops in the first boat were greeted with a volley from the rebel pickets, a station being at this landing.In perfect order, as previously planned, the troops hastily disembarked, moved forward, occupying the crest of the hill immediately in front and commenced the work of intrenching.Before this was completed the enemy, heavily re-enforced, just beyond the crest, moved forward to drive Hazen back.Here a stubborn little fight was had, the rebels making a gallant charge with partial success on the right of Hazen, when they were met with the remainder of the brigade under Colonel Langdon, who charged at once on their lines and after a short engagement drove them from the hill into the valley beyond.
Turchin's brigade having crossed the river was placed in position on Hazen's right, when the enemy moved from the front up the valley.
The rebel force here was a thousand infantry, three pieces of artillery, and a squadron of cavalry.
As soon as the last of the troops were over, work on the bridge was commenced and finished at a little after four o'clock in the afternoon.For an hour or so in the morning the work progressed under an artillery fire from the rebel batteries on Lookout Mountain.
Our losses were six killed, twenty-three wounded, and nine missing.
The rebels lost six men captured and six of their dead were buried by our men.Our forces captured twenty beeves, six pontoons and some two thousand bushels of corn.The bridge was completed and the position held until the 28th, when Hooker's command arrived.No attempt was made by Bragg to dislodge this force or to destroy the bridge.Hooker moved on the road by the base of Raccoon Mountain into Lookout Valley, driving the rebel pickets before him, and occupied the roads to Kelley's and Brown's Ferries through the valley.Later in the afternoon of the 28th, as Hooker's troops pushed down the valley, Howard's corps in the advance was met with a sharp volley of musketry from a wooded ridge near the Wills Valley Railroad.Two brigades of Howard's command were deployed, and advancing, drove the rebels from their cover with the loss of a few of our men.As the enemy retreated they burned the railroad bridge over Lookout Creek.Hooker then went into camp with Howard's corps at six o'clock in the afternoon about a mile up the valley from Brown's Ferry.Here he learned of the movement to this place and of the building of the bridge.
With the object of holding the road to Kelley's Ferry, Geary's division was ordered to encamp near Wauhatchie, some three miles up the valley from Howard's position.This created two camps--the latter holding the Brown Ferry road--each camp separate and picketed by its own command, as the numbers of the troops would not admit of communication being kept up between them or of their forming one line.
About midnight a regiment that had been ordered by Howard to hold the Chattanooga road across Lookout Creek, had a slight skirmish with the advance of the enemy.This was a portion of Longstreet's corps getting into position for a night attack on the two encampments.
