The swinging around of McClernand's left, while he receded in a general direction toward the northeast, left a wide interval between his command and W.H.L. Wallace. The force which had been massed against him and Sherman had been diminished by detachments sent to aid in the attack against W.H.L. Wallace and Prentiss. The remainder drifted through the gap to Wallace's rear. Pond's brigade, to which had been assigned the special duty of guarding along Owl Creek against any advance around Johnston's left flank, constituted the extreme Confederate left. This brigade had been very little under fire during the day. The battery attached to it, Ketchum's, was now detached to aid in the assault upon Wallace's front. Pond, with three Louisiana regiments of his brigade, was directed to move to the left along the deep ravine which McClernand had crossed, and silence one of McClernand's batteries. Trabue's brigade, which had been struggling through the tangled forest covering rough ground, separated by a lateral ravine from the ground in rear of Wallace and Prentiss, through the dense thickets of which ravine no command had been able to penetrate, was just emerging from the forest, and crossing the Brier Creek ravine toward Hurlbut's camp. Trabue's men, catching sight of the blue uniform of Pond's Louisiana regiments, fired upon them. This being silenced, Pond's brigade continued down the ravine, and up a lateral ravine toward the river, Colonel Mouton's Eighteenth Louisiana in advance. As they neared the position the battery withdrew, unmasking a line of infantry. A murderous fire was opened by this line. Pond's brigade faltered, recoiled, withdrew; the Eighteenth Louisiana, according to Colonel Mouton's report, leaving 207 dead and wounded in the ravine.