The dingy little town of Ringgold—the county town of Catoosa County, Georgia—is situated at the base of the White Oak mountain range, only a few miles from the State line between Georgia and Tennessee. It was here that the routed forces of General Bragg first made a stand, after the battle of Missionary Ridge, to oppose the pursuit of the victorious soldiers of Hooker. A brief, but desperate and bloody battle, ensued, on the 28th of November. Generals Osterhaus and Geary led the Unionists, while the opposing rebels were Hardee’s command. The fight lasted about five hours, and was attended with heavy loss upon both sides. Three hundred rebel prisoners were captured, and the enemy was driven back, beyond the town, to Tunnel Hill. Colonel Creighton and Lieutenant-Colonel Crane were killed in this engagement, and the Seventh Ohio regiment lost all of its officers excepting one—Captain Creighton. This regiment was treacherously led into an ambuscade by a portion of Hardee’s corps, who displayed Federal flags. The Union soldiers behaved with the utmost gallantry. From Ringgold the rebels fell back upon Dalton. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF IN 1863. General N. P. Banks arrived in New Orleans on December 14, 1862, having been appointed to supersede General Butler in command of the Department of the Gulf. The news of this change created much surprise among all classes of citizens; and not a few of those who were opposed to the restoration of the national supremacy were sorry to part with an officer who, though obnoxious for his zeal in the discharge of his duties, had succeeded in establishing unexampled order and security in the city. General Butler tendered a cordial welcome to his successor, assuring him that the army would render a cheerful obedience to his orders. On the 15th General Butler took leave of the troops under his command, and paid a well-merited tribute to their patriotism, valor, and soldierly bearing; and on the following day he issued a lengthy address to the citizens, in which he recapitulated the leading measures of his administration, demonstrated the many great advantages which had resulted from the reestablishment of the Federal authority, and exhorted them all to return fully to their allegiance as the only means of obtaining peace and lasting prosperity to their city.