A few minutes before the explosion, I had ordered up the reserve under General Ripley. As he passed me at the head of his column, I desired him, as he would be the senior in advance, to ascertain, as near as possible, the situation of the troops in general, and to have a care that not more was hazarded than the occasion required; that, the object of the sortie effected, the troops would retire in good order, &c. General Ripley passed rapidly on; soon after, I became alarmed for General Miller, and sent an order for the 21st to hasten to his support towards battery No. 1. Colonel Upham received the order, and advanced to the aid of General Miller. General Ripley had inclined to the left, where Major Brooke's command was engaged, with a view of making some necessary enquiries of that officer, and in the act of doing so, was unfortunately wounded. By this time, the object of the sortie was accomplished beyond my most sanguine expectations. General Miller had consequently ordered the troops on the right to fall back; observing this movement, I sent my staff along the line to call in the other corps. Within a few minutes they retired from the ravine, and from thence to camp. Thus, one thousand regulars, and an equal portion of militia, in one hour of close action, blasted the hopes of the enemy, destroyed the fruits of fifty days labour, and diminished his effective force 1,000 men at least. I am at a loss how to express my satisfaction at the gallant conduct of the officers and (p. 213) men of this division, whose valour has shown superior to every trial. General Porter, in his official report herein enclosed, has very properly noticed those patriotic citizens who have done so much honour to themselves, by freely and voluntarily tendering their services at a dangerous and critical period. As the scene of action was in a wood, in advance of the position I had chosen for directing the movements of the whole, the several reports of commandants of corps, must guide me in noticing individuals. General Miller mentions Lieutenant-Colonel Aspinwall, Lieutenant-Colonel Beedle, Major Trimble, Captain Hull, Captain Ingersoll, Lieutenant Crawford, Lieutenant Lee, and particularly Ensign O'Fling, as entitled to distinction. Lieutenant-Colonel McDonald, upon whom the command of the rifle corps devolved, upon the fall of the brave and generous Gibson, names Adjutant Shortridge, of the 1st, and Ballard of the 4th regiments, as deserving the highest applause for their promptness and gallantry in communicating orders. Of the other officers of the corps, he reports generally, that the bravery and good conduct of all was so conspicuous as to render it impossible to discriminate.