On the 19th,

“We took a dismounted cannon at the edge of the LaFayette and Chattanooga road, and our lines, which had been much disordered, were somewhat reformed, and we started to advance across the field in the direction of the enemy. But some batteries in the woods, about four hundred yards distant, opened on us with cannister so fiercely that the line halted and the men sought such shelter as they could. The cannister fairly rained down on us. It was very dry, the dust in the road was deep, and every shot sent up a little cloud so that one could see danger of crossing the road. I got between two of the dead horses attached to the captured cannon, and using them as a breastwork, fired across the field at the enemy.” Houghton & Houghton, Two Boys…, p. 143.

“Wilder’s men were lying behind the fence and opened fire upon the rebels, who stopped on the other side of the field in the woods. Our men then rallied and,, forming a line behind the western fence of the field and assisted by Bradley’s and Estep’s batteries, which poured grape into the enemy at short range, checked the rebels and compelled them to fall back.” Turchin, Chickamauga, p. 89.

Estep, in his OR, complained that the advancing Confederates followed so closely on the retreating northern troops that he was unable “to deal a destructive fire on the advancing line of the enemy” and “was compelled to retire the battery, This I succeeded in doing by leaving one piece of the left section on the field…I moved to he rear…across the road and field to the timber and again opened fire…” OR-I-30 Pt I page 677.

The gun Houghton mentions may have been Estep's or Lilly's, but if you read Houghton, the Second Georgia was clearly amidst artillery battery wreckage that sounds a lot like what Estep describes in his full report. Another of those difficult to decipher moments.

As to Sept 20 -

Benning’s brigade captured the battery about 100 yards south of the Poe House.
W. R. Houghton to S. C. Kelly, July 7, 1890. Chickamauga – Chattanooga National Park.
“just in front of the guns are tablets showing the capture of an Indiana battery on Sunday are the rough stones showing the Second Georgia was there in the fight”
Houghton & Houghton, Two Boys…, p. 225.

“The artillery taken consisted of seven or eight pieces. According to my count there were eight--four brass and four iron pieces. Some of the officers thought that the iron pieces were only three.”
Benning, OR I Vol 30 Pt 2 p 517-519

“The second day it captured two batteries of four guns each, one with its flag,” Benning, “Notes on Battle of Chickamauga”, SHSP 13, 1885, p 375-6

“our brigade captured two lines of breastworks and seven pieces of artillery. I had my hands on one of the guns just as we drove the Yankees from it”
Theodore Fogel to Parents, September 20, 1863. Columbus Enquirer, September 24, 1863.

“we went into the fight without a single piece of artillery and came out with a supply” claiming seven captured by Benning’s brigade
C F Terrill letter, 2nd Ga., Chick./Chatt. NMP

Hood's division took twenty-one [guns], thirteen of which were brought off by Law's brigade, and eight by Benning 's.
“The Great Battle of Chickamauga”, “Sallust”, September 23, 1863. The [Richmond] Daily Dispatch, September 29, 1863.

And some people still don’t understand the whole concept behind casualty “estimates” for CW battles…

Please do forward the documents comprising the "report" of the 20th Ga to Chickamauga NPS, along with my contact for any questions they may have. It would be best if I got full copies of Longstreet's interview and Waddell's report for them.

Thanks,

Andrew Johnson
benningsbrigade@comcast.net