Hood says that Hardee's timidity lost him a great victory at Decatur, Ga., the day the Union General McPherson fell; and that Cheatham's, at Spring Hill, during his northward pursuit of Thomas, lost him another.

Yet I was compelled to make the change, which referred to the manual of arms, Hardee's tactics, in which system the piece is carried in the right hand at shoulder arms, having been substituted for Scott's, which provides for the shoulder on the left side.

As this affair took place on the 25th of that month, I respectfully recommend that the Senate be asked to change the date of Captain Hardee's brevet rank so as to correspond with the date of the action, to wit, the 25th of March, 1847.