The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1861-09-07
A TEXANS pxsCxIPrIoM or The BATTLE OF
OAK MILL

The following letter. addressed to the
editor of the Dallas Herald, 10y the Hon
X. @ Mills. who participated in the bat
tic Of Oak Hill, will be- read with inter
est The testimony which it bears to
the pefsonal coolncss aud bravery OF the
Texans, is fully borne out by other and
dsintercstcd accounts.
DALLAS Cousry, TEXAS,
August 22nd, 1861.
c. X. Pryor,
D,ay Sir IL promised you an outline
of the fight at Wilson's Creek, ten miles
South Of Springfield, No. ON the 10Th Of
Aug .st.
Gen. McCulloch's army was cncamped
on both sides of y lson's Creek, on the
main road. The .txas regiment and Col.
Churchlrs regiment, OF A,kanss were
camped IN the rear, on the west side OF
the Greek. In front OF us, on the West,
were the Missoufians under Price and
Rains. and on the right and east Of the
creek, were the Louisiana regiment I'M
der Col Hebcrt, and the Arkansas rcgi-
mcn,s.
About o'clock Saturday morning, our
camp was assaulted in the advance and
the rear. and on the right simultaneous
! ". The attack in front was conducted
by Gen Lyon in person the rear by Gen.
Soigel and the right, ! learned from
some Of the prisoners, was 10y ~
Sturgiss. The attack on the front alu
rear was by artillery, the right was as
saultcd by Dragons, Seiscrs fire was
opened on the Texans under Col Greer,
and the Arkansians under Churchill
/ Each Of these brave commanders was in
/ stantly at his post, and in every dlrcc-
ton over tine field, mingled with notes Of
/ the bursting bombs, could be heard the
/ solitary command, fall in fall in y
/ The horses Of Col Churchill's regiment
stampedcd and ran in every direction
but his brave boys &" fell in as they ran
TO take their places ON the field close to
the music Our boys, having risen per-
haps a little earlier, had their horses
mostly secured and great many already
saddled for the fray. In few moments
after the magic words, " fall in had
passed down our line of cncampment,
orr Texas boys were oaimiy in iiRc, not a
tremor was seen nor pale lace, \
smile OF delight played on Col. Lanes
face as he rose in his stirrups and cried
Forward - We dashed Of at gal
lop to the place assigned us before the
baitle-the left wing--fecing a little
more comfortable as we recedea from
the music OF bomb and grape, But we
were not long permitted To ENJOY ihis
relief, for as soon as we had vacated
the field whcte we were enca'nped with
Col, Churchill, Neigei Vanceu tirongh
II and planted his guns on the hi N the
road, IN front OF Sharps house where
some Of our SICK were, and from winch
position our rear was exposed 10 the
whole tire OF his guns. At the same
time the enemy's batteries IN the advance
Were giving us warm welcome. Our
boys stood 1t IKE hoi'es. Our gallant
Culouel, ElSanah Greer. the caimert and
bravest man ! ever saw, was on the
alert, and would frequently change our
position to protect us from the enemy :
batteries, and at the same time guard
our position. we were uhaer hfe al dli'
ferent Intervals Tor TWO OF thrco hours.
without Inc pressure OF returning 'he
comp portion o' our reg ',hoh'
was aeiachou u"''hE inc pa''' anu en-
gas'a 9eiSelS 'e''''ns co'u'"ns' Grove
him along Inc fo'u Hou'' cast from
opt'hS'e' some s'N OF seven MUGS iron,
'he nam acton oAP'u'eu TWO pieces OF
a,'''iety' anu s''',s many u ','c enemy
"'ong 'io 'o"' anu u, tue "|o's' n"'''y
| r9nteo '"e"' anu scatter" ti'rh 10 'he
o''0N;i"Vh ""s"eS an" '''" "o'us. LUZ
,hg Tue oay' "l',c we "e'e E"''u''s tue
'ei'' we came ~ So"o 'n'oo o' 'pn'
h"ner'd yafoS oi ','e rear OF 'ne ene'ny
oat,elv' oeienueu ny some n'o i""u,oo
wen aceip''heo troops C"'' u'eor o'"ot'
ca US 10 form III ''he fronting 'he Pos''iaf''
Tor the purpose VI charging II, we
were u, Tue WOODS where inc c'''h was
covered WIN 'he 'h"heSt uhuc' grown
ana III iefh'ns n"'sos Az" sc''hg raw
unu'se'p''nou troops 'n'o position every
o'n,c' .'E'"B - s,' MS '"e'' III poS'''oh'
ana eei'B assisted ~ many oil 'he men
~ ~ RANKS a'' oph'ilp"lou " produce sucf
"o"'',' '""l wv N'"'i ""7 WY "'"" y!