Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-11-29

4
Kentucky 3D., (Garrards) l believe, dld moi
move that night ] know not why Ine 5otl
Ohio and the ;}d Indiana pushed forward 20 tilt
summit of Wildcat, and halted not long beioFS
dsv. The teams were also moving al nlghl
long.
leave much stores and ammunition. am told
we left ttreifg-ttoO tuHs of ammunition at London
And vet. readers, we are making forced march
to prevent the enemy from cutting Us of, or to
save Blue Grass.
Strange that soldiers should leave their ammu.
milton and march to meet the enemy. At Pit
mans we met thirteen wagons loaded with CON-
missarv stores, en- route from camp Dick Robin
son for London. These were unloaded immedi-
ately, and proceeded to London for patients aud
stores. Some of the regiments had necessarily
left their tents and camp equipage, so that even
had fatigue permitted them to pitched tents they
could not have enjoyed the luxury.
November l4th--A heavy storm OF Taln reused
the biyOuachers from sleep. Their blankets and
clothing were saturated with water. The morn
ing was most dismal Wildcat Heights crown
ed with a heavy coronal OF mist trowned IN
dreary and discoumging altitude before us. he
roads We're already worked INTO tough muck
and the pathway on the edges where the troops
walked ve.e Shiny and slippery. Beyond was
hDEhESllC llNttr oN A4lT tAAANA l-fAtN-A ttLAA-
But the word was en- RgaRt. The lads partook
of their cold rations and hot coffee, and took up
the toilsome march. Every step was laborious
to the sturdy, sgonizing to the feeble knsp-
sacks almost too heavy under the tairestaus-
pceS, were now dOubly bUrdensome, and the pack
horse load WAS increased by the aggravatlng
weight of water which soaked blankets and
heavy army Overcoats, and the nasty slime
which splashed and plastered eachman's breech-
es as high as his knees in front and rear, and
filed his shoes until they oyerriowed with slush
During the first mile we passed one baggage
wagon capsized in a creek. It's load of COM
missary stores and baggage were lost The
desolate teamster and jaded horses, bedaubed
with mud. gazed at il dismally and hopelessIy
as we moved forward Further up the hiil a
half dozen wagons were stuck, and the poor
animals could not move them a few hundred
yards further, barrels of bread were tossed ont
of wagons and left TO destruction in the forests.
A stranger to the facts, passing would have
said, here is a terrified army fleeing from a
pursuing enemy.
Going up the mountains, we passed Iennes-
seeans some are pushing on desperately. lon-
deT is one prone on a bed of leaves. His head
is bolstere1 on a rottOn stump. Exhaustion Is
graphically pictured on bis liYid complexion and
in his silent form He is unconscious, while he
sleeps the sleep Of distress, that the driving rain
is beating meTcilessly upon him. Ny comrade
startles me" Is be dead ?" Oh, no he's only
an exhausted soldier. He wears no shoulder
straps with silver star on each. But it is yet
early in the day Surely it is not time for sol
diers to yield to fatigue They have marched
only one night, and have slept the whole Of one
or two hours on the damp, frosted soil.
WHY in the name of humanity does not the
h.a halt
columul Is there imminent danger ahead
Cannot these failing men be halted for rest
At least let messengers be dispatched to inspire
them to march, march, march, to resist the foe.
Anything to renew their spirit. But look at
these wagon loads Of sick soldiers. See them
shiyeTing in saturated blankets, seated in pools
of water which drip from their clothing as it
p0urs from the clouds Hear their unceaSing,
diseordant and narrowing chorus OF coughing
Here are candidates for the grave. But the
order Is stern" Bring all your sick.' 81 Oh"
said one OF the surgeons 70 me, g that was the
cruelest order officer ever gave. l protested IN
vain. | urged that it would kill my patients.
But come they must. / shall lose perhaps thirty
or forty Of my regiment, and it Will plant con-
sumption in the lungs of two hundred more
And here is another picture. We splash
along tediousy through the mire, and mounted
officers encourage their men by kind words of
sympathy. Nearly ali relieve feeble soldiers by
carrying their kuapsacks and muskets. Col
Steedman, long TaCked with chillS and fever,
and scarce able to sit his horse, rides with his
scattered columns Col. COnnel, suffering from
illness, bears the burden of a sick soldiers
knapsack. Col. Coburn dismOunts and pushes
through the mud, while a feeble lad rides bis
charger The captaius on foot emulate then
supeTiors, and encourage them by example.
~ IL
over Wildcat. TIE dismal train halts at the
ferry, in the mud and rain. The jaded men fall
asleep On the sod Of aneighborng meadow, wait
ing the slow process Of crossing all the column
in one small float The teameteTs stuff their
worn out animals with corn A few, in despe-
ration, plunge into the ford where the water IS
swift, and some narrowly escape wateTy grave.
The l4th Ohio loses two wagons and contents,
including twenty-five or thirty thousand rounds
of ammunition. The 18th loses a wagon and
twentv-six thousand rounds Of ammunition at
the ferry The Tennesseeans lose two wagons
and contents, with three horses, and the 5Sth
Ohio loses one wagon. How much more was
lost, DO not know
This was morning but the column was long
after night in crossing. AfterWard throughout
tine day the scene already described, increased
and assumed more Gggrayating forms. The
road constantly became more wretehei Men
flung away their knapsaeks and stalked onward
Ia utter desperation their officers refusing to see
insubOrdnatiOn. Some stumbled and fell by
the wayside, where they lay and slept the sleep
of exhaustion. And the sick in the uncovered
wagons and those acCursed ambulances, were
racked and PouncBd over rocks and ruts until
their weak bones Rohel, their coupteusnces teS-
tifying 70 their utter WretUhedness And thus
hour after hour, through mud and slime,
and TaiR, over rocks, and rails, and logs,
up the toughest and steepest grades, and down
the Tuggedest desceuts, our weary, fOotsoTe, eT-
hausted soldiers and iaded teams struggled and
toled IN PAIN all the miserable day and far into
night; for even at midnight feeble stagglers
staggered into Mount Vernon, where the l4th
and 18th rested, to find their comrades.
This night the poor lads went TO bed supper
less, for fatigue was overp0weIing, and sleep
sweeter than meat. Some of them marched
fourteen, some sixteen miles that day-thiTteen
the night ami morning before This days work
was more disastrous than ordinary battles. God
knows how many sturdy constitutions il wrecked,
how many brave volunteers it will Kill.
CRAB ORCHARD, November Il The 35th
Ohio and the 33d Indiana are coming in slowly.
The former was more deliberate, but suffered its
proportion. The latter are sleeping IN tue woods
without tents IL know not whether the Tennes-
seeans have got back safely to London.
There . not much beauty or gaiety in SOL
dier's lie, it il is ike this. But the toll, and
suffering, and sacrifices, and the manly efforts
Of brave men Obeying orders under circum-
stances such as l have sketched, are very elo-
quent VIII soldiers respect, love, and cheer
fully fight under officers who abuse them as
slaves do brutes
The amount Of physical suffering caused by
this march cannot be computed. None can tell
how many sturdy frames viii bend under dis
ease contracted from this ruthless exposure
The mortality list Of the regiments viii shortly
begin to make a record. Many Of the sick who
were dragged out Of their beds ia the London
hospitals to be tortured on the rugged roads,
saturated with rain, and chilled with cold, must
die. Many of the well must fall ILL., All, well,
there are 80 sick in the 33d Indiana only a
couple Of hundred or so sick in the l4th Ohio /;
only a hundred or SO sick in the 3Sth Ohio only
several scores sick in the 18th Ohio only a few
hundreds altogether. II they die, recruit the
regiments.
The loss Of the property is nothing. The
government is rich. Only thirty horses belong
inc to the 18th Ohio were knocked up and rem
deTed unfit for service, and one died; one wagon
was lost and twenty-six thousand pounds OF
ammunition; about the same report IS made by
the l4th Ohio: so with each of the regiments.
But the moral effects of the countermarch IS one
of the worst features The m0untaineers OF
Kentucky regard it as a retreat, and the prestige
Of the victory at Wildcats turned against US.
And so ended the great Cumberland Gap ex-
petition.