Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-13

j guarding the rear. The enemy, however. mad.
d no attack daring thsiay, though several time
2, in sight 5
oi Wednesday night, the rear guard eampst
r nearly opposite Spfingdals, at which place
), large body Of tho eaemy-both infantry and
) esysly-passsd tie evening before, evidently
: with the Intention Of cutting rs of from Ii,
+ main body. Sure enough, next morning Thurs
day, the d.h insiant-Whils the enemy's 5 skirm
r ishers were plainly discerniblo, only few hun
dtfe1 yards eff, advancing upon our rear By the
! same road upon vhich we were moving, iutelli-
gene was br0uga. that a column had made its
way round by Water Valley, and was awaiting
cur approach at that point Seeing the dstested
p bhlo coats ia the rear, and q moment after.
ward other bodies of them clustering on the hills
in font, began TO think We had got at last
into the tighiost plaza of the whole war. Col
Jackson, hoEovsr, kept as cool as = cucumber
and saw at glaIrcs what was to be done. Send
nag an order 10 the rear guard to hold the enemy
there IN check st al hazards, he formed his
remaining men into three columns, and ordered
a cilarge-ons down the road in the center and
! tie other two On either side through ths
bushes. Aeay they went, with shout and
a piercing yell hat made the woods rssound
aud no dOubt struck terror to the erevs6
s.uls OF cur base invaders. Their advanes
guard did not stand to IRE gun, but fell back
IN hot haste npoa The main body clustered
around Water Valley. Oar brave boys charged
Hght on aud right into them, in sight of Water
Valley on the north, Colonel Bsllsntins lssding
she van Here The FIRE for few moments v,az
sharp and deadly, especially to the Yankees.
several Of whom were made to bite the drst Our
loss in killed, none. Adjutant Vigil Moore. Of
Colonel Baielilinss regiment, was slightly
|ounqsd IN two places, and his horse in TIA
heal aud neck. Ljsutenant-C Col Jacob Tbomp.
son, OF ihe same regiment had his horse sboe
nom under ban in ne charge, and was badly
bruised BY the fall. The enemy fell back to an
aAhuzeAde they had prepared for US, bat Into
which We were too well posted'' to follow
thsm- The " rear guard" ef cavalry then cor
hnued abe retreat-some through, and some
making detsur to the left OF The lit.is VILLAGE
Of Water Valley, hahing to burn lrsstls-work.
destroy bridges, burn cotton, etc all in good
order, deliberately and without confusion.
All Gay Friday and part Of Saturday. tFs
army was detained at CoffsevilIs BY the borr5bls
condition Of the roads. On Friday evening The
battle of G, fsevilIs was fought COMPELLED
90 turn At bay BY the slOwnsss with which the
trains were novel, parts Of Generals Tillrh-
mans and Rust's divisions formed in line If
battle on the hills three quarters Of mile north
OF CoHesTille, and with the cavalry and six
pieces q artillery in the esnter, quietly awaited
the onset Of the enemy, who were slowly driving
IN a small party Of our sharpshooter5 which had
been bravely skirmishing with him for more
than "a hour from one to two miles in front.
onf sharDshooteIs LAT cot is,- anil H,s ~---,
Ane, (at least two miles long, was plainly seen
coming on cautiously in perfect order. Just
then tie enemy 5 arSIery opened, and ours be-
gan to reply with q vigOr that must have aston
iHhed the bOsstful invaders, who thought they
were advancing TO N easy victory. One of the
enemy round shO struck in a few feet fGsne-
rails Lowell and Tnghman, aud Col Jackson,
as they sat on their horses in the midst Of their
escorts, in the center Of cur line-so nearly had
the raseals already got our range.
AAsr our artillery had played upon the ad-
vaueing Federals about a half hour, the order
was given by General Lowell to advance upon
them and to "press EN-" And press 'em We
did, for two hours or more, driving tham four
miles, and wOrsting them a. every stand they
made. The srmy Of Grant is almost entirely
made up of Northwestern men, and they, We
know, fghs besier thsn any other Yankees.
They showed It On this occasion. They con-
tasted every inch Of ground with q gallautry
worthy Of better cause. But they could not
stand before the men Of Fort Donelson, and the
devoted meu Of the South generally, fighting for
their homes and hresidss. We drove them tit
dark, killing several of their best and brsvest
officers aud many Of their men, Lietenant-
Colonel MeCullough and major Of the 4th IL
iDois, besides several other officers Of inferior
rank, were certainly killed, and it is affirmed BY
ono Of eur men who escaped from them q few
days after tia q ght, that the celebrated Colonel
Lee commanding the Kansas and Iowa cavalry.
was also among the killed. When tie pursuit
was about closing at dark, the enemy las We
learned afterward from themselves under their
flag Of truesJ were everywhere breaking in wild
confusion along their whole line. Another half
hour Of daylight would have witnessed another
Manassas rout.
Our loss was small only about Eve killed
and fifteen wounded; while that Of the enemy
was from eight to ten tirnes as many, certain.
some of their deserters and prisoners who
escaped from them after the fight placing it as
high as three hundred and sixty In any event,
we q slashed" them beautifully at Coffsevills,
after having for so long and so uuwillingly
shown them our backs in compliance with the
orders Of our lieutsnant-generaL All our men
behaved well on every part of the field. The
men Of FOst Donelson, Ted by the cool and fear
less TiIghman, behaved with remarkable intre-
pidity. Colonel Jackson, at the head Of his
cavalry, in the center, kept up with and even
ahead of the line Of skirmishers, and exposed
himself with an unconscious fearlessness that
attracted the attention and won the praise Of
every behOlder. At one time he advanced within
less than four hundred yards Of the snemy's
battery, which turned loose grape and canister
at him and his escort, and ploEed the ground al
around them.
The .Ast Of our army did not leave Coffee
vile uRtil Friday evening-indeod our pickets
were stationed at that place Friday night and
have been ever since-and yet such was the
eject Of the unexpected blow administered on
that day, the enemy have not since then ad-
Vsneed foot On the contrary, he has fallen
back some distance beyond Water Valley, in
frOht, and probably to the Mississippi bottom
on the left.