, 1862-04-17
Ineisents at Fort ponelson.

Every one asks, what made 2O,O ,OOU able-bOdied
men surrender, With plenty Of provisions and
ammunition, entrenched as they were behind
breastWorks that made them equal to any oddsf
How could they, after all their insolence, AFRO
gance and assumption Of superiority, yield 70
force very little more than their own. and TO men
whose courage they ridicued and whose manli
ness they affected to despisef The sole answer
Is that boastfnlness is rarely the parent Of vaor,
and that insoencsi Is rarely the companion Of
magnanimity. .,, $3.50. !. ...,...,.,,. ........
In conversation with one Of the rebel Captains
yesterday, he asked me how the boats had man
aged to escape all the toFped0ee that had been
placed in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
and which he thought would have blown our
feet to atoms. When told the toFpedoos were
usually harmless, and that some Of them had
been taken up and exhibited as specimeus Of in
effectual malignity, he declared Il was very hard
to kill Yankee; that if you halted hook with
the devil, the Yankee would steal the hook with
out the DEVILS knowing It.
Surprise has often been expressed that Pillow
and Floyd should have been able to escape with
FIVE thousand men, . number Of pieces Of can.
non, and supply Of the hest armS This will
seem an easy task when Il Is remembered that
we had no force above the Fort on the opposite
side Of the river, and that steamers were lying
"ea, Dn's', SUI "Au ~" so'Syn.S :
to the Rebels Tor several Gays ~ithout 'eAr OF
mo estation. Et...t..s
All that Pillow and Floyd had to do, therefore,
was tn go down to the boats, cross the Cumber.
land, and 20 up on the opposite side as far as
Nashville It was generally supposed We bad
troops and batteries 10 defeat such movement
but we had not; and that we had not, Ia great
mistake, for which some one Is responsible. ''
Floyd carried with him about ten Of the best
OF the iorty guns taken from os nanssSas--
Several Of the Rebels showed during the en-
gagement recklesSness OF i'ie that proved tneIr
desperation: one o. them mounted the n,eas'
works IN inh view Of our lSrces. and deIea the
ID Yankees out haraiy nad nis oenanee
passed his lips before ne iell pierced oy score
OF bullets
Another remained outside oi tne rItie-pi's a'ter
oil his companions had- retreated eenind them.
and toueht with hiS sword against hall = dozen
Of the Un'onists VINO had surrounded MN ana
were anxious to take him prisoner They asked
him several times 70 Eurrender but ne declared
he would rather die, and die ne 90 On the point
Of Union hayonet; but not bsinte he bad slain
one and wounded three o. his advers1ries,
One Of the prisoners has since gwen me ne
history o. tins desperate ceeess'onisI ne nad
inherited large 6rtunei maFFied wife ia Ten
neSsee; squandered his means 10 riotous living
and dlsspatoni se arated from his spouse; be-
came reckless; joined the army and declared nus
INTENTION 70 I'VE no longer tnan the nrSt oau'e.
de redeemed his tatal promise, and closed ms
wild career . needless martyr 70 an nnholy cause
third SecessioniSb private IN = Mississlppot
company. leit his companions In arms, and. with
horrid imprecation, rushed into the midst Of
me OF our regiments, bic hand gTaspine bis mus
ket barrel and aimed blow at an Indiana CaD-