The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-04-11
Col. BufOrd's Expedition to Un,on r..

r'sheu, AlLtoh' Ma. Gen.
Col. BufOrd's Expedition TO Un,oo r..
The correspondent of the World p7,..
particular, and in one respect very am.
account of the occupation of Union o.,
Col Buford on Monday the 3lst ult;-no !
appears that Col Buford had good re.so-
believe that descent would be made - :,
town of Hickman by party of seee,sio,;-.
who were at Union City; but aware Tia, -
open demonstration against them NJ,
prompt some secession sympathizer or o,s.,
in Hickman to forward information n :,
rebels at Union City, Col Bufortl pron-,.3
the citizens of Hickman 4 review of Y,rl
troops on Sunday, which, he believed. wo,ra
divert their attention from his real npr,,.,
The scheme succeeded, for almos, eyp-rl,..s.
in town was on the levee when the 9TH J.:
nois and 18th Missouri regiments Were l,,.a
ed from two transports. Meantime ba,.s-u
of six pieces and 200 Illinois cavalry VIC.
posted on toward Union City, and the ,roo-,s
on review, as soon as the proper tin, HAD
arrived, posted after them. The auibo,-,,
named above thus tells the rest:
"A small cavalry force kept Snort d;s.
lance in advance, and carefully examined -.
country on either side of the road As W. nr,.
eeeded. Not the slightest symptoms of h..
tility Showed itself till We reached a no;~.
about two miles this side of Union C;,r-
Here, just where the road Crosses the rain,
our advance encountered Strong ,jckr,
force of the rebels. Both parties imlo4,l;1,--
ly opened at loEg range; but. after fr;7p
some twenty shots the enemy turned and a.,
appeared in u cloud of dust of their oan
raising, as they fled in TO give the ALARM
The National column Immediately pushed 90
after them so vigorously that they had SCARF
" given the alarm to the main body er. mr.
men were on them.
Union city is at the junction of the raj
roads from Columbus and Hickman. a15
consists Of depot, dozen Indifferent woo!
en- buildings, the whole situated in a ceart.r
less than a mile in diameter As We -ea,brl
within half mile or so OF this clearing, IL
road wldened somewhat, the trees became
thinner. enabling one 10 see the sr;tleme1..
As we reached this point. We first noticed
the white tents of the rebels to the LETT Of IT,
town. and next the rebels themselves. draw
up In line OF battle across the road, with MS
wings extending into the timber Oh either
side.
I The column was instantly thrown into ,,,rr
of battle across The road, skirmishers pu>het
in advance, the cavalry sent of 10 The lt.l /.
make detour and get in the rear of ih- t.
nv. while the artillery turned TO the rich. u.
( the road and took position on a little em.:a-
euce in wheat field. The battery went INFO
position on gallop. and almost As soon :
have written it, they numbered and opene;
on the rehe,s.
I Alas for the chiralry, alas for those brave
and chivalrous souls who profess TO eat u;
tive-fold their number in Yankees. and to de
in the last ditch, The whiz of their frs.
rified shot affected them unpleasantly-
second made them worse, and then. as the,
ioohSN anu So" IL Oh steel COMING
strai sht at their breasts, and a force of cav
airy creeping around to their rear, and re
tiected for moment how unpleasant the ser
satlorS caused by bayonet. sabre and can
non shot, they turned tail and ingloriousl,
fled without firing gun,
1t would have amused an admirer of spec
Ia have seen those natural lords Of the SOL
trGrol-to have seen these chivalrous scion,
these diving in-the-l ast-ditch' fellows-the>,
war.n-blooded, gallant sons of the SUNNI
South drop their old shot guns, drop their
variegated blankets. and shoot with straish,
coat tails as fast as long legs, and bethre>he,l
and be-spurred forses could carry them. ari
all this from force no. half their own i,
numbers. The platform seemed TO bc. 4
far start, or any start, and the devil take the
hindmost: the bull-calf, to which Fals,af
was likened, never SO ran and reared as I'D
these valiant haters of Yankees-these bow,
le-knlte. whisky-brave. nobly -descended sons
of the Huguenots. .Jamais arriere seemed
TO be the motto of all and frantic and Sd
perhuman were the efforts made by each 10
bring no disgrace upon so worthy sent
ment.
Some seven individuals, who were swindled
in getting fair start, were cut off by OH
cavalry. and. preferring surrender to death
/ quietly laid down their arms and gave them.
selves up. These were all the prisoners T.
ken: the balance made good their escape
and probably ere this are safe in Memphis
and are rejoicing the hearts of the rtbe.,
there by relating how they slew hecatomh.
of Yankees. and, after demolishing then
completely. fell back in accordance with .
previous order
The haste of The rebels was such in !rdy
, ing that they left all their tents standing anu
their personal property untouched. There
was large amount of stores at the depot
but these had been placed on 4 train severa
days before, and were run off early MorGa..
morning The only articles found were Tx
tents and baggage, and a mailbag full d
letters that had apparently Just arrived, and
had not been distributed"