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

INCHDRNFs OF FnE RgwERAT
FsOfa sHBRYHTEE


z 4 FasOH = sBBEEHLEsE.
y -.a-- HEADeUERT CAsAtRY DIVISION.
!. NEAR GHEsAbA alIss ,-DseslubeE,l2, So.
4 r Oae year, or sven three months ago, VII
4, would have believed that the Confsders.e lin
. Of defense would new be this low down in th
= land Of Dixie AID yet so It is. Hore az
II hereab1uts, is Lieut. Gen. Psnbsi toms army
after s weary but well conducted retreat Q
! ! upward Of sixty niks, with the olateI and ez
ultant enemy Messing his forces in font Of US
at sale stance OF twenty five to thirty miles
Happening to be7iu the rear Of our reir5atiag
forces, 'gits the mqeh abused and much ealum.
! mated, but hardr.orked aud III fed cavalry, I
can give you. some Of the incidents Of our
toilsQme and not altogether iagori0us back
wAri nsEsAF On Friday evening. the as.h
NoysmbeFf tao enemy's advance gusrd drove in
onr Pickets at Holly Springs, and entered that
/ Placs%h force. The next day their advancing
colufnn vas gallanuy STACKED by Major Saun-
ders' battalion OF Mississippi cavalry, (number-
ing oaly about one huadred men, vita loss
of twenty OF thirty killed on the side Of the
enemy, and Only thEes oa ours. Tie check,
! however, was but Inomentary, and the Fsds
rails, having brought q section Of artillery upon
tbe scene, continued slowly to adYance. At
Old Waterford, Cgl. W, H. Jsekson, our able
ehiot of cavalry, with what few fsrces he then
had at bis disposal formed his line Of battle.
and, with section Of artillery, replied to the
enemy qua for gun but was compelled slowly
to retire by the OvsrWhelming and superiOrly
armed numbers Of the foe.
And hare, Msssrs. Editors, let me give vou
one or two reasons why the cavalry of this army
eaasot possibly do everything that is expected
OF them by tbs ineOnsiderste and uniuformed
public. In the hrst place, about half the cav
airy tit for duty arc generally absent on picket.
scouting, cotton and bridge burning and other
service, and cannot possibly be made available
IN large force TO inset any sudden al dvanoe Of
the ensmy on any particular point of our lire
In the second plse5, oar cavalry arc, az ar /
almost universal ruls, poorly srned-many Of /
thsm, several hundreds, have 30 arms at all
while 4 majority Of thoss that have arms, have
nothing better than doubIo-bsrroI shot guns
which are worse than usslsss before the long
range guns OF the enemy. Ia e word, shst
gdas, as war weapons, ars now fully PLAYED
sut. Ia the hox1 place we hayo not half ss
mach cavalry IS sOns people suppose The in
foresnent Of the soBseription has annihilatsd
some OF the finest regiments and bAttslions in 1
the army; and this, too, without ben.6.ting any
ether arm Of the service, for the men, having
made clear contract with the government to
serve As cavalry, have, to the number of some
thousands, to avoid being "conscripieJ - made
their eseapo and gone homo.
From Waterford to the TalIahatebis liver
during Saturday and Sunday, cur cavalry and
two pieces Of artillery skirmisbed with The enc
my at every point where q small force could be
made available against large one, falling back
slowly and in good order, and with but little
loss on either side. On Sunday the main body
Of the army, yielding, I suppose, to another
ono OF those miraculous and inevitable " milf
tary necessities - OF which NO hear 50 much IN
these startling timss,) commenced the retreat
from the slgOng position al front of AbbsviIe.
A large army Of Fodersls was said to be getting
into cur rear by ths way Of Charleston and
Oakland Colonel McCulloch's brigade Of cav
airy was sent on with the advance guarI of the
army. The Texas cavalry, undeT the command,
1 believe, Of L:catenant-C Colonel Grifiith, was
seus to meet the enemy at Oakland. Sunday
night, what was left Of Col. Jaeksons division
Of cavalry, comprising the fragments of Coils
Wheeers and SlsmmOns' hrigades, formed in
the rear Of tae retreahng army. and slowly
wended its way through torrents of rain 10
Oxfard
At Oxford, the cavalry and enc brigade of in
fantry, remaiR6d all day Monday and psrt of
Tuesday, the Cd inst, while the rest Of the army
and the Immense wagon trains slowly wended
their way through mud and mire, by two roads,
southwark. Tuesday, about noon, the advance
Of the enemy was deserted short distance north
Of Oxford, and heavy skirmisbing at once began,
on both the Wyatt aud Abbeville roads. On
the former, Colonel Bal1entiRs commanded, and
carried ais men into the fght with a skill aud
gallantry that have become the admiration of
the army. The horses, however, Of a consider
bic number Of his men, who had dismounted for
the purpose Of charging tho enemy on foot, were
unfortunately stampeded Subsequently,, most
Of them were recovered. It was here that Lieut.
JO. Wieks, Of Memphis, adjutaHt of Jacksen's
old regiment, was. Killed. being shot from his
horse while gallansly doing his duty in the frsnt
of the battle. On the right, on the AbbeYiUe
road, the skirmishiug was not so heavy, though
there, as on the left, the snsrny were successfully
held In check until everything of much value
was safely got ofl. In the morning, just before
the airing begsn. q regiment or two guarding the
railroad depot, got hold of large amount Of
mean whisky, and many OF them got naeaaIy
drunk II the whisky had been good % We
might have said they got glOriOusly drunk
As it was, they were In q most halIslujah mool,
aud had they bssn put right into the fight while
she mood Was on them, think they would have
charged through the whole Of Grants army
q plumb to Cairo, or to the lakes, or wherever
his rear is.
During this whole retreat the enemy kept
several thousOna cavalry, with long range guns
Colts Oarbines) and navy repeatsrs, Ia their
iront, who, On approaching our retiring column,
would dismount and come up to the conflict on
foot. It was thus at Oxford, in the skirinish
north Of She town; bot when they came into
tue place, which they did just IS the last of oar
infsntry were Leaving, they did 50 with infantry
and horse Col. jackson, chief Of cavalry, ct
the momens Of their first attempt to enter, was
present in the public square, and attempted to
prevail OH regiment of our infantry, still re-
naming there, to chaRge with him upon the
Federals. The cOlonsl bore gallantly
down on them, firing his pistols At them as be
went. After diseharging his last shot, hsturned
his hsad with the expectation of seeing tho regi-