Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-02-28

crss route, 10 the Telegraph road. and then &
! tilg Eye, guarded by one hundred cavalry AM
th's disabled men Of the infantry, of who
+ thire was, unfortunately, = considerable number
These arrangement left me, for the fght, les
( ihln ten thousand men Of all arms.
The order was given to march forward at
A. "a, On the 9TH on the Cove creek road an,
/ ts Maysvile branch, to the Cane Hill and Fay
ettlvilie road The command was not in mo
/ dob till nearly four and then the route proves
/ SO excessively bad and the detentions 50 tre
quint from The breaking of artillery harRess ant
debility of the battery animals, that the infantry
/ failed to march above two miles an hour.
Il little before sunrise Marmaduke discovered
the cavalry Of HeTon's command, moving OF
/ the Gene Hill and Fayetteville road toward
Ne'Yburg Making bis dispositions rapidly, ane
/ With excellent judgment, be attacked them II
/ 'front.' and dank routed them completely killing
and woHnding many, captured over two hun
{ drei, with the train of 4 regiment, and pursued
the fugiiives Eve miles, in the direction Of Fay
eteviIe, to the line Of battle formed By Herron's
! infsntry.
AIy infantry was yet far in the rear, but NOV.
/ ing up as rapidly as possible. When the head
of tbe column at length reached the Cane Hill
and Fayetteville road, Par5on's brigade was pot
/ in position, facing toward Newburg, to resist
any movement of the enemy from that direction
"a regiment Of cavalry thrown toward that
plate to reeonnoiter, and the balance of the force
/ ordered forward, with instructions to attack the
/ reinforcements at Once;-Marmadukei IN advance,
sho5p next, then Frost remained with Par
son,' brigade, hoping to get some reliable intel
/ ligeacs of the enemy at NeHburg- Receiving
nons, at II NJ I went forward about two
miles, sndsovertook the marching column. Il
was painful to observe the exhaustion of the
men They had marched fifteen miles. None
Of them had eaten since the preceding day.
The rations of al had been insufficient for over
thirty days Many, Overeome wish fatigue,
were left on the roadside.
Biigsdier- General Shoup met me, and stated
that &isTmsduke was falling back before the
eueniy's infantry, which was advancing, and
that be had, therefore, put his division in posi-
ton 20 resist attack.
/ found the position taken by General Saoup
an Exceedingly strong one. 1t was upon the
edge Of a bill, densely wooded, descending
abruptly to Cfawfdga's prairie, half q mile in
widtll, which encircled all its northern half
Five hundred yards in rear was another prairie.
Between the two on the right and left skirt
of w,lods connected the timber Of the hill with
that beyond. The Cane Hill aud Fayetteville Q
road cuts the centre of this hill, passing by
Pfsir e Grove church, which is uponits summit
A eress route, from the Cane Hill and Fayette-
~
diately by the church, dividing the south prairie
from he growth upon the hill By the time I
rad cDmpleted myreconnoisssuce Of the ground,
q regiment Of Federal cavalry, with two pieces
Of artillery, opened tire upon the captured train
and prisoners, that had been ordered towards
M0Trcw's, and also upon a hospital established
by my medical director for the treatment of the
wounied of the Federal cavalry. No loss en-
eu-l, aud this force retired rapidly upon observ-
ing Parsons brigade. Shortly after, dense
columns Of smoke, IN the direction of Rays
mill, end Between there and Newberg, indicated
that Blount mad retreated hastily, destroying his
stores aud was moving to unite with HerronI
Immediately ordered forward Parsons bri-
gade Blount's advance soon appeared upon
the father side Of Crswfori's prairie The in.
terval of time in which [ might have attacked
Heron was past. Circumstances did not per
NIT me to avail myself Of it, for the manifest
reason that, a. the favorable moment, the rear
of my column could not be where the head Of It
was Evidently, the combined forces of Bleunt
and Hsrron would speedily attack me-. I made
such arrangements as seemed best to meet that
contingency. The line Of battle determined on
IVES nearly in the form Of horse shoe conform
ing to he shape OF the hill Only Shoup's di
vision and Shelby's brigade, of Msrmaduke 8
1ivisioil-the latter dismOunted-were az first
placed upon that line, filing the center aud
1ght, opposite the line taken by Heron, which
was up5n the farther side of CTawford's prairie,
IN a bFlff that rose up sseeply behind stream |
lowing into Illinois river. FrOst's division |
20 which had been added the brigade Of Texans, |
with Clsrk's Missouri regiment, commanded by |
igadieT-Geaeral Roane-was held in reserve, !
% await the movements of Blount McDonald's s |
-egimelt Of Missonu cavalry, and Lanes regi- |
xsent OF Texas cavalry, the latter commanded /
floionn1 p p 0-r1T7r1 vvara hal1 Il
n readiness to meet any attempts upon the |
tanks.
Abou; twelve the enemy opened with artillery, /
0 which ours began responding, but this pro |
libited. ct NJ, aided by tremendous ar |
illeTy fire, the infantry of Henon's command /
dvanced against the position held by Shoup /
nd Mamaduke. It was permitted to approach
within sixty yards, and then, as i charged, rush
lg galhmtly past one of our batteries, and ha7-
ng it fol a moment in their possession, Fsgan s
arkansas brigade, part Of McRaes brigade, ard
be Missourians under Shelby, delivered a ter.
ifc fire frsm their shot guns rifles and muskets,
nd chaiged the enemy fllriously. HsWthorne's
agimsni OF Arksnsians resook tbs battery. The
sdeTals broke and fed. Oar men pursued
lem far into the prairie. The slaughter was
rest-tlle earth in many places strewn with
'ederals wounded and dead.
Very soon the attack was renewed, lite
.rther til my right, with great vigor and deter
lination I ordered ShaveT's Arkansas brigsae
Erostii division, to the support of General
houp. Tbs enemy was again repuised, with
eavy lois, and retired in confusion.
Blount had now formed line of battle, two
ioussnd yards to the front and left of Shoup,
nd commenced advancing l ordered Fross's
vision formed on the left of MaTmaduke The
nick unlargrowth on that flank rendered it DIFF
cult 10 execute the movement, which was fur-
ler embarrassed BY the well directed and des
-uctive ire of tlA enemy's batteries. There
7as, hoaeYer, no confusion. BY the time Frost
7as in llae, the enemy was nearly across The
rsiTie, spd our skirmishers engaged his almost
S soon Is depcyed. His attack was directed
gsins I'arsons brigade. 1t was fierce and
Toongel, but ended in bis being driven back
-ith heilvy losses 0ae of Marmsdukss
agimenis, and enc Of Roane's-both Missou
an-shiTed tho honor Of this brilliant achieve
lent
The enemy now broaght up all his artillery,
lany pie ces Of which were rifed, aud endeavor-
d to shake our troops by playing upon cur en-
Re line for nearly an hour. Then he attacked
'ith al is infantry, a the same time threaten
~ the extreme left with heavy cavalry force,
nd attempting 70 turn the right MeD5nald's
Iissouri ssvslry defeated him in the last maneu-
er, LAT e's Texas cavalry and Resne's brigade
eteued Jim fr9m seriously asssiling ibe left :
nd Shoup's division, Shelby's brigade, of Mar
ladukei division, and Parsons and Shaver's I
rigades, Of Frosts division, gloriously repulsed
im in his desperate attack upon cur lines He {
gain hed beyord the prairie leaving his dead t
ad wouiIded, aad the colors of several Of his
gimentsin oui hands, besides number Of
1soners Some Of these were ascertained to
e Of Totten's division, which had arrived apon
ie field Siill further increasing the disparity Of
lYces.
IA the midst Of this struggle, information
lachel Me thata considerable body Of federal !
,valry " as approaching Hog Eye, to which
lace I bad oYdsred trains. I directed the !
agors ;etired OF the Telegraph rosd, to
liYeris. This wes done, without loss :
a furioIs cannonading was kept up by the
hemY tiI near sunset
Then a last attack of his infantry was direc-
d egainiIt The line held By Frost This was
os. detaminsd effort to retrieve the fortunes Of
.s day 1t Itsignally failed, aud ths enemy paid
Aarly ia killed and woundsd for the attamst