Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1863-05-30
SATURDAY MORNING, MAY 80, 1868.
out of the train by the engineer before he
could be captured

TALON was detached to strike New Orleans
and Jackson Railroad at Bahala station,
where water tanks, ears and other property
was destroyed.
At Wallis station. on the Tickfaw, rcgi-
mcnt of rebel cavalry was discovered who
were routed with several killed and wound
ed. Our loss was one killed and five wound
cd; among them was Lieutenant Colonel
Blackburn, of the Seventh Illinois. He was
shot in the thigh, and slightly in the head.
lie was left. with several of the wounded,
at house, with an injunction that, if not
kindly treated, when our boys returned they
would take their revenge.
At Summit large amount of government
! sugar wood and locomotives, &C., were
destroyed. The ca,pp of Hughes's and
SIilbun's Partisan Rangers, on Big Sandy
creek, was attacked and destroyed and "a
large number of horses cauptured from
here they moved on the Greenvlle Spring
road toward Baton Rouge. About nine
miles from Baton Rouge the entire com
mand of Stuart's cavalry fourteen officers
and eighty men, were captured. The men
made very little resistance, rctreating to
the river, where they were surrounded.
INCIDENTS.
! 1t is almost impossible to give you any
! thing like perfect sketch Of the sixteen
days march of this band of heroes How
they managed to endure and hold out under
the fatigues Of so long and pcrilous march
through the enemy 5 country--living rs they
best could-slceping but an hour or two at
a time, is one Of the most remarkable events
in the history of warfare. In comparison
the deeds OF Stuart jackson and other Con
fcdcrate cavalry. dwindle into the most
contemplate allairs-not worth speaking
Of
At one place number Of old gray headed
men came out to resist the cavalry with
shot guns. and fired several shots. Not 4
shot was fired in return. They were sur
rounded. disarmed and their weapons de
stroycd. This very much astonished them ::
they had been led to believe they would be
killed, their homes destroyed, and every
imaginable cruelty perpctrated upon them
But when they found the men of the North
were only fighting against efficient rebels
they seemed to wake up from dclusion.-
They then willingly gave our men what as
sistancc they could. and one of them under
took to act as guide.
The amount of damage done to the rebels
it is difficult to estimatc-not bridge or
railroad, not line of telegraph anywhere
cd. Horses. when necessary, were impressed
to replace the worn-out Ones. Only small
stock Of provisions was brought along, so
that they had to live on the enemy, and
tolcrably hard fare they had too. Large
numbers of men offered themselves to be
paroled as Il means of avoiding the conscrip-
tion of the rebel officers.
Hundreds OF negroes joined them as they
came along bringing, all one, some two
horses or mules
The success of the expedition could be
shown in no more palpablc manner than the
health of the men. When they reached
Baton Rouge, after Il sixteen days ride with
only one whole nights rest, and badly sup
piled with food, only twelve men were turn
cd over to the surgeon. Many of the men
suffered from swelling of the legs and cry
slpclas, from sitting so long in the saddle,
but it was only temporary.
They had Il very clever way of cutting the
telegraph wires so as to avoid discovery
Instead of cutting the wires and letting the
ends hang loosely, they tied up the ends
with strips of leather, so that it would not
be easily seen, and yet the connection WAS
severed.
Far into the interior they were mistaken
for rebel cavalry, and complimcntcd upon
the tincness of their outfit On more than
one occasion they profited by this igno-
rance.
To show what courage and daring will
accomplish, it is mentioned that they had
nothing for their guide except one of Col
tons county maps and II compass. The
following is Il list of counties through which
they passed. Starting from La Grange,
they first struck Marshall county in Missis-
sippi, passing in succession through the
following counties: Tippah, Pontotoc, Chick
asaw, Oktibbcha, Winston, NoXubec, Ncsho-
ba, Newton, Jasper, Smith, Simpson, ,Coplah
Lawrence, Pike and Amite, and Helena, and
East Baton Rouge in Louisiana.
At several points the enemy tried to catch
or surround them, but in vain. Thirteen
hundred cavalry were sent after them from
Mobile, thousand came south of Port
Hudson, crossing Pearl river at Columbia,
and two thousand came from the vicinity of
Greenwood and Granada, tn cut off their
retreat to La Grange. They all fell to the
rear, supposing Colonel Grierson would re-
turn.
Colonel Griersons says that had he had
the means, or had it formed part of his
plan, he could had at least two brigades of
cOlOred men who were anxious to join him,
if he could have armed them, another proof
of the desire of the negro to be free, and his
willingness to serve the Union cause. AS it
was, about five hundred negroes and one
thousand horses were brought in, besides
cattle.
Some idea of the pluck and endurance OF
these men can he CLEANED from the fact that
during the last thirty hours-in which they
had ridden eighty miles, fought two or
three skirmishes, destroyed bridges, camps,
equipages, &c; swan river and captured
torty-two prisoners and quantities of horses,
they had scarcely halted at all, and went
through these terrific eXertions without food
for man or beast During the last night it
was observed that nearly the entire column
worn ont almost beyond human endurance
were fast asleep upon horseback except
when the sharp report of u carbine told of
the nearncss of the enemy. And all this was
endured without one word of murmur or
complaint from any lip, either Of officers or
privates,
The reception Of these heroes in Baton
Rouge nd New Orleans Was most enthusi-
astic.
A Correspondent of the New York Tribune
describing the dpels of the sharpshootcrs