Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-12-31
CAPT. FosHx's NAEsATIVR.
Battles Of Lssksu Asszis;B aEE AissiSnaTy
EiGgs-eapfxrs Of IrosPS-CsptiVitg sHG
EssaFs Of Capt. Possv.

/ -
EssaTs Of Capt. Posss.
BY carr. BkH. LAxE PosRY
Frsn. ihs Ist sf ossebsr urtil the 2lsh Es-
vonber bed Hst been with my regiment, bui
WAS ssFae miles eli, hsidlEg Q seurtnsr,ial, and
performing tho eSiies ef judge adysca.s, On
ths S3i, wills riding near Chktianoogs, / was
heiiy shelisa at, and s1W onineus GigRs Of
coming cssfict Next morning I REQUESTED the
ceurt Sc e5journ fer two days, tkst sna some
ether HeRbsrs, whose regimsHta Wsrs Hesr,
might lake part Ia what might occur. The
csurs 50 a5jsuTEed, and on Tuesday aerAiBg,
November 24sh, j vent over to !he rent, Isinsa
my Teginezt and remained to watch EVENT.;
promising my Esa that weala assune eem-
nsHa If they eksHla GO. unGsr 6Es bat tkat,
otherwise, / sheula play amsteaT. 1t WAS q eeld,
vet day, snd we remained in line EioDg sEr in
trenehmenis, well posted and Visiting fer the
osea >. Lockout msuntaip, about three miles
west and sbsve us, was envelePed In fsgs and
clouds, and was generally invisible. There was
the eentsst on the 2l.h, ths enemy beiBg quist
at elixir points slepg tie line, except little
eIansza2ing. Il Was, perhaps, neos, Whsg the
sslenss hsaIed ef, and lockout moHntaiA bc.
cane viGible. We then heard the rumble Of
ssall arms. and Eoen saw tho cembalsnts msv-
ing sbsut Crsyen's k,zsa--ths half way house
on the mountain. Oar men were seen fsisg
back, ard 1t beearo painfully evidez. that the
fortunes of the cay were agA...aE us. About
in the evening CIayten's brigade. Of four regi-
msrts-she 18Th, 36!h, 3eIh and 58h (consoli-
dated with tbs 32a) Alabama regiments, was or
dsfsa M ths mountain to Gssils cur ssrely
yresssS eemrades there. Van. Clayton waS O..
home. lsns fFon Enuls kisk, AID Col. Hsliz-
claw commanded tie brigade. 1t WIS Q ssd
eTeyine. There was a slow rsiR, and The way
was maddy, slippery, steep and ragged. Nest
CT us slipped gnS fell heavily, senle receiving
usisful bTnisss, of when Twas one. The one.
nav saw Or guessed car movement and opSssd
upsr, as hro, surprisingly acearate Here they
killed ese Of my "hsyeHais," Steve Barrett, q
g,ilsa: LITTLE man. Another iasne ef the regiment,
Ccrtoral horn. lest 9 leg. We ssesaasd the
mountAlr after Eight. / IsaH o9nvsy 10 yeu ne
idea of She afffisulty Of clsmberisg sleHg the
ragged sns psshlcss side of tho meant1in. OaSs
the brigade was eHt in tysin, but discovered
Il ia time to s&l bssk those whs W9fe lest
There was great confusion, and an endless
szecesslsu Of esntradiesory orders. He was 3
lucky man, or eEieer. whs knew Whist vas ia
tczdsa to be dsss. DskRebs covered inoivis-
usl defccsisn, aad there was mush skplkinE.
Even efieeIs Of high fsak were charged with
It. at lsrgth we reached the thssser Of tina
days stfueglO, end teek positien just under The
precirileas recks, undsr Lockout peak. Here
We found Pe!tus' Alabama brigade, and rslisvsd
thssa. Hsre, thoTa was another eaiefssasi OF
cor dic.ipg orders, assus the proper lino to be
ercEuiea. l assumed command fer q faT min
ntss. ard planted ths eolors precisely on fse.
1ise eecupisa By Pettus' brigade, as they re-
tired, snd was gettiag the line properly fJrnsa,
whez thsre eannS azeiher saisYsssEL Of eTdegs,
and in utter disEsst end despair, threw up my
command, and quit. This was about o'clock
Pm Tho enemy were absHs fsnr hundred
yards ef, and there seoE began Esisy skirnisA,
which tbiekenea iE.o considerable GEht en-
tho lower Part Of eur liEs. The 3sih was in tia
highest possible position On the mountain, in
accessible to the ehsTgos or thsabHllets Of tse
enemy. SsEs bHilst8 winged over az bat
could not reach us. We seok very little part in
shO fght, fciAg eAly a few guns to show the
enemy thEt cur line extended up to The peak.
At II o'clock ths YsnkSes ceased Eting and re-
tired litfle. soon heard ihs ring Of their
axes, and knew that they were in!TeaebiEg. l
wks new wet snd Almest heszing, and being an
sasteur s. yet, i we1t Up bskiHd soms tall
slies aud made Ere, Invisible bsik 70 the enc
Say and 10 my ewn pseFls. Here Iezaiasa
abonE shres houTs,, bat ] has sRiisiPated the
withdrawal Of oar troops, sad ! hs1 Rusty
nisu 20 watch the regiment and repert to Eis
every thirty minutes, About o'clock he re-
pertsd that the rsgimsns yes very silently re-
tiYing.
Atthe Tins a Hunbsr of shivering selGisss
had ssms to my FIRE, and ordered thsn to fell
lew ne iBstsEsly, down the mountain, as 1
started near way to tho read. But in The
darkness ef the night lest tks way, and soeE
iouAd that was lsls slcBe en the lasuBtsiz Hith
enly ffssen or twenty Hen. told tkea that
crr position was very critical, ard that our es-
sAse deEea6ea upe1 . sileEt and rapid dssseHs
Of the n1ountain. I crdsIed them 10 feliew rae,
IN single file. keep close togstheT, and be Tsady
n seht, fer / intendsd ss SIGHT est at ell hAs.
ards. plugged rapidly dewn the msansais,
bearing eastward, eTsassd the road, bat Ia the
utler darkness seHld not ses it, snd still pressed
on IN search of f. I lost three miles, AID fRal-
! lY reached ChattaHceaa creek. l was stu BE-
Tildsred, not knowing the localities, -nd wsas
| dewR il sewsrds Chkttanosge. Isoon esAss up
on ssme buildings, In which there Ws.s Lights,
and the psSyis all tstir. II vas evidently a
little nalisary psst, but whether Yankee OF Con-
| fsderAis was the qaesiisn. l formed my men,
| told theAa that If il was YaHkee pest, We must
| laht, and cautiously sps,5xehsd il. Il tuEned
cut 10 lie coEaMisssry depet oi eurs, just
! abandoned Ia haste and confusion, the stsse.
/ house I'VE feet deep in noEF and meal tambled
on tie Goers, and large quantities Of hard bread
scattered over tbs greund. alleHss the msu
| Eve minutes TO get what they cesla bring ef
| and they helped themselves ssuEdsntly. We
| ,hsn rrsssed on to the bridge over Chatianeezs
| creek. and crossed il just sbeut daylight vi
/ barely saved eur disssnss, for the bridge wa
already on Ere, and the flames lesped up be-
tween the pIsrks, touching eur fse:, a We
Iasssd ever
Al sunrise, hailed ffIssn minutes fer res
and rsfrsskIaeas, made seme szeng csffse, and
| had an excellent breakfast.
An signs indicated that the army was rstrea.
ing beyond the Chieksmsusa. 80 thinking, !