Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1863-12-23

command of Lieut.. Col. Tom Brown,
were dispatched to the same point; final
ly, on Wednesday, the 10th, two, hundred
of our regiment, and two hundred and
fifteen of the 18th Regiment Pennsylya-
MIA Cavalry, were dispatched, the en-
tfrety under the command of Cold. p.
G Shanks, Colonel commanding the It'll
Cavalry. With this detachment went
The weather. had continued rainyS but
there were intervals Of fairsweather. Il
was fair when we commenced our march,
at o clock P. NJ Twilight had let her
curtain down, but forgot to pin it with a
star Heavy, dark clouds were scudding
athwart the sky, portentous of a coming
storm The moon, whose modest disc
appeared through the scattered clouds,
cleaned forth with soft radiance, light
ing our path, and smiling down upon us
as though she wished us success,a and was
willing TO aid us with all her limited
power And much was her assistance
needed, for our route lay over difficult
road, winding through dense forest ex-
tending some six miles, before We at
tained the common highway; and be-
sides, our guide was not the best in the
world We had gone about fen miles,
when the moon was hid, and darkness
itself was invisible. The rain fell id tor
rents, and leave it to your readers to
imagine our situation; but to assist them
in forming q notion, would suggest to
them to take into their account two and
half miles of road cansewayed through
a swamp, fed by the overflow of the many
forks of the Obion, and spanned at regu-
lar intervals by twenty-seven of the most
wretched structures that ever were ap-
pellated bridges. But we surmounted
tLis formidable obstacle, with bat one in
cident, young fellow of company NJ ?"
fell from bridge into the water, and
would have perished but for the energy
of Col Shanks, who sprang from his
horse and rescued him, the horse being
also drawn ashore. At length our guide,
fatigued and bewildered, leftzns@to shift
for ourselves, about sixteen miles on our
journey, in turn of the road hanked on
one side by small steep ravine, and Oh
the other by a dense forest Here, un-
certain how 10 proceed, we halted ia the
tempest, the lightning occasionally fash
ing in our faces and aggravating the dis 4
malness of our situation. We sat out /
the remainder of this terrible night on /
our horses. and when light enough was
given us to see our way, we proceeded,
the deiuge still continuing. We arrived |
at Dresden at about A. NJ, finding 4he |
two detachments, which had preceded |
us, in good condition: and spirit. Not
being able to get proyender for ourhorses !
near the town, we fled to the leftzabout |
four miles, and put up at the corn crib
OF an old rebel, and duly refreshed our |
stock, the boys making free with chickens
and other fxings |
In the meantime, Major Beck and |
Lieut. Col. Tom Brown had not been
idle, and their report to Shanks revealed !
the fact that Col. Faulker was two miles |
east of Paris organizing and recruiting a |
force under Forrest, to hold as they !
swear they will, Southern Kentucky and 1
West Tennessee. A consultation of I
officerswas held, and the conclusion ar
rived at to proceed instanter and attack
him BIT When our lhaprss9 Savt ana deJPfg Psg
the inclemency of the weather, our Off |
GERS had resolved to move forward, a |
courier arrived ordering our return, |
which order was sullenly complied with. |
This order will be found to have been a |
grave error, for Faulkner, from the most
credible information from undoubted |
Union men, had but seven hundred men,
half of whom were but raw conscripts |
and recruits We shall never have so |
fine chance to punish Faulkner's pre-
sumption, | fear, again In thirty-six |
hours We reached Camp Tom Brown,
secured and fed our horses, got some |
thing to eat and drink, and then took |
time to reflect upon the effects of our ex- |
pedition. One good effect will be, the !
men will know the importance of keep |
ing close column in march, and the |
good consequences of stringent disci- |
pline.
Other incidents of the expedition, l |
must reluctantly omit because [ have !
already sufficiently elongated my COM
munication, ind will close it by stating,
that the effect of Gen. Hurlbut's order,
compelling the service in our army of |
all able bodied male inhabitants, within |
his jurisdiction, has had the desired ef-
feet of making all show their hands, and |
it is better thus; for would rather fight
an open enemy, than a concealed foe,
because from the attempts of the former
l can guard, while from the insidous
Vaccinations of the latter, can have no
security. NJ.