Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-12-31

| lfGRe, ana Went BACK IL search eI ny oivl
lea. AL was eonfssisn, nobody knew Whsrs
was, and ] consunsd mics and hours in . Val
search fer t. Hvea at Gen. Brsgg's hsedqua
| teFs could get but little iniernatien ebsut
| As passed Gen. Bngg's headquarters, h vi
standing In the piazza, observing the enefn
with glass, and they we're bursting shells ev,
his heHss.
Abous aoon foand it, reported for duty, AM
utterly exhausted, threw my eleak en- ii
/ ground, laid down and went TO sleep. Gran
events were traaspiring in the plain below ten
of thousands Of warriors were marshsllsd Al
Tneying In
"Batllss nagRiaesnily stern array"
Il was sight splsndd and impressive to behold
bat il had not attractions enough, then, to temp
me to walk i've hundred yards to see il. ha'
been en- my feet esntinaally fer thirty hoars
slspG not moment, and bad walked sheut tkirt,
miles eTer most exseTsbls roads. ITssl'ssa th
expressive TSFds ef Gea. Floyd il repersinl
ihs bstiIs Of Fort Dsnslson-"theTs Is, thoDgl
serns are urabls to comprehend it, such thin,
as physical exAaassisz; thers is limit to hu
man endursnce." The ea1nenade served bH
as q lallAby TO wee me to sleep. and there slsp
until cur part in the battles drama had come
Aboai four e'eleek Stewards eivisisn nsved OF
to tho right Ws bad net Prsessdsd far, wheI
Clsytan's brigsda was detached, faced absus
and moved to cur extreme left, near Rsssville
/ do net remember, iRSse9 noyer knew, thl
srdsr il which the regiments we're dhpsssd ii
ths brigade. Bat az that time, tho Ssh was ss
The ex.rems right.
WsweFs msrsAing jass below the sasmit Of tbs
r,6ge, on the esst 81 se, moving BIZ the left flank
wher, ts cur great surprise, the Yankees opened
Ere on our rear, showing that they had already
aEnkea RS A movement was theR made, Whieh
weald have greatly surprised Hardss, fgr it I:
net ia his tactios. /. was csrtaiRly nevs
movement, & general Wheel swces and tumble
but We mRERged, in s0Eo inconlprehsnsiblc
way, to ehEDge font, and form line facing the
ensRy. 1t may be remarked that . movement
By the flank, nssr the enemy, unless it is known
PTceisaly where he Is, Is great blunder. To bc
near him, and not know il, IS greater t!undei
still We sheuld have bean in double eeiHnE
at half distance" for thus line can be easily
and quickly formed to the front, TO the TeSr, to
the right CT to the left. Il Is ths ealy proper
formstisR, where .he position OF the spezy is
rot certainly known. Thus We began wrong,
and this, no deubt, helped to prodses the panic
which soon followed.
Oar line was new formed psrpendieuIar 10 The
ridge. The 3eth was en- tss tep of ths ridge,
think ths 36.h was Ilsxt below, and the Isih
aud Ssh were somewhere down belew. The
Yankees now began to sppear in the woods,
three TO feur hundred yards of Twas standing
near the coloEs of the regiment, which were q :
special charge, snxioasly awaiting svsnts, When
l noticed that Gsn BreckinTisge, and Csptain
Hen-y G. Gemple, acting en- his STAFF were s;L
ting on their hsrses, just on my front and right.
Gen. Breskinridge slked WHARF was ihs Gem
mandipg effieor OF the bfigsdef l replied that
Gel. Holtzelsw was and pointed to kia, Sen.
B. called Col. Holzclaw, and said auite dslibsr-
!.
behind ysur left, GHa advance year Brigade"
Col. HeI!zelaw reas etf aB If ts execute ths or
der, rsnArkisg in low tsHe, which General B.,
think, did not hear, tkst somebody had, with
cut authority, halted and detained TIVE of his
regimsHts 10 the rear. Genorai B. remarked
that he did not tkiHk tho enemy were strong in
his front, sna 81 ell events he wonli feel tksra
and fad out. General BIS order was On ad-
raigable eRs, and had II beSn PYsMpsly executed
we would have escaped the disaster that bsfsil
us. II was ekillful order, because If the enemy
were not stroEg We would thus captsrs him,
icing in his rear, and if 10 were toe strong, the
soener We made The discovery tho better, in eT-
ser TO retire or be rsinfoEcsd. They wsrs thrsAt-
enizg to turn our left AaRk, sad the TIVE regi-
msnss in ecksloa, could By extending to the lettt
have prevented this dangerous movement. Il
was ski'lful erdaT, for ths further reason, that
on equal ground, il 10 always better TO make
thsn Escsive an attack. Bat, unfortunately, his
order WIS rot executed. Why il was net ksvs
no means Of knowing, since seon after fell int
the ensny 3 hsHds, and nave just now escaped.
I called Gsn. B's attention TO tEe fact, that the
Yankees wore rapidly advancing, al d peins,a
him 70 their advance, not ever 500 yards eissant
ssme time had elapsed, and yet ths brigade
stood eiiIl. Gen. 3. began to fret, and ssksd,
what had become Of Col. Heltsclsw, and why
was his erdef not executed. / repeated TO him
Gel. HolizclsH's ToEsIk about the hating of
two Of his TegiEsp.s, which Gen. B. had not
heard and remarked that Supposed Colonel
HolizclA~ had gene to bring up thoss Iagimsntg.
gsn. D. sadly remarked; "Bnt time il ssiDg
wasted, ana every moment is precious He
then rsas Of, as suppose, ia sesfeh Of CSlsEsl
Haltzelsv.
had become, Iaysslf, quite disguised with the
dslsy, and l determined to bring On the d sAt.
I erdsrsd four Of nay Enea to fs forward with
me, and Ere on the Yankees. They promptly
obeyed, aad advancing an the eueay opened
Ere on them. | toak muskst And sket al
an oHEeer whom I saw stsggsr OF, and Yam
kes, that night, told me, that 1T shis very tine
and place, one of ihsir eAesrs was shst through
tho body. Ehen / had Cred tsrss rounds, 1
saw, Sc my surprise, that our whsle line vas
breaking and running, leaving nae alone before
the onsmy. then brought Of nay nen. hAd
Just heard General B. eTdsr sn advance, ana here
was retreat. called on tie men to stop, ard
the whole ike sank dewr and tazabled Ia 6lozg
a line ef hreasi1erks, nAnking line, 50 far as
il Wss line at all, perpendicular to ths.orsmy /
Coed heaven! Here was tactics with vsE-
ecGneei will not suppose, in the absence OF
preof that any cf6eer ordered tfis fernstien. ]
teld tho men thay eould net fight ia such po-
sition, but weH,6 BE snt to Pieess, and, ssisizg
the celcrR, was forming line parallel TO The
enemy. Ay 'ssyonets" came up promptly,
and would seen have had tia regiment il
prepsr line, when ssmsbeGy, ssuld net dis
cover whom, ordered retreat. ] could not be-
lisve that General 3. had GalAoTizsd svsh an sr-
der, bat was Boen sgsia left slsns with the
eoloTs and few men. IdeneHuesd ths retreat,
sHd fought all that eenld. 0ass there was 6
confused ssrt Of stand made, and hot Gre
opened on the Yankees, which staggered them.
l saw them wavsI. and begin to run. We hsd
whipped them, but Re3s sesmsd to perceive 1t,
and 81 this Eenent smother eswaEdly panic
seized the men, and they ran OF, The Yankees
seeing u run, returned 70 the assault with
eheerr New We were ordered to form hshiRa
eHsthG breasiwerk, which ran nearly PeFpsu-
disu,ar 10 ths bridge and nesTly parallel TO the
enemy. Here we made q lepg and successful
stand, and fought the enemy quits fsrcely, but
Hot very eEeohVsly, ieT nsss OF tse man area
wildly, not raising themselves high enough, In
EriBg, 20 take COED aim. Many men did not
Gre q. sll, and ssHas skiveriRg EDWARDS laid Sat
ca their bellies, and never stirred finger er
Taissd theit heads. All soldiers hght pscTly ks-
hind intrenchnsnts. They will nos rsiss their
heads above them, to Ere accurately, and stasge
ss il may Leesa, Il is easier 10 assault aud take
"breastwerks,' as they are called, than TO de-
fsnd thsm. ] hops never TO fght again bshiRd
bsesslHpTks. Give rs the open asld, wilseus Q
hrcsm straw to shelter as, and properly handled,
the nen will stand bestsI.
At the breAstwefks we made our last stszd;
The Eght here lasted sbout twenty minutes, ard
the enemy were whipped OF frem eur 'front.' The
Are almost ceased on oEr front, and | gave the
order 10 the sSsh 20 cease fring, SIS saw II vas