Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1864-04-07

lhofnpS pSons WHO met MS tate Is OelOre
mentioned, and who, thinking there were
only few ''riggers in the fence. imag.
ined he could take the fort by a coup de
main. As the town is almost entirely Sc
cesh. and had been promised an exemp-
tion from raids nobody believed in the at
tack. Yesterday morning. great many
buildings including the residences Of many
prominent citizens, were ordered to be
burned. as military necessity, by the
commanding officer, as they were in the
immediate neighborhood of the fort, and
offered shelter to the rebel sharpshooters
in case the attack was renewed, which at
that time was expected. s
1.-THE Louisville Journals Account
Several families arrived in this city yes
terday afternoon, who are sufferers by the
recent fight at Paducah. They left the
town on Saturday afternoon at o'clock.
the day after Forrest had made the attack
and had been repulsed. They tell sad
story of the misery and wreck of property
entailed upon the people by the fight. The
rebels were in large force. and the assault
appears to have been similar to the one
made on Fort Donelson in the winter OF
sixty-three. The rebels were gloriously
drunk, and but little better than o mob
They made the attack upon Paducah. with
out giving the citizens a word of warning
The Federal force evacusted the immediate
city and concentrated at the fort, erected
on an eminence, short distance in the
rear of the town. With wild cheers and
b!asphemous oaths the rebel hordes throng-
ed the streets and commenced an indis-
criminate pillage of the houses. They dis.
charged their pieces in reckless manner,
wounding many of the citizens. AT last
Forrest succeeded in rallying his force.
and, forming the regiments in battle line.
several desperate charges were made upon
the fort. The Federals met them with q
whitening fire, and in each onset the rebel
columns were broken and driven back. in
confusion. The forces inside of the fort
consisted Of Colonel Cunningham color
ed troops and Kentucky regiment. the
whole under the command Of Colonel
Hicks. Colonel Hicks ordered the town
to be fired. and soon . black cloud of
smoke rolled above the burning buildings.
About this time two gn1boats arrived
No. 33 and No. 80. The citizens were
fleeing from the town. many of them TAX
ing refuge in the fort; the buildings near
the Notifications were in sheet of flame.
while portion of the rebel column was
rallying in the streets away from the fire
for another charge. The gunboats round
ed to and sqnaring their broadsides they
raked the steeets with grape and canister.
bursting she'll here and there. The
slaughter was terrible, and the rebels rap
idly retreated from tine town. Many Of
the citizens were killed and wounded by
this terrible raking fire. The lines re-
mained quiet during the night. The next
day the steamer Liberty arrived from
Nashville, and the Captain kindly offered
to take as many citizens on board as his
boat would carry, and remove them from
the scene of danger. Many of the people
avsiled themeelves of the Captains hps
name offer. When the Liberty left Padh.
cab, the rebels were forming and advan-
cling to make another attack. The town
was still burning, and the blackened ruins
loomed sadly from ont of the heavy hang
ing clouds of smoke. II was indeed,
wild. tragic scene. The passengers hud-
died on the steamer, gazing with fearful
eyes on the ruined city, and they knew
they were homeless wanderers. The sebel
dead lay scattered along the river bank,
and throughout the deserted streets. Wo-
men and children had fallen victims to the
fight; some were killed outright. others
were suffering from painful wounds. The
Liberty landed some of the passengers at
Evansville and other points along the riv-
er. few families coming as far as our
city. The fort at Paducah is on . COM
manding eminence, and the position is
very strong. The rebel force is estimated
at from Ave to eight thousand strong.
though without doubt this is an over-esti-
mate. ...s 81.
CAlRo, March 2S.-The following is
principally from official sources and relia-
BILE. The night before the battle scouts
were kept eight or ten miles out on the
May6eld road, the direction the enemy ad-
vanced from. Returned about L. o'clock,
noon. Could give no intelligence ou ac-
count of citizens being kept back and not
permittrd to come in. New scouts started
out about / o'clock in the afternoon. Met
the enemy's advance guard about three
miles from the post was fired upon by the
advancing force, and retreated as fast as
they could. giving information. In less
than ten minutes picket guards were skir.
mishing with them, and driven IN, they
being on foot and the enemy mounted
A few of them were unable to reach the
fort, and were captured. In less thar
thirty minutes the city and Tort were sur.
rounded, our forces occupying the fort
The gun boats Peosta and Paw Paw open
ed fre simultaneously with the fort. Or
the enemy's advance into the citys the fgh'
became furious. AS soon as the enemy
took position; they advanced in column
against the fort. werc repulsed and fel
back. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon
Major General Forrest sent in flag o
truce, with Q communication. demanding
surrender. The flag was respected. ant
our forces ceased firing. The following i
true copy of Forests communication.
III. Q.'s FoRREsr's Cavalry CoRPs, 81
i1 ai PApUCAH, March 25th, 1864. &
To Col. Hicks, commanding Federal for
ces at Paducsh: Is 9
COLONEL: Having force amply suffl
cient to carry your works and reduce tn
Il A.