Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-06-03
Letter frsun Northwest sais.issIpRi.

From the Mobile Evening Esws.l
HEADoUAKTERs 18Th Mississippi Battalion
Cavalry, near Oxford, Miss, May p, 1864 In
your ISSUE of the I4th inst, I notice that your
correspondent, "OystsT, incidentally slludes to
Floyd, the noted guerrilla chief Of North Mis-
sisSippi." Being = high private in the rear rank
Of the company commanded by Capt. Floyd,
and protesting to be familiar with the operations
of said company for the last three or four
months, / propose to give you an aecilEnt Of cur
last raid in the domains Of Yankeedom. You
must know thai our company numbers over one
hundred priYRtes and non-cOmmisionsd o%ficers,
ali good and true men, aad that we belong TO
the 18Th Mississippi cavalry bRttshou, com
manded by Lieut.-COl a. Il. Chalmers, and are
therefore held, to SOM extent, IN dHrance vile,
by red tape regulations, bat occasionally the
kindness OF our colonel permits Us 10 90 on "de-
tsehed service" which the boys regsld as q per
feet ged send, for somebody is certain to be
"hurg' before said "dstsched service" is Per
formed.
About three weeks ago Capt Flfyd selected
6fty-t9o men from his compsny-you CORE
spondent among the nuuber-aud started north
toward Memphis. Il was On Sunday. On Mon
day following VI sl met at Senatoisia, having
scattered the night pfsvieus Tor fofagiBg pnr
poses, and Wednesday niFst isand rs near =
srge creek, five miles south Of h4mphis, on tbs
. A4EAA EAlAAA AAlA W LIAA III 1LALAI
ill sbouI IL o'clock on Thursday, bnt for some
u~nsccountable cause the Fsdersls failed to make
their usual scout that day, and SO ne missed our
prizs.
In the evening We re raced our steps, inform
ing the eitizens on he road that "our GRAND had
proved f~ruidess, and We were going back home;s
bus we didn't do any such foolish taing, fer after
coming cut some twelve OF fifteen miles, feeding
and resting our WeaIied horses, the command,
I stG-1If~- - - - ap.fn haa-G aaT grInweAo-
night found as q little nearer Memphis on the
same road.
Just before sunrise On Thursday morning, as
we were silently lying in ambush, each one
eager for the fray, we hsArd them coming.
They were in great glee over something. laugh
ing and h~sllsoing IS they came, and ne after
wards found ont they were making tsensslves
merry over a picture of the " Fort Pillow mas
sacrs , in an illustrated paper gotten up by Mr..
Frank Leslie. Ga theZ came, poor fools, little
suspectiag the tate that awaited them. When
within about thirty yards Of us, their ,leader
about opposite the left Of our company, the sig
nal was given, and well, Eine fall dead and
one wounded, while clear and distinct above the
roar Of cur arms rang out the clarion voice Of
Capt Floyd, Change 'em, bays which was
dome IL handsome style, l assure you. There
were nineteen Yanks in The squsd--nine were
killed outright, Que wounded and three cap.
cured unhurf, while six made their escape, some
Of when were wounded and afterwards died.
AS a matter Of course, We secured the herseH-
one. a 6us dapple gray, is especially apprOpri-
ased to the use Of your correspondents.
The captain then deemed it prRdeHt to retire,
and started in he direction Of Dixie. We came
on about twenty miles south. turned east, and
bivouacked for the night. The Eext morning,
Is a matter Of course, we all expectsd to move
on south, but strange to say, we lay in camp ell
day, 10 three miles Of the main fernando and
Memphis road. Ilorgot 70 mention that on our
return on Thursday, we captured q cluple Of the
Memphis &elish"-two young man by the
zane Of Roberisoa-bOLh raised netr the north
boundary lise of Mississippi, in the neiehbor-
hood Of cold man Farrsr's." These scsmps had
passes which read thus "No. I305-has leave
Of absence to 20 10 the country" etc.
This plan is adopted to hide theisEinfamy, to
secreke their names and prevent their arrests as
soldiers of the United States. Tbeie worthless
denied being soldiers, but When Cspi Floyd in
fornaed them thss they would be sen. South and
rnk in B.sgg's infantry &c consatipts, thew
sheepishly admitted theig eonnechGa with the
ainelish'' Of Memphis, bus said thsy we're forced
into ouch : position. They went to Memphis
70 keep McCoy's men from cesscrfaing them.
and aeht into the melish as a matte, of prefer
sacs ever our army. Ny opinion is-all such
chaps should be hung by tho privaseii when frs4
captured, and not let the officers be accountable
for it.
We'll, to 60 back. We remained ia camp ill.