The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-12-17

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"A I'VE lay on the banks of Duck River,
some fifteen miles above Columbia, to-
wards evening OF Novem Dor 18th, the stea.
dy boom Of our cannon from that direction
had ceased. We had been engaged since
10 O'Clock a. M, with Forrest's command
opposite side Of the river. Our loss had
been considerable, though not near 90
great as that Of the enemy, who, whenever
he pushed his column down TO or In the
river, our deadly Spencer resei we'd until
then, would leave few Of them ever to re-
turn. A few desperate attempts Of this
kind satisfied them Of the impractical ability
Of crossing In our front. They had alres-
dy fallen back, leaving only y thin line Of
sharpshooters, with whom our boys were
sporting, and had built fires out Of our
range, killing hogs and apparently prepa-
ring supper and . biyoua0 for the night.
An order from our Brigade Commander,
his headquarters Tor 10 10 leave Q thin line
in our front and quietly withdraw our
command This was being executed when
ono Of our plckets on the flank, looking
down the river, reported the ford below -
captured, and the enemy pressing forward
towards our flank In force; in . moment
more another picket came In to say that
the enemy were advancing on the turn
pike to cut of our rear and retreat. As
summing authority, without awaiting orders,
Major J. Morris Young, commanding the
5th Iowa Cavalry, Immediately concentra-
ted his regiment and FASTENED to extricatc
it from tho impending danger. a
On our right was the river with the enc
my swarming opposite; on our left . dense
cedar thicket and forest, broken with rocks
and ravines forward was the narrow road
and turnpike, leading to Franklin past
our camp and brigade headquarters, two
and . half miles distant. There the road
from Columbia to Shelbyville, up which
the rebels were advancing, crossed the
franklin pike above the bend Of the river
In whichfwe then were, and the country
became open, with fields and farms; and
here We expected or course to find our bri.
gade commander holding this outlet, this
isthmus for us. We had reached to within
10 mile Of this outlet y hen IN orderly came
dashing down, saying the enemy bad pos
session of our camp and the crossroads,
and that Col. Capron was gone. In mo-
ment after u disOrganized squad came role
ling back, saying ''they had been fred on,
driven back and several Of their number
killed, and that the enemy were in force In
our 'front.'" M
| It was now near seven O'Clock. and in
that forest and situation the darkness
could be felt, ~ every step We expected to
be lighted mp with 2 deadly v0lley, and
visions ofSouthern prisons would irreeist.
IDLY rise up before us. This darkness al
90 lent courage to the coward tongues, and
they were saying one to another what
..let % scatter, and then every man for
himself:" sslet No wait till daylight and
- what to do" &c. Then Major Young's
voice was heard to rise above the c0nfu-
sion, and thrill through every nerve with
these words: "1ne 5th loscd, that sseUer
turns herfsont from tie tce, e going strato:
Without further command from that well
known voice, heard before In times Of dan.
nor. the trusty sabeFs Of the 9th leaped
frofn heir sca6bards dimly glittering In the
leWfliRht. then all wan hushed and quiet,
savO . whispered encouragement g com.
rade, or . trooper squanng himself - the
befbre wore now returning, reporting hosc
brigade In our immediate 'front.' ana
Jackson's division short distance 70 our
] left, just then. to the sufprtne OF oil, the
| 9Th Michigan came mp from our roefs toen
lehe 1tth Illinois, audthe 1zth Illinois. We
had supposed these Tegtments gone WIN
Ne bsigads commandss: xn, ,nr 1nsa p ~
whole Of ouf brigade, made our number
over 800 men. #
A the commanders came mp Major
Young told them Of tho determinot1en to
take the 9Th through with the sabers ana
that he would dispose their forcesso = 70
Be Of assistance and 50 through WIN Nun.
With alacrity the whole force moved into
their several positions. The instructions
were NV and simple, Forward and for
ward only, to attempt to TALL back, to rally
IN the darkness and forrest, was confusion
and death or captivity. The enemy once
notified Of our place Of attack, once struck,
ono or the other Of ~ must 20 down."
| / almost held my breath - the order
"forward'' passed from column to column
| and our forces commenced to move. In
their voliey into n. Then ~ the Majors
voice rolled back from lAr. In advance,
ssChareo." and the bugler took mp the