Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1865-12-27

could not acknowledge its application Z
my command, or its obligation upon m
till notified to that effect by specific in
structions from proper authority authen
| tieally transmitted. My force although
| known as the Cavalry Corps of the Mill
tary Divisisn Of the Mississippi, organize,
under Gen. Sherman's orders, had no
served under his direct command since
separated from him at Gaylesville, Ala
in October, eighteen hundred and sixty
four. He, at that time, directed me Il
report to Maj.-Gen. Thomas with my
troops for the purpose Of completing th'
organization and assisting In the opera
tions against Hood and Forrest. From
that time till my arrival at this place, al
of my operations were conducted undel
| Instructions either directly from Gen
Thomas, or transmitted through hin
from Lieut. Gen. Grant. But / fully
expected to join the armies operating in
the Caroiinas and Virginia, and there
fore to be under and receive nay instruc-
tions from Gen. Sherman whenever
should re-establish communications with
him. ] therefore felt it to be my duty tC
obey whatever instructions Gen. Sher-
man might send me, unless they would
clearly injure the cause of our arms,
~ q y tUEll AtLElNGl Uy
| me, / accord gly informed Gen. Cobb
! without questioning the existence of an
armistice or that 1t might be applicable
TO my forces, could not acknowledge
| the Justice of his protest, but must regard
all the acts Of my command which had
| transpired that evening, or which might
transpire before the official propagation
! of the armist;ee, legitimate acts of war
fare. further informed him, without
any regard to the principle Just asserted,
| that used all diligence i'll endeavoring
| to halt the advance of my troops till
could obtain satisfactory Information,
and should therefore, not Withdraw from
| the city, but continue to hold it, and con-
siaer the garrison, including the Generals,
prisoners of war, till my conduct was dis
approved by competent authority, after
| full investigation of the case. | was per
mitted TO send to Gen. Sherman, by tel
egraph, adispatchin the following terms
HEADoUARTERs CAVALRY CORPS, NJ. d. NJ, :
MACON, GA. April -, lss5-P. u.
"AIaI I-Gen. W, T. Sherman Through Head
quarters Gen. Beauregerd, Greensboro, n, c..
''MY advance received the surrender
of this city this evening. Gen. Cobb had
previously sent me, under flag of truce,
q copy of a telegram from Gen, Beaure-
tice between all the troops under youI
command and those under Gen. gohn-
ston. Without questioning the authen-
ticity of this dispatch, or its application
to nv command, / could not commune
cate orders to my advance in time to
prevent the capture of misplace. shall
therefore hold its garrison, including
Mai. Gems. G.. w. Smith and Cobb and
Rrig. Gen. Maokall, prisoners of war.
Please send me orders. | shall remain
here a reasonable length Of time to hear
from you"
Fearing that it might be tampered with
by the rebel telegraph operator, | had il
put in cipher-in which shape | have
reason to believe il reached It's destina-
ton. The original was materially
changed, / have seen in the newspapers
what purported to be a reply of Gen.
Sherman, directing me to withdraw from
the city and release my prisoners. No
such dispatch ever reached me; and had
it done so, in the most unquestionable
form, | should have obeyed It with great
reluctance, and not until | had received
every possible assurance that the case
had been fully understood.
At six p. m. on the twenty-frSt I re-
ceived the following message from Gen.
Sherman, and though not in reply 10
mine, ! regarded it as convincing proof
that an armistiee had actually been
agreed upon:
HEADQUARTERS, GREENSBORO, Y, G., 4
April q, lS6l2 ., NJ J
Ma. Gen. Wilson, commanding Cavalry
Army U. : Through Maj.-Gen. II. Cobb y
1.-THE following is a copy Of a commu-
nication just received, which will he sent
to you to-day by an officer,
Headquarters Mil. Div. Miss,
Raleigh, April %, 1865.
40 Mai.-Gen. Wilson, commanding Cavalry
L. S. Army in Georgia;
"Gen. Joseph L. Johnston has agreed
with me for universal suspension of
hostilities looking TO a peace over the
whole surface of our country. / feel as
sured that it will be made perfect in a
fec' days. You will therefore desist from
further acts of war ana devastation until
you hear thai hostilities are resumed.
For the convenience of supplying your
command you may either contract for
supplies down about Fort Valley, OF the
old ChattahoOchee arsenal, OF, if you are
south of West Point, Ca, in the neigh
borh9Gd OF Rome and Kingston, opening
our communication and a line of supplies
hANA NhfNN~NAACo2Stf ain NttN Nt1aAiu.. lie
port TO me Your pasition through Ger.
Johnston, as also round by sea. You
may also advise Gen. Candy of YOUR
position aud the substance of this, which
/ have also sent around by sea,
w. 4. SHERMAN, Mat-Cen Conntlg
"Please communicate above to Federal
commander.
"J. E. JOHNSFON.r
/ therefore issued the necessary orders
to carry it into effect, and determined TO
suspend operations till / received orders
to renew them, or till circumstances an
parent to me should seem TO Justify indie
pendent action, Gen. Cobb gave me
every assistance in his power ln the col
lection Of supplies for my command, He
directed his quartermasters and commits
saries throughout the eState-particularlv
in Southwestern Gealgta-to shin their
grain and provisions to me, and th,s be-
fore any terms of capitulation had baen
made known to him or to aayseJf. 7 had
about seventeen thousand men hesijas
prisoners, and twenty-five thousand ami
mails e seed, and TO have been eOmpelIed
10 forage them would have resulted i'm
the devastation of the entire country i'm
the vicinity of the city,
On the thirtieth of April, Gen. Crox-
ton, with his brigade, last heard of
Through Ger. Forrest, arrived at For
syth. and next day marched to this
,jiace.
After having skirmished with Jack
sons force, estimated correctly at two
thousand six hundred men, near Trion.
on the morning of April second. he de-
temined to effect by strategy what he
could not expect to do by fighting, hav-
ing with him only eleven hundred men.
He therefore marched rapidly toward
Johnson's Ferry, on the Black Warrior
river, forty miles above Tuscaloosa threw
Jackson completely oil his guard bv a
simulated fight, crossed his brigade to
the west side of the river, and dashed
toward Northpart, where he arrived at
nine P. NJ, April fourth. About
midnight, learning that his pres
enee must become known, he sur
prised the force stationed on the bridge
and crossed into Tuscaloosa Hecaptured
three guns, one hundred and fifty pris-
oners, and, after daylight, scattered the
militia and State cadets, destroyed the
military school, the stores and public
works. He remained at that place until
the fifth, trying TO communicate with
Gen. McCook, or 10 hear from ME, but
without success. Knowing that jackson
and Chalmers were both on the west side
of the Cahawba, he thought 1t too haz-
ardous to attempt march by the way of
Centreville, and therefore decided to
move toward EGtaw, IN the hope of cross
ing the Warrior lower down, and break
ing the railroad between Selma aud De-
nlopolks. Accordingly he abandoned
burned the bridge across the
Hack Warrior, and struck off to the
Toutheast. When within seven miles of
Eutaw, he heard of the arrival at that
place o. Writ Adams Division of Cavalry,
numbering twenty-six hundred men.
Fearing 10 risk an engagement with
superior force, backed by the militia, he
oouatermarched and moved again in the
direction of fTuscaloosa leaving il TO the
right, passed on Through Jasper, reerossed
the west fork of the Warriorriver at Had
ly's Mil, marched nearly due east bv
she way of Mount RenSon and Trussyille
crossed the Coosa and Trues, and Collins
Ferries, and marched toTalladego. Near
this place he met and scattered a force of
rebels under Gen. Hill, capturing one
hundred and fifty prisoners and one gun
and moved on toward Blue Mountain
the terminus e the Alabama and Ten.
nessee Railroad. After DESTROYING All the
iron works and factories left bY ms in
Northern Alabama and Georgia. he con-
tinued his march by CaErolton. Newman
and FoEsyth to this place. He had no
knowledge OF any movements evcept
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