Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-09-27
WHOLE NO. 656.

charges OF canister lntO Llelr ranks
at the short distance of sixty pa
: ces. In less than an hour Sturgis
: was utterly routed, with the loss
) of all of his artillery, his entire
, train, and more than FIVE thousand
of his men killed, wounded and
captured; the remnant scattered
over the woods, and made their
way to Memphis, though pursued
for forty miles.
The next feat of Forrest was
his daring gallop into the city of
Memphis, with the intention of
surprising and capturing the gar
rison; but few hours before he
entered,a considerable force of the
enemy had been landed at the city,
for the purpose of again assuming
the offensive, and he found him.
self well-nigh entrapped; but he
rode through their lines, and es-
capped without loss.
This strong column penetrated
to Tupelo, and threw up line of
breastworks, commanding the
wide plain in their front, and pro-
tected by deep swamps on either
flank. Stephen D. Lee attacked
the enemy in this position, contra
ry the advice of Forrest, as is pos
itively asserted, with an inferi-
or force, and though he led his
men most gallantly several times
to the charge, was repulsed with
considerable loss. The enemy
seemed perfectly satisfied with
this reception, and Immediately
withdrew to Memphis.
Forrest was now free to operate
against the enemy in Middle Ten
nessee. At Athens, Ala, the gar
rison of fifteen hundred men fell
an easy prey into his hands and
the garrison of fourteen hundred at
Sulphur Trestle capitulated at his
demand. He rendered that line
of railway useless to the federals
by tearing up the track and burn
ing their strong block houses.
At Johnsonville, on the Tennes-
see, he burned gunboats and bar
ges, and millions of stores which
had been collected at that point
for Sherman's army, and immedi-
ately joined the army of Tennes-
see at Florence. Wherever he
rode along the lines he was gree
ted with hearty cheers, for fame
had waited his wondrous deeds to
that gallant army, and they looked
upon him as the great soldier of
the west. As he said to a large
crowd that called him out, ''He
had left them the year before with
a single battalion, to try his for
tune in Mississippi; he raised, and
armed and equipped gallant COM
mand, without a mite Of assistance
from the government; he had
kept at bay force of thirty thou
sand troops, who had often essay
ed to break down his barrier of
steel, and were as often baff1ed /;
he had put seventeen thousand of
the enemy 'hors du combat he
had captured and sent to the rear
sixty pieces of artillery; and de-
stroyed thirty millions of federal
property" He moved in advance
of Hood, and chased the enemy's
cavalry to their infantry lines, and
after the disaster at Nashville, his
courage in covering the
retreat OF the broken army proba-
bly, saved it from destruction.
The infantry having been ship
ped by rail to the Carolinas, For
rest was left to guard long line
Of frontier, reaching from Decatur,
Alabama, to the Mississippi river;
an almost impossible task, as the
enemy were threatening every as
point. In the spring of
1865 heavy force of cavalry and
mounted infantry, under Wilson,
made descent into Alabama and
marched rapidly in the direction
Of Selma. Forrest sent orders
to his scattered cqmmands, re.
luiring them to concentrate as rap
dly as possible upon Selma, and
started with his escort ahead of
my command. His officers were
not as diligent as they might have
oeen, and the enemy attacking
Selma were opposed by small
-orce OF less than seven hundred
men. After desperate struggle,
Forrest was driven out of the
.own by the overwhelming odds