The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-11-08
A Tale of the War.
SheIby's Expedition so BAeXicO-Un'
written History.

Immediately after the collapse of
the Southern Confederacy one of the
prominent Confederate Generals on
duty in the trans-Mississippi De-
partment-G General Joseph Shabby
went to Mexico with about two hun
bred and fifty armed followers, most
" Missourians, with the avowed in
tention of settling with them IN that J
country. That the enterprise prov
ed unfortunate, and that the men en-
gagged in it met with many perilous
adventures and personal mishaps |
are facts well known In general, but |
not as to details. One of these fol-
lowers of Shelby is now publishing
in the Kansas City, (Mo } Times, a
series of letters about what happen
ed to them on the ''other side of the
Rio Grande" of great interest, bring
ing to light much that was not pub
licly known before, and from one of
the communication the following
account of an attack by Mexican
bandits some days after the men had
left Monterey for San Luis de Potosi
is taken:
The column had reached to with
in two days journey of Lampasas.
Some spurs of the mountain ran
down to the road, and some clusters
of palm trees grouped themselves at
intervals by the wayside. Toe palm
is a pensive tree, having a voice in
the wind that is sadder than the
! pine-a sober, solemn voice like the
sound of muffied cerements when
the corpse is given to the coffin.
Even in the sunlight they are dark /;
even Ia the tropics no vine clings to
them, no blossom is born to them,
no bird is housed by them, and no
futter of wings makes music for
them. Strange and shapely and
coldly chaste, they seem like h1man
and desolate beings, standing all
alone in the midst of luxurisus ma
ture, unblessed of the soil, and I'M
loved of the dew and the sunshine.
In a grove of these the column halt
ed for the night. Beyond them was
a pass guarded by crosses. In that
treacherous laud these are a growth
indigenous to the soil. They flourish
nowhere else in such abundance.
Wherever a deed of violence is
done a cross is planted; wherever a
traveller is left upon his face in a
pool of blood, a cross is reared:
wherever a grave Is made wherein
lies the Murdered one, there is seen
a cross. No matter who does the
deed-whether Indian, or dog, OF
commandate, a cross must mark the
spot, and as the pious wayfarel
journeys by he lays all reverently g
stone at the feet of the sacred sym.
bols. breathing a pious prayer, and
telling bead or two for the soul s
r salvation. On the left a wooded
bluff ran down abruptly to stream
I Beyond the stream, and near the
palms, grassy bottom spread itsel
l out, soft and grateful. Here tn,
o blankets were spread, and here tn
e horses grazed their fill. A younJ
n moon, clear and white, hung low il
9 the west, not sulleA nor red, but
! tender moon, full of the beams tina
> lovers seek, and full of the voiceIes
/ imagery which gives passion to th
songs of the night, and pathos to tn
o. deserted and detected swain A
q the moon set the horses were gather
"a ed together and tethered in ami
" the palms. Then deep silence fel
Is upon the camps, for the sentinel
% were beyond its confines, and a
Il within side slept the sleep of th
al tired and healthy. 1t may have bee
4 midnight; it certainly was cold an
q dark. The fires had gone out, an
70 there was a white mist like a shrou
n creeping up the stream aud settlin
ID upon the faces of the sleepers. o
i the far right single pistol aros
ye clear and resonant. Shelby, VIII
10 slumbered like a night bird, LITE
4 himself up from his blanket an
NJ spoke in an under tone to TraikiI
Who has the post at the mouth
pass p Joe Macy" The
le something is stirring, Macy neve
3 fred at shadow in his life" TIL
10 two men listened. One a griI
. guerilla himself, with the phisiqU
p of Cossack and the bearing OF
VI Comanche. The other having In b
D hands the lives of all the silent an
~ inert sleepers lying still and grote
J que the white shroud of tue mou1
~ tain mist. Nothing was heard fl
II an hour. The two men went 1
~ sleep again. but not to dream. OF
n sudden, and unseen, the mist W;
~ lifted, and in its place a sheet
- hames arose so near to the faces
~ the men that it might have scorchc
III them.
% Two hundred Mexieans had ere
" down the mountain and to the ed,
n OF the stream, and had fired poi
- blank into the camp. It seemed
60 miracle, but not man was touche
II Lying fat upon the ground al
ok wrapped up IN their blankets. Il
a whole vOlley meant TO be murdero
ed had swept over them. Shelby W
ry the first upon his feet. His vol
tn rang out clear and faultless, an
ot without tremor: Give them &
,ss revolver. Charge p Men awaken,
,e- from deep sleep graphic with spe
nd ters slowly. The Mexicans we
)ft specters. Beyond the stream and
de amid sombre shadows of the pain
be they were invisible. Only the DO
ry der pail was on the water where Il
n mist had been. Unclad, barefoote
heavy with sleep, the men we
it straight for the mountains, a revc
1. yer in each hand, Shelby leadin
ur From specters the Mexteans had b
by come bandits. No quarter was gi
ID en- or asked. The rush lasted uni
Sc the game was flushed; the pursu
Re-. until the top of the mountain W
IS. gained. Over ragged rock and cac