The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1875-04-14

perslOn tndt we served together III the
,ame campaign, and that after escaping
he perils of an engagement he would 90
10 the rear and find me secure in my ease,
a house. and prepared to ex-
lend to him the bospitalities Of home,
coupling his charge with the playful re-
mark that l would always give him re-
freshing drink from a little brown jug.
These charges in substance and detail !
pronounce false and slanderous, without
scintilla of foundation, except in the
malice which prompts them. l can refer
to the several officers with whom served
in the war, and by whose sides / rode
into battle at Perryville. Murfreesboro,
'camauga and dozen others in the
valley OF the Shenandoah and other parts
Of Virginia and Maryland for REPUTATION
Of charge which impogns them no less
than myself, for every one knows that IN
time Of battle the position of adjutant is
by the side Of his general, whose every
order he promulgates can
refer to their Published reports in which
my name appears, eoDspicuously men,
toned for sallantry and efficiency, and l
can refer ~ thousands of Kentucky SOL
diers with whom shared the dangers oil
the battle never once being off duty and
always where honor called me. During
the entire i-rm of my service l was con-
tiDnously in the field, and never had but
one furloneh Of ten days, on sick leave
which spent under the FIRE Of the batter.
les pointed at Fort Sumpter and Charles
ton. and never under arrest. When al
the close Of the ~ar ! returned to my
family bereit Of fortune, | had the proud
consciousness Of bringing with me a char
acter unspotted by the breath Of reproach
and while have life no one shall assault
it with impunity. II is the only heritage
| expect to leave my children, and he who
stabs it shall go dow to infamy with my
curse upon his head
But what will be Said by men OF honol
when l add, in reply to Gen. Williams
intimation that he had an opportunity o
personally knowing Of my service in the
war, when i assert, as a fact, that Beye
served in the came army with him, an,
that we never were in or near the sam,
battle. not only never gave him drinl
after he was fatigued BY the exposures o.
war, but his history shows that he wa,
much more in the habit Of taking biz
drinks before than after battle. The frs
time saw him was in March, 1864, whel
l went with General Breckinridge as AID
ijutant of the Department of Southwest
ern Virginia. He had served there con
tinuously while / had ser we'd with the al
my of Ten nessee.
THE HERO AT RHEATowN, TENN.
When I met him he was not in the SCI
vice, being under arrest and deprived OF hi
command under the charges OF drunken
ness in the presence of the enemy, an
conduct unbecoming an officer, at Rhea
town. If General Williams has by hi
rashness brought this exposure Ipo
himself, he has no one to blame, bu
while he is so vulnerable to censure
will no longer remain silent when l hav
the means at hand for his exposure. TIL
facts are well known TO hundreds Of Con
federate soldiers. and are given in tn
following letter addressed to me by Gen
eral II. L. Giltner, who was second
command to General Williams, as 70
lows:
GEN. GILrNER's LETTER.
''HUSrER's BORON, KY, Mar IL, 1875.
Col. j. 8. Johnston:
DEAR SIR-Your communication {
the 18th was handed me yesterday b
your brother. Major H. H. Johnston.
am sorry to hear that General William
has attacked you so medly. In replyin
TO that portion of your letter which n
fers to the battle Of Blue Springs an
Rheatown, have to rely on memory, a
| have no records to refer to; therefore
may be mistaken in dates, but in ever
other particular | will substantiate.
"Shortly after was brigaded unde
Gen. Williams, he temporarily organize
division out of the several organization
which constituted his brigade. / bein
the senior colonel, was assigned to IN
command of the first brigade, AMI Col
Jas Carter, of the first Tennessee, to tn
second We were in camp near Blu
Springs, eight miles in frant of Green
vile, Tenn, and / think it was on the ST
or 10th of October, 1868. We were at
tackled by Gen. Burnside's corps about Il
o'clock A. NJ. The engagement was Wig
orously contested until dark, then Fl: n
ceased, with each belligerent occupyin
thessame line OF battle that we did in tn
morning when the fight was opened. witt
the exception OF the enemy's right an
left TANKS which had been extended t
our rear. In this position Gen. William
accompanied by his staff, retreated frou
the field ard rode back to Greenville I
telegraph Maj. Gen. Sam Jones. In tn
absence of orders | assumed comman
and fell back to the vicinity OF Greenvillt
where | met Gen. Williams, and he cor
graduated me upon my successful with
drawal, and ordered the retreat TO b
continued. We moved on slowly and un
molest ted until the dawn Of day. The
we were attacked in front by Col. Foster
(FederaD, who was commanding 2,l7
men. 1--WE captured his morning re port,
After a short engagement we drove hin
from our front and then marched on 10
few miles to Rheatown, where we wer
ordered into camp in the face of the enc
my for the purpose of foraging l remon
strated, but the order was then made i'm
perstive, and no Alternative left me but
obey. One OF the Generals staff informe
me that he was in no condition to CON
mand, and l must take care Of my ow
men; consequently made no forage de
tails, but kept my men in hand. We wer
in camp but a short period until the enc
my charged into Col. Carriers camp AM
stampeded great many Of bis men.
had my men mounted Immediately an
galloped to the rear, few hundred yards
then formed, dismounted, moved forward
and met the enemy and checked their ad
vance. This gave Col. Carter an opportu
nifty to rally his men and bring them u
in good order Here a desperate fgh