Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-06


pressing closer and closer - the fort until within
one hundred and fifty yards Of the pardpet Boat
alter boat shattered by the steady weldirected
fire OF the batteries till all OF them dscomitted
and ShrunS back helpless with the tide, leaving the
Tennessee artillerymen the vc.orS OF the day Thus
ended the heavy artillery fight OF Fort Donaldson.
Who will say that as the sun went down on that win
try day the horizon OF Tennessee was not eilied
with brighter deeper glory, that will not fade away
Disappointed in his hope OF driving the Confeder-
ates from the fort with his most gallant marines.
the Federal general Grant, whose land force now ex-
ceeded nifty thousand men, determined thoroughly
TO close them in and crush them into submission.
The fourteenth was thus occupied. and no general
or important assault occurred during that day On
the night of the fourteenth the Confederate generals
having discovered Grants design, determined that
the left division OF the army should at five O'Clock
out OF the trenches attack the enemy on
the right flank and roll II back upon the center, un
mode OF escape be opened To appreciate the feat
thus to be attempted. look at the condition of the
four days; 1t had been constant raining sleeting
or showing; the Confederate troops had been com
constantly, because the surrounding Nights, occu-
pied by The Federals. 50 commanded the approach
70 the trenches as to prevent the soldiers from leav
ing them. The Federal troops had every possible
comfort of modern times at hand from their trans
ports, and could select and make comfortable their
beds These thirt en- thousand freezing. drenched.
and weary ConfederateS were called on in the btt:r
cold at daylight, to rise from those frozen bitches
and 90 forth to fight fifty to eighty thousand of the
best equipped troops in the word-troops, too from
none. But they did go forth, as
the trenches. raisei the st-rn Confederate shout
and entered upon that bloody fight. For seven and
and back, until they had achieved everything re,
CURED OF them; the enemy's lines had been rolled
General Pillow telegraphed to General Albeit Sid
ney Johnston at shutdown OF glorious victory. In
five thousand troops, over onethird the entire Goa
federate force Why at nightfall, the ConfedeTates
were Withdrawn from the position they had been
hghtng lor all day; why the surrender at midnight
PnuH rRtrp1t
other could not; wnat the military importance of
sand troops questions for the military historian
ami student and not for me. ! simply wish TO show
than TT three times their numbers on That day
are not to be Shorn OF their fame because at
incident more OF this battle will present because
1t relates to a Memphis command and Mem DhIS
men on reaching the Wins Ferry road a Fed
erdl battery was found Oh a commanding emnenGe
dealing great destruction to part of the COufede5
ate army. General then coIoneD Forrest, with his
cavalry regiment charged ana captured tue battery,
received a mortal wound Next came the battle
of Shiloh on the sixt1 OF April 1852 The Federal
consisted of six divisions or corps, under Sher
man, W. IL. Wallace. Hulbe't Pren;iss, and Meier
nand. with General Lew Wallace'S division in re-
at Crump'S landing, below PittSbur5. Toe ad
nand Pr4ntiss and sherman; bstSesl tnenrand the
landing were the corps of Huh 1T and W. H Wat
lace. Their order of battle the three rst-named
divisions in advance reinforced upon the center by
the two last. They numbered nifty thousand troops
consisted of three corps; Brdggs and Hard4e's 10
'front.' Folks in reserve. The battle commenced at
daylight, and Continued until nearly night 1t was
constant series of successes for the COniederates.
Every division OF the enemy driven from its po
sitiOl back to the river. eXcept that OF PrentISS
which surrendered TO Gene al Polk the fl Id.
Eighteen pieces of artillery were captured General
Folks TenneS Seee corps went into the fight at If
past eight o'clock in the morning AMI was in the
front until five in the evening. It numbered seven
thoIsand men and the list of killed wounded and
missing showed the enormous loss of thIrty-three
per cent. One incident Of the battle shOad be pre-
served byi he people of Tennessee rs an example OF
GA N annals
war; Near the center or the enemy's line was
posted battery of seven guns; they were in
They were supported by a brlgafe of several Ohio
regiments The Fourth Tennessee under Colonel
StrahI, numbering five hundred and eighty men,
we're ordered to charge. The gallant colonel. when
ordered to take the battery, sid Il will try" I'm
medatsly these brave young t. nneSSeans shoulder
to shoulder with fixed bsyOnetS advanced Steadily,
quietly. firmly they moved up tine hill, the fever of
battle in every eye and their determined gaze fixed
upon that bittery as their certal goal. Shot and
shell ploughed through thei ranks, but the b caches
were closed, and tie steady march went on. AS
they drew nearer, suddenly Il dark line of armed
men sprang up behi the battery, and pour d
their death dealing voeyS into the advancing regi
ment. Still no waverlng, no halting. When within
sixty yards of the battery. the regiment halted.
delivered Il deliberate voley, and then at charge
bayonets rushed upon their foes, put the infantry
to flight and the battery was theirs Nearly one
that charge or over one hundred and sixty uut of
five hundred and eighty. Memphis company,
wounded out of ffty-eight IN this charge.
The Federal infantry support. which had been drlv
rallied and attempted to Tetake the battery, but it
was repulsed by the same regiment General Glad
West Tennessee regiment declared that, although
he had been in the Cfimean war, and had seen the
dierS, yet he had never witnessed the equal OF this
gallant charge OF the Tennessee regiment on the
same day the One Hundred and Fifty-fOurh Tennes-
see regim mt, under General Preston Smith, with
equal voT enared ana 9ae In
to cut OFF Premises connection with the Federal
leading his regiment, Colonel Christopher II. VII
West tennessee, a resident of Memphis. and a law
yer by profession. Although only about thirty years
the West Tennessee bar. He was as modest and Te-
fined southern woman; he was rs gentle and
kind as GOldsmIhs country parson; he was the syn
onym OF truth and eVaIed integrity in ali his walk
and conveTSat on. He was cJurteouS genial COM
flwyer and perfectly free from any envy Jealousy
but always took pleasure in the exhibition OF tai
was wa panied at Their defeats He was Uaon man
until coercion was attempted, and went into the
army from stsm sense of duty to Tennessee In
his death Tennessee lost one of her best and most
promising sons He was the Sic Philip Sidney of
tennessee Colonel Thomas W. Preston, of Mem
phis was killed in the battle. while dIscharg
ing his duty on the staff of General Albert 8. john
son. No one knew Preston but to love him. Pe was
VirgInian, and possessed all the noble attributes
of christian gentleman from Virginia. He
was worthy type or the race tc which he belonged
Why the whole of Grant army was not captured it
is not my province to discuss That they utterly
beate and were covering on the banks OF the river
like frightened birds. was fully admitted 10y their
own accounts At the pattle of MurfreeSbOro the adj
vantage decidedly with the Confederate army
The line or General Rosecrans was pushed back UNI
ill., at nightfali it stood at right angles to its posi-
ton in thu morning. On Friday General Brecken
ridge drove the left wing Of Rosecrans entirely from
its position although greatly Outnumbering his
position In the Breckenridge fight of Friday Cap
tain Eldridee Wright, of this city, killed, in The
son Of Judge Archibald Wright At the outbreak of
the war he was a student al Chapel HILL and had
been for four years He was youth of bril-
liant talents and asSiduOuS industry, had
won the highest hOnors of his class for
TEEN of all who knew him for the uibanIty and
courtesy of his mlnneTs. the generous warmth of
his heart. the purity end elevation of his character
When his state called for her 10 repel the in
vader he, the devoted student left the college net
waiting for the honorable and well-eaIned nrSt d.
ploma OF mis- class. and hurried back to offer his
sevices and life 10 his native State In the battle
that cost his life and at the post OF danger where ne
fell, he was volunteer, Seeing the pers of the
command. ne went to General Breckenridge and
asked permission to enter his battery in the peril
GUS conflict. The request was granted, and ii the
midst of his battery, while his guns were sending
aud, like General Wolfe. on the Nights OF Abra am
mingled his last bIeathings with the triumphant
shouts of his comrades. Such were the young men
that made up the southern army. In the battle of
Richmond, Kentucky the COnfederates under Gen
Federal army under General Nelson, AT Perryville,
the southern troops, and especially the
age and fierce determination that
could not be wthstoOd that utterly discounted their
foes and called forth not only the plauditS of their
general Polk, but of President Davis, In the strong
est terms of his most vigorous pen, and even the
ports of northern commanders and northern papers
taemed with laUdatiOn of Their gallantry. The vic
tory OF southern valOr at Chickamauga COM
pete, and is as notorious as was the Inquiry, how
was ROsecranS permitted to escape? In this contest
fell, among many others of our best soldiers aud
officers. Brigader General Preston Smith, OF Mem
phls. He by nat0re soldier, and on every bat
tlefield. from Belmont to Chckamauga, exhibited
most distinguished yalOT. Well might General
Cheatham say of his death, as General Lee did of
StOnewall Jackson, II haze lost my righ ann" OF
other battles equally conspicuous for the display OF
southern courage, time forbids that should speak.
pass the terrible slaughter at Franklin. where
whole commands marched t. certain death without
fnching or hesitation. without murmur but with
the stern JOY that warriors feel. Its
details ase too cruel for description, but
the courage of the southern officers and troops in
that battle approached the sIperhuman; 1t has no
parallel in the annals of war, ancient or modern.
Here General Cleburne, that matchleSS Irish So
der, fell bleeding at every vein. Ii. re General
Strahl fell, a man that combined the gentleneSS OF
a woman, the meeknesS OF d christian and the cour-
age of a Ney. Here Carter fell, noble Tennessean
of scholarly attainment, of noble amb .tlOn TO eX
eel IN all his undertakings, of simple mOdesty, OF
franknesS and amiability and of an accue and del
icate sense of duty that carried him to the post or
peril and death cheerfully as the bridegroom
meets his bride. Many others suggested, but |