Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-08-23
NASHVILLE. April Is. 1861

on Jackson or Paris even, it would disturb
Forrest more than anything Hurlbut will
do nom Memphis. W. 7. SHERMAN, &c.
NASHVILLE, April Is, 1864.
To General Mcpherson, Huntsville; Gen
eral Brayman, Cairo General Hurlbut,
Memphis; and General Slocum, Nicks-
burg:
General Grant has made the following
orders +" General Sturgis has start
ed this morning to assume command of all
the cavalry at or near Memphis, with which
he will sally out and attack Forrest wher
ever he may be. General GriersOn may
seize all the horses and mules in Memphis
to mount his men and be ready for the
arrival of General Sturgis, and Buczland's
brigade of infantry should be ready to move
out with the cavalry.
w. 4. SHERMAN, Ma. -Gen. Cong.
To further show the great danger
apprehended from Forrest at this
time and the number of troops held
to watch him, cite the following
dispatch from General Sherman:
NASHVILLE, April 10, 1864.
To General Rawling, Chief of staff, Wash
ingtOn, d. c.:
s. At Memphis are Buckland's bri-
gade of splendid troops 1.-TWO thOusand),
three other white regiments, one black
artillery at Fort Pickering, twelve hundred
strong; about one thousand men floating,
who are camped in the fort; near four
thousand black troops; three thousand en-
rolled and armed militia, and all Grierson'S
cavalry, ten thousand nine hundred and
eighty-three, according to my last returns,
of which surely not over three thousand are
on furlOugh. Out of this a force of about
twenty-five hundred cavalry and four thouS-
and infantry could have been made up, and
by moving to Bolivar could have made For
rest come there to fight or get out. have
! sent Sturgis down to whip Forrest, and. If
necessary, to mount enough men to seize
any and all the horses of Memphis and
wherever he may go.
And again, writing 10 General
Thomas, at Chattanooga, from Nash
vile, April %, he says: "The only
! danger apprehend is from resident
guerillaS and Forrest coming from
| the direction of Florence. / did
want A. J. Smith about Florence to
guard against that danger" While
| the enemy's coils were being pre-
pared for him, Forrest was quietly
gathering recruits and supplies.
| HIS first division had left him on
| the 18th, under orders of General
Polk, to guard against a threatened
raid from North Alabama on Col
umbus, Mississippi. General Neatch
had been posted at Purdy, with ten
thousand infantry, to guard the
headWaters of the Hatchie, and was
ordered away, to General Sherman's
intense disgust, as shown in his dis
patches. As soon as Neatch left
Purdy, BufOrd, with q heavy sub
sistence train, drawn by oxen,
moved out by the Purdy road, while
Forrest, with his escort and the
remnant of his old battalliOn-in all
about three hundred men-mOVed
so as to protect Buford's flank from
heavy force moving from Mem
phis under Sturgis, and evidently
intended, as Sherman had suggested,
to capture the Confederates while
crossing the Hatchie river at Boil
var. Forrest reached Bolivar first,
and posting his three hundred chO-
sen veterans in the Notifications,
well constructed by the Federals
when they held this place, he coolly
! received the attack of not less than
two thousand cavalry, repulsed
! them with serious lost, and they
retired evidently believing Forests
whole command present. He then
moved on, having suffered no seri-
Gus loss, save the wOunding of his
gallant Adjutant, Major Strange.
1 HurIbut was severely censured, re-
moved from his command at Mem
phis, and General G. G. Washburn
put in his place. When, a short
time after this, Forrest came into
Memphis and captured Washburn's
uniform from the room in which he
slept, 1t 10 said that Hurlbut CURLY
remarked: "They removed me be-
cause couldn't keep Forrest out of
West Tennessee, but Washburn
couldn't keep him out of his bed
ROOM"
THE DEFEAT OF STURGIS.
Forrest reached Tupelo, Missis-
sippi, on the 9Th of May, 1864, and
was busily engaged in recognizing
his command, now considerably in
creased by recruits and the addition
of General Gholson's brigade, re-
Gently converted from State into
Confederate troops.
On the 18th, by order of General
S. ID. Lee, Department Commander,
! Chalmers, with McCullOch's and
NanlxrIS hriUonpS Vypra pp1app1 tn