Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-07-01
"reminiscences of the Second gennes-
see Cavalry.
BY LIEUT.. *JN0. W, ANDES
BY LIEUT.. JN0.
NO. XXI.


BY LIEUT.. sJNo. W, ANDES
NO. XXI.
Nv last left US at Athens, Ala, on the
pa of SeDtem Der, 1854, where We
came in contact With the enemy rather
UNEXPECTEDLY. They appeared as
much surprised as we were. We
asked them to what command they
belonged and they answered FORESTS.
THEW mt to Us a similar inquiry, and
we replied. +" The Second Tennessee
Cavalry They also had " Second
Tennessee" The street was SO block
aided by their; that it would have been
i'm nosgible to go further. We " about
faced" quietly, 2 aiming to re-
tnrn to our regiment, The
enemy standing quietly on the
streets. AS we returned 10 the regi-
ment we passed a private dwelling
house wherawe had noticed aequad OF
about twenty men standing as We
went out. They were still there and
supposed we were Confederate cavalry.
Hating my column alongside of tn IN
/ felt sure they were Confederates, and
after hating them, I rode back Il II
asked them what they were doing
there. They replied that they Were
Gen. FORESTS body guard, aud the
following conversation ensued: L
ssWheresis the General ?u
"He is in the house, sir"
"What is be doing there
eating his supper"
II wish to see him"
~" Have yeu dispatch for him y
." I have no written one, but ver-
bal one"
Just be quiet then, sir; he will be
done in a minute. Then you can see
him at your pleasure, sir"
How many men have you?
About twenty, sir"
At this, [ told them that they were
.myprisoners, and that the first man
tn at res isted " Guild be shot Instantly.
Our squad gathered around them, and
-wesLhsn MARCHED them off tolthe regi-
ment, having completely surprised
them. Our regiment was not over 800
yards distant. While at Forests
headquarters, we could look in at the
cOmmarder eating his supper, with
his staff officers, but concluded not to
make the experiment of capturing I'M
der the. circumstances, until We re-
ported to our regimental COM
mauder. We reported to Colonel
| Prosser, "a who linterrogated = the
| prisoners and obtained the infOrma-
tIion that FORESTS command num-
| bered about 10 900 men. We remained
nn the public square for atime. Col
| Prosser told US TO goto the depot and
! get forage and any ether supplies We
! mi4ht find. When we got there we
| found it full of FORESTS men, who IN
d state Of great confusion were diVid-
Tug the spoil'. A railroad train had
lust come IN, loaded with commissary
| stores and clothing. There was also a
Paymaster on board with q large
i amount of greenbacAs. The Whole
| thing was captured, greenbacks aud
all. Under cover Of night we went
right in with them and were not Ce
tec;ed. There was general knocking
down and dragging cut among them
selves. We succeed in getting some
forage, clothing, ratiOns, etc, but no
greenbacks. We went back to the
| regiment and divided our forage and
rations. About two O'clock in the
morning Col. PrOsseF, having secured
the services of al old cOlored mau TO
act rs plot, we determined 10 get out
of there. Lieut.. Homer, with squad
of 40 10 so men OF the 81 Cavalry was
there dismOu nted, aud having no
means to escape, took shelter ia the
fort. Every road leading out of town
was blockaded by Confederate troops.
The small force of Federais in town,
with the exception of our regiment,
was concentrated in the fort. The
Colonel commanding directed Col.
Prosser to- burn The CGmnlisaary
before he left. The C0louel orGered
his men into The building to
take whatever they could carry
of, and then fired the building. We
started out through lots and fields,
guided by our faithful c0lOred pilot,
and went at lea Two miles before
striking any road, but We got out with
out the loss of a man. Daylight The
next morning found u5 twelve miles
away, at Decatur Junction. The few
troops left at Athens were surrounded
| The ueXt morning, and Forrest opened
Fupon them with his batteries. : After
/ little resistance they surrendered, as
| tbey were p0werfesS TO contend against
! such odds. Col. Prosser tried to get
i bHe C9lopsl in comm and of the fort to
I spike Ills guns ard try to get
ont, but he preferred to act other
Vice. Thesprisoners taken were ADAM
FdQped during the night. A portion IF
Ilhe Third Cavalry were stationed at
Sulphur Trestie. eight miles from
Athens. NEXT NOR ming we heard the
artillery open there, and 1T was q sad
! sound TO US, for we knew that our gal~
| liant comrades of the Third Cavalry
we're u0abfe 10 stand against the supe-
rior force brought to bear against
Them. We were twenty miles away
and unable to assist them. They sur
rendered. but we will leave the author
of the "reminiscences OF that regiment
TO tell about this. Suffice to say they
were captured aud confined in prison
where many of the gallant men died.
Do --=S~ g
Grassy Valley News.