The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-08-28

he received information that Stur-
gis, with eight thousand infantry,
five thousand cavalry and six bat
teries was moving from Memphis
into Mississippi, parallel with the
Memphis and Charleston railroad.
Forrest began at once to concen-
trate his scattered command.
On the 9th Forrest took position
with two brigades east of the
Hatchie, near Rienzi, to dispute the
passage of Sturgis over that river,
supposing he was moving to re-en-
force Sherman in Georgia. The
scouts now reported Sturgls az
moving southwark towards For.
rests camp at Tupelo.
Forrest moved before day TO take
position at Bryce's crossroads, or
a dividing ridge where the waters
of the Hatchie rise and run north
and of the Tallahatchie rise and run
south, and when within four miles
of that place he learned that the
enemy had already occupied it and
were now between him and his
headquarters at Tupelo.
He had with him there his three
smallest brigades, the effective
strength of which at that time he
reported as $3.50 and two batteries
of artillery some distance in the
rear. Ordering them to move in
stantly up, which they did, coming
eight miles in a gallop, he moved
forward with the men he had and
opened the fight, and at the same
time ordered Buford to send one
regiment across the country to at
tack the enemy in the rear. The
battle ragged fiercely for some hours,
with doubtful success, and eight
hundred Federals and six hundred
and forty Confederates fell dead
and wounded around Bryce's house.
One popularity of Forests fight
ing was his almost reckless use of
artillery, and on this occasion he
had eight pieces of artillery that
were boldly handled by Capt. Mar
tin, beardless youth, with the face
of woman and the courage of a
lion. The Federals made some
splendid charges, that we're re pulsed
at short range by the artillery,
double-shotted with canister. The
Confederates insist that both the
Federal infantry and cavalry were
in this fight. The Federal cavalry
officers who censured Sturgis say
they had cavalry alone. Be this as
it may, when Forrest captured
Bryce's house, the enemy's infantry
in column were in full view coming
up. He turned loose on them his
own eight pieces of artillery and six
more just captured, and about that
time Bartian's brigade struck them
in the rear, and the fight commenced.
A more terrific pursuit was never
seen. The negroes had been sworn
on their knees before starting from
Memphis to show no quarter to
Forests men, and on their shirts
and banners was inscribed, "Re
member Fort Pillow" This had a
double effect; it made the Federals
afraid to surrender and infuriated
Forests men; and it is said that
nineteen hundred were killed in this
pursuit, which was continued sixty
miles. The exact truth as to this
fight will perhaps never be known;
but taking either the Federal or
Confederate accounts of It, it was
the most brilliant victory of the war
on either side. Forrest reports his
force at thirty-two hundred cavalry
and eight pieces of artillery. The
Federal report places Sturgis' force
at thirty three hundred cavalry, fif-
ty-four hundred infantry and seven
teen pieces of artillery. Sturgis
was as much astonished at his de-
feat as any one, and was so terribly
mortified that when A. j. Smith
moved out after Forrest, confiden
tial spy reported that Sturgis was
sitting in a hotel soliloquizing, at
can't be done, sirp' and when asked
what could not be done he said,
"They can't whip old Forrest!"
In this battle two thousand prIs-
oners were taken, and the artillery
(seventeen pieces), the whole ordi-
train, well supplied with am
and many articles of
value to US.
1t is said that Forrest was uned-
ucated, and this is true; but his
ideas, when properly clothed in cor
rect language, were pointed and
strong, and he was exceedingly te-
nacious that his own ideas, and not
those of the writer should be ex-
pressed by those who wrote for
him. His strong and touching final
address to his troops, though
shaped by another, was his own Gre
alton, and he felt all that the Ian
guage imported when he said:
"Civil war, such as you have passed
through, naturally engenders feel
ings of animosity, hatred and re-
venge. 1t is our duty to divest
ourselves of all such feelings, and.
as far as is in our power to do so,
to cultivate friendly feelings toward
those with whom we so long con-
tended, and heretofore so widely
differed. Neighborhood feuds, per-
sonal animosities and private differ
ences should be blotted out, and
when you return home a manly
course ef conduct will secure the re-
spect of even your enemies. What
ever your responsibilities may be to
government, to society, or to indl
viduals, meet them like men.
= / have never on the field
of battle sent you where / was un-
willing to go myself, nor would lad
wise you to course which felt my
self unwilling to pursue. You have
been good soldiers; you can be good
citizens. Obey the laws, preserve
your honor, and the government to
which you have surrendered can af-
ford to be and will be magnani-
NOUS" Like the cause he loved, he
is dead. In the coming years, when
the bitterness of strife has passed
away; when that mystic harp, whose
chords connect the graves of the
dead with the hearts of the living,
shall Vibrate the music of a restored
Union, and some blind old bard
shall sing the praises of American
heroes while eager children listen