Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-01-31

he turned HIS horse laid down fiat
over the saddle and made hebte.quick
time back from whence he came,
much to the amusement of the com-
msnd Iwho cheered1 him on his way,
bat did not FIRE at him. fF7f18
|y Night came on. twas a dark one.
Our movements were conducted with
caution. Worn aud sleepy, yet there
was-sno rest for us, We were close
upon the supply train of Gen. Hoods
cotnmand, in the heighborhood Of Alb.
erdeeD, Mississippi. The plan OF at.
tack was discussed, and detach ments
assignedsto the work in different quar-
ters. Coli Prosser took command OF
one detachment, Col. Palmer OF
another, while Major VIII. r.. Me.
Bath comman ded the remainder., The
writer. by some means, was sent with
Msjor McBAth. 1t became our duty
to attack the rear. Finding the way,
and ascertsinipg q 10 strength and po-
sition, We went upon them rapidly.
There was an immense train OF wagons
parked up in field Soldiers will un.
derstand at once what IL meant by the
word "psrk."% 1t is where wagons are
placed side by side, close together, then
close behind them another line, all
compacayl driven together until they;
are ssrranged systematically and yet
occupying the least space on
whictir "a large number OF wagons
can q, be-, placed. On the left
Of the main. road there was
large park -, while, on the. right it
must have been four times larger
In fact, do not remember to have
ever seen 30 large number of wagons
together al once. The threats OF Gem
eIaI 81 eadmau on Hood rear, or some
other cause, had evidently caused
some alarm, and these pontooDs des
slroyed the night before and this
wagon train, had been sent on ahead
wi,b the hope of saving them. Ii
appeared to be at least ten acres COW
cred with wagons. And there We're
poor, broken down mules aud horses
by the Thousand. The wagons and
harness were set on fire, which bril-
lianlly lighted up the woods in that
mountainous locality. The horses
and mules not necessary for the con-
veyance of prisoners, were shot. 1t
sounded like hot skirmish for awhile.
AT length the work was done, aud the |
object Of our long, hard raid was ac~
GO mplisbe ed. except to getgout OF that
place aud back TO Our own lines. We
u ar ted in stliffefent detach ments to
meet atan appointed place. We felt1
sure that command must be near
that wagon train, and knew that mum.
Der Of Confederate soldiers were In he
woods round abont there, for we had
run them from the tram. Ia leaving,
| CHANGED to fall in with Major Wills
hanson, of the Tenth Indiana. Ar
irving at a place which we thought
must be beyond the point of meeting
with Prosser, 1t appeared as II we had
taken. the wrong road aud were lost.
IL was on the side of the mountain.
Stopping, it occurred to our minds,
that road about half a mile to the
fear turned Off from the one we were
Oh, aud was our proper road The
Major spoke Aefasen ding Some of his
men TO see, when his Sergeant Major,
Alexander w. Smitba by name, and
the writer, volunteered to go and see,
with Notwithstanding that the Major
should remain where he was until our
it WIS q mistake about the road turn
j nv off. 80 thaew had evidently been
ionS the right road after all. Tilr Ming
again 1--WE started to joihs Msj III VIII
hanson. Coming to the place where
we had left him. with his battalion
no man was there! | have heretofore
spok ep,, ofTmy dread Of capture, WED
now APPEARED TO be In a fair way to be
ensnafed. 1IMsjortWiilisms had gone,
we knew not where. We were alone
in the mountains and in a strange
country, while the woods around US
were evidently well supplied with
live rebels. One comfort to me WIS
that knew my comrade, and Drawer
man. never, lived, slthough he was a |
apiet abd rather dfilident young man
Hold BIN of MY dread of capture and
that had rather die fighting than to
surrender. | found him in the same
state jof mind. So we agreed to sell
ourselves as dearly as possible II the
worst should come. Then drawing our
,pistols, carried chem }inS hand with
thumb on the cock ready for any
emergency. I'VE rode a long time be-
fore finding any sign or hsbitation,
or. that any, human being had ever
been In Chat section of country, ex-
cept to dig out road through the
mountains. At length we came to a
little log hut at the side of the road.
Calling, here was an answer. We
INQUIRED " some cavalry had passed
there. They wanted to know what
skinn-of cavalry. I'VE told them that
we were inquiring for the faukees.
We were then informed that the
Yankees had passed some two or three
hours before" This was some con-
ISOLATION; so we pressed on. AT length
day began TO make some appearance.
IL was grayish dawn, not light enough
10 di-liaguish objects any distance.
We were riding along by the eide of
a perpendlcular cliff OF rocks higher