The National tribune., 1882-04-01


from ex-soldier readers. Let the stories be
told as briefly as possible.-ED. TRIBUNEJ
THE THIRTY-SECOND INDIANA AT
ROWLETT STATION.
1twas about two o'clock on the morning oi
the 9th of December, when our little troop OF
132 men, under command of Lieutenant
Colonel Won Trebra, formed circle around
"OId Papa WiUich"
"Children," says he, "you have all come
forward voluntarily. / know, therefore, that
you are men. want you to march to Mum
fordsville, and bring those 400 Texas Rangers
to me; do not care so much about the men,
but must have their horses!"
We understood him, and in the bright
moonlight of that December night we
marched along the good pike, which leads
from Bacon Creek to Mumfordsville, full of
that spirit of courage and adventure which
was so common in the breast of every soldier
of those early days.
MumtOrdSvllle was reached ut four o'clock
in the morning Won Trebra, an ex officer of
the Prussian army, divided our small force
into two divisions, taking with him one hum
dred men, to enter the town and surprise the
rebels, while we were sent to ford over
Green River, below the town, to capture the
horses that Which wanted.
We laid in ambuscade up to seven o'clock.
Not gun had been fired, and only one sin
gle, Innocent prisoner taken, who proved
himself to be farmer from the southern
shore OF Green River. Meanwhile we were
getting tired and hungry, and Sergeant B,
in command of our detachment, sent me up
town to consult with our commander-in-
chief. / did not have 10 look for him long,
for on the piazza of the "hotel" stood Won
Trebra, blowing the blue smoke of genuine
Havana from his thin lips.
[ approached him with the customary
military salute, and asked him for his orders
| in regard to the men left down by the ford.
oh" was his answer, " had forgotten all
about them. Go back, and order them up
for breakfast" The rebels had fed across the
river before our arrival
Welcome was the order for that which a
fighting soldier needs most. We did eat in
that hotel, and Uncle Sam paid the bill-in
horn.
There is great railroad bridge spanning
Green River at this point, being at least 135
feet above water level. The rebels had
blown one pillar out of this structure, to i'm
pede our communications Papa Which,
who had an eagles eye, saw at once where
the danger was. He knew that the first OBJ
ject of the rebels would be to destroy the
rest of this bridge which was so necessary
for our advance into Tennessee
German regiment is not complete with
out pioneer company. We had one, and
during our stay in New Haven this company
had constructed one single pontoon.
On the night of the 18th of December our
company, under the command of the gallant
j. P. Welsehbillig, was summoned to arms
1t was bitter cold as we took up our Enfield
rifles and marched down to the waters edge
In the darkness that prevailed. Willich was |
with us. The trip across the stream had to |
be- double one, rs the pontoon was not large |
enough to float US all at once
Whoever has seen Green River at this |
point knows how swift it is. l had taken |
line or coil of rope across, and by its ai3 we
were, in the silence of night, taken over to
where we saw the watch-fires of the Johnny
Rebs. Just at the landing stood a saw-mill |
The first detachment was left there under
the orders of our captain who had seen death
in hundred shapes in Antique. The posi-
tlon assigned to me was up the river at the |
bridge, Lieutenant Brucllner in command.
If those fellows in gray coats, encamped only
mile away, had known our numerical
strength, they wougbt have wiped us out.
But the fighting came soon. On the 18th of
December two Of our companies were on
picket duty across the river. At about one
o'clock in the afternoon the general alarm
was sounded, and all our companies rushed,
according to orders previously received,
across temporary wooden bridge which
our pioneer company had built.
/ shall never forget that afternoon. had
just brought my pipe into use after bountiful
dinner of bean soup and pork. The day was
my regulation coat, and went out with cart
ridge box and gun in shirt sleeves. Across
the river on dead run, we were soon in
shooting distance, and the command of our
gallant captain came short and sharp: "Form
square against cavalryw Just as short but
a little sharper, was the reply from the
mouths of our Enfelds. Three times did
Terry with his rangers charge our square;
the last time he fell about twenty yards in
our front, waving his hat gallantly. Brave
were those fellows, but they had found their
match. They hurled sauer-kraut and d
Dutch -" in our faces. az thew
rode up to the charge. l believe they got
more of the "kraut" than they wanted. 1t
was Hindman's brigade. We had to fight
them again on the bloody field of Shiloh.
Our loss was fourteen killed and twenty-one
They were the first victims on
the altar of our country's liberty of the
Thirty-second Indiana.
Congress did the handsome thing. On !
the regimental flag of the First German Reg
lment they allowed us to inscribe in gold
letters the name of "Rowlett Station"
CAROLUs.
HOW A METHODIST PREACHER WAS
IMPRISONED FOR STEALING s
CHICKENS.
General John B. Floyd, Of the late con- !