The National tribune., 1884-08-21
MOSCOW, TENN.
Lively Account of Very Lively Little Battle,
In Which an Overwhelming Force of Rebels was
Rad nafn ad

Badly Defeated.
To THE EDITOR: An article in THE TRrB-
UNE of Aug. z, correcting Comrade Surby's
article of the week previous in regard to the
| fight and wounding of Gen. Hatch at Moscow
Tenn, needs correcting badly / think / have
taken quite an interest in Surby's different
articles and while ! do not agree with him in
some particulars, yet think on the whole he is
about correct. l find 20 years have not helped
our memory, nor blotted out some things
| Comrade Surby, am satisfied is writing from
memorandum, and he who contradicts his
statements should be backed pretty well, or he
will be in the fix of Vet" from Iowa. Let
me ask you, Mr. Editor, and Comrade Surby,
| if Edward Hatch was not a Brigadier- General
when he was wounded, on the 4th of December,
| 1863 and was not the 7th Ill. also of his bri-
gade? ] will say to Comrade Surby helped
eat Mosby's meat and enjoyed that pleasure
trip hugely; but don't think we were looking
for Lee or Forrest but anticipating them
little. i also participated in the skirmish at
Salisbury and at Moscow from first to last
and when " Vet" says Hatch and his Adjutant-
General were the first mounted troops there
he is badly off The truth is, after our brush
with the enemy in the morning at Salisbury
they drew off southwest; we moved to La
grange, where Gen. Iuttle was In command.
Two battalions of the Cd Iowa and one of the
9th Ill. were sent out south of the town. had
q brush with Lee again and found he was still
moving southwest, which satisfied Gen. Hatch
that he was going to either Germantown or
Colliersville, but Gen. Tuttle was of the opinion
that Lee intended to attack Lagrange. Tuttle
and Hatch-so we understood disagreed and
GOT LITTLE "HoT,"
when Tuttle told Hatch to take his cavalry
and 20 TO the bad place In the meantime, so
firm in his belief was Gen. Hatch, that he had
ordered out the 9th Ill. Cav, two battalions of
the 9th and part of the 7th H. on the road
west. We proceeded leisurely on the road
to Moscow, the 9th Ill. Cav. in the ad-
vance. When we got to the Wolf River
bridge-the pickets there 1.-TWO companies
of colored troops belonging to the I'd West
Tenn, encamped close by, between the
bridge and the station) had taken up some
planks in the bridge-the command caught up
with the advance. All was quiet. The negros
came out to the road and talked with u.s. | do
not know who was In command of the 9th Cav.
Capt. Cameron, of Co. Z, commanded the 9th.
When the planks were replaced the column
moved out without sending out an advance
and the 9th close up to the 9th ILL., On the
opposite side of the river was dense wood,
and Lees troops were in line and advancing
within quarter of mile, intending to gobble
up the negro regiment, supposing we were off
south of Lagrange. The 9th H. had hardly
got across the river, (which was not wide, but
deep-the bridge was some 20 rods long alto
shots, soon followed by more. The 9th III. was
then full length on the bridge, the 9TH coming
on, when the battle opened most terrifcally.
was by the side of Capt Cameron, at the head
of the column of the 9th. / saw the 9Th dis
mount and take to trees. Their horses that
were not killed there came tearing back, and
were shot down at the river. Surely, we were
in fix-the road blocked in front and rear. The
boys jumped OF, pushed the horses off into the
swamp, pulled the battery of the howitzers of
the 9th back to the end of the bridge, and as
soon as the 9th extricated themselves opened
fire. The river was full of men and horses, and
it was hand-to-hand fight for little while,
but things soon righted, and we all knew it
was essential TO keep that river between Us
and them.
THEY WANTED TO CROSS BADLY,
by the way they tocked onto the bridge to be
moved off with grape and canister from our
howitzers. The only negro troops in the fight
were the two companies Or parts of companies.
at the bridge; the rest We're ordered into the
fort, and fired a big gun occasionally, shelling
the woods. The only man / saw commanding
was
CAPT. CAMERON,
Of the 9th H., and he was wild, calling for his
heros, as he called his Co. K; and / think any
one that was there at that time knows there
was not much use of a commander, for each and
good position to see. | had charge Of the wagons
oft 9Th. In one had battery ammunition and
in another rifle ammunition got them close
III rear of the battery, got an ak from the negro
quarters, and, as the 9th Ill and part of the 9Th
had swum the river their ammunition was wet,
chopped open several boxes of rifle amlnuni-
ton and loaded the boys who came for it. I
could see the entire length of the bridge and
witness the work of the battery The colored
troops stood by the side of the battery and did
nobiy, as did all the rest; but the enemy was
about TO out-fank US to the left. Capt Cam
eron called for his heros and charged a piece
of woods to the left with such wild, terrific
| force that it checked them for little. At
this point Gen. Hatch, who was in La
grange, or had just started out, arrived He
| heard the firing and came pell-meu with the
I'd Iowa and one battalion of the 9th ILL., He
| dismounted them opposite the station and sent
! them in on our left. Just before this train on
the railroad from Lagrange had blown its
whistle. The I'd Iowa and 9th Ill. were armed
| with
| COLTS FIyE-sHooTTNG, LONG, BRIGHT RIFLES
As they swung over the hill and down to
the river on the double-quick, the Johnnies
thought that the infantry had come down from
| Lagrange on the train, and they soon began to
slack up and back off. How those old FIVE
| shooters did roar and the I'd Iowa, as always
was on hand when needed. / saw Gen. Hatch
when he rode up. He sat near the battery.
and doubt if he had given command when
| he was hit. / saw him lean forward in his sad
| die. and saw them help him off and take him
away. understood he said "Tell the boys to
NEVER GIVE UP THAT BRIDGE
The tight was soon ended after he was hit.
The first l knew they were falling back. saw
one of the Yankees jump upon the embank-
ment or bridge, away out nearly to the water,
and halloa: Come on, boys; they are run
| ming and in an instant the road was full of
| Yanks, and perfect stream went across into
| the woods on the other side; but Lee pulled
| right out. Now, comrades, this is what saw of
this hard-fought little battle, wherein, have
no doubt, we had five to one against us. and we
were taken, too, at terrible disadvantage, and
the 9th H. Cav. was nearly annihilated before
We could help them.
| would like Comrade Surby to write up the
Sooy Smith raid in February, 1864.
agree with Surby that the using up of the 7th
Ill. Cav. and letting Forrest out of West Ten
nessee with all his plumber, looks like terri
BILE blunder My company was at Lafayette
where he crossed Wolf River and the railroad,
and fought him all the afternoon and night
| There were some hard things hinted about
| Gen. Tuttle and flag of truce At all events,
| Forrest got out with a nice lot of recruits
and f0rage.-J. j. BAILEY, Co. G., 9th Ill. Cav.
Menomonie, Wis.
| Moscow Again.
To THE EDITOR ' Vet" in your issue of 7th
inst, is a little off about the Moscow Tenn. J
battle. The colored troops in the fort were