The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-02-13
AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR.
dow q Body Of Cadets Engagd the Federal
Cavalry.

1t was late at night on the 18th of
April, 1865, two days after the surren-
der at Appomattox, that a strong body
of federal cavalry, numbering, it is
said, no fewer than l, 200, detached by
Gen. j. II. Wilson, then on his march
from Tuscumbia, in northwestern Ala
bama, to Macon, in Georgia, struck
the Black Warrior river at the little
town of Northport, directly opposite
to Tuscaloosa, which lies upon the
southern bank. The object which Gen.
Wilson had in view in ordering this ex-
petition was tc seize or destroy a de-
pot. of military ,upplies said (traly)
to have been formed in Tuscaloosa;
for this city, though a point of no
strategic Importance, was a Conve-
nient center in which to bring together
levies or contributions from a large
district of surrounding country. Had
nothing occurred 10 interfere with this
proceeding the troops, after ccOm
plishing their object, would have quiet.
ly retired. Unfortunately there was
an interference, and, as the result of
the interference, a catastrophe. Right
ly to understand what happened, it is
necessary to know that at this point
the river is .spanned by a large and
well built covered bridge of wood. AS
the hostile visit had been entirely I'M
anticipated, no attempt had been
made to destroy the bridge, or to in
terrupt communication between the
banks; so that the troops effected a
crossing in good order, and unopposed.
Reaching the lower terrace on the
southern side, the commander halted
his main body, and threw forward q
small squad to r~econnoiter.
Now the tramping of LOO horses
4 wooden bridge several hundred feet
long, however quietly conducted,
could scarcely take place without at
tracing some attention from the
people of a town of several
thousand inhabitants, quite with
in earshot. Whatever, therefore, dur
ing the time occupied by the little ar
my in crossing the river was this:
Some curious individuals who, attract
ed by the unusual sounds, looked
down from the brow of the hill Git was
a bright moonlight night upon the
formidable MILITARY array gathered
upon the lower terrace, scattered has
tily and carried on the wings of the
wind to every corne of the city the
frightful intelligence that the hated
Yankees, of whom they had heard so
much, but had as yet seen nothing,
were right on the spot at last. The
rumor reached the university. This
institution occupied q say occupied
advisedly, for it was 500 an instance
of Trcja fut,) and | am glad to say
it occupies once more, an isolated
sight about halt a mile beyond the
chartered limits of the city. All its
full-grown students had long since
flung themselves into the ranks of the
confederate armies, and these had
been replaced by a band of boys of ten
der age, who were enjoying the com.
bined advantages of military and civil
ian education, and preparing them
selves equally for the pursuits of peace
or of war. They were subject, of
course, two the twofold rule; it was
true, nevertheless, with them, as in a
well-ordered state, that the military
was subordinate to the civil power.
No sooner, however, had the appalling
announcement, "The enemy lis at our
gates,'' been heard upon the college
campus than this spirited power of
juvenile patriots seized their muskets
(very small muskets they were, spe-
cially constructed and proportional to
the feeble powers of those who were
to bear them, fell into the ranks, and
marched in~continently to the scene of
anticipated conflict, f%iercely bent on
driving these g~raceless invaders into
the Black Warrior river at the point
of the bayonet. When, therefore, the
accommodating party of the federals
began slowly to ascend the hill, this is
what befell:
Suddenly the word ''iren was shout
ed in a clarion voice, and a volley of
musket balls flew over the heads of
the advancing troops. The firing was
so exact, simultaneous, and 30 instant
ly in sequence to the order as to inn
press the federals with the belief that
it had been delivered, not by a mob of
hastily gathered civilian defenders,
but by a body of regularly-drilled and
disciplined troops. The advance party
therefore fell back and reported that
the ~confederates were before them in
force. 1t was known, indeed, that
there had been some rebel regiments
stationed at Greensborough, forty
miles below Tuscaloosa and it was
believed that these had been pushed
to. .yard to defend Tuscaloosa against
this raid. The federal commander
nevertheless felt confident that he
should be able to carry the town by a
coup de main, and he lost no time in
attempting it. Massing his troops in
solid column, he gave the order to
charge up the hill at q gallop, intend
ing to ride down all opposition, or to
cut his way with the saber. Then all
these seventeen hundred horsemen
swept up the hill at the top of their
sneed r. find IA their astonishment.