The Ottawa free trader., 1889-10-19

selves fiat upon the ground. These two
thought themselves discovered, and main
taiped their perpendicular.
"Who goes therem gruffly again came the
voice of the challenger.
Friend" was the equally gruff though
somewhat more sullen, if pacific, response.
"Whose command do you belong tor
Here was u poser. These officers did not
even know who they had been fighting
through the long, long day, and they we're
not even able to lie successfully. A painful
silence followed, but it was soon broken.
Whose command, says" came the re-
iterated inquiry, and the voice had acquired
hard, metallic ring.
Still silence.
"Shall We fire upon themF came in a
scarcely audible voice.
YES, fire!n came the response.
Bangl Bang! Bangl
Merciful heavens! three empty guns, and
by the flash they had been aimed in the
wrong direction. The officers had not even
been seen. Some benignant sprite had ap-
parently made the challenged party play the
ventriloquists and the bedeviled picket had
fired at the sound. But this offered the op-
portunity for new departure. Turning
quickly upon his heel, the officer in the ad-
vance caught his nearest companion by the
arm, and together they sped Off into the
shadows at pace that would have defied the
resources of breech loader. But the party
lying prone upon the ground were still more
fortunate.
mount! mount your horses, boys, quickly!
There is something wrong here" came the
voice of the officer in charge of the pickets,
and the command was promptly obeyed.
Then there began at once such tramping of
hoofs and rattling OF equipments that the
position Of the picket line was completely
exposed, and the sound Of four pairs of
stealthy feet moving quietly over to place
of comparative safety was unobserved.
But how Jared the two fugitives in the
meantimei They had uncovered and disor
dered the picket line and allowed their com
panions to slip through, but they themselves
were still in the tolls. Reaching ravine at
the end of a lively movement few hundred
feet to the rear, they followed it down TO the
bank of the stream, and, after consultation,
determined to cross, and, at whatever risk,
try and make their way through Hoods
army if it lay in their path. II was Dec. 2,
it must not be forgotten, and the water,
which was icy cold, came breast high.
1t might have been twenty feet deep
for all that the wanderers knew when
they entered, but it proved fordable,
and they finally scrambled up the bank
on the opposite side. Camp fires were
burning in every direction. Could they slip
through in their blue coats unchallengedl
They determined to keep along the bank Of
the stream, and, il necessary, when they
had passed the point Of danger on the
other side, TO recross. In accordance with
this plan they struck out, but they had not
gone hundred yards before they came to a
picket post, not fifteen feet from the bank
Fortunately, the picket thought himself on q
post Of such little responsibility that he kept
a few smoldering embers burning to warm
his fingers. A whispered consultation was
held between the officers as soon as the new
danger was discovered, and they determined
to drop into the water and to try and pass
under the shelter of the bank, here perpen-
dicular and about three feet high. The ma
neuver was executed successfully in water
again about breast high, and where every step
seemed to make the noise of cataract But
they passed undiscovered, and as soon as
they thought themselves beyond the danger
they scrambled up the bank again and pro-
ceeded. But they were obliged to repeat
the maneuver again and again, the bank
having been picketed for distance of more
than half mile. At last, however, they sue
ceeded in extricating themselves from their
tangle, and passing down the stream they
managed to pass between the right flank of
Hoods army and the Cumberland river to
Nashville.
At the headquarters Of Gen. Thomas the
entire sextet found themselves again united
of staff would not even consent to call the
general from his sleep Relief was impossi
BILE, he said; to attempt It would entail con-
sequences not to be considered. The train
should have passed the block houses day
sooner, and the block houses should have been
abandoned in time There was no help for it
then, and the officers, having found a COM
Portable hotel and provided for their guides,
sent their clothing to the kitchen to be thawed
and tumbled into bed.
But in the meantime the beleaguered forces
had not been idle. Having learned that COM
between the two block houses
was still possible, and that the party sent to
Nashville had probably found an opening
through the besieging lines general consul
tation Of all the officers was held, and it was
determined to evacuate both posts and make
a break for liberty, Silently, then, about Q
O'Clock in the morning, leaving surgeon and
chaplain to surrender the post and look after
the wounded. all the forces within and around
the first block house marched out, and, NOV
ing across the corntield, came to the other
post Here they were Joined by the remain
ing garrison, and together the force filed
down the right bank of the stream in search
of the lower ford. They were not much
molested Night battles are not worth fight
ing, and though there was little skirmish
ing, and few were probably drowned in at
tempting to cross the stream at unfordable
places, the losses OF the retreat were not
heavy. All that remained Of the various
commands reached Nashville about day
break, feeling as soldiers usually feel after
similar experiences,
Faulkners brigade of Buford's division,
Forests cavalry, were the attacking force in
this memorable fight, and had it not been for
the little wooden salamander on the hill it
would have been very short fight. AS it
was, 395 shots were thrown from the battery
during the day, and the precision Of the tar
get practice was certainly very creditable,
as the markers lying in the ravine could tes-
tify Yet only one shot, striking loophole,
penetrated the block house, and this shot, by
n strange fatality, killed the conductor Of