The National tribune., 1890-11-27

I MunrOe County, Miss, lhls was a bcRutliul
place. The land was Lowell and very fertile.
The country couid be seen almost as far MS the
eye could behold. Here The Coufclggacy had
gathered supplies IN great abundance Great
4 piles OF corn aud fodder dotted thiclly al over
| the land. Some piles Of corn must have been 100
yards long, 80 wide aud % feet high ] have
never seen such great quantities OF corn at any
! one time, either before or since. These were
/ ala burned except what we used ourselves. Ia
/ the night il was n brilliant spectacle. When
The corn was once on fire il made an exceed
f. iUEly bright light, with an intense heat, and
just as far as the eye could see these brilliant
fIcs were lighting up the country with their
I wild, flashing flames.
Here was a true picture Of tho destroying
Z hand of War The food necessary for life was
4 speedily reduced TO ashes Destruction and
fury were depicted over the land. The light
Of the brilliant fires, melloWGd by the clouds
4 OF smoke, gave a Eh0st-liEe appearance 10 the
men. ID presented q scene OF dazzling bril-
F liancy, angry and furious destruction, awful
4 terror, ghaslly and hideons spcctrcs, all drawn
/ in their strongest c0lsrs on the same canvas as
picture OF the dcsolation &C war
On the goth we moved 20 West Point, where
! we were expected 10 meet Gen. sherman, but
! he HAD been there and returned without meet
/ ing us, because Of our delay. We were al
night near West Point The enemy was quite
! bold, and evidently in force near Us.
The next morning we began our return
march and at night campod within about three
miles OF Oklahoma.
4 on the morning Of February %, 1864, reveille
was sounded early, so that breakfast was over
and the line Of march taken up by daybroak.
4 Little did the Father Of his country dream
that Americans, born aud reared under the
banner Of liberty would celebrate bis birth
day in a life-and-dcath struggle with each
other But so il was. The soft rays Of a Feb
ruGry sun were creeping peacefully and quietly
over the land. The men were fall Of life and
/ passing Jokes as the column formed aud started
out. Our brigade was In the rear, and the ID
Tenn. was The rear regiment ] was on duty
nj brigade headquarters, aud remained with
Lieut. II. w Pike, Acting Assistant Adiutaut-
General, with the I'd. As that regiment formed
in column and began TO move, the pickets were
attacked aud driven rapidly forward CON-
pany was quickly thrown out in line facing the
rear, and when the C0nfedeFates came within
range they received a deadly yollcy, which
checked and confused them. As that company
retired. another formed some distance in front
and waited for the approach OF the enemy,
when the bloody work was repeated and in
this way the "a was calamity holding in check
tho forces OF the enemy that was pressing The
rear.
At length ] CHANGED to look across a field
into a woodland beyond. on oar left, when /
saw large bRtilefag passing along rapidly on
our Hanks Immediately looking in tic OPP
p8site direction. in ana open field, saw q Con-
fedeFate column much longer than our brigade
moving on our right flank. ] called The stten-
ton of Lieut. Pike 20 these movements, when i
was directed to report them as speedily as possi-
bic 70 Col McClillis. j went as fast rs my horse
could carry me, but could not reach him as
soon as he should have known Of their move
ments In the morning battery Of siX-pound
howitzers had been added to our brigade 1t
frlr ho tn . -
and 4th Tenn. and 9Th Ky. Cav. and 72d Ind.
MID Inf, came from the Army Of the Cum
b0rland. The % III. Cav. and the brigade
commander, with most of his stat were OF the
Army Of the Mississippi. The 4th u. s. Cav.
was also from the Cumberland, while the re-
mainder of the command belonged TO the Mis-
sissippi. strong jealousy sprang up between
the soldiers Of these two departments which
was marked especially in our brigade. IL APP
pearca as il part Of the brigade stat were de-
termined that the Mississippi men should have
the glory aud the Cumberland men the cursing !
So, upon receiving information Of The flank
movements, the ID Tenn, which was so gal 4
lautly holding back the 0nslaughis Of the
enemy. was called in by pieces and the eth 4
=. s. Cav sent 10 1he rear and left in the
streets Of Okalona 70 fight FORESTS command 1
alone and without support The attack came 1
with terrific fury, and the Regulars stood their /
ground with great bravery. The firing was
heavy, and in its heat Capt. Glore, Of the 9th /
KY, rode mp 10 Col. McCrillis and said Colo 1
mel hadn't we better reinforce our men in
OkalOna? They are being butchcrsd there"
Oh, no." McCriliis replied, that is only
skirmish!"
Capt. Chores couutenance fell as he slowly |
rode Of, replying; u call it a heavy
The Regulars lost heavily and wore forced to
retreat by an overwhelmingly superior force
u M
10 form, came ln the way Of the retreat which 4
swept everything with IL. The "a was struck
next, her columns broken and driven in con-
fusion. Regiment after regiment was thus
swept along until IL became a general stampede,
and The widest confusion and disorder ex isted !
for some time. The enemy saw the condition
Ofstiairs and took every advantage Of it, They
pressed the rear-gugrd and added hankng
columns, thus cutting Of small squads Of our
men. Two Of our little guns were run into a
ditch and captured. The confusion was 50
great that all attempts az reorganization were
futile. At length part Of Gen. Gricrson's Bril-
Eadc. which had not boon engaged at all was
sent back aud Formed on the rear long enough
10 give us a little assurance. The men were
miZcd until companies mud regiments were
unknown. Capt Booth, OF McC rill4s's staff had
received an ugly but not dangerous wound,
apparently the work Of a bacilshOt, emitting
about the depth Of Us own size across his nose.
lie was usually very quiet aud easy in his
manner, but this stirred him up until be was
like 2 young lion. The blood ran down his
face and over his clothes and upon his horse
until he presented a CHASTITY appearance In
this condition be stopped at the roadside in a
little field and called some men 10 halt with
him. They did SO. Then placing himself at
the side Of the road he ordered the men as they
came up 10 form on that line. Almost every
man asked him IL he was badly hurt 10 which
he would reply, " IL is only scratch; let rs
stop aud fight them here" III appeared as IL
one thought came TO each, aud that WAS, I'm
fight or perish with him" The cOlOr-bcarer Of
the I'D Ind. came along with his oolOrs rolled
up and covered. Capt. Booth asked him If he
couldn't show his c0oTs, % which he readily
assented, and united the string, the Captain in
bis haste took hold Of tic cover and pulled il
of. The banner WIS UnfuTled, and The men
came 20 il like a colony Of bees % their queen.
and the wounded Captain put them in line OF
battle regardless Of regiment or company, and
thus reorganization began which was perfected
more speedy than appeared 30 be possible.
Our road now ran through a country with
sharp ridges crossing on either side. Squads
Of Our men were placed on either side OF the
road along these ridges, dism0untod, aud the
enemy were pressing hard and as they came up
deadly volleys were poured into their ranks
which shocked and checked them, during
which our men would fall back into column
and other squads take position at the next
ridge.
was afterward told by Col. Warren, Of the
10Th Ala Cav, that he was in command of
their advance, and that in crossing these ridges
be lost more men than he had ever lost la his