The weekly examiner., 1890-10-11

OACE - 0SISDEh U, no railroad for the transportation of armies or supplies, until that running east from | Vicksburg was reached. In fact, it was the | great strategic position at the West be. | tween the Tennessee and the Mississippi ] rivers, and between Nashville and Vicks- l buzz.
 General Grant at once put all the troops I at Savannah in motion for Pittsburg Land ing. It was his intention to march from this position on Corinth as soon as Buell. with his army from the Ohio should arrive, and the west bank of the river was to be the. starting point.
 Colonel Mason was thrown well to the l front in the brigade of the brave old Gen. eral B. M Prentiss. Luke's regiment was l filled with recruits which were almost I hourly pouring into camp Many of the new soldiers were young men fresh from the farms, counting houses, shops and stores, who had never yet smelt powder, | but who were destined ere long to learn something of the terrible realities of war.
 Arkansaw Tom, Corporal Max, Ned Cot ton and Bill Snow. who were still with the regiment, had become a Sort of self-im- posed body-guard for the new Colonel. Though not on his staff, they were always near at hand in hours of danger.
 The Colonel came to love these four vet erans like brothers, and even though Max did grumble he knew he could be relied on when hard fighting was required.
 ssWall. Kernel, don't yer think we're I gwine ter hev fight purity soonp' asked l Arkansaw Tom one morning, strolling into his Colonel's tent.
 q don't know, Tom; sit down on that cracker box. We'll, about the fight-I shouldn't wonder. General Johnston is massing his forces at Corinth, and be- l ieve General Grant intends to move on that place. There will be powder burned l when those two mect.'' | ''Shouldn't be s'prised, Kernel. I've been tellin' uv tn boys ter git ready fur the gol darnest knock down they ever heerd o2.' 1 "We will have heavy fighting soon, but when it will take place. and where, don't l know" M
 '.But, say, Kernel. I come in t tell ye sometnin'.n
 "What, Toma"
 "Don't yer remember that air dod blast 1 ed n1gger wot yer call Black Jack UT suth. | in O the kind, who went on ther boat t. l Belmont, an we thort war killed n tb' | swamp clus t Donelsona', "Yes, you mean Blackhawk.n l "Wan, he's turned up agin.n
 "Where is hea"
 "In camp. It's Q Gods fact Saw i'm this mornin'," said old Tom, smoking his short pipe.
 stWhere2n
 "ln camp. Came past our Qaartefs whar our mess war"
 "Did you speak with hima'' the Colonel l asked.
 l .Yes; axed him whar he'd been, am l he said he'd been layin' n thi brush ter l shoot a cuss as he hates. He's been clar out ter Corinth, but hain't got his man yit l Golly, ye orter see his gun; it's a great, l big, long g-barreled ole-fashioned rife. Very l thing ter kill 8 buck" NJ l "He ought to know something about what the rebels are doing. wish yor would find him, Tom, and send him to me.n
 "I'll do it, Kernel. I'll go right now n hunt i'm up, n and old Tom rose to his feet and started from the tent to fnd the mys. terious negro; but Blackhawk, as usual, could not be found when sought, and Tom 1 had fruitless search.
 That evening General Prentiss ordered Colonel Mason to take two hundred men next morning and go out several miles in their advance to reconnoiter, as it was re- | ported that ths enemy had been seen in considerable force along the Corinth road
 Almost ever since his arrival at Pitts burg Landing Colonel Mason had heard ot skirmishing in their front, and his own pickets had been fired on several times.
 s.It is probably some guerrillass" said the Colonel to himself. sThey arN prowling through the country, and the woods are I full of them. A few companies of cavalry can easily put them to fiightn Of course the four men who had been his l self-constituted body-guard formed part of the two hundred picked men, and with three day. s rations and forty rounds, they set out at daylight next morning. As they were p&ssing one of the outlying picket posts a sergeant hailed them and said:
 s'Ye'd better look little out"
 tsHave you seen any thing of the enemy this morning3' the Colonel asked
 ssNo; but they've been shootin' at us boys all night and wounded Jack Gates."
 ''How many times were you fired on3n
 tThree. The last time they gave us a dozen shots all at once"
 'They are only few bushwhackers; we will drive them from the woods," said the Colonel.
 With three or four exceptions Luke's en- tire two hundred were veterans who had beens trained in the hottest fights at Bel mont and Donelson.
 The country was undulating and covered with dense growth of trees and under brush, except where clearings had been made and fields cultivated.
 The Colonel and his staff were the only mounted men in the expedition. The re- cent rains had made the roads muddy, and marching was difficult and wearisome.
 They had gone about five or six miles when the advance guard informed the Colonel that they were in sight of farm house, near which number of horses were hitched.
 .sThey arc bushwhackers. Now to capt. ure them,'' said the Colonel.
 He divided his command into two di- visions, and approaching the house from the south and east prepared to flank it so as to prevent any one from escaping.
 Luke glanced at the sky to see what the hour was, but it was too cloudy for him to determine by the sun, and, consulting his watch, he discovered it was after twelve.
 "They are at dinner" he thought, stwe'n bag our game and learn something from them"
 The Colonel was not yet in sight of the