The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-12-28

put spurs to his horse and jumped the high
fence. / admired the rider and horse for
the way they cleared the fence without
touching a rail.
But now as to our duty. Under the cir
cumstances | do not think that we could be
held responsible for the loss of that piece of
artillery any more than other troops. We
we've not on the ground for the purpose of
supporting artillery, that is certain, and re-
ceIved no orders 10 do so and, besides, there
were other troops nearer, or at least as near,
10 The artillery as We were, aud, according
TO Comrade Rankin's account, his own regi-
ment must have been there, too.
The company 10 which / belonged was in
front that day, and consequently was right
among the officers, and know that Gen.
Wilson gave no orders to the commanding
officer of the regiment when he left. Some
of the officers suggested to dismount the
regiment, but the commanding officer said
he had no orders TO do So and finally con-
cluded TO do as the comrade says Col. Gar
rard did" order the men to get out as they
best could.o
The fact is, it was surprise to officers and
men. The rebels had been driven so easily
every day since their lines were broken at
Nashville, that no one expected them to
charge in force.
l am satisfied, however, that if the 4th q.
S. Cav. had been ordered, either by Gen.
Wilson or by their regimental commander,
to support the artillery, that regiment would
have stuck to it TO the last. The quality Of
those men had been proved on many ucca-
siOns, although very little has ever been
written about the regiment. 1t seems that
very few of the comrades care about writing
up their experiences. 1t must be because it
is a Regular u. S. regiment, aud the men
who then composed it are now scattered all
over the States, and many are dead. / do
not claim any more honor. however, for the
Regular Army than for the volunteers. They
all did splendid service, as far as came un-
der my observation, except on one occasion,
and then / do not know if the men moved
by orders of their officers or not, but l do
know that the move created the greatest
cavalry stampede Of the war;
i refer 10 the affair at Ok0l0na, Miss, in
February, 1S64-the raid of Gen. w. S.
Smith from Memphis, Tenn. We were to
join Sherman at Meridian but we only got
some distance past OkOlona, and then fell
back to OkOlona again, followed by a strong
rebel force under Forrest. Here We camped
for the night.
The next morning Forests troops held
strong position along the railroad on the
south side of the town, and we commenced
skirmishng with them early, while our
troops were retreating on the road. on the
northern side Of town. and finally the 4th
U. S. Cav. got orders to hold the town for 90
minutes and then fall back This was so as
to give our troops and long train of negroes
and led horses time 10 pass the town on the
road on the northern side.
The fighting ia the streets was quite liyelv.
but We held our ground even longer than
ordered, and then moved slowly out in the
direction of the retreat, closely followed by
the enemy. AS soon as we were out of the
streets we faced about and formed line again.
Forests troops moving against us yelling
and firing TO within pistol shoOting distance,
when they also formed line along on high
ground. Our line was on much lower
ground, their line being constantly aug
mented by troops coming up, but we held
them IN check in this position for good
while. But our men were falling fast, and
our loss would have been still greater had
they not been on elevated ground, which
caused them to over-shoot us, for the dis
lance between the lines was not over so
yards.
Being a Sergeant, carried no carbine
only saber and two revOyers. But at that
distance the revOlvers were good. emptied
one after the other, and then reloaded both
of them and empted them again, and COM
menced reloading them for the second time;
but the enemy was now advancing on our
left flank from street that ran from the
market square, and it became necessary to
charge them, which we did, and drove them
back 10 the market-ho1se
While we were holding the enemy in
check line was being formed by two regi-
mems OF our troops, away back out of the
reach OF the bullets entirely, yet so that we
could see that an effort was being made TO
assist us. But the hope of assistance was
soon blasted; those two regiments did not
stay long enough to complete their forma-