The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-04-13

~ there was a great d.
veistv OF opinion, some
saying hat there were 90 or 30 of them, while
Others said there were IL least 100 According
TO the tale of the old man who had served as
our guide there were at least twice as many
rebels rs there were mca III ny company. /
encouraged the men i.y reminding them that
we would take them by surprise; besides we
were well provided with arms and ammuni-
ton.
From the position VIC occupied we could see
sOme of the rebels lusiiy engaged in cooking
around their fires, while others were feeding
their horses. We marched up four deep, and
when wo got within about 90 yards of them we
fell n line TO make charge. While the
men were forming limo they made 4 noise
with their feet. and the rebels discovered MS,
for some of them Immediately exclaimed {:
Look yGnder ut the men! !"
/ now gave orders TO fire and charge on them
al Tie same time. We were armed with eight
shooters and Colts rcpeaters, and when we
commenced We kept up an imccssant firing
until we reached the rebel encampment.
ran up OH the left, where most OF the rebels
were, and yelled to my men to charge them on
the right and lett, and to keep up brisk fire
ali the Time
THE REBELS BEGAN TO GIVE WAY,
and ] must confess / never saw men run be-
fore. At first they did not seem to know what
thought we were bushwhackers. no Yankee
soldiers had ever before made their appearance
in that region OF country. Bat they soon
found out that they had either to fight or run,
and they Immediately commenced jumping
over the fence which surrounded the barn.
There was a pet sheep III the harn-lot, that
started off at full speed after the flying rebels
bieating most vehementy at every jump and
it was hard TO tell which would win the race
the pet sheep or its rebel companions.
We now turned our attention to those who
still remained III the barn, and my men
climbed up and began TO search for the rebels.
The barn WAS composed Of one log pen. 2nd the
thrashing-iioor was nearly four feet from the
ground. Some OF the rebels had taken refuge
under the floor and some had concealed them
selves in the barn. But we soon made them
come out and surrender When we looked
under the floor we could see the eyes of the
rebels shining ike those of so many cats in the
dark. We called upon them to come out, but
none Of them made any answer. Some of my
mcu then commenced shooting under the floor
which al once caused the whole party Of rebels
10 come>out and surrender.
Fifteen OF the rebels fought bravely during
the whole engagement, and If the whole COM
pauy had fought as gallantly as they did they
would, most uuguestionably. have given US
severe fight, and probably would have defeated
US. for they outnumbered us two 10 one. We
brides, and blankets, besides large number
Of guns, pistols, shoes. boots, mats, and over
coats. And / do not know how many satchels
Tell into our hands, which were filled with
clothing and which, on examination we found
20 he ladies' clothing of every description,
which they had taken from the Union women
in the country. Aud last, though not the least
of all, we took possession of their breakfast.
which was nearly cooked. We also found in
their deserted encampment large lot of bread,
meat, and potatoes.
The rebels who were standing out on picket
when they first heard tie firing and hallooing
cut their horses loose from where they had tied
them, and. mounting them harebacked. started
of ia tile direction of Taylorsvillc as if they
expected some irightful calamity momentarily
TO overtake them. Many Of those whp fed so
precipiiately from the barn were seehl going
through Taylorsville mounted on old sore
backed horses that they had come across in
their fight without shoes, hats, or pants, with
their hair standing straight up, holding on
with both Of their hands TO old pieces of brides
o. strings, telling the astonished people as they
passed along that all of their companions had
been
KILLED on CAPTURED BY THE YANKEES,
and that they alone were left to tell the tale
Tie aspect they exhibited as they passed
through Taylorsyille was ludicrous in the
highest degree.
We captured one l6 shooter and several
Spencer rifles, besides large lot of navy
pistols. Some Of my men had four and five
apiece. Our prisoners were all Kentuck ians
There were two officers among them-Capt
Harris and Lieut. Gentry; the balance OF them
were privates. They said they had been in the
Southern army for three years, and that they
had never been in such a severe encounter on
any previous occasion. ] at once paroled them
and turned them loose, but they would not
leave until they persuaded some Of the Union
citizens 10 accompany them some distance on
their journey. Union men were tolerable hard
10 find, for we had frightened both the Union
men aud the rebels away for at least three
miles around; and it is no wonder that they
were frightened, for the terrible shooting.
together with our boisterous shouting and
screaming, was enough to make them think
that band Of wild Indians had been turned
loose to desolate the country.
The last intelligence we received Of the
fugitives who first fed away from the barn
was that they were still moving rapidly on
toward Jefferson, \. C., not even stopping 10
look behind them
Several Of the men in my company had their
clothes cut with rebel bullets. and one of Ia EN-
was wounded in the neck. None Of the rebels
were killed on the ground, but several of them
were wounded so badly that they died shortly
after tile fght.
We selected from the arms we had captured
snch as we desired TO retain, and broke the
balance of them 10 pieces, and when we left
the rebel encampment we were in much
better condition than when we came to IT,
for every man now had in his possession a
good horse saddle, Bride and blanket The
men all seemed TO be very much pleased We
had walked $50 miles and thought when sc
started that we would be able 10 mount our
selves much sooner than we did, but this was
the first company of rebels we had met
We removed our wounded man into the mount
sins among his friends. He was a citizen oil
johnson County, and was brave and good
Union man.
THE POOR FELLOW DIED FROM TIE WOUND
We went down Little Doe River TO the resi-.
deuce OF Andrew Wilson, where we got corr
for our horses and also something 10 eat fol
ourselves after which we fell back among Tho
ridges and passed the night. When morning
came We went on up ROan's Creek TO the resi-
dence of Hog" DaveWagner, who was wealthy
man, and was also one of the leading rebels in
johnson County. He had left home but haG
left an abundance of everything behind him
both for man and beast TO eat We were the
first Yankees who had visited him, consequent
ly We and our horses Jared most sumptuousl
during the whole time of our stay OH hi.
premises. However. we did not larry long fol
we started on early the next morning toward
1aylorsville, to hunt for more rebels but @heI
arrived there we found that all the rebel sol
diers had deserted the place. We went bach
aud stopped at the residence of Samuel j.