The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-05-24

gOOu Will. l. ordered the men 10 us
mount, and the led horses were sent to
the rear in charge of reliable Sergeant
We lay down under cover of some
piles of fence-rails and awaited their on.
coming. "It is no use," said the infan.
try, as they retreated past us. The re-
treat as yet was with deliberation and in
order. We had not long to wait. The
enemy came on with triumphant yells
Our men awaited in silence.
We opened upon them with our car
bines. They were breech-loaders and
could be fired rapidly; but the men
fired with deliberation. The enemy
halted and took shelter behind the trees.
1t was impossible for them to advance
in the face of such murderous fire.
Serg't John r. Sperling was wounded
and arose to go. Lieut.. La Grange
(never a braver officer, the next in
command, thinking the men were about
to break, cried:
care you towards? Stand your
ground
The Lieutenant had taken no pains
to shelter himself from the fire. The
Sergeant, brave and cool as his superior,
was sent to the rear.
From 10 to 20 rounds were fired. We
held them at bay in front of us, but they
were tapping around us on both fanks
and gaining our rear.
After consulting Lieut.. Lagrange l
gave the order to fall back to the led
horses The officer in charge had held
them safe for our coming. We mounted
under fire and retreated to the cover of
the woods Here we formed in two lines,
firing and retreating alternately as the
enemy charged upon US.
THE RETREAT HAD BECOME A RoUT.
Some Of the wagons stuck in the mud.
The horses were cut out and the wagons
abandoned. The artillery was in rear of
the wagons and could not be drawn past
them. 1t, too, was abandoned One
hundred and forty-one wagons and Is
pieces of artillery went to swell the spoils
of the enemy. This was the famous
Chicago Battery, afterward recaptured
from Gen. Hood by our regiment at
Nashville.
We were driven back upon the strag-
Cling infantry. Many of them were
utterly exhausted in the broiling sun
while Fastening to the fight. They
threw away their knapsacks, their guns,
everything that could impede them, for
they knew that if captured the horrors
of Andersonville awaited them.
They ran with their tongues lolling
out Of their mouths. They caught hold
of the stirrups of the cavaIrymen and of
the tails of their horses to help them
selves along. We were obliged to fire
over their heads at their approaching
captors. Some scattered from the line of
march and were hunted down by the
enemy's fankers, or, escaping, came strag-
Cling into Memphis week afterward.
1t was nightfall before, in answer to
repeated applications for assistance, we
were relieved.
The pursuit continued through all the
next day. One thousand six hundred
and eighteen prisoners went to crowd the
death-pen at Andersonville. Three hun
dred thousand rounds of small-arm car
tridges, besides large amount of other
ordnance stores and provisions, fell into
the enemy's hands. The march out oc-
cupied 10 days; the return was made in
little more than two.
Such was the inglorious result of this
undertaking. Troops that never knew
fear before, though tried in many con-
fiict, had been defeated, and fled panic
stricken and demoralized before one-half
their number, simply because they had
been improperly commanded. There
was general impression at the time
that Gen. Sturgis was drunk. The re-
suits of the military investigation after
ward held did not substantiate this,
although it was proved that he had been
drinking, and that there was great weak
ness and lack of circumspection on his
part.
The war is now over and I will not
further detract from his merits, for he
had proved his loyalty by % years of
previous service in the Army in support
of the Government.
The veterans had come back from fur
Tough during our absence, and greeted
our return to camp They brought little
mementoes with pleasant messages from
home that made us half forget for the
time the disasters we had just suffered.
Our anticipation of going home increas-
ed as our term of service diminished.
A mothers kiss was awaiting us; a sis
ter, whose untiring devotion had nursed
away our sickness, would meet us with
outstretched arms our brothers would
make ready the fatted calf; our old
neighbors and friends would Join in
giving us greeting. And that special
friend-our hearts beat faster as we
thought of her. What
BLISsFUL ASTTCIPATIoNs.
Comrades, | cannot paint the picture
half bright enough, even with the dark