The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-12-08

especially appropriate, as quite num-
bcr Of troops from Georgia partlcipa
I'D in he attack. and do not rcmcm-
Der e. ha,c seen al account Of it
olisiir of the official reports
OurcayAlry consisted Of Wheeler $
Z. / my own division, under the com
inanl If Geo Wade Hampton. On
tie 10Th nf March orr column. ON the
march. was il about one day ; march
Of Fayettc> lie, n. G. My old bri
-adc. at that time commanded by Gen.
+. NJ. Law, of this State. WAS in fronu,
Young $ brigade. commanded by Col.
J. &. Wright, next, with Wheeler fol-
lowing.
Humphreys squadron, Of the 9th
south Carolina cavalry, Law $ brigade.
constituted the advance guard. BY
the rule usually observed on such oc
casions, Youngs (Wriyh,'s) brigade
would have taken the lead the next
day. You arc no doubt aware that
while marching in the ncighborlood
ot the enemy, advance and rear guards
are thrown out we'll to the front and
rear. with active, vigilant scouts and
yidcttcs operating on the flanks, front
and rear. 1t raincd in torrents the
whole day Of the 10th Of March
Sherman 5 army was to the south and
east Of our line Of march, Kilpatrick's
cavalry covering his left flank About
niyhtfall Humphreys halted his squad
ron ut the intersection Of Il road lead
ing from the south
On inquirng Of Capt. Humphreys
the cause of his halt, he informed me
that the road lie had intcrscctcd had
recently been travelled by heavy
column Of mounted troops. On exam
nation l found this to be true, and
concluded VIC had run into Fitzpatrick
track. While We were discussing tho
situation l discovered a detachment
Of cavalry following in the wake Of
Fitzpatrick S march. and rode out into
the forks Of the road about forty yards
and halted with the usual challenge.
WHO comes there - 1t was then
getting too dark to distinguish be-
tween friend aid foe. The answer
came, ''3th kentucky" Knowing this
to be one of Kilpatrick's regiments.
| directed the commander OF the dc
tachmcnt, who turned out TO be lien;
tenant, to ride up, rs / wanted to talk
with him. Evidently not knowing
who We were, he. advanced with his
orderly and when l had led him into
the ranks Of Humphreys squadron it
was the work of few moments to dis
arm and place him in arrest
This done, whispered to Hum
phreys to send out 4 sIuad and take
in the detachment Of the 9th Ken
lucky. lie promptly surrounded them
and made them prisoners, twenty
eight in number, without tirjng gun.
You will pardon what appears to he
minor, unimportant details, but they
have an important bearing upon what
followed.
AS soon as Gen. Hampton had been
appraised Of what had occurred. after
consultation between himself, Gen.
Wheeler and myself, it was decided to
attack Fitzpatrick the next morning at
daylight. In order to do so more ad
vantageously, the whole column NOV
ed forward from where VIC captured
the detachment, in columns Of fours,
cautiously and quietly, about four
miles, where wo halted and dismount-
cd on the roadside without unsaddling
and without fires. The night was dark
with a cold, drizxling rain. l can
never forget that night as VIC lay with
out shelter or food for man or horses,
each man with his bride on his arm.
I threw out some distance in our
front, on each side Of the road, n line
iii LiiouSib. hCy
scarcely acployed when one Of Hilpat-
rick 9 lieutenants walked or rode into
the line. He was brought to my head
quarters. pine log on the roadside,
and on being interrogatcd' as to why
1ic was there at that time of the night,
he replied that he had been sent back
to look for broken down wagon, aud
had walked unawares into the picket
lines. lie was not inclined to be
communicative, but learned enough
to enable me to locate Fitzpatrick $
camp pretty accurately. On the
strength Of this information we recon
NOTED his camp about midnight, rid
ing up almost to his camp fires. Not
u picket was posted, nor other prccau-
ton taken as far as We could discover,
to protect his camp against surprise.