The sun., 1897-02-28
THE BAITLE OF rUrELo.
Gen. a. =. s.afths AuegeA Victory Over cs.
Yesress s.a lts sequel

Gen a. =. s.iths AueseA victory over Gen.
Yosress ana rts sequel
To THE EDITOR or THE suN-Sfr: In THE sur
Of Feb 81. Leslie J. Perry. In . very interesting
article upon the gallant Federal General. the
late Andrew Jackson Smith. says:
-Esriy In Juns tiscAl the confsderats General. For
re~ hAd defeated d,sastrously Gen sturgis st 9un-
town. Mia In the beginning OF July. Smith. with
force OF lAooo men. infantry and cavalry. was
ordered TO look up Torresa
-In those days the Union Generals did not have 70
hunt long for Torrssa He was nrvsr In hiding when
. fight In sight He attached Smith the i4sh
with all his force. In fscs smish had oatmanouvred
the confsdersss BY . nAnk movsmena forcing him 10
give battle at . dissdvantas~ Forrest was ousnum-
bered and badly vorssed In thAa and suhssqu>ns
gsssments Hs success against FORREST had largely
sddsd 70 Smiths reputation - . soid,sr.-
Gen A J. Smith was fns soldier, Q splendid
fighter. probably one Of the best division COM
mAnde5s In the Union seFyiSe, and q an Ameri.
are he never whipped Forrest, and Il will DO
pretty dinicult TO search through the Official
the pats es sefesr,S sfo TO- pnown y tSs Satle
Tupelo In the Federal records and tho battle Of
Harrisburg In the Confederate archives. Gen.
Gen. 8 D. Lee, was present and took command
Of all the forces In the, Geld. Forrest was
&y Would Il Sc a:s . Snsfr I e ssDssr ay A
. Cen 4 Z Lee. wa. dsis.,sa ., Getty.
s%a1s., again. smith aid not have 1900
had only this number In his whole command.
and on this tsy GrsrsSn sa and al The Soyslsy
fighter, and Smith with IL 500 effective men
and twenty pieces of artillery. Gen. :. D. Lee
were thoroughly intrenched in a naturally well.
protected and strous position, which during the
night had been made stronser by breastw9rks
made OF rails and logs. Forrest concurred in
the attack. and was responsible for 10 In 80 far
as the concurrence OF a second in command
ConfederAtes desisted from further ghting, but
tepAined in Line Of battle and in .iskt Of the
FEDERAL stronghold during the balance Of the
a q ST Brigade and PsSs sSon fei' sSs fsf S11
". !. Barna Fourth M!ssoari Cavalry. writes:
About o'clock Forrest attacked our extreme
left. but was repulsed. Early the next morning.
the 18th, the enemy again made their appear
their horses Believing this was the Last Of the
ssas Into ee camp At oia Town cSssE The nea ne
rsre lust sstsnS " Tor The res. thsy needed when
was also repulsed."
Forrest was wounded at this particular time.
not pursued al the way TO Memphis as was
Forests habit. Capt Burns's report gives as
the reason for Smith returning 10 Memphis after
were low" and that all had been accomplished
tha; could be done from military point OF view. '
This expedition had heen especially equipped
and sent out to destroy Forrest or drive him out
Of Mississippi. ye; Capt. Burns writes and would
have one believe that they ran out OF ammunition
to Memphis with the defeated Forrest stiil
master OF his own territory.
The facts are that the Federals held the field
at the close OF the battle at night but they re
Any military critic must concede ths, I, was
not good Judgment on the part OF Gens 90 md
Forrest TO attack through an oi.or 4
greatly superior number Of veteran O., we'll
fortified and with twenty pieces OF trlu.rry in
position. The advance was necessarily through
an open field 500 yards in exposure. The loss on
the Confede rate side was enormous. In Buford'
wounded. and s25 enlisted men either killed or
wounded. Before going into action this division
numbered $500 rank and nle One fourth OF
this number remained With the horses as horse
holders, which LEFT ., 400 efYectives In action.
OF this number e5l. nearly 10 per cent, were
killed or wounded, and yet tacetous itary
writers have oeen known TO advertise for a
dead cayalrymhn.
In this fight Mabry's brigade was well nigh
annihllated. Every Colonel In Bells brigade
was either killed or wounded. Faulkner OF the
Twelfth Kentucky had his horse shot under him
and he was twice wounded During the entire
war there we're not many infantry brisades In
troops engaged. At Brice's cross -roads one OF
the most signal victories OF the war. considering
I the forces engaged. Forrest lost rs per cent. o
his command. whipped sturges with odds Of over
sixteen pieces OF artillery. over 200 wagons
killed and captured more men than he had In
sci:on And pursGed The s:.ttsrsd ne federai' ovs,
work. JOIN 4. ,wYETH.
Isl Fast Thirty-tourth street New York.