The National tribune., 1898-04-21

Tn arriving at zen. ipth
me TO take up my quarters with MN our
ing my stay with Bragg's army, which oher
| accepted with gratitude. After ohihef
Gen Polk told me that he hoped ms bieth-
Ten in England did not very mucn CON
denim his present line OF conduct. re tA-
planned TO me the reasons which had m
duced him temporarily to- f0rsdke the cas-
sock and return to his old profession.
tie stated the extreme reluctance he Iiad
felt in taking this step; and he said that
so soon as the war was over, nc Sii"uiu
return to his episcopal avocatonS, IN lhe
same way as man, finding his mousse OH
fire, would use every means IN ms power
to extincuish the flames, and Wouid iheh
resume his ordinary pursuits.
He commanded the Confederate forces
at the battle OF Perryville and Belmont, as
well as his present corps armee at the
battles of Shiloh (Corinth) and Murrees-
bOro.
| called on Gen. Bragg, the Commander
in-Chief. This officer is in appearance the
least prepossessine of the Confederate Cen
erals He is very thin; he stoops, and has
a sickly. cadaverouS, hagGard appearance,
rather plain features, bushy black eye.
br0wS which unite in q TUT on the Top OF
his nose and a Stubby iron gray beard !;
but his eyes are bright and piercing. lie
has the reputation of being q rigid discipline
arian, and OF shooting freely ior insubordI-
nation | understand he is rather I'M
popular on this account and also by rea-
son of his occasional acerbIty OF manner
He was extremely civil TO me, ana gave
me permission TO visit the ouipoSts, or any
part of his army. He also promised to help
me towards joining Morgan in Kentucky.
and he expressed his regret that boil on
his hand would prevent him rom accom-
panying me to- the outpoSts. lie toid me
that RosecTans' S position extended ABOUT
40 miles, Murfreesboro (25 miles distantj
being his headquarters. The Confederate
cavalry inclosed him in semicircle ex-
tending over a hundred miles of country.
He told me that West Tennessee, Oc-
cupied by the f'ederals, was devoted to
the Confederate cause, whilst East Ten
nessee, now in possession OF the Conied-
crates, contained numbers OF people oil
Unionist procliyities. This very place,
Shelbyville, had been described to me by
others as Union hole"
After nv interview with Gen. Bragg, |
took n ride along the MurfreesborO road
with Col Richmond. A. ID. G. TO Gen. Polk.
About two miles from Shelbyville, we passed
some lines MADE 10 defend the position.
The trench itself was very mild affair,
but the higher ground could be occupied
nv artillery in such manner as to make
the road impossible. The thick woods
were being cut down in front of the lines
for a distance of 800 yards TO give range.
During our ride | met Mai, Cheet
ham a stout, rather rough-looking man,
hut with The reputation of "a great fighter"
If is said that he does all the necessary
swearing in the First Corps d. Armee,
which Gen Folks clerical character in
capacitates him from performing.
Col Richmond gave me the particulars
Of Gen. Van Dorm S death, which occurred
about 40 miles from this. His loss does
not seem to be much regretted, as it APP
nearS he was always ready to neglect his
military duties for an designation. In the
South It is not considered necessary to put
Yourself on an equality with a man in such
= case as Van Dorn's By calling him out.
His life belongs to the acerieved husband,
and shooting down" is universally es-
teer,ed the correct thing, even If it takes
Mace after a lapse of time as in the affair
between Gen. Van Dorm and DIR. Peters.
I slept in Gen. Folks tent, he occupy
;no q room in the house adjoining. Before
goinc to bed. Gen. Polk told me an affect
inc story of poor widow in humble cir
cumstances, whose three sons had fallen
in battle one after the other, until she had
only one left, a boy of 16.
So distressing was her case that Gen
Polk went himself to comfort her. She
looked steadily at him, and replied to his
coincidence by the sentence, "As soon as
can get a few things together, General you
shall have Harry too" The tears came
INTO Gen. Folks eyes as he related this
episode. which he ended by saying. How
can you subdue such nation as this"
MAY 30.-It rained hard all last night,
but Cen Folks tent proved itself good
one. We have prayers both morning and
evening, by DR.. Quntard, together with
singing. in which Gen. Polk Joins with
much zeal Col. Gale, who is son-in-law
and volunteer Aid Camp to Gen. Polk,
has placed his negro Aaron and a mare at
my disposal during my stay.
Gen. Polk explained to me- from plan,
the battle of Murfreesboro. He claimed
that the Confederates had only 80, 900 troops,
including Breckinridges Division, which
was not engaged on the first day. He put
the Confederate loss at 200 men, and
that of the Yankees at 10000.