The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-11
command of the regular brigade. famil-

command of the regular brigade, famil-
farly known as the Old Guard.
TN the spring of 1863 the Union cav
airy, which had been split up into small
divisions during the earlier part of the
war. was reorganized. and General
Pleasanton was made chief of cavalry
of the army of the Potomac. Merritt
was assigned to the Second cavalry.
with the rank of captain. General
PleaSanton had said that as soon as he
found men of the right mettle he de-
sired to have some of the younger OF
ficers promoted to be brigadiers. Most
of the officers holding that rank were
old-timers, who had perhaps, lost
some of the force and vigor essential
to a successful cavalry leader. Pleasan-
ton relied upon the first big engage
ment to show him the men he needed.
'.At the beginning of June it was re
ported that Lee was getting ready TO
move north, and q force of ten thou
sand cavalry was sent out to see if they
could locate any large bodies of con-
federate troops, with a view to deter
mining the truth of this report. In the
course of our. expedition we ran into
some twelve thousand confederate cav
airy under "Jeb" Stuart, not far from
Culpepper. Fording the Rappahannock
in the early morning, we attacked the
rebels in camp.
MERRITT AT BEVERLY FORD.
"The ensuing engagement, known as
the battle of Beverly Ford, is recog-
nized by military writer's as the most
conspicuous cavalry engagement of the
war The numbers on each side were
nearly equal, the ground was favorable
for mounted operations, and the fight
inc 10 oil =
morning until nearly at night.
Merritt and l being in the same
command, l remember his course in
this battle we'll. For a time we were
exposed to the attentions of a rebel
battery, and got a good share of their
fire, which, of course, we could not re-
turn. Merritt rode up and down, say
ing nothing, but evidently chahng at
being unable to get into the fight.
When the shells got to falling too close
he would stop and shift the. position
OF his men a little, careful, as he al
ways was, not to sacrifice them I'M
After what seemed a
mighty long time the order came to
advance against the enemy. With
cheer the regiment dashed down the
hill, Merritt at it's head. At the bottom
of the slope was a ravine, and beyond
this ravine a regiment Of the enemy
was waiting for US. To cross the gulch
it was necessary to reduce our front,
but not a moment was lost, and we
went dashing pell-mell, sabers in hand,
against the enemy. The shock of the
charge carried us in among the rebels,
who were thrown into confusion, and
the two commands were pretty well
mixed UP. Then it became a fight of
saber blows and pistol shots, While
every moment the dust and smoke and
the steam from the horses made it
more difficult to see what was going
on about one.
FIGHTING SABER TO SABER.
Fifteen minutes before Merritt had
been the careful commander, looking
out for his men, but now all his fight
ing blood was up and he cut and
slashed with the best Of his followers.
He had just emptied his revolver when
he saw a rebel officer riding at one of
his men. Merritt rushed forward,
bringing his saber to point and called
out: Colonel, you are my prisoner
1.-THE only answer he got was a slash
ing swing at his head from the confed-
crates saber. Merritt parried the blow
and started in to make it warm for that
officer, but Lieutenant Quirk, the only
one Of his own men near him, seeing
that they had become separated from
the rest or the command anu were sur
rounded by rebels, fairly dragged the
captain away. The confederates saw
the chance to capture couple of Union
officers and began yelling to them to
surrender, at the same time sending a
shower of pistol shots around their
heads. But the two plucky youngsters
had no intention of becoming prisoners
and they cut their way through the
crowd that surrounded them and got
back to their own command. Merritt
lost his hat, knocked off by a saber
blow, but that was all the damage he
suffered He afterwards believed that
the confederate officer with whom he