The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-05-18

lid commander | will say that was
captured in 1863, just preceding the
battle Of Caickamauea, | cannot tell
you from personal kno"lcdgc anything
Of his campaigns after that date.
As. however, was with General
Wheeler before and a!tcr the battle of
Murfrecsboro, it has occurred to me
that possibly some Of his doings dur
ing that memorable engagement might
be Of some interest to your readers
OF course the rccollcctions Of private
must be more personal than historical,
and | trust will not be accused Of
cgotism if am compelled IL use the
rronoun 81" rather frequently.
The battle Of Murfrccsborp has al
ways seemed to me the most dclibcr
atcly planned Of any during the war
and should have resulted in greater
victory than we achieved. General
Bragg seemed to have selected his own
ground. intrcnchcd himself, and then
sent his cavalry under General Wheel
cr to bring OH the engagement. We
>kirinishcd with the F'cdcrals for sew
cral days, gradually falling back and
''tolliug' them on to the battle ground
already selected. Toward the last the
enemy 'tollcd' rather too freely for
comfort. aud on the Afternoon before
the battle we were glad to gallop
through the infantry lines to c.cap. Il
-howcr Of bullets
The night preceding the battle we
were marched little distance from
,Nurfrccsburo and cncampcd We
were allowed to feed our horses,
.-natchcd Il bite TO cat and little rest
for ourselves, but no saddles were
removed and profound silence was
commanded. At about midnight We
wore mounted and on Tie march, but
what our destination was we had not
the slightest idea. The camp fires Of
the enemy were in plain view, and it
seemed that We were marching directly
toward them. remember thinking
that if we were to charge the cnclny's
line what mess we would make Of it
in the darkness, not being able to dis
tluguish yankee from Il rebel In
fact it was the darkest night rcmrm-
bcr before or since. We literally
could scarcely see our hands before
our faces. We forded Stone river ard
| could not sec the water, but could
hear it gurgling and Kissing, and could
feel it half way up my horse sides
We rode on during the night, and as
day began to dawn l commenced look
ing for some landmark to indicate
where we were. Imagine my amaze
ment when l discovered We were in
the outskirts Of Luvcrgnc, which l
knew to be fifteen miles in the rear Of
Federal army
Our regiment John II. Morgan s)
rode second in the command, and it
was not long before wc heard music
ahead. (Any old soldier will know
that by music mean the clattcr Of
.nuskctry: puncturcd with an occasional
boom OF cannop). Presently courier
came back to order up another rcgi-
mcnt, which was ours, and We went in
with whoop. The fighting was about
over, for there was but small force
to oppose us. which we brushed
away with scarcely halt But the
fun had Just commenced. Prisoners
running this way and that, hunting
somebody to surrender to, army way
ons blazing, guns popping, mules
braying, etc. Some of the wagons
were loaded with ammunition, and
some were set fire to while the teams
Of four to six mules were yet hitchcd
to them, and as the fire commenced to
scorch the whcelers, and the ammu-
milton to explode, you can imagine
about as wild stampede as you can
conceive Of. When first rode into
the circus l notieed pair Of mules
that had broken loose from a wagon.
They were still hitchcd to the double
tree; one mad got cntangled with the
harness and was down, with the other
dragging him. AS l rode out en-
countered the same pair of mules, one
having dragged the other nearly a
mile. One of us dismountcd and cut
the hamc strings, when muly jumped
up as nimbly as if he had just been
taking that sort Of ride for his
health, and was not in the least in
jured.
l was riding borrowed horse, and
my first care was to provide one of
my own at Uncle Sam expense
This did, got him safely to camp,
and rode him to the end, which came