Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1901-01-10


really propo>~i st Ghent. and sanctioned
by him. in respect 10 the Ms-<iuipps. AMI
the prrLfcArx oGenss Of his qaandan col
league.
Observing What yoa say in regard TO
the probability Of your being st washing
ton, ailov ne Il say tsai u LII Elxs mn
unaffected pleasure 10 meet you ther-. e
Il de>- 20 subscribe myself
Faithfully and cordially your friend.
H. CLsI.
The >etge ss vIeksbarg.
The editor of this depsr;men. was
adiutant of the first regiment Missis-
sippi during the seige OF vieksburg.
and is now. at the reques. OF Gen =
ID Lee. corresponding with comrades
Of that command 81 As to ascertain the
part taken By the batteries at the battle
Of Bakers creek and in this ssige. Il
wssthe only light artillery regiment
in the Confederate army. IL has one
battery of eight guns. two % six guns.
and eight Of four guns-in all VI guns
is-pounder Howitzers. 6pounders and
Parrotts- Six Of the batteries were q.
vieksburg. the others a, Port Hudson.
The regiment mustered about i.soo men
VIM T. withers, colonel Here Is an
interesting sketch Of Company c. Tur-
ncr's battery:
R.rwoSp Miss Nov g. Iso
Dear Colonel % the II. makinx
inquiries about Turner's battery Of our
regiment, has been received. and -iIl. as
a IL a. \ can sr,r,, -,-~-o-w n -. - -.
ord-l answer your questions.
Twas sent to take charge Of the battery
ahous the Sch of May. l-s3. while camp~i
at snyders Bluff. where IL remsinei re-
cup~rating from the effects of the Fort
Penh-rton s-i1- IL was IN near Grs~nwood
The battery consisted Of four guns, and
about ninety effective men. three comnis-
sionei Offices e~-Li-uteusnt. Collier. Flo~ers
and Eubanks. = serxesnt-msjor. . quarter
msstsrsergeant, one sergeant and one cor
poral for each gun We remained At Sny-
der's Bluff until the afternoon Of the day
that the battle At Big Black was fought
May i7th-and Of course we're not in the
battle Of Bakers Greek
On account Of the resignation Of DR.
Turner, the captain, the inexperience Of
saw in the campaign around Greenwood
that winter. and the lack Of discipline in
the company, Gen. Loring telegrspr-.i Col
with-rs 20 send an officer to command the
battery or to come and take IL away
While Ne were in line OF battle at snyder's
Bluff. waiting the demonstration made by
sherman, while Grant was crossing the
Mississippi river, Col Withers informed me
Of the telegram from Loring. and offered
me the command OF the company. l IN
hesitstingiy declined the offsr. and refused
to go until was ordered to do 80 while
Company \ was camped At Capt Barnes'
place below Vicksburg, As I have said about
the 5th Of May. l never saw q more
rugged. dirty set OF men during tho war
than fosnd on taking charge They had
not received any money, clothing or sup
plies for the battery for four months. and
were carrying on their persons and clothes
the swamp mud that they encountered at
Fort Pemberton- The men were NOT only
discouraged, but greatly aggrieved at hav-
ing an officer from another company put
over them During the ten days that in
tervened before the battle Of Bakers Greek
| succeeded in getting four months pay for
the men. and an entire change OF clothing.
and new harness for the battery. As soon
as this was done ths good soldiers at once
became reconciled TO the change made in
command Of the company, and the others
soon fell into line. 50 that when We went
iuto Vicksburg and took our place on the
line OF defense-. we were in reasonable good
condition for service. We we're pat in
7 r-E-
Jackson road. and were supported by the
Sd Louisiana, as,h and f3i Nis-issippi regi
ments, Heberts brigade. Forney's division.
it was not long. however. before one gun
from this battery was ordered to the left
Of our front, where Shoup's brigade Of
Smiths division was stationed 10 Was
near this gun. and while engaged in CON
versation with me. and in . few feet Of
Gen ShOup, that Capt John T. spenssr. OF
the generals staff, was killed. The other
three guns remained near the Jackson road
until the end of the seige. One of them
was tunnelled and turned upside down by
the explosion Of the mine near TO the place
where Col Erwin, Of the 6,h Missouri
/ grandson Of Henry Ciayl. was killed while
defending with his regiment the opening
u
services were rendered by any company
during the seige than was given by this
battery. There were thirty casualties in
the company, and Lieut.. Eubanks Was
severely wounded About the third week
Of the seige was put in command Of all
the artillery in Hebert's brigade. bat con-
tinued to have charge Of this battery until
the surrender on the 4th OF July. I was
in command Of the company again in parole
camp at Enterprise. but on Lieut.. Hooker's
promotion. at the request Of the men Of
Company A, I was ordered back to it, The
company (C) was sent TO Mobile. where it
did good service under Major woHord, in
another branch Of the service
Yours truly, W. T. RArLIyr
A correspondent wants to know IF it
is fact that general elections in Mis-
sippi in former times occupied two days,
and il so. why?' Under the constitu-
tion of 1s1T general elections were held
ION the FIRST Monday and day following
in August Under the constitution of
1sss ION the first Monday and day fol-
lowing in November This was
changed In is5S-general election to be
held on first Monday in October. ''and
be concluded in one day The consti-
tutions of ijs and 1900 changed the
time to the first Tuesday after the first
Monday We take it for granted that
general elections were held on two
days becsuse of transportation condi-
tlons in those times They did not vote
for president on one day and State
officers the day following, but when a
voter was handed his ballot he voted
for everything in sight.
The presidential electors will meet in
Jackson on Monday, the 18th instant.
and cast the vote of this State for VIM.
j. Bryan Mr.. Garrard Harris will