The National tribune., 1901-04-25

in front OF the line 5chafng at the delay,
until 300 or 400 mef were thus gathered
together. The Iaftefnoon was now begin
ming to wane, and sthe General shouted:
Make readyo bHs
Riding, as he always did, magnifi-
cent charger, who iH-brooked the restraint
put upon him. Clayton, who had lost his
hat. sat bareheaded, with drawn sword IN
Make ready-charger' and away we
went up that hill, with Clayton in ad-
vance and gaining on us every jump. Vol
ley after volleyi was poured over us, for,
as usual, in firing down hill, the foe over
shot the mark, and before we were more
than two-thirds the way up the rise the the
enemy broke aIfd ran. They tore up the
planks on top of the bridge and sent them
floating down stream.
Clayton reached the fence far in ad-
vance of his troops, and riding alongside
the fence drew his revolyers and emptied
them on the retreatiDg foe. 1t was near
night and impossible to cross the stream.
We had been fighting, most of us, since
early morning. with but little to eat; so 1t
was decided to return to camp and bivouac
for the night. especially as we were still
apprehensive the Arkadelphia force might
steal upon us while we were scattered
Early in the morning Lieut.. Greathouse,
of the 1St Ind. Cav, had been dispatched
down the west side of the river with about
100 men. Not far from Monticello the
river took bend, and it was apprehended
the Confederates might cross over and
come up in our rear, as it were, and Great
house had been ordered to scout down 40
or so miles and look out for squads in
that direction. The enemy when he start
ed the day before to look us up attempted
to provide against emergencies by crossing
over all his train of 250 wagons with mules
and tents and camp equipage, together
with 300 Confederate soldiers to act as
guard. They had pOntoon bridge, which
could be hastily removed, and crossed over
the river, marched three or four miles,
then went into camp, little dreaming there
would be any danger coming down upon
them from the west side of the river. Sta
tioning q strong guard at pont0on bridge,
with orders to destroy it in case of alarm,
they rested in fancied security, with hard
ly so much as a camp guard placed. Great
house had heard about the middle of the
afternoon somewhat of the situation. and
resolved to make a 10-strike by capture
of the train and commissaries. About an
hour by sun he was ON the outskirts of
the camp, but never n picket or guard had
he run across. This somewhat puzzled
him. and the explanation was that Joe
Shelby was in the habit of roaming about
the country, with his men clad in Uncle
Sans blue. This for two reasons: First,
by this means he often fooled our scouting
parties and took them unawares; second,
the clothing thus obtained was much bet
ter and warmer than their own clothes ex-
changed for them. The Confederate
guard, their arms stacked around and
about the camp while the men were busy,
some getting supper and some in groups
playing cards, glancing at our boys, the
remark was frequently made: Hello,
there is Joe Shelby" and Greathouse ac-
tually rode into the center Of the camp
without exciting a suspicion. Once there,
1a dam lad INN tanHr IN JNrhfl
squad after squad of our men were rap
idly placing themselves in position to en-
force the demand, and it was with great
astonishment the rebels at last realized
the situation. -
Ordering them all into an open square,
the Lieutenant placed guard about them,
ordered the remainder of the command to
feed horses, get supper. and take several
hours rest and sleep Then. with guard,
he went TO inspect the outfit of wagons
and livestock. Gut of the $50 wagons he
selected 100 of the hest, had the negro
drivers hitch mules toithese, and then pile
the rest on great heap, and wagons,
tents and stores made a magnificent bon
fire. The guard at bridge. hearing the
commotion. hastily destroyed the bridge
Just what he wanted. as it prevented Con-
federate troops from, that side from cross
ing over. .7re f
As the hour rof midnight approached
DOOIS anu SdtuieS rfWdS SOubutu, lHc
darky drivers ordered to get the wagons
in line. 10 Confederate soldiers were placed
in n six-mule wagon, then guard of three
or four men on horseback followed, and
so on until the prisoners were all placed
and small advance guard thrown out,
while the remainder of his little force
brought up the rear, keeping sharp look
out behind, and so they travelled all the
remainder of the night and until 10
o'clock next day, when the Lieutenant
with his little command of 100 men en-
tered camp, with over 200 prisoners, 100
wagons, and over. 400 mules. They had
marched over 100 miles. and were back
again in less than 80 hours. The Lieu
tenant had been alert all night, continually
riding from front to rear and rear to
front of train, to see that everything was
all right, and his men wide awake and
watchful. Completely exhausted, ne had
hardly gotten off his horse and sat down
by the side of an old log before he was
fast asleep.
Gen Clayton remained in camp the re-
mainder of the day and that night, return
ing to Pine Bluff the next day with 800
prisoners, 100 wagons, 400 mules, and
cornmeal and bacon galore. He had met
the enemy in battle, and could report, Il
came, saw, conquered" 1t was GER
tainly a complete success. and this and
the battle of Pine Bluffs won Clayton
his spurs rs Brigadier- General.