The National tribune., 1902-07-24

the Confederate forces in the Department
of Gen. S. ID. Lee were regarded as Sc
riuus menace to the railroad lines upon
which Gen. Sherman had to rely for sup
plies of every kind for his army. 1t was
therefore decided to organize and send out
from Memphis force to go in search of
Gen. Forests command and bring him to
battle.
Maj.-Gcm. G. c. Washbun. command
ing the District of West Tennessee. with
headquarters at Memphis. concentrated n
strong force of cavalry. infantry and ar
1illery Mt Lafayette. Tenn. about 81 miles
east of Memphis.
Ry order of Gen. Sherman. Brighten.
S. ID. Sturgis. Lieutenant-C Colonel of the
9th Regular Cav. reported to Gen. Wash
burn for duty, and was assigned to the
command of the troops at Lafayette, with
instructions to move out in the direction
of Corinth. to find the Confederate forces
and to attack and whip them. and to de-
Stroy as much of the Memphis X Charles
ton Railroad and the Mobile IL Ohio Rail
road as was possible; the object being to
cripple the railroad lines of the enemy and
to whip and diSperse such bodies of troops
as might be used against the railroads
used by the Union forces. Gen. Sturgis
was Il stranger to the troops of the com
mand to which he was assigned. He as
sumed command June ,, 1864. Gen. Stur-
gis found that his force consisted Of three
brigades of infantry. two brigadeS of cav
airy. Ii pieces of artillery, and four noun
tain howitzers.
The cavalry was under the command of
Brighten. Benjamin II. tirierson. The
First Brigade was commanded by Col.
George Z. Waring. the Second Brigade by
Col. Edward F. Winslow.
The brigades of infantry were COM
manded as follows: Col. William l.. Nc
Millen. 95th Ohio, commanded the First
Brigade. First Division, Sixteenth Corps,
and when assigned TO command all the in
fantry was succeeded by Col. Alex. Viii
kin. 9th Alinn.
Col. George B. Hoge, 18th ILL.,. COM
manded the Second Brigade Col. Ed
commanded the Third Brigade.
Gen. Sturgis in orders assigned Col.
McMillen to the command of all the in
fantry. as Il division commander.
The supply train consisted of about 80
wagons. which contained ammunition, IA
tions and forage. The country east of
Memphis and in the northern part of Mis-
sisSippi had been campaigned over so
thoroughly during the preceding two years
that forage and provisions were scarce,
and an army operating i'll that region was
compelled to rely on supplies carried in
wagons.
The march began on June 3. the cavalry
well in advance. The line of march was
through Lamar. Salem. Ruckeryille. and
Rsr.l. ord n tI.. ,I.,tt
of June 8 the entire command cncamped
together about l. miles east of Ripley.
THE COLUMN MOVES OUT.
On the morning of June 10 at $50
O'Clock the cavalry moved out ON the Gun
town road, followed at Z O'Clock by the
infantry and wagon train. 4 great deal
of rain had fallen during the marches,
and the roads Were very muddy. Gen.
Sturgis habitually marched at the head of
the infantry column. When he had
marched about five miles he came upon a
muddy bottom over which the road passed.
The cavalry had already passed this place
without difficulty. but Gen. Sturgis
deemed it advisable to corduroy this bot
tom before attempting its passage with
wheels. This work was entered upon with
energy During the progress of this work
Gen. GrierSon sent a message to Gen.
Sturgis informing him that he had en-
tutiittitu d palItN Vi Iue elclIiS about IOuT
miles III advance, on the Baldwin road,
at Brice's Crossroads. Gen. Sturgis paid
but little attention to this report. as he
expected to meet the eneny's cavalry at
almost any point. as they had shown
themselves 10 be lowering in the neigh
borhood from day TO day during his
march. Gen. Grierson sent another mes
sage to Gen. SturgIs to the effect that he
had developed Il force of at least 600 rebel
cavalry, and that his own force was III a
good position. Gen. SturgiS then rode
forward TO join Grierson, and directed
Col. McAIillen TO dispatch 10 the front
a brigade of infantry TO reinforce Grier-
son.
As Sturgis advanced he met a third
messenger from GrierSon. announcing that
he had encountered large force of the
enemy and that he had nearly all his COM
mand engaged.
Gen. Sturgis then sent orders to Col.
McMillen to bring forward all the nfan-
try as rapidly as possible. Gen. Grierson
had formed 4 line beyond the crossroads
with Winslow's Brigade on the right and
Warnings Brigade on the left. with his
artillery near the center. The fire OF the
enemy's muskcfeers was quite heavy. and
soon Col. Winslow and Col Waring
called urgently for rcinforcements. stat
ing that their forces Were very hard
pressed. Gen. Siurgis had arrived on the
Informed Winslow and Waring that the
Infantry would soon be up, and that they
should be promptly supported. He urged
them 10 hold their positions at every haz-
ard. until the arrival of the infantry and
artillery.
THE RECKLESsSESs OF sTURGIs.
Gen. Sturgis directed Gen. Grierson TO
put every fighting man in line and TO omen
UP with his artillery.
The Confederate troops encountered by
Gen. Sturgiss command We're the forces
of Gen. Forrest. Under the orders of
Gen. s. ID. Lee, Department Commander,
Gen. Forrest had on June / left Tupelo,
Miss. with Gen. Buford's division of cay
airy and Merton's and Rice's bate es on
an expedition 10 Middle Tennessee. He
was to be reinforced by 1000 men from
the division of Brig Gen. Roddey. com
manding cavalry in northern Alabama.
The purpose Of this expedition was TO de-
stroy the railroad from Nashville and
break up the lines Of communication con
meeting that point with Gen. Sherman's
army in northern Georgia. On the morn
ing of June , Gen. Forrest received ii tel
egraphic dispatch from Gen. $. u. Lee in
forming him that large force of Union
troops was moving in the direction OF
Tupelo. Gen. Lee ordered Gen. Forrest
TO return 10 TupeiO at once Gen. For
rest Immediately turned about and on
June his column reached Tupelo.
Gen. Lee unquestionably had we'll
disciplined and intelligent body of scouts
and spies. for on the morning that Gen
Sturgis drew out with his command from
Lafayette, Gen. Lee was able to COM
munIclfp the fact Ia Cen. EorraSt ot Rms