The National tribune., 1902-03-13

OF The
of the rider of that horse but the extra
caution was seemingly uncalled for, as
there was not a shot fired, and our thou
sands of horsemen rode through the prin-
cipal street without n loud word being
said or a man dismounting.
I'VE saw no more of our tragic woman,
! and whether or not she told what she be-
! lieved to be the truth is still as much of
| a mystery as why it was we didn't form
hollow square around that horse. This
was about the only instance in which we
| had not captured every obstacle in our
! front on this entire campaign. We had
left Gravelly Springs $1,000 as fine lot
Of veterans as cavalry commander
would care to lead, and started straight
| through the Confederacy to the sea, well
armed well equipped and with Maj.-Gen.
James II. Wilson as our commander.
"AlI communications with the North
were cut off after the first days ride. Eif-
teen thousand men and a like number Of
horses must subsist off the country
through which they passed. Gen. Forrest
met us at Ebenezer Church, some miles
out from Selma, Ala, and gave us battle.
How quickly an old isolated house in the
woods or fields can be transformed into
busy hospital every soldier knows. This
one was not an exception. We left nurses,
money and attendants sufficient for the
I care Dl lDe "DuHutu llle OIu tuhi
| and rode straight on after the retreating
rebels-on, into and over the works at
/ Selma. so close to their heels that flight
was the all-impOrtant object instead OF
defense. We captured several guns in the
earth forts, and many prisoners. Forrest
had no time to stop, and his headquarters
| tent was left starsing, with his accou-
! terments therein-dreSs suit, sword and
spurs. That night, however he rode
around il rear of our command and pa
rolled all our men left in and about Ebene-
ger Church.
AT Columbus we were not quite so
| fortunate. 1t was 4 town Of supplies
| and 'ammunitions,' and was to be well
| defended, reinforcements having been sent
| from Lee and others. Our advance was
| fired upon and our column checked early
in the afternoon, a continuous cannonade
being kept up till nightfall. During the
whole afternoon we did nothing but hide,
the shells and solid shot hunting us out
! in brake and fen, up ravines and be-
! hind the hills, until it was a question
among the boys when Gen. Wilson would
let us get at them. This splendid gun
ming was done by battery sent down
from Virginia, and had only arrived the
| day before we got there.
when darkness came on whispered or
| ders' began to traverse our lines that
made the blood quicken and the pulse
| tremble, Tor we were to make n night at
tack. The waiting hours were signif-
cantly long ones, with dread magnings
and grave forebOdings of a contest in the
darkness. Many of us would have much
| preferred detail TO Alaska or Puget
| Sound. Gen. Upton, author of Upton's
Army Tactics, with his command. was
to circuit above and come down the river
bottom, joining the main body as we made
the attack straight across rockets being
used for signals of time and place.
The plan of attack was excellent and il
was well carried ont, for we captured Co
lumbus, with most of its defenders and
every piece of ordnance in il, with little
loss on our side. An Iowa regiment had
the advance, and rode right through the
rebel camp and works to the mouth of the
bridge spanning the river, not Confed-
crate getting across. The whole force
on our side of the stream surrendered.
''The bridge was 'creviced' with cot
ton and turpentne in order to quickly
burn it in our faces if need be, but the
rebels themselves crossed ii as prisoners,
every one of them. The next day we pa
rolled the captured forces and set fire to
the Government supply buildings. Prior
to doing so the factory girls and poor of
the town were told to help themselves to
cotton cloth and gray blanketing. after
which the largest amount of 'butternut
goods supplies and munitions then TO be
found at any one point in the South was
burned up. In the foundries were great
quantities of shells, piled up in the shape
of pyramids, and when the fuse would
reach an old Cheops of this sort the ex-
plosion would make the very earth trcm-
bic about us, the glass in all the windows
for blocks around being shattered to