The National tribune., 1902-10-02

saying; Have i the honor of meeting
Gen Newsom?''
Il am Col. NeYsom.' he replied.
General, i've the honor to be a
bearer of disl es from Gen. Washburn,
commanding fe(fral troops ut Memphis,
to Gen. New BIZ commanding Confeder-
ate troops at Jackson"
l then unbuttoned my coat and from an
inside pocket drew forth the large sealed
envelope containing the dispatches men
toned and presented it to him.
As he grasped the envelope 1 noticed
that his hand Atmbled very perceptibly.
Turning quickly around he motioned to
a fine-loOking officer of his staff to join
him, and together they walked into an
adjoining room, closing the door behind
returned, very much agitated. Holding
the open dispatch in front of me, he, in
a significant tone, exclaimed: "This is a
dispatch signed by Gen. Washburn, COM
mander of Federal troops Mt Memphis, or
dering me to proceed there with my com,
mand and surrender it to the United
States fo'ces;" then in a louder tone
.What authority has Gen. Washburn to
ord me to Memphis to surrender my bri-
gade?'' q knew heS also had 4 copy of
Confederate Gen. Wright's order) Calmly
looking him in the eyes, l replied: Pardon
me, General: am not here to argue that
question; l am only bearer of dispatches
under a flag of truce. Any reply that you
wish to make. please reduce it to writing,
and l will gladly return with il"
Without replying, he whirled around
and re-entered the room from which he
came. Speedily returning, his whole de-
meanor evidencinG great excitement. he
held toward me the printed order of Gen.
Wright. In a 3|ne audible i'll the street
below, he excla| Ened: This purpotS to
be a copy of ii orde' issued by Gen.
Wright, my District Commando, orde'ing
all Offices in command of Confederate
troops within his district to Immediately
proceed to the nea'est United States mill.
tay post and surrende' thei' commands y
Then still louder. will you give me
your wo'd, on the homo of an office, that
this holding it up) is true copy OF Gen.
Wright's order
| l replied: II have a duplicate of the
order you hold. 1t was handed to me as
a true copy of Gen. Wright's order More
than this l cannot say
With a frown on his face, he abruptly
returned to his room. More than half of
his staff officers now arose and deilb-
erately passing near us. without sign
of recognition, descended the stairs to the
street. Notwithstanding the unceasing
noise and confusion of the multitude be-
low, and the embarrassing position we oc-
cupied, so far, we had controlled our
feelings and patiently awaited the delib-
GRAFTON of Gen Newsom, the elimination
of which we so anxiOusly desired.
The Confederate officers who had so un,
tremendously left us had barely reached
the pavement below when from the
throats of the restless hundreds in the
streets emanated an unearthly shout, va
ried with rebel yells so startling and pene-
trating as to almost cause the building in
which we stood to vibrate with the re
sounding shock. What did this mean?
What new Developments had arisen below
to cause this volcanic explosion, as it
were? For the first time during the whole
trying ordeal l became nervous. Anxiety
| for the safety of my brave boys whom |
left holding their horses below in the
midst of thisy babel of tongues" created
an intense desire to rejOin them. This
was prevented only by the etiquette and
responsibility of my official position at
this most important moment
l was about to, order Lieut.. Davis to
''recOnnOiter" and report as to the safety
of my men, when Suddenly the door of the
room occupied by Gen. Newsom flew open
and the Gensral.i, followed by his staff,
appeared. Without halting or even deign-
ing to look at me as he passed hurriedly
toward the stsits!he exclaimed: We'll
come inn' -
As he made his exit down the stairs,
closely followed by the remainder of his
staff officers. Lieut. Davis and l enjoyed
our last look upon the receding form of
unprepOssessing. discourteous Gen. New
som. 20
l now felt greatly relieved. The oh
ject of my mission had been accomplished.
The commander of the last rebel brigade
in arms against the authority of the
United States had agreed to .'come in
and surrender.
However, to quote a common express
sion in vogue in the army, 1--WE were not
yet out of the woods"
On rejoining my men, who were anx-
iously awaiting my return, found them
still holding their horses and apparently
quite nervous. Men and horses were
crowded by the Johnnies into a very small
space, with scarcely standing room for
either, and not a guard or officer in sight
to protect them. The great mass, how
ever, were slowly marching-or, rather,
crOwding-sOuth, then east, to the Court
House Square. We were obliged to prac-
tically await until their numbers had de-
mount our horses. While we were await
ing the passing show" one of the John
nies, in passing, grabbed hold of my
horses tail and gave it severe jerk.
This was resented by the horse, which
with both hind feet viciously kicked at
| the Johnny, striking him with one foot
on the thigh, which doubled him up" for
q few minutes. / thought he was killed.
and, in our predicament, feared the re-
suit, but personally 1 felt glad. AS soon
as he revived he picked up a rock, and
with all his strength threw it at the noble
animals head, which fortunately it missed,
and went through large store window,
breaking it in many pieces, and Mr.. John
ny limped on with the procession.
As soon as it was possible to obtain
| sufficient room to move our horses back
from the pavement and mount them, we
did so. We then marched south in rear Of
| the moving column of rebs to the first
street leading east, on which they turned.
! Here we left them, continuing our march
south past the Notifications, and rode on
into an open field, bore to the left, and
soon reached the road on which we had
entered Jackson hours before.
Now that we were free from the great
body of rebel soldiers, who for four hours
had completely surrounded us, we breathed
more freely. The nervous restraint under
which all had SO heroically demonstrated
their soldierly qualities now relaxed. Each
Of my men gave expression to his long re-
pressed feelings in strong language, which,
if not strictly polite, under the circum-
stances was perfectly justiiable Even
our horses seemed to be inspired with
spirit Of freedom from restraint, as they
champed tn ,ir bits and courageously step
ped out in the direction of camp.
Lieut.. Davis observed that if the old
I Iap pIy rI,,, rvNfn nn1 1IaN