The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-08-11
The Lost Company


of the Twenty-second Federal regi-
ment, stationed about four miles from
Bulls Gap, in the Tennessee noun
tail,s, to move b. night and capture a
Confederate signal station which had
a post upon q mountain crest ten miles
away. This station commanded the
pass SO far as observation went, and
every move Of the Federal force there
was at once reported.
The idea was to move slowly ana
quietly, and this was carried out. The
regiment had four hours and half to
make the ten miles, and the vicinity
Of the signal station was reached at
o'clock in the morning. Three com
panies were sent to the left, three to
the right, and Company E was to make
long detour to get in the rear of the
station and hold a mountain road
against retreat. All movements We're
made sc quietly that no alarm was
given.
Day had just begun to dawn when
up from the valley came white mist,
cold as shroud and thick enough to
cut out all objects twenty feet away.
The Confederates at the station could
be heard moving and talking, but there
could be no attack until the mist dis
appeared. 1t hung over the mountain
for two long hours before the rising
sun began to eat into it, and it was
near Z O'Clock before the Federals
dashed forward. The surprise was
complete. There were only fifty Con-
federate soldiers there as guard, and
seeing the force opposed to them they
prudently surrendered. Not a man
was killed on ether side, although
there was considerable firing. The
regiments sent out on the TANKS were
up in time, and Colonel Davis supposed
that the firing would bring in Com
pany E.
When an hour had gone by and
nothing had been heard of it scouts
were sent forward with orders for it
to join the main force at once. AT the
end of two hours the scouts returned
and reported that no trace of the COM
pany could be found beyond a certain
point
The main column returned to camp,
and from hour to hour looked for the
missing company. When a day had
gone by without news from it two
scouts were sent out. There was fear
now that it had been gobbled up by a
confederate force. The scouts struck
the highway and followed it to the
bend, but they brought back no news.
A native had gone along with it to
act as guide, and after three or four
days had passed it was concluded that
he might have led the detachment far
enough to bring about it's capture by
Confederate force. The matter rested
there for a week. Then two Confed
crate prisoners were captured but they
denied having heard the least news Of
the missing company. Had it been
captured they must have known Of the
event.
An advance by the Confederates in
force just at this time prevented any
further search by the Federals, and for
six weeks the fate Of the hundred men
was almost forgotten. Then there was
an investigation ordered from Wash
ington, and the result was the trial and
dismissal of Colonel Davis. The Fed
erals had been driven out of that part
of Tennessee, and as matter of fact
they did not regain the ground again
until the close Of the war. Flags of
truce were frequently res0rted to to
gain news Of the missing company, and
all prisoners were closely questioned,
but the war came to an end at last and
the mystery mad not been solved.
No move was made until a year
later, and then Colonel Davis himself
took UP the case. He was a wealthy
man, and he smarted under the dis
grace put upon him by the court mar
tial.
Accompanied by two picked men he
went over the route from Bulls Gap.
From the Confederate signal station he
struck for the highway and reached it.
There was but one house on the road
between that point and the bend and
the widow occupying it said that no
force had passed on that night. She
must have heard the company had it
marched that way. The scouts sent
out had never questioned this woman.
Returning over the highway Davis
and his companions had covered half
the distance when they noticed the
mouth of ravine to the right. 1t
started at the highway and descended
SO gradually that it might have been
taken in the night for another road. 1t
deepened as they followed it, and at
the end of quarter of q mile, when
it had become a rough and rugged
ravine it came to a sudden ending.
This did not look at all natural, and
an investigation lasting half a day
brought to light the fact that there had
been a landslide there. Hundreds of
thousands of tons of earth and rock,
accompanied by hundreds of trees, had