The National tribune., 1905-12-28

! TIE NATIONAL TRIBU1
in those times IL the crossing OF the
Tennessee by Sherman to attack the
rebel right at the northern end Of Mis-
sion Ridge. The river at the point Sc
| lected for the bridge is what may be
termed quite sizable. navigable
stream, from so to so rods wide, and
| fringed upon the south side far above
and below with q dense growth of cane
and willows that came to the edge OF
the then swollen water. thus forming
further shore. Dominating the point
chosen for the bridge, on the further
shore. was a conical hill occupied few
days previously by a section Of rebel
artillery which was there then, for all
We knew to the contrary. The bare
flank Of this hill did not rise into our
view until 1T reached 20 to 30 rods from
the river bank, because OF the screen
of brush already mentioned. Now, it
amazes me to learn how easy it would
have been, If one had been so disposed.
to Kill a man across that river with
common pistols" or to hear the con-
versation and the jeers of the ribald
foe. AS 1 remember the place and
time, I would not have been unhappy
then at the thought of sitting down to
a Thanksgiving dinner in the open, and
giving the Major, or any other good
shot, leave to take all possible chances
at me, while l was too busily engaged
to take notice. And I would contract
not to miss course while he was using
the common pistols of that day. OF
course, 1 would not care to have a mere
blunderer pecking away at me all day,
for in such cases things do happen
sometimes, and it would, in any case,
become annoying after a time.
Sherman's Precautions.
1t will be remembered that Sherman
took most extraordinary precautions
that his presence in the hills opposite
the crossing should not be suspected
by Bragg, and to fully deceive the old
traitor had marched part of his force.
with large train, miles up the north
ern bank OF the river in daylight. in
plain view of rebel outposts, to lead
them to believe he was we'll on the road
to relieve Knoxville. This he did, only
to march them back again at night, to
hide them in the hills near the crossing
that was to be made. Our division
Chat of Jeff. G. Davis) was brought
down to the rendezvous at night, where
we were kept in conceaIment the en-
tire day following, under the most
stringent orders not to stray from camp
or show ourselves upon the hills, and
as a further precaution, lest some
should disobey, a Gordon of guards was
placed near the tops of the hills, but
cut of sight, whose duty 1T was to turn
back all who came near them. That
any officer or man went outside those
lines that day to hold informal gossip
with the people across the river / can
not believe, and / would not have liked
to occupy the shoes of any man whom
soever that was found violating those
orders. That Bragg had not OWNED
the secret, SO well kept, seems thing
to wonder at now. How the first pom
toons, two or three of them in advance
of the others, all launched in the North
Chickamauga, where they were made,
Rugged the northern shore of the Ten
nessee, until about opposite the chosen
point, and then were noiselessly rowed
over to the southern side, capturing al
most the entire post of rebel pickets
there by very sharp ruse, is probably
a story too often told to repeat here.
The Captain of our battery, by rea-
son of seniority. was given the choice
o. posts, that of defending the crossing
about to be made or taking the service
able horses of the other battery to join
with Sherman in the work beyond the
river. Capt. Gardner asked which was
the post OF greater danger, and was told
that 1t was believed there would be very
warm work at the river. and his reply
to that was, Then put me there" We
therefore moved down to the rivers
brink not very long after midnight, and
went behind the light works made
ready for us, expecting that something
would happen with little delay. There
We saw pontoons filled with men. ST.
lent and grim Chnuirer
banks, and empty boats coming to the
shore, appearing and disappearing in
the fog that hid all that was fifty feet
away, in the most weird and uncanny
manner. If anybody was awakened
from sleep in the hills a mile distant
by the sounds those men made in their
boats, then he must have been a very
delicate sleeper, for they were next to
1naudible to us upon the bank. Then
l can believe the story that a mouse
once told me of how he was one time
disturbed in one Of his somewhat in
cautious maps by the clumsy footballs
OF cat upon the velvet carpet, and he
made his adieus just in time to be there
to show me by his presence that his
tale was true. Another error that the
Major is not alone in Is that concern
ing the number of guns that were put
there to guard or force the crossing
Grant says there were so and the Major
ooyo W, d discrepancy OF Ii In the very
outset. But / am not satisfied to let
either one Of those figures go for facts
any longer If there had been any
other gun or battery other than the six
OF our own, l am sure / would have
seen 1T, had 1t been within a half-mile
OF US above or below. If any living
member of any of the batteries to which
those mooted guns belonged will rise
up and correct me, IL I am wrong. I
Will take 1t as favor, and thank him
In these columns for placing me in the
right.
The small gap that was left in the
middle Of the bridge, in midstream,
was filled in, I should think, before 9
o'clock, and the head Of column Of
cavalry there in waiting Immediately
took Its way over it, and the little
three-boat bridge at the mouth of the
South Chickamauga, in plain view from
our side. and in an incredibly short
time, the smoke that rose from Bragg's
burning commissariat told us of the
success Of the errand Of the horsemen.
1t was sudden blow at the rebel stom-
ach that there was no time to parry
The Mornings Spectacle.
Dawn revealed to us of "the little
army" a sight, for numbers, that we
had never seen before in all our pre-
vious campaigning, the solid mass Of
men on the fiat near us WAITING fo