The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-08-31

great thing for us. At first mynten'
ton was to wait for my comn!nd to =
COME up, k,its when Thoughtful the
glory of taking them by surprfe with
my small force and frightening them
so that they would run into tie arms
of our main force or surrende to me,
l couldn't stand it, so with ly three
cavalrymen 1 placed myself in the
lane and we opened as hota fire as
we could with rifles and pitols upon
the unsuspecting confedeates, who
were taken completely by surprise.
II have never seen sucha panic as
followed our first volley, BIT it didn't
last long. Ahead of then was our
main strength, and they knew it.
They didn't know how strong We.
were, and were too much startled to :
see accurately, so they reteated a hun
dred yards or so, but tn, confederate
captain never lost his neEe for MIN
ute, and from the start 7as trying to
rally his men. In fey minutes he
had them under his c.ntrol, swung
them around and charged down on us
full tilt, with his swort out and his
men coming on behind. the hoofs of
their horses sounding ike thunder
AS they saw what week force there
was ahead of them theyset up wild
yell, and just at that particular mo-
ment I asked myself what kind OF
fool l was to attack force that out
numbered us more thin ten to one.
we were in a bad fix, and there was
no time for us to rebad. On each
side OF the road was lail fence. One
side was steeply up ill, the other
flat, and it didn't take any of us mo-
ment to choose where we wanted to
go. I don't think any of us touched
rail when we were getting out of
the lane. for We were al pretty we'll
frightened. There wasn't any time
for us to get far away, for the con-
federates were close on us, and COM
ing as fast as their horses could run.
up on top of the hill l could hear
my command coming as fast as they
could, for they were anxious to get
in the fight. The confederates must
have heard them, too, for they passed
us like whirlwind and the fraction
of minute that they spent in going
by was the most miserable moment
that I have ever spent in my life. 1t
seemed to me as if every man that
passed us shot at us a dozen times.
We hadn't had any time to make a
run for it, so we crowded up to the
fence as close as we could and tried
to hide behind the stout oak rails.
Each one of us endeavored to take up
| just as little space as possible, and
| the roar of the horses hoofs and the
| popping of carbines and pistols as they
| shot at us going by on the dead run
made me think that our chances were
worse than small for getting through.
But the last confederate cavalry
man swept by us and there wasn't a
one of us touched. Down the hill my
men came riding like devils, and when
! they came, to- where their commander
was they found him tucked away in "a
fence corner and as far in the fence
corner as he could get, feeling Of him
self to see if he was still alive. My
| men stopped but a moment and then
set off after the enemy, but pursuit
| was useless and they were soon back
awaiting my further orders.
What insane idea led me to attach
force that was so greatly superior
have never been able to grasp. Il
was sheer impulse, nothing else, but
i: was an impulse that was so strong
that l never hesitated moment and
the first effect was entirely gratifying
for we nearly stampeded the confed-
crates into our lines before their cap
tain got them under control again.
When they did pass us they were rid
ing SO hard and going so fast that
they could 1i5t shoot accurately and,
besides, the target that we presented
wasn't very big, for each one OF us
was drawn up into as small a space
as possible. When my men had salts
fed themselves that [ wasn't hurt
they made little cast back up the
read and found two confederate sol
diew that we had wounded, and be-
sides there was almost wagon load
of equipments that they had dropped
in their surprise, so it may be said
that my attack wasn't entirely with
out results.
i've been in tight places since and
know what the hum of bullets sounds
like, but have always felt that the
| closest call / ever had was in that
little narrow country lane near
Fayette, Miss, in December, 1863
The force we attacked didn't know
how weak we were, but when their
captain had rallied them they came
down after us in as fine a cavalry
charge as have ever seen. The cap
| tain leading them was fine fellow
and every inch brave man, but
have never seen him since"