Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-05-29

And exc with all his might"
After the battle OF Corinth, Oct
3rd and 4th, 1862, that part Of the
army of the Tennessee known as the
left wing of the sixteenth army corps,
remained at and near Corinth until
the summer of 1868, doing garrison
duty and frequently making forced
marches after Forrest Rhoddy and
other rebel raiders, thus rendering
indirect service to General Grant in
his campaign against Vicksburg 1t
was during this period that Companies
A and | of the 2Ed Iowa Infantry, and
part OF company of Illinois Cavalry
were ordered on detached service to
guard point on the Tuscumbia river
called Smiths Bridge which was
about five miles southeast of Corinth,
and was regarded from a military
standpoint as a place of considerable
Importance at that time. Between
Smiths Bridge and the town there
was large tract of low swamp
| land covered by dense body of timber
through this timber small creek
runs at right angles with the Tuscum-
bia river ;the road from Corinth to the
| Bridge crosses this creek a mile or
| thereabouts north of the river and at
| the time of which | write was made
of corduroy through the swamps, the
whole furnishing an excellent cover
for Guerillas with which the whole
country was at that time infested !;
bands of as murderous cut-thrOats as
ever went unhung; these fellows
would occasionally leave their horses
on the south side of the ravine, cross
on an old tree that had fallen so as to
make very fair bridge and creeping
up TO the Corinth road lay for strag-
glers, orderlies, mail-carriers and
others. In this way they captured
several of our men.
| had been detailed 70 serve on u
courtmartial in town, of which the
gallant Col. James Redfeld of the
39th Iowa, who was thrice wounded
and died like the hero he was, i'll de-
fense of Allatoona-was President; we
were holding one session day, which
generally lasted from ten in the morn
ing till two in the afternoon. 1t was my
custom to ride to town in time for the
court and then out TO the bridge again
after adjournment.
Bayard, the horse l rode, had for
merly belonged TO the enemy, and had
his own notions about some things. he
used TO remind me of Mark Twain's
81
as if he wanted to lean up against a
fence and think, perhaps this peculiar
way was due to climatic influences,
or maybe it was because he had been
impressed into the government service
against his will, however he never
complained of ill treatment, but he
always wore melancholy look. His
great antipathy was thought TO be
spurs; it was generally supposed
among the boys that it was constitU-
tional with him; he despised spurs
and yet nothing seemed to stimulate
him more. | think that was why
they called him Bayard; gently prod
him with spur and for the moment
he appeared TO freshen up like SEN
sitive person under the bite of mos
quito. he would come TO a dead step
and then leisurely turn and give a
most vicious snap at your foot, but he
was never in a hurry about it, he al
ways took time enough TO think be-
fore he snapped. he seemed TO enjoy it
more that way.
Mounted upon this animal | was re-
turning one afternoon from town, and
had proceeded without disturbance TO
within about twenty yards of the
creek when | saw the head and shoul-
ders of citizen" peering out of the
thick underbrush, the citizen had
shotgun il one hand, with the other
he was pointing to myself; naturally
pltting hostile Interpretation upon
these signs, | Immediately reached for
my revolver and then suddenly rem
embered with alarm that had forgot
ten TO bring it that day. AS soon as
my friend, the citizen, saw that l had
discovered him he sprang forward and
yelled, Here's the - yankee" TO
which voice from the brush prompt
ly replied "Shoot the -" and in
less than minute was completely
surrounded by fifteen or twenty guer-
rillas two or three of them could not
have been more than five or six feet
from me. The situation was by no
means enVihDle, reslstdnCe WAS OI
course out of the question, unarmed
as l was, but the thought of capture
by guerrillas, to be followed by a
highly diverting hanging bee or an
exhilerating piece of target practice
in which could see myself contribut-
ing no insignificant part. made me
low spirited then, too there loomed
up in the distance the hospitable en-.
tertainment of Captain Wirz of An
dersonvi lie fame. 1 could easily dis
pense with all of that and SO, forget
ting under these delightful circam-
stances, all about Bayard's constitu-
tional antipathies, L let him have
both spurs at once and that made him
forget them too. He sprang forward
with prodigious bound and as |
threw myself fiat on his back and
seized his name with both hands, the
dozen or more shots that were fired,
missed their mark and so amid a bed
lam of curses and shouts of disap-
pointment escaped entirely unhurt
To say that was badly scared is TO
put it too mildly; the hair has never
laid perfectly smooth upon my head
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