Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-05-05

of battle reached him as he rode down
the street and learning from his aids
the unfortunate result of the attack.
he sounded the bugle for parley. Then
followed n written demand for surren-
der. an exact copy OF which is here
given:
Headquarters Forests Cavalry Corps.
Paducah, Ky. March =, 1864.
Colonel s. G.. Hicks. Commanding Federal
Forces at Paducah:
CoIonel-Having n force amply sufficient
to carry your works and reduce the place,
and IN order TO avoid the unnecessary ef-
fusion Of blood. i demand the surrender
OF the fort and troops with all public prop
! erty. II YOU surrender you shall be treat
ell as prisoners OF war. but II l have to
storm your works you may expect no
| quarter ". B. FORREST,
Major General Commanding Confederate
Troops.
The demand was met with defiance.
and Forrest personally reconnoitered
the fortress to see II IL was worth the
blood 1t would cost to reduce it he
| concluded that It was not, inasmuch as
his troopers had already gained posses
sion of the town itself and the various
stores. warehouses and stables. where
the men could help themselves to all
they could carry back to Mississippt.
The guns of the fort and the gunboats
| swept the streets with shot, shell and
Crane. but in the face of that the Con-
! federates cleaned out the government
| buildings, destroying all yaluables they
did not want for themselves.
All the public stores. the quarter
masters depot and Offices. the rail-
way station and a steamer on the
docks for repairs were given up to the
flames. While the main force was
securing the town for plumber Forrest
sent a band OF Tennessee sharpshoot-
ers with long range rifles to pepper
the gunboats in the river, and these
were speedily driven from their moor
ings to the shelter of the fort
Rich Spells of War.
Forests men remained in Paducah
from . O'Clock until IL O'Clock. the
25th. and early on the Goth marched
southwark with 400 captured horses
! and mules. n very large supply OF CLOTH
ing. subsistence. stores and military
equipments. Hating just beyond the
town. Forrest sent back to the fort n
proposition to exchange the prisoners
he had captured Mt Paducah and those
brought in from Union City by Colonel
| Duckworth- This proposal was refns'
| ed. ard Forrest started southwark in
person. leaving General Buford al
Mayfield to give his Kentuckians their
promised holiday in the blue grass
country. The men were allowed 10 20
to their homes in squads and after
weeks visit were to reioin Buford ut
the rendezvous and ride away to Mis-
sissippi.
On reaching Trenton. Tenn. Forrest
furloughed the Tennesseeans of his
command to take their holiday at
home appointing a rendezvous and
day for assembling When the tele-
graph carried the news of FORESTS
,, presence in Kentucky TO General
Grant Mt Washington he wired Sher-
man to set all the cavalry OF his de-
partment upon Forests track and moi
! let him escape the trap into which
I've had plunged.
Sherman had already nudged his
coloneIs and briGadiers to do that very
thing. but il remains 10 be told that in
spite of hot kilograms and fresh bat
talions galore all over Tennessee For
rest and his troops took things leisure
" in west Tennessee for week and.
gathering audacity by their immunity
from attack. turned from their home
ward track to effect the famous cap
ture of Fort Pillow. on the Mississippi
Grant Takes Full Control.
General Grant returned on March %
to Washington after an official trip to
Nashville. He came by the way OF