The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-08-09

troops there NC would retiNe. lie
found none there. When we retired
~ the original line OF battle. there
was heavy lighting on the extreme
right Thsre was negro quarter" In
the midst of the battlefield. a log was
struck on end by solid shot and
Knocked entirely from the building.
came out almost exactly where | went
in and picked UP my blanket from the
pile. When We reached the road.
which lay between vs. and Bakers
Creek. we found il cnfiluded by the
poor fellow who had just lost II portion
Of his arm from n piece OF shell
writhing in agony. I; was risk or cap
tivty, and ~ few leaps placed me be
You'd present danger. Here we found
Loring's Division. or a part of II. lying
in reserve. II was enough TO make "A
soldier shed tears OF blood Here
were HIkhorn. Van Dorn's. corinth End
Hakers Creek. lost and hosts of brave
men slaughtered, all owing TO the in
capi4!ty OF the commanding general
Why our commanding general should
nave chosen TO have his divisions d.
fsated IL detail, or why he was our
commanding general. is more than
can tell II his West Point education
did not teach him how 10 nght q bat
tie with his divisions en- echc!on. army
regulations might have
Retreat Was Orderly.
The Richmond Examiner spoke de-
c!.ively OF our making such good time
from Bakers Creek. The retreat was
orderly. As a proof. four men carried
oil on stretchcr with the poles on
tneir shoulders woundcdeco panion
and they had wounded Iowa sergeant
IN their company. Some writer's have
stated that we lc:t Bakers Greek about
shutdown, but ! think II WAS about
O'Clock AZ We entered the fight abou;
the middle OF the day and reached
Back Bridge little after dark. 4
great deal Of ammunition was heinz!
destroyed as We passed Edward's
Depot; and Was fam to excla!m. "Oh.
for one day OF Stonewall Jackson
when We O!vcuacked our rcgimeu;al
tags were d!strc4ingly near together
Our loss had been very hcavy. ijpou
one Of our killed no mark was found
Some one offered me loose cotton 20
lie upon. which was Thankfully "a
ceived. as | had loyt nay bunk mate.
and the nights In Mississippi. partlc-
ularly on the river bottoms, are quite
cold We were placed IN the trenches
carly on tho morning o! the 17,h and
tho Yankees were not long Ia making
the;r appearance. Their artillcry open
Cd OH US AZ anout 800 yards, Nand the
sharps hooters were much ia evidence.
our battery boys who had a piece In
our midst commanded US to drive the
sharpshooters awx.y: bu; when sc told
them our smooth Dorc Guns with buck
and ball would not reac- therr. they
said Then l'e down IN the ditch"
The BATHS Was not Of long duration.
1-le enemy demonstrated mostly on
our left. General Green was there with
Gates's d!smounted Missouri Cavalry.
aud several Arkansas regiments,
Nsughan's tennessee Brigade am
Informed helG the extreme lef; They
broke and FED almost a; the com
mcnccmert OF the night They had not
been In the battle a Bakers Creek. bu,
] have heard distinguished themselves
IN the defense OF Chickasaw Bayou. /
should not have mentioned them ~
name, out General !. r. Johnston 50
reports the affair.
Many OF our regiment. seeing the
posture Of affairs. leaped from tho
trench. but Matt cooPsr ordered them
But soon Re order WAS given to re-
treat. and Fnen commenced what that
same Richmond examiner calls a "sauve
qut peui.' and suspect lie was about
right General Cockrell and a soldier
driving 4. caisson. passed me Ell route
TO the rive. The general struck at
to- soldier With his riding whip. and
said. You shay not" but the fellow
tucked down nj. head ana did not
Stacker his pace. Liks old sisingham
At Mars'on's Moore. could have
laughed, but lacked the breath. |
suppose the general was afraid the
man would injure the pontoon before
the iTiantr! had crossed. General Fred
Grant ras stated that he. boy ot
twelve. was wounded he1e watching
The Johnnies swim Black River.
Soldiers Cross bridge.
Tie railroad bridge was planked so
that ;wo infantry regiments, marching
bridge, for have helped TO perform
ina, feat There was a pontoon 6elow
the bridge. for ! retreated across 1t.
and there may have been another
above. so why snoull the Jehnn!ss have
swan Black River. BESIDES, saw no
We lost seventeen pieces OF artillery.
tor none were saved | am very certain.
WIZ were we placed in that trap?
ana why were we not armed with the
Enteld rifles stored. In VicksburG be-
fore We entered that fortress? We
could have fought 20 much better adj
v2.1iaGe from the north side OF Black
RIVER and saved our artillery. have
endsarored not to praise the Mis-
sourians TO the prejudice of troops from
ether States. think the tSavery Of
the Louisiana troops In the siege OF
Nicksburg, who were new to battles
cannot be surpassed. have been in
formed that on the 18th of May, when
Grant assaulted our works, they lea ped
upon the works. aisdainsns to tight
behind them. In passing from the
fight I heard one OF them exclaim
They said the Twenty-seventh Louis
lana was fit for nothing but TO guard
sugar. We showed EN-" My own
company lost in the siege-twelve men
killed. or who died OF their wounds
ana II other commands lost In proper
ton, our effective men surrendered has
been very much exaggerated.
ROBERT y. MARSHALL
Delaplane. Va.