India W. P. Logan

“ By advancing to the brow of the hill we concealed ourselves behind a fence until the enemy ascended quite near, then rising and firing my navy, that being the signal for B to open fire, we poured such a hot fire into them that it caused a stampede unrivaled in war, which I shall never forget if I should live for a thousand years. ”

“ When the enemy realized the smallness of the force that was chasing them, they halted in a strong position and showed fight; but our General, who seemed more like our gallant Captain of old than he had for some time, was too shrewd for them. Quickly detaching a single scout around to their left flank secretly, with orders to fire his gun and navies in rapid succession into their line, proved, much to our amusement, to have the desired effect. Back they flew again, using their rowels as vigorously as before. But we were soon in their rear, making good use of time and pistols. ”

“ The Yankees quickly reversed their guns, and the 56second shot hit one of our caissons, and there was an explosion. The General, the artillery and the scouts were enveloped in such a dense cloud of smoke and shells that every one, like myself, thought that he was the only living one—the only one who had escaped instant death. But on the disappearance of the smoke our surprise was great to find that no one was hurt except the drivers and the horses attached to the caisson. The escape of General Morgan seemed miraculous indeed. ”

“ Couriers flew to the General, and from each one he received a different account as to the numbers of the enemy; from one he learned that there was a brigade; from another, a division. But by the courier who claimed to be “the most reliable,” he learned that the town was full of troops!
The action of this detachment, on this occasion, did not please the General, neither did it add any laurels to the troops engaged, nor did the scouts regret it as they ought to have done, simply because, when the detachment passed us, they laughed at the boys, and called out that they “had played out.” ”

“ Turning our prisoners over to the provost guard, who had nearly seven hundred to parole, we were soon on the road to Salem, Colonel Dick commanding.
As we advanced every mile had to be strongly contested for. Militia, home guards, and regular troops were on every hill top, bushwhackers and armed citizens behind every tree, and hardly a moment elapsed but you could hear the Minie’s sharp report. Everything was in an uproar. Families deserted their dwellings to hide in the woods. ”

“ Seldom, if ever, were we idle while our camp was in Liberty. The field which the General had intrusted to our surveillance was so extensive as to keep us almost constantly in the saddle. We watched the movements of the enemy night and day, and we skirmished with him daily, sometimes near Murfreesboro, or near Lavergne, Nashville, and in the vicinity of Gallatin, Huntsville, Carthage, and Lebanon. ”

“ We called him Captain Peddicord; he called himself First Sergeant, Quirk’s Scouts. Whatever his army rank, he was, among men, first of all the elegant gentleman. We did not meet until after the war had closed, our army service being in widely separate fields. On the Board of the Confederate Home, Higginsville, Missouri, we always found him efficient and true to the Confederate soldier, ready to aid the needy comrade in every way that he could. We became quite intimate in after years. ”

“ We cleaned up and dressed up early, and at 6 o’clock two sets of boys, in their best—to represent ‘ladies,’ hats off—or a nice smoking-cap on to designate them, were tripping lively steps to the music of two violins. After dancing, we had songs, and all wound up before ‘lights out’ (9 o’clock) with a rat supper. For if you must know, there are many here who eat them whenever they can get them, and that is frequently.
“While the ball was going on in this (Kentucky) division, prayer-meeting was on in the next. Thus it goes in life. I did not dance; there is no poetry to me in dancing with a man. ”

“ A street fight is one of the most desperate modes of warfare known to a soldier. The advantage is strongly against the storming party.
The Fourteenth charged mounted to within seventy-five yards of the railroad depot, and dismounted under the most deadly fire that we ever saw. The artillery took position on our right, opening on the depot in dead earnest. At every report the boys would cheer, the building tumbling at every discharge. Before the General commenced the assault he sent in a flag of truce to Colonel Hanson, demanding an immediate surrender ”

“ As only a brave man can do, he talked with the soldier who visited him a few minutes before he died, telling the Confederate that he was a gallant soldier and that he shot him in self-defense and while in the service of his country. The gallant Captain surely met his fate soldierly.
Supplying our wants we left town and marched within two miles of Green River bridge (not the railroad bridge) , which was defended by a regiment of Yankee infantry inside of a strong stockade. Placing our picket out, we encamped for the night. ”

“ After meeting and skirmishing with, chasing, and being chased by a detachment of the regular Yankee cavalry, he had eluded and followed them, without their knowledge, into town, where, finding them quartered in a livery stable, he formed his line around, and barricaded the streets and alleys so strongly and successfully that they could not get out except at great sacrifice. Under Captain Sheldon’s guidance Colonel Morgan dismounted his regiment to go to the relief of Company C, supporting him until morning, when an immediate surrender was asked. ”

“ Upon our arrival we dismounted to form line on the beach until the brigade came up. We then returned to our horses to feed them and to steal a little nod, if such were possible. Some of the boys gave champagne parties that night in the meadow, which doubtless was taken from the stores of one of the steamers; as also were a few other luxuries that had so mysteriously come into their possession. After satisfying their unnatural appetites all took a sly snooze, dreaming of home and of the fair fields beyond the waters.
Tired nature must have its requisite amount of rest ”

“ The enemy thought to hold his ground, but we made it so hot that to save himself he was compelled to give way. However, a part of the rear-guard was captured before they gained their lines. The enemy’s force consisted of four brigades, two each of cavalry and infantry, with artillery attached, while we could muster but one brigade and a limited amount of artillery. Such a large force could not be handled successfully by us, and all we could do was to work on their edges. ”

“ Oftentimes, accompanied by the General, on such occasions impersonating the character of a scout, and to all appearances one of the company, we would dash out on exciting and successful adventures, expeditions carried on in the vicinity of Gallatin and Nashville, and also in the neighborhood of Lebanon and Hartsville, where a brigade of Yankee infantry and a regiment of cavalry were discovered quietly encamped on the north bank of the Cumberland, and near the latter place. ”

“ The enemy’s rear-guard was in sight when we reached the town, but was marching in the direction of Auburn.
Several Rebels who had been badly wounded by the Yankees, were in town, and the female inhabitants were in a high state of excitement, many women running out into the street to intercept our march, and begging and imploring us not to advance farther with such a band, telling us the enemy’s force was very large, and included infantry, cavalry, and artillery. ”

“ With his soft hat under his arm, his Kentucky Confederate badge on his breast (from the reunion in Louisville in 1905) , he was laid beside his father and mother for whom he had given up his ambition of rising in his profession of civil engineer, becoming the cheerful farmer until the death of his parents, when he came to Palmyra, where he filled many positions of trust. He was a member of Robert Buffner C. V. Camp at Hannibal. Kelion was one of the most truthful persons I was ever acquainted with. This was a trait he inherited. “If you cannot speak the truth,” he said, “say nothing.” ”

“ Our leader, by his rapid blows and daredevil encounters, caused them to believe his entire force was with him at Murfreesboro, while Captain Allen, Captain Bowles, and Adjutant Duke drew their attention in the opposite direction, attacking them at all hours of the day and night. We would capture an outpost, very often galloping in the midst of their camp, thus causing the greatest surprise and consternation imaginable. ”

“ The advance, then in command of Captain Hines, moved upon the enemy in front, met their outpost, a company of cavalry, and on exchanging a few shots drove them back into town. Hines’ company was the first and Company B the next in order for that day’s march; therefore, when his company engaged the enemy, Company B supported him. Regiments when marching have it so arranged that each company has its respective days for marching at the head of the column, it being easier to march at the front than at the rear of a column, and thus they change alternately. ”

“ Just as we entered the city square several pistol shots, fired in rapid succession, were heard, and we, thinking the “Model Tom” was in danger, advanced to the rescue. But before we could reach him he had captured two Yankee cavalrymen, belonging to the force that had passed through the town, and known as “stragglers.” Finding “all quiet along the Potomac” a courier was dispatched to the General. We had received orders some time before to advance by the upper pike and strike the Yankee line of communication, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, north of Green River bridge. ”

“ Just as we got in sight of the railroad we saw on our left and front some twenty or thirty Yankee infantrymen acting, apparently, as a railroad guard. At the time we discovered them we were marching in a lane. Putting our horses at the fence, those that did not go over rode it down, and we all passed over the field at a sweeping pace, charging the Yanks, who surrendered without firing a shot, though we gave them a round at short range. ”

“ Yet in no part of the service is daring gallantry and real pluck better illustrated than in these hand-to-hand encounters. There is in them a greater display of courage than there is in a general engagement.
Besides all this, it is a deplorable fact that the number of brave comrades killed in “only a skirmish” is not few. Indeed, there are often enough killed to startle those who have had no experience in the “art of killing.” ”

“ Many have been the times when I would have given worlds, if I possessed them, to lie down in a fence corner with permission to sleep a few hours. But the enemy was in front, and the watchword was “forward, march.” After crossing the Ohio we never halted except to feed, to fight, and to destroy U. S. property.
Our balmy slumbers were very easily disturbed by an explosion of a shell in our midst, 127thrown from a piece on the Hoosier State side. Burns’s battery returned the fire, and at the second shot dismounted the Yankee gun, a splendid rifled cannon, that afterward fell into our possession. ”

“ The Yankee cavalry regiment was on the rise before us when the General, calling the attention of the scouts, said, “Boys, yonder are those horses I’ve been promising you.” And he added, “Be very particular how you take them, for you observe that each horse has an armed man upon him.” Then, giving Captain Tom some instructions, 57he ordered us to advance, which we did at a brisk canter. Already the Yankee lines, in many places broken, were reeling and staggering like drunken men. ”

“ But there we sat, silent as the tomb, watching our prey, without even the privilege of shaking our feet in the stirrups to keep them from freezing. I never came so near freezing in my life. The rest of the scouts and the detachment with the General arrived just before day.
When the General saw the pickets, which we pointed out to him, he said, turning to the captain of the scouts, “Tom, do you see those pickets?” The Captain answered promptly, “I do, distinctly.” Then the General said, “Lead your scouts down there, and take them in, and if it can be avoided do not fire a gun.” ”