Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Chapter XXII: Operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Mississippi, North Alabama, and Southwest Virginia. March 4-June 10, 1862.
Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Ed.

I left Columbia on the evening of April 30, with about 110 men, about 35 armed, that had guarded a lot of prisoners up from Huntsville, and the balance being recruits and convalescents from the barracks at Nashville. We camped some 8 miles from the city that night, started early next morning, May 1, and got along finely until about 1 p. m., when a courier came up post-haste and said a party of rebel cavalry, to the number of 15 or 20, had attacked his party of telegraph men, and urged us to go to their assistance. I took the armed men and started at double-quick for the ground, leaving the unarmed and teams to [875] come up at their leisure. After going some 4 miles we came up with the enemy. I gave orders to Lieut. R. S. Chambers, of Second Ohio Regiment, to take some men and deploy on the right of the road as skirmishers. We steadily drove them ahead for some time, when they were heavily re-enforced, and a cessation of firing from both sides took place. I then took up as good a position as I could in the road and along the fence, assisted by Adjutant Neal, Eighteenth; Lieutenant Leonard, Second; Lieutenant Pryor, Twenty-first, and Lieutenant Dyal, of Second Ohio, still keeping Lieutenant Chambers with his squad deployed as skirmishers. I soon found that the enemy was flanking me on both sides with large numbers of cavalry, and opened fire upon them, which they briskly returned, and the balls fell thick and fast among us, but all seemed perfectly cool, and both officers and men exhibited personal bravery which was hardly to be expected from men who with but few exceptions never stood under fire before, and especially when they were in such few numbers as to be easily singled out by the enemy, who showed themselves to be excellent marksmen.

After some two and one-half hours continuous firing, and running short of ammunition, the officers held a consultation as to what should be done, and all agreed to hold out to the last, hoping that we would receive help from a company of cavalry that I knew could not be far behind, and have since learned did come up in seeing distance, and then the captain refused to advance to our assistance. By this time the enemy had begun to prepare to charge from two different ways, one in front and one on my left, and as they did so, seeing that further resistance was useless, as our ammunition was exhausted, I ordered Lieut. B. S. Chambers to advance and meet them with a flag of truce, which had been prepared some time before, to be used as the last extremity, and surrendered ourselves to Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, of Adams' rebel cavalry, Colonel Morgan coming up across the field a moment after, we having 1 man killed and 1 wounded and killing 6 of the enemy and wounding 3, and killing five of their horses. We were taken to Pulaski, which we found on reaching to be filled with rebel troops, and on our arrival there found some 150 officers and men from various regiments that had been taken prisoners during the day.

After getting us ready to go South, on consultation with Colonels Morgan and Wood they proposed to release us on parole until exchanged, which proposition, on consultation among all the officers who were prisoners, was accepted, and after signing a parole we were released, and given two wagons to carry our baggage in; and here let me say that the treatment of Colonels Morgan and Wood and all their officers was kind and gentlemanly, and everything that we could have asked or expected by any one in our situation was done for us. The men under my command lost most of their clothes and such things as they had.

The whole force of the enemy I should think was some 1,500, although they claim to have had 2,000.

Annexed you will find a list of officers and soldiers under my command who were taken prisoners and released on parole till exchanged; and, further, I would state that I applied for arms for the recruits before leaving Cincinnati and could not get them, and then again at Nashville, to have the whole party armed, and was told that it was not necessary, as the road was perfectly safe.