previous next

[325] the town, that a body of Federal cavalry had ridden through the evening before, and that the enemy was in large force near by. We remained about twelve miles from town, long enough to ascertain their exact locality, and then passed safely through, within two miles of their infantry. We reached Shelbyville, about four o'clock P. M., to-day, the men and horses a good deal jaded. Yesterday several transports passed down the Cumberland, carrying the remnant of Gen. Thomas's division. As our party had not entirely crossed, we did not fire into them. From all we could learn, the enemy has commenced to move. A large body of cavalry was seen on the road to Columbia. It is believed that the enemy have sent a large force down the Tennessee by boats, and will also move in force across the country. It is reported in Nashville that they intend to end the campaign before June. The prisoners will be sent forward in the three o'clock train tomorrow.

Shortly after leaving Gallatin, we learned that a party of twenty of the enemy, in charge of three prisoners, were approaching Gallatin by the Scottsville road. It was determined to cut them off. Pushing the prisoners, with a guard, across the Cumberland, we returned to effect the capture. We had taken our position on the road so as to secure the capture of all, but, unfortunately, when within half a mile of them, they were warned of danger by a negro, and fled precipitately to the woods--Capt. Austin, in command of the party, making his escape on a horse cut from a buggy. It being too dark to follow, we remained, picketing the road until morning. No further opportunity offering, we resumed our march, and, after travelling about sixty miles, reached Murfreesboro about two o'clock next morning.

I have omitted to mention that before leaving Gallatin, the engine was destroyed, thus leaving but one on the road.

I have ascertained, beyond doubt, that Love, a man of my command, who was taken prisoner in the affair of the eighth inst., (since dead,) was shot by the enemy after being taken.

The whole country through which we passed turned out in masses to welcome us. I have never before witnessed such enthusiasm and feeling. Men, women, and children, never wearied in their efforts to minister to our wants. All expressed themselves gratified at the presence of Southern soldiers in their midst. A handsome flag was presented us by the ladies of Gallatin, and some accompanied us even to the ferry.

Upon our return a number of Col. Bates' regiment were enabled to accompany us.

Very respectfully yours,

John H. Morgan, Commanding.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
George H. Thomas (1)
John H. Morgan (1)
John Bates (1)
Austin (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
June (1)
8th (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: