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Col. H. M. Fogg, Aid to
Gen. Zollicoffer, was wounded early in the engagement.
Our reports in regard to his condition are conflicting.
A dispatch to
Orville Ewing,
Esq., states that
Orville Ewing, son of
the Hon. Edwin Ewing, of this city, is wounded and a prisoner.
Two sons of
John D. Goss,
Esq., of this city, are among the wounded.
Wm. Battle, son of the colonel of the regiment, is among the list.
Colonel Stanton, slightly.
It is impossible at this moment to sum up the extent of our loss.
According to the
Northern accounts, which we publish in our telegraphic columns this morning, our loss in killed and wounded is put down at two hundred and seventy-five, with no statement in regard to the number of prisoners taken.
We hear that in addition to baggage, artillery, etc., left on the field, two thousand two hundred head of horses and mules were left behind, and probably captured by the
Federals.
We are inclined to think this statement an exaggeration.
Opinions of the rebel press: another Arnold.
If the following statement is true, which we find in a correspondence from
Nashville to the Memphis
Avalanche of the twenty-seventh,
Gen. George B. Crittenden, the commander of our forces at
Fishing Creek, is a traitor of the deepest dye, and deserves to be hung up to the nearest tree.
We sincerely hope that the charges made against
Crittenden are groundless, and that the deplorable catastrophe was caused not by treachery but by whisky, which he is said to drink to such excess that he has not drawn a sober breath for months.
The following is said to be the statement of one of
Capt. Duncan's men after the battle:
He states that about eleven o'clock Saturday night week,
Gen. Zollicoffer, ordered by
Gen. Crittenden, went out with the regiments,
Battle's,
Stanton's, and
Stratham's Fifteenth Mississippi, to meet the enemy at
Fishing Creek, nine miles distant from our fortifications at
Mill Spring.
They met the enemy in a hollow place, about eighty feet wide, just on this side of
Fishing Creek. Five regiments of the enemy were in sight, near at hand, who opened immediately with a heavy fire on
Zollicoffer's brigade while forming a line of battle.
In the mean time, two Federal regiments began a heavy cross-fire from ambuscade.
Here the battle commenced in earnest.
In a short while our men were repulsed, but they rallied and drove the enemy across
Fishing Creek into their fortifications.
The fight continued — the enemy in their fortifications for about an hour and a half, when the
Federals were reenforced by three regiments, and our brigade was again repulsed, retreating to within two miles and a half of our fortifications at
Mill Spring.
Here the brigade was reinforced by
Newman's and
White's regiments.
This was about eight o'clock A. M. With the assistance of the reinforcements, the brigade repulsed the enemy, driving them back to their fortifications.
Here the fight lasted until about twelve o'clock, when the enemy receiving additional force, the brigade was again repulsed, retreating back to their fortifications at
Mill Spring, in confusion.
The fortifications were reached at about three o'clock. The enemy were then cannonaded for about three hours, when they retreated beyond the range of our guns.
The firing ceased at about seven o'clock, the enemy being out of sight.
Gen. Crittenden then ordered the command to “disperse, every man to look out for himself.”
Eleven guns were spiked and thrown into the river, and our army left the fortifications, each
Colonel taking his command.
Col. Battle's regiment was thrown out as a picket guard in front of the fortifications, while the retreat of the other regiments was made.
They were ordered by
Crittenden to halt within four miles of
Monticello, and form a line of battle, to draw on the enemy for another fight.
The regiments halted at
Mrs. Roberts', at the point designated, and a consultation was held by the officers.
When the officers gathered for consultation,
Col. Battle revealed the contents of the papers which had been extracted from the body of a negro man who was shot while attempting to cross the river to the enemy, on Saturday night, at about ten o'clock.
Mr. Smith, our informant, was one of the persons who captured the negro.
The story runs thus:
A Captain West, a “Union man,” lives near the encampment.
A number of the members of
Duncan's company had been having their washing done at West's. On Saturday, prior to the battle,
Gen. Crittenden dined with
West.
He gave to West some papers, which were to be transmitted across the river, by a negro, to the
Northern army.
A negro,
Elizabeth, in the afternoon, told the negro-girl attached to
Duncan's company that a certain negro (calling him by name) of her master was to go beyond the river that night, with papers, to the
Northern army.
The intelligence was conveyed to the members of
Duncan's company, who at first disregarded the report, attaching no importance to it. But the report was emphasized by the two negroes (the girl of
Capt. West and the negro of the company) visiting the camp together and repeating it, whereupon eight men (among them
W. B. Smith) were sent towards the river by
Captain Duncan, (
Duncan going himself,) in search of the negro.
These men had proceeded about four and a half miles, when they met a man driving cattle, who informed them of the direction in which he had seen the negro travelling.
The men hastened on to within half a mile below Stagal's Ferry, reaching there at about seven o'clock P. M. They saw the negro in a canoe, about half-way across the river.
They ca led to him to stop, but he went on, when four of the men fired upon him, killing him in the canoe.
They then rolled a large log into the river, somewhat above, which was straddled by three, which with their hands they paddled into the middle of the river to the canoe.
They extracted from
