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Page 27
Great difference of opinion existed among Southern officers as to
the expediency of this retreat. Many, among whom were Generals
Breckenridge, Hindman, and Bowen, counseled to assume the offensive,
and make a bold dash upon Louisville, Ky. This became the general
opinion subsequently; and had it been adopted as the policy in the
beginning, would have given a different phase to the war in the
West, at least for a time.
A ludicrous scene occurred at this time, illustrating the liability
to panic to which even brave men are sometimes subject. While
resting at Murfreesboro, of course we were liable to be overtaken by
Buell's cavalry, and as Colonel Morgan was not a man to be caught
asleep, he kept scouting parties ever on the alert, scouring the
country on different roads for miles in the direction of the Federal
army. I was in command of a squad of eight men, with whom I made a
long and rapid march in the direction of Lebanon, and when returning
by a different route, night overtook us some fifteen miles from
camp. After getting supper at a farm-house, we were again in the
saddle at ten o'clock of a calm, quiet evening, with a dim moon to
light us back to camp. We jogged on unsuspicious of danger, as we
were now on the return from the direction of the Federal cavalry.
Within ten miles of camp, near midnight, we passed through a lane
and were just entering a forest, when we became aware that a cavalry
force was approaching on the same road; but who they were, or how
many, we had no idea. We were not expecting another party of our men
in this direction, and yet they could hardly be Federals, or we
would have heard of them, as we had been near their lines, and among
the friends of the Southern cause.
Acting on the principle that it is safer to ask than to answer
questions in such circumstances, I instantly ordered them to "Halt,"
and asked, "Who comes there?" Their commander was equally
non-committal, and demanded, "Who comes there?"
"If you are friends, advance and give the countersign," said I; but
scarcely was the word uttered when the buckshot from the shot-guns
of the head of the column came whistling past us in dangerous but
not fatal proximity. Thus challenged, I instantly ordered, "Draw
saber--Charge!" and with a wild yell we dashed at them, determined
to keep our course toward our camp, whoever they might be. To our
surprise, they broke and ran in disorder, and we after them, yelling
with all the voice we could command. I soon saw, from their mode of
riding and glimpses of their dress, that they were Confederates; but
as we had routed them, though seven times our number,--there were
sixty-five of them,--we determined to give them a race. Keeping my
men together, yelling in unison, and firing in the air occasionally,
we pressed them closely six or seven miles. When within three miles
of camp, I drew my men up and told them we must get in by another
route, and, if possible, as soon as they. A rapid ride by a longer
road brought us to the lines in a few minutes, and we found the
whole force of over a thousand cavalrymen mounting to repel an
attack from a formidable force of Federal cavalry, which had driven
in the scouting party of sixty-five men, after a desperate
encounter. I immediately reported the whole affair to Morgan, when,
with a spice of humor which never forsakes him, he told me to keep
quiet; and, calling up the lieutenant who was in charge of the
scouting party, ordered him to narrate the whole affair. The
lieutenant could not say how many Federal cavalry there were, but
there must have been from three to five hundred, from the rattling
of sabers and the volume of sound embodied in their unearthly yells.
At all events, their charge was terrific, and his wonder was that
any of his men escaped. How many of the Federals had fallen it was
impossible to estimate, but some were seen to fall, &c.
When Morgan had learned the whole story, with the embellishments,
he dismissed the lieutenant. But the story was too good to keep, and
by morning the scare and its cause were fully ventilated, greatly to
the chagrin of Major Bennett's battalion, to which the routed men
belonged. They were questioned daily about "those three hundred
Yankees who made that terrific charge;" and whenever a loud noise of
any kind was made, even by a mule, it was asked, with a serious
face, if that was equal to "the unearthly yells of the Yankees."
Indeed, for weeks, "the three hundred Yankees" was a by-word of
ridicule, in reply to any boast from one of Bennett's men.
Before we reached Shelbyville I met with my first wound,--though not
from the guns of the Federals. I had chosen a vicious but
noble-looking stallion for my Bucephalus, and in Rareyfying him into
submission to Rebel rule, he got the better of me, so far as to land
me about a rod over his head, and taking advantage of my being for
the moment _hors du combat_, ran over me, struck me with one of his
hind feet, and broke my kneepan. But so excited was I with the
contest, and smarting under my defeat, that unconscious of the
seriousness of my wound, I remounted, and rode four miles to camp at
a speed which cooled his ire and taught him some manners. He ever
behaved respectably after that, though I always doubted whether he
was at heart a true and willing fighter in the Secession ranks, any
more than his master. At the end of this race my knee had swollen to
twice its usual size, and was exceedingly painful. With difficulty I
dismounted, and for days was an invalid, for months lame, and even
now at times suffer from the old contusion. Like many another
disaster, this proved at length a blessing, as will yet be seen.
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