OCCUPATION OF HUNTSVILLE, ALA.
April 10, 1862.
On the same day that General Buell left Nashville for Pittsburg, he dispatched General Mitchell’s division on a hazardous expedition through Tennessee, to Huntsville, Ala.
Leaving Murfreesborough, Tenn., on the 5th of April, they marched to Shelbyville, twenty-six miles, in twelve hours, amid a cold, drizzling rain. They experienced a warm welcome from the inhabitants of that beautiful city. Here they were obliged to remain two days, awaiting the arrival of their supply train; and on the 8th, after a march of twenty-seven miles, they reached Fayetteville, Lincoln Co., a town where the secession sentiment was almost universal. Fifteen miles beyond they crossed the State line and entered Alabama, continuing their course due south. A Northern journal says:
“It stirs the blood with enthusiasm to read the exploits of General Mitchell, in Alabama—so full are they of dash, enterprise and daring. When the General was on his way to Bridgeport, he met a ‘native,’ whom he asked to show him a point where a certain stream could be forded. The Alabamian declined to furnish the information. ‘Bind him and march him to the head of the column,’ said the General. Then every man of three thousand in the ranks was ordered to take a rail from the adjacent fences, and these were thrown into the river, extemporizing a bridge on which the troops crossed. At another place, they came upon a stream three hundred feet wide, and twenty feet deep. ‘Never mind,’ said the General, ‘I have a pontoon bridge;’ and he ordered his men to roll down the bales from a load of abandoned cotton near by. Some of the officers laughed at the idea of making a bridge of such materials, but he told them he had calculated the buoyancy of cotton, and found it to be four hundred and eighty-six pounds to a bale. The bridge was made, and the calculation proved correct.
“On reaching a bridge near Sunrise, it was found to be on fire, with a piece of rebel artillery stationed to command it. General Mitchell entered the bridge and asked who would volunteer to save it. A sergeant of the Thirty-third Ohio sprang after him. ‘You are my man!’ said the General. In a moment the bridge was thronged with volunteers, and they saved it. At another place the General himself was found in the mud with his coat off, working at a bridge on which his command crossed a swamp.”
As the army advanced, an eager curiosity became manifest to know the point of destination. On the way, the General met a man travelling on foot. He asked him how far it was to Huntsville.
“Eleven miles.”
“Do they know we are coming?”
“No; they have not the least idea of it.”
Huntsville, then, was the desired haven. Ten miles from the place the General called a halt, to wait for the artillery and infantry to come up. No tents were pitched, but for miles away the impatient invaders could be seen around their camp-fires. The General flung himself down by an old log, overrun with moss, and on this novel bed snatched two hours’ rest. Just as the moon was going down, the bugle call was sounded. The soldiers sprang to their feet, and in a few minutes they were ready to move.
The Simonson battery led the way, supported by Kennett’s and Colonel Turchin’s brigade. The army passed a magnificent plantation, with many negroes, owned by the rebel ex-Secretary Walker. Four miles from Huntsville, the shrill whistle of a locomotive was heard. In a few moments the train hove in sight, and was stopped by the outbreak of Simonson’s brass guns. The train was captured, together with one hundred and fifty-nine prisoners.
On to the town was the cry. Daylight was dawning, and the citizens quietly sleeping as the foe entered the silent streets. The clattering noise of the cavalry aroused them from their slumbers, and they flocked to the doors and windows, exclaiming, with blanched cheeks and sinking hearts, “They have come—the Yankees have come!” Never in the history of any military movement was a surprise so complete. Men rushed into the street half dressed, women fainted, children screamed, the negroes laughed, and for a short time a scene of perfect terror reigned. This state of affairs soon subsided, when these startled people realized that the Union soldiers were disposed to treat them kindly.
Colonel Gazley, of the Thirty-seventh Indiana, was appointed Provost-Marshal, and his regiment occupied the city as Provost-Guard.
At the extensive depot was found seventeen first-class locomotives, and a great number of passenger and freight cars. At the foundry, two or three cannon with several small arms. The General soon made good use of the engines. Ere the close of the night, one hundred miles of the Memphis and Charleston railroad was in his possession, stretching in one direction as far as Stevenson, in the other as far as Decatur, capturing at the latter place the entire camp equipage of a regiment, which left very hastily on the approach of the Union troops.
Making Huntsville his headquarters, where he remained for six weeks, General Mitchell rendered essential service by intercepting the enemy’s communications, and capturing or destroying his supplies. He evinced marked ability, and met with uniform success in fitting out many smaller expeditions through that region of country. He extemporized a gunboat on the Tennessee, which aided him materially when visiting the eastern side of the river.