Dear Wife—I address you this note as a prisoner of war. One hundred and eighty-seven men of the 9th Indiana Cavalry and three hundred mostly 3d Tennessee Cavalry, were sent to Sulphur Branch September 24th. Gen. Forrest attacked the place the 25th with about 12,000 men. We were about 500. The engagement lasted about four hours after we were surrounded. Our loss was heavy. I had with me twenty-seven of Company B. I am wounded in right leg. I will get over it in a few weeks. The killed are: Wm. Harvey and Joseph Hutton; mortally wounded: Corporal Kirkhoff; severe: Sergeant M. B. Walker and Private James Hook; slightly: J. J. Winn and G. S. Bailey. Prisoners and well are: Orderly J. V. Hinchman, Sergeant Wm. Foster, Sergeant A. E. Anderson, Corporal Blessinger, Privates C. H. Sears, W. V. Robinson, John Stewart, J. Craining (blacksmith), W. C. Warner, R. Scott, J. Holloway, W. Parman, Joseph Grey, B. F. Waller, G. B. Wilson, W. P. Read, M. Chauncy and J. Mooney Church; and no man of Company B failed to do first-class work. In our capitulation it was agreed that we should all be paroled soon. I have no money with me and have on my old uniform. It is reported in camp to-night that General Forrest has taken Pulaski with 2,000 or 3,000 prisoners. If true, all the 9th has gone up. We have eighteen miles to go yet to the railroad—Cherokee Station. Then it is said we go to Meridian, Miss. You will probably not hear from me again until paroled. It may be some weeks, and it may be months.
I send this by the kindness of Capt. Buchanan, 15th Tennessee Confederate Cavalry.
J. B. Harrod,
Lt. Company B.
Although by the terms of the capitulation, the officers were allowed to retain their horses and side-arms, the real advantage of this arrangement was practically not very great. Every night some horses were missing, and when Cherokee Station (on the railroad) was reached, there were few, if any, officers who knew where their horses were.
The day after leaving Okolona it rained heavily, and the troops encamped for the afternoon and night in the open field. Here was issued a little fresh beef without salt.
The boys, from the three issues—first of corn, then of flour, then of beef,—by this time realized that the commissary of the C. S. A. was not liberally supplied, or that those who controlled it were illiberal in distribution.
They reached Cherokee Station the next day (29th of September), remaining there about thirty hours. At this point all officers and soldiers captured at Sulphur Branch Trestle and at Athens, Alabama, on the day before, were placed on board two trains of box cars, to be taken to Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi. The 9th Indiana and 3d Tennessee were loaded on the last train, which was some hours behind the first. To each train a guard of about 150 men were detailed. When not far from Iuka, the track being wet and the grade heavy, the locomotive not of sufficient power to pull the train up, a stop was made to allow the track to dry. The officers in charge put out guards and had fires made on both sides of the track. The guards were tired and soon became sleepy, and there was but one at each fire. Major Lilly conceived the idea of capturing the guard, taking possession of and running the train to Corinth, and then marching the guards to Memphis under a flag of truce as prisoners.
The officers of the 9th Indiana and 3d Tennessee entered cordially into the plan and were willing to take the boys' places at the guns. The major then going to the officers of the colored troops, awakened up their officers and explained his plan to them. They were afraid to engage in the enterprise, for lack of confidence in their colored troops. Without their co-operation the result seemed too doubtful to justify the attempt, and it was not made.
The next day raw "sow-belly" was issued to the boys on the train. At the stations sometimes small purchases were made of something to eat. Lieut. Harrod remembers buying a piece (3 × 4 inches) of wheat bread of a variety he had not seen before, heavy and solid, for which he paid $5 Confederate money. Arriving at Meridian, they were placed in a small stockade, where they remained for a week, from which place the officers were moved to Enterprise, Clark County, Miss., and the enlisted men and non-commissioned officers to Cahaba, Dallas County, Ala.
The rations at Enterprise consisted of one pint of coarse corn meal to each man daily, without salt, and a small piece of "sow-belly." Each mess of eight was furnished a skillet and lid to bake bread in. As a rule each mess baked twice a day, those of the mess who were well taking their turn for a day as cook. It was a part of the duties of the cook to divide the bread, taking the last piece for himself. The preparation of this bread did not require any special skill nor long experience. The art was soon acquired. It was only necessary to mix the water and corn meal thoroughly and to grease the skillet with small bits of meat, that the bread might be got out without being broken too much.