However, I trust this sketch may both please and interest you. To me, in the mean time, it will only be a reminder of the long years of hardship, exposure, and suffering in a Lost Cause which was so gallantly and devotedly battled for that one would almost accuse the God of Battles of injustice and impartiality; of using the Fates against a people in such a sacred cause. That I have been a soldier in the service of the Confederate States is not, and never will be, regretted. I am proud that I was one who did not hesitate to join the standard of those in defense of their country’s rights. Had I not done so I would now be chiding myself with no little severity. Shame alone would cause me to blush myself out of existence.
But pardon my digression. I will commence my sketch.
You are already aware, perhaps, that I enlisted in the cavalry service of the Confederate States of America at Glasgow, Kentucky, in October, 1861, and in a company that was then being formed by Second Lieutenant James W. Bowles, who had been duly authorized by the Confederate Government to recruit a company of cavalry.
At Glasgow forty men were enlisted, and after some experience in drilling and a few exciting engagements, such as scouting and skirmishing, in which we were sometimes supported by Capt. John H. Morgan and his company,—a favor we often returned,—we were ordered by General Buckner to Bowling Green, Kentucky. On reporting to the General we were instructed by him to report to Captain Morgan, commanding Camp Burnham, one mile south of Bowling Green, where we went into camp.
Here we found the Lexington Rifles, Captain Morgan’s old company; Captain Allen’s and Capt. John S. Churchill’s company, partly completed, with which our company was, by order of the commandant, soon afterward consolidated. The two captains, by the toss of a copper, decided who should become the commander, and Lieutenant Bowles, our then acting captain, being the successful one, Captain Churchill justly fell heir to the second in command, the first lieutenancy. Our first lieutenant became the second lieutenant of the new company, and the other first lieutenant became our third, the very responsible position of orderly sergeant falling to your most humble servant, and so on down the list.
At that time Captain Morgan had in camp three full companies, amounting to about two hundred and seventy-five men, all splendidly mounted on Kentucky’s best: Morgan’s own Company A, Capt. Thomas Allen’s Company B, and Capt. Bowle’s Company C, forming “Morgan’s Squadron,” as it was afterward known, and being under the command of Capt. John H. Morgan, with First Lieutenant Basil W. Duke, of Company A, as acting adjutant, subject to the command of General Buckner alone.
After remaining in camp near Bowling Green for some time, drilling and making other preparations necessary to meet the foe successfully, we moved to an encampment called “Camp Allen,” five miles south of Bowling Green, between the L. and N. and the Memphis Branch railroads, where we drilled constantly until the latter part of November, when we were ordered to the front to form a portion of the advance-guard, then near Green River, under the command of General Hindman. Here we remained on active duty until the withdrawal of our forces from Bowling Green, which withdrawal was caused by the enemy’s flank movement and the fall of Fort Donelson, about the first of February, 1862. On the retreat the squadron was the rear-guard of our army, that being the second time we had had charge of the post of honor.
Leaving Camp Green on the 12th,—my last sight of home until the 27th of June, 1865,—we passed through Bowling Green and encamped four miles south of town. On the 13th our column reached Franklin, Kentucky, and the evening of the 14th we were encamped one mile south of Mitchellville, Tennessee. Here General Breckinridge, who was now in command, General Buckner having gone to Fort Donelson, learned that the enemy’s advance had reached Bowling Green. I shall not soon forget the night we camped near Mitchellville, for we shared the fate of the reindeer in having our beds on the snow.
On the 15th we reached Goodletsville, and on the 16th we marched into Nashville. We remained on special duty in that city several days, and until the main army had reached Huntsville, Alabama. On the arrival of the enemy’s forces our little band steadily and quite sullenly gave way before them until we reached Lavergne, about midway between Nashville and Murfreesboro, meanwhile inflicting sudden and unexpected blows, causing the enemy so much loss as to make him advance slowly and with the utmost caution.
It was on this retreat that our commander and the squadron, by their many daring deeds, brought themselves first into notice and gained such notoriety as to make them afterward of no little terror to the enemy. And from this time forward, until July 19, 1863, the date of our capture in Ohio, they earned and gained more laurels, captured more stores and provisions, and had less reverses than any other command in either service. Never was a commander so much admired, so devotedly loved, or one in whom his soldiers placed so much confidence as a leader, as was our dashing and gallant chief. Any of us—all of us—would gladly have died in his defense, and each one would have envied the man who lost his life defending him. So much was he trusted that his men never dreamed of failing him in anything that he attempted. In all engagements he was our guiding star and hero.