He very feelingly declared that if he had thrown out a skirmish line instead of marching against a hidden foe, thereby saving some valuble men. When it was found that Hornbrook was in serious trouble my company was ordered to support him, which we did by marching several hundred yards in his front, and engaged the enimy, with the loss of one of our best young men (George White) who was shot throgh the brain, and died without a struggle. White was our first man to be killed in battle, and his death made a deep impression on the company. He was an onley child of a prominent citizen, who for many years was the onley republican in his township. When we routed the enimy from his vantage ground, we had command of the gap in the mountain, that led to the enemies fort on the railroad, some three miles from the town, and of course the enemy had to retreat up the valley to Bristol, which they did with much disorder, which was acentuated by a Batalion of Cav who had been concealed in a woods near the town for the purpose of making a charge when the enimy had been routed. I remember that the sun was about an hour high, and from our elevation of several hundred feet we had a splendid view of the battlefield, and of the charging column, and could see our cav cutting down the rebels with their sabers. The charge was kept up till well after dark. We captured about 75 prisnors, who were turned over to our company, to remove to the rear some ten miles to Gen Burnsids headquarters. Our army did not follow the enimy any further, but after distroying the rebel fort, and much of the railroad track. We fell back leisurely towards Knoxville, and finaly halted at Morristown. This movement was made, as we afterwards knew, for the purpose of driving the enimy out of the state, and preparing for the seige of Knoxville, which soon followed. By this time our horses were quite played out, and one half of the commands were without mounts. At Morristown we learned that the government was driving a herd of wild mules across the mountains with which we were to be suplied with mounts. Before we received our mules, it was apparent to even the private soldiers that our situation was becoming uncomfortbly accute. The rebel forces had got together, and had followed us, and were becoming quite personal in our rear. When our mules arrived, our dismounted men were odered to carry their saddle equipments tot eh corral, and draw their mounts, which was obeyed with a promptness that indicated that they thought that they would need them. The old soldier invariably gets the best that is to be had, out of any situation, however critical. When all had drawn their mules, some fellow decided that the cerimony of braking should proceed in regular military style, and that the order of mounting should be carried out. The assembly was made in an old wheat field, where the ground was soft, one of the victems mounted a stump, and gave the order to mount, which most of them succeded in doing, but many of them faild to keep their seats, but went headlong to the ground, but htey did not stay there, but were up and on again, and kept at it till mr mule was subdued. The next morning we marched, and kept at it till the following morning. The boys found that they were not yet throgh with mr mule, we passed many of them out in the brush having a private intervue with their mules. When we come to fording the Holstine river, which is very swift, and the bottom is covered with boulders that puzels a sure footed horse to navigate safely mr mule could not be trusted, and had to be led, while the riders got across in canoes, and small boats. To ford any considerable number of troops across one of these mountain rivers is attended is so dificult that much time is required. Our old horses had forded so many of these strems that they were quite relyable, but the new mounts rendered our progress very slow, but I do not remember that there was any serious casualities. By noon all were over, and the column halted for a short time at Bean's station for a bite to eat. The place consisted of one large brick house which had been built for a kind of a country inn. It is situated about a mile from Clinch mountain, over which our line of march lay. The energy with which our officers semed to be inspired indicated to us that a considerable number of the enimie was neare by, and that our officers did not want to come in contact with them. Having given our selves, and horses a bite to eat we mounted, and were soon climbing the mountain. The road up the mountain was an old one, having first been constructed by the earley emigrants from Verginia, and North Carolina. In many places the road had been hewn in the side of the clift, over presipices, and deep gorges hundreds of feet in depth, but the night was very dark, so that we could see very little of these conditions. The assent was attended with so many difficulties, and dangers, that our progress was very slow, and it was daylight before we reached the foothills on the other side, even then we did not find level ground enough to make any kind of a camp on. We stopped here long enough to get a bite for ourselvs and our mules, very little for our mules, and not much for ourselves. From this place we passed over a very mountaneous country, and on the third day, as I remember that we had to move on beyond the town, called Tazwell. This village was built upon the solid rocks. I did not think that enough soil could have been procured to make a respectable garden. Why a town should have been built here was a puzler to us. I remember that we had to move on beyond the town to find level ground enough to make a camping place, and were we did finally stop, much of the camping grond was too steep, that if two soldiers laid down under one blanket, they would find themselves widely separated before morning. As yet we could onley guess at what we were here for, but old soldiers become good guessers. It was evident that some important moves were going on in the vallies, which we were not able to locate till we heard the canons roaring to the south of us, when we rightly guessed that knoxville was being beseiged. We were finaly ordered that evry man should keep a peck of meal on hands, which we construed to mean, that in the event that Burnsids army should be whipped, we wouold march throgh Cumberland gap, which the boys called a KY scout. Our soldiers were out foraging all the time, which we could do, as we were so well protected by the physical conditions of the country, that no considerable force could reach us, therefore we had little guard duty to perform, and as there was not enough level space for a parade ground we had no drill duties to perform. In fact the situation soon became monotonous. The whole country abounded in little water mills, and we had to go to these to get our peck of corn milled. The little watermills, that were scattered all over this country, proved a great blessing to us, in grinding our "pecks" of corn. These little mills ground slowley but surely, but not very fine. I remember to have gone very earley one morning, and had to remain all day without food, other than parched corn, and got my grist at sunset. The soldiers got off many jokes about theses little mills. One soldier charactorized them as being very busy little concerns. That just as soon as they got done with one grain,, they hopped right on another. Our camp was about seven miles from Cumberland gap which I had a great desire to view for myself. Most of the command had the same desire, but they said that they would wait til we pulled off the "KY scout". I was not so optomistc about that scout, and one sunday morning I got permission from the commanding officer to make a trip to it, but I could onley get one man to go with me. I have always been glad that I took advantage of the opertunity. For the grand gloomy, and peculiar it exceeds anything I have ever beheld. The posession of this gap had changed twice at least since the beginning of the war. The face of the mountain is several hundred feet high, and almost perpendicular, high up on the face of it is lodged a large canon, which was thrown over by the rebels to keep our forces from capturing it. Around the gap was strewn a number of canons, that had refused lodge. Along the face of the mountain is a level strip of farming land, that semed to be in a good state of cultivation. To be continued next week. Sandi SCKY Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=south-central-kentucky Barren Co Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=kybarren Sandi's Genealogical Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/