2nd try - if this goes thru twice, I apologize. I stripped the headers to make it shorter. Sandi The second of September was a redletter day for us. About two oclock we assended a low range of hills, southwest of Knoxville, and as we neared the summit, we noticed that an officer sat on his horse and was talking to the soldiers as they came up, but as there semed to be no response, from them we were curious to know what it ment, but when we came up soon found out. Knoxville lay out before us in the valley below us, and bout two miles away and from the houses floated the stars a stripes. There must have been at least one fourth of the houses that had this glorious emblem floating over them. It was well that the officers cautioned us to refraine from any demonstration, otherwise there would certainly have been a wild roar of applause. We had come down here with arms in our hands, and our banners flying to fight our enimies, and before us in the bright sunlight floated before us the most wonderful display of the national banner that we had ever beheld. Our regiment being in the rear of the column that day, we were slow in getting into town. When the column halted we were in the suburbs, close to us was a neat little cottage with a nice flag waving over us. I asked the lady if they had prepared all those flags for our reception. She said no, we did not know of your coming till we saw your column coming over the ridge younder, and then we were not sure that it was the federals, but thought that it might be the rebels trying to fool us into making a demonstration, and then punish us for it. She said that the flags had been made during the campaign of 1860, and had been kept hid away. She said that she did not know how the others had kept theirs, but she had hidden hers in the featherbed. This sudent display of flags must have been as great a surprise to the rebel citizens as they were to us. We were informed that they had missed the rebel soldiers since morning, but supposed that they were off on a scout, and would be back in their places at night. They had not left much in the way of army suplies for us. The sun was about an hour high when we entered the city, and the evning shaddows were soon upon us. We camped on the streets that night, and could see evrything that went on. Just after dark I noticed that a bright light had sudenly sprung up on the brow of a high ridge about two miles away, and I enquired of a citizen what it ment, and he informed me that it was the signell that you soldiers are here. He said for me to watch and I would see others, and I did, further and further away for a distance of thrity miles or more, and I found that the mountaineers had a code of lights to be displaded to denote the presence of either army. About 9 oclock the first delegation from the country arrived, and was kept up all night, and all of the next day, till the city was denseley crowded with citizens, and soldiers. They not onley came, but they brought the best that they had to eat with them, and we were feasted on evrything that good cooks could prepare, which was luckey for us, as we had very little in the way of rations. The union sentiment was so strong in East Tenn that the rebels did not dare to forage off of them to any great extent, and the country was full of the products of the soil. Little did these good people think that in six months they would be in destitute circumstancies, and many of them actualy begging for bread, and in many instances the soldiers were able to divide their scanty rations with the hungry citizen. The next day my company was sent to Mayrysville to capture some rebel comisaries, and while passing under a clift, saw a mans head sticking out of a hole in the rocks, who after viewing our column for a time till he could see our flage rased the yell, and tumbled out of the hole, followed by several others. These men were in hiding, and did not know of our presence in the country. The foregoing instance was onley one of the many such all over East Tenn. Those who could not get across the mountains into KY, hid them in caves, and mountain gorges in the daytime, and bush whacked the rebels at night, when there was an opertunity afforded. We remained in camp near Knoxville about ten days, as I recall it when the army moved up the valley towards Verginia, passing throgh Newmarket, and for a time stoping at Greenvill, but in a few days continued our march throgh Jonsborro, Blountville, and on to Bristol, a town of possibly 1,500 inhabitance. The most prominent feature of this town was the fact that main street was the state line between Tenn & Verginia. About the onley thing we found here of value to us, was a large quantity of salt which was the most valuable commercial product in all that country, which the reader will admit, when I say that our boys as high as one dollar a pint for it. The people of the town were allowed to carry off all that they wanted. The salt belonged to the rebel government, and the people could get none of it. Leaving here we marched seven miles into the state of Ver., intending to go onto Abingdon, and distroy the great salt works there. In the afternoon we were ordered to go into camp, which we common soldiers construed as being a little significant, as there were no evidence that there was any formdable force in that part of the country. We noticed that the officers displayed a kind of uncertainty in their movements that indicated to us that there was something doing somewhere. In after years I became intimatly acquainted with a doctor Clark in Iowa, who informed me that we camped on his fathers far, which was a large southern plantation. After nightfall, we received orders to march the next morning at an earley hour. But where? When the column formed, and faced to the rear we knew that there was something doing, either in our front or the direction of Knoxville, and from the rapid marching that was required of us we redily concluded that conditions in that direction were a little strenuous. We marched all day and well into the night. The dust became so thick that we could scarcely see our file leaders. Horses and men suffered greatly. After two days, and most of the nights we reached Knoxville, and went into camp for the night, but with orders to be ready to march at an earley hour the next morning. We were promptly in line, but remained so all day, till late in the evning, when a regular autumnal downpore set in, and then we marched, but made little headway, on account of the wagons, and artillary staulding in the mud. I do not think that we made over ten miles that night. The rain was cold, and we were soon soaked to the skinn. It was the most dreary march in all of my experience. The column was halted at 4 oclock and we were orderd to sleep till daylight, but not go from the horses. Most of the men lay down in the mud, over which they spread their oil blankets. The bugle sounded promptly on time, and we were given a short time to prepare, and eat our breckfast, when we again mounted and moved on, to Loudon on the Holton river, which we crossed on a pontoon bridge, and then on, on towards chattanooga, till we arrived at a place called "Sweetwater" where we went into camp, where we quietly remained for about ten days, hoping that we would be permitted to spend the winter there. This is a nice country, and the people, apparently well to do farmers, and the general conditions were quite attractive. As I remember it was now about the first of Nov, and winter would soon be upon us. We had been in the saddle almost continuously since the latter part of July, and we naturly concluded that we were entitled to a rest, but all of our calculations were sudently disipated, when we sudently received orders to march at once, and of course we marched, but it was backwards in the direction of Knoxville. Our forced march to this place was occasioned by the unfortunate results of the great, and now historic battle of Chickamoga, and it was originaly intended that we should reinforce the army at Chattanooga, but we were too late, and were halted to await further orders. As usual with us this too seemed to be an emergency hurry call, as we were able to reach Knoxville the next afternoon, and went into camp for the night, but there was unmistakable indication that we would not remain in camp very long. The next morning we were odered to prepare three days ratons, and ready to march, at any hour that day. There was no intimation as to the direction of our proposed march, but our captain, always a good guesser gave it as his opinion that we would again go up the valley towards Verginia. Just before dark the column was formed consisting of the entire mounted divission, under the command of our Col Foster, acting Brigidier general, and when it was quite dark marchsed out of the city, and up the river, to Strawberry plains and keeping on the left side of the river, to Blins crossroads, and on throgh Beans station, to Rogersville, where the column was halted, for a few hours, when it crossed the Holstine river, and after marching a few miles, the 65 regiment went into camp, forming a guard line around our wagon traine. This movement was supposed to be a secret one, and was intended to place us on the flank of the army that had followed us down to Morristown, where Gen Burnside proposed to meet it, and if possible distroy it. There was no doubt that we would be able to whip the rebel forces, but we wanted to capture and distroy it, hence our movement to get in the rear of the rebel forces. But Col Foster for some reason onley threw one regiment, the 5{th} Ind Cav across the road, and when Gen Burnside routed the enimie, he was not slow in finding out that there was onley a thin line to oppose his retreat, quickly cut through it, and easily escaped. The fact The fact that Col Foster did not get his stars, led us to conclude that his failure to encumpass the enimy as planed, losted him his coveted promotion. We followed the rebel forces to Blountsville, where we ingaged it with a sperited battle that lasted all the afternoon. The rebels had the posession of the town, and fought us from the streets, and buildings. Our artillary shelled the town, and finaly set it on fire, and the most of the business section burned up, but we could not afford to let the rebels do anything in that direction. The rebels held a high range of hills on the right of the town from which they did us so much damage, that it became necessary to disloge them, which was assaulted by Capt Hornbrook with his Co H, who marched his company in solid column and lost many of his Co. In talking with Hornbrook 40 odd years afterwards, he lamented his ignorance of military tactics in making his assault. to be continuued -