they went and took it sometimes proffering
confederate scrip as pay. They took the express-
wagon and pressed Uncle Ben. Spalding s buggy
into service. Indeed, they did any thing but" re
spect private property. His men were respectful
to ladies, and not generally insulting to citizens.
They seemed to be of that class to which we ap
ply the term " sporting gentlemen." Although
the men profess to be Kentuckians, I found that
they had men from all the Southern States with
them. A vast minority of them were Kentuck
ians.
He at first refused to parole the citizen and
Home Guard prisoners, denouncing them as
guerrillas, and deserving death. A bright idea,
that Home Guards, regularly authorized by law,
meeting for the defence of their homes, are guer
rillas I He was, I understand, particularly tight
on Lieut. J. M. Fidler, who has lately resigned,
telling him he ought to be shot, and threatening
to carry him off to be tried by drum-head court-
nartial. He released him only on the personal
application of the Southern Rights men of the
town. The privates insisted on shooting Fidler.
He says he feared them while in their charge.
Morgan himself severely misused Mr. Hastings,
after he captured him, sticking his spear into him
n half a dozen places, from the effects of which
tie has not yet recovered. He afterwards begged
tiis pardon for it.
While the majority of the gang were as kind"
as could be expected, conversed freely with citi-
286
REBELLION RECORD, 1862.
zens without insulting them, treated the prisoners
very properly, yet many were ruffians of the low
est cast, deserving to be hung as high as Hainan.
They, the ruffians, cared neither for feelings, per
son, or property gloried in insulting defenceless
old men, and in stealing horses. All of the men
had the most implicit confidence in Morgan. He
does not appear to care much for discipline, per
mitting his men to go as they please. The men
had no general uniform, and were armed to suit
their own taste. They all had Adams s patent
six-shooters, an English pistol, received, they said,
from England a short time since. Many of them
had shot-guns, a few only had sabres or bayonets.
They left many of their guns here and took United
States guns with them. They had two pieces of
artillery here two small howitzers.
The citizens expected the gang to have com
mitted so very many outrages that they are glad
that it is as well as it is with them. True, the
county has suffered in loss of horses, forage, etc.,
but the people are glad to have their lives spared.
Champ Ferguson was along. No private build
ings were burned or injured. I understand that
they had a skirmish at Maxville with the Home
Guards ; I have not heard the particulars. It is
said that two citizens were killed there. From
the prisoners conversation, I suspect that the
raid was made as much for recruiting purposes
as for any thing else. They expected the whole
country to rally to their standard. They only
got one recruit from Lebanon. They chased me
a great distance, but failed to catch rne.
Doc. 88.
SURRENDER AT MURFREESBORO, KY.
COLONEL DUFFIELD S OFFICIAL REPORT.
MCRFREESBORO, TENS., July 23, 1862.
COLONEL : Although I had not yet formally as
sumed command of the Twenty-third brigade,
yet as Brig. -Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden and the
other officers of his command have been captured
and forwarded to Chattanooga, permit me to sub
mit the following report of such portion of the
attack on this post, made on the thirteenth inst,
as came under my own personal observation :
I arrived here, after an absence of two months,
on the afternoon of the eleventh inst., coming
down on the same train with Brig. -Gen. Thomas
L. Crittenden, the newly-appointed commander
of the post, and found that several material
changes had been made in the location and en
campment of the Twenty-third brigade since my
departure. Instead of camping together, as it
had done, it was separated into two portions sev
eral miles apart. The brigade had never been
drilled as such, nor a brigade guard mounted.
Each regiment furnished its quota of officers and
men, and watched certain roads ; and worse than
all, the commanding officers of the respective reg
iments were on ill terms with each other, and
the feeling upon one occasion had broken out into
an open personal quarrel. The result was a great
lack of discipline between the two regiments
manifesting itself in the personal encounters of
the men when they met upon the street. Then
was no order and no harmony. The parts of the
machine did not fit well, and the commanding
officer seems either not to have possessed the will
or the ability to adjust them.. Gen. Crittenden
and myself, immediately after our arrival, visited
the several camps, discussed the impropriety of
a divided command, and decided upon concentra
tion ; but as neither of us had assumed command,
we deferred it until the morrow. But on the
morrow the blow fell, and the danger we antici
pated became a reality. Gen. Crittenden made
his headquarters in town, while I preferred camp
ing with my own men, and therefore pitched my
tent with the five companies of the Ninth Michi
gan volunteers.
The force then at Murfreesboro was as follows :
Five companies Ninth Michigan volunteers, Lieut.-
Col. Parkhurst, two hundred strong, together
with the first squadron Fourth Kentuck} r caval
ry, eighty-one strong, were camped three fourths
of a mile cast of the town upon the Liberty Turn
pike. One company, B, Ninth Michigan volun
teers, Capt. Rounds, forty-two strong, occupied
the Court - House ; the other four companies,
Ninth Michigan volunteers, having been ordered
to Tullahoma a month since, while nine compa
nies of the Third Minnesota volunteers, Colonel
Lester, (one company being on detached duty as
train-guard,) four hundred and fifty strong, and
Hewitt s battery, First regiment artillery, (two
sections,) seventy-two strong, accupied the east
bank of Stone s River, at a distance of more than
miles from the encampment of the detach
ment of the Ninth Michigan volunteers. Orders
were received from Nashville the evening of the
twelfth inst., directing the first squadron Fourth
Kentucky cavalry to proceed at once to Lebanon.
The total effective strength of the command at
Murfreesboro on the morning of the thirteenth
inst., did not therefore exceed eight hundred and
fourteen men, including pickets.
The attack was made at daj^break on the morn
ing of the thirteenth inst., by the Second cavalry
brigade C.S.A., Brig. -Gen. N. B. Forrest, over
three thousand strong, consisting of one Texas
regiment, Lieut. -Col. Walker, the First and Sec
ond Georgia regiments, Cols. Wharton and Hood,
one Alabama regiment, Col. Saunders, and one
Tennessee regiment, Col. Lawton. The noise of
so many hoofs upon the macadamized roads at
full speed was so great that the alarm was given
before the head of their column reached our
pickets, about a mile distant, so that our men
were formed and ready to receive them, although
they came in at full speed. The Texans and a
battalion of the Georgia regiment, in all over
eight hundred strong, attacked the detachment
of the Ninth Michigan volunteers. So fierce and
impetuous was their attack that our men were
forced nearly to the centre of their camp. But
they fell back steadily and in order, with their
faces to the foe. But upon reaching the centre
DOCUMENTS.
237
cf our camp, their line was brought to a halt
and after twenty minutes of nearly hand-to-hand
fighting, the enemy broke and fled in the wildest
confusion, followed in close pursuit by one com
pany as skirmishers. A squadron of cavalry
launched at their heels at this time would have
utterly routed and annihilated them. Indeed, so
great was their panic, that their officers were
unable to check the fugitives for a space of seven
miles ; and Col. Lawton, commanding the Georgia
regiment, was subsequently arrested by General
Forrest for misconduct under the fire of the ene-
my. During this attack, both officers and men,
with one single exception, behaved very hand
somely. There was no excitement, no hurry, no
confusion ; every thing was done calmly, quietly,
and in obedience to orders. But it is with the
deepest shame and mortification I am compelled
to report that one officer of Michigan has been
guilty of gross cowardice in the face of the ene-
my. Capt. John A. Taner, of company K, Ninth
Michigan volunteers, at the first alarm left his
quarters, abandoned his company, and fled from
his command under the enemy s fire, and I there
fore enclose you herewith charges preferred
against him for violation of the fifty-second Arti
cle of War.
Capt. Charles V. De Land, company C, Ninth
Michigan volunteers, deserves especial mention
for cool and gallant conduct throughout the en
tire action, and the fearless mode in which he led
his company as skirmishers in pursuit of the en
emy when repulsed. Also First Lieut. Hiram
Barrows, of company A, same regiment, for the
tenacity with which he held his ground, although
sorely pressed by the enemy.
The loss of the detachment of the Ninth Mich
igan volunteers has been very severe for the num
ber engaged, amounting to one officer and twelve
men killed, and three officers and seventy -five
wounded. The enemy s loss has been much more
severe than our own. More than double the num
ber of their dead were buried with ours, and their
wounded are found in almost every house. Among
their wounded are a colonel and a major, two ad
jutants and a surgeon.
I enclose you herewith the surgeon s report of
the killed and wounded of the Ninth Michigan
volunteers.
Not having been present at the subsequent
surrender of the detachment of the Ninth Michi
gan volunteers, under Lieut.-Col. Parkhurst, I
can only state the facts as reported to me, which
show that this force, isolated and reduced by kill
ed and wounded to less than seventy-five men,
after having held their ground from four A.M. to
one P.M., were compelled to surrender or be cut
to pieces by the entire force of the enemy.
I am reliably informed that company B, Ninth
Michigan volunteers, under command of First
Lieut. Wright, held the Court-House against an
incessant attack by a greatly superior force, from
four A.M. to half-past seven A.M., and did not sur
render till the enemy had possession of the lower
story of the building, and had started a fire with
the evident intention of burning them out.
Of the surrender of the Third Minnesota volun
teers, and Hewitt s battery, under command of
Col. Lester, I cannot speak from personal know
ledge, nor have I received any information from
sources sufficiently reliable to warrant my com
municating to you any details. Indeed, I would
much prefer not to do so. The circumstances of
the causes reported bear painfully upon the honor
of a brother officer, now a prisoner, and therefore
unable to defend himself. I enclose you here
with a list of killed and wounded of the Third
Minnesota volunteers, furnished me by the as
sistant-surgeon of that regiment, amounting to
two killed and eight wounded, one of whom was
killed and two wounded in line, the remainder in
camp.
In the earty part of this attack, I received two
gunshot wounds, one passing through the right
testicle, the other through the left thigh. These,
although bleeding profusely and very painful, did
not prevent me from remaining on the field with
my own regiment, until the attack was repulsed ;
when, fainting from pain and loss of blood, I was
carried from the field, and was, therefore, not a
witness of what subsequently occurred.
At noon of the same day, I was made prisoner
by Brig. -Gen. Forrest, but in my then helpless
condition was released upon my parole not to
bear arms against the confederate States until I
am regularly exchanged.
I remain, Colonel, your obedient servant,
WILLIAM W. DUFFIELD,
Colonel Ninth Michigan Independent Volunteers, Command
ing Twenty-third Brigade.
Col. JAMES B. FKV, A.A.G.,
Chief of Staff, Huntsville, Ala.
GENERAL BUELL S ORDER.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE OHIO, )
IN CAMP, HUNTSVILLE, ALA., July 21, 18C2. J
On the thirteenth instant the force at Murfrees-
boro, under command of Brigadier-General T. T.
Crittenden, late Colonel of the Sixth Indiana re
giment, and consisting of six companies of the
Ninth Michigan, nine companies of the Third
Minnesota, t\vo sections of Hewitt s Kentucky
battery, four companies of the Fourth Kentucky
cavalry, and three companies of the Seventh
Pennsylvania cavalry, was captured at that place
by a force of the enemy s cavalry, variously es
timated at from eighteen hundred to thirty-five
hundred.
It appears from the best information that can
be obtained that Brigadier-General Crittenden
and Colonel Duffield, of the Ninth Michigan, with
the six companies of that regiment and all of the
cavalry, were surprised and captured early in the
morning, in the houses and streets of the town,
or in their camp near by, with but slight resist
ance, and without any timely warning of the pres
ence of the enemy, The rest of the force, con
sisting of the Third Minnesota and the artillery,
under Colonel Lester, left its camp and jtook an
other position, which it maintained, with but few
casualties, against the feeble attacks of the enemy
until about three o clock, when it was surrender
ed and marched into captivity.
288
REBELLION 1 " RECORD, 1802.
Take it in .ill its features, few more disgraceful
examples of neglect of duty and lack of good con
duct can be found in the history of wars. It fully
merits the extreme penalty which the law pro
vides for such misconduct. The force was more
than sufficient to repel the attack effectually.
The mortification which the army will feel at the
result is poorly compensated by the exertion
made by some, perhaps many of the officers, to
retrieve the disgrace of the surprise. The action
fit to be adopted with reference to those who are
blamable, especially the officers highest in com
mand, cannot be determined without further in
vestigation.
In contrast to this shameful affair, the General
commanding takes pleasure in making honorable
mention of the conduct of a detachment of twen
ty-two men of companies I and H, Tenth Wis
consin regiment, under the command of Sergeants
W. Nelson and A. H. Makisson. The detach
ment was on duty guarding a bridge east of
Huntsville, when it was attacked, on the twenty-
eighth of April, by a force of some two or three
hundred cavalry, which it fought for two hours,
and repulsed in the most signal manner.
Such is the conduct that duty and honor de
mand of every soldier ; and this example is wor
thy of imitation by higher officers and larger com
mands.
By command of Major-General Buell.
JAMES B. FRY,
Colonel and Chief of Staff.
ACCOUNT BY A PARTICIPANT.
NASHVILLE, July 25, 1 862.
For some days previous" to the engagement, our
scouts had been scouring the country, and so
effectual had their labors proved that they had
filled Murfreesboro jail with rebel prisoners.
Many of these prisoners had violated their oaths,
and expiate their crime on the gallows. In view
of this appalling fact, their sympathizing neigh
bors exhausted every scheme to effect their escape.
They improved every favorable opportunity to
carry intelligence to the enemy, and implore him
to rescue their relatives from their justly merited
fate. For a whole week previous to the fight, our
officers had received daily news of the intentions
of the enemy and his proximity to our camp, but
they scorned the source from whence it came, and
settled themselves down under the conviction
that these were negro fables entirely unworthy
of their attention. Since the departure of Duf-
field, the brigade has been under the command
of Colonel Leicester, who had separated the regi
ments, in consequence of a jealous feeling which
had sprung up between them, and located them
three miles apart. This piece of generalship, in
connection with the policy of our Provost-Mar
shal, who, in common with many other patriots,
believed that the most effectual way to bring a
rebel back to loyalty was to pet him, undoubtedly
caused our disaster. The Provost-Marshal, with
a view to serve his country in the best possible
manner, freely lavished his passes upon every
rebel applicant, thereby giving the enemy know
ledge of our exact location and strength, and ena- 1
bling him to strike successfully at us when we
were illy prepared to receive the blow. On the
evening of the twelfth, a negro came into camp
with the startling intelligence that he had dis
covered three thousand cavalry, encamped on the
Woodbury pike, about six miles from Murfrees
boro. This important information was received
like all other negro news, and our officers rested
the safety of the regiment on the diligence of the
pickets, and turned into their beds with a full
belief that all would be well ; but morning came,
and ere Morpheus had yielded up his sleep} 7 vic
tims, the clatter of horses hoofs and the sharp
crack of the enemy s rifles fell fearfully upon their
ears. The enemy managed to capture the pickets
before they could give the alarm, and marched
noiselessly into the town. We had no knowledge
of their approach until they charged through our
camp with irresistible fury, and hurled their death-
shots into our slumbering tents. At this moment
Colonel Duffield sprang into the centre of the
combat, and received two wounds, in a vain en
deavor to rally the men. Crittenden was captur
ed in his bed, and Parkhurst succeeded in partly
forming the men into a hollow square after fifty
of our number had been killed or wounded. The
rebels having emptied their guns, fell back to re
load ; this gave us a chance to load our guns and
fix bayonets. When they made the second charge,
we were better prepared to meet them, and hurl
ed such a volley of bullets into their advancing
columns that they were forced to retire ; but they
soon rallied again, and with overwhelming num
bers drove us from our position. Captain De
Land then threw out his company a^ skirmishers,
and did fearful execution.
From this moment the men sought shelter be
hind the trees and fought on their own hooks ;
but it was madness to contend against such odds.
Oh ! how we longed for the arrival of the Minne
sota Third ; but it never made its appearance.
The continued firing at the Court-House plainly
indicated that the rebels had met a more formi
dable resistance in that quarter. It appears our
boys had secured themselves in the Court-IIouse
and were dealing death-blows on every side, from
the windows ; but their triumph was of short du
ration, for the rebels set fire to the house and
threatened to roast them alive if they did not sur
render. This circumstance compelled them to
yield ; but they had the satisfaction of knowing
that they had laid sixty rebels dead in the streets
previous to giving up their arms. The battle
continued feebly in various parts of the town
until eleven o clock A.M., when Parkhurst surren
dered his regiment and sent Colonel Leicester a
despatch requesting him to use every possible ex
ertion to hold his position, and if he should fail
to do so to fight his way to Nashville. The en
emy then divided forces, sending one part to suc
cor those engaged with the Minnesota Third,
while the other busied themselves in destroying
the Federal property. They destroyed all of our
camp equipage and clothing, set fire to the depot,
packed our men into our wagons, and sent them
DOCUMENTS.
289
out of town under a strong guard ; after which
they gathered up the loose mules and horses anc
drove them away. The citizens carried on
wounded to the hospital, and the enemy s to p
vate houses. It appears that Colonel Leiceste
had received the alarm in time to form his re
ment and march it just far enough to allow th
enemy to fall in upon his rear, drive out his cam
guard, and burn his magazine. The rebels the
made a charge upon the battery, but a discharg
from the right wing sent them back in dismaj
He then held a council of waV and concluded t
surrender his regiment and the battery withou
resistance. In vain did his Lieutenant-Colone
try to persuade him to desist from this cowardly
act, but to no purpose ; he and some of his poJ
troon officers sold their regiment, when the}
might have maintained their position and retriev
ed the day. The men were well armed, well dis
ciplined, and were eager to fight ; but their Col
onel faltered, and dared not lead them on t
victory. The loss of our regiment was fifteen
killed and seventy-five wounded. The whole
number engaged was one hundred and fifty at th<
camp, and seventy-five provost-guards. The Min
nesota Third had six hundred effective men, a
battery of four guns to support them, and losi
one killed and seven wounded. The sick anc
wounded officers were all paroled on the spot, tin
rest were marched to Meminville with the sol
diers, where the soldiers were paroled and sent
back to Murfreesboro. They arrived in Nashville
a few days ago, where they intend to remain unti]
they are sent North. I was fortunate enough to
get to the hospital and evade the parole. I shall
soon join my company, which is now located in
Tallahassee, with four others, under the command
of Major Fox. xYfter the rebels had completed
their damnable work of destruction, they left the
town and compelled the citizens to bury the dead.
This shameful disaster is attributable to the mis
management and cowardice of Colonel Leicester ;
had he left the regiments and battery in a condi
tion to support each other, they might have whip
ped the enemy and saved the Government nearly
a million dollars.
Yours truly, T. D. SCOFIELD.
THE TEXAS RANGERS IN THE FIGHT.
KSOXVILLE, TENN., July 21.
To the Editors of tlie Richmond Enquirer :
GENTLEMEN : Another most brilliant victory is
added to the history of our struggle for independ
ence. Hereafter the thirteenth of July will be
a day enshrined in the memory of Southern patri
ots. The most successful expedition had been
planned, and for days was moving forward from
Chattanooga. On Saturday, at twelve o clock,
the command, about sixteen hundred strong, left
the vicinity of McMinnville, and after a march of
fifty miles the gray dawn of the quiet Sabbath
found the command all safely within two miles
of Murfreesboro. Being halted here for a few
Minutes the arms were examined and the plan
of attack agreed upon. Again the word was
given and they moved forward. The Texas Rang-
YOL. Y -Doc. 19
ers had led the advance during the entire march,
and they still occupied the position. In a few
minutes more a gun was fired and the pickets on
the Woodbury pike were their prisoners. Then
commenced this daring charge in good earnest.
Colonel Forrest had assigned the attack on the
first encampment to Col. John A. Wharton and
his daring rangers, together with Colonel Lawton
and the Second Georgia cavalry, whilst he was
to lead the remainder against the other forces.
The Texans were now fully in earnest, and thev
spontaneously awoke the still morning with their
usual terrific yell, which enlivened the charge ;
and when Colonel Wharton, at the head of the
column, reached the point where he was to turn
to the right, he led his men and dashed forward.
By some means the regiment was here divided,
and only one hundred and twenty men, of ail
those assigned to this important work, were found
with him the remainder of the regiment and
Col. Lawton s regiment following Col. Forrest.
Supposing his whole force with him, he at once
harged through the brigade wagon-yard and
through the Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, a por
tion of it being here probably one hundred and
:wenty-five then into the Ninth Michigan, which
>vas just beyond and already formed in a hollow
square to receive the charge.
The fire being now exhausted, and the support
failing to come up, they re-loaded in face of the
enemy, and bravely charged on foot. Thus did
this Spartan band fight on foot or mounted, as
circumstances justified, for four long hours. Sup-
)osing all the while that reinforcements would
"ome to their relief, they heroically battled against
bur times their number, who had the advantage
)f position and long-range guns, at every point,
nflicting terrible havoc upon the enemy. During
me of these foot charges, the colonel, being
nounted and leading his intrepid band, received
i severe flesh-wound in his arm. But, nothing
launted, he still retained command until some
ime after, when Lieut. -Col onel Walker came up,