Forrest's Chase Of The Raiders


Foremost in dash and daring among the cavalry leaders of the Confederacy

was Lieutenant-General Nathan B. Forrest, a hero in the saddle, some of

whose exploits were like the marvels of romance. There is one of his

doings in particular which General Lord Wolseley says "reads like a

romance." This was his relentless pursuit and final capture of the

expedition under Colonel Abel D. Streight, one of the most brilliant

deed
in the cavalry history of the war. Accepting Wolseley's opinion,

we give the story of this exploit.



In General Rosecrans's campaign against General Bragg, it was a matter

of importance to him to cut the railroad lines and destroy bridges,

arsenals, etc., in Bragg's rear. He wished particularly to cut the

railroads leading from Chattanooga to Atlanta and Nashville, and thus

prevent the free movement of troops. The celebrated Andrews expedition

of scouts, described in a previous volume of this series, failed in an

effort to do this work. Colonel Streight, a stalwart, daring cavalry

leader, made a second effort to accomplish it, and would doubtless have

succeeded but for the bulldog-like persistence with which "that devil,

Forrest" clung to his heels.



Colonel Streight's expedition was made up of four regiments of mounted

infantry and two companies of cavalry, about two thousand men in all.

Rome, Georgia, an important point on the railroad from Chattanooga to

Atlanta, was its objective point. The route to be traversed included a

barren, mountainous track of country, chosen from the fact that its

sparse population was largely composed of Union sympathizers. But the

road was likely to be so steep and rocky, and forage so scarce, that

mules were chosen instead of horses for the mounts, on account of their

being more surefooted and needing less food.



The expedition was sent by steamboat from Nashville, Tennessee, to

Eastport, Alabama, which place was reached on the 19th of April, 1863.

This movement was conducted with all possible secrecy, and was masked by

an expedition under General Dodge, at the head of a force of some ten

thousand men. The unfortunate feature about the affair was the mules. On

their arrival at Eastport these animals, glad to get on solid land

again, set up a bray that trumpeted the story of their arrival for miles

around, and warned the cavalry of General Rodney, who had been

skirmishing with General Dodge, that new foes were in the field.



When night fell some of Rodney's cavalry lads crept into the corral, and

there, with yells and hoots and firing of guns and pistols, they

stampeded nearly four hundred of the mules. This caused a serious delay,

only two hundred of the mules being found after two day's search, while

more time was lost in getting others. From Eastport the expedition

proceeded to Tuscumbia, General Rodney stubbornly resisting the advance.

Here a careful inspection was made, and all unfit men left out, so that

about fifteen hundred picked men, splendidly armed and equipped,

constituted the final raiding force.



But the delay gave time for the news that some mysterious movement was

afoot to spread far and wide, and Forrest led his corps of hard riders

at top-speed from Tennessee to the aid of Rodney in checking it. On the

27th he was in Dodge's front, helping Rodney to give him what trouble he

could, though obliged to fall back before his much greater force.



Streight was already on his way. He had set out at midnight of the 26th,

in pouring rain and over muddy roads. At sunset of the next day he was

thirty-eight miles from the starting-point. On the afternoon of the 28th

the village of Moulton was reached without trace of an enemy in front or

rear. The affair began to look promising. Next morning the mule brigade

resumed its march, heading east towards Blountsville.



Not until the evening of the 28th did Forrest hear of this movement.

Then word was brought him that a large body of Union troops had passed

Mount Hope, riding eastward towards Moulton. The quick-witted leader

guessed in a moment what all this meant, and with his native energy

prepared for a sharp pursuit. In all haste he picked out a suitable

force, had several days' rations cooked for the men and corn gathered

for the horses, and shortly after midnight was on the road, leaving what

men he could spare to keep Dodge busy and prevent pursuit. His command

was twelve hundred strong, the most of them veterans whose metal had

been tried on many a hard-fought field, and who were ready to follow

their daring leader to the death, reckless and hardy "irregulars,"

brought up from childhood to the use of horses and arms, the sturdy sons

of the back country.



Streight was now in the ugly mountain country through which his route

lay, and was advancing up Sand Mountain by a narrow, stony, winding

road. He had two days the start of his pursuer, but with such headlong

speed did Forrest ride, that at dawn on the 30th, when the Federals were

well up the mountain, the boom of a cannon gave them the startling

notice that an enemy was in pursuit. Forrest had pushed onward at his

usual killing pace, barely drawing rein until Streight's camp-fires came

in sight, when his men lay down by their horses for a night's rest.



Captain William Forrest, a brother of the general, had been sent ahead

to reconnoitre, and in the early morning was advised of the near

presence of the enemy by as awful a noise as human ears could well bear,

the concentrated breakfast bray of fifteen hundred hungry mules.



The cannon-shot which had warned Colonel Streight that an enemy was

near, was followed by the yell of Captain Forrest's wild troopers, as

they charged hotly up the road. Their recklessness was to be severely

punished, for as they came headlong onward a volley was poured into them

from a ridge beside the road. Their shrewd opponent had formed an

ambuscade, into which they blindly rode, with the result that Captain

Forrest fell from his horse with a crushed thigh-bone, and many of his

men and horses were killed and wounded before they could get out of the

trap into which they had ridden.



The attack was followed up by Forrest's whole force. Edmonson's men,

dismounted, advanced within a hundred yards of the Federal line, Roddy

and Julian rode recklessly forward in advance, and Forrest's escort and

scouts occupied the left. It was a precipitous movement, which

encountered a sudden and sharp reverse, nearly the whole line being met

with a murderous fire and driven back. Then the Federals sprang forward

in a fierce charge, driving the Confederates back in confusion over

their own guns, two of which were captured with their caissons and

ammunition.



The loss of his guns threw Forrest into a violent rage, in which he made

the air blue with his forcible opinions. Those guns must be taken back,

he swore, at the risk of all their lives. He bade every man to dismount

and tie their horses to saplings--there were to be no horse-holders in

this emergency. Onward swept the avengers, but to their surprise and

chagrin only a small rear-guard was found, who fled on their mules after

a few shots. Streight, with the captured guns, was well on the road

again, and Forrest's men were obliged to go back, untie their horses,

and get in marching order, losing nearly an hour of precious time.



From this period onward the chase was largely a running fight. Forrest's

orders to his men were to "shoot at everything blue and keep up the

scare." Streight's purpose was to make all haste forward to Rome,

outriding his pursuers, and do what damage he could. But he had to deal

with the "Rough Riders" of the Confederate army, men sure to keep on his

track day and night, and give him no rest while a man on mule-back

remained.



Forrest's persistence was soon shown. His advance troopers came up with

the enemy again at Hog's-back ridge an hour before dark and at once

charged right and left. They had their own guns to face, Streight

keeping up a hot fire with the captured pieces till the ammunition was

exhausted, when, being short of horses, he spiked and abandoned the

guns.



The fight thus begun was kept up vigorously till ten o'clock at night,

and was as gallant and stubbornly contested as any of the minor

engagements of the war, the echoes of that mountain desert repeating

most unwonted sounds. General Forrest seemed everywhere, and so

fearlessly exposed himself that one horse was killed and two were

wounded under him, though he escaped unhurt. In the end Colonel Streight

was taught that he could not drive off his persistent foe, and took to

the road again, but twice more during the night he was attacked, each

time repelling his foes by an ambuscade.



About ten o'clock the next morning Blountsville was reached. The

Federals were now clear of the mountains and in an open and fertile

country where food and horses were to be had. Both were needed; many of

the mules had given out, leaving their riders on foot, while mules and

men alike were short of food. It was the first of May, and the village

was well filled with country people, who saw with dismay the Yankee

troopers riding in and confiscating all the horses on which they could

lay hands.



Streight now decided to get on with pack-mules, and the wagons were

bunched and set on fire, the command leaving them burning as it moved

on. They did not burn long. Forrest's advance came on with a yell, swept

the Federal rear-guard from the village, and made all haste to

extinguish the flames, the wagons furnishing them a rich and much-needed

supply. Few horses or mules, however, were to be had, as Streight's men

had swept the country as far as they could reach on both sides of the

road.



On went the raiders and on came their pursuers, heading east, keeping in

close touch, and skirmishing briskly as they went, for ten miles more.

This brought them to a branch of the Black Warrior River. The ford

reached by the Federals was rocky, and they had their foe close in the

rear, but by an active use of skirmishers and of his two howitzers

Straight managed to get his command across and to hold the ford until a

brief rest was taken.



The Yankee troopers were not long on the road again before Forrest was

over the stream, and the hot chase was on once more. The night that

followed was the fourth night of the chase, which had been kept up with

only brief snatches of rest and with an almost incessant contest. On the

morning of the 2d the skirmishing briskly began again, Forrest with an

advance troop attacking the Federal rear-guard, and fighting almost

without intermission during the fifteen miles ride to Black Creek.



Here was a deep and sluggish stream walled in with very high banks. It

was spanned at the road by a wooden bridge, over which Colonel Streight

rushed his force at top speed, and at once set the bridge on fire,

facing about with his howitzers to check pursuit. One man was left on

the wrong side of the stream, and was captured by Forrest himself as he

dashed up to the blazing bridge at the head of his men.



Colonel Streight might now reasonably believe that he had baffled his

foe for a time, and might safely take the repose so greatly needed. The

stream was said to be too deep to ford, and the nearest bridge, two

miles away, was a mere wreck, impassable for horses. Forrest was in a

quandary as to how he should get over that sluggish but deep ditch, and

stood looking at it in dismay. He was obliged to wait in any event, for

his artillery and the bulk of his command had been far outridden. In

this dilemma the problem was solved for him by a country girl who lived

near by, Emma Sanson by name. Near the burning bridge was a little

one-storied, four-roomed house, in which dwelt the widow Sanson and her

two daughters. She had two sons in the service, and the three women,

like many in similar circumstances in the Confederacy, were living as

best they could.



The girl Emma watched with deep interest the rapid flight, the burning

of the bridge, and the headlong pursuit of the Confederate troop. Seeing

Forrest looking with a dubious countenance at the dark stream, she came

up and accosted him.



"You are after those Yankees?" she asked.



"I should think so," said Forrest, "and would give my best hat to get

across this ugly ditch."



"I think you can do it," she replied.



"Aha! my good girl. That is news worth more than my old hat. How is it

to be done? Let me know at once."



"I know a place near our farm where I have often seen cows wade across

when the water was low. If you will lend me a horse to put my saddle on,

I will show you the place."



"There's no time for that; get up behind me," cried Forrest.



In a second's time the alert girl was on the horse behind him. As they

were about to ride off her mother came out and asked, in a frightened

tone, where she was going. Forrest explained and promised to bring her

back safe, and in a moment more was off. The ride was not a long one,

the place sought being soon reached. Here the general and his guide

quickly dismounted, the girl leading down a ravine to the water's edge,

where Forrest examined the depth and satisfied himself that the place

might prove fordable.



Mounting again, they rode back, now under fire, for a sharp engagement

was going on across the creek between the Confederates and the Federal

rear-guard. Forrest was profuse in his thanks as he left the

quick-witted girl at her home. He gave her as reward a horse and also

wrote her a note of thanks, and asked her to send him a lock of her

hair, which he would be glad to have and cherish in memory of her

service to the cause.



The Lost Ford, as the place has since been called, proved available, the

horses finding foothold, while the ammunition was taken from the

caissons and carried across by the horsemen. This done, the guns and

empty caissons were pulled across by ropes, and soon all was in

readiness to take up the chase again.



Colonel Streight had reached Gadsden, four miles away, when to his

surprise and dismay he heard once more the shouts of his indefatigable

foemen as they rode up at full speed. It seemed as if nothing could stop

the sleuth-hounds on his track. For the succeeding fifteen miles there

was a continual skirmish, and, when Streight halted to rest, the fight

became so sharp that his weary men were forced to take to the road

again. Rest was not for them, with Forrest in their rear. Streight here

tried for the last time his plan of ambuscading his enemy, but the

wide-awake Forrest was not to be taken in as before, and by a flank

movement compelled the weary Federals to resume their march.



All that night they rode despondently on, crossing the Chattanooga River

on a bridge which they burned behind them, and by sunrise reaching Cedar

Bluff, twenty-eight miles from Gadsden. At nine o'clock they stopped to

feed, and the worn-out men had no sooner touched the ground than they

were dead asleep. Forrest had taken the opportunity to give his men a

night's rest, detaching two hundred of them to follow the Federals and

"devil them all night." Streight had also detached two hundred of his

best-mounted men, bidding them to march to Rome and hold the bridge at

that place. But Forrest had shrewdly sent a fast rider to the same

place, and when Russell got up he found the bridge strongly held and his

enterprise hopeless.



When May 3 dawned the hot chase was near its end. Forrest had given his

men ten hours' sleep while Streight's worn-out men were plodding

desperately on. This all-night's ride was a fatal error for the

Federals, and was a main cause of their final defeat. The short distance

they had made was covered by Forrest's men, fresh from their night's

sleep, in a few hours, and at half-past nine, while the Federals were at

breakfast, the old teasing rattle of small-arms called them into line

again. About the same time word came from Russell that he could not

take the bridge at Rome, and news was received that a flanking movement

of Confederates had cut in between Rome and the Yankee troopers.



The affair now looked utterly desperate, but the brave Streight rallied

his men on a ridge in a field and skirmishing began. So utterly

exhausted, however, were the Federals that many of them went to sleep as

they lay in line of battle behind the ridge while looking along their

gun barrels with finger on trigger.



The game was fairly up. Forrest sent in a flag of truce, with a demand

for surrender. Streight asked for an interview, which was readily

granted.



"What terms do you offer?" asked Streight.



"Immediate surrender. Your men to be treated as prisoners of war,

officers to retain their side-arms and personal property."



During the conversation Streight asked, "How many men have you?"



"Enough here to run over you, and a column of fresh troops between you

and Rome."



In reality Forrest had only five hundred men left him, the remainder

having been dropped from point to point as their horses gave out and no

new mounts were to be had. But the five hundred made noise enough for a

brigade, it being Forrest's purpose to conceal the weakness of his

force.



As they talked a section of the artillery of the pursuers came in sight

within a short range. Colonel Streight objected to this, and Forrest

gave orders that the guns must come no nearer. But the artillerymen

moved around a neighboring hill as if putting several small batteries

into position.



"Have you many guns, general?" asked Streight.



"Enough to blow you all to pieces before an hour," was the grandiloquent

reply.



Colonel Streight looked doubtfully at the situation, not knowing how

much to believe of what he saw and heard. After some more words he

said,--



"I cannot decide without consulting my officers."



"As you please," said Forrest, with a sublime air of indifference. "It

will soon be over, one way or the other."



Streight had not all the fight taken out of him yet, but he found all

his officers in favor of a surrender and felt obliged to consent. The

men accordingly were bidden to stack their arms and were marched back

into a field, Forrest managing as soon as he conveniently could to get

his men between them and their guns. The officers were started without

delay and under a strong escort for Rome, twenty miles away. On their

route thither they met Captain Russell returning and told him of what

had taken place. With tears in his eyes he surrendered his two hundred

men.



Thus ended one of the most striking achievements of the Civil War.

Forrest's relentless and indefatigable pursuit, his prompt overcoming of

the difficulties of the way, and his final capture of Streight's men

with less than half their force, have been commended by military critics

as his most brilliant achievement and one of the most remarkable

exploits in the annals of warfare.



The outcome of Colonel Streight's raid to the South was singularly like

that of General Morgan's famous raid to the North. Morgan's capture,

imprisonment, and escape were paralleled in Streight's career. Sent to

Richmond, and immured in Libby Prison, he and four of his officers took

part in the memorable escape by a tunnel route in February, 1864. In his

report, published after his escape, he blames his defeat largely on the

poor mules, and claims that Forrest's force outnumbered him three to

one. It is not unlikely that he believed this, judging from the

incessant trouble they had given him, but the truth seems established

that at the surrender Forrest had less than half the available force of

his foe.



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