reme right of the army, facing the enemy on
Stone River north of Murfreesboro. The other section was in position in
yard of Mr. Spence's negro quarters but was moved nearer to the enemy
later in the afternoon where it remained all next day, the 31st of
Dec., 1862.

Murfreesboro

Dec. 31, 1862, most of the fighting was on the left wing when our
forces drove the Federals back several miles.

The battery was first stationed on the right, near a vacated house on a
hill. Here we found a barrel partly full of seconds unbolted wheat
flour and a skillet and we made up some biscuit and after the first
batch was cooked, the order came to move and we wrapped up the dough in
a cloth and that night after crossing Stone River and throwing up some
breastworks we cooked the balance on the shovels we had used for
ditching.

The battery was in an open field, in front of a large brick house on a
high hill where Rosecrang had massed his batteries after his right had
been driven back to a right angle with its first position. This was a
pivotal position and the point where the General is said to have
remarked after his first day's disaster, "Bragg is a good dog, but
Holdfast is better." Breckenridge made an attack on this position and
as he rode into the fight, I thought him the finest looking man I had
ever seen on horseback. But the position was too strong to be taken,
although Bragg was in person on the field not far from us. That night
at mid-night, the order came to hitch up and leave. One of the drivers
reported that the horses hitched to the pole of one of the caissons,
had eaten off about three feet of the seasoned oak pole. I told him to
tie an extra pole under the one gnawed to a point with the halters from
the horses and we marched off in retreat. The horses were almost
starved as well as the men. After going a little way on the pike, the
column halted and the men marched by barefooted some of them on the
frozen pike, while we built up a fire and Sergt. Hargrove, standing in
front of it, had half the tail of his overcoat burned off before the
warmth reached his skin.

Marching all night, we met Dr. Leland next morning, muddy as if he had
been on a fox hunt in "Bear Heaven" and Jim Craddock, a noted dude,
with his coat neatly buttoned and his collar clean. He was said to
sleep lying on his back in a tent with ten or a dozen men, and never
turned or moved lest he should disorder his clothing. But he was a
brave soldier. Lt.