men were stationed under a Sergeant for some purpose. He
placed himself between them and their guns, made his follower put his
pistol to the head of the Sergeant and began to rate them for neglect of
duty. He represented himself as a Federal officer of high rank and
reminded them sternly and reproachfully that such careless guard as they
were then keeping had enabled Morgan to play all of his tricks. They had
been careless and were overwhelmed with just shame and mortification at
his rebuke. He at length ordered them all under arrest, and taking the
Sergeant's weapons from him and leaving the guns stacked--he could not
have carried them off without entrusting them to the prisoners--he
marched the whole party away. They were under the impression that
they were going to Mitchell's headquarters, but he got them mounted and
carried them to Murfreesboro'. In the meantime the smoke from the wagons
which were burned within half a mile of Mitchell's headquarters,
attracted attention and led to inquiry, and it was not long before what
was going on was discovered. Troops were at once dispatched to put a
stop to the mischief and beat off or follow the perpetrators. The Fourth
Ohio got on the track of the party guarding the sixty prisoners, and, as
its progress was necessarily slow, it was soon overtaken. Nothing could
be done but release the prisoners and run for it, and the whole escort
went off in rapid flight. One prisoner had, by a strange mistake, been
allowed to retain a loaded gun. As one of the guard who had been in the
extreme rear of the column dashed past this man, the latter fired and
grazed his face. The other turned in his saddle, fired and shot his
unexpected assailant dead. The pursuers had gotten close before they had
been perceived, and they pressed the chase vigorously. Over fences and
gulches, through fields and thickets, as hard as their horses could go,
fled the one party and followed the other for ten miles. One of our men
was killed, two or three wounded, and as many captured. Thirty-eight
prisoners were secured by Morgan--twenty-eight brought off by Wood, and
ten captured and escorted by himself. On the evening of the same day a
party of eighteen men were dispatched from the camp on the Shelbyville
road to push as close to Nashville as possible, and learn the position
of the Federal troops in that quarter. I was myself in command of the
party, and had an accurate knowledge of the points at which guards and
p