worked on the farms in the summer. I have also the sons of merchants, manufacturers, bankers and professional men, and we all were taught that work is honorable. The social organization of the South, we regard as unnatural, and not consistent with a democracy such as this nation was intended to be. My father reared his family comfortably on a farm of two hundred acres. It takes two thousand acres and a hundred slaves to supply the wants of your family. This, we think, discredits labor, and dooms your sons to idleness."

Once afterwards when I called I found him in the barnyard, and two of the daughters were milking the cows.

"Ah, Colonel," he remarked, "you find us practicing at the lessons you have been teaching us. We have been thinking that perhaps it might be well to try and get ready for any change that may be approaching."

After a campaign of nearly a month I was ordered to Decatur and left that locality with the good will of its citizens none of whom had been deprived of their necessary supplies or subjected to any humiliation. But Forrest's base of operations was destroyed which was submitted to without much regret.

CHAPTER 16.

Battle of Decatur.

On the 2nd of May ('64) I was ordered with my regiment to Decatur, Alabama, about sixty miles up the Tennessee river from Florence, and some 130 miles below Chattanooga, and the only point held by Union forces below that point.

On my arrival here I found a regiment of infantry and a small fort with a battery of artillery. My orders were to patrol the south side of the river above and below Decatur.

The rebel General Roddy with a mixed command of one brigade of infantry and mounted men, had been making frequent demonstrations in that locality with the purpose of taking the post at Decatur so as to have full control of the south side of the river. General Sherman, however, considered it important to be held, in view of his proposed advance toward Atlanta.

Our respective scouts had frequent encounters, but seldom at close range. The enemy's force was increased and it seemed to be their determination to drive us back across the river. To prevent this an infantry brigade under command of Brigadier General Davidson was sent to our assistance.

The enemy frequently attempted to capture our outposts, consisting of a sergeant and a squad of men dismounted some distance in advance of our infantry pickets, and a mounted vidette kept under cover as much as possible some two hundred yards in advance.

One midnight a big, strong prisoner was brought to my quarters, bleeding from a shot in the face, and moaning piteously. It seems that the vidette was sitting on his horse under a tree in the dark, and saw dimly what at first he thought was a hog, across the road, in the woods, behind a fence. It was slowly moving toward the picket post. He became convinced that it was a soldier and fired. The man, for such it proved to be, - cried, "Oh, I am shot!" At the picket post he told the sergeant that he had been coming in to give himself up, for he was tired of the war. His gun was found, however, in the morning lying loaded and half cocked behind the fence where he was shot. Although he declared he was on his feet when shot through the cheek, we found the bullet hole in a thin rail near the ground, and he must have been on his hands and knees when the vidette fired. I sent him to the doctor at the hospital and he was taken care of.

An order had been issued by the post commander that in case a general attack was made, a gun should be fired from the fort, and this would be a notice for all the forces to turn out without further orders. All the companies were notified of this arrangement.

At daylight on Sunday morning, the 8th of June,

the alarm gun was fired. Ten companies of the Ninth Regiment were promptly in the saddle, and we dashed forward to the point of attack. The mounted officer of the picket guard, who was from our Regiment, met me and pointed out the position and formation of the enemy's line which was in a field to which a road from the town lead. On one side of this road was a heavy body of timber, on the other a fence and corn field, leaving no way to attack the enemy except by charging along the road in column for a quarter of a mile.

This I decided to do, and placing myself with Captain Walter Morrison at the head of the first company ("E"), I ordered the bugler to sound the charge. The men responded with a shout and drew their pistols as the horses dashed forward. The enemy held their fire until we came well within reach, then opened upon us. On this first volley, I received a shot in the right foot.

The woods and the cornfield gave them a narrow frontage through which to fire at us, and before they could reload their pieces, we were upon them with pistol and sabre. They were thrown into confusion, lost their formation in the center, and rushed pell mell across the narrow field into another body of timber, where they re-formed behind an old rail fence.

I rode into the open to see their position and ordered the companies to form from column into line as they came up, and to charge as I directed.

My orderly and watchful aid, Morton Black,

suddenly called out, "Look out, Colonel." It was Sunday morning. I had dressed for Sunday inspection, and was therefore rather conspicuous in full uniform. I followed his glance and saw three puffs of smoke rise from near the bottom of the fence across the field, and at the same instant felt the pass of one bullet at my right, and another on my left. The third disabled my horse. I called for another and in changing, found that the shot received in the road had lamed me. I had not had time to give attention to it, except to feel that I could still move my toes.

In our charge by companies in line I noticed near me E. B. Gatchel of Company "F" who dashed forward, yelling, "Come on, boys, there's dead loads of 'em over there." He had not gone far when a bullet struck him in the lower jaw. He did not fall from his horse but saying, "They've plugged it to me, boys," put his hand to his face, stopped his horse, slowly dismounted and lay down.

Approaching a planter's house surrounded by trees, I saw a woman pulling at a wounded man to get him behind a big white oak tree, for protection from our charge. I called to her to leave the man, run to the house and get into the cellar, if there was one, for this was no place for a woman. She had not realized the danger until she saw the line of horsemen almost upon her. They gave her the right of way however, as she left the wounded man and ran for dear life.

We broke and scattered the second line of General