"With lightning speed, under infernal yelling, great numbers of Texas Rangers rushed upon our whole force. They advanced as near as fifteen or twenty yards to our lines, some of them even between them, and then opened fire with rifles and revolvers." |
"Colonel Wharton has authorized me to say that he will not admit amateur fighters into the Regiment and further, that the Government will mount no more men; but all who come mounted and equipped (or can purchase horses here) will be received for the war. This opens the way for joining a cavalry regiment that has seen perilous service and which already enjoys more reputation than any other in the army. We want none but Texans." |
"Forrest ordered forward. Without waiting to be formal in the matter, the Texans went like a cyclone, not waiting for Forrest to give his other orders to trot, gallop, and charge as he had drilled his men. By the time the Yankee skirmishers could run to their places in ranks and both lines got their bayonets ready to lift us fellows off our horses, we were halted in twenty steps of their two lines of savage bayonets, their front line kneeling with butts of guns on the ground, the bayonets standing out at right angle or straighter and the rear lines of their bayonets extended between the heads of the men of the first line. In a twinkling of an eye almost, both barrels of every shotgun in our line loaded with fifteen to twenty buckshot in each barrel was turned into that blue line and lo! What destruction and and confusion followed. It reminded me then of a large covey of quail bunched on the ground, shot into with a load of bird shot: their squirming and fluttering around on the ground would fairly represent that scene in that blue line of soldiers on that occasion. Every man nearly who was not hurt or killed broke to the rear, most of them leaving their guns where the line went down, and made a fine record in getting back to their reserved force several hundred yards to their rear. After the shotguns were fired, the guns were slung on the horns of our saddles and with our six shooters in hand we pursued those fleeing, either capturing of killing until they had reached their reserved force. Just before they reached this force, we quietly withdrew; every man seemed to act upon his own judgement for I heard no orders. But we were all generals and colonels enough to know that when the fleeing enemy should uncover us so their line could fire on us, we would have been swept from the face of the earth." |
Text by Mel Wheat