CONTENTSPAGEIntroduction11CHAPTER IThe Outbreak of the WarJourney to Texas—John Brown’s Raid—My Secession Resolution—Presidential Election—Lincoln Elected—Excitement in the South—Secession Ordinances—“The Lone Star Defenders”—Fort Sumter Fired On—Camp Life—The Regiment Complete—Citizens’ Kindness—Mustered In—The Third Texas Cavalry—Roster15CHAPTER IIOff for the FrontOrganization of Regiment—Officers—Accouterment—On the March—Taming a Trouble-maker—Crossing the Red River—In the Indian Territory—The Indian Maid—Fort Smith—The March to Missouri—McCulloch’s Headquarters—Under Orders—Preparation for First Battle26CHAPTER IIIOur First BattleOn the March—Little York Raid—Under Fire—Our First Battle—Oak Hill (Wilson’s Creek)—Death of General Lyon—Our First Charge—Enemy Retires—Impressions of First Battle—Death of Young Willie—Horrors of a Battlefield—Troops Engaged—Casualties39CHAPTER IVThe War in MissouriPersonal Characteristics—Two Braggarts—Joe Welch—William Hood—We Enter Springfield—Bitter Feeling in Missouri—Company Elections—Measles and Typhoid—Carthage, and My Illness There—We Leave Carthage—Death of Captain Taylor—Winter Quarters—Furloughed—Home Again52CHAPTER VThe War in Missouri—ContinuedI Rejoin the Command—Sleeping in Snow—Ambushed—Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge)—Capturing a Battery—Deaths of Generals McCulloch and McIntosh—Battle Continued—Casualties—Keetsville—Official Reports—March Southward—Foraging—Lost Artillery—Illness Again63CHAPTER VIThe Siege of CorinthLeave Winter Quarters—The Prairies—Duvall’s Bluff—Awaiting Transportation—White River—The Mississippi—Memphis—Am Detailed—En Route to Corinth—Corinth—Red Tape—Siege of Corinth—“A Soldier’s Grave”—Digging for Water—Suffering and Sickness—Regiment Reorganized—Evacuation of Corinth79CHAPTER VIIBattle of IukaCamp at Tupelo, Miss.—Furloughed—Report for Duty—Camp Routine—“The Sick Call”—Saltillo—Personnel of the Brigade—Baldwin “Contraband”—On to Iuka—Iuka—Battle of Iuka—Casualties—Retreat96CHAPTER VIIIBattle of CorinthCaptain Dunn, the “Mormon”—Paroles—Baldwin—On to Corinth—Conscription—Looking for Breakfast—The Army Trapped—A Skirmish—Escape—Holly Springs—Battle of Corinth—Casualties—Cavalry Again111CHAPTER IXHolly Springs RaidAt Grenada—Scouting—Engagement at Oakland—Chaplain Thompson’s Adventure—Holly Springs Raid—Jake—The Bridge at Wolf River—I Am Wounded—Bolivar—Attack on Middleburg—Christmas127CHAPTER XThe Engagement at Thompson’s StationJanuary, 1863—Jake Arrested—Detailed—My Brother Visits Me—Elected Second Lieutenant—Battle of Thompson’s Station—Duck River—Capture of the Legion—The “Sick Camp”—Murder of General Van Dorn143CHAPTER XIThe Surrender of VicksburgMoving Southward—I Lose My Horse—Meet Old Huntsville Friends—A New Horse—In Mississippi—“Sneeze Weed”—Messenger’s Ferry—Surrender of Vicksburg—Army Retires—Fighting at Jackson—After Sherman’s Men—A Sick Horse—Black Prince—“Tax in Kind”—Ross’ Brigade—Two Desertions156CHAPTER XIIBattle at Yazoo CityMidwinter—Through the Swamps—Gunboat Patrols—Crossing the Mississippi—Through the Ice—Ferrying Guns—Hardships—Engagement at Yazoo City—Harrying Sherman—Under Suspicion—A Practical Joke—Battle at Yazoo City—Casualties—A Social Call—Eastwood—Drowning Accident—A Military Survey173CHAPTER XIIIUnder Fire for One Hundred DaysCorduroy Breeches—Desolate Country—Conscript Headquarters—An “Arrest”—Rome, Ga.—Under Fire for One Hundred Days—Big and Little Kenesaw—Lost Mountain—Rain, Rain, Rain—Hazardous Scouting—Green Troops—Shelled—Truce—Atlanta—Death of General MacPherson—Ezra Church—McCook’s Retreat—Battle near Newman—Results190CHAPTER XIVKilpatrick’s RaidKilpatrick’s Raid—Attack on Kilpatrick—Lee’s Mill—Lovejoy’s Station—The Brigade Demoralized—I Surrender—Playing ’Possum—I Escape—The Brigade Reassembles—Casualties205CHAPTER XVUnion Soldier’s Account of Kilpatrick’s RaidKilpatrick’s Raid—Ordered to the Front—Enemy’s Artillery Silenced—We Destroy the Railroad—Hot Work at the Railroad—Plan of Our Formation—Stampeding the Horses—The Enemy Charges—Sleeping on Horseback—Swimming the River—Camped at Last216CHAPTER XVIClose of the Atlanta CampaignSherman Changes His Tactics—Hood Deceived—Heavy Fighting—Atlanta Surrenders—End of the Campaign—Losses—Scouting—An Invader’s Devastation—Raiding the Raiders—Hood Crosses the Coosa—A Reconnaissance—Negro Spies—Raiding the Blacks—Crossing Indian Creek—A Conversion228CHAPTER XVIIMy Last BattleTories and Deserters—A Tragic Story—A Brutal Murder—The Son’s Vow—Vengeance—A Southern Heroine—Seeking Our Command—Huntsville—A Strange Meeting—We Find the Division—The Battle in the Fog—My Last Battle245CHAPTER XVIIIRoss’ Report of Brigade’s Last CampaignRoss’ Report—Repulse a Reconnoitering Party—Effective Fighting Strength—Advance Guard—The Battle at Campbellsville—Results—Thompson’s Station—Harpeth River—Murfreesboro—Lynville—Pulaski—Sugar Creek—Losses During Campaign—Captures—Acknowledgments254CHAPTER XIXThe End of the WarChristmas—I Lose All My Belongings—The “Owl Train”—A Wedding—Furloughed—Start for Texas—Hospitality—A Night in the Swamp—The Flooded Country—Swimming the Rivers—In Texas—Home Again—Surrender of Lee, Johnston, and Kirby Smith—Copy of Leave of Absence—Recapitulation—Valuation of Horses in 1864—Finis267