7

6
we felt we were in a great big mob and that
The whole a grand farce ^I venture this^ not withstanding
the serious^ness^ of the matter in a paper, recently
submitted by that eminent General and
auther Lew Wallace.

When the scare subsided and after the
battles of Richmond and Perryville, A Brigade
fully organized with regiments a thousand
strong and twelve wagons to each marched
through Lexington and Frankfort to Louisville
under the command of Gen^l Burbridge and
there embarked for Memphis to join the
army operating against Vicksburg. A
force of 2twenty thousand under Sherman
left Memphis on the 20^th of December, in
an expedition intended to co operate with
Grants land forces, working in the rear
by way of Holly Springs and Granada

Our first landing was in Louisana
on Christmas day. The objective a
bridge over the Tensas river, where the
Vicksburg Shreveport and Alexandria
railroad crosses that stream. Immense
quantities of cotton was were stored all over
the country and in the vicinity of the
bridge, branded Confederate States of
America and presumbed to be security
for loans advanced by the English to aid
the rebellion The bridge flanked by