To put the finishing stroke to the Rebellion was our high duty,
and would be a crowning proof and act of patriotism. At this time we
knew nothing of the reward for the apprehension of Davis; we knew only
that he was the chief man of our country's enemies, and we were resolved
that none should blame us if we failed to capture or kill him.

At daybreak the order was passed in a whisper to make ready to enter the
camp. The men were alive to the work. Mounting their horses, the column
moved at a walk until the tents came in sight, and then at the word
dashed in. The camp was found pitched on both sides of the road. On the
left hand, as we entered, were wagons, horses, tents, and men; on the
right were two wall-tents, fronting from the road. All was quiet in the
camp. We encountered no guards: if there were any out, they must have
been asleep. The order of the force entering the camp should perhaps be
given. Captain Hudson commanded the advance guard; Lieutenant Stauber
followed, with a detachment of the First Battalion; next, Lieutenant
Boutell, with one of the Second Battalion; and Lieutenant Bennett
brought up the rear guard. The force in advance of Lieutenant Boutell,
immediately on entering the camp, dispersed among the tents on the left
of the road. Some of his men rode to the tents on the right of the road,
among them private James H. Lynch, of Company C,--it is well, for good
reasons, to mention the names of the enlisted men,--who, seeing a horse
saddled and bridled, with holsters and travelling-bag, held by a black
man in front of one of the tents, at once clapped the muzzle of his
Spencer to the head of the "boy," and secured the animal. This was
Davis's well-trained and fleetest saddle-horse, which Lynch, who was in
Richmond when the war broke out, and came and joined us at
Murfreesborough after the Battle of Stone River, claims to have
recognized.

Scarcely had this horse been secured, when firing was heard down the
road, in the direction of Purinton. Pritchard instantly gave the order
to advance, and Lieutenant Boutell, who had continued on horseback in
the road, holding his men mainly in hand for any emergency that might
arise, promptly obeyed, and, crossing a slough of mud and water, swept
towards the firing, and was greeted with a volley that killed two of his
men and severely wounded himself in the left arm. He had been previously
wounded in the right arm in the Atlanta campaign. He, however, quickly
forme