been hidden--one man to every
four horses, riding one and leading the other three, which were tied
together by the heads. In this order I saw them cross a cotton-field at
a smart trot, and take up a more secure position; two or three men
cantered about in the rear, flanking up the led horses. They were
shortly afterwards followed by the men of the regiment, retreating in
skirmishing order under Colonel Webb, and they lined a fence parallel to
us. The same thing went on on our right.

As the firing on our left still continued, my friends were in great
hopes that the Yankees might be inveigled on to follow the retreating
skirmishers until they fell in with the two infantry brigades, which
were lying in ambush for them; and it was arranged, in that case, that
some mounted Confederates should then get in their rear, and so capture
a good number; but this simple and ingenious device was frustrated by
the sulkiness of the enemy, who now stubbornly refused to advance any
further.

The way in which the horses were managed was very pretty, and seemed to
answer admirably for this sort of skirmishing. They were never far from
the men, who could mount and be off to another part of the field with
rapidity, or retire to take up another position, or act as cavalry as
the case might require. Both the superior officers and the men behaved
with the most complete coolness; and, whilst we were waiting in hopes of
a Yankee advance, I heard the soldiers remarking that they "didn't like
being done out of their good boots"--one of the principal objects in
killing a Yankee being apparently to get hold of his valuable boots.

A tremendous row went on in the woods during this bushwhacking, and the
trees got knocked about in all directions by shell; but I imagine that
the actual slaughter in these skirmishes is very small, unless they get
fairly at one another in the open cultivated spaces between the woods. I
did not see or hear of anybody being killed to-day, although there were
a few wounded and some horses killed. Colonel Richmond and Colonel Webb
were much disappointed that the inactivity of the enemy prevented my
seeing the skirmish assume larger proportions, and General Cheetham said
to me, "We should be very happy to see you, Colonel, when we are in our
regular way of doing business."

After waiting in vain until 5 P.M., and seeing no signs of anything more
taking place, Colonel Richmond and I cantered back to Shelbyville. We
were acc