ate cavalry in force, and also found the track in front
badly torn up. We got off the cars, formed in line on both sides of the
road and slowly advanced, halting whenever we came to a break in the
road, until our Michigan Engineers could repair it. As above stated,
they were bully boys, and understood their business thoroughly, and
very soon would patch up the breaks so that the train could proceed.
But it went only about as fast as a man could walk, and during the
balance of that cold, dark night, we marched along by the side of the
track, skirmishing with the enemy. On one occasion we ran right up
against their line, they being on their horses, and evidently awaiting
our approach. Luckily for us, their guns must have been wet; they
nearly all missed fire, with no result save a lively snapping of caps
along substantially their entire line. But our guns went off, and we
gave the fellows a volley that, at least, waked up all the owls in the
neighborhood. It was so intensely dark that accurate shooting was out
of the question, and whether we hurt anybody or not I don't know, but
our foes galloped off in great haste, and disappeared for a while.
Shortly before daylight, when we were within about six miles of
Murfreesboro, we came to the worst break in the track we had yet
encountered. It was at the end of a short cut in the road that was
perhaps four or five feet deep. In front of this cut the track was
demolished for several rods, and a deep little culvert was also
destroyed. We sat down on the ground near the track, and our engineers
went to work. The situation was like this: In our front, towards
Murfreesboro, and on our right and left rear were corn fields, with the
stalks yet standing, and on our left front was a high rocky ridge,
heavily timbered with a dense growth of small cedars, and which ridge
sloped abruptly down to the railroad track. A small affluent of Stone
river, with a belt of willow along its banks, flowed in a winding
course along our right, in the general direction of Murfreesboro. While
we were sitting here on the ground, half asleep, waiting for the
engineers to call out "All right!"--there came a volley of musketry
from the woods of the rocky ridge I have mentioned. We sprang to our
feet, formed in the cut facing the ridge, and began returning the fire.
After this had continued for some time, a party of the enemy moved to
our rear, beyond gunshot, and began tearing up the track there, while
another p