Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865 Page: 616
[6], 904 p., leaves of plates: ill. (1 col.), ports ; 25 cm.View a full description of this book.
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616 Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865.
(that is, Whiting's Division), was to join Gen. Jackson in the valley of
Virginia. We met him near Staunton. We were all ignorant then about
discipline in the army and thought that we had a right to know as much
as the officers. But we soon found out differently. Gen. Whiting was an
old army officer, and a good one, and he said to Gen. Hood, that he had
no doubt but what those Texas men would make good soldiers, "but you
will have a hard time getting them down to army regulations." Gen. Jackson
was a good hand to execute and keep his own counsel, and about the
first thing that he did was to give us to understand that we must know
nothing but obey orders and if any citizen on the march should ask you
where you are going, tell them that you "don't know." The next day he
came along and noticed one of our men leave ranks for a cherry tree.
Cherries were getting ripe. "Where are you going?" asked the General.
"I don't know, sir." "What Regiment do you belong to?" "I don't know
sir." "What do you know?" "I know that Gen. Jackson said that we
must not know anything till after the fight was over." "Is that all you
know?" "I know that I want to go to that cherry tree." "Well, go on."
The next day, he came along and one of our men said to him: "General,
where are we going?" He turned around and looked at him a few minutes
and said: "Are you a good hand to keep a secret ?" "Yes, sir." "Well,
so am I," and he rode on.
W. G. POLK, Waco, Tex.-Born Aug. 1, 1844, near Tray, Obion County,
Tenn. Enlisted in the Confederate Army at Peach Creek, Miss., in the
spring of 1862, as private in Company H, Eighteenth Battalion of Cavalry,
McCulloch's Brigade, Forrest's Corps. My first Captain was Maxwell, and
first Colonel, Alec. Chalmers. For the first twelve or eighteen months our
battalion was not attached to any command but was employed as scouts,
watching the Mississippi River. A few days after I enlisted about thirty
of us engaged about 500 Federals who were watching a pile of cotton on the
Brown farm, in the Mississippi bottoms. We routed them, taking a number
of prisoners. We lost one man killed (Granbery), and Capt. Maxwell
lost one arm. After that Lieut. Floyd was promoted to Captain and before
the close of the war he was promoted to Major and Dan Wright was made
Captain and my brother, J. A. Polk, was First Lieutenant.
Was in the battles of Harrisburg, West Point, Miss., and Cold Water.
I was in the Beaver Dam and many other smaller engagements.
I was at one time four days and five nights almost continuously in my
saddle. I was at Oxford, Miss., and was ordered to report to my Colonel's
headquarters mounted and the order was to take a dispatch to a Colonel at
Holly Springs, Miss. The river was out of banks and I was put across and
landed in the overflow about a mile from land and without a guide except
an opening in the timber to mark the route. It was an old road. In many
places the water was almost swimming and the night was dark. I reached
Holly Springs about sunrise next morning and found the Colonel was out
several miles skirmishing with the enemy. He told me to call by his house
in town and deliver a message to his wife which I did and she filled my haversack
with something good to eat. Then I started on my return trip and
got back to my command late that evening and found them ready to move.
Gen. Forrest left one regiment at Oxford to entertain Gen. Smith and took
the balance of the command and started on a forced march to Memphis.
We attacked Memphis one morning and found the Federals had been reinforced,
so we fell back to the outskirts of the city and fought there till in
the evening, carrying off a number of prisoners. Forrest withdrew and
marched sixty-five miles before he called a halt. I was never wounded but
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Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865 (Book)
Sketches of several hundred Confederate veterans, residing in Texas after the Civil War, giving particulars of their war service.
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Yeary, Mamie, 1876-. Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865, book, 1912; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29786/m1/654/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.