Through
carelessness, or some other cause, five barrels of salt were left where they
were captured, near where the enemy had been camping. Lieutenant M. V. Wilson
was ordered to take twenty-five of Allison's Company and a wagon and go back
after the salt, while the rest of the command moved on toward Barboursville. We
regarded this as rather a hazardous trip, though we went back to, and loaded
in, four barrels of the salt (thinking five would be too much for our team)
without any incident worthy of note; but we had not gone far with our salt
before bang! bang! bang! went several guns back about where our rear guard was.
This caused considerable excitement in our little squad, though one of the rear
guard soon came dashing up, and reported that it was only bush-whackers that
had fired on them, and that some of the balls cut very close,
but no one was hurt. So we felt better then, and moved on to Barboursville
without any more trouble. Here we found two companies of our battalion (B and
C), but the other two (A and D) had gone on back to Camp Buckner, on Cumberland
river. We found Rains' Regiment and the balance of our company (E) encamped two
miles from Barboursville on the road leading back to Camp Buckner.
Col. Cummings went with
his detachment to the Salt Works, loaded in all the salt there, 200 bushels,
and returned without coming in contact with the enemy. He receipted for the
salt, as directed by General Zollicoffer. The Salt Works belonged to Union men,
yet Zollicoffer expected to have it paid for at the price of salt at the
works—forty cents per bushel.
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