Two gun-boats and
two transports came up to Chickasaw and landed about one hundred and twenty
cavalry and three regiments of infantry about daylight.* Our picket fell back
in advance of the Federals to Bear Creek. After crossing the bridge they (the
picket) set fire to it. The Federals continued their movement along the east
side of Bear Creek in the direction of the railroad bridge that spans said
creek about eight miles from Chickasaw. Having no artillery and only about two
hundred cavalry at Iuka, we were poorly prepared to protect said bridge while a
force so much superior to ours was now apparently bent on its destruction.
However, about one hundred of our battalion and a part of Captain Sanders'
Company mounted and moved out to the bridge to see what was up. A few moments
after we arrived at the bridge the enemy came in sight on the opposite side of
the creek, and firing commenced. We soon found that the enemy had another
advantage of us in having long-range guns. A few of our men who happened to
have long-range guns returned the fire. Considering it useless for us to make
further effort to protect the bridge with such odds against us, we were ordered
to fall back. The Federals, after burning the bridge and cutting the telegraph
wire, went back to Chickasaw, reboarded their boats and moved back toward
Pittsburg Landing that night. No one of our battalion was killed, but three
were wounded. One of them, George Davenport, was from Captain Allison's
Company. And, by the way, he was the first man of said company that had been
wounded. George C. Moore, First Sergeant of Sanders' Company, was wounded. We
were reinforced about midnight by cavalry, infantry and artillery, but it was
too late to save the bridge.
_______________
*General W. T.
Sherman was in command of this expedition.
SOURCE: Richard R.
Hancock, Hancock's Diary: Or, A History of the Second Tennessee
Confederate Cavalry, p. 165-6
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