The first indication we had of the presence of the enemy came from a battery concealed in the cane on the bank of Beech Creek. It was more like a slough or small bayou than a creek. We got across the creek somehow and charged the battery. The first command I heard was: "Shoot the men who are cutting the harness." We did, and wounded some of the artillery horses accidentally. We pushed on to Lexington, where we took Colonel "Bob" Ingersoll and his command prisoners. Ingersoll made a good fight. It was enough to make a Christian of him, but it did not. His famous lectures years after show that while we did not convert him, he loved everybody during the rest of his life, and if he really believed there is no hell we convinced him that there was something mightily like it.
We pushed on to Jackson, but by this time Forrest, by many crafty methods, had spread the report far and wide that he had a large force with him, and the private soldiers aided in exaggerating our number to the friendly citizens and the good women, who rushed to their front gates with whatever of good things to eat they happened to have. In answer to a question by a woman as to how many soldiers Mr. Forrest had, I heard Tom Jones say: "Madam, I would tell you if I could. Do you know how many trees there are standing in West Tennessee?" She said she didn't, and Tom told her Forrest had men enough to put one behind each tree, and two or three behind the biggest ones. Of course, these exaggerated reports reached General Grant through the commanders of the various blockhouses and towns, and reinforcements were being hurried from every available point. Forrest was virtually surrounded while at Jackson. Our attack on that place was a feint.
When we got within a mile or so of Trenton we heard four shots from a battery and hurried up to find that the Federal garrison had surrendered and the Confederates taken possession.
We captured an immense lot of stores, guns and ammunition and a good lot of wagons. I got two new army six-shooters, for which I turned over to the ordnance sergeant my old ones.
We got a little sleep that night and some rest next day. Tom Jones and I had been living on "Otard" brandy, strawberries and crackers, and our stock was running low, most of it having been stolen. "It was reported that the proprietors of a big sutler's
