. History of Fourteenth Illinois cavalry and the brigades to which it belonged. vice, and greatlyimpeded by the mud, which was now deep. GeneralKnipes seventh and Hatchs fifth divisions, were the firstof the cavalry to strike the enemy on the right of Smith,and drove them back rapidly, capturing a number of pris-oners and a redoubt of four guns, McArthurs infantry aid-ing in this capture, the dismounted cavalry vieing with theinfantry in the charge. The sixth cavalry division pressedforward on the pike and encountered the old enemy of ourbrigade, General Chalmers division of Forrests
. History of Fourteenth Illinois cavalry and the brigades to which it belonged. vice, and greatlyimpeded by the mud, which was now deep. GeneralKnipes seventh and Hatchs fifth divisions, were the firstof the cavalry to strike the enemy on the right of Smith,and drove them back rapidly, capturing a number of pris-oners and a redoubt of four guns, McArthurs infantry aid-ing in this capture, the dismounted cavalry vieing with theinfantry in the charge. The sixth cavalry division pressedforward on the pike and encountered the old enemy of ourbrigade, General Chalmers division of Forrests our division was assigned Battery I of the 4thUnited States artillery, Lieutenant Frank G. Smith com-manding. The dismounted regiments, 14th Illinois and6th Indiana cavalry were used as supports to the miles from the city we struck Chalmers divisionposted in strong position on the heights beyond Richlandcreek. General Johnsons account of this affair stronglyconvicts him of want of generalship. He says thathe first ordered Biddels brigade of dismounted men (the. FIRST SERGEANT GEO. W. NORRIS, Company G. FOURTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 285 14th Illinois and the 6th Indiana ) to lead the advance andcharge their stronghold, after which he acknowledges hismistake in the following language: But the movementsof the dismounted cavalry were so slow, owing I supposepartly to their being unused to maneuvering as infantry,partly to the difficulty in crossing the creek, and partly totheir sabers, which the commanding officer of the 14thIllinois cavalry had, with a singular shortsightedness, per-mitted his men to bring with them, that I finally orderedHarrison (with the mounted brigade) to pass the dis-mounted brigade, and attack the enemy with all possibleenergy. Just the thing that an able commander wouldhave ordered in the first place, for while the impedimentsnamed by Johnson were a good excuse for the failure ofthe dismounted men to perform impossibilities, they wereno excus
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