. . uffering. But the glad-hearted soldiers uttered no word of com-plaint; they needed no urging to press forward. Drenched byrains, marching and bivouacking in the mud, with light heartsand empty haversacks, they plodded on after the fugitives. Eachday yielded a harvest of rebel stragglers and deserters. GeneralHood caused the destruction of all bridges behind his fleeingbattalions. The streams were swollen to torrents, no pontoons P. M \KVIN,SERGEANT, I OMPAN? H. SIXTY-FOURTH. j.] n\-r a FRAGMENT kkmainkh. could follow us, and the
. . uffering. But the glad-hearted soldiers uttered no word of com-plaint; they needed no urging to press forward. Drenched byrains, marching and bivouacking in the mud, with light heartsand empty haversacks, they plodded on after the fugitives. Eachday yielded a harvest of rebel stragglers and deserters. GeneralHood caused the destruction of all bridges behind his fleeingbattalions. The streams were swollen to torrents, no pontoons P. M \KVIN,SERGEANT, I OMPAN? H. SIXTY-FOURTH. j.] n\-r a FRAGMENT kkmainkh. could follow us, and the unavoidable delay thus caused saved thefragment of Hoods army from total annihilation. To bridgesuch a wide, rapid stream as Duck rivet was no easy task. Allalong the route were the wrecks of wagons and artillery whichthe rebels had been compelled to abandon. To cut off Hood from recrossing the Tennessee river, twogunboats had been sent by General Thomas, to prevent the layingof a pontoon bridge. This should have been accomplished, butthe officers of the boats. acted with singular feeble-ness, suffering themselvesto be frightened away by abattery of small field picPontoons were laid at Bain-bridge, and on the 26th and27th of December Hoodsdejected soldiers crossed thegreat river, took up thebridge, and were safe fromfurther pursuit. They con*tinned their inarch to Tu-pelo, Mississippi, whereHood was able to musterbut sixteen thousand , only, were left ofthe seventy thousand whoopposed Sherman from Dal-ton to Atlanta. Well,indeed, had Thomas per-formed the part assignedhim, and his brave, patient, long-suffering men might well sharethe glory of Shermans march to the sea. To General Thomas,ami his soldiers floundering in that muddy wilderness, the firstday of January, 1865, was truly a happy new year. The Sixth battery participated with the Fourth corps in thepursuit of the fugitive rebels. Owing tp the protracted rains andthe execrable condition of the dirt roads after
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