Today in History:

429 Series I Volume VII- Serial 7 - Ft. Henry-Ft. Donelson

Page 429 Chapter XVII. EVACUATION OF NASHVILLE, TENN.

During the period embraced by this report Colonel Forrest and Captain Morgan, with their cavalry, rendered signal and efficient service in dispersing the mobs which gathered in the vicinity of the warehouses containing Government property, and which often had to be scattered at the point of the saber. I had succeeded in collecting a large amount of stores of various kinds at the depot, but as I had control of the transportation by rail, and hence obliged to await the action of others, much that would have been valuable to the Government was necessarily left at the depot. Among the articles saved were all the cannon, caisson, and battery wagons of which we had ably knowledge.

At 4 o'clock p. m. on the 20th February I started with my staff for Murfreesborough, which point I reached on the morning of the 21st, where I reported to General Johnston unperson.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD,

Brigadier-General.

H. P. BREWSTER,

Assistant Adjutant-General.


Numbers 6. Colonel Nathan B. Forrest's responses to interrogatories of Committee of Confederate House of Representatives.

Interrogatory 1st. I was not at the city of Nashville at the time of its surrender, but was there at the time the enemy made their entrance into that part of the city known as Edgefield, having left Fort Donelson, with my command, on the morning of its surrender, and reached Nashville on Tuesday, February, 18, about 10 a. m. I remained in the city up to the Sunday evening following.

Interrogatory 2nd. It would be impossible to state, from the data before me, the value of the stores either in the Quartermaster's or Commissary Departments, having no papers then nor any previous knowledge of the stores. The stores in the Quartermaster's Department consisted of all stores necessary to the department - clothing especially, in large amounts, shoes, harness, &c., with considerable unmanufactured material. The commissar stores were meat, flour, sugar, molasses, and coffee. There was a very large amount of meat in store and on the landing at my arrival, though large amounts had already been carried away by citizens.

Interrogatory 3rd. A portion of these stores had been removed before the surrender. A considerable amount of meat on the landing, I was informed, was thrown into the river on Sunday before my arrival and carried off by the citizens. The doors of the commissary depot were thrown open, and the citizens in dense crowds were packing and hauling off the balance at the time of my arrival on Tuesday. The quartermaster's stores were also open, and the citizens were invited to come and help themselves, which they did in larger crowds, if possible, than at the other department.

Interrogatories 4th and 5th. On Tuesday morning I was ordered by General Floyd to take command of the city, and attempted to drive the mob from the doors of the departments, which mob was composed of straggling soldiers and citizens of all grades. The mob had taken possession of the city to that extent that every spies of property was unsafe.


Page 429 Chapter XVII. EVACUATION OF NASHVILLE, TENN.