[CHAP. XXVIII.

most effectively destroy the works and prevent the future manufacture of salt and prevent that on hand from falling into the hands of the enemy. For this purpose they will use the force of their own commands as may be necessary, but if insufficient, details will be made from other regiments of this brigade.

They will make a full report in writing to these headquarters of their action under this order.

By order of Brigadier-General Cruft:

W. H. FAIRBANKS,

Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General.

Numbers 4.

Report of the Board of Officers.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST KENTUCKY VOLUNTEERS,
Camp near Columbia, Ky., November 1, 1862.

CAPTAIN: In obedience to Special Orders, No.-, that issued from the headquarters of the Twenty-second Brigade of the Army of the Ohio on the 23rd day of October last (a copy of which order is here inclosed), directing the undersigned to destroy the Salt-Works near Manchester, Ky., including the product on hand, and to report to you our proceedings under said order, availing ourselves of the first opportunity, we tender the following statement of what we did in carrying out said order:

The works, consisting of five in number, are situated and are owned and occupied as follows:

The first, owned and occupied by Colonel T. T. Garrard, is situated about 2 miles from Manchester, on the main fork of Goose Creek. The second, third, and fourth are situated on Collins' Fork of that creek, within 3 miles of Manchester, and are owned occupied as follows: The second one, by Mrs. J. T. Woodward and her daughter, Mrs. Mollie Shackelford, and rended by James W. Reid for the years 1862 and 1863, and were occupied by him. The third, owned by A. T. White, Michael Horton, and Daniel Gara, sr. The fourth, owned by Alexander White and Mrs. J. T. Woodward and her daughter, Mrs. Mollie Shackelford, and was occupied by Stephen Gibson and A. Chastain. The fifth works, owned and occupied by J and D. White, situated on the east fork of Goose Creek, 5 miles from Manchester.

These works were furnished with water from bored wells from 500 to 600 feet deep, and were in complete order and full operation, making from 50 to 100 bushels of salt a day each.

We proceeded to render these works useless and unfit from service by destroying the pumps and wells and the pipes conveying the water also. In each case the pumps, or portions of them where they all could not be gotten out, were taken out of the wells, broken to pieces, and the pieces forced back into the wells into and upon the pipes; and in the case of those of White, Horton, and Gara a piece of iron grate was driven into that portion of the pump which could ont be gotten out of the well; and in the case of Chastain and Gibson an iron bar was forced down into the well and into the well pipe, and 300 feet of the surface pipe and all the wood work of the pans were destroyed. The pumps used by J. and D. White, except small portions of them, could not be drawn out of the well. Therefore, after forcing back into the well portions of the pump, we forced into them cannon balls and in that