Show r I RETREATING TO LITTLE ROCK Details of Battle of Saline River De Dc Described scribed by Old Veteran Who Was Participant To be a gunsmith and the proprietor tor ton of ot a shooting gallery seems to be natural for tor a veteran of ot the civil warIn warIn war In tinkering ering with the mechanism of ot rifles and revolvers and in smelling the smoke of cartridges John D. D Credlebaugh Cre Cre- j cre-j keeps keens a familiarity with his Is youth In the war ne he was a sum soldier I I of the tho Iowa infantry regiment Afterward he ho became a sharpshooter with Buffalo Bill BIU Wild Bill and other othel persons of similar simBar profession He retains retains re reo the appearance of the frontiers man He confesses to the age of 65 though casual would not a guesser approach approach ap ci that figure by twenty years One of the stories that he tells in his hir I homo home and place of ot business in Chicago Chi cago Is of the tho battle of Saline river Arkansas April 30 1864 and is as ar I follows r Gen Steeles Steele's expedition was retreating retreating re re- treating before the advance of the i confederate army that had whipped I Gen Banks s. s We Ve had done dono our p part partIn rt rtin t In occupying the Arkansas country countr P down to Camden but the Red river expedition in northern Louisiana was war I broken nn in up hv by Pre Price and find Kirby Smith L before we could Join Gen Gem Banks at Shreveport The confederate army drove us out of or our position and back toward Little Rock Wo We had been on the march several days from Camden when the enemy caught up with us near the Saline river which we had to cross The crossing was going to be difficult because because because be be- cause It was in the tho spring and the river was flooded Our crossing the only one ono near the place we had come cometo cometo cometo to was in a sharp bend of the river which we were approaching from the concave side We came down the road that led to the ferry and at a cross crossroad cross crossroad crossroad road a rebel battery opened fire on us Beyond between us and the river nere was a rise 01 or ground and ana most mosi of ot the army J kept ept on and passed this rise leaving the rear guard to holdback hold back the attack The Iowa regiment regiment regi regi- regiment ment was in the rear guard and we helped prevent the advance of ot the enemy We fought until nightfall When the days day's fighting was over we Withdrew behind the rise of ground The slope went down to the bottom land of the river and it was waa all wet I went to sleep sitting against a tree trunk and in the morning morn morn- ing lug I awoke in cold water up to my breast It was still early in the year the morning of April 30 All the bottom bot tom torn had been flooded In the night and the army had bad to go through the water to the pontoon bridge that was laid across the channel of ef t the river I While the crossing was going on the rear guard had more fighting to do We went back to the rise of ground and took our position there not going down to the crossroads The river bent behind us and came to the left and right in a big bow so that our line Une could extend from water to water and prevent the rebels from fron getting to the ferry We fought from daY daylight ight until noon By that time the rebels were lying five and six Rix dp deep n in three lines on cia thA rho slope of ot the hill bill There was one battery that we couldn't take for tor a long time though thought t I We Fought Until Nightfall we charged it repeatedly At last w we were successful and the guns were wore ours I went to the caissons and in one ono of them I found a big piece of 01 corn pone and I divided it That was the sweetest bread I ever tasted I It made the best meal I had had in two 1 months It was the first food I had had In four days F Finally nally the enemy retired They had not sent tb their ir full strength against us anyway Everybody got across the bridge and then the tho pontoons pon pen were destroyed w Wi WA KOJ ki M gees with us ana nna I remember that some women in a house near the river waded through the water to cross over with the army There many wagons we could not tal take Q along were I and so the spokes were knocked of Dr the wheels out |