Carter had almost got to the house, when a comrade at my side ordered him to surrender. His reply was, "I will die first!" This comrade told me in case he missed the Johnny I was to shoot at him. My comrade fired and the rebel kept running towards the house. I raised my 16-shooter and fired, and as he got to the door he fell. From some of the boys who were wounded and captured we learned afterwards that Carter fell dead on his doorstep with two bullets in him. Truly did he come home to die! Gen. Pat Cleburne rode at the head of his troops. His horse was killed on our works, and, as the horse fell, Cleburne pitched headlong into our works, mortally wounded. He died in about ten minutes. He fell near the cotton-gin, east of the pike. General Cleburne's home was in Nashville. Carter's house was on the west side of the pike. At the beginning of the fight the 73d lay west of the pike, but was crowded to the east. At the time Cleburne was killed the 73d lay on both sides of the pike. The 1st Brigade captured thirteen rebel flags, instead of ten. General Opdycke did fight with the men, and the men loved and honored him. After we got to Nashville, and were wandering around in the rain looking for a place to camp, some of the boys tore some boards off of a fence. The man who owned the place-an old, crippledup butternut-told General Opdycke about it and wanted him to stop them, to which the general replied: "Go in the house and shut your mouth, or I will turn my brigade loose on you. They are heroes, every one of them! Look at those thirteen. rebel flags they captured at Franklin last night." The old man went in the house and said no more to Opdycke.

Butler's Command.

THE first to designate General Butler's command as the "Army of the James," is said to have been Quartermaster-General Ingalls.

First Officer Escaped from “Libby.”

THE first officer that made his escape

from Libby Prison was Captain Skelton, of the 17th Iowa Regt. He was twice captured and twice escaped.

The Fort Pillow Massacre.

APRIL 12, 1864.

BY THE PILOT OF THE "NEW ERA."

a

PRIL, 1864, I was a pilot on the United States gunboat New Era, of the Mississippi squadron, and was patrolling the Mississippi river in the vicinity of Fort Pillow, which was situated on a bluff on the east side of the river, some forty-five miles above Memphis, Tenn.

The fort was built of logs and dirt, with port-holes for musketry and artillery. It was not considered formidable, but with the assistance of one or more gunboats, it was thought to be strong enough to repel any ordinary force. Its artillery consisted of three eighteen-pound guns. It was garrisoned by colored troops principally, and was commanded by two as brave officers as ever fought a battle, namely, Majors Booth and Bradford.

On the 10th of April, 1864, Major Booth received news from Memphis that Forrest, with a division of cavalry, was coming with a purpose to attack the fort. The orders were to hold the fort at all hazards, and he communicated the same to Captain Marshall, who commanded the United States gunboat New Era, which was lying there at that time. The cavalry kept constantly on the lookout until the evening of the 11th, when Forrest's advance was reported within six miles.

At 6 A. M., on the 12th of April, General Chalmers's brigade attacked and drove in the pickets, and our gunboat was called into action. Captain Marshall took position in the pilot-house to communicate with the fort and to direct our fire. They were in plain sight, four hundred to six hundred yards distant from our boat, forming a half circle around the fort. They opened fire with musketry, their artillery not having yet arrived. At 6.30 the gunboat began firing, using fuse shell with terrible effect. The artillery of the fort opened with canister, shot, and shell,

making dreadful havoc in their ranks, and causing them to temporarily disperse. During the lull in the fight Major Booth ordered all inside the fort, and directed that all tents outside should be burned, in order that the view of the garrison might be unobstructed. It was while setting fire to a tent that he fell, mortally wounded. Major Bradford then assumed command. He, too, was a brave officer. The quartermaster of the fort refused to go into the fort, but went into a log house containing commissary stores situated near the river-and remained there. This house was burned with the quartermaster in it, and his charred remains were found the following day while we were gathering and burying our dead. The fort, with the assistance of the gunboat, kept the rebels at a safe distance until ten o'clock, when Forrest arrived with a four-pound gun, with which he opened on the gunboat and struck the pilothouse two glancing "licks." Captain Marshall and I were both severely stunned, and just as soon as the captain could get his breath he ordered me to "sheer off," but when the second shot struck he scooped down the ladder and shouted back to me to take care of the boat. Observing that the farther out into the river we got the better range they had on us, I brought the boat in close to shore, where they could not depress their artillery sufficiently to hit us. The rebel sharpshooters had by this time cleared the upper deck, and I was the only person able to see what was going on. Captain Marshall ordered me to direct the firing, which I did quite successfully, silencing the rebel battery.

About twelve o'clock, Forrest sent a flag of truce to the fort, which I reported to Captain Marshall, who ordered me to come to anchor. I ran the boat within speaking distance of the fort and anchored. We had been there about forty-five minutes when the flag returned to the rebel lines. During this time about two hundred rebels came down to the quartermaster's house and dressed themselves in Federal uniform, and then returned to their own line-all of which I reported to Captain Marshall, and insisted that he should open on them, for they were violating a truce that they themselves had asked for. But no; he would not do it; he said he was bound to respect a flag of truce. Another flag of truce was presently sent to the fort, and, at the same time the rebels--part in Federal uniform -got so close to the fort that it hid them from my sight. Im

mediately after the flag had disappeared from my sight, the rebels came pouring over the works into the fort with a volley of musketry and a rebel yell, and Major Bradford immediately surrendered. The flag of the fort was taken down by the rebels and firing ceased. In about three or four minutes the rebels rehoisted the flag and then a general slaughter ensued. Major Bradford, with all his living soldiers, ran down the bluff and jumped into the river and tried to swim to our boat, but the most of them were shot in the water and disappeared from view. Major Bradford, although the rebel bullets struck the water all about him, was not injured, and being assured by a rebel officer that if he would come ashore he would be treated as a prisoner of war, he did so.

By this time the surgeon, the nurses, and the wounded had all been slaughtered at the hospital tent and the firing ceased. The gunboat was still lying at anchor, within four hundred yards of the fort, and in plain view of the artillery in it, without a possibility of being reached by the rebel four-pounder. Our armor was proof against musketry, and, as Ensign Charles E. Schetkey informed me, the boat had plenty of ammunition for several such fights left. Nevertheless, Captain Marshall ordered the boat gotten under way and headed up stream, and the order was promptly obeyed. The rebels thought to make short work of us, for as soon as we got in range of the guns in the fort, they fired three shots, all of which struck very close to us. As the rest of the ammunition for the guns was concealed in the bluff, where they could not find it, they were unable to continue the fire. It was a narrow escape, for had the boat been crippled we should have become an easy prey to the merciless rebels.

At that time, of all the troops that occupied the fort at the beginning of the battle, Major Bradford and Captain Young were the only ones alive!

It was 4 P. M. when we left the fort, and we did not come to anchor until midnight, having made about thirty miles. our way up we took the wife of Captain Young aboard. April 13, at 7 A. M., we started back for the fort, arriving at 10.30 A. M. We found Chalmers's brigade under a flag of truce-Forrest, with his force, having left immediately after the slaughter. Captain Young was permitted to come aboard on his parole to dine with his wife. He said Chalmers had told him that Major

Bradford had forfeited his parole, and if caught would suffer death. Captain Young, at the time, believed the report. then accompanied a detachment of the crew which had been detailed to bury our dead, and a horrible sight awaited us. The first body we found was the charred remains of the quartermaster, lying in the burned wreck of the house, and on the bluff we found many dead Union soldiers who had been burned in their tents. We buried these and passed on to the fort. There we found that the rebels had stripped the dead and robbed them of valuables, and had thrown them into the ditch and partially covered them. After tarrying there we went under the bluff where the hospital tent had stood. There we found about seventy dead Federals. These men had been sent to the tent to have their wounds dressed. Imagine, if you can, our feelings while contemplating this horrible butchery.

Major Bradford, we learned from a citizen, had been shot that morning in the latter's dooryard by the order of General Chalmers, because he commanded negro soldiers. He told us that the major had pleaded hard for mercy, claiming the privileges of a prisoner of war and declaring that he had only done his duty as a soldier. But no mercy was shown, although he had surrendered with the understanding that he was to be treated as a prisoner of war. After the massacre the wife of Major Booth desired to recover his body, and a detachment of soldiers went up from Memphis to recover it for her. They found a grave under the bluff marked "Major Booth," but on opening it they found the body of a negro. Major Booth's body was never found.

First Military Organization.

Confederate General Killed.

THE Ringgold Light Artillery, of THE first Confederate General killed Reading, Pa., claim to have been the first military organization to prepare for the war, and the first to tender their services to General Scott for the defense of the National Capital.

in the war was General Garnett, killed at the battle of Rich Mountain in 1861. He is said to have been killed by private John Manson, 16th Ohio Infantry.