Three Veterans Marched With
Calvary Wizard to Relief of Murfreesboro
Three members of General Nathan Bedford's cavalry, who made a forced march from McMinnville to Murfreesboro between sunset and sunrise to rescue
25 or more citizens or soldiers held under death sentence in the jail here related interesting accounts of that stirring event to attendants at the
James F. Knox, 83 of Bell Buckle and Baxter R. Hoover 86 of Hoover's Gap members of Company E Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and W.N. Byrn, 84 Milton, a
member of Forrest's escort, participated in the surprise attack at daylight which released Murfreesboro, for a short time, from the hold of federal forces
that numbered more than a thousand.
Mr. Hoover told of beginning the all-night march at McMinnville when a courier informed General Forrest of the intended execution of Murfreesboro citizens at daybreak the following day. A stop was made at Readyville during the early morning hours where residents served Forrest's men with hot coffee
Pointing to a number of bullet holes in the walls of the courthouse Mr. Knox told his interested listeners that he helped put them there. In company with the other members of Company E. he came to Murfreesboro from McMinnville and Marched down what is now East Main street to the court house. This they found to be full of Federal soldiers who opened fire on them. Mr. Knox said, " We then went in and captured every one of them then went to the jail nearby and released a number of prisoners."
The story teller related an interesting incident which occurred shortly after the close of the war. The soldiers had been ordered to discard their Confederate uniforms by the victors. He was riding his horse near Murfreesboro one day when he was approached by a captain of the Federal army with 40 men who asked him in rough language why he was still wearing "the grey." To this he replied that he had no other clothes and did not have money to buy any. The captain then threatened to cut the uniform from him. Mr. Knox told him that he would kill him if he tried it and that the soldiers could then burn him if they wanted to but no one was going to take that uniform from him.
Mr. Knox had an army pistol that he smuggled out with him at the time and he informed the captain that he was able to make his threat good. The captain then ordered his men to take Mr. Knox in charge. This order was met with the words, "Your soldiers may arrest me, but they will never live to get
home." They too refused to lay hands on Mr. Knox and he was finally allowed to continue his ride.
At the time the above incident occurred the narrator was only 19 years old. He joined the Confederate army in 1861 soon after the war was declared when he was but 15 years of age. He was sworn in the army in the south-west room of the present courthouse there. He was in some of the hardest battles of the war and can recall may interesting occurrences.
