Tl: lsl*t H'lttl, nf (I,, I. .' \\ 41
train in the woods and plundered the trunks and boxes, and took tlu' clothing of the officers and men, etc.
Alter the Federals readied Mat-on they learned for the first time of Lee's surrender. The prisoners were paroled and sent honu . The day alter the battk- I was reading the burial service over the joint grave of General Tyler and Captain Gonzales, when firing was heard in the direction of the town, and a panic almost ensued. Some cowardly stragglers had returned and shot into the wards of the hospital, killing a wounded soldier in his bunk, and desperately wounding a small lad. They cut up a large zinc yawl, the only means of ferriage, and departed.
The Federal loss at West Point was about 200.
A daughter of Mrs. Potts, sister of the late Charlie Marsh, fired twice from a rifle pit, in the rear of their residence, at the Federal skirmishers. This daring exposure of herself was observed. Colo- nel La Grange was informed, and learned that the bodies of the gal- lant Tyler and Gonzales were in the house. He said: " Were it not for the honored dead that lie in the house I would teach the female sharpshooters a lesson. ' ' The order to burn the house was rescinded.
West Point, Ga., is midway between Montgomery and Atlanta, 165 miles; there was a difference in the gauge of the track of five inches. The telegraph lines were cut before the surrender of Gene- ral Lee, leaving us without the means of communication with the outside world.
It is with regret that I cannot recall the names of the six Louis- iana boys who assisted in thro\\ ing the planks from the bridge into the river. Their timely aid was thoroughly appreciated.
The heroic defense of West Point, Ga., April 16, 1865, cannot be forgotten, and will rank with the hardest contests of the war of 1861-1865.
S. F. POWER.
Natchez, Miss.
