Three Veterans Marched With Cavlery 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 soilders  held under death sentence in the jail here 
related interesting accounts of that stirring event to attendants at the 
reunion last Friday. 
   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 dayligh 
which relased 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 
and food. 
   Pointing to a number of bullet holes in the walls of the courthouse Mr. 
Knox told his intrested listeners that he helped put them there.  In company 
with the other mmembers 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 prisioners." 
   The story teller related an interesting incident which ocured shortly 
after the close of the war.  The soldiers had been ordered to dicard their 
Confederate uniforms by the victors.   He was riding his horse near 
Murfreesboro one day when he was approched by a captin 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 chrge.  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 occured the narrator was only 19 years 
old.  He joined the Confederate army in 1861 soon after the war was declard 
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 occurances.