December 18 — General Carson, who has command of a militia brigade, came to the battery to-day and stated that he had a picket of twelve men in a mill down the river near Falling Waters, and that the Yankees had placed some artillery in position on the opposite side of the river, and were firing on the mill, and his men were afraid to venture out. He seemed to be very anxious about their safety in their, what he deemed, perilous predicament, and asked Captain Chew to take his battery down and drive the Yankee battery away, and let his picket out.
A few moments after General Carson requested our services found us on the way to Falling Waters, which is about five miles from Dam No. 5. Before we got to the mill that held the captive picket we saw the Yankee artillery in position. They had but one piece in a large field that slopes toward the mill, about half a mile from the river. We opened at a mile distance, with one gun, and fired six rounds. These were the first shots I helped to fire; Heaven only knows where the last ones will be. The enemy hastily left the field after we opened, without making any pretension to return our fire. General Carson came riding up to the field where we were in position, and thanked Captain Chew for the service rendered in rescuing his pickets, and said that his men were certainly very glad to make their escape from what they considered a dangerous situation. This evening we came back to Dam No. 5 and arrived at seven o’clock.
