Mrs. Lyon’s Diary.
March 26, 1865.—Went through Chattanooga and the mountains today. Saw Lookout Mountain, where General Hooker fought and bled above the clouds. The scenery here is very grand. We saw Mission Ridge also. The city is built in the valley near Lookout Mountain. We had our dinner here. The boys built fires and made coffee in a few minutes. We had hard tack and coffee and a little cold meat.
Near Loudon we were going through a ledge of rocks that extends out over the Tennessee river, when an axle broke and two or three of the cars were wrecked. They were smashed into pieces as small as kindling wood. The engine and tender, and I think some baggage cars, went through this ledge of rocks all right. The cars loaded with supplies were broken up the most. A car that the mules were in stood on one end and the poor animals were jammed into the lower end of the car. The regiment were riding on the top of the cars, and when they saw there was something the matter they turned the brakes and ran to both ends of the train and there was not a man hurt. Their thoughtfulness in turning the brakes saved the rest of the train. The caboose that we were in just hung over the river. It was a miraculous escape. They thought that some of the mules would be dead, but they chopped the car open as soon as they could, to get them out. As they got them out they would shake themselves and walk off. Some limped, but none were killed. We went back to Loudon and stayed until the track was repaired.
