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preparation was at best an ornerous task. Coffee seemed the immediate concern, and by the time it had quieted the stomach, such substantial items as beef and cornbread gave strength to the day?s demands.
These daily demands were not ones of open combat, but rather those that required constant picket contact. Contact, of course, meant skirmishes, but the operations kept regiment, brigade, and divisional headquarters informed of the whereabouts of Grant?s soldiers. And his soldiers kept pressing south, always with Vicksburg as the objective.
Baxter got his full share of picketing and skirmishing, both by day and by night, and the early winter weather did not add to his comfort in the field. The weather did not stop the Federals from their southward movement, and it soon became apparent that the Confederate forces could not stop them either.
Finally Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, now Confederate commander for the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, rode up from Jackson to Holly Springs and sat down with Van Dorn for a conference. Together they decided that northern Mississippi could not be defended with the available troops and defense lines and the only sensible move was to fall back south to the Tallahatchie River, a natural barrier just north of Abbeville. Orders went out to all the skirmishing units to fall back, and before nightfall the same, long supply trains and troops were moving south.
Private Baxter, along with Company E and the rest of the 20th Mississippi moved through Holly Springs on November 7 in the midst of a general Confederate fallback to the south. Wagons, teams, and teamsters were at a premium, and space on cars of the Mississippi Central was competed for by every headquarters in the area. Baxter?s regiment probably marched south, with a bare handfull of wagons to carry regimental and company baggage.
Company E musters put Pvt. Baxter at Tippah Falls, east of Abbeville, on November 11. Skirmishing between Federals and Confederates continued daily. Grant?s troops occupied Holly Springs on November 13, and from that strong base skirmishing parties fanned out to the south. Baxter recalls the engagement at
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