The Raid
Shelby's raiders departed Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on September 22, 1863, and the raid did not conclude until October 26, 1863. Using 800 men, twelve ammunition wagons, and two pieces of Artillery, the raid would be a success. In his words, he claimed that he had in the thirty days killed and wounded six hundred Federals; he had taken and paroled as many more; he had captured and destroyed ten forts, about eight hundred thousand dollars' worth of property and he had captured six hundred rifles, forty stand of colors, three hundred wagons, six thousand horses and mules, and destroyed a million dollars' worth of supplies. The toll for Shelby would be fierce with one in six of his men not returning with him.
Read more about this topic: Shelby's Raid (1863)
Famous quotes containing the word raid:
“John Brown and Giuseppe Garibaldi were contemporaries not solely in the matter of time; their endeavors as liberators link their names where other likeness is absent; and the peaks of their careers were reached almost simultaneously: the Harper’s Ferry Raid occurred in 1859, the raid on Sicily in the following year. Both events, however differing in character, were equally quixotic.”
—John Cournos (1881–1956)
“Each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)