Peyton
relative to returning this trophy to Col. Peyton's relatives, but so
far no arrangements to that effect have been concluded.
It was reported by Tennesseeans at the time of the battle that young
Peyton was what was known as a "hoop-skirt" convert to the Confederate
cause. Southern ladies were decidedly more pronounced secessionists
than were the sterner sex, and whenever they discovered that one of
their chivalric brethren was a little lukewarm toward the cause of the
South they sent him a hoop skirt, which indicated that the recipient
was lacking in bravery. For telling of his loyalty to the Union he
was insulted and hissed at on the streets of Nashville, and when he
received a hoop skirt from his lady friends he reluctantly concluded
to take up arms against the country he loved so well. He paid the
penalty of foolhardy recklessness in the first battle in which he
participated.
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, who was an eye-witness
of the battle, gave a glowing description of the heroic conduct of the
Second Minnesota during the engagement. He said: "The success of the
battle was when the Second Minnesota and the Ninth Ohio appeared in
good order sweeping through the field.
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