Does anyone have an account of the Battle of Saltville?? I read Col. J.P. Austins book "The Blue and The Gray, sketches of a portion of the unwritten history of the Great American Civil War". This book was a partial account of his war experiences, and mostly of things that were not of common knowledge. He mentions that in his account of this particular battle, " I have been somewhat minute in the description of this battle, from the fact that I have never seen mention of it in print".
I had never heard of this battle until reading his book, so naturally I had to "Google" it, and was in shock to read their account of the battle compared to Col. Austins. The internet even has 2 different dates listed, both in Oct. but 2 weeks apart. The summary of the battle on the internet is totally different from the book. I have taken a special interest in this and would like to see if anyone has battle records or any information in the forms of letters or diaries. Although the book was written 30 years after the war I would not think his account would have been that far off, the only thing I have seen so far that could have been wrong with his account, he thought they were in West Virginia which I can see as being easily mistaken taken the fact they had been on a mission in Eastern Tennesse and had a union cavalry force in their rear. ( and he could have meant western Virgina) As usual any and all help is greatly appreciated.