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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18765-8.txt b/18765-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0722096 --- /dev/null +++ b/18765-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8978 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the +Civil War, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War + +Author: Various + +Editor: G.W. Cable + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: QUESTIONING A PRISONER.] + + + + +FAMOUS ADVENTURES +AND PRISON ESCAPES +OF THE CIVIL WAR + + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. + +1913 + +Copyright 1885, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1893, by + +THE CENTURY CO. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +WAR DIARY OF A UNION WOMAN IN THE SOUTH 1 + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE IN GEORGIA 83 + +A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS 116 + +COLONEL ROSE'S TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON 184 + +A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL OUT OF DIXIE 243 + +ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE 298 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + +QUESTIONING A PRISONER Frontispiece + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE 85 + +GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN 117 + +MAP OF THE MORGAN RAID 118 + +THE FARMER FROM CALFKILLER CREEK 123 + +GENERAL DUKE TESTS THE PIES 125 + +HOSPITALITIES OF THE FARM 131 + +LOOKING FOR THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE VAN 137 + +CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY--CAPTAIN +HINES'S CELL 161 + +EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON--EXIT FROM TUNNEL 163 + +WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE 167 + +OVER THE PRISON WALL 171 + +"HURRY UP, MAJOR!" 175 + +CAPTAIN HINES OBJECTS 178 + +COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE 185 + +A CORNER OF LIBBY PRISON 187 + +LIBBY PRISON IN 1865 189 + +MAJOR A.G. HAMILTON 191 + +LIBBY PRISON IN 1884 197 + +LIBERTY! 223 + +FIGHTING THE RATS 230 + +SECTION OF INTERIOR OF LIBBY PRISON AND TUNNEL 233 + +GROUND-PLAN OF LIBBY PRISON AND SURROUNDINGS 235 + +LIEUTENANTS E.E. SILL AND A.T. LAMSON 255 + +WE ARRIVE AT HEADEN'S 263 + +THE ESCAPE OF HEADEN 271 + +GREENVILLE JAIL 277 + +PINK BISHOP AT THE STILL 283 + +ARRIVAL HOME OF THE BAPTIST MINISTER 285 + +SURPRISED AT MRS. KITCHEN'S 291 + +THE MEETING WITH THE SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY 295 + +SAND AS A DEFENSE AGAINST MOSQUITOS 307 + +SEARCHING FOR TURTLES' EGGS 310 + +THROUGH A SHALLOW LAGOON 313 + +EXCHANGING THE BOAT FOR THE SLOOP 315 + +OVER A CORAL-REEF 325 + +A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE GULF STREAM 331 + + + + +FAMOUS ADVENTURES AND PRISON ESCAPES OF THE CIVIL WAR + + + + +WAR DIARY OF A UNION WOMAN IN THE SOUTH + +EDITED BY G.W. CABLE + + +The following diary was originally written in lead-pencil and in a book +the leaves of which were too soft to take ink legibly. I have it direct +from the hands of its writer, a lady whom I have had the honor to know +for nearly thirty years. For good reasons the author's name is omitted, +and the initials of people and the names of places are sometimes +fictitiously given. Many of the persons mentioned were my own +acquaintances and friends. When, some twenty years afterward, she first +resolved to publish it, she brought me a clear, complete copy in ink. It +had cost much trouble, she said; for much of the pencil writing had been +made under such disadvantages and was so faint that at times she could +decipher it only under direct sunlight. She had succeeded, however, in +making a copy, _verbatim_ except for occasional improvement in the +grammatical form of a sentence, or now and then the omission, for +brevity's sake, of something unessential. The narrative has since been +severely abridged to bring it within magazine limits. + +In reading this diary one is much charmed with its constant +understatement of romantic and perilous incidents and conditions. But +the original penciled pages show that, even in copying, the strong bent +of the writer to be brief has often led to the exclusion of facts that +enhance the interest of exciting situations, and sometimes the omission +robs her own heroism of due emphasis. I have restored one example of +this in a foot-note following the perilous voyage down the Mississippi. + +G.W. CABLE. + + + + +I + +SECESSION + + +_New Orleans, Dec. 1, 1860._--I understand it now. Keeping journals is +for those who cannot, or dare not, speak out. So I shall set up a +journal, being only a rather lonely young girl in a very small and hated +minority. On my return here in November, after a foreign voyage and +absence of many months, I found myself behind in knowledge of the +political conflict, but heard the dread sounds of disunion and war +muttered in threatening tones. Surely no native-born woman loves her +country better than I love America. The blood of one of its +Revolutionary patriots flows in my veins, and it is the Union for which +he pledged his "life, fortune, and sacred honor" that I love, not any +divided or special section of it. So I have been reading attentively +and seeking light from foreigners and natives on all questions at issue. +Living from birth in slave countries, both foreign and American, and +passing through one slave insurrection in early childhood, the saddest +and also the pleasantest features of slavery have been familiar. If the +South goes to war for slavery, slavery is doomed in this country. To say +so is like opposing one drop to a roaring torrent. + +_Sunday, Dec. ----, 1860._--In this season for peace I had hoped for a lull +in the excitement, yet this day has been full of bitterness. "Come, G.," +said Mrs. ---- at breakfast, "leave _your_ church for to-day and come +with us to hear Dr. ---- on the situation. He will convince you." "It is +good to be convinced," I said; "I will go." The church was crowded to +suffocation with the élite of New Orleans. The preacher's text was, +"Shall we have fellowship with the stool of iniquity which frameth +mischief as a law?" ... The sermon was over at last, and then followed a +prayer.... Forever blessed be the fathers of the Episcopal Church for +giving us a fixed liturgy! When we met at dinner Mrs. F. exclaimed, +"Now, G., you heard him prove from the Bible that slavery is right and +that therefore secession is. Were you not convinced?" I said, "I was so +busy thinking how completely it proved too that Brigham Young is right +about polygamy that it quite weakened the force of the argument for me." +This raised a laugh, and covered my retreat. + +_Jan. 26, 1861._--The solemn boom of cannon to-day announced that the +convention have passed the ordinance of secession. We must take a reef +in our patriotism and narrow it down to State limits. Mine still sticks +out all around the borders of the State. It will be bad if New Orleans +should secede from Louisiana and set up for herself. Then indeed I would +be "cabined, cribbed, confined." The faces in the house are jubilant +to-day. Why is it so easy for them and not for me to "ring out the old, +ring in the new"? I am out of place. + +_Jan. 28, Monday._--Sunday has now got to be a day of special +excitement. The gentlemen save all the sensational papers to regale us +with at the late Sunday breakfast. Rob opened the battle yesterday +morning by saying to me in his most aggressive manner, "G., I believe +these are your sentiments"; and then he read aloud an article from the +"Journal des Debats" expressing in rather contemptuous terms the fact +that France will follow the policy of non-intervention. When I answered, +"Well, what do you expect? This is not their quarrel," he raved at me, +ending by a declaration that he would willingly pay my passage to +foreign parts if I would like to go. "Rob," said his father, "keep cool; +don't let that threat excite you. Cotton is king. Just wait till they +feel the pinch a little; their tone will change." I went to Trinity +Church. Some Union people who are not Episcopalians go there now because +the pastor has not so much chance to rail at the Lord when things are +not going to suit. But yesterday was a marked Sunday. The usual prayer +for the President and Congress was changed to the "governor and people +of this commonwealth and their representatives in convention assembled." + +The city was very lively and noisy this evening with rockets and lights +in honor of secession. Mrs. F., in common with the neighbors, +illuminated. We walked out to see the houses of others gleaming amid the +dark shrubbery like a fairy scene. The perfect stillness added to the +effect, while the moon rose slowly with calm splendor. We hastened home +to dress for a soirée but on the stairs Edith said, "G., first come and +help me dress Phoebe and Chloe [the negro servants]. There is a ball +to-night in aristocratic colored society. This is Chloe's first +introduction to New Orleans circles, and Henry Judson, Phoebe's husband, +gave five dollars for a ticket for her." Chloe is a recent purchase from +Georgia. We superintended their very stylish toilets, and Edith said, +"G., run into your room, please, and write a pass for Henry. Put Mr. +D.'s name to it." "Why, Henry is free," I said. "That makes no +difference; all colored people must have a pass if out late. They choose +a master for protection, and always carry his pass. Henry chose Mr. D., +but he's lost the pass he had." + + + + +II + +THE VOLUNTEERS--FORT SUMTER + + +_Feb. 24, 1861._--The toil of the week is ended. Nearly a month has +passed since I wrote here. Events have crowded upon one another. On the +4th the cannon boomed in honor of Jefferson Davis's election, and day +before yesterday Washington's birthday was made the occasion of another +grand display and illumination, in honor of the birth of a new nation +and the breaking of that Union which he labored to cement. We drove to +the race-course to see the review of troops. A flag was presented to the +Washington Artillery by ladies. Senator Judah Benjamin made an +impassioned speech. The banner was orange satin on one side, crimson +silk on the other, the pelican and brood embroidered in pale green and +gold. Silver crossed cannon surmounted it, orange-colored fringe +surrounded it, and crimson tassels drooped from it. It was a brilliant, +unreal scene; with military bands clashing triumphant music, elegant +vehicles, high-stepping horses, and lovely women richly appareled. + +Wedding-cards have been pouring in till the contagion has reached us; +Edith will be married next Thursday. The wedding-dress is being +fashioned, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen have arrived. Edith has +requested me to be special mistress of ceremonies on Thursday evening, +and I have told this terrible little rebel, who talks nothing but blood +and thunder, yet faints at the sight of a worm, that if I fill that +office no one shall mention war or politics during the whole evening, on +pain of expulsion. + +_March 10, 1861._--The excitement in this house has risen to fever-heat +during the past week. The four gentlemen have each a different plan for +saving the country, and now that the bridal bouquets have faded, the +three ladies have again turned to public affairs; Lincoln's inauguration +and the story of the disguise in which he traveled to Washington is a +never-ending source of gossip. The family board being the common forum, +each gentleman as he appears first unloads his pockets of papers from +all the Southern States, and then his overflowing heart to his eager +female listeners, who in turn relate, inquire, sympathize, or cheer. If +I dare express a doubt that the path to victory will be a flowery one, +eyes flash, cheeks burn, and tongues clatter, till all are checked up +suddenly by a warning for "Order, order!" from the amiable lady +presiding. Thus we swallow politics with every meal. We take a mouthful +and read a telegram, one eye on table, the other on the paper. One must +be made of cool stuff to keep calm and collected, but I say but little. +This war fever has banished small talk. Through all the black servants +move about quietly, never seeming to notice that this is all about them. + +"How can you speak so plainly before them?" I say. + +"Why, what matter? They know that we shall keep the whip-handle." + +_April 13, 1861._--More than a month has passed since the last date +here. This afternoon I was seated on the floor covered with loveliest +flowers, arranging a floral offering for the fair, when the gentlemen +arrived and with papers bearing news of the fall of Fort Sumter, which, +at her request, I read to Mrs. F. + +_April 20._--The last few days have glided away in a halo of beauty. But +nobody has time or will to enjoy it. War, war! is the one idea. The +children play only with toy cannons and soldiers; the oldest inhabitant +goes by every day with his rifle to practice; the public squares are +full of companies drilling, and are now the fashionable resorts. We have +been told that it is best for women to learn how to shoot too, so as to +protect themselves when the men have all gone to battle. Every evening +after dinner we adjourn to the back lot and fire at a target with +pistols. Yesterday I dined at Uncle Ralph's. Some members of the bar +were present, and were jubilant about their brand-new Confederacy. It +would soon be the grandest government ever known. Uncle Ralph said +solemnly, "No, gentlemen; the day we seceded the star of our glory set." +The words sunk into my mind like a knell, and made me wonder at the mind +that could recognize that and yet adhere to the doctrine of secession. + +In the evening I attended a farewell gathering at a friend's whose +brothers are to leave this week for Richmond. There was music. No minor +chord was permitted. + + + + +III + +TRIBULATION + + +_April 25._--Yesterday I went with Cousin E. to have her picture taken. +The picture-galleries are doing a thriving business. Many companies are +ordered off to take possession of Fort Pickens (Florida), and all seem +to be leaving sweethearts behind them. The crowd was in high spirits; +they don't dream that any destinies will be spoiled. When I got home +Edith was reading from the daily paper of the dismissal of Miss G. from +her place as teacher for expressing abolition sentiments, and that she +would be ordered to leave the city. Soon a lady came with a paper +setting forth that she has established a "company"--we are nothing if +not military--for making lint and getting stores of linen to supply the +hospitals. + +My name went down. If it hadn't, my spirit would have been wounded as +with sharp spears before night. Next came a little girl with a +subscription paper to get a flag for a certain company. The little +girls, especially the pretty ones, are kept busy trotting around with +subscription lists. Latest of all came little Guy, Mr. F.'s youngest +clerk, the pet of the firm as well as of his home, a mere boy of +sixteen. Such senseless sacrifices seem a sin. He chattered brightly, +but lingered about, saying good-by. He got through it bravely until +Edith's husband incautiously said, "You didn't kiss your little +sweetheart," as he always called Ellie, who had been allowed to sit up. +He turned and suddenly broke into agonizing sobs and then ran down the +steps. + +_May 10._--I am tired and ashamed of myself. Last week I attended a +meeting of the lint society to hand in the small contribution of linen I +had been able to gather. We scraped lint till it was dark. A paper was +shown, entitled the "Volunteer's Friend," started by the girls of the +high school, and I was asked to help the girls with it. I positively +declined. To-day I was pressed into service to make red flannel +cartridge-bags for ten-inch columbiads. I basted while Mrs. S. sewed, +and I felt ashamed to think that I had not the moral courage to say, "I +don't approve of your war and won't help you, particularly in the +murderous part of it." + +_May 27._--This has been a scenic Sabbath. Various companies about to +depart for Virginia occupied the prominent churches to have their flags +consecrated. The streets were resonant with the clangor of drums and +trumpets. E. and myself went to Christ Church because the Washington +Artillery were to be there. + +_June 13._--To-day has been appointed a Fast Day. I spent the morning +writing a letter on which I put my first Confederate postage-stamp. It +is of a brown color and has a large 5 in the center. To-morrow must be +devoted to all my foreign correspondents before the expected blockade +cuts us off. + +_June 29._--I attended a fine luncheon yesterday at one of the public +schools. A lady remarked to a school official that the cost of +provisions in the Confederacy was getting very high, butter, especially, +being scarce and costly. "Never fear, my dear madam," he replied. "Texas +alone can furnish butter enough to supply the whole Confederacy; we'll +soon be getting it from there." It's just as well to have this sublime +confidence. + +_July 15._--The quiet of midsummer reigns, but ripples of excitement +break around us as the papers tell of skirmishes and attacks here and +there in Virginia. "Rich Mountain" and "Carrick's Ford" were the last. +"You see," said Mrs. D. at breakfast to-day, "my prophecy is coming true +that Virginia will be the seat of war." "Indeed," I burst out, +forgetting my resolution not to argue, "you may think yourselves lucky +if this war turns out to have any seat in particular." + +So far, no one especially connected with me has gone to fight. How glad +I am for his mother's sake that Rob's lameness will keep him at home. +Mr. F., Mr. S., and Uncle Ralph are beyond the age for active service, +and Edith says Mr. D. can't go now. She is very enthusiastic about other +people's husbands being enrolled, and regrets that her Alex is not +strong enough to defend his country and his rights. + +_July 22._--What a day! I feel like one who has been out in a high wind, +and cannot get my breath. The newsboys are still shouting with their +extras, "Battle of Bull's Run! List of the killed! Battle of Manassas! +List of the wounded!" Tender-hearted Mrs. F. was sobbing so she could +not serve the tea; but nobody cared for tea. "O G.!" she said, "three +thousand of our own, dear Southern boys are lying out there." "My dear +Fannie," spoke Mr. F., "they are heroes now. They died in a glorious +cause, and it is not in vain. This will end it. The sacrifice had to be +made, but those killed have gained immortal names." Then Rob rushed in +with a new extra, reading of the spoils captured, and grief was +forgotten. Words cannot paint the excitement. Rob capered about and +cheered; Edith danced around ringing the dinner-bell and shouting, +"Victory!" Mrs. F. waved a small Confederate flag, while she wiped her +eyes, and Mr. D. hastened to the piano and in his most brilliant style +struck up "Dixie," followed by "My Maryland" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag." + +"Do not look so gloomy, G.," whispered Mr. S. "You should be happy +to-night; for, as Mr. F. says, now we shall have peace." + +"And is that the way you think of the men of your own blood and race?" I +replied. But an utter scorn came over me and choked me, and I walked out +of the room. What proof is there in this dark hour that they are not +right? Only the emphatic answer of my own soul. To-morrow I will pack my +trunk and accept the invitation to visit at Uncle Ralph's country house. + +_Sept. 25._--When I opened the door of Mrs. F.'s room on my return, the +rattle of two sewing-machines and a blaze of color met me. + +"Ah, G., you are just in time to help us; these are coats for Jeff +Thompson's men. All the cloth in the city is exhausted; these +flannel-lined oil-cloth table-covers are all we could obtain to make +overcoats for Thompson's poor boys. They will be very warm and +serviceable." + +"Serviceable--yes! The Federal army will fly when they see those coats! +I only wish I could be with the regiment when these are shared around." +Yet I helped make them. + +Seriously, I wonder if any soldiers will ever wear these remarkable +coats--the most bewildering combination of brilliant, intense reds, +greens, yellows, and blues in big flowers meandering over as vivid +grounds; and as no table-cover was large enough to make a coat, the +sleeves of each were of a different color and pattern. However, the +coats were duly finished. Then we set to work on gray pantaloons, and I +have just carried a bundle to an ardent young lady who wishes to assist. +A slight gloom is settling down, and the inmates here are not quite so +cheerfully confident as in July. + + + + +IV + +A BELEAGUERED CITY + + +_Oct. 22._--When I came to breakfast this morning Rob was capering over +another victory--Ball's Bluff. He would read me, "We pitched the Yankees +over the bluff," and ask me in the next breath to go to the theater +this evening. I turned on the poor fellow. "Don't tell me about your +victories. You vowed by all your idols that the blockade would be raised +by October 1, and I notice the ships are still serenely anchored below +the city." + +"G., you are just as pertinacious yourself in championing your opinions. +What sustains you when nobody agrees with you?" + +_Oct. 28._--When I dropped in at Uncle Ralph's last evening to welcome +them back, the whole family were busy at a great center-table copying +sequestration acts for the Confederate Government. The property of all +Northerners and Unionists is to be sequestrated, and Uncle Ralph can +hardly get the work done fast enough. My aunt apologized for the rooms +looking chilly; she feared to put the carpets down, as the city might be +taken and burned by the Federals. "We are living as much packed up as +possible. A signal has been agreed upon, and the instant the army +approaches we shall be off to the country again." + +Great preparations are being made for defense. At several other places +where I called the women were almost hysterical. They seemed to look +forward to being blown up with shot and shell, finished with cold steel, +or whisked off to some Northern prison. When I got home Edith and Mr. D. +had just returned also. + +"Alex," said Edith, "I was up at your orange-lots to-day, and the sour +oranges are dropping to the ground, while they cannot get lemons for our +sick soldiers." + +"That's my kind, considerate wife," replied Mr. D. + +"Why didn't I think of that before? Jim shall fill some barrels +to-morrow and take them to the hospitals as a present from you." + +_Nov. 10._--Surely this year will ever be memorable to me for its +perfection of natural beauty. Never was sunshine such pure gold, or +moonlight such transparent silver. The beautiful custom prevalent here +of decking the graves with flowers on All Saints' day was well +fulfilled, so profuse and rich were the blossoms. On All-hallow eve Mrs. +S. and myself visited a large cemetery. The chrysanthemums lay like +great masses of snow and flame and gold in every garden we passed, and +were piled on every costly tomb and lowly grave. The battle of Manassas +robed many of our women in mourning, and some of those who had no graves +to deck were weeping silently as they walked through the scented +avenues. + +A few days ago Mrs. E. arrived here. She is a widow, of Natchez, a +friend of Mrs. F.'s, and is traveling home with the dead body of her +eldest son, killed at Manassas. She stopped two days waiting for a boat, +and begged me to share her room and read her to sleep, saying she +couldn't be alone since he was killed; she feared her mind would give +way. So I read all the comforting chapters to be found till she dropped +into forgetfulness, but the recollection of those weeping mothers in the +cemetery banished sleep for me. + +_Nov. 26._--The lingering summer is passing into those misty autumn days +I love so well, when there is gold and fire above and around us. But the +glory of the natural and the gloom of the moral world agree not well +together. This morning Mrs. F. came to my room in dire distress. "You +see," she said, "cold weather is coming on fast, and our poor fellows +are lying out at night with nothing to cover them. There is a wail for +blankets, but there is not a blanket in town. I have gathered up all the +spare bed-clothing, and now want every available rug or table-cover in +the house. Can't I have yours, G.? We must make these small sacrifices +of comfort and elegance, you know, to secure independence and freedom." + +"Very well," I said, denuding the table. "This may do for a drummer +boy." + +_Dec. 26, 1861._--The foul weather cleared off bright and cool in time +for Christmas. There is a midwinter lull in the movement of troops. In +the evening we went to the grand bazaar in the St. Louis Hotel, got up +to clothe the soldiers. This bazaar has furnished the gayest, most +fashionable war-work yet, and has kept social circles in a flutter of +pleasant, heroic excitement all through December. Everything beautiful +or rare garnered in the homes of the rich was given for exhibition, and +in some cases for raffle and sale. There were many fine paintings, +statues, bronzes, engravings, gems, laces--in fact, heirlooms and +bric-à-brac of all sorts. There were many lovely creole girls present, +in exquisite toilets, passing to and fro through the decorated rooms, +listening to the band clash out the Anvil Chorus. + +_Jan. 2, 1862._--I am glad enough to bid '61 good-by. Most miserable +year of my life! What ages of thought and experience have I not lived in +it! + +The city authorities have been searching houses for firearms. It is a +good way to get more guns, and the homes of those men suspected of +being Unionists were searched first. Of course they went to Dr. B.'s. He +met them with his own delightful courtesy. "Wish to search for arms? +Certainly, gentlemen." He conducted them all through the house with +smiling readiness, and after what seemed a very thorough search bowed +them politely out. His gun was all the time safely reposing between the +canvas folds of a cot-bed which leaned folded up together against the +wall, in the very room where they had ransacked the closets. Queerly, +the rebel families have been the ones most anxious to conceal all +weapons. They have dug graves quietly at night in the back yards, and +carefully wrapping the weapons, buried them out of sight. Every man +seems to think he will have some private fighting to do to protect his +family. + + + + +V + +MARRIED + + +_Friday, Jan. 24, 1862._ (_On Steamboat W., Mississippi River._)--With a +changed name I open you once more, my journal. It was a sad time to wed, +when one knew not how long the expected conscription would spare the +bridegroom. The women-folk knew how to sympathize with a girl expected +to prepare for her wedding in three days, in a blockaded city, and about +to go far from any base of supplies. They all rallied round me with +tokens of love and consideration, and sewed, shopped, mended, and +packed, as if sewing soldier clothes. And they decked the whole house +and the church with flowers. Music breathed, wine sparkled, friends came +and went. It seemed a dream, and comes up now again out of the afternoon +sunshine where I sit on deck. The steamboat slowly plows its way through +lumps of floating ice,--a novel sight to me,--and I look forward +wondering whether the new people I shall meet will be as fierce about +the war as those in New Orleans. That past is to be all forgotten and +forgiven; I understood thus the kindly acts that sought to brighten the +threshold of a new life. + +_Feb. 15._ (_Village of X._)--We reached Arkansas Landing at nightfall. +Mr. Y., the planter who owns the landing, took us right up to his +residence. He ushered me into a large room where a couple of candles +gave a dim light, and close to them, and sewing as if on a race with +Time, sat Mrs. Y. and a little negro girl, who was so black and sat so +stiff and straight she looked like an ebony image. This was a large +plantation; the Y.'s knew H. very well, and were very kind and cordial +in their welcome and congratulations. Mrs. Y. apologized for continuing +her work; the war had pushed them this year in getting the negroes +clothed, and she had to sew by dim candles, as they could obtain no more +oil. She asked if there were any new fashions in New Orleans. + +Next morning we drove over to our home in this village. It is the +county-seat, and was, till now, a good place for the practice of H.'s +profession. It lies on the edge of a lovely lake. The adjacent planters +count their slaves by the hundreds. Some of them live with a good deal +of magnificence, using service of plate, having smoking-rooms for the +gentlemen built off the house, and entertaining with great hospitality. +The Baptists, Episcopalians, and Methodists hold services on alternate +Sundays in the court-house. All the planters and many others near the +lake shore keep a boat at their landing, and a raft for crossing +vehicles and horses. It seemed very piquant at first, this taking our +boat to go visiting, and on moonlight nights it was charming. The woods +around are lovelier than those in Louisiana, though one misses the +moaning of the pines. There is fine fishing and hunting, but these +cotton estates are not so pleasant to visit as sugar plantations. + +But nothing else has been so delightful as, one morning, my first sight +of snow and a wonderful new, white world. + +_Feb. 27._--The people here have hardly felt the war yet. There are but +two classes. The planters and the professional men form one; the very +poor villagers the other. There is no middle class. Ducks and +partridges, squirrels and fish, are to be had. H. has bought me a nice +pony, and cantering along the shore of the lake in the sunset is a +panacea for mental worry. + + + + +VI + +HOW IT WAS IN ARKANSAS + + +_March 11, 1862._--The serpent has entered our Eden. The rancor and +excitement of New Orleans have invaded this place. If an incautious word +betrays any want of sympathy with popular plans, one is "traitorous," +"ungrateful," "crazy." If one remains silent and controlled, then one is +"phlegmatic," "cool-blooded," "unpatriotic." Cool-blooded! Heavens! if +they only knew. It is very painful to see lovable and intelligent women +rave till the blood mounts to face and brain. The immediate cause of +this access of war fever has been the battle of Pea Ridge. They scout +the idea that Price and Van Dorn have been completely worsted. Those who +brought the news were speedily told what they ought to say. "No, it is +only a serious check; they must have more men sent forward at once. This +country must do its duty." So the women say another company _must_ be +raised. + +We were guests at a dinner-party yesterday. Mrs. A. was very talkative. +"Now, ladies, you must all join in with a vim and help equip another +company." + +"Mrs. L.," she said, turning to me, "are you not going to send your +husband? Now use a young bride's influence and persuade him; he would be +elected one of the officers." "Mrs. A.," I replied, longing to spring up +and throttle her, "the Bible says, 'When a man hath married a new wife, +he shall not go to war for one year, but remain at home and cheer up his +wife.'" + +"Well, H.," I questioned, as we walked home after crossing the lake, +"can you stand the pressure, or shall you be forced into volunteering?" +"Indeed," he replied, "I will not be bullied into enlisting by women, or +by men. I will sooner take my chance of conscription and feel honest +about it. You know my attachments, my interests are here; these are my +people. I could never fight against them; but my judgment disapproves +their course, and the result will inevitably be against us." + +This morning the only Irishman left in the village presented himself to +H. He has been our wood-sawyer, gardener, and factotum, but having +joined the new company, his time recently has been taken up with +drilling. H. and Mr. R. feel that an extensive vegetable garden must be +prepared while he is here to assist, or we shall be short of food, and +they sent for him yesterday. + +"So, Mike, you are really going to be a soldier?" + +"Yes, sor; but faith, Mr. L., I don't see the use of me going to shtop a +bullet when sure an' I'm willin' for it to go where it plazes." + +_March 18, 1862._--There has been unusual gaiety in this little village +the past few days. The ladies from the surrounding plantations went to +work to get up a festival to equip the new company. As Annie and myself +are both brides recently from the city, requisition was made upon us for +engravings, costumes, music, garlands, and so forth. Annie's heart was +in the work; not so with me. Nevertheless, my pretty things were +captured, and shone with just as good a grace last evening as if +willingly lent. The ball was a merry one. One of the songs sung was +"Nellie Gray," in which the most distressing feature of slavery is +bewailed so pitifully. To sing this at a festival for raising money to +clothe soldiers fighting to perpetuate that very thing was strange. + +_March 20, 1862._--A man professing to act by General Hindman's orders +is going through the country impressing horses and mules. The overseer +of a certain estate came to inquire of H. if he had not a legal right +to protect the property from seizure. Mr. L. said yes, unless the agent +could show some better credentials than his bare word. This answer soon +spread about, and the overseer returned to report that it excited great +indignation, especially among the company of new volunteers. H. was +pronounced a traitor, and they declared that no one so untrue to the +Confederacy should live there. When H. related the circumstance at +dinner, his partner, Mr. R., became very angry, being ignorant of H.'s +real opinions. He jumped up in a rage and marched away to the village +thoroughfare. There he met a batch of the volunteers, and said, "We know +what you have said of us, and I have come to tell you that you are +liars, and you know where to find us." + +Of course I expected a difficulty; but the evening passed, and we +retired undisturbed. Not long afterward a series of indescribable sounds +broke the stillness of the night, and the tramp of feet was heard +outside the house. Mr. R. called out, "It's a serenade, H. Get up and +bring out all the wine you have." Annie and I peeped through the parlor +window, and lo! it was the company of volunteers and a diabolical band +composed of bones and broken-winded brass instruments. They piped and +clattered and whined for some time, and then swarmed in, while we ladies +retreated and listened to the clink of glasses. + +_March 22._--H., Mr. R., and Mike have been very busy the last few days +getting the acre of kitchen-garden plowed and planted. The stay-law has +stopped all legal business, and they have welcomed this work. But to-day +a thunderbolt fell in our household. Mr. R. came in and announced that +he had agreed to join the company of volunteers. Annie's Confederate +principles would not permit her to make much resistance, and she has +been sewing and mending as fast as possible to get his clothes ready, +stopping now and then to wipe her eyes. Poor Annie! She and Max have +been married only a few months longer than we have; but a noble sense of +duty animates and sustains her. + + + + +VII + +THE FIGHT FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING + + +_April 1._--The last ten days have brought changes in the house. Max R. +left with the company to be mustered in, leaving with us his weeping +Annie. Hardly were her spirits somewhat composed when her brother +arrived from Natchez to take her home. This morning he, Annie, and +Reeney, the black handmaiden, posted off. Out of seven of us only H., +myself, and Aunt Judy are left. The absence of Reeney will be not the +least noted. She was as precious an imp as any Topsy ever was. Her +tricks were endless and her innocence of them amazing. When sent out to +bring in eggs she would take them from nests where hens were hatching, +and embryo chickens would be served up at breakfast, while Reeney stood +by grinning to see them opened; but when accused she was imperturbable. +"Laws, Mis' L., I nebber done bin nigh dem hens. Mis' Annie, you can go +count dem dere eggs." That when counted they were found minus the +number she had brought had no effect on her stolid denial. H. has +plenty to do finishing the garden all by himself, but the time rather +drags for me. + +_April 13, 1862._--This morning I was sewing up a rent in H.'s garden +coat, when Aunt Judy rushed in. + +"Laws! Mis' L., here's Mr. Max and Mis' Annie done come back!" A buggy +was coming up with Max, Annie, and Reeney. + +"Well, is the war over?" I asked. + +"Oh, I got sick!" replied our returned soldier, getting slowly out of +the buggy. + +He was very thin and pale, and explained that he took a severe cold +almost at once, had a mild attack of pneumonia, and the surgeon got him +his discharge as unfit for service. He succeeded in reaching Annie, and +a few days of good care made him strong enough to travel back home. + +"I suppose, H., you've heard that Island No. 10 is gone?" + +Yes, we had heard that much, but Max had the particulars, and an +exciting talk followed. At night H. said to me, "G., New Orleans will be +the next to go, you'll see, and I want to get there first; this +stagnation here will kill me." + +_April 28._--This evening has been very lovely, but full of a sad +disappointment. H. invited me to drive. As we turned homeward he said: + +"Well, my arrangements are completed. You can begin to pack your trunks +to-morrow, and I shall have a talk with Max." + +Mr. R. and Annie were sitting on the gallery as I ran up the steps. + +"Heard the news?" they cried. + +"No. What news?" + +"New Orleans is taken! All the boats have been run up the river to save +them. No more mails." + +How little they knew what plans of ours this dashed away. But our +disappointment is truly an infinitesimal drop in the great waves of +triumph and despair surging to-night in thousands of hearts. + +_April 30._--The last two weeks have glided quietly away without +incident except the arrival of new neighbors--Dr. Y., his wife, two +children, and servants. That a professional man prospering in Vicksburg +should come now to settle in this retired place looks queer. Max said: + +"H., that man has come here to hide from the conscript officers. He has +brought no end of provisions, and is here for the war. He has chosen +well, for this county is so cleaned of men it won't pay to send the +conscript officers here." + +Our stores are diminishing and cannot be replenished from without; +ingenuity and labor must evoke them. We have a fine garden in growth, +plenty of chickens, and hives of bees to furnish honey in lieu of sugar. +A good deal of salt meat has been stored in the smoke-house, and, with +fish from the lake, we expect to keep the wolf from the door. The season +for game is about over, but an occasional squirrel or duck comes to the +larder, though the question of ammunition has to be considered. What we +have may be all we can have, if the war lasts five years longer; and +they say they are prepared to hold out till the crack of doom. Food, +however, is not the only want. I never realized before the varied needs +of civilization. Every day something is _out_. Last week but two bars +of soap remained, so we began to save bones and ashes. Annie said: "Now +if we only had some china-berry trees here, we shouldn't need any other +grease. They are making splendid soap at Vicksburg with china-balls. +They just put the berries into the lye and it eats them right up and +makes a fine soap." I did long for some china-berries to make this +experiment. H. had laid in what seemed a good supply of kerosene, but it +is nearly gone, and we are down to two candles kept for an emergency. +Annie brought a receipt from Natchez for making candles of rosin and +wax, and with great forethought brought also the wick and rosin. So +yesterday we tried making candles. We had no molds, but Annie said the +latest style in Natchez was to make a waxen rope by dipping, then wrap +it round a corn-cob. But H. cut smooth blocks of wood about four inches +square, into which he set a polished cylinder about four inches high. +The waxen ropes were coiled round the cylinder like a serpent, with the +head raised about two inches; as the light burned down to the cylinder, +more of the rope was unwound. To-day the vinegar was found to be all +gone, and we have started to make some. For tyros we succeed pretty +well. + + + + +VIII + +DROWNED OUT AND STARVED OUT + + +_May 9._--A great misfortune has come upon us all. For several days +every one has been uneasy about the unusual rise of the Mississippi and +about a rumor that the Federal forces had cut levees above to swamp the +country. There is a slight levee back of the village, and H. went +yesterday to examine it. It looked strong, and we hoped for the best. +About dawn this morning a strange gurgle woke me. It had a pleasing, +lulling effect. I could not fully rouse at first, but curiosity +conquered at last, and I called H. + +"Listen to that running water. What is it?" + +He sprung up, listened a second, and shouted: "Max, get up! The water is +on us!" They both rushed off to the lake for the skiff. The levee had +not broken. The water was running clean over it and through the garden +fence so rapidly that by the time I dressed and got outside Max was +paddling the pirogue they had brought in among the pea-vines, gathering +all the ripe peas left above the water. We had enjoyed one mess, and he +vowed we should have another. + +H. was busy nailing a raft together while he had a dry place to stand +on. Annie and I, with Reeney, had to secure the chickens, and the back +piazza was given up to them. By the time a hasty breakfast was eaten the +water was in the kitchen. The stove and everything there had to be put +up in the dining-room. Aunt Judy and Reeney had likewise to move into +the house, their floor also being covered with water. The raft had to be +floated to the storehouse and a platform built, on which everything was +elevated. At evening we looked around and counted the cost. The garden +was utterly gone. Last evening we had walked round the strawberry-beds +that fringed the whole acre and tasted a few just ripe. The hives were +swamped. Many of the chickens were drowned. Sancho had been sent to +high ground, where he could get grass. In the village everything green +was swept away. Yet we were better off than many others; for this house, +being raised, we have escaped the water indoors. It just laves the edge +of the galleries. + +_May 26._--During the past week we have lived somewhat like Venetians, +with a boat at the front steps and a raft at the back. Sunday H. and I +took skiff to church. The clergyman, who is also tutor at a planter's +across the lake, preached to the few who had arrived in skiffs. We shall +not try it again, it is so troublesome getting in and out at the +court-house steps. The imprisonment is hard to endure. It threatened to +make me really ill, so every evening H. lays a thick wrap in the +pirogue, I sit on it, and we row off to the ridge of dry land running +along the lake-shore and branching off to a strip of wood also out of +water. Here we disembark and march up and down till dusk. A great deal +of the wood got wet and had to be laid out to dry on the galleries, with +clothing, and everything that must be dried. One's own trials are +intensified by the worse suffering around that we can do nothing to +relieve. + +Max has a puppy named after General Price. The gentlemen had both gone +up-town yesterday in the skiff when Annie and I heard little Price's +despairing cries from under the house, and we got on the raft to find +and save him. We wore light morning dresses and slippers, for shoes are +becoming precious. Annie donned a Shaker and I a broad hat. We got the +raft pushed out to the center of the grounds opposite the house, and +could see Price clinging to a post; the next move must be to navigate +the raft up to the side of the house and reach for Price. It sounds +easy; but poke around with our poles as wildly or as scientifically as +we might, the raft would not budge. The noonday sun was blazing right +overhead, and the muddy water running all over slippered feet and dainty +dresses. How long we stayed praying for rescue, yet wincing already at +the laugh that would come with it, I shall never know. It seemed like a +day before the welcome boat and the "Ha, ha!" of H. and Max were heard. +The confinement tells severely on all the animal life about us. Half the +chickens are dead and the other half sick. + +The days drag slowly. We have to depend mainly on books to relieve the +tedium, for we have no piano; none of us like cards; we are very poor +chess-players, and the chess-set is incomplete. When we gather round the +one lamp--we dare not light any more--each one exchanges the gems of +thought or mirthful ideas he finds. Frequently the gnats and the +mosquitos are so bad we cannot read at all. This evening, till a strong +breeze blew them away, they were intolerable. Aunt Judy goes about in a +dignified silence, too full for words, only asking two or three times, +"W'at I done tole you fum de fust?" The food is a trial. This evening +the snaky candles lighted the glass and silver on the supper-table with +a pale gleam, and disclosed a frugal supper indeed--tea without milk +(for all the cows are gone), honey, and bread. A faint ray twinkled on +the water swishing against the house and stretching away into the dark +woods. It looked like civilization and barbarism met together. Just as +we sat down to it, some one passing in a boat shouted that Confederates +and Federals were fighting at Vicksburg. + +_Monday, June 2._--On last Friday morning, just three weeks from the day +the water rose, signs of its falling began. Yesterday the ground +appeared, and a hard rain coming down at the same time washed off much +of the unwholesome debris. To-day is fine, and we went out without a +boat for a long walk. + +_June 13._--Since the water ran off, we have, of course, been attacked +by swamp fever. H. succumbed first, then Annie, Max next, and then I. +Luckily, the new Dr. Y. had brought quinine with him, and we took heroic +doses. Such fever never burned in my veins before or sapped strength so +rapidly, though probably the want of good food was a factor. The two or +three other professional men have left. Dr. Y. alone remains. The roads +now being dry enough, H. and Max started on horseback, in different +directions, to make an exhaustive search for food supplies. H. got back +this evening with no supplies. + +_June 15._--Max got back to-day. He started right off again to cross the +lake and interview the planters on that side, for they had not suffered +from overflow. + +_June 16._--Max got back this morning. H. and he were in the parlor +talking and examining maps together till dinner-time. When that was over +they laid the matter before us. To buy provisions had proved impossible. +The planters across the lake had decided to issue rations of corn-meal +and pease to the villagers whose men had all gone to war, but they +utterly refused to sell anything. "They told me," said Max, "'We will +not see your family starve, Mr. R.; but with such numbers of slaves and +the village poor to feed, we can spare nothing for sale.'" "Well, of +course," said H., "we do not purpose to stay here and live on charity +rations. We must leave the place at all hazards. We have studied out +every route and made inquiries everywhere we went. We shall have to go +down the Mississippi in an open boat as far as Fetler's Landing (on the +eastern bank). There we can cross by land and put the boat into Steele's +Bayou, pass thence to the Yazoo River, from there to Chickasaw Bayou, +into McNutt's Lake, and land near my uncle's in Warren County." + +_June 20._--As soon as our intended departure was announced, we were +besieged by requests for all sorts of things wanted in every +family--pins, matches, gunpowder, and ink. One of the last cases H. and +Max had before the stay-law stopped legal business was the settlement of +an estate that included a country store. The heirs had paid in chattels +of the store. These had remained packed in the office. The main contents +of the cases were hardware; but we found treasure indeed--a keg of +powder, a case of matches, a paper of pins, a bottle of ink. Red ink is +now made out of pokeberries. Pins are made by capping thorns with +sealing-wax, or using them as nature made them. These were articles +money could not get for us. We would give our friends a few matches to +save for the hour of tribulation. The paper of pins we divided evenly, +and filled a bank-box each with the matches. H. filled a tight tin case +apiece with powder for Max and himself and sold the rest, as we could +not carry any more on such a trip. Those who did not hear of this in +time offered fabulous prices afterward for a single pound. But money +has not its old attractions. Our preparations were delayed by Aunt Judy +falling sick of swamp fever. + +_Friday, June 27._--As soon as the cook was up again, we resumed +preparations. We put all the clothing in order, and had it nicely done +up with the last of the soap and starch. "I wonder," said Annie, "when I +shall ever have nicely starched clothes after these? They had no starch +in Natchez or Vicksburg when I was there." We are now furbishing up +dresses suitable for such rough summer travel. While we sat at work +yesterday, the quiet of the clear, calm noon was broken by a low, +continuous roar like distant thunder. To-day we are told it was probably +cannon at Vicksburg. This is a great distance, I think, to have heard +it--over a hundred miles. + +H. and Max have bought a large yawl and are busy on the lake-bank +repairing it and fitting it with lockers. Aunt Judy's master has been +notified when to send for her; a home for the cat Jeff has been engaged; +Price is dead, and Sancho sold. Nearly all the furniture is disposed of, +except things valued from association, which will be packed in H.'s +office and left with some one likely to stay through the war. It is +hardest to leave the books. + +_Tuesday, July 8._--We start to-morrow. Packing the trunks was a +problem. Annie and I are allowed one large trunk apiece, the gentlemen a +smaller one each, and we a light carpet-sack apiece for toilet articles. +I arrived with six trunks and leave with one! We went over everything +carefully twice, rejecting, trying to off the bonds of custom and get +down to primitive needs. At last we made a judicious selection. +Everything old or worn was left; everything merely ornamental, except +good lace, which was light. Gossamer evening dresses were all left. I +calculated on taking two or three books that would bear the most reading +if we were again shut up where none could be had, and so, of course, +took Shakspere first. Here I was interrupted to go and pay a farewell +visit, and when we returned Max had packed and nailed the cases of books +to be left. Chance thus limited my choice to those that happened to be +in my room--"Paradise Lost," the "Arabian Nights," a volume of +Macaulay's History I was reading, and my prayer-book. To-day the +provisions for the trip were cooked: the last of the flour was made into +large loaves of bread; a ham and several dozen eggs were boiled; the few +chickens that have survived the overflow were fried; the last of the +coffee was parched and ground; and the modicum of the tea was well +corked up. Our friends across the lake added a jar of butter and two of +preserves. H. rode off to X. after dinner to conclude some business +there, and I sat down before a table to tie bundles of things to be +left. The sunset glowed and faded, and the quiet evening came on calm +and starry. I sat by the window till evening deepened into night, and as +the moon rose I still looked a reluctant farewell to the lovely lake and +the grand woods, till the sound of H.'s horse at the gate broke the +spell. + + + + +IX + +HOMELESS AND SHELTERLESS + + +_Thursday, July 10._ (---- _Plantation._)--Yesterday about four o'clock +we walked to the lake and embarked. Provisions and utensils were packed +in the lockers, and a large trunk was stowed at each end. The blankets +and cushions were placed against one of them, and Annie and I sat on +them Turkish fashion. Near the center the two smaller trunks made a +place for Reeney. Max and H. were to take turns at the rudder and oars. +The last word was a fervent God-speed from Mr. E., who is left in charge +of all our affairs. We believe him to be a Union man, but have never +spoken of it to him. We were gloomy enough crossing the lake, for it was +evident the heavily laden boat would be difficult to manage. Last night +we stayed at this plantation, and from the window of my room I see the +men unloading the boat to place it on the cart, which a team of oxen +will haul to the river. These hospitable people are kindness itself, +till you mention the war. + +_Saturday, July 12._ (_Under a cotton-shed on the bank of the +Mississippi River._)--Thursday was a lovely day, and the sight of the +broad river exhilarating. The negroes launched and reloaded the boat, +and when we had paid them and spoken good-by to them we felt we were +really off. Every one had said that if we kept in the current the boat +would almost go of itself, but in fact the current seemed to throw it +about, and hard pulling was necessary. The heat of the sun was very +severe, and it proved impossible to use an umbrella or any kind of +shade, as it made steering more difficult. Snags and floating timbers +were very troublesome. Twice we hurried up to the bank out of the way of +passing gunboats, but they took no notice of us. When we got thirsty, it +was found that Max had set the jug of water in the shade of a tree and +left it there. We must dip up the river water or go without. When it got +too dark to travel safely we disembarked. Reeney gathered wood, made a +fire and some tea, and we had a good supper. We then divided, H. and I +remaining to watch the boat, Max and Annie on shore. She hung up a +mosquito-bar to the trees and went to bed comfortably. In the boat the +mosquitos were horrible, but I fell asleep and slept till voices on the +bank woke me. Annie was wandering disconsolate round her bed, and when I +asked the trouble, said, "Oh, I can't sleep there! I found a toad and a +lizard in the bed." When dropping off again, H. woke me to say he was +very sick; he thought it was from drinking the river water. With +difficulty I got a trunk opened to find some medicine. While doing so a +gunboat loomed up vast and gloomy, and we gave each other a good fright. +Our voices doubtless reached her, for instantly every one of her lights +disappeared and she ran for a few minutes along the opposite bank. We +momently expected a shell as a feeler. + +At dawn next morning we made coffee and a hasty breakfast, fixed up as +well as we could in our sylvan dressing-rooms, and pushed on; for it is +settled that traveling between eleven and two will have to be given up +unless we want to be roasted alive. H. grew worse. He suffered terribly, +and the rest of us as much to see him pulling in such a state of +exhaustion. Max would not trust either of us to steer. About eleven we +reached the landing of a plantation. Max walked up to the house and +returned with the owner, an old gentleman living alone with his slaves. +The housekeeper, a young colored girl, could not be surpassed in her +graceful efforts to make us comfortable and anticipate every want. I was +so anxious about H. that I remember nothing except that the cold +drinking-water taken from a cistern beneath the building, into which +only the winter rains were allowed to fall, was like an elixir. They +offered luscious peaches that, with such water, were nectar and ambrosia +to our parched lips. At night the housekeeper said she was sorry they +had no mosquito-bars ready, and hoped the mosquitos would not be thick, +but they came out in legions. I knew that on sleep that night depended +recovery or illness for H., and all possibility of proceeding next day. +So I sat up fanning away mosquitos that he might sleep, toppling over +now and then on the pillows till roused by his stirring. I contrived to +keep this up till, as the chill before dawn came, they abated and I got +a short sleep. Then, with the aid of cold water, a fresh toilet, and a +good breakfast, I braced up for another day's baking in the boat. + +If I had been well and strong as usual, the discomforts of such a +journey would not have seemed so much to me; but I was still weak from +the effects of the fever, and annoyed by a worrying toothache which +there had been no dentist to rid me of in our village. + +Having paid and dismissed the boat's watchman, we started and traveled +till eleven to-day, when we stopped at this cotton-shed. When our dais +was spread and lunch laid out in the cool breeze, it seemed a blessed +spot. A good many negroes came offering chickens and milk in exchange +for tobacco, which we had not. We bought some milk with money. + +A United States transport just now steamed by, and the men on the guards +cheered and waved to us. We all replied but Annie. Even Max was +surprised into an answering cheer, and I waved my handkerchief with a +very full heart as the dear old flag we had not seen for so long floated +by; but Annie turned her back. + +_Sunday, July 13._ (_Under a tree on the east bank of the +Mississippi_)--Late on Saturday evening we reached a plantation whose +owner invited us to spend the night at his house. What a delightful +thing is courtesy! The first tone of our host's welcome indicated the +true gentleman. We never leave the oars with the watchman; Max takes +these, Annie and I each take a band-box, H. takes my carpet-sack, and +Reeney brings up the rear with Annie's. It is a funny procession. Mr. +B.'s family were absent, and as we sat on the gallery talking, it needed +only a few minutes to show this was a "Union man." His home was elegant +and tasteful, but even here there was neither tea nor coffee. + +About eleven we stopped here in this shady place. While eating lunch the +negroes again came imploring for tobacco. Soon an invitation came from +the house for us to come and rest. We gratefully accepted, but found +their idea of rest for warm, tired travelers was to sit in the parlor on +stiff chairs while the whole family trooped in, cool and clean in fresh +toilets, to stare and question. We soon returned to the trees; however, +they kindly offered corn-meal pound-cake and beer, which were excellent. + +Eight gunboats and one transport have passed us. Getting out of their +way has been troublesome. Our gentlemen's hands are badly blistered. + +_Tuesday, July 15._--Sunday night about ten we reached the place where, +according to our map, Steele's Bayou comes nearest to the Mississippi, +and where the landing should be; but when we climbed the steep bank +there was no sign of habitation. Max walked off into the woods on a +search, and was gone so long we feared he had lost his way. He could +find no road. H. suggested shouting, and both began. At last a distant +halloo replied, and by cries the answerer was guided to us. A negro came +forward and said that was the right place, his master kept the landing, +and he would watch the boat for five dollars. He showed the road, and +said his master's house was one mile off and another house two miles. We +mistook, and went to the one two miles off. At one o'clock we reached +Mr. Fetler's, who was pleasant, and said we should have the best he had. +The bed into whose grateful softness I sank was piled with mattresses to +within two or three feet of the ceiling; and, with no step-ladder, +getting in and out was a problem. This morning we noticed the high-water +mark, four feet above the lower floor. Mrs. Fetler said they had lived +up-stairs several weeks. + + + + +X + +FRIGHTS AND PERILS IN STEELE'S BAYOU + + +_Wednesday, July 16._ (_Under a tree on the bank of Steele's +Bayou._)--Early this morning our boat was taken out of the Mississippi +and put on Mr. Fetler's ox-cart. After breakfast we followed on foot. +The walk in the woods was so delightful that all were disappointed when +a silvery gleam through the trees showed the bayou sweeping along, full +to the banks, with dense forest trees almost meeting over it. The boat +was launched, calked, and reloaded, and we were off again. Toward noon +the sound of distant cannon began to echo around, probably from +Vicksburg again. About the same time we began to encounter rafts. To get +around them required us to push through brush so thick that we had to +lie down in the boat. The banks were steep and the land on each side a +bog. About one o'clock we reached this clear space with dry shelving +banks, and disembarked to eat lunch. To our surprise a neatly dressed +woman came tripping down the declivity, bringing a basket. She said she +lived above and had seen our boat. Her husband was in the army, and we +were the first white people she had talked to for a long while. She +offered some corn-meal pound-cake and beer, and as she climbed back told +us to "look out for the rapids." H. is putting the boat in order for our +start, and says she is waving good-by from the bluff above. + +_Thursday, July 17._ (_On a raft in Steele's Bayou._)--Yesterday we went +on nicely awhile, and at afternoon came to a strange region of rafts, +extending about three miles, on which persons were living. Many saluted +us, saying they had run away from Vicksburg at the first attempt of the +fleet to shell it. On one of these rafts, about twelve feet square,[1] +bagging had been hung up to form three sides of a tent. A bed was in one +corner, and on a low chair, with her provisions in jars and boxes +grouped round her, sat an old woman feeding a lot of chickens. + +[Footnote 1: More likely twelve yards.--G.W.C.] + +Having moonlight, we had intended to travel till late. But about ten +o'clock, the boat beginning to go with great speed, H., who was +steering, called to Max: + +"Don't row so fast; we may run against something." + +"I'm hardly pulling at all." + +"Then we're in what she called the rapids!" + +The stream seemed indeed to slope downward, and in a minute a dark line +was visible ahead. Max tried to turn, but could not, and in a second +more we dashed against this immense raft, only saved from breaking up by +the men's quickness. We got out upon it and ate supper. Then, as the +boat was leaking and the current swinging it against the raft, H. and +Max thought it safer to watch all night, but told us to go to sleep. It +was a strange spot to sleep in--a raft in the middle of a boiling +stream, with a wilderness stretching on either side. The moon made +ghostly shadows, and showed H., sitting still as a ghost, in the stern +of the boat, while mingled with the gurgle of the water round the raft +beneath was the boom of cannon in the air, solemnly breaking the silence +of night. It drizzled now and then, and the mosquitos swarmed over us. +My fan and umbrella had been knocked overboard, so I had no weapon +against them. Fatigue, however, overcomes everything, and I contrived to +sleep. + +H. roused us at dawn. Reeney found lightwood enough on the raft to make +a good fire for coffee, which never tasted better. Then all hands +assisted in unloading; a rope was fastened to the boat, Max got in, H. +held the rope on the raft, and, by much pulling and pushing, it was +forced through a narrow passage to the farther side. Here it had to be +calked, and while that was being done we improvised a dressing-room in +the shadow of our big trunks. During the trip I had to keep the time, +therefore properly to secure belt and watch was always an anxious part +of my toilet. The boat is now repacked, and while Annie and Reeney are +washing cups I have scribbled, wishing much that mine were the hand of +an artist. + +_Friday morn, July 18._ (_House of Colonel K., on Yazoo River._)--After +leaving the raft yesterday all went well till noon, when we came to a +narrow place where an immense tree lay clear across the stream. It +seemed the insurmountable obstacle at last. We sat despairing what to +do, when a man appeared beside us in a pirogue. So sudden, so silent was +his arrival that we were thrilled with surprise. He said if we had a +hatchet he could help us. His fairy bark floated in among the branches +like a bubble, and he soon chopped a path for us, and was delighted to +get some matches in return. He said the cannon we heard yesterday were +in an engagement with the ram _Arkansas_, which ran out of the Yazoo +that morning. We did not stop for dinner to-day, but ate a hasty lunch +in the boat, after which nothing but a small piece of bread was left. +About two we reached the forks, one of which ran to the Yazoo, the +other to the Old River. Max said the right fork was our road; H. said +the left, that there was an error in Max's map; but Max steered into the +right fork. After pulling about three miles he admitted his mistake and +turned back; but I shall never forget Old River. It was the vision of a +drowned world, an illimitable waste of dead waters, stretching into a +great, silent, desolate forest. + +Just as we turned into the right way, down came the rain so hard and +fast we had to stop on the bank. It defied trees or umbrellas, and +nearly took away the breath. The boat began to fill, and all five of us +had to bail as fast as possible for the half-hour the sheet of water was +pouring down. As it abated a cold breeze sprang up that, striking our +clothes, chilled us to the bone. All were shivering and blue--no, I was +green. Before leaving Mr. Fetler's Wednesday morning I had donned a +dark-green calico. I wiped my face with a handkerchief out of my pocket, +and face and hands were all dyed a deep green. When Annie turned round +and looked at me she screamed, and I realized how I looked; but she was +not much better, for of all dejected things wet feathers are the worst, +and the plumes in her hat were painful. + +About five we reached Colonel K.'s house, right where Steele's Bayou +empties into the Yazoo. We had both to be fairly dragged out of the +boat, so cramped and weighted were we by wet skirts. The family were +absent, and the house was headquarters for a squad of Confederate +cavalry, which was also absent. The old colored housekeeper received us +kindly, and lighted fires in our rooms to dry the clothing. My trunk +had got cracked on top, and all the clothing to be got at was wet. H. +had dropped his in the river while lifting it out, and his clothes were +wet. A spoonful of brandy apiece was left in the little flask, and I +felt that mine saved me from being ill. Warm blankets and the brandy +revived us, and by supper-time we got into some dry clothes. + +Just then the squad of cavalry returned; they were only a dozen, but +they made much uproar, being in great excitement. Some of them were +known to Max and H., who learned from them that a gunboat was coming to +shell them out of this house. Then ensued a clatter such as twelve men +surely never made before--rattling about the halls and galleries in +heavy boots and spurs, feeding horses, calling for supper, clanking +swords, buckling and unbuckling belts and pistols. At last supper was +despatched, and they mounted and were gone like the wind. We had a quiet +supper and a good night's rest in spite of the expected shells, and did +not wake till ten to-day to realize we were not killed. About eleven +breakfast was furnished. Now we are waiting till the rest of our things +are dried to start on our last day of travel by water. + +_Sunday, July 20._--A little way down the Yazoo on Friday we ran into +McNutt's Lake, thence into Chickasaw Bayou, and at dark landed at Mrs. +C.'s farm, the nearest neighbors of H.'s uncle. The house was full of +Confederate sick, friends from Vicksburg, and while we ate supper all +present poured out the story of the shelling and all that was to be done +at Vicksburg. Then our stuff was taken from the boat, and we finally +abandoned the stanch little craft that had carried us for over one +hundred and twenty-five miles in a trip occupying nine days. The luggage +in a wagon, and ourselves packed in a buggy, were driven for four or +five miles, over the roughest road I ever traveled, to the farm of Mr. +B., H.'s uncle, where we arrived at midnight and hastened to hide in bed +the utter exhaustion of mind and body. Yesterday we were too tired to +think, or to do anything but eat peaches. + + + + +XI + +WILD TIMES IN MISSISSIPPI + + +This morning there was a most painful scene. Annie's father came into +Vicksburg, ten miles from here, and learned of our arrival from Mrs. +C.'s messenger. He sent out a carriage to bring Annie and Max to town +that they might go home with him, and with it came a letter for me from +friends on the Jackson Railroad, written many weeks before. They had +heard that our village home was under water, and invited us to visit +them. The letter had been sent to Annie's people to forward, and thus +had reached us. This decided H., as the place was near New Orleans, to +go there and wait the chance of getting into that city. Max, when he +heard this from H., lost all self-control and cried like a baby. He +stalked about the garden in the most tragic manner, exclaiming: + +"Oh! my soul's brother from youth up is a traitor! A traitor to his +country!" + +Then H. got angry and said, "Max, don't be a fool." + +"Who has done this?" bawled Max. "You felt with the South at first; who +has changed you?" + +"Of course I feel _for_ the South now, and nobody has changed me but the +logic of events, though the twenty-negro law has intensified my +opinions. I can't see why I, who have no slaves, must go to fight for +them, while every man who has twenty may stay at home." + +I also tried to reason with Max and pour oil on his wound. "Max, what +interest has a man like you, without slaves, in a war for slavery? Even +if you had them, they would not be your best property. That lies in your +country and its resources. Nearly all the world has given up slavery; +why can't the South do the same and end the struggle. It has shown you +what the South needs, and if all went to work with united hands the +South would soon be the greatest country on earth. You have no right to +call H. a traitor; it is we who are the true patriots and lovers of the +South." + +This had to come, but it has upset us both. H. is deeply attached to +Max, and I can't bear to see a cloud between them. Max, with Annie and +Reeney, drove off an hour ago, Annie so glad at the prospect of again +seeing her mother that nothing could cloud her day. And so the close +companionship of six months, and of dangers, trials, and pleasures +shared together, is over. + +_Oak Ridge, July 26, Saturday._--It was not till Wednesday that H. could +get into Vicksburg, ten miles distant, for a passport, without which we +could not go on the cars. We started Thursday morning. I had to ride +seven miles on a hard-trotting horse to the nearest station. The day was +burning at white heat. When the station was reached my hair was down, +my hat on my neck, and my feelings were indescribable. + +On the train one seemed to be right in the stream of war, among +officers, soldiers, sick men and cripples, adieus, tears, laughter, +constant chatter, and, strangest of all, sentinels posted at the locked +car doors demanding passports. There was no train south from Jackson +that day, so we put up at the Bowman House. The excitement was +indescribable. All the world appeared to be traveling through Jackson. +People were besieging the two hotels, offering enormous prices for the +privilege of sleeping anywhere under a roof. There were many refugees +from New Orleans, among them some acquaintances of mine. The peculiar +styles of [women's] dress necessitated by the exigencies of war gave the +crowd a very striking appearance. In single suits I saw sleeves of one +color, the waist of another, the skirt of another; scarlet jackets and +gray skirts; black waists and blue skirts; black skirts and gray waists; +the trimming chiefly gold braid and buttons, to give a military air. The +gray and gold uniforms of the officers, glittering between, made up a +carnival of color. Every moment we saw strange meetings and partings of +people from all over the South. Conditions of time, space, locality, and +estate were all loosened; everybody seemed floating he knew not whither, +but determined to be jolly, and keep up an excitement. At supper we had +tough steak, heavy, dirty-looking bread, Confederate coffee. The coffee +was made of either parched rye or corn-meal, or of sweet potatoes cut in +small cubes and roasted. This was the favorite. When flavored with +"coffee essence," sweetened with sorghum, and tinctured with chalky +milk, it made a curious beverage which, after tasting, I preferred not +to drink. Every one else was drinking it, and an acquaintance said, "Oh, +you'll get bravely over that. I used to be a Jewess about pork, but now +we just kill a hog and eat it, and kill another and do the same. It's +all we have." + +Friday morning we took the down train for the station near my friend's +house. At every station we had to go through the examination of passes, +as if in a foreign country. + +The conscript camp was at Brookhaven, and every man had been ordered to +report there or to be treated as a deserter. At every station I shivered +mentally, expecting H. to be dragged off. Brookhaven was also the +station for dinner. I choked mine down, feeling the sword hanging over +me by a single hair. At sunset we reached our station. The landlady was +pouring tea when we took our seats, and I expected a treat, but when I +tasted it was sassafras tea, the very odor of which sickens me. There +was a general surprise when I asked to exchange it for a glass of water; +every one was drinking it as if it were nectar. This morning we drove +out here. + +My friend's little nest is calm in contrast to the tumult not far off. +Yet the trials of war are here too. Having no matches, they keep fire, +carefully covering it at night, for Mr. G. has no powder, and cannot +flash the gun into combustibles as some do. One day they had to go with +the children to the village, and the servant let the fire go out. When +they returned at nightfall, wet and hungry, there was neither fire nor +food. Mr. G. had to saddle the tired mule and ride three miles for a pan +of coals, and blow them, all the way back, to keep them alight. Crockery +has gradually been broken and tin cups rusted out, and a visitor told me +they had made tumblers out of clear glass bottles by cutting them smooth +with a heated wire, and that they had nothing else to drink from. + +_Aug. 11._--We cannot get to New Orleans. A special passport must be +shown, and we are told that to apply for it would render H. very likely +to be conscripted. I begged him not to try; and as we hear that active +hostilities have ceased at Vicksburg, he left me this morning to return +to his uncle's and see what the prospects are there. I shall be in +misery about conscription till he returns. + +_Sunday, Sept. 7._ (_Vicksburg, Washington Hotel._)--H. did not return +for three weeks. An epidemic disease broke out in his uncle's family and +two children died. He stayed to assist them in their trouble. Tuesday +evening he returned for me, and we reached Vicksburg yesterday. It was +my first sight of the "Gibraltar of the South." Looking at it from a +slight elevation suggests the idea that the fragments left from +world-building had tumbled into a confused mass of hills, hollows, +hillocks, banks, ditches, and ravines, and that the houses had rained +down afterward. Over all there was dust impossible to conceive. The +bombardment has done little injury. People have returned and resumed +business. A gentleman asked H. if he knew of a nice girl for sale. I +asked if he did not think it impolitic to buy slaves now. + +"Oh, not young ones. Old ones might run off when the enemy's lines +approach ours, but with young ones there is no danger." + +We had not been many hours in town before a position was offered to H. +which seemed providential. The chief of a certain department was in ill +health and wanted a deputy. It secures him from conscription, requires +no oath, and pays a good salary. A mountain seemed lifted off my heart. + +_Thursday, Sept. 18._ (_Thanksgiving Day._)--We stayed three days at the +Washington Hotel; then a friend of H.'s called and told him to come to +his house till he could find a home. Boarding-houses have all been +broken up, and the army has occupied the few houses that were for rent. +To-day H. secured a vacant room for two weeks in the only +boarding-house. + +_Oak Haven, Oct. 3._--To get a house in V. proved impossible, so we +agreed to part for a time till H. could find one. A friend recommended +this quiet farm, six miles from ---- [a station on the Jackson Railroad]. +On last Saturday H. came with me as far as Jackson and put me on the +other train for the station. + +On my way hither a lady, whom I judged to be a Confederate +"blockade-runner," told me of the tricks resorted to to get things out +of New Orleans, including this: A very large doll was emptied of its +bran, filled with quinine, and elaborately dressed. When the owner's +trunk was opened, she declared with tears that the doll was for a poor +crippled girl, and it was passed. + +This farm of Mr. W.'s[2] is kept with about forty negroes. Mr. W., +nearly sixty, is the only white man on it. He seems to have been wiser +in the beginning than most others, and curtailed his cotton to make room +for rye, rice, and corn. There is a large vegetable-garden and orchard; +he has bought plenty of stock for beef and mutton, and laid in a large +supply of sugar. He must also have plenty of ammunition, for a man is +kept hunting and supplies the table with delicious wild turkeys and +other game. There is abundance of milk and butter, hives for honey, and +no end of pigs. Chickens seem to be kept like game in parks, for I never +see any, but the hunter shoots them, and eggs are plentiful. We have +chicken for breakfast, dinner, and supper, fried, stewed, broiled, and +in soup, and there is a family of ten. Luckily I never tire of it. They +make starch out of corn-meal by washing the meal repeatedly, pouring off +the water, and drying the sediment. Truly the uses of corn in the +Confederacy are varied. It makes coffee, beer, whisky, starch, cake, +bread. The only privations here are the lack of coffee, tea, salt, +matches, and good candles. Mr. W. is now having the dirt floor of his +smoke-house dug up and boiling from it the salt that has dripped into it +for years. To-day Mrs. W. made tea out of dried blackberry leaves, but +no one liked it. The beds, made out of equal parts of cotton and +corn-shucks, are the most elastic I ever slept in. The servants are +dressed in gray homespun. Hester, the chambermaid, has a gray gown so +pretty that I covet one like it. Mrs. W. is now arranging dyes for the +thread to be woven into dresses for herself and the girls. Sometimes her +hands are a curiosity. + +[Footnote 2: On this plantation, and in this domestic circle, I myself +afterward sojourned, and from them enlisted in the army. The initials +are fictitious, but the description is perfect.--G.W.C.] + +The school at the nearest town is broken up, and Mrs. W. says the +children are growing up heathens. Mr. W. has offered me a liberal price +to give the children lessons in English and French, and I have accepted +transiently. + +_Oct. 28._--It is a month to-day since I came here. I only wish H. could +share these benefits--the nourishing food, the pure aromatic air, the +sound sleep away from the fevered life of Vicksburg. He sends me all the +papers he can get hold of, and we both watch carefully the movements +reported lest an army should get between us. The days are full of useful +work, and in the lovely afternoons I take long walks with a big dog for +company. The girls do not care for walking. In the evening Mr. W. begs +me to read aloud all the war news. He is fond of the "Memphis Appeal," +which has moved from town to town so much that they call it the "Moving +Appeal." I sit in a low chair by the fire, as we have no other light to +read by. Sometimes traveling soldiers stop here, but that is rare. + +_Oct. 31._--Mr. W. said last night the farmers felt uneasy about the +"Emancipation Proclamation" to take effect in December. The slaves have +found it out, though it had been carefully kept from them. + +"Do yours know it?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes. Finding it to be known elsewhere, I told it to mine with fair +warning what to expect if they tried to run away. The hounds are not far +off." + +The need of clothing for their armies is worrying them too. I never saw +Mrs. W. so excited as on last evening. She said the provost-marshal at +the next town had ordered the women to knit so many pairs of socks. + +"Just let him try to enforce it and they will cowhide him. He'll get +none from me. I'll take care of my friends without an order from him." + +"Well," said Mr. W., "if the South is defeated and the slaves set free, +the Southern people will all become atheists; for the Bible justifies +slavery and says it shall be perpetual." + +"You mean, if the Lord does not agree with you, you'll repudiate him." + +"Well, we'll feel it's no use to believe in anything." + +At night the large sitting-room makes a striking picture. Mr. W., spare, +erect, gray-headed, patriarchal, sits in his big chair by the odorous +fire of pine logs and knots roaring up the vast fireplace. His driver +brings to him the report of the day's picking and a basket of snowy +cotton for the spinning. The hunter brings in the game. I sit on the +other side to read. The great spinning-wheels stand at the other end of +the room, and Mrs. W. and her black satellites, the elderly women with +their heads in bright bandanas, are hard at work. Slender and +auburn-haired, she steps back and forth out of shadow into shine +following the thread with graceful movements. Some card the cotton, some +reel it into hanks. Over all the firelight glances, now touching the +golden curls of little John toddling about, now the brown heads of the +girls stooping over their books, now the shadowy figure of little Jule, +the girl whose duty it is to supply the fire with rich pine to keep up +the vivid light. If they would only let the child sit down! But that is +not allowed, and she gets sleepy and stumbles and knocks her head +against the wall and then straightens up again. When that happens often +it drives me off. Sometimes while I read the bright room fades and a +vision rises of figures clad in gray and blue lying pale and stiff on +the blood-sprinkled ground. + +_Nov. 15._--Yesterday a letter was handed me from H. Grant's army was +moving, he wrote, steadily down the Mississippi Central, and might cut +the road at Jackson. He has a house and will meet me in Jackson +to-morrow. + +_Nov. 20._ (_Vicksburg._)--A fair morning for my journey back to +Vicksburg. On the train was the gentleman who in New Orleans had told us +we should have all the butter we wanted from Texas. On the cars, as +elsewhere, the question of food alternated with news of the war. + +When we ran into the Jackson station, H. was on the platform, and I +gladly learned that we could go right on. A runaway negro, an old man, +ashy-colored from fright and exhaustion, with his hands chained, was +being dragged along by a common-looking man. Just as we started out of +Jackson the conductor led in a young woman sobbing in a heartbroken +manner. Her grief seemed so overpowering, and she was so young and +helpless, that every one was interested. Her husband went into the army +in the opening of the war, just after their marriage, and she had never +heard from him since. After months of weary searching she learned he had +been heard of at Jackson, and came full of hope, but found no clue. The +sudden breaking down of her hope was terrible. The conductor placed her +in care of a gentleman going her way and left her sobbing. At the next +station the conductor came to ask her about her baggage. She raised her +head to try and answer. "Don't cry so; you'll find him yet." She gave a +start, jumped from her seat with arms flung out and eyes staring. "There +he is now!" she cried. Her husband stood before her. + +The gentleman beside her yielded his seat, and as hand grasped hand a +hysterical gurgle gave place to a look like Heaven's peace. The low +murmur of their talk began and when I looked around at the next station +they had bought pies and were eating them together like happy children. + +Midway between Jackson and Vicksburg we reached the station near where +Annie's parents were staying. I looked out, and there stood Annie with a +little sister on each side of her, brightly smiling at us. Max had +written to H., but we had not seen them since our parting. There was +only time for a word and the train flashed away. + + + + +XII + +VICKSBURG + + +We reached Vicksburg that night and went to H.'s room. Next morning the +cook he had engaged arrived, and we moved into this house. Martha's +ignorance keeps me busy, and H. is kept close at his office. + +_January 7, 1863._--I have had little to record here recently, for we +have lived to ourselves, not visiting or visited. Every one H. knows is +absent, and I know no one but the family we stayed with at first, and +they are now absent. H. tells me of the added triumph since the repulse +of Sherman in December, and the one paper published here shouts victory +as much as its gradually diminishing size will allow. Paper is a serious +want. There is a great demand for envelops in the office where H. is. He +found and bought a lot of thick and smooth colored paper, cut a tin +pattern, and we have whiled away some long evenings cutting envelops and +making them up. I have put away a package of the best to look at when we +are old. The books I brought from Arkansas have proved a treasure, but +we can get no more. I went to the only book-store open; there were none +but Mrs. Stowe's "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands." The clerk said I +could have that cheap, because he couldn't sell her books, so I got it +and am reading it now. The monotony has only been broken by letters from +friends here and there in the Confederacy. One of these letters tells of +a Federal raid to their place, and says: "But the worst thing was, they +would take every toothbrush in the house, because we can't buy any more; +and one cavalryman put my sister's new bonnet on his horse, and said, +'Get up, Jack,' and her bonnet was gone." + +_February 25._--A long gap in my journal, because H. has been ill unto +death with typhoid fever, and I nearly broke down from loss of sleep, +there being no one to relieve me. I never understood before how terrible +it was to be alone at night with a patient in delirium, and no one +within call. To wake Martha was simply impossible. I got the best doctor +here, but when convalescence began the question of food was a trial. I +got with great difficulty two chickens. The doctor made the drug-store +sell two of their six bottles of port; he said his patient's life +depended on it. An egg is a rare and precious thing. Meanwhile the +Federal fleet has been gathering, has anchored at the bend, and shells +are thrown in at intervals. + +_March 20._--The slow shelling of Vicksburg goes on all the time, and we +have grown indifferent. It does not at present interrupt or interfere +with daily avocations, but I suspect they are only getting the range of +different points; and when they have them all complete, showers of shot +will rain on us all at once. Non-combatants have been ordered to leave +or prepare accordingly. Those who are to stay are having caves built. +Cave-digging has become a regular business; prices range from twenty to +fifty dollars, according to size of cave. Two diggers worked at ours a +week and charged thirty dollars. It is well made in the hill that slopes +just in the rear of the house, and well propped with thick posts, as +they all are. It has a shelf also, for holding a light or water. When we +went in this evening and sat down, the earthy, suffocating feeling, as +of a living tomb, was dreadful to me. I fear I shall risk death outside +rather than melt in that dark furnace. The hills are so honeycombed with +caves that the streets look like avenues in a cemetery. The hill called +the Sky-parlor has become quite a fashionable resort for the few +upper-circle families left here. Some officers are quartered there, and +there is a band and a field-glass. Last evening we also climbed the hill +to watch the shelling, but found the view not so good as on a quiet hill +nearer home. Soon a lady began to talk to one of the officers: "It is +such folly for them to waste their ammunition like that. How can they +ever take a town that has such advantages for defense and protection as +this? We'll just burrow into these hills and let them batter away as +hard as they please." + +"You are right, madam; and besides, when our women are so willing to +brave death and endure discomfort, how can we ever be conquered?" + +Soon she looked over with significant glances to where we stood, and +began to talk at H. + +"The only drawback," she said, "are the contemptible men who are staying +at home in comfort, when they ought to be in the army if they had a +spark of honor." + +I cannot repeat all, but it was the usual tirade. It is strange I have +met no one yet who seems to comprehend an honest difference of opinion, +and stranger yet that the ordinary rules of good breeding are now so +entirely ignored. As the spring comes one has the craving for fresh, +green food that a monotonous diet produces. There was a bed of radishes +and onions in the garden that were a real blessing. An onion salad, +dressed only with salt, vinegar, and pepper, seemed a dish fit for a +king; but last night the soldiers quartered near made a raid on the +garden and took them all. + +_April 2._--We have had to move, and thus lost our cave. The owner of +the house suddenly returned and notified us that he intended to bring +his family back; didn't think there'd be any siege. The cost of the cave +could go for the rent. That means he has got tired of the Confederacy +and means to stay here and thus get out of it. This house was the only +one to be had. It was built by ex-Senator G., and is so large our tiny +household is lost in it. We use only the lower floor. The bell is often +rung by persons who take it for a hotel and come beseeching food at any +price. To-day one came who would not be denied. "We do not keep a hotel, +but would willingly feed hungry soldiers if we had the food." "I have +been traveling all night, and am starving; will pay any price for just +bread." I went to the dining-room and found some biscuits, and set out +two, with a large piece of corn-bread, a small piece of bacon, some nice +syrup, and a pitcher of water. I locked the door of the safe and left +him to enjoy his lunch. After he left I found he had broken open the +safe and taken the remaining biscuits. + +_April 28._--I never understood before the full force of those +questions--What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall +we be clothed? We have no prophet of the Lord at whose prayer the meal +and oil will not waste. Such minute attention must be given the wardrobe +to preserve it that I have learned to darn like an artist. Making shoes +is now another accomplishment. Mine were in tatters. H. came across a +moth-eaten pair that he bought me, giving ten dollars, I think, and they +fell into rags when I tried to wear them; but the soles were good, and +that has helped me to shoes. A pair of old coat-sleeves saved--nothing +is thrown away now--was in my trunk. I cut an exact pattern from my old +shoes, laid it on the sleeves, and cut out thus good uppers and sewed +them carefully; then soaked the soles and sewed the cloth to them. I am +so proud of these home-made shoes, think I'll put them in a glass case +when the war is over, as an heirloom. H. says he has come to have an +abiding faith that everything he needs to wear will come out of that +trunk while the war lasts. It is like a fairy casket. I have but a dozen +pins remaining, so many I gave away. Every time these are used they are +straightened and kept from rust. All these curious labors are performed +while the shells are leisurely screaming through the air; but as long as +we are out of range we don't worry. For many nights we have had but +little sleep, because the Federal gunboats have been running past the +batteries. The uproar when this is happening is phenomenal. The first +night the thundering artillery burst the bars of sleep, we thought it an +attack by the river. To get into garments and rush up-stairs was the +work of a moment. From the upper gallery we have a fine view of the +river, and soon a red glare lit up the scene and showed a small boat, +towing two large barges, gliding by. The Confederates had set fire to a +house near the bank. Another night, eight boats ran by, throwing a +shower of shot, and two burning houses made the river clear as day. One +of the batteries has a remarkable gun they call "Whistling Dick," +because of the screeching, whistling sound it gives, and certainly it +does sound like a tortured thing. Added to all this is the indescribable +Confederate yell, which is a soul-harrowing sound to hear. I have gained +respect for the mechanism of the human ear, which stands it all without +injury. The streets are seldom quiet at night; even the dragging about +of cannon makes a din in these echoing gullies. The other night we were +on the gallery till the last of the eight boats got by. Next day a +friend said to H., "It was a wonder you didn't have your heads taken +off last night. I passed and saw them stretched over the gallery, and +grape-shot were whizzing up the street just on a level with you." The +double roar of batteries and boats was so great, we never noticed the +whizzing. Yesterday the _Cincinnati_ attempted to go by in daylight but +was disabled and sunk. It was a pitiful sight; we could not see the +finale, though we saw her rendered helpless. + + + + +XIII + +PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE + + +_Vicksburg, May 1, 1863._--It is settled at last that we shall spend the +time of siege in Vicksburg. Ever since we were deprived of our cave, I +had been dreading that H. would suggest sending me to the country, where +his relatives lived. As he could not leave his position and go also +without being conscripted, and as I felt certain an army would get +between us, it was no part of my plan to be obedient. A shell from one +of the practising mortars brought the point to an issue yesterday and +settled it. Sitting at work as usual, listening to the distant sound of +bursting shells, apparently aimed at the court-house, there suddenly +came a nearer explosion; the house shook, and a tearing sound was +followed by terrified screams from the kitchen. I rushed thither, but +met in the hall the cook's little girl America, bleeding from a wound in +the forehead, and fairly dancing with fright and pain, while she uttered +fearful yells. I stopped to examine the wound, and her mother bounded +in, her black face ashy from terror. "Oh! Miss V., my child is killed +and the kitchen tore up." Seeing America was too lively to be a killed +subject, I consoled Martha and hastened to the kitchen. Evidently a +shell had exploded just outside, sending three or four pieces through. +When order was restored I endeavored to impress on Martha's mind the +necessity for calmness and the uselessness of such excitement. Looking +round at the close of the lecture, there stood a group of Confederate +soldiers laughing heartily at my sermon and the promising audience I +had. They chimed in with a parting chorus: + +"Yes, it's no use hollerin', old lady." + +"Oh! H.," I exclaimed, as he entered soon after, "America is wounded." + +"That is no news; she has been wounded by traitors long ago." + +"Oh, this is real, living, little black America. I am not talking in +symbols. Here are the pieces of shell, the first bolt of the coming +siege." + +"Now you see," he replied, "that this house will be but paper to +mortar-shells. You must go in the country." + +The argument was long, but when a woman is obstinate and eloquent, she +generally conquers. I came off victorious, and we finished preparations +for the siege to-day. Hiring a man to assist, we descended to the +wine-cellar, where the accumulated bottles told of the "banquet-hall +deserted," the spirit and glow of the festive hours whose lights and +garlands were dead, and the last guest long since departed. To empty +this cellar was the work of many hours. Then in the safest corner a +platform was laid for our bed, and in another portion one arranged for +Martha. The dungeon, as I call it, is lighted only by a trap-door, and +is so damp it will be necessary to remove the bedding and mosquito-bars +every day. The next question was of supplies. I had nothing left but a +sack of rice-flour, and no manner of cooking I had heard or invented +contrived to make it eatable. A column of recipes for making delicious +preparations of it had been going the rounds of Confederate papers. I +tried them all; they resulted only in brick-bats or sticky paste. H. +sallied out on a hunt for provisions, and when he returned the +disproportionate quantity of the different articles obtained provoked a +smile. There was a _hogshead_ of sugar, a barrel of syrup, ten pounds of +bacon and peas, four pounds of wheat-flour, and a small sack of +corn-meal, a little vinegar, and actually some spice! The wheat-flour he +purchased for ten dollars as a special favor from the sole remaining +barrel for sale. We decided that must be left for sickness. The sack of +meal, he said, was a case of corruption, through a special providence to +us. There is no more for sale at any price; but, said he, "a soldier who +was hauling some of the Government sacks to the hospital offered me this +for five dollars, if I could keep a secret. When the meal is exhausted, +perhaps we can keep alive on sugar. Here are some wax candles; hoard +them like gold." He handed me a parcel containing about two pounds of +candles, and left me to arrange my treasures. It would be hard for me to +picture the memories those candles called up. The long years melted +away, and I + + Trod again my childhood's track, + And felt its very gladness. + +In those childish days, whenever came dreams Of household splendor or +festal rooms or gay illuminations, the lights in my vision were always +wax candles burning with a soft radiance that enchanted every scene.... +And, lo! here on this spring day of '63, with war raging through the +land, I was in a fine house, and had my wax candles sure enough; but, +alas! they were neither cerulean blue nor rose-tinted, but dirty brown; +and when I lighted one, it spluttered and wasted like any vulgar tallow +thing, and lighted only a desolate scene in the vast handsome room. They +were not so good as the waxen rope we had made in Arkansas. So, with a +long sigh for the dreams of youth, I return to the stern present in this +besieged town--my only consolation to remember the old axiom, "A city +besieged is a city taken,"--so if we live through it we shall be out of +the Confederacy. H. is very tired of having to carry a pass around in +his pocket and go every now and then to have it renewed. We have been so +very free in America, these restrictions are irksome. + +_May 9._--This morning the door-bell rang a startling peal. Martha being +busy, I answered it. An orderly in gray stood with an official envelop +in his hand. + +"Who lives here?" + +"Mr. L." + +Very imperiously--"Which Mr. L.?" + +"Mr. H.L." + +"Is he here?" + +"No." + +"Where can he be found?" + +"At the office of Deputy ----." + +"I'm not going there. This is an order from General Pemberton for you to +move out of this house in two hours. He has selected it for +headquarters. He will furnish you with wagons." + +"Will he furnish another house also?" + +"Of course not." + +"Has the owner been consulted?" + +"He has not; that is of no consequence; it has been taken. Take this +order." + +"I shall not take it, and I shall not move, as there is no place to move +to but the street." + +"Then I'll take it to Mr. L." + +"Very well; do so." + +As soon as Mr. Impertine walked off, I locked, bolted, and barred every +door and window. In ten minutes H. came home. + +"Hold the fort till I've seen the owner and the general," he said, as I +locked him out. + +Then Dr. B.'s remark in New Orleans about the effect of Dr. C.'s fine +presence on the Confederate officials there came to mind. They are just +the people to be influenced in that way, I thought. I look rather shabby +now; I will dress. I made an elaborate toilet, put on the best and most +becoming dress I had, the richest lace, the handsomest ornaments, taking +care that all should be appropriate to a morning visit; dressed my hair +in the stateliest braids, and took a seat in the parlor ready for the +fray. H. came to the window and said: + +"Landlord says, 'Keep them out. Wouldn't let them have his house at any +price.' He is just riding to the country and can't help us now. Now I'm +to see Major C., who sent the order." + +Next came an officer, banged at the door till tired, and walked away. +Then the orderly came again and beat the door--same result. Next, four +officers with bundles and lunch-baskets, followed by a wagon-load of +furniture. They went round the house, tried every door, peeped in the +windows, pounded and rapped, while I watched them through the +blind-slats. Presently the fattest one, a real Falstaffian man, came +back to the front door and rang a thundering peal. I saw the chance for +fun and for putting on their own grandiloquent style. Stealing on tiptoe +to the door, I turned the key and bolt noiselessly, and suddenly threw +wide back the door and appeared behind it. He had been leaning on it, +and nearly pitched forward with an "Oh! what's this!" Then seeing me as +he straightened up, "Ah, madam!" almost stuttering from surprise and +anger, "are you aware I had the right to break down this door if you +hadn't opened it?" + +"That would make no difference to me. I'm not the owner. You or the +landlord would pay the bill for the repairs." + +"Why didn't you open the door?" + +"Have I not done so as soon as you rung? A lady does not open the door +to men who beat on it. Gentlemen usually ring; I thought it might be +stragglers pounding." + +"Well," growing much blander, "we are going to send you some wagons to +move; you must get ready." + +"With pleasure, if you have selected a house for me. This is too large; +it does not suit me." + +"No, I didn't find a house for you." + +"You surely don't expect me to run about in the dust and shelling to +look for it, and Mr. L. is too busy." + +"Well, madam, then we must share the house. We will take the lower +floor." + +"I prefer to keep the lower floor myself; you surely don't expect me to +go up and down stairs when you are so light and more able to do it." + +He walked through the hall, trying the doors. "What room is that?" "The +parlor." "And this?" "My bedroom." "And this?" "The dining-room." + +"Well, madam, we'll find you a house and then come and take this." + +"Thank you, colonel; I shall be ready when you find the house. +Good-morning, sir." + +I heard him say as he ran down the steps, "We must go back, captain; you +see I didn't know they were this kind of people." + +Of course the orderly had lied in the beginning to scare me, for General +P. is too far away from Vicksburg to send an order. He is looking about +for General Grant. We are told he has gone out to meet Johnston; and +together they expect to annihilate Grant's army and free Vicksburg +forever. There is now a general hospital opposite this house, and a +smallpox hospital next door. War, famine, pestilence, and fire surround +us. Every day the band plays in front of the smallpox hospital. I wonder +if it is to keep up their spirits? One would suppose quiet would be more +cheering. + +_May 17._--Hardly was our scanty breakfast over this morning when a +hurried ring drew us both to the door. + +Mr. J., one of H.'s assistants, stood there in high excitement. + +"Well, Mr. L., they are upon us; the Yankees will be here by this +evening." + +"What do you mean?" + +"That Pemberton has been whipped at Baker's Creek and Big Black, and his +army are running back here as fast as they can come, and the Yanks after +them, in such numbers nothing can stop them. Hasn't Pemberton acted like +a fool?" + +"He may not be the only one to blame," replied H. + +"They're coming along the Big B. road, and my folks went down there to +be safe, you know; now they're right in it. I hear you can't see the +armies for the dust; never was anything else known like it. But I must +go and try to bring my folks back here." + +What struck us both was the absence of that concern to be expected, and +a sort of relief or suppressed pleasure. After twelve some +worn-out-looking men sat down under the window. + +"What is the news?" I inquired. + +"Ritreat, ritreat!" they said, in broken English--they were Louisiana +Acadians. + +About three o'clock the rush began. I shall never forget that woeful +sight of a beaten, demoralized army that came rushing back,--humanity in +the last throes of endurance. Wan, hollow-eyed, ragged, foot-sore, +bloody, the men limped along unarmed, but followed by siege-guns, +ambulances, gun-carriages, and wagons in aimless confusion. At twilight +two or three bands on the court-house hill and other points began +playing "Dixie," "Bonnie Blue Flag," and so on, and drums began to beat +all about; I suppose they were rallying the scattered army. + +_May 28._--Since that day the regular siege has continued. We are +utterly cut off from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire. Would it +be wise like the scorpion to sting ourselves to death? The fiery shower +of shells goes on day and night. H.'s occupation, of course, is gone; +his office closed. Every man has to carry a pass in his pocket. People +do nothing but eat what they can get, sleep when they can, and dodge the +shells. There are three intervals when the shelling stops either for the +guns to cool or for the gunners' meals, I suppose,--about eight in the +morning, the same in the evening, and at noon. In that time we have both +to prepare and eat ours. Clothing cannot be washed or anything else +done. On the 19th and 22d, when the assaults were made on the lines, I +watched the soldiers cooking on the green opposite. The half-spent balls +coming all the way from those lines were flying so thick that they were +obliged to dodge at every turn. At all the caves I could see from my +high perch, people were sitting, eating their poor suppers at the cave +doors, ready to plunge in again. As the first shell again flew they +dived, and not a human being was visible. The sharp crackle of the +musketry-firing was a strong contrast to the scream of the bombs. I +think all the dogs and cats must be killed or starved: we don't see any +more pitiful animals prowling around.... The cellar is so damp and musty +the bedding has to be carried out and laid in the sun every day, with +the forecast that it may be demolished at any moment. The confinement is +dreadful. To sit and listen as if waiting for death in a horrible +manner would drive me insane. I don't know what others do, but we read +when I am not scribbling in this. H. borrowed somewhere a lot of +Dickens's novels, and we reread them, by the dim light in the cellar. +When the shelling abates, H. goes to walk about a little or get the +"Daily Citizen," which is still issuing a tiny sheet at twenty-five and +fifty cents a copy. It is, of course, but a rehash of speculations which +amuses a half hour. To-day he heard while out that expert swimmers are +crossing the Mississippi on logs at night to bring and carry news to +Johnston. I am so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, that I eat +it with tears in my eyes. We are lucky to get a quart of milk daily from +a family near who have a cow they hourly expect to be killed. I send +five dollars to market each morning, and it buys a small piece of +mule-meat. Rice and milk is my main food; I can't eat the mule-meat. We +boil the rice and eat it cold with milk for supper. Martha runs the +gauntlet to buy the meat and milk once a day in a perfect terror. The +shells seem to have many different names: I hear the soldiers say, +"That's a mortar-shell. There goes a Parrott. That's a rifle-shell." +They are all equally terrible. A pair of chimney-swallows have built in +the parlor chimney. The concussion of the house often sends down parts +of their nest, which they patiently pick up and reascend with. + +_Friday, June 5. In the cellar._--Wednesday evening H. said he must take +a little walk, and went while the shelling had stopped. He never leaves +me alone for long, and when an hour had passed without his return I +grew anxious; and when two hours, and the shelling had grown terrific, I +momentarily expected to see his mangled body. All sorts of horrors fill +the mind now, and I am so desolate here; not a friend. When he came he +said that, passing a cave where there were no others near, he heard +groans, and found a shell had struck above and caused the cave to fall +in on the man within. He could not extricate him alone, and had to get +help and dig him out. He was badly hurt, but not mortally, and I felt +fairly sick from the suspense. + +Yesterday morning a note was brought H. from a bachelor uncle out in the +trenches, saying he had been taken ill with fever, and could we receive +him if he came? H. sent to tell him to come, and I arranged one of the +parlors as a dressing-room for him, and laid a pallet that he could move +back and forth to the cellar. He did not arrive, however. It is our +custom in the evening to sit in the front room a little while in the +dark, with matches and candle held ready in hand, and watch the shells, +whose course at night is shown by the fuse. H. was at the window and +suddenly sprang up, crying, "Run!"--"Where?"--"_Back_!" + +I started through the back room, H. after me. I was just within the door +when the crash came that threw me to the floor. It was the most +appalling sensation I'd ever known--worse than an earthquake, which I've +also experienced. Shaken and deafened, I picked myself up; H. had struck +a light to find me. I lighted one, and the smoke guided us to the parlor +I had fixed for Uncle J. The candles were useless in the dense smoke, +and it was many minutes before we could see. Then we found the entire +side of the room torn out. The soldiers who had rushed in said, "This is +an eighty-pound Parrott." It had entered through the front, burst on the +pallet-bed, which was in tatters; the toilet service and everything else +in the room smashed. The soldiers assisted H. to board up the break with +planks to keep out prowlers, and we went to bed in the cellar as usual. +This morning the yard is partially plowed by a couple that fell there in +the night. I think this house, so large and prominent from the river, is +perhaps taken for headquarters and specially shelled. As we descend at +night to the lower regions, I think of the evening hymn that grandmother +taught me when a child: + + Lord, keep us safe this night, + Secure from all our fears; + May angels guard us while we sleep, + Till morning light appears. + +Surely, if there are heavenly guardians, we need them now. + +_June 7._ (_In the cellar._)--There is one thing I feel especially +grateful for, that amid these horrors we have been spared that of +suffering for water. The weather has been dry a long time, and we hear +of others dipping up the water from ditches and mud-holes. This place +has two large underground cisterns of good cool water, and every night +in my subterranean dressing-room a tub of cold water is the nerve-calmer +that sends me to sleep in spite of the roar. One cistern I had to give +up to the soldiers, who swarm about like hungry animals seeking +something to devour. Poor fellows! my heart bleeds for them. They have +nothing but spoiled, greasy bacon, and bread made of musty pea-flour, +and but little of that. The sick ones can't bolt it. They come into the +kitchen when Martha puts the pan of corn-bread in the stove, and beg for +the bowl she mixed it in. They shake up the scrapings with water, put in +their bacon, and boil the mixture into a kind of soup, which is easier +to swallow than pea-bread. When I happen in, they look so ashamed of +their poor clothes. I know we saved the lives of two by giving a few +meals. To-day one crawled on the gallery to lie in the breeze. He looked +as if shells had lost their terrors for his dumb and famished misery. +I've taught Martha to make first-rate corn-meal gruel, because I can eat +meal easier that way than in hoe-cake, and I fixed him a saucerful, put +milk and sugar and nutmeg--I've actually got a nutmeg! When he ate it +the tears ran from his eyes. "Oh, madam, there was never anything so +good! I shall get better." + +_June 9._--The churches are a great resort for those who have no caves. +People fancy they are not shelled so much, and they are substantial and +the pews good to sleep in. We had to leave this house last night, they +were shelling our quarter so heavily. The night before, Martha forsook +the cellar for a church. We went to H.'s office, which was comparatively +quiet last night. H. carried the bank-box; I the case of matches; Martha +the blankets and pillows, keeping an eye on the shells. We slept on +piles of old newspapers. In the streets the roar seems so much more +confusing, I feel sure I shall run right in the way of a shell. They +seem to have five different sounds from the second of throwing them to +the hollow echo wandering among the hills, and that sounds the most +blood-curdling of all. + +_June 13._--Shell burst just over the roof this morning. Pieces tore +through both floors down into the dining-room. The entire ceiling of +that room fell in a mass. We had just left it. Every piece of crockery +on the table was smashed up. The "Daily Citizen" to-day is a foot and a +half long and six inches wide. It has a long letter from a Federal +officer, P.P. Hill, who was on the gunboat _Cincinnati_, that was sunk +May 27. Says it was found in his floating trunk. The editorial says, +"The utmost confidence is felt that we can maintain our position until +succor comes from outside. The undaunted Johnston is at hand." + +_June 18._--To-day the "Citizen" is printed on wallpaper; therefore has +grown a little in size. It says, "But a few days more and Johnston will +be here"; also that "Kirby Smith has driven Banks from Port Hudson," and +that "the enemy are throwing incendiary shells in." + +_June 20._--The gentleman who took our cave came yesterday to invite us +to come to it, because, he said, "it's going to be very bad to-day." I +don't know why he thought so. We went, and found his own and another +family in it; sat outside and watched the shells till we concluded the +cellar was as good a place as that hillside. I fear the want of good +food is breaking down H. I know from my own feelings of weakness, but +mine is not an American constitution and has a recuperative power that +his has not. + +_June 21._--I had gone up-stairs to-day during the interregnum to enjoy +a rest on my bed, and read the reliable items in the "Citizen," when a +shell burst right outside the window in front of me. Pieces flew in, +striking all around me, tearing down masses of plaster that came +tumbling over me. When H. rushed in I was crawling out of the plaster, +digging it out of my eyes and hair. When he picked up a piece as large +as a saucer beside my pillow, I realized my narrow escape. The +windowframe began to smoke, and we saw the house was on fire. H. ran for +a hatchet and I for water, and we put it out. Another [shell] came +crashing near, and I snatched up my comb and brush and ran down here. It +has taken all the afternoon to get the plaster out of my hair, for my +hands were rather shaky. + +_June 25._--A horrible day. The most horrible yet to me, because I've +lost my nerve. We were all in the cellar, when a shell came tearing +through the roof, burst up-stairs, tore up that room, and the pieces +coming through both floors down into the cellar, one of them tore open +the leg of H.'s pantaloons. This was tangible proof the cellar was no +place of protection from them. On the heels of this came Mr. J. to tell +us that young Mrs. P. had had her thigh-bone crushed. When Martha went +for the milk she came back horror-stricken to tell us the black girl +there had her arm taken off by a shell. For the first time I quailed. I +do not think people who are physically brave deserve much credit for it; +it is a matter of nerves. In this way I am constitutionally brave, and +seldom think of danger till it is over; and death has not the terrors +for me it has for some others. Every night I had lain down expecting +death, and every morning rose to the same prospect, without being +unnerved. It was for H. I trembled. But now I first seemed to realize +that something worse than death might come: I might be crippled, and not +killed. Life, without all one's powers and limbs, was a thought that +broke down my courage. I said to H., "You must get me out of this +horrible place; I cannot stay; I know I shall be crippled." Now the +regret comes that I lost control, because H. is worried, and has lost +his composure, because my coolness has broken down. + +_July 1._--Some months ago, thinking it might be useful, I obtained from +the consul of my birthplace, by sending to another town, a passport for +foreign parts. H. said if we went out to the lines we might be permitted +to get through on that. So we packed the trunks, got a carriage, and on +the 30th drove out there. General V. offered us seats in his tent. The +rifle-bullets were whizzing so _zip, zip_ from the sharpshooters on the +Federal lines that involuntarily I moved on my chair. He said, "Don't be +alarmed; you are out of range. They are firing at our mules yonder." His +horse, tied by the tent door, was quivering all over, the most intense +exhibition of fear I'd ever seen in an animal. General V. sent out a +flag of truce to the Federal headquarters, and while we waited wrote on +a piece of silk paper a few words. Then he said, "My wife is in +Tennessee. If you get through the lines, send her this. They will search +you, so I will put it in this toothpick." He crammed the silk paper into +a quill toothpick, and handed it to H. It was completely concealed. The +flag-of-truce officer came back flushed and angry. "General Grant says +no human being shall pass out of Vicksburg; but the lady may feel sure +danger will soon be over. Vicksburg will surrender on the 4th." + +"Is that so, general?" inquired H. "Are arrangements for surrender +made?" + +"We know nothing of the kind. Vicksburg will not surrender." + +"Those were General Grant's exact words, sir," said the flag-officer. +"Of course it is nothing but their brag." + +We went back sadly enough, but to-day H. says he will cross the river to +General Porter's lines and try there; I shall not be disappointed. + +_July 3._--H. was going to headquarters for the requisite pass, and he +saw General Pemberton crawling out of a cave, for the shelling had been +as hot as ever. He got the pass, but did not act with his usual caution, +for the boat he secured was a miserable, leaky one--a mere trough. +Leaving Martha in charge, we went to the river, had our trunks put in +the boat, and embarked; but the boat became utterly unmanageable, and +began to fill with water rapidly. H. saw that we could not cross in it, +and turned to come back; yet in spite of that the pickets at the battery +fired on us. H. raised the white flag he had, yet they fired again, and +I gave a cry of horror that none of these dreadful things had wrung from +me. I thought H. was struck. When we landed H. showed the pass, and said +that the officer had told him the battery would be notified we were to +cross. The officer apologized and said they were not notified. He +furnished a cart to get home, and to-day we are down in the cellar +again, shells flying as thick as ever; provisions so nearly gone, +except the hogshead of sugar, that a few more days will bring us to +starvation indeed. Martha says rats are hanging dressed in the market +for sale with mule-meat: there is nothing else. The officer at the +battery told me he had eaten one yesterday. We have tried to leave this +Tophet and failed, and if the siege continues I must summon that higher +kind of courage--moral bravery--to subdue my fears of possible +mutilation. + +_July 4._--It is evening. All is still. Silence and night are once more +united. I can sit at the table in the parlor and write. Two candles are +lighted. I would like a dozen. We have had wheat supper and wheat bread +once more. H. is leaning back in the rocking-chair; he says: + +"G., it seems to me I can hear the silence, and feel it, too. It wraps +me like a soft garment; how else can I express this peace?" + +But I must write the history of the last twenty-four hours. About five +yesterday afternoon, Mr. J., H.'s assistant, who, having no wife to keep +him in, dodges about at every change and brings us the news, came to H. +and said: + +"Mr. L., you must both come to our cave to-night. I hear that to-night +the shelling is to surpass everything yet. An assault will be made in +front and rear. You know we have a double cave; there is room for you in +mine, and mother and sister will make a place for Mrs. L. Come right up; +the ball will open about seven." + +We got ready, shut up the house, told Martha to go to the church again +if she preferred it to the cellar, and walked up to Mr. J.'s. When +supper was eaten, all secure, and ladies in their cave night toilet, it +was just six, and we crossed the street to the cave opposite. As I +crossed a mighty shell flew screaming right over my head. It was the +last thrown into Vicksburg. We lay on our pallets waiting for the +expected roar, but no sound came except the chatter from neighboring +caves, and at last we dropped asleep. I woke at dawn stiff. A draft from +the funnel-shaped opening had been blowing on me all night. Every one +was expressing surprise at the quiet. We started for home and met the +editor of the "Daily Citizen." H. said: + +"This is strangely quiet, Mr. L." + +"Ah, sir," shaking his head gloomily, "I'm afraid (?) the last shell has +been thrown into Vicksburg." + +"Why do you fear so?" + +"It is surrender. At six last evening a man went down to the river and +blew a truce signal; the shelling stopped at once." + +When I entered the kitchen a soldier was there waiting for the bowl of +scrapings (they took turns for it). + +"Good morning, madam," he said; "we won't bother you much longer. We +can't thank you enough for letting us come, for getting this soup boiled +has helped some of us to keep alive; but now all this is over." + +"Is it true about the surrender?" + +"Yes; we have had no official notice, but they are paroling out at the +lines now, and the men in Vicksburg will never forgive Pemberton. An old +granny! A child would have known better than to shut men up in this +cursed trap to starve to death like useless vermin." His eyes flashed +with an insane fire as he spoke, "Haven't I seen my friends carried out +three or four in a box, that had died of starvation! Nothing else, +madam! Starved to death because we had a fool for a general." + +"Don't you think you're rather hard on Pemberton? He thought it his duty +to wait for Johnston." + +"Some people may excuse him, ma'am; but we'll curse him to our dying +day. Anyhow, you'll see the blue-coats directly." + +Breakfast despatched, we went on the upper gallery. What I expected to +see was files of soldiers marching in, but it was very different. The +street was deserted, save by a few people carrying home bedding from +their caves. Among these was a group taking home a little creature born +in a cave a few days previous, and its wan-looking mother. About eleven +o'clock a soldier in blue came sauntering along, who looked about +curiously. Then two more followed him, and then another. + +"H., do you think these can be the Federal soldiers?" + +"Why, yes; here come more up the street." + +Soon a group appeared on the court-house hill, and the flag began slowly +to rise to the top of the staff. As the breeze caught it, and it sprang +out like a live thing exultant, H. drew a long breath of contentment. + +"Now I feel once more at home in mine own country." + +In an hour more a grand rush of people setting toward the river +began,--foremost among them the gentleman who took our cave; all were +flying as if for life. + +"What can this mean, H.? Are the populace turning out to greet the +despised conquerors?" + +"Oh," said H., springing up, "look! It is the boats coming around the +bend." + +Truly it was a fine spectacle to see that fleet of transports sweep +around the curve and anchor in the teeth of the battery so lately +vomiting fire. Presently Mr. J. passed and called: + +"Aren't you coming, Mr. L.? There's provisions on those boats: coffee +and flour. 'First come, first served,' you know." + +"Yes, I'll be there pretty soon," replied H. + +But now the newcomers began to swarm into our yard, asking H. if he had +coin to sell for greenbacks. He had some, and a little bartering went on +with the new greenbacks. H. went out to get provisions. When he returned +a Confederate officer came with him. H. went to the box of Confederate +money and took out four hundred dollars, and the officer took off his +watch, a plain gold one, and laid it on the table, saying, "We have not +been paid, and I must get home to my family." H. added a five-dollar +greenback to the pile, and wished him a happy meeting. The townsfolk +continued to dash through the streets with their arms full, canned goods +predominating. Toward five, Mr. J. passed again. "Keep on the lookout," +he said; "the army of occupation is coming along," and in a few minutes +the head of the column appeared. What a contrast to the suffering +creatures we had seen so long were these stalwart, well-fed men, so +splendidly set up and accoutred! Sleek horses, polished arms, bright +plumes,--this was the pride and panoply of war! Civilization, +discipline, and order seemed to enter with the measured tramp of those +marching columns; and the heart turned with throbs of added pity to the +worn men in gray, who were being blindly dashed against this embodiment +of modern power. And now this "silence that is golden" indeed is over +all, and my limbs are unhurt, and I suppose if I were a Catholic, in my +fervent gratitude I would hie me with a rich offering to the shrine of +"our Lady of Mercy." + +_July 7._--I did not enjoy quiet long. First came Martha, who announced +her intention of going to search for her sons, as she was free now. I +was hardly able to stand since the severe cold taken in the cave that +night; but she would not wait a day. A colored woman came in and said +she had asked her mistress for wages and she had turned her out (wanting +a place). I was in no condition to stand upon ceremony then, and engaged +her at once, but hear to-day that I am thoroughly pulled to pieces in +Vicksburg circles; there is no more salvation for me. Next came two +Federal officers and wanted rooms and board. To have some protection was +a necessity; both armies were still in town, and for the past three days +every Confederate soldier I see has a cracker in his hand. There is +hardly any water in town, no prospect of rain, and the soldiers have +emptied one cistern in the yard already and begun on the other. The +colonel put a guard at the gate to limit the water given. Next came the +owner of the house and said we must move; he wanted the house, but it +was so big he'd just bring his family in; we could stay till we got one. +They brought boarders with them too, and children. Men are at work all +over the house shoveling up the plaster before repairing. Up-stairs they +are pouring it by bucketfuls through the windows. Colonel D. brought +work for H. to help with from headquarters. Making out the paroles and +copying them has taken so long they wanted help. I am surprised and +mortified to find that two thirds of all the men who have signed made +their mark; they cannot write. I never thought there was so much +ignorance in the South. One of the men at headquarters took a fancy to +H., and presented him with a portfolio that he said he had captured when +the Confederates evacuated their headquarters at Jackson. It contained +mostly family letters written in French, and a few official papers. +Among them was the following note, which I will copy here, and file away +the original as a curiosity when the war is over. + + + HEADQUARTERS DEPT. OF TENN. + TUPELO, Aug. 6, 1862. + + CAPT: The Major-General Commanding directs me to say that he + submits it altogether to your own discretion whether you make the + attempt to capture General Grant or not. While the exploit would + be very brilliant if successful, you must remember that failure + would be disastrous to you and your men. The General commends + your activity and energy, and expects you to continue to show + these qualities. + + I am, very respectfully, yr. obt. svt. + THOMAS L. SNEAD, A.A.G. + + CAPT. GEO. L. BAXTER, + Commanding Beauregard Scouts. + +I would like to know if he tried it and came to grief or abandoned the +project. As letters can now get through to New Orleans, I wrote there. + +_July 14._--Moved yesterday into a house I call "Fair Rosamond's bower" +because it would take a clue of thread to go through it without getting +lost. One room has five doors opening into the house, and no windows. +The stairs are like ladders, and the colonel's contraband valet won't +risk his neck taking down water, but pours it through the windows on +people's heads. We sha'n't stay in it. Men are at work closing up the +caves; they had become hiding-places for trash. Vicksburg is now like +one vast hospital--every one is getting sick or is sick. My cook was +taken to-day with bilious fever, and nothing but will keeps me up. + +_July 23._--We moved again two days ago. + +_Aug. 20._--Sitting in my easy-chair to-day, looking out upon a grassy +slope of the hill in the rear of this house, I have looked over this +journal as if in a dream; for since the last date sickness and sorrow +have been with me. I feel as if an angry wave had passed over me, +bearing away strength and treasure. For on one day there came to me from +New Orleans the news of Mrs. B.'s death, a friend whom no tie of blood +could have made nearer. The next day my beautiful boy ended his brief +life of ten days, and died in my arms. My own illness caused him to +perish; the fatal cold in the cave was the last straw that broke down +strength. The colonel's sweet wife has come, and I do not lack now for +womanly companionship. She says that with such a prenatal experience +perhaps death was the best for him. I try to think so, and to be glad +that H. has not been ill, though I see the effects. This book is +exhausted, and I wonder whether there will be more adventures by flood +and field to cause me to begin another. + + + + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE IN GEORGIA + +BY WILLIAM PITTENGER + + +The railroad raid to Georgia, in the spring of 1862, has always been +considered to rank high among the striking and novel incidents of the +civil war. At that time General O.M. Mitchel, under whose authority it +was organized, commanded Union forces in middle Tennessee, consisting of +a division of Buell's army. The Confederates were concentrating at +Corinth, Mississippi, and Grant and Buell were advancing by different +routes toward that point. Mitchel's orders required him to protect +Nashville and the country around, but allowed him great latitude in the +disposition of his division, which, with detachments and garrisons, +numbered nearly seventeen thousand men. His attention had long been +strongly turned toward the liberation of east Tennessee, which he knew +that President Lincoln also earnestly desired, and which would, if +achieved, strike a most damaging blow at the resources of the rebellion. +A Union army once in possession of east Tennessee would have the +inestimable advantage, found nowhere else in the South, of operating in +the midst of a friendly population, and having at hand abundant supplies +of all kinds. Mitchel had no reason to believe that Corinth would +detain the Union armies much longer than Fort Donelson had done, and was +satisfied that as soon as that position had been captured the next +movement would be eastward toward Chattanooga, thus throwing his own +division in advance. He determined, therefore, to press into the heart +of the enemy's country as far as possible, occupying strategical points +before they were adequately defended and assured of speedy and powerful +reinforcement. To this end his measures were vigorous and well chosen. + +On the 8th of April, 1862,--the day after the battle of Pittsburg +Landing, of which, however, Mitchel had received no intelligence,--he +marched swiftly southward from Shelbyville, and seized Huntsville in +Alabama on the 11th of April, and then sent a detachment westward over +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to open railway communication with +the Union army at Pittsburg Landing. Another detachment, commanded by +Mitchel in person, advanced on the same day seventy miles by rail +directly into the enemy's territory, arriving unchecked with two +thousand men within thirty miles of Chattanooga,--in two hours' time he +could now reach that point,--the most important position in the West. +Why did he not go on? The story of the railroad raid is the answer. The +night before breaking camp at Shelbyville, Mitchel sent an expedition +secretly into the heart of Georgia to cut the railroad communications of +Chattanooga to the south and east. The fortune of this attempt had a +most important bearing upon his movements, and will now be narrated. + +In the employ of General Buell was a spy named James J. Andrews, who +had rendered valuable services in the first year of the war, and had +secured the full confidence of the Union commanders. In March, 1862, +Buell had sent him secretly with eight men to burn the bridges west of +Chattanooga; but the failure of expected coöperation defeated the plan, +and Andrews, after visiting Atlanta, and inspecting the whole of the +enemy's lines in that vicinity and northward, had returned, ambitious to +make another attempt. His plans for the second raid were submitted to +Mitchel, and on the eve of the movement from Shelbyville to Huntsville +Mitchel authorized him to take twenty-four men, secretly enter the +enemy's territory, and, by means of capturing a train, burn the bridges +on the northern part of the Georgia State Railroad, and also one on the +East Tennessee Railroad where it approaches the Georgia State line, thus +completely isolating Chattanooga, which was virtually ungarrisoned. + +[Illustration] + +The soldiers for this expedition, of whom the writer was one, were +selected from the three Ohio regiments belonging to General J.W. Sill's +brigade, being simply told that they were wanted for secret and very +dangerous service. So far as known, not a man chosen declined the +perilous honor. Our uniforms were exchanged for ordinary Southern dress, +and all arms except revolvers were left in camp. On the 7th of April, by +the roadside about a mile east of Shelbyville, in the late evening +twilight, we met our leader. Taking us a little way from the road, he +quietly placed before us the outlines of the romantic and adventurous +plan, which was: to break into small detachments of three or four, +journey eastward into the Cumberland Mountains, then work southward, +traveling by rail after we were well within the Confederate lines, and +finally the evening of the third day after the start, meet Andrews at +Marietta, Georgia, more than two hundred miles away. When questioned, we +were to profess ourselves Kentuckians going to join the Southern army. + +On the journey we were a good deal annoyed by the swollen streams and +the muddy roads consequent on three days of almost ceaseless rain. +Andrews was led to believe that Mitchel's column would be inevitably +delayed; and as we were expected to destroy the bridges the very day +that Huntsville was entered, he took the responsibility of sending word +to our different groups that our attempt would be postponed one +day--from Friday to Saturday, April 12. This was a natural but a most +lamentable error of judgment. + +One of the men detailed was belated, and did not join us at all. Two +others were very soon captured by the enemy; and though their true +character was not detected, they were forced into the Southern army, and +two reached Marietta, but failed to report at the rendezvous. Thus, +when we assembled very early in the morning in Andrews's room at the +Marietta Hotel for final consultation before the blow was struck we were +but twenty, including our leader. All preliminary difficulties had been +easily overcome, and we were in good spirits. But some serious obstacles +had been revealed on our ride from Chattanooga to Marietta the previous +evening.[3] The railroad was found to be crowded with trains, and many +soldiers were among the passengers. Then the station--Big Shanty--at +which the capture was to be effected had recently been made a +Confederate camp. To succeed in our enterprise it would be necessary +first to capture the engine in a guarded camp with soldiers standing +around as spectators, and then to run it from one to two hundred miles +through the enemy's country, and to deceive or overpower all trains that +should be met--a large contract for twenty men. Some of our party +thought the chances of success so slight, under existing circumstances, +that they urged the abandonment of the whole enterprise. But Andrews +declared his purpose to succeed or die, offering to each man, however, +the privilege of withdrawing from the attempt--an offer no one was in +the least disposed to accept. Final instructions were then given, and we +hurried to the ticket-office in time for the northward-bound mail-train, +and purchased tickets for different stations along the line in the +direction of Chattanooga. + +[Footnote 3: The different detachments reached the Georgia State +Railroad at Chattanooga, and traveled as ordinary passengers on trains +running southward.--EDITOR.] + +Our ride, as passengers, was but eight miles. We swept swiftly around +the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and soon saw the tents of the Confederate +forces camped at Big Shanty gleam white in the morning mist. Here we +were to stop for breakfast, and attempt the seizure of the train. The +morning was raw and gloomy, and a rain, which fell all day, had already +begun. It was a painfully thrilling moment. We were but twenty, with an +army about us, and a long and difficult road before us, crowded with +enemies. In an instant we were to throw off the disguise which had been +our only protection, and trust to our leader's genius and our own +efforts for safety and success. Fortunately we had no time for giving +way to reflections and conjectures which could only unfit us for the +stern task ahead. + +When we stopped, the conductor, the engineer, and many of the passengers +hurried to breakfast, leaving the train unguarded. Now was the moment of +action. Ascertaining that there was nothing to prevent a rapid start, +Andrews, our two engineers, Brown and Knight, and the firemen hurried +forward, uncoupling a section of the train consisting of three empty +baggage or box-cars, the locomotive, and the tender. The engineers and +the firemen sprang into the cab of the engine, while Andrews, with hand +on the rail and foot on the step, waited to see that the remainder of +the party had gained entrance into the rear box-car. This seemed +difficult and slow, though it really consumed but a few seconds, for the +car stood on a considerable bank, and the first who came were pitched in +by their comrades, while these in turn dragged in the others, and the +door was instantly closed. A sentinel, with musket in hand, stood not a +dozen feet from the engine, watching the whole proceeding; but before he +or any of the soldiers or guards around could make up their minds to +interfere all was done, and Andrews, with a nod to his engineer, stepped +on board. The valve was pulled wide open, and for a moment the wheels +slipped round in rapid, ineffective revolutions; then, with a bound that +jerked the soldiers in the box-car from their feet, the little train +darted away, leaving the camp and the station in the wildest uproar and +confusion. The first step of the enterprise was triumphantly +accomplished. + +According to the time-table, of which Andrews had secured a copy, there +were two trains to be met. These presented no serious hindrance to our +attaining high speed, for we could tell just where to expect them. There +was also a local freight not down on the time-table, but which could not +be far distant. Any danger of collision with it could be avoided by +running according to the schedule of the captured train until it was +passed; then at the highest possible speed we could run to the +Oostenaula and Chickamauga bridges, lay them in ashes, and pass on +through Chattanooga to Mitchel at Huntsville, or wherever eastward of +that point he might be found, arriving long before the close of the day. +It was a brilliant prospect, and so far as human estimates can determine +it would have been realized had the day been Friday instead of Saturday. +Friday every train had been on time, the day dry, the road in perfect +order. Now the road was in disorder, every train far behind time, and +two "extras" were approaching us. But of these unfavorable conditions +we knew nothing, and pressed confidently forward. + +We stopped frequently, and at one point tore up the track, cut telegraph +wires, and loaded on cross-ties to be used in bridge-burning. Wood and +water were taken without difficulty, Andrews very coolly telling the +story to which he adhered throughout the run--namely, that he was one of +General Beauregard's officers, running an impressed powder-train through +to that commander at Corinth. We had no good instruments for +track-raising, as we had intended rather to depend upon fire; but the +amount of time spent in taking up a rail was not material at this stage +of our journey, as we easily kept on the time of our captured train. +There was a wonderful exhilaration in passing swiftly by towns and +stations through the heart of an enemy's country in this manner. It +possessed just enough of the spice of danger, in this part of the run, +to render it thoroughly enjoyable. The slightest accident to our engine, +however, or a miscarriage in any part of our program, would have +completely changed the conditions. + +At Etowah we found the "Yonah," an old locomotive owned by an iron +company, standing with steam up; but not wishing to alarm the enemy till +the local freight had been safely met, we left it unharmed. Kingston, +thirty miles from the starting-point, was safely reached. A train from +Rome, Georgia, on a branch road, had just arrived and was waiting for +the morning mail--our train. We learned that the local freight would +soon come also, and, taking the side-track, waited for it. When it +arrived, however, Andrews saw, to his surprise and chagrin, that it +bore a red flag, indicating another train not far behind. Stepping over +to the conductor, he boldly asked: "What does it mean that the road is +blocked in this manner when I have orders to take this powder to +Beauregard without a minute's delay?" The answer was interesting, but +not reassuring: "Mitchel has captured Huntsville, and is said to be +coming to Chattanooga, and we are getting everything out of there." He +was asked by Andrews to pull his train a long way down the track out of +the way, and promptly obeyed. + +It seemed an exceedingly long time before the expected "extra" arrived, +and when it did come it bore another red flag. The reason given was that +the "local," being too great for one engine, had been made up in two +sections, and the second section would doubtless be along in a short +time. This was terribly vexatious; yet there seemed nothing to do but to +wait. To start out between the sections of an extra train would be to +court destruction. There were already three trains around us, and their +many passengers and others were all growing very curious about the +mysterious train, manned by strangers, which had arrived on the time of +the morning mail. For an hour and five minutes from the time of arrival +at Kingston we remained in this most critical position. The sixteen of +us who were shut up tightly in a box-car,--personating Beauregard's +ammunition,--hearing sounds outside, but unable to distinguish words, +had perhaps the most trying position. Andrews sent us, by one of the +engineers, a cautious warning to be ready to fight in case the +uneasiness of the crowd around led them to make any investigation, +while he himself kept near the station to prevent the sending off of any +alarming telegram. So intolerable was our suspense, that the order for a +deadly conflict would have been felt as a relief. But the assurance of +Andrews quieted the crowd until the whistle of the expected train from +the north was heard; then as it glided up to the depot, past the end of +our side-track, we were off without more words. + +But unexpected danger had arisen behind us. Out of the panic at Big +Shanty two men emerged, determined, if possible, to foil the unknown +captors of their train. There was no telegraph station, and no +locomotive at hand with which to follow; but the conductor of the train, +W.A. Fuller, and Anthony Murphy, foreman of the Atlanta railway +machine-shops, who happened to be on board of Fuller's train, started on +foot after us as hard as they could run. Finding a hand-car they mounted +it and pushed forward till they neared Etowah, where they ran on the +break we had made in the road, and were precipitated down the embankment +into the ditch. Continuing with more caution, they reached Etowah and +found the "Yonah," which was at once pressed into service, loaded with +soldiers who were at hand, and hurried with flying wheels toward +Kingston. Fuller prepared to fight at that point, for he knew of the +tangle of extra trains, and of the lateness of the regular trains, and +did not think we should be able to pass. We had been gone only four +minutes when he arrived and found himself stopped by three long, heavy +trains of cars, headed in the wrong direction. To move them out of the +way so as to pass would cause a delay he was little inclined to +afford--would, indeed, have almost certainly given us the victory. So, +abandoning his engine, he with Murphy ran across to the Rome train, and, +uncoupling the engine and one car, pushed forward with about forty armed +men. As the Rome branch connected with the main road above the depot, he +encountered no hindrance, and it was now a fair race. We were not many +minutes ahead. + +Four miles from Kingston we again stopped and cut the telegraph. While +trying to take up a rail at this point we were greatly startled. One end +of the rail was loosened, and eight of us were pulling at it, when in +the distance we distinctly heard the whistle of a pursuing engine. With +a frantic effort we broke the rail, and all tumbled over the embankment +with the effort. We moved on, and at Adairsville we found a mixed train +(freight and passenger) waiting, but there was an express on the road +that had not yet arrived. We could afford no more delay, and set out for +the next station, Calhoun, at terrible speed, hoping to reach that point +before the express, which was behind time, should arrive. The nine miles +which we had to travel were left behind in less than the same number of +minutes. The express was just pulling out, but, hearing our whistle, +backed before us until we were able to take the side-track. It stopped, +however, in such a manner as completely to close up the other end of the +switch. The two trains, side by side, almost touched each other, and our +precipitate arrival caused natural suspicion. Many searching questions +were asked, which had to be answered before we could get the +opportunity of proceeding. We in the box-car could hear the altercation, +and were almost sure that a fight would be necessary before the +conductor would consent to "pull up" in order to let us out. Here again +our position was most critical, for the pursuers were rapidly +approaching. + +Fuller and Murphy saw the obstruction of the broken rail in time, by +reversing their engine, to prevent wreck, but the hindrance was for the +present insuperable. Leaving all their men behind, they started for a +second foot-race. Before they had gone far they met the train we had +passed at Adairsville and turned it back after us. At Adairsville they +dropped the cars, and with locomotive and tender loaded with armed men, +they drove forward at the highest speed possible. They knew that we were +not many minutes ahead, and trusted to overhaul us before the express +train could be safely passed. + +But Andrews had told the powder story again with all his skill, and +added a direct request in peremptory form to have the way opened before +him, which the Confederate conductor did not see fit to resist; and just +before the pursuers arrived at Calhoun we were again under way. Stopping +once more to cut wires and tear up the track, we felt a thrill of +exhilaration to which we had long been strangers. The track was now +clear before us to Chattanooga; and even west of that city we had good +reason to believe that we should find no other train in the way till we +had reached Mitchel's lines. If one rail could now be lifted we would be +in a few minutes at the Oostenaula bridge; and that burned, the rest of +the task would be little more than simple manual labor, with the enemy +absolutely powerless. We worked with a will. + +But in a moment the tables were turned. Not far behind we heard the +scream of a locomotive bearing down upon us at lightning speed. The men +on board were in plain sight and well armed. Two minutes--perhaps +one--would have removed the rail at which we were toiling; then the game +would have been in our own hands, for there was no other locomotive +beyond that could be turned back after us. But the most desperate +efforts were in vain. The rail was simply bent, and we hurried to our +engine and darted away, while remorselessly after us thundered the +enemy. + +Now the contestants were in clear view, and a race followed unparalleled +in the annals of war. Wishing to gain a little time for the burning of +the Oostenaula bridge, we dropped one car, and, shortly after, another; +but they were "picked up" and pushed ahead to Resaca. We were obliged to +run over the high trestles and covered bridge at that point without a +pause. This was the first failure in the work assigned us. + +The Confederates could not overtake and stop us on the road; but their +aim was to keep close behind, so that we might not be able to damage the +road or take in wood or water. In the former they succeeded, but not in +the latter. Both engines were put at the highest rate of speed. We were +obliged to cut the wire after every station passed, in order that an +alarm might not be sent ahead; and we constantly strove to throw our +pursuers off the track, or to obstruct the road permanently in some way, +so that we might be able to burn the Chickamauga bridges, still ahead. +The chances seemed good that Fuller and Murphy would be wrecked. We +broke out the end of our last box-car and dropped cross-ties on the +track as we ran, thus checking their progress and getting far enough +ahead to take in wood and water at two separate stations. Several times +we almost lifted a rail, but each time the coming of the Confederates +within rifle-range compelled us to desist and speed on. Our worst +hindrance was the rain. The previous day (Friday) had been clear, with a +high wind, and on such a day fire would have been easily and +tremendously effective. But to-day a bridge could be burned only with +abundance of fuel and careful nursing. + +Thus we sped on, mile after mile, in this fearful chase, round curves +and past stations in seemingly endless perspective. Whenever we lost +sight of the enemy beyond a curve, we hoped that some of our +obstructions had been effective in throwing him from the track, and that +we should see him no more; but at each long reach backward the smoke was +again seen, and the shrill whistle was like the scream of a bird of +prey. The time could not have been so very long, for the terrible speed +was rapidly devouring the distance; but with our nerves strained to the +highest tension each minute seemed an hour. On several occasions the +escape of the enemy from wreck was little less than miraculous. At one +point a rail was placed across the track on a curve so skilfully that it +was not seen till the train ran upon it at full speed. Fuller says that +they were terribly jolted, and seemed to bounce altogether from the +track, but lighted on the rails in safety. Some of the Confederates +wished to leave a train which was driven at such a reckless rate, but +their wishes were not gratified. + +Before reaching Dalton we urged Andrews to turn and attack the enemy, +laying an ambush so as to get into close quarters, that our revolvers +might be on equal terms with their guns. I have little doubt that if +this had been carried out it would have succeeded. But either because he +thought the chance of wrecking or obstructing the enemy still good, or +feared that the country ahead had been alarmed by a telegram around the +Confederacy by the way of Richmond, Andrews merely gave the plan his +sanction without making any attempt to carry it into execution. + +Dalton was passed without difficulty, and beyond we stopped again to cut +wires and to obstruct the track. It happened that a regiment was +encamped not a hundred yards away, but they did not molest us. Fuller +had written a despatch to Chattanooga, and dropped a man with orders to +have it forwarded instantly, while he pushed on to save the bridges. +Part of the message got through and created a wild panic in Chattanooga, +although it did not materially influence our fortunes. Our supply of +fuel was now very short, and without getting rid of our pursuers long +enough to take in more, it was evident that we could not run as far as +Chattanooga. + +While cutting the wire we made an attempt to get up another rail; but +the enemy, as usual, were too quick for us. We had no tool for this +purpose except a wedge-pointed iron bar. Two or three bent iron claws +for pulling out spikes would have given us such incontestable +superiority that, down to almost the last of our run, we should have +been able to escape and even to burn all the Chickamauga bridges. But it +had not been our intention to rely on this mode of obstruction--an +emergency only rendered necessary by our unexpected delay and the +pouring rain. + +We made no attempt to damage the long tunnel north of Dalton, as our +enemies had greatly dreaded. The last hope of the raid was now staked +upon an effort of a kind different from any that we had yet made, but +which, if successful, would still enable us to destroy the bridges +nearest Chattanooga. But, on the other hand, its failure would terminate +the chase. Life and success were put upon one throw. + +A few more obstructions were dropped on the track, and our own speed +increased so that we soon forged a considerable distance ahead. The side +and end boards of the last car were torn into shreds, all available fuel +was piled upon it, and blazing brands were brought back from the engine. +By the time we approached a long, covered bridge a fire in the car was +fairly started. We uncoupled it in the middle of the bridge, and with +painful suspense waited the issue. Oh for a few minutes till the work of +conflagration was fairly begun! There was still steam pressure enough in +our boiler to carry us to the next wood-yard, where we could have +replenished our fuel by force, if necessary, so as to run as near to +Chattanooga as was deemed prudent. We did not know of the telegraph +message which the pursuers had sent ahead. But, alas! the minutes were +not given. Before the bridge was extensively fired the enemy was upon +us, and we moved slowly onward, looking back to see what they would do +next. We had not long to conjecture. The Confederates pushed right into +the smoke, and drove the burning car before them to the next side-track. + +With no car left, and no fuel, the last scrap having thrown into the +engine or upon the burning car, and with no obstruction to drop on the +track, our situation was indeed desperate. A few minutes only remained +until our steed of iron which had so well served us would be powerless. + +But it might still be possible to save ourselves. If we left the train +in a body, and, taking a direct course toward the Union lines, hurried +over the mountains at right angles with their course, we could not, from +the nature of the country, be followed by cavalry, and could easily +travel--athletic young men as we were, and fleeing for life--as rapidly +as any pursuers. There was no telegraph in the mountainous districts +west and northwest of us, and the prospect of reaching the Union lines +seemed to me then, and has always since seemed, very fair. Confederate +pursuers with whom I have since conversed freely have agreed on two +points--that we could have escaped in the manner here pointed out, and +that an attack on the pursuing train would likely have been successful. +But Andrews thought otherwise, at least in relation to the former plan, +and ordered us to jump from the locomotive one by one, and, dispersing +in the woods, each endeavor to save himself. Thus ended the Andrews +railroad raid. + +It is easy now to understand why Mitchel paused thirty miles west of +Chattanooga. The Andrews raiders had been forced to stop eighteen miles +south of the same town, and no flying train met him with the expected +tidings that all railroad communications of Chattanooga were destroyed, +and that the town was in a panic and undefended. He dared advance no +farther without heavy reinforcements from Pittsburg Landing or the +north; and he probably believed to the day of his death, six months +later, that the whole Andrews party had perished without accomplishing +anything. + +A few words will give the sequel to this remarkable enterprise. There +was great excitement in Chattanooga and in the whole of the surrounding +Confederate territory for scores of miles. The hunt for the fugitive +raiders was prompt, energetic, and completely successful. Ignorant of +the country, disorganized, and far from the Union lines, they strove in +vain to escape. Several were captured the same day on which they left +the cars, and all but two within a week. Even these two were overtaken +and brought back when they supposed that they were virtually out of +danger. Two of those who had failed to be on the train were identified +and added to the band of prisoners. + +Now follows the saddest part of the story. Being in citizens' dress +within an enemy's lines, the whole party were held as spies, and closely +and vigorously guarded. A court-martial was convened, and the leader and +seven others out of the twenty-two were condemned and executed. The +remainder were never brought to trial, probably because of the advance +of Union forces, and the consequent confusion into which the affairs of +the departments of east Tennessee and Georgia were thrown. Of the +remaining fourteen, eight succeeded by a bold effort--attacking their +guard in broad daylight--in making their escape from Atlanta, Georgia, +and ultimately in reaching the North. The other six who shared in this +effort, but were recaptured, remained prisoners until the latter part of +March, 1863, when they were exchanged through a special arrangement made +with Secretary Stanton. All the survivors of this expedition received +medals and promotion.[4] The pursuers also received expressions of +gratitude from their fellow-Confederates, notably from the governor and +the legislature of Georgia. + +[Footnote 4: Below is a list of the participants in the raid: + +James J. Andrews,[A] leader; +William Campbell,[A] a civilian who volunteered to accompany the raiders; +George D. Wilson,[A] Company B, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Marion A. Ross,[A] Company A, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Perry G. Shadrack,[A] Company K, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Samuel Slavens,[A] 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Samuel Robinson,[A] Company G, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +John Scott,[A] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +Wilson W. Brown,[B] Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Knight,[B] Company E, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +Mark Wood,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +James A. Wilson,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +John Wollam,[B] Company C, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +D.A. Dorsey,[B] Company H, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Jacob Parrott,[C] Company K, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Robert Buffum,[C] Company H, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Benzinger,[C] Company G, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Reddick,[C] Company B, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +E.H. Mason,[C] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Pittenger,[C] Company G, 2d Ohio Volunteers. + +J.R. Porter, Company C, 21st Ohio, and Martin J. Hawkins, Company A, 33d +Ohio, reached Marietta, but did not get on board of the train. They were +captured and imprisoned with their comrades. + +[A] Executed. [B] Escaped. [C] Exchanged.] + + + + +MOSBY'S "PARTIZAN RANGERS" + +BY A.E. RICHARDS + + +During the early stages of the war between the States, the Confederate +Congress enacted a statute known as the Partizan Ranger Act, which +provided for independent bodies of cavalry to be organized as other +government troops. The officers were to be regularly commissioned and +the men to be paid like other soldiers. The distinctive features were, +that the rangers should operate independently of the regular army and be +entitled to the legitimate spoil captured from the enemy. + +While John S. Mosby was employed as a scout by General J.E.B. Stuart, he +had concluded that a command organized and operated as contemplated by +this act could do great damage to the enemy guarding that portion of +Northern Virginia abandoned by the Confederate armies. But the partizan +branch of the service having been brought into disrepute by the worse +than futile efforts of others, his superior officers at first refused +him permission to engage in so questionable an enterprise. Finally, +however, General Stuart gave Mosby a detail of nine men from the regular +cavalry with which to experiment. + +At that time the two main armies operating in Virginia were confronting +each other near Fredericksburg. To protect their lines of communication +with Washington, the Federals had stationed a considerable force across +the Potomac, with headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. They also +established a complete cordon of pickets from a point on the river above +Washington to a point below, thus encompassing many square miles of +Virginia territory. Upon these outposts Mosby commenced his operations. +The size of his command compelled him to confine his attacks to the +small details made nightly for picket duty. But he was so uniformly +successful that when the time came for him to report back to General +Stuart, that officer was so pleased with the experiment that he allowed +Mosby to select fifteen men from his old regiment and return, for an +indefinite period, to his chosen field of operations. + +His first exploits had been so noised abroad that the young men from the +neighboring counties and the soldiers at home on furloughs would request +permission to join in his raids. He could easily muster fifty of these, +known as "Mosby's Conglomerates," for any expedition. The opportunity +for developing his ideas of border warfare was thus presented. With +great vigor he renewed his attacks upon the Federal outposts. As a +recognition of one of his successful exploits, the Confederate +government sent him a captain's commission with authority to raise a +company of partizan rangers. The material for this was already at hand, +and on June 10, 1862, he organized his first company. This was the +nucleus around which he subsequently shaped his ideal command. The fame +of his achievements had already spread throughout Virginia and Maryland, +and attracted to his standard many kindred spirits from both States. No +conscripting was necessary. Those for whom this mode of warfare +possessed a charm would brave hardship and danger for the privilege of +enlisting under his banner. His recruits from Maryland, and many of +those from Virginia, were compelled to pass through the Federal pickets +in order to join his command. Yet great care had to be exercised in the +selection of his men, and not every applicant was received. If an +unworthy soldier procured admission, so soon as the mistake was +discovered he was sent under guard as a conscript to the regular +service. + +Mosby reserved the right to select all of his officers, who were +invariably chosen from those who had already demonstrated their fitness +for this particular service. It has been said of a great military hero +that the surest proof of his genius was his skill in finding out genius +in others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Mosby, in his +limited sphere, displayed a similar talent, and to this faculty, almost +as much as any one thing, may be attributed his success with his +enlarged command. When a sufficient number of men had enlisted to form a +new company, he would have them drawn up in line and his adjutant would +read to them the names of those selected for officers, with the +announcement that all who were not in favor of their election could step +out of the ranks and go to the regular service. Of course no one ever +left. In order to comply with the law, the form of an election was then +gone through with, and their commander's choice ratified. In no other +body of troops were all the officers thus _unanimously_ elected. + +Mosby's command, as finally organized, consisted of eight companies of +cavalry and one of mounted artillery, officered by a colonel, a +lieutenant-colonel, and a major, with the usual complement of company +officers. But the entire force was seldom combined. Instead of this, +they would be divided into two or more detachments operating in +different places. So it was not at all unusual for an attack to be made +the same night upon Sheridan's line of transportation in the valley, +upon the pickets guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, upon the +outposts in Fairfax County, and upon the rear of the army manoeuvering +against Lee. This explains--what at the time seemed to many of the +readers of the Northern newspapers a mystery--how Mosby's men could be +in so many different places at the same time. The safety and success of +the Rangers were enhanced by these subdivisions, the Federals having +become so alert as to make it extremely difficult for a large command +either to evade their pickets or manoeuver within their lines. From +fifty to one hundred men were all that were usually marched together, +and many of their most brilliant successes were achieved with even a +smaller force. Mosby had only twenty men with him when he captured +Brigadier-General Edwin H. Stoughton. With these he penetrated the heart +of the Federal camp, and carried off its commander. General Stoughton +was in charge of an army of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, with +headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. One dark night in March, 1863, +Mosby, with this small detachment, evaded the Federal pickets, passed +through the sleeping army, and with their camp-fires gleaming all +around him, and their sentinels on duty, aroused their general from his +slumbers, and took him captive with thirty-seven of his comrades. + +But the novelty of Mosby's mode of warfare consisted chiefly in the +manner of subsisting, quartering and protecting his men. The upper +portion of Loudon and Fauquier counties, embracing a circuit of about +thirty miles in diameter, was then known as "Mosby's Confederacy." By a +glance at the map it will be observed that it bordered upon the Blue +Ridge Mountains on the west, and the Bull Run Mountains on the east. The +valley between is one of the richest, most beautiful, and highly +cultivated in the State of Virginia. It was thickly inhabited with old +Virginia families, who were loyal and true to the Southern cause. These +people received Mosby's men into their houses as their guests, and +neither danger nor want could tempt their betrayal. Robin Hood's band +sought safety in the solitudes of Sherwood Forest, Marion's men secreted +themselves "in the pleasant wilds of Snow's Island" and other South +Carolina swamps, but the Partizan Rangers of Virginia protected +themselves by dispersing in an open country among a sympathizing people. +They never established a camp; to have done so would have invited +capture. Each soldier had his boarding-house, where he lived when off +duty, as a member of the family. From these they would come, singly or +in groups, bringing their rations with them to some designated +rendezvous, march rapidly to and from the point of attack, send their +prisoners under guard to the nearest Confederate post, divide the spoil, +and disperse. If they were pursued by an overwhelming force as was +frequently the case, the evening found them scattered to the four winds, +where each man, mounted upon his own fleet steed, could protect himself +from capture. If the Federals attempted to follow the chase in small +parties, the Rangers, from behind every hill and grove, would +concentrate and dash upon them. If they marched in solid column, the +Rangers would hang upon their flanks, firing upon them from behind +trees, fences, and hilltops. In this way, General Julius Stahel, who had +invaded Mosby's Confederacy with two brigades of cavalry and four pieces +of artillery for the avowed purpose of utterly demolishing the Rangers, +was so annoyed that he retired, thoroughly disgusted with an enemy "who +only fought when they got their foe at a disadvantage." + +As there were no civil officers commissioned by either party in all that +section of Virginia, the people naturally turned to Mosby as their only +representative of law and order. It was not unusual for them to submit +their property controversies to him for decision. In this way he +acquired a civil jurisdiction in connection with his military +dictatorship. Being a lawyer by profession, educated at the University +of Virginia, his civil administration became as remarkable for its +prudence and justice as his military leadership was for magnanimity and +dash. I heard an old citizen remark, "For two years Mosby was our ruler, +and the country never was better governed." He protected the people from +stragglers and deserters, who pillaged friend and foe alike. Every +captured horse-thief was promptly executed. He required his own men to +treat the citizens with fairness and courtesy, and any violation of +this rule was punished by sending the offender to the regular service. +Its observance was more easily enforced than would appear possible at +first glance. The men were scarcely ever off duty, except for necessary +rest. The officers were then distributed among them, and by their +example and authority controlled, when necessary, the deportment of +their men. The citizens with whom they lived also exercised a healthy +influence over them. These relations engendered many attachments that +ran like golden threads through the soldier's life and outlived the +rough usages of war. + +It thus became no easy matter to drive the Rangers from a territory so +dear to them, and in which they were befriended by all. On two occasions +the entire Federal army operating against General Lee passed through +Mosby's Confederacy, and yet his men did not abandon it. They hid +themselves in the mountains during the day, and descended upon the enemy +at night. They thus observed every movement of the Federal army, and all +valuable information was promptly sent to the Confederate general. On +one of these occasions, June 17, 1863, Mosby found himself at ten +o'clock at night between the infantry and cavalry commands of General +Hooker's army. Observing three horses hitched near a house, with an +orderly standing by, he left his command with the prisoners already +captured, and taking with him three men, rode up to the orderly and was +informed by him that the horses belonged to Major William E. Sterling +and another officer. In a whisper he said to the orderly: + +"My name is Mosby. Keep quiet!" + +The man understood him to say that he (the orderly) was "Mosby," and +very indignantly replied: + +"No sir, I am as good a Union man as ever walked the earth." + +"Those are just the sort I am after," said Mosby. + +Just then the two officers emerged from the house. As they approached, +one of the Rangers stretched out his hand to disarm the major. Supposing +him to be an acquaintance, Major Sterling offered his hand in return, +but was overwhelmed with surprise when informed that he was a prisoner. +Upon examination he was found to be the bearer of important despatches +from General Hooker to his chief of cavalry, General Pleasonton. These +despatches, which developed the contemplated movements of the army and +directed the coöperation of the cavalry, were placed in General Stuart's +hands by dawn of day. On this and many similar occasions information +furnished by the Rangers proved invaluable to the Confederate generals. + +But furnishing information was not the most important service they +rendered. It has been fairly estimated that they detained on guard duty +thirty thousand Federal soldiers, who otherwise might have been employed +at the front. Even then the Federal lines of transportation were +constantly being attacked, with more or less success. It was impossible +to protect them against such reckless activity as the Rangers were +constantly displaying. No matter how vigilant the Federals were, Mosby +was sure to find an opportunity for attacking. Sometimes his success +would lie in the very boldness of the attempt. This was never more +strikingly illustrated than in one of his attacks upon Sheridan's line +of transportation. The Federal arm which had driven General Early up the +valley beyond Winchester was drawing its supplies over the turnpike from +Harper's Ferry. Mosby, taking a command of five companies of cavalry and +two mountain howitzers,--numbering two hundred and fifty men,--passed at +night across the Blue Ridge, and fording the Shenandoah, halted a few +miles below Berryville. Riding out to the turnpike, he discovered in his +immediate front two large trains parked for the night--one going toward +the army loaded, the other returning empty. He determined to capture the +former, composed of one hundred and fifty wagons. At daybreak it +commenced to move, guarded by a brigade of infantry and two hundred and +fifty cavalry. The train and its guard were soon strung along the +turnpike. The cavalry rode on the flank near the center, a company of +infantry marched in front of each tenth wagon, and the remaining force +was distributed between the rear-and advance-guards. It was a bright +summer morning, and just as the sun was rising the Rangers marched +across the open fields and halted about four hundred yards from the +road, and within full view of the moving train. Observing the Federal +cavalry dismounted across the road a quarter of a mile to his left, +Mosby sent two companies of his cavalry and one howitzer, with orders to +take a position immediately opposite them and there await the signal of +attack, which was to be three shots fired from the howitzer left behind. +This detachment did not halt until it was within seventy-five yards of +the moving train. Of course the Federals observed all these manoeuvers, +but were misled by their very boldness; they never imagined but what +this new force was a part of their own army. So when the first shot, +which fell short, was fired from the howitzer, several of their officers +rode to the eminence not more than thirty steps in front of the detached +Confederate squadron, and lifting their glasses to their eyes, prepared +to witness what they supposed to be artillery practice. Just then the +second shell from the howitzer burst in the midst of their cavalry, who, +supposing it had been fired in that direction through mistake, hastily +prepared to move beyond range. Immediately the rebel yell was raised, +and the squadron dashed at the Federals, scattering them in every +direction, and capturing the officers with their glasses still in their +hands. Turning abruptly to the left, the Rangers charged along the road, +riding over company after company of infantry until checked by a volley +from the advance-guard. At the same time another squadron had struck the +turnpike immediately in front of their first position, and turning to +the right, had ridden down everything between them and the rear-guard. +Then, with one howitzer playing upon the advance and the other upon the +rear-guard, the Rangers rapidly collected their prisoners, unhitched the +teams, and burned the wagons. When reinforcements reached the Federals +they deployed their skirmishers and advanced in line of battle, only to +see the Rangers riding over the hills in the distance, taking with them +three hundred prisoners, seven hundred mules and horses, and two hundred +and thirty beef-cattle. But the rejoicing of the Rangers was almost +turned into chagrin when they learned from the Northern papers that one +of the wagons from which they had taken the mules was loaded with an +iron safe containing one million dollars to pay off the army. Upon +reading it, Mosby dropped the paper with a sigh, exclaiming, "There's a +cool million gone after it was fairly earned! What other man could +sustain such losses with so little embarrassment?" + +But this failure of the Rangers to secure their "earnings" did not +always attend them. Shortly after that they collected a sufficient +amount of "dues" to enable them to determine upon greenbacks as the +future currency of their Confederacy. It happened in this wise. Taking +with him seventy-five men, Mosby crossed, at an early hour of the night, +in rear of Sheridan's army, and struck the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +above Harper's Ferry, near Duffield Station. Here they prized up one +side of the track to a height of four feet, placing a secure foundation +under it. Soon the night express came rushing along. The engine upset, +and the train came to a stand without serious injury to the passengers. +Immediately the cars were boarded, and every one in Federal uniform +captured. Among the prisoners were two paymasters, Majors Moore and +Ruggles, who had in a satchel and tin box $168,000, in greenbacks, to +pay off the troops stationed along the road. Securing this rich booty, +the Rangers burned the cars and repassed Sheridan's pickets before the +day had dawned. The money was divided upon reaching their Confederacy, +each man receiving something over two thousand dollars, Mosby taking +nothing. + +Only the men who participated in a particular raid were allowed to +share in its spoil. The officer who commanded the expedition always +controlled the distribution. It was seldom there was anything to divide +except horses and their equipments. Those who had distinguished +themselves in the fight were allowed the first choice as a reward for +their gallantry, the shares of the others being divided by lot. This +system, by rewarding individual merit, encouraged a healthy rivalry +among the men, and at the same time removed all inducement to leave the +fight for plunder. Often when a charge was ordered, a genuine horse-race +followed, the swiftest steeds leading the way. + +In this manner the men were mounted and equipped without expense to +themselves or the Confederate Government. On the contrary, the army +quartermaster kept an agent in Mosby's Confederacy, to purchase from the +Rangers their surplus stock and arms. His standing price for a horse was +forty dollars in gold. But each Ranger retained two or more of the best +for his own use. In this way they were always splendidly mounted. I once +heard a Federal officer say he was not surprised that Mosby's men rode +such fine horses, as they had both armies to pick from. The cavalry was +armed with pistols alone, of which each man carried at least two. Their +superiority over all other arms for this branch of the service was +frequently demonstrated. It is a weapon that can be used with one hand, +leaving the other to guide the horse. Cavalry is never really efficient +unless trained to rush into close contact with the enemy. To see the +whites of their eyes is not sufficient; they must ride over the foe. In +the rapid charge the carbine is not only useless, but a positive +incumbrance. The saber is comparatively harmless; it serves to frighten +the timid, but rarely ever deals a death-wound. Let two men encounter +each other in the charge, one relying upon his pistol, the other upon +his saber, and the former, though an ordinary marksman, will almost +invariably get the better of his antagonist. The Rangers realized their +advantage in this respect. It encouraged them to rush into close +quarters, where the rapid discharge of their pistols soon told upon the +enemy, no matter how bravely they had withstood the onset. I have seen +the victory decided alone by the superiority of the pistol over the +saber, where the opposing columns had crossed each other in the charge +and, wheeling, had mingled in the fight. + +But the Rangers were compelled to discard the carbine and the saber for +other reasons than their inferiority in the hand-to-hand conflict. It +was always their policy to take the enemy by surprise if possible. Their +favorite plan was to wind their way through the Federal pickets during +the night, and make the attack at break of day. The rattling of the +carbine and saber would have made it impossible to execute these +movements with the silence necessary to success. To the uninitiated it +would be surprising to see with what noiseless secrecy these manoeuvers +could be accomplished. Only whispered commands were necessary from the +officers, and the presence of danger insured silence in the ranks. This +silence, which was observed so long as silence was proper, served to +make the charge, with its shout and its cheer, the more terrible to the +foe. + +But it must not be imagined the Rangers were always successful. They +were themselves sometimes surprised, sometimes repulsed. Nothing else +could be expected from almost daily encounters in a country abandoned to +the enemy. There were occasions when they were saved from total ruin +only by their knowledge of the country and the swiftness of their +steeds. + + + + +A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS + +THE RAID, THE CAPTURE, AND THE ESCAPE + + + + +I. THE RAID + +BY BASIL W. DUKE + + +In the summer of 1863, when, at Tullahoma, Tennessee, General Bragg's +army was menaced by superior numbers in flank and rear, he determined to +send a body of cavalry into Kentucky, which should operate upon +Rosecrans's communications between Nashville and Louisville, break the +railroads, capture or threaten all the minor depots of supplies, +intercept and defeat all detachments not too strong to be engaged, and +keep the enemy so on the alert in his own rear that he would lose or +neglect his opportunity to embarrass or endanger the march of the army +when its retrograde movement began. He even hoped that a part of the +hostile forces before him might be thus detained long enough to prevent +their participation in the battle which he expected to fight when he +crossed the Tennessee. + +The officer whom he selected to accomplish this diversion was General +John H. Morgan, whose division of mounted riflemen was well fitted for +the work in hand. Equal in courage, dash, and discipline to the other +fine cavalry commands which General Bragg had at his disposal, it had +passed a longer apprenticeship in expeditionary service than had any +other. Its rank and file was of that mettle which finds its natural +element in active and audacious enterprise, and was yet thrilled with +the fire of youth; for there were few men in the division over +twenty-five years of age. It was imbued with the spirit of its +commander, and confided in his skill and fortune; no endeavor was deemed +impossible or even hazardous when he led. It was inured to constant, +almost daily, combat with the enemy, of all arms and under every +possible contingency. During its four years of service the 2d Kentucky +Cavalry, of which General Morgan was the first colonel, lost sixty-three +commissioned officers killed and wounded; Company A of that regiment, of +which Morgan was the first captain, losing during the war seventy-five +men killed. It had on its muster-roll, from first to last, nearly two +hundred and fifty men. The history of this company and regiment was +scarcely exceptional in the command. + +[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN.] + +Morgan was beyond all men adapted to independent command of this nature. +His energy never flagged, and his invention was always equal to the +emergency. Boldness and caution were united in all that he undertook. +He had a most remarkable aptitude for promptly acquiring a knowledge of +any country in which he was operating; and as he kept it, so to speak, +"in his head," he was enabled easily to extricate himself from +difficulties. The celerity with which he marched, the promptness with +which he attacked or eluded a foe, intensified the confidence of his +followers, and kept his antagonists always in doubt and apprehension. + +[Illustration: Map] + +In his conference with General Bragg, Morgan differed with his chief +regarding the full effect of a raid that should not be extended beyond +the Ohio. General Bragg desired it to be confined to Kentucky. He gave +Morgan _carte blanche_ to go where he pleased in that State and stay as +long as he pleased; suggesting, among other things, that he capture +Louisville. Morgan urged that while by such a raid he might so divert to +himself the attention of General Henry M. Judah and the cavalry of +Rosecrans that they would not molest General Bragg's retreat, he could +do nothing, in this way, in behalf of the other equally important +feature of the plan--the detention of troops that would otherwise +strengthen Rosecrans in the decisive battle to be fought south of the +Tennessee. He contended, moreover, that a raid into Indiana and Ohio, +the more especially as important political elections were pending there, +would cause troops to be withdrawn from Rosecrans and Burnside for the +protection of those States. But General Bragg refused permission to +cross the Ohio, and instructed Morgan to make the raid as originally +designed. + +[Illustration: THE MORGAN RAID. + +_JULY 1863._] + +Some weeks previous to this conference, by Morgan's direction I had sent +competent men to examine the fords of the upper Ohio. He had even then +contemplated such an expedition. It had long been his conviction that +the Confederacy could maintain the struggle only by transferring +hostilities and waging war, whenever opportunity offered, on Northern +soil. Upon his return from this interview he told me what had been +discussed, and what were General Bragg's instructions. He said that he +meant to disobey them; that the emergency, he believed, justified +disobedience. He was resolved to cross the Ohio River and invade Indiana +and Ohio. His command would probably be captured, he said; but in no +other way could he give substantial aid to the army. General Bragg had +directed Morgan to detail two thousand men for the expedition. From the +two brigades commanded respectively by myself and Colonel Adam R. +Johnson, Morgan selected twenty-four hundred and sixty of the +best-mounted and most effective. He took with him four pieces of +artillery--two 3-inch Parrotts, attached to the First Brigade, and two +12-pounder howitzers, attached to the Second. + +I should state that Morgan had thoroughly planned the raid before he +marched from Tennessee. He meant to cross the Cumberland in the vicinity +of Burkesville, and to march directly across Kentucky to the nearest +point at which he could reach the Ohio west of Louisville, so closely +approaching Louisville as to compel belief that he meant to attempt its +capture. Turning to the right after entering Indiana, and marching as +nearly due east as possible, he would reduce to a minimum the distance +necessary to be covered, and yet threaten and alarm the population of +the two States as completely as by penetrating deeply into them; more +so, indeed, for pursuing this line he would reach the immediate vicinity +of Cincinnati and excite fears for the safety of that city. While he +intended to prolong the raid to the uttermost, he proposed to be at no +time far from the Ohio, so that he might avail himself of an opportunity +to recross. On reaching the borders of Pennsylvania, he intended, if +General Lee should be in that State, to make every effort to join him; +failing in that, to make his escape through West Virginia. Information +he had gotten about the fords of the upper Ohio had induced him to +indicate Buffington's Island as the point where he would attempt to +recross that stream. He deemed the passage of the Cumberland one of the +four chief difficulties of the expedition that might prove really +dangerous and insuperable; the other three were the passage of the Ohio, +the circuit around Cincinnati, and the recrossing of the Ohio. + +Before noon on the 2d of July my brigade began to cross the Cumberland +at Burkesville and at Scott's Ferry, two miles higher up the stream. The +river, swollen by heavy and long-continued rains, was pouring down a +volume of water which overspread its banks and rushed with a velocity +that seemed to defy any attempt to stem it. Two or three canoes lashed +together and two small flats served to transport the men and the +field-pieces, while the horses were made to swim. Many of them were +swept far down by the boiling flood. This process was necessarily slow, +as well as precarious. Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was crossing at +Turkey Neck Bend, several miles below Burkesville, was scarcely so well +provided with the means of ferriage as myself. About 3 P.M. the enemy +began to threaten both brigades. Had these demonstrations been made +earlier, and vigorously, we could have gotten over the river. +Fortunately by this time we had taken over the 6th Kentucky and 9th +Tennessee of my brigade--aggregating nearly six hundred men--and also +the two pieces of artillery. These regiments were moved beyond +Burkesville and placed in a position which served all the purposes of an +ambuscade. When the enemy approached, one or two volleys caused his +column to recoil in confusion. General Morgan instantly charged it with +Quirk's scouts and some companies of the 9th Tennessee, and not only +prevented it from rallying, but drove it all the way back to Marrowbone, +entering the encampment there with the troops he was pursuing in a +pell-mell dash. He was soon driven back, however, by the enemy's +infantry and artillery. + +The effect of this blow was to keep the enemy quiet for the rest of the +day and night. The forces threatening Colonel Johnson were also +withdrawn, and we both accomplished the passage of the river without +further molestation. That night the division marched out on the Columbia +road and encamped about two miles from Burkesville. On the next day +Judah concentrated the three brigades of his cavalry command in that +region, while orders were sent to all the other Federal detachments in +Kentucky to close in upon our line of march. + +General Bragg had sent with the expedition a large party of commissaries +of subsistence, who were directed to collect cattle north of the +Cumberland and drive them, guarded by one of our regiments, to +Tullahoma. I have never understood how he expected us to be able, under +the circumstances, to collect the cattle, or the foragers to drive them +out. The commissaries did not attempt to carry out their instructions, +but followed us the entire distance and pulled up in prison. They were +gallant fellows and made no complaint of danger or hardship, seeming +rather to enjoy it. + +[Illustration: THE FARMER FROM CALFKILLER CREEK.] + +There was one case, however, which excited universal pity. An old farmer +and excellent man, who lived near Sparta, had accompanied us to +Burkesville; that is, he meant to go no farther, and thought we would +not. He wished to procure a barrel of salt, as the supply of that +commodity was exhausted in his part of the country. He readily purchased +the salt, but learned, to his consternation, that the march to +Burkesville was a mere preliminary canter. He was confronted with the +alternative of going on a dangerous raid or of returning alone through a +region swarming with the fierce bushwhackers of "Tinker Dave" Beattie, +who never gave quarter to Confederate soldier or Southern sympathizer. +He knew that if he fell into their hands they would pickle him with his +own salt. So this old man sadly yet wisely resolved to follow the +fortunes of Morgan. He made the grand tour, was hurried along day after +day through battle and ambush, dragged night after night on the +remorseless march, ferried over the broad Ohio under fire of the militia +and gunboats, and lodged at last in a "loathsome dungeon." On one +occasion, in Ohio, when the home guards were peppering us in rather +livelier fashion than usual, he said to Captain C.H. Morgan, with tears +in his voice: "I sw'ar if I wouldn't give all the salt in Kaintucky to +stand once more safe and sound on the banks of Calfkiller Creek." + +[Illustration] + +Pushing on before dawn of the 3d, we reached Columbia in the afternoon. +The place was occupied by a detachment of Colonel Frank Wolford's +brigade, which was quickly driven out. Encamping that evening some eight +miles from Columbia, we could hear all night the ringing of the axes +near Green River bridge, on the road from Columbia to Campbellsville. +Three or four hundred of the 25th Michigan Infantry were stationed at +the bridge to protect it; but the commander, Colonel Orlando H. Moore, +deliberately quitting the elaborate stockade erected near the +bridge,--in which nine officers out of ten would have remained, but +where we could have shelled him into surrender without losing a man +ourselves,--selected one of the strongest natural positions I ever saw, +and fortified it skilfully although simply. The Green River makes here +an immense horseshoe sweep, with the bridge at the toe of the horseshoe; +and more than a mile south of it was the point where Colonel Moore +elected to make his fight. The river there wound back so nearly upon its +previous course that the peninsula, or "neck," was scarcely a hundred +yards wide. This narrow neck was also very short, the river bending +almost immediately to the west again. At that time it was thickly +covered with trees and undergrowth, and Colonel Moore, felling the +heaviest timber, had constructed a formidable abatis across the +narrowest part of it. Just in front of the abatis there was open ground +for perhaps two hundred yards. South of the open was a deep ravine. The +road ran on the east side of the cleared place, and the banks of the +river were high and precipitous. The center of the open space rose into +a swell, sloping gently away both to the north and south. On the crest +of the swell Moore had thrown up a slight earthwork, which was manned +when we approached. An officer was promptly despatched with a flag to +demand his surrender. Colonel Moore responded that an officer of the +United States ought not to surrender on the Fourth of July, and he must +therefore decline. Captain "Ed" Byrne had planted one of the Parrott +guns about six hundred yards from the earthwork, and on the return of +the bearer of the flag opened fire, probing the work with a round shot. +One man in the trench was killed by this shot, and the others ran back +to the abatis. + +Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was in advance, immediately dashed +forward with the 3d and 11th Kentucky to attack the main position. +Artillery could not be used, for the guns could bear upon the abatis +only from the crest of which I have spoken, and if posted there the +cannoneers, at the very short range, would not have been able to serve +their pieces. The position could be won only by direct assault. The men +rushed up to the fallen timber, but became entangled in the network of +trunks and branches, and were shot down while trying to climb over or +push through them. I reinforced Johnson with a part of Smith's regiment, +the 5th Kentucky, but the jam and confusion incident to moving in so +circumscribed an area and through the dense undergrowth broke the force +of the charge. The enemy was quite numerous enough to defend a line so +short and strong and perfectly protected on both flanks. We had not more +than six hundred men actually engaged, and the fighting lasted not +longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Our loss was about ninety, nearly +as many killed as wounded. Afterward we learned that Colonel Moore's +loss was six killed and twenty-three wounded. When General Morgan +ordered the attack he was not aware of the strength of the position; nor +had he anticipated a resistance so spirited and so skilfully planned. He +reluctantly drew off without another assault, convinced that to capture +the abatis and its defenders would cost him half his command. Among the +killed were Colonel D.W. Chenault and Captain Alexander Treble of the +11th Kentucky, Lieutenant Robert Cowan of the 3d, and Major Thomas Y. +Brent, Jr., and Lieutenants Holloway and Ferguson of the 5th. These +officers were all killed literally at the muzzles of the rifles. + +Colonel Moore's position might easily have been avoided; indeed, we +passed around it immediately afterward, crossing the river at a ford +about two miles below the bridge. Morgan assailed it merely in +accordance with his habitual policy when advancing of attacking all in +his path except very superior forces. + +On the same afternoon Captain William M. Magenis, assistant +adjutant-general of the division, a valuable officer, was murdered by a +Captain Murphy, whom he had placed under arrest for robbing a citizen. +Murphy made his escape from the guard two or three days subsequently, +just as the court-martial which was to have tried him was convening. + +On the morning of July 5th the column reached Lebanon, which was +garrisoned by the 20th Kentucky Infantry, commanded by Colonel Charles +S. Hanson. The 8th and 9th Michigan Cavalry and the 11th Michigan +Battery, under command of Colonel James I. David, were approaching by +the Danville road to reinforce the garrison, necessitating a large +detachment to observe them. Morgan's demand for surrender having been +refused, artillery fire was directed upon the railroad depot and other +buildings in which the enemy had established himself; but, as the +Federals endured it with great firmness, it became necessary to carry +the town by assault. Our loss was some forty in killed and wounded, +including several excellent officers. One death universally deplored was +that of the General's brother, Lieutenant Thomas H. Morgan. He was a +bright, handsome, and very gallant lad of nineteen, the favorite of the +division. He was killed in front of the 2d Kentucky in the charge upon +the depot. The Federal loss was three killed and sixteen wounded, and +three hundred and eighty were prisoners. + +Without delay we passed through Springfield and Bardstown, crossing the +Louisville and Nashville Railroad at Lebanon Junction, thirty miles from +Louisville, on the evening of the 6th. At Springfield two companies of +about ninety men were sent toward Harrodsburg and Danville to occupy the +attention of the Federal cavalry in that quarter. From Bardstown, +Captain W.C. Davis, acting assistant adjutant-general of the First +Brigade, was sent with a detachment of one hundred and thirty men to +scout in the vicinity of Louisville, to produce the impression that the +city was about to be attacked, and to divert attention from the passage +of the Ohio by the main body at Brandenburg. He was instructed to cross +the river somewhere east of Louisville and to rejoin the column on its +line of march through Indiana. He executed the first part of the program +perfectly, but was unable to get across the river. Tapping the wires at +Lebanon Junction, we learned from intercepted despatches that the +garrison at Louisville was much alarmed, and in expectation of an +immediate attack. + +The detachments I have just mentioned, with some smaller ones previously +sent off on similar service, aggregated not less than two hundred and +sixty men permanently separated from the division; which, with a loss in +killed and wounded, in Kentucky, of about one hundred and fifty, had +reduced our effective strength at the Ohio, by more than four hundred. + +The rapid and constant marching already began to tell upon both horses +and men, but we reached the Ohio at Brandenburg at 9 A.M. on the 8th. +Captains Samuel Taylor and H.C. Meriwether of the 10th Kentucky had been +sent forward the day before, with their companies, to capture +steamboats. We found them in possession of two large craft. One had been +surprised at the wharf, and steaming out on her, they had captured the +other. Preparations for crossing were begun; but, just as the first boat +was about to push off, an unexpected musketry fire was opened from the +Indiana side by a party of home-guards collected behind some houses and +haystacks. They were in pursuit of Captain Thomas H. Hines, who had that +morning returned from Indiana to Kentucky, after having undertaken a +brief expedition of his own. This fire did no harm, the river here being +eight hundred or a thousand yards wide. But in a few minutes the bright +gleam of a field-piece spouted through the low-hanging mist on the +farther bank. Its shell pitched into a group near the wharf, severely +wounding Captain W.H. Wilson, acting quartermaster of the First Brigade. +Several shots from this piece followed in quick succession, but it was +silenced by Lieutenant Lawrence with his Parrotts. The 2d Kentucky and +9th Tennessee were speedily ferried over without their horses, and +forming under the bluff they advanced upon the militia, which had +retired to a wooded ridge some six hundred yards from the river-bank, +abandoning the gun. The two regiments were moving across some open +ground, toward the ridge, sustaining no loss from the volleys fired at +them, and the boats had scarcely returned for further service when a +more formidable enemy appeared. A gunboat, the _Elk_, steamed rapidly +round the bend, and began firing alternately upon the troops in the town +and those already across. The situation was now extremely critical. We +could not continue the ferriage while this little vixen remained, for +one well-directed shot would have sent either of the boats to the +bottom. Delay was exceedingly hazardous, affording the enemy opportunity +to cut off the regiments we had already sent over, and giving the +cavalry in pursuit of us time to come up. If forced to give up the +attempt to cross the river, we must also abandon our comrades on the +other side. So every piece of artillery was planted and opened on the +gunboat, and after an hour or two of vigorous cannonading she was driven +off. By midnight all our troops were over. + +[Illustration] + +About noon of the 9th the column reached the little town of Corydon, +Indiana, which proved not nearly so gentle as its name. Our +advance-guard, commanded by Colonel R.C. Morgan, found a body of militia +there, ensconced behind stout barricades of fence rails, stretching for +some distance on each side of the road. Colonel Morgan charged the +barricade, his horses could not leap it, the militia stood resolutely, +and he lost sixteen men. A few dismounted skirmishers thrown upon the +flanks, and a shot or two from one of the pieces which accompanied the +advance-guard, quickly dispersed them, however, and we entered the town +without further resistance. + +Our progress, quite rapid in Kentucky, was now accelerated, and we were +habitually twenty-one hours out of the twenty-four in the saddle, very +frequently not halting at night or going into camp at all. For the first +three or four days we saw nothing of the inhabitants save in their +character as militia, when they forced themselves on our attention much +more frequently than we desired. The houses were entirely deserted. +Often we found the kitchen fire blazing, the keys hanging in the +cupboard lock, and the chickens sauntering about the yard with a +confidence which proved that they had never before seen soldiers. + +As the first scare wore off, however, we found the women and children +remaining at home, while the men went to the muster. When a thirsty +cavalryman rode up to a house to inquire for buttermilk, he was +generally met by a buxom dame, with a half-dozen or more small children +peeping out from her voluminous skirts, who, in response to a question +about the "old man," would say: "The men hev all gone to the 'rally'; +you'll see 'em soon." We experienced little difficulty in procuring food +for man and horse. Usually upon our raids it was much easier to obtain +meat than bread. But in Indiana and Ohio we always found bread ready +baked at every house. In Ohio, on more than one occasion, in deserted +houses we found pies, hot from the oven, displayed upon tables +conveniently spread. The first time that I witnessed this sort of +hospitality was when I rode up to a house where a party of my men were +standing around a table garnished as I have described, eyeing the pies +hungrily, but showing no disposition to touch them. I asked, in +astonishment, why they were so abstinent. One of them replied that they +feared the pies might be poisoned. I was quite sure, on the contrary, +that they were intended as a propitiatory offering. I have always been +fond of pies,--these were of luscious apples,--so I made the spokesman +hand me one of the largest, and proceeded to eat it. The men watched me +vigilantly for two or three minutes, and then, as I seemed much better +after my repast, they took hold ravenously. + +The severe marching made an exchange of horses a necessity, though as a +rule the horses we took were very inferior to the Kentucky and Tennessee +stock we had brought with us, and which had generally a large infusion +of thoroughbred blood. The horses we impressed were for the most part +heavy, sluggish beasts, barefooted and grass-fed, and gave out after a +day or two, sometimes in a few hours. A strong provost guard, under +Major Steele of the 3d Kentucky, had been organized to prevent the two +practices most prejudicial to discipline and efficiency--straggling and +pillage. There were very good reasons, independent of the provost guard, +why the men should not straggle far from the line of march; but the +well-filled stores and gaudy shop-windows of the Indiana and Ohio towns +seemed to stimulate, in men accustomed to impoverished and unpretentious +Dixie, the propensity to appropriate beyond limit or restraint. I had +never before seen anything like this disposition to plunder. Our +perilous situation only seemed to render the men more reckless. At the +same time, anything more ludicrous than the manner in which they +indulged their predatory tastes can scarcely be imagined. The weather +was intensely warm,--the hot July sun burned the earth to powder, and we +were breathing superheated dust,--yet one man rode for three days with +seven pairs of skates slung about his neck; another loaded himself with +sleigh-bells. A large chafing-dish, a medium-sized Dutch clock, a green +glass decanter with goblets to match, a bag of horn buttons, a +chandelier, and a bird-cage containing three canaries were some of the +articles I saw borne off and jealously fondled. The officers usually +waited a reasonable period, until the novelty had worn off, and then had +this rubbish thrown away. Baby shoes and calico, however, were the +staple articles of appropriation. A fellow would procure a bolt of +calico, carry it carefully for a day or two, then cast it aside and get +another. + +From Corydon our route was _via_ Salem, Vienna, Lexington, Paris, +Vernon, Dupont, and Sumanville to Harrison, near the Ohio State line and +twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. Detachments were sent to Madison, +Versailles, and other points, to burn bridges, bewilder and confuse +those before and behind us, and keep bodies of military stationary that +might otherwise give trouble. All were drawn in before we reached +Harrison. At this point Morgan began demonstrations intended to convey +the impression that he would cross the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton +Railroad at Hamilton. He had always anticipated difficulty in getting +over this road; fearing that the troops from Kentucky would be +concentrated at or near Cincinnati, and that every effort would be made +to intercept him there. If these troops lined the railroad and were +judiciously posted, he knew it would be extremely difficult to elude +them or cut his way through them. He believed that if he could pass this +ordeal safely, the success of the expedition would be assured, unless +the river should be so high that the boats would be able to transport +troops to intercept him at the upper fords. + +After remaining at Harrison two or three hours, and sending detachments +in the direction of Hamilton, he moved with the entire column on the +Hamilton road. But as soon as he was clear of the town, he cut the +telegraph-wires--previously left intact with the hope that they might be +used to convey intelligence of his apparent movement toward +Hamilton--and, turning across the country, gained the direct road to +Cincinnati. He hoped that, deceived by his demonstrations at Harrison, +the larger part of the troops at Cincinnati would be sent to Hamilton, +and that it would be too late to recall them when his movement toward +Cincinnati was discovered. He trusted that those remaining would be +drawn into the city, under the impression that he meant to attack, +leaving the way clear for his rapid transit. He has been criticized for +not attempting the capture of Cincinnati, but he had no mind to involve +his handful of wearied men in a labyrinth of streets. We felt very much +more at home amid rural surroundings. But if he had taken Cincinnati, +and had safely crossed the river there, the raid would have been so much +briefer, and its principal object to that extent defeated by the +release of the troops pursuing us. + +[Illustration: LOOKING FOR THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE VAN.] + +We reached the environs of Cincinnati about ten o'clock at night, and +were not clear of them until after daybreak. My brigade was marching in +the rear, and the guides were with General Morgan in the front. The +continual straggling of some companies in the rear of Johnson's brigade +caused me to become separated from the remainder of the column by a wide +gap, and I was for some time entirely ignorant of what direction I +should take. The night was pitch-dark, and I was compelled to light +torches and seek the track of the column by the foam dropped from the +mouths of the horses and the dust kicked up by their feet. At every halt +which this groping search necessitated, scores of tired men would fall +asleep and drop out of their saddles. Daylight appeared after we had +crossed all of the principal suburban roads, and were near the Little +Miami Railroad. I never welcomed the fresh, invigorating air of morning +more gratefully. That afternoon we reached Williamsburg, twenty-eight +miles east of Cincinnati. + +The Ohio militia were more numerous and aggressive than those of +Indiana. We had frequent skirmishes with them daily, and although +hundreds were captured, they resumed operations as soon as they were +turned loose. What excited in us more astonishment than all else we saw +were the crowds of able-bodied men. The contrast with the South, drained +of adult males to recruit her armies, was striking, and suggestive of +anything but confidence on our part in the result of the struggle. + +At Piketon we learned that Vicksburg had fallen, and that General Lee, +having been repulsed at Gettysburg, had retreated across the Potomac. +Under the circumstances this information was peculiarly disheartening. +As we approached Pomeroy the militia began to embarrass our march by +felling trees and erecting barricades across the roads. In passing near +that town we were assailed by regular troops,--as we called the +volunteers, in contradistinction to the militia,--and forced a passage +only by some sharp fighting. At 1 P.M. on the 18th we reached Chester, +eighteen miles from Buffington's Island. A halt here of nearly two hours +proved disastrous, as it caused us to arrive at the river after +nightfall, and delayed any attempt at crossing until the next morning. +Morgan thoroughly appreciated the importance of crossing the river at +once, but it was impossible. The darkness was intense, we were ignorant +of the ford and without guides, and were encumbered with nearly two +hundred wounded, whom we were unwilling to abandon. By instruction I +placed the 5th and 6th Kentucky in position to attack, as soon as day +broke, an earthwork commanding the ford, and which we learned was +mounted with two guns and manned by three hundred infantry. At dawn I +moved upon the work, and found it had been evacuated and the guns thrown +over the bluff. Pressing on a few hundred yards to reconnoiter the +Pomeroy road, we suddenly encountered the enemy. It proved to be General +Judah's advance. The 5th and 6th Kentucky instantly attacked and +dispersed it, taking a piece of artillery and forty or fifty prisoners, +inflicting some loss in killed and wounded. + +The position in which we found ourselves, now that we had light enough +to examine the ground, was anything but favorable. The valley we had +entered, about a mile long and perhaps eight hundred yards wide at its +southern extremity,--the river running here nearly due north and +south,--gradually narrows, as the ridge which is its western boundary +closely approaches the river-bank, until it becomes a mere ravine. The +Chester road enters the valley at a point about equidistant from either +end. As the 5th Kentucky fell back that it might be aligned on the 6th +Kentucky, across the southern end of the valley, into which Judah's +whole force was now pouring, it was charged by the 8th and 9th Michigan +and a detachment of the 5th Indiana. A part of the 5th Kentucky was cut +off by this charge, the gun we had taken was recaptured, and our +Parrotts also fell into the hands of the enemy. They were so clogged +with dust, however, as to be almost unserviceable, and their ammunition +was expended. Bringing up a part of the 2d Kentucky, I succeeded in +checking and driving back the regiments that first bore down on us, but +they were quickly reinforced and immediately returned to the attack. In +the mean time Colonel Johnson's videttes on the Chester road had been +driven in, and the cavalry under Hobson, which had followed us +throughout our long march, deployed on the ridge, and attacked on that +side. I sent a courier to General Morgan, advising that he retreat up +the river and out of the valley with all the men he could extricate, +while Colonel Johnson and I, with the troops already engaged, would +endeavor to hold the enemy in check. The action was soon hot from both +directions, and the gunboats, steaming up the river abreast of us, +commenced shelling vigorously. We were now between three assailants. A +sharp artillery fire was opened by each, and the peculiar formation we +were compelled to adopt exposed us to a severe cross-fire of small arms. + +We were in no condition to make a successful or energetic resistance. +The men were worn out and demoralized by the tremendous march, and the +fatigue and lack of sleep for the ten days that had elapsed since they +had crossed the Ohio. Having had no opportunity to replenish their +cartridge-boxes, they were almost destitute of ammunition, and after +firing two or three rounds were virtually unarmed. To this fact is +attributable the very small loss our assailants sustained. Broken down +as we were, if we had been supplied with cartridges we could have piled +the ground with Judah's men as they advanced over the open plain into +the valley. As the line, seeking to cover the withdrawal of the troops +taken off by General Morgan, was rolled back by the repeated charges of +the enemy, the stragglers were rushing wildly about the valley, with +bolts of calico streaming from their saddles, and changing direction +with every shrieking shell. When the rear-guard neared the northern end +of the valley,--out of which General Morgan with the greater part of the +command had now passed,--and perceived that the only avenue of escape +was through a narrow gorge, a general rush was made for it. The Michigan +regiments dashed into the mass of fugitives, and the gunboats swept the +narrow pass with grape. All order lost in a wild tide of flight. + +About seven hundred were captured here, and perhaps a hundred and twenty +killed and wounded. Probably a thousand men got out with General Morgan. +Of these some three hundred succeeded in swimming the river at a point +twenty miles above Buffington, while many were drowned in the attempt. +The arrival of the gunboats prevented others from crossing. General +Morgan had gotten nearly over, when, seeing that the bulk of his command +must remain on the Ohio side, he returned. For six more days Morgan +taxed energy and ingenuity to the utmost to escape the toils. Absolutely +exhausted, he surrendered near the Pennsylvania line, on the 26th day of +July, with three hundred and sixty-four men. + +The expedition was of immediate benefit, since a part of the forces that +would otherwise have harassed Bragg's retreat and swollen Rosecrans's +muster-roll at Chickamauga were carried by the pursuit of Morgan so far +northward that they were kept from participating in that battle. + +But Morgan's cavalry was almost destroyed, and his prestige impaired. +Much the larger number of the captured men lingered in the Northern +prisons until the close of the war. That portion of his command which +had remained in Tennessee became disintegrated; the men either were +incorporated in other organizations, or, attracted by the fascinations +of irregular warfare, were virtually lost to the service. Morgan, after +four or five months' imprisonment in the Ohio penitentiary, effected an +escape which has scarcely a parallel for ingenuity and daring. He was +received in the South enthusiastically. The authorities at Richmond +seemed at first to share the popular sympathy and admiration. But it +soon became apparent that his infraction of discipline in crossing the +Ohio was not forgiven. Placed for a short time in practical command of +the Department of Southwestern Virginia, he was given inadequate means +for its defense, and bound with instructions which accorded neither with +his temperament nor with his situation. The troops he commanded were +not, like his old riders, accustomed to his methods, confident in his +genius, and devoted to his fortunes. He attempted aggressive operations +with his former energy and self-reliance, but not with his former +success. He drove out of West Virginia two invading columns, and then +made an incursion into the heart of Kentucky--known as his last Kentucky +raid--in the hope of anticipating and deterring a movement into his own +territory. Very successful at first, this raid ended, too, in disaster. +After capturing and dispersing Federal forces in the aggregate much +larger than his own, he encountered at Cynthiana a vastly superior +force, and was defeated. Two months later, September 4, 1864, he was +killed at Greeneville, Tennessee, while advancing to attack the Federal +detachments stationed in front of Knoxville.[5] + +[Footnote 5: E.W. Doran of Greeneville, Tenn., gives the following +particulars of General Morgan's death: + +General Morgan came to Greeneville on September 3, and stationed his +troops on a hill overlooking the town from the east, while he and his +staff were entertained at the "Williams Mansion," the finest residence +in town. At this time Captain Robert C. Carter, in command of a company +of Colonel Crawford's regiment, was stationed three or four miles north +of the town. He got accurate information of Morgan's whereabouts, and +sent a messenger at once to General A.C. Gillem, at Bull's Gap, sixteen +miles distant. This message was intrusted to John Davis and two other +young men of his company, who rode through a fearful storm, picking +their way by the lightning-flashes and arriving there some time before +midnight. Other messages were probably sent to Gillem that night from +Greeneville, but this was the first received. The report usually given +in the histories to the effect that Mrs. Joseph Williams carried the +news is not correct, as she was known to be in an opposite direction +several miles, and knew nothing of the affair. In an hour after the +message was delivered Gillem's forces were hurrying on their way to +Greeneville, where they arrived about daylight, and surrounded the house +where Morgan was. He ran out, without waiting to dress, to conceal +himself in the shrubbery and grape arbors, but was seen from the street +and shot by Andrew G. Campbell, a private in the 13th Tennessee. +Campbell was promoted to a lieutenancy. Morgan's body was afterward +secured by his friends and given decent burial. But little firing was +done by either army; and after Morgan was killed his forces marched out +of town while the Union forces marched in, in easy range of each other, +yet not a shot was fired on either side.] + +The remnant of his old command served during the gloomy winter of +1864-65 in the region where their leader met death, fighting often on +the same ground. When Richmond fell, and Lee surrendered, they marched +to join Joseph E. Johnston. After his capitulation they were part of the +escort that guarded, Jefferson Davis in his aimless retreat from +Charlotte and laid down their arms at Woodville, Georgia, by order of +John. C. Breckinridge, when the armies of the Confederacy were +disbanded, and its President became a fugitive. + + + + +II. THE CAPTURE + +BY ORLANDO B. WILLCOX + + +When it was known at Indianapolis that General Morgan, with a large +force, had crossed the Ohio, the city was panic-stricken. The State had +been literally depleted of troops to assist Kentucky, and everybody knew +it. The very worst was apprehended--that railways would be cut up, +passenger and freight trains robbed, bridges and depots burned, our +arsenal pillaged, two thousand Confederate prisoners at Camp Morton +liberated, and Jeffersonville, with all its Government stores, and +possibly Indianapolis itself, destroyed. + +Nor was this all. It had been reported, and partly believed, as +afterward indeed proved to be the fact, that the State was literally +undermined with rebel sympathizers banded together in secret +organizations. The coming of Morgan had been looked for, and his +progress through Kentucky watched with considerable anxiety. It was +gloomily predicted that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of "Knights of the +Golden Circle" and of "Sons of Liberty" would flock to his standard and +endeavor to carry the State over to the Confederacy. + +Morgan probably had fair reason to believe that his ranks would be at +least largely recruited in the southern counties of Indiana. The +governor of Indiana, Oliver P. Morton, went to work with all his +tremendous energy and indomitable will, in the face of the greatest +opposition that had been encountered in any Northern State, amounting, +just before, almost to open rebellion. He proclaimed martial law, though +not in express terms, and ordered out the "Legion," or militia, and +called upon the loyal citizens of the State to enroll themselves as +minute-men, to organize and report for arms and for martial duty. +Thousands responded to the call within twenty-four hours--many within +two hours.[6] Everything possible was done by telegraph, until the lines +were cut. Some arms were found in the State Arsenal, and more with +accoutrements and ammunition, together with whole batteries of +artillery, were procured from Chicago and St. Louis. + +[Footnote 6: According to the report of the adjutant-general of Indiana, +30,000 militia assembled within thirty-six hours, and about the time +Morgan was leaving the State 65,000 men were in the field. In Ohio, +according to a report made to the adjutant-general, 55,000 militia +turned out; many of them refused pay, yet $232,000 were disbursed for +services during the raid. It would appear, therefore, that 120,000 +militia took the field against Morgan, in addition to the three brigades +of General Judah's United State cavalry.--EDITOR.] + +The disposition of the State levies that came thronging in was left to +me as fast as they were armed. The three great junctions of the Ohio and +Mississippi Railroad in Indiana, over which troops and supplies were +shipped from all points to Rosecrans at Chattanooga--viz., Mitchell, +Seymour, and Vernon,--were first to be made secure; for surely Morgan +must have some military objectives, and these appeared to be the most +likely. The westerly junction was Mitchell. This was quickly occupied +and guarded by General James Hughes, with Legion men, reinforced by the +new organizations rising in that quarter. Seymour was the most central, +and lay directly on the road to Cincinnati and Indianapolis from +Louisville; and at Seymour a brigade was assembled from the center of +the State, with General John Love, a skilful old army officer, to +command it, with instructions to have an eye to Vernon likewise. To this +last point Burnside ordered a battery from Cincinnati; and what few +troops I had in Michigan, though half organized, came down to Vernon and +to General Love. Besides these thus rendezvoused, the people of the +southern counties were called upon to bushwhack the enemy, to obstruct +roads, to guard trains, bridges, etc., and to make themselves generally +useful and pestiferous. + +Our militia first came in contact with the enemy opposite Brandenburg, +where he crossed; but it made the stand at Corydon Junction, where the +road runs between two abrupt hills, across which Colonel Lewis Jordan +threw up some light intrenchments. Morgan's advance attempted to ride +over these "rail-piles" rough-shod, but lost some twenty troopers +unhorsed. They brought up their reserve and artillery, flanked, and +finally surrounded Colonel Jordan, who, after an hour's resolute +resistance, surrendered. + +This gave the raiders the town, and the citizens the first taste of +Morgan's style, which somewhat disgusted the numerous class of Southern +sympathizers. The shops were given up to plunder, and the ladies levied +on for meals for the whole command. + +Throwing out columns in various directions, Morgan pushed for Mitchell, +where no doubt he expected to cut the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, got +as far as Salem in that direction, captured or dispersed a few squads of +badly armed minute-men who were guarding depots and bridges, which he +burned, and doubtless hearing from his scouts, sent out in citizens' +clothes, of Hughes's force collected at Mitchell, he discreetly turned +off northeastward, apparently aiming next for Seymour. This I heard with +great satisfaction. + +The panic at Indianapolis began to subside. Still I felt uneasy for +Seymour, as I next heard of Morgan at Vienna, where he tapped the +telegraph-lines and learned what he could of all our plans to catch him. +He came within nine miles of Seymour. General Love sent out a +reconnaissance of sharpshooters under Colonel C.V. De Land, with a +couple of field-pieces. They found that Morgan had turned off eastward. +Love divined his object, and started De Land and two Indiana regiments +of militia for Vernon. Here Morgan next turned up, planted his Parrotts, +and demanded surrender. He was defied until Love's arrival with the rest +of his militia, and then he swept off in a hurry from Vernon, followed +by our men, who captured his pickets and rear-guard, but who, having no +cavalry, were soon outmarched. + +Morgan secured a great advantage by seizing all the horses within +reach,[7] leaving none for the militia or for General E.H. Hobson, which +enabled him to gain on his pursuers, and he would then have left Hobson +far out of sight but for the home guard, who obstructed the roads +somewhat, and bushwhacked his men from every hedge, hill, or tree, when +it could be done. But the trouble was that we could not attack him with +sufficient organized numbers. + +[Footnote 7: General J.M. Shackelford says in his official report: "Our +pursuit was much retarded by the enemy's burning all the bridges in our +front. He had every advantage. His system of horse-stealing was perfect. +He would despatch men from the head of each regiment, on each side of +the road, to go five miles into the country, seizing every horse, and +then fall in at the rear of the column. In this way he swept the country +for ten miles of all the horses."--EDITOR.] + +After he left Vernon we felt safe at Indianapolis. "Defensive sites" +were abandoned, and the banks brought back their deposits which they +had sent off by express to Chicago and the North. Some fears, or hopes, +were entertained as to Madison, toward which Morgan next bent his +way--fears for the safety of that city, and hopes that, with the help of +Judah's troops and the gunboats now on the way up the river, we might +put an end to the raid. From Indianapolis we started General Lew Wallace +with a good brigade of minute-men, and with high hopes that at either +Madison or Lawrenceburg, farther up the river, he might "capture them." +The people ahead were asked by telegraph to coöperate. But after going +down that line as far as Dupont, Morgan turned northeast for Versailles, +where we next heard of him threatening the Cincinnati and Indianapolis +Railway. This was a nice bit of work. He baffled all our calculations, +and did some damage on both the Ohio and Mississippi and Cincinnati +railroads, sending off flying columns in a dozen directions at a time +for the purpose, as well as to throw Hobson off the scent. Some of these +columns looked like traveling circuses adorned with useless plunder and +an excess of clowns. Thus they went through Pierceville and Milan to +Harrison, on White River, and on the Ohio line. Here Hobson's advance +came upon them, but unfortunately it paused to plant artillery, instead +of dashing across the bridge and engaging the raiders until the main +body should arrive. This lost us the bridge, which was burned before our +eyes, and many hours' delay, marching round by the ford. Their next +demonstration was toward Hamilton. Here there was a fine railway bridge +over the Big Miami. Hobson followed in such close pursuit through New +Baltimore, Glendale, and Miamiville that the raiders did little damage. +Their attempt to burn a bridge at Miamiville was repulsed by the home +guard. My last troops were despatched from Indianapolis to head them off +at Hamilton, after five hours' delay caused by the intoxication of their +commander. His successor in command was General Hascall, who swore like +a trooper to find himself "just in time to be too late." He proceeded +through Hamilton, Ohio, as far as Loveland. But Morgan had sent only a +detachment toward Hamilton to divert attention from Cincinnati, toward +which he made a rapid march with his whole united force. + +Governor Tod of Ohio had already called out the militia and proclaimed +martial law. He raised men enough, but Burnside had to organize and arm +them. Morgan found the great city guarded, but he passed through the +very suburbs by a night march around it, unmolested. He crossed the +Little Miami Railroad at daylight, and came north in sight of Camp +Dennison, where Colonel Neff half armed his convalescents, threw out +pickets, dug rifle-pits, and threw up intrenchments. His fiery old +veterans saved a railway bridge, and actually captured a lieutenant and +others before they sheered off and went some ten miles northward to +Williamsburg. From that point they seemed to be steering for the great +bend of the Ohio at Pomeroy. + +In the vicinity of Cincinnati, Colonel W.P. Sanders, the splendid raider +of East Tennessee, came up from Kentucky with some Michigan cavalry, and +joined Hobson in pursuit, and these were about the only fresh horses in +the chase. Sanders had come by steamer, and, landing at Cincinnati, had +been thrown out from there, it was hoped, ahead of Morgan, who, however, +was too quick for him. They met later on. + +Under the good management of Colonel A.V. Kautz in advance, with his +brigade, and of Sanders, the men now marched more steadily and gained +ground. Kautz had observed how the other brigade commanders had lost +distance and blown their horses by following false leads, halting and +closing up rapidly at the frequent reports of "enemy in front," and by +stopping to plant artillery. Marching in his own way, at a steady walk, +his brigade forming the rear-guard, he had arrived at Batavia two hours +before the main body, that had been "cavorting round the country" all +day, "misled by two citizen guides"--possibly Morgan's own men. + +Not stopping to draw the rations sent out to him from Cincinnati, Hobson +urged his jaded horses through Brown, Adams, and Pike counties, now +under the lead of Kautz, and reached Jasper, on the Scioto, at midnight +of the 16th, Morgan having passed there at sundown. The next day they +raced through Jackson. On the 18th, Hobson, at Rutland, learned that +Morgan had been turned off by the militia at Pomeroy, and had taken the +Chester road for Portland and the fords of the Ohio. The chase became +animated. Our troopers made a march of fifty miles that day and still +had twenty-five miles to reach Chester. They arrived there without a +halt at eleven at night, and had still fifteen miles to reach the ford. +They kept on, and at dawn of the 19th struck the enemy's pickets. Two +miles out from Portland, Morgan was brought to bay--and not by Hobson +alone. First came the militia, then came Judah. His division had pushed +up the river in steamers parallel with Morgan's course. Lieutenant John +O'Neil, afterward of Fenian fame, with a troop of Indiana cavalry, kept +up the touch on Morgan's right flank by a running fight, stinging it at +every vulnerable point, and reporting Morgan's course to Judah in the +neck-and-neck race. Aided by the local militia, O'Neil now dashed ahead +and fearlessly skirmished with the enemy's flankers from every coign of +vantage. He reached the last descent to the river-bottom near Buffington +Bar, and near the historical Blennerhasset's Island, early on the +morning of the 19th. + +The Ohio River was up. It had risen unexpectedly. But here Morgan must +cross, if at all. It could not be forded by night, when he got here. He +tried the ford at Blennerhasset. Failing in this, his men collected +flatboats, and set to work calking them, meantime sending a party to +Buffington Bar, where they found a small earthwork and captured its +guard; and these things delayed them until morning. General Judah +attempted a reconnaissance, resulting in a fight, which he describes as +follows in his report: + + Before leaving Pomeroy I despatched a courier to General Hobson, + apprising him of my direction, and requesting him to press the + enemy's rear with all the forces he could bring up. Traveling all + night, I reached the last descent to the river-bottom at + Buffington Bar at 5.30 A.M. on the 19th. Here, halting my force, + and placing my artillery in a commanding position, I determined + to make a reconnaissance in person, for the purpose of + ascertaining if a report just made to me--that the gunboats had + left on a previous evening, the home guards had retreated, and + that the enemy had been crossing all night--was true. A very + dense fog enveloped everything, confining the view of surrounding + objects to a radius of about fifty yards. I was accompanied by a + small advance-guard, my escort, and one piece of Henshaw's + battery, a section of which, under Captain Henshaw, I had ordered + to join my force. I advanced slowly and cautiously along a road + leading toward the river, ... when my little force found itself + enveloped on three sides--front and both flanks--by three + regiments, dismounted, and led by Colonel Basil [W.] Duke, just + discernible through the fog, at a distance of from fifty to a + hundred yards. This force, as I afterward learned, had been + disposed for the capture of the home guards, intrenched on the + bank of the river. To use Colonel Duke's own expression after his + capture, "He could not have been more surprised at the presence + of my force if it had been dropped from the clouds." As soon as + discovered, the enemy opened a heavy fire, advancing so rapidly + that before the piece of artillery could be brought into battery + it was captured, as were also Captain R.C. Kise, my assistant + adjutant-general, Captain Grafton, volunteer aide-de-camp, and + between twenty and thirty of my men. Two privates were killed. + Major McCook (since dead), paymaster and volunteer + aide-de-camp,[8] Lieutenant F.G. Price, aide-de-camp, and ten men + were wounded. Searching in vain for an opening through which to + charge and temporarily beat back the enemy, I was compelled to + fall back upon the main body, which I rapidly brought up into + position, and opened a rapid and beautifully accurate artillery + fire from the pieces of the 5th Indiana upon a battery of two + pieces which the enemy had opened upon me, as well as upon his + deployed dismounted force in line. Obstructing fences prevented a + charge by my cavalry. In less than half an hour the enemy's lines + were broken and in retreat. The advance of my artillery, and a + charge of cavalry made by Lieutenant O'Neil, 5th Indiana Cavalry, + with only fifty men, converted his retreat into a rout, and + drove him upon General Hobson's forces, which had engaged him + upon the other road. His prisoners, the piece of artillery lost + by me, all of his own artillery (five pieces), his camp equipage, + and transportation and plunder of all kinds, were abandoned and + captured. We also captured large numbers of prisoners, including + Colonels Basil [W.] Duke, Dick [R.C.] Morgan, and Allen [Ward?], + and the most of General Morgan's staff. + +[Footnote 8: Major Daniel McCook, father of the famous fighting family, +who pushed himself in, against remonstrance, to find the slayer of his +son (General Robert L. McCook), reported to be with Morgan.] + +Yet with a considerable force Morgan succeeded in making his escape, and +started into the interior like a fox for cover. Passing around the +advanced column of his enemy, he suddenly came upon the end of +Shackelford's column, under Wolford, whom he at once attacked with his +usual audacity. Shackelford reversed his column, selected his best +horses, and gave pursuit. He overtook the enemy at Backum Church, where +Wolford's Kentucky fellows rushed upon Morgan's men with drawn sabers +and Kentucky yells, and chased them until next afternoon, when they were +found collected on a high bluff, where some hundreds surrendered; but +Morgan again escaped, and with over six hundred horsemen gave our +fellows a long chase yet by the dirt road and by rail. Continuing north +through several counties, he veered northwest toward the Pennsylvania +line, even now burning buildings, car-loads of freight, and bridges by +the way, though hotly hounded by Shackelford, and flanked and headed off +by troops in cars. + +Among the latter was Major W.B. Way, of the 9th Michigan, with a +battalion of his regiment. Way had left the cars at Mingo and marched +over near to Steubenville,[9] where he began a skirmish which lasted +over twenty-five miles toward Salineville, away up in Columbiana County. +Here he brought Morgan to bay. The latter still fought desperately, +losing 200 prisoners, and over 70 of his men killed or wounded, and +skipped away. Another Union detachment came up by rail under Major +George W. Rue, of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry, joined Shackelford at +Hammondsville, and took the advance with 300 men. + +[Footnote 9: Mr. E.E. Day makes the following statement in regard to +Morgan's brief stay at Wintersville: + + Defeated at Buffington Bar, Morgan abandoned his plan of making a + watering trough of Lake Erie, and fled north through the tier of + river counties, keeping within a few miles of the Ohio. The river + was low, but not fordable except at Coxe's Riffle, a few miles + below Steubenville. Headed at this point also, he struck across + the country and passed through Wintersville, a small village five + miles west of Steubenville. That was a memorable Saturday in + Wintersville. Morgan's progress across the State had been watched + with the most feverish anxiety, and the dread that the village + might lie in his path filled the hearts of many. The wildest + rumors passed current. Morgan and his "guerrillas," it was said, + would kill all the men, lay the village in ashes, and carry off + the women and children. The militia, or "hundred-day men," who + lived in or near the village, drilled in the village streets, and + fired rattling volleys of blank cartridges at a board fence, in + preparation for the coming conflict. On Friday evening word came + that Morgan would attempt to force a passage at Coxe's Riffle the + next morning, and the militia marched to Steubenville to help + intercept him. A bloody battle was expected. About the middle of + the forenoon a horseman dashed into the village shouting, + "Morgan's coming! He's just down at John Hanna's!" and galloped + on to warn others. Mr. Hanna was a farmer living about a mile + south of the village. He had shouldered his musket and gone with + the militia, leaving his wife and two children at home. About ten + o'clock Morgan's men were seen coming up the road. Mrs. Hanna + with her children attempted to reach a neighbor's house, but they + were overtaken and ordered to the house, which they found full of + soldiers. Morgan and his officers were stretched, dusty clothes, + boots, and all, upon her beds, and a negro was getting dinner. + While the third table was eating, a squad of militiamen appeared + on a neighboring hill. Morgan ordered their capture, saying, + "What will those Yankees do with the thousand men I have?" A + number of Morgan's men started to carry out their chief's + command, but the militia made good their escape. Soon after, word + came that Shackelford's men were near, and Morgan left so + hurriedly that he neglected to take the quilts and blankets his + men had selected. + + In the village all was consternation. Many of the women and + children gathered at the Maxwell Tavern. Their terror upon + hearing that Morgan was "just down at Hanna's" cannot be + described. Word had been sent to Steubenville, and Colonel James + Collier marched out with a force of about eight hundred militia, + sending a squad under command of Captain Prentiss to reconnoiter. + They galloped through the village, and as Morgan's advance came + in sight began firing. The fire was returned, and a private named + Parks, from Steubenville, was wounded. Morgan's men charged the + scouting party, sending them through the village back to the main + body in a very demoralized condition. The frightened women, and + still worse frightened children, no sooner saw the "dust-brown + ranks" of the head of Morgan's column than they beat a hasty + retreat down the alley to the house of Dr. Markle, the village + physician. This change of base was made under fire, as Morgan's + men were shooting at the retreating militia, and also at a house + owned by William Fisher, in which they had heard there were a + number of militiamen. At the doctor's house all crowded into one + room, and were led in prayer by the minister's wife. The retreat + of the scouting party did not have a very cheering effect upon + the advancing militia. As they passed a field of broom-corn + several men suddenly disappeared, their swift course through the + cane being easily followed by the swaying of the tassels. The + militia were met by rumors that the village was in ashes. Morgan + did not set fire to the village, but his men found time to + explore the village store, and to search the Fisher house, in the + second story of which they found a flag. Morgan's men were hardly + out of sight on the Richmond road when Colonel Collier and the + militia appeared. They formed line of battle on a hill east of + the village just in time to see Shackelford's advance coming + along the road over which they were expecting Morgan. The colonel + at once opened fire with his six-pounder loaded with scrap-iron. + The first shot did little damage. One piece of scrap-iron found + its way to the right, and struck with a resounding thwack against + the end of the Maxwell Tavern. The second shot did not hit + anything. One of Shackelford's officers rode across the field and + inquired, "What are you fools shooting at?" The colonel then + learned, to his astonishment, that Morgan was at least two miles + out on the Richmond road. Many who had been conspicuously absent + then showed themselves, and the daring deeds and hairbreadth + escapes which came to light are not to be lightly referred to. At + least a dozen dead rebels, it was said, would be discovered in + the fields when the farmers came to cut their oats, but for some + reason the bodies were never found.] + +At Salineville he found Morgan, pursued by Major Way, pushing for +Smith's Ford on the Ohio. Breaking into trot and gallop, he outmarched +and intercepted the fugitives at the cross-roads near Beaver Creek, and +had gained the enemy's front and flank when a flag of truce was raised, +and Morgan coolly demanded his surrender. Rue's threat to open fire +brought Morgan to terms, when another issue was raised. It was now +claimed that Morgan had already surrendered, namely, to a militia +officer, and had been by him paroled. This "officer" turned out to be +"Captain" James Burbick, of the home guard.[10] Rue held Morgan, with +364 officers and men and 400 horses, till General Shackelford came up, +who held them as prisoners of war. + +[Footnote 10: General W.T.H. Brooks says in his report: + + Morgan had passed a company of citizens from New Lisbon, and + agreed not to fire upon them if they would not fire upon him. He + had taken two or three of their men prisoners, and was using them + as guides. Among them was a Mr. Burbick, of New Lisbon, who had + gone out at the head of a small squad of mounted men. When Morgan + saw that his advance was about to be cut off by Major Rue, he + said to this Captain Burbick: "I would prefer to surrender to the + militia rather than to United States troops. I will surrender to + you if you will agree to respect private property and parole the + officers and men as soon as we get to Cincinnati." Burbick + replied that he knew nothing about this business. Morgan said, + "Give me an answer, yes or no." Burbick, evidently in confusion, + said, "Yes." + +James Burbick sent a statement to Governor Tod, in which he said that he +was not a prisoner with Morgan, but that he was guiding him voluntarily +away from the vicinity of New Lisbon, after Morgan had agreed not to +pass through that town. Burbick reported that he accepted Morgan's +surrender, and started for the rear with a handkerchief tied to a stick +to intercept the advancing troops, while Lieutenant C.D. Maus, a +prisoner with Morgan, was sent with another flag of truce across the +fields.] + +And thus ended the greatest of Morgan's raids. By it Bragg lost a fine +large division of cavalry, that, if added to Buckner's force,--already +equal to Burnside's in East Tennessee,--might have defeated Burnside; +or, if thrown across Rosecrans's flanks or long lines of supply and +communication, or used in reconnaissance on the Tennessee River, might +have baffled Rosecrans's plans altogether. As it was, Rosecrans was able +to deceive Bragg by counterfeit movements that could easily have been +detected by Morgan. + + + + +III. THE ESCAPE[11] + +BY THOMAS H. HINES + + +On the 31st of July and the 1st of August, 1863, General John H. Morgan, +General Basil W. Duke, and sixty-eight other officers of Morgan's +command, were, by order of General Burnside, confined in the Ohio State +Penitentiary at Columbus. Before entering the main prison we were +searched and relieved of our pocket-knives, money, and of all other +articles of value, subjected to a bath, the shaving of our faces, and +the cutting of our hair. We were placed each in a separate cell in the +first and second tiers on the south side in the east wing of the prison. +General Morgan and General Duke were on the second range, General Morgan +being confined in the last cell at the east end, those who escaped with +General Morgan having their cells in the first range. + +[Footnote 11: Condensed from "The Bivouac" of June, 1885.] + +From five o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning we +were locked into our cells, with no possible means of communication with +one another; but in the day, between these hours, we were permitted to +mingle together in the narrow hall, twelve feet wide and one hundred and +sixty long, which was cut off from the other portion of the building, +occupied by the convicts, by a plank partition, in one end of which was +a wooden door. At each end of the hall, and within the partitions, was +an armed military sentinel, while the civil guards of the prison passed +at irregular intervals among us, and very frequently the warden or his +deputy came through in order to see that we were secure and not +violating the prison rules. We were not permitted to talk with or in any +way to communicate with the convicts, nor were we permitted to see any +of our relatives or friends that might come from a distance to see us, +except upon the written order of General Burnside, and then only in the +presence of a guard. Our correspondence underwent the censorship of the +warden, we receiving and he sending only such as met his approbation; we +were not permitted to have newspapers, or to receive information of what +was going on in the outside busy world. + +Many plans for escape, ingenious and desperate, were suggested, +discussed, and rejected because deemed impracticable. Among them was +bribery of the guards. This was thought not feasible because of the +double set of guards, military and civil, who were jealous and watchful +of each other, so that it was never attempted, although we could have +commanded, through our friends in Kentucky and elsewhere, an almost +unlimited amount of money. + +On a morning in the last days of October I was rudely treated, without +cause, by the deputy warden. There was no means of redress, and it was +not wise to seek relief by retort, since I knew, from the experience of +my comrades, that it would result in my confinement in a dark dungeon, +with bread and water for diet. I retired to my cell, and closed the door +with the determination that I would neither eat nor sleep until I had +devised some means of escape. I ate nothing and drank nothing during the +day, and by nine o'clock I had matured the plan that we carried into +execution. It may be that I owed something to the fact that I had just +completed the reading of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables," containing such +vivid delineations of the wonderful escapes of Jean Valjean, and of the +subterranean passages of the city of Paris. This may have led me to the +line of thought that terminated in the plan of escape adopted. It was +this: I had observed that the floor of my cell was upon a level with the +ground upon the outside of the building, which was low and flat, and +also that the floor of the cell was perfectly dry and free from mold. It +occurred to me that, as the rear of the cell was to a great extent +excluded from the light and air, this dryness and freedom from mold +could not exist unless there was underneath something in the nature of +an air-chamber to prevent the dampness from rising up the walls and +through the floor. If this chamber should be found to exist, and could +be reached, a tunnel might be run through the foundations into the yard, +from which we might escape by scaling the outer wall, the air-chamber +furnishing a receptacle for the earth and stone to be taken out in +running the tunnel. The next morning, when our cells were unlocked, and +we were permitted to assemble in the hall, I went to General Morgan's +cell, he having been for several days quite unwell, and laid before him +the plan as I have sketched it. Its feasibility appeared to him +unquestioned, and to it he gave a hearty and unqualified approval. If, +then, our supposition was correct as to the existence of the air-chamber +beneath the lower range of cells, a limited number of those occupying +that range could escape, and only a limited number, because the greater +the number the longer the time required to complete the work, and the +greater the danger of discovery while prosecuting it, in making our way +over the outer wall, and in escaping afterward. + +[Illustration: CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE EAST WING. A, CAPTAIN HINES'S +CELL.] + +With these considerations in view, General Morgan and myself agreed upon +the following officers, whose cells were nearest the point at which the +tunnel was to begin, to join us in the enterprise: Captain J.C. Bennett, +Captain L.D. Hockersmith, Captain C.S. Magee, Captain Ralph Sheldon, and +Captain Samuel B. Taylor. The plan was then laid before these gentlemen, +and received their approval. It was agreed that work should begin in my +cell, and continue from there until completed. In order, however, to do +this without detection, it was necessary that some means should be found +to prevent the daily inspection of that cell, it being the custom of the +deputy warden, with the guards, to visit and have each cell swept every +morning. This end was accomplished by my obtaining permission from the +warden to furnish a broom and sweep my own cell. For a few mornings +thereafter the deputy warden would pass, glance into my cell, compliment +me on its neatness, and go on to the inspection of the other cells. +After a few days my cell was allowed to go without any inspection +whatever, and then we were ready to begin work, having obtained, through +some of our associates who had been sent to the hospital, some +table-knives made of flat steel files. In my cell, as in the others, +there was a narrow iron cot, which could be folded and propped up to the +cell wall. I thought the work could be completed within a month. + +On the 4th of November work was begun in the back part of my cell, under +the rear end of my cot. We cut through six inches of cement, and took +out six layers of brick put in and cemented with the ends up. Here we +came to the air-chamber, as I had calculated, and found it six feet wide +by four feet high, and running the entire length of the range of cells. +The cement and brick taken out in effecting an entrance to the chamber +were placed in my bed-tick, upon which I slept during the progress of +this portion of the work, after which the material was removed to the +chamber. We found the chamber heavily grated at the end, against which a +large quantity of coal had been heaped, cutting off any chance of exit +in that way. We then began a tunnel, running it at right angles from the +side of the chamber, and almost directly beneath my cell. We cut through +the foundation wall, five feet thick, of the cell block; through twelve +feet of grouting, to the outer wall of the east wing of the prison; +through this wall, six feet in thickness; and four feet up near the +surface of the yard, in an unfrequented place between this wing and the +female department of the prison. + +[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON. B--EXIT FROM TUNNEL.] + +During the progress of the work, in which we were greatly assisted by +several of our comrades who were not to go out, notably among them +Captain Thomas W. Bullitt of Louisville, Kentucky, I sat at the entrance +to my cell studiously engaged on Gibbon's Rome and in trying to master +French. By this device I was enabled to be constantly on guard without +being suspected, as I had pursued the same course during the whole +period of my imprisonment. Those who did the work were relieved every +hour. This was accomplished, and the danger of the guards overhearing +the work as they passed obviated, by adopting a system of signals, which +consisted in giving taps on the floor over the chamber. One knock was to +suspend work, two to proceed, and three to come out. On one occasion, by +oversight, we came near being discovered. The prisoners were taken out +to their meals by ranges, and on this day those confined in the first +range were called for dinner while Captain Hockersmith was in the +tunnel. The deputy warden, on calling the roll, missed Hockersmith, and +came back to inquire for him. General Morgan engaged the attention of +the warden by asking his opinion as to the propriety of a remonstrance +that the general had prepared to be sent to General Burnside. Flattered +by the deference shown to his opinion by General Morgan, the warden +unwittingly gave Captain Hockersmith time to get out and fall into line +for dinner. While the tunnel was being run, Colonel R.C. Morgan, a +brother of General Morgan, made a rope, in links, of bed-ticking, +thirty-five feet in length, and from the iron poker of the hall stove we +made a hook, in the nature of a grappling-iron, to attach to the end of +the rope. + +The work was now complete with the exception of making an entrance from +each of the cells of those who were to go out. This could be done with +safety only by working from the chamber upward, as the cells were daily +inspected. The difficulty presented in doing this was the fact that we +did not know at what point to begin in order to open the holes in the +cells at the proper place. To accomplish this a measurement was +necessary, but we had nothing to measure with. Fortunately the deputy +warden again ignorantly aided us. I got into a discussion with him as to +the length of the hall, and to convince me of my error he sent for his +measuring-line, and after the hall had been measured, and his statement +verified, General Morgan occupied his attention, while I took the line, +measured the distance from center to center of the cells,--all being of +uniform size,--and marked it upon the stick used in my cell for propping +up my cot. With this stick, measuring from the middle of the hole in my +cell, the proper distance was marked off in the chamber for the holes in +the other cells. The chamber was quite dark, and light being necessary +for the work, we had obtained candles and matches through our sick +comrades in the hospital. The hole in my cell during the progress of the +work was kept covered with a large hand-satchel containing my change of +clothing. We cut from underneath upward until there was only a thin +crust of the cement left in each of the cells. Money was necessary to +pay expenses of transportation and for other contingencies as they might +arise. General Morgan had some money that the search had not discovered, +but it was not enough. Shortly after we began work I wrote to my sister +in Kentucky a letter, which through a trusted convict I sent out and +mailed, requesting her to go to my library and get certain books, and in +the back of a designated one, which she was to open with a thin knife, +place a certain amount of Federal money, repaste the back, write my name +across the inside of the back where the money was concealed, and send +the box by express. In due course of time the books with the money came +to hand. It only remained now to get information as to the time of the +running of the trains and to await a cloudy night, as it was then full +moon. Our trusty convict was again found useful. He was quite an old +man, called Heavy, had been in the penitentiary for many years, and as +he had been so faithful, and his time having almost expired, he was +permitted to go on errands for the officials to the city. I gave him ten +dollars to bring us a daily paper and six ounces of French brandy. +Neither he nor any one within the prison or on the outside had any +intimation of our contemplated escape. + +It was our first thought to make our way to the Confederacy by way of +Canada; but, on inspecting the time-table in the paper, it was seen that +a knowledge of the escape would necessarily come to the prison officials +before we could reach the Canadian border. There was nothing left, then, +but to take the train south, which we found, if on time, would reach +Cincinnati, Ohio, before the cells were opened in the morning, at which +time we expected our absence to be discovered. One thing more remained +to be done, and that was to ascertain the easiest and safest place at +which to scale the outside wall of the prison. The windows opening +outward were so high that we could not see the wall. In the hall was a +ladder resting against the wall, fifty feet long, that had been used for +sweeping down the wall. A view from the top of the ladder would give us +a correct idea of the outside, but the difficulty was to get that view +without exciting suspicion. + +Fortunately the warden came in while we were discussing the great +strength and activity of Captain Samuel B. Taylor, who was very small of +stature, when it was suggested that Taylor could go hand over hand on +the under side of the ladder to the top, and, with a moment's rest, +return in the same way. To the warden this seemed impossible, and, to +convince him, Taylor was permitted to make the trial, which he did +successfully. At the top of the ladder he rested for a minute and took a +mental photograph of the wall. When the warden had left, Taylor +communicated the fact that directly south of and at almost right angles +from the east end of the block in which we were confined there was a +double gate to the outer wall, the inside one being of wooden uprights +four inches apart, and the outside one as solid as the wall; the wooden +gate being supported by the wing wall of the female department, which +joined to the main outer wall. + +[Illustration: WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE.] + +On the evening of the 27th of November the cloudy weather so anxiously +waited for came; and prior to being locked in our cells it was agreed to +make the attempt at escape that night. Cell No. 21, next to my cell, No. +20, on the first range, was occupied by Colonel R.C. Morgan, a brother +of General Morgan. That cell had been prepared for General Morgan by +opening a hole to the chamber, and when the hour for locking up came, +General Morgan stepped into Cell 21, and Colonel Morgan into General +Morgan's cell in the second range. The guard did not discover the +exchange, as General Morgan and Colonel Morgan were of about the same +physical proportions, and each stood with his back to the cell door when +it was being locked. + +At intervals of two hours every night, beginning at eight, the guards +came around to each cell and passed a light through the grating to see +that all was well with the prisoners. The approach of the guard was +often so stealthily made that a knowledge of his presence was first had +by seeing him at the door of the cell. To avoid a surprise of this kind +we sprinkled fine coal along in front of the cells, walking upon which +would give us warning. By a singular coincidence that might have been a +fatality, on the day we had determined upon for the escape General +Morgan received a letter from Lexington, Kentucky, begging and warning +him not to attempt to escape, and by the same mail I received a letter +from a member of my family saying that it was rumored and generally +believed at home that I had escaped. Fortunately these letters did not +put the officials on their guard. We ascertained from the paper we had +procured that a train left for Cincinnati at 1.15 A.M., and as the +regular time for the guard to make his round of the cells was twelve +o'clock, we arranged to descend to the chamber immediately thereafter. +Captain Taylor was to descend first, and, passing under each cell, +notify the others. General Morgan had been permitted to keep his watch, +and this he gave to Taylor that he might not mistake the time to go. + +At the appointed hour Taylor gave the signal, each of us arranged his +cot with the seat in his cell so as to represent a sleeping prisoner, +and, easily breaking the thin layer of cement, descended to the chamber, +passed through the tunnel, breaking through the thin stratum of earth +at the end. We came out near the wall of the female prison,--it was +raining slightly,--crawled by the side of the wall to the wooden gate, +cast our grappling-iron attached to the rope over the gate, made it +fast, ascended the rope to the top of the gate, drew up the rope, and +made our way by the wing wall to the outside wall, where we entered a +sentry-box and divested ourselves of our soiled outer garments. In the +daytime sentinels were placed on this wall, but at night they were on +the inside of the walls and at the main entrance to the prison. On the +top of the wall we found a cord running along the outer edge and +connecting with a bell in the office of the prison. This cord General +Morgan cut with one of the knives we had used in tunneling. Before +leaving my cell I wrote and left, addressed to N. Merion, the warden, +the following: + + CASTLE MERION, CELL NO. 20, November 27, 1863.--Commencement, + November 4, 1863; conclusion, November 24, 1863; number of hours + for labor per day, five; tools, two small knives. _La patience + est amère, mais son fruit est doux._ By order of my six honorable + Confederates. THOMAS H. HINES, _Captain, C.S.A._ + +Having removed all trace of soil from our clothes and persons, we +attached the iron hook to the railing on the outer edge of the wall, and +descended to the ground within sixty yards of where the prison guards +were sitting round a fire and conversing. Here we separated, General +Morgan and myself going to the depot, about a quarter, of a mile from +the prison, where I purchased two tickets for Cincinnati, and entered +the car that just then came in. General Morgan took a seat beside a +Federal major in uniform, and I sat immediately in their rear. The +general entered into conversation with the major, who was made the more +talkative by a copious drink of my French brandy. As the train passed +near the prison-wall where we had descended, the major remarked, "There +is where the rebel General Morgan and his officers are put for +safe-keeping." The general replied, "I hope they will keep him as safe +as he is now." Our train passed through Dayton, Ohio, and there, for +some unknown reason, we were delayed an hour. This rendered it extra +hazardous to go to the depot in the city of Cincinnati, since by that +time the prison officials would, in all probability, know of our escape, +and telegraph to intercept us. In fact, they did telegraph in every +direction, and offered a reward for our recapture. Instead, then, of +going to the depot in Cincinnati, we got off, while the train was moving +slowly, in the outskirts of the city, near Ludlow Ferry, on the Ohio +River. Going directly to the ferry we were crossed over in a skiff and +landed immediately in front of the residence of Mrs. Ludlow. We rang the +door-bell, a servant came, and General Morgan wrote upon a +visiting-card, "General Morgan and Captain Hines, escaped." We were +warmly received, took a cup of coffee with the family, were furnished a +guide, and walked some three miles in the country, where we were +furnished horses. Thence we went through Florence to Union, in Boone +County, Kentucky, where we took supper with Daniel Piatt. On making +ourselves known to Mr. Piatt, who had two sons in our command, we were +treated with the most cordial hospitality and kindness by the entire +family. We there met Dr. John J. Dulaney of Florence, Kentucky, who was +of great benefit in giving us information as to the best route. That +night we went to Mr. Corbin's, near Union,--who also had gallant sons in +our command,--where we remained concealed until the next night, and +where friends supplied us with fresh horses and a pair of pistols each. + +[Illustration: OVER THE PRISON WALL.] + +On the evening of the 29th of November we left Union with a voluntary +guide, passed through the eastern edge of Gallatin County, and after +traveling all night spent the day of the 30th at the house of a friend +on the Owen County line. Passing through New Liberty, in Owen County, +and crossing the Kentucky River at the ferry on the road to New Castle, +in Henry County, we stopped at the house of Mr. Pollard at 2 A.M., +December 1. Our guide did not know the people nor the roads farther than +the ferry, at which point he turned back. Not knowing the politics of +Mr. Pollard, it was necessary to proceed with caution. On reaching his +house we aroused him and made known our desire to spend the remainder of +the night with him. He admitted us and took us into the family room, +where there was a lamp dimly burning on a center-table. On the light +being turned up I discovered a Cincinnati "Enquirer" with large +displayed head-lines, announcing the escape of General Morgan, Captain +Hines, and five other officers from the Ohio penitentiary. The fact that +this newspaper was taken by Mr. Pollard was to me sufficient evidence +that he was a Southern sympathizer. Glancing at the paper, I looked up +and remarked, "I see that General Morgan, Hines, and other officers have +escaped from the penitentiary." He responded, "Yes; and you are Captain +Hines, are you not?" I replied, "Yes; and what is your name?" "Pollard," +he answered. "Allow me, then, to introduce General Morgan," I found that +I had not made a mistake. + +After rest and a late breakfast and a discussion of the situation, it +was deemed inexpedient to remain during the day, as the house was +immediately on a public highway, besides the danger of such unexplained +delay exciting the suspicion of the negroes on the place. We assumed the +character of cattle-buyers, Mr. Pollard furnishing us with cattle-whips +to make the assumption plausible. Our first objective point was the +residence of Judge W.S. Pryor, in the outskirts of New Castle. After +dinner Judge Pryor rode with us some distance, and put us in charge of a +guide, who conducted us that night to Major Helm's, near Shelbyville, +where we remained during the day of the 2d, and were there joined by +four of our command in citizen's dress. That night we passed through +Taylorsville, and stopped on the morning of the 3d near Bardstown. + +The night of the 4th we resumed our journey, and stopped on the morning +of the 5th at Mr. McCormack's at Rolling Fork Creek, in Nelson County, +thence through Taylor, Green (passing near Greensburg), Adair, and +Cumberland counties, crossing Cumberland River some nine miles below +Burkesville. We crossed the Cumberland, which was quite high, by +swimming our horses by the side of a canoe. Near the place of crossing, +on the south side, we stopped overnight with a private in Colonel R.T. +Jacob's Federal cavalry, passing ourselves as citizens on the lookout +for stolen horses. Next morning, in approaching the road from +Burkesville to Sparta, Tennessee, we came out of a byway immediately in +the rear of and some hundred yards from a dwelling fronting on the +Burkesville-Sparta road, and screening us from view on the Burkesville +end. As we emerged from the woodland a woman appeared at the back door +of the dwelling and motioned us back. We withdrew from view, but kept in +sight of the door from which the signal to retire was given, when after +a few minutes the woman again appeared and signaled us to come forward. +She informed us that a body of Federal cavalry had just passed, going in +the direction of Burkesville, and that the officer in command informed +her that he was trying to intercept General Morgan. We followed the +Burkesville road something like a mile, and in sight of the rear-guard. +We crossed Obey's River near the mouth of Wolf, and halted for two days +in the hills of Overton County, where we came upon forty of our men, who +had been separated from the force on the expedition into Indiana and +Ohio. These men were placed under my command, and thence we moved +directly toward the Tennessee River, striking it about fifteen miles +below Kingston, at Bridges's Ferry, December 13. There was no boat to be +used in crossing, and the river was very high and angry, and about one +hundred and fifty yards wide. We obtained an ax from a house near by, +and proceeded to split logs and make a raft on which to cross, and by +which to swim our horses. We had learned that two miles and a half below +us was a Federal cavalry camp. This stimulated us to the utmost, but +notwithstanding our greatest efforts we were three hours in crossing +over five horses and twenty-five men. At this juncture the enemy +appeared opposite, and began to fire on our men. + +[Illustration: "HURRY UP, MAJOR!"] + +Here General Morgan gave characteristic evidence of devotion to his +men. When the firing began he insisted on staying with the dismounted +men and taking their chances, and was dissuaded only by my earnest +appeal and representation that such a course would endanger the men as +well as ourselves. The men, by scattering in the mountains, did +ultimately make their way to the Confederacy. + +General Morgan, myself, and the four mounted men crossed over a spur of +the mountains and descended by a bridle-path to a ravine or gulch upon +the opposite side, and halted in some thick underbrush about ten steps +from a path passing along the ravine. Not knowing the country, it was +necessary to have information, or a guide, and observing a log cabin +about a hundred yards up the ravine, I rode there to get directions, +leaving General Morgan and the others on their horses near the path. I +found at the house a woman and some children. She could not direct me +over the other spur of the mountain, but consented that her ten-year-old +son might go with me and show the way. He mounted behind me, and by the +time he was seated I heard the clatter of hoofs down the ravine, and, +looking, I saw a body of about seventy-five cavalry coming directly +toward me, and passing within ten steps of where the general and his men +were sitting on their horses. I saw that my own escape was doubtful, and +that any halt or delay of the cavalry would certainly result in the +discovery and capture of General Morgan. I lifted the boy from behind me +and dashed to the head of the column, exclaiming, "Hurry up, Major, or +the rebels will escape!" He responded, "Who are you?" I answered, "I +belong to the home-guard company in the bend: hurry, or they are gone." +We dashed on, I riding by the major at the head of the column about half +a mile, when we came to where a dry branch crossed the road, and, as it +had been raining that day, it was easily seen from the soil that had +washed down from the side of the mountain that no one had passed there +since the rain. Seeing this, the command was halted, and the major again +demanded to know who I was. I replied that I was a member of General +Morgan's command. "Yes, ---- you! You have led me off from Morgan; I have +a notion to hang you for it." "No, that was not General Morgan. I have +served under him two years and know him well, and have no object in +deceiving you; for if it was Morgan, he is now safe." "You lie, for he +was recognized at the house where you got the ax. I would not have +missed getting him for ten thousand dollars. It would have been a +brigadier's commission to me. I will hang you for it." Up to this time I +had taken the situation smilingly and pleasantly, because I did not +apprehend violence; but the officer, livid with rage from +disappointment, directed one of his men to take the halter from his +horse and hang me to a designated limb of a tree. The halter was +adjusted around my neck, and thrown over the limb. Seeing that the +officer was desperately in earnest, I said, "Major, before you perform +this operation, allow me to make a suggestion." "Be quick about it, +then." "Suppose that _was_ General Morgan, as you insist, and I have led +you astray, as you insist, wouldn't I, being a member of his command, +deserve to be hung if I had not done what you charge me with?" He +dropped his head for a moment, looked up with a more pleasant +expression, and said, "Boys, he is right; let him alone." + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN HINES OBJECTS.] + +I was placed under guard of two soldiers and sent across the river to +camp, while the officer in command took his men over the mountain in +search of General Morgan, who succeeded in making good his escape. The +next evening the major returned with his command from his unsuccessful +pursuit. He questioned me closely, wanting to know my name, and if I +was a private in the command, as I had stated to him at the time of my +capture. Remembering that in prison the underclothing of Captain Bullitt +had been exchanged for mine, and that I then had on his with his name in +ink, I assumed the name of Bullitt. + +On the evening of the second day in this camp the major invited me to go +with him and take supper at the house of a Unionist half a mile away. We +spent the evening with the family until nine o'clock, when the major +suggested that we should go back to camp. On reaching the front gate, +twenty steps from the front veranda, he found that he had left his shawl +in the house, and returned to get it, requesting me to await his return. +A young lady of the family was standing in the door, and when he went in +to get the shawl, she closed the door. I was then perfectly free, but I +could not get my consent to go. For a moment of time while thus at +liberty I suffered intensely in the effort to determine what was the +proper thing to do. Upon the one hand was the tempting offer of freedom, +that was very sweet to me after so many months of close confinement; +while, on the other hand was the fact that the officer had treated me +with great kindness, more as a comrade than as a prisoner, that the +acceptance of his hospitality was a tacit parole and my escape would +involve him in trouble. I remained until his return. He was greatly +agitated, evidently realizing for the first time the extent of his +indiscretion, and surprised undoubtedly at finding me quietly awaiting +him. I had determined not to return to prison, but rather than break +faith I awaited some other occasion for escape. Notwithstanding all +this, something excited suspicion of me; for the next morning, while +lying in the tent apparently asleep, I heard the officer direct the +sergeant to detail ten men and guard me to Kingston, and he said to the +sergeant, "Put him on the meanest horse you have and be watchful or he +will escape." I was taken to Kingston and placed in jail, and there met +three of our party who had been captured on the north side of the +Tennessee River at the time we attempted to cross. They were R.C. +Church, William Church, and ---- Smith. After two days' confinement +there, we were sent under guard of twelve soldiers to the camp of the 3d +Kentucky Federal Infantry, under command of Colonel Henry C. Dunlap. The +camp was opposite the town of Loudon, and was prepared for winter +quarters. The large forest trees had been felled for a quarter of a mile +around the camp, and log huts built in regular lines for the occupation +of the troops. We were placed in one of these huts with three guards on +the inside, while the guards who delivered us there were located around +a campfire some ten steps in front of the only door to our hut, and +around the whole encampment was the regular camp guard. The next day, as +we had learned, we were to be sent to Knoxville, Tennessee, which was +then General Burnside's headquarters; and as I knew I would there be +recognized, and, on account of my previous escape, that my chances for +freedom would be reduced to a minimum, we determined to escape that +night. + +It was perfectly clear, the moon about full, making the camp almost as +light as day; and as the moon did not go down until a short time before +daylight, we concluded to await its setting. The door of the cabin was +fastened by a latch on the inside. The night was cold. We had only +pretended to sleep, awaiting our opportunity. When the moon was down we +arose, one after another, from our couches, and went to the fire to warm +us. We engaged the guards in pleasant conversation, detailing incidents +of the war. I stood with my right next the door, facing the fire and the +three guards, and my comrades standing immediately on my left. While +narrating some incident in which the guards were absorbed, I placed my +right hand upon the latch of the door, with a signal to the other +prisoners, and, without breaking the thread of the narrative, bade the +guards good night, threw the door open, ran through the guards in front +of the door, passed the sentinel at the camp limits, and followed the +road we had been brought in to the mountains. The guards in front of the +door fired upon me, as did the sentinel on his beat, the last shot being +so close to me that I felt the fire from the gun. Unfortunately and +unwittingly I threw the door open with such force that it rebounded and +caught my comrades on the inside. The guards assaulted them and +attempted to bayonet them, but they grappled, overpowered, and disarmed +the guards, and made terms with them before they would let them up. All +three of these prisoners, by great daring, escaped before they were +taken North to prison. + +In running from the camp to the mountains I passed two sentinel fires, +and was pursued some distance at the point of the bayonet of the soldier +who had last fired at me. All was hurry and confusion in the camp. The +horses were bridled, saddled, and mounted, and rapidly ridden out on +the road I had taken; but by the time the pursuers reached the timber I +was high up the mountain side, and complacently watched them as they +hurried by. As I ran from my prison-house I fixed my eye upon Venus, the +morning star, as my guide, and traveled until daylight, when I reached +the summit of the mountain, where I found a sedge-grass field of about +twenty acres, in the middle of which I lay down on the frozen ground and +remained until the sun had gone down and darkness was gathering. During +the day the soldiers in search of me frequently passed within thirty +steps, so close that I could hear their conjectures as to where I was +most likely to be found. I remained so long in one position that I +thawed into the frozen earth; but the cool of the evening coming on, the +soil around me froze again, and I had some difficulty in releasing +myself. + +As it grew dark I descended the mountain, and cautiously approached a +humble dwelling. Seeing no one but a woman and some children, I entered +and asked for supper. While my supper was being prepared, no little to +my disappointment, the husband, a strapping, manly-looking fellow, with +his rifle on his shoulder, walked in. I had already assumed a character, +and that was as agent to purchase horses for the Federal Government. I +had come down that evening on the train from Knoxville, and was anxious +to get a canoe and some one to paddle me down to Kingston, where I had +an engagement for the next day to meet some gentlemen who were to have +horses there, by agreement with me, for sale. Could the gentleman tell +me where I could get a canoe and some one to go with me? He said the +rebels were so annoying that all boats and canoes had been destroyed to +keep them from crossing. He knew of but one canoe, owned by a good Union +man some two miles down the river. Would he be kind enough to show me +the way there, that I might get an early start and keep my engagement? + +After supper my hospitable entertainer walked with me to the residence +of the owner of the canoe. The family had retired, and when the owner of +the premises came out, there came with him a Federal soldier who was +staying overnight with him. This was not encouraging. After making my +business known and offering large compensation, the owner of the canoe +agreed to start with me by daylight. During my walk down there, my guide +had mentioned that a certain person living opposite the place where the +canoe was owned had several horses that he would like to sell. I +suggested that, in order to save time and get as early a start as +possible for Kingston, the canoe-owner should take me over to see to the +purchase of these horses that night. The river was high and dangerous to +cross at night, but by promises of compensation I was taken over and +landed some quarter of a mile from the house. With an injunction to +await me, when the canoe landed I started toward the house; but when out +of sight I changed my course and took to the mountains. + +For eight days I traveled by night, taking my course by the stars, lying +up in the mountains by day, and getting food early in the evening +wherever I could find a place where there were no men. On the 27th of +December I reached the Confederate lines near Dalton, Georgia. + + + + +COLONEL ROSE'S TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON + +BY FRANK E. MORAN + + +Among all the thrilling incidents in the history of Libby Prison, none +exceeds in interest the celebrated tunnel escape which occurred on the +night of February 9, 1864. I was one of the 109 Union officers who +passed through the tunnel, and one of the ill-fated 48 that were +retaken. I and two companions--Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan of the 21st +Wisconsin regiment, who has since served several terms in Congress from +Missouri, and Lieutenant William L. Watson of the same company and +regiment--when recaptured by the Confederate cavalry were in sight of +the Union picket posts. Strange as it may appear, no accurate and +complete account has ever been given to the public of this, the most +ingenious and daring escape made on either side during the civil war. +Twelve of the party of fifteen who dug the tunnel are still living, +including their leader. + +Thomas E. Rose, colonel of the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the +engineer and leader in the plot throughout,--now a captain in the 16th +United States Infantry,--was taken prisoner at the battle of +Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. On his way to Richmond he escaped from +his guards at Weldon, N.C., but, after a day's wandering about the pine +forests with a broken foot, was retaken by a detachment of Confederate +cavalry and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he arrived October 1, +1863. + +[Illustration: COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE.] + +Libby Prison fronts on Carey street, Richmond, and stands upon a hill +which descends abruptly to the canal, from which its southern wall is +divided only by a street, and having a vacant lot on the east. The +building was wholly detached, making it a comparatively easy matter to +guard the prison securely with a small force and keep every door and +window in full view from without. As an additional measure of safety, +prisoners were not allowed on the ground-floor, except that in the +daytime they were permitted to use the first floor of the middle +section for a cook-room. The interior embraced nine large +warehouse-rooms 105 × 45, with eight feet from each floor to ceiling, +except the upper floor, which gave more room, owing to the pitch of the +gable roof. The abrupt slant of the hill gives the building an +additional story on the south side. The whole building really embraces +three sections, and these were originally separated by heavy blank +walls. The Confederates cut doors through the walls of the two upper +floors, which comprised the prisoners' quarters, and they were thus +permitted to mingle freely with each other; but there was no +communication whatever between the three large rooms on the first floor. +Beneath these floors were three cellars of the same dimensions as the +rooms above them, and, like them, divided from each other by massive +blank walls. For ready comprehension, let these be designated the east, +middle, and west cellars. Except in the lofts known as "Streight's room" +and "Milroy's room," which were occupied by the earliest inmates of +Libby in 1863, there was no furniture in the building, and only a few of +the early comers possessed such a luxury as an old army blanket or a +knife, cup, and tin plate. As a rule, the prisoner, by the time he +reached Libby, found himself devoid of earthly goods save the meager and +dust-begrimed summer garb in which he had made his unlucky campaign. + +At night the six large lofts presented strange war-pictures, over which +a single tallow candle wept copious and greasy tears that ran down over +the petrified loaf of corn-broad, Borden's condensed-milk can, or +bottle in which it was set. The candle flickered on until "taps," when +the guards, with unconscious irony shouted, "Lights out!"--at which +signal it usually disappeared amid a shower of boots and such other +missiles as were at hand. The sleepers covered the six floors, lying in +ranks, head to head and foot to foot, like prostrate lines of battle. +For the general good, and to preserve something like military precision, +these ranks (especially when cold weather compelled them to lie close +for better warmth) were subdivided into convenient squads under charge +of a "captain," who was invested with authority to see that every man +lay "spoon fashion." + +[Illustration] + +No consideration of personal convenience was permitted to interfere with +the general comfort of the "squad." Thus, when the hard floor could no +longer be endured on the right side,--especially by the thin men,--the +captain gave the command, "Attention, Squad Number Four! Prepare to +spoon! One--two--spoon!" And the whole squad flopped over on the left +side. + +The first floor on the west of the building was used by the Confederates +as an office and for sleeping-quarters for the prison officials, and a +stairway guarded by sentinels led from this to Milroy's room just above +it. As before explained, the middle room was shut off from the office by +a heavy blank wall. This room, known as the "kitchen," had two stoves in +it, one of which stood about ten feet from the heavy door that opened on +Carey street sidewalk, and behind the door was a fireplace. The room +contained also several long pine tables with permanent seats attached, +such as may be commonly seen at picnic grounds. The floor was constantly +inundated here by several defective and overworked water-faucets and a +leaky trough. + +A stairway without banisters led up on the southwest end of the floor, +above which was a room known as the "Chickamauga room," being chiefly +occupied by Chickamauga prisoners. The sentinel who had formerly been +placed at this stairway at night, to prevent the prisoners from entering +the kitchen, had been withdrawn when, in the fall of 1863, the horrible +condition of the floor made it untenable for sleeping purposes. + +The uses to which the large ground-floor room east of the kitchen was +put varied during the first two years of the war; but early in October +of 1863, and thereafter, it was permanently used and known as the +hospital, and it contained a large number of cots, which were never +unoccupied. An apartment had been made at the north or front of the +room, which served as a doctor's office and laboratory. Like those +adjoining it on the west, this room had a large door opening on Carey +street, which was heavily bolted and guarded on the outside. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1865] + +The arrival of the Chickamauga prisoners greatly crowded the upper +floors, and compelled the Confederates to board up a small portion of +the east cellar at its southeast corner as an additional cook-room, +several large caldrons having been set in a rudely built furnace; so, +for a short period, the prisoners were allowed down there in the daytime +to cook. A stairway led from this cellar to the room above, which +subsequently became the hospital. + +Such, in brief, was the condition of things when Colonel Rose arrived at +the prison. From the hour of his coming, a means of escape became his +constant and eager study; and, with this purpose in view, he made a +careful and minute survey of the entire premises. + +From the windows of the upper east or "Gettysburg room" he could look +across the vacant lot on the east and get a glimpse of the yard between, +two adjacent buildings which faced the canal and Carey street +respectively, and he estimated the intervening space at about seventy +feet. From the south windows he looked out across a street upon the +canal and James River, running parallel with each other, the two streams +at this point being separated by a low and narrow strip of land. This +strip periodically disappeared when protracted seasons of heavy rain +came, or when spring floods so rapidly swelled the river that the latter +invaded the cellars of Libby. At such times it was common to see +enormous swarms of rats come out from the lower doors and windows of the +prison and make head for dry land in swimming platoons amid the cheers +of the prisoners in the upper windows. On one or two occasions Rose +observed workmen descending from the middle of the south-side street +into a sewer running through its center, and concluded that this sewer +must have various openings to the canal both to the east and west of the +prison. + +The north portion of the cellar contained a large quantity of loose +packing-straw, covering the floor to an average depth of two feet; and +this straw afforded shelter, especially at night, for a large colony of +rats, which gave the place the name of "Rat Hell." + +[Illustration: MAJOR A.G. HAMILTON.] + +In one afternoon's inspection of this dark end, Rose suddenly +encountered a fellow-prisoner, Major A.G. Hamilton, of the 12th Kentucky +Cavalry. A confiding friendship followed, and the two men entered at +once upon the plan of gaining their liberty. They agreed that the most +feasible scheme was a tunnel, to begin in the rear of the little +kitchen-apartment at the southeast corner of Rat Hell. Without more ado +they secured a broken shovel and two case-knives and began operations. + +Within a few days the Confederates decided upon certain changes in the +prison for the greater security of their captives. A week afterward the +cook-room was abandoned, the stairway nailed up, the prisoners sent to +the upper floors, and all communication with the east cellar was cut +off. This was a sore misfortune, for this apartment was the only +possible base of successful tunnel operations. Colonel Rose now began to +study other practicable means of escape, and spent night after night +examining the posts and watching the movements of the sentinels on the +four sides of Libby. One very dark night, during a howling storm, Rose +again, unexpectedly met Hamilton in a place where no prisoner could +reasonably be looked for at such an hour. For an instant the +impenetrable darkness made it impossible for either to determine whether +he had met a friend or foe: neither had a weapon, yet each involuntarily +felt for one, and each made ready to spring at the other's throat, when +a flash of lightning revealed their identity. The two men had availed +themselves of the darkness of the night and the roar of the storm to +attempt an escape from a window of the upper west room to a platform +that ran along the west outer wall of the prison, from which they hoped +to reach the ground and elude the sentinels, whom they conjectured would +be crouched in the shelter of some doorway or other partial refuge that +might be available; but so vivid and frequent were the lightning flashes +that the attempt was seen to be extremely hazardous. + +Rose now spoke of the entrance from the south-side street to the middle +cellar, having frequently noticed the entrance and exit of workmen at +that point, and expressed his belief that if an entrance could be +effected to this cellar it would afford them the only chance of slipping +past the sentinels. + +He hunted up a bit of pine-wood which he whittled into a sort of wedge, +and the two men went down into the dark, vacant kitchen directly over +this cellar. With the wedge Rose pried a floor-board out of its place, +and made an opening large enough to let himself through. He had never +been in this middle cellar, and was wholly ignorant of its contents or +whether it was occupied by Confederates or workmen; but as he had made +no noise, and the place was in profound darkness, he decided to go down +and reconnoiter. + +He wrenched off one of the long boards that formed a table-seat in the +kitchen, and found that it was long enough to touch the cellar base and +protrude a foot or so above the kitchen floor. By this means he easily +descended, leaving Hamilton to keep watch above. + +The storm still raged fiercely, and the faint beams of a street-lamp +revealed the muffled form of the sentinel slowly pacing his beat and +carrying his musket at "secure" arms. Creeping softly toward him along +the cellar wall, he now saw that what he had supposed was a door was +simply a naked opening to the street; and further inspection disclosed +the fact that there was but one sentinel on the south side of the +prison. Standing in the dark shadow, he could easily have touched this +man with his hand as he repeatedly passed him. Groping about, he found +various appurtenances indicating that the south end of this cellar was +used for a carpenter's shop, and that the north end was partitioned off +into a series of small cells with padlocked doors, and that through each +door a square hole, a foot in diameter, was cut. Subsequently it was +learned that these dismal cages were alternately used for the +confinement of "troublesome prisoners"--_i.e._, those who had +distinguished themselves by ingenious attempts to escape--and also for +runaway slaves, and Union spies under sentence of death. + +At the date of Rose's first reconnaissance to this cellar, these cells +were vacant and unguarded. The night was far spent, and Rose proceeded +to return to the kitchen, where Hamilton was patiently waiting for him. + +The very next day a rare good fortune befell Rose. By an agreement +between the commissioners of exchange, several bales of clothing and +blankets had been sent by our government to the famishing Union +prisoners on Belle Isle, a number of whom had already frozen to death. A +committee of Union officers then confined in Libby, consisting of +General Neal Dow, Colonel Alexander von Shrader, Lieut.-Colonel Joseph +F. Boyd, and Colonel Harry White, having been selected by the +Confederates to supervise the distribution of the donation, Colonel +White had, by a shrewd bit of finesse, "confiscated" a fine rope by +which one of the bales was tied, and this he now presented to Colonel +Rose. It was nearly a hundred feet long, an inch thick, and almost new. + +It was hardly dark the following night before Rose and Hamilton were +again in the kitchen, and as soon as all was quiet Rose fastened his +rope to one of the supporting posts, took up the floor-plank as before, +and both men descended to the middle cellar. They were not a little +disappointed to discover that where there had been but one sentinel on +the south side there were now two. On this and for several nights they +contented themselves with sly visits of observation to this cellar, +during which Rose found and secreted various tools, among which were a +broad-ax, a saw, two chisels, several files, and a carpenter's square. +One dark night both men went down and determined to try their luck at +passing the guards. Rose made the attempt and succeeded in passing the +first man, but unluckily was seen by the second. The latter called +lustily for the corporal of the guard, and the first excitedly cocked +his gun and peered into the dark door through which Rose swiftly +retreated. The guard called, "Who goes there?" but did not enter the +dark cellar. Rose and Hamilton mounted the rope and had just succeeded +in replacing the plank when the corporal and a file of men entered the +cellar with a lantern. They looked into every barrel and under every +bench, but no sign of Yankees appeared; and as on this night it happened +that several workmen were sleeping in an apartment at the north end, the +corporal concluded that the man seen by the sentinel was one of these, +notwithstanding their denial when awakened and questioned. After a long +parley the Confederates withdrew, and Hamilton and Rose, depressed in +spirits, went to bed, Rose as usual concealing his rope. + +Before the week was out they were at it again. On one of these nights +Rose suddenly came upon one of the workmen, and, swift as thought, +seized the hidden broad-ax with the intention of braining him if he +attempted an alarm; but the poor fellow was too much paralyzed to cry +out, and when finally he did recover his voice and his wits, it was to +beg Rose, "for God's sake," not to come in there again at night. +Evidently the man never mentioned the circumstance, for Rose's +subsequent visits, which were soon resumed, disclosed no evidence of a +discovery by the Confederates. + +Hamilton agreed with Rose that there remained apparently but one means +of escape, and that was by force. To overpower the two sentinels on the +south side would have been an easy matter, but how to do it and not +alarm the rest of the guard, and, in consequence, the whole city, was +the problem. To secure these sentinels, without alarming their comrades +on the east, west, and north sides of the prison, would require the +swift action of several men of nerve acting in concert. Precious time +was passing, and possibly further alterations might be decided upon that +would shut them off from the middle cellar, as they had already been +from their original base of operations. Moreover, a new cause of anxiety +now appeared. It soon transpired that their nocturnal prowlings and +close conferences together had already aroused the belief among many +observant prisoners that a plan of escape was afoot, and both men were +soon eagerly plied with guarded inquiries, and besought by their +questioners to admit them to their confidence. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1884.] + +Hamilton and Rose now decided to organize an escaping party. A number of +men were then sworn to secrecy and obedience by Colonel Rose, who was +the only recognized leader in all operations that followed. This party +soon numbered seventy men. The band was then taken down by Rose in +convenient details to the middle cellar or carpenter's shop on many +nights, to familiarize each man with the place and with his special part +in the plot, and also to take advantage of any favoring circumstances +that might arise. + +When all had by frequent visits become familiar with the rendezvous, +Rose and the whole party descended one night with the determination to +escape at whatever hazard. The men were assigned to their several +stations as usual, and a selected few were placed by the leader close to +the entrance, in front of which the sentinel was regularly passing. Rose +commanded strict silence, and placed himself near the exit preparatory +to giving the signal. It was an exciting moment, and the bravest heart +beat fast. A signal came, but not the one they looked for. At the very +moment of action, the man whom Rose had left at the floor-opening in the +kitchen gave the danger-signal! The alert leader had, with consummate +care, told every man beforehand that he must never be surprised by this +signal,--it was a thing to be counted upon,--and that noise and panic +were of all things to be avoided as fatal folly in their operations. As +a consequence, when this signal came, Rose quietly directed the men to +fall in line and reascend to the kitchen rapidly, but without noise, +which they did by the long rope which now formed the easy means of +communication from the kitchen to the cellar. + +Rose remained below to cover the retreat, and when the last man got up +he followed him, replaced the board in the floor, and concealed the +rope. He had barely done so when a detail of Confederate guards entered +the kitchen from the Carey street door, and, headed by an officer, +marched straight in his direction. Meantime the party had disappeared up +the stairway and swiftly made their way over their prostrate comrades' +forms to their proper sleeping-places. Rose, being the last up, and +having the floor to fix, had now no time to disappear like his +companions, at least without suspicious haste. He accordingly took a +seat at one of the tables, and, putting an old pipe in his mouth, coolly +awaited the approach of the Confederates. The officer of the guard came +along, swinging his lantern almost in his face, stared at him for a +second, and without a remark or a halt marched past him and ascended +with his escort to the Chickamauga room. The entrance of a guard and +their march around the prison, although afterward common enough after +taps, was then an unusual thing, causing much talk among the prisoners, +and to the mind of Rose and his fellow-plotters was indicative of +aroused suspicion on the part of the Confederates. + +The whispering groups of men next day, and the number of his eager +questioners, gave the leader considerable concern; and Hamilton +suggested, as a measure of safety rather than choice, that some of the +mischievous talk of escape would be suppressed by increasing the party. +This was acted upon; the men, like the rest, were put under oath by +Rose, and the party was thus increased to four hundred and twenty. This +force would have been enough to overpower the prison guard in a few +minutes, but the swift alarm certain to ensue in the streets and spread +like wild-fire over Richmond, the meager information possessed by the +prisoners as to the strength and position of the nearest Federal +troops, the strongly guarded labyrinth of breastworks that encircled the +city, and the easy facilities for instant pursuit at the command of the +Confederates, put the success of such an undertaking clearly out of the +range of probability, unless, indeed, some unusual favoring contingency +should arise, such as the near approach of a coöperating column of +Federal cavalry. + +Nor was this an idle dream, as the country now knows, for even at this +period General Kilpatrick was maturing his plans for that bold +expedition for the rescue of the prisoners at Richmond and Belle Isle in +which the lamented and heroic young cripple, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, +lost his life. Rose saw that a break out of Libby without such outside +assistance promised nothing but a fruitless sacrifice of life and the +savage punishment of the survivors. Hence the project, although eagerly +and exhaustively discussed, was prudently abandoned. + +All talk of escape by the general crowd now wholly ceased, and the +captives resigned themselves to their fate and waited with depressed +spirits for the remote contingency of an exchange. The quiet thus gained +was Rose's opportunity. He sought Hamilton and told him that they must +by some stratagem regain access to Rat Hell, and that the tunnel project +must be at once revived. The latter assented to the proposition, and the +two began earnestly to study the means of gaining an entrance without +discovery into this coveted base of operations. + +They could not even get into the room above the cellar they wanted to +reach, for that was the hospital, and the kitchen's heavy wall shut +them off therefrom. Neither could they break the heavy wall that divided +this cellar from the carpenter's shop, which had been the nightly +rendezvous of the party while the breakout was under consideration, for +the breach certainly would be discovered by the workmen or Confederates, +some of whom were in there constantly during daylight. + +There was, in fact, but one plan by which Rat Hell could be reached +without detection, and the conception of this device and its successful +execution were due to the stout-hearted Hamilton. This was to cut a hole +in the back of the kitchen fireplace; the incision must be just far +enough to preserve the opposite or hospital side intact. It must then be +cut downward to a point below the level of the hospital floor, then +eastward into Rat Hell, the completed opening thus to describe the +letter "S." It must be wide enough to let a man through, yet the wall +must not be broken on the hospital side above the floor, nor marred on +the carpenter's-shop side below it. Such a break would be fatal, for +both of these points were conspicuously exposed to the view of the +Confederates every hour in the day. Moreover, it was imperatively +necessary that all trace of the beginning of the opening should be +concealed, not only from the Confederate officials and guards, who were +constantly passing the spot every day, but from the hundreds of +uninitiated prisoners who crowded around the stove just in front of it +from dawn till dark. + +Work could be possible only between the hours of ten at night, when the +room was generally abandoned by the prisoners because of its inundated +condition, and four o'clock in the morning, when the earliest risers +were again astir. It was necessary to do the work with an old jack-knife +and one of the chisels previously secured by Rose. It must be done in +darkness and without noise, for a vigilant sentinel paced on the Carey +street sidewalk just outside the door and within ten feet of the +fireplace. A rubber blanket was procured, and the soot from the chimney +carefully swept into it. Hamilton, with his old knife, cut the mortar +between the bricks and pried a dozen of them out, being careful to +preserve them whole. + +The rest of the incision was made in accordance with the design +described, but no conception could have been formed beforehand of the +sickening tediousness of cutting an S-shaped hole through a heavy wall +with a feeble old jack-knife, in stolen hours of darkness. Rose guarded +his comrade against the constant danger of interruption by alert enemies +on one side and by blundering friends on the other; and, as frequently +happens in human affairs, their friends gave them more trouble than +their foes. Night after night passed, and still the two men got up after +taps from their hard beds, and descended to the dismal and reeking +kitchen to bore for liberty. When the sentinel's call at Castle Thunder +and at Libby announced four o'clock, the dislodged bricks were carefully +replaced, and the soot previously gathered in the gum blanket was flung +in handfuls against the restored wall, filling the seams between the +bricks so thoroughly as to defy detection. At last, after many weary +nights, Hamilton's heroic patience and skill were rewarded, and the way +was open to the coveted base of operations, Rat Hell. + +Now occurred a circumstance that almost revealed the plot and nearly +ended in a tragedy. When the opening was finished, the long rope was +made fast to one of the kitchen supporting posts, and Rose proceeded to +descend and reconnoiter. He got partly through with ease, but lost his +hold in such a manner that his body slipped through so as to pinion his +arms and leave him wholly powerless either to drop lower or return--the +bend of the hole being such as to cramp his back and neck terribly and +prevent him from breathing. He strove desperately, but each effort only +wedged him more firmly in the awful vise. Hamilton sprang to his aid and +did his utmost to effect his release; but, powerful as he was, he could +not budge him. Rose was gasping for breath and rapidly getting fainter, +but even in this fearful strait he refrained from an outcry that would +certainly alarm the guards just outside the door. Hamilton saw that +without speedy relief his comrade must soon smother. He dashed through +the long, dark room up the stairway, over the forms of several hundred +men, and disregarding consequences and savage curses in the dark and +crowded room, he trampled upon arms, legs, faces, and stomachs, leaving +riot and blasphemy in his track among the rudely awakened and now +furious lodgers of the Chickamauga room. He sought the sleeping-place of +Major George H. Fitzsimmons, but he was missing. He, however, found +Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, of the 18th Regulars (since a major in the 9th +United States Cavalry), to whom he told the trouble in a few hasty +words. Both men fairly flew across the room, dashed down the stairs, +and by their united efforts Rose, half dead and quite speechless, was +drawn up from the fearful trap. + +Hamilton managed slightly to increase the size of the hole and provide +against a repetition of the accident just narrated, and all being now +ready, the two men entered eagerly upon the work before them. They +appropriated one of the wooden spittoons of the prison, and to each side +attached a piece of clothes-line which they had been permitted to have +to dry clothes on. Several bits of candle and the larger of the two +chisels were also taken to the operating-cellar. They kept this secret +well, and worked alone for many nights. In fact, they would have so +continued, but they found that after digging about four feet their +candle would go out in the vitiated air. Rose did the digging, and +Hamilton fanned air into him with his hat: even then he had to emerge +into the cellar every few minutes to breathe. Rose could dig, but needed +the light and air; and Hamilton could not fan, and drag out and deposit +the excavated earth, and meantime keep a lookout. In fact, it was +demonstrated that there was slim chance of succeeding without more +assistance, and it was decided to organize a party large enough for +effective work by reliefs. As a preliminary step, and to afford the +means of more rapid communication with the cellar from the fireplace +opening, the long rope obtained from Colonel White was formed by +Hamilton into a rope-ladder with convenient wooden rungs. This +alteration considerably increased its bulk, and added to Rose's +difficulty in concealing it from curious eyes. + +He now made a careful selection of thirteen men besides himself and +Hamilton, and bound them by a solemn oath to secrecy and strict +obedience. To form this party as he wanted it required some diplomacy, +as it was known that the Confederates had on more than one occasion sent +cunning spies into Libby disguised as Union prisoners, for the detection +of any contemplated plan of escape. Unfortunately, the complete list of +the names of the party now formed has not been preserved; but among the +party, besides Rose and Hamilton, were Captain John Sterling, 30th +Indiana; Captain John Lucas, 5th Kentucky Cavalry; Captain Isaac N. +Johnson, 6th Kentucky Cavalry; and Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, 18th +Regulars. + +The party, being now formed, were taken to Rat Hell and their several +duties explained to them by Rose, who was invested with full authority +over the work in hand. Work was begun in rear of the little kitchen-room +previously abandoned at the southeast corner of the cellar. To +systematize the labor, the party was divided into squads of five each, +which gave the men one night on duty and two off, Rose assigning each +man to the branch of work in which experiments proved him the most +proficient. He was himself, by long odds, the best digger of the party; +while Hamilton had no equal for ingenious mechanical skill in contriving +helpful, little devices to overcome or lessen the difficulties that +beset almost every step of the party's progress. + +The first plan was to dig down alongside the east wall and under it +until it was passed, then turn southward and make for the large street +sewer next the canal and into which Rose had before noticed workmen +descending. This sewer was a large one, believed to be fully six feet +high, and, if it could be gained, there could be little doubt that an +adjacent opening to the canal would be found to the eastward. It was +very soon revealed, however, that the lower side of Libby was built upon +ponderous timbers, below which they could not hope to penetrate with +their meager stock of tools--such, at least, was the opinion of nearly +all the party. Rose nevertheless determined that the effort should be +made, and they were soon at work with old penknives and case-knives +hacked into saws. After infinite labor they at length cut through the +great logs, only to be met by an unforeseen and still more formidable +barrier. Their tunnel, in fact, had penetrated below the level of the +canal. Water began to filter in--feebly at first, but at last it broke +in with a rush that came near drowning Rose, who barely had time to make +his escape. This opening was therefore plugged up; and to do this +rapidly and leave no dangerous traces put the party to their wit's end. + +An attempt was next made to dig into a small sewer that ran from the +southeast corner of the prison into the main sewer. After a number of +nights of hard labor, this opening was extended to a point below a brick +furnace in which were incased several caldrons. The weight of this +furnace caused a cave-in near the sentinel's path outside the prison +wall. Next day, a group of officers were seen eying the break curiously. +Rose, listening at a window above, heard the words "rats" repeated by +them several times, and took comfort. The next day he entered the cellar +alone, feeling that if the suspicions of the Confederates were really +awakened a trap would be set for him in Rat Hell, and determined, if +such were really the case, that he would be the only victim caught. He +therefore entered the little partitioned corner room with some anxiety, +but there was no visible evidence of a visit by the guards, and his +spirits again rose. + +The party now reassembled, and an effort was made to get into the small +sewer that ran from the cook-room to the big sewer which Rose was so +eager to reach; but soon it was discovered, to the utter dismay of the +weary party, that this wood-lined sewer was too small to let a man +through it. Still it was hoped by Rose that by removing the plank with +which it was lined the passage could be made. The spirits of the party +were by this time considerably dashed by their repeated failures and +sickening work; but the undaunted Rose, aided by Hamilton, persuaded the +men to another effort, and soon the knives and toy saws were at work +again with vigor. The work went on so swimmingly that it was confidently +believed that an entrance to the main sewer would be gained on the night +of January 26, 1864. + +On the night of the 25th two men had been left down in Rat Hell to cover +any remaining traces of a tunnel, and when night came again it was +expected that all would be ready for the escape between eight and nine +o'clock. In the mean time, the two men were to enter and make careful +examination of the main sewer and its adjacent outlets. The party, which +was now in readiness for its march to the Federal camps, waited tidings +from these two men all next day in tormenting anxiety, and the weary +hours went by on leaden wings. At last the sickening word came that the +planks yet to be removed before they could enter the main sewer were of +seasoned oak--hard as bone, and three inches thick. Their feeble tools +were now worn out or broken; they could no longer get air to work, or +keep a light in the horrible pit, which was reeking with cold mud; in +short, any attempt at further progress with the utensils at hand was +foolish. + +Most of the party were now really ill from the foul stench in which they +had lived so long. The visions of liberty that had first lured them to +desperate efforts under the inspiration of Rose and Hamilton had at last +faded, and one by one they lost heart and hope, and frankly told Colonel +Rose that they could do no more. The party was therefore disbanded, and +the yet sanguine leader, with Hamilton for his sole helper, continued +the work alone. Up to this time thirty-nine nights had been spent in the +work of excavation. The two men now made a careful examination of the +northeast corner of the cellar, at which point the earth's surface +outside the prison wall, being eight or nine feet higher than at the +canal or south side, afforded a better place to dig than the latter, +being free from water and with clay-top enough to support itself. The +unfavorable feature of this point was that the only possible terminus of +a tunnel was a yard between the buildings beyond the vacant lot on the +east of Libby. Another objection was that, even when the tunnel should +be made to that point, the exit of any escaping party must be made +through an arched wagon-way under the building that faced the street on +the canal side, and every man must emerge on the sidewalk in sight of +the sentinel on the south side of the prison, the intervening space +being in the full glare of the gas-lamp. It was carefully noted, however +by Rose, long before this, that the west end of the beat of the nearest +sentinel was between fifty and sixty feet from the point of egress, and +it was concluded that by walking away at the moment the sentinel +commenced his pace westward, one would be far enough into the shadow to +make it improbable that the color of his clothing could be made out by +the sentinel when he faced about to return toward the eastern end of his +beat, which terminated ten to fifteen feet east of the prison wall. It +was further considered that as these sentinels had for their special +duty the guarding of the prison, they would not be eager to burden +themselves with the duty of molesting persons seen in the vicinity +outside of their jurisdiction, provided, of course, that the retreating +forms--many of which they must certainly see--were not recognized as +Yankees. All others they might properly leave for the challenge and +usual examination of the provost guard who patrolled the streets of +Richmond. + +The wall of that east cellar had to be broken in three places before a +place was found where the earth was firm enough to support a tunnel. The +two men worked on with stubborn patience, but their progress was +painfully slow. Rose dug assiduously, and Hamilton alternately fanned +air to his comrade and dragged out and hid the excavated dirt, but the +old difficulty confronted him. The candle would not burn, the air could +not be fanned fast enough with a hat, and the dirt hidden, without +better contrivances or additional help. + +Rose now reassembled the party, and selected from them a number who were +willing to renew the attempt.[12] Against the east wall stood a series +of stone fenders abutting inward, and these, being at uniform intervals +of about twenty feet, cast deep shadows that fell toward the prison +front. In one of these dark recesses the wall was pierced, well up +toward the Carey street end. The earth here has very densely compressed +sand, that offered a strong resistance to the broad-bladed chisel, which +was their only effective implement, and it was clear that a long turn of +hard work must be done to penetrate under the fifty-foot lot to the +objective point. The lower part of the tunnel was about six inches above +the level of the cellar floor, and its top about two and a half feet. +Absolute accuracy was of course impossible, either in giving the hole a +perfectly horizontal direction or in preserving uniform dimensions; but +a fair level was preserved, and the average diameter of the tunnel was a +little over two feet. Usually one man would dig, and fill the spittoon +with earth; upon the signal of a gentle pull, an assistant would drag +the load into the cellar by the clothes-lines fastened to each side of +this box and then hide it under the straw; a third constantly fanned air +into the tunnel with a rubber blanket stretched across a frame, the +invention of the ingenious Hamilton; a fourth would give occasional +relief to the last two; while a fifth would keep a lookout. + +[Footnote 12: The party now consisted of Colonel Thomas E. Rose, 77th +Pennsylvania; Major A.G. Hamilton, 12th Kentucky; Captain Terrance +Clark, 79th Illinois; Major George H. Fitzsimmons, 30th Indiana; Captain +John F. Gallagher, 2d Ohio: Captain W.S.B. Randall, 2d Ohio; Captain +John Lucas, 5th Kentucky; Captain I.N. Johnson, 6th Kentucky; Major B.B. +McDonald, 101st Ohio; Lieutenant N.S. McKean, 21st Illinois; Lieutenant +David Garbett, 77th Pennsylvania; Lieutenant J.C. Fislar, 7th Indiana +Artillery; Lieutenant John D. Simpson, 10th Indiana; Lieutenant John +Mitchell, 79th Illinois; and Lieutenant Eli Foster, 30th Indiana. This +party was divided into three reliefs, as before, and the work of +breaking the cellar wall was successfully done the first night by +McDonald and Clark.] + +The danger of discovery was continual, for the guards were under +instructions from the prison commandant to make occasional visits to +every accessible part of the building; so that it was not unusual for a +sergeant and several men to enter the south door of Rat Hell in the +daytime, while the diggers were at labor in the dark north end. During +these visits the digger would watch the intruders with his head sticking +out of the tunnel, while the others would crouch behind the low stone +fenders, or crawl quickly under the straw. This was, however, so +uninviting a place that the Confederates made this visit as brief as a +nominal compliance with their orders permitted, and they did not often +venture into the dark north end. The work was fearfully monotonous, and +the more so because absolute silence was commanded, the men moving about +mutely in the dark. The darkness caused them frequently to become +bewildered and lost; and as Rose could not call out for them, he had +often to hunt all over the big dungeon to gather them up and pilot them +to their places. + +The difficulty of forcing air to the digger, whose body nearly filled +the tunnel, increased as the hole was extended, and compelled the +operator to back often into the cellar for air, and for air that was +itself foul enough to sicken a strong man. + +But they were no longer harassed with the water and timbers that had +impeded their progress at the south end. Moreover, experience was daily +making each man more proficient in the work. Rose urged them on with +cheery enthusiasm, and their hopes rose high, for already they had +penetrated beyond the sentinel's beat and were nearing the goal. + +The party off duty kept a cautious lookout from the upper east windows +for any indications of suspicion on the part of the Confederates. In +this extreme caution was necessary, both to avert the curiosity of +prisoners in those east rooms, and to keep out of the range of bullets +from the guards, who were under a standing order to fire at a head if +seen at a window, or at a hand if placed on the bars that secured them. +A sentinel's bullet one day cut a hole in the ear of Lieutenant Hammond; +another officer was wounded in the face by a bullet, which fortunately +first splintered against one of the window-bars; and a captain of an +Ohio regiment was shot through the head and instantly killed while +reading a newspaper. He was violating no rule whatever, and when shot +was from eight to ten feet inside the window through which the bullet +came. This was a wholly unprovoked and wanton murder; the cowardly +miscreant had fired the shot while he was off duty, and from the north +sidewalk of Carey street. The guards (home guards they were) used, in +fact, to gun for prisoners' heads from their posts below, pretty much +after the fashion of boys after squirrels; and the whizz of a bullet +through the windows became too common an occurrence to occasion remark +unless some one was shot. + +Under a standing rule, the twelve hundred prisoners were counted twice +each day, the first count being made about nine in the morning, and the +last about four in the afternoon. This duty was habitually done by the +clerk of the prison, E.W. Ross, a civilian employed by the commandant. +He was christened "Little Ross"[13] by the prisoners, because of his +diminutive size. Ross was generally attended by either "Dick" Turner, +Adjutant Latouche, or Sergeant George Stansil, of the 18th Georgia, with +a small guard to keep the prisoners in four closed ranks during the +count. The commandant of the prison, Major Thomas P. Turner (no relative +of Dick's), seldom came up-stairs. + +[Footnote 13: "Little Ross" was burned to death, with other guests, at +the Spotswood House, Richmond, in 1873.] + +To conceal the absence of the five men who were daily at work at the +tunnel, their comrades of the party off digging duty resorted, under +Rose's supervision, to a device of "repeating." This scheme, which was +of vital importance to hoodwink the Confederates and avert mischievous +curiosity among the uninformed prisoners, was a hazardous business that +severely taxed the ingenuity and strained the nerve of the leader and +his coadjutors. The manner of the fraud varied with circumstances, but +in general it was worked by five of Rose's men, after being counted at +or near the head of the line, stooping down and running toward the foot +of the ranks, where a few moments later they were counted a second time, +thus making Ross's book balance. The whole five, however, could not +always do this undiscovered, and perhaps but three of the number could +repeat. These occasional mishaps threatened to dethrone the reason of +the puzzled clerk; but in the next count the "repeaters" would succeed +in their game, and for the time all went well, until one day some of the +prisoners took it into their heads, "just for the fun of the thing," to +imitate the repeaters. Unconscious of the curses that the party were +mentally hurling at them, the meddlers' sole purpose was to make "Little +Ross" mad. In this they certainly met with signal success, for the +reason of the mystified clerk seemed to totter as he repeated the count +over and over in the hope of finding out how one careful count would +show that three prisoners were missing and the next an excess of +fifteen. Finally Ross, lashed into uncontrollable fury by the sarcastic +remarks of his employers and the heartless merriment of the grinning +Yanks before him, poured forth his goaded soul as follows: + +"Now, gentlemen, look yere. I can count a hundred as good as any blank +man in this yere town, but I'll be blank blanked if I can count a +hundred of you blanked Yankees. Now, gentlemen, there's one thing sho: +there's eight or ten of you-uns yere that ain't yere!" + +This extraordinary accusation "brought down the house," and the +Confederate officers and guards, and finally Ross himself, were caught +by the resistless contagion of laughter that shook the rafters of Libby. + +The officials somehow found a balance that day on the books, and the +danger was for this once over, to the infinite relief of Rose and his +anxious comrades. But the Confederates appeared dissatisfied with +something, and came up-stairs next morning with more officers and with +double the usual number of guards; and some of these were now stationed +about the room so as to make it next to impossible to work the repeating +device successfully. On this day, for some reason, there were but two +men in the cellar, and these were Major B.B. McDonald and Captain I.N. +Johnson. + +The count began as usual, and despite the guard in rear, two of the +party attempted the repeating device by forcing their way through the +center of the ranks toward the left; but the "fun of the thing" had now +worn out with the unsuspecting meddlers, who resisted the passage of the +two men. This drew the attention of the Confederate officers, and the +repeaters were threatened with punishment. The result was inevitable: +the count showed two missing. It was carefully repeated, with the same +result. To the dismay of Rose and his little band, the prison register +was now brought up-stairs and a long, tedious roll-call by name was +endured, each man passing through a narrow door as his name was called, +and between a line of guards. + +No stratagem that Rose could now invent could avert the discovery by the +Confederates that McDonald and Johnson had disappeared, and the mystery +of their departure would be almost certain to cause an inquiry and +investigation that would put their plot in peril and probably reveal it. + +At last the "J's" were reached, and the name of I.N. Johnson was lustily +shouted and repeated, with no response. The roll-call proceeded until +the name of B.B. McDonald was reached. To the increasing amazement of +everybody but the conspirators, he also had vanished. A careful note was +taken of these two names by the Confederates, and a thousand tongues +were now busy with the names of the missing men and their singular +disappearance. + +The conspirators were in a tight place, and must choose between two +things. One was for the men in the cellar to return that night and face +the Confederates with the most plausible explanation of their absence +that they could invent, and the other alternative was the revolting one +of remaining in their horrible abode until the completion of the tunnel. + +When night came the fireplace was opened, and the unlucky pair were +informed of the situation of affairs and asked to choose between the +alternatives presented. McDonald decided to return and face the music; +but Johnson, doubtful if the Confederates would be hoodwinked by any +explanation, voted to remain where he was and wait for the finish of the +tunnel. + +As was anticipated, McDonald's return awakened almost as much curiosity +among the inhabitants of Libby as his disappearance, and he was soon +called to account by the Confederates. He told them he had fallen asleep +in an out-of-the-way place in the upper west room, where the guards must +have overlooked him during the roll-call of the day before. McDonald was +not further molested. The garrulous busybodies, who were Rose's chief +dread, told the Confederate officials that they had certainly slept near +Johnson the night before the day he was missed. Lieutenant J.C. Fislar +(of the working party), who also slept next to Johnson, boldly declared +this a case of mistaken identity, and confidently expressed his belief +to both Confederates and Federals who gathered around him that Johnson +had escaped, and was by this time, no doubt, safe in the Union lines. To +this he added the positive statement that Johnson had not been in his +accustomed sleeping-place for a good many nights. The busybodies, who +had indeed told the truth, looked at the speaker in speechless +amazement, but reiterated their statements. Others of the conspirators, +however, took Fislar's bold cue and stoutly corroborated him. + +Johnson, was, of course, nightly fed by his companions, and gave them +such assistance as he could at the work; but it soon became apparent +that a man could not long exist in such a pestilential atmosphere. No +tongue can tell how long were the days and nights the poor fellow passed +among the squealing rats,--enduring the sickening air, the deathly +chill, the horrible, interminable darkness. One day out of three was an +ordeal for the workers, who at least had a rest of two days afterward. +As a desperate measure of relief, it was arranged, with the utmost +caution, that late each night Johnson should come up-stairs, when all +was dark and the prison in slumber, and sleep among the prisoners until +just before the time for closing the fireplace opening, about four +o'clock each morning. As he spoke to no one and the room was dark, his +presence was never known, even to those who lay next to him; and indeed +he listened to many earnest conversations between his neighbors +regarding his wonderful disappearance.[14] + +[Footnote 14: In a volume entitled "Four Months in Libby," Captain +Johnson has related his experience at this time, and his subsequent +escape.] + +As a matter of course, the incidents above narrated made day-work on the +tunnel too hazardous to be indulged in, on account of the increased +difficulty of accounting for absentees; but the party continued the +night-work with unabated industry. + +When the opening had been extended nearly across the lot, some of the +party believed they had entered under the yard which was the intended +terminus; and one night, when McDonald was the digger, so confident was +he that the desired distance had been made, that he turned his direction +upward, and soon broke through to the surface. A glance showed him his +nearly fatal blunder, against which, indeed, he had been earnestly +warned by Rose, who from the first had carefully estimated the +intervening distance between the east wall of Libby and the terminus. In +fact, McDonald saw that he had broken through in the open lot which was +all in full view of a sentinel who was dangerously close. Appalled by +what he had done, he retreated to the cellar and reported the disaster +to his companions. Believing that discovery was now certain, the party +sent one of their number up the rope to report to Rose, who was asleep. +The hour was about midnight when the leader learned of the mischief. He +quickly got up, went down cellar, entered the tunnel, and examined the +break. It was not so near the sentinel's path as McDonald's excited +report indicated, and fortunately the breach was at a point whence the +surface sloped downward toward the east. He took off his blouse and +stuffed it into the opening, pulling the dirt over it noiselessly, and +in a few minutes there was little surface evidence of the hole. He then +backed into the cellar in the usual crab fashion, and gave directions +for the required depression of the tunnel and vigorous resumption of +the work. The hole made in the roof of the tunnel was not much larger +than a rat-hole and could not be seen from the prison. But the next +night Rose shoved an old shoe out of the hole, and the day afterward he +looked down through the prison bars and saw the shoe lying where he had +placed it, and judged from its position that he had better incline the +direction of the tunnel slightly to the left. + +Meantime Captain Johnson was dragging out a wretched existence in Rat +Hell, and for safety was obliged to confine himself by day to the dark +north end, for the Confederates often came into the place very suddenly +through the south entrance. When they ventured too close, Johnson would +get into a pit that he had dug under the straw as a hiding-hole both for +himself and the tunnelers' tools, and quickly cover himself with a huge +heap of short packing-straw. A score of times he came near being stepped +upon by the Confederates, and more than once the dust of the straw +compelled him to sneeze in their very presence. + +On Saturday, February 6, a larger party than usual of the Confederates +came into the cellar, walked by the very mouth, of the tunnel, and +seemed to be making a critical survey of the entire place. They remained +an unusually long time and conversed in low tones; several of them even +kicked the loose straw about; and in fact everything seemed to indicate +to Johnson--who was the only one of the working party now in the +cellar--that the long-averted discovery had been made. That night he +reported matters fully to Rose at the fireplace opening. + +The tunnel was now nearly completed, and when Rose conveyed Johnson's +message to the party it caused dismay. Even the stout-hearted Hamilton +was for once excited, and the leader whose unflinching fortitude had +thus far inspired his little band had his brave spirits dashed. But his +buoyant courage rose quickly to its high and natural level. He could not +longer doubt that the suspicions of the Confederates were aroused, but +he felt convinced that these suspicions had not as yet assumed such a +definite shape as most of his companions thought; still, he had abundant +reason to believe that the success of the tunnel absolutely demanded its +speedy completion, and he now firmly resolved that a desperate effort +should be made to that end. Remembering that the next day was Sunday, +and that it was not customary for the Confederates to visit the +operating-cellar on that day, he determined to make the most in his +power of the now precious time. He therefore caused all the party to +remain up-stairs, directing them to keep a close watch upon the +Confederates from all available points of observation, to avoid being +seen in whispering groups,--in short, to avoid all things calculated to +excite the curiosity of friends or the suspicion of enemies,--and to +await his return. + +Taking McDonald with him, he went down through the fireplace before +daylight on Sunday morning, and, bidding Johnson to keep a vigilant +watch for intruders and McDonald to fan air into him, he entered the +tunnel and began the forlorn hope. From this time forward he never once +turned over the chisel to a relief. + +All day long he worked with the tireless patience of a beaver. When +night came, even his single helper, who performed the double duty of +fanning air and hiding the excavated earth, was ill from his hard, long +task and the deadly air of the cellar. Yet this was as nothing compared +with the fatigue of the duty that Rose had performed; and when at last, +far into the night, he backed into the cellar, he had scarcely strength +enough to stagger across to the rope-ladder. + +He had made more than double the distance that had been accomplished +under the system of reliefs on any previous day, and the non-appearance +of the Confederates encouraged the hope that another day, without +interruption, would see the work completed. He therefore determined to +refresh himself by a night's sleep for the finish. The drooping spirits +of his party were revived by the report of his progress and his +unalterable confidence. + +Monday morning dawned, and the great prison with its twelve hundred +captives was again astir. The general crowd did not suspect the +suppressed excitement and anxiety of the little party that waited +through that interminable day, which they felt must determine the fate +of their project. + +Rose had repeated the instructions of the day before, and again +descended to Rat Hell with McDonald for his only helper. Johnson +reported all quiet, and McDonald taking up his former duties at the +tunnel's mouth, Rose once more entered with his chisel. It was now the +seventeenth day since the present tunnel was begun, and he resolved it +should be the last. Hour after hour passed, and still the busy chisel +was plied, and still the little wooden box with its freight of earth +made its monotonous trips from the digger to his comrade and back again. + +From the early morning of Monday, February 8, 1864, until an hour after +midnight the next morning his work went on. As midnight approached, Rose +was nearly a physical wreck: the perspiration dripped from every pore of +his exhausted body; food he could not have eaten, if he had had it. His +labors thus far had given him a somewhat exaggerated estimate of his +physical powers. The sensation of fainting was strange to him, but his +staggering senses warned him that to faint where he was meant at once +his death and burial. He could scarcely inflate his lungs with the +poisonous air of the pit; his muscles quivered with increasing weakness +and the warning spasmodic tremor which their unnatural strain induced; +his head swam like that of a drowning person. + +By midnight he had struck and passed beyond a post which he felt must be +in the yard. During the last few minutes he had directed his course +upward, and to relieve his cramped limbs he turned upon his back. His +strength was nearly gone; the feeble stream of air which his comrade was +trying, with all his might, to send to him from a distance of +fifty-three feet could no longer reach him through the deadly stench. +His senses reeled; he had not breath or strength enough to move backward +through his narrow grave. In the agony of suffocation he dropped the +dull chisel and beat his two fists against the roof of his grave with +the might of despair--when, blessed boon! the crust gave way and the +loosened earth showered upon his dripping face purple with agony; his +famished eye caught sight of a radiant star in the blue vault above +him; a flood of light and a volume of cool, delicious air poured over +him. At that very instant the sentinel's cry rang out like a +prophecy--"Half-past one, and all's well!" + +[Illustration: LIBERTY!] + +Recovering quickly under the inspiring air, he dragged his body out of +the hole and made a careful survey of the yard in which he found +himself. He was under a shed, with a board fence between him and the +east-side sentinels, and the gable end of Libby loomed grimly against +the blue sky. He found the wagon-way under the south-side building +closed from the street by a gate fastened by a swinging bar, which, +after a good many efforts, he succeeded in opening. This was the only +exit to the street. As soon as the nearest sentinel's back was turned he +stepped out and walked quickly to the east. At the first corner he +turned north, carefully avoiding the sentinels in front of the +"Pemberton Buildings" (another military prison northeast of Libby), and +at the corner above this he went westward, then south to the edge of the +canal, and thus, by cautious moving, made a minute examination, of Libby +from all sides. + +Having satisfied his desires, he retraced his steps to the yard. He +hunted up an old bit of heavy plank crept back into the tunnel feet +first, drew the plank over the opening to conceal it from the notice of +any possible visitors to the place, and crawled back to Rat Hell. +McDonald was overjoyed, and poor Johnson almost wept with delight, as +Rose handed one of them his victorious old chisel, and gave the other +some trifle he had picked up in the outer world as a token that the +Underground Railroad to God's Country was open. + +Rose now climbed the rope-ladder, drew it up, rebuilt the fireplace wall +as usual, and, finding Hamilton, took him over near one of the windows +and broke the news to him. The brave fellow was almost speechless with +delight, and quickly hunting up the rest of the party, told them that +Colonel Rose wanted to see them down in the dining-room. + +As they had been waiting news from their absent leader with feverish +anxiety for what had seemed to them all the longest day in their lives, +they instantly responded to the call, and flocked around Rose a few +minutes later in the dark kitchen where he waited them. As yet they did +not know what news he brought, and they could scarcely wait for him to +speak out; and when he announced, "Boys, the tunnel is finished," they +could hardly repress a cheer. They wrung his hand again and again, and +danced about with childish joy. + +It was now nearly three o'clock in the morning. Rose and Hamilton were +ready to go out at once, and indeed were anxious to do so, since every +day of late had brought some new peril to their plans. None of the rest +however, were ready; and all urged the advantage of having a whole night +in which to escape through and beyond the Richmond fortifications, +instead of the few hours of darkness which now preceded the day. To this +proposition Rose and Hamilton somewhat reluctantly assented. It was +agreed that each man of the party should have the privilege of taking +one friend into his confidence, and that the second party of fifteen +thus formed should be obligated not to follow the working party out of +the tunnel until an hour had elapsed. Colonel H.C. Hobart, of the 21st +Wisconsin, was deputed to see that the program was observed. He was to +draw up the rope-ladder, hide it, and rebuild the wall; and the next +night was himself to lead out the second party, deputing some +trustworthy leader to follow with still another party on the third +night; and thus it was to continue until as many as possible should +escape. + +On Tuesday evening, February 9, at seven o'clock, Colonel Rose assembled +his party in the kitchen, and, posting himself at the fireplace, which +he opened, waited until the last man went down. He bade Colonel Hobart +good-by, went down the hole, and waited until he had heard his comrade +pull up the ladder, and finally heard him replace the bricks in the +fireplace and depart. He now crossed Rat Hell to the entrance into the +tunnel, and placed the party in the order in which they were to go out. +He gave each a parting caution, thanked his brave comrades for their +faithful labors, and, feelingly shaking their hands, bade them God-speed +and farewell. + +He entered the tunnel first, with Hamilton next, and was promptly +followed by the whole party through the tunnel and into the yard. He +opened the gate leading toward the canal, and signaled the party that +all was clear. Stepping out on the sidewalk as soon as the nearest +sentinel's back was turned, he walked briskly down the street to the +east, and a square below was joined by Hamilton. The others followed at +intervals of a few minutes, and disappeared in various directions in +groups usually of three. + +The plan agreed upon between Colonels Rose and Hobart was frustrated by +information of the party's departure leaking out; and before nine +o'clock the knowledge of the existence of the tunnel and of the +departure of the first party was flashed over the crowded prison, which +was soon a convention of excited and whispering men. Colonel Hobart made +a brave effort to restore order, but the frenzied crowd that now +fiercely struggled for precedence at the fireplace was beyond human +control. + +Some of them had opened the fireplace and were jumping down like sheep +into the cellar one after another. The colonel implored the maddened men +at least to be quiet, and put the rope-ladder in position and escaped +himself. + +My companion, Sprague, was already asleep when I lay down that night; +but my other companion, Duenkel, who had been hunting for me, was very +much awake, and, seizing me by the collar, he whispered excitedly the +fact that Colonel Rose had gone out at the head of a party through a +tunnel. For a brief moment the appalling suspicion, that my friend's +reason had been dethroned by illness and captivity swept over my mind; +but a glance toward the window at the east end showed a quiet but +apparently excited group of men from other rooms, and I now observed +that several of them were bundled up for a march. The hope of regaining +liberty thrilled me like a current of electricity. Looking through the +window, I could see the escaping men appear one by one on the sidewalk +below, opposite the exit yard, and silently disappear, without hindrance +or challenge by the prison sentinels. While I was eagerly surveying this +scene, I lost track of Duenkel, who had gone in search of further +information, but ran against Lieutenant Harry Wilcox, of the 1st New +York, whom I knew, and who appeared to have the "tip" regarding the +tunnel. Wilcox and I agreed to unite our fortunes in the escape. My +shoes were nearly worn out, and my clothes were thin and ragged. I was +ill prepared for a journey in midwinter through the enemy's country: +happily I had my old overcoat, and this I put on. I had not a crumb of +food saved up, as did those who were posted; but as I was ill at the +time, my appetite was feeble. + +Wilcox and I hurried to the kitchen, where we found several hundred men +struggling to be first at the opening in the fireplace. We took our +places behind them, and soon two hundred more closed us tightly in the +mass. The room was pitch-dark, and the sentinel could be seen through +the door-cracks, within a dozen feet of us. The fight for precedence was +savage, though no one spoke; but now and then fainting men begged to be +released. They begged in vain: certainly some of them must have been +permanently injured. For my own part, when I neared the stove I was +nearly suffocated; but I took heart when I saw but three more men +between me and the hole. At this moment a sound as of tramping feet was +heard, and some idiot on the outer edge of the mob startled us with the +cry, "The guards the guards!" A fearful panic ensued, and the entire +crowd bounded toward the stairway leading up to their sleeping-quarters. +The stairway was unbanistered, and some of the men were forced off the +edge and fell on those beneath. I was among the lightest in that crowd; +and when it broke and expanded I was taken off my feet, dashed to the +floor senseless, my head and one of my hands bruised and cut, and my +shoulder painfully injured by the boots of the men who rushed over me. +When I gathered my swimming wits I was lying in a pool of water. The +room seemed darker than before; and, to my grateful surprise, I was +alone. I was now convinced that it was a false alarm, and quickly +resolved to avail myself of the advantage of having the whole place to +myself. I entered the cavity feet first, but found it necessary to +remove my overcoat and push it through the opening, and it fell in the +darkness below. + +I had now no comrade, having lost Wilcox in the stampede. Rose and his +party, being the first out, were several hours on their journey; and I +burned to be away, knowing well that my salvation depended on my passage +beyond the city defenses before the pursuing guards were on our trail, +when the inevitable discovery should come at roll-call. The fact that I +was alone I regretted; but I had served with McClellan in the Peninsula +campaign of 1862, I knew the country well from my frequent inspection of +war maps, and the friendly north star gave me my bearings. The +rope-ladder had either become broken or disarranged, but it afforded me +a short hold at the top; so I balanced myself, trusted to fortune, and +fell into Rat Hell, which was a rayless pit of darkness, swarming with +squealing rats, several of which I must have killed in my fall. I felt a +troop of them, run over my face and hands before I could regain my feet. +Several times I put my hand on them, and once I flung one from my +shoulder. Groping around, I found a stout stick or stave, put my back to +the wall, and beat about me blindly but with vigor. + +In spite of the hurried instructions given me by Wilcox, I had a long +and horrible hunt over the cold surface of the cellar walls in my +efforts to find the entrance to the tunnel; and in two minutes after I +began feeling my way with my hands I had no idea in what part of the +place was the point where I had fallen: my bearings were completely +lost, and I must have made the circuit of Rat Hell several times. At my +entrance the rats seemed to receive me with cheers sufficiently hearty, +I thought; but my vain efforts to find egress seemed to kindle anew +their enthusiasm. They had received large reinforcements, and my march +around was now received with deafening squeaks. Finally, my exploring +hands fell upon a pair of heels which vanished at my touch. Here at last +was the narrow road to freedom! The heels proved to be the property of +Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan, 21st Wisconsin, a Chickamauga prisoner. +Just ahead of him in the tunnel was Lieutenant William L. Watson of the +same company and regiment. With my cut hand and bruised shoulder, the +passage through the cold, narrow grave was indescribably horrible, and +when I reached the terminus in the yard I was sick and faint. The +passage seemed to me to be a mile long; but the crisp, pure air and the +first glimpse of freedom, the sweet sense of being out of doors, and the +realization that I had taken the first step toward liberty and home, +had a magical effect in my restoration. + +[Illustration: FIGHTING THE RATS.] + +I have related before, in a published reminiscence,[15] my experience +and that of my two companions above named in the journey toward the +Union lines, and our recapture; but the more important matter relating +to the plot itself has never been published. This is the leading motive +of this article, and therefore I will not intrude the details of my +personal experience into the narrative. It is enough to say that it was +a chapter of hairbreadth escapes, hunger, cold, suffering, and, alas! +failure. We were run down and captured in a swamp several miles north of +Charlottesville, and when we were taken our captors pointed out to us +the smoke over a Federal outpost. We were brought back to Libby, and put +in one of the dark, narrow dungeons. I was afterward confined in Macon, +Georgia; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; and in Charlotte, +North Carolina. After a captivity of just a year and eight months, +during which I had made five escapes and was each time retaken, I was at +last released on March 1, 1865, at Wilmington, North Carolina. + +[Footnote 15: "Philadelphia Times," October 28, 1882.] + +Great was the panic in Libby when the next morning's roll revealed to +the astounded Confederates that 109 of their captives were missing; and +as the fireplace had been rebuilt by some one and the opening of the +hole in the yard had been covered by the last man who went out, no human +trace guided the keepers toward a solution of the mystery. The Richmond +papers having announced the "miraculous" escape of 109 Yankee officers +from Libby, curious crowds flocked thither for several days, until some +one, happening to remove the plank in the yard, revealed the tunnel. A +terrified negro was driven into the hole at the point of the bayonet, +and thus made a trip to Rat Hell that nearly turned him white. + +Several circumstances at this time combined to make this escape +peculiarly exasperating to the Confederates. In obedience to repeated +appeals from the Richmond newspapers, iron bars had but recently been +fixed in all the prison windows for better security, and the guard had +been considerably reinforced. The columns of these same journals had +just been aglow with accounts of the daring and successful escape of the +Confederate General John Morgan and his companions from the Columbus +(Ohio) jail. Morgan had arrived in Richmond on the 8th of January, +exactly a month prior to the completion of the tunnel, and was still the +lion of the Confederate capital. + +[Illustration: SECTION OF INTERIOR OF LIBBY PRISON AND TUNNEL. + +1. Streight's room; 2. Milroy's room; 3. Commandant's office; 4. +Chickamauga room (upper); 5. Chickamauga room (lower); 6. Dining-room; +7. Carpenter's shop (middle cellar); 8. Gettysburg room (upper); 9. +Gettysburg room (lower); 10. Hospital room; 11. East or "Rat Hell" +cellar; 12. South side Canal street, ten feet lower than Carey street; +13. North side Carey street, ground sloping toward Canal; 14. Open lot; +15. Tunnel; 16. Fence; 17. Shed; 18. Kerr's warehouse; 19. Office James +River Towing Co.; 20. Gate; 21. Prisoners escaping; 22. West cellar.] + +At daylight a plank was seen suspended on the outside of the east wall; +this was fastened by a blanket-rope to one of the window-bars, and was, +of course, a trick to mislead the Confederates. General John H. Winder, +then in charge of all the prisoners in the Confederacy, with his +headquarters in Richmond, was furious when the news reached him. After a +careful external examination of the building, and a talk, not of the +politest kind, with Major Turner, he reached the conclusion that such an +escape had but one explanation--the guards had been bribed. Accordingly +the sentinels on duty were marched off under arrest to Castle Thunder, +where they were locked up and searched for "greenbacks." The thousand +and more prisoners still in Libby were compensated, in a measure, for +their failure to escape by the panic they saw among the "Rebs." +Messengers and despatches were soon flying in all directions, and all +the horse, foot, and dragoons of Richmond were in pursuit of the +fugitives before noon. Only one man of the whole escaping party was +retaken inside of the city limits.[16] Of the 109 who got out that +night, 59 reached the Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 were +drowned. + +[Footnote 16: Captain Gates, of the 33d Ohio.] + +Colonel Streight and several other officers who had been chosen by the +diggers of the tunnel to follow them out, in accordance with the +agreement already referred to, lay concealed for a week in a vacant +house, where they were fed by loyal friends, and escaped to the Federal +lines when the first excitement had abated. + +After leaving Libby, Rose and Hamilton turned northward and cautiously +walked on a few squares, when suddenly they encountered some +Confederates who were guarding a military hospital. Hamilton retreated +quickly and ran off to the east; but Rose, who was a little in advance, +walked boldly by on the opposite walk, and was not challenged; and thus +the two friends separated. + +Hamilton, after several days of wandering and fearful exposure, came +joyfully upon a Union picket squad, received the care he painfully +needed, and was soon on his happy journey home. + +[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF LIBBY PRISON AND SURROUNDINGS. + +A. Break in fireplace on floor above; B. End of tunnel; CCC. Course of +party escaping; D. Shed; E. Cook-room (abandoned Oct., '63); F. +Lumber-room; G. Office of James River Towing Company; HH. Gates; III. +Doors; J. Cells for condemned prisoners; K. First tunnel (abandoned); L. +Fence.] + +Rose passed out of the city of Richmond to the York River Railroad, and +followed its track to the Chickahominy bridge. Finding this guarded, he +turned to the right, and as the day was breaking he came upon a camp of +Confederate cavalry. His blue uniform made it exceedingly dangerous to +travel in daylight in this region; and seeing a large sycamore log that +was hollow, he crawled into it. The February air was keen and biting, +but he kept his cramped position until late in the afternoon; and all +day he could hear the loud talk in the camp and the neighing of the +horses. Toward night he came cautiously forth, and finding the +Chickahominy fordable within a few hundred yards, he succeeded in wading +across. The uneven bed of the river, however, led him into several deep +holes, and before he reached the shore his scanty raiment was thoroughly +soaked. He trudged on through the woods as fast as his stiffened limbs +would bear him, borne up by the hope of early deliverance, and made a +brave effort to shake off the horrible ague. He had not gone far, +however, when he found himself again close to some Confederate cavalry, +and was compelled once more to seek a hiding-place. The day seemed of +interminable length, and he tried vainly in sleep to escape from hunger +and cold. His teeth chattered in his head, and when he rose at dark to +continue his journey his tattered clothes were frozen stiff. In this +plight he pushed on resolutely, and was obliged to wade to his waist for +hundreds of yards through one of those deep and treacherous morasses +that proved such deadly fever-pools for McClellan's army in the campaign +of 1862. Finally he reached the high ground, and as the severe exertion +had set his blood again in motion and loosened his limbs, he was making +better progress, when suddenly he found himself near a Confederate +picket. This picket he easily avoided, and, keeping well in the shadow +of the forest and shunning the roads, he pressed forward with increasing +hopes of success. He had secured a box of matches before leaving Libby; +and as the cold night came on and he felt that he was really in danger +of freezing to death, he penetrated into the center of the cedar grove +and built a fire in a small and secluded hollow. He felt that this was +hazardous, but the necessity was desperate, since with his stiffened +limbs he could no longer move along fast enough to keep the warmth of +life in his body. To add to his trouble, his foot, which had been broken +in Tennessee previous to his capture, was now giving him great pain, and +threatened to cripple him wholly; indeed, it would stiffen and disable +the best of limbs to compass the journey he had made in darkness over +strange, uneven, and hard-frozen ground, and through rivers, creeks, and +bogs, and this without food or warmth. + +The fire was so welcome that he slept soundly--so soundly that waking in +the early morning he found his boot-legs and half his uniform burned up, +the ice on the rest of it probably having prevented its total +destruction. + +Resuming his journey much refreshed, he reached Crump's Cross-roads, +where he successfully avoided another picket. He traveled all day, +taking occasional short rests, and before dark had reached New Kent +Court-house. Here again he saw some pickets, but by cautious flanking +managed to pass them; but in crossing an open space a little farther on +he was seen by a cavalryman, who at once put spurs to his horse and rode +up to Rose, and, saluting him, inquired if he belonged to the New Kent +Cavalry. Rose had on a gray cap, and seeing that he had a stupid sort of +fellow to deal with, instantly answered, "Yes," whereupon the trooper +turned his horse and rode back. A very few moments were enough to show +Rose that the cavalryman's report had failed to satisfy his comrades, +whom he could see making movements for his capture. He plunged through a +laurel thicket, and had no sooner emerged than he saw the Confederates +deploying around it in confidence that their game was bagged. He dashed +on as fast as his injured foot would let him, and entered a tract of +heavily timbered land that rose to the east of this thicket. At the +border of the grove he found another picket post, and barely escaped the +notice of several of the men. The only chance of escape lay through a +wide, clear field before him, and even this was in full view from the +grove that bordered it, and this he knew would soon swarm with his +pursuers. + +Across the center of this open field, which was fully half a mile wide, +a ditch ran, which, although but a shallow gully, afforded a partial +concealment. Rose, who could now hear the voices of the Confederates +nearer and nearer, dove into the ditch as the only chance, and dropping +on his hands and knees crept swiftly forward to the eastward. In this +cramped position his progress was extremely painful, and his hands were +torn by the briers and stones; but forward he dashed, fully expecting a +shower of bullets every minute. At last he reached the other end of the +half-mile ditch, breathless and half dead, but without having once +raised his head above the gully. + +Emerging from this field, he found himself in the Williamsburg road, and +bordering the opposite side was an extensive tract thickly covered with +pines. As he crossed and entered this tract he looked back and could see +his enemies, whose movements showed that they were greatly puzzled and +off the scent. When at a safe distance he sought a hiding-place and took +a needed rest of several hours. + +He then resumed his journey, and followed the direction of the +Williamsburg road, which he found picketed at various points, so that it +was necessary to avoid open spaces. Several times during the day he saw +squads of Confederate cavalry passing along the road so near that he +could hear their talk. Near nightfall he reached Diasen Bridge, where he +successfully passed another picket. He kept on until nearly midnight, +when he lay down by a great tree and, cold as he was, slept soundly +until daylight. He now made a careful reconnoissance, and found near the +road the ruins of an old building which, he afterward learned, was +called "Burnt Ordinary." + +He now found himself almost unable to walk with his injured foot, but, +nerved by the yet bright hope of liberty, he once more went his weary +way in the direction of Williamsburg. Finally he came to a place where +there were some smoking fagots and a number of tracks, indicating it to +have been a picket post of the previous night. He was now nearing +Williamsburg, which, he was inclined to believe from such meager +information as had reached Libby before his departure, was in possession +of the Union forces. Still, he knew that this was territory that was +frequently changing hands, and was therefore likely to be under a close +watch. From this on he avoided the roads wholly, and kept under cover as +much as it was possible; and if compelled to cross an open field at all, +he did so in a stooping position. He was now moving in a southeasterly +direction, and coming again to the margin of a wide opening, he saw, to +his unutterable joy, a body of Union troops advancing along the road +toward him. + +Thoroughly worn out, Rose, believing that his deliverers were at hand, +sat down to await their approach. His pleasant reverie was disturbed by +a sound behind and near him, and turning quickly he was startled to see +three soldiers in the road along which the troops first seen were +advancing. The fact that these men had not been noticed before gave Rose +some uneasiness for a moment; but as they wore blue uniforms, and +moreover seemed to take no note of the approaching Federal troops, all +things seemed to indicate that they were simply an advanced detail of +the same body. This seemed to be further confirmed by the fact that the +trio were now moving down the road, apparently with the intent of +joining the larger body; and as the ground to the east rose to a crest, +both of the bodies were a minute later shut off from Rose's view. + +In the full confidence that all was right he rose to his feet and walked +toward the crest to get a better view of everything and greet his +comrades of the loyal blue. A walk of a hundred yards brought him again +in sight of the three men, who now noticed and challenged him. + +In spite of appearances a vague suspicion forced itself upon Rose, who, +however, obeyed the summons and continued to approach the party, who now +watched him with fixed attention. As he came closer to the group, the +brave but unfortunate soldier saw that he was lost. + +For the first time the three seemed to be made aware of the approach of +the Federals, and to show consequent alarm and haste. The unhappy Rose +saw before the men spoke that their blue uniform was a disguise, and the +discovery brought a savage expression to his lips. He hoped and tried to +convince his captors that he was a Confederate, but all in vain; they +retained him as their prisoner, and now told him that they were +Confederates. Rose, in the first bitter moment of his misfortune, +thought seriously of breaking away to his friends so temptingly near; +but his poor broken foot and the slender chance of escaping three +bullets at a few yards made this suicide, and he decided to wait for a +better chance, and this came sooner than he expected. + +One of the men appeared to be an officer, who detailed one of his +companions to conduct Rose to the rear in the direction of Richmond. The +prisoner went quietly with his guard, the other two men tarried a little +to watch the advancing Federals, and now Rose began to limp like a man +who was unable to go farther. Presently the ridge shut them off from the +view of the others. Rose, who had slyly been staggering closer and +closer to the guard, suddenly sprang upon the man, and before he had +time to wink had twisted his gun from his grasp, discharged it into the +air, flung it down, and ran off as fast as his poor foot would let him +toward the east and so as to avoid the rest of the Confederates. The +disarmed Confederate made no attempt at pursuit, nor indeed did the +other two, who were now seen retreating at a run across the adjacent +fields. + +Rose's heart bounded with new hope, for he felt that he would be with +his advancing comrades in a few minutes at most. All at once a squad of +Confederates, hitherto unseen, rose up in his very path, and beat him +down with the butts of their muskets. All hands now rushed around and +secured him, and one of the men called out excitedly, "Hurry up, boys; +the Yankees are right here!" They rushed their prisoner into the wooded +ravine, and here they were joined by the man whom Rose had just +disarmed. He was in a savage mood, and declared it to be his particular +desire to fill Rose full of Confederate lead. The officer in charge +rebuked the man, however, and compelled him to cool down, and he went +along with an injured air that excited the merriment of his comrades. + +The party continued its retreat to Barhamsville, thence to the White +House on the Pamunkey River, and finally to Richmond, where Rose was +again restored to Libby, and, like the writer, was confined for a number +of days in a narrow and loathsome cell. On the 30th of April his +exchange was effected for a Confederate colonel, and on the 6th of July, +1864, he rejoined his regiment, in which he served with conspicuous +gallantry to the close of the war. + +As already stated, Hamilton reached the Union lines safely after many +vicissitudes, and did brave service in the closing scenes of the +rebellion. He is now a resident of Reedyville, Kentucky. Johnson, whose +enforced confinement in Rat Hell gave him a unique fame in Libby, also +made good his escape, and now lives at North Pleasantville, Kentucky. + +Of the fifteen men who dug the successful tunnel, four are dead, viz.: +Fitzsimmons, Gallagher, Garbett, and McDonald. Captain W.S.B. Randall +lives at Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio; Colonel Terrance Clark at +Paris, Edgar County, Illinois; Captain Eli Foster at Chicago; Colonel +N.S. McKean at Collinsville, Madison County, Illinois; and Captain J.C. +Fislar at Lewiston, I.T. The addresses of Captains Lucas, Simpson, and +Mitchell are unknown at this writing. + +Colonel Rose has served faithfully almost since the end of the war with +the 16th United States Infantry, in which he holds a captain's +commission. No one meeting him now would hear from his reticent lips, or +read in his placid face, the thrilling story that links his name in so +remarkable a manner with the history of the famous Bastile of the +Confederacy. + + + + +A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL OUT OF DIXIE + +BY W.H. SHELTON + + +It was past noon of the first day of the bloody contest in the +Wilderness. The guns of the Fifth Corps, led by Battery D of the 1st New +York Artillery, were halted along the Orange turnpike, by which we had +made the fruitless campaign to Mine Run. The continuous roar of musketry +in front and to the left indicated that the infantry was desperately +engaged, while the great guns filling every wooded road leading up to +the battle-field were silent. Our drivers were lounging about the +horses, while the cannoneers lay on the green grass by the roadside or +walked by the pieces. Down the line came an order for the center +section, under my command, to advance and pass the right section, which +lay in front of us. General Warren, surrounded by his staff, sat on a +gray horse at the right of the road where the woods bordered an open +field dipping between two wooded ridges. The position we were leaving +was admirable, while the one to which we were ordered, on the opposite +side of the narrow field, was wholly impracticable. The captain had +received his orders in person from General Warren, and joined my command +as we passed. + +We dashed down the road at a trot, the cannoneers running beside their +pieces. At the center of the field we crossed by a wooden bridge over a +deep, dry ditch, and came rapidly into position at the side of the +turnpike and facing the thicket. As the cannoneers were not all up, the +captain and I dismounted and lent a hand in swinging round the heavy +trails. The air was full of Minié balls, some whistling by like mad +hornets, and others, partly spent, humming like big nails. One of the +latter struck my knee with force enough to wound the bone without +penetrating the grained-leather boot-leg. In front of us the ground rose +into the timber where our infantry was engaged. It was madness to +continue firing here, for my shot must first plow through our own lines +before reaching the enemy. So after one discharge the captain ordered +the limbers to the rear, and the section started back at a gallop. My +horse was cut on the flanks, and his plunging, with my disabled knee, +delayed me in mounting, and prevented my seeing why the carriages kept +to the grass instead of getting upon the roadway. When I overtook the +guns they had come to a forced halt at the dry ditch, now full of +skulkers, an angle of which cut the way to the bridge. Brief as the +interval had been, not a man of my command was in sight. The lead horse +of the gun team at my side had been shot and was reeling in the harness. +Slipping to the ground, I untoggled one trace at the collar to release +him, and had placed my hand on the other when I heard the demand +"Surrender!" and turning found in my face two big pistols in the hands +of an Alabama colonel. "Give me that sword," said he. I pressed the +clasp and let it fall to the ground, where it remained. The colonel had +taken me by the right arm, and as we turned toward the road I took in +the whole situation at a glance. My chestnut horse and the captain's +bald-faced brown were dashing frantically against the long, swaying gun +teams. By the bridge stood a company of the 61st Alabama Infantry in +butternut suits and slouch-hats, shooting straggling and wounded Zouaves +from a Pennsylvania brigade as they appeared in groups of two or three +on the road in front. The colonel as he handed me over to his men +ordered his troops to take what prisoners they could and to cease +firing. The guns which we were forced to abandon were a bone of +contention until they were secured by the enemy on the third day, at +which time but one of the twenty-four team horses was living. + +With a few other prisoners I was led by a short detour through the +woods. In ten minutes we had turned the flank of both armies and reached +the same turnpike in the rear of our enemy. A line of ambulances was +moving back on the road, all filled with wounded, and when we saw a +vacant seat beside a driver I was hoisted up to the place. The boy +driver was in a high state of excitement. He said that two shells had +come flying down this same road, and showed where the trace of the near +mule had been cut by a piece of shell, for which I was directly +responsible. + +The field hospital of General Jubal Early's corps was near Locust Grove +Tavern, where the wounded Yankees were in charge of Surgeon Donnelly of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. No guard was established, as no one was +supposed to be in condition to run away. At the end of a week, however, +my leg had greatly improved, although I was still unable to use it. In +our party was another lieutenant, an aide on the staff of General James +C. Rice, whose horse had been shot under him while riding at full speed +with despatches. Lieutenant Hadley had returned to consciousness to find +himself a prisoner in hospital, somewhat bruised, and robbed of his +valuables, but not otherwise disabled. We two concluded to start for +Washington by way of Kelly's Ford. I traded my penknife for a haversack +of corn-bread with one of the Confederate nurses, and a wounded officer, +Colonel Miller of a New York regiment, gave us a pocket compass. I +provided myself with a stout pole, which I used with both hands in lieu +of my left foot. At 9 P.M. we set out, passing during the night the +narrow field and the dry ditch where I had left my guns. Only a pile of +dead horses marked the spot. + +On a grassy bank we captured a firefly and shut him in between the glass +and the face of our pocket compass. With such a guide we shaped our +course for the Rapidan. After traveling nearly all night we lay down +exhausted upon a bluff within sound of the river, and slept until +sunrise. Hastening to our feet again, we hurried down to the ford. Just +before reaching the river we heard shouts behind us, and saw a man +beckoning and running after us. Believing the man an enemy, we dashed +into the shallow water, and after crossing safely hobbled away up the +other side as fast as a man with one leg and a pole could travel. I +afterward met this man, himself a prisoner, at Macon, Georgia. He was +the officer of our pickets, and would have conducted us into our lines +if we had permitted him to come up with us. As it was, we found a snug +hiding-place in a thicket of swamp growth, where we lay in concealment +all day. After struggling on a few miles in a chilling rain, my leg +became so painful that it was impossible to go farther. A house was near +by and we threw ourselves on the mercy of the family. Good Mrs. Brandon +had harbored the pickets of both armies again and again, and had +luxuriated in real coffee and tea and priceless salt at the hands of our +officers. She bore the Yankees only good-will, and after dressing my +wound we sat down to breakfast with herself and daughters. + +After breakfast we were conducted to the second half-story, which was +one unfinished room. There was a bed in one corner, where we were to +sleep. Beyond the stairs was a pile of yellow ears of corn, and from the +rafters and sills hung a variety of dried herbs and medicinal roots. +Here our meals were served, and the girls brought us books and read +aloud to pass away the long days. I was confined to the bed, and my +companion never ventured below stairs except on one dark night, when at +my earnest entreaty he set out for Kelly's Ford, but soon returned +unable to make his way in the darkness. One day we heard the door open +at the foot of the stairs, a tread of heavy boots on the steps, and a +clank, clank that sounded very much like a saber. Out of the floor rose +a gray slouch-hat with the yellow cord and tassel of a cavalryman, and +in another moment there stood on the landing one of the most astonished +troopers that ever was seen. "Coot" Brandon was one of "Jeb" Stuart's +rangers, and came every day for corn for his horse. Heretofore the corn +had been brought down for him, and he was as ignorant of our presence +as we were of his existence. On this day no pretext could keep him from +coming up to help himself. His mother worked on his sympathies, and he +departed promising her that he would leave us undisturbed. But the very +next morning he turned up again, this time accompanied by another ranger +of sterner mold. A parole was exacted from my able-bodied companion, and +we were left for another twenty-four hours, when I was considered in +condition to be moved. Mrs. Brandon gave us each a new blue overcoat +from a plentiful store of Uncle Sam's clothing she had on hand, and I +opened my heart and gave her my last twenty-dollar greenback--and wished +I had it back again every day for the next ten months. + +I was mounted on a horse, and with Lieutenant Hadley on foot we were +marched under guard all day until we arrived at a field hospital +established in the rear of Longstreet's corps, my companion being sent +on to some prison for officers. Thence I was forwarded with a train-load +of wounded to Lynchburg, on which General Hunter was then marching, and +we had good reason to hope for a speedy deliverance. On more than one +day we heard his guns to the north, where there was no force but a few +citizens with bird-guns to oppose the entrance of his command. The +slaves were employed on a line of breastworks which there was no +adequate force to hold. It was our opinion that one well-disciplined +regiment could have captured and held the town. It was several days +before a portion of General Breckinridge's command arrived for the +defense of Lynchburg. + +I had clung to my clean bed in the hospital just as long as my rapidly +healing wound would permit, but was soon transferred to a prison where +at night the sleepers--Yankees, Confederate deserters, and negroes--were +so crowded upon the floor that some lay under the feet of the guards in +the doorways. The atmosphere was dreadful. I fell ill, and for three +days lay with my head in the fireplace, more dead than alive. + +A few days thereafter about three hundred prisoners were crowded into +cattle-cars bound for Andersonville. We must have been a week on this +railroad journey when an Irish lieutenant of a Rochester regiment and I, +who had been allowed to ride in the baggage-car, were taken from the +train at Macon, Georgia, where about sixteen hundred Union officers were +confined at the fair-grounds. General Alexander Shaler, of Sedgwick's +corps, also captured at the Wilderness, was the ranking officer, and to +him was accorded a sort of interior command of the camp. Before passing +through the gate we expected to see a crowd bearing some outward +semblance of respectability. Instead, we were instantly surrounded by +several hundred ragged, barefooted, frowzy-headed men shouting "Fresh +fish!" at the top of their voices and eagerly asking for news. With rare +exceptions all were shabbily dressed. There was, however, a little knot +of naval officers who had been captured in the windings of the narrow +Rappahannock by a force of cavalry, and who were the aristocrats of the +camp. They were housed in a substantial fair-building in the center of +the grounds, and by some special terms of surrender must have brought +their complete wardrobes along. On hot days they appeared in spotless +white duck, which they were permitted to send outside to be laundered. +Their mess was abundantly supplied with the fruits and vegetables of the +season. The ripe red tomatoes they were daily seen to peel were the envy +of the camp. I well remember that to me, at this time, a favorite +occupation was to lie on my back with closed eyes and imagine the dinner +I would order if I were in a first-class hotel. It was no unusual thing +to see a dignified colonel washing his lower clothes in a pail, clad +only in his uniform dresscoat. Ladies sometimes appeared on the +guard-walk outside the top of the stockade, on which occasions the +cleanest and best-dressed men turned out to see and be seen. I was quite +proud to appear in a clean gray shirt, spotless white drawers, and +moccasins made of blue overcoat cloth. + +On the Fourth of July, after the regular morning count, we repaired to +the big central building and held an informal celebration. One officer +had brought into captivity, concealed on his person, a little silk +national flag, which was carried up into the cross-beams of the +building, and the sight of it created the wildest enthusiasm. We cheered +the flag and applauded the patriotic speeches until a detachment of the +guard succeeded in putting a stop to our proceedings. They tried to +capture the flag, but in this they were not successful. We were informed +that cannon were planted commanding the camp, and would be opened on us +if we renewed our demonstrations. + +Soon after this episode the fall of Atlanta and the subsequent movements +of General Sherman led to the breaking up of the camp at Macon, and to +the transfer of half of us to a camp at Charleston, and half to +Savannah. Late in September, by another transfer, we found ourselves +together again at Columbia. We had no form of shelter, and there was no +stockade around the camp, only a guard and a dead-line. During two hours +of each morning an extra line of guards was stationed around an +adjoining piece of pine woods, into which we were allowed to go and cut +wood and timber to construct for ourselves huts for the approaching +winter. Our ration at this time consisted of raw corn-meal and sorghum +molasses, without salt or any provision of utensils for cooking. The +camp took its name from our principal article of diet, and was by common +consent known as "Camp Sorghum." A stream of clear water was accessible +during the day by an extension of the guards, but at night the lines +were so contracted as to leave the path leading to the water outside the +guard. Lieutenant S.H.M. Byers, who had already written the well-known +lyric "Sherman's March to the Sea," was sharing my tent, which consisted +of a ragged blanket. We had been in the new camp but little more than a +week when we determined to make an attempt at escape. Preparatory to +starting we concealed two tin cups and two blankets in the pine woods to +which we had access during the chopping hours, and here was to be our +rendezvous in case we were separated in getting out. Covering my +shoulders with an old gray blanket and providing myself with a stick, +about the size of a gun, from the woodpile, I tried to smuggle myself +into the relief guard when the line was contracted at six o'clock. +Unfortunately an unexpected halt was called, and the soldier in front +turned and discovered me. I was now more than ever determined on getting +away. After a hurried conference with Lieutenant Byers, at which I +promised to wait at our rendezvous in the woods until I heard the +posting of the ten-o'clock relief, I proceeded alone up the side of the +camp to a point where a group of low cedars grew close to the dead-line. +Concealing myself in their dark shadow, I could observe at my leisure +the movements of the sentinels. A full moon was just rising above the +horizon to my left, and in the soft, misty light the guards were plainly +visible for a long distance either way. An open field from which the +small growth had been recently cut away lay beyond, and between the camp +and the guard-line ran a broad road of soft sand--noiseless to cross, +but so white in the moonlight that a leaf blown across it by the wind +could scarcely escape a vigilant eye. The guards were bundled in their +overcoats, and I soon observed that the two who met opposite to my place +of concealment turned and walked their short beats without looking back. +Waiting until they separated again, and regardless of the fact that I +might with equal likelihood be seen by a dozen sentinels in either +direction, I ran quickly across the soft sand road several yards into +the open field, and threw myself down upon the uneven ground. First I +dragged my body on my elbows for a few yards, then I crept on my knees, +and so gradually gained in distance until I could rise to a standing +position and get safely to the shelter of the trees. With some +difficulty I found the cups and blankets we had concealed, and lay down +to await the arrival of my companion. Soon I heard several shots which +I understood too well; and, as I afterward learned, two officers were +shot dead for attempting the feat I had accomplished, and perhaps in +emulation of my success. A third young officer, whom I knew, was also +killed in camp by one of the shots fired at the others. + +At ten o'clock I set out alone and made my way across the fields to the +bank of the Saluda, where a covered bridge crossed to Columbia. Hiding +when it was light, wandering through fields and swamps by night, and +venturing at last to seek food of negroes, I proceeded for thirteen days +toward the sea. + +In general I had followed the Columbia turnpike; at a quaint little +chapel on the shore of Goose Creek, but a few miles out of Charleston, I +turned to the north and bent my course for the coast above the city. +About this time I learned that I should find no boats along the shore +between Charleston and the mouth of the Santee, everything able to float +having been destroyed to prevent the escape of the negroes and the +desertion of the soldiers. I was ferried over the Broad River by a +crusty old darky who came paddling across in response to my cries of +"O-v-e-r," and who seemed so put out because I had no fare for him that +I gave him my case-knife. The next evening I had the only taste of meat +of this thirteen days' journey, which I got from an old negro whom I +found alone in his cabin eating possum and rice. + +I had never seen the open sea-coast beaten by the surf, and after being +satisfied that I had no hope of escape in that direction it was in part +my curiosity that led me on, and partly a vague idea that I would get +Confederate transportation back to Columbia and take a fresh start +westward bound. The tide was out, and in a little cove I found an +abundance of oysters bedded in the mud, some of which I cracked with +stones and ate. After satisfying my hunger, and finding the sea rather +unexpectedly tame inside the line of islands which marked the eastern +horizon, I bent my steps toward a fire, where I found a detachment of +Confederate coastguards, to whom I offered myself as a guest as coolly +as if my whole toilsome journey had been prosecuted to that end. + +In the morning I was marched a few miles to Mount Pleasant, near Fort +Moultrie, and taken thence in a sail-boat across the harbor to +Charleston. At night I found myself again in the city jail, where with a +large party of officers I had spent most of the month of August. My +cell-mate was Lieutenant H.G. Dorr of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, +with whom I journeyed by rail back to Columbia, arriving at "Camp +Sorghum" about the 1st of November. + +I rejoined the mess of Lieutenant Byers, and introduced to the others +Lieutenant Dorr, whose cool assurance was a prize that procured us all +the blessings possible. He could borrow frying-pans from the guards, +money from his brother Masons at headquarters, and I believe if we had +asked him to secure us a gun he would have charmed it out of the hand of +a sentinel on duty. + +[Illustration: LIEUTENANTS E.E. SILL AND A.T. LAMSON.] + +Lieutenant Edward E. Sill, of General Daniel Butterfield's staff, whom I +had met at Macon, during my absence had come to "Sorghum" from a +fruitless trip to Macon for exchange, and I had promised to join him +in an attempt to escape when he could secure a pair of shoes. On +November 29 our mess had felled a big pine-tree and had rolled into camp +a short section of the trunk, which a Tennessee officer was to split +into shingles to complete our hut, a pretty good cabin with an earthen +fireplace. While we were resting from our exertion, Sill appeared with +his friend Lieutenant A.T. Lamson of the 104th New York Infantry, and +reminded me of my promise. The prisoners always respected their parole +on wood-chopping expeditions, and went out and came in at the main +entrance. The guards were a particularly verdant body of back-country +militia, and the confusion of the parole system enabled us to practise +ruses. In our present difficulty we resorted to a new expedient and +forged a parole. The next day all three of us were quietly walking down +the guard-line on the outside. At the creek, where all the camp came for +water, we found Dorr and Byers and West, and calling to one of them in +the presence of the guard, asked for blankets to bring in spruce boughs +for beds. When the blankets came they contained certain haversacks, +cups, and little indispensable articles for the road. Falling back into +the woods, we secured a safe hiding-place until after dark. Just beyond +the village of Lexington we successfully evaded the first picket, being +warned of its presence by the smoldering embers in the road. A few +nights after this, having exposed ourselves and anticipating pursuit, we +pushed on until we came to a stream crossing the road. Up this we waded +for some distance, and secured a hiding-place on a neighboring hill. In +the morning we looked out upon mounted men and dogs, at the very point +where we had entered the stream, searching for our lost trail. We spent +two days during a severe storm of rain and sleet in a farm-barn where +the slaves were so drunk on applejack that they had forgotten us and +left us with nothing to eat but raw turnips. One night, in our search +for provisions, we met a party of negroes burning charcoal, who took us +to their camp and sent out for a supply of food. While waiting a +venerable "uncle" proposed to hold a prayer-meeting. So under the tall +trees and by the light of the smoldering coal-pits the old man prayed +long and fervently to the "bressed Lord and Massa Lincoln," and hearty +amens echoed through the woods. Besides a few small potatoes, one dried +goat ham was all our zealous friends could procure. The next day, having +made our camp in the secure depths of a dry swamp, we lighted the only +fire we allowed ourselves between Columbia and the mountains. The ham, +which was almost as light as cork, was riddled with worm-holes, and as +hard as a petrified sponge. + +We avoided the towns, and after an endless variety of adventures +approached the mountains, cold, hungry, ragged, and foot-sore. On the +night of December 13 we were grouped about a guide-post, at a fork in +the road, earnestly contending as to which way we should proceed. +Lieutenant Sill was for the right, I was for the left, and no amount of +persuasion could induce Lieutenant Lamson to decide the controversy. I +yielded, and we turned to the right. After walking a mile in a state of +general uncertainty, we came to a low white farm-house standing very +near the road. It was now close upon midnight, and the windows were all +dark; but from a house of logs, partly behind the other, gleamed a +bright light. Judging this to be servants' quarters, two of us remained +back while Lieutenant Sill made a cautious approach. In due time a negro +appeared, advancing stealthily, and, beckoning to my companion and me, +conducted us in the shadow of a hedge to a side window, through which we +clambered into the cabin. We were made very comfortable in the glow of a +bright woodfire. Sweet potatoes were already roasting in the ashes, and +a tin pot of barley coffee was steaming on the coals. Rain and sleet had +begun to fall, and it was decided that after having been warmed and +refreshed we should be concealed in the barn until the following night. +Accordingly we were conducted thither and put to bed upon a pile of +corn-shucks high up under the roof. Secure as this retreat seemed, it +was deemed advisable in the morning to burrow several feet down in the +mow, so that the children, if by any chance they should climb so high, +might romp unsuspecting over our heads. We could still look out through +the cracks in the siding and get sufficient light whereby to study a map +of the Southern States, which had been brought us with our breakfast. A +luxurious repast was in preparation, to be eaten at the quarters before +starting; but a frolic being in progress, and a certain negro present of +questionable fidelity, the banquet was transferred to the barn. The +great barn doors were set open, and the cloth was spread on the floor by +the light of the moon. Certainly we had partaken of no such substantial +fare within the Confederacy. The central dish was a pork-pie, flanked by +savory little patties of sausage. There were sweet potatoes, fleecy +biscuits, a jug of sorghum, and a pitcher of sweet milk. Most delicious +of all was a variety of corn-bread having tiny bits of fresh pork baked +in it, like plums in a pudding.[17] + +[Footnote 17: Major Sill contributes the following evidence of the +impression our trio made upon one, at least, of the piccaninnies who +looked on in the moonlight. The picture of Lieutenants Sill and Lamson +which appears on page 255 was enlarged from a small photograph taken on +their arrival at Chattanooga, before divesting themselves of the rags +worn throughout the long journey. Years afterward Major Sill gave one of +these pictures to Wallace Bruce of Florida, at one time United States +consul at Glasgow. In the winter of 1888-89 Mr. Bruce, at his Florida +home, was showing the photograph to his family when it caught the eye of +a colored servant, who exclaimed: "O Massa Bruce, I know those gen'men. +My father and mother hid 'em in Massa's barn at Pickensville and fed +'em; there was three of 'em; I saw 'em." This servant was a child barely +ten years old in 1864, and could have seen us only through the barn door +while we were eating our supper in the uncertain moonlight. Yet more +than twenty years thereafter he greeted the photograph of the ragged +Yankee officers with a flash of recognition.] + +Filling our haversacks with the fragments, we took grateful leave of our +sable benefactors and resumed our journey, retracing our steps to the +point of disagreement of the evening before. Long experience in night +marching had taught us extreme caution. We had advanced along the new +road but a short way when we were startled by the barking of a +house-dog. Apprehending that something was moving in front of us, we +instantly withdrew into the woods. We had scarcely concealed ourselves +when two cavalrymen passed along, driving before them a prisoner. Aware +that it was high time to betake ourselves to the cross-roads and +describe a wide circle around the military station at Pickensville, we +first sought information. A ray of light was visible from a hut in the +woods, and believing from its humble appearance that it sheltered +friends, my companions lay down in concealment while I advanced to +reconnoiter. I gained the side of the house, and, looking through a +crack in the boards, saw, to my surprise, a soldier lying on his back +before the fire playing with a dog. I stole back with redoubled care. +Thoroughly alarmed by the dangers we had already encountered, we decided +to abandon the roads. Near midnight of December 16 we passed through a +wooden gate on a level road leading into the forest. Believing that the +lateness of the hour would secure us from further dangers, we resolved +to press on with all speed, when two figures with lighted torches came +suddenly into view. Knowing that we were yet unseen, we turned into the +woods and concealed ourselves behind separate trees at no great distance +from the path. Soon the advancing lights revealed two hunters, mere +lads, but having at their heels a pack of mongrel dogs, with which they +had probably been pursuing the coon or the possum. The boys would have +passed unaware of our presence, but the dogs, scurrying along with their +noses in the leaves, soon struck our trail, and were instantly yelping +about us. We had possessed ourselves of the name of the commanding +officer of the neighboring post at Pendleton, and advanced boldly, +representing ourselves to be his soldiers. "Then where did you get them +blue pantaloons?" they demanded, exchanging glances, which showed they +were not ignorant of our true character. We coolly faced them down and +resumed our march leisurely, while the boys still lingered undecided. +When out of sight we abandoned the road and fled at the top of our +speed. We had covered a long distance through forest and field before +we heard in our wake the faint yelping of the pack. Plunging into the +first stream, we dashed for some distance along its bed. Emerging on the +opposite bank, we sped on through marshy fields, skirting high hills and +bounding down through dry watercourses, over shelving stones and +accumulated barriers of driftwood; now panting up a steep ascent, and +now resting for a moment to rub our shoes with the resinous needles of +the pine; always within hearing of the dogs, whose fitful cries varied +in volume in accordance with the broken conformation of the intervening +country. Knowing that in speed and endurance we were no match for our +four-footed pursuers, we trusted to our precautions for throwing them +off the scent, mindful that they were but an ill-bred kennel and the +more easily to be disposed of. Physically we were capable of prolonged +exertion. Fainter and less frequent came the cry of the dogs, until, +ceasing altogether, we were assured of our escape. + +At Oconee, on Sunday, December 18, we met a negro well acquainted with +the roads and passes into North Carolina, who furnished us information +by which we traveled for two nights, recognizing on the second objects +which by his direction we avoided (like the house of Black Bill +McKinney), and going directly to that of friendly old Tom Handcock. The +first of these two nights we struggled up the foot-hills and outlying +spurs of the mountains, through an uninhabited waste of rolling barrens, +along an old stage road, long deserted, and in places impassable to a +saddle-mule. Lying down before morning, high up on the side of the +mountain, we fell asleep, to be awakened by thunder and lightning, and +to find torrents of hail and sleet beating upon our blankets. Chilled to +the bone, we ventured to build a small fire in a secluded place. After +dark and before abandoning our camp, we gathered quantities of wood, +stacking it upon the fire, which when we left it was a wild tower of +flame lighting up the whole mountain-side in the direction we had come, +and seeming, in some sort, to atone for a long succession of shivering +days in tireless bivouac. We followed the same stage road through the +scattering settlement of Casher's Valley in Jackson County, North +Carolina. A little farther on, two houses, of hewn logs, with verandas +and green blinds, just fitted the description we had received of the +home of old Tom Handcock. Knocking boldly at the door of the farther +one, we were soon in the presence of the loyal mountaineer. He and his +wife had been sleeping on a bed spread upon the floor before the fire. +Drawing this to one side, they heaped the chimney with green wood, and +were soon listening with genuine delight to the story of our adventures. + +After breakfast next day, Tom, with his rifle, led us by a back road to +the house of "'Squire Larkin C. Hooper," a leading loyalist, whom we met +on the way, and together we proceeded to his house. Ragged and forlorn, +we were eagerly welcomed at his home by Hooper's invalid wife and +daughters. For several days we enjoyed a hospitality given as freely to +utter strangers as if we had been relatives of the family. + +[Illustration: WE ARRIVE AT HEADEN'S.] + +Here we learned of a party about to start through the mountains for East +Tennessee, guided by Emanuel Headen, who lived on the crest of the Blue +Ridge. Our friend Tom was to be one of the party, and other refugees +were coming over the Georgia border, where Headen, better known in the +settlement as "Man Heady," was mustering his party. It now being near +Christmas, and the squire's family in daily expectation of a relative, +who was a captain in the Confederate army, it was deemed prudent for us +to go on to Headen's under the guidance of Tom. Setting out at sunset on +the 23d of December, it was late in the evening when we arrived at our +destination, having walked nine miles up the mountain trails over a +light carpeting of snow. Pausing in front of a diminutive cabin, through +the chinks of whose stone fireplace and stick chimney the whole interior +seemed to be red hot like a furnace, our guide demanded, "Is Man Heady +to hum?" Receiving a sharp negative in reply, he continued, "Well, can +Tom get to stay all night?" At this the door flew open and a skinny +woman appeared, her homespun frock pendent with tow-headed urchins. + +"In course you can," she cried, leading the way into the cabin. Never +have I seen so unique a character as this voluble, hatched-faced, +tireless woman. Her skin was like yellow parchment, and I doubt if she +knew by experience what it was to be sick or weary. She had built the +stake-and-cap fences that divided the fields, and she boasted of the +acres she had plowed. The cabin was very small. Two bedsteads, with a +narrow alleyway between, occupied half the interior. One was heaped with +rubbish, and in the other slept the whole family, consisting of father, +mother, a daughter of sixteen, and two little boys. When I add that the +room contained a massive timber loom, a table, a spinning-wheel, and a +variety of rude seats, it will be understood that we were crowded +uncomfortably close to the fire. Shrinking back as far as possible from +the blaze, we listened in amused wonder to the tongue of this seemingly +untamed virago, who, nevertheless, proved to be the kindest-hearted of +women. She cursed, in her high, pitched tones, for a pack of fools, the +men who had brought on the war. Roderic Norton, who lived down the +mountain, she expressed a profane desire to "stomp through the turnpike" +because at some time he had stolen one of her hogs, marked, as to the +ear, with "two smooth craps an' a slit in the left." Once only she had +journeyed into the low country, where she had seen those twin marvels, +steam cars and brick chimneys. On this occasion she had driven a heifer +to market, making a journey of forty miles, walking beside her horse +and wagon, which she took along to bring back the corn-meal received in +payment for the animal. Charged by her husband to bring back the heifer +bell, and being denied that musical instrument by the purchaser, it +immediately assumed more importance to her mind than horse, wagon, and +corn-meal. Baffled at first, she proceeded to the pasture in the gray of +the morning, cornered the cow, and cut off the bell, and, in her own +picturesque language, "walked through the streets of Walhalla cussin'." +Rising at midnight she would fall to spinning with all her energy. To +us, waked from sleep on the floor by the humming of the wheel, she +seemed by the light of the low fire like a witch in a sunbonnet, darting +forward and back. + +We remained there several days, sometimes at the cabin and sometimes at +a cavern in the rocks such as abound throughout the mountains, and which +are called by the natives "rock houses." Many of the men at that time +were "outliers"--that is, they camped in the mountain fastnesses, +receiving their food from some member of the family. Some of these men, +as now, had their copper stills in the rock houses, while others, more +wary of the recruiting sergeant, wandered from point to point, their +only furniture a rifle and a bed-quilt. On December 29, we were joined +at the cavern by Lieutenant Knapp and Captain Smith, Federal officers, +who had also made their way from Columbia, and by three refugees from +Georgia, whom I remember as Old Man Tigue and the two Vincent boys. +During the night our party was to start across the mountains for +Tennessee. Tom Handcock was momentarily expected to join us. Our guide +was busy with preparations for the journey. The night coming on icy +cold, and a cutting wind driving the smoke of the fire into our granite +house, we abandoned it at nine o'clock and descended to the cabin. +Headen and his wife had gone to the mill for a supply of corn-meal. +Although it was time for their return, we were in nowise alarmed by +their absence, and formed a jovial circle about the roaring chimney. +About midnight came a rap on the door. Thinking it was Tom Handcock and +some of his companions, I threw it open with an eager "Come in, boys!" +The boys began to come in, stamping the snow from their boots and +rattling their muskets on the floor, until the house was full, and yet +others were on guard without and crowding the porch. "Man Heady" and his +wife were already prisoners at the mill, and the house had been picketed +for some hours awaiting the arrival of the other refugees, who had +discovered the plot just in time to keep out of the toils. Marshaled in +some semblance of military array, we were marched down the mountain, +over the frozen ground, to the house of old Roderic Norton. The Yankee +officers were sent to an upper room, while the refugees were guarded +below, under the immediate eyes of the soldiery. Making the best of our +misfortune, our original trio bounced promptly into a warm bed, which +had been recently deserted by some members of the family, and secured a +good night's rest. + +Lieutenant Knapp, who had imprudently indulged in frozen chestnuts on +the mountain-side, was attacked with violent cramps, and kept the +household below stairs in commotion all night humanely endeavoring to +assuage his agony. In the morning, although quite recovered, he +cunningly feigned a continuance of his pains, and was left behind in the +keeping of two guards, who, having no suspicion of his deep designs, +left their guns in the house and went out to the spring to wash. Knapp, +instantly on the alert, possessed himself of the muskets, and breaking +the lock of one, by a powerful effort he bent the barrel of the other, +and dashed out through the garden. His keepers, returning from the +spring, shouted and rushed indoors only to find their disabled pieces. +They joined our party later in the day, rendering a chapfallen account +of their detached service. + +We had but a moderate march to make to the headquarters of the +battalion, where we were to spend the night. Our guards we found kindly +disposed toward us, but bitterly upbraiding the refugees, whom they +saluted by the ancient name of Tories. Lieutenant Cogdill, in command of +the expedition, privately informed us that his sympathies were entirely +ours, but as a matter of duty he should guard us jealously while under +his military charge. If we could effect our escape thereafter we had +only to come to his mountain home and he would conceal us until such +time as he could despatch us with safety over the borders. These +mountain soldiers were mostly of two classes, both opposed to the war, +but doing home-guard duty in lieu of sterner service in the field. +Numbers were of the outlier class, who, wearied of continual hiding in +the laurel brakes, had embraced this service as a compromise. Many were +deserters, some of whom had coolly set at defiance the terms of their +furloughs, while others had abandoned the camps in Virginia, and, +versed in mountain craft, had made their way along the Blue Ridge and +put in a heroic appearance in their native valleys. + +That night we arrived at a farm-house near the river, where we found +Major Parker, commanding the battalion, with a small detachment billeted +upon the family. The farmer was a gray-haired old loyalist, whom I shall +always remember, leaning on his staff in the middle of the kitchen, +barred out from his place in the chimney-corner by the noisy circle of +his unbidden guests. Major Parker was a brisk little man, clad in +brindle jeans of ancient cut, resplendent with brass buttons. Two small +piercing eyes, deep-set beside a hawk's-beak nose, twinkled from under +the rim of his brown straw hat, whose crown was defiantly surmounted by +a cock's feather. But he was exceedingly jolly withal, and welcomed the +Yankees with pompous good-humor, despatching a sergeant for a jug of +applejack, which was doubtless as inexpensive to the major as his other +hospitality. Having been a prisoner at Chicago, he prided himself on his +knowledge of dungeon etiquette and the military courtesies due to our +rank. + +We were awakened in the morning by high-pitched voices in the room +below. Lieutenant Sill and I had passed the night in neighboring caverns +of the same miraculous feather-bed. We recognized the voice of the +major, informing some culprit that he had just ten minutes to live, and +that if he wished to send any dying message to his wife or children then +and there was his last opportunity; and then followed the tramping of +the guards as they retired from his presence with their victim. Hastily +dressing, we hurried down to find what was the matter. We were welcomed +with a cheery good-morning from the major, who seemed to be in the +sunniest of spirits. No sign of commotion was visible. "Step out to the +branch, gentlemen; your parole of honor is sufficient; you'll find +towels--been a prisoner myself." And he restrained by a sign the +sentinel who would have accompanied us. At the branch, in the yard, we +found the other refugees trembling for their fate, and learned that +Headen had gone to the orchard in the charge of a file of soldiers with +a rope. While we were discussing the situation and endeavoring to calm +the apprehensions of the Georgians, the executioners returned from the +orchard, our guide marching in advance and looking none the worse for +the rough handling he had undergone. The brave fellow had confided his +last message and been thrice drawn up toward the branch of an +apple-tree, and as many times lowered for the information it was +supposed he would give. Nothing was learned, and it is probable he had +no secrets to disclose or conceal. + +Lieutenant Cogdill, with two soldiers, was detailed to conduct us to +Quallatown, a Cherokee station at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. +Two horses were allotted to the guard, and we set out in military order, +the refugees two and two in advance, Headen and Old Man Tigue lashed +together by the wrists, and the rear brought up by the troopers on +horseback. It was the last day of the year, and although a winter +morning, the rare mountain air was as soft as spring. We struck the +banks of the Tuckasegee directly opposite to a feathery waterfall, +which, leaping over a crag of the opposite cliff, was dissipated in a +glittering sheet of spray before reaching the tops of the trees below. +As the morning advanced we fell into a more negligent order of marching. +The beautiful river, a wide, swift current, flowing smoothly between +thickly wooded banks, swept by on our left, and on the right wild, +uninhabited mountains closed in the road. The two Vincents were +strolling along far in advance. Some distance behind them were Headen +and Tigue; the remainder of us following in a general group, Sill +mounted beside one of the guards. Advancing in this order, a cry from +the front broke on the stillness of the woods, and we beheld Old Man +Tigue gesticulating wildly in the center of the road and screaming, +"He's gone! He's gone! Catch him!" Sure enough the old man was alone, +the fragment of the parted strap dangling from his outstretched wrist. +The guard, who was mounted, dashed off in pursuit, followed by the +lieutenant on foot, but both soon returned, giving over the hopeless +chase. Thoroughly frightened by the events of the morning, Headen[18] +had watched his opportunity to make good his escape, and, as we +afterward learned, joined by Knapp and Tom Handcock, he conducted a +party safely to Tennessee. + +[Footnote 18: A short time ago the writer received the following letter: +"Casher's Valley, May 28, 1890. Old Manuel Headen and wife are living, +but separated. Julia Ann is living with her mother. The old lady is +blind. Old man Norton (Roderic), to whose house you were taken as +prisoner, has been dead for years. Old Tom Handcock is dead.--W.R. +HOOPER."] + +At Webster, the court town of Jackson County, we were quartered for the +night in the jail, but accompanied Lieutenant Cogdill to a venison +breakfast at the parsonage with Mrs. Harris and her daughter, who had +called on us the evening before. Snow had fallen during the night, and +when we continued our march it was with the half-frozen slush crushing +in and out, at every step, through our broken shoes. Before the close +of this dreary New-Year's day we came upon the scene of one of those +wild tragedies which are still of too frequent occurrence in those +remote regions, isolated from the strong arm of the law. Our road led +down and around the mountain-side, which on our right was a barren, +rocky waste, sloping gradually up from the inner curve of the arc we +were describing. From this direction arose a low wailing sound, and a +little farther on we came in view of a dismal group of men, women, and +mules. In the center of the gathering lay the lifeless remains of a +father and his two sons; seated upon the ground, swaying and weeping +over their dead, were the mother and wives of the young men. A burial +party, armed with spades and picks, waited by their mules, while at a +respectful distance from the mourners stood a circle of neighbors and +passers-by, some gazing in silent sympathy, and others not hesitating to +express a quiet approval of the shocking tragedy. Between two families, +the Hoopers and the Watsons, a bitter feud had long existed, and from +time to time men of each clan had fallen by the rifles of the other. The +Hoopers were loyal Union men, and if the Watsons yielded any loyalty it +was to the State of North Carolina. On one occasion shortly before the +final tragedy, when one of the young Hoopers was sitting quietly in his +door, a light puff of smoke rose from the bushes and a rifle-ball plowed +through his leg. The Hoopers resolved to begin the new year by wiping +out their enemies, root and branch. Before light they had surrounded the +log cabin of the Watsons and secured all the male inmates, except one +who, wounded, escaped through a window. The latter afterward executed a +singular revenge by killing and skinning the dog of his enemies and +elevating the carcass on a pole in front of their house. + +[Illustration: THE ESCAPE OF HEADEN.] + +After a brief stay at Quallatown we set out for Asheville, leaving +behind our old and friendly guard. Besides the soldiers who now had us +in charge, a Cherokee Indian was allotted to each prisoner, with +instructions to keep his man constantly in view. To travel with an armed +Indian, sullen and silent, trotting at your heels like a dog, with very +explicit instructions to blow out your brains at the first attempt to +escape, is neither cheerful nor ornamental, and we were a sorry-looking +party plodding silently along the road. Detachments of prisoners were +frequently passed over this route, and regular stopping-places were +established for the nights. It was growing dusk when we arrived at the +first cantonment, which was the wing of a great barren farm-house owned +by Colonel Bryson. The place was already occupied by a party of +refugees, and we were directed to a barn in the field beyond. We had +brought with us uncooked rations, and while two of the soldiers went +into the house for cooking utensils, the rest of the party, including +the Indians, were leaning in a line upon the door-yard fence; Sill and +Lamson were at the end of the line, where the fence cornered with a +hedge. Presently the two soldiers reappeared, one of them with an iron +pot in which to cook our meat, and the other swinging in his hand a +burning brand. In the wake of these guides we followed down to the barn, +and had already started a fire when word came from the house that for +fear of rain we had best return to the corn-barn. It was not until we +were again in the road that I noticed the absence of Sill and Lamson. I +hastened to Smith and confided the good news. The fugitives were missed +almost simultaneously by the guards, who first beat up the vicinity of +the barn, and then, after securing the remainder of us in a corn-crib, +sent out the Indians in pursuit. Faithful dogs, as these Cherokees had +shown themselves during the day, they proved but poor hunters when the +game was in the bush, and soon returned, giving over the chase. Half an +hour later they were all back in camp, baking their hoe-cake in genuine +aboriginal fashion, flattened on the surface of a board and inclined to +the heat of the fire.[19] + +[Footnote 19: Sill and Lamson reached Loudon, Tennessee, in February. A +few days after their escape from the Indian guard they arrived at the +house of "Shooting John Brown," who confided them to the care of the +young Hoopers and a party of their outlying companions. From a rocky +cliff overlooking the valley of the Tuckasegee they could look down on +the river roads dotted with the sheriff's posse in pursuit of the +Hoopers. So near were they that they could distinguish a relative of the +Watsons leading the sheriff's party. One of the Hooper boys, with +characteristic recklessness and to the consternation of the others, +stood boldly out on a great rock in plain sight of his pursuers (if they +had chanced to look up), half resolved to try his rifle at the last of +the Watsons.] + +That I was eager to follow goes without saying, but our keepers had +learned our slippery character. All the way to Asheville, day and night, +we were watched with sleepless vigilance. There we gave our parole, +Smith and I, and secured thereby comfortable quarters in the court-house +with freedom to stroll about the town. Old Man Tigue and the Vincents +were committed to the county jail. We were there a week, part of my +spare time being employed in helping a Confederate company officer make +out a correct pay-roll. + +When our diminished ranks had been recruited by four more officers from +Columbia, who had been captured near the frozen summit of the Great +Smoky Mountains, we were started on a journey of sixty miles to +Greenville in South Carolina. The night before our arrival we were +quartered at a large farm-house. The prisoners, together with the +privates of the guard, were allotted a comfortable room, which +contained, however, but a single bed. The officer in charge had retired +to enjoy the hospitality of the family. A flock of enormous white +pullets were roosting in the yard. Procuring an iron kettle from the +servants, who looked with grinning approval upon all forms of chicken +stealing, we sallied forth to the capture. Twisting the precious necks +of half a dozen, we left them to die in the grass while we pierced the +side of a sweet-potato mound. Loaded with our booty we retreated to the +house undiscovered, and spent the night in cooking in one pot instead of +sleeping in one bed. The fowls were skinned instead of plucked, and, +vandals that we were, dressed on the backs of the picture-frames taken +down from the walls. + +At Greenville we were lodged in the county jail to await the +reconstruction of railway-bridges, when we were to be transported to +Columbia. The jail was a stone structure, two stories in height, with +halls through the center on both floors and square rooms on each side. +The lock was turned on our little party of six in one of these upper +rooms, having two grated windows looking down on the walk. Through the +door which opened on the hall a square hole was cut as high as one's +face and large enough to admit the passage of a plate. Aside from the +rigor of our confinement we were treated with marked kindness. We had +scarcely walked about our dungeon before the jailer's daughters were at +the door with their autograph albums. In a few days we were playing +draughts and reading Bulwer, while the girls, without, were preparing +our food and knitting for us warm new stockings. Notwithstanding all +these attentions, we were ungratefully discontented. At the end of the +first week we were joined by seven enlisted men, Ohio boys, who like +ourselves had been found at large in the mountains. From one of these +new arrivals we procured a case-knife and a gun screw-driver. Down on +the hearth before the fire the screw-driver was placed on the thick edge +of the knife and belabored with a beef bone until a few inches of its +back were converted into a rude saw. The grate in the window was formed +of cast-iron bars, passing perpendicularly through wrought-iron plates, +bedded in the stone jambs. If one of these perpendicular bars, an inch +and a half square, could be cut through, the plates might be easily bent +so as to permit the egress of a man. With this end in view we cautiously +began operations. Outside of the bars a piece of carpet had been +stretched to keep out the raw wind, and behind this we worked with +safety. An hour's toil produced but a few feathery filings on the +horizontal plate, but many hands make light work, and steadily the cut +grew deeper. We recalled the adventures of Claude Duval, Dick Turpin, +and Sixteen-string Jack, and sawed away. During the available hours of +three days and throughout one entire night the blade of steel was +worrying, rasping, eating the iron bar. At last the grosser yielded to +the temper and persistence of the finer metal. It was Saturday night +when the toilsome cut was completed, and preparations were already under +way for a speedy departure. The jail had always been regarded as too +secure to require a military guard, although soldiers were quartered in +the town; besides, the night was so cold that a crust had formed on the +snow, and both citizens and soldiers, unused to such extreme weather +would be likely to remain indoors. For greater secrecy of movement, we +divided into small parties, aiming to traverse different roads. I was to +go with my former companion, Captain Smith. Lots were cast to determine +the order of our going. First exit was allotted to four of the Ohio +soldiers. Made fast to the grating outside were a bit of rope and strip +of blanket, along which to descend. Our room was immediately over that +of the jailer and his sleeping family, and beneath our opening was a +window, which each man must pass in his descent. At eleven o'clock the +exodus began. The first man was passed through the bars amid a +suppressed buzz of whispered cautions. His boots were handed after him +in a haversack. The rest of us, pressing our faces to the frosty +grating, listened breathlessly for the success of the movement we could +no longer see. Suddenly there was a crash, and in the midst of +mutterings of anger we snatched in the rag ladder and restored the piece +of carpeting to its place outside the bars. Our pioneer had hurt his +hand against the rough stones, and, floundering in mid-air, had dashed +his leg through sash and glass of the window below. We could see nothing +of his further movements, but soon discovered the jailer standing in the +door, looking up and down the street, seemingly in the dark as to where +the crash came from. At last, wearied and worried and disappointed, we +lay down in our blankets upon the hard floor. + +[Illustration: GREENVILLE JAIL.] + +At daylight we were awakened by the voice of Miss Emma at the hole in +the door. "Who got out last night?" "Welty." "Well, you was fools you +didn't all go; pap wouldn't 'a' stopped you. If you'll keep the break +concealed until night we'll let you all out." The secret of the extreme +kindness of our keepers was explained. The jailer, a loyalist, retained +his position as a civil detail, thus protecting himself and sons from +conscription. Welty had been taken in the night before, his bruises had +been anointed, and he had been provisioned for the journey. + +We spent the day repairing our clothing and preparing for the road. My +long-heeled cowhides, "wife's shoes," for which I had exchanged a +uniform waistcoat with a cotton-wooled old darky on the banks of the +Saluda, were about parting soles from uppers, and I kept the twain +together by winding my feet with stout cords. At supper an extra ration +was given us. As soon as it was dark the old jailer appeared among us +and gave us a minute description of the different roads leading west +into the mountains, warning us of certain dangers. At eleven o'clock +Miss Emma came with the great keys, and we followed her, in single file, +down the stairs and out into the back yard of the jail. From the broken +gratings in front, the bit of rope and strip of blanket were left +dangling in the wind. + +We made short work of leave-taking, Captain Smith and I separating +immediately from the rest, and pushing hurriedly out of the sleeping +town, by back streets, into the bitter cold of the country roads. We +stopped once to warm at the pits of some negro charcoal-burners, and +before day dawned had traveled sixteen miles. We found a sheltered nook +on the side of the mountain open to the sun, where we made a bed of dry +leaves and remained for the day. At night we set out again, due west by +the stars, but before we had gone far my companion, who claimed to know +something of the country, insisted upon going to the left, and within a +mile turned into another left-hand road. I protested, claiming that this +course was leading us back. While we were yet contending, we came to a +bridgeless creek whose dark waters barred our progress, and at the same +moment, as if induced by the thought of the fording, the captain was +seized with rheumatic pains in his knees, so that he walked with +difficulty. We had just passed a house where lights were still showing, +and to this we decided to return, hoping at least to find shelter for +Smith. Leaving him at the gate, I went to a side porch and knocked at +the door, which was opened by a woman who proved to be friendly to our +cause, her husband being in the rebel army much against his will. We +were soon seated to the right and left of her fireplace. Blazing +pine-knots brilliantly lighted the room, and a number of beds lined the +walls. A trundle-bed before the fire was occupied by a very old woman, +who was feebly moaning with rheumatism. Our hostess shouted into the old +lady's ear, "Granny, them's Yankees." "Be they!" said she, peering at us +with her poor old eyes. "Be ye sellin' tablecloths?" When it was +explained that we were just from the war, she demanded, in an absent +way, to know if we were Britishers. We slept in one of the comfortable +beds, and, as a measure of prudence, passed the day in the woods, +leaving at nightfall with well-filled haversacks. Captain Smith was +again the victim of his rheumatism, and directing me to his friends at +Cæsar's Head, where I was to wait for him until Monday (it then being +Tuesday), he returned to the house, little thinking that we were +separating forever. + +I traveled very rapidly all night, hoping to make the whole distance, +but day was breaking when I reached the head waters of the Saluda. +Following up the stream, I found a dam on which I crossed, and although +the sun was rising and the voices of children mingled with the lowing of +cattle in the frosty air, I ran across the fields and gained a secure +hiding-place on the side of the mountain. It was a long, solitary day, +and glad was I when it grew sufficiently dark to turn the little +settlement and get into the main road up the mountain. It was six zigzag +miles to the top, the road turning on log abutments, well anchored with +stones, and not a habitation on the way until I should reach Bishop's +house, on the crest of the divide. Half-way up I paused before a big +summer hotel, looming up in the woods like the ghost of a deserted +factory, its broken windows and rotting gateways redoubling the solitude +of the bleak mountain-side. Shortly before reaching Bishop's, "wife's +shoes" became quite unmanageable. One had climbed up my leg half-way to +the knee, and I knocked at the door with the wreck of the other in my +hand. My visit had been preceded but a day by a squad of partizan +raiders, who had carried away the bedding and driven off the cattle of +my new friends, and for this reason the most generous hospitality could +offer no better couch than the hard floor. Stretched thereon in close +proximity to the dying fire, the cold air coming up through the wide +cracks between the hewn planks seemed to be cutting me in sections as +with icy saws, so that I was forced to establish myself lengthwise on a +broad puncheon at the side of the room and under the table. + +In this family "the gray mare was the better horse," and poor Bishop, an +inoffensive man, and a cripple withal, was wedded to a regular Xantippe. +It was evident that unpleasant thoughts were dominant in the woman's +mind as she proceeded sullenly and vigorously with preparations for +breakfast. The bitter bread of charity was being prepared with a +vengeance for the unwelcome guest. Premonitions of the coming storm +flashed now and then in lightning cuffs on the ears of the children, or +crashed venomously among the pottery in the fireplace. At last the +repast was spread, the table still standing against the wall, as is the +custom among mountain housewives. The good-natured husband now advanced +cheerfully to lend a hand in removing it into the middle of the room. It +was when one of the table-legs overturned the swill-pail that the long +pent-up storm burst in a torrent of invective. The prospect of spending +several days here was a very gloomy outlook, and the relief was great +when it was proposed to pay a visit to Neighbor Case, whose house was in +the nearest valley, and with whose sons Captain Smith had lain in +concealment for some weeks on a former visit to the mountains. I was +curious to see his sons, who were famous outliers. From safe cover they +delighted to pick off a recruiting officer or a tax-in-kind collector, +or tumble out of their saddles the last drivers of a wagon-train. These +lively young men had been in unusual demand of late, and their +hiding-place was not known even to the faithful, so I was condemned to +the society of an outlier of a less picturesque variety. Pink Bishop was +a blacksmith, and just the man to forge me a set of shoes from the +leather Neighbor Case had already provided. The little still-shed, +concealed from the road only by a low hill, was considered an unsafe +harbor, on account of a fresh fall of snow with its sensibility to +tell-tale impressions. So, we set up our shoe-factory in a deserted +cabin, well back on the mountain and just astride of that imaginary line +which divides the Carolinas. From the fireplace we dug away the +corn-stalks, heaping the displaced bundles against broken windows and +windy cracks, and otherwise secured our retreat against frost and +enemies. Then ensued three days of primitive shoemaking. As may be +inferred, the shoes made no pretension to style. I sewed the short seams +at the sides, and split the pegs from a section of seasoned maple. +Rudely constructed as these shoes were, they bore their wearer +triumphantly into the promised land. + +[Illustration: PINK BISHOP AT THE STILL.] + +I restrained my eagerness to be going until Monday night, the time +agreed upon, when, my disabled companion not putting in an appearance, I +set out for my old friend's in Casher's Valley. I got safety over a long +wooden bridge within half a mile of a garrisoned town. I left the road, +and turned, as I believed, away from the town; but I was absolutely lost +in the darkness of a snow-storm, and forced to seek counsel as well as +shelter. In this plight I pressed on toward a light glimmering faintly +through the blinding snow. It led me into the shelter of the porch to a +small brown house, cut deeply beneath the low eaves, and protected at +the sides by flanking bedrooms. My knock was answered by a girlish +voice, and from the ensuing parley, through the closed door, I learned +that she was the daughter of a Baptist exhorter, and that she was alone +in the house, her brother being away at the village, and her father, who +preached the day before at some distance, not being expected home until +the next morning. Reassured by my civil-toned inquiries about the road, +she unfastened the door and came out to the porch, where she proceeded +to instruct me how to go on, which was just the thing I least desired to +do. By this time I had discovered the political complexion of the +family, and, making myself known, was instantly invited in, with the +assurance that her father would be gravely displeased if she permitted +me to go on before he returned. I had interrupted my little benefactress +in the act of writing a letter, on a sheet of foolscap which lay on an +old-fashioned stand in one corner of the room, beside the ink-bottle and +the candlestick. In the diagonal corner stood a tall bookcase, the +crowded volumes nestling lovingly behind the glass doors--the only +collection of the sort that I saw at any time in the mountains. A +feather-bed was spread upon the floor, the head raised by means of a +turned-down chair, and here I was reposing comfortably when the brother +arrived. It was late in the forenoon when the minister reached home, his +rickety wagon creaking through the snow, and drawn at a snail's pace by +a long-furred, knock-kneed horse. The tall but not very clerical figure +was wrapped in a shawl and swathed round the throat with many turns of a +woolen tippet. The daughter ran out with eagerness to greet her father +and tell of the wonderful arrival. I was received with genuine delight. +It was the enthusiasm of a patriot eager to find a sympathetic ear for +his long-repressed views.[20] + +[Footnote 20: The Rev. James H. Duckworth, now postmaster of Brevard, +Transylvania County, North Carolina, and in 1868 member of the State +Constitutional Convention, in his letter of June 24, 1890, says: "I have +not forgotten those things of which you speak. I can almost see you +(even in imagination) standing at the fire when I drove up to the gate +and went into the house and asked you, 'Have I ever seen you before?' +Just then I observed your uniform. 'Oh, yes,' said I; 'I know who it is +now.' ... This daughter of whom you speak married about a year after, +and is living in Morgantown, North Carolina, about one hundred miles +from here. Hattie (for that is her name) is a pious, religious woman."] + +[Illustration: ARRIVAL HOME OF THE BAPTIST MINISTER.] + +When night came and no entreaties could prevail to detain me over +another day, the minister conducted me some distance in person, passing +me on with ample directions to another exhorter, who was located for +that night at the house of a miller who kept a ferocious dog. I came +first to the pond and then to the mill, and got into the house without +encountering the dog. Aware of the necessity of arriving before bedtime, +I had made such speed as to find the miller's family still lingering +about the fireplace with preacher number two seated in the lay circle. +That night I slept with the parson, who sat up in bed in the morning, +and after disencumbering himself of a striped extinguisher nightcap, +electrified the other sleepers by announcing that this was the first +time he had ever slept with a Yankee. After breakfast the parson, armed +with staff and scrip, signified his purpose to walk with me during the +day, as it was no longer dangerous to move by daylight. We must have +been traveling the regular Baptist road, for we lodged that night at the +house of another lay brother. The minister continued with me a few miles +in the morning, intending to put me in the company of a man who was +going toward Casher's Valley on a hunting expedition. When we reached +his house, however, the hunter had gone; so, after parting with my +guide, I set forward through the woods, following the tracks of the +hunter's horse. The shoe-prints were sometimes plainly impressed in the +snow, and again for long distances over dry leaves and bare ground but +an occasional trace could be found. It was past noon when I arrived at +the house where the hunters were assembled. Quite a number of men were +gathered in and about the porch, just returned from the chase. Blinded +by the snow over which I had been walking in the glare of the sun, I +blundered up the steps, inquiring without much tact for the rider who +had preceded me, and was no little alarmed at receiving a rude and gruff +reception. I continued in suspense for some time, until my man found an +opportunity to inform me that there were suspicious persons present, +thus accounting for his unexpected manner. The explanation was made at a +combination meal, serving for both dinner and supper, and consisting +exclusively of beans. I set out at twilight to make a walk of thirteen +miles to the house of our old friend Esquire Hooper. Eager for the +cordial welcome which I knew awaited me, and nerved by the frosty air, I +sped over the level wood road, much of the way running instead of +walking. Three times I came upon bends of the same broad rivulet. Taking +off my shoes and stockings and rolling up my trousers above my knees, I +tried the first passage. Flakes of broken ice were eddying against the +banks, and before gaining the middle of the stream my feet and ankles +ached with the cold, the sharp pain increasing at every step until I +threw my blanket on the opposite bank and springing upon it wrapped my +feet in its dry folds. Rising a little knoll soon after making the third +ford, I came suddenly upon the familiar stopping-place of my former +journey. It was scarcely more than nine o'clock, and the little +hardships of the journey from Cæsar's Head seemed but a cheap outlay for +the joy of the meeting with friends so interested in the varied fortunes +of myself and my late companions. Together we rejoiced at the escape of +Sill and Lamson, and made merry over the vicissitudes of my checkered +career. Here I first learned of the safe arrival in Tennessee of Knapp, +Man Heady, and old Tom Handcock. + +After a day's rest I climbed the mountains to the Headen cabin, now +presided over by the heroine of the heifer-bell, in the absence of her +fugitive husband. Saddling her horse, she took me the next evening to +join a lad who was about starting for Shooting Creek. Young Green was +awaiting my arrival, and after a brief delay we were off on a journey of +something like sixty miles; the journey, however, was pushed to a +successful termination by the help of information gleaned by the way. It +was at the close of the last night's march, which had been long and +uneventful, except that we had surmounted no fewer than three +snow-capped ridges, that my blacksmith's shoes, soaked to a pulp by the +wet snow, gave out altogether. On the top of the last ridge I found +myself panting in the yellow light of the rising sun, the sad wrecks of +my two shoes dangling from my hands, a wilderness of beauty spread out +before me, and a sparkling field of frosty forms beneath my tingling +feet. Stretching far into the west toward the open country of East +Tennessee was the limitless wilderness of mountains, drawn like mighty +furrows across the toilsome way, the pale blue of the uttermost ridges +fading into an imperceptible union with the sky. A log house was in +sight down in the valley, a perpendicular column of smoke rising from +its single chimney. Toward this we picked our way, I in my stocking +feet, and my boy guide confidently predicting that we should find the +required cobbler. Of course we found him in a country where every family +makes its own shoes as much as its own bread, and he was ready to serve +the traveler without pay. Notwithstanding our night's work, we tarried +only for the necessary repairs, and just before sunset we looked down +upon the scattering settlement of Shooting Creek. Standing on the bleak +brow of "Chunky Gall" Mountain, my guide recognized the first familiar +object on the trip, which was the roof of his uncle's house. At Shooting +Creek I was the guest of the Widow Kitchen, whose house was the chief +one in the settlement, and whose estate boasted two slaves. The husband +had fallen by an anonymous bullet while salting his cattle on the +mountain in an early year of the war. + +On the day following my arrival I was conducted over a ridge to another +creek, where I met two professional guides, Quince Edmonston and Mack +Hooper. As I came upon the pair parting a thicket of laurel, with their +long rifles at a shoulder, I instantly recognized the coat of the latter +as the snuff-colored sack in which I had last seen Lieutenant Lamson. It +had been given to the man at Chattanooga, where these same guides had +conducted my former companions in safety a month before. Quince +Edmonston, the elder, had led numerous parties of Yankee officers over +the Wacheesa trail for a consideration of a hundred dollars, pledged to +be paid by each officer at Chattanooga or Nashville. + +[Illustration: SURPRISED AT MRS. KITCHEN'S.] + +Two other officers were concealed near by, and a number of refugees, +awaiting a convoy, and an arrangement was rapidly made with the guides. +The swollen condition of the Valley River made it necessary to remain +for several days at Shooting Creek before setting out. Mack and I were +staying at the house of Mrs. Kitchen. It was on the afternoon of a +memorable Friday, the rain still falling in torrents without, that I +sat before the fire poring over a small Sunday-school book,--the only +printed book in the house, if not in the settlement. Mack Hooper was +sitting by the door. Attracted by a rustling sound in his direction, I +looked up just in time to see his heels disappearing under the nearest +bed. Leaping to my feet with an instinctive impulse to do likewise, I +was confronted in the doorway by a stalwart Confederate officer fully +uniformed and armed. Behind him was his quartermaster-sergeant. This was +a government party collecting the tax in kind, which at that time +throughout the Confederacy was the tenth part of all crops and other +farm productions. It was an ugly surprise. Seeing no escape, I ventured +a remark on the weather: only a stare in reply. A plan of escape flashed +through my mind like an inspiration. I seated myself quietly, and for an +instant bent my eyes upon the printed pages. The two soldiers had +advanced to the corner of the chimney nearest the door, inquiring for +the head of the family, and keeping their eyes riveted on my hostile +uniform. At this juncture I was seized with a severe fit of coughing. +With one hand upon my chest, I walked slowly past the men, and laid my +carefully opened book face down upon a chest. With another step or two I +was in the porch, and bounding into the kitchen I sprang out through a +window already opened by the women for my exit. Away I sped bareheaded +through the pelting rain, now crashing through thick underbrush, now up +to my waist in swollen streams, plunging on and on, only mindful to +select a course that would baffle horsemen in pursuit. After some miles +of running I took cover behind a stack, within view of the road which +Mack must take in retreating to the other settlement; and sure enough +here he was, coming down the road with my cap and haversack, which was +already loaded for the western journey. Mack had remained undiscovered +under the bed, an interested listener to the conversation that ensued. +The officer had been assured that I was a friendly scout; but, convinced +of the contrary by my flight, he had departed swearing he would capture +that Yankee before morning if he had to search the whole settlement. So +alarmed were we for our safety that we crossed that night into a third +valley and slept in the loft of a horse-barn. + +On Sunday our expedition assembled on a hillside overlooking Shooting +Creek, where our friends in the secret of the movement came up to bid us +adieu. With guides we were a party of thirteen or fourteen, but only +three of us officers who were to pay for our safe conduct. Each man +carried his supply of bread and meat and bedding. Some were wrapped in +faded bed-quilts and some in tattered army blankets; nearly all wore +ragged clothes, broken shoes, and had unkempt beards. We arrived upon a +mountain-side overlooking the settlement of Peach Tree, and were +awaiting the friendly shades of night under which to descend to the +house of the man who was to put us across Valley River. Premature +darkness was accompanied with torrents of rain, through which we +followed our now uncertain guides. At last the light of the cabin we +were seeking gleamed humidly through the trees. Most of the family fled +into the outhouses at our approach, some of them not reappearing until +we were disposed for sleep in a half-circle before the fire. The last +arrivals were two tall women in homespun dresses and calico sunbonnets. +They slid timidly in at the door, with averted faces, and then with a +rush and a bounce covered themselves out of sight in a bed, where they +had probably been sleeping in the same clothing when we approached the +house. Here we learned that a cavalcade of four hundred Texan Rangers +had advanced into Tennessee by the roads on the day before. Our guides, +familiar with the movements of these dreaded troopers, calculated that +with the day's delay enforced by the state of the river a blow would +have been struck and the marauders would be in full retreat before we +should arrive on the ground. We passed that day concealed in a stable, +and as soon as it was sufficiently dark we proceeded in a body to the +bank of the river, attended by a man and a horse. The stream was narrow, +but the current was full and swift. The horse breasted the flood with +difficulty, but he bore us all across one at a time, seated behind the +farmer. + +We had now left behind us the last settlement, and before us lay only +wild and uninhabited mountains. The trail we traveled was an Indian path +extending for nearly seventy miles through an uninhabited wilderness. +Instead of crossing the ridges it follows the trend of the range, +winding for the most part along the crests of the divides. The +occasional traveler, having once mounted to its level, pursues his +solitary way with little climbing. + +Early in the morning of the fourth day our little party was assembled +upon the last mountain overlooking the open country of East Tennessee. +Some of us had been wandering in the mountains for the whole winter. We +were returning to a half-forgotten world of farms and fences, roads and +railways. Below us stretched the Tellico River away toward the line of +towns marking the course of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. One +of the guides who had ventured down to the nearest house returned with +information that the four hundred Texan Rangers had burned the depot at +Philadelphia Station the day before, but were now thought to be out of +the country. We could see the distant smoke arising from the ruins. +Where the river flowed out of the mountains were extensive iron-works, +the property of a loyal citizen, and in front of his house we halted for +consultation. He regretted that we had shown ourselves so soon, as the +rear-guard of the marauders had passed the night within sight of where +we now stood. Our nearest pickets were at Loudon, thirty miles distant +on the railway, and for this station we were advised to make all speed. + +[Illustration: THE MEETING WITH THE SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY.] + +For half a mile the road ran along the bank of the river, and then +turned around a wooded bluff to the right. Opposite this bluff and +accessible by a shallow ford was another hill, where it was feared that +some of the Rangers were still lingering about their camp. As we came to +the turn in the road our company was walking rapidly in Indian file, +guide Edmonston and I at the front. Coming around the bluff from the +opposite direction was a countryman mounted on a powerful gray mare. His +overcoat was army blue, but he wore a bristling fur cap, and his rifle +was slung on his back. At sight of us he turned in his saddle to shout +to some one behind, and bringing his gun to bear came tearing and +swearing down the road, spattering the gravel under the big hoofs of the +gray. Close at his heels rode two officers in Confederate gray uniforms, +and a motley crowd of riders closed up the road behind. In an instant +the guide and I were surrounded, the whole cavalcade leveling their guns +at the thicket and calling on our companions, who could be plainly heard +crashing through the bushes, to halt. The dress of but few of our +captors could be seen, nearly all being covered with rubber talmas; but +their mounts, including mules as well as horses, were equipped with +every variety of bridle and saddle to be imagined. I knew at a glance +that this was no body of our cavalry. If we were in the hands of the +Rangers, the fate of the guides and refugees would be the hardest. I +thought they might spare the lives of the officers. "Who are you? What +are you doing here?" demanded the commander, riding up to us and +scrutinizing our rags. I hesitated a moment, and then, throwing off the +blanket I wore over my shoulders, simply said, "You can see what I am." +My rags were the rags of a uniform, and spoke for themselves. + +Our captors proved to be a company of the 2d Ohio Heavy Artillery, in +pursuit of the marauders into whose clutches we thought we had fallen. +The farmer on the gray mare was the guide of the expedition, and the two +men uniformed as rebel officers were Union scouts. The irregular +equipment of the animals, which had excited my suspicion most, as well +as the animals themselves, had been hastily impressed from the country +about the village of Loudon, where the 2d Ohio was stationed. On the +following evening, which was the 4th of March, the day of the second +inauguration of President Lincoln, we walked into Loudon and gladly +surrendered ourselves to the outposts of the Ohio Heavy Artillery. + + + + +ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE + +BY JOHN TAYLOR WOOD + + +As one of the aides of President Jefferson Davis, I left Richmond with +him and his cabinet on April 2, 1865, the night of evacuation, and +accompanied him through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, until his +capture. Except Lieutenant Barnwell, I was the only one of the party who +escaped. After our surprise, I was guarded by a trooper, a German, who +had appropriated my horse and most of my belongings. I determined, if +possible, to escape; but after witnessing Mr. Davis's unsuccessful +attempt, I was doubtful of success. However, I consulted him, and he +advised me to try. Taking my guard aside, I asked him, by signs (for he +could speak little or no English), to accompany me outside the +picket-line to the swamp, showing him at the same time a twenty-dollar +gold piece. He took it, tried the weight of it in his hands, and put it +between his teeth. Fully satisfied that it was not spurious, he escorted +me with his carbine to the stream, the banks of which were lined with a +few straggling alder-bushes and thick saw-grass. I motioned him to +return to camp, only a few rods distant. He shook his head, saying, +"_Nein, nein_." I gave him another twenty-dollar gold piece; he chinked +them together, and held up two fingers. I turned my pockets inside out, +and then, satisfied that I had no more, he left me. + +Creeping a little farther into the swamp, I lay concealed for about +three hours in the most painful position, sometimes moving a few yards +almost _ventre à terre_ to escape notice; for I was within hearing of +the camps on each side of the stream, and often when the soldiers came +down for water, or to water their horses, I was within a few yards of +them. Some two hours or more passed thus before the party moved. The +wagons left first, then the bugles sounded, and the president started on +one of his carriage-horses, followed by his staff and a squadron of the +enemy. Shortly after their departure I saw some one leading two +abandoned horses into the swamp, and recognized Lieutenant Barnwell of +our escort. Secreting the horses, we picked up from the debris of the +camp parts of two saddles and bridles, and with some patching and tying +fitted out our horses, as sad and war-worn animals as ever man bestrode. +Though hungry and tired, we gave the remains of the camp provisions to a +Mr. Fenn for dinner. He recommended us to Widow Paulk's, ten miles +distant, an old lady rich in cattle alone. + +The day after my escape, I met Judah P. Benjamin as M. Bonfals, a French +gentleman traveling for information, in a light wagon, with Colonel +Leovie, who acted as interpreter. With goggles on, his beard grown, a +hat well over his face, and a large cloak hiding his figure, no one +would have recognized him as the late secretary of state of the +Confederacy. I told him of the capture of Mr. Davis and his party, and +made an engagement to meet him near Madison, Florida, and there decide +upon our future movements. He was anxious to push on, and left us to +follow more leisurely, passing as paroled soldiers returning home. For +the next three days we traveled as fast as our poor horses would permit, +leading or driving them; for even if they had been strong enough, their +backs were in such a condition that we could not ride. We held on to +them simply in the hope that we might be able to dispose of them or +exchange them to advantage; but we finally were forced to abandon one. + +On the 13th we passed through Valdosta, the first place since leaving +Washington, in upper Georgia, in which we were able to purchase +anything. Here I secured two hickory shirts and a pair of socks, a most +welcome addition to my outfit; for, except what I stood in, I had left +all my baggage behind. Near Valdosta we found Mr. Osborne Barnwell, an +uncle of my young friend, a refugee from the coast of South Carolina, +where he had lost a beautiful estate, surrounded with all the comforts +and elegances which wealth and a refined taste could offer. Here in the +pine forests, as far as possible from the paths of war, and almost +outside of civilization, he had brought his family of ladies and +children, and with the aid of his servants, most of whom had followed +him, had built with a few tools a rough log cabin with six or eight +rooms, but without nails, screws, bolts, or glass--almost as primitive a +building as Robinson Crusoe's. But, in spite of all drawbacks, the +ingenuity and deft hands of the ladies had given to the premises an air +of comfort and refinement that was most refreshing. Here I rested two +days, enjoying the company of this charming family, with whom Lieutenant +Barnwell remained. On the 15th I crossed into Florida, and rode to +General Finnegan's, near Madison. Here I met General Breckinridge, the +late secretary of war of the Confederacy, alias Colonel Cabell, and his +aide, Colonel Wilson,--a pleasant encounter for both parties. Mr. +Benjamin had been in the neighborhood, but, hearing that the enemy were +in Madison, had gone off at a tangent. We were fully posted as to the +different routes to the seaboard by General Finnegan, and discussed with +him the most feasible way of leaving the country. I inclined to the +eastern coast, and this was decided on. I exchanged my remaining horse +with General Finnegan for a better, giving him fifty dollars to boot. +Leaving Madison, we crossed the Suwanee River at Moody's Ferry, and took +the old St. Augustine road, but seldom traveled in late years, as it +leads through a pine wilderness, and there is one stretch of twenty +miles with only water of bad quality, at the Diable Sinks. I rode out of +my way some fifteen miles to Mr. Yulee's, formerly senator of the United +States, and afterward Confederate senator, hoping to meet Mr. Benjamin; +but he was too wily to be found at the house of a friend. Mr. Yulee was +absent on my arrival, but Mrs. Yulee, a charming lady, and one of a +noted family of beautiful women, welcomed me heartily. Mr. Yulee +returned during the night from Jacksonville, and gave me the first news +of what was going on in the world that I had had for nearly a month, +including the information that Mr. Davis and party had reached Hilton +Head on their way north. + +Another day's ride brought us to the house of the brothers William and +Samuel Owens, two wealthy and hospitable gentlemen, near Orange Lake. +Here I rejoined General Breckinridge, and we were advised to secure the +services and experience of Captain Dickinson. We sent to Waldo for him, +and a most valuable friend he proved. During the war he had rendered +notable services; among others he had surprised and captured the United +States gunboat _Columbine_ on the St. John's River, one of whose small +boats he had retained, and kept concealed near the banks of the river. +This boat with two of his best men he now put at our disposal, with +orders to meet us on the upper St. John. + +We now passed through a much more interesting country than the two or +three hundred miles of pines we had just traversed. It was better +watered, the forests were more diversified with varied species, +occasionally thickets or hummocks were met with, and later these gave +place to swamps and everglades with a tropical vegetation. The road led +by Silver Spring, the clear and crystal waters of which show at the +depth of hundreds of feet almost as distinctly as though seen through +air. + +We traveled incognito, known only to good friends, who sent us stage by +stage from one to another, and by all we were welcomed most kindly. +Besides those mentioned, I recall with gratitude the names of Judge +Dawkins, Mr. Mann, Colonel Summers, Major Stork, all of whom overwhelmed +us with kindness, offering us of everything they had. Of money they were +as bare as ourselves, for Confederate currency had disappeared as +suddenly as snow before a warm sun, and greenbacks were as yet unknown. +Before leaving our friends, we laid in a three weeks' supply of stores; +for we could not depend upon obtaining any further south. + +On May 25 we struck the St. John's River at Fort Butler, opposite +Volusia, where we met Russell and O'Toole, two of Dickinson's command, +in charge of the boat; and two most valuable and trustworthy comrades +they proved to be, either in camp or in the boat, as hunters or +fishermen. The boat was a man-of-war's small four-oared gig; her outfit +was scanty, but what was necessary we rapidly improvised. Here General +Breckinridge and I gave our horses to our companions, and thus ended my +long ride of a thousand miles from Virginia. + +Stowing our supplies away, we bade good-by to our friends, and started +up the river with a fair wind. Our party consisted of General +Breckinridge; his aide, Colonel Wilson of Kentucky; the general's +servant, Tom, who had been with him all through the war; besides +Russell, O'Toole, and I,--six in all. With our stores, arms, etc., it +was a tight fit to get into the boat; there was no room to lie down or +to stretch. At night we landed, and, like old campaigners, were soon +comfortable. But at midnight the rain came down in bucketfuls, and +continued till nearly morning; and, notwithstanding every effort, a +large portion of our supplies were soaked and rendered worthless, and, +what was worse, some of our powder shared the same fate. + +Morning broke on a thoroughly drenched and unhappy company; but a little +rum and water, with a corn-dodger and the rising sun, soon stirred us, +and with a fair wind we made a good day's run,--some thirty-five miles. +Except the ruins of two huts, there was no sign that a human being had +ever visited these waters; for the war and the occasional visit of a +gunboat had driven off the few settlers. The river gradually became +narrower and more tortuous as we approached its head waters. The banks +are generally low, with a few sandy elevations, thickly wooded or +swampy. Occasionally we passed a small opening, or savanna, on which +were sometimes feeding a herd of wild cattle and deer; at the latter we +had several potshots, all wide. Alligators, as immovable as the logs on +which they rested, could be counted by hundreds, and of all sizes up to +twelve or fifteen feet. Occasionally, as we passed uncomfortably near, +we could not resist, even with our scant supply of ammunition, giving +them a little cold lead between the head and shoulders, the only +vulnerable place. With a fair wind we sailed the twelve miles across +Lake Monroe, a pretty sheet of water, the deserted huts of Enterprise +and Mellonville on each side. Above the lake the river became still +narrower and more tortuous, dividing sometimes into numerous branches, +most of which proved to be mere _culs-de-sac_. The long moss, reaching +from the overhanging branches to the water, gave to the surroundings a +most weird and funereal aspect. + +On May 29 we reached Lake Harney, whence we determined to make the +portage to Indian River. O'Toole was sent to look for some means of +moving our boat. He returned next day with two small black bulls yoked +to a pair of wheels such as are used by lumbermen. Their owner was a +compound of Caucasian, African, and Indian, with the shrewdness of the +white, the good temper of the negro, and the indolence of the red man. +He was at first exorbitant in his demands; but a little money, some +tobacco, and a spare fowling-piece made him happy, and he was ready to +let us drive his beasts to the end of the peninsula. It required some +skill to mount the boat securely on the wheels and to guard against any +upsets or collisions, for our escape depended upon carrying it safely +across. + +The next morning we made an early start. Our course was an easterly one, +through a roadless, flat, sandy pine-barren, with an occasional thicket +and swamp. From the word "go" trouble with the bulls began. Their owner +seemed to think that in furnishing them he had fulfilled his part of the +contract. They would neither "gee" nor "haw"; if one started ahead, the +other would go astern. If by accident they started ahead together, they +would certainly bring up with their heads on each side of a tree. +Occasionally they would lie down in a pool to get rid of the flies, and +only by the most vigorous prodding could they be induced to move. + +Paul, the owner, would loiter in the rear, but was always on hand when +we halted for meals. Finally we told him, "No work, no grub; no drive +bulls, no tobacco." This roused him to help us. Two days were thus +occupied in covering eighteen miles. It would have been less labor to +have tied the beasts, put them into the boat, and hauled it across the +portage. The weather was intensely hot, and our time was made miserable +by day with sand-flies, and by night with mosquitos. + +The waters of Indian River were a most welcome sight, and we hoped that +most of our troubles were over. Paul and his bulls of Bashan were gladly +dismissed to the wilderness. Our first care was to make good any defects +in our boat: some leaks were stopped by a little calking and pitching. +Already our supply of provisions began to give us anxiety: only bacon +and sweet potatoes remained. The meal was wet and worthless, and, what +was worse, all our salt had dissolved. However, with the waters alive +with fish, and some game on shore, we hoped to pull through. + +We reached Indian River, or lagoon, opposite Cape Carnaveral. It extends +along nearly the entire eastern coast of Florida, varying in width from +three to six miles, and is separated from the Atlantic by a narrow sand +ridge, which is pierced at different points by shifting inlets. It is +very shoal, so much so that we were obliged to haul our boat out nearly +half a mile before she would float, and the water is teeming with +stingarees, sword-fish, crabs, etc. But once afloat, we headed to the +southward with a fair wind. + +For four days we continued to make good progress, taking advantage of +every fair wind by night as well as by day. Here, as on the St. John's +River, the same scene of desolation as far as human beings were +concerned was presented. We passed a few deserted cabins, around which +we were able to obtain a few cocoanuts and watermelons, a most welcome +addition to our slim commissariat. Unfortunately, oranges were not in +season. Whenever the breeze left us the heat was almost suffocating; +there was no escape for it. If we landed, and sought any shade, the +mosquitos would drive us at once to the glare of the sun. When sleeping +on shore, the best protection was to bury ourselves in the sand, with +cap drawn down over the head (my buckskin gauntlets proved invaluable); +if in the boat, to wrap the sail or tarpaulin around us. Besides this +plague, sand-flies, gnats, swamp-flies, ants, and other insects +abounded. The little black ant is especially bold and warlike. If, in +making our beds in the sand, we disturbed one of their hives, they would +rally in thousands to the attack, and the only safety was in a hasty +shake and change of residence. Passing Indian River inlet, the river +broadens, and there is a thirty-mile straight-away course to Gilbert's +Bar, or Old Inlet, now closed; then begin the Jupiter Narrows, where the +channel is crooked, narrow, and often almost closed by the dense growth +of mangroves, juniper, saw-grass, etc., making a jungle that only a +water-snake could penetrate. Several times we lost our reckoning, and +had to retreat and take a fresh start; an entire day was lost in these +everglades, which extend across the entire peninsula. Finally, by good +luck, we stumbled on a short "haulover" to the sea, and determined at +once to take advantage of it, and to run our boat across and launch her +in the Atlantic. A short half-mile over the sand-dunes, and we were +clear of the swamps and marshes of Indian River, and were reveling in +the Atlantic, free, at least for a time, from mosquitos, which had +punctured and bled us for the last three weeks. + +[Illustration: SAND AS A DEFENSE AGAINST MOSQUITOS.] + +On Sunday, June 4, we passed Jupiter Inlet, with nothing in sight. The +lighthouse had been destroyed the first year of the war. From this point +we had determined to cross Florida Channel to the Bahamas, about eighty +miles; but the wind was ahead, and we could do nothing but work slowly +to the southward, waiting for a slant. It was of course a desperate +venture to cross this distance in a small open boat, which even a +moderate sea would swamp. Our provisions now became a very serious +question. As I have said, we had lost all the meal, and the sweet +potatoes, our next main-stay, were sufficient only for two days more. We +had but little more ammunition than was necessary for our revolvers, and +these we might be called upon to use at any time. Very fortunately for +us, it was the time of the year when the green turtle deposits its eggs. +Russell and O'Toole were old beach-combers, and had hunted eggs before. +Sharpening a stick, they pressed it into the sand as they walked along, +and wherever it entered easily they would dig. After some hours' search +we were successful in finding a nest which had not been destroyed, and I +do not think prospectors were ever more gladdened by the sight of "the +yellow" than we were at our find. The green turtle's egg is about the +size of a walnut, with a white skin like parchment that you can tear, +but not break. The yolk will cook hard, but the longer you boil the egg +the softer the white becomes. The flavor is not unpleasant, and for the +first two days we enjoyed them; but then we were glad to vary the fare +with a few shell-fish and even with snails. + +[Illustration: SEARCHING FOR TURTLES' EGGS.] + +From Cape Carnaveral to Cape Florida the coast trends nearly north and +south in a straight line, so that we could see at a long distance +anything going up or down the shore. Some distance to the southward of +Jupiter Inlet we saw a steamer coming down, running close to the beach +to avoid the three-and four-knot current of the stream. From her yards +and general appearance I soon made her out to be a cruiser, so we hauled +our boat well up on the sands, turned it over on its side, and went back +among the palmettos. When abreast of us and not more than half a mile +off, with colors flying, we could see the officer of the deck and +others closely scanning the shore. We were in hopes they would look upon +our boat as flotsam and jetsam, of which there was more or less strewn +upon the beach. To our great relief, the cruiser passed us, and when she +was two miles or more to the southward we ventured out and approached +the boat, but the sharp lookout saw us, and, to our astonishment, the +steamer came swinging about, and headed up the coast. The question at +once arose, What was the best course to pursue? The general thought we +had better take to the bush again, and leave the boat, hoping they would +not disturb it. Colonel Wilson agreed with his chief. I told him that +since we had been seen, the enemy would certainly destroy or carry off +the boat, and the loss meant, if not starvation, at least privation, and +no hope of escaping from the country. Besides, the mosquitos would suck +us as dry as Egyptian mummies. I proposed that we should meet them +half-way, in company with Russell and O'Toole, who were paroled men, and +fortunately had their papers with them, and I offered to row off and see +what was wanted. He agreed, and, launching our boat and throwing in two +buckets of eggs, we pulled out. By this time the steamer was abreast of +us, and had lowered a boat which met us half-way. I had one oar, and +O'Toole the other. To the usual hail I paid no attention except to stop +rowing. A ten-oared cutter with a smart-looking crew dashed alongside. +The sheen was not yet off the lace and buttons of the youngster in +charge. With revolver in hand he asked us who we were, where we came +from, and where we were going. "Cap'n," said I, "please put away +that-ar pistol,--I don't like the looks of it,--and I'll tell you all +about us. We've been rebs and there ain't no use saying we weren't; but +it's all up now, and we got home too late to put in a crop, so we just +made up our minds to come down shore and see if we couldn't find +something. It's all right, Cap'n; we've got our papers. Want to see 'em? +Got 'em fixed up at Jacksonville." O'Toole and Russell handed him their +paroles, which he said were all right. He asked for mine. I turned my +pockets out, looked in my hat, and said: "I must er dropped mine in +camp, but 'tis just the same as theirn." He asked who was ashore. I told +him, "There's more of we-uns b'iling some turtle-eggs for dinner. Cap'n, +I'd like to swap some eggs for tobacco or bread." His crew soon produced +from the slack of their frocks pieces of plug, which they passed on +board in exchange for our eggs. I told the youngster if he'd come to +camp we'd give him as many as he could eat. Our hospitality was +declined. Among other questions he asked if there were any batteries on +shore--a battery on a beach where there was not a white man within a +hundred miles! "Up oars--let go forward--let fall--give 'way!" were all +familiar orders; but never before had they sounded so welcome. As they +shoved off, the coxswain said to the youngster, "That looks like a +man-of-war's gig, sir"; but he paid no attention to him. We pulled +leisurely ashore, watching the cruiser. The boat went up to the davits +at a run, and she started to the southward again. The general was very +much relieved, for it was a narrow escape. + +[Illustration: THROUGH A SHALLOW LAGOON.] + +The wind still holding to the southward and eastward, we could work +only slowly to the southward, against wind and current. At times we +suffered greatly for want of water; our usual resource was to dig for +it, but often it was so brackish and warm that when extreme thirst +forced its use the consequences were violent pains and retchings. One +morning we saw a few wigwams ashore, and pulled in at once and landed. +It was a party of Seminoles who had come out of the everglades like the +bears to gather eggs. They received us kindly, and we devoured +ravenously the remnants of their breakfast of fish and _kountee_. Only +the old chief spoke a little English. Not more than two or three hundred +of this once powerful and warlike tribe remain in Florida; they occupy +some islands in this endless swamp to the southward of Lake Okeechobee. +They have but little intercourse with the whites, and come out on the +coast only at certain seasons to fish. We were very anxious to obtain +some provisions from them, but excepting kountee they had nothing to +spare. This is an esculent resembling arrowroot, which they dig, +pulverize, and use as flour. Cooked in the ashes, it makes a palatable +but tough cake, which we enjoyed after our long abstinence from bread. +The old chief took advantage of our eagerness for supplies, and +determined to replenish his powder-horn. Nothing else would do; not even +an old coat, or fish-hooks, or a cavalry saber would tempt him. Powder +only he would have for their long, heavy small-bore rifles with +flintlocks, such as Davy Crockett used. We reluctantly divided with him +our very scant supply in exchange for some of their flour. We parted +good friends, after smoking the pipe of peace. + +[Illustration: EXCHANGING THE BOAT FOR THE SLOOP.] + +On the 7th, off New River Inlet, we discovered a small sail standing to +the northward. The breeze was very light, so we downed our sail, got out +our oars, and gave chase. The stranger stood out to seaward, and +endeavored to escape; but slowly we overhauled her, and finally a shot +caused her mainsail to drop. As we pulled alongside I saw from the dress +of the crew of three that they were man-of-war's men, and divined that +they were deserters. They were thoroughly frightened at first, for our +appearance was not calculated to impress them favorably. To our +questions they returned evasive answers or were silent, and finally +asked by what authority we had overhauled them. We told them that the +war was not over so far as we were concerned; that they were our +prisoners, and their boat our prize; that they were both deserters and +pirates, the punishment of which was death; but that under the +circumstances we would not surrender them to the first cruiser we met, +but would take their paroles and exchange boats. To this they +strenuously objected. They were well armed, and although we outnumbered +them five to three (not counting Tom), still, if they could get the +first bead on us the chances were about equal. They were desperate, and +not disposed to surrender their boat without a tussle. The general and I +stepped into their boat, and ordered the spokesman and leader to go +forward. He hesitated a moment, and two revolvers looked him in the +face. Sullenly he obeyed our orders. The general said, "Wilson, disarm +that man." The colonel, with pistol in hand, told him to hold up his +hands. He did so while the colonel drew from his belt a navy revolver +and a sheath-knife. The other two made no further show of resistance, +but handed us their arms. The crew disposed of, I made an examination of +our capture. Unfortunately, her supply of provisions was very +small--only some "salt-horse" and hardtack, with a breaker of fresh +water, and we exchanged part of them for some of our konatee and +turtles' eggs. But it was in our new boat that we were particularly +fortunate: sloop-rigged, not much longer than our gig, but with more +beam and plenty of freeboard, decked over to the mast, and well found in +sails and rigging. After our experience in a boat the gunwale of which +was not more than eighteen inches out of water, we felt that we had a +craft able to cross the Atlantic. Our prisoners, submitting to the +inevitable, soon made themselves at home in their new boat, became more +communicative, and wanted some information as to the best course by +which to reach Jacksonville or Savannah. We were glad to give them the +benefit of our experience, and on parting handed them their knives and +two revolvers, for which they were very thankful. + +Later we were abreast of Green Turtle Key, with wind light and ahead; +still, with all these drawbacks, we were able to make some progress. Our +new craft worked and sailed well, after a little addition of ballast. +Before leaving the coast, we found it would be necessary to call at Fort +Dallas or some other point for supplies. It was running a great risk, +for we did not know whom we should find there, whether friend or foe. +But without at least four or five days' rations of some kind, it would +not be safe to attempt the passage across the Gulf Stream. However, +before venturing to do so, we determined to try to replenish our larder +with eggs. Landing on the beach, we hunted industriously for some hours, +literally scratching for a living; but the ground had evidently been +most effectually gone over before, as the tracks of bears proved. A few +onions, washed from some passing vessel, were eagerly devoured. We +scanned the washings along the strand in vain for anything that would +satisfy hunger. Nothing remained but to make the venture of stopping at +the fort. This fort, like many others, was established during the +Seminole war, and at its close was abandoned. It is near the mouth of +the Miami River, a small stream which serves as an outlet to the +overflow of the everglades. Its banks are crowded to the water's edge +with tropical verdure, with many flowering plants and creepers, all the +colors of which are reflected in its clear waters. The old barracks were +in sight as we slowly worked our way against the current. Located in a +small clearing, with cocoanut-trees in the foreground, the white +buildings made, with a backing of deep green, a very pretty picture. We +approached cautiously, not knowing with what reception we should meet. +As we neared the small wharf, we found waiting some twenty or thirty +men, of all colors, from the pale Yankee to the ebony Congo, all armed: +a more motley and villainous-looking crew never trod the deck of one of +Captain Kidd's ships. We saw at once with whom we had to deal--deserters +from the army and navy of both sides, with a mixture of Spaniards and +Cubans, outlaws and renegades. A burly villain, towering head and +shoulders above his companions, and whose shaggy black head scorned any +covering, hailed us in broken English, and asked who we were. Wreckers, +I replied; that we left our vessel outside, and had come in for water +and provisions. He asked where we had left our vessel, and her name, +evidently suspicious, which was not surprising, for our appearance was +certainly against us. Our head-gear was unique: the general wore a straw +hat that napped over his head like the ears of an elephant; Colonel +Wilson, an old cavalry cap that had lost its visor; another, a turban +made of some number 4 duck canvas; and all were in our shirt-sleeves, +the colors of which were as varied as Joseph's coat. I told him we had +left her to the northward a few miles, that a gunboat had spoken us a +few hours before, and had overhauled our papers, and had found them all +right. After a noisy powwow we were told to land, that our papers might +be examined. I said no, but if a canoe were sent off, I would let one of +our men go on shore and buy what we wanted. I was determined not to +trust our boat within a hundred yards of the shore. Finally a canoe +paddled by two negroes came off, and said no one but the captain would +be permitted to land. O'Toole volunteered to go, but the boatmen would +not take him, evidently having had their orders. I told them to tell +their chief that we had intended to spend a few pieces of gold with +them, but since he would not permit it, we would go elsewhere for +supplies. We got out our sweeps, and moved slowly down the river, a +light breeze helping us. The canoe returned to the shore, and soon some +fifteen or twenty men crowded into four or five canoes and dugouts, and +started for us. We prepared for action, determined to give them a warm +reception. Even Tom looked after his carbine, putting on a fresh cap. + +Though outnumbered three to one, still we were well under cover in our +boat, and could rake each canoe as it came up. We determined to take all +the chances, and to open fire as soon as they came within range. I told +Russell to try a shot at one some distance ahead of the others. He broke +two paddles on one side and hit one man, not a bad beginning. This canoe +dropped to the rear at once; the occupants of the others opened fire, +but their shooting was wild from the motions of their small craft. The +general tried and missed; Tom thought he could do better than his +master, and made a good line shot, but short. The general advised +husbanding our ammunition until they came within easy range. Waiting a +little while, Russell and the colonel fired together, and the bowman in +the nearest canoe rolled over, nearly upsetting her. They were now +evidently convinced that we were in earnest, and, after giving us an +ineffectual volley, paddled together to hold a council of war. Soon a +single canoe with three men started for us with a white flag. We hove +to, and waited for them to approach. When within hail, I asked what was +wanted. A white man, standing in the stern, with two negroes paddling, +replied: + +"What did you fire on us for? We are friends." + +"Friends do not give chase to friends." + +"We wanted to find out who you are." + +"I told you who we are; and if you are friends, sell us some +provisions." + +"Come on shore, and you can get what you want." + +Our wants were urgent, and it was necessary, if possible, to make some +terms with them; but it would not be safe to venture near their lair +again. We told them that if they would bring us some supplies we would +wait, and pay them well in gold. The promise of gold served as a bait to +secure some concession. After some parleying it was agreed that O'Toole +should go on shore in their canoe, be allowed to purchase some +provisions, and return in two hours. The bucaneer thought the time too +short, but I insisted that if O'Toole were not brought back in two +hours, I would speak the first gunboat I met, and return with her and +have their nest of freebooters broken up. Time was important, for we had +noticed soon after we had started down the river a black column of smoke +ascending from near the fort, undoubtedly a signal to some of their +craft in the vicinity to return, for I felt convinced that they had +other craft besides canoes at their disposal; hence their anxiety to +detain us. O'Toole was told to be as dumb as an oyster as to ourselves, +but wide awake as to the designs of our dubious friends. The general +gave him five eagles for his purchase, tribute-money. He jumped into the +canoe, and all returned to the fort. We dropped anchor underfoot to +await his return, keeping a sharp lookout for any strange sail. The two +hours passed in pleasant surmises as to what he would bring off; another +half-hour passed, and no sign of his return; and we began to despair of +our anticipated feast, and of O'Toole, a bright young Irishman, whose +good qualities had endeared him to us all. The anchor was up, and slowly +with a light breeze we drew away from the river, debating what should be +our next move. The fort was shut in by a projecting point, and three or +four miles had passed when the welcome sight of a canoe astern made us +heave to. It was O'Toole with two negroes, a bag of hard bread, two +hams, some rusty salt pork, sweet potatoes, fruit, and, most important +of all, two breakers of water and a keg of New England rum. While +O'Toole gave us his experience, a ham was cut, and a slice between two +of hardtack, washed down with a jorum of rum and water, with a dessert +of oranges and bananas, was a feast to us more enjoyable than any ever +eaten at Delmonico's or the Café Riche. On his arrival on shore, our +ambassador had been taken to the quarters of Major Valdez, who claimed +to be an officer of the Federals, and by him he was thoroughly +cross-examined. He had heard of the breaking up of the Confederacy, but +not of the capture of Mr. Davis, and was evidently skeptical of our +story as to being wreckers, and connected us in some way with the losing +party, either as persons of note or a party escaping with treasure. +However, O'Toole baffled all his queries, and was proof against both +blandishments and threats. He learned what he had expected, that they +were looking for the return of a schooner; hence the smoke signal, and +the anxiety to detain us as long as possible. It was only when he saw us +leaving, after waiting over two hours, that the major permitted him to +make a few purchases and rejoin us. + +Night, coming on, found us inside of Key Biscayne, the beginning of the +system of innumerable keys, or small islands, extending from this point +to the Tortugas, nearly two hundred miles east and west, at the +extremity of the peninsula. Of coral formation, as soon as it is built +up to the surface of the water it crumbles under the action of the sea +and sun. Sea-fowl rest upon it, dropping the seed of some marine plants, +or the hard mangrove is washed ashore on it, and its all-embracing roots +soon spread in every direction; so are formed these keys. Darkness and +shoal water warned us to anchor. We passed an unhappy night fighting +mosquitos. As the sun rose, we saw to the eastward a schooner of thirty +or forty tons standing down toward us with a light wind; no doubt it was +one from the fort sent in pursuit. Up anchor, up sail, out sweeps, and +we headed down Biscayne Bay, a shoal sheet of water between the reefs +and mainland. The wind rose with the sun, and, being to windward, the +schooner had the benefit of it first, and was fast overhauling us. The +water was shoaling, which I was not sorry to see, for our draft must +have been from two to three feet less than that of our pursuer, and we +recognized that our best chance of escape was by drawing him into shoal +water, while keeping afloat ourselves. By the color and break of the +water I saw that we were approaching a part of the bay where the shoals +appeared to extend nearly across, with narrow channels between them like +the furrows in a plowed field, with occasional openings from one channel +into another. Some of the shoals were just awash, others bare. Ahead was +a reef on which there appeared but very little water. I could see no +opening into the channel beyond. To attempt to haul by the wind on +either tack would bring us in a few minutes under fire of the schooner +now coming up hand over hand. I ordered the ballast to be thrown +overboard, and determined, as our only chance, to attempt to force her +over the reef. She was headed for what looked like a little breakwater +on our port bow. As the ballast went overboard we watched the bottom +anxiously; the water shoaled rapidly, and the grating of the keel over +the coral, with that peculiar tremor most unpleasant to a seaman under +any circumstances, told us our danger. As the last of the ballast went +overboard she forged ahead, and then brought up. Together we went +overboard, and sank to our waists in the black, pasty mud, through which +at intervals branches of rotten coral projected, which only served to +make the bottom more treacherous and difficult to work on. Relieved of a +half-ton of our weight, our sloop forged ahead three or four lengths, +and then brought up again. We pushed her forward some distance, but as +the water lessened, notwithstanding our efforts, she stopped. + +Looking astern, we saw the schooner coming up wing and wing, not more +than a mile distant. Certainly the prospect was blue; but one chance was +left, to sacrifice everything in the boat. Without hesitation, +overboard went the provisions except a few biscuits; the oars were made +fast to the main-sheet alongside, and a breaker of water, the anchor and +chain, all spare rope, indeed everything that weighed a pound, was +dropped alongside, and then, three on each side, our shoulders under the +boat's bilges, at the word we lifted together, and foot by foot moved +her forward. Sometimes the water would deepen a little and relieve us; +again it would shoal. Between the coral-branches we would sink at times +to our necks in the slime and water, our limbs lacerated with the sharp +projecting points. Fortunately, the wind helped us; keeping all sail on, +thus for more than a hundred yards we toiled, until the water deepened +and the reef was passed. Wet, foul, bleeding, with hardly strength +enough to climb into the boat, we were safe at last for a time. As we +cleared the shoal, the schooner hauled by the wind, and opened fire from +a nine-or twelve-pounder; but we were at long range, and the firing was +wild. With a fair wind we soon opened the distance between us. + +General Breckinridge, thoroughly used up, threw himself down in the +bottom of the boat; at which Tom, always on the lookout for his master's +comfort, said, "Marse John, s'pose you take a little rum and water." +This proposal stirred us all. The general rose, saying, "Yes, indeed, +Tom, I will; but where is the rum?" supposing it had been sacrificed +with everything else. + +[Illustration: OVER A CORAL-REEF.] + +"I sees you pitchin' eberyt'ing away; I jes put this jug in hyar, 'ca'se +I 'lowed you'd want some." + +Opening a looker in the transom, he took out the jug. Never was a potion +more grateful; we were faint and thirsty, and it acted like a charm, +and, bringing up on another reef, we were ready for another tussle. +Fortunately, this proved only a short lift. In the mean time the +schooner had passed through the first reef by an opening, as her skipper +was undoubtedly familiar with these waters. Still another shoal was +ahead; instead of again lifting our sloop over it, I hauled by the wind, +and stood for what looked like an opening to the eastward. Our pursuers +were on the opposite tack and fast approaching; a reef intervened, and +when abeam, distant about half a mile, they opened fire both with their +small arms and boat-gun. The second shot from the latter was well +directed; it grazed our mast and carried away the luff of the mainsail. +Several Minié balls struck on our sides without penetrating; we did not +reply, and kept under cover. When abreast of a break in the reef, we up +helm, and again went off before the wind. The schooner was now satisfied +that she could not overhaul us, and stood off to the northward. + +Free from our enemy, we were now able to take stock of our supplies and +determine what to do. Our provisions consisted of about ten pounds of +hard bread, a twenty-gallon breaker of water, two thirds full, and three +gallons of rum. Really a fatality appeared to follow us as regards our +commissariat. Beginning with our first drenching on the St. John's, +every successive supply had been lost, and now what we had bought with +so much trouble yesterday, the sellers compelled us to sacrifice to-day. +But our first care was to ballast the sloop, for without it she was so +crank as to be unseaworthy. This was not an easy task; the shore of all +the keys, as well as that of the mainland in sight, was low and swampy, +and covered to the water's edge with a dense growth of mangroves. What +made matters worse, we were without any ground-tackle. + +At night we were up to Elliott's Key, and anchored by making fast to a +sweep shoved into the muddy bottom like a shad-pole. When the wind went +down, the mosquitos came off in clouds. We wrapped ourselves in the +sails from head to feet, with only our nostrils exposed. At daylight we +started again to the westward, looking for a dry spot where we might +land, get ballast, and possibly some supplies. A few palm-trees rising +from the mangroves indicated a spot where we might find a little _terra +firma_. Going in as near as was prudent, we waded ashore, and found a +small patch of sand and coral elevated a few feet above the everlasting +swamp. Some six or eight cocoa-palms rose to the height of forty or +fifty feet, and under their umbrella-like tops we could see the bunches +of green fruit. It was a question how to get at it. Without saying a +word, Tom went on board the boat, brought off a piece of canvas, cut a +strip a yard long, tied the ends together, and made two holes for his +big toes. The canvas, stretched between his feet, embraced the rough +bark so that he rapidly ascended. He threw down the green nuts, and +cutting through the thick shell, we found about half a pint of milk. The +general suggested a little milk-punch. All the trees were stripped, and +what we did not use we saved for sea-stores. + +To ballast our sloop was our next care. The jib was unbent, the sheet +and head were brought together and made into a sack. This was filled +with sand, and, slung on an oar, was shouldered by two and carried on +board. + +Leaving us so engaged, the general started to try to knock over some of +the numerous water-fowl in sight. He returned in an hour thoroughly used +up from his struggles in the swamp, but with two pelicans and a white +crane. In the stomach of one of the first were a dozen or more mullet, +from six to nine inches in length which had evidently just been +swallowed. We cleaned them, and wrapping them in palmetto-leaves, +roasted them in the ashes, and they proved delicious. Tom took the birds +in hand, and as he was an old campaigner, who had cooked everything from +a stalled ox to a crow, we had faith in his ability to make them +palatable. He tried to pick them, but soon abandoned it, and skinned +them. We looked on anxiously, ready after our first course of fish for +something more substantial. He broiled them, and with a flourish laid +one before the general on a clean leaf, saying, "I's 'feared, Marse +John, it's tough as an old muscovy drake." + +"Let me try it, Tom." + +After some exertion he cut off a mouthful, while we anxiously awaited +the verdict. Without a word he rose and disappeared into the bushes. +Returning in a few minutes, he told Tom to remove the game. His tone and +expression satisfied us that pelican would not keep us from starving. +The colonel thought the crane might be better, but a taste satisfied us +that it was no improvement. + +Hungry and tired, it was nearly night before we were ready to move; and, +warned by our sanguinary experience of the previous night, we determined +to haul off from the shore as far as possible, and get outside the range +of the mosquitos. It was now necessary to determine upon our future +course. We had abandoned all hope of reaching the Bahamas, and the +nearest foreign shore was that of Cuba, distant across the Gulf Stream +from our present position about two hundred miles, or three or four +days' sail, with the winds we might expect at this season. With the +strictest economy our provisions would not last so long. However, nearly +a month in the swamps and among the keys of Florida, in the month of +June, had prepared us to face almost any risk to escape from those +shores, and it was determined to start in the morning for Cuba. Well out +in the bay we hove to, and passed a fairly comfortable night; next day +early we started for Cæsar's Canal, a passage between Elliott's Key and +Key Largo. The channel was crooked and puzzling, leading through a +labyrinth of mangrove islets, around which the current of the Gulf +Stream was running like a sluice; we repeatedly got aground, when we +would jump overboard and push off. So we worked all day before we were +clear of the keys and outside among the reefs, which extend three or +four miles beyond. Waiting again for daylight, we threaded our way +through them, and with a light breeze from the eastward steered south, +thankful to feel again the pulsating motion of the ocean. + +Several sail and one steamer were in sight during the day, but all at a +distance. Constant exposure had tanned us the color of mahogany, and our +legs and feet were swollen and blistered from being so much in the salt +water, and the action of the hot sun on them made them excessively +painful. Fortunately, but little exertion was now necessary, and our +only relief was in lying still, with an impromptu awning over us. +General Breckinridge took charge of the water and rum, doling it out at +regular intervals, a tot at a time, determined to make it last as long +as possible. + +Toward evening the wind was hardly strong enough to enable us to hold +our own against the stream. At ten, Carysfort Light was abeam, and soon +after a dark bank of clouds rising in the eastern sky betokened a change +of wind and weather. Everything was made snug and lashed securely, with +two reefs in the mainsail, and the bonnet taken off the jib. I knew from +experience what we might expect from summer squalls in the straits of +Florida. I took the helm, the general the sheet, Colonel Wilson was +stationed by the halyards, Russell and O'Toole were prepared to bail. +Tom, thoroughly demoralized, was already sitting in the bottom of the +boat, between the general's knees. The sky was soon completely overcast +with dark lowering clouds; the darkness, which could almost be felt, was +broken every few minutes by lurid streaks of lightning chasing one +another through black abysses. Fitful gusts of wind were the heralds of +the coming blast. Great drops of rain fell like the scattering fire of a +skirmish-line, and with a roar like a thousand trumpets we heard the +blast coming, giving us time only to lower everything and get the stern +of the boat to it, for our only chance was to run with the storm until +the rough edge was taken off, and then heave to. I cried, "All hands +down!" as the gale struck us with the force of a thunderbolt, carrying a +wall of white water with it which burst over us like a cataract. I +thought we were swamped as I clung desperately to the tiller, though +thrown violently against the boom. But after the shock, our brave little +boat, though half filled, rose and shook herself like a spaniel. The +mast bent like a whip-stick, and I expected to see it blown out of her, +but, gathering way, we flew with the wind. The surface was lashed into +foam as white as the driven snow. The lightning and artillery of the +heavens were incessant, blinding, and deafening; involuntarily we bowed +our heads, utterly helpless. Soon the heavens were opened, and the +floods came down like a waterspout. I knew then that the worst of it had +passed, and though one fierce squall succeeded another, each one was +tamer. The deluge, too, helped to beat down the sea. To give an order +was impossible, for I could not be heard; I could only, during the +flashes, make signs to Russell and O'Toole to bail. Tying themselves and +their buckets to the thwarts, they went to work and soon relieved her of +a heavy load. + +[Illustration: A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE GULF STREAM.] + +From the general direction of the wind I knew without compass or any +other guide that we were running to the westward, and, I feared, were +gradually approaching the dreaded reefs, where in such a sea our boat +would have been reduced to match-wood in a little while. Therefore, +without waiting for the wind or sea to moderate, I determined to heave +to, hazardous as it was to attempt anything of the kind. Giving the +colonel the helm, I lashed the end of the gaff to the boom, and then +loosed enough of the mainsail to goose-wing it, or make a leg-of-mutton +sail of it. Then watching for a lull or a smooth time, I told him to put +the helm a-starboard and let her come to on the port tack, head to the +southward, and at the same time I hoisted the sail. She came by the wind +quickly without shipping a drop of water, but as I was securing the +halyards the colonel gave her too much helm, bringing the wind on the +other bow, the boom flew round and knocked my feet from under me, and +overboard I went. Fortunately, her way was deadened, and as I came up I +seized the sheet, and with the general's assistance scrambled on board. +For twelve hours or more I did not trust the helm to any one. The storm +passed over to the westward with many a departing growl and threat. But +the wind still blew hoarsely from the eastward with frequent gusts +against the stream, making a heavy, sharp sea. In the trough of it the +boat was becalmed, but as she rose on the crest of the waves even the +little sail set was as much as she could stand up under, and she had to +be nursed carefully; for if she had fallen off, one breaker would have +swamped us, or any accident to sail or spar would have been fatal: but +like a gull on the waters, our brave little craft rose and breasted +every billow. + +By noon the next day the weather had moderated sufficiently to make more +sail, and the sea went down at the same time. Then, hungry and thirsty, +Tom was thought of. During the gale he had remained in the bottom of the +boat as motionless as a log. As he was roused up, he asked: + +"Marse John, whar is you, and whar is you goin'? 'Fore de Lord, I never +want to see a boat again." + +"Come, Tom, get us something to drink, and see if there is anything left +to eat," said the general. But Tom was helpless. + +The general served out a small ration of water and rum, every drop of +which was precious. Our small store of bread was found soaked, but, laid +in the sun, it partly dried, and was, if not palatable, at least a +relief to hungry men. + +During the next few days the weather was moderate, and we stood to the +southward; several sail were in sight, but at a distance. We were +anxious to speak one even at some risk, for our supplies were down to a +pint of rum in water each day under a tropical sun, with two +water-soaked biscuits. On the afternoon of the second day a brig drifted +slowly down toward us; we made signals that we wished to speak her, and, +getting out our sweeps, pulled for her. As we neared her, the captain +hailed and ordered us to keep off. I replied that we were shipwrecked +men, and only wanted some provisions. As we rounded to under his stern, +we could see that he had all his crew of seven or eight men at quarters. +He stood on the taff-rail with a revolver in hand, his two mates with +muskets, the cook with a huge tormentor, and the crew with handspikes. + +"I tell you again, keep off, or I'll let fly." + +"Captain, we won't go on board if you will give us some provisions; we +are starving." + +"Keep off, I tell you. Boys, make ready." + +One of the mates drew a bead on me; our eyes met in a line over the +sights on the barrel. I held up my right hand. + +"Will you fire on an unarmed man? Captain, you are no sailor, or you +would not refuse to help shipwrecked men." + +"How do I know who you are? And I've got no grub to spare." + +"Here is a passenger who is able to pay you," said I, pointing to the +general. + +"Yes; I will pay for anything you let us have." + +The captain now held a consultation with his officers, and then said: +"I'll give you some water and bread. I've got nothing else. But you must +not come alongside." + +A small keg, or breaker, was thrown overboard and picked up, with a bag +of fifteen or twenty pounds of hardtack. This was the reception given us +by the brig _Neptune_ of Bangor. But when the time and place are +considered, we cannot wonder at the captain's precautions, for a more +piratical-looking party than we never sailed the Spanish main. General +Breckinridge, bronzed the color of mahogany, unshaven, with long +mustache, wearing a blue flannel shirt open at the neck, exposing his +broad chest, with an old slouch hat, was a typical bucaneer. Thankful +for what we had received, we parted company. Doubtless the captain +reported on his arrival home a blood-curdling story of his encounter +with pirates off the coast of Cuba. + +"Marse John, I thought the war was done. Why didn't you tell dem folks +who you was?" queried Tom. The general told Tom they were Yankees, and +would not believe us. "Is dar any Yankees whar you goin'?--'ca'se if dar +is, we best go back to old Kentucky." He was made easy on this point, +and, with an increase in our larder, became quite perky. A change in the +color of the water showed us that we were on soundings, and had crossed +the Stream, and soon after we came in sight of some rocky islets, which +I recognized as Double-Headed Shot Keys, thus fixing our position; for +our chart, with the rest of our belongings, had disappeared, or had been +destroyed by water, and as the heavens, by day and night, were our only +guide, our navigation was necessarily very uncertain. For the next +thirty miles our course to the southward took us over Salt Key Bank, +where the soundings varied from three to five fathoms, but so clear was +the water that it was hard to believe that the coral, the shells, and +the marine flowers were not within arm's reach. Fishes of all sizes and +colors darted by us in every direction. The bottom of the bank was a +constantly varying kaleidoscope of beauty. But to starving men, with not +a mouthful in our grasp, this display of food was tantalizing. Russell, +who was an expert swimmer, volunteered to dive for some conchs and +shell-fish; oysters there were none. Asking us to keep a sharp lookout +on the surface of the water for sharks, which generally swim with the +dorsal fin exposed, he went down and brought up a couple of live conchs +about the size of a man's fist. Breaking the shell, we drew the +quivering body out. Without its coat it looked like a huge grub, and not +more inviting. The general asked Tom to try it. + +"Glory, Marse John, I'm mighty hungry, nebber so hungry sense we been in +de almy, and I'm just ready for ole mule, pole-cat, or anyt'ing 'cept +dis worm." + +After repeated efforts to dissect it we agreed with Tom, and found it +not more edible than a pickled football. However, Russell, diving again, +brought up bivalves with a very thin shell and beautiful colors, in +shape like a large pea-pod. These we found tolerable; they served to +satisfy in some small degree our craving for food. The only drawback was +that eating them produced great thirst, which is much more difficult to +bear than hunger. We found partial relief in keeping our heads and +bodies wet with salt water. + +On the sixth day from the Florida coast we crossed Nicholas Channel with +fair wind. Soon after we made the Cuban coast, and stood to the +westward, hoping to sight something which would determine our position. +After a run of some hours just outside of the coral-reefs, we sighted in +the distance some vessels at anchor. As we approached, a large town was +visible at the head of the bay, which proved to be Cardenas. We offered +prayful thanks for our wonderful escape, and anchored just off the +custom-house, and waited some time for the health officer to give us +pratique. But as no one came off in answer to our signals, I went on +shore to report at the custom-house. It was some time before I could +make them comprehend that we were from Florida, and anxious to land. +Their astonishment was great at the size of our boat, and they could +hardly believe we had crossed in it. Our arrival produced as much +sensation as would that of a liner. We might have been filibusters in +disguise. The governor-general had to be telegraphed to; numerous papers +were made out and signed; a register was made out for the sloop _No +Name_; then we had to make a visit to the governor before we were +allowed to go to a hotel to get something to eat. After a cup of coffee +and a light meal I had a warm bath, and donned some clean linen which +our friends provided. + +We were overwhelmed with attentions, and when the governor-general +telegraphed that General Breckinridge was to be treated as one holding +his position and rank, the officials became as obsequious as they had +been overbearing and suspicious. The next day one of the +governor-general's aides-de-camp arrived from Havana, with an +invitation for the general and the party to visit him, which we +accepted, and after two days' rest took the train for the capital. A +special car was placed at our disposal, and on our arrival the general +was received with all the honors. We were driven to the palace, had a +long interview, and dined with Governor-General Concha. The transition +from a small open boat at sea, naked and starving, to the luxuries and +comforts of civilized life was as sudden as it was welcome and +thoroughly appreciated. + +At Havana our party separated. General Breckinridge and Colonel Wilson +have since crossed the great river; Russell and O'Toole returned to +Florida. I should be glad to know what has become of faithful Tom. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes +of the Civil War, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + +***** This file should be named 18765-8.txt or 18765-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/6/18765/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War + +Author: Various + +Editor: G.W. Cable + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig001" name="fig001"></a> +<a href="images/fig001.png"><img src="images/fig001_th.png" alt="prisoner" /></a> +<span class="caption">QUESTIONING A PRISONER.</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><br /><br />FAMOUS ADVENTURES <br />AND PRISON ESCAPES<br /> OF THE CIVIL WAR<br /></h1> + +<div class="center"> +<img src="images/title.png" alt="title" /></div> + +<p class="center"><small>NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO.<br /> + +1913</small></p> + +<p class="center"><small>Copyright 1885, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1893, by<br /> + +<span class="smcap">The Century Co.</span></small></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<table summary="Table of Contents" width="80%"> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#Chapter_1">War Diary of a Union Woman in the South</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#Chapter_2">The Locomotive Chase in Georgia</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#Chapter_3">Mosby's "Partizan Rangers"</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#Chapter_4">A Romance of Morgan's Rough-riders</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#COLONEL_ROSES_TUNNEL_AT_LIBBY_PRISON">Colonel Rose's Tunnel at Libby Prison</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#A_HARD_ROAD_TO_TRAVEL_OUT_OF_DIXIE">A Hard Road to Travel out of Dixie</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#ESCAPE_OF_GENERAL_BRECKINRIDGE">Escape of General Breckinridge</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + + +<table summary="List of Illustrations" width="80%"> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig001">Questioning a Prisoner</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig002">The Locomotive Chase</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig038">General John H. Morgan</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig003">Map of the Morgan Raid</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig005">The Farmer from Calfkiller Creek</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig006">General Duke Tests the Pies</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig007">Hospitalities of the Farm</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig008">Looking for the Footprints of the Van</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig009">Corridor and Cells in the Ohio State Penitentiary—Captain +Hines's Cell</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig010">Exterior of the Prison—Exit from Tunnel</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig011">Within the Wooden Gate</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig012">Over the Prison Wall</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig013">Hurry Up, Major!</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig014">Captain Hines Objects</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig015">Colonel Thomas E. Rose</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig016">A Corner of Libby Prison</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig017">Libby Prison in 1865</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig018">Major A.G. Hamilton</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig019">Libby Prison in 1884</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig020">Liberty!</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig021">Fighting the Rats</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig022">Section of Interior of Libby Prison and Tunnel</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig023">Ground-plan of Libby Prison and Surroundings</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig024">Lieutenants E.E. Sill and A.T. Lamson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig025">We Arrive at Headen's</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig026">The Escape of Headen</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig027">Greenville Jail</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig028">Pink Bishop at the Still</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig029">Arrival Home of the Baptist Minister</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig030">Surprised at Mrs. Kitchen's</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig031">The Meeting with the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig032">Sand as a Defense against Mosquitos</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig033">Searching for Turtles' Eggs</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig034">Through a Shallow Lagoon</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig035">Exchanging the Boat for the Sloop</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig036">Over a Coral-reef</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="toc"><a href="#fig037">A Rough Night in the Gulf Stream</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><br /><br />FAMOUS ADVENTURES AND PRISON<br /> ESCAPES OF THE CIVIL WAR<br /><br /></h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h4>FAMOUS ADVENTURES AND PRISON ESCAPES OF THE CIVIL WAR</h4> + +<h2><a name="Chapter_1"></a>WAR DIARY OF A UNION WOMAN IN THE SOUTH</h2> + +<h3>EDITED BY G.W. CABLE</h3> + + +<p>The following diary was originally written in lead-pencil and in a book +the leaves of which were too soft to take ink legibly. I have it direct +from the hands of its writer, a lady whom I have had the honor to know +for nearly thirty years. For good reasons the author's name is omitted, +and the initials of people and the names of places are sometimes +fictitiously given. Many of the persons mentioned were my own +acquaintances and friends. When, some twenty years afterward, she first +resolved to publish it, she brought me a clear, complete copy in ink. It +had cost much trouble, she said; for much of the pencil writing had been +made under such disadvantages and was so faint that at times she could +decipher it only under direct sunlight. She had succeeded, however, in +making a copy, <i>verbatim</i> except for occasional improvement in the +grammatical form of a sentence, or now and then the omission, for +brevity's sake, of something unessential. The narrative has since been +severely abridged to bring it within magazine limits.</p> + +<p>In reading this diary one is much charmed with its constant +understatement of romantic and perilous incidents and conditions. But +the original penciled pages show that, even in copying, the strong bent +of the writer to be brief has often led to the exclusion of facts that +enhance the interest of exciting situations, and sometimes the omission +robs her own heroism of due emphasis. I have restored one example of +this in a foot-note following the perilous voyage down the Mississippi.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">G.W. Cable</span>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>I</h3> + +<h3>SECESSION</h3> + + +<p><i>New Orleans</i>, <i>Dec. 1,</i> 1860.—I understand it now. Keeping journals is +for those who cannot, or dare not, speak out. So I shall set up a +journal, being only a rather lonely young girl in a very small and hated +minority. On my return here in November, after a foreign voyage and +absence of many months, I found myself behind in knowledge of the +political conflict, but heard the dread sounds of disunion and war +muttered in threatening tones. Surely no native-born woman loves her +country better than I love America. The blood of one of its +Revolutionary patriots flows in my veins, and it is the Union for which +he pledged his "life, fortune, and sacred honor" that I love, not any +divided or special section of it. So I have been reading attentively +and seeking light from foreigners and natives on all questions at issue. +Living from birth in slave countries, both foreign and American, and +passing through one slave insurrection in early childhood, the saddest +and also the pleasantest features of slavery have been familiar. If the +South goes to war for slavery, slavery is doomed in this country. To say +so is like opposing one drop to a roaring torrent.</p> + +<p><i>Sunday, Dec.</i>—, 1860.—In this season for peace I had hoped for a lull +in the excitement, yet this day has been full of bitterness. "Come, G.," +said Mrs.—— at breakfast, "leave <i>your</i> church for to-day and come +with us to hear Dr.—— on the situation. He will convince you." "It is +good to be convinced," I said; "I will go." The church was crowded to +suffocation with the élite of New Orleans. The preacher's text was, +"Shall we have fellowship with the stool of iniquity which frameth +mischief as a law?" ... The sermon was over at last, and then followed a +prayer.... Forever blessed be the fathers of the Episcopal Church for +giving us a fixed liturgy! When we met at dinner Mrs. F. exclaimed, +"Now, G., you heard him prove from the Bible that slavery is right and +that therefore secession is. Were you not convinced?" I said, "I was so +busy thinking how completely it proved too that Brigham Young is right +about polygamy that it quite weakened the force of the argument for me." +This raised a laugh, and covered my retreat.</p> + +<p><i>Jan. 26,</i> 1861.—The solemn boom of cannon to-day announced that the +convention have passed the ordinance of secession. We must take a reef +in our patriotism and narrow it down to State limits. Mine still sticks +out all around the borders of the State. It will be bad if New Orleans +should secede from Louisiana and set up for herself. Then indeed I would +be "cabined, cribbed, confined." The faces in the house are jubilant +to-day. Why is it so easy for them and not for me to "ring out the old, +ring in the new"? I am out of place.</p> + +<p><i>Jan. 28, Monday.</i>—Sunday has now got to be a day of special +excitement. The gentlemen save all the sensational papers to regale us +with at the late Sunday breakfast. Rob opened the battle yesterday +morning by saying to me in his most aggressive manner, "G., I believe +these are your sentiments"; and then he read aloud an article from the +"Journal des Debats" expressing in rather contemptuous terms the fact +that France will follow the policy of non-intervention. When I answered, +"Well, what do you expect? This is not their quarrel," he raved at me, +ending by a declaration that he would willingly pay my passage to +foreign parts if I would like to go. "Rob," said his father, "keep cool; +don't let that threat excite you. Cotton is king. Just wait till they +feel the pinch a little; their tone will change." I went to Trinity +Church. Some Union people who are not Episcopalians go there now because +the pastor has not so much chance to rail at the Lord when things are +not going to suit. But yesterday was a marked Sunday. The usual prayer +for the President and Congress was changed to the "governor and people +of this commonwealth and their representatives in convention assembled."</p> + +<p>The city was very lively and noisy this evening with rockets and lights +in honor of secession. Mrs. F., in common with the neighbors, +illuminated. We walked out to see the houses of others gleaming amid the +dark shrubbery like a fairy scene. The perfect stillness added to the +effect, while the moon rose slowly with calm splendor. We hastened home +to dress for a soirée but on the stairs Edith said, "G., first come and +help me dress Phoebe and Chloe [the negro servants]. There is a ball +to-night in aristocratic colored society. This is Chloe's first +introduction to New Orleans circles, and Henry Judson, Phoebe's +husband, gave five dollars for a ticket for her." Chloe is a recent +purchase from Georgia. We superintended their very stylish toilets, and +Edith said, "G., run into your room, please, and write a pass for Henry. +Put Mr. D.'s name to it." "Why, Henry is free," I said. "That makes no +difference; all colored people must have a pass if out late. They choose +a master for protection, and always carry his pass. Henry chose Mr. D., +but he's lost the pass he had."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>II</h3> + +<h3>THE VOLUNTEERS—FORT SUMTER</h3> + + +<p><i>Feb. 24,</i> 1861.—The toil of the week is ended. Nearly a month has +passed since I wrote here. Events have crowded upon one another. On the +4th the cannon boomed in honor of Jefferson Davis's election, and day +before yesterday Washington's birthday was made the occasion of another +grand display and illumination, in honor of the birth of a new nation +and the breaking of that Union which he labored to cement. We drove to +the race-course to see the review of troops. A flag was presented to the +Washington Artillery by ladies. Senator Judah Benjamin made an +impassioned speech. The banner was orange satin on one side, crimson +silk on the other, the pelican and brood embroidered in pale green and +gold. Silver crossed cannon surmounted it, orange-colored fringe +surrounded it, and crimson tassels drooped from it. It was a brilliant, +unreal scene; with military bands clashing triumphant music, elegant +vehicles, high-stepping horses, and lovely women richly appareled.</p> + +<p>Wedding-cards have been pouring in till the contagion has reached us; +Edith will be married next Thursday. The wedding-dress is being +fashioned, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen have arrived. Edith has +requested me to be special mistress of ceremonies on Thursday evening, +and I have told this terrible little rebel, who talks nothing but blood +and thunder, yet faints at the sight of a worm, that if I fill that +office no one shall mention war or politics during the whole evening, on +pain of expulsion.</p> + +<p><i>March 10,</i> 1861.—The excitement in this house has risen to fever-heat +during the past week. The four gentlemen have each a different plan for +saving the country, and now that the bridal bouquets have faded, the +three ladies have again turned to public affairs; Lincoln's inauguration +and the story of the disguise in which he traveled to Washington is a +never-ending source of gossip. The family board being the common forum, +each gentleman as he appears first unloads his pockets of papers from +all the Southern States, and then his overflowing heart to his eager +female listeners, who in turn relate, inquire, sympathize, or cheer. If +I dare express a doubt that the path to victory will be a flowery one, +eyes flash, cheeks burn, and tongues clatter, till all are checked up +suddenly by a warning for "Order, order!" from the amiable lady +presiding. Thus we swallow politics with every meal. We take a mouthful +and read a telegram, one eye on table, the other on the paper. One must +be made of cool stuff to keep calm and collected, but I say but little. +This war fever has banished small talk. Through all the black servants +move about quietly, never seeming to notice that this is all about them.</p> + +<p>"How can you speak so plainly before them?" I say.</p> + +<p>"Why, what matter? They know that we shall keep the whip-handle."</p> + +<p><i>April 13,</i> 1861.—More than a month has passed since the last date +here. This afternoon I was seated on the floor covered with loveliest +flowers, arranging a floral offering for the fair, when the gentlemen +arrived and with papers bearing news of the fall of Fort Sumter, which, +at her request, I read to Mrs. F.</p> + +<p><i>April 20.</i>—The last few days have glided away in a halo of beauty. But +nobody has time or will to enjoy it. War, war! is the one idea. The +children play only with toy cannons and soldiers; the oldest inhabitant +goes by every day with his rifle to practice; the public squares are +full of companies drilling, and are now the fashionable resorts. We have +been told that it is best for women to learn how to shoot too, so as to +protect themselves when the men have all gone to battle. Every evening +after dinner we adjourn to the back lot and fire at a target with +pistols. Yesterday I dined at Uncle Ralph's. Some members of the bar +were present, and were jubilant about their brand-new Confederacy. It +would soon be the grandest government ever known. Uncle Ralph said +solemnly, "No, gentlemen; the day we seceded the star of our glory set." +The words sunk into my mind like a knell, and made me wonder at the mind +that could recognize that and yet adhere to the doctrine of secession.</p> + +<p>In the evening I attended a farewell gathering at a friend's whose +brothers are to leave this week for Richmond. There was music. No minor +chord was permitted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>III</h3> + +<h3>TRIBULATION</h3> + + +<p><i>April 25.</i>—Yesterday I went with Cousin E. to have her picture taken. +The picture-galleries are doing a thriving business. Many companies are +ordered off to take possession of Fort Pickens (Florida), and all seem +to be leaving sweethearts behind them. The crowd was in high spirits; +they don't dream that any destinies will be spoiled. When I got home +Edith was reading from the daily paper of the dismissal of Miss G. from +her place as teacher for expressing abolition sentiments, and that she +would be ordered to leave the city. Soon a lady came with a paper +setting forth that she has established a "company"—we are nothing if +not military—for making lint and getting stores of linen to supply the +hospitals.</p> + +<p>My name went down. If it hadn't, my spirit would have been wounded as +with sharp spears before night. Next came a little girl with a +subscription paper to get a flag for a certain company. The little +girls, especially the pretty ones, are kept busy trotting around with +subscription lists. Latest of all came little Guy, Mr. F's youngest +clerk, the pet of the firm as well as of his home, a mere boy of +sixteen. Such senseless sacrifices seem a sin. He chattered brightly, +but lingered about, saying good-by. He got through it bravely until +Edith's husband incautiously said, "You didn't kiss your little +sweetheart," as he always called Ellie, who had been allowed to sit up. +He turned and suddenly broke into agonizing sobs and then ran down the +steps.</p> + +<p><i>May 10.</i>—I am tired and ashamed of myself. Last week I attended a +meeting of the lint society to hand in the small contribution of linen I +had been able to gather. We scraped lint till it was dark. A paper was +shown, entitled the "Volunteer's Friend," started by the girls of the +high school, and I was asked to help the girls with it. I positively +declined. To-day I was pressed into service to make red flannel +cartridge-bags for ten-inch columbiads. I basted while Mrs. S. sewed, +and I felt ashamed to think that I had not the moral courage to say, "I +don't approve of your war and won't help you, particularly in the +murderous part of it."</p> + +<p><i>May 27.</i>—This has been a scenic Sabbath. Various companies about to +depart for Virginia occupied the prominent churches to have their flags +consecrated. The streets were resonant with the clangor of drums and +trumpets. E. and myself went to Christ Church because the Washington +Artillery were to be there.</p> + +<p><i>June 13.</i>—To-day has been appointed a Fast Day. I spent the morning +writing a letter on which I put my first Confederate postage-stamp. It +is of a brown color and has a large 5 in the center. To-morrow must be +devoted to all my foreign correspondents before the expected blockade +cuts us off.</p> + +<p><i>June 29.</i>—I attended a fine luncheon yesterday at one of the public +schools. A lady remarked to a school official that the cost of +provisions in the Confederacy was getting very high, butter, especially, +being scarce and costly. "Never fear, my dear madam," he replied. "Texas +alone can furnish butter enough to supply the whole Confederacy; we'll +soon be getting it from there." It's just as well to have this sublime +confidence.</p> + +<p><i>July 15.</i>—The quiet of midsummer reigns, but ripples of excitement +break around us as the papers tell of skirmishes and attacks here and +there in Virginia. "Rich Mountain" and "Carrick's Ford" were the last. +"You see," said Mrs. D. at breakfast to-day, "my prophecy is coming true +that Virginia will be the seat of war." "Indeed," I burst out, +forgetting my resolution not to argue, "you may think yourselves lucky +if this war turns out to have any seat in particular."</p> + +<p>So far, no one especially connected with me has gone to fight. How glad +I am for his mother's sake that Rob's lameness will keep him at home. +Mr. F., Mr. S., and Uncle Ralph are beyond the age for active service, +and Edith says Mr. D. can't go now. She is very enthusiastic about other +people's husbands being enrolled, and regrets that her Alex is not +strong enough to defend his country and his rights.</p> + +<p><i>July 22.</i>—What a day! I feel like one who has been out in a high wind, +and cannot get my breath. The newsboys are still shouting with their +extras, "Battle of Bull's Run! List of the killed! Battle of Manassas! +List of the wounded!" Tender-hearted Mrs. F. was sobbing so she could +not serve the tea; but nobody cared for tea. "O G.!" she said, "three +thousand of our own, dear Southern boys are lying out there." "My dear +Fannie," spoke Mr. F., "they are heroes now. They died in a glorious +cause, and it is not in vain. This will end it. The sacrifice had to be +made, but those killed have gained immortal names." Then Rob rushed in +with a new extra, reading of the spoils captured, and grief was +forgotten. Words cannot paint the excitement. Rob capered about and +cheered; Edith danced around ringing the dinner-bell and shouting, +"Victory!" Mrs. F. waved a small Confederate flag, while she wiped her +eyes, and Mr. D. hastened to the piano and in his most brilliant style +struck up "Dixie," followed by "My Maryland" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag."</p> + +<p>"Do not look so gloomy, G.," whispered Mr. S. "You should be happy +to-night; for, as Mr. F. says, now we shall have peace."</p> + +<p>"And is that the way you think of the men of your own blood and race?" I +replied. But an utter scorn came over me and choked me, and I walked out +of the room. What proof is there in this dark hour that they are not +right? Only the emphatic answer of my own soul. To-morrow I will pack my +trunk and accept the invitation to visit at Uncle Ralph's country house.</p> + +<p><i>Sept. 25.</i>—When I opened the door of Mrs. F.'s room on my return, the +rattle of two sewing-machines and a blaze of color met me.</p> + +<p>"Ah, G., you are just in time to help us; these are coats for Jeff +Thompson's men. All the cloth in the city is exhausted; these +flannel-lined oil-cloth table-covers are all we could obtain to make +overcoats for Thompson's poor boys. They will be very warm and +serviceable."</p> + +<p>"Serviceable—yes! The Federal army will fly when they see those coats! +I only wish I could be with the regiment when these are shared around." +Yet I helped make them.</p> + +<p>Seriously, I wonder if any soldiers will ever wear these remarkable +coats—the most bewildering combination of brilliant, intense reds, +greens, yellows, and blues in big flowers meandering over as vivid +grounds; and as no table-cover was large enough to make a coat, the +sleeves of each were of a different color and pattern. However, the +coats were duly finished. Then we set to work on gray pantaloons, and I +have just carried a bundle to an ardent young lady who wishes to assist. +A slight gloom is settling down, and the inmates here are not quite so +cheerfully confident as in July.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>IV</h3> + +<h3>A BELEAGUERED CITY</h3> + + +<p><i>Oct. 22.</i>—When I came to breakfast this morning Rob was capering over +another victory—Ball's Bluff. He would read me, "We pitched the Yankees +over the bluff," and ask me in the next breath to go to the theater +this evening. I turned on the poor fellow. "Don't tell me about your +victories. You vowed by all your idols that the blockade would be raised +by October 1, and I notice the ships are still serenely anchored below +the city."</p> + +<p>"G., you are just as pertinacious yourself in championing your opinions. +What sustains you when nobody agrees with you?"</p> + +<p><i>Oct. 28.</i>—When I dropped in at Uncle Ralph's last evening to welcome +them back, the whole family were busy at a great center-table copying +sequestration acts for the Confederate Government. The property of all +Northerners and Unionists is to be sequestrated, and Uncle Ralph can +hardly get the work done fast enough. My aunt apologized for the rooms +looking chilly; she feared to put the carpets down, as the city might be +taken and burned by the Federals. "We are living as much packed up as +possible. A signal has been agreed upon, and the instant the army +approaches we shall be off to the country again."</p> + +<p>Great preparations are being made for defense. At several other places +where I called the women were almost hysterical. They seemed to look +forward to being blown up with shot and shell, finished with cold steel, +or whisked off to some Northern prison. When I got home Edith and Mr. D. +had just returned also.</p> + +<p>"Alex," said Edith, "I was up at your orange-lots to-day, and the sour +oranges are dropping to the ground, while they cannot get lemons for our +sick soldiers."</p> + +<p>"That's my kind, considerate wife," replied Mr. D.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't I think of that before? Jim shall fill some barrels +to-morrow and take them to the hospitals as a present from you."</p> + +<p><i>Nov. 10.</i>—Surely this year will ever be memorable to me for its +perfection of natural beauty. Never was sunshine such pure gold, or +moonlight such transparent silver. The beautiful custom prevalent here +of decking the graves with flowers on All Saints' day was well +fulfilled, so profuse and rich were the blossoms. On All-hallow eve Mrs. +S. and myself visited a large cemetery. The chrysanthemums lay like +great masses of snow and flame and gold in every garden we passed, and +were piled on every costly tomb and lowly grave. The battle of Manassas +robed many of our women in mourning, and some of those who had no graves +to deck were weeping silently as they walked through the scented +avenues.</p> + +<p>A few days ago Mrs. E. arrived here. She is a widow, of Natchez, a +friend of Mrs. F.'s, and is traveling home with the dead body of her +eldest son, killed at Manassas. She stopped two days waiting for a boat, +and begged me to share her room and read her to sleep, saying she +couldn't be alone since he was killed; she feared her mind would give +way. So I read all the comforting chapters to be found till she dropped +into forgetfulness, but the recollection of those weeping mothers in the +cemetery banished sleep for me.</p> + +<p><i>Nov. 26.</i>—The lingering summer is passing into those misty autumn days +I love so well, when there is gold and fire above and around us. But the +glory of the natural and the gloom of the moral world agree not well +together. This morning Mrs. F. came to my room in dire distress. "You +see," she said, "cold weather is coming on fast, and our poor fellows +are lying out at night with nothing to cover them. There is a wail for +blankets, but there is not a blanket in town. I have gathered up all the +spare bed-clothing, and now want every available rug or table-cover in +the house. Can't I have yours, G.? We must make these small sacrifices +of comfort and elegance, you know, to secure independence and freedom."</p> + +<p>"Very well," I said, denuding the table. "This may do for a drummer +boy."</p> + +<p><i>Dec. 26,</i> 1861.—The foul weather cleared off bright and cool in time +for Christmas. There is a midwinter lull in the movement of troops. In +the evening we went to the grand bazaar in the St. Louis Hotel, got up +to clothe the soldiers. This bazaar has furnished the gayest, most +fashionable war-work yet, and has kept social circles in a flutter of +pleasant, heroic excitement all through December. Everything beautiful +or rare garnered in the homes of the rich was given for exhibition, and +in some cases for raffle and sale. There were many fine paintings, +statues, bronzes, engravings, gems, laces—in fact, heirlooms and +bric-à-brac of all sorts. There were many lovely creole girls present, +in exquisite toilets, passing to and fro through the decorated rooms, +listening to the band clash out the Anvil Chorus.</p> + +<p><i>Jan. 2,</i> 1862.—I am glad enough to bid '61 good-by. Most miserable +year of my life! What ages of thought and experience have I not lived in +it!</p> + +<p>The city authorities have been searching houses for firearms. It is a +good way to get more guns, and the homes of those men suspected of +being Unionists were searched first. Of course they went to Dr. B.'s. He +met them with his own delightful courtesy. "Wish to search for arms? +Certainly, gentlemen." He conducted them all through the house with +smiling readiness, and after what seemed a very thorough search bowed +them politely out. His gun was all the time safely reposing between the +canvas folds of a cot-bed which leaned folded up together against the +wall, in the very room where they had ransacked the closets. Queerly, +the rebel families have been the ones most anxious to conceal all +weapons. They have dug graves quietly at night in the back yards, and +carefully wrapping the weapons, buried them out of sight. Every man +seems to think he will have some private fighting to do to protect his +family.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>V</h3> + +<h3>MARRIED</h3> + + +<p><i>Friday, Jan. 24,</i> 1862. (<i>On Steamboat W., Mississippi River.</i>)—With a +changed name I open you once more, my journal. It was a sad time to wed, +when one knew not how long the expected conscription would spare the +bridegroom. The women-folk knew how to sympathize with a girl expected +to prepare for her wedding in three days, in a blockaded city, and about +to go far from any base of supplies. They all rallied round me with +tokens of love and consideration, and sewed, shopped, mended, and +packed, as if sewing soldier clothes. And they decked the whole house +and the church with flowers. Music breathed, wine sparkled, friends came +and went. It seemed a dream, and comes up now again out of the afternoon +sunshine where I sit on deck. The steamboat slowly plows its way through +lumps of floating ice,—a novel sight to me,—and I look forward +wondering whether the new people I shall meet will be as fierce about +the war as those in New Orleans. That past is to be all forgotten and +forgiven; I understood thus the kindly acts that sought to brighten the +threshold of a new life.</p> + +<p><i>Feb. 15.</i> (<i>Village of X.</i>)—We reached Arkansas Landing at nightfall. +Mr. Y., the planter who owns the landing, took us right up to his +residence. He ushered me into a large room where a couple of candles +gave a dim light, and close to them, and sewing as if on a race with +Time, sat Mrs. Y. and a little negro girl, who was so black and sat so +stiff and straight she looked like an ebony image. This was a large +plantation; the Y.'s knew H. very well, and were very kind and cordial +in their welcome and congratulations. Mrs. Y. apologized for continuing +her work; the war had pushed them this year in getting the negroes +clothed, and she had to sew by dim candles, as they could obtain no more +oil. She asked if there were any new fashions in New Orleans.</p> + +<p>Next morning we drove over to our home in this village. It is the +county-seat, and was, till now, a good place for the practice of H.'s +profession. It lies on the edge of a lovely lake. The adjacent planters +count their slaves by the hundreds. Some of them live with a good deal +of magnificence, using service of plate, having smoking-rooms for the +gentlemen built off the house, and entertaining with great hospitality. +The Baptists, Episcopalians, and Methodists hold services on alternate +Sundays in the court-house. All the planters and many others near the +lake shore keep a boat at their landing, and a raft for crossing +vehicles and horses. It seemed very piquant at first, this taking our +boat to go visiting, and on moonlight nights it was charming. The woods +around are lovelier than those in Louisiana, though one misses the +moaning of the pines. There is fine fishing and hunting, but these +cotton estates are not so pleasant to visit as sugar plantations.</p> + +<p>But nothing else has been so delightful as, one morning, my first sight +of snow and a wonderful new, white world.</p> + +<p><i>Feb. 27.</i>—The people here have hardly felt the war yet. There are but +two classes. The planters and the professional men form one; the very +poor villagers the other. There is no middle class. Ducks and +partridges, squirrels and fish, are to be had. H. has bought me a nice +pony, and cantering along the shore of the lake in the sunset is a +panacea for mental worry.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>VI</h3> + +<h3>HOW IT WAS IN ARKANSAS</h3> + + +<p><i>March 11,</i> 1862.—The serpent has entered our Eden. The rancor and +excitement of New Orleans have invaded this place. If an incautious word +betrays any want of sympathy with popular plans, one is "traitorous," +"ungrateful," "crazy." If one remains silent and controlled, then one is +"phlegmatic," "cool-blooded," "unpatriotic." Cool-blooded! Heavens! if +they only knew. It is very painful to see lovable and intelligent women +rave till the blood mounts to face and brain. The immediate cause of +this access of war fever has been the battle of Pea Ridge. They scout +the idea that Price and Van Dorn have been completely worsted. Those who +brought the news were speedily told what they ought to say. "No, it is +only a serious check; they must have more men sent forward at once. This +country must do its duty." So the women say another company <i>must</i> be +raised.</p> + +<p>We were guests at a dinner-party yesterday. Mrs. A. was very talkative. +"Now, ladies, you must all join in with a vim and help equip another +company."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. L.," she said, turning to me, "are you not going to send your +husband? Now use a young bride's influence and persuade him; he would be +elected one of the officers." "Mrs. A.," I replied, longing to spring up +and throttle her, "the Bible says, 'When a man hath married a new wife, +he shall not go to war for one year, but remain at home and cheer up his +wife.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, H.," I questioned, as we walked home after crossing the lake, +"can you stand the pressure, or shall you be forced into volunteering?" +"Indeed," he replied, "I will not be bullied into enlisting by women, or +by men. I will sooner take my chance of conscription and feel honest +about it. You know my attachments, my interests are here; these are my +people. I could never fight against them; but my judgment disapproves +their course, and the result will inevitably be against us."</p> + +<p>This morning the only Irishman left in the village presented himself to +H. He has been our wood-sawyer, gardener, and factotum, but having +joined the new company, his time recently has been taken up with +drilling. H. and Mr. R. feel that an extensive vegetable garden must be +prepared while he is here to assist, or we shall be short of food, and +they sent for him yesterday.</p> + +<p>"So, Mike, you are really going to be a soldier?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sor; but faith, Mr. L., I don't see the use of me going to shtop a +bullet when sure an' I'm willin' for it to go where it plazes."</p> + +<p><i>March 18,</i> 1862.—There has been unusual gaiety in this little village +the past few days. The ladies from the surrounding plantations went to +work to get up a festival to equip the new company. As Annie and myself +are both brides recently from the city, requisition was made upon us for +engravings, costumes, music, garlands, and so forth. Annie's heart was +in the work; not so with me. Nevertheless, my pretty things were +captured, and shone with just as good a grace last evening as if +willingly lent. The ball was a merry one. One of the songs sung was +"Nellie Gray," in which the most distressing feature of slavery is +bewailed so pitifully. To sing this at a festival for raising money to +clothe soldiers fighting to perpetuate that very thing was strange.</p> + +<p><i>March 20,</i> 1862.—A man professing to act by General Hindman's orders +is going through the country impressing horses and mules. The overseer +of a certain estate came to inquire of H. if he had not a legal right +to protect the property from seizure. Mr. L. said yes, unless the agent +could show some better credentials than his bare word. This answer soon +spread about, and the overseer returned to report that it excited great +indignation, especially among the company of new volunteers. H. was +pronounced a traitor, and they declared that no one so untrue to the +Confederacy should live there. When H. related the circumstance at +dinner, his partner, Mr. R., became very angry, being ignorant of H.'s +real opinions. He jumped up in a rage and marched away to the village +thoroughfare. There he met a batch of the volunteers, and said, "We know +what you have said of us, and I have come to tell you that you are +liars, and you know where to find us."</p> + +<p>Of course I expected a difficulty; but the evening passed, and we +retired undisturbed. Not long afterward a series of indescribable sounds +broke the stillness of the night, and the tramp of feet was heard +outside the house. Mr. R. called out, "It's a serenade, H. Get up and +bring out all the wine you have." Annie and I peeped through the parlor +window, and lo! it was the company of volunteers and a diabolical band +composed of bones and broken-winded brass instruments. They piped and +clattered and whined for some time, and then swarmed in, while we ladies +retreated and listened to the clink of glasses.</p> + +<p><i>March 22.</i>—H., Mr. R., and Mike have been very busy the last few days +getting the acre of kitchen-garden plowed and planted. The stay-law has +stopped all legal business, and they have welcomed this work. But to-day +a thunderbolt fell in our household. Mr. R. came in and announced that +he had agreed to join the company of volunteers. Annie's Confederate +principles would not permit her to make much resistance, and she has +been sewing and mending as fast as possible to get his clothes ready, +stopping now and then to wipe her eyes. Poor Annie! She and Max have +been married only a few months longer than we have; but a noble sense of +duty animates and sustains her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>VII</h3> + +<h3>THE FIGHT FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING</h3> + + +<p><i>April 1.</i>—The last ten days have brought changes in the house. Max R. +left with the company to be mustered in, leaving with us his weeping +Annie. Hardly were her spirits somewhat composed when her brother +arrived from Natchez to take her home. This morning he, Annie, and +Reeney, the black handmaiden, posted off. Out of seven of us only H., +myself, and Aunt Judy are left. The absence of Reeney will be not the +least noted. She was as precious an imp as any Topsy ever was. Her +tricks were endless and her innocence of them amazing. When sent out to +bring in eggs she would take them from nests where hens were hatching, +and embryo chickens would be served up at breakfast, while Reeney stood +by grinning to see them opened; but when accused she was imperturbable. +"Laws, Mis' L., I nebber done bin nigh dem hens. Mis' Annie, you can go +count dem dere eggs." That when counted they were found minus the +number she had brought had no effect on her stolid denial. H. has +plenty to do finishing the garden all by himself, but the time rather +drags for me.</p> + +<p><i>April 13,</i> 1862.—This morning I was sewing up a rent in H.'s garden +coat, when Aunt Judy rushed in.</p> + +<p>"Laws! Mis' L., here's Mr. Max and Mis' Annie done come back!" A buggy +was coming up with Max, Annie, and Reeney.</p> + +<p>"Well, is the war over?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I got sick!" replied our returned soldier, getting slowly out of +the buggy.</p> + +<p>He was very thin and pale, and explained that he took a severe cold +almost at once, had a mild attack of pneumonia, and the surgeon got him +his discharge as unfit for service. He succeeded in reaching Annie, and +a few days of good care made him strong enough to travel back home.</p> + +<p>"I suppose, H., you've heard that Island No. 10 is gone?"</p> + +<p>Yes, we had heard that much, but Max had the particulars, and an +exciting talk followed. At night H. said to me, "G., New Orleans will be +the next to go, you'll see, and I want to get there first; this +stagnation here will kill me."</p> + +<p><i>April 28.</i>—This evening has been very lovely, but full of a sad +disappointment. H. invited me to drive. As we turned homeward he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, my arrangements are completed. You can begin to pack your trunks +to-morrow, and I shall have a talk with Max."</p> + +<p>Mr. R. and Annie were sitting on the gallery as I ran up the steps.</p> + +<p>"Heard the news?" they cried.</p> + +<p>"No. What news?"</p> + +<p>"New Orleans is taken! All the boats have been run up the river to save +them. No more mails."</p> + +<p>How little they knew what plans of ours this dashed away. But our +disappointment is truly an infinitesimal drop in the great waves of +triumph and despair surging to-night in thousands of hearts.</p> + +<p><i>April 30.</i>—The last two weeks have glided quietly away without +incident except the arrival of new neighbors—Dr. Y., his wife, two +children, and servants. That a professional man prospering in Vicksburg +should come now to settle in this retired place looks queer. Max said:</p> + +<p>"H., that man has come here to hide from the conscript officers. He has +brought no end of provisions, and is here for the war. He has chosen +well, for this county is so cleaned of men it won't pay to send the +conscript officers here."</p> + +<p>Our stores are diminishing and cannot be replenished from without; +ingenuity and labor must evoke them. We have a fine garden in growth, +plenty of chickens, and hives of bees to furnish honey in lieu of sugar. +A good deal of salt meat has been stored in the smoke-house, and, with +fish from the lake, we expect to keep the wolf from the door. The season +for game is about over, but an occasional squirrel or duck comes to the +larder, though the question of ammunition has to be considered. What we +have may be all we can have, if the war lasts five years longer; and +they say they are prepared to hold out till the crack of doom. Food, +however, is not the only want. I never realized before the varied needs +of civilization. Every day something is <i>out</i>. Last week but two bars +of soap remained, so we began to save bones and ashes. Annie said: "Now +if we only had some china-berry trees here, we shouldn't need any other +grease. They are making splendid soap at Vicksburg with china-balls. +They just put the berries into the lye and it eats them right up and +makes a fine soap." I did long for some china-berries to make this +experiment. H. had laid in what seemed a good supply of kerosene, but it +is nearly gone, and we are down to two candles kept for an emergency. +Annie brought a receipt from Natchez for making candles of rosin and +wax, and with great forethought brought also the wick and rosin. So +yesterday we tried making candles. We had no molds, but Annie said the +latest style in Natchez was to make a waxen rope by dipping, then wrap +it round a corn-cob. But H. cut smooth blocks of wood about four inches +square, into which he set a polished cylinder about four inches high. +The waxen ropes were coiled round the cylinder like a serpent, with the +head raised about two inches; as the light burned down to the cylinder, +more of the rope was unwound. To-day the vinegar was found to be all +gone, and we have started to make some. For tyros we succeed pretty +well.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<h3>DROWNED OUT AND STARVED OUT</h3> + + +<p><i>May 9.</i>—A great misfortune has come upon us all. For several days +every one has been uneasy about the unusual rise of the Mississippi and +about a rumor that the Federal forces had cut levees above to swamp the +country. There is a slight levee back of the village, and H. went +yesterday to examine it. It looked strong, and we hoped for the best. +About dawn this morning a strange gurgle woke me. It had a pleasing, +lulling effect. I could not fully rouse at first, but curiosity +conquered at last, and I called H.</p> + +<p>"Listen to that running water. What is it?"</p> + +<p>He sprung up, listened a second, and shouted: "Max, get up! The water is +on us!" They both rushed off to the lake for the skiff. The levee had +not broken. The water was running clean over it and through the garden +fence so rapidly that by the time I dressed and got outside Max was +paddling the pirogue they had brought in among the pea-vines, gathering +all the ripe peas left above the water. We had enjoyed one mess, and he +vowed we should have another.</p> + +<p>H. was busy nailing a raft together while he had a dry place to stand +on. Annie and I, with Reeney, had to secure the chickens, and the back +piazza was given up to them. By the time a hasty breakfast was eaten the +water was in the kitchen. The stove and everything there had to be put +up in the dining-room. Aunt Judy and Reeney had likewise to move into +the house, their floor also being covered with water. The raft had to be +floated to the storehouse and a platform built, on which everything was +elevated. At evening we looked around and counted the cost. The garden +was utterly gone. Last evening we had walked round the strawberry-beds +that fringed the whole acre and tasted a few just ripe. The hives were +swamped. Many of the chickens were drowned. Sancho had been sent to +high ground, where he could get grass. In the village everything green +was swept away. Yet we were better off than many others; for this house, +being raised, we have escaped the water indoors. It just laves the edge +of the galleries.</p> + +<p><i>May 26.</i>—During the past week we have lived somewhat like Venetians, +with a boat at the front steps and a raft at the back. Sunday H. and I +took skiff to church. The clergyman, who is also tutor at a planter's +across the lake, preached to the few who had arrived in skiffs. We shall +not try it again, it is so troublesome getting in and out at the +court-house steps. The imprisonment is hard to endure. It threatened to +make me really ill, so every evening H. lays a thick wrap in the +pirogue, I sit on it, and we row off to the ridge of dry land running +along the lake-shore and branching off to a strip of wood also out of +water. Here we disembark and march up and down till dusk. A great deal +of the wood got wet and had to be laid out to dry on the galleries, with +clothing, and everything that must be dried. One's own trials are +intensified by the worse suffering around that we can do nothing to +relieve.</p> + +<p>Max has a puppy named after General Price. The gentlemen had both gone +up-town yesterday in the skiff when Annie and I heard little Price's +despairing cries from under the house, and we got on the raft to find +and save him. We wore light morning dresses and slippers, for shoes are +becoming precious. Annie donned a Shaker and I a broad hat. We got the +raft pushed out to the center of the grounds opposite the house, and +could see Price clinging to a post; the next move must be to navigate +the raft up to the side of the house and reach for Price. It sounds +easy; but poke around with our poles as wildly or as scientifically as +we might, the raft would not budge. The noonday sun was blazing right +overhead, and the muddy water running all over slippered feet and dainty +dresses. How long we stayed praying for rescue, yet wincing already at +the laugh that would come with it, I shall never know. It seemed like a +day before the welcome boat and the "Ha, ha!" of H. and Max were heard. +The confinement tells severely on all the animal life about us. Half the +chickens are dead and the other half sick.</p> + +<p>The days drag slowly. We have to depend mainly on books to relieve the +tedium, for we have no piano; none of us like cards; we are very poor +chess-players, and the chess-set is incomplete. When we gather round the +one lamp—we dare not light any more—each one exchanges the gems of +thought or mirthful ideas he finds. Frequently the gnats and the +mosquitos are so bad we cannot read at all. This evening, till a strong +breeze blew them away, they were intolerable. Aunt Judy goes about in a +dignified silence, too full for words, only asking two or three times, +"W'at I done tole you fum de fust?" The food is a trial. This evening +the snaky candles lighted the glass and silver on the supper-table with +a pale gleam, and disclosed a frugal supper indeed—tea without milk +(for all the cows are gone), honey, and bread. A faint ray twinkled on +the water swishing against the house and stretching away into the dark +woods. It looked like civilization and barbarism met together. Just as +we sat down to it, some one passing in a boat shouted that Confederates +and Federals were fighting at Vicksburg.</p> + +<p><i>Monday, June 2.</i>—On last Friday morning, just three weeks from the day +the water rose, signs of its falling began. Yesterday the ground +appeared, and a hard rain coming down at the same time washed off much +of the unwholesome debris. To-day is fine, and we went out without a +boat for a long walk.</p> + +<p><i>June 13.</i>—Since the water ran off, we have, of course, been attacked +by swamp fever. H. succumbed first, then Annie, Max next, and then I. +Luckily, the new Dr. Y. had brought quinine with him, and we took heroic +doses. Such fever never burned in my veins before or sapped strength so +rapidly, though probably the want of good food was a factor. The two or +three other professional men have left. Dr. Y. alone remains. The roads +now being dry enough, H. and Max started on horseback, in different +directions, to make an exhaustive search for food supplies. H. got back +this evening with no supplies.</p> + +<p><i>June 15.</i>—Max got back to-day. He started right off again to cross the +lake and interview the planters on that side, for they had not suffered +from overflow.</p> + +<p><i>June 16.</i>—Max got back this morning. H. and he were in the parlor +talking and examining maps together till dinner-time. When that was over +they laid the matter before us. To buy provisions had proved impossible. +The planters across the lake had decided to issue rations of corn-meal +and pease to the villagers whose men had all gone to war, but they +utterly refused to sell anything. "They told me," said Max, "'We will +not see your family starve, Mr. R.; but with such numbers of slaves and +the village poor to feed, we can spare nothing for sale.'" "Well, of +course," said H., "we do not purpose to stay here and live on charity +rations. We must leave the place at all hazards. We have studied out +every route and made inquiries everywhere we went. We shall have to go +down the Mississippi in an open boat as far as Fetler's Landing (on the +eastern bank). There we can cross by land and put the boat into Steele's +Bayou, pass thence to the Yazoo River, from there to Chickasaw Bayou, +into McNutt's Lake, and land near my uncle's in Warren County."</p> + +<p><i>June 20.</i>—As soon as our intended departure was announced, we were +besieged by requests for all sorts of things wanted in every +family—pins, matches, gunpowder, and ink. One of the last cases H. and +Max had before the stay-law stopped legal business was the settlement of +an estate that included a country store. The heirs had paid in chattels +of the store. These had remained packed in the office. The main contents +of the cases were hardware; but we found treasure indeed—a keg of +powder, a case of matches, a paper of pins, a bottle of ink. Red ink is +now made out of pokeberries. Pins are made by capping thorns with +sealing-wax, or using them as nature made them. These were articles +money could not get for us. We would give our friends a few matches to +save for the hour of tribulation. The paper of pins we divided evenly, +and filled a bank-box each with the matches. H. filled a tight tin case +apiece with powder for Max and himself and sold the rest, as we could +not carry any more on such a trip. Those who did not hear of this in +time offered fabulous prices afterward for a single pound. But money +has not its old attractions. Our preparations were delayed by Aunt Judy +falling sick of swamp fever.</p> + +<p><i>Friday, June 27.</i>—As soon as the cook was up again, we resumed +preparations. We put all the clothing in order, and had it nicely done +up with the last of the soap and starch. "I wonder," said Annie, "when I +shall ever have nicely starched clothes after these? They had no starch +in Natchez or Vicksburg when I was there." We are now furbishing up +dresses suitable for such rough summer travel. While we sat at work +yesterday, the quiet of the clear, calm noon was broken by a low, +continuous roar like distant thunder. To-day we are told it was probably +cannon at Vicksburg. This is a great distance, I think, to have heard +it—over a hundred miles.</p> + +<p>H. and Max have bought a large yawl and are busy on the lake-bank +repairing it and fitting it with lockers. Aunt Judy's master has been +notified when to send for her; a home for the cat Jeff has been engaged; +Price is dead, and Sancho sold. Nearly all the furniture is disposed of, +except things valued from association, which will be packed in H.'s +office and left with some one likely to stay through the war. It is +hardest to leave the books.</p> + +<p><i>Tuesday, July 8.</i>—We start to-morrow. Packing the trunks was a +problem. Annie and I are allowed one large trunk apiece, the gentlemen a +smaller one each, and we a light carpet-sack apiece for toilet articles. +I arrived with six trunks and leave with one! We went over everything +carefully twice, rejecting, trying to off the bonds of custom and get +down to primitive needs. At last we made a judicious selection. +Everything old or worn was left; everything merely ornamental, except +good lace, which was light. Gossamer evening dresses were all left. I +calculated on taking two or three books that would bear the most reading +if we were again shut up where none could be had, and so, of course, +took Shakspere first. Here I was interrupted to go and pay a farewell +visit, and when we returned Max had packed and nailed the cases of books +to be left. Chance thus limited my choice to those that happened to be +in my room—"Paradise Lost," the "Arabian Nights," a volume of +Macaulay's History I was reading, and my prayer-book. To-day the +provisions for the trip were cooked: the last of the flour was made into +large loaves of bread; a ham and several dozen eggs were boiled; the few +chickens that have survived the overflow were fried; the last of the +coffee was parched and ground; and the modicum of the tea was well +corked up. Our friends across the lake added a jar of butter and two of +preserves. H. rode off to X. after dinner to conclude some business +there, and I sat down before a table to tie bundles of things to be +left. The sunset glowed and faded, and the quiet evening came on calm +and starry. I sat by the window till evening deepened into night, and as +the moon rose I still looked a reluctant farewell to the lovely lake and +the grand woods, till the sound of H.'s horse at the gate broke the +spell.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>IX</h3> + +<h3>HOMELESS AND SHELTERLESS</h3> + + +<p><i>Thursday, July 10.</i> (—— <i>Plantation.</i>)—Yesterday about four o'clock +we walked to the lake and embarked. Provisions and utensils were packed +in the lockers, and a large trunk was stowed at each end. The blankets +and cushions were placed against one of them, and Annie and I sat on +them Turkish fashion. Near the center the two smaller trunks made a +place for Reeney. Max and H. were to take turns at the rudder and oars. +The last word was a fervent God-speed from Mr. E., who is left in charge +of all our affairs. We believe him to be a Union man, but have never +spoken of it to him. We were gloomy enough crossing the lake, for it was +evident the heavily laden boat would be difficult to manage. Last night +we stayed at this plantation, and from the window of my room I see the +men unloading the boat to place it on the cart, which a team of oxen +will haul to the river. These hospitable people are kindness itself, +till you mention the war.</p> + +<p><i>Saturday, July 12.</i> (<i>Under a cotton-shed on the bank of the +Mississippi River.</i>)—Thursday was a lovely day, and the sight of the +broad river exhilarating. The negroes launched and reloaded the boat, +and when we had paid them and spoken good-by to them we felt we were +really off. Every one had said that if we kept in the current the boat +would almost go of itself, but in fact the current seemed to throw it +about, and hard pulling was necessary. The heat of the sun was very +severe, and it proved impossible to use an umbrella or any kind of +shade, as it made steering more difficult. Snags and floating timbers +were very troublesome. Twice we hurried up to the bank out of the way of +passing gunboats, but they took no notice of us. When we got thirsty, it +was found that Max had set the jug of water in the shade of a tree and +left it there. We must dip up the river water or go without. When it got +too dark to travel safely we disembarked. Reeney gathered wood, made a +fire and some tea, and we had a good supper. We then divided, H. and I +remaining to watch the boat, Max and Annie on shore. She hung up a +mosquito-bar to the trees and went to bed comfortably. In the boat the +mosquitos were horrible, but I fell asleep and slept till voices on the +bank woke me. Annie was wandering disconsolate round her bed, and when I +asked the trouble, said, "Oh, I can't sleep there! I found a toad and a +lizard in the bed." When dropping off again, H. woke me to say he was +very sick; he thought it was from drinking the river water. With +difficulty I got a trunk opened to find some medicine. While doing so a +gunboat loomed up vast and gloomy, and we gave each other a good fright. +Our voices doubtless reached her, for instantly every one of her lights +disappeared and she ran for a few minutes along the opposite bank. We +momently expected a shell as a feeler.</p> + +<p>At dawn next morning we made coffee and a hasty breakfast, fixed up as +well as we could in our sylvan dressing-rooms, and pushed on; for it is +settled that traveling between eleven and two will have to be given up +unless we want to be roasted alive. H. grew worse. He suffered terribly, +and the rest of us as much to see him pulling in such a state of +exhaustion. Max would not trust either of us to steer. About eleven we +reached the landing of a plantation. Max walked up to the house and +returned with the owner, an old gentleman living alone with his slaves. +The housekeeper, a young colored girl, could not be surpassed in her +graceful efforts to make us comfortable and anticipate every want. I was +so anxious about H. that I remember nothing except that the cold +drinking-water taken from a cistern beneath the building, into which +only the winter rains were allowed to fall, was like an elixir. They +offered luscious peaches that, with such water, were nectar and ambrosia +to our parched lips. At night the housekeeper said she was sorry they +had no mosquito-bars ready, and hoped the mosquitos would not be thick, +but they came out in legions. I knew that on sleep that night depended +recovery or illness for H., and all possibility of proceeding next day. +So I sat up fanning away mosquitos that he might sleep, toppling over +now and then on the pillows till roused by his stirring. I contrived to +keep this up till, as the chill before dawn came, they abated and I got +a short sleep. Then, with the aid of cold water, a fresh toilet, and a +good breakfast, I braced up for another day's baking in the boat.</p> + +<p>If I had been well and strong as usual, the discomforts of such a +journey would not have seemed so much to me; but I was still weak from +the effects of the fever, and annoyed by a worrying toothache which +there had been no dentist to rid me of in our village.</p> + +<p>Having paid and dismissed the boat's watchman, we started and traveled +till eleven to-day, when we stopped at this cotton-shed. When our dais +was spread and lunch laid out in the cool breeze, it seemed a blessed +spot. A good many negroes came offering chickens and milk in exchange +for tobacco, which we had not. We bought some milk with money.</p> + +<p>A United States transport just now steamed by, and the men on the guards +cheered and waved to us. We all replied but Annie. Even Max was +surprised into an answering cheer, and I waved my handkerchief with a +very full heart as the dear old flag we had not seen for so long floated +by; but Annie turned her back.</p> + +<p><i>Sunday, July 13.</i> <i>(Under a tree on the east bank of the +Mississippi</i>)—Late on Saturday evening we reached a plantation whose +owner invited us to spend the night at his house. What a delightful +thing is courtesy! The first tone of our host's welcome indicated the +true gentleman. We never leave the oars with the watchman; Max takes +these, Annie and I each take a band-box, H. takes my carpet-sack, and +Reeney brings up the rear with Annie's. It is a funny procession. Mr. +B.'s family were absent, and as we sat on the gallery talking, it needed +only a few minutes to show this was a "Union man." His home was elegant +and tasteful, but even here there was neither tea nor coffee.</p> + +<p>About eleven we stopped here in this shady place. While eating lunch the +negroes again came imploring for tobacco. Soon an invitation came from +the house for us to come and rest. We gratefully accepted, but found +their idea of rest for warm, tired travelers was to sit in the parlor on +stiff chairs while the whole family trooped in, cool and clean in fresh +toilets, to stare and question. We soon returned to the trees; however, +they kindly offered corn-meal pound-cake and beer, which were excellent.</p> + +<p>Eight gunboats and one transport have passed us. Getting out of their +way has been troublesome. Our gentlemen's hands are badly blistered.</p> + +<p><i>Tuesday, July 15.</i>—Sunday night about ten we reached the place where, +according to our map, Steele's Bayou comes nearest to the Mississippi, +and where the landing should be; but when we climbed the steep bank +there was no sign of habitation. Max walked off into the woods on a +search, and was gone so long we feared he had lost his way. He could +find no road. H. suggested shouting, and both began. At last a distant +halloo replied, and by cries the answerer was guided to us. A negro came +forward and said that was the right place, his master kept the landing, +and he would watch the boat for five dollars. He showed the road, and +said his master's house was one mile off and another house two miles. We +mistook, and went to the one two miles off. At one o'clock we reached +Mr. Fetler's, who was pleasant, and said we should have the best he had. +The bed into whose grateful softness I sank was piled with mattresses to +within two or three feet of the ceiling; and, with no step-ladder, +getting in and out was a problem. This morning we noticed the high-water +mark, four feet above the lower floor. Mrs. Fetler said they had lived +up-stairs several weeks.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>X</h3> + +<h3>FRIGHTS AND PERILS IN STEELE'S BAYOU</h3> + + +<p><i>Wednesday, July 16.</i> (<i>Under a tree on the bank of Steele's +Bayou.</i>)—Early this morning our boat was taken out of the Mississippi +and put on Mr. Fetler's ox-cart. After breakfast we followed on foot. +The walk in the woods was so delightful that all were disappointed when +a silvery gleam through the trees showed the bayou sweeping along, full +to the banks, with dense forest trees almost meeting over it. The boat +was launched, calked, and reloaded, and we were off again. Toward noon +the sound of distant cannon began to echo around, probably from +Vicksburg again. About the same time we began to encounter rafts. To get +around them required us to push through brush so thick that we had to +lie down in the boat. The banks were steep and the land on each side a +bog. About one o'clock we reached this clear space with dry shelving +banks, and disembarked to eat lunch. To our surprise a neatly dressed +woman came tripping down the declivity, bringing a basket. She said she +lived above and had seen our boat. Her husband was in the army, and we +were the first white people she had talked to for a long while. She +offered some corn-meal pound-cake and beer, and as she climbed back told +us to "look out for the rapids." H. is putting the boat in order for our +start, and says she is waving good-by from the bluff above.</p> + +<p><i>Thursday, July 17.</i> (<i>On a raft in Steele's Bayou.</i>)—Yesterday we went +on nicely awhile, and at afternoon came to a strange region of rafts, +extending about three miles, on which persons were living. Many saluted +us, saying they had run away from Vicksburg at the first attempt of the +fleet to shell it. On one of these rafts, about twelve feet square,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +bagging had been hung up to form three sides of a tent. A bed was in one +corner, and on a low chair, with her provisions in jars and boxes +grouped round her, sat an old woman feeding a lot of chickens.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> More likely twelve yards.—G.W.C.</p></div> + +<p>Having moonlight, we had intended to travel till late. But about ten +o'clock, the boat beginning to go with great speed, H., who was +steering, called to Max:</p> + +<p>"Don't row so fast; we may run against something."</p> + +<p>"I'm hardly pulling at all."</p> + +<p>"Then we're in what she called the rapids!"</p> + +<p>The stream seemed indeed to slope downward, and in a minute a dark line +was visible ahead. Max tried to turn, but could not, and in a second +more we dashed against this immense raft, only saved from breaking up by +the men's quickness. We got out upon it and ate supper. Then, as the +boat was leaking and the current swinging it against the raft, H. and +Max thought it safer to watch all night, but told us to go to sleep. It +was a strange spot to sleep in—a raft in the middle of a boiling +stream, with a wilderness stretching on either side. The moon made +ghostly shadows, and showed H., sitting still as a ghost, in the stern +of the boat, while mingled with the gurgle of the water round the raft +beneath was the boom of cannon in the air, solemnly breaking the silence +of night. It drizzled now and then, and the mosquitos swarmed over us. +My fan and umbrella had been knocked overboard, so I had no weapon +against them. Fatigue, however, overcomes everything, and I contrived to +sleep.</p> + +<p>H. roused us at dawn. Reeney found lightwood enough on the raft to make +a good fire for coffee, which never tasted better. Then all hands +assisted in unloading; a rope was fastened to the boat, Max got in, H. +held the rope on the raft, and, by much pulling and pushing, it was +forced through a narrow passage to the farther side. Here it had to be +calked, and while that was being done we improvised a dressing-room in +the shadow of our big trunks. During the trip I had to keep the time, +therefore properly to secure belt and watch was always an anxious part +of my toilet. The boat is now repacked, and while Annie and Reeney are +washing cups I have scribbled, wishing much that mine were the hand of +an artist.</p> + +<p><i>Friday morn, July 18.</i> (<i>House of Colonel K., on Yazoo River.</i>)—After +leaving the raft yesterday all went well till noon, when we came to a +narrow place where an immense tree lay clear across the stream. It +seemed the insurmountable obstacle at last. We sat despairing what to +do, when a man appeared beside us in a pirogue. So sudden, so silent was +his arrival that we were thrilled with surprise. He said if we had a +hatchet he could help us. His fairy bark floated in among the branches +like a bubble, and he soon chopped a path for us, and was delighted to +get some matches in return. He said the cannon we heard yesterday were +in an engagement with the ram <i>Arkansas</i>, which ran out of the Yazoo +that morning. We did not stop for dinner to-day, but ate a hasty lunch +in the boat, after which nothing but a small piece of bread was left. +About two we reached the forks, one of which ran to the Yazoo, the +other to the Old River. Max said the right fork was our road; H. said +the left, that there was an error in Max's map; but Max steered into the +right fork. After pulling about three miles he admitted his mistake and +turned back; but I shall never forget Old River. It was the vision of a +drowned world, an illimitable waste of dead waters, stretching into a +great, silent, desolate forest.</p> + +<p>Just as we turned into the right way, down came the rain so hard and +fast we had to stop on the bank. It defied trees or umbrellas, and +nearly took away the breath. The boat began to fill, and all five of us +had to bail as fast as possible for the half-hour the sheet of water was +pouring down. As it abated a cold breeze sprang up that, striking our +clothes, chilled us to the bone. All were shivering and blue—no, I was +green. Before leaving Mr. Fetler's Wednesday morning I had donned a +dark-green calico. I wiped my face with a handkerchief out of my pocket, +and face and hands were all dyed a deep green. When Annie turned round +and looked at me she screamed, and I realized how I looked; but she was +not much better, for of all dejected things wet feathers are the worst, +and the plumes in her hat were painful.</p> + +<p>About five we reached Colonel K.'s house, right where Steele's Bayou +empties into the Yazoo. We had both to be fairly dragged out of the +boat, so cramped and weighted were we by wet skirts. The family were +absent, and the house was headquarters for a squad of Confederate +cavalry, which was also absent. The old colored housekeeper received us +kindly, and lighted fires in our rooms to dry the clothing. My trunk +had got cracked on top, and all the clothing to be got at was wet. H. +had dropped his in the river while lifting it out, and his clothes were +wet. A spoonful of brandy apiece was left in the little flask, and I +felt that mine saved me from being ill. Warm blankets and the brandy +revived us, and by supper-time we got into some dry clothes.</p> + +<p>Just then the squad of cavalry returned; they were only a dozen, but +they made much uproar, being in great excitement. Some of them were +known to Max and H., who learned from them that a gunboat was coming to +shell them out of this house. Then ensued a clatter such as twelve men +surely never made before—rattling about the halls and galleries in +heavy boots and spurs, feeding horses, calling for supper, clanking +swords, buckling and unbuckling belts and pistols. At last supper was +despatched, and they mounted and were gone like the wind. We had a quiet +supper and a good night's rest in spite of the expected shells, and did +not wake till ten to-day to realize we were not killed. About eleven +breakfast was furnished. Now we are waiting till the rest of our things +are dried to start on our last day of travel by water.</p> + +<p><i>Sunday, July 20.</i>—A little way down the Yazoo on Friday we ran into +McNutt's Lake, thence into Chickasaw Bayou, and at dark landed at Mrs. +C.'s farm, the nearest neighbors of H.'s uncle. The house was full of +Confederate sick, friends from Vicksburg, and while we ate supper all +present poured out the story of the shelling and all that was to be done +at Vicksburg. Then our stuff was taken from the boat, and we finally +abandoned the stanch little craft that had carried us for over one +hundred and twenty-five miles in a trip occupying nine days. The luggage +in a wagon, and ourselves packed in a buggy, were driven for four or +five miles, over the roughest road I ever traveled, to the farm of Mr. +B., H.'s uncle, where we arrived at midnight and hastened to hide in bed +the utter exhaustion of mind and body. Yesterday we were too tired to +think, or to do anything but eat peaches.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>XI</h3> + +<h3>WILD TIMES IN MISSISSIPPI</h3> + + +<p>This morning there was a most painful scene. Annie's father came into +Vicksburg, ten miles from here, and learned of our arrival from Mrs. +C.'s messenger. He sent out a carriage to bring Annie and Max to town +that they might go home with him, and with it came a letter for me from +friends on the Jackson Railroad, written many weeks before. They had +heard that our village home was under water, and invited us to visit +them. The letter had been sent to Annie's people to forward, and thus +had reached us. This decided H., as the place was near New Orleans, to +go there and wait the chance of getting into that city. Max, when he +heard this from H., lost all self-control and cried like a baby. He +stalked about the garden in the most tragic manner, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Oh! my soul's brother from youth up is a traitor! A traitor to his +country!"</p> + +<p>Then H. got angry and said, "Max, don't be a fool."</p> + +<p>"Who has done this?" bawled Max. "You felt with the South at first; who +has changed you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I feel <i>for</i> the South now, and nobody has changed me but the +logic of events, though the twenty-negro law has intensified my +opinions. I can't see why I, who have no slaves, must go to fight for +them, while every man who has twenty may stay at home."</p> + +<p>I also tried to reason with Max and pour oil on his wound. "Max, what +interest has a man like you, without slaves, in a war for slavery? Even +if you had them, they would not be your best property. That lies in your +country and its resources. Nearly all the world has given up slavery; +why can't the South do the same and end the struggle. It has shown you +what the South needs, and if all went to work with united hands the +South would soon be the greatest country on earth. You have no right to +call H. a traitor; it is we who are the true patriots and lovers of the +South."</p> + +<p>This had to come, but it has upset us both. H. is deeply attached to +Max, and I can't bear to see a cloud between them. Max, with Annie and +Reeney, drove off an hour ago, Annie so glad at the prospect of again +seeing her mother that nothing could cloud her day. And so the close +companionship of six months, and of dangers, trials, and pleasures +shared together, is over.</p> + +<p><i>Oak Ridge, July 26, Saturday.</i>—It was not till Wednesday that H. could +get into Vicksburg, ten miles distant, for a passport, without which we +could not go on the cars. We started Thursday morning. I had to ride +seven miles on a hard-trotting horse to the nearest station. The day was +burning at white heat. When the station was reached my hair was down, +my hat on my neck, and my feelings were indescribable.</p> + +<p>On the train one seemed to be right in the stream of war, among +officers, soldiers, sick men and cripples, adieus, tears, laughter, +constant chatter, and, strangest of all, sentinels posted at the locked +car doors demanding passports. There was no train south from Jackson +that day, so we put up at the Bowman House. The excitement was +indescribable. All the world appeared to be traveling through Jackson. +People were besieging the two hotels, offering enormous prices for the +privilege of sleeping anywhere under a roof. There were many refugees +from New Orleans, among them some acquaintances of mine. The peculiar +styles of [women's] dress necessitated by the exigencies of war gave the +crowd a very striking appearance. In single suits I saw sleeves of one +color, the waist of another, the skirt of another; scarlet jackets and +gray skirts; black waists and blue skirts; black skirts and gray waists; +the trimming chiefly gold braid and buttons, to give a military air. The +gray and gold uniforms of the officers, glittering between, made up a +carnival of color. Every moment we saw strange meetings and partings of +people from all over the South. Conditions of time, space, locality, and +estate were all loosened; everybody seemed floating he knew not whither, +but determined to be jolly, and keep up an excitement. At supper we had +tough steak, heavy, dirty-looking bread, Confederate coffee. The coffee +was made of either parched rye or corn-meal, or of sweet potatoes cut in +small cubes and roasted. This was the favorite. When flavored with +"coffee essence," sweetened with sorghum, and tinctured with chalky +milk, it made a curious beverage which, after tasting, I preferred not +to drink. Every one else was drinking it, and an acquaintance said, "Oh, +you'll get bravely over that. I used to be a Jewess about pork, but now +we just kill a hog and eat it, and kill another and do the same. It's +all we have."</p> + +<p>Friday morning we took the down train for the station near my friend's +house. At every station we had to go through the examination of passes, +as if in a foreign country.</p> + +<p>The conscript camp was at Brookhaven, and every man had been ordered to +report there or to be treated as a deserter. At every station I shivered +mentally, expecting H. to be dragged off. Brookhaven was also the +station for dinner. I choked mine down, feeling the sword hanging over +me by a single hair. At sunset we reached our station. The landlady was +pouring tea when we took our seats, and I expected a treat, but when I +tasted it was sassafras tea, the very odor of which sickens me. There +was a general surprise when I asked to exchange it for a glass of water; +every one was drinking it as if it were nectar. This morning we drove +out here.</p> + +<p>My friend's little nest is calm in contrast to the tumult not far off. +Yet the trials of war are here too. Having no matches, they keep fire, +carefully covering it at night, for Mr. G. has no powder, and cannot +flash the gun into combustibles as some do. One day they had to go with +the children to the village, and the servant let the fire go out. When +they returned at nightfall, wet and hungry, there was neither fire nor +food. Mr. G. had to saddle the tired mule and ride three miles for a pan +of coals, and blow them, all the way back, to keep them alight. Crockery +has gradually been broken and tin cups rusted out, and a visitor told me +they had made tumblers out of clear glass bottles by cutting them smooth +with a heated wire, and that they had nothing else to drink from.</p> + +<p><i>Aug. 11.</i>—We cannot get to New Orleans. A special passport must be +shown, and we are told that to apply for it would render H. very likely +to be conscripted. I begged him not to try; and as we hear that active +hostilities have ceased at Vicksburg, he left me this morning to return +to his uncle's and see what the prospects are there. I shall be in +misery about conscription till he returns.</p> + +<p><i>Sunday, Sept. 7.</i> (<i>Vicksburg, Washington Hotel.</i>)—H. did not return +for three weeks. An epidemic disease broke out in his uncle's family and +two children died. He stayed to assist them in their trouble. Tuesday +evening he returned for me, and we reached Vicksburg yesterday. It was +my first sight of the "Gibraltar of the South." Looking at it from a +slight elevation suggests the idea that the fragments left from +world-building had tumbled into a confused mass of hills, hollows, +hillocks, banks, ditches, and ravines, and that the houses had rained +down afterward. Over all there was dust impossible to conceive. The +bombardment has done little injury. People have returned and resumed +business. A gentleman asked H. if he knew of a nice girl for sale. I +asked if he did not think it impolitic to buy slaves now.</p> + +<p>"Oh, not young ones. Old ones might run off when the enemy's lines +approach ours, but with young ones there is no danger."</p> + +<p>We had not been many hours in town before a position was offered to H. +which seemed providential. The chief of a certain department was in ill +health and wanted a deputy. It secures him from conscription, requires +no oath, and pays a good salary. A mountain seemed lifted off my heart.</p> + +<p><i>Thursday, Sept. 18.</i> (<i>Thanksgiving Day.</i>)—We stayed three days at the +Washington Hotel; then a friend of H.'s called and told him to come to +his house till he could find a home. Boarding-houses have all been +broken up, and the army has occupied the few houses that were for rent. +To-day H. secured a vacant room for two weeks in the only +boarding-house.</p> + +<p><i>Oak Haven, Oct. 3.</i>—To get a house in V. proved impossible, so we +agreed to part for a time till H. could find one. A friend recommended +this quiet farm, six miles from—— [a station on the Jackson Railroad]. +On last Saturday H. came with me as far as Jackson and put me on the +other train for the station.</p> + +<p>On my way hither a lady, whom I judged to be a Confederate +"blockade-runner," told me of the tricks resorted to to get things out +of New Orleans, including this: A very large doll was emptied of its +bran, filled with quinine, and elaborately dressed. When the owner's +trunk was opened, she declared with tears that the doll was for a poor +crippled girl, and it was passed.</p> + +<p>This farm of Mr. W.'s<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> is kept with about forty negroes. Mr. W., +nearly sixty, is the only white man on it. He seems to have been wiser +in the beginning than most others, and curtailed his cotton to make room +for rye, rice, and corn. There is a large vegetable-garden and orchard; +he has bought plenty of stock for beef and mutton, and laid in a large +supply of sugar. He must also have plenty of ammunition, for a man is +kept hunting and supplies the table with delicious wild turkeys and +other game. There is abundance of milk and butter, hives for honey, and +no end of pigs. Chickens seem to be kept like game in parks, for I never +see any, but the hunter shoots them, and eggs are plentiful. We have +chicken for breakfast, dinner, and supper, fried, stewed, broiled, and +in soup, and there is a family of ten. Luckily I never tire of it. They +make starch out of corn-meal by washing the meal repeatedly, pouring off +the water, and drying the sediment. Truly the uses of corn in the +Confederacy are varied. It makes coffee, beer, whisky, starch, cake, +bread. The only privations here are the lack of coffee, tea, salt, +matches, and good candles. Mr. W. is now having the dirt floor of his +smoke-house dug up and boiling from it the salt that has dripped into it +for years. To-day Mrs. W. made tea out of dried blackberry leaves, but +no one liked it. The beds, made out of equal parts of cotton and +corn-shucks, are the most elastic I ever slept in. The servants are +dressed in gray homespun. Hester, the chambermaid, has a gray gown so +pretty that I covet one like it. Mrs. W. is now arranging dyes for the +thread to be woven into dresses for herself and the girls. Sometimes her +hands are a curiosity.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> On this plantation, and in this domestic circle, I myself +afterward sojourned, and from them enlisted in the army. The initials +are fictitious, but the description is perfect.—G.W.C.</p></div> + +<p>The school at the nearest town is broken up, and Mrs. W. says the +children are growing up heathens. Mr. W. has offered me a liberal price +to give the children lessons in English and French, and I have accepted +transiently.</p> + +<p><i>Oct. 28.</i>—It is a month to-day since I came here. I only wish H. could +share these benefits—the nourishing food, the pure aromatic air, the +sound sleep away from the fevered life of Vicksburg. He sends me all the +papers he can get hold of, and we both watch carefully the movements +reported lest an army should get between us. The days are full of useful +work, and in the lovely afternoons I take long walks with a big dog for +company. The girls do not care for walking. In the evening Mr. W. begs +me to read aloud all the war news. He is fond of the "Memphis Appeal," +which has moved from town to town so much that they call it the "Moving +Appeal." I sit in a low chair by the fire, as we have no other light to +read by. Sometimes traveling soldiers stop here, but that is rare.</p> + +<p><i>Oct. 31.</i>—Mr. W. said last night the farmers felt uneasy about the +"Emancipation Proclamation" to take effect in December. The slaves have +found it out, though it had been carefully kept from them.</p> + +<p>"Do yours know it?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. Finding it to be known elsewhere, I told it to mine with fair +warning what to expect if they tried to run away. The hounds are not far +off."</p> + +<p>The need of clothing for their armies is worrying them too. I never saw +Mrs. W. so excited as on last evening. She said the provost-marshal at +the next town had ordered the women to knit so many pairs of socks.</p> + +<p>"Just let him try to enforce it and they will cowhide him. He'll get +none from me. I'll take care of my friends without an order from him."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. W., "if the South is defeated and the slaves set free, +the Southern people will all become atheists; for the Bible justifies +slavery and says it shall be perpetual."</p> + +<p>"You mean, if the Lord does not agree with you, you'll repudiate him."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll feel it's no use to believe in anything."</p> + +<p>At night the large sitting-room makes a striking picture. Mr. W., spare, +erect, gray-headed, patriarchal, sits in his big chair by the odorous +fire of pine logs and knots roaring up the vast fireplace. His driver +brings to him the report of the day's picking and a basket of snowy +cotton for the spinning. The hunter brings in the game. I sit on the +other side to read. The great spinning-wheels stand at the other end of +the room, and Mrs. W. and her black satellites, the elderly women with +their heads in bright bandanas, are hard at work. Slender and +auburn-haired, she steps back and forth out of shadow into shine +following the thread with graceful movements. Some card the cotton, some +reel it into hanks. Over all the firelight glances, now touching the +golden curls of little John toddling about, now the brown heads of the +girls stooping over their books, now the shadowy figure of little Jule, +the girl whose duty it is to supply the fire with rich pine to keep up +the vivid light. If they would only let the child sit down! But that is +not allowed, and she gets sleepy and stumbles and knocks her head +against the wall and then straightens up again. When that happens often +it drives me off. Sometimes while I read the bright room fades and a +vision rises of figures clad in gray and blue lying pale and stiff on +the blood-sprinkled ground.</p> + +<p><i>Nov. 15.</i>—Yesterday a letter was handed me from H. Grant's army was +moving, he wrote, steadily down the Mississippi Central, and might cut +the road at Jackson. He has a house and will meet me in Jackson +to-morrow.</p> + +<p><i>Nov. 20.</i> (<i>Vicksburg.</i>)—A fair morning for my journey back to +Vicksburg. On the train was the gentleman who in New Orleans had told us +we should have all the butter we wanted from Texas. On the cars, as +elsewhere, the question of food alternated with news of the war.</p> + +<p>When we ran into the Jackson station, H. was on the platform, and I +gladly learned that we could go right on. A runaway negro, an old man, +ashy-colored from fright and exhaustion, with his hands chained, was +being dragged along by a common-looking man. Just as we started out of +Jackson the conductor led in a young woman sobbing in a heartbroken +manner. Her grief seemed so overpowering, and she was so young and +helpless, that every one was interested. Her husband went into the army +in the opening of the war, just after their marriage, and she had never +heard from him since. After months of weary searching she learned he had +been heard of at Jackson, and came full of hope, but found no clue. The +sudden breaking down of her hope was terrible. The conductor placed her +in care of a gentleman going her way and left her sobbing. At the next +station the conductor came to ask her about her baggage. She raised her +head to try and answer. "Don't cry so; you'll find him yet." She gave a +start, jumped from her seat with arms flung out and eyes staring. "There +he is now!" she cried. Her husband stood before her.</p> + +<p>The gentleman beside her yielded his seat, and as hand grasped hand a +hysterical gurgle gave place to a look like Heaven's peace. The low +murmur of their talk began and when I looked around at the next station +they had bought pies and were eating them together like happy children.</p> + +<p>Midway between Jackson and Vicksburg we reached the station near where +Annie's parents were staying. I looked out, and there stood Annie with a +little sister on each side of her, brightly smiling at us. Max had +written to H., but we had not seen them since our parting. There was +only time for a word and the train flashed away.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>XII</h3> + +<h3>VICKSBURG</h3> + + +<p>We reached Vicksburg that night and went to H.'s room. Next morning the +cook he had engaged arrived, and we moved into this house. Martha's +ignorance keeps me busy, and H. is kept close at his office.</p> + +<p><i>January 7, 1863.</i>—I have had little to record here recently, for we +have lived to ourselves, not visiting or visited. Every one H. knows is +absent, and I know no one but the family we stayed with at first, and +they are now absent. H. tells me of the added triumph since the repulse +of Sherman in December, and the one paper published here shouts victory +as much as its gradually diminishing size will allow. Paper is a serious +want. There is a great demand for envelops in the office where H. is. He +found and bought a lot of thick and smooth colored paper, cut a tin +pattern, and we have whiled away some long evenings cutting envelops and +making them up. I have put away a package of the best to look at when we +are old. The books I brought from Arkansas have proved a treasure, but +we can get no more. I went to the only book-store open; there were none +but Mrs. Stowe's "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands." The clerk said I +could have that cheap, because he couldn't sell her books, so I got it +and am reading it now. The monotony has only been broken by letters from +friends here and there in the Confederacy. One of these letters tells of +a Federal raid to their place, and says: "But the worst thing was, they +would take every toothbrush in the house, because we can't buy any more; +and one cavalryman put my sister's new bonnet on his horse, and said, +'Get up, Jack,' and her bonnet was gone."</p> + +<p><i>February 25.</i>—A long gap in my journal, because H. has been ill unto +death with typhoid fever, and I nearly broke down from loss of sleep, +there being no one to relieve me. I never understood before how terrible +it was to be alone at night with a patient in delirium, and no one +within call. To wake Martha was simply impossible. I got the best doctor +here, but when convalescence began the question of food was a trial. I +got with great difficulty two chickens. The doctor made the drug-store +sell two of their six bottles of port; he said his patient's life +depended on it. An egg is a rare and precious thing. Meanwhile the +Federal fleet has been gathering, has anchored at the bend, and shells +are thrown in at intervals.</p> + +<p><i>March 20.</i>—The slow shelling of Vicksburg goes on all the time, and we +have grown indifferent. It does not at present interrupt or interfere +with daily avocations, but I suspect they are only getting the range of +different points; and when they have them all complete, showers of shot +will rain on us all at once. Non-combatants have been ordered to leave +or prepare accordingly. Those who are to stay are having caves built. +Cave-digging has become a regular business; prices range from twenty to +fifty dollars, according to size of cave. Two diggers worked at ours a +week and charged thirty dollars. It is well made in the hill that slopes +just in the rear of the house, and well propped with thick posts, as +they all are. It has a shelf also, for holding a light or water. When we +went in this evening and sat down, the earthy, suffocating feeling, as +of a living tomb, was dreadful to me. I fear I shall risk death outside +rather than melt in that dark furnace. The hills are so honeycombed with +caves that the streets look like avenues in a cemetery. The hill called +the Sky-parlor has become quite a fashionable resort for the few +upper-circle families left here. Some officers are quartered there, and +there is a band and a field-glass. Last evening we also climbed the hill +to watch the shelling, but found the view not so good as on a quiet hill +nearer home. Soon a lady began to talk to one of the officers: "It is +such folly for them to waste their ammunition like that. How can they +ever take a town that has such advantages for defense and protection as +this? We'll just burrow into these hills and let them batter away as +hard as they please."</p> + +<p>"You are right, madam; and besides, when our women are so willing to +brave death and endure discomfort, how can we ever be conquered?"</p> + +<p>Soon she looked over with significant glances to where we stood, and +began to talk at H.</p> + +<p>"The only drawback," she said, "are the contemptible men who are staying +at home in comfort, when they ought to be in the army if they had a +spark of honor."</p> + +<p>I cannot repeat all, but it was the usual tirade. It is strange I have +met no one yet who seems to comprehend an honest difference of opinion, +and stranger yet that the ordinary rules of good breeding are now so +entirely ignored. As the spring comes one has the craving for fresh, +green food that a monotonous diet produces. There was a bed of radishes +and onions in the garden that were a real blessing. An onion salad, +dressed only with salt, vinegar, and pepper, seemed a dish fit for a +king; but last night the soldiers quartered near made a raid on the +garden and took them all.</p> + +<p><i>April 2.</i>—We have had to move, and thus lost our cave. The owner of +the house suddenly returned and notified us that he intended to bring +his family back; didn't think there'd be any siege. The cost of the cave +could go for the rent. That means he has got tired of the Confederacy +and means to stay here and thus get out of it. This house was the only +one to be had. It was built by ex-Senator G., and is so large our tiny +household is lost in it. We use only the lower floor. The bell is often +rung by persons who take it for a hotel and come beseeching food at any +price. To-day one came who would not be denied. "We do not keep a hotel, +but would willingly feed hungry soldiers if we had the food." "I have +been traveling all night, and am starving; will pay any price for just +bread." I went to the dining-room and found some biscuits, and set out +two, with a large piece of corn-bread, a small piece of bacon, some nice +syrup, and a pitcher of water. I locked the door of the safe and left +him to enjoy his lunch. After he left I found he had broken open the +safe and taken the remaining biscuits.</p> + +<p><i>April 28.</i>—I never understood before the full force of those +questions—What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall +we be clothed? We have no prophet of the Lord at whose prayer the meal +and oil will not waste. Such minute attention must be given the wardrobe +to preserve it that I have learned to darn like an artist. Making shoes +is now another accomplishment. Mine were in tatters. H. came across a +moth-eaten pair that he bought me, giving ten dollars, I think, and they +fell into rags when I tried to wear them; but the soles were good, and +that has helped me to shoes. A pair of old coat-sleeves saved—nothing +is thrown away now—was in my trunk. I cut an exact pattern from my old +shoes, laid it on the sleeves, and cut out thus good uppers and sewed +them carefully; then soaked the soles and sewed the cloth to them. I am +so proud of these home-made shoes, think I'll put them in a glass case +when the war is over, as an heirloom. H. says he has come to have an +abiding faith that everything he needs to wear will come out of that +trunk while the war lasts. It is like a fairy casket. I have but a dozen +pins remaining, so many I gave away. Every time these are used they are +straightened and kept from rust. All these curious labors are performed +while the shells are leisurely screaming through the air; but as long as +we are out of range we don't worry. For many nights we have had but +little sleep, because the Federal gunboats have been running past the +batteries. The uproar when this is happening is phenomenal. The first +night the thundering artillery burst the bars of sleep, we thought it an +attack by the river. To get into garments and rush up-stairs was the +work of a moment. From the upper gallery we have a fine view of the +river, and soon a red glare lit up the scene and showed a small boat, +towing two large barges, gliding by. The Confederates had set fire to a +house near the bank. Another night, eight boats ran by, throwing a +shower of shot, and two burning houses made the river clear as day. One +of the batteries has a remarkable gun they call "Whistling Dick," +because of the screeching, whistling sound it gives, and certainly it +does sound like a tortured thing. Added to all this is the indescribable +Confederate yell, which is a soul-harrowing sound to hear. I have gained +respect for the mechanism of the human ear, which stands it all without +injury. The streets are seldom quiet at night; even the dragging about +of cannon makes a din in these echoing gullies. The other night we were +on the gallery till the last of the eight boats got by. Next day a +friend said to H., "It was a wonder you didn't have your heads taken +off last night. I passed and saw them stretched over the gallery, and +grape-shot were whizzing up the street just on a level with you." The +double roar of batteries and boats was so great, we never noticed the +whizzing. Yesterday the <i>Cincinnati</i> attempted to go by in daylight but +was disabled and sunk. It was a pitiful sight; we could not see the +finale, though we saw her rendered helpless.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<h3>PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE</h3> + + +<p><i>Vicksburg, May 1, 1863.</i>—It is settled at last that we shall spend the +time of siege in Vicksburg. Ever since we were deprived of our cave, I +had been dreading that H. would suggest sending me to the country, where +his relatives lived. As he could not leave his position and go also +without being conscripted, and as I felt certain an army would get +between us, it was no part of my plan to be obedient. A shell from one +of the practising mortars brought the point to an issue yesterday and +settled it. Sitting at work as usual, listening to the distant sound of +bursting shells, apparently aimed at the court-house, there suddenly +came a nearer explosion; the house shook, and a tearing sound was +followed by terrified screams from the kitchen. I rushed thither, but +met in the hall the cook's little girl America, bleeding from a wound in +the forehead, and fairly dancing with fright and pain, while she uttered +fearful yells. I stopped to examine the wound, and her mother bounded +in, her black face ashy from terror. "Oh! Miss V., my child is killed +and the kitchen tore up." Seeing America was too lively to be a killed +subject, I consoled Martha and hastened to the kitchen. Evidently a +shell had exploded just outside, sending three or four pieces through. +When order was restored I endeavored to impress on Martha's mind the +necessity for calmness and the uselessness of such excitement. Looking +round at the close of the lecture, there stood a group of Confederate +soldiers laughing heartily at my sermon and the promising audience I +had. They chimed in with a parting chorus:</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's no use hollerin', old lady."</p> + +<p>"Oh! H.," I exclaimed, as he entered soon after, "America is wounded."</p> + +<p>"That is no news; she has been wounded by traitors long ago."</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is real, living, little black America. I am not talking in +symbols. Here are the pieces of shell, the first bolt of the coming +siege."</p> + +<p>"Now you see," he replied, "that this house will be but paper to +mortar-shells. You must go in the country."</p> + +<p>The argument was long, but when a woman is obstinate and eloquent, she +generally conquers. I came off victorious, and we finished preparations +for the siege to-day. Hiring a man to assist, we descended to the +wine-cellar, where the accumulated bottles told of the "banquet-hall +deserted," the spirit and glow of the festive hours whose lights and +garlands were dead, and the last guest long since departed. To empty +this cellar was the work of many hours. Then in the safest corner a +platform was laid for our bed, and in another portion one arranged for +Martha. The dungeon, as I call it, is lighted only by a trap-door, and +is so damp it will be necessary to remove the bedding and mosquito-bars +every day. The next question was of supplies. I had nothing left but a +sack of rice-flour, and no manner of cooking I had heard or invented +contrived to make it eatable. A column of recipes for making delicious +preparations of it had been going the rounds of Confederate papers. I +tried them all; they resulted only in brick-bats or sticky paste. H. +sallied out on a hunt for provisions, and when he returned the +disproportionate quantity of the different articles obtained provoked a +smile. There was a <i>hogshead</i> of sugar, a barrel of syrup, ten pounds of +bacon and peas, four pounds of wheat-flour, and a small sack of +corn-meal, a little vinegar, and actually some spice! The wheat-flour he +purchased for ten dollars as a special favor from the sole remaining +barrel for sale. We decided that must be left for sickness. The sack of +meal, he said, was a case of corruption, through a special providence to +us. There is no more for sale at any price; but, said he, "a soldier who +was hauling some of the Government sacks to the hospital offered me this +for five dollars, if I could keep a secret. When the meal is exhausted, +perhaps we can keep alive on sugar. Here are some wax candles; hoard +them like gold." He handed me a parcel containing about two pounds of +candles, and left me to arrange my treasures. It would be hard for me to +picture the memories those candles called up. The long years melted +away, and I</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Trod again my childhood's track,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And felt its very gladness.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In those childish days, whenever came dreams Of household splendor or +festal rooms or gay illuminations, the lights in my vision were always +wax candles burning with a soft radiance that enchanted every scene.... +And, lo! here on this spring day of '63, with war raging through the +land, I was in a fine house, and had my wax candles sure enough; but, +alas! they were neither cerulean blue nor rose-tinted, but dirty brown; +and when I lighted one, it spluttered and wasted like any vulgar tallow +thing, and lighted only a desolate scene in the vast handsome room. They +were not so good as the waxen rope we had made in Arkansas. So, with a +long sigh for the dreams of youth, I return to the stern present in this +besieged town—my only consolation to remember the old axiom, "A city +besieged is a city taken,"—so if we live through it we shall be out of +the Confederacy. H. is very tired of having to carry a pass around in +his pocket and go every now and then to have it renewed. We have been so +very free in America, these restrictions are irksome.</p> + +<p><i>May 9.</i>—This morning the door-bell rang a startling peal. Martha being +busy, I answered it. An orderly in gray stood with an official envelop +in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Who lives here?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. L."</p> + +<p>Very imperiously—"Which Mr. L.?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. H.L."</p> + +<p>"Is he here?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Where can he be found?"</p> + +<p>"At the office of Deputy——."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going there. This is an order from General Pemberton for you to +move out of this house in two hours. He has selected it for +headquarters. He will furnish you with wagons."</p> + +<p>"Will he furnish another house also?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not."</p> + +<p>"Has the owner been consulted?"</p> + +<p>"He has not; that is of no consequence; it has been taken. Take this +order."</p> + +<p>"I shall not take it, and I shall not move, as there is no place to move +to but the street."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll take it to Mr. L."</p> + +<p>"Very well; do so."</p> + +<p>As soon as Mr. Impertine walked off, I locked, bolted, and barred every +door and window. In ten minutes H. came home.</p> + +<p>"Hold the fort till I've seen the owner and the general," he said, as I +locked him out.</p> + +<p>Then Dr. B's remark in New Orleans about the effect of Dr. C.'s fine +presence on the Confederate officials there came to mind. They are just +the people to be influenced in that way, I thought. I look rather shabby +now; I will dress. I made an elaborate toilet, put on the best and most +becoming dress I had, the richest lace, the handsomest ornaments, taking +care that all should be appropriate to a morning visit; dressed my hair +in the stateliest braids, and took a seat in the parlor ready for the +fray. H. came to the window and said:</p> + +<p>"Landlord says, 'Keep them out. Wouldn't let them have his house at any +price.' He is just riding to the country and can't help us now. Now I'm +to see Major C., who sent the order."</p> + +<p>Next came an officer, banged at the door till tired, and walked away. +Then the orderly came again and beat the door—same result. Next, four +officers with bundles and lunch-baskets, followed by a wagon-load of +furniture. They went round the house, tried every door, peeped in the +windows, pounded and rapped, while I watched them through the +blind-slats. Presently the fattest one, a real Falstaffian man, came +back to the front door and rang a thundering peal. I saw the chance for +fun and for putting on their own grandiloquent style. Stealing on tiptoe +to the door, I turned the key and bolt noiselessly, and suddenly threw +wide back the door and appeared behind it. He had been leaning on it, +and nearly pitched forward with an "Oh! what's this!" Then seeing me as +he straightened up, "Ah, madam!" almost stuttering from surprise and +anger, "are you aware I had the right to break down this door if you +hadn't opened it?"</p> + +<p>"That would make no difference to me. I'm not the owner. You or the +landlord would pay the bill for the repairs."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you open the door?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not done so as soon as you rung? A lady does not open the door +to men who beat on it. Gentlemen usually ring; I thought it might be +stragglers pounding."</p> + +<p>"Well," growing much blander, "we are going to send you some wagons to +move; you must get ready."</p> + +<p>"With pleasure, if you have selected a house for me. This is too large; +it does not suit me."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't find a house for you."</p> + +<p>"You surely don't expect me to run about in the dust and shelling to +look for it, and Mr. L. is too busy."</p> + +<p>"Well, madam, then we must share the house. We will take the lower +floor."</p> + +<p>"I prefer to keep the lower floor myself; you surely don't expect me to +go up and down stairs when you are so light and more able to do it."</p> + +<p>He walked through the hall, trying the doors. "What room is that?" "The +parlor." "And this?" "My bedroom." "And this?" "The dining-room."</p> + +<p>"Well, madam, we'll find you a house and then come and take this."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, colonel; I shall be ready when you find the house. +Good-morning, sir."</p> + +<p>I heard him say as he ran down the steps, "We must go back, captain; you +see I didn't know they were this kind of people."</p> + +<p>Of course the orderly had lied in the beginning to scare me, for General +P. is too far away from Vicksburg to send an order. He is looking about +for General Grant. We are told he has gone out to meet Johnston; and +together they expect to annihilate Grant's army and free Vicksburg +forever. There is now a general hospital opposite this house, and a +smallpox hospital next door. War, famine, pestilence, and fire surround +us. Every day the band plays in front of the smallpox hospital. I wonder +if it is to keep up their spirits? One would suppose quiet would be more +cheering.</p> + +<p><i>May 17.</i>—Hardly was our scanty breakfast over this morning when a +hurried ring drew us both to the door.</p> + +<p>Mr. J., one of H.'s assistants, stood there in high excitement.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. L., they are upon us; the Yankees will be here by this +evening."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"That Pemberton has been whipped at Baker's Creek and Big Black, and his +army are running back here as fast as they can come, and the Yanks after +them, in such numbers nothing can stop them. Hasn't Pemberton acted like +a fool?"</p> + +<p>"He may not be the only one to blame," replied H.</p> + +<p>"They're coming along the Big B. road, and my folks went down there to +be safe, you know; now they're right in it. I hear you can't see the +armies for the dust; never was anything else known like it. But I must +go and try to bring my folks back here."</p> + +<p>What struck us both was the absence of that concern to be expected, and +a sort of relief or suppressed pleasure. After twelve some +worn-out-looking men sat down under the window.</p> + +<p>"What is the news?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Ritreat, ritreat!" they said, in broken English—they were Louisiana +Acadians.</p> + +<p>About three o'clock the rush began. I shall never forget that woeful +sight of a beaten, demoralized army that came rushing back,—humanity in +the last throes of endurance. Wan, hollow-eyed, ragged, foot-sore, +bloody, the men limped along unarmed, but followed by siege-guns, +ambulances, gun-carriages, and wagons in aimless confusion. At twilight +two or three bands on the court-house hill and other points began +playing "Dixie," "Bonnie Blue Flag," and so on, and drums began to beat +all about; I suppose they were rallying the scattered army.</p> + +<p><i>May 28.</i>—Since that day the regular siege has continued. We are +utterly cut off from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire. Would it +be wise like the scorpion to sting ourselves to death? The fiery shower +of shells goes on day and night. H.'s occupation, of course, is gone; +his office closed. Every man has to carry a pass in his pocket. People +do nothing but eat what they can get, sleep when they can, and dodge the +shells. There are three intervals when the shelling stops either for the +guns to cool or for the gunners' meals, I suppose,—about eight in the +morning, the same in the evening, and at noon. In that time we have both +to prepare and eat ours. Clothing cannot be washed or anything else +done. On the 19th and 22d, when the assaults were made on the lines, I +watched the soldiers cooking on the green opposite. The half-spent balls +coming all the way from those lines were flying so thick that they were +obliged to dodge at every turn. At all the caves I could see from my +high perch, people were sitting, eating their poor suppers at the cave +doors, ready to plunge in again. As the first shell again flew they +dived, and not a human being was visible. The sharp crackle of the +musketry-firing was a strong contrast to the scream of the bombs. I +think all the dogs and cats must be killed or starved: we don't see any +more pitiful animals prowling around.... The cellar is so damp and musty +the bedding has to be carried out and laid in the sun every day, with +the forecast that it may be demolished at any moment. The confinement is +dreadful. To sit and listen as if waiting for death in a horrible +manner would drive me insane. I don't know what others do, but we read +when I am not scribbling in this. H. borrowed somewhere a lot of +Dickens's novels, and we reread them, by the dim light in the cellar. +When the shelling abates, H. goes to walk about a little or get the +"Daily Citizen," which is still issuing a tiny sheet at twenty-five and +fifty cents a copy. It is, of course, but a rehash of speculations which +amuses a half hour. To-day he heard while out that expert swimmers are +crossing the Mississippi on logs at night to bring and carry news to +Johnston. I am so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, that I eat +it with tears in my eyes. We are lucky to get a quart of milk daily from +a family near who have a cow they hourly expect to be killed. I send +five dollars to market each morning, and it buys a small piece of +mule-meat. Rice and milk is my main food; I can't eat the mule-meat. We +boil the rice and eat it cold with milk for supper. Martha runs the +gauntlet to buy the meat and milk once a day in a perfect terror. The +shells seem to have many different names: I hear the soldiers say, +"That's a mortar-shell. There goes a Parrott. That's a rifle-shell." +They are all equally terrible. A pair of chimney-swallows have built in +the parlor chimney. The concussion of the house often sends down parts +of their nest, which they patiently pick up and reascend with.</p> + +<p><i>Friday, June 5. In the cellar.</i>—Wednesday evening H. said he must take +a little walk, and went while the shelling had stopped. He never leaves +me alone for long, and when an hour had passed without his return I +grew anxious; and when two hours, and the shelling had grown terrific, I +momentarily expected to see his mangled body. All sorts of horrors fill +the mind now, and I am so desolate here; not a friend. When he came he +said that, passing a cave where there were no others near, he heard +groans, and found a shell had struck above and caused the cave to fall +in on the man within. He could not extricate him alone, and had to get +help and dig him out. He was badly hurt, but not mortally, and I felt +fairly sick from the suspense.</p> + +<p>Yesterday morning a note was brought H. from a bachelor uncle out in the +trenches, saying he had been taken ill with fever, and could we receive +him if he came? H. sent to tell him to come, and I arranged one of the +parlors as a dressing-room for him, and laid a pallet that he could move +back and forth to the cellar. He did not arrive, however. It is our +custom in the evening to sit in the front room a little while in the +dark, with matches and candle held ready in hand, and watch the shells, +whose course at night is shown by the fuse. H. was at the window and +suddenly sprang up, crying, "Run!"—"Where?"—"<i>Back</i>!"</p> + +<p>I started through the back room, H. after me. I was just within the door +when the crash came that threw me to the floor. It was the most +appalling sensation I'd ever known—worse than an earthquake, which I've +also experienced. Shaken and deafened, I picked myself up; H. had struck +a light to find me. I lighted one, and the smoke guided us to the parlor +I had fixed for Uncle J. The candles were useless in the dense smoke, +and it was many minutes before we could see. Then we found the entire +side of the room torn out. The soldiers who had rushed in said, "This is +an eighty-pound Parrott." It had entered through the front, burst on the +pallet-bed, which was in tatters; the toilet service and everything else +in the room smashed. The soldiers assisted H. to board up the break with +planks to keep out prowlers, and we went to bed in the cellar as usual. +This morning the yard is partially plowed by a couple that fell there in +the night. I think this house, so large and prominent from the river, is +perhaps taken for headquarters and specially shelled. As we descend at +night to the lower regions, I think of the evening hymn that grandmother +taught me when a child:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Lord, keep us safe this night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Secure from all our fears;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">May angels guard us while we sleep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Till morning light appears.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Surely, if there are heavenly guardians, we need them now.</p> + +<p><i>June 7.</i> (<i>In the cellar.</i>)—There is one thing I feel especially +grateful for, that amid these horrors we have been spared that of +suffering for water. The weather has been dry a long time, and we hear +of others dipping up the water from ditches and mud-holes. This place +has two large underground cisterns of good cool water, and every night +in my subterranean dressing-room a tub of cold water is the nerve-calmer +that sends me to sleep in spite of the roar. One cistern I had to give +up to the soldiers, who swarm about like hungry animals seeking +something to devour. Poor fellows! my heart bleeds for them. They have +nothing but spoiled, greasy bacon, and bread made of musty pea-flour, +and but little of that. The sick ones can't bolt it. They come into the +kitchen when Martha puts the pan of corn-bread in the stove, and beg for +the bowl she mixed it in. They shake up the scrapings with water, put in +their bacon, and boil the mixture into a kind of soup, which is easier +to swallow than pea-bread. When I happen in, they look so ashamed of +their poor clothes. I know we saved the lives of two by giving a few +meals. To-day one crawled on the gallery to lie in the breeze. He looked +as if shells had lost their terrors for his dumb and famished misery. +I've taught Martha to make first-rate corn-meal gruel, because I can eat +meal easier that way than in hoe-cake, and I fixed him a saucerful, put +milk and sugar and nutmeg—I've actually got a nutmeg! When he ate it +the tears ran from his eyes. "Oh, madam, there was never anything so +good! I shall get better."</p> + +<p><i>June 9.</i>—The churches are a great resort for those who have no caves. +People fancy they are not shelled so much, and they are substantial and +the pews good to sleep in. We had to leave this house last night, they +were shelling our quarter so heavily. The night before, Martha forsook +the cellar for a church. We went to H.'s office, which was comparatively +quiet last night. H. carried the bank-box; I the case of matches; Martha +the blankets and pillows, keeping an eye on the shells. We slept on +piles of old newspapers. In the streets the roar seems so much more +confusing, I feel sure I shall run right in the way of a shell. They +seem to have five different sounds from the second of throwing them to +the hollow echo wandering among the hills, and that sounds the most +blood-curdling of all.</p> + +<p><i>June 13.</i>—Shell burst just over the roof this morning. Pieces tore +through both floors down into the dining-room. The entire ceiling of +that room fell in a mass. We had just left it. Every piece of crockery +on the table was smashed up. The "Daily Citizen" to-day is a foot and a +half long and six inches wide. It has a long letter from a Federal +officer, P.P. Hill, who was on the gunboat <i>Cincinnati</i>, that was sunk +May 27. Says it was found in his floating trunk. The editorial says, +"The utmost confidence is felt that we can maintain our position until +succor comes from outside. The undaunted Johnston is at hand."</p> + +<p><i>June 18.</i>—To-day the "Citizen" is printed on wallpaper; therefore has +grown a little in size. It says, "But a few days more and Johnston will +be here"; also that "Kirby Smith has driven Banks from Port Hudson," and +that "the enemy are throwing incendiary shells in."</p> + +<p><i>June 20.</i>—The gentleman who took our cave came yesterday to invite us +to come to it, because, he said, "it's going to be very bad to-day." I +don't know why he thought so. We went, and found his own and another +family in it; sat outside and watched the shells till we concluded the +cellar was as good a place as that hillside. I fear the want of good +food is breaking down H. I know from my own feelings of weakness, but +mine is not an American constitution and has a recuperative power that +his has not.</p> + +<p><i>June 21.</i>—I had gone up-stairs to-day during the interregnum to enjoy +a rest on my bed, and read the reliable items in the "Citizen," when a +shell burst right outside the window in front of me. Pieces flew in, +striking all around me, tearing down masses of plaster that came +tumbling over me. When H. rushed in I was crawling out of the plaster, +digging it out of my eyes and hair. When he picked up a piece as large +as a saucer beside my pillow, I realized my narrow escape. The +windowframe began to smoke, and we saw the house was on fire. H. ran for +a hatchet and I for water, and we put it out. Another [shell] came +crashing near, and I snatched up my comb and brush and ran down here. It +has taken all the afternoon to get the plaster out of my hair, for my +hands were rather shaky.</p> + +<p><i>June 25.</i>—A horrible day. The most horrible yet to me, because I've +lost my nerve. We were all in the cellar, when a shell came tearing +through the roof, burst up-stairs, tore up that room, and the pieces +coming through both floors down into the cellar, one of them tore open +the leg of H.'s pantaloons. This was tangible proof the cellar was no +place of protection from them. On the heels of this came Mr. J. to tell +us that young Mrs. P. had had her thigh-bone crushed. When Martha went +for the milk she came back horror-stricken to tell us the black girl +there had her arm taken off by a shell. For the first time I quailed. I +do not think people who are physically brave deserve much credit for it; +it is a matter of nerves. In this way I am constitutionally brave, and +seldom think of danger till it is over; and death has not the terrors +for me it has for some others. Every night I had lain down expecting +death, and every morning rose to the same prospect, without being +unnerved. It was for H. I trembled. But now I first seemed to realize +that something worse than death might come: I might be crippled, and not +killed. Life, without all one's powers and limbs, was a thought that +broke down my courage. I said to H., "You must get me out of this +horrible place; I cannot stay; I know I shall be crippled." Now the +regret comes that I lost control, because H. is worried, and has lost +his composure, because my coolness has broken down.</p> + +<p><i>July 1.</i>—Some months ago, thinking it might be useful, I obtained from +the consul of my birthplace, by sending to another town, a passport for +foreign parts. H. said if we went out to the lines we might be permitted +to get through on that. So we packed the trunks, got a carriage, and on +the 30th drove out there. General V. offered us seats in his tent. The +rifle-bullets were whizzing so <i>zip, zip</i> from the sharpshooters on the +Federal lines that involuntarily I moved on my chair. He said, "Don't be +alarmed; you are out of range. They are firing at our mules yonder." His +horse, tied by the tent door, was quivering all over, the most intense +exhibition of fear I'd ever seen in an animal. General V. sent out a +flag of truce to the Federal headquarters, and while we waited wrote on +a piece of silk paper a few words. Then he said, "My wife is in +Tennessee. If you get through the lines, send her this. They will search +you, so I will put it in this toothpick." He crammed the silk paper into +a quill toothpick, and handed it to H. It was completely concealed. The +flag-of-truce officer came back flushed and angry. "General Grant says +no human being shall pass out of Vicksburg; but the lady may feel sure +danger will soon be over. Vicksburg will surrender on the 4th."</p> + +<p>"Is that so, general?" inquired H. "Are arrangements for surrender made?"</p> + +<p>"We know nothing of the kind. Vicksburg will not surrender."</p> + +<p>"Those were General Grant's exact words, sir," said the flag-officer. +"Of course it is nothing but their brag."</p> + +<p>We went back sadly enough, but to-day H. says he will cross the river to +General Porter's lines and try there; I shall not be disappointed.</p> + +<p><i>July 3.</i>—H. was going to headquarters for the requisite pass, and he +saw General Pemberton crawling out of a cave, for the shelling had been +as hot as ever. He got the pass, but did not act with his usual caution, +for the boat he secured was a miserable, leaky one—a mere trough. +Leaving Martha in charge, we went to the river, had our trunks put in +the boat, and embarked; but the boat became utterly unmanageable, and +began to fill with water rapidly. H. saw that we could not cross in it, +and turned to come back; yet in spite of that the pickets at the battery +fired on us. H. raised the white flag he had, yet they fired again, and +I gave a cry of horror that none of these dreadful things had wrung from +me. I thought H. was struck. When we landed H. showed the pass, and said +that the officer had told him the battery would be notified we were to +cross. The officer apologized and said they were not notified. He +furnished a cart to get home, and to-day we are down in the cellar +again, shells flying as thick as ever; provisions so nearly gone, +except the hogshead of sugar, that a few more days will bring us to +starvation indeed. Martha says rats are hanging dressed in the market +for sale with mule-meat: there is nothing else. The officer at the +battery told me he had eaten one yesterday. We have tried to leave this +Tophet and failed, and if the siege continues I must summon that higher +kind of courage—moral bravery—to subdue my fears of possible +mutilation.</p> + +<p><i>July 4.</i>—It is evening. All is still. Silence and night are once more +united. I can sit at the table in the parlor and write. Two candles are +lighted. I would like a dozen. We have had wheat supper and wheat bread +once more. H. is leaning back in the rocking-chair; he says:</p> + +<p>"G., it seems to me I can hear the silence, and feel it, too. It wraps +me like a soft garment; how else can I express this peace?"</p> + +<p>But I must write the history of the last twenty-four hours. About five +yesterday afternoon, Mr. J., H.'s assistant, who, having no wife to keep +him in, dodges about at every change and brings us the news, came to H. +and said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. L., you must both come to our cave to-night. I hear that to-night +the shelling is to surpass everything yet. An assault will be made in +front and rear. You know we have a double cave; there is room for you in +mine, and mother and sister will make a place for Mrs. L. Come right up; +the ball will open about seven."</p> + +<p>We got ready, shut up the house, told Martha to go to the church again +if she preferred it to the cellar, and walked up to Mr. J.'s. When +supper was eaten, all secure, and ladies in their cave night toilet, it +was just six, and we crossed the street to the cave opposite. As I +crossed a mighty shell flew screaming right over my head. It was the +last thrown into Vicksburg. We lay on our pallets waiting for the +expected roar, but no sound came except the chatter from neighboring +caves, and at last we dropped asleep. I woke at dawn stiff. A draft from +the funnel-shaped opening had been blowing on me all night. Every one +was expressing surprise at the quiet. We started for home and met the +editor of the "Daily Citizen." H. said:</p> + +<p>"This is strangely quiet, Mr. L."</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir," shaking his head gloomily, "I'm afraid (?) the last shell has +been thrown into Vicksburg."</p> + +<p>"Why do you fear so?"</p> + +<p>"It is surrender. At six last evening a man went down to the river and +blew a truce signal; the shelling stopped at once."</p> + +<p>When I entered the kitchen a soldier was there waiting for the bowl of +scrapings (they took turns for it).</p> + +<p>"Good morning, madam," he said; "we won't bother you much longer. We +can't thank you enough for letting us come, for getting this soup boiled +has helped some of us to keep alive; but now all this is over."</p> + +<p>"Is it true about the surrender?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; we have had no official notice, but they are paroling out at the +lines now, and the men in Vicksburg will never forgive Pemberton. An old +granny! A child would have known better than to shut men up in this +cursed trap to starve to death like useless vermin." His eyes flashed +with an insane fire as he spoke, "Haven't I seen my friends carried out +three or four in a box, that had died of starvation! Nothing else, +madam! Starved to death because we had a fool for a general."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you're rather hard on Pemberton? He thought it his duty +to wait for Johnston."</p> + +<p>"Some people may excuse him, ma'am; but we'll curse him to our dying +day. Anyhow, you'll see the blue-coats directly."</p> + +<p>Breakfast despatched, we went on the upper gallery. What I expected to +see was files of soldiers marching in, but it was very different. The +street was deserted, save by a few people carrying home bedding from +their caves. Among these was a group taking home a little creature born +in a cave a few days previous, and its wan-looking mother. About eleven +o'clock a soldier in blue came sauntering along, who looked about +curiously. Then two more followed him, and then another.</p> + +<p>"H., do you think these can be the Federal soldiers?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; here come more up the street."</p> + +<p>Soon a group appeared on the court-house hill, and the flag began slowly +to rise to the top of the staff. As the breeze caught it, and it sprang +out like a live thing exultant, H. drew a long breath of contentment.</p> + +<p>"Now I feel once more at home in mine own country."</p> + +<p>In an hour more a grand rush of people setting toward the river +began,—foremost among them the gentleman who took our cave; all were +flying as if for life.</p> + +<p>"What can this mean, H.? Are the populace turning out to greet the +despised conquerors?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said H., springing up, "look! It is the boats coming around the +bend."</p> + +<p>Truly it was a fine spectacle to see that fleet of transports sweep +around the curve and anchor in the teeth of the battery so lately +vomiting fire. Presently Mr. J. passed and called:</p> + +<p>"Aren't you coming, Mr. L.? There's provisions on those boats: coffee +and flour. 'First come, first served,' you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll be there pretty soon," replied H.</p> + +<p>But now the newcomers began to swarm into our yard, asking H. if he had +coin to sell for greenbacks. He had some, and a little bartering went on +with the new greenbacks. H. went out to get provisions. When he returned +a Confederate officer came with him. H. went to the box of Confederate +money and took out four hundred dollars, and the officer took off his +watch, a plain gold one, and laid it on the table, saying, "We have not +been paid, and I must get home to my family." H. added a five-dollar +greenback to the pile, and wished him a happy meeting. The townsfolk +continued to dash through the streets with their arms full, canned goods +predominating. Toward five, Mr. J. passed again. "Keep on the lookout," +he said; "the army of occupation is coming along," and in a few minutes +the head of the column appeared. What a contrast to the suffering +creatures we had seen so long were these stalwart, well-fed men, so +splendidly set up and accoutred! Sleek horses, polished arms, bright +plumes,—this was the pride and panoply of war! Civilization, +discipline, and order seemed to enter with the measured tramp of those +marching columns; and the heart turned with throbs of added pity to the +worn men in gray, who were being blindly dashed against this embodiment +of modern power. And now this "silence that is golden" indeed is over +all, and my limbs are unhurt, and I suppose if I were a Catholic, in my +fervent gratitude I would hie me with a rich offering to the shrine of +"our Lady of Mercy."</p> + +<p><i>July 7.</i>—I did not enjoy quiet long. First came Martha, who announced +her intention of going to search for her sons, as she was free now. I +was hardly able to stand since the severe cold taken in the cave that +night; but she would not wait a day. A colored woman came in and said +she had asked her mistress for wages and she had turned her out (wanting +a place). I was in no condition to stand upon ceremony then, and engaged +her at once, but hear to-day that I am thoroughly pulled to pieces in +Vicksburg circles; there is no more salvation for me. Next came two +Federal officers and wanted rooms and board. To have some protection was +a necessity; both armies were still in town, and for the past three days +every Confederate soldier I see has a cracker in his hand. There is +hardly any water in town, no prospect of rain, and the soldiers have +emptied one cistern in the yard already and begun on the other. The +colonel put a guard at the gate to limit the water given. Next came the +owner of the house and said we must move; he wanted the house, but it +was so big he'd just bring his family in; we could stay till we got one. +They brought boarders with them too, and children. Men are at work all +over the house shoveling up the plaster before repairing. Up-stairs they +are pouring it by bucketfuls through the windows. Colonel D. brought +work for H. to help with from headquarters. Making out the paroles and +copying them has taken so long they wanted help. I am surprised and +mortified to find that two thirds of all the men who have signed made +their mark; they cannot write. I never thought there was so much +ignorance in the South. One of the men at headquarters took a fancy to +H., and presented him with a portfolio that he said he had captured when +the Confederates evacuated their headquarters at Jackson. It contained +mostly family letters written in French, and a few official papers. +Among them was the following note, which I will copy here, and file away +the original as a curiosity when the war is over.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"> +<span class="smcap">Headquarters Dept. of Tenn.</span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">Tupelo</span>, Aug. 6, 1862.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Capt</span>: The Major-General Commanding directs me to say +that he submits it altogether to your own discretion whether you +make the attempt to capture General Grant or not. While the +exploit would be very brilliant if successful, you must remember +that failure would be disastrous to you and your men. The General +commends your activity and energy, and expects you to continue to +show these qualities.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 5em;"> +I am, very respectfully, yr. obt. svt.</p> +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"><span class="smcap">Thomas L. Snead</span>, A.A.G.</p> +<p> +<span class="smcap">Capt. Geo. L. Baxter</span>,<br /> +Commanding Beauregard Scouts.<br /> +</p> + + + +<p>I would like to know if he tried it and came to grief or abandoned the +project. As letters can now get through to New Orleans, I wrote there.</p> + +<p><i>July 14.</i>—Moved yesterday into a house I call "Fair Rosamond's bower" +because it would take a clue of thread to go through it without getting +lost. One room has five doors opening into the house, and no windows. +The stairs are like ladders, and the colonel's contraband valet won't +risk his neck taking down water, but pours it through the windows on +people's heads. We sha'n't stay in it. Men are at work closing up the +caves; they had become hiding-places for trash. Vicksburg is now like +one vast hospital—every one is getting sick or is sick. My cook was +taken to-day with bilious fever, and nothing but will keeps me up.</p> + +<p><i>July 23.</i>—We moved again two days ago.</p> + +<p><i>Aug. 20.</i>—Sitting in my easy-chair to-day, looking out upon a grassy +slope of the hill in the rear of this house, I have looked over this +journal as if in a dream; for since the last date sickness and sorrow +have been with me. I feel as if an angry wave had passed over me, +bearing away strength and treasure. For on one day there came to me from +New Orleans the news of Mrs. B.'s death, a friend whom no tie of blood +could have made nearer. The next day my beautiful boy ended his brief +life of ten days, and died in my arms. My own illness caused him to +perish; the fatal cold in the cave was the last straw that broke down +strength. The colonel's sweet wife has come, and I do not lack now for +womanly companionship. She says that with such a prenatal experience +perhaps death was the best for him. I try to think so, and to be glad +that H. has not been ill, though I see the effects. This book is +exhausted, and I wonder whether there will be more adventures by flood +and field to cause me to begin another.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_2"></a>THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE IN GEORGIA</h2> + +<h4>BY WILLIAM PITTENGER</h4> + + +<p>The railroad raid to Georgia, in the spring of 1862, has always been +considered to rank high among the striking and novel incidents of the +civil war. At that time General O.M. Mitchel, under whose authority it +was organized, commanded Union forces in middle Tennessee, consisting of +a division of Buell's army. The Confederates were concentrating at +Corinth, Mississippi, and Grant and Buell were advancing by different +routes toward that point. Mitchel's orders required him to protect +Nashville and the country around, but allowed him great latitude in the +disposition of his division, which, with detachments and garrisons, +numbered nearly seventeen thousand men. His attention had long been +strongly turned toward the liberation of east Tennessee, which he knew +that President Lincoln also earnestly desired, and which would, if +achieved, strike a most damaging blow at the resources of the rebellion. +A Union army once in possession of east Tennessee would have the +inestimable advantage, found nowhere else in the South, of operating in +the midst of a friendly population, and having at hand abundant supplies +of all kinds. Mitchel had no reason to believe that Corinth would +detain the Union armies much longer than Fort Donelson had done, and was +satisfied that as soon as that position had been captured the next +movement would be eastward toward Chattanooga, thus throwing his own +division in advance. He determined, therefore, to press into the heart +of the enemy's country as far as possible, occupying strategical points +before they were adequately defended and assured of speedy and powerful +reinforcement. To this end his measures were vigorous and well chosen.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of April, 1862,—the day after the battle of Pittsburg +Landing, of which, however, Mitchel had received no intelligence,—he +marched swiftly southward from Shelbyville, and seized Huntsville in +Alabama on the 11th of April, and then sent a detachment westward over +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to open railway communication with +the Union army at Pittsburg Landing. Another detachment, commanded by +Mitchel in person, advanced on the same day seventy miles by rail +directly into the enemy's territory, arriving unchecked with two +thousand men within thirty miles of Chattanooga,—in two hours' time he +could now reach that point,—the most important position in the West. +Why did he not go on? The story of the railroad raid is the answer. The +night before breaking camp at Shelbyville, Mitchel sent an expedition +secretly into the heart of Georgia to cut the railroad communications of +Chattanooga to the south and east. The fortune of this attempt had a +most important bearing upon his movements, and will now be narrated.</p> + +<p>In the employ of General Buell was a spy named James J. Andrews, who +had rendered valuable services in the first year of the war, and had +secured the full confidence of the Union commanders. In March, 1862, +Buell had sent him secretly with eight men to burn the bridges west of +Chattanooga; but the failure of expected coöperation defeated the plan, +and Andrews, after visiting Atlanta, and inspecting the whole of the +enemy's lines in that vicinity and northward, had returned, ambitious to +make another attempt. His plans for the second raid were submitted to +Mitchel, and on the eve of the movement from Shelbyville to Huntsville +Mitchel authorized him to take twenty-four men, secretly enter the +enemy's territory, and, by means of capturing a train, burn the bridges +on the northern part of the Georgia State Railroad, and also one on the +East Tennessee Railroad where it approaches the Georgia State line, thus +completely isolating Chattanooga, which was virtually ungarrisoned.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig002" name="fig002"></a> +<img src="images/fig002.png" width="100%" alt="train" /> +</div> + + +<p>The soldiers for this expedition, of whom the writer was one, were +selected from the three Ohio regiments belonging to General J.W. Sill's +brigade, being simply told that they were wanted for secret and very +dangerous service. So far as known, not a man chosen declined the +perilous honor. Our uniforms were exchanged for ordinary Southern dress, +and all arms except revolvers were left in camp. On the 7th of April, by +the roadside about a mile east of Shelbyville, in the late evening +twilight, we met our leader. Taking us a little way from the road, he +quietly placed before us the outlines of the romantic and adventurous +plan, which was: to break into small detachments of three or four, +journey eastward into the Cumberland Mountains, then work southward, +traveling by rail after we were well within the Confederate lines, and +finally the evening of the third day after the start, meet Andrews at +Marietta, Georgia, more than two hundred miles away. When questioned, we +were to profess ourselves Kentuckians going to join the Southern army.</p> + +<p>On the journey we were a good deal annoyed by the swollen streams and +the muddy roads consequent on three days of almost ceaseless rain. +Andrews was led to believe that Mitchel's column would be inevitably +delayed; and as we were expected to destroy the bridges the very day +that Huntsville was entered, he took the responsibility of sending word +to our different groups that our attempt would be postponed one +day—from Friday to Saturday, April 12. This was a natural but a most +lamentable error of judgment.</p> + +<p>One of the men detailed was belated, and did not join us at all. Two +others were very soon captured by the enemy; and though their true +character was not detected, they were forced into the Southern army, and +two reached Marietta, but failed to report at the rendezvous. Thus, +when we assembled very early in the morning in Andrews's room at the +Marietta Hotel for final consultation before the blow was struck we were +but twenty, including our leader. All preliminary difficulties had been +easily overcome, and we were in good spirits. But some serious obstacles +had been revealed on our ride from Chattanooga to Marietta the previous +evening.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The railroad was found to be crowded with trains, and many +soldiers were among the passengers. Then the station—Big Shanty—at +which the capture was to be effected had recently been made a +Confederate camp. To succeed in our enterprise it would be necessary +first to capture the engine in a guarded camp with soldiers standing +around as spectators, and then to run it from one to two hundred miles +through the enemy's country, and to deceive or overpower all trains that +should be met—a large contract for twenty men. Some of our party +thought the chances of success so slight, under existing circumstances, +that they urged the abandonment of the whole enterprise. But Andrews +declared his purpose to succeed or die, offering to each man, however, +the privilege of withdrawing from the attempt—an offer no one was in +the least disposed to accept. Final instructions were then given, and we +hurried to the ticket-office in time for the northward-bound mail-train, +and purchased tickets for different stations along the line in the +direction of Chattanooga.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The different detachments reached the Georgia State +Railroad at Chattanooga, and traveled as ordinary passengers on trains +running southward.—<span class="smcap">Editor</span>.</p></div> + +<p>Our ride, as passengers, was but eight miles. We swept swiftly around +the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and soon saw the tents of the Confederate +forces camped at Big Shanty gleam white in the morning mist. Here we +were to stop for breakfast, and attempt the seizure of the train. The +morning was raw and gloomy, and a rain, which fell all day, had already +begun. It was a painfully thrilling moment. We were but twenty, with an +army about us, and a long and difficult road before us, crowded with +enemies. In an instant we were to throw off the disguise which had been +our only protection, and trust to our leader's genius and our own +efforts for safety and success. Fortunately we had no time for giving +way to reflections and conjectures which could only unfit us for the +stern task ahead.</p> + +<p>When we stopped, the conductor, the engineer, and many of the passengers +hurried to breakfast, leaving the train unguarded. Now was the moment of +action. Ascertaining that there was nothing to prevent a rapid start, +Andrews, our two engineers, Brown and Knight, and the firemen hurried +forward, uncoupling a section of the train consisting of three empty +baggage or box-cars, the locomotive, and the tender. The engineers and +the firemen sprang into the cab of the engine, while Andrews, with hand +on the rail and foot on the step, waited to see that the remainder of +the party had gained entrance into the rear box-car. This seemed +difficult and slow, though it really consumed but a few seconds, for the +car stood on a considerable bank, and the first who came were pitched in +by their comrades, while these in turn dragged in the others, and the +door was instantly closed. A sentinel, with musket in hand, stood not a +dozen feet from the engine, watching the whole proceeding; but before he +or any of the soldiers or guards around could make up their minds to +interfere all was done, and Andrews, with a nod to his engineer, stepped +on board. The valve was pulled wide open, and for a moment the wheels +slipped round in rapid, ineffective revolutions; then, with a bound that +jerked the soldiers in the box-car from their feet, the little train +darted away, leaving the camp and the station in the wildest uproar and +confusion. The first step of the enterprise was triumphantly +accomplished.</p> + +<p>According to the time-table, of which Andrews had secured a copy, there +were two trains to be met. These presented no serious hindrance to our +attaining high speed, for we could tell just where to expect them. There +was also a local freight not down on the time-table, but which could not +be far distant. Any danger of collision with it could be avoided by +running according to the schedule of the captured train until it was +passed; then at the highest possible speed we could run to the +Oostenaula and Chickamauga bridges, lay them in ashes, and pass on +through Chattanooga to Mitchel at Huntsville, or wherever eastward of +that point he might be found, arriving long before the close of the day. +It was a brilliant prospect, and so far as human estimates can determine +it would have been realized had the day been Friday instead of Saturday. +Friday every train had been on time, the day dry, the road in perfect +order. Now the road was in disorder, every train far behind time, and +two "extras" were approaching us. But of these unfavorable conditions +we knew nothing, and pressed confidently forward.</p> + +<p>We stopped frequently, and at one point tore up the track, cut telegraph +wires, and loaded on cross-ties to be used in bridge-burning. Wood and +water were taken without difficulty, Andrews very coolly telling the +story to which he adhered throughout the run—namely, that he was one of +General Beauregard's officers, running an impressed powder-train through +to that commander at Corinth. We had no good instruments for +track-raising, as we had intended rather to depend upon fire; but the +amount of time spent in taking up a rail was not material at this stage +of our journey, as we easily kept on the time of our captured train. +There was a wonderful exhilaration in passing swiftly by towns and +stations through the heart of an enemy's country in this manner. It +possessed just enough of the spice of danger, in this part of the run, +to render it thoroughly enjoyable. The slightest accident to our engine, +however, or a miscarriage in any part of our program, would have +completely changed the conditions.</p> + +<p>At Etowah we found the "Yonah," an old locomotive owned by an iron +company, standing with steam up; but not wishing to alarm the enemy till +the local freight had been safely met, we left it unharmed. Kingston, +thirty miles from the starting-point, was safely reached. A train from +Rome, Georgia, on a branch road, had just arrived and was waiting for +the morning mail—our train. We learned that the local freight would +soon come also, and, taking the side-track, waited for it. When it +arrived, however, Andrews saw, to his surprise and chagrin, that it +bore a red flag, indicating another train not far behind. Stepping over +to the conductor, he boldly asked: "What does it mean that the road is +blocked in this manner when I have orders to take this powder to +Beauregard without a minute's delay?" The answer was interesting, but +not reassuring: "Mitchel has captured Huntsville, and is said to be +coming to Chattanooga, and we are getting everything out of there." He +was asked by Andrews to pull his train a long way down the track out of +the way, and promptly obeyed.</p> + +<p>It seemed an exceedingly long time before the expected "extra" arrived, +and when it did come it bore another red flag. The reason given was that +the "local," being too great for one engine, had been made up in two +sections, and the second section would doubtless be along in a short +time. This was terribly vexatious; yet there seemed nothing to do but to +wait. To start out between the sections of an extra train would be to +court destruction. There were already three trains around us, and their +many passengers and others were all growing very curious about the +mysterious train, manned by strangers, which had arrived on the time of +the morning mail. For an hour and five minutes from the time of arrival +at Kingston we remained in this most critical position. The sixteen of +us who were shut up tightly in a box-car,—personating Beauregard's +ammunition,—hearing sounds outside, but unable to distinguish words, +had perhaps the most trying position. Andrews sent us, by one of the +engineers, a cautious warning to be ready to fight in case the +uneasiness of the crowd around led them to make any investigation, +while he himself kept near the station to prevent the sending off of any +alarming telegram. So intolerable was our suspense, that the order for a +deadly conflict would have been felt as a relief. But the assurance of +Andrews quieted the crowd until the whistle of the expected train from +the north was heard; then as it glided up to the depot, past the end of +our side-track, we were off without more words.</p> + +<p>But unexpected danger had arisen behind us. Out of the panic at Big +Shanty two men emerged, determined, if possible, to foil the unknown +captors of their train. There was no telegraph station, and no +locomotive at hand with which to follow; but the conductor of the train, +W.A. Fuller, and Anthony Murphy, foreman of the Atlanta railway +machine-shops, who happened to be on board of Fuller's train, started on +foot after us as hard as they could run. Finding a hand-car they mounted +it and pushed forward till they neared Etowah, where they ran on the +break we had made in the road, and were precipitated down the embankment +into the ditch. Continuing with more caution, they reached Etowah and +found the "Yonah," which was at once pressed into service, loaded with +soldiers who were at hand, and hurried with flying wheels toward +Kingston. Fuller prepared to fight at that point, for he knew of the +tangle of extra trains, and of the lateness of the regular trains, and +did not think we should be able to pass. We had been gone only four +minutes when he arrived and found himself stopped by three long, heavy +trains of cars, headed in the wrong direction. To move them out of the +way so as to pass would cause a delay he was little inclined to +afford—would, indeed, have almost certainly given us the victory. So, +abandoning his engine, he with Murphy ran across to the Rome train, and, +uncoupling the engine and one car, pushed forward with about forty armed +men. As the Rome branch connected with the main road above the depot, he +encountered no hindrance, and it was now a fair race. We were not many +minutes ahead.</p> + +<p>Four miles from Kingston we again stopped and cut the telegraph. While +trying to take up a rail at this point we were greatly startled. One end +of the rail was loosened, and eight of us were pulling at it, when in +the distance we distinctly heard the whistle of a pursuing engine. With +a frantic effort we broke the rail, and all tumbled over the embankment +with the effort. We moved on, and at Adairsville we found a mixed train +(freight and passenger) waiting, but there was an express on the road +that had not yet arrived. We could afford no more delay, and set out for +the next station, Calhoun, at terrible speed, hoping to reach that point +before the express, which was behind time, should arrive. The nine miles +which we had to travel were left behind in less than the same number of +minutes. The express was just pulling out, but, hearing our whistle, +backed before us until we were able to take the side-track. It stopped, +however, in such a manner as completely to close up the other end of the +switch. The two trains, side by side, almost touched each other, and our +precipitate arrival caused natural suspicion. Many searching questions +were asked, which had to be answered before we could get the +opportunity of proceeding. We in the box-car could hear the altercation, +and were almost sure that a fight would be necessary before the +conductor would consent to "pull up" in order to let us out. Here again +our position was most critical, for the pursuers were rapidly +approaching.</p> + +<p>Fuller and Murphy saw the obstruction of the broken rail in time, by +reversing their engine, to prevent wreck, but the hindrance was for the +present insuperable. Leaving all their men behind, they started for a +second foot-race. Before they had gone far they met the train we had +passed at Adairsville and turned it back after us. At Adairsville they +dropped the cars, and with locomotive and tender loaded with armed men, +they drove forward at the highest speed possible. They knew that we were +not many minutes ahead, and trusted to overhaul us before the express +train could be safely passed.</p> + +<p>But Andrews had told the powder story again with all his skill, and +added a direct request in peremptory form to have the way opened before +him, which the Confederate conductor did not see fit to resist; and just +before the pursuers arrived at Calhoun we were again under way. Stopping +once more to cut wires and tear up the track, we felt a thrill of +exhilaration to which we had long been strangers. The track was now +clear before us to Chattanooga; and even west of that city we had good +reason to believe that we should find no other train in the way till we +had reached Mitchel's lines. If one rail could now be lifted we would be +in a few minutes at the Oostenaula bridge; and that burned, the rest of +the task would be little more than simple manual labor, with the enemy +absolutely powerless. We worked with a will.</p> + +<p>But in a moment the tables were turned. Not far behind we heard the +scream of a locomotive bearing down upon us at lightning speed. The men +on board were in plain sight and well armed. Two minutes—perhaps +one—would have removed the rail at which we were toiling; then the game +would have been in our own hands, for there was no other locomotive +beyond that could be turned back after us. But the most desperate +efforts were in vain. The rail was simply bent, and we hurried to our +engine and darted away, while remorselessly after us thundered the +enemy.</p> + +<p>Now the contestants were in clear view, and a race followed unparalleled +in the annals of war. Wishing to gain a little time for the burning of +the Oostenaula bridge, we dropped one car, and, shortly after, another; +but they were "picked up" and pushed ahead to Resaca. We were obliged to +run over the high trestles and covered bridge at that point without a +pause. This was the first failure in the work assigned us.</p> + +<p>The Confederates could not overtake and stop us on the road; but their +aim was to keep close behind, so that we might not be able to damage the +road or take in wood or water. In the former they succeeded, but not in +the latter. Both engines were put at the highest rate of speed. We were +obliged to cut the wire after every station passed, in order that an +alarm might not be sent ahead; and we constantly strove to throw our +pursuers off the track, or to obstruct the road permanently in some way, +so that we might be able to burn the Chickamauga bridges, still ahead. +The chances seemed good that Fuller and Murphy would be wrecked. We +broke out the end of our last box-car and dropped cross-ties on the +track as we ran, thus checking their progress and getting far enough +ahead to take in wood and water at two separate stations. Several times +we almost lifted a rail, but each time the coming of the Confederates +within rifle-range compelled us to desist and speed on. Our worst +hindrance was the rain. The previous day (Friday) had been clear, with a +high wind, and on such a day fire would have been easily and +tremendously effective. But to-day a bridge could be burned only with +abundance of fuel and careful nursing.</p> + +<p>Thus we sped on, mile after mile, in this fearful chase, round curves +and past stations in seemingly endless perspective. Whenever we lost +sight of the enemy beyond a curve, we hoped that some of our +obstructions had been effective in throwing him from the track, and that +we should see him no more; but at each long reach backward the smoke was +again seen, and the shrill whistle was like the scream of a bird of +prey. The time could not have been so very long, for the terrible speed +was rapidly devouring the distance; but with our nerves strained to the +highest tension each minute seemed an hour. On several occasions the +escape of the enemy from wreck was little less than miraculous. At one +point a rail was placed across the track on a curve so skilfully that it +was not seen till the train ran upon it at full speed. Fuller says that +they were terribly jolted, and seemed to bounce altogether from the +track, but lighted on the rails in safety. Some of the Confederates +wished to leave a train which was driven at such a reckless rate, but +their wishes were not gratified.</p> + +<p>Before reaching Dalton we urged Andrews to turn and attack the enemy, +laying an ambush so as to get into close quarters, that our revolvers +might be on equal terms with their guns. I have little doubt that if +this had been carried out it would have succeeded. But either because he +thought the chance of wrecking or obstructing the enemy still good, or +feared that the country ahead had been alarmed by a telegram around the +Confederacy by the way of Richmond, Andrews merely gave the plan his +sanction without making any attempt to carry it into execution.</p> + +<p>Dalton was passed without difficulty, and beyond we stopped again to cut +wires and to obstruct the track. It happened that a regiment was +encamped not a hundred yards away, but they did not molest us. Fuller +had written a despatch to Chattanooga, and dropped a man with orders to +have it forwarded instantly, while he pushed on to save the bridges. +Part of the message got through and created a wild panic in Chattanooga, +although it did not materially influence our fortunes. Our supply of +fuel was now very short, and without getting rid of our pursuers long +enough to take in more, it was evident that we could not run as far as +Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>While cutting the wire we made an attempt to get up another rail; but +the enemy, as usual, were too quick for us. We had no tool for this +purpose except a wedge-pointed iron bar. Two or three bent iron claws +for pulling out spikes would have given us such incontestable +superiority that, down to almost the last of our run, we should have +been able to escape and even to burn all the Chickamauga bridges. But it +had not been our intention to rely on this mode of obstruction—an +emergency only rendered necessary by our unexpected delay and the +pouring rain.</p> + +<p>We made no attempt to damage the long tunnel north of Dalton, as our +enemies had greatly dreaded. The last hope of the raid was now staked +upon an effort of a kind different from any that we had yet made, but +which, if successful, would still enable us to destroy the bridges +nearest Chattanooga. But, on the other hand, its failure would terminate +the chase. Life and success were put upon one throw.</p> + +<p>A few more obstructions were dropped on the track, and our own speed +increased so that we soon forged a considerable distance ahead. The side +and end boards of the last car were torn into shreds, all available fuel +was piled upon it, and blazing brands were brought back from the engine. +By the time we approached a long, covered bridge a fire in the car was +fairly started. We uncoupled it in the middle of the bridge, and with +painful suspense waited the issue. Oh for a few minutes till the work of +conflagration was fairly begun! There was still steam pressure enough in +our boiler to carry us to the next wood-yard, where we could have +replenished our fuel by force, if necessary, so as to run as near to +Chattanooga as was deemed prudent. We did not know of the telegraph +message which the pursuers had sent ahead. But, alas! the minutes were +not given. Before the bridge was extensively fired the enemy was upon +us, and we moved slowly onward, looking back to see what they would do +next. We had not long to conjecture. The Confederates pushed right into +the smoke, and drove the burning car before them to the next side-track.</p> + +<p>With no car left, and no fuel, the last scrap having thrown into the +engine or upon the burning car, and with no obstruction to drop on the +track, our situation was indeed desperate. A few minutes only remained +until our steed of iron which had so well served us would be powerless.</p> + +<p>But it might still be possible to save ourselves. If we left the train +in a body, and, taking a direct course toward the Union lines, hurried +over the mountains at right angles with their course, we could not, from +the nature of the country, be followed by cavalry, and could easily +travel—athletic young men as we were, and fleeing for life—as rapidly +as any pursuers. There was no telegraph in the mountainous districts +west and northwest of us, and the prospect of reaching the Union lines +seemed to me then, and has always since seemed, very fair. Confederate +pursuers with whom I have since conversed freely have agreed on two +points—that we could have escaped in the manner here pointed out, and +that an attack on the pursuing train would likely have been successful. +But Andrews thought otherwise, at least in relation to the former plan, +and ordered us to jump from the locomotive one by one, and, dispersing +in the woods, each endeavor to save himself. Thus ended the Andrews +railroad raid.</p> + +<p>It is easy now to understand why Mitchel paused thirty miles west of +Chattanooga. The Andrews raiders had been forced to stop eighteen miles +south of the same town, and no flying train met him with the expected +tidings that all railroad communications of Chattanooga were destroyed, +and that the town was in a panic and undefended. He dared advance no +farther without heavy reinforcements from Pittsburg Landing or the +north; and he probably believed to the day of his death, six months +later, that the whole Andrews party had perished without accomplishing +anything.</p> + +<p>A few words will give the sequel to this remarkable enterprise. There +was great excitement in Chattanooga and in the whole of the surrounding +Confederate territory for scores of miles. The hunt for the fugitive +raiders was prompt, energetic, and completely successful. Ignorant of +the country, disorganized, and far from the Union lines, they strove in +vain to escape. Several were captured the same day on which they left +the cars, and all but two within a week. Even these two were overtaken +and brought back when they supposed that they were virtually out of +danger. Two of those who had failed to be on the train were identified +and added to the band of prisoners.</p> + +<p>Now follows the saddest part of the story. Being in citizens' dress +within an enemy's lines, the whole party were held as spies, and closely +and vigorously guarded. A court-martial was convened, and the leader and +seven others out of the twenty-two were condemned and executed. The +remainder were never brought to trial, probably because of the advance +of Union forces, and the consequent confusion into which the affairs of +the departments of east Tennessee and Georgia were thrown. Of the +remaining fourteen, eight succeeded by a bold effort—attacking their +guard in broad daylight—in making their escape from Atlanta, Georgia, +and ultimately in reaching the North. The other six who shared in this +effort, but were recaptured, remained prisoners until the latter part of +March, 1863, when they were exchanged through a special arrangement made +with Secretary Stanton. All the survivors of this expedition received +medals and promotion.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> The pursuers also received expressions of +gratitude from their fellow-Confederates, notably from the governor and +the legislature of Georgia.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Below is a list of the participants in the raid: +</p> +<p><br /> +James J. Andrews,[A] leader;<br /> +William Campbell,[A] a civilian who volunteered to accompany the raiders;<br /> +George D. Wilson,[A] Company B, 2d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Marion A. Ross,[A] Company A, 2d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Perry G. Shadrack,[A] Company K, 2d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Samuel Slavens,[A] 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Samuel Robinson,[A] Company G, 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +John Scott,[A] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Wilson W. Brown,[B] Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +William Knight,[B] Company E, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Mark Wood,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +James A. Wilson,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +John Wollam,[B] Company C, 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +D.A. Dorsey,[B] Company H, 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Jacob Parrott,[C] Company K, 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +Robert Buffum,[C] Company H, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +William Benzinger,[C] Company G, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +William Reddick,[C] Company B, 33d Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +E.H. Mason,[C] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers;<br /> +William Pittenger,[C] Company G, 2d Ohio Volunteers.<br /> +</p> +<p> +J.R. Porter, Company C, 21st Ohio, and Martin J. Hawkins, Company A, 33d +Ohio, reached Marietta, but did not get on board of the train. They were +captured and imprisoned with their comrades. +</p><p> +[A] Executed. [B] Escaped. [C] Exchanged.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_3"></a>MOSBY'S "PARTIZAN RANGERS"</h2> + +<h4>BY A.E. RICHARDS</h4> + + +<p>During the early stages of the war between the States, the Confederate +Congress enacted a statute known as the Partizan Ranger Act, which +provided for independent bodies of cavalry to be organized as other +government troops. The officers were to be regularly commissioned and +the men to be paid like other soldiers. The distinctive features were, +that the rangers should operate independently of the regular army and be +entitled to the legitimate spoil captured from the enemy.</p> + +<p>While John S. Mosby was employed as a scout by General J.E.B. Stuart, he +had concluded that a command organized and operated as contemplated by +this act could do great damage to the enemy guarding that portion of +Northern Virginia abandoned by the Confederate armies. But the partizan +branch of the service having been brought into disrepute by the worse +than futile efforts of others, his superior officers at first refused +him permission to engage in so questionable an enterprise. Finally, +however, General Stuart gave Mosby a detail of nine men from the regular +cavalry with which to experiment.</p> + +<p>At that time the two main armies operating in Virginia were confronting +each other near Fredericksburg. To protect their lines of communication +with Washington, the Federals had stationed a considerable force across +the Potomac, with headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. They also +established a complete cordon of pickets from a point on the river above +Washington to a point below, thus encompassing many square miles of +Virginia territory. Upon these outposts Mosby commenced his operations. +The size of his command compelled him to confine his attacks to the +small details made nightly for picket duty. But he was so uniformly +successful that when the time came for him to report back to General +Stuart, that officer was so pleased with the experiment that he allowed +Mosby to select fifteen men from his old regiment and return, for an +indefinite period, to his chosen field of operations.</p> + +<p>His first exploits had been so noised abroad that the young men from the +neighboring counties and the soldiers at home on furloughs would request +permission to join in his raids. He could easily muster fifty of these, +known as "Mosby's Conglomerates," for any expedition. The opportunity +for developing his ideas of border warfare was thus presented. With +great vigor he renewed his attacks upon the Federal outposts. As a +recognition of one of his successful exploits, the Confederate +government sent him a captain's commission with authority to raise a +company of partizan rangers. The material for this was already at hand, +and on June 10, 1862, he organized his first company. This was the +nucleus around which he subsequently shaped his ideal command. The fame +of his achievements had already spread throughout Virginia and Maryland, +and attracted to his standard many kindred spirits from both States. No +conscripting was necessary. Those for whom this mode of warfare +possessed a charm would brave hardship and danger for the privilege of +enlisting under his banner. His recruits from Maryland, and many of +those from Virginia, were compelled to pass through the Federal pickets +in order to join his command. Yet great care had to be exercised in the +selection of his men, and not every applicant was received. If an +unworthy soldier procured admission, so soon as the mistake was +discovered he was sent under guard as a conscript to the regular +service.</p> + +<p>Mosby reserved the right to select all of his officers, who were +invariably chosen from those who had already demonstrated their fitness +for this particular service. It has been said of a great military hero +that the surest proof of his genius was his skill in finding out genius +in others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Mosby, in his +limited sphere, displayed a similar talent, and to this faculty, almost +as much as any one thing, may be attributed his success with his +enlarged command. When a sufficient number of men had enlisted to form a +new company, he would have them drawn up in line and his adjutant would +read to them the names of those selected for officers, with the +announcement that all who were not in favor of their election could step +out of the ranks and go to the regular service. Of course no one ever +left. In order to comply with the law, the form of an election was then +gone through with, and their commander's choice ratified. In no other +body of troops were all the officers thus <i>unanimously</i> elected.</p> + +<p>Mosby's command, as finally organized, consisted of eight companies of +cavalry and one of mounted artillery, officered by a colonel, a +lieutenant-colonel, and a major, with the usual complement of company +officers. But the entire force was seldom combined. Instead of this, +they would be divided into two or more detachments operating in +different places. So it was not at all unusual for an attack to be made +the same night upon Sheridan's line of transportation in the valley, +upon the pickets guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, upon the +outposts in Fairfax County, and upon the rear of the army manoeuvering +against Lee. This explains—what at the time seemed to many of the +readers of the Northern newspapers a mystery—how Mosby's men could be +in so many different places at the same time. The safety and success of +the Rangers were enhanced by these subdivisions, the Federals having +become so alert as to make it extremely difficult for a large command +either to evade their pickets or manoeuver within their lines. From +fifty to one hundred men were all that were usually marched together, +and many of their most brilliant successes were achieved with even a +smaller force. Mosby had only twenty men with him when he captured +Brigadier-General Edwin H. Stoughton. With these he penetrated the heart +of the Federal camp, and carried off its commander. General Stoughton +was in charge of an army of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, with +headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. One dark night in March, 1863, +Mosby, with this small detachment, evaded the Federal pickets, passed +through the sleeping army, and with their camp-fires gleaming all +around him, and their sentinels on duty, aroused their general from his +slumbers, and took him captive with thirty-seven of his comrades.</p> + +<p>But the novelty of Mosby's mode of warfare consisted chiefly in the +manner of subsisting, quartering and protecting his men. The upper +portion of Loudon and Fauquier counties, embracing a circuit of about +thirty miles in diameter, was then known as "Mosby's Confederacy." By a +glance at the map it will be observed that it bordered upon the Blue +Ridge Mountains on the west, and the Bull Run Mountains on the east. The +valley between is one of the richest, most beautiful, and highly +cultivated in the State of Virginia. It was thickly inhabited with old +Virginia families, who were loyal and true to the Southern cause. These +people received Mosby's men into their houses as their guests, and +neither danger nor want could tempt their betrayal. Robin Hood's band +sought safety in the solitudes of Sherwood Forest, Marion's men secreted +themselves "in the pleasant wilds of Snow's Island" and other South +Carolina swamps, but the Partizan Rangers of Virginia protected +themselves by dispersing in an open country among a sympathizing people. +They never established a camp; to have done so would have invited +capture. Each soldier had his boarding-house, where he lived when off +duty, as a member of the family. From these they would come, singly or +in groups, bringing their rations with them to some designated +rendezvous, march rapidly to and from the point of attack, send their +prisoners under guard to the nearest Confederate post, divide the spoil, +and disperse. If they were pursued by an overwhelming force as was +frequently the case, the evening found them scattered to the four winds, +where each man, mounted upon his own fleet steed, could protect himself +from capture. If the Federals attempted to follow the chase in small +parties, the Rangers, from behind every hill and grove, would +concentrate and dash upon them. If they marched in solid column, the +Rangers would hang upon their flanks, firing upon them from behind +trees, fences, and hilltops. In this way, General Julius Stahel, who had +invaded Mosby's Confederacy with two brigades of cavalry and four pieces +of artillery for the avowed purpose of utterly demolishing the Rangers, +was so annoyed that he retired, thoroughly disgusted with an enemy "who +only fought when they got their foe at a disadvantage."</p> + +<p>As there were no civil officers commissioned by either party in all that +section of Virginia, the people naturally turned to Mosby as their only +representative of law and order. It was not unusual for them to submit +their property controversies to him for decision. In this way he +acquired a civil jurisdiction in connection with his military +dictatorship. Being a lawyer by profession, educated at the University +of Virginia, his civil administration became as remarkable for its +prudence and justice as his military leadership was for magnanimity and +dash. I heard an old citizen remark, "For two years Mosby was our ruler, +and the country never was better governed." He protected the people from +stragglers and deserters, who pillaged friend and foe alike. Every +captured horse-thief was promptly executed. He required his own men to +treat the citizens with fairness and courtesy, and any violation of +this rule was punished by sending the offender to the regular service. +Its observance was more easily enforced than would appear possible at +first glance. The men were scarcely ever off duty, except for necessary +rest. The officers were then distributed among them, and by their +example and authority controlled, when necessary, the deportment of +their men. The citizens with whom they lived also exercised a healthy +influence over them. These relations engendered many attachments that +ran like golden threads through the soldier's life and outlived the +rough usages of war.</p> + +<p>It thus became no easy matter to drive the Rangers from a territory so +dear to them, and in which they were befriended by all. On two occasions +the entire Federal army operating against General Lee passed through +Mosby's Confederacy, and yet his men did not abandon it. They hid +themselves in the mountains during the day, and descended upon the enemy +at night. They thus observed every movement of the Federal army, and all +valuable information was promptly sent to the Confederate general. On +one of these occasions, June 17, 1863, Mosby found himself at ten +o'clock at night between the infantry and cavalry commands of General +Hooker's army. Observing three horses hitched near a house, with an +orderly standing by, he left his command with the prisoners already +captured, and taking with him three men, rode up to the orderly and was +informed by him that the horses belonged to Major William E. Sterling +and another officer. In a whisper he said to the orderly:</p> + +<p>"My name is Mosby. Keep quiet!"</p> + +<p>The man understood him to say that he (the orderly) was "Mosby," and +very indignantly replied:</p> + +<p>"No sir, I am as good a Union man as ever walked the earth."</p> + +<p>"Those are just the sort I am after," said Mosby.</p> + +<p>Just then the two officers emerged from the house. As they approached, +one of the Rangers stretched out his hand to disarm the major. Supposing +him to be an acquaintance, Major Sterling offered his hand in return, +but was overwhelmed with surprise when informed that he was a prisoner. +Upon examination he was found to be the bearer of important despatches +from General Hooker to his chief of cavalry, General Pleasonton. These +despatches, which developed the contemplated movements of the army and +directed the coöperation of the cavalry, were placed in General Stuart's +hands by dawn of day. On this and many similar occasions information +furnished by the Rangers proved invaluable to the Confederate generals.</p> + +<p>But furnishing information was not the most important service they +rendered. It has been fairly estimated that they detained on guard duty +thirty thousand Federal soldiers, who otherwise might have been employed +at the front. Even then the Federal lines of transportation were +constantly being attacked, with more or less success. It was impossible +to protect them against such reckless activity as the Rangers were +constantly displaying. No matter how vigilant the Federals were, Mosby +was sure to find an opportunity for attacking. Sometimes his success +would lie in the very boldness of the attempt. This was never more +strikingly illustrated than in one of his attacks upon Sheridan's line +of transportation. The Federal arm which had driven General Early up the +valley beyond Winchester was drawing its supplies over the turnpike from +Harper's Ferry. Mosby, taking a command of five companies of cavalry and +two mountain howitzers,—numbering two hundred and fifty men,—passed at +night across the Blue Ridge, and fording the Shenandoah, halted a few +miles below Berryville. Riding out to the turnpike, he discovered in his +immediate front two large trains parked for the night—one going toward +the army loaded, the other returning empty. He determined to capture the +former, composed of one hundred and fifty wagons. At daybreak it +commenced to move, guarded by a brigade of infantry and two hundred and +fifty cavalry. The train and its guard were soon strung along the +turnpike. The cavalry rode on the flank near the center, a company of +infantry marched in front of each tenth wagon, and the remaining force +was distributed between the rear-and advance-guards. It was a bright +summer morning, and just as the sun was rising the Rangers marched +across the open fields and halted about four hundred yards from the +road, and within full view of the moving train. Observing the Federal +cavalry dismounted across the road a quarter of a mile to his left, +Mosby sent two companies of his cavalry and one howitzer, with orders to +take a position immediately opposite them and there await the signal of +attack, which was to be three shots fired from the howitzer left behind. +This detachment did not halt until it was within seventy-five yards of +the moving train. Of course the Federals observed all these +manoeuvers, but were misled by their very boldness; they never +imagined but what this new force was a part of their own army. So when +the first shot, which fell short, was fired from the howitzer, several +of their officers rode to the eminence not more than thirty steps in +front of the detached Confederate squadron, and lifting their glasses to +their eyes, prepared to witness what they supposed to be artillery +practice. Just then the second shell from the howitzer burst in the +midst of their cavalry, who, supposing it had been fired in that +direction through mistake, hastily prepared to move beyond range. +Immediately the rebel yell was raised, and the squadron dashed at the +Federals, scattering them in every direction, and capturing the officers +with their glasses still in their hands. Turning abruptly to the left, +the Rangers charged along the road, riding over company after company of +infantry until checked by a volley from the advance-guard. At the same +time another squadron had struck the turnpike immediately in front of +their first position, and turning to the right, had ridden down +everything between them and the rear-guard. Then, with one howitzer +playing upon the advance and the other upon the rear-guard, the Rangers +rapidly collected their prisoners, unhitched the teams, and burned the +wagons. When reinforcements reached the Federals they deployed their +skirmishers and advanced in line of battle, only to see the Rangers +riding over the hills in the distance, taking with them three hundred +prisoners, seven hundred mules and horses, and two hundred and thirty +beef-cattle. But the rejoicing of the Rangers was almost turned into +chagrin when they learned from the Northern papers that one of the +wagons from which they had taken the mules was loaded with an iron safe +containing one million dollars to pay off the army. Upon reading it, +Mosby dropped the paper with a sigh, exclaiming, "There's a cool million +gone after it was fairly earned! What other man could sustain such +losses with so little embarrassment?"</p> + +<p>But this failure of the Rangers to secure their "earnings" did not +always attend them. Shortly after that they collected a sufficient +amount of "dues" to enable them to determine upon greenbacks as the +future currency of their Confederacy. It happened in this wise. Taking +with him seventy-five men, Mosby crossed, at an early hour of the night, +in rear of Sheridan's army, and struck the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +above Harper's Ferry, near Duffield Station. Here they prized up one +side of the track to a height of four feet, placing a secure foundation +under it. Soon the night express came rushing along. The engine upset, +and the train came to a stand without serious injury to the passengers. +Immediately the cars were boarded, and every one in Federal uniform +captured. Among the prisoners were two paymasters, Majors Moore and +Ruggles, who had in a satchel and tin box $168,000, in greenbacks, to +pay off the troops stationed along the road. Securing this rich booty, +the Rangers burned the cars and repassed Sheridan's pickets before the +day had dawned. The money was divided upon reaching their Confederacy, +each man receiving something over two thousand dollars, Mosby taking +nothing.</p> + +<p>Only the men who participated in a particular raid were allowed to +share in its spoil. The officer who commanded the expedition always +controlled the distribution. It was seldom there was anything to divide +except horses and their equipments. Those who had distinguished +themselves in the fight were allowed the first choice as a reward for +their gallantry, the shares of the others being divided by lot. This +system, by rewarding individual merit, encouraged a healthy rivalry +among the men, and at the same time removed all inducement to leave the +fight for plunder. Often when a charge was ordered, a genuine horse-race +followed, the swiftest steeds leading the way.</p> + +<p>In this manner the men were mounted and equipped without expense to +themselves or the Confederate Government. On the contrary, the army +quartermaster kept an agent in Mosby's Confederacy, to purchase from the +Rangers their surplus stock and arms. His standing price for a horse was +forty dollars in gold. But each Ranger retained two or more of the best +for his own use. In this way they were always splendidly mounted. I once +heard a Federal officer say he was not surprised that Mosby's men rode +such fine horses, as they had both armies to pick from. The cavalry was +armed with pistols alone, of which each man carried at least two. Their +superiority over all other arms for this branch of the service was +frequently demonstrated. It is a weapon that can be used with one hand, +leaving the other to guide the horse. Cavalry is never really efficient +unless trained to rush into close contact with the enemy. To see the +whites of their eyes is not sufficient; they must ride over the foe. In +the rapid charge the carbine is not only useless, but a positive +incumbrance. The saber is comparatively harmless; it serves to frighten +the timid, but rarely ever deals a death-wound. Let two men encounter +each other in the charge, one relying upon his pistol, the other upon +his saber, and the former, though an ordinary marksman, will almost +invariably get the better of his antagonist. The Rangers realized their +advantage in this respect. It encouraged them to rush into close +quarters, where the rapid discharge of their pistols soon told upon the +enemy, no matter how bravely they had withstood the onset. I have seen +the victory decided alone by the superiority of the pistol over the +saber, where the opposing columns had crossed each other in the charge +and, wheeling, had mingled in the fight.</p> + +<p>But the Rangers were compelled to discard the carbine and the saber for +other reasons than their inferiority in the hand-to-hand conflict. It +was always their policy to take the enemy by surprise if possible. Their +favorite plan was to wind their way through the Federal pickets during +the night, and make the attack at break of day. The rattling of the +carbine and saber would have made it impossible to execute these +movements with the silence necessary to success. To the uninitiated it +would be surprising to see with what noiseless secrecy these +manoeuvers could be accomplished. Only whispered commands were +necessary from the officers, and the presence of danger insured silence +in the ranks. This silence, which was observed so long as silence was +proper, served to make the charge, with its shout and its cheer, the +more terrible to the foe.</p> + +<p>But it must not be imagined the Rangers were always successful. They +were themselves sometimes surprised, sometimes repulsed. Nothing else +could be expected from almost daily encounters in a country abandoned to +the enemy. There were occasions when they were saved from total ruin +only by their knowledge of the country and the swiftness of their +steeds.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_4"></a>A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS</h2> + +<h3><a href="#I_THE_RAID">THE RAID,</a> <a href="#II_THE_CAPTURE">THE CAPTURE,</a> AND<a href="#III_THE_ESCAPE11"> THE ESCAPE</a></h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="I_THE_RAID" id="I_THE_RAID"></a>I. THE RAID</h3> + +<h4>BY BASIL W. DUKE</h4> + + +<p>In the summer of 1863, when, at Tullahoma, Tennessee, General Bragg's +army was menaced by superior numbers in flank and rear, he determined to +send a body of cavalry into Kentucky, which should operate upon +Rosecrans's communications between Nashville and Louisville, break the +railroads, capture or threaten all the minor depots of supplies, +intercept and defeat all detachments not too strong to be engaged, and +keep the enemy so on the alert in his own rear that he would lose or +neglect his opportunity to embarrass or endanger the march of the army +when its retrograde movement began. He even hoped that a part of the +hostile forces before him might be thus detained long enough to prevent +their participation in the battle which he expected to fight when he +crossed the Tennessee.</p> + +<p>The officer whom he selected to accomplish this diversion was General +John H. Morgan, whose division of mounted riflemen was well fitted for +the work in hand. Equal in courage, dash, and discipline to the other +fine cavalry commands which General Bragg had at his disposal, it had +passed a longer apprenticeship in expeditionary service than had any +other. Its rank and file was of that mettle which finds its natural +element in active and audacious enterprise, and was yet thrilled with +the fire of youth; for there were few men in the division over +twenty-five years of age. It was imbued with the spirit of its +commander, and confided in his skill and fortune; no endeavor was deemed +impossible or even hazardous when he led. It was inured to constant, +almost daily, combat with the enemy, of all arms and under every +possible contingency. During its four years of service the 2d Kentucky +Cavalry, of which General Morgan was the first colonel, lost sixty-three +commissioned officers killed and wounded; Company A of that regiment, of +which Morgan was the first captain, losing during the war seventy-five +men killed. It had on its muster-roll, from first to last, nearly two +hundred and fifty men. The history of this company and regiment was +scarcely exceptional in the command.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 33%"> +<a id="fig038" name="fig038"></a> +<img src="images/fig038.png" width="100%" alt="Morgan" /> +<span class="caption">GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>Morgan was beyond all men adapted to independent command of this nature. +His energy never flagged, and his invention was always equal to the +emergency. Boldness and caution were united in all that he undertook. +He had a most remarkable aptitude for promptly acquiring a knowledge of +any country in which he was operating; and as he kept it, so to speak, +"in his head," he was enabled easily to extricate himself from +difficulties. The celerity with which he marched, the promptness with +which he attacked or eluded a foe, intensified the confidence of his +followers, and kept his antagonists always in doubt and apprehension.</p> + +<p>In his conference with General Bragg, Morgan differed with his chief +regarding the full effect of a raid that should not be extended beyond +the Ohio. General Bragg desired it to be confined to Kentucky. He gave +Morgan <i>carte blanche</i> to go where he pleased in that State and stay as +long as he pleased; suggesting, among other things, that he capture +Louisville. Morgan urged that while by such a raid he might so divert to +himself the attention of General Henry M. Judah and the cavalry of +Rosecrans that they would not molest General Bragg's retreat, he could +do nothing, in this way, in behalf of the other equally important +feature of the plan—the detention of troops that would otherwise +strengthen Rosecrans in the decisive battle to be fought south of the +Tennessee. He contended, moreover, that a raid into Indiana and Ohio, +the more especially as important political elections were pending there, +would cause troops to be withdrawn from Rosecrans and Burnside for the +protection of those States. But General Bragg refused permission to +cross the Ohio, and instructed Morgan to make the raid as originally +designed.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px"> +<a id="fig003" name="fig003"></a> +<a href="images/fig003.png"><img src="images/fig003_th.png" alt="map-left" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE MORGAN RAID.</span> +</div> + +<p><i>JULY 1863.</i></p> + +<p>Some weeks previous to this conference, by Morgan's direction I had sent +competent men to examine the fords of the upper Ohio. He had even then +contemplated such an expedition. It had long been his conviction that +the Confederacy could maintain the struggle only by transferring +hostilities and waging war, whenever opportunity offered, on Northern +soil. Upon his return from this interview he told me what had been +discussed, and what were General Bragg's instructions. He said that he +meant to disobey them; that the emergency, he believed, justified +disobedience. He was resolved to cross the Ohio River and invade Indiana +and Ohio. His command would probably be captured, he said; but in no +other way could he give substantial aid to the army. General Bragg had +directed Morgan to detail two thousand men for the expedition. From the +two brigades commanded respectively by myself and Colonel Adam R. +Johnson, Morgan selected twenty-four hundred and sixty of the +best-mounted and most effective. He took with him four pieces of +artillery—two 3-inch Parrotts, attached to the First Brigade, and two +12-pounder howitzers, attached to the Second.</p> + +<p>I should state that Morgan had thoroughly planned the raid before he +marched from Tennessee. He meant to cross the Cumberland in the vicinity +of Burkesville, and to march directly across Kentucky to the nearest +point at which he could reach the Ohio west of Louisville, so closely +approaching Louisville as to compel belief that he meant to attempt its +capture. Turning to the right after entering Indiana, and marching as +nearly due east as possible, he would reduce to a minimum the distance +necessary to be covered, and yet threaten and alarm the population of +the two States as completely as by penetrating deeply into them; more +so, indeed, for pursuing this line he would reach the immediate vicinity +of Cincinnati and excite fears for the safety of that city. While he +intended to prolong the raid to the uttermost, he proposed to be at no +time far from the Ohio, so that he might avail himself of an opportunity +to recross. On reaching the borders of Pennsylvania, he intended, if +General Lee should be in that State, to make every effort to join him; +failing in that, to make his escape through West Virginia. Information +he had gotten about the fords of the upper Ohio had induced him to +indicate Buffington's Island as the point where he would attempt to +recross that stream. He deemed the passage of the Cumberland one of the +four chief difficulties of the expedition that might prove really +dangerous and insuperable; the other three were the passage of the Ohio, +the circuit around Cincinnati, and the recrossing of the Ohio.</p> + +<p>Before noon on the 2d of July my brigade began to cross the Cumberland +at Burkesville and at Scott's Ferry, two miles higher up the stream. The +river, swollen by heavy and long-continued rains, was pouring down a +volume of water which overspread its banks and rushed with a velocity +that seemed to defy any attempt to stem it. Two or three canoes lashed +together and two small flats served to transport the men and the +field-pieces, while the horses were made to swim. Many of them were +swept far down by the boiling flood. This process was necessarily slow, +as well as precarious. Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was crossing at +Turkey Neck Bend, several miles below Burkesville, was scarcely so well +provided with the means of ferriage as myself. About 3 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> the +enemy began to threaten both brigades. Had these demonstrations been +made earlier, and vigorously, we could have gotten over the river. +Fortunately by this time we had taken over the 6th Kentucky and 9th +Tennessee of my brigade—aggregating nearly six hundred men—and also +the two pieces of artillery. These regiments were moved beyond +Burkesville and placed in a position which served all the purposes of an +ambuscade. When the enemy approached, one or two volleys caused his +column to recoil in confusion. General Morgan instantly charged it with +Quirk's scouts and some companies of the 9th Tennessee, and not only +prevented it from rallying, but drove it all the way back to Marrowbone, +entering the encampment there with the troops he was pursuing in a +pell-mell dash. He was soon driven back, however, by the enemy's +infantry and artillery.</p> + +<p>The effect of this blow was to keep the enemy quiet for the rest of the +day and night. The forces threatening Colonel Johnson were also +withdrawn, and we both accomplished the passage of the river without +further molestation. That night the division marched out on the Columbia +road and encamped about two miles from Burkesville. On the next day +Judah concentrated the three brigades of his cavalry command in that +region, while orders were sent to all the other Federal detachments in +Kentucky to close in upon our line of march.</p> + +<p>General Bragg had sent with the expedition a large party of commissaries +of subsistence, who were directed to collect cattle north of the +Cumberland and drive them, guarded by one of our regiments, to +Tullahoma. I have never understood how he expected us to be able, under +the circumstances, to collect the cattle, or the foragers to drive them +out. The commissaries did not attempt to carry out their instructions, +but followed us the entire distance and pulled up in prison. They were +gallant fellows and made no complaint of danger or hardship, seeming +rather to enjoy it.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 367px"> +<a id="fig005" name="fig005"></a> +<a href="images/fig005.png"><img src="images/fig005_th.png" alt="farmer" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE FARMER FROM CALFKILLER CREEK.</span> +</div> + +<p>There was one case, however, which excited universal pity. An old farmer +and excellent man, who lived near Sparta, had accompanied us to +Burkesville; that is, he meant to go no farther, and thought we would +not. He wished to procure a barrel of salt, as the supply of that +commodity was exhausted in his part of the country. He readily purchased +the salt, but learned, to his consternation, that the march to +Burkesville was a mere preliminary canter. He was confronted with the +alternative of going on a dangerous raid or of returning alone through a +region swarming with the fierce bushwhackers of "Tinker Dave" Beattie, +who never gave quarter to Confederate soldier or Southern sympathizer. +He knew that if he fell into their hands they would pickle him with his +own salt. So this old man sadly yet wisely resolved to follow the +fortunes of Morgan. He made the grand tour, was hurried along day after +day through battle and ambush, dragged night after night on the +remorseless march, ferried over the broad Ohio under fire of the militia +and gunboats, and lodged at last in a "loathsome dungeon." On one +occasion, in Ohio, when the home guards were peppering us in rather +livelier fashion than usual, he said to Captain C.H. Morgan, with tears +in his voice: "I sw'ar if I wouldn't give all the salt in Kaintucky to +stand once more safe and sound on the banks of Calfkiller Creek."</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig006" name="fig006"></a> +<a href="images/fig006.png"><img src="images/fig006_th.png" alt="pies" /></a> +<span class="caption">GENERAL DUKE TESTS THE PIES</span> +</div> + +<p>Pushing on before dawn of the 3d, we reached Columbia in the afternoon. +The place was occupied by a detachment of Colonel Frank Wolford's +brigade, which was quickly driven out. Encamping that evening some eight +miles from Columbia, we could hear all night the ringing of the axes +near Green River bridge, on the road from Columbia to Campbellsville. +Three or four hundred of the 25th Michigan Infantry were stationed at +the bridge to protect it; but the commander, Colonel Orlando H. Moore, +deliberately quitting the elaborate stockade erected near the +bridge,—in which nine officers out of ten would have remained, but +where we could have shelled him into surrender without losing a man +ourselves,—selected one of the strongest natural positions I ever saw, +and fortified it skilfully although simply. The Green River makes here +an immense horseshoe sweep, with the bridge at the toe of the horseshoe; +and more than a mile south of it was the point where Colonel Moore +elected to make his fight. The river there wound back so nearly upon its +previous course that the peninsula, or "neck," was scarcely a hundred +yards wide. This narrow neck was also very short, the river bending +almost immediately to the west again. At that time it was thickly +covered with trees and undergrowth, and Colonel Moore, felling the +heaviest timber, had constructed a formidable abatis across the +narrowest part of it. Just in front of the abatis there was open ground +for perhaps two hundred yards. South of the open was a deep ravine. The +road ran on the east side of the cleared place, and the banks of the +river were high and precipitous. The center of the open space rose into +a swell, sloping gently away both to the north and south. On the crest +of the swell Moore had thrown up a slight earthwork, which was manned +when we approached. An officer was promptly despatched with a flag to +demand his surrender. Colonel Moore responded that an officer of the +United States ought not to surrender on the Fourth of July, and he must +therefore decline. Captain "Ed" Byrne had planted one of the Parrott +guns about six hundred yards from the earthwork, and on the return of +the bearer of the flag opened fire, probing the work with a round shot. +One man in the trench was killed by this shot, and the others ran back +to the abatis.</p> + +<p>Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was in advance, immediately dashed +forward with the 3d and 11th Kentucky to attack the main position. +Artillery could not be used, for the guns could bear upon the abatis +only from the crest of which I have spoken, and if posted there the +cannoneers, at the very short range, would not have been able to serve +their pieces. The position could be won only by direct assault. The men +rushed up to the fallen timber, but became entangled in the network of +trunks and branches, and were shot down while trying to climb over or +push through them. I reinforced Johnson with a part of Smith's regiment, +the 5th Kentucky, but the jam and confusion incident to moving in so +circumscribed an area and through the dense undergrowth broke the force +of the charge. The enemy was quite numerous enough to defend a line so +short and strong and perfectly protected on both flanks. We had not more +than six hundred men actually engaged, and the fighting lasted not +longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Our loss was about ninety, nearly +as many killed as wounded. Afterward we learned that Colonel Moore's +loss was six killed and twenty-three wounded. When General Morgan +ordered the attack he was not aware of the strength of the position; nor +had he anticipated a resistance so spirited and so skilfully planned. He +reluctantly drew off without another assault, convinced that to capture +the abatis and its defenders would cost him half his command. Among the +killed were Colonel D.W. Chenault and Captain Alexander Treble of the +11th Kentucky, Lieutenant Robert Cowan of the 3d, and Major Thomas Y. +Brent, Jr., and Lieutenants Holloway and Ferguson of the 5th. These +officers were all killed literally at the muzzles of the rifles.</p> + +<p>Colonel Moore's position might easily have been avoided; indeed, we +passed around it immediately afterward, crossing the river at a ford +about two miles below the bridge. Morgan assailed it merely in +accordance with his habitual policy when advancing of attacking all in +his path except very superior forces.</p> + +<p>On the same afternoon Captain William M. Magenis, assistant +adjutant-general of the division, a valuable officer, was murdered by a +Captain Murphy, whom he had placed under arrest for robbing a citizen. +Murphy made his escape from the guard two or three days subsequently, +just as the court-martial which was to have tried him was convening.</p> + +<p>On the morning of July 5th the column reached Lebanon, which was +garrisoned by the 20th Kentucky Infantry, commanded by Colonel Charles +S. Hanson. The 8th and 9th Michigan Cavalry and the 11th Michigan +Battery, under command of Colonel James I. David, were approaching by +the Danville road to reinforce the garrison, necessitating a large +detachment to observe them. Morgan's demand for surrender having been +refused, artillery fire was directed upon the railroad depot and other +buildings in which the enemy had established himself; but, as the +Federals endured it with great firmness, it became necessary to carry +the town by assault. Our loss was some forty in killed and wounded, +including several excellent officers. One death universally deplored was +that of the General's brother, Lieutenant Thomas H. Morgan. He was a +bright, handsome, and very gallant lad of nineteen, the favorite of the +division. He was killed in front of the 2d Kentucky in the charge upon +the depot. The Federal loss was three killed and sixteen wounded, and +three hundred and eighty were prisoners.</p> + +<p>Without delay we passed through Springfield and Bardstown, crossing the +Louisville and Nashville Railroad at Lebanon Junction, thirty miles from +Louisville, on the evening of the 6th. At Springfield two companies of +about ninety men were sent toward Harrodsburg and Danville to occupy the +attention of the Federal cavalry in that quarter. From Bardstown, +Captain W.C. Davis, acting assistant adjutant-general of the First +Brigade, was sent with a detachment of one hundred and thirty men to +scout in the vicinity of Louisville, to produce the impression that the +city was about to be attacked, and to divert attention from the passage +of the Ohio by the main body at Brandenburg. He was instructed to cross +the river somewhere east of Louisville and to rejoin the column on its +line of march through Indiana. He executed the first part of the program +perfectly, but was unable to get across the river. Tapping the wires at +Lebanon Junction, we learned from intercepted despatches that the +garrison at Louisville was much alarmed, and in expectation of an +immediate attack.</p> + +<p>The detachments I have just mentioned, with some smaller ones previously +sent off on similar service, aggregated not less than two hundred and +sixty men permanently separated from the division; which, with a loss in +killed and wounded, in Kentucky, of about one hundred and fifty, had +reduced our effective strength at the Ohio, by more than four hundred.</p> + +<p>The rapid and constant marching already began to tell upon both horses +and men, but we reached the Ohio at Brandenburg at 9 A.M. on the 8th. +Captains Samuel Taylor and H.C. Meriwether of the 10th Kentucky had been +sent forward the day before, with their companies, to capture +steamboats. We found them in possession of two large craft. One had been +surprised at the wharf, and steaming out on her, they had captured the +other. Preparations for crossing were begun; but, just as the first boat +was about to push off, an unexpected musketry fire was opened from the +Indiana side by a party of home-guards collected behind some houses and +haystacks. They were in pursuit of Captain Thomas H. Hines, who had that +morning returned from Indiana to Kentucky, after having undertaken a +brief expedition of his own. This fire did no harm, the river here being +eight hundred or a thousand yards wide. But in a few minutes the bright +gleam of a field-piece spouted through the low-hanging mist on the +farther bank. Its shell pitched into a group near the wharf, severely +wounding Captain W.H. Wilson, acting quartermaster of the First Brigade. +Several shots from this piece followed in quick succession, but it was +silenced by Lieutenant Lawrence with his Parrotts. The 2d Kentucky and +9th Tennessee were speedily ferried over without their horses, and +forming under the bluff they advanced upon the militia, which had +retired to a wooded ridge some six hundred yards from the river-bank, +abandoning the gun. The two regiments were moving across some open +ground, toward the ridge, sustaining no loss from the volleys fired +at them, and the boats had scarcely returned for further service when +a more formidable enemy appeared. A gunboat, the <i>Elk</i>, steamed +rapidly round the bend, and began firing alternately upon the troops +in the town and those already across. The situation was now extremely +critical. We could not continue the ferriage while this little vixen +remained, for one well-directed shot would have sent either of the boats +to the bottom. Delay was exceedingly hazardous, affording the enemy +opportunity to cut off the regiments we had already sent over, and +giving the cavalry in pursuit of us time to come up. If forced to give +up the attempt to cross the river, we must also abandon our comrades on +the other side. So every piece of artillery was planted and opened on +the gunboat, and after an hour or two of vigorous cannonading she was +driven off. By midnight all our troops were over.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig007" name="fig007"></a> +<a href="images/fig007.png"><img src="images/fig007_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">HOSPITALITIES OF THE FARM</span> +</div> + +<p>About noon of the 9th the column reached the little town of Corydon, +Indiana, which proved not nearly so gentle as its name. Our +advance-guard, commanded by Colonel R.C. Morgan, found a body of militia +there, ensconced behind stout barricades of fence rails, stretching for +some distance on each side of the road. Colonel Morgan charged the +barricade, his horses could not leap it, the militia stood resolutely, +and he lost sixteen men. A few dismounted skirmishers thrown upon the +flanks, and a shot or two from one of the pieces which accompanied the +advance-guard, quickly dispersed them, however, and we entered the town +without further resistance.</p> + +<p>Our progress, quite rapid in Kentucky, was now accelerated, and we were +habitually twenty-one hours out of the twenty-four in the saddle, very +frequently not halting at night or going into camp at all. For the first +three or four days we saw nothing of the inhabitants save in their +character as militia, when they forced themselves on our attention much +more frequently than we desired. The houses were entirely deserted. +Often we found the kitchen fire blazing, the keys hanging in the +cupboard lock, and the chickens sauntering about the yard with a +confidence which proved that they had never before seen soldiers.</p> + +<p>As the first scare wore off, however, we found the women and children +remaining at home, while the men went to the muster. When a thirsty +cavalryman rode up to a house to inquire for buttermilk, he was +generally met by a buxom dame, with a half-dozen or more small children +peeping out from her voluminous skirts, who, in response to a question +about the "old man," would say: "The men hev all gone to the 'rally'; +you'll see 'em soon." We experienced little difficulty in procuring food +for man and horse. Usually upon our raids it was much easier to obtain +meat than bread. But in Indiana and Ohio we always found bread ready +baked at every house. In Ohio, on more than one occasion, in deserted +houses we found pies, hot from the oven, displayed upon tables +conveniently spread. The first time that I witnessed this sort of +hospitality was when I rode up to a house where a party of my men were +standing around a table garnished as I have described, eyeing the pies +hungrily, but showing no disposition to touch them. I asked, in +astonishment, why they were so abstinent. One of them replied that they +feared the pies might be poisoned. I was quite sure, on the contrary, +that they were intended as a propitiatory offering. I have always been +fond of pies,—these were of luscious apples,—so I made the spokesman +hand me one of the largest, and proceeded to eat it. The men watched me +vigilantly for two or three minutes, and then, as I seemed much better +after my repast, they took hold ravenously.</p> + +<p>The severe marching made an exchange of horses a necessity, though as a +rule the horses we took were very inferior to the Kentucky and Tennessee +stock we had brought with us, and which had generally a large infusion +of thoroughbred blood. The horses we impressed were for the most part +heavy, sluggish beasts, barefooted and grass-fed, and gave out after a +day or two, sometimes in a few hours. A strong provost guard, under +Major Steele of the 3d Kentucky, had been organized to prevent the two +practices most prejudicial to discipline and efficiency—straggling and +pillage. There were very good reasons, independent of the provost guard, +why the men should not straggle far from the line of march; but the +well-filled stores and gaudy shop-windows of the Indiana and Ohio towns +seemed to stimulate, in men accustomed to impoverished and unpretentious +Dixie, the propensity to appropriate beyond limit or restraint. I had +never before seen anything like this disposition to plunder. Our +perilous situation only seemed to render the men more reckless. At the +same time, anything more ludicrous than the manner in which they +indulged their predatory tastes can scarcely be imagined. The weather +was intensely warm,—the hot July sun burned the earth to powder, and we +were breathing superheated dust,—yet one man rode for three days with +seven pairs of skates slung about his neck; another loaded himself with +sleigh-bells. A large chafing-dish, a medium-sized Dutch clock, a green +glass decanter with goblets to match, a bag of horn buttons, a +chandelier, and a bird-cage containing three canaries were some of the +articles I saw borne off and jealously fondled. The officers usually +waited a reasonable period, until the novelty had worn off, and then had +this rubbish thrown away. Baby shoes and calico, however, were the +staple articles of appropriation. A fellow would procure a bolt of +calico, carry it carefully for a day or two, then cast it aside and get +another.</p> + +<p>From Corydon our route was <i>via</i> Salem, Vienna, Lexington, Paris, +Vernon, Dupont, and Sumanville to Harrison, near the Ohio State line and +twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. Detachments were sent to Madison, +Versailles, and other points, to burn bridges, bewilder and confuse +those before and behind us, and keep bodies of military stationary that +might otherwise give trouble. All were drawn in before we reached +Harrison. At this point Morgan began demonstrations intended to convey +the impression that he would cross the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton +Railroad at Hamilton. He had always anticipated difficulty in getting +over this road; fearing that the troops from Kentucky would be +concentrated at or near Cincinnati, and that every effort would be made +to intercept him there. If these troops lined the railroad and were +judiciously posted, he knew it would be extremely difficult to elude +them or cut his way through them. He believed that if he could pass this +ordeal safely, the success of the expedition would be assured, unless +the river should be so high that the boats would be able to transport +troops to intercept him at the upper fords.</p> + +<p>After remaining at Harrison two or three hours, and sending detachments +in the direction of Hamilton, he moved with the entire column on the +Hamilton road. But as soon as he was clear of the town, he cut the +telegraph-wires—previously left intact with the hope that they might be +used to convey intelligence of his apparent movement toward +Hamilton—and, turning across the country, gained the direct road to +Cincinnati. He hoped that, deceived by his demonstrations at Harrison, +the larger part of the troops at Cincinnati would be sent to Hamilton, +and that it would be too late to recall them when his movement toward +Cincinnati was discovered. He trusted that those remaining would be +drawn into the city, under the impression that he meant to attack, +leaving the way clear for his rapid transit. He has been criticized for +not attempting the capture of Cincinnati, but he had no mind to involve +his handful of wearied men in a labyrinth of streets. We felt very much +more at home amid rural surroundings. But if he had taken Cincinnati, +and had safely crossed the river there, the raid would have been so much +briefer, and its principal object to that extent defeated by the +release of the troops pursuing us.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig008" name="fig008"></a> +<a href="images/fig008.png"><img src="images/fig008_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">LOOKING FOR THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE VAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>We reached the environs of Cincinnati about ten o'clock at night, and +were not clear of them until after daybreak. My brigade was marching in +the rear, and the guides were with General Morgan in the front. The +continual straggling of some companies in the rear of Johnson's brigade +caused me to become separated from the remainder of the column by a wide +gap, and I was for some time entirely ignorant of what direction I +should take. The night was pitch-dark, and I was compelled to light +torches and seek the track of the column by the foam dropped from the +mouths of the horses and the dust kicked up by their feet. At every halt +which this groping search necessitated, scores of tired men would fall +asleep and drop out of their saddles. Daylight appeared after we had +crossed all of the principal suburban roads, and were near the Little +Miami Railroad. I never welcomed the fresh, invigorating air of morning +more gratefully. That afternoon we reached Williamsburg, twenty-eight +miles east of Cincinnati.</p> + +<p>The Ohio militia were more numerous and aggressive than those of +Indiana. We had frequent skirmishes with them daily, and although +hundreds were captured, they resumed operations as soon as they were +turned loose. What excited in us more astonishment than all else we saw +were the crowds of able-bodied men. The contrast with the South, drained +of adult males to recruit her armies, was striking, and suggestive of +anything but confidence on our part in the result of the struggle.</p> + +<p>At Piketon we learned that Vicksburg had fallen, and that General Lee, +having been repulsed at Gettysburg, had retreated across the Potomac. +Under the circumstances this information was peculiarly disheartening. +As we approached Pomeroy the militia began to embarrass our march by +felling trees and erecting barricades across the roads. In passing near +that town we were assailed by regular troops,—as we called the +volunteers, in contradistinction to the militia,—and forced a passage +only by some sharp fighting. At 1 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> on the 18th we reached +Chester, eighteen miles from Buffington's Island. A halt here of nearly +two hours proved disastrous, as it caused us to arrive at the river +after nightfall, and delayed any attempt at crossing until the next +morning. Morgan thoroughly appreciated the importance of crossing the +river at once, but it was impossible. The darkness was intense, we were +ignorant of the ford and without guides, and were encumbered with nearly +two hundred wounded, whom we were unwilling to abandon. By instruction I +placed the 5th and 6th Kentucky in position to attack, as soon as day +broke, an earthwork commanding the ford, and which we learned was +mounted with two guns and manned by three hundred infantry. At dawn I +moved upon the work, and found it had been evacuated and the guns thrown +over the bluff. Pressing on a few hundred yards to reconnoiter the +Pomeroy road, we suddenly encountered the enemy. It proved to be General +Judah's advance. The 5th and 6th Kentucky instantly attacked and +dispersed it, taking a piece of artillery and forty or fifty prisoners, +inflicting some loss in killed and wounded.</p> + +<p>The position in which we found ourselves, now that we had light enough +to examine the ground, was anything but favorable. The valley we had +entered, about a mile long and perhaps eight hundred yards wide at its +southern extremity,—the river running here nearly due north and +south,—gradually narrows, as the ridge which is its western boundary +closely approaches the river-bank, until it becomes a mere ravine. The +Chester road enters the valley at a point about equidistant from either +end. As the 5th Kentucky fell back that it might be aligned on the 6th +Kentucky, across the southern end of the valley, into which Judah's +whole force was now pouring, it was charged by the 8th and 9th Michigan +and a detachment of the 5th Indiana. A part of the 5th Kentucky was cut +off by this charge, the gun we had taken was recaptured, and our +Parrotts also fell into the hands of the enemy. They were so clogged +with dust, however, as to be almost unserviceable, and their ammunition +was expended. Bringing up a part of the 2d Kentucky, I succeeded in +checking and driving back the regiments that first bore down on us, but +they were quickly reinforced and immediately returned to the attack. In +the mean time Colonel Johnson's videttes on the Chester road had been +driven in, and the cavalry under Hobson, which had followed us +throughout our long march, deployed on the ridge, and attacked on that +side. I sent a courier to General Morgan, advising that he retreat up +the river and out of the valley with all the men he could extricate, +while Colonel Johnson and I, with the troops already engaged, would +endeavor to hold the enemy in check. The action was soon hot from both +directions, and the gunboats, steaming up the river abreast of us, +commenced shelling vigorously. We were now between three assailants. A +sharp artillery fire was opened by each, and the peculiar formation we +were compelled to adopt exposed us to a severe cross-fire of small arms.</p> + +<p>We were in no condition to make a successful or energetic resistance. +The men were worn out and demoralized by the tremendous march, and the +fatigue and lack of sleep for the ten days that had elapsed since they +had crossed the Ohio. Having had no opportunity to replenish their +cartridge-boxes, they were almost destitute of ammunition, and after +firing two or three rounds were virtually unarmed. To this fact is +attributable the very small loss our assailants sustained. Broken down +as we were, if we had been supplied with cartridges we could have piled +the ground with Judah's men as they advanced over the open plain into +the valley. As the line, seeking to cover the withdrawal of the troops +taken off by General Morgan, was rolled back by the repeated charges of +the enemy, the stragglers were rushing wildly about the valley, with +bolts of calico streaming from their saddles, and changing direction +with every shrieking shell. When the rear-guard neared the northern end +of the valley,—out of which General Morgan with the greater part of the +command had now passed,—and perceived that the only avenue of escape +was through a narrow gorge, a general rush was made for it. The Michigan +regiments dashed into the mass of fugitives, and the gunboats swept the +narrow pass with grape. All order lost in a wild tide of flight.</p> + +<p>About seven hundred were captured here, and perhaps a hundred and twenty +killed and wounded. Probably a thousand men got out with General Morgan. +Of these some three hundred succeeded in swimming the river at a point +twenty miles above Buffington, while many were drowned in the attempt. +The arrival of the gunboats prevented others from crossing. General +Morgan had gotten nearly over, when, seeing that the bulk of his command +must remain on the Ohio side, he returned. For six more days Morgan +taxed energy and ingenuity to the utmost to escape the toils. Absolutely +exhausted, he surrendered near the Pennsylvania line, on the 26th day of +July, with three hundred and sixty-four men.</p> + +<p>The expedition was of immediate benefit, since a part of the forces that +would otherwise have harassed Bragg's retreat and swollen Rosecrans's +muster-roll at Chickamauga were carried by the pursuit of Morgan so far +northward that they were kept from participating in that battle.</p> + +<p>But Morgan's cavalry was almost destroyed, and his prestige impaired. +Much the larger number of the captured men lingered in the Northern +prisons until the close of the war. That portion of his command which +had remained in Tennessee became disintegrated; the men either were +incorporated in other organizations, or, attracted by the fascinations +of irregular warfare, were virtually lost to the service. Morgan, after +four or five months' imprisonment in the Ohio penitentiary, effected an +escape which has scarcely a parallel for ingenuity and daring. He was +received in the South enthusiastically. The authorities at Richmond +seemed at first to share the popular sympathy and admiration. But it +soon became apparent that his infraction of discipline in crossing the +Ohio was not forgiven. Placed for a short time in practical command of +the Department of Southwestern Virginia, he was given inadequate means +for its defense, and bound with instructions which accorded neither with +his temperament nor with his situation. The troops he commanded were +not, like his old riders, accustomed to his methods, confident in his +genius, and devoted to his fortunes. He attempted aggressive operations +with his former energy and self-reliance, but not with his former +success. He drove out of West Virginia two invading columns, and then +made an incursion into the heart of Kentucky—known as his last Kentucky +raid—in the hope of anticipating and deterring a movement into his own +territory. Very successful at first, this raid ended, too, in disaster. +After capturing and dispersing Federal forces in the aggregate much +larger than his own, he encountered at Cynthiana a vastly superior +force, and was defeated. Two months later, September 4, 1864, he was +killed at Greeneville, Tennessee, while advancing to attack the Federal +detachments stationed in front of Knoxville.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> E.W. Doran of Greeneville, Tenn., gives the following +particulars of General Morgan's death: +</p><p> +General Morgan came to Greeneville on September 3, and stationed his +troops on a hill overlooking the town from the east, while he and his +staff were entertained at the "Williams Mansion," the finest residence +in town. At this time Captain Robert C. Carter, in command of a company +of Colonel Crawford's regiment, was stationed three or four miles north +of the town. He got accurate information of Morgan's whereabouts, and +sent a messenger at once to General A.C. Gillem, at Bull's Gap, sixteen +miles distant. This message was intrusted to John Davis and two other +young men of his company, who rode through a fearful storm, picking +their way by the lightning-flashes and arriving there some time before +midnight. Other messages were probably sent to Gillem that night from +Greeneville, but this was the first received. The report usually given +in the histories to the effect that Mrs. Joseph Williams carried the +news is not correct, as she was known to be in an opposite direction +several miles, and knew nothing of the affair. In an hour after the +message was delivered Gillem's forces were hurrying on their way to +Greeneville, where they arrived about daylight, and surrounded the house +where Morgan was. He ran out, without waiting to dress, to conceal +himself in the shrubbery and grape arbors, but was seen from the street +and shot by Andrew G. Campbell, a private in the 13th Tennessee. +Campbell was promoted to a lieutenancy. Morgan's body was afterward +secured by his friends and given decent burial. But little firing was +done by either army; and after Morgan was killed his forces marched out +of town while the Union forces marched in, in easy range of each other, +yet not a shot was fired on either side.</p></div> + +<p>The remnant of his old command served during the gloomy winter of +1864-65 in the region where their leader met death, fighting often on +the same ground. When Richmond fell, and Lee surrendered, they marched +to join Joseph E. Johnston. After his capitulation they were part of the +escort that guarded, Jefferson Davis in his aimless retreat from +Charlotte and laid down their arms at Woodville, Georgia, by order of +John. C. Breckinridge, when the armies of the Confederacy were +disbanded, and its President became a fugitive.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="II_THE_CAPTURE" id="II_THE_CAPTURE"></a>II. THE CAPTURE</h3> + +<h4>BY ORLANDO B. WILLCOX</h4> + + +<p>When it was known at Indianapolis that General Morgan, with a large +force, had crossed the Ohio, the city was panic-stricken. The State had +been literally depleted of troops to assist Kentucky, and everybody knew +it. The very worst was apprehended—that railways would be cut up, +passenger and freight trains robbed, bridges and depots burned, our +arsenal pillaged, two thousand Confederate prisoners at Camp Morton +liberated, and Jeffersonville, with all its Government stores, and +possibly Indianapolis itself, destroyed.</p> + +<p>Nor was this all. It had been reported, and partly believed, as +afterward indeed proved to be the fact, that the State was literally +undermined with rebel sympathizers banded together in secret +organizations. The coming of Morgan had been looked for, and his +progress through Kentucky watched with considerable anxiety. It was +gloomily predicted that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of "Knights of the +Golden Circle" and of "Sons of Liberty" would flock to his standard and +endeavor to carry the State over to the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>Morgan probably had fair reason to believe that his ranks would be at +least largely recruited in the southern counties of Indiana. The +governor of Indiana, Oliver P. Morton, went to work with all his +tremendous energy and indomitable will, in the face of the greatest +opposition that had been encountered in any Northern State, amounting, +just before, almost to open rebellion. He proclaimed martial law, though +not in express terms, and ordered out the "Legion," or militia, and +called upon the loyal citizens of the State to enroll themselves as +minute-men, to organize and report for arms and for martial duty. +Thousands responded to the call within twenty-four hours—many within +two hours.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Everything possible was done by telegraph, until the lines +were cut. Some arms were found in the State Arsenal, and more with +accoutrements and ammunition, together with whole batteries of +artillery, were procured from Chicago and St. Louis.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> According to the report of the adjutant-general of Indiana, +30,000 militia assembled within thirty-six hours, and about the time +Morgan was leaving the State 65,000 men were in the field. In Ohio, +according to a report made to the adjutant-general, 55,000 militia +turned out; many of them refused pay, yet $232,000 were disbursed for +services during the raid. It would appear, therefore, that 120,000 +militia took the field against Morgan, in addition to the three brigades +of General Judah's United State cavalry.—<span class="smcap">Editor.</span></p></div> + +<p>The disposition of the State levies that came thronging in was left to +me as fast as they were armed. The three great junctions of the Ohio and +Mississippi Railroad in Indiana, over which troops and supplies were +shipped from all points to Rosecrans at Chattanooga—viz., Mitchell, +Seymour, and Vernon,—were first to be made secure; for surely Morgan +must have some military objectives, and these appeared to be the most +likely. The westerly junction was Mitchell. This was quickly occupied +and guarded by General James Hughes, with Legion men, reinforced by the +new organizations rising in that quarter. Seymour was the most central, +and lay directly on the road to Cincinnati and Indianapolis from +Louisville; and at Seymour a brigade was assembled from the center of +the State, with General John Love, a skilful old army officer, to +command it, with instructions to have an eye to Vernon likewise. To this +last point Burnside ordered a battery from Cincinnati; and what few +troops I had in Michigan, though half organized, came down to Vernon and +to General Love. Besides these thus rendezvoused, the people of the +southern counties were called upon to bushwhack the enemy, to obstruct +roads, to guard trains, bridges, etc., and to make themselves generally +useful and pestiferous.</p> + +<p>Our militia first came in contact with the enemy opposite Brandenburg, +where he crossed; but it made the stand at Corydon Junction, where the +road runs between two abrupt hills, across which Colonel Lewis Jordan +threw up some light intrenchments. Morgan's advance attempted to ride +over these "rail-piles" rough-shod, but lost some twenty troopers +unhorsed. They brought up their reserve and artillery, flanked, and +finally surrounded Colonel Jordan, who, after an hour's resolute +resistance, surrendered.</p> + +<p>This gave the raiders the town, and the citizens the first taste of +Morgan's style, which somewhat disgusted the numerous class of Southern +sympathizers. The shops were given up to plunder, and the ladies levied +on for meals for the whole command.</p> + +<p>Throwing out columns in various directions, Morgan pushed for Mitchell, +where no doubt he expected to cut the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, got +as far as Salem in that direction, captured or dispersed a few squads of +badly armed minute-men who were guarding depots and bridges, which he +burned, and doubtless hearing from his scouts, sent out in citizens' +clothes, of Hughes's force collected at Mitchell, he discreetly turned +off northeastward, apparently aiming next for Seymour. This I heard with +great satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The panic at Indianapolis began to subside. Still I felt uneasy for +Seymour, as I next heard of Morgan at Vienna, where he tapped the +telegraph-lines and learned what he could of all our plans to catch him. +He came within nine miles of Seymour. General Love sent out a +reconnaissance of sharpshooters under Colonel C.V. De Land, with a +couple of field-pieces. They found that Morgan had turned off eastward. +Love divined his object, and started De Land and two Indiana regiments +of militia for Vernon. Here Morgan next turned up, planted his Parrotts, +and demanded surrender. He was defied until Love's arrival with the rest +of his militia, and then he swept off in a hurry from Vernon, followed +by our men, who captured his pickets and rear-guard, but who, having no +cavalry, were soon outmarched.</p> + +<p>Morgan secured a great advantage by seizing all the horses within +reach,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> leaving none for the militia or for General E.H. Hobson, which +enabled him to gain on his pursuers, and he would then have left Hobson +far out of sight but for the home guard, who obstructed the roads +somewhat, and bushwhacked his men from every hedge, hill, or tree, when +it could be done. But the trouble was that we could not attack him with +sufficient organized numbers.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> General J.M. Shackelford says in his official report: "Our +pursuit was much retarded by the enemy's burning all the bridges in our +front. He had every advantage. His system of horse-stealing was perfect. +He would despatch men from the head of each regiment, on each side of +the road, to go five miles into the country, seizing every horse, and +then fall in at the rear of the column. In this way he swept the country +for ten miles of all the horses."—<span class="smcap">Editor.</span></p></div> + +<p>After he left Vernon we felt safe at Indianapolis. "Defensive sites" +were abandoned, and the banks brought back their deposits which they +had sent off by express to Chicago and the North. Some fears, or hopes, +were entertained as to Madison, toward which Morgan next bent his +way—fears for the safety of that city, and hopes that, with the help of +Judah's troops and the gunboats now on the way up the river, we might +put an end to the raid. From Indianapolis we started General Lew Wallace +with a good brigade of minute-men, and with high hopes that at either +Madison or Lawrenceburg, farther up the river, he might "capture them." +The people ahead were asked by telegraph to coöperate. But after going +down that line as far as Dupont, Morgan turned northeast for Versailles, +where we next heard of him threatening the Cincinnati and Indianapolis +Railway. This was a nice bit of work. He baffled all our calculations, +and did some damage on both the Ohio and Mississippi and Cincinnati +railroads, sending off flying columns in a dozen directions at a time +for the purpose, as well as to throw Hobson off the scent. Some of these +columns looked like traveling circuses adorned with useless plunder and +an excess of clowns. Thus they went through Pierceville and Milan to +Harrison, on White River, and on the Ohio line. Here Hobson's advance +came upon them, but unfortunately it paused to plant artillery, instead +of dashing across the bridge and engaging the raiders until the main +body should arrive. This lost us the bridge, which was burned before our +eyes, and many hours' delay, marching round by the ford. Their next +demonstration was toward Hamilton. Here there was a fine railway bridge +over the Big Miami. Hobson followed in such close pursuit through New +Baltimore, Glendale, and Miamiville that the raiders did little damage. +Their attempt to burn a bridge at Miamiville was repulsed by the home +guard. My last troops were despatched from Indianapolis to head them off +at Hamilton, after five hours' delay caused by the intoxication of their +commander. His successor in command was General Hascall, who swore like +a trooper to find himself "just in time to be too late." He proceeded +through Hamilton, Ohio, as far as Loveland. But Morgan had sent only a +detachment toward Hamilton to divert attention from Cincinnati, toward +which he made a rapid march with his whole united force.</p> + +<p>Governor Tod of Ohio had already called out the militia and proclaimed +martial law. He raised men enough, but Burnside had to organize and arm +them. Morgan found the great city guarded, but he passed through the +very suburbs by a night march around it, unmolested. He crossed the +Little Miami Railroad at daylight, and came north in sight of Camp +Dennison, where Colonel Neff half armed his convalescents, threw out +pickets, dug rifle-pits, and threw up intrenchments. His fiery old +veterans saved a railway bridge, and actually captured a lieutenant and +others before they sheered off and went some ten miles northward to +Williamsburg. From that point they seemed to be steering for the great +bend of the Ohio at Pomeroy.</p> + +<p>In the vicinity of Cincinnati, Colonel W.P. Sanders, the splendid raider +of East Tennessee, came up from Kentucky with some Michigan cavalry, and +joined Hobson in pursuit, and these were about the only fresh horses in +the chase. Sanders had come by steamer, and, landing at Cincinnati, had +been thrown out from there, it was hoped, ahead of Morgan, who, however, +was too quick for him. They met later on.</p> + +<p>Under the good management of Colonel A.V. Kautz in advance, with his +brigade, and of Sanders, the men now marched more steadily and gained +ground. Kautz had observed how the other brigade commanders had lost +distance and blown their horses by following false leads, halting and +closing up rapidly at the frequent reports of "enemy in front," and by +stopping to plant artillery. Marching in his own way, at a steady walk, +his brigade forming the rear-guard, he had arrived at Batavia two hours +before the main body, that had been "cavorting round the country" all +day, "misled by two citizen guides"—possibly Morgan's own men.</p> + +<p>Not stopping to draw the rations sent out to him from Cincinnati, Hobson +urged his jaded horses through Brown, Adams, and Pike counties, now +under the lead of Kautz, and reached Jasper, on the Scioto, at midnight +of the 16th, Morgan having passed there at sundown. The next day they +raced through Jackson. On the 18th, Hobson, at Rutland, learned that +Morgan had been turned off by the militia at Pomeroy, and had taken the +Chester road for Portland and the fords of the Ohio. The chase became +animated. Our troopers made a march of fifty miles that day and still +had twenty-five miles to reach Chester. They arrived there without a +halt at eleven at night, and had still fifteen miles to reach the ford. +They kept on, and at dawn of the 19th struck the enemy's pickets. Two +miles out from Portland, Morgan was brought to bay—and not by Hobson +alone. First came the militia, then came Judah. His division had pushed +up the river in steamers parallel with Morgan's course. Lieutenant John +O'Neil, afterward of Fenian fame, with a troop of Indiana cavalry, kept +up the touch on Morgan's right flank by a running fight, stinging it at +every vulnerable point, and reporting Morgan's course to Judah in the +neck-and-neck race. Aided by the local militia, O'Neil now dashed ahead +and fearlessly skirmished with the enemy's flankers from every coign of +vantage. He reached the last descent to the river-bottom near Buffington +Bar, and near the historical Blennerhasset's Island, early on the +morning of the 19th.</p> + +<p>The Ohio River was up. It had risen unexpectedly. But here Morgan must +cross, if at all. It could not be forded by night, when he got here. He +tried the ford at Blennerhasset. Failing in this, his men collected +flatboats, and set to work calking them, meantime sending a party to +Buffington Bar, where they found a small earthwork and captured its +guard; and these things delayed them until morning. General Judah +attempted a reconnaissance, resulting in a fight, which he describes as +follows in his report:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Before leaving Pomeroy I despatched a courier to General Hobson, +apprising him of my direction, and requesting him to press the +enemy's rear with all the forces he could bring up. Traveling all +night, I reached the last descent to the river-bottom at +Buffington Bar at 5.30 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> on the 19th. Here, halting +my force, and placing my artillery in a commanding position, I +determined to make a reconnaissance in person, for the purpose of +ascertaining if a report just made to me—that the gunboats had +left on a previous evening, the home guards had retreated, and +that the enemy had been crossing all night—was true. A very +dense fog enveloped everything, confining the view of surrounding +objects to a radius of about fifty yards. I was accompanied by a +small advance-guard, my escort, and one piece of Henshaw's +battery, a section of which, under Captain Henshaw, I had ordered +to join my force. I advanced slowly and cautiously along a road +leading toward the river, ... when my little force found itself +enveloped on three sides—front and both flanks—by three +regiments, dismounted, and led by Colonel Basil [W.] Duke, just +discernible through the fog, at a distance of from fifty to a +hundred yards. This force, as I afterward learned, had been +disposed for the capture of the home guards, intrenched on the +bank of the river. To use Colonel Duke's own expression after his +capture, "He could not have been more surprised at the presence +of my force if it had been dropped from the clouds." As soon as +discovered, the enemy opened a heavy fire, advancing so rapidly +that before the piece of artillery could be brought into battery +it was captured, as were also Captain R.C. Kise, my assistant +adjutant-general, Captain Grafton, volunteer aide-de-camp, and +between twenty and thirty of my men. Two privates were killed. +Major McCook (since dead), paymaster and volunteer +aide-de-camp,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Lieutenant F.G. Price, aide-de-camp, and ten men +were wounded. Searching in vain for an opening through which to +charge and temporarily beat back the enemy, I was compelled to +fall back upon the main body, which I rapidly brought up into +position, and opened a rapid and beautifully accurate artillery +fire from the pieces of the 5th Indiana upon a battery of two +pieces which the enemy had opened upon me, as well as upon his +deployed dismounted force in line. Obstructing fences prevented a +charge by my cavalry. In less than half an hour the enemy's lines +were broken and in retreat. The advance of my artillery, and a +charge of cavalry made by Lieutenant O'Neil, 5th Indiana Cavalry, +with only fifty men, converted his retreat into a rout, and +drove him upon General Hobson's forces, which had engaged him +upon the other road. His prisoners, the piece of artillery lost +by me, all of his own artillery (five pieces), his camp equipage, +and transportation and plunder of all kinds, were abandoned and +captured. We also captured large numbers of prisoners, including +Colonels Basil [W.] Duke, Dick [R.C.] Morgan, and Allen [Ward?], +and the most of General Morgan's staff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Major Daniel McCook, father of the famous fighting family, +who pushed himself in, against remonstrance, to find the slayer of his +son (General Robert L. McCook), reported to be with Morgan.</p></div> + +<p>Yet with a considerable force Morgan succeeded in making his escape, and +started into the interior like a fox for cover. Passing around the +advanced column of his enemy, he suddenly came upon the end of +Shackelford's column, under Wolford, whom he at once attacked with his +usual audacity. Shackelford reversed his column, selected his best +horses, and gave pursuit. He overtook the enemy at Backum Church, where +Wolford's Kentucky fellows rushed upon Morgan's men with drawn sabers +and Kentucky yells, and chased them until next afternoon, when they were +found collected on a high bluff, where some hundreds surrendered; but +Morgan again escaped, and with over six hundred horsemen gave our +fellows a long chase yet by the dirt road and by rail. Continuing north +through several counties, he veered northwest toward the Pennsylvania +line, even now burning buildings, car-loads of freight, and bridges by +the way, though hotly hounded by Shackelford, and flanked and headed off +by troops in cars.</p> + +<p>Among the latter was Major W.B. Way, of the 9th Michigan, with a +battalion of his regiment. Way had left the cars at Mingo and marched +over near to Steubenville,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> where he began a skirmish which lasted +over twenty-five miles toward Salineville, away up in Columbiana County. +Here he brought Morgan to bay. The latter still fought desperately, +losing 200 prisoners, and over 70 of his men killed or wounded, and +skipped away. Another Union detachment came up by rail under Major +George W. Rue, of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry, joined Shackelford at +Hammondsville, and took the advance with 300 men.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Mr. E.E. Day makes the following statement in regard to +Morgan's brief stay at Wintersville: +</p></div> +<div class="blockquot"><p>Defeated at Buffington Bar, Morgan abandoned his plan of making a +watering trough of Lake Erie, and fled north through the tier of +river counties, keeping within a few miles of the Ohio. The river +was low, but not fordable except at Coxe's Riffle, a few miles +below Steubenville. Headed at this point also, he struck across +the country and passed through Wintersville, a small village five +miles west of Steubenville. That was a memorable Saturday in +Wintersville. Morgan's progress across the State had been watched +with the most feverish anxiety, and the dread that the village +might lie in his path filled the hearts of many. The wildest +rumors passed current. Morgan and his "guerrillas," it was said, +would kill all the men, lay the village in ashes, and carry off +the women and children. The militia, or "hundred-day men," who +lived in or near the village, drilled in the village streets, and +fired rattling volleys of blank cartridges at a board fence, in +preparation for the coming conflict. On Friday evening word came +that Morgan would attempt to force a passage at Coxe's Riffle the +next morning, and the militia marched to Steubenville to help +intercept him. A bloody battle was expected. About the middle of +the forenoon a horseman dashed into the village shouting, +"Morgan's coming! He's just down at John Hanna's!" and galloped +on to warn others. Mr. Hanna was a farmer living about a mile +south of the village. He had shouldered his musket and gone with +the militia, leaving his wife and two children at home. About ten +o'clock Morgan's men were seen coming up the road. Mrs. Hanna +with her children attempted to reach a neighbor's house, but they +were overtaken and ordered to the house, which they found full of +soldiers. Morgan and his officers were stretched, dusty clothes, +boots, and all, upon her beds, and a negro was getting dinner. +While the third table was eating, a squad of militiamen appeared +on a neighboring hill. Morgan ordered their capture, saying, +"What will those Yankees do with the thousand men I have?" A +number of Morgan's men started to carry out their chief's +command, but the militia made good their escape. Soon after, word +came that Shackelford's men were near, and Morgan left so +hurriedly that he neglected to take the quilts and blankets his +men had selected. +</p><p> +In the village all was consternation. Many of the women and +children gathered at the Maxwell Tavern. Their terror upon +hearing that Morgan was "just down at Hanna's" cannot be +described. Word had been sent to Steubenville, and Colonel James +Collier marched out with a force of about eight hundred militia, +sending a squad under command of Captain Prentiss to reconnoiter. +They galloped through the village, and as Morgan's advance came +in sight began firing. The fire was returned, and a private named +Parks, from Steubenville, was wounded. Morgan's men charged the +scouting party, sending them through the village back to the main +body in a very demoralized condition. The frightened women, and +still worse frightened children, no sooner saw the "dust-brown +ranks" of the head of Morgan's column than they beat a hasty +retreat down the alley to the house of Dr. Markle, the village +physician. This change of base was made under fire, as Morgan's +men were shooting at the retreating militia, and also at a house +owned by William Fisher, in which they had heard there were a +number of militiamen. At the doctor's house all crowded into one +room, and were led in prayer by the minister's wife. The retreat +of the scouting party did not have a very cheering effect upon +the advancing militia. As they passed a field of broom-corn +several men suddenly disappeared, their swift course through the +cane being easily followed by the swaying of the tassels. The +militia were met by rumors that the village was in ashes. Morgan +did not set fire to the village, but his men found time to +explore the village store, and to search the Fisher house, in the +second story of which they found a flag. Morgan's men were hardly +out of sight on the Richmond road when Colonel Collier and the +militia appeared. They formed line of battle on a hill east of +the village just in time to see Shackelford's advance coming +along the road over which they were expecting Morgan. The colonel +at once opened fire with his six-pounder loaded with scrap-iron. +The first shot did little damage. One piece of scrap-iron found +its way to the right, and struck with a resounding thwack against +the end of the Maxwell Tavern. The second shot did not hit +anything. One of Shackelford's officers rode across the field and +inquired, "What are you fools shooting at?" The colonel then +learned, to his astonishment, that Morgan was at least two miles +out on the Richmond road. Many who had been conspicuously absent +then showed themselves, and the daring deeds and hairbreadth +escapes which came to light are not to be lightly referred to. At +least a dozen dead rebels, it was said, would be discovered in +the fields when the farmers came to cut their oats, but for some +reason the bodies were never found.</p></div> + + +<p>At Salineville he found Morgan, pursued by Major Way, pushing for +Smith's Ford on the Ohio. Breaking into trot and gallop, he outmarched +and intercepted the fugitives at the cross-roads near Beaver Creek, and +had gained the enemy's front and flank when a flag of truce was raised, +and Morgan coolly demanded his surrender. Rue's threat to open fire +brought Morgan to terms, when another issue was raised. It was now +claimed that Morgan had already surrendered, namely, to a militia +officer, and had been by him paroled. This "officer" turned out to be +"Captain" James Burbick, of the home guard.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Rue held Morgan, with +364 officers and men and 400 horses, till General Shackelford came up, +who held them as prisoners of war.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> General W.T.H. Brooks says in his report: +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p>Morgan had passed a company of citizens from New Lisbon, and +agreed not to fire upon them if they would not fire upon him. He +had taken two or three of their men prisoners, and was using them +as guides. Among them was a Mr. Burbick, of New Lisbon, who had +gone out at the head of a small squad of mounted men. When Morgan +saw that his advance was about to be cut off by Major Rue, he +said to this Captain Burbick: "I would prefer to surrender to the +militia rather than to United States troops. I will surrender to +you if you will agree to respect private property and parole the +officers and men as soon as we get to Cincinnati." Burbick +replied that he knew nothing about this business. Morgan said, +"Give me an answer, yes or no." Burbick, evidently in confusion, +said, "Yes."</p></div> +<p> +James Burbick sent a statement to Governor Tod, in which he said that he +was not a prisoner with Morgan, but that he was guiding him voluntarily +away from the vicinity of New Lisbon, after Morgan had agreed not to +pass through that town. Burbick reported that he accepted Morgan's +surrender, and started for the rear with a handkerchief tied to a stick +to intercept the advancing troops, while Lieutenant C.D. Maus, a +prisoner with Morgan, was sent with another flag of truce across the +fields.</p></div> + +<p>And thus ended the greatest of Morgan's raids. By it Bragg lost a fine +large division of cavalry, that, if added to Buckner's force,—already +equal to Burnside's in East Tennessee,—might have defeated Burnside; +or, if thrown across Rosecrans's flanks or long lines of supply and +communication, or used in reconnaissance on the Tennessee River, might +have baffled Rosecrans's plans altogether. As it was, Rosecrans was able +to deceive Bragg by counterfeit movements that could easily have been +detected by Morgan.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="III_THE_ESCAPE11" id="III_THE_ESCAPE11"></a>III. THE ESCAPE<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></h3> + +<h4>BY THOMAS H. HINES</h4> + + +<p>On the 31st of July and the 1st of August, 1863, General John H. Morgan, +General Basil W. Duke, and sixty-eight other officers of Morgan's +command, were, by order of General Burnside, confined in the Ohio State +Penitentiary at Columbus. Before entering the main prison we were +searched and relieved of our pocket-knives, money, and of all other +articles of value, subjected to a bath, the shaving of our faces, and +the cutting of our hair. We were placed each in a separate cell in the +first and second tiers on the south side in the east wing of the prison. +General Morgan and General Duke were on the second range, General Morgan +being confined in the last cell at the east end, those who escaped with +General Morgan having their cells in the first range.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Condensed from "The Bivouac" of June, 1885.</p></div> + +<p>From five o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning we +were locked into our cells, with no possible means of communication with +one another; but in the day, between these hours, we were permitted to +mingle together in the narrow hall, twelve feet wide and one hundred and +sixty long, which was cut off from the other portion of the building, +occupied by the convicts, by a plank partition, in one end of which was +a wooden door. At each end of the hall, and within the partitions, was +an armed military sentinel, while the civil guards of the prison passed +at irregular intervals among us, and very frequently the warden or his +deputy came through in order to see that we were secure and not +violating the prison rules. We were not permitted to talk with or in any +way to communicate with the convicts, nor were we permitted to see any +of our relatives or friends that might come from a distance to see us, +except upon the written order of General Burnside, and then only in the +presence of a guard. Our correspondence underwent the censorship of the +warden, we receiving and he sending only such as met his approbation; we +were not permitted to have newspapers, or to receive information of what +was going on in the outside busy world.</p> + +<p>Many plans for escape, ingenious and desperate, were suggested, +discussed, and rejected because deemed impracticable. Among them was +bribery of the guards. This was thought not feasible because of the +double set of guards, military and civil, who were jealous and watchful +of each other, so that it was never attempted, although we could have +commanded, through our friends in Kentucky and elsewhere, an almost +unlimited amount of money.</p> + +<p>On a morning in the last days of October I was rudely treated, without +cause, by the deputy warden. There was no means of redress, and it was +not wise to seek relief by retort, since I knew, from the experience of +my comrades, that it would result in my confinement in a dark dungeon, +with bread and water for diet. I retired to my cell, and closed the door +with the determination that I would neither eat nor sleep until I had +devised some means of escape. I ate nothing and drank nothing during the +day, and by nine o'clock I had matured the plan that we carried into +execution. It may be that I owed something to the fact that I had just +completed the reading of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables," containing such +vivid delineations of the wonderful escapes of Jean Valjean, and of the +subterranean passages of the city of Paris. This may have led me to the +line of thought that terminated in the plan of escape adopted. It was +this: I had observed that the floor of my cell was upon a level with the +ground upon the outside of the building, which was low and flat, and +also that the floor of the cell was perfectly dry and free from mold. It +occurred to me that, as the rear of the cell was to a great extent +excluded from the light and air, this dryness and freedom from mold +could not exist unless there was underneath something in the nature of +an air-chamber to prevent the dampness from rising up the walls and +through the floor. If this chamber should be found to exist, and could +be reached, a tunnel might be run through the foundations into the yard, +from which we might escape by scaling the outer wall, the air-chamber +furnishing a receptacle for the earth and stone to be taken out in +running the tunnel. The next morning, when our cells were unlocked, and +we were permitted to assemble in the hall, I went to General Morgan's +cell, he having been for several days quite unwell, and laid before him +the plan as I have sketched it. Its feasibility appeared to him +unquestioned, and to it he gave a hearty and unqualified approval. If, +then, our supposition was correct as to the existence of the air-chamber +beneath the lower range of cells, a limited number of those occupying +that range could escape, and only a limited number, because the greater +the number the longer the time required to complete the work, and the +greater the danger of discovery while prosecuting it, in making our way +over the outer wall, and in escaping afterward.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 33%"> +<a id="fig009" name="fig009"></a> +<img src="images/fig009.png" width="100%" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE EAST WING. <br />A, CAPTAIN HINES'S +CELL.</span> +</div> + +<p>With these considerations in view, General Morgan and myself agreed upon +the following officers, whose cells were nearest the point at which the +tunnel was to begin, to join us in the enterprise: Captain J.C. Bennett, +Captain L.D. Hockersmith, Captain C.S. Magee, Captain Ralph Sheldon, +and Captain Samuel B. Taylor. The plan was then laid before these +gentlemen, and received their approval. It was agreed that work should +begin in my cell, and continue from there until completed. In order, +however, to do this without detection, it was necessary that some means +should be found to prevent the daily inspection of that cell, it being +the custom of the deputy warden, with the guards, to visit and have each +cell swept every morning. This end was accomplished by my obtaining +permission from the warden to furnish a broom and sweep my own cell. For +a few mornings thereafter the deputy warden would pass, glance into my +cell, compliment me on its neatness, and go on to the inspection of the +other cells. After a few days my cell was allowed to go without any +inspection whatever, and then we were ready to begin work, having +obtained, through some of our associates who had been sent to the +hospital, some table-knives made of flat steel files. In my cell, as in +the others, there was a narrow iron cot, which could be folded and +propped up to the cell wall. I thought the work could be completed +within a month.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of November work was begun in the back part of my cell, under +the rear end of my cot. We cut through six inches of cement, and took +out six layers of brick put in and cemented with the ends up. Here we +came to the air-chamber, as I had calculated, and found it six feet wide +by four feet high, and running the entire length of the range of cells. +The cement and brick taken out in effecting an entrance to the chamber +were placed in my bed-tick, upon which I slept during the progress of +this portion of the work, after which the material was removed to the +chamber. We found the chamber heavily grated at the end, against which a +large quantity of coal had been heaped, cutting off any chance of exit +in that way. We then began a tunnel, running it at right angles from the +side of the chamber, and almost directly beneath my cell. We cut through +the foundation wall, five feet thick, of the cell block; through twelve +feet of grouting, to the outer wall of the east wing of the prison; +through this wall, six feet in thickness; and four feet up near the +surface of the yard, in an unfrequented place between this wing and the +female department of the prison.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 50%"> +<a id="fig010" name="fig010"></a> +<img src="images/fig010.png" width="100%" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON. <br />B—EXIT FROM TUNNEL.</span> +</div> + +<p>During the progress of the work, in which we were greatly assisted by +several of our comrades who were not to go out, notably among them +Captain Thomas W. Bullitt of Louisville, Kentucky, I sat at the entrance +to my cell studiously engaged on Gibbon's Rome and in trying to master +French. By this device I was enabled to be constantly on guard without +being suspected, as I had pursued the same course during the whole +period of my imprisonment. Those who did the work were relieved every +hour. This was accomplished, and the danger of the guards overhearing +the work as they passed obviated, by adopting a system of signals, which +consisted in giving taps on the floor over the chamber. One knock was to +suspend work, two to proceed, and three to come out. On one occasion, by +oversight, we came near being discovered. The prisoners were taken out +to their meals by ranges, and on this day those confined in the first +range were called for dinner while Captain Hockersmith was in the +tunnel. The deputy warden, on calling the roll, missed Hockersmith, and +came back to inquire for him. General Morgan engaged the attention of +the warden by asking his opinion as to the propriety of a remonstrance +that the general had prepared to be sent to General Burnside. Flattered +by the deference shown to his opinion by General Morgan, the warden +unwittingly gave Captain Hockersmith time to get out and fall into line +for dinner. While the tunnel was being run, Colonel R.C. Morgan, a +brother of General Morgan, made a rope, in links, of bed-ticking, +thirty-five feet in length, and from the iron poker of the hall stove we +made a hook, in the nature of a grappling-iron, to attach to the end of +the rope.</p> + +<p>The work was now complete with the exception of making an entrance from +each of the cells of those who were to go out. This could be done with +safety only by working from the chamber upward, as the cells were daily +inspected. The difficulty presented in doing this was the fact that we +did not know at what point to begin in order to open the holes in the +cells at the proper place. To accomplish this a measurement was +necessary, but we had nothing to measure with. Fortunately the deputy +warden again ignorantly aided us. I got into a discussion with him as to +the length of the hall, and to convince me of my error he sent for his +measuring-line, and after the hall had been measured, and his statement +verified, General Morgan occupied his attention, while I took the line, +measured the distance from center to center of the cells,—all being of +uniform size,—and marked it upon the stick used in my cell for propping +up my cot. With this stick, measuring from the middle of the hole in my +cell, the proper distance was marked off in the chamber for the holes in +the other cells. The chamber was quite dark, and light being necessary +for the work, we had obtained candles and matches through our sick +comrades in the hospital. The hole in my cell during the progress of the +work was kept covered with a large hand-satchel containing my change of +clothing. We cut from underneath upward until there was only a thin +crust of the cement left in each of the cells. Money was necessary to +pay expenses of transportation and for other contingencies as they might +arise. General Morgan had some money that the search had not discovered, +but it was not enough. Shortly after we began work I wrote to my sister +in Kentucky a letter, which through a trusted convict I sent out and +mailed, requesting her to go to my library and get certain books, and in +the back of a designated one, which she was to open with a thin knife, +place a certain amount of Federal money, repaste the back, write my name +across the inside of the back where the money was concealed, and send +the box by express. In due course of time the books with the money came +to hand. It only remained now to get information as to the time of the +running of the trains and to await a cloudy night, as it was then full +moon. Our trusty convict was again found useful. He was quite an old +man, called Heavy, had been in the penitentiary for many years, and as +he had been so faithful, and his time having almost expired, he was +permitted to go on errands for the officials to the city. I gave him ten +dollars to bring us a daily paper and six ounces of French brandy. +Neither he nor any one within the prison or on the outside had any +intimation of our contemplated escape.</p> + +<p>It was our first thought to make our way to the Confederacy by way of +Canada; but, on inspecting the time-table in the paper, it was seen that +a knowledge of the escape would necessarily come to the prison officials +before we could reach the Canadian border. There was nothing left, then, +but to take the train south, which we found, if on time, would reach +Cincinnati, Ohio, before the cells were opened in the morning, at which +time we expected our absence to be discovered. One thing more remained +to be done, and that was to ascertain the easiest and safest place at +which to scale the outside wall of the prison. The windows opening +outward were so high that we could not see the wall. In the hall was a +ladder resting against the wall, fifty feet long, that had been used for +sweeping down the wall. A view from the top of the ladder would give us +a correct idea of the outside, but the difficulty was to get that view +without exciting suspicion.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the warden came in while we were discussing the great +strength and activity of Captain Samuel B. Taylor, who was very small of +stature, when it was suggested that Taylor could go hand over hand on +the under side of the ladder to the top, and, with a moment's rest, +return in the same way. To the warden this seemed impossible, and, to +convince him, Taylor was permitted to make the trial, which he did +successfully. At the top of the ladder he rested for a minute and took a +mental photograph of the wall. When the warden had left, Taylor +communicated the fact that directly south of and at almost right angles +from the east end of the block in which we were confined there was a +double gate to the outer wall, the inside one being of wooden uprights +four inches apart, and the outside one as solid as the wall; the wooden +gate being supported by the wing wall of the female department, which +joined to the main outer wall.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 529px"> +<a id="fig011" name="fig011"></a> +<img src="images/fig011.png" alt="farm" /> +<span class="caption">WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE.</span> +</div> + +<p>On the evening of the 27th of November the cloudy weather so anxiously +waited for came; and prior to being locked in our cells it was agreed to +make the attempt at escape that night. Cell No. 21, next to my cell, No. +20, on the first range, was occupied by Colonel R.C. Morgan, a brother +of General Morgan. That cell had been prepared for General Morgan by +opening a hole to the chamber, and when the hour for locking up came, +General Morgan stepped into Cell 21, and Colonel Morgan into General +Morgan's cell in the second range. The guard did not discover the +exchange, as General Morgan and Colonel Morgan were of about the same +physical proportions, and each stood with his back to the cell door when +it was being locked.</p> + +<p>At intervals of two hours every night, beginning at eight, the guards +came around to each cell and passed a light through the grating to see +that all was well with the prisoners. The approach of the guard was +often so stealthily made that a knowledge of his presence was first had +by seeing him at the door of the cell. To avoid a surprise of this kind +we sprinkled fine coal along in front of the cells, walking upon which +would give us warning. By a singular coincidence that might have been a +fatality, on the day we had determined upon for the escape General +Morgan received a letter from Lexington, Kentucky, begging and warning +him not to attempt to escape, and by the same mail I received a letter +from a member of my family saying that it was rumored and generally +believed at home that I had escaped. Fortunately these letters did not +put the officials on their guard. We ascertained from the paper we had +procured that a train left for Cincinnati at 1.15 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and as +the regular time for the guard to make his round of the cells was twelve +o'clock, we arranged to descend to the chamber immediately thereafter. +Captain Taylor was to descend first, and, passing under each cell, +notify the others. General Morgan had been permitted to keep his watch, +and this he gave to Taylor that he might not mistake the time to go.</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour Taylor gave the signal, each of us arranged his +cot with the seat in his cell so as to represent a sleeping prisoner, +and, easily breaking the thin layer of cement, descended to the chamber, +passed through the tunnel, breaking through the thin stratum of earth +at the end. We came out near the wall of the female prison,—it was +raining slightly,—crawled by the side of the wall to the wooden gate, +cast our grappling-iron attached to the rope over the gate, made it +fast, ascended the rope to the top of the gate, drew up the rope, and +made our way by the wing wall to the outside wall, where we entered a +sentry-box and divested ourselves of our soiled outer garments. In the +daytime sentinels were placed on this wall, but at night they were on +the inside of the walls and at the main entrance to the prison. On the +top of the wall we found a cord running along the outer edge and +connecting with a bell in the office of the prison. This cord General +Morgan cut with one of the knives we had used in tunneling. Before +leaving my cell I wrote and left, addressed to N. Merion, the warden, +the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Castle Merion, Cell No.</span> 20, November 27, +1863.—Commencement, November 4, 1863; conclusion, November 24, +1863; number of hours for labor per day, five; tools, two small +knives. <i>La patience est amère, mais son fruit est doux.</i> By +order of my six honorable Confederates. <span class="smcap">Thomas H. Hines</span>, +<i>Captain, C.S.A.</i></p></div> + +<p>Having removed all trace of soil from our clothes and persons, we +attached the iron hook to the railing on the outer edge of the wall, and +descended to the ground within sixty yards of where the prison guards +were sitting round a fire and conversing. Here we separated, General +Morgan and myself going to the depot, about a quarter, of a mile from +the prison, where I purchased two tickets for Cincinnati, and entered +the car that just then came in. General Morgan took a seat beside a +Federal major in uniform, and I sat immediately in their rear. The +general entered into conversation with the major, who was made the more +talkative by a copious drink of my French brandy. As the train passed +near the prison-wall where we had descended, the major remarked, "There +is where the rebel General Morgan and his officers are put for +safe-keeping." The general replied, "I hope they will keep him as safe +as he is now." Our train passed through Dayton, Ohio, and there, for +some unknown reason, we were delayed an hour. This rendered it extra +hazardous to go to the depot in the city of Cincinnati, since by that +time the prison officials would, in all probability, know of our escape, +and telegraph to intercept us. In fact, they did telegraph in every +direction, and offered a reward for our recapture. Instead, then, of +going to the depot in Cincinnati, we got off, while the train was moving +slowly, in the outskirts of the city, near Ludlow Ferry, on the Ohio +River. Going directly to the ferry we were crossed over in a skiff and +landed immediately in front of the residence of Mrs. Ludlow. We rang the +door-bell, a servant came, and General Morgan wrote upon a +visiting-card, "General Morgan and Captain Hines, escaped." We were +warmly received, took a cup of coffee with the family, were furnished a +guide, and walked some three miles in the country, where we were +furnished horses. Thence we went through Florence to Union, in Boone +County, Kentucky, where we took supper with Daniel Piatt. On making +ourselves known to Mr. Piatt, who had two sons in our command, we were +treated with the most cordial hospitality and kindness by the entire +family. We there met Dr. John J. Dulaney of Florence, Kentucky, who was +of great benefit in giving us information as to the best route. That +night we went to Mr. Corbin's, near Union,—who also had gallant sons in +our command,—where we remained concealed until the next night, and +where friends supplied us with fresh horses and a pair of pistols each.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px"> +<a id="fig012" name="fig012"></a> +<a href="images/fig012.png"><img src="images/fig012_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">OVER THE PRISON WALL.</span> +</div> + +<p>On the evening of the 29th of November we left Union with a voluntary +guide, passed through the eastern edge of Gallatin County, and after +traveling all night spent the day of the 30th at the house of a friend +on the Owen County line. Passing through New Liberty, in Owen County, +and crossing the Kentucky River at the ferry on the road to New Castle, +in Henry County, we stopped at the house of Mr. Pollard at 2 +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, December 1. Our guide did not know the people nor the +roads farther than the ferry, at which point he turned back. Not knowing +the politics of Mr. Pollard, it was necessary to proceed with caution. +On reaching his house we aroused him and made known our desire to spend +the remainder of the night with him. He admitted us and took us into the +family room, where there was a lamp dimly burning on a center-table. On +the light being turned up I discovered a Cincinnati "Enquirer" with +large displayed head-lines, announcing the escape of General Morgan, +Captain Hines, and five other officers from the Ohio penitentiary. The +fact that this newspaper was taken by Mr. Pollard was to me sufficient +evidence that he was a Southern sympathizer. Glancing at the paper, I +looked up and remarked, "I see that General Morgan, Hines, and other +officers have escaped from the penitentiary." He responded, "Yes; and +you are Captain Hines, are you not?" I replied, "Yes; and what is your +name?" "Pollard," he answered. "Allow me, then, to introduce General +Morgan," I found that I had not made a mistake.</p> + +<p>After rest and a late breakfast and a discussion of the situation, it +was deemed inexpedient to remain during the day, as the house was +immediately on a public highway, besides the danger of such unexplained +delay exciting the suspicion of the negroes on the place. We assumed the +character of cattle-buyers, Mr. Pollard furnishing us with cattle-whips +to make the assumption plausible. Our first objective point was the +residence of Judge W.S. Pryor, in the outskirts of New Castle. After +dinner Judge Pryor rode with us some distance, and put us in charge of a +guide, who conducted us that night to Major Helm's, near Shelbyville, +where we remained during the day of the 2d, and were there joined by +four of our command in citizen's dress. That night we passed through +Taylorsville, and stopped on the morning of the 3d near Bardstown.</p> + +<p>The night of the 4th we resumed our journey, and stopped on the morning +of the 5th at Mr. McCormack's at Rolling Fork Creek, in Nelson County, +thence through Taylor, Green (passing near Greensburg), Adair, and +Cumberland counties, crossing Cumberland River some nine miles below +Burkesville. We crossed the Cumberland, which was quite high, by +swimming our horses by the side of a canoe. Near the place of crossing, +on the south side, we stopped overnight with a private in Colonel R.T. +Jacob's Federal cavalry, passing ourselves as citizens on the lookout +for stolen horses. Next morning, in approaching the road from +Burkesville to Sparta, Tennessee, we came out of a byway immediately in +the rear of and some hundred yards from a dwelling fronting on the +Burkesville-Sparta road, and screening us from view on the Burkesville +end. As we emerged from the woodland a woman appeared at the back door +of the dwelling and motioned us back. We withdrew from view, but kept in +sight of the door from which the signal to retire was given, when after +a few minutes the woman again appeared and signaled us to come forward. +She informed us that a body of Federal cavalry had just passed, going in +the direction of Burkesville, and that the officer in command informed +her that he was trying to intercept General Morgan. We followed the +Burkesville road something like a mile, and in sight of the rear-guard. +We crossed Obey's River near the mouth of Wolf, and halted for two days +in the hills of Overton County, where we came upon forty of our men, who +had been separated from the force on the expedition into Indiana and +Ohio. These men were placed under my command, and thence we moved +directly toward the Tennessee River, striking it about fifteen miles +below Kingston, at Bridges's Ferry, December 13. There was no boat to be +used in crossing, and the river was very high and angry, and about one +hundred and fifty yards wide. We obtained an ax from a house near by, +and proceeded to split logs and make a raft on which to cross, and by +which to swim our horses. We had learned that two miles and a half below +us was a Federal cavalry camp. This stimulated us to the utmost, but +notwithstanding our greatest efforts we were three hours in crossing +over five horses and twenty-five men. At this juncture the enemy +appeared opposite, and began to fire on our men.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig013" name="fig013"></a> +<a href="images/fig013.png"><img src="images/fig013_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">"HURRY UP, MAJOR!"</span> +</div> + +<p>Here General Morgan gave characteristic evidence of devotion to his +men. When the firing began he insisted on staying with the dismounted +men and taking their chances, and was dissuaded only by my earnest +appeal and representation that such a course would endanger the men as +well as ourselves. The men, by scattering in the mountains, did +ultimately make their way to the Confederacy.</p> + +<p>General Morgan, myself, and the four mounted men crossed over a spur of +the mountains and descended by a bridle-path to a ravine or gulch upon +the opposite side, and halted in some thick underbrush about ten steps +from a path passing along the ravine. Not knowing the country, it was +necessary to have information, or a guide, and observing a log cabin +about a hundred yards up the ravine, I rode there to get directions, +leaving General Morgan and the others on their horses near the path. I +found at the house a woman and some children. She could not direct me +over the other spur of the mountain, but consented that her ten-year-old +son might go with me and show the way. He mounted behind me, and by the +time he was seated I heard the clatter of hoofs down the ravine, and, +looking, I saw a body of about seventy-five cavalry coming directly +toward me, and passing within ten steps of where the general and his men +were sitting on their horses. I saw that my own escape was doubtful, and +that any halt or delay of the cavalry would certainly result in the +discovery and capture of General Morgan. I lifted the boy from behind me +and dashed to the head of the column, exclaiming, "Hurry up, Major, or +the rebels will escape!" He responded, "Who are you?" I answered, "I +belong to the home-guard company in the bend: hurry, or they are gone." +We dashed on, I riding by the major at the head of the column about half +a mile, when we came to where a dry branch crossed the road, and, as it +had been raining that day, it was easily seen from the soil that had +washed down from the side of the mountain that no one had passed there +since the rain. Seeing this, the command was halted, and the major again +demanded to know who I was. I replied that I was a member of General +Morgan's command. "Yes,—— you! You have led me off from Morgan; I have +a notion to hang you for it." "No, that was not General Morgan. I have +served under him two years and know him well, and have no object in +deceiving you; for if it was Morgan, he is now safe." "You lie, for he +was recognized at the house where you got the ax. I would not have +missed getting him for ten thousand dollars. It would have been a +brigadier's commission to me. I will hang you for it." Up to this time I +had taken the situation smilingly and pleasantly, because I did not +apprehend violence; but the officer, livid with rage from +disappointment, directed one of his men to take the halter from his +horse and hang me to a designated limb of a tree. The halter was +adjusted around my neck, and thrown over the limb. Seeing that the +officer was desperately in earnest, I said, "Major, before you perform +this operation, allow me to make a suggestion." "Be quick about it, +then." "Suppose that <i>was</i> General Morgan, as you insist, and I have led +you astray, as you insist, wouldn't I, being a member of his command, +deserve to be hung if I had not done what you charge me with?" He +dropped his head for a moment, looked up with a more pleasant +expression, and said, "Boys, he is right; let him alone."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 572px"> +<a id="fig014" name="fig014"></a> +<a href="images/fig014.png"><img src="images/fig014_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">CAPTAIN HINES OBJECTS.</span> +</div> + +<p>I was placed under guard of two soldiers and sent across the river to +camp, while the officer in command took his men over the mountain in +search of General Morgan, who succeeded in making good his escape. The +next evening the major returned with his command from his unsuccessful +pursuit. He questioned me closely, wanting to know my name, and if I +was a private in the command, as I had stated to him at the time of my +capture. Remembering that in prison the underclothing of Captain Bullitt +had been exchanged for mine, and that I then had on his with his name in +ink, I assumed the name of Bullitt.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the second day in this camp the major invited me to go +with him and take supper at the house of a Unionist half a mile away. We +spent the evening with the family until nine o'clock, when the major +suggested that we should go back to camp. On reaching the front gate, +twenty steps from the front veranda, he found that he had left his shawl +in the house, and returned to get it, requesting me to await his return. +A young lady of the family was standing in the door, and when he went in +to get the shawl, she closed the door. I was then perfectly free, but I +could not get my consent to go. For a moment of time while thus at +liberty I suffered intensely in the effort to determine what was the +proper thing to do. Upon the one hand was the tempting offer of freedom, +that was very sweet to me after so many months of close confinement; +while, on the other hand was the fact that the officer had treated me +with great kindness, more as a comrade than as a prisoner, that the +acceptance of his hospitality was a tacit parole and my escape would +involve him in trouble. I remained until his return. He was greatly +agitated, evidently realizing for the first time the extent of his +indiscretion, and surprised undoubtedly at finding me quietly awaiting +him. I had determined not to return to prison, but rather than break +faith I awaited some other occasion for escape. Notwithstanding all +this, something excited suspicion of me; for the next morning, while +lying in the tent apparently asleep, I heard the officer direct the +sergeant to detail ten men and guard me to Kingston, and he said to the +sergeant, "Put him on the meanest horse you have and be watchful or he +will escape." I was taken to Kingston and placed in jail, and there met +three of our party who had been captured on the north side of the +Tennessee River at the time we attempted to cross. They were R.C. +Church, William Church, and—— Smith. After two days' confinement +there, we were sent under guard of twelve soldiers to the camp of the 3d +Kentucky Federal Infantry, under command of Colonel Henry C. Dunlap. The +camp was opposite the town of Loudon, and was prepared for winter +quarters. The large forest trees had been felled for a quarter of a mile +around the camp, and log huts built in regular lines for the occupation +of the troops. We were placed in one of these huts with three guards on +the inside, while the guards who delivered us there were located around +a campfire some ten steps in front of the only door to our hut, and +around the whole encampment was the regular camp guard. The next day, as +we had learned, we were to be sent to Knoxville, Tennessee, which was +then General Burnside's headquarters; and as I knew I would there be +recognized, and, on account of my previous escape, that my chances for +freedom would be reduced to a minimum, we determined to escape that +night.</p> + +<p>It was perfectly clear, the moon about full, making the camp almost as +light as day; and as the moon did not go down until a short time before +daylight, we concluded to await its setting. The door of the cabin was +fastened by a latch on the inside. The night was cold. We had only +pretended to sleep, awaiting our opportunity. When the moon was down we +arose, one after another, from our couches, and went to the fire to warm +us. We engaged the guards in pleasant conversation, detailing incidents +of the war. I stood with my right next the door, facing the fire and the +three guards, and my comrades standing immediately on my left. While +narrating some incident in which the guards were absorbed, I placed my +right hand upon the latch of the door, with a signal to the other +prisoners, and, without breaking the thread of the narrative, bade the +guards good night, threw the door open, ran through the guards in front +of the door, passed the sentinel at the camp limits, and followed the +road we had been brought in to the mountains. The guards in front of the +door fired upon me, as did the sentinel on his beat, the last shot being +so close to me that I felt the fire from the gun. Unfortunately and +unwittingly I threw the door open with such force that it rebounded and +caught my comrades on the inside. The guards assaulted them and +attempted to bayonet them, but they grappled, overpowered, and disarmed +the guards, and made terms with them before they would let them up. All +three of these prisoners, by great daring, escaped before they were +taken North to prison.</p> + +<p>In running from the camp to the mountains I passed two sentinel fires, +and was pursued some distance at the point of the bayonet of the soldier +who had last fired at me. All was hurry and confusion in the camp. The +horses were bridled, saddled, and mounted, and rapidly ridden out on +the road I had taken; but by the time the pursuers reached the timber I +was high up the mountain side, and complacently watched them as they +hurried by. As I ran from my prison-house I fixed my eye upon Venus, the +morning star, as my guide, and traveled until daylight, when I reached +the summit of the mountain, where I found a sedge-grass field of about +twenty acres, in the middle of which I lay down on the frozen ground and +remained until the sun had gone down and darkness was gathering. During +the day the soldiers in search of me frequently passed within thirty +steps, so close that I could hear their conjectures as to where I was +most likely to be found. I remained so long in one position that I +thawed into the frozen earth; but the cool of the evening coming on, the +soil around me froze again, and I had some difficulty in releasing +myself.</p> + +<p>As it grew dark I descended the mountain, and cautiously approached a +humble dwelling. Seeing no one but a woman and some children, I entered +and asked for supper. While my supper was being prepared, no little to +my disappointment, the husband, a strapping, manly-looking fellow, with +his rifle on his shoulder, walked in. I had already assumed a character, +and that was as agent to purchase horses for the Federal Government. I +had come down that evening on the train from Knoxville, and was anxious +to get a canoe and some one to paddle me down to Kingston, where I had +an engagement for the next day to meet some gentlemen who were to have +horses there, by agreement with me, for sale. Could the gentleman tell +me where I could get a canoe and some one to go with me? He said the +rebels were so annoying that all boats and canoes had been destroyed to +keep them from crossing. He knew of but one canoe, owned by a good Union +man some two miles down the river. Would he be kind enough to show me +the way there, that I might get an early start and keep my engagement?</p> + +<p>After supper my hospitable entertainer walked with me to the residence +of the owner of the canoe. The family had retired, and when the owner of +the premises came out, there came with him a Federal soldier who was +staying overnight with him. This was not encouraging. After making my +business known and offering large compensation, the owner of the canoe +agreed to start with me by daylight. During my walk down there, my guide +had mentioned that a certain person living opposite the place where the +canoe was owned had several horses that he would like to sell. I +suggested that, in order to save time and get as early a start as +possible for Kingston, the canoe-owner should take me over to see to the +purchase of these horses that night. The river was high and dangerous to +cross at night, but by promises of compensation I was taken over and +landed some quarter of a mile from the house. With an injunction to +await me, when the canoe landed I started toward the house; but when out +of sight I changed my course and took to the mountains.</p> + +<p>For eight days I traveled by night, taking my course by the stars, lying +up in the mountains by day, and getting food early in the evening +wherever I could find a place where there were no men. On the 27th of +December I reached the Confederate lines near Dalton, Georgia.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="COLONEL_ROSES_TUNNEL_AT_LIBBY_PRISON" id="COLONEL_ROSES_TUNNEL_AT_LIBBY_PRISON"></a>COLONEL ROSE'S TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON</h3> + +<h4>BY FRANK E. MORAN</h4> + + +<p>Among all the thrilling incidents in the history of Libby Prison, none +exceeds in interest the celebrated tunnel escape which occurred on the +night of February 9, 1864. I was one of the 109 Union officers who +passed through the tunnel, and one of the ill-fated 48 that were +retaken. I and two companions—Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan of the 21st +Wisconsin regiment, who has since served several terms in Congress from +Missouri, and Lieutenant William L. Watson of the same company and +regiment—when recaptured by the Confederate cavalry were in sight of +the Union picket posts. Strange as it may appear, no accurate and +complete account has ever been given to the public of this, the most +ingenious and daring escape made on either side during the civil war. +Twelve of the party of fifteen who dug the tunnel are still living, +including their leader.</p> + +<p>Thomas E. Rose, colonel of the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the +engineer and leader in the plot throughout,—now a captain in the 16th +United States Infantry,—was taken prisoner at the battle of +Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. On his way to Richmond he escaped from +his guards at Weldon, N.C., but, after a day's wandering about the pine +forests with a broken foot, was retaken by a detachment of Confederate +cavalry and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he arrived October 1, +1863.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 321px"> +<a id="fig015" name="fig015"></a> +<a href="images/fig015.png"><img src="images/fig015_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE.</span> +</div> + +<p>Libby Prison fronts on Carey street, Richmond, and stands upon a hill +which descends abruptly to the canal, from which its southern wall is +divided only by a street, and having a vacant lot on the east. The +building was wholly detached, making it a comparatively easy matter to +guard the prison securely with a small force and keep every door and +window in full view from without. As an additional measure of safety, +prisoners were not allowed on the ground-floor, except that in the +daytime they were permitted to use the first floor of the middle +section for a cook-room. The interior embraced nine large +warehouse-rooms 105 × 45, with eight feet from each floor to ceiling, +except the upper floor, which gave more room, owing to the pitch of the +gable roof. The abrupt slant of the hill gives the building an +additional story on the south side. The whole building really embraces +three sections, and these were originally separated by heavy blank +walls. The Confederates cut doors through the walls of the two upper +floors, which comprised the prisoners' quarters, and they were thus +permitted to mingle freely with each other; but there was no +communication whatever between the three large rooms on the first floor. +Beneath these floors were three cellars of the same dimensions as the +rooms above them, and, like them, divided from each other by massive +blank walls. For ready comprehension, let these be designated the east, +middle, and west cellars. Except in the lofts known as "Streight's room" +and "Milroy's room," which were occupied by the earliest inmates of +Libby in 1863, there was no furniture in the building, and only a few of +the early comers possessed such a luxury as an old army blanket or a +knife, cup, and tin plate. As a rule, the prisoner, by the time he +reached Libby, found himself devoid of earthly goods save the meager and +dust-begrimed summer garb in which he had made his unlucky campaign.</p> + +<p>At night the six large lofts presented strange war-pictures, over which +a single tallow candle wept copious and greasy tears that ran down over +the petrified loaf of corn-broad, Borden's condensed-milk can, or +bottle in which it was set. The candle flickered on until "taps," when +the guards, with unconscious irony shouted, "Lights out!"—at which +signal it usually disappeared amid a shower of boots and such other +missiles as were at hand. The sleepers covered the six floors, lying in +ranks, head to head and foot to foot, like prostrate lines of battle. +For the general good, and to preserve something like military precision, +these ranks (especially when cold weather compelled them to lie close +for better warmth) were subdivided into convenient squads under charge +of a "captain," who was invested with authority to see that every man +lay "spoon fashion."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig016" name="fig016"></a> +<img src="images/fig016.png" alt="" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">A CORNER OF LIBBY PRISON</span> +</div> + +<p>No consideration of personal convenience was permitted to interfere with +the general comfort of the "squad." Thus, when the hard floor could no +longer be endured on the right side,—especially by the thin men,—the +captain gave the command, "Attention, Squad Number Four! Prepare to +spoon! One—two—spoon!" And the whole squad flopped over on the left +side.</p> + +<p>The first floor on the west of the building was used by the Confederates +as an office and for sleeping-quarters for the prison officials, and a +stairway guarded by sentinels led from this to Milroy's room just above +it. As before explained, the middle room was shut off from the office by +a heavy blank wall. This room, known as the "kitchen," had two stoves in +it, one of which stood about ten feet from the heavy door that opened on +Carey street sidewalk, and behind the door was a fireplace. The room +contained also several long pine tables with permanent seats attached, +such as may be commonly seen at picnic grounds. The floor was constantly +inundated here by several defective and overworked water-faucets and a +leaky trough.</p> + +<p>A stairway without banisters led up on the southwest end of the floor, +above which was a room known as the "Chickamauga room," being chiefly +occupied by Chickamauga prisoners. The sentinel who had formerly been +placed at this stairway at night, to prevent the prisoners from entering +the kitchen, had been withdrawn when, in the fall of 1863, the horrible +condition of the floor made it untenable for sleeping purposes.</p> + +<p>The uses to which the large ground-floor room east of the kitchen was +put varied during the first two years of the war; but early in October +of 1863, and thereafter, it was permanently used and known as the +hospital, and it contained a large number of cots, which were never +unoccupied. An apartment had been made at the north or front of the +room, which served as a doctor's office and laboratory. Like those +adjoining it on the west, this room had a large door opening on Carey +street, which was heavily bolted and guarded on the outside.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig017" name="fig017"></a> +<img src="images/fig017.png" width="100%" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">LIBBY PRISON IN 1865</span> +</div> + +<p>The arrival of the Chickamauga prisoners greatly crowded the upper +floors, and compelled the Confederates to board up a small portion of +the east cellar at its southeast corner as an additional cook-room, +several large caldrons having been set in a rudely built furnace; so, +for a short period, the prisoners were allowed down there in the daytime +to cook. A stairway led from this cellar to the room above, which +subsequently became the hospital.</p> + +<p>Such, in brief, was the condition of things when Colonel Rose arrived at +the prison. From the hour of his coming, a means of escape became his +constant and eager study; and, with this purpose in view, he made a +careful and minute survey of the entire premises.</p> + +<p>From the windows of the upper east or "Gettysburg room" he could look +across the vacant lot on the east and get a glimpse of the yard between, +two adjacent buildings which faced the canal and Carey street +respectively, and he estimated the intervening space at about seventy +feet. From the south windows he looked out across a street upon the +canal and James River, running parallel with each other, the two streams +at this point being separated by a low and narrow strip of land. This +strip periodically disappeared when protracted seasons of heavy rain +came, or when spring floods so rapidly swelled the river that the latter +invaded the cellars of Libby. At such times it was common to see +enormous swarms of rats come out from the lower doors and windows of the +prison and make head for dry land in swimming platoons amid the cheers +of the prisoners in the upper windows. On one or two occasions Rose +observed workmen descending from the middle of the south-side street +into a sewer running through its center, and concluded that this sewer +must have various openings to the canal both to the east and west of the +prison.</p> + +<p>The north portion of the cellar contained a large quantity of loose +packing-straw, covering the floor to an average depth of two feet; and +this straw afforded shelter, especially at night, for a large colony of +rats, which gave the place the name of "Rat Hell."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 334px"> +<a id="fig018" name="fig018"></a> +<a href="images/fig018.png"><img src="images/fig018_th.png" alt="farm" /></a> +<span class="caption">MAJOR A.G. HAMILTON.</span> +</div> + +<p>In one afternoon's inspection of this dark end, Rose suddenly +encountered a fellow-prisoner, Major A.G. Hamilton, of the 12th Kentucky +Cavalry. A confiding friendship followed, and the two men entered at +once upon the plan of gaining their liberty. They agreed that the most +feasible scheme was a tunnel, to begin in the rear of the little +kitchen-apartment at the southeast corner of Rat Hell. Without more ado +they secured a broken shovel and two case-knives and began operations.</p> + +<p>Within a few days the Confederates decided upon certain changes in the +prison for the greater security of their captives. A week afterward the +cook-room was abandoned, the stairway nailed up, the prisoners sent to +the upper floors, and all communication with the east cellar was cut +off. This was a sore misfortune, for this apartment was the only +possible base of successful tunnel operations. Colonel Rose now began to +study other practicable means of escape, and spent night after night +examining the posts and watching the movements of the sentinels on the +four sides of Libby. One very dark night, during a howling storm, Rose +again, unexpectedly met Hamilton in a place where no prisoner could +reasonably be looked for at such an hour. For an instant the +impenetrable darkness made it impossible for either to determine whether +he had met a friend or foe: neither had a weapon, yet each involuntarily +felt for one, and each made ready to spring at the other's throat, when +a flash of lightning revealed their identity. The two men had availed +themselves of the darkness of the night and the roar of the storm to +attempt an escape from a window of the upper west room to a platform +that ran along the west outer wall of the prison, from which they hoped +to reach the ground and elude the sentinels, whom they conjectured would +be crouched in the shelter of some doorway or other partial refuge that +might be available; but so vivid and frequent were the lightning flashes +that the attempt was seen to be extremely hazardous.</p> + +<p>Rose now spoke of the entrance from the south-side street to the middle +cellar, having frequently noticed the entrance and exit of workmen at +that point, and expressed his belief that if an entrance could be +effected to this cellar it would afford them the only chance of slipping +past the sentinels.</p> + +<p>He hunted up a bit of pine-wood which he whittled into a sort of wedge, +and the two men went down into the dark, vacant kitchen directly over +this cellar. With the wedge Rose pried a floor-board out of its place, +and made an opening large enough to let himself through. He had never +been in this middle cellar, and was wholly ignorant of its contents or +whether it was occupied by Confederates or workmen; but as he had made +no noise, and the place was in profound darkness, he decided to go down +and reconnoiter.</p> + +<p>He wrenched off one of the long boards that formed a table-seat in the +kitchen, and found that it was long enough to touch the cellar base and +protrude a foot or so above the kitchen floor. By this means he easily +descended, leaving Hamilton to keep watch above.</p> + +<p>The storm still raged fiercely, and the faint beams of a street-lamp +revealed the muffled form of the sentinel slowly pacing his beat and +carrying his musket at "secure" arms. Creeping softly toward him along +the cellar wall, he now saw that what he had supposed was a door was +simply a naked opening to the street; and further inspection disclosed +the fact that there was but one sentinel on the south side of the +prison. Standing in the dark shadow, he could easily have touched this +man with his hand as he repeatedly passed him. Groping about, he found +various appurtenances indicating that the south end of this cellar was +used for a carpenter's shop, and that the north end was partitioned off +into a series of small cells with padlocked doors, and that through each +door a square hole, a foot in diameter, was cut. Subsequently it was +learned that these dismal cages were alternately used for the +confinement of "troublesome prisoners"—<i>i. e.</i>, those who had +distinguished themselves by ingenious attempts to escape—and also for +runaway slaves, and Union spies under sentence of death.</p> + +<p>At the date of Rose's first reconnaissance to this cellar, these cells +were vacant and unguarded. The night was far spent, and Rose proceeded +to return to the kitchen, where Hamilton was patiently waiting for him.</p> + +<p>The very next day a rare good fortune befell Rose. By an agreement +between the commissioners of exchange, several bales of clothing and +blankets had been sent by our government to the famishing Union +prisoners on Belle Isle, a number of whom had already frozen to death. A +committee of Union officers then confined in Libby, consisting of +General Neal Dow, Colonel Alexander von Shrader, Lieut.-Colonel Joseph +F. Boyd, and Colonel Harry White, having been selected by the +Confederates to supervise the distribution of the donation, Colonel +White had, by a shrewd bit of finesse, "confiscated" a fine rope by +which one of the bales was tied, and this he now presented to Colonel +Rose. It was nearly a hundred feet long, an inch thick, and almost new.</p> + +<p>It was hardly dark the following night before Rose and Hamilton were +again in the kitchen, and as soon as all was quiet Rose fastened his +rope to one of the supporting posts, took up the floor-plank as before, +and both men descended to the middle cellar. They were not a little +disappointed to discover that where there had been but one sentinel on +the south side there were now two. On this and for several nights they +contented themselves with sly visits of observation to this cellar, +during which Rose found and secreted various tools, among which were a +broad-ax, a saw, two chisels, several files, and a carpenter's square. +One dark night both men went down and determined to try their luck at +passing the guards. Rose made the attempt and succeeded in passing the +first man, but unluckily was seen by the second. The latter called +lustily for the corporal of the guard, and the first excitedly cocked +his gun and peered into the dark door through which Rose swiftly +retreated. The guard called, "Who goes there?" but did not enter the +dark cellar. Rose and Hamilton mounted the rope and had just succeeded +in replacing the plank when the corporal and a file of men entered the +cellar with a lantern. They looked into every barrel and under every +bench, but no sign of Yankees appeared; and as on this night it happened +that several workmen were sleeping in an apartment at the north end, the +corporal concluded that the man seen by the sentinel was one of these, +notwithstanding their denial when awakened and questioned. After a long +parley the Confederates withdrew, and Hamilton and Rose, depressed in +spirits, went to bed, Rose as usual concealing his rope.</p> + +<p>Before the week was out they were at it again. On one of these nights +Rose suddenly came upon one of the workmen, and, swift as thought, +seized the hidden broad-ax with the intention of braining him if he +attempted an alarm; but the poor fellow was too much paralyzed to cry +out, and when finally he did recover his voice and his wits, it was to +beg Rose, "for God's sake," not to come in there again at night. +Evidently the man never mentioned the circumstance, for Rose's +subsequent visits, which were soon resumed, disclosed no evidence of a +discovery by the Confederates.</p> + +<p>Hamilton agreed with Rose that there remained apparently but one means +of escape, and that was by force. To overpower the two sentinels on the +south side would have been an easy matter, but how to do it and not +alarm the rest of the guard, and, in consequence, the whole city, was +the problem. To secure these sentinels, without alarming their comrades +on the east, west, and north sides of the prison, would require the +swift action of several men of nerve acting in concert. Precious time +was passing, and possibly further alterations might be decided upon that +would shut them off from the middle cellar, as they had already been +from their original base of operations. Moreover, a new cause of anxiety +now appeared. It soon transpired that their nocturnal prowlings and +close conferences together had already aroused the belief among many +observant prisoners that a plan of escape was afoot, and both men were +soon eagerly plied with guarded inquiries, and besought by their +questioners to admit them to their confidence.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig019" name="fig019"></a> +<a href="images/fig019.png"><img src="images/fig019_th.png" alt="libby" /></a> +<span class="caption">LIBBY PRISON IN 1884.</span> +</div> + +<p>Hamilton and Rose now decided to organize an escaping party. A number of +men were then sworn to secrecy and obedience by Colonel Rose, who was +the only recognized leader in all operations that followed. This party +soon numbered seventy men. The band was then taken down by Rose in +convenient details to the middle cellar or carpenter's shop on many +nights, to familiarize each man with the place and with his special part +in the plot, and also to take advantage of any favoring circumstances +that might arise.</p> + +<p>When all had by frequent visits become familiar with the rendezvous, +Rose and the whole party descended one night with the determination to +escape at whatever hazard. The men were assigned to their several +stations as usual, and a selected few were placed by the leader close to +the entrance, in front of which the sentinel was regularly passing. Rose +commanded strict silence, and placed himself near the exit preparatory +to giving the signal. It was an exciting moment, and the bravest heart +beat fast. A signal came, but not the one they looked for. At the very +moment of action, the man whom Rose had left at the floor-opening in the +kitchen gave the danger-signal! The alert leader had, with consummate +care, told every man beforehand that he must never be surprised by this +signal,—it was a thing to be counted upon,—and that noise and panic +were of all things to be avoided as fatal folly in their operations. As +a consequence, when this signal came, Rose quietly directed the men to +fall in line and reascend to the kitchen rapidly, but without noise, +which they did by the long rope which now formed the easy means of +communication from the kitchen to the cellar.</p> + +<p>Rose remained below to cover the retreat, and when the last man got up +he followed him, replaced the board in the floor, and concealed the +rope. He had barely done so when a detail of Confederate guards entered +the kitchen from the Carey street door, and, headed by an officer, +marched straight in his direction. Meantime the party had disappeared up +the stairway and swiftly made their way over their prostrate comrades' +forms to their proper sleeping-places. Rose, being the last up, and +having the floor to fix, had now no time to disappear like his +companions, at least without suspicious haste. He accordingly took a +seat at one of the tables, and, putting an old pipe in his mouth, coolly +awaited the approach of the Confederates. The officer of the guard came +along, swinging his lantern almost in his face, stared at him for a +second, and without a remark or a halt marched past him and ascended +with his escort to the Chickamauga room. The entrance of a guard and +their march around the prison, although afterward common enough after +taps, was then an unusual thing, causing much talk among the prisoners, +and to the mind of Rose and his fellow-plotters was indicative of +aroused suspicion on the part of the Confederates.</p> + +<p>The whispering groups of men next day, and the number of his eager +questioners, gave the leader considerable concern; and Hamilton +suggested, as a measure of safety rather than choice, that some of the +mischievous talk of escape would be suppressed by increasing the party. +This was acted upon; the men, like the rest, were put under oath by +Rose, and the party was thus increased to four hundred and twenty. This +force would have been enough to overpower the prison guard in a few +minutes, but the swift alarm certain to ensue in the streets and spread +like wild-fire over Richmond, the meager information possessed by the +prisoners as to the strength and position of the nearest Federal +troops, the strongly guarded labyrinth of breastworks that encircled the +city, and the easy facilities for instant pursuit at the command of the +Confederates, put the success of such an undertaking clearly out of the +range of probability, unless, indeed, some unusual favoring contingency +should arise, such as the near approach of a coöperating column of +Federal cavalry.</p> + +<p>Nor was this an idle dream, as the country now knows, for even at this +period General Kilpatrick was maturing his plans for that bold +expedition for the rescue of the prisoners at Richmond and Belle Isle in +which the lamented and heroic young cripple, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, +lost his life. Rose saw that a break out of Libby without such outside +assistance promised nothing but a fruitless sacrifice of life and the +savage punishment of the survivors. Hence the project, although eagerly +and exhaustively discussed, was prudently abandoned.</p> + +<p>All talk of escape by the general crowd now wholly ceased, and the +captives resigned themselves to their fate and waited with depressed +spirits for the remote contingency of an exchange. The quiet thus gained +was Rose's opportunity. He sought Hamilton and told him that they must +by some stratagem regain access to Rat Hell, and that the tunnel project +must be at once revived. The latter assented to the proposition, and the +two began earnestly to study the means of gaining an entrance without +discovery into this coveted base of operations.</p> + +<p>They could not even get into the room above the cellar they wanted to +reach, for that was the hospital, and the kitchen's heavy wall shut +them off therefrom. Neither could they break the heavy wall that divided +this cellar from the carpenter's shop, which had been the nightly +rendezvous of the party while the breakout was under consideration, for +the breach certainly would be discovered by the workmen or Confederates, +some of whom were in there constantly during daylight.</p> + +<p>There was, in fact, but one plan by which Rat Hell could be reached +without detection, and the conception of this device and its successful +execution were due to the stout-hearted Hamilton. This was to cut a hole +in the back of the kitchen fireplace; the incision must be just far +enough to preserve the opposite or hospital side intact. It must then be +cut downward to a point below the level of the hospital floor, then +eastward into Rat Hell, the completed opening thus to describe the +letter "S." It must be wide enough to let a man through, yet the wall +must not be broken on the hospital side above the floor, nor marred on +the carpenter's-shop side below it. Such a break would be fatal, for +both of these points were conspicuously exposed to the view of the +Confederates every hour in the day. Moreover, it was imperatively +necessary that all trace of the beginning of the opening should be +concealed, not only from the Confederate officials and guards, who were +constantly passing the spot every day, but from the hundreds of +uninitiated prisoners who crowded around the stove just in front of it +from dawn till dark.</p> + +<p>Work could be possible only between the hours of ten at night, when the +room was generally abandoned by the prisoners because of its inundated +condition, and four o'clock in the morning, when the earliest risers +were again astir. It was necessary to do the work with an old jack-knife +and one of the chisels previously secured by Rose. It must be done in +darkness and without noise, for a vigilant sentinel paced on the Carey +street sidewalk just outside the door and within ten feet of the +fireplace. A rubber blanket was procured, and the soot from the chimney +carefully swept into it. Hamilton, with his old knife, cut the mortar +between the bricks and pried a dozen of them out, being careful to +preserve them whole.</p> + +<p>The rest of the incision was made in accordance with the design +described, but no conception could have been formed beforehand of the +sickening tediousness of cutting an S-shaped hole through a heavy wall +with a feeble old jack-knife, in stolen hours of darkness. Rose guarded +his comrade against the constant danger of interruption by alert enemies +on one side and by blundering friends on the other; and, as frequently +happens in human affairs, their friends gave them more trouble than +their foes. Night after night passed, and still the two men got up after +taps from their hard beds, and descended to the dismal and reeking +kitchen to bore for liberty. When the sentinel's call at Castle Thunder +and at Libby announced four o'clock, the dislodged bricks were carefully +replaced, and the soot previously gathered in the gum blanket was flung +in handfuls against the restored wall, filling the seams between the +bricks so thoroughly as to defy detection. At last, after many weary +nights, Hamilton's heroic patience and skill were rewarded, and the way +was open to the coveted base of operations, Rat Hell.</p> + +<p>Now occurred a circumstance that almost revealed the plot and nearly +ended in a tragedy. When the opening was finished, the long rope was +made fast to one of the kitchen supporting posts, and Rose proceeded to +descend and reconnoiter. He got partly through with ease, but lost his +hold in such a manner that his body slipped through so as to pinion his +arms and leave him wholly powerless either to drop lower or return—the +bend of the hole being such as to cramp his back and neck terribly and +prevent him from breathing. He strove desperately, but each effort only +wedged him more firmly in the awful vise. Hamilton sprang to his aid and +did his utmost to effect his release; but, powerful as he was, he could +not budge him. Rose was gasping for breath and rapidly getting fainter, +but even in this fearful strait he refrained from an outcry that would +certainly alarm the guards just outside the door. Hamilton saw that +without speedy relief his comrade must soon smother. He dashed through +the long, dark room up the stairway, over the forms of several hundred +men, and disregarding consequences and savage curses in the dark and +crowded room, he trampled upon arms, legs, faces, and stomachs, leaving +riot and blasphemy in his track among the rudely awakened and now +furious lodgers of the Chickamauga room. He sought the sleeping-place of +Major George H. Fitzsimmons, but he was missing. He, however, found +Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, of the 18th Regulars (since a major in the 9th +United States Cavalry), to whom he told the trouble in a few hasty +words. Both men fairly flew across the room, dashed down the stairs, +and by their united efforts Rose, half dead and quite speechless, was +drawn up from the fearful trap.</p> + +<p>Hamilton managed slightly to increase the size of the hole and provide +against a repetition of the accident just narrated, and all being now +ready, the two men entered eagerly upon the work before them. They +appropriated one of the wooden spittoons of the prison, and to each side +attached a piece of clothes-line which they had been permitted to have +to dry clothes on. Several bits of candle and the larger of the two +chisels were also taken to the operating-cellar. They kept this secret +well, and worked alone for many nights. In fact, they would have so +continued, but they found that after digging about four feet their +candle would go out in the vitiated air. Rose did the digging, and +Hamilton fanned air into him with his hat: even then he had to emerge +into the cellar every few minutes to breathe. Rose could dig, but needed +the light and air; and Hamilton could not fan, and drag out and deposit +the excavated earth, and meantime keep a lookout. In fact, it was +demonstrated that there was slim chance of succeeding without more +assistance, and it was decided to organize a party large enough for +effective work by reliefs. As a preliminary step, and to afford the +means of more rapid communication with the cellar from the fireplace +opening, the long rope obtained from Colonel White was formed by +Hamilton into a rope-ladder with convenient wooden rungs. This +alteration considerably increased its bulk, and added to Rose's +difficulty in concealing it from curious eyes.</p> + +<p>He now made a careful selection of thirteen men besides himself and +Hamilton, and bound them by a solemn oath to secrecy and strict +obedience. To form this party as he wanted it required some diplomacy, +as it was known that the Confederates had on more than one occasion sent +cunning spies into Libby disguised as Union prisoners, for the detection +of any contemplated plan of escape. Unfortunately, the complete list of +the names of the party now formed has not been preserved; but among the +party, besides Rose and Hamilton, were Captain John Sterling, 30th +Indiana; Captain John Lucas, 5th Kentucky Cavalry; Captain Isaac N. +Johnson, 6th Kentucky Cavalry; and Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, 18th +Regulars.</p> + +<p>The party, being now formed, were taken to Rat Hell and their several +duties explained to them by Rose, who was invested with full authority +over the work in hand. Work was begun in rear of the little kitchen-room +previously abandoned at the southeast corner of the cellar. To +systematize the labor, the party was divided into squads of five each, +which gave the men one night on duty and two off, Rose assigning each +man to the branch of work in which experiments proved him the most +proficient. He was himself, by long odds, the best digger of the party; +while Hamilton had no equal for ingenious mechanical skill in contriving +helpful, little devices to overcome or lessen the difficulties that +beset almost every step of the party's progress.</p> + +<p>The first plan was to dig down alongside the east wall and under it +until it was passed, then turn southward and make for the large street +sewer next the canal and into which Rose had before noticed workmen +descending. This sewer was a large one, believed to be fully six feet +high, and, if it could be gained, there could be little doubt that an +adjacent opening to the canal would be found to the eastward. It was +very soon revealed, however, that the lower side of Libby was built upon +ponderous timbers, below which they could not hope to penetrate with +their meager stock of tools—such, at least, was the opinion of nearly +all the party. Rose nevertheless determined that the effort should be +made, and they were soon at work with old penknives and case-knives +hacked into saws. After infinite labor they at length cut through the +great logs, only to be met by an unforeseen and still more formidable +barrier. Their tunnel, in fact, had penetrated below the level of the +canal. Water began to filter in—feebly at first, but at last it broke +in with a rush that came near drowning Rose, who barely had time to make +his escape. This opening was therefore plugged up; and to do this +rapidly and leave no dangerous traces put the party to their wit's end.</p> + +<p>An attempt was next made to dig into a small sewer that ran from the +southeast corner of the prison into the main sewer. After a number of +nights of hard labor, this opening was extended to a point below a brick +furnace in which were incased several caldrons. The weight of this +furnace caused a cave-in near the sentinel's path outside the prison +wall. Next day, a group of officers were seen eying the break curiously. +Rose, listening at a window above, heard the words "rats" repeated by +them several times, and took comfort. The next day he entered the cellar +alone, feeling that if the suspicions of the Confederates were really +awakened a trap would be set for him in Rat Hell, and determined, if +such were really the case, that he would be the only victim caught. He +therefore entered the little partitioned corner room with some anxiety, +but there was no visible evidence of a visit by the guards, and his +spirits again rose.</p> + +<p>The party now reassembled, and an effort was made to get into the small +sewer that ran from the cook-room to the big sewer which Rose was so +eager to reach; but soon it was discovered, to the utter dismay of the +weary party, that this wood-lined sewer was too small to let a man +through it. Still it was hoped by Rose that by removing the plank with +which it was lined the passage could be made. The spirits of the party +were by this time considerably dashed by their repeated failures and +sickening work; but the undaunted Rose, aided by Hamilton, persuaded the +men to another effort, and soon the knives and toy saws were at work +again with vigor. The work went on so swimmingly that it was confidently +believed that an entrance to the main sewer would be gained on the night +of January 26, 1864.</p> + +<p>On the night of the 25th two men had been left down in Rat Hell to cover +any remaining traces of a tunnel, and when night came again it was +expected that all would be ready for the escape between eight and nine +o'clock. In the mean time, the two men were to enter and make careful +examination of the main sewer and its adjacent outlets. The party, which +was now in readiness for its march to the Federal camps, waited tidings +from these two men all next day in tormenting anxiety, and the weary +hours went by on leaden wings. At last the sickening word came that the +planks yet to be removed before they could enter the main sewer were of +seasoned oak—hard as bone, and three inches thick. Their feeble tools +were now worn out or broken; they could no longer get air to work, or +keep a light in the horrible pit, which was reeking with cold mud; in +short, any attempt at further progress with the utensils at hand was +foolish.</p> + +<p>Most of the party were now really ill from the foul stench in which they +had lived so long. The visions of liberty that had first lured them to +desperate efforts under the inspiration of Rose and Hamilton had at last +faded, and one by one they lost heart and hope, and frankly told Colonel +Rose that they could do no more. The party was therefore disbanded, and +the yet sanguine leader, with Hamilton for his sole helper, continued +the work alone. Up to this time thirty-nine nights had been spent in the +work of excavation. The two men now made a careful examination of the +northeast corner of the cellar, at which point the earth's surface +outside the prison wall, being eight or nine feet higher than at the +canal or south side, afforded a better place to dig than the latter, +being free from water and with clay-top enough to support itself. The +unfavorable feature of this point was that the only possible terminus of +a tunnel was a yard between the buildings beyond the vacant lot on the +east of Libby. Another objection was that, even when the tunnel should +be made to that point, the exit of any escaping party must be made +through an arched wagon-way under the building that faced the street on +the canal side, and every man must emerge on the sidewalk in sight of +the sentinel on the south side of the prison, the intervening space +being in the full glare of the gas-lamp. It was carefully noted, however +by Rose, long before this, that the west end of the beat of the nearest +sentinel was between fifty and sixty feet from the point of egress, and +it was concluded that by walking away at the moment the sentinel +commenced his pace westward, one would be far enough into the shadow to +make it improbable that the color of his clothing could be made out by +the sentinel when he faced about to return toward the eastern end of his +beat, which terminated ten to fifteen feet east of the prison wall. It +was further considered that as these sentinels had for their special +duty the guarding of the prison, they would not be eager to burden +themselves with the duty of molesting persons seen in the vicinity +outside of their jurisdiction, provided, of course, that the retreating +forms—many of which they must certainly see—were not recognized as +Yankees. All others they might properly leave for the challenge and +usual examination of the provost guard who patrolled the streets of +Richmond.</p> + +<p>The wall of that east cellar had to be broken in three places before a +place was found where the earth was firm enough to support a tunnel. The +two men worked on with stubborn patience, but their progress was +painfully slow. Rose dug assiduously, and Hamilton alternately fanned +air to his comrade and dragged out and hid the excavated dirt, but the +old difficulty confronted him. The candle would not burn, the air could +not be fanned fast enough with a hat, and the dirt hidden, without +better contrivances or additional help.</p> + +<p>Rose now reassembled the party, and selected from them a number who were +willing to renew the attempt.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> Against the east wall stood a series +of stone fenders abutting inward, and these, being at uniform intervals +of about twenty feet, cast deep shadows that fell toward the prison +front. In one of these dark recesses the wall was pierced, well up +toward the Carey street end. The earth here has very densely compressed +sand, that offered a strong resistance to the broad-bladed chisel, which +was their only effective implement, and it was clear that a long turn of +hard work must be done to penetrate under the fifty-foot lot to the +objective point. The lower part of the tunnel was about six inches above +the level of the cellar floor, and its top about two and a half feet. +Absolute accuracy was of course impossible, either in giving the hole a +perfectly horizontal direction or in preserving uniform dimensions; but +a fair level was preserved, and the average diameter of the tunnel was a +little over two feet. Usually one man would dig, and fill the spittoon +with earth; upon the signal of a gentle pull, an assistant would drag +the load into the cellar by the clothes-lines fastened to each side of +this box and then hide it under the straw; a third constantly fanned air +into the tunnel with a rubber blanket stretched across a frame, the +invention of the ingenious Hamilton; a fourth would give occasional +relief to the last two; while a fifth would keep a lookout.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The party now consisted of Colonel Thomas E. Rose, 77th +Pennsylvania; Major A.G. Hamilton, 12th Kentucky; Captain Terrance +Clark, 79th Illinois; Major George H. Fitzsimmons, 30th Indiana; Captain +John F. Gallagher, 2d Ohio: Captain W.S.B. Randall, 2d Ohio; Captain +John Lucas, 5th Kentucky; Captain I.N. Johnson, 6th Kentucky; Major B.B. +McDonald, 101st Ohio; Lieutenant N.S. McKean, 21st Illinois; Lieutenant +David Garbett, 77th Pennsylvania; Lieutenant J.C. Fislar, 7th Indiana +Artillery; Lieutenant John D. Simpson, 10th Indiana; Lieutenant John +Mitchell, 79th Illinois; and Lieutenant Eli Foster, 30th Indiana. This +party was divided into three reliefs, as before, and the work of +breaking the cellar wall was successfully done the first night by +McDonald and Clark.</p></div> + +<p>The danger of discovery was continual, for the guards were under +instructions from the prison commandant to make occasional visits to +every accessible part of the building; so that it was not unusual for a +sergeant and several men to enter the south door of Rat Hell in the +daytime, while the diggers were at labor in the dark north end. During +these visits the digger would watch the intruders with his head sticking +out of the tunnel, while the others would crouch behind the low stone +fenders, or crawl quickly under the straw. This was, however, so +uninviting a place that the Confederates made this visit as brief as a +nominal compliance with their orders permitted, and they did not often +venture into the dark north end. The work was fearfully monotonous, and +the more so because absolute silence was commanded, the men moving about +mutely in the dark. The darkness caused them frequently to become +bewildered and lost; and as Rose could not call out for them, he had +often to hunt all over the big dungeon to gather them up and pilot them +to their places.</p> + +<p>The difficulty of forcing air to the digger, whose body nearly filled +the tunnel, increased as the hole was extended, and compelled the +operator to back often into the cellar for air, and for air that was +itself foul enough to sicken a strong man.</p> + +<p>But they were no longer harassed with the water and timbers that had +impeded their progress at the south end. Moreover, experience was daily +making each man more proficient in the work. Rose urged them on with +cheery enthusiasm, and their hopes rose high, for already they had +penetrated beyond the sentinel's beat and were nearing the goal.</p> + +<p>The party off duty kept a cautious lookout from the upper east windows +for any indications of suspicion on the part of the Confederates. In +this extreme caution was necessary, both to avert the curiosity of +prisoners in those east rooms, and to keep out of the range of bullets +from the guards, who were under a standing order to fire at a head if +seen at a window, or at a hand if placed on the bars that secured them. +A sentinel's bullet one day cut a hole in the ear of Lieutenant Hammond; +another officer was wounded in the face by a bullet, which fortunately +first splintered against one of the window-bars; and a captain of an +Ohio regiment was shot through the head and instantly killed while +reading a newspaper. He was violating no rule whatever, and when shot +was from eight to ten feet inside the window through which the bullet +came. This was a wholly unprovoked and wanton murder; the cowardly +miscreant had fired the shot while he was off duty, and from the north +sidewalk of Carey street. The guards (home guards they were) used, in +fact, to gun for prisoners' heads from their posts below, pretty much +after the fashion of boys after squirrels; and the whizz of a bullet +through the windows became too common an occurrence to occasion remark +unless some one was shot.</p> + +<p>Under a standing rule, the twelve hundred prisoners were counted twice +each day, the first count being made about nine in the morning, and the +last about four in the afternoon. This duty was habitually done by the +clerk of the prison, E.W. Ross, a civilian employed by the commandant. +He was christened "Little Ross"<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> by the prisoners, because of his +diminutive size. Ross was generally attended by either "Dick" Turner, +Adjutant Latouche, or Sergeant George Stansil, of the 18th Georgia, with +a small guard to keep the prisoners in four closed ranks during the +count. The commandant of the prison, Major Thomas P. Turner (no relative +of Dick's), seldom came up-stairs.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> "Little Ross" was burned to death, with other guests, at +the Spotswood House, Richmond, in 1873.</p></div> + +<p>To conceal the absence of the five men who were daily at work at the +tunnel, their comrades of the party off digging duty resorted, under +Rose's supervision, to a device of "repeating." This scheme, which was +of vital importance to hoodwink the Confederates and avert mischievous +curiosity among the uninformed prisoners, was a hazardous business that +severely taxed the ingenuity and strained the nerve of the leader and +his coadjutors. The manner of the fraud varied with circumstances, but +in general it was worked by five of Rose's men, after being counted at +or near the head of the line, stooping down and running toward the foot +of the ranks, where a few moments later they were counted a second time, +thus making Ross's book balance. The whole five, however, could not +always do this undiscovered, and perhaps but three of the number could +repeat. These occasional mishaps threatened to dethrone the reason of +the puzzled clerk; but in the next count the "repeaters" would succeed +in their game, and for the time all went well, until one day some of the +prisoners took it into their heads, "just for the fun of the thing," to +imitate the repeaters. Unconscious of the curses that the party were +mentally hurling at them, the meddlers' sole purpose was to make "Little +Ross" mad. In this they certainly met with signal success, for the +reason of the mystified clerk seemed to totter as he repeated the count +over and over in the hope of finding out how one careful count would +show that three prisoners were missing and the next an excess of +fifteen. Finally Ross, lashed into uncontrollable fury by the sarcastic +remarks of his employers and the heartless merriment of the grinning +Yanks before him, poured forth his goaded soul as follows:</p> + +<p>"Now, gentlemen, look yere. I can count a hundred as good as any blank +man in this yere town, but I'll be blank blanked if I can count a +hundred of you blanked Yankees. Now, gentlemen, there's one thing sho: +there's eight or ten of you-uns yere that ain't yere!"</p> + +<p>This extraordinary accusation "brought down the house," and the +Confederate officers and guards, and finally Ross himself, were caught +by the resistless contagion of laughter that shook the rafters of Libby.</p> + +<p>The officials somehow found a balance that day on the books, and the +danger was for this once over, to the infinite relief of Rose and his +anxious comrades. But the Confederates appeared dissatisfied with +something, and came up-stairs next morning with more officers and with +double the usual number of guards; and some of these were now stationed +about the room so as to make it next to impossible to work the repeating +device successfully. On this day, for some reason, there were but two +men in the cellar, and these were Major B.B. McDonald and Captain I.N. +Johnson.</p> + +<p>The count began as usual, and despite the guard in rear, two of the +party attempted the repeating device by forcing their way through the +center of the ranks toward the left; but the "fun of the thing" had now +worn out with the unsuspecting meddlers, who resisted the passage of the +two men. This drew the attention of the Confederate officers, and the +repeaters were threatened with punishment. The result was inevitable: +the count showed two missing. It was carefully repeated, with the same +result. To the dismay of Rose and his little band, the prison register +was now brought up-stairs and a long, tedious roll-call by name was +endured, each man passing through a narrow door as his name was called, +and between a line of guards.</p> + +<p>No stratagem that Rose could now invent could avert the discovery by the +Confederates that McDonald and Johnson had disappeared, and the mystery +of their departure would be almost certain to cause an inquiry and +investigation that would put their plot in peril and probably reveal it.</p> + +<p>At last the "J's" were reached, and the name of I.N. Johnson was lustily +shouted and repeated, with no response. The roll-call proceeded until +the name of B.B. McDonald was reached. To the increasing amazement of +everybody but the conspirators, he also had vanished. A careful note was +taken of these two names by the Confederates, and a thousand tongues +were now busy with the names of the missing men and their singular +disappearance.</p> + +<p>The conspirators were in a tight place, and must choose between two +things. One was for the men in the cellar to return that night and face +the Confederates with the most plausible explanation of their absence +that they could invent, and the other alternative was the revolting one +of remaining in their horrible abode until the completion of the tunnel.</p> + +<p>When night came the fireplace was opened, and the unlucky pair were +informed of the situation of affairs and asked to choose between the +alternatives presented. McDonald decided to return and face the music; +but Johnson, doubtful if the Confederates would be hoodwinked by any +explanation, voted to remain where he was and wait for the finish of the +tunnel.</p> + +<p>As was anticipated, McDonald's return awakened almost as much curiosity +among the inhabitants of Libby as his disappearance, and he was soon +called to account by the Confederates. He told them he had fallen asleep +in an out-of-the-way place in the upper west room, where the guards must +have overlooked him during the roll-call of the day before. McDonald was +not further molested. The garrulous busybodies, who were Rose's chief +dread, told the Confederate officials that they had certainly slept near +Johnson the night before the day he was missed. Lieutenant J.C. Fislar +(of the working party), who also slept next to Johnson, boldly declared +this a case of mistaken identity, and confidently expressed his belief +to both Confederates and Federals who gathered around him that Johnson +had escaped, and was by this time, no doubt, safe in the Union lines. To +this he added the positive statement that Johnson had not been in his +accustomed sleeping-place for a good many nights. The busybodies, who +had indeed told the truth, looked at the speaker in speechless +amazement, but reiterated their statements. Others of the conspirators, +however, took Fislar's bold cue and stoutly corroborated him.</p> + +<p>Johnson, was, of course, nightly fed by his companions, and gave them +such assistance as he could at the work; but it soon became apparent +that a man could not long exist in such a pestilential atmosphere. No +tongue can tell how long were the days and nights the poor fellow passed +among the squealing rats,—enduring the sickening air, the deathly +chill, the horrible, interminable darkness. One day out of three was an +ordeal for the workers, who at least had a rest of two days afterward. +As a desperate measure of relief, it was arranged, with the utmost +caution, that late each night Johnson should come up-stairs, when all +was dark and the prison in slumber, and sleep among the prisoners until +just before the time for closing the fireplace opening, about four +o'clock each morning. As he spoke to no one and the room was dark, his +presence was never known, even to those who lay next to him; and indeed +he listened to many earnest conversations between his neighbors +regarding his wonderful disappearance.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> In a volume entitled "Four Months in Libby," Captain +Johnson has related his experience at this time, and his subsequent +escape.</p></div> + +<p>As a matter of course, the incidents above narrated made day-work on the +tunnel too hazardous to be indulged in, on account of the increased +difficulty of accounting for absentees; but the party continued the +night-work with unabated industry.</p> + +<p>When the opening had been extended nearly across the lot, some of the +party believed they had entered under the yard which was the intended +terminus; and one night, when McDonald was the digger, so confident was +he that the desired distance had been made, that he turned his direction +upward, and soon broke through to the surface. A glance showed him his +nearly fatal blunder, against which, indeed, he had been earnestly +warned by Rose, who from the first had carefully estimated the +intervening distance between the east wall of Libby and the terminus. In +fact, McDonald saw that he had broken through in the open lot which was +all in full view of a sentinel who was dangerously close. Appalled by +what he had done, he retreated to the cellar and reported the disaster +to his companions. Believing that discovery was now certain, the party +sent one of their number up the rope to report to Rose, who was asleep. +The hour was about midnight when the leader learned of the mischief. He +quickly got up, went down cellar, entered the tunnel, and examined the +break. It was not so near the sentinel's path as McDonald's excited +report indicated, and fortunately the breach was at a point whence the +surface sloped downward toward the east. He took off his blouse and +stuffed it into the opening, pulling the dirt over it noiselessly, and +in a few minutes there was little surface evidence of the hole. He then +backed into the cellar in the usual crab fashion, and gave directions +for the required depression of the tunnel and vigorous resumption of +the work. The hole made in the roof of the tunnel was not much larger +than a rat-hole and could not be seen from the prison. But the next +night Rose shoved an old shoe out of the hole, and the day afterward he +looked down through the prison bars and saw the shoe lying where he had +placed it, and judged from its position that he had better incline the +direction of the tunnel slightly to the left.</p> + +<p>Meantime Captain Johnson was dragging out a wretched existence in Rat +Hell, and for safety was obliged to confine himself by day to the dark +north end, for the Confederates often came into the place very suddenly +through the south entrance. When they ventured too close, Johnson would +get into a pit that he had dug under the straw as a hiding-hole both for +himself and the tunnelers' tools, and quickly cover himself with a huge +heap of short packing-straw. A score of times he came near being stepped +upon by the Confederates, and more than once the dust of the straw +compelled him to sneeze in their very presence.</p> + +<p>On Saturday, February 6, a larger party than usual of the Confederates +came into the cellar, walked by the very mouth, of the tunnel, and +seemed to be making a critical survey of the entire place. They remained +an unusually long time and conversed in low tones; several of them even +kicked the loose straw about; and in fact everything seemed to indicate +to Johnson—who was the only one of the working party now in the +cellar—that the long-averted discovery had been made. That night he +reported matters fully to Rose at the fireplace opening.</p> + +<p>The tunnel was now nearly completed, and when Rose conveyed Johnson's +message to the party it caused dismay. Even the stout-hearted Hamilton +was for once excited, and the leader whose unflinching fortitude had +thus far inspired his little band had his brave spirits dashed. But his +buoyant courage rose quickly to its high and natural level. He could not +longer doubt that the suspicions of the Confederates were aroused, but +he felt convinced that these suspicions had not as yet assumed such a +definite shape as most of his companions thought; still, he had abundant +reason to believe that the success of the tunnel absolutely demanded its +speedy completion, and he now firmly resolved that a desperate effort +should be made to that end. Remembering that the next day was Sunday, +and that it was not customary for the Confederates to visit the +operating-cellar on that day, he determined to make the most in his +power of the now precious time. He therefore caused all the party to +remain up-stairs, directing them to keep a close watch upon the +Confederates from all available points of observation, to avoid being +seen in whispering groups,—in short, to avoid all things calculated to +excite the curiosity of friends or the suspicion of enemies,—and to +await his return.</p> + +<p>Taking McDonald with him, he went down through the fireplace before +daylight on Sunday morning, and, bidding Johnson to keep a vigilant +watch for intruders and McDonald to fan air into him, he entered the +tunnel and began the forlorn hope. From this time forward he never once +turned over the chisel to a relief.</p> + +<p>All day long he worked with the tireless patience of a beaver. When +night came, even his single helper, who performed the double duty of +fanning air and hiding the excavated earth, was ill from his hard, long +task and the deadly air of the cellar. Yet this was as nothing compared +with the fatigue of the duty that Rose had performed; and when at last, +far into the night, he backed into the cellar, he had scarcely strength +enough to stagger across to the rope-ladder.</p> + +<p>He had made more than double the distance that had been accomplished +under the system of reliefs on any previous day, and the non-appearance +of the Confederates encouraged the hope that another day, without +interruption, would see the work completed. He therefore determined to +refresh himself by a night's sleep for the finish. The drooping spirits +of his party were revived by the report of his progress and his +unalterable confidence.</p> + +<p>Monday morning dawned, and the great prison with its twelve hundred +captives was again astir. The general crowd did not suspect the +suppressed excitement and anxiety of the little party that waited +through that interminable day, which they felt must determine the fate +of their project.</p> + +<p>Rose had repeated the instructions of the day before, and again +descended to Rat Hell with McDonald for his only helper. Johnson +reported all quiet, and McDonald taking up his former duties at the +tunnel's mouth, Rose once more entered with his chisel. It was now the +seventeenth day since the present tunnel was begun, and he resolved it +should be the last. Hour after hour passed, and still the busy chisel +was plied, and still the little wooden box with its freight of earth +made its monotonous trips from the digger to his comrade and back again.</p> + +<p>From the early morning of Monday, February 8, 1864, until an hour after +midnight the next morning his work went on. As midnight approached, Rose +was nearly a physical wreck: the perspiration dripped from every pore of +his exhausted body; food he could not have eaten, if he had had it. His +labors thus far had given him a somewhat exaggerated estimate of his +physical powers. The sensation of fainting was strange to him, but his +staggering senses warned him that to faint where he was meant at once +his death and burial. He could scarcely inflate his lungs with the +poisonous air of the pit; his muscles quivered with increasing weakness +and the warning spasmodic tremor which their unnatural strain induced; +his head swam like that of a drowning person.</p> + +<p>By midnight he had struck and passed beyond a post which he felt must be +in the yard. During the last few minutes he had directed his course +upward, and to relieve his cramped limbs he turned upon his back. His +strength was nearly gone; the feeble stream of air which his comrade was +trying, with all his might, to send to him from a distance of +fifty-three feet could no longer reach him through the deadly stench. +His senses reeled; he had not breath or strength enough to move backward +through his narrow grave. In the agony of suffocation he dropped the +dull chisel and beat his two fists against the roof of his grave with +the might of despair—when, blessed boon! the crust gave way and the +loosened earth showered upon his dripping face purple with agony; his +famished eye caught sight of a radiant star in the blue vault above +him; a flood of light and a volume of cool, delicious air poured over +him. At that very instant the sentinel's cry rang out like a +prophecy—"Half-past one, and all's well!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig020" name="fig020"></a> +<img src="images/fig020.png" width="100%" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">LIBERTY!</span> +</div> + +<p>Recovering quickly under the inspiring air, he dragged his body out of +the hole and made a careful survey of the yard in which he found +himself. He was under a shed, with a board fence between him and the +east-side sentinels, and the gable end of Libby loomed grimly against +the blue sky. He found the wagon-way under the south-side building +closed from the street by a gate fastened by a swinging bar, which, +after a good many efforts, he succeeded in opening. This was the only +exit to the street. As soon as the nearest sentinel's back was turned he +stepped out and walked quickly to the east. At the first corner he +turned north, carefully avoiding the sentinels in front of the +"Pemberton Buildings" (another military prison northeast of Libby), and +at the corner above this he went westward, then south to the edge of the +canal, and thus, by cautious moving, made a minute examination, of Libby +from all sides.</p> + +<p>Having satisfied his desires, he retraced his steps to the yard. He +hunted up an old bit of heavy plank crept back into the tunnel feet +first, drew the plank over the opening to conceal it from the notice of +any possible visitors to the place, and crawled back to Rat Hell. +McDonald was overjoyed, and poor Johnson almost wept with delight, as +Rose handed one of them his victorious old chisel, and gave the other +some trifle he had picked up in the outer world as a token that the +Underground Railroad to God's Country was open.</p> + +<p>Rose now climbed the rope-ladder, drew it up, rebuilt the fireplace wall +as usual, and, finding Hamilton, took him over near one of the windows +and broke the news to him. The brave fellow was almost speechless with +delight, and quickly hunting up the rest of the party, told them that +Colonel Rose wanted to see them down in the dining-room.</p> + +<p>As they had been waiting news from their absent leader with feverish +anxiety for what had seemed to them all the longest day in their lives, +they instantly responded to the call, and flocked around Rose a few +minutes later in the dark kitchen where he waited them. As yet they did +not know what news he brought, and they could scarcely wait for him to +speak out; and when he announced, "Boys, the tunnel is finished," they +could hardly repress a cheer. They wrung his hand again and again, and +danced about with childish joy.</p> + +<p>It was now nearly three o'clock in the morning. Rose and Hamilton were +ready to go out at once, and indeed were anxious to do so, since every +day of late had brought some new peril to their plans. None of the rest +however, were ready; and all urged the advantage of having a whole night +in which to escape through and beyond the Richmond fortifications, +instead of the few hours of darkness which now preceded the day. To this +proposition Rose and Hamilton somewhat reluctantly assented. It was +agreed that each man of the party should have the privilege of taking +one friend into his confidence, and that the second party of fifteen +thus formed should be obligated not to follow the working party out of +the tunnel until an hour had elapsed. Colonel H.C. Hobart, of the 21st +Wisconsin, was deputed to see that the program was observed. He was to +draw up the rope-ladder, hide it, and rebuild the wall; and the next +night was himself to lead out the second party, deputing some +trustworthy leader to follow with still another party on the third +night; and thus it was to continue until as many as possible should +escape.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday evening, February 9, at seven o'clock, Colonel Rose assembled +his party in the kitchen, and, posting himself at the fireplace, which +he opened, waited until the last man went down. He bade Colonel Hobart +good-by, went down the hole, and waited until he had heard his comrade +pull up the ladder, and finally heard him replace the bricks in the +fireplace and depart. He now crossed Rat Hell to the entrance into the +tunnel, and placed the party in the order in which they were to go out. +He gave each a parting caution, thanked his brave comrades for their +faithful labors, and, feelingly shaking their hands, bade them God-speed +and farewell.</p> + +<p>He entered the tunnel first, with Hamilton next, and was promptly +followed by the whole party through the tunnel and into the yard. He +opened the gate leading toward the canal, and signaled the party that +all was clear. Stepping out on the sidewalk as soon as the nearest +sentinel's back was turned, he walked briskly down the street to the +east, and a square below was joined by Hamilton. The others followed at +intervals of a few minutes, and disappeared in various directions in +groups usually of three.</p> + +<p>The plan agreed upon between Colonels Rose and Hobart was frustrated by +information of the party's departure leaking out; and before nine +o'clock the knowledge of the existence of the tunnel and of the +departure of the first party was flashed over the crowded prison, which +was soon a convention of excited and whispering men. Colonel Hobart made +a brave effort to restore order, but the frenzied crowd that now +fiercely struggled for precedence at the fireplace was beyond human +control.</p> + +<p>Some of them had opened the fireplace and were jumping down like sheep +into the cellar one after another. The colonel implored the maddened men +at least to be quiet, and put the rope-ladder in position and escaped +himself.</p> + +<p>My companion, Sprague, was already asleep when I lay down that night; +but my other companion, Duenkel, who had been hunting for me, was very +much awake, and, seizing me by the collar, he whispered excitedly the +fact that Colonel Rose had gone out at the head of a party through a +tunnel. For a brief moment the appalling suspicion, that my friend's +reason had been dethroned by illness and captivity swept over my mind; +but a glance toward the window at the east end showed a quiet but +apparently excited group of men from other rooms, and I now observed +that several of them were bundled up for a march. The hope of regaining +liberty thrilled me like a current of electricity. Looking through the +window, I could see the escaping men appear one by one on the sidewalk +below, opposite the exit yard, and silently disappear, without hindrance +or challenge by the prison sentinels. While I was eagerly surveying this +scene, I lost track of Duenkel, who had gone in search of further +information, but ran against Lieutenant Harry Wilcox, of the 1st New +York, whom I knew, and who appeared to have the "tip" regarding the +tunnel. Wilcox and I agreed to unite our fortunes in the escape. My +shoes were nearly worn out, and my clothes were thin and ragged. I was +ill prepared for a journey in midwinter through the enemy's country: +happily I had my old overcoat, and this I put on. I had not a crumb of +food saved up, as did those who were posted; but as I was ill at the +time, my appetite was feeble.</p> + +<p>Wilcox and I hurried to the kitchen, where we found several hundred men +struggling to be first at the opening in the fireplace. We took our +places behind them, and soon two hundred more closed us tightly in the +mass. The room was pitch-dark, and the sentinel could be seen through +the door-cracks, within a dozen feet of us. The fight for precedence was +savage, though no one spoke; but now and then fainting men begged to be +released. They begged in vain: certainly some of them must have been +permanently injured. For my own part, when I neared the stove I was +nearly suffocated; but I took heart when I saw but three more men +between me and the hole. At this moment a sound as of tramping feet was +heard, and some idiot on the outer edge of the mob startled us with the +cry, "The guards the guards!" A fearful panic ensued, and the entire +crowd bounded toward the stairway leading up to their sleeping-quarters. +The stairway was unbanistered, and some of the men were forced off the +edge and fell on those beneath. I was among the lightest in that crowd; +and when it broke and expanded I was taken off my feet, dashed to the +floor senseless, my head and one of my hands bruised and cut, and my +shoulder painfully injured by the boots of the men who rushed over me. +When I gathered my swimming wits I was lying in a pool of water. The +room seemed darker than before; and, to my grateful surprise, I was +alone. I was now convinced that it was a false alarm, and quickly +resolved to avail myself of the advantage of having the whole place to +myself. I entered the cavity feet first, but found it necessary to +remove my overcoat and push it through the opening, and it fell in the +darkness below.</p> + +<p>I had now no comrade, having lost Wilcox in the stampede. Rose and his +party, being the first out, were several hours on their journey; and I +burned to be away, knowing well that my salvation depended on my passage +beyond the city defenses before the pursuing guards were on our trail, +when the inevitable discovery should come at roll-call. The fact that I +was alone I regretted; but I had served with McClellan in the Peninsula +campaign of 1862, I knew the country well from my frequent inspection of +war maps, and the friendly north star gave me my bearings. The +rope-ladder had either become broken or disarranged, but it afforded me +a short hold at the top; so I balanced myself, trusted to fortune, and +fell into Rat Hell, which was a rayless pit of darkness, swarming with +squealing rats, several of which I must have killed in my fall. I felt a +troop of them, run over my face and hands before I could regain my feet. +Several times I put my hand on them, and once I flung one from my +shoulder. Groping around, I found a stout stick or stave, put my back to +the wall, and beat about me blindly but with vigor.</p> + +<p>In spite of the hurried instructions given me by Wilcox, I had a long +and horrible hunt over the cold surface of the cellar walls in my +efforts to find the entrance to the tunnel; and in two minutes after I +began feeling my way with my hands I had no idea in what part of the +place was the point where I had fallen: my bearings were completely +lost, and I must have made the circuit of Rat Hell several times. At my +entrance the rats seemed to receive me with cheers sufficiently hearty, +I thought; but my vain efforts to find egress seemed to kindle anew +their enthusiasm. They had received large reinforcements, and my march +around was now received with deafening squeaks. Finally, my exploring +hands fell upon a pair of heels which vanished at my touch. Here at last +was the narrow road to freedom! The heels proved to be the property of +Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan, 21st Wisconsin, a Chickamauga prisoner. +Just ahead of him in the tunnel was Lieutenant William L. Watson of the +same company and regiment. With my cut hand and bruised shoulder, the +passage through the cold, narrow grave was indescribably horrible, and +when I reached the terminus in the yard I was sick and faint. The +passage seemed to me to be a mile long; but the crisp, pure air and the +first glimpse of freedom, the sweet sense of being out of doors, and the +realization that I had taken the first step toward liberty and home, +had a magical effect in my restoration.</p> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 50%"> +<a id="fig021" name="fig021"></a> +<img src="images/fig021.png" width="100%" alt="" /> +<span class="caption">FIGHTING THE RATS.</span> +</div> + +<p>I have related before, in a published reminiscence,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> my experience +and that of my two companions above named in the journey toward the +Union lines, and our recapture; but the more important matter relating +to the plot itself has never been published. This is the leading motive +of this article, and therefore I will not intrude the details of my +personal experience into the narrative. It is enough to say that it was +a chapter of hairbreadth escapes, hunger, cold, suffering, and, alas! +failure. We were run down and captured in a swamp several miles north of +Charlottesville, and when we were taken our captors pointed out to us +the smoke over a Federal outpost. We were brought back to Libby, and put +in one of the dark, narrow dungeons. I was afterward confined in Macon, +Georgia; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; and in Charlotte, +North Carolina. After a captivity of just a year and eight months, +during which I had made five escapes and was each time retaken, I was at +last released on March 1, 1865, at Wilmington, North Carolina.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "Philadelphia Times," October 28, 1882.</p></div> + +<p>Great was the panic in Libby when the next morning's roll revealed to +the astounded Confederates that 109 of their captives were missing; and +as the fireplace had been rebuilt by some one and the opening of the +hole in the yard had been covered by the last man who went out, no human +trace guided the keepers toward a solution of the mystery. The Richmond +papers having announced the "miraculous" escape of 109 Yankee officers +from Libby, curious crowds flocked thither for several days, until some +one, happening to remove the plank in the yard, revealed the tunnel. A +terrified negro was driven into the hole at the point of the bayonet, +and thus made a trip to Rat Hell that nearly turned him white.</p> + +<p>Several circumstances at this time combined to make this escape +peculiarly exasperating to the Confederates. In obedience to repeated +appeals from the Richmond newspapers, iron bars had but recently been +fixed in all the prison windows for better security, and the guard had +been considerably reinforced. The columns of these same journals had +just been aglow with accounts of the daring and successful escape of the +Confederate General John Morgan and his companions from the Columbus +(Ohio) jail. Morgan had arrived in Richmond on the 8th of January, +exactly a month prior to the completion of the tunnel, and was still the +lion of the Confederate capital.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig022" name="fig022"></a> +<a href="images/fig022.png"><img src="images/fig022_th.png" alt="libby" /></a> +<span class="caption">SECTION OF THE INTERIOR OF LIBBY PRISON AND TUNNEL.</span> + +<p>1. Streight's room; 2. Milroy's room; 3. Commandant's office; 4. +Chickamauga room (upper); 5. Chickamauga room (lower); 6. Dining-room; +7. Carpenter's shop (middle cellar); 8. Gettysburg room (upper); 9. +Gettysburg room (lower); 10. Hospital room; 11. East or "Rat Hell" +cellar; 12. South side Canal street, ten feet lower than Carey street; +13. North side Carey street, ground sloping toward Canal; 14. Open lot; +15. Tunnel; 16. Fence; 17. Shed; 18. Kerr's warehouse; 19. Office James +River Towing Co.; 20. Gate; 21. Prisoners escaping; 22. West cellar.</p> +</div> + +<p>At daylight a plank was seen suspended on the outside of the east wall; +this was fastened by a blanket-rope to one of the window-bars, and was, +of course, a trick to mislead the Confederates. General John H. Winder, +then in charge of all the prisoners in the Confederacy, with his +headquarters in Richmond, was furious when the news reached him. After a +careful external examination of the building, and a talk, not of the +politest kind, with Major Turner, he reached the conclusion that such an +escape had but one explanation—the guards had been bribed. Accordingly +the sentinels on duty were marched off under arrest to Castle Thunder, +where they were locked up and searched for "greenbacks." The thousand +and more prisoners still in Libby were compensated, in a measure, for +their failure to escape by the panic they saw among the "Rebs." +Messengers and despatches were soon flying in all directions, and all +the horse, foot, and dragoons of Richmond were in pursuit of the +fugitives before noon. Only one man of the whole escaping party was +retaken inside of the city limits.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Of the 109 who got out that +night, 59 reached the Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 were +drowned.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Captain Gates, of the 33d Ohio.</p></div> + +<p>Colonel Streight and several other officers who had been chosen by the +diggers of the tunnel to follow them out, in accordance with the +agreement already referred to, lay concealed for a week in a vacant +house, where they were fed by loyal friends, and escaped to the Federal +lines when the first excitement had abated.</p> + +<p>After leaving Libby, Rose and Hamilton turned northward and cautiously +walked on a few squares, when suddenly they encountered some +Confederates who were guarding a military hospital. Hamilton retreated +quickly and ran off to the east; but Rose, who was a little in advance, +walked boldly by on the opposite walk, and was not challenged; and thus +the two friends separated.</p> + +<p>Hamilton, after several days of wandering and fearful exposure, came +joyfully upon a Union picket squad, received the care he painfully +needed, and was soon on his happy journey home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%"> +<a id="fig023" name="fig023"></a> +<img src="images/fig023.png" width="100%" alt="libby" /> +<span class="caption">GROUND-PLAN OF LIBBY PRISON AND SURROUNDINGS.</span> + +<p>A. Break in fireplace on floor above; B. End of tunnel; CCC. Course of +party escaping; D. Shed; E. Cook-room (abandoned Oct., '63); F. +Lumber-room; G. Office of James River Towing Company; HH. Gates; III. +Doors; J. Cells for condemned prisoners; K. First tunnel (abandoned); L. +Fence.</p> +</div> + +<p>Rose passed out of the city of Richmond to the York River Railroad, and +followed its track to the Chickahominy bridge. Finding this guarded, he +turned to the right, and as the day was breaking he came upon a camp of +Confederate cavalry. His blue uniform made it exceedingly dangerous to +travel in daylight in this region; and seeing a large sycamore log that +was hollow, he crawled into it. The February air was keen and biting, +but he kept his cramped position until late in the afternoon; and all +day he could hear the loud talk in the camp and the neighing of the +horses. Toward night he came cautiously forth, and finding the +Chickahominy fordable within a few hundred yards, he succeeded in wading +across. The uneven bed of the river, however, led him into several deep +holes, and before he reached the shore his scanty raiment was thoroughly +soaked. He trudged on through the woods as fast as his stiffened limbs +would bear him, borne up by the hope of early deliverance, and made a +brave effort to shake off the horrible ague. He had not gone far, +however, when he found himself again close to some Confederate cavalry, +and was compelled once more to seek a hiding-place. The day seemed of +interminable length, and he tried vainly in sleep to escape from hunger +and cold. His teeth chattered in his head, and when he rose at dark to +continue his journey his tattered clothes were frozen stiff. In this +plight he pushed on resolutely, and was obliged to wade to his waist for +hundreds of yards through one of those deep and treacherous morasses +that proved such deadly fever-pools for McClellan's army in the campaign +of 1862. Finally he reached the high ground, and as the severe exertion +had set his blood again in motion and loosened his limbs, he was making +better progress, when suddenly he found himself near a Confederate +picket. This picket he easily avoided, and, keeping well in the shadow +of the forest and shunning the roads, he pressed forward with increasing +hopes of success. He had secured a box of matches before leaving Libby; +and as the cold night came on and he felt that he was really in danger +of freezing to death, he penetrated into the center of the cedar grove +and built a fire in a small and secluded hollow. He felt that this was +hazardous, but the necessity was desperate, since with his stiffened +limbs he could no longer move along fast enough to keep the warmth of +life in his body. To add to his trouble, his foot, which had been broken +in Tennessee previous to his capture, was now giving him great pain, and +threatened to cripple him wholly; indeed, it would stiffen and disable +the best of limbs to compass the journey he had made in darkness over +strange, uneven, and hard-frozen ground, and through rivers, creeks, and +bogs, and this without food or warmth.</p> + +<p>The fire was so welcome that he slept soundly—so soundly that waking in +the early morning he found his boot-legs and half his uniform burned up, +the ice on the rest of it probably having prevented its total +destruction.</p> + +<p>Resuming his journey much refreshed, he reached Crump's Cross-roads, +where he successfully avoided another picket. He traveled all day, +taking occasional short rests, and before dark had reached New Kent +Court-house. Here again he saw some pickets, but by cautious flanking +managed to pass them; but in crossing an open space a little farther on +he was seen by a cavalryman, who at once put spurs to his horse and rode +up to Rose, and, saluting him, inquired if he belonged to the New Kent +Cavalry. Rose had on a gray cap, and seeing that he had a stupid sort of +fellow to deal with, instantly answered, "Yes," whereupon the trooper +turned his horse and rode back. A very few moments were enough to show +Rose that the cavalryman's report had failed to satisfy his comrades, +whom he could see making movements for his capture. He plunged through a +laurel thicket, and had no sooner emerged than he saw the Confederates +deploying around it in confidence that their game was bagged. He dashed +on as fast as his injured foot would let him, and entered a tract of +heavily timbered land that rose to the east of this thicket. At the +border of the grove he found another picket post, and barely escaped the +notice of several of the men. The only chance of escape lay through a +wide, clear field before him, and even this was in full view from the +grove that bordered it, and this he knew would soon swarm with his +pursuers.</p> + +<p>Across the center of this open field, which was fully half a mile wide, +a ditch ran, which, although but a shallow gully, afforded a partial +concealment. Rose, who could now hear the voices of the Confederates +nearer and nearer, dove into the ditch as the only chance, and dropping +on his hands and knees crept swiftly forward to the eastward. In this +cramped position his progress was extremely painful, and his hands were +torn by the briers and stones; but forward he dashed, fully expecting a +shower of bullets every minute. At last he reached the other end of the +half-mile ditch, breathless and half dead, but without having once +raised his head above the gully.</p> + +<p>Emerging from this field, he found himself in the Williamsburg road, and +bordering the opposite side was an extensive tract thickly covered with +pines. As he crossed and entered this tract he looked back and could see +his enemies, whose movements showed that they were greatly puzzled and +off the scent. When at a safe distance he sought a hiding-place and took +a needed rest of several hours.</p> + +<p>He then resumed his journey, and followed the direction of the +Williamsburg road, which he found picketed at various points, so that it +was necessary to avoid open spaces. Several times during the day he saw +squads of Confederate cavalry passing along the road so near that he +could hear their talk. Near nightfall he reached Diasen Bridge, where he +successfully passed another picket. He kept on until nearly midnight, +when he lay down by a great tree and, cold as he was, slept soundly +until daylight. He now made a careful reconnoissance, and found near the +road the ruins of an old building which, he afterward learned, was +called "Burnt Ordinary."</p> + +<p>He now found himself almost unable to walk with his injured foot, but, +nerved by the yet bright hope of liberty, he once more went his weary +way in the direction of Williamsburg. Finally he came to a place where +there were some smoking fagots and a number of tracks, indicating it to +have been a picket post of the previous night. He was now nearing +Williamsburg, which, he was inclined to believe from such meager +information as had reached Libby before his departure, was in possession +of the Union forces. Still, he knew that this was territory that was +frequently changing hands, and was therefore likely to be under a close +watch. From this on he avoided the roads wholly, and kept under cover as +much as it was possible; and if compelled to cross an open field at all, +he did so in a stooping position. He was now moving in a southeasterly +direction, and coming again to the margin of a wide opening, he saw, to +his unutterable joy, a body of Union troops advancing along the road +toward him.</p> + +<p>Thoroughly worn out, Rose, believing that his deliverers were at hand, +sat down to await their approach. His pleasant reverie was disturbed by +a sound behind and near him, and turning quickly he was startled to see +three soldiers in the road along which the troops first seen were +advancing. The fact that these men had not been noticed before gave Rose +some uneasiness for a moment; but as they wore blue uniforms, and +moreover seemed to take no note of the approaching Federal troops, all +things seemed to indicate that they were simply an advanced detail of +the same body. This seemed to be further confirmed by the fact that the +trio were now moving down the road, apparently with the intent of +joining the larger body; and as the ground to the east rose to a crest, +both of the bodies were a minute later shut off from Rose's view.</p> + +<p>In the full confidence that all was right he rose to his feet and walked +toward the crest to get a better view of everything and greet his +comrades of the loyal blue. A walk of a hundred yards brought him again +in sight of the three men, who now noticed and challenged him.</p> + +<p>In spite of appearances a vague suspicion forced itself upon Rose, who, +however, obeyed the summons and continued to approach the party, who now +watched him with fixed attention. As he came closer to the group, the +brave but unfortunate soldier saw that he was lost.</p> + +<p>For the first time the three seemed to be made aware of the approach of +the Federals, and to show consequent alarm and haste. The unhappy Rose +saw before the men spoke that their blue uniform was a disguise, and the +discovery brought a savage expression to his lips. He hoped and tried to +convince his captors that he was a Confederate, but all in vain; they +retained him as their prisoner, and now told him that they were +Confederates. Rose, in the first bitter moment of his misfortune, +thought seriously of breaking away to his friends so temptingly near; +but his poor broken foot and the slender chance of escaping three +bullets at a few yards made this suicide, and he decided to wait for a +better chance, and this came sooner than he expected.</p> + +<p>One of the men appeared to be an officer, who detailed one of his +companions to conduct Rose to the rear in the direction of Richmond. The +prisoner went quietly with his guard, the other two men tarried a little +to watch the advancing Federals, and now Rose began to limp like a man +who was unable to go farther. Presently the ridge shut them off from the +view of the others. Rose, who had slyly been staggering closer and +closer to the guard, suddenly sprang upon the man, and before he had +time to wink had twisted his gun from his grasp, discharged it into the +air, flung it down, and ran off as fast as his poor foot would let him +toward the east and so as to avoid the rest of the Confederates. The +disarmed Confederate made no attempt at pursuit, nor indeed did the +other two, who were now seen retreating at a run across the adjacent +fields.</p> + +<p>Rose's heart bounded with new hope, for he felt that he would be with +his advancing comrades in a few minutes at most. All at once a squad of +Confederates, hitherto unseen, rose up in his very path, and beat him +down with the butts of their muskets. All hands now rushed around and +secured him, and one of the men called out excitedly, "Hurry up, boys; +the Yankees are right here!" They rushed their prisoner into the wooded +ravine, and here they were joined by the man whom Rose had just +disarmed. He was in a savage mood, and declared it to be his particular +desire to fill Rose full of Confederate lead. The officer in charge +rebuked the man, however, and compelled him to cool down, and he went +along with an injured air that excited the merriment of his comrades.</p> + +<p>The party continued its retreat to Barhamsville, thence to the White +House on the Pamunkey River, and finally to Richmond, where Rose was +again restored to Libby, and, like the writer, was confined for a number +of days in a narrow and loathsome cell. On the 30th of April his +exchange was effected for a Confederate colonel, and on the 6th of July, +1864, he rejoined his regiment, in which he served with conspicuous +gallantry to the close of the war.</p> + +<p>As already stated, Hamilton reached the Union lines safely after many +vicissitudes, and did brave service in the closing scenes of the +rebellion. He is now a resident of Reedyville, Kentucky. Johnson, whose +enforced confinement in Rat Hell gave him a unique fame in Libby, also +made good his escape, and now lives at North Pleasantville, Kentucky.</p> + +<p>Of the fifteen men who dug the successful tunnel, four are dead, viz.: +Fitzsimmons, Gallagher, Garbett, and McDonald. Captain W.S.B. Randall +lives at Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio; Colonel Terrance Clark at +Paris, Edgar County, Illinois; Captain Eli Foster at Chicago; Colonel +N.S. McKean at Collinsville, Madison County, Illinois; and Captain J.C. +Fislar at Lewiston, I.T. The addresses of Captains Lucas, Simpson, and +Mitchell are unknown at this writing.</p> + +<p>Colonel Rose has served faithfully almost since the end of the war with +the 16th United States Infantry, in which he holds a captain's +commission. No one meeting him now would hear from his reticent lips, or +read in his placid face, the thrilling story that links his name in so +remarkable a manner with the history of the famous Bastile of the +Confederacy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="A_HARD_ROAD_TO_TRAVEL_OUT_OF_DIXIE" id="A_HARD_ROAD_TO_TRAVEL_OUT_OF_DIXIE"></a>A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL OUT OF DIXIE</h3> + +<h4>BY W.H. SHELTON</h4> + + +<p>It was past noon of the first day of the bloody contest in the +Wilderness. The guns of the Fifth Corps, led by Battery D of the 1st New +York Artillery, were halted along the Orange turnpike, by which we had +made the fruitless campaign to Mine Run. The continuous roar of musketry +in front and to the left indicated that the infantry was desperately +engaged, while the great guns filling every wooded road leading up to +the battle-field were silent. Our drivers were lounging about the +horses, while the cannoneers lay on the green grass by the roadside or +walked by the pieces. Down the line came an order for the center +section, under my command, to advance and pass the right section, which +lay in front of us. General Warren, surrounded by his staff, sat on a +gray horse at the right of the road where the woods bordered an open +field dipping between two wooded ridges. The position we were leaving +was admirable, while the one to which we were ordered, on the opposite +side of the narrow field, was wholly impracticable. The captain had +received his orders in person from General Warren, and joined my command +as we passed.</p> + +<p>We dashed down the road at a trot, the cannoneers running beside their +pieces. At the center of the field we crossed by a wooden bridge over a +deep, dry ditch, and came rapidly into position at the side of the +turnpike and facing the thicket. As the cannoneers were not all up, the +captain and I dismounted and lent a hand in swinging round the heavy +trails. The air was full of Minié balls, some whistling by like mad +hornets, and others, partly spent, humming like big nails. One of the +latter struck my knee with force enough to wound the bone without +penetrating the grained-leather boot-leg. In front of us the ground rose +into the timber where our infantry was engaged. It was madness to +continue firing here, for my shot must first plow through our own lines +before reaching the enemy. So after one discharge the captain ordered +the limbers to the rear, and the section started back at a gallop. My +horse was cut on the flanks, and his plunging, with my disabled knee, +delayed me in mounting, and prevented my seeing why the carriages kept +to the grass instead of getting upon the roadway. When I overtook the +guns they had come to a forced halt at the dry ditch, now full of +skulkers, an angle of which cut the way to the bridge. Brief as the +interval had been, not a man of my command was in sight. The lead horse +of the gun team at my side had been shot and was reeling in the harness. +Slipping to the ground, I untoggled one trace at the collar to release +him, and had placed my hand on the other when I heard the demand +"Surrender!" and turning found in my face two big pistols in the hands +of an Alabama colonel. "Give me that sword," said he. I pressed the +clasp and let it fall to the ground, where it remained. The colonel had +taken me by the right arm, and as we turned toward the road I took in +the whole situation at a glance. My chestnut horse and the captain's +bald-faced brown were dashing frantically against the long, swaying gun +teams. By the bridge stood a company of the 61st Alabama Infantry in +butternut suits and slouch-hats, shooting straggling and wounded Zouaves +from a Pennsylvania brigade as they appeared in groups of two or three +on the road in front. The colonel as he handed me over to his men +ordered his troops to take what prisoners they could and to cease +firing. The guns which we were forced to abandon were a bone of +contention until they were secured by the enemy on the third day, at +which time but one of the twenty-four team horses was living.</p> + +<p>With a few other prisoners I was led by a short detour through the +woods. In ten minutes we had turned the flank of both armies and reached +the same turnpike in the rear of our enemy. A line of ambulances was +moving back on the road, all filled with wounded, and when we saw a +vacant seat beside a driver I was hoisted up to the place. The boy +driver was in a high state of excitement. He said that two shells had +come flying down this same road, and showed where the trace of the near +mule had been cut by a piece of shell, for which I was directly +responsible.</p> + +<p>The field hospital of General Jubal Early's corps was near Locust Grove +Tavern, where the wounded Yankees were in charge of Surgeon Donnelly of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. No guard was established, as no one was +supposed to be in condition to run away. At the end of a week, however, +my leg had greatly improved, although I was still unable to use it. In +our party was another lieutenant, an aide on the staff of General James +C. Rice, whose horse had been shot under him while riding at full speed +with despatches. Lieutenant Hadley had returned to consciousness to find +himself a prisoner in hospital, somewhat bruised, and robbed of his +valuables, but not otherwise disabled. We two concluded to start for +Washington by way of Kelly's Ford. I traded my penknife for a haversack +of corn-bread with one of the Confederate nurses, and a wounded officer, +Colonel Miller of a New York regiment, gave us a pocket compass. I +provided myself with a stout pole, which I used with both hands in lieu +of my left foot. At 9 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we set out, passing during the night +the narrow field and the dry ditch where I had left my guns. Only a pile +of dead horses marked the spot.</p> + +<p>On a grassy bank we captured a firefly and shut him in between the glass +and the face of our pocket compass. With such a guide we shaped our +course for the Rapidan. After traveling nearly all night we lay down +exhausted upon a bluff within sound of the river, and slept until +sunrise. Hastening to our feet again, we hurried down to the ford. Just +before reaching the river we heard shouts behind us, and saw a man +beckoning and running after us. Believing the man an enemy, we dashed +into the shallow water, and after crossing safely hobbled away up the +other side as fast as a man with one leg and a pole could travel. I +afterward met this man, himself a prisoner, at Macon, Georgia. He was +the officer of our pickets, and would have conducted us into our lines +if we had permitted him to come up with us. As it was, we found a snug +hiding-place in a thicket of swamp growth, where we lay in concealment +all day. After struggling on a few miles in a chilling rain, my leg +became so painful that it was impossible to go farther. A house was near +by and we threw ourselves on the mercy of the family. Good Mrs. Brandon +had harbored the pickets of both armies again and again, and had +luxuriated in real coffee and tea and priceless salt at the hands of our +officers. She bore the Yankees only good-will, and after dressing my +wound we sat down to breakfast with herself and daughters.</p> + +<p>After breakfast we were conducted to the second half-story, which was +one unfinished room. There was a bed in one corner, where we were to +sleep. Beyond the stairs was a pile of yellow ears of corn, and from the +rafters and sills hung a variety of dried herbs and medicinal roots. +Here our meals were served, and the girls brought us books and read +aloud to pass away the long days. I was confined to the bed, and my +companion never ventured below stairs except on one dark night, when at +my earnest entreaty he set out for Kelly's Ford, but soon returned +unable to make his way in the darkness. One day we heard the door open +at the foot of the stairs, a tread of heavy boots on the steps, and a +clank, clank that sounded very much like a saber. Out of the floor rose +a gray slouch-hat with the yellow cord and tassel of a cavalryman, and +in another moment there stood on the landing one of the most astonished +troopers that ever was seen. "Coot" Brandon was one of "Jeb" Stuart's +rangers, and came every day for corn for his horse. Heretofore the corn +had been brought down for him, and he was as ignorant of our presence +as we were of his existence. On this day no pretext could keep him from +coming up to help himself. His mother worked on his sympathies, and he +departed promising her that he would leave us undisturbed. But the very +next morning he turned up again, this time accompanied by another ranger +of sterner mold. A parole was exacted from my able-bodied companion, and +we were left for another twenty-four hours, when I was considered in +condition to be moved. Mrs. Brandon gave us each a new blue overcoat +from a plentiful store of Uncle Sam's clothing she had on hand, and I +opened my heart and gave her my last twenty-dollar greenback—and wished +I had it back again every day for the next ten months.</p> + +<p>I was mounted on a horse, and with Lieutenant Hadley on foot we were +marched under guard all day until we arrived at a field hospital +established in the rear of Longstreet's corps, my companion being sent +on to some prison for officers. Thence I was forwarded with a train-load +of wounded to Lynchburg, on which General Hunter was then marching, and +we had good reason to hope for a speedy deliverance. On more than one +day we heard his guns to the north, where there was no force but a few +citizens with bird-guns to oppose the entrance of his command. The +slaves were employed on a line of breastworks which there was no +adequate force to hold. It was our opinion that one well-disciplined +regiment could have captured and held the town. It was several days +before a portion of General Breckinridge's command arrived for the +defense of Lynchburg.</p> + +<p>I had clung to my clean bed in the hospital just as long as my rapidly +healing wound would permit, but was soon transferred to a prison where +at night the sleepers—Yankees, Confederate deserters, and negroes—were +so crowded upon the floor that some lay under the feet of the guards in +the doorways. The atmosphere was dreadful. I fell ill, and for three +days lay with my head in the fireplace, more dead than alive.</p> + +<p>A few days thereafter about three hundred prisoners were crowded into +cattle-cars bound for Andersonville. We must have been a week on this +railroad journey when an Irish lieutenant of a Rochester regiment and I, +who had been allowed to ride in the baggage-car, were taken from the +train at Macon, Georgia, where about sixteen hundred Union officers were +confined at the fair-grounds. General Alexander Shaler, of Sedgwick's +corps, also captured at the Wilderness, was the ranking officer, and to +him was accorded a sort of interior command of the camp. Before passing +through the gate we expected to see a crowd bearing some outward +semblance of respectability. Instead, we were instantly surrounded by +several hundred ragged, barefooted, frowzy-headed men shouting "Fresh +fish!" at the top of their voices and eagerly asking for news. With rare +exceptions all were shabbily dressed. There was, however, a little knot +of naval officers who had been captured in the windings of the narrow +Rappahannock by a force of cavalry, and who were the aristocrats of the +camp. They were housed in a substantial fair-building in the center of +the grounds, and by some special terms of surrender must have brought +their complete wardrobes along. On hot days they appeared in spotless +white duck, which they were permitted to send outside to be laundered. +Their mess was abundantly supplied with the fruits and vegetables of the +season. The ripe red tomatoes they were daily seen to peel were the envy +of the camp. I well remember that to me, at this time, a favorite +occupation was to lie on my back with closed eyes and imagine the dinner +I would order if I were in a first-class hotel. It was no unusual thing +to see a dignified colonel washing his lower clothes in a pail, clad +only in his uniform dresscoat. Ladies sometimes appeared on the +guard-walk outside the top of the stockade, on which occasions the +cleanest and best-dressed men turned out to see and be seen. I was quite +proud to appear in a clean gray shirt, spotless white drawers, and +moccasins made of blue overcoat cloth.</p> + +<p>On the Fourth of July, after the regular morning count, we repaired to +the big central building and held an informal celebration. One officer +had brought into captivity, concealed on his person, a little silk +national flag, which was carried up into the cross-beams of the +building, and the sight of it created the wildest enthusiasm. We cheered +the flag and applauded the patriotic speeches until a detachment of the +guard succeeded in putting a stop to our proceedings. They tried to +capture the flag, but in this they were not successful. We were informed +that cannon were planted commanding the camp, and would be opened on us +if we renewed our demonstrations.</p> + +<p>Soon after this episode the fall of Atlanta and the subsequent movements +of General Sherman led to the breaking up of the camp at Macon, and to +the transfer of half of us to a camp at Charleston, and half to +Savannah. Late in September, by another transfer, we found ourselves +together again at Columbia. We had no form of shelter, and there was no +stockade around the camp, only a guard and a dead-line. During two hours +of each morning an extra line of guards was stationed around an +adjoining piece of pine woods, into which we were allowed to go and cut +wood and timber to construct for ourselves huts for the approaching +winter. Our ration at this time consisted of raw corn-meal and sorghum +molasses, without salt or any provision of utensils for cooking. The +camp took its name from our principal article of diet, and was by common +consent known as "Camp Sorghum." A stream of clear water was accessible +during the day by an extension of the guards, but at night the lines +were so contracted as to leave the path leading to the water outside the +guard. Lieutenant S.H.M. Byers, who had already written the well-known +lyric "Sherman's March to the Sea," was sharing my tent, which consisted +of a ragged blanket. We had been in the new camp but little more than a +week when we determined to make an attempt at escape. Preparatory to +starting we concealed two tin cups and two blankets in the pine woods to +which we had access during the chopping hours, and here was to be our +rendezvous in case we were separated in getting out. Covering my +shoulders with an old gray blanket and providing myself with a stick, +about the size of a gun, from the woodpile, I tried to smuggle myself +into the relief guard when the line was contracted at six o'clock. +Unfortunately an unexpected halt was called, and the soldier in front +turned and discovered me. I was now more than ever determined on getting +away. After a hurried conference with Lieutenant Byers, at which I +promised to wait at our rendezvous in the woods until I heard the +posting of the ten-o'clock relief, I proceeded alone up the side of the +camp to a point where a group of low cedars grew close to the dead-line. +Concealing myself in their dark shadow, I could observe at my leisure +the movements of the sentinels. A full moon was just rising above the +horizon to my left, and in the soft, misty light the guards were plainly +visible for a long distance either way. An open field from which the +small growth had been recently cut away lay beyond, and between the camp +and the guard-line ran a broad road of soft sand—noiseless to cross, +but so white in the moonlight that a leaf blown across it by the wind +could scarcely escape a vigilant eye. The guards were bundled in their +overcoats, and I soon observed that the two who met opposite to my place +of concealment turned and walked their short beats without looking back. +Waiting until they separated again, and regardless of the fact that I +might with equal likelihood be seen by a dozen sentinels in either +direction, I ran quickly across the soft sand road several yards into +the open field, and threw myself down upon the uneven ground. First I +dragged my body on my elbows for a few yards, then I crept on my knees, +and so gradually gained in distance until I could rise to a standing +position and get safely to the shelter of the trees. With some +difficulty I found the cups and blankets we had concealed, and lay down +to await the arrival of my companion. Soon I heard several shots which +I understood too well; and, as I afterward learned, two officers were +shot dead for attempting the feat I had accomplished, and perhaps in +emulation of my success. A third young officer, whom I knew, was also +killed in camp by one of the shots fired at the others.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock I set out alone and made my way across the fields to the +bank of the Saluda, where a covered bridge crossed to Columbia. Hiding +when it was light, wandering through fields and swamps by night, and +venturing at last to seek food of negroes, I proceeded for thirteen days +toward the sea.</p> + +<p>In general I had followed the Columbia turnpike; at a quaint little +chapel on the shore of Goose Creek, but a few miles out of Charleston, I +turned to the north and bent my course for the coast above the city. +About this time I learned that I should find no boats along the shore +between Charleston and the mouth of the Santee, everything able to float +having been destroyed to prevent the escape of the negroes and the +desertion of the soldiers. I was ferried over the Broad River by a +crusty old darky who came paddling across in response to my cries of +"O-v-e-r," and who seemed so put out because I had no fare for him that +I gave him my case-knife. The next evening I had the only taste of meat +of this thirteen days' journey, which I got from an old negro whom I +found alone in his cabin eating possum and rice.</p> + +<p>I had never seen the open sea-coast beaten by the surf, and after being +satisfied that I had no hope of escape in that direction it was in part +my curiosity that led me on, and partly a vague idea that I would get +Confederate transportation back to Columbia and take a fresh start +westward bound. The tide was out, and in a little cove I found an +abundance of oysters bedded in the mud, some of which I cracked with +stones and ate. After satisfying my hunger, and finding the sea rather +unexpectedly tame inside the line of islands which marked the eastern +horizon, I bent my steps toward a fire, where I found a detachment of +Confederate coastguards, to whom I offered myself as a guest as coolly +as if my whole toilsome journey had been prosecuted to that end.</p> + +<p>In the morning I was marched a few miles to Mount Pleasant, near Fort +Moultrie, and taken thence in a sail-boat across the harbor to +Charleston. At night I found myself again in the city jail, where with a +large party of officers I had spent most of the month of August. My +cell-mate was Lieutenant H.G. Dorr of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, +with whom I journeyed by rail back to Columbia, arriving at "Camp +Sorghum" about the 1st of November.</p> + +<p>I rejoined the mess of Lieutenant Byers, and introduced to the others +Lieutenant Dorr, whose cool assurance was a prize that procured us all +the blessings possible. He could borrow frying-pans from the guards, +money from his brother Masons at headquarters, and I believe if we had +asked him to secure us a gun he would have charmed it out of the hand of +a sentinel on duty.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 270px"> +<a id="fig024" name="fig024"></a> +<a href="images/fig024.png"><img src="images/fig024_th.png" alt="officer" /></a> +<span class="caption">LIEUTENANTS E.E. SILL AND A.T. LAMSON.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lieutenant Edward E. Sill, of General Daniel Butterfield's staff, whom I +had met at Macon, during my absence had come to "Sorghum" from a +fruitless trip to Macon for exchange, and I had promised to join him +in an attempt to escape when he could secure a pair of shoes. On +November 29 our mess had felled a big pine-tree and had rolled into camp +a short section of the trunk, which a Tennessee officer was to split +into shingles to complete our hut, a pretty good cabin with an earthen +fireplace. While we were resting from our exertion, Sill appeared with +his friend Lieutenant A.T. Lamson of the 104th New York Infantry, and +reminded me of my promise. The prisoners always respected their parole +on wood-chopping expeditions, and went out and came in at the main +entrance. The guards were a particularly verdant body of back-country +militia, and the confusion of the parole system enabled us to practise +ruses. In our present difficulty we resorted to a new expedient and +forged a parole. The next day all three of us were quietly walking down +the guard-line on the outside. At the creek, where all the camp came for +water, we found Dorr and Byers and West, and calling to one of them in +the presence of the guard, asked for blankets to bring in spruce boughs +for beds. When the blankets came they contained certain haversacks, +cups, and little indispensable articles for the road. Falling back into +the woods, we secured a safe hiding-place until after dark. Just beyond +the village of Lexington we successfully evaded the first picket, being +warned of its presence by the smoldering embers in the road. A few +nights after this, having exposed ourselves and anticipating pursuit, we +pushed on until we came to a stream crossing the road. Up this we waded +for some distance, and secured a hiding-place on a neighboring hill. In +the morning we looked out upon mounted men and dogs, at the very point +where we had entered the stream, searching for our lost trail. We spent +two days during a severe storm of rain and sleet in a farm-barn where +the slaves were so drunk on applejack that they had forgotten us and +left us with nothing to eat but raw turnips. One night, in our search +for provisions, we met a party of negroes burning charcoal, who took us +to their camp and sent out for a supply of food. While waiting a +venerable "uncle" proposed to hold a prayer-meeting. So under the tall +trees and by the light of the smoldering coal-pits the old man prayed +long and fervently to the "bressed Lord and Massa Lincoln," and hearty +amens echoed through the woods. Besides a few small potatoes, one dried +goat ham was all our zealous friends could procure. The next day, having +made our camp in the secure depths of a dry swamp, we lighted the only +fire we allowed ourselves between Columbia and the mountains. The ham, +which was almost as light as cork, was riddled with worm-holes, and as +hard as a petrified sponge.</p> + +<p>We avoided the towns, and after an endless variety of adventures +approached the mountains, cold, hungry, ragged, and foot-sore. On the +night of December 13 we were grouped about a guide-post, at a fork in +the road, earnestly contending as to which way we should proceed. +Lieutenant Sill was for the right, I was for the left, and no amount of +persuasion could induce Lieutenant Lamson to decide the controversy. I +yielded, and we turned to the right. After walking a mile in a state of +general uncertainty, we came to a low white farm-house standing very +near the road. It was now close upon midnight, and the windows were all +dark; but from a house of logs, partly behind the other, gleamed a +bright light. Judging this to be servants' quarters, two of us remained +back while Lieutenant Sill made a cautious approach. In due time a negro +appeared, advancing stealthily, and, beckoning to my companion and me, +conducted us in the shadow of a hedge to a side window, through which we +clambered into the cabin. We were made very comfortable in the glow of a +bright woodfire. Sweet potatoes were already roasting in the ashes, and +a tin pot of barley coffee was steaming on the coals. Rain and sleet had +begun to fall, and it was decided that after having been warmed and +refreshed we should be concealed in the barn until the following night. +Accordingly we were conducted thither and put to bed upon a pile of +corn-shucks high up under the roof. Secure as this retreat seemed, it +was deemed advisable in the morning to burrow several feet down in the +mow, so that the children, if by any chance they should climb so high, +might romp unsuspecting over our heads. We could still look out through +the cracks in the siding and get sufficient light whereby to study a map +of the Southern States, which had been brought us with our breakfast. A +luxurious repast was in preparation, to be eaten at the quarters before +starting; but a frolic being in progress, and a certain negro present of +questionable fidelity, the banquet was transferred to the barn. The +great barn doors were set open, and the cloth was spread on the floor by +the light of the moon. Certainly we had partaken of no such substantial +fare within the Confederacy. The central dish was a pork-pie, flanked by +savory little patties of sausage. There were sweet potatoes, fleecy +biscuits, a jug of sorghum, and a pitcher of sweet milk. Most delicious +of all was a variety of corn-bread having tiny bits of fresh pork baked +in it, like plums in a pudding.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Major Sill contributes the following evidence of the +impression our trio made upon one, at least, of the piccaninnies who +looked on in the moonlight. The picture of Lieutenants Sill and Lamson +which appears on page 255 was enlarged from a small photograph taken on +their arrival at Chattanooga, before divesting themselves of the rags +worn throughout the long journey. Years afterward Major Sill gave one of +these pictures to Wallace Bruce of Florida, at one time United States +consul at Glasgow. In the winter of 1888-89 Mr. Bruce, at his Florida +home, was showing the photograph to his family when it caught the eye of +a colored servant, who exclaimed: "O Massa Bruce, I know those gen'men. +My father and mother hid 'em in Massa's barn at Pickensville and fed +'em; there was three of 'em; I saw 'em." This servant was a child barely +ten years old in 1864, and could have seen us only through the barn door +while we were eating our supper in the uncertain moonlight. Yet more +than twenty years thereafter he greeted the photograph of the ragged +Yankee officers with a flash of recognition.</p></div> + +<p>Filling our haversacks with the fragments, we took grateful leave of our +sable benefactors and resumed our journey, retracing our steps to the +point of disagreement of the evening before. Long experience in night +marching had taught us extreme caution. We had advanced along the new +road but a short way when we were startled by the barking of a +house-dog. Apprehending that something was moving in front of us, we +instantly withdrew into the woods. We had scarcely concealed ourselves +when two cavalrymen passed along, driving before them a prisoner. Aware +that it was high time to betake ourselves to the cross-roads and +describe a wide circle around the military station at Pickensville, we +first sought information. A ray of light was visible from a hut in the +woods, and believing from its humble appearance that it sheltered +friends, my companions lay down in concealment while I advanced to +reconnoiter. I gained the side of the house, and, looking through a +crack in the boards, saw, to my surprise, a soldier lying on his back +before the fire playing with a dog. I stole back with redoubled care. +Thoroughly alarmed by the dangers we had already encountered, we decided +to abandon the roads. Near midnight of December 16 we passed through a +wooden gate on a level road leading into the forest. Believing that the +lateness of the hour would secure us from further dangers, we resolved +to press on with all speed, when two figures with lighted torches came +suddenly into view. Knowing that we were yet unseen, we turned into the +woods and concealed ourselves behind separate trees at no great distance +from the path. Soon the advancing lights revealed two hunters, mere +lads, but having at their heels a pack of mongrel dogs, with which they +had probably been pursuing the coon or the possum. The boys would have +passed unaware of our presence, but the dogs, scurrying along with their +noses in the leaves, soon struck our trail, and were instantly yelping +about us. We had possessed ourselves of the name of the commanding +officer of the neighboring post at Pendleton, and advanced boldly, +representing ourselves to be his soldiers. "Then where did you get them +blue pantaloons?" they demanded, exchanging glances, which showed they +were not ignorant of our true character. We coolly faced them down and +resumed our march leisurely, while the boys still lingered undecided. +When out of sight we abandoned the road and fled at the top of our +speed. We had covered a long distance through forest and field before +we heard in our wake the faint yelping of the pack. Plunging into the +first stream, we dashed for some distance along its bed. Emerging on the +opposite bank, we sped on through marshy fields, skirting high hills and +bounding down through dry watercourses, over shelving stones and +accumulated barriers of driftwood; now panting up a steep ascent, and +now resting for a moment to rub our shoes with the resinous needles of +the pine; always within hearing of the dogs, whose fitful cries varied +in volume in accordance with the broken conformation of the intervening +country. Knowing that in speed and endurance we were no match for our +four-footed pursuers, we trusted to our precautions for throwing them +off the scent, mindful that they were but an ill-bred kennel and the +more easily to be disposed of. Physically we were capable of prolonged +exertion. Fainter and less frequent came the cry of the dogs, until, +ceasing altogether, we were assured of our escape.</p> + +<p>At Oconee, on Sunday, December 18, we met a negro well acquainted with +the roads and passes into North Carolina, who furnished us information +by which we traveled for two nights, recognizing on the second objects +which by his direction we avoided (like the house of Black Bill +McKinney), and going directly to that of friendly old Tom Handcock. The +first of these two nights we struggled up the foot-hills and outlying +spurs of the mountains, through an uninhabited waste of rolling barrens, +along an old stage road, long deserted, and in places impassable to a +saddle-mule. Lying down before morning, high up on the side of the +mountain, we fell asleep, to be awakened by thunder and lightning, and +to find torrents of hail and sleet beating upon our blankets. Chilled to +the bone, we ventured to build a small fire in a secluded place. After +dark and before abandoning our camp, we gathered quantities of wood, +stacking it upon the fire, which when we left it was a wild tower of +flame lighting up the whole mountain-side in the direction we had come, +and seeming, in some sort, to atone for a long succession of shivering +days in tireless bivouac. We followed the same stage road through the +scattering settlement of Casher's Valley in Jackson County, North +Carolina. A little farther on, two houses, of hewn logs, with verandas +and green blinds, just fitted the description we had received of the +home of old Tom Handcock. Knocking boldly at the door of the farther +one, we were soon in the presence of the loyal mountaineer. He and his +wife had been sleeping on a bed spread upon the floor before the fire. +Drawing this to one side, they heaped the chimney with green wood, and +were soon listening with genuine delight to the story of our adventures.</p> + +<p>After breakfast next day, Tom, with his rifle, led us by a back road to +the house of "'Squire Larkin C. Hooper," a leading loyalist, whom we met +on the way, and together we proceeded to his house. Ragged and forlorn, +we were eagerly welcomed at his home by Hooper's invalid wife and +daughters. For several days we enjoyed a hospitality given as freely to +utter strangers as if we had been relatives of the family.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 582px"> +<a id="fig025" name="fig025"></a> +<a href="images/fig025.png"><img src="images/fig025_th.png" alt="headens" /></a> +<span class="caption">WE ARRIVE AT HEADEN'S.</span> +</div> + +<p>Here we learned of a party about to start through the mountains for East +Tennessee, guided by Emanuel Headen, who lived on the crest of the Blue +Ridge. Our friend Tom was to be one of the party, and other refugees +were coming over the Georgia border, where Headen, better known in the +settlement as "Man Heady," was mustering his party. It now being near +Christmas, and the squire's family in daily expectation of a relative, +who was a captain in the Confederate army, it was deemed prudent for us +to go on to Headen's under the guidance of Tom. Setting out at sunset on +the 23d of December, it was late in the evening when we arrived at our +destination, having walked nine miles up the mountain trails over a +light carpeting of snow. Pausing in front of a diminutive cabin, through +the chinks of whose stone fireplace and stick chimney the whole interior +seemed to be red hot like a furnace, our guide demanded, "Is Man Heady +to hum?" Receiving a sharp negative in reply, he continued, "Well, can +Tom get to stay all night?" At this the door flew open and a skinny +woman appeared, her homespun frock pendent with tow-headed urchins.</p> + +<p>"In course you can," she cried, leading the way into the cabin. Never +have I seen so unique a character as this voluble, hatched-faced, +tireless woman. Her skin was like yellow parchment, and I doubt if she +knew by experience what it was to be sick or weary. She had built the +stake-and-cap fences that divided the fields, and she boasted of the +acres she had plowed. The cabin was very small. Two bedsteads, with a +narrow alleyway between, occupied half the interior. One was heaped with +rubbish, and in the other slept the whole family, consisting of father, +mother, a daughter of sixteen, and two little boys. When I add that the +room contained a massive timber loom, a table, a spinning-wheel, and a +variety of rude seats, it will be understood that we were crowded +uncomfortably close to the fire. Shrinking back as far as possible from +the blaze, we listened in amused wonder to the tongue of this seemingly +untamed virago, who, nevertheless, proved to be the kindest-hearted of +women. She cursed, in her high, pitched tones, for a pack of fools, the +men who had brought on the war. Roderic Norton, who lived down the +mountain, she expressed a profane desire to "stomp through the turnpike" +because at some time he had stolen one of her hogs, marked, as to the +ear, with "two smooth craps an' a slit in the left." Once only she had +journeyed into the low country, where she had seen those twin marvels, +steam cars and brick chimneys. On this occasion she had driven a heifer +to market, making a journey of forty miles, walking beside her horse +and wagon, which she took along to bring back the corn-meal received in +payment for the animal. Charged by her husband to bring back the heifer +bell, and being denied that musical instrument by the purchaser, it +immediately assumed more importance to her mind than horse, wagon, and +corn-meal. Baffled at first, she proceeded to the pasture in the gray of +the morning, cornered the cow, and cut off the bell, and, in her own +picturesque language, "walked through the streets of Walhalla cussin'." +Rising at midnight she would fall to spinning with all her energy. To +us, waked from sleep on the floor by the humming of the wheel, she +seemed by the light of the low fire like a witch in a sunbonnet, darting +forward and back.</p> + +<p>We remained there several days, sometimes at the cabin and sometimes at +a cavern in the rocks such as abound throughout the mountains, and which +are called by the natives "rock houses." Many of the men at that time +were "outliers"—that is, they camped in the mountain fastnesses, +receiving their food from some member of the family. Some of these men, +as now, had their copper stills in the rock houses, while others, more +wary of the recruiting sergeant, wandered from point to point, their +only furniture a rifle and a bed-quilt. On December 29, we were joined +at the cavern by Lieutenant Knapp and Captain Smith, Federal officers, +who had also made their way from Columbia, and by three refugees from +Georgia, whom I remember as Old Man Tigue and the two Vincent boys. +During the night our party was to start across the mountains for +Tennessee. Tom Handcock was momentarily expected to join us. Our guide +was busy with preparations for the journey. The night coming on icy +cold, and a cutting wind driving the smoke of the fire into our granite +house, we abandoned it at nine o'clock and descended to the cabin. +Headen and his wife had gone to the mill for a supply of corn-meal. +Although it was time for their return, we were in nowise alarmed by +their absence, and formed a jovial circle about the roaring chimney. +About midnight came a rap on the door. Thinking it was Tom Handcock and +some of his companions, I threw it open with an eager "Come in, boys!" +The boys began to come in, stamping the snow from their boots and +rattling their muskets on the floor, until the house was full, and yet +others were on guard without and crowding the porch. "Man Heady" and his +wife were already prisoners at the mill, and the house had been picketed +for some hours awaiting the arrival of the other refugees, who had +discovered the plot just in time to keep out of the toils. Marshaled in +some semblance of military array, we were marched down the mountain, +over the frozen ground, to the house of old Roderic Norton. The Yankee +officers were sent to an upper room, while the refugees were guarded +below, under the immediate eyes of the soldiery. Making the best of our +misfortune, our original trio bounced promptly into a warm bed, which +had been recently deserted by some members of the family, and secured a +good night's rest.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Knapp, who had imprudently indulged in frozen chestnuts on +the mountain-side, was attacked with violent cramps, and kept the +household below stairs in commotion all night humanely endeavoring to +assuage his agony. In the morning, although quite recovered, he +cunningly feigned a continuance of his pains, and was left behind in the +keeping of two guards, who, having no suspicion of his deep designs, +left their guns in the house and went out to the spring to wash. Knapp, +instantly on the alert, possessed himself of the muskets, and breaking +the lock of one, by a powerful effort he bent the barrel of the other, +and dashed out through the garden. His keepers, returning from the +spring, shouted and rushed indoors only to find their disabled pieces. +They joined our party later in the day, rendering a chapfallen account +of their detached service.</p> + +<p>We had but a moderate march to make to the headquarters of the +battalion, where we were to spend the night. Our guards we found kindly +disposed toward us, but bitterly upbraiding the refugees, whom they +saluted by the ancient name of Tories. Lieutenant Cogdill, in command of +the expedition, privately informed us that his sympathies were entirely +ours, but as a matter of duty he should guard us jealously while under +his military charge. If we could effect our escape thereafter we had +only to come to his mountain home and he would conceal us until such +time as he could despatch us with safety over the borders. These +mountain soldiers were mostly of two classes, both opposed to the war, +but doing home-guard duty in lieu of sterner service in the field. +Numbers were of the outlier class, who, wearied of continual hiding in +the laurel brakes, had embraced this service as a compromise. Many were +deserters, some of whom had coolly set at defiance the terms of their +furloughs, while others had abandoned the camps in Virginia, and, +versed in mountain craft, had made their way along the Blue Ridge and +put in a heroic appearance in their native valleys.</p> + +<p>That night we arrived at a farm-house near the river, where we found +Major Parker, commanding the battalion, with a small detachment billeted +upon the family. The farmer was a gray-haired old loyalist, whom I shall +always remember, leaning on his staff in the middle of the kitchen, +barred out from his place in the chimney-corner by the noisy circle of +his unbidden guests. Major Parker was a brisk little man, clad in +brindle jeans of ancient cut, resplendent with brass buttons. Two small +piercing eyes, deep-set beside a hawk's-beak nose, twinkled from under +the rim of his brown straw hat, whose crown was defiantly surmounted by +a cock's feather. But he was exceedingly jolly withal, and welcomed the +Yankees with pompous good-humor, despatching a sergeant for a jug of +applejack, which was doubtless as inexpensive to the major as his other +hospitality. Having been a prisoner at Chicago, he prided himself on his +knowledge of dungeon etiquette and the military courtesies due to our +rank.</p> + +<p>We were awakened in the morning by high-pitched voices in the room +below. Lieutenant Sill and I had passed the night in neighboring caverns +of the same miraculous feather-bed. We recognized the voice of the +major, informing some culprit that he had just ten minutes to live, and +that if he wished to send any dying message to his wife or children then +and there was his last opportunity; and then followed the tramping of +the guards as they retired from his presence with their victim. Hastily +dressing, we hurried down to find what was the matter. We were welcomed +with a cheery good-morning from the major, who seemed to be in the +sunniest of spirits. No sign of commotion was visible. "Step out to the +branch, gentlemen; your parole of honor is sufficient; you'll find +towels—been a prisoner myself." And he restrained by a sign the +sentinel who would have accompanied us. At the branch, in the yard, we +found the other refugees trembling for their fate, and learned that +Headen had gone to the orchard in the charge of a file of soldiers with +a rope. While we were discussing the situation and endeavoring to calm +the apprehensions of the Georgians, the executioners returned from the +orchard, our guide marching in advance and looking none the worse for +the rough handling he had undergone. The brave fellow had confided his +last message and been thrice drawn up toward the branch of an +apple-tree, and as many times lowered for the information it was +supposed he would give. Nothing was learned, and it is probable he had +no secrets to disclose or conceal.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Cogdill, with two soldiers, was detailed to conduct us to +Quallatown, a Cherokee station at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. +Two horses were allotted to the guard, and we set out in military order, +the refugees two and two in advance, Headen and Old Man Tigue lashed +together by the wrists, and the rear brought up by the troopers on +horseback. It was the last day of the year, and although a winter +morning, the rare mountain air was as soft as spring. We struck the +banks of the Tuckasegee directly opposite to a feathery waterfall, +which, leaping over a crag of the opposite cliff, was dissipated in a +glittering sheet of spray before reaching the tops of the trees below. +As the morning advanced we fell into a more negligent order of marching. +The beautiful river, a wide, swift current, flowing smoothly between +thickly wooded banks, swept by on our left, and on the right wild, +uninhabited mountains closed in the road. The two Vincents were +strolling along far in advance. Some distance behind them were Headen +and Tigue; the remainder of us following in a general group, Sill +mounted beside one of the guards. Advancing in this order, a cry from +the front broke on the stillness of the woods, and we beheld Old Man +Tigue gesticulating wildly in the center of the road and screaming, +"He's gone! He's gone! Catch him!" Sure enough the old man was alone, +the fragment of the parted strap dangling from his outstretched wrist. +The guard, who was mounted, dashed off in pursuit, followed by the +lieutenant on foot, but both soon returned, giving over the hopeless +chase. Thoroughly frightened by the events of the morning, Headen<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +had watched his opportunity to make good his escape, and, as we +afterward learned, joined by Knapp and Tom Handcock, he conducted a +party safely to Tennessee.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> A short time ago the writer received the following letter: +"Casher's Valley, May 28, 1890. Old Manuel Headen and wife are living, +but separated. Julia Ann is living with her mother. The old lady is +blind. Old man Norton (Roderic), to whose house you were taken as +prisoner, has been dead for years. Old Tom Handcock is dead.—W.R. +<span class="smcap">Hooper.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>At Webster, the court town of Jackson County, we were quartered for the +night in the jail, but accompanied Lieutenant Cogdill to a venison +breakfast at the parsonage with Mrs. Harris and her daughter, who had +called on us the evening before. Snow had fallen during the night, and +when we continued our march it was with the half-frozen slush crushing +in and out, at every step, through our broken shoes. Before the close +of this dreary New-Year's day we came upon the scene of one of those +wild tragedies which are still of too frequent occurrence in those +remote regions, isolated from the strong arm of the law. Our road led +down and around the mountain-side, which on our right was a barren, +rocky waste, sloping gradually up from the inner curve of the arc we +were describing. From this direction arose a low wailing sound, and a +little farther on we came in view of a dismal group of men, women, and +mules. In the center of the gathering lay the lifeless remains of a +father and his two sons; seated upon the ground, swaying and weeping +over their dead, were the mother and wives of the young men. A burial +party, armed with spades and picks, waited by their mules, while at a +respectful distance from the mourners stood a circle of neighbors and +passers-by, some gazing in silent sympathy, and others not hesitating to +express a quiet approval of the shocking tragedy. Between two families, +the Hoopers and the Watsons, a bitter feud had long existed, and from +time to time men of each clan had fallen by the rifles of the other. The +Hoopers were loyal Union men, and if the Watsons yielded any loyalty it +was to the State of North Carolina. On one occasion shortly before the +final tragedy, when one of the young Hoopers was sitting quietly in his +door, a light puff of smoke rose from the bushes and a rifle-ball plowed +through his leg. The Hoopers resolved to begin the new year by wiping +out their enemies, root and branch. Before light they had surrounded the +log cabin of the Watsons and secured all the male inmates, except one +who, wounded, escaped through a window. The latter afterward executed a +singular revenge by killing and skinning the dog of his enemies and +elevating the carcass on a pole in front of their house.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 328px"> +<a id="fig026" name="fig026"></a> +<a href="images/fig026.png"><img src="images/fig026_th.png" alt="escape" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE ESCAPE OF HEADEN.</span> +</div> + +<p>After a brief stay at Quallatown we set out for Asheville, leaving +behind our old and friendly guard. Besides the soldiers who now had us +in charge, a Cherokee Indian was allotted to each prisoner, with +instructions to keep his man constantly in view. To travel with an armed +Indian, sullen and silent, trotting at your heels like a dog, with very +explicit instructions to blow out your brains at the first attempt to +escape, is neither cheerful nor ornamental, and we were a sorry-looking +party plodding silently along the road. Detachments of prisoners were +frequently passed over this route, and regular stopping-places were +established for the nights. It was growing dusk when we arrived at the +first cantonment, which was the wing of a great barren farm-house owned +by Colonel Bryson. The place was already occupied by a party of +refugees, and we were directed to a barn in the field beyond. We had +brought with us uncooked rations, and while two of the soldiers went +into the house for cooking utensils, the rest of the party, including +the Indians, were leaning in a line upon the door-yard fence; Sill and +Lamson were at the end of the line, where the fence cornered with a +hedge. Presently the two soldiers reappeared, one of them with an iron +pot in which to cook our meat, and the other swinging in his hand a +burning brand. In the wake of these guides we followed down to the barn, +and had already started a fire when word came from the house that for +fear of rain we had best return to the corn-barn. It was not until we +were again in the road that I noticed the absence of Sill and Lamson. I +hastened to Smith and confided the good news. The fugitives were missed +almost simultaneously by the guards, who first beat up the vicinity of +the barn, and then, after securing the remainder of us in a corn-crib, +sent out the Indians in pursuit. Faithful dogs, as these Cherokees had +shown themselves during the day, they proved but poor hunters when the +game was in the bush, and soon returned, giving over the chase. Half an +hour later they were all back in camp, baking their hoe-cake in genuine +aboriginal fashion, flattened on the surface of a board and inclined to +the heat of the fire.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Sill and Lamson reached Loudon, Tennessee, in February. A +few days after their escape from the Indian guard they arrived at the +house of "Shooting John Brown," who confided them to the care of the +young Hoopers and a party of their outlying companions. From a rocky +cliff overlooking the valley of the Tuckasegee they could look down on +the river roads dotted with the sheriff's posse in pursuit of the +Hoopers. So near were they that they could distinguish a relative of the +Watsons leading the sheriff's party. One of the Hooper boys, with +characteristic recklessness and to the consternation of the others, +stood boldly out on a great rock in plain sight of his pursuers (if they +had chanced to look up), half resolved to try his rifle at the last of +the Watsons.</p></div> + +<p>That I was eager to follow goes without saying, but our keepers had +learned our slippery character. All the way to Asheville, day and night, +we were watched with sleepless vigilance. There we gave our parole, +Smith and I, and secured thereby comfortable quarters in the court-house +with freedom to stroll about the town. Old Man Tigue and the Vincents +were committed to the county jail. We were there a week, part of my +spare time being employed in helping a Confederate company officer make +out a correct pay-roll.</p> + +<p>When our diminished ranks had been recruited by four more officers from +Columbia, who had been captured near the frozen summit of the Great +Smoky Mountains, we were started on a journey of sixty miles to +Greenville in South Carolina. The night before our arrival we were +quartered at a large farm-house. The prisoners, together with the +privates of the guard, were allotted a comfortable room, which +contained, however, but a single bed. The officer in charge had retired +to enjoy the hospitality of the family. A flock of enormous white +pullets were roosting in the yard. Procuring an iron kettle from the +servants, who looked with grinning approval upon all forms of chicken +stealing, we sallied forth to the capture. Twisting the precious necks +of half a dozen, we left them to die in the grass while we pierced the +side of a sweet-potato mound. Loaded with our booty we retreated to the +house undiscovered, and spent the night in cooking in one pot instead of +sleeping in one bed. The fowls were skinned instead of plucked, and, +vandals that we were, dressed on the backs of the picture-frames taken +down from the walls.</p> + +<p>At Greenville we were lodged in the county jail to await the +reconstruction of railway-bridges, when we were to be transported to +Columbia. The jail was a stone structure, two stories in height, with +halls through the center on both floors and square rooms on each side. +The lock was turned on our little party of six in one of these upper +rooms, having two grated windows looking down on the walk. Through the +door which opened on the hall a square hole was cut as high as one's +face and large enough to admit the passage of a plate. Aside from the +rigor of our confinement we were treated with marked kindness. We had +scarcely walked about our dungeon before the jailer's daughters were at +the door with their autograph albums. In a few days we were playing +draughts and reading Bulwer, while the girls, without, were preparing +our food and knitting for us warm new stockings. Notwithstanding all +these attentions, we were ungratefully discontented. At the end of the +first week we were joined by seven enlisted men, Ohio boys, who like +ourselves had been found at large in the mountains. From one of these +new arrivals we procured a case-knife and a gun screw-driver. Down on +the hearth before the fire the screw-driver was placed on the thick edge +of the knife and belabored with a beef bone until a few inches of its +back were converted into a rude saw. The grate in the window was formed +of cast-iron bars, passing perpendicularly through wrought-iron plates, +bedded in the stone jambs. If one of these perpendicular bars, an inch +and a half square, could be cut through, the plates might be easily bent +so as to permit the egress of a man. With this end in view we cautiously +began operations. Outside of the bars a piece of carpet had been +stretched to keep out the raw wind, and behind this we worked with +safety. An hour's toil produced but a few feathery filings on the +horizontal plate, but many hands make light work, and steadily the cut +grew deeper. We recalled the adventures of Claude Duval, Dick Turpin, +and Sixteen-string Jack, and sawed away. During the available hours of +three days and throughout one entire night the blade of steel was +worrying, rasping, eating the iron bar. At last the grosser yielded to +the temper and persistence of the finer metal. It was Saturday night +when the toilsome cut was completed, and preparations were already under +way for a speedy departure. The jail had always been regarded as too +secure to require a military guard, although soldiers were quartered in +the town; besides, the night was so cold that a crust had formed on the +snow, and both citizens and soldiers, unused to such extreme weather +would be likely to remain indoors. For greater secrecy of movement, we +divided into small parties, aiming to traverse different roads. I was to +go with my former companion, Captain Smith. Lots were cast to determine +the order of our going. First exit was allotted to four of the Ohio +soldiers. Made fast to the grating outside were a bit of rope and strip +of blanket, along which to descend. Our room was immediately over that +of the jailer and his sleeping family, and beneath our opening was a +window, which each man must pass in his descent. At eleven o'clock the +exodus began. The first man was passed through the bars amid a +suppressed buzz of whispered cautions. His boots were handed after him +in a haversack. The rest of us, pressing our faces to the frosty +grating, listened breathlessly for the success of the movement we could +no longer see. Suddenly there was a crash, and in the midst of +mutterings of anger we snatched in the rag ladder and restored the piece +of carpeting to its place outside the bars. Our pioneer had hurt his +hand against the rough stones, and, floundering in mid-air, had dashed +his leg through sash and glass of the window below. We could see nothing +of his further movements, but soon discovered the jailer standing in the +door, looking up and down the street, seemingly in the dark as to where +the crash came from. At last, wearied and worried and disappointed, we +lay down in our blankets upon the hard floor.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 360px"> +<a id="fig027" name="fig027"></a> +<a href="images/fig027.png"><img src="images/fig027_th.png" alt="escape" /></a> +<span class="caption">GREENVILLE JAIL.</span> +</div> + +<p>At daylight we were awakened by the voice of Miss Emma at the hole in +the door. "Who got out last night?" "Welty." "Well, you was fools you +didn't all go; pap wouldn't 'a' stopped you. If you'll keep the break +concealed until night we'll let you all out." The secret of the extreme +kindness of our keepers was explained. The jailer, a loyalist, retained +his position as a civil detail, thus protecting himself and sons from +conscription. Welty had been taken in the night before, his bruises had +been anointed, and he had been provisioned for the journey.</p> + +<p>We spent the day repairing our clothing and preparing for the road. My +long-heeled cowhides, "wife's shoes," for which I had exchanged a +uniform waistcoat with a cotton-wooled old darky on the banks of the +Saluda, were about parting soles from uppers, and I kept the twain +together by winding my feet with stout cords. At supper an extra ration +was given us. As soon as it was dark the old jailer appeared among us +and gave us a minute description of the different roads leading west +into the mountains, warning us of certain dangers. At eleven o'clock +Miss Emma came with the great keys, and we followed her, in single file, +down the stairs and out into the back yard of the jail. From the broken +gratings in front, the bit of rope and strip of blanket were left +dangling in the wind.</p> + +<p>We made short work of leave-taking, Captain Smith and I separating +immediately from the rest, and pushing hurriedly out of the sleeping +town, by back streets, into the bitter cold of the country roads. We +stopped once to warm at the pits of some negro charcoal-burners, and +before day dawned had traveled sixteen miles. We found a sheltered nook +on the side of the mountain open to the sun, where we made a bed of dry +leaves and remained for the day. At night we set out again, due west by +the stars, but before we had gone far my companion, who claimed to know +something of the country, insisted upon going to the left, and within a +mile turned into another left-hand road. I protested, claiming that this +course was leading us back. While we were yet contending, we came to a +bridgeless creek whose dark waters barred our progress, and at the same +moment, as if induced by the thought of the fording, the captain was +seized with rheumatic pains in his knees, so that he walked with +difficulty. We had just passed a house where lights were still showing, +and to this we decided to return, hoping at least to find shelter for +Smith. Leaving him at the gate, I went to a side porch and knocked at +the door, which was opened by a woman who proved to be friendly to our +cause, her husband being in the rebel army much against his will. We +were soon seated to the right and left of her fireplace. Blazing +pine-knots brilliantly lighted the room, and a number of beds lined the +walls. A trundle-bed before the fire was occupied by a very old woman, +who was feebly moaning with rheumatism. Our hostess shouted into the old +lady's ear, "Granny, them's Yankees." "Be they!" said she, peering at us +with her poor old eyes. "Be ye sellin' tablecloths?" When it was +explained that we were just from the war, she demanded, in an absent +way, to know if we were Britishers. We slept in one of the comfortable +beds, and, as a measure of prudence, passed the day in the woods, +leaving at nightfall with well-filled haversacks. Captain Smith was +again the victim of his rheumatism, and directing me to his friends at +Cæsar's Head, where I was to wait for him until Monday (it then being +Tuesday), he returned to the house, little thinking that we were +separating forever.</p> + +<p>I traveled very rapidly all night, hoping to make the whole distance, +but day was breaking when I reached the head waters of the Saluda. +Following up the stream, I found a dam on which I crossed, and although +the sun was rising and the voices of children mingled with the lowing of +cattle in the frosty air, I ran across the fields and gained a secure +hiding-place on the side of the mountain. It was a long, solitary day, +and glad was I when it grew sufficiently dark to turn the little +settlement and get into the main road up the mountain. It was six zigzag +miles to the top, the road turning on log abutments, well anchored with +stones, and not a habitation on the way until I should reach Bishop's +house, on the crest of the divide. Half-way up I paused before a big +summer hotel, looming up in the woods like the ghost of a deserted +factory, its broken windows and rotting gateways redoubling the solitude +of the bleak mountain-side. Shortly before reaching Bishop's, "wife's +shoes" became quite unmanageable. One had climbed up my leg half-way to +the knee, and I knocked at the door with the wreck of the other in my +hand. My visit had been preceded but a day by a squad of partizan +raiders, who had carried away the bedding and driven off the cattle of +my new friends, and for this reason the most generous hospitality could +offer no better couch than the hard floor. Stretched thereon in close +proximity to the dying fire, the cold air coming up through the wide +cracks between the hewn planks seemed to be cutting me in sections as +with icy saws, so that I was forced to establish myself lengthwise on a +broad puncheon at the side of the room and under the table.</p> + +<p>In this family "the gray mare was the better horse," and poor Bishop, an +inoffensive man, and a cripple withal, was wedded to a regular Xantippe. +It was evident that unpleasant thoughts were dominant in the woman's +mind as she proceeded sullenly and vigorously with preparations for +breakfast. The bitter bread of charity was being prepared with a +vengeance for the unwelcome guest. Premonitions of the coming storm +flashed now and then in lightning cuffs on the ears of the children, or +crashed venomously among the pottery in the fireplace. At last the +repast was spread, the table still standing against the wall, as is the +custom among mountain housewives. The good-natured husband now advanced +cheerfully to lend a hand in removing it into the middle of the room. It +was when one of the table-legs overturned the swill-pail that the long +pent-up storm burst in a torrent of invective. The prospect of spending +several days here was a very gloomy outlook, and the relief was great +when it was proposed to pay a visit to Neighbor Case, whose house was in +the nearest valley, and with whose sons Captain Smith had lain in +concealment for some weeks on a former visit to the mountains. I was +curious to see his sons, who were famous outliers. From safe cover they +delighted to pick off a recruiting officer or a tax-in-kind collector, +or tumble out of their saddles the last drivers of a wagon-train. These +lively young men had been in unusual demand of late, and their +hiding-place was not known even to the faithful, so I was condemned to +the society of an outlier of a less picturesque variety. Pink Bishop was +a blacksmith, and just the man to forge me a set of shoes from the +leather Neighbor Case had already provided. The little still-shed, +concealed from the road only by a low hill, was considered an unsafe +harbor, on account of a fresh fall of snow with its sensibility to +tell-tale impressions. So, we set up our shoe-factory in a deserted +cabin, well back on the mountain and just astride of that imaginary line +which divides the Carolinas. From the fireplace we dug away the +corn-stalks, heaping the displaced bundles against broken windows and +windy cracks, and otherwise secured our retreat against frost and +enemies. Then ensued three days of primitive shoemaking. As may be +inferred, the shoes made no pretension to style. I sewed the short seams +at the sides, and split the pegs from a section of seasoned maple. +Rudely constructed as these shoes were, they bore their wearer +triumphantly into the promised land.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 515px"> +<a id="fig028" name="fig028"></a> +<a href="images/fig028.png"><img src="images/fig028_th.png" alt="escape" /></a> +<span class="caption">PINK BISHOP AT THE STILL.</span> +</div> + +<p>I restrained my eagerness to be going until Monday night, the time +agreed upon, when, my disabled companion not putting in an appearance, I +set out for my old friend's in Casher's Valley. I got safety over a long +wooden bridge within half a mile of a garrisoned town. I left the road, +and turned, as I believed, away from the town; but I was absolutely lost +in the darkness of a snow-storm, and forced to seek counsel as well as +shelter. In this plight I pressed on toward a light glimmering faintly +through the blinding snow. It led me into the shelter of the porch to a +small brown house, cut deeply beneath the low eaves, and protected at +the sides by flanking bedrooms. My knock was answered by a girlish +voice, and from the ensuing parley, through the closed door, I learned +that she was the daughter of a Baptist exhorter, and that she was alone +in the house, her brother being away at the village, and her father, who +preached the day before at some distance, not being expected home until +the next morning. Reassured by my civil-toned inquiries about the road, +she unfastened the door and came out to the porch, where she proceeded +to instruct me how to go on, which was just the thing I least desired to +do. By this time I had discovered the political complexion of the +family, and, making myself known, was instantly invited in, with the +assurance that her father would be gravely displeased if she permitted +me to go on before he returned. I had interrupted my little benefactress +in the act of writing a letter, on a sheet of foolscap which lay on an +old-fashioned stand in one corner of the room, beside the ink-bottle and +the candlestick. In the diagonal corner stood a tall bookcase, the +crowded volumes nestling lovingly behind the glass doors—the only +collection of the sort that I saw at any time in the mountains. A +feather-bed was spread upon the floor, the head raised by means of a +turned-down chair, and here I was reposing comfortably when the brother +arrived. It was late in the forenoon when the minister reached home, his +rickety wagon creaking through the snow, and drawn at a snail's pace by +a long-furred, knock-kneed horse. The tall but not very clerical figure +was wrapped in a shawl and swathed round the throat with many turns of a +woolen tippet. The daughter ran out with eagerness to greet her father +and tell of the wonderful arrival. I was received with genuine delight. +It was the enthusiasm of a patriot eager to find a sympathetic ear for +his long-repressed views.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> The Rev. James H. Duckworth, now postmaster of Brevard, +Transylvania County, North Carolina, and in 1868 member of the State +Constitutional Convention, in his letter of June 24, 1890, says: "I have +not forgotten those things of which you speak. I can almost see you +(even in imagination) standing at the fire when I drove up to the gate +and went into the house and asked you, 'Have I ever seen you before?' +Just then I observed your uniform. 'Oh, yes,' said I; 'I know who it is +now.' ... This daughter of whom you speak married about a year after, +and is living in Morgantown, North Carolina, about one hundred miles +from here. Hattie (for that is her name) is a pious, religious woman."</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig029" name="fig029"></a> +<a href="images/fig029.png"><img src="images/fig029_th.png" alt="baptist" /></a> +<span class="caption">ARRIVAL HOME OF THE BAPTIST MINISTER.</span> +</div> + +<p>When night came and no entreaties could prevail to detain me over +another day, the minister conducted me some distance in person, passing +me on with ample directions to another exhorter, who was located for +that night at the house of a miller who kept a ferocious dog. I came +first to the pond and then to the mill, and got into the house without +encountering the dog. Aware of the necessity of arriving before bedtime, +I had made such speed as to find the miller's family still lingering +about the fireplace with preacher number two seated in the lay circle. +That night I slept with the parson, who sat up in bed in the morning, +and after disencumbering himself of a striped extinguisher nightcap, +electrified the other sleepers by announcing that this was the first +time he had ever slept with a Yankee. After breakfast the parson, armed +with staff and scrip, signified his purpose to walk with me during the +day, as it was no longer dangerous to move by daylight. We must have +been traveling the regular Baptist road, for we lodged that night at the +house of another lay brother. The minister continued with me a few miles +in the morning, intending to put me in the company of a man who was +going toward Casher's Valley on a hunting expedition. When we reached +his house, however, the hunter had gone; so, after parting with my +guide, I set forward through the woods, following the tracks of the +hunter's horse. The shoe-prints were sometimes plainly impressed in the +snow, and again for long distances over dry leaves and bare ground but +an occasional trace could be found. It was past noon when I arrived at +the house where the hunters were assembled. Quite a number of men were +gathered in and about the porch, just returned from the chase. Blinded +by the snow over which I had been walking in the glare of the sun, I +blundered up the steps, inquiring without much tact for the rider who +had preceded me, and was no little alarmed at receiving a rude and gruff +reception. I continued in suspense for some time, until my man found an +opportunity to inform me that there were suspicious persons present, +thus accounting for his unexpected manner. The explanation was made at a +combination meal, serving for both dinner and supper, and consisting +exclusively of beans. I set out at twilight to make a walk of thirteen +miles to the house of our old friend Esquire Hooper. Eager for the +cordial welcome which I knew awaited me, and nerved by the frosty air, I +sped over the level wood road, much of the way running instead of +walking. Three times I came upon bends of the same broad rivulet. Taking +off my shoes and stockings and rolling up my trousers above my knees, I +tried the first passage. Flakes of broken ice were eddying against the +banks, and before gaining the middle of the stream my feet and ankles +ached with the cold, the sharp pain increasing at every step until I +threw my blanket on the opposite bank and springing upon it wrapped my +feet in its dry folds. Rising a little knoll soon after making the third +ford, I came suddenly upon the familiar stopping-place of my former +journey. It was scarcely more than nine o'clock, and the little +hardships of the journey from Cæsar's Head seemed but a cheap outlay for +the joy of the meeting with friends so interested in the varied fortunes +of myself and my late companions. Together we rejoiced at the escape of +Sill and Lamson, and made merry over the vicissitudes of my checkered +career. Here I first learned of the safe arrival in Tennessee of Knapp, +Man Heady, and old Tom Handcock.</p> + +<p>After a day's rest I climbed the mountains to the Headen cabin, now +presided over by the heroine of the heifer-bell, in the absence of her +fugitive husband. Saddling her horse, she took me the next evening to +join a lad who was about starting for Shooting Creek. Young Green was +awaiting my arrival, and after a brief delay we were off on a journey of +something like sixty miles; the journey, however, was pushed to a +successful termination by the help of information gleaned by the way. It +was at the close of the last night's march, which had been long and +uneventful, except that we had surmounted no fewer than three +snow-capped ridges, that my blacksmith's shoes, soaked to a pulp by the +wet snow, gave out altogether. On the top of the last ridge I found +myself panting in the yellow light of the rising sun, the sad wrecks of +my two shoes dangling from my hands, a wilderness of beauty spread out +before me, and a sparkling field of frosty forms beneath my tingling +feet. Stretching far into the west toward the open country of East +Tennessee was the limitless wilderness of mountains, drawn like mighty +furrows across the toilsome way, the pale blue of the uttermost ridges +fading into an imperceptible union with the sky. A log house was in +sight down in the valley, a perpendicular column of smoke rising from +its single chimney. Toward this we picked our way, I in my stocking +feet, and my boy guide confidently predicting that we should find the +required cobbler. Of course we found him in a country where every family +makes its own shoes as much as its own bread, and he was ready to serve +the traveler without pay. Notwithstanding our night's work, we tarried +only for the necessary repairs, and just before sunset we looked down +upon the scattering settlement of Shooting Creek. Standing on the bleak +brow of "Chunky Gall" Mountain, my guide recognized the first familiar +object on the trip, which was the roof of his uncle's house. At Shooting +Creek I was the guest of the Widow Kitchen, whose house was the chief +one in the settlement, and whose estate boasted two slaves. The husband +had fallen by an anonymous bullet while salting his cattle on the +mountain in an early year of the war.</p> + +<p>On the day following my arrival I was conducted over a ridge to another +creek, where I met two professional guides, Quince Edmonston and Mack +Hooper. As I came upon the pair parting a thicket of laurel, with their +long rifles at a shoulder, I instantly recognized the coat of the latter +as the snuff-colored sack in which I had last seen Lieutenant Lamson. It +had been given to the man at Chattanooga, where these same guides had +conducted my former companions in safety a month before. Quince +Edmonston, the elder, had led numerous parties of Yankee officers over +the Wacheesa trail for a consideration of a hundred dollars, pledged to +be paid by each officer at Chattanooga or Nashville.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig030" name="fig030"></a> +<a href="images/fig030.png"><img src="images/fig030_th.png" alt="kitchen" /></a> +<span class="caption">SURPRISED AT MRS. KITCHEN'S.</span> +</div> + +<p>Two other officers were concealed near by, and a number of refugees, +awaiting a convoy, and an arrangement was rapidly made with the guides. +The swollen condition of the Valley River made it necessary to remain +for several days at Shooting Creek before setting out. Mack and I were +staying at the house of Mrs. Kitchen. It was on the afternoon of a +memorable Friday, the rain still falling in torrents without, that I +sat before the fire poring over a small Sunday-school book,—the only +printed book in the house, if not in the settlement. Mack Hooper was +sitting by the door. Attracted by a rustling sound in his direction, I +looked up just in time to see his heels disappearing under the nearest +bed. Leaping to my feet with an instinctive impulse to do likewise, I +was confronted in the doorway by a stalwart Confederate officer fully +uniformed and armed. Behind him was his quartermaster-sergeant. This was +a government party collecting the tax in kind, which at that time +throughout the Confederacy was the tenth part of all crops and other +farm productions. It was an ugly surprise. Seeing no escape, I ventured +a remark on the weather: only a stare in reply. A plan of escape flashed +through my mind like an inspiration. I seated myself quietly, and for an +instant bent my eyes upon the printed pages. The two soldiers had +advanced to the corner of the chimney nearest the door, inquiring for +the head of the family, and keeping their eyes riveted on my hostile +uniform. At this juncture I was seized with a severe fit of coughing. +With one hand upon my chest, I walked slowly past the men, and laid my +carefully opened book face down upon a chest. With another step or two I +was in the porch, and bounding into the kitchen I sprang out through a +window already opened by the women for my exit. Away I sped bareheaded +through the pelting rain, now crashing through thick underbrush, now up +to my waist in swollen streams, plunging on and on, only mindful to +select a course that would baffle horsemen in pursuit. After some miles +of running I took cover behind a stack, within view of the road which +Mack must take in retreating to the other settlement; and sure enough +here he was, coming down the road with my cap and haversack, which was +already loaded for the western journey. Mack had remained undiscovered +under the bed, an interested listener to the conversation that ensued. +The officer had been assured that I was a friendly scout; but, convinced +of the contrary by my flight, he had departed swearing he would capture +that Yankee before morning if he had to search the whole settlement. So +alarmed were we for our safety that we crossed that night into a third +valley and slept in the loft of a horse-barn.</p> + +<p>On Sunday our expedition assembled on a hillside overlooking Shooting +Creek, where our friends in the secret of the movement came up to bid us +adieu. With guides we were a party of thirteen or fourteen, but only +three of us officers who were to pay for our safe conduct. Each man +carried his supply of bread and meat and bedding. Some were wrapped in +faded bed-quilts and some in tattered army blankets; nearly all wore +ragged clothes, broken shoes, and had unkempt beards. We arrived upon a +mountain-side overlooking the settlement of Peach Tree, and were +awaiting the friendly shades of night under which to descend to the +house of the man who was to put us across Valley River. Premature +darkness was accompanied with torrents of rain, through which we +followed our now uncertain guides. At last the light of the cabin we +were seeking gleamed humidly through the trees. Most of the family fled +into the outhouses at our approach, some of them not reappearing until +we were disposed for sleep in a half-circle before the fire. The last +arrivals were two tall women in homespun dresses and calico sunbonnets. +They slid timidly in at the door, with averted faces, and then with a +rush and a bounce covered themselves out of sight in a bed, where they +had probably been sleeping in the same clothing when we approached the +house. Here we learned that a cavalcade of four hundred Texan Rangers +had advanced into Tennessee by the roads on the day before. Our guides, +familiar with the movements of these dreaded troopers, calculated that +with the day's delay enforced by the state of the river a blow would +have been struck and the marauders would be in full retreat before we +should arrive on the ground. We passed that day concealed in a stable, +and as soon as it was sufficiently dark we proceeded in a body to the +bank of the river, attended by a man and a horse. The stream was narrow, +but the current was full and swift. The horse breasted the flood with +difficulty, but he bore us all across one at a time, seated behind the +farmer.</p> + +<p>We had now left behind us the last settlement, and before us lay only +wild and uninhabited mountains. The trail we traveled was an Indian path +extending for nearly seventy miles through an uninhabited wilderness. +Instead of crossing the ridges it follows the trend of the range, +winding for the most part along the crests of the divides. The +occasional traveler, having once mounted to its level, pursues his +solitary way with little climbing.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning of the fourth day our little party was assembled +upon the last mountain overlooking the open country of East Tennessee. +Some of us had been wandering in the mountains for the whole winter. We +were returning to a half-forgotten world of farms and fences, roads and +railways. Below us stretched the Tellico River away toward the line of +towns marking the course of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. One +of the guides who had ventured down to the nearest house returned with +information that the four hundred Texan Rangers had burned the depot at +Philadelphia Station the day before, but were now thought to be out of +the country. We could see the distant smoke arising from the ruins. +Where the river flowed out of the mountains were extensive iron-works, +the property of a loyal citizen, and in front of his house we halted for +consultation. He regretted that we had shown ourselves so soon, as the +rear-guard of the marauders had passed the night within sight of where +we now stood. Our nearest pickets were at Loudon, thirty miles distant +on the railway, and for this station we were advised to make all speed.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px"> +<a id="fig031" name="fig031"></a> +<a href="images/fig031.png"><img src="images/fig031_th.png" alt="meeting" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE MEETING WITH THE SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY.</span> +</div> + +<p>For half a mile the road ran along the bank of the river, and then +turned around a wooded bluff to the right. Opposite this bluff and +accessible by a shallow ford was another hill, where it was feared that +some of the Rangers were still lingering about their camp. As we came to +the turn in the road our company was walking rapidly in Indian file, +guide Edmonston and I at the front. Coming around the bluff from the +opposite direction was a countryman mounted on a powerful gray mare. His +overcoat was army blue, but he wore a bristling fur cap, and his rifle +was slung on his back. At sight of us he turned in his saddle to shout +to some one behind, and bringing his gun to bear came tearing and +swearing down the road, spattering the gravel under the big hoofs of the +gray. Close at his heels rode two officers in Confederate gray uniforms, +and a motley crowd of riders closed up the road behind. In an instant +the guide and I were surrounded, the whole cavalcade leveling their guns +at the thicket and calling on our companions, who could be plainly heard +crashing through the bushes, to halt. The dress of but few of our +captors could be seen, nearly all being covered with rubber talmas; but +their mounts, including mules as well as horses, were equipped with +every variety of bridle and saddle to be imagined. I knew at a glance +that this was no body of our cavalry. If we were in the hands of the +Rangers, the fate of the guides and refugees would be the hardest. I +thought they might spare the lives of the officers. "Who are you? What +are you doing here?" demanded the commander, riding up to us and +scrutinizing our rags. I hesitated a moment, and then, throwing off the +blanket I wore over my shoulders, simply said, "You can see what I am." +My rags were the rags of a uniform, and spoke for themselves.</p> + +<p>Our captors proved to be a company of the 2d Ohio Heavy Artillery, in +pursuit of the marauders into whose clutches we thought we had fallen. +The farmer on the gray mare was the guide of the expedition, and the two +men uniformed as rebel officers were Union scouts. The irregular +equipment of the animals, which had excited my suspicion most, as well +as the animals themselves, had been hastily impressed from the country +about the village of Loudon, where the 2d Ohio was stationed. On the +following evening, which was the 4th of March, the day of the second +inauguration of President Lincoln, we walked into Loudon and gladly +surrendered ourselves to the outposts of the Ohio Heavy Artillery.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="ESCAPE_OF_GENERAL_BRECKINRIDGE" id="ESCAPE_OF_GENERAL_BRECKINRIDGE"></a>ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE</h3> + +<h4>BY JOHN TAYLOR WOOD</h4> + + +<p>As one of the aides of President Jefferson Davis, I left Richmond with +him and his cabinet on April 2, 1865, the night of evacuation, and +accompanied him through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, until his +capture. Except Lieutenant Barnwell, I was the only one of the party who +escaped. After our surprise, I was guarded by a trooper, a German, who +had appropriated my horse and most of my belongings. I determined, if +possible, to escape; but after witnessing Mr. Davis's unsuccessful +attempt, I was doubtful of success. However, I consulted him, and he +advised me to try. Taking my guard aside, I asked him, by signs (for he +could speak little or no English), to accompany me outside the +picket-line to the swamp, showing him at the same time a twenty-dollar +gold piece. He took it, tried the weight of it in his hands, and put it +between his teeth. Fully satisfied that it was not spurious, he escorted +me with his carbine to the stream, the banks of which were lined with a +few straggling alder-bushes and thick saw-grass. I motioned him to +return to camp, only a few rods distant. He shook his head, saying, +"<i>Nein, nein</i>." I gave him another twenty-dollar gold piece; he chinked +them together, and held up two fingers. I turned my pockets inside out, +and then, satisfied that I had no more, he left me.</p> + +<p>Creeping a little farther into the swamp, I lay concealed for about +three hours in the most painful position, sometimes moving a few yards +almost <i>ventre à terre</i> to escape notice; for I was within hearing of +the camps on each side of the stream, and often when the soldiers came +down for water, or to water their horses, I was within a few yards of +them. Some two hours or more passed thus before the party moved. The +wagons left first, then the bugles sounded, and the president started on +one of his carriage-horses, followed by his staff and a squadron of the +enemy. Shortly after their departure I saw some one leading two +abandoned horses into the swamp, and recognized Lieutenant Barnwell of +our escort. Secreting the horses, we picked up from the debris of the +camp parts of two saddles and bridles, and with some patching and tying +fitted out our horses, as sad and war-worn animals as ever man bestrode. +Though hungry and tired, we gave the remains of the camp provisions to a +Mr. Fenn for dinner. He recommended us to Widow Paulk's, ten miles +distant, an old lady rich in cattle alone.</p> + +<p>The day after my escape, I met Judah P. Benjamin as M. Bonfals, a French +gentleman traveling for information, in a light wagon, with Colonel +Leovie, who acted as interpreter. With goggles on, his beard grown, a +hat well over his face, and a large cloak hiding his figure, no one +would have recognized him as the late secretary of state of the +Confederacy. I told him of the capture of Mr. Davis and his party, and +made an engagement to meet him near Madison, Florida, and there decide +upon our future movements. He was anxious to push on, and left us to +follow more leisurely, passing as paroled soldiers returning home. For +the next three days we traveled as fast as our poor horses would permit, +leading or driving them; for even if they had been strong enough, their +backs were in such a condition that we could not ride. We held on to +them simply in the hope that we might be able to dispose of them or +exchange them to advantage; but we finally were forced to abandon one.</p> + +<p>On the 13th we passed through Valdosta, the first place since leaving +Washington, in upper Georgia, in which we were able to purchase +anything. Here I secured two hickory shirts and a pair of socks, a most +welcome addition to my outfit; for, except what I stood in, I had left +all my baggage behind. Near Valdosta we found Mr. Osborne Barnwell, an +uncle of my young friend, a refugee from the coast of South Carolina, +where he had lost a beautiful estate, surrounded with all the comforts +and elegances which wealth and a refined taste could offer. Here in the +pine forests, as far as possible from the paths of war, and almost +outside of civilization, he had brought his family of ladies and +children, and with the aid of his servants, most of whom had followed +him, had built with a few tools a rough log cabin with six or eight +rooms, but without nails, screws, bolts, or glass—almost as primitive a +building as Robinson Crusoe's. But, in spite of all drawbacks, the +ingenuity and deft hands of the ladies had given to the premises an air +of comfort and refinement that was most refreshing. Here I rested two +days, enjoying the company of this charming family, with whom Lieutenant +Barnwell remained. On the 15th I crossed into Florida, and rode to +General Finnegan's, near Madison. Here I met General Breckinridge, the +late secretary of war of the Confederacy, alias Colonel Cabell, and his +aide, Colonel Wilson,—a pleasant encounter for both parties. Mr. +Benjamin had been in the neighborhood, but, hearing that the enemy were +in Madison, had gone off at a tangent. We were fully posted as to the +different routes to the seaboard by General Finnegan, and discussed with +him the most feasible way of leaving the country. I inclined to the +eastern coast, and this was decided on. I exchanged my remaining horse +with General Finnegan for a better, giving him fifty dollars to boot. +Leaving Madison, we crossed the Suwanee River at Moody's Ferry, and took +the old St. Augustine road, but seldom traveled in late years, as it +leads through a pine wilderness, and there is one stretch of twenty +miles with only water of bad quality, at the Diable Sinks. I rode out of +my way some fifteen miles to Mr. Yulee's, formerly senator of the United +States, and afterward Confederate senator, hoping to meet Mr. Benjamin; +but he was too wily to be found at the house of a friend. Mr. Yulee was +absent on my arrival, but Mrs. Yulee, a charming lady, and one of a +noted family of beautiful women, welcomed me heartily. Mr. Yulee +returned during the night from Jacksonville, and gave me the first news +of what was going on in the world that I had had for nearly a month, +including the information that Mr. Davis and party had reached Hilton +Head on their way north.</p> + +<p>Another day's ride brought us to the house of the brothers William and +Samuel Owens, two wealthy and hospitable gentlemen, near Orange Lake. +Here I rejoined General Breckinridge, and we were advised to secure the +services and experience of Captain Dickinson. We sent to Waldo for him, +and a most valuable friend he proved. During the war he had rendered +notable services; among others he had surprised and captured the United +States gunboat <i>Columbine</i> on the St. John's River, one of whose small +boats he had retained, and kept concealed near the banks of the river. +This boat with two of his best men he now put at our disposal, with +orders to meet us on the upper St. John.</p> + +<p>We now passed through a much more interesting country than the two or +three hundred miles of pines we had just traversed. It was better +watered, the forests were more diversified with varied species, +occasionally thickets or hummocks were met with, and later these gave +place to swamps and everglades with a tropical vegetation. The road led +by Silver Spring, the clear and crystal waters of which show at the +depth of hundreds of feet almost as distinctly as though seen through +air.</p> + +<p>We traveled incognito, known only to good friends, who sent us stage by +stage from one to another, and by all we were welcomed most kindly. +Besides those mentioned, I recall with gratitude the names of Judge +Dawkins, Mr. Mann, Colonel Summers, Major Stork, all of whom overwhelmed +us with kindness, offering us of everything they had. Of money they were +as bare as ourselves, for Confederate currency had disappeared as +suddenly as snow before a warm sun, and greenbacks were as yet unknown. +Before leaving our friends, we laid in a three weeks' supply of stores; +for we could not depend upon obtaining any further south.</p> + +<p>On May 25 we struck the St. John's River at Fort Butler, opposite +Volusia, where we met Russell and O'Toole, two of Dickinson's command, +in charge of the boat; and two most valuable and trustworthy comrades +they proved to be, either in camp or in the boat, as hunters or +fishermen. The boat was a man-of-war's small four-oared gig; her outfit +was scanty, but what was necessary we rapidly improvised. Here General +Breckinridge and I gave our horses to our companions, and thus ended my +long ride of a thousand miles from Virginia.</p> + +<p>Stowing our supplies away, we bade good-by to our friends, and started +up the river with a fair wind. Our party consisted of General +Breckinridge; his aide, Colonel Wilson of Kentucky; the general's +servant, Tom, who had been with him all through the war; besides +Russell, O'Toole, and I,—six in all. With our stores, arms, etc., it +was a tight fit to get into the boat; there was no room to lie down or +to stretch. At night we landed, and, like old campaigners, were soon +comfortable. But at midnight the rain came down in bucketfuls, and +continued till nearly morning; and, notwithstanding every effort, a +large portion of our supplies were soaked and rendered worthless, and, +what was worse, some of our powder shared the same fate.</p> + +<p>Morning broke on a thoroughly drenched and unhappy company; but a little +rum and water, with a corn-dodger and the rising sun, soon stirred us, +and with a fair wind we made a good day's run,—some thirty-five miles. +Except the ruins of two huts, there was no sign that a human being had +ever visited these waters; for the war and the occasional visit of a +gunboat had driven off the few settlers. The river gradually became +narrower and more tortuous as we approached its head waters. The banks +are generally low, with a few sandy elevations, thickly wooded or +swampy. Occasionally we passed a small opening, or savanna, on which +were sometimes feeding a herd of wild cattle and deer; at the latter we +had several potshots, all wide. Alligators, as immovable as the logs on +which they rested, could be counted by hundreds, and of all sizes up to +twelve or fifteen feet. Occasionally, as we passed uncomfortably near, +we could not resist, even with our scant supply of ammunition, giving +them a little cold lead between the head and shoulders, the only +vulnerable place. With a fair wind we sailed the twelve miles across +Lake Monroe, a pretty sheet of water, the deserted huts of Enterprise +and Mellonville on each side. Above the lake the river became still +narrower and more tortuous, dividing sometimes into numerous branches, +most of which proved to be mere <i>culs-de-sac</i>. The long moss, reaching +from the overhanging branches to the water, gave to the surroundings a +most weird and funereal aspect.</p> + +<p>On May 29 we reached Lake Harney, whence we determined to make the +portage to Indian River. O'Toole was sent to look for some means of +moving our boat. He returned next day with two small black bulls yoked +to a pair of wheels such as are used by lumbermen. Their owner was a +compound of Caucasian, African, and Indian, with the shrewdness of the +white, the good temper of the negro, and the indolence of the red man. +He was at first exorbitant in his demands; but a little money, some +tobacco, and a spare fowling-piece made him happy, and he was ready to +let us drive his beasts to the end of the peninsula. It required some +skill to mount the boat securely on the wheels and to guard against any +upsets or collisions, for our escape depended upon carrying it safely +across.</p> + +<p>The next morning we made an early start. Our course was an easterly one, +through a roadless, flat, sandy pine-barren, with an occasional thicket +and swamp. From the word "go" trouble with the bulls began. Their owner +seemed to think that in furnishing them he had fulfilled his part of the +contract. They would neither "gee" nor "haw"; if one started ahead, the +other would go astern. If by accident they started ahead together, they +would certainly bring up with their heads on each side of a tree. +Occasionally they would lie down in a pool to get rid of the flies, and +only by the most vigorous prodding could they be induced to move.</p> + +<p>Paul, the owner, would loiter in the rear, but was always on hand when +we halted for meals. Finally we told him, "No work, no grub; no drive +bulls, no tobacco." This roused him to help us. Two days were thus +occupied in covering eighteen miles. It would have been less labor to +have tied the beasts, put them into the boat, and hauled it across the +portage. The weather was intensely hot, and our time was made miserable +by day with sand-flies, and by night with mosquitos.</p> + +<p>The waters of Indian River were a most welcome sight, and we hoped that +most of our troubles were over. Paul and his bulls of Bashan were gladly +dismissed to the wilderness. Our first care was to make good any defects +in our boat: some leaks were stopped by a little calking and pitching. +Already our supply of provisions began to give us anxiety: only bacon +and sweet potatoes remained. The meal was wet and worthless, and, what +was worse, all our salt had dissolved. However, with the waters alive +with fish, and some game on shore, we hoped to pull through.</p> + +<p>We reached Indian River, or lagoon, opposite Cape Carnaveral. It extends +along nearly the entire eastern coast of Florida, varying in width from +three to six miles, and is separated from the Atlantic by a narrow sand +ridge, which is pierced at different points by shifting inlets. It is +very shoal, so much so that we were obliged to haul our boat out nearly +half a mile before she would float, and the water is teeming with +stingarees, sword-fish, crabs, etc. But once afloat, we headed to the +southward with a fair wind.</p> + +<p>For four days we continued to make good progress, taking advantage of +every fair wind by night as well as by day. Here, as on the St. John's +River, the same scene of desolation as far as human beings were +concerned was presented. We passed a few deserted cabins, around which +we were able to obtain a few cocoanuts and watermelons, a most welcome +addition to our slim commissariat. Unfortunately, oranges were not in +season. Whenever the breeze left us the heat was almost suffocating; +there was no escape for it. If we landed, and sought any shade, the +mosquitos would drive us at once to the glare of the sun. When sleeping +on shore, the best protection was to bury ourselves in the sand, with +cap drawn down over the head (my buckskin gauntlets proved invaluable); +if in the boat, to wrap the sail or tarpaulin around us. Besides this +plague, sand-flies, gnats, swamp-flies, ants, and other insects +abounded. The little black ant is especially bold and warlike. If, in +making our beds in the sand, we disturbed one of their hives, they would +rally in thousands to the attack, and the only safety was in a hasty +shake and change of residence. Passing Indian River inlet, the river +broadens, and there is a thirty-mile straight-away course to Gilbert's +Bar, or Old Inlet, now closed; then begin the Jupiter Narrows, where the +channel is crooked, narrow, and often almost closed by the dense growth +of mangroves, juniper, saw-grass, etc., making a jungle that only a +water-snake could penetrate. Several times we lost our reckoning, and +had to retreat and take a fresh start; an entire day was lost in these +everglades, which extend across the entire peninsula. Finally, by good +luck, we stumbled on a short "haulover" to the sea, and determined at +once to take advantage of it, and to run our boat across and launch her +in the Atlantic. A short half-mile over the sand-dunes, and we were +clear of the swamps and marshes of Indian River, and were reveling in +the Atlantic, free, at least for a time, from mosquitos, which had +punctured and bled us for the last three weeks.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig032" name="fig032"></a> +<img src="images/fig032.png" alt="sand" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">SAND AS A DEFENSE AGAINST MOSQUITOS.</span> +</div> + +<p>On Sunday, June 4, we passed Jupiter Inlet, with nothing in sight. The +lighthouse had been destroyed the first year of the war. From this point +we had determined to cross Florida Channel to the Bahamas, about eighty +miles; but the wind was ahead, and we could do nothing but work slowly +to the southward, waiting for a slant. It was of course a desperate +venture to cross this distance in a small open boat, which even a +moderate sea would swamp. Our provisions now became a very serious +question. As I have said, we had lost all the meal, and the sweet +potatoes, our next main-stay, were sufficient only for two days more. We +had but little more ammunition than was necessary for our revolvers, and +these we might be called upon to use at any time. Very fortunately for +us, it was the time of the year when the green turtle deposits its eggs. +Russell and O'Toole were old beach-combers, and had hunted eggs before. +Sharpening a stick, they pressed it into the sand as they walked along, +and wherever it entered easily they would dig. After some hours' search +we were successful in finding a nest which had not been destroyed, and I +do not think prospectors were ever more gladdened by the sight of "the +yellow" than we were at our find. The green turtle's egg is about the +size of a walnut, with a white skin like parchment that you can tear, +but not break. The yolk will cook hard, but the longer you boil the egg +the softer the white becomes. The flavor is not unpleasant, and for the +first two days we enjoyed them; but then we were glad to vary the fare +with a few shell-fish and even with snails.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig033" name="fig033"></a> +<img src="images/fig033.png" alt="eggs" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">SEARCHING FOR TURLES EGGS.</span> +</div> + +<p>From Cape Carnaveral to Cape Florida the coast trends nearly north and +south in a straight line, so that we could see at a long distance +anything going up or down the shore. Some distance to the southward of +Jupiter Inlet we saw a steamer coming down, running close to the beach +to avoid the three-and four-knot current of the stream. From her yards +and general appearance I soon made her out to be a cruiser, so we hauled +our boat well up on the sands, turned it over on its side, and went back +among the palmettos. When abreast of us and not more than half a mile +off, with colors flying, we could see the officer of the deck and +others closely scanning the shore. We were in hopes they would look upon +our boat as flotsam and jetsam, of which there was more or less strewn +upon the beach. To our great relief, the cruiser passed us, and when she +was two miles or more to the southward we ventured out and approached +the boat, but the sharp lookout saw us, and, to our astonishment, the +steamer came swinging about, and headed up the coast. The question at +once arose, What was the best course to pursue? The general thought we +had better take to the bush again, and leave the boat, hoping they would +not disturb it. Colonel Wilson agreed with his chief. I told him that +since we had been seen, the enemy would certainly destroy or carry off +the boat, and the loss meant, if not starvation, at least privation, and +no hope of escaping from the country. Besides, the mosquitos would suck +us as dry as Egyptian mummies. I proposed that we should meet them +half-way, in company with Russell and O'Toole, who were paroled men, and +fortunately had their papers with them, and I offered to row off and see +what was wanted. He agreed, and, launching our boat and throwing in two +buckets of eggs, we pulled out. By this time the steamer was abreast of +us, and had lowered a boat which met us half-way. I had one oar, and +O'Toole the other. To the usual hail I paid no attention except to stop +rowing. A ten-oared cutter with a smart-looking crew dashed alongside. +The sheen was not yet off the lace and buttons of the youngster in +charge. With revolver in hand he asked us who we were, where we came +from, and where we were going. "Cap'n," said I, "please put away +that-ar pistol,—I don't like the looks of it,—and I'll tell you all +about us. We've been rebs and there ain't no use saying we weren't; but +it's all up now, and we got home too late to put in a crop, so we just +made up our minds to come down shore and see if we couldn't find +something. It's all right, Cap'n; we've got our papers. Want to see 'em? +Got 'em fixed up at Jacksonville." O'Toole and Russell handed him their +paroles, which he said were all right. He asked for mine. I turned my +pockets out, looked in my hat, and said: "I must er dropped mine in +camp, but 'tis just the same as theirn." He asked who was ashore. I told +him, "There's more of we-uns b'iling some turtle-eggs for dinner. Cap'n, +I'd like to swap some eggs for tobacco or bread." His crew soon produced +from the slack of their frocks pieces of plug, which they passed on +board in exchange for our eggs. I told the youngster if he'd come to +camp we'd give him as many as he could eat. Our hospitality was +declined. Among other questions he asked if there were any batteries on +shore—a battery on a beach where there was not a white man within a +hundred miles! "Up oars—let go forward—let fall—give 'way!" were all +familiar orders; but never before had they sounded so welcome. As they +shoved off, the coxswain said to the youngster, "That looks like a +man-of-war's gig, sir"; but he paid no attention to him. We pulled +leisurely ashore, watching the cruiser. The boat went up to the davits +at a run, and she started to the southward again. The general was very +much relieved, for it was a narrow escape.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig034" name="fig034"></a> +<img src="images/fig034.png" alt="lagoon" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">THROUGH A SHALLOW LAGOON.</span> +</div> + +<p>The wind still holding to the southward and eastward, we could work +only slowly to the southward, against wind and current. At times we +suffered greatly for want of water; our usual resource was to dig for +it, but often it was so brackish and warm that when extreme thirst +forced its use the consequences were violent pains and retchings. One +morning we saw a few wigwams ashore, and pulled in at once and landed. +It was a party of Seminoles who had come out of the everglades like the +bears to gather eggs. They received us kindly, and we devoured +ravenously the remnants of their breakfast of fish and <i>kountee</i>. Only +the old chief spoke a little English. Not more than two or three hundred +of this once powerful and warlike tribe remain in Florida; they occupy +some islands in this endless swamp to the southward of Lake Okeechobee. +They have but little intercourse with the whites, and come out on the +coast only at certain seasons to fish. We were very anxious to obtain +some provisions from them, but excepting kountee they had nothing to +spare. This is an esculent resembling arrowroot, which they dig, +pulverize, and use as flour. Cooked in the ashes, it makes a palatable +but tough cake, which we enjoyed after our long abstinence from bread. +The old chief took advantage of our eagerness for supplies, and +determined to replenish his powder-horn. Nothing else would do; not even +an old coat, or fish-hooks, or a cavalry saber would tempt him. Powder +only he would have for their long, heavy small-bore rifles with +flintlocks, such as Davy Crockett used. We reluctantly divided with him +our very scant supply in exchange for some of their flour. We parted +good friends, after smoking the pipe of peace.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig035" name="fig035"></a> +<img src="images/fig035.png" alt="sloop" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">EXCHANGING THE BOAT FOR THE SLOOP.</span> +</div> + +<p>On the 7th, off New River Inlet, we discovered a small sail standing to +the northward. The breeze was very light, so we downed our sail, got out +our oars, and gave chase. The stranger stood out to seaward, and +endeavored to escape; but slowly we overhauled her, and finally a shot +caused her mainsail to drop. As we pulled alongside I saw from the dress +of the crew of three that they were man-of-war's men, and divined that +they were deserters. They were thoroughly frightened at first, for our +appearance was not calculated to impress them favorably. To our +questions they returned evasive answers or were silent, and finally +asked by what authority we had overhauled them. We told them that the +war was not over so far as we were concerned; that they were our +prisoners, and their boat our prize; that they were both deserters and +pirates, the punishment of which was death; but that under the +circumstances we would not surrender them to the first cruiser we met, +but would take their paroles and exchange boats. To this they +strenuously objected. They were well armed, and although we outnumbered +them five to three (not counting Tom), still, if they could get the +first bead on us the chances were about equal. They were desperate, and +not disposed to surrender their boat without a tussle. The general and I +stepped into their boat, and ordered the spokesman and leader to go +forward. He hesitated a moment, and two revolvers looked him in the +face. Sullenly he obeyed our orders. The general said, "Wilson, disarm +that man." The colonel, with pistol in hand, told him to hold up his +hands. He did so while the colonel drew from his belt a navy revolver +and a sheath-knife. The other two made no further show of resistance, +but handed us their arms. The crew disposed of, I made an examination of +our capture. Unfortunately, her supply of provisions was very +small—only some "salt-horse" and hardtack, with a breaker of fresh +water, and we exchanged part of them for some of our konatee and +turtles' eggs. But it was in our new boat that we were particularly +fortunate: sloop-rigged, not much longer than our gig, but with more +beam and plenty of freeboard, decked over to the mast, and well found in +sails and rigging. After our experience in a boat the gunwale of which +was not more than eighteen inches out of water, we felt that we had a +craft able to cross the Atlantic. Our prisoners, submitting to the +inevitable, soon made themselves at home in their new boat, became more +communicative, and wanted some information as to the best course by +which to reach Jacksonville or Savannah. We were glad to give them the +benefit of our experience, and on parting handed them their knives and +two revolvers, for which they were very thankful.</p> + +<p>Later we were abreast of Green Turtle Key, with wind light and ahead; +still, with all these drawbacks, we were able to make some progress. Our +new craft worked and sailed well, after a little addition of ballast. +Before leaving the coast, we found it would be necessary to call at Fort +Dallas or some other point for supplies. It was running a great risk, +for we did not know whom we should find there, whether friend or foe. +But without at least four or five days' rations of some kind, it would +not be safe to attempt the passage across the Gulf Stream. However, +before venturing to do so, we determined to try to replenish our larder +with eggs. Landing on the beach, we hunted industriously for some hours, +literally scratching for a living; but the ground had evidently been +most effectually gone over before, as the tracks of bears proved. A few +onions, washed from some passing vessel, were eagerly devoured. We +scanned the washings along the strand in vain for anything that would +satisfy hunger. Nothing remained but to make the venture of stopping at +the fort. This fort, like many others, was established during the +Seminole war, and at its close was abandoned. It is near the mouth of +the Miami River, a small stream which serves as an outlet to the +overflow of the everglades. Its banks are crowded to the water's edge +with tropical verdure, with many flowering plants and creepers, all the +colors of which are reflected in its clear waters. The old barracks were +in sight as we slowly worked our way against the current. Located in a +small clearing, with cocoanut-trees in the foreground, the white +buildings made, with a backing of deep green, a very pretty picture. We +approached cautiously, not knowing with what reception we should meet. +As we neared the small wharf, we found waiting some twenty or thirty +men, of all colors, from the pale Yankee to the ebony Congo, all armed: +a more motley and villainous-looking crew never trod the deck of one of +Captain Kidd's ships. We saw at once with whom we had to deal—deserters +from the army and navy of both sides, with a mixture of Spaniards and +Cubans, outlaws and renegades. A burly villain, towering head and +shoulders above his companions, and whose shaggy black head scorned any +covering, hailed us in broken English, and asked who we were. Wreckers, +I replied; that we left our vessel outside, and had come in for water +and provisions. He asked where we had left our vessel, and her name, +evidently suspicious, which was not surprising, for our appearance was +certainly against us. Our head-gear was unique: the general wore a straw +hat that napped over his head like the ears of an elephant; Colonel +Wilson, an old cavalry cap that had lost its visor; another, a turban +made of some number 4 duck canvas; and all were in our shirt-sleeves, +the colors of which were as varied as Joseph's coat. I told him we had +left her to the northward a few miles, that a gunboat had spoken us a +few hours before, and had overhauled our papers, and had found them all +right. After a noisy powwow we were told to land, that our papers might +be examined. I said no, but if a canoe were sent off, I would let one of +our men go on shore and buy what we wanted. I was determined not to +trust our boat within a hundred yards of the shore. Finally a canoe +paddled by two negroes came off, and said no one but the captain would +be permitted to land. O'Toole volunteered to go, but the boatmen would +not take him, evidently having had their orders. I told them to tell +their chief that we had intended to spend a few pieces of gold with +them, but since he would not permit it, we would go elsewhere for +supplies. We got out our sweeps, and moved slowly down the river, a +light breeze helping us. The canoe returned to the shore, and soon some +fifteen or twenty men crowded into four or five canoes and dugouts, and +started for us. We prepared for action, determined to give them a warm +reception. Even Tom looked after his carbine, putting on a fresh cap.</p> + +<p>Though outnumbered three to one, still we were well under cover in our +boat, and could rake each canoe as it came up. We determined to take all +the chances, and to open fire as soon as they came within range. I told +Russell to try a shot at one some distance ahead of the others. He broke +two paddles on one side and hit one man, not a bad beginning. This canoe +dropped to the rear at once; the occupants of the others opened fire, +but their shooting was wild from the motions of their small craft. The +general tried and missed; Tom thought he could do better than his +master, and made a good line shot, but short. The general advised +husbanding our ammunition until they came within easy range. Waiting a +little while, Russell and the colonel fired together, and the bowman in +the nearest canoe rolled over, nearly upsetting her. They were now +evidently convinced that we were in earnest, and, after giving us an +ineffectual volley, paddled together to hold a council of war. Soon a +single canoe with three men started for us with a white flag. We hove +to, and waited for them to approach. When within hail, I asked what was +wanted. A white man, standing in the stern, with two negroes paddling, +replied:</p> + +<p>"What did you fire on us for? We are friends."</p> + +<p>"Friends do not give chase to friends."</p> + +<p>"We wanted to find out who you are."</p> + +<p>"I told you who we are; and if you are friends, sell us some +provisions."</p> + +<p>"Come on shore, and you can get what you want."</p> + +<p>Our wants were urgent, and it was necessary, if possible, to make some +terms with them; but it would not be safe to venture near their lair +again. We told them that if they would bring us some supplies we would +wait, and pay them well in gold. The promise of gold served as a bait to +secure some concession. After some parleying it was agreed that O'Toole +should go on shore in their canoe, be allowed to purchase some +provisions, and return in two hours. The bucaneer thought the time too +short, but I insisted that if O'Toole were not brought back in two +hours, I would speak the first gunboat I met, and return with her and +have their nest of freebooters broken up. Time was important, for we had +noticed soon after we had started down the river a black column of smoke +ascending from near the fort, undoubtedly a signal to some of their +craft in the vicinity to return, for I felt convinced that they had +other craft besides canoes at their disposal; hence their anxiety to +detain us. O'Toole was told to be as dumb as an oyster as to ourselves, +but wide awake as to the designs of our dubious friends. The general +gave him five eagles for his purchase, tribute-money. He jumped into the +canoe, and all returned to the fort. We dropped anchor underfoot to +await his return, keeping a sharp lookout for any strange sail. The two +hours passed in pleasant surmises as to what he would bring off; another +half-hour passed, and no sign of his return; and we began to despair of +our anticipated feast, and of O'Toole, a bright young Irishman, whose +good qualities had endeared him to us all. The anchor was up, and slowly +with a light breeze we drew away from the river, debating what should be +our next move. The fort was shut in by a projecting point, and three or +four miles had passed when the welcome sight of a canoe astern made us +heave to. It was O'Toole with two negroes, a bag of hard bread, two +hams, some rusty salt pork, sweet potatoes, fruit, and, most important +of all, two breakers of water and a keg of New England rum. While +O'Toole gave us his experience, a ham was cut, and a slice between two +of hardtack, washed down with a jorum of rum and water, with a dessert +of oranges and bananas, was a feast to us more enjoyable than any ever +eaten at Delmonico's or the Café Riche. On his arrival on shore, our +ambassador had been taken to the quarters of Major Valdez, who claimed +to be an officer of the Federals, and by him he was thoroughly +cross-examined. He had heard of the breaking up of the Confederacy, but +not of the capture of Mr. Davis, and was evidently skeptical of our +story as to being wreckers, and connected us in some way with the losing +party, either as persons of note or a party escaping with treasure. +However, O'Toole baffled all his queries, and was proof against both +blandishments and threats. He learned what he had expected, that they +were looking for the return of a schooner; hence the smoke signal, and +the anxiety to detain us as long as possible. It was only when he saw us +leaving, after waiting over two hours, that the major permitted him to +make a few purchases and rejoin us.</p> + +<p>Night, coming on, found us inside of Key Biscayne, the beginning of the +system of innumerable keys, or small islands, extending from this point +to the Tortugas, nearly two hundred miles east and west, at the +extremity of the peninsula. Of coral formation, as soon as it is built +up to the surface of the water it crumbles under the action of the sea +and sun. Sea-fowl rest upon it, dropping the seed of some marine plants, +or the hard mangrove is washed ashore on it, and its all-embracing roots +soon spread in every direction; so are formed these keys. Darkness and +shoal water warned us to anchor. We passed an unhappy night fighting +mosquitos. As the sun rose, we saw to the eastward a schooner of thirty +or forty tons standing down toward us with a light wind; no doubt it was +one from the fort sent in pursuit. Up anchor, up sail, out sweeps, and +we headed down Biscayne Bay, a shoal sheet of water between the reefs +and mainland. The wind rose with the sun, and, being to windward, the +schooner had the benefit of it first, and was fast overhauling us. The +water was shoaling, which I was not sorry to see, for our draft must +have been from two to three feet less than that of our pursuer, and we +recognized that our best chance of escape was by drawing him into shoal +water, while keeping afloat ourselves. By the color and break of the +water I saw that we were approaching a part of the bay where the shoals +appeared to extend nearly across, with narrow channels between them like +the furrows in a plowed field, with occasional openings from one channel +into another. Some of the shoals were just awash, others bare. Ahead was +a reef on which there appeared but very little water. I could see no +opening into the channel beyond. To attempt to haul by the wind on +either tack would bring us in a few minutes under fire of the schooner +now coming up hand over hand. I ordered the ballast to be thrown +overboard, and determined, as our only chance, to attempt to force her +over the reef. She was headed for what looked like a little breakwater +on our port bow. As the ballast went overboard we watched the bottom +anxiously; the water shoaled rapidly, and the grating of the keel over +the coral, with that peculiar tremor most unpleasant to a seaman under +any circumstances, told us our danger. As the last of the ballast went +overboard she forged ahead, and then brought up. Together we went +overboard, and sank to our waists in the black, pasty mud, through which +at intervals branches of rotten coral projected, which only served to +make the bottom more treacherous and difficult to work on. Relieved of a +half-ton of our weight, our sloop forged ahead three or four lengths, +and then brought up again. We pushed her forward some distance, but as +the water lessened, notwithstanding our efforts, she stopped.</p> + +<p>Looking astern, we saw the schooner coming up wing and wing, not more +than a mile distant. Certainly the prospect was blue; but one chance was +left, to sacrifice everything in the boat. Without hesitation, +overboard went the provisions except a few biscuits; the oars were made +fast to the main-sheet alongside, and a breaker of water, the anchor and +chain, all spare rope, indeed everything that weighed a pound, was +dropped alongside, and then, three on each side, our shoulders under the +boat's bilges, at the word we lifted together, and foot by foot moved +her forward. Sometimes the water would deepen a little and relieve us; +again it would shoal. Between the coral-branches we would sink at times +to our necks in the slime and water, our limbs lacerated with the sharp +projecting points. Fortunately, the wind helped us; keeping all sail on, +thus for more than a hundred yards we toiled, until the water deepened +and the reef was passed. Wet, foul, bleeding, with hardly strength +enough to climb into the boat, we were safe at last for a time. As we +cleared the shoal, the schooner hauled by the wind, and opened fire from +a nine-or twelve-pounder; but we were at long range, and the firing was +wild. With a fair wind we soon opened the distance between us.</p> + +<p>General Breckinridge, thoroughly used up, threw himself down in the +bottom of the boat; at which Tom, always on the lookout for his master's +comfort, said, "Marse John, s'pose you take a little rum and water." +This proposal stirred us all. The general rose, saying, "Yes, indeed, +Tom, I will; but where is the rum?" supposing it had been sacrificed +with everything else.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100%"> +<a id="fig036" name="fig036"></a> +<img src="images/fig036.png" alt="reef" width="100%" /> +<span class="caption">OVER A CORAL-REEF.</span> +</div> + +<p>"I sees you pitchin' eberyt'ing away; I jes put this jug in hyar, 'ca'se +I 'lowed you'd want some."</p> + +<p>Opening a looker in the transom, he took out the jug. Never was a potion +more grateful; we were faint and thirsty, and it acted like a charm, +and, bringing up on another reef, we were ready for another tussle. +Fortunately, this proved only a short lift. In the mean time the +schooner had passed through the first reef by an opening, as her skipper +was undoubtedly familiar with these waters. Still another shoal was +ahead; instead of again lifting our sloop over it, I hauled by the wind, +and stood for what looked like an opening to the eastward. Our pursuers +were on the opposite tack and fast approaching; a reef intervened, and +when abeam, distant about half a mile, they opened fire both with their +small arms and boat-gun. The second shot from the latter was well +directed; it grazed our mast and carried away the luff of the mainsail. +Several Minié balls struck on our sides without penetrating; we did not +reply, and kept under cover. When abreast of a break in the reef, we up +helm, and again went off before the wind. The schooner was now satisfied +that she could not overhaul us, and stood off to the northward.</p> + +<p>Free from our enemy, we were now able to take stock of our supplies and +determine what to do. Our provisions consisted of about ten pounds of +hard bread, a twenty-gallon breaker of water, two thirds full, and three +gallons of rum. Really a fatality appeared to follow us as regards our +commissariat. Beginning with our first drenching on the St. John's, +every successive supply had been lost, and now what we had bought with +so much trouble yesterday, the sellers compelled us to sacrifice to-day. +But our first care was to ballast the sloop, for without it she was so +crank as to be unseaworthy. This was not an easy task; the shore of all +the keys, as well as that of the mainland in sight, was low and swampy, +and covered to the water's edge with a dense growth of mangroves. What +made matters worse, we were without any ground-tackle.</p> + +<p>At night we were up to Elliott's Key, and anchored by making fast to a +sweep shoved into the muddy bottom like a shad-pole. When the wind went +down, the mosquitos came off in clouds. We wrapped ourselves in the +sails from head to feet, with only our nostrils exposed. At daylight we +started again to the westward, looking for a dry spot where we might +land, get ballast, and possibly some supplies. A few palm-trees rising +from the mangroves indicated a spot where we might find a little <i>terra +firma</i>. Going in as near as was prudent, we waded ashore, and found a +small patch of sand and coral elevated a few feet above the everlasting +swamp. Some six or eight cocoa-palms rose to the height of forty or +fifty feet, and under their umbrella-like tops we could see the bunches +of green fruit. It was a question how to get at it. Without saying a +word, Tom went on board the boat, brought off a piece of canvas, cut a +strip a yard long, tied the ends together, and made two holes for his +big toes. The canvas, stretched between his feet, embraced the rough +bark so that he rapidly ascended. He threw down the green nuts, and +cutting through the thick shell, we found about half a pint of milk. The +general suggested a little milk-punch. All the trees were stripped, and +what we did not use we saved for sea-stores.</p> + +<p>To ballast our sloop was our next care. The jib was unbent, the sheet +and head were brought together and made into a sack. This was filled +with sand, and, slung on an oar, was shouldered by two and carried on +board.</p> + +<p>Leaving us so engaged, the general started to try to knock over some of +the numerous water-fowl in sight. He returned in an hour thoroughly used +up from his struggles in the swamp, but with two pelicans and a white +crane. In the stomach of one of the first were a dozen or more mullet, +from six to nine inches in length which had evidently just been +swallowed. We cleaned them, and wrapping them in palmetto-leaves, +roasted them in the ashes, and they proved delicious. Tom took the birds +in hand, and as he was an old campaigner, who had cooked everything from +a stalled ox to a crow, we had faith in his ability to make them +palatable. He tried to pick them, but soon abandoned it, and skinned +them. We looked on anxiously, ready after our first course of fish for +something more substantial. He broiled them, and with a flourish laid +one before the general on a clean leaf, saying, "I's 'feared, Marse +John, it's tough as an old muscovy drake."</p> + +<p>"Let me try it, Tom."</p> + +<p>After some exertion he cut off a mouthful, while we anxiously awaited +the verdict. Without a word he rose and disappeared into the bushes. +Returning in a few minutes, he told Tom to remove the game. His tone and +expression satisfied us that pelican would not keep us from starving. +The colonel thought the crane might be better, but a taste satisfied us +that it was no improvement.</p> + +<p>Hungry and tired, it was nearly night before we were ready to move; and, +warned by our sanguinary experience of the previous night, we determined +to haul off from the shore as far as possible, and get outside the range +of the mosquitos. It was now necessary to determine upon our future +course. We had abandoned all hope of reaching the Bahamas, and the +nearest foreign shore was that of Cuba, distant across the Gulf Stream +from our present position about two hundred miles, or three or four +days' sail, with the winds we might expect at this season. With the +strictest economy our provisions would not last so long. However, nearly +a month in the swamps and among the keys of Florida, in the month of +June, had prepared us to face almost any risk to escape from those +shores, and it was determined to start in the morning for Cuba. Well out +in the bay we hove to, and passed a fairly comfortable night; next day +early we started for Cæsar's Canal, a passage between Elliott's Key and +Key Largo. The channel was crooked and puzzling, leading through a +labyrinth of mangrove islets, around which the current of the Gulf +Stream was running like a sluice; we repeatedly got aground, when we +would jump overboard and push off. So we worked all day before we were +clear of the keys and outside among the reefs, which extend three or +four miles beyond. Waiting again for daylight, we threaded our way +through them, and with a light breeze from the eastward steered south, +thankful to feel again the pulsating motion of the ocean.</p> + +<p>Several sail and one steamer were in sight during the day, but all at a +distance. Constant exposure had tanned us the color of mahogany, and our +legs and feet were swollen and blistered from being so much in the salt +water, and the action of the hot sun on them made them excessively +painful. Fortunately, but little exertion was now necessary, and our +only relief was in lying still, with an impromptu awning over us. +General Breckinridge took charge of the water and rum, doling it out at +regular intervals, a tot at a time, determined to make it last as long +as possible.</p> + +<p>Toward evening the wind was hardly strong enough to enable us to hold +our own against the stream. At ten, Carysfort Light was abeam, and soon +after a dark bank of clouds rising in the eastern sky betokened a change +of wind and weather. Everything was made snug and lashed securely, with +two reefs in the mainsail, and the bonnet taken off the jib. I knew from +experience what we might expect from summer squalls in the straits of +Florida. I took the helm, the general the sheet, Colonel Wilson was +stationed by the halyards, Russell and O'Toole were prepared to bail. +Tom, thoroughly demoralized, was already sitting in the bottom of the +boat, between the general's knees. The sky was soon completely overcast +with dark lowering clouds; the darkness, which could almost be felt, was +broken every few minutes by lurid streaks of lightning chasing one +another through black abysses. Fitful gusts of wind were the heralds of +the coming blast. Great drops of rain fell like the scattering fire of a +skirmish-line, and with a roar like a thousand trumpets we heard the +blast coming, giving us time only to lower everything and get the stern +of the boat to it, for our only chance was to run with the storm until +the rough edge was taken off, and then heave to. I cried, "All hands +down!" as the gale struck us with the force of a thunderbolt, carrying a +wall of white water with it which burst over us like a cataract. I +thought we were swamped as I clung desperately to the tiller, though +thrown violently against the boom. But after the shock, our brave little +boat, though half filled, rose and shook herself like a spaniel. The +mast bent like a whip-stick, and I expected to see it blown out of her, +but, gathering way, we flew with the wind. The surface was lashed into +foam as white as the driven snow. The lightning and artillery of the +heavens were incessant, blinding, and deafening; involuntarily we bowed +our heads, utterly helpless. Soon the heavens were opened, and the +floods came down like a waterspout. I knew then that the worst of it had +passed, and though one fierce squall succeeded another, each one was +tamer. The deluge, too, helped to beat down the sea. To give an order +was impossible, for I could not be heard; I could only, during the +flashes, make signs to Russell and O'Toole to bail. Tying themselves and +their buckets to the thwarts, they went to work and soon relieved her of +a heavy load.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px"> +<a id="fig037" name="fig037"></a> +<a href="images/fig037.png"><img src="images/fig037_th.png" alt="stream" /></a> +<span class="caption">A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE GULF STREAM.</span> +</div> + +<p>From the general direction of the wind I knew without compass or any +other guide that we were running to the westward, and, I feared, were +gradually approaching the dreaded reefs, where in such a sea our boat +would have been reduced to match-wood in a little while. Therefore, +without waiting for the wind or sea to moderate, I determined to heave +to, hazardous as it was to attempt anything of the kind. Giving the +colonel the helm, I lashed the end of the gaff to the boom, and then +loosed enough of the mainsail to goose-wing it, or make a leg-of-mutton +sail of it. Then watching for a lull or a smooth time, I told him to put +the helm a-starboard and let her come to on the port tack, head to the +southward, and at the same time I hoisted the sail. She came by the wind +quickly without shipping a drop of water, but as I was securing the +halyards the colonel gave her too much helm, bringing the wind on the +other bow, the boom flew round and knocked my feet from under me, and +overboard I went. Fortunately, her way was deadened, and as I came up I +seized the sheet, and with the general's assistance scrambled on board. +For twelve hours or more I did not trust the helm to any one. The storm +passed over to the westward with many a departing growl and threat. But +the wind still blew hoarsely from the eastward with frequent gusts +against the stream, making a heavy, sharp sea. In the trough of it the +boat was becalmed, but as she rose on the crest of the waves even the +little sail set was as much as she could stand up under, and she had to +be nursed carefully; for if she had fallen off, one breaker would have +swamped us, or any accident to sail or spar would have been fatal: but +like a gull on the waters, our brave little craft rose and breasted +every billow.</p> + +<p>By noon the next day the weather had moderated sufficiently to make more +sail, and the sea went down at the same time. Then, hungry and thirsty, +Tom was thought of. During the gale he had remained in the bottom of the +boat as motionless as a log. As he was roused up, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Marse John, whar is you, and whar is you goin'? 'Fore de Lord, I never +want to see a boat again."</p> + +<p>"Come, Tom, get us something to drink, and see if there is anything left +to eat," said the general. But Tom was helpless.</p> + +<p>The general served out a small ration of water and rum, every drop of +which was precious. Our small store of bread was found soaked, but, laid +in the sun, it partly dried, and was, if not palatable, at least a +relief to hungry men.</p> + +<p>During the next few days the weather was moderate, and we stood to the +southward; several sail were in sight, but at a distance. We were +anxious to speak one even at some risk, for our supplies were down to a +pint of rum in water each day under a tropical sun, with two +water-soaked biscuits. On the afternoon of the second day a brig drifted +slowly down toward us; we made signals that we wished to speak her, and, +getting out our sweeps, pulled for her. As we neared her, the captain +hailed and ordered us to keep off. I replied that we were shipwrecked +men, and only wanted some provisions. As we rounded to under his stern, +we could see that he had all his crew of seven or eight men at quarters. +He stood on the taff-rail with a revolver in hand, his two mates with +muskets, the cook with a huge tormentor, and the crew with handspikes.</p> + +<p>"I tell you again, keep off, or I'll let fly."</p> + +<p>"Captain, we won't go on board if you will give us some provisions; we +are starving."</p> + +<p>"Keep off, I tell you. Boys, make ready."</p> + +<p>One of the mates drew a bead on me; our eyes met in a line over the +sights on the barrel. I held up my right hand.</p> + +<p>"Will you fire on an unarmed man? Captain, you are no sailor, or you +would not refuse to help shipwrecked men."</p> + +<p>"How do I know who you are? And I've got no grub to spare."</p> + +<p>"Here is a passenger who is able to pay you," said I, pointing to the +general.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I will pay for anything you let us have."</p> + +<p>The captain now held a consultation with his officers, and then said: +"I'll give you some water and bread. I've got nothing else. But you must +not come alongside."</p> + +<p>A small keg, or breaker, was thrown overboard and picked up, with a bag +of fifteen or twenty pounds of hardtack. This was the reception given us +by the brig <i>Neptune</i> of Bangor. But when the time and place are +considered, we cannot wonder at the captain's precautions, for a more +piratical-looking party than we never sailed the Spanish main. General +Breckinridge, bronzed the color of mahogany, unshaven, with long +mustache, wearing a blue flannel shirt open at the neck, exposing his +broad chest, with an old slouch hat, was a typical bucaneer. Thankful +for what we had received, we parted company. Doubtless the captain +reported on his arrival home a blood-curdling story of his encounter +with pirates off the coast of Cuba.</p> + +<p>"Marse John, I thought the war was done. Why didn't you tell dem folks +who you was?" queried Tom. The general told Tom they were Yankees, and +would not believe us. "Is dar any Yankees whar you goin'?—'ca'se if dar +is, we best go back to old Kentucky." He was made easy on this point, +and, with an increase in our larder, became quite perky. A change in the +color of the water showed us that we were on soundings, and had crossed +the Stream, and soon after we came in sight of some rocky islets, which +I recognized as Double-Headed Shot Keys, thus fixing our position; for +our chart, with the rest of our belongings, had disappeared, or had been +destroyed by water, and as the heavens, by day and night, were our only +guide, our navigation was necessarily very uncertain. For the next +thirty miles our course to the southward took us over Salt Key Bank, +where the soundings varied from three to five fathoms, but so clear was +the water that it was hard to believe that the coral, the shells, and +the marine flowers were not within arm's reach. Fishes of all sizes and +colors darted by us in every direction. The bottom of the bank was a +constantly varying kaleidoscope of beauty. But to starving men, with not +a mouthful in our grasp, this display of food was tantalizing. Russell, +who was an expert swimmer, volunteered to dive for some conchs and +shell-fish; oysters there were none. Asking us to keep a sharp lookout +on the surface of the water for sharks, which generally swim with the +dorsal fin exposed, he went down and brought up a couple of live conchs +about the size of a man's fist. Breaking the shell, we drew the +quivering body out. Without its coat it looked like a huge grub, and not +more inviting. The general asked Tom to try it.</p> + +<p>"Glory, Marse John, I'm mighty hungry, nebber so hungry sense we been in +de almy, and I'm just ready for ole mule, pole-cat, or anyt'ing 'cept +dis worm."</p> + +<p>After repeated efforts to dissect it we agreed with Tom, and found it +not more edible than a pickled football. However, Russell, diving again, +brought up bivalves with a very thin shell and beautiful colors, in +shape like a large pea-pod. These we found tolerable; they served to +satisfy in some small degree our craving for food. The only drawback was +that eating them produced great thirst, which is much more difficult to +bear than hunger. We found partial relief in keeping our heads and +bodies wet with salt water.</p> + +<p>On the sixth day from the Florida coast we crossed Nicholas Channel with +fair wind. Soon after we made the Cuban coast, and stood to the +westward, hoping to sight something which would determine our position. +After a run of some hours just outside of the coral-reefs, we sighted in +the distance some vessels at anchor. As we approached, a large town was +visible at the head of the bay, which proved to be Cardenas. We offered +prayful thanks for our wonderful escape, and anchored just off the +custom-house, and waited some time for the health officer to give us +pratique. But as no one came off in answer to our signals, I went on +shore to report at the custom-house. It was some time before I could +make them comprehend that we were from Florida, and anxious to land. +Their astonishment was great at the size of our boat, and they could +hardly believe we had crossed in it. Our arrival produced as much +sensation as would that of a liner. We might have been filibusters in +disguise. The governor-general had to be telegraphed to; numerous papers +were made out and signed; a register was made out for the sloop <i>No +Name</i>; then we had to make a visit to the governor before we were +allowed to go to a hotel to get something to eat. After a cup of coffee +and a light meal I had a warm bath, and donned some clean linen which +our friends provided.</p> + +<p>We were overwhelmed with attentions, and when the governor-general +telegraphed that General Breckinridge was to be treated as one holding +his position and rank, the officials became as obsequious as they had +been overbearing and suspicious. The next day one of the +governor-general's aides-de-camp arrived from Havana, with an +invitation for the general and the party to visit him, which we +accepted, and after two days' rest took the train for the capital. A +special car was placed at our disposal, and on our arrival the general +was received with all the honors. We were driven to the palace, had a +long interview, and dined with Governor-General Concha. The transition +from a small open boat at sea, naked and starving, to the luxuries and +comforts of civilized life was as sudden as it was welcome and +thoroughly appreciated.</p> + +<p>At Havana our party separated. General Breckinridge and Colonel Wilson +have since crossed the great river; Russell and O'Toole returned to +Florida. I should be glad to know what has become of faithful Tom.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes +of the Civil War, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + +***** This file should be named 18765-h.htm or 18765-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/6/18765/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War + +Author: Various + +Editor: G.W. Cable + +Release Date: July 6, 2006 [EBook #18765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: QUESTIONING A PRISONER.] + + + + +FAMOUS ADVENTURES +AND PRISON ESCAPES +OF THE CIVIL WAR + + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. + +1913 + +Copyright 1885, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1893, by + +THE CENTURY CO. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +WAR DIARY OF A UNION WOMAN IN THE SOUTH 1 + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE IN GEORGIA 83 + +A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS 116 + +COLONEL ROSE'S TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON 184 + +A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL OUT OF DIXIE 243 + +ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE 298 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + +QUESTIONING A PRISONER Frontispiece + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE 85 + +GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN 117 + +MAP OF THE MORGAN RAID 118 + +THE FARMER FROM CALFKILLER CREEK 123 + +GENERAL DUKE TESTS THE PIES 125 + +HOSPITALITIES OF THE FARM 131 + +LOOKING FOR THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE VAN 137 + +CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY--CAPTAIN +HINES'S CELL 161 + +EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON--EXIT FROM TUNNEL 163 + +WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE 167 + +OVER THE PRISON WALL 171 + +"HURRY UP, MAJOR!" 175 + +CAPTAIN HINES OBJECTS 178 + +COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE 185 + +A CORNER OF LIBBY PRISON 187 + +LIBBY PRISON IN 1865 189 + +MAJOR A.G. HAMILTON 191 + +LIBBY PRISON IN 1884 197 + +LIBERTY! 223 + +FIGHTING THE RATS 230 + +SECTION OF INTERIOR OF LIBBY PRISON AND TUNNEL 233 + +GROUND-PLAN OF LIBBY PRISON AND SURROUNDINGS 235 + +LIEUTENANTS E.E. SILL AND A.T. LAMSON 255 + +WE ARRIVE AT HEADEN'S 263 + +THE ESCAPE OF HEADEN 271 + +GREENVILLE JAIL 277 + +PINK BISHOP AT THE STILL 283 + +ARRIVAL HOME OF THE BAPTIST MINISTER 285 + +SURPRISED AT MRS. KITCHEN'S 291 + +THE MEETING WITH THE SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY 295 + +SAND AS A DEFENSE AGAINST MOSQUITOS 307 + +SEARCHING FOR TURTLES' EGGS 310 + +THROUGH A SHALLOW LAGOON 313 + +EXCHANGING THE BOAT FOR THE SLOOP 315 + +OVER A CORAL-REEF 325 + +A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE GULF STREAM 331 + + + + +FAMOUS ADVENTURES AND PRISON ESCAPES OF THE CIVIL WAR + + + + +WAR DIARY OF A UNION WOMAN IN THE SOUTH + +EDITED BY G.W. CABLE + + +The following diary was originally written in lead-pencil and in a book +the leaves of which were too soft to take ink legibly. I have it direct +from the hands of its writer, a lady whom I have had the honor to know +for nearly thirty years. For good reasons the author's name is omitted, +and the initials of people and the names of places are sometimes +fictitiously given. Many of the persons mentioned were my own +acquaintances and friends. When, some twenty years afterward, she first +resolved to publish it, she brought me a clear, complete copy in ink. It +had cost much trouble, she said; for much of the pencil writing had been +made under such disadvantages and was so faint that at times she could +decipher it only under direct sunlight. She had succeeded, however, in +making a copy, _verbatim_ except for occasional improvement in the +grammatical form of a sentence, or now and then the omission, for +brevity's sake, of something unessential. The narrative has since been +severely abridged to bring it within magazine limits. + +In reading this diary one is much charmed with its constant +understatement of romantic and perilous incidents and conditions. But +the original penciled pages show that, even in copying, the strong bent +of the writer to be brief has often led to the exclusion of facts that +enhance the interest of exciting situations, and sometimes the omission +robs her own heroism of due emphasis. I have restored one example of +this in a foot-note following the perilous voyage down the Mississippi. + +G.W. CABLE. + + + + +I + +SECESSION + + +_New Orleans, Dec. 1, 1860._--I understand it now. Keeping journals is +for those who cannot, or dare not, speak out. So I shall set up a +journal, being only a rather lonely young girl in a very small and hated +minority. On my return here in November, after a foreign voyage and +absence of many months, I found myself behind in knowledge of the +political conflict, but heard the dread sounds of disunion and war +muttered in threatening tones. Surely no native-born woman loves her +country better than I love America. The blood of one of its +Revolutionary patriots flows in my veins, and it is the Union for which +he pledged his "life, fortune, and sacred honor" that I love, not any +divided or special section of it. So I have been reading attentively +and seeking light from foreigners and natives on all questions at issue. +Living from birth in slave countries, both foreign and American, and +passing through one slave insurrection in early childhood, the saddest +and also the pleasantest features of slavery have been familiar. If the +South goes to war for slavery, slavery is doomed in this country. To say +so is like opposing one drop to a roaring torrent. + +_Sunday, Dec. ----, 1860._--In this season for peace I had hoped for a lull +in the excitement, yet this day has been full of bitterness. "Come, G.," +said Mrs. ---- at breakfast, "leave _your_ church for to-day and come +with us to hear Dr. ---- on the situation. He will convince you." "It is +good to be convinced," I said; "I will go." The church was crowded to +suffocation with the elite of New Orleans. The preacher's text was, +"Shall we have fellowship with the stool of iniquity which frameth +mischief as a law?" ... The sermon was over at last, and then followed a +prayer.... Forever blessed be the fathers of the Episcopal Church for +giving us a fixed liturgy! When we met at dinner Mrs. F. exclaimed, +"Now, G., you heard him prove from the Bible that slavery is right and +that therefore secession is. Were you not convinced?" I said, "I was so +busy thinking how completely it proved too that Brigham Young is right +about polygamy that it quite weakened the force of the argument for me." +This raised a laugh, and covered my retreat. + +_Jan. 26, 1861._--The solemn boom of cannon to-day announced that the +convention have passed the ordinance of secession. We must take a reef +in our patriotism and narrow it down to State limits. Mine still sticks +out all around the borders of the State. It will be bad if New Orleans +should secede from Louisiana and set up for herself. Then indeed I would +be "cabined, cribbed, confined." The faces in the house are jubilant +to-day. Why is it so easy for them and not for me to "ring out the old, +ring in the new"? I am out of place. + +_Jan. 28, Monday._--Sunday has now got to be a day of special +excitement. The gentlemen save all the sensational papers to regale us +with at the late Sunday breakfast. Rob opened the battle yesterday +morning by saying to me in his most aggressive manner, "G., I believe +these are your sentiments"; and then he read aloud an article from the +"Journal des Debats" expressing in rather contemptuous terms the fact +that France will follow the policy of non-intervention. When I answered, +"Well, what do you expect? This is not their quarrel," he raved at me, +ending by a declaration that he would willingly pay my passage to +foreign parts if I would like to go. "Rob," said his father, "keep cool; +don't let that threat excite you. Cotton is king. Just wait till they +feel the pinch a little; their tone will change." I went to Trinity +Church. Some Union people who are not Episcopalians go there now because +the pastor has not so much chance to rail at the Lord when things are +not going to suit. But yesterday was a marked Sunday. The usual prayer +for the President and Congress was changed to the "governor and people +of this commonwealth and their representatives in convention assembled." + +The city was very lively and noisy this evening with rockets and lights +in honor of secession. Mrs. F., in common with the neighbors, +illuminated. We walked out to see the houses of others gleaming amid the +dark shrubbery like a fairy scene. The perfect stillness added to the +effect, while the moon rose slowly with calm splendor. We hastened home +to dress for a soiree but on the stairs Edith said, "G., first come and +help me dress Phoebe and Chloe [the negro servants]. There is a ball +to-night in aristocratic colored society. This is Chloe's first +introduction to New Orleans circles, and Henry Judson, Phoebe's husband, +gave five dollars for a ticket for her." Chloe is a recent purchase from +Georgia. We superintended their very stylish toilets, and Edith said, +"G., run into your room, please, and write a pass for Henry. Put Mr. +D.'s name to it." "Why, Henry is free," I said. "That makes no +difference; all colored people must have a pass if out late. They choose +a master for protection, and always carry his pass. Henry chose Mr. D., +but he's lost the pass he had." + + + + +II + +THE VOLUNTEERS--FORT SUMTER + + +_Feb. 24, 1861._--The toil of the week is ended. Nearly a month has +passed since I wrote here. Events have crowded upon one another. On the +4th the cannon boomed in honor of Jefferson Davis's election, and day +before yesterday Washington's birthday was made the occasion of another +grand display and illumination, in honor of the birth of a new nation +and the breaking of that Union which he labored to cement. We drove to +the race-course to see the review of troops. A flag was presented to the +Washington Artillery by ladies. Senator Judah Benjamin made an +impassioned speech. The banner was orange satin on one side, crimson +silk on the other, the pelican and brood embroidered in pale green and +gold. Silver crossed cannon surmounted it, orange-colored fringe +surrounded it, and crimson tassels drooped from it. It was a brilliant, +unreal scene; with military bands clashing triumphant music, elegant +vehicles, high-stepping horses, and lovely women richly appareled. + +Wedding-cards have been pouring in till the contagion has reached us; +Edith will be married next Thursday. The wedding-dress is being +fashioned, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen have arrived. Edith has +requested me to be special mistress of ceremonies on Thursday evening, +and I have told this terrible little rebel, who talks nothing but blood +and thunder, yet faints at the sight of a worm, that if I fill that +office no one shall mention war or politics during the whole evening, on +pain of expulsion. + +_March 10, 1861._--The excitement in this house has risen to fever-heat +during the past week. The four gentlemen have each a different plan for +saving the country, and now that the bridal bouquets have faded, the +three ladies have again turned to public affairs; Lincoln's inauguration +and the story of the disguise in which he traveled to Washington is a +never-ending source of gossip. The family board being the common forum, +each gentleman as he appears first unloads his pockets of papers from +all the Southern States, and then his overflowing heart to his eager +female listeners, who in turn relate, inquire, sympathize, or cheer. If +I dare express a doubt that the path to victory will be a flowery one, +eyes flash, cheeks burn, and tongues clatter, till all are checked up +suddenly by a warning for "Order, order!" from the amiable lady +presiding. Thus we swallow politics with every meal. We take a mouthful +and read a telegram, one eye on table, the other on the paper. One must +be made of cool stuff to keep calm and collected, but I say but little. +This war fever has banished small talk. Through all the black servants +move about quietly, never seeming to notice that this is all about them. + +"How can you speak so plainly before them?" I say. + +"Why, what matter? They know that we shall keep the whip-handle." + +_April 13, 1861._--More than a month has passed since the last date +here. This afternoon I was seated on the floor covered with loveliest +flowers, arranging a floral offering for the fair, when the gentlemen +arrived and with papers bearing news of the fall of Fort Sumter, which, +at her request, I read to Mrs. F. + +_April 20._--The last few days have glided away in a halo of beauty. But +nobody has time or will to enjoy it. War, war! is the one idea. The +children play only with toy cannons and soldiers; the oldest inhabitant +goes by every day with his rifle to practice; the public squares are +full of companies drilling, and are now the fashionable resorts. We have +been told that it is best for women to learn how to shoot too, so as to +protect themselves when the men have all gone to battle. Every evening +after dinner we adjourn to the back lot and fire at a target with +pistols. Yesterday I dined at Uncle Ralph's. Some members of the bar +were present, and were jubilant about their brand-new Confederacy. It +would soon be the grandest government ever known. Uncle Ralph said +solemnly, "No, gentlemen; the day we seceded the star of our glory set." +The words sunk into my mind like a knell, and made me wonder at the mind +that could recognize that and yet adhere to the doctrine of secession. + +In the evening I attended a farewell gathering at a friend's whose +brothers are to leave this week for Richmond. There was music. No minor +chord was permitted. + + + + +III + +TRIBULATION + + +_April 25._--Yesterday I went with Cousin E. to have her picture taken. +The picture-galleries are doing a thriving business. Many companies are +ordered off to take possession of Fort Pickens (Florida), and all seem +to be leaving sweethearts behind them. The crowd was in high spirits; +they don't dream that any destinies will be spoiled. When I got home +Edith was reading from the daily paper of the dismissal of Miss G. from +her place as teacher for expressing abolition sentiments, and that she +would be ordered to leave the city. Soon a lady came with a paper +setting forth that she has established a "company"--we are nothing if +not military--for making lint and getting stores of linen to supply the +hospitals. + +My name went down. If it hadn't, my spirit would have been wounded as +with sharp spears before night. Next came a little girl with a +subscription paper to get a flag for a certain company. The little +girls, especially the pretty ones, are kept busy trotting around with +subscription lists. Latest of all came little Guy, Mr. F.'s youngest +clerk, the pet of the firm as well as of his home, a mere boy of +sixteen. Such senseless sacrifices seem a sin. He chattered brightly, +but lingered about, saying good-by. He got through it bravely until +Edith's husband incautiously said, "You didn't kiss your little +sweetheart," as he always called Ellie, who had been allowed to sit up. +He turned and suddenly broke into agonizing sobs and then ran down the +steps. + +_May 10._--I am tired and ashamed of myself. Last week I attended a +meeting of the lint society to hand in the small contribution of linen I +had been able to gather. We scraped lint till it was dark. A paper was +shown, entitled the "Volunteer's Friend," started by the girls of the +high school, and I was asked to help the girls with it. I positively +declined. To-day I was pressed into service to make red flannel +cartridge-bags for ten-inch columbiads. I basted while Mrs. S. sewed, +and I felt ashamed to think that I had not the moral courage to say, "I +don't approve of your war and won't help you, particularly in the +murderous part of it." + +_May 27._--This has been a scenic Sabbath. Various companies about to +depart for Virginia occupied the prominent churches to have their flags +consecrated. The streets were resonant with the clangor of drums and +trumpets. E. and myself went to Christ Church because the Washington +Artillery were to be there. + +_June 13._--To-day has been appointed a Fast Day. I spent the morning +writing a letter on which I put my first Confederate postage-stamp. It +is of a brown color and has a large 5 in the center. To-morrow must be +devoted to all my foreign correspondents before the expected blockade +cuts us off. + +_June 29._--I attended a fine luncheon yesterday at one of the public +schools. A lady remarked to a school official that the cost of +provisions in the Confederacy was getting very high, butter, especially, +being scarce and costly. "Never fear, my dear madam," he replied. "Texas +alone can furnish butter enough to supply the whole Confederacy; we'll +soon be getting it from there." It's just as well to have this sublime +confidence. + +_July 15._--The quiet of midsummer reigns, but ripples of excitement +break around us as the papers tell of skirmishes and attacks here and +there in Virginia. "Rich Mountain" and "Carrick's Ford" were the last. +"You see," said Mrs. D. at breakfast to-day, "my prophecy is coming true +that Virginia will be the seat of war." "Indeed," I burst out, +forgetting my resolution not to argue, "you may think yourselves lucky +if this war turns out to have any seat in particular." + +So far, no one especially connected with me has gone to fight. How glad +I am for his mother's sake that Rob's lameness will keep him at home. +Mr. F., Mr. S., and Uncle Ralph are beyond the age for active service, +and Edith says Mr. D. can't go now. She is very enthusiastic about other +people's husbands being enrolled, and regrets that her Alex is not +strong enough to defend his country and his rights. + +_July 22._--What a day! I feel like one who has been out in a high wind, +and cannot get my breath. The newsboys are still shouting with their +extras, "Battle of Bull's Run! List of the killed! Battle of Manassas! +List of the wounded!" Tender-hearted Mrs. F. was sobbing so she could +not serve the tea; but nobody cared for tea. "O G.!" she said, "three +thousand of our own, dear Southern boys are lying out there." "My dear +Fannie," spoke Mr. F., "they are heroes now. They died in a glorious +cause, and it is not in vain. This will end it. The sacrifice had to be +made, but those killed have gained immortal names." Then Rob rushed in +with a new extra, reading of the spoils captured, and grief was +forgotten. Words cannot paint the excitement. Rob capered about and +cheered; Edith danced around ringing the dinner-bell and shouting, +"Victory!" Mrs. F. waved a small Confederate flag, while she wiped her +eyes, and Mr. D. hastened to the piano and in his most brilliant style +struck up "Dixie," followed by "My Maryland" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag." + +"Do not look so gloomy, G.," whispered Mr. S. "You should be happy +to-night; for, as Mr. F. says, now we shall have peace." + +"And is that the way you think of the men of your own blood and race?" I +replied. But an utter scorn came over me and choked me, and I walked out +of the room. What proof is there in this dark hour that they are not +right? Only the emphatic answer of my own soul. To-morrow I will pack my +trunk and accept the invitation to visit at Uncle Ralph's country house. + +_Sept. 25._--When I opened the door of Mrs. F.'s room on my return, the +rattle of two sewing-machines and a blaze of color met me. + +"Ah, G., you are just in time to help us; these are coats for Jeff +Thompson's men. All the cloth in the city is exhausted; these +flannel-lined oil-cloth table-covers are all we could obtain to make +overcoats for Thompson's poor boys. They will be very warm and +serviceable." + +"Serviceable--yes! The Federal army will fly when they see those coats! +I only wish I could be with the regiment when these are shared around." +Yet I helped make them. + +Seriously, I wonder if any soldiers will ever wear these remarkable +coats--the most bewildering combination of brilliant, intense reds, +greens, yellows, and blues in big flowers meandering over as vivid +grounds; and as no table-cover was large enough to make a coat, the +sleeves of each were of a different color and pattern. However, the +coats were duly finished. Then we set to work on gray pantaloons, and I +have just carried a bundle to an ardent young lady who wishes to assist. +A slight gloom is settling down, and the inmates here are not quite so +cheerfully confident as in July. + + + + +IV + +A BELEAGUERED CITY + + +_Oct. 22._--When I came to breakfast this morning Rob was capering over +another victory--Ball's Bluff. He would read me, "We pitched the Yankees +over the bluff," and ask me in the next breath to go to the theater +this evening. I turned on the poor fellow. "Don't tell me about your +victories. You vowed by all your idols that the blockade would be raised +by October 1, and I notice the ships are still serenely anchored below +the city." + +"G., you are just as pertinacious yourself in championing your opinions. +What sustains you when nobody agrees with you?" + +_Oct. 28._--When I dropped in at Uncle Ralph's last evening to welcome +them back, the whole family were busy at a great center-table copying +sequestration acts for the Confederate Government. The property of all +Northerners and Unionists is to be sequestrated, and Uncle Ralph can +hardly get the work done fast enough. My aunt apologized for the rooms +looking chilly; she feared to put the carpets down, as the city might be +taken and burned by the Federals. "We are living as much packed up as +possible. A signal has been agreed upon, and the instant the army +approaches we shall be off to the country again." + +Great preparations are being made for defense. At several other places +where I called the women were almost hysterical. They seemed to look +forward to being blown up with shot and shell, finished with cold steel, +or whisked off to some Northern prison. When I got home Edith and Mr. D. +had just returned also. + +"Alex," said Edith, "I was up at your orange-lots to-day, and the sour +oranges are dropping to the ground, while they cannot get lemons for our +sick soldiers." + +"That's my kind, considerate wife," replied Mr. D. + +"Why didn't I think of that before? Jim shall fill some barrels +to-morrow and take them to the hospitals as a present from you." + +_Nov. 10._--Surely this year will ever be memorable to me for its +perfection of natural beauty. Never was sunshine such pure gold, or +moonlight such transparent silver. The beautiful custom prevalent here +of decking the graves with flowers on All Saints' day was well +fulfilled, so profuse and rich were the blossoms. On All-hallow eve Mrs. +S. and myself visited a large cemetery. The chrysanthemums lay like +great masses of snow and flame and gold in every garden we passed, and +were piled on every costly tomb and lowly grave. The battle of Manassas +robed many of our women in mourning, and some of those who had no graves +to deck were weeping silently as they walked through the scented +avenues. + +A few days ago Mrs. E. arrived here. She is a widow, of Natchez, a +friend of Mrs. F.'s, and is traveling home with the dead body of her +eldest son, killed at Manassas. She stopped two days waiting for a boat, +and begged me to share her room and read her to sleep, saying she +couldn't be alone since he was killed; she feared her mind would give +way. So I read all the comforting chapters to be found till she dropped +into forgetfulness, but the recollection of those weeping mothers in the +cemetery banished sleep for me. + +_Nov. 26._--The lingering summer is passing into those misty autumn days +I love so well, when there is gold and fire above and around us. But the +glory of the natural and the gloom of the moral world agree not well +together. This morning Mrs. F. came to my room in dire distress. "You +see," she said, "cold weather is coming on fast, and our poor fellows +are lying out at night with nothing to cover them. There is a wail for +blankets, but there is not a blanket in town. I have gathered up all the +spare bed-clothing, and now want every available rug or table-cover in +the house. Can't I have yours, G.? We must make these small sacrifices +of comfort and elegance, you know, to secure independence and freedom." + +"Very well," I said, denuding the table. "This may do for a drummer +boy." + +_Dec. 26, 1861._--The foul weather cleared off bright and cool in time +for Christmas. There is a midwinter lull in the movement of troops. In +the evening we went to the grand bazaar in the St. Louis Hotel, got up +to clothe the soldiers. This bazaar has furnished the gayest, most +fashionable war-work yet, and has kept social circles in a flutter of +pleasant, heroic excitement all through December. Everything beautiful +or rare garnered in the homes of the rich was given for exhibition, and +in some cases for raffle and sale. There were many fine paintings, +statues, bronzes, engravings, gems, laces--in fact, heirlooms and +bric-a-brac of all sorts. There were many lovely creole girls present, +in exquisite toilets, passing to and fro through the decorated rooms, +listening to the band clash out the Anvil Chorus. + +_Jan. 2, 1862._--I am glad enough to bid '61 good-by. Most miserable +year of my life! What ages of thought and experience have I not lived in +it! + +The city authorities have been searching houses for firearms. It is a +good way to get more guns, and the homes of those men suspected of +being Unionists were searched first. Of course they went to Dr. B.'s. He +met them with his own delightful courtesy. "Wish to search for arms? +Certainly, gentlemen." He conducted them all through the house with +smiling readiness, and after what seemed a very thorough search bowed +them politely out. His gun was all the time safely reposing between the +canvas folds of a cot-bed which leaned folded up together against the +wall, in the very room where they had ransacked the closets. Queerly, +the rebel families have been the ones most anxious to conceal all +weapons. They have dug graves quietly at night in the back yards, and +carefully wrapping the weapons, buried them out of sight. Every man +seems to think he will have some private fighting to do to protect his +family. + + + + +V + +MARRIED + + +_Friday, Jan. 24, 1862._ (_On Steamboat W., Mississippi River._)--With a +changed name I open you once more, my journal. It was a sad time to wed, +when one knew not how long the expected conscription would spare the +bridegroom. The women-folk knew how to sympathize with a girl expected +to prepare for her wedding in three days, in a blockaded city, and about +to go far from any base of supplies. They all rallied round me with +tokens of love and consideration, and sewed, shopped, mended, and +packed, as if sewing soldier clothes. And they decked the whole house +and the church with flowers. Music breathed, wine sparkled, friends came +and went. It seemed a dream, and comes up now again out of the afternoon +sunshine where I sit on deck. The steamboat slowly plows its way through +lumps of floating ice,--a novel sight to me,--and I look forward +wondering whether the new people I shall meet will be as fierce about +the war as those in New Orleans. That past is to be all forgotten and +forgiven; I understood thus the kindly acts that sought to brighten the +threshold of a new life. + +_Feb. 15._ (_Village of X._)--We reached Arkansas Landing at nightfall. +Mr. Y., the planter who owns the landing, took us right up to his +residence. He ushered me into a large room where a couple of candles +gave a dim light, and close to them, and sewing as if on a race with +Time, sat Mrs. Y. and a little negro girl, who was so black and sat so +stiff and straight she looked like an ebony image. This was a large +plantation; the Y.'s knew H. very well, and were very kind and cordial +in their welcome and congratulations. Mrs. Y. apologized for continuing +her work; the war had pushed them this year in getting the negroes +clothed, and she had to sew by dim candles, as they could obtain no more +oil. She asked if there were any new fashions in New Orleans. + +Next morning we drove over to our home in this village. It is the +county-seat, and was, till now, a good place for the practice of H.'s +profession. It lies on the edge of a lovely lake. The adjacent planters +count their slaves by the hundreds. Some of them live with a good deal +of magnificence, using service of plate, having smoking-rooms for the +gentlemen built off the house, and entertaining with great hospitality. +The Baptists, Episcopalians, and Methodists hold services on alternate +Sundays in the court-house. All the planters and many others near the +lake shore keep a boat at their landing, and a raft for crossing +vehicles and horses. It seemed very piquant at first, this taking our +boat to go visiting, and on moonlight nights it was charming. The woods +around are lovelier than those in Louisiana, though one misses the +moaning of the pines. There is fine fishing and hunting, but these +cotton estates are not so pleasant to visit as sugar plantations. + +But nothing else has been so delightful as, one morning, my first sight +of snow and a wonderful new, white world. + +_Feb. 27._--The people here have hardly felt the war yet. There are but +two classes. The planters and the professional men form one; the very +poor villagers the other. There is no middle class. Ducks and +partridges, squirrels and fish, are to be had. H. has bought me a nice +pony, and cantering along the shore of the lake in the sunset is a +panacea for mental worry. + + + + +VI + +HOW IT WAS IN ARKANSAS + + +_March 11, 1862._--The serpent has entered our Eden. The rancor and +excitement of New Orleans have invaded this place. If an incautious word +betrays any want of sympathy with popular plans, one is "traitorous," +"ungrateful," "crazy." If one remains silent and controlled, then one is +"phlegmatic," "cool-blooded," "unpatriotic." Cool-blooded! Heavens! if +they only knew. It is very painful to see lovable and intelligent women +rave till the blood mounts to face and brain. The immediate cause of +this access of war fever has been the battle of Pea Ridge. They scout +the idea that Price and Van Dorn have been completely worsted. Those who +brought the news were speedily told what they ought to say. "No, it is +only a serious check; they must have more men sent forward at once. This +country must do its duty." So the women say another company _must_ be +raised. + +We were guests at a dinner-party yesterday. Mrs. A. was very talkative. +"Now, ladies, you must all join in with a vim and help equip another +company." + +"Mrs. L.," she said, turning to me, "are you not going to send your +husband? Now use a young bride's influence and persuade him; he would be +elected one of the officers." "Mrs. A.," I replied, longing to spring up +and throttle her, "the Bible says, 'When a man hath married a new wife, +he shall not go to war for one year, but remain at home and cheer up his +wife.'" + +"Well, H.," I questioned, as we walked home after crossing the lake, +"can you stand the pressure, or shall you be forced into volunteering?" +"Indeed," he replied, "I will not be bullied into enlisting by women, or +by men. I will sooner take my chance of conscription and feel honest +about it. You know my attachments, my interests are here; these are my +people. I could never fight against them; but my judgment disapproves +their course, and the result will inevitably be against us." + +This morning the only Irishman left in the village presented himself to +H. He has been our wood-sawyer, gardener, and factotum, but having +joined the new company, his time recently has been taken up with +drilling. H. and Mr. R. feel that an extensive vegetable garden must be +prepared while he is here to assist, or we shall be short of food, and +they sent for him yesterday. + +"So, Mike, you are really going to be a soldier?" + +"Yes, sor; but faith, Mr. L., I don't see the use of me going to shtop a +bullet when sure an' I'm willin' for it to go where it plazes." + +_March 18, 1862._--There has been unusual gaiety in this little village +the past few days. The ladies from the surrounding plantations went to +work to get up a festival to equip the new company. As Annie and myself +are both brides recently from the city, requisition was made upon us for +engravings, costumes, music, garlands, and so forth. Annie's heart was +in the work; not so with me. Nevertheless, my pretty things were +captured, and shone with just as good a grace last evening as if +willingly lent. The ball was a merry one. One of the songs sung was +"Nellie Gray," in which the most distressing feature of slavery is +bewailed so pitifully. To sing this at a festival for raising money to +clothe soldiers fighting to perpetuate that very thing was strange. + +_March 20, 1862._--A man professing to act by General Hindman's orders +is going through the country impressing horses and mules. The overseer +of a certain estate came to inquire of H. if he had not a legal right +to protect the property from seizure. Mr. L. said yes, unless the agent +could show some better credentials than his bare word. This answer soon +spread about, and the overseer returned to report that it excited great +indignation, especially among the company of new volunteers. H. was +pronounced a traitor, and they declared that no one so untrue to the +Confederacy should live there. When H. related the circumstance at +dinner, his partner, Mr. R., became very angry, being ignorant of H.'s +real opinions. He jumped up in a rage and marched away to the village +thoroughfare. There he met a batch of the volunteers, and said, "We know +what you have said of us, and I have come to tell you that you are +liars, and you know where to find us." + +Of course I expected a difficulty; but the evening passed, and we +retired undisturbed. Not long afterward a series of indescribable sounds +broke the stillness of the night, and the tramp of feet was heard +outside the house. Mr. R. called out, "It's a serenade, H. Get up and +bring out all the wine you have." Annie and I peeped through the parlor +window, and lo! it was the company of volunteers and a diabolical band +composed of bones and broken-winded brass instruments. They piped and +clattered and whined for some time, and then swarmed in, while we ladies +retreated and listened to the clink of glasses. + +_March 22._--H., Mr. R., and Mike have been very busy the last few days +getting the acre of kitchen-garden plowed and planted. The stay-law has +stopped all legal business, and they have welcomed this work. But to-day +a thunderbolt fell in our household. Mr. R. came in and announced that +he had agreed to join the company of volunteers. Annie's Confederate +principles would not permit her to make much resistance, and she has +been sewing and mending as fast as possible to get his clothes ready, +stopping now and then to wipe her eyes. Poor Annie! She and Max have +been married only a few months longer than we have; but a noble sense of +duty animates and sustains her. + + + + +VII + +THE FIGHT FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING + + +_April 1._--The last ten days have brought changes in the house. Max R. +left with the company to be mustered in, leaving with us his weeping +Annie. Hardly were her spirits somewhat composed when her brother +arrived from Natchez to take her home. This morning he, Annie, and +Reeney, the black handmaiden, posted off. Out of seven of us only H., +myself, and Aunt Judy are left. The absence of Reeney will be not the +least noted. She was as precious an imp as any Topsy ever was. Her +tricks were endless and her innocence of them amazing. When sent out to +bring in eggs she would take them from nests where hens were hatching, +and embryo chickens would be served up at breakfast, while Reeney stood +by grinning to see them opened; but when accused she was imperturbable. +"Laws, Mis' L., I nebber done bin nigh dem hens. Mis' Annie, you can go +count dem dere eggs." That when counted they were found minus the +number she had brought had no effect on her stolid denial. H. has +plenty to do finishing the garden all by himself, but the time rather +drags for me. + +_April 13, 1862._--This morning I was sewing up a rent in H.'s garden +coat, when Aunt Judy rushed in. + +"Laws! Mis' L., here's Mr. Max and Mis' Annie done come back!" A buggy +was coming up with Max, Annie, and Reeney. + +"Well, is the war over?" I asked. + +"Oh, I got sick!" replied our returned soldier, getting slowly out of +the buggy. + +He was very thin and pale, and explained that he took a severe cold +almost at once, had a mild attack of pneumonia, and the surgeon got him +his discharge as unfit for service. He succeeded in reaching Annie, and +a few days of good care made him strong enough to travel back home. + +"I suppose, H., you've heard that Island No. 10 is gone?" + +Yes, we had heard that much, but Max had the particulars, and an +exciting talk followed. At night H. said to me, "G., New Orleans will be +the next to go, you'll see, and I want to get there first; this +stagnation here will kill me." + +_April 28._--This evening has been very lovely, but full of a sad +disappointment. H. invited me to drive. As we turned homeward he said: + +"Well, my arrangements are completed. You can begin to pack your trunks +to-morrow, and I shall have a talk with Max." + +Mr. R. and Annie were sitting on the gallery as I ran up the steps. + +"Heard the news?" they cried. + +"No. What news?" + +"New Orleans is taken! All the boats have been run up the river to save +them. No more mails." + +How little they knew what plans of ours this dashed away. But our +disappointment is truly an infinitesimal drop in the great waves of +triumph and despair surging to-night in thousands of hearts. + +_April 30._--The last two weeks have glided quietly away without +incident except the arrival of new neighbors--Dr. Y., his wife, two +children, and servants. That a professional man prospering in Vicksburg +should come now to settle in this retired place looks queer. Max said: + +"H., that man has come here to hide from the conscript officers. He has +brought no end of provisions, and is here for the war. He has chosen +well, for this county is so cleaned of men it won't pay to send the +conscript officers here." + +Our stores are diminishing and cannot be replenished from without; +ingenuity and labor must evoke them. We have a fine garden in growth, +plenty of chickens, and hives of bees to furnish honey in lieu of sugar. +A good deal of salt meat has been stored in the smoke-house, and, with +fish from the lake, we expect to keep the wolf from the door. The season +for game is about over, but an occasional squirrel or duck comes to the +larder, though the question of ammunition has to be considered. What we +have may be all we can have, if the war lasts five years longer; and +they say they are prepared to hold out till the crack of doom. Food, +however, is not the only want. I never realized before the varied needs +of civilization. Every day something is _out_. Last week but two bars +of soap remained, so we began to save bones and ashes. Annie said: "Now +if we only had some china-berry trees here, we shouldn't need any other +grease. They are making splendid soap at Vicksburg with china-balls. +They just put the berries into the lye and it eats them right up and +makes a fine soap." I did long for some china-berries to make this +experiment. H. had laid in what seemed a good supply of kerosene, but it +is nearly gone, and we are down to two candles kept for an emergency. +Annie brought a receipt from Natchez for making candles of rosin and +wax, and with great forethought brought also the wick and rosin. So +yesterday we tried making candles. We had no molds, but Annie said the +latest style in Natchez was to make a waxen rope by dipping, then wrap +it round a corn-cob. But H. cut smooth blocks of wood about four inches +square, into which he set a polished cylinder about four inches high. +The waxen ropes were coiled round the cylinder like a serpent, with the +head raised about two inches; as the light burned down to the cylinder, +more of the rope was unwound. To-day the vinegar was found to be all +gone, and we have started to make some. For tyros we succeed pretty +well. + + + + +VIII + +DROWNED OUT AND STARVED OUT + + +_May 9._--A great misfortune has come upon us all. For several days +every one has been uneasy about the unusual rise of the Mississippi and +about a rumor that the Federal forces had cut levees above to swamp the +country. There is a slight levee back of the village, and H. went +yesterday to examine it. It looked strong, and we hoped for the best. +About dawn this morning a strange gurgle woke me. It had a pleasing, +lulling effect. I could not fully rouse at first, but curiosity +conquered at last, and I called H. + +"Listen to that running water. What is it?" + +He sprung up, listened a second, and shouted: "Max, get up! The water is +on us!" They both rushed off to the lake for the skiff. The levee had +not broken. The water was running clean over it and through the garden +fence so rapidly that by the time I dressed and got outside Max was +paddling the pirogue they had brought in among the pea-vines, gathering +all the ripe peas left above the water. We had enjoyed one mess, and he +vowed we should have another. + +H. was busy nailing a raft together while he had a dry place to stand +on. Annie and I, with Reeney, had to secure the chickens, and the back +piazza was given up to them. By the time a hasty breakfast was eaten the +water was in the kitchen. The stove and everything there had to be put +up in the dining-room. Aunt Judy and Reeney had likewise to move into +the house, their floor also being covered with water. The raft had to be +floated to the storehouse and a platform built, on which everything was +elevated. At evening we looked around and counted the cost. The garden +was utterly gone. Last evening we had walked round the strawberry-beds +that fringed the whole acre and tasted a few just ripe. The hives were +swamped. Many of the chickens were drowned. Sancho had been sent to +high ground, where he could get grass. In the village everything green +was swept away. Yet we were better off than many others; for this house, +being raised, we have escaped the water indoors. It just laves the edge +of the galleries. + +_May 26._--During the past week we have lived somewhat like Venetians, +with a boat at the front steps and a raft at the back. Sunday H. and I +took skiff to church. The clergyman, who is also tutor at a planter's +across the lake, preached to the few who had arrived in skiffs. We shall +not try it again, it is so troublesome getting in and out at the +court-house steps. The imprisonment is hard to endure. It threatened to +make me really ill, so every evening H. lays a thick wrap in the +pirogue, I sit on it, and we row off to the ridge of dry land running +along the lake-shore and branching off to a strip of wood also out of +water. Here we disembark and march up and down till dusk. A great deal +of the wood got wet and had to be laid out to dry on the galleries, with +clothing, and everything that must be dried. One's own trials are +intensified by the worse suffering around that we can do nothing to +relieve. + +Max has a puppy named after General Price. The gentlemen had both gone +up-town yesterday in the skiff when Annie and I heard little Price's +despairing cries from under the house, and we got on the raft to find +and save him. We wore light morning dresses and slippers, for shoes are +becoming precious. Annie donned a Shaker and I a broad hat. We got the +raft pushed out to the center of the grounds opposite the house, and +could see Price clinging to a post; the next move must be to navigate +the raft up to the side of the house and reach for Price. It sounds +easy; but poke around with our poles as wildly or as scientifically as +we might, the raft would not budge. The noonday sun was blazing right +overhead, and the muddy water running all over slippered feet and dainty +dresses. How long we stayed praying for rescue, yet wincing already at +the laugh that would come with it, I shall never know. It seemed like a +day before the welcome boat and the "Ha, ha!" of H. and Max were heard. +The confinement tells severely on all the animal life about us. Half the +chickens are dead and the other half sick. + +The days drag slowly. We have to depend mainly on books to relieve the +tedium, for we have no piano; none of us like cards; we are very poor +chess-players, and the chess-set is incomplete. When we gather round the +one lamp--we dare not light any more--each one exchanges the gems of +thought or mirthful ideas he finds. Frequently the gnats and the +mosquitos are so bad we cannot read at all. This evening, till a strong +breeze blew them away, they were intolerable. Aunt Judy goes about in a +dignified silence, too full for words, only asking two or three times, +"W'at I done tole you fum de fust?" The food is a trial. This evening +the snaky candles lighted the glass and silver on the supper-table with +a pale gleam, and disclosed a frugal supper indeed--tea without milk +(for all the cows are gone), honey, and bread. A faint ray twinkled on +the water swishing against the house and stretching away into the dark +woods. It looked like civilization and barbarism met together. Just as +we sat down to it, some one passing in a boat shouted that Confederates +and Federals were fighting at Vicksburg. + +_Monday, June 2._--On last Friday morning, just three weeks from the day +the water rose, signs of its falling began. Yesterday the ground +appeared, and a hard rain coming down at the same time washed off much +of the unwholesome debris. To-day is fine, and we went out without a +boat for a long walk. + +_June 13._--Since the water ran off, we have, of course, been attacked +by swamp fever. H. succumbed first, then Annie, Max next, and then I. +Luckily, the new Dr. Y. had brought quinine with him, and we took heroic +doses. Such fever never burned in my veins before or sapped strength so +rapidly, though probably the want of good food was a factor. The two or +three other professional men have left. Dr. Y. alone remains. The roads +now being dry enough, H. and Max started on horseback, in different +directions, to make an exhaustive search for food supplies. H. got back +this evening with no supplies. + +_June 15._--Max got back to-day. He started right off again to cross the +lake and interview the planters on that side, for they had not suffered +from overflow. + +_June 16._--Max got back this morning. H. and he were in the parlor +talking and examining maps together till dinner-time. When that was over +they laid the matter before us. To buy provisions had proved impossible. +The planters across the lake had decided to issue rations of corn-meal +and pease to the villagers whose men had all gone to war, but they +utterly refused to sell anything. "They told me," said Max, "'We will +not see your family starve, Mr. R.; but with such numbers of slaves and +the village poor to feed, we can spare nothing for sale.'" "Well, of +course," said H., "we do not purpose to stay here and live on charity +rations. We must leave the place at all hazards. We have studied out +every route and made inquiries everywhere we went. We shall have to go +down the Mississippi in an open boat as far as Fetler's Landing (on the +eastern bank). There we can cross by land and put the boat into Steele's +Bayou, pass thence to the Yazoo River, from there to Chickasaw Bayou, +into McNutt's Lake, and land near my uncle's in Warren County." + +_June 20._--As soon as our intended departure was announced, we were +besieged by requests for all sorts of things wanted in every +family--pins, matches, gunpowder, and ink. One of the last cases H. and +Max had before the stay-law stopped legal business was the settlement of +an estate that included a country store. The heirs had paid in chattels +of the store. These had remained packed in the office. The main contents +of the cases were hardware; but we found treasure indeed--a keg of +powder, a case of matches, a paper of pins, a bottle of ink. Red ink is +now made out of pokeberries. Pins are made by capping thorns with +sealing-wax, or using them as nature made them. These were articles +money could not get for us. We would give our friends a few matches to +save for the hour of tribulation. The paper of pins we divided evenly, +and filled a bank-box each with the matches. H. filled a tight tin case +apiece with powder for Max and himself and sold the rest, as we could +not carry any more on such a trip. Those who did not hear of this in +time offered fabulous prices afterward for a single pound. But money +has not its old attractions. Our preparations were delayed by Aunt Judy +falling sick of swamp fever. + +_Friday, June 27._--As soon as the cook was up again, we resumed +preparations. We put all the clothing in order, and had it nicely done +up with the last of the soap and starch. "I wonder," said Annie, "when I +shall ever have nicely starched clothes after these? They had no starch +in Natchez or Vicksburg when I was there." We are now furbishing up +dresses suitable for such rough summer travel. While we sat at work +yesterday, the quiet of the clear, calm noon was broken by a low, +continuous roar like distant thunder. To-day we are told it was probably +cannon at Vicksburg. This is a great distance, I think, to have heard +it--over a hundred miles. + +H. and Max have bought a large yawl and are busy on the lake-bank +repairing it and fitting it with lockers. Aunt Judy's master has been +notified when to send for her; a home for the cat Jeff has been engaged; +Price is dead, and Sancho sold. Nearly all the furniture is disposed of, +except things valued from association, which will be packed in H.'s +office and left with some one likely to stay through the war. It is +hardest to leave the books. + +_Tuesday, July 8._--We start to-morrow. Packing the trunks was a +problem. Annie and I are allowed one large trunk apiece, the gentlemen a +smaller one each, and we a light carpet-sack apiece for toilet articles. +I arrived with six trunks and leave with one! We went over everything +carefully twice, rejecting, trying to off the bonds of custom and get +down to primitive needs. At last we made a judicious selection. +Everything old or worn was left; everything merely ornamental, except +good lace, which was light. Gossamer evening dresses were all left. I +calculated on taking two or three books that would bear the most reading +if we were again shut up where none could be had, and so, of course, +took Shakspere first. Here I was interrupted to go and pay a farewell +visit, and when we returned Max had packed and nailed the cases of books +to be left. Chance thus limited my choice to those that happened to be +in my room--"Paradise Lost," the "Arabian Nights," a volume of +Macaulay's History I was reading, and my prayer-book. To-day the +provisions for the trip were cooked: the last of the flour was made into +large loaves of bread; a ham and several dozen eggs were boiled; the few +chickens that have survived the overflow were fried; the last of the +coffee was parched and ground; and the modicum of the tea was well +corked up. Our friends across the lake added a jar of butter and two of +preserves. H. rode off to X. after dinner to conclude some business +there, and I sat down before a table to tie bundles of things to be +left. The sunset glowed and faded, and the quiet evening came on calm +and starry. I sat by the window till evening deepened into night, and as +the moon rose I still looked a reluctant farewell to the lovely lake and +the grand woods, till the sound of H.'s horse at the gate broke the +spell. + + + + +IX + +HOMELESS AND SHELTERLESS + + +_Thursday, July 10._ (---- _Plantation._)--Yesterday about four o'clock +we walked to the lake and embarked. Provisions and utensils were packed +in the lockers, and a large trunk was stowed at each end. The blankets +and cushions were placed against one of them, and Annie and I sat on +them Turkish fashion. Near the center the two smaller trunks made a +place for Reeney. Max and H. were to take turns at the rudder and oars. +The last word was a fervent God-speed from Mr. E., who is left in charge +of all our affairs. We believe him to be a Union man, but have never +spoken of it to him. We were gloomy enough crossing the lake, for it was +evident the heavily laden boat would be difficult to manage. Last night +we stayed at this plantation, and from the window of my room I see the +men unloading the boat to place it on the cart, which a team of oxen +will haul to the river. These hospitable people are kindness itself, +till you mention the war. + +_Saturday, July 12._ (_Under a cotton-shed on the bank of the +Mississippi River._)--Thursday was a lovely day, and the sight of the +broad river exhilarating. The negroes launched and reloaded the boat, +and when we had paid them and spoken good-by to them we felt we were +really off. Every one had said that if we kept in the current the boat +would almost go of itself, but in fact the current seemed to throw it +about, and hard pulling was necessary. The heat of the sun was very +severe, and it proved impossible to use an umbrella or any kind of +shade, as it made steering more difficult. Snags and floating timbers +were very troublesome. Twice we hurried up to the bank out of the way of +passing gunboats, but they took no notice of us. When we got thirsty, it +was found that Max had set the jug of water in the shade of a tree and +left it there. We must dip up the river water or go without. When it got +too dark to travel safely we disembarked. Reeney gathered wood, made a +fire and some tea, and we had a good supper. We then divided, H. and I +remaining to watch the boat, Max and Annie on shore. She hung up a +mosquito-bar to the trees and went to bed comfortably. In the boat the +mosquitos were horrible, but I fell asleep and slept till voices on the +bank woke me. Annie was wandering disconsolate round her bed, and when I +asked the trouble, said, "Oh, I can't sleep there! I found a toad and a +lizard in the bed." When dropping off again, H. woke me to say he was +very sick; he thought it was from drinking the river water. With +difficulty I got a trunk opened to find some medicine. While doing so a +gunboat loomed up vast and gloomy, and we gave each other a good fright. +Our voices doubtless reached her, for instantly every one of her lights +disappeared and she ran for a few minutes along the opposite bank. We +momently expected a shell as a feeler. + +At dawn next morning we made coffee and a hasty breakfast, fixed up as +well as we could in our sylvan dressing-rooms, and pushed on; for it is +settled that traveling between eleven and two will have to be given up +unless we want to be roasted alive. H. grew worse. He suffered terribly, +and the rest of us as much to see him pulling in such a state of +exhaustion. Max would not trust either of us to steer. About eleven we +reached the landing of a plantation. Max walked up to the house and +returned with the owner, an old gentleman living alone with his slaves. +The housekeeper, a young colored girl, could not be surpassed in her +graceful efforts to make us comfortable and anticipate every want. I was +so anxious about H. that I remember nothing except that the cold +drinking-water taken from a cistern beneath the building, into which +only the winter rains were allowed to fall, was like an elixir. They +offered luscious peaches that, with such water, were nectar and ambrosia +to our parched lips. At night the housekeeper said she was sorry they +had no mosquito-bars ready, and hoped the mosquitos would not be thick, +but they came out in legions. I knew that on sleep that night depended +recovery or illness for H., and all possibility of proceeding next day. +So I sat up fanning away mosquitos that he might sleep, toppling over +now and then on the pillows till roused by his stirring. I contrived to +keep this up till, as the chill before dawn came, they abated and I got +a short sleep. Then, with the aid of cold water, a fresh toilet, and a +good breakfast, I braced up for another day's baking in the boat. + +If I had been well and strong as usual, the discomforts of such a +journey would not have seemed so much to me; but I was still weak from +the effects of the fever, and annoyed by a worrying toothache which +there had been no dentist to rid me of in our village. + +Having paid and dismissed the boat's watchman, we started and traveled +till eleven to-day, when we stopped at this cotton-shed. When our dais +was spread and lunch laid out in the cool breeze, it seemed a blessed +spot. A good many negroes came offering chickens and milk in exchange +for tobacco, which we had not. We bought some milk with money. + +A United States transport just now steamed by, and the men on the guards +cheered and waved to us. We all replied but Annie. Even Max was +surprised into an answering cheer, and I waved my handkerchief with a +very full heart as the dear old flag we had not seen for so long floated +by; but Annie turned her back. + +_Sunday, July 13._ (_Under a tree on the east bank of the +Mississippi_)--Late on Saturday evening we reached a plantation whose +owner invited us to spend the night at his house. What a delightful +thing is courtesy! The first tone of our host's welcome indicated the +true gentleman. We never leave the oars with the watchman; Max takes +these, Annie and I each take a band-box, H. takes my carpet-sack, and +Reeney brings up the rear with Annie's. It is a funny procession. Mr. +B.'s family were absent, and as we sat on the gallery talking, it needed +only a few minutes to show this was a "Union man." His home was elegant +and tasteful, but even here there was neither tea nor coffee. + +About eleven we stopped here in this shady place. While eating lunch the +negroes again came imploring for tobacco. Soon an invitation came from +the house for us to come and rest. We gratefully accepted, but found +their idea of rest for warm, tired travelers was to sit in the parlor on +stiff chairs while the whole family trooped in, cool and clean in fresh +toilets, to stare and question. We soon returned to the trees; however, +they kindly offered corn-meal pound-cake and beer, which were excellent. + +Eight gunboats and one transport have passed us. Getting out of their +way has been troublesome. Our gentlemen's hands are badly blistered. + +_Tuesday, July 15._--Sunday night about ten we reached the place where, +according to our map, Steele's Bayou comes nearest to the Mississippi, +and where the landing should be; but when we climbed the steep bank +there was no sign of habitation. Max walked off into the woods on a +search, and was gone so long we feared he had lost his way. He could +find no road. H. suggested shouting, and both began. At last a distant +halloo replied, and by cries the answerer was guided to us. A negro came +forward and said that was the right place, his master kept the landing, +and he would watch the boat for five dollars. He showed the road, and +said his master's house was one mile off and another house two miles. We +mistook, and went to the one two miles off. At one o'clock we reached +Mr. Fetler's, who was pleasant, and said we should have the best he had. +The bed into whose grateful softness I sank was piled with mattresses to +within two or three feet of the ceiling; and, with no step-ladder, +getting in and out was a problem. This morning we noticed the high-water +mark, four feet above the lower floor. Mrs. Fetler said they had lived +up-stairs several weeks. + + + + +X + +FRIGHTS AND PERILS IN STEELE'S BAYOU + + +_Wednesday, July 16._ (_Under a tree on the bank of Steele's +Bayou._)--Early this morning our boat was taken out of the Mississippi +and put on Mr. Fetler's ox-cart. After breakfast we followed on foot. +The walk in the woods was so delightful that all were disappointed when +a silvery gleam through the trees showed the bayou sweeping along, full +to the banks, with dense forest trees almost meeting over it. The boat +was launched, calked, and reloaded, and we were off again. Toward noon +the sound of distant cannon began to echo around, probably from +Vicksburg again. About the same time we began to encounter rafts. To get +around them required us to push through brush so thick that we had to +lie down in the boat. The banks were steep and the land on each side a +bog. About one o'clock we reached this clear space with dry shelving +banks, and disembarked to eat lunch. To our surprise a neatly dressed +woman came tripping down the declivity, bringing a basket. She said she +lived above and had seen our boat. Her husband was in the army, and we +were the first white people she had talked to for a long while. She +offered some corn-meal pound-cake and beer, and as she climbed back told +us to "look out for the rapids." H. is putting the boat in order for our +start, and says she is waving good-by from the bluff above. + +_Thursday, July 17._ (_On a raft in Steele's Bayou._)--Yesterday we went +on nicely awhile, and at afternoon came to a strange region of rafts, +extending about three miles, on which persons were living. Many saluted +us, saying they had run away from Vicksburg at the first attempt of the +fleet to shell it. On one of these rafts, about twelve feet square,[1] +bagging had been hung up to form three sides of a tent. A bed was in one +corner, and on a low chair, with her provisions in jars and boxes +grouped round her, sat an old woman feeding a lot of chickens. + +[Footnote 1: More likely twelve yards.--G.W.C.] + +Having moonlight, we had intended to travel till late. But about ten +o'clock, the boat beginning to go with great speed, H., who was +steering, called to Max: + +"Don't row so fast; we may run against something." + +"I'm hardly pulling at all." + +"Then we're in what she called the rapids!" + +The stream seemed indeed to slope downward, and in a minute a dark line +was visible ahead. Max tried to turn, but could not, and in a second +more we dashed against this immense raft, only saved from breaking up by +the men's quickness. We got out upon it and ate supper. Then, as the +boat was leaking and the current swinging it against the raft, H. and +Max thought it safer to watch all night, but told us to go to sleep. It +was a strange spot to sleep in--a raft in the middle of a boiling +stream, with a wilderness stretching on either side. The moon made +ghostly shadows, and showed H., sitting still as a ghost, in the stern +of the boat, while mingled with the gurgle of the water round the raft +beneath was the boom of cannon in the air, solemnly breaking the silence +of night. It drizzled now and then, and the mosquitos swarmed over us. +My fan and umbrella had been knocked overboard, so I had no weapon +against them. Fatigue, however, overcomes everything, and I contrived to +sleep. + +H. roused us at dawn. Reeney found lightwood enough on the raft to make +a good fire for coffee, which never tasted better. Then all hands +assisted in unloading; a rope was fastened to the boat, Max got in, H. +held the rope on the raft, and, by much pulling and pushing, it was +forced through a narrow passage to the farther side. Here it had to be +calked, and while that was being done we improvised a dressing-room in +the shadow of our big trunks. During the trip I had to keep the time, +therefore properly to secure belt and watch was always an anxious part +of my toilet. The boat is now repacked, and while Annie and Reeney are +washing cups I have scribbled, wishing much that mine were the hand of +an artist. + +_Friday morn, July 18._ (_House of Colonel K., on Yazoo River._)--After +leaving the raft yesterday all went well till noon, when we came to a +narrow place where an immense tree lay clear across the stream. It +seemed the insurmountable obstacle at last. We sat despairing what to +do, when a man appeared beside us in a pirogue. So sudden, so silent was +his arrival that we were thrilled with surprise. He said if we had a +hatchet he could help us. His fairy bark floated in among the branches +like a bubble, and he soon chopped a path for us, and was delighted to +get some matches in return. He said the cannon we heard yesterday were +in an engagement with the ram _Arkansas_, which ran out of the Yazoo +that morning. We did not stop for dinner to-day, but ate a hasty lunch +in the boat, after which nothing but a small piece of bread was left. +About two we reached the forks, one of which ran to the Yazoo, the +other to the Old River. Max said the right fork was our road; H. said +the left, that there was an error in Max's map; but Max steered into the +right fork. After pulling about three miles he admitted his mistake and +turned back; but I shall never forget Old River. It was the vision of a +drowned world, an illimitable waste of dead waters, stretching into a +great, silent, desolate forest. + +Just as we turned into the right way, down came the rain so hard and +fast we had to stop on the bank. It defied trees or umbrellas, and +nearly took away the breath. The boat began to fill, and all five of us +had to bail as fast as possible for the half-hour the sheet of water was +pouring down. As it abated a cold breeze sprang up that, striking our +clothes, chilled us to the bone. All were shivering and blue--no, I was +green. Before leaving Mr. Fetler's Wednesday morning I had donned a +dark-green calico. I wiped my face with a handkerchief out of my pocket, +and face and hands were all dyed a deep green. When Annie turned round +and looked at me she screamed, and I realized how I looked; but she was +not much better, for of all dejected things wet feathers are the worst, +and the plumes in her hat were painful. + +About five we reached Colonel K.'s house, right where Steele's Bayou +empties into the Yazoo. We had both to be fairly dragged out of the +boat, so cramped and weighted were we by wet skirts. The family were +absent, and the house was headquarters for a squad of Confederate +cavalry, which was also absent. The old colored housekeeper received us +kindly, and lighted fires in our rooms to dry the clothing. My trunk +had got cracked on top, and all the clothing to be got at was wet. H. +had dropped his in the river while lifting it out, and his clothes were +wet. A spoonful of brandy apiece was left in the little flask, and I +felt that mine saved me from being ill. Warm blankets and the brandy +revived us, and by supper-time we got into some dry clothes. + +Just then the squad of cavalry returned; they were only a dozen, but +they made much uproar, being in great excitement. Some of them were +known to Max and H., who learned from them that a gunboat was coming to +shell them out of this house. Then ensued a clatter such as twelve men +surely never made before--rattling about the halls and galleries in +heavy boots and spurs, feeding horses, calling for supper, clanking +swords, buckling and unbuckling belts and pistols. At last supper was +despatched, and they mounted and were gone like the wind. We had a quiet +supper and a good night's rest in spite of the expected shells, and did +not wake till ten to-day to realize we were not killed. About eleven +breakfast was furnished. Now we are waiting till the rest of our things +are dried to start on our last day of travel by water. + +_Sunday, July 20._--A little way down the Yazoo on Friday we ran into +McNutt's Lake, thence into Chickasaw Bayou, and at dark landed at Mrs. +C.'s farm, the nearest neighbors of H.'s uncle. The house was full of +Confederate sick, friends from Vicksburg, and while we ate supper all +present poured out the story of the shelling and all that was to be done +at Vicksburg. Then our stuff was taken from the boat, and we finally +abandoned the stanch little craft that had carried us for over one +hundred and twenty-five miles in a trip occupying nine days. The luggage +in a wagon, and ourselves packed in a buggy, were driven for four or +five miles, over the roughest road I ever traveled, to the farm of Mr. +B., H.'s uncle, where we arrived at midnight and hastened to hide in bed +the utter exhaustion of mind and body. Yesterday we were too tired to +think, or to do anything but eat peaches. + + + + +XI + +WILD TIMES IN MISSISSIPPI + + +This morning there was a most painful scene. Annie's father came into +Vicksburg, ten miles from here, and learned of our arrival from Mrs. +C.'s messenger. He sent out a carriage to bring Annie and Max to town +that they might go home with him, and with it came a letter for me from +friends on the Jackson Railroad, written many weeks before. They had +heard that our village home was under water, and invited us to visit +them. The letter had been sent to Annie's people to forward, and thus +had reached us. This decided H., as the place was near New Orleans, to +go there and wait the chance of getting into that city. Max, when he +heard this from H., lost all self-control and cried like a baby. He +stalked about the garden in the most tragic manner, exclaiming: + +"Oh! my soul's brother from youth up is a traitor! A traitor to his +country!" + +Then H. got angry and said, "Max, don't be a fool." + +"Who has done this?" bawled Max. "You felt with the South at first; who +has changed you?" + +"Of course I feel _for_ the South now, and nobody has changed me but the +logic of events, though the twenty-negro law has intensified my +opinions. I can't see why I, who have no slaves, must go to fight for +them, while every man who has twenty may stay at home." + +I also tried to reason with Max and pour oil on his wound. "Max, what +interest has a man like you, without slaves, in a war for slavery? Even +if you had them, they would not be your best property. That lies in your +country and its resources. Nearly all the world has given up slavery; +why can't the South do the same and end the struggle. It has shown you +what the South needs, and if all went to work with united hands the +South would soon be the greatest country on earth. You have no right to +call H. a traitor; it is we who are the true patriots and lovers of the +South." + +This had to come, but it has upset us both. H. is deeply attached to +Max, and I can't bear to see a cloud between them. Max, with Annie and +Reeney, drove off an hour ago, Annie so glad at the prospect of again +seeing her mother that nothing could cloud her day. And so the close +companionship of six months, and of dangers, trials, and pleasures +shared together, is over. + +_Oak Ridge, July 26, Saturday._--It was not till Wednesday that H. could +get into Vicksburg, ten miles distant, for a passport, without which we +could not go on the cars. We started Thursday morning. I had to ride +seven miles on a hard-trotting horse to the nearest station. The day was +burning at white heat. When the station was reached my hair was down, +my hat on my neck, and my feelings were indescribable. + +On the train one seemed to be right in the stream of war, among +officers, soldiers, sick men and cripples, adieus, tears, laughter, +constant chatter, and, strangest of all, sentinels posted at the locked +car doors demanding passports. There was no train south from Jackson +that day, so we put up at the Bowman House. The excitement was +indescribable. All the world appeared to be traveling through Jackson. +People were besieging the two hotels, offering enormous prices for the +privilege of sleeping anywhere under a roof. There were many refugees +from New Orleans, among them some acquaintances of mine. The peculiar +styles of [women's] dress necessitated by the exigencies of war gave the +crowd a very striking appearance. In single suits I saw sleeves of one +color, the waist of another, the skirt of another; scarlet jackets and +gray skirts; black waists and blue skirts; black skirts and gray waists; +the trimming chiefly gold braid and buttons, to give a military air. The +gray and gold uniforms of the officers, glittering between, made up a +carnival of color. Every moment we saw strange meetings and partings of +people from all over the South. Conditions of time, space, locality, and +estate were all loosened; everybody seemed floating he knew not whither, +but determined to be jolly, and keep up an excitement. At supper we had +tough steak, heavy, dirty-looking bread, Confederate coffee. The coffee +was made of either parched rye or corn-meal, or of sweet potatoes cut in +small cubes and roasted. This was the favorite. When flavored with +"coffee essence," sweetened with sorghum, and tinctured with chalky +milk, it made a curious beverage which, after tasting, I preferred not +to drink. Every one else was drinking it, and an acquaintance said, "Oh, +you'll get bravely over that. I used to be a Jewess about pork, but now +we just kill a hog and eat it, and kill another and do the same. It's +all we have." + +Friday morning we took the down train for the station near my friend's +house. At every station we had to go through the examination of passes, +as if in a foreign country. + +The conscript camp was at Brookhaven, and every man had been ordered to +report there or to be treated as a deserter. At every station I shivered +mentally, expecting H. to be dragged off. Brookhaven was also the +station for dinner. I choked mine down, feeling the sword hanging over +me by a single hair. At sunset we reached our station. The landlady was +pouring tea when we took our seats, and I expected a treat, but when I +tasted it was sassafras tea, the very odor of which sickens me. There +was a general surprise when I asked to exchange it for a glass of water; +every one was drinking it as if it were nectar. This morning we drove +out here. + +My friend's little nest is calm in contrast to the tumult not far off. +Yet the trials of war are here too. Having no matches, they keep fire, +carefully covering it at night, for Mr. G. has no powder, and cannot +flash the gun into combustibles as some do. One day they had to go with +the children to the village, and the servant let the fire go out. When +they returned at nightfall, wet and hungry, there was neither fire nor +food. Mr. G. had to saddle the tired mule and ride three miles for a pan +of coals, and blow them, all the way back, to keep them alight. Crockery +has gradually been broken and tin cups rusted out, and a visitor told me +they had made tumblers out of clear glass bottles by cutting them smooth +with a heated wire, and that they had nothing else to drink from. + +_Aug. 11._--We cannot get to New Orleans. A special passport must be +shown, and we are told that to apply for it would render H. very likely +to be conscripted. I begged him not to try; and as we hear that active +hostilities have ceased at Vicksburg, he left me this morning to return +to his uncle's and see what the prospects are there. I shall be in +misery about conscription till he returns. + +_Sunday, Sept. 7._ (_Vicksburg, Washington Hotel._)--H. did not return +for three weeks. An epidemic disease broke out in his uncle's family and +two children died. He stayed to assist them in their trouble. Tuesday +evening he returned for me, and we reached Vicksburg yesterday. It was +my first sight of the "Gibraltar of the South." Looking at it from a +slight elevation suggests the idea that the fragments left from +world-building had tumbled into a confused mass of hills, hollows, +hillocks, banks, ditches, and ravines, and that the houses had rained +down afterward. Over all there was dust impossible to conceive. The +bombardment has done little injury. People have returned and resumed +business. A gentleman asked H. if he knew of a nice girl for sale. I +asked if he did not think it impolitic to buy slaves now. + +"Oh, not young ones. Old ones might run off when the enemy's lines +approach ours, but with young ones there is no danger." + +We had not been many hours in town before a position was offered to H. +which seemed providential. The chief of a certain department was in ill +health and wanted a deputy. It secures him from conscription, requires +no oath, and pays a good salary. A mountain seemed lifted off my heart. + +_Thursday, Sept. 18._ (_Thanksgiving Day._)--We stayed three days at the +Washington Hotel; then a friend of H.'s called and told him to come to +his house till he could find a home. Boarding-houses have all been +broken up, and the army has occupied the few houses that were for rent. +To-day H. secured a vacant room for two weeks in the only +boarding-house. + +_Oak Haven, Oct. 3._--To get a house in V. proved impossible, so we +agreed to part for a time till H. could find one. A friend recommended +this quiet farm, six miles from ---- [a station on the Jackson Railroad]. +On last Saturday H. came with me as far as Jackson and put me on the +other train for the station. + +On my way hither a lady, whom I judged to be a Confederate +"blockade-runner," told me of the tricks resorted to to get things out +of New Orleans, including this: A very large doll was emptied of its +bran, filled with quinine, and elaborately dressed. When the owner's +trunk was opened, she declared with tears that the doll was for a poor +crippled girl, and it was passed. + +This farm of Mr. W.'s[2] is kept with about forty negroes. Mr. W., +nearly sixty, is the only white man on it. He seems to have been wiser +in the beginning than most others, and curtailed his cotton to make room +for rye, rice, and corn. There is a large vegetable-garden and orchard; +he has bought plenty of stock for beef and mutton, and laid in a large +supply of sugar. He must also have plenty of ammunition, for a man is +kept hunting and supplies the table with delicious wild turkeys and +other game. There is abundance of milk and butter, hives for honey, and +no end of pigs. Chickens seem to be kept like game in parks, for I never +see any, but the hunter shoots them, and eggs are plentiful. We have +chicken for breakfast, dinner, and supper, fried, stewed, broiled, and +in soup, and there is a family of ten. Luckily I never tire of it. They +make starch out of corn-meal by washing the meal repeatedly, pouring off +the water, and drying the sediment. Truly the uses of corn in the +Confederacy are varied. It makes coffee, beer, whisky, starch, cake, +bread. The only privations here are the lack of coffee, tea, salt, +matches, and good candles. Mr. W. is now having the dirt floor of his +smoke-house dug up and boiling from it the salt that has dripped into it +for years. To-day Mrs. W. made tea out of dried blackberry leaves, but +no one liked it. The beds, made out of equal parts of cotton and +corn-shucks, are the most elastic I ever slept in. The servants are +dressed in gray homespun. Hester, the chambermaid, has a gray gown so +pretty that I covet one like it. Mrs. W. is now arranging dyes for the +thread to be woven into dresses for herself and the girls. Sometimes her +hands are a curiosity. + +[Footnote 2: On this plantation, and in this domestic circle, I myself +afterward sojourned, and from them enlisted in the army. The initials +are fictitious, but the description is perfect.--G.W.C.] + +The school at the nearest town is broken up, and Mrs. W. says the +children are growing up heathens. Mr. W. has offered me a liberal price +to give the children lessons in English and French, and I have accepted +transiently. + +_Oct. 28._--It is a month to-day since I came here. I only wish H. could +share these benefits--the nourishing food, the pure aromatic air, the +sound sleep away from the fevered life of Vicksburg. He sends me all the +papers he can get hold of, and we both watch carefully the movements +reported lest an army should get between us. The days are full of useful +work, and in the lovely afternoons I take long walks with a big dog for +company. The girls do not care for walking. In the evening Mr. W. begs +me to read aloud all the war news. He is fond of the "Memphis Appeal," +which has moved from town to town so much that they call it the "Moving +Appeal." I sit in a low chair by the fire, as we have no other light to +read by. Sometimes traveling soldiers stop here, but that is rare. + +_Oct. 31._--Mr. W. said last night the farmers felt uneasy about the +"Emancipation Proclamation" to take effect in December. The slaves have +found it out, though it had been carefully kept from them. + +"Do yours know it?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes. Finding it to be known elsewhere, I told it to mine with fair +warning what to expect if they tried to run away. The hounds are not far +off." + +The need of clothing for their armies is worrying them too. I never saw +Mrs. W. so excited as on last evening. She said the provost-marshal at +the next town had ordered the women to knit so many pairs of socks. + +"Just let him try to enforce it and they will cowhide him. He'll get +none from me. I'll take care of my friends without an order from him." + +"Well," said Mr. W., "if the South is defeated and the slaves set free, +the Southern people will all become atheists; for the Bible justifies +slavery and says it shall be perpetual." + +"You mean, if the Lord does not agree with you, you'll repudiate him." + +"Well, we'll feel it's no use to believe in anything." + +At night the large sitting-room makes a striking picture. Mr. W., spare, +erect, gray-headed, patriarchal, sits in his big chair by the odorous +fire of pine logs and knots roaring up the vast fireplace. His driver +brings to him the report of the day's picking and a basket of snowy +cotton for the spinning. The hunter brings in the game. I sit on the +other side to read. The great spinning-wheels stand at the other end of +the room, and Mrs. W. and her black satellites, the elderly women with +their heads in bright bandanas, are hard at work. Slender and +auburn-haired, she steps back and forth out of shadow into shine +following the thread with graceful movements. Some card the cotton, some +reel it into hanks. Over all the firelight glances, now touching the +golden curls of little John toddling about, now the brown heads of the +girls stooping over their books, now the shadowy figure of little Jule, +the girl whose duty it is to supply the fire with rich pine to keep up +the vivid light. If they would only let the child sit down! But that is +not allowed, and she gets sleepy and stumbles and knocks her head +against the wall and then straightens up again. When that happens often +it drives me off. Sometimes while I read the bright room fades and a +vision rises of figures clad in gray and blue lying pale and stiff on +the blood-sprinkled ground. + +_Nov. 15._--Yesterday a letter was handed me from H. Grant's army was +moving, he wrote, steadily down the Mississippi Central, and might cut +the road at Jackson. He has a house and will meet me in Jackson +to-morrow. + +_Nov. 20._ (_Vicksburg._)--A fair morning for my journey back to +Vicksburg. On the train was the gentleman who in New Orleans had told us +we should have all the butter we wanted from Texas. On the cars, as +elsewhere, the question of food alternated with news of the war. + +When we ran into the Jackson station, H. was on the platform, and I +gladly learned that we could go right on. A runaway negro, an old man, +ashy-colored from fright and exhaustion, with his hands chained, was +being dragged along by a common-looking man. Just as we started out of +Jackson the conductor led in a young woman sobbing in a heartbroken +manner. Her grief seemed so overpowering, and she was so young and +helpless, that every one was interested. Her husband went into the army +in the opening of the war, just after their marriage, and she had never +heard from him since. After months of weary searching she learned he had +been heard of at Jackson, and came full of hope, but found no clue. The +sudden breaking down of her hope was terrible. The conductor placed her +in care of a gentleman going her way and left her sobbing. At the next +station the conductor came to ask her about her baggage. She raised her +head to try and answer. "Don't cry so; you'll find him yet." She gave a +start, jumped from her seat with arms flung out and eyes staring. "There +he is now!" she cried. Her husband stood before her. + +The gentleman beside her yielded his seat, and as hand grasped hand a +hysterical gurgle gave place to a look like Heaven's peace. The low +murmur of their talk began and when I looked around at the next station +they had bought pies and were eating them together like happy children. + +Midway between Jackson and Vicksburg we reached the station near where +Annie's parents were staying. I looked out, and there stood Annie with a +little sister on each side of her, brightly smiling at us. Max had +written to H., but we had not seen them since our parting. There was +only time for a word and the train flashed away. + + + + +XII + +VICKSBURG + + +We reached Vicksburg that night and went to H.'s room. Next morning the +cook he had engaged arrived, and we moved into this house. Martha's +ignorance keeps me busy, and H. is kept close at his office. + +_January 7, 1863._--I have had little to record here recently, for we +have lived to ourselves, not visiting or visited. Every one H. knows is +absent, and I know no one but the family we stayed with at first, and +they are now absent. H. tells me of the added triumph since the repulse +of Sherman in December, and the one paper published here shouts victory +as much as its gradually diminishing size will allow. Paper is a serious +want. There is a great demand for envelops in the office where H. is. He +found and bought a lot of thick and smooth colored paper, cut a tin +pattern, and we have whiled away some long evenings cutting envelops and +making them up. I have put away a package of the best to look at when we +are old. The books I brought from Arkansas have proved a treasure, but +we can get no more. I went to the only book-store open; there were none +but Mrs. Stowe's "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands." The clerk said I +could have that cheap, because he couldn't sell her books, so I got it +and am reading it now. The monotony has only been broken by letters from +friends here and there in the Confederacy. One of these letters tells of +a Federal raid to their place, and says: "But the worst thing was, they +would take every toothbrush in the house, because we can't buy any more; +and one cavalryman put my sister's new bonnet on his horse, and said, +'Get up, Jack,' and her bonnet was gone." + +_February 25._--A long gap in my journal, because H. has been ill unto +death with typhoid fever, and I nearly broke down from loss of sleep, +there being no one to relieve me. I never understood before how terrible +it was to be alone at night with a patient in delirium, and no one +within call. To wake Martha was simply impossible. I got the best doctor +here, but when convalescence began the question of food was a trial. I +got with great difficulty two chickens. The doctor made the drug-store +sell two of their six bottles of port; he said his patient's life +depended on it. An egg is a rare and precious thing. Meanwhile the +Federal fleet has been gathering, has anchored at the bend, and shells +are thrown in at intervals. + +_March 20._--The slow shelling of Vicksburg goes on all the time, and we +have grown indifferent. It does not at present interrupt or interfere +with daily avocations, but I suspect they are only getting the range of +different points; and when they have them all complete, showers of shot +will rain on us all at once. Non-combatants have been ordered to leave +or prepare accordingly. Those who are to stay are having caves built. +Cave-digging has become a regular business; prices range from twenty to +fifty dollars, according to size of cave. Two diggers worked at ours a +week and charged thirty dollars. It is well made in the hill that slopes +just in the rear of the house, and well propped with thick posts, as +they all are. It has a shelf also, for holding a light or water. When we +went in this evening and sat down, the earthy, suffocating feeling, as +of a living tomb, was dreadful to me. I fear I shall risk death outside +rather than melt in that dark furnace. The hills are so honeycombed with +caves that the streets look like avenues in a cemetery. The hill called +the Sky-parlor has become quite a fashionable resort for the few +upper-circle families left here. Some officers are quartered there, and +there is a band and a field-glass. Last evening we also climbed the hill +to watch the shelling, but found the view not so good as on a quiet hill +nearer home. Soon a lady began to talk to one of the officers: "It is +such folly for them to waste their ammunition like that. How can they +ever take a town that has such advantages for defense and protection as +this? We'll just burrow into these hills and let them batter away as +hard as they please." + +"You are right, madam; and besides, when our women are so willing to +brave death and endure discomfort, how can we ever be conquered?" + +Soon she looked over with significant glances to where we stood, and +began to talk at H. + +"The only drawback," she said, "are the contemptible men who are staying +at home in comfort, when they ought to be in the army if they had a +spark of honor." + +I cannot repeat all, but it was the usual tirade. It is strange I have +met no one yet who seems to comprehend an honest difference of opinion, +and stranger yet that the ordinary rules of good breeding are now so +entirely ignored. As the spring comes one has the craving for fresh, +green food that a monotonous diet produces. There was a bed of radishes +and onions in the garden that were a real blessing. An onion salad, +dressed only with salt, vinegar, and pepper, seemed a dish fit for a +king; but last night the soldiers quartered near made a raid on the +garden and took them all. + +_April 2._--We have had to move, and thus lost our cave. The owner of +the house suddenly returned and notified us that he intended to bring +his family back; didn't think there'd be any siege. The cost of the cave +could go for the rent. That means he has got tired of the Confederacy +and means to stay here and thus get out of it. This house was the only +one to be had. It was built by ex-Senator G., and is so large our tiny +household is lost in it. We use only the lower floor. The bell is often +rung by persons who take it for a hotel and come beseeching food at any +price. To-day one came who would not be denied. "We do not keep a hotel, +but would willingly feed hungry soldiers if we had the food." "I have +been traveling all night, and am starving; will pay any price for just +bread." I went to the dining-room and found some biscuits, and set out +two, with a large piece of corn-bread, a small piece of bacon, some nice +syrup, and a pitcher of water. I locked the door of the safe and left +him to enjoy his lunch. After he left I found he had broken open the +safe and taken the remaining biscuits. + +_April 28._--I never understood before the full force of those +questions--What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall +we be clothed? We have no prophet of the Lord at whose prayer the meal +and oil will not waste. Such minute attention must be given the wardrobe +to preserve it that I have learned to darn like an artist. Making shoes +is now another accomplishment. Mine were in tatters. H. came across a +moth-eaten pair that he bought me, giving ten dollars, I think, and they +fell into rags when I tried to wear them; but the soles were good, and +that has helped me to shoes. A pair of old coat-sleeves saved--nothing +is thrown away now--was in my trunk. I cut an exact pattern from my old +shoes, laid it on the sleeves, and cut out thus good uppers and sewed +them carefully; then soaked the soles and sewed the cloth to them. I am +so proud of these home-made shoes, think I'll put them in a glass case +when the war is over, as an heirloom. H. says he has come to have an +abiding faith that everything he needs to wear will come out of that +trunk while the war lasts. It is like a fairy casket. I have but a dozen +pins remaining, so many I gave away. Every time these are used they are +straightened and kept from rust. All these curious labors are performed +while the shells are leisurely screaming through the air; but as long as +we are out of range we don't worry. For many nights we have had but +little sleep, because the Federal gunboats have been running past the +batteries. The uproar when this is happening is phenomenal. The first +night the thundering artillery burst the bars of sleep, we thought it an +attack by the river. To get into garments and rush up-stairs was the +work of a moment. From the upper gallery we have a fine view of the +river, and soon a red glare lit up the scene and showed a small boat, +towing two large barges, gliding by. The Confederates had set fire to a +house near the bank. Another night, eight boats ran by, throwing a +shower of shot, and two burning houses made the river clear as day. One +of the batteries has a remarkable gun they call "Whistling Dick," +because of the screeching, whistling sound it gives, and certainly it +does sound like a tortured thing. Added to all this is the indescribable +Confederate yell, which is a soul-harrowing sound to hear. I have gained +respect for the mechanism of the human ear, which stands it all without +injury. The streets are seldom quiet at night; even the dragging about +of cannon makes a din in these echoing gullies. The other night we were +on the gallery till the last of the eight boats got by. Next day a +friend said to H., "It was a wonder you didn't have your heads taken +off last night. I passed and saw them stretched over the gallery, and +grape-shot were whizzing up the street just on a level with you." The +double roar of batteries and boats was so great, we never noticed the +whizzing. Yesterday the _Cincinnati_ attempted to go by in daylight but +was disabled and sunk. It was a pitiful sight; we could not see the +finale, though we saw her rendered helpless. + + + + +XIII + +PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE + + +_Vicksburg, May 1, 1863._--It is settled at last that we shall spend the +time of siege in Vicksburg. Ever since we were deprived of our cave, I +had been dreading that H. would suggest sending me to the country, where +his relatives lived. As he could not leave his position and go also +without being conscripted, and as I felt certain an army would get +between us, it was no part of my plan to be obedient. A shell from one +of the practising mortars brought the point to an issue yesterday and +settled it. Sitting at work as usual, listening to the distant sound of +bursting shells, apparently aimed at the court-house, there suddenly +came a nearer explosion; the house shook, and a tearing sound was +followed by terrified screams from the kitchen. I rushed thither, but +met in the hall the cook's little girl America, bleeding from a wound in +the forehead, and fairly dancing with fright and pain, while she uttered +fearful yells. I stopped to examine the wound, and her mother bounded +in, her black face ashy from terror. "Oh! Miss V., my child is killed +and the kitchen tore up." Seeing America was too lively to be a killed +subject, I consoled Martha and hastened to the kitchen. Evidently a +shell had exploded just outside, sending three or four pieces through. +When order was restored I endeavored to impress on Martha's mind the +necessity for calmness and the uselessness of such excitement. Looking +round at the close of the lecture, there stood a group of Confederate +soldiers laughing heartily at my sermon and the promising audience I +had. They chimed in with a parting chorus: + +"Yes, it's no use hollerin', old lady." + +"Oh! H.," I exclaimed, as he entered soon after, "America is wounded." + +"That is no news; she has been wounded by traitors long ago." + +"Oh, this is real, living, little black America. I am not talking in +symbols. Here are the pieces of shell, the first bolt of the coming +siege." + +"Now you see," he replied, "that this house will be but paper to +mortar-shells. You must go in the country." + +The argument was long, but when a woman is obstinate and eloquent, she +generally conquers. I came off victorious, and we finished preparations +for the siege to-day. Hiring a man to assist, we descended to the +wine-cellar, where the accumulated bottles told of the "banquet-hall +deserted," the spirit and glow of the festive hours whose lights and +garlands were dead, and the last guest long since departed. To empty +this cellar was the work of many hours. Then in the safest corner a +platform was laid for our bed, and in another portion one arranged for +Martha. The dungeon, as I call it, is lighted only by a trap-door, and +is so damp it will be necessary to remove the bedding and mosquito-bars +every day. The next question was of supplies. I had nothing left but a +sack of rice-flour, and no manner of cooking I had heard or invented +contrived to make it eatable. A column of recipes for making delicious +preparations of it had been going the rounds of Confederate papers. I +tried them all; they resulted only in brick-bats or sticky paste. H. +sallied out on a hunt for provisions, and when he returned the +disproportionate quantity of the different articles obtained provoked a +smile. There was a _hogshead_ of sugar, a barrel of syrup, ten pounds of +bacon and peas, four pounds of wheat-flour, and a small sack of +corn-meal, a little vinegar, and actually some spice! The wheat-flour he +purchased for ten dollars as a special favor from the sole remaining +barrel for sale. We decided that must be left for sickness. The sack of +meal, he said, was a case of corruption, through a special providence to +us. There is no more for sale at any price; but, said he, "a soldier who +was hauling some of the Government sacks to the hospital offered me this +for five dollars, if I could keep a secret. When the meal is exhausted, +perhaps we can keep alive on sugar. Here are some wax candles; hoard +them like gold." He handed me a parcel containing about two pounds of +candles, and left me to arrange my treasures. It would be hard for me to +picture the memories those candles called up. The long years melted +away, and I + + Trod again my childhood's track, + And felt its very gladness. + +In those childish days, whenever came dreams Of household splendor or +festal rooms or gay illuminations, the lights in my vision were always +wax candles burning with a soft radiance that enchanted every scene.... +And, lo! here on this spring day of '63, with war raging through the +land, I was in a fine house, and had my wax candles sure enough; but, +alas! they were neither cerulean blue nor rose-tinted, but dirty brown; +and when I lighted one, it spluttered and wasted like any vulgar tallow +thing, and lighted only a desolate scene in the vast handsome room. They +were not so good as the waxen rope we had made in Arkansas. So, with a +long sigh for the dreams of youth, I return to the stern present in this +besieged town--my only consolation to remember the old axiom, "A city +besieged is a city taken,"--so if we live through it we shall be out of +the Confederacy. H. is very tired of having to carry a pass around in +his pocket and go every now and then to have it renewed. We have been so +very free in America, these restrictions are irksome. + +_May 9._--This morning the door-bell rang a startling peal. Martha being +busy, I answered it. An orderly in gray stood with an official envelop +in his hand. + +"Who lives here?" + +"Mr. L." + +Very imperiously--"Which Mr. L.?" + +"Mr. H.L." + +"Is he here?" + +"No." + +"Where can he be found?" + +"At the office of Deputy ----." + +"I'm not going there. This is an order from General Pemberton for you to +move out of this house in two hours. He has selected it for +headquarters. He will furnish you with wagons." + +"Will he furnish another house also?" + +"Of course not." + +"Has the owner been consulted?" + +"He has not; that is of no consequence; it has been taken. Take this +order." + +"I shall not take it, and I shall not move, as there is no place to move +to but the street." + +"Then I'll take it to Mr. L." + +"Very well; do so." + +As soon as Mr. Impertine walked off, I locked, bolted, and barred every +door and window. In ten minutes H. came home. + +"Hold the fort till I've seen the owner and the general," he said, as I +locked him out. + +Then Dr. B.'s remark in New Orleans about the effect of Dr. C.'s fine +presence on the Confederate officials there came to mind. They are just +the people to be influenced in that way, I thought. I look rather shabby +now; I will dress. I made an elaborate toilet, put on the best and most +becoming dress I had, the richest lace, the handsomest ornaments, taking +care that all should be appropriate to a morning visit; dressed my hair +in the stateliest braids, and took a seat in the parlor ready for the +fray. H. came to the window and said: + +"Landlord says, 'Keep them out. Wouldn't let them have his house at any +price.' He is just riding to the country and can't help us now. Now I'm +to see Major C., who sent the order." + +Next came an officer, banged at the door till tired, and walked away. +Then the orderly came again and beat the door--same result. Next, four +officers with bundles and lunch-baskets, followed by a wagon-load of +furniture. They went round the house, tried every door, peeped in the +windows, pounded and rapped, while I watched them through the +blind-slats. Presently the fattest one, a real Falstaffian man, came +back to the front door and rang a thundering peal. I saw the chance for +fun and for putting on their own grandiloquent style. Stealing on tiptoe +to the door, I turned the key and bolt noiselessly, and suddenly threw +wide back the door and appeared behind it. He had been leaning on it, +and nearly pitched forward with an "Oh! what's this!" Then seeing me as +he straightened up, "Ah, madam!" almost stuttering from surprise and +anger, "are you aware I had the right to break down this door if you +hadn't opened it?" + +"That would make no difference to me. I'm not the owner. You or the +landlord would pay the bill for the repairs." + +"Why didn't you open the door?" + +"Have I not done so as soon as you rung? A lady does not open the door +to men who beat on it. Gentlemen usually ring; I thought it might be +stragglers pounding." + +"Well," growing much blander, "we are going to send you some wagons to +move; you must get ready." + +"With pleasure, if you have selected a house for me. This is too large; +it does not suit me." + +"No, I didn't find a house for you." + +"You surely don't expect me to run about in the dust and shelling to +look for it, and Mr. L. is too busy." + +"Well, madam, then we must share the house. We will take the lower +floor." + +"I prefer to keep the lower floor myself; you surely don't expect me to +go up and down stairs when you are so light and more able to do it." + +He walked through the hall, trying the doors. "What room is that?" "The +parlor." "And this?" "My bedroom." "And this?" "The dining-room." + +"Well, madam, we'll find you a house and then come and take this." + +"Thank you, colonel; I shall be ready when you find the house. +Good-morning, sir." + +I heard him say as he ran down the steps, "We must go back, captain; you +see I didn't know they were this kind of people." + +Of course the orderly had lied in the beginning to scare me, for General +P. is too far away from Vicksburg to send an order. He is looking about +for General Grant. We are told he has gone out to meet Johnston; and +together they expect to annihilate Grant's army and free Vicksburg +forever. There is now a general hospital opposite this house, and a +smallpox hospital next door. War, famine, pestilence, and fire surround +us. Every day the band plays in front of the smallpox hospital. I wonder +if it is to keep up their spirits? One would suppose quiet would be more +cheering. + +_May 17._--Hardly was our scanty breakfast over this morning when a +hurried ring drew us both to the door. + +Mr. J., one of H.'s assistants, stood there in high excitement. + +"Well, Mr. L., they are upon us; the Yankees will be here by this +evening." + +"What do you mean?" + +"That Pemberton has been whipped at Baker's Creek and Big Black, and his +army are running back here as fast as they can come, and the Yanks after +them, in such numbers nothing can stop them. Hasn't Pemberton acted like +a fool?" + +"He may not be the only one to blame," replied H. + +"They're coming along the Big B. road, and my folks went down there to +be safe, you know; now they're right in it. I hear you can't see the +armies for the dust; never was anything else known like it. But I must +go and try to bring my folks back here." + +What struck us both was the absence of that concern to be expected, and +a sort of relief or suppressed pleasure. After twelve some +worn-out-looking men sat down under the window. + +"What is the news?" I inquired. + +"Ritreat, ritreat!" they said, in broken English--they were Louisiana +Acadians. + +About three o'clock the rush began. I shall never forget that woeful +sight of a beaten, demoralized army that came rushing back,--humanity in +the last throes of endurance. Wan, hollow-eyed, ragged, foot-sore, +bloody, the men limped along unarmed, but followed by siege-guns, +ambulances, gun-carriages, and wagons in aimless confusion. At twilight +two or three bands on the court-house hill and other points began +playing "Dixie," "Bonnie Blue Flag," and so on, and drums began to beat +all about; I suppose they were rallying the scattered army. + +_May 28._--Since that day the regular siege has continued. We are +utterly cut off from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire. Would it +be wise like the scorpion to sting ourselves to death? The fiery shower +of shells goes on day and night. H.'s occupation, of course, is gone; +his office closed. Every man has to carry a pass in his pocket. People +do nothing but eat what they can get, sleep when they can, and dodge the +shells. There are three intervals when the shelling stops either for the +guns to cool or for the gunners' meals, I suppose,--about eight in the +morning, the same in the evening, and at noon. In that time we have both +to prepare and eat ours. Clothing cannot be washed or anything else +done. On the 19th and 22d, when the assaults were made on the lines, I +watched the soldiers cooking on the green opposite. The half-spent balls +coming all the way from those lines were flying so thick that they were +obliged to dodge at every turn. At all the caves I could see from my +high perch, people were sitting, eating their poor suppers at the cave +doors, ready to plunge in again. As the first shell again flew they +dived, and not a human being was visible. The sharp crackle of the +musketry-firing was a strong contrast to the scream of the bombs. I +think all the dogs and cats must be killed or starved: we don't see any +more pitiful animals prowling around.... The cellar is so damp and musty +the bedding has to be carried out and laid in the sun every day, with +the forecast that it may be demolished at any moment. The confinement is +dreadful. To sit and listen as if waiting for death in a horrible +manner would drive me insane. I don't know what others do, but we read +when I am not scribbling in this. H. borrowed somewhere a lot of +Dickens's novels, and we reread them, by the dim light in the cellar. +When the shelling abates, H. goes to walk about a little or get the +"Daily Citizen," which is still issuing a tiny sheet at twenty-five and +fifty cents a copy. It is, of course, but a rehash of speculations which +amuses a half hour. To-day he heard while out that expert swimmers are +crossing the Mississippi on logs at night to bring and carry news to +Johnston. I am so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, that I eat +it with tears in my eyes. We are lucky to get a quart of milk daily from +a family near who have a cow they hourly expect to be killed. I send +five dollars to market each morning, and it buys a small piece of +mule-meat. Rice and milk is my main food; I can't eat the mule-meat. We +boil the rice and eat it cold with milk for supper. Martha runs the +gauntlet to buy the meat and milk once a day in a perfect terror. The +shells seem to have many different names: I hear the soldiers say, +"That's a mortar-shell. There goes a Parrott. That's a rifle-shell." +They are all equally terrible. A pair of chimney-swallows have built in +the parlor chimney. The concussion of the house often sends down parts +of their nest, which they patiently pick up and reascend with. + +_Friday, June 5. In the cellar._--Wednesday evening H. said he must take +a little walk, and went while the shelling had stopped. He never leaves +me alone for long, and when an hour had passed without his return I +grew anxious; and when two hours, and the shelling had grown terrific, I +momentarily expected to see his mangled body. All sorts of horrors fill +the mind now, and I am so desolate here; not a friend. When he came he +said that, passing a cave where there were no others near, he heard +groans, and found a shell had struck above and caused the cave to fall +in on the man within. He could not extricate him alone, and had to get +help and dig him out. He was badly hurt, but not mortally, and I felt +fairly sick from the suspense. + +Yesterday morning a note was brought H. from a bachelor uncle out in the +trenches, saying he had been taken ill with fever, and could we receive +him if he came? H. sent to tell him to come, and I arranged one of the +parlors as a dressing-room for him, and laid a pallet that he could move +back and forth to the cellar. He did not arrive, however. It is our +custom in the evening to sit in the front room a little while in the +dark, with matches and candle held ready in hand, and watch the shells, +whose course at night is shown by the fuse. H. was at the window and +suddenly sprang up, crying, "Run!"--"Where?"--"_Back_!" + +I started through the back room, H. after me. I was just within the door +when the crash came that threw me to the floor. It was the most +appalling sensation I'd ever known--worse than an earthquake, which I've +also experienced. Shaken and deafened, I picked myself up; H. had struck +a light to find me. I lighted one, and the smoke guided us to the parlor +I had fixed for Uncle J. The candles were useless in the dense smoke, +and it was many minutes before we could see. Then we found the entire +side of the room torn out. The soldiers who had rushed in said, "This is +an eighty-pound Parrott." It had entered through the front, burst on the +pallet-bed, which was in tatters; the toilet service and everything else +in the room smashed. The soldiers assisted H. to board up the break with +planks to keep out prowlers, and we went to bed in the cellar as usual. +This morning the yard is partially plowed by a couple that fell there in +the night. I think this house, so large and prominent from the river, is +perhaps taken for headquarters and specially shelled. As we descend at +night to the lower regions, I think of the evening hymn that grandmother +taught me when a child: + + Lord, keep us safe this night, + Secure from all our fears; + May angels guard us while we sleep, + Till morning light appears. + +Surely, if there are heavenly guardians, we need them now. + +_June 7._ (_In the cellar._)--There is one thing I feel especially +grateful for, that amid these horrors we have been spared that of +suffering for water. The weather has been dry a long time, and we hear +of others dipping up the water from ditches and mud-holes. This place +has two large underground cisterns of good cool water, and every night +in my subterranean dressing-room a tub of cold water is the nerve-calmer +that sends me to sleep in spite of the roar. One cistern I had to give +up to the soldiers, who swarm about like hungry animals seeking +something to devour. Poor fellows! my heart bleeds for them. They have +nothing but spoiled, greasy bacon, and bread made of musty pea-flour, +and but little of that. The sick ones can't bolt it. They come into the +kitchen when Martha puts the pan of corn-bread in the stove, and beg for +the bowl she mixed it in. They shake up the scrapings with water, put in +their bacon, and boil the mixture into a kind of soup, which is easier +to swallow than pea-bread. When I happen in, they look so ashamed of +their poor clothes. I know we saved the lives of two by giving a few +meals. To-day one crawled on the gallery to lie in the breeze. He looked +as if shells had lost their terrors for his dumb and famished misery. +I've taught Martha to make first-rate corn-meal gruel, because I can eat +meal easier that way than in hoe-cake, and I fixed him a saucerful, put +milk and sugar and nutmeg--I've actually got a nutmeg! When he ate it +the tears ran from his eyes. "Oh, madam, there was never anything so +good! I shall get better." + +_June 9._--The churches are a great resort for those who have no caves. +People fancy they are not shelled so much, and they are substantial and +the pews good to sleep in. We had to leave this house last night, they +were shelling our quarter so heavily. The night before, Martha forsook +the cellar for a church. We went to H.'s office, which was comparatively +quiet last night. H. carried the bank-box; I the case of matches; Martha +the blankets and pillows, keeping an eye on the shells. We slept on +piles of old newspapers. In the streets the roar seems so much more +confusing, I feel sure I shall run right in the way of a shell. They +seem to have five different sounds from the second of throwing them to +the hollow echo wandering among the hills, and that sounds the most +blood-curdling of all. + +_June 13._--Shell burst just over the roof this morning. Pieces tore +through both floors down into the dining-room. The entire ceiling of +that room fell in a mass. We had just left it. Every piece of crockery +on the table was smashed up. The "Daily Citizen" to-day is a foot and a +half long and six inches wide. It has a long letter from a Federal +officer, P.P. Hill, who was on the gunboat _Cincinnati_, that was sunk +May 27. Says it was found in his floating trunk. The editorial says, +"The utmost confidence is felt that we can maintain our position until +succor comes from outside. The undaunted Johnston is at hand." + +_June 18._--To-day the "Citizen" is printed on wallpaper; therefore has +grown a little in size. It says, "But a few days more and Johnston will +be here"; also that "Kirby Smith has driven Banks from Port Hudson," and +that "the enemy are throwing incendiary shells in." + +_June 20._--The gentleman who took our cave came yesterday to invite us +to come to it, because, he said, "it's going to be very bad to-day." I +don't know why he thought so. We went, and found his own and another +family in it; sat outside and watched the shells till we concluded the +cellar was as good a place as that hillside. I fear the want of good +food is breaking down H. I know from my own feelings of weakness, but +mine is not an American constitution and has a recuperative power that +his has not. + +_June 21._--I had gone up-stairs to-day during the interregnum to enjoy +a rest on my bed, and read the reliable items in the "Citizen," when a +shell burst right outside the window in front of me. Pieces flew in, +striking all around me, tearing down masses of plaster that came +tumbling over me. When H. rushed in I was crawling out of the plaster, +digging it out of my eyes and hair. When he picked up a piece as large +as a saucer beside my pillow, I realized my narrow escape. The +windowframe began to smoke, and we saw the house was on fire. H. ran for +a hatchet and I for water, and we put it out. Another [shell] came +crashing near, and I snatched up my comb and brush and ran down here. It +has taken all the afternoon to get the plaster out of my hair, for my +hands were rather shaky. + +_June 25._--A horrible day. The most horrible yet to me, because I've +lost my nerve. We were all in the cellar, when a shell came tearing +through the roof, burst up-stairs, tore up that room, and the pieces +coming through both floors down into the cellar, one of them tore open +the leg of H.'s pantaloons. This was tangible proof the cellar was no +place of protection from them. On the heels of this came Mr. J. to tell +us that young Mrs. P. had had her thigh-bone crushed. When Martha went +for the milk she came back horror-stricken to tell us the black girl +there had her arm taken off by a shell. For the first time I quailed. I +do not think people who are physically brave deserve much credit for it; +it is a matter of nerves. In this way I am constitutionally brave, and +seldom think of danger till it is over; and death has not the terrors +for me it has for some others. Every night I had lain down expecting +death, and every morning rose to the same prospect, without being +unnerved. It was for H. I trembled. But now I first seemed to realize +that something worse than death might come: I might be crippled, and not +killed. Life, without all one's powers and limbs, was a thought that +broke down my courage. I said to H., "You must get me out of this +horrible place; I cannot stay; I know I shall be crippled." Now the +regret comes that I lost control, because H. is worried, and has lost +his composure, because my coolness has broken down. + +_July 1._--Some months ago, thinking it might be useful, I obtained from +the consul of my birthplace, by sending to another town, a passport for +foreign parts. H. said if we went out to the lines we might be permitted +to get through on that. So we packed the trunks, got a carriage, and on +the 30th drove out there. General V. offered us seats in his tent. The +rifle-bullets were whizzing so _zip, zip_ from the sharpshooters on the +Federal lines that involuntarily I moved on my chair. He said, "Don't be +alarmed; you are out of range. They are firing at our mules yonder." His +horse, tied by the tent door, was quivering all over, the most intense +exhibition of fear I'd ever seen in an animal. General V. sent out a +flag of truce to the Federal headquarters, and while we waited wrote on +a piece of silk paper a few words. Then he said, "My wife is in +Tennessee. If you get through the lines, send her this. They will search +you, so I will put it in this toothpick." He crammed the silk paper into +a quill toothpick, and handed it to H. It was completely concealed. The +flag-of-truce officer came back flushed and angry. "General Grant says +no human being shall pass out of Vicksburg; but the lady may feel sure +danger will soon be over. Vicksburg will surrender on the 4th." + +"Is that so, general?" inquired H. "Are arrangements for surrender +made?" + +"We know nothing of the kind. Vicksburg will not surrender." + +"Those were General Grant's exact words, sir," said the flag-officer. +"Of course it is nothing but their brag." + +We went back sadly enough, but to-day H. says he will cross the river to +General Porter's lines and try there; I shall not be disappointed. + +_July 3._--H. was going to headquarters for the requisite pass, and he +saw General Pemberton crawling out of a cave, for the shelling had been +as hot as ever. He got the pass, but did not act with his usual caution, +for the boat he secured was a miserable, leaky one--a mere trough. +Leaving Martha in charge, we went to the river, had our trunks put in +the boat, and embarked; but the boat became utterly unmanageable, and +began to fill with water rapidly. H. saw that we could not cross in it, +and turned to come back; yet in spite of that the pickets at the battery +fired on us. H. raised the white flag he had, yet they fired again, and +I gave a cry of horror that none of these dreadful things had wrung from +me. I thought H. was struck. When we landed H. showed the pass, and said +that the officer had told him the battery would be notified we were to +cross. The officer apologized and said they were not notified. He +furnished a cart to get home, and to-day we are down in the cellar +again, shells flying as thick as ever; provisions so nearly gone, +except the hogshead of sugar, that a few more days will bring us to +starvation indeed. Martha says rats are hanging dressed in the market +for sale with mule-meat: there is nothing else. The officer at the +battery told me he had eaten one yesterday. We have tried to leave this +Tophet and failed, and if the siege continues I must summon that higher +kind of courage--moral bravery--to subdue my fears of possible +mutilation. + +_July 4._--It is evening. All is still. Silence and night are once more +united. I can sit at the table in the parlor and write. Two candles are +lighted. I would like a dozen. We have had wheat supper and wheat bread +once more. H. is leaning back in the rocking-chair; he says: + +"G., it seems to me I can hear the silence, and feel it, too. It wraps +me like a soft garment; how else can I express this peace?" + +But I must write the history of the last twenty-four hours. About five +yesterday afternoon, Mr. J., H.'s assistant, who, having no wife to keep +him in, dodges about at every change and brings us the news, came to H. +and said: + +"Mr. L., you must both come to our cave to-night. I hear that to-night +the shelling is to surpass everything yet. An assault will be made in +front and rear. You know we have a double cave; there is room for you in +mine, and mother and sister will make a place for Mrs. L. Come right up; +the ball will open about seven." + +We got ready, shut up the house, told Martha to go to the church again +if she preferred it to the cellar, and walked up to Mr. J.'s. When +supper was eaten, all secure, and ladies in their cave night toilet, it +was just six, and we crossed the street to the cave opposite. As I +crossed a mighty shell flew screaming right over my head. It was the +last thrown into Vicksburg. We lay on our pallets waiting for the +expected roar, but no sound came except the chatter from neighboring +caves, and at last we dropped asleep. I woke at dawn stiff. A draft from +the funnel-shaped opening had been blowing on me all night. Every one +was expressing surprise at the quiet. We started for home and met the +editor of the "Daily Citizen." H. said: + +"This is strangely quiet, Mr. L." + +"Ah, sir," shaking his head gloomily, "I'm afraid (?) the last shell has +been thrown into Vicksburg." + +"Why do you fear so?" + +"It is surrender. At six last evening a man went down to the river and +blew a truce signal; the shelling stopped at once." + +When I entered the kitchen a soldier was there waiting for the bowl of +scrapings (they took turns for it). + +"Good morning, madam," he said; "we won't bother you much longer. We +can't thank you enough for letting us come, for getting this soup boiled +has helped some of us to keep alive; but now all this is over." + +"Is it true about the surrender?" + +"Yes; we have had no official notice, but they are paroling out at the +lines now, and the men in Vicksburg will never forgive Pemberton. An old +granny! A child would have known better than to shut men up in this +cursed trap to starve to death like useless vermin." His eyes flashed +with an insane fire as he spoke, "Haven't I seen my friends carried out +three or four in a box, that had died of starvation! Nothing else, +madam! Starved to death because we had a fool for a general." + +"Don't you think you're rather hard on Pemberton? He thought it his duty +to wait for Johnston." + +"Some people may excuse him, ma'am; but we'll curse him to our dying +day. Anyhow, you'll see the blue-coats directly." + +Breakfast despatched, we went on the upper gallery. What I expected to +see was files of soldiers marching in, but it was very different. The +street was deserted, save by a few people carrying home bedding from +their caves. Among these was a group taking home a little creature born +in a cave a few days previous, and its wan-looking mother. About eleven +o'clock a soldier in blue came sauntering along, who looked about +curiously. Then two more followed him, and then another. + +"H., do you think these can be the Federal soldiers?" + +"Why, yes; here come more up the street." + +Soon a group appeared on the court-house hill, and the flag began slowly +to rise to the top of the staff. As the breeze caught it, and it sprang +out like a live thing exultant, H. drew a long breath of contentment. + +"Now I feel once more at home in mine own country." + +In an hour more a grand rush of people setting toward the river +began,--foremost among them the gentleman who took our cave; all were +flying as if for life. + +"What can this mean, H.? Are the populace turning out to greet the +despised conquerors?" + +"Oh," said H., springing up, "look! It is the boats coming around the +bend." + +Truly it was a fine spectacle to see that fleet of transports sweep +around the curve and anchor in the teeth of the battery so lately +vomiting fire. Presently Mr. J. passed and called: + +"Aren't you coming, Mr. L.? There's provisions on those boats: coffee +and flour. 'First come, first served,' you know." + +"Yes, I'll be there pretty soon," replied H. + +But now the newcomers began to swarm into our yard, asking H. if he had +coin to sell for greenbacks. He had some, and a little bartering went on +with the new greenbacks. H. went out to get provisions. When he returned +a Confederate officer came with him. H. went to the box of Confederate +money and took out four hundred dollars, and the officer took off his +watch, a plain gold one, and laid it on the table, saying, "We have not +been paid, and I must get home to my family." H. added a five-dollar +greenback to the pile, and wished him a happy meeting. The townsfolk +continued to dash through the streets with their arms full, canned goods +predominating. Toward five, Mr. J. passed again. "Keep on the lookout," +he said; "the army of occupation is coming along," and in a few minutes +the head of the column appeared. What a contrast to the suffering +creatures we had seen so long were these stalwart, well-fed men, so +splendidly set up and accoutred! Sleek horses, polished arms, bright +plumes,--this was the pride and panoply of war! Civilization, +discipline, and order seemed to enter with the measured tramp of those +marching columns; and the heart turned with throbs of added pity to the +worn men in gray, who were being blindly dashed against this embodiment +of modern power. And now this "silence that is golden" indeed is over +all, and my limbs are unhurt, and I suppose if I were a Catholic, in my +fervent gratitude I would hie me with a rich offering to the shrine of +"our Lady of Mercy." + +_July 7._--I did not enjoy quiet long. First came Martha, who announced +her intention of going to search for her sons, as she was free now. I +was hardly able to stand since the severe cold taken in the cave that +night; but she would not wait a day. A colored woman came in and said +she had asked her mistress for wages and she had turned her out (wanting +a place). I was in no condition to stand upon ceremony then, and engaged +her at once, but hear to-day that I am thoroughly pulled to pieces in +Vicksburg circles; there is no more salvation for me. Next came two +Federal officers and wanted rooms and board. To have some protection was +a necessity; both armies were still in town, and for the past three days +every Confederate soldier I see has a cracker in his hand. There is +hardly any water in town, no prospect of rain, and the soldiers have +emptied one cistern in the yard already and begun on the other. The +colonel put a guard at the gate to limit the water given. Next came the +owner of the house and said we must move; he wanted the house, but it +was so big he'd just bring his family in; we could stay till we got one. +They brought boarders with them too, and children. Men are at work all +over the house shoveling up the plaster before repairing. Up-stairs they +are pouring it by bucketfuls through the windows. Colonel D. brought +work for H. to help with from headquarters. Making out the paroles and +copying them has taken so long they wanted help. I am surprised and +mortified to find that two thirds of all the men who have signed made +their mark; they cannot write. I never thought there was so much +ignorance in the South. One of the men at headquarters took a fancy to +H., and presented him with a portfolio that he said he had captured when +the Confederates evacuated their headquarters at Jackson. It contained +mostly family letters written in French, and a few official papers. +Among them was the following note, which I will copy here, and file away +the original as a curiosity when the war is over. + + + HEADQUARTERS DEPT. OF TENN. + TUPELO, Aug. 6, 1862. + + CAPT: The Major-General Commanding directs me to say that he + submits it altogether to your own discretion whether you make the + attempt to capture General Grant or not. While the exploit would + be very brilliant if successful, you must remember that failure + would be disastrous to you and your men. The General commends + your activity and energy, and expects you to continue to show + these qualities. + + I am, very respectfully, yr. obt. svt. + THOMAS L. SNEAD, A.A.G. + + CAPT. GEO. L. BAXTER, + Commanding Beauregard Scouts. + +I would like to know if he tried it and came to grief or abandoned the +project. As letters can now get through to New Orleans, I wrote there. + +_July 14._--Moved yesterday into a house I call "Fair Rosamond's bower" +because it would take a clue of thread to go through it without getting +lost. One room has five doors opening into the house, and no windows. +The stairs are like ladders, and the colonel's contraband valet won't +risk his neck taking down water, but pours it through the windows on +people's heads. We sha'n't stay in it. Men are at work closing up the +caves; they had become hiding-places for trash. Vicksburg is now like +one vast hospital--every one is getting sick or is sick. My cook was +taken to-day with bilious fever, and nothing but will keeps me up. + +_July 23._--We moved again two days ago. + +_Aug. 20._--Sitting in my easy-chair to-day, looking out upon a grassy +slope of the hill in the rear of this house, I have looked over this +journal as if in a dream; for since the last date sickness and sorrow +have been with me. I feel as if an angry wave had passed over me, +bearing away strength and treasure. For on one day there came to me from +New Orleans the news of Mrs. B.'s death, a friend whom no tie of blood +could have made nearer. The next day my beautiful boy ended his brief +life of ten days, and died in my arms. My own illness caused him to +perish; the fatal cold in the cave was the last straw that broke down +strength. The colonel's sweet wife has come, and I do not lack now for +womanly companionship. She says that with such a prenatal experience +perhaps death was the best for him. I try to think so, and to be glad +that H. has not been ill, though I see the effects. This book is +exhausted, and I wonder whether there will be more adventures by flood +and field to cause me to begin another. + + + + +THE LOCOMOTIVE CHASE IN GEORGIA + +BY WILLIAM PITTENGER + + +The railroad raid to Georgia, in the spring of 1862, has always been +considered to rank high among the striking and novel incidents of the +civil war. At that time General O.M. Mitchel, under whose authority it +was organized, commanded Union forces in middle Tennessee, consisting of +a division of Buell's army. The Confederates were concentrating at +Corinth, Mississippi, and Grant and Buell were advancing by different +routes toward that point. Mitchel's orders required him to protect +Nashville and the country around, but allowed him great latitude in the +disposition of his division, which, with detachments and garrisons, +numbered nearly seventeen thousand men. His attention had long been +strongly turned toward the liberation of east Tennessee, which he knew +that President Lincoln also earnestly desired, and which would, if +achieved, strike a most damaging blow at the resources of the rebellion. +A Union army once in possession of east Tennessee would have the +inestimable advantage, found nowhere else in the South, of operating in +the midst of a friendly population, and having at hand abundant supplies +of all kinds. Mitchel had no reason to believe that Corinth would +detain the Union armies much longer than Fort Donelson had done, and was +satisfied that as soon as that position had been captured the next +movement would be eastward toward Chattanooga, thus throwing his own +division in advance. He determined, therefore, to press into the heart +of the enemy's country as far as possible, occupying strategical points +before they were adequately defended and assured of speedy and powerful +reinforcement. To this end his measures were vigorous and well chosen. + +On the 8th of April, 1862,--the day after the battle of Pittsburg +Landing, of which, however, Mitchel had received no intelligence,--he +marched swiftly southward from Shelbyville, and seized Huntsville in +Alabama on the 11th of April, and then sent a detachment westward over +the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to open railway communication with +the Union army at Pittsburg Landing. Another detachment, commanded by +Mitchel in person, advanced on the same day seventy miles by rail +directly into the enemy's territory, arriving unchecked with two +thousand men within thirty miles of Chattanooga,--in two hours' time he +could now reach that point,--the most important position in the West. +Why did he not go on? The story of the railroad raid is the answer. The +night before breaking camp at Shelbyville, Mitchel sent an expedition +secretly into the heart of Georgia to cut the railroad communications of +Chattanooga to the south and east. The fortune of this attempt had a +most important bearing upon his movements, and will now be narrated. + +In the employ of General Buell was a spy named James J. Andrews, who +had rendered valuable services in the first year of the war, and had +secured the full confidence of the Union commanders. In March, 1862, +Buell had sent him secretly with eight men to burn the bridges west of +Chattanooga; but the failure of expected cooeperation defeated the plan, +and Andrews, after visiting Atlanta, and inspecting the whole of the +enemy's lines in that vicinity and northward, had returned, ambitious to +make another attempt. His plans for the second raid were submitted to +Mitchel, and on the eve of the movement from Shelbyville to Huntsville +Mitchel authorized him to take twenty-four men, secretly enter the +enemy's territory, and, by means of capturing a train, burn the bridges +on the northern part of the Georgia State Railroad, and also one on the +East Tennessee Railroad where it approaches the Georgia State line, thus +completely isolating Chattanooga, which was virtually ungarrisoned. + +[Illustration] + +The soldiers for this expedition, of whom the writer was one, were +selected from the three Ohio regiments belonging to General J.W. Sill's +brigade, being simply told that they were wanted for secret and very +dangerous service. So far as known, not a man chosen declined the +perilous honor. Our uniforms were exchanged for ordinary Southern dress, +and all arms except revolvers were left in camp. On the 7th of April, by +the roadside about a mile east of Shelbyville, in the late evening +twilight, we met our leader. Taking us a little way from the road, he +quietly placed before us the outlines of the romantic and adventurous +plan, which was: to break into small detachments of three or four, +journey eastward into the Cumberland Mountains, then work southward, +traveling by rail after we were well within the Confederate lines, and +finally the evening of the third day after the start, meet Andrews at +Marietta, Georgia, more than two hundred miles away. When questioned, we +were to profess ourselves Kentuckians going to join the Southern army. + +On the journey we were a good deal annoyed by the swollen streams and +the muddy roads consequent on three days of almost ceaseless rain. +Andrews was led to believe that Mitchel's column would be inevitably +delayed; and as we were expected to destroy the bridges the very day +that Huntsville was entered, he took the responsibility of sending word +to our different groups that our attempt would be postponed one +day--from Friday to Saturday, April 12. This was a natural but a most +lamentable error of judgment. + +One of the men detailed was belated, and did not join us at all. Two +others were very soon captured by the enemy; and though their true +character was not detected, they were forced into the Southern army, and +two reached Marietta, but failed to report at the rendezvous. Thus, +when we assembled very early in the morning in Andrews's room at the +Marietta Hotel for final consultation before the blow was struck we were +but twenty, including our leader. All preliminary difficulties had been +easily overcome, and we were in good spirits. But some serious obstacles +had been revealed on our ride from Chattanooga to Marietta the previous +evening.[3] The railroad was found to be crowded with trains, and many +soldiers were among the passengers. Then the station--Big Shanty--at +which the capture was to be effected had recently been made a +Confederate camp. To succeed in our enterprise it would be necessary +first to capture the engine in a guarded camp with soldiers standing +around as spectators, and then to run it from one to two hundred miles +through the enemy's country, and to deceive or overpower all trains that +should be met--a large contract for twenty men. Some of our party +thought the chances of success so slight, under existing circumstances, +that they urged the abandonment of the whole enterprise. But Andrews +declared his purpose to succeed or die, offering to each man, however, +the privilege of withdrawing from the attempt--an offer no one was in +the least disposed to accept. Final instructions were then given, and we +hurried to the ticket-office in time for the northward-bound mail-train, +and purchased tickets for different stations along the line in the +direction of Chattanooga. + +[Footnote 3: The different detachments reached the Georgia State +Railroad at Chattanooga, and traveled as ordinary passengers on trains +running southward.--EDITOR.] + +Our ride, as passengers, was but eight miles. We swept swiftly around +the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and soon saw the tents of the Confederate +forces camped at Big Shanty gleam white in the morning mist. Here we +were to stop for breakfast, and attempt the seizure of the train. The +morning was raw and gloomy, and a rain, which fell all day, had already +begun. It was a painfully thrilling moment. We were but twenty, with an +army about us, and a long and difficult road before us, crowded with +enemies. In an instant we were to throw off the disguise which had been +our only protection, and trust to our leader's genius and our own +efforts for safety and success. Fortunately we had no time for giving +way to reflections and conjectures which could only unfit us for the +stern task ahead. + +When we stopped, the conductor, the engineer, and many of the passengers +hurried to breakfast, leaving the train unguarded. Now was the moment of +action. Ascertaining that there was nothing to prevent a rapid start, +Andrews, our two engineers, Brown and Knight, and the firemen hurried +forward, uncoupling a section of the train consisting of three empty +baggage or box-cars, the locomotive, and the tender. The engineers and +the firemen sprang into the cab of the engine, while Andrews, with hand +on the rail and foot on the step, waited to see that the remainder of +the party had gained entrance into the rear box-car. This seemed +difficult and slow, though it really consumed but a few seconds, for the +car stood on a considerable bank, and the first who came were pitched in +by their comrades, while these in turn dragged in the others, and the +door was instantly closed. A sentinel, with musket in hand, stood not a +dozen feet from the engine, watching the whole proceeding; but before he +or any of the soldiers or guards around could make up their minds to +interfere all was done, and Andrews, with a nod to his engineer, stepped +on board. The valve was pulled wide open, and for a moment the wheels +slipped round in rapid, ineffective revolutions; then, with a bound that +jerked the soldiers in the box-car from their feet, the little train +darted away, leaving the camp and the station in the wildest uproar and +confusion. The first step of the enterprise was triumphantly +accomplished. + +According to the time-table, of which Andrews had secured a copy, there +were two trains to be met. These presented no serious hindrance to our +attaining high speed, for we could tell just where to expect them. There +was also a local freight not down on the time-table, but which could not +be far distant. Any danger of collision with it could be avoided by +running according to the schedule of the captured train until it was +passed; then at the highest possible speed we could run to the +Oostenaula and Chickamauga bridges, lay them in ashes, and pass on +through Chattanooga to Mitchel at Huntsville, or wherever eastward of +that point he might be found, arriving long before the close of the day. +It was a brilliant prospect, and so far as human estimates can determine +it would have been realized had the day been Friday instead of Saturday. +Friday every train had been on time, the day dry, the road in perfect +order. Now the road was in disorder, every train far behind time, and +two "extras" were approaching us. But of these unfavorable conditions +we knew nothing, and pressed confidently forward. + +We stopped frequently, and at one point tore up the track, cut telegraph +wires, and loaded on cross-ties to be used in bridge-burning. Wood and +water were taken without difficulty, Andrews very coolly telling the +story to which he adhered throughout the run--namely, that he was one of +General Beauregard's officers, running an impressed powder-train through +to that commander at Corinth. We had no good instruments for +track-raising, as we had intended rather to depend upon fire; but the +amount of time spent in taking up a rail was not material at this stage +of our journey, as we easily kept on the time of our captured train. +There was a wonderful exhilaration in passing swiftly by towns and +stations through the heart of an enemy's country in this manner. It +possessed just enough of the spice of danger, in this part of the run, +to render it thoroughly enjoyable. The slightest accident to our engine, +however, or a miscarriage in any part of our program, would have +completely changed the conditions. + +At Etowah we found the "Yonah," an old locomotive owned by an iron +company, standing with steam up; but not wishing to alarm the enemy till +the local freight had been safely met, we left it unharmed. Kingston, +thirty miles from the starting-point, was safely reached. A train from +Rome, Georgia, on a branch road, had just arrived and was waiting for +the morning mail--our train. We learned that the local freight would +soon come also, and, taking the side-track, waited for it. When it +arrived, however, Andrews saw, to his surprise and chagrin, that it +bore a red flag, indicating another train not far behind. Stepping over +to the conductor, he boldly asked: "What does it mean that the road is +blocked in this manner when I have orders to take this powder to +Beauregard without a minute's delay?" The answer was interesting, but +not reassuring: "Mitchel has captured Huntsville, and is said to be +coming to Chattanooga, and we are getting everything out of there." He +was asked by Andrews to pull his train a long way down the track out of +the way, and promptly obeyed. + +It seemed an exceedingly long time before the expected "extra" arrived, +and when it did come it bore another red flag. The reason given was that +the "local," being too great for one engine, had been made up in two +sections, and the second section would doubtless be along in a short +time. This was terribly vexatious; yet there seemed nothing to do but to +wait. To start out between the sections of an extra train would be to +court destruction. There were already three trains around us, and their +many passengers and others were all growing very curious about the +mysterious train, manned by strangers, which had arrived on the time of +the morning mail. For an hour and five minutes from the time of arrival +at Kingston we remained in this most critical position. The sixteen of +us who were shut up tightly in a box-car,--personating Beauregard's +ammunition,--hearing sounds outside, but unable to distinguish words, +had perhaps the most trying position. Andrews sent us, by one of the +engineers, a cautious warning to be ready to fight in case the +uneasiness of the crowd around led them to make any investigation, +while he himself kept near the station to prevent the sending off of any +alarming telegram. So intolerable was our suspense, that the order for a +deadly conflict would have been felt as a relief. But the assurance of +Andrews quieted the crowd until the whistle of the expected train from +the north was heard; then as it glided up to the depot, past the end of +our side-track, we were off without more words. + +But unexpected danger had arisen behind us. Out of the panic at Big +Shanty two men emerged, determined, if possible, to foil the unknown +captors of their train. There was no telegraph station, and no +locomotive at hand with which to follow; but the conductor of the train, +W.A. Fuller, and Anthony Murphy, foreman of the Atlanta railway +machine-shops, who happened to be on board of Fuller's train, started on +foot after us as hard as they could run. Finding a hand-car they mounted +it and pushed forward till they neared Etowah, where they ran on the +break we had made in the road, and were precipitated down the embankment +into the ditch. Continuing with more caution, they reached Etowah and +found the "Yonah," which was at once pressed into service, loaded with +soldiers who were at hand, and hurried with flying wheels toward +Kingston. Fuller prepared to fight at that point, for he knew of the +tangle of extra trains, and of the lateness of the regular trains, and +did not think we should be able to pass. We had been gone only four +minutes when he arrived and found himself stopped by three long, heavy +trains of cars, headed in the wrong direction. To move them out of the +way so as to pass would cause a delay he was little inclined to +afford--would, indeed, have almost certainly given us the victory. So, +abandoning his engine, he with Murphy ran across to the Rome train, and, +uncoupling the engine and one car, pushed forward with about forty armed +men. As the Rome branch connected with the main road above the depot, he +encountered no hindrance, and it was now a fair race. We were not many +minutes ahead. + +Four miles from Kingston we again stopped and cut the telegraph. While +trying to take up a rail at this point we were greatly startled. One end +of the rail was loosened, and eight of us were pulling at it, when in +the distance we distinctly heard the whistle of a pursuing engine. With +a frantic effort we broke the rail, and all tumbled over the embankment +with the effort. We moved on, and at Adairsville we found a mixed train +(freight and passenger) waiting, but there was an express on the road +that had not yet arrived. We could afford no more delay, and set out for +the next station, Calhoun, at terrible speed, hoping to reach that point +before the express, which was behind time, should arrive. The nine miles +which we had to travel were left behind in less than the same number of +minutes. The express was just pulling out, but, hearing our whistle, +backed before us until we were able to take the side-track. It stopped, +however, in such a manner as completely to close up the other end of the +switch. The two trains, side by side, almost touched each other, and our +precipitate arrival caused natural suspicion. Many searching questions +were asked, which had to be answered before we could get the +opportunity of proceeding. We in the box-car could hear the altercation, +and were almost sure that a fight would be necessary before the +conductor would consent to "pull up" in order to let us out. Here again +our position was most critical, for the pursuers were rapidly +approaching. + +Fuller and Murphy saw the obstruction of the broken rail in time, by +reversing their engine, to prevent wreck, but the hindrance was for the +present insuperable. Leaving all their men behind, they started for a +second foot-race. Before they had gone far they met the train we had +passed at Adairsville and turned it back after us. At Adairsville they +dropped the cars, and with locomotive and tender loaded with armed men, +they drove forward at the highest speed possible. They knew that we were +not many minutes ahead, and trusted to overhaul us before the express +train could be safely passed. + +But Andrews had told the powder story again with all his skill, and +added a direct request in peremptory form to have the way opened before +him, which the Confederate conductor did not see fit to resist; and just +before the pursuers arrived at Calhoun we were again under way. Stopping +once more to cut wires and tear up the track, we felt a thrill of +exhilaration to which we had long been strangers. The track was now +clear before us to Chattanooga; and even west of that city we had good +reason to believe that we should find no other train in the way till we +had reached Mitchel's lines. If one rail could now be lifted we would be +in a few minutes at the Oostenaula bridge; and that burned, the rest of +the task would be little more than simple manual labor, with the enemy +absolutely powerless. We worked with a will. + +But in a moment the tables were turned. Not far behind we heard the +scream of a locomotive bearing down upon us at lightning speed. The men +on board were in plain sight and well armed. Two minutes--perhaps +one--would have removed the rail at which we were toiling; then the game +would have been in our own hands, for there was no other locomotive +beyond that could be turned back after us. But the most desperate +efforts were in vain. The rail was simply bent, and we hurried to our +engine and darted away, while remorselessly after us thundered the +enemy. + +Now the contestants were in clear view, and a race followed unparalleled +in the annals of war. Wishing to gain a little time for the burning of +the Oostenaula bridge, we dropped one car, and, shortly after, another; +but they were "picked up" and pushed ahead to Resaca. We were obliged to +run over the high trestles and covered bridge at that point without a +pause. This was the first failure in the work assigned us. + +The Confederates could not overtake and stop us on the road; but their +aim was to keep close behind, so that we might not be able to damage the +road or take in wood or water. In the former they succeeded, but not in +the latter. Both engines were put at the highest rate of speed. We were +obliged to cut the wire after every station passed, in order that an +alarm might not be sent ahead; and we constantly strove to throw our +pursuers off the track, or to obstruct the road permanently in some way, +so that we might be able to burn the Chickamauga bridges, still ahead. +The chances seemed good that Fuller and Murphy would be wrecked. We +broke out the end of our last box-car and dropped cross-ties on the +track as we ran, thus checking their progress and getting far enough +ahead to take in wood and water at two separate stations. Several times +we almost lifted a rail, but each time the coming of the Confederates +within rifle-range compelled us to desist and speed on. Our worst +hindrance was the rain. The previous day (Friday) had been clear, with a +high wind, and on such a day fire would have been easily and +tremendously effective. But to-day a bridge could be burned only with +abundance of fuel and careful nursing. + +Thus we sped on, mile after mile, in this fearful chase, round curves +and past stations in seemingly endless perspective. Whenever we lost +sight of the enemy beyond a curve, we hoped that some of our +obstructions had been effective in throwing him from the track, and that +we should see him no more; but at each long reach backward the smoke was +again seen, and the shrill whistle was like the scream of a bird of +prey. The time could not have been so very long, for the terrible speed +was rapidly devouring the distance; but with our nerves strained to the +highest tension each minute seemed an hour. On several occasions the +escape of the enemy from wreck was little less than miraculous. At one +point a rail was placed across the track on a curve so skilfully that it +was not seen till the train ran upon it at full speed. Fuller says that +they were terribly jolted, and seemed to bounce altogether from the +track, but lighted on the rails in safety. Some of the Confederates +wished to leave a train which was driven at such a reckless rate, but +their wishes were not gratified. + +Before reaching Dalton we urged Andrews to turn and attack the enemy, +laying an ambush so as to get into close quarters, that our revolvers +might be on equal terms with their guns. I have little doubt that if +this had been carried out it would have succeeded. But either because he +thought the chance of wrecking or obstructing the enemy still good, or +feared that the country ahead had been alarmed by a telegram around the +Confederacy by the way of Richmond, Andrews merely gave the plan his +sanction without making any attempt to carry it into execution. + +Dalton was passed without difficulty, and beyond we stopped again to cut +wires and to obstruct the track. It happened that a regiment was +encamped not a hundred yards away, but they did not molest us. Fuller +had written a despatch to Chattanooga, and dropped a man with orders to +have it forwarded instantly, while he pushed on to save the bridges. +Part of the message got through and created a wild panic in Chattanooga, +although it did not materially influence our fortunes. Our supply of +fuel was now very short, and without getting rid of our pursuers long +enough to take in more, it was evident that we could not run as far as +Chattanooga. + +While cutting the wire we made an attempt to get up another rail; but +the enemy, as usual, were too quick for us. We had no tool for this +purpose except a wedge-pointed iron bar. Two or three bent iron claws +for pulling out spikes would have given us such incontestable +superiority that, down to almost the last of our run, we should have +been able to escape and even to burn all the Chickamauga bridges. But it +had not been our intention to rely on this mode of obstruction--an +emergency only rendered necessary by our unexpected delay and the +pouring rain. + +We made no attempt to damage the long tunnel north of Dalton, as our +enemies had greatly dreaded. The last hope of the raid was now staked +upon an effort of a kind different from any that we had yet made, but +which, if successful, would still enable us to destroy the bridges +nearest Chattanooga. But, on the other hand, its failure would terminate +the chase. Life and success were put upon one throw. + +A few more obstructions were dropped on the track, and our own speed +increased so that we soon forged a considerable distance ahead. The side +and end boards of the last car were torn into shreds, all available fuel +was piled upon it, and blazing brands were brought back from the engine. +By the time we approached a long, covered bridge a fire in the car was +fairly started. We uncoupled it in the middle of the bridge, and with +painful suspense waited the issue. Oh for a few minutes till the work of +conflagration was fairly begun! There was still steam pressure enough in +our boiler to carry us to the next wood-yard, where we could have +replenished our fuel by force, if necessary, so as to run as near to +Chattanooga as was deemed prudent. We did not know of the telegraph +message which the pursuers had sent ahead. But, alas! the minutes were +not given. Before the bridge was extensively fired the enemy was upon +us, and we moved slowly onward, looking back to see what they would do +next. We had not long to conjecture. The Confederates pushed right into +the smoke, and drove the burning car before them to the next side-track. + +With no car left, and no fuel, the last scrap having thrown into the +engine or upon the burning car, and with no obstruction to drop on the +track, our situation was indeed desperate. A few minutes only remained +until our steed of iron which had so well served us would be powerless. + +But it might still be possible to save ourselves. If we left the train +in a body, and, taking a direct course toward the Union lines, hurried +over the mountains at right angles with their course, we could not, from +the nature of the country, be followed by cavalry, and could easily +travel--athletic young men as we were, and fleeing for life--as rapidly +as any pursuers. There was no telegraph in the mountainous districts +west and northwest of us, and the prospect of reaching the Union lines +seemed to me then, and has always since seemed, very fair. Confederate +pursuers with whom I have since conversed freely have agreed on two +points--that we could have escaped in the manner here pointed out, and +that an attack on the pursuing train would likely have been successful. +But Andrews thought otherwise, at least in relation to the former plan, +and ordered us to jump from the locomotive one by one, and, dispersing +in the woods, each endeavor to save himself. Thus ended the Andrews +railroad raid. + +It is easy now to understand why Mitchel paused thirty miles west of +Chattanooga. The Andrews raiders had been forced to stop eighteen miles +south of the same town, and no flying train met him with the expected +tidings that all railroad communications of Chattanooga were destroyed, +and that the town was in a panic and undefended. He dared advance no +farther without heavy reinforcements from Pittsburg Landing or the +north; and he probably believed to the day of his death, six months +later, that the whole Andrews party had perished without accomplishing +anything. + +A few words will give the sequel to this remarkable enterprise. There +was great excitement in Chattanooga and in the whole of the surrounding +Confederate territory for scores of miles. The hunt for the fugitive +raiders was prompt, energetic, and completely successful. Ignorant of +the country, disorganized, and far from the Union lines, they strove in +vain to escape. Several were captured the same day on which they left +the cars, and all but two within a week. Even these two were overtaken +and brought back when they supposed that they were virtually out of +danger. Two of those who had failed to be on the train were identified +and added to the band of prisoners. + +Now follows the saddest part of the story. Being in citizens' dress +within an enemy's lines, the whole party were held as spies, and closely +and vigorously guarded. A court-martial was convened, and the leader and +seven others out of the twenty-two were condemned and executed. The +remainder were never brought to trial, probably because of the advance +of Union forces, and the consequent confusion into which the affairs of +the departments of east Tennessee and Georgia were thrown. Of the +remaining fourteen, eight succeeded by a bold effort--attacking their +guard in broad daylight--in making their escape from Atlanta, Georgia, +and ultimately in reaching the North. The other six who shared in this +effort, but were recaptured, remained prisoners until the latter part of +March, 1863, when they were exchanged through a special arrangement made +with Secretary Stanton. All the survivors of this expedition received +medals and promotion.[4] The pursuers also received expressions of +gratitude from their fellow-Confederates, notably from the governor and +the legislature of Georgia. + +[Footnote 4: Below is a list of the participants in the raid: + +James J. Andrews,[A] leader; +William Campbell,[A] a civilian who volunteered to accompany the raiders; +George D. Wilson,[A] Company B, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Marion A. Ross,[A] Company A, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Perry G. Shadrack,[A] Company K, 2d Ohio Volunteers; +Samuel Slavens,[A] 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Samuel Robinson,[A] Company G, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +John Scott,[A] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +Wilson W. Brown,[B] Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Knight,[B] Company E, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +Mark Wood,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +James A. Wilson,[B] Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +John Wollam,[B] Company C, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +D.A. Dorsey,[B] Company H, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Jacob Parrott,[C] Company K, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +Robert Buffum,[C] Company H, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Benzinger,[C] Company G, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Reddick,[C] Company B, 33d Ohio Volunteers; +E.H. Mason,[C] Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteers; +William Pittenger,[C] Company G, 2d Ohio Volunteers. + +J.R. Porter, Company C, 21st Ohio, and Martin J. Hawkins, Company A, 33d +Ohio, reached Marietta, but did not get on board of the train. They were +captured and imprisoned with their comrades. + +[A] Executed. [B] Escaped. [C] Exchanged.] + + + + +MOSBY'S "PARTIZAN RANGERS" + +BY A.E. RICHARDS + + +During the early stages of the war between the States, the Confederate +Congress enacted a statute known as the Partizan Ranger Act, which +provided for independent bodies of cavalry to be organized as other +government troops. The officers were to be regularly commissioned and +the men to be paid like other soldiers. The distinctive features were, +that the rangers should operate independently of the regular army and be +entitled to the legitimate spoil captured from the enemy. + +While John S. Mosby was employed as a scout by General J.E.B. Stuart, he +had concluded that a command organized and operated as contemplated by +this act could do great damage to the enemy guarding that portion of +Northern Virginia abandoned by the Confederate armies. But the partizan +branch of the service having been brought into disrepute by the worse +than futile efforts of others, his superior officers at first refused +him permission to engage in so questionable an enterprise. Finally, +however, General Stuart gave Mosby a detail of nine men from the regular +cavalry with which to experiment. + +At that time the two main armies operating in Virginia were confronting +each other near Fredericksburg. To protect their lines of communication +with Washington, the Federals had stationed a considerable force across +the Potomac, with headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. They also +established a complete cordon of pickets from a point on the river above +Washington to a point below, thus encompassing many square miles of +Virginia territory. Upon these outposts Mosby commenced his operations. +The size of his command compelled him to confine his attacks to the +small details made nightly for picket duty. But he was so uniformly +successful that when the time came for him to report back to General +Stuart, that officer was so pleased with the experiment that he allowed +Mosby to select fifteen men from his old regiment and return, for an +indefinite period, to his chosen field of operations. + +His first exploits had been so noised abroad that the young men from the +neighboring counties and the soldiers at home on furloughs would request +permission to join in his raids. He could easily muster fifty of these, +known as "Mosby's Conglomerates," for any expedition. The opportunity +for developing his ideas of border warfare was thus presented. With +great vigor he renewed his attacks upon the Federal outposts. As a +recognition of one of his successful exploits, the Confederate +government sent him a captain's commission with authority to raise a +company of partizan rangers. The material for this was already at hand, +and on June 10, 1862, he organized his first company. This was the +nucleus around which he subsequently shaped his ideal command. The fame +of his achievements had already spread throughout Virginia and Maryland, +and attracted to his standard many kindred spirits from both States. No +conscripting was necessary. Those for whom this mode of warfare +possessed a charm would brave hardship and danger for the privilege of +enlisting under his banner. His recruits from Maryland, and many of +those from Virginia, were compelled to pass through the Federal pickets +in order to join his command. Yet great care had to be exercised in the +selection of his men, and not every applicant was received. If an +unworthy soldier procured admission, so soon as the mistake was +discovered he was sent under guard as a conscript to the regular +service. + +Mosby reserved the right to select all of his officers, who were +invariably chosen from those who had already demonstrated their fitness +for this particular service. It has been said of a great military hero +that the surest proof of his genius was his skill in finding out genius +in others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Mosby, in his +limited sphere, displayed a similar talent, and to this faculty, almost +as much as any one thing, may be attributed his success with his +enlarged command. When a sufficient number of men had enlisted to form a +new company, he would have them drawn up in line and his adjutant would +read to them the names of those selected for officers, with the +announcement that all who were not in favor of their election could step +out of the ranks and go to the regular service. Of course no one ever +left. In order to comply with the law, the form of an election was then +gone through with, and their commander's choice ratified. In no other +body of troops were all the officers thus _unanimously_ elected. + +Mosby's command, as finally organized, consisted of eight companies of +cavalry and one of mounted artillery, officered by a colonel, a +lieutenant-colonel, and a major, with the usual complement of company +officers. But the entire force was seldom combined. Instead of this, +they would be divided into two or more detachments operating in +different places. So it was not at all unusual for an attack to be made +the same night upon Sheridan's line of transportation in the valley, +upon the pickets guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, upon the +outposts in Fairfax County, and upon the rear of the army manoeuvering +against Lee. This explains--what at the time seemed to many of the +readers of the Northern newspapers a mystery--how Mosby's men could be +in so many different places at the same time. The safety and success of +the Rangers were enhanced by these subdivisions, the Federals having +become so alert as to make it extremely difficult for a large command +either to evade their pickets or manoeuver within their lines. From +fifty to one hundred men were all that were usually marched together, +and many of their most brilliant successes were achieved with even a +smaller force. Mosby had only twenty men with him when he captured +Brigadier-General Edwin H. Stoughton. With these he penetrated the heart +of the Federal camp, and carried off its commander. General Stoughton +was in charge of an army of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, with +headquarters at Fairfax Court-house. One dark night in March, 1863, +Mosby, with this small detachment, evaded the Federal pickets, passed +through the sleeping army, and with their camp-fires gleaming all +around him, and their sentinels on duty, aroused their general from his +slumbers, and took him captive with thirty-seven of his comrades. + +But the novelty of Mosby's mode of warfare consisted chiefly in the +manner of subsisting, quartering and protecting his men. The upper +portion of Loudon and Fauquier counties, embracing a circuit of about +thirty miles in diameter, was then known as "Mosby's Confederacy." By a +glance at the map it will be observed that it bordered upon the Blue +Ridge Mountains on the west, and the Bull Run Mountains on the east. The +valley between is one of the richest, most beautiful, and highly +cultivated in the State of Virginia. It was thickly inhabited with old +Virginia families, who were loyal and true to the Southern cause. These +people received Mosby's men into their houses as their guests, and +neither danger nor want could tempt their betrayal. Robin Hood's band +sought safety in the solitudes of Sherwood Forest, Marion's men secreted +themselves "in the pleasant wilds of Snow's Island" and other South +Carolina swamps, but the Partizan Rangers of Virginia protected +themselves by dispersing in an open country among a sympathizing people. +They never established a camp; to have done so would have invited +capture. Each soldier had his boarding-house, where he lived when off +duty, as a member of the family. From these they would come, singly or +in groups, bringing their rations with them to some designated +rendezvous, march rapidly to and from the point of attack, send their +prisoners under guard to the nearest Confederate post, divide the spoil, +and disperse. If they were pursued by an overwhelming force as was +frequently the case, the evening found them scattered to the four winds, +where each man, mounted upon his own fleet steed, could protect himself +from capture. If the Federals attempted to follow the chase in small +parties, the Rangers, from behind every hill and grove, would +concentrate and dash upon them. If they marched in solid column, the +Rangers would hang upon their flanks, firing upon them from behind +trees, fences, and hilltops. In this way, General Julius Stahel, who had +invaded Mosby's Confederacy with two brigades of cavalry and four pieces +of artillery for the avowed purpose of utterly demolishing the Rangers, +was so annoyed that he retired, thoroughly disgusted with an enemy "who +only fought when they got their foe at a disadvantage." + +As there were no civil officers commissioned by either party in all that +section of Virginia, the people naturally turned to Mosby as their only +representative of law and order. It was not unusual for them to submit +their property controversies to him for decision. In this way he +acquired a civil jurisdiction in connection with his military +dictatorship. Being a lawyer by profession, educated at the University +of Virginia, his civil administration became as remarkable for its +prudence and justice as his military leadership was for magnanimity and +dash. I heard an old citizen remark, "For two years Mosby was our ruler, +and the country never was better governed." He protected the people from +stragglers and deserters, who pillaged friend and foe alike. Every +captured horse-thief was promptly executed. He required his own men to +treat the citizens with fairness and courtesy, and any violation of +this rule was punished by sending the offender to the regular service. +Its observance was more easily enforced than would appear possible at +first glance. The men were scarcely ever off duty, except for necessary +rest. The officers were then distributed among them, and by their +example and authority controlled, when necessary, the deportment of +their men. The citizens with whom they lived also exercised a healthy +influence over them. These relations engendered many attachments that +ran like golden threads through the soldier's life and outlived the +rough usages of war. + +It thus became no easy matter to drive the Rangers from a territory so +dear to them, and in which they were befriended by all. On two occasions +the entire Federal army operating against General Lee passed through +Mosby's Confederacy, and yet his men did not abandon it. They hid +themselves in the mountains during the day, and descended upon the enemy +at night. They thus observed every movement of the Federal army, and all +valuable information was promptly sent to the Confederate general. On +one of these occasions, June 17, 1863, Mosby found himself at ten +o'clock at night between the infantry and cavalry commands of General +Hooker's army. Observing three horses hitched near a house, with an +orderly standing by, he left his command with the prisoners already +captured, and taking with him three men, rode up to the orderly and was +informed by him that the horses belonged to Major William E. Sterling +and another officer. In a whisper he said to the orderly: + +"My name is Mosby. Keep quiet!" + +The man understood him to say that he (the orderly) was "Mosby," and +very indignantly replied: + +"No sir, I am as good a Union man as ever walked the earth." + +"Those are just the sort I am after," said Mosby. + +Just then the two officers emerged from the house. As they approached, +one of the Rangers stretched out his hand to disarm the major. Supposing +him to be an acquaintance, Major Sterling offered his hand in return, +but was overwhelmed with surprise when informed that he was a prisoner. +Upon examination he was found to be the bearer of important despatches +from General Hooker to his chief of cavalry, General Pleasonton. These +despatches, which developed the contemplated movements of the army and +directed the cooeperation of the cavalry, were placed in General Stuart's +hands by dawn of day. On this and many similar occasions information +furnished by the Rangers proved invaluable to the Confederate generals. + +But furnishing information was not the most important service they +rendered. It has been fairly estimated that they detained on guard duty +thirty thousand Federal soldiers, who otherwise might have been employed +at the front. Even then the Federal lines of transportation were +constantly being attacked, with more or less success. It was impossible +to protect them against such reckless activity as the Rangers were +constantly displaying. No matter how vigilant the Federals were, Mosby +was sure to find an opportunity for attacking. Sometimes his success +would lie in the very boldness of the attempt. This was never more +strikingly illustrated than in one of his attacks upon Sheridan's line +of transportation. The Federal arm which had driven General Early up the +valley beyond Winchester was drawing its supplies over the turnpike from +Harper's Ferry. Mosby, taking a command of five companies of cavalry and +two mountain howitzers,--numbering two hundred and fifty men,--passed at +night across the Blue Ridge, and fording the Shenandoah, halted a few +miles below Berryville. Riding out to the turnpike, he discovered in his +immediate front two large trains parked for the night--one going toward +the army loaded, the other returning empty. He determined to capture the +former, composed of one hundred and fifty wagons. At daybreak it +commenced to move, guarded by a brigade of infantry and two hundred and +fifty cavalry. The train and its guard were soon strung along the +turnpike. The cavalry rode on the flank near the center, a company of +infantry marched in front of each tenth wagon, and the remaining force +was distributed between the rear-and advance-guards. It was a bright +summer morning, and just as the sun was rising the Rangers marched +across the open fields and halted about four hundred yards from the +road, and within full view of the moving train. Observing the Federal +cavalry dismounted across the road a quarter of a mile to his left, +Mosby sent two companies of his cavalry and one howitzer, with orders to +take a position immediately opposite them and there await the signal of +attack, which was to be three shots fired from the howitzer left behind. +This detachment did not halt until it was within seventy-five yards of +the moving train. Of course the Federals observed all these manoeuvers, +but were misled by their very boldness; they never imagined but what +this new force was a part of their own army. So when the first shot, +which fell short, was fired from the howitzer, several of their officers +rode to the eminence not more than thirty steps in front of the detached +Confederate squadron, and lifting their glasses to their eyes, prepared +to witness what they supposed to be artillery practice. Just then the +second shell from the howitzer burst in the midst of their cavalry, who, +supposing it had been fired in that direction through mistake, hastily +prepared to move beyond range. Immediately the rebel yell was raised, +and the squadron dashed at the Federals, scattering them in every +direction, and capturing the officers with their glasses still in their +hands. Turning abruptly to the left, the Rangers charged along the road, +riding over company after company of infantry until checked by a volley +from the advance-guard. At the same time another squadron had struck the +turnpike immediately in front of their first position, and turning to +the right, had ridden down everything between them and the rear-guard. +Then, with one howitzer playing upon the advance and the other upon the +rear-guard, the Rangers rapidly collected their prisoners, unhitched the +teams, and burned the wagons. When reinforcements reached the Federals +they deployed their skirmishers and advanced in line of battle, only to +see the Rangers riding over the hills in the distance, taking with them +three hundred prisoners, seven hundred mules and horses, and two hundred +and thirty beef-cattle. But the rejoicing of the Rangers was almost +turned into chagrin when they learned from the Northern papers that one +of the wagons from which they had taken the mules was loaded with an +iron safe containing one million dollars to pay off the army. Upon +reading it, Mosby dropped the paper with a sigh, exclaiming, "There's a +cool million gone after it was fairly earned! What other man could +sustain such losses with so little embarrassment?" + +But this failure of the Rangers to secure their "earnings" did not +always attend them. Shortly after that they collected a sufficient +amount of "dues" to enable them to determine upon greenbacks as the +future currency of their Confederacy. It happened in this wise. Taking +with him seventy-five men, Mosby crossed, at an early hour of the night, +in rear of Sheridan's army, and struck the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad +above Harper's Ferry, near Duffield Station. Here they prized up one +side of the track to a height of four feet, placing a secure foundation +under it. Soon the night express came rushing along. The engine upset, +and the train came to a stand without serious injury to the passengers. +Immediately the cars were boarded, and every one in Federal uniform +captured. Among the prisoners were two paymasters, Majors Moore and +Ruggles, who had in a satchel and tin box $168,000, in greenbacks, to +pay off the troops stationed along the road. Securing this rich booty, +the Rangers burned the cars and repassed Sheridan's pickets before the +day had dawned. The money was divided upon reaching their Confederacy, +each man receiving something over two thousand dollars, Mosby taking +nothing. + +Only the men who participated in a particular raid were allowed to +share in its spoil. The officer who commanded the expedition always +controlled the distribution. It was seldom there was anything to divide +except horses and their equipments. Those who had distinguished +themselves in the fight were allowed the first choice as a reward for +their gallantry, the shares of the others being divided by lot. This +system, by rewarding individual merit, encouraged a healthy rivalry +among the men, and at the same time removed all inducement to leave the +fight for plunder. Often when a charge was ordered, a genuine horse-race +followed, the swiftest steeds leading the way. + +In this manner the men were mounted and equipped without expense to +themselves or the Confederate Government. On the contrary, the army +quartermaster kept an agent in Mosby's Confederacy, to purchase from the +Rangers their surplus stock and arms. His standing price for a horse was +forty dollars in gold. But each Ranger retained two or more of the best +for his own use. In this way they were always splendidly mounted. I once +heard a Federal officer say he was not surprised that Mosby's men rode +such fine horses, as they had both armies to pick from. The cavalry was +armed with pistols alone, of which each man carried at least two. Their +superiority over all other arms for this branch of the service was +frequently demonstrated. It is a weapon that can be used with one hand, +leaving the other to guide the horse. Cavalry is never really efficient +unless trained to rush into close contact with the enemy. To see the +whites of their eyes is not sufficient; they must ride over the foe. In +the rapid charge the carbine is not only useless, but a positive +incumbrance. The saber is comparatively harmless; it serves to frighten +the timid, but rarely ever deals a death-wound. Let two men encounter +each other in the charge, one relying upon his pistol, the other upon +his saber, and the former, though an ordinary marksman, will almost +invariably get the better of his antagonist. The Rangers realized their +advantage in this respect. It encouraged them to rush into close +quarters, where the rapid discharge of their pistols soon told upon the +enemy, no matter how bravely they had withstood the onset. I have seen +the victory decided alone by the superiority of the pistol over the +saber, where the opposing columns had crossed each other in the charge +and, wheeling, had mingled in the fight. + +But the Rangers were compelled to discard the carbine and the saber for +other reasons than their inferiority in the hand-to-hand conflict. It +was always their policy to take the enemy by surprise if possible. Their +favorite plan was to wind their way through the Federal pickets during +the night, and make the attack at break of day. The rattling of the +carbine and saber would have made it impossible to execute these +movements with the silence necessary to success. To the uninitiated it +would be surprising to see with what noiseless secrecy these manoeuvers +could be accomplished. Only whispered commands were necessary from the +officers, and the presence of danger insured silence in the ranks. This +silence, which was observed so long as silence was proper, served to +make the charge, with its shout and its cheer, the more terrible to the +foe. + +But it must not be imagined the Rangers were always successful. They +were themselves sometimes surprised, sometimes repulsed. Nothing else +could be expected from almost daily encounters in a country abandoned to +the enemy. There were occasions when they were saved from total ruin +only by their knowledge of the country and the swiftness of their +steeds. + + + + +A ROMANCE OF MORGAN'S ROUGH-RIDERS + +THE RAID, THE CAPTURE, AND THE ESCAPE + + + + +I. THE RAID + +BY BASIL W. DUKE + + +In the summer of 1863, when, at Tullahoma, Tennessee, General Bragg's +army was menaced by superior numbers in flank and rear, he determined to +send a body of cavalry into Kentucky, which should operate upon +Rosecrans's communications between Nashville and Louisville, break the +railroads, capture or threaten all the minor depots of supplies, +intercept and defeat all detachments not too strong to be engaged, and +keep the enemy so on the alert in his own rear that he would lose or +neglect his opportunity to embarrass or endanger the march of the army +when its retrograde movement began. He even hoped that a part of the +hostile forces before him might be thus detained long enough to prevent +their participation in the battle which he expected to fight when he +crossed the Tennessee. + +The officer whom he selected to accomplish this diversion was General +John H. Morgan, whose division of mounted riflemen was well fitted for +the work in hand. Equal in courage, dash, and discipline to the other +fine cavalry commands which General Bragg had at his disposal, it had +passed a longer apprenticeship in expeditionary service than had any +other. Its rank and file was of that mettle which finds its natural +element in active and audacious enterprise, and was yet thrilled with +the fire of youth; for there were few men in the division over +twenty-five years of age. It was imbued with the spirit of its +commander, and confided in his skill and fortune; no endeavor was deemed +impossible or even hazardous when he led. It was inured to constant, +almost daily, combat with the enemy, of all arms and under every +possible contingency. During its four years of service the 2d Kentucky +Cavalry, of which General Morgan was the first colonel, lost sixty-three +commissioned officers killed and wounded; Company A of that regiment, of +which Morgan was the first captain, losing during the war seventy-five +men killed. It had on its muster-roll, from first to last, nearly two +hundred and fifty men. The history of this company and regiment was +scarcely exceptional in the command. + +[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN H. MORGAN.] + +Morgan was beyond all men adapted to independent command of this nature. +His energy never flagged, and his invention was always equal to the +emergency. Boldness and caution were united in all that he undertook. +He had a most remarkable aptitude for promptly acquiring a knowledge of +any country in which he was operating; and as he kept it, so to speak, +"in his head," he was enabled easily to extricate himself from +difficulties. The celerity with which he marched, the promptness with +which he attacked or eluded a foe, intensified the confidence of his +followers, and kept his antagonists always in doubt and apprehension. + +[Illustration: Map] + +In his conference with General Bragg, Morgan differed with his chief +regarding the full effect of a raid that should not be extended beyond +the Ohio. General Bragg desired it to be confined to Kentucky. He gave +Morgan _carte blanche_ to go where he pleased in that State and stay as +long as he pleased; suggesting, among other things, that he capture +Louisville. Morgan urged that while by such a raid he might so divert to +himself the attention of General Henry M. Judah and the cavalry of +Rosecrans that they would not molest General Bragg's retreat, he could +do nothing, in this way, in behalf of the other equally important +feature of the plan--the detention of troops that would otherwise +strengthen Rosecrans in the decisive battle to be fought south of the +Tennessee. He contended, moreover, that a raid into Indiana and Ohio, +the more especially as important political elections were pending there, +would cause troops to be withdrawn from Rosecrans and Burnside for the +protection of those States. But General Bragg refused permission to +cross the Ohio, and instructed Morgan to make the raid as originally +designed. + +[Illustration: THE MORGAN RAID. + +_JULY 1863._] + +Some weeks previous to this conference, by Morgan's direction I had sent +competent men to examine the fords of the upper Ohio. He had even then +contemplated such an expedition. It had long been his conviction that +the Confederacy could maintain the struggle only by transferring +hostilities and waging war, whenever opportunity offered, on Northern +soil. Upon his return from this interview he told me what had been +discussed, and what were General Bragg's instructions. He said that he +meant to disobey them; that the emergency, he believed, justified +disobedience. He was resolved to cross the Ohio River and invade Indiana +and Ohio. His command would probably be captured, he said; but in no +other way could he give substantial aid to the army. General Bragg had +directed Morgan to detail two thousand men for the expedition. From the +two brigades commanded respectively by myself and Colonel Adam R. +Johnson, Morgan selected twenty-four hundred and sixty of the +best-mounted and most effective. He took with him four pieces of +artillery--two 3-inch Parrotts, attached to the First Brigade, and two +12-pounder howitzers, attached to the Second. + +I should state that Morgan had thoroughly planned the raid before he +marched from Tennessee. He meant to cross the Cumberland in the vicinity +of Burkesville, and to march directly across Kentucky to the nearest +point at which he could reach the Ohio west of Louisville, so closely +approaching Louisville as to compel belief that he meant to attempt its +capture. Turning to the right after entering Indiana, and marching as +nearly due east as possible, he would reduce to a minimum the distance +necessary to be covered, and yet threaten and alarm the population of +the two States as completely as by penetrating deeply into them; more +so, indeed, for pursuing this line he would reach the immediate vicinity +of Cincinnati and excite fears for the safety of that city. While he +intended to prolong the raid to the uttermost, he proposed to be at no +time far from the Ohio, so that he might avail himself of an opportunity +to recross. On reaching the borders of Pennsylvania, he intended, if +General Lee should be in that State, to make every effort to join him; +failing in that, to make his escape through West Virginia. Information +he had gotten about the fords of the upper Ohio had induced him to +indicate Buffington's Island as the point where he would attempt to +recross that stream. He deemed the passage of the Cumberland one of the +four chief difficulties of the expedition that might prove really +dangerous and insuperable; the other three were the passage of the Ohio, +the circuit around Cincinnati, and the recrossing of the Ohio. + +Before noon on the 2d of July my brigade began to cross the Cumberland +at Burkesville and at Scott's Ferry, two miles higher up the stream. The +river, swollen by heavy and long-continued rains, was pouring down a +volume of water which overspread its banks and rushed with a velocity +that seemed to defy any attempt to stem it. Two or three canoes lashed +together and two small flats served to transport the men and the +field-pieces, while the horses were made to swim. Many of them were +swept far down by the boiling flood. This process was necessarily slow, +as well as precarious. Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was crossing at +Turkey Neck Bend, several miles below Burkesville, was scarcely so well +provided with the means of ferriage as myself. About 3 P.M. the enemy +began to threaten both brigades. Had these demonstrations been made +earlier, and vigorously, we could have gotten over the river. +Fortunately by this time we had taken over the 6th Kentucky and 9th +Tennessee of my brigade--aggregating nearly six hundred men--and also +the two pieces of artillery. These regiments were moved beyond +Burkesville and placed in a position which served all the purposes of an +ambuscade. When the enemy approached, one or two volleys caused his +column to recoil in confusion. General Morgan instantly charged it with +Quirk's scouts and some companies of the 9th Tennessee, and not only +prevented it from rallying, but drove it all the way back to Marrowbone, +entering the encampment there with the troops he was pursuing in a +pell-mell dash. He was soon driven back, however, by the enemy's +infantry and artillery. + +The effect of this blow was to keep the enemy quiet for the rest of the +day and night. The forces threatening Colonel Johnson were also +withdrawn, and we both accomplished the passage of the river without +further molestation. That night the division marched out on the Columbia +road and encamped about two miles from Burkesville. On the next day +Judah concentrated the three brigades of his cavalry command in that +region, while orders were sent to all the other Federal detachments in +Kentucky to close in upon our line of march. + +General Bragg had sent with the expedition a large party of commissaries +of subsistence, who were directed to collect cattle north of the +Cumberland and drive them, guarded by one of our regiments, to +Tullahoma. I have never understood how he expected us to be able, under +the circumstances, to collect the cattle, or the foragers to drive them +out. The commissaries did not attempt to carry out their instructions, +but followed us the entire distance and pulled up in prison. They were +gallant fellows and made no complaint of danger or hardship, seeming +rather to enjoy it. + +[Illustration: THE FARMER FROM CALFKILLER CREEK.] + +There was one case, however, which excited universal pity. An old farmer +and excellent man, who lived near Sparta, had accompanied us to +Burkesville; that is, he meant to go no farther, and thought we would +not. He wished to procure a barrel of salt, as the supply of that +commodity was exhausted in his part of the country. He readily purchased +the salt, but learned, to his consternation, that the march to +Burkesville was a mere preliminary canter. He was confronted with the +alternative of going on a dangerous raid or of returning alone through a +region swarming with the fierce bushwhackers of "Tinker Dave" Beattie, +who never gave quarter to Confederate soldier or Southern sympathizer. +He knew that if he fell into their hands they would pickle him with his +own salt. So this old man sadly yet wisely resolved to follow the +fortunes of Morgan. He made the grand tour, was hurried along day after +day through battle and ambush, dragged night after night on the +remorseless march, ferried over the broad Ohio under fire of the militia +and gunboats, and lodged at last in a "loathsome dungeon." On one +occasion, in Ohio, when the home guards were peppering us in rather +livelier fashion than usual, he said to Captain C.H. Morgan, with tears +in his voice: "I sw'ar if I wouldn't give all the salt in Kaintucky to +stand once more safe and sound on the banks of Calfkiller Creek." + +[Illustration] + +Pushing on before dawn of the 3d, we reached Columbia in the afternoon. +The place was occupied by a detachment of Colonel Frank Wolford's +brigade, which was quickly driven out. Encamping that evening some eight +miles from Columbia, we could hear all night the ringing of the axes +near Green River bridge, on the road from Columbia to Campbellsville. +Three or four hundred of the 25th Michigan Infantry were stationed at +the bridge to protect it; but the commander, Colonel Orlando H. Moore, +deliberately quitting the elaborate stockade erected near the +bridge,--in which nine officers out of ten would have remained, but +where we could have shelled him into surrender without losing a man +ourselves,--selected one of the strongest natural positions I ever saw, +and fortified it skilfully although simply. The Green River makes here +an immense horseshoe sweep, with the bridge at the toe of the horseshoe; +and more than a mile south of it was the point where Colonel Moore +elected to make his fight. The river there wound back so nearly upon its +previous course that the peninsula, or "neck," was scarcely a hundred +yards wide. This narrow neck was also very short, the river bending +almost immediately to the west again. At that time it was thickly +covered with trees and undergrowth, and Colonel Moore, felling the +heaviest timber, had constructed a formidable abatis across the +narrowest part of it. Just in front of the abatis there was open ground +for perhaps two hundred yards. South of the open was a deep ravine. The +road ran on the east side of the cleared place, and the banks of the +river were high and precipitous. The center of the open space rose into +a swell, sloping gently away both to the north and south. On the crest +of the swell Moore had thrown up a slight earthwork, which was manned +when we approached. An officer was promptly despatched with a flag to +demand his surrender. Colonel Moore responded that an officer of the +United States ought not to surrender on the Fourth of July, and he must +therefore decline. Captain "Ed" Byrne had planted one of the Parrott +guns about six hundred yards from the earthwork, and on the return of +the bearer of the flag opened fire, probing the work with a round shot. +One man in the trench was killed by this shot, and the others ran back +to the abatis. + +Colonel Johnson, whose brigade was in advance, immediately dashed +forward with the 3d and 11th Kentucky to attack the main position. +Artillery could not be used, for the guns could bear upon the abatis +only from the crest of which I have spoken, and if posted there the +cannoneers, at the very short range, would not have been able to serve +their pieces. The position could be won only by direct assault. The men +rushed up to the fallen timber, but became entangled in the network of +trunks and branches, and were shot down while trying to climb over or +push through them. I reinforced Johnson with a part of Smith's regiment, +the 5th Kentucky, but the jam and confusion incident to moving in so +circumscribed an area and through the dense undergrowth broke the force +of the charge. The enemy was quite numerous enough to defend a line so +short and strong and perfectly protected on both flanks. We had not more +than six hundred men actually engaged, and the fighting lasted not +longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Our loss was about ninety, nearly +as many killed as wounded. Afterward we learned that Colonel Moore's +loss was six killed and twenty-three wounded. When General Morgan +ordered the attack he was not aware of the strength of the position; nor +had he anticipated a resistance so spirited and so skilfully planned. He +reluctantly drew off without another assault, convinced that to capture +the abatis and its defenders would cost him half his command. Among the +killed were Colonel D.W. Chenault and Captain Alexander Treble of the +11th Kentucky, Lieutenant Robert Cowan of the 3d, and Major Thomas Y. +Brent, Jr., and Lieutenants Holloway and Ferguson of the 5th. These +officers were all killed literally at the muzzles of the rifles. + +Colonel Moore's position might easily have been avoided; indeed, we +passed around it immediately afterward, crossing the river at a ford +about two miles below the bridge. Morgan assailed it merely in +accordance with his habitual policy when advancing of attacking all in +his path except very superior forces. + +On the same afternoon Captain William M. Magenis, assistant +adjutant-general of the division, a valuable officer, was murdered by a +Captain Murphy, whom he had placed under arrest for robbing a citizen. +Murphy made his escape from the guard two or three days subsequently, +just as the court-martial which was to have tried him was convening. + +On the morning of July 5th the column reached Lebanon, which was +garrisoned by the 20th Kentucky Infantry, commanded by Colonel Charles +S. Hanson. The 8th and 9th Michigan Cavalry and the 11th Michigan +Battery, under command of Colonel James I. David, were approaching by +the Danville road to reinforce the garrison, necessitating a large +detachment to observe them. Morgan's demand for surrender having been +refused, artillery fire was directed upon the railroad depot and other +buildings in which the enemy had established himself; but, as the +Federals endured it with great firmness, it became necessary to carry +the town by assault. Our loss was some forty in killed and wounded, +including several excellent officers. One death universally deplored was +that of the General's brother, Lieutenant Thomas H. Morgan. He was a +bright, handsome, and very gallant lad of nineteen, the favorite of the +division. He was killed in front of the 2d Kentucky in the charge upon +the depot. The Federal loss was three killed and sixteen wounded, and +three hundred and eighty were prisoners. + +Without delay we passed through Springfield and Bardstown, crossing the +Louisville and Nashville Railroad at Lebanon Junction, thirty miles from +Louisville, on the evening of the 6th. At Springfield two companies of +about ninety men were sent toward Harrodsburg and Danville to occupy the +attention of the Federal cavalry in that quarter. From Bardstown, +Captain W.C. Davis, acting assistant adjutant-general of the First +Brigade, was sent with a detachment of one hundred and thirty men to +scout in the vicinity of Louisville, to produce the impression that the +city was about to be attacked, and to divert attention from the passage +of the Ohio by the main body at Brandenburg. He was instructed to cross +the river somewhere east of Louisville and to rejoin the column on its +line of march through Indiana. He executed the first part of the program +perfectly, but was unable to get across the river. Tapping the wires at +Lebanon Junction, we learned from intercepted despatches that the +garrison at Louisville was much alarmed, and in expectation of an +immediate attack. + +The detachments I have just mentioned, with some smaller ones previously +sent off on similar service, aggregated not less than two hundred and +sixty men permanently separated from the division; which, with a loss in +killed and wounded, in Kentucky, of about one hundred and fifty, had +reduced our effective strength at the Ohio, by more than four hundred. + +The rapid and constant marching already began to tell upon both horses +and men, but we reached the Ohio at Brandenburg at 9 A.M. on the 8th. +Captains Samuel Taylor and H.C. Meriwether of the 10th Kentucky had been +sent forward the day before, with their companies, to capture +steamboats. We found them in possession of two large craft. One had been +surprised at the wharf, and steaming out on her, they had captured the +other. Preparations for crossing were begun; but, just as the first boat +was about to push off, an unexpected musketry fire was opened from the +Indiana side by a party of home-guards collected behind some houses and +haystacks. They were in pursuit of Captain Thomas H. Hines, who had that +morning returned from Indiana to Kentucky, after having undertaken a +brief expedition of his own. This fire did no harm, the river here being +eight hundred or a thousand yards wide. But in a few minutes the bright +gleam of a field-piece spouted through the low-hanging mist on the +farther bank. Its shell pitched into a group near the wharf, severely +wounding Captain W.H. Wilson, acting quartermaster of the First Brigade. +Several shots from this piece followed in quick succession, but it was +silenced by Lieutenant Lawrence with his Parrotts. The 2d Kentucky and +9th Tennessee were speedily ferried over without their horses, and +forming under the bluff they advanced upon the militia, which had +retired to a wooded ridge some six hundred yards from the river-bank, +abandoning the gun. The two regiments were moving across some open +ground, toward the ridge, sustaining no loss from the volleys fired at +them, and the boats had scarcely returned for further service when a +more formidable enemy appeared. A gunboat, the _Elk_, steamed rapidly +round the bend, and began firing alternately upon the troops in the town +and those already across. The situation was now extremely critical. We +could not continue the ferriage while this little vixen remained, for +one well-directed shot would have sent either of the boats to the +bottom. Delay was exceedingly hazardous, affording the enemy opportunity +to cut off the regiments we had already sent over, and giving the +cavalry in pursuit of us time to come up. If forced to give up the +attempt to cross the river, we must also abandon our comrades on the +other side. So every piece of artillery was planted and opened on the +gunboat, and after an hour or two of vigorous cannonading she was driven +off. By midnight all our troops were over. + +[Illustration] + +About noon of the 9th the column reached the little town of Corydon, +Indiana, which proved not nearly so gentle as its name. Our +advance-guard, commanded by Colonel R.C. Morgan, found a body of militia +there, ensconced behind stout barricades of fence rails, stretching for +some distance on each side of the road. Colonel Morgan charged the +barricade, his horses could not leap it, the militia stood resolutely, +and he lost sixteen men. A few dismounted skirmishers thrown upon the +flanks, and a shot or two from one of the pieces which accompanied the +advance-guard, quickly dispersed them, however, and we entered the town +without further resistance. + +Our progress, quite rapid in Kentucky, was now accelerated, and we were +habitually twenty-one hours out of the twenty-four in the saddle, very +frequently not halting at night or going into camp at all. For the first +three or four days we saw nothing of the inhabitants save in their +character as militia, when they forced themselves on our attention much +more frequently than we desired. The houses were entirely deserted. +Often we found the kitchen fire blazing, the keys hanging in the +cupboard lock, and the chickens sauntering about the yard with a +confidence which proved that they had never before seen soldiers. + +As the first scare wore off, however, we found the women and children +remaining at home, while the men went to the muster. When a thirsty +cavalryman rode up to a house to inquire for buttermilk, he was +generally met by a buxom dame, with a half-dozen or more small children +peeping out from her voluminous skirts, who, in response to a question +about the "old man," would say: "The men hev all gone to the 'rally'; +you'll see 'em soon." We experienced little difficulty in procuring food +for man and horse. Usually upon our raids it was much easier to obtain +meat than bread. But in Indiana and Ohio we always found bread ready +baked at every house. In Ohio, on more than one occasion, in deserted +houses we found pies, hot from the oven, displayed upon tables +conveniently spread. The first time that I witnessed this sort of +hospitality was when I rode up to a house where a party of my men were +standing around a table garnished as I have described, eyeing the pies +hungrily, but showing no disposition to touch them. I asked, in +astonishment, why they were so abstinent. One of them replied that they +feared the pies might be poisoned. I was quite sure, on the contrary, +that they were intended as a propitiatory offering. I have always been +fond of pies,--these were of luscious apples,--so I made the spokesman +hand me one of the largest, and proceeded to eat it. The men watched me +vigilantly for two or three minutes, and then, as I seemed much better +after my repast, they took hold ravenously. + +The severe marching made an exchange of horses a necessity, though as a +rule the horses we took were very inferior to the Kentucky and Tennessee +stock we had brought with us, and which had generally a large infusion +of thoroughbred blood. The horses we impressed were for the most part +heavy, sluggish beasts, barefooted and grass-fed, and gave out after a +day or two, sometimes in a few hours. A strong provost guard, under +Major Steele of the 3d Kentucky, had been organized to prevent the two +practices most prejudicial to discipline and efficiency--straggling and +pillage. There were very good reasons, independent of the provost guard, +why the men should not straggle far from the line of march; but the +well-filled stores and gaudy shop-windows of the Indiana and Ohio towns +seemed to stimulate, in men accustomed to impoverished and unpretentious +Dixie, the propensity to appropriate beyond limit or restraint. I had +never before seen anything like this disposition to plunder. Our +perilous situation only seemed to render the men more reckless. At the +same time, anything more ludicrous than the manner in which they +indulged their predatory tastes can scarcely be imagined. The weather +was intensely warm,--the hot July sun burned the earth to powder, and we +were breathing superheated dust,--yet one man rode for three days with +seven pairs of skates slung about his neck; another loaded himself with +sleigh-bells. A large chafing-dish, a medium-sized Dutch clock, a green +glass decanter with goblets to match, a bag of horn buttons, a +chandelier, and a bird-cage containing three canaries were some of the +articles I saw borne off and jealously fondled. The officers usually +waited a reasonable period, until the novelty had worn off, and then had +this rubbish thrown away. Baby shoes and calico, however, were the +staple articles of appropriation. A fellow would procure a bolt of +calico, carry it carefully for a day or two, then cast it aside and get +another. + +From Corydon our route was _via_ Salem, Vienna, Lexington, Paris, +Vernon, Dupont, and Sumanville to Harrison, near the Ohio State line and +twenty-five miles from Cincinnati. Detachments were sent to Madison, +Versailles, and other points, to burn bridges, bewilder and confuse +those before and behind us, and keep bodies of military stationary that +might otherwise give trouble. All were drawn in before we reached +Harrison. At this point Morgan began demonstrations intended to convey +the impression that he would cross the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton +Railroad at Hamilton. He had always anticipated difficulty in getting +over this road; fearing that the troops from Kentucky would be +concentrated at or near Cincinnati, and that every effort would be made +to intercept him there. If these troops lined the railroad and were +judiciously posted, he knew it would be extremely difficult to elude +them or cut his way through them. He believed that if he could pass this +ordeal safely, the success of the expedition would be assured, unless +the river should be so high that the boats would be able to transport +troops to intercept him at the upper fords. + +After remaining at Harrison two or three hours, and sending detachments +in the direction of Hamilton, he moved with the entire column on the +Hamilton road. But as soon as he was clear of the town, he cut the +telegraph-wires--previously left intact with the hope that they might be +used to convey intelligence of his apparent movement toward +Hamilton--and, turning across the country, gained the direct road to +Cincinnati. He hoped that, deceived by his demonstrations at Harrison, +the larger part of the troops at Cincinnati would be sent to Hamilton, +and that it would be too late to recall them when his movement toward +Cincinnati was discovered. He trusted that those remaining would be +drawn into the city, under the impression that he meant to attack, +leaving the way clear for his rapid transit. He has been criticized for +not attempting the capture of Cincinnati, but he had no mind to involve +his handful of wearied men in a labyrinth of streets. We felt very much +more at home amid rural surroundings. But if he had taken Cincinnati, +and had safely crossed the river there, the raid would have been so much +briefer, and its principal object to that extent defeated by the +release of the troops pursuing us. + +[Illustration: LOOKING FOR THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE VAN.] + +We reached the environs of Cincinnati about ten o'clock at night, and +were not clear of them until after daybreak. My brigade was marching in +the rear, and the guides were with General Morgan in the front. The +continual straggling of some companies in the rear of Johnson's brigade +caused me to become separated from the remainder of the column by a wide +gap, and I was for some time entirely ignorant of what direction I +should take. The night was pitch-dark, and I was compelled to light +torches and seek the track of the column by the foam dropped from the +mouths of the horses and the dust kicked up by their feet. At every halt +which this groping search necessitated, scores of tired men would fall +asleep and drop out of their saddles. Daylight appeared after we had +crossed all of the principal suburban roads, and were near the Little +Miami Railroad. I never welcomed the fresh, invigorating air of morning +more gratefully. That afternoon we reached Williamsburg, twenty-eight +miles east of Cincinnati. + +The Ohio militia were more numerous and aggressive than those of +Indiana. We had frequent skirmishes with them daily, and although +hundreds were captured, they resumed operations as soon as they were +turned loose. What excited in us more astonishment than all else we saw +were the crowds of able-bodied men. The contrast with the South, drained +of adult males to recruit her armies, was striking, and suggestive of +anything but confidence on our part in the result of the struggle. + +At Piketon we learned that Vicksburg had fallen, and that General Lee, +having been repulsed at Gettysburg, had retreated across the Potomac. +Under the circumstances this information was peculiarly disheartening. +As we approached Pomeroy the militia began to embarrass our march by +felling trees and erecting barricades across the roads. In passing near +that town we were assailed by regular troops,--as we called the +volunteers, in contradistinction to the militia,--and forced a passage +only by some sharp fighting. At 1 P.M. on the 18th we reached Chester, +eighteen miles from Buffington's Island. A halt here of nearly two hours +proved disastrous, as it caused us to arrive at the river after +nightfall, and delayed any attempt at crossing until the next morning. +Morgan thoroughly appreciated the importance of crossing the river at +once, but it was impossible. The darkness was intense, we were ignorant +of the ford and without guides, and were encumbered with nearly two +hundred wounded, whom we were unwilling to abandon. By instruction I +placed the 5th and 6th Kentucky in position to attack, as soon as day +broke, an earthwork commanding the ford, and which we learned was +mounted with two guns and manned by three hundred infantry. At dawn I +moved upon the work, and found it had been evacuated and the guns thrown +over the bluff. Pressing on a few hundred yards to reconnoiter the +Pomeroy road, we suddenly encountered the enemy. It proved to be General +Judah's advance. The 5th and 6th Kentucky instantly attacked and +dispersed it, taking a piece of artillery and forty or fifty prisoners, +inflicting some loss in killed and wounded. + +The position in which we found ourselves, now that we had light enough +to examine the ground, was anything but favorable. The valley we had +entered, about a mile long and perhaps eight hundred yards wide at its +southern extremity,--the river running here nearly due north and +south,--gradually narrows, as the ridge which is its western boundary +closely approaches the river-bank, until it becomes a mere ravine. The +Chester road enters the valley at a point about equidistant from either +end. As the 5th Kentucky fell back that it might be aligned on the 6th +Kentucky, across the southern end of the valley, into which Judah's +whole force was now pouring, it was charged by the 8th and 9th Michigan +and a detachment of the 5th Indiana. A part of the 5th Kentucky was cut +off by this charge, the gun we had taken was recaptured, and our +Parrotts also fell into the hands of the enemy. They were so clogged +with dust, however, as to be almost unserviceable, and their ammunition +was expended. Bringing up a part of the 2d Kentucky, I succeeded in +checking and driving back the regiments that first bore down on us, but +they were quickly reinforced and immediately returned to the attack. In +the mean time Colonel Johnson's videttes on the Chester road had been +driven in, and the cavalry under Hobson, which had followed us +throughout our long march, deployed on the ridge, and attacked on that +side. I sent a courier to General Morgan, advising that he retreat up +the river and out of the valley with all the men he could extricate, +while Colonel Johnson and I, with the troops already engaged, would +endeavor to hold the enemy in check. The action was soon hot from both +directions, and the gunboats, steaming up the river abreast of us, +commenced shelling vigorously. We were now between three assailants. A +sharp artillery fire was opened by each, and the peculiar formation we +were compelled to adopt exposed us to a severe cross-fire of small arms. + +We were in no condition to make a successful or energetic resistance. +The men were worn out and demoralized by the tremendous march, and the +fatigue and lack of sleep for the ten days that had elapsed since they +had crossed the Ohio. Having had no opportunity to replenish their +cartridge-boxes, they were almost destitute of ammunition, and after +firing two or three rounds were virtually unarmed. To this fact is +attributable the very small loss our assailants sustained. Broken down +as we were, if we had been supplied with cartridges we could have piled +the ground with Judah's men as they advanced over the open plain into +the valley. As the line, seeking to cover the withdrawal of the troops +taken off by General Morgan, was rolled back by the repeated charges of +the enemy, the stragglers were rushing wildly about the valley, with +bolts of calico streaming from their saddles, and changing direction +with every shrieking shell. When the rear-guard neared the northern end +of the valley,--out of which General Morgan with the greater part of the +command had now passed,--and perceived that the only avenue of escape +was through a narrow gorge, a general rush was made for it. The Michigan +regiments dashed into the mass of fugitives, and the gunboats swept the +narrow pass with grape. All order lost in a wild tide of flight. + +About seven hundred were captured here, and perhaps a hundred and twenty +killed and wounded. Probably a thousand men got out with General Morgan. +Of these some three hundred succeeded in swimming the river at a point +twenty miles above Buffington, while many were drowned in the attempt. +The arrival of the gunboats prevented others from crossing. General +Morgan had gotten nearly over, when, seeing that the bulk of his command +must remain on the Ohio side, he returned. For six more days Morgan +taxed energy and ingenuity to the utmost to escape the toils. Absolutely +exhausted, he surrendered near the Pennsylvania line, on the 26th day of +July, with three hundred and sixty-four men. + +The expedition was of immediate benefit, since a part of the forces that +would otherwise have harassed Bragg's retreat and swollen Rosecrans's +muster-roll at Chickamauga were carried by the pursuit of Morgan so far +northward that they were kept from participating in that battle. + +But Morgan's cavalry was almost destroyed, and his prestige impaired. +Much the larger number of the captured men lingered in the Northern +prisons until the close of the war. That portion of his command which +had remained in Tennessee became disintegrated; the men either were +incorporated in other organizations, or, attracted by the fascinations +of irregular warfare, were virtually lost to the service. Morgan, after +four or five months' imprisonment in the Ohio penitentiary, effected an +escape which has scarcely a parallel for ingenuity and daring. He was +received in the South enthusiastically. The authorities at Richmond +seemed at first to share the popular sympathy and admiration. But it +soon became apparent that his infraction of discipline in crossing the +Ohio was not forgiven. Placed for a short time in practical command of +the Department of Southwestern Virginia, he was given inadequate means +for its defense, and bound with instructions which accorded neither with +his temperament nor with his situation. The troops he commanded were +not, like his old riders, accustomed to his methods, confident in his +genius, and devoted to his fortunes. He attempted aggressive operations +with his former energy and self-reliance, but not with his former +success. He drove out of West Virginia two invading columns, and then +made an incursion into the heart of Kentucky--known as his last Kentucky +raid--in the hope of anticipating and deterring a movement into his own +territory. Very successful at first, this raid ended, too, in disaster. +After capturing and dispersing Federal forces in the aggregate much +larger than his own, he encountered at Cynthiana a vastly superior +force, and was defeated. Two months later, September 4, 1864, he was +killed at Greeneville, Tennessee, while advancing to attack the Federal +detachments stationed in front of Knoxville.[5] + +[Footnote 5: E.W. Doran of Greeneville, Tenn., gives the following +particulars of General Morgan's death: + +General Morgan came to Greeneville on September 3, and stationed his +troops on a hill overlooking the town from the east, while he and his +staff were entertained at the "Williams Mansion," the finest residence +in town. At this time Captain Robert C. Carter, in command of a company +of Colonel Crawford's regiment, was stationed three or four miles north +of the town. He got accurate information of Morgan's whereabouts, and +sent a messenger at once to General A.C. Gillem, at Bull's Gap, sixteen +miles distant. This message was intrusted to John Davis and two other +young men of his company, who rode through a fearful storm, picking +their way by the lightning-flashes and arriving there some time before +midnight. Other messages were probably sent to Gillem that night from +Greeneville, but this was the first received. The report usually given +in the histories to the effect that Mrs. Joseph Williams carried the +news is not correct, as she was known to be in an opposite direction +several miles, and knew nothing of the affair. In an hour after the +message was delivered Gillem's forces were hurrying on their way to +Greeneville, where they arrived about daylight, and surrounded the house +where Morgan was. He ran out, without waiting to dress, to conceal +himself in the shrubbery and grape arbors, but was seen from the street +and shot by Andrew G. Campbell, a private in the 13th Tennessee. +Campbell was promoted to a lieutenancy. Morgan's body was afterward +secured by his friends and given decent burial. But little firing was +done by either army; and after Morgan was killed his forces marched out +of town while the Union forces marched in, in easy range of each other, +yet not a shot was fired on either side.] + +The remnant of his old command served during the gloomy winter of +1864-65 in the region where their leader met death, fighting often on +the same ground. When Richmond fell, and Lee surrendered, they marched +to join Joseph E. Johnston. After his capitulation they were part of the +escort that guarded, Jefferson Davis in his aimless retreat from +Charlotte and laid down their arms at Woodville, Georgia, by order of +John. C. Breckinridge, when the armies of the Confederacy were +disbanded, and its President became a fugitive. + + + + +II. THE CAPTURE + +BY ORLANDO B. WILLCOX + + +When it was known at Indianapolis that General Morgan, with a large +force, had crossed the Ohio, the city was panic-stricken. The State had +been literally depleted of troops to assist Kentucky, and everybody knew +it. The very worst was apprehended--that railways would be cut up, +passenger and freight trains robbed, bridges and depots burned, our +arsenal pillaged, two thousand Confederate prisoners at Camp Morton +liberated, and Jeffersonville, with all its Government stores, and +possibly Indianapolis itself, destroyed. + +Nor was this all. It had been reported, and partly believed, as +afterward indeed proved to be the fact, that the State was literally +undermined with rebel sympathizers banded together in secret +organizations. The coming of Morgan had been looked for, and his +progress through Kentucky watched with considerable anxiety. It was +gloomily predicted that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of "Knights of the +Golden Circle" and of "Sons of Liberty" would flock to his standard and +endeavor to carry the State over to the Confederacy. + +Morgan probably had fair reason to believe that his ranks would be at +least largely recruited in the southern counties of Indiana. The +governor of Indiana, Oliver P. Morton, went to work with all his +tremendous energy and indomitable will, in the face of the greatest +opposition that had been encountered in any Northern State, amounting, +just before, almost to open rebellion. He proclaimed martial law, though +not in express terms, and ordered out the "Legion," or militia, and +called upon the loyal citizens of the State to enroll themselves as +minute-men, to organize and report for arms and for martial duty. +Thousands responded to the call within twenty-four hours--many within +two hours.[6] Everything possible was done by telegraph, until the lines +were cut. Some arms were found in the State Arsenal, and more with +accoutrements and ammunition, together with whole batteries of +artillery, were procured from Chicago and St. Louis. + +[Footnote 6: According to the report of the adjutant-general of Indiana, +30,000 militia assembled within thirty-six hours, and about the time +Morgan was leaving the State 65,000 men were in the field. In Ohio, +according to a report made to the adjutant-general, 55,000 militia +turned out; many of them refused pay, yet $232,000 were disbursed for +services during the raid. It would appear, therefore, that 120,000 +militia took the field against Morgan, in addition to the three brigades +of General Judah's United State cavalry.--EDITOR.] + +The disposition of the State levies that came thronging in was left to +me as fast as they were armed. The three great junctions of the Ohio and +Mississippi Railroad in Indiana, over which troops and supplies were +shipped from all points to Rosecrans at Chattanooga--viz., Mitchell, +Seymour, and Vernon,--were first to be made secure; for surely Morgan +must have some military objectives, and these appeared to be the most +likely. The westerly junction was Mitchell. This was quickly occupied +and guarded by General James Hughes, with Legion men, reinforced by the +new organizations rising in that quarter. Seymour was the most central, +and lay directly on the road to Cincinnati and Indianapolis from +Louisville; and at Seymour a brigade was assembled from the center of +the State, with General John Love, a skilful old army officer, to +command it, with instructions to have an eye to Vernon likewise. To this +last point Burnside ordered a battery from Cincinnati; and what few +troops I had in Michigan, though half organized, came down to Vernon and +to General Love. Besides these thus rendezvoused, the people of the +southern counties were called upon to bushwhack the enemy, to obstruct +roads, to guard trains, bridges, etc., and to make themselves generally +useful and pestiferous. + +Our militia first came in contact with the enemy opposite Brandenburg, +where he crossed; but it made the stand at Corydon Junction, where the +road runs between two abrupt hills, across which Colonel Lewis Jordan +threw up some light intrenchments. Morgan's advance attempted to ride +over these "rail-piles" rough-shod, but lost some twenty troopers +unhorsed. They brought up their reserve and artillery, flanked, and +finally surrounded Colonel Jordan, who, after an hour's resolute +resistance, surrendered. + +This gave the raiders the town, and the citizens the first taste of +Morgan's style, which somewhat disgusted the numerous class of Southern +sympathizers. The shops were given up to plunder, and the ladies levied +on for meals for the whole command. + +Throwing out columns in various directions, Morgan pushed for Mitchell, +where no doubt he expected to cut the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, got +as far as Salem in that direction, captured or dispersed a few squads of +badly armed minute-men who were guarding depots and bridges, which he +burned, and doubtless hearing from his scouts, sent out in citizens' +clothes, of Hughes's force collected at Mitchell, he discreetly turned +off northeastward, apparently aiming next for Seymour. This I heard with +great satisfaction. + +The panic at Indianapolis began to subside. Still I felt uneasy for +Seymour, as I next heard of Morgan at Vienna, where he tapped the +telegraph-lines and learned what he could of all our plans to catch him. +He came within nine miles of Seymour. General Love sent out a +reconnaissance of sharpshooters under Colonel C.V. De Land, with a +couple of field-pieces. They found that Morgan had turned off eastward. +Love divined his object, and started De Land and two Indiana regiments +of militia for Vernon. Here Morgan next turned up, planted his Parrotts, +and demanded surrender. He was defied until Love's arrival with the rest +of his militia, and then he swept off in a hurry from Vernon, followed +by our men, who captured his pickets and rear-guard, but who, having no +cavalry, were soon outmarched. + +Morgan secured a great advantage by seizing all the horses within +reach,[7] leaving none for the militia or for General E.H. Hobson, which +enabled him to gain on his pursuers, and he would then have left Hobson +far out of sight but for the home guard, who obstructed the roads +somewhat, and bushwhacked his men from every hedge, hill, or tree, when +it could be done. But the trouble was that we could not attack him with +sufficient organized numbers. + +[Footnote 7: General J.M. Shackelford says in his official report: "Our +pursuit was much retarded by the enemy's burning all the bridges in our +front. He had every advantage. His system of horse-stealing was perfect. +He would despatch men from the head of each regiment, on each side of +the road, to go five miles into the country, seizing every horse, and +then fall in at the rear of the column. In this way he swept the country +for ten miles of all the horses."--EDITOR.] + +After he left Vernon we felt safe at Indianapolis. "Defensive sites" +were abandoned, and the banks brought back their deposits which they +had sent off by express to Chicago and the North. Some fears, or hopes, +were entertained as to Madison, toward which Morgan next bent his +way--fears for the safety of that city, and hopes that, with the help of +Judah's troops and the gunboats now on the way up the river, we might +put an end to the raid. From Indianapolis we started General Lew Wallace +with a good brigade of minute-men, and with high hopes that at either +Madison or Lawrenceburg, farther up the river, he might "capture them." +The people ahead were asked by telegraph to cooeperate. But after going +down that line as far as Dupont, Morgan turned northeast for Versailles, +where we next heard of him threatening the Cincinnati and Indianapolis +Railway. This was a nice bit of work. He baffled all our calculations, +and did some damage on both the Ohio and Mississippi and Cincinnati +railroads, sending off flying columns in a dozen directions at a time +for the purpose, as well as to throw Hobson off the scent. Some of these +columns looked like traveling circuses adorned with useless plunder and +an excess of clowns. Thus they went through Pierceville and Milan to +Harrison, on White River, and on the Ohio line. Here Hobson's advance +came upon them, but unfortunately it paused to plant artillery, instead +of dashing across the bridge and engaging the raiders until the main +body should arrive. This lost us the bridge, which was burned before our +eyes, and many hours' delay, marching round by the ford. Their next +demonstration was toward Hamilton. Here there was a fine railway bridge +over the Big Miami. Hobson followed in such close pursuit through New +Baltimore, Glendale, and Miamiville that the raiders did little damage. +Their attempt to burn a bridge at Miamiville was repulsed by the home +guard. My last troops were despatched from Indianapolis to head them off +at Hamilton, after five hours' delay caused by the intoxication of their +commander. His successor in command was General Hascall, who swore like +a trooper to find himself "just in time to be too late." He proceeded +through Hamilton, Ohio, as far as Loveland. But Morgan had sent only a +detachment toward Hamilton to divert attention from Cincinnati, toward +which he made a rapid march with his whole united force. + +Governor Tod of Ohio had already called out the militia and proclaimed +martial law. He raised men enough, but Burnside had to organize and arm +them. Morgan found the great city guarded, but he passed through the +very suburbs by a night march around it, unmolested. He crossed the +Little Miami Railroad at daylight, and came north in sight of Camp +Dennison, where Colonel Neff half armed his convalescents, threw out +pickets, dug rifle-pits, and threw up intrenchments. His fiery old +veterans saved a railway bridge, and actually captured a lieutenant and +others before they sheered off and went some ten miles northward to +Williamsburg. From that point they seemed to be steering for the great +bend of the Ohio at Pomeroy. + +In the vicinity of Cincinnati, Colonel W.P. Sanders, the splendid raider +of East Tennessee, came up from Kentucky with some Michigan cavalry, and +joined Hobson in pursuit, and these were about the only fresh horses in +the chase. Sanders had come by steamer, and, landing at Cincinnati, had +been thrown out from there, it was hoped, ahead of Morgan, who, however, +was too quick for him. They met later on. + +Under the good management of Colonel A.V. Kautz in advance, with his +brigade, and of Sanders, the men now marched more steadily and gained +ground. Kautz had observed how the other brigade commanders had lost +distance and blown their horses by following false leads, halting and +closing up rapidly at the frequent reports of "enemy in front," and by +stopping to plant artillery. Marching in his own way, at a steady walk, +his brigade forming the rear-guard, he had arrived at Batavia two hours +before the main body, that had been "cavorting round the country" all +day, "misled by two citizen guides"--possibly Morgan's own men. + +Not stopping to draw the rations sent out to him from Cincinnati, Hobson +urged his jaded horses through Brown, Adams, and Pike counties, now +under the lead of Kautz, and reached Jasper, on the Scioto, at midnight +of the 16th, Morgan having passed there at sundown. The next day they +raced through Jackson. On the 18th, Hobson, at Rutland, learned that +Morgan had been turned off by the militia at Pomeroy, and had taken the +Chester road for Portland and the fords of the Ohio. The chase became +animated. Our troopers made a march of fifty miles that day and still +had twenty-five miles to reach Chester. They arrived there without a +halt at eleven at night, and had still fifteen miles to reach the ford. +They kept on, and at dawn of the 19th struck the enemy's pickets. Two +miles out from Portland, Morgan was brought to bay--and not by Hobson +alone. First came the militia, then came Judah. His division had pushed +up the river in steamers parallel with Morgan's course. Lieutenant John +O'Neil, afterward of Fenian fame, with a troop of Indiana cavalry, kept +up the touch on Morgan's right flank by a running fight, stinging it at +every vulnerable point, and reporting Morgan's course to Judah in the +neck-and-neck race. Aided by the local militia, O'Neil now dashed ahead +and fearlessly skirmished with the enemy's flankers from every coign of +vantage. He reached the last descent to the river-bottom near Buffington +Bar, and near the historical Blennerhasset's Island, early on the +morning of the 19th. + +The Ohio River was up. It had risen unexpectedly. But here Morgan must +cross, if at all. It could not be forded by night, when he got here. He +tried the ford at Blennerhasset. Failing in this, his men collected +flatboats, and set to work calking them, meantime sending a party to +Buffington Bar, where they found a small earthwork and captured its +guard; and these things delayed them until morning. General Judah +attempted a reconnaissance, resulting in a fight, which he describes as +follows in his report: + + Before leaving Pomeroy I despatched a courier to General Hobson, + apprising him of my direction, and requesting him to press the + enemy's rear with all the forces he could bring up. Traveling all + night, I reached the last descent to the river-bottom at + Buffington Bar at 5.30 A.M. on the 19th. Here, halting my force, + and placing my artillery in a commanding position, I determined + to make a reconnaissance in person, for the purpose of + ascertaining if a report just made to me--that the gunboats had + left on a previous evening, the home guards had retreated, and + that the enemy had been crossing all night--was true. A very + dense fog enveloped everything, confining the view of surrounding + objects to a radius of about fifty yards. I was accompanied by a + small advance-guard, my escort, and one piece of Henshaw's + battery, a section of which, under Captain Henshaw, I had ordered + to join my force. I advanced slowly and cautiously along a road + leading toward the river, ... when my little force found itself + enveloped on three sides--front and both flanks--by three + regiments, dismounted, and led by Colonel Basil [W.] Duke, just + discernible through the fog, at a distance of from fifty to a + hundred yards. This force, as I afterward learned, had been + disposed for the capture of the home guards, intrenched on the + bank of the river. To use Colonel Duke's own expression after his + capture, "He could not have been more surprised at the presence + of my force if it had been dropped from the clouds." As soon as + discovered, the enemy opened a heavy fire, advancing so rapidly + that before the piece of artillery could be brought into battery + it was captured, as were also Captain R.C. Kise, my assistant + adjutant-general, Captain Grafton, volunteer aide-de-camp, and + between twenty and thirty of my men. Two privates were killed. + Major McCook (since dead), paymaster and volunteer + aide-de-camp,[8] Lieutenant F.G. Price, aide-de-camp, and ten men + were wounded. Searching in vain for an opening through which to + charge and temporarily beat back the enemy, I was compelled to + fall back upon the main body, which I rapidly brought up into + position, and opened a rapid and beautifully accurate artillery + fire from the pieces of the 5th Indiana upon a battery of two + pieces which the enemy had opened upon me, as well as upon his + deployed dismounted force in line. Obstructing fences prevented a + charge by my cavalry. In less than half an hour the enemy's lines + were broken and in retreat. The advance of my artillery, and a + charge of cavalry made by Lieutenant O'Neil, 5th Indiana Cavalry, + with only fifty men, converted his retreat into a rout, and + drove him upon General Hobson's forces, which had engaged him + upon the other road. His prisoners, the piece of artillery lost + by me, all of his own artillery (five pieces), his camp equipage, + and transportation and plunder of all kinds, were abandoned and + captured. We also captured large numbers of prisoners, including + Colonels Basil [W.] Duke, Dick [R.C.] Morgan, and Allen [Ward?], + and the most of General Morgan's staff. + +[Footnote 8: Major Daniel McCook, father of the famous fighting family, +who pushed himself in, against remonstrance, to find the slayer of his +son (General Robert L. McCook), reported to be with Morgan.] + +Yet with a considerable force Morgan succeeded in making his escape, and +started into the interior like a fox for cover. Passing around the +advanced column of his enemy, he suddenly came upon the end of +Shackelford's column, under Wolford, whom he at once attacked with his +usual audacity. Shackelford reversed his column, selected his best +horses, and gave pursuit. He overtook the enemy at Backum Church, where +Wolford's Kentucky fellows rushed upon Morgan's men with drawn sabers +and Kentucky yells, and chased them until next afternoon, when they were +found collected on a high bluff, where some hundreds surrendered; but +Morgan again escaped, and with over six hundred horsemen gave our +fellows a long chase yet by the dirt road and by rail. Continuing north +through several counties, he veered northwest toward the Pennsylvania +line, even now burning buildings, car-loads of freight, and bridges by +the way, though hotly hounded by Shackelford, and flanked and headed off +by troops in cars. + +Among the latter was Major W.B. Way, of the 9th Michigan, with a +battalion of his regiment. Way had left the cars at Mingo and marched +over near to Steubenville,[9] where he began a skirmish which lasted +over twenty-five miles toward Salineville, away up in Columbiana County. +Here he brought Morgan to bay. The latter still fought desperately, +losing 200 prisoners, and over 70 of his men killed or wounded, and +skipped away. Another Union detachment came up by rail under Major +George W. Rue, of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry, joined Shackelford at +Hammondsville, and took the advance with 300 men. + +[Footnote 9: Mr. E.E. Day makes the following statement in regard to +Morgan's brief stay at Wintersville: + + Defeated at Buffington Bar, Morgan abandoned his plan of making a + watering trough of Lake Erie, and fled north through the tier of + river counties, keeping within a few miles of the Ohio. The river + was low, but not fordable except at Coxe's Riffle, a few miles + below Steubenville. Headed at this point also, he struck across + the country and passed through Wintersville, a small village five + miles west of Steubenville. That was a memorable Saturday in + Wintersville. Morgan's progress across the State had been watched + with the most feverish anxiety, and the dread that the village + might lie in his path filled the hearts of many. The wildest + rumors passed current. Morgan and his "guerrillas," it was said, + would kill all the men, lay the village in ashes, and carry off + the women and children. The militia, or "hundred-day men," who + lived in or near the village, drilled in the village streets, and + fired rattling volleys of blank cartridges at a board fence, in + preparation for the coming conflict. On Friday evening word came + that Morgan would attempt to force a passage at Coxe's Riffle the + next morning, and the militia marched to Steubenville to help + intercept him. A bloody battle was expected. About the middle of + the forenoon a horseman dashed into the village shouting, + "Morgan's coming! He's just down at John Hanna's!" and galloped + on to warn others. Mr. Hanna was a farmer living about a mile + south of the village. He had shouldered his musket and gone with + the militia, leaving his wife and two children at home. About ten + o'clock Morgan's men were seen coming up the road. Mrs. Hanna + with her children attempted to reach a neighbor's house, but they + were overtaken and ordered to the house, which they found full of + soldiers. Morgan and his officers were stretched, dusty clothes, + boots, and all, upon her beds, and a negro was getting dinner. + While the third table was eating, a squad of militiamen appeared + on a neighboring hill. Morgan ordered their capture, saying, + "What will those Yankees do with the thousand men I have?" A + number of Morgan's men started to carry out their chief's + command, but the militia made good their escape. Soon after, word + came that Shackelford's men were near, and Morgan left so + hurriedly that he neglected to take the quilts and blankets his + men had selected. + + In the village all was consternation. Many of the women and + children gathered at the Maxwell Tavern. Their terror upon + hearing that Morgan was "just down at Hanna's" cannot be + described. Word had been sent to Steubenville, and Colonel James + Collier marched out with a force of about eight hundred militia, + sending a squad under command of Captain Prentiss to reconnoiter. + They galloped through the village, and as Morgan's advance came + in sight began firing. The fire was returned, and a private named + Parks, from Steubenville, was wounded. Morgan's men charged the + scouting party, sending them through the village back to the main + body in a very demoralized condition. The frightened women, and + still worse frightened children, no sooner saw the "dust-brown + ranks" of the head of Morgan's column than they beat a hasty + retreat down the alley to the house of Dr. Markle, the village + physician. This change of base was made under fire, as Morgan's + men were shooting at the retreating militia, and also at a house + owned by William Fisher, in which they had heard there were a + number of militiamen. At the doctor's house all crowded into one + room, and were led in prayer by the minister's wife. The retreat + of the scouting party did not have a very cheering effect upon + the advancing militia. As they passed a field of broom-corn + several men suddenly disappeared, their swift course through the + cane being easily followed by the swaying of the tassels. The + militia were met by rumors that the village was in ashes. Morgan + did not set fire to the village, but his men found time to + explore the village store, and to search the Fisher house, in the + second story of which they found a flag. Morgan's men were hardly + out of sight on the Richmond road when Colonel Collier and the + militia appeared. They formed line of battle on a hill east of + the village just in time to see Shackelford's advance coming + along the road over which they were expecting Morgan. The colonel + at once opened fire with his six-pounder loaded with scrap-iron. + The first shot did little damage. One piece of scrap-iron found + its way to the right, and struck with a resounding thwack against + the end of the Maxwell Tavern. The second shot did not hit + anything. One of Shackelford's officers rode across the field and + inquired, "What are you fools shooting at?" The colonel then + learned, to his astonishment, that Morgan was at least two miles + out on the Richmond road. Many who had been conspicuously absent + then showed themselves, and the daring deeds and hairbreadth + escapes which came to light are not to be lightly referred to. At + least a dozen dead rebels, it was said, would be discovered in + the fields when the farmers came to cut their oats, but for some + reason the bodies were never found.] + +At Salineville he found Morgan, pursued by Major Way, pushing for +Smith's Ford on the Ohio. Breaking into trot and gallop, he outmarched +and intercepted the fugitives at the cross-roads near Beaver Creek, and +had gained the enemy's front and flank when a flag of truce was raised, +and Morgan coolly demanded his surrender. Rue's threat to open fire +brought Morgan to terms, when another issue was raised. It was now +claimed that Morgan had already surrendered, namely, to a militia +officer, and had been by him paroled. This "officer" turned out to be +"Captain" James Burbick, of the home guard.[10] Rue held Morgan, with +364 officers and men and 400 horses, till General Shackelford came up, +who held them as prisoners of war. + +[Footnote 10: General W.T.H. Brooks says in his report: + + Morgan had passed a company of citizens from New Lisbon, and + agreed not to fire upon them if they would not fire upon him. He + had taken two or three of their men prisoners, and was using them + as guides. Among them was a Mr. Burbick, of New Lisbon, who had + gone out at the head of a small squad of mounted men. When Morgan + saw that his advance was about to be cut off by Major Rue, he + said to this Captain Burbick: "I would prefer to surrender to the + militia rather than to United States troops. I will surrender to + you if you will agree to respect private property and parole the + officers and men as soon as we get to Cincinnati." Burbick + replied that he knew nothing about this business. Morgan said, + "Give me an answer, yes or no." Burbick, evidently in confusion, + said, "Yes." + +James Burbick sent a statement to Governor Tod, in which he said that he +was not a prisoner with Morgan, but that he was guiding him voluntarily +away from the vicinity of New Lisbon, after Morgan had agreed not to +pass through that town. Burbick reported that he accepted Morgan's +surrender, and started for the rear with a handkerchief tied to a stick +to intercept the advancing troops, while Lieutenant C.D. Maus, a +prisoner with Morgan, was sent with another flag of truce across the +fields.] + +And thus ended the greatest of Morgan's raids. By it Bragg lost a fine +large division of cavalry, that, if added to Buckner's force,--already +equal to Burnside's in East Tennessee,--might have defeated Burnside; +or, if thrown across Rosecrans's flanks or long lines of supply and +communication, or used in reconnaissance on the Tennessee River, might +have baffled Rosecrans's plans altogether. As it was, Rosecrans was able +to deceive Bragg by counterfeit movements that could easily have been +detected by Morgan. + + + + +III. THE ESCAPE[11] + +BY THOMAS H. HINES + + +On the 31st of July and the 1st of August, 1863, General John H. Morgan, +General Basil W. Duke, and sixty-eight other officers of Morgan's +command, were, by order of General Burnside, confined in the Ohio State +Penitentiary at Columbus. Before entering the main prison we were +searched and relieved of our pocket-knives, money, and of all other +articles of value, subjected to a bath, the shaving of our faces, and +the cutting of our hair. We were placed each in a separate cell in the +first and second tiers on the south side in the east wing of the prison. +General Morgan and General Duke were on the second range, General Morgan +being confined in the last cell at the east end, those who escaped with +General Morgan having their cells in the first range. + +[Footnote 11: Condensed from "The Bivouac" of June, 1885.] + +From five o'clock in the evening until seven o'clock in the morning we +were locked into our cells, with no possible means of communication with +one another; but in the day, between these hours, we were permitted to +mingle together in the narrow hall, twelve feet wide and one hundred and +sixty long, which was cut off from the other portion of the building, +occupied by the convicts, by a plank partition, in one end of which was +a wooden door. At each end of the hall, and within the partitions, was +an armed military sentinel, while the civil guards of the prison passed +at irregular intervals among us, and very frequently the warden or his +deputy came through in order to see that we were secure and not +violating the prison rules. We were not permitted to talk with or in any +way to communicate with the convicts, nor were we permitted to see any +of our relatives or friends that might come from a distance to see us, +except upon the written order of General Burnside, and then only in the +presence of a guard. Our correspondence underwent the censorship of the +warden, we receiving and he sending only such as met his approbation; we +were not permitted to have newspapers, or to receive information of what +was going on in the outside busy world. + +Many plans for escape, ingenious and desperate, were suggested, +discussed, and rejected because deemed impracticable. Among them was +bribery of the guards. This was thought not feasible because of the +double set of guards, military and civil, who were jealous and watchful +of each other, so that it was never attempted, although we could have +commanded, through our friends in Kentucky and elsewhere, an almost +unlimited amount of money. + +On a morning in the last days of October I was rudely treated, without +cause, by the deputy warden. There was no means of redress, and it was +not wise to seek relief by retort, since I knew, from the experience of +my comrades, that it would result in my confinement in a dark dungeon, +with bread and water for diet. I retired to my cell, and closed the door +with the determination that I would neither eat nor sleep until I had +devised some means of escape. I ate nothing and drank nothing during the +day, and by nine o'clock I had matured the plan that we carried into +execution. It may be that I owed something to the fact that I had just +completed the reading of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables," containing such +vivid delineations of the wonderful escapes of Jean Valjean, and of the +subterranean passages of the city of Paris. This may have led me to the +line of thought that terminated in the plan of escape adopted. It was +this: I had observed that the floor of my cell was upon a level with the +ground upon the outside of the building, which was low and flat, and +also that the floor of the cell was perfectly dry and free from mold. It +occurred to me that, as the rear of the cell was to a great extent +excluded from the light and air, this dryness and freedom from mold +could not exist unless there was underneath something in the nature of +an air-chamber to prevent the dampness from rising up the walls and +through the floor. If this chamber should be found to exist, and could +be reached, a tunnel might be run through the foundations into the yard, +from which we might escape by scaling the outer wall, the air-chamber +furnishing a receptacle for the earth and stone to be taken out in +running the tunnel. The next morning, when our cells were unlocked, and +we were permitted to assemble in the hall, I went to General Morgan's +cell, he having been for several days quite unwell, and laid before him +the plan as I have sketched it. Its feasibility appeared to him +unquestioned, and to it he gave a hearty and unqualified approval. If, +then, our supposition was correct as to the existence of the air-chamber +beneath the lower range of cells, a limited number of those occupying +that range could escape, and only a limited number, because the greater +the number the longer the time required to complete the work, and the +greater the danger of discovery while prosecuting it, in making our way +over the outer wall, and in escaping afterward. + +[Illustration: CORRIDOR AND CELLS IN THE EAST WING. A, CAPTAIN HINES'S +CELL.] + +With these considerations in view, General Morgan and myself agreed upon +the following officers, whose cells were nearest the point at which the +tunnel was to begin, to join us in the enterprise: Captain J.C. Bennett, +Captain L.D. Hockersmith, Captain C.S. Magee, Captain Ralph Sheldon, and +Captain Samuel B. Taylor. The plan was then laid before these gentlemen, +and received their approval. It was agreed that work should begin in my +cell, and continue from there until completed. In order, however, to do +this without detection, it was necessary that some means should be found +to prevent the daily inspection of that cell, it being the custom of the +deputy warden, with the guards, to visit and have each cell swept every +morning. This end was accomplished by my obtaining permission from the +warden to furnish a broom and sweep my own cell. For a few mornings +thereafter the deputy warden would pass, glance into my cell, compliment +me on its neatness, and go on to the inspection of the other cells. +After a few days my cell was allowed to go without any inspection +whatever, and then we were ready to begin work, having obtained, through +some of our associates who had been sent to the hospital, some +table-knives made of flat steel files. In my cell, as in the others, +there was a narrow iron cot, which could be folded and propped up to the +cell wall. I thought the work could be completed within a month. + +On the 4th of November work was begun in the back part of my cell, under +the rear end of my cot. We cut through six inches of cement, and took +out six layers of brick put in and cemented with the ends up. Here we +came to the air-chamber, as I had calculated, and found it six feet wide +by four feet high, and running the entire length of the range of cells. +The cement and brick taken out in effecting an entrance to the chamber +were placed in my bed-tick, upon which I slept during the progress of +this portion of the work, after which the material was removed to the +chamber. We found the chamber heavily grated at the end, against which a +large quantity of coal had been heaped, cutting off any chance of exit +in that way. We then began a tunnel, running it at right angles from the +side of the chamber, and almost directly beneath my cell. We cut through +the foundation wall, five feet thick, of the cell block; through twelve +feet of grouting, to the outer wall of the east wing of the prison; +through this wall, six feet in thickness; and four feet up near the +surface of the yard, in an unfrequented place between this wing and the +female department of the prison. + +[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE PRISON. B--EXIT FROM TUNNEL.] + +During the progress of the work, in which we were greatly assisted by +several of our comrades who were not to go out, notably among them +Captain Thomas W. Bullitt of Louisville, Kentucky, I sat at the entrance +to my cell studiously engaged on Gibbon's Rome and in trying to master +French. By this device I was enabled to be constantly on guard without +being suspected, as I had pursued the same course during the whole +period of my imprisonment. Those who did the work were relieved every +hour. This was accomplished, and the danger of the guards overhearing +the work as they passed obviated, by adopting a system of signals, which +consisted in giving taps on the floor over the chamber. One knock was to +suspend work, two to proceed, and three to come out. On one occasion, by +oversight, we came near being discovered. The prisoners were taken out +to their meals by ranges, and on this day those confined in the first +range were called for dinner while Captain Hockersmith was in the +tunnel. The deputy warden, on calling the roll, missed Hockersmith, and +came back to inquire for him. General Morgan engaged the attention of +the warden by asking his opinion as to the propriety of a remonstrance +that the general had prepared to be sent to General Burnside. Flattered +by the deference shown to his opinion by General Morgan, the warden +unwittingly gave Captain Hockersmith time to get out and fall into line +for dinner. While the tunnel was being run, Colonel R.C. Morgan, a +brother of General Morgan, made a rope, in links, of bed-ticking, +thirty-five feet in length, and from the iron poker of the hall stove we +made a hook, in the nature of a grappling-iron, to attach to the end of +the rope. + +The work was now complete with the exception of making an entrance from +each of the cells of those who were to go out. This could be done with +safety only by working from the chamber upward, as the cells were daily +inspected. The difficulty presented in doing this was the fact that we +did not know at what point to begin in order to open the holes in the +cells at the proper place. To accomplish this a measurement was +necessary, but we had nothing to measure with. Fortunately the deputy +warden again ignorantly aided us. I got into a discussion with him as to +the length of the hall, and to convince me of my error he sent for his +measuring-line, and after the hall had been measured, and his statement +verified, General Morgan occupied his attention, while I took the line, +measured the distance from center to center of the cells,--all being of +uniform size,--and marked it upon the stick used in my cell for propping +up my cot. With this stick, measuring from the middle of the hole in my +cell, the proper distance was marked off in the chamber for the holes in +the other cells. The chamber was quite dark, and light being necessary +for the work, we had obtained candles and matches through our sick +comrades in the hospital. The hole in my cell during the progress of the +work was kept covered with a large hand-satchel containing my change of +clothing. We cut from underneath upward until there was only a thin +crust of the cement left in each of the cells. Money was necessary to +pay expenses of transportation and for other contingencies as they might +arise. General Morgan had some money that the search had not discovered, +but it was not enough. Shortly after we began work I wrote to my sister +in Kentucky a letter, which through a trusted convict I sent out and +mailed, requesting her to go to my library and get certain books, and in +the back of a designated one, which she was to open with a thin knife, +place a certain amount of Federal money, repaste the back, write my name +across the inside of the back where the money was concealed, and send +the box by express. In due course of time the books with the money came +to hand. It only remained now to get information as to the time of the +running of the trains and to await a cloudy night, as it was then full +moon. Our trusty convict was again found useful. He was quite an old +man, called Heavy, had been in the penitentiary for many years, and as +he had been so faithful, and his time having almost expired, he was +permitted to go on errands for the officials to the city. I gave him ten +dollars to bring us a daily paper and six ounces of French brandy. +Neither he nor any one within the prison or on the outside had any +intimation of our contemplated escape. + +It was our first thought to make our way to the Confederacy by way of +Canada; but, on inspecting the time-table in the paper, it was seen that +a knowledge of the escape would necessarily come to the prison officials +before we could reach the Canadian border. There was nothing left, then, +but to take the train south, which we found, if on time, would reach +Cincinnati, Ohio, before the cells were opened in the morning, at which +time we expected our absence to be discovered. One thing more remained +to be done, and that was to ascertain the easiest and safest place at +which to scale the outside wall of the prison. The windows opening +outward were so high that we could not see the wall. In the hall was a +ladder resting against the wall, fifty feet long, that had been used for +sweeping down the wall. A view from the top of the ladder would give us +a correct idea of the outside, but the difficulty was to get that view +without exciting suspicion. + +Fortunately the warden came in while we were discussing the great +strength and activity of Captain Samuel B. Taylor, who was very small of +stature, when it was suggested that Taylor could go hand over hand on +the under side of the ladder to the top, and, with a moment's rest, +return in the same way. To the warden this seemed impossible, and, to +convince him, Taylor was permitted to make the trial, which he did +successfully. At the top of the ladder he rested for a minute and took a +mental photograph of the wall. When the warden had left, Taylor +communicated the fact that directly south of and at almost right angles +from the east end of the block in which we were confined there was a +double gate to the outer wall, the inside one being of wooden uprights +four inches apart, and the outside one as solid as the wall; the wooden +gate being supported by the wing wall of the female department, which +joined to the main outer wall. + +[Illustration: WITHIN THE WOODEN GATE.] + +On the evening of the 27th of November the cloudy weather so anxiously +waited for came; and prior to being locked in our cells it was agreed to +make the attempt at escape that night. Cell No. 21, next to my cell, No. +20, on the first range, was occupied by Colonel R.C. Morgan, a brother +of General Morgan. That cell had been prepared for General Morgan by +opening a hole to the chamber, and when the hour for locking up came, +General Morgan stepped into Cell 21, and Colonel Morgan into General +Morgan's cell in the second range. The guard did not discover the +exchange, as General Morgan and Colonel Morgan were of about the same +physical proportions, and each stood with his back to the cell door when +it was being locked. + +At intervals of two hours every night, beginning at eight, the guards +came around to each cell and passed a light through the grating to see +that all was well with the prisoners. The approach of the guard was +often so stealthily made that a knowledge of his presence was first had +by seeing him at the door of the cell. To avoid a surprise of this kind +we sprinkled fine coal along in front of the cells, walking upon which +would give us warning. By a singular coincidence that might have been a +fatality, on the day we had determined upon for the escape General +Morgan received a letter from Lexington, Kentucky, begging and warning +him not to attempt to escape, and by the same mail I received a letter +from a member of my family saying that it was rumored and generally +believed at home that I had escaped. Fortunately these letters did not +put the officials on their guard. We ascertained from the paper we had +procured that a train left for Cincinnati at 1.15 A.M., and as the +regular time for the guard to make his round of the cells was twelve +o'clock, we arranged to descend to the chamber immediately thereafter. +Captain Taylor was to descend first, and, passing under each cell, +notify the others. General Morgan had been permitted to keep his watch, +and this he gave to Taylor that he might not mistake the time to go. + +At the appointed hour Taylor gave the signal, each of us arranged his +cot with the seat in his cell so as to represent a sleeping prisoner, +and, easily breaking the thin layer of cement, descended to the chamber, +passed through the tunnel, breaking through the thin stratum of earth +at the end. We came out near the wall of the female prison,--it was +raining slightly,--crawled by the side of the wall to the wooden gate, +cast our grappling-iron attached to the rope over the gate, made it +fast, ascended the rope to the top of the gate, drew up the rope, and +made our way by the wing wall to the outside wall, where we entered a +sentry-box and divested ourselves of our soiled outer garments. In the +daytime sentinels were placed on this wall, but at night they were on +the inside of the walls and at the main entrance to the prison. On the +top of the wall we found a cord running along the outer edge and +connecting with a bell in the office of the prison. This cord General +Morgan cut with one of the knives we had used in tunneling. Before +leaving my cell I wrote and left, addressed to N. Merion, the warden, +the following: + + CASTLE MERION, CELL NO. 20, November 27, 1863.--Commencement, + November 4, 1863; conclusion, November 24, 1863; number of hours + for labor per day, five; tools, two small knives. _La patience + est amere, mais son fruit est doux._ By order of my six honorable + Confederates. THOMAS H. HINES, _Captain, C.S.A._ + +Having removed all trace of soil from our clothes and persons, we +attached the iron hook to the railing on the outer edge of the wall, and +descended to the ground within sixty yards of where the prison guards +were sitting round a fire and conversing. Here we separated, General +Morgan and myself going to the depot, about a quarter, of a mile from +the prison, where I purchased two tickets for Cincinnati, and entered +the car that just then came in. General Morgan took a seat beside a +Federal major in uniform, and I sat immediately in their rear. The +general entered into conversation with the major, who was made the more +talkative by a copious drink of my French brandy. As the train passed +near the prison-wall where we had descended, the major remarked, "There +is where the rebel General Morgan and his officers are put for +safe-keeping." The general replied, "I hope they will keep him as safe +as he is now." Our train passed through Dayton, Ohio, and there, for +some unknown reason, we were delayed an hour. This rendered it extra +hazardous to go to the depot in the city of Cincinnati, since by that +time the prison officials would, in all probability, know of our escape, +and telegraph to intercept us. In fact, they did telegraph in every +direction, and offered a reward for our recapture. Instead, then, of +going to the depot in Cincinnati, we got off, while the train was moving +slowly, in the outskirts of the city, near Ludlow Ferry, on the Ohio +River. Going directly to the ferry we were crossed over in a skiff and +landed immediately in front of the residence of Mrs. Ludlow. We rang the +door-bell, a servant came, and General Morgan wrote upon a +visiting-card, "General Morgan and Captain Hines, escaped." We were +warmly received, took a cup of coffee with the family, were furnished a +guide, and walked some three miles in the country, where we were +furnished horses. Thence we went through Florence to Union, in Boone +County, Kentucky, where we took supper with Daniel Piatt. On making +ourselves known to Mr. Piatt, who had two sons in our command, we were +treated with the most cordial hospitality and kindness by the entire +family. We there met Dr. John J. Dulaney of Florence, Kentucky, who was +of great benefit in giving us information as to the best route. That +night we went to Mr. Corbin's, near Union,--who also had gallant sons in +our command,--where we remained concealed until the next night, and +where friends supplied us with fresh horses and a pair of pistols each. + +[Illustration: OVER THE PRISON WALL.] + +On the evening of the 29th of November we left Union with a voluntary +guide, passed through the eastern edge of Gallatin County, and after +traveling all night spent the day of the 30th at the house of a friend +on the Owen County line. Passing through New Liberty, in Owen County, +and crossing the Kentucky River at the ferry on the road to New Castle, +in Henry County, we stopped at the house of Mr. Pollard at 2 A.M., +December 1. Our guide did not know the people nor the roads farther than +the ferry, at which point he turned back. Not knowing the politics of +Mr. Pollard, it was necessary to proceed with caution. On reaching his +house we aroused him and made known our desire to spend the remainder of +the night with him. He admitted us and took us into the family room, +where there was a lamp dimly burning on a center-table. On the light +being turned up I discovered a Cincinnati "Enquirer" with large +displayed head-lines, announcing the escape of General Morgan, Captain +Hines, and five other officers from the Ohio penitentiary. The fact that +this newspaper was taken by Mr. Pollard was to me sufficient evidence +that he was a Southern sympathizer. Glancing at the paper, I looked up +and remarked, "I see that General Morgan, Hines, and other officers have +escaped from the penitentiary." He responded, "Yes; and you are Captain +Hines, are you not?" I replied, "Yes; and what is your name?" "Pollard," +he answered. "Allow me, then, to introduce General Morgan," I found that +I had not made a mistake. + +After rest and a late breakfast and a discussion of the situation, it +was deemed inexpedient to remain during the day, as the house was +immediately on a public highway, besides the danger of such unexplained +delay exciting the suspicion of the negroes on the place. We assumed the +character of cattle-buyers, Mr. Pollard furnishing us with cattle-whips +to make the assumption plausible. Our first objective point was the +residence of Judge W.S. Pryor, in the outskirts of New Castle. After +dinner Judge Pryor rode with us some distance, and put us in charge of a +guide, who conducted us that night to Major Helm's, near Shelbyville, +where we remained during the day of the 2d, and were there joined by +four of our command in citizen's dress. That night we passed through +Taylorsville, and stopped on the morning of the 3d near Bardstown. + +The night of the 4th we resumed our journey, and stopped on the morning +of the 5th at Mr. McCormack's at Rolling Fork Creek, in Nelson County, +thence through Taylor, Green (passing near Greensburg), Adair, and +Cumberland counties, crossing Cumberland River some nine miles below +Burkesville. We crossed the Cumberland, which was quite high, by +swimming our horses by the side of a canoe. Near the place of crossing, +on the south side, we stopped overnight with a private in Colonel R.T. +Jacob's Federal cavalry, passing ourselves as citizens on the lookout +for stolen horses. Next morning, in approaching the road from +Burkesville to Sparta, Tennessee, we came out of a byway immediately in +the rear of and some hundred yards from a dwelling fronting on the +Burkesville-Sparta road, and screening us from view on the Burkesville +end. As we emerged from the woodland a woman appeared at the back door +of the dwelling and motioned us back. We withdrew from view, but kept in +sight of the door from which the signal to retire was given, when after +a few minutes the woman again appeared and signaled us to come forward. +She informed us that a body of Federal cavalry had just passed, going in +the direction of Burkesville, and that the officer in command informed +her that he was trying to intercept General Morgan. We followed the +Burkesville road something like a mile, and in sight of the rear-guard. +We crossed Obey's River near the mouth of Wolf, and halted for two days +in the hills of Overton County, where we came upon forty of our men, who +had been separated from the force on the expedition into Indiana and +Ohio. These men were placed under my command, and thence we moved +directly toward the Tennessee River, striking it about fifteen miles +below Kingston, at Bridges's Ferry, December 13. There was no boat to be +used in crossing, and the river was very high and angry, and about one +hundred and fifty yards wide. We obtained an ax from a house near by, +and proceeded to split logs and make a raft on which to cross, and by +which to swim our horses. We had learned that two miles and a half below +us was a Federal cavalry camp. This stimulated us to the utmost, but +notwithstanding our greatest efforts we were three hours in crossing +over five horses and twenty-five men. At this juncture the enemy +appeared opposite, and began to fire on our men. + +[Illustration: "HURRY UP, MAJOR!"] + +Here General Morgan gave characteristic evidence of devotion to his +men. When the firing began he insisted on staying with the dismounted +men and taking their chances, and was dissuaded only by my earnest +appeal and representation that such a course would endanger the men as +well as ourselves. The men, by scattering in the mountains, did +ultimately make their way to the Confederacy. + +General Morgan, myself, and the four mounted men crossed over a spur of +the mountains and descended by a bridle-path to a ravine or gulch upon +the opposite side, and halted in some thick underbrush about ten steps +from a path passing along the ravine. Not knowing the country, it was +necessary to have information, or a guide, and observing a log cabin +about a hundred yards up the ravine, I rode there to get directions, +leaving General Morgan and the others on their horses near the path. I +found at the house a woman and some children. She could not direct me +over the other spur of the mountain, but consented that her ten-year-old +son might go with me and show the way. He mounted behind me, and by the +time he was seated I heard the clatter of hoofs down the ravine, and, +looking, I saw a body of about seventy-five cavalry coming directly +toward me, and passing within ten steps of where the general and his men +were sitting on their horses. I saw that my own escape was doubtful, and +that any halt or delay of the cavalry would certainly result in the +discovery and capture of General Morgan. I lifted the boy from behind me +and dashed to the head of the column, exclaiming, "Hurry up, Major, or +the rebels will escape!" He responded, "Who are you?" I answered, "I +belong to the home-guard company in the bend: hurry, or they are gone." +We dashed on, I riding by the major at the head of the column about half +a mile, when we came to where a dry branch crossed the road, and, as it +had been raining that day, it was easily seen from the soil that had +washed down from the side of the mountain that no one had passed there +since the rain. Seeing this, the command was halted, and the major again +demanded to know who I was. I replied that I was a member of General +Morgan's command. "Yes, ---- you! You have led me off from Morgan; I have +a notion to hang you for it." "No, that was not General Morgan. I have +served under him two years and know him well, and have no object in +deceiving you; for if it was Morgan, he is now safe." "You lie, for he +was recognized at the house where you got the ax. I would not have +missed getting him for ten thousand dollars. It would have been a +brigadier's commission to me. I will hang you for it." Up to this time I +had taken the situation smilingly and pleasantly, because I did not +apprehend violence; but the officer, livid with rage from +disappointment, directed one of his men to take the halter from his +horse and hang me to a designated limb of a tree. The halter was +adjusted around my neck, and thrown over the limb. Seeing that the +officer was desperately in earnest, I said, "Major, before you perform +this operation, allow me to make a suggestion." "Be quick about it, +then." "Suppose that _was_ General Morgan, as you insist, and I have led +you astray, as you insist, wouldn't I, being a member of his command, +deserve to be hung if I had not done what you charge me with?" He +dropped his head for a moment, looked up with a more pleasant +expression, and said, "Boys, he is right; let him alone." + +[Illustration: CAPTAIN HINES OBJECTS.] + +I was placed under guard of two soldiers and sent across the river to +camp, while the officer in command took his men over the mountain in +search of General Morgan, who succeeded in making good his escape. The +next evening the major returned with his command from his unsuccessful +pursuit. He questioned me closely, wanting to know my name, and if I +was a private in the command, as I had stated to him at the time of my +capture. Remembering that in prison the underclothing of Captain Bullitt +had been exchanged for mine, and that I then had on his with his name in +ink, I assumed the name of Bullitt. + +On the evening of the second day in this camp the major invited me to go +with him and take supper at the house of a Unionist half a mile away. We +spent the evening with the family until nine o'clock, when the major +suggested that we should go back to camp. On reaching the front gate, +twenty steps from the front veranda, he found that he had left his shawl +in the house, and returned to get it, requesting me to await his return. +A young lady of the family was standing in the door, and when he went in +to get the shawl, she closed the door. I was then perfectly free, but I +could not get my consent to go. For a moment of time while thus at +liberty I suffered intensely in the effort to determine what was the +proper thing to do. Upon the one hand was the tempting offer of freedom, +that was very sweet to me after so many months of close confinement; +while, on the other hand was the fact that the officer had treated me +with great kindness, more as a comrade than as a prisoner, that the +acceptance of his hospitality was a tacit parole and my escape would +involve him in trouble. I remained until his return. He was greatly +agitated, evidently realizing for the first time the extent of his +indiscretion, and surprised undoubtedly at finding me quietly awaiting +him. I had determined not to return to prison, but rather than break +faith I awaited some other occasion for escape. Notwithstanding all +this, something excited suspicion of me; for the next morning, while +lying in the tent apparently asleep, I heard the officer direct the +sergeant to detail ten men and guard me to Kingston, and he said to the +sergeant, "Put him on the meanest horse you have and be watchful or he +will escape." I was taken to Kingston and placed in jail, and there met +three of our party who had been captured on the north side of the +Tennessee River at the time we attempted to cross. They were R.C. +Church, William Church, and ---- Smith. After two days' confinement +there, we were sent under guard of twelve soldiers to the camp of the 3d +Kentucky Federal Infantry, under command of Colonel Henry C. Dunlap. The +camp was opposite the town of Loudon, and was prepared for winter +quarters. The large forest trees had been felled for a quarter of a mile +around the camp, and log huts built in regular lines for the occupation +of the troops. We were placed in one of these huts with three guards on +the inside, while the guards who delivered us there were located around +a campfire some ten steps in front of the only door to our hut, and +around the whole encampment was the regular camp guard. The next day, as +we had learned, we were to be sent to Knoxville, Tennessee, which was +then General Burnside's headquarters; and as I knew I would there be +recognized, and, on account of my previous escape, that my chances for +freedom would be reduced to a minimum, we determined to escape that +night. + +It was perfectly clear, the moon about full, making the camp almost as +light as day; and as the moon did not go down until a short time before +daylight, we concluded to await its setting. The door of the cabin was +fastened by a latch on the inside. The night was cold. We had only +pretended to sleep, awaiting our opportunity. When the moon was down we +arose, one after another, from our couches, and went to the fire to warm +us. We engaged the guards in pleasant conversation, detailing incidents +of the war. I stood with my right next the door, facing the fire and the +three guards, and my comrades standing immediately on my left. While +narrating some incident in which the guards were absorbed, I placed my +right hand upon the latch of the door, with a signal to the other +prisoners, and, without breaking the thread of the narrative, bade the +guards good night, threw the door open, ran through the guards in front +of the door, passed the sentinel at the camp limits, and followed the +road we had been brought in to the mountains. The guards in front of the +door fired upon me, as did the sentinel on his beat, the last shot being +so close to me that I felt the fire from the gun. Unfortunately and +unwittingly I threw the door open with such force that it rebounded and +caught my comrades on the inside. The guards assaulted them and +attempted to bayonet them, but they grappled, overpowered, and disarmed +the guards, and made terms with them before they would let them up. All +three of these prisoners, by great daring, escaped before they were +taken North to prison. + +In running from the camp to the mountains I passed two sentinel fires, +and was pursued some distance at the point of the bayonet of the soldier +who had last fired at me. All was hurry and confusion in the camp. The +horses were bridled, saddled, and mounted, and rapidly ridden out on +the road I had taken; but by the time the pursuers reached the timber I +was high up the mountain side, and complacently watched them as they +hurried by. As I ran from my prison-house I fixed my eye upon Venus, the +morning star, as my guide, and traveled until daylight, when I reached +the summit of the mountain, where I found a sedge-grass field of about +twenty acres, in the middle of which I lay down on the frozen ground and +remained until the sun had gone down and darkness was gathering. During +the day the soldiers in search of me frequently passed within thirty +steps, so close that I could hear their conjectures as to where I was +most likely to be found. I remained so long in one position that I +thawed into the frozen earth; but the cool of the evening coming on, the +soil around me froze again, and I had some difficulty in releasing +myself. + +As it grew dark I descended the mountain, and cautiously approached a +humble dwelling. Seeing no one but a woman and some children, I entered +and asked for supper. While my supper was being prepared, no little to +my disappointment, the husband, a strapping, manly-looking fellow, with +his rifle on his shoulder, walked in. I had already assumed a character, +and that was as agent to purchase horses for the Federal Government. I +had come down that evening on the train from Knoxville, and was anxious +to get a canoe and some one to paddle me down to Kingston, where I had +an engagement for the next day to meet some gentlemen who were to have +horses there, by agreement with me, for sale. Could the gentleman tell +me where I could get a canoe and some one to go with me? He said the +rebels were so annoying that all boats and canoes had been destroyed to +keep them from crossing. He knew of but one canoe, owned by a good Union +man some two miles down the river. Would he be kind enough to show me +the way there, that I might get an early start and keep my engagement? + +After supper my hospitable entertainer walked with me to the residence +of the owner of the canoe. The family had retired, and when the owner of +the premises came out, there came with him a Federal soldier who was +staying overnight with him. This was not encouraging. After making my +business known and offering large compensation, the owner of the canoe +agreed to start with me by daylight. During my walk down there, my guide +had mentioned that a certain person living opposite the place where the +canoe was owned had several horses that he would like to sell. I +suggested that, in order to save time and get as early a start as +possible for Kingston, the canoe-owner should take me over to see to the +purchase of these horses that night. The river was high and dangerous to +cross at night, but by promises of compensation I was taken over and +landed some quarter of a mile from the house. With an injunction to +await me, when the canoe landed I started toward the house; but when out +of sight I changed my course and took to the mountains. + +For eight days I traveled by night, taking my course by the stars, lying +up in the mountains by day, and getting food early in the evening +wherever I could find a place where there were no men. On the 27th of +December I reached the Confederate lines near Dalton, Georgia. + + + + +COLONEL ROSE'S TUNNEL AT LIBBY PRISON + +BY FRANK E. MORAN + + +Among all the thrilling incidents in the history of Libby Prison, none +exceeds in interest the celebrated tunnel escape which occurred on the +night of February 9, 1864. I was one of the 109 Union officers who +passed through the tunnel, and one of the ill-fated 48 that were +retaken. I and two companions--Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan of the 21st +Wisconsin regiment, who has since served several terms in Congress from +Missouri, and Lieutenant William L. Watson of the same company and +regiment--when recaptured by the Confederate cavalry were in sight of +the Union picket posts. Strange as it may appear, no accurate and +complete account has ever been given to the public of this, the most +ingenious and daring escape made on either side during the civil war. +Twelve of the party of fifteen who dug the tunnel are still living, +including their leader. + +Thomas E. Rose, colonel of the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the +engineer and leader in the plot throughout,--now a captain in the 16th +United States Infantry,--was taken prisoner at the battle of +Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. On his way to Richmond he escaped from +his guards at Weldon, N.C., but, after a day's wandering about the pine +forests with a broken foot, was retaken by a detachment of Confederate +cavalry and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he arrived October 1, +1863. + +[Illustration: COLONEL THOMAS E. ROSE.] + +Libby Prison fronts on Carey street, Richmond, and stands upon a hill +which descends abruptly to the canal, from which its southern wall is +divided only by a street, and having a vacant lot on the east. The +building was wholly detached, making it a comparatively easy matter to +guard the prison securely with a small force and keep every door and +window in full view from without. As an additional measure of safety, +prisoners were not allowed on the ground-floor, except that in the +daytime they were permitted to use the first floor of the middle +section for a cook-room. The interior embraced nine large +warehouse-rooms 105 x 45, with eight feet from each floor to ceiling, +except the upper floor, which gave more room, owing to the pitch of the +gable roof. The abrupt slant of the hill gives the building an +additional story on the south side. The whole building really embraces +three sections, and these were originally separated by heavy blank +walls. The Confederates cut doors through the walls of the two upper +floors, which comprised the prisoners' quarters, and they were thus +permitted to mingle freely with each other; but there was no +communication whatever between the three large rooms on the first floor. +Beneath these floors were three cellars of the same dimensions as the +rooms above them, and, like them, divided from each other by massive +blank walls. For ready comprehension, let these be designated the east, +middle, and west cellars. Except in the lofts known as "Streight's room" +and "Milroy's room," which were occupied by the earliest inmates of +Libby in 1863, there was no furniture in the building, and only a few of +the early comers possessed such a luxury as an old army blanket or a +knife, cup, and tin plate. As a rule, the prisoner, by the time he +reached Libby, found himself devoid of earthly goods save the meager and +dust-begrimed summer garb in which he had made his unlucky campaign. + +At night the six large lofts presented strange war-pictures, over which +a single tallow candle wept copious and greasy tears that ran down over +the petrified loaf of corn-broad, Borden's condensed-milk can, or +bottle in which it was set. The candle flickered on until "taps," when +the guards, with unconscious irony shouted, "Lights out!"--at which +signal it usually disappeared amid a shower of boots and such other +missiles as were at hand. The sleepers covered the six floors, lying in +ranks, head to head and foot to foot, like prostrate lines of battle. +For the general good, and to preserve something like military precision, +these ranks (especially when cold weather compelled them to lie close +for better warmth) were subdivided into convenient squads under charge +of a "captain," who was invested with authority to see that every man +lay "spoon fashion." + +[Illustration] + +No consideration of personal convenience was permitted to interfere with +the general comfort of the "squad." Thus, when the hard floor could no +longer be endured on the right side,--especially by the thin men,--the +captain gave the command, "Attention, Squad Number Four! Prepare to +spoon! One--two--spoon!" And the whole squad flopped over on the left +side. + +The first floor on the west of the building was used by the Confederates +as an office and for sleeping-quarters for the prison officials, and a +stairway guarded by sentinels led from this to Milroy's room just above +it. As before explained, the middle room was shut off from the office by +a heavy blank wall. This room, known as the "kitchen," had two stoves in +it, one of which stood about ten feet from the heavy door that opened on +Carey street sidewalk, and behind the door was a fireplace. The room +contained also several long pine tables with permanent seats attached, +such as may be commonly seen at picnic grounds. The floor was constantly +inundated here by several defective and overworked water-faucets and a +leaky trough. + +A stairway without banisters led up on the southwest end of the floor, +above which was a room known as the "Chickamauga room," being chiefly +occupied by Chickamauga prisoners. The sentinel who had formerly been +placed at this stairway at night, to prevent the prisoners from entering +the kitchen, had been withdrawn when, in the fall of 1863, the horrible +condition of the floor made it untenable for sleeping purposes. + +The uses to which the large ground-floor room east of the kitchen was +put varied during the first two years of the war; but early in October +of 1863, and thereafter, it was permanently used and known as the +hospital, and it contained a large number of cots, which were never +unoccupied. An apartment had been made at the north or front of the +room, which served as a doctor's office and laboratory. Like those +adjoining it on the west, this room had a large door opening on Carey +street, which was heavily bolted and guarded on the outside. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1865] + +The arrival of the Chickamauga prisoners greatly crowded the upper +floors, and compelled the Confederates to board up a small portion of +the east cellar at its southeast corner as an additional cook-room, +several large caldrons having been set in a rudely built furnace; so, +for a short period, the prisoners were allowed down there in the daytime +to cook. A stairway led from this cellar to the room above, which +subsequently became the hospital. + +Such, in brief, was the condition of things when Colonel Rose arrived at +the prison. From the hour of his coming, a means of escape became his +constant and eager study; and, with this purpose in view, he made a +careful and minute survey of the entire premises. + +From the windows of the upper east or "Gettysburg room" he could look +across the vacant lot on the east and get a glimpse of the yard between, +two adjacent buildings which faced the canal and Carey street +respectively, and he estimated the intervening space at about seventy +feet. From the south windows he looked out across a street upon the +canal and James River, running parallel with each other, the two streams +at this point being separated by a low and narrow strip of land. This +strip periodically disappeared when protracted seasons of heavy rain +came, or when spring floods so rapidly swelled the river that the latter +invaded the cellars of Libby. At such times it was common to see +enormous swarms of rats come out from the lower doors and windows of the +prison and make head for dry land in swimming platoons amid the cheers +of the prisoners in the upper windows. On one or two occasions Rose +observed workmen descending from the middle of the south-side street +into a sewer running through its center, and concluded that this sewer +must have various openings to the canal both to the east and west of the +prison. + +The north portion of the cellar contained a large quantity of loose +packing-straw, covering the floor to an average depth of two feet; and +this straw afforded shelter, especially at night, for a large colony of +rats, which gave the place the name of "Rat Hell." + +[Illustration: MAJOR A.G. HAMILTON.] + +In one afternoon's inspection of this dark end, Rose suddenly +encountered a fellow-prisoner, Major A.G. Hamilton, of the 12th Kentucky +Cavalry. A confiding friendship followed, and the two men entered at +once upon the plan of gaining their liberty. They agreed that the most +feasible scheme was a tunnel, to begin in the rear of the little +kitchen-apartment at the southeast corner of Rat Hell. Without more ado +they secured a broken shovel and two case-knives and began operations. + +Within a few days the Confederates decided upon certain changes in the +prison for the greater security of their captives. A week afterward the +cook-room was abandoned, the stairway nailed up, the prisoners sent to +the upper floors, and all communication with the east cellar was cut +off. This was a sore misfortune, for this apartment was the only +possible base of successful tunnel operations. Colonel Rose now began to +study other practicable means of escape, and spent night after night +examining the posts and watching the movements of the sentinels on the +four sides of Libby. One very dark night, during a howling storm, Rose +again, unexpectedly met Hamilton in a place where no prisoner could +reasonably be looked for at such an hour. For an instant the +impenetrable darkness made it impossible for either to determine whether +he had met a friend or foe: neither had a weapon, yet each involuntarily +felt for one, and each made ready to spring at the other's throat, when +a flash of lightning revealed their identity. The two men had availed +themselves of the darkness of the night and the roar of the storm to +attempt an escape from a window of the upper west room to a platform +that ran along the west outer wall of the prison, from which they hoped +to reach the ground and elude the sentinels, whom they conjectured would +be crouched in the shelter of some doorway or other partial refuge that +might be available; but so vivid and frequent were the lightning flashes +that the attempt was seen to be extremely hazardous. + +Rose now spoke of the entrance from the south-side street to the middle +cellar, having frequently noticed the entrance and exit of workmen at +that point, and expressed his belief that if an entrance could be +effected to this cellar it would afford them the only chance of slipping +past the sentinels. + +He hunted up a bit of pine-wood which he whittled into a sort of wedge, +and the two men went down into the dark, vacant kitchen directly over +this cellar. With the wedge Rose pried a floor-board out of its place, +and made an opening large enough to let himself through. He had never +been in this middle cellar, and was wholly ignorant of its contents or +whether it was occupied by Confederates or workmen; but as he had made +no noise, and the place was in profound darkness, he decided to go down +and reconnoiter. + +He wrenched off one of the long boards that formed a table-seat in the +kitchen, and found that it was long enough to touch the cellar base and +protrude a foot or so above the kitchen floor. By this means he easily +descended, leaving Hamilton to keep watch above. + +The storm still raged fiercely, and the faint beams of a street-lamp +revealed the muffled form of the sentinel slowly pacing his beat and +carrying his musket at "secure" arms. Creeping softly toward him along +the cellar wall, he now saw that what he had supposed was a door was +simply a naked opening to the street; and further inspection disclosed +the fact that there was but one sentinel on the south side of the +prison. Standing in the dark shadow, he could easily have touched this +man with his hand as he repeatedly passed him. Groping about, he found +various appurtenances indicating that the south end of this cellar was +used for a carpenter's shop, and that the north end was partitioned off +into a series of small cells with padlocked doors, and that through each +door a square hole, a foot in diameter, was cut. Subsequently it was +learned that these dismal cages were alternately used for the +confinement of "troublesome prisoners"--_i.e._, those who had +distinguished themselves by ingenious attempts to escape--and also for +runaway slaves, and Union spies under sentence of death. + +At the date of Rose's first reconnaissance to this cellar, these cells +were vacant and unguarded. The night was far spent, and Rose proceeded +to return to the kitchen, where Hamilton was patiently waiting for him. + +The very next day a rare good fortune befell Rose. By an agreement +between the commissioners of exchange, several bales of clothing and +blankets had been sent by our government to the famishing Union +prisoners on Belle Isle, a number of whom had already frozen to death. A +committee of Union officers then confined in Libby, consisting of +General Neal Dow, Colonel Alexander von Shrader, Lieut.-Colonel Joseph +F. Boyd, and Colonel Harry White, having been selected by the +Confederates to supervise the distribution of the donation, Colonel +White had, by a shrewd bit of finesse, "confiscated" a fine rope by +which one of the bales was tied, and this he now presented to Colonel +Rose. It was nearly a hundred feet long, an inch thick, and almost new. + +It was hardly dark the following night before Rose and Hamilton were +again in the kitchen, and as soon as all was quiet Rose fastened his +rope to one of the supporting posts, took up the floor-plank as before, +and both men descended to the middle cellar. They were not a little +disappointed to discover that where there had been but one sentinel on +the south side there were now two. On this and for several nights they +contented themselves with sly visits of observation to this cellar, +during which Rose found and secreted various tools, among which were a +broad-ax, a saw, two chisels, several files, and a carpenter's square. +One dark night both men went down and determined to try their luck at +passing the guards. Rose made the attempt and succeeded in passing the +first man, but unluckily was seen by the second. The latter called +lustily for the corporal of the guard, and the first excitedly cocked +his gun and peered into the dark door through which Rose swiftly +retreated. The guard called, "Who goes there?" but did not enter the +dark cellar. Rose and Hamilton mounted the rope and had just succeeded +in replacing the plank when the corporal and a file of men entered the +cellar with a lantern. They looked into every barrel and under every +bench, but no sign of Yankees appeared; and as on this night it happened +that several workmen were sleeping in an apartment at the north end, the +corporal concluded that the man seen by the sentinel was one of these, +notwithstanding their denial when awakened and questioned. After a long +parley the Confederates withdrew, and Hamilton and Rose, depressed in +spirits, went to bed, Rose as usual concealing his rope. + +Before the week was out they were at it again. On one of these nights +Rose suddenly came upon one of the workmen, and, swift as thought, +seized the hidden broad-ax with the intention of braining him if he +attempted an alarm; but the poor fellow was too much paralyzed to cry +out, and when finally he did recover his voice and his wits, it was to +beg Rose, "for God's sake," not to come in there again at night. +Evidently the man never mentioned the circumstance, for Rose's +subsequent visits, which were soon resumed, disclosed no evidence of a +discovery by the Confederates. + +Hamilton agreed with Rose that there remained apparently but one means +of escape, and that was by force. To overpower the two sentinels on the +south side would have been an easy matter, but how to do it and not +alarm the rest of the guard, and, in consequence, the whole city, was +the problem. To secure these sentinels, without alarming their comrades +on the east, west, and north sides of the prison, would require the +swift action of several men of nerve acting in concert. Precious time +was passing, and possibly further alterations might be decided upon that +would shut them off from the middle cellar, as they had already been +from their original base of operations. Moreover, a new cause of anxiety +now appeared. It soon transpired that their nocturnal prowlings and +close conferences together had already aroused the belief among many +observant prisoners that a plan of escape was afoot, and both men were +soon eagerly plied with guarded inquiries, and besought by their +questioners to admit them to their confidence. + +[Illustration: LIBBY PRISON IN 1884.] + +Hamilton and Rose now decided to organize an escaping party. A number of +men were then sworn to secrecy and obedience by Colonel Rose, who was +the only recognized leader in all operations that followed. This party +soon numbered seventy men. The band was then taken down by Rose in +convenient details to the middle cellar or carpenter's shop on many +nights, to familiarize each man with the place and with his special part +in the plot, and also to take advantage of any favoring circumstances +that might arise. + +When all had by frequent visits become familiar with the rendezvous, +Rose and the whole party descended one night with the determination to +escape at whatever hazard. The men were assigned to their several +stations as usual, and a selected few were placed by the leader close to +the entrance, in front of which the sentinel was regularly passing. Rose +commanded strict silence, and placed himself near the exit preparatory +to giving the signal. It was an exciting moment, and the bravest heart +beat fast. A signal came, but not the one they looked for. At the very +moment of action, the man whom Rose had left at the floor-opening in the +kitchen gave the danger-signal! The alert leader had, with consummate +care, told every man beforehand that he must never be surprised by this +signal,--it was a thing to be counted upon,--and that noise and panic +were of all things to be avoided as fatal folly in their operations. As +a consequence, when this signal came, Rose quietly directed the men to +fall in line and reascend to the kitchen rapidly, but without noise, +which they did by the long rope which now formed the easy means of +communication from the kitchen to the cellar. + +Rose remained below to cover the retreat, and when the last man got up +he followed him, replaced the board in the floor, and concealed the +rope. He had barely done so when a detail of Confederate guards entered +the kitchen from the Carey street door, and, headed by an officer, +marched straight in his direction. Meantime the party had disappeared up +the stairway and swiftly made their way over their prostrate comrades' +forms to their proper sleeping-places. Rose, being the last up, and +having the floor to fix, had now no time to disappear like his +companions, at least without suspicious haste. He accordingly took a +seat at one of the tables, and, putting an old pipe in his mouth, coolly +awaited the approach of the Confederates. The officer of the guard came +along, swinging his lantern almost in his face, stared at him for a +second, and without a remark or a halt marched past him and ascended +with his escort to the Chickamauga room. The entrance of a guard and +their march around the prison, although afterward common enough after +taps, was then an unusual thing, causing much talk among the prisoners, +and to the mind of Rose and his fellow-plotters was indicative of +aroused suspicion on the part of the Confederates. + +The whispering groups of men next day, and the number of his eager +questioners, gave the leader considerable concern; and Hamilton +suggested, as a measure of safety rather than choice, that some of the +mischievous talk of escape would be suppressed by increasing the party. +This was acted upon; the men, like the rest, were put under oath by +Rose, and the party was thus increased to four hundred and twenty. This +force would have been enough to overpower the prison guard in a few +minutes, but the swift alarm certain to ensue in the streets and spread +like wild-fire over Richmond, the meager information possessed by the +prisoners as to the strength and position of the nearest Federal +troops, the strongly guarded labyrinth of breastworks that encircled the +city, and the easy facilities for instant pursuit at the command of the +Confederates, put the success of such an undertaking clearly out of the +range of probability, unless, indeed, some unusual favoring contingency +should arise, such as the near approach of a cooeperating column of +Federal cavalry. + +Nor was this an idle dream, as the country now knows, for even at this +period General Kilpatrick was maturing his plans for that bold +expedition for the rescue of the prisoners at Richmond and Belle Isle in +which the lamented and heroic young cripple, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, +lost his life. Rose saw that a break out of Libby without such outside +assistance promised nothing but a fruitless sacrifice of life and the +savage punishment of the survivors. Hence the project, although eagerly +and exhaustively discussed, was prudently abandoned. + +All talk of escape by the general crowd now wholly ceased, and the +captives resigned themselves to their fate and waited with depressed +spirits for the remote contingency of an exchange. The quiet thus gained +was Rose's opportunity. He sought Hamilton and told him that they must +by some stratagem regain access to Rat Hell, and that the tunnel project +must be at once revived. The latter assented to the proposition, and the +two began earnestly to study the means of gaining an entrance without +discovery into this coveted base of operations. + +They could not even get into the room above the cellar they wanted to +reach, for that was the hospital, and the kitchen's heavy wall shut +them off therefrom. Neither could they break the heavy wall that divided +this cellar from the carpenter's shop, which had been the nightly +rendezvous of the party while the breakout was under consideration, for +the breach certainly would be discovered by the workmen or Confederates, +some of whom were in there constantly during daylight. + +There was, in fact, but one plan by which Rat Hell could be reached +without detection, and the conception of this device and its successful +execution were due to the stout-hearted Hamilton. This was to cut a hole +in the back of the kitchen fireplace; the incision must be just far +enough to preserve the opposite or hospital side intact. It must then be +cut downward to a point below the level of the hospital floor, then +eastward into Rat Hell, the completed opening thus to describe the +letter "S." It must be wide enough to let a man through, yet the wall +must not be broken on the hospital side above the floor, nor marred on +the carpenter's-shop side below it. Such a break would be fatal, for +both of these points were conspicuously exposed to the view of the +Confederates every hour in the day. Moreover, it was imperatively +necessary that all trace of the beginning of the opening should be +concealed, not only from the Confederate officials and guards, who were +constantly passing the spot every day, but from the hundreds of +uninitiated prisoners who crowded around the stove just in front of it +from dawn till dark. + +Work could be possible only between the hours of ten at night, when the +room was generally abandoned by the prisoners because of its inundated +condition, and four o'clock in the morning, when the earliest risers +were again astir. It was necessary to do the work with an old jack-knife +and one of the chisels previously secured by Rose. It must be done in +darkness and without noise, for a vigilant sentinel paced on the Carey +street sidewalk just outside the door and within ten feet of the +fireplace. A rubber blanket was procured, and the soot from the chimney +carefully swept into it. Hamilton, with his old knife, cut the mortar +between the bricks and pried a dozen of them out, being careful to +preserve them whole. + +The rest of the incision was made in accordance with the design +described, but no conception could have been formed beforehand of the +sickening tediousness of cutting an S-shaped hole through a heavy wall +with a feeble old jack-knife, in stolen hours of darkness. Rose guarded +his comrade against the constant danger of interruption by alert enemies +on one side and by blundering friends on the other; and, as frequently +happens in human affairs, their friends gave them more trouble than +their foes. Night after night passed, and still the two men got up after +taps from their hard beds, and descended to the dismal and reeking +kitchen to bore for liberty. When the sentinel's call at Castle Thunder +and at Libby announced four o'clock, the dislodged bricks were carefully +replaced, and the soot previously gathered in the gum blanket was flung +in handfuls against the restored wall, filling the seams between the +bricks so thoroughly as to defy detection. At last, after many weary +nights, Hamilton's heroic patience and skill were rewarded, and the way +was open to the coveted base of operations, Rat Hell. + +Now occurred a circumstance that almost revealed the plot and nearly +ended in a tragedy. When the opening was finished, the long rope was +made fast to one of the kitchen supporting posts, and Rose proceeded to +descend and reconnoiter. He got partly through with ease, but lost his +hold in such a manner that his body slipped through so as to pinion his +arms and leave him wholly powerless either to drop lower or return--the +bend of the hole being such as to cramp his back and neck terribly and +prevent him from breathing. He strove desperately, but each effort only +wedged him more firmly in the awful vise. Hamilton sprang to his aid and +did his utmost to effect his release; but, powerful as he was, he could +not budge him. Rose was gasping for breath and rapidly getting fainter, +but even in this fearful strait he refrained from an outcry that would +certainly alarm the guards just outside the door. Hamilton saw that +without speedy relief his comrade must soon smother. He dashed through +the long, dark room up the stairway, over the forms of several hundred +men, and disregarding consequences and savage curses in the dark and +crowded room, he trampled upon arms, legs, faces, and stomachs, leaving +riot and blasphemy in his track among the rudely awakened and now +furious lodgers of the Chickamauga room. He sought the sleeping-place of +Major George H. Fitzsimmons, but he was missing. He, however, found +Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, of the 18th Regulars (since a major in the 9th +United States Cavalry), to whom he told the trouble in a few hasty +words. Both men fairly flew across the room, dashed down the stairs, +and by their united efforts Rose, half dead and quite speechless, was +drawn up from the fearful trap. + +Hamilton managed slightly to increase the size of the hole and provide +against a repetition of the accident just narrated, and all being now +ready, the two men entered eagerly upon the work before them. They +appropriated one of the wooden spittoons of the prison, and to each side +attached a piece of clothes-line which they had been permitted to have +to dry clothes on. Several bits of candle and the larger of the two +chisels were also taken to the operating-cellar. They kept this secret +well, and worked alone for many nights. In fact, they would have so +continued, but they found that after digging about four feet their +candle would go out in the vitiated air. Rose did the digging, and +Hamilton fanned air into him with his hat: even then he had to emerge +into the cellar every few minutes to breathe. Rose could dig, but needed +the light and air; and Hamilton could not fan, and drag out and deposit +the excavated earth, and meantime keep a lookout. In fact, it was +demonstrated that there was slim chance of succeeding without more +assistance, and it was decided to organize a party large enough for +effective work by reliefs. As a preliminary step, and to afford the +means of more rapid communication with the cellar from the fireplace +opening, the long rope obtained from Colonel White was formed by +Hamilton into a rope-ladder with convenient wooden rungs. This +alteration considerably increased its bulk, and added to Rose's +difficulty in concealing it from curious eyes. + +He now made a careful selection of thirteen men besides himself and +Hamilton, and bound them by a solemn oath to secrecy and strict +obedience. To form this party as he wanted it required some diplomacy, +as it was known that the Confederates had on more than one occasion sent +cunning spies into Libby disguised as Union prisoners, for the detection +of any contemplated plan of escape. Unfortunately, the complete list of +the names of the party now formed has not been preserved; but among the +party, besides Rose and Hamilton, were Captain John Sterling, 30th +Indiana; Captain John Lucas, 5th Kentucky Cavalry; Captain Isaac N. +Johnson, 6th Kentucky Cavalry; and Lieutenant F.F. Bennett, 18th +Regulars. + +The party, being now formed, were taken to Rat Hell and their several +duties explained to them by Rose, who was invested with full authority +over the work in hand. Work was begun in rear of the little kitchen-room +previously abandoned at the southeast corner of the cellar. To +systematize the labor, the party was divided into squads of five each, +which gave the men one night on duty and two off, Rose assigning each +man to the branch of work in which experiments proved him the most +proficient. He was himself, by long odds, the best digger of the party; +while Hamilton had no equal for ingenious mechanical skill in contriving +helpful, little devices to overcome or lessen the difficulties that +beset almost every step of the party's progress. + +The first plan was to dig down alongside the east wall and under it +until it was passed, then turn southward and make for the large street +sewer next the canal and into which Rose had before noticed workmen +descending. This sewer was a large one, believed to be fully six feet +high, and, if it could be gained, there could be little doubt that an +adjacent opening to the canal would be found to the eastward. It was +very soon revealed, however, that the lower side of Libby was built upon +ponderous timbers, below which they could not hope to penetrate with +their meager stock of tools--such, at least, was the opinion of nearly +all the party. Rose nevertheless determined that the effort should be +made, and they were soon at work with old penknives and case-knives +hacked into saws. After infinite labor they at length cut through the +great logs, only to be met by an unforeseen and still more formidable +barrier. Their tunnel, in fact, had penetrated below the level of the +canal. Water began to filter in--feebly at first, but at last it broke +in with a rush that came near drowning Rose, who barely had time to make +his escape. This opening was therefore plugged up; and to do this +rapidly and leave no dangerous traces put the party to their wit's end. + +An attempt was next made to dig into a small sewer that ran from the +southeast corner of the prison into the main sewer. After a number of +nights of hard labor, this opening was extended to a point below a brick +furnace in which were incased several caldrons. The weight of this +furnace caused a cave-in near the sentinel's path outside the prison +wall. Next day, a group of officers were seen eying the break curiously. +Rose, listening at a window above, heard the words "rats" repeated by +them several times, and took comfort. The next day he entered the cellar +alone, feeling that if the suspicions of the Confederates were really +awakened a trap would be set for him in Rat Hell, and determined, if +such were really the case, that he would be the only victim caught. He +therefore entered the little partitioned corner room with some anxiety, +but there was no visible evidence of a visit by the guards, and his +spirits again rose. + +The party now reassembled, and an effort was made to get into the small +sewer that ran from the cook-room to the big sewer which Rose was so +eager to reach; but soon it was discovered, to the utter dismay of the +weary party, that this wood-lined sewer was too small to let a man +through it. Still it was hoped by Rose that by removing the plank with +which it was lined the passage could be made. The spirits of the party +were by this time considerably dashed by their repeated failures and +sickening work; but the undaunted Rose, aided by Hamilton, persuaded the +men to another effort, and soon the knives and toy saws were at work +again with vigor. The work went on so swimmingly that it was confidently +believed that an entrance to the main sewer would be gained on the night +of January 26, 1864. + +On the night of the 25th two men had been left down in Rat Hell to cover +any remaining traces of a tunnel, and when night came again it was +expected that all would be ready for the escape between eight and nine +o'clock. In the mean time, the two men were to enter and make careful +examination of the main sewer and its adjacent outlets. The party, which +was now in readiness for its march to the Federal camps, waited tidings +from these two men all next day in tormenting anxiety, and the weary +hours went by on leaden wings. At last the sickening word came that the +planks yet to be removed before they could enter the main sewer were of +seasoned oak--hard as bone, and three inches thick. Their feeble tools +were now worn out or broken; they could no longer get air to work, or +keep a light in the horrible pit, which was reeking with cold mud; in +short, any attempt at further progress with the utensils at hand was +foolish. + +Most of the party were now really ill from the foul stench in which they +had lived so long. The visions of liberty that had first lured them to +desperate efforts under the inspiration of Rose and Hamilton had at last +faded, and one by one they lost heart and hope, and frankly told Colonel +Rose that they could do no more. The party was therefore disbanded, and +the yet sanguine leader, with Hamilton for his sole helper, continued +the work alone. Up to this time thirty-nine nights had been spent in the +work of excavation. The two men now made a careful examination of the +northeast corner of the cellar, at which point the earth's surface +outside the prison wall, being eight or nine feet higher than at the +canal or south side, afforded a better place to dig than the latter, +being free from water and with clay-top enough to support itself. The +unfavorable feature of this point was that the only possible terminus of +a tunnel was a yard between the buildings beyond the vacant lot on the +east of Libby. Another objection was that, even when the tunnel should +be made to that point, the exit of any escaping party must be made +through an arched wagon-way under the building that faced the street on +the canal side, and every man must emerge on the sidewalk in sight of +the sentinel on the south side of the prison, the intervening space +being in the full glare of the gas-lamp. It was carefully noted, however +by Rose, long before this, that the west end of the beat of the nearest +sentinel was between fifty and sixty feet from the point of egress, and +it was concluded that by walking away at the moment the sentinel +commenced his pace westward, one would be far enough into the shadow to +make it improbable that the color of his clothing could be made out by +the sentinel when he faced about to return toward the eastern end of his +beat, which terminated ten to fifteen feet east of the prison wall. It +was further considered that as these sentinels had for their special +duty the guarding of the prison, they would not be eager to burden +themselves with the duty of molesting persons seen in the vicinity +outside of their jurisdiction, provided, of course, that the retreating +forms--many of which they must certainly see--were not recognized as +Yankees. All others they might properly leave for the challenge and +usual examination of the provost guard who patrolled the streets of +Richmond. + +The wall of that east cellar had to be broken in three places before a +place was found where the earth was firm enough to support a tunnel. The +two men worked on with stubborn patience, but their progress was +painfully slow. Rose dug assiduously, and Hamilton alternately fanned +air to his comrade and dragged out and hid the excavated dirt, but the +old difficulty confronted him. The candle would not burn, the air could +not be fanned fast enough with a hat, and the dirt hidden, without +better contrivances or additional help. + +Rose now reassembled the party, and selected from them a number who were +willing to renew the attempt.[12] Against the east wall stood a series +of stone fenders abutting inward, and these, being at uniform intervals +of about twenty feet, cast deep shadows that fell toward the prison +front. In one of these dark recesses the wall was pierced, well up +toward the Carey street end. The earth here has very densely compressed +sand, that offered a strong resistance to the broad-bladed chisel, which +was their only effective implement, and it was clear that a long turn of +hard work must be done to penetrate under the fifty-foot lot to the +objective point. The lower part of the tunnel was about six inches above +the level of the cellar floor, and its top about two and a half feet. +Absolute accuracy was of course impossible, either in giving the hole a +perfectly horizontal direction or in preserving uniform dimensions; but +a fair level was preserved, and the average diameter of the tunnel was a +little over two feet. Usually one man would dig, and fill the spittoon +with earth; upon the signal of a gentle pull, an assistant would drag +the load into the cellar by the clothes-lines fastened to each side of +this box and then hide it under the straw; a third constantly fanned air +into the tunnel with a rubber blanket stretched across a frame, the +invention of the ingenious Hamilton; a fourth would give occasional +relief to the last two; while a fifth would keep a lookout. + +[Footnote 12: The party now consisted of Colonel Thomas E. Rose, 77th +Pennsylvania; Major A.G. Hamilton, 12th Kentucky; Captain Terrance +Clark, 79th Illinois; Major George H. Fitzsimmons, 30th Indiana; Captain +John F. Gallagher, 2d Ohio: Captain W.S.B. Randall, 2d Ohio; Captain +John Lucas, 5th Kentucky; Captain I.N. Johnson, 6th Kentucky; Major B.B. +McDonald, 101st Ohio; Lieutenant N.S. McKean, 21st Illinois; Lieutenant +David Garbett, 77th Pennsylvania; Lieutenant J.C. Fislar, 7th Indiana +Artillery; Lieutenant John D. Simpson, 10th Indiana; Lieutenant John +Mitchell, 79th Illinois; and Lieutenant Eli Foster, 30th Indiana. This +party was divided into three reliefs, as before, and the work of +breaking the cellar wall was successfully done the first night by +McDonald and Clark.] + +The danger of discovery was continual, for the guards were under +instructions from the prison commandant to make occasional visits to +every accessible part of the building; so that it was not unusual for a +sergeant and several men to enter the south door of Rat Hell in the +daytime, while the diggers were at labor in the dark north end. During +these visits the digger would watch the intruders with his head sticking +out of the tunnel, while the others would crouch behind the low stone +fenders, or crawl quickly under the straw. This was, however, so +uninviting a place that the Confederates made this visit as brief as a +nominal compliance with their orders permitted, and they did not often +venture into the dark north end. The work was fearfully monotonous, and +the more so because absolute silence was commanded, the men moving about +mutely in the dark. The darkness caused them frequently to become +bewildered and lost; and as Rose could not call out for them, he had +often to hunt all over the big dungeon to gather them up and pilot them +to their places. + +The difficulty of forcing air to the digger, whose body nearly filled +the tunnel, increased as the hole was extended, and compelled the +operator to back often into the cellar for air, and for air that was +itself foul enough to sicken a strong man. + +But they were no longer harassed with the water and timbers that had +impeded their progress at the south end. Moreover, experience was daily +making each man more proficient in the work. Rose urged them on with +cheery enthusiasm, and their hopes rose high, for already they had +penetrated beyond the sentinel's beat and were nearing the goal. + +The party off duty kept a cautious lookout from the upper east windows +for any indications of suspicion on the part of the Confederates. In +this extreme caution was necessary, both to avert the curiosity of +prisoners in those east rooms, and to keep out of the range of bullets +from the guards, who were under a standing order to fire at a head if +seen at a window, or at a hand if placed on the bars that secured them. +A sentinel's bullet one day cut a hole in the ear of Lieutenant Hammond; +another officer was wounded in the face by a bullet, which fortunately +first splintered against one of the window-bars; and a captain of an +Ohio regiment was shot through the head and instantly killed while +reading a newspaper. He was violating no rule whatever, and when shot +was from eight to ten feet inside the window through which the bullet +came. This was a wholly unprovoked and wanton murder; the cowardly +miscreant had fired the shot while he was off duty, and from the north +sidewalk of Carey street. The guards (home guards they were) used, in +fact, to gun for prisoners' heads from their posts below, pretty much +after the fashion of boys after squirrels; and the whizz of a bullet +through the windows became too common an occurrence to occasion remark +unless some one was shot. + +Under a standing rule, the twelve hundred prisoners were counted twice +each day, the first count being made about nine in the morning, and the +last about four in the afternoon. This duty was habitually done by the +clerk of the prison, E.W. Ross, a civilian employed by the commandant. +He was christened "Little Ross"[13] by the prisoners, because of his +diminutive size. Ross was generally attended by either "Dick" Turner, +Adjutant Latouche, or Sergeant George Stansil, of the 18th Georgia, with +a small guard to keep the prisoners in four closed ranks during the +count. The commandant of the prison, Major Thomas P. Turner (no relative +of Dick's), seldom came up-stairs. + +[Footnote 13: "Little Ross" was burned to death, with other guests, at +the Spotswood House, Richmond, in 1873.] + +To conceal the absence of the five men who were daily at work at the +tunnel, their comrades of the party off digging duty resorted, under +Rose's supervision, to a device of "repeating." This scheme, which was +of vital importance to hoodwink the Confederates and avert mischievous +curiosity among the uninformed prisoners, was a hazardous business that +severely taxed the ingenuity and strained the nerve of the leader and +his coadjutors. The manner of the fraud varied with circumstances, but +in general it was worked by five of Rose's men, after being counted at +or near the head of the line, stooping down and running toward the foot +of the ranks, where a few moments later they were counted a second time, +thus making Ross's book balance. The whole five, however, could not +always do this undiscovered, and perhaps but three of the number could +repeat. These occasional mishaps threatened to dethrone the reason of +the puzzled clerk; but in the next count the "repeaters" would succeed +in their game, and for the time all went well, until one day some of the +prisoners took it into their heads, "just for the fun of the thing," to +imitate the repeaters. Unconscious of the curses that the party were +mentally hurling at them, the meddlers' sole purpose was to make "Little +Ross" mad. In this they certainly met with signal success, for the +reason of the mystified clerk seemed to totter as he repeated the count +over and over in the hope of finding out how one careful count would +show that three prisoners were missing and the next an excess of +fifteen. Finally Ross, lashed into uncontrollable fury by the sarcastic +remarks of his employers and the heartless merriment of the grinning +Yanks before him, poured forth his goaded soul as follows: + +"Now, gentlemen, look yere. I can count a hundred as good as any blank +man in this yere town, but I'll be blank blanked if I can count a +hundred of you blanked Yankees. Now, gentlemen, there's one thing sho: +there's eight or ten of you-uns yere that ain't yere!" + +This extraordinary accusation "brought down the house," and the +Confederate officers and guards, and finally Ross himself, were caught +by the resistless contagion of laughter that shook the rafters of Libby. + +The officials somehow found a balance that day on the books, and the +danger was for this once over, to the infinite relief of Rose and his +anxious comrades. But the Confederates appeared dissatisfied with +something, and came up-stairs next morning with more officers and with +double the usual number of guards; and some of these were now stationed +about the room so as to make it next to impossible to work the repeating +device successfully. On this day, for some reason, there were but two +men in the cellar, and these were Major B.B. McDonald and Captain I.N. +Johnson. + +The count began as usual, and despite the guard in rear, two of the +party attempted the repeating device by forcing their way through the +center of the ranks toward the left; but the "fun of the thing" had now +worn out with the unsuspecting meddlers, who resisted the passage of the +two men. This drew the attention of the Confederate officers, and the +repeaters were threatened with punishment. The result was inevitable: +the count showed two missing. It was carefully repeated, with the same +result. To the dismay of Rose and his little band, the prison register +was now brought up-stairs and a long, tedious roll-call by name was +endured, each man passing through a narrow door as his name was called, +and between a line of guards. + +No stratagem that Rose could now invent could avert the discovery by the +Confederates that McDonald and Johnson had disappeared, and the mystery +of their departure would be almost certain to cause an inquiry and +investigation that would put their plot in peril and probably reveal it. + +At last the "J's" were reached, and the name of I.N. Johnson was lustily +shouted and repeated, with no response. The roll-call proceeded until +the name of B.B. McDonald was reached. To the increasing amazement of +everybody but the conspirators, he also had vanished. A careful note was +taken of these two names by the Confederates, and a thousand tongues +were now busy with the names of the missing men and their singular +disappearance. + +The conspirators were in a tight place, and must choose between two +things. One was for the men in the cellar to return that night and face +the Confederates with the most plausible explanation of their absence +that they could invent, and the other alternative was the revolting one +of remaining in their horrible abode until the completion of the tunnel. + +When night came the fireplace was opened, and the unlucky pair were +informed of the situation of affairs and asked to choose between the +alternatives presented. McDonald decided to return and face the music; +but Johnson, doubtful if the Confederates would be hoodwinked by any +explanation, voted to remain where he was and wait for the finish of the +tunnel. + +As was anticipated, McDonald's return awakened almost as much curiosity +among the inhabitants of Libby as his disappearance, and he was soon +called to account by the Confederates. He told them he had fallen asleep +in an out-of-the-way place in the upper west room, where the guards must +have overlooked him during the roll-call of the day before. McDonald was +not further molested. The garrulous busybodies, who were Rose's chief +dread, told the Confederate officials that they had certainly slept near +Johnson the night before the day he was missed. Lieutenant J.C. Fislar +(of the working party), who also slept next to Johnson, boldly declared +this a case of mistaken identity, and confidently expressed his belief +to both Confederates and Federals who gathered around him that Johnson +had escaped, and was by this time, no doubt, safe in the Union lines. To +this he added the positive statement that Johnson had not been in his +accustomed sleeping-place for a good many nights. The busybodies, who +had indeed told the truth, looked at the speaker in speechless +amazement, but reiterated their statements. Others of the conspirators, +however, took Fislar's bold cue and stoutly corroborated him. + +Johnson, was, of course, nightly fed by his companions, and gave them +such assistance as he could at the work; but it soon became apparent +that a man could not long exist in such a pestilential atmosphere. No +tongue can tell how long were the days and nights the poor fellow passed +among the squealing rats,--enduring the sickening air, the deathly +chill, the horrible, interminable darkness. One day out of three was an +ordeal for the workers, who at least had a rest of two days afterward. +As a desperate measure of relief, it was arranged, with the utmost +caution, that late each night Johnson should come up-stairs, when all +was dark and the prison in slumber, and sleep among the prisoners until +just before the time for closing the fireplace opening, about four +o'clock each morning. As he spoke to no one and the room was dark, his +presence was never known, even to those who lay next to him; and indeed +he listened to many earnest conversations between his neighbors +regarding his wonderful disappearance.[14] + +[Footnote 14: In a volume entitled "Four Months in Libby," Captain +Johnson has related his experience at this time, and his subsequent +escape.] + +As a matter of course, the incidents above narrated made day-work on the +tunnel too hazardous to be indulged in, on account of the increased +difficulty of accounting for absentees; but the party continued the +night-work with unabated industry. + +When the opening had been extended nearly across the lot, some of the +party believed they had entered under the yard which was the intended +terminus; and one night, when McDonald was the digger, so confident was +he that the desired distance had been made, that he turned his direction +upward, and soon broke through to the surface. A glance showed him his +nearly fatal blunder, against which, indeed, he had been earnestly +warned by Rose, who from the first had carefully estimated the +intervening distance between the east wall of Libby and the terminus. In +fact, McDonald saw that he had broken through in the open lot which was +all in full view of a sentinel who was dangerously close. Appalled by +what he had done, he retreated to the cellar and reported the disaster +to his companions. Believing that discovery was now certain, the party +sent one of their number up the rope to report to Rose, who was asleep. +The hour was about midnight when the leader learned of the mischief. He +quickly got up, went down cellar, entered the tunnel, and examined the +break. It was not so near the sentinel's path as McDonald's excited +report indicated, and fortunately the breach was at a point whence the +surface sloped downward toward the east. He took off his blouse and +stuffed it into the opening, pulling the dirt over it noiselessly, and +in a few minutes there was little surface evidence of the hole. He then +backed into the cellar in the usual crab fashion, and gave directions +for the required depression of the tunnel and vigorous resumption of +the work. The hole made in the roof of the tunnel was not much larger +than a rat-hole and could not be seen from the prison. But the next +night Rose shoved an old shoe out of the hole, and the day afterward he +looked down through the prison bars and saw the shoe lying where he had +placed it, and judged from its position that he had better incline the +direction of the tunnel slightly to the left. + +Meantime Captain Johnson was dragging out a wretched existence in Rat +Hell, and for safety was obliged to confine himself by day to the dark +north end, for the Confederates often came into the place very suddenly +through the south entrance. When they ventured too close, Johnson would +get into a pit that he had dug under the straw as a hiding-hole both for +himself and the tunnelers' tools, and quickly cover himself with a huge +heap of short packing-straw. A score of times he came near being stepped +upon by the Confederates, and more than once the dust of the straw +compelled him to sneeze in their very presence. + +On Saturday, February 6, a larger party than usual of the Confederates +came into the cellar, walked by the very mouth, of the tunnel, and +seemed to be making a critical survey of the entire place. They remained +an unusually long time and conversed in low tones; several of them even +kicked the loose straw about; and in fact everything seemed to indicate +to Johnson--who was the only one of the working party now in the +cellar--that the long-averted discovery had been made. That night he +reported matters fully to Rose at the fireplace opening. + +The tunnel was now nearly completed, and when Rose conveyed Johnson's +message to the party it caused dismay. Even the stout-hearted Hamilton +was for once excited, and the leader whose unflinching fortitude had +thus far inspired his little band had his brave spirits dashed. But his +buoyant courage rose quickly to its high and natural level. He could not +longer doubt that the suspicions of the Confederates were aroused, but +he felt convinced that these suspicions had not as yet assumed such a +definite shape as most of his companions thought; still, he had abundant +reason to believe that the success of the tunnel absolutely demanded its +speedy completion, and he now firmly resolved that a desperate effort +should be made to that end. Remembering that the next day was Sunday, +and that it was not customary for the Confederates to visit the +operating-cellar on that day, he determined to make the most in his +power of the now precious time. He therefore caused all the party to +remain up-stairs, directing them to keep a close watch upon the +Confederates from all available points of observation, to avoid being +seen in whispering groups,--in short, to avoid all things calculated to +excite the curiosity of friends or the suspicion of enemies,--and to +await his return. + +Taking McDonald with him, he went down through the fireplace before +daylight on Sunday morning, and, bidding Johnson to keep a vigilant +watch for intruders and McDonald to fan air into him, he entered the +tunnel and began the forlorn hope. From this time forward he never once +turned over the chisel to a relief. + +All day long he worked with the tireless patience of a beaver. When +night came, even his single helper, who performed the double duty of +fanning air and hiding the excavated earth, was ill from his hard, long +task and the deadly air of the cellar. Yet this was as nothing compared +with the fatigue of the duty that Rose had performed; and when at last, +far into the night, he backed into the cellar, he had scarcely strength +enough to stagger across to the rope-ladder. + +He had made more than double the distance that had been accomplished +under the system of reliefs on any previous day, and the non-appearance +of the Confederates encouraged the hope that another day, without +interruption, would see the work completed. He therefore determined to +refresh himself by a night's sleep for the finish. The drooping spirits +of his party were revived by the report of his progress and his +unalterable confidence. + +Monday morning dawned, and the great prison with its twelve hundred +captives was again astir. The general crowd did not suspect the +suppressed excitement and anxiety of the little party that waited +through that interminable day, which they felt must determine the fate +of their project. + +Rose had repeated the instructions of the day before, and again +descended to Rat Hell with McDonald for his only helper. Johnson +reported all quiet, and McDonald taking up his former duties at the +tunnel's mouth, Rose once more entered with his chisel. It was now the +seventeenth day since the present tunnel was begun, and he resolved it +should be the last. Hour after hour passed, and still the busy chisel +was plied, and still the little wooden box with its freight of earth +made its monotonous trips from the digger to his comrade and back again. + +From the early morning of Monday, February 8, 1864, until an hour after +midnight the next morning his work went on. As midnight approached, Rose +was nearly a physical wreck: the perspiration dripped from every pore of +his exhausted body; food he could not have eaten, if he had had it. His +labors thus far had given him a somewhat exaggerated estimate of his +physical powers. The sensation of fainting was strange to him, but his +staggering senses warned him that to faint where he was meant at once +his death and burial. He could scarcely inflate his lungs with the +poisonous air of the pit; his muscles quivered with increasing weakness +and the warning spasmodic tremor which their unnatural strain induced; +his head swam like that of a drowning person. + +By midnight he had struck and passed beyond a post which he felt must be +in the yard. During the last few minutes he had directed his course +upward, and to relieve his cramped limbs he turned upon his back. His +strength was nearly gone; the feeble stream of air which his comrade was +trying, with all his might, to send to him from a distance of +fifty-three feet could no longer reach him through the deadly stench. +His senses reeled; he had not breath or strength enough to move backward +through his narrow grave. In the agony of suffocation he dropped the +dull chisel and beat his two fists against the roof of his grave with +the might of despair--when, blessed boon! the crust gave way and the +loosened earth showered upon his dripping face purple with agony; his +famished eye caught sight of a radiant star in the blue vault above +him; a flood of light and a volume of cool, delicious air poured over +him. At that very instant the sentinel's cry rang out like a +prophecy--"Half-past one, and all's well!" + +[Illustration: LIBERTY!] + +Recovering quickly under the inspiring air, he dragged his body out of +the hole and made a careful survey of the yard in which he found +himself. He was under a shed, with a board fence between him and the +east-side sentinels, and the gable end of Libby loomed grimly against +the blue sky. He found the wagon-way under the south-side building +closed from the street by a gate fastened by a swinging bar, which, +after a good many efforts, he succeeded in opening. This was the only +exit to the street. As soon as the nearest sentinel's back was turned he +stepped out and walked quickly to the east. At the first corner he +turned north, carefully avoiding the sentinels in front of the +"Pemberton Buildings" (another military prison northeast of Libby), and +at the corner above this he went westward, then south to the edge of the +canal, and thus, by cautious moving, made a minute examination, of Libby +from all sides. + +Having satisfied his desires, he retraced his steps to the yard. He +hunted up an old bit of heavy plank crept back into the tunnel feet +first, drew the plank over the opening to conceal it from the notice of +any possible visitors to the place, and crawled back to Rat Hell. +McDonald was overjoyed, and poor Johnson almost wept with delight, as +Rose handed one of them his victorious old chisel, and gave the other +some trifle he had picked up in the outer world as a token that the +Underground Railroad to God's Country was open. + +Rose now climbed the rope-ladder, drew it up, rebuilt the fireplace wall +as usual, and, finding Hamilton, took him over near one of the windows +and broke the news to him. The brave fellow was almost speechless with +delight, and quickly hunting up the rest of the party, told them that +Colonel Rose wanted to see them down in the dining-room. + +As they had been waiting news from their absent leader with feverish +anxiety for what had seemed to them all the longest day in their lives, +they instantly responded to the call, and flocked around Rose a few +minutes later in the dark kitchen where he waited them. As yet they did +not know what news he brought, and they could scarcely wait for him to +speak out; and when he announced, "Boys, the tunnel is finished," they +could hardly repress a cheer. They wrung his hand again and again, and +danced about with childish joy. + +It was now nearly three o'clock in the morning. Rose and Hamilton were +ready to go out at once, and indeed were anxious to do so, since every +day of late had brought some new peril to their plans. None of the rest +however, were ready; and all urged the advantage of having a whole night +in which to escape through and beyond the Richmond fortifications, +instead of the few hours of darkness which now preceded the day. To this +proposition Rose and Hamilton somewhat reluctantly assented. It was +agreed that each man of the party should have the privilege of taking +one friend into his confidence, and that the second party of fifteen +thus formed should be obligated not to follow the working party out of +the tunnel until an hour had elapsed. Colonel H.C. Hobart, of the 21st +Wisconsin, was deputed to see that the program was observed. He was to +draw up the rope-ladder, hide it, and rebuild the wall; and the next +night was himself to lead out the second party, deputing some +trustworthy leader to follow with still another party on the third +night; and thus it was to continue until as many as possible should +escape. + +On Tuesday evening, February 9, at seven o'clock, Colonel Rose assembled +his party in the kitchen, and, posting himself at the fireplace, which +he opened, waited until the last man went down. He bade Colonel Hobart +good-by, went down the hole, and waited until he had heard his comrade +pull up the ladder, and finally heard him replace the bricks in the +fireplace and depart. He now crossed Rat Hell to the entrance into the +tunnel, and placed the party in the order in which they were to go out. +He gave each a parting caution, thanked his brave comrades for their +faithful labors, and, feelingly shaking their hands, bade them God-speed +and farewell. + +He entered the tunnel first, with Hamilton next, and was promptly +followed by the whole party through the tunnel and into the yard. He +opened the gate leading toward the canal, and signaled the party that +all was clear. Stepping out on the sidewalk as soon as the nearest +sentinel's back was turned, he walked briskly down the street to the +east, and a square below was joined by Hamilton. The others followed at +intervals of a few minutes, and disappeared in various directions in +groups usually of three. + +The plan agreed upon between Colonels Rose and Hobart was frustrated by +information of the party's departure leaking out; and before nine +o'clock the knowledge of the existence of the tunnel and of the +departure of the first party was flashed over the crowded prison, which +was soon a convention of excited and whispering men. Colonel Hobart made +a brave effort to restore order, but the frenzied crowd that now +fiercely struggled for precedence at the fireplace was beyond human +control. + +Some of them had opened the fireplace and were jumping down like sheep +into the cellar one after another. The colonel implored the maddened men +at least to be quiet, and put the rope-ladder in position and escaped +himself. + +My companion, Sprague, was already asleep when I lay down that night; +but my other companion, Duenkel, who had been hunting for me, was very +much awake, and, seizing me by the collar, he whispered excitedly the +fact that Colonel Rose had gone out at the head of a party through a +tunnel. For a brief moment the appalling suspicion, that my friend's +reason had been dethroned by illness and captivity swept over my mind; +but a glance toward the window at the east end showed a quiet but +apparently excited group of men from other rooms, and I now observed +that several of them were bundled up for a march. The hope of regaining +liberty thrilled me like a current of electricity. Looking through the +window, I could see the escaping men appear one by one on the sidewalk +below, opposite the exit yard, and silently disappear, without hindrance +or challenge by the prison sentinels. While I was eagerly surveying this +scene, I lost track of Duenkel, who had gone in search of further +information, but ran against Lieutenant Harry Wilcox, of the 1st New +York, whom I knew, and who appeared to have the "tip" regarding the +tunnel. Wilcox and I agreed to unite our fortunes in the escape. My +shoes were nearly worn out, and my clothes were thin and ragged. I was +ill prepared for a journey in midwinter through the enemy's country: +happily I had my old overcoat, and this I put on. I had not a crumb of +food saved up, as did those who were posted; but as I was ill at the +time, my appetite was feeble. + +Wilcox and I hurried to the kitchen, where we found several hundred men +struggling to be first at the opening in the fireplace. We took our +places behind them, and soon two hundred more closed us tightly in the +mass. The room was pitch-dark, and the sentinel could be seen through +the door-cracks, within a dozen feet of us. The fight for precedence was +savage, though no one spoke; but now and then fainting men begged to be +released. They begged in vain: certainly some of them must have been +permanently injured. For my own part, when I neared the stove I was +nearly suffocated; but I took heart when I saw but three more men +between me and the hole. At this moment a sound as of tramping feet was +heard, and some idiot on the outer edge of the mob startled us with the +cry, "The guards the guards!" A fearful panic ensued, and the entire +crowd bounded toward the stairway leading up to their sleeping-quarters. +The stairway was unbanistered, and some of the men were forced off the +edge and fell on those beneath. I was among the lightest in that crowd; +and when it broke and expanded I was taken off my feet, dashed to the +floor senseless, my head and one of my hands bruised and cut, and my +shoulder painfully injured by the boots of the men who rushed over me. +When I gathered my swimming wits I was lying in a pool of water. The +room seemed darker than before; and, to my grateful surprise, I was +alone. I was now convinced that it was a false alarm, and quickly +resolved to avail myself of the advantage of having the whole place to +myself. I entered the cavity feet first, but found it necessary to +remove my overcoat and push it through the opening, and it fell in the +darkness below. + +I had now no comrade, having lost Wilcox in the stampede. Rose and his +party, being the first out, were several hours on their journey; and I +burned to be away, knowing well that my salvation depended on my passage +beyond the city defenses before the pursuing guards were on our trail, +when the inevitable discovery should come at roll-call. The fact that I +was alone I regretted; but I had served with McClellan in the Peninsula +campaign of 1862, I knew the country well from my frequent inspection of +war maps, and the friendly north star gave me my bearings. The +rope-ladder had either become broken or disarranged, but it afforded me +a short hold at the top; so I balanced myself, trusted to fortune, and +fell into Rat Hell, which was a rayless pit of darkness, swarming with +squealing rats, several of which I must have killed in my fall. I felt a +troop of them, run over my face and hands before I could regain my feet. +Several times I put my hand on them, and once I flung one from my +shoulder. Groping around, I found a stout stick or stave, put my back to +the wall, and beat about me blindly but with vigor. + +In spite of the hurried instructions given me by Wilcox, I had a long +and horrible hunt over the cold surface of the cellar walls in my +efforts to find the entrance to the tunnel; and in two minutes after I +began feeling my way with my hands I had no idea in what part of the +place was the point where I had fallen: my bearings were completely +lost, and I must have made the circuit of Rat Hell several times. At my +entrance the rats seemed to receive me with cheers sufficiently hearty, +I thought; but my vain efforts to find egress seemed to kindle anew +their enthusiasm. They had received large reinforcements, and my march +around was now received with deafening squeaks. Finally, my exploring +hands fell upon a pair of heels which vanished at my touch. Here at last +was the narrow road to freedom! The heels proved to be the property of +Lieutenant Charles H. Morgan, 21st Wisconsin, a Chickamauga prisoner. +Just ahead of him in the tunnel was Lieutenant William L. Watson of the +same company and regiment. With my cut hand and bruised shoulder, the +passage through the cold, narrow grave was indescribably horrible, and +when I reached the terminus in the yard I was sick and faint. The +passage seemed to me to be a mile long; but the crisp, pure air and the +first glimpse of freedom, the sweet sense of being out of doors, and the +realization that I had taken the first step toward liberty and home, +had a magical effect in my restoration. + +[Illustration: FIGHTING THE RATS.] + +I have related before, in a published reminiscence,[15] my experience +and that of my two companions above named in the journey toward the +Union lines, and our recapture; but the more important matter relating +to the plot itself has never been published. This is the leading motive +of this article, and therefore I will not intrude the details of my +personal experience into the narrative. It is enough to say that it was +a chapter of hairbreadth escapes, hunger, cold, suffering, and, alas! +failure. We were run down and captured in a swamp several miles north of +Charlottesville, and when we were taken our captors pointed out to us +the smoke over a Federal outpost. We were brought back to Libby, and put +in one of the dark, narrow dungeons. I was afterward confined in Macon, +Georgia; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; and in Charlotte, +North Carolina. After a captivity of just a year and eight months, +during which I had made five escapes and was each time retaken, I was at +last released on March 1, 1865, at Wilmington, North Carolina. + +[Footnote 15: "Philadelphia Times," October 28, 1882.] + +Great was the panic in Libby when the next morning's roll revealed to +the astounded Confederates that 109 of their captives were missing; and +as the fireplace had been rebuilt by some one and the opening of the +hole in the yard had been covered by the last man who went out, no human +trace guided the keepers toward a solution of the mystery. The Richmond +papers having announced the "miraculous" escape of 109 Yankee officers +from Libby, curious crowds flocked thither for several days, until some +one, happening to remove the plank in the yard, revealed the tunnel. A +terrified negro was driven into the hole at the point of the bayonet, +and thus made a trip to Rat Hell that nearly turned him white. + +Several circumstances at this time combined to make this escape +peculiarly exasperating to the Confederates. In obedience to repeated +appeals from the Richmond newspapers, iron bars had but recently been +fixed in all the prison windows for better security, and the guard had +been considerably reinforced. The columns of these same journals had +just been aglow with accounts of the daring and successful escape of the +Confederate General John Morgan and his companions from the Columbus +(Ohio) jail. Morgan had arrived in Richmond on the 8th of January, +exactly a month prior to the completion of the tunnel, and was still the +lion of the Confederate capital. + +[Illustration: SECTION OF INTERIOR OF LIBBY PRISON AND TUNNEL. + +1. Streight's room; 2. Milroy's room; 3. Commandant's office; 4. +Chickamauga room (upper); 5. Chickamauga room (lower); 6. Dining-room; +7. Carpenter's shop (middle cellar); 8. Gettysburg room (upper); 9. +Gettysburg room (lower); 10. Hospital room; 11. East or "Rat Hell" +cellar; 12. South side Canal street, ten feet lower than Carey street; +13. North side Carey street, ground sloping toward Canal; 14. Open lot; +15. Tunnel; 16. Fence; 17. Shed; 18. Kerr's warehouse; 19. Office James +River Towing Co.; 20. Gate; 21. Prisoners escaping; 22. West cellar.] + +At daylight a plank was seen suspended on the outside of the east wall; +this was fastened by a blanket-rope to one of the window-bars, and was, +of course, a trick to mislead the Confederates. General John H. Winder, +then in charge of all the prisoners in the Confederacy, with his +headquarters in Richmond, was furious when the news reached him. After a +careful external examination of the building, and a talk, not of the +politest kind, with Major Turner, he reached the conclusion that such an +escape had but one explanation--the guards had been bribed. Accordingly +the sentinels on duty were marched off under arrest to Castle Thunder, +where they were locked up and searched for "greenbacks." The thousand +and more prisoners still in Libby were compensated, in a measure, for +their failure to escape by the panic they saw among the "Rebs." +Messengers and despatches were soon flying in all directions, and all +the horse, foot, and dragoons of Richmond were in pursuit of the +fugitives before noon. Only one man of the whole escaping party was +retaken inside of the city limits.[16] Of the 109 who got out that +night, 59 reached the Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 were +drowned. + +[Footnote 16: Captain Gates, of the 33d Ohio.] + +Colonel Streight and several other officers who had been chosen by the +diggers of the tunnel to follow them out, in accordance with the +agreement already referred to, lay concealed for a week in a vacant +house, where they were fed by loyal friends, and escaped to the Federal +lines when the first excitement had abated. + +After leaving Libby, Rose and Hamilton turned northward and cautiously +walked on a few squares, when suddenly they encountered some +Confederates who were guarding a military hospital. Hamilton retreated +quickly and ran off to the east; but Rose, who was a little in advance, +walked boldly by on the opposite walk, and was not challenged; and thus +the two friends separated. + +Hamilton, after several days of wandering and fearful exposure, came +joyfully upon a Union picket squad, received the care he painfully +needed, and was soon on his happy journey home. + +[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF LIBBY PRISON AND SURROUNDINGS. + +A. Break in fireplace on floor above; B. End of tunnel; CCC. Course of +party escaping; D. Shed; E. Cook-room (abandoned Oct., '63); F. +Lumber-room; G. Office of James River Towing Company; HH. Gates; III. +Doors; J. Cells for condemned prisoners; K. First tunnel (abandoned); L. +Fence.] + +Rose passed out of the city of Richmond to the York River Railroad, and +followed its track to the Chickahominy bridge. Finding this guarded, he +turned to the right, and as the day was breaking he came upon a camp of +Confederate cavalry. His blue uniform made it exceedingly dangerous to +travel in daylight in this region; and seeing a large sycamore log that +was hollow, he crawled into it. The February air was keen and biting, +but he kept his cramped position until late in the afternoon; and all +day he could hear the loud talk in the camp and the neighing of the +horses. Toward night he came cautiously forth, and finding the +Chickahominy fordable within a few hundred yards, he succeeded in wading +across. The uneven bed of the river, however, led him into several deep +holes, and before he reached the shore his scanty raiment was thoroughly +soaked. He trudged on through the woods as fast as his stiffened limbs +would bear him, borne up by the hope of early deliverance, and made a +brave effort to shake off the horrible ague. He had not gone far, +however, when he found himself again close to some Confederate cavalry, +and was compelled once more to seek a hiding-place. The day seemed of +interminable length, and he tried vainly in sleep to escape from hunger +and cold. His teeth chattered in his head, and when he rose at dark to +continue his journey his tattered clothes were frozen stiff. In this +plight he pushed on resolutely, and was obliged to wade to his waist for +hundreds of yards through one of those deep and treacherous morasses +that proved such deadly fever-pools for McClellan's army in the campaign +of 1862. Finally he reached the high ground, and as the severe exertion +had set his blood again in motion and loosened his limbs, he was making +better progress, when suddenly he found himself near a Confederate +picket. This picket he easily avoided, and, keeping well in the shadow +of the forest and shunning the roads, he pressed forward with increasing +hopes of success. He had secured a box of matches before leaving Libby; +and as the cold night came on and he felt that he was really in danger +of freezing to death, he penetrated into the center of the cedar grove +and built a fire in a small and secluded hollow. He felt that this was +hazardous, but the necessity was desperate, since with his stiffened +limbs he could no longer move along fast enough to keep the warmth of +life in his body. To add to his trouble, his foot, which had been broken +in Tennessee previous to his capture, was now giving him great pain, and +threatened to cripple him wholly; indeed, it would stiffen and disable +the best of limbs to compass the journey he had made in darkness over +strange, uneven, and hard-frozen ground, and through rivers, creeks, and +bogs, and this without food or warmth. + +The fire was so welcome that he slept soundly--so soundly that waking in +the early morning he found his boot-legs and half his uniform burned up, +the ice on the rest of it probably having prevented its total +destruction. + +Resuming his journey much refreshed, he reached Crump's Cross-roads, +where he successfully avoided another picket. He traveled all day, +taking occasional short rests, and before dark had reached New Kent +Court-house. Here again he saw some pickets, but by cautious flanking +managed to pass them; but in crossing an open space a little farther on +he was seen by a cavalryman, who at once put spurs to his horse and rode +up to Rose, and, saluting him, inquired if he belonged to the New Kent +Cavalry. Rose had on a gray cap, and seeing that he had a stupid sort of +fellow to deal with, instantly answered, "Yes," whereupon the trooper +turned his horse and rode back. A very few moments were enough to show +Rose that the cavalryman's report had failed to satisfy his comrades, +whom he could see making movements for his capture. He plunged through a +laurel thicket, and had no sooner emerged than he saw the Confederates +deploying around it in confidence that their game was bagged. He dashed +on as fast as his injured foot would let him, and entered a tract of +heavily timbered land that rose to the east of this thicket. At the +border of the grove he found another picket post, and barely escaped the +notice of several of the men. The only chance of escape lay through a +wide, clear field before him, and even this was in full view from the +grove that bordered it, and this he knew would soon swarm with his +pursuers. + +Across the center of this open field, which was fully half a mile wide, +a ditch ran, which, although but a shallow gully, afforded a partial +concealment. Rose, who could now hear the voices of the Confederates +nearer and nearer, dove into the ditch as the only chance, and dropping +on his hands and knees crept swiftly forward to the eastward. In this +cramped position his progress was extremely painful, and his hands were +torn by the briers and stones; but forward he dashed, fully expecting a +shower of bullets every minute. At last he reached the other end of the +half-mile ditch, breathless and half dead, but without having once +raised his head above the gully. + +Emerging from this field, he found himself in the Williamsburg road, and +bordering the opposite side was an extensive tract thickly covered with +pines. As he crossed and entered this tract he looked back and could see +his enemies, whose movements showed that they were greatly puzzled and +off the scent. When at a safe distance he sought a hiding-place and took +a needed rest of several hours. + +He then resumed his journey, and followed the direction of the +Williamsburg road, which he found picketed at various points, so that it +was necessary to avoid open spaces. Several times during the day he saw +squads of Confederate cavalry passing along the road so near that he +could hear their talk. Near nightfall he reached Diasen Bridge, where he +successfully passed another picket. He kept on until nearly midnight, +when he lay down by a great tree and, cold as he was, slept soundly +until daylight. He now made a careful reconnoissance, and found near the +road the ruins of an old building which, he afterward learned, was +called "Burnt Ordinary." + +He now found himself almost unable to walk with his injured foot, but, +nerved by the yet bright hope of liberty, he once more went his weary +way in the direction of Williamsburg. Finally he came to a place where +there were some smoking fagots and a number of tracks, indicating it to +have been a picket post of the previous night. He was now nearing +Williamsburg, which, he was inclined to believe from such meager +information as had reached Libby before his departure, was in possession +of the Union forces. Still, he knew that this was territory that was +frequently changing hands, and was therefore likely to be under a close +watch. From this on he avoided the roads wholly, and kept under cover as +much as it was possible; and if compelled to cross an open field at all, +he did so in a stooping position. He was now moving in a southeasterly +direction, and coming again to the margin of a wide opening, he saw, to +his unutterable joy, a body of Union troops advancing along the road +toward him. + +Thoroughly worn out, Rose, believing that his deliverers were at hand, +sat down to await their approach. His pleasant reverie was disturbed by +a sound behind and near him, and turning quickly he was startled to see +three soldiers in the road along which the troops first seen were +advancing. The fact that these men had not been noticed before gave Rose +some uneasiness for a moment; but as they wore blue uniforms, and +moreover seemed to take no note of the approaching Federal troops, all +things seemed to indicate that they were simply an advanced detail of +the same body. This seemed to be further confirmed by the fact that the +trio were now moving down the road, apparently with the intent of +joining the larger body; and as the ground to the east rose to a crest, +both of the bodies were a minute later shut off from Rose's view. + +In the full confidence that all was right he rose to his feet and walked +toward the crest to get a better view of everything and greet his +comrades of the loyal blue. A walk of a hundred yards brought him again +in sight of the three men, who now noticed and challenged him. + +In spite of appearances a vague suspicion forced itself upon Rose, who, +however, obeyed the summons and continued to approach the party, who now +watched him with fixed attention. As he came closer to the group, the +brave but unfortunate soldier saw that he was lost. + +For the first time the three seemed to be made aware of the approach of +the Federals, and to show consequent alarm and haste. The unhappy Rose +saw before the men spoke that their blue uniform was a disguise, and the +discovery brought a savage expression to his lips. He hoped and tried to +convince his captors that he was a Confederate, but all in vain; they +retained him as their prisoner, and now told him that they were +Confederates. Rose, in the first bitter moment of his misfortune, +thought seriously of breaking away to his friends so temptingly near; +but his poor broken foot and the slender chance of escaping three +bullets at a few yards made this suicide, and he decided to wait for a +better chance, and this came sooner than he expected. + +One of the men appeared to be an officer, who detailed one of his +companions to conduct Rose to the rear in the direction of Richmond. The +prisoner went quietly with his guard, the other two men tarried a little +to watch the advancing Federals, and now Rose began to limp like a man +who was unable to go farther. Presently the ridge shut them off from the +view of the others. Rose, who had slyly been staggering closer and +closer to the guard, suddenly sprang upon the man, and before he had +time to wink had twisted his gun from his grasp, discharged it into the +air, flung it down, and ran off as fast as his poor foot would let him +toward the east and so as to avoid the rest of the Confederates. The +disarmed Confederate made no attempt at pursuit, nor indeed did the +other two, who were now seen retreating at a run across the adjacent +fields. + +Rose's heart bounded with new hope, for he felt that he would be with +his advancing comrades in a few minutes at most. All at once a squad of +Confederates, hitherto unseen, rose up in his very path, and beat him +down with the butts of their muskets. All hands now rushed around and +secured him, and one of the men called out excitedly, "Hurry up, boys; +the Yankees are right here!" They rushed their prisoner into the wooded +ravine, and here they were joined by the man whom Rose had just +disarmed. He was in a savage mood, and declared it to be his particular +desire to fill Rose full of Confederate lead. The officer in charge +rebuked the man, however, and compelled him to cool down, and he went +along with an injured air that excited the merriment of his comrades. + +The party continued its retreat to Barhamsville, thence to the White +House on the Pamunkey River, and finally to Richmond, where Rose was +again restored to Libby, and, like the writer, was confined for a number +of days in a narrow and loathsome cell. On the 30th of April his +exchange was effected for a Confederate colonel, and on the 6th of July, +1864, he rejoined his regiment, in which he served with conspicuous +gallantry to the close of the war. + +As already stated, Hamilton reached the Union lines safely after many +vicissitudes, and did brave service in the closing scenes of the +rebellion. He is now a resident of Reedyville, Kentucky. Johnson, whose +enforced confinement in Rat Hell gave him a unique fame in Libby, also +made good his escape, and now lives at North Pleasantville, Kentucky. + +Of the fifteen men who dug the successful tunnel, four are dead, viz.: +Fitzsimmons, Gallagher, Garbett, and McDonald. Captain W.S.B. Randall +lives at Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio; Colonel Terrance Clark at +Paris, Edgar County, Illinois; Captain Eli Foster at Chicago; Colonel +N.S. McKean at Collinsville, Madison County, Illinois; and Captain J.C. +Fislar at Lewiston, I.T. The addresses of Captains Lucas, Simpson, and +Mitchell are unknown at this writing. + +Colonel Rose has served faithfully almost since the end of the war with +the 16th United States Infantry, in which he holds a captain's +commission. No one meeting him now would hear from his reticent lips, or +read in his placid face, the thrilling story that links his name in so +remarkable a manner with the history of the famous Bastile of the +Confederacy. + + + + +A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL OUT OF DIXIE + +BY W.H. SHELTON + + +It was past noon of the first day of the bloody contest in the +Wilderness. The guns of the Fifth Corps, led by Battery D of the 1st New +York Artillery, were halted along the Orange turnpike, by which we had +made the fruitless campaign to Mine Run. The continuous roar of musketry +in front and to the left indicated that the infantry was desperately +engaged, while the great guns filling every wooded road leading up to +the battle-field were silent. Our drivers were lounging about the +horses, while the cannoneers lay on the green grass by the roadside or +walked by the pieces. Down the line came an order for the center +section, under my command, to advance and pass the right section, which +lay in front of us. General Warren, surrounded by his staff, sat on a +gray horse at the right of the road where the woods bordered an open +field dipping between two wooded ridges. The position we were leaving +was admirable, while the one to which we were ordered, on the opposite +side of the narrow field, was wholly impracticable. The captain had +received his orders in person from General Warren, and joined my command +as we passed. + +We dashed down the road at a trot, the cannoneers running beside their +pieces. At the center of the field we crossed by a wooden bridge over a +deep, dry ditch, and came rapidly into position at the side of the +turnpike and facing the thicket. As the cannoneers were not all up, the +captain and I dismounted and lent a hand in swinging round the heavy +trails. The air was full of Minie balls, some whistling by like mad +hornets, and others, partly spent, humming like big nails. One of the +latter struck my knee with force enough to wound the bone without +penetrating the grained-leather boot-leg. In front of us the ground rose +into the timber where our infantry was engaged. It was madness to +continue firing here, for my shot must first plow through our own lines +before reaching the enemy. So after one discharge the captain ordered +the limbers to the rear, and the section started back at a gallop. My +horse was cut on the flanks, and his plunging, with my disabled knee, +delayed me in mounting, and prevented my seeing why the carriages kept +to the grass instead of getting upon the roadway. When I overtook the +guns they had come to a forced halt at the dry ditch, now full of +skulkers, an angle of which cut the way to the bridge. Brief as the +interval had been, not a man of my command was in sight. The lead horse +of the gun team at my side had been shot and was reeling in the harness. +Slipping to the ground, I untoggled one trace at the collar to release +him, and had placed my hand on the other when I heard the demand +"Surrender!" and turning found in my face two big pistols in the hands +of an Alabama colonel. "Give me that sword," said he. I pressed the +clasp and let it fall to the ground, where it remained. The colonel had +taken me by the right arm, and as we turned toward the road I took in +the whole situation at a glance. My chestnut horse and the captain's +bald-faced brown were dashing frantically against the long, swaying gun +teams. By the bridge stood a company of the 61st Alabama Infantry in +butternut suits and slouch-hats, shooting straggling and wounded Zouaves +from a Pennsylvania brigade as they appeared in groups of two or three +on the road in front. The colonel as he handed me over to his men +ordered his troops to take what prisoners they could and to cease +firing. The guns which we were forced to abandon were a bone of +contention until they were secured by the enemy on the third day, at +which time but one of the twenty-four team horses was living. + +With a few other prisoners I was led by a short detour through the +woods. In ten minutes we had turned the flank of both armies and reached +the same turnpike in the rear of our enemy. A line of ambulances was +moving back on the road, all filled with wounded, and when we saw a +vacant seat beside a driver I was hoisted up to the place. The boy +driver was in a high state of excitement. He said that two shells had +come flying down this same road, and showed where the trace of the near +mule had been cut by a piece of shell, for which I was directly +responsible. + +The field hospital of General Jubal Early's corps was near Locust Grove +Tavern, where the wounded Yankees were in charge of Surgeon Donnelly of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. No guard was established, as no one was +supposed to be in condition to run away. At the end of a week, however, +my leg had greatly improved, although I was still unable to use it. In +our party was another lieutenant, an aide on the staff of General James +C. Rice, whose horse had been shot under him while riding at full speed +with despatches. Lieutenant Hadley had returned to consciousness to find +himself a prisoner in hospital, somewhat bruised, and robbed of his +valuables, but not otherwise disabled. We two concluded to start for +Washington by way of Kelly's Ford. I traded my penknife for a haversack +of corn-bread with one of the Confederate nurses, and a wounded officer, +Colonel Miller of a New York regiment, gave us a pocket compass. I +provided myself with a stout pole, which I used with both hands in lieu +of my left foot. At 9 P.M. we set out, passing during the night the +narrow field and the dry ditch where I had left my guns. Only a pile of +dead horses marked the spot. + +On a grassy bank we captured a firefly and shut him in between the glass +and the face of our pocket compass. With such a guide we shaped our +course for the Rapidan. After traveling nearly all night we lay down +exhausted upon a bluff within sound of the river, and slept until +sunrise. Hastening to our feet again, we hurried down to the ford. Just +before reaching the river we heard shouts behind us, and saw a man +beckoning and running after us. Believing the man an enemy, we dashed +into the shallow water, and after crossing safely hobbled away up the +other side as fast as a man with one leg and a pole could travel. I +afterward met this man, himself a prisoner, at Macon, Georgia. He was +the officer of our pickets, and would have conducted us into our lines +if we had permitted him to come up with us. As it was, we found a snug +hiding-place in a thicket of swamp growth, where we lay in concealment +all day. After struggling on a few miles in a chilling rain, my leg +became so painful that it was impossible to go farther. A house was near +by and we threw ourselves on the mercy of the family. Good Mrs. Brandon +had harbored the pickets of both armies again and again, and had +luxuriated in real coffee and tea and priceless salt at the hands of our +officers. She bore the Yankees only good-will, and after dressing my +wound we sat down to breakfast with herself and daughters. + +After breakfast we were conducted to the second half-story, which was +one unfinished room. There was a bed in one corner, where we were to +sleep. Beyond the stairs was a pile of yellow ears of corn, and from the +rafters and sills hung a variety of dried herbs and medicinal roots. +Here our meals were served, and the girls brought us books and read +aloud to pass away the long days. I was confined to the bed, and my +companion never ventured below stairs except on one dark night, when at +my earnest entreaty he set out for Kelly's Ford, but soon returned +unable to make his way in the darkness. One day we heard the door open +at the foot of the stairs, a tread of heavy boots on the steps, and a +clank, clank that sounded very much like a saber. Out of the floor rose +a gray slouch-hat with the yellow cord and tassel of a cavalryman, and +in another moment there stood on the landing one of the most astonished +troopers that ever was seen. "Coot" Brandon was one of "Jeb" Stuart's +rangers, and came every day for corn for his horse. Heretofore the corn +had been brought down for him, and he was as ignorant of our presence +as we were of his existence. On this day no pretext could keep him from +coming up to help himself. His mother worked on his sympathies, and he +departed promising her that he would leave us undisturbed. But the very +next morning he turned up again, this time accompanied by another ranger +of sterner mold. A parole was exacted from my able-bodied companion, and +we were left for another twenty-four hours, when I was considered in +condition to be moved. Mrs. Brandon gave us each a new blue overcoat +from a plentiful store of Uncle Sam's clothing she had on hand, and I +opened my heart and gave her my last twenty-dollar greenback--and wished +I had it back again every day for the next ten months. + +I was mounted on a horse, and with Lieutenant Hadley on foot we were +marched under guard all day until we arrived at a field hospital +established in the rear of Longstreet's corps, my companion being sent +on to some prison for officers. Thence I was forwarded with a train-load +of wounded to Lynchburg, on which General Hunter was then marching, and +we had good reason to hope for a speedy deliverance. On more than one +day we heard his guns to the north, where there was no force but a few +citizens with bird-guns to oppose the entrance of his command. The +slaves were employed on a line of breastworks which there was no +adequate force to hold. It was our opinion that one well-disciplined +regiment could have captured and held the town. It was several days +before a portion of General Breckinridge's command arrived for the +defense of Lynchburg. + +I had clung to my clean bed in the hospital just as long as my rapidly +healing wound would permit, but was soon transferred to a prison where +at night the sleepers--Yankees, Confederate deserters, and negroes--were +so crowded upon the floor that some lay under the feet of the guards in +the doorways. The atmosphere was dreadful. I fell ill, and for three +days lay with my head in the fireplace, more dead than alive. + +A few days thereafter about three hundred prisoners were crowded into +cattle-cars bound for Andersonville. We must have been a week on this +railroad journey when an Irish lieutenant of a Rochester regiment and I, +who had been allowed to ride in the baggage-car, were taken from the +train at Macon, Georgia, where about sixteen hundred Union officers were +confined at the fair-grounds. General Alexander Shaler, of Sedgwick's +corps, also captured at the Wilderness, was the ranking officer, and to +him was accorded a sort of interior command of the camp. Before passing +through the gate we expected to see a crowd bearing some outward +semblance of respectability. Instead, we were instantly surrounded by +several hundred ragged, barefooted, frowzy-headed men shouting "Fresh +fish!" at the top of their voices and eagerly asking for news. With rare +exceptions all were shabbily dressed. There was, however, a little knot +of naval officers who had been captured in the windings of the narrow +Rappahannock by a force of cavalry, and who were the aristocrats of the +camp. They were housed in a substantial fair-building in the center of +the grounds, and by some special terms of surrender must have brought +their complete wardrobes along. On hot days they appeared in spotless +white duck, which they were permitted to send outside to be laundered. +Their mess was abundantly supplied with the fruits and vegetables of the +season. The ripe red tomatoes they were daily seen to peel were the envy +of the camp. I well remember that to me, at this time, a favorite +occupation was to lie on my back with closed eyes and imagine the dinner +I would order if I were in a first-class hotel. It was no unusual thing +to see a dignified colonel washing his lower clothes in a pail, clad +only in his uniform dresscoat. Ladies sometimes appeared on the +guard-walk outside the top of the stockade, on which occasions the +cleanest and best-dressed men turned out to see and be seen. I was quite +proud to appear in a clean gray shirt, spotless white drawers, and +moccasins made of blue overcoat cloth. + +On the Fourth of July, after the regular morning count, we repaired to +the big central building and held an informal celebration. One officer +had brought into captivity, concealed on his person, a little silk +national flag, which was carried up into the cross-beams of the +building, and the sight of it created the wildest enthusiasm. We cheered +the flag and applauded the patriotic speeches until a detachment of the +guard succeeded in putting a stop to our proceedings. They tried to +capture the flag, but in this they were not successful. We were informed +that cannon were planted commanding the camp, and would be opened on us +if we renewed our demonstrations. + +Soon after this episode the fall of Atlanta and the subsequent movements +of General Sherman led to the breaking up of the camp at Macon, and to +the transfer of half of us to a camp at Charleston, and half to +Savannah. Late in September, by another transfer, we found ourselves +together again at Columbia. We had no form of shelter, and there was no +stockade around the camp, only a guard and a dead-line. During two hours +of each morning an extra line of guards was stationed around an +adjoining piece of pine woods, into which we were allowed to go and cut +wood and timber to construct for ourselves huts for the approaching +winter. Our ration at this time consisted of raw corn-meal and sorghum +molasses, without salt or any provision of utensils for cooking. The +camp took its name from our principal article of diet, and was by common +consent known as "Camp Sorghum." A stream of clear water was accessible +during the day by an extension of the guards, but at night the lines +were so contracted as to leave the path leading to the water outside the +guard. Lieutenant S.H.M. Byers, who had already written the well-known +lyric "Sherman's March to the Sea," was sharing my tent, which consisted +of a ragged blanket. We had been in the new camp but little more than a +week when we determined to make an attempt at escape. Preparatory to +starting we concealed two tin cups and two blankets in the pine woods to +which we had access during the chopping hours, and here was to be our +rendezvous in case we were separated in getting out. Covering my +shoulders with an old gray blanket and providing myself with a stick, +about the size of a gun, from the woodpile, I tried to smuggle myself +into the relief guard when the line was contracted at six o'clock. +Unfortunately an unexpected halt was called, and the soldier in front +turned and discovered me. I was now more than ever determined on getting +away. After a hurried conference with Lieutenant Byers, at which I +promised to wait at our rendezvous in the woods until I heard the +posting of the ten-o'clock relief, I proceeded alone up the side of the +camp to a point where a group of low cedars grew close to the dead-line. +Concealing myself in their dark shadow, I could observe at my leisure +the movements of the sentinels. A full moon was just rising above the +horizon to my left, and in the soft, misty light the guards were plainly +visible for a long distance either way. An open field from which the +small growth had been recently cut away lay beyond, and between the camp +and the guard-line ran a broad road of soft sand--noiseless to cross, +but so white in the moonlight that a leaf blown across it by the wind +could scarcely escape a vigilant eye. The guards were bundled in their +overcoats, and I soon observed that the two who met opposite to my place +of concealment turned and walked their short beats without looking back. +Waiting until they separated again, and regardless of the fact that I +might with equal likelihood be seen by a dozen sentinels in either +direction, I ran quickly across the soft sand road several yards into +the open field, and threw myself down upon the uneven ground. First I +dragged my body on my elbows for a few yards, then I crept on my knees, +and so gradually gained in distance until I could rise to a standing +position and get safely to the shelter of the trees. With some +difficulty I found the cups and blankets we had concealed, and lay down +to await the arrival of my companion. Soon I heard several shots which +I understood too well; and, as I afterward learned, two officers were +shot dead for attempting the feat I had accomplished, and perhaps in +emulation of my success. A third young officer, whom I knew, was also +killed in camp by one of the shots fired at the others. + +At ten o'clock I set out alone and made my way across the fields to the +bank of the Saluda, where a covered bridge crossed to Columbia. Hiding +when it was light, wandering through fields and swamps by night, and +venturing at last to seek food of negroes, I proceeded for thirteen days +toward the sea. + +In general I had followed the Columbia turnpike; at a quaint little +chapel on the shore of Goose Creek, but a few miles out of Charleston, I +turned to the north and bent my course for the coast above the city. +About this time I learned that I should find no boats along the shore +between Charleston and the mouth of the Santee, everything able to float +having been destroyed to prevent the escape of the negroes and the +desertion of the soldiers. I was ferried over the Broad River by a +crusty old darky who came paddling across in response to my cries of +"O-v-e-r," and who seemed so put out because I had no fare for him that +I gave him my case-knife. The next evening I had the only taste of meat +of this thirteen days' journey, which I got from an old negro whom I +found alone in his cabin eating possum and rice. + +I had never seen the open sea-coast beaten by the surf, and after being +satisfied that I had no hope of escape in that direction it was in part +my curiosity that led me on, and partly a vague idea that I would get +Confederate transportation back to Columbia and take a fresh start +westward bound. The tide was out, and in a little cove I found an +abundance of oysters bedded in the mud, some of which I cracked with +stones and ate. After satisfying my hunger, and finding the sea rather +unexpectedly tame inside the line of islands which marked the eastern +horizon, I bent my steps toward a fire, where I found a detachment of +Confederate coastguards, to whom I offered myself as a guest as coolly +as if my whole toilsome journey had been prosecuted to that end. + +In the morning I was marched a few miles to Mount Pleasant, near Fort +Moultrie, and taken thence in a sail-boat across the harbor to +Charleston. At night I found myself again in the city jail, where with a +large party of officers I had spent most of the month of August. My +cell-mate was Lieutenant H.G. Dorr of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, +with whom I journeyed by rail back to Columbia, arriving at "Camp +Sorghum" about the 1st of November. + +I rejoined the mess of Lieutenant Byers, and introduced to the others +Lieutenant Dorr, whose cool assurance was a prize that procured us all +the blessings possible. He could borrow frying-pans from the guards, +money from his brother Masons at headquarters, and I believe if we had +asked him to secure us a gun he would have charmed it out of the hand of +a sentinel on duty. + +[Illustration: LIEUTENANTS E.E. SILL AND A.T. LAMSON.] + +Lieutenant Edward E. Sill, of General Daniel Butterfield's staff, whom I +had met at Macon, during my absence had come to "Sorghum" from a +fruitless trip to Macon for exchange, and I had promised to join him +in an attempt to escape when he could secure a pair of shoes. On +November 29 our mess had felled a big pine-tree and had rolled into camp +a short section of the trunk, which a Tennessee officer was to split +into shingles to complete our hut, a pretty good cabin with an earthen +fireplace. While we were resting from our exertion, Sill appeared with +his friend Lieutenant A.T. Lamson of the 104th New York Infantry, and +reminded me of my promise. The prisoners always respected their parole +on wood-chopping expeditions, and went out and came in at the main +entrance. The guards were a particularly verdant body of back-country +militia, and the confusion of the parole system enabled us to practise +ruses. In our present difficulty we resorted to a new expedient and +forged a parole. The next day all three of us were quietly walking down +the guard-line on the outside. At the creek, where all the camp came for +water, we found Dorr and Byers and West, and calling to one of them in +the presence of the guard, asked for blankets to bring in spruce boughs +for beds. When the blankets came they contained certain haversacks, +cups, and little indispensable articles for the road. Falling back into +the woods, we secured a safe hiding-place until after dark. Just beyond +the village of Lexington we successfully evaded the first picket, being +warned of its presence by the smoldering embers in the road. A few +nights after this, having exposed ourselves and anticipating pursuit, we +pushed on until we came to a stream crossing the road. Up this we waded +for some distance, and secured a hiding-place on a neighboring hill. In +the morning we looked out upon mounted men and dogs, at the very point +where we had entered the stream, searching for our lost trail. We spent +two days during a severe storm of rain and sleet in a farm-barn where +the slaves were so drunk on applejack that they had forgotten us and +left us with nothing to eat but raw turnips. One night, in our search +for provisions, we met a party of negroes burning charcoal, who took us +to their camp and sent out for a supply of food. While waiting a +venerable "uncle" proposed to hold a prayer-meeting. So under the tall +trees and by the light of the smoldering coal-pits the old man prayed +long and fervently to the "bressed Lord and Massa Lincoln," and hearty +amens echoed through the woods. Besides a few small potatoes, one dried +goat ham was all our zealous friends could procure. The next day, having +made our camp in the secure depths of a dry swamp, we lighted the only +fire we allowed ourselves between Columbia and the mountains. The ham, +which was almost as light as cork, was riddled with worm-holes, and as +hard as a petrified sponge. + +We avoided the towns, and after an endless variety of adventures +approached the mountains, cold, hungry, ragged, and foot-sore. On the +night of December 13 we were grouped about a guide-post, at a fork in +the road, earnestly contending as to which way we should proceed. +Lieutenant Sill was for the right, I was for the left, and no amount of +persuasion could induce Lieutenant Lamson to decide the controversy. I +yielded, and we turned to the right. After walking a mile in a state of +general uncertainty, we came to a low white farm-house standing very +near the road. It was now close upon midnight, and the windows were all +dark; but from a house of logs, partly behind the other, gleamed a +bright light. Judging this to be servants' quarters, two of us remained +back while Lieutenant Sill made a cautious approach. In due time a negro +appeared, advancing stealthily, and, beckoning to my companion and me, +conducted us in the shadow of a hedge to a side window, through which we +clambered into the cabin. We were made very comfortable in the glow of a +bright woodfire. Sweet potatoes were already roasting in the ashes, and +a tin pot of barley coffee was steaming on the coals. Rain and sleet had +begun to fall, and it was decided that after having been warmed and +refreshed we should be concealed in the barn until the following night. +Accordingly we were conducted thither and put to bed upon a pile of +corn-shucks high up under the roof. Secure as this retreat seemed, it +was deemed advisable in the morning to burrow several feet down in the +mow, so that the children, if by any chance they should climb so high, +might romp unsuspecting over our heads. We could still look out through +the cracks in the siding and get sufficient light whereby to study a map +of the Southern States, which had been brought us with our breakfast. A +luxurious repast was in preparation, to be eaten at the quarters before +starting; but a frolic being in progress, and a certain negro present of +questionable fidelity, the banquet was transferred to the barn. The +great barn doors were set open, and the cloth was spread on the floor by +the light of the moon. Certainly we had partaken of no such substantial +fare within the Confederacy. The central dish was a pork-pie, flanked by +savory little patties of sausage. There were sweet potatoes, fleecy +biscuits, a jug of sorghum, and a pitcher of sweet milk. Most delicious +of all was a variety of corn-bread having tiny bits of fresh pork baked +in it, like plums in a pudding.[17] + +[Footnote 17: Major Sill contributes the following evidence of the +impression our trio made upon one, at least, of the piccaninnies who +looked on in the moonlight. The picture of Lieutenants Sill and Lamson +which appears on page 255 was enlarged from a small photograph taken on +their arrival at Chattanooga, before divesting themselves of the rags +worn throughout the long journey. Years afterward Major Sill gave one of +these pictures to Wallace Bruce of Florida, at one time United States +consul at Glasgow. In the winter of 1888-89 Mr. Bruce, at his Florida +home, was showing the photograph to his family when it caught the eye of +a colored servant, who exclaimed: "O Massa Bruce, I know those gen'men. +My father and mother hid 'em in Massa's barn at Pickensville and fed +'em; there was three of 'em; I saw 'em." This servant was a child barely +ten years old in 1864, and could have seen us only through the barn door +while we were eating our supper in the uncertain moonlight. Yet more +than twenty years thereafter he greeted the photograph of the ragged +Yankee officers with a flash of recognition.] + +Filling our haversacks with the fragments, we took grateful leave of our +sable benefactors and resumed our journey, retracing our steps to the +point of disagreement of the evening before. Long experience in night +marching had taught us extreme caution. We had advanced along the new +road but a short way when we were startled by the barking of a +house-dog. Apprehending that something was moving in front of us, we +instantly withdrew into the woods. We had scarcely concealed ourselves +when two cavalrymen passed along, driving before them a prisoner. Aware +that it was high time to betake ourselves to the cross-roads and +describe a wide circle around the military station at Pickensville, we +first sought information. A ray of light was visible from a hut in the +woods, and believing from its humble appearance that it sheltered +friends, my companions lay down in concealment while I advanced to +reconnoiter. I gained the side of the house, and, looking through a +crack in the boards, saw, to my surprise, a soldier lying on his back +before the fire playing with a dog. I stole back with redoubled care. +Thoroughly alarmed by the dangers we had already encountered, we decided +to abandon the roads. Near midnight of December 16 we passed through a +wooden gate on a level road leading into the forest. Believing that the +lateness of the hour would secure us from further dangers, we resolved +to press on with all speed, when two figures with lighted torches came +suddenly into view. Knowing that we were yet unseen, we turned into the +woods and concealed ourselves behind separate trees at no great distance +from the path. Soon the advancing lights revealed two hunters, mere +lads, but having at their heels a pack of mongrel dogs, with which they +had probably been pursuing the coon or the possum. The boys would have +passed unaware of our presence, but the dogs, scurrying along with their +noses in the leaves, soon struck our trail, and were instantly yelping +about us. We had possessed ourselves of the name of the commanding +officer of the neighboring post at Pendleton, and advanced boldly, +representing ourselves to be his soldiers. "Then where did you get them +blue pantaloons?" they demanded, exchanging glances, which showed they +were not ignorant of our true character. We coolly faced them down and +resumed our march leisurely, while the boys still lingered undecided. +When out of sight we abandoned the road and fled at the top of our +speed. We had covered a long distance through forest and field before +we heard in our wake the faint yelping of the pack. Plunging into the +first stream, we dashed for some distance along its bed. Emerging on the +opposite bank, we sped on through marshy fields, skirting high hills and +bounding down through dry watercourses, over shelving stones and +accumulated barriers of driftwood; now panting up a steep ascent, and +now resting for a moment to rub our shoes with the resinous needles of +the pine; always within hearing of the dogs, whose fitful cries varied +in volume in accordance with the broken conformation of the intervening +country. Knowing that in speed and endurance we were no match for our +four-footed pursuers, we trusted to our precautions for throwing them +off the scent, mindful that they were but an ill-bred kennel and the +more easily to be disposed of. Physically we were capable of prolonged +exertion. Fainter and less frequent came the cry of the dogs, until, +ceasing altogether, we were assured of our escape. + +At Oconee, on Sunday, December 18, we met a negro well acquainted with +the roads and passes into North Carolina, who furnished us information +by which we traveled for two nights, recognizing on the second objects +which by his direction we avoided (like the house of Black Bill +McKinney), and going directly to that of friendly old Tom Handcock. The +first of these two nights we struggled up the foot-hills and outlying +spurs of the mountains, through an uninhabited waste of rolling barrens, +along an old stage road, long deserted, and in places impassable to a +saddle-mule. Lying down before morning, high up on the side of the +mountain, we fell asleep, to be awakened by thunder and lightning, and +to find torrents of hail and sleet beating upon our blankets. Chilled to +the bone, we ventured to build a small fire in a secluded place. After +dark and before abandoning our camp, we gathered quantities of wood, +stacking it upon the fire, which when we left it was a wild tower of +flame lighting up the whole mountain-side in the direction we had come, +and seeming, in some sort, to atone for a long succession of shivering +days in tireless bivouac. We followed the same stage road through the +scattering settlement of Casher's Valley in Jackson County, North +Carolina. A little farther on, two houses, of hewn logs, with verandas +and green blinds, just fitted the description we had received of the +home of old Tom Handcock. Knocking boldly at the door of the farther +one, we were soon in the presence of the loyal mountaineer. He and his +wife had been sleeping on a bed spread upon the floor before the fire. +Drawing this to one side, they heaped the chimney with green wood, and +were soon listening with genuine delight to the story of our adventures. + +After breakfast next day, Tom, with his rifle, led us by a back road to +the house of "'Squire Larkin C. Hooper," a leading loyalist, whom we met +on the way, and together we proceeded to his house. Ragged and forlorn, +we were eagerly welcomed at his home by Hooper's invalid wife and +daughters. For several days we enjoyed a hospitality given as freely to +utter strangers as if we had been relatives of the family. + +[Illustration: WE ARRIVE AT HEADEN'S.] + +Here we learned of a party about to start through the mountains for East +Tennessee, guided by Emanuel Headen, who lived on the crest of the Blue +Ridge. Our friend Tom was to be one of the party, and other refugees +were coming over the Georgia border, where Headen, better known in the +settlement as "Man Heady," was mustering his party. It now being near +Christmas, and the squire's family in daily expectation of a relative, +who was a captain in the Confederate army, it was deemed prudent for us +to go on to Headen's under the guidance of Tom. Setting out at sunset on +the 23d of December, it was late in the evening when we arrived at our +destination, having walked nine miles up the mountain trails over a +light carpeting of snow. Pausing in front of a diminutive cabin, through +the chinks of whose stone fireplace and stick chimney the whole interior +seemed to be red hot like a furnace, our guide demanded, "Is Man Heady +to hum?" Receiving a sharp negative in reply, he continued, "Well, can +Tom get to stay all night?" At this the door flew open and a skinny +woman appeared, her homespun frock pendent with tow-headed urchins. + +"In course you can," she cried, leading the way into the cabin. Never +have I seen so unique a character as this voluble, hatched-faced, +tireless woman. Her skin was like yellow parchment, and I doubt if she +knew by experience what it was to be sick or weary. She had built the +stake-and-cap fences that divided the fields, and she boasted of the +acres she had plowed. The cabin was very small. Two bedsteads, with a +narrow alleyway between, occupied half the interior. One was heaped with +rubbish, and in the other slept the whole family, consisting of father, +mother, a daughter of sixteen, and two little boys. When I add that the +room contained a massive timber loom, a table, a spinning-wheel, and a +variety of rude seats, it will be understood that we were crowded +uncomfortably close to the fire. Shrinking back as far as possible from +the blaze, we listened in amused wonder to the tongue of this seemingly +untamed virago, who, nevertheless, proved to be the kindest-hearted of +women. She cursed, in her high, pitched tones, for a pack of fools, the +men who had brought on the war. Roderic Norton, who lived down the +mountain, she expressed a profane desire to "stomp through the turnpike" +because at some time he had stolen one of her hogs, marked, as to the +ear, with "two smooth craps an' a slit in the left." Once only she had +journeyed into the low country, where she had seen those twin marvels, +steam cars and brick chimneys. On this occasion she had driven a heifer +to market, making a journey of forty miles, walking beside her horse +and wagon, which she took along to bring back the corn-meal received in +payment for the animal. Charged by her husband to bring back the heifer +bell, and being denied that musical instrument by the purchaser, it +immediately assumed more importance to her mind than horse, wagon, and +corn-meal. Baffled at first, she proceeded to the pasture in the gray of +the morning, cornered the cow, and cut off the bell, and, in her own +picturesque language, "walked through the streets of Walhalla cussin'." +Rising at midnight she would fall to spinning with all her energy. To +us, waked from sleep on the floor by the humming of the wheel, she +seemed by the light of the low fire like a witch in a sunbonnet, darting +forward and back. + +We remained there several days, sometimes at the cabin and sometimes at +a cavern in the rocks such as abound throughout the mountains, and which +are called by the natives "rock houses." Many of the men at that time +were "outliers"--that is, they camped in the mountain fastnesses, +receiving their food from some member of the family. Some of these men, +as now, had their copper stills in the rock houses, while others, more +wary of the recruiting sergeant, wandered from point to point, their +only furniture a rifle and a bed-quilt. On December 29, we were joined +at the cavern by Lieutenant Knapp and Captain Smith, Federal officers, +who had also made their way from Columbia, and by three refugees from +Georgia, whom I remember as Old Man Tigue and the two Vincent boys. +During the night our party was to start across the mountains for +Tennessee. Tom Handcock was momentarily expected to join us. Our guide +was busy with preparations for the journey. The night coming on icy +cold, and a cutting wind driving the smoke of the fire into our granite +house, we abandoned it at nine o'clock and descended to the cabin. +Headen and his wife had gone to the mill for a supply of corn-meal. +Although it was time for their return, we were in nowise alarmed by +their absence, and formed a jovial circle about the roaring chimney. +About midnight came a rap on the door. Thinking it was Tom Handcock and +some of his companions, I threw it open with an eager "Come in, boys!" +The boys began to come in, stamping the snow from their boots and +rattling their muskets on the floor, until the house was full, and yet +others were on guard without and crowding the porch. "Man Heady" and his +wife were already prisoners at the mill, and the house had been picketed +for some hours awaiting the arrival of the other refugees, who had +discovered the plot just in time to keep out of the toils. Marshaled in +some semblance of military array, we were marched down the mountain, +over the frozen ground, to the house of old Roderic Norton. The Yankee +officers were sent to an upper room, while the refugees were guarded +below, under the immediate eyes of the soldiery. Making the best of our +misfortune, our original trio bounced promptly into a warm bed, which +had been recently deserted by some members of the family, and secured a +good night's rest. + +Lieutenant Knapp, who had imprudently indulged in frozen chestnuts on +the mountain-side, was attacked with violent cramps, and kept the +household below stairs in commotion all night humanely endeavoring to +assuage his agony. In the morning, although quite recovered, he +cunningly feigned a continuance of his pains, and was left behind in the +keeping of two guards, who, having no suspicion of his deep designs, +left their guns in the house and went out to the spring to wash. Knapp, +instantly on the alert, possessed himself of the muskets, and breaking +the lock of one, by a powerful effort he bent the barrel of the other, +and dashed out through the garden. His keepers, returning from the +spring, shouted and rushed indoors only to find their disabled pieces. +They joined our party later in the day, rendering a chapfallen account +of their detached service. + +We had but a moderate march to make to the headquarters of the +battalion, where we were to spend the night. Our guards we found kindly +disposed toward us, but bitterly upbraiding the refugees, whom they +saluted by the ancient name of Tories. Lieutenant Cogdill, in command of +the expedition, privately informed us that his sympathies were entirely +ours, but as a matter of duty he should guard us jealously while under +his military charge. If we could effect our escape thereafter we had +only to come to his mountain home and he would conceal us until such +time as he could despatch us with safety over the borders. These +mountain soldiers were mostly of two classes, both opposed to the war, +but doing home-guard duty in lieu of sterner service in the field. +Numbers were of the outlier class, who, wearied of continual hiding in +the laurel brakes, had embraced this service as a compromise. Many were +deserters, some of whom had coolly set at defiance the terms of their +furloughs, while others had abandoned the camps in Virginia, and, +versed in mountain craft, had made their way along the Blue Ridge and +put in a heroic appearance in their native valleys. + +That night we arrived at a farm-house near the river, where we found +Major Parker, commanding the battalion, with a small detachment billeted +upon the family. The farmer was a gray-haired old loyalist, whom I shall +always remember, leaning on his staff in the middle of the kitchen, +barred out from his place in the chimney-corner by the noisy circle of +his unbidden guests. Major Parker was a brisk little man, clad in +brindle jeans of ancient cut, resplendent with brass buttons. Two small +piercing eyes, deep-set beside a hawk's-beak nose, twinkled from under +the rim of his brown straw hat, whose crown was defiantly surmounted by +a cock's feather. But he was exceedingly jolly withal, and welcomed the +Yankees with pompous good-humor, despatching a sergeant for a jug of +applejack, which was doubtless as inexpensive to the major as his other +hospitality. Having been a prisoner at Chicago, he prided himself on his +knowledge of dungeon etiquette and the military courtesies due to our +rank. + +We were awakened in the morning by high-pitched voices in the room +below. Lieutenant Sill and I had passed the night in neighboring caverns +of the same miraculous feather-bed. We recognized the voice of the +major, informing some culprit that he had just ten minutes to live, and +that if he wished to send any dying message to his wife or children then +and there was his last opportunity; and then followed the tramping of +the guards as they retired from his presence with their victim. Hastily +dressing, we hurried down to find what was the matter. We were welcomed +with a cheery good-morning from the major, who seemed to be in the +sunniest of spirits. No sign of commotion was visible. "Step out to the +branch, gentlemen; your parole of honor is sufficient; you'll find +towels--been a prisoner myself." And he restrained by a sign the +sentinel who would have accompanied us. At the branch, in the yard, we +found the other refugees trembling for their fate, and learned that +Headen had gone to the orchard in the charge of a file of soldiers with +a rope. While we were discussing the situation and endeavoring to calm +the apprehensions of the Georgians, the executioners returned from the +orchard, our guide marching in advance and looking none the worse for +the rough handling he had undergone. The brave fellow had confided his +last message and been thrice drawn up toward the branch of an +apple-tree, and as many times lowered for the information it was +supposed he would give. Nothing was learned, and it is probable he had +no secrets to disclose or conceal. + +Lieutenant Cogdill, with two soldiers, was detailed to conduct us to +Quallatown, a Cherokee station at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. +Two horses were allotted to the guard, and we set out in military order, +the refugees two and two in advance, Headen and Old Man Tigue lashed +together by the wrists, and the rear brought up by the troopers on +horseback. It was the last day of the year, and although a winter +morning, the rare mountain air was as soft as spring. We struck the +banks of the Tuckasegee directly opposite to a feathery waterfall, +which, leaping over a crag of the opposite cliff, was dissipated in a +glittering sheet of spray before reaching the tops of the trees below. +As the morning advanced we fell into a more negligent order of marching. +The beautiful river, a wide, swift current, flowing smoothly between +thickly wooded banks, swept by on our left, and on the right wild, +uninhabited mountains closed in the road. The two Vincents were +strolling along far in advance. Some distance behind them were Headen +and Tigue; the remainder of us following in a general group, Sill +mounted beside one of the guards. Advancing in this order, a cry from +the front broke on the stillness of the woods, and we beheld Old Man +Tigue gesticulating wildly in the center of the road and screaming, +"He's gone! He's gone! Catch him!" Sure enough the old man was alone, +the fragment of the parted strap dangling from his outstretched wrist. +The guard, who was mounted, dashed off in pursuit, followed by the +lieutenant on foot, but both soon returned, giving over the hopeless +chase. Thoroughly frightened by the events of the morning, Headen[18] +had watched his opportunity to make good his escape, and, as we +afterward learned, joined by Knapp and Tom Handcock, he conducted a +party safely to Tennessee. + +[Footnote 18: A short time ago the writer received the following letter: +"Casher's Valley, May 28, 1890. Old Manuel Headen and wife are living, +but separated. Julia Ann is living with her mother. The old lady is +blind. Old man Norton (Roderic), to whose house you were taken as +prisoner, has been dead for years. Old Tom Handcock is dead.--W.R. +HOOPER."] + +At Webster, the court town of Jackson County, we were quartered for the +night in the jail, but accompanied Lieutenant Cogdill to a venison +breakfast at the parsonage with Mrs. Harris and her daughter, who had +called on us the evening before. Snow had fallen during the night, and +when we continued our march it was with the half-frozen slush crushing +in and out, at every step, through our broken shoes. Before the close +of this dreary New-Year's day we came upon the scene of one of those +wild tragedies which are still of too frequent occurrence in those +remote regions, isolated from the strong arm of the law. Our road led +down and around the mountain-side, which on our right was a barren, +rocky waste, sloping gradually up from the inner curve of the arc we +were describing. From this direction arose a low wailing sound, and a +little farther on we came in view of a dismal group of men, women, and +mules. In the center of the gathering lay the lifeless remains of a +father and his two sons; seated upon the ground, swaying and weeping +over their dead, were the mother and wives of the young men. A burial +party, armed with spades and picks, waited by their mules, while at a +respectful distance from the mourners stood a circle of neighbors and +passers-by, some gazing in silent sympathy, and others not hesitating to +express a quiet approval of the shocking tragedy. Between two families, +the Hoopers and the Watsons, a bitter feud had long existed, and from +time to time men of each clan had fallen by the rifles of the other. The +Hoopers were loyal Union men, and if the Watsons yielded any loyalty it +was to the State of North Carolina. On one occasion shortly before the +final tragedy, when one of the young Hoopers was sitting quietly in his +door, a light puff of smoke rose from the bushes and a rifle-ball plowed +through his leg. The Hoopers resolved to begin the new year by wiping +out their enemies, root and branch. Before light they had surrounded the +log cabin of the Watsons and secured all the male inmates, except one +who, wounded, escaped through a window. The latter afterward executed a +singular revenge by killing and skinning the dog of his enemies and +elevating the carcass on a pole in front of their house. + +[Illustration: THE ESCAPE OF HEADEN.] + +After a brief stay at Quallatown we set out for Asheville, leaving +behind our old and friendly guard. Besides the soldiers who now had us +in charge, a Cherokee Indian was allotted to each prisoner, with +instructions to keep his man constantly in view. To travel with an armed +Indian, sullen and silent, trotting at your heels like a dog, with very +explicit instructions to blow out your brains at the first attempt to +escape, is neither cheerful nor ornamental, and we were a sorry-looking +party plodding silently along the road. Detachments of prisoners were +frequently passed over this route, and regular stopping-places were +established for the nights. It was growing dusk when we arrived at the +first cantonment, which was the wing of a great barren farm-house owned +by Colonel Bryson. The place was already occupied by a party of +refugees, and we were directed to a barn in the field beyond. We had +brought with us uncooked rations, and while two of the soldiers went +into the house for cooking utensils, the rest of the party, including +the Indians, were leaning in a line upon the door-yard fence; Sill and +Lamson were at the end of the line, where the fence cornered with a +hedge. Presently the two soldiers reappeared, one of them with an iron +pot in which to cook our meat, and the other swinging in his hand a +burning brand. In the wake of these guides we followed down to the barn, +and had already started a fire when word came from the house that for +fear of rain we had best return to the corn-barn. It was not until we +were again in the road that I noticed the absence of Sill and Lamson. I +hastened to Smith and confided the good news. The fugitives were missed +almost simultaneously by the guards, who first beat up the vicinity of +the barn, and then, after securing the remainder of us in a corn-crib, +sent out the Indians in pursuit. Faithful dogs, as these Cherokees had +shown themselves during the day, they proved but poor hunters when the +game was in the bush, and soon returned, giving over the chase. Half an +hour later they were all back in camp, baking their hoe-cake in genuine +aboriginal fashion, flattened on the surface of a board and inclined to +the heat of the fire.[19] + +[Footnote 19: Sill and Lamson reached Loudon, Tennessee, in February. A +few days after their escape from the Indian guard they arrived at the +house of "Shooting John Brown," who confided them to the care of the +young Hoopers and a party of their outlying companions. From a rocky +cliff overlooking the valley of the Tuckasegee they could look down on +the river roads dotted with the sheriff's posse in pursuit of the +Hoopers. So near were they that they could distinguish a relative of the +Watsons leading the sheriff's party. One of the Hooper boys, with +characteristic recklessness and to the consternation of the others, +stood boldly out on a great rock in plain sight of his pursuers (if they +had chanced to look up), half resolved to try his rifle at the last of +the Watsons.] + +That I was eager to follow goes without saying, but our keepers had +learned our slippery character. All the way to Asheville, day and night, +we were watched with sleepless vigilance. There we gave our parole, +Smith and I, and secured thereby comfortable quarters in the court-house +with freedom to stroll about the town. Old Man Tigue and the Vincents +were committed to the county jail. We were there a week, part of my +spare time being employed in helping a Confederate company officer make +out a correct pay-roll. + +When our diminished ranks had been recruited by four more officers from +Columbia, who had been captured near the frozen summit of the Great +Smoky Mountains, we were started on a journey of sixty miles to +Greenville in South Carolina. The night before our arrival we were +quartered at a large farm-house. The prisoners, together with the +privates of the guard, were allotted a comfortable room, which +contained, however, but a single bed. The officer in charge had retired +to enjoy the hospitality of the family. A flock of enormous white +pullets were roosting in the yard. Procuring an iron kettle from the +servants, who looked with grinning approval upon all forms of chicken +stealing, we sallied forth to the capture. Twisting the precious necks +of half a dozen, we left them to die in the grass while we pierced the +side of a sweet-potato mound. Loaded with our booty we retreated to the +house undiscovered, and spent the night in cooking in one pot instead of +sleeping in one bed. The fowls were skinned instead of plucked, and, +vandals that we were, dressed on the backs of the picture-frames taken +down from the walls. + +At Greenville we were lodged in the county jail to await the +reconstruction of railway-bridges, when we were to be transported to +Columbia. The jail was a stone structure, two stories in height, with +halls through the center on both floors and square rooms on each side. +The lock was turned on our little party of six in one of these upper +rooms, having two grated windows looking down on the walk. Through the +door which opened on the hall a square hole was cut as high as one's +face and large enough to admit the passage of a plate. Aside from the +rigor of our confinement we were treated with marked kindness. We had +scarcely walked about our dungeon before the jailer's daughters were at +the door with their autograph albums. In a few days we were playing +draughts and reading Bulwer, while the girls, without, were preparing +our food and knitting for us warm new stockings. Notwithstanding all +these attentions, we were ungratefully discontented. At the end of the +first week we were joined by seven enlisted men, Ohio boys, who like +ourselves had been found at large in the mountains. From one of these +new arrivals we procured a case-knife and a gun screw-driver. Down on +the hearth before the fire the screw-driver was placed on the thick edge +of the knife and belabored with a beef bone until a few inches of its +back were converted into a rude saw. The grate in the window was formed +of cast-iron bars, passing perpendicularly through wrought-iron plates, +bedded in the stone jambs. If one of these perpendicular bars, an inch +and a half square, could be cut through, the plates might be easily bent +so as to permit the egress of a man. With this end in view we cautiously +began operations. Outside of the bars a piece of carpet had been +stretched to keep out the raw wind, and behind this we worked with +safety. An hour's toil produced but a few feathery filings on the +horizontal plate, but many hands make light work, and steadily the cut +grew deeper. We recalled the adventures of Claude Duval, Dick Turpin, +and Sixteen-string Jack, and sawed away. During the available hours of +three days and throughout one entire night the blade of steel was +worrying, rasping, eating the iron bar. At last the grosser yielded to +the temper and persistence of the finer metal. It was Saturday night +when the toilsome cut was completed, and preparations were already under +way for a speedy departure. The jail had always been regarded as too +secure to require a military guard, although soldiers were quartered in +the town; besides, the night was so cold that a crust had formed on the +snow, and both citizens and soldiers, unused to such extreme weather +would be likely to remain indoors. For greater secrecy of movement, we +divided into small parties, aiming to traverse different roads. I was to +go with my former companion, Captain Smith. Lots were cast to determine +the order of our going. First exit was allotted to four of the Ohio +soldiers. Made fast to the grating outside were a bit of rope and strip +of blanket, along which to descend. Our room was immediately over that +of the jailer and his sleeping family, and beneath our opening was a +window, which each man must pass in his descent. At eleven o'clock the +exodus began. The first man was passed through the bars amid a +suppressed buzz of whispered cautions. His boots were handed after him +in a haversack. The rest of us, pressing our faces to the frosty +grating, listened breathlessly for the success of the movement we could +no longer see. Suddenly there was a crash, and in the midst of +mutterings of anger we snatched in the rag ladder and restored the piece +of carpeting to its place outside the bars. Our pioneer had hurt his +hand against the rough stones, and, floundering in mid-air, had dashed +his leg through sash and glass of the window below. We could see nothing +of his further movements, but soon discovered the jailer standing in the +door, looking up and down the street, seemingly in the dark as to where +the crash came from. At last, wearied and worried and disappointed, we +lay down in our blankets upon the hard floor. + +[Illustration: GREENVILLE JAIL.] + +At daylight we were awakened by the voice of Miss Emma at the hole in +the door. "Who got out last night?" "Welty." "Well, you was fools you +didn't all go; pap wouldn't 'a' stopped you. If you'll keep the break +concealed until night we'll let you all out." The secret of the extreme +kindness of our keepers was explained. The jailer, a loyalist, retained +his position as a civil detail, thus protecting himself and sons from +conscription. Welty had been taken in the night before, his bruises had +been anointed, and he had been provisioned for the journey. + +We spent the day repairing our clothing and preparing for the road. My +long-heeled cowhides, "wife's shoes," for which I had exchanged a +uniform waistcoat with a cotton-wooled old darky on the banks of the +Saluda, were about parting soles from uppers, and I kept the twain +together by winding my feet with stout cords. At supper an extra ration +was given us. As soon as it was dark the old jailer appeared among us +and gave us a minute description of the different roads leading west +into the mountains, warning us of certain dangers. At eleven o'clock +Miss Emma came with the great keys, and we followed her, in single file, +down the stairs and out into the back yard of the jail. From the broken +gratings in front, the bit of rope and strip of blanket were left +dangling in the wind. + +We made short work of leave-taking, Captain Smith and I separating +immediately from the rest, and pushing hurriedly out of the sleeping +town, by back streets, into the bitter cold of the country roads. We +stopped once to warm at the pits of some negro charcoal-burners, and +before day dawned had traveled sixteen miles. We found a sheltered nook +on the side of the mountain open to the sun, where we made a bed of dry +leaves and remained for the day. At night we set out again, due west by +the stars, but before we had gone far my companion, who claimed to know +something of the country, insisted upon going to the left, and within a +mile turned into another left-hand road. I protested, claiming that this +course was leading us back. While we were yet contending, we came to a +bridgeless creek whose dark waters barred our progress, and at the same +moment, as if induced by the thought of the fording, the captain was +seized with rheumatic pains in his knees, so that he walked with +difficulty. We had just passed a house where lights were still showing, +and to this we decided to return, hoping at least to find shelter for +Smith. Leaving him at the gate, I went to a side porch and knocked at +the door, which was opened by a woman who proved to be friendly to our +cause, her husband being in the rebel army much against his will. We +were soon seated to the right and left of her fireplace. Blazing +pine-knots brilliantly lighted the room, and a number of beds lined the +walls. A trundle-bed before the fire was occupied by a very old woman, +who was feebly moaning with rheumatism. Our hostess shouted into the old +lady's ear, "Granny, them's Yankees." "Be they!" said she, peering at us +with her poor old eyes. "Be ye sellin' tablecloths?" When it was +explained that we were just from the war, she demanded, in an absent +way, to know if we were Britishers. We slept in one of the comfortable +beds, and, as a measure of prudence, passed the day in the woods, +leaving at nightfall with well-filled haversacks. Captain Smith was +again the victim of his rheumatism, and directing me to his friends at +Caesar's Head, where I was to wait for him until Monday (it then being +Tuesday), he returned to the house, little thinking that we were +separating forever. + +I traveled very rapidly all night, hoping to make the whole distance, +but day was breaking when I reached the head waters of the Saluda. +Following up the stream, I found a dam on which I crossed, and although +the sun was rising and the voices of children mingled with the lowing of +cattle in the frosty air, I ran across the fields and gained a secure +hiding-place on the side of the mountain. It was a long, solitary day, +and glad was I when it grew sufficiently dark to turn the little +settlement and get into the main road up the mountain. It was six zigzag +miles to the top, the road turning on log abutments, well anchored with +stones, and not a habitation on the way until I should reach Bishop's +house, on the crest of the divide. Half-way up I paused before a big +summer hotel, looming up in the woods like the ghost of a deserted +factory, its broken windows and rotting gateways redoubling the solitude +of the bleak mountain-side. Shortly before reaching Bishop's, "wife's +shoes" became quite unmanageable. One had climbed up my leg half-way to +the knee, and I knocked at the door with the wreck of the other in my +hand. My visit had been preceded but a day by a squad of partizan +raiders, who had carried away the bedding and driven off the cattle of +my new friends, and for this reason the most generous hospitality could +offer no better couch than the hard floor. Stretched thereon in close +proximity to the dying fire, the cold air coming up through the wide +cracks between the hewn planks seemed to be cutting me in sections as +with icy saws, so that I was forced to establish myself lengthwise on a +broad puncheon at the side of the room and under the table. + +In this family "the gray mare was the better horse," and poor Bishop, an +inoffensive man, and a cripple withal, was wedded to a regular Xantippe. +It was evident that unpleasant thoughts were dominant in the woman's +mind as she proceeded sullenly and vigorously with preparations for +breakfast. The bitter bread of charity was being prepared with a +vengeance for the unwelcome guest. Premonitions of the coming storm +flashed now and then in lightning cuffs on the ears of the children, or +crashed venomously among the pottery in the fireplace. At last the +repast was spread, the table still standing against the wall, as is the +custom among mountain housewives. The good-natured husband now advanced +cheerfully to lend a hand in removing it into the middle of the room. It +was when one of the table-legs overturned the swill-pail that the long +pent-up storm burst in a torrent of invective. The prospect of spending +several days here was a very gloomy outlook, and the relief was great +when it was proposed to pay a visit to Neighbor Case, whose house was in +the nearest valley, and with whose sons Captain Smith had lain in +concealment for some weeks on a former visit to the mountains. I was +curious to see his sons, who were famous outliers. From safe cover they +delighted to pick off a recruiting officer or a tax-in-kind collector, +or tumble out of their saddles the last drivers of a wagon-train. These +lively young men had been in unusual demand of late, and their +hiding-place was not known even to the faithful, so I was condemned to +the society of an outlier of a less picturesque variety. Pink Bishop was +a blacksmith, and just the man to forge me a set of shoes from the +leather Neighbor Case had already provided. The little still-shed, +concealed from the road only by a low hill, was considered an unsafe +harbor, on account of a fresh fall of snow with its sensibility to +tell-tale impressions. So, we set up our shoe-factory in a deserted +cabin, well back on the mountain and just astride of that imaginary line +which divides the Carolinas. From the fireplace we dug away the +corn-stalks, heaping the displaced bundles against broken windows and +windy cracks, and otherwise secured our retreat against frost and +enemies. Then ensued three days of primitive shoemaking. As may be +inferred, the shoes made no pretension to style. I sewed the short seams +at the sides, and split the pegs from a section of seasoned maple. +Rudely constructed as these shoes were, they bore their wearer +triumphantly into the promised land. + +[Illustration: PINK BISHOP AT THE STILL.] + +I restrained my eagerness to be going until Monday night, the time +agreed upon, when, my disabled companion not putting in an appearance, I +set out for my old friend's in Casher's Valley. I got safety over a long +wooden bridge within half a mile of a garrisoned town. I left the road, +and turned, as I believed, away from the town; but I was absolutely lost +in the darkness of a snow-storm, and forced to seek counsel as well as +shelter. In this plight I pressed on toward a light glimmering faintly +through the blinding snow. It led me into the shelter of the porch to a +small brown house, cut deeply beneath the low eaves, and protected at +the sides by flanking bedrooms. My knock was answered by a girlish +voice, and from the ensuing parley, through the closed door, I learned +that she was the daughter of a Baptist exhorter, and that she was alone +in the house, her brother being away at the village, and her father, who +preached the day before at some distance, not being expected home until +the next morning. Reassured by my civil-toned inquiries about the road, +she unfastened the door and came out to the porch, where she proceeded +to instruct me how to go on, which was just the thing I least desired to +do. By this time I had discovered the political complexion of the +family, and, making myself known, was instantly invited in, with the +assurance that her father would be gravely displeased if she permitted +me to go on before he returned. I had interrupted my little benefactress +in the act of writing a letter, on a sheet of foolscap which lay on an +old-fashioned stand in one corner of the room, beside the ink-bottle and +the candlestick. In the diagonal corner stood a tall bookcase, the +crowded volumes nestling lovingly behind the glass doors--the only +collection of the sort that I saw at any time in the mountains. A +feather-bed was spread upon the floor, the head raised by means of a +turned-down chair, and here I was reposing comfortably when the brother +arrived. It was late in the forenoon when the minister reached home, his +rickety wagon creaking through the snow, and drawn at a snail's pace by +a long-furred, knock-kneed horse. The tall but not very clerical figure +was wrapped in a shawl and swathed round the throat with many turns of a +woolen tippet. The daughter ran out with eagerness to greet her father +and tell of the wonderful arrival. I was received with genuine delight. +It was the enthusiasm of a patriot eager to find a sympathetic ear for +his long-repressed views.[20] + +[Footnote 20: The Rev. James H. Duckworth, now postmaster of Brevard, +Transylvania County, North Carolina, and in 1868 member of the State +Constitutional Convention, in his letter of June 24, 1890, says: "I have +not forgotten those things of which you speak. I can almost see you +(even in imagination) standing at the fire when I drove up to the gate +and went into the house and asked you, 'Have I ever seen you before?' +Just then I observed your uniform. 'Oh, yes,' said I; 'I know who it is +now.' ... This daughter of whom you speak married about a year after, +and is living in Morgantown, North Carolina, about one hundred miles +from here. Hattie (for that is her name) is a pious, religious woman."] + +[Illustration: ARRIVAL HOME OF THE BAPTIST MINISTER.] + +When night came and no entreaties could prevail to detain me over +another day, the minister conducted me some distance in person, passing +me on with ample directions to another exhorter, who was located for +that night at the house of a miller who kept a ferocious dog. I came +first to the pond and then to the mill, and got into the house without +encountering the dog. Aware of the necessity of arriving before bedtime, +I had made such speed as to find the miller's family still lingering +about the fireplace with preacher number two seated in the lay circle. +That night I slept with the parson, who sat up in bed in the morning, +and after disencumbering himself of a striped extinguisher nightcap, +electrified the other sleepers by announcing that this was the first +time he had ever slept with a Yankee. After breakfast the parson, armed +with staff and scrip, signified his purpose to walk with me during the +day, as it was no longer dangerous to move by daylight. We must have +been traveling the regular Baptist road, for we lodged that night at the +house of another lay brother. The minister continued with me a few miles +in the morning, intending to put me in the company of a man who was +going toward Casher's Valley on a hunting expedition. When we reached +his house, however, the hunter had gone; so, after parting with my +guide, I set forward through the woods, following the tracks of the +hunter's horse. The shoe-prints were sometimes plainly impressed in the +snow, and again for long distances over dry leaves and bare ground but +an occasional trace could be found. It was past noon when I arrived at +the house where the hunters were assembled. Quite a number of men were +gathered in and about the porch, just returned from the chase. Blinded +by the snow over which I had been walking in the glare of the sun, I +blundered up the steps, inquiring without much tact for the rider who +had preceded me, and was no little alarmed at receiving a rude and gruff +reception. I continued in suspense for some time, until my man found an +opportunity to inform me that there were suspicious persons present, +thus accounting for his unexpected manner. The explanation was made at a +combination meal, serving for both dinner and supper, and consisting +exclusively of beans. I set out at twilight to make a walk of thirteen +miles to the house of our old friend Esquire Hooper. Eager for the +cordial welcome which I knew awaited me, and nerved by the frosty air, I +sped over the level wood road, much of the way running instead of +walking. Three times I came upon bends of the same broad rivulet. Taking +off my shoes and stockings and rolling up my trousers above my knees, I +tried the first passage. Flakes of broken ice were eddying against the +banks, and before gaining the middle of the stream my feet and ankles +ached with the cold, the sharp pain increasing at every step until I +threw my blanket on the opposite bank and springing upon it wrapped my +feet in its dry folds. Rising a little knoll soon after making the third +ford, I came suddenly upon the familiar stopping-place of my former +journey. It was scarcely more than nine o'clock, and the little +hardships of the journey from Caesar's Head seemed but a cheap outlay for +the joy of the meeting with friends so interested in the varied fortunes +of myself and my late companions. Together we rejoiced at the escape of +Sill and Lamson, and made merry over the vicissitudes of my checkered +career. Here I first learned of the safe arrival in Tennessee of Knapp, +Man Heady, and old Tom Handcock. + +After a day's rest I climbed the mountains to the Headen cabin, now +presided over by the heroine of the heifer-bell, in the absence of her +fugitive husband. Saddling her horse, she took me the next evening to +join a lad who was about starting for Shooting Creek. Young Green was +awaiting my arrival, and after a brief delay we were off on a journey of +something like sixty miles; the journey, however, was pushed to a +successful termination by the help of information gleaned by the way. It +was at the close of the last night's march, which had been long and +uneventful, except that we had surmounted no fewer than three +snow-capped ridges, that my blacksmith's shoes, soaked to a pulp by the +wet snow, gave out altogether. On the top of the last ridge I found +myself panting in the yellow light of the rising sun, the sad wrecks of +my two shoes dangling from my hands, a wilderness of beauty spread out +before me, and a sparkling field of frosty forms beneath my tingling +feet. Stretching far into the west toward the open country of East +Tennessee was the limitless wilderness of mountains, drawn like mighty +furrows across the toilsome way, the pale blue of the uttermost ridges +fading into an imperceptible union with the sky. A log house was in +sight down in the valley, a perpendicular column of smoke rising from +its single chimney. Toward this we picked our way, I in my stocking +feet, and my boy guide confidently predicting that we should find the +required cobbler. Of course we found him in a country where every family +makes its own shoes as much as its own bread, and he was ready to serve +the traveler without pay. Notwithstanding our night's work, we tarried +only for the necessary repairs, and just before sunset we looked down +upon the scattering settlement of Shooting Creek. Standing on the bleak +brow of "Chunky Gall" Mountain, my guide recognized the first familiar +object on the trip, which was the roof of his uncle's house. At Shooting +Creek I was the guest of the Widow Kitchen, whose house was the chief +one in the settlement, and whose estate boasted two slaves. The husband +had fallen by an anonymous bullet while salting his cattle on the +mountain in an early year of the war. + +On the day following my arrival I was conducted over a ridge to another +creek, where I met two professional guides, Quince Edmonston and Mack +Hooper. As I came upon the pair parting a thicket of laurel, with their +long rifles at a shoulder, I instantly recognized the coat of the latter +as the snuff-colored sack in which I had last seen Lieutenant Lamson. It +had been given to the man at Chattanooga, where these same guides had +conducted my former companions in safety a month before. Quince +Edmonston, the elder, had led numerous parties of Yankee officers over +the Wacheesa trail for a consideration of a hundred dollars, pledged to +be paid by each officer at Chattanooga or Nashville. + +[Illustration: SURPRISED AT MRS. KITCHEN'S.] + +Two other officers were concealed near by, and a number of refugees, +awaiting a convoy, and an arrangement was rapidly made with the guides. +The swollen condition of the Valley River made it necessary to remain +for several days at Shooting Creek before setting out. Mack and I were +staying at the house of Mrs. Kitchen. It was on the afternoon of a +memorable Friday, the rain still falling in torrents without, that I +sat before the fire poring over a small Sunday-school book,--the only +printed book in the house, if not in the settlement. Mack Hooper was +sitting by the door. Attracted by a rustling sound in his direction, I +looked up just in time to see his heels disappearing under the nearest +bed. Leaping to my feet with an instinctive impulse to do likewise, I +was confronted in the doorway by a stalwart Confederate officer fully +uniformed and armed. Behind him was his quartermaster-sergeant. This was +a government party collecting the tax in kind, which at that time +throughout the Confederacy was the tenth part of all crops and other +farm productions. It was an ugly surprise. Seeing no escape, I ventured +a remark on the weather: only a stare in reply. A plan of escape flashed +through my mind like an inspiration. I seated myself quietly, and for an +instant bent my eyes upon the printed pages. The two soldiers had +advanced to the corner of the chimney nearest the door, inquiring for +the head of the family, and keeping their eyes riveted on my hostile +uniform. At this juncture I was seized with a severe fit of coughing. +With one hand upon my chest, I walked slowly past the men, and laid my +carefully opened book face down upon a chest. With another step or two I +was in the porch, and bounding into the kitchen I sprang out through a +window already opened by the women for my exit. Away I sped bareheaded +through the pelting rain, now crashing through thick underbrush, now up +to my waist in swollen streams, plunging on and on, only mindful to +select a course that would baffle horsemen in pursuit. After some miles +of running I took cover behind a stack, within view of the road which +Mack must take in retreating to the other settlement; and sure enough +here he was, coming down the road with my cap and haversack, which was +already loaded for the western journey. Mack had remained undiscovered +under the bed, an interested listener to the conversation that ensued. +The officer had been assured that I was a friendly scout; but, convinced +of the contrary by my flight, he had departed swearing he would capture +that Yankee before morning if he had to search the whole settlement. So +alarmed were we for our safety that we crossed that night into a third +valley and slept in the loft of a horse-barn. + +On Sunday our expedition assembled on a hillside overlooking Shooting +Creek, where our friends in the secret of the movement came up to bid us +adieu. With guides we were a party of thirteen or fourteen, but only +three of us officers who were to pay for our safe conduct. Each man +carried his supply of bread and meat and bedding. Some were wrapped in +faded bed-quilts and some in tattered army blankets; nearly all wore +ragged clothes, broken shoes, and had unkempt beards. We arrived upon a +mountain-side overlooking the settlement of Peach Tree, and were +awaiting the friendly shades of night under which to descend to the +house of the man who was to put us across Valley River. Premature +darkness was accompanied with torrents of rain, through which we +followed our now uncertain guides. At last the light of the cabin we +were seeking gleamed humidly through the trees. Most of the family fled +into the outhouses at our approach, some of them not reappearing until +we were disposed for sleep in a half-circle before the fire. The last +arrivals were two tall women in homespun dresses and calico sunbonnets. +They slid timidly in at the door, with averted faces, and then with a +rush and a bounce covered themselves out of sight in a bed, where they +had probably been sleeping in the same clothing when we approached the +house. Here we learned that a cavalcade of four hundred Texan Rangers +had advanced into Tennessee by the roads on the day before. Our guides, +familiar with the movements of these dreaded troopers, calculated that +with the day's delay enforced by the state of the river a blow would +have been struck and the marauders would be in full retreat before we +should arrive on the ground. We passed that day concealed in a stable, +and as soon as it was sufficiently dark we proceeded in a body to the +bank of the river, attended by a man and a horse. The stream was narrow, +but the current was full and swift. The horse breasted the flood with +difficulty, but he bore us all across one at a time, seated behind the +farmer. + +We had now left behind us the last settlement, and before us lay only +wild and uninhabited mountains. The trail we traveled was an Indian path +extending for nearly seventy miles through an uninhabited wilderness. +Instead of crossing the ridges it follows the trend of the range, +winding for the most part along the crests of the divides. The +occasional traveler, having once mounted to its level, pursues his +solitary way with little climbing. + +Early in the morning of the fourth day our little party was assembled +upon the last mountain overlooking the open country of East Tennessee. +Some of us had been wandering in the mountains for the whole winter. We +were returning to a half-forgotten world of farms and fences, roads and +railways. Below us stretched the Tellico River away toward the line of +towns marking the course of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. One +of the guides who had ventured down to the nearest house returned with +information that the four hundred Texan Rangers had burned the depot at +Philadelphia Station the day before, but were now thought to be out of +the country. We could see the distant smoke arising from the ruins. +Where the river flowed out of the mountains were extensive iron-works, +the property of a loyal citizen, and in front of his house we halted for +consultation. He regretted that we had shown ourselves so soon, as the +rear-guard of the marauders had passed the night within sight of where +we now stood. Our nearest pickets were at Loudon, thirty miles distant +on the railway, and for this station we were advised to make all speed. + +[Illustration: THE MEETING WITH THE SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY.] + +For half a mile the road ran along the bank of the river, and then +turned around a wooded bluff to the right. Opposite this bluff and +accessible by a shallow ford was another hill, where it was feared that +some of the Rangers were still lingering about their camp. As we came to +the turn in the road our company was walking rapidly in Indian file, +guide Edmonston and I at the front. Coming around the bluff from the +opposite direction was a countryman mounted on a powerful gray mare. His +overcoat was army blue, but he wore a bristling fur cap, and his rifle +was slung on his back. At sight of us he turned in his saddle to shout +to some one behind, and bringing his gun to bear came tearing and +swearing down the road, spattering the gravel under the big hoofs of the +gray. Close at his heels rode two officers in Confederate gray uniforms, +and a motley crowd of riders closed up the road behind. In an instant +the guide and I were surrounded, the whole cavalcade leveling their guns +at the thicket and calling on our companions, who could be plainly heard +crashing through the bushes, to halt. The dress of but few of our +captors could be seen, nearly all being covered with rubber talmas; but +their mounts, including mules as well as horses, were equipped with +every variety of bridle and saddle to be imagined. I knew at a glance +that this was no body of our cavalry. If we were in the hands of the +Rangers, the fate of the guides and refugees would be the hardest. I +thought they might spare the lives of the officers. "Who are you? What +are you doing here?" demanded the commander, riding up to us and +scrutinizing our rags. I hesitated a moment, and then, throwing off the +blanket I wore over my shoulders, simply said, "You can see what I am." +My rags were the rags of a uniform, and spoke for themselves. + +Our captors proved to be a company of the 2d Ohio Heavy Artillery, in +pursuit of the marauders into whose clutches we thought we had fallen. +The farmer on the gray mare was the guide of the expedition, and the two +men uniformed as rebel officers were Union scouts. The irregular +equipment of the animals, which had excited my suspicion most, as well +as the animals themselves, had been hastily impressed from the country +about the village of Loudon, where the 2d Ohio was stationed. On the +following evening, which was the 4th of March, the day of the second +inauguration of President Lincoln, we walked into Loudon and gladly +surrendered ourselves to the outposts of the Ohio Heavy Artillery. + + + + +ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE + +BY JOHN TAYLOR WOOD + + +As one of the aides of President Jefferson Davis, I left Richmond with +him and his cabinet on April 2, 1865, the night of evacuation, and +accompanied him through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, until his +capture. Except Lieutenant Barnwell, I was the only one of the party who +escaped. After our surprise, I was guarded by a trooper, a German, who +had appropriated my horse and most of my belongings. I determined, if +possible, to escape; but after witnessing Mr. Davis's unsuccessful +attempt, I was doubtful of success. However, I consulted him, and he +advised me to try. Taking my guard aside, I asked him, by signs (for he +could speak little or no English), to accompany me outside the +picket-line to the swamp, showing him at the same time a twenty-dollar +gold piece. He took it, tried the weight of it in his hands, and put it +between his teeth. Fully satisfied that it was not spurious, he escorted +me with his carbine to the stream, the banks of which were lined with a +few straggling alder-bushes and thick saw-grass. I motioned him to +return to camp, only a few rods distant. He shook his head, saying, +"_Nein, nein_." I gave him another twenty-dollar gold piece; he chinked +them together, and held up two fingers. I turned my pockets inside out, +and then, satisfied that I had no more, he left me. + +Creeping a little farther into the swamp, I lay concealed for about +three hours in the most painful position, sometimes moving a few yards +almost _ventre a terre_ to escape notice; for I was within hearing of +the camps on each side of the stream, and often when the soldiers came +down for water, or to water their horses, I was within a few yards of +them. Some two hours or more passed thus before the party moved. The +wagons left first, then the bugles sounded, and the president started on +one of his carriage-horses, followed by his staff and a squadron of the +enemy. Shortly after their departure I saw some one leading two +abandoned horses into the swamp, and recognized Lieutenant Barnwell of +our escort. Secreting the horses, we picked up from the debris of the +camp parts of two saddles and bridles, and with some patching and tying +fitted out our horses, as sad and war-worn animals as ever man bestrode. +Though hungry and tired, we gave the remains of the camp provisions to a +Mr. Fenn for dinner. He recommended us to Widow Paulk's, ten miles +distant, an old lady rich in cattle alone. + +The day after my escape, I met Judah P. Benjamin as M. Bonfals, a French +gentleman traveling for information, in a light wagon, with Colonel +Leovie, who acted as interpreter. With goggles on, his beard grown, a +hat well over his face, and a large cloak hiding his figure, no one +would have recognized him as the late secretary of state of the +Confederacy. I told him of the capture of Mr. Davis and his party, and +made an engagement to meet him near Madison, Florida, and there decide +upon our future movements. He was anxious to push on, and left us to +follow more leisurely, passing as paroled soldiers returning home. For +the next three days we traveled as fast as our poor horses would permit, +leading or driving them; for even if they had been strong enough, their +backs were in such a condition that we could not ride. We held on to +them simply in the hope that we might be able to dispose of them or +exchange them to advantage; but we finally were forced to abandon one. + +On the 13th we passed through Valdosta, the first place since leaving +Washington, in upper Georgia, in which we were able to purchase +anything. Here I secured two hickory shirts and a pair of socks, a most +welcome addition to my outfit; for, except what I stood in, I had left +all my baggage behind. Near Valdosta we found Mr. Osborne Barnwell, an +uncle of my young friend, a refugee from the coast of South Carolina, +where he had lost a beautiful estate, surrounded with all the comforts +and elegances which wealth and a refined taste could offer. Here in the +pine forests, as far as possible from the paths of war, and almost +outside of civilization, he had brought his family of ladies and +children, and with the aid of his servants, most of whom had followed +him, had built with a few tools a rough log cabin with six or eight +rooms, but without nails, screws, bolts, or glass--almost as primitive a +building as Robinson Crusoe's. But, in spite of all drawbacks, the +ingenuity and deft hands of the ladies had given to the premises an air +of comfort and refinement that was most refreshing. Here I rested two +days, enjoying the company of this charming family, with whom Lieutenant +Barnwell remained. On the 15th I crossed into Florida, and rode to +General Finnegan's, near Madison. Here I met General Breckinridge, the +late secretary of war of the Confederacy, alias Colonel Cabell, and his +aide, Colonel Wilson,--a pleasant encounter for both parties. Mr. +Benjamin had been in the neighborhood, but, hearing that the enemy were +in Madison, had gone off at a tangent. We were fully posted as to the +different routes to the seaboard by General Finnegan, and discussed with +him the most feasible way of leaving the country. I inclined to the +eastern coast, and this was decided on. I exchanged my remaining horse +with General Finnegan for a better, giving him fifty dollars to boot. +Leaving Madison, we crossed the Suwanee River at Moody's Ferry, and took +the old St. Augustine road, but seldom traveled in late years, as it +leads through a pine wilderness, and there is one stretch of twenty +miles with only water of bad quality, at the Diable Sinks. I rode out of +my way some fifteen miles to Mr. Yulee's, formerly senator of the United +States, and afterward Confederate senator, hoping to meet Mr. Benjamin; +but he was too wily to be found at the house of a friend. Mr. Yulee was +absent on my arrival, but Mrs. Yulee, a charming lady, and one of a +noted family of beautiful women, welcomed me heartily. Mr. Yulee +returned during the night from Jacksonville, and gave me the first news +of what was going on in the world that I had had for nearly a month, +including the information that Mr. Davis and party had reached Hilton +Head on their way north. + +Another day's ride brought us to the house of the brothers William and +Samuel Owens, two wealthy and hospitable gentlemen, near Orange Lake. +Here I rejoined General Breckinridge, and we were advised to secure the +services and experience of Captain Dickinson. We sent to Waldo for him, +and a most valuable friend he proved. During the war he had rendered +notable services; among others he had surprised and captured the United +States gunboat _Columbine_ on the St. John's River, one of whose small +boats he had retained, and kept concealed near the banks of the river. +This boat with two of his best men he now put at our disposal, with +orders to meet us on the upper St. John. + +We now passed through a much more interesting country than the two or +three hundred miles of pines we had just traversed. It was better +watered, the forests were more diversified with varied species, +occasionally thickets or hummocks were met with, and later these gave +place to swamps and everglades with a tropical vegetation. The road led +by Silver Spring, the clear and crystal waters of which show at the +depth of hundreds of feet almost as distinctly as though seen through +air. + +We traveled incognito, known only to good friends, who sent us stage by +stage from one to another, and by all we were welcomed most kindly. +Besides those mentioned, I recall with gratitude the names of Judge +Dawkins, Mr. Mann, Colonel Summers, Major Stork, all of whom overwhelmed +us with kindness, offering us of everything they had. Of money they were +as bare as ourselves, for Confederate currency had disappeared as +suddenly as snow before a warm sun, and greenbacks were as yet unknown. +Before leaving our friends, we laid in a three weeks' supply of stores; +for we could not depend upon obtaining any further south. + +On May 25 we struck the St. John's River at Fort Butler, opposite +Volusia, where we met Russell and O'Toole, two of Dickinson's command, +in charge of the boat; and two most valuable and trustworthy comrades +they proved to be, either in camp or in the boat, as hunters or +fishermen. The boat was a man-of-war's small four-oared gig; her outfit +was scanty, but what was necessary we rapidly improvised. Here General +Breckinridge and I gave our horses to our companions, and thus ended my +long ride of a thousand miles from Virginia. + +Stowing our supplies away, we bade good-by to our friends, and started +up the river with a fair wind. Our party consisted of General +Breckinridge; his aide, Colonel Wilson of Kentucky; the general's +servant, Tom, who had been with him all through the war; besides +Russell, O'Toole, and I,--six in all. With our stores, arms, etc., it +was a tight fit to get into the boat; there was no room to lie down or +to stretch. At night we landed, and, like old campaigners, were soon +comfortable. But at midnight the rain came down in bucketfuls, and +continued till nearly morning; and, notwithstanding every effort, a +large portion of our supplies were soaked and rendered worthless, and, +what was worse, some of our powder shared the same fate. + +Morning broke on a thoroughly drenched and unhappy company; but a little +rum and water, with a corn-dodger and the rising sun, soon stirred us, +and with a fair wind we made a good day's run,--some thirty-five miles. +Except the ruins of two huts, there was no sign that a human being had +ever visited these waters; for the war and the occasional visit of a +gunboat had driven off the few settlers. The river gradually became +narrower and more tortuous as we approached its head waters. The banks +are generally low, with a few sandy elevations, thickly wooded or +swampy. Occasionally we passed a small opening, or savanna, on which +were sometimes feeding a herd of wild cattle and deer; at the latter we +had several potshots, all wide. Alligators, as immovable as the logs on +which they rested, could be counted by hundreds, and of all sizes up to +twelve or fifteen feet. Occasionally, as we passed uncomfortably near, +we could not resist, even with our scant supply of ammunition, giving +them a little cold lead between the head and shoulders, the only +vulnerable place. With a fair wind we sailed the twelve miles across +Lake Monroe, a pretty sheet of water, the deserted huts of Enterprise +and Mellonville on each side. Above the lake the river became still +narrower and more tortuous, dividing sometimes into numerous branches, +most of which proved to be mere _culs-de-sac_. The long moss, reaching +from the overhanging branches to the water, gave to the surroundings a +most weird and funereal aspect. + +On May 29 we reached Lake Harney, whence we determined to make the +portage to Indian River. O'Toole was sent to look for some means of +moving our boat. He returned next day with two small black bulls yoked +to a pair of wheels such as are used by lumbermen. Their owner was a +compound of Caucasian, African, and Indian, with the shrewdness of the +white, the good temper of the negro, and the indolence of the red man. +He was at first exorbitant in his demands; but a little money, some +tobacco, and a spare fowling-piece made him happy, and he was ready to +let us drive his beasts to the end of the peninsula. It required some +skill to mount the boat securely on the wheels and to guard against any +upsets or collisions, for our escape depended upon carrying it safely +across. + +The next morning we made an early start. Our course was an easterly one, +through a roadless, flat, sandy pine-barren, with an occasional thicket +and swamp. From the word "go" trouble with the bulls began. Their owner +seemed to think that in furnishing them he had fulfilled his part of the +contract. They would neither "gee" nor "haw"; if one started ahead, the +other would go astern. If by accident they started ahead together, they +would certainly bring up with their heads on each side of a tree. +Occasionally they would lie down in a pool to get rid of the flies, and +only by the most vigorous prodding could they be induced to move. + +Paul, the owner, would loiter in the rear, but was always on hand when +we halted for meals. Finally we told him, "No work, no grub; no drive +bulls, no tobacco." This roused him to help us. Two days were thus +occupied in covering eighteen miles. It would have been less labor to +have tied the beasts, put them into the boat, and hauled it across the +portage. The weather was intensely hot, and our time was made miserable +by day with sand-flies, and by night with mosquitos. + +The waters of Indian River were a most welcome sight, and we hoped that +most of our troubles were over. Paul and his bulls of Bashan were gladly +dismissed to the wilderness. Our first care was to make good any defects +in our boat: some leaks were stopped by a little calking and pitching. +Already our supply of provisions began to give us anxiety: only bacon +and sweet potatoes remained. The meal was wet and worthless, and, what +was worse, all our salt had dissolved. However, with the waters alive +with fish, and some game on shore, we hoped to pull through. + +We reached Indian River, or lagoon, opposite Cape Carnaveral. It extends +along nearly the entire eastern coast of Florida, varying in width from +three to six miles, and is separated from the Atlantic by a narrow sand +ridge, which is pierced at different points by shifting inlets. It is +very shoal, so much so that we were obliged to haul our boat out nearly +half a mile before she would float, and the water is teeming with +stingarees, sword-fish, crabs, etc. But once afloat, we headed to the +southward with a fair wind. + +For four days we continued to make good progress, taking advantage of +every fair wind by night as well as by day. Here, as on the St. John's +River, the same scene of desolation as far as human beings were +concerned was presented. We passed a few deserted cabins, around which +we were able to obtain a few cocoanuts and watermelons, a most welcome +addition to our slim commissariat. Unfortunately, oranges were not in +season. Whenever the breeze left us the heat was almost suffocating; +there was no escape for it. If we landed, and sought any shade, the +mosquitos would drive us at once to the glare of the sun. When sleeping +on shore, the best protection was to bury ourselves in the sand, with +cap drawn down over the head (my buckskin gauntlets proved invaluable); +if in the boat, to wrap the sail or tarpaulin around us. Besides this +plague, sand-flies, gnats, swamp-flies, ants, and other insects +abounded. The little black ant is especially bold and warlike. If, in +making our beds in the sand, we disturbed one of their hives, they would +rally in thousands to the attack, and the only safety was in a hasty +shake and change of residence. Passing Indian River inlet, the river +broadens, and there is a thirty-mile straight-away course to Gilbert's +Bar, or Old Inlet, now closed; then begin the Jupiter Narrows, where the +channel is crooked, narrow, and often almost closed by the dense growth +of mangroves, juniper, saw-grass, etc., making a jungle that only a +water-snake could penetrate. Several times we lost our reckoning, and +had to retreat and take a fresh start; an entire day was lost in these +everglades, which extend across the entire peninsula. Finally, by good +luck, we stumbled on a short "haulover" to the sea, and determined at +once to take advantage of it, and to run our boat across and launch her +in the Atlantic. A short half-mile over the sand-dunes, and we were +clear of the swamps and marshes of Indian River, and were reveling in +the Atlantic, free, at least for a time, from mosquitos, which had +punctured and bled us for the last three weeks. + +[Illustration: SAND AS A DEFENSE AGAINST MOSQUITOS.] + +On Sunday, June 4, we passed Jupiter Inlet, with nothing in sight. The +lighthouse had been destroyed the first year of the war. From this point +we had determined to cross Florida Channel to the Bahamas, about eighty +miles; but the wind was ahead, and we could do nothing but work slowly +to the southward, waiting for a slant. It was of course a desperate +venture to cross this distance in a small open boat, which even a +moderate sea would swamp. Our provisions now became a very serious +question. As I have said, we had lost all the meal, and the sweet +potatoes, our next main-stay, were sufficient only for two days more. We +had but little more ammunition than was necessary for our revolvers, and +these we might be called upon to use at any time. Very fortunately for +us, it was the time of the year when the green turtle deposits its eggs. +Russell and O'Toole were old beach-combers, and had hunted eggs before. +Sharpening a stick, they pressed it into the sand as they walked along, +and wherever it entered easily they would dig. After some hours' search +we were successful in finding a nest which had not been destroyed, and I +do not think prospectors were ever more gladdened by the sight of "the +yellow" than we were at our find. The green turtle's egg is about the +size of a walnut, with a white skin like parchment that you can tear, +but not break. The yolk will cook hard, but the longer you boil the egg +the softer the white becomes. The flavor is not unpleasant, and for the +first two days we enjoyed them; but then we were glad to vary the fare +with a few shell-fish and even with snails. + +[Illustration: SEARCHING FOR TURTLES' EGGS.] + +From Cape Carnaveral to Cape Florida the coast trends nearly north and +south in a straight line, so that we could see at a long distance +anything going up or down the shore. Some distance to the southward of +Jupiter Inlet we saw a steamer coming down, running close to the beach +to avoid the three-and four-knot current of the stream. From her yards +and general appearance I soon made her out to be a cruiser, so we hauled +our boat well up on the sands, turned it over on its side, and went back +among the palmettos. When abreast of us and not more than half a mile +off, with colors flying, we could see the officer of the deck and +others closely scanning the shore. We were in hopes they would look upon +our boat as flotsam and jetsam, of which there was more or less strewn +upon the beach. To our great relief, the cruiser passed us, and when she +was two miles or more to the southward we ventured out and approached +the boat, but the sharp lookout saw us, and, to our astonishment, the +steamer came swinging about, and headed up the coast. The question at +once arose, What was the best course to pursue? The general thought we +had better take to the bush again, and leave the boat, hoping they would +not disturb it. Colonel Wilson agreed with his chief. I told him that +since we had been seen, the enemy would certainly destroy or carry off +the boat, and the loss meant, if not starvation, at least privation, and +no hope of escaping from the country. Besides, the mosquitos would suck +us as dry as Egyptian mummies. I proposed that we should meet them +half-way, in company with Russell and O'Toole, who were paroled men, and +fortunately had their papers with them, and I offered to row off and see +what was wanted. He agreed, and, launching our boat and throwing in two +buckets of eggs, we pulled out. By this time the steamer was abreast of +us, and had lowered a boat which met us half-way. I had one oar, and +O'Toole the other. To the usual hail I paid no attention except to stop +rowing. A ten-oared cutter with a smart-looking crew dashed alongside. +The sheen was not yet off the lace and buttons of the youngster in +charge. With revolver in hand he asked us who we were, where we came +from, and where we were going. "Cap'n," said I, "please put away +that-ar pistol,--I don't like the looks of it,--and I'll tell you all +about us. We've been rebs and there ain't no use saying we weren't; but +it's all up now, and we got home too late to put in a crop, so we just +made up our minds to come down shore and see if we couldn't find +something. It's all right, Cap'n; we've got our papers. Want to see 'em? +Got 'em fixed up at Jacksonville." O'Toole and Russell handed him their +paroles, which he said were all right. He asked for mine. I turned my +pockets out, looked in my hat, and said: "I must er dropped mine in +camp, but 'tis just the same as theirn." He asked who was ashore. I told +him, "There's more of we-uns b'iling some turtle-eggs for dinner. Cap'n, +I'd like to swap some eggs for tobacco or bread." His crew soon produced +from the slack of their frocks pieces of plug, which they passed on +board in exchange for our eggs. I told the youngster if he'd come to +camp we'd give him as many as he could eat. Our hospitality was +declined. Among other questions he asked if there were any batteries on +shore--a battery on a beach where there was not a white man within a +hundred miles! "Up oars--let go forward--let fall--give 'way!" were all +familiar orders; but never before had they sounded so welcome. As they +shoved off, the coxswain said to the youngster, "That looks like a +man-of-war's gig, sir"; but he paid no attention to him. We pulled +leisurely ashore, watching the cruiser. The boat went up to the davits +at a run, and she started to the southward again. The general was very +much relieved, for it was a narrow escape. + +[Illustration: THROUGH A SHALLOW LAGOON.] + +The wind still holding to the southward and eastward, we could work +only slowly to the southward, against wind and current. At times we +suffered greatly for want of water; our usual resource was to dig for +it, but often it was so brackish and warm that when extreme thirst +forced its use the consequences were violent pains and retchings. One +morning we saw a few wigwams ashore, and pulled in at once and landed. +It was a party of Seminoles who had come out of the everglades like the +bears to gather eggs. They received us kindly, and we devoured +ravenously the remnants of their breakfast of fish and _kountee_. Only +the old chief spoke a little English. Not more than two or three hundred +of this once powerful and warlike tribe remain in Florida; they occupy +some islands in this endless swamp to the southward of Lake Okeechobee. +They have but little intercourse with the whites, and come out on the +coast only at certain seasons to fish. We were very anxious to obtain +some provisions from them, but excepting kountee they had nothing to +spare. This is an esculent resembling arrowroot, which they dig, +pulverize, and use as flour. Cooked in the ashes, it makes a palatable +but tough cake, which we enjoyed after our long abstinence from bread. +The old chief took advantage of our eagerness for supplies, and +determined to replenish his powder-horn. Nothing else would do; not even +an old coat, or fish-hooks, or a cavalry saber would tempt him. Powder +only he would have for their long, heavy small-bore rifles with +flintlocks, such as Davy Crockett used. We reluctantly divided with him +our very scant supply in exchange for some of their flour. We parted +good friends, after smoking the pipe of peace. + +[Illustration: EXCHANGING THE BOAT FOR THE SLOOP.] + +On the 7th, off New River Inlet, we discovered a small sail standing to +the northward. The breeze was very light, so we downed our sail, got out +our oars, and gave chase. The stranger stood out to seaward, and +endeavored to escape; but slowly we overhauled her, and finally a shot +caused her mainsail to drop. As we pulled alongside I saw from the dress +of the crew of three that they were man-of-war's men, and divined that +they were deserters. They were thoroughly frightened at first, for our +appearance was not calculated to impress them favorably. To our +questions they returned evasive answers or were silent, and finally +asked by what authority we had overhauled them. We told them that the +war was not over so far as we were concerned; that they were our +prisoners, and their boat our prize; that they were both deserters and +pirates, the punishment of which was death; but that under the +circumstances we would not surrender them to the first cruiser we met, +but would take their paroles and exchange boats. To this they +strenuously objected. They were well armed, and although we outnumbered +them five to three (not counting Tom), still, if they could get the +first bead on us the chances were about equal. They were desperate, and +not disposed to surrender their boat without a tussle. The general and I +stepped into their boat, and ordered the spokesman and leader to go +forward. He hesitated a moment, and two revolvers looked him in the +face. Sullenly he obeyed our orders. The general said, "Wilson, disarm +that man." The colonel, with pistol in hand, told him to hold up his +hands. He did so while the colonel drew from his belt a navy revolver +and a sheath-knife. The other two made no further show of resistance, +but handed us their arms. The crew disposed of, I made an examination of +our capture. Unfortunately, her supply of provisions was very +small--only some "salt-horse" and hardtack, with a breaker of fresh +water, and we exchanged part of them for some of our konatee and +turtles' eggs. But it was in our new boat that we were particularly +fortunate: sloop-rigged, not much longer than our gig, but with more +beam and plenty of freeboard, decked over to the mast, and well found in +sails and rigging. After our experience in a boat the gunwale of which +was not more than eighteen inches out of water, we felt that we had a +craft able to cross the Atlantic. Our prisoners, submitting to the +inevitable, soon made themselves at home in their new boat, became more +communicative, and wanted some information as to the best course by +which to reach Jacksonville or Savannah. We were glad to give them the +benefit of our experience, and on parting handed them their knives and +two revolvers, for which they were very thankful. + +Later we were abreast of Green Turtle Key, with wind light and ahead; +still, with all these drawbacks, we were able to make some progress. Our +new craft worked and sailed well, after a little addition of ballast. +Before leaving the coast, we found it would be necessary to call at Fort +Dallas or some other point for supplies. It was running a great risk, +for we did not know whom we should find there, whether friend or foe. +But without at least four or five days' rations of some kind, it would +not be safe to attempt the passage across the Gulf Stream. However, +before venturing to do so, we determined to try to replenish our larder +with eggs. Landing on the beach, we hunted industriously for some hours, +literally scratching for a living; but the ground had evidently been +most effectually gone over before, as the tracks of bears proved. A few +onions, washed from some passing vessel, were eagerly devoured. We +scanned the washings along the strand in vain for anything that would +satisfy hunger. Nothing remained but to make the venture of stopping at +the fort. This fort, like many others, was established during the +Seminole war, and at its close was abandoned. It is near the mouth of +the Miami River, a small stream which serves as an outlet to the +overflow of the everglades. Its banks are crowded to the water's edge +with tropical verdure, with many flowering plants and creepers, all the +colors of which are reflected in its clear waters. The old barracks were +in sight as we slowly worked our way against the current. Located in a +small clearing, with cocoanut-trees in the foreground, the white +buildings made, with a backing of deep green, a very pretty picture. We +approached cautiously, not knowing with what reception we should meet. +As we neared the small wharf, we found waiting some twenty or thirty +men, of all colors, from the pale Yankee to the ebony Congo, all armed: +a more motley and villainous-looking crew never trod the deck of one of +Captain Kidd's ships. We saw at once with whom we had to deal--deserters +from the army and navy of both sides, with a mixture of Spaniards and +Cubans, outlaws and renegades. A burly villain, towering head and +shoulders above his companions, and whose shaggy black head scorned any +covering, hailed us in broken English, and asked who we were. Wreckers, +I replied; that we left our vessel outside, and had come in for water +and provisions. He asked where we had left our vessel, and her name, +evidently suspicious, which was not surprising, for our appearance was +certainly against us. Our head-gear was unique: the general wore a straw +hat that napped over his head like the ears of an elephant; Colonel +Wilson, an old cavalry cap that had lost its visor; another, a turban +made of some number 4 duck canvas; and all were in our shirt-sleeves, +the colors of which were as varied as Joseph's coat. I told him we had +left her to the northward a few miles, that a gunboat had spoken us a +few hours before, and had overhauled our papers, and had found them all +right. After a noisy powwow we were told to land, that our papers might +be examined. I said no, but if a canoe were sent off, I would let one of +our men go on shore and buy what we wanted. I was determined not to +trust our boat within a hundred yards of the shore. Finally a canoe +paddled by two negroes came off, and said no one but the captain would +be permitted to land. O'Toole volunteered to go, but the boatmen would +not take him, evidently having had their orders. I told them to tell +their chief that we had intended to spend a few pieces of gold with +them, but since he would not permit it, we would go elsewhere for +supplies. We got out our sweeps, and moved slowly down the river, a +light breeze helping us. The canoe returned to the shore, and soon some +fifteen or twenty men crowded into four or five canoes and dugouts, and +started for us. We prepared for action, determined to give them a warm +reception. Even Tom looked after his carbine, putting on a fresh cap. + +Though outnumbered three to one, still we were well under cover in our +boat, and could rake each canoe as it came up. We determined to take all +the chances, and to open fire as soon as they came within range. I told +Russell to try a shot at one some distance ahead of the others. He broke +two paddles on one side and hit one man, not a bad beginning. This canoe +dropped to the rear at once; the occupants of the others opened fire, +but their shooting was wild from the motions of their small craft. The +general tried and missed; Tom thought he could do better than his +master, and made a good line shot, but short. The general advised +husbanding our ammunition until they came within easy range. Waiting a +little while, Russell and the colonel fired together, and the bowman in +the nearest canoe rolled over, nearly upsetting her. They were now +evidently convinced that we were in earnest, and, after giving us an +ineffectual volley, paddled together to hold a council of war. Soon a +single canoe with three men started for us with a white flag. We hove +to, and waited for them to approach. When within hail, I asked what was +wanted. A white man, standing in the stern, with two negroes paddling, +replied: + +"What did you fire on us for? We are friends." + +"Friends do not give chase to friends." + +"We wanted to find out who you are." + +"I told you who we are; and if you are friends, sell us some +provisions." + +"Come on shore, and you can get what you want." + +Our wants were urgent, and it was necessary, if possible, to make some +terms with them; but it would not be safe to venture near their lair +again. We told them that if they would bring us some supplies we would +wait, and pay them well in gold. The promise of gold served as a bait to +secure some concession. After some parleying it was agreed that O'Toole +should go on shore in their canoe, be allowed to purchase some +provisions, and return in two hours. The bucaneer thought the time too +short, but I insisted that if O'Toole were not brought back in two +hours, I would speak the first gunboat I met, and return with her and +have their nest of freebooters broken up. Time was important, for we had +noticed soon after we had started down the river a black column of smoke +ascending from near the fort, undoubtedly a signal to some of their +craft in the vicinity to return, for I felt convinced that they had +other craft besides canoes at their disposal; hence their anxiety to +detain us. O'Toole was told to be as dumb as an oyster as to ourselves, +but wide awake as to the designs of our dubious friends. The general +gave him five eagles for his purchase, tribute-money. He jumped into the +canoe, and all returned to the fort. We dropped anchor underfoot to +await his return, keeping a sharp lookout for any strange sail. The two +hours passed in pleasant surmises as to what he would bring off; another +half-hour passed, and no sign of his return; and we began to despair of +our anticipated feast, and of O'Toole, a bright young Irishman, whose +good qualities had endeared him to us all. The anchor was up, and slowly +with a light breeze we drew away from the river, debating what should be +our next move. The fort was shut in by a projecting point, and three or +four miles had passed when the welcome sight of a canoe astern made us +heave to. It was O'Toole with two negroes, a bag of hard bread, two +hams, some rusty salt pork, sweet potatoes, fruit, and, most important +of all, two breakers of water and a keg of New England rum. While +O'Toole gave us his experience, a ham was cut, and a slice between two +of hardtack, washed down with a jorum of rum and water, with a dessert +of oranges and bananas, was a feast to us more enjoyable than any ever +eaten at Delmonico's or the Cafe Riche. On his arrival on shore, our +ambassador had been taken to the quarters of Major Valdez, who claimed +to be an officer of the Federals, and by him he was thoroughly +cross-examined. He had heard of the breaking up of the Confederacy, but +not of the capture of Mr. Davis, and was evidently skeptical of our +story as to being wreckers, and connected us in some way with the losing +party, either as persons of note or a party escaping with treasure. +However, O'Toole baffled all his queries, and was proof against both +blandishments and threats. He learned what he had expected, that they +were looking for the return of a schooner; hence the smoke signal, and +the anxiety to detain us as long as possible. It was only when he saw us +leaving, after waiting over two hours, that the major permitted him to +make a few purchases and rejoin us. + +Night, coming on, found us inside of Key Biscayne, the beginning of the +system of innumerable keys, or small islands, extending from this point +to the Tortugas, nearly two hundred miles east and west, at the +extremity of the peninsula. Of coral formation, as soon as it is built +up to the surface of the water it crumbles under the action of the sea +and sun. Sea-fowl rest upon it, dropping the seed of some marine plants, +or the hard mangrove is washed ashore on it, and its all-embracing roots +soon spread in every direction; so are formed these keys. Darkness and +shoal water warned us to anchor. We passed an unhappy night fighting +mosquitos. As the sun rose, we saw to the eastward a schooner of thirty +or forty tons standing down toward us with a light wind; no doubt it was +one from the fort sent in pursuit. Up anchor, up sail, out sweeps, and +we headed down Biscayne Bay, a shoal sheet of water between the reefs +and mainland. The wind rose with the sun, and, being to windward, the +schooner had the benefit of it first, and was fast overhauling us. The +water was shoaling, which I was not sorry to see, for our draft must +have been from two to three feet less than that of our pursuer, and we +recognized that our best chance of escape was by drawing him into shoal +water, while keeping afloat ourselves. By the color and break of the +water I saw that we were approaching a part of the bay where the shoals +appeared to extend nearly across, with narrow channels between them like +the furrows in a plowed field, with occasional openings from one channel +into another. Some of the shoals were just awash, others bare. Ahead was +a reef on which there appeared but very little water. I could see no +opening into the channel beyond. To attempt to haul by the wind on +either tack would bring us in a few minutes under fire of the schooner +now coming up hand over hand. I ordered the ballast to be thrown +overboard, and determined, as our only chance, to attempt to force her +over the reef. She was headed for what looked like a little breakwater +on our port bow. As the ballast went overboard we watched the bottom +anxiously; the water shoaled rapidly, and the grating of the keel over +the coral, with that peculiar tremor most unpleasant to a seaman under +any circumstances, told us our danger. As the last of the ballast went +overboard she forged ahead, and then brought up. Together we went +overboard, and sank to our waists in the black, pasty mud, through which +at intervals branches of rotten coral projected, which only served to +make the bottom more treacherous and difficult to work on. Relieved of a +half-ton of our weight, our sloop forged ahead three or four lengths, +and then brought up again. We pushed her forward some distance, but as +the water lessened, notwithstanding our efforts, she stopped. + +Looking astern, we saw the schooner coming up wing and wing, not more +than a mile distant. Certainly the prospect was blue; but one chance was +left, to sacrifice everything in the boat. Without hesitation, +overboard went the provisions except a few biscuits; the oars were made +fast to the main-sheet alongside, and a breaker of water, the anchor and +chain, all spare rope, indeed everything that weighed a pound, was +dropped alongside, and then, three on each side, our shoulders under the +boat's bilges, at the word we lifted together, and foot by foot moved +her forward. Sometimes the water would deepen a little and relieve us; +again it would shoal. Between the coral-branches we would sink at times +to our necks in the slime and water, our limbs lacerated with the sharp +projecting points. Fortunately, the wind helped us; keeping all sail on, +thus for more than a hundred yards we toiled, until the water deepened +and the reef was passed. Wet, foul, bleeding, with hardly strength +enough to climb into the boat, we were safe at last for a time. As we +cleared the shoal, the schooner hauled by the wind, and opened fire from +a nine-or twelve-pounder; but we were at long range, and the firing was +wild. With a fair wind we soon opened the distance between us. + +General Breckinridge, thoroughly used up, threw himself down in the +bottom of the boat; at which Tom, always on the lookout for his master's +comfort, said, "Marse John, s'pose you take a little rum and water." +This proposal stirred us all. The general rose, saying, "Yes, indeed, +Tom, I will; but where is the rum?" supposing it had been sacrificed +with everything else. + +[Illustration: OVER A CORAL-REEF.] + +"I sees you pitchin' eberyt'ing away; I jes put this jug in hyar, 'ca'se +I 'lowed you'd want some." + +Opening a looker in the transom, he took out the jug. Never was a potion +more grateful; we were faint and thirsty, and it acted like a charm, +and, bringing up on another reef, we were ready for another tussle. +Fortunately, this proved only a short lift. In the mean time the +schooner had passed through the first reef by an opening, as her skipper +was undoubtedly familiar with these waters. Still another shoal was +ahead; instead of again lifting our sloop over it, I hauled by the wind, +and stood for what looked like an opening to the eastward. Our pursuers +were on the opposite tack and fast approaching; a reef intervened, and +when abeam, distant about half a mile, they opened fire both with their +small arms and boat-gun. The second shot from the latter was well +directed; it grazed our mast and carried away the luff of the mainsail. +Several Minie balls struck on our sides without penetrating; we did not +reply, and kept under cover. When abreast of a break in the reef, we up +helm, and again went off before the wind. The schooner was now satisfied +that she could not overhaul us, and stood off to the northward. + +Free from our enemy, we were now able to take stock of our supplies and +determine what to do. Our provisions consisted of about ten pounds of +hard bread, a twenty-gallon breaker of water, two thirds full, and three +gallons of rum. Really a fatality appeared to follow us as regards our +commissariat. Beginning with our first drenching on the St. John's, +every successive supply had been lost, and now what we had bought with +so much trouble yesterday, the sellers compelled us to sacrifice to-day. +But our first care was to ballast the sloop, for without it she was so +crank as to be unseaworthy. This was not an easy task; the shore of all +the keys, as well as that of the mainland in sight, was low and swampy, +and covered to the water's edge with a dense growth of mangroves. What +made matters worse, we were without any ground-tackle. + +At night we were up to Elliott's Key, and anchored by making fast to a +sweep shoved into the muddy bottom like a shad-pole. When the wind went +down, the mosquitos came off in clouds. We wrapped ourselves in the +sails from head to feet, with only our nostrils exposed. At daylight we +started again to the westward, looking for a dry spot where we might +land, get ballast, and possibly some supplies. A few palm-trees rising +from the mangroves indicated a spot where we might find a little _terra +firma_. Going in as near as was prudent, we waded ashore, and found a +small patch of sand and coral elevated a few feet above the everlasting +swamp. Some six or eight cocoa-palms rose to the height of forty or +fifty feet, and under their umbrella-like tops we could see the bunches +of green fruit. It was a question how to get at it. Without saying a +word, Tom went on board the boat, brought off a piece of canvas, cut a +strip a yard long, tied the ends together, and made two holes for his +big toes. The canvas, stretched between his feet, embraced the rough +bark so that he rapidly ascended. He threw down the green nuts, and +cutting through the thick shell, we found about half a pint of milk. The +general suggested a little milk-punch. All the trees were stripped, and +what we did not use we saved for sea-stores. + +To ballast our sloop was our next care. The jib was unbent, the sheet +and head were brought together and made into a sack. This was filled +with sand, and, slung on an oar, was shouldered by two and carried on +board. + +Leaving us so engaged, the general started to try to knock over some of +the numerous water-fowl in sight. He returned in an hour thoroughly used +up from his struggles in the swamp, but with two pelicans and a white +crane. In the stomach of one of the first were a dozen or more mullet, +from six to nine inches in length which had evidently just been +swallowed. We cleaned them, and wrapping them in palmetto-leaves, +roasted them in the ashes, and they proved delicious. Tom took the birds +in hand, and as he was an old campaigner, who had cooked everything from +a stalled ox to a crow, we had faith in his ability to make them +palatable. He tried to pick them, but soon abandoned it, and skinned +them. We looked on anxiously, ready after our first course of fish for +something more substantial. He broiled them, and with a flourish laid +one before the general on a clean leaf, saying, "I's 'feared, Marse +John, it's tough as an old muscovy drake." + +"Let me try it, Tom." + +After some exertion he cut off a mouthful, while we anxiously awaited +the verdict. Without a word he rose and disappeared into the bushes. +Returning in a few minutes, he told Tom to remove the game. His tone and +expression satisfied us that pelican would not keep us from starving. +The colonel thought the crane might be better, but a taste satisfied us +that it was no improvement. + +Hungry and tired, it was nearly night before we were ready to move; and, +warned by our sanguinary experience of the previous night, we determined +to haul off from the shore as far as possible, and get outside the range +of the mosquitos. It was now necessary to determine upon our future +course. We had abandoned all hope of reaching the Bahamas, and the +nearest foreign shore was that of Cuba, distant across the Gulf Stream +from our present position about two hundred miles, or three or four +days' sail, with the winds we might expect at this season. With the +strictest economy our provisions would not last so long. However, nearly +a month in the swamps and among the keys of Florida, in the month of +June, had prepared us to face almost any risk to escape from those +shores, and it was determined to start in the morning for Cuba. Well out +in the bay we hove to, and passed a fairly comfortable night; next day +early we started for Caesar's Canal, a passage between Elliott's Key and +Key Largo. The channel was crooked and puzzling, leading through a +labyrinth of mangrove islets, around which the current of the Gulf +Stream was running like a sluice; we repeatedly got aground, when we +would jump overboard and push off. So we worked all day before we were +clear of the keys and outside among the reefs, which extend three or +four miles beyond. Waiting again for daylight, we threaded our way +through them, and with a light breeze from the eastward steered south, +thankful to feel again the pulsating motion of the ocean. + +Several sail and one steamer were in sight during the day, but all at a +distance. Constant exposure had tanned us the color of mahogany, and our +legs and feet were swollen and blistered from being so much in the salt +water, and the action of the hot sun on them made them excessively +painful. Fortunately, but little exertion was now necessary, and our +only relief was in lying still, with an impromptu awning over us. +General Breckinridge took charge of the water and rum, doling it out at +regular intervals, a tot at a time, determined to make it last as long +as possible. + +Toward evening the wind was hardly strong enough to enable us to hold +our own against the stream. At ten, Carysfort Light was abeam, and soon +after a dark bank of clouds rising in the eastern sky betokened a change +of wind and weather. Everything was made snug and lashed securely, with +two reefs in the mainsail, and the bonnet taken off the jib. I knew from +experience what we might expect from summer squalls in the straits of +Florida. I took the helm, the general the sheet, Colonel Wilson was +stationed by the halyards, Russell and O'Toole were prepared to bail. +Tom, thoroughly demoralized, was already sitting in the bottom of the +boat, between the general's knees. The sky was soon completely overcast +with dark lowering clouds; the darkness, which could almost be felt, was +broken every few minutes by lurid streaks of lightning chasing one +another through black abysses. Fitful gusts of wind were the heralds of +the coming blast. Great drops of rain fell like the scattering fire of a +skirmish-line, and with a roar like a thousand trumpets we heard the +blast coming, giving us time only to lower everything and get the stern +of the boat to it, for our only chance was to run with the storm until +the rough edge was taken off, and then heave to. I cried, "All hands +down!" as the gale struck us with the force of a thunderbolt, carrying a +wall of white water with it which burst over us like a cataract. I +thought we were swamped as I clung desperately to the tiller, though +thrown violently against the boom. But after the shock, our brave little +boat, though half filled, rose and shook herself like a spaniel. The +mast bent like a whip-stick, and I expected to see it blown out of her, +but, gathering way, we flew with the wind. The surface was lashed into +foam as white as the driven snow. The lightning and artillery of the +heavens were incessant, blinding, and deafening; involuntarily we bowed +our heads, utterly helpless. Soon the heavens were opened, and the +floods came down like a waterspout. I knew then that the worst of it had +passed, and though one fierce squall succeeded another, each one was +tamer. The deluge, too, helped to beat down the sea. To give an order +was impossible, for I could not be heard; I could only, during the +flashes, make signs to Russell and O'Toole to bail. Tying themselves and +their buckets to the thwarts, they went to work and soon relieved her of +a heavy load. + +[Illustration: A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE GULF STREAM.] + +From the general direction of the wind I knew without compass or any +other guide that we were running to the westward, and, I feared, were +gradually approaching the dreaded reefs, where in such a sea our boat +would have been reduced to match-wood in a little while. Therefore, +without waiting for the wind or sea to moderate, I determined to heave +to, hazardous as it was to attempt anything of the kind. Giving the +colonel the helm, I lashed the end of the gaff to the boom, and then +loosed enough of the mainsail to goose-wing it, or make a leg-of-mutton +sail of it. Then watching for a lull or a smooth time, I told him to put +the helm a-starboard and let her come to on the port tack, head to the +southward, and at the same time I hoisted the sail. She came by the wind +quickly without shipping a drop of water, but as I was securing the +halyards the colonel gave her too much helm, bringing the wind on the +other bow, the boom flew round and knocked my feet from under me, and +overboard I went. Fortunately, her way was deadened, and as I came up I +seized the sheet, and with the general's assistance scrambled on board. +For twelve hours or more I did not trust the helm to any one. The storm +passed over to the westward with many a departing growl and threat. But +the wind still blew hoarsely from the eastward with frequent gusts +against the stream, making a heavy, sharp sea. In the trough of it the +boat was becalmed, but as she rose on the crest of the waves even the +little sail set was as much as she could stand up under, and she had to +be nursed carefully; for if she had fallen off, one breaker would have +swamped us, or any accident to sail or spar would have been fatal: but +like a gull on the waters, our brave little craft rose and breasted +every billow. + +By noon the next day the weather had moderated sufficiently to make more +sail, and the sea went down at the same time. Then, hungry and thirsty, +Tom was thought of. During the gale he had remained in the bottom of the +boat as motionless as a log. As he was roused up, he asked: + +"Marse John, whar is you, and whar is you goin'? 'Fore de Lord, I never +want to see a boat again." + +"Come, Tom, get us something to drink, and see if there is anything left +to eat," said the general. But Tom was helpless. + +The general served out a small ration of water and rum, every drop of +which was precious. Our small store of bread was found soaked, but, laid +in the sun, it partly dried, and was, if not palatable, at least a +relief to hungry men. + +During the next few days the weather was moderate, and we stood to the +southward; several sail were in sight, but at a distance. We were +anxious to speak one even at some risk, for our supplies were down to a +pint of rum in water each day under a tropical sun, with two +water-soaked biscuits. On the afternoon of the second day a brig drifted +slowly down toward us; we made signals that we wished to speak her, and, +getting out our sweeps, pulled for her. As we neared her, the captain +hailed and ordered us to keep off. I replied that we were shipwrecked +men, and only wanted some provisions. As we rounded to under his stern, +we could see that he had all his crew of seven or eight men at quarters. +He stood on the taff-rail with a revolver in hand, his two mates with +muskets, the cook with a huge tormentor, and the crew with handspikes. + +"I tell you again, keep off, or I'll let fly." + +"Captain, we won't go on board if you will give us some provisions; we +are starving." + +"Keep off, I tell you. Boys, make ready." + +One of the mates drew a bead on me; our eyes met in a line over the +sights on the barrel. I held up my right hand. + +"Will you fire on an unarmed man? Captain, you are no sailor, or you +would not refuse to help shipwrecked men." + +"How do I know who you are? And I've got no grub to spare." + +"Here is a passenger who is able to pay you," said I, pointing to the +general. + +"Yes; I will pay for anything you let us have." + +The captain now held a consultation with his officers, and then said: +"I'll give you some water and bread. I've got nothing else. But you must +not come alongside." + +A small keg, or breaker, was thrown overboard and picked up, with a bag +of fifteen or twenty pounds of hardtack. This was the reception given us +by the brig _Neptune_ of Bangor. But when the time and place are +considered, we cannot wonder at the captain's precautions, for a more +piratical-looking party than we never sailed the Spanish main. General +Breckinridge, bronzed the color of mahogany, unshaven, with long +mustache, wearing a blue flannel shirt open at the neck, exposing his +broad chest, with an old slouch hat, was a typical bucaneer. Thankful +for what we had received, we parted company. Doubtless the captain +reported on his arrival home a blood-curdling story of his encounter +with pirates off the coast of Cuba. + +"Marse John, I thought the war was done. Why didn't you tell dem folks +who you was?" queried Tom. The general told Tom they were Yankees, and +would not believe us. "Is dar any Yankees whar you goin'?--'ca'se if dar +is, we best go back to old Kentucky." He was made easy on this point, +and, with an increase in our larder, became quite perky. A change in the +color of the water showed us that we were on soundings, and had crossed +the Stream, and soon after we came in sight of some rocky islets, which +I recognized as Double-Headed Shot Keys, thus fixing our position; for +our chart, with the rest of our belongings, had disappeared, or had been +destroyed by water, and as the heavens, by day and night, were our only +guide, our navigation was necessarily very uncertain. For the next +thirty miles our course to the southward took us over Salt Key Bank, +where the soundings varied from three to five fathoms, but so clear was +the water that it was hard to believe that the coral, the shells, and +the marine flowers were not within arm's reach. Fishes of all sizes and +colors darted by us in every direction. The bottom of the bank was a +constantly varying kaleidoscope of beauty. But to starving men, with not +a mouthful in our grasp, this display of food was tantalizing. Russell, +who was an expert swimmer, volunteered to dive for some conchs and +shell-fish; oysters there were none. Asking us to keep a sharp lookout +on the surface of the water for sharks, which generally swim with the +dorsal fin exposed, he went down and brought up a couple of live conchs +about the size of a man's fist. Breaking the shell, we drew the +quivering body out. Without its coat it looked like a huge grub, and not +more inviting. The general asked Tom to try it. + +"Glory, Marse John, I'm mighty hungry, nebber so hungry sense we been in +de almy, and I'm just ready for ole mule, pole-cat, or anyt'ing 'cept +dis worm." + +After repeated efforts to dissect it we agreed with Tom, and found it +not more edible than a pickled football. However, Russell, diving again, +brought up bivalves with a very thin shell and beautiful colors, in +shape like a large pea-pod. These we found tolerable; they served to +satisfy in some small degree our craving for food. The only drawback was +that eating them produced great thirst, which is much more difficult to +bear than hunger. We found partial relief in keeping our heads and +bodies wet with salt water. + +On the sixth day from the Florida coast we crossed Nicholas Channel with +fair wind. Soon after we made the Cuban coast, and stood to the +westward, hoping to sight something which would determine our position. +After a run of some hours just outside of the coral-reefs, we sighted in +the distance some vessels at anchor. As we approached, a large town was +visible at the head of the bay, which proved to be Cardenas. We offered +prayful thanks for our wonderful escape, and anchored just off the +custom-house, and waited some time for the health officer to give us +pratique. But as no one came off in answer to our signals, I went on +shore to report at the custom-house. It was some time before I could +make them comprehend that we were from Florida, and anxious to land. +Their astonishment was great at the size of our boat, and they could +hardly believe we had crossed in it. Our arrival produced as much +sensation as would that of a liner. We might have been filibusters in +disguise. The governor-general had to be telegraphed to; numerous papers +were made out and signed; a register was made out for the sloop _No +Name_; then we had to make a visit to the governor before we were +allowed to go to a hotel to get something to eat. After a cup of coffee +and a light meal I had a warm bath, and donned some clean linen which +our friends provided. + +We were overwhelmed with attentions, and when the governor-general +telegraphed that General Breckinridge was to be treated as one holding +his position and rank, the officials became as obsequious as they had +been overbearing and suspicious. The next day one of the +governor-general's aides-de-camp arrived from Havana, with an +invitation for the general and the party to visit him, which we +accepted, and after two days' rest took the train for the capital. A +special car was placed at our disposal, and on our arrival the general +was received with all the honors. We were driven to the palace, had a +long interview, and dined with Governor-General Concha. The transition +from a small open boat at sea, naked and starving, to the luxuries and +comforts of civilized life was as sudden as it was welcome and +thoroughly appreciated. + +At Havana our party separated. General Breckinridge and Colonel Wilson +have since crossed the great river; Russell and O'Toole returned to +Florida. I should be glad to know what has become of faithful Tom. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes +of the Civil War, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRISON ESCAPES *** + +***** This file should be named 18765.txt or 18765.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/6/18765/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Jason Isbell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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