chronicling americacapture and escape thrilling adventures inside the confederate lines at salisbury...

CAPTURE AND ESCAPE

Thrilling Adventures Inside the Confederate Lines at Salisbury

Drifting Down the Neuse River to Morehead City

By WILLIAM DAY Co B 2d Mass L A

During the latter part of the Summerof 1SG3 the enemy was causing us muchannoyance by collecting in considerablenumbers and making rapid and unex ¬

pected attacks upon our soldiers whowere stationed at intervals along the lineof railroads running between MoreheadCity of Newberne X G This is whythree companies of my light battery weredetached from the rest of our commandnear City Point Va and sent to operatewith troops in North Carolina

We landed at Fort Macon on BogueIsland and then proceeded westwaiukeeping close to the waters of BogueSound and taking up a position on theisland about two and a half miles westfront Fort Macon where we spent thenext three days awaiting reinforcementsThe day after our arrival we were joinedby the lth Vt four companies of the 2dMass H A who weie doing duty aslight artillery two companies of Regularsfrom Fortress Momoe and the 12th N YCav which increased our numericalctrength to about 2S00 men

Our intention was to either capture theenemy or drive him from the eastern partof the State of North Carolina Quito anumber of the enemy probably 3500 hadcollected at Salisbury intending to marchto the shores of Bogue Sound with theintention of crossing iu the night on flatboats and barges constructed for thatpurpose and to fall upon the pickets thatstretched across the island from shore toshore and to recapture Fort Macon by abold dash m the night

By 10 oclock a m of the third dayour light flotillas which were to carry ourexpedition across the Sound were readyalso the steam tug had arrived from Beau-fort

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We were now prepared to moveforward as soon as the night should growsufficiently dark to hide our movementsfrom the vigilant enemy Our siege gunsand our light field guns were on thebarges being towed up the Sound by thesteam tug At 830 p m we struck tentsand moved rapidly westward over BogueIsland toward tho enemy and arrived atthe crossing of tho Sound about 2 oclockin the morning It was yet very dark

Our flotilla had not yet arrived havingbeen delayed by reason of some of ourbarges running ashore on the sandbarsThe channel of the Sound is very narrowand shallow with many sandbars runningtar out into the channel But they ar-rived in time to carry us safely across theSound before daylight We immediatelysent out the New York cavalry to reconnoiter the woods and the roads and to as-

certain¬

the position and strength of theenemy if possible Meanwhile the rest ofos busied ourselves in landing the heavyguns and the light field guns and mount ¬

ing the siege guns at the crossing so asto cover our retreat if we should find theenemy strong enough to resist our ad-

vance¬

and drive us back upon Boguo Is ¬

land under the guns of Fort MaconIn a little while the cavalry returned to

us with the information that the enemywas nowhere to be found but that theyaw evidence of his having fallen back upon

the main line at Salisbury having in someway learned of our movement We werethen called to breakfast and an hour af-terwards

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commenced our advance towardSalisbury

We had proceeded about a mile whenwe came to a small stream crossing theroad which brought us to a sudden haltOn both sides of the creek the mud wasTery deep and in some places quicksandswere apparent In fact we found it dimcult to cioss at all with our artillery

I was ordered to detail 15 men of mycompany and to follow the creek down insearch of a better crossing while onecompany of the 0th Vt was sent up thocreek to look for a crossing in that direc-tion

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We were instructed not to go morethan a mile down stream and if we couldsot find a crossing within that distance toreturn to our command We had pickedour way very cautiously and carefullydown the creek for nearly a mile whenwe came to another road crossing thecreek evidently running in the directionof Salisbury Here we crossed findinggood firm sand and gravel bottom but theroad seemed to turn to the left a shortdistance ahead We carefully rode up tothe bend and after having satisfied our¬

selves that it led toward Salisbury wefaced about to return to our commandwith the desired information when justas we entered the creek suddenly webeard the rattle of musketry followed bythe billowing thunder of our light batteryand befcre we were fairly out of thecreek we heard the clatter of horses feetcoming toward us from the direction ofBogue Sound Looking in that directionwe saw two companies of rebel cavalrybearing down upon us at full speed Ourretreat was cut off I asked the boys

What Is it fight or surrender Theywith one consent replied Fight fightl

I knew that such an unequal attackcould only result disastrously to my littlecompany but I thought we might throwthe enemy into such confusion that wemight find a chance to escape and I gavethe order to charge

A few plunges of our chargers broughtns to close quarters with the enemy andwith our carbines leveled at tho breast oftheir foremost files we fired

Our shots evidently took effect Severalof their horses broke from the ranks andran off without riders Our unexpectedcharge threw tho party into confusionMany of tho horses jostled togetherthrowing their riders to the ground buttho confusion did not last long The sharprattle of nearly 200 carbines rang outtearing our horses out from under us andthrowing us flat upon the ground Ourcame was up

They disarmed us all the while cursingns for shooting some of their comradesThen they detailed 25 of their men toinarch us to Salisbury while tha re-mainder

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of the cavalry galloped off to-ward

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the upper crossing where the fightwas going on

All this time we could hear the In ¬

cessant barking of our brass field 24- - and12 poundcrs and we longed to be thereWe weto satisfied that our boys weraholding the path and keeping tho enemyt bayWithin a mile of Salisbury we met Gen

Hoke with one field battery one companyof cavalry and 500 mounted infantryrallying to the fight The General haltedns and naked me many pointed questionsaddressing me In very courteous languageHe asked me the strength of our force atthe crossing and what we had intendedto do

It came to my mind that I might ren-der

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valuable service to my comrades andalso to our cause so I told tbe Generalthe biggest lie that wai ever told to mortal man I told him that we had 4000men at the crossing at Bogue Sound thatwe had two full field batteries five long82-- and 10 11 Inch Dahlgren siego gunsthat 10000 men had started from FortressMonroe on the transport with three fieldbatteries and 25 Compound Parrott rifle

iege guns While telling him this I waslooking the General straight In the eyes

When he asked mo whore that forco In ¬

tended to land I told him that they In-

tended¬

to land at Morehead City andmove westward on th railroad to someconvenient point along that line then tostrike straight across the country southand by a flank movement come down uponSalisbury from the west The Generallooked very thoughtful for such a move ¬

ment had long been In contemplation bytho Federal Government But it was notproposed to put it Into effect immediatelyHe asked me what we had intended todo at the crossing I told him thnt nnrIntention was to move directly upon Salis- -

Inury yon then really coming to Salis ¬

ha asked

Yes sir I repliedThen said he as far as you are con-

cerned¬

you will get there sooner than youexpected

Gen Hoke then gave us in charge of50 infantry soldiers and the squad ofcavalry joined with those hurrying to thefight Our guard v marched us to a schoolhouse that was being used for a prisonabout a mile beyond the town limits Thesun was now abont an hour high

The rebs stripped us of all of our cloth-ing

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not forgetting to secure every cent ofour money This however was one ofthe customs of war and we took it as amatter of course When they took ourclothing they gave us their uniformswhich were dirty and tattered The Lieu-tenant

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in charge of the company guard-ing

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us told us that be could give us noth ¬

ing to eat for the reason that they hadnothing for themselves The Orderly-Sergea-

said that he would try to get ussome food in the morning when the Com-missary

¬

served out their days rationsThen they ordered us to take off our

i ABE YOU MAESA

boots Their method of exchange was tomeasure their feet with ours a rebelstanding by a Union soldier measuringfeet heel and toe and if he believed theboots would lit ordered us to take themoff The shoes they gave us in exchangefor our good comfortable boots were wornout and tied together with strings Butthere was one of our boys Johnny Hyattwhose feet were so small that when meas-ured

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they did not order him to take themoff that for any of the party towear his boots was out of the questionThis was lucky for us as the sequel willshow

The rebel Lieutenant seemed very muchthat Hyatts boots were too

small for him and he asked How is ityou Yanks have such small feet

We Yanks prefer to havo small feetand larger heads

The Johnny replied sarcastically Ireckon when you git to Andersonville yourfeet will have a cood chance to growlarger and your heads right smart smaller

To me the very mention of Anderson-ville

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was like a dagger through my heartI had read much of the horrors of thisgrewsomc prison and I had talked withsome of our comrades who had escapedand their recital of experiences while atAndersonville confirmed all of the ac-counts

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given to the public by our dailypapers And I made up my mind thenand there that I would not go to Andersonville even if I had to commitsuicide i asKeu tne urueny n tneyreally intended to send us to Anderson-ville

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Yes he replied You will bemarched to High Point day after tomorrow where you will be put on carsana sent to Andersonville

I could sec that to my comrades thothought of Andcrsonullc was as distaste-ful

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as it was to me A glance at theirfaces inspired me with hope for in theireyes I could read determination to escapeor dio in tbe attempt

But I will not go to Ireplied stoutly

Tho Orderly stared at me Oh yesyou will go to Andersonville safe andsound

Of what benefit would it bo to take adead man to Andersonville I askedlooking keenly at him for I was deter ¬

mined to die rather than bu taken to thatfrightful place of torture

The Lieutenant cried Oh let thoYank alone Hes crazy cant you seeand I believe they actually thought I wasfor they could not know the working ofmy mind and my grim determination

Just before dark we saw a horsemangallop up the lane Ho halted before thedoor of the Lieutenants tent and handedhim a paper which seemed to producequite an excitement among tho infantrysoldiers The greater portion of them fellinto line and marched off in tho directionof the firing leaving about 25 men toguard us

This our hope When wefirst entered tho prison room the rebelshad 12 of their own men there Thesemen were deserters I think for they hadirons on their wrists and ankles Whenwe crme in these men were taken out andmarched off towards the town This woregarded as in our favor also I examinedthe prison closely the doorIt was a very strong heavy door madeof bard pitch pine planks two inchesthick and cross barred on both sides withthe same kind of plank The door swungbetween two heavy timbers that were se-cured

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to the walls of tho buildinc withheavy bolts The door was fastened tothe posts with heavy strap iron hinges Itopened on the outside These hinges werefastened on with heavy screws

As the sun went down a heavy fog roseslowly from Bogue Sound and settleddown on the land so that in an hour af-terward

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tho whole country was robed ina mantle of utter darkness Tho fog wasso heavy that great drops of water be-gan

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to fall off tho eaves of the prisonhouse

I hld a consultation with tho comradesto asceitain how many would bo willingto join me in an effort to escape TheIdea was taken up quite willingly by allThen Johnny Hyatt stepped to my sideHeres my bowie knife I had It in my

boot before they captured us and my feetwere ao small von knowr that I didnthave to tako off my boots and h heldup Deior our enraptured eyes that

anile a good strong thickbacked knife it was and verv sharn

In that knife lay the possibility of ourscape we Knew tnat would b of

no use to attempt to escape through eitherof tha windows for they wtre secured by

THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE WASHINGTON D 0 THURSDAY JULY 17 1902

heavv iron crossbars forming checkersabout four inches square Our only hopewas to cut the wood from around thescrews In the lower hinge of the door sothat we could shove the door far enoughfrom the posts to squeeze through

We were about to commence our workwhen we heard the sound of footsteps andmens voices In an instant we settledquietly down upon our hard board bunksWe heard the heavy bolts slip back a keywas thrust into the lock and the dooropened with a heavy grating sound anda stream of light from a lantern enteredthe room It was the first ray of lightwe had seen since darkness had set inThe Orderly warned us before leavingand in a very mild voice of our dangerif wc should attempt to get away Hothen went out closed the door locked itand slid the bolt into its socket

Here was a new difficulty facing usSeveral of our comrades frightened at thoinformation of the Orderly declared thatthey would not try to get away sayingthat if we did and should bo capturedevery one of us would be shot in theprison room One man declared that ifwe attempted to escape he would call theguard He believed that it was his dutyto do so not only to savo himself but tosave every one of us from certain deathbut the other nine of us were determinedto escape or die in tho attempt

Seizing the bowie knife I declaredsolemnly The first man that makes anattempt to call the guard will receive thisin his heart Of course I would nothave killed the man but I felt that escapewas possible and determined to frightenthe weaker ones into silence if they wouldnot join us in our efforts The threat

Mm I

A LINCOLN B0LDIEB

seeing

disappointed

Andersonville

strengthened

particularly

precious

It

quieted them for the knife was the onlyweapon of any kind in the room and Iheld it in my hand I advised them to liequietly on their bunks and pretend to beasleep saying The rebels will not holdyou responsible for our escape Theydid not appoint any of you as guards overthe rest This they concluded to do

God grant that I may never again feelas I did then When I thought of thehorrors of Andersonville I felt more likea ferocious wild beast than like a humanbeing I was nerved up to such a pitchthat I was ready for anything I wasready to face a regiment of fixed bayonetsleveled at my breast

Then we commenced cutting the woodfrom around the screws We had towork entirely by the sense of feeling forthe darkness was impenetrable We tookturn about In cutting the wood We kepta man stationed at the windows listeningfor approaching footsteps If tho guardhad come to look in again before we hadthe hinge off the door we were preparedto knock him down nut out his lanternand we would then have rushed past himmio tno darkness and have taken ourchances We had great difficulty in cut-ting

¬

the wood from around the screws andunder the hinge We could see nothintrand had to feel the hinge with one handwnno we cut tne wood with tho otherThus we worked by turns

The roar of our artillery had ceasedjust after sundown and all was silent inthat direction Of tho result of the battlewe knew nothing as yet After blisteringour hands and cutting our fingers in sev-eral

¬

plates we managed to get all of thescrews out of the hinge But the doordid not pry from the post as easily aswe nau expected iho bolts and bars onthe outside of Ui door held it firmly andresisted our efforts Then we brought astiff pine board from the bottom of onoof the bunks and used It as a pry Withtuis wo widened tbe space between thodoor and the post but not enough to passout We then brought a rouch Diankbench This proved a better purchaseWo squeezed this in between tho door andthe posts and gave a desperato heavewhen the end of the creat bolt on thioutside of tho door flew out of its socketwitn a loud noise and fell rattlintr acrosstho boards My heart flew into my throatmat noise seemed to mo as loud as theroar of our field battery Our comradeslying on their bunks groaned aloud andsaid that we would all be dead men inside of five minutes We hastilv nulledtho door back into its nlace and withclenched teeth and bounding heartsawaited the coining of the guard

l clutched the old plank bench withboth hands ready to dash the man withthe lantern to the ground as soon as hewould open the door We listened forfootsteps but could hear none We lookedthrough the barred windows for the lan-tern

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but could see none Then we con-cluded

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that the guard could not havoheard the falling of the bar

We then pried the door off as far aswe could and squeezed through out of theprison into the darkness leaving ourseven unwilling comrades lying on theirbunks Wo had used every persuasion towin their consent to join us but theywould not move declaring that it wouldbe better to take their chances at Ander-sonville

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Now the nino of us crawled on onrhands and knees toward tho picket linewnicu was neiween us and a heavy pineMid jtJica iuiubi just norm or tneprison If we could gain the cover of thatforest then the chances of our escapewould be Increased 10 to one The nightwas intensely dark The doleful wail ofthe wind was re echoed from the topi ofthe tall pines as we crawled slowly to-ward

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the picket line At last we distinctlybeard the low dull tread of pickets

We could not see them yet Still wecrawled straight ahead We discoveredthat we were crawling straight towardthe center of the picket line for now weheard the tread of the other picket com ¬

ing toward us from the west while at thesame time we heard the tread of the onecoming from the east They met Justahead of us exchanged a few wordswhich were Inaudible to us and facedabout slowly pacing toward the fartherend of tholr beats

We could now see the dim outlines oftho two men I was afraid that theywould hear the loud beating of my heartand challenge us for truly it sounded tome louder than the roar of cannon Justthen one of my comrades behind mesneezed I thought that the top of myhead was oft and waited ready to priog

t ft -

upon the picket should he challenge Butluckily the sneeze was not heard by thepicket luckily for him for had he stoppedI would have sprung tiilonrnim plungedtho bowie knife into hisibreast snatchedhis rifle and shot the other picket andwith the rest of my comrades plunged intotho forest I whispered toimy comradesto crawl rapidly acres the picket line be ¬

fore the pickets had tiineito reach theend of their beats thcuiirisc to our feetand gain tho cover of thejfotest which wedid So far wo bad succeeded well butwe had other dangers jto encounter andother picket lines to pajs which could bepassed only under covcrof the darkness

Wo knew that a sniallrior which wasa tributary to the Neuse was north of usin the direction that we desired to gowhich river emptied intothgNcttse properbetween Newport and Carolina City

We were now in a dense pine and cy-

press¬

forest and surrounded by gigantictrees Our first effort was to cut goodstrong sticks from the smaller growth ofthe gum trees which vc- - plentifulthroughout the forest We could tell bytho sense of feeling alone a gum tree forit has a peculiar sleek bark When wehad armed ourselves with these sticks weheld a consultation ns to what wc shoulddo next and finally concluded to keepstraight ahead

We had started on at n pretty rapidpace when we were brought to a suddenhalt by what appeared to be a companyof men standing in line just ahead of usWe thought that it was one of the outerrebel picket lines We dare not move for-ward

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and we were equally determined notto move backwards whatever the costFinally the suspense grew so unbearablethat I determined to crawl ahead andmake sure and persuading the men to lieclose to the earth I crawled on my handsand knees toward the line Once I thoughtI could distinguish the buttons on thecoatsof the rebels but as I approachedthe line the apparition scented to glowtaller and taller until it shaped itself intounoffending pine trees with the barkpeeled down They were evidently treesfrom which turpentine had been runningThis is what gave them that singular ap-pearance

¬

in the nightOnly those who have passed through

similar experience can imagine the reliefthat overwhelmed me at this knowledgeand I crawled back to my comrades withthe joyful news We then kept on straightahead through the pine forest going as wchoped towards the south bank of theriver We were very hungry having eatennothing since we had taken breakfast withour command at the upper crossing of theSound

After traveling In that direction forsorao time the land appeared to slopedownwards ahead of us Wc concluded bythis that we were approaching the riverand after a time we came to where thetrees were shorter and more stunted andwe thought that we heard the rippling ofwater Again the boys lay down while Icrawled on my hands and knees a littlefurther ahead when I came suddenly upagainst a fence I followed this fenceaiong until I came to a corner Here Ifound a road and concluded that I wasnear the bank of the river and that thisroad was the main road leading up anddown the river on the south side I wasabout to return to the comrades with theknowledge when I heard the barking of adog then the opening of a door not faraway and a voice calling the dog whichvoice I recognized at once to be that of anegro

I knew that all of the colored peoplewere our friends so I whistled

Whos there came the challengeFriend I criedFriend of whatFriend to anyone worthy of friend-

ship¬

I repliedArc you Lincoln soldier marsaYesCome right here marsa said the

negro and I hastened bdcKto the waitingboys Iii n few minutes more we were allsafely under the roof of the friendlvnegro s cabin eating fried fish bakedsweet potatoes and johViny cake the mostdelicious meal that any of us had everpartaken of in our lives

The darky told us that he was a slaveand that he had betn Sent tip to this par-ticular

¬

bend in the rivcrbv the rebel soldiers whose pickets extended across bothsides of the river about tive miles belowus which of course was between us andour troops

He told us that it was now near day¬

light and he would conduct us up a littlefarther around the bend of the river to amore secure and place andthat we should hide ourselves securelyunder the brush and wait there untilnight He said he would go and procurefor us an old boat that had not been in usefor some time but that lay up there in theshade of the pine trees which boat hethought was large enough to carry thenine of us safely down the river Aftersatisfying our hunger we started off upstream until wc reached the spot that theold colored man had told us about andwhich was called Kattlcsnake Bend

Here wo rested the whole day Aboutnoon tho old man sent his little boy to uswith more sweet potatoes and fried fishWe had learned from the old man all thatwo could as to the shape of the river thedepth of the water the position of therebel pickets and what obstructions oftrees and driftwood were along the riverI judged the force of the current bythrowing little chips into the water thenwalking with them as I often had doneon board ship in previous years I con-cluded

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that the current was running aboutfive miles an hour and that if I was cor-rect

¬

in ray judgment we could reach therebel picket line in about one hour

Just before night the old man camearound the bend keeping closely underthe shade of the trees carrying an oldboat that was made out of two cypresstrees dove tailed together I saw at aglance that with care and skillful handlingthe boat would carry us safely down toMorehead City if necessary He also pro-cured

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for us two paddles with which topropel the boat The paddles were muf ¬

fled with old cloth about where they wouldstrike the sides of the boat and in han ¬

dling them the cloth would deaden thesound Befoie dark tho kind old man re-turned

¬

to us with more fried fish andjohnny cake of which we made a heartysupper He cautioned us that just be ¬

yond the rebel picket line down streamtho river for a short distance took theform of a lake nnd that we must not keepto cither the right or left but straightthrough tho center for we might encoun-ter

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rebel pickets stationed along on bothsides of the bend of the river Then theold man bade us good by and God speedand returned to his cabin

Wc sat down to wait patiently for thedarkness to close around A light mist be ¬

gan to rise from the river and settle downover the land which added to the darknessof the night When we thought it wastimc to start on our perilous journey Iinquired which of my comrades understoodanything about a boat and was delightedto find ono who did I placed him in thebow of tho boat with one paddle while Ishould steer the boat with the other Isitting in the stern The test of the boyscrawled carefully into tho boat and stowedthemselves away as best they could lyingflat on their backs J

When we shoved tho boat from theRhore out into the streampur weight set-tled

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her down into the water until shewas only about threri inches out but Itook care to keep the boat In the middleof the channel not only for better steer-age

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but to avoid capsizing on some ob-struction

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projecting from either side of theriver banks The thick woods along bothsides of the bank threw a dark Bhade overthb waters c

I cautioned the boys o He perfectlyquiet for It required the greatest possiblecare on our part to keep the boat fromcapsizing and spilling us into the riverThe slightest Jar would have proven dis-astrous

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We thus drifted with the currentdown stream for sometime I lying backupon the stern of the boat steering herwith the paddle and using all cautionpossiblVto keep off the snags or otherobstructions

After a while straight ahead I saw thelights of the rebel pickets fifes burningand we were approaching rapidly for thiswas evidently the narrowest part of theriver and consequently the current wasmuch more rapid here than either above orbelow

I could not keep my eyes in one direc-tion

¬

for half a minute at a time Theman lay motionless In the boat u IHatched tbt picket lines from sat aldt to

the other Now again the samo annoy ¬

ance that my heart gave mo when run-ning

¬

the picket line the night before wasreproduced here I was so sure that thatwild beating could be henrd by others asclearly as I could hear it that I expectedit to betray us any moment Wo couldsee the pickets off guard sitting around acomfortable fire That to us was an anxi-ous

¬

moment We were now abreast of thopicket line but they could not seo us asthey were looking from the bright firelightinto the dark gloom Ihat overshadowedthe river among the thick pines nnd cy¬

press trees AVoe to us had they knownanything of our presence Their challengewould have come in the form of leadenhail But they could not see us and hereI took pains that the paddle with which Iwas steering should not come in contactwith the edge of the boat so as to avoidmaking the slightest sound I was afraidat times that the pickets would hear therippling noise of the boat running throughthe water but we discovered that thesound mingled with the continued ripplingof the river against the obstructions andlimbs of the low trees which projected outinto the stream

Now wc were past the picket line theircnmp fires receding rapidly behind us inthe darkness We soon entered that basinshaped pait of the river that the old col-ored

¬

man had cautioned us about I knewfrom experience with running water andboats that the current would naturally setthrough tho center towards the next nar-rowest

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place in the river so now I beganto let the boat without any aid on mypart to propel her go along through thewater but took care to keep her headpointing down stream

In a little while we entered the nextnnrrows and were making rapid headwayalong the banks We did not know butthat we might at any moment bebrought to halt by n shower of bulletsfrom either side of the river or from bothsides at once We felt very uneasy Myheart still kept up that strange wild beat ¬

ing We had no way of even guessing atthe time of night Though the stars hadshone during the first portion of the night

I they were now all obscure because of thecloud or mist tnat rose over the river anafrom the swampy land on both sides Itwas extremely dark

Presently we heard to the left on thenorth side of the river the crow of arooster and in a few seconds he was an ¬

swered by another on the right or southside of the river nnd shortly after thiswe heard the crowing of several roostersat once By this we judged that daylightmust certainly bo approaching At thisjuncture one of the men stiffened andcramped by his long crouching in the boatshowed signs of rising I touched himcarefully with the paddle to warn him tolie still In about half an hour the dimlight of day struggled through the mistyclouds overhanging the land in the castOur hearts leaped for joy for now we be ¬

lieved that we were safely below theoutermost guards of the rebel picket line

A few minutes later the approachingdaylight was so visible that I concludedthat it was about time to signal my com-rade

¬

who was waiting in the bow of theboat ready to assist me to propel herthrough tho water During our most try-ing

¬

moments gliding down river and op-posite

¬

the picket lines we had concludedthat only one of us should steer the boatso as to avoid any possible danger of dis-covery

¬

Now that our greatest dangerwas past I called my comrade and heimmediately began work and with hispaddle on one side and I with mine on tbeother we shot the boat swiftly down thestream and in a few lusty strokes we sawthat we were adding immensely to ourspeed Sometimes we would send our pad ¬

dles down through the shallow water ofthe river until we scraped the mud fromthe bottom sending the boat lying ahead

After a while the clouds in the cast be-gan

¬

to change from the morning gray tothe rosy radiance of full daylight On wewent We were now safe from all ob ¬

structions for we could see everything onboth sides of the river In about an hourmore we turned a sharp bend in the riverThe sun was now well up and the shroudymists that had hung over land nnd waterhad almost disappeared Uight then look-ing

¬

through a gap in tho tall pines wesaw Old Glory kissing the sunbeam andlooking more glorious more beautiful thansue ever had before

As ono man wo rent tho air with ourcheers and shouts In a few minutes wcwere up with our own pickets who ex-tended

¬

across the river on both sides Theychallenged us for we looked like anythingbut Union soldiers clad in our tatteredrags that had once been rebel uniformsThey thought that we were deserters fromtho rebel lines coming to give ourselvesup to the Fedaral soldiers

Our hearts leaping with delight nnd al ¬

most overwhelmed with the joy of reliefwc entered the lines of our comradeswhere we received hearty- welcome andcongratulations for having escaped so nar-rowly

¬

a slow and fearful death at Ander-sonville

¬

We felt deeply sorry as we contemplatedthe fate of our seven comrades in the littleschoolhouse prison nt Salisbury but hav ¬

ing done all in our power to persuadethem to come with us we felt that noblame could attach to us After the warI was told by one of the nine comradesthat escaped that ho had learned that allseven of the boys had perished at Ander-sonville

¬

Confederate Dead at AltonSt Louis Post Dispatch

A thousand cape jasmines from theSouth and hundreds of roses from theNorth were strewn over a green meadowat Alton 111 May 31 by a com ¬

pany of men and women ncting tho proofthat peace indeed hath her victories noless renowned than war

This meadow without mound or stoneto maik the grave of any is the burialplace of 2500 Confederate soldiers whodied at the Alton military prison duringthe civil war For almost 40 years themeadow was a waste field overrun andunkept

The cape jasmines came from Granbury Tex They woro the third shipmentof the kind from Sherman Post of theG A II in which the moving spirit isWilliam II Catts To him it is due thatthis old and forgotten and unclaimedcemetery has within the last three yearsbeen surveyed fenced nnd marked witha United States claim board

The flowers from Texas reached Altonthis year upon Memorial Day Theywere taken to the old cemetery the nextafternoon The local Post of the G AIt led the way There was a prayer asong an address or so Tlien the flow-ers

¬

wcro laid It was a beautiful senti-ment

¬

and service but decorating thegraves was pitiable for there was noth ¬

ing to show where any single soldier otthe South was laid nor stone to suggestwhere a flower might be dropped So thejasmines and roses were sown in thegrass tossed here and there over the acresof little valleys and hills

Mr Catts brought about at Alton theorganization of the Confederate Ceme-tery

¬

Association and some of the promi-nent

¬

citizens of Alton havo assisted himthrough this association Prominentamong these is II J Bowman Mr Bow-man

¬

is the President of the AssociationHo interested the United States Quarter-master

¬

at St Louis in tho erection of thefence nnd has personally looked after thecare of tho land

Mr Catts and Mr Bowman areanxious that a monument bo built at Al-ton

¬

for these Confederate dead MrCatts has made this proposition to manyof tho Confederate and G A It Posts ofthe South and he believes the monumentwill be built He wants every Post oftho North and South to give a stone thegifts of the ono to be blue and the othergray Then he would build of theso themonument putting it out on the Prospectstreet hight where It will overlook theriver and the site ot tho old prison inwhich the soldiers died

Proper SeasonThere are a great many airships

planned said SnooperThis is fly time you know added

Sumway

Free Kidney and Bladder CureDr D A Williams East Hampton

Conn says if any reader of this paperwill send him their address he will sendthem free by mail a remedy that curedUm after all else had failed

iTjttr fSVLS rf fJ

-

PICKET SHOTS

Prom Alert Comrades Along tbe Whole

Line

TIIH RECORD BEATESPomeroy Mitchell Corporal lCth Ohio

Battery Columbus O writes I havenoticed the many reports mado in yourjournal by comrades of the number ofbrothers fathers and sons enlisted in theirvarious companies I have also noticedthe reports of the services ot familiestheir ancestors and their kin I havealso noticed that a number of these comrades have challenged any comrade to re¬

port a record that will bent theirs Ihave waited until I think about all thereturns arc in and will now send in myleport In the lfith Ohio Battery therewere one set of fours four sets of threes30 sets of twos and a pair ot half-brothe-

making in all 7S They are as fol-lows

¬

Capt J A Mitchell Lieut I NMitchell CorpI P Mitchell Corpl A BMitchell Win Drewctt Josiah DrewcttGeo Drewett John Jacobs N JacobsT II Jacobs G W Taj lor Wm TaylorJohn A Taylor Thad Underwood WmUnderwood David Underwood JosephBerg J B Berg Allen Calhoun RichardCalhoun J Casey N Casey K BDevee McClcbuu Dcvcc Perry Davis JM Davis Itobt Davis Phil Davis CBainey John Bainey Samuel Daily OC Daily Daniel Dawson Henry DawsonJacob Estcrline A Esterlinc GeoGreaser M Greaser J Griffith WmGriffith Ben Quyton John Guy ton J BHallistcr Wm Ilallister Geo Humph ¬

rey Chas Humphrey Cyrus LowmanD Lwman P Jenkins W II JenkinsJames McKinney Wm McKinney TiicMcrideth Win Merideth Geo MirandaT J Miranda Jos Pumphrey TheoPuniphroy Jacob Kail Isaiah Kail J WKincs W B Itines John Itoss WmKos James Snedakcr AI Snedaker ASchmell T C Schmell D Tuttle SamuelTuttle It A Wallace Charles WallaceM Wingfield It Wingfield J WWright J Wright James Cowan FailyTorence half brothers

What single company can beat thisand what company can beat the follow-ing

¬

There were enlisted in my batteryfrom the beginning to the end 340 menand now in referring to family historyI wish to claim nothing more than dutvwell done The writer had a great ¬

grandfather and two grandfathers in theKevolutionary War my Grandmother aniece of Daniel Boone went through thesiege of Booncsboro nnd endured all thedangers of early pioneer life A cousinMaj Lewis and Capt Clark were thefirst cxploreis across the great Wrest myrather and n brother weie in the nr of1812 myself three brothers and 27 fullcousins were in the war of the rebellionIn this war a number gave up their livesand the combined service of all was overCO years And that modern George Wash-ington

¬

Aguinnldo can tell you that I hadtwo cousins in the Philippines Gen FredFunston and Lieut Burt J Mitchell

THE FORT GREGG AFFAIRWtien Comrade D Alverson Co K

158th N Y of Fernandina Fla wrotehis recollections of the Capture or FortGregg Comrade Wm II Handy Co II07th Ohio made reply and said that theRed Hearts would not stand any moresuch foolishness Comrade Alversonnow says his regiment woro the redhearts and that his Adjutant LieutRiley had on a soft low crown felt hatwith a red heart tacked to the front nearthe band A bullet struck the red heartComrade Handy stated that his regimentlost three color bearers Comrade Alver¬

son says that his regiment lost three colorbearers one Sergeant and two Corporalson the State flag Comrade Alverson stillfeels certain that he went into the fortwith the 12th W Va and believes thatthe 10th and 11th W Va were in thesame brigade

THE TWO CHARGFS AT FORT GREGO

Corporal Wm H H Beckwith Moroc-co

¬

Ind supplementing his account of thecapture of Fort Gregg appearing in theissue of May 22 says I stated that thetroops making the first charge failed Ishould have said temporarily failed thenother troops coming to the assistance ofthose first engaged made a second assaultwhich resulted in the capture of the fortI was about half a mile from the fortDuring tho first charge I could plainly seetroops on the parapet and around the fortThis charge was made about 1 oclockThe fort was captured nearly an hourlater When I enlisted the SOth N Ywas commanded by Col Fairchilds andit then belonged to the Second BrigadeSecond Division It may later have beentransferred to another brigade

FIRST TO ENTER FORT GREGG

David R Bryan Co A 54th Pa 312Market St Johnstown Pa claims thatChas Barckley of his company was thefirst Yankee soldier to enter Fort Gregg

parentsArmy

Also services

1817Pension

hustleradvice

RJ

N PBarckley secured the flag that had wavedover the fort and thewatch The Ia to Turn-ers

¬

Independent Division Maj NathanDavis was killed on the parapet and the

color beat er was killedTho Hag fell into the worksMichael Lohr jumped into the intrenehtnent and raised the flag aloft All thisoccurred before any other troops

entered the fort Comrade litjMwas an witness to the events of whichhe wtites says that the --od alsotook an active part in the affair

First Night on PicketEditor National I send

an incident of old war times that hap¬

pened way down in Tennessee whichmay amitso the old vets and serve as areminder of the days when wc did

go in southwesternTennessee in 1802 It was our first nighton guard in the enemys country Thecompany was full and running over innumbers We had 103 men two of whom

smuggled until vacancies occurredthen mustered in

On the night in question com-mand

¬

of a platoon men stationed nta bridge across the Forked Deer IJiverwith orders to carefully guard the bridgeand if the enemy advanced upon our posi-tion

¬

to at once send word to thein by the who wasordered to remain with us for such serv-ice

¬

we be attacked and to holdthe bridge as long ns possible

There was heavy timber all around usexcept along the causeway on top of

ran the road through the river bot-tom

¬

on both and the space clearedin making the embankment

posted the about sundown oneat the bridge one on other about200 yards beyond tho bridge and one intho valley about 200 yaids to left onthe river bank being the only placein the vicinity away from the rond andbridge night was rainy and in-

tensely¬

dark and wo being green soldierswere nervous and alert

The river wns of its banks theminks otters coons were

the water all about us and jumpingfrom tree tree The nocturnal habits ofthese animals were something now to most

Hi f wujay a3Hq 55fesii z zxj

New Pension LawUnder the Act of June 27 1902

All soldiers served 30 days in any of tho

INDIAN WARSfrom 1S17 to IMS are entitled to n pension of 8 permonth IfthcoIdlerUdeadnldowUentllIedtr snahas not remarried

THE ACT OF JUNE 27 1890has alw been amended and thousand of claims thathave been njectl tin the Kroutulof a prior ConfrdcmtP cttIc or on account of ilraertlonfrom a previous fieirice can now be allowed underrecent Acts of ConRTttsPrompt and personal attention then to all correspondence

NO FEE UNLESS SUCCESSFULAH Classes of Claims before the Departments

Let U3 hear from you

PHILLIPSPension

bnnan rtullilliic D CItrancli OOlcci 1J Willoughby St Brooklyn JfYFROM TBE NATIONS TRIBUNE WASHINGTON 0 C

THLRSDAY APRIL 22 ISMWf ndopt a iomfnhnt nnitunl ronrse Inrailing ntte illnn to the nnnoniirement ofMessrs Kntts V lliillk nhlrli irnpianin uuothcr column ofllils Issue ol only

bare they hern successful ns practitionersbut tlielr pergonal war reeortl elves anadditional interest to their career Tbefact time they nr both veterans naturally bail a bearing npon the success theyhave nchleicd professionally In the tpsrial line or practice to which they haveflevotetl their efforts Itoth members ofthe llrm have bad the advantage or Ionsservice In responsible positions In theIcnslou Iltlrenu

3IaJ IStitts organized and mannced theIriny nnd Xny Survivors nlvlslonwhich has been oRlclally described ashating enabled over GOOOO toprove their cases before the Utirenn irhootherwise mould have Tailed rr laeU ofet idence

of us The picket on the left of the re¬

serve thought tbe rebels were crossingthe river netiby and banged away hisSpringfield ride roaring like a six pounderon the heavy night air I had been listen-ing

¬

to the noises made by the animals andwas satisfied as to the cause hence wasnot alarmed I went out part way to thesentinel and called out a sort of stagewhKper what did you see Nothingbut 1 heard the rebels paddling across theriver was the answer I replied Iguess not stick to your post and keepa s liarn lookout

I to the reserve and in a fewminutes bang went the gun again andwhile trying to reload the gun he wasrapidly falling back his way being im ¬

peded by brush and by trees that had beenupturned by a cyclone a few years beforethe uprooted trees leaving in places holesfrom four to six feet deep filled with wa-ter

¬

and into ono of these holes filled withice cold water tumbled the sol ¬

dier up to his Help helphe shouted Grab a root called outseveral of the boys at the reserve whounderstood the situation lie scrambledout holding to his Springfield but he lostthe ramrod lie was allowed to remainby the fire to dry and another sentto his station

Soon after this a riflo shot rang outacross the river near the picket post onthat side and a Sergeant and two menwere sent to investigate and relieve thoguard The sound of the gun was notlike ours and we were all greatly excitedthinking this was the opening of an at-tack

¬

on our post The relief felt theirway slowly and carefully through thedarkness toward the picket post guidedby the sound of a rustling among tholeaves and muttered words from some per-son

¬

near the tree where the guard hadbeen posted Dropping on their handsnnd knees the men crawled up near thepost and called out in loud whispers totho picket asking if he was there andwhat was he doing The answer camein broken English the picket beingof the German Yes I washere but mine pipe is broke He wasan inveterate smoker and had lit his pipeagainst strict orders not to smoke on postand a sneaking guerrilla had fired at thelight the bullet hitting the pipe andknocking it into leaving thestem held between the smokers teethand lie was hunting among the leaves forhis pipe when the relief reached him Itwas lucky for him he was standing sidewise to the sharpshooter or he wouldhave been shot through the head As hewas a good soldier he was not reportedand after receiving a severe lecture fromthe Sergeant he promised never to do soagain News of the firing on the picketwas sent in by the cavalryman who re-turned

¬

with orders for renewed vigilanceNo further alarm occurred during thenight T F Stevens First SergeantCo B 122d Warren Minn

Death of Grants StallionLinden Tree the celebrated pure bred

Arabian stallion given by the Sultan ofTurkey to Gen Grant and by him givento Gen W Colby now Adjutant Generalof the Nebraska National Guard died atBeatrice Neb July S of old age Hewas 30 years old

Soldiers their widows dependent and minor children whose pension wasdropped or rejected on account of a prior service in tiie Confederate will now beentitled thoe who did not Teceivo an Honorable Discharge from all inwhich they enlisted Thousands will be benefited by this law

AH soldiers in Indian Wars from ISjo and their widows are now entitled to aService

Blanks copies of laws and advice freeMr Hnnter is a had 117 cases allowed in one day no is prompt and will

give you good work and Write at once to

fraBJ IJPension and Patent Attorney

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Tho addresei or all Fed¬

eral bodlers their klowaor heirs niia lied aIfoinestcail on less

taan mo acres before June 2SJ 1371Final Ilonf notrequired Will

DenverColo Mention National Tribune

t tt rclinvolnifl War¬

rantAddress

Ilox 1333

Wanted Land WarrantsIssued to soldiers or the Wir of the RevolutionIssued to soldiers of tho War of 1312Issued to soldiers of the War wlih MexicoIssued to soldiers rfanrtnr Will also nnrrhns

Surveyor Generals Certificates Asrtcultiirol CollegeScrip Soldiers Additional Homestead Rights ForestReserve Land or any valid Land Warrants or TiyScrip will pay spjt cash on delivery of papers

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