CHAPTER XVI.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 402, 14 September 1889, Page 6

CHAPTER XVI.

. THROUGH. THE LINES. This delay was very welcome to me, as my feet were in a fearful condition . arid my boots were falling off them. I divided my time at this stopping place bstween "sleeping 1 and an attempt- at the cobbler's trade, repairing my. footgear with the aid of Caucus, who- was much more expert at this work than I. The • two" girls who had piloted us so devotedly over 1 the mountains remained here a few dayo, Mr Mix- offering to take them home again in his waggon. > 1 Every night we gathered around the big. log fire in the house, telling stories about our adventures during the war. On one of these evenings I was as6onished to hear our. lieutenant state that he had had -tf brother in the Confederate army who was killed at Shiloh, while leading his company against a Federal battery. Bub it was thus throughout western North Carolina— family was opposed 'to family, and brother was against 1 brother. On the third night of our rest at this place, the lieutenant and Mr Mix both became very anxious. They said that we had remained so long here that the chances were that some Confederate troop must pass soon ; consequently our guards must be constantly on the alert. • You see,' Hanson said, •if Schofield crowds Long-street, alHris soldiers wilhbe called in, and some will be bound to pass here. Now, I'm pretty sure Schotield will be crowding Long-street about this time.' My turn for picket duty came at three in the morning. I was posted about a hundred yards from the bouse in which our men slept, dressed and armed. The moon ! was still bright, though rapidly descending to disappear behind the mountain tops. I had watched perhaps an hour, when 1 heard a sound of horses' hoofs at a distance ; then, after listening a moment, the clank of sabers. I looked ud the road, and in the full moonlight counted, perhaps half a mile away, twelve cavalrymen, riding leisurely toward the house. In a minute more I had aroused my party. *We can fix them from behind that stone wall,' muttered the lieutenant. 4 We're nine, they're only twelve. Follow me !' but as he gave this order his glance fell upon Mr Mix's wife and children, and the two girls. Then he paused. ♦ Don't mind us, 5 muttered Mix between his set; teeth. ' But I must — think of your little ones, man. If we whipped those fellows at your house, when we'd gone they'd come back and take revenge upon you and^ yours. We don!t repay hospitality in that way.' . 'God bless you! 1 cried Mrs Mix. 'Go up that stream, and when the rebs go I'll bring you all breakfast. 1 ' Follow me, men, quick !' muttered our commander. * We'll retreat now, but we'll not retreat always !' We silently followed him out of the rear of the house, and obeying Mrs Mix's instructions, were "concealed before the Confederates arrived. Shortly after daybreak one of che girla came out and found us. She said the r,ebs'had gone on, and that Mrs Mix "would now biing us our breakfast. This she did in about half an hour. As soon as this was finished,, the lieutenant ordered a start, and we bade our hospitable friends good-bye. Though we tried again and again to make them accept something from us, for all they had done for us, this was refused, and the two beautiful girls even became indignant at our offered remuneration for their dangerous all - nighfck tramp with us through the gap. ' .. . We were now in the western part of Mitchell County, and' had next to cross through the valley lying between the Nolachucky River, and the dividing line between Tennessee and North Carolina. A portion of our routo now lay along thia stream which empties into the French Broad inj the northern part of Cooke County, Tennessee, this being the most direct way to the Big Smoky or Bald Mountains. Thus we travelled until about three o'clock. At one point, where the river takes a bend ot nearly two miles, we forded it, and near the centre found it some three feet deep. We had hardly got out and dressed, before two white men and a negro walked down a little path to the place where we had entered the I stream. Our lieutenant called oufc and asked the men who they were, and what they came there for. One of them replied, that they had seen us from a small log shanty at the top of the hill. They noticed that we were not soldiers, and consequently thought that we were refugees. They were of that class themselves, and said they had come back from the Nolachucky gap because they had found it guarded, and they could not get through without going over the Bald Mountains, which were the highest and roughest in the State. It was evident now- that we either had to run the gauntlet of Confederate soldiers in this gap, or do some, of the , hardest work of sour journey. The< men who gave us this information refused to go on with us, as it was too dangerous. Our lieutenant, however, said : ' There's nothing like trying,' 'and taking his advice,' our whole party started along a road at which we had just arrived. Its pleasant smoothness, ' so different to the flinty rocks of the hillsides, soothed our fears of immediate danger,- and we concluded to try it- for a mile or two though it was a place from which, if .we encountered superior numbers, there w^as no escape. * The rushing river was on one «ide of the road, and a steep cliff upon the; other. ' We had hardly proceeded more a mile before the lieutenant, who marched a^ hundred yards aheadof use, catrie runriidg back', and said ": * Great fcjeott ! half a dotferi troopers are 'coming down the road. We can't run ;l; l we',' my si; 'pjbdn'd 'eni off, though"- 1-. War the*- noise of the firirig'll bring'acrowd of_tthem,on to us ! 'Every man' bf you behin&^a.' fdck',' and obey orders'.!'-' ■; "* ' J • n / Caucus bad , already, done this, getting Jntbi tl)g .the bank of which ana '•Qne t \irgea qn* it? .(border,, iormed- a perfect ambush]. 'Come righfcheah, Massa Bryant j|; f liel, cried, his- teeth t chattering #»ith 'the icej'cold water that Had. been melting' sn ( ow, b'ef ore ft E very c rpck ]had its man] ' I had ; np^a ( jmoment to'lose, and. jumped into* (^he river beside sthe.negro as the squad of, Confederatessturned the bend in the road. , , Every ; one held his breath, :,they had

nearly passed qs when, , unfortunately,; Caucus\ teeth*, stimulated by, the icy water, began to play like castanets, making a per- > ceptible noise.' ' Gol darn it, what's that?' cried a Confederate trooper, and the squad paused to listen, ' Darn me if it ain't a rattlesnake out in , winter,' said another, and he rode into the bushes on the bank of the stream: 1 JFire •' cried our lieutenant. • And a shot came from every rock about the surprised soldiers. The man who had turned into the bushes, yelled, 'Here's one of them Il'I 1 ' and drr.wing his saber, jumped hia horse into the river to attack Caucus. At that moment, my revolver and the lieutenant's Henry rifle spoke, and the man and horse floundered in the stream. Wounded as he was, the trooper seized the negro, but Caucus foupht like a demon, using the butt of his revolver as a club— apparently having forgotten to h're it. , But if the negro neglected the proper use of his weapon, the others of our pprty, did not ; and taken by surprise, attacked apparently by a greater force, five soldiers spurred for their lives down the road, while the body of their comrade floated drowning in the stream beside them. > ' Quick, men ! ' yelled the lieutenant. « Out of here like lightning !, There'll be, a hundred men scouring this road in ten minutes!' , We needed no warning, but hurrying along after him a few hundred yards, came to a place where the hills were not so steep, and leaving the road, scrambled up the precipice for some time ; then, crossing the 1 ridge, took refuge in a dense thicket of a * second growth of pine and fir trees that formed an excellent cover. Here, placing a guard to prevent surprise, we lighted a firo, beside which Caucus and I dried our clothes, while the others cooked our meal, and determined upon our future movements. The lieutenant now said thao he should try the gap that night, going well up on the mountain side to avoid the troops that occupied it. ' To-night !' most of us groaned, for we were fearfully tired. 4 Certainly ! to-night ! To-morrow the news of this fight'll be there, and we'll have no chance of getting through — it is a close call even now !' We cooked a day's rations, as wo woald not be ablo to halt again till noon the next day, so our officer told us. Then we struggled on after this indomitable fellow, Caucus grunting, as he trudged by my side : l l)is am a reckless country, 'pears to me, Massa Bryant, round heah. Dey'd jist as soon kill a nigger as a white man.' After a while the lieutenant ordered us to all step talking. We were entering the gap through which the Nolachucky passes into Tennessee. Soon below us in the valley, as we tramped along the hillside, we could ccc camp-fire after camp-fire of the Confederate scouts guarding this notch in the mountain. We vere not much alarmed at this, however, as the cavalry could hardly follow us over the rocks in the darkness of the night, and our officer seemed to know every bypath of this part of the country. Getting through this pass, near morning, the lieutenant informed us we were now in Tennessee. * Praise de Lord ! de Promised Land !' cried Caucus. • Well, Cauk, you'll find it the cussedest, hardest Promised Land you ever struck. Look out, or they'll have you over Jordan 1' muttered our leader as he passed the word to march on. We were leaving the Smoky range behind us. In a week or two our fate must be decided ; but as we descended the valley of the Nolachucky, I could see light upon light, indicating more camps of soldiers, evidences that every step we advanced added to our danger of death or capture. As day broke, we halted and went into camp in another secluded spot. Here we remained in hiding until darkness came on again to conceal us from Confederate patrols. During the next two days we turned north to avoid the highway running toward Jonesborough, the country being mostly level, though we sometimes encountered a spur of the Bald Mountains. >Ye were compelled to this roundabout course, as every high-road, cross road and ferry was guarded by regular soldiers. Reaching Indian River, we were fearfully hungry, having had nothing to eat for over twentyfour hours. Seeing a house near by, I gave Caucus a dollar greenback and sent him to negotiate for provisions, as I thought a negro would create less suspicion than a white man. The black being • fighting hungry,' would have faced anything for a meal, and darted off eagerly. We watched the house and saw Caucus enter, the door being opened for him by a woman. • After a' few minutes he came out travelling rapidly, but loaded with all kinds ot eatable?. Five minutes after the woman came running out, apparently in the wildest excitement and rage, but Caucus had passed from her view. When he came into camp the amount of provisions he had astounded me -a sack of flour, a side of bacon, two pans of biscuits, three dozen hard boiled egys, a ham, and a lot of potatoes in a sack. • All these for a dollar V I gasped. • Yes, sah •' • What did, the woman say ?' ' She didn't say nothin', sah. She was in de cellar. I inveigled her into de cellar, and den negotiated, de grub.' ' Cauk, you'll -be a forager in time !' lltaghcd the lieutenant. ' I's laming, sah !' returned Caucus. And so he did — a few months.after.this. It was too risky to take back to the woman any portion of her provisions, and we were, perhaps, not over-scrupulous, for provision meant strength, and (strength meant safety ; so we pushed along Horse Creek on the road toward Greenville. Soou after this we .came to a house, the owner of .which was, acquainted with our lieutenant. Here we expected to remain the night. It was just .getting dusk as we halted some two hundred yards from the building, and, the lieutenant went forward to see if it would be safe for v's to show ourselves. _ • He soon gave us the signal to come in. At the doorway we were stopped, by an old gentleman, who whiepered that a Confey era te. soldier was inside upon a sick bed, attended ,by 'his mother* who had arrived a few days before from near Knoxville. We were shown into a large room adjoining the one in which the invalid lay. His mother came oub and begged us pitepusly not to -disturb 'her almost 1 dying boy, who was down with' typhoid fever. She said he wanted to see some one of us. , He guessed on WKat side we were, and felt afraid for his , -safety. ><<,<■ , , ' The lieutenant nodded to me to go in- [ and I found ( the young man very nervous, partly " from ' sidknese and partly from 'anxiety.' In a weak tone he asked me what we were goirig'to'dbj-and'Whether we wpuld ' molest him. Noting his excitement^ ''and seeing how ifc told- upon "him, r'Trcqge'sted him to give •himVelf 1 no uneasiness, "for 1 ' though we were Union men: making for bh,e front, 'We wouM ! aitttebk'nQ'idne'wliQ aid jiot

disturb us. !t ThiB seenied^to relieve, him |j very m'uch^ and his mother followed me to the dobr, and blessed thanked me fov< having mercy upon her b6yl , ,>' | i" Never was ( I bo impressed until this i moment with the fearful passions of this time, that made a man, \yhom oyery instinct of humanity would make us pity and assist, fear wo 1 would kill him as he lay sick upon his bed. ' ■!,,.' The old gentleman invited us to remain for supper, b'lifc told us if we stayed all ' night we had better sleep with our boots on, as we would probably be gobbled up before morning. Wo took his advice, and his supper, and our host was kind enough, to. pilot us to a spot between two hills where we could make a fire without being observed from the road. ; Placing sentries, as usual, we passed the night unmolested; Early in the morning our friend came to us and said he would get v? some breakfast if we would come down to the house. Accepting his offer, while at table a little darkey came in saying there were soldiers at the gate, and looking out, I saw two men on horseback armed with rifles. Our lieutenant, noting thoir number, called to ' them to come in and join us. They looked at us in surprise, but acquiesced, and after discovering who we were, ' one of them jocosely remarked that we had better watch out or they would take us prisoners. 'jYou will have a fino time of it, as we are heeled, and some one will be hurt !' returned Hanson. One of them replied: * Just, ,waifr at this house for an'hdur, and wo will' change your mind. ' . • "» - l> - '' " ' The other told us not to mind him, as he{ was good at bluffing. j By this time we had come to the co'n- [ elusion that these men were in advance of others ; consequently, while the two soldiors were still at breakfast, we started out at quick pace on our journey, and went isouthward toward Cedar Creek, not following any road, but going through woods and fields, which would render pursuit by horsemen very difficult, tho lieutenant tellintr us he knew a family living near Salem, about twelve miles distant, and if we could get there safely, we could learn enough abouc the position of the troops to aid us in de-_, termining our future movements. To reach this place, however, we would have to travel through a thickly-settled farming country southwest of Greenville. This could best be done at night, a3 we could detect the presence of soldiers by their camp fires. Wo camped in some timber until evening and then began our march. About eight o'clock in tlie evening we came to a house that stood near the fork of two roads. A woman appeared and asked who was there. We said we wanted to know if the way was clear to Salem. She replied that she was not quite ■ sure. The day before she had seen soldiers I coming from that direction. Learning nothing definite, we parsed on into the public road leading to the town, only disturbed by the barkinar of dogs that had a habit of favouring us very often with their salutations at night. At midnight we reached our destination. A woman opened the door for us. There ■\vas.not a man on the place— every one of them being away in the army around Knoxville, except the woman's husband, who was hiding in the mountains. She gave us a doleful account of things, and said she did not know how we were to get through.unless we went north through the woods and approached Knoxville by a roundabout route. This was out of the question ; it meant another two weeks of refugeeing, and we were . now almost too worn out to travel. Finally the woman advised us to go northwesterly, direct toward Newmarket, and cross the Nolachucky River above its junction with the French Broad. This > was I about ten miles, but we could reach it by daylight,- as the country was perfectly level and there were no big streams to ford. Acting on her advice, we set out. We had hardly been gone an hour before a rainstorm came up that made the road very slippery. We were rejoiced at this- It would tend to keep the Confederates under canvas. Lights appeared ahead of us, which we took for camp-fiies, but fortunately we did not have to go near, them. We reached our point in safety,, and stopped about half a mile beyond' the junction of tho two rivers in a farm-houae, where we found no one but a white man and two negroes. Wo asked the man to ferry us across the stream. He looked us over, then complied with our request, but in a very surly way. The size of our party was too large for opposition, and he took us over in two loads. As he landed us he remarked that wo would have a nice time getting through the lines, and that he would not like to be in our boots. Thanking him for his trouble, we marched in the direction of Newmarket, intending to leave it on our right and to pass southwest toward Strawberry Plains. From here on we were satisfied that we would meet in the roads none but soldiers, and were continually on the alert. It was , now about eight o'clock in the morning, when we came to "a little creek and concluded to camp. We had travelled all that night and most of the day before, and nature compelled us to rest. We halted at a little log cabin back ot a piece of woods three hun-' dred yards from the road. It was quite secluded, and not api to be seen by people riding by. No one came near during the day. We slept on the .floor by turns — ono of us always being on guard. During this time I patched up, my shoes, as well as I could with strings, and tied theni to my feet, from which they had nearly fallen. Often during the day we heard the noise of marching soldiers, bat were fortunately too far from the road ,to be discovered. > A battery of artillery also galloped past. All this indicated some movement on Longstreet's part, but what we could not tell. • - <'. " The lieutenant, however, said : ' I think he has got to retreat. Judging by the number of men that' are now coming in, he has called in most of his detached parties, but by to-md'rrow at this time we 1 will probably know all about it.' « Why so f I asked. ] , ' Because then we'll , eithor be in the Federal lines, prisoners, or'gone,to glory !' ♦So soon?' / " .' , -, ■,„',' r , 1 Gertainly ! - We can't keep 1 dodging through the rebel . army. for_> ever. If- we stay here, we're bound to be caughtiria ■ day or two. Now, .I've picked out 'our crossing-place on the Nolachucky — it's twelve' miles" from' sheret' By a forced (march,* we'lhget' there ibefore day> breaks. slf W e get i across, alivey half- an- hour'll place us in the .Union-* 'linear AsJsoori as dark, we start to make.tho attempt.?? •! If we were successful- irf getting fchirdu^h^ . our 'leader 1 would' go'tb his regiment Md 'we ■," i wbuld separate. ' t Feelinfg that" this gall&rft ', . mans c< services 'deserved'sbme' recognition •from dVI tdre ti'ieaf from mfy'riiemorandum ; book and wrote :^' J , r ' >f ( , t^' ' /*["! '£' • Whereas wo/tHeutfderjsi^hcd',jneinbei?B]of a ', party of Union men struggling 'to^getaway • From the, l Southern jjJUontoderapy/ihaVo^been ■, guided frith, consummate tact, judgmeu*,' seU-

denial and bravery, by Lieutenant Hanson, of , the JB^th Kentucky-Unlonf Gavalry,, wß«extohd tojiihi out' phtco't-elaridfhe.artfMtithai&sJ.and., tvl^ile Wo are* unable* td'roward Irim substanti-* ally, we give him our best wishes and best; hopes that ho may- pass through this war safely, and when these troubles are over, may enjoy the rest of aid life in health and happiness, • This being signed by us, I read.it to the , lieutenant, who said he would place that! bit of paper in his bosom, preserve* it from , all harthy and always treasure ib during*ttie remainder of his life. ' We now began our walk that> would ' bring us to the crossing of t.ie Nolachucky River,, at" .a „ place , ten,, or, '-twelve miles from Knoxville. Along the road in the darkness we could observe ovi- j I donees everywhere of the prosence of sol- i diers. 1 In softie places 'tiros illuminated the j sky, while in others there were tent polos from which the canvas 1 had been struck, and at one place we almost ran into a little camp of men on the side of the road. Avoiding this by 9, circuitous route through tho fields, and coming out into ,the highway again, we had not gone far before wo heard the galloping of horses., i Leaving, the road once more, because it was evident that we' were nearirig the lights' of 'almost a brigade of Confederates, and, could .not guess at 'what point we would run against its.picketi'line, we, kept on until two in' the morning, ( when we reached our objective point' near tihe vivey.' 1 A little house stood away irp f va the road some fifty , or „aixby yards, and the Nolachucky was at least two hundreds paces beyond it. Across this river we could see lights, which were undoubtedly the camp-fires of spine portion of- Longsbreefc's army. The house was inhabited by a middle-aged i woman and her daughters. There were no , men near. 1 As we made knbwn our purpose to get into the federal lines, the lady said that the rebel picket lijie was across the river, 'where we oould easily 'see the camp-fires. We then asked if we could cross the stream near there, ' She said, nob" with any safety, as there I were three men shot down there last night while trying to cross. They attempted to ,ero just after dark. 'I warned them, but they feaid. they would ■ take their chances, and when I heard the rnuskotry across the river, 1 knew they were gone.' We then asked if there was any other place to cross near there. 4 Yes,' she replied. ' There's a bridge a little further up-stream, bub that is guarded by a company of infantry, and J believe they have one or tjvo guns there. There is going to be some movement ; I can'b tell what it is, because the troops have been travelling about here all day, and there has been a good deal of musketry firing in the front. I suppose there will probably be lively times to-morrow.' Thi3 made us most anxious to get into the Union lines. If Longstreet advanced, every foot he gained added another foot' to the distance we had to travel, and took away another chanco ot safety from us. We were now at the border line. Imprisonment and death 'were behind us. Death was, perhaps, before* us. We sat in the dark, early morning hours discussing the momentous question, whether we should attempt to cross or nob. The woman knew the .difficulty of the situation, and begged us for (rod's sake nob to undertake the trip. i .1 told her we had been over a month on our journey, and we could not remain where we were in sight of the 1 pickets; that boldness was ourorly chance. I then said : ' Bqys, I have come on this trip to go through the .lines. We have come to the lines, and. if I can get anyone to go with me, J will' get bhero !' I urged that the present moment, 'just ■ before daybreak? was bhe best time to catch I the pickets off their guard. * ", # ■ One man agreed to join me. The lieutenant hesitated, and said : 'I do not think we can get across. I know that you could nob pass that picket line, with me in command of it, in bhe way you intend.' '. I replied : ' Don'b allow my rashness bo influence you.' ' , Ab that he jumped up and muttered : ' I do not propose to allow any man bo say I caie nob follow him.' "■ Oh !' cried bhe woman, ' for God's sake, don't go \ If you do, you will never como out alive!' 1 We thanked <her for her interesb, bub there was nobbing else for us—we must go forward. Only two of the men wibh bhe lieubenant would risk bho crossing. , The others said it was too hazardous, they would wait' developments. As for Caucus, he didn't seem to bhink he had any voice in the matter, and as soon as 1 got up ho followed me down to the woman's.boat, which was an old and leaky affair, hardly useful for any military purpose, and as such neglected by the enemy. Ib was now betw.een three and four o'clock in bhe morning. ' The whole party went to bhe bank with us. Unlocking bhe old balteau, we gob in. Another man then decided to bake bhe risk, and joined our party, leaving three who declined to go. We shook hands silently. It was now dangerous to speak, for the river was bub a little over a hundred yards wide. In order to make no noise, wo used no oar?, paddling with our hands. To do this effectively I took off my coat, wearing a dark grey shirt underneath, that gave no light colour to make me prominent in the .darkness. " This.coab,, which conbarned all my papers, 1 handed silently' to Caucus, and he placed it on the thwart between us. Then we iloabed oub inbo the stream. 1 (To \>a Continued.)