The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-02-20
A CoNTRARAND's STORY,

A CoNTRABAND'S STORY,
A nEcrtAR Virginia plantation slave
passed through here last week ON he way
to New York, in search of his Wife They
escaped about the came tine, but missed
each other, He fell in with Gen. Banks
iiviSion, and his wife md children, he
thinks crossed the river ncas Washington
lie suppUscs that they are now in New
York. IL seems that he fell in with some
soldiers who were members of Henry
Ward Becchcr's church. and they gave hn
/ document for himself, and one for his
wife. We give his story pretty much as he
told il, except the plantation dialect:
"M Ny Lame il John Parker WAS born in
King aud Queens county, Virginia | do
not know my age. My masters name was
BenIamn Wilson: he failed i'll business,
and when he broke up they ssi2cd l30 me-
srus - of whom was one - aud sold them
at the auction market in Richmond. wss
bought by Thomas Griggs, a colonel in the
Rebel army, for 600. My pew master
brought me, with n number OF Gthsr slaves
he hsrl purchased. to his plantation in JEFF.
ierson county, and set me 10 work. mar
rled ii wife, after leaving tBy first master.
who belonged to a plantation five miles
away from ours. | staid with my new mas
lie. uutl the war biGke out, then lac and his
sohs went away to the war, leaving al
o>'rs 'er o manage US. In two weeks he
also went to the war. We had good times
Gtsn. and ate Up everything ", could le:.
Not long after ON mistress and her two
daughters packed w, an Went ut Gar
master had told us t. staS at THE pta!lSatjon
until he came back. and that If any d--d
Yankees showed themselves during his alb
sencc, tu shoot them. Our master lad also
before this sent us to Winchester and
fredericksburg, 70 work upon the batter 6.
and 10 assist at the trenches. When the
officers discharged us, We returned TO tic
plantation, 2'hcpc Ge remained until tho
seat Of government WAS removed from
Montgomery to Richmond. A report was
then spread that the whole Of Richmond
was TO be fortified. and that all the negros
would be wanted to help 1en of us then
went 10 Richmond, and worked for a con.
sidablo length Of time upon batteries and
breastworks, on James River. When they
were done with us, We retupeG u the
farm. and found our ovrrsenr az homa. We
worked on sinoethly uih1i the excitement
about the expected battle at Bull Run arose
They said that all the colorcd people must
then Come and fight. | arrived at the
junction tw6 days before the actian com.
menced. They immediately placed Inc in
one Of the batteries. There were four col.
ored men i'll our batteries do ut know
how many there were in the others. We
opened hre abSnt ten o'clOsk on the morn
my Of Sunday. the Dist - could Mt see the
Yankees at all, aud only fired at random
Sometimes they we're concealed in the
woods, and then We guessed our aim
There was very heavy firing I'll around me-
but can Z tell tho humber Of tiicir guns
The inSst al the guns were of the kind
they call mortars Ny york was to hand
the balls, and swSb cut The cannon in this
we took tnrrs. The o:ficsTa aimed this
gun We fired grape-shot. The balls from
the Yankee guns fell thick all around. IN
one battery shell burst, and killed twenty
the rcst ran. Thank the Lord! none were
killed in our battery. felt bad all the
time, aud thought every minnie my time
had cGme 1 felt so excited that | hardly
knew what ! was about, and felt worse than
dead We wished in our hearts that the
Yankees would whip, and we would have
run oyer 10 thejy side, but onr officers would
have shot us if we had made the attempt
staid at my place till the order came for
all to retreat, then every one ran, thinking
that the Yankees were close upon their
heels. followed the retreat a good piece,
but as soon as our officers found out that
the Yankees wera elso retreating az fast as
We were, they ordered halt, and tie Black
Horse Cavalry (Which lost great number
in the ightl, stopped all the fugtives, and
turned in pursuit. OF the United States
troops, but the general was little skit.
tsh about following him. aud they did NJ
care to press forward upon them very
sharply. There were bnt two regine.its Of
colorcd men i'll the Bull Run fight, that
saw. One wss tTse ueSrOs, and tho other
slaves. Our masters tried all they could
to make Us fight. They promised TO give
us our freedom, and money besides. but
none Of us bahey0d tlIeIG, E'e Snly fought
because we had to.
II staid about here for two weeks. We
worked until the next Friday burying the
dead, We did not berry the Yankees and
our men in the, same hole We generally
dug long hole. eight or nine feet deep.
and threw hundred in each pis. We
could NJ make any KIDD Of cosinSior them.
We str pped the Yankees Of all their clothes
sn va'uahles, hut buried our men without
taking of them. The Yankees had the
esI clothes, The colonel Of our regimenl
told us 70 BRING al tho money. watches,
etc.. 10 liza,
"Ws found great number Of wounded,
and tie 6Sst thing they ASKED tnr was
Water water bnt we had nera "a eivA
the n. Some of the wounded we put ont Of
their misery by bayoneting them. They
would cry out, and beg fsT their lves, bur
Te Gic ~ Iere " spare thecn FLAGS Of