The Shasta courier., 1864-12-24
NUMBER 43.
Escaping from Dixie--Trust only the Ne
groes. ssa

groes. ss8
an army correspondent. relating the es.
cape of iour Union officers from the rebe
prison at Andersonviile, Ca, gives the follow-
ing interesting narratives
when leaving the prison, each had nasa-
sed to secret upon his person n small niece
Oh corn bread. which they carried along with-
OUT eating till nearly exhausted. when thew
sat DOWN to eat it--being about 10 miles
,to'i' Tue village. They had Travelled all nirht
nu', as'they had no knowledge Of the country
.ne! were not positive that they had taken
s sae right road Allthey knew was that thew
"aa seeered to the northwest. DaylIrht had
,rha., ahu .n mad fouad secure thicket.
Ia - spey prHosed to remain till evening.
heard footsteps. They natursllv .,roadei
lest they had been pursued, Lu, y .ha;.
PRISE, the visitor was no other ,hor -, Ii
negro, who broke out, :. seed ron, eon,.~;,'
mere. and knowed you'd broke nat ~ ,,,;sor,
and brought you sometAir,' to aaf - INA =,
produced basket of SWEET rotafoes ,roll raas
ted, and several large pieces Of corn hrs,3
wnich ne laid before them 1t will nat hr
difhcult to Imagine the feelings of the fuo;r,
ives at that moments and the thanks they re.
turned only found vent in tears.
Uar, dar, said the old man, s.don,ttata
on we knows our friends; dev often comes
dis way, and we watches for 'em, and alvovs
gives EN- somethin'. But let me tell van
massas, don't you trust any white man :. but
when you meet anigger. don t be fraid aev's
all your friends, and dey won't say muffin
but will give you anything they've got.2
Inc words of tue old man sank deenly into
their hearts. /" Don't trust any white man
the negroes are your friends" The advice.
was strictly followed l~
The officers held long consultation with
their sable friend, and were astooisbed ot
the intelligence he displayed He knew all
about tie Emancipation Proclamation. and
en,y wished that he was young. that he
might fly to our lines and shoulder n musket
IN behalf of the freedom of his race. He sta.
ted that the matter was perfectly understood
among all the blacks, and that The whites
were in constant dread OF seryilc insurrec.
tion; but added tire negro, ..we haven't
no arms, and wouldn't know how to use ZEN,
If we had, till you Yankees learns us.' He
stated that he was about the house MOS. of
the time. and he was too old 10 work much,
and he could hear the white folks talk of the
situation of affairs. He represented that all
were despondent, and believed that ..tle
Yankees would whip" ard that the Confed
crates could not hold out much longer.
he men bad seen in the Southern rapers
the proposition to arm negroes. and thew ask
ed the old man what he thought of it.
Oh, said he. they'll take de guns.
but dey II never shoot 'em at Yankee. kos
dey' ) our friends; but if dey get any, devil
ind Mass Sherman, and put On de blue coats,
and den dey'll light till dey dies, If de Lord
wills it
In the evening their friend returned with
load OF provisions-corn- bread and sweet no.
tatoes-so heavy that they could not take al
and when dark came they bid their noble
friend farewell, and were departing, when he
repeated his former injunction, :. Don't trust
de white folks; but de niggers is vur friends
They did not approach white man on
their journey. and could not, therefore. saw
as to whether there were or were not Union.
lists among them. But, whenever morning
came-tor they Travelled by night-thev
sought outa shelter in the woods, and then
looked around for Z negro, who DO sooner
learned who they were than reset about pre-
parlng them food-eorn bread and sweet pe-
tatoes-and carefully attended them all day.
One thing surprised them, and that was,
the perfect understanding existinsamong the
blacks. ard the rapiditv and secrecy with
which they communicated with one another.
They have often been visited in their seclu-
sion by so Of them. all ready to serve them
to the bestof their ability. While they slept,
several would stand sentinel to guard them,
at distance. as the number is now so great
that not half of them are employed /: and be-
cause mistresses and overseers are obliged to
be very lenient just now. -sag