Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-01-24
An Ip.eres,ing Narrative.
THE HISTORY OF A LOYAL ARKAssIAs

ALABAMA Oh powerful anu Weil-pTO-
portioned frame, about six feet six inches
in height with dark gray eyes, and
stiff Jacksonisn brush of iron-gray hair,
and stronglynarked face, full Of char
acter and determination. After check
cred life, marked by more ups and downs
of fortune than usually fall to the lot of
a Western man, he finally settled in
Arkansas. BY turns he has been
printer, editor, farmer, land Spectator,
&C. The war found him a man of con-
siderable property and large influence in
his county-in short, one of the best
known men in Central and Southern Ar
kansas.
Capt. Vance may be regarded as a fair
representative man OF very large class
in the South for neither the very poor
nor the very rich as arule, distinguished
themselves by their devotion to princi-
pie, for or against the Union, during the
late struggle, and 1t was among the
''mlddle classes" properly so-called-
self-made men in all branches of enter
prise-that the most striking examples
Of patriotism, as well as the most
marked developments ofindiVidual char
acter are to be found.
The county of Saline, in which Capt.
NanCe's plantation lay, was entirely at
the mercy Of the desperate class of the
South western rebels, and in the begin
ming Of the war he found his home no
longer safe. Shouldering his rife he
started "aCross country" towards the
north star, and struck the Arkansas
river at the foot OF the Petit Grau
Mountains, closely pursued by his enc
mics, and, making small raft TO carry
his clothes and arms, swan the river,
then at flood, and hardly slept until he
found himself safely cover the border"
On his way to the nearest camp of fed
eral troops he captured a noted rebel
spy, AMI took him in as his first trophy
a queer sort Of letter of introduce
ton, Raising company at once, he
received his commission as captain, and
once more faced southwark
Acting as a scout, in advance with his
company, he fell in with a supply train
of forty wagons destined for Marina
dukes command, who were then in great
straits for provisions and forage. He
had but twelve men with him at the
time, but he posted them at the sides OF
the road, and alone stopped the train,
bound the drivers and guard, and thus,
having burned all that he could not
carry with him, returned to camp with
four times the number OF prisoners that
his whole party could muster. He then
returned to his own county, and added
4 number of his old neighbOrs to his
command, Scarcely had he completed
his muster roll before his small and un-
supported company was aSsailed at his
own home by about eighty regulators"
So well were his dispositions made,
however, that less than half the assail-
ants escaped. There were very few
prisoners taken in that fight.
ADVENTURES.
From this time forward his life was a
continued series of desperate adventures
and hair. breadth esCapes-a thorn OF
unusual magnitude in the side of the re-
belHon, until, in the latter part of 1862,
he fell into the hands of the rebels. In
company with Judge Baxter, afterwards
elected to the United States Senate by
the first legislature of the reconstructed
State, he was thrown into jail at Little
Rock, and his fate was considered as
sealed.
His sutferngs from close confinement
in irons in narrow sell, through the
hot days Of q Southern summer, were
needlessly aggravated by petty personal
enmity, and the brave old man will
carry to his grave the deep scars left on
his limbs by the rusty shackles which
he wore on his wrists and ankles for so
many weary months. At last by an in
geRiOus stratagem of his wife, a woman
worthy of such a husband, he escaped
from prison, and lay for five days hidden
in a cOrnfleld living on the ears Of green
corr. He was at last aroused from his
hiding place by the drums of the ad-
vancing columns OF our forces under
General Steele, and with them among the
foremost, he re-entered the city OF mis-
captivity,
RETRIBUTIvE JUSTICE.
About year afterwards, when the
United States courts bad been rc-estab-
lished, and when, for a brief time, an
effort was made to carry it to effect the
retributive enactment, Of Congress, aud
in the same court room where he was
tried for treason" l heard him give the
following striking evidence in a suit by
the United States, involving the con
fiscation Of the property of the very
judge who had presided at his trial. The
question was put to him What do
yon know concerning the loyalty of
Judge RiDgo ?"
what do know of the loyalty of
Judge Ringo, your Honor ] will tell
you. A year and a,half ago, sir, l was
taken prisoner by the rebels. I was
brought into this room in irons, sir, and
L stood about where stand now, sir, to
be tried for my life for treason, your
Honor treason against the Southern
Confederacy, because I had dared to
stand by the old flag was born under
and the Union had sworn to defend.
Judge Ringo sat that day where your
Honor sits now, as judge of the court,
and he sentenced me to death for that
treason. They took me from this room
in irons by his order, and that, your
Honor, is what know Of the loyalty of
Iudoe RinnO y