Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-11-03

lnd two of whom have several children.
In the mean time, Col. WisharL ard nv
seifus every nnans la our power to OBJ |
tain III finite IufoI ia ion concerning their
haunss and where abouss, ami acted prompt.
y on tbs "a a0gro iufoi ~ alton we were en- |
abied tor OBJ ain. We succeeded III lining
the promise from st V, raj parties to give us
and the only times We came
anyway near running upon the outlaws, |
was By this meaus. But we quickly saw |
our force was inadequate in numbers It |
was Impossible fer a to leave camp q |
once, ana the various places which should |
Fave been watched were too numerous for
the small fOroe we had at our command.
Only about 20 vo!ui tx rs responded to the
call, and of that number oniy two or
three were sufficiently acquainted with the
outlaws to know them whea they saw
! them, and l was in constant dread that
some innocent individual would be shot in
the swhmps supposed 10 belong to the
! gang. As I could not obtain volunteers, /
determined to call out a portion of the
militia, and made an appeal to them 10
promptly come forward and co-opera' @
with me, and for thjs purpose made a
requisiiion upon the ColoDels of the 59th
ana 59th regiments But the call was but
feebly responded to. The people had been
called upon so often, so many fruitless at
tens pts had been made, that they had no
averse to moving The militia law is so de-
fective that my authority to force them
out was doubted, and did not attempt it
serlOue :. l, however. received about
ninety unwilling recruits from the two
regiments, the larger ms jointly Of whom re-
ported % camp without arms, ammunition
Or blankets, and had to be fed from the
mea9re stores which the Commissi0 aers
had furnished me for the volunteers. After
enc trial III the swanps with this detailed
militia, / becem3 convinced that they were
utterly useless for the purpose. They were
given three days rations, and sent out I'M
der proper guides 10 certain points, but on
arriving at tie designated points either
made 10 watch for the outlaws or kept SO
much nui.e that their whereabout, if the
hunted were in the vicinity were made
aware q the fuct, and hence could easily
evade them. Nany Of them also, after
staying cut only one night, quit their COM
rades and either returned TO camp or pro-
ceeded Immediately home. Some OF the
tnilllla were also placed with portions Of
tao troops whose duty it was to drive Ger.
tain sTamps and baj S where it was prob.
able tho outlaws ~ete hiding, bat after
getting out Of sight of the troops in the
eVcTgreen@, quietly sat down, end lot the
baiarcG % the cCminahd move on, and then
rciuTned TO camp aud reported that they
tempt, [ GCepailcd Of the utility of the
militia. readily asSanted to their wish to
return home to their wives in the peGil5 of
Child birth, sick children and untend ed
crops. There were few exceptions to this
general lncomrcteEcy, bat all promptly
deserted u3 men permission Wes grant d.
After this l determined to attempt the
capture OF the outlaws with the available
force l had OF volunteers and troops, and
to f,,-,
ty to lead the gang into our clutches, al
though knew that it would be almost an
accident if such an event happened, unless
they were betrayed by some Of their class,
an eveut Col. Wishatt and myself endeav-
cred to prodcce.
The .. S. troops we're as efficient rs it
vas possible Tor them to be and Col. Men
deI hall, Lieuts HUMPHREYS and Harris
seemed as aDXIOus to effect his capture as
aay Of The volunteer force, aud used every
means suggested by us TO that end. Many
/ # the voluntet rs, however, b. came dis
! Eeartened at the want of corporation on
the pant Of the citizens, and gradually
abandoned the enterprise, until during
the fifth week, only seven men, including
Cole. Wshart and Mclean, remained
/ with us When this occurred the troops
and their CON maIder became also dis
beartcne3, and WAS convinced that with
J only that number of volunteers, hardly
sufficient to act as guides, their efforts
were fruitlesS, and would continue such !;
and having been sent there to act only
when cc-ope ration was had by the citizens,
reported the state of affairs to the Com
mauding officer Of the department, who
ordered their recall, and thus ended the
campaign.
AS you know. the lack IF SUCCESS vas q
matter of great chaelin and modification
to me, - no enc, IN OF out of Robson
co., vii charge mo with want of zeal
Is RI statntS S. desire to effect the capture
Of tho outlaws. actively participated in
the vic;sistudes OF tie hunt, and endeav
ored 40 infuse The people If that section
with s0.no of Gay own discrimination and
confidence, but having witnessed SO many
failures, thCy Lad become Respondent and
hopeless Of snccese, aud thus Neglected
the best opportunity they had 10 rid the
county OF the banditti. That success
would have crowncd our efforts had the
white citizens actively co-operated with
me, I, nor the forlo1n hopo who remained
to the end, nor tho troops have the least
doubt
Now, as 10 the famous interview which
the outlaws so grGciously favored me,
and Of which 60 much has been said, |
Will relate Daring the first week Of my
q malatto messenger from the outlaws that |
they wished to SEQ and have O conference !
with me. At the time, I was rather dis
posed to refose TO agree to anything of the |
kind, as knew 1T Was attended with some
hazard. was, however, anxious to know |
them, in order that on future occasions,
should We meet, I would be able to iden-
tify them beyond mistake. After consul
tation with Col. Wishart, and on their
second message to tho same effect being
received, concluded to risk an interview,
and learn the object they had in view in
wishing to see ne. Ia a few day was
told. after consenting to meet them, if l
woald go unattended through swamp
sore three or four miles from camp, it
was possible that they would meet me, and
on the next day, without informing any
but Col. Wishart of my intention, I pro
ceeded thither, unarmed except with a re-
peateT, and unattended. met them on
that OCCASION, and had conversation of
over an hour with the entire gang, which
of Henry Berry Lowrey,