Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-06-26
For the Fayetteville Observer.
CAPTURE AND ESCAPE
OF James L. and DR.. Jesse NJ. Stew
art Company @, 41st Tennessee,
@. s. A.
BrraEIn BROTHER. o. SIDNEY STEWART.
ARTICLE XII.

oil ARTICLE XII.
The summer was waning. 4
political cloud had settled owe
the sunny South in inky black
ness. The destroying curse wa
e sending lamentation and woe L
8 hundreds of homes and hundreds
ofthousands of hearts. The time
) hung heavily on every Southern
> Ihome /; the old home of the
Stewart family was not an ex-
ception, for the halls which but
a year before resounded with
merry voices and the rooms
(which echoed the music made
: from the old christian Minstrel
and other collections had become
silent. The family circle so late
ly unbroken was parted asunder;
the pleasures of life exchanged
for its miseries; hearts once
! buoyant with hope were muffied
in despair; the sad change was
Iindexed on every corlntenance.
Such the contrast between peace
and war.
| Since the fall of TT. Donelson
those at home had heard several
flying reports concerning the he
roes of our story, but nothing
definite. One ran thus:-"Du-
ring the surrender the Stewart
boys were seen trying to escape
by swimming the river, and had
not been heard of sinceT' The
conclusion was that they were
drowned. Another rather con-
firming the first was:-"They
were shot in an attempt to es-
capep' Some said they were
sick and sent to a hospital; while
others thought that they were
sent to a northern prison. Such
reports left the fate of the young
men in obscurity and their friends
in suspense.
off Icould have the assurance
that | would ever see my dear
boys again on earth / would be
happy. once entertained that
hope, but" here the emotions
of their mothers tender nature,
which could be no longer re-
strained, checked her utterance.
Nancy" it was Mrs. Dale's
voice; she had called to sympa-
thise with mother in her distress.
81 believe your boys will come
home. You know" she contin-
ued comfortingly, "that nearly
all the army was captured at
Ft. Donelson and sent to prison.
Now your boys are too smart to
stay in a pen; they'll play off
on the Yankees some way and
come marching home. See if
they don't; they'llcome marching
home some day when you least
expect it, perhaps" This was
indeed a pleasant idea,' but to-
mother it seemed more fanciful1
than true; with the hope that it
might be SO, she gradually be-
came more composed. Time
lrifted by and she had almost
her neighbor's words.
The long sultry August days
we're almost gone, but no word K
came from the lost boys. II i
was in the afternoon Of one Of {
.hese days that my mother and {
sisters were in the back yard, lC
sheltered from the sun by the i
.hick foliage of an English null {
berry, preserving some of the t
delicious summer fruit. Here, I
f my patient reader will permit, {
will introduce myself-a boy /
If eight or nine summers. Then r.
t was my Infinite delight to '
'rance round the house ON a stick @
which | had christened "my war {
My bravery was often {
by charges on a brood t
# chickens or turkeys; but if e
ny wooden sword happened to t
Kill one my victory was more C
complete, provided | kept that II
,art Of the performance to my r
elf. / was through gathering t
ipples and my "war horse" was b
N the path round the house, k
When / heard the familiar click 4
# the big gate. j looked and t
aw two strangers enter and ride c
lowly down the lane which led o
0 the house, / made a speedy h
etreat to the back Of the house d
nd found my sisters wondering b
vho the strange-looking men Il
ould be. "Run, Sidney, open &
he front door and conduct
hem into the house," said my
1other, as the men threw their d
ems over the rack and dismoun- a
ed. The old yard-mastiff knew t.
hem and began bowling most r'
iiteously. 81 never knew that u
og to act so strangely before" /" a
he continued, as / crept slowly Il
round the house. 1t WAS not Il
ear that retarded my progress. b
t was an attack of that strange u
the boy alone is heir to;
bis disease causes a boy to have
EN- sore toes, stone bruise on $,
ach heel and pain in his head y
Then he is told to do anything 8
e doesn't want to, but the mys- II