Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-09-03
\ War "Reminiscences.

! In an article entitled "Thtouch the
Lines. from the pen of late colonel
in the confederate s"ryIrr the follow
ing ~ related: During Ii" liil aud
summer of 1864, confej.ratr partisan
soldIers had almost undl~rut-d c"u-
troll If The iiolIl;t.n counties at East
Ten p-see There were several rol4-
mal,i.. ,ui among .Ae foremost VS.
that 2t Captain William PARKER Ctp-
taiG Parker was 4 fine specimen of
mtuAtala manhood. six feet thee. iHc!.-
g. tnii, ard weighing IN the ,ri ,lAn3r-
hood OK two huntre and twrnty i've
pounds. tiia many ac:a of G!rl,g uru
ui, great personal courage had earned
tor INN from Fedtrtls anc CunfelrrutcS
the meiiteh oobr4uct, Brave BIZ Park-
err. Captai1 Parker ha ! about st,-nty-
five men, and he held undi-putcd sway
over Johnson county, tennessee Dan
Ellis determined to drive the comml nd
away, ard, il possible. capture the
leader. With THIS v|eS he organizat II
company of rangers. and proceeded to
johnson county. When the Felerals,
under Ellis, arrived in the section OF
| the country where Captain Parker
lived, they proceeded to waylay the
road along which he usually Travelled
for five days and nights before they
could get chanca to See him, At
length, on the fifth day, just before T.
O'Clock, u small company of Confeaer
ate soldiers passed along, and s,ue
distance behind them rode Brave Bill
Parker Unconscious of danger, the
little troop rode boldly forward to
where the ambushed enemy lay. When
they were nearly opposite the Ee,lerals,
yol.ey WAS poured into their midst
from both sides OF the road, quickly
succeeded Ivy another. which laid many
Il brave trooper low, aud totally disor-
ganized the command. AZ tho first
voliey Parker Was seen to reel in his
saddle, and his horse wheeled quickly
and dashed down the road, maddened
by bullet wound in the brain. FL.
bore Parker on tor several huudred
yards, when, ali at once, the animal fell
down in the road and when Ellis men
went up to him he was dead. but Park.
er was gone. They searched IL thicket
near by and found his coat. which had
several bullet holes in it, but c,uld
find no trace of Parker. They could
not hunt for him long, for his men got
reinforcements and came hurrying
back. When they reached the scene OF
the struggle they began to beat the
thicke. tor their missing leader. His
followers continued to search for him
several days, but their efforts to find
him proved entirely fruitless. A period
| Ut two months elapsed before his fate
was fully known, and then it was dis.
| clo:ed i'll the following manner: The
skeleton of man was found about
three miles from the place where Ellis
men made the attack upon him. When
he was found he was lying with his face
on the ground, and the most OF his
clothes were still entirely whole. A
notebook was picked up near the spot,
in which the brave partisan soldier had
scratched q lew feeble lines--a diary of
dark despair. The pantaloons pockets
being searched, the skeleton was found
10 be Parker's without any further
doubt. A quantity Of chewed bark and
great wads of partly digested grass
were found upon the ground where his
stomach had lain and rotted. The
knees Of the pants were entirely worn
through, plainly indicating that he had
crawled upsn his knees for consider
able distance. The entries in his note
book told the story OF his terrible strug-
gle with death. The fire OF Ellis men
had wounded him in several places, and
when his horse stumbled and fell he
was pitched from the saddle into the
thick under growth which liued both
sides OF the road. He fell on the right
side OF the road and lay for some tilao
unconscious. When he partly recov-
cred his mind he dragged his bruised
and wounded body deeper in the thick
ct. He thought he was Oh the left
hand eide OF the road, whereas, he was
on the right. His wounds were dan
gerous and painful, and he determined
to crawl to the roadside and wait for
some good Samaritan to pick him up.
Painfully he dragged his way through
the tangled copse, and every minute
saw him go further aud further from
tho road. He was consumed with u
terrible thirst, and when night came he
sucked the moisture from the leaves
and grass and felt relieved. 1t was not
until the third day that he realized his
situation, and the last entry in his
book, scratched so feebly as to be al
most illegible, were the terrible words:
God help mel am lost!' The read
or can imagine the rest. Capt. Parker
was man OF wonderfully strong con-
stitution, and he must have lived sew
eral days. 1t is probable that his last
hours found him bereft of reason. DIV.
ing OF hunger and thirst, wounded and
weak, he dragged his mangled body
slowly along, chattering, singing, shout.
ing, praying, as maniacs do, until at
last death stiffened his limbs, aud the
buzzards, wheeling above the treo.tops,
patiently awaiting his dissolution,
slowly descended, and, with beak and
talons, tore great mouthfuls of white
flesh from his bones, plucking out as
dainty tit-bits the sightiess eyes. which
had never quaiied in the face of danger.
HeaIthfulness Of Milk.