The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-08-27
A GUERRILLA "REMINISCENCES.


 never be gathered and bound into book. and may never be welcomed io a SC Il around ti.e amp ire os fa;.se ..:c.sFs criticism. but they have such direct tn- huence upon history that We cannot re- frain from occasionally giving q chapter to swell the great volume. Guerrilla var fare has been summed by writers. II may be that nearly every man l, ashamed io d, knowledge n his cn!l eh'ened day oi hung luncs and changes of venue. that he wa, a military aut-iaw Ba, thls d0e~ nal cover up the fact ,ha, suefrlllas existed. rhe writer i, nat ashamed .e lekHe~lcase the part he bore under ihe leadership "i a eni-highwl, msn leader. He would mol have confessed II several year, aso. but now. when the s,aused ,h r of the south and the soilcd shiri ot the North are washed n the ,ame tub. hc na longer hc,l,a,cs to make m unrcs'ralHci cuntc, sion.
 When the Federal army spread over sumner onaniy. Tennessee. like blue w-yc rolling over plan. the war like spri; of 'eh md fifteen year ald boys w..2 sadly qucllcd Many and many proud youth. who had been whipped and ,cnt ,o bed because he Vcarned io bear arms. now went around with bare les: :'c<hihlt- ng ln every expression the woc ut the conquered. Iil, rebellion VI, a..a.u stirred up among them. Several It. kI,.,, young men. tired of army di,eip'.ne came home .,tt.l 4,ss.Hited saeffllla bands. Ellis Harper. the most prominen, nf the,t. ~dc>peIatcs." be, amc flmans locally. and TT TIS TfT7T TiT Dv c-TTv fTI IT w5FTT71 7T7E rhjld ef exses>lvcly Scec>~3s,n pfine,pit-> that Iiarpcr's name would so ,1undins hkc gong down the Ascs. but he now nes Il quiet life on n farm. where he coz CTS com with I wccdlns hoe and a swap" horses with negroes on sunday.
 The writer yielded ta the spirit. He wanted ,o fi.;h for the right, ef the pee pie He didn't know what the nsht, of the people were. bu, he wanted h ii.hi for them. If any one had demonstrated to lhlm that the rights of,he people consisted of getting ap Il morning and efosing like a rooster. he would have been willing to take up arm, in defence ofthc principle Al Last he decided to loin the guerrlllls. :" w.., too HGuns to loln the regular volun- ,cers, he unused but am old enough now to Join the gucrrilIas. must iight If don't. will be disgrace to the family One beautiful morning m carly spring. when the squirrel chatters and nips the ten der buds ot the h, koy. the writer mounted on | horse which his father m an unguardcd moment had sad ,ha, he might claim. Jeff home to loln his coun,y's de tenders. He rode. without question. through ,hc Federal Ines, and laughed at the though, of his cunning. foE,he felt so much like a guerrilla that he did not see how any we'll trained soldier could make a mistake regarding his identity The lonely woods were soon gained. The old horse pistol. m heirloom of the family which the young dcsperado had hastily seized. was iiourishcd dctian,ly in the air. and the horse was Spurrcd to speed unknown to him in his quie, civil life .l will report at once to Ellis Harper" he unused. Then VIC will go and capture a train and kill d lot of men: then we will rad the negro Shantlcs and skin a few of the young bucks that threw stones al me the other day" The deep solitude of the forest was impressive. Owls screamed and flew from the ecaying trunks oi trees. Suddenly man appeared. riding lesurely along the path.
 "lial,." he exclaimed
 The hero stopped.
 Where du you i've :" asked the horse man.
 II don't live anywhere now. am a guerrilla"
 How old's that horse :"
 ." don't know"
 Looks like putty good animal. Reckon you'd better git down"
 What for z''
 l want that horse. Boys am, got no business with such horses. am rebel guerrilla. Are you gong to get down :'' and hs drew slN-shooter The hero. forgetting his horse-pistol. dismountcd. The man took the D idle rcins and led the horse away. The hero. after walk ng about seven miles. reached home. and re- oeivcd ~ha; an rate father m,sh, term . blessing, but which the p2or younS gacr- rilla regarded as decidedly u.:.ol,iier Ike and altogether uncomfortable Such an engagement. although i, be guerrilla war fare Shat,iI h> L,.