The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-17


straight TO the top OF Stone Mountain,
where no Yankees can ever climb" As Bill
Arp hade him good bye he fell into medlta-
tien, in which he composed the following
lines to his friends
Farewell. Big John. farewell:
q, bow lt pains my heart
To see thy chances OF escape
Hung o. that steer and cart
MeihfDks I see thee now.
With axletTees all broke.
And spozes with nary hub a. all
And hubs with nary spoke.
But tbous the mud is deep,
Thy wits will never fail.
Thy faithful steer Will pun thee Out
II thou wilt hold his tail.
have heard and read OF psnics and have
seen one or two. IS when announcement is
made in q convention OF strong minded
women that wild mouse is loose in the
hall. But the liyelisst panic I was ever
familiar with was that IN refugee wa yon
train about a mile in length, when one of
Wheeler's Confederate cavalrymen in
scsmpish spirit of fun INST the train and
dashed past i t down the road. shouting that
q regiment OF Yankee" cavalry wa, Just
ahead and coming TO capture the
refugees. The negroes were as badly
frightened az the white people. and, their
excitement soon affecting the teams, there
was confusion, which every minute became
worse COMPOUNDED. In the wild efforts to
turn in the narrow road one CT two wagons
were upset and the mules of one wagon ran
into and became sntsngled with those of
another. The women fell 10 screaming, the
children to crying, dogs TO barking, Chris
tians to prsyicg and drivers to swearing.
Some OF the wagoners in the middle section
OF the train threw down fence and drove,
Jehu-like, across field of growing c,rn.
Others left their wagons to the care of the
coloIed drivers and betook themselves to the
woods lying on one side of the road. Wheel
el's man who causei this scare, with its at
tending confusion, would have found it uu-
safe to returnopasi The wagon train when,
two hours later, il was learned that there
was no Federal force within twenty miles
and none at all in front.
II recalling the experiences of the raft
gees in 1868 > they appear TO have been
among the very worst sufferers by the war.
They were composed of old or disabled men,
women and children, aud their coorsd de.
pendents. There were great numbers Of peo-
pie who had eujoyed every comfort in life,
t,amping Oh and on as ! have described,
camping like gypsies. even in mid winter.
Sometimes q mother was alone with her
children and servant, the husband being in
the tanks or having fallen in them. Fsmi
lies who up to the 0utbi eak of the war mad
nd had ~,
tranquil homes, had become nomsds among
strangers, with only desolation behind them,
hardships their present lot and the darkness
Of uncertainty before them. They were in
nocent CT any share in bringing on or of
ccntin uing the dreadful con hct, b 1T though
innocent, the cruel hand Of war had driven
Il EN- trom home aud stripped it
OF all its comforts And next ID
the graves dug in the Sou.h by
the same cruel hand, the most pathetic
eventuaiion of the war was the return of the
refugees TO their former homes. The line Of
march of The armies of Sherman aud John-
ston from Dalton to Atlanta was left q bros
land OF charcoal and ashes, with only chin.
neys standing as sentinels to guard the ruins
that had been made. When Sherman had
swept onward to the sea, and the Confederate
forces gone from North Georgia the refugees
began returning. There were women apd
children, as well as cd men, who plodded on
foot, having lost the teams that moved
them Il way and the IL Tread being torn 10.
Many OF the returning ones found the b1lle.-
scared tree tops upon their grounds, the
only shelter TO welcome them.
twas trying experieucs-that OF the
refugees Of the war. But perha % it was SER
yicesble in fitting them to endure the priya-
tons that lay before them While toiling to
rebuild and retrieve. Bat certain ii is that
the Cherokee country, between Atlanta aud
Chattanooga. which suffered most devasta
ton by the war, is now the most beautiful
and thrifty region Of the South.