Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-12-10

and then Immediately sprang up,
j waved his hat and shouted u. fs
'Hurrah! for the United States!''
Telling me to follow HIM, he step
i ped boldly into the road to find a line
4 OF Union cavalry stretching as far
back as we could see Thank God,
soldiers, friends, comrades! What
emotions Of JOY surged through our
hearts. It was a detachment 81 Gen.
eral Wilson's army making the last
raid of the war. .5s vi S,sss5 NE IT,, .
They came around us, surprised at
our appearance, and hardly knowing
whether to take us for friends or foes.
General Long, commanding an Ohio
cavalry brigade, came riding up,
stopped, questioned us sharply and
ordered us to be held under surveil.
lance until the arrival OF. the First
Alabama Cavalry, which was further
hack in the column, and the mean.
time to treat us well and supply our
pressing wants. -
| In All hour Mabry's old regiment
appeared, and he was Joyfully recog-
nized. Both OF us were soon clad as
the rest, mounted on spare horses
and riding in the ranks, rejoicing in the
swift and fortunate change that had
come upon us, and telling the story OF
our prison experience and escape to
eager listeners. We also had ques-
tions to ask, as to how the war was
progressing and what was the purporr
Of the present raid. They told us they
had been riding through from North
ern Alabama to Selma, had captured
that city after sharp fight, had
turned east to Montgomery, which
had yielded, and the course was now
toward Columbus, Georgia, and where
else was not known.
! In less than two days we reached
the Chattahoochic River, opposite the
city Of Columbus. Here were signs of
opposition. A strong line ofintrench-
ments seemed fill OF men, prepared to
resist US, while the long bridge over
the river at Columbus, well guarded,
was all of cotton and inhammable ma
teraals, ready to be fired as soon as
the occasion required. General Long
sent a regiment, uismounted, to slip
cautiously down a ravine which led
to the bridge, and as soon as they
were in view of the enemy to charge
on the bridge furiously. This was
done, and it was taken i'll spite Of op-
position. The charge was continued
across the bridge until the whole OF
it was gained by the Ma
tional forces, and Columbus was vir-
tually in our hands. In the meantime
q brigade had been formed IN line to
assault the Entertainments. The First
Alabama taking a part in this, Mabry
and | participated A few Irregular
volleys had no effect upon our ad-
vance, and we soon, with loud cheers,
gained the breastworks and found the
rebels in full retreat. They were fol-
lowed and nearly all captured, prov
ing to be a regiment Of Georgia militia,
lately from Andersonville.
. Recognizing one Of them as lately q
gate sergeant at Andersonville. fat
and rather good humored man, whom
we in the prison had nicknamed
"Chufy,' spoke to him, and, after
reminding him who was and how l
knew him. asked him what he thought
of the Yankees now.
! "When we were guarding you'uns
in Andersonville, you were tame
Yanks, and not much trouble to boss
you around. But these wild Yanks,
with guns in their hands, don't stop
TO- nobody. We shot owah guns off
at 'em, but they uevah stopped COM
in, SO we thought we'd bettah run.
/ don't take no stock in wild Yanks,
and wish this wah was done stop
ped"
care not you the man who said to
US prisoners often at Andersonville,
Wen fight you as long as we see you,
and then lick the ground where we
last seed your"
"Wall, if it was me, Pm gwine to
take it back. There is one tune sung
befoah fightin', and another one sung
aftah bein' whipped. I'm in TO- peace,
now, and if / get through with this,
I'll promise nevah to try to break up
any mo- gov'ments.
I had lost sig hit OF Mabry in the ex-
element OF the assault and pursuit,
and after some search found him in
charge of a squad OF newly captured
rebels. He called my attention to a
]ank. cadaverous looking Confederate,
exclaiming:
"Sergeant, see this prisoner, this is
my double. He's the very Identical
Johnny, who has my name, and stood
guard over me at Andersonville ON
the old stockade! But" he added
with pardonable exultation, "things
have changed; the bottom rail is on
top. Pm on guard now, and he's my
prisoner. But I'm going to treat him
better than he and his folks did me. "
Thus the two James Patrick Nab.
rvs had met again. The guard had
become a prisoner and, the prisoner
had become a. guard. The fratricidal
nature of the war had again been ex-
emplitied. ... -.
Columbus was ours. We moved on
Macon, Georgia, sending a detachment
to Andersonville which captured the
notorious Captain Wirz, keeper OF
the prison, and some of his subordi,
mates. At Macon, the news met us Of
accusation ofhOstilities, as Johnston's
and Lees armies had surrendered,
and the. war was virtually over. Only
one more exploit was allowed us, that
was the capture OF the Elk President
ct the Southern Confed eracy by a por-