The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-02-28
BUsHIHACkIse II SoursEAsr
A Few Leaves Froa the Memory Of m
Old Soldier.


cavalry (Of which I WAS q high
priVate) operating Ia southeast Mis-
souri, and Arkansas. The duty Of
said command was tn rid that part
Of the confederaey Of bush Whackers,
Of which there was q large number,
and for the information Of those not
acquainted with that kind of war
fare, / will say that 10 was the most
dangerous and purely cursed of any
duties q northern soldier had TO con-
tend with. Their method Of warfare
was that of the assassian. They
would hide In the bushes, behind
trees or In the houses, and shoot
you as you were riding past unsus-
plciOus Of danger. They were a class
Of men who were too cOwardly to
enlist In the confederate army, but
whose sympathies IL such creatures
could have any were with the south.
II Wzs very seldom that We could
get them 10 engage with us in n fair
fight. Our duty was TO hunt them
down aud dlsaTm them, and by the
first Of July we had that part Of the
country under very good control-sO
good, In fact, that our colonel COM
Inanding was wishing for pastures
new and more worlds To conquer.
Accordingly on the morning 0f the
9Th day Of July, lS'i2. We brOke camp
and started for Helena, ArkanSa-,
with about SD men and a supply
train of abOu; eighteen wagUns-the
distance TO Helena being about 3Dp
miles. The object was to search tue
country through which We passed,
eonfiscAte all the arms that We coulu
fiud aud efiectually break up all
bushw hacking and guerilla urganiZa-
tons la that part Of the country. We
had been on the march for several
days, meeting with good surce-s and
with but little opposition. On the
18th day Of July, ] was one 81 the adj
vance guard, when four miles sOut u
al Greensl0TOugh the advance guard.
consisting Of thirty men. found their
way Obstructrd by n company of
about 100 bush whaCk eF-. The lieu
tenant In charge ordered IT, to draw
pistol and charge, which We lid in
good shape, putting them Ia flight
aud capturing a number of prisoners
and most of their arms We had
four men wounded. On this day
got . gOOd-siZed piece of rebel lead
put through my left shoulder, aud
the wound WAS so bad that ! could
not 90 with the regiment. ! was
placed In an ambulance aud taken
hack To GrePnsbOrOuRh where WAS
left In charge Of an pX confederate
colonel by the name Of McNealey,
aud q finer gentleman ID has never
been my fortune to meet, either
north or south, and | wish Ia state
H. L.. A.
and did not believe ia that mode Of
warfare. He was colonel of an Ar
kansas regiment, aud AT the battle
81 Plttsburg Landing was wounded
five times and had to leave the ser
vice on account of his wounds. ]
was very fortunate to fall into his
hands, for while was with him
received the very best Of treatment.
! was with him about three weeks,
when one pleasant afternoon while
sitting In the shade in front Of the
house IN company with the colonel,
guerilla captain by the name of Mil
Ter with about sixty Of his men, came
up aud entered into conversation
with ME about the different fights
we had engaged Ia during that spring
and summer, when one of them pro-
posed to hang the Id Niger
thief" q common name bestowed
ON all yankee soldiers. Where
upon they procured = rope, caught
me, placed the rope around my neck
aud were carrying me to- n rOnVpn-
lent tree, when Colonel MrNealey
sprang To his feet, saying: drop
that man, you Il a towards, Not
more than few weeks since YOU al
lowed q regiment Of yankees To go
through here aud you hardly Oiirre Il
to eight them; now, you have one
man here who IL wounded aud you
are going To do a brave act by hang
ing him, you ID, ruWurdIy ours -
They Immediately drUpIptd me and
SUNK away like lot of shepp-kill-
ing dogs. After the above occur
renee ] was eager tO get back to our
lines, the nearest point being AT
Bloomfield, Mo-, dislsnre IIJ miles.
Under the kind treatment of my
southern friends INV wound was
rapidly healing and I Vas fully de
teFmlned Ia make the effort to get
back, although I could Use uuly one
Of my arms. t'pUn expressing my
determination to Colonel MrNealry,
he kindly Offered To furnish the
with q suit Of butteTnui clothes aud
n fine Indian pony saddle and bride,
with the understanding that | was
to leave the pony with n friend of
his who lived near Bloomfield. |
readily accepted the offer aud thus
equipped for my journey, I started
for Bloomfield with the intention Of
passing myself of for n wounded
rebel soldier, which I succeeded la
doing remarkably well, receiN ing the
best Of treatment along the way, un-
I'll | got within ten miles of Chalk
Bluffs Ferry, Chalk Bluff Ferry IL
On the st. Francis river, forty miles
from Bloomfield, Mo, and ten miles
south Of Chalk Bluffs Ferry j.
Browns Ferry when ! learned that
there was q large camp Of guerillas at
the ferry, aud knowing that 10 would
lie impossible for me To pass through
their camp without being recognized,
] concluded To cut across the cOun-
try 10 Browns Ferry, cross the river
there and go up on the Mis-
souri, side. When I got Ia the ferry
I found that there was no ferry nj
all, - the boats had been taken up
the river to the other ferry. aud INV
only resort was TO swim the river,
which was not q very hard job as the
stream was not very wide and I soon
put the st. Francis river between me
and old Arkansas. I mounted nv
horse and was proceeding on nv
way cOnRratulating myself thus far
on ms good fortune aud thinking
that | should sOOn be tn our lines,
when | should he able tU get a fur
Inn 81. g. Il
eye state and spend a short time, at |
least, with my parents and friends:
but alas for the frailty of the air |
rastles and hopes Of a soldier who |
kn0weth not what an hour may bring /
iOrth. My nIeditatiODs were soon
broken by the sight Of two moss
backs riding toward me from the
'front.'. They were riding, one on
zach side Of the road with their shot
runs lying across the saddles in
ront Of them, while | was riding in
he center OF the road. Something
'eemed TO tell me that they
we're going 10 stop me, aud I was far
90 well known 10y the guerillas iu
hat part Of the country To wish 20
y interviewed 10y them. When
hey were within lev PAGES Of me,
was ordered to halt, but threw
myself forward on my horses neck.
'ut the spurs To him and dashed be-
ween them aud on Ht 4 swift run.
shortly after passing them, the road
made . short turn, aud rs I made
his turn they fired both shOtguns
( me, two shot striking my horse In
he neck, but doing little injury To
I'm. There now commenced n very |
race, for me at least, A.
hey were following nIa at the top Of