The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-23

| night. Ills wife was II Ded with typhoid
fever, and had with her TWO young girls.
s mile or two Behind the rear guard OF
Lyons men there came a straggler who
! had become detached from the main
body, and he appeared to be intoxicated.
| He dsmounted and entered the room
where the'sick woman was, and his en-
trance frightened the young girls, who
fed across the fields, leaving the invalid
at the mercy of the drunken brute.
Tennessee Davis happened to see the
flight of the girls, and he put spurs TO
his thoroughbred horse and soon entered
! ton at a glance, and seizing the gun Of
the Confederate straggler, which stood
against the door. he ordered him from
| the house and marched him across the
road few rods into the woods and shot
! him dead with his own gun. The doomed
/ man saw at glance that his days were
! numbered, and marched gloomily to his
death. Davis coolly remounted and rode
! away.
! The neighbors came in and shoveled
loose earth upon the dead man and left
! him to fill an unknown grave.
/ A PREACHER CORNERED.
One of Tennessee Davis exploits was
! the capture of man who was suspected
of harboring guerrillas. and yet no posi-
| tive proof could be had. The man was
a Baptist preacher of the old fashioned
/ ''hardshell" school. He lived in settle
ment in the northeast corner of Ohio
! county called Texas. There was not q
! loyal family in the settlement. Davis set
a trap to catch this parson, which sue
ceeded to perfection. He dressed himself
in a full regulation gray uniform (the
officer from whom he obtained this suit
met Davis one day ard had no further
| use for the uniform) and came dashing
up to the parsons home and told him to
''hide him quickly, the Yanks were after
him" He was hustled into an unused
attic and covered over with lot of old
rags and his horse vas rushed into the
woods near by, all of which was done
with such ''neatness and dispatch" that
it was evidently not the first experience
the parson had had in hiding fugitives.
In few minutes Davis gang, in Lin
coin coats" came up and inquired of the
parson if he had seen ''reb" pass that
way within few minutes. He had not
seen any one and he was quite sure none
had passed that road. The party said
they must search his house, as they had
reason to believe he was secreted there.
"Of course, they were more than well
come to search his house, but he would
give them his word of honor as a Chris
tan minister and gentleman that no one
was there"
A guard was placed to watch the old
man while others went in search of the
supposed ''rebel" fugitive. They finally
found him, and the parson was turned
over to the Federal authorities and kept
in prison until the war closed.
METHODS OF DISGUISE.
4 neighbor Of mine met a company of
men one day clad in Federal uniforms.
The leader stopped him and looked over
his horse, and ordered him to dismount
and change horses with one of the gang
whose horse was pushed" The young
man pleaded for his horse, saying that
he was good Union man, and that he
had brother in the Union army, and
that was his brothers horse. OF course
the horse went, for the men were guer-
rillas in disguise. This custom of dis
guise was also practiced by the Federal
scouts and home guards at times. An
acquaintance of mine was ordered to
dismount and unsaddIe beautiful gray
~ L. l. l., Nl,,x%
he was thoroughbred secessionist, and
that he had often desired to join the
army, but had remained at home ON ac-
count of his aged father and mother.
His horse joined the army there and
then, but not the Confederate army.
INVOLUNTARY ''HOss SWAPPING"
These horse swaps did not always re-
suit so disastrously as they at first indi-
Gated. The guerrillas preferred Ken
lucky thoroughbred stations TO any
other kind of horse, and in some in
stances where these were exchanged for
fresh horses, after rest and good treat
ment they rallied from their iaded con-
dition and proved to be of far greater
value than the horse taken in their place
1t used to be common in those days for
farmers who had good horses to Starve
them down and leave them unkempt, so
that they had the appearance of worth
less beasts, and thus they would escape
seizure. | have many times worked
horses on the farm through the day and
tied them out in the woods at night,
keeping only few old or blind animals
in the barn.
Some of the most thrilling adventures
occurred III retired settlements where
there were no organized home guards,
but where individuals or families were
banded together for mutual protection.
One of the most noted instances of this
occurred in a settlement remote frou2
any railroad or other communication
with the outside world. In a settlement
in the extreme northwestern corner of
Hardin county, some twenty-five miles
from Elizabethtown. which was the near
est railroad point. one notableevent hap
pened. Big Springs, the village post
office. was hotbed of secesSionism, and
supplied not few Of the most reckless
guerrillas and many Confederate sol
diers. Some six miles from this village
was a fertile valley occupied ny an ex-
tensive family connection by the name
of Tabor
The Tabor settlement was composed Of
we'll 10 60 old time Kentucky farmers,
who were noted as icing. with one or two
exceptions. adherents to the Union. They
were not only 'Lincolnites," but they
were offensive partisans, as they would
row be called. Their well known and
oft declared hostility 10 the sentiments