Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-12-10
,DAY, DECEMBER 10, 1891.

was AOb " SttSS bhO pain VI JUb sdDeT CuI
said:
"Since the day Joe Johnston left us
I've felt that the game was up. Every
death in battle after this is murder.
Myself and my friend want to get home
and to stay there till our wounds are
healed, then, as we no longer have a
country, we'll make our way to Mexico
and fight against Macmillan. Ny God!
it would have been better for both if
we'd been planted on the field
The certainty Of final success made me
forget my own su1ferings and anxiety,
in sympathy with these brave fellows.
Each had a good supply of bread and
meat in his haversack, so Bell had no
trouble in getting us up fair supper.
After it was over | got can Of water
from a spring near By, and, as | was
somewhat vain of my surgical skill, ]
washed out thestiff bandages and dressed
their wounds, neither Of which was seri-
GUS enough to prevent travel For this
attention our Confederate friends were
full Of gratitude
Up to this time the fugitives took us
to be Confederate deserters, for, as one
of them said, "The woods are full of us. .
But thought the time had come to tell
the truth in our own interest. After a
whispered consultation with Bell told
the men who we were and Of our anxiety
to get back to our own lines, and asked
them to advise us as to the best course
to take. To our surprise neither of our
visitors showed any annoyance at my
disclosure; indeed, they seemed freer
and franker than before The young
man with the wounded head drew in
the ashes map of the country twenty
miles about Marietta, taking that town
as center. He showed us that Sher-
man was not only before Atlanta, but
that the Federal troops held the whole
line Of railroad from the Chattahoochee
to the Tennessee and on to the Cumber-
land.
1t was about $3.50 in the morning, and
Bell and myself were about to extin-
guish the fire 50 as not to attract the
attention Of friend or foe, for we felt in
honor bound to protect our unexpected
guests, when in the far distance we
heard man shouting. On the instant
we sprang back from the fire and bent
to listen. The man had evidently been
attracted by the light, and there was
that in his pitiful cry that brought to
mind the appeals of the wounded, when,
with torch or lantern, the details make
their way through the distorted ranks
of the dead to find the friends and the
foes who still breathed. A few minutes
of eager silence, then the cry was re-
peated. This time the words We're very
distinct and there was thrilling pause
between, as if the man was not strong
enough to speak the whole sentence.
1t was the grand distress night signal
Of powerful secret society, Of which
knew nothing at that time, but I never
heard the words before nor afterward
outside Masonic lodge. The hailing
sign I have seen, however, given on the
field by friend and foe, and to the best d
my knowledge and belief it was always
respected. On hearing the words Bel
shot out an oath, then bounded from my
side shouting:
Courage, my brother. Courage by
G-d!# We uns is a cominr' To my sur
prise the Confederate who had beer
sabred in the head sprang to Bells side
The remaining Confederate and myself
remained back in the shadows, though
the sound of our friends voices talking
with the stranger below the spring reas
sured u.s.
The voices came near, and in few
minutes Bell and the Mississippian came
into the circle of light carrying between
them a heavily bearded man, whose hag
gard face and bloolshot eyes told oi
more than the suffering Of death. The
faded gold braid on the ragged gray
coat, the three bars on the collar and
the swollen, rag covered left foot which
he held straight before him told that he
was a Confederate captain, and the spul
on the remaining boot suggested cavalry
artillery or the staff.
The man was placed beside the fire
and while Bell prepared some supper
for the poor fellow had not tasted food
for eighty hours-I took the rags off Iii:
swollen foot and discovered that mus
ket ball had gone squarely through the
instep and came out, leaving big, rag
ged wound in the sole of his foot. While
l was bathing the wound, soaking it in
ons of the tins and waiting for the frag
ments that had been used us bandage:
to dry, the man told us that his name
was Watts. He belonged to the Second
Kentucky, and had been on the staff Of
the Confederate General Ross when tbs
Federal cavalry under Garrard charged
into Decatur ten days before. After his
friends had been driven off he concealed
himself in the house of a southern fam
lily till three days before, when the ap-
proach of the Yankees forced him to fly
as quickly as man supported by a
crutched stick and with the small bones
of his foot smashed to splinters could.
After the captain had been fed and hi:
foot bandaged he was placed on the bed
of boughs, near which we found the dol
and the child shoes, and the poor fellows
voice failed him when he tried to express
his gratitude. In order that the three
Confederatas might have a chance to talk
without the restraint of our presence
Bell, with delicacy that seemed en-.
tirely foreign to his usual manner, drew
me out Of hearing and whispered:
Thunder and Ginral Jackson, capl if
we uns stay har much longer hit looks
powahful likes if you'd be head surgeon
and me chief steward of a purity consid
able rebel hospital"
After giving our Confederate friendI
time enough to discuss us and to debate
their own situation, Bell and / returned
to the fire, and at once announced ou
purpose, after telling Watts that we were
Yankees, which he already knew. re
call as curious fact that each of thes,
three men had q loaded revolver in hi
belt, but after our meeting we felt tha
they would no more think of firing at u
than at their own people. Truly a fel
low feeling makes even old foemen won
drous kind.
Captain Watts, who knew the country
thoroughly, gave us directions which, j
followed ont, would take us into ou
own lines by morning. He handed Bel
his revolver, saying that he should hav'
no more use for it, but would release tht
Mississippians and remain above on tht
hill till succor came or he died, and he die
not seem to have any choice in those al
ternatives.
Bell at once blazed up pand, after damn
ing the war and all that brought it on
he became really elouupnt in his Mead