The National tribune., 1893-02-23
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER AL.
The pugnaeious and redou btabie Capt r. C..
BoZcn being citizen Of Grayson County, Va,
AT the commencement of the rebellion jumped
ahead and used all his energies to promote its
ultimate success. The company he commanded
was composed Of men whom he had collected to-
gcther ia Grayson County. and who, as we'll as
their leader, seemed 10 be entirely destitute of
human feeling When they came to Carter
County they said they had been sent to the
Counties of Sullivan, Carter aud Johnson to
catch couscripts; but while they remained in
Carter County they appeared TO have no desire
whatever to engage in any other business but
that Of numbering Union men and piundering
their houses and robbing their families of
what little provisions they might have to keep
them from starving The following verse of a
song which composed by scouter in the
mountains of Carter County serve pretty well
to describe Bozen aud his thieves:
"Bozcn's rogues prowl about in dark nights;
Killing and stealing they call Southern rights;
They rob our houses. they plunder and press
And frequently take lady'a fine dress.
And IT'S hard times"
This gang came into Carter County about the
Isl Of December, 1863 and about the first thing
they did after their arrival was 10 murder a
man named William Thompson. After Witcher
and his followers had left the County, there
being no other soldiers about, some of the men
vino had been scouting for some time con-
cluded TO go to their homes and work while
Thompson was one of the men who concluded
to leave the mountains for a short time at least
tie was gathering corn, and had already
brought one load of it to his barn, when he
saw Bozen and his men approaching, and be-
fore be could make his escape
He WAS, UNFORTUNATELY, CAPTURED
by them and taken to Elizabethton, where he
was confined in jail for two or three days. He
was at length taken out, placed on a mule, with
his feet tied under it, and rope around his
neck. One of the rebels led the mule while
another held TO the rope and in this manner
he conducted back to his home in the
Greasy Cove, a distance Of II miles where he
closely guarded for three days, with the
rope still around his neck. During the time
these rebel fieuds remained at his house they
robbed his family of all they possessed.
The idea of taking Thomas to his own house
TO punish and torture him, proved at once the
base aud degraded character Of the villain who
participated in numbering him.
This was a refinement OF cruelty which Bozen
and his mercenary scullions were quite capable
of deVisng. Before they killed him he was
punished and abused in every possible manner
They would make him sit down in chair
and would then knock him out OF it with their
guns. They hanged him two or three times un-
I'll he was nearly dead and would then cut him
down. This merciless and inhuman treatment
H'Ao NAlii'iASN iondlA nun III lut tbftscHCe Ol
his wife and children, who were begging these
rufiians all the time TO have mercy and to de-
sist from inficting such intolerable punish
ment upon him who near and dear to
them. But, alas the petitions failed to touch
any cord of sympathy in the hearts of these
implacable demons, for they continued to tor
! ture him IN every way which their wicked
! hearts could suggest until at last they got tired
of inficting punishment him in the pres
ence Of his family. and determined to take him
away from the house and murder him.
They mounted their horses. and taking hold
of the rope which was around his neck they
drove him on before them through creeks and
mudholes, and over very rough road until
/ they arrived at the residence of old Thann
| Brown, who was one of the infamous scound rels
that directed Witcher and his gang of mur-
derers to Bells house. He was taken on a
short distance farther toward the back part of
| Browns farm, where his murderers
SHOT FIVE HOLES THROUGH HIM,
and then left their victim welterng in his
| blood and when his disconsolate wife followed
by her little fatherless children went TO get his
/ body 10 consign ii to its last abode, it surely
must have been an awful spectacle for them to
see the inanimate form of him who was dearcr
/ to them than anyone else in all the wide world,
mangled and torn with bullets.
i was now busily engaged in recruiting for
/ the 18th Tenn. Cav, and had to observe a good
! deal OF caution in order TO avoid Bozen's men.
/ had 40 sort of difficulty in obtaining recruits,
| as the men were very anxious to get away,
but my fear of being unable to conceal
| them until i could get ready to start gave
| me great uneasiness of mind. And at this
particular Juncture il appeared if the fates
/ Were working against me- for had enlisted As
men to go into the Federal service and had
| them concealed in a camp far out in the
| mountains, where | knew there would be nc
| danger OF the rebels discovering them by any
fair means. just at this time the rebels cap.
tured two very imprudeiit men who belonged
To the 18th regiment, who were lurking about
! their homes when they ought to have been at
their posts iii tie regiment. The two men re-
ferred 10 were brothers and were citizens OF Car.
Ter County. and their names were William and
Alexander Matherby. They both knew where
the men were. for they had been at the camp
themselves, and both Of them designed going
through the lines with Inc, and therefore did