The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-02-07
Lieutenant John v. Hadley of General

| ing D66D SuOu uuu6T u1lu NAAlO eu'
ing the pickets. Lieutenant Hadley
was now perfectly well and said amen
to my proposal to try to make our way
to Washingto on by way of Kelly's ford
l exchanged my knife for corn bread.
Lieutenant Hamilton gave us a map OF
Virginia, and Colonel Miller-of l have
forgotten what New York regiment
supplied us with compass. provided
| myself with stout stick, which | used
in both hands to swing myself along, as
| I could bear no weight on my wounded
leg or even touch my foot to the ground
Our expedition being thus equipped,
we waited until it was quite dark, and
giving the group of hospital tents wide
berth found ourselves at last on the open
turnpike. Thick woods came down to
the road on each side, alive with Con
federate camps Most of the soldiers
had gone to bed, but here and there we
could see groups sitting around fires and
hear voices talking and singing as we
toiled slowly and cautiously along the
road. The air was thick with smoke and
heavy with the damp odors of the cool
woods.
After we had passed through the belt
of timber and placed ourselves safely be-
You'd the neighborhood of the camp we
moved more freely, but we never ven
tured to speak above whisper. We
were constantly Oh the alert to discover
the inevitable picket before he discov-
cred us When, far in front, we saw a
few sparks blowing across the roadbed,
we knew that we had located him, and
climbing through the fence into the
field we took to the wet grass until we
had passed far beyond his dangerous
neighborhood.
By the time I reached the bridge
where / had been captured the moon
had risen. A pile of dead horses marked
the place where had been taken. On
the third day of my captivity had seen
my brass IL Founders go back past the
hospital and had been told that they
had remained between the pickets until
all but one of the "a team horses had
been shot down. The moonlight was not
quite strong enough to enable us to see
the face of our compass, so we captured
a FREELY and turned him loose under the
glass, taking care to shake up his phos-
phorescence as occasion required
1t must have been about 2 O'Clock in
the morning when we lay down for a
sleep ON the high ground within sound
of the river We awoke at sunrise and
started across the open fields for the
ford. Just before entering the water we
were alarmed by man shouting and
running toward us. He was far away on
the side hill, and he was evidently beck
oning to US. Wewere taking no chances
and scrambled through the shallow ford
and made off on the other side as fast as
I could hobble. At Macon we afterward
met this officer, who at the time was on
a scout with squadron OF Federal cav
airy and knew by our method of loco
motion that we were escaping prisoners.
We could no longer travel safely by
day, so we soon found admirable cover
in swampy thicket, where we lay
comfortably munching our corn bread
and waiting for night We. were so near
a house that we could hear voices and
fails thrassing grain on the barn floor.
Once a little dog discovered us; but, in
stead Of barking, he ran away with his
tail between his legs. In the afternoon
a cold, drizzling rain set in and con-
tinued to fall all night. We met wag-
ON after we started on the road, but we
easily avoided it by turning into the
woods. The clay road was slippery and
grew worse under the steady downpOur
of the rain. My knee, too, began to
swell with inflammation, and the time
came, before we had gone many miles,
when it was impossible for me to go
farther, and we lay down on the ground
in the wood. I at least slept from sheer
exhaustion, but in the morning my con-
dition was so much worse that it was
agony to stand up.
What should we do? Before us at a
little distance we saw small brown
house, and as my companion preferred
to stay with me we quickly decided to
throw ourselves upon the mercy of tho
family. Women are more merclful than
men, and these women, who had been
the recipients of many favors from the
Yankee cavalry pickets, gave us shelter
at once. Mrs. Brandon and her daugh-
ters were at breakfast. The good old
woman dressed and bandaged my swol-
len knee and gave us nice, warm
breakfast, while they kept a careful
lookout that nobody should surprise us.
AS soon as we had eaten they took us up
to half story chamber under the shin
giles of the roof. In the corner was a
bed, and acting upon Mrs. Brandon
advice and confident in her protection
we soon Invested ourselves Of our wet
clothes and took long, refreshing sleep.
We remained here several days, most
Hospitality entertained. I kept the bed,
but Hadley was about the chamber dur
ing the day. Our meals were brought mp
to us, we were supplied with books, and
the girls sometimes came and read to
u.s. One night Lieutenant Hadley, with
my consent, as 1 desired him to save
started for Kelly's ford, but
the night was so dark and the way so
Officials that he returned after short
absence, preferring to cast his lot in
with me.
One morning we were both lying in
bed. The stairway came up through an
opening in the center of the room. Be-
yond it ON the floor was pile of ears