The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1896-03-06

ton.
At night we arrived at the house OF
Colonel Bryson, where like conveys
made a regular stopping place, holding
the prisoners in an unused wing OF the
house 1t so happened on this occasion
that party of refugees was in ,occupa-
ton of our quarters, and we weredirect-
ed to barn at little distance up the
road. We had brought uncooked beef
and meal with us, and while two of the
guards entered the house for cooking
utensils and fire the whole tired line
lounged on the dooryard fence.
1t was already growing dark when the
men came out, one of them swinging a
burning brand, and we struggled down
to the barn and built fire. When we
had got thus far in our preparations for
the night, negro appeared to tell us
that the colonel thought it would rain
and advised us to return to the corn
house opposite the dwelling. AS we
were climbing the fence back to the road
[ missed Sill and Lamson, and soon
their absence was discovered by the
guard. The Indians were started out in
pursuit, but soon returned empty hand
ed. When we had been lounging on the
fence on our arrival, Sill and Lamson
had found themselves on the extreme
right of the line, while l was down by
the gate. There was nothing to hinder
their slipping away nnder cover of the
thicket at the end of the yard, and they
had long start before they were missed.
After the escape of our companions
Captain Smith and were guarded with
renewed vigilance Lieutenant Sill tells
me that from the face of the mountain,
where they were securely resting, he
could plainly see me standing by the
fire. A few minutes later we were Sc
eurely Gagged in corn bin for the night.
AS we part here with Lieutenants Sill
and Lamson 1 will turn aside from my
personal narrative to land them safely
in Tennessee Before morning they
Numbered upon the end of brick build
ing, which they discovered on inspec-
ton to be Webster Jail. Thus gaining
their bearings, they made their way
back to the forks of the Tuckasegee
into the company Of Mack and Monroe
John Brown, noted CUTLER, who, with
his SONS, lived in rocky pass on the
face of Shelton mountain.
By this time the sheriff of the county,
backed by a large posse of citizens, was
in hot pursuit of the young Hoopers on
account of the Watson affair. From q
granite ledge overlooking the valley of
the Tuckasegee our fugitives looked
down on the sheriff's party riding the
river roads, near enough to identify in
diyislual rner,bers and ayarhear their
plans as they shouted to each other. The
Hoopers and their companions were
, armed with rifles and revolvers, and,
with their knowledge of the mountains,
had no fear of being taken. Monroe is
described as standing out in bold relief
against the bare face of the mountain,
rife in hand, despite the circumstances
OF his comrades, and threatening to
draw a bead on a survivor Of the ill
fated Watsons who was conducting the
sheriff.
As the Yankee officers were neither
safe nor comfortable in such desper-
ately pressed party, they were sent on
to friends of the Hoopers at Shooting
Creek, near the Georgia line, and from
there with experienced guides they
passed over the Wacheesa trail into
Tennessee
Our party passed the following night
in Waynesville Jail, and failing with
another days march to reach Asheville
we slept on the floor of little school
house, a few miles short of the crossing
of the French Broad. We must have en-
tered Asheville close to where the Bat
terry Park hotel now stands. l well re-
member that we passed sort of fortifi-
cation and that wide belt of timber
was slashed across the hill in front of
the guns. Captain Smith and l were
chartered in the courthouse, and old
man Tigue and the Vincents were taken
to the Jail.
At the end of a week our party was
augmented by the arrival of four Fed
eral officers who had been captured on
the snowy crest of the Great Smoky
mountains. If l remember rightly, some
of the same guards who had brought us
to Asheville conducted us to Greenville,
in South Carolina, distance of some
60 miles Our road took us through the
summer settlement of the South Caro-
lima Four Hundred at Flat Rock. We
must have passed here at an early hour,
for only remember string of hand
some villas standing well back on the
hillside, with gatehouses bordering the
road, and a picturesque brick chapel
covered with ivy vines.
The night before we reached Green
Vile we were quartered at farmhouse,
the prisoners and the privates of the
guard occupying one large room which
contained but single bed. As all
couldn't sleep in this one bed no one
was allowed to do so. We found other
means of employing our time. As we
entered we had observed flock of fat
white pullets going to roost in the
yard. The negroes readily loaned us a
kettle and looked ON in grinning ap
prevail as we wrung the necks of hall
a dozen of the finest fowls and dug into
the side of a sweet potato mound for the
necessary vegetables. We took down one
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