Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-03
A WAR STORY.

4hASSOuAA u dllCDQ d OOy SCHOOl III the then classic town of Palmyra We were a sturdy, muscular lot of fellows, who had experienced all the hardships of converting the native forests and the virgin prairies into comfortable homes Many of us had experienced, also the heartaches of seeing our homes-the re- suit of priyations and toil-despoiled by the ruthless hand of war. And although we were all young, we were becoming accustomed to scenes of plunder, burning homes and bloodshed. Few nights were passed by any of us during the summer and autumn of 1883 without witnessing some of the horrifying scenes enacted first by the sympathizers of one side and then repeated by those of the other Re taliation was the cry of the marauders Many who are now living can recall scenes as heartrending as those of Wey- Ter on the island of Cnba. But this arti- Gle is hot intended as a recital of those events which stirred the blood of our young manhood or kindled anew the memory of that hatred which has long since faded from the mind. Our parents resolved to appropriate what was then left them and send us to the best school to befound in that part of the state. But when we reached the city of Palmyra a serious obstacle presented itself. The town was under the control of the federal troops, commanded by the notorious Mo- Neal. It was we'll known that the par ents of nearly all the boys attending the school had migrated from the south and were southern sympathizers. The teach CTS and the pupils were placed under street military surveillance. None were allowed to leave the school ground without pass from the officer in com- mand of the guards, which were sta- tioned on all the highways.
 The writer and young companion by the name of Neal, whose father was a native of Kentucky, and Cumberland PreSDyter1an minister a c Wa cessful farmer, led a revolt against the military tyrany heaped upon us on all occasions by the federal soldiers. Ten others joined us and we marched boldly up to the first guard, whom we over powered, and went Oh to the business part of the town. We were soon overi taken by the soldiers, who were at once called to arms, and landed in the guard house, where we remained several days awaiting day set for trial Investiga- ton showed that our parents were all supposed to be either in the southern army or southern sympathizers
 We had ample time during the long days and nights in the guard house to reflect on our by no means enviable situ- ation. In our extremity we resolved to make another break for liberty It was probably fortunate for us that the wealth CT was becoming cold and stormy. The night on which we had resolved to act there was steady down pour of rain s were withdrawn for the night, and the guard over us was permitted to stand in- side of the outer door. Neal who was a good story teller, managed to entertain the guard with stories of bear hunts on the banks of the Missouri. We soon had an opportunity and disarmed the guard, and bound and gagged him. Closing the doors we made for the Mississippi river, at least ten miles from the town.
 The soldiers, when they found their l1 q left his post, and failed to discover their mistake until we had three or four hours the start. They supposed, too, that we had gone westward toward our homes. So that we reached the great Father of Waters in safety, and finding two small skiffs we f1oated down the river to the mouth of the White river, keeping close to the Missouri shore in the day time, and some times hiding for several hours among the willows on the bank until one of our number could visit a friendly farm house and procure the necessary food. We had heard that William Anderson, of Palmyria, was somewhere near White river, raising company of cavalry for the confederate service and we determ- ined to join him. Leaving our skiffs and dividing into several small squads, we separated so as to attract as little notice as possible and struck out for the camp of Anderson. It was no trouble to find friends, who would direct us to others further on our way. Bill Ander- son, as he was called never remained long in one place, and when after nearly three weeks of weary marching we came upon his camp on the Big Bonnie Femme, in Howard county, more than 200 miles from the mouth of the White river. We at once joined the company, and after securing horses from our homes we very soon broke camp and started for Arkan- sas. We were often compelled to make long night rides in order to evade falling into the hands of large bodies of fed eral troops, and often compelled to double on our journey. So that it was near the approach of winter the next year before we reached the protection of Prices confederate army.
 But we had had several successful en- counters with the Missouri militia and terrorized them in Western and Central Missouri to such an extent that they were compelled to concentrate in large numbers instead of spreading themselves over the whole country. Woe was to the small squad of militia that came in contact with us. Gen. Price concluded to send us again into Western Missouri. Neal had learned in some way that his father had been arrested, and he deter mined, if possible, to rescue him from the hands of his captors He secured permission from Capt. Anderson to un- dertake the hazardous task and to choose man from the company to ac- company him. Neal and the writer had so far been meSsmateS together and requested that he should choose me for his companion on this occasion. We left our comrades in camp in the dusk of the evening about the middle of November, without food, money or winter clothing, Our first thoughts were directed toward solving the problem of how we should procure necessary food and we conclud- ed to adopt the role of travelling minis ters. Neal was a capital singer, but the preaching part usually fell to the writer. The minister's dress. in those days was not considered important, but 1t was not long before the people to whom we preached on the way had supplied us with every necessity. Sometimes by giv- ing us portion of the best they had, and at other times furnishing us with small contributions of money, which, in the Ozark region of Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri, was. at that time extremely scarce.
 We learned from a squad of Capt. Todd's command of Missourians, while in the Cowskin river country of Southern Missouri, that old man Neal had been released from the federals encamped at Syracuse, and had been permitted to re- tIIrn home As Cant Todd intended ffr