The National tribune., 1899-08-10
A FAIR FOE.
How a Southern MatrOn Enters
tanned Two OF Nelson's Men.
BY A. BRANDLY, co. Fl. 23D KY, ELKINs,
W. VA.

BY A. BRANDLY, co. Fl. 23D KY, ELKINs,
| W. VA.
| The men under Gen Nelson used to
admire him for daring acts and disliked
him for useless cruelty to his interiors.
| Often he expected too omuch from his infan-
| try, making forced marches after cavalry
OF the enemy whom he expected to run
down. We supposed so in one instance,
from the hurried tramp he ga . us from
MurfreeSboro to Lavergne, after tine second
capture OF the latter place, thence up the
Lebanon Pike at fast time, with orders to
allow no one to fall out of ranks.
l was very tired and foOtsore; it seemed
1 could not have made another 10 steps to
save my life. l was near my Captain,
Louis Voight a gentleman a little on the
blustery order with heart that could easily
be touched by an appeal from his soldiers.
captain" ! ventured to say, IL am played
out. Can / leave the ranksT
Yes" he answered: but catch up as
quick as possible" With feeling of JOY
threw myself in fence corner and stretched
my weary limbs as the entire brigade
passed by rushing up the road at pace
Of six miles an hour When the last one
ing troops had somewhat settled, gather.
ed up my traps and trudged on, after ap.
plying some of the road dust TO the raw,
CALLED places on my limbs, which the sol
1
convenient remedy at hand. In a miles
travel met John N. Kingston, a comrade
OF Co. II, who had also obtained permis-
sion to leave ranks. Together we march
ed up the now open road, feeling refreshed
from our rest and the absence Of being
packed in a marching column of dust
| raising troops. We had now become the
| rear guard OF Nelson's troops, by permission
of the Captain, and in direct violation Of
Gen. Nelson's orders. A feeling OF inde-
/ mn hot -
much so that on approaching brick man
sion on the left of the pike my comrade sug-
geSted that We call on the wealthy planter
and ask permission to have our ration Of
coffee cooked in the real old home style.
with cream in it. We had soldiered about
one year, in which, 80 far as remember I
had not sat down to table to eat.
| We approached the house from the west.
After walking up the path some distance,
we saw that the negro slave quarters were
north of the mansion, which had two por-
ticos, one west the other north.
AS we reached the north entrance a hand
some tall lady, probably 30 years old, and
dressed in black, stepped out on the portieo
and listened to our request. Certainly"
she answered, you can have your coffee
cooked. Have you any coffee to spare"
YES" we answered, I'VE only want two
cups apiece, and as we have our rations
for two days, about four tablespoonfuls,
1
will do without coffee until we draw again."
"Oh, no." she smilingly responded. Il
| want to purchase some coffee. could buy
all want in Nashville by taking the oath
OF allegiance, but III never do that while
live. Go to that dining room," pointing.
Tell the girls to cook your coffee and give
you something to eat"
Thanking her we did her bidding, and
soon sat down to fresh-made bread, hot
meat, butter and coffee, good enough for a
| tyNrI ifn1D hxy.,
snuffing the air and saying, "Oh, Lord,
but that coffee smells good It's enough
to set all the niggers crazy"
In the kitchen other negroes kept opening
the door to inhale some of the coffee fumes.
We left enough to give several of the colored
| folks taste.
noticed while eating our repast that the
lady in black made a journey back and east
OF the mansion, returning again as We
finished our meal, and as we departed she
again made her appearance on the north
porch, accompanied by two children, about
five and six years of age respectively.
She placed a child on each side Of her. and
as we again thanked her, said: Have
either OF you a pistol?'
| Seeing our astonishment, she hastily
added, II want to buy pistol, and will give
$50 in gold for it. Not that am afraid
of my life. 1 want to protect these" and
she placed hand on each child's head.
| She certainly made a handsome and Strik-
ing figure as she stood there.
My comrade, being the Oldest, was spokes-
man, and replied:
Madam, if we had pistol, our orders
would prevent the sale of arms to dis
loyal person.
"Well, soldiers, you can never subdue
the Southern people; that is a fact that you
will find to be correct before very long.
Take my advice and leave this hopeless
war at the first opportunity How would
YOU like to be captured, be paroled and go
homer
| Never" answered Kingston, "as long
as have load in this" as he raised his
gun to port and lightly tapped it with
his hand. The shameful fact was that
| neither of us had a load in his gun.
| "You have acted like gentlemen, there
fore will treat you as such. By the wav-
ing of this handkerchief l can have you
surrounded and captured. Step up here
with me and look"
| She pointed east to strip Of woods or
an orchard about 200 yards back of the
house. In a hollow stood a dismounted
command of cavalry in gray uniforms.
Every man was by his horse ready. to
mount. I was unable to say whether
there were 100 or 1000 rebel cavalry. /
would have given all | possessed to have had
a load in my gun; not that desired to open
a battle. but to be prepared to let one rebel
have its contents before we surrendered.
| felt ashamed to load in the presence of our
hostess, thereby exposing our unguarded
4
the lady imagined our guns loaded
"As you decline being taken, go toward
your command as quickly as possible. I
will hold back the Confederates until you
have fair start"
| We walked out over the lawn at a fast
gait. A short distance up the road We
reached piece of timberland, where We
| Immediately loaded our musketS and in
creased our pace to a double-quick. As
we had passed beyond the view Of the house,
no one besides ourselves was in sight. We
kept looking back for the enemy. My
lady kept her word.
| Tt was understood between Kingston
and myself that on the approach of the
enemy we would pick off the two nearest,
then part and strike for the timber and do
the best we could to get away. We kept
up our rapid gait for probably two or three
miles, reaching Stone River.
| There about so comrades were bathing.
We gave the alarm, and notified them the
rebels were coming. Whilethey put on their
clothes we rested by the roadside, guarding
the bridge. When all were ready We
started in body for our command. which
had halted at crossroads leading toMur-
freesboro and Lebanon. Kingston noti-
fed some officer Of the approach of the
enemy A small squad of cavalry, / was
| h,o oil 10 hal hr;I