The National tribune., 1899-03-16

ultimatum. ] heard it read: An immediate
surrender-al to be treated as prisoners of
war-the officers to retain their side-arms,
but if he had to carry the place by assault,
he would not be responsible for the acts of
his men. This was signed ". B. Forrest
g | waited and heard the decision-to sur
render. Capt Randall now our senior Off
GER came out ] begged him to 90 on with
the fight; we still had some ammunition and
were ready.
That is the trouble, he said; the sup
ply of ammunition is SO nearly exhausted
that it is deemed inexpedient to renew the
battle
"Lieut. Barnum came up Barnum,'
said /, they have decided to surrender
"'Well?'
"'Wen, I'll never be taken prisoner
Will yon go with me?'
g. Where? The place. is entirely sur
rounded,i answered Barnnm. Il see no
chanc5 for escape
''' That makes no difference IF you will
90 with me, say so; if not, l shall 90 alone;
there is not moment to lose
Lieut.. Barnum was an Ohio boy. like
myself He stood for a moment, and then
stopping down, took the revolver and belt
from Col Lathrop's body, buckeled it around
Ills p"I; anu StIl Ill really, 20 on.
We passed the Adjutant's office, where
all my worldly goods were; ON to our mess
house, from which we took few rusks in
our pockets; climbed the rdmparts, descended
the steep glacis, and found ourselves among
the non-combatants in the deep valley
below
"a spring dubbed up few rods to the
west, and on the south side of the creek.
Toward this we leisurely sauntered as for
drink, and not to attract attention OF arouse
suspicion regarding our real intention A
wooded hill rose ateeply up on the north side
Of the creek; a narrow valley intervened. We
crossed the creek, carelessly approached the
edge OF the woods argus-eyed, and as we
reached a certain point | Missed. Barnum,
this way, quickn and disappeared
: ''ln the woods 2"
"Oh, no; the trees were too scattering to
find a secure hiding place. Months before.
one dark night, there was an alarm on Q
pickle t-poSt near this point, and as | was in
tie Adjutant's Office, and enjoyed a night
sOrtie, as was my custom, | ran down alone
and ahead Of the Sergeant and detail |
| gave the coantersign and in
CURED the cause Of the alarm. The sen tinel
stated that an object had been seen moving
among the trees on the hillside, and not |
halting when ordered. he fired
81 took gun, climbed the hill alone to the |
top, and descending in a circuitous route
found nothing only, as | came down, |
shelving rocks, down which / cambered, |
and more as l descended farther, until the |
sound of falling water fell Oh my ear
81 listened it seemed below and beneath |
5he surface. At the risk Of my neck must |
investigate. In the open space the starlight |
,himmered through, and l could see a hole, |
apparently the size of mans body, in which |
was a miniature cascade. could hear the
water fall from one rocky projection to |
another, and finally make short plunge and
seem to flow away.
@ | returned the gun to the guard. passed |
IN to the fort, and never told a soul of nv
find; and what is mcse, never visited it again.
But the words, Surrender prisonerl' fell on
ny being so terribly that they awakened an
hole, freedom, and thrilled
ne with the sense Of the honor of such a
sublime achievement, and give me the oppor-
unity to still serve my country and avoid a
fate. Ny guardian angel and my
pump of locality proved equal to the Occa-
ion. did not miss the hole an inch as we
prang into the woods although skirtng the
woods were more or less bushes Down |
lid over the slippery, watery rocks throwing
heir spray about me toward Plutos domain.
nd landed on rocky floor Another instant
nd had company, not Pluto nor vet Ger
'erus, but Barlum, who had performed the
anne acrobat.c feat, just giving me time to
egain my equilibrium andistep aside
This, my dear Coloneh is the how and
'hy | did not answer to Gen. Wheeler's
oll-call that day when all the rest were
lustered and marched off to Dixie prisoners
t war by the proves of Forrest and
Wheeler, G. S. A.. {
" How / got out of that hole, how we
aptured Maj. Gilbert, of Gen. Forests staff.
'ithin their own lines, nursed their wounded,
onversed with their chief men, and finally
cached our own lines ia time to participate in T..
lie stirring events of Hood invasion and the
attic of Nashville, must be left for subse- =
uent chapters. Adds, SenOr"
big Baby Carriage Sale.
If any of our readers will cut this notice out
nd send to Sears, ROebuck g. Co. Chicago
H., they will send you. free, by mail, post
aid a caf aI ~ IA ~, |