The National tribune., 1900-09-20

account of ItikSf W1,s furnished rations
and clothing, the latter being given me by
| men of the command who happened 10
| have surpluSs garments.
| Next day Wa We're given passes and or
dered to report. to the Provost-Marshal ut
| Knoxville. We were given choice of GO
ing with Il w;fs6n-train which was to bring
supplies for thu camtr'or on some fiatboats
| loaded with GoverItment corn, which
would start thst same afternoon. Stuart
| and | chose the boats, while Palmatier
| and Brannan went with the wagons. |
| reported to the Captain of one of the boats
at once, showed my pass, and was in
formed that wecwoufd start at 2 o'clock.
At the appointed time we flOated off.
We had Il crew of six negroes. who kept
| the craft straight with the current. and
everything moved off smoothly till almost
| shutdown, when our boat caught on n snag.
| and there we were-fast. AS the river
was falling it seemed that we were in n
sure enough fix.
WITHIN THE UNION LINES.
Our Captain hailed the shore. and final
ly succeeded in getting man to bring us
| Il canoe, in which we all went ashore, pre-
pared supper, tied the flatboat to a tree
| with long rope and prepared to stay
| awhile. After supper the Captain ex-
| planned that, as the corn was Government
property and he was responsible for its
safe delivery. some one would have to stay
| on the boat to watch it. None of the ne
groes seemed willing to do this, so Stuart
| and l volunteered for that duty. Taking
the canoe we padded back to the fiat
boat, feeling that our career of prosperity
| had received quite check.
| When all had become quiet among our
| friends ashore we talked over the situa-
| ton, and after due deliberatiOn concluded
| that the caravan was moving altogether
too slow for our purpose, and as our stay
| here seemed likely to be indefinitely pro
longed we placed some blankets and over
coats in the canoe, united it, and silently
| hoated away without as much as saying
| gOod-by.
| After floating several hours we landed
and slept on the river bank till morning.
Seeing a farmhouse on hill near us, we
went there to get breakfast. The lady
was very kind, giving us a nice warm
breakfast and large loaf of bread and Il
small tin-pail full of milk to take with us.
| We resumed our journey, floating laZiiy
with the current all day. That night was
very dark, but we agreed to keep on, hop
ing to reach Knoxville by morning at least.
| One of us would sit in the stern of our
canoe TO guide it with the paddle while
the other slept.
| I was acting as pilot and Stuart was
| sound asleep when the craft suddenly shot
over a mill-dam. The fall was consider
able, and we went entirely under water
below the dam. The canoe came to the
| surface, bottom upward, and we were both
near drowning; Stuart. being wrapped in
the blankets'an the water quite deep, had
n very narrow escape. We finally reached
dry land minus all our baggage. Stuart
never quite forgaye me for this mishap,
and insisted that | ran the canoe over the
darn on purpose, but did not. The wind
was blowing quite hard at the time. and
could not distinguish the noise of the
| water.
We found house shortly, and after a
| long pariey with the man, who, thinking
we were guerrillas, at first refused to let
US in, were allowed to dry our clothes and
| to warm by good fire.
Long before daylight we set out again.
this time taking q skiff that we found tied
| near the house, and reached Knoxville
next day about 10 o'clock without further
mishap. and reported to the Pr0vost-Mar-
shall. That officer said he did not know
what to do with us, as both of our regi=
ments were with the Army of the POtO-
mae, so he directed us to Gen. TilsoD,
commanding the Department of East Ten
ncssee, whose headquarters were in the
| city.
| RECEIVED AS HEROES.
Here more than our usual good fortune
awaited us, for one of the officers of the
Generals staff Che Adjutant- General,
think he was) had formerly been a Lieu
tenant in Stuart's company, and soon as
Stuart made himself known this officer
introduced us to the General and all the
staff, who made perfect heroes of us, and
kept us with them for two days telling
them our prison experiences.
Gen. Tilson offered to have rs trans
ferred to his command, and to secure us
each a commission in colored regiment
if we would recruit 10 men apiece, but we
declined this honor, our military ambition
being now very nearly gratified and our
chief desire to reach home. So he gave
us transportation to Nashville via Chatta-
nooga, and letter to Gen. Thomas, ex-
planning our case and asking him to send
us on to our commands, then near Peters.
burg. Va.
When we found Gen. Thomas he gave
us an order securing us transportation
over any military railroad in the United
States and also to. all army or post Quar-
termasterS, requiring them to furnish us
subsistence, and we went our way rejOic-
ing.
We arrived at Louisville, KY, on the
day the notorious guerrilla, Sue Mundy,
was hung there, crossed the Ohio River to
Jacksonville. Ind, and passed on to Gin
cinnati and Columbus, o. Here we took
the wrong train and brought up at Steu-
benviiie, just as the great food of 1865
was at its highest All the railroads were
under water. We finally secured passage
on Il steamboat down the Ohio to Wheel
ing, w. Va. thence over the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad to Baltimore, then by
steamer again to Annapolis.
We reported Mt the Parole Camp and
were given 30 days furlough. Stuart and
traTeled together back to Baltimore,
thence to Philadelphia and New York
City, where we parted, he going Oh to
Portland, Me-, his home
| reached home about the last dayC of
March, 1865. My coming was n complete
surprise to the family, as they had heard
nothing from me since my capture, and
had long since given me up as dead
i | did not rejOin my regiment till after
the close Of the final campaign, but
marched with the boys in the Grand Re
view ut Washington on May "a, 1863, and
was mustered out of the service at Airing
ton On June %, 1861, receiving my final
discharge at Harrisburg, Pa, on July 3,
having served four years and nearly three
months. L saw my comrades, Stuart,
Brannan and Palmaticr, at Alexandria af-
ter our return from home. since which time
III have advertised for them in vain. A
friend of Stuart wrote me from Maine that
he enlisted again in the Regular Army
and lost his life with Custer in the i'll
fated fight with the Indians at Little Big
Horn.
}, Dubois and Rensselaer, never came hack
to the regiment, but were discharged from