The National tribune., 1902-06-12
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WASHINGTON c. THURSDAY
.swhat brisadesdo you belong TOT" he

What brigadesdo you belong Tor ne
"McGowan's,'' stammered.
"McGowan'Gr, ialid he; 'McGowan's is
10 miles from here"
Yes. sir" silidii.
''Then why areIyou here?"
wait minute.' said l.
The men looked very compassionate
They understood that l needed time fol
recovery fromiemdtion. l knew not what
to say. To explain my emotion by telling
these men thatfi the Yankees had beer
about to hang me seemed unwise, for
should then haye had to give the reasons
this l must not do. Yet, how could / give
any reason for their binding me! L de
cided to remain silent.
Give him some water" said the Ser
seant to one of the men. Another tree
to unite the rope which bound my hands
but finding the knot very difficult, he uset
his knife. / felt that l was in great den
ger; an unguarded word might now be
tray my character as a Union spy.
Sergeant" said |. cant you send mt
to McGOwan's Brigade!'
That is owing to where it is said he
Il can send you to our nearest infantry
and then you can make your way
That will do very well" said /, 'ant
l shall be very greatly obliged to YOU
The men, seeing my weakness, kindly
helped me to mount behind one of the
squad.
How is it?' asked the Sergeant; "how
is it that you have your cartridge-box and
no gum
Il had forgotten the gun. sir; it is jus,
back yonder where the Yankees took me, '
and | pointed to the spot.
One Of the men soon found the old En-
field and gave it to me. The man behind
whom | was mounted kindly relieved m,
of its burden
The party now turned westward along
the railroad grade. the Sergeant riding
near me, and asking me questions con
corning the predicament in which he had
found me. | told him that | had beer
in the battle of The Wilderness, and had
become separated from my command. and
had served with Wofford's Brigade; that
had suffered greatly from exhaustion, and
had not yet found MCGOWAN. who had
marched away. l supposed. He seemed
satisfied with this. remarking that there
were many stragglers yet absent from
their commands: that they were daily
swelling Lees army by their return tC
it. We were on the march," said he
ito Louisa Court House, and came across
squad of our men. who had captured
two Yankees somewhere near this spot
and they advised me to look down the rail
road some distance before going on, and
see if there was not more game in sight
for they had three captured horses and
only two men. l am glad that we did
for | much prefer releasing one of Oul
own men to capturing one of theirs. Oul
road leads us to the rear of the army, and
/ will turn you over to the first infantry
/ find
These men were Virginians-4th Va
Soon we reached the Parker's Store road
and turned south-always i'll a trOt. which
perhaps relieved me a little, or Mt least
transferred my WEAKNESS to different
muscles. 1t had begun to rain, and il
continued raining for a greater part OF
the day. Before it was quite noon we
crossed the Pc. and halted on the Shady
Grove, or Catharpin. rOad-the same
road on which ! had advanced toward
the Confederate lines on the preceding
day. Here Serg,t Crump ordered Bays
the man behind whom l was riding, tc
take me east toward Shady Grove unit
he should find any infantry command. tt
which he was to hand me over, and then
return. 1--WE wiz wait here for you,
said he. j
/ thanked Crump as well as / knew
how. | was very doubtful concerning the
good he had done me, for l was now
back in the Confederate army, instead OF
with my own people as | believed l should
have been at this time. Yet my regrets
were not very great. The men who had
bound me might have repented of theii
hesitation.
1t was not longI before we found infan-
try in bivorae on the left of the road; we
advanced at once into their midst.
Say" shouted a young fellow, "here
comes man afidin' twice"
Nobody laughed at this. l supposed ii
was common remark on seeing a horse
carrying double.
Whose brigade is this?" Bays asked
''Harris's,' said one.
Where is your Captain?"
Lieut.. Nixon somebody called out.
Lieut.. Nixon came up. What is it?'
he asked.
Bays told him the circumstances. Here
was released prisoner he had had the
good fortune to set free from the Yankees;
all that he could do was to turn him over
to Lieut.. Nixon, and then go back TO his
place.
| scrambled down and stood in the midst
of crowd of curious men. Bays handed
me my gun and rode off.
What is your regimentT asked Lieut.
Nixon.
First S. c.. SIR"
"Brigade"'
"McGowan's."
"Hilrs Corpse"
Eyes. sir"
"On the other side three miles from
here, or more" said he. How did you
get caught?"
Struggling, SIR"
"As usual" said he.
Lieutenant" said !, 81 am too tried
to go on, or to do anything but lie down.
well, my man, lie down and stay
that is. until you can do better. What's
your nameW
Jones'"
There seemed to be no fighting what,
ever along the lines, or at least on this
part of the lines, on the 18th of May
sssippians entirely. The regiment in
which now found myself was the 10Th,
commanded by Col. Baker, a veiy gallan,
officer, as l afterward had cause to know
My intentions were to remain with these
men until nightfall and then slip away.
l yet had little food, and it was well
that had, for not one of the COnfederates
offered to divide with me. Perhaps they
were hungrier than l.
The day passed with nothing to do, the
brigade remaining in it's position without
movement. l could not sleep, although
l was very sleepy. l had no great fears
for the future: / would wait until dark
ness should come, and then steal quietly
away into the woods; but the experience
of the past few days, and especially of
this day, had wrought in me such a con
dition of nervous tension that l could not
rest long in any posture; l could not even
think clearly.
Some of the men talked to me, and got
from me true account-with a few ex-