The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13

Them fellows that's buried back yon- der didn't fight for secesshin. and they didn't fight to keep us from secesshin.' Instid, wien the fellows that come to put 'em in the army was rumored to be in the neighbnrhood, they took to the mountains and staid until some of the women folks brought word that the sol- diers had moved on to some other place. They couldn't raise no crops. for they was ekeered to plant for fear they couldn't gather on account of the colnlng of the conscriptioners. or 1t may be that they was too lazy to work.
 Anyhow. their women folks did the best that they could. and raised little patches of corn and turnips, and man. aged to get along somehow. After awhile. these fellows that was skeered | to fight on either side growed mighty bold and begun to go to the homes of the women whose husbands and fathers and brothers and sweethearts was away to the war fightin' for one side or tother, and made the women give 'em grub that they'd slaved in the fields to make for themselves. There was mighty few rich men in this section then as there is now, but the houses of them that was supposed to be well-to-do was raided and sometimes piece of silverware or a little money was found. The women was abs0- lutely unprotected and It's said that many of 'em was insulted by these trifiIn' cowardly hell hounds
 After awhile, ole Lee and ole Gran. fixed things up that the hghtin and the killin' and the starvin was to stop and one by one the boys that had been to the front begun to drop back to Blount. Then they was told by the women of what q been goin' on. and l tell yer the fat was In the fire I had left a piece of calico al home that had been tied to me for only short time fore Jeff Davis said dghI and l tell yer that tho I killed a few Yankees while 1t was goin' on. I never was as mad with the blue-bellled devils as l was with those people that I had known all my life and that had staid at home and preyed on the helpless.
 There was nothin' done for a whils, but every man you'd see had heard some tale from his wife or his sister or his mother bout what had been goin' on, and O course 1t festered in the hearts of 'em all. Those that had tried their mightiest for long months to get Into Richmond and them that bad done their derndest to keep 'em out met and was as friendly sthey'd been before 1t all start ed. but every one of 'em was sore on those carrion that had stai6 at home and foraged on them that had no pro- tection.
 Major Jim Runkle who commanded my battalion and who was as gritty a soldier as ever showed ramrod down bar rel. was then the biggest man of Rock vile. He was a little late in gettin' home as he was prisoner at Johnson's Island at the surrender. but when he did come and was told by his wife and neighbors of the things they'd suffered and the insults they had to bear, the old man fumed but when 1t was made known to him that one time the latter part of '64 that Sam liar ris. John Condon and Bill Delmar and three or four more of the gang had come to his house. and after maxim Mss Madge. his pretty daughter, cook them a meal, and then one hOldin' her while the others kissed her. the ole man breathed fire an birthstone. and swore that the