The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1906-09-27

they rushed with their battering ram
upon the other houses occupied by the
marauders, as did also his men, who
We're not accustomed to follow, but
rather to lead, and within few min
utes all of those negro huts were in his
possession, and all their occupants
were in effect his prisoners.
At this moment Guilford Duncan,
who had now no legal or military au-
thority over his men, lost control Of
them. Both the negroes and the white
men seemed to go mad. They recog-
nized in the marauders no rights of a
military kind, no title to be regarded as
fighting men and no conceivable claim
upon their conquerors' consideration
Both the negroes and the white men
We're merciless in their slaughter of the
marauding highwaymen. Once, in the
melee, Guilford Duncan endeavored to
check their enthusiasm as barbarity,
but his men responded in quick bullet
| like words, indicating their idea that
! these men We're not soldiers entitled to
be taken prisoners, but were beasts Of
prey, rattlesnakes, mad dogs, enemies
of the human race, whose extermina-
ton it was tie duty of every honest
man to seek and to accomplish as
quickly as possible.
| The contest lasted for a very brief
while. The number of the slaughtered
in proportion to the total number Of
men engaged was appalling But this
was not all. 10 it was Immediately
added the hasty hanging of men to the
nearest trees, and Guilford Duncan
was powerless to prevent that. The
negroes, loyal to the mistresses whom
they had served from infancy, had
gone wild in their enthusiasm of de-
tense. They ran amuck, and when the
morning came there was not one man
or all those marauders left alive to tell
the story of the conflict
In the meanwhile Guilford Duncan.
by means of his men, had gathered in
formation in every direction. He knew
now that all hope was gone of his join
| ing Johnston's army, even if that army
had not surrendered, as by this time it
probably had done. He therefore
brought his men together. Most Of
them lived in those mountains round
about or in the lower country east of
them, so he said to them:
Men, the war is over. Most of YOU.
as 1 understand it, live somewhere
near here or within fifty miles of
here. AS the last order that 1 shall
ever issue to you as captain, direct
you now to return to your homes at
once. My advice to you is to go to
work and rebuild your fortunes as best
you can. We've had our last fight.
| We've done our duty like men. We
must now do the best that we can for
ourselves under extremely adverse cir
cumstances. Go home, cultivate your
fields, take care Of your families and
be as good citizens in peace as you
have been good soldiers in war"
| There was a hurried consultation
among the men. Presently Sergeant
Garrett spoke for the rest and said:
1--WE will not go home, Captain Dun
can, until each one Of us has written
orders from you to do so. Some Of us
fellows have children in our homes,
and the rest of us may have children
hereafter We want them to know, as
the years go by, that we did not desert
our cause even in it's dying hours; that
we did not quit the army until we were
ordered to quit. We ask of you, for
each of us, written order to go home
or to go wherever else you may order
us to go'
The captain fully understood the 10y
atty of feeling which underlay this re-
quest, and he promptly responded to it.
| taking from his pocket number of
old letters and envelopes, he searched
out whatever scraps there might be of
blank paper. Upon these scraps he
issued to each man of his little COM
pany a peremptory order to return to
his home, with an added statement in
the case Of each that he had served
loyalty, bravely and we'll even unto
the end"
That night, before their final part
ing, the little company slept together
in the midst Of cluster of pine trees
with only one sentry on duty.
The next day came the parting. The
captain, with tears dimming his vi
sion, shook hands with each of his men
in turn, saying to each, with choking
utterance: "Goodby! God bless your
Then the spokesman of the men,
Sergeant Garrett, asked:
"Are you going home, Captain Dun
can"
For twenty seconds the young cap
tain stared at his men, making no an
swer. Then, mastering himself and
speaking as one dazed, he replied:
"Home? Home? On all Gods earth
have no home!"
Instantly he put spurs to his horse,
half unconsciously turning toward the
sunset.
| A moment later he vanished from
view over the crest of hill.
CHAPTER II.
"HE young man rode long and
| late that night His waV Law