The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-11-16
AN EXCITING ADVENTURE.
In Civil War, Which Was Related by
Moses Roben.

1893 BY his brother, Moses Roben, q
veteran of the Civil and Mexican wars,
in which he tells Of his participation in
an attack on the Rebels IN the rear Of
Atlanta, Georgia, during Sherman's mem
orable march to The sea. He was with
the 5th Iowa Cavalry at the time They
were captured BY The Rebelsand marched
to the .Chattahoochi river, where Moses
escaped again and swan the river
just how he escaped is best told in
his own language, as follows:
"Now Douglass, you reminded me of
my niBc-day trip through Georgia in
the woods. all alone and nothing to eat,
and l22 miles to travel before ] could
get anything, unless / got it At the risk
Of nv life. / will just give you a short
sketch of an incident which ] had on
that trip, and how near | came being
qobbled up BY three drunken rebel muir
derers. When 7 rot dismounted ! was
in TIE Chattahoochee river. and had to
swim across the river with my boots on.
] did not have time to dry my socks and
boots. but started out on double quick
time for the woods. That was about \
o'clock in the morning. / Travelled pretty
lively nearly all day, but before night
my feet were very sore When | pulled
my boots and socks on, ! found 1 had
no skin on my feet--they were as raw
as piece of beef. That night ] slept
little under a pine tree, My bed
was not very soft, but II was the best
| could get IN that town. ! was awake
long before TIE sun rose, but / could not
start until il rose. 50 ] could get my
bearings ! started through the woods
and travelled until about three o'clock in
the afternoon without seeing q soul or
house. | came to small clearing
about that time, with a small house on
che place ard ais | was aetting very
hungry about that time flor ] Ind not
eaten a bite for nearly 4s hoursl, ] made
up my mind that / would prospect
around that house for bread and meat
skuIked around for some time to ascer-
tain il there were any men about. I
came To the conclusion there were not
80 got a good club and went for the
house. ! found no one there but lone
woman
CAS- soon as went In, 7 asked her II
there were any rebels around. She looked
at me for a few minutes, and then she
asked, Who are your | told her was
a Yankee soldier She jumped toward
me- ! thought for moment was going
to have woman fight on hand. but she
grabbed me hy the hand and commenced
crying. The tears fen from her eyes ike
big raindrops, and ! saw by that time |
was All right and had found a friend
There was small scuttle hole to get
up into the loft She told me Ia gee mp
through that hole and keep still. and she
would get me the best she had in the
house to eat, and then she would tell me
her troubles ! climbed through the hole
and found the aoor was covered with
loose lumber. and there was a nice club
b. The hole. which was there, con
cluded for some purpose. She baked
some of tAe best corn bread that | ever
ate and boiled some corn, and ! don't
think | ever ate 50 good meal in my
life she told me her husband was
tfnioR man hut had deserted, and wa
nov hid n she woods nearby. She told
me he would Be around that night. and
she wanted he and to 60 through to
our lines together.
About dark She was standing down
below me. telling me Of her many trou
blas, when. all at once, she jumped back,
and. in a moment in stepped three
drunken rebels I was not at all pleased
at the way they introduced themselves,
for they never knocked when they came
in. had examined my room and found
there had beer hole cut for 4 window
but there was no window IN IT, | thought
perhaps / might have to retreat that
way. | found II was about ten feet from
the ground. but could make that Jump,
ii necessary. Thev asked, when they
came III, If there had been any damned
Yankees around there today, and If her
did dexerter was around They said
they had Yankee for breakfast. Yankee
FOR diHner, and they wanted one for
lunch, and then they could sleep good I
| made up mind that II they had me for
a lunch, I would make X warm lunch +
for them
aAftev they Ind some very interest
ing talk among themselves, they took a
big drink Of whiskey. ard then they laid +
down to sleep ION. Lord how / did +
want some Of that whislSey, but ! felt +
myself too much above them to ask them
to set them up They laid down to
sleep, not lfke decent hogs, but like
brsAes of the lowest grade | made up
ms mind that when they got 10 sleep
! would Just save these three hrutes |
let them sleep about one hour. when
raised OF my seat to look down az them
to take observations Of their locations
50 would know how to make the at
tack. but ] was sitting on loose board
and when ! raised up, the other end Of
the board dropped Aown and made biz
racket. One Of t4enl bumped mp and
wanted to know Of the woman what was
up IN the garnet she told them it was
fhe old cat monsing, bit that would not
do. RE said cat that did not know
better than expect to catch rats when
she was making such noise ought to
be killed. and he was going to kill that
cat.
lfe tried to climb up the wall, but Il
was too slippery, or he was too drunk,
He could not make It. He got the other
two mp to give him boost They got
their benches under the hole, got hold
Of him. and one gave the order, Now. II
Up he eoesl' Sure enough, up he came
I was on nay knees with The club, and
when up he came, down he went, for I
struck desperate blow. believed It
was blow for life Of death, and per
haps would be my last blow on this
earth. and ! was going TO strike good
one. When Nc went down, the other two
went down. They upset the benches
and made great racket, and then
jumped for the window, which was about
ten feet of. I don't know whether II
mcdn IL Mt nnn aten Or mot huf | GOT