The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-28

gave each child . piece. Well. will get back to the cabin where the cobs. shucks and the rat is.
 We went to work withSmuch energyS to ret the rat for fish bait. In less than half an hour we he'd killed about . dozen large rats, and found nearly twenty bushels of corn. We c1enned the rats and each of us got out twelve big ears of corn.. fastened the door as securely as we could and hurried to the ss aGs.s ss.r rss ssa our sis ssSDss ss. r.t m While some of us were grinding meal, others were hxins. jaSse baskets on the slide and getting "reel-footed" Char lie. the horse.' My mother had small piece of butter on hand, and by the time the horse was hitched to the slide she had a dish of as fat and as sweet I will say squirreiA-and a plate piled up with nice hoe-cakes. on the table. and with . bright smile she sat at the head Of the table and watched husband and children enjoy themselves eating the nice buttered hoecakes and sweet, juicy, smooth -tsil squirrels. We brought up all of the corn, then the cobs and shucks, and with each trip, from two to i've smooth-tail squirrels, and we caught one rabbit. Of course we all fared better. Charlie was ready and willing to do his share of the work at all times. and never complained. We would occasionally get coon. o'possum or a rabbit. About two weeks later we were rabbit bunting; the dogs bayed something iA . large briar patch near an old rail fence. We hastened to the place, and there were six as npe wild hogs as I ever saw. had an old musket, and gave 1t to the negro man and told him to kill the largest once. It was an accident. but he did just as told him. The other hogs left the briar- patch. They were very vicious and made us take a tree several times as we followed on trying to get them scattered so we could catch one with dogs, as we had no more powder. They would not scatter at all, so we went home, got Charlie and the slide. We had a time getting the hog home. He weighed nearly 2s0 pounds net.
 think this. was during the winter of 1864 and 1865.
 Previous to this the armies. both Southern and Northern. had taken all we had except the lame horse, two cows, and two or three head of young cattle, an dtwo colts. With the supply of meat and corn we managed to get on without starving. And with the lit- tie help from the fwo colts we made aOod crop. We were blessed with good health.
 MT. Messenger cultivated 100 acres. Messrs. George and Charlie Devaney, fifty acres of our land, all in corn AS our corn cribs had all been burned we used rail pens to house the corn crop. My father was a good shoe maker, and would make shoes in exchange Tor leather, home-spun goods, home-knit socks. pigs. fowls, etc. He exchanged corn too. for boards. making rails etc, and beef hides. and had the .hides tanned at MT. Rickss tan~ yard. When he got the leather 1t was as soft and pliable as cloth. .se We have no such cloth: no such leather as we had in those days.S A large army of Union soldiers were camping at or near Tuscumbia. Ala. They became greatly alarmed at re- port that an army of Confederate sol diers would attack them early the next morning. Sometime during the night, & company of Confederates camped on the point of the mountain south or Tuscumbia, known now as Henderson Point. The next morning the Confed- crates formed into line. l think the captains name was Helms. It was cavalry company. They could be seen by the Union army as they descended the mountain for short distance. AS soon as the captain got out of sight ne ordered his men to go around the point ascend and come over the point again, but for the men who were in front to drop back and let others take their places and change the white or black horses from the right or Jeff side to the opposite side. etc. and continue to descend the mountain until his com pany showedV up several thousand. when they dismounted and began to come over the point
 The Union army went westward in | ata do t, was told to me and others by two Con- federate soldiers named Charlie Staton and John Clark.
 During the winter of 1S6- and 186-, was returning by rail from Gainesville, Ala, to Tuscumbia. When I got to Ok olona I was told that the Union army had torn up the track in many places. | and the trains were stopped.
 | met portion of Hoods army (Con- federates) at Okolona. Two of my cousins, Willie and John Winston. be-
 longed to that brigade. Many of the soldiers had cut their blankets up to wrap their bleeding feet in. Their shoes having worn out and they could | not get more. John Winston told me | that some of the men ate their shoes. or what was left of them after the ] soles were gone. They would put the leather on five coals, chaf 1t. and then | eat 1t. I left-Okolona next morning, struck out through the country aloot
 travelled eastward on the Biler road. I think it was 1 cannot just now re- | call whether it was the first or second day after left Okolona that came to a small clearing. I think 1t had been an orchard. There were number ot l dead mules lying on that spot of ground, & little further on were sever | al poor, sore-backed horses. One had A good leather halter on. I captured | him and tied my bundle of clothes on his back and led him on: I had gone some distance when I came to little
 branch. After crossing I came to
 curve in the road and began to ascend
 a hill. saw many little curls of
 smoke ahead of me. I walked on
 about 100 yards and saw that they
 were wagons on fire. Just then boy.
 who looked to be 12 years old, stepped
 from behind a tree with a musket lev
 eled at me and said: Where are you
 going?" It startled me so at the time that hardly knew what to do or say.
 In a moments time I saw there was no
 cap on the gun. I said: What does
 ali this mean. these wagons on fire and
 all of those dead mules back yonder?"
 He said: Them blue coats cut the se-