The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-11-19

the past than others; some. so deeply
impressed upon my memory that they
can never be forgotten. Among them
are few which 1 shall endeavor to
relate.
In the winter of 2-ss. division of
the federal army, under the command
of Gen. u. S. Grant, had gained pos
session of west Tennessee and had
reached its southern boundary. The
army was established in winter quar-
town, whose Inhabitants consisted
| largely Of that type of high bred, truly
refined people, who made up the SO
ciety' of the ante-bellum south. The
| town was wholly in the power of the
invaders, and the oath of allegiance"
being presented to the prominent citi-
zens with the alternative Of impris-
onment and conf1scation Of property.
| in the event Of a refusal ito. take
the OATH" My father, who was
Presbyterian minister in charge Of the
church at LAGRANGE. and who was
loyal son OF the south, true to his
| hearts core to the land of his birth.
| felt that he could never so violate his
sense of honor and truth. So, after
having been marked by the federal
military authorities as an especially
obnoxious person, and, to quote the
words Of one of their officers, "a dis
L
against the best government that God
ever made" and having been ordered
to cease preaching in his church, he
| resolved to get away as quickly as
possible and to go south, where he
wostad be free to serve his God and his
country as his Conscience would per-
NIT him. He arranged with q near
and dear relative, whose family cares
| and circumstances forbade him ieav-
/ ing his home. for my sister, my young
brother and myself to be taken care
1 Of, until he could send for US to join
him, and then he went out one after
| noon, as IS for a quiet walk, passed
unnoticed between two picket posts
land on for several miles to the house
of q friend, where horse had been
sent for his use. He spent the night
with the faithful friend, and In the
morning he mounted the shorse and
made his way safely and successfully
into the Confederate lines. AS soon
as it was discovered by the military
| authorities that they had been out
| witted, they came to our home and
declared that everything that had be-
| longed to this arch rebel, DIR. Waddell,
was confiscated to the United States
government; notified us that we no
| longer had any right there, and sta
toned guards to keep us from going
back or taking anything away. How
ever, before we left the house we did
secure some valuables and secrete
them about our persons. Then going
out homeless, we sought and found a
secure refuge and loving sympathy
with our kind relatives. Just here l
would like to pay a deserved tribute
| to the faithful loyalty of two of our
slave men. They, of course, were left
to their own resources, to support
themselves and their families, their
master being homeless refugee. They
i oiro
a team from among the broken down
army horses, and had cared for them
| until they were able to work; the men
found employment in hauling cotton
for the northern cotton buyers, and
during the time that we were waiting
for the summons to join our father
in Dixieland these men repeatedly
brought US part of their earnings,
and would take no refusal. After the
lapse of several months, when affairs
had become more quiet and military
regulations less stringent, my father
succeeded in getting a letter to us
through the federal lines, appointing q
time and place for us to meet him.
My uncle secured passports for us,
with the condition that the packing
of our trunks should be witnessed by
an officer, to prevent our smuggling
out any contraband articles. One of
the above mentioned slave men placed
his wagon and team and his own ser
vices as driver and protector at our
disposal, and so one Monday in
March, 1863, we set out upon our
| journey south. My sister, nv young
brother and myself, with our old cook.
who positively refused to be left by
US (although in going with us she
left her own children) constituted the
travelling party. In the wagon were
packed all the worldly goods of the
dear old "black nanny" and the seats
/ 10 nil a J
of their feathers and filed with
everything we could get that would be
of use to our boys in gray''-material
for clothing, boots, etc.-and concealed
about ourselves we carried several
pistols, so that, notwithstanding we
had to submit to having our trunk
packing inspected, we did carry out a
number of contraband articles. For
tunately for us, just at that time the
authorities had become strangely lax,
SO when we reached the outposts the
picket guard merely looked at our
passports and did not examine the
contents of the wagon at all. Our
journey lay through a dreary, for
saken region, beset by deserters,
'bushwhackers" and other lawless
classes, and humanely speaking, we
were but noorly protected. But no
greater harm came to us than being
frightened. One day as we were
making our way slowly along. we met
party of men on horseback whose
ragged gray clothing showed the
Yankee blue beneath, making it seem
doubtful where they BELONGED. They
stopped and halted US, and began ban
tertng our driver to swap horses. and
they put my brother through a course
OF questions as to his age, and why
he was not in the army, etc. all of
which caused us no little uneasiness,
After apparently satisfying them
selves, they turned and rode rapidly
away In the same direction from which
they had come, and the same in which
we were going. We went on with
rather anxious hearts, fearing another
encounter, but we saw no more of
them, much to our relief. The nights
OF our journey were spent at the
houses of friends of our father. whose
name was ito us a passport to favor
so we'll known and so beloved was he
throughout that region. We had been
intructed by our father to go to Pom
totoc, in north Mississippi, and wait
for him at the home of one of his
dearest friends. the Rev. John H
Miller, Presbyterian minister who
had, at the beginning of the war
raised regiment Of cavalary for the
Confederate service. had been elected
colonel Of the regiment and had led II
| IN battle. At the time of which