Year: 1878

At one time durlhg tut "iiltef vi
ls6l. was on duty at the headquar-
t.rs Of the Department OF Western
Viroinis. then in charge OF General


= ". Lander One day it was report
ed IN me that certain prisoners in a
buildine near 10y were suffering for
food incl. medicine and . chance to


wash Immediately visited them and
found them TO be West Virginia rebels
in charge Of West Virginia university.
and between those two classes there
was no love lost. went back to head
quarters aud soon found myself en-
Gagged with the Generals and Colonels
there assembled in an animated discus
sion, maintaining that though it was
impossible for US to give all our own
the attention they ought to receive, and
our own soldiers must necessarily suf
fer from the cold, that nevertheless, our
prisoners had every comfort. was in
the minority; but not alone in the de-
bate. and had il not been for General
Lander could not have carried my
point. In few hours / had the pris-
oners and their quarters we'll washed
and fed, an abundance of fuel, the sick
made as comfortable as possible and
the guard changed. In few days the
most of them had taken the oath of
allegiance to the Uaited Statee and had
been released. They were mostly men
who lad been arrested on suspicion Of
being spies and bushwhackers. They
took occasion to call upon nie in squads
and thank me for what / had done for
them, till l got sick of it, and used to
avoid them.


On the 18th of September. '62, lay
on the battlefield of Antietam, faint,
bleeding and helpless. Our line had
been driven back from where l fell,
and the ambulance corps was busily at
work near me. raised myself on my
elbow, and in doing so attracted the at
tention Of two men who were about to
carry off a wounded rebel. They i'm
mediately abandoned him, and, calling
me by name, made themselves known
to me as the two men whom / had be-
friended in Western Virginia They
carried me off the field. and deposited
me in the rear OF q straw-stack: then
one of them went away moment and
returned with Stonewsll Jackson and
his staff. The headquarters surgeon
examined my wounds and gave me
brandy. One of the aids knelt down
beside me and made record of my
name, company, residence etc, and
asked me who was in command of our
army that day, and if knew the num-
Der. To which | replied that
General Mcclellan was in command,
that l knew how many men We had.
but should not tell the number. but
that he would find out before night
that we had enough to lick .hem out
of their boots. He rose up in haste
and stepping to the side of Jacksons
horse, aud gave in the information he
had obtained, aud ] knew from the
quick glance and half smile when he
reported to him the exact number Of
men we had On our side. Then the
surgeon had q moments conference
with Jackson. and returning to me
said. General Jackson tells me to say
to YOU that you will be Immediately
started for Richmond in an ambulance
with a guard, that you will be taken
to private residence and given the
best of care that you will be detained
in the city until the close of the war.
under guard or on parole just as you
choose


He then mounted his horse to pro
cure an ambulance, he had ridden but
q few PAGES before she'll from one of
our guns burst in front of his horse,
which reared and threw itself over
backward. breaking the neck of the
surgeon and causing instant death.
The shells CAME thick and fast. and
Jackson and his staff rode forward to
the line. But my two West Virginia
friends staid by me and gave every
care and attention, till cannon shot
passed through the upper part of the
straw stack set it on fire, when one of
them went up and put it out; but as
he was descending another ball passed
through and entirely severed his head
from his body. Still the other one re-
mained faithful, and as night came on
be told me that orders had been given
to fall back. and asked me which
would choose-to be left to fall into
the hands of my own men or to be
taken back and receive great deal
better care and attention in Richmond
than / would in my own lines. told
him nv kindred lived North. and. if !
was left on the field, should il | lived
soon be at home. and chose to be
left on the field.


From that time forward | had no
recollection. till some time the next
dsy came 10 myself and heard voices.
and calling out to them it was discover
ed that stakes from the fence had been
set against the stack and the straw had
been pulled down over them so that l
was sheltered from the cold night air
and concealed. A canteen full OF water,
q full haversack and loaded revolver
were beside me, aud my watch and
pocket book were under me soaked IN
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