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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
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Cornell University Library 
 E569.4 .B81 
 
 The Corifederate mai' carrier 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 030 922 789 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030922789 
 
^ 
 
 
The Confederate Mail Carrier 
 
 OR 
 
 FROM MISSOURI TO ARKANSAS, 
 
 Through Mississippi, Alabama. Georgia 
 and Tennessee. 
 
 An Unwritten Leaf of the "Civil War." 
 
 Being an account of the Battles, Marches and Hardships ot the 
 First and Second Brigades, Mo., C. S. A. Together with 
 the thrilling adventures and narrow escapes of 
 Captain Grimes and his fair accomplice, 
 who carried the mail by "the un- 
 derground route" from 
 the Brigade to 
 Missouri. 
 
 BY JAMES BRADLEY, 
 
 Mexico^ Mo., 
 
 1894. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To his dear loife, and children, Mrs. M. Bettie Bradley; Miss 
 M. Mayer Bradley; Miss Zettie B. Bradley; Richard A. Brad' 
 ley; Miss Maggie W. Bradley and Isaac C. Bradley, who have 
 shared with him the fortunes of life. To G. N. Ratliff, his 
 companion in war; his messmate in camp; his comrade in battle; 
 his associate in peace, and never failing friend. To the confed- 
 erate soldier, who fought for a never dying principle. To the 
 noble Daughters of the Confederacy ; and to the rnemory of the Con- 
 federate Home, this work is most respectfidly dedicated by 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 The War Inevitable 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Preparing for the Battle 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Army Gathering; In Seigel's Camp 14 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Battle of Wilson's Creek and Lexington > 23 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Organization of the Confederate Brigade. Retreat from 
 
 Springfield 29 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Battle of Pearidge, or Elkhorn ■ 34 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Across the Mississippi 39 
 
 CHAPTER Vlll. 
 
 Around Corinth 43 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Dying Soldier: The Mail Sent Out >. 48 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Battles of luka and Corinth 54 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Mail Carrier 75 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ella Herbert 85 
 
 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 Grand Gulf and Port Gibson 89 
 
CQNTMI^rS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Battles of Port Gibson and Baker's Creek 97 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Siege of Vicksburg 180 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The JV\aiI Arrives in Vicksburg 112 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Perilous Journey 123 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Captain Grimes Returns Safe to Memphis 128 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Surrender of Vicksburg 185 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Sherman's Advance Into Mississippi and the Georgia 
 
 Campaign 142 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Gathering the Mail. The Captain and Miss Herbert in 
 
 Trouble 162 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Detective and the Capture 161 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Troubles Thicken — The Prison and the Court Martial 175 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The Great Relief— The Detective Becomes a Friend. How 
 
 Jesus Saves 188 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Triumph and the Overthrow ■ . 202 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Hood's March into Tennessee. Battle of Franklin and Defeat 
 
 at Nashville 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 The Battles About Mobile, Ship Island and the Final 'Sur- 
 render 224 
 
 Closing Address tp the People of Missouri 227 
 
CONTENTS TO PART II. 
 
 PA«E. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 233 
 
 The Ex-Confederate Home 235 
 
 The First Effective Work for the Home 247 
 
 Judge DeArmond's Speech 2-'50 
 
 Mr. Bannerman's Address 252 
 
 Address of Wm. H. Hatch 256 
 
 AUXILIARIES 262 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 263 
 
 Mrs. M. A. E. McLure 263 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Ustick McKinney 263 
 
 H. A. Ricketts 265 
 
 Miss Belle Morris 265 
 
 Mrs. R. M. White 266 
 
 J. M. Allen, M. D 266 
 
 Col. Rives 267 
 
 James Kelsey McDowell 268 
 
 G. N. Ratliff 268 
 
 Ed. G. Williams 269 
 
 Frank L. Pitts 269 
 
 O. H. P. Catron 270 
 
 Hon. W. H. Kennan .- 271 
 
 Major R. J. Williams 272 
 
 J. S. Bowen, Martin E. Green, and Henry Lyttle. A 
 
 Just Tribute 27.*^ 
 
 J. H. Finks 275 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ^AGE. 
 
 James Bradley 1 
 
 J. M. Allen 16 
 
 Miss Belle Morris ■ 32 
 
 G. N. Ratliff 48 
 
 R.J.Williams 64 
 
 F. L.Pitts 80 
 
 Mrs. R. M. White 96 
 
 J. H. Finks ...... 112 
 
 W. H. Kennan 128 
 
 H. A. Ricketts ' 144 
 
 J. L. Bowen 160 
 
 Mrs. M. A. E. McLure 176 
 
 Elizabeth Ustick McKlnney 192 
 
 O. H. P. Catron 208 
 
 E. G. Williams and wife 224 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE WAR INEVITABLE. 
 
 It is not the purpose of the writer, in giving a, sketch of the 
 stirring events set forth in this volume, to enter into a detailed 
 account of the causes that led up to them. These are matters 
 of history, and have gone upon record, according to the preju- 
 dices and passions of the contending parties : or they have been 
 given from the different points from which men view them. 
 
 Whatever the causes, or whoever was to blame in inaugu- 
 rating the bloody contest, much has been done since the close of 
 that dark drama, to break down former prejudices; to change 
 the nature and relationship of the contending parties, and to 
 bring them into closer union, and thereby make them under- 
 stand the motives of each. 
 
 When Mason and Dixon's line was first blazed out, the 
 country was divided into two powerful, distinct and widely 
 diverging factions, differing radically in the policy of the gov- 
 ernment and financial interests; and these of such magnitude 
 as that the casual observer will understand at once, must not 
 only lead to a disruption of the governmen-t, but to war and 
 blood-shed. From that very hour the two factions began form- 
 ing their ranks for the final conflict; the coming of which was 
 as fixed as fate itself. Nor did either think of grounding their 
 arms. True, one was aggressive, and the other defensive. But 
 if the aggression was persistent, the defense wag determined. 
 In both the Worth and the South the worst passions of men 
 were appealed to, and in the name of patriotism each was 
 called upon to stand for their homes, their firesides, and their 
 country. South of Mason and Dixon's line were the homes and 
 firesides of the Southerner, and north of it the homes of their 
 former Northern brethren. 
 
 True, there was a large element, both North and South, 
 whose patriotism rose above sectional lines and who looked 
 with dark forebodings upon the coming conflict and who were 
 ready to interpose in behalf of peace and good government, and 
 
6 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 whose love of country reached beyond the sectional strife that 
 was raging. But in the great whirl of passion and prejudice 
 their efforts proved in vain; their voice hushed, and they found 
 themselves powerless to avert the inevitable. TJje die had 
 been cast; the line drawn; the decree had gone forth, and no 
 mortal hand could stay the tempest or arrest the calamity. 
 And when, at last, the crash came, even the conservative ele- 
 ment had nothing to do but to drop into line, according to 
 their feelings or natural interests. 
 
 There was no half-way ground to occupy; war knows noth- 
 ing but decision, and if one could not decide for himself, there 
 was a fate to decide for him. "He that is not for me, is 
 against me," is an inexorable decree of battle, and to that 
 decree men were compelled to bow whether they would or not. 
 Thus, as the mighty avalanche, or the terrible whirlwind, were 
 they swept on. 
 
 America was young, and filled with younger sons, sons 
 each of whom felt himself a king. With him to be an Ameri- 
 can was to be a freeman, and he stood proudly upon his royal 
 rights; to dare to trample upon these inherent privileges was 
 an insult to his honor, to his Americanism. The fires of 
 seventy-six were re-kindled into a blazing, burning flame, as 
 each pictured to himself the long catalogue of grievances. The 
 cannon of 1812 echoed and re-echoed over the plains of South 
 Carolina, while its defiant tones were hurled back from the 
 mountains of New Hampshire, rousing the young blood of the 
 sons of New England. The young men, full of martial fire, 
 pictured the American flag, borne with proud victorious arms, 
 into the very halls of the Montazumas, showing that our arms 
 had been victorious on every battle field; that never had we 
 crossed swords with any foe but that victory followed. They 
 sat down and read of the Spartan band at Thermopolse; of the 
 Eoman guard; of Lexington, and Bunker Hill; of all the valor- 
 ous deeds of the buried fathers, while the young blood darted 
 with a bound through his veins, and his cheeks glowed with 
 the burning flame of martial fire, and each pictured himself 
 charging the battlements of his foe and wreathing around his 
 brow the laurels of victory. The American Eagle, proud, vic- 
 torious bird, belonged to each, and each felt called upon to see 
 that that bird soared unfettered the clear, bright sunlight of 
 
THE WAR INEVITABLE. 7 
 
 heaven. Each thought himself the special guardian of free- 
 dom, and the protector of American liberty. None stopped to 
 ponder the old adage, "When Greek meets Greek then comes 
 the tug of war." 
 
 With such a spirit animating each heart, it was not sur- 
 prising that, when the bugle sounded to arms, from the prairies 
 of Texas to the cotton and rice fields of South Carolina and the 
 blue-tinged hills of the "Old Dominion," men sprang to arms 
 by the thousands eager for the battle to begin. If the South- 
 erner felt his arm strengthened and nerved for the conflict, the 
 Northern son as confidently rushed to the front at his country's 
 call. The muttering thunders of war rolled out over the vast 
 sweep of country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and was 
 echoed back from the Gulf to the Lakes. The hour for calm, 
 sober reflection had passed; no time to reason now, but from 
 hill-top to valley echoed the tramp of war, till a nation trem- 
 bled beneath the tread of armies. As the drunken, frenzied 
 rabble rolls on, moved by they know not what, so the gather- 
 ing hosts shouted, "To arms! to arms!" 
 
 From the time of the election of Abraham Lincoln in 
 November, 1860, until the conflict actually begun, the whole 
 country was thrown into a fever of excitement, and this was 
 increased in intensity with every floating breeze. One startling 
 event followed another in quick succession; reason was de- 
 throned and the great whirlwind of passion and prejudice 
 swept the whole land, kindling the fires of conflict in all the 
 States. On the 20th of December, 1860, the Legislature of 
 South Carolina unanimously declared that that State no longer 
 belonged to the American Union. In January, 1861, Florida 
 withdrew, followed by Mississippi, on the 9th of the same 
 month, Alabama on the 11th, Georgia on the 20th, Louisiana on 
 the 26th, and Texas on February 1st. Thus, in less than three 
 months from the time of the election of Abraham Lincoln to 
 the Presidency, all the cotton States, proper, had, by a unani- 
 mous vote withdrawn from the Union, and had taken posses- 
 sion of all the Federal fortifications except those in Charleston 
 harbor. 
 
 While the sympathies of the people of Missouri were over- 
 whelmingly with the South, yet her condition, surrounded as 
 she was upon three sides by free States, made her hesitate 
 
8 'THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 before she took a decided stand. She even tried to throw her- 
 self into the breach, and, if possible, heal up the differences 
 and wounds of the past, and thus, avert the terrors of war. 
 But her effort was not only vain, but futile. The storm had 
 already gathered; the dark clouds of passion and hatred had 
 already formed, and each hurled black defiance at the other. 
 The two volcanoes, one at the South and the other at the 
 North, whose pent up fires had been hissing and struggling to 
 break loose from their smothered furies, were now belching 
 forth fire and flame, and the burning lava rolling on, but 
 mocked the feeble efforts of the Middle States for peace. Hot 
 blood was up, and the furies were all turned loose and an inex- 
 orable fate led them on. What Missouri could not settle for 
 herself was soon settled for her and she was compelled, whether 
 she would or not, to action. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 PREPARING FOR THE BATTLE. 
 
 On the nth day of June, 1861, those passing along the road 
 leading from Huntsville, Randolph county, Mo., to Keytes- 
 ■ville, Chariton county, would have passed a little frame school 
 house near what is now iinown as Clifton Hili. On looking 
 in they would have seen a company of intelligent, bright-look- 
 ing little boys and girls all intent upon their books, apparently 
 little dreaming of the terrible days that were soon to follow. 
 This school was presided over by a young man about twenty- 
 four years of age, full of vigor, manhood and a look of fixed 
 determination. While his voice was pleasant enough to his 
 students, yet there was a tinge of sadness in it that seemed to 
 communicate to the pupil the thought of the trouble within. 
 There was a restless tramp to and fro across the long floor, a 
 troubled sigh, and anon, a step to the door as if expecting some 
 important news. That evening, when ready to dismiss school, 
 he said to the children, ''Children, these are strange and 
 troublesome times; we know not what a day may bring forth, 
 that war tvill come there can be no doubt, the only question is; 
 when will it begin?" 
 
 The children cast strange glances at each other, and looks 
 of inquiry to the teacher. "War," said they, "war, what is 
 war?" Little did those innocents know that they were soon to 
 learn the full meaning of that terrible word. 
 
 The teacher seeing those questioning glances said, "Well 
 may you ask this question. Oh, that I knew you would never 
 learn the terribleness of its meaning. This evening you will 
 have a little taste of its bitterness, for I must tell you that I 
 feel that our school is over." 
 
 "Oh! oh!" cried the little voices all over the room, "will 
 you leave us? why leave us?" 
 
 "I cannot explain, just now, why, but you will learn before 
 many days and then you will forgive. God bless you, farewell," 
 and Mr. George Tracy (for that was his name) hurried to the 
 
 9 
 
10 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 door and was gone before his pupils could comprehend the 
 meaning of his words. 
 
 When he reached home his mother met him at the door 
 with such a look of love and sadness that, divining something 
 of the cause, he said, "What is it, mother?" She answered, 
 "The war has begun, your father has just come in from town 
 and says that yesterday, June the 10th, camp Jackson, near St. 
 Louis, was surprised and taken; that General Lyon, with a 
 force of Federal troops, is coming up the Missouri River, and 
 that Governor, 0. F. Jackson, has fallen back to Boonville, and 
 he has called for 50,000 men to defend their homes and fire- 
 sides. You, my son, are a true Southerner; we know you will 
 stand by the Governor, and we have made ready. The forces 
 must reach Boonville quickly, and no time to be lost. You will 
 meet the boys by 9 o'clock to-night at the cross roads; this is 
 the word that has been left for you, and they all know you will 
 be there." 
 
 "Yes, mother, they all know." "Ah!" she replied, that is 
 the pride of my life, my boy is such a true man that men know 
 where he will be found in the hour of need." 
 
 A hasty supper, a few parting words, and the clatter of 
 horse's feet is heard down the old lane, where, from childhood, 
 the rider of that noble steed had skipped and played and gam- 
 bolled in happy days now gone forever. The meadows, the 
 flowers, the trees and the brooks lying in the bright moonlight 
 of that balmy June evening, spoke to that lone rider as never 
 before. Strange thoughts, strange feelings arose and swelled 
 the bosom. "Farewell, farewell," he involuntarily said, "to the 
 scenes of my childhood." It may be that the scene is shut out 
 forever. And he felt, as never before, that there is a hand that 
 shapes our ends and moulds the purpose of our lives. 
 
 But it was not the purpose of the lone-rider to go at once 
 to the cross roads. There was yet a word to be spoken and a 
 farewell to be said to another whose life and happiness were 
 wrapped up in his own and whose plighted faith had linked 
 their lives as one. Reining up before a pleasant, cozy farm 
 mansion, now wrapped in the mellow moonlight, and from the 
 windows of which gleamed the light of burning lamps our pros- 
 pective soldier hurriedly dismounted, and hitching his steed 
 walked hastily to the parlor door. 
 
PREPARING FOR THE BATTLE. 11 
 
 "She is home," said he to himself, "and expects my com- 
 ing. But howwill the parting be?" 
 
 A gentle knock at the door was quickly answered from 
 within; the door swung open and two hands were extended to 
 bid him welcome. "I knew you would come," were the first 
 words of greeting. 
 
 "Yes," was the reply, "it could not be otherwise. To go 
 forth into the dark unknown without your blessing, to me, 
 would be impossible." 
 
 "Then," said she, anxiously, "You go in answer to the call 
 of the Governor?" 
 
 "You know," answered Mr. Tracy, "the grounds I have 
 always occupied upon this question, and what my feelings 
 have always been toward the two sections, the North and the 
 South. / 7nust act my convictions. Time and circumstances 
 have proven that there is, and can be, no middle ground to 
 occupy. 'He that is not for me, is against me.' Our State will 
 soon be a field of bloody conflict, and to a man of conviction 
 even neutrality is utterly impossible. The South is my native, 
 my loved land; there all my fathers found a home, and there 
 their bones lie buried. Against them my arm can never, no, 
 never be raised, and as it cannot be against, it must be for 
 them. I know we have pictured a bright, happy and glorious 
 future together, but for the present that has been swept away 
 in a few brief moments. We cannot have that happy home, 
 now, seek it as we might. Amid the clash of arms, the shock 
 of battle, there is, there can be, no happy; peaceful homes, or 
 sunlit hours. How long the dark and gloomy clouds will hang 
 over us, only the God of all battles knows; or, amid its storms, 
 whether you and I will be swept away and forgotten, or, 
 whether we shall live to see the rising of a brighter sun, only 
 He who holds the destinies of peoples and nations in His hands 
 and lifts up and casts down, as He well can tell. And while 
 knowing, that knowledge belongs to His hidden wisdom." 
 
 "But," answered Ella Herbert, "do you believe that 
 slavery is right, and is it to defend this that you go to join the 
 fortunes of the South?" 
 
 "That," he replied, "is not a question to be answered by 
 me. I am not going to fight for slavery, though if the negro is 
 to remain here he ought to be a slave. I'm a Southerner; this 
 
12 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 is my native land, and I go in obedience to its commands. 
 Every tie of earth binds me to these people. -Their homes, 
 their firesides, their altars are mine, and their destiny shall be 
 mine." 
 
 "But," returned Miss Herbert, "do you believe in the riciht 
 of the States to secede?" 
 
 "Whether I do, or do not, has nothing to do with my 
 action. A country has a right to defend its rights. But the 
 point with me is this. This is my country; these people are 
 my people, and if they have blundered it is hot for me to for- 
 sake them. If they have done wrong it is not for me lo sever 
 the tie that binds us one. It is theirs to command and mine 
 to obey. If my people erred the error is theirs, not mine, and 
 for it they shall answer. I deem it the first duty of a citizen to 
 obey the calls of his country, and I leave it to Him who does 
 all things well to decide the issue." 
 
 "Right, right," returned Miss Herbert, with a glow of sat- 
 isfaction upon her face. "Your first duty is to your God, the 
 second to your country. And now that God only knows when 
 we shall meet again, if ever, but I trust in Him; in Him I have 
 an abiding faith, and to Him I intrust all my future. He sees 
 the end from the beginning and however dark the clouds to 
 you and me His eye penetrates the gloom, and He sees the 
 graves of all that will sleep, and thick as the leaden hail may 
 fall He has marked the course of every ball, and remember that, 
 
 " 'Not a single shaft shall hit, 
 Except the Lord of love sees fit.' 
 
 "Yea, He has marked out in his unchanged and unchange- 
 able mind, the turn of every path, and in his mind is laid the 
 footprints of your feet on every hill, and He has treasured up 
 every sigh and measured the depth of every groan. Go, then, 
 trusting in Him who makes no mistakes, and whose presence 
 may be seen and felt in the midst of every conflict, and know 
 that He cares for us. 
 
 "I, too, am Southern born, I love her sunny vales, her sun- 
 lit hills and her vine-clad homes. And it may be, in the for- 
 tunes of war, that I can be of service to that land I love so 
 well. If such should ever happen, that my help is needed, for 
 you, for my State; or for the sunny South, it shall not be found 
 
PREPARING FOR THE BATTLE. 13 
 
 wanting. But remember, George, I have an abiding faith that 
 we shall meef again. Go now, and the blessings of God go 
 with you." 
 
 Each looking the stern, stubborn realities of war in the 
 face, felt that it was no time for sentimentalities; each grasped 
 the other's hand in a warm, affectionate farewell; each felt the 
 throbbing of the other's heart, and each with an abiding faith 
 in the Ever-present One, plighted to the other that faithful 
 love that binds us one on earth, and symbolizes the bride and 
 groom as one on the eternal shore. Her last words were, "let 
 me hear if I am wanted." 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 THE ARMY GATHERING ; IN SETGEL'S CAMP. 
 
 For the next few days all was bustle and stir all over the 
 State. The news of the capture of Camp Jackson spread like 
 fire over the broad prairies, and at the call of the governor 
 thousands flew to arms. 
 
 The meeting at the cross-roads was a brief one. After a 
 temporary organization, men were detailed to go in different 
 directions and ordered to bring in by the next evening all the 
 fire arms they could collect. By Saturday night, June the 15th, 
 they had gathered a company of sixty-three men, all armed 
 with common rifles or shot guns. Early on Sunday morning 
 they all met at the school-house, where, the Friday before, the 
 young children had been so happy together, and where the 
 school had closed so abruptly, never to open again. 
 
 On this June Sunday morning there were assembled young 
 men and maidens, old men and matrons; fathers, mothers; 
 brothers, sisters; lovers and the loved. There were partings 
 to be taken, last words to be spoken, and farewells to be said, 
 that would never again be repeated. Eyes look into eyes that 
 would be closed upon each other till the resurrection morn. 
 
 And this was the Sabbath day, God's own hallowed day, 
 to be given to His service. In this hour it was not forgotten 
 that there was a God that held in His own good hand the des- 
 tiny of men and nations. There were present those whose life 
 had been spent in the service of the great Captain of Salvation, 
 men who had tasted that He was gracious, and could bear 
 testimony to His care over the lives of men. And in that com- 
 pany there were none so steeped in sin but that wished the 
 parting blessings of these gray-haired fathers, and matron 
 mothers, and to hear their intercessory pleadings at the 
 Father's throne for them. 
 
 The little school-house was packed with anxious, throb- 
 
 14 
 
THE ARMY GATHERING— IN SEIGEL'9 CAMP. 15 
 
 bing hearts, as never before, and men spoke to each other in 
 whispered tones as if feeling they were in the presence of 
 death, or bordering on the other land, where the light of the 
 bright day just flashes across the narrow stream. 
 
 At last an old father in Israel, with locks silvered over by 
 the frosts of many winters, and whose eyes had grown dim in 
 the long looking across the shadowy vale, and whose way-worn 
 frame seemed tottering, ready to lie down and take its long 
 rest, arose, and in a trembling voice, began the tune "Old 
 Hundred" to the words, 
 
 "Before Jehovah's awful throne. 
 Ye nations, bow with sacred joy; 
 Know that the Lord is God alonej 
 He can create, and He destroy." 
 
 And as the words dropped from his lips his soul seemed to 
 catch the kindling fires of divine's thought and the song rolled 
 out in sweet and awful melody, until it was caught up by every 
 tongue in that assembly. When the last lines were reached: 
 
 "We'll crowd thy gates with thankful songs, 
 High as the heavens our voices raise; 
 And earth, with her ten thousand tongues, 
 Shall fill thy courts with sounding praise." 
 
 It seemed the very hearts of all that throng were turned to 
 praise, and the sweet music echoed back from the shining 
 shore. As the last words died away, and while lingering yet 
 upon the lips, the old man lifted up his trembling, feeble hand 
 and said, "let us pray." And as the sweet recollections of the 
 glorious song in its echoes seemed ascending the hill of Zion, 
 the old man prayed. "God of all grace and mercy be with us 
 now," he said. And then he magnified the name of God; the 
 power of God, the wisdom of God, and the goodness and mercy 
 of God. And he prayed Him to comfort the fathers ; to bless 
 the mothers; to be with the sons and daughters, and to give 
 victory to the right and blessings to the faithful. Oh, such a 
 prayer, and ofiered in such a way. Its last echoes died away 
 amid the sighs and tears of all that people, and when the last 
 word of blessing was spoken, it had an answering amen from 
 every heart. The old father's hand dropped feebly by his side, 
 
16 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 and to many in that company his tongue was still forever; it 
 was to them his last hymn and his last blessing. But who 
 knows how many sad hearts have been cheered, and souls com- 
 forted by the remembrance of these last words. 
 
 The song being sung, the prayer offered and the blessing 
 sought; the command was given to mount. Quick good-by's 
 were said; little words of love were spoken; precious tokens of 
 affection were given and the soldier was off for the war. 
 
 It was the purpose of the Federal Government to over-run 
 and take possession of Missouri as rapidly as possible, and to 
 cut off, as far as could be, recruits to the Confederate army. 
 To this end General Lyon, a very brave and determined officer, 
 with a force of 7,000 men, came up the Missouri Eiver in trans- 
 ports to within five miles of Boonville, and landed on the 20th 
 of June, with his whole force. The force to meet him, of 
 armed men, was about 800. Col. Marmaduke commanded the 
 Confederate forces. A battle ensued, lasting an hour or more, 
 but the Confederate forces fell back in the direction of Lexing- 
 ton with but little loss. 
 
 General Sterling Price, the commander-in-chief of the 
 Confederate forces, by appointment ofthe Governor, Claiborne 
 P Jackson had been taken severely ill; and on the 19th, had 
 been placed on a boat and sent up the river to Lexington, one 
 of the points at which he had ordered a part of the forces to 
 congregate. 
 
 The bold move of the Federal forces into the very heart of 
 Missouri had its disastrous effect upon the gathering hosts that 
 were pouring from all quarters into Boonville. Missouri had 
 hoped and struggled for peace until the fall of Camp Jackson. 
 Here it was clearly developed that the Federal government had 
 determined her subjection to the Federal authorities, and that 
 all hope of an honorable and peaceful adjustment of difficulties 
 was out of the question. It was only left for Missourians to de- 
 cide which side they would take. The time from the fall of Camp 
 Jackson to the bold attack upon Boonville had been so short 
 that there could be no concert of action. The forces gathering 
 upon the north side of the river with the intention of crossing 
 at that place, had been delayed, by word being sent to them to 
 gather all the guns and ammunition possible, so as to arm all 
 the forces. So that they were not ready to cross the river till 
 
THE ARMY GATHERING-IN SEIGEL'S CAMP. 17 
 
 the morning the battle begun. Besides the eight hundred 
 armed men already at Boonville, there were three or four thou- 
 sand without arms. The force that had been collected at 
 Franklin some six or eight miles from the river, in Howard 
 county, numbered on the morning of the 20th, about three 
 thousand. These were without a leader, or, every man was a 
 General, and every General had his orderly. To cross the river 
 after the battle began was impossible for lack of transports. 
 Under these circumstances the forces scattered so soon as the 
 result of the battle became known; some returned home and 
 some moved up and crossed the river at Glasgow, and took up 
 the line of march in the direction of Lexington. 
 
 In this general break up, our school teacher, George 
 Tracy, and five others determined to strike directly for Arkan- 
 sas, their main purpose being to see what preparation the 
 SouUi was making for the defense of Missouri. Missourians 
 felt that it was a great mistake upon the part of the South that 
 they did not move at once to the help of General Price. For 
 had such decisive action been taken, it would have been 
 worth 50,000 men to the Southern army. This inactivity upon 
 the part of the South had left the impression that she cared 
 but little as to whether Missouri was identified with her or 
 not. It was t*o determine this that induced these six men to 
 make this long journey. Crossing the Missouri Eiver at Glas- 
 gow, the evening of the 2l8t, found them in Marshall, Saline 
 county, where most of the forces were gathering preparatory 
 to moving to Lexington. But our six men pushed ahead to 
 Arkansas. At Carthage, Mo., they fell in with General Price, 
 who, with a small force, was making directly for the southwest 
 part of the State. Here he stopped for a day or two collecting 
 what force he could. Leaving General Price, on the evening 
 of the 27th of June, the 28th found them in the State of 
 Arkansas. They found General McCulloch at Camp Walker 
 with a force of about 3,000 Confederate troops. Eeceiving 
 from, him an assurance of co-operation with the forces of 
 Missouri, they determined to return and join the forces under 
 Governor Jackson, who, before this, had left Lexington with a 
 force of about 5,000, and was falling back to join General Price. 
 In the meantime, General Price had left Carthage and had 
 fallen back to "Cow Skm Prairie," in Newton county. 
 
18 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 General Lyon had rapidly followed up his success at Boon- 
 ville, and seemed determined to prevent the Confederate forces 
 from collecting. To this end he dispatched General Seigel 
 with a force of 3,000 infantry and about six hundred cavalry 
 from St. Louis to Neosho, Mo., while he, with his force of 7,000, 
 set out from Boouville in close pursuit of Governor Jackson 
 and his little army. Besides this. General Sturgis was moving 
 down from Kansas with a force of 3,000. The design was to 
 attack the Governor's forces from three different directions and 
 thus capture the little army. 
 
 General Seigel, with his whole force, had succeeded in 
 reaching Neosho in a day or two after General Price with his 
 small force had passed through. Our sis men were not aware 
 of all these military movements, and were, therefore, subject 
 to surprise. They knew their old acquaintances were with 
 Gov. Jackson, and leaving the camp of Gen. McCulloch, they 
 started directly back in the direction they had gone, expecting 
 to meet the Governor's forces. When they were within five 
 miles of Neosho, they were told that General Seigel's forces 
 were in the place, but they could not see that such a thing 
 could be possible. Yet, they deemed it necessary to use a 
 little caution. They divided off into pairs, two and two. It 
 fell to George Tracy and his companion to bring up the rear. 
 But who can imagine their surprise when, on making a sharp 
 turn at the foot of the hill, into the valley road running into 
 town, they found themselves inside the line of Federal pickets. 
 Tracy argued, as they went on into town, that the town was 
 guarded and it would be useless to attempt to escape at that 
 time of day. But they determined to go on, traveling the 
 main street till they were halted. After passing the Public 
 Square, they were halted by a guard and informed that they 
 must apply to General Seigel for a pass. This, they at once 
 resolved to do. Tracy went into General Seigel's headquarters, 
 while his companion took care of the horses. Before going to 
 General Seigel, they had fallen in with a man who loved to be 
 of importance, and who, after questioning them for a short 
 time, agreed to vouch for their loyalty. General Seigel was a 
 very gruff looking officer at best, and he spoke, indeed, als one 
 having authority. He was busy writing some military order 
 but notwithstanding, the accommodating gentleman who had 
 
THE ARMY GATHERING— IN SEIGEL'S CAM,P. 19 
 
 agreed to vouch for Tracy and his companion, informed him 
 that "this gentleman," pointing to Tracy, which the General 
 did not see as he did not raise his eyes from his paper, "and 
 his partner have been traveling South, and owin^ to diflBcul- 
 ties, are now returning home to North Missouri. I have talked 
 with them and think they are all right. I recommend, there- 
 fore, that you give them a pass." The General wrote on, as 
 though he had not heard a word for some moments, and then 
 suddenly raising his head and fixing his savage and piercing 
 eyes upon Tracy, said, in his severest and most coramanding 
 tone, "Where have you been, sir?" The question almost 
 stunned and staggered him. He was not prepared for it; and 
 yet he knew it must be answered at once. This all flashed 
 over him in an instant. In that instant he decided his course, 
 in what he would say, and at once recovering from the confu- 
 sion into which he came near being thrown, he answered with 
 decision: "We have been to Arkansas, sir." 
 
 "What was your business there?" was the next question. 
 
 "We," said Tracy, "had been teaching school, and being 
 thrown out of employment by the difficulties, were looking at 
 the country." 
 
 To this the General replied very sarcastically, "Yes"; as 
 much as if he said, I'll believe all of that I want. But if the 
 answer to this question was to be received with doubt, the 
 answer to the next removed the idea of equivocation. 
 
 "Have you been to General McCulloch's camp?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," was the astonishing reply. 
 ^ "How many men has he?" 
 
 "Three thousand." 
 
 By the quick answer to these questions, and the appear- 
 ance of no evasion, Tracy was glad to note that the General's 
 tone was moderating and to see that the fierce look was giving 
 place to kindness and friendship. 
 
 The next question was, "Did you see, or do you know any- 
 thing of General Price?" 
 
 The reply was, that Tracy "had heard that General Price 
 had gone down on Cow-skin Prairie." 
 
 After some further conversation, the General agreed to 
 give the two men a pass at six o'clock, as he stated that he was 
 giving no one a pass before that hour. 
 
20 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 In the meantime, their other four companions had not 
 been so fortunate. Finding themselves in the enemy's camp, 
 they had undertaken to make their escape, and had been cap- 
 tured. Soon' after Tracy and his partner had left the head- 
 quarters of Gen. Seigel, they saw their companions brought in 
 under guard. They thought best not to recognize them, as it 
 would only get them all into the same difficulty, and more, 
 Tracy thought they might get some one to intercede for them. 
 
 Six o'clock being so yery late, Tracy determined 1o stay in 
 town over night. Having an old acquaintance in the place, he 
 made arrangements with him for a place for the horses and a 
 bed. 
 
 Having disposed of all their side arms, papers and so forth, 
 in safe keeping till morning, they made themselves as pleasant 
 as they could, until after all the people living in the country 
 had been given a pass; then they applied for theirs. The 
 General asked if they would take an oath to support the con- 
 stitution of the United States. "O, yes," they replied, "that 
 is all we ask of anyone, and were we at home, such questions 
 would not be asked us." 
 
 The General seemed to forget that there were different 
 constructions put upon that important instrument; and that 
 the South believed that a proper construction of it would 
 secure to them all they were contending for. He had forgotten 
 that the South' held that the North were the people that were 
 violating that sacred compact. He seemed to take it for 
 granted that the sympathies of these two men were with the 
 Federal government, and that they were ready to join the 
 Northern forces so soon as they reached home. Without 
 further questioning, he gave them a pass, and next morning, 
 finding they had not gone, rode with them through the camp, 
 showing them his strength, and boasting that he would take 
 dinner with the "Eebel Governor," Jackson, the Fourth of 
 July; that he had cut off his retreat and that General Lyon 
 was coming up in his rear and that escape was impossiijle. 
 Thus Tracy and his companion came into full possession of the 
 strength and condition of the enemy and their intentions 
 They also received instructions as to how to avoid Jackson's 
 forces, and how to reach General Lyon. But after passing 
 Gen. Seigel's pickets and being assured by the General himself 
 
THE ARMY GATHERING— IN SEIGEL'S CAMP. 21 
 
 that they would meet with no further opposition, they made a 
 bee line for Jackson's camp. 
 
 It was the 31st day of June when Tracy and his partner 
 left General Seigel's camp. The next morning their four 
 friends, who had been taken prisoners, not coming up, Tracy's 
 partner returned to see what he could do for them while Tracy 
 pushed on to Jackson's camp. He reached the Governor's 
 forces that evening and brought to him the first authentic 
 information of the force that was in front of him. Here Tracy 
 attached himself to Captain Elgin's company of volunteers, 
 and from that day on became a fixed part of the army. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th of July, the Governor's forces 
 took up the line of march in the direction of Neosho. It seems 
 that upon the same day. General Seigel moved out with his 
 force in the direction of Jackson's camp. That night General 
 Seigel camped at Carthage, while the Governor's forces 
 camped within ten miles of that place. The next morning, 
 July 6th, both armies took up the line of march, advancing to 
 i meet each other. By 9 o'clock the two armies were in full view 
 of each other upon the open prairie. G eneral Seigel's forces 
 had crossed a little creek called "Bear Creek," and formed in 
 line of battle. The Governor's forces were commanded by 
 Generals J. B. Clark, Parsons and Slack, the whole being 
 under command of the Governor himself. He formed his men 
 on the brow of the ridge about six hundred yards in front of 
 the enemies' lines. 
 
 The Governor's force, infantry and cavalry, amounted to 
 about 5,000, but not more than half of these were armed, and 
 these armed only with small rifles and shot-guns. The battle 
 opened with an artillery duel, which lasted for some minutes, 
 when General Seigel's force fell back across Bear Creek and 
 formed along a skirt of timber running along its banks, while 
 his batteries occupied the bluffs beyond. The whole Confed- 
 erate line was then ordered forward. When they came in 
 range of the enemies' guns upon the bluffs, he opened upon 
 them with grape and canister. The Confederate forces were 
 then ordered to charge at double-quick, and dashing into the 
 skirt of timber occupied by Seigel's infantry, they were soon 
 hotly engaged with small arms. But nothing daunted, the 
 Confederates pushed forward, crossed the stream and drove 
 
22 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the Federal forces flying before them. A running fight was 
 kept up to Carthage where General Seigel attempted to make a 
 stand in order to collect his demoralized forces. But here he 
 was again charged by the victorious Confederates, and driven 
 flying in the direction of EoUa. The pursuit was kept up till 
 night fall, when the Confederate forces were called back and 
 went into camp at Carthage, on the very ground on which 
 General Seigel had camped the night before. 
 
 The loss of the Missourians was about fifty killed, and one 
 hundred and fifty wounded. The loss of the enemy was esti- 
 mated to be two hundred killed and three hundred and fifty 
 wounded. The Missourians captured a large number of mus- 
 kets, which were greatly needed. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK AND 
 LEXINGTON. 
 
 On the day following the battle at Bear Creek and Carth- 
 age, General Price, having formed a junction with General 
 McCuUoch, came into camp. General Seigel had left a garri- 
 son of one hundred men at Neosho; these Generals McCulloch's 
 and Price's forces captured. 
 
 The next day the Confederate forces took up the line of 
 march for Cow-skin Prairie, where they went into camp for 
 several days, drilling, and perfecting their organization. 
 Price's army continued to receive recruits till the 26th of July, 
 when his force numbered about 10,000, still poorly armed. 
 
 After the defeat of General Seigel at Carthage, General 
 Lyon turned his course in the direction of Springfield, Mo., 
 where he was joined by Generals Seigel and Sturgis, their com- 
 bined force numbering about 11,000 men, well armed and 
 equipped for war. 
 
 Generals McCuUoch and Price now determined to unite 
 their forces and take the offensive. On the 26th, the Missouri 
 troops, under General Price, took up the line of march for 
 Cassville, where they were to form a junction with the Confed- 
 erate forces under McCuUoch and Pearce. On reaching Cass- 
 ville, General McCuUoch was placed in command of the army. 
 The army was divided into three columns; the first under Gen- 
 eral McCuUoch, the second under General Pearce, and the 
 third under General Price. In this order it naoved in the direc- 
 tion of Springfield, and on the night of August the 9th, camped 
 at Wilson's Creek, and within ten miles of Springfield. It was 
 the intention to take up the line of march at 12 o'clock that 
 night, and to attack General Lyon early next morning, and if 
 possible, surprise him in his camp. To this end the pickets of 
 
24 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 General McCuUoch's army were called in, but, owing to the 
 threatened rain and to the fact that the troops had no way of 
 protecting their ammunition, it was determined not to move 
 till day-light; but unfortunately the pickets were not again 
 sent out. 
 
 If the Confederate forces were expecting to find the Federal 
 General Lyon sleeping, they were greatly mistaken. He was 
 not only not sleeping, but was wide awake to the condition of 
 the Confederate army. They were camped in the low ground 
 on either side of Wilson's Creek, and could he attack them in 
 their camp, It gave him the heights above them, both in front 
 and rear, thus securing a great advantage. While it had been 
 determined by the Confederates to surprise General Lyon at 
 Springfield, it was also the determination of General Lyon to 
 surprise General McCulloch at Wilson's Creek. The diflference 
 was that General Lyon put his plans into execution, while 
 General McCulloch did not. 
 
 General Lyon moved out of Springfield at 12 o'clock at 
 night, sending General Seigel with nearly half his force to the 
 right flank and rear of the Confederate army, while he, with 
 the remainder of the force moved up to attack them in front. 
 General McCulloch having called in his pickets, General 
 Lyon's army gained its position without molestation, and 
 awaited the dawn to begin the battle. 
 
 Little did the Confederate forces dream of the terrible 
 beginning of the next day, the memorable 10th of August. 
 But just at the day dawn, and just as the men had begun to 
 arouse from their peaceful slumbers, and were beginning to stir 
 around a little, they were startled by the crack of cannon upon 
 the hills just across the creek, and the sheila came shrieking 
 and plunging through the camp. For a time the Confederate 
 forces were thrown into the most terrible confusion. There 
 were cannons in front of them, cannon to the right of them 
 and cannon to the rear of them, pouring a terrible fire into the 
 confused mass. But after the first shock had subsided, and 
 the men took in the fact that a great battle had begun, and 
 that it was now or never, for home and country, they began 
 rapidly to form into line to meet the now advancing column of 
 infantry. General Pearce was commanded to attack the force 
 under Seigel, who had gained the rear. This he did with such 
 
BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK AND LEXINGTON. 25 
 
 spirit and gallantry as completely drove General Seigel from 
 the field, capturing all his artillery and a great many of his 
 command. 
 
 But the main attack was made upon that part of the Con- 
 federate line occupied by the Missourians under Generals 
 Slack, Clark, Parsons and Sains, the whole force commanded 
 by General Price. 
 
 - Generals Lyon and Price had held a conference before the 
 taking of Camp Jackson, the purpose of which, upon the part 
 of General Price, was to secure, if possible, for Missouri an 
 armed neutrality. General Lyon refused to entertain such a 
 proposition, and the two men parted in no friendly mood, each 
 declaring vengeance against the other. And it seems the for- 
 tune of battle had placed these two men face to face in mortal 
 combat. To each of them death was preferable to defeat. 
 Each was in the front of the fight cheering their men, and 
 while the other part of the Confederate forces were routing and 
 driving from the field the flanking parties on the right and 
 rear, the battle in front raged with varying changes. General 
 Price, bareheaded, dashed from point to point, cheering his 
 men and urging them on to the contest; while General Lyon, 
 equally determined, was seen leading charge after charge. The 
 two contending armies with a determination seldom witnessed 
 on the field of battle, surged back and forth over the same 
 ground; sometimes one stubbornly giving way and sometimes 
 the other. Col. James A. Pritchard, who was in the thickest 
 of the fight and witnessed it all, says: "Here the fortunes of 
 battle ebbed and flowed for hours. We had the same ground 
 we formed on in the morning in our possession seven times 
 during the day." General Lyon determined to fight to the 
 last, and General Price with equal determination stood his 
 ground. 
 
 General Lyon collected all the scattered force of General 
 Seigel and concentrated it upon the force of General Price in 
 front and prepared for the last desperate charge. As rapidly 
 did General McCuUoch throw all his available force to General 
 Price. 
 
 General Lyon, placing himself at the head of his men, said: 
 "I will lead you." General Price, with his gray locks floating 
 out to the breeze, stood in the fore-front to receive the desper- 
 
26 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 ate onset. The Federals came on gallantly, and the battle be- 
 came general and raged furiously. General Lyon had already 
 been wounded, and just before this last desperate charge had 
 expressed a fear that the day was lost. He now seems in mere 
 desperation to be leading "a forlorn hope." In the midst of 
 this last terrible charge, he is shot from his horse right in the 
 fore-front of the battle. His fall decides the day. The Fed- 
 eral forces, learning that their General was killed, gave way all 
 along the line until they broke into a general rout and fled in 
 the direction of Springfield. 
 
 The battle that began before sun up had raged around 
 "Bloody Hill" till 2 o'clock in the evening. The Confederates 
 camped upon the battle ground and only pursued the Federals 
 with the cavalry. 
 
 The body of General Lyon fell into the hands of the Con- 
 federates, but was treated with the respect it deserved. It was 
 delivered into the hands of friends and finally sent to St. Louis, 
 where it was buried with military honors. 
 
 The loss of General Lyon was a great blow to the Federal 
 forces in Missouri; for to his activity and courage more than 
 any other one man they owed the subjugation and humiliation 
 of the State. 
 
 Men are strange beings; they claim to be ready to sacrifice 
 all upon their country's altar, and yet when the fate of that 
 country is trembling in the balance, and its success depends 
 upon the united action of its defenders, these same men will 
 sacrifice it all for a little personal glory. For some reason that 
 will probably forever remain unwritten, General McCulloch 
 refused to co-operate with General Price in an advance into 
 Missouri, and this too in the face of an order from the Confed- 
 erate General Polk, commander of the western department, 
 directing such an advance. 
 
 Immediately after this decisive victory, General McCulloch 
 fell back with his force to Arkansas, while General Price took 
 up the line of march for Lexington, Mo. The victories of 
 Carthage and Wilson's Creek had enabled General Price to arm 
 most of his men, and had added to his command several pieces 
 of artillery and ammunition. 
 
 General Seigel fell back with all the Federal force to St. Louis. 
 Late in August, General Price set out with about 10,000 men 
 
BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK AND LEXINGTON. 27 
 
 and seven pieces of artillery for the Missouri River, designing 
 to strike it at or near Lexington. On the 7th of October he 
 met General Lane, about fifteen miles from Fort Scott on a 
 creek called Drywood, where, after a brief engagement, he de- 
 feated the Federal force, and with a small detachment drove it 
 beyond Port Scott, capturing that place. 
 
 He thus moved rapidly with his whole force towards Lex- 
 ington, where General Mulligan was stationed, and strongly 
 fortified with a Federal force of 3,500 men, five pieces of artil- 
 lery and two mortars. By the first of September General Price's 
 forces had reached the neighborhood of Lexington, where they 
 were reinforced by about 3,000 men under Generals Harris and 
 Martin E. Green. General Price's army now recruited rapidly, 
 so that within a few days he found himself at the head of about 
 15,000 men, part of whom were well armed. The Federal force 
 was soon surrounded and a siege began. But the siege was 
 shortly brought to an end by the strategy of using of hemp 
 bales. These were dipped into the water to prevent their 
 taking fire and then rolled in front of the men as a moving 
 breast vroxk in the advance upon the enemy's works. General 
 Mulligan, seeing that it was impossible to hold his position 
 against the force collecting against him, ordered the white fiag 
 to be raised, and, on the 20th of September, surrendered his 
 whole force to General Price. This gave General Price about 
 6,000 muskets and five pieces of artillery. With these new 
 arms added to those already armed, he had an effective force of 
 15,000, with twelve pieces of artillery. Learning that General 
 Fremont had collected a force of about 30,000, and was moving 
 up the river by way of Sedalia to attack him in the rear and 
 cut off' his retreat, General Price determined to again fall back 
 in the direction of Springfield. General Price's force, all told, 
 was now about 20,000. Managing to deceive General Fremont 
 as to his real intention, he passed by him, and having put all 
 enemies in his rear, marched leisurely on till he was again at 
 Neosho. 
 
 Here the Legislature had been called together and passed 
 the ordinance of secession, and elected delegates to the provi- 
 sional government at Richmond, among whom were General 
 John B. Clark, Col. E. W. Price and General Harris. 
 
 General Fremont, in the meantime, had moved to Spring- 
 
28 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 field at the head of about 40,000 men, well armed and jnely 
 equipped. General Price took up his position at Pineville, to 
 await the advance of General Fremont. At this juncture an 
 order from Washington relieved General Fremont of his com- 
 mand, and the Federal army was withdrawn from Southern 
 Missouri, followed closely by General Price to Osceola, where 
 he remained in camp for over a month. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATE 
 
 BRIGADE.— RETREAT FROM 
 
 SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 Up to this time the whole force of General Price's army 
 was known as the "Missouri State Guards." General Price 
 seeing the need of perfecting an organization upon a firmer and 
 better basis, began the organization of Confederate troops. A 
 special camp was laid out for Confederate recruits, and the 
 organization of companies, battalions, regiments and brigades 
 began. 
 
 The first battery organized was that of artillery, with 
 William Wade as captain. On the 30th of December Ihe First 
 Missouri Cavalry organized; electing Elijah Gates, colonel. On 
 the 11th of January the first regiment of infantry was organ- 
 ized, with John Q. Burbridge, colonel. But soon after the 
 organization of this regiment it was learned that John S. Bowen 
 had organized a regiment at Memphis which was justly en- 
 titled to the first place, therefore, Burbridge's regiment was 
 called the second. On the same day of the organization of the 
 second regiment, the third was also organized, with B. A. Rives, 
 colonel. The second battery commanded by Captain S. 
 Churchill Clark, was added, and t hese forces formed, for a time, 
 the First Brigade of Missouri Confederate troops. They were- 
 placed under the command of Brigadier-General Henry Little. 
 
 During the stay of General Price at Osceola, or his camp on 
 Sac River, near that place, his force was greatly depleted, by 
 he expiration of the time for which many of his men had en- 
 listed. While he wa s actively engaged, his men were in good 
 spirits and his force was continually augmented. But the 
 rigors of the winter had compelled him to retire into winter 
 
 quarteis. 
 
 29 
 
30 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 General Price had promised his men to winter upon the 
 Missouri Eiver. But in this he had expected the Confederate 
 force collecting in Arkansas to co-opeTate with him. And with 
 such co-operation this might have been done. The action of 
 the Southern forces under General McCulloch, retiring to the 
 Boston mountains and remaining inactive from the time of the 
 battle of Wilson's Creek, August the 10th, while General Price 
 with his little army of gallant Missourians, were standing 
 guard, will ever remain a mystery. But this indifference of the 
 South to the interest of Missouri, greatly dispirited the men, 
 and, as their time of service expired, many returned to the'r 
 homes. 
 
 General Price saw, with forebodings, the necessity of a ret- 
 rograde movement. Generals Curtis and Seigel, with a force of 
 about 30,000, had moved out from St. Louis and was threaten- 
 ing his position on Sac River; and had General McCulloch 
 moved up to his support, he would have been able to have met 
 this force and to have hurled it back to the Missouri Eiver, 
 under cover of its gun boats; but, as it was, he was powerless 
 to meet it. In this extremity he determined to fall back to 
 Springfield. On thclOth of December, the army, now number- 
 ing over twelve thousand all told, evacuated their camp at 
 Osceola, and, on the 23rd, went into quarters at Springfield. 
 Here the army remained in camp till the first of February, Gen- 
 eral Price still vainly hoping to be supported by the Southern 
 army before being compelled to leave the State. With this 
 hope, he held his position at Springfield till the very last 
 moment. By the first of February it was known by General 
 Price that General Curtis was moving from RoUa, with a strong 
 force, while another was moving, under Lane, from Fort Scott, 
 Kansas, to attack him in his position. On the 10th the pickets 
 reported the force of General Curtis to be within seven miles, 
 and orders were at once issued to prepare to move. This order 
 was given at 3 o'clock in the evening and by 5 o'clock the army 
 was falling back. That night the Confederate army camped 
 on the old battle ground at Wilson's Creek, while the enemy 
 entered Springfield. The weather had turned very cold,. and 
 there was much sufiering among the poorly clad and poorly 
 shod soldiery. The Confederate forces, consisting of two regi- 
 ments of infantry, one of cavalry and two batteries, were given 
 
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATE BRIGRADE. 31 
 
 the post of honor. They covered the rear of the rapidly re- 
 treating army. 
 
 There was an Immense army train of every kind and condi- 
 tion, and this greatly retarded the movements of the army. 
 On the evening of the 12th, they had just gone into camp, on 
 Crane Creek, and began to prepare for supper and a night's 
 rest, when the hooming of cannon in the rear told them that 
 the enemy was upon them in force. Snatching a half prepared 
 supper the men fell into line, and the retreat was renewed. 
 
 It was now developed that while General Curtis attacked 
 the Confederate forces in front. General Lane, with his force, 
 was to move to Cassville and cut off Price's retreat to Arkansas. 
 General Lane had the inside track, as it were, being nearest to 
 Cassville, and now began a race for that point. General Curtis 
 was pressing on, hoping to check Price's march; while General 
 Price was hurrying everything forward as rapidly as possible. 
 Colonel Gates with his cavalry veterans, supported by Confed- 
 erate infantry, and batteries formed a line of battle in front of 
 the enemy, holding him in check till Price's whole force was 
 full on the road and moving rapidly south. 
 
 About 9 o'clock at night the rear guard of Confederate 
 forces were drawn off and began falling back. Gates' cavalry 
 keeping guard. A.nd now began a scene of hardships and suf- 
 fering, which can be known only by those who endured it. 
 The night was intensely cold, the men poorly clad, footsore 
 and supperless. They were compelled to build up fires by the 
 roadside to keep warm; the rear guard having frequently to 
 stop for the wagon train to get out of the way. All night they 
 inarched on. The next morning the enemy was pressing close- 
 ly and no time was given for breakfast. Captains Wade and 
 Clark, with their batteries, divided honors; one being in the 
 rear one day and the other the next. The little brigade stood 
 like a stone wall, hurling back every effort of the enemy to 
 break through their ranks. Col. Gates, with his regiment of 
 cavalry contested every inch of ground, and again and again 
 did the two regiments of infantry double-quick back and form 
 line for his support. Just as the rear of General Price's army 
 was entering Cassville, about 3 o'clock on the evening of the 
 13th, the enemy made a desperate eflfort to break through the 
 
a"? THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 rear guard and scatter it. But they were met with such spirit 
 and determination as threw them back in confusion. 
 
 This was, indeed, a close race for the salvation of General 
 Price's army. For while he was passing through Cassville, 
 General Lane was only seven miles away where he had stopped 
 his force for a hasty meal. But by the time the rear guard i^as 
 well on its way out of town, the columns of Curtis and Lane 
 were entering it. Thus, General Price had narrowly escaped 
 the trap set for him and now had the whole Federal force in 
 his rear. 
 
 After night-fall, the rear guard was given supper, and then 
 again, took up the line of March till about 4 o'clock in the 
 morning, when they were given an hour's sleep. They had now 
 been marching and fighting for two days and nights with no 
 sleep and a very little to eat. Under these circumstances, the 
 hour's sleep that morning was very sweet. But they were 
 awakened at sun-up with orders to fall into line and prepare for 
 action; the enemy was upon them in force, and during this 
 day made the most determined efforts to break through the 
 rear guard. There were no less than three separate engage- 
 ments, in all of which the enemy was repulsed with loss, espe- 
 cially in the last one. Their cavalry charged Col. Gates' regi- 
 ment with such determination, that their front became mixed 
 up with his rear and dashed past the Confederate battery and 
 line of infantry. But so soon as the Confederate cavalry were 
 out of the way, the infantry and battery opened fire, and the 
 Federals were driven back with considerable loss in killed, as 
 well as about twenty five taken prisoners. 
 
 The army camped that night upon Big Sugar Creek, in the 
 State of Arkansas. The rear guard of Confederates came into 
 camp about nine o'clock, and after a good meal, the first for 
 four days, they had a good sleep. Next morning, the 15th, the 
 rear had hardly reached the bluffs on the other side of the 
 creek before the enemy appeared on the opposite bank. The 
 Brigade immediately formed in line for his reception, but he 
 cautiously drew back and the Confederates pulled off and 
 moved on. But they had not gone more than a mile before the 
 rattle of small arms called the infantry back on double-quick. 
 The enemy had charged Gates' cavalry in great force and drove 
 it back with some confusion, Clark's battery was brought 
 
ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFEDERATE BRIGADE. 33 
 
 down the road on double-quick, and Burbridge's regiment took 
 position on the right, and Eives' on the left. The Federals 
 opened upon the Confederate line with artillery, and for a time 
 it seemed that the Confederate forces would be forced to fight. 
 The artillery of the Confederate force did not reply to the 
 enemy's guns for some time, but at a given signal Clark opened 
 with his six guns with such a well-directed fire as to dismount 
 two of the enemies' guns and blow up their caissons. 
 
 After this brisk engagement of the morning the enemy 
 followed the retreating army no further, and that evening they 
 reached Cross Hollows. At this point they met General 
 McCulloch, and the next day, the 16th, being Sunday, the army 
 rested. On the morning of the 17th, the army was again put in 
 motion, falling back through Fayetteville and to Cove Creek at 
 the foot of the Boston Mountains, which place was reached on 
 the evening of the 22nd. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BATTLE OF PEARIDGE, OR ELKHORN. 
 
 In January, 1862, General Earl VanDorn was appointed 
 Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, then a part 
 of the great territorial department of General Albert Sidney 
 Johnston. He reached the headquarters of General Price on 
 the 2nd of March, and, after a consultation with him and Gen- 
 eral McCuUoch, it was determined to move at once and attack 
 the Federal army, under Curtis, on Sugar Creek. The Confed- 
 erate force all told amounted to about 17,000. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th of March, in obedience to the 
 command of General VanDorn, the army broke up camp and 
 took up the line of march in the direction of the enemy, leaving 
 all the baggage behind; the soldiers being provided with iive 
 days' rations. It was with joy that the Missouri troops hailed 
 the coming of Gen. VanDorn and the order to move in the 
 direction of their own loved State. There being no incum- 
 brance of baggage trains, the army moved off rapidly and after 
 a march of twenty-two miles, passing through Fayetteville, 
 they went into camp. The next day they reached Elm Springs 
 and on the next morning, the 6th of March, came in sight of 
 the enemy, under Gen. Seigel, retreating rapidly through Ben- 
 tonville. General Mcintosh, commanding the mounted men, 
 charged Seigel's retreating infantry, but was repulsed. Shortly 
 after this the cavalry of the First Brigade charged the Fedei'al 
 line killing fifty of Seigel's men and taking twenty-five prison- 
 ers and a wagon loaded with minnie rifles, together with six 
 mules and the driver. 
 
 The Confederate army was now divided into two parts. 
 Generals McCulloch and Mcintosh were sent to attack the 
 enemy in front, while General Price, with his Missourians 
 accompanied by General VanDorn, went to the rear. General 
 Martin E. Green guarded the wagon train. 
 
BATTLE OF PEARIDGE, OR ELKHORN. 35 
 
 To say the least of it, this division of the forces proved dis- 
 astrous to the Confederates. Never before in all the history of 
 war was it ever known that the commanding General went 
 with a flanking party to the rear. Gen. Price and his men had 
 covered themselves all over with glory, in the last year's cam- 
 paign, so that the name of his veterans was known from the 
 North to the South. General McCulloch was overheard to tell 
 Gen. VanDorn that if General Price, with his force was sent to 
 the rear, he. Gen. Price, would get the glory of the victory. 
 This explains the whole of Gen. McCulloch's indifierence, and 
 his wish for the defeat of Gen. Price. To obviate all of this, 
 General VanDorn himself went with the flanking party to the 
 rear. Thus the fruits of a great victory were destroyed by the 
 jealousy of one man.* 
 
 * I append the following from Dr. J. M. Allen, who, at the time 
 was principal surgeon in the brigade, and in that part of the army 
 commanded by Gen. Price. Dr. Allen held such a position that he 
 had the opportunity of knowing whereof he speaks, and his state- 
 ment is so well authenticated, that it need scarcely be called in 
 question. 
 
 He says that be occupipd such a position on the battlefield at 
 Wilson's Creek, that he could observe any important movement of 
 the Confederate army, and that during the battle he frequently saw 
 Gen. McCulloch; that his generalship was the most magnificent and 
 grand that he ever witnessed; that the handling of his troop in the 
 routing of Curtis and the destruction of Gen. Beigel's division was 
 most superb, and to that generalship the Confederates owe the vic- 
 tory. He further states, and on good authority, that it was no fault 
 of Gen. McCulloch that the pickets were not replaced after being 
 withdrawn for the advance; that Gen. Price was in the advance and 
 Gen. Rains commanded thejpickets. 
 
 In the history of this affair we have given what has been the gen- 
 erally accepted view of this battle, but we deem it but just to Gen. 
 McCulloch to correct any mistake that may have been made, either 
 in the mind of the men or the written histories. 
 
 So far as the battle of Pearidge or Elkhorn is concerned, the 
 doctor says, that in the counsel of war held before and also after the 
 arrival of Gen. VanDorn that Gen. McCulloch opposed an attack 
 upon the Federal force, and that too for the very best of reasons. 
 The army was very poorly disciplined; that he had but three regi- 
 ments upon which he could depend, these were the third Louisiana, 
 and Arkansas, and a Texas regiment. Gen. Price had no disciplined 
 troop except the Confederates under him, which consisted of but two 
 regiments of infantry, two or three battalions, and one regiment of 
 cavahy. He took the ground that should any accident happen in 
 that imperfectly organized state of the army defeat must follow. 
 That very accident happened in the death of McCulloch himself, and 
 his second in command, and the very thing took place which he had 
 predicted would occur under such circumstances. 
 
 McCulloch's plan wag for Price and VanDorn to remain wher 
 
36 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 By 9 o'clock on the morning of the 7th of March, Gen. 
 Price's men were pouring into the road running from Fayette- 
 ville to SpringEeld, known as the "old telegraph road," while 
 the cannon of General McCulloch told that the battle had 
 opened hotly in front. The attack in the rear was a complete 
 surprise to General Curtis, as many of his foraging wagons 
 were captured. But he soon sent a force back to meet Price's 
 advance. The Missouri State Guard, under Gen. Parsons, 
 occupied the left; the First Missouri Brigade, under Gen. Lit- 
 tle, the centre; while Gen. Slack, with some battalions of Mis- 
 souri Confederate troops, occupied the right. (Slack's was 
 called the Second Brigade). 
 
 The battle was opened with spirit, both in front and rear. 
 The army of Gen. Curtis was in a critical condition; every 
 avenue of retreat was cut off, and with him it was either con- 
 quer or surrender. The First Brigade was formed, reaching 
 across the road running up a ridge to Elkhorn Tavern, with 
 Clark's battery occupying the road. Scarcely had these two 
 regiments, Eives' and Burbridge's, taken their position when a 
 Federal Brigade was seen moving down upon them. But to 
 deceive the Confederates, the Federals shouted to them not to 
 fire, they were friends, and to deceive them more, Col. Gates' 
 cavalry regiment had just dashed up the road and the Confed- 
 erates knew not what had become of them. But they, seeing 
 the enemy advance in such force, deployed right and left and 
 formed on each side' of the two infantry regiments. Orders 
 were given to the men not to fire, but seeing the enemy would, 
 they lay down and the fire passed over their head. Col. Eives, 
 still believing them Confederates, ordered the regiment flag to 
 
 they were and to thoroughly organize and equip the infantry and 
 to collect together all the available force possible, while he, with a 
 cavalry force, swung around Curtis' army and striking his rear would 
 capture Springfield and RoUa and press on to the Missouri River 
 thus destroying the supplies of the Federal army and forcing him to 
 retreat. The sequel shows, as well as the after movements of the 
 Confederate cavalry, that McCuUoch's plans were really the right 
 ones, and that in their conception he was in advance of VanDorn 
 Forest, Steward and other cavalry officers. The condition of the 
 Confederate army was just such as Gen. McCulloch described it to be 
 and so well authenticated are the statements made above, that we 
 deem it but just to a brave man who proved his devotion to his coun- 
 try by giving his life to its cause, that we would be faithless to the 
 trust reposed in us as a historian did we not give them. 
 
BATTLE OF PEARIDGE, OR ELKHORN. 37 
 
 be raised, but no sooner was it up, than it was riddled with 
 bullets. Col. Rives then ordered a charge, and a roll of small 
 arms echoed out over the hills. In five minutes' time the 
 Federal force was driven back. Gen. VanDorq then ordered 
 Gen. Little to hold the position at all hazards, Soon after this 
 Col. Burbridge was attacked upon the right of Eives, and a 
 continued roll of musketry was kept up for nearly an hour. 
 General Burbridge's regiment was suffering considerably 
 and was contending against heavy odds. In this extremity 
 Col. Rives was ordered to advance to his help; the Federal 
 force was soon driven back and took shelter behind a fence 
 near the Elkhorn Tavern. Clark's battery moved up and 
 taking position, opened upon the enemy. This was replied to 
 Witt spirit by the Federals, and an artillery duel was kept up 
 for an hour or more. 
 
 During all the morning the news from the front was of the 
 most cheering nature; couriers reported the Federals giving 
 way all along the line and the prospect of a glorious victory. 
 Generals VanDorn and Price had been steadily advancing all 
 the morning, and no doubt was entertained, but they were able 
 to hold their position against all odds. Hearing such glorious 
 news from the front, they had determined to advance the 
 whole line and complete the victory. Just as General Van- 
 Dorn was in the act of ordering this advance a courier dashed 
 up to inform him that Gens. McCuUoch and Mcintosh were 
 both killed and for lack of a commander operations had ceased 
 in front. At this news and unexpected turn in the tide of 
 battle General VanDorn turned pale. But, nevertheless, he 
 ordered the line forward. The State Guard, under General 
 Parsons, began the advance, which was soon taken up all along 
 the line. The Confederates sprang forward with a yell and an 
 impetuosity that drove the enemy flying before it. In less 
 than fifteen minutes from the time the charge began, the Con- 
 federates had possession of Elkhorn Tavern, with an abun- 
 dance of commissary stores, also seven pieces of artillery. Nor 
 did the charge stop till the enemy were driven far beyond the 
 Tavern, and night coming on put an end to the battle. 
 
 But to counteract this glorious victory upon the part of 
 Gen. Price's lorces, the death of Generals McCulloch, Mcintosh 
 and Hebert had placed that part of the army out of the fight. 
 
38 THE CONFDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 From the lack of thorough organization there was no one to 
 take command and that part of the army, though by no means 
 defeated, had no commander, and all operations from that 
 direction stopped. The ammunition train, by some frightened 
 officer, had been ordered to Bentonville, and the commissary 
 department followed suit. During the night a part of McCul- 
 loch's forces came around and joined the forces of VanDorn. 
 Could Gen. VanDorn have supplied his men and artillery with 
 ammunition, he could still have maintained his position, but 
 to his utter dismay, the next morning, the ammunition train 
 could not be found, and most of his artillery was left without 
 ammunition, as was also his infantry. General Curtis, being 
 no longer pressed in front, had concentrated his whole force 
 upon the Confederates in his rear. Under these circumstances 
 it was impossible to maintain the battle. Leaving the First 
 Brigade under Gen. Little and the Second under General 
 Slack to hold the enemy in check and cover his movements 
 Gen. VanDorn put his force upon the Huntsville road and 
 began swinging around the enemy's right. These two brigades 
 met the whole force of General Curtis and held it in check till 
 VanDorn's force was well upon the road, and then, after 
 pulling back slowly for a mile, drew off in perfect order. Their 
 daring and bravery commanded the admiration of the enemy. 
 This was shown by their giving them three cheers as they 
 moved off in such splendid order. 
 
 Captain Wade's battery had been drawn back so far in 
 falling back before the enemy that it was impossible for him 
 to cross the hills to the Huntsville road, and taking two of the 
 captured guns and gathering together the scattered forces in 
 the rear, he fell back into Missouri by the way of Keytesville, 
 and then around by Huntsville, and finally succeeded in join- 
 ing VanDorn's army. General Price had thus swept complete- 
 ly around the Federal army; had beaten them at every point, 
 and carried off seven pieces of artillery. The enemy did not 
 follow the retreating army. Indeed, the Missouri troops did 
 not know they were retreating till they were well on the way. 
 They thought they were only changing position to renew the 
 fight. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 It was now determined by the Confederate authorities to 
 withdraw the whole force, under Gen. VanDorn, from the 
 Trans-Mississippi department, and transfer them to the army 
 under Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, at Corinth, Miss., where he 
 was assembling a magnificent army. General Albert Sidney 
 Johnston had left Murfreesboro and joined his force with that 
 of Beauregard, and had taken command of the army. Also 
 two divisions of the army, under Gen. Polk, had been sent 
 from Columbus to this point, with also several regiments from 
 Louisiana and a force from Mobile. 
 
 "General Grant occupied a position at Pittsburg Landing, 
 awaiting the arrival of Gen. Buell, who was rapidly hastening 
 from Nashville to join him." (Civil war, page 83). It was the 
 purpose for General VanDorn's force to arrive before the great 
 battle of Shiloh was fought. But General Johnston having col- 
 lected a considerable force and seeing the rapid concentration 
 of the force of the enemy, deemed it best to strike the army 
 under Gen. Grant before Buell's force could arrive. The sequel 
 shows that he waited one day too long, or that the delay of 
 one day lost to the Confederates the fruits of a great victory. 
 
 The order to cross the Mississippi and unite with John- 
 ston's army was a trying ordeal to the Missouri troops. This 
 little army had presented a spectacle of courage and endurance 
 without a parallel in the history of Warfare. They were sur- 
 rounded upon three sides by hostile States; Illinois on the 
 east, Iowa on the north, and Kansas on the west, with a great 
 river running through the center of their State. Besides this, 
 the enemy had all the appliances of modern warfare, money, 
 men and arms at their command, and possession of all the 
 boats on the river. And while Missouri was honestly and 
 earnestly pleading for peace and an honorable adjustment of 
 
 39 
 
40 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the difficulties, this enemy suddenly, and without notice, threw 
 its army into her very midst. 
 
 Missouri was without arms, ammunition, or any of the 
 appliances of war, and unsupported by a single State. Being 
 so suddenly plunged into war, the men came together as best 
 they could. They made their way through the enemy's lines 
 singly, in pairs and squads, without arms, without discipline, 
 in a word without anything but an indomitable will, and an 
 unconquerable devotion to what they conceived to be the eter- 
 nal principle of right. 
 
 Under these conditions the struggle began, and for one 
 whole year the unequaled contest was maintained. During 
 that time this little army, without a single dollar to its credit, 
 armed itself from the enemy's arsenals, fed itself in a great 
 part, from their commissary stores, took their artillery, and 
 was able to equip 20,000 men. This little unarmed army had 
 collected in the southwest corner of the State, had met and 
 defeated General Seigel at Carthage, had destroyed the force 
 under General Lyon at Springfield, had swept down through 
 the State, and driving the Kansas force before it, had captured 
 Lexington, and had held at bay an army of 40,000 of the best 
 armed troops in America, under Fremont. Starting out with 
 two little pieces of artillery, they had captured fifty-five guns, 
 and had a well armed, well equipped artillery army corps, and 
 in the last battle at Elkhorn they had saved the Southern 
 army from annihilation. And all of this had been accom- 
 plished against overwhelming numbers. 
 
 The Missourian naturally felt piqued at the supreme indif- 
 ference of the Southern army that lay hidden in the Boston 
 Mountains and looked on with a spirit of indifference, while 
 they were struggling to defend the homes and firesides of their 
 loved State. To turn their backs upon all these scenes of con- 
 flict, to abandon the homes and firesides of all they had loved, 
 and for which they had toiled that long and bloody year; to 
 abandon it all to the enemy and join arms with those who had 
 apparently, been indiflferent to their pleadings, appealed to a 
 manhood that displayed a spirit of bravery and devotion that 
 reaches far beyond the clash of arms, and rises above the mere 
 conquests of the sword. The man who can bring his passions 
 and prejudices under subjection to principle has won a victory 
 
ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI. 41 
 
 more glorious than ever crowned the hero on the bloody field. 
 It is a spirit of devotion that rises up in such grand propor- 
 tions as to command the admiration of men and nations. The 
 man who can conquer himself, can conquer a host, and may be 
 trusted to do or die before the opposing enemy. 
 
 These men were Missouri's noblest blood, and every soldier 
 was fit to command an army. It is not the purpose of this 
 history to perpetuate the names of particular men, but of a 
 grand, noble body of men, who, from general to private, are 
 moved by one impulse; actuated by one spirit, and who stood 
 as one solid phalanx as the representative of a principle. Men 
 who endured hardships without a murmur, who made sacrifices 
 without complaint, and each courted the rigors of discipline. 
 
 Such were the men that were called upon to abandon the 
 scenes of all their grand achievements and glorious victories, 
 and more, to leave the scenes of their childhood and the homes 
 of their loved in the hands of the enemy. But when the call 
 came, they answered ready. They knew that one of the first 
 qualifications of a soldier is to obey his superior oflScer, and 
 with a devotion born of patriotism they said to their grand old 
 general, "Lead on." 
 
 On the 22nd day of March, 1862, the army received march- 
 ing orders and started in the direction of Des Arc, on the 
 White Eiver, in Arkansas, at which place the Missourians 
 arrived on the evening of the 7th of April, after a march of 
 sixteen days. On the next morning they were taken on board 
 boats and started down White Eiver for Memphis. 
 
 The boats entered the great "Father of Waters" about 
 sun down; and, indeed, it was a mighty river. The streams 
 all up and down its banks, fiushed by the spring rains, were 
 pouring into it great floods of water, and at the mouth of 
 White River it spread out like a great rolling sea. The vessel 
 rode proudly its waves and plowed grandly its waters, and the 
 quivering. groaning puflfs of steam, as they answered the pon- 
 derous strokes of the engine, telling the power of that mighty 
 current that was sweeping beneath. As the night settles 
 down, the soldiers, weary of that long and tedious march, 
 spread out their blankets and lay down to rest. Nothing is 
 heard but the heavy breathing of the sleeping soldiers, the 
 rushing of the mighty waters and the labored surges of the 
 
42 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 great wheel as it forces its burden against the current. As far 
 up and down as the eye can reach are the great waters, and on 
 either side is the shadowy fringe of a bordering forest, while 
 from overhead the milKon stars are looking down as so many 
 eyes of the Eternal, keeping watch over the sleeping army, or 
 directing the course of the mighty river, while He holds all in 
 the hollow of His hand. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AROUND CORINTH. 
 
 The forces under VanDorn landed at Memphis, on the 
 evening of the 10th of April, and slept on board the cars, and 
 on the next evening reached Corinth, Miss., and joined the 
 forces under Gen. Beauregard. Reaching this place, the Mis- 
 souri troops were sent out to Rienzi, a station on the Mobile & 
 Ohio R. R. and about ten miles in the rear of Corinth, where 
 they went into camp. 
 
 It would be proper to state here that before leaving Frog 
 Bayou, in Arkansas, that the Second Brigade of Missouri Con- 
 federate troops was placed under command of General Martin 
 E. Green, he having received his commission from the Con- 
 federate government. Hughes', Erwin's and Rosser's detach- 
 ments were organinized into battalions under Lieutenant 
 Colonels Hughes, Erwin and MacFarlane. Such of the State 
 Guard as were willing to follow General Price were organized 
 into a brigade under General M. M. Parsons. The remainder, 
 staying west of the river, were assigned to the command of 
 Brigadier-General J. S. Rains. All the artillery of the Mis- 
 souri army was organized into a brigade, under command of 
 Brigadier-General D. M. Frost. Col. Gates' cavalry regiment 
 had been dismounted and became a part of the Second 
 Brigade. 
 
 General Beauregard's army had been divided into three 
 divisions, the right commanded by General VanDorn, the 
 center by General Hardee and the left by General Bragg, his 
 whole force numbering about forty-seven thousand men. After 
 the battle of Shiloh, Gen. H. W. Halleck was placed in com- 
 mand of the Federal army, his whole force numbering about 
 ninety thousand. Yet with this greatly superior force. Gen- 
 eral Halleck was not willing to risk another pitched battle, but 
 began approaching Corinth by parallel lines, keeping himself 
 continually under cover of his intrenchraents. 
 
44 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 On the Sth of May, General Pope, commanding the 
 advance of the Federal army, moved up with two full brigades 
 and occupied Farmington. General Beauregard determined to 
 accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to him and at once 
 moved out to the attack; Generals Bragg and Hardee, to attack 
 the right and center, while General VanDorn attacked the left 
 and rear. General Price's division of VanDorn's corps was 
 sent to attack the rear. General Price moved out with his 
 force the night of the 8th to within an easy march of the rear 
 of Popes' command without molestation or even the knowledge 
 of the enemy. Early on the morning of the 9th the signal 
 guns were fired and the whole army began its advance. But 
 General Hardee attacked the enemy with such spirit as drove 
 him at once from his line of works, and the Missourians com- 
 ing in contact with one of those Mississippi swamps that is 
 almost impassable, the enemy made safe his retreat before his 
 rear could be reached. But he left his headquarter tent tele- 
 graph operator and office, with tents and wagons, with all his 
 dead and wounded, in the hands of the Confederates. General 
 Halleck, although with more than double the force of the Con- 
 federates, absolutely refusing to come out into open ground 
 and give battle, General Beauregard withdrew his forces inside 
 the fortifications around Corinth. This battle was familiarly 
 known as "The Farmington Races." 
 
 The camp at Rienzi was completely broken up and the 
 Missouri troops given their place in the line of defense. The 
 enemy continued to approach under cover of his guns. By the 
 28th, the lines had been drawn so close together, that heavy 
 cannonading was opened up all along the front and continued 
 throughout the day. The army lay in line of battle all night. 
 Next morning, just before day, the shooting of sky-rockets 
 called the entire army to attention. So soon as it was light 
 the cannonading was renewed with vigor upon both sides and 
 kept up till about 4 o'clock in the evening, when it was ascer- 
 tained that the ammunition was all gone; wagons all gone 
 commissaries all gone, in fact, everything gone save the men 
 with three days' rations. For a description of the evacuation 
 of Corinth. 1 quote from Col. E. S. Bevier's History, pp. 121- 
 124: . 
 
 At midnight of the 29th of May, the Missouri brigades moved out 
 
- AROUND CORINTH. 45 
 
 of their position to follow the evacuating army of General Beaure- 
 gard, so silently that the Yankees within eight hundred yards of 
 them, knew nothing of it until noon next day. 
 
 A Northern man, writing of this event at the time, says: 
 
 "The Confederate strategy since the battle of Shiloh has been as 
 successful as it has been superior. Taking the enemy's stand-point, 
 and writing when and where I do, I cannot possibly imagine how it 
 could have been more eminent for perfection and success. Taking 
 our stand-point — the stand-point of the Union's hopes and Halleck's 
 fame — I cannot possibly imagine how it could have been more mor- 
 tifyingly disastrous. If the attack at Shiloh was a surprise to Gen- 
 eral Grant, the evacuation of Corinth was no less a surprise to General 
 Halleck, and has laid out in pallid death the military name and fame 
 of Major General Henry W. Halleck. Corinth has been searched in 
 vain for a spiked or disabled gun. Shame onus ! what a clean piece 
 of evacuation it was !" 
 
 General Beauregard, in his official report, says: 
 
 "The purposes and ends for which I had held and occupied 
 Corinth having been mainly accomplished by the last of May, and by 
 the 25th of that month having ascertained definitely that the enemy 
 had received large accessions to his already superior force, whilst 
 ours had been reduced day by day by disease, resulting from bad 
 water and inferior food, I felt it clearly my duty to evacuate that 
 position without delay. The transparent object of the Federal com- 
 mander had been to cut oflF my resources by destroying the Mobile 
 and Ohio, and the Memphis and Charleston railroads. This was sub- 
 stantially foiled by the evacuation and withdrawal along the line of 
 the former road, and if followed by the enemy, remote from his base, 
 I confidently anticipated opportunity for resumption of the offensive, 
 with chances for signal success." 
 
 On the ensuing morning, the enemy opened a heavy fire on our 
 lines from formidable batteries of long range guns, blissfully ignor- 
 ant that there was no one to reply save a scattered cavalry picket. 
 
 "The troops moved off in good spirits and order, prepared to give 
 battle, if pursued, but no serious pursuit was attempted. WhUst at 
 Kienzi, half way to Baldwin, I was informed that on the morning of 
 the 13th ult., a detachment of the enemy's cavalry had penetrated to 
 Booneville, eight miles south of Rienzi, and had captured and 
 burned a railroad train of ammunition, baggage and subsistence, 
 delayed there forty-eight hours by some mismanagement. I regret 
 to add that the enemy also burned the railroad depot, in which were, 
 at the moment, a number of dead bodies, and at least four sick 
 soldiers of this army, who were consumed; an act of barbarism 
 scarcely credible, and without a precedent, to my knowledge, in civ- 
 ilized warfare. Upon the opportune appearance in a short time, 
 
46 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 however, of an inferior force of cavalry, the enemy left in great haste 
 and confusion, after having received one volley." 
 
 This "inferior force" of cavalry was seventy-five of Colonel 
 McCullough's men from the gallant and chivalrous Third Missouri 
 cavalry. 
 
 "I desire to record that one Colonel Elliott, of the Federal army, 
 commanded in this raid, and is responsible for the cruel death of our 
 sick," adds General Beauregard. 
 
 General Pope evolves the following version of this affair: 
 
 "It seems proper forme to state here that the day previous I 
 sent out the first of the cavalry raids which I believe was made dur- 
 ing the war. Colonel (now brevet Major General) W. L. Elliott, was 
 instructed to proceed with his own regiment (the second Iowa cav- 
 alry) and the second Michigan cavalry, commanded by Colonel (now 
 Major General) P. H. Sheridan, and make a descent upon the Mobile 
 & Ohio railroad, if possible, as far as forty miles south of Corinth. 
 This raid was conducted with great vigor and complete success by 
 General Elliott. He struck the railroad at BooneviUe, twenty miles 
 south of Corinth, tore up the track and the telegraph lines and cap- 
 tured a train of cars loaded with ammunition and small-arms, which 
 they destroyed. He also captured, and for want of means to bring 
 them off, paroled two thousand of the enemy, mostly convalescents." 
 
 The Federal general fails to add tbat he did not do any such 
 thing— only four hundred sick men were captured, and these were 
 involuatarily and speedily released when the seventy-five brave 
 Missourians attacked and drove away in dismay and confusion this 
 "first cavalry raid of the war" — these thousand moss troopers com- 
 manded by Major Generals W. L. Elliott and P. H. Sheridan. 
 
 The truth of history has long since fully corroborated the South- 
 ern version of the evacuation of Corinth and its results.® 
 
 On the 1st of June, the Missouri Brigades went into camp at 
 Baldwin — remained there until the 7th, when they were moved to 
 Priceville— from thence, on the 7th of July, to Tupelo, and finally, 
 on the 29th of July, to Saltillo, where they remained until the move- 
 ment against luka. From Tupelo the remains of the Missouri State 
 Guard, under command of General Parsons, left for the Trans-Mis- 
 sissippi Department. 
 
 Col. J. T. Hughes was commissioned as a brigadier-general and 
 left for Missouri, where he raised a brigade and attacked and cap- 
 tured Independence, but was killed just as victory had perched upon 
 his banners. 
 
 '■■' "Lost Cause," p. 329. "Official Reports to Confederate Congress " p 
 436. General Pope's Reports "Conduct of the War," part 2d. Anderson's 
 "Memoirs," p. 200. Covell's "Diary," p. 120. Hubbell's "Diary," p. 81. 
 
AROUND CORINTH. 47 
 
 At Priceville Ool. Burbridge resigned, F. M. Cockrell becoming 
 Colonel of the Second Infantry, Major Dwyer Lieutenant-Colonel 
 and Pembroke S. Senteny, Captain of Company A, was promoted to 
 the position of Major. 
 
 About the first of August the commands of Generals Polk and 
 Hardee were sent off to the Department of Tennessee, under General 
 Bragg, operating from Chattanooga. General Breckenridge's corps 
 was sent to reinforce VanDorn, who had been placed ia charge of a 
 Southern department comprising Vicksburg and Baton Kouge. 
 General Beauregard was sick at Bladen Springs, and General Price 
 was left in command in North Mississippi. General Little com- 
 manded a division composed of Hebert's (Louisiana), Martin's (Mis- 
 sissippi), the First Missouri, commanded by Colonel Gates, and the 
 Second Missouri, commanded by General Green. The Second Mis- 
 souri Regiment of Cavalry, Colonel McCulloch was operating under 
 General Frank Armstrong in the vicinity of Corinth and along the 
 Tennessee border. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 A DYING SOLDIER: THE MAIL SENT OUT. 
 
 II the thought had not occurred to the soldier before, the 
 conviction was forced upon him now that the war was not to 
 be a thing of an hour or a day. The fire that was the inspira- 
 tion of a moment had died away, and the impetuosity of the 
 first flush of battle had given place to a solemn and stern 
 reality. From East to West, and from North to South, a 
 nation trembled beneath the tread of mighty armies, and the 
 roar of conflicting arms shook a great continent, and a fixed 
 determination seemed to actuate both parties to fight on to the 
 finish — that is, to fight on until one party or the other, or both 
 were exhausted. This, it was fully realized, would take weeks, 
 months and doubtless years of toil and hardships. The Mis- 
 sourians had been promised that so soon as the emergency was 
 over, they would return to the Trans-Mississippi Department, 
 and again drive the enemy from their native State. But the 
 soldier had learned that every day and hour of war was an 
 emergency, and that in its shifting scenes and changing for- 
 tunes no one could tell what a day would bring forth. 
 
 To no one was this a more solemn reality than to the First 
 and Second Brigades of Missourians. These brigades were 
 composed of the noblest blood of tlie State; young men of 
 promise, of pride, of honor, of manhood, of expectation; young 
 men who loved home, country, and whose ambition was to be 
 an ornament to one and a blessing to the other; men who were 
 proud of their State, and of whose courage and devotion the 
 State will ever boast. Many of them had stepped right out 
 from the first colleges of the land to enlist in the army; young 
 lawyers had left their practice, and those who were taking the 
 front rank in every profession, had joined their fortunes with 
 the fate of battle. 
 
 Such men as these loved the sacred altars of home, and the 
 
 48 
 
OAA^Xl 
 
 'oM 
 
A DYING-SOLDIER: THE MAIL SENT OUT. 49 
 
 social circle of life. But here they were, not only n^any miles 
 from these homes and firesides, but between them and these 
 hallowed precincts there was a line of bristling steel that not 
 only barred the way, but shut out all knowledge of what the 
 condition was in the land of their nativity. Occasionally a 
 paper might fall into the hands of some soldier that gave an 
 account of the doings in Missouri, but if it did, it was only of 
 some poor "Rebel" being led out to his death, or some inno- 
 cent being murdered, some household being laid in flames, 
 just enough for him to know that over all those once fair prai- 
 ries walked the grim visage of war; that the hills were infested 
 with robbers, and that death was borne upon every breeze. 
 But that did not answer his longings. Many of them had left 
 their plighted faith, the bond that locked their lives in one, 
 and oft in their pictured dreams, or waking fancy, those loved 
 days gone, returned again, and the love spoken was repeated. 
 ! what would not the soldier give to have fancy's picture 
 realized, to have one sweet word from her own hand, to see 
 that hand-write once more. 
 
 Or it may be a young man that was mother's pet, the dear 
 boy whom mother loved, and whose soul thrilled at mother's 
 words. Reader, did you ever see a soldier die on the battfeT 
 field? You maybe have. But in the solitude of the camp, in the 
 lone, weary, dreary hours, did you ever sit by the cot of a 
 dying boy, where none but soldiers kept watch, and see the 
 young life pass out? If not, you know not the soldier's trying 
 hours; you know not what it is for strong men to weep, nor for 
 stout hearts to dissolve in tears. 
 
 The writer stood picket once over such a scene: It was a 
 boy, young, tender and brave; mother's pet and sister's darling. 
 When he bade his mother farewell, she gave him a Bible with 
 God's blessings, and smoothing back his shining locks, planted 
 a kiss on that manly brow, and oflered up one short prayer to 
 God for his safe return. The Bible is by him now, and the 
 worn and faded leaves tell of how the pages have been scanned, 
 and the marks here and there of the sweet promises that have 
 been a blessing in those long, dreary days. And in these 
 folded pages lies a withered flower, a faded leaf. It was sister's 
 gift when he said farewell. It was the flower of afioction and 
 the emblem of hope. Just before he died, he called for 
 
50 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CA'RRIER. 
 
 mother. -"Mother, can't you come? May I not see you once 
 more?" and the tears trickled down his cheek. And then he 
 said, "She cannot come," and taking up the Bible he said to 
 the soldier, "Eead to me one more chapter, and if you can, just 
 as mother read; the same sweet, gentle tone, and yet with the 
 same blessed inflection of hope. Ah, yes," he said, "those 
 are sweet words, but 'tis not mother's voice. But the words 
 are. true, 'In my Father's house are many mansions,' and I'll 
 see her there. I will just cross over and wait." 
 
 Around that dying couch stood the grim warrior who had 
 never wavered in the shock of battle; who had seen his com- 
 rades fall on every hand, sometimes bleeding and torn limb 
 from limb; who had walked unmoved amidst the field of death, 
 where palid faces and glaring eyes and- open mouths gaped 
 upon him at every turn, but standing by this death scene, 
 where is re-called all the sacred, sweet and blessed memories 
 of home, he is overwhelmed with grief. 
 
 The boy's last words were calling mother, and when not 
 long after he died, news came into camp that his mother had 
 died some weeks before, the soldier understood that sweet 
 smile that played so lovely upon his parting lips. The mother 
 had come, and in those blessed mansions they had "met to 
 part, no, never!" Gently they put the boy to rest, and there 
 his body sleeps in a lone grave, far, far from the old home. 
 
 "Ees, the soldier thinks of home, and often in his dreams 
 he wanders through the sweet fields that had been his delight 
 in days now gone. And how he would prize a message from 
 the dear, precious loved ones. As the days drag heavily by, 
 he sighs for home. Not that he was home-sick, as the mean- 
 ing of that word implies, or that he would for one moment 
 think of abandoning his undertaking for a return to its hal- 
 lowed precincts. No, he felt that he was fighting for home; 
 for the rights and blessing of home, and that for all of these 
 he had staked his life upon the altar of home. But to get a 
 word from the dear ones, a line from mother, a word from 
 father, a thought from sister or brother; or, it may be a sweet 
 flower from her, whose life seems to be a part of hia own. 
 Such a word, such a token, would help to bridge the broad 
 chasm, or burst through the bristling bayonets and bring 
 home and the scenes of better days nearer to him, and would 
 
A DYING SOLDIER : THE MAIL SENT OUT. 61 
 
 nerve Ms arm, raise his spirits, infuse new life, and cheer his 
 heart for the battle. 
 
 Occasionally some soldier, who was fortunate enough to 
 be informed of an exchange of prisoners, or of a flag of truce 
 being sent out for some purpose, might get a letter through the 
 lines. Or, it sometimes happened that a rebel soldier met a 
 Yankee soldier, by agreement, between the lines and intrusted 
 him with a letter for the home friends. It often happened that 
 the lines were so close together that the soldiers talked one to 
 another. And often agreements were made to meet and have a 
 mutual exchange of compliments. But then he knew it was 
 simply at the option of the Federal authorities whether it went 
 to its destination or not. And if it reached the point for which 
 it was designed, there was no chance for an answer. Besides 
 all this, it must be opened and read by different officers, thus 
 robbing it of all its sweetness, and blotting out all that was 
 sacred, and only intended for the home eyes, or the idol's 
 fingers. More than this, there was danger that this missive 
 might reveal something of the actions or feelings of the best 
 friend that would be taken as a pretext for setting a spy upon 
 their lives and actions and prove the means of their persecu- 
 tion and death. As these chances of sending letters were only 
 some of the fortunes and circumstances of war, the soldier 
 longed for a better and a more private way. 
 
 Under all these circumstances, strange and dangerous as it 
 was, it was determined to open up a line of communication 
 with Missouri, a kind of an "underground mail rout." True, 
 the mail might not be regular, or it might be long delayed, or 
 it might be captured and robbed, but if it did succeed these 
 sacred missives would be free from curious eyes. The mail- 
 carrier might be captured and killed, but suppose all this 
 happen? The soldier has taken his life in his own hand; it 
 ^as been placed upon his country's altar; he knows how, and 
 is not afraid to die. He has stood and looked death square in 
 the face without a tremor, and why not face him upon the 
 bosom of the great "Father of Waters," or if need be, in the 
 prison, or facing a platoon of soldiers with musket and ball. 
 Conscious of the blessings he may carry to many homes, and 
 the comfort he may bring to many hearts, the mail-carrier 
 goes armed to do or die. 
 
62 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The question was not so much as to who will undertake for 
 us, as it was as to the one upon whom Ibis honor, this privilege 
 should be conferred. There were a thousand men ready and 
 anxious for the service. But after consultation and due delib- 
 eration, the honor, for honor it was, was conferred upon Cap- 
 tain Ab Grimes, as he was familiarly called. He was a man of 
 tried and known courage, besides an acquaintance with all 
 classes of men. He had, before the war, been a steamboat 
 pilot, and was, therefore, acquainted with every crook and 
 turn of the river, and this was a great advantage, as the 
 greater part of the journey must be made by water. He was of 
 medium height, somewhat heavy build, a little inclined to the 
 corpulent, and yet not an overburden of flesh; of fair com- 
 plexion and pleasing address, really a jolly good fellow, making 
 himself agreeable in any circle. His hair was light and a 
 little wavy, and his plump hand was the tapering finish of a 
 well shaped arm. 
 
 So soon as these arrangements were made and the captain 
 had received his commission to labor in the new field, for he 
 would not act only as a regular soldier of the Confederacy; he 
 wished still to be considered a soldier as he was; word was 
 given out to the men that all who wished to send a message 
 home must have it ready by the third day as then it would 
 start upon its mission. 
 
 Such a stirring around then as there was for pen, ink and 
 paper. Every camp was visited, every tent was raided, and 
 every knap-sack searched, and paper was brought out from its 
 long hiding place. The sutler's store was soon emptied of 
 pens, ink, paper and envelopes, and even the commissary and 
 quartermaster's wagons were ransacked. Nor was the com- 
 mander's tent unnoticed; he divided as long as he had a pen or 
 sheet, until, by dividing sheets and parceling out envelopes, all 
 were supplied. 
 
 As one passed through the camp during the following day, 
 a strange sight met him. On every stump and log, by'every 
 camp-fire and upon every stool was a soldier with paper in 
 some position before him, and pen in hand drawing out the 
 long lines of love and affection to home friends. Or per- 
 chance, some soldier holding the ink bottle dictating to one 
 more expert in letter writing, or, maybe, waiting patiently for 
 
A DYING SOLDIER: THE MAIL SENT OUT. 53 
 
 his brother soldier to complete his message that he may receive 
 the loan of the pen and ink-bottle. All night the camp-fires 
 burned and men wrote and the hours of writing lengthened 
 out into another day. But by the middle of the third day the 
 writing was all done and the letters were all ready for packing 
 and embarkation upon their long journey. 
 
 There was one more diflficulty to overcome. Each letter 
 must be stamped with a three cent U. S. postage stamp. To 
 the Confederate soldier greenbacks were a rarety and U. S. 
 postage stamps were entire strangers. If there is any one 
 thing that especially marks the life of a soldier, it is his gener- 
 osity, it is one of his first duties. And a man without this 
 principle is always set down as an arrant coward. Nor was the 
 soldier ever mistaken in his man. While hundreds had no 
 money that was current in the Federal government, yet a few 
 were fortunate enough to have a dollar or two, maybe some 
 relic they had kept as a reminder of other days. But be that 
 as it may, it all, with a noble generosity, came from its long 
 retreat and was appropriated to the needs of the destitute. 
 The letters were counted, the estimate made and the money 
 furnished to purchase the necessary stamps. Each one who 
 wrote, put in a P. S. "Please inclose a few stamps wtien 
 answer is returned." These things being completed late in 
 August, Captain Grimes set out on his arduous and dangerous 
 task of carrying the mail to friends in Missouri. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH/ 
 
 We are now approaching the time when the little army 
 again begins active operations. If its rest through the long 
 summer months had been quiet, healthful and peaceful, the 
 months that were soon to follow were marked with blood, car- 
 nage and the rapid shocks of battle. For a full description of 
 the campaign, the reader will allow us to quote from the 
 "Eecollections" of Major General Dabney H. Maury. We do 
 this the more readily because he was commander of one of the 
 divisions of the Southern army, under General Price, and was a 
 man highly respected and may be relied upon as perfectly 
 accurate, so far as that standard could be attained. 
 
 "I am the senior surviving general qf those who took part in the 
 whole campaign in North Mississippi in 1862, against the forces of 
 General Grant, and it is proper I should place on record my knowl- 
 edge of those operations. In doing this, I must rely on my own 
 recollections and memoranda, and upon those of such comrades as I 
 may be able to confer with. There are no official records open to us 
 now, which may perhaps be regretted less on this occasion because 
 the campaign under discussion was outside the grand movements of 
 the war; but it was of deep concern to important communities m the 
 South, to the soldiers who bore an active part in it, and to the South- 
 ern widows and orphans whose nearest and dearest died on those 
 battle fields, as bloody and as honorable as any that were ever illus- 
 trated by Confederate valor. Therefore I write about it. Of the gen- 
 eral officers of our army, who took part in those operations, VanDorn, 
 Price, Martin, Green, Rust, Little, Villipique and Bowen have all 
 gone to their rest, leaving but three or four of us to toil on until our 
 summons comes and we shall go to join them again; I shall therefore 
 tell my story in no spirit of detraction. Indeed, I have neither incli- 
 nation nor occasion to detract from any of them; their honors in 
 those fights were hard-earned, nor can I blame any of them for the 
 disasters which came upon our army. They were brave men, who 
 
BATTLE OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 55 
 
 devoted all to their country, and among them were commanders of a 
 high order of ability. 
 
 "On the 30th of May, 1862, General Beauregard evacuated Corinth 
 in the presence of Halleck'3 army, and in June, 1862, his army was 
 lying around Tupelo, cantoned on the Mobile and Ohio railroad. 
 Late in June, VanDorn was detached from command of his corps, 
 known as the Army oi the West, and sent to take command at Vicks- 
 burg, which was then threatened with attack. You will remember 
 how well he acquitted himself in that command. He repulsed the 
 enemy from Vicksburg and occupied and defended Port Hudson, 
 thus securing to the Confederacy for nearly a year free access to the 
 Trans-Mississippi Department and the unobstructed navigation of 
 Red River, by which vast supplies of meat and grain were contributed 
 to the maintenance of our armies east of the great river, which 
 already began to feel the want of good provisions. 
 
 "General Beauregard having fallen into ill health, the supreme 
 command of our army at Tupelo devolved upon General Bragg. In 
 August, 1862, Bragg threw his main army, by rail, via Mobile to 
 Chattanooga, leaving Price in command of the Army of the West, 
 with orders to observe the Federal army at Corinth, under Grant, 
 with a view to oppose him in any movement down into Mississippi; 
 or, in case Grant should move up into Tennessee to join Buell, then 
 Price was to hinder him in that movement, and was also to move up 
 into Tennessee and unite his forces with the army of Bragg. 
 
 "VanDorn and" Price were thus left independent of each other. 
 Each commanded a corps of two strong divisions, both were in the 
 State of Mississippi, and, as events proved, it might have been for the 
 good of all had one of them been in supreme command over the whole 
 military force of that State. 
 
 "VanDorn, after placing Vicksburg and Port Hudson in satisfae- 
 tory condition of defence, attacked the Federal forces in Baton 
 Rouge. He sent General Breckenridge to conduct the expedition, 
 (with whom was General Bowen and the First Missouri Infantry). 
 It seems altogether probable that he would have captured the place 
 and the enemy's army in it, but for the accidental loss of the iron- 
 clad Arkansas, and the extraordinary epidemic of cholera which 
 reduced his force to one-half its original numbers. 
 
 "As soon as VanDorn had refitted his forces after this attack, his 
 ever-restless, aggressive spirit drew him up toward the northern line 
 of the State, where Grant commanded a considerable force, occupy- 
 ing Corinth, Bolivar, and other points in West Tennessee, Northern 
 Mississippi and Alabama. VanDorn having superior rank, but not 
 having command over Price, sent Colonel Lomax, early in Septem- 
 ber, to urge upon Price that they should combine their forces and 
 
56 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 drive the Federals out of Mississippi and West Tennessee. j^^J^^ 
 time he made the proposition their combined forces would have 
 amounted to about twenty-five thousand infantry, with about three 
 thousand cavalry. Price replied that he could not comply with this 
 request without departing from his instructions and the object for 
 which General Bragg had left him where he was. And just here were 
 developed the bad consequences of having these two commanders 
 present in the field without a common superior; for, had Price been 
 justified in placing his forces under VanDorn's command at this 
 time, there is scarcely a doubt that the enemy would have been 
 driven in a, few days entirely beyond the Tennessee river. Then 
 would have followed" the reinforcement of Bragsj's army by the corps 
 of VanDorn and Price, and without extraordinary misconduct or mis- 
 fortunes, the Confederate army of Tennessee might have crossed the 
 ©hio. But such speculations are vain and sad enough now; my 
 present business is to tell the sorrowful story as it was, not to dream 
 about what might have been. 
 
 "Within a few days after Price declined VanDorn's invitation, he 
 learned from spies in Corinth, that Grant had commenced his evacu- 
 ation of that line, and was then actually throwing his supplies across 
 the Tennessee, and would soon be on his way to reinforce Boell. 
 Therefore, to intercept him, or that failing, to join Bragg, Price 
 marched from Tupelo to luka. Tupelo is on the Mobile & Ohio 
 railroad, fifty miles south of Corinth. luka is on the Memphis and 
 Charleston railroad, seventeen miles east of Corinth. Our army con- 
 sisted of Maury's First Division and Little's Second Division of 
 infantry, and Armstrong's cavalry brigade." (Maury's Division con- 
 sisted of the brigades of Generals John C. Moore, William S. Cabell 
 and Charles Phiffer, and Little's Division of the First and Second 
 Missouri Brigades, commanded by Colonel Gates and General Green 
 respectively, and Hebert's Louisiana, and Martin's Mississippi 
 brigades.) 
 
 "We numbered in all, near sizteen thousand effectives, viz.: 
 about fourteen thousand infantry and near two thousand cavalry. 
 
 "On the 19th of September we entered luka. Armstrong's cav- 
 alry advanced, found the place occupied by a force of the enemy, who 
 retreated toward Corinth, abandoning to us a considerable amount 
 of stores. 
 
 "On the 2l3t of September I placed the First Division on the 
 march, intending to move close up to Burnsville, the station on the 
 Memphis and Charleston railroad between luka and Corinth, where 
 we now ascertained the enemy was in strong force. At about three 
 P.M., the enemy advanced upon me from Burnsville with so much 
 boldness that I believed it to be an attack in force; but deploying 
 
BATTLE OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 57 
 
 three battalions of sharpshooters, forced him back by them alone, 
 and proved him to be merely a reconnoissance in force. It was hand- 
 somely conducted, and was pushed with a boldness not usual in my 
 experience with the Federal troops, so that I formed a line of battle 
 and awaited with confident expectation the attack of Grant's whole 
 army. 
 
 "From this time we began to receive such information about 
 Grant's position as indicated that he had moved none of his forces 
 over the Tennessee, but that he still held the line of Corinth; and 
 this conviction was much strengthened in the mind of General Price, 
 when, on the 24th ot September, he received, by flag of truce, a sum- 
 mons from General Ord to surrender I General Ord stated in his let- 
 ter that recent information showed that McClellan had destroyed 
 Lee's army at Antietam; that therefore the rebellion must soon ter- 
 minate, and that, in order to spare the useless effusion of blood, he 
 gave Price this opportunity to lay down his arms ! Price replied to 
 Ord that he Was glad to be able to inform him that we had late and 
 reliable information which justified the belief that the results of the 
 battle of Sharpsburg had been highly satisfactory to us; that the 
 army of Northern Virginia was stOl in the field, and that as for him- 
 self, duly sensible of the kindness of feeling which had inspired Gen- 
 eral Ord's invitation,'he would lay down his arms whenever Mr. Lin- 
 coln should acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confed- 
 eracy, and not sooner. 
 
 "On the same day Price received another urgent request from 
 VanDorn to come with all his forces, meet him at Ripley, and move 
 their combined forces against Grant in Corinth. At this time Little 
 and I were occupying with both our divisions a line of battle about 
 two miles west of luka. We faced Burnsville, our left resting on the 
 Memphis and Charleston road. About ten a. m. we were called by 
 General Price to a council of war. He then disclosed to us Ord's and 
 VanDorn's letters, with other important information, and it was 
 evident to us that the enemy was not moving over the Tennessee at 
 all, but still lay in heavy force on our immediate left, and in position 
 to cut us off entirely from our line and base of supplies on the Mobile 
 & Ohio railroad. He decided to march back nezt morning toward 
 Baldwin, and thence unite with VanDorn in a combined attack on 
 Corinth. Orders were at once issued for the trains to be packed and 
 the whole army to move at dawn in the morning on the road back to 
 Baldwin. 
 
 "Since an early hour on this day our cavalry pickets had been 
 sending reports of a heavy force moving on us by the Jacinto road. 
 General Little moved, soon after mid-day, away from the line facing 
 Burnsville, and took position to command the approach by the 
 
58 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Jacinto road. And he was just in good time, for about four o'clock 
 p. M., Rosecranz came upon him with a sudden and heavy attack, 
 striking our advanced line, which was composed of new troops, most 
 of whom were now in their first battle; he forced them back, and 
 came triumphantly onward without a check. He had advanced 
 almost within sight of luka, when Little met him with his glorious 
 First Missouri Brigade; the Third Louisiana Infantry and Westfield's 
 Texas Legion were there too. And then they rolled back the victo- 
 rious tide of battle. The Federals were driven before them; our first 
 line of battle was restored, and when night fell the Confederates held 
 the field. Nine cannon had been captured from the enemy, and 
 every man in Little's division was confident of victory should Eose- 
 cranz resume his attack on the morrow. 
 
 "But one reflection saddened every heart. General Henry Little 
 had fallen dead in the very execution of the advance which had won 
 that bloody field. He was conversing with General Price when he 
 was shot through the head, and fell from his horse without a word. 
 He was buried that night by torchlight in luka. No more efficient 
 soldier than Henry Little ever fought for a good cause. The magni- 
 ficent Missouri Brigade, the finest body of troops I had ever then 
 seen, or have ever seen since, was the creation of his untiring devo- 
 tion to duty and his remarkable qualities as a commander. In camp 
 he was diligent in instructing his officers in their duty and providing 
 for the comfort and efficiency of his men, and on the battlefield he 
 was as steady, cool and able a commander as I have ever seen. His 
 eyes closed forever upon the happiest spectacle they could behold, 
 and the last throbs of his heart were amidst the victorious shouts of 
 his charging brigade. 
 
 "The night had fallen dark when the battle closed. It had been 
 brief, but was one of the fiercest and bloodiest combats of the war. 
 The Third Louisiana regiment lost half its men: Whitfield's Legion 
 also suffered very heavily. These two regiments and a little Arkan- 
 sas battalion of about one hundred men, had charged and captured 
 the enemy's guns. 
 
 "While Rosecranz advanced by this Jacinto road which enters 
 luka from the south. Grant was to attack by the Burnsville road 
 from the West. As generally happens in combined movements 
 there was want of concert of action. Rosecranz had been beaten and" 
 forced back by Little, when, at about sunset, Grant deployed in 
 front of me. He was then too late to attack me that night At dark 
 General Price withdrew me from before Grant, and intended to 
 attack Rosecranz at dawn with all his forces. At ten o'clock th-,t 
 night Rosecranz dispatched Grant to the following effect- 'I h t 
 
 With such obstinate resistance that I cannot advance furthe/byThe 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH 59 
 
 Jacinto road; but there are some heights on my right which com- 
 mand the town, and at dawn I shall occupy them. 
 
 " 'L'homme propose Dieu dispose,' is often true in war. At dawn 
 J held those heights. Before midnight I had received from pickets, 
 prisoners and others, satisfactory information that Grant had deployed 
 a heavy force, estimated at ten thousand men, in front of my skir- 
 mish line, across the Burnsville road. I had at dark withdrawn my 
 division, except the cavalry, under General Wirt Adams, and the 
 skirmish line under Colonel William P. Eodgers, and now we lay in 
 the town, with purpose to take part in the attack on Rosecranz in the 
 morning. Rosecranz's force on the Jacinto road was estimated at 
 over seventeen thousand men. Our army lay between Rosecranz and 
 Grant, and if the battle were renewed in the morning, placed as we 
 were, our total destruction seemed inevitable. 
 
 "About two hours after midnight, accompanied by General Arm- 
 strong, who commanded our cavalry forces, and who was one of the 
 cleverest of our cavalry commanders, and by Colonel Thomas Snead, 
 General Price's clever chief of staff, J went to the old General's quar- 
 ters, aroused him from a sound sleep, laid before him the information 
 I had received, and urged upon him the necessity for our carrying 
 out, without delay, the decision we had formed at 10 a. m. that morn, 
 ing, to return to our base on the Mobile and Ohio railroad. 
 
 "The old man was hard to move. He had taken an active per- 
 sonal part in the battle that evening; his Missourians had behaved 
 beautifully under his own direction, the enemy had been so freely 
 driven back, that he could think of nothing but the complete victory 
 he would gain over Rosecranz in the morning. He seemed to take 
 no account of Grant at all. His only reply to our facts and our argu- 
 ments, as he sat on the side of his bed in appropriate sleeping cos- 
 tume, was: 
 
 " 'We'll wade through him, sir, in the morning. General, you 
 ought to have seen how my boys fought this evening; we drove them 
 amUe, sirl' 
 
 " 'But,' said I, 'Grant has come up since then; and since dark 
 you have drawn me from before him. My brigades are lying in the 
 streets, with their backs to Grant; and the whole wagon train is 
 mixed up with us, so that we can't get into position promptly in the 
 morning. As sure as we resume battle, placed as we are, we shall be 
 beaten, and we shall lose every wagon. You can't procure another 
 wagon train like this, not if you were to drain the State of Missis- 
 sippi of all its teams. We have won the fight this evening. We 
 decided on going back anyhow, in the morning, to Baldwin, and I 
 don't see that anything that has happened since we published that 
 decision should detain ua here any longer.' 
 
60 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "Armstrong and Snead both sustained my views. I think Gov- 
 ernor Polk, of Missouri, was occupying the same chamber and was 
 present during our interview. 
 
 "After decided opposition, General Price admitted the prudence 
 of our executing our return to the railroad, instead of assuming the 
 aggressive in the morning. Orders were issued accordingly for the 
 wagon train to move at three a. m. I was instructed to send one of 
 my brigades to escort the wagon train, and to remain with the other 
 two brigades as rear-guard of the army. 
 
 "Accordingly, before dawn, I had occupied the commanding 
 heights referred to by Eosecranz in his last night's dispatch to Grant, 
 with the brigades of Moore and Cabell. Phifier's brigade had gone 
 on with the train. 
 
 "I think Rosecranz must have thought our army was changing 
 front to offer battle from those heights, and the concerted plans of 
 Grant and himself "were so disconcerted that before they could re- 
 arrange any, the wagon-train was safe on the road toward the Gulf of 
 Mexico. The army, too, disappeared over the hill and into the forest- 
 screened road, while the commanding heights were occupied by my 
 line of battle with colors flying and guns unlimbered, offering battle 
 to all their combined forces. 
 
 "Soon after eight A. M., Colonel Snead galloped up to me and 
 said, 'General, I am ordered by General Price to say that the train 
 and army are now well on the road, and you will please follow imme- 
 diately with the rear-guard.' We moved at once; Armstrong cov- 
 ered my real with his cavalry, and it was about two p. M. , at a point 
 eight miles from luka, that the last collision occurred between us 
 and Grant's army during the luka affair. I held the Second Texas 
 sharpshooters, Eodgers commanding, and Bledsoe's Missouri battery 
 in rear of the rear-guard. Armstrong had been followed all day by 
 the enemy's pursuing force, who were very cautious in their pressure 
 upon him, but kept close up to his cavalry constantly. About two 
 p. M., the movement of our army had become quite slow. The 
 teamsters, having no longer the fear of the enemy before them, had 
 relaxed their energies, a:nd the rear-guard halted. 
 
 "Just at this moment the enemy was coming confidently on; 
 Armstrong moved on with his cavalry past the rear of the rear-guard 
 of infantry, Eodgers and Bledsoe were lying in ambuscade at a good 
 point in the road, and Colonel 'Bob McCuUough's' Second Missouri 
 cavalry regiment was formed ready to charge. On came the confi- 
 dent Federals— I think a General Hatch was commanding them— 
 until they were within short range, when the Second Texas rifles and 
 Bledsoe's canister and old McCuUough's cavalry all broke upon them 
 at once. We laid many of them low, and then pursued our march to 
 Baldwin without a shot." 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 61 
 
 In a letter to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Vice-President of 
 the Southern Historical Society, Gen. Maury says: 
 
 "In my narrative of the battle of luka, I related how General 
 Price, acting on information received from General Bragg, and from 
 our scouts, had moved as far as luka on his way to prevent Grant's 
 forces in Mississippi from effecting a j unction with Buell'a in Ten- 
 nessee; how at luka we had been attacked by Rosecranz; how we 
 had repulsed him, capturing nine cannon and many prisoners, and 
 had next morning returned to our proper base upon the railroad, 
 with purpose to join our forces to VanDorn's and make a combined 
 attack on Corinth. 
 
 ' "This attack had for some time occupied VanDorn's mind. 
 Several weeks before General Price moved upon luka, General Van- 
 Dorn had sent a staff-ofiScer, Colonel Lomax, of Virginia, (since 
 Major General Lomax) to invite and urge General Price that they 
 should combine their forces in an attack upon Corinth. The plan 
 was wise, while it was bold and characteristic 9f VanDorn's aggres- 
 sive temper. The enemy occupied West Tennessee and the Memphis 
 and Charleston railroad at Memphis, Bolivar, Jackson, Corinth, 
 Rienzi, Jacinto, luka and Bethel, with garrisons aggregating forty- 
 two thousand men, and was preparing with extraordinary energy to 
 reduce Vicksburg by a combined attack of land and naval forces. 
 
 "To prevent this, his expulsion from "West Tennessee was a mili- 
 tary necessity, while it was our obvious defensive policy to force him 
 across the Ohio, occupy Columbus, and fortify the Cumberland and 
 Tennessee rivers. This policy induced General Bragg to move his 
 army into Kentucky, and VanDorn felt that he could force the enemy 
 out of West Tennessee and contribute to its success. 
 
 "Corinth was the enemy's strongest and most salient point. Its 
 capture would decide the fate of West Tennessee; and the combined 
 forces of Price and VanDorn in the month of August could have cap- 
 tured Corinth, and have cleared West Tennessee of all hostile forces. 
 When VanDorn first invited General Price's co-operation in this 
 enterprise, his command embraced two large divisions under Breck- 
 enridge and Lovell, numbering about twelve thousand infantry, with 
 over one thousand cavalry under Jackson; and he expected to receive 
 about five thousand veteran infantry j ust exchanged from the Port 
 Donelson prisoners, in time for the movement. This force, added to 
 General Price's army, would have given an eflfective active force of 
 over thirty thousand veteran troops; and it is most unfortunate that 
 General Price could not then have consented to unite with General 
 VanDorn in a movement so auspicious of great results. 
 
 "But, as I have told you. Price was constrained by his orders to 
 decline all part in that enterprise until he made his movement to 
 
62 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 luka, after which Price's forces were greatly reduced by the results 
 of the battle, while VauDorn's were diminished by the detachment 
 of Breckenridge with six thousand men, and by the unexpected 
 dRlays in fitting out the 'Donelson prisoners' for the field; so thai 
 when on the thirtieth of September we marched from Ripley against 
 Corinth, our combined forces were but a little over half of what Van- 
 Dorn had justly calculated upon when he first proposed the enter- 
 prise. The disastrous results which ensued brought censure upon 
 VanDorn, and have left a cloud upon his military reputation which I 
 hope the publication of this narrative will aid to dispel. There are 
 few of those who criticised his conduct who knew the great objects he 
 sought to accomplish, or the means with which he proposed to march 
 to a certain and brilliant victory by which the State of Mississippi 
 would have been freed from invasion, and the war would have been 
 transferred beyond the Ohio. Such results j ustified unusual hazard 
 of battle, and after VanDorn's forces were reduced by near one-half, 
 he still felt he ought to strike a bold and manly blow for his native 
 State, and did not hesitate to attack the enemy with all the energy 
 and force he could bring to bear upon him. 
 
 "We marched from Baldwin to join VanDorn at Ripley on the 
 morning of the 27th, and our whole effective force was made up of — 
 Maury's division, 4,800; Hebert's division, 5,000; Armstrong's cav- 
 alry, 2,000; light artillery, 42 guns. 
 
 "We reached Ripley on the evening of the 29th. General Van- 
 Dorn, with his staff, was already there. He had sent his cavalry 
 forward to cover our front, and his infantry and artillery, under Gen- 
 eral Lovell, were close at hand and marched into Ripley in fine order 
 the day after our arrival . 
 
 "On the morning of October 1st, our combined forces moved from 
 Ripley to attack the enemy in Corinth. We marched with a total 
 force of nearly nineteen thousand effectives, viz.: Maury's division, 
 about 4,800; Hebert's division, 5,000; Lovell's, 6,000; Armstrong's 
 cavalry, including Jackson's brigade, 2,800. 
 
 "VanDorn threw his cavalry forward so as to mask his mover 
 ments, and marched directly with his infantry by way of Davis' 
 bridge upon the enemy in Corinth. 
 
 "On the evening of October 2d, we bivouaohed at Chewalla, on the 
 railroad, eight miles west of Corinth. At dawn of the 3rd of October, 
 we moved from Chewalla to the attack, Jackson had been sent, 
 towards Bolivar, where he captured a large regiment of cavalry, and 
 our advance was covered by Armstrong's brigade alone, Wirt Adams' 
 brigade having been detaclied towards Davis' bridge. 
 
 "General VanDorn was assured that the whole force of the enemy 
 ill the works at Corinth numbered about twelve thousand men, and 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 63 
 
 he resolved to 'assault with all his forces. His purpose was to dis- 
 mount his cavalry and attack with the whole army, and had he exe- 
 cuted this intention in the spirit in which he conceived it, there is not 
 ground for a reasonable doubt of his success. 
 
 "Soon after daylight our cavalry became engaged with the 
 enemy's advanced pickets, and forced them back, until, just after 
 crossing to the north side of the railroad, we formed in line of battle. 
 We were then more than three miles from Corinth. Our line was 
 perpendicular to the Memphis and Charleston railroad. Lovell's 
 division was formed on the right (south) of the railroad; Maury's 
 division was formed on the left (north) of the railroad, Moore's 
 brigade touching the left of Lovell's division on the railroad; Cabell's 
 brigade was formed as a reserve behind the left of Maury's division; 
 the Missouri division touched Maury's left; and in this order we 
 moved forward at ten A. M.', and soon found ourselves confronted by 
 the enemy's line of battle, which occupied the defences constructed 
 by General Beauregard during the previous spring against the army 
 ofHalleck. All the timber covering the slopes which led up to the 
 works had been felled and formed an obstructing abattis to our 
 advancing line; but, at the signal to advance, our whole line moved 
 forward, under a heavy, fire of artillery and musketry, across the 
 space which divided us from the enemy, without any check or hesita- 
 tion, and drove him at every point from his position. We captured 
 five cannon and put the whole force to rout. Our loss was not heavy 
 in men, ,but we had to mourn the death of Colonel Martin, a young 
 officer commanding the Mississippi brigade, who was killed while 
 gallantly leading his men. 
 
 "The division of Maury and Hebert, composing the Army of the 
 West, as Price's corps was designated, continued to advance towards 
 Corinth, preserving an alignment perpendicular to the Memphis and 
 Charleston railroad. We were repeatedly and obstinately encoun- 
 tered by the opposing lines of the enemy, and during the day several 
 fierce combats took place, which necessarily delayed our arrival be- 
 fore the place, but did not cause our troops to lose one foot of the 
 ground we had won. 
 
 "During the advance of Price's corps on this day, the right 
 brigade of Maury's division was commanded by General John C. 
 Moore, an officer of fine ability and courage. Close on the railroad, 
 but on the south side of it, was an entrenched camp of the enemy. 
 Moored advancing with his right on the railroad, would have soon 
 been enfiladed by this force, but instantly perceiving his situation, 
 he threw his brigade across the railroad, and attacking the camp, 
 drove the federals who- were occupy in e; it back into their heavy 
 works about College Hill; he then recrossed to the north of the rail- 
 
64 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 road, resumed his position in the line of Maury's division and soon 
 encountered a Federal brigade, which after a fierce conflict he drove 
 before him into the works of Corinth. The Missourians and Phiffer's 
 brigade of Maury's division were also hotly engaged during this 
 advance, and Cabell's brigade acting as reserve was repeatedly de- 
 tached to reinforce such portions of the line north of the railroad as 
 seemed in need of support. 
 
 "At sunset the enemy in front of Price's corps had been driven 
 into the town at every point along our whole front, and these troops 
 had established their line close up to Corinth. After a hot day of 
 incessant action and constant victory, we felt that our prize was just 
 before us, and one more vigorous effort would crown our arms with 
 complete success. VanDorn felt all this, and wished to storm the 
 town at once, but General Price thought the troops were too much 
 exhausted. They had been marching and fighting since dawn; the 
 day had been one of the hottest of the year; our men had been with- 
 out water since morning, and were almost famished; while we were 
 pursuing the enemy from his outer works that morning, several of 
 our men fell from sunstroke, and it was with good re^on that General 
 Price opposed further action that evening. He said: 'I think we 
 have done enough for to-day. General, and the men should rest.' 
 
 "VanDorn acquiesced in this, and gave his orders for a general 
 assault in the morning. They were of the simplest nature. At an 
 early hour before dawn, all of the artillery of his army was ordered 
 to open upon the town and works, and at daylight the whole line 
 was to advance and storm them. During- the night the enemy was 
 actively moving his trains and baggage out on the roads to the Ten- 
 nessee Eiver, and all night reinforcements were pouring into Corinth. 
 
 "Under the direction of Colonel William E. Burnett, of the artil- 
 lery of Maury's division, and two of the pieces captured from the 
 enemy added to it, opened upon the enemy in Corinth, and at short 
 range and with good effect cannonaded the place for near two hours 
 before light. The guns of the other divisions did not open. At day- 
 light I withdrew my guns and prepared to .assault the town. My 
 line, Moore's and Phiffer's brigades, with Cabell's in reserve, was 
 formed close to the Mobile and Ohio railroad, just on the outskirts of 
 Corinth, and concealed from view of the enemy by the timber which 
 then covered the bottom along the creek. The orders given me were 
 to charge the town as soon as I could observe the fire of the Missou- 
 rians, who were on my left, change from picket firing to rolling fire 
 of musketry. 
 
 "For hours we listened and awaited our signal. Half-past ten 
 o'clock had come before the signal to advance was given. I have 
 never understood the reason for so much delay; but as soon as we be- 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 65 
 
 gan to hear the rolling fire of musketry on the left, Maury's division 
 broke through the screen of timber and into the town, and into the 
 enemy's works. We broke his center; the Missourians moved in 
 line with us. Gates' brigade of Missourians took all of the enemy's 
 artillery to our left, and all along in front of Price's corps the enemy 
 was driyeu from his guns, and the guns were captured by us. With- 
 in about twenty minutes from the time we began our movement our 
 colors were planted in triumph upon the ramparts of Corinth. But 
 it was a brief triumph, and won at a bloody cost. No charge in the 
 history of the war was more daring or more bloody. From the first 
 moment after leaving the timber, the troops were exposed to a most 
 deadly cross-fire; they fell by hundreds, hut the line moved on — 
 never faltered for one moment until our colors were placed upon the 
 works. Every State of the Confederacy had representatives in this 
 charge, and well did they illustrate the valor of the Confederate 
 troops. From general to drummer-boy, no one faltered. A color- 
 bearer of an Arkansas regiment was shot down; young Robert Sloan, 
 a boy of the same regiment, scarce eighteen years old, seized the 
 colors and sprang upon the ramparts, waving them over it, and fell 
 pierced with balls while cheering on his comrades. Field oflScers fell 
 by scores; more than three thousand of the rank and file were killed, 
 wounded and captured during this fierce assault. 
 
 "The whole of Price's corps penetrated to the center of the town 
 of Corinth, and was in position to swing around and take the enemy's 
 left wing in flank and rear, for we were twelve hundred yards in rear 
 of the lines on College Hill, which formed the enemy's left wing, and 
 against which our right wing south of the Memphis and Charleston 
 railroad had been arrayed. But since ten a. m. of the previous morn- 
 ing our right wing had made no decided advance or attack upon the 
 enemy in its front, and when Eosecranz found his center broken by 
 our charge, believing the demonstration of our right wing merely a 
 'feint,' he withdrew General Stanley with a heavy force from his 
 left, and threw him against us. 
 
 "Disarrayed and torn as our lines were, with more than one-third 
 of our men down, and with many of our best regimental officers 
 killed and wounded, the troops were not ready to meet and repel the 
 fresh troops that now, in fine array, came upon our right flank from 
 the left of the enemy's works on College Hill and swept us out of the 
 place. Our men fell back in disorder, but sullenly. I saw no man 
 running, but all attempts to rally and reform them, under the heavy 
 fire of the enemy, now in possession again of their artillery, were 
 vain. They marched on towards the timber in a walk, each man 
 taking his own route and obstinately refusing to make any efiort to 
 renew the attack; and it was only after we had fallen back beyond 
 
66 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the range of the enemy's fire that any of our organizations were 
 reformed. 
 
 "When we returned from the town we found General VanDorn 
 had ordered Villipigue's brigade from his right, south of the railroad, 
 to cover our retreat from the town, and it was drawn up in line about 
 one thousand strong, facing the enemy, and about one thousand 
 yards from his works. These troops were in fine order. They had 
 - done no fighting. We moved on towards Chewalla again, re-organiz- 
 ing our forces as best we could while we marched along. Our right 
 wing had borne no great part in the fighting, and it was in good 
 order and served now to present a good front towards the enemy. I 
 do not think the enemy was in a condition to pursue and attack us. 
 He had suffered heavily, and had been greatly impressed by the 
 attack of Price's corps, and it was not until next day that he moved 
 in force to follow us. 
 
 "By sunset we were again bivouaced at Chewalla, and busily 
 occupied in reforming our organizations. The flower of our men and 
 oflScers lay in the environs of Corinth, never more to rejoin their 
 comrades. We had been bloodily repulsed, but Price's corps had 
 made an honest fight, and lost no honor in the battle. General Van- 
 Dorn seemed to feel he had deserved the victory. In a manly spirit 
 he assumed all responsibility for his failure, like General Lee at Get- 
 tysburg, he reproached nobody. During the whole battle he was 
 close to his troops about the center of his lines, where the fighting 
 was most active and constant, and not a movement was made without 
 his knowledge and direction, except the capture by General Moore of 
 the entrenched camp of the enemy south of the railroad, which was 
 one of those events of battle that give no time for reference to higher 
 authority, and which illustrate the true genius for war of the execu- 
 tive commander, who, as Moore did, seizes the opportunity they 
 offer. 
 
 "It is generally believed that the battle was lost by the inaction 
 of our right wing, which, after the first advance on the morning of 
 the third, made no decided attempt upon the lines in its front. So 
 notable was this inertness that the enemy seems to have considered 
 the attack of that wing merely a feint, which justified him in detach- 
 ing a large force from his left to reinforce his center, which had been 
 broken and was in great peril. It is altogether probable that had the 
 attack with the right wing been pressed as it was pressed by the cen- 
 ter and left, VanDorn would have captured Corinth and the enemy's 
 army. The troops which made the assault were chiefly Missourians, 
 Arkansans, Texans, Mississippians, Alabamians and Louisianians. 
 
 "Soon after daylight, on the 4th, a battery on the railroad, known 
 as Battery Eobinet, which was immediately on my right flank, 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 67 
 
 opened an enfilading fire upon my line, then drawn up near and par- 
 allel to tlie Mobile and OMo railroad, and ready to begin the assault. 
 I ordered General Moore to place the Second Texas sharpshooters, 
 one of the finest regiments I have ever seen, under the brow of a ridge 
 which ran perpendicular to my line and about two hundred yards 
 from that battery. They reduced its fire very much in a few minutes 
 and when the order was given to charge, they naturally charged that 
 battery, which was right in their front, though upon our right fiank. 
 Colonel W. P. Eodgers and Major MuUen, of this regiment, fell in 
 this work. 
 
 "The commanders of divisions and brigades who went into 
 Corinth with the troops, were General Dabney H. Maury, of Virginia, 
 commanding First division; General Martin E. Green, of Missouri, 
 commanding Second division; General John G. Moore, of Tennessee, 
 commanding first brigade of Maury's division; General Wm. S. 
 Cabell, of Virginia, commanding second brigade of Maury's division; 
 Genei-al Charles Phiifer, of Missi^ippi, commanding third brigade of 
 Maury's division; Colonel Elijah Gates, of Missouri, commanding 
 First Missouri Brigade, Green's division; Colonel Cockrell, command- 
 ing Second Brigade, Green's division; Colonel Moore, of Mississippi, 
 commanding third brigade, Green's division. 
 
 "When, after all was over and the whole of the Army of the 
 West, now reduced to about six thousand men , came out of the town 
 and into the woods through which we had so confidently charged an 
 hour before, generals, colonels, and staflf officers in vain endeavored 
 to rally the men. They plodded doggedly along toward the road by 
 which we had marched on the day before, and it was not in any man's 
 power then to form them into line. We found Generals VauDorn 
 and Price within a few hundred yards of the place, sitting on their 
 horses near each other. VanDom looked upon the thousands of men 
 streaming past him with a mingled expression of sorrow and pity. 
 Old General Price looked on the disorder of his darling troops with 
 unmitigated anguish. The big tears coursed down the old man's 
 bronzed face, and I have never witnessed such a picture of mute de- 
 spair and grief as his countenance wore when he looked upon the utter 
 defeat of those magnificent troops. He had never before known them 
 to fail, and they never had failed to carry the lines of any enemy in 
 their front; nor did they ever to the close of their noble career at 
 Blakely, on the ninth of April, 1865, fail to defeat the troops before 
 them. I mean no disparagement to any troops of the Southern 
 Confederacy when I say the Missouri troops of the Army of the West 
 were not surpassed hy any troops in the wor I 
 
 "In the month of November, 1862, a court of inquiry was con- 
 vened at Abbeville, Miss., to examine into certain allegations made 
 
68 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 by General John S. Bowen, about the conduct of General VanDorn 
 during the expedition against Corinth. General VanDorn was fully 
 acquitted. A very intelligent battery commander. Captain Thomas 
 F. Tobin, now the proprietor of a cotton-press in Memphis, was an 
 important witness on this trial, and we quote from his testimony to 
 show how complete was the first success of the assault on Corinth, 
 and had it been supported, how great and complete would have been 
 the victory. 
 
 '■Question by the defendant. — First. 'After you were taken 
 prisoner, state if you know if any portion of our army carried the 
 interior works around Corinth. Second. And what troops, if you 
 know them. Third. And also state whether they .entered the town. 
 Fourth. And how far they penetrated into it.' 
 
 "Answer. — First. 'Yes. Second. General Maury's division, 
 nearly all of it, I think, and the First Missouri Brigade of General 
 Green's division, commanded by Colonel Gates, carried everything 
 before them. Third. And came into Corinth driving everything 
 before them across the high bridge over the Memphis and Charleston 
 railroad and beyond General Polk's old headquarters, which was 
 outside the town. The artillery of the enemy went out as far as 
 General Price's old headquarters. Fourth. Our troops penetrated 
 to the Corinth House and the Tishomingo Hotel, and to the square 
 in front of General Bragg's old headquarters, and into the yard of 
 General Rosecranz's headquarters.' 
 
 "Question by defendant. — 'State, if you know, any fact tending 
 to show that the enemy anticipated a defeat on the morning of the 
 4th.' 
 
 "Answer. — 'I judge that they expected a defeat, from their hav- 
 ing sent all their wagons to the rear, some of which did not get back 
 until Wednesday. They had no ordnance whatever except what 
 they had in the limbers and caissons of their pieces, so I was told; 
 and I was ordered to report at the Tennessee River. I was taken 
 prisoner on Saturday, October 4th, about four A. m., on the road that 
 leads between Forts WiUiams and Robinet. I was ordered by Gen- 
 eral Stanley to report at some landing on the Tennessee River, I 
 think it was HemUing Landing— to General Rosecranz at sunset that 
 evening.' 
 
 "Colonel Wm. E. Barry, Thirty-fifth Mississippi regiment, of 
 Columbus, was detailed by me to report to General VanDorn, as 
 commander of the burial party, which was detailed and left by Gen- 
 eral VanDorn to discharge this solemn duty. General Rosecranz 
 declined to receive Colonel Barry's command within his lines, but 
 with a rare courtesy explained to General VanDorn that he was 
 forced to do this by considerations of a proper character, and assured 
 General VanDorn that 'every becoming respect should be shown to 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 69 
 
 his dead and wounded.' It is due to General Rosecranz to say that 
 he made good his promise as to the dead and wounded, of whom we 
 ielt many hundreds on the field. He" had the grave of Colonel Rodg- 
 ers, who led the Second Texas Sharpshooters, enclosed and marked 
 wilha slab, in respect to the gallantry of his charge. Rodgera fell 
 long before Gates called on me to reinforce him, and was buried 
 where he fell, on the edge of tne ditch of Battery Robinet. 
 
 "Colonel Barry remained near Chewalla, and had an opportunity 
 of counting the force with which Rosecranz pursued us, and he 
 reported it to me at twenty-two thousand men, from which I con- 
 cluded the force in Corinth must have been about thirty thousand 
 men when we attacked the place on the 4th of October. The com- 
 bined effective forces of VanDorn and Price, including all arms, 
 numbered on the morning of the 2d of October about eighteen thou- 
 sand six hundred men. Jackson's cavalry was detached towards 
 Bolivar; it numbered about one thousand effectives. Whitfield's 
 (Texas) Legion was left to guard Davis' bridge, and numbered about 
 five hundred eflfectives. Wirt Adams' brigade, one thousand effec- 
 tives, was also detached, to guard the approaches from Bolivar. 
 Bledsoe's battery was detached, with six guns and about one hundred 
 and twenty men. The force which actually assaulted Corinth on 
 October 4th [Price's corps only) did not exceed nine thousand effec- 
 tives. 
 
 "I think this battle illustrated the superior elan of Confederate 
 troops. 
 
 "The outer defences ot Corinth had, in the spring of 1872, held 
 Halleck's great army before them for six weeks; and although the 
 Confederate army holding those works was not half so strong as the 
 Federal army under Halleck, he never dared to attack us. 
 
 "In October, 1862, we found these conditions all reversed. Those 
 same works were then held by a Federal army, which we believed to 
 equal or exceed ours in number; yet we did not hesitate to attack 
 them, and with no more delay than was necessary to form our line of 
 battle. We marched upon those entrenchments without check or 
 hesitation, and carried them in just the time necessary for us to 
 traverse, at quick step, the space which divided our opposing lines. 
 
 "I have been careful to state correctly the force with which we 
 made this attack, because of the gross misrepresentations which have 
 so often been made of the opposing Confederate and Federal armies 
 during the late war. The school histories of the United States are 
 replete with this sort of disparagement of the Confederate armies. In 
 one of their histories I have recently seen a statement of VariDorn's 
 army at Corinth, at the exaggerated number of forty thousand 
 effectives. As you know, it very rarely happened to any Confederate 
 
70 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 general to lead so many of our troops against the enemy; and had 
 VanDorn led half so many against the inner works of Corinth, and 
 made them all fight as Price's corps did, we would have captured 
 Kosecranz's army. 
 
 "No commander of the Federal armies evinced more tenacity and 
 -skill than did General Rosecranz during this battle. He was one of 
 the ablest of the Union generals, and his moderation and humanity 
 in the conduct of war kept pace with his courage and skill. Our 
 dead received from him all the care due brave men who fell in manly 
 warfare, and our wounded and prisoners who fell into his hands 
 attest his soldierly courtesy." 
 
 It would be proper to state that where General Maury 
 speaks of being in front of Gen. Grant approaching on the 
 Burnsville road, that General Price had his whole force of 
 infantry formed in line of battle upon that road awaiting Gen- 
 eral Grant's attack. This force consisted of two divisions com- 
 manded by Generals Maury and Little, and their line of battle 
 was about three miles west of town. This line the whole force 
 held till about 4 p. m. on the evening of the 19th, when the 
 order came for Hebert's Brigade of Little's division to be sent 
 at once to meet the force approaching from the south, under 
 ,Gen. Rosecranz, on the Jacinto road. To do this, they vrere 
 compelled to pass back through luka, and then turn square to 
 the right. They were drawn off rapidly and marched the three 
 miles on quick-time and met the enemy one mile from town. 
 The distance, therefore, between the divisions of the two 
 armies was four miles. Hebert's brigade was formed into line 
 at once and ordered to charge. 
 
 In the meantime, an order had been sent for the remainder 
 of Gen. Little's division to go double-quick to the help of 
 Hebert. The First and Second Brigades of Missouri troops 
 went double-quick the four miles, closing up with a run. 
 When they reached the battle field, they found Gen. Hebert's 
 men hotly engaged. They came up with a cheer and a yell, 
 formed line and charged. Gen. Hebert's men had acquitted 
 themselves nobly. The enemy had massed together nine 
 pieces of artillery and around these the battle raged furiously. 
 The gunners stood to their posts till every one was killed but 
 three, and these were taken prisoners. Around that battery, 
 men, horses and caissons lay in a tangled mass. None save 
 those who viewed the field can have a conception of the fearful 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 71 
 
 carnage and the deeperateness of the struggle. When the Mis- 
 sourians came up, the battle was raging around this battery. 
 Hebert's men and the enemy had met hand to hand. The bat- 
 tery men aided by the infantry force were fighting with their 
 swords and sticks; the infantry had clubbed their guns or were 
 using the bayonet. It was a fight to the death. The Missou- 
 rians wheeling into line came rushing up to the help of their 
 comrades, and the united force drove the enemy back and cap- 
 tured the battery. Upon one acre of ground were hundreds 
 slain, and the acre was washed in blood; men lay in heaps 
 dead, wounded and dying. 
 
 From the time the battle commenced, for two mortal hours 
 it raged without a lull or halt, and only ended when darkness 
 hovered in its shrouded blackness over the scene. That night 
 the Confederate line of battle was among the Federal, wounded 
 and dead. And a dreadful night it was, the groans of the 
 dying, the pitiful cries of the wounded, the pleading of the 
 suflfering for one drop of water, to be moved a little, for some 
 one to hear from them one last word, to just look upon a face 
 once more. And the wounded artillery horses mingled their 
 calls and groans with the suffering. The scene was heart- 
 rending, and those who saw it never want it repeated. The 
 lines were so close together, that a movement upon one side 
 brought the fire of the other. But, notwithstanding the dan- 
 ' ger, many a "Rebel" risked his life that night to carry comfort 
 and blessing to a wounded, suflfering, or dying " Yank." When 
 we stand face to face with death, all hatred and animosity is 
 buried and the hand that gave the wound or the death shot is 
 raised in blessing. But over this dark and bloody spot we will 
 drop the curtain now with a hope that its sufferings and woes 
 may never be repeated. 
 
 At the battle of Corinth, the day of October 3rd was spent 
 in driving the enemy from his outer works, which was hand- 
 somely done; the Confederates capturing several pieces of 
 artillery, tents and a quantity of camp equipage. About 
 3 p. m", the First Brigade, commanded by Col. Gates, was 
 brought up to the support of the Second, commanded by Gen- 
 eral Green, which had become hotly engaged with the enemy. 
 But General Green's brigade drove him steadily before them 
 into their inner line of works. 
 
72 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The writer will never forget the appearance of General 
 Green as he rode, smiling, along the rear of the First Brigade, 
 that evening, just after the desperate charge of his men had 
 driven the enemy flying to their entrenchments. He had a 
 revolver in each hand, and his hands and face were black with 
 powder, showing that he had, indeed, been in the battle. He 
 had actually led the charge of his brigade. 
 
 At night General Maury's division and the Second Brigade 
 of Gen. Green's division occupied a line fronting the town of 
 Corinth, while the First Missouri Brigade and Col. Moore's 
 brigade of Mississippians occupied a line to the left and rear of 
 the town. 
 
 The enemy's works in front of these two last named 
 brigades were crescent shaped, the two brigades facing the 
 inside of the crescent. It will be seen at once that when they 
 advance within this half circle, they are not only subject to a 
 fire from front, but from each wing of the crescent. 
 
 Something of the magnitude of the undertaking of this 
 little army of the Confederacy may be imagined when we take 
 into consideration the fact that the Confederate forces are now 
 preparing to storm the works of their own building and that 
 Gen. Beauregard, with a force of forty thousand had held, and 
 in which he had defied a force of ninety thousand under Gen. 
 Halleck. Now these same works are held by a force of thirty 
 thousand, while a force of eighteen thousand propose to storm 
 them. And I will add, would successfully have done so had it 
 not been for the inexcusable and unwarrantable inactivity of 
 General Lovell commanding the right wing of General Van- 
 Dorn's army. 
 
 The writer of this history must ask the pardon of the 
 reader for referring to himself while he relates the history of 
 this charge, which will never die from his memory. He can 
 assure the reader that he does so with no spirit of egotism or 
 wish to set forth his courage above that of his brave compan- 
 ions. He could not give a just conception of the awful grand- 
 eur and fearful sublimity of the scene without it. To him the 
 picture was so vivid; the scene so grand, and the onset so real, 
 that now, though thirty long years have passed and his head is 
 frosted over with the frosts of many winters, his heart thrills 
 
BATTLES OF lUKA AND CORINTH. 73 
 
 with the same emotions, and his soul burns with the same 
 martial fire that filled it upon that bloody field. 
 
 His position in line was in front of the apex of the crescent 
 above described. This apex was upon the summit of a hill that 
 overlooked all the town, and from which one had a view of the 
 whole line of battle reaching away over the town and on to 
 College Hill, on the extreme right. Here was placed the 
 famous "Battery Eobiiiet," the ten guns of which swept the 
 whole center of the circle. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th, when the order was given to 
 move forward, the line arose from their concealment behind 
 the embankment of the railroad and sprang forward to the 
 work. On emerging from the timber into the open field, the 
 whole Federal line opened a fearful fire; the cannon belched 
 forth a perfect storm of grape and canister. The Confederates 
 met this with a yell, and the cry rang out down the line, "On 
 to the battery ! Capture the battery !" In front the ground was 
 bare and dusty. The writer's attention was called to the balls 
 striking the ground around him like great rain- drops in an 
 April shower; balls from the left and balls mixed with grape ' 
 and canister from the front. The carnage was fearful, men 
 falling all around, and for once the writer felt that he stood 
 face to face with eternity. But, notwithstanding the awfulness 
 of the death scene, he caught a glimpse of the charging squad- 
 rons as they rushed on all along the line and away over to the 
 right. The scene was gloriously sublime, and for a time he was 
 lost in the enchanting scenes around him. The roar of cannon, 
 the rattle of musketry, the clash of bayonets, and the shrill 
 shout of the charging brigades, while great pillars of smoke 
 rolled up along that line for more than a mile in extent, con- 
 stituted a scene never to be pictured by mortal pen. How long 
 the writer was held in this scene of grandeur he does not know. 
 A shout of "Hello!" roused him from his reverie, and he and 
 a mess-mate, G. N. Katliff, were clasped in each other's arms. 
 But here came the battle flag of the regiment proudly floating 
 out to the breeze and with a rush and a yell the men poured 
 over the works, and the battery and all the crescent line, and 
 still reaching on to the town and beyond were in the hands of 
 the Confederates. 
 
 General Maury has told you how the field was lost and 
 
74 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 here we let the curtain drop over the bloody scene. But it 
 covers a field of dead, many a brave will hear the shock of bat- 
 tle no more. It is true, nobody ran from that field of battle; it 
 was a stubborn, a sullen retreat, and many a soldier wept bitter 
 tears. Many a comrade parted that day to meet no more till 
 time shall close this mortal life. 
 
 On the evening after the battle of Corinth, the Confederate 
 force fell back about eight miles and rested for the night. 
 Next morning a detail was sent back to bury the dead, and the 
 army took up the line of retreat in the direction of Pocahontas. 
 But they were now startled by the sound of cannon in front 
 of them. A detachment of the enemy, of cavalry and infantry, 
 about 1500 strong, had secured the bridge on the Hatchie river 
 and perfectly blocked the way. The Confederates thus found 
 themselves between two fires. There was heavy skirmishing 
 all day. The Confederates filed off to the left and by con- 
 structing a temporary bridge on a dam across the river, suc- 
 ceeded in crossing during the night, and by the next morning 
 had all the enemy in the rear. 
 
 The army continued to retreat until the 9th, when they 
 took up camp at Holly Springs. Here it remained until the 
 4th of November, when orders were given to move. The com- 
 mand reached Abbeville, on the Mississippi Central R. E., 
 some twelve miles from the former camp, and three miles from 
 the Tallahatchee Eiver. On the 16th, the First Brigade was 
 ordered to move about six miles further down on the river 
 where they threw up strong fortifications. From this position 
 the army fell back, passing through Oxford, the 30th, and 
 reached Grenada on Friday, November the 5th. The enemy 
 were following and on the 6th, Gen. Lovell, setting an ambush, 
 captured 500 prisoners and six or seven hundred head of 
 horses. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 We must now turn our attention to our mail-carrier. It 
 was late in August when lie left the Confederate camp for his 
 destination in Missouri. It is now the first of November, and 
 surely time for his return. 
 
 He met with very little difiiculty in reaching the Federal 
 lines and passing on to St. Louis. It was after reaching the 
 State that his real trouble began. Missouri had the misfor- 
 tune of being somewhat divided in sentiment, though by far, 
 the larger portion of the people were in hearty sympathy with 
 the South. While Missouri was a slave State, yet but a small 
 portion of her people were slave owners. The sympathy of 
 the people of the State with the South, was not prompted by 
 any selfish motive; they, contended for a principle. But there 
 is, in every community, a restless, discontented class; these, 
 generally, illiterate and inclined to indolence, are always pos- 
 sessed of a spirit of jealousy and envy toward their more fortu- 
 nate neighbors. Not because of the evils of slavery itself, if it 
 be a;n evil, but that spirit of dissatisfaction with the state of 
 things that gives one man pre-eminence over another. There 
 are those who are not content to labor for the reward that 
 labor brings, but instead would see those who have enjoyed the 
 blessings of their labors brought down upon a level with them- 
 selves; men who have no ambition to aspire to a life of intelli- 
 gence, and the comfort that the reward of industry secures, 
 but ^ould bring those who are thus fortunate down to a lower 
 strata of life. Not that in all cases he would appropriate the 
 fruits of that labor to himself, but he would see his fortunate 
 neighbor dispossessed of his wealth. Hence, so often the torch 
 is applied to fine mansions and wealth wantonly consumed. 
 This class of people was, as a rule, the one that took sides with 
 the Federal Government; that is, so far as Missouri was con- 
 
76 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 cemed. True, an occasional slave owner himself, took sides 
 with the Government, but if he did, it was as one said to 
 another: "I am Union and the Government will not take my 
 negroes, but they will confiscate yours." The State being in 
 the hands of the Federal army, it gave this class of people 
 every opportunity to put their purpose of humbling, as they 
 termed it, their fortunate neighbor into practice. Every device 
 was resorted to, and every pretext invented, to bring the envied 
 neighbor into disrepute before the powers that be. Men with 
 whom you had been on the best of terms before, and who had 
 even been fed at your bounty, and had shared your hospitality, 
 suddenly became your enemy and, betraying confidence or in- 
 venting a pretext, became an informant to prefer charges 
 against you, and that often under cover, so that it often hap- 
 pened that good men were thrown into prison, who knew not 
 why or what were the reasons for it. If one had a little grudge 
 at his neighbor, all that, was necessary for him to be revenged 
 of his supposed wrong, was for him to ride to the nearest Fed- 
 eral post, and inform the commandant that his neighbor was a 
 "Eebel," or that he fed "Bush-whackers," and he would soon 
 have his whole plantation laid waste; and if his house was not 
 burned, soldiers were quartered upon him till he had nothing 
 left. Under this condition of things, every man looked with 
 suspicion upon every other man. 
 
 The writer does not wish to be understood as casting 
 odium upon all who, in Missouri, took sides with the Federal 
 Government; there were honorable and noble exceptions; men 
 who fought for principle, and who dealt justly and honorably 
 with even an enemy. He simply speaks of them as a class. 
 Nor does he wish his remarks to be applied any further than to 
 Missouri, or to those States in a similar condition. But he 
 speaks of the larger class in this State who acted with the Fed- 
 eral Government. Nor can we call these people naturally mur- 
 derers and robbers. They would, doubtless, have scorned to 
 appropriate a neighbor's property to their own use. But those 
 who did rob and plunder, were led to take sides, one way or the 
 other, and most generally with the party in power. To under- 
 stand the terrors of internal war, it is necessary to record all 
 these facts. 
 
 While this spirit of jealousy and animosity actuated the 
 
THE MAIL CARRIER. 77 
 
 citizens known to each other a stranger fared worse; he was 
 regarded with double suspicion and was set down by each 
 party as a spy upon their actions. It often happened that one 
 came to you in disguise, pretending to be a friend when only 
 seeking your destruction. Nor was this confined to one party 
 only. The country was infested with marauders and robbers 
 professing to be fighting for one side or the other, and hundreds 
 of men were murdered or robbed under a pretext of devotion to 
 the North or the South. 
 
 Such Captain Grimes found to be the condition of things 
 when he reached Missouri. He therefore had a thousand dan- 
 gers to encounter which he had not anticipated. Another mis- 
 fortune under which he labored, his plans under the condition 
 of things were not well chosen. The men living in dififerent 
 parts of the State, were instructed to have their mail sent to 
 difierent post-offlces, supposing that by this means, the collec- 
 tion of a great quantity of mail at any one place would be 
 avoided, and thus suspicion be kept down. He then expected 
 to visit these posts and gather up the letters and put them in 
 packages for transportation. True, he had had them directed 
 to the care of parties who were to call for them and keep them 
 until his arrival, but he subjected himself to great and con- 
 tinued danger in passing from one of these posts to another, as 
 well as subjecting his friend, who was to assist him, to capture 
 and imprisonment, if not to death. Men with the best of in- 
 tentions cannot always keep secrets, nor can they know in 
 whom to confide. The captain thus soori found that he had 
 a dark and rugged road to travel. 
 
 At Springfield, Mo., some one had confided to some other 
 one the name of the man to receive the letters and also the fact 
 that a man would, in a short time, call for them. This news 
 was conveyed to the Federal authorities and the result was 
 that a watch was set upon the inan; his every movement was 
 noted and he was set down as a friend to the Rebellion. Of 
 course the Post-master was a "Union man," as such were 
 called, and all the letters coming to that man were marked and 
 chronicled. Thus the evidence against him was made conclu- 
 sive before the captain arrived. 
 
 Captain Grimes had taken the precaution to send each 
 package of letters, as he collected them by express, to a friend 
 
78 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 in St. Louia, so that should he be captured, none of them would 
 be found in his possession. But on reaching Springfield, he 
 met with an unexpected diflBculty as described above. 
 Unknown to him he was looked for, and from the time he left 
 the stage his footsteps were watched. To him there was no 
 suspicion of trouble. True, there were Federal officers stand- 
 ing around the corridor of the hotel, but in that careless, indif- 
 ferent way that created no suspicion. The friend with the 
 letters had been notified to meet him at the hotel where they 
 were to be turned over to him and arranged for express. But 
 who can picture his surprise, when in the very act of receiving 
 the letters from his good friend, thoy are both seized by a guard 
 of Federal soldiers and cast into prison. The capture of the 
 letters was conclusive proof against them that they were acting 
 the part of spies, and after a court-martial had been sum- 
 moned and a brief trial had, they were found to be guilty and 
 sentenced to be shot. 
 
 The captain's friend was of a despondent nature, and at 
 once gave up to the darkest forebodings and the deepest 
 despair. They were confined in diflferent parts of the prison, 
 so that they could not possibly communicate with each other. 
 But the mettle of the captain was far different to that of his 
 friend; he knew no failures, and never gave up to defeat. He 
 had seen too much of life and was too well acquainted with the 
 nature of men to surrender without an effort. He had traveled 
 a great deal and had friends in every part of the country, and 
 then he so understood human nature that he made friends of 
 even his enemies. While his friend, who had received his let- ' 
 ters, was not with him, yet he had a room-mate, and though a 
 stranger, they soon became warm and devoted friends. 
 Through this room-mate, who was a citizen of that part of the 
 country and well known in the town, he soon opened up a com- 
 munication with the outside. Good and faithful ones were 
 soon enlisted in his behalf and any facility for escape was 
 awarded them that this outside could give. The^jail was not a 
 very secure one, being an old, confiscated hotel improvised for 
 the occasion and purpose. The design was to make it secure 
 -by a sufficient guard in and around it, a kind of cordon of bay- 
 onets. It is often forgotten that these guards are men, and 
 that having no personal interest in the matter and feeling that 
 
THE MAIL CARRIER. 79 
 
 there is no special principle involved, or no great demand for 
 patriotism, only the life of some poor man at stake, they are 
 willing for "a consideration" to lead a helping hand. Besides 
 this, there is a feeling of sympathy for the unfortunate in the 
 human breast vrhich makes mankind akin. And especially is 
 this true when our humanity is appealed to in that generous, 
 loving way that shows our kinship. Captain Grimes happened 
 to this good luck. There was a line of pickets surrounding the 
 jail, while there was one guard on constant duty in the hall, 
 besides the officer who inspected the different rooms or cells, as 
 they were termed, once a day. 
 
 The prison was a frame building with a hall runniug its 
 full length through the center. In this hall was a stairway 
 leading to a cellar below, where fruits and vegetables had once 
 been stored for the use of the hotel. This cellar was upon the 
 opposite side of the hall from that in which the captain was 
 confined. It was resolved to raise a plank or parts of plank in 
 the floor of their room, and then dig a way to the cellar, and 
 from there come up into the hall. The means to do this were 
 conveyed to them by friends outside, through the help of the 
 friendly guard. The plank taken up was so arranged, that it 
 could be replaced in a moment if an alarm was given and all 
 suspicion kept down. Besides, the floor was found to be at 
 least six inches above grouad, so that but little dirt was to be 
 removed till they reached the cellar wall, and that being of 
 brick, was not difficult to remove. The work, therefore, of 
 clearing a passage went on very rapidly. 
 
 Ml things being ready, they waited until the friendly 
 guard came on duty in the hall. Thus the inside of the prison 
 was really at their disposal. The captain had not only deter- 
 mined to make his own escape, but to rescue his friend also. 
 He was iSot the man to leave a friend in distress; they had 
 been engaged in the same thing, .were thrown into prison for 
 the same offense and condemned to the same death, and the 
 captain determined to link his life with that of his friend. He 
 had heard of his deep despondency, but had never communi- 
 cated to him a word of his own intentions; this friend, there- 
 fore, was in profound ignorance of the fact that deliverance was 
 so near. 
 
 A friend on the outside, had managed during the day to 
 
80 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 hide in the cellar two Federal overcoats, and one captain's 
 uniform, with sword and belt. This for a double purpose; one, 
 that the guard could have the excuse that he took them to be 
 Federal soldiers, as they often visited the cellar for their games, 
 going early in the evening before the night watch came on 
 and staying till late at night. The other purpose was to fur- 
 nish a disguise in the escape and to enable the captain to help 
 his friend. ^ 
 
 When the appointed hour came, the two men emerged 
 from their confinement, donned their uniform, and marched up 
 the stairway with the password or countersign. The cell in 
 which the captain's friend was confined was in another part of 
 the building and kept by a strange guard. But nothing 
 daunted, the captain, with his Federal armor, marched up to 
 the guard, and showing his uniform and having the password, 
 convinced him in a moment that the authority was good. 
 Sometimes the best and most convincing argument is the bold 
 audacity with which it is presented. He informed the guard 
 that he had been sent for the prisoner, calling his name, to 
 take him to headquarters preparatory to his execution. With- 
 out a word the guard gave him up and they walked unmolested 
 beyond all the outposts. But the poor fellow whom the cap- 
 tain was liberating, was all unconscious of the friendly hand 
 that was guiding him and supposed that he was being taken 
 to his death. 
 
 Oh, how many sleepless hours he had spent in his prison 
 cell, waiting and yet dreading this fearful moment, and how he 
 had trembled at the thought of death. Not so much that he 
 dreaded death itself, as the breaking of that tie of love that 
 bound him to earth and linked his life with that of others. 
 Oh ! how his heart now beat with fearful emotions when he 
 was called by the captain, and with what bewildering thoughts 
 did he go forth to, as he supposed, his death. He had a dear, 
 good wif^ and some sweet little children from whom he had 
 been suddenly snatched, and whose smile he had not seen or 
 sweet voices heard for several days. Oh, would he be permitted 
 to say the last good-by and if he did how could he say it and 
 leave them in a cold, heartless world. Home had been so 
 sweet and the prattle of those voices so dear, and the poor, 
 trusting, confiding good wife, God bless her! All these 
 
f.Lf>M:r 
 
THE MAIL CARRIER. 81 
 
 thoughts rushed rapidly through his mind aa they hurriedly 
 passed on, and so lost was he in his own distress and forebod- 
 ings, that he had taken no note of their steps; he had simply 
 walked on mechanically, knowing not where or how. 
 
 On they hurried, the captain preserving a perfect silence 
 until they were at least two miles beyond the limits of the 
 town and had entered a broken, woody country. Suddenly the 
 captain stopped, and turning round facing his friend and lifting 
 his cap so that he could give a full view of his face, he said: 
 "Friend, do you know meV The man for a moment looked 
 dazed and bewildered, strange emotions filled his heart, and 
 his. thoughts bo overcame him, that, exclaiming, "Bless 
 God," he sank to the ground unconscious. The captain seized 
 him by the hand as he fell and called to him, "Friend, rouse 
 up, you are safe. Rouse yourself, for you must fly for safety." 
 But there was no reply, save a groan, and the stars looking 
 down in their brightness revealed a face, as it were pale in 
 death. "Is it possible," said the captain, ''that I have taken 
 the life I have labored so hard to save?" "Friend, friend," he 
 cried in his agony, "speak to me, I have saved you from your 
 enemies." But a death stillness settled around and the night 
 wind only sighed through the forest trees. He ran to the little 
 brook close by, and gathering a handful of water, bathed the 
 unconscious man's face, and after a few moments he was happy 
 in seeing him revive. The man raising up, threw his arms 
 around the captain, but he could only say, "God bless you." 
 
 But no time was to be wasted in sentiment or congratula- 
 tions. The night was far spent and there would be commotion 
 in camp when the morning came and it was discovered that 
 the prisoners were gone. The captain spoke a few words of 
 cheer, apprised his friend of their danger and told him in a 
 hurried way where to go and how to keep himself concealed, 
 and then, after speaking an affectionate and hurried farewell, 
 was off for liberty. 
 
 There was a sign by which many Southern people knew 
 each other. Captain Grimes had the knowledge of this and by 
 it was helped out of many difficulties. This was greatly to his 
 purpose now. When daylight came, he was some distance 
 from Springfield, and being well acquainted with the geography 
 of the country, was in an unfrequented part of it. Cautiously 
 
82 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 approaching a farm house, he waited patiently till the owner 
 appeared to attend to his stock. The farmer was gray-headed, 
 with a long, white beard, and had the appearance of a good 
 Christian man. When the captain first saw him he was 
 favorably impressed. We sometimes read the lives and hearts 
 ot men at first glance. The captain had felt that he was taking 
 a great risk, but risks must be taken; he was very tired and 
 hungry, besides, he had spent a sleepless, weary night. 
 
 Although the captain was so favorably impressed, yet he 
 approached the presence of the man cautiously. When the 
 farmer discovered him, the captain saw at once that he was 
 not only surprised, but afraid. This to him was a good omen 
 and confirmed his good impression. "For," he argued to him- 
 self, "if he were a Union man he would not be afraid of a Fed- 
 eral officer." He gave him the sign of a Southern man, which 
 the farmer recognized, and after some hesitancy, answered. 
 It sometimes happened that the enemy got possession of these 
 signs and passwords and it proved evidence against a South- 
 erner. Therefore it was by no means conclusive evidence that 
 one was a Southern man because he was in possession of these 
 signs and passwords. To the farmer here was a very suspicious 
 character indeed, dressed as he was in full uniform with 
 sword and all the paraphernalia of an officer of rank. But 
 the more the farmer showed his fear, the better was the cap- 
 tain convinced that he was a true man. By degrees he came 
 near to him, and being so thoroughly convinced of the farmer's 
 politics, the captain fully and freely unbosomed himself and 
 revealed his true condition. The farmer soon became earn- 
 estly enlisted in his behalf, and took him to a place of secure 
 hiding for a day or two, and furnished him with the best 
 rations his larder could affijrd, which, by the way, were not 
 mean, and which the captain relished and enjoyed. A bon-fire 
 was made of his Federal uniform, the sword was buried and 
 the captain was left in full citizen dress. 
 
 In a few nights a good fleet horse had been secured and 
 the captain .mounted, and with a good, faithful guide was con- 
 veyed far from Springfield in the direction of the Missouri 
 River. 
 
 At one of the inland towns by the way, he received a 
 package of letters which he was compelled to take with him 
 
THE MAIL CARRIER. 83 
 
 until he could reach an express office at some railroad station. 
 For this purpose and to meet other engagements, he deter- 
 mined to cross the river at a little town called Arrow Rock, 
 and thence to make his way to what was then called the North 
 Missouri railroad in Randolph county. The evening before 
 reaching Arrow Rock, he fell in with a Colonel Peecher, a 
 Southern recruiting officer, and four others also moving toward 
 the river at the same point, with a design of crossing. It was 
 not the wish of Captain Grimes to travel with a squad of men, 
 nor did he now think it the best policy, but he was well 
 acquainted with Col. Peecher, and knew him to be a jolly, good 
 fellow. Besides, it was not supposed, as this was a little place 
 and off trom any railroad, that they would meet with any dif- 
 ficulty in crossing the river. He, therefore, concluded they 
 would all go together till the river was crossed, at least. An- 
 other reason why he thought it best to go on, was, that there 
 were but few places on the river where ferry boats could be 
 found, and he did not wish to risk swimming his horse by a 
 skiff across that ugly stream. 
 
 But the hope that the ferry at Arrow Rock was not guarded 
 proved delusive. When the colonel and his men came in 
 sight, it was discovered that there was a company of militia 
 stationed there. When this discovery was made, a consulta- 
 tion was had as to the best course to pursue. It was argued 
 that as it was near night, the ferry-boat, which was a flat boat 
 to be paddled over, was on the side of the river next to the 
 town. It was, therefore, determined to dash down into the 
 town, and if the ferry man would not instantly obey, the men 
 would take possession and row the boat over before the people 
 or the militia could recover from their surprise, or understand 
 what was going on. Had the condition of things have been as 
 they had hoped, their scheme would have worked nicely. But 
 who can describe their consternation and surprise when they 
 found that the boat was on the other side of the river? The 
 only possibility of escape now lay in a hasty retreat. But 
 when after their surprise and chagrin had somewhat passed 
 away, they turned around to face the inevitable they saw 
 the way was blocked by a line of bayonets. The militia know- 
 ing the men were surrounded, and as they thought all hope of 
 escape cut off, supposed they would surrender. They little 
 
84 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 knew the spirit of the men they had to contend with. Surren- 
 der was not in their vocabulary, and as long as a possibility of 
 escape was before them, they determined to avail themselves 
 of that possibility. A militia-man ran up and seized Col. 
 Peecher's horse by the bridle and ordered him to dismount. 
 But no sooner was this done than one of the men dashed up 
 and with the butt of his pistol knocked the man down. The 
 design was to save every load possible for the emergency. The 
 men then made a dash to break through the lines. The militia 
 were taken so by surprise at the boldness of the undertaking, 
 and so mixed up were they with each other, that though they 
 began firing, it was a very wild fire. Pistols cracked and 
 muskets rattled in quick succession. Captain Grimes had his 
 horse shot from under him at almost the first fire; but he ran 
 rapidly down to the edge of the water and took down the river 
 under cover of the bank, and so engaged were the Federal 
 soldiers with the other five, that they did not seem to notice 
 him till he was gone, having received a flesh wound in his 
 arm. The other five men made their escape, but each of them 
 wounded more or less severely. Nor had the militia escaped; 
 several of them were badly wounded. But the strange coinci- 
 dence of all of it was, that though in the escape they all be- 
 came scattered, no two going the same way, yet they all met at 
 the same point of the river below that night, and were carried 
 over in a skifi', under cover of the darkness, and were cared for 
 in their hiding place, in the hills, till they were able to travel. 
 "Ah," said the Captain, "there is a 
 
 Hand that shapes our ends, a 
 
 Presence that points our way." 
 After the captain had recovered from his wound, which 
 was not a severe one, he made his way to the points to be 
 visited in North Missouri, collected his mail, took the cars for 
 St. Louis, and gathering it all together, shipped it to Memphis, 
 Tenn., and taking a boat, soon reached that place himself. 
 Here he dressed himself as an old citizen and succeeded in 
 making his way through the country to Grenada, Miss., which 
 place he reached on the morning of the 6th of November, just 
 the day after the army reached that place. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ELLA HERBERT. 
 
 It was a glad and happy day to many of the old soldiers 
 when Captain Grimes came into camp loaded with messages 
 from the dear ones at home. True, some were disappointed; 
 some of the letters had been captured and some had failed to 
 write; but altogether, it was a happy day. Many of the 
 men had heard from their people and those who had received 
 no letters joyfully listened to the news from others, and so all 
 were happy. The captain was congratulated upon his success, 
 and encouraged to undertake again. 
 
 But the captain had learned by experience that his under- 
 taking was too much for one, and he must have some help. 
 He and George Tracy were great friends and often in each 
 other's confidence. They both understood the condition of 
 things in Missouri, and were acquainted with many of the peo- 
 ple. He therefore sought George's tent and laid his plans be- 
 fore him. He said that he had many friends in St. Louis, and 
 'that he had determined to have all the mail sent to that place; 
 that it could be addressed to different names and all be col- 
 lected into one place, and save the trouble and danger of going 
 over the country and collecting it up. "But," he added, "I 
 must have help, and the best help I can have, will be a brave, 
 discreet, trusty young woman — to her will be attached less 
 suspicion and her ingenuity can contrive to get the mail to 
 Memphis better than I can. I must have a lady of calmness 
 under trying circumstances; one that can face danger, knowing 
 it to be danger, and yet face it without flinching; one whose 
 lips can remain sealed under any necessity, and yet one of 
 ready wit, and who can give an answer when that answer can 
 do good." 
 
 In an instant the last words of Ella Herbert flashed over 
 George's mind: "Eemember, if I am needed, for you, your com- 
 
86 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 radea, or oar country, I shall not be found wanting"; and he 
 replied, "I know one in Missouri who fills your measure to per- 
 fection." 
 
 "But," said the captain, "will she fill it? Can you vouch for 
 her assistance in case I call for it? I must know this before a 
 move is made." 
 
 "If you call upon her she will fill the place," was the 
 emphatic reply, "and in everythinfr, you can rely upon her with 
 the most implicit confidence." 
 
 "Well, then," said the captain, "the question as to who it 
 shall be that is to help in this matter is settled. I do not be- 
 lieve you would send me upon an uncertain mission in so im- 
 portant a matter. It now remains for you to give me her name 
 and address, and for you to send to her a letter of introduction, 
 and to inform her of the part she is expected to act." 
 
 "But," said Tracy, "Captain, I do not know that in this 
 case my own skirts would be clear." 
 
 The truth is, Tracy had been talking from impulse and 
 enthusiasm, in the success of the plan. Now that it was about 
 to be adopted, he began to hesitate, and as the danger pre- 
 sented itself more and more, he began to regret what he had 
 said. May be there was a degree of selfishness about it; but 
 whether there was or not, he knew that Ella would be exposed 
 to great danger and may be lose her life. Therefore, he con- 
 tinued : 
 
 "That woman, captain, is to me what no other can be, and 
 while I know she will not falter in this undertaking, yet how 
 dare I ask it at her hands. Should misfortune befall her, will 
 I not stand condemned as her murderer? And can I murder 
 her whose life is sweet to me as my own? Oh the bitterness of 
 such an hour! And how dark the world would be with its 
 brightest light blotted out, and that by my own hand. Will 
 she not reproach me as ungrateful in asking her to risk so 
 much; and would she not in the hour of a fearful death, should 
 it ever come to that, curse me and the hour in which I was 
 born?" 
 
 "Remember," said the captain, "that while you, doubtless, 
 have the strongest aflfection for her, yet you have an obligation 
 to your fellow-men, and if she be the woman I take her to be, 
 she will be glad of that opportunity that is thus afforded of 
 
ELLA HERBERT. 87 
 
 bringing blessings to so many homes and hearts. And she will 
 but honor you the more for that trust you have reposed in her. 
 Nor will she attach blame to you, or think your love the less, 
 should she meet even with death, for, doubtless, when this 
 struggle began, she encouraged you to go forward in defense of 
 the right, yet knowing you might never return." 
 
 "True,captain, it may be so, but the thought that if she die 
 that death will lay at my own door to haunt me through life, 
 how could 1 endure it?" 
 
 "But some one must, and if success crown our efforts, think 
 of the thousand blessings thus conferred and how sweet the 
 recollections of them will be in the after years, when the storm 
 of battle has passed away." 
 
 "Well," said Tracy, "I will give you her address and name, 
 and I will send her a message as to your coming; but, captain, 
 I must acquaint her of all the dangers and diflBculties that will 
 attend the undertaking and ask her forgiveness for calling 
 upon her to fill so dangerous a place." 
 
 The captain replied that that was all perfectly right. "Let 
 her know the undertaking and knowing, if she undertake, she 
 will succeed." 
 
 It was, therefore, arranged that each one writing home, or 
 to friends, should inform them how to answer. St. Louis was 
 to be headquarters for the mail, and the different regiments 
 were given different names, so that, in collecting the letters, 
 suspicion would not attach too much to one person. 
 
 These names all meant the same person, and Capt. Grimes 
 kept a list of them so that it could be known whose name to 
 use in calling for letters. 
 
 Having made these arrangements and having acquainted 
 the soldiers of what was expected of them. Tracy sat down and 
 wrote the following letter to Miss Ella Herbert: 
 
 Dear Ella. — When you read this, you will doubtless regard me 
 as both unfaithful and ungrateful. But I assure you that I have 
 been prompted to it by the highest considerations of manhood and 
 womanhood. It is not a thing that is in any sense dishonorable, or 
 that will bring discredit upon any one. The disgrace that may 
 attach to it, if there be any, lies in its failure. With success there is 
 a crown of honor and a blessed reward. But even failure cannot 
 attach odium to an act of charity and a messenger of love and mercy. 
 
88 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 But as my space is limited, I must hasten to inform you of the 
 part you are asked to play in this awful drama. 
 
 It has been determined to establish a mail line between the Mis- 
 sourians east of the Mississippi Eiver, who are in the Confederate 
 "army, and their friends in Missouri. Captain Grimes has made one 
 trip that was in great part successful. But he cannot attend to it 
 alone. He has found it absolutely necessary that answers may be 
 sent, collected and safely delivered, that some one help him. I 
 remembered your parting words and I thought that providence 
 might bring us together some day. Pardon this selfish thought of 
 mine, for it was prompted by the highest consideration of your wel- 
 fare, and from the deep interest I felt for you, and the longing to see 
 you once more in these dark and dreary days. I also felt that you 
 would take pleasure in such an act of kindness. For I can assure you 
 that these letters do bring great blessings to the weary soldier. And 
 I knew you was capable of the great undertaking. I, therefore, sug- 
 gested your name, and you were readily accepted. 
 
 The captain has your address and wUl either write or call upon 
 you — most likely call, and will inform you of the part you are to per- 
 form. You will find-him a man of perfect honor, and one in whom 
 you can safely confide. 
 
 But, my dear, you must understand that the undertaking is a 
 hazardous one. If you are captured, you will be treated as a spy, 
 and the rules of war are such, that if found guilty, you will be shot. 
 Oh I I shudder at the mere mention of the word. 
 
 But somehow, I feel that you will succeed, and then thousands of 
 blessings will fall upon your head. Eemember, the work in which 
 you will be engaged will be one of love and mercy, and I believe that 
 the God of mercy will guard and keep you. Eemember, you believe 
 He cares for all, and marks the course of every dart, and watches the 
 missiles as they fly. But I want you to keep in mind that if you are 
 ever in need of a friend, and you can get word to me, I will come to 
 your help at the risk of all. Do not fail to trust me. 
 
 And now may that God in whom you believe, and by whose 
 mercy alone I am preserved, and who gives ua all needed blessings, 
 preserve you and be your sufficiency, and bring us both to the blessed 
 home of peace in the near future. Farewell. 
 
 Geoegb Teact. 
 
 There were a few more busy days in camp preparing the 
 messages for the home circle and again Captain Grimes took 
 his leave of the command and was off for Missouri. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 GRAND GULF AND PORT GIBSON. 
 
 On reaching Grenada, Gen. Price's corps occupied the left, 
 the first Missouri Brigade the extreme left— Gen. VanDorn's 
 corps the right. Gen. Pemberton, having assumed full com- 
 mand, occupied the center. Fortifications were thrown up all 
 along the Yellow Bushy River, in front of the army and prepara- 
 tions were made for defense. 
 
 On the 14th, the army received the news of Lee's victory 
 at Petersburg, and also that President Davis and Gen. Joseph 
 E. Johnston were on their way to pay the army a visit. They 
 arrived the 24th of December, and reviewed the whole army. 
 As the president passed along down the line in review, the 
 First and Second Brigades were requested to give the Missouri 
 yell, which they did with a will. The president acknowledged 
 the compliment by raising his hat. Then three cheers were 
 given for Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. After the president and 
 his escort had passed down the line, the whole army passed in 
 review before him. 
 
 Everything remained quiet in camp till the 28th of Jan- 
 uary, when the whole command fell back to Jackson, the capi- 
 tol of Mississippi. On the 2d of February, a gun-boat passed 
 the batteries at Vicksburg. On the 7th, the camp of the Mis- 
 sourians was moved to within fifteen miles of Vicksburg, and 
 on the 15th, another gun-boat ran past the batteries at that 
 place. The roar of cannon was distinctly heard in camp. 
 
 While in this camp Gen. Price took leave of his command 
 and went to Richmond. The purpose of his mission was to 
 ask to be transferred to the Trans-Mississippi department. 
 Permission being given him, his command in Gen. Pemberton's 
 army ended here. 
 
 General John S. Bowen was placed in command of that 
 division of the army known as the First and Second Brigade of 
 
90 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. ' 
 
 Missouri troops. He having been transferred with, his (the 
 First) regiment of Missouri troops from Gen. Lovell's com- 
 mand. These two brigades were now composed of the follow- 
 ing regiments. The First Brigade was composed of the First, 
 Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Regiments of Missouri 
 Infantry, and was placed under the command of Col. F. M. 
 Cockrell. This was the first time he took command of that 
 brigade that afterwards became known as Cockrell's Brigade. 
 
 The Second Brigade was composed of the First and Third 
 Missouri cavalry (dismounted) and the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, 
 Sixteenth and Seventeenth Arkansas Regiments of Infantry. 
 It is proper and just to say that both before and after this, 
 these Arkansas regiments fought side by side with the Missouri 
 troops, and whatever of valor, endurance, hardships or devo- 
 tion was attached to the one of right belongs to the other. 
 Gen. Lovell was removed from command by order of the Presi- 
 dent, and Genral VanDorn was placed in command of the 
 cavalry. 
 
 General Grant had become satisfied that he could not suc- 
 cessfully move upon Vicksburg with his base of supplies at 
 Memphis, which was to be kept open by railroad. He, there- 
 fore, withdrew his whole force to the west bank of the Missis- 
 sippi River and sat down in front of Vicksburg. To his land 
 force was added the immense gun-boat, mortar and naval fleet 
 of Admiral Porter. From the very condition of things, it was 
 evident that Gen. Grant intended to swing around and attempt 
 the capture of the place, either from above or below. 
 
 To watch and guard the approach of the enemy from below. 
 Gen. Bowen, with the First and Second Brigades, organized as 
 above, was ordered on the 9th of March, to move down the 
 river to Grand Gulf, and to occupy and strengthen the fortifi- 
 cations at that place. The march to this place was through a 
 beautiful part of the State of Mississippi, and that too, in the 
 spring time when nature had put on her most beautiful gar- 
 ments. It was also through the wealthy and cultured part of 
 the State. For once the soldiers of these brigades could truly 
 say that their pathway was strewn with flowers. Not only by 
 nature's lavish hand, but the generous, noble-hearted people 
 lined the way, and every soldier carried a bouquet, fashioned 
 by some fair hand, a marked contrast between this and some of 
 
GRAND GULF AND PORT GIBSON. 91 
 
 the dark and bloody days. Besides all this, the mea were 
 passing over historic ground. A part of the way they marched 
 over the road cut out in 1815 by the troops under "Old Hickory 
 Jackson," as he marched to the historic fields of New Orleans. 
 Leaving Camp Pritchard on the Big Black River, after a three 
 days' march, the troops reached the neighborhood of Grand 
 Gulf, and pitched their tents March the 12th, 1863. 
 
 Grand Gulf is very properly named; not alone from the 
 beautiful body of water, but in connection with this, Nature's 
 hand has painted it with a beautiful landscape of variegated 
 form and colors. At the confluence of the Black River with the 
 Mississippi is formed a beautiful sheet of water forming the 
 gulf, and at this junction is formed high promontories of land 
 rising some three or four hundred feet above the water, and at 
 this point reaching down to the water's edge, gradually reced- 
 ing as the line extends down the Mississippi, forming a narrow 
 valley in which was once situated a beautiful city — now laid 
 waste. At this point and somewhat under the bluff was situ- 
 ated what was known as the upper battery, while down below, 
 about a quarter of a mile, were the lower batteries. Between 
 these two batteries and running along at the port of the blufl 
 was a line of entrenchments occupied by the infantry. 
 
 Standing upon the top of this promontory, one had a grand 
 view of the river, reaching up above almost directly in front, as 
 the river made a great bend, to Hard Times, some five or six 
 miles away, and below almost as far as the eye could reach, 
 while away over and beyond this grand river was the beautiful 
 lake, St. Joseph, twenty-five miles in length, whose banks were 
 dotted with the finest farms in the State of Louisiana. 
 
 Passing up from the river a mile away from these hills, was 
 a beautiful table land, of the finest quality of soil, and dotted 
 over with the finest farms in the State. The camp of the Mis- 
 sourians upon this table-land was both healthy and pleasant. 
 And to add to their comfort, they were in the midst of cultured 
 and refined civilization. Every soldier found at each fireside a 
 home, and received a welcome that stamped upon his memory 
 the good hospitality of the people of that part of the State. 
 The soldier will never forget the kindness shown him by these 
 generous, whole-souled people. 
 
 While in camp at this place, General Price took his leave 
 
92 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 of the army and crossed the river to join the forces in the 
 Trans-Mississippi department. This was very trying to the 
 Missouri veterans. They had been promised that their stay in 
 the Mississippi department should be brief, and they had long 
 and patiently waited for the order to cross over. And now the 
 order had come for their loved Chieftain to leave them and to 
 take command of their brothers in the other department. But 
 in this trying hour they proved themselves men, as they were; 
 duty rose above selfish desires or selfish ambition, and, with a 
 devotion and a heroism that only brave men know, they bowed 
 submissively to the command of their superiors. General 
 Price went with the blessings of all his men. 
 
 Governor Eeynolds took leave at the same time and several 
 others, not members of the two brigades, crossed over to the 
 Trans-Mississippi department. 
 
 From the 12th of March, to the 31st, were the most pleas- 
 ant days the two brigades ever spent in camp. There was 
 nothing took place to disturb the peace and quiet of camp; 
 rations of the best quality had been supplied in abundance; 
 the camp duties had not been arduous, and the gentleness and 
 kindness which the soldiers had received from the people had 
 made their stay exceedingly pleasant. Besides all this, the 
 hand of nature had spread its bounty and beauty all around 
 them. The Missourian had dreamed of the "Sunny South," 
 the land of flowers and the twining evergreens; now, for once 
 in his life, he beheld them in their reality. Not only the beau- 
 tiful flowers, but the air was fragrant with their perfume. 
 What a contrast with the rugged days of battle and the toils of 
 conflict. One goes back to these glad hours and would linger 
 on that blessedspot, and, if possible, shut out the darkness of 
 battle forever. 
 
 But time moves on, nor asks to stay, and fate in its inexor- 
 able decree, suddenly drops the blackness of night over the 
 brightest days and adds its remorseless sting to the pleasures 
 of life. On the 31st of March, the command is awakened to 
 the reality of things; to a knowledge that the war is not over 
 and that in the midst of sunshine the storm is gathering in the 
 distance. Word came to camp that the war ship, Hartford, 
 and two gunboats, which had passed up the river on the 14th, 
 were on their way down. They ahchored up the river till night- 
 
GRAND GULF AND PORT GIBSON. 93 
 
 fall, and then came down and passed the batteries very rap- 
 idly, firing as they passed. The sight was a very beautiful 
 one. The boats whirling down the river with the light burn- 
 ing brilliantly in all the rigging, firing broadside after broad- 
 side, sending the burning shells as so many meteors plying 
 land-ward, while all the river batteries answered back with 
 bursting shot that presented a weird scene, beautiful and 
 charming. 
 
 After this momentary flash of battle, things moved on 
 quietly till the evening of the 4th. Gen. Bowen had learned 
 that the enemy was advancing down the river on the Louis- 
 iana side, and he determined to send a force across to intercept 
 and watch their movements.. This fell to the lot of the First, 
 Second, Third and Fifth Missouri Infantry, with no artillery 
 and no cavalry except Major Harrison's Louisiana battalion, 
 which was already on that side. The troops were put on board 
 a transport and conveyed up the river to a little station called 
 "Hard Times." From there they marched along Lake St. 
 Joseph, a distance of twenty-five miles, at the head of which 
 and fronting the river was Ool. Perkins' dwelling. He had had 
 a beautiful residence, in front of which was a large grove of 
 live oaks running out to the river a distance of near a half 
 mile. In this beautiful grove the army camped. Col. Perkins, 
 on the approach of the Federal boats some months before that, 
 _had burned his own residence rather than give his enemies 
 that pleasure. Here, in this grove, the army rested quietly for 
 several days. 
 
 Since hostilities had commenced, the levee on the river 
 had been cut in several places, besides, it had broken in others 
 and no repairs being made, it was in a very bad condition to 
 resist a flood. The spring rains above had raised all the 
 streams flowing into this great river, and the flood was coming 
 pouring down, breaking through the gaps in the levee and 
 flooding all the low country in Louisiana. The high ground 
 along the river bank and around the borders of Lake St. Joseph 
 were all that was left uncovered by the water. The skifis and 
 little boats on the lake were gathered up and a considerable 
 fleet was organized and manned under the command of Capt. 
 Patrick Canifi', of the fifth regiment with his company, and a 
 company under Capt. F. B, Wilson, of the Second regiment. 
 
94 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 This command formed the skirmish line, or line of pickets. 
 On the night of the 14th, Col. Cockrell, with the First and 
 Second Infantry, having waded through swamps and water 
 that averaged waist deep, for about six hours, surprised and 
 completely routed a body of cavalry, capturing many of them 
 together with their commissary stores and camp equipage. 
 About the time of the capture of these, which was after mid- 
 night, heavy cannonading was heard above, indicating an en- 
 gagement with the gunboats and river batteries, and on the 
 morning of the 17th, Col. Cockrell received information that a 
 fleet of gunboats had passed Vicksburg and was on its way 
 down the river to cut oif his retreat. The command was busy 
 cooking breakfast, when the cry was heard, "a gunboat! a gun- 
 boat!" At the same time an orderly dashed up with orders, from 
 Gen. Bowen, to retreat with all possible speed. The order was, 
 to be ready to march in ten minutes. 
 
 "Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro." 
 The Missourian had faced the enemy in many ways and 
 under many adverse circumstances, but this was a new feature 
 in war. He had never raced with gunboats. The day was one 
 of those oppressively hot ones; not a solitary cloud to hide the 
 sun even for a moment; and a march of twenty-flve miles to 
 make and a fleet of gunboats puffing and steaming in the rear. 
 Breakfast was thrown into the haver-sacks half cooked, and in 
 ten minutes the army was on the march. Not a soldier broke 
 ranks, not one lagged behind; at quick step they started and at 
 quick step finished the day's march. The march from camp to 
 Hard Times, a distance of twenty-five miles, was made in seven 
 hours. When the command reached Hard Times, the gun- 
 boats were in sight above and the boat to convey them from 
 there to the gulf was hid up in the mouth of Black River, 
 afraid to come out. The soldier dropped exhausted upon the 
 river bank feeling that all his eflFort had beeu in vain. But it 
 sometimes happens that an enemy does not know the advan- 
 tages it has. Such was the case this time; for after coming 
 around the bend of the river, but a few miles away, and in full 
 view of the works at Grand Gulf, the fleet withdrew out of 
 sight and the transport ventured over to the relief of the 
 troops, and soon after dark the whole command was safe in the 
 fortifications at Grand Gulf. 
 
GRAND GULF AND PORT GIBSON. 95 
 
 On the night of the 22d, heavy cannonading was heard in 
 the direction of Vicksburg, and it was learned that more gun- 
 boats had passed with several transports. By the 28th, there 
 were gathered at Hard Times, on the Louisiana side, and five 
 miles from the gulf, seven gunboats and five transports. 
 
 On the morning of the 29 th, the gunboats above formed in 
 line with the evident intention of making an attack upon the 
 Confederate works. From the high promontory above, where 
 one had a view of the whole scene, the advance of the fieet was 
 watched with the deepest interest. It was a sight never to be 
 forgotten. Those seven black monsters formed in line one 
 above another, while from mast-head and rear streamed out a 
 hundred banners, partially obscured by the black columns of 
 smoke that rolled up from each chimney. There was never an 
 emblem of war more striking. These boats were steaming 
 down from the west, and the sun's bright rays from the east 
 upon those immense columns of smoke, and its reflection 
 through them upon the fiery stars and stripes, made one feel 
 that all the pent-up wrath of ten thousand furies were moving 
 down upon him. They moved slowly, majestically, grandly, 
 frowning as they came. A kind of dread silence hovered over 
 the whole scene, such as settles upon nature before the burst- 
 ing storm. 
 
 When within about a mile of the works, three white pufls 
 of smoke from the front of the foremost boat, followed by the 
 shrieking noise of shell, announced the battle opened. The 
 foremost boat followed by two others, passed the upper battery 
 firing broad-side after broad- side as they came and took posi- 
 tion in front of the lower battery. The others took up their 
 position in front of the upper battery. And then "Thunder 
 answers thunder's m.uttering sound of sullen wrath " The 
 waters quivered, the earth shook, and the air seemed filled with 
 the missiles of death. Broad-side came after broad-side in 
 quick succession. 
 
 One gunboat was disabled early in the action and floated 
 below. Another came up under the guns of the upper battery 
 so close, that the guns of the battery could not be depressed so 
 as to touch it, and was doing terrible damage to the works, 
 when a company of sharp-shooters was detailed to open fire 
 Upon it. The fire into the port- holes was so destructive, that 
 
96 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 they soon had to be closed and the boat shoved oflf. The bom- 
 bardment lasted five hours. It was estimated that the enemy 
 threw ten shots a minute, or 600 shots an hour, or during the 
 five hours, 3,000 shots. Ool. Wade was killed at the lower bat- 
 tery, and thus the Confederates lost a loved, brave and hon- 
 ored artillery officer. Eleven men of the third Missouri, which 
 was in the ditches, were kill ed and wounded by the bursting of 
 a shell. 
 
 About one o'clock the fleet drew off up to Hard Times, and 
 each gunboat lashed a transport to the opposite side of it from 
 the Confederate batteries, and just after dark pass by and 
 anchored below. Gen. Grant transferred his troops by land to 
 a point on the river below, opposite a little station called 
 Bruinsburg, and just below the mouth of Bayou Pierre, and by 
 five o'clock the next evening was ready to begin the ■work of 
 transferring his men over. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BATTLES OF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S 
 CREEK. 
 
 It has not been the part of this history to criticise the 
 actions of the commanding general. Still there are some 
 things connected with these movements that the historian 
 cannot pass over without some comment. The writer cannot 
 indulge, for a moment, the thought, that some historians have 
 charged, and that many seemed to believe at the time, that 
 General Pemberton sold Vicksburg. The result shows that if 
 such a thing had been true, that it not only reflected upon the 
 character of Gen. Pemberton, but also upon that of Gen. 
 Grant. If such a thing could have been true, it was sold at 
 the cost of thousands of lives, and the entailing of untold hard- 
 ships upon two armies. It could not be that Gen. Grant would 
 be a party to the purchase of military glory at such a cost, or 
 that Gen. Pemberton's manhood would be so low as to so traffic 
 in human suflfering. But it must be conceded that he was 
 incapacitated for so great a work. There is, also, another 
 question that reaches above and beyond this, that certainly 
 shows at least a blunder in some one else. The question natu- 
 rally arises, why was Gen. Pemberton ever given command of 
 so important a post? He was a man untried and entirely 
 unknown to military fame, was a perfect stranger to this part 
 of the army, and had on no occasion been given in command of 
 an important point. When, then, the position was so import- 
 ant, why was not some one given in charge of known ability? 
 It was not because the South did not have such men. The 
 question is, who were most to blame. Gen. Pemberton for his 
 incapacity, or those who put him there. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the movements of Gen. Grant were 
 plain to be seen, and it did seem his object so clear, it would 
 seem that Gen. Pemberton could not wake up to his danger. 
 
 97 
 
98 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 To a very casual observer, there could have been but one pur- 
 pose in running the transports by the batteries at Vicksburg, 
 and then by Grand Gulf. Besides all of this, from the high 
 bluff at Grand Gulf, Grant's whole infantry force could be seen 
 marching down the river on the opposite side. Gen. Bowen 
 sent courier after courier to Gen. Pemberton notifying him of 
 this fact, and that he must have reinforcements, or all was lost. 
 Still Gen. Pemberton hesitated — still he delayed. 
 
 On the evening of the 30th of April, Gen. Grant began the 
 work of crossing his infantry over the river and landing them 
 at Bruinsburg. To meet this advance. Gen. Bowen had the 
 First Missouri Brigade, commanded by Col. Oockrell, and the 
 Second Missouri which had just arrived from Edward's Station, 
 commanded by Gen. Martin E. Green. With this little force 
 it will be seen that Gen. Bowen was powerless to meet the 
 advance of Grant's army. It will also be seen, that had Gen. 
 Pemberton have thrown all his available force from Vicksburg 
 to this point, he might have beaten Gen. Grant's force by 
 detail. True, he was crossing his troops over under cover of 
 his gunboats. But these were in such condition as not to be 
 the dangerous things imagined. The river had fallen till they 
 were down in the banks, so they could not rake the ground 
 with grape and canister, but would be compelled to fire at an 
 elevation. So that, after the men had passed a certain line, 
 the fire passed over their heads. But we would throw the 
 mantle of charity over the failures of men. Man in adversity 
 is always to be blamed, however well his plans may be, and 
 sometimes he receives great praise for his success in spite of 
 his plans. 
 
 On learning of the movements of Gen. Grant below, Gen. 
 Bowen dispatched Gen. Green with his brigade to meet him. 
 Gen. Grant was pouring his men over under cover of night. 
 Notwithstanding, Gen. Green attacked him with a force of 
 fifteen hundred men, and kept up a fire upon his men all night, 
 Gen. Pemberton had been induced, after repeated entreaty, to 
 send two brigades. But they were sent too late. These were 
 commanded by Gens. Tracy and Baldwin, and arrived next 
 morning, worn down and exhausted, in the very midst of the 
 battle. Gen. Green disposed of his little command as best he 
 could, to meet such overwhelming numbers. He so disposed 
 
BATTLES OF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S CREEK. 99 
 
 of his men as to make the enemy believe his force was very 
 large and to compel him to move with great caution. The bat- 
 tle began in earnest at sun up, and the brave Alabamian, Gen. 
 Tracy ,_ was killed, leading his men. Gen. Green fell back slowly 
 to a range of hillsabout three miles from Port Gibson, where 
 he was met by Gen. Bowen who now directed the battle. 
 
 Port Gibson was a beautiful inland town, and had been to 
 the Missourians, who were far away from the associations of 
 home, truly, an asylum. The people were of the noble, gener- 
 ous type of Americanism, and their doors were open to the 
 soldier, private or oihcer. His coarse, rough uniform made no 
 difference. It was seen that within those uniforms was a noble, 
 cultured, refiued manhood, and a spirit of chivalry and devo- 
 tion to the principles of right, and a deportment worthy the 
 knight of honor. For the people that had received them with 
 open arms and cheering words the soldier was ready to do and 
 die. The sick who could carry a gun, poured out of the hos- 
 pitals; the convalescent in camp, shouldered his musket, and 
 every soldier reported for duty. They knew they were but a 
 few, and that they must meet eight or ten times their numbpr, 
 but that thought but nerved them to action. Their patriotic 
 blood was stirred to its depths, and they fought for these 
 homes and firesides. I quote from K. S. Bevier's History. 
 Page 178-182. 
 
 "The right wing of the Confederates was composed of Green's 
 command, and lay with its right on the bayou, striving to protect the 
 bridge, which was the only means of escape. The left wing was com- 
 posed of Cockrell's command, and there was only a single battery of 
 artUlery to occupy, at first, the space between the two. The army 
 had no center— it was all wings, and the artillery was gradually 
 massed at an advantageous point to serve as a center. Generals 
 Bowen and Green deceived the enemy as to our weakness by march- 
 ing bodies of troops near the park of artillery, in full view, then with- 
 drawing them out of sight, double-quicking to the right, and attack- 
 ing with all the vigor of fresh troops. 
 
 "Soon the overwhelming force of the enemy began to push the 
 right wing back to the bridge. That attained by them we would all 
 be lost. It seemed necessary to sacrifice a part of the army to save 
 the rest. The Third and Fifth Infantry were selected to make a des- 
 perate charge on what was supposed to be the extreme right of the 
 Federal army, and create such a diversion as would call a halt of their 
 left, which was so sorely pushing our right. Generals Bowen and 
 
100 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Cockrell in person conducted the two devoted regiments a mile and a 
 half to their left, formed them in line on the summit of a hill, oppo- 
 site which, on the sister hill, was planted two Federal batteries, and 
 in the ravine were drawn up three brigades of their infantry, whilst 
 a steep hill, two ditches and a dense canebrake intervened. 
 
 "The commanding officers. Colonels Bevier and Gause, gave the 
 word, and the men sprang forward with their wonted impetuosity 
 and the regular Missouri yell, but keeping step and preserving their 
 alignment as perfectly as if only on parade. They soon came to a 
 gully twenty feet in width and twelve in depth, which they must 
 necessarily cross. It was too late to go round, and the men sprang 
 in, clambered up the opposite side, coolly halted till the line was re- 
 arranged, and again moved forward until stopped by another ravine, 
 which was raked by. the galling fire of a whole brigade, and could no 
 more be crossed than a bridge of fire. Palling back a few steps to the 
 first gully, and sheltering themselves in the canebrake they fought 
 for over an hour with the desperation of brave men anticipating 
 death or capture. 
 
 "At length the tardy order to retreat was given, and they fell 
 back as best they could over the hUl, and rallied on the farther side. 
 A most terrible fire, of both artillery and small arms, had been con- 
 centrated upon them all this time. They had routed one brigade 
 and maintained their ground until ordered back, and the greatest 
 wonder is that out of the six hundred engaged in the gallant and 
 reckless charge only one hundred and twenty men were killed, 
 wounded and missing. The brave and efficient Adjutant Greenwood, 
 of the Fifth, fell in the beginning of the fight. Says Captain Covell:* 
 
 "When we began the charge, the enemy's infantry, perceiving us, 
 raised a shout, came down towards us from the crest of the lidge on 
 which they were posted, and stopped at its foot, close to the ravine. 
 At the same time their cavalry moved to their right, to prevent a 
 flank movement on our part. Their artillery opened on us with great 
 rapidity, and as soon as we got within range the infantry poured the 
 Minie balls into our ranks as thick and as fast as hailstones from a 
 thunder cloud or rain drops in an April shower. The storm of leaden 
 rain and iron hail which was flying through the air was almost suffi- 
 cient to obscure the sunlight. 
 
 "In its results the charge was a success, the left wing of the Fed- 
 eral army was suddenly halted and drawn back, their right was 
 heavily reinforced and moved by the flank, supposing that General 
 Loring's corps had arrived from Vicksburg and was gaining their 
 rear. 
 
 ' Diary, p. 192. 
 
BATTLES OF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S CREEK. 101 
 
 "General Bowen soon galloped up to the point where the banners 
 of the two regiments had been planted as a rallying point, and com- 
 plimented the men most highly for the manner in which they had 
 performed their duty, and expressed himself gratified that they had 
 lost so few. 'For,' he added, as the tears filled his eyes, 'I did not 
 expect that any of you would get away, but the charge had to be 
 made, or my little army was lost.' 
 
 "In the meantime General Bowen had led on the assault from 
 that part of the field covered by General Green's forces, in which the 
 Sixth Missouri Infantry and the First and Third Missouri Cavalry 
 and Baldwin's brigade participated. Col. Eugene Erwin, who com- 
 manded the Sixth, supposing that Baldwin's men were advancing 
 with him, rushed onward until he found bis regiment far ahead of all 
 support, just under the crest of a high ridge, on the opposite side of 
 •which, and not thirty paces distant, four regiments of Yankee infan- 
 try were waiting to receive the assault. Bach hostile commander 
 gave the order to "fix bayonets," which the other heard and with 
 stern resolution each determined, should a charge be made, to re- 
 pulse the other or die in the attempt. For two mortal hours the gal- 
 lant Sixth remained there, shouting fierce defiance, but the Federals, 
 ignorant of their numbers, refused to charge. The whole army had 
 been withdrawn before Colonel Erwin could extricate himself. This 
 he did by giving the command in a loud voice: 'Charge bayonets, 
 march !' quickly adding, however, in a low tone, 'by the left flank !' 
 
 "The ruse succeeded, he slipped away unperceived until too late, 
 by the enraged Federal brigade commander. Generals Bowen and 
 Green were overjoyed to see Erwin coming back at the head of his 
 men, supposing that they had all long since been captured. 
 
 "In this final charge General Green drove the enemy back nearly 
 a mile, giving Bowen's whole army ample time to withdraw quietly 
 from the field, through the town and across the stubbornly defended 
 bridge, which was all done before dark, unmolested by the enemy. 
 The last regiment to leave the field of battle and to cross the bridge 
 was the Sixth, which had done such noble work during the day. 
 
 "The little army bivouaced on the north side of the bayou, and 
 with the soft loamy soil were soon strongly entrenched and prepared 
 for another assault. 
 
 "The day's work had made General Bowen's division famous. 
 With an insignificant force of five thousand men he had held in check 
 for a night and a day a thoroughly equipped army of fifty thousand 
 men, inflicting severe losses upon them with but comparatively 
 slight damage to himself, and had succeeded in removing all his 
 stores and supplies except the siege guns, which were spiked. Colo- 
 nel Cockrell thought, and he was unquestionably correct, that with 
 
102 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 ten thousand more men, who could easily have been spared by Gen- 
 eral Pemberton, we could either have driven Grant back into the 
 river or have checked his march to such an extent as to have dis- 
 arranged and nullified all his plans. 
 
 "The most reliable statistics (at least so appearing) of the losses 
 in this battle, I find in H. C. Clark's 'Diary of the War.' He esti- 
 mates the Confederate loss at six hundred and seventy, and the Fed- 
 eral loss at nine hundred and thirty. This I think is possibly exag- 
 gerated, although he includes all the causalties of the retreat and up 
 to the battle of Baker's Creek. 
 
 "On the morning of the 2d the Yankees, from across the bayou, 
 opened a heavy cannonade on the improvised entrenchments, doing 
 but little harm. General Bowen sent a 0ag of truce asking twenty- 
 four hours' armistice to bury the dead. The refusal to accede to this 
 request was accompanied by a demand for our surrender. Of course , 
 this was promptly declined, but during the night the entrenchments 
 were evacuated, the fortifications at Grand Gulf dismantled, and the 
 army commenced a retreat towards Bovina station. 
 
 "General Grant had found an upper ford across the bayou, by 
 way of which a heavy force marched to gain Bowen's rear, and came 
 very near doing so. A lively race ensued for the upper ferry on the 
 Big Black. The skirmish companies (Wilson's of the Second Caniff's 
 of the Fifth infantry), moved cautiously but rapidly on the right 
 flank, striking and driving back a Federal cavalry regiment, but at 
 Rocky Spring running in upon the enemy's main column. Landis' 
 battery was hardly in position before the enemy appeared in force, in 
 a large field that lay in our front. They advanced several times into 
 it from the woods beyond, but were driven back to shelter by the 
 well-directed fire of Landis' guns. The rapid and skillful manage- 
 ment of this battery, and the style in which the boys handled their 
 pieces, were certainly splendid. Covered with black stains of pow- 
 der, and almost enveloped in smoke, they worked in a manner and 
 with a will that indicated plainly they were in their element, and 
 their hearts in the work they were doing. The appearence of the 
 enemy in the edge of the field, about five hundred yards distant, was 
 invariably the signal for cheers from the boys, when thundering 
 away with their twenty-four pounders, the men who fought each 
 piece seemed to vie with the others in driving him back as quickly as 
 possible to the cover of the woods. 
 
 "Without further resistance, Bowen effected a junction with 
 General Loring's division and with General Pemberton at Hanker- 
 son's ferry on the "Big Black, and arrived at Bovina about midnight 
 on the 4th of May, with his men completely exhausted by hunger 
 and fatigue." 
 
BATTLES OF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S CREEK. 103 
 
 The First Brigade Missouri troops was still under the com- 
 mand of Col. F. M. Cockrell. The Second under the command 
 of Col. Gates, and the division under the command of Gen. 
 Martin E. Green. Gen. John S. Bowen commanded one wing 
 of Pemberton's army. These two brigades, incladiug the 
 Arkansas and Texas troops as enumerated before, numbered 
 about 8,000 men for active duty. 
 
 On the evening of the 15th, the army marched out by 
 Edwards' Station, across Baker's Creek, and formed line of bat-" 
 tie. The line was in the shape of a half moon with its base on 
 the above-named creek. At 8:20, on the morning of the 16th, 
 the first gun was fired, and from that hour to 12 o'clock, there 
 was considerable skirmishing and maneuvering, both sides 
 seemingly seeking the vantage ground. In the crescent line 
 above described. Gen. Green's division C. S. A. troops occupied 
 a position sonae distance to the right of the center. About 
 12 o'clock heavy firing was heard in the direction of the 
 extreme left, and soon a courier was seen dashing up with 
 orders for the First Missouri Brigade. 
 
 It sometimes happens that an army gets into such a condi- 
 tion that a sacrifice has to be made in order to extricate it from 
 its environments. Such was now the condition of Pemberton's 
 army. Without one desperate efibrt it must meet with utter 
 destruction, and what was done had to be done quickly. The 
 order was to march double-quick. The men who had been 
 lying down supporting Landis' battery for nearly two hours, 
 sprang to their feet, and with a yell and a bound were away. 
 A few minutes' run brought them to the front of the enemy. 
 Grant's forces had charged the Confederate line and had 
 broken through it, and, flushed with victory, were pushing 
 their way into the very heart of the Confederate camp. The 
 Confederate forces were flying, broken, confused and panic- 
 stricken from the fleld, while the Federal forces poured in 
 unbroken column through the gap. With their friends dash- 
 ing through their ranks and the enemy pouring in a destruc- 
 tive fire, they were ordered to form line of battle. Nothing but 
 cool, undaunted bravery could accomplish such a feat under 
 such circumstances. Looking at that gallant handful of men 
 coming on with a shout, colors flying, and defiance in every 
 face, whirling on "left into line," while confusion and death 
 
104 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 reigned all around, who would not feel proud that he was a 
 Missourian. Before the last man had hardly reached his place 
 in line, Ool. Cockrell dashed up and gave the order to 
 "Charge." There were, then, clearly to be seen in front, three 
 distinct lines of battle one behind the other. These lines had 
 halted, either to look at the sublimity of the scene before them, 
 or in amazement at the bold audacity of the undertaking. 
 
 A.t the command, "Charge," a blaze of fire lit up the whole 
 line, and so well ordered had it been, that the front line of the 
 enemy almost melted away. The remainder, in confusion, 
 broke back to the second. The Confederates, with a yell 
 peculiar to the Missourians, thronged into the gap thus made, 
 and like a whirlwind pounced upon the second line. For hours 
 together the battle raged. By the lime the second line of the 
 enemy had been routed, the Second Brigade of Missouri troops 
 joined the First, and the roll of musketry was fearful. There 
 was no surging back and forth, but a continual push forward. 
 Never, from the word "Charge," did the Missourians halt till 
 the whole of the enemy's forces were swept from the front. 
 The enemy brought up line after line of fresh troops, but the 
 fresh volley never staggered the onward march of the Confed- 
 erate forces. The men, in their advance, availed themselves of 
 every protection which the hills and trees afforded and pressed 
 on, never over thirty yards from the foe, and sometimes hand 
 to hand. The enemy slowly and stubbornly gave way, leaving 
 the ground literally covered with the dead and the dying. 
 Thus the Confederates pressed on for one mile into the Federal 
 ranks. The continuous and terrible fire lasted for three hours 
 and a half without a lull in the storm. The slaughter was 
 fearful. The entire enemy was driven from the Confederate 
 front, and the ordnance train of Gen. Grant was in their pos- 
 session with fifteen pieces of artillery. But the ground was so 
 rough and so covered with timber, that they could not be 
 brought away. The advance of Grant's army had been 
 checked, Pemberton had extricated his command and by the 
 loss of many a brave man the Missouri Brigades succeeded in 
 getting from the field. 
 
 So completely had the enemy been driven from the Confed- 
 erate front, and so far was the main line of Grant's army in 
 their rear, that they could have gone on and joined Gen. Joe 
 
BATTLES OF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S CREEK. 105 
 
 Johnston better than to have undertaken to retreat back to 
 Pemberton's forces. Grant's lines had so nearly closed in the 
 rear, that, after retreating nearly a mile, they were subject to a 
 terrible cross-fire where they lost most of their men, and had 
 not Landis' battery with its gallant men have come to the 
 rescue, they could not have escaped. Here Gen. Tiglman, a 
 gallant officer was killed, and many a brave man fell to fight 
 no more. 
 
 As it finally proved, it was unfortunate that these two 
 brigades did not press on to Jackson instead of falling back to 
 Vicksburg. But good soldiers only know to obey orders, 
 though the General giving them may have blundered. After 
 the battle, it was learned that the two brigades of 8,000 had 
 met and defeated Logan's corps of 30,0Q0. This was one of the 
 most desperate and bloody battles of the war, according to the 
 number engaged in it. Did history record the facts as they 
 were, no conflict was maintained so long nor against such over- 
 whelming odds as was that held and maintained by these two 
 brigades of Confederate troops on that bloody field. History 
 has never done them justice in this battle. It was said that an 
 officer inquired of Gen. Pemberton, "How goes the battle?" 
 He replied, "Whipped, except the Missourians, and they are 
 rushing to death." (We must not forget to state that the 12th, 
 Louisiana regiment fought with the Missourians, and acted 
 grandly that day). 
 
 The two brigades were finally extricated from their perilous 
 condition and succeeded in re-crossing Baker's Creek, when 
 they found thatthe whole Confederate army was in full retreat 
 toward Big Black and Vicksburg. They reached the works at 
 Big Black about 9 o'clock at night and a part of the army took 
 position in the entrenchments. 
 
 There was a great bend in the river at this point circling to 
 the west; the works were crescent-shaped circling to the east, 
 and situated in the bottom land on the east side of the river. 
 When it is remembered that upon the west side of the river, 
 and reaching down to its very banks were high bluff's, upon 
 which artillery could be placed and the bridge and fords thor- 
 oughly protected, it is strange, and has forever remained unex- 
 plained, why the men were put in the low ground and on the 
 side next to the enemy. Should the enemy succeed in driving 
 
106 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the men from the works, there was only two ways of crossing 
 the stream; one by the railroad bridge, which was very high 
 with long trestle works, and under such circumstances would 
 be impossible to cross; and the other by a pontoon formed by 
 turning a steamboat lengthwise across the river. The men 
 fully understood the situation and feared the consequences. 
 Gen. Pemberton had all the artillery horses sent over on the 
 west side, thus making it impossible to extricate the guns in 
 case of retreat under fire. In this line of circular works, reach- 
 ing from the point of the elbow in the river above to the point 
 of the elbow below, the army took position in the following 
 order: The First Missouri Brigade occupied the space to the 
 right of the railroad; the Second, under Col. Gates, that of the 
 left, while Gen. Vaughn's Brigade of Tennesseeians and Mis- 
 sissippians occupied the center; Gen. Green commanding the 
 division. Stevenson's division occupied the bluffs across the 
 river with Landis' battery as support. All the rest of the 
 artillery of Bo wen's division of eighteen guns were in the works 
 occupied by the first named troops. 
 
 Before the men had dispatched an early breakfast, on the 
 morning of the 17th, the enemy opened upon them with parrot 
 guns which were replied to from the Confederate batteries and 
 a biisk cannonade was kept up till about 9 o'clock when the 
 enemy advanced in force upon the Confederate left and center. 
 The center gave way and the enemy pouring into the gap suc- 
 ceeded in cutting off a great part of Gates' brigade from the 
 crossing. A part of it cut through, a part swam the river, and 
 a portion of it was captured. Among the captured was Col. 
 Gates, but he, with several of his men, succeeded in making 
 their escape that night, and the next day joined the command. 
 The First Brigade and Vaughn's command all succeeded in 
 crossing safely, but the eigiiteen pieces of artillery fell into the 
 hands of the enemy. Landis' battery opened upon the enemy 
 from the bluffs and rendered great assistance to the retreating 
 Confederates. There was but little loss of life on either side in 
 this contest, as the race for the bridge took up more time than 
 loading and shooting. 
 
 Gen. Pemberton now continued his retreat toward Vicks- 
 burg, which place he reached about sundown that evening. 
 Early on the morning of the 18th, the Confederate forces began 
 
BATTLESOF PORT GIBSON AND BAKER'S CREEK. 107 
 
 filing into line and taking position in the trenches. The 
 enemy advanced rapidly and at a little past 3 o'clock in the 
 evening the first gun was fired in the rear of Vicksburg. Sharp- 
 shooting was kept up till night. Next day Gen. Grant con- 
 tinued to bring up his forces and take position in front of the 
 works, coiling his line from the bluffs of the Yazoo River 
 above to the Mississippi below. About 4 o'clock he made an 
 attack upon the Confederate left and was repulsed with great 
 slaughter. This attempt was repeated with the same result. 
 The repulse of these two attacks gave the men great confidence 
 in their ability to hold the place, and taught Gen. Grant the 
 lesson that he had no easy task before him. The next few 
 days Gen. Grant occupied in getting all his army well up to the 
 works and his artillery in position so as to make a determined 
 attack all along the line. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 
 
 The 22d day of May, 1863, is one never to be forgotten by 
 the Confederate soldier who was inside the fortifications 
 around Vicksburg. From the time of the bombardment of 
 Grand Gulf, April the 29th, to the falling back to within the 
 fortifications of Vicksbarg, the littW army of General Pember- 
 ton had met with nothing but misfortunes and reverses. 
 Defeat after defeat had followed in rapid succession. Port 
 Gibson had fallen; Grand Gulf, with all its munitions of war, 
 was in the possession of the enemy; at Baker's Creek the Con- 
 federate forces, after a bloody battle, had been beaten, and at 
 the battle of Big Black, if battle it may be called, they had 
 been considerably demoralized. True, they had done all that 
 brave men could do, but however brave men may be, they can- 
 not accomplish the impossible. In all of these battles they 
 contended against overwhelming numbers. The only wonder 
 is that the little army of defense was not completely anni- 
 hilated. 
 
 This little army of twenty-three thousand men was fully 
 conscious of the great odds against them. And now they fully 
 realized their condition. With the great Mississippi River 
 rolling in their rear, lined with gunboats above and below, 
 thus cutting ofi' all possibility of retreat, and a cordian of 
 frowning cannon and bristling bayonets supported by five 
 times their number, completely girdling their front, forming a 
 wall impregnable to any assault they might make, the soldier 
 knows that if 1-elief cannot come from the outside that the sur- 
 render of the place is only a question of time. With all these 
 discouragements before him, it took a brave man to fight. 
 
 It is evident that Gen. Grant fully understood the nature 
 of things, and it was reasonable for him to Qpnclude that a dis- 
 spirited and discouraged soldiery would be easily beaten by an 
 
 108 
 
THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 109 
 
 assault upon their works. The more would he reach that con- 
 clusion when he considered the great disparity of numbers and 
 that his own men, flushed with victory after victory, were con- 
 fident of success. There was just this one mistake; he had 
 underrated Southern valor and endurance. 
 
 But with the conviction that victory would be easy, on the 
 morning of May the 22d, that grand army of invasion, having 
 closed up all its ranks with immense supports at every point, 
 forming a solid phalanx of column after column of glistening 
 steel and frowning guns, prepared for the assault. 
 
 As the calm that precedes the fearfal cyclone so the still- 
 ness of that little band crouching behind the breast-works 
 around Vicksburg. Not a sound was heard save the heavy 
 breathing of the men, or a whispered word of encouragement 
 to comrades, as they watched the forming lines around the 
 girdled city, and the frownins; cannon upon every available 
 hill or mound that overlooked the battlements. Yet the stern 
 face, the set teeth and the firm grip upon the tried musket told 
 that there was a fixed determination to do or die. Had the 
 eye of General Grant have glanced along that line of deter- 
 mined faces at this moment, he would have seen that his task 
 was no small one, and that many a man full of life and vigor, 
 now, would lie cold in death before the sun went down. But 
 now, 
 
 "The dreadful burst of cannon rends the skies, 
 And all the thunders of the battle rise." 
 
 The earth trembles beneath the roar of the monster guns. 
 From every hilltop around the whole circle of works rolls up 
 the black smoke of war; while from above and below those 
 black monsters of the water are pouring their maddened fury 
 into the city. All around are shooting up flames of fire, fol- 
 lowed by the thundering roar of guns. The very air is preg- 
 nant with a million missiles of death; yea, death rides upon 
 the wings of the wind and dances in wild delight around the 
 shelter of the little army. 
 
 For one solid hour nothing is heard but this incessant roar 
 of monster guns and the hissing sound of shot and shell. But 
 it is silenced now, and as the smoke clears away from the river 
 above, circling to the river below, is one solid, compact line of 
 
no THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 bristling bayonets and flashing swords moving with martial 
 tread to the assault. ' 
 
 During all this roar of guns and dashing sound of shot and 
 shell, the little army had remained under cover; not a word 
 spoken, not a shot fired. But now, as the advancing avalanche 
 comes on, the cannoneer stepped quickly to his gun; the 
 infantry man grasped his rifle and moved to the front, and with 
 bated breath all awaited the coming tempest. On it swept 
 confident of victory, its colors flying and its drums beating. 
 When that girdling line had reached within thirty yards of the 
 works, suddenly, by a signal given, there burst forth a flame of 
 fire from the Confederate line. There were many pieces of 
 artillery concealed behind those works, double-charged with 
 grape and canister. These hurled at once their missiles of 
 death into the face of the advancing foe, and to these were 
 joined the rattle of twenty thousand rifles. That advancing 
 column seemed to almost melt away. It halted, staggered and 
 for the moment dismay and bewilderment seemed to seize hold 
 upon it. But in this supreme moment another column came 
 rushing up to the rescue and now shot answered shot, arm met 
 arm, and bayonet crossed bayonet. Here the surging mass in 
 its irresistible force crossed over the works, and the stars and 
 stripes took the place of the stars and bars, taut again it was 
 hurled back, and the stars and bars, torn and tattered, waved 
 proud defiance at the foe. And thus, for more than an hour, 
 the battle raged, and the savage roll of guns and the harsh 
 grating of bayonets mingled with the yells of the victor and 
 the groans of the dying. 
 
 But that little band of living valor could not be vanquished. 
 The Federal forces began to give way, and soon in broken 
 column and confused rout, they flew to the cover of the woods 
 and hills beyond. But the Confederate soldier had not long to 
 watch the flying foe or to look over the field of desolation all 
 around him, nor even to administer a cup of cold water to a 
 wounded friend, or to listen to the last words of a dying 
 brother. From these hills beyond, frowning with artillery, 
 came again the cannon's thundering roar, and, as if maddened 
 by defeat, it came more savage than before. This was followed 
 by another charge, and thus the battle raged from early morn- 
 ing till the sun was low in the west. 
 
-THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. Ill 
 
 It was 4 o'clock in the evening before the assaulting 
 columns were entirely withdrawn, and the hope of capturing 
 Vicksburg by assault was eotirely given up. Then the hush of 
 death hung heavy over all the field and the grim-visaged 
 soldier, with powder-burned face and blackened hands, turned 
 his attention ~to the cries of the wounded and suffering. Here 
 lay a brother cold in death, and a friend mangled and torn, 
 begging piteously for a little help. One glance at the dead 
 brother's face and then a word of comfort to the dying and a 
 drop of water to the suffering. Ohl to look over that bloody 
 field, now, one shudders at the horrors of war. Death all 
 around, while all in front of the works between the two lines 
 the ground is covered with the dead, dying and wounded, who 
 are out of the reach of help. Stout frames and noble forms 
 that but a few hours ago were filled with vigor and manhood, 
 are now cold in death; the friend and the foe lay peacefully 
 together, resting in that last sleep that knows no waking, 
 while the soul has gone to Him who rules over all battles. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 Where Tracy fought the battle had raged with fearful 
 fury, and he was found among the "badly wounded." He was, 
 gently, by loving hands borne to the rear and placed in 
 an ambulance and sent to the city hospital, for several days 
 he seemed to linger between life and death, and then there 
 came a change for the better. 
 
 It was Sunday morning, June the 7th, that the attending 
 physician came in very early, and, after feeling his pulse and 
 passing his hand over his brow, said: "You are better now. 
 You have had a serious wound and I feared the worst, but I 
 think now that you will pull through." 
 
 "Thank you, doctor, thank you," said Tracy; "it all seems 
 like a dream to me. O that fearful day of carnagel It seems 
 to me that I have lived those hours over and over again, with 
 all the scenes of death. But the sun shines brighter now, and 
 last night I had a sweet dream of home; and I sat before the 
 old hearth-stone, and with father, mother and all the loved 
 circle of better days, sang the evening hymn and heard the 
 prayer of intercession go up from father's aged and trembling 
 lips, and we all talked oi the better home in the fadeless land. 
 And, doctor, when you came in, I had just awakened from that 
 sweet dream and was wondering why I could not have slept 
 and dreamed on. And then I asked, would I ever realize the 
 sweetness of that dream." 
 
 "Ah, well," replied the doctor, "You are better now, sleep 
 once more, maybe you will dream again." 
 
 "Yes, doctor, but I shall wake for my dreams to mock 
 me." 
 
 "Your pleasant dreams will do you good. And I shall 
 expect to find you much better when I return in the evening. 
 You need quiet and rest," were the words of the doctor. 
 
 112 
 
THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 113 
 
 He then bade him good-by with a pleasant, assuring smile, 
 and hastened on to give instructions to the nurse and to attend 
 to other patients occupying other rooms of the hospital. 
 
 The bunk on which Tracy lay was in the third story of the 
 large brick building and near a window, looking out from 
 which one could see the great Mississippi Eiver, whose murky 
 waters, coming down from above, were ilowing on southward to 
 the Gulf of Mexico. The June morning was beautiful and 
 balmy; the turbid waters glistened in the sunlight and he 
 thought he caught the fragrance of eunuy flowers. In the 
 glance and the glow he had almost forgotten his surroundings. 
 
 Speaking to the nurse he said, "Move me a little nearer the 
 window that 1 may catch a little of the refreshing breeze. 
 Thank you! Now pillow my head a little higher that 1 may 
 have a better view of the grand old river. There, that will do 
 now, let me rest, and do not disturb me for a while." 
 
 And then Ipoking away up the river and around the great 
 bend, he saw the Federal fleet with their savage guns and 
 black sides, and the mortar boats from which the enemy had 
 been throwing shells into the city, and the whole truth flashed 
 upon his mind. "Here we are," he mused, "shut in from all 
 the world; a little world within itself; imprisoned within this 
 little space of ground and a host of savage foes standing guard." 
 True, nothing was heard now save an occasional sharp-shooter's 
 rifle at some misguided one who might show himself from be- 
 hind some parapet or above the skirmish pit, but up yonder 
 are all the evidences of war. But his mind soon wandered 
 away from all this, and his eyes resting upon these waters fol- 
 lowed the river line as it wound up the valley far beyond the 
 JFederal fleet till it was lost in the thread-like maze away up in 
 the distance. And then he followed on in his mind until he 
 saw those waters rolling and tossing in their billowy waves 
 through his own native State Missouri. Missouri! the word 
 was sweeter to him this morning than it had ever been be- 
 fore. "Missouri!" he repeated; "0, for one hour of the better 
 days." More than one long, dreary year had passed since he 
 trod her broad prairies, or looked over her vine-clad hills. 
 Nor was this all; those days had been a long and terrible 
 silence. He knew that a cruel hand had been laid upon her 
 fair fields and that sorrow and suffering was the part of her 
 
114 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 heritage. But what of the dear old home? Was it in ashes, 
 and the dear ones gone, or were they victims of some merciless 
 hand, or did they languish in some loathesome prison uncared 
 for; or were they still peacefully resting in the old homestead. 
 When Captain Grimes came with the letters, George Tracy was 
 one of the unfortunate ones that got no message. So, as he 
 wandered back, the long and dreary days lengthened out before 
 him. "Ella; where is she? It has now been over six months 
 since Captain Grimes started for Missouri with the mail, and 
 still not a, word. Had he been captured and robbed of his 
 treasure, or had he reached his distination; and had Ella Her- 
 bert been found out as an accomplice and captured and impris- 
 oned, and the penalty of a spy meted out to her?" The thought 
 of it made him shudder. "How long this siege will last, who 
 knows but until that is over there is no hope of a solitary word 
 from the old home. But," he impatiently said, "I am help- 
 less here," and with an effort threw off these foreboding 
 thoughts and began to picture a happy meeting in the after 
 years when wars are all over and he should find a home in the 
 glowing prairies, with love's own blessings crowned, and peace 
 and good will its portion. 
 
 In this revery he fell asleep and slept a sweet, peaceful 
 sleep, while the soft wind from off the waters of the flowing 
 river fanned his glowing cheeks. The nurse tripped softly 
 across the floor, and each inquiring friend was told that the 
 patient slept and was better. The sun had mounted up toward 
 the meridian till tbe hands of the clock pointed to the hour of 
 ten. The nurse heard several voices approaching up the stair- 
 way, and he hastened to the door and with his hand upon his 
 lips motioned silence. 
 
 There were three or four men in the company, one a hand- 
 some, well built man, in citizen's dress and apparently about 
 thirty-five years of age, the others were Tracy's messmates. 
 They inquired how the soldier was. 
 
 "He is better," said the nurse. "He has been near death's 
 door, and, in fact, he is not far from it now, but he rests and 
 the doctor says he is better." 
 
 The men held a whispered conversation and then with a 
 pleased look they all piled into the doctor's oflSce. They were 
 not gone long until they returned with a permit from him to 
 
THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 115 
 
 enter the sick room. They came in very quietly and took their 
 seats near the wounded sleeper, determined to wait his awak- 
 ening. Nor had they long to wait, for somehow, mind eflFects 
 mind, and even in our sleep we are made conscious of a strange 
 presence. 
 
 The wounded soldier opened his eyes as half sleeping, half 
 waking, and in a kind of a dazed way looked at his three com- 
 panions sitting near him. "Then becoming fully conscious, he 
 expressed his pleasure at seeing them, asking them of how they 
 did, and about their comrades in the line of battle. 
 
 The men replied that the "Yanks" are not disturbing us 
 much now, and we obtained permission to come and see ho w 
 you were getting on. We are so glad you are as well as you 
 are, "for," said one of them, "I never expected to see you 
 again when we took you off the field that dreadful day. But 
 the doctor says you are^doiug well, and we are so glad to see 
 it; besides, we have good news for you." 
 
 Just then the man in citizen's dress, who had been seated 
 at the head of the cot out of sight of the wounded, stepped to 
 the front, extending his hand, saying, "Glad to see you, old 
 friend." 
 
 A shade of bewilderment passed over the pale face, a look 
 of deep surprise, but it soon changed to a sparkling eye and a 
 glad smile as he lifted his feeble hand and, placing it in that 
 of the other, exclaimed, "Captain Grimes." And then as if 
 he felt it all to be a dream, he said: "Is this true, or do I 
 sleep? How came you here, how could you come, and what of 
 home and Ella, where is she?" 
 
 "Stop, stop!" said the captain, laughing; "I cannot answer 
 so much at once. You are not dreaming, I can tell you that. 
 I am here, that is a solid truth. As to how I came you shall 
 know after a while. I will say all is well." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said the messmates, "Captain Grimes came in 
 last night and this morning we all had news from home. Some 
 had bad news, but most of the boys are happy, even if the 
 news were sad, they heard from home and know that there are 
 still loved ones watching and waiting their return, and that is 
 something good." 
 
 "You succeeded well then?" said Tracy. 
 
 The captain replied that nothing could have been better. 
 
116 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "Miss Herbert is a jewel, and did her part faithfully and well. 
 But how it all happened, you shall hear from her own self." 
 
 So saying, he laid before the soldier a package of letters, 
 telling him to read ■ them at his leisure, and he would know as 
 far as they had gone. "Some evening I will drop in and tell 
 you how I got into Vicksburg." 
 
 The soldiers rising, told him that they were glad to bring 
 him the good news, and now they must return to the com- 
 mand. Wishing him a good day, they all departed and left 
 him alone with his letters. 
 
 The soldier was very feeble, and the unexpected news 
 almost overcame him; he laughed and cried by turns. One 
 arm had been made helpless by a wound in the shoulder, and 
 the bursting of a shell had cut great furrows in his flesh, and 
 the subsiding fever had left him very weak. But he had the 
 nurse to undo the package of letters and taking them up one by 
 one as he recognized the hand-write, he kissed them again and 
 again. Rejoiced as he was to receive them, yet he hesitated to 
 have them opened. "What secret did they contain? In the 
 unfolding of the last dark year, what sorrows would they 
 record, and what clouds reveal, and what sufferings had been 
 endured?" 
 
 The nurse seeing his hesitancy and knowing his feeble- 
 ness, said: "Shall I read them for you?" 
 
 "Not now, not now, wait a little while. It all seems so 
 strange, so unreal. I feel like I was about to look into a great 
 unfathomed darkness; into a shadowy unknown. And while I 
 dread, yet I long to turn those dark leaves over. But wait a 
 while, I cannot now. I feel tired, let me rest, I shall feel bet- 
 ter after a while." 
 
 The nurse understood and retired, leaving him alone with 
 his treasure. 
 
 And then the soldier prayed; "Oh, Thou all seeing One; 
 Thou ever present help. Thou hast been my stay and strength 
 through all the dark years, and in the secret trials Thou hast 
 been my sufficiency. Thou hast heard my prayer, and Thou 
 hast answered. O, now, let me be reconciled to Thy will, for 
 Thou doest all things well. Prepare me for this hour, and 
 whatever of revelation these letters may make to me, let me 
 say, 'Thy will be done.' I know Thou hast watched over me, 
 
THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 117 
 
 aiid no enemy may harm except Thou wilt. O blessed Father, 
 be near me now and give Thy blessing." 
 
 And a sweet, calm spread over his face, and a holy resigna- 
 tion came over him, and he said, "Blessed Father, how sweet 
 is Thy presence, and how abundant Thy mercy." Thus he lay 
 for some moments with his eyes closed, holding sweet com- 
 munion with the All Seeing One. 
 
 After a little time the nurse returned, and seeing the calm 
 composedness of the wounded soldier and noting the look of 
 perfect resignation, he approached the side of the cot. 
 
 "Here," said Tracy, "sit down beside me now and read to 
 me these letters. Were it so I could, I would rather read them 
 myself, that my eyes might catch the gleam of home love, and 
 my own sense of hearing be greeted first by those sacred 
 thoughts. But it cannot be, and you know how precious they 
 are to me and will bear with my weakness." Pointing out one, 
 he said; "Tliis is from the dear old home. It is sister's hand 
 and she will tell of all that has passed in all these long, dark 
 days." 
 
 The nurse took the letter and opened it. A few tokens of 
 love dropped out of its folds; a withered^ leaf; a faded flower; a 
 sprig of casia, and a rose bud. He laid these treasures on the 
 soldier's bosom, and to him they were, indeed, love's own 
 jewels, and were "more precious than gold; yea, than much 
 fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." 
 
 The letter told of the stormy days, of the weary hours, of 
 the many trials and hardships. But it said that through them 
 all a Gentle Hand had led them; an All Seeing Eye had watched 
 over, and a God had provided. No harm had come to the 
 home. ~'True, Father's head was whitening, his eyes growing 
 dim, his steps tottering, but the Lord was holding him up. 
 Mother's health was failing and the light of her eyes was fad- 
 ing, but still she was cheerful and hopeful. And all, father, 
 mother and sisters, joined in one great bundle of love to the 
 brother far away, and concluded with a prayer that God would 
 watch over and bring him safely home. 
 
 When the last line was read, the soldier said: "Thank youl 
 That was done so well and it is all so good. Let me rest now; 
 I have just lived life over in the old home, I have been a boy 
 again on mother's knees, I have felt her sweet kiss once more 
 
H8 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 upon my brow, and have listened to the precious words, of 
 counsel and encouragement drop from her own dear lips. I 
 have heard father's prayer for a blessing, and have had a sister 
 take my hand and together we have walked the flowery fields. 
 Let me be quiet now and maybe I shall sleep once more in the 
 sweet shade of home." 
 
 After the noon hour the nurse came in with new bandages, 
 dressed the wound, washed the face and gave some refresh- 
 ments. The soldier then seemed stronger and rested ia quiet, 
 until the sun's slanting rays from the west, peering in through 
 the open window, lit up all the room with a mellow glow of 
 golden light, and the gentle breeze from the southwest fanned 
 the fevered brow with its soft touch. So rest the weary, and so 
 sleep the tired soul, whose heart has been touched by the ten- 
 der power of unfading love. By him lay that large roll, with 
 its seal unbroken, upon which was the impress of a gentle 
 hand, the touch of tender fingers, while he dreamed of its hid- 
 den mysteries, of its assuring words and its token of love. He 
 had heard that she was safe, noble and true, and here he would 
 fondly dream of the pictured scenes that its opening would 
 unfold. Ah, he even fancied she was near him now and was 
 about to confide to his keeping her devotion, her sacrifice, and 
 her triumph. 
 
 When th^ doctor came in upon hia rounds that evening, he 
 looked pleased upon the pictured scene. "Let him sleep," he 
 said, "for this has been a strange, glad day and he is overcome 
 with his crowding thoughts that cannot find utterance. To- 
 morrow he will be stronger." 
 
 In breaking the seal of those folded leaves, we shall not 
 intrude upon the pages of sacred love; these are for his eyes 
 alone, and these words to rest in his own bosom. There, let 
 them remain unspoken, save by hia own lips, forever. But as 
 the mail agent, her history is for other eyes as well. 
 
 She says: "Captain Grimes reached me safely and deliv- 
 ered your message. Be assured that whatever befalls me I 
 shall lay no blame to your charge. I only feel too grateful that 
 I should be deemed worthy of such confidence, and to be 
 trusted with such a work. In those long, dark days I have 
 longed to lend a helping hand, to find some way to lighten the 
 burdens of the soldier, and to administer some comfort to him 
 
THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 119 
 
 in his dark and dreary hours. And what better than this? To 
 carry some message from the home circle, some token of love, 
 some balm of consolation, some promise of hope, some thought 
 of blessing. O, to be, as it were, an angel of mercy to the 
 exiled. 
 
 "While I fully realize the danger, and while my sense of 
 honor and my devotion to my Master would forbid anything 
 wrong, yet I know that upon such an act the Master smiles and 
 stamps the seal of His approbation with the 'Lo, I am with 
 you.' He only is my keeper, my guide, my all and in all. To 
 Him I confide my life, my all, and in Him is my everlasting 
 portion. And 'though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.' 
 
 "I took>your letter, and, as one of old, I went to the mercy 
 seat and spread it out before the Lord; and I said, 'Dear 
 Lord, I am Thy hand-maid and Thy servant; my times are in 
 Thy hand. Thou knowest that I am but a poor, weak woman, 
 a feeble worm; Thou knowest that I am too weak for this great 
 task. But Oh, Thou who buildest up kingdoms and over- 
 throwest armies, who keepest Thy promises and faithfulness 
 through all generations, must I undertake this, and wilt Thou, 
 merciful Father, wilt Thou undertake for me? Wilt Thou 
 bless my humble effort? I am ready to die if need be in Thy 
 service. And then there came into my soul such a holy calm, 
 such a blessed assurance, such exquisite sweetness, I almost 
 heard the words repeated over, "I will be with you." ' 
 
 "Feeling so sure that the Father holds my hand, and know- 
 ing that in Him' alone I trust, whatever may be the result, my 
 whole soul is in this matter. I know I am not acting the spy, 
 but only a messenger of mercy. But I have had such a taste of 
 war, that I know all of this will be overlooked, and that if I am 
 captured, I shall pay the penalty with my life. Be it so, God's 
 will be done. 
 
 "The captain said that he met with but little difficulty on 
 his way up, and that after he was well within the Federal lines 
 he mailed the letters at difi'erent places so as not to create sus- 
 picion by too large bunches being posted at one place. By the 
 time he reached me he had given them all out. He stopped at 
 St. Louis and arranged rooms with a trusty lady of his acquaint- 
 ance, where I was to go and gather up the letters. I was to go 
 at once, so as not to allow too many letters to accumulate in 
 
120 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 post-office, thereby creating suspicion. So you may know that 
 there was a confusion and a stir in my getting ready. I could 
 not think of going alone, so I asked father to let me take our 
 boy Sam. He is, as you know, a little fellow and young, only 
 sixteen, but he is so devoted to me, and I know I can trust 
 him. Only people who know the negro know how to confide 
 in him. 
 
 "Sam was so delighted, he fairly danced for joy. 'Is 1 sho' 
 nuff goin' wid my good miss?' 
 
 '"Yes, Sam, you are to go with me. But we have some 
 dangers before us. You know these are war times and the 
 Yankees may get us, and you may be taken from me.' 
 
 " 'O, no, miss, de Yankees can't git you for sho', dey can't, 
 I'll tell 'em you good.' 
 
 " 'But, Sam,' I said, 'they will not listen to you. All I 
 want is for you to tell nothing to anybody only as I direct; 
 this I think you will faithfully observe.' 
 
 "Sam replied, 'Dat I will, miss, dat I will, 'cept I'll tell 'em 
 you's a lady. My mamma says she wishes dem Yanks would 
 let us niggers alone. She says she specs we is better oflF dan 
 lots of dem Yanks are now; good homes, good mars and miss, 
 and a plenty to eat and war. Law sakes, I spec's lots of dem 
 Yanks would like to have all dat.' Sam was really growing 
 eloquent in defense of the South. But I stopped him in the 
 midst of his grand effort by telling him he must hurry up and 
 have his mamma get him ready, for we must start in a few 
 days, and away he danced to his mamma's cabin. 
 
 "So soon as matters could be arranged, I and Sam were oB. 
 for St. Louis. We found that very nice, comfortable quarters 
 had been arranged for us, and we had a hearty reception. 
 
 "Sam proved a great help to me, going to the post-office and 
 collecting the mail. They poured in on us very rapidly for a 
 while, and then they began to drop off. But it took us some 
 time to perfect our arrangements and to get our letters in shape 
 for safe conveyance through so many guards. 
 
 "It was arranged that I should carry the mail as far as 
 Memphis, Tenn., and then Captain Grimes would take charge 
 of it and convey to your lines. With the assistance of Sam, I 
 tacked the letters all to my under skirts, making them look 
 more like a crazy quilt than anything else. But you would 
 
THE MAIL ARRIVES IN VICKSBURG. 121 
 
 have been surprised to have seen how snugly they were hidden 
 away and how well I looked dressed up in so much wisdom. I 
 laughed a big laugh at myself. 
 
 "The captain took boat a few days ahead of us, so as to 
 reach Memphis in time to make arrangements for us when we 
 should reach there. Having everything secure, as far as could 
 be, I and Sam took boat and started down tbe river. There 
 did not appear to be a particle of suspicion attached to us, as 
 not a question was asked till we reached Memphis, and then 
 an officer only asked our destination. Finding it was that 
 place he said no more. The captain had everything arranged 
 for our convenience, only I put up at a hotel instead of a 
 private boarding house. I thought a private house would have 
 been better, but our hotel accommodations are very good and 
 we are doing well. But among so many strangers we attract 
 attention and have to be continually on our guard. There were 
 so many curious eyes and enquiring faces that one always felt a 
 degree of uneasiness. But I suppose that this was more from 
 onr fears and the business we were in than anything else, sn 
 more imaginary than real. At any rate, everything passed off 
 well. 
 
 "I made for the captain a kind of round-about or jacket, 
 with double lining and the letters were distributed evenly 
 around it and tacked so they would remain stationary or to 
 prevent their collecting into bunches. He dressed himself up 
 like some old farmer citizen, got himself an old plug of a horse 
 and mounted for his journey. No one would have known him 
 as Captain Grimes, so complete was his disguise. 
 
 "So far, my task is done. If he reaches you he will tell 
 you the remainder of the history. I feel very lonely now that 
 he is going away, and I being so near. How I wish I could 
 accompany him to your camp. But it seems that it is not best, 
 and so I shall be loft here in a strange city and among strange 
 people. I am to remain here till he returns, or I hear from 
 him. O the anxiety of those waiting moments. One would 
 rather be facing the danger than to remain housed up some- 
 where imagining dangers that never come. But such is life, 
 and I have here with me that Ever Present Guide that has 
 been my unfailing Friend through all these dark days, and I 
 shall try to be satisfied with my lot. O, how hard it is with 
 our impatient nature to say, 'Thy will be done.' 
 
122 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "I have it in mind next time to go through the lines and to 
 see you all in the soldier's camp. God bless you and all the 
 old friends. I still have an abiding faith that we shall meet 
 again. I need not say to you to put your trust in the Omnipo- 
 tent Arm, for that I know you will do, and rest assured that 
 any service I can render at any time, I will do all that is in my 
 power to do. Again, God bless you. Farewell." 
 
 Ella Heebeet. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE PERILOUS JOURNEY. 
 
 Captain Grimes had learned before leaving Memphis that 
 Vicksburg had been invested by Grant's army, but he could 
 not ascertain what portion of the army was inclosed within the 
 fortifications. He understood that Gen. Joe Johnston was at 
 Jackson, Miss., with a considerable force and he did not know 
 but that the Missourians were with him. But whether this or 
 not, he thought it best to report to Johnston. For if the Mis- 
 souri troops were in Vicksburg, he determined to make an 
 effort to reach them, and he thought he might be of some 
 service to Gen. Johnston by carrying any message he might 
 wish to send to Gen. Pemberton. He reasoned that if he could 
 run the blockade with the mail he could do so" with his dis- 
 patches. 
 
 Traveling by various ways and meanderings, he reached 
 Jackson, Miss., on the morning of the 1st of June, and reported 
 at once to Gen. Johnston. He presented to the General his 
 papers and acquainted him with his mission in all its details. 
 Learning from him that the siege would last an indefinite* 
 length of time, he determined at once to make the efibrt of 
 reaching the garrison. Of this he acquainted Johnston and 
 proposed to take any message he might wish to send. 
 
 The General thanked him for his ofier and informed him 
 that he greatly desired to communicate with Gen. Pemberton. 
 He especially wished to know his condition and how long he 
 could hold the place; the state of the defending army and all 
 the information concerning the army of Gen. Grant, and should 
 an efibrt be made for his (Pemberton 's) relief, where would be 
 the most available point of attack. 
 
 After all arrangements had been made. Captain Grimes 
 informed the General that it was his purpose to strike the Mis- 
 sissippi River at some point above Vicksburg, and by some 
 kind of a raft float past the enemy's gunboats under cover of 
 
 123 
 
124 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 darkness, and he asked information as to the nearest point he 
 could reach unmolested. Gen. Johnston informed him that 
 his scouts went as far as to Yazoo City, on the Yazoo Eiver, 
 and that he could furnish him with a safe and rapid conduct to 
 that point. Accepting this offer and thanking the General for 
 his kindness as quickly as possible, he was off for the Yazoo. 
 
 Taking a circuitous route they experienced but little diffi- 
 culty in evading the pickets of Gen. Grant's army and reaching 
 the Yazoo. 
 
 The Yazoo Eiver empties into the Mississippi some twelve 
 or fifteen miles above Vicksburg, and as Yazoo City was some 
 distance above the mouth of that river, it was too far for the 
 captain to undertake to float down from that point to Vicks- 
 burg in one night. And as the whole country was full of scouts 
 and spies from Grant's army, it would not do for him to be 
 seen floating in day time. Taking two of his guides for pro- 
 tection, he wound his way among swamps and cane-brakes 
 until he reached a point near the mouth of the Yazoo. Here 
 fortune seemed to favor him, for right upon the banks of the 
 river lay a cottonwood log, having lodged there by being 
 washed from some saw-mill above. It was at least three feet 
 across the face end, and from flfteen to sixteen feet long. With 
 the help of the scouts it was soon put afloat in the river. Dis- 
 missing the guides, the captain waited the going down of the 
 sun before he pushed' out into the stream. 
 
 The night itself was propitious. For as the sun went down 
 a white fog began to rise upon the water, marking the whole 
 river line. Under cover of this he mounted his log, which lay 
 about half submerged in the water and with a long pole for a 
 guide, pushed off into the stream. 
 
 That was a lone, strange ride. The fog soon became so 
 dense, that it was impossible for him to distinguish either 
 shore, or to discern a single object save himself and the log 
 upon which he stood. Smoothly, softly and noiselessly he 
 glided on, not knowing what was before him. But it was not 
 long before he became conscious from the roar of the waters 
 and the rush of the waves that he had entered the grand "Old 
 Father of Waters," and was being borne rapidly toward 
 Vicksburg. 
 
 His craft was a very unwieldy one, and he had only a 
 
THE PERILOUS JOURNEY. 125 
 
 long pole and a short paddle with which to steer it, and these 
 could only move it slowly. Besides, it would be necessary in 
 passing through the Federal fleet for him to lie down upon the 
 log and as much as possible become a part of it. The diffi- 
 culty was to steer his craft so as not to come in contact with a 
 gunboat. The fog had become so dense, that even a light 
 could be seen but a short distance ahead. The whereabouts of 
 - the boats or the number of them he knew not, but a kind of 
 consciousness came over him that he was nearing the danger 
 line. Peering into the darkness he can distinguish just in 
 front of him a glimmer of light and he begins to make an effort 
 to go round it. But he is nearer to it than he had supposed. 
 He had scarcely time to drop flat upon the log after giving a 
 few strokes with the paddle before the lights of the boat flashed 
 full upon him and he waa under its bow. Glancing up, he saw 
 the sentinel standing at his post, the soldiers passing to and 
 fro, and each watch staring out into the waters. 
 
 The few strokes he had given with his paddle had lurned 
 his craft a little in the right direction and the water parting at 
 the boat's bow gave it a turn that sent it sweeping along the 
 boat's side, but so near as to almost rub it as he passed. But 
 this proved to his advantage. For he is now under the shelv- 
 ing sides and thus hidden from the view of the guards. He 
 can reach out his hand and touch the sides of the great mon- 
 ster, and he fancies he can hear the tread of the seatinel on 
 board. As he approaches the stern of the boat, he sees a flash 
 of light upon the waters below and he knows that in a few 
 moments more he will be in full view of those on board. His 
 heart almost leaps up into his throat as he shoots out from his 
 hiding place as it were into full view, as he supposes, of the 
 guard. He had not taken into consideration the fact that one 
 looking back at the light, could see objects much plainer than 
 those looking from the light could see them. While the light 
 shone with a kind of halo upon the dense fog and waters be- 
 low, yet so dense was the fog, that it gave only an indestinct 
 outline of objects upon the water. 
 
 The pushing of the waters sent his unwieldy craft with a 
 bound out into the light below. Glancing back, he can clearly 
 see the great guns all around and the sentinel on his beat. 
 Just above and not ten feet from him is a guard looking over 
 
126 THE CONFEDE'RATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the stern of the boat and, he imagines, peering down right upon 
 him as he sweeps along. Tlie sight almost froze the blood in 
 his veins and he looked away, listening every moment to hear 
 the crack of a rifle ring out over the waters. But whether the 
 sentinel saw or not, he never knew. The dread suspense was 
 only for a moment, and he felt conscious he had passed safely 
 out into the darkness. Looking across the river each way from 
 the boat he had passed, he could see a line of lights, indicating 
 the position of the blockading fleet, and he felt that he had 
 passed in safety. 
 
 The next point for him to consider, was the landing at the 
 right point. Could he see the lights on shore. But here the 
 river came again to his help. It makes a great bend in pass- 
 ing Vicksburg throwing the current close under the batteries 
 on the heights. Upon these heights were lights of the greatest 
 magnitude, arranged so as to throw the greatest light possible 
 across the river. Knowing that the city was at his left hand, 
 he brought his craft as near the left bank as possible. His joy 
 can hardly be pictured when he finds himself under the very 
 guns of Vicksburg, and sees the sentinel upon the shore. He 
 called to the guard who was surprised to hear a voice coming 
 to him apparently out of the waters. Bringing his gun to a 
 ready he shouted, "Who comes there?" 
 
 "A friend," said the captain, "I have run the blockade to 
 reach you all here and you will please step down quickly and 
 help me land and anchor my craft." 
 
 The log drifted into a little eddy and by the help of the 
 guard the captain was soon ashore, and the log made fast. 
 
 "Now," said the captain, "I am your prisoner, call the 
 sergeant and let him take charge of me." 
 
 The stream of light darting up in the east showed the 
 captain that he had reached his destination none too soon. 
 The thick fog hung over the river only and a little way from 
 the water's edge, and he was standing in the light of the morn- 
 ing. By the time the sergeant had reached him and he had 
 been conducted to guard headquarters, the sun was up and he 
 could see all around him the work of the great siege. 
 
 "Captain," he said, addressing himself to the captain of 
 the guard, "I am a prisoner of war, so far as you are concerned, 
 but I have valuable papers for Gen. Pemberton and I wish to 
 be conducted at once to his headquarters." 
 
THE PERILOUS JOURNEY. 127 
 
 "Your request sliall be granted," said the guard oflScer, 
 and calling up two soldiers, he sent them as an escort to Gen. 
 Pemberton. 
 
 This is ttie Sunday morning of the 7th of June, when so 
 many hearts of the Missouri soldiery are made glad by jjaes- 
 sages from home. 
 
 Captain Grimes spent a week among the men, and in gath- 
 ering up the mail for a return, besides the messages from Gen. 
 Pemberton to Gen. Johnston. Selecting another night when 
 the fog rested heavy on the river, he once more boarded his 
 unsightly craft and by the help of some Confederate soldiers 
 launched out upon a hazardous journey down the river, design- 
 ing to once more float through the fleet which was anchored 
 below the city, and having passed it, to land at the most avail- 
 able point and make his way to Gen. Johnston, and thence 
 back into Missouri with his precious mail. 
 
 Many were the good words spoken and the tokens of love 
 for the dear ones at home whom the captain might meet with 
 by the way, as his craft drifted ofi'upon the bosom of the great 
 waters, and many eyes peered out through the darkness, 
 watching the moving craft until it was lost in the solitude and 
 they knew that he was gone upon his perilous journey. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CAPTAIN GRIMES RETURNS SAFE TO 
 MEMPHIS. 
 
 During Captain Grimes' stay in Vicksburg, he had noted 
 the movements and position of the fleet below and the passage 
 was easily effected. He determined to stick to his craft until 
 he passed the mouth of Big Black River, and to la,nd at or near 
 Grand Gulf. This river runs twelve miles in the rear of Vicks- 
 burg, and empties into the Mississippi about twenty miles 
 below. Gen. Grant's lines are all between the two rivers. 
 True, he keeps watch by means of scouts and spies npon the 
 movements of Gen. Johnston's army stationed at Jackson, but 
 aside from these there are no Federal forces beyond Big Black 
 River. 
 
 It being late at night when Capt. Grimes set out he did 
 not reach the mouth of the Big Black till daylight overtook 
 him. Not being willing to risk himself on his unwieldy craft 
 when there was danger of gun-boats overtaking him, he drew 
 to land and spent the day in the cane-brakes near the water- 
 When night again came on, and a clear, starli ght night it was, 
 he mounted his log and pushed out into the broad waters. 
 
 It was very easy to distinguish Gra nd Gulf from the broad 
 expanse of waters. Just below these are the high bluffs rising 
 up from the very water's edge. Upon these hills had once 
 been the Confederate batteries of defense, but here, where a 
 few weeks ago such a great land and navel battle had been 
 fought, all was how silent and still as the grave. At the upper 
 battery the works had been demolished and the old guns, too 
 heavy to be removed by land, lay dismantled; and what was 
 called the lower battery was but a heap of ruins. Not a sen- 
 tinel kept guard, nor a single soldier wandered through the 
 once strong ramparts of defense. Here captain Grimes pulled 
 his unsightly craft ashore. There was no enemy to meet him 
 
 128 
 
^7^^=^^/ 7^^iz;ey 
 
 
 "^ 
 
CAPTAIN GRIMES RETURNS SAFE TO MEMPHIS. 129 
 
 nor friend to extend a hand of greeting. Walking among these 
 ruins he was alone in the solitude, the stars only looked down 
 upon him and smiled; not a sound save the low murmur of the 
 waters of the great river as they rolled on in their hurried 
 march to -the gulf at the foot of these grand old hills. Here 
 and there he marked the grave of some fallen veteran— the 
 little house where rest the brave, safe from the sound of war, 
 sleeping in the solitude. These scenes brought to him strange 
 reflections of the past, and solemn memories of the present. 
 In the past he saw men, brave men, strong men, in the very 
 bloom of life, battling for home and country, but now they are 
 sleeping the last sleep. Doubtless many of them far from 
 home, where no familiar feet ever tread, where no gentle hand 
 ever wreathes a single bunch of flowers, no voice ever pro- 
 nounces a God bless you, and no greetings are spoken. Amid 
 these lone hills he wandered, around these hallowed spots he 
 lingered, not heeding the rapid march of time until the morn- 
 ing star followed by the quick dawn, told him that another 
 day had begun. 
 
 Breaking oflf from his reverie, he took th© road direct for 
 Jackson, Miss. Meeting with some friends by the way and 
 obtaining help, by night he found himself at Gen. Johnston's 
 headquarters delivering his papers from Gen. Pemberton, con- 
 taining the news and progress of the siege. 
 
 Having discharged his obligations to Generals Johnston 
 and Pemberton, he set out early next morning for Memphis, 
 Tenn. Gen. Grant having drawn all his available force 
 around Vicksburg, he had no difficulty in making his way. 
 Gen. Johnston sent an escort with him far beyond the Yazoo 
 Eiver, and, assuming his disguise, he had no difficulty in enter- 
 ing the Federal lines. 
 
 From the time that Captain Grimes left Miss Ella Her- 
 bert the last of May, in Memphis, till his return the last of 
 June, was, to her, a long, weary month of watching and wait- 
 ing. She was here all alone among strangers and in a strange 
 city, and to her, under strange and peculiar circumstances, with 
 strange scenes transpiring all around her. Nor had she made 
 many acquaintances. Being of rather a secluded turn of mind, 
 diffident and timid in her nature, and withall, dreading 
 inquiry into her objects and the cause of her stay in the city, 
 
130 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 she deemed it best to keep herself as much as possible to her- 
 self. Her faithful servant, Sam, had secured quarters near the 
 river with a motherly old colored women where he spent each 
 night, but ready to meet his mistress each morning, and to 
 attend to all her wants. He accompanied her upon her walks, 
 or to the levee to look at the boats and little crafts that ply 
 upon the waters, or maybe to take a ride in a skift some calm 
 evenings. 
 
 How she loved to play upon these waters. They washed 
 the shoi-es of her own loved State, and to her they seemed to be 
 the connecting link between her own lone heart and the dear 
 old home. She would gaze upon that great stream and almost 
 picture herself floating up its current until the broad prairies 
 of old Missouri opened up to her view, and memory carried her 
 to the scenes of her childhood. 
 
 But she would then break oflf from these reveries to the 
 mission of Captain Grimes. She read every day of the siege of 
 Vicksburg and had learned that the Missouri troops were 
 inside the fortifications. Had he reached them, or had he 
 been captured? And if he had reached them, how had he 
 found them? Who were among the slain? Or what the news? 
 In the still hours of the evening she could hear the roar of the 
 great guns in the distance as it was borne upon the bosom of 
 the mighty waters and she could but wish herself inside those 
 works if only for a day. Oh, to be so far away and yet so near. 
 In such moments as these, the dread suspense was unbearable 
 and she would say to herself, "How long must this dread 
 unknowing and unknown continue? What if Captain Grimes 
 is now a prisoner, or, more dreadful still, if he has met his 
 death? How shall I know, and when shall I know?" But she 
 had this thought, that the capture of so important a personage 
 would be chronicled in thp papers. She, therefore, scanned 
 every paper that came to the hotel for the least possible tid- 
 ings of him. Sometimes she walked with Sam to his new 
 home and to have some talk with his other grandma as he 
 called her. And, indeed, she was a model of motherly love 
 and Christian devotion. 
 
 "La, chile," she would say, "de good Lord will take care of 
 you; He cares for po' ole nigger like me, an' ef He do dat, He 
 care for white folks. Dese am skeery times, an' I dunno what 
 
CAPTAIN GRIMES RETURNS SAFE TO MEMPHIS. 131 
 
 de worl' am comin' to, but we jes hab to trus' in de Lord; He 
 know all about how to take care of us." 
 
 Ella found much comfort in this plain, simple faith. Only 
 trusting and so sweetly trusting. Happy such an old age. 
 
 "Yas, miss," the old negro would say, "you young, you 
 has many troubles before you, if you lib to be as old as 1 is. 
 You dunno what dis wa may bring to you yit, but you'll fine de 
 good Lord de bes' frien'. I is ole, jis on de ribber brink, and 
 many is de trials Ise passed froo, but de Lord has nebber lef 
 me. Ole marse is gone and ole miss is gone; an' I doau know 
 what fur, but I is here yet. But I'll cross ober fo' long." 
 
 And thus Ella spent many pleasant moments upon the 
 banks of the river, in the cool shade listening to these comfort- 
 ing words of the good old darkey, who had learned such pre- 
 cious lessons of grace. "There is," she said to herself, "a real- 
 ity in the religion of Jesus." As never before, she understood 
 -that the blind see, the deaf hear, and the poor have the Gospel. 
 How the highway was made plain and the wayfaring should 
 not err therein. Here was a simple child-like faith, a true and 
 blessed reliance, and a hope which was indeed an anchor to 
 the soul. 
 
 In her dread, dreary and long waiting, Ella had not for- 
 gotten the house of prayer. She was a regular attendant at 
 the Sunday service, morning and night. Though strictly on 
 the reserve, yet as a strange visitant she came and went, 
 apparently wrapped in the solitude of her own thoughts. Lit- 
 tle did she dream of the many inquiries made of the strange 
 visitant, and that she was doing the very thing she was striv- 
 ing not to do. While not creating any suspicion of the real 
 role she was playing, yet she was making of herself a specially 
 marked character. She had come, a stranger among strangers, 
 and that strange character was still maintained. Her reserve, 
 her dignity, her noble bearing, and her devotion, all spoke for 
 her of the Christian woman that she was. But the question 
 on many lips was. Who is she? Where is she from? and why 
 is she here? 
 
 People were generally acquainted with the circumstances 
 of war, and while this strange being, who, nevertheless, carried 
 something of sunshine in her walk, moved among them so 
 unknown, yet the conclusion wae that she was some refugee 
 
132 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 from Missouri who had been banished, or had fled the horrors 
 of guerrilla warfare, and had sought obscurity to wait till the 
 war was over. 
 
 Sunday, June the 28th, was a long, lone and weary day to 
 Ella Herbert. True, she had attended church, and the congre- 
 gation had seemed to enjoy the service: for all she knew it was 
 good. She had heard nothing, had seen nothing. She was 
 livins; away from herself, she was an abstract of something she 
 knew not what. This terrible suspense, this dark uncertainty, 
 this awful dread of she knows not what; this great anxiety for 
 the future, and yet the dread of its revelation; what weal or 
 woe hangs upon the uncertain hour? What the unfolding of 
 these dark and dreary days? The suspense was becoming 
 unbearable. 
 
 The shades of night were settling down and the heavy 
 clouds hung like a death-shroud over the city and the sighing 
 night wind only answered the throbbing of the lonely heart. 
 Ella retired early to her room, unable to look out upon the 
 dark world that seemed to mock her constant effort to unveil 
 the future. Lighting the lamp and taking up her Bible, she 
 tried to find some word of promise, some gleam of hope, some 
 ray of light, some sweet spot of sunshine, but all seemed a 
 dark and dreary blank. O, could she but lock the wheels of 
 thought, could she but shut the doors of her mind, it would 
 have been a sweet relief. But mind would not stop, thought 
 crowded upon thought till she felt overwhelmed in the depths 
 of its mysterious workings. Laying the book aside, she folded 
 her face in her hands and found relief in tears. And they 
 brought a sweet relief. And then she prayed, "Father, help 
 Thy child; here she" is alone, poor, weak and weary thing, 
 tossed upon life's billowy waves in this strange place^ knowing 
 nothing and yet dreading all. Father, be to me the Friend 
 Thou art, my light, my strength, my all." A sweet calm came 
 over her, and taking up her Bible again, her eyes fell upon the 
 23rd Psalm, and to her it was like a ray of light from the glory 
 world. She read: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not 
 want"; and the whole truth of it seemed sealed to her heart. 
 "Yes," she said, "He is my Shepherd, and on this promise 
 I will rely. And here she realized the promise of God spoken 
 of in Isaiah Ixv: 24. "And it shall come to pass, that before 
 
CAPTAIN GRIMES RETURNS SAFE TO MEMPHIS. 133 
 
 they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will 
 hear." For just as she had finished reading the Psalm, and 
 while she was yet drinking in the sweetness of it, she heard 
 excited voices approaching the door and she recognized one as 
 the voice of Sam, her faithful servant. He seemed to be in 
 perfect raptures of delight. She heard him say, "She's been 
 mighty sad all day, didn't say nuthin' and 'peared away oflf. 
 But how dem bright eyes 'el sparkle now." 
 
 Divining what it all meant, she did not wait to hear a 
 knock at the door, but hastened to open it; and there, sure 
 enough, stood Captain Grimes. 
 
 "Bless God," said Sam, "he's come," and the boy was 
 almost wild with joy. Not so much for himself, but his mis- 
 tress had looked so sad, it had troubled him. 
 
 "Yes, Sam," replied Ella, "bless God he has come," and she 
 felt that the dark cord of uncertainty had been broken, that 
 whatever the news he brought whether of life or death, the 
 chain of vague, dark, doubtful nothingness had been severed, 
 and the spell that had bound her, growing darker and darker 
 each day and hour had been torn off and a something, what- 
 ever it might be, of life or death, tangible, was before her. 
 Anything she would say, but this lone enclosure, this prison 
 house with one's self, this living shut out, and shut up from all 
 material things, and dwelling alone in one's solitary thoughts. 
 -"Captain," she said, "you know not what I have suffered 
 during these lone and dark days." And when she had heard 
 his report she said: "A thousand times would I have passed 
 through all these perils rather than to have suffered in this 
 dread solitude." 
 
 "Then," said the captain, "You do not propose to be shut 
 up in this place any more." 
 
 "No, indeed," was the reply; "I shall go through the 
 lines. I feel that I might have been some benefit this time, 
 but as our forces are shut up in Vicksburg, it may have been 
 as well that I remained here. But when we return, if we can- 
 not go through together, I am sure I can reach the Confeder- 
 ate lines. Besides, it would be my delight to see the Confed- 
 erate camps." 
 
 And so it was determined that both would go through on 
 the return trip, the details of which could be arranged after 
 they had collected the mail. 
 
134 THE CONFEOeRATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 They immediately began to arrange for the return to Mis- 
 souri, and the distribation of the mail the captain had col- 
 lected and brought that far upon his journey. It was divided 
 into two parts, Miss Ella taking one, after leaving St. Louis and 
 going up the North Missouri railroad, distributed it at the dif 
 ferent offices. The captain took the Missouri Pacific to 
 Sedalia, and from thence by stage, to Kansas City. 
 
 This arrangement was carried out with but little difficulty," 
 and in one week more, Ella Herbert found herself in the old 
 home circle surrounded by her many friends to whom she 
 brought tokens of love from the far-away scenes of conflict, 
 and to whom she revealed, with thrilling interest, her many 
 adventures. 
 
 While in St. Louis, the captain arranged with some friend 
 for the collecting of the mail so that it was not necessary for 
 either of them to return to that place till all was ready. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 
 
 We must now return to Vicksburg and its gallant defend- 
 ers. The siege continued with its varying changes, sometimes 
 a comparative quiet and then a bursting storm. The men had 
 been living on reduced rations from the time the siege began. 
 And now it was very apparent that, with all this precaution, 
 the rations could not last much longer. The bread supply was 
 exhausted by the 15th of June, but some ingenious brain had 
 originated the idea of making bread of what was known as 
 Cow Peas. These peas were raised in great abundance through- 
 out the cotton States, and when stewed with a little pork, or 
 seasoned with butter and cream, were very palatable. The 
 soldier sometimes had a little pork or beef, but to him butter 
 and cream was an unknown quantity. But to take these peas 
 and grind them like corn or wheat, and make them into dough 
 with a little clear water and bake them into bread was a very 
 diflferent thing. True, hunger will give an appetite for almost 
 anything that will appease its gnawings, but not many incomi- 
 ums were ever passed upon the inventor of "pea bread." While 
 the bread supply had been exhausted, yet the meat supply 
 lasted until about the first of July and then "pea bread" was all 
 there was left. In this extremity, a mule that had unguardedly 
 come within the range of the enemies' guns was killed by a 
 stray shot and some of the men concluded they would see how 
 it would do as a substitute for beef. To their surprise it was a 
 good substitute. The appetite being so quickened by hunger 
 may have had something to do with this. But, however that 
 may be, the result of the experiment soon spread through 
 camp, and then began the slaughter of mules. The meat was 
 taken from the bone and cut into thin strips or slices, and 
 
136 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 hung over the fire to roast or dry. This was called "jerked 
 mule," or "mule beef." 
 
 But even the supply of mule could not last long, and it was 
 evident that the garrison could not hold out much longer. 
 There was no apparent prospect of relief from without. Gen. 
 Johnston was at Jackson, Miss., with all the available force 
 that the South could give him, but this was insuflScient to 
 make a successful attack upon the great army of Gen. Grant. 
 While Vicksburg was a very strong place and ordinarily iin- 
 pregnable to assault as had already been proven, yet Gen. 
 Grant's position was also impregnable. He had the Big Black 
 Eiver in his rear with its frowning bluffs and all the interven- 
 ing country a succession of hills, and these hills strongly forti- 
 fied. Johnston, therefore, to make an attack, must cross the 
 river in the face of this opposition and then force his way 
 through this range of fortified hills for a distance of twelve 
 miles. This, with his small force, was out of the question. 
 All he could hope to do, would be to make an attack, so as to 
 draw Grant's attention, and by drawing off some of his force 
 enable Gen. Pemberton to cut his way out of Vicksburg. This 
 course might have been practicable at one time, but at this 
 date it was utterly impossible. The soldiers had lain in the 
 ditches from the 18th of May to the first of July, with but 
 little exercise and living on quarter rations, and these of a 
 poor kind. Under this condition of things it would have been 
 impossible for Pemberton's men to have marched more than 
 twelve miles in a day had they have had no enemy to contend 
 with. The question of relief, therefore, was out of the question. 
 
 To add to all these difficulties, the Fourth of July was 
 approaching. And, whether true or untrue, the word had gone 
 out that on that day, General Grant's forces would make a 
 desperate assault upon the works. The two lines were in easy 
 speaking distance of each other and it was the taunt of the 
 Federal that he would celebrate the Fourth in Vicksbiirg. 
 This belief had obtained throughout Pemberton's army. The 
 soldier could but look upon such a thing with dread. The 
 lines were so close, that almost in an instant, and without 
 warning, the Federal army could be pouring over the fortifica- 
 tions, and men stood aghast at the mere thought of the carnage 
 that would follow. 
 
SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 137 
 
 Whatever may be said of the blunders that brought Gen- 
 eral Pemberton's army into Vicksburg or caused it to be 
 thus shut up in the fortifications, there can no blame attach to 
 the surrender. Far better to surrender upon honorable terms 
 than the dreadful carnage that must follow an assault upon the 
 works. 
 
 After General Pemberton had held a consultation with his 
 leading officers, among whom was Gen. John S. Bowen, com- 
 mander of one division of the army, it was determined to send 
 out a flag of truce to know of Gen. Grant the terms upon which 
 he would accept a surrender. The time in reaching Gen. 
 Grant's headquarters and of the conference, lasted from about 
 ten in the morning to three in the evening. During this time, 
 hostilities were suspended, and the soldiers of the two contend- 
 ing armies extended courtesies over the works. Standing upon' 
 the top of the works, each could touch the guns of the other. 
 To men unused to the ways of war and the soldier's life it 
 looked strange to see those who but an hour ago were engaged 
 in mortal combat, seeking every opportunity to take each 
 other's life, now in friendly conversation and even relating 
 some of the amusing incidents of the siege. 
 
 On the return of the flag of truce in the evening, hostilities 
 were resumed and from then until night-fall, it seemed to be 
 with renewed vigor upon the part of the Confederates Espe- 
 cially was this true upon the river front. The Confederate 
 commander of the heavy guns on the river front felt that he 
 had not enough to do, having been compelled to save his 
 ammunition for an attack of the gun-boats. This inactivity 
 had enabled the Federal forces to erect a line of batteries in 
 the low ground on the opposite side of the river, unmolested. 
 The Confederate battery commander understanding that a 
 surrender was on the tapis determined to show his "friends" 
 across the river how dexterously he could handle his guns. 
 Turning them directly upon the enemy's batteries, he poured 
 such a storm of shell and shot, plunging down into their midst 
 where they had but little protection, as soon dismantled most 
 of their guns and swept the whole bottom beyond of a single 
 foe. In the language of Capt. Lowry of the Third Eegiment 
 Missouri troops, who was watching the battle, "You could see 
 brass flying in the' air for half an hour after the firing was 
 
138 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 The closing of the day ended the struggle. The Confeder- 
 ate forces knew they must surrender and the Federal troops 
 firmly believed they would. With this impression the two 
 armies lay down to rest and to sleep. One to dream of the 
 sad hours of to-morrow, the other of its glorious victories. 
 Such is the life of man. That which is life to one is often 
 death to another, that which brings sorrow and weeping to one 
 heart, brings joy and smiles to another. 
 
 The terms of surrender were as reasonable as could have 
 been expected. The Confederates were to lay down their arms 
 and all the munitions of war were to be turned over to the Fed- 
 eral authorities. But the Confederate troops were to be 
 paroled and allowed three days' rations, and to march into 
 their own country where they were not to take up arms until 
 duly exchanged. The sick and the wounded were to be sent by 
 boat to Mobile, Ala., and delivered to the Confederate author- 
 ities. 
 
 During the night it was determined to accept these terms, 
 and early next morning a flag of truce was dispatched to Gen. 
 Grant, asking for a conference between him and Gen. Pember- 
 ton. The place of meeting was soon arranged, and Gen. Grant, 
 with a few of his officers, met Generals Pembertou and Bowen, 
 and the conditions of surrender were signed. 
 
 Gen. Pemberton then informed Gen. Grant that he had no 
 rations for his men and asked him to furnish them until the 
 terms of surrender could be complied with, and his men could 
 reach a place where they could be supplied by their own coun- 
 try-men. To this Gen. Grant very generously acceded, and 
 from this on the garrison was fed from Gen. Grant's commis- 
 sary stores, while they remained in the city and then were 
 given three days' supply for the march. 
 
 The morning of the Fourth of July was clear and beautiful, 
 but to the poor Confederate soldier the sun had lost much of 
 its lustre, and the Fourth of July all its charms. Whatever 
 the circumstances that forced the surrender, and however im- 
 possible it was to hold out longer, it was very mortifying to the 
 true soldier to lay down the old battle-worn flag that he had 
 carried on so many battle fields, and that had waved defiantly 
 BO long over their heads as an ensign of valor. And the "old 
 musket" that had been their trusted friend, and had sent 
 
SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 139 
 
 death into the enemies' ranks and had driven back so many 
 assaults; to lay it down was no easy task. And then there was 
 that, overreaching it all, principle for which they fought. Many 
 sacred memories cluster around those consecrated hills. Be- 
 sides the deeds of valor due every defender, here slept many a 
 friend the long sleep that knows no waking till the trumpet 
 shall sound the end of the last great battle and the beginning 
 of an endless peace. Among the slain was none more lamented 
 then Gen. Martin E. Green, commander of the Missouri troops. 
 He was killed by a sharpshooter on the 28th of June. 
 
 It was a solemn line of men that formed that morning and 
 took up their guns for the last time and marched outside of the 
 works with a trailing flag. But their captors were generous. 
 There were no signs of exultation, no shouts of rejoicing, no 
 taunts or jeers. The Federal officers stood with heads uncov- 
 ered and swords at salute, while the privates, in a long line 
 upon either side, stood at a "present arms." The guns were 
 "stacked," the flags were folded and the Confederate line 
 marched back to their camps amid a silence and stillness be- 
 fitting their feelings. They even felt grateful to their fortunate 
 enemy. Thus Vicksburg, the key to the Mississippi River, 
 had fallen and a free access was given the Federal fleet to the 
 Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 So soon as all the requirements of the conditions of surren- 
 der, such as giving parole could be complied with all that part 
 of the army not disabled by wound or sickness, marched out of 
 Vicksburg, and by easy stages continued the march to Demop- 
 olis, Ala., on the Tombigbee River, where they went into 
 "parole camp" to await an exchange. 
 
 But we must not forget to look after our wounded soldier, 
 George Tracy, in the hospital. His wound had indeed proven 
 to be a serious one, but with all the annoyance, his careful 
 nursing, with the blessings of the Power Above, he was enabled 
 to conquer, and each day, from the time Capt. Grimes left him 
 till the surrender, found him stronger. He was among those 
 who were not able to march out with the men and must be 
 sent by flag of truce to Mobile. In fact, he could walk but lit- 
 tle when the surrender took place. It was the 30th of July 
 before arrangements were completed, and a boat was ready to 
 set out for "New Orleans," and then two boats were necessary 
 to convey all the sick and wounded. 
 
140 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The boats arrived at New Orleans on Saturday, August the 
 first, about 3 p. m. Orders were immediately issued, forbidding 
 any one going ashore and refusing permission for any one 
 to come aboard the boat and for the first time since the surren- 
 der a Federal guard was placed over the prisoners. The news 
 soon spread over town, of the arrival of the Confederate prison- 
 ers from Vicksburg, and the women of the place began to 
 gather from every quarter, bringing all the delicacies the place 
 could afford or that could tempt the appetite of a hungry 
 soldier. For a while these provisions were permitted to be 
 sent aboard the boats, but it was soon apparent that there 
 would not be boats enough to contain all that was being 
 brought. The women pame in swarms, not by the hundred, 
 but thousands lined the shore up and down the levee, and by 
 night a perfect sea of faces reached back from the wharf some 
 distance, each woman with a parcel showing her devotion to 
 the Southern cause. Despite the efibrts of the guard, which 
 had been doubled, some of these ladies forced their way into 
 the boat to shake hands with the defenders of their homes. 
 When night came on, all disappeared quietly. But next morn- 
 ing, by the time it was light, there began such a stream of 
 women pouring in from every direction as was apparent would 
 treble the demonstration of the day before. There were old 
 women with gray hairs, middle-aged women with their chil- 
 dren and charming young maidens with their fascinating curls 
 and wavy hair all eager to show their devotion to the Southern 
 soldiery. They were quiet and orderly. But thousands and 
 thousands jammed all the available space up and down the 
 wharf and clear back to the houses and even the tops of many 
 of these were covered with women and children eager to catch 
 a glimpse of a "gray coat." These pressed down to the very 
 edge of the boat. Orders to disperse did no good. The fact is, 
 there was no need for such an order, as all was quiet. But this 
 was "Ben. Butler's rule." The guard was doubled and trebled 
 until a cordon of soldiers with fixed bayonets, girdled the pris- 
 oner's boat. About 8 o'clock a regiment of infantry pressed its 
 way to the boat and with fixed bayonets began pushing the 
 vast throng back. At the same time, a squadron of cavalry 
 came dashing down among the women and children, and a six 
 gun battery was brought down under whip and formed on the 
 
SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 141 
 
 wharf. Some few of the people were run over, and all were 
 sent frightened and screaming back to the houses and pave- 
 ment. Here a Federal officer, mounted on horseback, came 
 dashing up the pavement in front of the houses, but in making 
 a short turn his horse fell, and he was sent whirling to the 
 ground; whether killed or not the writer never knew, but a yell 
 went up from that great throng which was joined by the rebel 
 prisoners on the boats. This so incensed the authorities, that 
 the Confederates were forced into close quarters and threatened 
 with punishment were such demonstrations repeated. 
 
 About twelve o'clock, the Confederate prisoners were trans- 
 ferred to the gulf steamer, "Gen. Banks," and were off for 
 Mobile. After some delay, Mobile was reached, on the 7th of 
 August, where Tracy spent a few days and then took boat for 
 Montgomery and thence through Columbus, Ga., to Union 
 Springs, Ala., where he spent several weeks recruiting and 
 gaining strength. On the 11th of September, he started to join 
 the command at Demopolis, at which place he arrived on the 
 16th. 
 
 During the stay in camp, arrangements were made to con- 
 solidate the two brigades into one, and at the same time to 
 consolidate regiments and companies. The Second and Sixth, 
 the Third and Fifth, and the First and Fourth were consoli- 
 dated in the order named. 
 
 Gen. Bowen, who had formerly been the commander of the 
 division, soon after the surrender of Vicksburg, was taken sick 
 and was never able to go with the command further than Ray- 
 mond, Miss., where he died the 20th of July. Col. F. M. 
 Cockrell, the former commander of the Sixth Regiment was 
 promoted to Brigadier-General and placed in command of the 
 brigade thus consolidated. 
 
 The whole of the command that surrendered at Vicksburg, 
 having been exchanged by the 15th of September, 1863, they 
 were ready to join the army under Gen. Leonidus Polk. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SHERMAN'S ADVANCE INTO MISSISSIPPI 
 AND THE GEORGIA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 The command broke parole camp the 19th of October, and 
 took train for Meridian, Miss., at whicli place they arrived on 
 the 20th and went into camp for a month. 
 
 It now seemed to be the purpose of the federal authorities 
 to invade the Southern States from the West, and to take 
 Mobile, Ala., by attacking it in the rear. To this end Gen. 
 Sherman marched out of Vicksburg on the morning of February 
 the 1st, 1864, at the head of a column thirty thousand strong, 
 marching in the direction of Meridian, Miss. At the sam.e 
 time, Gens. Grierson and Smith left Memphis, Tenn., at the 
 head of a force of ten thousand cavalry and mounted infantry. 
 The purpose was to overrun, as much as possible, the State of 
 Mississippi, destroying supplies and cutting off communications 
 by tearing up the railroad. The two columns to form a junc- 
 tion at Meridian, and then, with the combined force, to move 
 on to Mobile. 
 
 Gen. Polk was in command of the Mississippi department, 
 but not with sufficient force to meet the advancing column 
 under Gen. Sherman. But he at once put his column of about 
 twenty thousand, in motion to meet the advance under Gen. 
 Sherman, while he sent Gen. Forest to watch, and as much as 
 possible retard the progress of Gens. Grierson and Smith. Gen. 
 Polk fell back slowly before the advance of Sherman, saving all 
 his baggage and provisions, to Demopolis, Ala. 
 
 In giving an account of the work done by Gen. Forest on 
 this campaign, I quote from "The Civil War," by Mrs. Snyder: 
 
 "In contending with the other column, General Forest added 
 
 new laurels to his fame as a cavalry officer. With only a force of less 
 
 than twenty five hundred men, it was imperatively necessary for him 
 
 to crush this magnificently equipped cavalry of the enemy, nearly 
 
 142 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE. 143 
 
 thrice his own number. Near West Point this undaunted Tennes- 
 seean made a stand, and having posted his men irregularly in the 
 bushes, he waited the rush and onslaught of the enemy. As the 
 Federals rode to the attack, the Confederate rifles began to crack and 
 with these whip-like reports, the enemy were seen to fall in such 
 alarming rapidity as to produce confusion and to check their advance. 
 However, they reformed and charged again, but the empty saddles 
 continued to increase to such an extent as to spread a contagious 
 terror among them and they gave up the contest and fled. 
 
 "Again, at Okalona, on the evening of February the 21st, the 
 Federals made a disastrous attempt to crush Forest's small force. 
 In this conflict, the rout of the enemy was more complete than in the 
 first, and they turned and fled precipitately in the direction of Mem- 
 phis, with Gen. Gholson pursuing with only six hundred men." 
 
 Gen. Sherman had depended upon this column of cavalry 
 and mounted infantry to gather supplies for his army of inva- 
 sion, but now, not only was this swept away, but the indomit- 
 able Forest had swooped down like a swift eagle with most of 
 his forties upon his column of infantry. Gen. Polk gives 
 this account of the results of this campaign: 
 
 "The concentration of our cavalry on the enemy's column of 
 cavalry from West Tennessee formed the turning point of the cam- 
 paign. That concentration broke down his only means of subsisting 
 hia infantry. His column was defeated and routed, and his whole 
 force compelled to make a hasty retreat. Never did a grand cam- 
 paign inaugurated with such pretentions, terminate more inglorious- 
 ly. With a force three times that which was opposed to its advance, 
 they have been defeated and forced to leave the field with a loss of 
 men, small arms and artillery." 
 
 The campaign from Vicksburg and Memphis having proved 
 such a disastrous failure, General Sherman transferred all his 
 force except a- few guards along the river to Chattanooga, 
 Tenn. Here he collected a force of ninety-eight thousand men 
 which was divided into three divisions under Generals Thomas, 
 Schofleld and McPherson. 
 
 General Joseph E. Johnston was placed in command of the 
 Confederate forces, numbering not over forty thousand men. 
 Leaving Gen. forest to protect the borders of Mississippi and 
 Alabama with his cavalry, General Polk, with all his force was 
 ordered to join Gen. Johnston. Heretofore the armies had 
 been divided into comparatively small portions, scattered from 
 Arkansas, west of the Mississippi River, through Tennessee to 
 
144 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Virginia. Now they were concentrated into two grand divi- 
 sions. One under Gen. U. S. Grant, whose objective point was 
 Eichmond, Va.; the other under Gen. W. T. Sherman, whose 
 purpose was to penetrate the South by way of Savannah, Ga., 
 where again recruiting his army and getting supplies he was to 
 form a junction with Gen. Grant in Virginia. 
 
 General Cockrell's brigade, now a part of Gen. French's 
 division, had moved up to Tuscaloosa, Ala., where it remained 
 in camp a few days, but on the morning of the 16th of May, it 
 had orders to move with all speed by way of Eome, Ga., and 
 join the forces under Gen. Johnston at Kingston. 
 
 By a rapid march of sixty miles in two days, the brigade 
 reached Rome where a small force of Confederates were being 
 hard pressed by a force of the enemy. The two days' march 
 were telling ones upon the men. Foot-sore and weary they 
 reached Eome about an hour by sun, and were at once put 
 aboard the cars. After a short run, they reached Kingston and 
 next morning were assigned their position in line, being 
 attached to Gen. Polk's corps. 
 
 General Johnston had now received all the reinforcements 
 that it was possible to give him and it seems he determined to 
 give the enemy battle. He had been falling back stubbornly 
 and slowly before the advance of Sherman, contesting every 
 inch of ground from Chattanooga to Kingston, and here, on the 
 morning of May the 18th, he issued his battle order, stating 
 that the army would retreat no longer, but give the enemy 
 battle. -The Confederate army had unbounded confidence in 
 their commander, and when he declared that he would turn 
 and fight they believed that he felt able to meet the force that 
 was against him. The proclamation, therefor^, was received 
 with shouts of joy by the devoted soldiery. But it was a mat- 
 ter of great surprise to them when, after waiting all day for 
 the order to advance, they received orders at night to fall back 
 across the JEtawa Eiver. 
 
 The faihire to fight at this point was a mistake. Gen. 
 Johnston himself admits it. Gen. Sherman had, the evening 
 before, divided his force, sending a large portion of it to cross 
 the river at Eome, Ga., and had directed them to move down 
 the south bank so as to strike Johnston's rear. That portion 
 of Gen. Sherman's army was, on the morning of the 18th of 
 
/^ /i.--^^n^'=^''^^^^^ 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE. 145 
 
 May, tweuty^five miles away and across the river. Had Gen- 
 eral Johnston have thrown his whole force against the enemy 
 in his front, he had the chance of overthrowing it before this 
 flanking party could be called back to its assistance. 
 
 Gen. Johnston assigns as the reason that he did not fight, 
 that after having formed his line of battle early in the morn- 
 ing and when he was just in the act of ordering an advance 
 along the whole line he received word from Gen. Polk, com- 
 manding the left wing, that the enemy was moving in force 
 upon his flank. This necessitated a change of his line of bat- 
 tle. But by the time that this change was effected, it was dis- 
 covered to be a mistake as to the enemy advancing, and by the 
 time General Polk had returned to the position which he had 
 held in the morning, it was 2 o'clock in the evening. To begin 
 a movement that late in the day, even though successful for a 
 time, it could not be rapidly followed up, and the enemy, seeing 
 the intention, would, have an opportunity during the night to 
 call together his force and retrieve such loss as he might sus- 
 tain in so short an engagement. To await and give battle next 
 day, gave the part of Sherman's army marching down to John- 
 ston's rear too much of an advantage provided the attack in 
 front was not successful. General Johnston, therefore, deter- 
 mined to fall back and await another opportunity. 
 
 General Sherman instead, as Johnston had hoped, of fol- 
 lowing the Confederate army to the Etawa River, moved his 
 whole force across the river at Rome, thus uniting the two 
 divisions. The division that had already crossed was halted 
 until all were joined together. General Johnston having 
 brought all his army safely across the »iver on the 23rd, again 
 put it in motion to meet the advance of Sherman's column. 
 On the evening of the 26th, the two columns met and the 
 Divisions of Generals Claborne and Stewart had a heavy en- 
 gagement lasting until darkness put an end to the battle, the 
 Confederate forces occupying the battle ground. On the morn- 
 ing of the 26th, Polk's corps took position at Elsworth Moun- 
 tain which position it occupied until night, when it was moved 
 to the right and took position at New Hope church, a position 
 formerly occupied by some Alabama troops. Here the Mis- 
 sourians found themselves in close proximity to the Federal 
 lines. Next morning sharpshooting opened furiously and con- 
 tinued during their stay in that position. 
 
146 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 On the night of June the first, the army was- again put in 
 motion, falling back through rain and mud in the direction of 
 Lost Mountain. The enemy did not follow closely and the 
 mountain was reached on the morning of the 6th of June. On 
 the evening of the 7th, Gen. French's Division was moved 
 about four miles to the right and placed on reserve. On the 8th 
 they were moved a mile further to the right and still held in 
 reserve. On the 9th, they were put in position at Latamore's 
 farm, where they remained until the night of the 18th. 
 
 Some very hard fighting took place on this line and 
 French's Division sufiTered considerable loss. But the worst 
 loss to the division was that of their corps commander, Gen. 
 Polk. He was killed on Pine Mountain the 14th of June, 1864. 
 Gen. Stewart was placed in command of his corps. 
 
 From this place the army fell back on the night of the 18th, 
 to Kennesaw Mountain, and began to fortify. The enemy fol- 
 lowed closely and by 10 o'clock were throwing shell over the 
 mountain. The men never did enjoy throwing up breast-works 
 and when they reached this place, weary and tired, they 
 argued that the enemy could not reach them with shell. The 
 summit of the mountain was covered over with rock, so that 
 breast-works were very difficult of construction. Under these 
 circumstances they went to work very reluctantly. From 
 their high position they could see all the movements of the 
 enemy, they watched them move up within a mile of the 
 mountain, take up their position and plant their batteries. 
 With the impression that the enemy could not reach them with 
 their guns, one can imagine their surprise when the first shell 
 thrown went whizzing* far above the summit of the highest 
 peak. It was not a question of doubt any more, and the men 
 forgot their weariness in the endeavor to throw up protection. 
 Picks flew and shovels were brought into quick requisition, 
 and in a few hours there was a line of works the whole length 
 of the mountain. 
 
 About 3 o'clock in the evening the enemy opened fire upon 
 the mountain with about thirty-six pieces of artillery and to 
 one at a distance it looked impossible for one to live in such a 
 position. 
 
 From the top of the mountain there was a fine view of all 
 the valley below and one could see all the movements of Sher- 
 man's army for a great distance. 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE. 147 
 
 On the morning of the 27th of June, the enemy was seen 
 massing his forces in front of the mountain, evidently with the 
 intention of attacking the Confederate position. From the 
 Confederate standpoint this was a most daring and even reck- 
 less undertaking. And considering Gen. Sherman's usual 
 cautiousness was a great surprise. Yet there were some good 
 reasons for it. Gen. Johnston had extended his lines further 
 than usual, and it was natural for Gen. Sherman to suppose 
 that the mountain being naturally strong, Johnston had but 
 little force upon top of it. To add to this impression, there 
 was never more than a mere picket line in the works, just 
 enough to keep watch while the great body of the army lay 
 over on the opposite side for protection. They had cut narrow, 
 angling trenches across the summit through which they could 
 rapidly pass and in a few moments fill the trenches. Gen. 
 Sherman, therefore, concluded that the skirmish line, as itwere, 
 was all the infantry force that occupied this position. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that Gen. Sherman's army num- 
 bered ninety thousand and that there was probably not over 
 six or eight thousand men upon the mountain, yet they felt 
 able to hold it against the whole force of ninety thousand. 
 The mountain, from its highest point, ran in a southerly direc- 
 tion a distance of a mile or more. This highest peak formed 
 the apex of the ridge; it was from this in the other direction 
 almost due east inclining north of east a succession of hills 
 forming a kind of mountain range. It was upon that wing 
 running south that the Federal forces were preparing to make 
 an assault. Around the extreme south end flowed a beautiful 
 stream of water in a southwesterly course. All along upon the 
 banks of this stream was a thick cluster of undergrowth lining 
 the banks, put, at intervals, behind this undergrowth and out 
 of view of the enemy were thirty or forty pieces of artillery, so 
 arranged as to sweep the whole face of the mountain fronting 
 the enemy. Coming down from the highest point was a canyon 
 or cave. In this was concealed six or eight pieces of cannon, 
 so that opening fire from the batteries along the creek and 
 those in the canyon would subject the advancing enemy to a 
 terrible cross-fire. Beginning at the base of the mountain and 
 running back near a half mile was an open field through which 
 the charging column had to pass; that was also in full range of 
 all the Confederate guns. 
 
148 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 With a knowledge of the condition of things it was not a 
 question with the Confederates whether they could repulse the 
 enemy or not. The only question with them was as to how 
 many of the enemy would ever return to tell of the desperate 
 undertaking. 
 
 In the woods beyond the field described, the enemy massed 
 his force and prepared for the assault. The height of the 
 mountain permitted the enemy's guns to play upon the Con- 
 federate works over the head of the advancing column till it 
 was well up its sides and near the works. When the enemy 
 was ready to advance, they opened a terrific cannonade upon 
 the Confederate works. 
 
 The advance of those columns was a grand sight, as they 
 came out of the woods into the open field with swords glisten- 
 ing in the sunlight and colors flying, and bayonets sparkling, 
 and the martial tread of trained heroes. Here they came pour- 
 ing on in column, in line, in mass, filling all the plain below 
 and still pouring out of the timber in the rear. Despite the 
 fact that the enemy's guns were doing havoc with the Con- 
 federate works, pouring in one constant stream of shell and 
 shot, filling the air with the missiles of death, the Confederate 
 soldier caught the inspiration of the hour. That line of men 
 moving so grandly, and the thought of its awful fate thrilled 
 his every nerve; he mounted the works, took ofi' his cap and 
 waving it over his head, gave cheer after cheer to the advanc- 
 ing host. Several of Cockrell's men lost their lives while 
 standing upon the works, cheering the foe. The order was 
 passed down the line not to fire until the gun on the highest 
 peak of the mountain gave the signal. On swept the advanc- 
 ing enemy, and up the side of the mountain until their artil- 
 lery ceases its firing and leaves the infantry to finish its work. 
 The moment before the firing of that signal gun was one of 
 fearful import; the firing of that gun means death to thou- 
 sands. An awful stillness hovers over the Confederate line, 
 the soldier is crouching as the lion behind the works, ready for 
 the spring upon its prey. Breathlessly they grasp their guns 
 as they listen to the heavy tread of the advancing column. 
 That column understood the stillness, and a kind of fearful 
 dread took hold of it as it contemplated the bursting storm. 
 Upon the extreme left the enemy has actually reached the 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE. 149 
 
 works, and just in front all along the line they are within ten 
 paces of the intrenchments. But now, above the din of the 
 enemy's muskets and the tread of the marching hosts rings out 
 the signal of death. Suddenly, as if the mountain had burst 
 wide open from crest to base along the ridge, and poured forth 
 all the pent-up fires of buried ages, a blaze shot out of the 
 whole length of the Confederate line. Cannon belched forth 
 as it had been streams of red hot lead rolling down and around 
 the mountain side; the mountain was shaken from summit to 
 base by the roaring thunder, as flame after flame of leaden fire 
 shot out and around it. The enemy did not reel or stagger, 
 they were literally swept down the mountain side, and fied 
 across the open field through which they had just passed in 
 such grandeur. The flight was in wild disorder and utter ruin. 
 Never was destruction so swift or a grand charge so disas- 
 trous. Fifteen minutes from the time the signal gun was fired, 
 the battle was over and the Federal forces .were beyond the 
 reach of the Confederate guns, leaving all the mountain side 
 and the field beyond, covered with the slain. "A few more 
 such charges as this would have left Gen. Sherman without an 
 army." The loss of the Missouri Brigade was about seventy. 
 
 On the night of the second of July, Johnston's forces fell 
 back to what was known as Sand Hill or Bushy Ridge; on the 
 night of the 4th, fell back to the Chatahooche River, a portion 
 of the army crossing, leaving Stewart's corps, formerly Polk, 
 on the north bank, till the night of the 10th, when they crossed 
 over. Both armies seemed weary with the long watching and 
 fighting, and stopped to rest, which was enjoyed by the men 
 for several days. 
 
 The Confederate forces had now fallen back to within six 
 miles of Atlanta, one of the objective points of the Federal 
 army. The enemy having crossed the river above on the morn- 
 ing of the 19th, the Confederate troops took up the line of bat- 
 tle east of the railroad, the line running northwest and south- 
 east, and began to throw up breast-works. 
 
 The whole army was startled this morning by the news that 
 General Joseph E. Johnston had been removed and Gen. J. B. 
 Hood placed in command. Gen. Johnston was not only loved, 
 but idolized by his men, and the men were not only amazed, 
 but indignant. The expression could be heard on every hand. 
 
150 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 General Johnston removed! and for what! His retreat before 
 so great an army had been a masterly one. He left nothing to 
 fall into the hands of the enemy and there was never a 
 moment that he was not ready for battle. When his army fell 
 back, every division went direct to its place, and the line was 
 formed at once and ready for the reception of the enemy. 
 Never did a man handle his men with more ability. True, 
 Atlanta might have fallen, but in every move he was drawing 
 Sherman farther from his supplies, giving him a longer line to 
 defend and with only one road by which to receive his supplies, 
 making his condition more critical; his forces were being 
 weakened every day one way and another. The question may 
 well be asked. Why his removal? But it was all too true, and 
 the only reason an incensed army could give, was that he did 
 not suit the President. 
 
 It was now evident that a different policy would be pur- 
 sued, and it occasioned no surprise when it was announced on 
 the morning of the 20th, that the army would prepare for 
 action in front. The battle which was fought that evening, 
 was called the battle of "Peach-tree Creek," in which but little 
 was gained to the Confederates. The troops engaged were 
 Hardee's Corps against Gen. Thomas, of Sherman's army. 
 The troops fought well, but the enemy was prepared for them 
 and held their own. 
 
 On the night of the 21st, the Confederate forces fell back to 
 the works around Atlanta. Gen. Hardee occupied the right, 
 Lee the centre and Stewart the left. On the morning of the 
 22d, Gen. Hardee moved out from his position and attacked 
 the enemy in flank and rear, routing him and capturing sixteen 
 pieces of artillery and 3,000 prisoners. Had not his men be- 
 gan that detestable practice of plunder, the victory might 
 have been carried to success. 
 
 Now began a series of engagements which resulted in but 
 little advantage to the Confederates; the same monotonous 
 scenes were re-enacted here that had been repeated over and 
 over during the whole line of march, shelling and sharp- 
 shooting. 
 
 On the 18th of August, Gen. Sherman withdrew his force 
 from the front of Atlanta, and swinging around Gen. Hood's 
 left, marched with the greater portion of his army toward 
 
SHERMAN'S ADVANCE. 151 
 
 Macon, Ga. Gen. Hardee was sent with his corps to meet this 
 flank movement, and on the 30th, he met Sherman's advance 
 column near Jonesboro, and at once attacked it in force, but 
 the Confederates were repulsed with considerable loss. Gen. 
 Hood being outflanked and all his means of supplies cut off, 
 evacuated Atlanta and joined Gen. Hardee at Jonesboro. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 GATHERING THE MAIL. THE CAPTAIN AND 
 MISS HERBERT IN TROUBLE. 
 
 Leaving General Sherman in quiet possession of Atlanta, 
 and the Confederate army resting after a hard campaign of 
 over three months' duration at Lovejoy, we will now look after 
 the "Confederate Mail Carrier." 
 
 When Captain Grimes and Blla Herbert separated, the 
 first of July, it was their expectation to return to St. Louis by 
 the first of August and to make their journey to the Confeder- 
 ate army and back again to Missouri before the winter closed 
 in upon them. "But the best laid schemes o' mice and men 
 gang oft aglee." Not long after Ella returned home, the scar- 
 let fever broke out in the neighborhood and her brother and 
 two sisters were stricken with the disease. After weeks of 
 weary watching and waiting, she saw her little brother and one 
 sister laid in the cold grave. Soon after, she too, was stricken 
 down and brought very near to death's door. 
 
 O, the darkness of those sad hours. The tramp of war 
 upon every hand, tjie dreaded robber, or marauding bands as 
 they were called, prowling through the country; every day 
 bringing the sad news of some good citizen being taken from 
 his peaceful home and shot down like a dog; no feeling of 
 safety anywhere. And then the angel of death taking from 
 home some of its sweetest jewels. Ella Herbert never realized 
 till now how hard it was to say: "Thy will be done." But then 
 when she read of the mansions on high, of the bright home in 
 the fadeless skies, where life is ever glorious, and then knew 
 that these sweet ones had gone from the dark trials hei'e; and 
 still more, when she had a realization of God's sweet presence 
 and care over her, with firm conviction she could lay hold 
 
GATHERING THE MAIL. 153 
 
 upon God's promise and rest calmly upon His Word. In such 
 moments as thesSj she felt ashamed of her own faithlessness. 
 
 In this dark hour, how sweet to her were the words of 
 the blessed Lord, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye helieve in 
 God, believe also in i/e." "Yes," she would say, "I believe in 
 God, not only that there is a God, but a great God; a God of 
 power and of purpose, and a purpose concerning the least of 
 the works of His hands; and I believe that that purpose will be 
 fulfilled. He who knows the end from the beginning, knows 
 best what is for good, and He will not, He cannot do wrong. 
 The loved ones are gone from the sorrows of this life, and now 
 I shall only think of them as in heaven. Jesus, the good 
 Master, who has provided for them, is more dear to me than 
 ever before. It may be, for aught I know, that some day God 
 will turn it all for my good. Yes, all things work together for 
 good to them that love Him, and who knows but this may be 
 my comfort and blessing some dark day, or God may use it to 
 strengthen me for some trial that awaits me. I see and know 
 so little of to-morrow, but the eyes of God reach all the beyond 
 of my life and He knows how to provide for all its trials. 
 
 "In my father's house are many mansions, and I go to 
 prepare a place for you." "0,1 can but wonder sometimes if 
 I shall ever realize this promise. Mansions for me, in the 
 blessed beyond? And then the promise 'I will, come for yon.' 
 What for mef Me, a poor, worthless worm, the Master come 
 for mef Yes, that is the promise: O, sweet, blessed words. I 
 will sing, 'Thy will be done.' " 
 
 And Captain Grimes, too, had met with misfortunes. It 
 was a time when suspicion rested upon every one, and every 
 man's hand was against his neighbor. The fall of 1863, and 
 the winter of '63-'64 were indeed dark periods in the history of 
 Missouri. The whole country was infested with bands of 
 marauders, professing to represent one side or the other, but 
 who, in reality, were nothing more than land pirates seeking 
 to rob and plunder. And the "Home Guard," or State militia 
 took many privileges and did mu'ch plundering unjustified by 
 the rules of war and entirely unknown to a civilized people. 
 
 Captain Grimes fell into the hands of one of these com- 
 panies of militia and was thrown into prison. It often hap- 
 pened that a man languished for weeks and months in one of 
 
154 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 these prisons with no specific charge against him, only that he 
 was a suspicious character. Sometimes these mere suspicions 
 cost a man his life. Capt. Grimes escaped narrowly with his. 
 
 After laying in prison at Macon City for a number of 
 weeks, closely guarded, he induced one of the guards to accom- 
 pany him to a spring in the outskirts of the city for a little 
 exercise and a cool drink of water. 
 
 During his confinement, he had induced the guard to pur- 
 chase for him a quantity of pulverized red pepper, ostensibly for 
 Ihe purpose of seasoning his victuals, but really to aid him in 
 making his escape, if opportunity ever oflTered. Before starting 
 to the spring, he filled hia pocket well with this strange fire. 
 When they reached the spring, they were a short distance out- 
 side of the picket line. But there was but one sentinel in 
 sight. It was only a mile from the spring to the hills and 
 brushy woods of the East Fork of the Chariton Eiver. After 
 taking a drink of water, the captain very quietly engaged the 
 guard in pleasant conversation over the merits of the spring 
 and how he enjoyed the refreshing breeze, at the same time 
 keeping watch upon the lone picket upon his beat. When the 
 picket had reached the farthest point from him, giving him at 
 least 300 yards the start, he stepped carelessly in front of the 
 guard and suddenly jerking his hand from his pocket, dashed 
 a handful of the pepper full in the poor soldier's face. He 
 then whirled upon his heel and made a dash for the hills. 
 One can imagine the excruciating pain of the guard; his eyes 
 were full and his mouth was full; he could neither see or cry 
 out, and for some momenta could do nothing but squirm in 
 agonies. All this time the captain was flying for liberty across 
 the open prairie. At length the guard did manage to give a 
 kind of scream or groan that attracted the attention of the 
 picket, who, looking up, saw the captain darting away. He 
 raised his gun, took aim and fired. But the distance was too 
 great; a spent ball struck the calf of the captain's leg, but 
 instead of retarding, accelerated, if possible, his movements. 
 Before the guard could be summoned and pursuit undertaken, 
 the captain had gained the hills and with them comparative 
 safety. From this on it was necessary for him to remain in 
 hiding and to conceal his movements. 
 
 By the time that all these hindrances were overcome, 
 
GATHERING THE MAIL. 155 
 
 winter, with all its rigor, had set in. The winter was a very 
 severe one, freezing the river over far helow the mouth of the 
 Ohio and rendering navigation from St. Louis to Memphis im- 
 possible. All that could be done under these circumstances, 
 was to await patiently the breaking up of the ice in the river. 
 Captain Grimes had secured where he could obtain it, a list of 
 the names of correspondents to soldiers, and these he notified 
 as far as could he of- the delay, and instructed to have all 
 answers at St. Louis by the 15th of February. 
 
 About the 15th, according to previous arrangements, Cap- 
 tain Grimes and Miss Ella Herbert, with her ever faithful 
 servant, Sam, met in St. Louis. As the mail had already been 
 collected through the agency of friends, they had little to 
 do but arrange it for transportation to Memphis, Tenn. It was 
 determined as before, that Miss Herbert should take charge of 
 the mail and convey it to Memphis, while Sam took charge of 
 the mysterious jacket. Captain Grimes was to precede them 
 to this point, and, if thought best, they were to go on from 
 there down the river to Vicksburg or some other point. If this 
 was not done, then they were to proceed at once to Corinth, 
 Miss., and to the Confederate lines, making no delay in the 
 city of Memphis. 
 
 But' they had some things to contend with upon which 
 they had not reckoned. Some of the letters that had been 
 formerly written by friends in Missouri, had miscarried and 
 had gone to the dead-letter office. Some of the soldiers had 
 written to parties that had moved away or had fled to other 
 States as refugees and hence these letters rejnained uncalled 
 for. These too found a place at headquarters in Washington. 
 These letters not only developed the fact of an underground 
 mail route, but that its headquarters was in St. Louis. Some of 
 the writers had been so unthoughtful as to tell the name of the 
 mail agent and of his coming into Vicksburg. 
 
 While the captain had anticipated some things and had 
 provided for them, yet he could not provide against all the 
 unforseen things that were now against him. While he felt 
 conscious that he was being closely watched, he attributed it 
 more to the rigors of war than to any suspicion of the real pur- 
 pose of his mission. He little suspected that the United States 
 Government had him under such close surveillance and that 
 
156 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 his every movement was closely guarded. While it was under- 
 stood that he had an accomplice, yet so careful had he been 
 and so guarded in his movements, that no suspicion had, as 
 yet, attached to Miss Ella Herbert. 
 
 Early one morning the captain informed Ella that a boat 
 would leave there that evening and that he would take it and 
 run down to Memphis. There was another to leave at nine 
 o'clock next morning and she was to take that. He would 
 thus only be in advance a few hours, but he would have time 
 to make all necessary arrangements for their further m.ove- 
 ments. With this understanding they separated, he telling 
 her he might not see her any more till they met in Memphis. 
 She was, therefore, not surprised when he did not return that 
 evening. 
 
 The next morning, at the appointed hour, she was on 
 board the boat. Sam had brought all the baggage, and after a 
 due examination of its contents by the guards, and finding 
 no contraband goods, they were soon sailing grandly upon the 
 bosom of the great Father of Waters. Miss Herbert retired to 
 her cabin while Sam busied himself with the hands on deck, 
 learning how to handle a boat, but not forgetting to look after 
 the necessities of his young mistress to whom he was perfectly 
 devoted. 
 
 Nothing of note took place to mar the pleasure of the trip 
 and with high spirits Miss Herbert was contemplating her 
 journey to "Dixie," and thinking of the surprise she would 
 bring to George Tracy and his companions in arms. 
 
 It was a little after 12 o'clock one day when they hove in 
 sight of Memphis. Ella could not refrain from going to the 
 railing of the boat and watching anxiously the approach to 
 shore. She felt that leaving Memphis would be the beginning 
 of new and exciting scenes in her life's history, and that that 
 new, strange history was soon to be begun. She felt as if just 
 embarking upon some new, strange sea, the waves and billows 
 of which had never been tried; the perils of which were, as yet, 
 unknown. And yet it was with a feeling of joy mingled with 
 one of fearful dread that she contemplated the journey. She 
 anticipated" with a thrill of rapture that first emerging from 
 the perils that would surround her into the clear sunlight of 
 that land of flowers, and the meeting in the rugged camp of 
 
GATHERING THE MAIL. 157 
 
 the Southern soldiery. O, that such blissful thoughts should 
 be blasted in one short hour! Truly one can say: 
 "How vain are all things here below, 
 How false and yet how fair." 
 
 It was near 2 o'clock when the boat reached the wharf, 
 and the long stage planks had been run out and the passengers 
 for Memphis were going ashore. Ella had eagerly scanned the 
 face of every one on the wharf, as the boat approached the 
 shore, for Captain Grimes. But he was not to be seen. And 
 now that she was upon land and he had not made his appear- 
 ance a strange bewilderment and confusion came over her. 
 Sam had joined her with the baggage and together they waited 
 for some minutes, but they were still alone. Her heart 
 throbbed wildly, and the whole of the future became dark. 
 But they could not stay here, they had already begun to attract 
 attention. In this state of confusion, Ella determined to go to 
 her former boarding place. 
 
 Here she made her first great blunder. She was all uncon- 
 scious of the attention she had attracted when she was there 
 before. Such is our nature, that when lost in our own thoughts 
 and our minds fixed upon our own purposes, and feeling our 
 own unimportance, we forget the impressions we leave upon 
 others; or the importance of our own lives in connection with 
 that of our surroundings. 
 
 Too, the Government detectives had learned of the visit of 
 the strange woman, had surmised*her mission and were await- 
 ing her return. 
 
 But mistake as it was, it was very natural that she would 
 make it. She had not anticipated putting up in the city at all, 
 and the captain failing to meet her she had unawares become 
 bewildered, and it was more from instinct that she went to her 
 former boarding place than from reason. And yet there was 
 some reason for it. It had not entered her mind that Captain 
 Grimes might be a prisoner somewhere and separated from her 
 forever. She simply thought his boat had been delayed some- 
 where, and that he would soon join her and that he would know 
 best where to find her if she went to the old hotel. 
 
 She was readily recognized as she entered the hotel and 
 registered her name. She little dreamed that from that very 
 moment a watch was put upon her every movement, and that 
 
158 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 from au unseen aperture in the wall her every act was dis- 
 covered by unseen eyes. Retiring to her room and ordering 
 some refreshments, she threw herself into a chair and tried 
 to collect her thoughts and to consider what best to do 
 under the circumstances. After the refreshments had been 
 served, she gave Sam permission to look for his old colored 
 aunt down by the wharf, where he could keep a lookout for 
 Captain Grimes. She took the mail jacket and gave the boy 
 instructions to report to her at half-past seven. 
 
 She had determined to change the letters, and put them in 
 the jacket and send it down to the wharf in care of Sam, so that 
 if the Captain should have met with any misfortune, as a sus- 
 picion had begun to dawn upon her that he might have been 
 capfured, and if such should be, and any clew given to her 
 whereabouts, she would have the mail out of the way. The boy 
 was glad of the opportunity of the visit and also as anxious to 
 see the Captain as was his mistress; for he, too, had pictured a 
 grand visit to "Dixie." 
 
 So soon as Sam was gone, Ella began the work of transfer- 
 ring the letters to the mail jacket. By seven o'clock the work 
 was completed and she laid the jacket' down to await the com- 
 iugofSam. Little did she dream that curious eyes, through 
 that aperture in the wall, hidden by a darkened glass, had be- 
 held all that she had done, and perfectly understood its mean- 
 ing. But there are times, when we feel that we hold the life 
 of a fellow-being in our own htlnds, and when we know what the 
 revelation of our secrets will bring upon them, that we hesitate, 
 we falter, and a kind of nervous sensation creeps over us. It 
 is not cowardice, but a vague suspicion that our actions are not 
 just; that we are seeking and taking advantage of the innocent 
 and unsuspecting; xhat we are thus taking a life we cannot re- 
 store. In such moments one becomes confused, and his brains 
 grow wild, as it were. Here sat that detective, used to all 
 the realities of war and to following the tracks of men with a 
 dogged, unrelentless determination. But when he looked 
 through that glass and saw that innocent, timid, shrinking 
 form, with womanly grace and a Christian radiance in her 
 every movement, although he knew that the proof of her guilt 
 was beyond all question, he became excited to the highest de- 
 gree. He knew, perfectly, what her fate would be, as martial 
 
GATHERING THE MAIL. 159 
 
 law knows no mercy. His head almost grew dizzy at the 
 thought, and he almost cursed his eyes for what they had seen. 
 He felt that he was acting a mean part. But he had been sent 
 upon that mission; he had sworn to be faithful, and he felt in 
 duty bound. Besides, his reputation was at stake, and maybe 
 the destiny of a nation hung upon his action. 
 
 While all these conflicting feelings and emotions are pass- 
 ing through his mind, and just as he has determined to break 
 in and capture the prize, making safe all her possessions as 
 trophies of his vigilance, he sees her drop upon her knees and 
 lifting her snowy-white and tender hands, clasped together, 
 and turning her face toward heaven, begin a silent prayer to God. 
 He is at once riveted to the spot. Upon one of those snowy 
 fingers is a ring, a pearl, a jewel, maybe the gift of a sainted 
 mother, or the token of a brother's love, or a dear sister's affec- 
 tions. Or, perhaps, the gift of one whose life is bound to her 
 own, given as a token of better days. And then that face of 
 pictured innocence, upon which the lamp shown so brightly as to 
 reveal all its angelic features. He can hear no words, but from 
 the movement of those pale, yet expressive lips, he fancies he 
 can hear her say, "Dear, good Father, protect your child, 
 and save her from the fiend that hides upon her path- 
 way." And a tear, sparkling as a diamond in the lamp-light 
 trickles down her cheek. The detective feels abashed, ashamed 
 of himself, of his life, of all he has done, of what he has seen, 
 and almost curses the hour of bis birth. As never before, he 
 felt that he was in the presence of the Eternal Judge of all, and 
 he trembled from head to foot. At last, in sheer madness, he 
 tears himself from his hiding-place. He feels that though the 
 innocence within that little room sees him not, yet the Being 
 whose eyes are over all, knows his secret purpose, and he can- 
 not, he dare not face that innocent woman. 
 
 How little did Ella know that even then God had heard her 
 prayer and had, in a measure, provided deliverance. Had the 
 detective as was his purpose, have rushed in, he would have 
 captured all. But such a dagger had been sent to his own 
 heart, that he almost feared that God would smite him down 
 before such a being as this woman. 
 
 As he rushed from the room in which he was hiding, his first 
 impulse was to keep all that he had seen within his own bosom 
 
160 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 and to leave the place. But then there were other officers who 
 knew something of what was going on. He knew that his own 
 life was at stake; it would be expected that he would report, 
 and a failure to do so would create a suspicion, and set detec- 
 tives upon his own steps. Feeling that he could not face the 
 innocent creature in that hotel himself, he now determined to 
 report to the officer in command of the post all of his discover, 
 ies and turn all over into his hands. 
 
 All thoughts, by the detective, about Sam had been forgotten; 
 and really he had concluded that the lady would not leave be- 
 fore morning and that all that was necessary was to guard the 
 hotel closely during the night. 
 
 But scarcely had the detective gone when Sam made his ap- 
 pearance. But he brought no news of Captain Grimes. Ella 
 gathered up the mail and giving it to him told him to take it 
 down to his old aunt's and to ask her to keep it until he called 
 for it, giving a caution to let no one know of its whereabouts, 
 and to keep watch for the Captain; to go to every boat that 
 landed, night or day, and to report any information he might 
 get. With these charges and injunctions, Sam was soon lost in 
 the darkness outside, and wending bis way with bis treasure to 
 the river. 
 
^.^ 
 
 .^ty Ot- «-de-^*«^ 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 
 
 After the detective had left the room and had gained some- 
 thing of his composure, he sought the commandant of the post 
 and informed him of his discoveries. The commandant ex- 
 pressed surprise at his not taking possession of all at once. 
 
 "I could not," said the detective, "I dare not; that woman 
 is an angel, a heavenly queen, and after seeing that face of 
 innocence shining with a radiance of the heavenly world, and 
 the tear-drops of innocence dropping down her cheek, and the 
 earnestness of her petition to the heavenly Father, I dare not 
 approach her." 
 
 The commandant laughed at what he called his childish 
 timidity and taunted him with forgetting his obligation to his 
 country and falling in love at first sight, 
 
 "There is no love about it," replied the detective, "the 
 look at that woman in prayer made me feel my own contempt- 
 ible meanness, and ashamed of the part I was acting. You 
 may call it cowardice if you will, but I dared not break into that 
 sacred place." 
 
 "Well, well," said the commandant, "something must be 
 done at once, and if you are too timid to act, I shall have to 
 send a guard." 
 
 The detective felt the sting of the reproof, but said noth- 
 ing. ' It was a thing beyond all doubt that this lady had an 
 accomplice, and that sooner or later he would come to her help. 
 The commandant felt sure that some one would come for that 
 mail jacket, and that might be at any time. His purpose at 
 once was to take possession of all, put a secret watch at the 
 hotel and capture the first one that called for the strange 
 woman. Summoning a sergeant and a couple of guards, he 
 ordered them to go to the hotel and arrest the woman and 
 bring everything of a suspicious character found in her room 
 
 161 
 
162 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 to his headquarters. He especially described the mail pouch, 
 and then turning to the detective, he said with some sarcasm 
 in his tone, "Are you afraid to go?" 
 
 The detective was not insensible to these reproofs, but 
 without a reply, signified his willingness to accompany the 
 guard by a touch of his cap by way of salute, and arising to be 
 off. He knew he was no coward, so far as facing danger was 
 concerned; nor did he till now know that he feared anything. 
 He could face the savage monster and grapple with the robber 
 and feel a pride in his manhood; but for the first time in his 
 life he stood face to face with a holy innocence and a pure 
 womanhood. As never before, he felt his own pollution and 
 shrank back before that pictured purity. Yet he felt that no 
 one but an all-seeing eye knew his heart, and that men would 
 call him coward. The commandant had only expressed the 
 thought that all would have of him, and this thought impelled 
 him on. 
 
 The guard was instructed not to molest the woman any 
 further than to take posession of her property and to inform 
 her that she was under arrest and that it would not be expected 
 for her to leave her room without a guard. The detective went 
 with the guard to the hotel, and with the landlord designated 
 the room, but yet he did not feel that he could accuse that 
 woman to her face. He stood back in the hallway while, the 
 landlord gave a gentle tap at the door. 
 
 Ella, although she had lain down upon the bed, wa not 
 sleeping. Recovering from her first hours of bewilderment and 
 confusion, and after her devotions, she had calmly looked over 
 the whole field. 
 
 "It is possible," she said, "Captain Grimes has been cap- 
 tured; these are times when we know not whose eyes are upon 
 us, nor can we divine what a day may bring forth. If he is 
 captured, it may give a clew to my retreat, and for aught I 
 know I shall be a prisoner before the morning." Little did she 
 know that even then the guard was on its way to take posses- 
 sion of her. "But," she continued, "the Lord's presence has 
 sweetened the prison house in other days, and such can be 
 done now, and I will trust Him; He has never failed me and 
 He never will." 
 
 A perfect calmness had taken possession of her and she 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 163 
 
 Tras not in the least alarmed when, after the gentle knocks, she 
 opened the door and saw three soldiers with their muskets 
 standing before her. 
 
 "What is your wish, gentlemen," she said in a perfectly 
 easy way. 
 
 "Beg pardon," said the sergeant somewhat abashed at the 
 calmness of the queenly form before him. "I — you — the com- 
 mandant of the post sent us to search this room and to take 
 possession of whatever we might find in the way of contra- 
 band." And then he apologetically said, "Very sorry to dis- 
 turb you," at the same time politely touching his cap, "but we 
 are ordered here and must obey our orders." 
 
 "O yes," she replied gently and politely, though with 
 something of an effort at calm deliberation, for the truth was 
 beginning to dawn upon her, and she feared, not so much for 
 herself as for others. "Poor Sam," she said mentally to her- 
 self, "What will become of him." But this, while continuing to 
 the soldiers, "I know you soldiers must obey orders, and I sup- 
 pose I am in your power; come in, you see what is in the 
 room." 
 
 There was only the valise and hand-basket to be seen, 
 though every nook and corner of the room was searched. The 
 sergeant only had orders to bring what he found to head- 
 quarters. Leaving the two soldiers stationed at the door of 
 Ella's room, he, with the detective, reported to the command- 
 ant. The valise was opened and searched, but nothing found. 
 The commandant was at once indignant, and indirectly charged 
 the detective with making' a false report. He said to him, 
 "You simply lost your head before a pretty woman, and it 
 seems that you do not know what you saw. The Government 
 should send men into such business as this who never lose 
 their presence of mind." 
 
 The detective felt bitterly stung by this reproof, so much 
 so, that he determined to resort to what was to him desperate 
 measures. He declared that he knew moat positively that the 
 letters had been transferred, that he witnessed it with his own 
 eyes. He, therefore, demanded that two ladies be sent to 
 search the prisoner. "She may have," he said, "the jacket on 
 her own person." His demand was granted, and a most dili- 
 gent search was made, but to no purpose, so far as the missing 
 
164 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 mail was concerned. They did find, however, a few letters on 
 her person, especially those from George Tracy, that did con- 
 vict her of being engaged in carrying the mail, and that was 
 clear proof of her guilt, thus far confirming the report of the 
 detective, but so far as the mail jacket was concerned, it had 
 as .thoroughly disappeared as if it had dropped out of existence; 
 search as they would and did, there was not a trace of it to be 
 found. 
 
 Miss Herbert, while fully realizing her condition, yet kept 
 her perfect composure, and with it her own counsel. She said 
 nothing and answered but few questions. 
 
 The curiosity of the detective was thoroughly aroused. Be- 
 sides, the questioning of his veracity stung him to the quick. 
 He could not possibly doubt his own eyes; it was not possible 
 that the transfer was not made. Being so piqued by the charge 
 of the commandant he had forgotten some of the grand im- 
 pressions left upon bis mind by that sweet prayer, and those 
 lovely pictures, and only thought of how be, himself, would 
 appear in the eyes of others. While fearing to be called a cow- 
 ard, yet he had been actiag the part of a coward from the time 
 he left that room and determined to reveal what he had seen. 
 He simply feared the opinions of men. He now determined to 
 resort to more determined and, to him, desperate measures. 
 
 While the picture he had seen before him, while Ella was 
 transferring the mail, was one of loveliness and grace, and 
 while that moment ol prayer had been one never to be forgot- 
 ten, yet he bad only seen in his pictured fancy, a poor, weak, 
 innocent Christian woman. While in part, his picture was 
 true, yet he had never known the virtue of prayer nor the 
 power of faith; he had never known the boldness of one whose 
 trust was in God, and who confides all to His care. While he 
 had seen the tear trickling down the cheek, and while his own 
 heart beat in sympathetic unison with his pictured queen, yet he 
 knew not, nor understood that these tears were but the fruits 
 of the sweet breathings of the Spirit of the Most High, that 
 they were but the results of the soul's swelling up into raptur- 
 ous joy atthe sealinghome of the sweet promise, "Fear not I 
 am with you." He had but little conception of the power of 
 those v/ords, nor with what strength the sealing them home to 
 the heart, gave the soul of that fair girl to meet the trials that 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 165 
 
 were before her, and he knew nothing of a dependence upon an 
 Omnipotent Arm. 
 
 With his conception of the weak and timid gir], he thought 
 he could frighten her into a revelation of the secret. 
 
 With this feeling he summoned all the courage he was mas- 
 ter of and marched boldly into the room. He even made an 
 effort to be severe, but the little tremor in his voice, and the 
 unsteady movement of the eye betrayed him. Ella, though 
 fixed in her determination, knew the character before her. 
 Though she understood not the cause, at that time, yet she 
 knew that it was simply an effort at bluff. 
 
 When the stranger entered the room where Miss Ella and 
 the two women, who had searched her, were sitting, Ella arose 
 to meet him. The very moment that her eyes, in their bright, 
 steady gaze met his, he felt that he had before him no ordinary 
 person; before that piercing eye he winced, and would have 
 turned away had it been possible. He felt that she read bis 
 thoughts, and even looked upon him with contempt. But to 
 retreat now was impossible. His sheer desperation, in an ef- 
 fort to retrieve what be felt to be his standing as a detective, 
 drove him on. He tried once more to fix a firm and defiant 
 look upon those bright eyes, but their luster did not dim. 
 There she was, with womanly grace and timid virtue, tinged 
 with lovely reverence and pity, yet, so fixed, firm and steady 
 that spoke of nerve and fixedness of purpose. 
 
 While feeling the failure of his undertaking, yet having no 
 other subterfuge, he began: 
 
 "Madam, I shall not at all try to disguise from you the fact 
 of who I am, and what I am, and, as filling my office, of what I 
 have witnessed. I am a government detective, and as such 
 have been sent here for the sole purpose of watching your move- 
 ments. From my position in that room," pointing to the room 
 adjoining, "I saw, through that glass you see there in that 
 wall, (for the first time Ella saw it,) you take a quantity of 
 of letters from about your person and put them in something 
 like a roundabout or soldier's jacket. Now, understand, lady, 
 your life is in my hands. I demand of you to tell me where 
 those letters are." 
 
 This great speech was made in a kind of halting, unsteady 
 wayi the speaker's eyes, once in a while, rising to meet the 
 
166 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 steady gaze before him and then dropping to the floor. The last 
 words were spoken with a great effort at boldness and author- 
 ity. But stern and terrible as the detective would have them 
 be, Miss Herbert stood fixed before him; she never moved a 
 nerve or muscle. Nor did she turn from him the steady gaze of 
 those searching eyes, except when directed to the other room 
 and the glass in the wall; nay, those eyes grew brighter if possi- 
 ble, and a blush of animation mounted her cheek as, in her 
 queenlike majesty, she gave answer: 
 
 "Sir, you are a detective? One appointed by the government 
 to hunt and betray people; an informant on other people's bus- 
 iness; a betrayer of the secrets of men; think you to make me 
 act the part of a traitor to myself? Never! I will leave that for 
 detectives to do. As to my life being in your hands, now, I 
 should say you have no power over me. When you sat in that 
 room secretly spying out my actions, as you say, my life might 
 have hung upon your actions; hut your story has been told, and 
 the only thing you could do now to benefit me would be to say 
 your story is false; for no consideration would I ask that." 
 
 There was no madness in that womanly voice, but the de- 
 tective felt the sting of the withering rebuke, and before that 
 woman, who stood as a queen enthroned before hira, he fal- 
 tered and betrayed his chagrin. Seeing this faltering and hesi- 
 tation, she added, "If you are the detective you say you are, and 
 if you have seen all you describe, it was your place to see more." 
 
 There was a little tinge of sarcasm about these last remarks 
 which the detective was quick to observe, and he felt their 
 sting. And as never before he felt the guilt of his profession. 
 But however abashed, or however criminal he felt his actions 
 to have been, there was a kind of pride in the success of his 
 undertaking that mechanically urged him on. And rather im- 
 ploringly than threateningly, he urged: 
 
 "Do you know, dear lady, the nature of the. crime that will 
 attach to your actions? and do you know the proof we have of 
 your guilt?" 
 
 Nothing faltering she replied, "Yes, sir, I perfectly under- 
 stand what the rules of war are in regard to my case, and of 
 what I may be adjudged guilty, and am fully apprised of what 
 the result will be if so adjudged. But my mission, whatever 
 military laws may be, is one of love and mercy; I carry mes- 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 167 
 
 sages of love and good will, and the God whom I serve, and be- 
 fore whom I stand, will clear me of all guilt. I stand before Him 
 with a conscience void of oflfense, and no human being can lay 
 his blood to my charge." 
 
 "Then,"' said the detective, "you confess your guilt?" 
 
 "I confess nothing," was the reply, "nor do I deny any- 
 thing. You have those letters that speak for themselves, I 
 shall not deny them." 
 
 "But," the detective added, "you are encouraging the 
 enemies of the Government, and the Government must hold 
 you to account." 
 
 I "I am," was the reply, "comforting the oppressed, and if, 
 for being faithful to my people and to the land of my birth, I 
 must die — be it so. I am Southern born; one of my brothers 
 fills a Southern soldier's grave; another one is in the aimy, 
 and what is my life that I must not lay it upon my country's 
 altar?" 
 
 The detective saw the futility of his efforts in the line he 
 was persuing and, after informing Miss Herbert that she must 
 consider herself a prisoner, he took his departure. 
 
 Ella was given the full possession and all the privileges of 
 her room, but she understood that a guard would be placed at 
 the door and that of a truth she was a prisoner. When the 
 door was closed and bolted, and she found herself alone, the 
 awfulness of her situation flashed upon her. A prisonerl All 
 the bright hopes and cherished ends blasted in one moment of 
 time. All her womanly nature was aroused, and she burst into 
 a flood of tears. All was dark, O so very dark, the future had 
 no bright pictures now. 
 
 "And poor Sam, what will become of him? What will 
 the poor, innocent child do? He knows nothing of the dark 
 trials of life, nor of being alone and in the hands of enemies. 
 Where is the poor boy now? Is the mail safe? an d Captain 
 Grimes, oh, what misfortune has befallen him? Where is he, 
 and why did he not come? Had we met him, all these misfor- 
 tunes would not have overtaken us." All these questions 
 passed rapidly through her mind, and for the moment her own 
 condition was forgotten in the thought for others. 
 
 And then she reflected over the work of the last few hours. 
 It was all so strange, so unexpected, so like a dream, a vision. 
 
168 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 and yet so real. She felt surprised at her own words, and yet 
 she hardly knew how she had answered the detective. She 
 only felt that she had been moved by some strange impulse; 
 some power had taken hold of her, and held her, calm, fixed 
 and unmoved. Of one thing she was perfectly conscious, she 
 had betrayed no one; the one secret that concerned others was 
 still locked in her own bosom and there she felt confident it 
 would ever remain. 
 
 And then she began to think over the mistakes she had 
 made in coming to the hotel, of her actions when she landed at 
 the wharf, and it all flashed over her of what a mistake she 
 had made. "Of course," she said to herself, "I was known the 
 very moment I entered the hotel, and as no one knew my mis- 
 sion when here before, it is but reasonable, if anything has 
 been discovered of what is going on, that suspicion should 
 attach to me." And then she remembered the special caution 
 Tracy had given her, never to repeat herself; that is, "do not 
 put up twice at the same place." 
 
 But it had all come upon her so suddenly and so unexpect- 
 edly. She had put the most implicit confidence in Captain 
 Grimes to make the journey safely. He had been so upon his 
 guard, and had become so well acquainted with the enemy, 
 their ways and movements that he could almost divine their 
 intentions. The possibility, therefore, of his capture had never, 
 till now, entered her mind. "O why," she cried, "did he not 
 give me some instructions if there should be a failure of his 
 coming? Then I would have known how to act." 
 
 But the truth was, that the captain, like herself, had too 
 much confidence in his ability to carry out his plans. But that 
 is all passed now, and beyond recall or remedy. Ella feels that 
 she must now face the reality; that whatever the mistakes of 
 the past may have been, they are the things of the past, nor is 
 it in the power of man to undo them. "O," she said, "if we 
 could always think of this, how diflerent would be our walk in 
 life. If we could always understand that we are writing a life 
 history, the pages of which are to endure forever; that not a 
 single letter or syllable can ever be blottled out; that all our 
 actions are gone beyond recall, how careful we would be in the 
 writing." She sees the futility of regrets now, and that they 
 cannot change anything of the past; she must now face the 
 reality of the present and the darkness of the future. 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 1G9 
 
 A sense of her loneliness came over her, and a realization 
 of her weakness. No one to sympathize with her; no kind 
 hand to lead, or arm upon which to lean; no one to counsel or 
 cheer in these dark moments. "In a prison house!" A shiver 
 passed over her as the words flashed through her mind. 
 "Walls all around to shut out all care and sympathy, and as a 
 bar to all love and friendship. A prison housel" How terrible 
 the words now, as she awoke to all their reality, "Not only 
 friends shut out, but enemies are those that keep' guard." 
 How could she endure it? 
 
 Her first impulse was to write to the friends at home and 
 get some of them to come to her help. But, then, she re- 
 flected, they are in the same condemnation, that is they were 
 regarded as "rebels," and to call upon them for assistance, 
 would be to subject them to the same treatment as she might 
 receive herself. Instead, therefore, of bringing her the needed 
 relief, it would bring them into trouble. She, therefore, deter- 
 mined to sufier alone, and trust all to an All Wise Providence. 
 Though earthly friends be shut out, she felt that she had one 
 Friend that no power of earth could drive away; one Friend who 
 cared not for prison walls or heeded the commands of a million 
 guards; one who overleaped all heights, and held the destinies 
 of all men in the hollow of His hand, and how sweet to her now 
 were the words of Isaiah: "When thou passest through the 
 waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall 
 not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou 
 shalt not be burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee, 
 for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, 
 ■••■ ® Since thou art most precious in my sight, thou hast been 
 honorable; and I have loved thee." She stopped and paused 
 upon these words: "Precious in His sight, oh, how sweet! and 
 to be loved of the Lord! O, He has been such a Friend to me 
 I know that, poor and weak as I am, and as little as I have done 
 to merit it, yet He loves me. And He will love me in the time 
 of trouble." The sweet words came unbidden, as if they flowed 
 from the never-failing fountain of unspeakable love, and she 
 lingered upon their sweetness. "Therefore, will I give men for 
 thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee." 
 "O," she said, "I do feel that He is with me, I have found Him 
 my portion in the time of peace, and shall I fear to trust Him 
 
170 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 in the time of trouble?" And then she lifted up her hands in 
 a fervent petition,"©, Lord," she said, "Thou knowest the 
 secrets of all hearts; our down-sitting and onr uprising, and art 
 acquainted with all our ways. Thou art able to make the wrath 
 of men to praise Thee, and, dear Lord, thou knowest that I am 
 but a poor, weak woman, and that I am in the hands of ene- 
 mies; that my life is in danger; Thou knowest that I am too 
 weak to do anything for myself as of myself. Dear Lord, under- 
 take for' me. There is nothing too hard for Thee. If it be 
 Thy will I will suffer, only let Thy name be glorilied, and let 
 me feel that in me and my sufferings Thy will is accomplished; 
 and all is well." 
 
 She could not sleep. Sometimes she would feel perfectly 
 calm and composed, and then again she would become con- 
 fused, and her thoughts as a tangled web. Everything had 
 become so changed in one short moment, as it were. In the 
 early morning she was full of life and hope, looking forward to 
 a delightful journey and a glorious meeting when she should 
 enter the Confederate camp with good news from home. But 
 now here she was, shut up in a little room with a Federal guard 
 standing at the door. Shut out from the world, hearing noth- 
 ing and knowing nothing. Nor could she inquire. She dare 
 not mention the name of Oapt. Grimes. And those dear love 
 messages, those letters that were to gladden so many hearts, 
 she could not know what had become of them, and the poor 
 servant, the trusting child, she dare not even mention his 
 name, and yet be was to her of all others, the object of her 
 thoughts. How would he be treated, and what would become 
 of the poor child among strangers. She pictured him, even 
 now, captured and a prisoner, pleading for a word with her and 
 wondering why she could not come to his relief. 
 
 That night to her was one of darkness and sorrow, mingled 
 with but few sweet moments, and somehow she felt relieved 
 when the rays of dawn, peeping through her window announced 
 the beginning of another day. Although she knew not what it 
 would bring forth, yet she felt that there was no change that 
 would worst her condition. She had made her resolve, she had 
 put her cause in God's hands and she felt sure that He would 
 care for her, and that His grace would be sufficient. 
 
 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 171 
 
 death, I will fsar no evil; for Thou art with me, Thy rod and 
 Thy staff, they comfort me," 
 
 And she said, "Am I not walking through the valley of the 
 shadow of death even now? and may I not trust Him to com- 
 fort me? Indeed, I do believe that the Lord will provide, and 
 that He will not leave me comfortless." 
 
 She arose from her troubled couch and made her toilet. 
 The night had been to her one of doubts, and yet of assurance; 
 of human fears, and yet of faith's triumphs; of human weakness, 
 and yet of Christian trust; of doubt's darkness, and yet of 
 trusting light; of humanity vanquished, and yet the victory of 
 grace; of how weak are all things earthly, and yet how strong 
 in the Lord and the power of His might. She composed herself 
 as best she could, and came down stairs. For the first time in 
 her life she was conducted to the breakfast table by a guard. 
 There were strange faces all around her, but she took but little 
 note of them. She would rather have taken her breakfast in 
 her room, but for the hope that she might see a familiar face. 
 But one glance satisfied her. She was conscious that those 
 strange eyes cast upon her a kind of sympathetic glance. So 
 strange was her condition, and such were her emotions, that 
 she ate but little. But with it all her face shows a sweet, 
 sad composure, revealing a firm resolve within. She drank a 
 cup of coffee and minced a few crackers. This constituted the 
 meal. 
 
 While perfectly silent herself, she listened to every whisper 
 around her, and watched every movement that she might catch 
 any information as to Captain Grimes, poor Sam, or the precious 
 mail. O, if she could get one glimpse of Sam, and yet she 
 feared to see him. If he should come into her presence, he 
 would rush to her and thus betray himself. But then she 
 satisfied herself that poor Sam had already fallen into the 
 hands of the Federal officers, or he would have reported to her 
 long before this. She looked at her watch, it was now 8 o'clock 
 in the morning; the sun had already mounted high in the 
 heavens and the boy would not have made such a delay with- 
 out just cause. "It must be," she said, "that he is a prisoner 
 and the poor, ignorant child (that is ignorant of evil), has 
 doubtless been frightened into a revelation of the whereabouts 
 of the mail." 
 
172 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 She was satisfied that he had reached the hiding place 
 safely. For she knew that the mail had not been found when 
 the detective had entered her room the night before. But it 
 was now evident to her that her servant had been taken 
 prisoner, or at least that he had been prevented from seeing 
 her. The day wore by and she was still a prisoner in her room. 
 She had been left all the morning entirely to her thoughts. 
 The authorities seemed to be satisfied, that so far as she was 
 oncer ned, she was fixed in her purpose , or else they had made 
 all the discovery that they desired to make and were deliberat- 
 ing on her case. 
 
 About 2 o'clock in the ev ening a squad of soldiers filed in- 
 to the hall, and an o fflcer announced that she should get ready 
 for a journey. "A journey," she mentally repeated, "A jour- 
 ney where?" But no answer came to the soul's thoughts. 
 With her face heavily veiled, and heedless of the curious eyes 
 that were fixed upon her as she passed, she walked with her 
 escort out of the hotel and turning an angle down the street 
 she found that they were going toward the river. The oflScer, 
 to all appearances, was a nice, clever gentleman. When he 
 came into Miss Herbert's presencehetookoff his cap, and when 
 they started for the journey, he very politely ofl'ered her his 
 arm. This she very gently, and with true, womanly politeness, 
 refused. Yet she privileged him to walk by her side. Her va- 
 lise, which con tained only her wearing apparel, was given in 
 charge of one of the guards. When they had come near the 
 river she saw a boat at the wharf with steam up, ready to start 
 and she understood that she was to take the boat for some- 
 where. "Of course," she thought, "a prison; but what prison?" 
 
 "May I ask," she said, breaking the silence, "where I am 
 going?" 
 
 The oflicer replied that he did not know; that he had or- 
 ders to conduct her to the boat, and that there he would get 
 further orders, and then he could, perhaps, inform her of her 
 destination. 
 
 After reaching the boat she was given a state-room, and 
 every convenience necessary to her comfort was furnished her. 
 The officer, after being absent a short time, returned and told 
 her that their destination was Fort Pillow. A s to how long she 
 was to remain there, or as to what disposition they were to 
 make of her, he knew not. 
 
THE DETECTIVE AND THE CAPTURE. 173 
 
 "When we get there," he said, "you will be turned over to 
 other hands and my task will be done. But I hope," he add- 
 ed sympathetically, "that you will fall into good hands." And 
 yet his tone and manner seemed to have a suspicion of doubt. 
 
 Ella thanked him kindly for the information and his ex- 
 pressions of regard for her welfare. 
 
 "The soldier," he added as he left the room, "can only obey 
 orders," as if be thought he ought to oflfer an apology for the 
 part he was taking. 
 
 Ella replied that she understood some of the duties of a 
 soldier. 
 
 When the oflBcer was gone she looked out upon the bosom 
 of the great waters, the boat had pushed out from shore, and 
 was now in mid-stream, puffing and laboring against the cur- 
 rent of the rushing waters. How diflferent were her feelings 
 and emotions to that of a few days ago. She was then floating 
 down the current full of life and hope; the spires of the now 
 fading cit^ were glorious. But now the waters were dark, and 
 the labored tossing of the vessel answered the sad heart-throbs 
 of the troubled soul. "Yes," she said, as if talking to the old 
 ship, "I am like you, laboring against tide and current. But," 
 she continued, "such is life. Sometimes we float, we sail upon 
 life's beautiful sea and all is glorious. But then the billows 
 rise and we must face the tempest." 
 
 Toward sunset the hills around Fort Pillow were in sight 
 and there was that heavy throbbing of the heart that antici- 
 pates the dread unknown, yet pictures the darkest hours. Into 
 whose hands would she fall? and what fate awaited her? and 
 where would she be on the morrow? All these questions passed 
 rapidly through her mind, but those frowning hills made no an- 
 swer. The place looked dark and desolate, and from these 
 gloomy forebodings she turned away. Looking out to the West 
 she caught a sight of the golden sunset. The heavens seemed 
 to be lit up with a new glow; the waters of the great river 
 sparkled with a new lustre, and the skies with a new radiance. 
 
 "Is it a mockery?" she said, and then as if catching her- 
 self charging God with injustice she said, "No, no, it is the bow 
 of promise. To those who trbst Him so fades the day of life; 
 so sets the sun of our days here, but what glory does it picture 
 in the great beyond. The Master has said, 'Unto you that fear 
 
174 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in 
 wings,' " and as she caught the last glow of the departing day, 
 she thought of how glorious the rising would be on that fair 
 morning when eternity pulls back the curtain of time and gives 
 us a view of the bright beyond. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 TROUBLES THICKEN— THE PRISON AND 
 THE COURT MARTIAL. 
 
 It has been said that our troubles never come singly; that 
 when trials come upon us they thicken as the days go by, and 
 that when we would be gladdest to see the sunshine, the clouds 
 are the darkest. When the evil one would torment us, his 
 name is "Legion"; when he would seek our destruction he 
 summons all his armies, he makes no halfway effort. Ella 
 Herbert was made to realize all of this in the troubles that now 
 surrounded her. 
 
 In her younger days there was one who had sought her 
 hand, but there was that about him that was repulsive to her 
 very nature. And though he was persistent in his pleading, 
 yet she shrank from his every advance, she could not 
 endure the thought of linking her life with his. Though with 
 all the gentleness and kindness she knew how to command, 
 she had told him again and again that such a thing could 
 never be, yet he pursued her steps with a persistence that made 
 her life miserable, and at last, with even a persecution that not 
 only made her despise but fear him. He seemed to have no 
 conceptions of the rights, comforts and pleasures of others, but 
 was wrapped up in his own selfish desires. To her he had be- 
 trayed a character vile and destitute of every principle of man- 
 hood and had rendered himself entirely unworthy of confidence 
 or trust. 
 
 But this was in days gone, and the man and the circum- 
 stances had almost dropped from view. Though he had left 
 her in great wrath, swearing to be revenged for, as he claimed, 
 the great wrongs done him, yet those tragic scenes had almost 
 passed from memory, or only lingered as the expressions of a 
 moment of frenzied passion. Little did she dream of all this 
 coming up before her, to mock her in this sad hour. 
 
 176 
 
176 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 When the boat touched the wharf and the long stage plank 
 was run out, the oflBcer in charge told her that they were ready 
 to go ashore, and giving her baggage to a soldier, conducted her 
 to land. Here they found a guard of soldiers ready to receive 
 them. They were all negroes except the commander. The 
 officer, who had Miss Herbert in charge, stepped up to the offi- 
 cer of the guard and after holding a little whispered conversa- 
 tion with him, the guard was dismissed and she was put in 
 charge of the white officer only. 
 
 As they walked up into town, they met some one on horse- 
 back who, by his dress and general bearing seemed to have 
 considerable authority. From his regalia Ella took him to be 
 a colonel. He beckoned the officer conducting her to him and 
 they held a private conversation together. While this was 
 going on, Ella lifted her veil that she might get a better view 
 of both the officer and surrounding country. When she caught 
 a full view of that face, she recognized it. And then she 
 thought, as a kind of tremor passed over her, it cannot be him. 
 But another glance told her that she could not be mistaken 
 and she was about to drop the veil when his eyes caught hers. 
 She saw the flush mount his cheek, and she knew that she was 
 recognized. The veil dropped and she hoped that he had not 
 noticed that she knew him. 0, how her heart ached, and she 
 felt almost like sinking down overwhelmed by the difficulties 
 surrounding her. She knew how he had pursued her in the 
 days gone, but she could not divine what that flushed cheek 
 and flashing eye meant now. She could not conceive they 
 meant good to her. He could be a friend, but she dare not be- 
 lieve he would be; friendship was a term unknown to that hard 
 nature; that was incapable of anything but hate and revenge. 
 She remembered that he had once sworn that he would have 
 that revenge, and of this eternal hate he was entirely capable. 
 Now she felt that strangely she was in his hands and that he 
 would satisfy his vengeance. 
 
 This belief was strengthened when, indeed, she was taken 
 to a prison and put in a little narrow room with grated win- 
 dows. The room was bare, save one chair and a narrow bunk 
 Not a picture or even a looking-glass adorned the walls. But 
 however, a negro woman came in in a little time and arranged 
 things a little better. She brought in a little stand table an 1 
 
T^^ ^X^.,..^tj^ 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 177 
 
 other conveniences, and informed Miss Herbert that she was to 
 be her attendant. After the little conveniences had been ar- 
 ranged and a light brought in, for it was growing dark, she was 
 left for the night. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that Ella had passed through, she 
 rested better than she had expected. The exciting scenes of 
 the past four days had kept her nerves strung up to the highest 
 tensions; to a point beyond the possibility of long endurance. 
 No matter how the difficulties might thicken as the hours grow 
 dark, nature calls for a halt; our sensibilities become deadened, 
 and our imaginings become weary; our fears give place to in- 
 difference, and we stop, weary with ourselves, and lie down to 
 rest and regain our lost energies. How ever much we may feel 
 is still before us, yet we must submit to the inevitable, and we 
 drop into a kind of submissive composure. 
 
 Though her sleep was somewhat troubled, yet when she 
 awoke in the morning, she felt refreshed and strengthened. 
 Looking back upon the past few days, they seemed to her an 
 age of mysterious wonder. They were to her, days filled with 
 the most stern realities, yet covered over with the darkest shad- 
 ows. The events were the most real and pointed of her life, 
 and yet wrapped in the most profound mystery. She felt that 
 she was knowing and yet to her the days were entirely un- 
 known. She longs, hungers and thirsts to lift the veil that 
 covers the hidden, yet dares not to inquire. 
 
 Ella felt pleased next morning when she looked through the 
 iron grates of her window and found that it opened out upon a 
 public street where she could see people passing to and fro. 
 Though each face was a strange one, yet she loved to look upon 
 them, and to feel that she was not the only human being in the 
 world. And thus, too, she had a good view of the river as it 
 flowed at the foot of those hills. 
 
 The dull hours passed slowly by to her as she sat in her lone 
 prison cell with nothing to break the monotony of the hour ex- 
 cept the occasional visit of the old negro woman to attend to 
 her needs, or the continual tramp, tramp of the lone sentinel 
 as he walked upon his beat in the prison hall. It appeared to 
 her that the whole world was shut out; not a single, familiar 
 face, not one known voice, not a living being near her that she 
 had ever seen before, save one, and that one of all others most 
 
178 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 dreaded. She shuddered to think of it. Not a paper came in- 
 to the room by which she might learn something of the out- 
 side world; not a single line, token, word or sign, to throw a 
 single ray of light upon the mysterious darkness of the past 
 days. Thus for three days she sat in her solitary seclufcion. 
 
 On the third evening while she was pensively gazing out 
 upon the passers-by — some citizens, some soldiers, she saw one 
 ride up dressed in a Colonel's uniform. She was not surprised, 
 therefore, when he turned his face full toward her, to see the 
 face of Joseph Shelton. Nor was she disappointed in the 
 thoughts that his mission was with her. 
 
 He ascended the steps and knocked at her door. Ella com- 
 posed herself as best she could; she dreaded to face that man, 
 one that she knew to be destitute of every generous impulse, 
 and a stranger to all those sacred emotions that make men 
 noble. She feared him. Not that she feared bodily harm at 
 his hands. She knew him to be a coward, one that only struck 
 his foe when he had every advantage; one who seeks revenge 
 and gloats in the sufferings he may bring upon those who may 
 be within his power. 
 
 But having seen his approach and supposing his mission, 
 she had collected her thoughts and composed herself, and know- 
 ing that she was in his power and must submit to what he 
 might say to her, she was in a degree ready for his reception. 
 She quietly took hold of the door and throwing it wide open, 
 stood before him with a calm fixedness that at once revealed 
 to him the same force of character mingled with the same 
 womanly grace that he had known in the days gone by. There 
 was no smile of friendly recognition, nor was there a frown of 
 angry repulsion. It was simply the queen-like dignity, the 
 cold, formal indifference that said, I know you and I do not ask 
 your aid, nor will I be driven by your wrath. 
 
 The man was not destitute of all perception. He read all 
 this in one glance, and, instead of admiring, it angered him. 
 
 "You know me?" he said, lifting his cap, and yet with a 
 shade of sarcasm about it. 
 
 "Yes," she replied, "I know you, you are the commandant 
 here I suppose, what is your pleasure?" 
 
 Though not intended, there was a kind of cold defiance in 
 her words. So well did she know him, that she felt that, how- 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 179 
 
 ever it might be in his power to help her, he would not 
 upon any terms she could accept. She would, therefore, give 
 him to understand that she had no terms to make with him^. 
 
 They stood facing each other for a moment, and then 
 breaking the silence that followed her answer, he said, with 
 some degree of sternness in his manner: 
 
 "Ella Herbert, do you know the nature of the crime for 
 which you are here imprisoned, and the results that must fol- 
 low your conviction?" 
 
 "I understand," she said, "that I am charged with carry- 
 ing letters to the Southern army, and if this be a crime, I am 
 guilty." 
 
 "But," he said, carrying letters through the lines is the 
 work of a spy, and to be found guilty of that, is death. The 
 , evidence against you is clear, and you even confess your guilt. 
 A court-martial will, therefore, have little to do but to pro- 
 nounce sentence against you." 
 
 "I understand," she replied, "what significance a military 
 court will attach to my conduct, and that if the rigors of a 
 court-martial are enforced, what the result will be, and I am 
 prepared for the worst. I counted all the cost when I engaged 
 in this work, and shall not shrink from the task that it may 
 impose." 
 
 A man possessing any other nature than his would have ad- 
 mired and honored the cool, dispassionate, calculating and 
 brave character which Miss Herbert displayed. But not so 
 Colonel Shelt'on. The manifestation of that very character 
 maddened him. He would have seen her a crying, cringing, 
 pleading, begging sycophant at his feet. 
 
 "I had," he said, "hoped to have found your nature some- 
 what subdued by this time. You know I once sought your 
 hand and how you spurned my every offer and treated with in- 
 difference my petitions. I could help you now, could I hope for 
 a reversal of your decision, and a change in your conduct." 
 
 "Mr. Shelton," she said, drawing back in her noble woman- 
 ly dignity, "you know that I have treated you with every re- 
 spect that a lady could show to a gentleman. You were not 
 and could not be the object of my choice, you demanded that 
 which I could not and would not give, nor would generosity re- 
 quire; and, now, knowing you as I do, my decision can never be 
 
180 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 reversed. I should prefer death a thousand times to that of 
 linking my fortune with yours." 
 
 This reply threw him into a rage. 
 "I know," he said, "that you would have been mine but for 
 another, who, despite my protestations, and merely to ruin my 
 happiness, sought and won your pledge. I have sworn that you 
 shall never be his. I had hoped to meet him and let my ven- 
 geance fall upon his own head, but thus far I have failed. But 
 you are now in my power and I will see to it that he and you 
 shall never meet again." 
 
 Turning upon his heel he was gone before she could give 
 reply. And she felt that it was as well, as no answer she could 
 make would have bettered her condition. 
 
 Ella now clearly understood that she could expect the 
 worst. She was not only in the hands of an enemy, but of a 
 bitter, vengeful, cowardly, unrelenting foe. Ah, indeed, to her, 
 the future looked dark. No friend, no counsellor; not a single 
 being in whom to confide. O the bitterness of these lone 
 hours, and how unendurable the suspense. She knew not how 
 to communicate with the outside world. If she could get word 
 to some friend; if George Tracy only knew. If Captain Grimes 
 was not in the same sad condition as she, and she could just get 
 him word. Or if Sam, poor boy, was just in reach of her. 
 
 The very next morning, and just after the guard had been 
 changed, while she was revolving these things over in her mind, 
 for they were thoughts that never left her, she saw a colored boy 
 coming up the street in a kind of halting, hesitating gate, stop- 
 ping and looking around and then moving on as if lost, or sadly 
 bewildered. His walk and appearance looked familiar, yet not 
 definitely so. She could not exactly place him, yet she could 
 not keep her eyes oflf of him. When he reached a point nearly 
 opposite her window he turned his face full toward her, and it 
 seemed to her that her heart leaped into her throat; she was 
 choking with emotion; her heart beat wildly; her emotions were 
 almost beyond control. It was, indeed, the ever faithful Sam; 
 there was no mistaking it. The possibility of this had never 
 entered her mind before and it was almost like an apparition. 
 She must see him and have a word with him, and how should 
 she? She feared that if he recognized her, he would, on the im- 
 pulse of the moment, betray the relation between them and 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 181 
 
 that would ruin all the prospects of a conference; she could not 
 speak to him without betraying this herself, and yet something 
 must be done and that quickly. He would soon pass by and 
 maybe the last opportunity for seeing him would be gone. "He 
 must know that I am here," she repeated over to herself. She 
 thumped heavily upon the window pane, and put her face as 
 close to the glass as the iron bars would allow. Sam stopped 
 again and began looking about as though he thought he was 
 called. The knocking was repeated again, and he turned his 
 face, looking directly at the window. A look of deep anxiety 
 pictured upon his features, then a start, a smile, a quick motion 
 of the hands as he clasped them together. Ella knew she was 
 recognized, and by a quick motion of her hands she bade him 
 be quiet. Had she have known, Sam was on his guard. 
 
 She then opened the door of her room to see who was on 
 guard. She found it to be a colored man, who, while doubtless 
 not very well versed in the laws of responsibility or military 
 order, yet had a kindly face and showed a sympathetic nature. 
 She had managed to keep her money except what had been 
 spent for necessities, concealed in the folds of her dress, it all 
 being in paper, and had just that morning taken some of it 
 out for the purpose of getting her a "house girl" to make a 
 small purchase for her. She understood its power and persua- 
 sive virtue with those who knew or cared but little for the 
 strict observance of military law, and taking a five dollar bill 
 and placing it in the hand of the guard, she asked him if he 
 would call the colored boy across the street, and let her have a 
 private word with him. Making the excuse that she wanted to 
 send him on a little errand. The guard supposing him to be 
 one of the many boys about town, and having no special inter- 
 est in the aflTair any way, readily consented. Ella stepped 
 back when the guard called and motioned to Sam to come, but 
 cautioned him to be quiet. Ella was glad to note that Sam 
 caught on to it all, and that he came in acting very much as 
 though he was a strange negro. 
 
 Ella asked the guard to let him come into her room and 
 remain a while, promising to remember him (the guard) for hia 
 kindness. 
 
 "He can stay," said the guard, "till de officer ob de day 
 comes roun', den he mus' hide." 
 
182 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "But," she questioned, "where will he hide?" 
 
 "I will jes keep yatch here an' when I knock on de flo dis 
 way," pounding with the butt end of his gun, "let him come to 
 me quick, an' I show him wha to go." 
 
 Ella thanked the guard kindly and then entering her room 
 and closing the door, was alone with her devoted servant. 
 
 Never were two people more overjoyed to see each other, 
 and Sam could hardly restrain his emotions. But he had had 
 a bitter experience in the last few days. He not only knew his 
 own danger but that of his dear Miss, who was more to him 
 than all others. But their emotions were such that for a time 
 neither could speak. At last Sam broke the painful silence. 
 
 "I thought," he said, "dat dem Yankees had done took 
 ypu an' you was gone for sho." 
 
 "Well, Sam, they did take me," she said, "and I am here 
 in jail as you see, but I am still living. But, Sam, how did you 
 get here?" 
 
 "O," replied Sam, "I des come." 
 
 "But," questioned Ella," "did they not get you and put 
 you in jail?" 
 
 "O yes'm," was the answer, "dey git me and dey put me in 
 jail, an' dey say dey would shoot me if didn't give 'em de mail 
 and tell 'em all about it." 
 
 "Well, you gave them the mail, didn't you?" 
 
 "No'm," said Sam very emphatically, "I couldn't." 
 
 "You could not?" again questioned Ella, "why could you 
 not?" 
 
 " 'Cause," was the reply, "jes as I got down to de ribber, who 
 should come along but Captain Grimes, an' he took de mail, 
 and said dat de Yankees was after him hard, and dat you an' 
 me mus' go through as bes' we could, and meet him about 
 Corinth." 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad," said Ella. "Captain Grimes got 
 away with the mail safe, did he?" 
 
 "Yes, Miss, dat he did," said Sam, "an' I so glad too; 
 dey do like dey would kill me for it, an' 1 'fraid dey done kill 
 you." 
 
 Ella's faith in a providential hand was strongly confirmed 
 in this, for nothing else she felt had prompted her actions that 
 evening in preparing it for transportation and sending it to the 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 183 
 
 river. Nothing else could liave so exactly thrown it out of the 
 hands of the enemy and into the hand of the one to convey it 
 to its destination. "Yes," she said, "God is in this matter, 
 and I shall yet trust Him." 
 
 She now learned that Captain Grimes had indeed been cap- 
 tured by the Federal authorities soon after leaving her that 
 morning in St. Louis. And that, really, when she took the 
 boat he had not left the place. 
 
 The detectives had been upon his track from the com- 
 mencement, and knowing that he had a great many friends in 
 St. Louis, whose sympathies were with the South, they deter- 
 mined to send him to Alton, 111., for safe keeping, until his case 
 could be thoroughly investigated. Not that there was doubt 
 or lack of proof of his guilt, but they desired to know who were 
 his assistants in the matter. 
 
 The captain was an old river pilot, and understood all the 
 crooks and turns of the great Father of Waters. He perfectly 
 understood boating, and was at home on such a craft. 
 
 The night after Ella left, they put him under a strong 
 guard, as they knew he would escape if it was possible for him 
 to do so. He was not a stranger by reputation, at least to the 
 authorities, and they determined to make sure of their game 
 this time. In order to make assurance doubly sure, they put 
 handcuffs on him and then chained him to two soldiers and put 
 them on top of the boat. 
 
 They thought by this that they had made escape impossi- 
 ble. The sequel shows how little they knew of their wiry 
 prisoner. The Captain knew that the success of his undertak- 
 ing depended upon his immediate escape. He knew that the 
 mail and Miss Ella Herbert were all in danger of capture, and 
 that he must act at once. He knew that if he would accomplish 
 his purpose he must take desperate chances. He, therefore, de- 
 termined that if possible to prevent it he would never reach 
 Alton. 
 
 Soon after they embarked on board the boat, it being about 
 10 o'clock at night, the guard spread down their blankets for a 
 night's rest, feeling that as the prisoner was chained to two of 
 them, and must sleep between them, he was safe. Thus, feel- 
 ing secure, they were soon in a sound slumber. ^ 
 But there was no sleep for Captain Grimes; he lay watching 
 
184 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the stars till the boat had passed the mouth of the Missouri 
 river and was puffing up the Mississippi toward the prison in 
 prospect. It happened that the Captain had a very small hand 
 and a plump tapering wrist; he could compress his hand into a 
 very small compass. Nor was this the first time he had worn 
 such ornaments since he had been engaged as mail carrier. He 
 had never suffered any uneasiness so far as the hand-cuffs were 
 concerned. 
 
 He very easily slipped the cuffs off his hands and then watch - 
 ing till the boat swung around close to shore, he quietly slipped 
 out from between the sleeping guards and sprang off from the 
 top of the boat, far out into the river, and then swam ashore. 
 He never stopped to inquire as to how long before it was dis- 
 covered that he was gone, nor of the consternation of the two 
 soldiers when, on awaking, they found the empty hand -cuffs 
 lyingquietly between them; he simply pressed his way as rap- 
 idly as possible to Memphis. Meeting with friends he put on a 
 disguise and was hurried on. Just above the place he boarded 
 a skiff and floated down to the landing. 
 
 Sam, with the mail had left Ella Herbert safe, as he thought, 
 at the hotel, and as she had directed him, had given it in charge 
 of the old negro woman, whom he called grandma, and had 
 gone down to the wharf to see if he could hear or see anything 
 of Captain Grimes. They were both delighted and surprised to 
 meet each other. The Captain inquired of Miss Ella's safety 
 and of the whereabouts of the mail. Sam, all unconscious of 
 what was going on at the hotel, informed him that she was safe 
 and well, and of how she had arranged the mail, and of its 
 whereabouts. 
 
 The Captain was delighted to learn that all had worked so 
 well, and that everything was so well ordered to his hand, for 
 he knew that the Federal authorities were hot in pursuit of 
 him, and nothing more likely than they were making for that 
 place. Therefore, it behooved him to make his stay there a 
 short one. He knew that he was in danger every moment that 
 he spent in Memphis. He took the mail into his skiff, and di- 
 recting Sam to tell his Miss to arrange to meet him at Corinth, 
 and directing, as best he could how to proceed, he was off in the 
 darkness. 
 
 Sam was just returning to the hotel to inform his Miss of 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 185 
 
 the good news when he met the detective coming down the 
 steps. 
 
 The detective knew him at once, and the trnth of what had 
 become of the mail flashed upon him. Seizing the boy by the 
 throat he demanded of him in the most peremptory manner 
 the whereabouts of the letters. The poor boy was indeed 
 frightened out of his wits; he was so bewildered and confused, 
 that he could tell nothing. The detective hustled him off to 
 jail and after a vain endeavor to get some information from 
 him, he shut the door and left him alone in the darkness. 
 Never had such rude hands been placed upon him before; 
 never had he received such treatment from anyone. Always 
 kind and obedient, perfectly trusting and confiding, he had 
 known nothing but kind words and good wishes. 
 
 Strange that those who are opposed to slavery; are abusing 
 the master for supposed brutality, and yet, when the opportunity 
 offers, they themselves resort to that very measure of which 
 they so bitterly accuse others. Those who know the negro, 
 ' only know his human nature. Had he have treated the boy 
 kindly, he might have learned something. But as it was, the 
 sight of a Federal only filled him with fear. 
 
 No wonder that the boy was beside himself now. Alone in 
 the darkness, what a dreadful night to him. Next morning 
 they learned enough from him, one way or another, to know 
 that some one had met him and had taken the mail and was 
 gone. This was the reason they had made no further effort to 
 extort from Miss Herbert its whereabouts. 
 
 After keeping the negro a few days and seeing the impossi- 
 bility of using him to any advantage and believing him idiotic, 
 as indeed he did appear, but only from fright, they turned him 
 loose. They did not intend that he should ever see his mis- 
 tress, and their idea was that if turned loose he would never 
 find her. But he had more intelligence than they gave him 
 credit for. Having spent some time at the hotel before, and 
 making himself handy, it was not much trouble for him to get 
 a place as a kind of waiter upon the guests. This very good 
 luck gave him the opportunity of hearing and learning some- 
 thing of passing events. By listening at the conversation of 
 the guests, he learned that his mistress had been sent to Fort 
 Pillow and was there a prisoner. He at once determined to 
 
186 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 find her, and being a kind of voluntary substitute, but little 
 attention being paid to him any way, he very easily made his 
 escape and, by taking boat, reached Fort Pillow. He was, 
 therefore, looking for just what he saw, when he caught sight, 
 of Miss Ella's face at the window. He had had such a taste of 
 the authorities as taught him that he would have to be cau- 
 tious. He knew it would not do for him to inquire for her and 
 he had just determined to hunt for her. He had been wander- 
 ing about considerably that morning, and his delight could not 
 be expressed when he saw the object of his search before him. 
 X,earning what he had in the past few days, he was prepared for 
 the signs she gave him to be quiet. 
 
 Time flew rapidly, and Ella had not had the time to say 
 anything to Sam about her own condition when the signal 
 sounded for him to retreat. Quickly he obeyed, for each 
 understood that their safety depended upon their not being 
 discovered. 
 
 The guard sent Sam into the back yard to cut wood for 
 cooking purposes just as if he belonged to the place, and sure 
 enough no notice was taken of him by the officer of the day. 
 
 When the officer had completed his rounds and had found 
 all, as he supposed, safe, and had gone, Sam was recalled, but 
 the guard informed Miss Herbert that he. could not stay long, 
 as his time on guard would soon be up. She therefore pro- 
 ceeded to state to Sam her own condition and the danger she 
 was in of being put to death. 
 
 "Now," she said, "Sam, you must go through the lines to 
 the Confederate army and see your mars, George Tracy, and 
 tell him where I am, and that I may be put to death at 
 any time, but may be they will delay and he can help me. 
 And be sure to tell him that Joseph Shelton is in command 
 here. 
 
 She gave him money to be used as he needed to further 
 him on and all the instructions she could as to how to go, 
 sending him to Corinth, Miss., and then in the direction of 
 Tuscaloosa, Ala. 
 
 She told him to go mostly among the negroes, and that 
 there would be but little suspicion of him as it was supposed 
 by the Federal soldiers that the negroes were all "loyal sub- 
 jects." 
 
TROUBLES THICKEN. 1«7 
 
 "Yes, Miss," replied Sam, "I'll go and I'll fotch him here, 
 I'll git de whole army to come, dey shant hurt you for sho, 
 you 'pend upon dat." 
 
 "I shall depend upon you, Sam, you have so far acted your 
 part well, and I shall trust you to help me now. And now I 
 must say good-by. Go, my dear boy, and God speed your 
 way." 
 
 The guard was calling to hurry and Sam was forced to say 
 a hurried good-by and was soon gone from sight, but not lost 
 to memory. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE GREAT RELIEF— THE DETECTIVE BE- 
 COMES A FRIEND. HOW JESUS SAVES. 
 
 Although Ella was still enclosed in her narrow house and 
 looked out from behind prison bars, and a sentinel stood guard 
 at her door, yet she felt that a great burden had been removed; 
 the doors of the past dark and dreadful days had been unlocked 
 and everything seemed brighter now. She had learned that 
 Captain Grimes had passed through perils too, and that he 
 escaped; that the precious treasures enveloped in those letters 
 had gone on their way to gladden the hearts of the weary and 
 battle-worn soldier. That the captain would finally reach the 
 Confederate camp she had not a shadow of doubt. And she 
 felt that surely there was an unseen hand guiding all. Man 
 may propose, but there is a God that overrules all and works 
 all as He will. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," she would say, "He holds all in His hands 
 and in His own good time and way He will bring it to pass. 
 He will not forget me. His poor, lone, defenseless child." 
 
 "And," she mused, "Sam, the poor boy, has borne it all so 
 well, and has shown himself so faithful." She had never, for 
 one moment, doubted his devotion to her, but she had never 
 before known his courage, nor had she guessed his persistent 
 efforts in her behalf. She now understood that he would do all 
 in his power for her. "Yes," she said, "he will carry the news 
 of my imprisonment to the Confederate camp, if it be possible 
 for him to do so; I have no doubt of it." 
 
 If strangers to slavery ever doubted that there was an 
 attachment between servant and master, between mistress and 
 slave akin to brotherhood, they were greatly mistaken. Sam 
 would willingly have laid down his life to deliver his mistress 
 from her peril. There were no dangers that he was not ready 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 189 
 
 to face; no difficulties that he would not strive, with all the 
 energies of his being to surmount, for the rescue of her whom 
 he almost worshiped. To him she was the one object of affec- 
 tion. Her word was his law, and to gratify her wish was the 
 one object of his life. Knowing this, she had no fears that he 
 could, by any possibility, be made to prove false to her wishes. 
 "He will reach the camp," she said, somewhat triumphantly 
 to herself as she thought the matter over. "It may be impos- 
 sible then for me to be rescued, but Sam will do his part and 
 the others will do all that it is in the power of men to do, and 
 we must leave to God the rest. It may be that my mission in 
 this life is ended and that the Master will call for me, but be 
 that as it may, I shall trust Him for deliverance." 
 
 That night she slept sweetly and dreamed bright dreams of 
 better days. Next morning the sun seemed to shine with a 
 new brilliancy, and the waters of the great river looked so 
 sparkling and the springtime flowers in the gardens and lawns 
 in front of her windows looked so gay, that it seemed that all 
 nature smiled and bade her be of good cheer. 
 
 She took up her Bible, that blessed treasure that had yet 
 been left her, and turning to the 103rd Psalm, she read: 
 
 "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless 
 His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all 
 His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth 
 all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who 
 crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who 
 satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is 
 renewed like the eagles." 
 
 This Psalm was indeed a sweet morsel to her, and she felt 
 that a gentle, kind and loving hand was near her, even in her 
 prison home. "O," she said, "why should I'ever doubt Him? 
 How can I doubt the fulfillment of every promise?" And she 
 read on. 
 
 "As the hea.ven is high above the earth, so great is His 
 mercy toward them that fear Him. O, the height of His 
 goodness, the boundlessness of His mercy and the depths of 
 His love." 
 
 The guard was surprised more than once that day at hear- 
 ing her break forth into singing some of those sweet old songs 
 that had cheered her soul in other days. Her heart was merry 
 
190 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 and her soul was glad. She hardly knew how to content 
 
 herself. 
 
 "Jesus, all the day long, 
 Was her joy and her song." 
 
 A few evenings after this, there was another great surprise 
 for her. The guard informed her that a soldier, an officer, 
 wished to see her. She inquired if it was Ool. 8helton, and on 
 being informed that it was not, she bade the guard admit him. 
 But who could describe her astonishment when she saw before 
 her the very detective who had watched her at Memphis and 
 who had brought upon her all this trouble. Unconsciously a 
 frown passed over her face as the recollection of that dreadful 
 night came to her, and a kind of a vague suspicion took pos- 
 session of her that more mischief was being devised against 
 her. 
 
 But the detective took off his cap and she saw at once, by 
 the sad face, that something greatly troubled him or he was 
 practicing deception to perfection. His face was pale and his 
 eyes had a pleading, pitiful expression that betokened deep sor- 
 row, and that hungered for sympathy and consolation. Her 
 heart at once softened toward him. 
 
 "Miss Herbert," he said, in the most pleading tone, "I 
 have a word for you that I do not wish another to hear; may I 
 ask your confidence and to intrude upon your privacy cfor a few 
 moments?" 
 
 Miss Ella hesitated to reply. She read those eyes again 
 and again, and viewed that sad face once more. Was this real, 
 or did he dissemble. Was he trying to gain- her confidence so 
 as to complete her destruction, or was he really seeking com- 
 fort? 
 
 It often happens that men are most severe with those they 
 have wronged, that they leave nothing undone that will com- 
 plete their destruction. Men often try to hide one wrong by 
 doing another. They cannot endure the presence of the 
 wronged, that is ever a reminder to them of their great sins. 
 King Charles, of France, on the night of the destruction of the 
 Protestants, cried, "Slay- them all, let none escape to torment 
 me." So men often think that "the dead know not anything," 
 nor do they tell any tales. They forget that there is a great 
 day of reckoning when all will stand before Him, whose eyes 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 191 
 
 are over all, and who "readest our thoughts afar off." Ella 
 understood something of wicked human nature and she hesi- 
 tated. The detective saw it, and in a low tone he said: 
 
 "I know I do not deserve this, but I will yet prove to you 
 that henceforth I am your friend." 
 
 She bid him come in, and as the room was not bountifully 
 supplied with chairs, she gave him the only one it contained 
 and she sat upon the bunk, having closed the door. 
 
 "I know," he began, "that you look upon me with sus- 
 picion and you have a right to do so. It may be that you 
 despise me, and I cannot blame you for that. You know the 
 life of a detective, that it is to practice deception, but before 
 this is over, I will show you that I am capable of being a 
 friend." 
 
 Ella determined to listen without committing herself till 
 she heard his message, and she merely gave assent by the nod 
 of her head. The detective continued: 
 
 "Since I last saw you, I have been one of the most miser- 
 able beings living — have been in perfect torment. There has 
 been no peace for me, and I could not be content till I saw you 
 and CO fessed to you my great sin and begged your pardon. 
 To this end I sought for and obtained a position on the com- 
 mandant's staff and hence am here by his permission and 
 authority. I must tell you that I never, till the night I saw 
 you through that little window, fixed on purpose for your 
 betrayal, saw the enormity of my crimes, nor understood the 
 greatness of my sins. 
 
 I had pious parents once, and a sweet, good mother, 
 devoted to my interests and my welfare, both in this life and 
 the one that is to come. She taught me that there was a God 
 and my obligations to Him, that He gave to me my being, 
 watched over my life and took notice of all my actions. But 
 that was in the long ago, when I was a boy. She is gone now. 
 She crosssd the river before I became a man, and entered the 
 rest she so beautifully pictured to me. In the rapid years 
 passing by, the good lessons were forgotten, the good examples 
 buried, and the sacred injunctions were cast aside. The truth 
 is, the lessons were never heeded as they should have been. I 
 took them more as the natural affection springing out of a 
 mother's heart than as solemn realities. ' 
 
192 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 My father gone, mother gone, and I, left alone, the only 
 child, set out in a cold, dark world, to battle for life. I felt 
 that this world was simply a stage upon which every one was 
 acting, and that he succeeded best who best acted his part; 
 that each was running a race through the world for the world, 
 and he got most of it who ran best. 
 
 It mattered not what the part was, so it was acted well, or 
 how we ran, so the running was to win. Each seemed to me 
 to be striving for all they could get of the world, and I simply 
 entered the race for my part of it. 
 
 The war came on, and I thought too much of life to throw 
 it away in battle, and so great was my greed for gain, that I 
 was willing to obtain it, though I did so at the expense of 
 others. I saw an opening in the profession in which I have 
 been engaged and so I set myself a watch upon the lives of 
 others. In that line, shame upon one, I have been a great 
 success, if success it may be called. I have betrayed many, 
 brought sufferings and death upon hundreds and saddened a 
 thousand hearts. My heart was hardened in the work; I re- 
 joiced at the sufferings of others, for their loss and misery was 
 my gain. My heart swelled with pride when I had a poor vic- 
 tim in my power. I even m.anufactured testimony and hunted 
 my victims. My pride was to stand at the head of my profes- 
 sion. 1 felt that the greater the number of victims and the 
 more intricate the cases, the greater my laurels, and the more 
 my pay. I have received thousands for the betrayal of the 
 innocent. O, my heart had become steel, and when I first 
 looked at you through that window, though I knew you were 
 the very picture of innocence, yet I gloried in the thought of 
 my conquest, and the success of my iniquity. Had you have 
 stopped there, all the prize would have been taken at once, 
 and you would have been led off a piisoner. 
 
 But when you had finished your task and knelt down to 
 offer up your devotions to God, when you lifted those hands to 
 heaven in prayer, somehow, I know not why, the picture of 
 my own dear mother came before me. I remembered how I 
 had seen her upon her knees, and had seen her lift her hands 
 like that in prayer for her "own dear boy, her only child." 
 Yes, the words echoed through my ears as if I had just then 
 heard them spoken, "Lord, bless my dear child, save my poor 
 
coUlU,tzcJiMJ(D 
 
 vy^tx^ 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 193 
 
 lone boy, make him a mother's delight and a father's joy. 
 May he honor Thee in his life by being Thine own servant, and 
 his life proving a blessing to others, and dear Father, at last 
 take him home to Thyself in the glory land." 
 
 And then upon her finger was a ring, just such as you 
 wear. That ring was one of the last tokens of her love that 
 she had given me before she said that last good-by. O, I feel 
 so ashamed of myself. That ring, it is true, I had kept, but it 
 was hidden away in some cotton folds and had been almost 
 forgotten — I had not seen it for years. If I thought of it at all, 
 it was only as a kind of a keep-sake that must be kept as a 
 matter of course. But that night when the light shone upon 
 the ring upon your hand, my own dear mother's ring, came 
 vividly before me. I could not, I dare not go where you were. 
 And yet I was too cowardly to act the noble part. I thought I 
 was acting cowardly to liy from you and to shrink from your 
 arrest. But no, had I been brave, I would have confessed all, 
 warned you of your danger and helped you to fly while you 
 might. It was only that I shrank from the scoflFs of the com- 
 mandant that forced me to face you at last. 
 
 My mother wanted me to be good and to do good to 
 others. My life has been the very reverse, I have done others 
 nothing but wrong. I feel that really I have not a single true 
 friend upon earth, nor do I deserve one; the name detective is 
 hateful to me. True, many have flattered and praised my 
 cunning, but they have despised my life, they encourage when 
 they can use me to their own advantage, but they would 
 despise me as an associate. But above and beyond all this, 
 what hope can I have of the mercy of God, what is to become 
 of me when I am called to give an account to the Great Judge? 
 What can I do to atone for my great crimes; to wipe out the 
 innocent blood that cries to heaven against me? O, the 
 thought of it destracts me. I stand upon the very verge of 
 hell and devils sometimes seem to gloat over my destruction. 
 I have prayed, I have begged, I have cried for help, I have 
 pledged and promised a better life, but still that innocent blood 
 cries out from the ground against me; my days are full of 
 Weeping and my nights of fear. O, if the past could only be 
 wiped out. But no, no; in spite of me there are those dark 
 lines ever before my eyes. O, the thought becomes unendur- 
 able. 0, how I long for a mother's prayer for me once more! 
 
194 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 And now, my dear lady, you, who have brought to my 
 thoughts the memory of my own sweet mother, I have risked 
 my life for this opportunity of seeing and appealing to you, not 
 only for your forgiveness, but for an interest in your prayers. 
 Can you tell me what I must do to be saved, or if it be possi- 
 ble that salvation is for such as I?" 
 
 Ella was touched with this appeal. The earnestness of it 
 forbade the idea of hypocrisy or deception. The man frequent- 
 ly brolse down, so intense were his feelings, and many were the 
 tears of contrition that dropped from those sad eyes. In her 
 sympathetic sorrow Ella found her own eyes frequently dimmed 
 with tears during the sad recital. She waited a few moments 
 before making reply that her own feelings might become more 
 calm and that the detective, who seemed so overwhelmed with 
 grief, might become more composed. Then she broke the 
 silence by saying: 
 
 "There is hope for you 
 
 "Hope for me," he epeated, "How7 In what? My life is 
 a crime, my whole being is one black spot without a single 
 redeeming quality. I have lived a lie; justice would have 
 slain me long ago; God is just, and I cannot see how He can 
 save me. Hope for mel Impossible; my sins will not down 
 and I cannot undo them." 
 
 Indeed, the detective presented a picture of deep despair, 
 and Ella's heart was touched with tenderness toward him. 
 
 "Calm yourself," she said, "and I will try to tell you how 
 Jesus saves." 
 
 "But," he said, "can you tell me how He saves a sinner 
 like me? I can see how He saves good people, but sinners such 
 as I, I cannot see how that can be done." 
 
 "That," she replied, "is just what I want to tell you, how 
 Jesus saves sinners." 
 
 "But," he interjected, "sinners like me?" 
 
 "Yes," was the answer, "sinners like you." 
 
 "That is good," he said, as if communing with himself: 
 "Sinners like me; Jesus saves sinners like me." 
 
 Ella continued: "That was the great mission of the Saviour 
 into this world to save sinners. You have heard those words 
 
 of the poet, 
 
 " 'Not the righteous, not the righteous, 
 Sinners Jesus came to call.' 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 195 
 
 "'The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.' 
 'Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repent- 
 ance.' If men were good they would not need a Saviour. The 
 Lord says, 'Come, now, and let us reason together; though 
 your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though 
 they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' The Lord 
 cannot justify you in your sins. He saves you from them. He 
 does not deal with us after our sins, nor does He reward us 
 according to our iniquities." 
 
 "But," broke in the detective, "what becomes of His jus- 
 tice? I know He must be just, and to be just I cannot see how 
 He saves." 
 
 "True," said Ella, "He must be just, or He cannot be mer- 
 ciful. Justice first, mercy afterwards. God does not and can- 
 not justify sin. He justifies the sinner. 
 
 "All men may not have lived the same life that you have 
 lived; some have spent life in one line of sin, some have spent 
 it in another line, but all have sinned. Every natural life is a 
 life of sin in its line. God looked down from heaven to see if 
 there were any that did good, and the answer was, 'No, not 
 one.' Paul thus describes men in their lives and as they all 
 appear in the eyes of God. Taking up her Bible she read (see 
 Bom. iii: 10.) 'There is none righteous, no, not one. There is 
 none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become 
 unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 
 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they 
 have used deceit. [That is I, broke in the detective], the 
 poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of curs- 
 ing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruc- 
 tion and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they 
 have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." 
 
 The detective looked up with sorrow and despair pictured 
 upon every feature. 
 
 "That," he said, "is a correct history of my life. Can it 
 be that that great Apostle had me in his mind? I have had 
 no fear of God; no. He was not in all my thoughts. And oh, 
 what misery has been in my ways. Of a truth the way of 
 peace I have not known. But do you tell me that such as that 
 can be saved?" 
 
196 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Ella replied, that "If such as that cannot be saved, then 
 none can be saved. Does He not tell you that such is the con- 
 dition of all?" 
 
 "Do you mean to say," said the detective, "that every- 
 body is as mean as I am, that that is the life history of all; 
 that there are none good?" 
 
 "That," replied Ella, "is just the way the Book reads — 
 there is none good. That is, 'in us,' as Paul says in another 
 place, 'dwelleth no good thing.' As I said before, every man's 
 sins lieth in his own line. Your sins are in one direction, 
 somebody else's sins are in another direction, but all are sin- 
 ners, and there are none good but by the grace of God. Yes, 
 there are good lives, bright lives, glorious lives, but the grace 
 of God has made them so." 
 
 "But," argued he, "has not God a law, a standard of right 
 by which He judges men? And can He set that law aside and 
 maintain His own power? Would this not argue that His law 
 was worthless?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed," said Ella, "God has a law, a just and holy 
 law, a law of eternal truth, a rule of perfect right. Here is 
 wherein our condition appears so deplorable. Not only have we 
 sinned, but by our great sin we have fallen under the curse of 
 that law, and by it have come into condemnation. That law 
 justly and rightly condemns us, nor can we escape that just 
 condemnation by anything we may or can do. Turn as we will, 
 promise as we may, there stands our sins black as ever, and a 
 just law showing how guilty we are. An action once done is 
 done forever; when we commit an offense against the law of 
 God, and fall under its curse, it is done for eternity; we cannot 
 take away the guilt nor remove the curse. The sins you have 
 committed you are powerless to remedy, and the broken law 
 you cannot amend." 
 
 "Yes, yes," he said, "that is it. I have tried every way pos- 
 sible, and instead of amending, the more I look at my sins the 
 blacker they have become; and the more I have seen of God's 
 justice, the more I have felt that I cannot be saved. You have 
 told me my case exactly, but what I seek to know is, can I be 
 saved and God be just?" 
 
 "From your point of view, then," said Ella, "you cannot be 
 saved. You have broken God's law by your great sin, and you 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 197 
 
 feel sure that you cannot remedy it. You thus feel that you 
 are indeed lost?" 
 
 He replied, "that is just it, that is just it; I am lost, so far 
 as anything I can do, is concerned. It seems to me that I have 
 done all that any poor mortal could do, and yet my great sins 
 instead of growing less, grow in magnitude. I do not mean 
 that the more I look at my sins, the more I sin, hut that the 
 more I look at those sins already committed, the worse they 
 appear." 
 
 "Well," said Ella, "You have read of the Saviour's coming 
 into the world, of His great sufferings and death; think you that 
 He would have endured all this had not the condition of sin- 
 ners have been a deplorable one? The Master did not suffer for 
 pastime or just to give us a lesson in misery, or to rescue us 
 from a little peril, O no. David said that he was in an horrible 
 pit. Horeible! mark the expression. Is it not that way with 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, that is it, that is it, 'in an horrible pit.'" 
 
 "Well, the Lord's mercy reached David and he took him 
 out of that pit. The Lord's mission was to seek and to save the 
 lost, mark you, to seek, them and to save them. I emphasize the 
 word lost. So far as law and justice are concerned, powerlessly 
 and hopelessly lost. 
 
 "But," continued Ella, "sinners are not saved by the deeds 
 of the law. Let us read Paul a little further upon that subject. 
 Having described man's condition as above, he thus proceeds 
 to deduct those legitimate conclusions. 
 
 " 'Now we know that what things soever, the law saith, it 
 saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be 
 stopped and all the world become guilty before God. There- 
 fore, [that is a great truth resulting from this condition of 
 things] 'by the deeds of the law, there shall be no flesh justi- 
 fied in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.' 
 
 "We should not have known sin but by the law of God. 
 Not that the law makes us sinners, but it reveals to us what sin 
 is; it gives us the knowledge of sin. It is simply the measure 
 of our conduct. And when we thus measure we find that we 
 fall short; that being weighed in the balance we are found 
 wanting. God, by the law shows us that He hates, and justly 
 condemns, sin. He gives us a measure of how unclean our lives 
 
198 T[1E CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 are in His sight; but by His grace He shows us His love of sin- 
 ners." 
 
 "O," he said, "I feel and know my condemnation, and that 
 it is just. I also believe that Crod is good and merciful, but how 
 He can be merciful at the expense of justice, I cannot see." 
 
 "Then," said Ella, "if you see so clearly the justice of God 
 in your condemnation, the more glorious will His grace appear 
 in your salvation. God does not save at the expense of justice. 
 Christ Himself has satisfied justice for us; He has taken our 
 law place, 'He who knew no sin was made sin for us.' 'He was 
 made under the law'; that is, He was Himself a law sub- 
 ject, 'that He might take us fiom under the law;' that is, re- 
 lieve us from its dreadful curse. He was made sin for us, or He 
 was made a curse for us, that is, He bore the curse for us. 
 
 "More than that. He took our sins upon Himself. The en- 
 tirely Righteous One took our guilt; filled our law place in 
 every sense of the word. Are you poor? behold His poverty. 
 He who was infinitely rich in the eternal world, not only gave 
 up the riches and the glory of it for our sakes, but He 
 assumed our guilt, took upon Him our debt to the law of God 
 to pay it for us, and thus to satisfy its claim and save sinners. 
 At one bound He comes from a world of unfading glories and 
 endless joys, to one of sorrow and of grief. Are you poor? 
 Come with me to Bethlehem, and let us look into the manger 
 at that innocent Babe. Never before were beasts so honored, 
 never did rags wrap so grand a form. Here lies the King that 
 rules the skies wrapped in swaddling clothes; look at them, 
 how filthy! The beasts have been rubbed down with them; 
 they are too filthy for decent hands, and yet they wrap the 
 glory of all worlds. Are you poor? here is the picture of your 
 poverty on Jesus. The poverty was not His own, it is our pov- 
 erty upon Him. For our sakes He became poor. 
 
 "Do you sorrow and weep? 'Jesua wept,' not for Himself: 
 these are tears of poor suffering humanity. He was the man 
 of sorrows and acquainted with grief. No tears were like His; 
 no suflerings and buffetings like His. Do you feel lone and 
 forsaken? Jesus in the last trying hour had not a single friend. 
 Do you suffer remorse, sorrow and misery on account of sin? 
 the terrible weight of them killed the blessed Lord. 'He was 
 delivered for our ofienses,' not for His own. Look at Him 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 199 
 
 sweating, as it were, great drops of blood in that fearful agony 
 in the garden; look at the darkened sun and the shaking earth 
 as nature joins its groans to the dreadful agony of those three 
 fearful hours upon the cross, when to consummate the fullness 
 of bitterness. He cries out, 'My God! My God, why has Thou 
 forsaken me?' When God lays upon Him the iniquity of us all, 
 and His blood, for the remission of sins, pours in a purple 
 stream from His side; Jesus bears our sins in His own body 
 upon the tree of the cross. Now look at all these, and tell me, 
 was not justice satisfied? What more can He do? What more 
 is needed to be done? What more can justice ask? Believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ as your righteousness, justification, 
 sanctification and redemption, and you shall be saved. Jesus 
 having magnified the law in our behalf, opens to us the door 
 of mercy, of pardon full and free. Now He says, 'Look to me, 
 oh, ye ends of the earth and be saved. Do not look to your- 
 self nor anything mortal, look to Jesus; yes, 'Jesus saves, 
 Jesus saves!' Can you not look and live?" 
 
 Ella had become eloquent and earnest in her pleadings, 
 and they were not without their reward. A glow of peace and 
 joy lit up the detective's face and springing to his feet in per- 
 fect raptures of delight) he exclaimed "Glorious! And can it 
 be true that I am not to atone for my own sins?" 
 
 "It is true," replied ElJa, "that you cannot atone for them, 
 and Jesus has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. 
 He has atoned for your sins." 
 
 As if yet half doubting, half believing, half praising, and 
 yet half questioning, he said, "What! for my sins; for such a 
 great sinner as I?" 
 
 "Yes," repliedElla, "for you; salvation is personal, special, 
 and particular. If such is not true, we have no personal inter- 
 est in Jesus. He was delivered for our ofiences. Not for 
 ofience, but for our offences, covering them all. 
 "'Jesus paid it all, 
 All to Him I owe.' 
 
 "Peter told those people who had even murdered the Lord 
 to repent and believe on Him, and they should be saved. Can 
 you not do this?" 
 
 "0 yes, yes," he said, "I do repent and I do believe, O, 
 hero is that glorious grace that I never could understand be- 
 
200 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER 
 
 fore; Jesus has met justice for me, and I only trust Him, 
 believe on Him. Now I see He leads the blind in a way they 
 knew not. Glorious! Glorious! O, the abounding mercy of 
 God; I will praise Him as long as I live." 
 
 But here the oflScer of the guard made his appearance, and 
 while the detective could show his full authority for being 
 found in company with the prisoner, yet he feared to prolong 
 his stay. Some suspicion of the true purpose of his visit might 
 be aroused and thus all that he had designed to accomplish be 
 defeated. 
 
 The detective, after holding a short conversation with the 
 oflBcer, returned and said to Miss Ella: 
 
 "I hope you will now regard me as a friend." 
 
 She replied, "After what I have seen and heard, I can not 
 doubt your friendship." 
 
 He then told her that he was sorry the conversation could 
 not be prolonged. "But," said he, "I was sent here upon 
 another mission." What selfish beings we are. But it was not 
 altogether selfish. "I did not feel that the purpose for which I 
 was sent would be an agreeable one to you, nor is it to me, but 
 by that mission I have had access to your presence, and 
 through if I hope to prove of benefit to you. I am really 
 ashamed to mention the business for which I was sent, but the 
 God whom you serve will strengthen you to bear it. 
 
 "I must tell you now that in the commander of this post 
 you have an inveterate enemy, one bent upon your destruction 
 unless you accept of his terms." 
 
 "I know, I know," she broke in, "and I know his terms. 
 Death is preferable. . Never, no never, my vows are to another 
 and I shall be faithful." 
 
 "You have rightly guessed," replied the detective, "I see 
 that you understand, but here is a message from him that I 
 promised to deliver, and I have your reply. To-morrow the 
 court-martial will set and he will appear against you. There 
 can be but one result — they will find you guilty. 
 
 "But do not despair, escape is possible; that good Lord will 
 help us. I shall do all in my power to that end and I think 
 you need not fear." 
 
 "Yes," she said, "I know what the result of the trial will 
 be, and one thing I ask of you, and that is, if you have any in- 
 
THE GREAT RELIEF. 201 
 
 fluence with the court to have them put off the day of execu- 
 tion as long as you can." 
 
 The detective promised to do all that he could, and with 
 an assurance that she should hear from him again, and thank- 
 ing her for the comfort she had given him, he took his de- 
 parture. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 
 
 Ella Herbert took the message given her by the detective, 
 md was not in the least disappointed in its contents. It 
 ■ecited the fact of the meeting of the court, and the case going 
 )efore it, of the testimony against her, and that when once the 
 lourt had made its decision, there would be no retreat. That 
 f she rejected this last opportunity for conciliation, that she 
 lid so at her peril, and af I er fair warning. 
 
 The terms were such as she had anticipated, but such as 
 ihe could in no wise accept. So degrading was it to her 
 voman nature, that she tore the missive into a thousand pieces 
 md gave it to the winds as they whisked by her window. 
 
 Next day the court-martial set, and Ella appeared before 
 t. Col. Joseph Shelton appeared as judge advocate. It is 
 leedless to enter into the details; there was simply the form 
 )f trial. Ella confessed to the carrying of the mail and was 
 sent back to her room. As to the judge advocate's testimony 
 igainst her, that was with closed doors, Ella heard none of it. 
 The result was as expected, she was found guilty of the charges 
 Igainst her, and nothing was left now but the fixing of the 
 time for the execution of the sentence. Col. Shelton urged the 
 immediate carrying out of the sentence of the court, or at least 
 that it should be put into execution the next day. But here 
 the detective came in with his work and he could do so with 
 sfiect. He was one of the prime movers in her arrest and the 
 :hief witness to the things charged in the indictment. He had 
 been employed by the authorities to make the discoveries; he 
 bad made them and it was his right to plead for mercy. He 
 aaid that she was but a woman, and she was away from all her 
 friends, so that there was no danger of an escape from that 
 direction. The post they then occupied, was far away from 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 203 
 
 any enemy, and was well guarded with gun-boata and a strong 
 force, so that there was no danger from that quarter; hence, he 
 argued that the court could aflford to be merciful. It had a 
 certainty that its decree could be carried out at any time. Be- 
 sides, he argued that it was desired beyond all things else to 
 capture Captain Grimes, the main instigator of all, and if Miss 
 Herbert was left in prison he would be sure to search for her 
 and then he, too, would be captured, and who knows but the 
 court can save this innocent woman, in the event they get pos- 
 session of him who has brought her to this. 
 
 His argument had the desired effect upon the judges who 
 were too glad for an excuse to put off the evil day; and despite 
 the threats and pleadings of Col. Shelton, they determined not 
 to fix a day at that meeting. 
 
 It may be argued that the detective is still practicing 
 deception, and hence, the profession of contrition and deep 
 convictions for his crimes is unworthy of belief. To an extent 
 this is true, but his deceiving Col. Shelton is not for his injury, 
 or that of any one else. As chief witness, he was compelled to 
 appear in court, and he has testified to the facts. He is not 
 shrinking the responsibility of the position assigned him. He 
 is simply doing now all that is in his power to do to correct 
 the wrong that he feels that he has done the prisoner. He had 
 no idea of the relation that had previously existed between Col. 
 Shelton and Ella Herbert, or that the Colonel even knew her. 
 He had hoped by enlisting the Colonel's sympathy to obtain 
 Ella's release. He was perfectly taken back, therefore, when 
 he discovered the facts about it. And this he fortunately did 
 without giving the Colonel the least intimation of his own pur- 
 pose. He had heard the Colonel in an outburst of passion, 
 declare: "I will humble her haughty pride." Till then, he had 
 never known the real character of Col. Shelton, nor anything 
 of the viper he had to contend with. If he would do the pris- 
 oner any good, he was compelled to keep his motives hid from 
 the commander of the post. But at the same time he must be 
 upon friendly terms with him. 
 
 Although the Colonel stormed and raged at the detective's 
 pleadings for mercy, yet he knew so little of human nature, 
 that he never suspected for a moment that he was really the 
 prisoner's friend. He had simply accepted of the fact that as 
 
204 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 the detective had discovered the plot and was the chief witness 
 against her, that he was really in favor of her conviction and 
 that his pleadings were for the mere sympathy he had for the 
 suffering. 
 
 The next day the detective sought the prisoner and in- 
 formed Miss Ella of the results of the court-martial. She was 
 not disappointed at the news of her conviction; it was what 
 she had fully expected. She very graciously thanked the de- 
 tective for the part he had taken, and was rejoiced that the 
 date of execution had not been fixed. 
 
 "There is no question," said the detective, "but that 
 Colonel Shelton will urge upon the court the necessity of 
 putting their decree into execution as speedily as possible. 
 You seem to be a rebuke to him while you are here, and he 
 hungers to reek his vengeance upon you and his hated enemy, 
 as he calls George Tracy. The plain upon which he moves is 
 purely a selfish one. He does not conceive that others have 
 feelings and aspirations that reach out and beyond mere selfish 
 motives to the broad plain of true devotion and filial affec- 
 tion. But such is the man, and the best that can be done now 
 is to watch his movements, and if possible, thwart his plans 
 and purposes." 
 
 Ella had not informed the detective of her prime reason for 
 delay in the execution of the court's decree, nor anything of 
 the mission upon which she had sent her servant. Partly 
 because she feared that her confidence might be misplaced and 
 partly because she did not think it would be of any benefit to 
 him to know, as he could not co-operate with the Confederate 
 force outside. And then she hoped that he might invent some 
 plan of escape in case the outside failed. She, therefore, deter- 
 mined to allow him to act from his own convictions. And 
 really this was the one fixed purpose of the detective; from 
 that very day he began to lay his plans to that end. 
 
 After a little further talk upon the condition of things, the 
 detective said: "Miss Herbert, I know your troubles are such 
 that you do not feel like talking upon other subjects, but the 
 theme upon which we conversed when I was last with you was 
 so glorious to me, and the Scriptures were opened to my under- 
 standing in such a new light, and the grace of God in the sal- 
 vation of poor sinners appeared to me so soul-cheering, that if 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 205 
 
 it would not be asking too much, I should be delighted to hear 
 more upon that subject." 
 
 "0," said Ella, "I never tire of talking of my Lord and 
 His boundless love to poor, lost and perishing sinners; and the 
 greater the danger that surrounds me, the more I think of Him. 
 I have realized so much of His goodness in my own case. He 
 is my stay and comfort. In the lone hours, when none else 
 is near or hears, I have my God and my Bible as my ever- 
 lasting portion. With Him as my Friend, death has no terrors. 
 True, I do not say I want to die, that is contrary to our nature. 
 I want to live as long as it is God's will for me to live. I want 
 to live to serve Him, and that I may do good to others. I 
 pray God to bless all my labors to the good of men, and that I 
 may live to be to the praise of His glory. And I feel that even 
 in your case God has used my troubles to your good, and 
 through them has answered a good mother's prayers in your 
 behalf. Yes, indeed. He maketh the wrath of inan to praise 
 Him. 
 
 "But I feel that when my work here on earth is done, my 
 mission ended, and the good Lord calls for me, that I want to 
 go, and He only will know that time. True, I have a dread of 
 the darkness and of the pain of death, but then my Saviour 
 died, and has robbed death of its sting, has sweetened the 
 bitterness of parting with this life, and gloriously perfumed 
 the grave with the incense of heaven. And then, looking over 
 the darkness, I think of the bright, the glorious beyond when 
 all is over. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I delight 1o talk of Jesus and His love. And I 
 did want to show you just how Paul's argument coincided with 
 the argument 1 set before you in your last conversation. In 
 that we had shown to us how that by the deeds of the law no 
 flesh could be justified in His sight. The question then to be 
 considered is, how are men justified? Let us read the con- 
 clusion: 
 
 " 'But now, the righteousness of God without the law is 
 manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.' 
 
 "That is, the law bears testimony to the fulfillment of all 
 its claims in Christ, and that in Him and by Him it has been 
 satisfied. Therefore it has no further claims, but grants a per- 
 fect and absolute release to all represented in the sufferings of 
 
206 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Christ. The prophets also bear testimony to the same truth, 
 witnessing and testifying that Christ should come and suffer 
 for us. Men are saved, then, not by works of righteousness 
 which they have done or can do, for we have seen that men 
 could not satisfy the claims of the law, but they are saved by 
 what Christ has done for them. I repeat those sweet words, 
 'Jesus saves.' " 
 
 "In this same line of thought, Paul continues the argu- 
 ment. 'Even the righteousness which is by faith of Jesus 
 Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no 
 difference.' That is, there is no difference in the condition of 
 men as sinners. I do not mean that there is no difference in 
 sins, some sins are more aggravated than others, but I speak of 
 men's condition as sinners; all are guilty, all are condemned, 
 all are under the curse of God's law and by that law none can 
 be justified. Hear Paul: 'For all have sinned and come short 
 of the glory of God.' 
 
 "In plain terms he then tells us how we are justified. 
 'Being justified by His grace through the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
 through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for 
 the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of 
 God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He 
 might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.' 
 Here you see set forth how God by giving His Son as a propi- 
 tiation for our sins, satisfying the law for us, maintains His 
 own justice, and at the same time is enabled to justify them 
 that believe on Him. Not that He justifies them in what they 
 have done, but He, having redeemed them from the claims of 
 the law, justifies them by what He has done. As Christ has 
 taken our place in fulfilling the law for us. He gives us His 
 place as our righteousness. Paul therefore further concludes, 
 as to our peace and eternal happiness, that, 'Being justified by 
 faith, we have peace with God,' we become united to Him and 
 are one with Him." 
 
 The detective had given the most marked attention to all 
 this, and his soul seemed filled with perfect delight. He re- 
 peated over and over again, and again, "How gloriousi How 
 gloriousl" But still there seemed to be a kind of shadow of 
 doubt, a something he could not understand. After reflecting 
 a few moments, he said: 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 207 
 
 "Miss Ella, does religion entirely discard good works?" 
 
 "No, no," she replied, "Keligion is made up of good works, 
 there can be no religion without them. But in point of salva- 
 tion that question cuts no figure at all. With man as a sinner, 
 it is not a question of what he shall do in his sins, but as to 
 how he shall be delivered from them. 
 
 "Take my own case for illustration. Here I am con- 
 demned, and you tell me this morning that sentence has been 
 passed against me. Now it is not a question of how I shall 
 behave myself while here in prison, but how I shall get out of 
 prison; not a question of how I shall act between now and the 
 execution of the law's sentence, but how shall I escape the 
 execution of it! (I shall not argue the justice or injustice of 
 human law, but proceed upon the idea that it is just.) I have 
 no complaint to make against the law, nor the court that did 
 the findings. I had a perfect knowledge of what that law was, 
 and of the results of my disobedience if my guilt was discov- 
 ered. I cannot claim ignorance of that. I have by my own free 
 will chosen to set that law at defiance; my guilt has been dis- 
 covered, as you know, and here I am under sentence of death. 
 Now it is not within my power to undo anything I have done, 
 or to satisfy that law except by suffering its penalty. I may 
 escape, but not lawfully, the law will not be satisfied. If I 
 escape, it must be at the expense of justice, that is, supposing 
 the law and the sentence to be just. The only possible way 
 for law to be satisfied and for me to be justified, is for some 
 one to suflTer for me; that is, to give me his place and he take 
 mine. Then it would be justified by his act and not by my 
 own. This no mortal can do, because he himself is a law sub- 
 ject. No one can satisfy law save He who is above law. He 
 who is altogether righteous without law. Hence, the suffer- 
 ings of the Law-giver. 
 
 "You see now that it is not a question as to how I shall 
 act while here in prison. Everything demands my becoming 
 behavior at all times, but here I am in this fearful dilemma, 
 and how shall I get out of it? Such is the condition of men, 
 they have willfully broken God's law and are under its curse, 
 and justly so; they can make no complaint against the law; 
 they knew its claims; they have put themselves in a condition 
 from which they are powerless, by anything they can do to 
 get out. 
 
208 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "But here comes in the goodness and mercy of God. Of 
 His own will or mere good pleasure, the great Law-giver suffers 
 for us; takes our place; pays our debt, and simply says to the 
 poor sinner in the sink of sin, 'Trust Me and I will take you 
 out; give me your hand and I will lift you up.' So you see it is 
 not a question of good works." 
 
 "O, yes," he said, "I see it all now, good works are all 
 right, but they do not take away our bad ones; it is required of 
 us all to be good at all times, but that cannot change our bad 
 works; good works cannot save from suffering th e consequence 
 of bad ones; they cannot save." 
 
 "That is it," replied Ella, "Salvation is of the Lord; have 
 faith in Him, trust Him, and all is well." 
 
 "And now I see," said the detective, "how it is that by 
 His mere mercy and grace He saves. We have willfully and 
 knowingly sinned, done despite to His laws and set at defiance 
 His will. Yes, it is by grace we are saved, through faith in His 
 name. Glorious salvation," and he added, "if I knew you could 
 escape this prison and get free I could almost thank the Lord 
 for your imprisonment. The last few days have been glorious 
 to me and the way brighter and brighter. I now can see Christ 
 as my Saviour, and can praise Him for His abounding grace. 
 The only thing is your own sufferings." 
 
 "0," said Ella, "the Lord will provide." 
 "Yes, the Lord will provide," was the reply, "and now I 
 shall look about and see what the provisions are that He has 
 made. How mtich the Lord provides for us if we will only 
 hunt up the provisions. The decree of the court must not, it 
 shall not be carried out, said the detective, vehemently; from 
 this time on I shall not rest till you are safe from this place." 
 
 Ella thanked him for his kind, good wishes, and with an 
 assurance that she would hear good news from him in a few 
 days they parted. 
 
 The detective set to work from that hour for the liberation 
 of the prisoner. He asked leave of absence for a few days, 
 with the purpose in view of finding some friends on the outside 
 that would help him in his undertaking. He knew the coun- 
 try to be filled with Southern people who would be too glad to 
 help him when they understood the case. 
 
 The Colonel readily granted leave of absence, not because 
 

 
 ^^^ J^a^. 
 
 '2yL^^ 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW- 209 
 
 he took pleasure in doing the detective a favor, but because he 
 saw that he was in the way of his carrying out his purpose. 
 He had determined upon the death of the prisoner and that as 
 speedily as possible. With the detective gone, and the fact 
 that the other officers were under his command, he thought he 
 could force them into measures. And well he succeeded. 
 
 The very next day, after the detective left, the court was 
 convened, and by threats and intimidations^they were induced 
 to set the day and the hour of the execution of the prisoner. 
 Miss Herbert was notified that evening, that the next evening 
 at 6 o'clock p. M., the penalty of the law would be enforced; the 
 death sentence was read and she was told to make her. prepara- 
 tions for that solemn hour. 
 
 While she knew that the Colonel was seeking her destruc- 
 tion, and that he would bring it about as quickly as possible, 
 yet she was not prepared for the sudden change. The detec- 
 tive had left her the morning before, full of hope and cheer, 
 and that he was working some scheme for her escape, she had 
 no doubt, and she rightly attributed this change in affairs to 
 his absence. She was given till the next evening, and she 
 cheered herself with the thought that there was yet hope. 
 The detective would be back soon, may be that very night, with 
 deliverance. Besides, she had now been looking each day for 
 news from Sam's expedition in some way. It might come yet. 
 "God," she said, "can work wonders." After the excitement 
 of the moment had passed away, she became composed and 
 prayed to the good Lord to make her perfectly resigned to His 
 will. 
 
 She spent most of that sad night in writing to home 
 friends and the dear ones, telling them of what she had suf- 
 fered, of God's goodness to her and of her hope Lu the bright 
 beyond. "It may be," she said, "that to-morrow will be my 
 wedding day. I shall become a bride; wedded to my dear 
 Lord forever. If it be so, how glorious! Though enemies fol- 
 low me to my grave, angels will be my attendants at the mar- 
 riage altar, and though the dread roll of musketry may 
 announce my death, the shouts of angels will announce my 
 marriage to the Lamb. O sweet, happy exchange." 
 
 She then slept a few hours — sweet, happy sleep. When 
 she awoke next morning, the sun was just looking above the top 
 
210 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 of the eastern hills and sending a bright radiance over river 
 and forest; looking out upon the brightness, she could but 
 picture the glory of the rising of that Sun that never sets, and 
 the sweetness of its radiance over the waters of life and the 
 evergreen trees on the eternal shore. She took it as a bright 
 omen of some good in store for her. May be her crossing the 
 river, may be her deliverance. 
 
 The chagrin, giortiflcation and even rage of the detective 
 can hardly be imagined when he came into town early on the 
 morning of the 12th of April, having perfected his arrange- 
 ments for the escape of the prisoner the following night, and 
 learned that the court had set the time of her execution for 
 that very evening. To reverse the decision now would be im- 
 possible, and to hurry up his own arrangements was equally 
 impossible. What he was designing to do was to be done 
 under cover of darkness, and the prisoner would be dead before 
 that hour came. But he must see her; she roust know how 
 earnest his efforts had been in her behalf, and then they must 
 arrange to take desperate chances. "She must not die," said 
 the detective in his fixed determination. 
 
 Just before reaching the prison, he met Colonel Shelton, 
 and forgetting that he was a subaltern and at the mercy of 
 this vindictive tyrant, he at once charged him with being a con- 
 temptible coward, making war upon and seeking the destruc- 
 tion of poor, defenseless women. 
 
 The Colonel, in his rage, threatened the detective with 
 vengeance and declared that he would "humble the proud 
 queen," and that George Tracy should feel the sting of his 
 whip. He had rode by the prison that very morning, that he 
 might mock the poor prisoner within, and that she might see 
 that he rejoiced in her sufferings. He was just in the act of 
 turning back and ordering the guard to arrest the detective 
 when an orderly dashed up to him excitedly, and handed him 
 a message. He read it over hurriedly and the detective noticed 
 that he turned pale. He whirled his horse in the direction of 
 the works and was gone. 
 
 The detective left free, and the guard having no instruc- 
 tions to the contrary, he entered the prison unmolested. He 
 found Ella in tears, yet in a measure composed. He explained 
 to her his plans for her deliverance, and how it was that he 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 211 
 
 knew nothing of what was going on until he came in that 
 morning, and then tried to encourage her with the thought 
 that there was yet hope. 
 
 She fully understood and appreciated his efforts. "I do 
 not mind to die," she said, "if it be the Lord's will, but to die 
 at the hands of such a man! I could have gone to the place of 
 execution without a murmur could I have been spared the 
 mortification of witnessing the triumph of that man." 
 
 "But," she added, "all hope is not gone yet, the Lord has 
 never forsaken me and He never will. Of this one thing will I 
 be confident. Let the day close upon my life here as it may, 
 I feel that its ending will be glorious. When I awoke this 
 morning and caught the first glow of the bright sun as it sent 
 its radiance over those hills and away across the waters to the 
 glowing valley beyond, it betokened to me good. I took it as 
 the shadow of better things. It may be of the brightness on 
 the evergreen shore, but I can but think it means deliverance. 
 I cannot realize that I shall die this evening. It may be as you 
 say, we shall have to take desperate chances, but be that as it 
 may, we shall succeed." 
 
 She continued: "Have you noticed that the gun-boats are 
 all gone, and that a part of the infantry force have been taken 
 • away? What a nice time for that eagle-eyed Forest to dash in 
 and capture the place." 
 
 This brought the detective's mind to the message that he 
 saw handed to the Colonel that morning, and though he 
 thought little of it then, the whole scene came fresh before him 
 now; the excited condition of the orderly, the Colonel's turning 
 pale and his strange actions, and he sprang to his feet so ex- 
 ultingly as almost frightened Ella, as he fairly shouted, "Forest 
 is here, now." 
 
 As they were shut out from a view of the ditches, where 
 they were, the detective ran out of the prison and looked over 
 the hills. Sure enough, everything was in a stir; the men were 
 rapidly filing into the trenches and the officers were flying 
 everywhere trying to encourage the men. 
 
 The paper that had been handed to the Colonel in the 
 presence of the detective, was nothing more or less than a 
 demand from General Forest for the immediate surrender of 
 the place. The Colonel was too cowardly to surrender. H^ 
 
212 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 knew that he had not the force to hold it, but he dare not sur- 
 render. He knew that as soon as Forest entered the place he 
 would find out all he had been doing, and the coward supposed 
 all men to be like himself, destitute of every generous impulse, 
 and only filled with envy and spite. He knew that the gun- 
 boats would be back that evening, and in the vain hope of 
 delaying the attack until that time, he began hurriedly to form 
 his men into line, and asked General Forest for a parley. 
 
 Forest, from his position, had noticed every movement and 
 he was determined not to give the foe any advantage. 
 
 Just as the detective had began to take in something of the 
 situation, the loud crack of a cannon rent the air and he came 
 darting back into the prison. At the same time, a soldier came 
 dashing up the street crying, "Forest and his cavalry! Forest 
 and his cavalry!" The detective was about to go out again, 
 but Ella told him to stay with her and he would be safe. 
 
 "I have been looking for this," she said, "it is no disap- 
 pointment to me." 
 
 "Why? How?" questioned the detective. 
 "You remember the servant of mine that hid the mail bag 
 and that you all took to be a kind of idiot, do you not?" 
 
 "O, yes, yes," was the answer. "Well," continued Ella, 
 '1 have seen him since I have been here and th is is the result 
 of his work. Before another hour, I will see him again, the 
 proudest boy living. Now you know the reason I asked for 
 delay." 
 
 But their talk was cut short. Crack, crack went the guns 
 in rapid succession; boom, boom the roaring cannon, and then 
 a long, loud deafening yell, mingled with the roll of the rattling 
 muskets. Shout followed shout, cheer after cheer went up 
 from all the hills, mingled with that sharp crack of guns and 
 pistols and the roar of tramping horses. The very air seemed 
 filled with the noise of battle, and all the hills covered with 
 charging men. Louder and louder grew the din; more and 
 more shrill the yells of the victors; nearer and nearer rolled the 
 great wave of deafening noise. The very earth shook neath 
 the tread of the charging squadrons. Looking down the street 
 they see a great surging wave of flying fugitives. Down, down 
 the hill they came, like the swine on the hills of Gadarea, 
 pouring on toward the river as though they would seek refuge 
 
THE TRIUMPH AND THE OVERTHROW. 213 
 
 beneath its turbid waters, and still the death shots fell thick 
 and fast. Looking up the street, in the opposite direction and 
 waving proudly above the flying mass of frightened fugitives, 
 is the Southern cross. A regiment of cavalry comes sweeping 
 down like a whirlwind, dashing through the flying foe and 
 shouting victory as they come. 
 
 The roar of battle was so exciting, the charge so terrible, 
 the revenge so swift, the carnage so dreadful, and the victory 
 so glorious, that Ella trembled with emotion. What tumultu- 
 ous thoughts filled her heartl Snatched as it had been from 
 death and given a new lease of life; the overthrow of her ene- 
 mies and the meeting of friends, all presented a scene so 
 strange, so glorious and yet mingled with its sadness, that Ella 
 stood through it all as one in a trance, but drinking in all its 
 realities. 
 
 She heard a voice cry out, "Dar she ami Dar she ami" 
 And looking down on the pavement below, she saw Sam, 
 already dismounted and making rapidly for the stairway, fol- 
 lowed by two cavalry men. 
 
 Without ceremony, Sam came bursting into the room cry- 
 ing, "Miss, I got 'em, you's safe! You's safe!" The two cav- 
 alry men were none other than George Tracy and Captain 
 Grimes. The welcomes and greetings of that glad meeting we 
 shall not attempt to describe. We could not, if we would. 
 After the impassioned moments were over, Ella explained 
 briefly the presence of the detective, and how he was her 
 friend. 
 
 As for Sam, he was the hero of the occasion. He kept a 
 respectful distance noting the rejoicing of others till all had be- 
 come somewhat quiet, and then he sprang to his mistress. 
 His joy knew no bounds, and he manifested it in many ways. 
 He grasped her hand and kissed it again and again, while he 
 fairly washed it with his tears. And then he would laugh and 
 leap up for joy, exclaiming, "My Miss, my dear good Miss is 
 safe now." He dropped to the floor and caught her by the feet 
 and embraced them. Ella patted his cheeks and rubbed her 
 hands over his head and called him her dear, faithful Sam; 
 and when at last she sat down, he claimed the right to stand 
 behind her and play with her curls. 
 
 The detective noticing it all, at last said, "And this is 
 slavery?" 
 
214 THE CdNFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "Yes," said Ella, "this is slavery. A boy that will risk his 
 life for his mistress." 
 
 But, reader, we will linger here no longer. The revenge 
 had been swift and terrible. Many that had laughed at night, 
 thoughtless of danger, lay cold in death. And among these were 
 Colonel Shelton. With him gone, the tragedy is over. That 
 evening, instead of marching to her death, Ella is in a carriage 
 with Sam, driven on her way to the Southern army, with 
 Gen. forest's cavalry as a guard. The detective is along too, 
 as his profession was gone and he had determined a new life. 
 
 Since we have seen how well Sam succeeded on his mission, 
 we shall not follow him in his wanderings. He reached the 
 Confederate camp just the evening before Captain Grimes 
 reached it at night. The captain had been delayed by a hurt 
 he received in getting from the boat the night he sprang into 
 the river; that grew worse after he left Memphis, and, also, by 
 waiting about Corinth to get some word from Miss Herbert. 
 Finally, supposing she had gone on before him, he went on to 
 the command. 
 
 When Captain Grimes learned of the condition of things, 
 and knowing where General Forest and his men were ata.tioned, 
 he at once looked to them for help. It was a strange coinci- 
 dence that when Captain Grimes and his company j-eached 
 Forest's command, they found him just on the eve of starting 
 to attack the place. He had, by his scouts, been watching his 
 opportunity, and had just learned of the departure" of the gun- 
 boats and the weakening of the force, and although he knew 
 nothing of the prisoner, or the fate that awaited her, he had 
 determined to sweep down upon the garrison and destroy the 
 stores. All that Captain Grimes and his company had to do 
 then, was to fall into line and riarch with the dashing, victo- 
 rious cavalry. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 HOOD'S MARCH INTO TENNESSEE. BAT- 
 TLE OF FRANKLIN AND DEFEAT 
 AT NASHVILLE. 
 
 Atlanta, Ga., was entirely abandoned by the Confederate 
 army on the night of the 1st of September, 1864, and on the 
 5th of that month Sherman's army fell back from Jonesboro 
 to that place, while Hood's army went into camp at Lovejoy 
 Station. This ended the struggle for "the gate city." 'Ihe 
 Confederate army lay in camp at Lovejoy Station till the 17th, 
 when they had orders to cook two day's rations and be ready 
 to move. On the 18th, they took up the line of march, swing- 
 ing to the left of Atlanta, in the direction of Palmetto Station, 
 on the "West Point and Montgomery R. R., and near the 
 Chatahooche River." The army arrived at that place on the 
 20th and began fortifying. 
 
 While at this place. President Davis and some of the 
 authorities at Richmond, visited the army under Hood. What 
 the purpose of the visit was, the writer does not know, but it 
 seems that a new plan of campaign was inaugurated. General 
 Hood was to entirely abandon Gen. Sherman's front, swing 
 around to his rear, and by cutting off his supplies, compel him 
 (Sherman), if possible, to follow the Confederates back into 
 Tennessee and Kentucky. In accordance with this plan, the 
 Confederate army received orders, on the evening of the 28th, 
 to cook three days' rations and be ready to move at 10 o'clock 
 next morning. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th, the army moved by the left 
 flank and crossed the Chatahooche River, about thirty miles 
 below Atlanta. The army lay in camp on the 1st of October, 
 where General Hood issued an order to his men, stating that 
 
 215 
 
216 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 he would strike the railroad in the rear of Sherman's army 
 near Big Shanty, and that if he would meet him in open field 
 he would give battle; if not, he would move north, tearing up 
 the track as he went. 
 
 On the evening of the 2d of October, the army again took 
 up the line of march, and passing to the north of Lost Moun- 
 tain, reached the railroad on the evening of the 3rd, capturing 
 Big Shanty with sixty or seventy prisoners and began tearing 
 up the track of the road. General French, with his division, 
 moved to the right, tearing up the railroad to within three 
 miles of Kennesaw Mountain. Gen. Loring turned to the left 
 in the direction of Acworth, capturing the place and tearing up 
 the track some distance beyond. 
 
 On the evening of the 11th, Gen. French received orders 
 to move with his divisions, consisting of Generals Sears, Young 
 and Oockrell's brigades with twelve pieces of artillery, and at- 
 tack Altoona next morning at daylight. Before light, on the 
 morning of the 5th, Gen. French had gained a position with- 
 in three-quarters of a mile of the works and began skirmishing 
 with the enemy. By the time it was light the brigades had 
 taken position. The artillery, supported by a portion of a regi- 
 ment of Young's Texas Brigade, was posted on an eminence 
 south of the town, and the Fourth Mississippi Eegiment 
 of Sears' Brigade was detached to attack a block-house on 
 one branch of the Hightower river. With the remainder of his 
 force. Gen. French moved to the north and rear of the enemy's 
 position, which was now discovered to be very formidable, con- 
 sisting of strong forts and heavy redoubts running in all di- 
 rections. After having secured his position in the following 
 order. Gen. Sears to attack and carry a strong fort on the left. 
 Gen. Cockrell, supported by Gen. Young, to attack and carry 
 the heavy redoubts in front of a strong fort on tbe right. Gen. 
 French dispatched a flag of truce demanding an unconditional 
 surrender of the place. Before the bearer of the flag had 
 reached the Confederate lines on his return, the firing of a can- 
 non gave the enemy's answer. General French was thus, also, 
 informed that the enemy had evidently been re-inforced. This 
 proved true. The re-inforcements had reached the place Justin 
 advance of Gen. French, consisting of five regiments from 
 Borne, Ga. The garrison already consisted of three regiments, 
 
HOOD'S MARCH INTO TENNESSEE. 217 
 
 in all a little over three thousand men, while French's division 
 numbered not over two thousand five hundred. When General 
 French heard the reply of the enemy, he immediately began to 
 prepare for action, determined if possible to take the place by 
 storm. 
 
 When the roar of the first cannon was heard rolling out 
 from the top of Altoona Mountain, every soldier in the army 
 understood that it meant battle. And when they looked at 
 those frowning works they understood that somebody would taste 
 of death before the summit was reached. Bat there was mani- 
 fest a grim determination to make the desperate attempt. At 
 the command,^ '"Attention!" every soldier sprang to his feet, 
 ready for action. At the command "Forward men!" the Mis- 
 sourians, with a yell peculiarly their own, sprang forward toward 
 the works. The enemy fought like men and when within twenty 
 yards of the entrenchment so deadly was their fire, that the 
 line halted and the contest seemed doubtful. Here many of 
 those brave men, officers and privates, fell to do battle no more. 
 But another deeper, louder yell, and Gen. Young's Texans 
 joined the charging ranks andthe men leaped over the breast- 
 works. Here sabers clashed, bayonets crossed, and clubs and 
 rocks were hurled back and forth in the desperate struggle 
 Texans and Missourians joined hands, or stood shoulder to 
 shoulder in the battle. The Mississippians came gallantly up 
 from the left, and the field was won. The Confederates were 
 now in possession of all the works, except a strong fort pn the 
 right. This tort was the strongest of all, being surrounded by 
 a deep, wide ditch with no approach but the draws. The Con- 
 federates were compelled to rest, reform the line and get a fresh 
 supply of ammunition. While this was being done, and prep- 
 aration being made to storm and carry the last remaining fort 
 Gen. French received a dispatch from Gen. Armstrong, com- 
 manding cavalry, that the enemy was advancing 10,000 strong, 
 by way of Big Shanty. This made it necessary to withdraw; 
 for if this be triie, before preparations could be made and the 
 last works taken, the enemy would be upon the Confederate 
 army and in its rear. It turned out that the dispatch was a 
 deception, the enemy was not so near as reported. But it 
 robbed the Confederates of a great victory, greater indeed, 
 than they had anticipated, for here was stored the greater por. 
 
218 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 tion of the rations that was to feed Sherman's army. Had it 
 have been taken it is more than likely the "march to the sea" 
 would not have been made. 
 
 Here is where Gen. Sherman, from the heights of Kenne- 
 saw Mountain signalled that noted order, "Hold the fort, I'm 
 coming"; and none more than he understood the importance 
 of holding it. 
 
 Not only did the men who had fought so grandly, turn 
 away sadly, but the failure cast a gloom over the whole Con- 
 federate army. 
 
 Falling back from Altoona, French's division joined the 
 main army at New Hope Church and on the evening of the 6th, 
 started in the direction of Eome. Leaving that place to the 
 right, the army crossed the Etawa River at Quinn's Ferry on 
 the 10th. Marching rapidly, they struck the railroad about 
 three miles south of Eesica and began tearing it up. French's 
 division was about six miles north of this place. On the morn- 
 ing of the 13th, the army moved up the road to Tilton, which 
 place was garrisoned by a Federal regiment. This, after a little 
 skirmishing, surrendered. 
 
 Dalton, garrisoned by 3,000 men, surrendered on the 14th, 
 to a portion of Hardee's corps. On the 15th, left the railroad 
 and moved in the direction of Decatur, Ala. On the 16th, 
 passed through Summerville, Ga.; on the 20th, passed by 
 Lookout Mountain; on the 22nd, camped near Black Wayer 
 River; on the 23rd, passed through Summit, Ala ; and on the 
 26th, reached the neighborhood of Decatur. Here there was 
 some skirmishing with the enemy which continued till the 
 29th, when the whole army moved in the direction of Tuscum- 
 bia or Florence, Ala. Arrived at Tuscambia four miles from 
 Florence, on the 30th. 
 
 Here the army took a few days' rest and received a supply 
 of clothing. After throwing up some earth works on the Ten- 
 nessee River, the army was put in motion on the 20th of 
 November, crossing the Tennessee River on a pontoon bridge. 
 
 On the 22nd, General Hood issued an order to the troops, 
 congratulating them upon their past conduct and informing 
 them that the fruitful fields of Tennessee were before them; 
 that at times they might be short of bread, but only for a 
 short time; they knew endurance. This news was welcomed 
 by the men and the army moved on. 
 
HOOD'S MARCH INTO TENNESSEE. 219 
 
 On the morning of the 27th, they reached Pleasant Hill, 
 which had just been abandoned by the Federal forces. This 
 was a door to one of the most beautiful vaUeys of Tennessee, 
 and the people manifested their joy at once more seeing the 
 Confederate army. On the march to Cblumbia, the most 
 beautiful scenery was presented on every side, rich lands and 
 beautiful blue-grass pastures. When the army reached 
 Columbia, they found it still occupied by the Federal forces. 
 That night the enemy withdrew across Duck River and threw 
 up a line of entrenchments. On the morning of the 29th, 
 Gens. Cheatham's and Stewart's corps crossed the river about 
 seven miles above Columbia, Cheatham in the advance with 
 orders to strike the turn-pike at Spring Hill, and, if possible, 
 cut the enemy off from Nashville. 
 
 The army moved rapidly, with no baggage and only eight 
 pieces of artillery. About half an hour by sun, firing began in 
 front and the continued booming of artillery in the rear told 
 that the enemy had not yet left Columbia. One of the brigade 
 commanders in front stopping, needlessly to bridge a creek, 
 caused a delay so late that the enemy could not be pushed 
 from Spring Hill that night. Had Hood's order have been 
 carried out, the enemy would have been driven from the pike 
 and thus cut off from Nashville and more than likely captured. 
 As it was, the Confederate force lay that night in one-half mile 
 of the roa,d, and a portion within a few hundred yards of it. 
 Even then, had the Confederate force have been active, the 
 enemy being scattered, they might have been driven from the 
 road and all their baggage and artillery captured. As it was, 
 the enemy passed, burning a part of their army supplies and 
 wagons in their hasty flight. 
 
 At about ten o'clock on the evening of thfe 30th, the enemy 
 was found occupying some heights about ten miles from Frank- 
 lin, a pretty village situated on the west bank of Harpeth River. 
 Gen. Stewart's corps, now being in front, filed to the right, 
 flanking the enemy's position and compelling him to fall back, 
 thus allowing Gen. Cheatham's corps to pass directly down the 
 pike, Gen. Lee not yet having arrived from Columbia. 
 
 The enemy now took up his position inside the fortifica- 
 tions around Franklin. These were in two lines and very for- 
 midable. The^second and main line of works were well arranged 
 
220 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 and thoroughly guarded, the men almost completely protected 
 from the fire from their front by deep ditches and strong earth- 
 works, with a head-log all along on top. In front of this was 
 a cotton field almost level, running out some three or four hun- 
 dred yards. The men behind the works, by putting their guns 
 under the head-log, could sweep the whole field in front of them. 
 Gen,eTal Hood at once made arrangements to storm these works. 
 Gen. Cheatham took up his position on the left, his left wing 
 resting on Harpeth Elver below, and his right reaching around 
 crossing the turn-pike at the center. Gen. Stewart occupied the 
 right, extending from the pike to the river above. Gen. Lor- 
 ing's division, of Stewart's corps, occupied the extreme right, 
 Walthall's next, and French the center. Of Cheatham's corps. 
 Gen. Gavan occupied the center, Tucker next, and Gran by the 
 extreme left. 
 
 Gen Cheatham's men were mostly Tennessee troops and 
 many of them were near their own homes, from which they had 
 been separated for many long days. Some of their families 
 were inside these fortifications. They had everything to stim- 
 ulate them on to victory; they were indeed, fighting for their 
 homes and their firesides. 
 
 It was near sundown when the lines were formed and the 
 army ready to advance. (I quote from the "Civil War," page 
 241.) 
 
 "It is said the dropping of a flag by Gen. Cheatham was 
 the signal for the charge. With a characteristic yell and a tre- 
 mendous force onward they advanced, stopping not nor halting, 
 however obstinately the enemy might resist and however thick 
 might be that awful, bloody field of carnage with their own 
 dead. The attack in the center by Gen. John C. Brown, of 
 Cheatham's corps, with Bate on his left, swept on with a force 
 which seemed almost irresistible. General Brown, Edward 
 Johnson, Manigaiilt, Quailes, Crockrell and Sears were wound- 
 ed; Gen. G. W. Gordon was captured inside the enemy's works 
 with a part of his command. On the right. Gen. Stewart's 
 corps fought desperately; Gen. John Adams' brigade of Missis- 
 sippians, of Loring's division, received a fearful, enfilading 
 fire from the enemy's fort on the opposite side of Harpeth 
 River; but onward to the charge they went. In the act of leap- 
 ing his charger over the enemy's works General Adams was 
 
HOOD'S MARCH INTO TENNESSEE. 221 
 
 killed and fell within the entrenchments, and 'Old Charlie,' 
 his horse, was also killed, his form powerful in death, striding 
 the enemy's works, his legs reaching to the bottom of the ditch, 
 his head on the parapet, as if still breathing defiance at the foe. 
 This was the last battle of the gallant Cleburne Generals 
 Gists, Granberry, Carter and Strahl fell in this bloody conflict. 
 On that crimson battle-ground many a knightly soul went out 
 within sight of the firesides where the wives "and little ones 
 were praying and watching for the absent soldier's return. 
 
 "A pathetic incident of this battle was the mortal wound, 
 at the very threshold of his home, of young Carter. * * * 
 Though the gray dawn of the next day, saw the Federals fly- 
 ing toward Nashville, the victory was dearly bought. The sac- 
 rifice these soldiers offered on the altar of their country was 
 great." 
 
 Col. Elijah Gates, commanding the Missouri brigade, was 
 severely wounded. I shall not undertake to tell who were killed 
 in that fearful charge: it would be easier to tell who were not 
 killed. The Confederates lay iu heaps in the ditches in front of 
 the works, officers and privates iu one mangled mass. 
 
 The firing waskept up till about one o'clock at night, when 
 the enemy fell back toward Nashville. 
 
 The next day was indeed a sad one to the Confederate 
 army, and especially to the Missourians. Far away from home 
 the few survivors of that once grand brigade, now depleted, 
 buried their friends, their comrades in arms. This was the 
 first time in the whole history of that brigade that it had made 
 a charge upon the enemy and failed to drive them from their 
 position. Other portions of the army may have failed, but 
 this brigade never. And this is said with no disparagement to 
 other troops; the recorded facts bear testimony to the truth of 
 the statement. 
 
 They were as proud and noble a set of men as ever shoul- 
 dered a musket, each man fighting for a principle. Some idea 
 of their courage, and of how well they had borne their part, 
 may be given when it is remembered that when they crossed 
 the Mississippi Eiver, the two brigades, now consolidated into 
 one, numbered near 8,000 m.en, and yet on the day of the bat- 
 tle of Franklin, they only numbered 610 men for duty. There 
 had been very few desertions, and not many had died from 
 
222 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 sickness; their graves were scattered over Mississippi, Ala- 
 bama, Georgia and Tennessee, and the wounded found shelter 
 m the hospitals of these States. 
 
 The writer has not the statistics of the loss of the different 
 brigades. Bat those which lost heaviest were: Cockrell's Bri- 
 gade, 492; Gavon's, 319; Tucker's, 414; Granberry's, 363. It is 
 thus seen, that out of a number of 610, on the morning before 
 the battle, the Missouri Brigade, lost, killed and wounded, 
 492; leaving 118 for duty. In the company to which the writer 
 belonged, there were thirty-two men reported for duty that 
 morning, and of that number, eight were killed dead and six- 
 teen wounded, leaving eight unhurt. Throughout the brigade 
 this was the proportion. This has been termed a hard-fought 
 battle, we term it a slaughter. In twenty minutes from the 
 time the men crossed the first line of works, the brigade was 
 swept away. O, how sad the task of these few survivors to 
 put away their comrades in their last resting place on that 
 bloody field. 
 
 The first day of December was spent in burying the dead. 
 On the next day, the army moved toward Nashville, the capi- 
 tal of the State. Contrary to all expectations, the army had 
 been supplied with an abundance to eat, but nearly one-third 
 of it was bare-footed and destitute of a suflficiency of clothing. 
 The sufierings of these were great, unparalleled since the com- 
 mencement of the war. Snow fell and covered the ground with 
 ice and sleet, and the men in this condition were compelled to 
 occupy the ditches. The army was in poor condition to do 
 battle not only from their destitution, but from the great loss 
 they had sustained, they were disheartened and discouraged. 
 
 Cockrell and Gates being wounded, the command of the 
 brigade, now reduced to a mere company of 118 men, fell upon 
 Col. Flurnoy. On the 10th, he was ordered to take his little 
 command and proceed to the mouth of Duck River and build a 
 fort to prevent the gun-boats from coming up the Columbia 
 River. Having marched within eight miles of that place, he 
 was compelled to halt, on account of heavy rain and high 
 waters. While here in camp, about the 18th, he received a dis- 
 patch from Gen. Hood, stating that the enemy came out, on 
 the 15th and 16th, and attacked his position completely rout- 
 ing his army and capturing sixty pieces of artillery, and order- 
 ing the Colonel to fall back and join him at Florence, Ala. 
 
HOOD'S MARCH INTO TENNESSHE. 223 
 
 Ool. Flurnoy, with his handful of men began his march 
 toward Florence, Alabama, on the morning of the 19th, and on 
 the 26th reached the main army, four miles above Florence, 
 with all his baggage and artillery complete. The worst appre- 
 hensions of the brigade were realized; the army of Hood was de- 
 moralized beyond description. Only Gen. Forest and his men 
 were in perfect order and doing battle like Trojans; and to these 
 must General Hood owe the salvation of his army. Beaten 
 from the field, half-clothed .and barefooted, these once grand 
 veterans presented a sad sight, and each felt from this on it was 
 impossible for the South to maintain the unequal contest. The 
 failure was not from the lack of courage upon the part of the 
 Southern soldiery, it was the overwhelming numbers and fine 
 equipment of the other side. 
 
 On the night of the 27th, the brigade crossed the Tennes- 
 see River and by early dawn on the morning of the 28th, the 
 whole army was safely over. Nothing of interest taking place, 
 the army moved by slow stages, and on the 27th of January, 
 1866, went into camp at Varona, Mississippi. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE BATTLES ABOUT MOBILE, SHIP ISLAND, 
 AND THE FINAL SURRENDEE. 
 
 After remaining at Varona a few weeks, the army undel 
 General Hood was transferred to the East and sent after Gen- 
 eral Sherman, except the division under Gen. French. Hence, 
 for the remainder of this history the scenes will be changed to 
 another field. 
 
 General French's division was ordered to report at Mobile, 
 Alabama. At this place the men enjoyed a rest for a season. 
 On the morning of the 24th of March, the division received 
 orders to cook three days' rations and to be ready to move. At 
 three o'clock that evening the command was placed on trans- 
 ports and conveyed to the east side of the Mobile Bay, near its 
 head, and landed at Fort Blakely, moved out some six miles to 
 meet the advancing column of the enemy under General Can- 
 by. His force was variously estimated at between fifteen and 
 twenty thousand. On the morning of the 26th; heavy skir- 
 mishing began, the Confederate forces falling back. The Con- 
 federate forces were divided, a portion being sent to Spanish 
 Fort and a portion to Fort Blakely. From the 28th to the 31st, 
 there was heav.y fighting around Spanish Fort. Cockrell's 
 and Sears' brigades had been sent out on different roads to 
 guard the approach to Blakely. On the morning of the 1st of 
 April, Cockrell's brigade had been called in to where the two 
 roads joined, and halted, waiting to be joined by Gen. Sears, 
 when it was the design for all to fall back within the fortifica- 
 tions. 
 
 While waiting here, a horseman dashed up and informed 
 the brigade comm.ander, who was now Col. McCowan, Gen. 
 Cockrell being in command of a division, that the Federal cav- 
 
 224 
 
OJui^-^-^^'^^' 
 
THE FINAL SURRENDER. 225 
 
 airy had cut through the brigade of Gen. Sears, and would soon 
 be upon them. If this proved true, Cockrell's brigade was all 
 there was to defend the fort. Col. McCowan sent all the bri- 
 gade to the ditches except the third and fifth consolidated reg- 
 iments. Hardly had those orders begun to be obeyed when the 
 Federal cavalry, one thousand strong, hove in sight. 
 
 The little regiment formed in a narrow ravine which ran 
 across the road, fixed bayonets and prepared to receive the cav- 
 alry charge. On it came like an avalanch, but so destructive 
 was the fire of the Confederates, that they were compelled to 
 halt and to fall back. It happened that they were in support- 
 ing reach of the artillery at the fort which opened upon the 
 wings of the cavalry thus preventing the little regiment from 
 being surrounded and compelling the enemy to rapidly fall 
 back. 
 
 On the 2nd, the enemy began approaching the works around 
 Blakely, 3rd and 4th there was continued skirmishing along the 
 lines. On the evening of the 4th, about one hour by sun there 
 begun a heavy artillery duel at (Spanish Fort which was taken 
 up by the Confederate gun-boats and extended along the line 
 to Fort Blakely. This terrible roar of cannons was kept up till 
 after dark. Fighting continued till the evening of the 8th, 
 when the Confederate force in attempting to evacuate Spanish 
 Fort was assaulted. But most of the garrison escaped. 
 
 There were not men enough at Blakely to man the works, 
 but they scattered along as best they could to keep up appear-^ 
 ance till the force could be withdrawn. Cockrell kept up the 
 fight all day, the 9th, till about an hour by sun when the Fed- 
 erals advanced upon the works all along the line, capturing the 
 entire garrison. 
 
 It will be noted that the battle of Fort Blakely was fought 
 the very day that General Lee surrendered to General Grant at 
 Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. 
 
 On the 14th, the Confederate prisoners were put on board 
 ship and sent to Ship Island as prisoners of war. They were 
 kept on this sandy, barren island for thirteen days, in the 
 broiling hot sun during the day, and the cool, chilly winds at 
 hight, with no shelter from sun or storm, and but few blankets. 
 Besides, a regiment of negroes to guard them who took great 
 pleasure in shouting at every supposed misstep of the prisoner, 
 
226 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 "Look out dar, white man, de bottom rail on top row." While 
 here, the news of Lee's surrender was received, also of the 
 assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United 
 States. There is a book entitled, "Fifteen Years in Hell." 
 The Confederates called this thirteen days in that hot climate, 
 hot more ways than one. On the night of the 28th, the Mis- 
 souri Brigade was put on board the steamer "Clinton" and 
 started for Vicksburg. On the way the news of the surrender 
 of Lee was confirmed and also that of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. 
 The brigade arrived at Vicksburg on the 2d day of May, 
 and were paroled as prisoners on the 4th. On that day the 
 Mississippi Department surrendered. The Missouri Brigade 
 moved out to Jackson, Miss., and on the 13th, received their 
 final parole. "The war is over, the brigade is no niore, the 
 men are scattering in all directionp, and our history is ended." 
 
Closing Address. 
 
 In closing this volume, the writer feels ttiat he can find no 
 more befitting words than those found in an address to the 
 people of Missouri, written by him immediately after the sur- 
 render at Jackson, Miss., and approved by that part of the 
 brigade present at the time, and designed to have been pub- 
 lished in The St. Louis Bepublican, but which that paper 
 thought best to withhold. 
 
 To the People of Missouri. 
 
 Fellow Citizens: 
 
 After four years of the most desperate and bloody war 
 known to the annals of history, the struggle has ended. In 
 this contest questions of the greatest moment to the American 
 people were at stake. Upon the part of the South the ques- 
 tion of "State rights" or sovereignty, and upon the part of the 
 North consolidated power in the General Government. Those 
 holding with the South had obtaiaed the pre-eminence, an<f 
 this had been the principle that had governed the great body 
 of the American people from the days of Thomas Jefferson, till 
 Abraham Lincoln took his seat as President of the United 
 States. Being the true principle of all Democratic Govern- 
 ment, it was impossible of overthrow till made so by thrusting 
 upon it the question of slavery. Had it have been fully under- 
 stood that the question of slavery was designed to overthrow 
 this great principle of American liberty, the results of the war 
 
 would have been different. 
 
 227 
 
228 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 We are now told that this great question of State Sover- 
 eignty has been settled by the sword, and that when we lay 
 down our arms we must accept this as true. We deny that the 
 war had settled any living and eternal principle. We accept it 
 that by force of arms you have robbed us of our property, and 
 we give it up forever, but that eternal principle of true Demo- 
 cratic Government can never be taken from us. "Truth 
 crushed to earth will rise again." War may force submission, 
 but might never makes right. We believed in the rights of the 
 States when we enlisted in the war; we fought for them, and 
 while the results of the war force us to accept a consolidated 
 government, and the bayonet has robbed us of those rights 
 which were once ours, and for which we fought, yet it is still a 
 living principle to be held and contended for as long as Eepub- 
 licau Government lasts. 
 
 Being nursed in the School of State rights, and believing, 
 as we still believe, it to be the true principle that should govern 
 the American people, we early enlisted in the cause; when we 
 saw war was inevitable we took the side our conscience told us 
 was right; at Boonville we flung our first Southern banner to 
 the breeze upon the battlefield, and we can say without boast- 
 ing that from that day to this, it has never trailed in the dust; 
 from that day to this we have met our enemies in noble, honor- 
 able battle. Though future historians may never do us justice; 
 we feel proud of the part we have taken, and shall ever, 
 cherish the cause for which we fought. We must say that 
 we love the South. In her misfortunes we love her more, and 
 had it simply have been the North against the South, our flag 
 would have been waving as proudly to-day as at Manassas or 
 Arlington Heights. But our enemies brought their men from 
 the world's graneries, yea, even put our slaves against us, and 
 by overwhelming numbers compelled our submission. 
 
 We once numbered near eight thousand; to-day we could 
 not muster five hundred for duty. Where are thoge missing 
 sons of Missouri? Go ask the bloody battle-fields of Missouri, 
 Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee; their 
 bodies lie baried in the soldier's grave. The once honored and 
 glorious flag which we have borne so long, has been surrendered; 
 the bright and glorious star whose rising we hailed as the ris- 
 ing star of liberty has set in night, and we have been compelled 
 
TO THE PEOPLE OF MISSOURI. 229 
 
 to accept your terms of peace. Our homes must be with you. 
 Our fathers, our mothers, and all that we hold dear upon earth, 
 are there, and you necessarily compel us to be there. We asked 
 for separation; it was not granted. We, therefore, present our- 
 selves to-day acknowledging we have been beaten upon the bat- 
 tle-field. Our duty, in the future, shall be to submit calmly to 
 the powers that be. While there was hope for the South, we 
 fought as men who honestly differ with their fellow-men; now 
 that the war is over, we return to the homes of our fathers. 
 Shall we be received as citizens or shall we be rejected? We do 
 not get down upon our knees to beg your pardon, or implore 
 your reception of us. If you are men you would scorn such hu- 
 miliation. But we come as men with a clear conscience, be- 
 lieving we have fought for the right, but acknowledging your 
 triumph. 
 
 For our country, mid waste and suffering, we rejoice at the 
 beams of peace, but the eternal principle of right, we shall 
 never surrender; that principle no sword can destroy. 
 
 Loved ones, we shall be with you again in a few days, 
 where we hope we shall all work shoulder to shoulder for the 
 good of our now common country and have war no more. May 
 a day, bright and, prosperous, open up before us and our life be 
 strewn with the flowers of peace; the past be buried as the irre- 
 trievable past, and all hearts be united for the welfare of our 
 common people. Jambs Bradley, 
 
 Company K., 3rd and 5th Eegiment, First Brigade, Missouri 
 Infantry, C. S. A. 
 
 Some time after the close of the war, Mr. George Tracy and 
 Miss Ella Herbert were married; and since then have shared 
 life together, having around them a respectable family of chil- 
 dren. Capt. Grimes became a merchant in St. Louis; the de- 
 tective became an eflBcient, gospel minister, and the faithful 
 Sam still lives a near neighbor to his loved mistress and enjoys 
 telling of his adventures. 
 
Part Second 
 
 iiTa?i5oiDTTaTioisr 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE HOME 
 
 ITS ORIGIN AND OBJECTS 
 
 -BT- 
 
 Mes. ELIZABETH USTICK McKINNEY 
 
 Eiocs-ie-iZ^iFia: ir 
 
 AND AN EXPLANATORY INDEX TO ENGRAVINGS 
 
Introduction to Second Part. 
 
 In the foregoing pages, when the work was first under- 
 taken, it was the intention of the author to only give a history 
 of the two brigades, with an appendix, giving the names of all 
 the members of these brigades and a little sketch of the part 
 that each took in the great struggle. But upon examination of 
 the muster-roll it was found that such a list would, in itself, 
 make a large volume, and that of names and dates uninterest- 
 ing save to the individuals named. The cost it was thought 
 would be more than the worth of such a book. The idea, 
 therefore, of this appendix was abandoned. It was never the 
 design of the author to write the history of any particular men, 
 bat that of a, body of men. He wished it recognized that each 
 soldier of these two brigades was fit to command and, that the 
 name of one in that action that made them famous, should not 
 be placed above another. For this reason, the oflBcers are not 
 named only as it was necessary to designate the commands. 
 
 When the idea of the appendix was abandoned, it was sug- 
 gested that in place of it there be given a sketch of the origin 
 and objects of the Confederate Home at Higginsville, Mo., and 
 especially the part taken by the Daughters of the Confed- 
 eracy in its purchase and maintenance. Mrs. Elizabeth Ustick 
 McKinney was selected to do this and has done her part well. 
 
 That each Confederate soldier might feel that he was rep- 
 resented in the work and that it was no intention of the author 
 to disparage the courage of any loyal Confederate by giving the 
 history of these two brigades, it was designed to have an engrav- 
 ing of all the ofiicers of the Home. Of this there was not a 
 complete success, some seeming to have the false idea that it 
 was a species of vanity and a seeking of notoriety. The truth 
 is, that we should be glad to leave to the generations to come 
 some token of our lives, and feel that these friends will look 
 with gladness upon our faces when we are gone. It is simply 
 an act of kindness to others. 
 
234 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The author is thankful to those who have contributed and 
 only regrets that, owing to the great cost, which he feared the 
 undertaking would not justify, the field of illustrations could 
 not be enlarged. To those who have furnished their pictures 
 the author has given an explanatory index telling who they are 
 and the stations they have filled, and he feels that these will 
 all be appreciated by their friends and the people generally. 
 
 He has also given the picture of some of the noble women 
 of the Confederacy, and regrets that this field also could not be 
 enlarged. 
 
 No one can look upon that noble face, grand in old age, of 
 Mrs. McLure, the mother of the Daughters of the Confederacy, 
 and not feel proud to call such Mother. 
 
 The author of this work cannot close this account without 
 returning his thanks and heartfelt gratitude to those who have 
 so kindly encouraged him in the work and lent him a helping 
 hand. G. N. Ratliff has rendered substantial aid, and in in- 
 quiring after the old comrades. Mrs. E. U. McKinney in her 
 history has given invaluable service, and Miss Bell Morris has 
 been exceedingly kind in getting together the gallery of pic- 
 tures and a biographical sketch of many of the Daughters of the 
 Confederacy. And now the author will feel doubly grateful to 
 every friend who will help him in the introduction of the work 
 into every family and to all friends to whom he hopes and be- 
 lieves that it will not only be instructive, but prove a blessing. 
 
 The author feels that he can close this short address with no 
 better words than a little gem that speaks volumes of truth, and 
 that will find an answering "amen" in every Southern heart, 
 taken from the Confederate Veteran, published at Nashville, Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 Echoes of the South contains a pathetic story of a little 
 Southerner with his mother in a Brooklyn theater, when the 
 play was "Held by the Enemy." 
 
 During a brief intermission he asked: "What did the 
 Yankees fight for, mother?" 
 
 "For the Union, darling," was the answer. 
 
 Just then the curtain fell, and the orchestra struck up 
 "Marching through Georgia." An expression filled with pain- 
 ful memories, brought up by the air, swept over the sad face of 
 the mother. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND PART. 235 
 
 After a brief pause the little fellow asked: "What did the 
 Confederates fight for, mother?" 
 
 The second question was hardly asked before the music 
 changed, and the ever-thrilling strains of "Home, Sweet 
 Home" flooded thei house with its depth of untold melody and 
 pathos. 
 
 "Do you hear what they are playing?" she whispered. 
 "That is what the Confederates fought for, darling." 
 
 Then he asked quite eagerly: "Did they fight for their 
 homesf" 
 
 "Yes, dear, they fought for their homes." 
 
 Was it the touch of sorrow in the mother's voice? was it 
 the pathos of the soft, sweet notes of "Home, Sweet Home?" or 
 was it the intuition of right? No matter. The little boy looked 
 up at his mother with adoring eyes, burst into a flood of tears, 
 and, clasping his arms around her protectingly, sobbed out: 
 "0 mother, I will be a Confederate!" 
 
 The mother's tears mingled silently with those of her true- 
 hearted boy as she pressed him to her heart and repeated softly: 
 "Yes, they stood for home and honor; 
 Yes, they fought for freedom's name." 
 
 Ex-Confederate Home. 
 
 "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." 
 
 The ex-Confederate Home of Missouri, located at Higgins- 
 ville, in LaFayette county, erected in 1893, by the women of 
 Missouri, stands to-day, as an example of one of the proudest 
 victories of peace, and is an enduring monument to the prince- 
 ly generosity of this great commonwealth. 
 
 Every State in the Union (save Kentucky), which furnished 
 organized bodies of troops for the Confederate army, has estab- 
 lished a home, where her worn-out soldiers may spend their 
 declining years. Missouri alone bears the proud distinction of 
 having erected and' furnished a home for her old veterans sole- 
 ly by voluntary contribution, which speaks far more eloquently 
 than words, of the generosity of her people. All great enter- 
 
236 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 prises are born of great needs, and as the ex- Confederate soldier 
 in the prime and vigor of manhood, met his older and less for- 
 . tunate companion in arms, after years of separation, toil and 
 hardship, seeking to regain lost fortune, his quick, observant 
 eye and sympathetic heart knew that in a few more years his 
 comrade would be unable to care for himself and provide for 
 his dependent family; for the once proud and manly form was 
 now bowed with age, and the hand-clasp, once strong and cor- 
 dial, was growing feebler and more tremulous with every pass- 
 ing year; and he longed to do something for his old companion 
 in arms, to smooth his pathway as life's shadows lengthened. 
 Many of them were destined to find shelter in the Poor House, 
 at no distant day, unless otherwise cared for. The proud spirit 
 of every true Confederate soldier felt humiliated and saddened 
 at the thought of being cared for by public charity. 
 
 That friendship which is born amid the stormy scenes of 
 war and nurtured in the vicissitudes of the bivouac, is change- 
 less and deathless. 
 
 Years pass on, and memories flit and fade, or lie buried 
 under the great white tomb of the past, but time cannot oblit- 
 erate the sacred memories that live in patriot hearts, or cause to 
 burn less brightly the fires of friendship kindled on the tented 
 field, where men shared each other's blankets and divided 
 their scanty rations. The feeling of the ex-Confederate soldier 
 is touchingly expressed in a pathetic and beautiful poem, com- 
 posed for dedication day at the Home, by one of its inmates, 
 Captain Warner L. Briscoe, of the 13th Missouri Cavalry. It 
 fittingly bears the title — 
 
 "IN MEMOEIAM." 
 
 "We yield obedience to the statute laws 
 That govern this broad land to day; 
 We're loyal, yes, but we stUl love the cause 
 We fought for when we wore the gray. 
 We march e'en now (in dreams) to that old air 
 Called 'Dixie's Land,' and see the barred flag fly 
 'Bove battle's smoke, fringed with the blinding glare 
 Of sheeted flame that showed how brave men die. 
 Place immortelles above the unmasked graves 
 Of those who died for country, home and right, 
 Salute the flag that now no longer waves, 
 Then furl and fold it in your hearts from sight. 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 237 
 
 Farewell, 'Lost Cause,' now buried in the Past, 
 Prom which we turn with reverence away 
 To face the future, yet, while our lives last, 
 We'll never hlush for having worn the gray!" 
 
 When old comrades meet again in brotherly reunion, the 
 sound of reveille wakes again a martial spirit, and they talk 
 over their camp life, its joys and sorrows, sacrifices and hard- 
 ships, during the four long years of civil strife. As the white 
 wings of peace overshadow them, they sit once more about the 
 glowing camp fires, recalling reminiscences of other days. 
 Ever and anon, tears glisten in the eyes of sun-browned faces 
 as they recount thrilling and pathetic experiences of theii 
 soldier life. 
 
 There are tender memories which touch the heart, memo- 
 ries that are sacred, and we refer to them only when in the 
 presence of those whom we love best, as the fond mother takes 
 from its hidden place the golden tress of hair, or the dainty 
 garment worn by her dead darling, weeps over them silent 
 tears which bring sweet relief to the bereaved heart, then lays 
 them away tenderly between the leaves of her Bible; so the old 
 soldiers of the South, heroes of many battlefields, experience a 
 melancholy pleasure in recalling the sad memories of other 
 days, but this is no time for moralizing and brushing away the 
 gathering tears; he turns from the sorrowful past, to the busy, 
 practical present, and obeying the kind, philanthropic prompt- 
 ings of his generous nature, the desire to assist his fellow 
 soldier has materialized in a splendid ex-Confederate Home, 
 with attractive and beautiful surroundings. 
 
 The history of the origin of the Home is best told by Cap- 
 tain W. P. Barlow, of St. Louis, who has been identified with 
 its history since its very inception, having acted as Secretary 
 of the Confederate Home Association since it was organized. 
 In an article which appeared in the Rigginsville Leader, August 
 26, 1893, he says: 
 
 "It was something like ten years ago that prominent Con- 
 federate soldiers like Major John S. Mellon and Judge Thomas 
 A. Portis began talking about a soldiers' home. Finally, the 
 Southern Historical Society, of St. Louis, appointed a commit- 
 tee, in 1889, to secure a charter. This Committee secured the 
 charter and reported it to the annual reunion of Confederate 
 
238 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 soldiers at Higginsville in August of that year. The Historical 
 Society turned the charter over to the Ex-Confederate Assoeia - 
 tion of Missouri, whose oflBcers were elected to corresponding 
 positions in the Home Association. This Association has a 
 Vice-Presidant in each congressional district, and this consti- 
 tutes the Executive Committee of the Home. 
 
 "After working experimentally for one year, |10,000 were in 
 the treasury. It was then resolved at the Nevada reunion in 
 1890, to proceed at once and build the Home. By the following 
 February, some 118,000 were on hand, and bids for the location 
 were solicited. The offers were numerous. A committee of six 
 spent a week traveling over the State, examining the various 
 pieces of property offered. 
 
 "The committee separated without any one member know- 
 ing the choice of another. Two days later the committee met 
 in St. Louis and Higginsville was unanimously selected for the 
 location of the Home. This committee consisted of the follow- 
 ing members: James Bannerman, Harvey W. Salmon, F. P. 
 Bronough, A. G. Anderson, W. C. Bronough and W. P. Barlow. 
 The gentlemen who represented Higginsville, A. E. Asbury, M. 
 L. Belt and J. J. Fulkerson offered a donation of $5,500 to secure 
 the Home at this place. 
 
 "In March, 1891, the Home farm of 373 atres was purchased 
 of Grove Young for $18,600 cash. There were two nine-room 
 houses available. Contracts were immediately let for ten three- 
 room cottages, and other buildings were soon filled with desti- 
 tute soldiers and their families. 
 
 "Having thus made a start and shown the people of Mis- 
 souri that the Association really meant business, the first hard 
 work of raising money in large quantities began. Each Vice- 
 President canvassed his own district. Hon. Henry Newman 
 and Capt. W. P. Barlow made a running canvass of the State, 
 extending over fifteen months, speaking at nearly all of the 
 county seats, organizing county associations and in every way 
 arousing enthusiasm in this long deferred charity. 
 
 "The liberality of the people of this grand old State was 
 manifested by cash contributions of over 170,000 in less than 
 three years." 
 
 About this Home, the patriotic Southern women of Mis- 
 souri, learning the purpose and plans of the Confederate Asso- 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 239 
 
 ciation, to establish a home for worn-out and helpless soldiers, 
 became deeply interested in the work, and desired to lend a 
 helping hand to the cause which had so long lain very near 
 their hearts. With an enthusiasm born of devotion to South- 
 ern principles, they began raising funds in various parts of the 
 State, by giving dinners, ice-cream socials, etc., to swell the 
 fund for the purchase of a home 
 
 Mrs. Abner C. Cassidy, of St. Louis, a lady of wealth, 
 influence and much financial ability, has the honor of origina- 
 ting the organization known as "Daughteks of the Confed- 
 eracy." She gave liberally of her means and time to the cause 
 and did much toward making a success of the Society in St. 
 Louis. 
 
 With regard to the origin of this patriotic band of Southern 
 women, I quote from the first annual report of Mrs. E. R. Gam- 
 ble, Secretary of the Daughters of the Confederacy of St. Louis, 
 submitted in February, 1892. She says: 
 
 "One year ago, Mrs. A. C. Cassidy conceived the idea that 
 the ladies of St. Louis could and would, if given the opportu- 
 nity, contribute their mites in aid of the Confederate Home of 
 Missouri. Her first step was to select a fitting name; the next 
 to find a President to fit the name, and whom the women of 
 the city would delight to follow. Both selections were happy. 
 The name "Daughters of the Confederacy" appealed at once to 
 all who had suffered for that cause for which so many heroic 
 loved ones had laid down their lives, and the venerable Mrs. 
 M. A. E. McLure, then eighty years of age, was requested to 
 accept the leadership. Upon the promise that she would be 
 relieved from the hard work as much as possible, Mrs. McLure 
 cheerfully consented to serve, and a meeting was called at the 
 parlors of the Southern Hotel, on January 27, 1891. Ninety. 
 seven ladies responded to this call. The meeting was called to 
 order by Mrs. A. C. Cassidy, and Mrs. Minor Merriwether was 
 elected Temporary Chairman, with Mrs. E. K. Walker, Tem- 
 porary Secretary. After the objects of the meeting were ex- 
 plained, the following ofllcers were elected to serve for one year: 
 
 "President— M.TB. M. A. E. McLure. 
 
 "First Vice-President— Mrs. A. C. Cafesidy. 
 
 "Second Vice-President— Mtb. Randolph R. Hutchinson. 
 
 "Third Vice-President— Mjb. T. H. West. 
 
240 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 '^Fourth Vice-President — Mrs. Leroy B. Valliant. 
 
 "Fifth Vice-President— M.ra. Thos. J. Portis; 
 
 "Sixth Vice-President— M.ra. Jas. Bannerman. 
 
 "Treasurei — Mrs. Jno. D. Winn. 
 
 "Recording Secretary— Miss lola Harwood. 
 
 "Corresponding Secretary — Mrs. A. C. Robinson. 
 
 "Upon the resignation of Miss Harwood, Mrs. E. R. Gam- 
 ble was elected Recording Secretary. 
 
 "Another plan, from the fertile brain of Mrs. Cassidy, was 
 the sale of tickets, each representing a "brick ia the Confeder- 
 ate Home," costing ten cents. This simple device has pro- 
 duced in this city alone, so far, $1,048 and 1322.80 from the 
 country, making a total of $1,370.80, with many reports yet to 
 come in. In appended list of auxiliary societies will be found 
 credits for brick funds remitted. 
 
 "Much encouraged by these successes, it was then deter- 
 mined to give a grand ball on Thanksgiving Eve, and in this 
 we were again gratified by an unexpected triumph, the ball 
 being in a social sense, the fiaest ever seen in St. Louis. The 
 net proceeds amounted to $4,351.46. A similar ball will prob- 
 ably be given annually. 
 
 "At this time the cottages at the Home were completed, 
 and we assumed the duty of furnishing four of them, which 
 was done at a net cash cost of $395.05 -aided by liberal dona- 
 tions from various business houses whose names are given 
 below. We also expended $255 88 for furniture for the main 
 building, making a total of $650 93 expended from the proceeds 
 of our Strawberry Festival. For this we were given the privi- 
 lege of naming the four cottages, and they were designated in 
 honor of the memory of Generals John S. Bowen, W. Y. Slack, 
 M. M. Parsons and Henry Little. The sum of $397.10 was sent 
 to us by the Ladies' Auxiliary Societies of Edina, LaGrange, 
 Lewiston, Newark and Monticello; and from this fund $108 was 
 used in furnishing a fifth cottage, which was named by the 
 ladies of Knox county in honor of General Martin E. Green." 
 
 During the year societies were organized in twenty-six 
 towns and counties of Missouri, and many of these became 
 auxiliary to St. Louis, others, preferring to work independently, 
 turned their funds over to the Confederate Association, while a 
 few of the societies paid for the' erection of cottages, with the 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 241 
 
 privilege of naming them. For these cottages 1500.00 was 
 paid into the treasury of the Association. 
 
 After the cottages were occupied, it soon became apparent 
 that these, with the two houses already on the farm, when pur- 
 chased, were inadequate to accommodate the old veterans who 
 sought admission to the Home; besides, the expense of keeping 
 up BO many individual homes, was much greater than keeping 
 the same number in a larger building. Many old soldiers had 
 to be turned away until accommodations could be provided, 
 hence, it was determined to proceed at once to erect a main 
 building. 
 
 The success of the women of Missouri in raising funds was 
 phenomenal, and a strong desire was felt by many to pledge 
 the amount necessary for this work. Quoting again from 
 Mrs. Gamble's report of the first year's work, she says: 
 
 "Our treasurer's report shows $11,618.06, being over one- 
 third of this sum, now in bank, and we have unofficial reports 
 of $4,339 in the hands of Ladies' Societies not auxiliary to our 
 own, which swells the total of women's work in Missouri to 
 $15,957.61. Reports from those societies not auxiliary to ours 
 have been collected by the Secretary of the Confederate Home. 
 A sufficient number of auxiliaries have now joined with us to 
 make it probable that the women can alone pay for the main 
 building, and this we are resolved to do, leaving the endow- 
 ment fund to be raised by the men." 
 
 Captain Barlow, in alluding to the promise made by the 
 Daughters of the Confederacy in his report says: 
 
 "Upon their guarantee that they would pay for this build- 
 ing, contracts were let last fall for a building to cost, with fix- 
 tures complete, |24,000, which amount is the aggregate D. O. 0. 
 contribution. The gas, engine and fixtures, with the furniture 
 and general outfit, cost some $4,200 more, the payment of which 
 was assumed by the D. O. C, thus giving them the proud sat- 
 isfaction of paying for everything connected with the main 
 building." 
 
 Thus the work moved grandly on, and many societies 
 which had hitherto worked independently, now became auxil- 
 iary to St. Louis, the parent society. Although many organi- 
 zations were small, and worked under many disadvantages, yet 
 an enthusiasm and zeal characterized their efi'orts, and the 
 result far exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine, 
 
242 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The thoughtful and far-seeing mind of Major James Ban- 
 nerman, President of the Confederate Home Association, who 
 has labored with faithful heart and tireless hand for the inter- 
 est of the Home, conceived the idea of calling upon every 
 school district in the State to contribute |10 to the Home, and 
 by April 6, 1892, a circular letter was in the hands of the 
 county clerks all over the State, who, regardless of party affil- 
 iation, responded promptly to the call, giving their work freely 
 and gratuitously for the cause. The amount realized from this 
 source aggregated to |13,000. 
 
 It is but just to m.ention the generosity which has charac- 
 terized many persons whose sympathies during the Civil War 
 were with the Union army, and many who were in the army 
 have contributed without solicitation. Several G. A. E. Posts 
 in the State have also given liberally to the Confederate Home. 
 
 These kind offerings, given voluntarily, have done much to 
 establish a fraternal feeling between the old soldiers of the 
 two armies, and unite them in bonds of enduring friendship. 
 
 Prominent business firms and individuals in St. Louis, 
 Kansas City and various portions of the State, responded no- 
 bly to the call for donations and cash contributions. Thus, the 
 ladies have been encouraged and assisted in their undertaking 
 since their organization, by princely gifts from generous hearts, 
 until on the 9th day of June, 1893, they were enabled to pre- 
 sent to the Confederate Home Association, the main building 
 complete in every part. The formal presentation took place 
 with very imposing ceremonies, witnessed by many hundred 
 people from Lafayette and adjacent counties, and was partici- 
 pated in by prominent citizens from all over the State. 
 
 Many a heart thrilled with pride, and many a face beamed 
 with joy, while tears of gratitude fell from eyes unused to weep 
 as Eev. P. G. Roberts, of St. Louis, in an eloquent address on be- 
 half of the "Daughters of the Confederacy," formally presented 
 the handsome structure to the Confederate Home Association. 
 Major Bannerman, president of the Association, responded in 
 appropriate words. A large delegation of members of the 
 Daughters of the Confederacy were present to witness this 
 fitting culmination of their faithful and arduous labors. 
 
 Among the number, none wore a brighter smile than the 
 venerable Mrs. M. A. E. McLure, president of the Daughters of 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 243 
 
 the Confederacy, who, although eighty-two years of age, had 
 come from St. Loais to be present on this occasion. Her faith- 
 ful labors and unflagging interest in this noble cause has been 
 an inspiration, not only to the Southern women of St. Louis, 
 but all over the State. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE HOME. 
 
 Upon the summit of a gently rising knoll, two miles north- 
 west of the progressive and beautiful town of Higginsville, near 
 the center of Lafayette county, stands the Confederate Home. 
 It is a twostory brick, built in the Colonial style of architec- 
 ture so frequently met with throughout the Southern States. 
 Spacious porches and broad sweeping verandas are striking 
 features of the exterior. It is constructed in the form of a double 
 L, which forms an open court in the rear of the building. 
 There are general apartments for 120 inmates, and separate 
 . rooms for the accommodation of forty more. The outside 
 trimmings are of stone, and it is covered with a slate roof. The 
 interior is handsomely finished in hard wood. The building 
 throughout is lighted by gas and heated with steam. The main 
 building fronts the east, and has a broad veranda two stories 
 high extending the entire length. On entering the spacious 
 hallway and turning to the right, one enters the office. This 
 is a memorial room, in honor of Gen. John S. Marmaduke and 
 Capt. William Parkinson McLure, a son of the honored presi- 
 dent of the St. Louis Society. Life-sized portraits of these 
 adorn the walls, and also a picture of Mrs. McLure, presented 
 by the St. Louis ladies, by whom this room is elegantly fur- 
 nished. The clock which is the gift of Mrs. McLure, to whom 
 the Home is indebted for much of the elegance of its furnishing, 
 is said to be the handsomest in the State. The parlor is also 
 a memorial room, in memory of ex-Governor Claiborne F. Jack- 
 son, and was furnished by the ladies of Hannibal and Marshall, 
 at which places Mrs. C. L. Lamb and Mrs. Anna B. Perkins, 
 daughters of the dead Governor, reside. Neither pains nor 
 money have been spared to furnish the building elaborately 
 throughout. 
 
 Mr. J. B. Legge, a prominent architect of St. Louis, with 
 that spirit of liberality which characterizes noble natures, do- 
 mated the plan of the building, in honor of his wife who is a 
 piember of the St. Louis Daughters of the Confederacy, 
 
244 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 The cottages are arranged on either side of the street or 
 avenue, and the lots have a frontage 100x200 feet deep. To 
 avoid any invidious distinctions, they are built after the same 
 model, and have a back and front porch, and three rooms. Each 
 cottage has a nice grass-plot and room for flowers in the front 
 door-yard, while back is a fertile garden spot so that every one 
 can raise his own vegetables. Beside the cottages built by the 
 State organization, the following countries have paid for cot- 
 tages through the ladies of the D. O. O.: "Soldiers of Jackson 
 county," by the Independence D. O. C, "Benjamin A. Rivers," 
 Ray county D. 0. 0-; "John B. Clark, Sr.," Randolph county 
 T>. O. 0. There are also two unnamed cottages, one of which is 
 built by "Camp Holloran" of Independence, and will be named 
 by that camp. At the south end of the street or avenue, stands 
 a neat frame chapel built by the ladies of Lafayette county, at 
 cost of $1,200, where preaching service is regularly held. Men 
 of families occupy the cottages, and enjoy the quiet retirement 
 of domestic life, just as though they were in their individual 
 homes. Children over fourteen years of age are not permitted 
 to enter as they are old enough to earn a livelihood. Those of 
 school age are sent to school. Since the establishment of the 
 Home, 194 persons have been admitted. The oflBcers of the 
 Confederate Home Association are: 
 
 President, James Bannerman, St. Louis. 
 
 Vice-President, Harry W. Salmon, Clinton. 
 
 Treasurer, H. A. Ricketts, Mexico. 
 
 Secretary, W. P. Barlow, 3849 Cook avenue, St. Louis. 
 
 Superintendent, T. W. Cassell. 
 
 Surgeon, J. J. Fulkersou, M. D. 
 
 supervising committee, 
 genebal: 
 
 H. W. Salmon, Thos. P. Hoy, Blake L. Woodson. 
 local: 
 
 A. E. Asbury, Chairman. A. Wade, M. L. Belt. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 1st District, K. F. Peddicord, Palmyra. 
 
 2nd " F. L. Pitts, Paris. 
 
 3rd " A. C. Cook, Plattsburg. 
 
 4th " Elijah Gates, St. Joseph. 
 
 5th " Blake L. Woodson, Kansas City. 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 216 
 
 6th " - W. 0. Bronaugh, Lewis Station. 
 
 7th " Thos. P. Hoy, Sedalia. 
 
 8th " Robt. A. McCiilloch, Pisgah. 
 
 9th " W. H. Kennan, Mexico. 
 
 10th " . Henry Guibor, St. Louis. 
 
 11th " " W. C. Green, M. D., St. Louis. 
 
 12th " Frank Gaiennie, St. Louis. 
 
 13th " Edmond Casey, Potosi. 
 
 14th " O. H. P. Catron, West Plains. 
 
 15th " C. T. Davis, Nevada. 
 
 The surrounding country about Higginsville is in a high 
 state of cultivation and a view, from any direction, presents a 
 beautiful picture, diversified with hill and dale, prairie and 
 woodland, where the old soldier of the Confederacy may feast 
 his eyes upon the restful scene, and enjoy the rural beauty of 
 his peaceful home, without a care. Nature has been lavish of 
 her gifts in this productive country, and under the skillful 
 hands of M. L. Belt, past superintendent, who had all the hard 
 initiatory work, and T. W. Cassell, the present superintendent, 
 art is still bestowing additional charms to this beautiful home. 
 The yard is enclosed with a neat picket fence, and in front of 
 the main building, a Macadam driveway 435 feet long, has been 
 constructed. Fruit and ornamental shade trees, have been 
 planted and the grounds otherwise beautified by landscape gar- 
 dening. The old farm house has been converted into a hospi- 
 tal, and the farm well stocked, and everything is being done 
 with an eye to economy and comfort in the maintainance of the 
 home, hoping in time to make it self-supporting, or as nearly 
 so as practicable. 
 
 The D. O. C. of Higginsville, are doing a noble work for 
 the Home. Their committees visit it twice each month, for 
 the purpose of issuing necessary stores, visiting and caring for 
 the sick, and taking a general supervision of the needs of the 
 various households. There is now a plan projected to uniform 
 the men, which will doubtless prove successful, as Kansas City 
 and St. Louis have both entered heartily into the work, and no 
 doubt, every old veteran will be comfortably clad in a neat 
 suit of gray before the year closes. Several other auxiliaries 
 will assist in the work Kansas City has worked independent- 
 ly, and has accomplished much, but as her funds have not 
 
246 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CAF5RIER. 
 
 passed through our treasurer's hands, we do not know the 
 exact amount realized. On last Christmas this society pre- 
 sented the Home with a handsome piano, costing a thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 We must not close this brief sketch without a passing 
 tribute to the dead. About 300 yards west of the main build- 
 ing, beneath the shade of forest trees, are fifteen grassy 
 
 mounds. 
 
 "Step lightly near this sacred spot, 
 
 And move ^ith solemn tread, 
 For this is consecrated soil, 
 
 Where sleep our honored dead! 
 The sunlight shimmers through the boughs 
 
 Of shadowy forest trees, 
 Nature weeps here, her silent tears, 
 
 A requiem sighs the breeze, 
 When the tall grasses gently wave. 
 
 The wild flower lifts its head. 
 As if its tribute sweet, to bring 
 
 To our Confederate dead, " 
 
 Who sleep the sleep that knows no waking, "Under the sod 
 and the dew, awaiting the judgment day." Once a year kind 
 hands scatter fresh, fair flowers over the graves of these 
 departed heroes, 
 
 "But the ranks are growing thinner 
 With the coming of each May, 
 And the beards and locks once raven. 
 
 Now are silvered o'er with gray; 
 Soon tbe hands that strew the flowers 
 
 Will be folded, still and cold. 
 And our story of devotion 
 WUl forever have been told." 
 
THE FIRST EFFECTIVE WORK FOR THE 
 HOME. 
 
 The first real eflfective work for the establishment of the 
 Confederate Home took place at the Eighth Annual Eeunion 
 of the Ex-Confederate Association of Missouri, held at Nevada, 
 on August the 21st and 22nd, 1890. Showing the will and 
 determination of the people, one year from that time the Home 
 had been located; the ground purchased, and the institution 
 was a fixed fact. 
 
 I quote from the Secretary's report of the reunion at 
 Nevada, Mo., in 1890, the eloquent appeal of Hon. W. H. Ken- 
 nan, of Mexico, Mo., in behalf of the Home. And how well it 
 was received and how hearty the response, is told in the work 
 of the year that followed. 
 
 Following the appeal of Mr. Kennan, is the address of 
 Judge David DeArmond, showing the spirit of patriotism and 
 manly fortitude of the Confederate veteran 
 
 SPEECH OP W. H. KENNAN. 
 
 Comrades: I scarcely know in what terms to address you. 
 I came here without any anticipation or expectation of making 
 a speech in behalf of the ex-Confederate Home of Missouri. If 
 I should not know, gracefully, how to make acknowledgments 
 to you for this honor you have conferred upon me by asking me 
 to address you on this most important matter, I trust you will 
 take the assurance of a plain and unassuming native Missou- 
 rian and ex-Confederate soldier, that I thank you from the 
 bottom of my heart for this manifestation of your respect for 
 
 me. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to look into this multitude of 
 intelligent upturned faces— the faces of soldiers who, as sol- 
 
 247 
 
248 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 diers, were as brave and as enduring as the columns led by 
 Napoleon into the sunny, flowery land of Italy, who never 
 there suflfered defeat, and as gallant and true as the army led 
 by the same invincible dashing spirit over and across the bleak 
 and barren, mountains of Russia into Moscow, whom only flre 
 and the turbulent elements could subdue. 
 
 Since your surrender you have, in the civil pursuits of life, 
 exhibited that same aggressive spirit which, perceptibly, char- 
 acterized you, and made you the acknowledged best and truest 
 soldiers of your age. 
 
 The Grod of Nature, aided by your indomitable energy, 
 skill and perseverance, has blessed the greater portion of you 
 with a goodly portion of this world's goods. Unfortunately, 
 there is a small portion of our number who, by disease, accident 
 and other causes, are unable to care for themselves. Our Ijet- 
 ter natures call upon us in tones to which we cannot turn a 
 deaf ear. It is our bounden duty as true ex-soldiers, citizens 
 and Christians, to give cheerfully and uncomplainingly a 
 moiety of this world's goods, with which God, in His infinite 
 mercy, has blessed us, and use all of our best energies and per- 
 suasions to cause others to give bountifully, in order to estab- 
 lish and maintain a Home for the unfortunate and disabled 
 portion of our comrades. I make this appeal to you as an ex- 
 private Confederate soldier; one who stood shoulder to shoulder 
 with you, and carried his musket at "right shoulder shift" and 
 took the "route step" with you, poorly clad and still poorer 
 fed, on the long, weary and fatiguing march, and paced on the 
 sentinel beat with you beneath the "keen full moon" and the 
 bright and shining stars of heaven, when naught could be 
 heard save the quiet, deep-breathing sound of the tired soldier 
 as he lay dreaming of home and battles fought, and the hourly 
 outcry of "All is well" from neighboring posts. 
 
 The question is: Will you respond to this appeal? Will 
 you go home and organize ex-Confederate County Associations 
 in your various counties and appeal to the good people of your 
 several localities in this populous, rich and fertile State and 
 ask them to aid you in this highly laudable and charitable 
 cause? All who will agree to this will please hold up their 
 hands. [Then the speaker paused, and a great number of 
 hands went up with a cheer, signifying that they would faith- 
 fully carry out the request of the speaker.] 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 249 
 
 You, as tried and true soldierB, know that you never began 
 to win victories until you were thoroughly organized and 
 officered; so it is in this very important matter to these poor 
 unfortunates of our number, in soliciting and collecting for the 
 Confederate Home. You can accomplish practically nothing 
 for the Home until you organize. Organize — with a president 
 of your County Association and a Vice-President in every 
 township in your counties; make permanent organizations, and 
 at the head of them place thorough-going, active business men. 
 Do this, and the Confederate Soldiers' Home of Missouri will 
 not be a thing talked of, but will be an existing monument of 
 the humane generosity of the great people of the great State of 
 Missouri, and a permanent home beckoning to the unfortunate 
 of our comrades to come within its walls and under its roof to 
 find a warm reception and succor in their declining days, dur- 
 ing the remainder of their years. [Applause.] 
 
 My comrades, it is merciful to be charitable and to give 
 
 cheerfully of what God has blessed you with. "Mercy is not 
 
 strained; it droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven upon the 
 
 place beneath. It is twice blessed — it blesseth him that gives 
 
 -and him that takes." 
 
 "Cast thy bread upon the waters — 
 Out upon the waves alone; 
 You will find it drifted to thee 
 Alter many years have flown." 
 
 Then let us all be "up and doing" in this, the greatest and 
 grandest of our undertakings. Let us as soldiers continue the 
 battle of life in doing this good, with all the other good we may 
 
 do in this world. 
 
 "Do all the good you can, 
 To all the people you can. 
 In all the ways you can, 
 Just as long as you can." 
 Let us subdue and control our worst passions and cultivate 
 to the highest our better, and help to control, by word and 
 example, the evil passions of others. To accomplish this will 
 be greater than any victory we ever won on the blood-stained 
 field of battle. 
 
 Having done this and accepted with simple child-like faith 
 a risen Redeemer, together with the precious promises con- 
 tained in the Holy Writ, we can then have the pleasing assur- 
 
250 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 ance that there is a Home for all in the great beyond, "not 
 made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Then 
 
 'So live, so act that every hour 
 
 May die as dies the maternal flower; 
 
 A self-reviving thing of power; 
 
 That every word and every deed 
 
 May bear within itself the seed 
 
 Of iuture good in future need." 
 [Loud applause and waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies.] 
 
 JUDGE DeARMOND'S SPEECH. 
 
 Judge David A. DeArmond was called upon to speak, and 
 in the course of his remarks said: 
 
 This scene and these surroundings carry me back in 
 memory to the stormy days of '61. Beyond these grizzled vet- 
 erans I see the chivalrous youth of the Southland, rushing to, 
 the front in response to the bugle's earliest blast, and I see 
 Southern matron and maid, with more than Spartan fortitude 
 cheer them on. 
 
 I flee the citizen soldiers in grey in the first scenes of the 
 awful drama, fighting in the hope and confidence of victory. 
 
 Later, when the mighty North, out of her vast resources, 
 had poured her wealth of men to bear down the Confederates 
 by weight of numbers, I again behold the devoted soldiers of 
 the South fighting with less hope but with matchless daring 
 and endurance. 
 
 And later still, when only the light of despair shone in the 
 hollow eyes of the wasted men in grey tatters, I see the 
 unequal struggle still going on — the pride and heroism of the 
 Confederate even more conspicuous than in better days. 
 
 And when the end came and the cruel war was over, be- 
 hold the soldier of the Lost Cause, poor, hungry, almost 
 naked, dropping back in the gloom of defeat to the spot where 
 his home once was. Flower-wreathed banners did not float 
 over him as over the conqueror in blue. His way was not car- 
 peted with flowers. No sweet strains of music were wafted to 
 his ears. Instead of passing proudly under triumphal arches, 
 the way of the defeated Confederate was through somber woods 
 and across devastated plantations. Over the old homestead 
 had swept the scourge of war, if not, indeed, the full tide of 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 261 
 
 battle. Friends were in lonely graves on the battle fields. 
 Other friends, broken and maimed, were to be nursed and sup- 
 ported without governmental aid. Hearthstones were buried 
 in the ashes of once stately mansions. Over the sweet flower 
 gardens, where women and children had laughed and sung, the 
 briers grew and the rank weeds nodded. 
 
 Amid these scenes of desolation the lot of the Confederate 
 veteran was cast. Eich was the harvest of glory which he 
 reaped in the field of battle, but his victory in the peace which 
 followed the surrender at Appomattox was grander than man 
 ever won in warfare. The civilization of the century is elevated 
 in the grandeur of his superb life. 
 
 In the world of business, in the social circle, in education, 
 charity and religion, his influence and energy have been on the 
 right side. Of the Government he has asked no favors, but he 
 has demanded and is still demanding, for himself and for all 
 his countrymen, the protection of just laws, impartially and 
 economically administered. He cannot be content with lesEJ 
 and remain a good citizen. 
 
 With pleasure I see these Federal soldiers — your foemen 
 once, your friends now — joyously commingled with you in this 
 great reunion. 
 
 There is something touching in the kinship of gallant 
 spirits. In the fight hero may grapple with hero, but when 
 the smoke lifts and the conflict is past, the survivors are breth- 
 ren, and each has a share in the common stock of glory. 
 
 It is pleasant to note the pride and tenderness of the 
 veteran as he hails a revered leader. And all must rejoice that 
 here are to be seen such leaders as Shelby, Bledsoe, Barlow, 
 Gruibor and others. 
 
 Long live our heroes, whether of the Blue or the Grey, who 
 - glorified the American name in war and ennobled the Ameri- 
 can nation in peace. They inspire us by their devotion and 
 guide us by their experience and example. 
 
 And as countrymen let us never forget that while Grant 
 and Thomas were of the Federal army and Lee and Jackson 
 were Confederates, yet all were Americans — the North and the 
 South are united in the glories of war and in the triumph of 
 peace. 
 
 This little gem of a speech was listened to with Wrapped 
 attention, and loudly cheered at the conclusion. 
 
2S2 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 I give the address of Mr. Bannerman, the President of the 
 Association, not only for its value as an oflScial document, but 
 for its intrinsic merit as giving the facts of history that should 
 be preserved for the children of future ages. 
 
 MR. BANNERMAN'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Comrades, members of the Missouri State Confederate Associa- 
 tion, Ladies and Qenllemen: Ten years ago, when time had 
 softened the asperities engendered by five years of the bloodiest 
 Civil War in the history of nations, and true men who wore 
 the grey could get together and discuss these troublous times 
 calmly, your Association was formed. It had not to insure its 
 success the prestige of a victory won, or the probability of in- 
 definite pecuniary reward for duty voluntarily undertaken and 
 presumably cheerfully performed. We met our comrades in 
 arms to renew in the midst of smiling peace and plenty recol- 
 lections of those dark hours spent together. When I look 
 around upon yonr smiling, well-fed faces, I feel like asking, do 
 you remember the times when you went three years without 
 coffee? You boys from the First Missouri can recall the first 
 time in three and a half years that you tasted Lincoln Green, 
 and there were only thirteen grains each for you. When you 
 drank it weak and black without sugar the next morning you 
 thought it was nectar, didn't you? If some of the good wives I 
 see around me should overlook the cream and sugar some 
 morning, the chances are the neighbors would think that the 
 war had broken out again. 
 
 The first reunion was held at Moberly, and on that occasion 
 among the honored guests of the day were Gen. Jo. Shelby and 
 Col. Thomas T. Crittenden. This was not the first time that 
 they had met, however. Crittenden, a Union soldier, addressed 
 you that day; your votes made him Governor. That was the 
 largest reunion of the eight you have held. This was natural, 
 as it was the first, and comrades met for the first time in 
 fifteen years. 
 
 The gatherings at Jefferson City, Sedalia, Mexico, Higgins- 
 ville, Clarksville and Marshall held since, have served each 
 year to bring together the old guards, friendship formed 
 under such circumstances as were ours, are not lightly forgot- 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 253 
 
 ten. Year after year hand meets hand in warm and honest 
 embrace beneath the flag we would to-day die to defend from 
 a foreign foe, and a heart-felt salute meets the few, the very 
 few of our gallant old leaders that are still spared. But the 
 memory of Price, Parsons and Marmaduke of that grand army 
 of soldiers who were gentlemen and gentlemen who were 
 soldiers, still lives with us. 
 
 Your own ranks are thinning, and each year we miss the 
 kindly faces of those dear old "boys" who survived the tempest 
 of battle, the fever-tainted terrors of the Southern swamp and 
 bayou, and the horrors of military prison. Happy were they 
 to die surrounded by their children; loyal citizens of the great- 
 est country on the globe, followed to their last resting place by 
 mourning friends, happier their lot than that of those who 
 filled unmarked graves on the gory battle fields of the South 
 land. We are getting old, and our ranks grow thinner each 
 year; we have no subsidiary organization to keep our existence 
 in memory. We meet as friends, who suflfered together, and 
 together give our thanks for the blessings of the peace we now 
 enjoy. 
 
 It was my purpose to briefly review the achievements of 
 Missouri troops in the war, but before I proceed farther I want 
 to say a word in explanation of my remarks about the horrors 
 of military prisons. In a neighboring city there is an institu- 
 tion moved from Richmond, Va., brick by brick, which is 
 exhibited to visitors much as are the torture chambers of the 
 Inquisition in the Old World. I mean Libby Prison. There 
 was another prison in the South, and it was called Anderson- 
 ville. The man with the, bronze button, who served so gal- 
 lantly in the quartermaster service, waxes eloquent whenever 
 he hears of Andersonville, and the man who draws a pension 
 for a chivairic diarrhoea or valorous piles, has not words to 
 express his horror. 
 
 Some of you "boys" out there knew something about Ship 
 Island and Johnson Island. Now, I do not wish to stir up any 
 harsh feelings at this late day, but in the interest of truth I 
 want to sa}' that the least said on either side about this prison 
 life the better. 
 
 From the official figures prepared by the United States Pen- 
 sion Bureau and published in every reputable political almanac, 
 
254 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 I find that the number of United States troops who died while 
 prisoners was 29,724, and the Confedrate troops who died while 
 prisoners was 26,778, and this leads me to remark that the im- 
 partial history of the war that is to be written will, despite the 
 best efforts of the government, be rather one-sided unless our 
 people come to the aid of the bureau liaving in charge the an- 
 nals of the rebellion with all the information of a statistical 
 line at hand. So far as the Union army is concerned they have 
 figures at hand. In the table furnished by the United States 
 Pension Office I find figures that are misleading. 
 
 The grand total of Union soldiers killed in battle, died of 
 wounds and died of disease is given as 279,376, but the figures 
 of the losses to the Confederate array are given simply on the 
 number of soldiers died from wounds and disease as 133,281. 
 This must be exclusive of killed in battles. A friend of mine 
 who was looking over these figures suddenly seized a pencil and 
 figured for a moment and exclaimed: "Can it be possible that 
 we chanced them two to one?" If I was not very careful to 
 avoid saying anything that might be construed as out of order, 
 I would say that a glance at the pension roll to-day looks as 
 though we chanced them a little the rise of two to one. 
 
 But I won't say any more about that. The chances are that 
 if we had got there we would have taken care of our own. 
 
 The history of Missouri in the Confederacy has not been 
 fully written as yet. My friend, Col. Tom Snead, has in his 
 books, and his splendid articles in The Century, told most of 
 the story. And Missouri's gifted son, John Edwards (God bless 
 his memory), has surrounded the efforts of Shelby and his men 
 with all the glory his magic pen could impart. My friend, 
 Capt. Joe Boyce, has written the history of the First Missouri, 
 Bowen's old regiment, the marvel of discipline, the pride of the 
 Confederacy, a regiment that loaded and fired by number at 
 Shiloh while under a heavy fire, a regiment that went into the 
 service with 1,400 men and surrendered less than 150. In away 
 the Southern Historical and Benevolent Association is helping 
 out this work, but the papers submitted are all of a personal 
 and reminiscent nature, without special historical value. What 
 I want is the records of Missouri's troops followed from Wilson's 
 Creek to the surrender, battle by battle, on bpth sides of the 
 river. 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 255 
 
 The war in Missouri began at Wilson's Creek. Boon- 
 ville, Carthage, and Lexington were skirmishes, bloody 
 and important. I would commence when Price took hold 
 at Springfield with Eains and Clark, Weightman and 
 Kelly as able allies. This battle of Wilson's Creek was 
 the first battle of the war fought west of the Missis- 
 sippi, and for the number of men engaged, it was the 
 bloodiest. With 5,521 Missouri troops engaged we lost 175 
 killed, and 557 wounded — a total of 732. I doubt if there was a 
 bloodier battle than that, unless it be franklin, Tenn., where 
 Hood threw 12,000 Confederate troops against the fortifications 
 andlost6,800 of them in twenty minutes. Here the First Mis- 
 souri was slaughtered. I asked an old veteran of Wilson's 
 Creek one day how they came to fight so hard, and he replied: 
 "I guess because we were so green." But that I hardly admit. 
 Parson's brigade was not green at Pleasant Hill, and through- 
 out the war Missouri men on both sides of the river were at the 
 fore of the battle, for out of 13,000 that left the State, I doubt if 
 5,000 ever got back. 
 
 The total Confederate loss at Wilson's Creek was 279 killed 
 and 951 wounded, the full force being 10,000men. 
 
 The Federals had 268 killed and 873 wounded. That was 
 your baptism. Next, on August 25th, came Lexington, where 
 you lost 25 killed and 72 wounded, but killed 37 and wounded 
 120 of your opponents. Pea Ridge next claimed 203 killed and 
 980 wounded. And among the latter was "Old Pap" himself, 
 this being his second injury. Here Gen. W. Y. Slack and Col. 
 B. A. Rivers were killed. In the meanwhile the battle of Shi- 
 lohand Bowen's Missouriana boreoflf 98 killed and 490 wound- 
 ed. Out of a total of 1,728 killed, Missouri gave up 98. I must 
 hurry on to the retreat from Van Buren to Little Rock, during 
 which occurred the battle of Prairie Grove, where we lost 1,251 
 men in killed and wounded. On July 4, 1863, as the Federals 
 were marching into Vicksburg, we made a foolish, futile assault 
 on Helena. Under Price, Parsons, Fagan and Marmaduke were 
 7 646 men, and they were repulsed with a loss of 173 killed and 
 687 wounded. 
 
 Then on the retreat and the operations around Little Rock, 
 67 Missourians were killed, although Steele, the Federal com- 
 mander reported a loss of 137 men. All the Transmississippi 
 
256 THE CON-FEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 victories of tlie Federal troops were dearly bought. After Little 
 Eock came the terrible two days' fighting at Pleasant Hill in 
 the Eed Elver campaign. We lost 3,976 men in that dearly 
 bought victory. Parson's brigade went into Pleasant Hill with 
 2,200 muskets, and 200 more Missourians bit the dust. 
 
 There is no accurate record of the losses sustained by Gen. 
 Price in what some historians have been pleased to call "Price's 
 Missouri raid." It was not a raid. It was an invasion of a 
 State in the hands of an enemy. The battle of Pilot Knob was 
 one of the most important engagements of the war, as upon its 
 issue depended the fate of St. Louis and its vast supply of mu- 
 nition and treasure. Gen. Price wrote himself of that "raid": 
 "I marched 1,434 miles, fought forty- three battles andskirmish- 
 eSj captured and paroled over 3,000 Federal officers and men, 
 captured eighteen pieces of artillery, 3,000 stands of small arms, 
 sixteen stands of colors and destroyed $10,000,000 worth of mu- 
 nitions of war, wagons and other supplies of the enemy." 
 
 Thus have I briefly referred to Missouri in the war. 
 Modesty forbids me to say more of my old brigade — Parson's 
 brigade. You have all heard of it. We surrendered at Shreve- 
 port when the war was over. 
 
 Missouri Confederates you may well be proud of your record 
 as soldiers. The Confederacy was proud of you and your op- 
 ponents held you in the respect that bravery always commands, 
 at the hands of brave men. 
 
 THE ORATION OF THE DAY. 
 
 At the reunion at Kansas City in 1891, the Hon. Wm. H. 
 Hatch, of Hannibal, Mo., delivered the address of the day 
 which is worthy to be preserved for future ages, as he was an 
 actor in some of the most momentous and important events 
 connected with the Civil War. 
 
 ADDRESS OF WM. H. HATCH. 
 
 Gov. Francis then introduced Hon. Wm. H. Hatch, of 
 Hannibal, stating that "he was a gentleman who needed no 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 257 
 
 introduction to a Missouri audience, and would be the speaker 
 of the Fifty-second Congress of the United States." Congress- 
 man Hatch said in brief: 
 
 Mr. Speaker, and Citizens: I have only pleasant and joyous 
 words for you to-day. I never dwell on gloomy subjects. I 
 never talked gloomily during the war, nor have I since. The 
 ablest men of the nation had failed to settle the great questions 
 at issue in the halls of Congress, and it was left to the sons of 
 America on the battlefield. It was settled, and as we have 
 never apologized for our conduct, we do not apologize to-day. 
 [Cheers.] We claim as honest and brave men to have buried 
 all animosities. I surrendered my sword on the terms accepted 
 by our great leader at Appomattox, Kobert E. Lee. [Cheers.] 
 We surrendered to the noble boys in blue, who wore haver- 
 sacks and fed us across the line for so long when we were 
 hungry. 
 
 Serious criticism has been made upon the conduct of Mr. 
 Davis and Gen. Lee in that great struggle for three or four 
 months, when it was a foregone conclusion that we would be 
 compelled to surrender. My friends, let me give you a bit of 
 history. In February, 1865, when the dark shadow of that 
 event which transpired in Appomattox in April was hovering 
 about Richmond and the army of Northern Virginia, I was 
 selected by the Secretary of War to escort through the lines 
 that celebrated peace commission of A. H. Stephens and R. 
 M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, to devise ways and means of a 
 peaceful termination of that struggle. On a bright winter's 
 Sunday, after three hours' resting in Petersburg, when a flag of 
 truce was established upon the lines, and Gen. Grant was 
 notified of the coming of the commission and gave his orders 
 to receive them, I carried them through the lines. I was met 
 upon the other side by a member of Gen. Grant's staff. That 
 first conference was held on that Sunday morning, and early 
 Monday morning their credentials were submitted to Gen. 
 Grant and the Secretary of War of the United States. Gen. 
 Grant, in the most emphatic and determined manner stated to 
 the commissioners that it was absolutely futile to go to Presi- 
 dent Lincoln upon the instructions in those letters. He said: 
 "This army will never have a settlement based upon those in- 
 
258 , THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 structions." At 8 o'clock on Monday morning I was dis- 
 patched back to Eichmond by this commission with a letter to 
 President Davis. I made my way to Gen. Lee's headquarters, 
 and before 8 o'clock I placed that package in the hands of Mr. 
 Davis. I shall never forget that scene. That great man, with 
 all of the responsibility of that great struggle upon him, as 
 commander-in-chief of its armies and President of the Confed- 
 erate States, calmly and deliberately opened that package and 
 read the message; read it a second time, deliberately folded it 
 and asked me half a dozen leading questions, and said to me: 
 
 "Col. Hatch, meet my cabinet in this room to-morrow 
 morning at 9 o'clock." 
 
 I was much younger than I am now [laughter], but felt the 
 responsibility of my position. I was a Missourian and a Mis- 
 souri soldier. I determined at any rate to break the ice and 
 make a single suggestion. I said: "Mr. President, I will obey 
 your order with great pleasure, but permit me to suggest that 
 if this matter is postponed until to-morrow morning at 9 
 o'clock, an answer will reach the commission too late. Can't 
 you send me back with a reply to-night?" 
 
 He looked at me for a moment. I first thought in anger, 
 but in the tones of his voice, as quiet and gentle as a woman's, 
 he said to me: "It is not necessary. Come to-morrow morning." 
 
 I went back the next morning, and was cross-questioned 
 by the cabinet for two hours, but the cabinet did not return 
 from that cabinet-room until after the middle of the day. No 
 reply was ever sent. Why? I have simply related this to im- 
 press upon you that no power on earth could have written a 
 diplomatic settlement that would have been acceptable to 
 either. It had to be fought upon the battlefield. The army 
 under Gen. Grant, victorious up to that hour and knowing its 
 power, would have accepted nothing but absolute surrender. In 
 Gen. Lee's army 99 per cent, of it would have hung to the limb 
 of a tree any Confederate who would have dared to surrender 
 until their chief had sheathed his sword. [Cheers.] No, the war 
 was a necessity. We bore our parts in it as became brave and 
 valorous men. We are entitled to these reunions in Missouri 
 and throughout the length and breadth of the land — wherever 
 the sun shines, wherever brave men are loved by noble women, 
 wherever valorous deeds are known and recorded — Confederate 
 soldiers can be found to shake hands. 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 259 
 
 I could indulge in these reminiscences for an hour. We all 
 know them by heart. They are carried in our heart of hearts, 
 and the memory of them will never die while reason holds its 
 seat. But, my friends, in these reunions we have even a 
 brighter record at which to point than at onr deeds upon the 
 battlefield. 
 
 Our wives welcomed us to our desolated homes on our 
 return. That more than compensated every brave soldier. I 
 left a bride and came back to my wife. I know she would 
 rather have worn the weeds as a widow of a Confederate, than 
 to have been the wife of a coward. [Cheers.] We have had 
 all the compliments and encomiums that any people could 
 want. We have a prouder record still here in Jackson — in 
 every county in Missouri. The magnificent courage, the splen- 
 did conduct of our comrades in the battles of peace, throughout 
 the agricultural districts of the land, in the harvest-field, in 
 the work-shop, in the ofiice, in the pulpit; aye, everywhere 
 Confederate soldiers have won plaudits for patriotic conduct 
 and magnificent citizenship. I do love to dwell upon this part 
 of our record; 1 congratulate you that your cheeks have never 
 tingled with shame, that your women have never been called 
 upon to blush at the dishonorable conduct of the great body of 
 Missouri soldiers. The building up of our churches, the build- 
 ing up of our schools, our seats of learning, the administration 
 of State and county affairs, all attest this magnificent record. 
 We have shared with Federal soldiers the honors, the benefits 
 and the prestige in the rehabilitation of this most grand 
 domain of the United States of America. 
 
 I look back, my comrades, to that point in 1865, when we 
 were called upon to close that great struggle. The scene which 
 I witnessed then determined for all time to come, my position 
 as an American citizen. I have alluded to one incident that 
 happened upon the line the day after the surrender and before 
 Gen. Grant's commissaries' stores could reach the land. I 
 want to convince my friend, the Governor of the State, and all 
 the young men present, that we Confederates of Missouri are 
 simply bearing in mind and memory the honorable and better 
 deeds of that struggle, and not its animosities. I am the last 
 but two on the Confederate side who was selected by Gen. Lee 
 to act in the second interview with Gen. Grant, when the final 
 
260 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 terms of surrender were made. Accompanying my superior 
 officer, I went by order of Gen. Lee not only as witness of that 
 great scene, but to receive certain orders that would go through 
 the lines. 
 
 I was present at -that scene with the two armies on either 
 side of the little stream of Appomattox. I saw the last meet- 
 ing between those two great generals. I witnessed, my com- 
 rades, the magnificent, the soldierly, the most chivalrous bear- 
 ing of that American soldier, Gen. Grant. [Cheers.] It soft- 
 ened my heart then. No man loved our chieftain better than 
 I did. As a soldier I idolized him. I knew, of course, what 
 would transpire to such a great soldier at a time like that, but 
 the bearing of Gen. Grant to Gen. Lee on that occasion settled 
 forever my feelings toward that great man, and in the political 
 campaigns of 1868, 1872, and down to the time of his death, 
 and from that great hour to this no living man has ever heard 
 a word pass my lips in criticism upon that eminent citizen and 
 great General, U. S. Grant. [Cheers.] 
 
 The struggle is over. Those issues were settled by the 
 arbitrament of arms — settled forever; and upon the ninth 
 annual reunion in Missouri we have a more pleasant duty to 
 perform; we have a noble charity, we have a magnificent work; 
 we have one in progress hereunder the shadow of your great 
 city, for which all good men and women pray, and for the suc- 
 cess of which every Confederate soldier in the State of Mis- 
 souri should work so long as there lives a Confederate soldier 
 who needs a home, a resting place— that blessed place that car- 
 ries us back to the days of infancy and early childhood when, 
 nestling at the mother's side, we learned wisdom and character. 
 It is the end of a journey — a home for the weak, for the weary 
 and the footsore and tired of that little band. Those heroic 
 hearts, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches. 
 
 My friends, lives there an ex-Confederate in Missouri who 
 will not share the providence that God has bestowed upon him 
 in the establishment of this Home? It is certain of success. 
 How it warms the heart of every Christian soldier to be able to 
 have the privilege of contributing to this Home. What Chris- 
 tian man or woman who does not remember the most consoling 
 promise of the Saviour when upon earth. He said to His disci- 
 ples: "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to pre- 
 
EX-CONFEDERATE HOME. 261 
 
 pare a place for you." My friends, we are hastening to that 
 home. Those of us who are surrounded by the comforts and 
 luxuries of homes of our own making, certainly will not 
 refuse to extend a helping hand to that noble band that is 
 struggling, few in number, that has held out until the last hour 
 of strength and health was spent. 
 
 My friends, I am sure if every man in Missouri were to sew 
 up his pockets that Home would be built by the noble women. 
 Our wives and daughters would do it — those who stand by us 
 in struggles with their delicate hands and heroic hearts. It is 
 simply a privilege to help them. Friends, wives, daughters, 
 ex-Confederates and fellow comrades, I thank you for your 
 earnest attention. 
 
Auxiliaries. 
 
 The Mexico Auxiliary of the Daughters of the Confederacy 
 began its existence July, 1891, and the daughters, strongly 
 united in their efforts, after a year and a half of organization, 
 forwarded to the mother society $322.46 in cash, realized in the 
 face of many difficulties. 
 
 The ladies feel pride in the success of their work and pleas- 
 ure in the thought of the accomplishment of their object. All 
 through their difficulties they had the sympathy of the State 
 organization and written congratulations from many sources 
 on a success made in the face of a narrow, stupid and utterly 
 inconsistent opposition. Miss Belle Morris, President, and 
 Mrs. R. M. White, 1st Vice-President, grand-daughters of the 
 Confederacy, are energetic little women, who have worked suc- 
 cessfully together in many charitable enterprises, and are rep- 
 resentatives of prominent families in the State. 
 
 Many of the Auxiliary Societies through the State have 
 realized very handsome sums, notably Sedalia, Hannibal, St. 
 Louis county, Marshall, Louisiana, Moberly, Paris, Eichmond, 
 Independence and Macon. Kansas City is an independent 
 society, well organized and kept in full accord with the spirit of 
 the work by Mrs. K. E. Wilson and her energetic helpers. 
 The St. Louis Society holds that the Moberly record is a valu- 
 able illustration of woman's work and gave a full account of all 
 the business of that society in their first Annual Report of the 
 Daughters of the Confederacy. The St. Louis Society has had 
 unprecedented success in its noble work, due to the efforts of 
 the many energetic women who are members of it. The vener- 
 able Mrs. M. A. E. McLure, who holds the leadership, Mrs. A. 
 C Cassidy, ever ready with plans for social and financial suc- 
 cesses, Mrs. C. C. Rainwater, one of the greatest charity work- 
 ers in the State, Mrs. W. P. Howard, the able Treasurer, Mrs. E. 
 E. Gamble, the faithful Secretary, Mrs. Gen. Bowen, Mrs. 
 Pickett and Mrs. R. K. Walker, are only a few of the Daughters 
 who have rendered valuable services for the Confederate 
 Home. 
 
Biography. 
 
 MRS. M. A. B. McLURB. 
 
 Margaret A. E. McLure, the beloved President of the 
 Daughters of the Confederacy, is a superior woman of great 
 force of character, intelligent and refined, and so gentle and 
 kind in her disposition, that no one can know her without lov- 
 ing her. She is a devoutly religious woman and her teachings 
 are manifest. Her loving words and tender acts, her unselfish 
 devotion to "the lost cause" for which she was banished, have 
 brought forth a thousand-fold. Her integrity of character has 
 adorned her life and shed upon it a light of unfading luster. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH USTICK McKINNEY. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth McKinney, whose maiden name was Ustick, 
 belongs to one of the oldest and best families of LaFayette 
 county. Her parents, Charles Taylor Ustick, and Susan E., 
 his wife, were Virginians, and soon after their marriage, deter- 
 mined to seek their fortunes in the West. 
 
 In the fall of 1837, they came to Missouri, when the jour- 
 ney was a long and tedious one, and two months were occupied 
 in making the trip. They passed through a large portion of 
 the State, only making one stop, at the home of Mr. Clark, at 
 Jackson, Cape Girardeau county, then the county seat. Mr. 
 Clark was an old friend and a native of Virginia also, and 
 assisted in constructing the boats for Lewis & Clark in their 
 famous exploring expedition up to the head waters of the 
 Missouri River. Mr. Ustick, in searching for a pleasant loca- 
 tion for a home, with attractive and beautiful surroundings, 
 found no part of the State so inviting as the rich and produc- 
 tive county of LaFayette. They located at the then thriving 
 little village of Dover, which was surrounded by a fine agricul- 
 
264 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 tural legion just ten miles east of Lexington, the county seat. 
 LaFayette county was first settled by a substantial and pro- 
 gressive class of people, made up largely of Virginians, Ken- 
 tuckians and a few families from Tennessee. At this time, no 
 town in the State could boast of more cultured society or a 
 more hospitable people than resided in and around Dover. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ustick were the parents of six children who 
 had never known a sorrow until in the spring of 1856, when 
 death crossed their threshold and took from the happy home 
 the kind father and devoted husband, leaving Mrs. Ustick a 
 widow at the early age of 37. She continued to reside at the 
 old homestead until all of her children were educated and 
 married . Though many years have passed away, the memory 
 of Charles T. Ustick is still revered and honored, and the 
 record of his noble life has been a golden legacy to his family. 
 
 Elizabeth was the fourth child, having two sisters and an 
 only brother older than herself. Mr. Ustick supplied his 
 family with good books and excellent magazines, so that early 
 in life they developed a fondness for reading. It is rather 
 unusual to meet with a whole family of literary turn, but this 
 may be owing to the fact that in this case it was partly inher- 
 ited, as the poets. Watts and John Greenleaf Whittier, were 
 both relatives of the Ustick family. Two of Mr. Ustick's 
 brothers bore the middle name of Watts. 
 
 The celebrated naturalist Audubon was a cousin of Mr. 
 Ustick's mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Taylor. 
 She was also a cousin of Gen. Zachary Taylor. As writers of 
 both prose and poetry, Mr. Ustick's daughters have contributed 
 much for the press of this and other States. During the war, 
 Elizabeth, who was then a school girl, was the author of a 
 number of patriotic war songs, several of which were composed 
 for special occasions. Under the nom deplume of "Claire," she 
 was a frequent contributor to the Lexington papers. In the 
 fall of 1867, she was married to L. W. McKinney, a lawyer of 
 Fulton, Mo., where she resided for a period of fifteen years; 
 during this time, her articles in prose and poetry were pub- 
 lished in the Fulton papers and other papers and journals in 
 the State, sometimes under the signature of "Clyde Campbell," 
 and sometimes over her own initials. 
 
 A book entitled "Poets of Missouri," is soon to be issued 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 265 
 
 by "The American Publishing Association" at Chicago, in 
 which will appear some of Mrs. McKinney's writings, and also 
 poems by two of her sisters. She has received prizes in various 
 contests for addresses, essays and poems. Also a native Mis- 
 sourian, her sympathies have always been strongly enlisted for 
 the South, and during the scourge of yellow fever there, she 
 wrote a poem called the "Stricken South," which was published 
 in The St. Louis Republic and copied by many papers in the 
 South. At present, she is a regular contributor to the South- 
 ern Home Companion, published in New Orleans. 
 
 In 1881, Mr. McKinney removed to Colorado, but after a 
 residence of three years in Denver, they returned to Missouri 
 and located in Moberly, where, with their family of four sons, 
 they have continued to reside. Wherever they have lived, 
 Mrs. McKinney has been identified with all kinds of charitable 
 and church work. From its very beginning, she has taken an 
 active interest in the establishment and completion of the 
 Confederate Home, and was the first President of the "Daugh- 
 ters of the Confederacy," organized at Moberly, in Randolph 
 county. 
 
 H. A. KICKETS. 
 
 H. A. Rickets, of Mexico, Missouri, is treasurer of the Con- 
 federate Home at Higginsville. 
 
 MISS BELLE MOERIS. 
 
 Miss Isabelle Oberia Morris, is the daughter of Mary Belt 
 and George A.Morris, formerly of St. Louis, but for sometime 
 residents of Mexico, Audrain county, and their beautiful home 
 Lakeview, one mile south of Mexico, is one of the handsomest 
 country villas in Missouri. Miss Morris is a refined, cultured 
 lady and is a graduate and post-graduate of Mrs. Cuthbert's 
 Seminary. She has an extensive acquaintance and her rare ac- 
 complishments and lady-like ways never fail to fetch her ad- 
 mirers. Miss Morris was the modest winner in the race for the 
 most popular young lady in Missouri, under the auspices of the 
 Confederacy and her friends were legion. 
 
266 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 MRS. R. M. WHITE. 
 
 Isabella Dinsmore Mitchell, daughter of Sophie Bayless and 
 Leander 0. Mitchell, and the wife of Col. E. M. White, the pop- 
 'ular editor of the Mexico Ledger, was born in Ohio, but came to 
 Alton, Illinois, in her infancy. She was graduated from the 
 Alton high school and took a post-graduate course at St. Mary's, 
 Knoxville, Illinois. Mrs. White is a brilliant musician and was 
 considered quite a prodigy at the age of five years, playing 
 many pieces. She studied with Lavitsky, Beethoven Conserv- 
 atory and has published a few of her own composilions. Mrs. 
 White is the vivacious mistress of a beautiful home, and quite 
 the pet of the Missouri Press Association. 
 
 J. M. ALLEN, M. D. 
 
 Dr. J. M. Allen joined the Missouri State Guards, May 1, 
 1861; in the same month he was appointed surgeon 4th Regi- 
 ment of Cavalry, B. A. Rives, commanding. In Dec. 1861, while 
 camped at Oceola, Mo., Cols. B. A. Rives, J. D. Pritchard, Fin- 
 ly Hubble, James Kelsey McDowell, Dr. J. D. Wallis, St. Hi. 
 Faulkner, George Simpson, and ten others whose names have 
 been forgotten, joined the Confederate States' army and went 
 into camp on Sac River. These form ed the nucleas of the 
 First Missouri Brigade. Dr. Allen was a private in Company 
 E., and was appointed surgeon of the 3 Reg., and by seniority 
 was Brigade Surgeon. He served in this position until August, 
 1863, when General Joseph E. Johnston appointed him Chief 
 Surgeon of Mississippi and East Louisiana. He served in this 
 position till the war closed. He was paroled at Granville, Ala- 
 bama, May, 1865. 
 
 In August, 1865, he returned to his native county. Clay, 
 and resumed the practice of medicine and surgery at Liberty, 
 Mo. In Nov. 1866, he married Miss Agnes McAlpine, of Port 
 Gibson, Mississippi. In 1868, Dr. S. S. Laws, then president of 
 the University of Missouri, selected him to deliver a course of 
 lectures on the Gastric Intestinal Canal to the senior students 
 of the medical department of the University. In 1882 he was 
 appointed to the Chair of Theory and Practice of Medicine, in 
 the University Medical College of Kansas City, Mo., and in 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 267 
 
 1888 was made president of the college. In 1884-5 he represent- 
 ed his county in the State Legislature. 
 
 COL. RIVES. 
 
 Col. B. A. Rives was born in»Virginia, a descendant of the 
 Rives family of that State. He was a graduate of Liberty Col- 
 lege, with the degree of A. M. Also of a Medical College with 
 the degree of M. D. Shortly after "his marriage, to an accom- 
 plished Virginia lady, he moved to Missouri, and settled in 
 Ray county. He soon relinquished the profession of medicine, 
 and began farming. About 1856, he was elected to represent 
 Ray county in the Legislature. In April, 1861, he organized a 
 company of cavalry and was elected Captain. At Lexington, 
 in May, 1861, he organized a Regiment and was made Colonel. 
 
 He joined the Confederate army at Osceola and went into 
 camp on Sac River. He, with seventeen others, was the 
 aucleus of the First Missouri Brigade. He, and Col. James 
 A. Pritchard were the first to urge Missourians to join the Con- 
 federate army; indeed were the leaders in that direction. 
 Rives was elected Colonel of the 3rd Regiment and Pritchard, 
 Lieutenant Colonel. Col. Rives was killed at Elk Horn 
 Tavern, Ark., while repelling a charge of the enemy near the 
 close of the battle. He was a thoroughly educated gentleman 
 of decided literary tastes. He was one of the hest public 
 orators in the State, a vigorous, convincing speaker. In the 
 interests of the South he gave all the enthusiasm of his nature. 
 As a commander and soldier he had no superior in Missouri, 
 and had his life been prolonged, it would have been marked 
 with high distinction. In command he had the entire confi- 
 dence of Gen. Sterling Price, as well as all the other officers of 
 rank. He was always counseled in the movements of the 
 army. He was a bold, independent thinker on any subject 
 presented, and never hesitated to give his convictions. 
 
 As a soldier, he was brave, aggressive and dashing. As a 
 commander, a splendid organizer and disciplinarian, yet kind 
 and thoughtful of the comforts of his men. He was the idol, 
 not only of the third Regiment, but of the whole brigade of 
 0. S. A. A. 
 
268 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 JAMES KELSEY McDOWELL. 
 
 J. K. McDowell was born in Ohio, in 1838, moved to Eay 
 county. Mo,, in 1858, where he taught school till 1861, when he 
 inlisted in the M. S. G.s, and was elected Lieutenant of Eives' 
 company. He was one of seventeen that joined the Confeder- 
 ate army at Oceola, and went into the C. S. A. camp on Sac 
 Eiver. He was elected Captain of Company A. 3rd Regiment, 
 First Missouri Brigade. At the re-organization, he was elected 
 Lieutenant Colonel in 1863. He was killed on the battlefield 
 leading a charge, near Atlanta, Ga. He was a brave, kind, 
 generous gentleman. A. 
 
 G. N. RATLIFP. 
 
 G. N. Ratlifi was born and raised in Macon county, Missouri, 
 the date of his birth being the 28th of February, 1843. 
 
 He joined the M. S. G. at the commencement of the war, 
 and continued with them till the Confederate Brigade was or- 
 ganized, when he joined Company K., 3rd Regiment, at Spring- 
 field. He served in this company, when able for duty, until the 
 close of the war. At the battle of Baker's Creek, he had his 
 arm broken above the elbow by a Minie ball. When Gen. Grant 
 closed his lines around Vicksburg, the wounded of the Confed- 
 erate army were left in the Confederate lines. He was left nine 
 days without medical attendance. Notwithstanding this, he 
 Tecovered and was able to join the command soon after they 
 reached parole camp, at Demopolis, Ala. 
 
 At the close of the war he settled in Randolph county, and 
 after laboring on the farm for two years he determined to go to 
 school. His education had been very limited and he now be- 
 gan his first days of school. He laid to with such a will and 
 untiring determination that in a few years he was able to teach 
 school successfully. He served several years as superintendent 
 of schools; he was afterward elected sheriff of the County, which 
 oflBice he filled for eight years. He was then elected to the office 
 of Collector, and is now closing his second term in that office. 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 269 
 
 ED. G. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Ed. G. Williams was born August 8, 1844, in Bedford coun- 
 ty, Virginia. He lived there and in Montgomery and Floyd 
 counties. In 1858 he went to Lynchburg and was in the com- 
 mission business till the commencement of the war. In 1861 
 he enlisted in Company E., 11th Va. Infantry and served in 
 First Brigade, commanded during the war by Gens. Longstreet; 
 Clark, Emel, A. P. Hill, Kamper and W. E. Perry. He was in 
 all the battles, under Longstreet and Picket, as follows: First 
 battle of Manassas, Gainesville, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, 
 Antietam, Boons Mountain, seven days battles around Rich- 
 mond. Second, Fredricksburg, Belmont, N. C, Wilderness, and 
 at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, on the 16th of May, 1864. 
 
 He was wounded and had his left leg amputated above the 
 knee. 
 
 In March, 1867, he came to Missouri and lived in Bolla un- 
 til the twelfth day of February, 1869, when he was appointed 
 Deputy Clerk of the Circuit County, and Probate Courts of 
 Pulaski county, Mo., aud served as such for four years. He 
 was then elected Clerk of all the Courts and served as such for 
 four years. He was re-elected County Clerk in 1882, and has 
 the ofGice at this date, and the renomination for the office for 
 the next four years. He served as Vice-president of the Con- 
 federate Home for four years, and is in full sympathy with 
 every effort for the care of Confederate veterans. 
 
 FRANK L. PITTS. 
 
 F. L. Pitts, the subject of this sketch, was born in Shelby 
 county, Missouri, April 25, 1841. When he was four years of 
 age, his parents moved to Hannibal, Mo., where he lived until 
 January, 1860, when he moved to Paris, Mo., and engaged in 
 the saddle and harmless business. 
 
 In the spring of 1861, at which time Gov. Jackson made his 
 call for six months' troops, he enlisted in Company A., of Col. 
 Bruce's Keg., Missouri State Guards. After the six months had 
 expired he enlisted in the 2nd Eeg. Confederate troops com- 
 
•270 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 manded by Ool. Burbridge. He served-with him until the re- 
 organization at Corinth, Miss., at which time F. M. Cockrell 
 was elected Colonel. 
 
 He served under Gen. Cockrell in all his marches and bat- 
 tles until jS^ov. 30, 1864, at the battle of Franklin, Tenn. Here 
 he lost his right arm in a charge upon the enemies' works. 
 He fell into the hands of the enemy and was taken to Nash- 
 ville, Tenn., and from there to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he 
 remained until the close of the war. 
 
 When released from prison, he returned to Paris, Mo., and 
 re-engaged in the saddle and harness business. In 1872, he 
 was elected Sheriff of Monroe county, serving four years. In 
 1876, he was elected Collector and served in that capacity ten 
 years, being honored with five consecutive terms. 
 
 He is one of the organizers of the Confederate Home Asso- 
 ciation of Missomi, being Vice-President for the Second Con- 
 gressional District. He is active in this work and has suc- 
 ceeded in raising a handsome fund in his district for this 
 worthy cause. In 1892, he was a candidate before the Demo- 
 cratic Convention, for nomination to the office of State Treas- 
 urer and was defeated by a small vote. 
 
 O. H. P. CATRON. 
 
 O. H. P. Catron was born near Lexington, Mo., December 
 27, 1S42. He belonged to Company C, Gordon's Reg. Shelby's 
 Brigade. He was educated at the common schools of the 
 county and at Shelby College, near Waverly, Mo. He inlisted 
 in the M. S. G.s on the 16th day of June, 1861, at Camp Hol- 
 loway, near Independence, in Capt. Carl J. Kirtley's Company, 
 Grave's Regiment, Weightman's Brigade, Rains' Division. 
 Graves' Regiment, was re-organized after the battle of Wilson's 
 Creek, and Capt. Ben. Elliott was elected Colonel. He took 
 part in the battles of Carthage and in the advance on Spring- 
 field, from Cowskin Prairie, Wilson's Creek and Lexington. 
 
 In December, 1861, he was discharged at Oceola, and 
 returned home sick. But in August following, he reinlisted for 
 the war in Company C, Gordon's Regiment, Shelby's Brigade, 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 271 
 
 and was in active service until the surrender at Shreveport, 
 La., on the 16th day of June, 1865. He participated in the fol- 
 lowing engagements: Coon Creek, Newtonia, Prairie Grove, 
 Springfield, Hartville, Cape Girardeau, Brownsville, Bayou 
 Meeter, Little Rock, Neosho, Marshall, and all the skirmishes 
 of- Shelby's raid. In the fall of 1864, he went into Missouri in 
 advance of Price's army, with Col. Eathburn and fifty others 
 recruiting, and joined his regiment again at Lexington, and 
 was with Shelby in the running days fightings near Fort Scott, 
 where Gen. Marmaduke was captured and Shelby's Brigade 
 saved Price's army at Newtonia. 
 
 The promotion of Col. Shelby to General caused a 
 vacancy in Company C, by the promotion of Oapt. G. P. Gor- 
 don to Major. This caused an election for Lieutenant in Com- 
 pany C, and O. H. P. Catron was chosen, and from that until 
 the surrender he actively assisted Capt. Spinder in command- 
 ing the Company. 
 
 He arrived home, near Waverly, Mo., on the 3rd day of 
 July, 1865. On the 29th day of January, 1867, he was united in 
 marriage to Miss Mattie E. Goodwin, daughter of James 
 Goodwin, who now lives in Waverly, aged 90 years. He 
 engaged in farming in LaFayette county, until the Spring of 
 1869, and then moved to Alma, Mo., and engaged in the Mer- 
 cantile business. He was the first post-master of Alma. In 
 1882, he moved to West Plains, Mo., and engaged in the real 
 estate business, and in 1883, with three others, organized the 
 West Plains Bank and now resides at that place. 
 
 HON. W. H. KENNAN. 
 
 W. H. Kennan was born on a farm in Boone county. Mo., 
 on the 16th day of September, 1837. His father's name was 
 Samuel Kennan; that of his mother before marriage, Harriet 
 Ragan. He was educated at the common schools and the 
 Missouri University at Columbia. He read law for a time with 
 Judge James M. Gordon, and soon after, he entered the Con- 
 federate army as a private soldier and surrendered as first 
 Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Battalion of Sharp Shooters, 
 at the close of the war in 1865, 
 
272 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 After returning home he pursued the study of law, in con- 
 nection with teaching, and in 1869 was admitted to the bar by 
 Judge G. H. Buckhart. In the same year he located in Mexico, 
 Mo., and began the practice of law and soon entered into a suc- 
 cessful and lucrative practice. In 1871 he was married to Cor- 
 delia P. Jenkins, daughter of Maj. Theodrick Jenkins, late of 
 Boone county, who was an estimable lady. She died in Novem- 
 ber, 1893, greatly lamented by her family and a host of friends, 
 leaving three daughters and one son, Churchill B.; her oldest 
 daughter, Mary Hardin Kennan, a lovable character, having 
 died six years before her mother. ' 
 
 In 1884, without opposition, he was nominated by the Dem- 
 ocrats of his county, and at the general election was elected to 
 a seat in the General Assembly of the State. He is the author 
 of, and had passed, while in the Legislature, several wholesome 
 laws which are now a part pf the statutes. He was a member 
 of the Judiciary and Appropriation Committees of the House. 
 He is at present president of a local insurance company doing 
 business in his county, and a member of the staff of Gov. Stone, 
 with the rank of Brigadier-General. He is a member of the 
 Baptist Church, also of the Board of Directors of Hardin Col- 
 lege, and one of the Directors of the Confederate Home at Hig- 
 ginsville, Mo 
 
 MAJOR R. J. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Major E. J. Williams, the subject of this sketch, was born 
 in Prince Edward county, Virginia, Oct. 2nd, in the year 1825. 
 With his father he moved to Missouri in 1836 and settled in 
 Eay county. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, belonging 
 to the command of Gen. Doniphan. He crossed the plains to 
 California in 1850. 
 
 After two years passed in the California gold region he re- 
 turned to Missouri. He participated in- the Kansas troubles in 
 and about Osawatomie, in the year 1856; joined the Confederate 
 army, at Springfield, Mo., in Dec. 1861, and was elected Cap- 
 tain of Company A., 3rd Begiment, Missouri Infantry. He was 
 promoted to Major of the same regiment in 1863, in which ca- 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 273 
 
 pacity he served until the close of the straggle. He was once 
 severely wounded. 
 
 Since the close of the war he has been engaged in farming 
 and at the same time interested in banking, railroading and 
 coal-mining. At the present time he resides on a splendid farm 
 about four miles north of Richmond where he operates an ex- 
 tensive coal mine. The history of the Brigade is the history of 
 the part he took in the "Civil War." 
 
 J. S. BOWEN, MARTIN B. GREEN AND HENRY 
 LYTTLE. A JUST TRIBUTE. 
 
 The following is copied from the Lexington Missourian, and 
 is a just and beautiful tribute to those who gave their lives for 
 the cause they loved: 
 
 THERE WBEE OTHER HEROES. 
 
 Mr. A. A. Lesueur in a letter to the Intelligencer, though 
 addressed to Mrs. Sallie Long, speaks of the "Prices, the Mar- 
 madukes, the Parsons, the Shelbys and others, who led our 
 Missouri divisions and brigades." 
 
 It is strange that any prominent Missourian even at this 
 remote date will, in mentioning Missouri's Confederate leaders 
 name only these. 
 
 Where was Bowen, a hero at Shiloh, a victim at Vicksburg; 
 a man of heroic deed at least the equal of Price in organization, 
 as he surely was of Marmaduke, Parsons and Shelby in tact 
 and generalship? — a Napoleon, almost in conception, a Ney in 
 execution. 
 
 Was he not, resisting Grant from the Bayou Pierre to 
 Bovina, entitled to some notice? Grant had massed 40,000 
 men in his front and on his left flank. Bowen had less than 
 5,000, for he had just fought the bloody battle of Port Gibson, 
 where, with 5,500 men he had held Grant in check from early 
 morn till nightfall. Before this overwhelming force he 
 marched two days and crossed Black Eiver on a single bridge 
 without the loss of a man or a gun. Was not this leadership? 
 
274 THE CONFEDERATE MAIL CARRIER. 
 
 Did Missourians ever hear of General John S. Bowen? 
 
 Alas, our politicians only have been writing history, and 
 Bowen's friends are too few to count for much at county prima- 
 ries—they fought where ofttimes the majority was left upon 
 the field of carnage. 
 
 Then there was Brigadier General Martin E. Green. 
 Brave old Martin Green. We can see him yet as his tall, spare 
 form sits erect upon his gallant bay. Cool in battle as at 
 brigade review, undaunted in the presence of danger, ever 
 alert; always ready to lead his men where effective work could 
 be done. At Elkhorn Tavern, at the seige of Corinth, luka, 
 Corinth and Bruinsburg, he was ever in the melee of battle, 
 ever self-reliant — always awarded the post of honor which was 
 synonymous with that of danger. 
 
 You never hear the politicians say anything of Martin 
 Green. Too many who know him as he should have been 
 known are like him, filling graves in the far south land. But 
 could you look into the hearts of those who followed him and 
 yet survive — now a scattered remnant and scarce a hundred 
 strong — you could read their tributes of love and remembrance 
 far brighter, far more eloquent than those the politicians utter- 
 
 And General Henry Lyttle too — at once an army's pride 
 and the glory of his State. Than Lyttle none was braver, none 
 more heroic. We all loved the man as we honored the soldier, 
 for he possessed those noble traits of character that involun- 
 tarily drew all hearts to him; and not an eye was dry that beau- 
 tiful September evening, when as we rushed to battle while the 
 roar of small arms was furious in our front and the artillery 
 was shaking the forest trees, we heard from Price's own lips 
 the story of Lyttle's death. 
 
 It is almost sacrilege to mention Missouri's Confederate 
 leaders and ignore the name of brave, gallant, noble Henry 
 Lyttle. 
 
 Cockrell still lives, and can speak for himself— but was it 
 no honor to have led and won where Cleburne led and failed 
 and fell7 No honor tsfhen over 600 of his 884 followers were left 
 upon the bloody iield of Franklin? If that was not heroism 
 where do you find it? 
 
 Were Mr. Lesuenr the only one who is accustomed in speak- 
 ing or writing of Missouri's Confederate leaders, to ignore those 
 
BIOGRAPHY. 275 
 
 devoted men who fought east of the Mississippi river, this 
 would not have been written. But the disease is chronic, and 
 the names of many of the real heroes of the war are passed by 
 in silence. 
 
 J. H. FINKS. 
 
 J. H. Finks has been for some time connected with banking 
 in Salisbury, Mo., and is now candidate for Bailroad Com- 
 missioner on the State Democratic ticket. 
 

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