CHAPTER XV.
Unfortunate state of affairs—Informality of charge and specifications—Assistance of friends—Fails to get a trial—Gloomy prospects—Evidence accumulates—Guard-house incident—The "General" concludes to help himself—Narrow escape from guerrillas—The capture—Reaches his regiment—Himself and squad released.
The reader will remember that I once arrested Parson Hamers, while standing picket for the enemy, and released him. Doctor Russel, I had learned from reliable sources, had been engaged in contraband trade between Federal soldiers and guerrillas. Mr. Lawhorn had tried to induce one of the men under arrest with me to desert, and, to prevent suspicion of desertion, offered to carry him in his own carriage to a rebel paroling officer, and get him paroled and bring him back. Perry had been captured on suspicion of being a guerrilla. Such were the men that were allowed to make statements against me.
It is easy to conceive how such men would connive together for the injury of Federal soldiers, if they could only get the military authorities to tolerate their complaints and give them a hearing. Under such a state of affairs, it would be an easy matter for any disloyal citizen to cause the imprisonment of any soldier, however spotless his record.
When men are mean enough to attempt the destruction of the fairest and the best Government that ever existed, and to insult that national emblem which has called forth the honor and respect of the world, it is no wonder that they should resort to falsehood, or any other dirty means, to work their revenge upon those that love and fight for their country.
It was extremely unfortunate for us that we were thus imprisoned during the command of a temporary post-commander, to whom I was an entire stranger, and that, too, at a time when a new and extensive campaign was about to commence.
The charge and specifications, as preferred against us, were very informal, and it is doubtful whether any court-martial would have attempted a trial based on such informalities. But, nevertheless, there were grounds for our arrest and confinement.
About two weeks after our arrest, a general court-martial convened, and our friends used every exertion in their power to have our trial come on, but did not succeed. Soon afterward the principal part of the forces stationed at Bolivar moved to Lagrange, Tenn., to which place we soon followed them. A second and a third court-martial was convened at Lagrange, and still we failed to get a trial.
On the 28th day of November, the Army of the Tennessee commenced to move from Lagrange, on its campaign into the State of Mississippi, and with it was crushed all hope of our immediate trial. With the movement of the army, the court-martial had been dismissed, and our witnesses, friends, and counsel scattered beyond a probability of rendering us any assistance for a long time; and, to make the matter still more unpleasant, we were confined in a dirty, filthy building, extremely loathsome and unhealthy, and too small for the number of men confined.
During our confinement, up to the time the army moved, evidence continued to accumulate in our favor. The list of guerrillas that I had given to the Provost-marshal, he had destroyed the same day that it was handed to him. During our confinement, W. S. Perry, and all the persons named in the list that I gave to him, were captured by a detachment of the 7th Kansas Cavalry and sent North as guerrillas, showing conclusively that I had not been mistaken in supposing them such. In taking their property, under the circumstances that I found it, I did no more than any detachment of troops would have done under the same instructions.
The property found at W. S. Perry's was evidently plunder that had been seized by himself and band. Very much of the specifications against us were grossly false. What property we did take, I was making arrangements to turn over to the Quartermaster when I was arrested, showing conclusively that I did not take it for my personal benefit.
The lady that we were charged with having frightened not one of us had ever seen; neither had we ever been nearer than three-quarters of a mile of Mr. Hendrick's house. Mrs. C—— visited us twice while we were confined at Bolivar, and spoke very complimentary of our behavior while at her house, and assured us that we need not feel at all uneasy about the charge of frightening Mrs. Goforth, because that it could easily be proven that "her husband was in the rebel army, and had not been home for more than a year!" Doctor Russel was the man that trumped up the charges about Mrs. Goforth. A soldier by the name of William Goodhart, of the 20th Ohio Regiment, visited Dr. Russel, one day, and, in the course of conversation, remarked, "Doctor, you have got some of the Yankee soldiers in rather a tight place, hav'n't you?"
"Yes, I have had some of them shut up awhile."
"Well, it will be apt to go pretty hard with them, won't it?"
"No, I think not. I don't expect to prove any thing against them. They will probably get clear in the end; but it will keep Ruggles from running all over the country and representing himself as a citizen of the State of Tennessee."
Parson Hamers, in specification seventh, accuses me of stealing his watch, but neglects to fix the date of theft. He afterward fixed the date as the 30th of September. My company commander was able to show that I was in camp on the 29th and 30th of September and on the 1st of October. In a conversation with Parson Hamers, had in the presence of Sergeant E. W. Quackenbush, of the 20th Ohio Regiment, a few days before I was arrested, he spoke of having had his watch stolen, and said that he was so sick at the time that he did not know who took it.
During our confinement we were under the custody of four different Provost-marshals. As a general thing, we met with kind treatment from those that were guarding us, and oftentimes, through the kindness of officers and men, we received favors not usually given to soldiers under arrest. There were a few exceptions to our kind treatment, and I will narrate an incident illustrative of it:
The whole number of prisoners confined in the guard-house at the time I allude to, including my own squad, was forty-three, and we all occupied the same room. Among the prisoners confined with us was a very young soldier—a mere boy—by the name of George S——, of the 18th Ohio. He had been in confinement much longer than myself and squad, and was noted for being decidedly a "hard case." His recklessness sometimes caused restrictions to be placed upon all confined, thereby causing the innocent to suffer for the guilty.
One night, George took a rail from off the banisters that surrounded the stairway and placed it from the portico in front of the court-house into a tree that stood close by, and, by that means, got out of the guard-house, unobserved by the guard, and spent the evening in town. On his return, he neglected to take the rail away. In the morning the officer of the guard discovered it, and concluded correctly what it had been placed there for. He commenced an inquiry of the prisoners to find out who put it there. None of the boys would acknowledge having done it. Several told him that they supposed George had done it. George denied it, and nobody had seen him do it.
The officer would not take suppositions as to who did it, but told us that he should hold us all responsible for a correct report of who did it, and would give us till roll-call at night to find out; and at that time, if we did not report, we should all live on nothing but bread and water until we did.
We told him that we had already said all that we knew about it, and that we did not feel like submitting to punishment as a body for the acts of an individual. Roll-call came, but nobody was able to report. We were then told by the officer that we should have nothing but bread and water until we reported who did it.
During the night, the boys took several pocket-handkerchiefs and made a black flag, about three feet square, and fastened it to a long strip of molding, which they tore off from the wood-work of the room, and hoisted it upon the top of the court-house cupola. In the morning it attracted every body's attention, by its disgusting appearance, as it floated from the most conspicuous place in town. It created universal indignation throughout the town.
The officer of the guard came up and ordered us to take it down. We replied that as long as we had to subsist upon bread and water, it was the flag that we rallied under. He then ordered the guards to make us remove it. As they were attempting to come up the stairs, George, who had armed himself with an armful of bricks from the fire-place in the room, opened fire upon them from the head of the stairs, which made them beat a hasty retreat, and the officer could not induce them to renew the attempt. In about half an hour, a detail came, armed, not with guns and bayonets, but with mess-pans and kettles, filled with soft bread, beefsteak, and coffee. It is needless to add, the "additional reinforcements" compelled us to "surrender" and take down the flag. As long as we remained in charge of that officer, we continued to receive an abundance of good, wholesome rations.
During our confinement in the guard-house at Bolivar, quite a number of rebel soldiers, that had been captured by the Federal cavalry, were temporarily confined with us. Several of them were men that belonged to the 2d Arkansas Cavalry, and I had become acquainted with them during the time that I was with that regiment.
On the 3d day of December, 1862, five days after the army had advanced from Lagrange, I came to the conclusion that I had been confined long enough, and that my only way of getting myself and men released, without delay, would be to visit in person my commanding officers, and lay the case before them. One inducement that I had was, I had learned that there were no papers in the hands of the Provost-marshal with charges against us. They had either become lost, or, what is more probable, were returned to the officer that preferred them, on account of informalities. In the absence of such papers, I felt convinced that I could get an order for the release of myself and men. It was an unmilitary way of doing business, but, nevertheless, I resolved to leave the guard-house, without authority, to obtain authority for my release and that of my men.
We had been in confinement fifty days, and before I could reach the army it would be more than a hundred miles from Lagrange. It was a great undertaking to leave the guard-house without authority, and, without rations, to run a gauntlet of that distance, through Federal pickets and railroad guards, stationed at frequent intervals along the whole route, every one of whom would halt me to examine my pass, or would turn me back if without one.
Sergeant T. J. Watson volunteered to go with me. How we got out of the guard-house it is not necessary for me to mention. From Lagrange we took a south-east course, across the country toward Davis' Mills; we struck the railroad where the wagon road crosses it. There we found some pickets, belonging to a detachment of five companies stationed at Davis' Mills, under command of a Major, and charged with guarding a portion of the railroad. At the time we approached them, they were all, except the sentry, engaged in cooking a part of a fat porker that they had confiscated during the night. We halted and entered into conversation with the boys, as though we had no intention of going on. Having finished their cooking, they asked us to eat with them, which we were no way backward about doing. We finished our breakfast, and were about starting on, when the sentry, who had been more attentive to duty than we had hoped, asked us if we had passes. I told him we had not, and that we were on our way to the front, and had not been asked for passes before, and did not know as it was necessary to have them. With that explanation, the sergeant of the guard let us pass, but told us that it would not do to let the Captain in command see us.
Not liking to run our chances with him, we crossed the railroad and left it to our right, and crossed Davis Creek on a log, and, a short distance from the creek, turned to our right, so as to reach the bridge across Wolf River, near Davis' Mills. As we were passing through the cleared field, I discovered to my left, on a rise of ground, a squad of guerrillas, mounted on horses. We were within easy shot of them. We were then within half a mile of the detachment camped at Davis' Mills; they probably did not wish to alarm the Federal pickets. They had evidently discovered us first, and were watching for an opportunity to "gobble us up."
"Tom," said I to the Sergeant, "what kind of soldiers do you call them?"
"What kind are they, Bunker?"
"They are a band of guerrillas, and they will have us in less than a minute, if we don't get away from here."
Just then the guerrillas started for us.
"Come on, Bunker; for God's sake, let us run!" said Tom. "They are coming now!"
Turning square to the right, away we went, as hard as we could run, toward Davis Creek. A hundred and fifty yards brought us to a dense growth of brush and briars, so thick as to seem impenetrable. There was no getting around it, for our pursuers were close upon us. With all the strength we could muster, we sprang into that briar patch and scrambled through. It was no time to mind scratches, and so we dashed on to the creek. Our pursuers could not get their horses through the briars, and before they could get round them, we were across the creek. We made our way to Davis' cotton-gin, where we found a picket post. A few paces from the post, the guerrillas were in sight. I showed them to the pickets, and told them I would go and report the guerrillas to the Major in command.
Having found the Major, I said: "Major, there are about thirty guerrillas just across Davis Creek, not half a mile from here, and if you will get out your men, you can surround them and capture them."
"Who are you?" he inquired.
"I am a scout for the Government."
"Where are you from?"
"Why, I am right from the guerrillas," said I, getting out of patience; "they have just chased me through a briar patch. Look at my hands and face, if you want any evidence of it. You can see the guerrillas from the cotton-gin."
"Who is that man with you?"
"Which is of the most importance, Major: for me to sit down and tell you my history, or for you to get out your men and capture those guerrillas?"
By this time the pickets had become alarmed, and sent in for support. The long roll began to beat, and every thing was excitement. Then was my time to get away.
"Come on, Tom," said I to the Sergeant; "we must pass the pickets at Wolf River bridge during the confusion incident to this alarm, or we will not get away from here without trouble."
As I had expected, the confusion enabled us to get by the pickets at the bridge. We continued on until about 7 o'clock in the evening, when we were halted by a railroad guard. The guard allowed us to come up, and we stayed at the post all night. Before we went to sleep, a messenger came along on a hand-car, with orders to double the guards during the night, for an attack on the railroad was intended, and that thirty guerrillas had already been captured at Davis' Mills, and that more were supposed to be in the vicinity.
At daylight I tried my persuasive influence upon the guards, and succeeded in getting leave to pass. From that time on we had very little difficulty in passing the guards. When we had gone about half a mile, we met six rebel soldiers, of the 8th Kentucky Regiment, on their way to give themselves up. They had become tired of the rebellion, and were anxious to return to their homes. From them I learned that a raid upon Holly Springs was in contemplation by the forces of Generals Van Dorn and Tighlman. The rebel deserters were so candid in their statements that I deemed them reliable; and when we reached Waterford, where General Ross' division was encamped, I called at his head-quarters, to report what I had learned. General Ross was absent, so I reported to the Adjutant-General. We then resumed our journey, and in five days from the time we left Lagrange, we reached our regiment, then at Oxford, Miss.
I immediately reported to Colonel Force, who inquired if I had been released from the guard-house.
I said, "No, sir; we ran away."
"Well, Bunker, I am sorry to say it: I can't harbor you in my regiment."
"I suppose, then, Colonel, that the best thing that we can do is to get away from here; a'n't it?"
"Well, I don't know but it is."
I then left him, and went to General Leggett, commanding the brigade, and told him the situation of affairs. He told me that we need not go back to the guard-house, and that we might stay with the regiment. I told him that I did not wish to stay, unless the men of my squad were released. He assured me that they should be, and immediately went in person to Major-General McPherson and explained the situation of affairs to him. He issued an order releasing the whole of us. When the order reached the men in the guard-house, they had been in confinement fifty-eight days. They reached the regiment when it was encamped about three miles south of the Yacona River.
During our confinement, very much interest and sympathy was manifested for us by both officers and men, and many of them rendered us valuable assistance. To General M. D. Leggett and Colonel M. F. Force, and to Captains F. M. Shaklee, E. C. Downs, and B. A. F. Greer, of the 20th Ohio, we are under very great obligations; and to the officers and men of the 78th Ohio and the 17th Illinois Regiments, who guarded us during the greater part of our confinement, I will here take the opportunity to express, in behalf of myself and squad, sincere and heart-felt thanks for their kindness and assistance.