We next collected all our prisoners in the town and found that perhaps not more than seventy per cent could speak the English language and we were told that these foreigners had just been imported from Europe, rushed through Castle Garden, right to the army. They were told by the recruiting agents in Europe that they would receive large bounties, good pay and good treatment and be entitled to everything they captured, which latter of course, proved the greatest inducement of all.
We camped with Shannon that night near the town, and parted with him the next morning, they moving in the direction of Goldsboro, while we started back to our army, which we never saw again until the night of the day of the surrender, which was several weeks after.
CHAPTER XXII
We Receive Notice of Johnston’s Surrender—I Decline to be Paroled and Resolve to Make My Way Out.
After leaving Bentonville our army continued its retreat, the main part of the army finally moving in the direction of Greensboro, where it surrendered. Our little party continued to operate on Sherman’s flank, when we heard that there was a large amount of meat collected by the Federal cavalry at a little place called Marlboro, and we decided to get a wagonload of this meat and carry it with us to our army. For this purpose we impressed a wagon and team and loaded up with hams, which proved a great encumbrance to us and about the third day we left all with a poor widow woman, with her promise to hide out the hams in the woods and try to save them from capture. We finally reached our regimental camp the night of the surrender of Johnston’s army. Our regiment at first notice of the surrender, decided to make their way out and not take parole, but General Wheeler came down and made them a talk, stating the terms of the surrender to be that the cavalry would be permitted to retain their horses and sidearms and go home unmolested, if they could show a parole; but if not they would be treated and shot as Guerillas. Under this condition General Wheeler advised them to surrender, which they decided to do.
After feeding my horse and eating a little supper, I tried to make up a party to make our way out without taking a parole, believing that the army would be sent to prison, and, having determined never to see the inside of another prison, I prepared to go out and succeeded in inducing about thirty of the regiment to go out with me. We rode all night, and next morning came to a place where we found Colonel Harrison on crutches, standing in the door. I dismounted and went in to tell him that the army had surrendered and when about half way to him in the yard, he motioned to me with his hand, saying, “Back to your command; back to your command.” I told him that we were on our way to Texas, the army had surrendered and the Rangers had decided to surrender with the army and take a parole, which brought tears to his eyes. He repeated, “The army has surrendered and the Rangers going to surrender with the army? You did right, sir, in coming out; the Rangers shall not surrender with the army; I am going to send them word to come out.” He then bade us good-bye and we proceeded on our way.
That night we got to the town of Lexington, where we decided to stop for the night, camping at the edge of the town. I went into town to have some bread cooked for the party and it commenced to rain. Finally I succeeded in finding a place where a lady agreed to cook the bread for us all. The gentleman insisted on my staying at his house until his wife could cook the bread, which would take her all night, and as a further inducement, said if I would stay he would go with me the next morning and show me where about thirty barrels of Catawba wine was hid out, from which we could fill our canteens. The next morning, going down to where I had left the boys in camp, loaded down with bread, I found they had gone and left me. They had evidently become alarmed during the night and, not knowing where I could be found, they decided I would be able to make my way out all right. I then struck out, taking as much of the bread as I could conveniently carry, but did not take time to get any of the wine. I took the main Charlotte road, when in about two or three miles, the road forked, one seemed about as much traveled as the other. About six miles from there, towards Charlotte, I came to a house where I found Major Jarmon of our regiment, badly wounded, with several of our men taking care of him. These men told me that our party who had left me, had divided at the forks of the road, part of them taking the right hand, intending to go through Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee, the others going on to Charlotte, there to cross the river and go over into South Carolina. I then decided to go back to the forks of the road, take the right hand and try to catch up with the party going to Tennessee.
After following this road about two or three miles, I came to a branch, where I stopped to water my horse and immediately discovered about eight or ten old men and young boys riding horses, unshod, and with citizens’ saddles. They had a few squirrel rifles and no other weapons, and were also watering their horses in the branch near me. They asked me what command I belonged to. I told them I belonged to the Texas Rangers and my company was just ahead, when I asked them what command they belonged to. They said they belonged to General Lee’s cavalry, which I knew was not true, but that they were bushwhackers and I decided to get away from them as soon as possible. I started across the branch and at a little turn of the road I struck a trot, when two of them loped up behind me, separating, one on each side of me, one of them demanding to buy my saddle. I told him it was not for sale. The other wanted to buy one of my pistols. I told them they couldn’t have anything I had; “I know what you are after and if you know what is good for you, you had better drop back and let me alone.” They stopped and, I thought, started back to their party. I soon got to another turn of the road out of their sight, and struck a lope and ran about a mile and a half. I concluded perhaps they would come no further. I discovered a woman plowing in the field, at the far end of which was a log house on the edge of the woods, and just at the corner of the fence I noticed some fresh horse tracks turned off the road, which I concluded perhaps was our party who had gone to the house to get something to eat. I waited in the fence corner for the woman to return to the end of the row and asked if she had seen any men riding down the line of fence to the house, when she claimed she did not and while talking with her here this gang of bushwhackers came dashing up and surrounded me in the fence corner. I pulled out one of my pistols and told them the first man that raised a gun I’d kill “and I’ll get a number of you before you get me, for I am an expert shot and never miss,” when one of them said, “Come on, boys; let’s leave the d—— fool.” I told them,” Yes, you’d better leave.” Unfortunately for me, they turned right up the road, the way I wanted to go and when they concluded I had quit watching them, they turned into the woods, no doubt expecting me to continue on the road and they would then ambush me.
I first concluded that I must catch up with our party, as I was exceedingly anxious to go with them into Tennessee and it was not safe for me to go by myself, therefore decided I would ride along leisurely until I got up to the point where they turned out of the road, then, with my pistol raised, I would put spurs to my horse and run the gauntlet, which on further reflection, I concluded that I had better not attempt, as they would be bound to hit my horse in running by. I therefore turned back the way I had come. When within about two or three miles of the main forks of the road, I struck a well-beaten path, running in the direction of the Charlotte road, which I decided to take and getting back into the Charlotte road, I would ride on to Charlotte. After riding in this path about a mile and a half, I came to a large log house, to reach the front gate of which I had to pass through a barn lot that had a large gate, fastened by a log chain wrapped around the bottom of the gate and the gate post. When I got down off my horse to unwind this chain, I heard some one speak and when I looked up I found an old gentleman on the other side of the lot with a shotgun leveled on me. I told him not to shoot, “I am a friend and want some directions.” He said, “Now, that animal isn’t fit for you to ride and would be of no use to you, but you can’t take her.” I told him, “My friend, I don’t want your horse, I have as good a horse as I want. I only want some directions,” and after talking with him a little, satisfied him that I was not after his horse, when he invited me in. I then told him about being on my way home to Texas and how I had been separated from the party I was going with and wanted to get to the Charlotte road the nearest way I could get there. He then begged me to spend the balance of the day and stay all night with him. After finding that he was a good Southern man, I decided to do so, satisfied I would never catch up with our party that had taken the Charlotte road and I needed rest very badly, as also my horse.
The old gentleman told me that that whole country was overrun by a band of marauders that had been pillaging and robbing their homes and they had had a meeting of the people in the neighborhood and decided whenever a house was attacked they would blow a horn and all rush to the place of attack, there to shoot down every man they found that had no business there. It is hardly necessary to say that he wished they would attack his house the night I was there, because I had four pistols and was regarded by him as pretty good reinforcement, but nothing of the sort happened. I spent a very restful and pleasant night, with a good supper and breakfast, and next day started out, by a near road, to strike the Charlotte pike, which I did some several miles ahead of where I left Major Jarman, the day before, badly wounded.
When I finally reached Charlotte, I stopped to make some inquiry of an infantry guard stationed at a big stable, who told me that the guards in town had orders to arrest every man from Johnston’s army without a parole and advised me to pass around the main part of the town, into the road I was going on to. He furthermore told me that our whole Confederate Government was then in Charlotte; President Davis, with General Breckenridge, then Secretary of War; Judge Reagan, Postmaster General, and all the rest, and they had just heard the news of Lincoln’s assassination, which seemed to have cast a gloom over the entire party.