Well, we arrived in Richmond in grand style, of course, and the next morning took a train for Culpepper C. H. When we got to Culpepper C. H., Col. Munford had orders to make a raid toward Manassas Junction, but we couldn’t go on the raid as our exchange papers hadn’t arrived and therefore Col. Munford had no control of us. He told us to go home for our horses and he would send our furloughs as soon as he could.
We took the train next morning for Lynchburg and when we were found to have no furloughs, we were stopped there for further orders. We wrote Col. Munford that we were under arrest, and to send the furloughs on. I happened to have a cousin by the name of Linkus keeping the Washington Hotel, and he went my security, and in that way I, with two other boys, got to spend our time with him.
Before I heard from Col. Munford, Gen. Devon sent for us to come back to the soldiers home, that he wanted to send us as guards for some deserters and Yankees that had been captured in the Western army.
He gave each of us a pistol and when we arrived at Richmond, the man who had charge of us handed the papers to Gen. Winder, and we took the Yankees to the Libby Prison and put them in charge of the officials there. When we went back to Gen. Winder’s headquarters, with our deserters, he told the Serg. to take us all to Castle Thunder. As the deserters had the same uniforms we had, he naturally supposed we were all deserters, but four of us were the guards for the others. As I was the oldest of the guards, I, of course, had to try to explain the case. But when I tried to do so, he told me to hush, that he wouldn’t talk to a deserter, and ordered the Sergeant to take us on.
This the Sergeant refused to do and a general racket followed. General Winder told another sergeant to take all of us, even our sergeant, because he wouldn’t obey him, to Castle Thunder. But he went to a Lieut., who was there on detached service, and who knew some of us, and had him to come and explain the whole affair to Gen. Winder.
He accepted the Lieutenant’s account, of course, and gave us four guards, transportation back to Culpepper C. H. He told the sergeant to take the real deserters on to prison, Castle Thunder, and in the stampede he had caused by trying to send us all, the deserters had every one gotten away.
When we got back to camp at Culpepper C. H., our exchange papers had arrived and Col. Munford gave us furloughs, so we made a second attempt to get home for the horses.
When we got to Lynchburg we learned that Gen. Devon had been removed from office and Gen. Colston put in his stead.
We went on to Bonsacks the next day and left the train and took dinner with Geo. Riley, who had three sons in our command. Mr. Riley was not at home, but Mrs. Riley sent us to Fincastle on horses.
When our furloughs expired, I took my valuable gray horse back, that I had captured, about 2 months before I had been captured. Alonza Rinehart, John Young and William Henderson, were my companions back to camp.