"The wild deer and wolf to their covert" must "flee,"
we bethought us that the negro village might abound in material of which shanties might be erected, and, as Billy Patterson elegantly expressed it, "be a d—d sight more comfortable than miserable." This bright thought was slow in spreading, and it was not until three or four men of a mess erected a snug shanty, that it took root and flourished—and then there was a rush for the 'diggins.'
The shanties at the outpost, once the shelter of the humble household gods of many a smoky descendant of Ham, were threatened with disembowelment—until the fury of the onslaught was turned upon the cotton gin, which soon presented a skeleton appearance. The plundered boards and scantling had to be carried by the men half a mile. But they set to work with a will. For at least two weeks nothing could be heard around the camp, from sunrise to the going down thereof, but hammer and saw, and saw and hammer, and from the promiscuous heaps of purloined boards and scantling there arose in due time one of the most curious villages that could be met with outside of negrodom; but they were as comfortable as could be desired, and well laid out with bunks, gunracks, &c. Each had a flue or chimney for a stove or fireplace, the bricks to build which had to be carried on the back, or wheeled by hand from a mile and a half to two miles; and as wood was plenty, we never lacked for good fires. Thus comfortably situated, it was no wonder that we became attached to Evans' Mills.
It being designed to erect permanent barracks in the vicinity of Newbern, and the steam saw mill in that city proving insufficient to supply enough lumber—workmen being plenty, a detail from any of the New England regiments supplying any number needed—it was resolved to repair the broken dam at Evans' Mills. A detachment of about sixty contrabands, under the superintendence of a sort of Baron Munchhausen chap, a private in a New York artillery regiment—was sent to make the necessary repairs.
The dam had broke away at the waste water gate—and the genius who was sent to repair it, commenced by filling in the waste gate with brushwood and earth—and, after a month's labor, (costing the Government over $1,500), he succeeded in partially stopping the water, so that a few thousand feet of boards could be sawed; but the first rain-storm swelled the dam so much that, having no proper outlet for the superabundant water to escape, it gave way, and the blundering fool and his work departed about the same time—the former to hospital sick, and the latter to be distributed along the oozy bottom of the tortuous creek which emptied into the Trent River.
When the rebels were defeated at Newbern, Evans, like other large planters, sent all his slaves to a plantation which he owned in the upper part of the State—that is, all who were worth sending, for he left two old negroes and their wives behind to 'take charge' of the plantation. These, in process of time, and the occupation of the place by our forces, were joined by others, until the negro population at the time our company went there, amounted to about ten, including picaninnies. The old negroes alluded to were called respectively, Old (Uncle) George, and Indian Joe. The former venerable old patriarch was "eighty-five, sar," communicative and religious, and the latter a cross between the Negro and Indian—retaining a good deal of the aboriginal physique and character—respectful, but retiring in his manner; and, though said to be fully as old as George, was spry and supple, a good hand at a tar-kiln, and a keen sportsman, never going to the woods without being accompanied by his dogs and an old Harper's Ferry musket—
"For you know de coons come out sometimes 'fore dark, and de deer dey stray off up dar down here in de day, and dey's good eatin', I reckon, is dem deers."
"I suppose you would not hesitate to pink a rebel if he should come across you instead of a deer, Joe?"
"Lor, yes—no—reckon—(scratching his head). O yes—right good day, sar—good morning, sar."
I think he'd shoot—if the alternative was to shoot or be taken.