“Thad was eatin’. He look out, and then he throwed his head back and said, ‘Them’s the Federals.’
“Thad finished his breakfast and then he ran on out and got with the Federals. He didn’t join ’em. He jus’ fooled ’em. The bridge was half a mile from our house and the Yankee army hadn’t near finished crossing it when the head of it reached us.
“While they were at the house, pa came ridin’ up with the two hats on his head. They took the hats and throwed pa’s on the ground and tried Thad’s on. They took the mare but they give it back.
“Them folks stood ’round there all day. Killed hogs and cooked them. Killed cows and cooked them. Took all kinds of sugar and preserves and things like that. Tore all the feathers out of the mattress looking for money. Then they put ole miss (Nealie Haney) and her daughter (Louisa Haney) in the kitchen to cookin’.
“Ma got scairt and went to bed. Dreckly the lieutenant come on down there and said, ‘Auntie, get up from there. We ain’t a goin’ to do you no hurt. We’re after helpin’ you. We are freein’ you. Aunt Dinah, you can do as you please now. You’re free.’
“She was free!
“They stayed ’round there all night cooking and eatin’ and carryin’ on. They sent some of the meat in there to us colored folks.
“Next mornin’ they all dropped off goin’ down to take Dardanelles. You could hear the cannons roarin’ next day. They was all night gettin’ away. They went on and took Dardanelles. Had all them white folks runnin’ and hidin’.
“The Secesh wouldn’t go far. They would just hide. One night there’d be a gang of Secesh, and the next one, there’d come along a gang of Yankees. Pa was ’fraid of both of ’em. Secesh said they’d kill ’im if he left his white folks. Yankees said they’d kill ’im if he didn’t leave ’em. He would hide out in the cotton patch and keep we children out there with him. Ole mis’ made him carry us.
“We was freed and went to a place that was full of people. We had to stay in a church with about twenty other people and two of the babies died there on account of the exposure. Two of my aunts died, too, on account of exposure then.