USA > New Jersey > The history of the Ninth New Jersey Veteran Vols. A record of its service from Sept. 13th, 1861, to July 12th, 1865, with a complete official roster, and sketches of prominent members > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
When the yellow fever reached its worst stage in September, we were transported from Savannah to Charleston-many of us being thrown into the jail-yard among vile criminals of both sexes. I was afforded delectable accommodations directly under the scaffold, with a spot of earth three feet by six, and here was I compelled to remain day and night, with no covering
1
315
PLANNING FOR LIBERTY.
save the star-spangled firmament. The "black hole" of Cal- cutta could not have been a more uninviting place than the jail-yard at the time I occupied an almost infinitesimal space in it. The almost constantly bursting shells, denominated "rotten-shot" by the affrighted darkies, had some terrors for us, but they sank into insignificance when the dangers from yellow-jack were considered. The jail-yard was a noisome spot-a fetid place-a circumscribed world. Early in October rumors prevailed that we were to be removed to some other point, and believing that an opportunity for escape would pre- sent itself I invited three friends-Captain Harry H. Todd, Eighth New Jersey ; Captain J. E. Lewis, Eleventh Connec- ticut, and Captain Alfred Grant, Nineteenth Wisconsin volunteers, to join me in the attempt to regain the freedomn we ardently coveted, and for which we had repeatedly and arduously toiled. Providentially we found a portion of an old school map of South Carolina, and, carefully studying it, quickly decided upon a plan of action. Next morning, October sixth, six hundred of us were marshaled and marched to the depot, where we took passage on dilapidated cars, attached to which was a rickety, wheezing locomotive. As our train passed slowly along at the outskirts of the pestilential city, we saw a camp on the old race-course, filled with the most wretched looking beings it ever fell to my lot to look upon. They were Union soldiers-prisoners of war. Their condition was pitiable in the extreme. Although we were greatly distressed, many of us in rags, covered with filth and vermin, and half-starved, others unable to stand or walk on account of scurvy, yet our hearts went out to those brave enlisted men who were thus huddled together in the open air, with nothing save the ground for a bed, and heaven's canopy for a covering. The terrible picture of that pen will ever remain impressed on my memory.
Myself and three chosen companions having matured our plans, all that remained was to put them into execution. During the day I had taken the precaution to remove the percussion caps from the rifles of the seven armed guards who occupied the box car with us. I did this to prevent any one from being injured should a melee be found necessary in order to
316
NINTH NEW JERSEY VETERAN VOLS.
accomplish our design of jumping from the train. The shades of night were enveloping the earth as our train reached the long structure spanning the Congaree river a short distance above its confluence with the Wateree, and it seemed as if it would never reach the opposite side-so great was our anxiety to make a bold stroke for freedom. It would be useless to affirm that my mind at this critical moment was calm and serene, or that I had no misgivings as to what the result of our frightful leap might be. But the intense excitement into which our minds had been thrown-the resolve to seek liberty and home and friends, overcame the sense of peril, and the instant that Captain Todd gave the long-expected signal we each sprang from the car, and, for the time, at least, were free.
We had no time after reaching terra firma to reflect upon the terrors of our new situation. Fortune so far had favored us- that was sufficient. But those rifle flashes (we could scarcely hear their reports, so distant was the train,) warned us that if we would have perfect freedom, much remained to be done and done quickly. It was only when we had gained the covert of a dense swamp, which lined the river bank, that I reflected upon the manifold dangers I had just escaped, upon the many chances of fortune which had turned out favorably to me, and upon the liberty I had for months panted for and was beginning to enjoy.
The swamp we had entered was not such a place as gentle- men of leisure on a pleasure excursion would have selected ; on the contrary, it was a very disagreeable refuge, as we could discover no ground on which to sit or rest our weary bodies- the water being quite deep. But the fierce baying of the dreaded bloodhounds, and the hoarse voices of our excited human pursuers, which we heard all through the long night, admonished us to submit to every discomfort, rather than en- danger our highly-prized freedom. Convinced that the water through which we waded had destroyed our trail, and that so long as we remained in our present position the dogs would be unable to gain a scent, we studiously avoided all conversation during the night and following day, remaining perfectly quiet. A bright new moon rose to cheer us in our loneliness the next
-
317
. A HOT CHASE.
evening, and feeling that our pursuers, finding themselves baffled, had departed, we cautiously made our way to the edge of the swamp, which we found at this point to be bordered by a plantation. We held our breath as we listened some time for human sounds, and finding everything as quiet as a grave, emerged from our cover, and, skirting the right bank of the Wateree river, we promptly pushed forward in our flight towards "God's country," as our prisoners were in the habit of calling the north. Before leaving Charleston we had taken the precaution to place pieces of raw onions in our boots, having been advised so to do by an old Tennessee captain, who assured us it would effectually destroy the scent of our footsteps, and thus deprive the dogs of the agencies which nature had afforded them in hunting human beings. The moon, of tender age, was a great accommodation to us in our flight, enabling us to make rapid headway, and to steer clear of anything that resembled a habitation. But it disappeared before midnight, leaving nothing but the stars to guide and cheer us in our dangerous pilgrimage. Towards daybreak, being weary, we halted for a needed rest, and shortly after resuming our journey reached a broad road-way, where we found a mile-stone marked "27 to C." Having no desire to visit Columbia, whither our comrades had gone the previous day, we hastily struck off towards the river, and had gone but a few steps when a pack of ferocious dogs came bounding towards us. A long run enabled us to evade the savage brutes, but while congratulating ourselves upon our narrow escape, we suddenly ran almost squarely upon three men standing near a saw-mill. Darting into an adjacent swamp we managed to slip by our enemies, who took up the chase. A deep and swift-running stream at length appeared in our path, and unless we could cross it our recapture might be regarded as certain. But fortune did not forsake us, as a tree which had fallen across the stream enabled us to gain the opposite side, and into the depths of a dense jungle we plunged headlong. Serpents of various kinds finally compelled us to seek safety on the trunk of a huge pine tree, prostrated long since by old age and infirmity. We had considerable difficulty in getting out of the swamp after the sun went down, but that
318
.
NINTH NEW JERSEY VETERAN VOLS.
evening we had a splendid repast on sweet potatoes, a few of which we found in an old patch near by.
Before the lapse of a week, however, we met with a terrible misfortune in the loss of our cooking utensils, knives, spoons, towel, several boxes of matches, etc. The rations with which we had provided ourselves before starting having given out, we sought sustenance in the corn-fields, swamps, etc., and early one morning were enjoying a feast in the woods skirting a potato patch when a party of horsemen dashed furiously towards us. We had not anticipated danger in so lonely and secluded a spot, and perhaps were a little careless in our movements. But self-preservation being the first law of nature, and having no weapons of defence, we sprang intuitively to our feet and darted in an opposite direction, leaving all our valuables behind -things highly indispensable to our uses. For their loss we found consolation only in continued safety, and our ability to circumvent our enemies. While dangers of greater or less magnitude constantly surrounded us, they were as nothing compared to the question of subsistence, which soon began to grow unpleasantly urgent, and at length became so desperate that it looked as if we should be driven to seek food at the houses of the planters-a proceeding we had solemnly sworn not to do under any circumstances-as we knew we should receive from them neither food nor mercy. For several days we wandered along the outskirts of fields, diligently seeking corn, and occasionally finding a stray ear, which, spurred by a ravenous appetite, we managed to masticate-the process, of course, nearly breaking our teeth. In camp, and on marches, we had many a time anathematized government "hard-tack," and declaimed against contractors' beef, but now, crouching in dismal swamps through the long days, we would have relished the substantial fare which, in hours of plenty, we had so execrated.
But, with all our troubles, we continued to press on through the dreary days and tedious nights, oftentimes hiding, deter- mined to reach our homes again, though we had to go through fire to do so. Often and again, when upon the verge of starvation, we were strongly inclined to visit cabins of the
319
A FRIEND IN NEED.
negroes in whom we had almost absolute faith, but despite this, we as often beat back the tempter (our stomachs) and refused to jeopardize our situation until certain that we could find some one in whom to put our trust, and with it, our lives. We did not make a serious attempt to seek help from the slaves until we had reached a point two hundred and fifty miles from Charleston, where, one' afternoon, we found a number at work in a field. We experienced no difficulty in persuading the negroes that we were " Yankee . officers" escaping from bondage, and as soon as darkness fell they hastened to our hiding-place, and at once took us to the shelter of their lonely cabins, displaying the utmost delight at our presence. After this we did not hesitate in seeking them out. There was something almost royal in the cheerfully-rendered service of these poor creatures, who seemed to look upon us as in some way sufferers for their sake, and they fairly loaded us with kindness-oftentimes insisting upon our accepting the last pound of their meal. They also gave us explicit information, as to the best route to the mountains, and on our departure heartfelt blessings.
We had a remarkable adventure one night near Dallas, North Carolina. Becoming almost breathless from a long chase by some horsemen, we sat down to recover. By-and-by, we heard a man and a woman approaching, both singing from the depths of their lungs. Believing them to be negroes, we concluded to seek assistance, and when the man got within a few yards of us, halted him. The female, with a yell of terror, sprang into the woods and ran off like a frightened deer, while the man, in a voice which showed no nervousness, asked who we were and what we wanted. His voice satisfied us that he was a white man, and the clicking of a weapon gave evidence of his ability to defend himself. Necessarily we resorted to conversational strategy, putting and answering questions with wariness. It required but a brief time, however, to discover the status of the stranger, and probably he had never been embraced before with the vehement warmth we displayed when we learned that he was a loyalist, a firm friend of the Union. He insisted upon our visiting his home, two miles away, which we did by
320
NINTH NEW JERSEY VETERAN VOLS.
"cutting across lots," thus avoiding mounted patrols which continually scoured the country. His amiable wife, who had awaited his return, speedily prepared an excellent supper- the first we had had in six months-to which the reader may well imagine we each did the fullest justice, the smiles and kindly words of our hostess seasoning the rich repast. That night, sitting before the cheerful blaze of that noble North Carolinian's great hearth, he told us the story of the loyalty of the people in the western part of the State, proving to us that Freedom still had brave defenders among the hardy foresters of the " Old North State." " When the sun made its appearance we were several miles beyond Dallas-our genial and brave host, C. C. Withers, an ex-member of the legislature, having accompanied us some distance ; and after directing us to other Unionists, he disappeared in the deep shadows of the woods which surrounded us.
We now pursued our journey with lighter hearts and nimbler feet, notwithstanding the fact that our boots were fast giving out, owing to the terrible hard usuage they had undergone. Long before we reached the majestic Catawba I was compelled to walk barefooted, and much as I then suffered, it was no com- parison to what I underwent after reaching the mountains.
While making our way through a pine woods and endeav- oring to give a wide berth to the town of Morganton, a rendezvous for Confederate conscripts, we were almost paralyzed to discover, but a few yards away, and directly in our course, a magnificent looking Confederate officer in full uniform, mounted upon a fine horse. In his holsters were a brace of pistols, and at his side, a sabre. A retrograde movement on our part would be useless. Instinctively we halted as the horseman stood before us, with pity depicted in his every look. He asked no questions, but directed us to the best point for . crossing the Catawba, whose angry roar we could plainly hear, and then putting spurs to the noble animal he bestrode, dashed away. We hastened on and in two hours stood upon a high bluff overlooking the streamn, which required two days' time to cross. Discovering apple trees in a field below, we descended and picked what fruit remained, which we were rejoiced to
1
MASSENE. B.N. Y. ..
---
'CORP'L JOHN V. M. SUTPHIN,
CORP'L FRANCIS A. KENYON,
COMPANY F.
COMPANY B.
32I
CROSSING THE CATAWBA.
obtain. It was while thus engaged that we were discovered by a number of men who lived in a house on the opposite side of the river. Seeing them hasten down to the river's bank, spring into a boat and row across, we took to our heels and put as much distance as possible between us and them before darkness settled upon the earth. They found our retreat at midnight, but again did we succeed in giving them the slip. The country about there seems to have been fully aroused, as next day we saw parties of men in various directions, acting in an excited manner. Towards the close of the day, however, we again managed to reach the right bank of the river, by crawling on our hands and bodies through the high, dry weeds which extended almost from the woods to the water, and were made inexpressibly happy soon after by discovering a large flat boat, fastened to a stump, lying a few yards up stream. Nothing but death would now prevent us from crossing our "Jordan," but it would not do to be too precipitous in our action. It required much skill to guide and propel the craft across the swift-running current, but we finally accomplished the task, and springing upon the shore, allowed the boat to float away, and shortly afterwards had the satisfac- tion of witnessing its destruction among the rocks a few hundred yards below, believing this conduced to our safety. The Catawba river was the most serious obstacle in the water line that we had to contend with, and we were devoutly thankful that we had been so fortunate in accomplishing its passage.
This speedily brought us into Caldwell county, where we providentially met many deserters from the Confederate arinies -men who, impressed or driven into a service which they had condemned from the start, and for which they never had any- thing but hatred-in their mountain homes, now defied the power of the Confederate authorities. These brave men, headed by the numerous Estes family, welcomed us with open arms, for there was a sort of kinship between us which made us at once the strongest friends. It was in this section that we became associated with many of these brave and hardy mountaineers, and had from scores of lips the story of their present life, which was full of peril and sublime heroism. These
322
NINTH NEW JERSEY VETERAN VOLS.
men were associated with another class called "lyers-out," who lived in caves and other retreats, and who had resisted or evaded the conscription through all the years of the war-a period to them and their families of vicissitude and suffering. In all my wanderings I never saw more determined men ; and, mingling among them, I thought of the brave defenders of the Tyrol ; of the hardy Waldenses, fighting and dying among their native hills for dear liberty's sake. Most of the noble fellows whom we thus met in the mountains of western North Carolina were, before the war, in comfortable circumstances, owning pleasant and profitable farms, but now all were reduced to want, many of them being penniless. I saw many men in this region who, compelled to abandon everything because of their devotion to the government and the Union, had not dared to cross their own door-sills, although almost daily they had seen their homes from their hiding-places in the dense forests and among the mountains they loved so well. While thus exiled in enforced idleness, their brave, true-hearted and devoted wives performed every drudgery, working their little farms, and often at the dead hour of night, at the hazard of their lives, carrying food, etc., to the refugees, in whose well-being they were so warmly interested. A volume would be needed, were I to repeat the tales of suffering and the narratives of guerrilla outrages prac- ticed on these people. But, long since, I decided to let bygones be bygones.
We had but little difficulty in persuading a hundred and more of these loyal North Carolinians to accompany us on our journey to the Union lines, reaching which we promised to use our influence in procuring them arms, clothing, etc., and with but little hesitation they bade their wives and little ones farewell, and started. Their wives would pray for them, they said, and if they were so fortunate as to procure arms and ammunition, then they would return and be able to protect their homes, and put an end forever to the atrocities committed in the name of the Confederacy. How the weather-beaten faces of these men glowed under the inspiration of that thought! How fondly the little hands of their children clung around the necks of these self-sacrificing mountaineers in the solemn
323
A FEAST ON BEAR MEAT.
parting, and how anxious were their noble wives that they might be successful in obtaining the ardently desired supplies.
A fatiguing march of two days brought us to the summit of Grandfather mountain, on which lived the family of a Baptist clergyman, named Prickett, who, despite their wretchedness, extended a kindly welcome, bidding us make ourselves as comfortable as the limited capacity of the log cabin allowed. Most of the party, however, continued on to what was called the "rock-house," a huge rock under which Mr. Prickett and his two sons had often found refuge when searched for by the Confederate soldiers. Mrs. Prickett regretted she had nothing of the meat kind with which to regale us, but before supper- time arrived, "Sim" Philyaw, a noted Union scout, brought in a young black bear, which he had killed near the old mill below. This was a grateful surprise to all. We had a square meal before following our companions to the rock-house -- the first bear meat I had ever tasted. That night a violent snow- storin set in, and when day appeared, the ground was covered with the fleecy flakes to the depth of six or seven inches. My heart almost failed me as I remembered that I was without covering for my feet ; that I had no hat ; that my red flannel shirt, which I had worn more than six months, was threadbare ; that my blouse was in tatters, and that my trousers reached but to my knees. I feared I must now certainly perish, so great was the cold which had set in in earnest, so biting was the blast which reached us at an altitude of more than six thousand feet. Our mountaineer friends were not in the most cheerful frame of mind when day broke, and my worst fears were realized when they informed us that it would be impossible to proceed until the storm abated. until the snow left no trail of our march. I besought these men to make another start, promising them all sorts of good things on arriving within the Union lines, and at noon, to the great joy of my heart, they resumed the tramp over the dreary and inhospitable waste, on which, for days afterwards we suffered more than tongue can tell or my pen describe. Occasionally Major E. A. Davis of the Third North Carolina mounted infantry, who was up in the mountains looking for recruits and who was, with his
324
NINTH NEW JERSEY VETERAN VOLS.
Henry rifle and navy revolver, a valuable acquisition to our party, succeeded in replenishing our larder with a bear or wild hog or turkey, which would be equitably divided. It was while making our weary way across this trackless waste that a desperate engagement occurred between a company of Con- federates under Captain Hartley, and a small band of Unionists commanded by Lieutenant James Hartley, of the Third regiment. The confident Confederate at last gave up the contest, and hastened to rejoin Breckinridge's army-then advancing upon Knoxville, via Cumberland Valley. I appre- hend that the fight was all the more desperate, as the contesting parties were led by two brothers.
Many of the mountains in the Appalachian chain, over which we wearily pursued our difficult and dangerous way, rose to a height of between five thousand and seven thousand feet, and, on a bright day, seen from a distance, they seemed bathed in a beautiful mellow haze. Oftentimes we looked down upon the tops of mighty forests, and, despite our sorrowful and peculiar position, never tired of their grandeur. Gaining the great Smoky mountain range, I involuntarily turned, and looking Carolinaward, saw our old friends of the Blue Ridge and Alle- gheny ranges, scattered for miles in friendly groups among the dark and forbidding-looking forests ; before us and behind us deep ravines, and beyond all, uncorneted peaks which the bright blue sky seemed tenderly to bend over and kiss. Space will not perinit a narration of the thousand thrilling incidents con- nected with our remarkable journey, and I shall have to content myself by drawing the veil over them, and closing with an account of our entering the Union lines.
We had another narrow escape from guerrillas at Crab Orchard, Tennessee, and evaded them only by a wide detour, making for Bull Gap, at the foot of the beautiful Cumberland valley. Keith and Palmer, with their bands of irregulars, got upon our trail on Higgins' Ridge, and came within an ace of gobbling us as we were climbing Big Butt mountain, from the summit of which we beheld the valley, the promised land. Greenville, the home of Andrew Johnson, lay like a speck just below us, while fifteen or twenty miles away, directly in our
-
325
THUNDER IN A CLEAR SKY. .
front, was Bull Gap, through which ran the railroad to Knox- ville-one hundred miles distant-a place of all others we now most desired to reach. In a few hours my torn and bleeding feet would receive the care and attention their condition called for ; in a few hours I should again be under the flag I had fol- lowed in the field since April 16, 1861 ; in a few hours my fears and trials and fatigues would be ended, and joy and peace reign in my mind. "Only fifteen miles from the foot of this hill," said my friend "Bill" Estes, who had done all in his power to alleviate my sufferings, "and we shall be safe." That exclamation urged me to renewed vigor, stimulated me to increased action and enlivened my spirits in a most wonderful manner. Down Big Butt we went with accel- erated pace, despite its roughness-all the while keeping our eyes upon the "Gap," as if it would take wings and flee from us. A loud reverberation, which came up from the hitherto still valley, shook the grand old hills about us, causing an instantaneous halt of our entire party. What could it be- what caused it? The answer came the next moment in the unmistakable report of artillery and musketry ; and looking towards the "Gap," the smoke arising from a battle then and there in progress was plainly visible. Now, indeed, was my position discouraging. With an army of the enemy directly across my path, and with cruel and desperate guerrillas hovering about us, how should we escape recapture, perhaps death ? As the shades of night settled upon the earth there came a sudden termination of the conflict. What would the morrow bring forth ?
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.