USA > Pennsylvania > History of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania volunteer cavalry which was recruited and known as the Anderson cavalry in the rebellion of 1861-1865; > Part 31
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T HE first campaign our regiment made in East Tennessee, in the winter of 1863-64, furnished many instances of hair-breadth escapes and exciting situations. Many of these were in connection with the small scouting parties under non-commissioned officers that were continually on the move, but on the evening of January 7, 1864, Colonel Palmer took the regi- ment on one of our usual night rides and we had the unusual experience of looking into the camp of a division of rebel cavalry of several thousand men, under the command of General John T. Morgan, at present the senator from the State of Alabama.
They were encamped on the north bank of the French Broad River, at Denton's Ford, about four miles above Dandridge. I cannot recall the roads and trails used by Colonel Palmer to reach the south bank of that river just opposite to where they had their camps, but we struck the first of them about eight o'clock in the evening, in time for the "tattoo" roll call. Not over two hundred and fifty yards from where we sat on our horses were the first of their camp fires, which extended back farther than we could see. Back of us were high hills, which, while they acted as a screen for us, were too steep to climb and were crossed by few roads or trails so that, had our presence been discovered, there was no chance of escape except to cut our way out. It was an every day occurrence for us to witness the roll calls among our own troops but it was a novel one to see our enemies fall into line, unarmed, and go through the same routine. When their bugles sounded the "assembly" our column halted and sat quietly on our horses looking at the unusual sight. The rebel First Sergeants took their stations on the parade ground and distinctly across the river we heard their orders "Fall in." Then the butternut dressed soldiers fell into line; the tallest men on the right and those who had the most mischief in them were on the left. The right was quiet, sedate and orderly as soldiers should be; the "left" was in
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confusion as usual, pushing, playing tricks on each other, and in one instance we saw one dance a "hoe-down" while another patted "Juba," of course in such a way that their First Sergeant did not see. As "tattoo" sounded, came across to us the order "atten- tion," and as the last note of the call ceased, the roll of each company was called to which the answer "here" was returned. We sat on our horses quietly taking in the scene. No loud talk- ing was done. The thoughts of most of them were evenly divided between the picturesque scene across the river and the possibilities of being discovered before a safe retreat could be made. By the time "taps" were sounded the camps had quieted down but still we waited. Soon, from the front, could be heard the sound of oars as if the rower was making as little noise as possible and then came the boat in sight, in which were four men who were quickly made prisoners. They were on their way to a dance to be held at a house back from the river and had slipped off unobserved by their officers. One of the prisoners told us of another boat load that was coming over for the same purpose and told us of the signal the first party was to make to show the way was clear. We made the signal and soon had four more prisoners.
It took us a long time to get away from where we were; at least it seemed long. Among the men it was understood that at each end of the road on which we were, a superior force of rebels were encamped, and our way out was over a trail leading across the hills to our back. There was considerable marching back and forth until it was located and then a hard climb and march, which took up most of the night, when we settled down for a few hours' rest at Squire Bremer's, near the mouth of Muddy Creek.
MY ESCAPE FROM ANDERSONVILLE.
COM'Y-SERG. BEN. F. BALMER, COMPANY A, HARRISBURG, PA.
I WAS captured on the 29th of January, 1864, on the French Broad River, near Fairgarden. I was with a scouting party, under Sergeant Lyon, which was sent across the country to find the enemy. We found a whole brigade of them, under General Harrison. They were Tennesseeans, and back of them was the division of General Armstrong. We probably had twenty men, but when we struck their vedette, having no idea of what was beyond, we charged in our usual style, and drove the reserve picket guard back to their lines. It was then their turn to charge, and when we saw it was a larger force than we had calculated on finding, we got out as fast as we could, with scores of them at our heels, calling on us to surrender. My horse was soon shot. I had emptied my revolver and my saber was shot away, and so I had nothing with which to defend myself. I ran for all I was worth, and kept looking over my shoulder to see how near they were, and when I saw one of them club his revolver to hit me on the head, I concluded the time had come to stop and threw up my hands in token of surrender, but I got the butt of his revolver all right, and saw the steeples of Richmond in that minute.
One of them said I was "the nerviest Yankee he had ever seen, that he had emptied five revolvers at me and that I kept telling him that I wouldn't stop till I had to." They kept telling me that they were going to shoot me. I was afraid some crazy fool among them would do so, and made no answer to their threats. This was only a prelude to their usual custom when a prisoner was captured. One said he would take my revolver, and did. Another told me to hand over my watch, and I did, first telling him that I wanted to keep it, as it belonged to a dead relative, but he simply repeated, "Hand it over! You'ns take from we'uns." Then one of them asked if I had any money, and I said, "No." I did have eighteen dollars, but did not want them to have it. He pointed his pistol at my head, and said, "Hand it over," and then that went. They
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just stripped me of all I had. I asked the Provost Marshal, Captain Elkins, if I might take the blanket off my horse, and when he gave his consent I took it and started off, with a guard, for the river.
We stopped at Indian Run, and I sat down on a foot log to rest, when along came another, who said he would like to trade boots with me. Mine were new-I had just drawn them six days before at Boyd's Creek-and his were a pair of old shoes, tied up with wire. It was not an even trade, and I wouldn't think of making such an exchange now, but just then he had a way of persuading one that it was the best thing to do, and I traded. Then my guard told me to jump on an old horse he was leading, and just then a fellow came up who said he wanted to buy my blanket. I told him that I didn't want to sell, as it was all I had to cover myself with. He replied that I had better sell it, as he was going to take it any- how, and he did.
After I had nothing else to lose, my guard told me I was "easy ; that if I had held on to it and the fellow had laid hands on me he would have shot him dead." If he had only told me this at the start of my trading operations I would have been better off, but now I had nothing more to lose and was let alone. For all that I found that my guard, who belonged to the Eighth Texas, was a jolly good fellow, and it was a pleasure to be with him. When we crossed the river he stopped to fill his canteen, but I went on, and fell in with Colonel Lane, commander of a Confederate regi- ment. We rode together for several miles, and it gives me pleasure to record the kind and considerate conversation I had with him, which was such a great contrast to what I had from those who captured me. When we got to the forks of the road there was the provost guard, and then the Colonel, bidding me good-by, said, "Here's where you have to stop."
I spent the balance of the afternoon and part of the evening in the camp of the Eighth Texas. They were splendid fellows, and treated me more as an honored guest than as a prisoner, but it did not last long, for in the evening I was taken on to Dandridge, the county seat of Jefferson County, and put in the jail. As I was going up the stairs, the Provost Marshal said to me, "We have another one of your Regiment. He will come over the river with Longstreet's Corps."
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I was lying on the floor, with a stone for a pillow, when I heard them coming, and called out for "the man from the Fif- teenth," when John H. Moredock, of Company G, answered. He had been captured two days before. Each man had issued to him next morning a small cup of flour, and at the same time the Provost told us we had to march soon. I had made dough out of my flour, and slapped it against the outside of the stove to bake, when he called to us to "fall in !" It wasn't done yet, so I wrapped it in an old quilt I had picked up, and marched off with the others.
We were witnesses this day to a black deed, done by rebel sol- diers, and I understand that the like of it had been done by nearly all the rebel regiments in the field. In our party of prisoners were six loyal citizens, but they were called "bushwhackers" by our enemy. The Provost had received an order to "drop them along the road," which was synonymous to killing them. Among them was quite a young boy, and the officer, who had some spark of humanity in him, told the boy that he did not want to kill him, and the youngster replied that he did not want to see his father shot either. The Provost gave them orders to run, and the boy, his father and another old man got off safely, but the other three were killed, and after that was done our guard had a hearty laugh over what to them was a brave deed.
We had the next day another exhibition of one of their traits of character which cannot be commended. We had walked as far as Morristown and received another small allowance of flour for our supper, and one of our guards told Moredock that he would have it baked for a dollar, which offer Moredock accepted, and gave him a ten-dollar bill, but the man hasn't got back yet.
We took the cars for Richmond the next day, but stopped at Bristol long enough to cook some rations and to let Moredock lose another ten-dollar bill. The officer in command told us that if we had any money he would send a man to town to buy some provisions for us, and Moredock produced another ten-dollar bill, and gave it to him, and when the man got back he was drunk, and had neither money or anything for us to eat.
At Grand Junction we had to change cars again, and all the crowd around us were anxious to talk. An Irishman asked me where I was from, and when I told him Pennsylvania, he shouted,
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"Oh, boys! that is a good State! That is where you get your good butter and apple butter."
When we got to Richmond we were marched up Cary Street to Pemberton Prison, and were followed by all the children in the neighborhood, who called us "ragged Yanks" and every other epithet their brains could think of. It was here I met Abe Thomas, Joe Bontemps, Joe Rue, Robt. Coombs, Adam Drink- house, Bev. Chase and Thos. Sale-all from our Regiment. Instead of being sent North, as we expected, we were put on the cars for Andersonville. As we came down the stairs from our prison, a big Baltimore "plug" was handing each one, as he passed, a loaf of corn bread, but when my turn came he just looked at me and let me pass without it, so I had nothing to eat till we got to Charlotte, N. C., where we got hard-tack. The next feeding place was Augusta, Ga., where each man got a loaf of corn bread, which was hard enough to sharpen an axe on, and we were then loaded on the cars again.
Should any of those who read this ever have occasion to travel in the same manner as we did, I can give a pointer-select one of the four corners of the car as your place. I had already found that out, but found this day that a big fellow had already pre- empted it, and a lively fight was the result, which continued until the rebel Captain in charge jumped in to see what was the matter, and concluding the big fellow was imposing on the little one, gave . me the coveted place.
After constant traveling for six days and nights, with rain most of the time, we arrived at Andersonville about I o'clock in the morning. I did not like my new home, and about the only way I could see to get out of it was to be carried out on a stretcher. I cannot describe this place. We used to call it the Black Hole of Calcutta, but there death came quickly, while here it was long drawn out.
Andersonville was a horrible place. I cannot write of it, and will leave that to others. Some time after we got there a detail was called for to assist in the prison butcher-house. I volunteered at once. I did not know anything about it, but my prison mate, Joe Rue, was a practical butcher, and he coached me in the theo- retical work of cutting up a carcass, and did it so well that Captain Wirz accepted me, and put me on a parole that I would
My Escape from Andersonville. 369
not try to escape, telling me if I tried it I would surely be recap- tured, and then he would hang me. Not many did escape at this time. A good many got away, but were taken again. Every day the surrounding country around the prison was patrolled by a keeper with a pack of bloodhounds, and the latter were so well trained that they would pick up the trail of a prisoner at once and iollow it till he was caught.
I soon became an expert butcher. Frank Knapp, of the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, was in our gang, and I found him to be a man of very kind heart, but about as rough-spoken a man as one could find. He took kindly to me, and called me "the boy," as I was the youngest of our party. The foreman of the bake- house stopped with us every afternoon ; his first name was Charlie, and he belonged to a New York regiment, and it was not long before we three were planning to escape, and at once began prepa- rations for it. A part of our duties was to wash corn-meal sacks, and we stole enough of these to piece out our clothing.
I had no pants from the knees down, but one of the boys, from Allentown, fixed me up. We used the ravelings for thread, and continued to get sufficient clothing made to make us more com- fortable, and with a pair of No. II shoes, which I had taken from under a dead man's head, I was pretty well togged out. When Charlie came to us the next day all the details were completed, and the day selected for our break was Thursday, the 8th of September, 1864. We baked a big corn pone, and I was selected to carry it, and when evening came all hands-that is, the three of us-were ready.
It took neat work to get away from the guard. Charlie and Knapp had already started, and were out in the darkness whistling for me, while I waited to get up nerve enough to make the run for it through the guard line ; but I did it at last, and fairly flew over the ground carrying my pone, and joined my comrades. We made good time that night, traveling due north, being guided by the north star, and on cloudy days we generally got lost.
In trying times how very superstitious we are. One of my comrades said that in starting on a journey it was good luck to kill the first snake we saw, but the first one got away. This was a little depressing, but it did not last long. About II o'clock the first night we heard the dogs on our track, but we ran into a
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swamp, by a stream of water, and then kept quiet, listening to the terrible howling they made, but when they almost had us, they were called off.
We left Andersonville fairly well armed, as we each took a sharp butcher knife. A little later one of the colored men we met -and they were always our ardent friends-got us a gun and about twenty pounds of powder and shot, and then after that we found, in the woods, an old gun with a broken barrel, but Charlie fixed it up so that it made a tolerably good gun. Before we started from Andersonville the boss of the butcher-pen had a suspicion that we had made up our minds to escape, and advised us that if we did go and should meet a man, black or white, to kill him at once, or we would never get through. It was not necessary to try this on a colored man, but white ones we were afraid of, and had the necessity ever risen we would have carried out the boss butcher's advice.
We did a good deal of wandering. One day, about 10 o'clock, we came to a fine cotton gin, and stopped a little while to rest and admire the construction of it; then we started off, and walked more swiftly to make up for the time taken for rest. About four hours later we came to another cotton gin and again rested to look at it, and the longer we looked the more familiar it became, and we finally discovered it was the same one we had passed be- fore, having traveled, like lost people do, in a circle. We marched generally in corn fields, because they shielded us so well, and for the watermelons planted in them. In fact, nearly all we had to eat was corn and watermelons, and while they are very good in their way, when taken as a steady diet they become very monotonous, and we craved something else. .
Charlie was not careful in eating, and swallowed too many seeds. He got very sick, and it looked as if he was going to make a "die" of it. I stayed with him, while Knapp went off to a house to try to get some medicine which would give him relief, and he soon came back with some pills, cold meat and a member of the Fourth Georgia Cavalry, who was home on a furlough. We gave Charlie the pills, Knapp and I ate the cold meat, and then we all had a friendly talk, as the Georgian told us that we need not be afraid of him, that he was getting tired of the whole business and would not give us away. None of us had any idea what the pills were
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to cure, but Charlie needed medicine and the pills came under that category, so we gave them to him, and in a few hours he got better, so that we could again go on the march toward Atlanta, where Sherman's army was.
The next morning we got into trouble again. The dogs were running over the plantation and soon got on our trail, and gave us a chase of about five miles. I kept looking at every tree I passed to see if they could be climbed, but they were all tall pines, per- fectly clear of limbs half way up, and I had to abandon that idea and take my chances, but after a long run the dogs let up on us. About this time we picked up a negro named Joe, whose home was at Rome, Ga. Hood's army at this time was all around us, and we had to hide in an old rag-weed field ; but Joe made friends with the colored people, who brought us things to eat and a big jug of sorghum syrup, which I had to carry. In the evening the colored people took us to a barn and put us in the hayloft, and the best meal we had on the trip was right there-roast chicken and custard pie. That's good at any time, but there is no word in the English language which can express the taste of it to appetites such as we had.
We stole three horses from this place and one from the next, and started again. I had a big one, with a sharp ridge of a back- bone, on which I sat, and got so sore that I could hardly keep on. Charlie, who was on a nice fat one, kept calling me to "come on," but in three or four hours he got very sore and fell back, and I took my turn at telling him to "come on." I was all right then, and we continued our march through the toll-gates, over bridges and by refugee camps until about 4 o'clock in the morning, when we dismounted and tied our horses in the woods, and walked a few miles till we saw a colored man coming with an ox cart, and sent Joe to find out the news. He told him that the white men were running a negro that morning, and found the four horses tied in the woods, and then they knew that some Yankees were around, and knowing they would be after us, we started again. We had picked up an old musket that was loaded to the brim, and after going some distance came to a ravine, where we concluded to get the old load out and put in one we were not afraid of, and getting to a good spot let her go. The noise it made was simply awful, and I thought the whole South could hear it, and we got away
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from that place pretty quick. That night we were reinforced by five more colored men, who wanted to go North with us. It was a very dark night, and as we came to a house we went into the yard to get a drink at the well. Just then a man came out of the house to get a drink also or to see who we were, and when he went back into the house again two more men came out and went down the road. We followed, but soon lost them.
Soon after we sent Joe into a hut for information about the road, but he did not learn much, and while he was reporting to us we heard the planter ask his slave "who that man was" and "what he wanted," and the colored fellow replied that he wanted to know the road to Covington." Then we heard him say, "I'll find out about this," and "bang !" went his gun in our direction, and "bang !" went one of our guns at the planter, and "bang !" came another shot at us. Charlie wanted to stay and fight it out, but the majority concluded it was better to move, and we did, and soon came to a river which was too deep to ford, but we floated over it somehow and got wet through, and went into camp until morning, when we resumed our tramp along the bank of the river, so that the sun would dry our clothes.
Soon we ran slap up against a planter, who was walking along with an axe over his shoulder, coming from the ferry, and no doubt he was startled at seeing us, for he said,"H-1! which way ?" We only said, "Not far," and as neither of us seemed to care for the other's company we soon parted, with the expectation, on our side, of meeting trouble. But we got our dinners first-that is, we picked some hazelnuts in the woods-and then tramped all over a corn field and picked out the most luscious melons, and when our feast was over went back to the woods for a rest and got sound asleep. But Charlie soon called to us that the dogs were after us again, and we started. It was some time before they got on our trail, as our tramping in the corn field had been of that zigzag character which confused the dogs, but when they did they made it lively for us.
It was a sight to see those colored men run ; they beat our party and left us behind, and I was the last of all. That was generally my position. We were running for all we were worth, and getting left fast, when I called to Frank and Charlie to jump the trail and let the others go. They did so, and we got under a bramble tree
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and took a look at the dogs as they passed by, hot on the trail of the others. But soon after they had gone I heard a noise, and looking over my shoulder saw four mounted rebels with guns on their shoulders following up the dogs. Shortly after they all came back, dogs and all, but somehow they missed our trail. In the evening a colored boy was going through the woods with a squirrel dog, and saw us. After some little coaxing he came to us and told of one of our party getting caught-that is, one of the colored fellows-after a chase of eight miles, but that the others got away.
While sitting under some chestnut trees, the next day, we heard some shooting, and Knapp said, "We must move at once; that's those fellows who were after squirrels and are coming our way." We had hardly left when the dogs came and took our trail ; one of them, a black setter, came quite close, but the balance of the pack went far off to the right. My hat fell off while I was running, and I stopped to pick it up, and as I did so the dog jumped back, and then I knew he was afraid of us. We got under a bramble tree again, while the dog kept barking at a respectable distance, and we made ready to shoot the first white man who came up. But they did not see us, and drove the dog away after the rest of the pack We heard all about this the next day. It seems that the dog which trailed us was a young one, in which they placed no confi- dence, but we knew he was the only one that got on the right scent.
We had been a long time now on our escape and were thor- oughly tired. Our principal diet was hard corn and melons, and we were hungering for something else. No doubt we did a good deal of wandering from a direct course, but we wanted to hear from Atlanta, our objective point. Of course, we asked all the colored people we met how far it was, and each day the reply was twenty miles. It didn't seem to get any nearer. Some of our days were void of all incidents; but others were exciting enough to make up for it.
One day we heard a colored man calling the hogs in a nearby field, and we concluded to hunt him up, and found him in a potato patch. The light suits we had made us look like rebels, and as soon as he saw us he made a mad break for the fence and. broke down three panels of it in getting away. As we were lost and
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