FROM ATLANTA TO THE GULF.
No fugitives passed through more romantic adventures than Wood and
Wilson. The southward course they took saved them from an energetic
pursuit, but their unwillingness to trust the negroes exposed them to
imminent peril of starvation. The idea that any of our party would seek
for the Gulf blockading squadron probably never entered the head of any
pursuer. It was well that this route was chosen by Wilson, for in no
other way could he possibly have succeeded in carrying his sick comrade
with him. The manner in which poor Wood, who had been for months
suffering from fever, and was scarcely able to walk about the jail, was
taken from "Atlanta to the sea" by a starving comrade, would seem a most
improbable invention if met in a work of fiction. I extract the complete
account of the escape, with a few unimportant omissions, from "The
Adventures of Alf. Wilson," written by himself, and first published in
book form in Toledo, 1880. The account begins in the Atlanta jail-yard.
The necessity for immediate flight was first seen by Wood, who
exclaimed,--
"'Alf, come on, quick! the boys are getting over the fence at
the back of the jail; hurry up, for there's a company of guards
coming double-quick.'
"This was my old comrade, Mark Wood, and his voice was the
first warning I had of the danger that threatened me, or of the
necessary change in our programme.
"'Then bounce that fence!' I yelled. We both reached the top of
the high fence at the same instant, and not a second too soon,
for, as I glanced over my shoulder from the fence-top, I saw
the guards with gleaming muskets pouring in at the gate, and
before I could throw my leg over and spring off a volley was
fired, the balls rattling and whizzing all about us. One bullet
struck the picket under my thigh, and so close that the
splinters lacerated my flesh, and as my feet struck the ground
on the outside, I said to Mark, 'I am hit.'
"'Get up and run like----!' exclaimed Mark.
"I was on my feet in an instant, not knowing whether my thigh
was shattered or not. As I ran I clapped my hand there to see
if it bled freely. I pulled away a lot of splinters, and had
the satisfaction of finding that I had received only a slight
flesh wound made by the picket splinters. Never did I make
better use of my legs; there was need of it, too, for the balls
were spatting about us in the dirt uncomfortably near. They
came so thick and closely at one time that I was almost certain
that one or both of us would be hit; but we answered their
cries of 'Halt! halt!' by springing forward with all the speed
we could command.
"It was about a mile before we struck the cover of woods, and
then the trees were so scattering that they afforded only a
doubtful place for concealment. It was now every man for
himself, and, like the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, we
longed for darkness or some other friendly interposition in our
behalf. Wood had come up with me, and we dodged stealthily from
one thicket to another until it began to grow quite dark, when
we breathed easier and acted more deliberately, although we
well knew we were not out of danger yet.
"About this time, we became aware that we were approaching a
public road. We soon had warning that it was much better to
halt, and not attempt to cross the road. The sound of galloping
horsemen in great numbers and the clanking of sabres could be
heard near by. We were so nearly out of breath that we could
run no farther for the present, and, on looking hastily about,
discovered a low, scrubby pine-bush surrounded with shrubbery.
We both darted under its protecting shelter, and lay flat on
the ground on our faces, neither having spoken a word to the
other for some minutes, on account of our great exhaustion. We
were so near the road that we could plainly see all the
movements of the rebel cavalry, who were deploying their line
something in the manner of skirmishers.
"This presented an unexpected difficulty in our way. If we had
reached the road two minutes sooner we might have crossed
without being seen, but we could not have been there an instant
sooner than we were, unless we had had wings, for we had both
run until we were ready to fall in our tracks. We had become
separated from the rest of the party, but could still hear the
reports of muskets, and knew that the pursuit was still going
on, but how many of the escaping party had been killed was
beyond our knowledge, though I had seen Captain Fry reeling and
stumbling in a manner that led me to fear he was shot. We were
thus compelled to lie quietly for some time. While we were
waiting here the cavalry was relieved by infantry, and formed
into squads to scour the woods.
"The place where we lay was not over fifteen steps from where
the infantry sentinel was stationed. We could hear every word
he spoke to the man on the next post. Their comments on the
affair at the jail would have been amusing to us under less
serious circumstances, and I wish I could give their words
exactly now, for they were ludicrous enough.
"Some time late in the evening, while we were still lying under
the bush, we became aware that some one was approaching us very
quietly. In the dark we could recognize the dim outlines of two
men, and we felt certain, as they came so near us that we could
have almost touched them, that it was two of our comrades; but
we dare not even whisper to them, lest we should cause them to
betray themselves, and, perhaps, us too. They were, evidently,
from the cautious manner in which they moved, aware that they
were very close to the rebel guards. These men, I afterwards
learned, were Porter and Wollam.
"After waiting a short time to see if they were discovered, and
hearing nothing of them, we began to crawl out, concluding that
there was no probability of the guards leaving that night. I
should judge the sentries were stationed about thirty paces
apart, and to get out there was no alternative but to pass
between them. I selected a place and crawled to the other side
of the road safely, and then lay perfectly still, while Mark
did the same. My hair fairly stood on end as he wriggled along,
for it seemed to me once or twice as if one of the sentries
would certainly discover him before he would reach me. This was
one of our most narrow escapes.
"We were no more than safely across the road when a new and
unseen obstacle, in the shape of a high fence, presented
itself, over which we must climb before we could breathe free.
We crawled carefully to the fence, and by great patience and
much care, one at a time, managed to get over without
attracting the attention of the guards. We felt as if we had
accomplished quite an achievement when at last we had escaped
beyond the fence a few steps and found ourselves in an open
field, where we could push ahead noiselessly, and when, at
last, we got away entirely out of hearing, we struck out on a
full run. At the far side of the field we came to a small
stream, in which we travelled some distance in the water, to
take precaution against pursuit by dogs. Soon after, we struck
a thick piece of woods on the slope of a hill-side, which we
continued to ascend under the thick foliage for some time. But,
at last, exhausted Nature asserted her full sway, and we were
compelled to lie down and rest out of sheer inability to go
farther.
"Up to this time, I think, neither of us had spoken any more
than if we had been dumb. As we threw ourselves on the ground,
without breath or strength to go farther, we began to realize
the weak, helpless condition we were in. It did not appear as
if our limbs were strong enough to carry us five miles a day.
When we looked forward to the long journey ahead of us, the
hunger and fatigue, it looked a little discouraging. I think,
however, a portion of this sense of physical prostration was
caused by the sudden relaxation from the great mental strain
and excitement which had been upon us from the time of the
jail-break and immediately preceding it. This, with the intense
exertion in running, in our enfeebled condition, had wellnigh
unnerved us. We were wild, too, almost, with joy at our escape.
"But we had but little time to rest, rejoice, or feel thankful
in. Many contingencies yet stood between us and the goal of our
hopes. Many armed enemies; many long, weary miles of travel;
many rivers lay across our path, and many days of hunger and
many sleepless nights, if we would succeed.
"Before we escaped from the prison I studied over the subject
of routes very carefully. I had seen enough of night travel in
the mountains about Chattanooga and along the Tennessee River,
and well knew that the probabilities of our being picked up,
should we go in that direction, would be very much greater. I
therefore decided in my own mind that I would strike out for
the Gulf, and try to reach some of the vessels of the Federal
blockading squadron. While this would be much the longest
route,--the distance, as near as I could calculate, being over
three hundred miles,--I thought there would be less vigilance
and liability of pursuit in that direction. In this conjecture
it turned out that I was correct. The country was entirely
unknown to me, except a slight general idea I had of it from
the school geographies. I only knew that the waters of the
Chattahoochee River, which flowed west of Atlanta, entered the
Gulf.
"While we rested on the hill-side I communicated, in a whisper,
to Mark my views, and he readily agreed that he would go in any
direction I thought best. Accordingly, we rose up and walked to
an open place where we could see the stars, and soon determined
our course, which was to be slightly south of west, and at once
we set out as fast as we could travel. We spoke no words as we
walked on, and went as noiselessly as possible, for we were on
the lookout for scouting parties of cavalrymen that might be
prowling about.
"We soon came to the railroad track leading from Atlanta to
Columbus, and knew from this that our course was about right.
Our march led us through some rough country, and we were
compelled to rest quite frequently, so that when it began to
grow light in the east we estimated that we were about eight
miles from the prison. We sought out a secluded retreat for the
day, and after getting each of us a stout stick, which would
answer either as a weapon or a walking-stick, we lay down and
slept until late in the afternoon. We woke up much rested, but
were so lame and our feet were so sore that we could hardly
take a step without excruciating pain. We were hungry, and the
scanty morsel of corn-bread we had brought from the prison the
previous evening did not go far towards satisfying our sharp
appetites. But it was all we had, and we ate it and were
thankful, although we did not know where or when we would get
our next rations.
"I now saw a difficulty in this attempt to get away that we did
not encounter in our first attempt to reach the Federal lines.
Our clothes had become dirty and ragged, and we had a sort of
jail-bird look, that it seemed to me would betray us if we were
seen. I was brought to a realization of this fact as I looked
at Wood, when we sat together in silence beneath the great tree
where we had taken shelter, waiting for the friendly mantle of
darkness to shield our movements. And I suppose my own
appearance was no more prepossessing than his. The miserable
garments he wore did not cover his nakedness. His face was
begrimed with dirt almost set in the skin. He had become thin
and emaciated with fever, and had a ravenous appetite; his eyes
were sunken in his head and seemed to have the wild, unnatural
glare of a madman, which at times almost made me shudder. The
poor fellow's pitiable appearance, as he sat there despondently
and longingly gazing down on the beautiful valley below, was
such as to appeal to a heart of stone. Yet I knew that it was
unsafe for us to go to a house, and we agreed not to be seen by
a human being if we could avoid it. I felt certain that if we
should meet any one, our appearance would at once betray us. We
were in a country where we could not expect to find a friend,
unless, possibly, it might be the negroes, of whom, as a class,
we knew but very little. We were so weak, and the mental strain
and long-continued anxiety, in which we had lived from day to
day, had had the effect of making us, I may say, foolishly
suspicious and timid of everything. We were startled at every
sudden noise, and crouched like sneaking wolves from the sight
of man.
"While in the midst of unpleasant thoughts, Mark broke the long
silence by raising his head and saying, 'Alf, it is time for us
to go.'
"Our journey that night took us through a corn-field, where we
pulled a few ears of corn and chewed it as we went along. I
remember it was hard and made my jaws very tired, but it helped
to quiet my gnawing hunger. It was much better than nothing.
After a toilsome night's journey, guided by the stars, and over
a very rough county, in which we entirely avoided roads, we
again secreted ourselves as the streaks of gray began to appear
in the east, and, after scraping up a pile of leaves, lay down
for the day. When we awoke, late in the afternoon, we found
that our feet were so bruised and sore, and that we were
otherwise so lame, and withal so weak from hunger, that it
taxed our endurance to the utmost to take a single step. We
each took from our pockets an ear of corn, and after crunching
and swallowing what we could, we put the rest in our clothes
and hobbled off, making but very slow time for the first mile
or so. It was in the month of October, and the nights were
pretty cool, which, in our poorly-clad condition, compelled
us to keep moving all the time to keep comfortably warm.
"The next morning came and still we had not reached the river.
Again we hid ourselves and slept through the day. When night
came and we tried to walk, we found our feet in such a
deplorable condition that it did not seem possible for us to go
farther. Mark crawled some distance on his hands and knees,
and, looking back at me, said in an appealing tone, 'Alf,
what's a fellow's life but a curse to him when he has to drag
it out in this way? I would rather be dead and done with it.'
"I encouraged him, telling him the worst was over and we would
soon reach the river. I suppose we had shaped our course a
little too far south, and thus made the distance longer than it
would otherwise have been. We struggled on for some time,
crawling where the ground was stony, and stopping very often to
temporarily quell the pain in our feet. I was a little ahead,
and, as the breeze fanned my aching temples, I thought I heard
to our right the lull of running water. I told Mark and cheered
him up. We forgot our tortures for the time being and scrambled
on quite lively, and soon after had the satisfaction of
standing on the banks of the Chattahoochee.
"De Soto did not feel more joy when he first discovered the
Mississippi, the great Father of Waters, nor was the ecstasy of
Balboa greater, when, from the cloud-capped summits of Darien,
his eyes first beheld the vast expanse of water which he named
the Pacific Ocean. Like that great discoverer, we waded out
into the water, carrying neither naked sword nor the banner of
our country like he, to take possession of our discovery in the
name of our rulers, but to bathe our painful feet and cool our
parched throats.
"We made certain of the direction the river current ran, and
started southward in high hopes, although the temptation to go
northward to our friends was very strong. We now wanted a boat,
and, not long after we started, fortune had another pleasant
surprise in store for us, for we came upon a skiff safely
moored, with lock and chain, to a tree. After carefully
inspecting the surroundings to see that no prying eyes were
peering on us, we 'loosened' the lock with a stone, and in a
few minutes after were smoothly gliding down the current of the
great river, and I doubt if two more joyful mortals ever
navigated a canoe than we two, with that stolen little craft.
"What a happy change! Our weary limbs and painful feet now had
a rest, and yet we were gliding noiselessly on our journey.
What wonderful teachers hardship and stern necessity are!
Discontented mortals do not half appreciate the blessings they
have until they have been pupils in the school of adversity. I
felt as if this chilly night's ride, in a little stolen boat,
on a strange river, whose shores were hidden by Plutonian
shadows, was the best and most grateful that I ever had, or
ever expected to enjoy.
"We pulled off our old boots and bathed our lacerated feet in
the water, and quenched the tormenting thirst caused by the
indigestible hard corn, which was now our only nourishment. We
kept our paddles pretty busy, as we wished to get as far away
as possible from where we took the boat before the dawn of day.
When daylight began to appear, we paddled our craft into a
bayou, safe from view, and secreted ourselves in a thicket for
the day.
"Four days and nights had now passed since we had eaten food,
except the morsel of corn-bread we brought out of the prison.
We lay down to sleep the day away, but between our great hunger
and the swarms of mosquitoes we could get but little rest. I
could, while sleeping, see in my dreams tables spread and
groaning with loads of good things to eat; bread, meat, cheese,
coffee, biscuit, and butter were all within my reach, and were
vanishing before my ravenous appetite, when, in the midst of
the great pleasures of this feast, I would suddenly waken to a
sense of the reality of the case, and what a maddening
disappointment I would feel. With this disturbed sort of rest
we worried through the day, the demands of hunger and our
stomachs getting the better of nature's demand for rest, until
at last we grew desperate, and at early twilight, in the
evening, pulled out of the little bayou, determined on a raid
of some sort on a house for food.
"We spied a house some distance from the river-bank, which we
thought from appearances we could capture with a plausible
story or by force.
"On approaching, we saw in its immediate vicinity quite a
number of negro cabins, and in the yard surrounding the house
about twenty blood-hounds chained to the fence, indicating that
these were the premises of an extensive planter. The only
occupants of the house were an old man and woman. We apologized
for disturbing them, and told them we were soldiers who had
been on furlough returning to our regiments at Atlanta, and
wished directions to the ferry (we had discovered a ferry as we
came down); also, that we were hungry and wanted to get
something to eat, provided they felt like feeding hungry
soldiers without money, as we had had no pay for some time, and
were both moneyless and in bad health, Mark's appearance
proving this latter assertion. It was quite dark, however, and
they could not see us very distinctly, but they evidently
credited our story, for they told us to be seated and we would
soon be made welcome to such food as they had.
"They were a couple of quite intelligent but unsophisticated
old people, in comfortable circumstances, living, as most
Southerners did, away from any highway, and we gained their
confidence so far as to feel ourselves assured from suspicion.
I had been in Dixie so long that I had acquired, from the
guards and citizens, their vernacular of speech quite
perfectly; besides this, we had learned the names of officers
and the number of different regiments, such as the Eighth
Georgia Cavalry, Fifth Tennessee Infantry, etc., until we
were able to tell quite a plausible story, if not too closely
questioned.
"We asked the old man if there was any late news. He said,
'Nothing, except that the Yankee raiders had seized the Atlanta
jailer, overpowered the guards, and a number of them escaped
and had not yet been caught.' We expressed great surprise that
such a piece of audacity could be made successful in Atlanta.
The old man said, 'They were a desperate, dangerous lot of
scoundrels, who ought to have been hung long ago.' He said many
of them stood up and fought the soldiers with clubs and bricks,
even after the guards had shot them through, and finally they
jumped the high fence and ran like deer.
"In the mean time we had devoured everything the good woman had
set before us on the table. We were ashamed, but our hunger was
so much stronger than our sense of shame that we could not
leave off, and, if we had not been in a hurry, we would have
waited for her to have prepared another meal for us. She said
she regretted that she had not more cooked to set before us,
but we told her she had been very kind, and thanked them, at
the same time bidding them good-night, when we started off, as
they supposed, for the ferry. A short time afterwards we were
in our boat pulling down-stream with more vigorous energy than
we had before. We kept up a steady stroke of the paddles for
some hours, feeling that each stroke placed so much more
distance between us and the prison.
"While we were thus moving along with steady, cautious stroke,
high in the hopes of the future, I suddenly, quicker than a
flash, found myself lying flat on my back in the river. What on
earth had happened I did not know, the accident had been so
sudden. I thought of earthquakes, whales, sharks, torpedoes,
and many other things. Luckily, one of my feet caught on the
side of the boat, and I drifted with it until Mark came to my
assistance and pulled me out. The cause of my mishap had been a
ferry-boat wire, which was stretched across the river, and hung
just low enough to catch me fairly as I sat in the stern of the
boat. It struck Mark, but he sat in the middle, and fell into
the bottom of the boat. We were going at a good speed, and the
collision came so suddenly that it is a wonder we did not fare
worse. Fortunately, there were no guards at the ferry, so we
had no cause to apprehend discovery or molestation. My greatest
mishap was a thorough wetting, for the night was frosty and
cold, and caused me to chill.
"This was followed in the after part of the night by a stupor
that I could not shake off, and my continued efforts at the
paddle had wellnigh exhausted me. Mark could not manage the
boat very well, as he had tried it a number of times. But I
felt that I must have rest and sleep, and so gave the boat over
into his hands, enjoining him to keep it in the current. I lay
down in the bottom of the boat, and soon sank into a state of
forgetfulness and sleep. I do not know how long I had slept,
but some time in the night Mark aroused me, and told me we
could go no farther, as we had come 'to the end of the river.'
It was some time before he could awaken me fully to
consciousness, so that I could comprehend our situation.
"At last I began to look around, to determine what Mark's 'end
of the river' meant. I soon discovered that he had run the boat
away under a ledge of the mountain, and a dim light could only
be seen in one direction. All else around us was impenetrable
darkness. I took the paddle, and worked the boat in the
direction of the light, and in a little while we emerged from
beneath this overhanging mountain ledge, and again reached the
current of the river, down which the boat was soon rapidly
gliding. Mark now discovered that the 'end of the river' had
not yet been reached, but he did not care to take charge of the
boat again.
"Shortly after this adventure we perceived that we were not to
have smooth sailing all the way. The river began to grow rough,
and the water ran over benches and ledges of rocks, and, in
places, with great velocity, so much so that we narrowly
escaped being 'broken up' on several occasions during this
night's journey. We passed over a number of places that we
would not have dared to risk in daylight, when we could have
seen the danger. It seemed to grow worse and worse as we went
on, when daylight warned us that it was time to tie up and
hide, which we did, and, the day being warm and pleasant, we
had a comfortable rest,--the best since our escape.
"On the following night we came to a mill-dam, where the water,
judging from the noise, poured over in great volume and force.
We manoeuvred around for some time above it, not knowing what
to do, but finally discovered what appeared to be an apron near
the centre of the dam, and decided to risk running it.
Accordingly, we rowed up-stream some distance to get under good
headway, then turning the head of the boat down-stream, we bent
to our paddles with all our might. We came down with the
velocity of an express-train. What we supposed might have been
an apron, was nothing but a break in the dam, and over it we
shot like an arrow, shutting our eyes and holding our breath.
In an instant after, we landed (luckily right side up) away
below in the midst of the angry, foaming torrent, and plying
our paddles right vigorously, and keeping the bow of our boat
down-stream, we rode out safely, but then and there 'swore off'
on running mill-dams in the night.
"We continued our journey, though the river was still rough and
growing worse. We were constantly among rocks and foaming,
headlong torrents of water, while steep rocky walls confined
the stream to very narrow limits, and dark, shadowy mountain
peaks loomed up in the background, reminding us of the
Tennessee about Chattanooga. We went on from bad to worse,
until at last, during the latter part of the night, we were
incautiously drawn into a gorge, where it seemed that the
destruction of our boat was inevitable. Such was the force and
velocity of the water, that we lost all control of the boat,
and in one instant would be spinning around in a furious eddy
until our heads were fairly dizzy, and in the next we would be
dashed against the rocks until it seemed as if our boat would
be splintered to pieces. We regarded our escape here as the
narrowest we had made, and as quick as we could do so with
safety we landed on the rocks and, with many regrets, abandoned
our little craft to begin a tedious, toilsome land journey of
three days and nights over rocky hills, bluffs, and mountains
along the river.
"Just as we landed from the boat Mark started to walk out, and,
losing his balance, fell headlong into the river. With
considerable difficulty I fished him out, and, the early
morning being quite cool, the poor fellow was chilled through
and through, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I
finally succeeded in getting him up into the mountains, and
continued to exercise him by walking, so as to get up a good
circulation of his blood. But he became so benumbed that I
finally let him lie down, and gathered a lot of cedar boughs
and piled them thickly over him, and then crawled in with him
myself, and kept him as warm as possible. Here we slept and
rested until late in the afternoon of that day, which became
very warm under the bright rays of the sun.
"Our progress was very slow, and towards the last extremely
painful. The old bruises and blisters on our feet, which were
not entirely healed, came back worse than ever, and much of the
time we crept along on the rocks on our hands and knees,
believing that if once we could get below this range of
mountains, we would find navigable waters. We came in sight of
several isolated cabins in these wild, rocky hills, where we
managed to beg a little food on two different occasions, which
helped us very much. The suffering we endured on our last
night's travel I cannot describe. It seemed as if we must give
up and die where we were. But at last, when daylight came, to
our great delight we saw the spires and smoke-stacks of a town
in the distance. We knew this to be Columbus, Georgia, and that
when we got below it the river was navigable clear to the Gulf.
"We now deemed it prudent to hide ourselves for the day, which
we had not done in the mountains, and wait for the friendly
cloak of darkness. When night came we made a long, careful
detour away out around the suburbs of the town, and at last had
the satisfaction of again reaching the river-bank, below the
town, where we found good shelter among the dense grapevines
and drift-wood. By this time it was nearly morning again, and,
like beasts of prey, we betook ourselves to a safe
hiding-place.
"During all the time we had been in the vicinity of the town we
had heard a constant clattering sound, as of a hundred workmen
with hammers. This noise came from near the river, where there
appeared also to be a great light. When daylight came the noise
still continued, and we were near enough so that we could see
that it was caused by a large number of workmen engaged on a
vessel, which they were covering with iron. The boat appeared
to be very large and of great strength, and evidently was
intended for a warlike purpose. On closer inspection the
following night I found that she was a powerfully-built
gunboat, which they were evidently in great haste to complete,
as the hammers of the workmen never ceased on her, night or
day, nor for a single moment.
"This gunboat was none other than the rebel ram
'Chattahoochee,' a formidable iron monster, built as an engine
of destruction for the blockading fleet in Appalachicola Bay.
The first knowledge the Navy Department had of her was through
Wood and myself. The ram, on her first downward trip, blew up
near the mouth of Flint River, and never reached the Gulf.
"Our great anxiety now was to secure a boat. Wood was so lame
he could not walk, and I was not much better. This delayed us
here two days and nights. During the nights I was prowling
about, up and down, trying to discover some sort of a craft
that would float. In my reconnoitring about the gunboat I had
discovered an old skiff chained to a stump quite near and in
plain sight of the workmen, to some of whom, no doubt, it
belonged. I secured a stout stick for a lever, and crept to the
stump to which the boat was chained, when, watching my
opportunity, I got a pry in such a manner as to break the lock
on the chain. The lights shone so brightly that I could plainly
see the men's eyes, and I very much feared they would notice
me. However, I worked off with the boat carefully, and half an
hour after I had Mark aboard, and we were pulling rapidly
down-stream. We found our prize to be a leaky old concern, and
one of us was constantly busy keeping her bailed out.
"After we had drifted down some miles, we spied three boats
tied to the shore on the Alabama side of the river, and as we
had been giving our attention entirely to the Georgians all
along, we concluded to trade boats on that side of the river,
provided we could secure a better boat. Just as we had loosened
the one we selected, three men with a pack of dogs came down
the hill towards us, and the head man, evidently the owner,
began hallooing to us and calling us slanderous names, such as
thieves and the like. We did not stop to bandy words with the
fellows, but speedily shoved all the boats into the river, and
took a course up the river, as though we were going towards
Columbus. They rent the air with curses upon our heads. In the
course of fifteen or twenty minutes they had secured the boats
we shoved into the stream, and with the lights they carried we
could distinctly see that they were bent on pursuing us. We
took a wide circuit, and then headed downward under cover of
the willows, behind several small islands near the Georgia
shore, and came out in the main stream far below the islands,
while we had the satisfaction of seeing the lights of our
pursuers disappearing up the river and prowling about the upper
end of the islands, which we were now leaving far behind. We
soon lost sight of them, and the strong presumption is that
they never succeeded in finding their boat.
"We increased our speed, and kept under the shadows of the
wooded shores as much as possible, congratulating each other on
our lucky boat trade. With a good boat and an open river we
felt now that our chances of escape were exceedingly good, and
our spirits were buoyant and hopes high, although our stomachs
were craving food. But on we swept, hour after hour, down the
broad river, happy in the thought that we were fast placing
scores of miles between us and the hated prison. The rest given
our feet had much allayed the pain we suffered, and when
morning came and we had secreted ourselves for the day, we
slept well, but awoke in the afternoon ravenously desperate for
want of something to eat.
"We went out, and, reconnoitring a little, discovered a
corn-field. Making sure that there was no one about, we stole
into the field and found plenty of corn and pumpkins. The hard
corn and river water did not go well together, and proved to be
an unpleasant diet to us, so we broke up the pumpkins, ate
freely of the seed, and filled our pockets with more for lunch,
each of us taking also a few ears of corn. By the time we got
back it was nearly dark, and we pulled out. The pumpkin-seed
diet, poor as it was, helped us wonderfully, and we made a big
night's journey, passing a steamboat upward bound, which we
dodged by pulling under the shadows of the timber and
low-hanging bushes.
"Thus we progressed, travelling by boat at night and laying by
in the daytime. If any reader of this story has ever made a
trip on the lower end of the Chattahoochee River, I think he or
she will agree with me when I say that the river scenery is
peculiarly monotonous and causes a sense of loneliness. It is a
vast water-path through dense forests of cypress and other
swamp-growing timber. On either side, to the right and left,
were endless swamps covered with water, and the river-channel
was only observable by its being free from logs and gigantic
trees. Great festoons of gray and sombre moss hung suspended
from even the topmost limbs of these trees, reaching clear down
to the water, and floated and swung to the music of the sighing
winds. Perhaps it was the circumstances in our case that made
us feel so, but I remember it as a dismal, lonesome journey.
Sometimes we would not see a sign of civilization for
forty-eight hours at a stretch.
"Besides the torments of hunger, our nights were made almost
unendurable by the swarms of blood-thirsty mosquitoes, which
came upon us in clouds. I did think that I had learned
considerable about mosquitoes in my boyhood days in the Black
Swamp of Northwestern Ohio, but for numbers, vocal powers, and
ferocity I will 'trot' the Chattahoochee swamp fellows out
against any others I have ever 'met up with.' The ragged
clothing, which yet clung to our backs, did not much more
than half cover us; especially was this the case with Wood, who
was, I may truthfully say, half naked, and was thus doubly
annoyed by the omnipresent 'skeeters.' And my own condition was
but little better. To protect ourselves from the pests, we
thatched our bodies all over with great skeins of moss, and two
more comical-looking beings than we were, thus rigged out, it
would be hard to find, but it baffled the bills of our
tormentors.
"We had two other annoyances,--moccasin-snakes and alligators.
The latter, with which the water swarmed as we went farther
towards the Gulf, were a terror to me. They were a ferocious,
hungry, dangerous-looking beast at best. We knew but little of
their habits. The largest water inhabitant I had ever seen was
a Maumee River cat-fish, and the most dangerous, a Black Swamp
massasauger. Night or day these 'gators," as the Southern
negroes call them, like the mosquitoes, were always within
sight and hearing. Sometimes during the day, in order to keep
out of the water, we would take shelter in a pile of
drift-wood. When we would wake up, after a short nap, every old
log and hommock about us would be covered with 'gators.' They
would lie listlessly and lazily, with eyes almost shut, looking
hungrily and quizzically out of one corner of their wicked
peepers, as if waiting for us to leave, or for a chance to nab
one of us by the leg or arm and run. Mark grew superstitious of
these creatures. He said he had read of wolves following a
famished buffalo in the same manner, and that sharks would
hover around a ship from which a corpse was to be cast
overboard, and that, too, even days before death had occurred
or was even suspected by the sailors. But the 'gators' were
cowardly fellows, and, on the least demonstration on our part,
would scramble into the water. Still we feared that they might
steal upon and lay hold of us with their powerful jaws while we
were asleep. We had learned that they were not apt to attack,
except when the object of their voracious appetites lay quiet;
but, when once they did lay hold, that they were hard to beat
off. They will drag their victim, be it man or beast, instantly
under the water, where the struggle soon ends.
"After enduring hunger as long as we possibly could, we were
finally forced a second time since leaving Columbus to go in
search of something to eat. This, I think, was about five or
ten miles above Chattahoochee landing. It is not necessary to
relate the particulars of our search for a human habitation,
and the story of deception we told. It was a little before dark
when we struck out on foot so weak, hungry, and faint that we
could not walk many steps without resting, in search of
something or anything we could devour. We were successful, or
partially so, at least, and came back safely, much
strengthened, as well as elated over our good luck, when, to
our great dismay and chagrin, we found that our boat had been
stolen during our absence.
"It was evident some one had seen us land and watched until
we left, and then taken the boat. I cannot describe our
feelings. We scarcely knew what to do. The night was very dark,
and it rained incessantly. We waded about in the water, tall
grass and cane, and after a while found a little mound or
hommock, which projected above the water, and on which we
perched ourselves for the night. Such a dismal, long, rainy
night as it was, too! It did seem as if the mosquitoes would
carry us away piecemeal towards morning, when the rain had
ceased. Had it not been for the food we had eaten, I believe we
would have given up in despair. When morning came, we waded up
and down in the cane and grass all forenoon, and about the only
discovery we made was that another river came in just below us,
and we could not go farther without a boat.
"During the afternoon I descried something on the far side of
the river that looked like a boat partly sunk in the water, one
end only of which was out. The next trouble was to get to it,
as the river was about three-quarters of a mile wide, as near
as we could judge. We found an old piece of plank, which we
lashed on three flat rails with a grape-vine, and with a piece
of narrow stave for a paddle and to fight off 'gators,' I
twined my legs firmly around the centre of the frail craft,
while Mark pushed it off into the stream and stood at the edge
of the grass watching me. The raft sunk down until the water
came about my waist, but I stuck to it, and after about an
hour's hard work I effected a landing on the far side, and not
long after found myself rewarded in the possession of a much
better boat than the one we had lost the night before. I was
not long in bailing out the water and rowing her back to where
Mark was, whose gratitude found expression in tears and hearty
hand-shaking, as he crept into the boat with me.
"We now plied our paddles energetically for a while, until we
felt sure we had passed out of reach of the owners of the boat,
when we put into the cane and secreted ourselves until night.
After this mishap in losing our boat, we resolved that we would
not both leave again while our journey lasted, starve or no
starve. During the following day, while we were laid up waiting
for night and fighting mosquitoes, I went out, skulking about
to see what I could see, and in passing through an old field
found some fish-hooks and lines in an old vacant cabin. I
appropriated them, and we found them a godsend to us, for they
proved the means of keeping us from actual starvation.
"We must have had a touch of scurvy, for our mouths and gums
had become feverish, and our teeth were loose, and would bleed
constantly when we attempted to chew the corn. This was the
condition we were in when, providentially, we became possessed
of the fish-hooks and lines.
"And now for a feast on raw cat-fish, of which we caught a
plentiful supply as we journeyed on in the night. I have
previously neglected to mention that I had with me an old
one-bladed knife without any back, which was our only weapon,
defensive or offensive. This old knife I had secreted when we
were in the Atlanta prison, and had kept it with me as a
precious treasure during all our wanderings. With this knife
and our fingers we managed to skin and dress the fish, which we
ate raw with our soaked corn. Matches we had none, nor had we
been able to get any, and so we had no fire. I could eat only a
mouthful or two of the raw fish at a time. My stomach was weak
and feverish, and rebelled against the flesh. Still it tasted
palatable.
"Mark, poor, hungry fellow, tore it from the bones in great
mouthfuls, like a ravenous wolf, until I would beg of him to
desist, fearing the results. He would sit and crunch the bloody
flesh, and look at me with a wild, strange stare, and never
speak a word. His eyes were sunken away in his head, almost out
of sight, and as he would seize a fresh piece the pupils of his
eyes would dilate with the gloating, ferocious expression of a
panther or other carnivorous wild beast. I had frequently heard
of men losing their reason and going mad from the effects of
protracted hunger, and I sometimes shuddered as I looked at its
telling effects on poor Mark's wasted frame, and the unnatural
glare of his eyes. He would mutter and groan in his sleep, and
sometimes scream out as if pierced by a knife, when he would
suddenly start up and call my name. Towards the last of our
journey his condition was much of the time a cause of great
anxiety to me. Still, after we began to eat the fish he seemed
much better, and I only feared the unnatural quantities of the
raw flesh would kill him.
"We were now nearing the bay, as was plain to be seen, for on
each succeeding morning the river had grown wider. Finally we
became well satisfied that we were nearing a large town, which
afterwards proved to be Appalachicola, and this made us anxious
to learn something of the state of affairs below,--whether
there were rebel picket-boats, or obstructions, such as
torpedo-boats and the like.
"About this time we discovered a cabin some distance from the
shore, and, to have a plausible excuse, I took an old pipe Mark
had, and filled it with a few crumbs of tobacco which I fished
from my old coat-linings, and then taking a piece of rotten
wood which would retain fire, I left Mark with the boat and
walked over to the house to get a light for my pipe. The
occupants of the cabin proved to be an old Scotchman and his
wife. He was very inquisitive, and asked more questions than I
cared to answer. But I managed to evade suspicion, and at the
same time gained considerable information. I learned that we
were about five miles above Appalachicola, and that the Federal
blockading squadron was stationed at the mouth of the bay,
eighteen miles below the city. I hurried back to the boat, and
found Mark rejoicing over a little armful of sweet potatoes he
had stolen from a negro's canoe, which he had discovered in my
absence.
"We got into the boat and at once paddled to the other side
of the bay or river, where we entered into an inlet or creek,
up which we ran for some distance, when we came to a dense
canebrake. Here we secreted ourselves and built a little fire,
roasted fish and potatoes, parched corn, and dined in right
royal style, although we felt the need of a little salt. Two
hungry wolves never ate more ravenously than we did, although
we were obliged to restrain ourselves, and leave off while yet
hungry. It was with the utmost difficulty that I absolutely
forced Mark to quit. After eating enough for four men, as I
thought, he still begged for more. I finally induced him to go
to sleep, and stored away some of the cooked fish and sweet
potatoes for the next day.
"The information we had gained was invaluable to us, although I
felt I had obtained it at some risk. When night came on we
pulled out and passed down on the opposite side of the bay from
the city, slowly and cautiously. We had moss in the bottom, on
the sides, and in the seats of our boat for our comfort. As
soon as we had gone well past the city, whose bright lights we
could plainly see, we crossed the bay to the city side below
the city, in the hope of finding a more sea-worthy boat. We
were unable to find any other boat, however, and pulled on down
the bay as fast as we could. While going down the bay that
evening, we ran along in the midst of a large school of huge
fish of some description, from which we apprehended danger
every instant. These monsters would swim along on all sides of
us, with great fins sticking more than a foot out of the water,
and extended like a great fan. One of these fish could easily
have wrecked our boat with its huge body. We hoped to reach the
blockading fleet before daylight, but the night grew cloudy and
we were unable to tell what course we were running, as the bay
grew wider and wider as we went out. We decided the best thing
we could do was to pull for land, which we reached after
midnight, pretty well exhausted with our hard work at the
paddles. We tied up our boat and went to a thicket near by and
slept soundly.
"When we awoke in the morning, we were cheered by the beautiful
surroundings,--all just as nature had fashioned them, for the
habitation or handiwork of man was nowhere to be seen. Our
couch had been a bed of prickly grass, that caused a stinging,
itching sensation all over our bodies. We had slept in a wild
orange grove.
"We made a hasty breakfast on our fish and potatoes left from
the night previous, and started for our boat; but imagine our
surprise when we found it distant at least two hundred yards
from the water. Mark, who had lived in the old country,
explained to me that this was the effect of the ocean tide,
which had gone out since we landed, and would not come in again
until that night. There was no safe course left us but to drag
our boat to the water, which we did, after tugging at it for
about an hour.
"When we were again on the water we could see the spires and
high buildings of the city we had passed, but no sight of ships
could we see. We took our course as well as we could, and
pulled for the open sea. A little boat, which seemed to be a
fishing-smack under full sail, passed away to the leeward of
us, coming out from the city, and caused us no little concern,
but she passed off, and either did not notice us or care to
inquire who we were. We plied our paddles industriously until
about the middle of the afternoon, when we spied an island away
in the distance. We had been out of sight of land for some time
and the view of the island cheered us up a little, for we knew
if a rough sea came on that our little boat was liable to get
swamped. This island was much farther away than we had
supposed. As we neared it we were in some doubt as to whether
we should pass to the right or left of it, when our decision
was made by the discovery to the left and away in the distance
of something that had the appearance of dead trees.
"In the same direction, and right in our course, was something
that appeared like a bar or gravel-bank. We supposed the old
trees stood on another low island or bar beyond. But as we
neared this bar, that which at first seemed to be dead trees
began to take the shape of ship-masts, and we imagined that we
could see something that looked like the dark outlines of black
smoke-stacks in the blue, hazy distance. This made us quite
nervous, and we pulled away at the paddles with renewed vigor
and strength. Before we were scarcely conscious of it we were
close upon the bar, and began to be puzzled how we should get
by or around it, for it was longer than it appeared to be when
first seen. Presently we discovered a narrow, shallow channel
through it, and we were not long in getting our boat through.
As we were going through, Mark gathered in a lot of rough,
muddy-looking lumps, which I supposed were boulders, and soon
called for my old broken-backed knife, after which I saw him
open-one of the muddy chunks and eat something from it. Says I,
'Mark! you starving Yank! what in thunder are you at now?'
'Taste this,' says he, as he opened another muddy chunk, and I
lapped up from the dirty shell the sweetest oyster I had ever
tasted.
"We were in the midst of a great oyster-bed, the like of which
I had never before seen. I had never, in fact, seen an oyster
in the shell before. Mark gathered up as many as he could as
the boat passed along, and when we reached the still water we
made quite a little feast on them as we paddled on. I think I
never tasted anything so delicious. We were still very hungry,
and the moist, rich, salty flavor of the oysters seemed to suit
our weak, famished stomachs to a nicety.
"But our little feast was soon cut short by the certain
discovery that the dead trees were nothing less than the masts
of vessels. We could now plainly see the yards, cross-trees,
and great smoke-stacks. We dropped the oysters in the bottom of
the boat, and, though quite exhausted, the sight of the vessels
so renewed our strength that we made the little boat scud over
the still water at a lively rate. Soon we could see the long,
graceful streamers waving from the peaks of the masts, and
the outlines of the dark, sombre-looking hulls of the ships.
[Illustration: SAVED AT SEA.
Page 290.]
"We were now nearing the ships very fast, and were a little
anxious to see their colors, as we had become so suspicious of
everybody and everything that we half feared running into the
clutches of our enemies. But we were not long in suspense, for
suddenly a little breeze sprang up, and I shall never forget my
joy on seeing the old flag, the glorious old stars and stripes,
as they unfolded to the ocean breeze, and seemed to extend
their beneficent protection over us, after nearly eight months
of terrible bondage. We could see the field of blue, studded
with its golden stars, and the stripes of white and red! Yes,
it was our flag, old _E Pluribus Unum_! We threw down our
paddles in the boat, and stood up and yelled and screamed and
cried like a couple of foolish boys lost in the woods. We could
not restrain ourselves. Mark wanted to jump overboard and swim
to the ships, although we were yet, perhaps, nearly a mile
away,--at least too far to swim in his condition. After we
recovered our senses a little, we picked up the paddles and
began rowing again, directing our course towards the largest
vessel.
"It seems now like a dream to me,--that joyful day,--the most
joyful, I was about to say, of my life. I believe there were
three vessels in sight. In steering for the largest one,
although it was the most distant, we had to pass some distance
in front of the bow of a smaller ship or boat. We were now
getting so close that we could plainly see the officers and men
on the decks in their neat, blue uniforms. We could see the
port-holes in the sides of the ships, and the black muzzles of
the cannon projecting out. This gave us much assurance, and we
said to ourselves, 'Good-by, rebs! We are out of your clutches
at last!'
"We were rowing our insignificant-looking little boat right
along, just as though we intended to capture the biggest vessel
in the fleet, when a gruff voice from the ship, whose bow we
were passing, commanded us to 'Come to, there!' At the same
time we saw a grim-looking old sea-dog, in nice uniform,
leaning over the rail, motioning us in with his hand. We turned
the bow of our little boat towards him, and, when we came
within better speaking distance, he interrogated us, in
stentorian voice, about as follows:
"'Who in ---- are you, and what are you paddling under my guns
in this manner for?'
"We were half-terrified by the old fellow's angry, stern
manner, and did not know but we had at last fallen into the
hands of a rebel cruiser under false colors. We did not know
what to say to this unexpected, angry interrogation. We paddled
on very slowly, while the sailors and officers began to gather
in little squads, and look at us with mingled curiosity and
merriment.
"Presently, the officer hailed us again, with about the same
questions. I now stood up in our boat, and answered that we
were two men trying to get back to God's country, among
friends. I was now quite uneasy, and suspicious of the
situation, and kept my eyes on the officer, for I perceived he
was the commander. I shall never forget his stern but puzzled
look as we came up under the bow of his vessel. We had been so
overjoyed and excited that we had forgotten to pull the old
moss, which covered our nakedness and protected us from the
sun, from our backs, and we must have looked like scare-crows
or swamp-dragons. I cannot speak so well of my own appearance
then, but can see Mark Wood, just as he was on that joyful day,
and a more comical, forlorn, starved-looking being cannot well
be imagined.
"In our boat were a few cat-fish partly skinned, some oysters
in the shell, some ears of scorched corn, a lot of moss, and
our old boots, for our feet were yet sore, and we went
bare-footed when in the boat.
"After scrutinizing us in silence for some little time, as we
drifted up closer and closer, he again demanded of us some
account of our strange conduct and appearance. I told him we
were enlisted Federal soldiers, and belonged to the command of
General O. M. Mitchel, in Tennessee, to which he growled
something about our being 'a ---- long ways from camp.' I then
explained to him briefly that we were fugitives, and the causes
that led to it; that we were nearly famished with hunger, and
that, after skulking through mountains and river by night, we
had at last sought protection under the old flag and the guns
of his ship.
"I could see that his manner towards us had changed. He plainly
saw the indications of our distress. He said he had heard of
the raiding expedition we spoke of, and commanded us to row up
to the ladder and come up the ship's side. We did so, and Wood
went up the steps first. The poor fellow's agitation and joy
were so great, and he was so weak, that he could scarcely raise
his feet from step to step on the ladder or stairs. The
commander, seeing his weak, faltering condition, leaned over
the rail, as Wood came up, and, reaching out, took hold to
assist him, and, as he did so, the rotten bit of old moss,
which covered Mark's shoulder and back, all pulled off, and
exposed his emaciated, bony skeleton, which, in truth, was
nothing but skin and bones. The well-fed, sleek-looking sailors
seemed to look on in horror, but not more so than the
generous-hearted commander, who was moved almost to tears as he
was reaching over to help me as I came to the top of the
step-ladder. They stared at us in silent wonderment, while the
sailors looked down into our little boat with comical
curiosity."
We need not linger over the royal reception the poor fugitives met, or
their joy as they partook of the hospitality of the commander, or even
their still greater joy when they returned to friends and comrades, who
had long mourned them as dead. From the bright termination of their
sufferings we must turn, with deep reluctance, to the story of the
unfortunate six, still in the power of the enemy.