TALLY-HO!
The Situation in Georgia--Bullock Usurpation--Some Things which may
be Explained--Negro Criminals--Taking Refuge in the Ocmulgee
Swamps--A Brutal Murder--Ku-Klux Ambushed--A Terrible Oath--Uncle
Jack B.--A Brief Memoir--"Nigger Dogs" in the "Goober State"--Uncle
Jack Interviewed by the Ku-Klux--What came of it--Getting Ready for
the Chase--A Pack of "Negro Dogs" described--In the Swamps--The
Opening Chorus--A Warm Trail--Swimming the
Ocmulgee--Disappointment--The Lull is Past--The Cheering Notes of the
Chase--Blood of the Martyrs! can it be?--A Last Effort--Another Crime
added to the Calendar--A fresh Start--Baffled Again--At Bay--Tragical
Scene.
As the K. K. K. influence was not felt in the politics of the south-west
after the events which we have narrated, and the scope of this work
forbids our entering into such details as comprised the Chicot county
affair in Arkansas, and the Vicksburg (Miss.) _emeute_, which was
unquestionably due in part to other influences, we yield to the
eccentricities of our theme, and find ourselves under the shadow of that
towering usurpation--the Bullock administration in Georgia. The
organization of the Klan in this State was perhaps more extensive and
efficient than elsewhere on Southern soil,--proving a complete offset to
the Loyal League in the important work of influencing party discipline,
and, after a time, effecting its other aim--of rendering it physically
_hors du combat_. We shall not pretend, however, to follow it through the
various stages of its development on Georgia soil, nor give what might be
deemed a correct history of its movements, as we are concerned rather with
the issues which grew out of the latter, and that which will prove far
more interesting to the reader--the _modus_ of its operations.
A single feature of the campaign in this region we will endeavor to make
prominent, without a design of saddling its individuality on this State,
or insinuating that that branch of the pet institution vulgarly known as
"nigger dogs" was not as widely diffused as its popular derivative, and
far too fossilized in its structure to submit to any merely sentimental
changes in types of government. So far as that phase of the subject may
tend to obtrude difficulties upon the reader, the writer will volunteer
the information that he was recently placed by accident at a point where
his sensorium covered three large well-trained kennels of these brutes;
and that it has been his good fortune, on more occasions than one, since
liberty resumed its old-time inheritance in the "land we love," to follow
the panting "Ketch," where none dare go before, along the redolent trail
of the criminal--black or white. Nor is there anything more remarkable
about the circumstance that the body of men known as Ku-Klux should, upon
certain contingencies, avail themselves of the services of this sagacious
brute, than that the same men, by accident or otherwise, should be
employed on a righteous mission like the following:
In the year 1862, in that portion of Telfair county where the _Elk_ river
has its confluence with the Ocmulgee, a larger stream, a negro slave of
Mr. ---- committed a brutal rape on one of his master's household, and
fled to the neighboring wilderness. He was not pursued at the time, as, in
view of the recent conscript levies and the unsettled state of the
country, there were no available means at hand; and, aided by individuals
of his own color, whose race prejudices at this time had reached a state
of savage excitement, he found safe harborage and a precarious livelihood
in the river-swamps during the entire period of the war. Pending his
exile, and soon after it began, he was joined by an only brother, a
brother-criminal likewise, who had been forced to fly the settlements;
and, having formed an alliance--_sun_ and _ek_--the predatory excursions
of this twain became thereafter the special terror of dwellers in that
exposed region. Nothing, however, particularly worthy of mention marked
their exploits until the year following the close of hostilities, when
they emerged from their fastnesses, and having made their way to a
neighboring settlement, occupied by an old gentleman and an only son, a
youth of twelve years, put them both to death with every circumstance of
horrible detail. This affair occurred in the latter part of the year
1865, and, as was to have been expected, created a wide-spread sensation.
Within a few hours after the deed had been committed, a well-equipped
party of horsemen started in pursuit, and for more than a week conducted a
thorough campaign through that division of the Ocmulgee swamps that was
supposed to have furnished a retreat to the murderers. They did not
succeed, however, further than to obtain a view of the refugees, and
salute them with a volley at long range; and seeing that their efforts
would prove fruitless, returned to their homes. Here the matter rested
until the following spring, when a party of Ku-Klux, raiding in that
vicinity, were fired upon from the brush, and one of their number killed,
by two men who were positively recognized as the swamp-ruffians. Having
buried their dead companion, in obedience to the strange ceremonies in
vogue with them, the members of the Klan assembled around his grave, and
recorded an oath "never to relent from their purpose of revenge, nor cease
the pursuit of his murderers, while the Ocmulgee contained water, and the
region fertilized by it and its tributaries supported an inch of
unexplored territory."
Not far from the scene of the last occurrence lived Uncle Jack B----, a
character in the neighborhood prior to Sherman's raid and reconstruction,
but who, since those events, in view of a somewhat disproportioned record,
had been singing exceedingly small. In _ante bellum_ times, this old
gentleman had been looked up to, by both whites and blacks of his
vicinity, as in some sense the reigning monarch of the locality, and one
between whose smiles and frowns lay considerations that might engage the
attention of much weightier personages than any whom the countryside
supported. In brief, Uncle Jack had been the proud proprietor of the
largest and best known pack of "nigger dogs" in the "Goober State," with
all that that implied in the language of the reconstructionists; and if he
did not still possess that distinction, it was altogether attributable to
the circumstance that the office which it involved had ceased to be a
sinecure, and the property in question was no longer quoted among
commercial values. But though the old man and his beasts bowed their heads
under the in _terrorem_ of the new order of things, they well knew that
this _dies irae_ could not last always, and were, moreover, fully persuaded
of the truth of the old proverb which insures to every well-behaved canine
a "dish" in passing events. That they were not sophists in this matter
will be sufficiently demonstrated by the remaining events of this chapter.
At precisely twelve o'clock on the night succeeding that which witnessed
the tragical event last narrated above, Uncle Jack held a long conference,
at the outer gate of his premises, with three mounted men, and shortly
thereafter might have been observed to visit his stable and dog-kennel,
lingering for some time in the vicinity of each. A half-hour or more was
consumed by the details of a preparation from which it was plain to be
seen some mystery was in course of evolution, and the old man, mounted on
his now full-rigged hunter, and swept forward in a tempest of dolorous
howlings, turned an angle of the close, and joined his weird visitors.
It will hardly be necessary to inform the reader that these men were K. K.
K. emissaries, who had been dispatched to secure the hunter and his dogs
to aid them in the difficult enterprise which they had undertaken; and
looking from one to the other of the new levies, he would have no
hesitancy in making up his mind that "Barkis was willin'," and the "yaller
beauties," as he was wont to term them, "spilin'" for nigger meat. These
latter were composed of a dozen brace of the best Florida breed of the
hybrid blood- and sleuth-hound, fat and frolicsome, wearing sleek coats of
yellow, and as to size, if put to the test, the runtiest of the runts
would have kicked the beam at fifty pounds. Leashed in couples, they made
rapid circuits around the now galloping horsemen, filling the night with
the music of their weird chorus, and falling to an indiscriminate and
discordant baying whenever hog or cow or other animate thing, startled
from their covert, stood still to guess at the intrusion. Three miles from
the point of starting, the main company was reached, and soon afterwards,
passing into the edge of the bottom, the dogs were released from their
slips, and at a word from the hunter, and directing a premonitory sniff at
their surroundings, sped into the darkness. For an hour or more the
hunters pressed their way through the pitchy swamps, now following a
scarcely distinguishable stock trail, now lightened upon by a gleam of
starlight from above, and not unfrequently committed for guidance to the
instincts of the animals they bestrode, without other report from the
excited yelpers than was too timidly given to be accounted much worth, or
called forth the response from some guttural cavity of the forest, "a
lie." Reaching the banks of the river, at a point five miles below the
swamp line at which their road had intersected the bottom, a halt was
called, and the company sat peering into the darkness, for the first time
doubtful of their enterprise, when lo! within ten feet of the rearmost
file a welcome sound broke the stillness--at first low and doubtful, but
gaining in volume and flowing into blended notes--one--two--three--and
then a stunning, Wagnerian chorus, that lifted every horseman from his
stirrups, and sent the wood echoes rolling in sonorous waves along the
breast of the forest. A loud hurrah from the hunters attested their equal
joy, and hue and cry being joined, the panic of pursuit began. Straight up
the river bank the roaring pack held on their course, not once veering to
the right nor left, nor never slackening speed, and timid horsemen, that
erst had shivered if their steeds but stumbled in the darkness, now rode
abreast of the panting "leader," swelling the volume of sound with their
loud halloos, and leaping branch and inlet sound with the agility of the
frightened deer that sped before. Even the "Ketch," usually sedate and
disallowing confidences, had been momentarily thawed by the all-pervading
enthusiasm, and joining the pack just where the fun grew furious, howled a
dismal accompaniment to the cheering notes of the chase. On, on, into the
darkness beyond, sped the tempest of pursuit--now wedged into narrow
passes and involved in a hundred confused knots, now unravelling on the
open plains beyond and flowing on in currents bold and free as those that
kissed the shore beneath them, now leaping brake and fell, now skirting
hazardous banks, now hugging obtrusive shores, and hark! at a sharp signal
from the "leader" all sounds are hushed,--followed by a plunging boom,
and, churned into a thousand eddies, the bold Ocmulgee supports the rout
of panting men and beasts, who have no sooner recovered from the chilling
baptism than each bends forward in a mad struggle to reach first the
yonder shore and herald this clamorous invasion to its phantoms of
darkness. But so close on the heels of the dripping "leader" pressed the
frantic crew--who owed him fealty come life or death--that his opening
chorus was echoed by a hundred lesser sounds that were not echoes, and
with a mighty effort the panting "Ketch," leaping sheer from the waves to
the upper bank, was not too late with his base variation. And now the wild
pursuit is begun anew, for the tardiest horseman is spurring into the
depth of the forest beyond, and skurrying out of sight and hearing if that
were possible--the wailing wood notes have a story to whisper to the
deserted shore.
But "the best laid plans of mice and men aft gang aglee," and not above a
half mile from their watery exodus the puzzled yelpers vary their chorus
and slacken speed, and, warned by a ringing blast on the huntsman's horn,
the whole company of baffled pursuers double on their track, and by twos,
and threes, and then in larger squads, rejoin their river base. Here the
huntsmen consult together, and the pack renew their frenzy, frisking along
the river shore, scouring the woods, and soon afterwards, indicating by a
yelping chorus far down the stream that the stratagem of the refugees led
them that way. The impatient horsemen soon gallop at their heels, and
after one or two dissentient howls from the aged skeptics of the pack,
they one and all run full upon the warm scent, with a clamor that causes
the woods to "ring again," and sends the vital current tingling along the
veins of the coldest-blooded horseman. And now the lull is past, and the
thunder of pursuit once more greets the forest echoes. Away, away,
distancing the swamp tracts and riding into the region of the morning, for
its first beams, striking through the tree-boughs, sprinkle their forms
and play in feathered jets along the bosom of the forest. Away, away,
riding neck and neck with the fleet-footed swamp-hare, and crossing the
hurricane's track with a rush and sound that might have been its refrain.
Away, away, emerging upon the broad plateau, and yelling, yelping,
whooping, cursing, but never slackening speed. Away, away, vanishing
through lanes, disappearing over hill-tops, and clattering through the
valleys beyond, with a mighty hubbub that jars the base of the hills, and
sends the round echoes careering at their backs.
Blood of the martyrs! can it be? Just at the apex of yonder rise which the
feet of the pursuers take hold upon, lives an unprotected widow and her
daughter, and with ominous precision of stride the hue and cry points that
way.
The instincts of both men and beasts instantly acquaint them with the
situation, and, bending forward in one last despairing effort, they
emulate the rush of the tornado as they bear down the enclosures and sweep
up the incline, just in time to witness the most piteous spectacle that
men with emotions were ever invited to commiserate. The panting pack,
first on the scene, leap on the frightened and weeping women with furious
growls, licking their faces and hands, sniffing at their forms, and baying
from all quarters, until, driven from thence, they rush into the single
apartment, leap on the beds, drag them to the floor, and falling to, with
the fury of wild beasts disappointed of their prey, tear them into
shreds.[A] Being expelled from thence, the hunters hear the dolorous
narrative of the women, cross-question them as to particulars which may
aid them in the pursuit, and having lost but little time, follow the now
furious hounds in a noisy detour around the little farm. Again and again
this is repeated, and men and dogs are fairly baffled. The former dismount
and examine the ground for visible signs, but are unrewarded, and seem
ready to despair, when one of the pack, having leaped to the close fence,
follows it for some distance, and finally breaks forth into that ominous
bark which criminal never heard undaunted. Instantly he is joined by his
impatient companions, and the welkin rings with their loud acclaim. The
hunters follow, but almost too late, as the sequel proves; for having
invaded the barn, a few rods distant, and discovered there the objects of
their rage, the excited pack had well-nigh ended this series of tragedies.
The mangled remains of one of the criminals was dragged forth a lifeless
corpse, and his associate, defending himself with a clubbed gun, had
disabled half the number of his assailants when he in turn was
overpowered, and but for the intervention of his pursuers must have
suffered a like fate.
But the rescue proved ill-timed, in one sense at least, for no sooner had
the ruffian been disengaged from his dilemma and lifted from the building,
than a shot was heard from behind, and, bleeding from twenty wounds, he
rolled lifeless on the sward.
Looking in the direction whence the report came, the hunters saw the form
of the girl who, a little while ago, had engaged their attention as a pale
and woe-begone Lucrece, now expanded into a Hebe, and, still unrevenged,
levelling her smoking weapon at the form of the African.