At 3 o'clock A. M. having sent the Corporal to bed and placed the men
in bivouac in the edge of the town, the writer, having secured a small
map of Texas, was seated in front of a log fire diligently studying
the situation-- The deserters must surely be somewhere in the near
vicinity-- They were certainly not in Cleburne-- Where had they
disappeared to after leaving Weatherford? Many roads and trails led
out of Cleburne--some towards the railroads-- No mistake must be made--
A sudden inspiration seized me-- I woke up the Corporal-- "Corporal,
find me a two seated carriage or conveyance of some kind with
driver--'rake' the town--and get it here as soon as possible; rout out
the detachment--and report yourself mounted to me at the same time"--
"Never mind the expense"! In about 30 minutes Charlton was there with a
closely curtained-in two-seated carriage, carry-all, or Texas "hack",
with two mules, and a _one-legged driver_; also the entire detachment
mounted-- Amazement was on the faces of all-- What was the play?-- What
was the game being "pulled off" by the "Old Man"? "Corporal Charlton,
take your carbine and pistol and get in the front seat with the
driver"--and turning to the other Corporal--(Jones)--"You will take our
two led horses--and follow this 'hack'--never losing touch with it--but
always remaining as much as possible out of sight--about a mile or two
in the rear--concealing yourself as much as possible by the timber--
Keep your eyes on this 'hack'--_one flash_ of my handkerchief and you
will drop further back out of sight if it is open country; two flashes,
and you are to come up with your detachment and our led horses at a
run--remember, and always keep out of sight as much as possible"-- We
moved out on the Hillsboro road--inquiries were made all along but with
no satisfactory results-- We scoured the settlements, ranches and side
trails but without avail-- We had had a description given us, however,
of a certain two-horse team--with a number of men in it, which partially
filled the bill-- Feeling perfectly sure that they were breaking for the
railroad, either at Corsicana or Waxahatchie--yet it was feared that we
were on the wrong road-- The driver of our conveyance, or "dug out", it
seemed, had been a confederate soldier, and had lost a leg at Gettysburg
in the desperate charge of Longstreet's Corps on July 2--upon the "Round
Tops" and the "Peach Orchard"-- He had belonged to the Fifth Texas,
Robertson's "Texas Brigade", Hood's Division, and strange to record had
confronted the First Brigade--First Division, Fifth Corps, in which the
writer had served on that fateful day, and in that death-strewn spot. He
immediately _recognised an old enemy_, became extremely voluble, and
insisted upon fighting the battle "o'er again", with many a story and
reminiscence of his many campaigns, until, at length, he, not having
been let into the secret of our plans, was so inclined to put in his
time telling stories that we were in great danger of losing the object
of an entire night's hard work-- He even wanted to stop his mules to
emphasize his points, when much to the "Johnny's" chagrin and to the
intense amusement of Charlton, my d'Artagnan Musketeer, the "lines" "by
order", were turned over to the latter, while the writer having no
whip--prodded the mules along with a sharp stick--_Time_--and then
_Time_--was our one objective-- We were not so sure of our direction--
It was getting late--and with our delays we were still some miles from
Hillsboro-- All was working well in our plans; the detachment was out of
sight well to the rear--
We emerged from the cover of the timber upon a "hog wallow" prairie--and
from this high, rolling hill or divide, when descending to the valley of
a small creek, saw ahead--two miles or more--a small train of wagons in
the hollow, moving to head this small "branch"-- Talk about the thumping
of one's heart!! Some intuition told me that my deserters were there; my
pulse quickened perceptibly, and I almost shouted to the "Jehu"--who had
been allowed to resume the "lines" but was slacking up--to "keep
busy,"--and to gather his animals for a rallying burst of magnificent
speed-- Now the train was seen to split--some going around--while _one
low canvas-topped two-horse wagon_ kept on the road for the "branch"--
Then I saw a number of men--6 _or_ 8--get out and try to wade across the
stream. _They were the deserters!_ of this I now felt sure-- I said
nothing--but sharply touched the Corporal's elbow, jumped from the
"hack" and running back a few yards gave the handkerchief signal "two
flashes"-- The _detachment was in full view_ on the high ground
silhouetted against the sky. The Corporal had closed up too much while
we were in the timber, and when emerging--exposed himself to the view of
the men in the valley as I had feared-- They had seen him, and scenting
danger made a wild break-- The detachment came forward with our led
horses at a gallop--but the deserters, having crossed the stream and
scattered, were now heading for the fringe of timber, chaparral and
brush which either skirted, or was near, the creek--