On September 18, 1862, after the battle of Big Hill, near Richmond,
Ky., and the occupation of this State by the forces of Gens. Smith and
Marshall, I put aside the study of law, bade farewell to my parents,
and left Indiana to join the Confederate army. I came to Cincinnati
while it was under martial law, passed the pickets above the city,
in a countryman’s market wagon, took a boat at New Richmond, Ohio,
and landed on a Sunday morning at Augusta, Ky. That day I attended
Sunday-school in Augusta, and walked to Milton, in Bracken County,
where I stayed all night. The next day I reached Cynthiana, and found
there the first confederate soldiers I ever saw, being a portion of
Morgan’s Men under Col. Basil W. Duke. I remember I was struck with the
odd appearance of some of these soldiers, particularly observing their
large rattling spurs and broad-brimmed hats, many of which were pinned
up on one side with a crescent or star.