"The Yankees were coming through the place. A great crowd of soldiers.
The day the corps of Yankees were to go out, they all went up to the
pike and it looked like a dark cloud. There were great big wagons loaded
down with everything to eat. They took all the meat, all the whiskey,
all the flour. That they didn't take, they give to the slaves or poured
on the ground. They took the corn out of the crib.
"The next day, old master called us up to the stand around him. He told
us we were all free and that if we would stay with him, he would pay us.