Another trip to Missouri.—Fight near Fredericktown.—Horse shot
from under him.—Killed four Soldiers.—Went into their camp
at Fredericktown and stole four horses.—Flight toward the
South.—Robbed “Old Crusty.”—Return to Arkansas.
While I was recruiting at our headquarters in Green county, Arkansas,
Capt. Bolin and most of his men returned to rest themselves for a
while. Of course our time passed off agreeably, for we all had so much
to say, and so much to listen to, that the mind was actively engaged
all the time, rendering it impossible for time to drag heavily.
Having thoroughly rested myself, on the 25th day of August I selected
three men, and we started on a trip to St. Francois county, Missouri.
Nothing unusual occurred until we arrived in Madison county. On getting
within about eight miles of Fredericktown, daylight overtook us, and we
stopped at an old friend‘s house for breakfast, who had always treated
us kindly, for I had stopped with him several times on my previous
trips. He stated to us that there were no troops in Fredericktown.
Upon receiving this information, from a source, as we supposed, so
reliable, we felt quite free, and resolved to make our journey on that
day to my old home on Big river. So, after getting our breakfast and
feeding our horses, we made our way quietly to our usual place of
crossing the gravel road leading from the Pilot Knob to Fredericktown,
when we were suddenly fired on from the brush by about fifty soldiers.
Fortunately for us, we had not kept the usually travelled path that
crossed the road at the place where the soldiers were stationed in
ambush; consequently we were about two hundred yards from them, and
none of us were hurt, though my horse was shot from under me; the ball
that pierced his chest, passing through my pantaloons, slightly burning
my knee.
At the word from me my three men whirled into the brush, and we
retreated back in the direction from which we came, my men on horses
and myself on foot. I was still lame from the effects of the wound
received at Flat Woods, but we made good time, and effected our escape.
On getting about a mile, I ordered my men to hitch their horses in a
thicket, and we would hold the place if they undertook to follow us.
After waiting for some time and not hearing from them, we concluded to
make our way cautiously back to where we had been fired upon, and try
to get a shot. We crept slowly up, and saw six or seven men near the
place, but we could not get close enough from the side we were on; so
we made our way in the direction of Pilot Knob about a mile, crossed
the gravel road behind a hill, and came up on the opposite side.
We got in sight of them just in time to see a party ride up, leading
our three horses; at this, I concluded to try one of them at long
range, seeing distinctly from our position that we could get no closer
without exposing ourselves too much. I pulled off old “Kill-devil”
at one of them who wore shoulder-straps; at the crack of the gun the
gentleman got a very hard fall, which, I am fearful, killed him. At
this they concluded to follow us into our native woods, for which they
paid very dearly. They made a dash on us, which caused us to scatter
in different directions, to divide their party up into several squads.
Each one of us took a course through the woods in the roughest places
we could find, which rendered it very difficult for them to follow. I
stopped at every place, such as fallen timber, steep banks and high
rocks, to get a pop at them, and would be off again in a different
direction. Sometimes I was in front, sometimes at one side, and
frequently in the rear. I was pleased to see them have so much pluck,
for it afforded old “Kill-devil” an opportunity to howl from every knob
and dense thicket in the wild woods until about one o‘clock in the
evening, when they gave up the chase and quit the unequal fight.
On meeting my men, at dark, on the top of a certain high hill
designated by me in the morning, I had four new notches on the stock
of old “Kill-devil,” indicating by that rough record that four more of
my enemies had gone to that land where the righteous would cease from
troubling them or making them afraid. Two of my men had killed a man
apiece, and the other had made what we call in fishing “a water haul.”
I suppose, however, that he betook himself into some secure corner to
meditate on the uncertainty of all human affairs until the danger was
over.
The Federals, on the next day, started in search of us with three or
four hundred men; but their numbers being so great, we did not make
war upon them that day. At night it rained very hard, and whilst it
was raining we went into Fredericktown; finding all things quiet about
camp, we managed to steal a horse apiece from them, but did not get
the saddles and bridles, as we were in a hurry. We got about thirty
miles on our way back to Arkansas before morning—each of my men riding
bare-backed, with only a halter for a bridle. I stopped, however, at
the old gentleman‘s where we had got breakfast, for the purpose of
having a small settlement with him, as he had deceived us in regard to
the soldiers at Fredericktown, and, as we believed, had reported us,
for we noticed that his son, a lad about fifteen years old, had rode
off while we were eating our breakfast on that morning. I stopped, but
the old man was not at home, so I took an old saddle and bridle from
him, and went on to Arkansas, leaving the Federals to hunt for us,
which we were told they kept up about ten days.
Before reaching Arkansas, however, for the purpose of laying in our
winter‘s supplies, we diverged about twenty miles from our usual course
to pay our respects to an old Union man living at the crossroads, who
had caused the expulsion of two families from the neighborhood by
reporting on them.
He still had the remnants of what had once been a full country store.
No Federal soldiers happened to be near the premises at the time, so
we rode up to his house about sunset, and while I left one man at his
door to prevent any one from leaving the house, we went with the old
crusty fellow to the store. He was not disposed to be accommodating,
but we bought everything that we could put upon our horses and upon a
mule that we borrowed of him, and, after telling him to charge it to
Uncle Sam, with the Big river mob for security, we left, and before
morning were out of the reach of danger. On reaching camp, we relieved
the needy, not forgetting the two families that “Old Crusty” had driven
from his neighborhood.