When night overtook us, we had to remain in our track until daylight
would enable us to proceed. When at about nine o'clock A. M. word was
passed up the line, from mouth to mouth--"A Guide! A man and his son who
will guide us out of here." Then Major Thompson, who was in front sent
word down the line for the men to come up. The guides sent word up the
line to meet them half way, that they were very tired, so it was
arranged that Major Thompson met them about center, where the writer
was. The guides introduced themselves as Messrs. Parson, father and son.
The senior was a man of about fifty years, rather ungainly as to looks,
and somewhat cross-eyed, while his son was a strong athletic young man,
about twenty-three. They said they were trappers, collecting furs for
the market. It must be remarked that that country was perfectly wild,
and uninhabited, for during all this long march I had not seen a single
settlement, but it contained many wild beasts, such as bears, panthers,
foxes, deer, etc. He related that a tall young man by the name of Jasper
Stubbs, belonging to Company E, First Regiment, Washington Rifles, came
to his quarters very early this morning, inquiring if any soldiers had
passed by, saying he found a nook under a projecting rock where he stood
in column the night before, and to protect himself from dew, he lay down
to rest, and fell asleep. When he awoke, it was day and he found his
comrades gone, and that he was by himself. The surface of ground or
rock, was a solid moss-bed, consequently he could not tell which way our
tracks pointed, and he happened to take the reverse course which we
went, and thus came to where the Parsons lived. Stubbs was missing, thus
proving that the men's story must be true. It must also be remembered
that the majority of the people in Western Virginia were in sympathy
with the enemy, and thus possessed of many informers or spies, who would
give information as to our whereabouts and doings.
A conference was held among the officers as to what was best to be done.
Parson claimed to be in sympathy with the South, and he knew that we
would not be able to carry out our design, and that we would all perish,
so he put out to lead us out of our dilemma. Major Thompson was for
putting the Parsons under arrest, and force them to lead us in the
direction we first assumed, or perish with us. Parsons spoke up and
said, "Gentlemen, I am in your power; the country through which you
propose to travel is not habitable, I have been raised in these regions,
and there is not a living soul within forty miles in the direction you
propose to go, and at the rate you are compelled to advance, you would
all perish to death, and your carcasses left for food to the wild beasts
of the forest." The conference was divided, some hesitated, others were
for adopting Major Thompson's plan, when the writer stepped forward,
saying, "Gentlemen, up to now, I have obeyed orders, but I for one,
prefer to be shot by an enemy's bullet, than to perish like a coward in
this wild region." Captain Jones tapped me on the shoulder, remarking;
"Well spoken, Hermann, those are my sentiments--Company E, About Face!".
Captain Crump, commanding Company I, from Augusta, Ga., followed suit,
and thus the whole column faced about, ready to follow the Parsons.
The writer made the following proposition: That Mr. Parson and son be
disarmed, for both carried hunting rifles; that I would follow them
within twenty paces, while the column should follow within two hundred
yards, thus in case of treachery they would be warned by report of my
gun, that there is danger ahead. These precautions I deemed necessary in
case of an ambush. Addressing myself to our guides, I said, "Gentlemen,
you occupy an enviable position; if you prove true, of which I have no
doubt myself, you'd be amply rewarded, but should you prove otherwise,
your hide is mine, and there is not enough guns in Yankeedom to prevent
me from shooting you." At this point, a private from the Gate City
Guards, whose name is Wm. Leatherwood, remarked, "You shall not go
alone, I will accompany you." I thanked him kindly, saying I would be
glad if he would. Thus we retraced our steps, following our leaders,
when after about three miles march we struck a mountain stream, in the
bed of which we waded for nine miles, the water varying from knee to
waist deep, running very rapidly over mossy, slippery rocks, and through
gorges as if the mountains were cut in twain and hewn down. In some
places, the walls were so high, affording a narrow dark passage, I don't
believe God's sun ever shone down there. I was so chilled, I felt myself
freezing to death in mid summer, for it was about the 17th of July;
darkness was setting in, and I had not seen the sun that day, although
the sky was cloudless, when to my great relief we came to a little
opening on our left, the mountain receding, leaving about an acre of
level ground, with a luxuriant growth of grass. Our guides said they
lived within a quarter of a mile from there. I said, let us rest and
wait for the rest of the men. When after a little rest, I started again,
I was too weak to make the advance, although provisions were in sight. I
had to be relieved, and some others took my place, while I lay exhausted
on the grass. Happily some of the men had paper that escaped humidity;
loading a musket with wadding, they fired into a rotten stump, setting
it on fire, and by persistent blowing, produced a bright little flame,
which soon developed into a large camp fire, around which the boys dried
themselves.
Parson proved himself a noble, patriotic host. After a couple of hours,
he sent us a large pone of corn-bread, baked in an old-fashioned oven. I
received about an inch square as my share,--the sweetest morsel that
ever passed my lips. It was sufficient to allay the gnawing of my empty
stomach,--it had a strange effect on me, for every time I would stand
up, my knees would give way and down I went otherwise I felt no
inconvenience.
It was a remarkable fact that every man was able to keep up with our
small column and we did not lose a single man up to that time.