Rumored attack upon Grand Junction--"General Bunker" sent out
as spy--Passes himself as a rebel soldier--Falls in with
rebel cavalry--Visits a rebel camp--Attempts to deprive him
of his revolver--Discovers a Yankee forage
party--Undertakes to return--Captured by Yankees, and
robbed of his revolver and money--Passes as a rebel
spy--Sent to the Provost Marshal--Sent to General
Hurlbut--Returned to Grand Junction.
Soon after the evacuation of Corinth by the forces under General
Beauregard, a part of General Grant's army was distributed along the
Ohio and Mississippi and the Mississippi Central, and also the Memphis
and Charleston Railroads, to garrison the principal towns and open up
communication for supplies by railroad instead of by the Tennessee
River, which was becoming so low as to be an uncertain route for
supplies.
At the time I speak of, Grand Junction was garrisoned by a small brigade
of infantry and a battery of artillery, under command of
Brigadier-General M. D. Leggett. Grand Junction is situated on the
Mississippi Central Railroad at its junction with the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad, and was an exposed outpost.
A rumor had become current among the citizens that a large force of the
enemy's cavalry was in the vicinity, preparing to capture the brigade
garrisoning the post. General Grant, who was still at Corinth, informed
General Leggett by telegraph that his command was in danger; that an
attempt would be made to capture his force; that he would be attacked on
his right by cavalry and on his left by infantry, and advised him to
vacate the place and fall back to Bolivar, twenty miles north of Grand
Junction, where the Mississippi Central Railroad crosses the Hatchee
River. The enemy's force was represented to be 900 cavalry at Davis'
Mills, and three brigades of cavalry at what is known as the White
Church, on Wolf River, the former nine and the latter twelve miles from
Grand Junction, in a south-west direction. An additional force of a
division of infantry were said to be at Salem, seventeen miles
south-east of Grand Junction.
General Leggett had some doubts about the rebels having very much force
near the place, and the large quantities of cotton that were being
brought in, and the abundance of corn for forage, made it an object to
hold the place as long as prudence would admit, and he resolved to
ascertain whether there was any cause for alarm before vacating it.
General Leggett sent for me and told me what he wanted, and asked me if
I was willing to undertake the job. It was the first opportunity that I
had ever had of working as a spy, and I had for a long time been anxious
to try my hand at it, and I felt certain that I could do the Government
more good in that way than in any other. It was my time to strike, and
I determined to improve it. I told General Leggett that I was willing to
try, and would do the best that I could, and if I got back safe, "all
right;" if not, my fate would be no worse than that of others before me.
I returned to my quarters and made the necessary arrangements, and the
next morning, at daylight, I started out on the road to Salem, disguised
as a Confederate soldier belonging to infantry.
The day was clear and pleasant, and a recent shower had laid the dust
and cooled the air, and made it much pleasanter traveling than is apt to
be the case in that country in the month of July. I was on foot, and the
coolness of the atmosphere very much facilitated my progress. I was not
interrupted in my progress until I had gone about eight miles, when I
observed, as I approached a planter's house, a negro woman in the yard,
engaged in churning. Being somewhat fond of buttermilk, I resolved to
pay the inmates of the house a visit. As I approached the house, a lady
came to the door, and, observing my Confederate uniform, seemed pleased
to see me, and asked me to walk in and be seated, to which I complied.
"Where have you been?" she inquired.
"I have been out to the Yankee pickets, and I had a fight with them last
night and killed three of the d----d Yankees. They killed my horse for
me in the fight, and I am going back to Salem to get another that I left
there. I have walked until I am tired. Seeing the woman churning in the
yard, I thought I would stop and rest myself, and see if you would have
the kindness to give me a drink of buttermilk."
"I am glad you did. You shall have all the buttermilk you want. You are
not a-gwine to _walk_ to Salem, are you?"
"Yes. I've got another horse there, and I don't like to trouble any body
for the use of one."
"Well, now, you are not a-gwine to walk down thar; we've got heaps o'
horses and mules, and you shall have one to ride. Bob! Bob!" calling to
a darky in the yard, "you run right quick to the cotton-gin and fetch
your master."
While Bob went on a double-quick for his master, the lady ordered me
some buttermilk and wheat biscuit. While I was eating, the planter came
in.
"Lord bless you, John!" exclaimed the lady, as her husband entered,
"here is one of _our soldiers_, and he has had a fight with the Yankee
pickets and has killed three of them! He says he's gwine to walk to
Salem after another hoss. I tell him that he's not a-gwine to walk when
we've got heaps o' mules! I think any of our soldiers that has killed
_three Yankees_ is entitled to a mule to ride!"
"You can have a mule in welcome; there's no occasion for you to walk,"
said the planter.
"Thank you!" said I, "I am under very great obligations to you for your
kindness, but it may not be possible for me to return this way. I will
not take a mule, but I am a thousand times obliged to you."
With many blessings from them, and an urgent invitation to call if I
returned, I took my departure. When about twelve miles from Grand
Junction, I was overtaken by a squad of thirteen rebel cavalry,
including one Sergeant, under command of a Lieutenant.
"How are you, boys?" said I, as they came up.
"Fine!" said the Lieutenant. "How do you do?"
"I'm getting _pretty near well_, I thank you."
"Where do you belong?" he inquired.
"To the 13th Tennessee Infantry, Col. Vaughn's regiment."
"Ah--yes, yes; he's all right. I remember of seeing him in Corinth last
spring," said the Sergeant; "I have a cousin in the same regiment."
"Where do _you_ belong?" I inquired.
"To Jackson's First Battalion of Cavalry," answered the Lieutenant.
"Where are you gwine?"
"I am gwine down to my regiment," said I. "I have been sick, and have
been home in Osceola, Mississippi County, Arkansas, and I am gwine down
to Salem to report myself to the nearest head-quarters. I have heard
that there is some of our forces there, and I want to find out where my
regiment is."
"You are mistaken," said the Lieutenant; "there is none of our forces
there. And besides, it is not necessary for you to report at any
head-quarters. Your regiment is at Tupelo, where you will have no
difficulty in getting to it. We have some spare horses here; get on one
of them and ride."
I mounted one of the horses and rode along with them. I learned, from
conversation with them, that their regiment was stationed at Tupelo,
Miss., and that they were detailed to traverse the country and visit
all the planters, and tell them to haul their cotton, corn, and bacon to
a place known as the Double Block-house, where it would be guarded to
prevent the Yankees from stealing it.
We only went about a mile after I mounted the horse before we turned to
the right, and a half a mile more brought us to the double log-house. At
that place three regiments of infantry were camped, and their principal
object appeared to be to guard the stuff that the planters were hauling
in for protection. Several thousand bushels of corn and large quantities
of bacon had already been hauled there.
We dismounted and remained in the camp about an hour. While there the
Lieutenant told me that I had better not be in a hurry about going to
Tupelo; "for," he said, "the times are rather tough for a man just
recovering from sickness, and the rations are not such as a sick man can
relish." He told me that he was going round on to the lower Tupelo road
in a day or two, and that I had better run with them till that time, and
he would put me on to a road where I would find clever people and plenty
to eat. It all seemed very good advice, and favorable to my purpose, and
so I accepted it.
The balance of the day was spent in visiting every plantation on the
roads to the west and north of the block-house, and when we halted for
the night we were within three miles of Davis' Mills.
There I was like to have a little difficulty with the Sergeant. I had
with me a very nice navy revolver that I had borrowed of Colonel Force
preparatory to starting out. The Sergeant discovered that I had it, and
was going to take it away from me.
"What business has an infantry soldier with such a revolver as that?"
said the Sergeant. "Infantry soldiers don't need them, and cavalry
soldiers do. It will never do you any good if you keep it; so give it to
me."
"Sergeant," said I, "you are superior to me in rank, and if you insist I
shall have to obey; but if you take that revolver away from me I'll
report you to Billy Jackson! I will indeed!"
"Sergeant," said the Lieutenant, who heard our words, "if Colonel Vaughn
is willing that his men should carry such things, it is none of our
business. Let the soldier keep his revolver!"
"Thank you, Lieutenant," said I. "I prize that revolver very highly. I
bought it in Memphis, about the time the war commenced, to kill the
Yankee sons of b--hes with, and when I enlisted Colonel Vaughn told me I
might carry it, and I mean to do it."
"That's right!" said the Lieutenant. "Turn up as many of the d--d
Yankees' heels with it as you can! Soldier, what road did you come in on
this morning?"
"I came down on the Somerville road, across the Hickory flats, by the
old man Pruett's, and then over on to the Salem and Grand Junction
road."
"You came a very good route, indeed."
"I am aware of that," I replied. "I know this here country all through
in here. Lieutenant, where did you boys stay last night?"
"At Davis' Mills."
"Haven't we got a cavalry force there?"
"No. There was only us fourteen there last night."
"The old man Pruett told me yesterday that there was, that we had three
brigades of cavalry at the White Church on Wolf River."
"The old man was mistaken. There is none of our forces nearer than
Tupelo, except the three regiments that you saw to-day, and a few of the
same company that I belong to, that are scattered about the country on
the same business that we are on."
In the morning our operations of notifying the planters was renewed, and
our route lay along the bottoms of Davis Creek, toward the head-waters
of the creek. About noon we very unexpectedly found a Yankee forage
party.
"There is some of the Yankee sons of b--hes now!" said the Lieutenant.
"Where?" said I.
"There, up on top of the hill to the left," said he, pointing toward
them.
I looked, and sure enough there they were. There was about thirty of the
Yankees, and eight teams. They had halted to feed, and had stacked arms.
They did not see us. We moved along a little further to a cow-path that
led to the right up a ridge of ground parallel to the one occupied by
the Yankees. The hollow that intervened was filled with a growth of
bushes extending to the path which we were in, which screened us from
view and enabled us to approach within fifty yards of the Yankees
without being seen.
I now recognized the detachment as belonging to my own regiment, and one
of the men was _my own bunk-mate_!
The Lieutenant told us to be quiet and not to speak a word, and if the
Yankees ventured away from their arms, we would make a dash upon them
and capture their arms and mules, and burn the wagons. Little did they
mistrust the relation that I bore to these Yankees. I determined, if a
dash was attempted, to do what execution I could upon my butternut
companions with my revolver, hoping to dispose of four or five of them
before my _true relation_ was discovered. It was a moment of fearful
suspense as we watched those Federal soldiers; but my butternut
companions were too deeply interested in the watch to observe any
feelings that my actions might have betrayed.
For about twenty minutes we watched them, but they did not move away
from their arms. The Lieutenant, fearing his own safety might be
endangered by too long a stay, silently withdrew his men, and made his
way back toward Davis' Mills by another route. That night we stayed at a
planter's house, ten miles from Grand Junction.
At three o'clock the next morning we were again on the move, and a two
hours' ride brought us to four corners in the road somewhere south-west
of Lagrange, and three or four miles distant from that place. There we
halted, and the Lieutenant told me that one of the roads was the one
that I wanted to take to go to Tupelo. He gave me the names of several
planters that lived on the road, and advised me to stop two or three
days at a place and recruit my health all I could on the way to my
regiment, and assured me that the planters he had named were clever
people, and that I would be welcome with any of them. I thanked him and
bade him a good morning, and started on the road that he had pointed
out, not caring whether it led to Tupelo or not, if I could get away
from him and his squad.
As soon as the cavalry was out of sight, I made a detour through a large
cotton-field to my left, and continued on until I came into a road that
I supposed led direct to Grand Junction; while in company with the
cavalry, we had zigzagged through the country so much that I had become
somewhat confused, and I was not sure where the road did lead to. I took
it, however, and moved along very fast to get, as soon as possible, as
far away from the vicinity where we parted, lest, by some chance or
other, I might be found going toward Grand Junction instead of Tupelo. I
kept, as I supposed, a sharp look-out as I moved along, and had gone, as
near as I could judge, three miles, when I was very unexpectedly
interrupted in my course by a challenge of "Halt! halt! you son of a
b--h!"
I was considerably alarmed, for I supposed that I must have encountered
a rebel picket. On looking to see where the challenge came from, I found
that it emanated from a Federal picket. A clump of bushes had prevented
me from seeing him until I was close on to him. My position was clear
enough now. I had taken a road to Lagrange, instead of Grand Junction,
and had encountered General Hurlbut's pickets.
"Ha! ha! my butternut soldier!" exclaimed the guard, as I halted; "you
got caught rather unexpectedly."
"I reckon I did," I replied.
"Where do you belong?"
"To the 13th Tennessee."
"You've got tired soldiering on short rations, I suppose?"
"I reckon I a'n't starved yet."
One of the pickets then took me to the Captain in command, at the
reserve. There I was subjected to a rigid questioning and search, but I
was determined to carry out my disguise until I could report to some
commanding officer. My revolver and money, and other articles, were
taken from me by the Captain, and then I was ordered to stand up by a
tree until further orders. I remonstrated with the Captain about
depriving me of my revolver and private property, and told him that
"_we_ always respected a prisoner's right to his side arms and personal
effects." The Captain replied that I might be d--d glad to get off so,
and if he had his way about it, he would shoot every rebel in the
Southern Confederacy.
While standing at the tree, I observed a plantation house that stood
within less than a hundred yards from me, and that it was occupied. My
early start and the distance I had traveled gave me a ravenous appetite,
so I asked the Captain if he would be so kind as to allow me to go to
the house and get some breakfast.
"Yes," said he, "you may go; but, G--d d--n you, if you undertake to get
away, I'll have you shot!"
"I won't run away," I replied; "I didn't come in here to run away. I'll
come right back as soon as I get my breakfast."
When I got to the house, I met the man of the house at the door. He had
evidently seen me coming, and my uniform attracted his attention.
"Good morning!" said I, as he came out.
"Good morning; won't you come in?"
"Yes, I don't care if I do; and I should like right well to get some
breakfast here, if you please, for I am mighty hungry."
"Walk in; you shall have all the breakfast you want. Where do you
belong?"
"To Col. Vaughn's regiment, the 13th Tennessee."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Well, I belong to Colonel Strawl's regiment, the 4th Tennessee. I am a
surgeon in that regiment; my name is Biggs. What is your name?"
"My name is _Ruggles_. I am a brother to General Ruggles."
"Is it possible! I know the General very well. What are you doing up
here?"
"I am going through the d--d Yankee lines to-day, if I can."
"You are? A'n't you afraid they'll _get you_?"
"No; I expect they'll get me into the guard-house, but I'll soon manage
to get out."
"Well, do the best that you can. If they _do_ get you into the
guard-house, you sha'n't want for anything to eat. I'll see to that
myself."
Breakfast was announced as ready for me, and I sat up to the table.
They had got me fried ham, baked sweet potatoes, warm biscuit with
butter and honey, and coffee with sugar and cream. I think the condition
of my appetite enabled me to do that meal ample justice. When I had
finished, I asked the doctor how much I should pay him.
"Oh, Lord! not a cent! Do you think I'd charge one of our soldiers for a
meal of victuals! I feel thankful that I have it to give you!" Then
turning, and pointing toward the pickets, he said, "But them d--d Yankee
thieves down there I make pay me fifty cents for a meal of nothing but
bread and meat!"
"You've got them rightly named, doctor," said I; "for they took my
revolver and my money, and every thing else I had, away from me this
morning."
"You needn't be surprised at such treatment as that," said he; "for
there are officers down there that would steal the Lord's supper, and
men that would steal the table-cloths!"
"You are about right, doctor; but I see they are looking as if uneasy
about me, and I must go back."
"Well," said he, "if you get into trouble, I'll do all I can for you. I
have got things fixed pretty smooth between me and the pickets, and I
think I can help you carry out your plans."
"Haven't you taken the _oath_, doctor?"
"Oh, yes! I had to do that in order to get along smoothly."
"Well, you be careful and not get yourself into any scrape by it. I
would advise you to say nothing, and if I get into the guard-house, you
see that I get plenty to eat, and I'll wriggle out some way."
I then bid him good-by, and returned to my position by the tree. When
the new pickets came out to relieve the old ones, two of the old guards
took me in to the Provost-marshal. As I entered his office, I was
saluted by, "Well, old hoss, who are you?"
"I am an Arkansas school-master," I replied.
"What do you want?"
"I want to see General Hurlbut."
"What do you want of General Hurlbut?"
"I want to see him. I've heard that he's a very red-faced man, and I
want to see for myself how he looks!"
"_Yes, you want to see him!_ You'll go to the guard-house!"
"No I won't!"
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"You give me those two guards and send me to General Hurlbut, and find
out who I am!"
"Guards," said he, "take him off; take him down to General Hurlbut's. I
don't know who the h--l he is!"
The guards took me to the General's quarters, and one of them went in
and told the General that they had got a fellow that they had captured
at the picket-line, and that he was dressed like a rebel soldier, and
that the Provost-marshal could not find out who he was, and had sent him
there. The General came out of the tent, and, seeing who it was, said:
"Ah, yes! I know him! Guards you can go to your quarters."
"Hold on, General," said I; "the Captain that had command of those
guards took a revolver away from me that belongs to Colonel Force, and
took my pocket-book, and every thing else I had in my pockets."
"What kind of d--d thieving and robbing will take place next! Guards, go
and tell that Captain to march his men up here!"
In a few minutes, the Captain marched his men into the yard and formed
them in a line; when that was done, "Captain," said the General, "give
that man the things that you robbed him of!"
The Captain handed out the articles, one after another, and last of all
he handed me _an old fine-tooth comb_! That was too much for the
equanimity of the officers and men that were looking on, and they burst
into a roar of laughter. The poor Captain looked as if he would sink
into the earth. "That will do," said the General, when he had handed me
all; "you can dismiss your men."
I told General Hurlbut the result of my trip, and he complimented me
very highly upon my success, and then gave me a "little smile" of brandy
and loaf sugar, and a pass to Grand Junction.
The pass saved me any further annoyance by the Federal pickets, and Dr.
Biggs from the trouble of visiting the guard-house with "commissary
supplies."
I reported my trip to General Leggett, and, for some reason, the brigade
did not vacate the place for more than two weeks after.