Unfortunate state of affairs--Informality of charge and
specifications--Assistance of friends--Fails to get a
trial--Gloomy prospects--Evidence accumulates--Guard-house
incident--The "General" concludes to help himself--Narrow
escape from guerrillas--The capture--Reaches his
regiment--Himself and squad released.
The reader will remember that I once arrested Parson Hamers, while
standing picket for the enemy, and released him. Doctor Russel, I had
learned from reliable sources, had been engaged in contraband trade
between Federal soldiers and guerrillas. Mr. Lawhorn had tried to induce
one of the men under arrest with me to desert, and, to prevent suspicion
of desertion, offered to carry him in his own carriage to a rebel
paroling officer, and get him paroled and bring him back. Perry had been
captured on suspicion of being a guerrilla. Such were the men that were
allowed to make statements against me.
It is easy to conceive how such men would connive together for the
injury of Federal soldiers, if they could only get the military
authorities to tolerate their complaints and give them a hearing. Under
such a state of affairs, it would be an easy matter for any disloyal
citizen to cause the imprisonment of any soldier, however spotless his
record.
When men are mean enough to attempt the destruction of the fairest and
the best Government that ever existed, and to insult that national
emblem which has called forth the honor and respect of the world, it is
no wonder that they should resort to falsehood, or any other dirty
means, to work their revenge upon those that love and fight for their
country.
It was extremely unfortunate for us that we were thus imprisoned during
the command of a temporary post-commander, to whom I was an entire
stranger, and that, too, at a time when a new and extensive campaign was
about to commence.
The charge and specifications, as preferred against us, were _very
informal_, and it is doubtful whether any court-martial would have
attempted a trial based on such informalities. But, nevertheless, there
were grounds for our arrest and confinement.
About two weeks after our arrest, a general court-martial convened, and
our friends used every exertion in their power to have our trial come
on, but did not succeed. Soon afterward the principal part of the forces
stationed at Bolivar moved to Lagrange, Tenn., to which place we soon
followed them. A second and a third court-martial was convened at
Lagrange, and still we failed to get a trial.
On the 28th day of November, the Army of the Tennessee commenced to move
from Lagrange, on its campaign into the State of Mississippi, and with
it was crushed all hope of our immediate trial. With the movement of
the army, the court-martial had been dismissed, and our witnesses,
friends, and counsel scattered beyond a probability of rendering us any
assistance for a long time; and, to make the matter still more
unpleasant, we were confined in a dirty, filthy building, extremely
loathsome and unhealthy, and too small for the number of men confined.
During our confinement, up to the time the army moved, evidence
continued to accumulate in our favor. The list of guerrillas that I had
given to the Provost-marshal, he had destroyed the same day that it was
handed to him. During our confinement, W. S. Perry, and all the persons
named in the list that I gave to him, were captured by a detachment of
the 7th Kansas Cavalry and sent North as guerrillas, showing
conclusively that I had not been mistaken in supposing them such. In
taking their property, under the circumstances that I found it, I did no
more than any detachment of troops would have done under the same
instructions.
The property found at W. S. Perry's was evidently plunder that had been
seized by himself and band. Very much of the specifications against us
were grossly false. What property we did take, I was making arrangements
to turn over to the Quartermaster when I was arrested, showing
conclusively that I did not take it for my personal benefit.
The lady that we were charged with having frightened not one of us had
ever seen; neither had we ever been nearer than three-quarters of a mile
of Mr. Hendrick's house. Mrs. C---- visited us twice while we were
confined at Bolivar, and spoke very complimentary of our behavior while
at her house, and assured us that we need not feel at all uneasy about
the charge of frightening Mrs. Goforth, because that it could easily be
proven that "_her husband was in the rebel army, and had not been home
for more than a year_!" Doctor Russel was the man that trumped up the
charges about Mrs. Goforth. A soldier by the name of William Goodhart,
of the 20th Ohio Regiment, visited Dr. Russel, one day, and, in the
course of conversation, remarked, "Doctor, you have got some of the
Yankee soldiers in rather a tight place, hav'n't you?"
"Yes, I have had some of them shut up awhile."
"Well, it will be apt to go pretty hard with them, won't it?"
"No, I think not. I don't expect to prove any thing against them. They
will probably get clear in the end; but it will keep _Ruggles_ from
running all over the country and representing himself as a citizen of
the State of Tennessee."
Parson Hamers, in specification seventh, accuses me of stealing his
watch, but neglects to fix the date of theft. He afterward fixed the
date as the 30th of September. My company commander was able to show
that I was in camp on the 29th and 30th of September and on the 1st of
October. In a conversation with Parson Hamers, had in the presence of
Sergeant E. W. Quackenbush, of the 20th Ohio Regiment, a few days before
I was arrested, he spoke of having had his watch stolen, and said that
he was so sick at the time that _he did not know who took it_.
During our confinement we were under the custody of four different
Provost-marshals. As a general thing, we met with kind treatment from
those that were guarding us, and oftentimes, through the kindness of
officers and men, we received favors not usually given to soldiers under
arrest. There were a few exceptions to our kind treatment, and I will
narrate an incident illustrative of it:
The whole number of prisoners confined in the guard-house at the time I
allude to, including my own squad, was forty-three, and we all occupied
the same room. Among the prisoners confined with us was a very young
soldier--a mere boy--by the name of George S----, of the 18th Ohio. He
had been in confinement much longer than myself and squad, and was noted
for being decidedly a "hard case." His recklessness sometimes caused
restrictions to be placed upon all confined, thereby causing the
innocent to suffer for the guilty.
One night, George took a rail from off the banisters that surrounded the
stairway and placed it from the portico in front of the court-house into
a tree that stood close by, and, by that means, got out of the
guard-house, unobserved by the guard, and spent the evening in town. On
his return, he neglected to take the rail away. In the morning the
officer of the guard discovered it, and concluded correctly what it had
been placed there for. He commenced an inquiry of the prisoners to find
out who put it there. None of the boys would acknowledge having done it.
Several told him that they supposed George had done it. George denied
it, and nobody had seen him do it.
The officer would not take suppositions as to who did it, but told us
that he should hold us all responsible for a correct report of who did
it, and would give us till roll-call at night to find out; and at that
time, if we did not report, we should all live on nothing but bread and
water until we did.
We told him that we had already said all that we knew about it, and that
we did not feel like submitting to punishment as a body for the acts of
an individual. Roll-call came, but nobody was able to report. We were
then told by the officer that we should have nothing but bread and water
until we reported who did it.
During the night, the boys took several pocket-handkerchiefs and made a
black flag, about three feet square, and fastened it to a long strip of
molding, which they tore off from the wood-work of the room, and hoisted
it upon the top of the court-house cupola. In the morning it attracted
every body's attention, by its disgusting appearance, as it floated from
the most conspicuous place in town. It created universal indignation
throughout the town.
The officer of the guard came up and ordered us to take it down. We
replied that as long as we had to subsist upon bread and water, it was
the flag that we rallied under. He then ordered the guards to make us
remove it. As they were attempting to come up the stairs, George, who
had armed himself with an armful of bricks from the fire-place in the
room, opened fire upon them from the head of the stairs, which made them
beat a hasty retreat, and the officer could not induce them to renew the
attempt. In about half an hour, a detail came, armed, not with guns and
bayonets, but with mess-pans and kettles, filled with _soft bread_,
_beefsteak_, _and coffee_. It is needless to add, the "additional
reinforcements" compelled us to "surrender" and take down the flag. As
long as we remained in charge of that officer, we continued to receive
an abundance of good, wholesome rations.
During our confinement in the guard-house at Bolivar, quite a number of
rebel soldiers, that had been captured by the Federal cavalry, were
temporarily confined with us. Several of them were men that belonged to
the 2d Arkansas Cavalry, and I had become acquainted with them during
the time that I was with that regiment.
On the 3d day of December, 1862, five days after the army had advanced
from Lagrange, I came to the conclusion that I had been confined long
enough, and that my only way of getting myself and men released, without
delay, would be to visit in person my commanding officers, and lay the
case before them. One inducement that I had was, I had learned that
there were no papers in the hands of the Provost-marshal with charges
against us. They had either become lost, or, what is more probable, were
returned to the officer that preferred them, on account of
informalities. In the absence of such papers, I felt convinced that I
could get an order for the release of myself and men. It was an
unmilitary way of doing business, but, nevertheless, I resolved to leave
the guard-house, _without authority, to obtain authority for my release
and that of my men_.
We had been in confinement _fifty days_, and before I could reach the
army it would be more than a hundred miles from Lagrange. It was a great
undertaking to leave the guard-house without authority, and, without
rations, to run a gauntlet of that distance, through Federal pickets and
railroad guards, stationed at frequent intervals along the whole route,
every one of whom would halt me to examine my pass, or would turn me
back if without one.
Sergeant T. J. Watson volunteered to go with me. _How_ we got out of the
guard-house it is not necessary for me to mention. From Lagrange we took
a south-east course, across the country toward Davis' Mills; we struck
the railroad where the wagon road crosses it. There we found some
pickets, belonging to a detachment of five companies stationed at Davis'
Mills, under command of a Major, and charged with guarding a portion of
the railroad. At the time we approached them, they were all, except the
sentry, engaged in cooking a part of a fat porker that they had
confiscated during the night. We halted and entered into conversation
with the boys, as though we had no intention of going on. Having
finished their cooking, they asked us to eat with them, which we were no
way backward about doing. We finished our breakfast, and were about
starting on, when the sentry, who had been more attentive to duty than
we had hoped, asked us if we had passes. I told him we had not, and that
we were on our way to the front, and had not been asked for passes
before, and did not know as it was necessary to have them. With that
explanation, the sergeant of the guard let us pass, but told us that it
would not do to let the Captain in command see us.
Not liking to run our chances with him, we crossed the railroad and left
it to our right, and crossed Davis Creek on a log, and, a short distance
from the creek, turned to our right, so as to reach the bridge across
Wolf River, near Davis' Mills. As we were passing through the cleared
field, I discovered to my left, on a rise of ground, a squad of
guerrillas, mounted on horses. We were within easy shot of them. We were
then within half a mile of the detachment camped at Davis' Mills; they
probably did not wish to alarm the Federal pickets. They had evidently
discovered us first, and were watching for an opportunity to "gobble us
up."
"Tom," said I to the Sergeant, "what kind of soldiers do you call them?"
"What kind are they, Bunker?"
"They are a band of guerrillas, and they will have us in less than a
minute, if we don't get away from here."
Just then the guerrillas started for us.
"Come on, Bunker; for God's sake, let us run!" said Tom. "They are
coming now!"
Turning square to the right, away we went, as hard as we could run,
toward Davis Creek. A hundred and fifty yards brought us to a dense
growth of brush and briars, so thick as to seem impenetrable. There was
no getting around it, for our pursuers were close upon us. With all the
strength we could muster, we sprang into that briar patch and scrambled
through. It was no time to mind scratches, and so we dashed on to the
creek. Our pursuers could not get their horses through the briars, and
before they could get round them, we were across the creek. We made our
way to Davis' cotton-gin, where we found a picket post. A few paces from
the post, the guerrillas were in sight. I showed them to the pickets,
and told them I would go and report the guerrillas to the Major in
command.
Having found the Major, I said: "Major, there are about thirty
guerrillas just across Davis Creek, not half a mile from here, and if
you will get out your men, you can surround them and capture them."
"Who are you?" he inquired.
"I am a scout for the Government."
"Where are you from?"
"Why, I am right from the guerrillas," said I, getting out of patience;
"they have just chased me through a briar patch. Look at my hands and
face, if you want any evidence of it. You can _see_ the guerrillas from
the cotton-gin."
"Who is that man with you?"
"Which is of the most importance, Major: for me to sit down and tell you
my history, or for you to get out your men and capture those
guerrillas?"
By this time the pickets had become alarmed, and sent in for support.
The long roll began to beat, and every thing was excitement. Then was my
time to get away.
"Come on, Tom," said I to the Sergeant; "we must pass the pickets at
Wolf River bridge during the confusion incident to this alarm, or we
will not get away from here without trouble."
As I had expected, the confusion enabled us to get by the pickets at the
bridge. We continued on until about 7 o'clock in the evening, when we
were halted by a railroad guard. The guard allowed us to come up, and we
stayed at the post all night. Before we went to sleep, a messenger came
along on a hand-car, with orders to double the guards during the night,
for an attack on the railroad was intended, and that thirty guerrillas
had already been captured at Davis' Mills, and that more were supposed
to be in the vicinity.
At daylight I tried my persuasive influence upon the guards, and
succeeded in getting leave to pass. From that time on we had very little
difficulty in passing the guards. When we had gone about half a mile, we
met six rebel soldiers, of the 8th Kentucky Regiment, on their way to
give themselves up. They had become tired of the rebellion, and were
anxious to return to their homes. From them I learned that a raid upon
Holly Springs was in contemplation by the forces of Generals Van Dorn
and Tighlman. The rebel deserters were so candid in their statements
that I deemed them reliable; and when we reached Waterford, where
General Ross' division was encamped, I called at his head-quarters, to
report what I had learned. General Ross was absent, so I reported to the
Adjutant-General. We then resumed our journey, and in five days from the
time we left Lagrange, we reached our regiment, then at Oxford, Miss.
I immediately reported to Colonel Force, who inquired if I had been
released from the guard-house.
I said, "No, sir; we ran away."
"Well, Bunker, I am sorry to say it: I can't harbor you in my regiment."
"I suppose, then, Colonel, that the best thing that we can do is to get
away from here; a'n't it?"
"Well, I don't know but it is."
I then left him, and went to General Leggett, commanding the brigade,
and told him the situation of affairs. He told me that we need not go
back to the guard-house, and that we might stay with the regiment. I
told him that I did not wish to stay, unless the men of my squad were
released. He assured me that they should be, and immediately went in
person to Major-General McPherson and explained the situation of affairs
to him. He issued an order releasing the whole of us. When the order
reached the men in the guard-house, they had been in confinement
fifty-eight days. They reached the regiment when it was encamped about
three miles south of the Yacona River.
During our confinement, very much interest and sympathy was manifested
for us by both officers and men, and many of them rendered us valuable
assistance. To General M. D. Leggett and Colonel M. F. Force, and to
Captains F. M. Shaklee, E. C. Downs, and B. A. F. Greer, of the 20th
Ohio, we are under very great obligations; and to the officers and men
of the 78th Ohio and the 17th Illinois Regiments, who guarded us during
the greater part of our confinement, I will here take the opportunity to
express, in behalf of myself and squad, sincere and heart-felt thanks
for their kindness and assistance.