II
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Ii
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VOLUME XVII. -NUMBER 28. /
.1 rinE
:POTTER JOURNAL'
PUOLUMED BY /
31i. W. McManley, Proprietor.
I 1431.50 Pa yoke., INVAMABLY IN ADVANCE.
---•••• i
1
• '.,„" Devr3ttl to•the cause of Rept4licanism,
t the_drt?..s 3f Agriculture, th advancement
cif ! Edt:c . ..tl3:4. and the beet gpod of Potter
minty ilW•lino! no guide •excent that of
!'ineiple. . l' - -
Pr 11 trill •tttdeaver to/aid in the work
oflatore fully Preedmizin ,, /our Country.
ADVERTISEMENTS inserted at the following
rates, except, wh ere special e. bargains are made.
1 Square [lO lines] 1 insertion, - - - $1 50
- - - 2 00
Eich subsequent insertionless than 13, 40
1 Square three months, 4 00
1 - " six! .‘
4 7 00, 1
I " nine /./" 10 00
1 1 " oneyyear, • 1' 00
a! 1
ii ,' (Column six months, . 30 00
ii ii
,ii ic ii 17 09
I
11'10 00
/,.,
I " / per year. -- ---- - - 50 00
i i,i i , , IC II 30 00
' Administrator's or Executor's Notice, 3 1 00
!"Onainesi Cards, 8 lines or less, per year 5 00
Folie ( cial and Editorial Notices, per line, 20
.II *All transient advertisements must be
/ field in advance, and, no notice will be taken
of advertisements from a distance, unless they
are accompanied by the money or satisfactory
reference.
' ! * * Blanks, and Job Work of all kinds, at
tended to promptly and faithfully.
BUSINESS CARDS.
Free and. Accepted Ancient York Masons.
NULAIT.A. LODGE, No. 342, F. A. M.
'YATED,lleetings on the 2nd and 4th Wedne
sdays (reach month. Also Masonic gather
ings on every Wednesday Evening. for work
and practice, at their Hall lu Coudersport.
1- D. C. LARRIBEE, W. M.
r. M. W. McAtenst:r, Sec'y.
j JOIN S. MAN . N,
iiMIiNEY AND COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
j Coudersport, Pa., will attend the several
4 Courts in Potter and M'Kean Counties. All
business entrusted in his care will receive
prompt attention: Office turner of West
I and Third streets.
ARTHUR G. ODISTED 3
ATTOTtNEV & COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
1' Coaderspert, PL., will attend to all business
I tsitrastedl to his care, with pro mptnes and
Ogee on Soth-west corner of Main
and.j. Fontil streets. '
ISAAC BENSON.
..3T.TORNEY A lAN, - Coudersport, Pa., will
f l iktend to all bitsiness entrusted to him with
:Ore and promptness. Office on Second
near the Allegheny Bridge.
F. W. KNOX,
ATTORNEY AT LAW, Coudersport- Pa., will
regularly attend the Courts in Potter end
the adjoining Counties.
R. A. DRAKE, 3r. D«
ECTSICIAN & SURGEON, offers his services to
1
she citizens of this place and vicinity and desires
eform them that he Will promptly - repo :d to all
leaps for professional cervices. °lnce on Ilan street.
iovet C. F.Manning's.Tovelty Store ; Residence near; v
!opposite the office of tire Fox & Ross' EL•tr.:,4-17-.2 - 5
O. T. ELLISO.N, •
i•RACTICING PHYSICIAN, Coudersport, Pa.,
1 respectfnlly informs the citizens of the vil
-1 Page an& vicinity that fie will promply re-
Opond to all, calls for professional services.
Office on Main st., in building' formerly oc
cupied 1)y C. W. Ellis. Esq.
•
C. S. &-. E. A. .TONES,
(DEALERS IN DRUGS, MEDICINES, PAINTS
1 Oils, Fancy ..-Articles ; Stationery, Dry Good:,
Grocerins, kc., Main at., Condersport, Pa.
D. E. OL3ITED,
f . 3E . .i.GRR. Di" DRY GOODS, READY-7.krADE
Clothing, Crockery, Groceries, se., Main st.,
Collersport,
COLLINS SMITH,
DEilL.Ell. in Dry Goods,Groceries, Provi;ions,
It; Queenstrare, Cutlery, and all
Gond:: usually found in a country Store.--
Conders )ort "Nov. 27. . 1561.
COUDERSPORT HOTEL,
;0, F., GLASSIIIRE, Proprietor,' Corner o
' Main and Second Streets, Coudersport, Por
ter to.i Pa. '
A - Livery, Stable is also kept in conned
lion 'with this Hotel.
< H. J. OLMSTED,
aEALER IN STOVES, TIN & SHEET IRON
WEE, Main st., nearly opposite the Court
Rouse-, Coudersport, Pa. Tin and Sheet
toh Wate made to order, in good style, on
,short.notice.
- 15 - 31. 11. MILLER a C M'ALARNEY.
• MILLER Si., McILARNEY,
-ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW,
,HARRISBURG, PA.,
GENTS for the Collection of diaii s
AL - spina the United States and State Gov
ernments, such as Pension, Bounty, Arrear 3
of Pay LT. Address Box 93, Itlrrisburg, Pa.
Pension Bounty and War Claim
Agency.
-procured for soldiers of the
J. present war who are disabled by reason of
wounds received or disease contractracted
while in the service of the United States ;'and
pensions„hounty, and arrears of pay obtained
for aidows or heirs of those who have died
ir been killed.while in service. All lettm iof
inquiri 4 promtlranswered, and. on receipt by
snail of a statement of the case of claimant I
mill toiriard the necessary papers for their
Bigrlsitute;' 'Pee's in Pension cases as fixed by
law.- - •
ItsranitucEs.-Hon. Is BENSON, 'Hon. A.
G. OmasrED, J. S. Esq.,F. W. Ksox,
Esq.! _ DAN BASER,
r_. Claim Agent Cou.derportiPa:
June 8„'64:1y. - •
ED".-'-=itJONES' =RV—says he - can
"beat the Jews"seßing Cotton Goods.
CORNER
.STORE—constantly receiving
fine mart:ants of GOODS.
: ~.
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ANDERSONYILLE
NARRATIVE OF SURGEON A. W. BARROWS:
Dr. A. W. Barrows, who has just ar
rived home - , and who made his escape
from the Rebel Prison at Andersonville,
and made bbi way through, the Rebel
territory to our lines at Pensacola, gives
us the following interesting particulars
relative to his capture and oscalie,'which,
we doubt 1204 will he highly interesting
to our readers. ..-
On the 7th of April ayout 4 o'clock,
p. m, the outer picket poht.at Plymouth
' was attacked by a rebel force under the
Icommand of 'Gen. Hoke. His force was
,estimated at 15000, having a reserve of
;10,000 withiti four hours march. Our
' force in Plymouth numbered only 2200
men, inclndiug citizens sick and wounded
,soldiers, so that our effective force was
Ibut 1800 men: Brig. Gen. W. H. Wes•
I sels was in command of the place. After
Ia determined ,' esistance of three days, the
rebels_captured the town.
1 ' I
Our post hospital was n a building
I formerly owned by a seceslt woman, who
had abandoned it. Her son was a Lieu.
tenant on Gen. Hoke's staff. There were
'97 sick and wounded 'of 'our soldiers in
the hospital at ' this time, under the
charge of Post Surgeon George Z. Bretz
of Carlisle,Pa., assisted by Dr. Nickersond
Assistant Surgeon of the 16th Conn. Vols.
I was at this time actin°. Assistant Sur
.,
, geon, We removed the patients to the
;cellar of the building on Monday the 18th,
and banked np the earth around so as to
i protect them' from the rebel shells and I
I sh l ot. During the boMbardment, shells
frequently passed through the building,l
' but without doing any injury to the pa
t
tients. On the 20th the Lieut. before
' mentioned came to our place and informed
us that we were all priscners.
The garrison were sent off under guard,
to' Ta:rboro, and from thence to Ander.
I sonville, the officers being 'left at Macon
I Numerous opportunities' offered them
,
,sclv.es for escape, but as 'our sick boys
demanded all the care we could give them,
I ;determined on staying with them and
I shnring their fate. . !
1
lOn the 26d I gave my parole _not : fi..)
escape, and!remained at Plymouth about
three weeks. During that time our, sick
had become so far convalese,nt as to be
able to be ' forwarded to lAndersonville,
and about the 20th of May, in company'.
• with 22 patients we started for that in. I
hospitable prisott. At'Macon the Sidi
~eon andssistant Sur...
a Assistant left us. On'
our arrival at Audersonviliel was sent to
the Hospital, and in three days was as
!
signed to the charge of two wards. The,
Hospital was an enclosure of six acres, a
' I ..rove on the verge of a filthy stream,l '
from ,which we derived our only supply I
of water. Oar only protection was toots.,
mostly unprovided with bunks, so that
our sick and suffering soldiers were com'T
pelled to lie on the ground, many dual
cute of blankets.
When I first arrived there were about
1000 patients in the hospital c and - the
deaths were about - 60 per day. But in
a short time our hospital was crowded
with sick, and the deaths 'numbered cfbe
day 201. The dead house, which was
simply a Corner of the lot, frequently
contained more than that number of bod
ies piled up. Freqt4ntly the bodies
remained two or three days, and the odor
was almost insufferable. The bodies
were removed and buried by the negroes,
captured from ourforces. The surgical
force was very inadeqtiate to th- -113 P
.. 7 ry inadequ, toe number
of sick. Some oflthe rebel surgeons were
humane, and did all in their power to
relieve the sufferings 'of our men, bit the
majority of theaLseeMed to enjoy it, and
actually taunted Our poor fellows, as they
lty groaninz under their woes.
:Medicines were very scarce, and of +1
inferior quality, land i tle only effectile
remedies were roots and herbs
Many unnecessary; amputations were
made, the pcior fews o• ipleadin with teats
in their eyes thattheir limbs might lie
spared,but the uufeel Inc , c reply was "Dam's
you when we ( , et it of,fyou'll do no more
fighting: l i M en,' frequently bad theft
limbs: amputated merely to give their
young surgeons practice, and ns care was
taken to„ save the patient unnecessary
suffering. One ;man bad his foot ampu
tated for gangrene in his toes, and many
similar operationi; wece performed. The
food furnished to,i our sick was corn bread
and bacon, about' a pciund of corn bread,
and aniorince and a half of bacon, some
times maggotty.l The corn- meal was
unbolted,, ground cob and, all. This was
frequently half cclokeclandoften contained
whole kernels ofd corn, and pieces of cob
as large se a ches nut. During the latter
part of our stay, they; issued about a - gill
of flour to a man. The corn bread was
so indigestible that lit : aggravated th'e
complaints of the men, •
Our hospital was surrounded by a. rebel
guard. We were permitted to go any
where inside of the enclosure except near
the - enteatiZe, where a dead line was ee-
tablished' about 20 feet, over which it
was ,`loath to pan. , Frequently craay
Debota to 140 'Wirpiples °of Iry i)aipoche9, and; ibe WISSoh)L1411,011 of 3J'otlet74ttike 410 troos•
COUDERSPORT, POTTER COUNTY, PA., TUESDAY OCTOBER 24, 1865.
patients would escape , from their nurses
and run across the line, when they were
immediately shot. One cold night a
cionvalescent . patient went to a fire which
the guard had made inside the enclosure,
to warm himself, and although a guard
was stationed inside, one from the outside
shot him through the knee. His leg was
amPtitated, but he died the next day.
The rains in that country are not like
our northprn showers, but come in a flood,
and the hospital was frequently flooded
three inches deep, running over our pa
tients who lay upon the ground, hale of
"them without blankets.
1 The nurses who took care of our sick
were mostly oar own men, detailed from
the stockade. Their own 'privations had
made them selfish and hardened, and I
soon discovered that many of them were
rPbbinr• the sick of half their meagre por
tion o?food. They would take the flour
issued, and Cook it for half, and then
cook up their half and sell it to the poor
wretches for 25 eta for a biscuit. I soon
[int a stop to this practice in my wards,
by sending the cooks back to the stockade.
They also made a practice of stealing the
blankets and clothing of the dead and
selling them to the rebel soldiers. This,
also, I succeeded in stopping. Every
rag of clothing left on the dead bodies
was stripped from them by the rebel tin
dertakers, so that anything useful we took
for our sick. All little things which
might be prized by thoir friends, I en
deavored to preserve, but I was forced to
leave them when I escaped. Of the
treatment of the prisoners in the stock
ade, I knew only what I was told by the
Patients admitted from there, but if the
half of that was• true, it was horrible. Of
the 2000 prisoners sent from Plymouth,
over one third had died np to 'the 3d of
October, and from the Ist of June up to
the 9th of October, 11,600 had died in
the hospital.
Of my own treatment I have little
complaint to make. I was allowed to go
outside the Hospital for a mile, and was:
enabled to obtain many luxuries, which
others were unable to get. , I could fro
'Fluently smuggle in articles for the sick
which were contraband.
Major Bogle of the Ist colored Carolina
regiment, formerly of the 18th Mass.
Regt. who was captured at the battle of
Olustee, was, at the time I arrived at
Andersoriville, in the stockade, wounded
in the leg, h i nt because he was an officer
in a negro regiment was refused all med
ical treatment. Learning his situation I
made application to the medical director,
to admit bioi to my ward, and received
reluctant consent. Not a rebel surgeon
would look at him He was wounded in
the ankle, and a portion of the shattered
bone was in the flesh. ,After removing
this, he rapidly recovered and when I
left was so far convalesce"nt as to contem
plate escape.
There were many officers of negro Reg-
iments in the prison,disguised as privates,
as they received better treatment, giving
in fictitious names. In this manner the
fate of many will never be known to their
friends.
Among the many dangers to which our
prisoners were exposed ,not the least was
the cupidity of our own soldiers. The
thieves and bounty jumpers which were
!sent out so numerously in 1863 do not
forget their old habits when in the army,
land the privations of a prisoner's life is
not calculated to make them any more
regardful of "mine and tbine," than when
!plying their vocation at home. In the
!early part of the fiitainiter, there were a
large number of these miserable wretches
sent to Andersonville from ' Belle Island,
1 and when they arrived they were almost
t destitute of clothes, and all the comforts
of life; and they soon set about replenish-'
ing their tattered wardrobes by robbing
their fellow prisoners, and finally they
Went solar as to murder the newly arrived
prisoners to possess themselves of the
( money and valuables which were upon
! them. Several persons were found mur
dered—their throats cat front ear to ear,
and their bodies stripped.
The prisoners finally held amass meet
ing and appointed a delegation to Wait
upon the offieeriu command, and ask ihia
permission to organize a Court of Justice,
and subject the guilty parties to trial and
punishment. This was accorded to them,
and about 30 of the "suspected parties
were arrested, and in the tent of one of
them was found the bodies of twa men 1
with their throats cut from ear to ear,
concealed beneath the blankets and straw.
The parties were tried and 6 of them
sentenced to be hung, and a gallows was
erected within the stockade, and they
suffered the penalty for their inhuman
crimes. Several others were sent to the
chain gang. This effectually put a stop
to this thieving and murder.
- Becoming tired and sick of the suffer.
ing around me I determined to make my
escape, and laid severil plans, which
failed, bat I finally made the attempt on
Sunday Oct. 9th, 1864. , The day previ-
ous the camp was in great eonfasion on
account of the escape of four Soouts,who
had for a. Ion" time been prisoners. One
of them, Hogan, was chief scout of the
Army of the Potomac, and was the guide
to Dalghreo's expedition, and was cap.
tured at that time. He was sentenced
by the rebels to be hung as a spy, but in
consequence of our government threaten
ing to execute a rebel Major in case his
sentence was carried into execution, he
was sent from Richmond to Andersonville
where be was very soon detailed as hos
pital Steward.' The other three - were
scouts from Sherman's arkny. They made
their escape on Saturday the Bth of Oc
tober about 8 o'clock in the evening.
Their first act was to steal Gen. Winder's
stallion, which he valued at $2500 in
gold, and three other valuable horses,
two beloneina to the General, and the
other to the Col, of the oath Georgia,and
with these, they made their escape. Their
daring so incensed the rebels, that every
effort was made to reeapture them. The
country was scoured with packs of hounds
in every direction, but at noon on the
9th no traces had been discovered of
them. They probably made their way to
Sherman's lines. The rebels had three
packs of blood hounds, 6 in a pack. These
had at this time returned completely
exhausted by their exertions in this pur
suit. , The guard were also fatigued, cha
grined :loci Vdisheartened. Thinking no
more favorable time -would present itself
to es6pe, myself, Charles M. Smith of
Conway, and A. A. Crandall, 58th Penn ;
sylvania, from Thyssos,l Pa., made the
attempt. We made our arrangements
some time previous, laying in such arti
cles as we thought me might need. I
procured 8 bunches of matches from a
contraband, at different times at Si por
bunch. I also laid in a small stock of
medicines in case we should be taken
sick on the journey. Knowing that we
should be hotly pursued by the hounds.
I from time to time saved up quantities
of turperitinb, Oil of Black Pepper, Cap
sicum and simple cerate, with which I
prepared an ointment, which effectually
prevents the hounds from following the
track. We also had a small supply of
provision, which we disposed about our
persons. With these preparations we
started from the Hospital at noon. I had
permission to pass mySelf and any one in
my ward; and on this I passed out Smith
as a water carrier.' Crandall went out on
the pass of a hospital Steward; which
pass was returned to him by another hos
pital Steward who went out at the same
time. No suspicion was excited in the
guard, as we were frequently in the habit
of going,out,:to visit the burial yard. To
this place we directed our course. The
rail road ran very near this place. This
we crossed and entered theivoods,making
our way northwest from Andersonville.
At dusk we were about three 'miles out
side the i pickets, the location of which I
had previously aseertained. We had,
covered our feet with the ointment, and
our clothes with turpentine, so that we
felt sure the hounds at Andersonville
could not follow our trail. But the coun
try around was swarming with confeder
ate pickets and citizens, who were always
on the lookout fi..r escaped prisoners. We
had several narrclcv escapes that afternoon
frequently coming - out upon a road near
confederates. In such cases we dropped
into the bushes where we remained qui
etly until the danger of detection had
,passed At dark we pushed northwest
fast as our legs would carry usovishine
to cross the river Chatahoochie between
Columbia and Fort Gaines near the junc•
firm of the Flint and Chatahoochie,which
there forms the Apalachicola river, and
which was about 130 miles from Ander
sonville. We had no compass, but Cran
dall was an old back woods hunter and if
he could catch a glimpse of a star, could
easily direct our course. We traveled all
night and at daylight we went into a
thick swamp, and s lept and waited until
the next evening. We had; restricted
ourselves ,to three• biscuits a day, and a
small piece of bacon. I
The next evening we again .started ion
our course, traveling all nighti and meet
ing with no adventures. The next day
we laid by, and the next evening resumed
our course
On the night of the 12th we took 'to
the mad, and in passint , a house distutbed
the inhabitants and they and the hounds
were soon in pursuit. We itnmediately
took to the bushes and put on our "water
proof blacking," after which `We felt com
paratively safe. At the fall 'of Atlanta
the Governor of Georgia gave the State
Militia a month's furlough. This had
just expired, and we found that the roads
were unsafe for us, on account of these
soldiers returning. to their !regiments.
Their curses Were both long and loud
against the government for their con
scription,
and many were the expedients
proposed to get rid of their disagreeable
service. So we took to the swamps and
made the best; of our way through them.
On the night of the 13th our provis
ions gave oat, , but we soon found a field
of -Sweet Potatoes. Making for wheavy
timber, we encamped and built a fire, by
which we Cooked our potatoes, which to
is was indeed a sweet meal. On this
night we reached a large river, over .
which was along bridge, and which we
supposed to be the Chatahoechie river.
But in this we afterwards found we were
mistaken.. We bad thus far passed many
plantations, on which were many negroes,
women and children at work. The cotton
fieldi; were planted with corn. I only
saw two or three Cotton fields in Georgia,
and these were very small. The corn
fields 'were enormous in 'extent. Thus
far we had not seen an able bodied white
man, unless he was a confederate soldier.
All such are in the service.
On the'night of the 14th we travelled
until broad daylight and then went into
camp, roasted our sweet potatoes,and went
to sleep. Only two of us ever slept at a
time, and we never from the time we left
the hospital, until we crossed into Ala
bama, allowed ourselves to speak above a
whisper. This ,course we adopted know
log how liable we were to be s'urprised.
Three of our comrades bad- previously
escaped and bad made their way to with
in a days' march of: Sherman's lines, and,
going to bleep without posting a guard
were surprised and captured by a confed
erate sol i dier who was out hunting. This
gave him three months furlough, one
month for every prisoner.
On the night of the 15th we only
traveled about six miles, as we were
completely exhausted.' Nt - 's , had come to
a river, which we snpposed to be the
headwaters I of the east branch of the
Chocktaxvhatchie river. Having provid
ed ourselves with fish' lines, we tried to
patch some fish, but Were unsuccessful.
Oar sweet potatoes were all gone. The
woods were full of wild game, whtch only
made our hunger thel more craving, but
we had no means of capture. So we con
centrated ourselves with.some corn which
we perched, and found not unpalatable
We had with us whim we started a putt
of salt, so that we got along very com
fortably. The nest morning we started
down the river some six miles, until the
I woods becoming thin, and the plantations
appearing we laid by until evening, when
we again started but did not make much
progress.
Bunday 16th. It is just one week gime
we made onr escape.; It has been one of
the hardest weeks which I have ever ex
perienced, and yet on the whole, it has
not been so 'unpleasant, being the first for
many weary months that we could breatbe
the free air of heaven—undisturbed by
the bated presence of the rebel guard,
and the distressina ° sight.of our poor suf
fering comrades. This makes our priva
tions seem light to us, and we are thank
ful. To day we came across some wild
grapes, and such wild grapes I never saw
before. They Were as large as our plums,
and were very sweet. We also found
some nice Persimons and on these fruits
'we lived for two days. The persimons
came near getting us into a scrape. The
trees gib, near 41e. road, in an open
country lint undet the trees were some
very highl weeds. Being intent on get
ting the fruit we neglected to - watch the
road, and while thus engaged we beard
voices, and on- looking .up the toad saw
three horsenien coming. Fortunately
they did not see us, and we dropped into
the weeds and remained hide until they
had passed, and then we took to the woods,
where we remained hid until dark, when
we started on our travels, which we con
tinued until daybreak, reaching the_Chat
ahoochie ricer. We rearched for a boat,
but not finding ene we retired to a swamp
about two miles from the river, where we
lay bid during the day. While laying
here we came very near being discovered,
as there were several naafis of contra
bands, accompanied by their overseers out
gathering wood. By cutting green . boughs
and piling over our place of concealment
we managed to escape•detection.
r On tbe niaht of the 18th' we started
down the river, where we soon found a
skiff. Confiscating this we crossed the
river to the Alabama side, and shoving
our boat adrift that it might give no clue
to our trail, we started across the country.
We soon came to a road, which we fol
lowed, but which terminated at a large
gate. Our curiosity prompted ns to open
it and examinetthe enclosure. We found
ourselves in a cluster of houses or shops
where the rebels were manufacturing
Army. wagons. Concluding that we had
got into the wrong pew we made our es•
cape as quietly as possible, and soon-found
ourselves in a garden full of sweet pota
toes, to which we helped ourselves, filling
our haversacks with as many as we could
well carry. Retreating to the woods we
made a fire, coaled our potatoes, and had
a good nights rest.
The next morning we started across the
country, and soon found ourselies in a
corn field, which was stocked with water
melons, and on? consciences troubling ns
very little appropriated as many as we
wished. l 'We traveled that day and night,
about sixteen miles, and went into camp.
The next day we Made but little progress;
the country being very open and thickly
setth3d.
TERms.-41.50 PER /XNME
On the night of the 20th we.suirtd
about sundown, and soon struck a trav
eled road. Weapon came to a fork in
the road, and knew; not which to take.
Finally we started on the one we thought
most likely to be the right one. The
night Was a bright moonlight one, and
everything was as distinctly visible as in
the daytime. Suddenly we came upon a
plantation, and alarmed the dogs. The
owner of the plantation ran out and see&
ing us gave pursuit and fired three times
at Smith with his revolver. Smith ran
one way: and we took to the woods, where
we soon! put ointment etiOute:h on.our feet
following prevent the dogs follong our truth
But what had become of Smith?.',We ,
expected he was captured. With heavy
hearts we retraced our steps tte the place.
where the roads forked, and here, to our
surprise - we found Smith, safe and sound.
Shaking !lands and cengratulating each,
other on our narrow escape, we tried the
other road, where we soon found ourselves ,
very near another plantatione 'Discour
aged and disgusted we abandoned the ,
road and took to the woods, travelieg
nearly all night, and camping in the
woods the next day about two b.ourti,whee •
we again took up'our march. This morn
ing we found'a Plantation pf sweet pots.
toes, and twain , replenified our stock.
We traveled all this day,.and that night
until twelve o'clock, whet, we went into
camp. About sunrise we were alarmed '
by the yell Of a' pack of . hounds which
had struck our trail. Hastily putting on
our "ointment" we started. The hounds
came to our camp, but could not
follow our trail further. We took to the
open fields, passing 'several lhouses, but•
as it was early we were not discovered by,
the inhabitants. During the day we,
found some' sugar cane, which we found •
to be veep refreshieg. We also found
sweet potatoes in abundance. About
o'clock we encatnped uutil near midnight,
in the midst of a swamp of canes. We
traveled that night and the next day,
making but little progress. At night we
found a cornfield with the corn cut up
and stacked. We pulled down some
stacks and made us a bed, but before
morning the excessive cold drove us out,
and going, to the woods we made up a
rousing fire, cooked our breakfast, and
got cdmfortable. We stayed till sunrise,
and started on our course, through a
thick forest of canes, and of course - Made
but little progress.. About the middle of
the afternoon we went back from the
river, to get some food, and fifid out if we
I could, where we were. Abottt two miles
from here we found a hut near a' plants
don. Concealing ourselves in the brush
we waited patiently, and atioo
' aaw,an old
woman comingpast us to gather Babes.
Approaching her, she was very ranch
alarmed, and was going to scream, butive
quieted her by telling her we were con
federate soldiers going home on a fur
lough. We asked her if she could give
us some - food, but she had nothing, but
some corn meal. We learned, from her
that her husband was the overseer of the
plantation, and was at work down the
river,' building a bridge, and that the
river was the Choctawhatchie, the stream
we bad so lone been looking for. We
left her and retreated hastily to the river,
end after putting on more ointment took
our course down the ricer bank. For
several days we confined onri ceurse' to
river banks, which were low, and thickly
Covered with canes. Nothing jof any
importance occurred until the eve of the
25th, when being near a road, Crandall
gave a signal to halt. We dropped into
the brush, and held our breath' with anx
.
iety. Soon a file of forty or fifty'soldters
Passed us, with their steady tramp, tramp,
but without discovering us. What their
mission was, we
,nevor knew, btit being
certain that - their presence boded 'no good
to us, we remained quiet for some time,
When we again resumed our marCh down
the river. ,
On the afternoon of the ?.6th,we foiand
a boat, and at dark we broke the chain ,
and floated down the river. The river , '
was full of fisheries, which werellogs ei
tending out into the river. We soon
struck one of these when over went our
boat immersing us in the stream up to
our waists, and sinking our boat. We
soon raised it, and again embarked, but
had hardly floated a half mile before over
went our boat again and a second cold
bath was the consequence. Again we
raised the boat, bailed it out and took
our seats, but before we had gone a hun
dred rods, over; we went, this time in
water up to our 'chins, and our boat sunk - • ,
so deep that we could not right it, again.
So we waded arid swam ashore, and by
the help of a friendly grape vine, climbed
the steep , banks. Building a fire we
dried our clothes and started on, choosing
to suffhr the inconveniences of the road
rather than the dangers of the river." At
morning we went into camp for l a few'
Mies
hours. Impatient to reach our ,
ore . :
started again and followed the rive down';
until we came to the junction of , tht(east
and west branch of the river: -Re're - we
rota another boat,in which we floated
i'..%wn the river until daylight. Mating
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