“O Lord God A’mighty! We is yo’ chil’n an’ ’spects you to hea’ us widout delay, cause we all is in right smart ob a hurry! Dese yer gemmen has run’d away from de Seceshers and dere ’omes, and wants to get to de Norf. Dey hasn’t got any time for to wait! Ef it is ’cording to de destination ob great Hebben to help ’em, it’ll be ’bout necessary fo’ de help to come right soon! De hounds an’ de rebels is on dere track! Take de smell out ob de dogs’ noses, O Lord! and let Gypshun darkness come ober de eysights ob de rebels. Confound ’em, O Lord! Dey is cruel, and makes haste to shed blood. Dey has long ’pressed de black man an’ groun’ him in de dust, an’ now I reck’n dey ’spects dat dey am a gwin’ to serve de loyal men de same way. Help dese gemmen in time ob trouble, an’ left ’em fru all danger on to de udder side ob Jo’dan dry shod! An’ raise de radiance ob yo’ face on all de loyal men what’s shut up in de Souf! Send some Moses, O Lord! to guide ’em fru de Red Sea ob Flickshun into de promis’ land! Send some great Gen’ral ob de Norf wid his comp’ny sweepin’ down fru dese yer parts to scare de rebels till dey flee like de Midians, an’ slew dereselves to sabe dere lives! O Lord! bless de Gen’rals ob de Norf! O Lord! bless de Kunnels! O Lord! bless de Capt’ins! O Lord! bless der loyal men makin’ dere way to de promis’ land! O Lord, Eberlastin’! Amen.” This prayer, offered in a full and fervent voice, seemed to cover our case exactly, and we could join in the “amen.” We then crossed the Holston River, but not dry shod. Some time in 1862 the loyal men of Cocke County, East Tennessee, refused to go into the rebel army. They lived in what was called the Knobs. There were about four hundred of these men, some farmers, some mechanics and some blacksmiths, all loyal to the Government. Leadbeater with his command was sent to Parrottsville, in the same county, and went into camp for the purpose of looking after these men, who had built breastworks on a high hill in that locality. They sawed off gum tree logs about the length of a cannon, and bored out holes in these logs large enough to load with tin cans full of large bullets and pieces of iron. They made iron bands out of wagon tires, and put them around the log cannons to keep them from exploding when fired. It was said that they could fire these wooden guns with accuracy. The rebels heard of these preparations, and with a large force went into this Knob country and found the works, and captured about one hundred of these men and brought them to Parrottsville, where the army was in camp. They put them into a large one-story frame school-house, and placed a heavy guard around the prison, They kept them there for some time and treated them like brutes.