Escape from East Tennessee to the federal lines : $b The history, given as nearly as possible, by Captain R. A. Ragan of his individual experiences during the war of the rebellion from 1861 to 1864Ragan, Robert A.
History
Escape from East Tennessee to the federal lines : $b The history, given as nearly as possible, by Captain R. A. Ragan of his individual experiences during the war of the rebellion from 1861 to 1864
Ragan, Robert A.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
I will here relate a little incident that occurred while under
arrest that evening, showing the way the rebels treated Union men.
My brother-in-law was a rebel, but a nice man personally. He lived
on a farm of about one hundred acres, adjoining the farm I lived on,
and I can safely say that there was a cross-fence every two hundred
yards through his farm, and no bars or gates to go through. I was on
foot, and the rebel soldiers put me in front to lay down all these
fences for them to pass through, and made me put them up afterward.
Of course I obeyed orders, for every man was armed and wanted me to
do something that they might have an excuse to shoot me.
When we passed out of the field into the woodland, we had to go
through a deep hollow. When we reached the place, it was dark,
although in the daytime. About the time we reached the middle of the
hollow one of the soldiers, in a low voice, said to another, “Dave,
this is a good place!” I listened, expecting to hear the command,
“Halt!” but no reply was made to the remark. No one can imagine how
I felt. I had just left my wife standing in the door of our little
log cabin, watching the soldiers driving me through the field, taking
down and putting up all the fences, as heretofore stated; I thought
of my mother and my sisters, whom I should probably never see again.
This was all in about a minute of time, but it was a terrible minute
for me. However, the soldiers continued to drive me along until we
came in the evening to the home of Henry Kilgore, the conscript
officer, which was about two miles from our home. He took my name,
and registered it on the conscript rolls. I was then considered a
rebel soldier.
It was dark when we arrived at his house, and we had to remain until
morning. There was a bed in the corner of the cabin, and I believe
some beds on the second floor. The kitchen was about ten yards from
the log cabin. They gave me my supper, but I had little appetite. I
had known the conscript officer all my life, but he did not recognize
me, and I will speak of him further on.
About eight o’clock I found they were going to have a “hoe-down”
that night, and the men and women of the neighborhood were invited
to come. They began to arrive about nine o’clock. I pretended to be
sleepy, and an officer who was guarding me ordered me to get into the
bed in the corner of the cabin. Of course I was under orders, and I
crawled in—but no sleep for me.
They had a man with a violin, and commenced dancing, four at a
time, face to face—a general hoe-down. They kept their drinks in
the kitchen, which they visited often. They began to get tired and
commenced singing
“I want some more of your weevilly wheat,
I want some more of your barley.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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