When I had just fairly got the water and the fire agoing there came up the main road, just a few rods away, the sound of many horsemen and the clatter of hoofs and a motion from the house for me to flee in the direction of the mountains. I started, not knowing whether to ever come back or not. I ran about a mile along the foot of the mountains, when I came to a man by the name of Sampson Robertson. I found that he was one of our men, but had been conscripted into the rebel service. He never went into the Southern army, but skulked for a living among his friends. He told me for the first time that this dash of rebels numbered over one hundred men, and that they had come over the mountain from the west, from Sullivan county, to capture our eighteen Union scouts, and that they intended to intercept them, for these rebels had already robbed the poor people of everything, even their bedding and household goods, and had killed an old man some sixty-two years old and burned the grist mill. If ever I wanted to help a handful of our poor soldiers, cut off from our army, it was now. So I went along to where I fell in with about seventeen of our men and boys, all told, and nine of the very best of these men allowed me to go along with them upon a bluff overlooking a run called Stony Creek, traveling down through the valley. This run was very deep and at least sixty yards across, and there was a small foot bridge, made of hewn timber, on small abutments. Just opposite this foot bridge there was a very large bluff or mountain, some three hundred feet high, and on this high elevated ridge these nine scouts had located themselves. I had the honor of being one to help in the little battle that was soon to come off. I had one of the old hero’s muskets. Now we could see the Johnnies coming. They had divided their force of one hundred men and were advancing right up to this foot bridge and began to cross it, when our boys opened fire on them from five shooting carbines. They told me to load the old musket well with buckshot and let them have it. Well, to tell the truth, I took too much powder from an old powder horn, for I put in nearly a handful, and also about a handful of buckshot. When this gun did go it would kick right smart, I reckoned, but still kept on loading and firing it, to the merriment of the other boys. But, oh, such fun! In a short time the rebels turned back and went away faster than they came. The Union boys, some of them, went on the mountain trail as the rebels were on their way back, and while they were leading or riding their horse the Union boys opened fire on them and nearly stampeded the whole force. There were only six or seven of our boys. We succeeded in escaping while they were trying to capture us. We had it from their own men that there were seven, I think, wounded and two killed. If I am not mistaken, this is what the rebels reported. They could not reach us from where they were.