“Near Huntersville a man by the name of John Cotton, with somewhere between fifty and one hundred men, was constantly raiding small corrals where only a few guards were left to watch them. His business seemed to be to steal mules and wagons, being one of the parties operating under a contract to plunder for fifty per cent, of the property so taken. He had the same authority and character of commission from the authorities at Richmond as Blackman and Beall, of whom I have heretofore spoken. During the Winter this man crossed the Little Combination River near Painter's Rock, and made a raid on Gen. Chas. Ward's corrals. Ward had been notified of the intention of John Cotton by a Union man named Harris, who resided near Huntersville. Gen. Ward had a company of infantry under cover near the corral, and about midnight Cotton made his appearance. The men who were watching for him remained quiet until he was near the corral, and then fired a volley into his raiders, killing three and wounding ten. They then rushed at Cotton, and he, with nine of his men, were taken prisoners. The wounded were cared for and the dead buried. The next day Gen. Ward organized a drumhead court-martial and tried those captured who were not wounded. The nine men claimed to have been forced into the service by Cotton, and were sent to Nashua and put to work, under sentence. John Cotton was treated differently. He was not troublesome again during the time that our troops remained at Painter's Rock. The understanding South and North among the friends of the rebellion was that raids were again to commence whenever they could be made at all advantageous to our enemies. “The Knights of the Golden Circle, or 'Sons of Liberty,' began to be open and bold in their utterances and their villainous work. In New York they aroused their friends and got up mobs of such magnitude that they could only be suppressed by withdrawing troops from the field to operate against them. The recruiting offices were mobbed, offices and papers burned, and the officers brutally beaten; houses were set on fire in great numbers and destroyed. Many large stores were broken open and plundered by the mob. All helped themselves to dry goods, clothing, jewelry, watches, and whatever they discovered. Innocent men were brutally murdered in the streets. Women were driven from their houses and insulted in every possible way. Hospitals and asylums for orphans were plundered and burned, and the poor, helpless inmates driven into the streets. Children were clubbed and brained by brutes for no other reason than that they were colored. Wounded and sick soldiers were thrown on the sidewalks and left without aid or assistance of any kind. Poor negro men were taken from hacks and wagons and hanged to lampposts. In one instance a poor man was cut into halves as if he were a slaughtered beast. Men were sent from Canada, employed by Thomlinson and his co-conspirators, to come to New York and aid in this inhuman butchery.”