CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FROM 
 
 Mr. and Mrs."in.-^ ^/urley 
 
Cornell University Library 
 E601 .E47 
 
 Thrilling adventures of Daniel Ellis 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 032 780 904 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032780904 
 
POBTEAIT OP DAKlEl, ELLIbJ 
 
THEILLING ADYENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 DANIEL ELLIS, 
 
 THE GREAT UNION GUIDE OE EAST TENNESSEE FOE A PEKIOD 
 
 OF NEARLY FOUE YEARS DURING THE GREAT 
 
 SOUTHERN REBELLION. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 (Eontainina a SJort WaavaptS of tje ^utSoc. 
 
 " How use doth breed a liabit in a man ! 
 Thia shadowy desert, unfrequented woods, 
 I better brook than flourishing; peopled towus : 
 Here can I sit alone, unseen of any. 
 And to the nightingale's complaining notes 
 Tune my distresses and'record my woes." 
 
 Two Gentlemen of Verona. . 
 
 fflWftj) Kllttstrations. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPEE & BEOTHERS, PUBLISHEBS, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUAKE. 
 
 18 6 7. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Conglcss, in the year one thousand 
 eight hundred and sixty-seven, by 
 
 Hakpek & Bkothees, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
 of New York. 
 
MAP OP TRAIL OVBK THE MOiraTAINS. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 In commencing this volume, I would remark that I 
 feel very sensibly my inadequacy in appearing before the 
 public in the capacity of an author, as I shall not pre- 
 sume to present any claim to those literary accomplish- 
 ments which are usually boasted of by writers who are 
 distinguished for elegance and refinement in composition. 
 My education is not of that order which would justify 
 such an assumption, and, therefore, 1 shall here lay no 
 claim to profound acquisitions either in literature or nat- 
 ural science which I am conscious I do not possess. The 
 only advantages in learning which I can boast of are those 
 which are generally obtained in the " old field school- 
 house" where it is well known by all who have been in- 
 itiated into the first elements of education at that sacred 
 retreat of boyhood, that the student is scarcely ever an- 
 noyed with the intricate problems of Euclid or Hutton, 
 nor his mind enlightened with the rich versification of 
 Homer, of Yirgil, or of Horace, nor perplexed with the 
 logical subtleties of Socrates, of Plato, or of Aristotle. 
 Instead of rummaging into volumes of hlack-htter lore, 
 the student is only required to seek for the attainment 
 of proficiency in the ordinary branches of English educa- 
 tion ; and all the acquirements which I pretend to claim 
 
8 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 are based alone upon the common brandies of English 
 learning. 
 
 I have thought it necessary to make these prefatory 
 remarks, so that those who may peruse the pages of this 
 volume may not indulge the expectation of being feasted 
 at all tinies upon the bright and beautiful scintillations 
 of genius, but, on the contrary, I would urge them to ex- 
 pect nothing more than a faithful defeil of my adven- 
 tures for a period of nearly four years, written out in plain 
 style, and unadorned with any unbecoming and fanciful 
 flowers of rhetoric. And, what I consider very impor- 
 tant, I will here assure all those who may give this vol- 
 ume a perusal, that they may rest certain they will find 
 no incident herein contained, be it ever so thrilling and 
 horrible, as to challenge the veracity of the writer or the 
 unbelief of the reader, but what is strictly founded upon 
 the eternal structure of reality and truth I I hope the 
 reader will here indulge a short digression, while I give 
 a very limited biegraphy of myself, which I hope may 
 be acceptable. I shall not annoy the reader with a re- 
 capitulation of any miraculous achievements on my part 
 which would for a moment subject me to a charge' of at- 
 tempting self-praise ; but believing that the public might 
 probably be desirous of knowing something in regard to 
 my previous life, has induced me to give a short history 
 in allusion to it. 
 
 I was born on the 30th day of December, 1827, in 
 Carter County, Tennessee, amid whose lofty and majestic 
 moilntains I have passed my life up to the present time. 
 I was born to no proud titles or estates. The curse 
 which was placed upon Adam, amid the delightful shades 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 9 
 
 and fragrant groves of Paradise, when he was told by his 
 Maker, that "in the sweat of thy face sh alt thou eat 
 bread,". I must here acknowledge has adhered to me, 
 as one of his degenerate offspring, with all the tenacity 
 of the fabled shirt of Nessus 1 I have been poor all my 
 life, but have struggled on and on, buffeting the waves 
 of adversity, endeavoring, as I passed along the dreary 
 vale of life, always to observe that true honesty of purpose, 
 which I always thought should be the great beacon light 
 of human ambition. -I have the proud consolation of 
 knowing that I have never coveted any man's "gold, 
 silver, or apparel," but, having been blessed with reason^ 
 able good health, I have always caused vaj " hands to 
 minister to my necessities." I am aware that the posses- 
 sion of wealth is a convenience in thia life, to some ex- 
 tent, but I can not now say that I have ever entertained 
 any extreme thirst for its possession beyond what would 
 supply my immediate necessities. The great code of 
 moral law informs us that "man that. is born of woman 
 is of few days, and full of trouble," and also, that " naked 
 we came into the world, and naked we must go out of 
 it," and, therefore, I have always been unable to see any 
 real propriety or true philosophy in bending all the en- 
 ergies with which we have been so munificently endowed 
 by our Creator in the accumulation of the "sordid dust 
 of earth !" I think that there was sound philosophy in 
 the remark which Dr. Johnson made to David Grarrick 
 on one occasion, when they were upon great terms of in- 
 timacy. Mr. Garrick, while Dr. Johnson was on a visit 
 at his splendid residence, was conducting him through his 
 magnificent parlors, which were furnished in the most 
 
 A2 
 
10 DANIEL EllilS. 
 
 gorgeous elegance, whi&h manifested in the extravagant 
 proprietor the most extreme love of the world and its 
 vanishing levities. Dr. Johnson stood for some time, 
 and gazed around in silent meditation, surrounded with 
 this profusion of wealth, and, at length, turning to his 
 friend, he calmly and very truthfully remarked, "Ah! 
 David, this is what makes a death-bed terrible!" I 
 never have believed that wealth could confer upon its 
 possessor any true happiness, for that can never be 
 purchased. Indeed, it is my belief that true happiness 
 alone resides in those distant realms beyond the stars, 
 where mind and matter are totally disconnected, and 
 where the soul, the essence of man's immortality, released 
 from its tenement of clay, is permitted to feast forever 
 upon the ambrosial fruits of heaven in the presence of 
 the Infinite Eternal. The happiness of earth, which is 
 purchased with wealth, is too often, when attained, found 
 to be like the fabled fruit, which always presented a 
 most beautiful exterior appearance, but, when present- 
 ed to the lips of the enraptured admirer, it would dis- 
 solve at once into ashes; or it may be likened to the 
 shade of Anchises embraced by .^neas, who, hastening 
 to enfold the dear form of his loved relative, found that 
 he was embracing a form as impalpable as the view- 
 less air I But I must hasten on to a conclusion of this 
 sketch. 
 
 After I had received the rudiments of a common En- 
 glish education I concluded to learn a trade, which I sus- 
 pected would be the surest guarantee for supplying fu- 
 ture wants. I therefore selected the trade of a wagon- 
 maker, which occupation was niost congenial to my taste 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 11 
 
 when making choice of a handicraft. I .therefore en- 
 gaged with a workman in that employment, and re- 
 mained in his service until I thought that I was profi- 
 cient enough to obtain wages, or open a shop for my 
 own personal emolument. I continued to work at this 
 business for a number of years, until war was declared 
 by the United States against Mexico.' When a call for 
 troops was first made in East Tennessee I at once volun- 
 teered in the service of my country, and marched onward 
 beneath its cherished flag, to meet and to assist in chastis- 
 ing the enemy upon a foreign soil. The toils and hard- 
 ships of the Mexican campaign were very severe, but I en- 
 dured them as best I could, being urged forward by that 
 steadfast love of country which has always animated my 
 exertions while fighting against a foreign or an intestine 
 foe. I found the climate of Mexico to be very unfavora- 
 ble to my health, as it also proved to be to the health of 
 most of the soldiers who had volunteered in "the upper 
 portion of East Tennessee. Many of the poor. fellows 
 who were taken sick in Mexico died in that distant 
 southern clime, away from home and from friends, and a 
 great many died as they were homeward bound, inspired 
 to the last with the hope of once more being permitted 
 to see their families ; but, alas ! that hope was vain and 
 illusory, for they died often with the dear word of home, 
 wife, o^ children lingering upon their quivering lips.,. 
 
 During the Mexican campaign I was made acquainted 
 with thg. monstrous horrors of war. All that I knew pre- 
 viously was only from information which I had derived 
 from iJiifltory, which was only a theoretical knowledge, 
 fpd which I found to be entirely different from person- 
 
12 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 al observation ; for one may read an account of the most 
 wretched and barbarous massacre, and yet will not ap- 
 preciate it fully in all the terrors portrayed, as he would 
 if personally present and witnessing the occurrence. I 
 became convinced, during my stay in Mexico, that the 
 cruelties and the horrors. of war were by far. more terrible 
 and deplorable than I. had ever formed any conception 
 of -'. I, thought that it was no wonder that war, by com- 
 mon, consent, had always been justly considered as occu- 
 pying the foremost rank in the three greatest calamities 
 which has at various times scourged and desolated the 
 nations of the earth since the foundation of the world. 
 The three great national calamities referred to are war, 
 pestilence,, and famine ; and well may it be considered 
 that war has the more dreadful effects upon any nation 
 which is cursed by it than either of the preceding nation- 
 al-afflictions. "War unhinges society ; it poisons the fount- 
 ain of national happiness, and pours into its delicious 
 waters libations of wormwood and gall ; it tears up the 
 sylvan shades of peace with its terrible engines, and. plants 
 thorns and briers '.where the most lovely flowers were 
 wont to bloom, and. scattered their fragrance upon the 
 air; it overturns the proud fabrics of. civil jiirispru- 
 dence, and discord, with all its attendant evils, rims riot 
 throughout the ill-fated nation which* is cursed 'by. its 
 awful. presence; it severs the cord of human friendship; 
 man loses respect for his fellow -man, as his nature be- 
 comes changed to that of an incarnate devil, the goddess 
 of virtue is ostracized, and vice is worshiped in her ab- 
 sence. Indeed, I must confess that I am totally incapable 
 of employing language sufficient to describe the horrors 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 13 
 
 of wa» and its dreadful concomitants; blessed, and doubly 
 Messed, is that nation W-liich moves on in the even tenor 
 of its way without engaging in direful conflicts of arms. 
 I 'remained in Mexico until the bright sunlight of 
 peace had , dispelled the dark and dismal cloud of war 
 which had arisen over that distracted and unstable gov- 
 ernment, and immediately after the suspension -of hos- 
 tilities I returned' to my native land, and, through the 
 mercy of a kind Providence, I was again permitted to 
 reach my home and family amid the mountains of my na- 
 tive county. For some time after my return I felt very 
 seriously tlie disastrous effects upon my constitution, 
 superinduced by the great exposure . which I Tiad en- 
 dured during the terrible campaign which I had passed 
 through, and, in fact,;I:have never since been able to re- 
 cover the healthful energies of my system, which I lost 
 during my stay in the . malarious and sultry climate of 
 Mexico. After I had witnessed the horrors df a. dread- 
 ful war in my expedition into Mexico, I sincerely hoped 
 that I should never again, witness such terrible scenes of 
 desolation and distress. Little did I then think that the 
 next theatre in which I should be called upon to witness 
 a repetition of the same awful tragedies which I had seen 
 displaiyed. would be in my own native and beloved coun- 
 try, in' my own native State of Tennessee, and in rhy; own 
 dear native county. Little did I then imagine that the 
 period: was rapidly approaching when I, my neighbors, 
 and my relatives, would be hunted and shot at like the 
 wild beasts of the mountains, just because we were op-. 
 posedto a inushroom "Southern Confederacy" supplant- 
 ing and ^^Mkting the best form of government which 
 
14 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 has ever been devised by tbe wisdom of man upon the 
 whole face of the earth. Little did I then think that 
 my own native hills would, in the course of a few 
 years, be infested by gangs of murderous desperadoes, 
 whom it were " base flattery to call villains," destitute 
 of mercy, and without remorse of conscience, prowling 
 through the country, insulting virtue and exalting vice 
 by their lewd and infamous conduct, and seeking to 
 bathe their hands in the blood of innocence. Little did 
 I imagine then that in a few revolving years my own 
 country would present the scene of an unholy, unjust, 
 and internecine civil strife, for which ancient or modern 
 history^could furnish no parallel ; where blood was to 
 flow in -torrents, and where the lives of hecatombs of hu- 
 man beings would be sacrificed at the shrine of the ter- 
 rible Moloch which would be erected through the evil 
 machinations of ambitious, base, and designing dema- 
 gogues. *^h ! little did I then think that thousands upon 
 thousands of my own countrymen and fellow-citizens 
 would, in so short a period, be forced to engage in the 
 awful conflict of arras, and fall upon the gory field and 
 die beneath the raging storm of battle ; be butchered in 
 cold blood by heartless murderers, and starved to death 
 in loathsome prisons, in order " to make a villain great." 
 But it is even so ; for it is well known that the infamous 
 "Southern Eebellion" was conceived and matured by a 
 set of vile and seditious politicians, and that . thousands 
 of their misguided followers rushed precipitately into the 
 strife of arms, and fell as victims in the unholy cause of 
 endeavoring to elevate an impulsive and ambitious indi- 
 vidual, in the person of Jeff. Davis, to the chair of state 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 15 
 
 in the "Southern Confederacy." I shall not presume to 
 say what his dismal reflections have been since his im- 
 prisonment in the cells of Fortress Monroe ; I should at 
 least think that his nightly dreams have been greatly 
 disturbed by -visitations of the ghastly ghosts of his de- 
 luded followers, to whom he could not justly say, 
 
 ' ' Shake not your gory locks at me, 
 Thou canst not say I did it," 
 
 for they might abruptly deny his assertion, and more 
 promptly assail him with the " deep damnation of their 
 taking off," than did the pale ghosts which appeared 
 to old Eichard IIL the night preceding the battle of 
 Bosworth Field. They might in all truth say to him, 
 it was you that occasioned the winged messengers of 
 death to snatch away our lives, and hurry our unpre- 
 pared souls into the presence of the great Eternal, with 
 " all our irnperfections on our heads." It was you that 
 caused the early mildew to blanch and destroy the young 
 buds of our lives, and sent us to our final reckoning in 
 the very blossoms of our sins, "unhousel'd, disappointed, 
 and unaneled !" These, and more than these, h^ve doubt- 
 less been the horrible controversies which have been ex- 
 perienced by Jeff. "Davis amid the dismal hours of nighty 
 while resting upon his couch, until the dreadful night- 
 mare was driven away and prevented from returning by 
 his waking meditations. 
 
 It is quite possible, notwithstanding, that Jeff. Da- 
 vis, the great high -priest who filled the presidential 
 chair in the so-called " Southern Confederacy" during the 
 dark and gloomy period when our beloved country was 
 deluged with fraternal blood, may yet be acquitted of his 
 
16 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 monstrous offenses against the laws, the peace, and hap- 
 piness of the United States ; for it is too true that 
 
 " In the corrupted currents of this world, 
 Offense's gilded hand may shove by justice; 
 And oft 'tis seen, the wicked prize itsejf 
 Buys out the law." 
 
 But he may truthfully say, in the language of the -wretch- 
 ed King of Denmark, when he was deploring the foul 
 and miserable crime of murdering his own brother, 
 
 "But 'tis not so above ; 
 There is no shuffling ; there the action lies 
 In his true nature ; and we ourselves compell'd, 
 Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, 
 To give in evidence!" 
 
 He may also exclaim with truth, in the language of 
 his ancient counterpart in sin and iniquity, the deformed 
 and brutal King of England, Richard III., after he had 
 been frightened in his midnight slumbers by the pale and 
 ghastly apparitions of his innocent murdered victims, 
 
 "My conscience hath a thousand several tongues. 
 And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
 And every tale condemns me for a villain ! 
 Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree ; 
 Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree ; 
 AH several sins, all used in each degree. 
 Throng to the bar, crying all, Guilty ! guilty !" 
 
 None of the reckless scoundrels who so earnestly la- 
 bored to destroy our country, and to tear down the beau- 
 tiful edifice of public freedom which had been erected by 
 our forefathers, have been rewarded with that degree of 
 punishment which the malignity of their crimes so justly 
 merits. The government has been extremely lenient in 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 17 
 
 ©itending pardons to the base and infamous rebels who, 
 for several successive years, were industriously engaged 
 in hkrling their poisoned javelins of malice and hatred at 
 the very vitals of the republic. It would probably be a 
 safer guarantee for the future welfare of our country if a 
 different line of policy had been pursued. I would have 
 a Solemn, inflexible will possessing the nation, to punish 
 crime, whether little or gigantic, with a temperate vigor 
 that should offer no hope of escape to the criminal, from 
 the relentings of a false and selfish sentimentalism. Jus- 
 tice is sinned against by unseasonable and excessive leni- 
 ty, almost as harmfully as by over-severity. Neither 
 whimsical philanthropy nor devilish revenge should in- 
 terfere with our award of retribution to the criminal. 
 Even-handed justice, administered with obedient regard 
 to the will of God, revealed in Scripture and in Provi- 
 dence, this is the solemn spirit in which public opinion 
 should af&rm the sentence of lawful punishment against 
 crime. There is a painting by Eaphael, whose profound 
 genius is at all times exhibited in his numerous and in- 
 imitable artistic designs,' which represents the, Archangel 
 Michael slaying that old serpent, which is the devil. 
 The fiend under £is feet, turns his face upward toward 
 the minister of doom, grinning with all the spiteful ma- 
 levolence of hellish hate. Above him, soaring on heav- 
 enly pinions, floats the archangel, his countenance betok- 
 ening neither compassion nor revenge, but placid in an 
 ineffable expression of pure, passionless, peaceful sympa- 
 thy 'with the divine behest, which he is obediently fulfill- 
 ing.' Such is the ideal of that retributive justice which 
 should be'l^ceremoniously meted out to all the despoil- 
 
18 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 ers of our national happiness, for it is a duty which we 
 owe to ourselves as a people and a government, in order 
 to defend ourselves against a like future calamity as that 
 which the nation has providentially succeeded in defeat- 
 ing. The unsuccessful attempt which was made by the 
 leaders and their cohorts in the late gigantic rebellion to 
 establish a government upon anarchy and independence, 
 upon the positive slavery of the poor and indigent classes 
 of its white, as well as its colored population, and glory 
 upon the most incredible shame, will most unquestion- 
 ably be assigned to that infamy in history which it so 
 justly deserves, and henceforth will doubtless be associa- 
 ted most naturally in the thoughts of men with the na- 
 kedness of a crime which can but freeze the blood of hu- 
 manity with the most profound indignation and horror 
 forever. 
 
 The defeat and overthrow of the rebellion has, I most 
 fondly hope, forever exploded the three great pernicious 
 theories which were urged with the most remarkable vehe- 
 mence by the advisers and the promoters of the civil strife 
 which at once arrayed the North and the South against 
 each other, and rushed them on to engage in the bloody 
 strife of battle. The mischievous theories which I al- 
 lude to are nullification, secession, and the right of rev- 
 olution in a republican form of government. Nullifica- 
 tion and secession are both most atrocious political here- 
 sies, differing, of course, to some extent from each other. 
 The doctrine of nullification, as expounded in 1831 and 
 1832, is, that a state has the right to nullify an act of 
 Congress, and yet remain in the Union ; that a state is 
 its own judge of the constitutionality of the laws passed 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 19 
 
 by Congress, etc. Theinfamous and preposterous theory 
 of secession recognizes the right of a state to withdraw 
 from the general government, absolving itself from its al- 
 legiance thereto. The first of these outrageous theories 
 did not reach -the culminating point, owing to the com- 
 promise which was agreed upon in 1833. The last one 
 had a most frightful culmination, as four years of a most 
 desolating and bloody war sadly attests. Some of the 
 Southern States, urged on by vile and mischievous poli- 
 ticians, concluded to try the experiment of secession, and 
 the result is now seen by the nations of the earth. May 
 we not now hope and believe that these two destructive 
 theories are dead, beyond the possibility of future re- 
 vival? 
 
 The remaining theory referred to is one which can nev- 
 er fail to have the most mischievous tendency, especially 
 in a form of government like that of our own. The ad- 
 herents of this spurious dogma falsely reasoned that, in 
 certain contingencies, even in a republican government, 
 the inalienable right of revolution exists, and should be 
 exercised. Believing that one of these contingencies had 
 occurred, some of our leading politicians in the State of 
 Tennessee at once favored the practical assertion of the 
 right of revolution. Among those who expounded the 
 oracles given out by the hidden high-priests of secession 
 to their deluded followers in Tennessee, I might mention 
 the names of John Bell, Neil S. Brown, and others. "They 
 pretended to entertain great abhorrence for secession and 
 its practical results, but seenied to glory in being revolu- 
 tionists ! They denied that the Constitution of the Unit- 
 ed 'States gives to a state .the right to secede, but openly 
 
20 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 and boldly declared the right of revolution above the Con- 
 stitution ! One thing is quite plain to my mind, and, I 
 think, should be just as self-evident to every person of a 
 rational mind who can properly appreciate the ordinary 
 deductions of plain and simple logical conclusions, and 
 that is, that the right of revolution should never be exer- 
 cised unless the revolution is known to be incontestibly 
 right. The right does not nor can not otherwise possibly 
 exist in any emergency whatever. The circumstances 
 which make a revolution right and proper are entirely 
 essential to the creation of the right of revolution. It 
 requires no enthymemes or intricate logical syllogisms to 
 establish this truth to the satisfaction of every one who 
 will give the subject that just and proper reflection which 
 its importance demands. I concede that under monarch- 
 ical and aristocratic governments — that is to say, where 
 the rights of the people are not properly recognized, and 
 where oppressive burdens are imposed on them, the 
 right of revolution does then exist, and should be exer- 
 cised ; for in its exercise resides the only hope of relief 
 of the oppressed millions who have no voice or take no 
 part in the affairs of government. But in a republican 
 government I earnestly contend that the right of revolu- 
 tion does not exist. And why do I say so? Because it is 
 the people's government; and if they wisb at any time 
 to change, alter, or amend the principles of government 
 whiclT they have established for their own benefit, they 
 are fully at liberty to do so. If they do not desire a 
 change, they can suffer it to remain as it already stands. 
 There is no sense or reason in resorting to the very dan- 
 gerous and destructive policy of revolution, if the major- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 21 
 
 ity at any time desire to amend their form of govern- 
 ment, for they have the power to make such amend- 
 ments as they may desire without resorting to revolution. 
 The majority of the people in a republican form of gov- 
 ernment can never be under the . disagreeable necessity 
 of becoming revolutionists; for the imdeniable fact that 
 they are the true and correct source of all power, at once 
 precludes the- possibility of any such necessity existing. 
 If this supposition be correct, what is the conclusion 
 which must follow ? Evidently, that if the right of rev- 
 olution exists at all, that right resides in the minority. 
 This is altogether absurd; for republican governments 
 only recognize the right of the majority to govern, and 
 there is a total disregard of this important right when- 
 ever the minority exhibit aii* unwillingness to yield to 
 the wishes of the majority, and an attempt at revolution 
 is plainly and palpably an attempt to annihilate one of 
 the very fundamental principles of republicanism. If 
 these premises are correct, it certainly follows that the 
 right of revolution does not and can not exist in a repub- 
 lic. To allow its existence. is at once equivalent to the 
 very false and ruinous concession that the minority' may 
 rule in a republican government. This concession is re- 
 pugnant to all human experience in the affairs of well-or- 
 dained government, and opposed to the best interests of 
 organized society, and, in reality, constitutes an enormi- 
 ty in political science which I can never be induced to 
 sanction. 
 
 ' I have ;#ptended this research into politics much farther 
 than I intended at the outset; but I hope that my read- 
 ers will pardon me, for the subject of the infamous rebel- 
 
22 DANIEL ELLISi 
 
 lion, and the causes which iiTged it on the country,. is a 
 very prolific subject, and it is hard to restrain the utterr 
 ance of sentiments of disgust and disapprobation which 
 revolve in the mind whenever our most casual medita- 
 tions are permitted to rest upon that subject. 
 
 Previous to the foregoing digression, I was indulging 
 in. an incidental narrative in regard to Jeff. Davis, of 
 "Southern Confederacy" notoriety, whose infamy and 
 moral turpitude I am altogether unable to employ lan- 
 guage to describe. I doubt not that, since his downfall 
 and capture, he has experienced a variety of times what 
 one of the ancient poets terms " a dreadful living death /" 
 If he csuld have a pyramid erected, composed of the 
 bleached bones of his deluded followers who offered up 
 their lives at the shrine of his unhallowed ambition, I 
 doubt not but that he would then be thoroughly con- 
 vinced of his own exalted wickedness, and he would then 
 see and feel what it costs to endeavor to destroy a great I 
 and good government. If the ghastly skeletons could 
 arrange themselves before him whose uncontrollable am- 
 bition consigned them to an untimely grave, he might 
 then •correctly appreciate the horrors of a civil commo^ 
 tion and a strife of arms which he assisted in promoting 
 for his own personal aggrandizement, and for his own 
 political exaltation. 
 
 But I must refrain from pursuing this subject any far- 
 ther. If the, government thinks it best to acquit him 
 and turn him loose again, the people would probably be 
 satisfied. It is true, the idea of vindictiveness being dis- 
 played by a great and magnanimous government is ab- 
 surd as well as unpopular. It is true, his case has been 
 
DANIEL, ELLIS. 23- 
 
 settled by "the result of the rebellion ; aiid I presume that 
 the time has already passed by when this great nation 
 should think of wreaking its vengeance upon a political 
 criminal. If he had been at once killed when he was 
 first captured, no ■ fault whatever could have been at- 
 tached to his slayer, for he deserved death in any form 
 in which it could have been inflicted upon him. But 
 the tocsin of war has i ceased to reverberate through the 
 nation, and the white wings of peace again,- overspread 
 the land. While war's dread pinions waved over our 
 devoted country, murdering human beings seemed to be 
 a fashionable occupation, and life was estimated at a very 
 low rate. But, thanks to kind Providence, the reign of 
 terror has passed away with the suppression of the South- 
 ern relaellion, and I do sincerely hope that our govern- 
 ment may never be again called upon to raise its strong 
 arm for the suppression of another vile and infamous in- 
 ternal strife; but I hope that it may be permitted to 
 move on in the accomplishment of the welfare and hap-- 
 piness of its citizens until the wings of time itself shall 
 become weary in its perpetual flight, and until the arch- 
 angel shall place one foot upon the sea, and the other 
 upon the land, and proclaim that the affairs of earth must 
 be suspended ; 
 
 " When, wrapp'd in flames, the realms of ether glow, 
 And Heaven's last trump shall shake the world %elow !" 
 
 During one of the campaigns of Alexander he met: 
 with the philosopher Callisthenes, who was renowned for 
 his extensive erudition, and for his splendid rhetorical- 
 accomplishments. At one of the convivial festivals fur- 
 nished by Alexander the philosopher was present, and, 
 
24 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 was requested, when the cup was presented to him, to 
 pronounce a eulogium upon the Macedonians extem- 
 pore, which .he did with so much eloquence that the 
 guests, beside their plaudits, rose up and covered him 
 with their garlands. Upon this Alexander said, in the 
 words of Euripides, 
 
 " When great the theme, 'tis easy to excel. " 
 "But show us now," continued he, "the power of 
 your rhetoric in speaking against the Macedonians, that 
 they may see their faults and amend." The orator then 
 took the other side, and spoke with equal fluency against 
 the encroachments and other faults of the Macedonians, 
 as well as against the divisions among the Greeks, which 
 he showed to be the only cause of the great increase of 
 Philip's power, concluding with these truthful words : 
 
 "Amid sedition's waves 
 The worst of mortals maj' emerge to honor!" 
 
 This was quite a severe rebuke to extravagant ambi- 
 tion, which drew upon himself the implacable hatred of 
 the Macedonians, and the severe censure of Alexander 
 himself, for he doubtless very sensibly felt the exceeding 
 appositeness of the sentiment expressed by the philoso- 
 pher. 
 
 The dark and boisterous waves of sedition ran high 
 during the Southern rebellion, but, even amid their terri- 
 ble commotion, Jeff. Davis did not succeed in attaining 
 to any position which could be designated as a position 
 of honor ; but, on the contrary, I think that the position 
 which he occupied will be looked upon in the future of 
 American history as a most infamous position, which he 
 obtained by the most scandalous and infamous agencies. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 25 
 
 Then, I say, let the government deal with him as it may 
 consider to be most consistent to the requirements of 
 national magnanimity;, and if it. should be deemed most 
 advisable, let him be treated as my Uncle Toby treated 
 the fly which greatly annoyed him on one occasion. Let 
 tbe government say to him, Go, poor devikfor the world 
 is large enough for Jeff. Davis and the United States, and 
 the extinction of your insignificant life could in no de- 
 gree atone for your damning deeds, whose name is Legion, 
 and are as black, ay," blacker than the raven wings of 
 midnight, and for the perpetration of which you will re- 
 ceive your just reward in the unerring court of Heaven's 
 exalted chancery ! 
 
 I have extended this chapter much farther than I in- 
 tended at the beginning, for which I must here crave 
 the indulgence of my readers, to whom I will say, that 
 if they should discover faults in this volume, as they ad- 
 vance in its perusal, they must not fail to remember that 
 "'tis human to err, but divine to forgive!" I will just 
 here remark,Jn conclusion of the short biography which 
 I have given in regard to myself, that, after I returned 
 from the campaign in Mexico, I have ever since resided 
 in the upper portion of Bast Tennessee, engaging altern- 
 ately in the occupation of farming, and in the business of 
 wagon-making, until the culmination of the Southern re- 
 bellion, when I was driven from my home into the mount- 
 ains by the base myrmidons of Jeff. Davis, at which time 
 I came to the determination to make use of my best ex- 
 ertions in relieving my fellow-citizens from the wretched 
 oppression of the so-called " Southern Confederacy," and 
 in procuring soldiers for the Federal army. Consequent- 
 
 B 
 
26 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 ]j, I determined to act in the capacity of a pilot to con- 
 duct all good Union men safely through to the Federal 
 lines who might desire to go there; and in this capacity 
 I continued to act from the time I engaged in it regularly 
 on during the prevalence of hostilities between the two 
 sections of the country. I confidently believed that I 
 could do more toward the advancement of my country's 
 cause in suppressing the vile and iniquitous rebellion, by 
 conducting men through by hundreds who desired to 
 take up arms in the defense of the Union, than if I were 
 to volunteer as a private soldier. And in this belief, I 
 am now happy to say, I was not at all mistaken ; for, 
 during the time which I was thus engaged, I am proud 
 to be able to state that I conducted thousands of men to 
 the Union army, many of whom made brave and fearless 
 soldiers, and continued in the service until the end of the 
 war. This I can state without fear of contradiction, as 
 hundreds of men could testify if they were called upon 
 to do so. 
 
 During the period in which I was thus eqgaged I had 
 many adventures, and made numerous hair-breadth es- 
 capes, which I shall now proceed to detail in regular 
 order. 
 
THRILLING ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In the month of November, 1861, the troubles of the Union 
 people in the upper portion of East Tennessee began in earn- 
 est. Orders had been received from the government of the 
 United States to burn all the bridges, and to destroy the rail- 
 road from Chattanooga on up the country as far as it pos- 
 sibly could be done. It was to be done at night, secretly ; 
 and every true-hearted Union man that was advised of this 
 design readily engaged in a combination to assist in this 
 contemplated work of destruction. It was generally be- 
 lieved by all who had been advised of the project, that if 
 this destruction could be accomplished, there would then be 
 nothing in the way to prevent the Federal troops from com- 
 ing to East Tennessee to stay ; and, consequently, we all join- 
 ed heart and hand in the business, ^ing a citizen of Carter 
 County, I united with the company which had been selected 
 to burn the bridge over the Holston River at the town of 
 Union, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The bridge over the 
 Watauga River, at Carter Dep6t, six miles from Elizabeth- 
 ton, Tennessee, escaped destruction, owing to the fact that 
 a company of rebel soldiers were stationed there. The bridge 
 at Union not being thus guarded, was destroyed without 
 
28 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 any trouble, as the few guards who were stationed there 
 were suddenly captured, and their lives spared, as they avow- 
 ed most solemnly that they would never reveal the names 
 of any of the party concerned in burning the bridge. But 
 their solemn asseverations soon proved to be "as false as 
 dicers' oaths ;" for so soon as they met with their partners 
 in rebellion, they immediately disclosed the name of every 
 man with whom they were acquainted, and guessed remark- 
 ably well in regard to those with whom they were not per- 
 sonally acquainted. This was not very hard for them to do, 
 for up to this time there were not very many who had dis- 
 claimed their principles, but, on the contrary, openly declared 
 themselves as firm and steadfast friends of the Union. The 
 injury which was thus done so enraged the rebels, that the 
 Union citizens, in order to insure their self-protection, as- 
 sembled together in a body of some several hundred men, 
 and armed themselves as best they could, believing all the 
 time that the Federal forces would soon visit this portion 
 of East Tennessee, and relieve them from the dangers which 
 surrounded them. This assemblage of citizen soldiers wore 
 at this time stationed on the Watauga River, six miles from 
 the Carter Depot, and the Union men coming in all the time, 
 armed with such old guns as the mountain people could 
 aiford. Daniel Stover, a citizen of Carter County, and a 
 son-in-law of President Johnson, was elected colonel, and 
 forthwith consented w act as the leader of the Union force 
 which had assembled together, assisted by Colonel James 
 Grayson, of Johnson County, and several other strong and in- 
 fluential Union men. They were now meditating the policy 
 of making an attack on the rebel force which was stationed 
 at Carter Depot, and therefore a scout was sent out ; they 
 encountered a small lot of rebels, and drove them back with 
 rapidity, killing several of the party in their retreat. Intel- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 29 
 
 ligence now arrived that the rebels were re-enforcing, and 
 our band of Union soldiers moved their position, and march- 
 ed out to the Big Spring, on Gap Creek, in Carter County, 
 some three miles from Elizabethton, and on the same even- 
 ing the whole force marched to Elizabethton. At this point 
 they remained for three days, receiving information all the 
 time that the rebels were constantly re-enforcing at Carter D6- 
 p6t, preparatory to making an advance, and killing every man 
 whom they might find who had been concerned in the re- 
 bellion in Carter County. This was sad news indeed for our 
 little party of undrilled mountaineers, who had been sudden- 
 ly collected together to resist ,the tyranny of rebel desperar 
 does. It was therefore concluded that we should again 
 change our position, whereupon all the guns, pistols, and 
 other weapons of defense which could be obtained, were 
 hastily collected, and the party then moved to the Doe River 
 Cove, about six miles above Elizabethton, in the mountains 
 of Carter County. , 
 
 Colonel Ledbetter, than whom a more bloodthirsty and 
 infamous scoundrel never set his foot upon the soil of East 
 Tennessee, arrived at Johnson's D6p6t with a considerable 
 force under his command, and, learning where our party 
 were stationed, started in pursuit of us. Our pickets learn- 
 ing that the rebels were advancing, upon us with- a large 
 force, came in and reported the news, and it was immediate- 
 ly advised that we should " break up camp," and every man 
 take care of himself. This was late in the evening, and the 
 next morning the rebel forces reached our late encampment, 
 and captured several stragglers and quite a number of old 
 flint-loek guns. They then robbed many of the Union fam- 
 ilies in that settlement, driving off their cattle and hogs, and 
 destroyed nearly every thing in their houses which they 
 could not carry away, and returned to Johnson's D6p6t, 
 
30 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 some by the road which they had come, while some of them 
 traveled the road through the mountains which leads down 
 Doe River to Elizabethton. 
 
 I have now arrived at the juncture in which my own 
 eventful history begins. Colonel Stover desiring to form a 
 company of mounted men for a scout, I had visited my 
 home, in order to get my horse that I might join said com- 
 pany. I was not aware at this time that our forces had dis- 
 persed, until on my way back to the encampment I met 
 with some of our men who gave me the first intimation, 
 stating that some had fied to the mountains, while others 
 had returned to their homes to stand the threatened storm 
 of rebel vengeance, controlled and directed by old Ledbet- 
 ter. I returned home, concealed my horse, and then took 
 refuge myself in a clump of cedar bushes on a hill which 
 overlooked the road, so that I might watch the movements 
 of the rebels as they passed along the road. I had not been 
 in this position long, when I saw a large body of men coming 
 down the road, and, as they approached nearer to me, I saw 
 that a number of our men were in the crowd ; some were 
 mounted upon horses, but the greater number were walk- 
 ing. I thought at once that it was our own party, who had 
 partially reunited again, and, entertaining as I did this very 
 erroneous impression, I left my place of concealment, and 
 went down to them, when, to my utter surprise, I found 
 myself in the hands of the rebels. These were two compa- 
 nies of infantry and one company of cavalry, and the- men 
 whom I knew had belonged to our own party were prison- 
 ers, whom the rebels had captured in the Doe River Cove. 
 They halted me at once and asked me my name, when some 
 one in the crowd that knew me (for there were a good 
 many rebel citizens with them) answered for me, telling 
 them that I was a bridge-burner without any sort of doubt. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 31 
 
 At the vci^ lueution oi bridge-burner their passions seemed 
 to be greatly aroused, and I certainly would have been killed 
 if I had not succeeded in making my escape, for, sure enough, 
 I was the first bridge-burner who had the misfortune of be- 
 ing captured. The prisoners whom they had were boys and 
 peaceable citizens, and the only charge which they had 
 against them was that they had found them at ou^- encamp- 
 ment. Th^ moment that I was designated as a bridgerburn- 
 er many of the rebel gang said, " Shoot him ! shoot him !" 
 At this juncture an officer stepped up to me and said, in a 
 very angry manner, " You shall not live two minutes ; I 
 will kill you right here !" and placed me in the care of a 
 sergeant, directing hitta to keep a strict watch over me un- 
 til he could bring the two men who had told them that they 
 would swear that I was 2i^ridge-burner. That there were 
 rebel citizens in that crowd who were mean enough to 
 swear my life away, I could not for a moment doubt. We 
 were now in a lane opposite to a house which stood some 
 five steps from the fence. It was a double log-house, with 
 an entry in the middle, and on the opposite side of this 
 house 'there was a cleared hill-side some two hundred yards 
 in extent, immediately beyond which a dense thicket of 
 cedar bushes had grown up. As soon as the officer stepped 
 away, I asked leave of the fellow who was guarding me to 
 let me go into the house and get a drink of water, and 
 walked oif without awaiting his answer, I was halted in a 
 very peremptory manner, but did not stop until I got to the 
 house and in front of the entry, when, summoning all my 
 energies for the trial, I leaped over, the fence and ran be- 
 tween the houses, and started up the hHl, aiming for the ce- 
 dar thicket. Some bawled out at the top of their voices, 
 " Shoot that man running !" but that only served to impart 
 strength to my legs. The cavalry threw the fence down, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 33 
 
 and came after, me on their horses like a storm, but the 
 ground being very soft from recent rains, they could not 
 make much speed, and I soon increased the distance be- 
 tween us. The cavalry seemed to be certain of recapturing 
 me, and the infantry could not shoot at me foriear of shoot- 
 ing the cavalry, but they found that I would make my es- 
 cape, and commenced bursting caps at me ; their guns failed 
 to fire, and" one of them exclaimed; " My gun never failed 
 to fire before !" Surely at this time I was a special object 
 of the care of divine Providence, for not a single gun fired 
 which was aimed at me, and I reached the desired cedar 
 thicket in perfect safety, and there, crouchiiig beneath the 
 low-spreading branches, I could see my angry pursuers gal- 
 loping ai'ound in search of me, and venting their rage by 
 the utterance of oaths which were enough to raise the hair 
 on a Christian man's head. I do not think that the army 
 which Sterne speaks of as swearing so " terribly in Flan- 
 ders" could in any degree furnish a parallel to the horri- 
 ble swearing of these foiil-mouthed rebel blackguards who 
 were thirsting for my blood. But I soon had the agreeable 
 pleasure of seeing them check their horses and return, vow- 
 ing and protesting vengeance against me ifl should again 
 fall into their hands. That contingency, I thought, was in 
 the uncertain future, for the defeat of which I thought that 
 !> might probably secure "a bond of fate." 
 • I now considered myself free frbm rebel tyranny, which 
 I must confess was a most cheering reflection ; so, emerging 
 from my place of cdncealnient with the utmost caution, I 
 quickly hastened away, altogether destitute of either hat or 
 coat, having lost both in my precipitate flight. The coat 
 was a loose beai--skin over-coat, and I very easily dispensed 
 with it as I was running. As a; general thing, I do not be- 
 lieve in dreams; but I must here . acknowledge that the 
 
 B2 
 
(34 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 dream which I had the hight previous to my capture had a 
 decided agency in saving my life. I dreamed that I saw a 
 large company of armed men approaching, and that I went 
 to meet them, when I became frightened, and suddenly turn- 
 ed and ran aiyay with all possible speed, and that when they 
 attempted to shoot me their guns would not fire. Conse- 
 quently, as soon as I was captured I at once thought of my 
 dream, and resolved to endeavor to escape. I thought if I 
 had to die, I would prefer being killed while I was making 
 an eflfort to escape, rather than stand still and sufier myself 
 to be shot down like a dog. I did make an effort, and the 
 sequel I have already related. I have not, since my escape, 
 been such a total disbeliever in dreams ; for I am convinced 
 that 
 
 "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, I must invoke a blessing 
 upon that " dear old cedar thicket;" for it most assuredly 
 saved one poor, unprepared soul from being suddenly ex- 
 pelled from its tenemeot of clay, and violently precipitated 
 upon the great ocean of eternity. Oh, woodman, let me 
 beseech you to spare that cedar thicket; touch not a single 
 bush in its umbrageous pride ; let it stand forever, and 
 flourish on amid the bright sunlight of day, or in the paler 
 effulgence of lunar light ; for it will ever furnish to me a 
 cherished memento to awaken my recollection of one of the 
 most imminent perils which ever threatened my earthly ex- 
 istence as long as memory shall occupy a position in the 
 proud citadel of mind. Let me again say, Spare that cedar 
 thicJcet, for 
 
 "In danger it protected me, 
 Let me protect it now." 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 35 
 
 I never before in all my life so intensely appreciated the 
 sentiment of the poet who says that 
 
 "Distance lends enchantment to the view;" 
 
 for I thought, in my desperate and rapid flight to that old 
 cedar thicket^ that it did really present a more enchanting 
 prospect to my imagination than any forest scenery which I 
 had ever before beheld, although I had often gazed with de- 
 light upon my native mountains, whose proud and lofty 
 summits extend far up toward the azure blue of heaven. 
 But the old cedar thicket deserves, and shall receive the 
 highest meed of praise which I could possibly bestow upon 
 it-; for it saved my life from being extinguished by rebel 
 bullets, and 1 therefore hope that the reader will pardon 
 me for bestowing upon it, in the conclusion of this chapter, 
 a parting blessing for a benefit it conferred upon me in an 
 hour of great extremity between life and death which can 
 never be forgotten. 
 
36 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I NOW at once concluded that I would be compelled to 
 seek ■for safety in the mountains, to avoid being recaptured 
 by the desperate villains who were seeking to take my life. 
 Where my comrades were I could not tell, but I determined 
 to go in search of them. However, I was totally unable to 
 commence an immediate search for them, for the terrible 
 race which I had been compelled to take to sa.we my life had 
 so completely stiffened my limbs that I was almost inca- 
 pable of standing erect. I laid out all the night which fol- 
 lowed the day of my escape without any covering what- 
 ever, save the blue and star-lit canopy of the sky. The night 
 svas very cold, and consequently sleep, the balmy restorer 
 of exhausted nature, did not often vJsit me upon my cold 
 and lonely bed. As this was my first experience in scouting, 
 the reader may correctly suppose that the night seemed very 
 tediousn At times, as I lay upon my cold bed, and gazed up 
 through the blue ethereal at the bright and beautiful stars as 
 they twinkled in the celestial firmament on high, I thought 
 that my condition was melancholy indeed ; but I found some 
 consolation in the reflection that I was not the first man who 
 had been forced to the necessity of laying all night with the 
 cold earth for his bed and the heavens for his covering. I 
 could but remember that I was only enduring what Crassus 
 once "endured, who was considered to be the most affluent 
 personage in the whole Roman Empire. History informs us 
 that Crassus, not being contented with his boundless wealth, 
 nor the exalted political distinction which it had procured 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 37 
 
 for him in the Roman government, proposed to place him- 
 self at the head of a large army, and march forth to chas- 
 tise and suhdue the Parthians, and desolate and plunder 
 their nation. But he totally failed in the object of his cam- 
 paign, and a sad reverse of fortune overtook him amid the 
 mountains of Syria ; for, in a battle with the Parthians, his 
 legions were cut to pieces and almost annihilated, and he and 
 his son, who was assisting in the expedition of his father, 
 were both slain. The night before he was slaughtered, after 
 his splendid army had been ruined, he covered his head, chose 
 darkness for his companion, and stretched himself upon the 
 ground, a sad example to the vulgar- of the instability of for- 
 tune, and to men pf deeper thought of the effects of rashness 
 and ill-placed ambition. Not contented with being the first 
 and greatest among many millions of men, he had consid- 
 ered himself in a mean light, because there were two men, 
 Ponipey and Caesar, in the whole Roman Empire, who he 
 thought occupied a rank above him. 
 
 Immediately after Aurora, with roseate fingers, unlocked 
 th© golden portals of the morning, I arose from my cold be3, 
 and started toward my once happy home, meditating, as I 
 passed along, upon the beautiful verse of Byron, which says, 
 
 " 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark 
 
 Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home ; 
 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark 
 Om- coming, and look brighter when we come!" 
 
 But, alas ! I was not then approaching my loved home in 
 that peaceful and happy state of mind in which I had often 
 approached it before, but was now going to it cautiously and 
 stealthily, watching on every side, for fear of being suddenly 
 accosted by a rebel murderer ; now the nightingale's me- 
 lodious voice could have produced no music to my ear, for I 
 was too intently engaged in listening and watching for my 
 
38 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tnui'derous pursuers. At length I arrived at my Home, and 
 hastily procuring a few articles of clothing, I immediately 
 bade my little family au affectionate farewell, and started on 
 a journey for the Pond Mountain, in Carter County, where 
 I hoped I could again rejoin my friends, and obtain, for a 
 while at least, a safe asylum from, rebel scrutiny. When I 
 arrived at the house of William Lewis, a good Union man, 
 residing on the waters of Watauga River, in Carter County, 
 1 had the very agreeable pleasure of meeting with Colonel 
 Stover, Jonas H.Keen, and others of our party who, like my- 
 self, had fled into the mountains in order to secure their per- 
 sonal safety. On my arrival there was a general rejoicing, 
 as they had heard of my capture, and thought that I had al- 
 ready been consigned to the dreary and lonely sepulchre. 
 Something now had to be done to secure our farther safety, 
 for we still hoped and believed that the Northern troops 
 would soon appear, in this section of country and relieve us 
 from our embarrassments. We concluded to go farther out 
 into the mountains and build up a camp, for we well knew 
 that the infernal rebels would use every exertion to discover 
 our place of coverture, which we concluded to keep pro- 
 foundly secret, even from our best friends, with the excep- 
 tion of Mr. Lewis and his son, who were to aid us in select- 
 ing a suitable hiding-place, and provide something for us tb 
 eat. Thereupon, with Mr. Lewis and his son for our guides, 
 we shouldered a bushel of corn meal and a few pounds of 
 bacon, and started for a more remote locality in the gorges 
 of the mountains, leaving the busy world and the merciless 
 rebels behind us, not, however, without deeply lamenting our 
 deplorable condition should the Federal government fail to 
 relieve us. Mr. Lewis conducted us far beyond the Pond 
 Mountain, somewhere on the waters of Elk Creek, to an im- 
 mense thicket of laurel and ivy bushes, which looked as if 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 89 
 
 they might have been growing there evei' shice the time 
 when "the morning stars sapg together;" for they were of 
 sach large dimensions, and their branches so completely in- 
 termixed and intervQven, that a bird could not fly through 
 them, and all the way that we could gain an entrance was by 
 crawling upon our hands and knees under the thick branches. 
 We were now, perhaps, where the foot of man had never be- 
 fore trod ; and here in this dismal and lonely place we pro- 
 ceeded to build a camp to protect us against the inclemency 
 of the weather, for it was now late in the dreary month of 
 November, and the cold blasts of winter could already be 
 heard and felt as they rushed forth from the caves of old 
 Boreas. Our camp was not very comfortable, for we were 
 inexperienced in the business of camp-building, and also had 
 to build out of rough and unshapen materials. After we 
 finished it we covered the ground floor within plentifully 
 with leaves, which afforded us a tolerable good bed to sleep 
 on. Our fire was built at the door of our camp, which we 
 kept well supplied with fuel, for there was an abundance of 
 wood in close proximity. The weather, as I have already 
 remarked, was getting very cold, especially so in this remote 
 mountain region, and a good fire we found to be indispens- 
 able. We had not yet procured any cooking utensils, and 
 therefore had to bake our bread with the bran in it, by spread- 
 ing the dough upon a large chip and setting it up before the 
 fire. We did not prepare our bread after any style which I 
 have ever seen laid down in any of the fashionable " cook* 
 books" of the present day, but operated, in its preparation, 
 after the following fashion. We put our meal into a knead- 
 ingrtrpugh, and poured the water into it with our hands, 
 which we procured from a small contiguous ►branch which 
 rippled along near our lonely encampment, and after work- 
 ing the dough sufficiently, we baked it as described above. 
 
40 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 None of us being annoyed with dyspepsia, we generally ate 
 with a most ravenous appetite. We cooked our meat upon 
 the fire-ooals, but we were shortly enabled to prepare our 
 victuals in a more approved style, as our friend furnished us 
 with a small oven to cook in, and some tin cups out of which 
 to drink water. As for the luxury of coffee, we did not think 
 of endeavoring to procure it, as the infamous rebellion had 
 deprived the country of a supply of the genuine article, and 
 we did not wish to substitute in its place the coffee which 
 was used by the rebels, which was wheat and rye. 
 
 With the assistance of our friend, we laid in an abundant 
 supply of bacon and flour, which we had to pfick upon our 
 backs some six miles through the valleys of the mountains. 
 Some of our party proposed that we should pass a law that 
 no man should stay in the camp unless he could pack fifty 
 pounds of flour or bacon for the distance of six miles 
 through the laurel thicket on his b<ick. This, indeed, would 
 have been a severer law than any which was ever instituted 
 by that philosophic Spartan lawgiver, Lycurgus, and could 
 not possibly have been obeyed with any thing like the same 
 deference and respect which was awarded to the severe 
 code of the eminent Spartan, even if the- most distinguished 
 and most beloved individual in. our party had obtained a 
 promise from all of us that implicit obedience would be 
 given to the law until he should take a short journey and 
 return, and then go into voluntary exile, in. order to insure 
 obedience to the law, which we are infoi-med was the policy 
 adopted by Lycurgus, in order to insure stability to his 
 code of jurisprudence. 
 
 The law referred to above, as it may very well be sus- 
 pected, received no general sanction, and was therefore nev- 
 er enforced ; for some of our men had infirm constitutions, 
 and of course did not wish to subject themselves to such a 
 fatiguing manual exertion of their physical strength. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 41 
 
 The men in our party all seemed to be afraid to venture 
 far away from the camp, for fear of getting lost among the 
 mountains. As for myself, I soon learned the road to the 
 house of Mr. Lewis, and could pack my fifty pounds with 
 comparative ease. We lived for some weeks in our camp, 
 passing the lonesome hours away as best we could, with un- 
 shaven faces and dirty clothes, and looked a great deal more 
 like savages than we did like civilized men. Time itself 
 seemed to be shod with leaden shoes, so slowly and wearily 
 it appeared to pass away. I could not be contented to re- 
 main in this " pent-up Utica" so long, and, after visiting the 
 house of my old friend Lewis a few times, I concluded to 
 venture* back to my home, in order to see if I could hear 
 any good news which would be calculated to cheer the 
 drooping spirits of our party in their forlorn and lonely sit- 
 uation. None of the party would accompany me, and I de- 
 termined to go alone.; and after remaining in the woods a 
 few days near my home, gathering all the information which 
 could be obtained, I returned to my friends. Afterward, 
 regularly once every week, I would visit my home, carry- 
 ing with me numbers of letters from the men in our camp, 
 which I had conveyed to their families, receive from them 
 letters in reply, and all the news which I could hear, and 
 then hasten back to the camp again. This was employment 
 for me, and also enjoyment for the lonely and destitute 
 party in the ca'mp, whose spirits by this time were getting 
 very low and desponding. During the first few weeks otir 
 hopes were buoyed up by the sincere belief that the 
 "Yankees" would soon come to our relief; but as our 
 hopes in this respect got "small by degrees and beautifully 
 less," we became convinced that we must resort to some 
 means of dispelling the gloomy cloud of despondency which 
 was gathering in darkness around us. 
 
42 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 Colonel Stover concluded to venture back home, and 
 thdre endeavor to conceal himself from the industrious 
 search of tMe rebel maraudei-s, who were now prowling 
 through the country. He was the first man that I ever en- 
 gaged to pilot ; for I had passed backward and forward so 
 often that I was familiarly acquainted with every path 
 which led from our camp to our homes, and he, having been 
 so long confined, was not willing to undertake the journey 
 alone. Therefore, after bidding his friends an affectionate 
 adieu, and placing himself under my care, we started, and I 
 succeeded in conducting him safely to his own home, and 
 then I returned to the camp. The rebels were ransacking 
 the country in every direction, and our little party at the 
 camp were greatly troubled, fearing that our hiding-place 
 Would by some means be discovered, and no mercy could 
 be expected from the ruthless enemy if they should succeed 
 in capturing us, for we almost daily heard the terrible 
 threats of vengeance which were made against us if we 
 should be found. These threats we believed would be ful- 
 filled to the letter; for it was just at this time that a young 
 man by the name of Andrew J. Ward was foully and cruel- 
 ly murdered, because he refused to take the oath to support 
 the so-called " Southern Confederacy." He was a harmless, 
 inoffensive, and a very pious young man, and was endeavor- 
 ing to keep out of the way, in order to avoid being forced 
 to take this infamous oath. He was murdered in Carter 
 C«unty by a squad of Colonel Vance's men from North 
 Carolina, who, at this time, were in charge of a reckless 
 scoundrel by the name of Landon Ellis, who was a citizen 
 of Carter County. Young Ward did not try very hard to 
 effect an escape when he saw the rebels, doubtless consoling 
 himself with the reflection that, as he was a peaceable and 
 quiet citizen, they would not probably molest him. Butj 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 43 
 
 alas ! little did he thiuk that he wAs falling into the hands 
 of a set of obdurate devils, who weve as destitute of mercy 
 as the lion or the tiger, when slaking their thirst in the life- 
 blood of their trembling victim. He told them that he was 
 a Union man, and did not wish to talkfe the oath, neither did 
 he wish to fight on either side. Ellis then ordered him to 
 be shot, and his confederates in crime all agreed that it was 
 best to kill some Union man, as an example for the balance, 
 saying that that would urge them to come out of the mount- 
 ains, cause them to take the oath of fealty, and join the 
 Southern army, rather than to encounter the hazard of shar- 
 ing a similar fate. It was therefore determined by this 
 sage body of rebel murderers to make young Ward the first 
 victim in Carter County to their hellish malice. He only 
 requested them to grant him a sho^t time to pray ; but this 
 request was instantly refused, and/a miscreant by the name 
 of Joseph Murphy shot him in the left breast, the ball rang- 
 ing through and coming out near the bapk-bone. He ran 
 about ten steps before he fell, when his murderers pounced 
 upon him like beasts of prey, stripping him of his clothing 
 even before the spark of life had entirely been extinguished. 
 This foul deed of rebel violence was perpetrated on the 14th 
 day of December, 1861. 
 
 After Colonel Stover left our camp I became quite rest- 
 less, as there was now but very little mail for me to carry ; 
 and as the number in our camp was constantly receiving 
 accessions by the arrival of more bridge-burners, I there- 
 fore.left my friends in the cairtp and went to scouting among 
 the Union people of the country. I still continued to con- 
 sole myself with the reflection that, upon the return of 
 spring, the " Yankees" would surely come. But spring, at 
 last returnedj, but no " Yankees" came with it. Summer 
 was now rapidly approaching, clothed in its rich garniture 
 
44 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of sunbeams and flowers, but I could not hear of any ad- 
 vance being made in this direction by the " Yankees." My 
 friends still lingered in the mountains, and would not, like 
 myself, venture out, and were constantly discussing the pro- 
 priety of making an effort to get through the rebel lines. 
 They unanimously agreed that if I would assist them, they 
 could probably succeed in reaching the desired haven of re- 
 pose. As for myself, I had no fears whatever in undertak- 
 ing a journey to the Federal lines, and determined at once 
 to engage in its prosecution. 
 
 Having a family who were dependent upon my exertions 
 for a support, I knew that I could not remain here in idle- 
 ness so long as a fugitive in the mountains, and knowing 
 that if I was not permitted to work at home, I could go 
 through the lines and find employment. A small party had 
 prepared several times to go with me, and as often backed 
 out, being too timid to face the danger which they imag- 
 ined might lay before them. But I was determined to go 
 at all hazard, and was requested by my friends to go and 
 return again, so that I might be enabled to inform them if 
 there were any hopes of an early deliverance for them. 
 They thought that I would then be capable of rendering 
 them greater assistance in accomplishing the journey with 
 safety. 1 had no thought at this time of ever becoming a 
 regular pilot, but I was willing, in order to befriend the 
 suffering Union men as much as I possibly could, to do 
 every thing which I thought might contribute to their ad- 
 vantage in alleviating their sad condition. I therefore prom- 
 ised that I would return in about three weeks, believing 
 that if no unforeseen accident should prevent me, I could 
 make the journey in that time, and then proceed to render 
 them all the assistance in getting through to the Federal 
 lines which I might think was most consistent and advisable. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Upon the first day of August, 1862,1 set out on my.first 
 trip thi'ough the lines. I was not entirely alone when I 
 started, for a young man by the name of Dolan accom- 
 panied me as far as Bay's Mountain, in Sullivan County, 
 Tennessee, his home being in that section of country. We 
 started without provision for our journey, aiming to pro- 
 cure it on the road, and pass ourselves off as citizens in 
 search oi saltpetre caves. We had not traveled four miles be- 
 fore we met some soldiers; the reader may very well imag- 
 ine that I felt somewhat alarmed, but as there was no chance 
 to run, I resolved to meet them with a bold face. We spoke 
 politely to them, as they did also to us, and asked us where 
 they could buy some corn, saying that they were strangers 
 in this part of the country. I told them where they could 
 get corn, and they passed on, very much to my relief. 'Aft- 
 er this adventure, we left the road and took to the. woods, 
 until I got out of my own neighborhood, when we again 
 took an unfrequented road and continued to pass for salt- 
 petre diggers, not failing to inquire of €very person we met 
 with if they knew of any saltpetre caves, and in this way 
 we reached Bay's Mountain. Here ray companion left me, 
 and I prepared to pursue the remainder of my journey alone 
 •ind unattended. I learned from my friend Dolan before 
 parting with him the names of all thg Union men in this- 
 region of country, and was therefore not at a loss to know 
 where to go for assistance. I hired an old lady to furnish 
 me with four days' provisions, which she cooked and put 
 
46 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF, 
 
 into a liavei-Sack for me, and for which I paid her ^ive dol- 
 lars. Shouldering my knapsack, I now started for Kentucky, 
 but I had not traveled far down the mountain before I ob- 
 served sixty rebel soldiers on horseback coming toward 
 mo. I had no chance to run, and immediately jumped be- 
 hind a log which was well covered over with weeds, when I 
 had the extreme satisfaction of seeing them pass on without 
 observing me; I immediately resumed my journey, but took 
 care not to travel in the road again. 
 
 In the evening I was informed by some Union people that 
 there was a man in that neighborhood by the name of Wil- 
 liam M'Lane, who was quite familiar with the mountains, 
 and would start that same night with a company of men for 
 Kentucky. I jmshed along, and luckily enough succeeded in 
 getting into his company. He had quite a large company 
 with him, and many of them I found to be my acquaintances 
 from Carter County, who had traveled thus far alone. We 
 were very much surprised, and highly rejoiced" at this acci- 
 dental meeting, and pursued the remainder of our journey 
 together. Our pilot knew the mountains well, and we con- 
 tinued to travel during the night, crossing the north fork of 
 Holston River, and getting far along in the gorges of Clinch 
 Mountain against daylight, at which t^me we paused to take 
 a short rest, and then started forward again. The weather 
 was very hot and dry, and we suffered very much for water. 
 We traveled as rapidly as we could during all of this day, 
 and late in the evening, coming to some water, we stopped 
 for the night. We were all very tired, and our feet were 
 very sore, which we at once proceeded partially to relieve 
 by applications of cojd water, succeeded by a good greasing. 
 Early the next morning we started upon our journey, travel- 
 ing along upon the side of the mountain. The day was 
 very hot, and against twelve o'clock our water Avas exhaust- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 47 
 
 ed, and I was selected by the company to go in search of a 
 supply. Taking two quart bottles, I started in the search 
 for water, and in crossing over some large rocks I lost my 
 equilibrium, and fell violently down among the rocks. As 
 I started to fall, I was holding a bottle in each hand, and, 
 iA my endeavor to recover, I broke one of the bottles, 
 by which means my hand and wrist were severely cut, 
 ,pieces of the glass sinking deep among the leaders, occa- 
 sioning the most excruciating pain. I went back to the 
 company, and had the pieces of glass extracted from my 
 •hand and wrist as well as it could be done by a very rough 
 surgical operation, and also had the gashes sewed up, which 
 was done with a coarse needle, and still coarser thread, 
 bound up my- hand and wrist with a handkerchief, placed 
 my arm in a sling, and for three dreadful weeks I had:it' sus- 
 pended in that way. 
 
 ■ The company now again resumed the laborious journey 
 which lay before them, being compelled to travel until night 
 without the cooling luxury of water to slake their parching 
 thirst. At length, when we came to water, it was, unfor- 
 tunately, nothing but a very small dirty drain, for the col- 
 lection of which we iad to dig holes in the mud, in order 
 to accumulate it in even small qtfentities. We continued at 
 this place all night, for we feared to leave our little dirty 
 mud-puddle, as none of the company knew where there was 
 any water to be found farther on, and therefore we unani- 
 mously concluded that it was wiser rather 
 
 "To bear the ills we have, 
 Than fly to others that weknownot of!" 
 
 So soon as the first early tints of the morning appeared in 
 the eastern sky, we started upon our journey again. The 
 feet of some of the ,men were so sore that they could scarce- 
 
48 THRILLING ADVENTUBES OF 
 
 ly walk, but they hobbled along as best they could all that 
 day. In the evening, after taking a short rest, we moved 
 on, down Clinch Mountain, and crossed the valley below 
 that night, and against daylight we found ourselves upon 
 one of the lofty spurs of Powell's Mountain, and here we 
 stopped to rest, and also to partake of our scanty morning 
 meal, after which we concluded to advance higher up to- 
 ward the summit of the mountain to seek a safe position, 
 where we might enjoy the sweet luxury of sleep, which we 
 all very much required. In the evening we arose from the 
 soothing and gentle arms of Morpheus, and resumed our 
 journey again. Some of the men, who were almost broken 
 down with fatigue, begged hard to rest longer ; but this 
 could not'be done, for we were getting scarce of something 
 to eat, and thought it best to hurry on while we had 
 strength to travel. 
 
 The mountainous declivities amid which we were now 
 traveling were very rough, and yet we had not arrived at 
 the roughest parts of them ; for on eveiy side nothing could 
 be seen but steep and awful precipices and depressed hol- 
 lows, and we all felt well assured of one thing, and that was 
 that there was no danger of being pursued through this 
 dreadful range of mountains by the rebel hordes, which, in- 
 deed, constituted one of Nature's safest pathways from the 
 tyranny of the secessionists. "We traveled slowly along 
 that evening, and when the dark blanket of night was 
 thrown o'er the face of nature, we halted and rested until 
 morning, our sleep being disturbed with no noise save the 
 harsh music of the whip-poor-will, as it reverberated through 
 the hills and valleys around us. When morning dawned 
 again, we partook of a hasty liieal, and then went onward, 
 slowly climbing the mountain all the day. Night coming 
 on, we stopped and ate the last of our provisions, and 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 49 
 
 pushed forward across a little valley duryag the night, pull- 
 ing, as we passed along, some green corn, which we ate raw 
 ■with a very good appetite. When morning came we were 
 on the top of Walling's Ridge, which overlooks Powell's 
 Valley, which was thickly settled, and which we found we 
 were compelled to pass through, or else be forced to travel 
 through the roughest sort of mountains if we chose to avoid 
 it ; we therefore determined to make an effort to go through 
 the valley. We "continued to travel all day -on the lofty 
 elevations of Walling's Ridge, and in the evening we sup- 
 plied ourselves with some more green corn, which we pro- 
 cured from a field which had been planted on the side of 
 the ridge. Having matches, we soon kindled up a fire, and, 
 after roasting our corn and eating what we desired of it, we 
 moved on slowly down to Powell's Valley. The night was 
 dark and gloomy, and we succeeded in crossing it without 
 any impediment whatever, not forgetting, however, to sup- 
 ply ourselves with corn as we passed through. By an hour 
 by the sun upon the following morning, we found that we 
 had arrived at the base of Cumberland Mountain, whose 
 elevated chain separates the States of Tennessee and Vir- 
 ginia from Kentucky. We now considered that we were 
 safe from the rebjels, but still had a rough mountain to cross, 
 whose high peaks rose up in magnificence and splendor 
 into the blue welkin's vault. Before attempting to climb 
 the side of this great natural barrier, we stopped to rest and 
 take another repast upon our corn. Some of the men were 
 almost dead from the great fatigue which they had endured, 
 and presented truly a most pitiable aspect. Their shoes 
 were gone, the rocks and snags having torn them from their 
 feet, and as regarded our clothing, one had no reason to 
 laugh at another, for we were all in tattered rags, the briers 
 and brambles having completely divested us of pants from 
 
 C 
 
50 THEILLING ADVENTUKKS OF 
 
 the knees down. We succeeded in crossing the mountain 
 that day, and when night came on apace, we prepared beds 
 out of leaves, on which we slept quite soundly until morn- 
 ing. At this time we had nothing at all to eat, and were 
 very weak and hungry; but we were compelled to travel all 
 that day without eating, and in the evening we had the pro- 
 found and inexpressible joy and happiness of arriving at the 
 Federal camps at Cumberland Gap. Never did poor toil- 
 worn mariners upon the raging ocean, whose vessel had 
 been driven with violence amid the darkness of night be- 
 fore the howling tempest's wrath, enjoy more real happiness 
 and .emotions of delight upon reaching a calm haven of re- 
 pose, than did our tired and worn-out company of weary 
 fugitives from rebel oppression, when they found themselves 
 within the Union lines, and saw the dear old flag of their 
 once happy country floating aloft in beautiful grandeur amid 
 the bright rays of the setting sun. 
 
 This was, indeed, a happy hour for us when we found 
 that we were in the company of our friends. The soldiers 
 gave us a cordial greeting, and also plentiful supplies of pro- 
 visions, and divided their blankets with us in order to in- 
 sure us a good night's repose. The next morning we pro- 
 ceeded to Gen eral Carter's head-quarters. Having been born 
 and raised in Carter County himself, General Carter appear- 
 ed to be exceedingly glad to meet with so many persons 
 from his old home, and asked us many questions in regard 
 to the manner in which the rebels were demeaning them- 
 selves in the upper counties of East Tennessee. We related 
 all our troubles to him. He said that he -was very sorry 
 that we were in so bad a condition, and said that he would 
 use his best exertions to relieve us, and treated us with the 
 utmost kindness.. But, unfortunately, I was unable to see 
 any prospect of immediate relief being extended to my op- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 51 
 
 pressed and down-trodden fellow-citizens in Upper East 
 Tennessee ; and, in fact, I was a good deal more desponding 
 than when I left my native mountains in Carter County. 
 That the Union men could not stay there I was well con- 
 vinced, and how they could ever make their way out through 
 the dreadful mountain-barriers which intervened I could not 
 surmise. 
 
 As I had promised my friends to return in the course of 
 three weeks when I left them, I did not tarry long at Cum- 
 berland Gap ; and as our pilot, William M'Lane, was going 
 to return immediately, I thought it advisable to return in 
 company with him, and thereby obtain all the information 
 about the mountains and the surrounding country which I 
 could, for I felt quite certain that I would have to travel 
 through them again, probably alone, if no person should ac- 
 company me. Genei-al Carter gave me a large package of 
 letters for his friends at Elizabethton, and also supplied me 
 with provisions for my journey. Mr. M'Lane and myself 
 now set out to travel that long and toilsome path through 
 the mountains again. We were occupied for two days in 
 crossing' Cumberland Mountain, and on the night of the 
 second day we crossed Powell's Valley, and also Powell's 
 River, and reached the summit of Walling's Ridge. The 
 rivers were now no very serious inconvenience in our way ; 
 for the weather was quite warm, and the waters were very 
 low, the smaller branches being dry, which was some disad- 
 vantage to us in preventing us from obtaining water to cool 
 our thirst. We now laid down under the thick branches 
 of some bushes, and slept there very comfortably until late 
 in the evening, when, arousing from our slumbers, we went 
 on to the valley between Walling's Ridge and Powell's 
 Mountain, which we crossed in the night, and got on to the 
 spurs of Powell's Mountain just as daylight began to make 
 
52 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 its appearance. We continued to travel on until we came 
 to water, and then we laid down and slept until the day 
 had far advanced, when we arose and started on again, but 
 did not travel but a few miles until we stopped for the night. 
 Next morning we started very early, and traveled all day 
 very industriously, and at night we crossed the valley be- 
 tween Powell's Mountain and Clinch Mountain. We waded 
 Clinch River, and, pushing rapidly forward, we arrived at 
 the base of Clinch Mountain just as the bright sunbeams 
 began t^ sparkle in the silvery dew-drops of the early morn- 
 ing. Our provisions had been exhausted, and we now had 
 nothing to eat but green corn, which we had procured in 
 the valley which we crossed during the previous night. We 
 kindled a -fire, and, after roasting our corn, partook of it 
 most heartily, and which, I doubt not, we enjoyed to as 
 great an extent as the renowned and luxurious Lucnllus 
 ever enjoyed a meal in the magnificent eating-room which 
 he termed the Apollo ! I was now sixty miles from home, 
 and this was the last meal which I ate until I arrived 
 there. 
 
 My guide now left me, as his home was in a different di- 
 rection from mine, and I had now to prosecute my journey 
 alone, having some fears, as I passed through Sullivan Coun- 
 ty, which was one of the very hot-beds of secession and re- 
 bellion, and the few Union-men in that county were made 
 the recipients of all the hellish malice and hatred which 
 could be heaped upon them by their heartless rebel oppress- 
 ors. At length I had the pleasure of seeing the tops of my 
 native mountains, which presented to me a most cheering 
 prospect, for they at once presented to my mind the joyful 
 recollection of happier days, when sorrow pressed lightl}' 
 upon the heart, and when I could go to my dear home witli 
 no fears of my path being intercepted, or waylaid by the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 53 
 
 <3ruel murderer. When I reached my native hills I sorely- 
 felt the dreadful effects of ray toilsome journey, for I was 
 almost starved, and nearly worn out with exhaustion. I can 
 not possibly describe my sufferings during the three weeks 
 which I had been absent; indeed my feet and legs seemed 
 to be worn off to my knees. Just as soon as I partially re- 
 cruited my exhausted system by eating and sleeping, I at 
 once proceeded to hunt up my scouting friends,, so that I 
 might give them all the news which I had obtained. They 
 were exceedingly delighted to see me ; but, unfortunately, 
 I had no good news to impart to them. They had either 
 to remain in the mountains, or suffer all that I had suffered, 
 and perhaps more, if they should undertake to go through 
 the mountains to the Federal lines. At what time we 
 fihould be relieved in Upper East Tennessee none could tell, 
 and it seemed impossible to stay here, owing to the severity 
 of rebel oppression. 
 
 The news soon spread among the Union people of Carter 
 County that I had returned, and there was scarcely an hour 
 passed that I was not applied to by some unfortunate Union 
 man to conduct him to the Union forces in Kentucky. It 
 was to no purpose when I told them about the terrible hard- 
 ships which they would have to undergo in making the trip ; 
 in fact, I did not wish them-to commence the journey with- 
 out knowing as well as I could tell them about the almost 
 impossible passage through the mountains. I directed their 
 attention to my own stiffened limbs, and told them that I 
 knew that I could endure much more than they could. But 
 my expostulations had no effect whatever in deterring them 
 from attempting the journey, for they said that they would 
 rather try to crawl there, than to stay here and endure the 
 monstrous oppression and insults of the rebel soldiery ; and 
 in this manner they continued their importunities, telling me 
 
54 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 that I must go through with them as a guide. I was too 
 completely exhausted from the eifects of my last trip to start 
 on another one so soon, as I had not yet become accustomed 
 to such a life of toil ; and besides, all the men who wished 
 to go were not now ready to start, and did not wish me to 
 leave them, thinking that I might not probably return again. 
 By this time quite a number of refugees from North Caroli- 
 na had found their way into the mountains of Carter County ; 
 and as they were strangers in this section of country, they 
 desired to move onward to the Union lines immediately. 
 They proposed to pay me well if I would accompany them 
 as far as Sullivan County, and there procure them a pilot if 
 I could not go on myself. This I thought I could do, for by 
 the time we could get into Sullivan County I had no doubt 
 but that M'Lane would be ready to return to Kentucky, and 
 would consent to act as a pilot for them. The greatest 
 danger of annoyance by the rebel soldiery was, I conceived 
 to be, from the place of starting in Carter County to a point 
 in Sullivan County, making a distance of about thirty miles, 
 and when we got to that point I knew that we could find a 
 number of Union friends. From what I told them, they 
 were willing to risk M'Lane, but rather preferred that I 
 should go through with them ; and if I had felt like making 
 the journey so soon again without the most disastrous con- 
 sequences to my already exhausted energies, I should certain- 
 ly have agreed to* guide them through. But I did not think 
 that I could possibly undertake at this time to go with them 
 farther than the point which I designated in Sullivan County, 
 and therefore I told them to supply themselves with pro- 
 visions for their journey, and appointed the night that we 
 would start. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 On the night of the 28th of August, 1862, 1 started with 
 seventy-five men for the boat-yard in Sullivan County. Our 
 starting-point was near Elizabethton, in Carter County, and 
 the rout which I-^prqjected was a direct line through the 
 woods to the old'Pactolus Ferry, on the Holston River. The 
 men were all provided with a small quantity of provisions, 
 though not half enough for the trip ; and as they could not 
 procure a better supply before they started, they had to risk 
 the chance of obtaining more when they arrived at the boat- 
 yard, for I well knew that it would be almost impossible for 
 them to get any thing to eat after they left the boat-yard 
 without subjecting themselves to the danger of being dis- 
 covered by bands of prowling rebel marauders. The men 
 were all in high spirits at the thought of escaping from the 
 rebels so nicely ; as they were not yet guardingiihe roads for 
 stampeding refugees, I felt quite certain that we could make 
 the trip with safety did we not accidentally run upon the 
 rebels in passing through the country, and of this there was 
 not very much danger in the night, as they were not at that 
 time apt to be stirring. They said that they did not mind 
 the hardships of getting through if they could soon be per- 
 mitted to return with our victorious troops, and repay the 
 rebels for causing them to have to leave their homes. They 
 had not yet learned the real horrors of war, and did not 
 seem to think about the uncertainty of their return. 
 
 We had not advanced very far before every sign of an 
 
56 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 approaching 'storm became quite visible. " The night put 
 on her blackest robes," and we were at once involved " in 
 Egyptian darkness." I could but think that the approach- 
 ing storm was quite emblematic of the terrible storm of war 
 which these poor men were doomed to encounter before 
 they would again meet their families and friends in peace. 
 And many of them never did return to their cherished and 
 loved homes, but perished upon the gory battle-field, or 
 languished and died in a loathsome Southern prison; for 
 many of this company joined the 2d Tennessee Mounted In- 
 fantry, commanded by Colonel James Carter, and after serv- 
 ing as faithful soldiers for a long time, were at length cap- 
 tured by the rebels near Rogersville, Tennessee, and very 
 few of them lived to tell the tale of their horrible suflFerings. 
 Some of my nearest neighbors that went through the lines 
 with this company, and who were fine, promising young men, 
 in the very noontide of life, and made as brave soldiers as 
 ever shouldered a musket or carried a sword, were also cap- 
 tured at the time referred to, and fell the sad victims of rebel 
 malice, being consigned as they were to a pestilential prison, 
 where they were made to suffer all the miseries which starv- 
 ation and haggard destitution could possibly impose upon 
 them. But although they were thus ignominiously put to 
 death, their friends have the proud consolation of knowing 
 that they offered up their lives in the defense of their country, 
 which is one of the highest virtues that can exalt and ennoble 
 the human character. Although they were cut down in the 
 very spring-time of their proud manhood by rebel tyranny, 
 like young flowers which are nipped in their buds by some 
 cold, untimely blast, yet the recollection of their noble deeds 
 of patriotism will always occupy a green spot upon the pan- 
 orama of memory, and their names, encircled with verdant 
 chaplets, will be placed in the proud galaxy of fame, and sus- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 5,7 
 
 pended aloft in the glorious citadel of American freedom, 
 which will furnish a lasting memento of their sacrifices and 
 achievements in their country's cause as long as human lib- 
 erty shall endure, and as long as exalted patriotism shall have 
 an admiring votary upon the American continent. 
 
 We continued to travel on until about eleven o'clock, 
 when the storm seemed to be approaching in ,all its fui-y. 
 The clouds now rolled in volumes over the mountain tops. 
 The rain began to patter down in broad and scattered 
 drops ; the wind murmured and howled through the branch- 
 es of the trees ; at length it seemed as if the bellowing 
 clouds were torn open by the mountain tops, and complete 
 torrents of rain came rattling down. The forked lightning 
 leaped from cloud to cloud, and streamed quivering against 
 the rocks in all its splendid and majestic undulations. The 
 thunder burst in tremendous explosions ; the peals were 
 echoed from hill to hill, and, in the words of my Lord By- 
 ron, 
 
 " From mountain peak to mountain peak 
 Leaped the live thunder!" 
 
 There was a fearful gloom surrounding us, illumined still 
 more fearfully by the streams of lightning which glittered 
 among the rapidly- descending rain-drops. Never did I 
 before witness such an absolute warring of the elements ; 
 it seemed as if the storm was tearing and rending its way 
 through these mountain defiles, and had brought,all the ar- 
 tillery of heaven into action. The wind blew in most tem- 
 pestuous blasts, scattering the dead branches; of trees all 
 around us, and we were at, last compelled to stop until the 
 storm had somewhat abated ; but, haying no place to shel- 
 ter ourselves, we had to stand like philosophers and endure 
 
 C2 
 
58 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the "mad peltings of the pitiless storm!" The rain at 
 length ceased to fall in such perfect torrents, and as we 
 could do no better, we pushed onward. "We were thor- 
 oughly wet to the very skin, and, sad to relate, our provi- 
 sions were completely spoiled. It was still so dark that we 
 could scarcely see one another ; some of the men ran against 
 trees, which were rendered imperceptible to them by the 
 black and impenetrable darkness, mashing their noses and 
 bruising their mouths in a horrid manner ; while others fell 
 over old logs and stumps, wounding their legs and skinning 
 their shins to a most deplorable extent. They now began 
 to think more seriously of what I had told them. But they 
 considered before starting that the turmoils and hardships 
 which they would have to endure in making the journey to 
 the Union lines could not be, compared to the threatening 
 dangers of rebel violence ; and therefore they concluded, 
 that between the two desperate evils they would choose the 
 least, and endeavor to reach the Union army. As for my- 
 self, I managed to grope along tolerably well amid the dark- 
 ness which environed me. 
 
 The men not being accustomed to traveling in the night, 
 could not get along very rapidly, and I went slowly for- 
 wai'd in a direct course to the boat-yard. I was never lost 
 in the woods or mountains in my life ; and although I was 
 now traveling in a direction which I had never traveled but 
 one time before, and that time being in the darkness of 
 night, yet J never for a moment lost my reckoning in the 
 direction which I had marked out, and went forward with 
 as unerring certainty as if I had been guided by a compass. 
 Daylight found us in a large corn-field, which was a good 
 hiding-place, but it was not the one which I intended to 
 reach, as we had been so long detained by the storm on the 
 preceding, night. The clouds having dispersed, the sun 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 59 
 
 arose in the eastern sky in all his bright and effulgeil]y>maj- 
 esty^ and his warm and invigorating beams here shone Sown 
 upon as muddy, wet, and worn-out set of poor fellows as 
 were ever seen. We were muddy up to our waists, and 
 our clothes were dripping with water. . I do not believe 
 that there was one coat in all the crowd which had not been 
 shorn of some of its proportions, which had been done by 
 the men catching hold of one another while they were stum- 
 bling along amid the darkness of the night. When we 
 stopped, some of the poor fellows fell down upon the wet 
 ground and declared that they could not go any farther, 
 even if they had to go in the Southern army, which was the 
 earthly hell they were now endeavoring to escape ; but aft- 
 er resting a while and basking in the warm sunshine, they 
 changed their notion and concluded to press onward. We 
 passed the day in washing the mud off of our clothes and 
 drying them in the sun, and sewing on our coat-skirts ; and 
 when night again clothed the face of nature in its garments 
 of sable blackness, we were so far recovered as to be able 
 to proceed on our journey. We made our way to the river 
 with some difficulty, and prepared to cross it below the old 
 Pactolus Ferry by stealing a ferry-boat. In this we crossed 
 the Holston River in grand style, and went on to a place 
 called the "White-oak Flats," which isin Sullivan County, 
 near the boat-yard, and was a very noted hiding-place fca- 
 the fugitives from rebel oppression, and was distant about 
 two good nights' travel from the mountains of Carter 
 County, being a distance of thirty miles. It is a large 
 body of land, covered with timber and thick undergrowth, 
 with immense thickets of green-briers matting and interlac- 
 ing among the bushes, until in some places you can not 
 crawl through them upon your hands' and knees. This was 
 an excellent hiding-place for the company at this time, for 
 
60 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 this was the place where they"designed remaining until the 
 services of another pilot could be procured, and also provi- 
 sions for the remainder of their journey. The people in this 
 settlement were generally for the Union ; and after hiding 
 the men securely, I went out among the people to get them 
 something to eat, whicli was a very hai"d undertaking, as 
 there were so many of thera, and money was very scarce 
 among them, especially among those from Carter County, 
 they having but very little more than enough to take them 
 through the lines, especially if any unforeseen accident 
 should happen to them. 
 
 The citizens here were very kind, and I did not have 
 much trouble in getting a supply for all. I now for the 
 first time made the acquaintance of Mrs. Grills, a widow 
 lady, who was a most excellent lady ; and in my future trips 
 to Kentucky she always assisted in feeding hundreds of 
 poor Btampeders. My sincere prayer is, that this kind and 
 humane lady may always enjoy the most abundant peace 
 and contentment in this world, and happiness in the world 
 to come. On the present occasion she furnished me with 
 all she had to spare herself, and then went out among the 
 Union people and solicited donations of provisions, and car- 
 ried it to her own house and cooked it. I found her to be 
 truly a " friend in need," for I had not at this time any very 
 extensive acquaintance with the Union people in this sec- 
 tion of country. 
 
 Having, with the assistance of Mrs. Grills, obtained a sup- 
 ply of provisions for the men, I now went in search of Wil- 
 liam M'Lane, the pilot, who at once agreed to go and con- 
 duct the company through ; but the men's feet were so sore, 
 they wished to rest for a couple of days at least. They 
 were all willing to go with M'Lane, but rather preferred 
 that I should go with them. This I could not well do, as I 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 61 
 
 had Dot yet sufficiently recovered from the fatigue of my 
 last trip, and, besides,' my friends at home were anxiously 
 awaiting my return ; neither did I think that there was any 
 reason for me to go, as I had engaged for them the services 
 of a good pilot. I now commenced the task of getting pro- 
 visions for their journey. The men from North Carolina and 
 Virginia paid me for my services to them, but my own 
 neighbors from Carter County, many of them not having a 
 dollar in their pockets, and the balance of them not enough 
 to pay their pilot, I therefore took the money which I had 
 received and purchased a plentiful supply of bread and ba- 
 con, and divided it out among those who could not help 
 themselves. Mr. M'Lane, their pilot, was a kind man, and 
 was not severe upon them in his demands for his services. 
 Their blistered feet and stiffened limbs were now much im- 
 proved, and, after giving me a number of letters to take 
 back to their friends, they started upon their journey in 
 good spirits. This company M'Lane conducted safely 
 through to Cumberland Gap. 
 
 I now turnetl my /face homeward, and, as I was alone, I 
 traveled in daylight, but I was not safe in so doing. I 
 crossed the Holston River in a canoe,, and went forward 
 cautilusly, watching for the rebel soldiers at evei-y step; 
 but I traveled along until evening without seeing any of 
 them, and was thinking myself quite lucky, when, unfortu- 
 nately, while I was passing through a farm in Washington 
 County, some rebels saw me. I was some distance from the 
 open fields, and was traveling in the woods, near the point 
 where the Jonesboro' Road comes into the old Pactolus 
 Road, which leads from Carter County to the boat-yard. 
 At first I heard a clattering of horses' feet behind me, and, 
 upon looking back, I observed a party of rebel soldiers com- 
 ing toward me very rapidly. I felt sure that they were 
 
62 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 pursuing me ; at any rate, I did not feel willing to meet 
 them. The place where I was offer-ed but few advantages 
 for me to escape, as the near timber consisted of small 
 scrubby oaks, with no undergrowth. I began to think that 
 I " was gone up." Just before me there was a turn in the 
 road. I walked on briskly until I got to a small hollow 
 which concealed me from the rebel horsemen. In a mo- 
 ment I sprang out of the road, and np a steep acclivity, and 
 at once lying down flat upon my back, I palled a chinca- 
 pin bush over me, holding it fast with both my hands until 
 they passed me, at which time I heard one of them say, ".He 
 has walked very fast," and they immediately quickened their 
 speed. I now sprang up and ran back to a large corn-field, 
 and there remained until night. I did not, however, have 
 to wait very long, for the sun was rapidly disappearing be- 
 hind the western hills. 
 
 As soon as it was dark I took the road again. I had ad- 
 vanced but a short distance, when, to my surprise, I heard 
 the rebels coming again. I stepped behind a tree, and they 
 passed on, altogether unaware of their clos'e proximity to 
 that great object of rebel hatred, a Union pilot. I now 
 started on again, and reached home without any farther ad- 
 venture. 
 
 Upon my return, I found Colonel Grayson in the mount- 
 ains with one hundred men, whom he had enlisted as re- 
 cruits for the 4th Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, and de- 
 sired very much to get them through the lines. I at once 
 started to the boat-yard, in order to provide for their, safety, 
 and also to get a pilot by the name of Grills to assist me in 
 conducting them through the lines, as I did not feel willing 
 to venture alone for the first time with so large a companv. 
 At the same time David Stout came on with a large party 
 of pien, and engaged the services of Grills. Judging from 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 63 
 
 the signs of the times, I felt suve that the rehel soldiers 
 would be probably advised in regard to the movements of 
 Stout and his party ; and, sure enough, they were informed 
 about the party moving toward Kentucky, and rushed for- 
 ward, in pursuit of them. The rebels killed and captured 
 quite a number of this unfortunate party, who indeed met 
 a worse fate than death, while a few of them made their es- 
 cape. 
 
 I now concluded to conduct Grayson and his men myself, 
 as I felt sure that I could go by a much safer route than 
 the pilots were at this time traveling. The rebels were 
 now aroused, and were vigilantly watching for stampeders, 
 and several niore parties were discovered, and at once dis- 
 persed by them. I was waiting for the times to become 
 moi'e auspicious for the TJnion men who were desirous of 
 migrating to a " better land," but they daily gi-ew worse, 
 and I began to despair of being able to conduct this large 
 party through to the Union lines before the chilling blasts 
 of dreary winter would begin to howl amid the hills and 
 valleys. I felt sure that I could conduct a small party of 
 fifteen or twenty men safely through at any time ; but the 
 leaders, having collected these men for recruits, wished them 
 all to go through at once. I now made several trips to the 
 boat-yard to acquaint myself with the operations of the reb- 
 els, and also to learn a better route through the mountains. 
 I now determined to try another trip through the lines with 
 a small party of men, as I considered it best to test my abil- 
 ities as a pilot before undertaking to conduct large parties 
 so far as the Cumberland Gap. It was now November, and 
 a large number of poor Union men still wandering through 
 the mountains, hiding from the reljels, who had already 
 killed and captured a number whom they found endeavor- 
 ing to make their, escape. Very few had succeeded in get- 
 
04 
 
 THKILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ting through the lines, with the exception of the first com- 
 pauy, which was taken through by M'Lane. Grayson was 
 now willing to go with only a part of the men whom he 
 had gathered, and, directing them to be certain and provide 
 themselves with a plentiful supply of provisions, I told them 
 on what night I would start with them. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 65 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the night of the 14th of November, 1862, 1 started on 
 my first trip to Kentucky as a pilot with Colonel James 
 Grayson, of Johnson County, Tennessee, and a number of 
 men from the counties of Johnson and Carter. We met in 
 the ridges near Elizabethton, and went straight forward to- 
 ward Johnson's'DSpot, in Washington County. When we 
 arrived at the railroad we stopped, and I went to the house 
 of John Murray, who was a good 'Union man, and lived near 
 the dep6t. :. I inquired of him if he thought there was any 
 danger to be apprehended from the rebels. He told me 
 that he did not believe that the rebel soldiers were stirring 
 about any on that night. We had to cross the railroad 
 within two miles of the d^pot, where there was a rebel com- 
 pany stationed. We crossed the railroad without being 
 discovered, and by daylight we reachedHolston River, two 
 miles below the old Pactolus Ferry, a distance' of thirty 
 miles from the point we had started from,- and which I con- 
 sidered was a good night's travel, for before, it had taken 
 me two nights to travel the same distance with a company 
 of men. But, on this occasion, I told the 'men when we 
 started that our success depended very much in getting the 
 start of the rebels, and they exerted themselves during the 
 night to move along as rapidly as possible. We crossed 
 the river in a canoe which we stole, and then struck out for 
 White-oak Flats; it was some time after daylight before 
 we found a good hiding-place. ■ We were ixo-^ not far from 
 the house of Mrs. Grills, to which I immediately went, to 
 
6Q THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 learn if there were any rebel soldiers in the neighboAood. 
 She told me that there was no danger at this time, and 
 promised to watch with vigilance, and if any thing occun-ed 
 which she thought would endanger our safety, immediately 
 to inform us of it. We here spent the day in the enjoy- 
 ment of rest, of which our tired limbs were in great, need 
 after the hard night's travel which we had accomplished. 
 When night came on we left the "Jlats," and soon reached 
 the< north fork of Holston River. Here there was no ca- 
 noe to be had, and therefore we were compelled to wade. 
 The water was very cold and deep, but we did not care for 
 such trifles as that, and, taking off our clothes, we plunged 
 into the stream. We all reached the opposite shore in safe- 
 ty, and, quickly dressing ourselves, we moved on at a doubk- 
 quick rate of speed in order to get warm, for the night was 
 quite chilly. That night we reached Clinch Mountain, and 
 crossed over to the opposite side of it, where we could see 
 over the Poor Valley, which lies between Clinch Mountain 
 and Copper Ridge, and upon this elevation we remained all 
 the day. We were not far from the road which leads to 
 Sneedville, in Hancock County, Tennessee. All that day 
 we could hear the rebels passing the road. We could hear 
 the beat of their drums, and their loud cheering as they 
 passed along. They were going in nearly the same direc- 
 tion that we were, but they traveled in the road, and we 
 upon the mountain, doing the best we could to keep out of 
 their way until night. While we were traveling along the 
 mountain that day a company of scouters came to us ; they 
 had started to go through the lines before we did, but 
 were pursued by the rebel soldiers and dispersed ; and they 
 were now hiding in order to save their lives, and beinw in 
 a strange coimtry, they did not know which way to go, and 
 were afraid to venture back to their homes again. They 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 67 
 
 yreve nearly destitute of clothing, and were in a starving 
 condition, as they said they had ate nothing for two days 
 and nights ; besides, they had been chased by the rebel cav- 
 alry, and some of their party bad been killed. They told 
 us that they had seen their companions shot down without 
 being able to afford them any assistance, while others were 
 only wounded, and left to the mercy of the enemy, or to 
 die in the mountains alone. They told us that we could 
 never get through without being captured or killed. This, 
 however, I did not believe, foj^l felt sure that bad manage- 
 ment, occasioned probably by a bad pilot, had been the cause 
 of all their troubles. We at once divided our provisions 
 with them, and told them they could go along with us. 
 We knew that we would all have to suffer when we divided 
 our provisions before we could procure another supply, but 
 we resolved to push on as fast as possible, and get through 
 the sooner. We barely waited for darkness to come on be- 
 fore we started, and a very dark night it was, and extreme- 
 ly cold. We were now in the worst part of the mountain, 
 with no sign of a path to guide us, climbing over fallen tim- 
 ber, going through brush, and often falling over rocks, wad- 
 ing the cold mountain streams when we came to them, 
 which we had to encounter very frequently. Near daylight 
 the rain began to fall ; but having no means of protecting 
 ourselves from its chilling effects, we pushed along until day- 
 light, at which time snow began to fall, and the wind com- 
 menced blowing a terrible blast, and soon the rain and snow 
 changed to sleet, which soon made it almost impossible for 
 us to get through the brush on account of the ice which had 
 there so suddenly congealed. But we could not stop until 
 we could find a place where we could kindle up a fire with 
 safety, and, therefore, we had to move on without finding 
 such a place until we were exhausted and almost frozen. 
 
68 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 We could go no farther. We now commenced making 
 shelters, which was a hard task, as our hands were perfect- 
 ly benumbed with cold. We cut small forks with knives, 
 and drove them into the ground with rocks, and then, lay- 
 ing small poles across, we covered over the top with leaves. 
 We kindled 'up a small fire out of dry bark, which wotdd 
 not smoke. We crawled under our shelters, and the men 
 being so nearly frozen, just so soon as they began to get 
 warm went to sleep. They did not sleep long, for the pangs 
 of hunger and their aching Kmbs soon aroused them from 
 their repose. We could not eat as much as we desired for 
 fear of exhausting all our provisions, and the day was passed 
 in resting and drying our clothes. Some of the men who 
 came to us on Clinch Mountain suffered greatly for want of 
 clothes, and, in fact, all the men that I started with seepaed 
 to be getting in very low spirits. We were now upon 
 Powell's Mountain, and that night at two o'clock we 
 stopped, as some of the men were nearly frozen. We were 
 now in a safe place, and gathered all the old stumps and 
 wood which was near at hand, and soon had a blazing fire, 
 and raked away the snow to make as good a place as we 
 could to sit down upon ; we could not lay down, for when 
 the fire melted the snow and the ice, the earth around the 
 fire was completely saturated with water. The clouds now 
 began to break away, but the wind continued to blow in 
 dreadful gusts, which made it very uncomfortable for us to 
 stay close to the fire, as it was blown npon us, and it was 
 hard for us to keep our clothes from being badly burned. 
 We staid here until eight o'clock, when we were compelled 
 by hunger to move onward. We were doing wrong by 
 traveling in daylight, and I well knew it ; but in reality I 
 thought that it was best for the men to move on while they 
 had strength, and the nights were now so dark and cold 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 69 
 
 that they could make but very little progress. We now 
 had a small valley to cross called Wildcat, lying between 
 Powell's Mountain and Walling's Ridge. We crossed this 
 valley, and then commenced the ascent of the ridge beyond, 
 which proved to be a very laborious task, as the leaves were 
 frozen, and the bushes were bent to the earth with sleet ; 
 but we finally gained the summit, when we stopped to rest, 
 and; looking some distance ahead of us, we saw a company 
 of horsemen coming from Powell's Valley, which was the 
 next valley that we had to cross, I thought in a moment 
 that the citizens of Wildcat Valley, had discovered us, and 
 that some of .them had taken a near route to PoXvell's Val- 
 ley and reported us to a company of rebel soldiers who 
 were stationed there. We were now in the very mids|; of 
 rebels, being in Lee County, Virginia. The men now seem- 
 ed to forget their hunger and weakness, and thought of 
 nothing but making ' their escape. ■ The brush and under- 
 growth was not thick upon this mountain, and, therefore, 
 we could not hide very securely. I must confess that I was 
 put to my studies for a minute, but there was no time for 
 much thinking. We were on a high point, and could see 
 the enemy plainly in the valley below. We started along 
 the ridge in plain view of them, and they, seeing ns, came on 
 toward us. We moved on in this way for some time, when 
 at length we got out of their sight, and started down the 
 side of the ridge from them and took the back track, very 
 hastily at that, until I thought that we were out of danger. 
 I knew that they were waiting ta intercept the company on 
 one side of the ridge while they were on the other, and go- 
 ing in a different direction. IJpon arriving at a dense thick- 
 et of bushes we crawled under them, and there remained 
 until night. We were afraid to kindle a fire, and, conse- 
 quently, suffered very greatly from the severe cold, and were 
 
70 THRILLING ADVENTUBES OP 
 
 also nearly perished for something to eat, as we had taken 
 nothing to eat dui-ing the whole day. "We shivered under 
 these bushes with cold until dark, when we started again. 
 Our clothes were frozen,on us up to our waists, and knocked 
 together as we walked like rocks, but walking revived and 
 warmed us, and we all got along pretty well. 
 
 We now turned down the ridge toward Powell's Valley 
 again, and had already come to the cleared land ; it was now 
 late in the night, and we traveled very cautiously along a 
 cross-fence running in the direction of Powell's River. We 
 finally reached the river, and were not long in divesting our- 
 selves of our clothes and crossing the stream. There was 
 a thicket on the opposite bank, where we stopped until we 
 put on our clothes, and then went on toward Cumberland 
 Mountain, which was just in sight, and we traveled rapidly 
 until we reached it. The night was very dark and gloomy, 
 but we began to ascend the mountain, which was very steep, 
 pulling up by the grape-vines and bushes as Ave could see to 
 get hold of them. At length we succeeded in gaining the 
 summit, which we found to be covered over with laui'el and 
 ivy bushes to such an extent that it was hard to get through 
 them at all, but I kept in a straight line for Kentucky, no 
 matter what was in the way. 
 
 The brush was not now so thick, and we soon struck a 
 blind path ; and as it led on in the way we were going, we 
 followed it for some time, and at length we came to an old 
 deserted house, where we concluded to stop and rest. Upon 
 going into it, we found that the floor was gone, and the hogs 
 had a fine bed of leaves in it ; we drove them ovt, and took 
 possession of their bed ourselves. We were now out of danger 
 and would have kindled up a fire, but we had no matches • 
 we were very much stiflFened with cold, and almost, starved 
 as we Jiad not tasted of any food for twenty four hours ! It 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 71 
 
 was now two o'clock in the night, and wo rested until day- 
 light, when we again went on. The rain was now falling 
 rapidly, and the fog was so thick that we could scarcely see 
 our way. We went on in the direction of Kentucky, travel- 
 ing all day, wet, cold, and hungry, and in the evening we 
 reached what is called Clover Fork, in the State of Kentucky. 
 I never diverged from the route, which I projected in my 
 mind before starting upon this trip, and traveled on through 
 the mountains with as much certainty that I' was pursuing 
 the proper direction as if I had been traveling a public road. 
 We now went to the house of a man by the name of Clark, 
 who was a good Union man, and was very kind, supplying 
 us with something to eat, and also furnished us with lodging 
 for the night. We all now felt that we were free, and it is 
 useless for me to attempt to describe the feelings of the men 
 as exhibited by their expressions of gfatitude and gladness ; 
 none but those who have suffered as they did fti their pas- 
 sage can form a proper conception of them. We remained 
 here all night by a blazing and very comfortable fijjp, by which 
 we dried our wet clothing; but by morning our feet and limbs 
 were so badly swollen that we could not walk, and therefore 
 we had to spend another day and night at this place, and 
 were supplied with plenty to eat, and were treated with great 
 kindness by our gentlenianly host. The next morning we 
 all felt greatly refreshedj and were able to travel, and went 
 on to a point on Cumberland River, where some home 
 guards were stationed. We remained wjth them one night 
 and a day. It was here that I separated from the company, 
 which I had piloted through the lines with success, after the 
 most cordial parting congratulations, which were mutually 
 exchanged by all, they intending to go on farther into Ken- 
 tucky, and I to return to the mountains of East Tennessee. 
 
72 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The day that I left Cumberland River I went back to Mr. 
 Clark's residence, where I remained that night, and bought 
 a suflSoienoy of bread and dried beef for my journey. Next 
 morning I started homeward again, to retrace that long rug- 
 ged road all alone ; but I did not care for that, as I thought 
 that I could now travel to suit myself, and as fast as I pleased, 
 having no one to wait for or hinder me, and during that day 
 I crossed Cumberland Mountain, and went as far as Powell's 
 Valley, where I stopped until night came on. It was two 
 miles across the valley, and I slipped along, a fence-row as 
 far as I coulS, and then took the open fields. When I came 
 to the river, I took oif my clothes and went over in a hurry, 
 and went ob crossing the remainder of the cleared land, and 
 Veached the base of Walling's Ridge in safety without see- 
 ing or hearing a rebel. Here I rested a short time, and cross- 
 ed the ridge, and also Wildcat Valley, and went on to the 
 top of Powell's Mountain ; and here, finding a good place to 
 hide, and being very tired, I stopped. It was now some time 
 until daylight ; but I staid there until the next night, when I 
 again resumed my lonely march, making my way as best I 
 could through bushes and brush and over fallen timber, and 
 wading the streams when I came to them. The night was 
 very dark and cold, the sky was overcast with black and 
 murky clouds, and every thing was so profoundly still in this 
 lonely region that I could have heard the soft motion of a 
 mountain ghost if it had flitted past me upon its gossa- 
 mer wings. But I had no one to take care of or to guide 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 73 
 
 along in my dark pathway, and was in all probability the 
 only unfortunate human being who was wandering along at 
 this dark and unseasonable hour upon this wild and cheer- 
 less mountain. That night I crossed Copper Creek, Copper 
 Ridge, and little Poor Valley, and arrived at the top of 
 Clinch Mountain against daylight, where, owing to my ex- 
 cessive weariness, I was very willing to stop. I made.a small 
 fire here, and rested until twelve o'clock, when, suffering very 
 much for water, I started down the side of the mountain in 
 search of some, which I did not find until getting near the 
 foot of it. That evening I traveled ten miles along the mount- 
 ain toward Moccasin Gap, which is near the Holston Springs 
 in Scott County, Virginia. I could now hear the " rebel 
 drum" quite plain, and concluded to stop until night came 
 on ; and a dark night it was, and also very cold. I now had 
 about one mile of cleared land to pass through and two pub- 
 lic roads to cross, before I could reach the shoal in the north 
 fork of Holston River, where I desired to cross. The rebels 
 were thickly passing, but I went forward without being dis- 
 covered. I suffered very much in crossing the river, as I had 
 to take off my clothes, and the water was deep, and icy cold. 
 By daylight I reached the White-oak Flats, and here found 
 that they were full of men, trying to get a pilot to take them 
 through to Kentucky. I was very much fatigued and worn 
 down with my journey, and therefore tried to esfcuse myself 
 from going back with them ; but they would not listen to a 
 refusal, nor even give me time to go home and return. I 
 could not disregard their importunities and turn, away from 
 them in their distressing situation, knowing as I did that they 
 had beeil driven away from their homes by the worst tyran- 
 ny which had ever been inaugurated in a free country,' and 
 urged to wander forth like destitute pilgi'ims to a strange 
 land. I therefore determined to go with them, as they seem- 
 
 D 
 
74 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 ed to be nearly all of them strangers in this region of coun- 
 try, and I did not believe that they could possibly make the 
 trip without a pilot who was acquainted with the long and 
 laborious journey which stretched out before them. I im- 
 mediately went to my old friend Mrs. Grills, who was ever 
 ready to assist me, and procured provisions for the.journey. 
 I rested for two days, and the night before we started was 
 spent by the good Union people living near in preparing food 
 for the men to travel on. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 On the night of the 10th of Decemlber, 1862, 1 left the 
 White'Oak Fl/xts in Sullivan County, Tennessee, to pilot a 
 large company of men through the rebel lines to the State 
 of Kentucky. Bird Brown, of Washington County, Tennes- 
 see, and Lieutenant Luttrell, were the only two men in the 
 company with whom I was personally acquainted. I did 
 not much like the idea of starting with so large a company, 
 as I knew that the danger of being discovered and intercept- 
 ed was so much greater, but at this time I could not well 
 do otherwise, as the men were strangers in a strange land, 
 and surrounded by the merciless rebels. The night was 
 dark and cold, and threatened a severe snow-storm. We 
 went quite slow out of the " flats," stumbling along over logs 
 and crawling through tree-tops, making, I thought, entirely 
 too much noise iox fugitive stampeders. At length we got 
 out of the " flats," and began to ascend the little ridges, 
 making our way to the north fork of Holston River, and be- 
 fore we could reach there we would have the main road to 
 cross, leading from Moccasin Gap to the boat-yard. This 
 caused me some uneasiness, owing to the fact of having so 
 large a company with me. When we had advanced nearly 
 to the road, I left my men in the brush, and went forward 
 alone to look out for threatening danger. I could not hear or 
 see any thing to give me any alarm, and at once gave a signal 
 for the company to come on ; and I stood on picket until the 
 last man had crossed the road, which they did with the 
 greatest caution. I now went to the front, and led the way 
 through the ridges until we came to the river, when I pro- 
 
76 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ceeded to select the best place I could for wading. We 
 took off our clothes, and tied them around yur shoulders to 
 keep them dry. The water was very cold and deep, and 
 the river at this point was tolerably wide, which induced 
 the men to draw many long hreaths before they reached the 
 shore ; but after emerging from the cold water we soon put 
 on our clothes, and a brisk walk through some old fields, 
 where we expected every moment to encounter 1;he rebel 
 foe, made us quite warm. 
 
 We now began to climb the spurs of Clinch Mountain, 
 and the rain and snow now falling very thick and fast, the 
 poor men became so weary, and their clothing so wet, that 
 it was very difficult for them to travel. Some of them were 
 very poorly clad, and had neither blankets nor over-coats to 
 protect them from the cold and chilling wintry blasts, which 
 were now rushing and howling through the mountain de- 
 files like mad giants : in fact, they were, in a manner, nearly 
 frozeni and we had to stop and build a fire to warm their 
 chilled and stiffened limbs. We were now in a good place 
 of concealment, and staid there during the remainder of 
 the night, and also the next day. A short time before day- 
 light the rain ceased, and the snow began to fall with gi-eat 
 rapidity, which gave us the most indubitable premonition 
 that cold and dreary winter, in all its horrors, was about to 
 overtake us amid these rough and almost inaccessible mount- 
 aiii ranges. The snow continued to fall until twelve o'clock, 
 when it was followed by incessant storms of rain and sleet, 
 which gave to the mountain upon which we were now lin- 
 gering a most gloomy and desolate appearance, and caused 
 us frequently to contrast our present wretched situation to 
 the happy period when, around our own loved firesides, we 
 enjoyed the dear society of our families, before rebel tyranny 
 had severed, with its impious hand, the dearest ties which 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 77 
 
 bound us to earth. As soon as night came on and covered 
 our pathway with its dreary darkness, we started again for 
 the "promised land," which now constituted the bright 
 cynosure upon which. otir hopes and expectations were fond- 
 ly placed. We crossed Clinch Mountain, and now had little 
 Poor Valley to crossjiand also the main road leading to Rog- 
 ersville and Bristol," I again went forward alone to see if 
 there were any signs of danger ahead; but finding that there 
 were none, I gave a signal for the men to advance, while I 
 continued to watch "with all diligence until they had passed 
 the line of suspected ^danger, when I again took the lead, 
 and conducted them on through as rough a country as ever 
 a poor set of men were compelled to travel through durjng 
 that dark and dreary night. Our pathway at times seemed 
 to be completely hedged up, and we had to feel. and grope 
 our way along amid the terrible darkness, which seemed 
 most vehemently to dispute our onward passage, and at 
 times led us on through miry brakes and dreadful brambles, 
 which, indeed, seemed to be a fit abode for " gorgons, hy- 
 dras, and chimeras dire." 
 
 Toward daylight the sky became clear, and the glitter- 
 ing stars looked gently down from their distant homes of 
 blue in all their bright and beautiful effulgence. The air 
 was extremely cold, and our shoes were frozen upon our 
 feet, and our wet clothing was freezing upon our bodies, 
 and wrapping us in its cold and icy embrace. We were 
 now compelled to stop and make a fire, and a portion of the 
 men being so tired and worn down that they laid down 
 upon the cold snow around it. We tried to eat, but some 
 of the poor men were so nearly frozen that they could nei- 
 ther eat nor sleep. It was impossible to lay down by the 
 fire with any degree of comfort, for the earth was covered 
 deeply with its snowy garb, and, to make our condition more 
 
78 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 deplorable, we were now in a part of the rebel dominions 
 where we were afraid to make up a very large fire for fear 
 of being discovered. We were now in great danger of be- 
 ing seen if we traveled in daytime, for we had the Wildcat 
 Valley next to cross. The day was miserably cold, and we 
 were convinced that we must either march on or freeze to 
 death. The men all wished to go on, choosing rather to 
 run the risk of being seen by the rebels than to suffer the 
 dreadful extremity of freezing. 
 
 I had never yet crossed the Wildcat Valley in daylight 
 without being seen and pursued, and I must confess that I 
 now felt some emotions of uneasiness in regard to the con- 
 sequences which I was apprehensive might result from en- 
 deavoring to cross it at this time with so large a company 
 of men. But on the present occasion I could do no better 
 on account of the extreme cold weather, and therefore urged 
 the men to advance forward as rapidly as possible, which 
 order they complied with as well as their frozen limbs would 
 allow, them, and we all succeeded in crossing this hot-bed 
 of rebellion in safety, and pushed forward to the top of 
 Walling's: Ridge, where we stopped to rest and to eat some- 
 thing, keeping a sharp look-out in the mean time to see if 
 we had been discovered by the rebels in the valley. We 
 could see no one stirring, and concluded that we had been 
 quite lucky in escaping the vigilance of the rebels. . We re- 
 mained here, watching and resting, until night came on ; we 
 now had Powell's Valley to cross. After eating the last 
 morsel of our provisions, we started down the ridge for the 
 valley below, and on coming to the cleared land we halted, 
 as I thought it advisable to wait until the citizens in the 
 valley had retired to repose before we attempted to cross 
 it. The night was gloomy enough, and the snow in the val- 
 ley was at least six inches deep. This, I thoughtj was the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS, 79 
 
 place where we were to encounter the greatest danger of 
 
 ■ being discovered ; but I knew that we must pass through 
 the ordeal of danger at this point, or be compelled to travel 
 a much longer journey through almost impassable mount- 
 ains of snow. I do not think that I shall ever forget this 
 
 ■ place while my faculties of memory shall endure; For it 
 appeared that right here the rebels, like incarnate devils 
 that they were, were always on the alert, seeking the lives 
 of the poor unfortunate Union refugees as they were en- 
 deavoring to escape from the oppression of the infamous 
 rebel government. 
 
 By the time we reached the settlement in the valley the 
 clouds had passed away, and the stars shone out in all their 
 unclouded majesty, and, the frost which the cold air had 
 precipitated upon the white bosom of the snow reflected 
 back their bright and lustrous beams with silvery beauty. 
 We pushed forward, haying about a mile to travel, through 
 some fields ; and as we went on we kept. in the shadows of 
 the fence-rows, which ran along in the direction that we 
 were going, until we arrivgd very near Powell's River, at 
 which time I again went forward by myself, to see if our 
 road was clear. . I stood for some time intently listening, 
 but I could not see or hear any thing to occasion alarm ; 
 all was still and quie> in the surrounding darkness, and no 
 person seemed to be stirring. I went back to the men and 
 requested them to move on toward the river. When we 
 arrived at the river, we had to descend a bank some ten 
 . feet downward to get to the margin of the river. The 
 men were taking off their shoes to cross, and I was already 
 some five or six steps into the* river, when a small dog com- 
 menced barking at a cabin which was near by. I stopped 
 to see if the men were all ready, when; to my great aston- 
 ishment, I saw a gang of rebel soldiers, coming from the 
 
80 THEILLING ADVENTITRES OF 
 
 cabin and charging right on us. ■ We had no time to lose; 
 for by the time the men had all stepped into the water the 
 rebels were firing on us, and being on the high bank above, 
 the bullets fell around us like hail, sometimes throwing the 
 water above our heads. It was a terrible time with us for 
 a few minutes, but fortunately we all managed to get across 
 without being touched by the rebel bullets. Five of the 
 men had left their shoes and socks on the bank of the river 
 • in the hurry of the moment, and many more lost their coats 
 and blankets in the river. Some stumbled and fell down in 
 the river, and came near drowning before they could recov- 
 er, and not one of us had a dry piece of clothing. Just as 
 we emerged from the water we had to cross a high fence. 
 The men charged the fence with the greatest precipitation, 
 and I called to them to be more calm, and to stay with me ; 
 for, if they got scattered in the mountains, I told' them they 
 would never succeed in getting through, and would in all 
 pi'obability freeze to death. We now had a large brier- 
 field to pass through, and very much fearing that the rebels 
 would pursue us on horses, we stopped for no impediment 
 which obstructed our pathway. I never saw such a perfect 
 wilderness of briers as we here met with in all my life. I 
 was leading the way, and the men followed closely behind 
 me, when I came in contact with such a dense patch of large 
 briers that I could not break them down fast enough with 
 my naked feet ; and while I was trying to obtain a passage 
 through them I stumbled down, and the men run over me 
 before I could rise to my feet. I had been holding my hat 
 and blanket in one hand, and my shoes and socks in the oth- 
 er; but before I could get through this terrible field of 
 briers I was compelled to cast away my hat and blanket, 
 which was done with the greatest reluctance. I heldon to 
 my shoes, and was soon in front of the company again. 
 
DAJSriEL ELLIS- 81 
 
 This dreadful field of briers was at least three hundred 
 yards wide,lftit we crossed it an a huiTy, and were now in 
 the woods upon the side of Cumberland Mountain. We 
 hastened up the mountain for a quarter of a mile, and then 
 stopped. Thanks to kind Providence, we were all yet alive 
 and together, none of the men having been injured by the 
 lead which had been so recently hurled at them by the 
 rebels. 
 
 But we might as well have been killed as to be in the 
 terrible plight which we found ourselves now to be in,' as 
 we would then have been relieved from our excruciating 
 suflTerings, which were almost now beyond the power of hu- 
 man endurance. My own feet were frozen so stiff that I 
 could not feel that I was walking on them, and the balance 
 of the meif were in equally as bad a condition. Those who 
 had not lost their shoes put them on ; but a number of the 
 men had none, and their clothing was wet, and frozen bard 
 upon their bodies. To those who had been used to the 
 comforts and even the luxuries of life, this was a bitter trial, 
 but the thought that their lives had been spared made them 
 quite thankful to get away upon any terms. We were all 
 really objects of pity, and could our friends in the " land of 
 Dixie" have now seen us, I have no doubt but that they 
 would have been deterred from ever undertaking the same 
 journey, even for the sake of liberty. We traveled on 
 about three miles farther, when we got into a dense glade 
 of laurel and ivy bushes, where we stopped and made up a 
 fii'e, and thawed the ice off of our clothing ; some of the men 
 were badly frost-bitten. After making up a good fire, we 
 began to make caps and moccasins out of our haversacks 
 for the men who had lost their hats and shoes. We cut 
 them to fit th€ head and feet as nearly as we could, and 
 sewed them up in as good style as we could. Our profi- 
 
 D2 
 
82- THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 cien'cy in the art of tailoring we did not suppose would have 
 pleased the fastidious taste of a Beau Bruramftl or a Count 
 D'Orsay; but we well knew that it would suit the feelings 
 of these poor bare-footed and hatless men, who were here 
 amid the snow-clad mountains, and the wintry winds howl- 
 ing around them, entirely destitute of shoes for their frozen 
 feet, and of hats to cover their heads. The cap which I 
 made for myself was quite comfortable, and protected my 
 ears apd head quite well from the cold and chilling blasts 
 of winter — indeed I thought it more comfortable than a hat, 
 and continued to wear it until I returned home. But our 
 moccasins did not so well supply onr feet, in the absence of 
 shoes, for our feet were full of briers, and were badly cut 
 with rocks, besides being frozen. We were now near the 
 end of our journey, and upon a very rugged mouiftain, where 
 we knew that the rebels could not follow after us, where we 
 could travel in daylight at our leisure ; and if this had not 
 been the case, I do not believe that many, of these poor men 
 could have ever arrived at the end of their long and labori- 
 ous journey. We struggled on in pain and misery until 
 twelve o'clock the next day, when we crossed the Kentucky 
 line, and when night came on we had reached Clover Fork, 
 and I immediately pi'oceeded to the residence of my old 
 friend Clark, where another forlorn party were fed " and 
 cared for by that estimable gentleman and his kind and 
 obliging family. 
 
 Here we ataid all night, which was now far advanced, 
 during which time we were busily engaged in picking the 
 briers out of- our feet, which were very much swollen, and 
 the thorns having forced themselves deep into the flesh, 
 made this a very painful operation indeed. We continued 
 thus to work with our feet until the pain became too severe 
 to bear, when we would lay down and rest from our labor 
 
DAKIEL ELLIS. 83 
 
 until the'pain would partially cease, and would then rise up 
 and begin the painful operation agaifi. None but those 
 who have experienced such severe trials can form any con- 
 ception of our suflferirigs. 
 
 I could now enjoy the consoling reflection that these poor 
 men who had for some time been the object of my care and 
 solicitude were now safe from rebel oppression and rebel 
 cruelty. I thought that they had paid dearly for the boon 
 of liberty which was originally purchased for them by the 
 blood of their forefathers, but was vilely and wickedly. sus- 
 pended by the uprising of the rebels, whose infamous lead- 
 ers bragged and boasted that they constituted the cMvalry 
 of the Southern States; and they loudly 'proclaimed that 
 when Greek should meet Greek in the " tug of war," that 
 the aristocracy of the South would put the "Yankees" to 
 flight, and also estimating that one of their white-handed 
 gentry could whip'_/?De of the North^n men. But the bat- 
 tle-fields of the nation, where thousands fell, in the conflict 
 of arms dm-ing the miserable rebellion, give at once the lie 
 to this assertion. Oh ! ye infamous and boasting dema- 
 gogues and myrmidons of the Southern rebellion, where, 
 oh ! where is that great government whicb you aimed to 
 establish upon the i-iiins of the proud fabric of government 
 \vhich was established by the good and wise men of Amer- 
 ica? Where is the -prouA oligarchy which you attempt- 
 ed to establish on the wreck of republican government? 
 Where now is your "Southern Gonfedieroicy" that foulest 
 "whelp of sin" liWiich the nineteenth century has given 
 birth to? 
 
 "Gone, glimmering through the dream of things that were, 
 A school-boy's tale — the wonder of an hour !" 
 
 The rebels have been awakened frphi their dreams of in- 
 
g4 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 fatuation, and have been convinced that-the idea which they 
 conceived of destroying the American government was a 
 monstrosity, born and nurtm-ed in their excited imagina- 
 tions, and much harder to accomplish than all the labors 
 which were performed by Hercules himself. The proud 
 and self-exalted chivalry of South Carolina, 
 
 "Whose ancient but ignoble blood 
 Has run through scoundrels ever since the flood," 
 
 have retired to the little one-horse city which looms up at 
 the junction of Ashley and Cooper Rivers, there to meditate 
 npon their defeated hopes and ruined expectations of build- 
 ing up a great '■^Southern monarchy." When that old reb- 
 el miscreant, Beauregard, was employed in this hot-bed of 
 rebellion pointing his guns at Fort Sumter, and endeavor- 
 ing to destroy the lives of the men who had been stationed 
 there by the United States government, his bosom, no doubt, 
 was inflated with all the reckless ambition which inspired 
 the breasts of Caesar, Alexander, or Bonaparte, who are 
 distinguished by ancient and modern historians as the three 
 greatest destroyers of nations and of national happiness that 
 have ever participated in the active scenes of earth. And, 
 in all probability, some of the " chivalry'''' referred to have 
 retired quietly back into the swamps of the Pedee and the* 
 Santee, which were so thickly inhabited by their illustrious 
 prototypes, the old Tories of the first American Revolution, 
 who fought against their own government at that day, and 
 their sons, as the faithful representatives of their ancient 
 Tory progenitors, and, as "chips of the old blocks," fought 
 against their own government in the dark days of the South- 
 ern rebellion, not forgetting that their Tory ancestry had 
 fought in the cause oi tyranny and aristocracy in the first 
 struggle for American independence, when the true patriots 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 85 
 
 of the country were led on to victory by George Washing- 
 ton, and, of course, they could not 'forget to engage- in the 
 cause of the Southern rebellion when they knew that the 
 great object of its projectors was to establish an aristocrat- 
 ic government by abridging the political, privileges of the 
 poorer class of Southern citizens, and by enlarging those of 
 the slaveholder and the landholder. Therefore, they rushed 
 headlong into the rebellion, and used their best energies to 
 subvert and utterly destroy the proud temple of American 
 freedom. Their conduct in the infamous Southern rebel- 
 lion was an exact counterpart of the base conduct of their 
 Tori/ forefathers, and they will be inevitably . assigned to 
 that in/ami/ in history which their foul crimes and their 
 reckless depravity so loudly demand. 
 
 Next morning we left Mr. Clark's house, and went over to 
 the place where the home guards were stationed on Cumber- 
 land River. There we rested for four days, endeavoring to 
 alleviate the pains which we were suffering from our bruised 
 and mangled limbs. The day for our parting now arrived, 
 and I bade my friends a final adieu, and they started on to- 
 ward Lexington or Louisville, or to whatever place they 
 wished to go, for they were now free, and could go on un- 
 molested wherever their inclination might lead them ; and 
 I made immediate preparations to go back and again run 
 the gauntlet among my old tormentors, the rebels, who 
 were now prowling amid my native hills like hellish demons, 
 actively engaged in their missions of murder and rapine. I 
 felt sure that my friends who were scouting among the 
 mountains of Carter County thought that I had deserted 
 them, or was dead ; the- latter supposition I thought they 
 would think was far the most probable, as no news of the 
 luck which I had met with, or what had become of me, 
 could possibly have been communicated to them, no more 
 
86 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 than if I bad gone to another world, as all the channels of 
 information were thoroughly destroyed. There was a man 
 who told me that he wished to accompany me in my jour- 
 ney back to Tennessee, and I told him to get ready to start 
 with me the next morning. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 87 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The moruing we started was clear, but very cold, and we 
 traveled hard all day ;. we crossed the Curaherland Mount- 
 ain, and reached Powell's Valley by the time it was dark. 
 After festing^a short time, we crossed ..the^ cleared land in 
 the valley, and went on to^ Powell's River, which was the 
 place where I encountered the rebel soldiers a few days be- 
 fore, when I was on my way to Kentucky. ; We crossed the 
 river in safety, and went into a lane wbich led on in the di- 
 rection that we. were traveling, and c6ntinued.to.follow.it 
 until it led us out into the main road, which runs up. and 
 down the valley. : I.'did not.like to cross the road at this 
 hour, but my companion seemed to think that there was np 
 danger,' there being only two of us, and, in. fact, I preferred 
 to travel on the most even ground, as my feet, were yet v;ery 
 sore;. but I felt rather uneasy, and listened and watched 
 very steadily for. the least approach of danger. I now 
 thought that I. heard. some person approaching, as the 
 ground wasfrozen: very' hard, arid, footsteps could be heard 
 for some distance. "We now leaped over the fence, as lightt 
 ly aspossible, and, looking jiist ahead, we saw a company 
 of rebels coming toward us; there was no, chance for us to 
 run, as the forest was at least half a. mile distant; and, there- 
 fore, we quickly jumped behind two small stumps that were 
 standing near the fence, and laid down behind them as flat 
 as flying squirrels. The stars were shining very bright, 
 and we counted eighteen rebels as they passed. They did 
 not see us, although they were nearly close enough to us to 
 
88 THRILLING. ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hear the pulsations of our hearts if they had listened. 
 They were walking very fast, and were carrying their arms 
 trailing. Had we remained in the road one minute longer 
 we should have met them, and would certainly have been 
 killed or captured. This was another very narrow escape, 
 which served to make me more watchful. My companion 
 was now quite willing to leave the road, and I now traveled 
 in the direction which I considered.the safest. We went 
 on without any farther adventure, and soon reached the top 
 of Walling's Ridge, where we rested a short time, and went 
 on, crossing Wildcat Valley, and ascending Powell's Mount- 
 ain nearly to the top, when, thinking that we had done very 
 well for one day and night, we stopped. It was now nearly 
 daylight, and being in a dense thicket of bushes, where we 
 could have a fire, and where there was good water to drink, 
 we were promising ourselves a good day's rest, which we 
 much needed, when, upon looking back in the direction we 
 had come up the mountain, to our great surprise we saw a 
 parcel of men with guns ; but they seemed to be hunterSj 
 and I do not believe that they knew any thing about us. 
 They passed near to our hiding-place, looking carefully into 
 the bushes and brush, but they did not see us. We now 
 slipped along through the bushes and watched them, but 
 they did not appear to be in pursuit of us. We continued 
 to watch for some time, without, however, seeing any thing 
 to alarm us, and the sun shining out a little, we laid down 
 without any fire, but the ground being so cold, we had to 
 rise up and move about to keep ourselves warm. When 
 night came on we started ou our journey, being almost as 
 tired as when we had stopped in the morning. That night 
 we came down from Powell's Mountain, and waded a large 
 creek at the foot of it, and then went on, crossing the inters 
 vening ridges between Powell and Clinch Mountains near 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 89 • 
 
 twelve o'clock; we also waded Copper Creek, and about 
 four o'clock we reached Little Poor Valley, at the foot of 
 Clinch Mountain. We pushed on to the opposite side of 
 this mountain until we came to water, in a small hollow, 
 where we made up a fire, and rested there during the day. 
 Late in the evening we started on again, and early in the 
 night we reached the north fork of Holston River, which 
 we found to be very difiicult to wade, as the water came 
 nearly up to our shoulders; but we succeeded in crossing, 
 and pushed on rapidly, and at daylight we reached the 
 " White-oak Flats," where we met with kind friends, who 
 immediately furnished us with provisions. 
 
 I found that the " flats" were again full of men wishing 
 to, get through the lines, and I found ,it very hard to get 
 away from them. I told them that my friends at home al- 
 ready thought that I was dead, owing to my Ibng absence, 
 and that many of them were anxiously awaiting my return, so 
 that they might avail themselves of my services in escaping 
 from the rebel tyranny, under whose iron rod they had long 
 suffered. However, I promised them that I would return 
 soon, and when darkness came on I started for my home, a 
 distance of thirty miles. When I arrived at Holston River 
 I had the good luck of finding a canoe, in which I crossed 
 and proceeded rapidly on my journey without meeting with 
 any difficulties, and reached my old scouting range in Car- 
 ter County against daylight. My clothes were torn into tat- 
 ters, and having my old haversack cap on yet, my appearr 
 ance was so completely altered that my friends could hardly 
 recognize me. Indeed, I did look more like a wild man of 
 the woods than any thing else, for the sufferings which I had 
 endured in the mountains had changed my natural appearr 
 ance altogether. But when I put on better clothes, and re- 
 ceived proper food regularJy, I soon began, to look like.myr 
 self again. I had now become so perfectly accustomed to 
 
• 90 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hardships that I did not much care for them, as I had to 
 spend all my time^ in the woods, whether at home or abroad. 
 I was an outcast from the ordinary haunts of men, for my- 
 self and the rebels, like oil and water, could not be induced 
 to mix together. 
 
 I found upon my return home that the rebel soldiers were 
 still actively engaged in hunting the Union men, and, when 
 they succeeded in capturing any of them, treated them with 
 the greatest cruelty. It was now the first of January, and 
 the face of nature in every direction was clothed in the 
 dreary habiliments of winter. The mountains were full of 
 men who were anxious to go through the lines. At times 
 I would spend hours in giving them a history of my adven- 
 tures, and detailing the terrible hardships which they would 
 have to undergo, but it was all to no purpose. They said 
 that the greatest toils which they could possibly have to 
 encounter in getting through to Kentucky would be far 
 preferable than to remain here, and be hunted and shot at 
 like wild beasts of prey. The rebel citizens of Johnson 
 County had now all joined the home guards in that coun- 
 ty, and knowing every man in the country, and also being 
 so well acquainted with all the paths through the mountains 
 of Johnson and Carter Counties, that, in real truth, there 
 was but very little chance for the poor Union scouters to 
 escape their vigilance. And it was about this time that the 
 rebel Colonel Folk, who proved to be a most heartless and 
 desperate villain, was sent with his regiment of ragamuffins 
 into the counties of Johnson and Carter to catch ^^ conscripts" 
 who would not willingly join the "Southern army." I at 
 once concluded to take another trip to Kentucky, in order to 
 relieve the Union men, who were so anxious to go with me, 
 from the impending danger of being captured by the rebel 
 soldiery, which now seemed to threaten them in every di- 
 rection. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 91 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 On the night of the 9th of January, 1863, 1 again set out 
 for Kentucky with Robert Lyles, James R. Boyd, Nicholas 
 Carriger, and a number of others, entirely too numerous to 
 mention. I must here state that Robert Lyles had, a short 
 time previous to this, acted in the capacity of rebel marshal 
 for Carter County, and a good marshal he was ; for, during 
 the time that he was invested with the rebel robes of office, 
 the Union men of Carter County enjoyed quite a saturnian 
 period, and his residence here as the rebel marshal ended 
 in his becoming a good Union man. His disappearance 
 created quite a sensation among the rebels of Carter Coun- 
 ty, but the " bird had flown," and they could not help them- 
 selves, only by denouncing him in the highest terms of 
 abuse. He was always very kind to the Union people, and 
 therefore I d,id not much fear him when he first made appli- 
 cation to go through the lines with me, and more especially 
 as my best and most intimate Union friends were assisting 
 him in making arrangements to leave " the land of Dixie !" 
 It had been arranged for him to meet me at Murray's, near 
 Johnson's D6p6t, in Washington County, and I must con- 
 fess that I had some misgivings when I was getting near 
 the place of our meeting. I thought that probably I had 
 taken a very rash step when I agreed to pilot him through 
 the lines, and could not help fearing that, instead of meeting 
 with Lyles at Murray's, I might possibly meet- with a com- 
 pany of rebel soldiers. I resolved, however, to be prepared 
 for any unexpected emergency, and went forward to the 
 
92 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 place appointed for our meeting, where I found Lyles in 
 considerable trepidation, anxiously awaiting my arrival. He 
 seemed to be far more fearful of being discovered than I 
 was. My fears in regard to the probability of being be- 
 trayed by him into the hands of the rebels were now entire- 
 ly removed, and we started forward on our journey, and 
 reached Holston River against daylight. We did not stop, 
 but crossed the river at once, and went on to the White- 
 oak Flats, where we remained during the day. Mrs. Grills 
 gave us a warm breakfast. The company was considerably 
 increased before we started by men wishing to go through 
 the lines. Just at dark we started on our wearisome jour- 
 ney ; the rain was falling rapidly, and, after stumbling and 
 falling over the brush and briers for some time, we got out of 
 the flats, and I then moved on in a straight line for the north 
 fork of Holston River. When I got to the river, I found it 
 quite full, which made it very dangerous to wade ; but there 
 was now no other alternative but to wade or turn b.ack, and 
 that we did not wish to do ; so, cutting a good stick apiece, 
 in we went. The water was very cold, and the current was 
 rapid, but, with the aid of our sticks, we soon reached the 
 opposite shore in safety. We put on our clothes, which we 
 had carried over on our heads to keep them dry, and push- 
 ed forward, and, after crossing some cleared fields and trav- 
 eling through the woods for some time, groping our way in 
 the darkness which surrounded us, we reached the foot of 
 Clinch Mountain. It was now nearly daylight, and the rain 
 was still falling fast. We were cold, wet, and very tired, 
 and proceeded at once to make a fire to warm our chilled 
 bodies and to dry our clothes. We remained here until the 
 early dawn of morning, when we moved farther on up the 
 side of the mountain to obtain a position of greater securi- 
 ty, where we could rest for the day. The rain continued to 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 93 
 
 fall, and the wind blew tempestuously. We propped our- 
 selves against trees, and tried to "shelter ourselves from the 
 peltings of the cold rain as well as we could, and here we 
 passed off the day in a weary and very disagreeable man- 
 ner. 
 
 Mr.Ijyles was all the time in a peck of trouble, fearing 
 that the rebels would follow after and capture us ; and the 
 whole run of his conversation was about hanging, and the 
 terrible consequences "Ae might expect if Ae should be so 
 unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the rebels," etc. 
 And no doubt he would have been hung if our company 
 had been captured, just for being found with us, if for noth- 
 ing else. I endeavored to keep him in good spirits, telling 
 him that he was not captured yet ; and as long as we re- 
 mained in such a rugged, mountainous region, I did, not 
 think he would be in much danger of being captured ; that 
 the rebels could not be every where, and that the place 
 where he now was offered no attraction whatever to the 
 rebels. I cheered him ixp by telling him that, if the rebels 
 should have the temerity to pursue us,' we could kill them 
 by rolling rocks down upon them from the steep crags. 
 But the rebels did not follow us, andj when night came on, 
 we started on our journey. We crossed Clinch Mountain 
 and Little Poor Valley. The rain continued to fall, and it 
 was one of the darkest nights that I ever saw ; but we 
 steadily pressed on, and crossed Copper Ridge, and waded 
 Copper Creek, which was quite a river in size, having been 
 much swollen by the incessant rain, which had been falling 
 for some time. We were now approaching Clinch River, 
 and the paith in which we were now traveling stretched 
 along the river for some distance, and through 'the roughest 
 sort of cliffs. At times we were compelled to crawl on our 
 hands and knees between and under large rocks, in constant 
 
94 THRILLING ADVENTUBES OP 
 
 danger of being crushed by loose falling stones ; and some- 
 times we bad to pull up over the crags by the hanging 
 grape-vines and bushes. We could plainly hear the roar- 
 ing of the river beneath, which served us . as a guide, as 
 we slowly pursued our way along this rugged and trackless 
 mountain, with no star to illuminate our dark path. At 
 length we reached the river, and I commenced searching for 
 the most practicable place to cross it. The river was full, 
 and, ■before venturing in with the men, I concluded to wade 
 in and try the depth of it myself. I therefore procured a 
 stout stick, and, taking off ray clothes, I plunged into the 
 dark flood ; but I did not advance far before I was thor- 
 oughly convinced that I could not cross at that point. 
 I turned back, and then tried to cross at several other 
 places, but all to no purpose. I found that it was impossi- 
 ble for the men to cross at this time, and therefore we 
 would be forced to go back upon the mountains and wait 
 until the next night, when I thought perhaps the water 
 would be lower. It was with sad hearts that we turned 
 back toward the rough mountain, which stood like a giant, 
 frowning amid the gloom of night ; for we knew that we 
 should be compelled to suffer very much for want of fire. 
 We were now on a sharp ridge, and daylight was rapidly 
 approaching ; consequently we could not go any farther, as 
 there were houses not very far off, and we were afraid to stir 
 for fear of being seen. We passed the day bad enough, as 
 our clothes were wet upon us, and we were afraid to mak« 
 up a fire to dry them ; therefore we were compelled to lay 
 perfectly still all the day, for fear of having another compa- 
 ny of rebels waiting for us at the river. We had to em- 
 ploy ourselves a good portion of the day in stamping and 
 rubbing our feet to keep them from freezing, and, as soon 
 as it was dark, we crept softly back to the river. I un- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 95 
 
 dressed myself, and taking my stick, I tried the river again ; 
 the water was as cold as ice, and the wind was blowing so 
 cold that it seemed as if.it would chill the very blood itself. 
 I tried the second time before I coald make the trip through 
 the deepest of the water, where the men would have to pass. 
 I then returned to my comrades, and after they prepai'ed 
 for the cold embrace of the water, we all went into the riv- 
 er together. I never heard men catch their breath so fast 
 as they did when the water struck them nearly up to their 
 shoulders. I thought that some of them would be inevita- 
 bly washed down by the wild and tumultuous waters, but, 
 fortunately, we all succeeded in getting to the opposite 
 shore. The river was wide, and it took us some considera- 
 ble tinie to cross it, bub, after a severe struggle, we all got 
 safely over it ; we then had to run some three hundred 
 yards before we could put on our clothes, as we had to 
 cross a public road, and were looking every moment for the 
 rebels. When we got to the woods we were all nearly fro- 
 zen, and as for myself, I was so perfectly chilled that I was 
 compelled to get some assistance in putting on my clothes. 
 We traveled on for the greater part of that night, until we 
 arrived at a deep hollow on Powell's Mountain, where we 
 stopped and built up a fire to warm our frozen limbs. So 
 soon as we got warm, we laid down and went quietly to sleep, 
 being so nearly exhausted with fatigue and cold that we could 
 scarcely believe that we were living and breathing men. 
 Lying around the fire in every fashion, we exhibited a spec- 
 tacle in that wild mountain hollow, as it was dimly lighted 
 by our fire, which I shall not undertake to describe, but 
 shall leave it for the reader, to imagine. 
 
 We remained iii the hollow referred to until the next 
 night, and, when evening came on, we prepared for another 
 hard 'night's travel by washing the ashes and dirt ofi'of our 
 
9'6 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 faces, and partaking of a small portion of our provisions. 
 That night we crossed Powell's Mountain and Wildcat Val- 
 ley, and got on to Walling's Ridge ; we continued to travel 
 on the top of this ridge for about two miles, and then turned 
 off toward Powell's Valley, and soon reached the cleared land 
 next to the valley. The night was extremely .dark, and a 
 fine mist was falling, which very much resembled snow ; the 
 ground was quite soft, which made it very disagreeable and 
 tiresome to travel in the open fields. We at length reach- 
 ed the main valley. We made as little noise as possible, 
 and every thing'seemed to be still, and quietly resting in the 
 dark and dismal night's embrace. I think that the* dogs 
 were even wrapped in the arms of sleep, for we did not hear 
 one bark as we approached Powell's River. We did not 
 stop when getting to the river to take off our clothes, but 
 hastily plunged in and crossed over, for I had not forgotten 
 the sudden attack which the rebels had made upon me and 
 my companions when I was crossing this river a short time 
 before. It was now about a quarter of a mile, to the spurs 
 of Cumberland Mountain, which distance we traveled in a 
 very short time ; for I felt sure that when we got upon this 
 mountain we would be safe from the rebels if we should ob- 
 serve due precaution. But we could have no fire yet, for 
 fear of being seen, and therefore hurried on until we came 
 to water ; we here took off our shoes and socks, and washed 
 the mud out of them, wringing the water out of our drip- 
 ping garments. It was now about three o'clock in the night, 
 and so perfectly dark that we could go no farther, as the 
 mountain was very rough, and completely covered over with 
 dense thickets of laurel bushes. We were yet afraid to 
 build a fire, for fear of it being seen in the valley ; for the 
 citizens who lived there were all rebels, and who, I felt very 
 well convinced, would at any time take as much delight in 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 97 
 
 pursuing anH shooting at stamped ers- as they would in hunt- 
 ing and shooting at a pack of wolves in the mountains, and 
 at the same time think that they were doing a deed which 
 deserved great praise. This was in Lee County, Virginia, 
 where some of the most unmitigated and heartless scoun- 
 drels resided that ever disgraced the form of human heings. 
 They loudly boasted that they would take no prisoners ; and 
 numbers of poor Union men who had the terrible misfortune 
 of being captured by them were at once most foully and in- 
 humanly murdered by them, just because they were endeav- 
 oring to escape from the dreadful oppression and tyranny 
 of the rebel government. But I have the consolation of 
 knowing that none of the men that I engaged to conduct 
 through, the lines ever had the misfortune of falling into their 
 bloody hands, although I must confess that I made many 
 very narrow and almost miraculous escapes from being cap- 
 tured by them, and for which good fortune Eshallever .tender 
 my perpetual thanks to Him alone who sees amid the dark- 
 ness of night as in the noontide's splendor, and. who rides 
 upon the whirlwind and-directs the storm. The dark deeds 
 of blood which they have from time to time perpetrated 
 upon innocent and harmless men, have doubtless been regis- 
 tered against them in the great volume of the Eternal Judge 
 of the tTniverse ; and if they are never punished in this world 
 for their monstrous crimes, they will meet with theis just re- 
 ward in the world to come. 
 
 Morning at length came, clothed in her beautiful robes of 
 Orient splendor. We were cold, wet, tired, and hungry, and, 
 the worst of all, we had nothing to eat. E'otwithstanding 
 all these serious impediments, we pressed on through those 
 dreadfnllaurel thickets; and in the evening of this day we 
 crossed the Union lines— that goal upon which our foght- 
 est expectations were immovably fixed through all the days 
 
 E 
 
98 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and nights of our long and perilous journey. We now felt 
 that we were free, which greatly revived our drooping spirits. 
 We continued to travel on until night, when we came to a 
 house about two miles within the lines, where we stopped 
 and staid all night. The people were poor, but they treated 
 us as well as they were able, and we had a good fire to rest 
 by. Early the next morning we struck out for the home 
 guards, and crossed a little mountain called Black Mountain, 
 in Harlam County, Kentucky. The home guards were sta- 
 tioned on Cumberland River, and against night we reached 
 their camps. It would be hard for me to describe the joy 
 of the party when they arrived among the friends of .the 
 Union, where they could rehearse the sad tale of their toils 
 and troubles beneath the dear old flag of their country, 
 which in their native land they had seen torn and trodden 
 down under the feet of rebel desperadoes. As for myself, 
 I felt -like a bird released from its cage ; for it was a great 
 relief to me when I succeeded in conducting the party 
 through safely from a region of country where they. were 
 threatened with danger and death on every side to a land of 
 freedom ; and the bare thought that I had faithfully served 
 ray suflfering fellow -men in escaping from the rebel des- 
 potism afibrded me the most pleasurable emotions. After 
 resting for three or four days, I prepared to start back home 
 again. I went to the residence of my old friend Clark, where 
 I remained all night, and procured a supply of provisions for 
 my journey. 
 
DANIEL EBLIS. '99 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 On the 20th day of January, 1863,1 started home. The 
 weather was now very cold, and theiops of the .mountains 
 were covered with snow, which presented quite a dreary 
 and desolate appearance to the eyes of a poor wanderer, 
 who was just starting on his long and weary journey from 
 the mountains of Kentucky, to revisit his native home amid 
 the distant hills of Carter County, where still lingered the 
 dear memories of early and brighter days, before the dark 
 and dismal cloud of rebellion had spread out in all its hideous 
 proportions over my beloved and happy country. The lofty 
 summits of the surrounding mountains, dressed in their robes 
 of snowy whiteness, gave me the most indubitable evidence 
 that the season of cold and dreary winter was now in the 
 ascendant, and its chilling, blasts, which were now howling 
 around me, furnished me with very satisfactory, premoni- 
 tion that my medita,ted journey could not possibly be agree- 
 able and pleasant. But I started on without hesitation, 
 
 " With proud, elastic step, 
 
 To see my childhood's home ; 
 How fondly do we think of.it. 
 Wherever we may roam !" 
 
 The first day I crossed Cumberland Mountain, and by 
 dark I was ready to cross Powell's Valley, after resting and 
 waiting until every thing was hushed and still in the silence 
 of night. I started forward, crossing the river and cleared 
 land in safety. I went on up Walling's Ridge, and, finding 
 .water, I sat down and rested for some time, when, finding 
 
100 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 • . 
 
 that the air was too cold to remain long quiet, I started on- 
 ward. A mist of rain had been falling, which now changed 
 to sleet, and fallitfg and congealing on the snow, made it 
 very laborious and difficult for me to climb up the steep ac- 
 clivities on the mountain side, as the low bushes were borne 
 down with ice. After ascending to the top of the ridge, I 
 got along tolerably well, and continued to travel along its 
 top until I turned off»toward Wildcat Valley. I then went 
 on through fields and over fences, wading the mountain 
 streams as I came to them, and at length I reached the foot 
 of Powell's Mountain, which was at this time a serious ob- 
 stacle in my way, for I knew it would require very laborious 
 exertions on my part to ascend to its summit. However, I 
 started up its side, scrambling forward, and at times slip- 
 ping as far backward as I went forward ; but after severe 
 exertions I had nearly arrived at the top of the mountain, 
 when I came to a large chestnut-tree, which was hollow 
 near the root, in which I at once determined to take up quar- 
 ters for the balance of the night and also next day, provided 
 that I was not ousted. The sleet was falling fast, and this tree 
 afibrded me quite a comfortable shelter. I made up a small 
 fire at the entrance, and felt that I was quite at home warm- 
 ing and drying my clothes, which were frozen on my back, 
 and falling gently to sleep, I took a very fine nap until the 
 return of daylight, when I awoke and renewed my fire. 
 
 I remained here all the day, not pretending to leave the 
 bosom of the old tree only when I crawled out to rekindle 
 my fire. Sometimes a severe gust of wind would blow the 
 coals of fire and the sparks in upon me, burning my clothes 
 very badly. This tree in the course of time had been burnt 
 out, and the hollow of it was black, and I had turned and 
 ■ twisted about so much in it that my face and clothing were 
 equally as black as the hollow of the tree was itself; and if 
 
DANIEL. ELLIS. 101 
 
 the rebels had come upon me at this time, they might well 
 have been frightened at my appearance, and might proba- 
 bly have imagined that I was one of old Vulcan's Cyclops, 
 who had become tired of forging thunderbolts for Jupiter, 
 and had left his smithery and taken up his abode in this 
 dark and dreary mansion. When night came on, I bade my 
 old tree farewell and started on again. It was a clear, qqW 
 night, and the ground was covered with snow ; the bushes 
 were bent down to the earth with the frozen sleet, but I 
 pushed on down the mountain, and then crossed a number 
 of ridges and creeks, all of which I had to wa,de, which 
 proved to be a very disagreeable task, as the water was ex- 
 ceedingly cold. I crossed Copper Ridge and Little Poor 
 Valley, and also the main road leading to Bristol and Sneed- 
 viUe, and then I began to climb up the steep side of Clinch 
 Mountain, which was extremely difScult, as it was so com- 
 pletely covered with the frozen snow. When I got to the 
 top of the mountain,! scraped the snow away and made up 
 a fire, for by this time I was almost frozen. The fire soon 
 melted the ice and snow around it, and I laid down upon 
 the wet ground and endeavored to sleep, but this I was un- 
 able to do, for my bed was so cold and uncomfortable that 
 I found it entirely impossible to court the gentle influence 
 of sleep to rest upon my eyelids. I therefore arose from my 
 cold bed and started down the mountain; but there was so 
 much ice that I could scarcely stand up, and very often I 
 slipped down over rocks and fell into the icy brush. At 
 last, after many hard falls, I reached the foot of the mount- 
 ain, nearly frozen to death. I gathered some dry wood and 
 bark from off an old pine-tree, and having some tow in mj^ 
 pocket, I endeavored as well as I could with my frozen hands 
 to kindle up a fire. Taking put my matches, I found that I 
 only had jvoe of them. I immediately struck one of them, 
 
102 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and it failed to ignite ; striking three more of them, they 
 also failed as did the first. I now had but one more match, 
 which to me at this time -was of far more intrinsic value 
 than all the gold of California or the silver of Peru. I held 
 it in my hand for some time, fearing to strike it, as I thought 
 that my life now depended on that last match, for my legs 
 and arms were numb and chilled to my body, and there was 
 no house near that I could go to. With trembling and fear- 
 ful emotions I now tried my last match. The first time I. 
 struck it it failed, but I struck it again, and, to my gi-eat and 
 inexpressible joy, it caught in a blaze. I was very careful of 
 that little "blaze, and touched it very tenderly to the tow, 
 which caught at once, and I soon had a blazing fire, which I 
 built near a large rock about three feet high, and laying 
 down between the rock and the fire I soon got warm. Here 
 I remained all the day, which was quite dreary, for the sky 
 was overcast with dark and dismal clouds ; snow began to' 
 fall, and the wind blew very cold. As soon as it got dark 
 I started on my weary journey, and after toiling over a 
 number of ridges and wading a few creeks, I reached the 
 north fork of Holston River, which was full, and ice frozen 
 upon its shore. I took ofi" my clothes and tied thern around 
 my neck, so that if I should be washed down by the strong 
 current of water, I thought that I could swim out without 
 losing them. I now took my stick and broke the ice at the 
 bank of the river, and started into the river. The water 
 was very cold, and came nearly up to my shoulders ; at times 
 I thought I could not succeed in crossing, but I plunged for- 
 ward amid the cold and angry flood until I at length got to 
 the bank. My flesh was sorely cut in several places by the 
 floating masses of ice that I came in contact with as I was 
 crossing, and blood was flowing from the gashes. I was 
 nearly frozen again ; and how it was that I ever did sm-vive 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 103 
 
 the sufferings of that awful day and night is a mystery to 
 me. If I had perished in that river, or upon the snowy 
 mountain which I had crossed, my friends could never have 
 been informed of my end, for I was entirely alone. As cold 
 as I was, after crossing the river I pushed on all night, apd 
 just at daylight I reached the house of Mrs. Grills, in the 
 White-oak Flats. I knocked at the door, and she arose im- 
 mediately and let me in ; she made up a good fire to warm 
 me, for in fact I was nearly chilled to death. She gave me 
 a good breakfast, which revived me very much. I told her 
 that I would now go to the woods and stay there until night, 
 but she said there was no need of doing this, as there were 
 no rebel soldiers about, and thought if I would get under the 
 feather bed and be very still, so that no one passing could 
 see nae, I.could stay in the house very safely. I was so near- 
 ly dead with cold and exposure that I concluded to take her 
 advice, and after covering my boots to keep them from soil- 
 ing the bed (for I was afraid to pull them ofi"),! got under 
 the feather bed as she directed. She now commenced iron- 
 ing a lot of clothes, which she placed on the bed under which 
 I was lying, covering over my head very nicely with the 
 clothes that she was ironing. I had not been under the bed 
 long, when she came and told me that there were about thir- 
 ty rebels coming toward the house, also telling, me to be 
 very still, as they were nearly at the door. They came in 
 very quietly, and asked Mrs. Grills if " she had seen any coil- 
 scripts lately ?"• She told them she had not, and continued 
 to iron her clothes. They searched under the floor and up 
 in the loft, and under the bedstead on which I was lying, 
 but they did not discover me. They then, to my very great 
 joy, left the house. This I thought was a marvelous escape 
 from being suddenly hurled into the jaws of death by these 
 blood-thirsty minions of Jeff. Davis and his compeers in 
 wickedness. 
 
104 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 As soon as the rebels got out of sight, I left the house and 
 went into the -woods, where I passed off the day in a very 
 disagreeable manner, for it was desperately cold, and I had 
 to be constantly on the alert in looking out for rebel sol- 
 diers. I was afraid to make a fire, and consequently my 
 sufferings during the day were very severe, which I endured 
 with all the gravity of an anchorite. Just as soon as dark 
 came on, I started on my journey, and when I arrived at 
 Holston River I had the good fortune of finding a canoe, in 
 which I crossed over, and pushing hastily on, by daylight I 
 was among my own native hills again. 
 
 The news soon spread through the country that I had re- 
 turned, and before I had half recovered from the terrible 
 fatigue and exhaustion induced by my recent trip, I had 
 many applications to start again. "Will you conduct me 
 through the lines ?" and " When will you start again ?" were 
 the interrogatories which were hourly propounded to me. 
 Indeed, I could scarce obtain time to sleep only when I con- 
 cealed myself from my friends. I now began to think that 
 I would be compelled to become a regular pilot whether I 
 desired it or not. The toil and danger were great in assum- 
 ing this position, but I really felt delighted in Ijeing able to 
 serve my suffering and oppressed fellow-men in these dark 
 days of their troubles ; and at the same time I managed to 
 make enough to keep my family from want, and that was 
 a* out all that I did do, for very many of the poor men were 
 not able to pay me a dollar, and very often fhe small amount 
 that I received for my services I had to divide with those 
 that were destitute ; and never, throughout all the cruel re- 
 bellion and war, did I ever see a man that was under my 
 care and- protection as his pilot suffer for any thing while I 
 could command a dollar to supply his wants, which proud 
 reflection now affords me more real pleasure than the money 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 105 
 
 which I expended in this way possibly could afford me if I 
 now had it in my pocket. I would freely have taken every 
 poor Union man through the lines that I ever did take, 
 "without money and without price," if my circumstances 
 could have permitted it ; but I had a support to make for a 
 large family, and was therefore compelled to go and seek 
 employment under the protection of the old Union flag, or 
 to charge those a small amount who were able to pay me 
 who desired me to conduct them through to the Union lines ; 
 and this I always thought was doine nothing more than 
 simple justice to my family. 
 
 The signs of the times in Carter County now presaged 
 nothing but danger for the Union men who had been driv; 
 en into the mountains. A great deal of rain had fallen, 
 which had raised the waters very high, rendering it useless 
 now to start with a company to Kentucky,, as I well knew 
 that we could not cross the intermediate rivers. Day after 
 day was spent by the anxious soouters patiently waiting 
 for the waters to subside. The month of March, with its 
 cold, bleak winds, had now arrived, and we had not been able 
 to get. off yet; and some of the men "whom I had agreed to 
 conduct through to Kentucky had the misfortune of being 
 captured and cruelly murdered by the rebels. The infa- 
 mous men who perpetrated these murders belonged, to 
 Folk's regiment, accompanied by some of the home guards 
 of Johnson County, who had been ranging all over the 
 country for conscripts, taking these home guards along with 
 them for guides; The names of the poor fellows who were 
 killed at the time referred to were James Taylor, Samuel 
 Tatura, Alfred Kite, Alexander Dugger, and David Shufiield. 
 They were all together when the rebels discovered them, 
 they being on one side of the Watauga River and the rebels 
 on the other. When they first observed these men, they at 
 
 E ? 
 
106 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 once dashed across the river on their horses and surround- 
 ed them on a small ridge. Some of these men had arms, 
 which, however, were nothing more than a pistol or a knife, 
 which so enraged the rebel demons that they rushed for- 
 ward like blood-thirsty tigers, and butchered these poor men 
 in cold blood, without pity and without mercy. And if 
 these black-hearted scoundrels had been unchained devils 
 from the infernal regions, they could not have imbrued their 
 hands in the blood of their innocent victims^ith more cool 
 determination than they did upon this occasion. 
 
 When the'^'ebels first fired, poor Taylor surrendered; 
 they continued to shoot at him, while he begged them to 
 ireat him as a prisoner, but, instead of this, one of these in- 
 carnate devils ran up and soon silenced him, by shooting 
 the top of his head off with a musket. Two of them then 
 caught him by his feet, and pitched him violently over a 
 large rock down a steep declivity, which bruised his body 
 and broke his limbs in a most shocking manner; and, not 
 yet content with this display of barbarity, they then threw 
 great rocks upon him. They then took from his mangled 
 pei'son a very fine watch and a considerable sum of money. 
 Tatum was killed nearly at the same time that Taylor was, he 
 being first wounded in the shoulder, and then dispatched with 
 great cruelty. The other three men ran some distance, while 
 the rebels were shooting at them as fast as they could ; at 
 length they surrendered, and commenced imploiing for mer- 
 cy ; but they might as well have asked for "mercy from a 
 gang of blood-thirsty tigers as to ask it at the hands of 
 these devils in human shape, for they were entirely heedless 
 of their piteous cries and lamentations. In vain these poor 
 supplicating prisoners told their reckless and infuriate cap- 
 tors that they had done nothing deserving death, and were 
 only trying to keep out of the Southern army. All their 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 107 
 
 asseverations could not save them from the dreadful doom 
 to which their inflexilJte tormentors at once proceeded to 
 assign them. Their hands were tied behind them, and 
 they were taken to a bending sapling and hung. Some of 
 the rebel soldiers took the ropes which they carried with 
 them for the purpose of carrying forage on their horses, 
 and tied them around the necks of their victims, while oth- 
 ers would hold them up until the rope was tied to a limb, 
 and then let them go. In this way all three of these poor 
 men were hung up to torture, and suffer a thousand pangs 
 of death ; for they were hung so as not to break their necks, 
 but rather to be choked to death by degrees, which was the 
 refined and cruel mode of punishment which was resorted 
 to by these inhuman murderers. Two of the poor fellows, 
 before they were hung, begged hard for a short time to 
 pray ; but even this privilege was not allowed them. The 
 other one had been severely wounded in the beginning of 
 the bloody affray, and was not able to talk. While they were 
 suspended by their necks, and before life was extinct, they 
 were treated with the greatest brutality, by their reckless 
 murderers beating them with their guns. Captain Roby 
 Brown, a citizen of Johnson County, Tennessee, and one of 
 the home guards in that county, enjoyed himself very much 
 at this miserable feast of blood. He had a complete frolic 
 around them while they were struggling in all the agonies 
 of a terrible death. He knocked them with his gun, and 
 would then dance up to them, and turn them around vio- 
 lently, telling them to " face their partner." He would say 
 to them that "he did not like to dance with any person that 
 would not face him ;" while they, with tongues as black 
 as ink protruding out of their mouths, and their eyes burst- 
 ing from their, sockets, exhibited a spectacle of horror which 
 was enough to strike terror to the very soul of any person 
 
CAPTAIN B. BEOWN'a ORUKLTIES. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 109 
 
 who was not perfectly hardened in villainy and crime, and 
 callous to the most wretched displays of human suffering, 
 and steeped in the: deepest depths of infamy. But I can not 
 presume to say that this most desperate and incorrigible 
 scoundrel, Roby Brown, was in the possession of a human 
 heart ; if he was, it was entirely impervious to human feel- 
 ing and to human sympathy,. and was as cold .and hard as 
 the glacier rock of Mount Jura's bleakest hill-top- He 
 may rest assured that he will receive a just recompense of 
 reward for his terrible .crimes, both in this world and in the 
 world to come, for an avenging Nemesis will pursue him 
 with her terrible whip of scorpions around the whole ojcb of 
 his- earthly existence ; and when the Dim Unknown shall un- 
 lock the casket which confines his guilty soul in its tene- 
 ment of clay, and hurries it to appear before the great Om- 
 nipotent "in all its naked deformity, there he will receive that 
 just retribution which his iniquitous and wicked life richly 
 deserves, in the " everlasting fire prepared for the devil and 
 his angels." 
 
 The rebel soldiers remained where they hung these poor 
 men until they thought that they were quite dead, and then 
 left the place. Some kind citizens, who had been watching 
 the conduct of the rebels not far off, immediately hurried to 
 the" place where thej- were hanging and cut them down, 
 hoping to find that the. spark of life had not fled from alLof 
 them; but they were all perfectly dead, and presented a 
 sight foo shocking to behold. Some, of their ribs were 
 broken, and their bodies were badly bruised, where the reb- 
 els had struck them with their guns. They were now taken 
 up, and were taken a short distance from where they were 
 hung, and buried quite secretly and in a very rough man: 
 ner, as the Union citizens were afraid to make any noise or 
 display when they were committing them to their last rest- 
 
110 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ing-place. Taylor was a gentleman. He had been a re- 
 cruiting-officer in the Federal army, and was captured by 
 the rebels and put in prison. He had escaped from the pris- 
 on where he had been confined, and had come into Carter 
 County, on his way back to his command, and was waiting 
 when he was captured for the waters to fall, so that he 
 might get through the lines. On many a dark night the 
 poor fellow came to me to inquire " how long it would be 
 until the rivers would get low enough to wade." The oth- 
 er men who were killed were nice young men, belonging to 
 our own mountains, and would have made good soldiers in 
 the Federal army. 
 
 The massacre which I have detailed in the foregoing 
 pages occurred on the 23d day of January, 1863. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. HI 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 On the night of the 22d of March, 1863, 1 started to Ken- 
 tucky with a large company. We had been waiting for the 
 waters to fall, until we found that it was quite hazardous 
 for us to wait any longer, as the rebels were in hot pursuit 
 of us every day, and we began to think that it would be as 
 well for us to run the risk of being drowned on our way to 
 the Federal lines, as to remain here any longer and run the 
 risk of being captured and hung. The night was clear, and 
 the sky was decorated all over with bright and lustrous 
 stars, which scattered their beams of loveliness down in i-ich 
 profusion from their distant homes in the great silent night- 
 heavens. The weather was not very cold, and my company 
 was entirely composed of young men from the surrounding 
 counties, who, under the despotic military laws of the so- 
 called Southern Confederacy, were hunted and claimed as 
 " conscripts." They were all in fine spirits, as th.ey now 
 expected soon to be free from rebel tyranny, and not for 
 one moment thinking of the dangers and hardships they 
 would have to undergo before they could obtain their free- 
 dom under the old flag of the republic. We did not travel 
 more than twelve miles on the first night we started, as the 
 men complained of fatigue very much ; we therefore halted 
 in a deep hollow, where we remained during the next day. 
 We did not spend the day very pleasantly, as we could have 
 no fire, for fear of being seen. 
 
 As soon as it was dark we started, having twenty miles 
 to travel before we could reach our next hiding-place in 
 
112 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the White-oak Plats. The men could not get along very 
 fast, as their feet began to get sore at the commencement 
 of the journey, and, consequently, it was nearly daylight 
 when we reached Holston River. We had the good for- 
 tune to find a canoe, else we could not have crossed, as the 
 river was full, and it was daylight before we all crossed 
 over. We now had a mile to travel before we could get 
 into the " flats." The kind Union people brought as plenty 
 of provisions to eat, which enabled us to keep the provisions 
 with which we had supplied ourselves before starting for 
 any future emergency which might arise during our jour- 
 ney. At evening we were pretty well rested, but some of 
 the men complained very much about the soreness of their 
 feet. When night came on we started again, and got along 
 very well until we arrived at the north fork of Holston Riv- 
 er ; and here we found ourselves in a very bad fix, as the 
 river was so full that we could not wade it. After trying 
 to cross at several places, we were on the eve of turning 
 back to go into the ridges again, when, to my great joy, I 
 accidentally discovered a canoe, which had been washed up 
 in a pile of drift-wood. We quickly hauled it out, but had 
 no paddle to steer it over with. One of the men went back 
 to the diift and found a piece of plank, which served us for 
 a paddle. Providence, I thought, had in this instance sure- 
 ly provided for us. I now felt sure that we would get 
 through safe. The current was so rapid, that it was some 
 considerable time before all of the men succeeded in getting 
 across the river, and I thought that I would surely freeze 
 before I was done paddling the canoe backward and for- 
 ward across the river so often. But at length the toilsome 
 task was accomplished, and we were all safely landed upon 
 the opposite shore, and daylight was just making its appear- 
 ance. I do not think that old Charon himself ever labored 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 113 
 
 more sedulously in ferrying the ghosts, who had left their 
 earthly tenements of clay, over the dark and turbid waters 
 of the River Styx, than I did upon this ever -memorable 
 night. 
 
 After crossing the north fork of Holston River, we yet 
 had a mile to' travel,- and a public road to cross, before we 
 could reach a position that was safe; and I must confess 
 that I was somewhat uneasy, as we could now.hear the reb- 
 el drum very distinctly. There was nothing that stimulated 
 stampeders to active exertion in traveling like the idea of 
 being in proximity to the rebel soldiers ; and therefore, 
 upon this occasion, the men at once foi-got their sore feet, 
 and marched on rapidly until we Reached Clinch Moiintaiin, 
 where we found a good place of concealment, and remained 
 until evening, at which time we started on and crossed the 
 mountain. When we got to the foot of the mountain we 
 stopped to rest until every thing was quiet and still, when 
 we marched on and crossed Little Poor Valley, and went on 
 and crossed Copper Ridge. We now arrived at Copper 
 Creek, which was quite a river in size, owing to the recent 
 hard rains ; but there was no time to be lost, and we 
 plunged in and waded across it, and went on at double- 
 quick speed,, and reached the foot of Powell's Mountain by 
 daylight; we continued to move rapidly on, and reached 
 Clinch River early in the night. 
 
 We approached Clinch River very cautiously, and found, 
 as I had already anticipated, that it was too full for us to 
 wade it. Something now had to be done, or I thought that 
 we would yet be compelled to' turn 'back. Every canoe 
 and ferry-boat, where a poor scouter could cross, was vigi- 
 lantly guarded. We had almost concluded that we were 
 now completely blockaded in making any farther progress 
 on. our journey, when I happened to think of an old rebel 
 
114 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 who lived not very far off, who always kept a canoe, but 
 kept it securely fastened. This was all the chance, and I at 
 once determined to take him by surprise, and so completely 
 circumvent him, as to obtain his ready consent to ferry us 
 across the river in his canoe. We therefore went near the 
 house, and listened attentively for some time, but could hear 
 no one stirring. We proceeded a little farther, when a 
 large dog began to bark, which I was afraid might rouse 
 every person in the settlement, but I stepped up boldly to 
 the house and called. The old man came to the door. I 
 asked him. to set us over the river. He replied that he 
 could not, as the river was too full to cross in the night, and 
 said that we must wait until morning. I told him that we 
 could not wait, and that we must cross now without one 
 minute's delay. He asked why we were in such a hurry ? 
 I told him at once that we were going through. the lines. 
 I also asked him if there were any soldiers near ? He said, 
 " There is a company about a mile up the river, who are 
 stationed there to intercept and capture a man by the name 
 of Dan Ellis, who is engaged in piloting men through to 
 Kentucky." The old man continued, " I have never seen 
 this man Ellis, but I have seen the trail that he and his men 
 have made in passing through the mountains." The old man 
 went on to say, "Ellis is very hard to catch, as he travels 
 altogether after night; the soldiers were down here this 
 evening, and said that they were diligently watching for 
 him and his stampeders." 
 
 We now started him to the river, and bade him to set us 
 quietly over, or that' he might meet with a fate that would 
 not be very agreeable to him. I thought we would never 
 get done crossing that river. The old man did not know 
 whom he was talking to, but I believe that he wished us to 
 stay there until morning, thinking that we would all then be 
 
DANIEL ELBIS. 115 
 
 captured. We pushed ahead rapidly, for we had been delayed 
 so long at the river, as it was nearly midnight, before all of 
 us got across. The night was very dark, but we hastened 
 on through fields and woods until daylight, when we began 
 to climb the spurs of Walling's Ridge, upon which we stop- 
 ped and rested, and ate our breakfast, keeping all the while 
 a sharp look-out for rebels, but none of them made their 
 appearance. "We proceeded farther on toward the top of 
 this ridge, and stopped again, for the men were so complete- 
 ly worn out with fatigue that they could go no farther. We 
 were afraid to make any fire, fearing that the rebels would 
 see the smoke, and would thereby be enabled to find us. 
 Consequently, we were compelled to shiver all that day in 
 the cold and bleak winds, which are always chai'acteristic 
 of the dreary month of March. The ground on which we 
 had t» lay down was cold and wet, and the sky was over- 
 cast by da.v\ and gloomy clouds, through which the warm 
 and cheering rays of the sun were totally unable to pene- 
 trate. 
 
 On the night of the 2'7th of March we started on our 
 journey again. The clouds looked heavy, and threatened 
 rain or snow, and the wind howled its melancholy dirges in 
 mournful cadences through the deep gorges of the mount- 
 ains. We went on, falling over rocks or entangling our- 
 selves in the bushes, wending our way out of the mountain 
 toward Powell's Valley. There were many little streams to 
 cross, which we waded through without removing our shoes 
 or socks., As we approached the valley, a universal fear of 
 the rebels seemed to pervade us all ; for by this time the 
 clouds had passed away, and the' moon was soaring along 
 through the blue vault of heaven in all her bright and lovely 
 majesty. A light snow had fallen, which gave considerable 
 brilliancy to the glittering moonbeams as they fell in radiant 
 
116 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 showers upon its cold surface. Just at this time darkness 
 would have been more preferable, not because oar deeds 
 were evil, but because we thought that the light of the. moon 
 would enable the rebels to see us at a greater distance than 
 they could in the gloom of darkness. But we could not 
 complain ; for the hand of kind Providence had conducted 
 us safe thus far, and, I had no doubt, would conduct us 
 on to the end of our journey if we should observe proper 
 care. 
 
 We were now in the Qleared land, and the bright light^f 
 the moon rendered every thing quite visible for a consider- 
 able distance in every direction, and, the clothing of the men 
 being dark, I was fearful that we might be seen. I must 
 confess that I was at a loss to know what to do in the pres- 
 ent emergency, when, just at this time, some dark flying 
 clouds, like wandering spirits in the blue ethereal void above, 
 rushed forward, and completely obscured the bright face of 
 the moon. We now got by the side of an old fence-row, 
 which was grown up with bushes and briers, and traveled 
 on as fast as we could while the moon was thus obscured, 
 stopping in the ehade of the fence-row when the moon would 
 at times flit out from behind the clouds. I thought, when I 
 sometimes looked at the men by moonlight, that they were 
 the largest set of men that I had ever beheld, and could but 
 liken them to the fabled giants of other days. I thought 
 that surely they could be seen for half a mile at least. I 
 knew that the valley was full of rebel soldiers, and I can 
 assure the reader that I did not draw many easy breaths 
 until we all got out of it. 
 
 When we got to Powell's River, we went straight through 
 it, without stopping to divest ourselves of our "clothing. 
 This river is not as wide or as deep as Clinch River. We 
 now sti'uck Cumberland Mountain, and I chose the most 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 117 
 
 rugged route that I could find, as I had some apprehensions 
 that the rebels might follow on our trail. We pushed on to 
 the top, and some distance: down the opposite side of the 
 mountain, before we stopped, and none but men in the same 
 forlorn condition that we were could ever travel again over 
 the rough and rugged ground over which we traveled. We 
 now collected all the dry wood that we could obtain, and 
 made up a large fire. It was now daylight, and we were 
 near the Kentucky line, and I considered that we were 
 out of danger. But the ground was so cold, and the men 
 were so perfectly worn out with fatigue and hunger, that 
 they could neither sleep nor rest with any sort of comfort. 
 I can not describe the terrible situation that we were in. 
 It is true we were all delighted with the joyous thought 
 that we were now free from the rebels, and that we would 
 soon be in aland of plenty ;■ but the poor men were so totally 
 exhausted that they could not rightly appreciate the very 
 agreeable change which they had now succeeded, with the 
 assistance of a kind, overruling Providence, in making in 
 their condition. It seemed as if they did not now care 
 about moving, as they, had no immediate danger to appre- 
 hend. They complained greatly about their sore feet and 
 stiffened limbs, and I could not prevail upon them to move 
 forward until I promised them a warm supper and a bed 
 to sleep on if they would arouse from their stupor and 
 travel on. 
 
 It was about eight o'clock in the morning before I got 
 them all started on the road again, and traveling steadily 
 on, we crossed the line into the State pf Kentucky about 
 three o'clock in the evening. We went on to the house of 
 my old friend Clark, where we staid all night, and had plen- 
 ty to eat and a good fire to sit by, and against mprning the 
 men appeared to be very much refreshed. Early in the 
 
118 THRILLING ADVENTaKES OF 
 
 morning we struck out for the camps of the home guards. 
 The men who had come through the lines with' me were 
 now free to go wherever they pleased without molestation. 
 We staid all night with the home guards, and, the next 
 morning, all the men who had come with me through the 
 lines started to go farther on into Kentucky, and I return- 
 ed to Mr. Clark's, to make preparations for my return jour- 
 ney home, which I left, with the company of men from 
 whom I had just separated, on the 22d of March. I quick- 
 ly made the necessary arrangements for my trip back to 
 Tennessee, for I was anxious to learn what farther enormi- 
 ties the infernal rebels had been perpetrating during my 
 absence. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 119 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ojs- the 31st day of March, 1863, I started for home 
 again. Knowing, as I did, the awful situation of, the poor 
 Union men who were scouting among my native mountains 
 to keep out of the way of the rebel murderers, who were 
 hunting them in every direction, I could not remain con- 
 tented a single day, even to rest my weary lin^bs. Dm-ing 
 my journey back home I thought I should not ask the reb- 
 els any odds, for I should be entirely alone, and could trav- 
 el as I pleased. The waters had fallen some, and when I 
 came to Powell's River, I waded over it without any diffi- 
 culty, and went on to the top of Walling's Ridge in safety. 
 But when I got to Clinch River, I did not fare quite so 
 well in crossing it, for it had fallen but very little, and was 
 yet almost past crossing ; but there was no other alterna- 
 tive but for me to go straight through it, as I did not like, 
 on this occasion, to call on the " old rebel" to set me over, 
 fearing that by this time the company of rebel soldiers, 
 whom he told me were camped near his house, would be 
 on the alert, and diligently watching for me at every avail- 
 able point, ^fter I succeeded in crossing this river, which 
 occasioned' me some trouble, I traveled on into the roughest 
 parts of the mountain. 
 
 When I was traveling along upon the very rugged eleva- 
 tions of this mountain, at times I felt quite lonely and mel- 
 ancholy, having no person with whom to exchange one 
 word to pass away the tedious hours, as they winged their 
 flight into the dim regions of the past. HoAvever, I passed 
 
120 THRILLING ADVENTURES OP 
 
 the lonely hours as best I could in the solitary but roman- 
 tic region where I was traveling. I would continue to 
 walk until I was almost exhausted, and would then stop in 
 some dark and secluded hollow and make up a fire, eat a 
 small portion of cold meat and bread, and then lay down 
 upon the cold ground and endeavor to court the refreshing 
 influence of sleep for a short time. In this way I traveled 
 steadily on both night and day, as I kept my pathway so 
 high along the mountain elevations, that I feared but very 
 little of being interrupted by the rebels. After many 
 weary miles of very rough traveling through a remarkably 
 rough and dreary country, I reached the north fork of 
 Holston River. It was not quite so full as it was when I 
 crossed it on my recent journey to Kentucky, but it was 
 now rather too deep to wade with safety ; but, having no 
 time to tarry, I took off my clothes and tied them on my 
 head to keep them dry, and, taking a stout stick in my 
 hand, I plunged into the dark and angry flood. The water 
 was full of mush ice, and seemed like it would chill me to 
 my very heart ; and when I got out it was with the utmost 
 diificulty that I put my clothes on, and, when I attempted 
 to walk, I found that it was almost impossible for me to 
 move my legs ; but, thinking how easily the rebels might 
 now capture me, I continued to exert my suspended pow- 
 ers of locomotion until the blood again began to flow 
 warmly through my veins. 
 
 It was daylight when I reached the White-oak Flats. I 
 again called on Mrs. Grills, who always proved a constant 
 and kind friend in the dark days of my adversity, who 
 furnished me with a warm breakfast in the woods, where I 
 remained during the day. The flats were again full of poor 
 scouters, who desired to go through the lines, and tried 
 hard to induce me to conduct them through. I could but 
 sympathize with them in their distressing condition ; but I 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 121 
 
 could not consent to turn back at this time, for my friends 
 at home I knew were in constant danger of being killed by 
 the rebel marauding soldiery, and were anxiously awaiting 
 my return. I therefore hastened on, and reached my na- 
 tive mountains before it was daylight. The poor Union 
 men who were' hiding in the mountains expressed the most 
 unbounded joy when I returned, as a report had reached 
 them that " I had been captured and killed." This report, 
 I have no "doubt, had been started by some designing per- 
 son, who wished to engage in the business of piloting men 
 through the mountains and-eelling them to the govei;nment. 
 But these heartless speculators in human flesh and blood 
 had but very little success, for I had now achieved the. rep- 
 utation of being such a safe and lucky pilot, that the Union 
 men exhibited a total unwillingness to, start to Kentucky 
 with any other person. When I conducted men through 
 the lines, they were at perfect liberty , to go wherever 
 their inclination might lead them. But it was not so with 
 certain other persons who set themselves up as pilots, for 
 when they engaged to pilot men through the lines, they re- 
 quired, as a prerequisite understanding, that when they ar- 
 rived in Kentucky, they, should agree to volunteer at once 
 in some particular regiment. And the worst of all is, that 
 these fellows who engaged in this outrageous systeni of 
 brokerage in the liberty and rights of their fellow-men 
 scarcely ever succeeded in making a safe trip through the 
 lines, for they would not subject themselves to the fatigue 
 of traveling through the rough parts of the mountains, but 
 would lead the poor men who had been so foolish as. to 
 place themselves under their protection as their guide 
 along, the public highways and through the low valleys. 
 These lazy and blind guides did not fancy the toil and trou- 
 ble of traveling when their pathway was covered by the 
 
 F 
 
122 THRILLIKG ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 darkness of night, and therefore led their men along in the 
 light of day, while danger was threatening them at almost 
 every step ; and, owing to this sort of indiscretion, these 
 pilots were very often captured and killed, while their men 
 were scattered in every direction, and many of them cap- 
 tured and murdered in the most awful manner. All the pi- 
 lots who pursued the line of policy in traveling which I 
 have indicated, which was characterized by the most reck- 
 less incaution, were captured and killed, without, I believe, 
 one solitary exception. The blood-thirsty lions, in the 
 shape of rebel soldiers, who at all times threatened the 
 pathway of the poor Union men in their migrations through 
 the mountains to Kentucky, were never found to be confined 
 with chains, as were the liona spoken of by John Bunyan in 
 " The Pilgrim's Progress," but, on the contrary, they were 
 at all times found to be oinchained, and ready to pounce upon 
 their innocent victims and butcher them at once, without 
 the least check or remorse of conscience. 
 
 When I returned home, I found that the counties of Carter 
 and Johnson were still full of rebel soldiers, hunting and 
 searching in every direction for conscripts, and not a day 
 passed but what some poor fellow was captured or killed 
 while he was trying to keep out of the way. In four days 
 after my arrival at home I had another company ready to 
 start, and, from the signs of the times, I thought it was a very 
 hazardous undertaking. But, knowing as I did that there 
 was danger every hour of some of the men being killed or 
 captured while they remained here wandering about through 
 the woods and mountains, I thought that it was far better 
 for them to make an effort to get away from the dangers 
 which threatened them on every side. I thought that, after 
 we started, if we should meet with the misfortune of getting 
 captured or killed, we should be animated for a while at 
 least with the delightful prospect of getting through safe. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 On the night of the Vth of Apiil, 1863, quite a large com- 
 pany of men assembled in the ridges near the old O'Brien 
 Forge on Doe River, some three miles south of Elizabeth- 
 ton, who had prepared to start with me to Kentucky. 
 Among the number was William Gourley, who was subse- 
 quently Captain of Company A, in the 13th Regiment of 
 Tennessee Cavalry, and who fell mortally wounded while 
 gallantly fighting at the head of his company in an engage- 
 ment which occurred at Marion, Virginia, when General 
 Stoneman made his celebrated raid into that section of the 
 Old Dominion. A man by the name of Hartly was in the 
 company, who afterward rendered considerable service to 
 the great cause of the Union. George Ryan was also in the 
 company ; he was a citizen of Carter County, and had been 
 captured by the rebels at Wytheville, in the State of Vir- 
 ginia, where he was working at his trade as a blacksmith, 
 and put into a dirty and loathsome prison, just because he 
 was a devoted ITuion man. After remaining in prison for 
 some time, he volunteered to work at his trade in the rebel 
 army, and continued to work faithfully for some time." He 
 applied at length fqr a furlough, so that he might go and 
 visit his family, who were residing at Elizabethton, Tennes- 
 see, which request was granted him without hesitation. 
 When his furlough was out, he was concealed by Mrs. 
 William B. Carter, of Elizabethton, until he could meet with 
 an opportunity of going through the lines, which opportn- 
 
124 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 nity he availed himself of at the time I have referred to at 
 the commencement of this chapter. 
 
 The night was exceedingly dark, and one of those cold 
 and disagreeable rains vi^hich often distinguish the early part 
 of the month of April in this latitude was now falling rapid- 
 ly, which made us shiver as it fell upon our houseless heads. 
 
 We were afraid to venture into houses or even barns ; and 
 as we were now far away from our mountain camps, we just 
 had to take the rain as it came, without being able to defend 
 ourselves from its cold embrace. We therefore resolved to 
 make a beginning of our journey at any rate, hoping that 
 we should be enabled to conclude it successfully. We had 
 not advanced three miles on our road before many of the 
 men expressed a desire to stop and wait until the next night, 
 as the darkness was so intense that they could scarcely get 
 along at all. I felt that our journey would not be as pros- 
 perous as I could wish for it to be, but hoped for the best. 
 The rain continued to fall with such violence that we con- 
 cluded to stop in the forest and wait until the next night. 
 
 The winged hours flew rapidly by into the invisible womb 
 of the past centuries, the dark night wore away, and the 
 bright beams of morning began to illuminate the eastern 
 sky. We remained in the woods during the day, and, when 
 the dark mantle of night was again spread out over the 
 earth, I got ray company in readiness to m,ake another move 
 on our weary journey. We traveled only about twelve 
 miles. during this night; crossing the railroad, we went on 
 into a deep hollow, where we remained undiscovered until 
 the next night. The clouds had cleared away, and the stars 
 shone out in all their splendor. We started again, and for 
 a while we got along quite well ; but at length George Ryan's 
 feet became so blistered that he could scarcely walk at all 
 his feet having become very tender from his lono- confine- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 125 
 
 ment. After traveling a short distance farther, more of the 
 men began to complain of their sore feet, and went limping 
 and stumbling along in a manner which was truly pitiable 
 to behold. I had great trouble to get them along, and we 
 had yet twenty-two miles to travel before we could reach 
 the White-oak Flats, which I designed to make our next 
 hiding-place. About midnight we all stopped and ate a 
 small portion of our provisions, and rested for a short time, 
 when we went on again through fields and woods, the men 
 at times falling over logs, and at other times falling when 
 there was nothing in their way, as they were journeying over 
 strange grouiid, and were not accustomed to traveling in the 
 night ; it really seemed that some one of the company was 
 falling down every minute. When we heard the first chicken 
 crow for day, we were three miles below the old Pactolus 
 Ferry in Sullivan County. I stopped at a cabin where I 
 knew that a good Union man resided, and inquired' about 
 the rebels. He told me that there were six hundred rebel 
 soldiers stationed about one mile below that place, and had 
 hunted the flats all over the day before, and that he ex- 
 pected they would hunt them over again the next day. He 
 advised me not to cross the river. I was now in a very 
 sad predicament, and scarcely knew what to do. I was 
 afraid to conduct the men any farther on, for daylight was 
 making its appearance, and there was no good hiding-place 
 that we could get to. Leaving the river a short distance, 
 we concealed ourselves under some low cedar bushes in 
 the open woods, where we could see all that was passing 
 around. 
 
 We spent quite an awful day at this ever-memorable place; 
 for we could see the rebels riding aroiind all the time, hunt- 
 ing the poor conscripts, robbing houses, and whooping and 
 yelliiig like savages. The day was cold and disagreeable. 
 
126 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 and we should have suffered a great deal more than we did^ 
 if it had not have been for our continual fears of being dis- 
 covered by the. rebel soldiers. Our fears at this time not 
 only made cowards of us all, but had the property of im- 
 parting an agreeable warmth to our bodies, for I do not be- 
 lieve that fire was once named during the day by any of the 
 company. The sight of the infamous rebels prowling all 
 through the country was quite enough to employ all our 
 thoughts, without studying any thing about fire. We could 
 neither eat nor drink ; it was a day of fasting and trouble 
 to us, but I can not say that there was much praying on this 
 occasion. In fact, this was one of the most miserable days 
 that I ever experienced in all my life ; but it was not on 
 account of my own personal safety which caused me to pass 
 such a miserable day, because I believed then, and still be- 
 lieve, that I could have made my escape even if the rebel 
 soldiers had discovered us ; but it was on account of the poor 
 men who had placed themselves under my care, and I 
 thought that it would be impossible for them to escape, in 
 their crippled and exhausted condition, if we should be dis- 
 covered. I determined, if the rebels should find us, not to 
 abandon my company, but to share their fate, or even a worse 
 one, if it should be assigned me by the rebel murderers. 
 
 There was not even a sufficiency of bushes nor brush in 
 the woods where we were concealed to prevent horsemen 
 from catching us, it being entirely an open wood. That day 
 seemed to be a week in length. But, to our very great joy, 
 it passed slowly away, and night— that much longed-for 
 night — again spread her sable wings over the earth, when 
 we once more felt comparatively safe. Being now relieved 
 from the troubles and fears of the day, we left our hiding- 
 place in a hurry, the lame men in the company seeming to 
 forget their sore feet, and, in fact, every thing else but the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 127 
 
 desire of reaching a place of safety. We had not gone far, 
 when we came to water, in a,; very secluded place, where we 
 stopped, in order to give, the men, who complained mostly 
 of their sore feet, an opportunity to bathe their feet in the 
 water, and also to eat a portion of our provisions, as none 
 of us felt like eating during the day. After finishing a hasty 
 meal, we started on toward the river, and upon our arrival 
 there, had the extreme good fortune to find a canoe, in 
 which we crossed over, and hurried on to the flats, through 
 which we had to grope our way amid the darkness of night, 
 which, in fact, would have been a serious labor even in day- 
 light. When we got out of the flats, we went on through 
 the open fields and woods, and after crossing several very 
 rough ridges, we arrived at the north fork of Holston River. 
 We found that the river was low enough to wade, which 
 was quite fortunate for us, and, quickly taking off our clothes, 
 we passed through it to the opposite shore. It was now 
 nearly daylight, and we yet had about a mile and a half to 
 go and two public roads to cross, where I was apprehensive 
 that we might run upon the rebels before we could reach 
 Clinch Mountain. The night was dark and foggj, and we 
 traveled along very cautiously, making as little noise as pos- 
 sible, listening all the time for the least approach of danger. 
 When we got in about fifty yards of the road, I heard some 
 person cough, when I stopped very suddenly, and looking 
 forward, I saw a small fire burning in a fence-corner near the 
 road-side. I was in front, and the men were behind me 
 marching in single file, with their boots and shoes in their 
 hands, which they had taken off, so that they might travel 
 without making much noise. I immediately turned about, 
 and ordered the men to take the back track, designing as I 
 did to cross the road at another point ; but when we got 
 there we had no better success, for we saw another fire just 
 
128 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ahead of us. We were now well convinced that it was 
 the rebel picket-guard. We made another attempt to cross 
 the road at another place, but here we again run on the.reb- 
 el picket. By this time we had ascended to the top of a 
 ridge, and could see their fires at difierent points all along 
 up and down the road. It was now hear daylight; we 
 hastened back to the river and recrossed it, and fell back 
 on a ridge for safety. From this point we could see the 
 rebel camps scattered thickly all along the road, and also in 
 the valley. It was now the 11th day of April, which we 
 passed in a weary and lonely manner, as we were feverish 
 with anxiety, and could get no water to drink; here we re- 
 mained perfectly quiet all the day, and when night came on 
 we went farther on down the river, and waded it the third 
 time. The road ran along the bank of the river, and, as 
 soon as we crossed, we started in a run to the woods, which 
 was some distance ofij where we stopped and put on our 
 clothes. We then traveled on for a considerable time 
 through fields and woods, until we came near the road that 
 leads to Rogersville, and being now on a ridge, we could^ 
 see the rebel camp-fires for two miles or more. It was quite 
 dark, and a little rain falling, and I concluded to cross the 
 road at all hazards. When we got very near the road, we 
 could hear the rebels passing on horseback ; we could dis- 
 tinctly hear them talking, and could even hear the rattle of 
 their sabres. We were now at the narrowest place in th6 
 valley, and I knew that we would have to cross at this point 
 or turn back. There was a high fence that we had to climb 
 before we could cross the road, and we crept up to it cau- 
 tiously in the darkest place we could find, but just at this 
 point we xould not well get over, and continued to craH?l 
 along farther up the fence. The rebels were constantly 
 passing ; when we would see a party of them approaching. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 129 
 
 we would lay perfectly still until they had passed by, and we 
 would then advance slowly and cautiously forward. We at 
 length arrived at thei place where I designed to cross the 
 road, where we had to stand quite still in the darkness for 
 some time, in order to wait until a party of rebels had pass- 
 ed out of sight and hearing. I now charged the men to 
 make no noise whatever upon the peril of their lives, and I 
 then led the way over the fence, the men following imme- 
 diately after me ; but in their hurry they threw down the 
 fence and broke some three or four rails, which made a con- 
 siderable noise. I thought when the rails broke they could 
 surely be heard for half a mile. We rushed now for. the 
 woods, which were near by, expecting every, moment that 
 the rebels would be after us, but, to our great joy, the rebels 
 did not pursue us. ■ 
 
 We had now arrived at Clinch Mountain, and after trav- 
 eling on for several niiles, we came to a deep and lonely 
 hollow, where there was water, where we stopped about 
 two o'clock in the night. We ate and drank, and then laid 
 down to sleep and rest, for we had now done without sleep for 
 two days and nights, which almost seemed like an age. On 
 the first appearance of daylight I roused the men from their 
 deep slumbers, and put tliem to washing and greasing their 
 sore feet before starting on their journey. ' We now went 
 farther into the mountain, and stopped to rest a short time 
 again. Our provisions were now getting short, and we 
 saw very plainly that we would be compelled to go on or 
 starve in the mountain. 
 
 It was now the 12th day of April, and during this day 
 we crossed over Clinch Mountain, and got near to Poor 
 Valley against evening, at which time we stopped and 
 waited for darkness to come on. We then crossed Poor 
 
 Vallav nnri' rinrinRV TJ.iflofp ani^ wadfid thvomrh Chnnpr 
 
130 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Greek, which was quite deep, and then traveled on through 
 open fields and woods, and after crossing several rough 
 ridges, we arrived at Clinch River. We found the river 
 very full, but we at once determined either to wade it or 
 swim it. Each man in the company procured a good stick ; 
 we took off our clothes and tied them up, and in we went. 
 The water was very cold, but it did not quite swim us ; we 
 soon reached the shore, and started on in a run for some 
 distance, when we stopped and put on our clothes. We 
 now pushed on, crossing ridges and wading branches, until 
 we arrived at the foot of Powell's Mountain. We strug- 
 gled on for some distance up the mountain, when, coming 
 to some water in a hollow, we stopped, for the sun was now 
 I'ising. 
 
 The men were very much worn out with fatigue and 
 hunger, for our provisions were now exhausted, and we 
 were yet many miles from Kentucky. We continued here 
 all day, and as soon as night came on we started forward, 
 crossing branches and climbing ridges until midnight, when 
 we commenced the ascent of Walling's Ridge. After 
 crossing this ridge, we came in sight of Powell's Valley, 
 which at this time was not an agreeable sight to us, for it 
 was illuminated all over with the camp-fires of the rebels. 
 The night was very dark, and we resolved to try to flank 
 them, and go through the valley at the darkest point we 
 could find. We started on through some fields toward the 
 valley, and, on getting near, we stopped to take oflF our 
 shoes, to prevent making a noise in walking ; but in pass- 
 ing a house, the dogs as usual began to bark, and they cer- 
 tainly must have scented us, for we made no noise at all in 
 walking. Several men came to the door of the house and 
 hissed the dogs, and hallooed several times, after which a 
 number of horsemen rode up to them. We had not yet 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 131 
 
 crossed the main road, or we might have been captured. 
 We started back to the mountain with all possible speed, 
 and the horsemen after us; but we made a short turn 
 around a fence, and dodged into some bushes, and succeed- 
 ed in making our escape from them. The darkness of the 
 night was all that saved us, for they could not possibly see 
 which way we had gone, and therefore they immediately 
 turned back. 
 
 We went on up to the top. of Waiting's Ridge again, and 
 by the time we got to the top of the ridge it was daylight. 
 We had no time to lose ; we saw that we were now com- 
 pelled to go on in a hurry, or else be captured by the reb- 
 els. We therefore went on down to the foot of the ridge 
 very rapidly, and after crossing Wildcat Valley, we got on 
 to the spurs of Wildcat Mountain. The sun was now shin- 
 ing, and after going a short distance up the mountain, we 
 stopped to rest, for the men were almost completely tired 
 down, and could not travel any farther. While we were 
 sitting here we heard a noise ; and upon looking in the di- 
 rection from whence it came, we saw the rebels following 
 our trail across Waiting's Ridge, for we made a tremendous 
 trail wherever we went. They came on until they reached 
 the mountain upon which we were now stationed. But we 
 now had the extreme pleasure of seeing, them turn back, 
 seeming not to care about pursuing us any farther. We 
 continued to watch their movements for some time, but I 
 do not believe that they, ever saw us. They were now out 
 of our sight over the ridge, and we were again left to our 
 reflections, which were not very pleasant, and our feelings a 
 great deal worse. We had eaten nothing for two nights and 
 a day, and had traveled all the time, and had no prospect now 
 of getting any thing to eat soon. About twelve hours' 
 steady, traveling from the place where, we had to turn back 
 
132 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 would have taken ua across the Kentucky line; but we 
 were now on Wildcat Mountain, and the rebels traversing 
 the country which lay between us and the State of Ken- 
 tucky. The men were tired down, and in a starving condi- 
 tion. This was another awful day which we experienced 
 on our journey. We commenced skinning bark oflf of the 
 elm-trees, which we ate with a good appetite, and chewed^ 
 little hickory sprouts, which relieved the cravings of hunger 
 but very little. I spent the day in studying what to do in 
 the present trying emergency. Food we must have, and 
 that very soon, or starvation would be inevitable. 
 
 At length I determined to go back about six miles, to the 
 residence of a very hot old rebel, and fix some plan to get 
 something to eat. When I made my determination known 
 to the men, they all agreed to it at once, and as soon as it 
 got dark, we started back, and reached the house about 
 nine o'xlock. Taking two of the' men with me, we ad- 
 vanced cautiously up to the house, and, when we got with- 
 in about fifty yards of it, I called out. The dogs began to 
 bark in a most vociferous manner. There were only about 
 seven or eight hounds that were barking all at once, and I 
 do not think that any thing else could have been heard for 
 a mile around but the terrible yelling of these hounds. 
 Their loud and dreadful barking reverberated and re-ech- 
 oed through the contiguous mountains, and sounded most 
 awfully, as their deep and clamorous intonations fell upon 
 the deep silence of the dark night. One of the family at 
 the house ran out among them, but this only seemed to 
 " add fuel to the flame," for the whole pack now started fu- 
 riously toward us, and we had to climb to the top of a high 
 fence to avoid being torn to pieces. After a while they be- 
 came settled and ceased their barking, when we left our po- 
 sition on the fence. The old man asked us to walk into the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 133 
 
 house, and, regardless of danger, we walked into the house, 
 and told him that we were very hungry, and wanted sup- 
 per. He said that we could have it, and his wife commenced 
 preparing it. I now told her that we were not all that 
 wanted supper, that there were many more in the company 
 who wished to get something to eat if they could get it. 
 The old man, when he heard this, began to mutter and 
 scratch his head ; but the old lady spoke very pleasantly, 
 saying we could all have supper if we would wait until she 
 couid have it cooked. I told her that we would wait. She 
 then went into a room^and brought out six bouncing girls, 
 and I can assure yon they made the pots and ovens fly 
 around. A portion of the men stood around the house on 
 picket while the old lady and her daughters were prepar- 
 ing our supper. I obseiwed that the old man was very 
 well fixed for shooting, as there were two or three muskets 
 and three rifles in racks over the door. 
 
 The old man at length asked who we were. I told 
 him that we were deserters from Colonel Slimp, who was 
 then stationed in Powell's Valley. I told' him that we had 
 been trying for some time to get furloughs to go home, but 
 could not get them, and that we had concluded to go with- 
 out furloughs. He said " that was right ; that he wished 
 his own boys would do that way also." He said that he 
 had two sons at Richmond, and had not heard from them 
 for a long time, and supposed they were dead. He went 
 on to abuse the Lincolnites at a dreadful rate, saying that 
 "he would not give one of them a mouthful to eat if they 
 were starving." The old fellow was not aware that he 
 was now just about to feed a tolerably strong pack of 
 them. 
 
 Supper was at length announced, and we proceeded at once 
 to do ample justice to it. After we were all done eating, 
 
134 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 we paid the charge, which was twelve dollars in old state 
 money. We bought a small quantity of bacon and some 
 corn meal, and, after putting it in our haversacks, we left 
 there pretty fast, and very much refreshed. The night was 
 dark as pitch, and misting rain ; we went about two miles 
 into the woods and built "us a fire near a little spring, in- 
 tending to rest thei-e until morning at any rate ; but there 
 was not much rest for us. The rain soon began to fall in 
 torrents, putting out all our fire, and we had to stand up 
 under .the trees until morning. The rain did not cease un- 
 til about ten o'clock in the day ; the^un then came out, and 
 we removed to a better place to bake our bread, and to try 
 to sleep. I put a portion of the men to baking bread, and, 
 taking some of them along with me, I went to watch near 
 a road which was near by, to see if I could see any rebels 
 passing about. The road was full of them all day driving 
 cattle and sheep, but they made no attempt to drive our 
 party out of the mountains. At night we returned. The 
 I bread was all baked and ready for supper, and I must here 
 tell the reader how it was baked. Some of the men skinned 
 the bark off of a small chestnut-tree, in which the meal was 
 placed, and then, carrying water in their hands, poured it 
 over the meal, and then worked it into dough. They 
 heated some flat rocks, and then placing the dough upon 
 them, baked it into bread. 
 
 We now divided out our meat and bread, and started 
 on to try our luck again. After crossing a number of 
 ridges, and crawling along through the brush, we again got 
 on to the heights of Wildcat Ridge ; every thing seeming 
 to invite our advance on into the valley below, we pressed 
 on. When we got to the foot of the ridge, we saw a light 
 just before us toward the main part of the valley. Upon 
 seeing this unfavorable indication, some of the men became 
 
DANIEL- ELLIS. 135 
 
 very much discouraged, and expressed a desire ^o turn back 
 liome, saying, " we can never get ' through that valley." 
 The prospect before ns, I must confess, looked very gloomy 
 and disheartening ; but I could not think of turning back 
 after getting so far on our journey, and after we had en- 
 countered and overcome so many dangers and difficulties. 
 Therefore, leaving the men in the bushes,- Jerry Miller and I 
 took off our shoes, coats, and hats, and crawled down to- 
 ward the fire which had occasioned us so much fear, while 
 the men we had left behind in the bushes were listening for 
 the rebels to fire on us every minute. But the rebels did 
 not fire on us, and the fire which we had seen off the ridge 
 proved to be nothing but an old stump, which had been 
 fired by Some person who had been plowing there the 
 day before. We returned, and after telling the men what 
 it was, they all now seemed very willing to go forward, and 
 we soon got to the top of Walling's Ridge again ; we con- 
 tinued to travel along this ridge for some time, and then 
 turned off of it toward Powell's Valley. We now got in 
 sight of the camp-fires of the rebels again, when we stopped 
 and took off our shoes, and tied them up in our blankets, 
 intending to throw, all away if we should be pressed very 
 closely. I now took the darkest route that I could find, 
 and when we got to Powell's River we went right straight 
 through it,, without stopping to remove our clothes. We 
 pushed on, and reached. Cumberland Mountain without be- 
 ing discovered, and soon getting to water, we stopped, and 
 washed the mud and sand out of our socks, and then push- 
 ed on until daylight. 
 
 We were now no longer afraid of being pursued by the 
 rebels, and at once built up several large fires to dry our wet 
 clothing and to warm our aching limbs. We lay around 
 the firein every fashion of disorder. We were hungry, cold, 
 
136 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and wet, woi'n out with fatigue, and the sore feet of many 
 of the men were bleeding from the severe gashes they had 
 received in their passage through the rugged mountains. 
 No person can imagine for a moment the miserable situation 
 that we were now in, except it be some person who has also 
 been compelled to travel this toilsome journey through the 
 rough mountains to Kentucky. 
 
 It was about ten o'clock when we started on our jonrney, 
 and by two o'clock we crossed the line into the State of 
 Kentucky. We now stopped an<J sat down to rest, and I 
 pointed out the line to the men. They now commenced 
 bidding the land of Dixie a final adieu. Some began to sing 
 songs suitable to the occasion, while others delivered fare- 
 well addresses to the Southern Confederacy. And a long 
 ftirewell it was for some of these poor fellows, for they 
 hav,e long since gone to that bourne ftom whence no traveler 
 retm-ns, and will never again visit their native mountains to 
 relate the story of their dreadful sufferings while they were 
 journeying to a land of freedom. A large portion of the 
 company, however, which I conducted through on this occa- 
 sion joined the Union army, and made brave and intrepid 
 soldiers, and fought gallantly on in the service of their conn- 
 try until the vile Southern rebellion was overthrown, and 
 the rebel soldiery compelled to vanish away before the vic- 
 torious armies of the federal Union like dew-drops before 
 ■the bright rays of the morning sun. 
 
 After the men were done singing and speaking, we all 
 went on, hallooing and shouting as we went, when we met 
 with a man who told us that the rebels were thick in Ken- 
 tucky and Powell's Valley. We were well convinced that 
 they were in Powell's Valley, for we had already experi- 
 enced enough of hardships in trying to pass through that 
 valley to be acquainted with the fact. But the idea of the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 137 
 
 rebels being in Kentucky at once killed all our joy. This 
 very disagreeable intelligence at once destroyed the young 
 buds of hope which were blooming in our bright expecta- 
 tions, like an untimely frost when it falls upon the early 
 flowers of spring. He told us that Humphrey Marsball had 
 made a raid into Kentucky, had got badly whipped, and was 
 now retiring.. I thought at once that a whipping and a 
 defeat was no more than this Jack Falstaff of the so-called 
 Southern Confederacy might have expected whenever he 
 should have the temerity to make an advance against the 
 Union forces ; but we now began to look sharp for the reb- 
 els again ; and as we were now compelled to have some- 
 thing to eat or starve, I went to the house of a Union man 
 and hired his wife to bring us out something to eat. She 
 brought ns a plentiful supply for that night, and we again 
 rested on the mountain, with our spirits very much de- 
 pressed. 
 
 The next day we had to retire farther back into the mount- 
 ains on account of the rebels, who were now prowling 
 through the country in every direction, like wild animals of 
 the mountains, taking every thing the people had to eat, to- 
 gether with their clothing, their horses, and their cattle. 
 We remained all day upon a high elevation, and watched 
 their destructive movements in the valleys, and I do not be- 
 lieve that one single fowl or bee-stand escaped these thiev- 
 ing and reckless scoundrels that happened to be in the line 
 of their reti-eat. We were now sufiering very much for 
 provisions, and, in fact, we were in a fair way of starving 
 again, which dreadful calamity did almost seem to be in- 
 evitable before we could get out of the mountains. When 
 night came on, I went to another Union man's house and 
 bought a bushel of corn, which I carried to the men, and 
 divided it among them, which they at once ate without 
 
138 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 cooking it. I went around to all the near houses, and hired 
 the women to bring us corn to eat, and as nauch bread as 
 they could possibly spare. Some of them told us how the 
 infernal rebels had shot their husbands and sons down in 
 their own houses or in their yards. They would then search 
 their pockets for mojiey, and if they failed to find any, they 
 would then knock their brains out with the end of their 
 guns ; and, not yet being satisfied, they would then stab 
 their bayonets through their lifeless bodies some five or six 
 times, and then, to give the finishing touch to their already 
 sublimated villainy, they would then burn their houses and 
 every thing in them. Very many families at this time were 
 living under clap-board soafiblds, with no other protection 
 from the inclemency of the weather, and in this way the 
 poor, wretched mothei's, often with five or six little ragged 
 and destitute fatherless children, were thrown out of their 
 houses upon the cold charities of the world, to bufiet and 
 battle against the dark waves of adversity, by these inhuman 
 monsters, who were thus permitted by their superior com- 
 mander, Humphrey Marshall, alias Jack Falstaflf, to devas- 
 tate and destroy the property of the innocent and unofiend- 
 ing citizens of his own native state, which has to bear the 
 eternal stigma of having to acknowledge him as one of her 
 degenerate ofispring. 
 
 We continued to listen to the sad and heart-rending tales 
 of sorrow which these poor women related to us until it 
 was enough to make our hearts ache with pity, and, in fact, 
 we almost forgot our own troubles while listening to the 
 story of their dreadful woes ; for we felt that we were much 
 more able to bear our hard fate than these poor women 
 were to bear up under the terrible calamities which had be- 
 fallen them, and we thought that we had no reason to com- 
 plain while we could get a single ear of corn to eat. "We 
 
DANIEL JILLIS. 139 
 
 - staid among these poor distressed people for three days and 
 nights, and then removed to a place called Greasy Fork, 
 about fifteen miles beyond Cumberland River, in the direc- 
 tion of Manchester, where we found great difficulty in pro- 
 curing any thing to eat, as the rebels had so often passed 
 themselves off in that section of country as Union men that 
 the people seemed to be afraid to trust us, thinking that we 
 were now trying to practice the same deception upon their 
 credulity, which they were not willing to permit. Every 
 person in this portion of the country was strange to me, for 
 I had never gone so far into the State of Kentucky before. 
 The citizens would not give us any thing to eat, nor would 
 they give us any information, for fear of being betrayed by 
 us. Again we thought that we should be compelled to 
 stai've, for we had partaken of nothing to eat for a day and 
 a night, and had continued to travel all the time. Finally, 
 I persuaded an old ladj to believe us, and she then conduct- 
 ed us to a camp where her husband was staying, who, when 
 he saw us approaching, precipitately fled away into the 
 woods, and she had hard work to get him to return. After 
 she talked to him for some time, she called me to them. I 
 immediately went to them, and commenced talking to the 
 frightened man like a brother. I told him that we were 
 trying to get through the lines, and that we had been so lon.g 
 wandering about through the mountains that we were near- 
 ly perished with hunger, and that I wished him to aid us in 
 procuring something to eat. He said that it would be very 
 hard for us to get any thing to eat, as the rebels had robbed 
 the country of every thing in the shape of meat and bread, 
 with the exception of a very little which had been concealed 
 out in the mountains by the citizens, and said that the rebels 
 had even found some of that. But he now started off, and 
 soon returned with only about half as much as we all could 
 
140 THRILLING ADVENTURES OP 
 
 eat, which we hastily consumed, not even leaving a crumh for 
 breakfast. We remained there all night, and, when morning 
 came, we hired this man to go on with us to the next settle- 
 ment, which was distant about ten miles across a mountain, 
 and on a river which is called Red-bird. When we got in 
 sight of the first house in the settlement, the rebels were just 
 leaving it. We sent our pilot on into the settlement before 
 us, as he was well acquainted with the people, and could 
 more readily induce them to believe the story of our suffer- 
 ings. We remained in this settlement all night and the 
 next day, but did not get more than half enough to eat, and 
 had our ears continually saluted with the most pitiful tales 
 of distress from the poor women. We now had to scout 
 our way to Manchester, which is about eighty miles from 
 the point where we crossed over the Kentucky line, and was 
 about fifty miles from the place we were now at. 
 
 We started on toward Manchester,^nd had to cross some 
 of the steepest and roughest ridges that I ever saw in my life; 
 we had to cross over ridges of this description every day, 
 and were able to get but very little to eat. The day be- 
 fore we arrived at Manchester there had been a battle be- 
 tween the Union and the rebel forces; in which the rebels 
 had been badly whipped, and were now running in every 
 direction. We at length succeeded in getting to Manches- 
 ter, with the flickering lamp of life burning feebly in our 
 bosoms, and that was about all. We stopped at a house, 
 which was called a tavern, but which, to our very great an- 
 noyance at this time, we found to be almost entirely desti- 
 tute of all the characteristics of such an institution. We 
 waited quite impatiently for supper to be announced, and at 
 last the bell commenced ringing, and we all went and set 
 down to the table. There were twenty of us together 
 around that table, and six of the men could have very easily 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 141 
 
 devoured every, thing that was placed before us to eat. 
 When we had consumed all there was to eat, we arose 
 from the table almost as hungry as when we sat down to 
 it. We passed off the night as'well as we could, hoping 
 for a more plentiful repast in the morning. 
 
 Morning at length came, and the bell rang for breakfast ; 
 but, oh ! horrible to relate, when we again went to the table, 
 we found that it was as scantily furnished as it had been the 
 evening before. We quickly consumed all that was on the 
 table to eat, and rose up, and asked the landlord how much 
 our bill was. He replied that he would charge each one of 
 us two dollars in greenbacks, as every thing to eat was hard 
 to get. I thought that his table gave the most satisfactory 
 evidence that what he was saying in regard to hard times 
 was perfectly true. We therefore paid our bill, and struck 
 out for Richmond, which was sixty-five miles farther on. 
 We traveled all day on the main road, as we had now left 
 the rebels behind us, which mode of traveling would have 
 been quite a luxury to us if we had not been so annoyed 
 with.hung.er. When evening came on, we stopped.at every 
 i house and asked for something to eat, and endeavored to 
 procure lodging for the night, but for some time we had no 
 success in having either of our requests granted. It was 
 now getting dark, when we came to another house, which 
 we thought was our last chance. We made application to 
 stay all night without much hope. of success. The old man 
 told us to come in, saying that he had but little to spare 
 for us to eat, but said he would do the best he could for 
 us. Feeling very much delighted with our good. luck, we 
 went in. He was a good Union man, and at once com- 
 menced relating to us the story of his troubles with the reb- 
 el hordes, who had on several occasions marched into Ken- 
 tnck;y for purposes of spoliation, and, when they were met 
 
142 THRILMNG ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and overcome by the Union forces, would hastily retreat 
 back, and would then, like the locusts of Egypt, destroy and 
 take away every thing which man and beast could eat. He 
 said they had robbed him four times of every thing he pos- 
 sessed, except a small supply of provisions which he had 
 concealed away from his house. We fared very well here, 
 and the old man only charged us one dollar each for the 
 night's entertainment, which we paid him, together with 
 our most profound thanks. 
 
 We started on our journey at an early hour with quite 
 an exuberant flow of spirits, for this was our last day's 
 travel to Richmond, which place we reached about sunset. 
 We here met with a good many Union oflScers, who were 
 very kind to us, and tried hard to get the men to enlist in 
 their various companies, but this they failed to do. I 
 went to a hotel and engaged entertainment for them all. 
 We had an excellent supper, and were furnished with beds, 
 which very much revived us all ; and when morning came, 
 if the poor ragged fellows could have had a clean suit of 
 clothes to put on, each one of them might then have ex- 
 claimed, "Richard is himself again." 
 
 We arose quite early the next morning, and washed and 
 combed, but I can not say that there was much laborious 
 dressing done upon that occasion. The Federal officers 
 treated the company of men very freely with all the brandy 
 they would drink, and by the time the bell rang for breakfast 
 they were all in a very genial mood. Tjje dining-room was 
 furnished with a number of small round tables, at which 
 four men could set down at one of them at the same time. 
 George Ryan, William Ryan, David Taylor, and William 
 Gourley sat down together at one of these tables, and I 
 must confess that I never saw such tremendous eating as 
 these men displayed on that occasion in all my life. The 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 143 
 
 biseuit were small, and one of them just made two bites for 
 theip ; tbey kept their waiter very busy in bringing them 
 bread, butter, and coffee. At length they continued on eat- 
 ing so long after every person els6 was done that the ne- 
 gro's patience was worn threadbare; and he exclaimed, 
 " Well, massas, you do ^at more bread and butter than any 
 set of men I ever saw in my life. You have run us out of 
 bread and butter this morning." The truth is, I do not 
 doubt but that all four of thera were half starved, and, be- 
 ing somewhat intoxicated, their appetites were consequent- 
 ly quite voracious, and therefore I did not much wonder that 
 biscuit and beafsteak dissolved from before them like snow 
 before the summer's sun. After paying our bill, which was 
 one dollar and fifty cents, and which was quite reasonable, 
 considei'ing the amount of provisions which we had con- 
 sumed for the landlord, we started on to Louisville. We 
 were a ragged and dirty set of men to go into a city, for 
 our clothes had nearly been torn off of us by the briers and 
 brush through which we had been so long traveling, and 
 our shoes had been completely torn to pieces by the rough 
 rocks in the mountains over which we had passed. But I 
 shall not attempt to describe the uncouth appearanc%4vhich 
 we now presented, and shall therefore leave the reader to 
 imagine it. 
 
 We hired a coach to convey us to Lexington, at which 
 place we arrived about twelve o'clock, and after dinner we 
 took the train for Louisville, where we arrived some time 
 after dark. The 4th Tennessee regiment of infantry, com- 
 manded by Colonel Daniel Stover, were stationed at that 
 place, and as I had telegraphed to some of my acquaint- 
 ances in this regimlnt that we were on our way to Louis- 
 ville, we found them, upon our arrival, anxiously awaiting 
 us. This was quite a joyful time for the soldiers of this 
 
144 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 regiment, as nearly all of them were citizens of East Ten- 
 nessee, and were very anxious to hear from their homes. 
 ^Nearly every man whom I had formerly conducted through 
 the mountains to Kentucky I found in this regiment, and 
 nearly every man in the company which I conducted 
 through at this time also joined it. How these well-fed 
 and well-dressed soldiers stared and laughed at our rags 
 and dirt, but it was no wonder, for we formed quite a con- 
 trast to them, dressed as they were in their bright and shin- 
 ing blue regimentals. 
 
 The men who went through the lines with me were now 
 relieved from their ragged and dirty garments, as the gov- 
 ernment furnished them all with good clothing. Colonel 
 Stover took me under his immediate guardianship, and pi-e- 
 sented me with a handsome suit of citizen's clothing, and 
 treated me with the greatest kindness and courtesy, and 
 furnished me with recruiting-papers for his regiment. I 
 remained at Louisville three days, and then made immedi- 
 ate preparations to return to the mountains of East Tennes- 
 see. Many of the soldiers gave me letters to take back to 
 their families, as this was the first opportunity which had 
 presented itself for them to send letters to their homes 
 since they had left East Tennessee. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 145 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 On the 4th day of May, 1863, 1 started from Louisville, 
 ^K^entucky, on my return trip home. I took passage in the 
 train to Lexington, and from there to Richmond, Kentucky, 
 I traveled in a coach. I staid in Richmond all night, and 
 early the next morning I started on foot to Manchester, at 
 which place I arrived after two days' hard traveling. A 
 battalion of Union soldiers were stationed here, and I staid 
 with them one day. The next morning I shouldered my 
 knapsack, which was filled with letters, and started for Cum- 
 berland River, a distance of eighty miles, and, after two 
 days of very hard walking, I arrived at the place on that river 
 where my old friends, the home guards, had been stationed ; 
 but they had now " broken up camps," and had gone to 
 work to raise something to eat, for the rebels had exhaust- 
 ed the country of provisions, in their late retreat through 
 it. I staid all night at this place, and the next day I went 
 on to the house of Mr. Clark, on Clover Fork, where I pro- 
 cured a supply of provisions for the remainder of my jour- 
 ney, for I knew when I left here that I would meet with no 
 more kind friends until I arrived arriong my own native 
 mountains. Leaving Clover Pork early in the morning, I 
 traveled hard all day, and reached Powell's Valley by dark, 
 which to me seemed now to be like the dark valley ofthe 
 shadow of death ; for at the bare mention of Powell's Val- 
 ley thoughts of the danger which I had there so recently en- 
 countered, of meeting with a horrid death at the hands of 
 the infamous rebels, arose unbidden in my mind. However, 
 
 G 
 
146 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I consoled myself with the reflection that Providence had 
 again seemed to favor me, for it was now exceedingly 
 dark, and the rain was falling in torrents ; consequently, I 
 did not think it possible that even the rebel soldiers' would 
 be stirring about in the rain, and amid the terrible darkness 
 of the night. I therefore pushed forward, waded through 
 Powell's River, and crossed over that hated valley, and 
 commenced the ascent of Walling's Ridge; I crossed this 
 ridge, and hastened on over the valleys until I reached the 
 spurs of Powell's Mountain. 
 
 I was now very much fatigued and worn out, as wet as I 
 could be, and the rain still falling. I therefore began to 
 look around for a shelter, and by the red lightning's vivid 
 flash I was enabled to discover a large hollow chestnut log 
 near by, and at once crawled into that, which proved to be 
 a very good retreat from the cold peltings of the rain. I 
 searched about for some dry pieces of wood, and kindled 
 up a fire at the entrance of the log, and after drying my 
 wet clothes for some time, I folded up my wet blanket, laid 
 down, and placed it under my head for a pillow ; I was 
 soon in a profound sleep. The fire dried the end of the old 
 log in which I was sleeping, and it caught on fire, and 
 the smoke which poured into the log awoke me from my 
 dreams ; and when I looked toward the end of the log, a 
 very large blaze had covered the whole entrance, which 
 seemed as if it might seriously dispute my escape from the 
 "burning castle." I was almost suflbcated with the heat 
 and smoke, and quickly wrapping my head and hands in 
 raywet blanket, I rolled out through the fire, getting pretty 
 badly singed. I now removed the fire farther away from 
 my mountain domicile, and thoroughly extinguished the fire, 
 which was consuming the end of the log. I crawled back 
 again within its capacious bosom, for the rain was still 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 147 
 
 falling rapidly, which put out every spark of my fire ; but I 
 was quite warm in the old log, and had a very pleasant 
 night's rest, as my sleep was not disturbed any more after 
 my hasty egress from the old log through the fire. 
 
 It was about nine o'clock in the morning when I awoke 
 from sleep. The clouds had passed away, and the sun was 
 shining brightly all around. It was really a beautiful May 
 morning — calm and peaceful. The birds were chanting 
 forth their melody, and in fact all nature seemed to ac- 
 knowledge the potency of the beautiful queen of .the sea- 
 sons. I built another fire, and spent the day here drying 
 my clothing and my provisions. When night came on, I 
 bid my old log adieu and went on, crossing ridges and 
 valleys, and wading branches, until I reached Clinch Mount- 
 ain, when I halted to rest again until the next night, at 
 which time I started on, and crossed the north fork of Hol- 
 ston River, and by traveling hard all night, I reached the 
 White-oak Flats by daylight. Here I remained all day 
 with the scouters, and answered hundreds of questions 
 which they propounded to me about the "Yankees." 
 Early the next night I started on my journey, and traveling 
 steadily forward, I reached my own home just about an 
 •hour "before daylight, after an absence of about five weeks, 
 as it was now about the 15th of May. 
 
 When I returned home I found my native county infest- 
 ed by a company of Indians, who had been sent there to 
 hunt and catch the conscripts and Union men who were 
 scouting in the mountains, and just the night before my re- 
 turn home, these red savages had been stationed by their 
 officers within one hundred yards of my own dwelling 
 to watch for me, and on the previous morning they had 
 searched every hill and hollow near ray home, hoping and 
 expecting to find me ; but on this occasion their search was 
 
,48 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 lade a little too soon for me, and, consequently, I was not 
 Dund. The rebels abrays seemed to search about my own 
 remises for me just a little too soon or a little too late ; and 
 etween these two very egregious mistakes, which of course 
 rere committed unwittingly by them, I always managed to 
 scape their vigilance. 
 
 When I opened my knapsack I found that all the letters 
 'hich had been intrusted to my care by the soldiers in the 
 th Regiment at Louisville, Kentucky, were safe and sound, 
 at once had each one of them conveyed to its proper des- 
 nation, and the arrival of these letters created a great deal 
 f talk and curiosity throughout the country, as they were 
 le first letters which had been brought to East Tennessee 
 om Kentucky. I found a great many men in the mount- 
 ins hiding from the Indians, of whom they had the greatest 
 read, but were determined not to go into the rebel army 
 ' they could possibly avoid it. I saw that there was no 
 ther alternative for me but to continue in the occupation 
 f" a pilot, which I had undertaken more from motives of 
 eep sympathy for my oppressed fellow-citizens than from 
 ly other cause whatever, and I therefore concluded to act 
 I that capacity until I was either killed or captured, and 
 lere was constant employment at this time for a dozen pi- 
 its, if their services could have been procured by the poor 
 len who had been driven into the mountains. There was 
 3t a day passed but that some of the poor Union men 
 ere either killed or captured by these infernal Indians, al- 
 lough they were not half so cruel as the white rebel sel- 
 lers. In fact, they were urged to do whatever bad deeds 
 ley did commit by their white officers. If I had been 
 ware of the fact at the time they were in Carter County 
 lat they desired to leave the rebel service, I would halRe. 
 •ied my powers of persuasion upon them to accompany me 
 
DANIEL ELIIS. 149 
 
 through the lines, but I was not acquainted with their wishes 
 in this respect. After they left Carter County, all of them 
 deserted the first chance they had and went through to the 
 "Yankees." 
 
150 THRILLING AUVENTUEES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 On the night of the 3d of June, 1863, 1 started for Ken- 
 tucky with a company of twenty men, among whom were 
 Jonas H. Keen, of Carter County, Dr. Locke, of Johnson 
 County, and a son of Wilton Akinson, of Jonesborough, Ten- 
 nessee. The starting-point was in the ridges near Elizabeth- 
 ton. The party all bid fair to stand the trip pretty well, 
 with the exception of Keen, who had been so closely con- 
 cealed for so long a time, hiding from the rebels, that I did 
 not think he would be able to hold out during the tiresome 
 journey which he was now about to undertake. The crime of 
 which he was accused by the rebels was " bridge-burning," 
 and he well knew that nothing but his neck would satisfy 
 the rebels if he should be so unfortunate as to fall into their 
 hands. He knew that if they ever succeeded in capturing 
 him, they " would welcome him witli bloody hands to a hos- 
 pitable grave." He had deferred the much-dreaded trip to 
 Kentucky from time to time, but had now made up his mind 
 to go. When night came on, we shouldered our knapsacks 
 of provisions and started on our journey toward the rail- 
 road, which I designed to cross somewhere near Carter D6- 
 p&t. When we arrived near that point, I halted the com- 
 pany and went to the railroad alone, to see if there was 
 any threatening danger ; but finding that there was none, I 
 directed the company to cross the railroad with the great- 
 est caution. I thought that the men were getting over the 
 railroad finely, when one of them happened to step too low, 
 .and struck his heel against one of the iron rails, making it 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 151 
 
 ring out loudly upon the gloomy silence of night. The reb- 
 els being close by, I now looked for them to take after us 
 every moment, for I thought the noise could have been 
 heard for a mile around, but the rebels did not pursue us. 
 We only traveled about twelve miles the night we started, 
 and the next morning we were in Washington County, where 
 we staid all day, and passed it off as well as we could. 
 Some of the company would sleep, while others would watch, 
 which they continued to do until night came on. As soon 
 as it was dark we pressed on again, and about eleven o'clock 
 the party all seemed to be very tired, so much so, that we 
 had to stop and rest every few miles we traveled. About 
 two o'clock in the night Keen gave out, for his feet had al- 
 ready been so badly blistered, and were so extremely sore 
 that it was a very serious labor for him to walk. I would 
 have stopped until he could have walked better, but I knew 
 that if we stopped where we now were we would all be in 
 great danger of being killed or captured by the rebels. Some 
 of the men carried his knapsack of provisions, and helped 
 him along as well as they could. We did not go very far 
 that night, and when daylight made its appearance we were 
 in a very poor place of concealment. 
 
 We were yet several. miles from.Holston River, and in a 
 place where a number of trees had been blown down by a 
 storm, which now served us as a hiding-place. We crawled 
 into the tree-tops, and some of the men got under the bodies 
 and roots of these trees and laid down to rest. Keen was 
 tired out, and several others of the men were in a not much 
 better condition. , As it regards myself, I was traveling along 
 at my leisure, getting along extremely slow, I thought. We 
 suffered very much for water, although there was a creek 
 near by ; but we were afraid to go to it, for fear of being 
 seen by the rebel citizens, who were watching all the time 
 
152 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 for men who were aiming to get through the lines. When 
 night came on, we hurried on, through fields and over fences, 
 until we arrived at Holston River. I here left the men by a 
 fence-row, under some bushes, and I proceeded to the house 
 of alJnion man that I was well acquainted with. I approach- 
 ed the house very cautiously, and when I knocked at the 
 door it seemed to frighten the family very badly, for they 
 said they thought it was the thieving rebels who had come 
 again to rob them, as they had done not many nights before. 
 The old man said that they bad threatened to kill him if 
 any more stampeders crossed the river, and said they would 
 send all of his family through the lines for befriending the 
 Union men who were scouting in the woods, for no such 
 people, they said, should stay in the country. 
 
 The old man told me to take the canoe and cross the river 
 in it, but to be careful and watch closely as I went to the 
 river, for fear that the rebels might be watching for scout- 
 ers. He said there had been no rebels about there that 
 night. After I had examined the river carefully, I went back 
 to the company and told them to move on to the river. Aft- 
 er a long time, we all got across the river safely. The night 
 was very dark, and we now had a rocky ridge to climb 
 which was about three hundred feet high. We commenced 
 the ascent, which was so steep that we could scarcely avoid 
 falling backward at times, and it was so dark that we could 
 hardly see each other. But finally, by holding to the rocks 
 and pulling up by the grape-vines, we succeeded in reaching 
 the top. I thought frequently, while endeavoring to climb 
 this precipice, that if the fabled Tantalus had been doomed 
 to roll his stone up such an acclivity as this, he could not, 
 surely, have impelled it upward toward the top more than 
 a few steps, before it would have returned to the foot of the 
 hill again in spite of all his physical exertions. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 153 
 
 We traveled on, through fields and woods, until we reach- 
 ed Reedy Creek, near the boat-yard, which we waded through, 
 and then crossed the main road leading to Bristol, and 
 pushed on, over ridges and through dense forests, in the di- 
 rection of the north fork of Holston River. The night was 
 so dark, and our pathway at times so completely blockaded 
 with bushes and brush, that we made but very slow progress 
 on our jourjley, but at length we reached the river. We 
 were traveling down the stream, hunting for a convenient 
 place to cross, when we observed a picket-fire- on the oppo- 
 site shore. The men at once became very much frightened, 
 and away they dashed in every direction. I could not tell 
 for some time what was the matter, and thought that the 
 rebels had surely come on them in the rear ; but, hearing the 
 report of no guns, I knewthat was not the case. I stopped, 
 and on looking around a while I found there was nothing 
 wrongs as the men had only taken the " stampedei"'s fright," 
 which was very common for them to do. Some of them 
 ran into brier -patches that a dOg could not get through after 
 a rabbit, while others tumbled about over old logs and over 
 rocks. I called on them to stop, and told them there was 
 nothing which I could see to occasion any alarm, and after 
 a while I succeeded in getting them all together again. 
 They said they were sure that the rebels were after them. 
 I told them the rebels had not been after us yet, but that I 
 very much feared that so much noise at this hour of the 
 night would have a decided tendency to start them after us, 
 and charged them now to be very quiet. We slipped on 
 down the river, and at length we got to a good place to 
 ci"oss, and after taking offour clothes and tying them on our 
 shoulders, we Waded through with perfect safety. We now 
 crossed the main road, and -ran about one hundred yards to 
 the top of a hill, where we stopped to dress ourselves again, 
 
 G2 
 
154 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and then pushed on toward Clinch Mountain, which we 
 reached by daylight. Stopping at a branch which gurgled 
 down a mountain hollow, we washed our faces and hands, 
 and sat down to partake of our simple meal of bread and 
 meat, and then laid our tired bodies down to rest. After 
 sleeping until about twelve o'clock the next day, we arose 
 and started on up the mountain. I thought we would be 
 safe in traveling on the mountain in daylight, for a short 
 time at least, until we should leave the mountain and get 
 into Poor Valley, which was immediately below where we 
 were now traveling. When we got near the valley we 
 stopped and waited for night to come on, when we went on 
 and crossed the valley, and also Copper Ridge. 
 
 I now had a great deal of trouble in urging the men to 
 travel, for they were so completely exhausted, and the 
 mountains were so steep and rugged, that it was really a 
 liard labor for them to get along. I told them that they 
 needed another small " awakening" from the rebels, which 
 would at once give more elasticity to their movements. But 
 they avowed that they would not run again until they knew 
 that they were really threatened with danger. We contin- 
 ued to toil on in our rough pathway, sometimes crawling 
 upon our hands and knees under the brush, and sometimes 
 pulling up steep precipices by the overhanging vines and 
 bushes. The patience of some of the men seemed to be al- 
 most entirely worn out, for they said that they would go 
 and surrender themselves to the rebels rather than go any 
 farther into the mountains in their wretched condition. I 
 told them that they must not think of doing that; and by- 
 waiting on them, and encouraging them to use every exer- 
 tion to pursue th^ir journey to the end, I managed to keep 
 them moving slowly onward. They were now too far from 
 home to think about turning back, which also served to 
 stimulate them to press onward in their journey. 
 
. DANIEL ELLIS. 155 
 
 Wlren we arrived at Copper Creek we found it deep and 
 wide. It was on this creek, but not at the point where we 
 now were, that a pilot by the name of Gray had all his men 
 captured a short time before this. We were sitting on the 
 bank of the creek putting on our shoes, and were talking 
 about the capture of Gray's company, while a portion of the 
 men had crossed before us and gone on ahead for a short 
 distance, when, to our surprise, we saw them running back 
 toward the creek with great rapidity. When they came up 
 close to us, they said, " Run, boys, the cavalry is after us." I 
 immediately jumped into the creek and ran through, but not 
 until some of the men had run over jue. I never saw such 
 a confusion so suddenly aroused in all my life. Some of the 
 men fell flat in the wateF, and in fact we all got perfectly 
 wet. One man, after he had succeeded in crossing the creek 
 without getting wet, ran violently against a tree, which 
 knocked him back into the water again. No one paid any 
 attention to him as he floundered about in the water, but 
 left him to get out if he could. At length we heard him 
 calling on us to stop. I was high up on the mountain, and 
 some of the men were still higher up than I was, who seemed 
 determined to save themselves by hiding in old logs and 
 brier-thickets. Not hearing any guns, I called to the men 
 not to run any farther, and told them that I would go back 
 to the creek and see if there was any danger ahead. When 
 I returned to the creek, I listened and looked with all the 
 ears and eyes I had, but could see nor hear nothing to occa- 
 sion the least alarm. I returned back to gather up my scat- 
 tered company, which I found to be quite a difiicult task, for 
 they had concealed themselves under the bushes and brush 
 like a gang of frightened partridges, and did not like the 
 idea of coming out where they could be seen. At length I 
 got them all together, with one exception, and commenced 
 
156 THRILLING ADVENTUKES OF 
 
 hunting and calling the man that was missing. He answer- 
 ed away off at some distance " Here I am. I thought I would 
 get where the rebels could not find me," and he crawled out 
 from between two old logs. Some of the men had crawled 
 so far into the brier-thickets that it was a serious labor for 
 them to get out again ; and when they did get out, they 
 found that they had left a good portion of their, clothing 
 hanging in strips upon the thorns and briers. Four of the 
 men lost theii* hats, and some of them lost their haversacks, 
 which contained all their provisions, which severe calamity 
 reduced them at once to a starving condition, for our sup- 
 ply of provisions was quite inadequate before any portion 
 of them had been lost. 
 
 The men were now convinced that they had again been 
 frightened at nothing, and appeared to hate it very much. 
 We now started on again, over logs and through bush, but 
 at length reached Clinch River, and, after some considerable 
 search, I found a place where I thought the men could wade 
 through it Avithout serious inconvenience. The river was 
 deep and wide, but we succeeded in crossing to the oppo- 
 site shore, when we all ran for about three hundred yards 
 to get into the woods, where we stopped to put on our 
 clothes, and then started on our journey, and by daylight 
 we arrived among the spurs of Powell's Mountain. We 
 now had nothing to eat but a little mouldy bread, which 
 we could not eat, and therefore had to pass off the day in 
 resting and trying to sleep, without eating any thing. 
 When night came on we prepared to start on our journey, 
 and all of us being very hungry, the mouldy bread was again 
 produced, but, finding it too unpalatable, it was again re- 
 turned to our haversacks untouched. We started on, and 
 crossed Powell's Mountain and also Wildcat Valley, and ar^ 
 rived at the foot of Walling's Ridge. By this time the. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 157 
 
 men were more exhausted and worn out than any previous 
 company that I ever conducted through the lines before. 
 However, we pushed on up the ridge, and finally reached 
 the top of it, and then started down toward Powell's Val- 
 ley. "When we got to the cleared land we stopped to take 
 off our shoes. I sincerely hoped that we would meet with 
 no opposition in crossing the valley, for I thought if we did 
 some of the tired party would have to be left to the mercy 
 of the rebels. When we got near the houses in the valley 
 I thought that all the dogs had surely been watching for 
 us ; there were two or three large dogs and one small one 
 at every house, and when one of them barked every dog in 
 the valley appeared to join in, which resulted in one loud, 
 spontaneous yell all over the valley. I felt sure that all the 
 citizens were awake and ready to assist in catching us, and, 
 to make the matter worse, just at this gloomy hour, when 
 the thoughts of all were vibrating between hope and de- 
 spairj Keen became very much discouraged, and declared 
 he would not go another step in the valley, and began to 
 beg us all to turn back with him. I was willing to do any 
 thing for the best, and told the men that I believed the best 
 policy was for us to go on and endeavor to get through, for 
 if we turned back we should have a much farther route to 
 travel, and through the roughest sort of mountains, and, in 
 our present exhausted condition, I did not think that we 
 would ever be able to get through. I also told them that 
 Cumberland Mountain was now in sight, where we would 
 be safe from the "jaws of the liqn," if we could succeed in 
 getting to it, and seek refuge upon its, lofty elevations. 
 Some of the men wished to go on, and some of them ex- 
 pressed a desire to turn back. Keen declared we would all 
 be killed if we went on that night, and offered me five dol- 
 lars if I would turn back, and Dr. Locke offered me five 
 
168 THRILLING ADVENTURES OP 
 
 dollars if I would go on. I did not regard the money which 
 was offered me on this occasion, for I would have given any 
 reasonable amount myself if they had all agreed to go for- 
 ward without so much "contention and endeavor to get 
 through the lines. Keen and his company continued to in- 
 sist on turning back, and at length we agreed to their prop- 
 osition, but with heavy and aching hearts. We struggled 
 on to the top of Walling's Ridge, and then went on down 
 and crossed over Wildcat Valley, and by daylight we ar- 
 rived at the foot of Powell's Mountain, and after climbing 
 up its steep side for a short distance we stopped, being very 
 much fatigued, and some of the men declared that they 
 were unable to proceed another step. 
 
 We were now not only hungry, but were really nearly 
 starved to death, and were compelled to eat a small portion 
 of our stale and sour bread. We rested here until evening, 
 when we started forward. Keen now began to notice the 
 trail that we made in traveling, and declared that the rebels 
 in the valley below would be sure to follow us, and said he 
 would leave the company and make his way through alone, 
 as one man, he said, could go where so many could not. I 
 insisted on his staying with us, as it was more upon his ac- 
 count than any one else that the company had agreed to. 
 turn back. But he would not stay with us any longer.'' 
 We therefore gave him a small portion of our badly-dam- 
 aged bread, which was now so much spoiled that it had 
 turned blue, having a few small pieces of the same kind lefb 
 for ourselves. Keen having now left us, we pursued our 
 journey on until night, when we crossed at the head of 
 Powell's Valley, at a place called Big Stone Gap ; and when 
 we got to the spurs of Cumberland Mountain we built up a 
 fire, and stopped for the remainder of the night. We had 
 now been two days and nights without any thing to eat 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 159 
 
 and again taking out our damaged bread, we laid it on the 
 fire-coals and burned the mould off of it, which singed and 
 crackled as if we had been burning the hair off of a parcel 
 of live rats or squirrels. We now made out to eat it, and 
 thought it very good. After supper, sonae five or six of 
 the men laid down in a small hole, piling together like hogs, 
 for the night was tolerably cool. Some crawled under old 
 logs, and every man selected a bed to suit himself. As for 
 myself, I could not sleep for thinking about Keen, who had 
 left us, I feared, to perish in the mountains, as his health 
 was quite indifferent at this time. 
 
 Morning at length came, and the rain was falling, and 
 the wind was blowing in a stormy manner, breaking great 
 limbs off of the trees over our heads ; we were in great 
 danger of being killed by , the falling timber, and the fog 
 was so dense that we could not see one hundred yards 
 ahead of us on the mountain. The wind was very cold, 
 and after traveling until eight o'clock, we were compelled 
 to stop and make up a fire to warm and dry ourselves as 
 well as we could. We had consumed all of our spoiled 
 bread, and were suffering greatly from hunger. After rest- 
 ing and warming our aching limbs, we pushed on through 
 • the falling rain, and through the bushes and brush, which 
 were so thick that it was hard for us to get along at all. 
 About ten o'clock we stopped again and built a fire, for 
 we were completely chilled, and felt so weak from our ter- 
 rible feelings of hunger that it was with great difficulty we 
 could stand on our feet. After resting by the fire for a 
 short time, we started on down the mountain, and when we 
 reached its foot we were in Kentucky, where our fondest 
 hopes had been centred during our long and weary journey. 
 After traveling about one mile and a half we got in sight of 
 Mr. Clark's house, which was the only house we had seen 
 
160 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 since we left our native mountains in East Tennessee that 
 we could enter with safety. I knew that we could remain 
 at this place and procure refreshments until we felt able 
 to pursue our journey, and the sight that rejoiced us most 
 of any thing else at this time was seeing the old man and 
 his son carrying something from the still-house that looked 
 very much like a keg. of brandy or whisky, and which, 
 when we got nearer t6 them, we found that we had judged 
 correctly.. When we got to the house I gave a man one 
 dollar to make us a fire', for we were so weak and so nearly 
 frozen that we could not make it ourselves. 
 
 We now bought half a gallon of whisky, and, after drink- 
 ing it, felt very, much revived, and soon afterward we all sat 
 down to a good^nd plentiful supper. We remained here 
 all night, and the next morning, after filling our canteens 
 with whisky and eating a hearty breakfast, the men whom 
 I had conducted safely through the mountains made imme- 
 diate preparations to start on their journey to Louisville, 
 and I to return to East Tennessee again. We would have 
 parted in better spirits had- it not been for the sad misgiv- 
 ings which we all entertained in regard to the probable 
 fate of our late companion, Jonas H. Keen. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 On the 10th day of June, 1863, 1 started for home again, 
 to retrace, alone and unattended, the long and weary path 
 through the mountains which I had so recently traveled. 
 After a steady day's travel, I arrived at Powell's River just 
 as night was setting in. Taking off my shoes, I waded 
 through the river, and pushed forward across Powell's Val- 
 ley, which was full of rebel soldiers. I walked as carefully 
 and as cautiously through this hated' and much-dreaded val- 
 ley as if the ground had been scattered over with dragon's 
 teeth, and I was momentarily expecting them to spring up 
 in all the hideous proportions of armed rebel soldiers. I 
 pushed on, and crossed over Walling's Ridge and Wildcat 
 Valley. It was now three o'clock in the night, and I now 
 stopped and tested until the next day about three o'clock 
 in the evening, when I concluded to go on. But, as usual, 
 whenever I pretended to travel in daylight something was 
 sure to happen to me ; for when. I was now descending a 
 long ridge, I saw a man before me with a gun, and he saw , 
 me about the same time. He raised his gun, and I dodged 
 quickly behind a tree and presented- a gun-barrel at him, 
 which I was carrying home with me. It was, in fact, all 
 the arms I had that could furnish any belief of my ability to 
 shoot; It was now his turn to dodge behind a tree. I 
 asked him who he was, and what he was doing in this lone- 
 ly region of country ? He replied that he was a scouter, 
 and thought when he first saw me that I was one of Colonel 
 Slimp's men, who was then stationed with his men in Pow- 
 ell's Valley. After questioning him a little farther, I found 
 
162 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 that he was a deserter from Colonel Slimp, and was under 
 the impression that I was pursuing him. He vowed that 
 he would kill the first man that attempted to capture him. 
 We agreed to lay down our guns, and meet each other on 
 the half-way ground. Seating ourselves upon an old log, 
 we ate supper together. I found him to be a Union man ; 
 and after spending some time in conversation, we parted 
 good friends, he to go on his scouting operations, and I to 
 pnrsue my journey home. I crossed Clinch River and Cop- 
 per Creek, and also Poor Valley, at the foot of Clinch Mount- 
 ain, and reached the top of this mountain by daylight. 
 
 I now laid down and rested during the day. I felt quite 
 lonesome upon the summit of this wild and lofty mountain 
 alone, but, soon forgetting my melancholy feelings, I passed 
 gently off into the land of dreams. When I awoke night had 
 already thrown her dark shadow o'er the mountain's top, and 
 I arose and started on toward the north fork of Holston 
 River. When I arrived at the river I waded through, and 
 hurried on to the big flats, near the boat-yard, where I staid 
 the balance of the night, and also the next day. Early the 
 next night I started on my journey, and some time before 
 daylight reached my native mountains once more, worn 
 out with fatigue, and almost destitute of clothing. I felt so 
 perfectly exhausted that I wondered whether I would ever 
 be able to take another trip to Kentucky. And it was a 
 month before I felt able to undertake another journey, 
 which I could not longer postpone, owing to the constant 
 and pressing applications which I received from the poor 
 men who were scouting in the mountains for my services 
 in conducting them through the mountains to Kentucky. 
 There was now a greater number of men laying out in the 
 mountains of Carter County, wishing to go through the 
 lines, than ever had been before, and the rebel soldiers were 
 hunting and watching for them in every direction. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 On the night of the 9th of July, 1863, 1 started to Ken- 
 tucky with a much larger company of men than I ever un- 
 dertook to pilot through the mountain on any previous oc- 
 casion. The most of this company consisted of men who 
 had been employed in working for the so-called Southern 
 Confederacy in the forges and saltpetre works, and, having 
 no confidence in their exemption papers, they were expect- 
 ing, to be placed in the rebel army at any time; and in or- 
 der to obtain a more sure exemption from the rebel service, 
 they had determined to go to Kentucky. The times were not 
 propitious for going into the mountains near their homes, 
 as the rebels seemed to be every where, and, being well 
 aware that numbers of men were running away to the Yan- 
 kees nearly every day, they were constantly on the watch 
 for stampeders. The starting-point which I had designated 
 was near the old O'Brien Forge, some three miles south of 
 Elizabethton. We traveled the first night we started about 
 thirteen miles, and stopped in some large ridges on the 
 Watauga River. 
 
 Our hiding-place during the next day was in a dense 
 thicket, where we remained in safety until darkness again 
 came on, and a dark night it was. We now had twenty 
 miles to travel before we could reach the White-oak Flats, 
 and the men fell and stumbled about at such a rate that we 
 made but very slow progress. About midnight I stopped 
 for the company to rest, as they seemed to be very tired-. 
 
IQi THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and some of their feet were already veiy sore. It was al- 
 most daylight before we got to the Holston River, opposite 
 to the flats, and found the river so full that we could not 
 wade it. I left the men in a secret place, and proceeded to 
 the house of a good old Union man to inquire if the canoe 
 was guarded. He told me if it was he did not know it, 
 and while we were considering what was the best to be 
 done, the men all came up, saying that they had heard some 
 person whistle, and thought that it was me giving them the 
 signal to advance. I told them that I had not whistled, and 
 that it*wg,s quite likely the rebels were about, and sure 
 enough they were. They were guarding the landing on the 
 opposite side of the river, watching for stampeders. There 
 was no guard on the side of the river where we were, and I 
 determined to outwit them, if it could possibly be done. 
 
 I conducted the company farther on down the river, and 
 told them to remain there, perfectly quiet, until I returned. 
 I then proceeded to the ferry-landing and got into the 
 canoe, and floated silently down the river to the place 
 where I had stationed the company. I now began to carry 
 them over the river in the canoe, and after a number of 
 trips backward and forward across the river I succeeded in 
 getting all of them safely across. The night was very dark, 
 and we left the river without being discovered. We now 
 had a piece of woods to go through, and a public road to 
 cross, and I think the rebels must have been in the road, and 
 heard us walking in the leaves, which we could not do with- 
 out making some noise. We had left the woods, and were 
 traveling in the road for a short distance, as in this way 
 I thought we could get clear of danger a little sooner. 
 The rebels now came very near running upon the rear of 
 the company before they were discovered. I had been lis- 
 tening for them very intently, and at length heard them 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 165 
 
 running to overtake us. In a second after I gave the alarm 
 we were all flying up the road, which I continued to pursue 
 for about three hundred yards, and then tnrned off into the 
 woods about fifty yards, where we all immediately laid down 
 behind some bushes, thinking by this pieans to evade our 
 pursuers. We heard them coming on up the road, and 
 when they came up opposite to where we were, they turn- 
 ed out of the road into the woods, and, to our very great 
 surprise and terror, they came right on toward our hiding- 
 place. We remained perfectly still until the rebels got 
 within some twenty steps of us, when, seeing thatithey were 
 coming directly on us, we all raised at once, and started 
 through the woods like a herd of frightened buffaloes. The 
 rebels commenced yelling like demons from the infernal re- 
 gions, and the winged messengers of death, which they 
 hurled after us from their guns, whistled around us in every 
 direction, but, very fortunately, failed to inflict any injury 
 upon the flying fugitives, who fled on through the woods as 
 if they bad been carried along upon the wings of the wind. 
 The terrible explosions of the " villainous saltpetre," as it 
 escaped frem the rebel guns, only seemed to put us under 
 good headway, and on we went, through tree-tops, and over 
 old logs and stumps. Some of the men threw away their 
 haversacks, and some lost their hats, but none of them, 
 stopped for the rebels to capture them. The rebels kept 
 pretty close after us foi* some time, calling on us at every 
 step to halt. But they might as well have undertaken to 
 stop the course of the river at that time as to have endeay- 
 ored to stop us in our wild and precipitate flight. 
 
 I was very well convinced that, if they should succeed in 
 capturing me, they would not forget to bestow upon me 
 a' most ignominious death ; and not "wiping them to cap- 
 ture my men, I encouraged them all the time, telling them 
 
166 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I- 
 
 to follow on after me and we would get away. The men 
 strained every nerve in their onward flight, and we soon got 
 out of the hearing of our mad and vindictive pursuers. But 
 we still went ahead in a sort of double-quick rate of speed, 
 and by daylight we reached some lofty and densely-timber- 
 ed ridges, which afforded us an admirable place of conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 When I came back on my return trip home through this 
 section of country, where I and my company were chased so 
 dreadfully by the rebels, I was told by a good Union friend 
 that a coMpany of rebel cavalry arrived there on the same 
 evening that I and my company got to the Holston River. 
 The rebels had been sent there for the purpose of watching 
 for stampeders, and running upon our party as they did on 
 that eventful night put them in fine spirits. My friend told 
 me that the next evening, bright and early, the rebels dis- 
 mounted from their horses and started on, shouting and 
 cheering, to search the flats, saying they would be sure to 
 capture the " old red fox" that day, as they were confident 
 that no other person would have had the extreme audacity 
 to cross the river in the very face of their pickets. They 
 were sure that we were in the flats somewhere, and there 
 they continued to hunt for us all the day, but they at length 
 agreed to give up the search without finding any person, 
 for the scouters who had been staying there, having heard 
 of their arrival the evening before, had " taken time by the 
 forelock" and made*heir escape. When the rebels started 
 to search the flats, I was told that some of them loudly pro- 
 claimed that if they should succeed in captui'ing the " old 
 red fox," they intended to give his hide a much deeper tinge 
 of red from his own blood. I will here state for the infor- 
 mation of the rea(ier that the "old red fox" was the sobri- 
 quet by which I was known by the Union people, as well as 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. -167 
 
 the rebels, during the period that I acted iu the capacity of 
 a pilot. During the several memorable years that I was 
 generally known under the name and style of the " old j-ed 
 fox," I must confess that I had many severe races and a 
 number of very narrow escapes from, the infamous rebel 
 hounds who meditated and sought my destruction, but I al- 
 ways succeeded in defeating their best-arranged stratagems 
 to accomplish my capture and ultimate death, and for which 
 great mercy I shall ever render up my profound thanks and 
 heartfelt praise to Him who can " take the wise in their 
 own craftiness," and who, while on earth, " spake as never 
 man spake;" who existed before "the morning stars sang 
 together," and who will continue to exist throughout the 
 ceaseless and incalculable ages of eternity. 
 
 I was told that when the rebels returned in the evening 
 from their hunt through the flats, they did not cheer quite 
 so loudly as they did when they started in the morning, 
 but came back cursing and raving among the poor women, 
 who they blamed for carrying news, saying that it was very 
 strange that large companies of men could go through that 
 section of country to the Yankees, having the river to cross, 
 and escape without being caught. They did not think that 
 " where there is a will there is always a way," and they did 
 not know what tremendous barriers the oppressed Union 
 men were capable of surmounting. 
 
 We remained all day near the north fork of Holston Riv- 
 er, and just as soon as it was dark we started on, and cross- 
 ed the river below the Holston Springs, in Scott County, 
 Virginia. The river was tolerably deep, but with the aid 
 of stout sticks we reached the opposite shore safely. We 
 now struck out as rapidly as we could go for Clinch Mount- 
 ain, as we considered that to be the haven for our present 
 safety; when we got to the mountain we traveled along 
 
168 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 the side of it until we found a good place to build a fire, 
 when we stopped, and dried onr clothes, and rested there 
 until daylight. When morning came we started on, and 
 traveled all day, not believing it to be safe for us to remain 
 long in one place. At twelve o'clock we stopped and rest- 
 ed a short time, and then pressed forward until evening, 
 when we came to water, where we stopped, and sat down 
 to eat our simj^le meal of bread and cold meat, not having 
 even enough of that, as our stock of provisions was already 
 running low, which was occasioned by a number of the 
 party having to throw down their haversacks in their re- 
 cent terrible flight from the rebels. 
 
 We now set out on our night's travel, and soon reached 
 Poor Valley, which we crossed, and then crossed over Cop- 
 per Ridge, and waded Copper Creek, at the foot of the 
 ridge, and went on to Clinch River, which we knew we 
 would have to wade, as every canoe and ferry landing was 
 strongly guarded by the rebels. Upon reaching Clinch 
 River, each one of us cut a stout stick to walk with, and 
 started into the river. Some of the men, could barely keep 
 their heads above the water; but, after some considerable 
 stumbling and plunging, we all got to the shore in safety, 
 all of our clothing getting perfectly wet. We now took 
 the ridges leading on toward Powell's Mountain, wading 
 creeks, climbing knobs, and slipping through hill-side farms, 
 until we reached the spurs of Powell's Mountain, and after 
 finding a favorable hiding-place we stopped. The men had 
 traveled remarkably well, but now seemed to be very much 
 exhausted, and were also hungry,, and, the worst of all, they 
 had nothing to eat. Some of them had been so long con- 
 cealed in holes in the ground, and in their little bark camps 
 in the mountains, that they were entirely unable to pui'- 
 chase a supply of provisions for their journey to Kentncky 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 169 
 
 and: tljerefore wholly depended on any fortuitous circum- 
 stances which might arise during their jom-ney to supply 
 themselves with provisions. We were now a good many 
 miles from Kentucky, and the rebel soldiers at every house 
 in the valleys through which we had to pass, and knowing, 
 as we did, that there was great 8anger of the whole com- 
 pany falling into their hands if we ventured off of the 
 mountain, all contributed to form a very gloomy prospect 
 for us to obtain any thing more to eat. 
 
 We passed off the day upon the mountain, and at night 
 we started again, weak and hungry, for another hard night's 
 travel. How often did we think of the provisions that had 
 been lost when we were running from the infernal rebels 
 at Holston River, for the want of which we were now starv- 
 ing by degrees. The loss of our provisions made us think 
 that our hatred for the rebel foe could never die, and the 
 terrible sufferings which we were subjected to in conse- 
 quence of losing our meat and bread can never be forgot- 
 ten. We reached the foot of Walling's Ridge about twelve 
 o'clock, and when we commenced going up the acclivitous 
 ascent I wondered whether the poor tired and hungry men 
 would ever be able to reach the distant summit. But after 
 climbing and pulling up the steep places by the bushes and 
 vines for a long time, we got to the top of the ridge, and 
 then, traveling along on its top for about three miles, we 
 _ turned -down toward ; Powell's Valley, , and when we got 
 down to the cleared land we stopped, and after taking off 
 our shoes we started on in our stocking feet, to preyent the 
 dogs from hearing us walk, and thereby raise the alarm. 
 We were not . always successful, for sometimes they could 
 tell that men were approaching from their scent alone. I 
 thought that the poor men had already-endured enough of 
 trouble and vexation in their journey, and inwardly hoped 
 
 H 
 
170 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 that we would be able to escape the dangers which always 
 suiTounded the pathway of the poor TJnion scouters through 
 this despicable valley, and get on safely to the Cumberland 
 Mountain without meeting with any farther molestation. 
 My hope in this regard was eminently realized, for we pass- 
 ed through the valley without being discovered. 
 
 When we arrived at Powell's River we plunged into it, 
 without taking time to take off our clothes, and made our 
 way as rapidly as possible to the Cumberland Mountain. 
 When got to where there was water on the mountain 
 we stopped and washed our stockings and pants, and, after 
 wringing them as dry as we could, put them on again. By 
 this time it was daylight, and as the mountain was very 
 rugged, we went on until we could find a suitable place to 
 build up fires to dry our wet clothes. We were still in a 
 region of country where it was a matter of impossibility to 
 procure any thing to eat, for there were more or less rebel 
 soldiers at every house which was near to us, and there- 
 fore, after resting for a short time, we commenced prepar- 
 ing our feet for the remainder of the journey. Some of the 
 men's shoes were almost entirely gone, and ready to be 
 " numbered with the things that were," for they were now 
 compelled to tie them on their feet with rags. And some 
 of the men were destitute of hats, and were traveling with 
 no other covering for their heads than that which was fur- 
 nished them by old mother Nature herself. I do not now 
 remember that I ever conducted a company of men through 
 the mountains to Kentucky but what quite a number of 
 them lost their hats and shoes before they got to the end 
 of their journey, and I am very sure that none ever reached 
 the Kentucky line with me without being perfectly ragged, 
 and I have no sort of doubt but that the rebels might have 
 often pursued us by the small pieces of the men's clothing 
 which were left hanging in the brush and briers. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 171 
 
 It was about twelve o'clock before I could get all the 
 company started, and when they did start I had very hard 
 work to persuade them to move onward toward the end of 
 their journey, and I could not blame them, for they were 
 now so weak from the want of food that it was a serious 
 labor for them to travel. In fact, quite a number of the 
 poor men presented specimens of lean, gaunt, cadaverous 
 human beings, who would have thrown Calvin Edson him- 
 self in the shade if he had been present to undergo a con- 
 trast with them. Famine, in its dismal habiliments of 
 wretchedness, had conspicuous representatives in this com- 
 pany of forlorn, wayfaring, and hungry men. When we 
 arrived at the Kentucky line we stopped to rest again. 
 We soon started on, and I encouraged the men to press for- 
 ward, and by dark we reached the residence of Mr. Clark. 
 Here we got an abundance to eat, and a good fire to sleep 
 by, and when morning came we all felt very much refreshed. 
 After breakfast we set out for the station of the home 
 guards on Cumberland River, where we remained all night 
 with them. The next morning the men that I had conduct- 
 ed through the mountains started on to Louisville to join 
 the 4th Regiment of Tennessee Infantry. I had done all 
 that I could for them ; they were now free from rebel tyr- 
 anny, and could go wherever they pleased. I knew that 
 my services were needed by the scouters in the mountains' 
 of Carter County, many of whom I had promised to assist 
 in getting through the lines to Kentucky. After the com- 
 pany started I immediately returned to Clark's, where I 
 staid all night, and bought a supply of provisions for my 
 return trip to East Tennessee. 
 
172 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 On the moroing of the 16th day of July, 1863, 1 turned 
 my face homeward again. When I got on the top of Cum- 
 berland Mountain I looked down into Powell's Valley, where 
 I could see the rebel soldiers passing about in squads. 
 After watching their movements for some time I went on 
 down to the foot of the mountain, where I stopped to rest 
 and to eat my supper. As soon as it got dark I pushed on 
 to Powell's River, and, after taking off my clothes, waded 
 through. Wishing to shun the valley as much as possible, 
 I slipped along through some cleared fields to an immense 
 thicket of papaw bushes, some of which had grown to be 
 small saplings. There was an old fence running through 
 the thicket, and a little blind path ran along the fence. I 
 was walking in this path, and had walked in it for about 
 four hundred yards, and was now almost out of the thicket, 
 when I heard horses coming toward me. It was so dark 
 that I could see no person,' and turned and went back in 
 the path some distance as fast as I could run, aud turned 
 out into the thicket some forty or fifty yards, and laid down 
 behind an old log. I could now hear the horses approach- 
 ing quite plain, and when coming opposite to where I was 
 concealed, their riders, turned off the path and came straight 
 on to the log where I was hid. I laid perfectly still, and 
 hearH the riders dismount and begin to hitch their horses 
 to the saplings. I thought that my time had now come 
 sure enough, but remained still, meditating what was best 
 to be done in the present emergency. I thought that there 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 173 
 
 would be no chance to effect my escape if I should run out 
 of the thicket, for there was nothing but cleaved land all 
 around. I concluded that the best plan was to lay still. 
 One of the men came up to the log behind which I was ly- 
 ing, and, reaching over it, bent down a bush and tied his 
 horse to it. The horse, getting frightened, jumped back 
 and came near breaking his halter. The man now came up 
 to the log to see what was the matter, when, finding that I 
 would be discovered, I raised up, which frightened the man 
 as badly as he had frightened me, for he immediately turned 
 and ran away as fast as he could go. I called to him, when 
 he stopped and spoke to me. I found them to be negroes. 
 They told me that they were hiding their masters' horses 
 to keep the rebel soldiers from getting them. I asked them 
 how many soldiers were in the valley. They told me there 
 were some six or seven hundred. I now bid them good- 
 night and passed on. 
 
 I immediately got on to a high point, where I could see 
 the rebel camp-fires all over the valley, and began to think 
 that I would have to turn back. I studied for some time 
 whether to go back or not, and concluded to run the risk 
 of being captured rather than, turn back. I selected the 
 darkest route I could find. I started forward into this 
 loathsome valley, which, if it had been covered all over its 
 surface with dead men's bones, I could not have' detested 
 it any worse than I did. At one time I passed so near to 
 one of the rebel encampments that I could see them eating 
 and hear them talking. One of the rebels was playing 
 away on a fiddle, while others were engaged in " shaking 
 the ligbt fantastic toe." The night was dark and cloudy, 
 and their ,fires gave a brilliant light ; the houses in the val- 
 ley were all lighted up, and the dogs were barking away in 
 a desperate manner. The rebels were singing and yelling 
 
174 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 all around, but none of them seemed to be aware that there 
 was "a looker-on in Venice" who was watching their 
 frantic revelry. But I did not lose much time in watching 
 their movements, for I was too anxious to get out of that 
 rebel pandemonium, for which I entertained such profound 
 nbhorrence. I passed on through the valley unnotfced, 
 without attracting the attention of any thing, with the ex- 
 ception of the rebels' horses, which would see me as I passed 
 near to where they were hitched, when some of them would 
 raise their heads high up and give a loud snort. I hastened 
 on to the top of Walling's Ridge, where I rested a short 
 time, and then, after traveling on the ridge for two or three 
 miles, I turned down toward the valley, and by the time I 
 got to the foot of the ridge the chickens were crowing for 
 day. I had now to go at a rapid rate of speed in order to 
 reach Powell's Mountain by daylight ; and I did not quite 
 make the reach, for before I got out of the valley it was 
 quite light, and a parcel of rebel soldiers having seen me, 
 they started after me like a gang of demons, yelling and 
 loudly hallooing halt ! halt ! ! halt ! ! ! But in this peremp- 
 tory order I did not obey them, but started on up the^ 
 mountain as- fast as I could go. They now commenced 
 shooting at me, and, from the manner in which their bullets 
 whistled around me, I was well convinced that they meant 
 to do me serious injury. They were foot - soldiers, and I 
 think they were armted with Colt's army pistols. Having 
 not the smallest particle of love for these desperadoes, I 
 soon got out of their reach. When I got on to a high 
 point on the mountain, I looked back to see what had be- 
 come of these fellows, who had desired to make. my ac- 
 quaintance so unceremoniously, when I observed them slow- 
 ly returning to the valley. 
 
 I now pursued my way on top of the mountain until I 
 
DANIEL EU-IS. 175 
 
 came to a good hiding-place, when I stopped to rest and to 
 eat my breakfast. I remained here all day, sleeping finely 
 during the greater portion of the day, and when night came 
 on I started down the mountain, and, crossing over the in- 
 termediate valleys and mountain farms, I arrived at Clinch 
 River, which I found to be tolerably full. I took off my 
 clothes and tied them on my head, hoping to keep them 
 dry, but in this I failed ; for sometimes I was .compelled to 
 swim,, and when I succeeded in getting over my clothes 
 were perfectly wet. After wringing the water out of them 
 as well as I could, I put them on and went on, crossing the 
 little river knobs, wading creeks, and crossing valleys until 
 I got to Clinch Mountain, and by the time I got over the 
 mountain it was daylight. 
 
 I remained in the bushes at the foot of the mountain all 
 day, and as soon as it was dark I pushed on to the north 
 fork of Holston River. I again took off my clothes, but the 
 liver was so full I was compelled to swim, and again got 
 them very wet. I put them on, wet as they were, and 
 started on. I now had the road to cross leading from 
 the boat-yard to Moccasin Gap in Clinch Mountain. The 
 night was very dark, and when I got to the road I struck a 
 match to see if there had been much traveling in it. The 
 road had been badly cut up by horses and wagons, and I 
 therefore began to look out for the rebels again, as the 
 country was very good for them to forage in. When I got 
 near to Reedy Creek I saw a good many lights burning, 
 which at once convinced me that the rebels were encamped 
 near the fla,ts, and after advancing a little farther^I per- 
 ceived that their encampment was in an old £eld of about 
 ten acres, which I would have to cross. I thought if I 
 could only get through that field I could then easily dodge 
 them in the brush, as there was a dense forest just beyond 
 
176 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the old iield. I resolved to try, as I knew that an effort in 
 that direction was the only thing which could furnish a key 
 to ultimate success. It was quite dark, and the light from 
 their camp-fires was very brilliant, which rendered every 
 object in the encampment quite visible, which was quite 
 favorable on my side, for I was thereby enabled to watch 
 all of their movements without their being able to see me. 
 I now prepared to cross the field. I had recruiting papers 
 for the Federal army in my pocket, besides a number of 
 letters, which the men whom I bad recently conducted 
 through to Kentucky bad sent back to their friends in East 
 Tennessee, and also about two hundred dollars in Confed- 
 erate and state money. Taking all these things, I wrapped 
 them up carefully in my handkerchief, and placed them in 
 the bosom of my hunting-shirt, a loose garment I always 
 wore in the mountains, and then tied it tightly around my 
 body, thinking that if I should be captured I could get hold 
 of them conveniently to throw them awa)'. Taking off my 
 shoes, and fearing that I might be seen walking, I gof 
 down upon my hands and knees, and crawled along for some 
 distance. When I got near the thickest part of the rebel 
 encampment I thought I would have to get up and run. 
 But I passed on undiscovered until I came to the fence 
 which was near the woods, where I found horses tied to it 
 as thick as they could stand. When I went up to climb 
 the fence I passed between two of the horses, when they 
 began to snort and paw the earth with their feet. I stop- 
 ped until they became quiet, and then jumped over the 
 fence and ran across the road. I now stopped in the 
 woods to see if the rebels were pursuing me, as I had made 
 some noise when I crossed the fence. I saw four of them 
 come to the fence and examine their horses, and, finding 
 them all right, they went back to their fires. I started on 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. .177 
 
 and traveled until I believed that I was out of danger, when 
 I stopped to put on my shoes. I felt for my bundle of pa- 
 pers, and found that I had lost them. I felt quite certain 
 that I had lost the bundle out of my bosom when I was 
 orawhng through the rebel encampment, as I was too busi- 
 ly engaged at that time in watching the rebels to know 
 when the bundle fell out of my bosom. I knew that I had 
 the bundle when I got down to crawl, and was quite sure 
 that I had not dropped it after crossing the fence. But I 
 never heard a single word about my recruiting papers or 
 any of the letters afterward. If the rebels ever found them, 
 I suppose they were ashamed to make it known, thinking 
 that they might be too harshly reprimanded for permitting 
 the " old red fox" to pass right through their encampment 
 without being molested, for the papers indicated precisely 
 who they belonged to, and what I was authorized by them 
 to do. The letters, also, which I was bringing back from 
 the men whom I had just conducted through the mount- 
 ains, told very plainly who the bearer of dispatches was. 
 If they did find my bundle of papers, I presume they 
 thoiJght that they were doing a slow business in catching 
 stampedei-s. As I did not fancy the idea of returning to 
 search for my missing bundle, I started on my journey, and 
 when I got into a retired part of the country I stopped to 
 rest until the next night. 
 
 I passed off the day with some of my scouting friends 
 near the White-oak Plats, who warned me to observe a 
 good deal of caution while I was trav6i|(feg the remainder of 
 my journey. They told me how the rebel soldiers had 
 searched the flats the day after I had passed along with my 
 company, and told me they were now constantly watching 
 for my return. I did not enjoy myself very well during this 
 day, for I was expecting every moment to see the rebels 
 
 H2 
 
178 THRILLING ADVENTUBES OF 
 
 coming in hot pursuit after me, as I felt no sort of doubt 
 but what they had found my papers, and would know at 
 once from them that I was in the country. But the day at 
 last wore off, and no rebels came after me. 
 
 As soon as it was dark I started on my journey. When 
 I arrived at Holston River I found that it was too full to 
 wade, and I did not like the idea of swimming over it, as I 
 did not now wish to get my clothes wet. Knowing, as I 
 did, where a canoe was kept, I thought I would steal it, and 
 cross the river in it if it was not guarded. When I got 
 within ten steps of the canoe, to my very great surprise I 
 was ordered very gruffly by some person to halt. I turned 
 in an instant, and, without bidding this stranger good-night, 
 immediately took the back track, and that in a hurry. He 
 fired his pistol at me five times, and also bursted a cap, but 
 none of the balls touched me, although they sung their dire- 
 ful music in close proximity to my listening ears. 
 
 It may very well be imagined that I did not attempt any 
 more on that night to get a canoe. I went to a shoal in the 
 river to cross, where sometimes I could wade, and at other 
 times had to swim. When I got over I put on my wet clothes, 
 which were very ragged and dirty; but, I must confess, 
 the river on this occasion gave them a pretty good washing, 
 which at this time did not feel very agreeable to my per- 
 son. I yet had thirty miles to travel in my wet and ragged 
 clothes. I reached the railroad about four o'clock, when I 
 had seven miles farther to go ; I traveled very slowly the 
 last few miles of m^ourney, for I was very much fatigued 
 and very weak from hunger, and my frequent cold baths in 
 the rivers had done me no good. I now thought that just 
 one such trip as the one which I had now accomplished 
 would have been enough to satisfy any person but myself 
 with the business of piloting men to Kentucky. But as 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 179 
 
 soon as I changed my clothes, and rested for a few days, 
 and recovered my strength by receiving enough to eat, 
 I was ready " to run the gauntlet" among the rebels again, 
 during the period which it required to make another long 
 and wearisome journey from the mountains of Carter Coun- 
 ty, to the State of Kentucky, and which- it sometimes re- 
 quired all my philosophy and courage to perform. Howev- 
 er, I was always consoled in the reflection that I was con- 
 tributing to the relief of my oppressed and sufiering fellow- 
 men,- and at the same time serving my beloved country. 
 
 I reached home on the 20th day of July, 1863, and find- 
 ing that the mountains were full of men anxiously awaiting 
 my return, I immediately prepared to start upon another 
 journey to Kentucky, after staying at hoftie only three 
 
180 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 On the 24th of July, 1863, 1 started to Kentucky with 
 as many of the^oor scouting conscripts as I thought I 
 could get safely through with. When I reached the boat- 
 yard I found that the rebels were still watching, but not so 
 strictly as they were when I was there on my last trip. I 
 here received an accession to my company of fifty-five men, 
 who had assembled there from every direction, in order to 
 avail themselves of my services in getting through the lines. 
 Among them wei-e J.J. James, from Fall Branch, near Bay's 
 Mountain, Tennessee, and John Hunt, from the same place. 
 There were many good sound Union men who lived at the 
 boat-yard, and they watched and warned us of all approach- 
 ing danger until we could get off. 
 
 We left the boat-yard on the night of the 24th of July, 
 and made our way to the north fork of Holston River. 
 Here we had the good fortune to find a canoe, in which we 
 all crossed, and then set out for Clinch Mountain, which 
 was two miles ahead. We soon arrived at the foot of the 
 mountain, and traveled up it a long distance — at least the 
 men must have thought it a long distance from the way 
 that they complained of fatigue. When we arrived at a 
 good situation upon the mountain we stopped and made 
 up fires. It was now nearly daylight, arid we laid down to 
 endeavor to sleep. We remained here until twelve o'clock, 
 when I thought that we ought not to remain any longer in 
 one place for safety, so I urged the company to make a for- 
 ward movement. We now went on across the mountain. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 181 
 
 when, upon getting near to Little Poor Valley, we stopped 
 to wait until night came on, at which time we crossed over 
 the vaUey, and went on to Copper Ridge, making our way 
 to Powell's Mountain. We now had steep and rough river 
 knobs to cross over all the time, so that our progress was 
 very slow and difficult ; but we went steadily forward until 
 we reached Clinch River, when, taking off our clothes, we 
 waded through it and pushed on, and got to the spurs of 
 Powell's Mountain by daylight. 
 
 After we ascended the mountain some distance we came 
 to water,- where we stopped to rest our aching limbs and 
 discuss the best way to cross over Powell's Valley. Wc 
 had traveled thus far without any trouble with the rebels, 
 and we thought it would be a considerable achievement if 
 we should be able to pass this dangerous rebel rendezvous 
 without being discovered. The sun shone out brightly, 
 and we rested finely in the warm leaves. Early in the 
 night we started on, crossing hills and ridges until mid- 
 night, when we reached the foot of Walling's Ridge. Some 
 of the men were now very much exhausted, J. J. James 
 particularly ; he was now unable to travel without being 
 led, and he could not get up steep places at all without a 
 man under each one of his arms to assist him. We got 
 over the ridge after about three hours' hard traveling, and 
 reached the cleai-ed land next to Powell's Valley. We now 
 pulled off our shoes and w&lked in our stocking-feet, in or- 
 der to make as little noise as possible. As good luck would 
 have it, we crossed the valley in safety, and hurried on to 
 Powell's River, and' when we got to it we did not even 
 halt to take off our clothes ; we marched straight through, 
 and pushed on to Cumberland Mountain, and soon arrived 
 at, its fijot. We continued . our journey up the mountain 
 until we came to water, when we stopped to wash the sand 
 
182 THBILUNG ADVENTUBES OF 
 
 and mud out of our pants and socks, and, after -wringing, 
 them as dry as we could, we put them on, and then trav- 
 eled on over one of the roughest mountains that a set of 
 poor lame, tired, and worn-out men ever attempted to trav- 
 el over before. 
 
 Some of the company now had to assist James all the 
 time ; they had to lead him and drag him together for more 
 than ten miles while we were crossing the mountain. We 
 got to the Kentucky line abont two o'clock, when the com- 
 pany appeared to be greatly rejoiced that they had at last 
 escaped from the geographical limits of the so-called South- 
 ern Confederacy. But I do not suppose that they were 
 half as much rejoiced as I was myself, for I always had a 
 very great dread on my mind from the time I would start 
 with a company until I reached the Kentucky line, when a 
 most perplexing load of responsibility would at once fall 
 off of me, which was far more oppressive on me than the 
 burden of Atlas was when he was supporting the world on 
 liis shoulders. The burden of Atlas was only created and 
 imposed by some fanciful mythologist, while mine was a 
 burden which oppressed and perplexed me in my daily 
 meditations and in ray nightly dreams. 
 
 We went on to the house of Mr. Clark on Clover Fork, 
 where we got an abundance to eat and drink, and the next 
 morning, there being no danger now in their way, the men, 
 with gay and light hearts, all started on to Louisville 
 with the exception of poor James, who could not walk a 
 step, and was compelled to lay up until his limbs could re- 
 cover their usual vigor and activity. His feet were very 
 much swollen, and had turned entirely purple. I never saw 
 n. man suffer more than he did in performing the journey 
 through the lines to Kentucky. I knew that I could do the 
 men no more good by going with them any farther, and 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 183 
 
 my services were too badly needed by the scouters in the 
 mountains of Carter County for me to waste any more 
 time than I could possibly avoid ; I therefore, after rest- 
 ing two days and nights, procured a small stock of pro- 
 visions, and set out on my lonely and weary journey. 
 
1S4 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 On the 1st day of August, 1863,1 started on my return 
 trip to East Tennessee. I traveled hard all day, and reached 
 Powell's Valley just as night was setting in. After wait- 
 ing until every thing was still and quiet in the valley, I 
 went on across it, and got on to the heights of^alling's 
 Ridge. Here I rested for a short time, and then pushed on, 
 crossing Powell's Mountain, wading the mountain streams, 
 and climbing the steep river knobs, until I reached Clinch 
 River, which I waded through, after taking off my clothes. 
 I do not think that I shall ever forget the depth and the 
 breadth of this river, as I had it to wade so often. I now 
 pushed on, crossing valleys, mountains, farms, and wading 
 branches, until I arrived at Clinch Mountain ; it was now 
 daylight, and, finding a good place to conceal myself in, I 
 concluded to remain here all day. 
 
 The morning was quite warm, and a hot day coming on, 
 I laid down in the shade to sleep and rest during the day, 
 of which I was very much in need after my severe travel- 
 ing. I slept until about ten o'clock, when I awoke, suffer- 
 ing at the time very much for water. I well knew that I 
 would be in great danger by going lower down upon the 
 mountain, but my thirst was so aggravating that I resolved 
 to risk it. I went along the side of the mountain for some 
 distance, but could not see any sign of water. I now dis- 
 covered at some distance below me a gap in the mount- 
 ain, where I concluded there must be water. I went on 
 until I came to a road leading on through the gap. I did 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 185 
 
 not like to travel in roads even after night, much less in 
 daylight. I hardly know how I had the extreme temerity 
 to travel in this road as far as I did ; hut, notwithstanding 
 the danger that I was constantly in of being seen by the 
 rebel soldiers or citizens, I continued to follow this road 
 until I came to a beautiful spring of water, where I drank 
 as much as I desired, and then filled my canteen. 
 
 While I was engaged in filling my canteen from the crys- 
 tal fountain my nose was saluted with a most horrible ef- 
 fluvium. I immediately began to look around for the cause 
 of the noxious odor which had so suddenly visited my nos- 
 trils, expecting every moment to see the putrid and decay- 
 ing carcass of a; dead hog or some other animal, when, hor- 
 rible to relate in a civilized country, I saw the fleshless 
 skeletons of three human beings hanging to a stooping sap- 
 ling. I went up nearer and examined them ;' there was no 
 fragment of clothing to be seen, and the flesh had all de- 
 cayed from their bones. Their hair had fallen off of their 
 heads, and was lying beneath their feet upon the ground. 
 The bones of two of them were still all united together, 
 forming two whole skeletons of the former living men ; 
 and the backbone of the other one having separated just 
 below his ribs, the leg and hip-bones had fallen to the 
 ground. I presumed that he had been shot through the 
 backbone, which had caused his frame to separate where it 
 did. 
 
 They had been hung with hickory bark, which had been 
 peeled off of some hickory sprouts growing near, for the 
 hickory sprouts off which the murderers had peeled the 
 bark were still there to be seen. I at once guessed that 
 they -^re poor fugitives who had been captured while they 
 were trying to get through the lines. I did not tarry long 
 at this spring, for I well knew that the fate which had been 
 
ULUS VUiWiWU THE SKELETONS, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 187 
 
 allotted to these poor men would rriost unquestionably be 
 meted out to me if I should fall into the: hands of the rebels. 
 When I got a short distance from the spring I met with a 
 woman coming down the ro?id, and, after the usual saluta- 
 tion, a short colloquy ensued between us as follows; 
 ■"How came these men to be hung upon that tree?" 
 
 She replied, " They were a parcel of Iiincolnites that our 
 boys captured at that spring while they were getting wa- 
 ter." 
 
 "That is a horrible sight, madam. Is that the way that 
 the Linoolnitesare disposed of when they are so unfortu- 
 nate as to be captured ?" 
 
 "Yes; they receive no mercy whatever from our boys. 
 If you will go down the road about one hundred yards you 
 will find a parcel of them that were captured here a short 
 time ago, and were shot immediately, and were thrown be- 
 hind an old log, and covered up with leaves and chunks." 
 
 " How does it happen that so many men are captured in 
 this neighborhood ?". . 
 
 "Why, there isa company of soldiers stationed on Clinch 
 River, and they have selected the best hunters in the coun- 
 try to watch the roads and mountain paths to catch men 
 who are making their way through the lines." 
 
 " Well, that is the most diabolical: sight that I have ever 
 witnessed in all my life." 
 
 " Oh, that is not a strange sight to me, by any means. I 
 have seen the hat and shoes taken off of many Lincolnitea, 
 and have seen them kneel to pray before being shot." 
 
 " And .did it cause you no emotions of pity to witness 
 such a terrible spectacle ?" 
 
 "No, none whatever. That is the very way that men 
 ought to be treated whenever they are caught running away 
 ■ to Old Abe. All of them ought, to be k;jlled." 
 
188 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " But do you think that the poor men whona you have 
 seen murdered so unceremoniously were really guilty of 
 any crime for which they deserved to be killed ?" 
 
 " Yes, I have no sympathy for them whatever. I believe 
 it is perfectly right to kill them whenever they are caught. 
 I have a husband and two brothers in the Southern army, 
 and every man who is unwilling to fight for the Southern 
 Confederacy, who may be caught in the act of running off 
 to Kentucky, ought to be hung or shot." 
 
 This pugnacious virago was quite talkative, and I do not 
 think that she was more than twenty-five years of age. 
 She was young in years, but old in wickedness. Scott says 
 in one of his poems, 
 
 " Oh woman ! in our hours of ease, 
 Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
 But when affliction wrings the brow, 
 A ministering angel thou." 
 
 But I do not think that this vindictive amazon could in the 
 smallest degree substantiate the truth of this poetic senti- 
 ment, for if she had descended from a race of anthropoph- 
 agi, and had been fed upon human flesh and blood all her 
 life, she could not have been more hardened to human woe 
 or more dead to human sympathy. 
 
 I would have asked more questions about the murders 
 which she had witnessed, and which she talked about with 
 such perfect coolness, but I was afraid to remain any longer 
 in this dismal valley, where the bones and skeletons of dead 
 men seemed to give no terror whatever even to a woman. 
 I therefore bid this loquacious female rebel good-day, and 
 hastened on toward the rougli mountain, for I was alto- 
 gether out of my range. I must confess that I felt extreme- 
 ly melancholy after the terrible and shocking spectacle that 
 I had seen near the spring, and, forgetting my weariness, I 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 189 
 
 continued to travel on all day. Eai-ly in the night I reached 
 the north fork of Holston River, which, after taking off my 
 clothes, I waded through. I then traveled on, over fields 
 and knobs, the remainder of the night, and by daylight I 
 reached the flats, where my old friend, Mrs. Grills, gave me 
 a warm breakfast. ' I remained here all day, and when 
 night came on I started on my journey, and reached the 
 old hills of Carter County by daylight, being greatly fa- 
 tigued, and with very sore feet, which had been occasioned 
 by the severe journey which I had accomplished. 
 
 I found very many who had been anxiously awaiting my 
 return, and was at once convinced that there was no rest 
 for me, for the constant question was, " When will you start 
 again ?" And " Do not leave me this time," was the inev- 
 itable cry; and all of them being steadfast Union men, they 
 could not think of being forced into the Southern army. 
 The leading Union men were now all gone ; and there being 
 scarcely none to urge the common masses to hold on to 
 their love for the Union, I thought that they deserved the 
 utmost praise for adhering so steadfastly to their princi- 
 ples amid all the dangers and difficulties which surrounded 
 them, and, therefore, I resolved to assist all that I possibly 
 could in getting through the lines^ regardless of the hard- 
 ships, of the journey, or the dangers which might threaten 
 me in passing backward and forward. I also thought that 
 I would thereby be contributing important service in fur- 
 nishing soldiers for the Union army, and at the same time 
 aid and assist in weakening the South. I thought that the 
 wide expanse of the ocean was composed of drops of water; 
 and natural philosophy teaches th^, if one drop of water 
 could be kept perfectly compact, it would be capable of 
 poisoning the world. I therefore conclu(^ed that every sin- 
 gle man that I could get safely through to the Union army 
 
190 THJULLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 would be at once subtracting that much of the bone and 
 sinew from the South, and which, if it were suffered to re- 
 main in the country, might be employed in some way or 
 other in the support of the miserable so-called " Southern 
 ■ Confederacy." I was also well convinced that the mount- 
 ain-men would make the very best of soldiei-s, and would 
 fight like demons when they would remember how they 
 had been driven away from their families and homes by the 
 rebel miscreants. These poor men knew that, when they 
 started, they were leaving their loved families in the hands 
 of a desperate and merciless foe, who, when they were con- 
 vinced that they had gone to seek protection under the old 
 flag of their country, would take pleasure in destroying 
 every thing which they had left behind for their helpless 
 wives and children to subsist upon. 
 
 I have seen many manly faces bathed in tears at the 
 thought of the sad fate which awaited their helpless fami- 
 lies when they were absent, and powerless to afford them 
 any assistance; and a dark cloud would then overshadow 
 their brows as the desire for future revenge would take 
 possession of their hearts, when, with a silent farewell, they 
 would turn their backs upon their now desolate mountain 
 homes, while their poor wives and children were sobbing 
 as if their hearts would break, as the husband and father 
 would shoulder his knapsack of provisions for the journey, 
 prepared by the hands of love, with the thought that even 
 that was not enough to keep him from starving, if he 
 should meet with any adverse circumstances to delay him 
 in his journey. And this was very often the case; for 
 the poor Union men were watched with as much scrutiny 
 by the rebel soldiers as if they had been wild, ravenous 
 beasts of the forest ; and woe to the man who was caught 
 while endeavoring to make his escape through the lines; 
 
DAJSriEL ELLIS. 191 
 
 for he was not thought worthy of being consigned to the 
 gloomy cells of a Southern prison, and was therefore mur- 
 dered in a most brutal and barbarous manner. 
 
 The company which was now ready to start with me 
 to Kentucky was very large, and all the men seemed to 
 be inspired with the fond hope of soon being permitted to 
 return again, if they should be able to endure the hard- 
 ships which they would have to encounter in their journey. 
 They had the most unbounded confidence in the United 
 States government overthrowing the rebellion at an early 
 day and freeing their homes from rebel tyranny ; and when 
 that day should come, they determined to pay the rebels 
 up for all the insults apd injuries which they had to receive 
 and endure in silence with the most severe agony of mind. 
 There were such constant accessions to the company which 
 I was now about to start with, that I had some fears about 
 being able to conduct them all through safely; but my 
 heart' and soul were now in the work, and I did not feel 
 willing that one of the men who desired to go should be 
 left to run the risk of falling a victim to rebel spite and 
 malice. I therefore encouraged every one to go who came 
 to me and signified a desire to do so ; for I knew that I had 
 conducted large companies of men through the rugged 
 mountains when they were clothed in their cold, white 
 robes of winter, and that I would now be much better en- 
 abled to elude and disappoint the vigilance of the rebels, 
 when every tree and shrub was clothed in its summer liv- 
 ery of green foliage. 
 
192 THKILWNG ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 On the night of the 17th of August, 1863, 1 started again 
 for Kentucky .with a large number of men, who had assem- 
 bled with great trepidation to flee from rebel vengeance, as 
 travelers would flee from the terrible simoom in the Desert 
 of Sahara when it threatened to envelop them in its poison- 
 ous embrace. The starting-point waa, at the old forge, near 
 Elizabethton. The night was clear and pleasant, and we 
 traveled twelve miles, crossed the railroad, and stopped to 
 spend the next day in a thick clump of bushes. As soon 
 as it got dai'k, we shouldered our knapsacks and started on 
 our journey. We had to travel twenty-two miles be- 
 fore we could reach my old hiding-place, the " White-oak 
 Flats," and before we arrived there it was daylight, and we 
 were told that there were numbers of rebel soldiers in the 
 neighborhood. This was very disagreeable intelligence, for 
 the men were very tired, and presented a most sorrowful 
 appearance with their blistered, cut, and swelled feet ; and 
 all of them furnished decided proof that they had been 
 greatly worsted by their hard and laborious march. We 
 pSssed a very disagreeable day, being in constant expecta- 
 tion of hearing the tramp of the rebel soldiery in hot pursuit 
 after us. We could neither eat nor sleep, and we were 
 even afraid to take off our shoes in order to rest our tired 
 feet ; neither did we get any water during the whole long 
 hot day to cool our parched tongues. Oh, with what anx- 
 iety we watched the sun until it attained its meridian height, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 193 
 
 and tben start on in its path of declination down the west- 
 ern slope of the blue, ethereal vault of heaven. Surely 
 Wellington was no more anxious for the approach of night, 
 when he stood upon the bloody field of Waterloo, while the 
 surges of battle were rolling around him with all their 
 dreadful fury, with his watch in his hand, and exclaimed, 
 " Oh for night or for Bluoher," than we were during the 
 wretched day which we passed in the " White-oak Flats." 
 
 But the tide of time rolled on, and the dark wings of 
 night again overspread the earth, and we started on and 
 traveled until we came to water, when we stopped to eat 
 and drink. The men bathed their sore feet in the cool 
 "Water, which appeared to afibrd them great relief, after 
 which we went on, through woods, fields, and brier-thickets, 
 sometimes tearing our clothes, and at other times our fiesh ; 
 but knowing that there was no other alternative but to 
 press onward, or run the risk of falling into the hands of the 
 rebels, we rushed .forward, despite of all the troubles and 
 the dangers which environed our pathway. When we ar- 
 rived at the north fork of Holston Rivei-, -we took off our 
 clothes and waded through, and after hastily putting on 
 our clothes, we marched on. Some of the men had nearly 
 put out their eyes with the brush, and some were so much 
 worn out for sleep that they would almost fall asleep as 
 they walked along; they would often fall down over 
 stumps and logs, and bruise themselves very badly. 
 
 We arrived at Clinch Mountain just as the sun was ris- 
 ing, and continued pn up the mountain until we found 
 water, and a good place to sleep. We now stopped, took 
 off our shoes, and bathed our hands, faces, and feet, and then 
 tried to eat. But some of the men were so perfectly tired 
 down that they went to sleep while they were eating. 
 They could not keep their eyes open any more than if they 
 
 I 
 
194 THRILLING ADVEKOTJEES OF 
 
 had been ■ thoroughly drugged with opium. It was not 
 long until all of them were fast asleep, and the sun shone 
 down so warm that their faces and necks were severely 
 blistered. About two o'clock the men began to awake, 
 with their eyes swollen, and some of them very hoarse 
 from lying on the ground. It was late in the evening be- 
 fore I got them all roused up to make preparations for an 
 onward movement, for I knew that they had another hard 
 and fatiguing night's travel before them. 
 
 As, soon as it got dark we started on across the mount- 
 ain, and when we got near to Little Poor Valley, I left the 
 men in the woods, and went to the road to see if I could 
 observe any prospect of threatening danger. But I could 
 not see or hear any thing that gave me any cause for alarm, 
 and I went back and started the company on. We crossed 
 Copper Ridge and Copper Creek, and then went on, through 
 fields and over ridges, until we arrived at Clinch River. 
 We cut sticks to support us in the water, and then, after 
 taking off our clothes, we started into the river ; we were 
 at a shoal, and the night was very dark, which made the 
 water, as it ran in deep channels or over rough rocks, look 
 very frightful. Some of the men got into deep channels, 
 and very narrowly escaped being drowned ; but, as good 
 fortune would have it, we all reached the shore, and, after 
 adjusting our clotihes, we went on, across fields, branches, 
 steep hUls, and precipitous knobs, until daylight, when we 
 reached the spurs of Powell's Mountain. The sun was just 
 rising as we commenced the toilsome ascent of the mountain. 
 
 Beattie, in his beautiful poem of " The Minstrel," says, 
 
 " Ah ! who can tell how hard it is to climb 
 The steep, where Fame's proud temple shines afar ?' 
 Ah ! who can tell how many a soul sublime, 
 Has felt the influence of malignant star?" 
 
DANIEL ELLIS, 195 
 
 I do not believe that, if " Fame's proud temple" had been 
 standing upon the summit of this mountain, any one of 
 these poor tired men would have made the least exertion 
 to gain an entrance to its portals, in order to inscribe his 
 name in any of its niches. But they had indeed felt the 
 dreadful "influence of malignant star" when they were 
 chased from their homes by the rebel murderers, and they 
 were now compelled to toil, step by step, up the rugged 
 heights of this mountain, to obtain farther security for their 
 lives. The men were greatly exhausted, but they pressed 
 on until we came to water, and a place of safety ; for we 
 had seen the sign of rebel cavalry in the last road which we 
 crossed, and thei-e was nothing that seemed to instill a 
 spirit of endurance into stampeders like the sign of rebel 
 soldiers. The sight of a rebel was enough to keep them 
 traveling at any time. Hungry and weary though they 
 might be, it appeared to invigorate them with a sort of new 
 life. 
 
 We passed the day on the top of the mountain, and as 
 soon as it got dark we started on. I had a great deal of 
 difficulty in getting them along and keeping them together, 
 for we would sometimes have to cross a ravine, crawling 
 upon our hands and knees,- and through the mud at that. 
 We would sometimes get into immense thickets of laurel 
 and ivy bushes, where some of the men would get lost ; and 
 when I would hear them hallooing and screaming in the 
 awful darkness of the. night, I would at once stop the com- 
 pany until I could again collect them all together. When 
 we would emerge from such dismal places as this, we would 
 look as though we had been incontinently dragged through 
 a black mud-hole. We pushed on until we came to Wild- 
 cat Valley, where we had another public road to cross. 
 Before getting to the road, I stopped the company, and 
 
196 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 went forward by myself to look out for any threatening 
 danger ; but seeing nor hearing nothing to cause alarm, I 
 returned to the men, and started them on. We crossed the 
 valley, and then got on to Walling's Ridge, where the 
 bushes were so thick that it was with the greatest difficulty 
 imaginable that we could get along at all in the extreme 
 darkness of the night. After great labor and fetigue, we 
 arrived at the top of the ridge, along which we traveled for 
 some time, and then turned down toward Powell's V^Hey, 
 which we now had to cross, although it was full of rebel 
 soldiers, who were as mean and blood-thirsty as the devil 
 himself could possibly wish them to be. 
 
 At every house in this valley there was a gang of dogs, 
 and the dogs and men seemed to know very well when 
 stampeders were passing. The little dogs would first give 
 the alarm, and the larger dogs would then raise a most ter- 
 rible yell, when all at once the rebel soldiers would rush 
 out, hissing and hallooing, until the whole valley would be 
 in a perfect uproar with the men and dogs. There were 
 certainly more dogs in this valley than any other place I 
 ever traveled through in all my life; and I have often 
 thought that whenever the " Yankees" got into East Ten- 
 nessee, I would get a company of them and go there, and 
 have a general dog-killing frolic, for they occasioned me 
 so much vexation of mind that I had become an enemy to' 
 the whole race of dogs. When we got near the valley, we 
 stopped and pulled off our shoes, and I charged the men to 
 be very careful, when they came to fences, not to throw 
 down or break any of the rails. We started on like we 
 were walking upon thorns, and arrived safely at Powell's 
 River, which we crossed through without stopping to di- 
 vest ourselves of our clothes. We had no time to lose, for 
 the night was now far advanced ; we therefore pushed on 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 197 
 
 as rapidly as possible, and reached the foot of Cumberland 
 Mountain just as the eastern sky began to exhibit the early 
 morning's golden beams. We went up the side of the 
 mountain some distance, when we stopped to rest. "The 
 sun was now shining brightly, and we had a fine prospect- 
 ive view of the valley below. We could see the rebel 
 camps, and we could also see that we had made a very nar- 
 row escape, for we had passed along immediately between 
 two of the rebel encampments, where we could now see the 
 soldiers preparing their breakfast. I thought that, this 
 time at least, I had succeeded most admirably in steering 
 between Scylla and Charybdis. 
 
 We were now beyond the pursuit of the rebels, and could, 
 for the balance of the journey, travel in daylight. We had 
 exhausted all of our provisions, but we pushed forward 
 upon empty stomachs, and by two o'clock we reached Har- 
 lan County, in the State of Kentucky, where we soon got 
 something to eat. The men .were entirely worn out, and 
 they now pulled off their shoes, and after bathing their sore 
 and blistered feet, they lay down on the ground to sleep in 
 .«very fashion, some on their backs, some on their sidesj and 
 some on their faces, and very soon all of them were revel- 
 ing in the land of dreams, snoring away at the rate often 
 knots an hour." Many of them slept the entire nightjust 
 v^here they lay down, without even turning over; The 
 sacved Psalmist says that "sleep is sweet to the laboring 
 man, whether he eat little or much," and I thought, that I 
 had never seen the truth of this sentiment so clearly evinced 
 as I did when I witnessed the profound and sweet sleep of 
 these poor, tired, and worn-out fugitives. When at times I 
 would look upon these poor men, sweetly resting in their, 
 quiet and deep repose, I realized to the fullest extent all the 
 sentiment that is contained in the poetic lines of Dr. Young, 
 where he says. 
 
198 THRILLING ADVBNTTJBES OF 
 
 " Tired Nature's sweet restoi'er, balmy sleep ! 
 He, like the world, his ready visit pays, 
 "Where fortune smiles ; the wretched he forsakes; 
 Swift on his downy pinion flies from woe, 
 And lights on lids unsullied with a tear." 
 
 We remained at this place during the day, and also the 
 following night, when we started on again, for we could get 
 nothing more to eat, for the people had been robbed of 
 nearly every thing they had by the marauding rebel parties 
 who had been for some time scouting through the country, 
 obtaining thereby a precarious subsistence. They had 
 taken all the mules, horses, cattle, and goods belonging to 
 the people in this portion of Kentucky, and had conveyed 
 them to Powell's Valley for safe keeping. 
 
 I concluded that I would not yet leave the men, but 
 would go on with them as far as Manchester, a distance of 
 eighty miles from the place we were now at. We^went on, 
 and crossed Cumberland River and Little Brushy Mount- 
 ain, and arrived at a place called Greasy Fork, where we re- 
 mained all night, and fared tolerably well in the way of get- 
 ting provisions, but still had to lay on the cold ground. 
 Early the next morning we started, and after traveling 
 down Greasy Fork for several miles, we left it, and struck 
 .across the country toward a small river called Red-bird. 
 Here we got some provisions, and set out for Manchester. 
 We traveled hard all day, and at night we stopped at a 
 cabin, where we applied for something to eat, and were told 
 that we could have it. The place, I must confess, had quite 
 a forbidding^ appearance, but the men were very tired and 
 hungry, and said they were compelled to have rest. Every 
 thing about the premises had the indelible mark of filthi- 
 uess about it, and certainly nothing but hungry dogs or 
 half-starved men, could have had the stomach to partake of 
 
:daniel ELLIS. 199 
 
 any thing to eat at that dirty-looking place. But, owing to 
 the force of circumstances, we resolved to try one meal, at 
 any i-ate. When I entered the house, the first object which 
 attracted my observation was; an old woman sitting in a 
 corner of the fire-place smoking a pipe. She was ragged 
 and barefooted; her feet were as scaly and black with dirt 
 as a toad's back; and her ankles 5(for her dress was too 
 short to conceal them) looked like a, couple of old rusty 
 gun-barrels ; and her hair had surely never been combed, 
 for it stood outxin a thousand directions ; in fact, she was 
 begrimed with dirt from head to foot. There were also 
 twO' girls, who seemed to be about eighteen years of age, 
 who ran into another room, and each one of them came out 
 habited in a calico dress, which was so thin, and their un- 
 der-dressing so scarce, if indeed there was any under-dress- 
 ing at all, that their forms were distinctly visible through 
 their scanty clothing. I did not believe that either one of 
 them would have exhibited a very agreeable picture to the 
 fancy of a Phidias or a Praxiteles, if he desired to chisel out 
 a chaste design in statuary ; but I really thought that they 
 could have compared very favorably, with Powers's Greek 
 Slave^n point of nudity. ; 
 
 They commenced making preparations for supper, and 
 one of the girls, accompanied by; an old and very poor 
 hound-dog, started in pursuit of a chicken, whioh,aftqr so 
 long a time, they succeeded in catching, and the girl pulled 
 its head ofi" and laid it on a table, when a large cat jumped 
 up and dragged it off on to the floor, when two other cats 
 seized it by each wing, and the three then ran out of the 
 house with it, and attempted to get under the floor ; but all 
 at once a hound puppy stopped them in their career, caught 
 hold of the chicken by the tail, and there they stood, each 
 one striving for the mastery with awful growls and snarls. 
 In order. to end the dispute, one of the girls made a sudden 
 
200 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 attack upon this squad of carnivorous animals with the fire- 
 shovel and recaptured the prize, and at once proceeded to 
 prepare it for our supper ! We purchased a small hog that 
 was standing in the yard, and had it cooked. We had 
 plenty of corn bread, but it was baked out of meal which 
 was badly spoiled, and was consequently not very palatable. 
 And, to cap the climax of dainties, they cooked up a quanti- 
 ty of green cabbage, which was full of worms, and not a 
 particle of. salt in the whole unsavory mess. We sat down 
 to the table, and endeavored to eat as well as we could, 
 and those of the men who partook of the cabbage would 
 now and then rake a large worm to the side of their plates! 
 But their appetites were too keen to back out at the sight 
 of worms, and, after placing them to one side, they con- 
 tinued to eat on. No person knows what they could be in- 
 duced to eat until they suffer for several days and nights 
 with the most excessive hunger. In that sort of an extrem- 
 ityi the most fastidious and delicate taste very willingly ac- 
 commodates itself to articles of food which otherwise would 
 be most wretchedly abhorrent. 
 
 After supper we began to pile about upon the floor to 
 sleep, for the beds looked so dirty and ragged that they 
 afforded a most unpromising theatre whereupon to court 
 the sweet influences of sleep, and I had no doubt, from 
 every appearance, they were well supplied with vermin. 
 We slept until morning, but did not stay for breakfast. 
 We paid our bill, which was fifty cents each, and started 
 for Manchester, and when we arrived there we learned that 
 General Burnside, with a large force, was on his way to 
 East Tennessee. Some of the men who had come through 
 from Tennessee with me concluded to go on to Louisville 
 to join the 4th Tennessee Infantry, while a number of them 
 concluded to stay with me and go in pursuit of the Federal 
 army, which was now marching to Enst Tennessee. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 I STARTED from Manchester with a number of the men 
 ■who had come from Tennessee with me with the intention 
 of overtaking the Union forces, who were now marching 
 toward East Tennessee, under the command of General 
 Burnside. I was in great hopes of being able to overtake 
 the 2d Tennessee Mounted Infantry. "We followed on in 
 the rear of the army for several days, and at length arrived 
 at Montgomery, which is near the Tennessee staite line. At 
 this place we overtook the 12th Kentucky Regipient, and 
 were arrested by them as spies ; but they treated us very 
 well, and after examining my papers, they filled our haver- 
 sacks with provisions and permitted, us to go on after the 
 Tennessee troops. 
 
 We now found it very diflScult to procure any thing to 
 eat, for; the army had devoured almost every thing in the 
 shape of provisions as it had passed along, and had left the 
 mountain people in a deplorable situation, and very many 
 of them were compelled to move where they could obtain 
 supplies from the government. We went on to Kingston, 
 and from thence to Lenoir's Station,. which is twenty-four 
 miles west of Knoxville, and from there we went to Knox- 
 ville, where we arrived on the 1st day of September, 1:863. 
 Here we came up with the 2d Tiennessee Mounted Infantry, 
 commanded by Colonel James Carter, and, here. I also- got 
 into company with many of my old friends. I remained 
 two days at Knoxville, and left on the second train with-.the 
 
 12 
 
202 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 100th Ohio Regiment for the upper portion of East Tea- 
 nessee. 
 
 At every d6p6t along the raih-oad there were large 
 crowds of people gathered to welcome the "Yankees" with 
 well-filled baskets of provisions, containing bread, pies, ham, 
 and fowls of every description. Old men and women were 
 busily engaged in making inquiries about their absent sons, 
 about whom they seemed to manifest the greatest concern, 
 while others were weeping and shouting for joy at the very 
 sight of the " Yankees," and at the cherished jdea of once 
 more being freemen. They had been so long crushed down 
 under the iron heel of despotism that I did not at all won- 
 der at their joyful demonstrations. As the train moved on 
 slowly up the road, I could see the roadside and the fences 
 crowded with the admiring multitude ot people who had 
 assembled to welcome the Union soldiers to the eastern 
 portion of Tennessee. Large numbers of ladies were pres- 
 ent in every assemblage, who, with delicate hands, waved 
 their white handkerchiefs aloft, with tears of joy sparkling 
 in their eyes ; and those of the more humble class of females, 
 having nothing more fashionable with which to express 
 their sentiments of gratification, would wave their bonnets 
 as tokens of their admiration ; and some of my friends de- 
 clared to me that they observed one woman, in the extrav- 
 agance of her joy, take her baby and whirl it around, while 
 the child, seeming to enjoy the general happiness of the oc- 
 casion, laughed aloud. Aged men could be seen all along 
 the railroad leaning upon their stafFs, whose locks had been 
 whitened with the frosts of many years, uttering blessings 
 upon the "starry banner," which was once more waving 
 over their heads in all its proud and glorious majesty. Oh, 
 with what extreme reverence did these old men seem to 
 bow their heads beneath the folds of the dear old flae of 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 203 
 
 their country ! And their silent tears of joy chased one 
 another down their farrowed cheeks, as they gazed with 
 raptui-e upon this dear old emblem of their country's liber- 
 ty. Never, until that time, did they know how much they 
 prized and loved this cherished memento of American lib- 
 erty, under which their country had arrived at the very 
 pinnacle of national greatness. They now loved it the 
 more, because they were convinced that an eflPort had been, 
 and was still being made to supplant it, and hoist in its 
 stead a striped thing — an ornamented bunting — to indicate 
 the existence of the so-called Southern Confederacy. But 
 this was their old flag, which had waved in triumph over 
 their fathers, and which they desired to wave on in triumph 
 over them and their posterity. Indeed, every smiling line- 
 ament of their furrowed faces se^ed to say, 
 
 "The star-spangled banner, oh, long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." 
 
 The demonstrations all along the road were of the most 
 joyous character imaginable ; men and boys waved their 
 hats and coats, and shouted and cheered in the most ex- 
 travagant manner. The years of dreadful oppression which 
 they had suffered seemed now to be forgotten in the gener- 
 al jubilee, which they now engaged in so joyfully. 
 
 When the train arrived at Greenville the, extreme. joy 
 of the Union people knew no bounds. Friends who had 
 long been separated met. Husbands met with wives and 
 children who had not seen them for years. And such a 
 scene of rejoicing I never before witnessed in all my life. 
 This reunion of friends, who had been long separated by 
 circumstances growing out of the infamous Southern re- 
 bellion, will doubtless long be remembered by those who 
 witnessed it, as well" as by those, who participated in it. 
 
204 THRILLING ADYENTUBES OF 
 
 All were happy, extremely happy," but the rebels. The 
 scene of general rejoicing afforded no happiness to them. 
 Their doors and windows were closed,, and none of them 
 were to be seen, with the exception. of their half-concealed 
 faces, which could be seen occasionally, peeping from be- 
 hind a window- curtain. There was no welcome voice 
 emanating from them, and the soldiers seemed to know 
 every rebel house as they passed it. The train came on up 
 to Limesjone D6p6t, where it was compelled to stop, as the 
 tressle-work across the creek had been destroyed. And.it 
 was at that point where General Alfred Jackson (familiarly 
 known under the soubriquet of " Mud wall Jackson") met 
 the advancing Union forces with a considerable force of 
 rebels. I was sure that the "Yankees" would be at once 
 demolished and captured, for the rebels outnumbered them 
 atileast four to one, and, if they had not behaved so coward- 
 ly, they certainly would have captured the small force of 
 " Yankees," together with the train. But the rebels were 
 too cowardly to go into a general engagement, and content- 
 ed themselves with capturing a small body of the " Yan- 
 kees" who had been left at a block.-house at Limestone, 
 and the main force of the Union soldiers .returned with the 
 train back toward Knoxville. Expecting as I did that the 
 Yankee soldiers would all be captured, and hot wishing to 
 be found in the crowd of prisoners, I left 'them, and in the 
 time of the prevailing excitement which followed upon this 
 threatened concussion of arms, I made my way home with- 
 out any difficulty, where I remained until Burnside came 
 up to. Garter Station, which was only a few days aftel* the 
 occurrence at Limestone D6p6t. 
 
 I met the Union forces at Johnson's Station, and re- 
 mained with them during all the skirmishing which they 
 had with the rebels from that point to Carter Station,, giv- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 205 
 
 ing them all the information I could in regard to the rebels 
 and the number of their forces in this section of the coun- 
 try. I think it was the 12th Michigan Regiment that drove 
 the rebels on before them to Carter Station. Colonel James 
 Carter afterward came on with the 2d Tennessee Regiment 
 to the bridge across the "Watauga just below Carter Dep&t ; 
 and being in a good position was ready for the fight, which 
 it was generally believed would occur the next morning. 
 But when the next morning came, to the great surprise of 
 J all, there was not a single rebel to be seen. They had all 
 retreated during the night, and by so doing saved them- 
 selves from a good thrashing. General Burnside was now 
 ordered to return to Knoxville, and John K.Miller, a citi- 
 zen of Carter County, obtained permission from the Federal 
 authorities to make up a regiment of Tennessee volunteers, 
 over which regiment he was to occupy the position of colo- 
 nel. This was very easily done, for before the Yankees left 
 Carter Station I had one company ready to go into the new 
 regiment myself. This was Company " A," and it was the 
 beginning of the regiment which was afterward called the 
 13th Tennessee Cavalry. Company "A" was^ therefore, 
 the substratum upon which was founded the 13th Tennes- 
 see Cavalry, that brave and magnanimous regiment whose 
 deeds of noble daring will live and shine upon the bright 
 historic page " to the last syllable of recorded time." A 
 Csesar, an Alexander, or a Bonaparte, at the head of a large 
 army comugg^d of; such men as were those who filled the 
 ranks in fllF' glorious old 13th Tennessee Cavalry, could 
 march on, " conquering and to conquer," and subdue and 
 ultimately fix the political destiny of any nation upon the 
 whole face of the earth. In order to accomplish great mil- 
 itary events, there' are three prerequisites which are entire- 
 ly indispensable, which are these; brave. soldiers, comjtetent 
 
206 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 subordinate officers, and a leading chieftain skilled and ac- 
 complished in all the tactics of military science. A large 
 army which could boast of having these three necessary 
 components would, like an avalanche, be altogether irresist- 
 ible in its movements. 
 
 I could have been captain of Company "A," but declined 
 it, as Colonel Miller wished me to remain in the upper 
 counties of East Tennessee and recruit for the 13th Regi- 
 ment. The' Yankees now fell back, and I was again forced 
 to go into the mountains to resume my old occupation of i 
 piloting companies of men through the lines. The Union 
 men were in great hopes for some time that the Yankees 
 would soon return, but they were doomed to be most sadly 
 disappointed. The rebel General Longstreet was in a po- 
 sition east of Knoxville, with thirty thousand troops, and 
 wintered all of this large force off of the upper counties. 
 If the Union people were in trouble before this force made 
 its appearance in East Tennessee, what can be imagined 
 was their wretched condition now ? Rebel gangs of sol- 
 diers were now prowling through the country in every di- 
 rection, ransacking and plundering, and murdering many 
 of the citizens. They took every wagon that they could 
 find, and hauled off the small stock of provisions which the 
 people had to live upon ; and where the country was too 
 mountainous for them to go with wagons, they would go 
 on horseback and pack off the scanty provisions from the 
 most humble cabin in the mountains. TherejHBS no other 
 chance now for the few remaining Union mwr Dut to go 
 through the lines and join the Union army, or be suddenly 
 killed by the rebel thieves and murderers who now infested 
 all parts of the country. Many poor and indigent families 
 were now left without a protector, for the husband and fa- 
 ther was compelled to leave his home in order to save his 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 207 
 
 own life. The distress which now prevailed among the Un- 
 ion people in UpjSer East Tennessee beggars all description. 
 I will not attempt it any farther. Cold, bleak winter was 
 at hand, and it was almost impossible for men to scout and 
 lay out in the mountains ; for if by so doing they could suc- 
 ceed in hiding from the rebels, there was nothing which 
 could be procured for themselves or their families to eat. 
 Their only alternative was either to go through the lines or 
 remain at home, and either starve or be killed. My path- 
 way through the mountains to the Union lines now led on 
 toward Knoxville, and I made preparations to start on my 
 first! journey in that direction, an account of which the read- 
 er will find fully detailed in the next chapter. 
 
208 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXra. 
 
 On the 15th of January, 1864, 1 commenced my long and 
 weary travels through the mountains to Knoxville, which was 
 altogether a new route from the one which I had so frequent- 
 ly traveled in going to and returning from the Union lines. 
 The company which had assembled to go with me on the 
 present occasion numbered fifty men, among whom were 
 Dr. Floyd Pettigru, from Virginia, John and Edward John- 
 son, from Johnson's D6p6t, and two sons of Dr. Young, of 
 Carter County. The company assembled on Bufialo Creek, 
 at Spencer , Bowman's and James Martin's, about three 
 o'clock in the night. We ate breakfast at Bowman's and 
 Martin's; and just before daylight we started for the 
 mountain, aud traveled along upon the top of it until night, 
 at which time we came down off of the mountain to the 
 Greasy Cove, in Washington County, and traveled on the 
 east side of the cove for about ten miles or more, until we 
 . got to the red banks of Chucky River. We hired a man 
 to set us across the river, and got into a road leading on to 
 North Carolina, called the Flag-pond Road. This road is 
 traveled but very little, and is quite solitary, as it winds 
 along through narrow valleys, hedged in by dense thickets 
 of laurel and ivy bushes, along the sides of steep mountains, 
 and up and down lofty ridges. It is very seldom that wag- 
 ons pass along this road, for at numerous places, if they 
 should get out of the road by some accident, they would 
 fall some three or four hundred feet. When we got to In- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 209 
 
 dian Creek, we found that we would have to wade. The 
 creek was full and wide, and ice was formed at each hank 
 about ten feet into the water. After taking off our shoes 
 and stockings', we broke the ice and waded through ; the 
 main current was full of mush-ice, and by the time we got 
 to the opposite bank our feet were nearly frozen. After 
 traveling about two miles farther, we stopped for the night 
 on the side of the mountain and built up fires, around which 
 we had to stand and sit, for the ground was too cold to lay 
 upon without freezing. The night was cold and frosty, and 
 we had to pass it off iu twisting and turning around the fire. 
 Morning at length came, and a cold and cheerless morn- 
 ing it was. The sun was obscured by dark, intervening 
 clouds, and the wind was extremely cold. It was about 
 eight o'clock when we started on over the high knobs, 
 crossing creeks and branches upon the ice, and after a hard 
 and toilsome day's travel, we passed out of Washington 
 County, Tennessee, and got into Madison County, North 
 Carolina. About dark we reached Shelton Laurel, and 
 there, getting into a deep hollow, we built'iip fires ; but 
 the night was so excessively cold, that the men suffered 
 greatly from the terrible effects of it. When morning 
 came, we started on, crossing branches and creeks, some- 
 times upon the ice, and at other times having to wade. In 
 the evening the snow began to fall rapidly, and continued 
 to fall until ahont twelve o'clock at night, which proved to 
 be a very serious impediment to me, for I had never before 
 traveled through the range of mountains which now raised" 
 their lofty summits around me on every side, and the snow 
 was falling so thick and fast that I could scarcely see my 
 way. But I kept moving onward as best I oonld, and 
 urged the men to follow directly after me. We at length 
 arrived at Paint-rock Mountain, and after crossing over it. 
 
210 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 we came to the main road leading from Greenville, Tennes- 
 see, to the Warm. Springs in North Carolina. We pushed 
 on, across deep hollows and high ridges, until we got to 
 Meadow-creek Mountain, and after crossing it, we arrived 
 at Rhea Hennegar's, who was a good Union man, and who 
 directed us to a safe place to camp for the night. We built 
 up large fires, for some of the men were nearly frozen. 
 When the fires melted the snow away, and warmed the at- 
 mosphere around them a little, the men began to fall asleep, 
 for they were so much fatigued that they would lean up 
 against trees and old logs, and go to sleep, regardless of the 
 cold, which was so intense that it seriously threatened to 
 suspend their earthly existence. It kept some of the men 
 constantly busy to replenish the fires with wood, in order 
 to keep the balance from freezing. It was about three 
 o'clock in the night when we took up camps, and we rested 
 there until the sun was about an hour high the next morn- 
 ing. 
 
 We started on, and traveled hard until evening, when we 
 got near the T'rench Broad River, which we had to cross. 
 We went out in the mountain to the residence of an old 
 Union man, who lived so remote from the habitations of his 
 fellow-men that we thought he was surely never annoyed 
 with the sight of human beings, unless they were stam- 
 peders like ourselves, in order to get his services in pro- 
 curing a canoe for us to cross the river in. We had very 
 hard work to persuade the old man that we were really 
 Union men trying to make our way to the Yankees. After 
 talking to him for some time, he told us that he could not 
 walk a step, as he was badly crippled with the rheumatism. 
 But I knew that the old fellow was pretending to be ill, 
 thinking that we were rebels, and I also knew that he could 
 assist us in finding a canoe if we could succeed in making him 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 211 
 
 believe that we were all right. After a good deal of cere- 
 mony, we got the old man to go with us, but he seemed to 
 doubt our sincerity still, for he would not go until he got his 
 old lady to .accompany him. After he started to the river 
 with us, he told us that the rebels had frequently imposed 
 themselves upon the poor credulous Union men in that sec- 
 tion of country, making them believe that they were stam- 
 peders trying to get to the Yankees ; and after thus induc- 
 ing their unsuspecting victims to start with them to conduct 
 them out of the mountains, would, after getting them off a 
 short distance from their houses, murder them in the most 
 shocking manner. 
 
 The old man went to the canoe and got a negro boy to 
 set us across the river. This canoe belonged to Captain 
 Huff, who was then in the Federal army, and who had left 
 it at the river for the accommodation and rescue of stam- 
 peders. It was dark when we crossed, but we traveled on 
 in the direction of Greasy Fork and Big Pigeon Rivers. 
 The night was cold, and after traveling until about twelve 
 o'clock we stopped and built up fires, for the men were now 
 loudly complaining about their sore feet. The ground and 
 the air were so very cold thafwe could not rest with any 
 degree of comfort, which caused us to start on upon our 
 journey about daylight the next morning. We went on 
 over very rugged and steep ridges; sometimes having to 
 crawl through thethickets of laurel bushes which obstruct- 
 ed our path. When we got to Big Pigeon River we had 
 the good luck to^ find a canoe, in which we crossed, and 
 then steered our course toward Don's Creek, not forgetting 
 to inquire at every cabin we passed about the rebels, for 
 we were now in a section of country where the sentim'ents 
 of the people were in favor of the Union. They told us all 
 that they knew about the rebels, and where they were sta- 
 
212 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tioned, and by this means we managed very easily to evade 
 them. We went on until we crossed Cosby Creek, twelve 
 miles above Parrottsville. I thought it most advisable to 
 postpone crossing the valley, which we bad now arrived at, 
 until the next night, and, consequently, we went into the 
 ridges and built up fires, and laid down to endeavor to seek 
 repose in the arms of sleep. - Our provisions were now ex- 
 hausted, and we had been living upon half rations for three 
 days. 
 
 We resumed our journey weak with hunger and worn 
 out with fatigue, and by three o'clock we arrived at Little 
 Pigeon River, where we learned that the Yankees were at 
 Sevierville, which was ten miles from where we were now. 
 This was delightful news to us, for some of the men were 
 almost broken down, and could scarcely walk at all upon 
 their sore feet. The feet of some were swollen in a fright- 
 ful manner. We therefore employed a man to take his ox- 
 cart and haul some of the men who were worse crippled 
 than others to Sevierville, while those who were able walk- 
 ed. We were not entirely certain that all of the rebels 
 were out of the way, for it was reported that there were 
 fifty of them on Little Pigeen River, some four miles below 
 the point we were now at, and were stationed at a cross- 
 road leading to Parrottsville. However, we concluded to 
 go ahead, and trust to fortune to deliver us from falling into 
 the hands of the rebels. The badly-crippled men now seat- 
 ed themselves in the ox-cart, and the driver, who was a ne- 
 gro boy, mounted one of the oxen and away we went. We 
 had not advanced more than three miles until we got to 
 the river, at which time we saw a company of men riding 
 up the road immediately toward us. I feared that they 
 were rebels, and some of the party declared they were. 
 When this supposition was announced, the lame men all 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 213 
 
 sprang out of the cart as quick as lightning and started up 
 the side of the mountain as fast as they could run, which 
 was much faster than those ran who did not possess such 
 dreadful lameness. They ran with a good deal more agili- 
 ty than the balance of the company, for they kept far on 
 ahead of all their competitors. If they had been running 
 for a bag of gold, I do not believe that they could have dis- 
 played half such speed as they did upon this occasion. But 
 this was not a strange sight to me, for, in all my travels 
 through the mountains, I found it invariably to be the case 
 that, whenever the rebels started in pursuit of a company 
 of stampeders, the lame men always outstripped the sound 
 ones. The very sight of the rebels appeared at once to 
 Vender them oblivious to their lameness, and also to give 
 new activity to their limbs. 
 
 We all continued running up the mountain until we con- 
 cluded that we were out pf danger, and then stopped to 
 look behind. We expected every moment to see the rebels 
 coming on after us, but we were disappointed, as well as 
 very much delighted, when we heard the supposed rebels 
 inviting us to return, and telling us not to be alarmed, that 
 they were Yankees. After talking to them until we were 
 satisfied that they were not trying to circumvent us, we 
 went down to the road again. The lame men took posses- 
 sion of the ox-cart, and the driver remounted, and we went 
 on about three miles farther, when we stopped for the night, 
 which was very dark and cold. We purchased provisions 
 enough for our supper and breakfast, which was quite an 
 agreeable acquisition, for we were all very hungry, and felt 
 keenly the demands of appetite. 
 
 Early the next morning we set out for Sevierville, and 
 reached there early in the day, where we had the agreeable 
 pleasure of finding that the Yankees were the " lords of the 
 
214 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 soil" in all that region of country. I had succeeded in get- 
 ting my company through safely. I had conducted them 
 from a land of tyranny and oppression to a land of freedom, 
 where they could rest at ease, and dream no more that they 
 had fallen into the hands of the rebel hangman. They 
 could now walk forth amid the noonday's light, and meet 
 their fellow-men as freemen meet freemen in a land of lib- 
 erty. They may have felt some pangs of grief when their 
 thoughts would wander back to their now-forsaken homes, 
 but they consoled themselves with the reflection that the 
 great Omnipotent, who governs the universe, was altogeth- 
 er able to bring order out of chaos, and would in a short 
 time permit them to reunite with their loved families in the 
 dear ties of friendship and love. 
 
 After bidding my friends adieu, I started back with the 
 ox-cart, and staid all night at the gentleman's house to 
 whom it belonged. 
 
DAJSriEL ELLIS. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 On the 22d of January, 1864, 1 set out upon my return 
 trip home. After traveling hard all day through the mount- 
 ains, at night I came to a little cabin, where I got my sup- 
 per, and the woman told me where I could find a camp in 
 the mountains which would be a safe place for me to stay. 
 I started in search of the camp, and found it as she had 
 said, and remained there all night. I started early the next 
 morning, and traveled until about eight o'clock, when I 
 came to another cabin, at which I stopped and got my 
 breakfast. The. poor. woman at this cabin gave me a most 
 horrible detail about'her troubles. The infernal rebels had 
 murdered her husband in cold blood just three days before 
 my arrival. She showed me his blood upon some stones 
 which were lying in the yard. And the rail fence, which 
 surrounded the house, at one place was completely covered 
 with blood, and, that was the place where she said they had 
 dragged him over the fence by his feet. She said that, aft- 
 er they had shot him dead, several of the incarnate devils 
 thrust their bayonets through his body. They then robbed 
 her of her blankets and clothing, and left her with four lit- 
 tle orphan children to buffet the dark waves of adversity in 
 a friendless world. She said that her worldly means were 
 already very limited, and that she and her little children 
 would be doomed to suffering and want if she did not re- 
 ceive some assistance. Surely the vengeance of the Al- 
 mighty will follow these murderers all along the journey of 
 their infamous lives, and at last fully reward them for their 
 
216 THRILLING ADVENTUBES OF 
 
 iniquities in the dark regions of eternal despair. When. I 
 gazed in pity upon these poor little children, who were now 
 thrown upon the cold charities of a heartless and unfeeling 
 world by the brutal murder of their earthly protector, my 
 heart seemed to melt within me, and tears of sorrow trick- 
 led down my cheeks. They stood before me as pictures of 
 despair and distress; and as I looked upon their young 
 fades, I thought that the tender blossoms of their existence 
 were doomed to be nipped by an early frost ; for, from what 
 their poor mother had told me, I could see nothing await- 
 ing them but penury, destitution, starvation, and death. I 
 was utterly astonished to think that a parcel of men, pos- 
 sessed of human faculties, and made in the image of Him 
 who says "Thou shalt not kill," could murder the father of 
 these helpless children, and thereby robe them in the dismal 
 habiliments of orphanage, and doom them to starvation and 
 an early death. 
 
 Oh, it was sad to listen to that poor woman's tale of 
 woe, and see the tears of sorrow flowing from her eyes, as 
 she told how her best and only earthly friend was butcher- 
 ed by these inhuman monsters. What a stigma it is to 
 this Ismd of Bibles and civilization, that such demons should 
 exist therein, capable of perpetrating deeds of crime which 
 are calculated to shook and outrage, the feelings of humani- 
 ty ! If these monsters are still living in the world, disgrac- 
 ing the upright form of human beings, if their pillows at 
 night are not filled with thorns, and their dreams disturbed 
 with visions of their innocent victim shaking his bloody 
 locks before them, it is not because the dreadful enormity 
 of their crime in murdering an innocent husband and far 
 ther,and thereby making his wife a widow and his children 
 helpless orphans, should not occasion it. 
 
 With a sad heart I left this desolate family, and traveled 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 217 
 
 all day along the side of a mountain, from which I could see 
 the rebels in the valleys below robbing houses, hunting men, 
 and doing every possible mischief which their wicked hearts 
 could devise. After crossing Big Pigeon River, I went on 
 to French Broad, which I reached early in the night, and 
 crossed it in a canoe, and went on up the mountain. At 
 length I came to a deep hollow, where I built up a fire, and 
 passed the night disagreeably enough, for it was so cold 
 that I could barely keep from freezing. I turned about the 
 fire all night, for as fast as one side got warm the other 
 side was freezing. When morning came I started, and aft- 
 er traveling some four or five miles, I came to a cabin 
 and called for something to eat, which was readily furnish- 
 ed me. The poor woman who lived here commenced tell- 
 ing me her tale of trouble. Her husband was then in the 
 Federal army, and had been there for some time. The reb- 
 els had been there and killed her eldest son, whom the fa- 
 ther had left at home to take care of his helpless family, 
 thinking that the rebels would not presume to disturb, 
 much less murder, a young and innocent boy. They had 
 taken nearly every thing that she had to eat, and left her 
 with seven children to provide for in the best way she 
 could, and, of course, not caring in the least if she and her 
 children starved together. 
 
 I traveled on without meeting with any molestation 
 whatever. The mountain upon which I was traveling 
 ranged about east and west, and I considered myself safe 
 from the rebels while I was traveling ttpon it. The great- 
 est danger was in crossing the little valleys and the water- 
 courses, which had carved out deep gullies in the mountain, 
 and requiring considerable labor to ascend their steep 
 banks ; but I always succeeded in climbing up their banks 
 with perfect safety. After traveling hard all day, at night 
 
 K 
 
218 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I arrived at Paint-rock Mountain, where I stopped at the 
 house of James Hare. I was told that Hare and several 
 other men were in a camp off in the mountain some disr 
 tauce, and I at once started to the camp, and found Hare 
 and his companions safely lodged therein. I here passed 
 the night very comfortably. 
 
 After partaking of an early breakfast, I set out for another 
 hard day's travel in the direction of Chucky River. I was 
 all day engaged in crossing over stupendous river-knobs, and 
 when the gloom of night came on I was still in the knobs, 
 and I continued to travel on until I could go no farther. I 
 now stopped and built up_ a fire by the side of an old log, 
 and passed the remainder of the night setting by it and 
 meditating upon my lonely situation, and also upon the 
 deeds of crime which the rebels were committing through- 
 out the country. When daylight appeared I started for- 
 ward, and, as I had partaken of nothing to eat after my hard 
 travel on the previous day, I felt quite weak ; but I pushed 
 on until ten o'clock, when I came to a cabin, where I ap- 
 plied for breakfast. The woman gave me the best she had, 
 and told me that the rebels had robbed her of nearly every 
 thing she had, both to eat and to wear. I thought that 
 surely I would never hear the last of these sorrowful and 
 lamentable tales of distress. 
 
 I started on my journey, and after traveling steadily on 
 all day, at night I arrived at the red banks of Chucky River ; 
 and after crossing over it in a canoe, I went to the residence 
 of the Widow Bayless, where I got a good suppei", a bed to 
 sleep in during the night, and breakfast the next morning. 
 When morning came I found that I had taken a severe 
 cold, which I attributed to the luxury which I had in- 
 dulged in of sleeping in a bed ; for when I slept in the open 
 air upon the ground, with nothing but my blanket, I was 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 219 
 
 never annoyed with a bad cold. That was my usual mode 
 of sleeping, and I thought that in this particular, at least, 
 habit was a great promoter of health. 
 
 The sun was up when I left Chucky River, but I went 
 on to the mountain again, and after another hard day's trav- 
 el, I got into my own native bills, very tired, and much worn 
 out with the fatigue of my hard journey. I supplied my- 
 self with a new suit of clothes, for my old suit was now 
 ready to be shipped to the paper-mill, and after resting one 
 week, I made immediate arrangements to start on my sec- 
 ond journey through the lines. 
 
220 THEILLING ADXENTUBES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 On the 2d of February, 1864, 1 started to Knoxville with 
 ray second company, consisting of Federal soldiers return- 
 ing to their posts. Union citizens who could not stay at 
 home, and a number of young men who were fleeing from 
 the conscript law. We started from the old O'Brien Forge 
 south of Elizabethton. The night was very dark, and it 
 was raining and snowing. When we got into the woods 
 the men could not see their way before them, and some of 
 them were continually running up against the trees, mash- 
 ing their noses and mouths in a fearful manner. This I 
 thought was a bad beginning for them. When we came to 
 water-courses it was so dark that we could not walk the 
 crossings, and, therefore, we were compelled to wade them. 
 The streams were all overflowing, which made it very diffi- 
 cult to cross many of them. About eleven o'clock the rain 
 ceased, but the snow continued, to fall ; but we pushed on, 
 and reached the Greasy Cove, ten miles south of Johnson's 
 D6p6t, about two o'clock. We left the cove to the right of 
 us, and went up on the spurs of Unaker Mountain, where I 
 considered we would be safe. 
 
 We continued upon the top of the mountain until even- 
 ing, when we received the intelligence that a lot of rebels 
 had come over from North Carolina, and were stationed 
 upon the road which I had designed traveling. This was 
 quite unwelcome news to me, for I knew that I would now 
 be forced to conduct the men over a much rougher and 
 longer route. Some of the company talked seriously about 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 221, 
 
 turning back, and argued that it would be better for them 
 to scout among the mountains where they were acquainted, 
 than to run the risk of being captured while endeavoring to 
 go through the lines. I told them that they need not in- 
 dulge any fear of being captured, if they could travel where 
 I would lead them, and not give out along the way. After 
 I gave them this assurance they all concluded to go on, 
 saying that they felt quite sure that they could stand the 
 fatigues of the trip, if I would be sure to save them harm- 
 less from the rebels. I knew that it was impossible for the 
 rebels to be every whei-e, and, in order to elude them, I 
 knew that I would only have to travel higher up on the 
 mountain. It was now dark, and I at once told the men 
 that there was no time for any farther parley, and all that 
 wished to go on could follow me, and all those that did not 
 could very easily find their way. back. I started on, and 
 every one of the men followed on. We pushed aheadj and 
 soon reached Chucky River, which I now intended to cross 
 much higher up than I did when I crossed it in my previous 
 journey; the night was cold and disagreeable, and about 
 two o'clock we stopped in a very remote recess in the 
 mountain and built up fires,, and rested until daylight. 
 - ■ After an early breakfast we started on our journey, and 
 .traveled all day from one spur of the mountain^to another. 
 We waded the branches, which were sometimes extensive, 
 and constituted a serious impediment in our rugged: path- 
 way, and sometimes we had to crawl upon our hands and 
 knees for at least half a mile through the' dreadful thickets 
 of laurel and ivy, while the bushes were bent down to the 
 ground with snow and sleet. When night came on we 
 stopped and made up fires as well as we could, which was 
 a severe task, as we had no axe, and the wood, was: very 
 wet. The men were sufiering very much from cold, and 
 
222 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the indifferent fires which we had afforded them very little 
 relief. We spent the night in shivering and shaking around 
 our small fires, and early the next morning we started upon 
 our tiresome journey. 
 
 The path which we were now traveling through the 
 mountains was exceedingly rugged, and, consequently, one 
 of the men had the misfortune- to beccJme completely tired" 
 down, so that he was altogether unable to travel. The 
 man who gave out upon this occasion was William G. Bur- 
 row, a citizen of Elizabethton, in Carter County. He was 
 a tailor by trade, and, consequently, bis uniform habits had. 
 been of a sedentary character, which almost totally disqual- 
 ified him from supporting the .terrible fatigue which he was 
 now subjected to. We were delayed very much in our 
 progress, as we were compelled to assist him in getting 
 along. In the evening we started up Rich Mountain, and 
 after traveling for some time we came to a hollow, which 
 we crossed over, and then commenced the ascent of that tre- 
 mendous acclivity known as the " big bntte" of Rich Mount- 
 ain. This is the highest and steepest part of this whole 
 range of lofty mountains, and right here Burrow gave en- 
 tirely, out, and could not walk aftother step. I concluded 
 to stop here for the night, hoping that he would partially 
 recover his suspended energies against morning. Our en- 
 campment was on the steep mountain's side, where wood 
 was very scarce, which prevented us from having good 
 fires. The mountain had been thoroughly burnt over, and 
 every chunk and log was perfectly black; and when we 
 had succeeded in kindling up a few small fires, we found 
 that we were all as black as negroes. Next morning the 
 men presented a very laughable appearance; some of them 
 had rather a frightful aspect, for they were so completely 
 disguised with their covering of charcoal that it was quite 
 
224 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hard for them to recognize one another. We passed a very 
 miserable night at this place, for the ground was so steep 
 where the men laid, that when they would fall asleep they 
 would frequently roll away several feet from the fire, and 
 when they would awake from their slumber they would 
 find themselves nearly frozen. The snow was at least six 
 inches deep, and the wind blew hard enough almost to take 
 a man's coat ofi" of his back. I thought that this was the 
 longest and the most disagreeable night that I ever expe- 
 rienced. We were six miles from the nearest house, and 
 could not as much as hear a chicken crow when daylight 
 was approaching to drive the dreary night away. Daylight 
 came at last, and poor Burrow was still in a state of sus- 
 pended animation, and could not walk a step. We were 
 now in a very bad dilemma, for' we were compelled to as- 
 cend to the top of that steep mountain and carry a large 
 man all the way up its precipitous elevations. 
 
 As I could devise no other mode of carrying our heavy 
 load of flesh and blood, I took my blanket and rolled him 
 securely up in it. I then fastened leather straps around his 
 bead, body, and legs, and cut as large a pole as I could cut 
 with my knife, passed the pole under the straps, and then a 
 man took hold at each end of the pole, and carried him on 
 in this manner. I thought that this was a slow and veiy 
 tiresome way of going to the Yankees, for Burrow was a 
 heavy man, and the mountain was so steep that we could 
 scarcely stand upon its side. But we changed our load 
 from one to another very often. A small accident happen- 
 ed to our passenger as some of the men were carrying him 
 along, which occurred in this way : the men who were car- 
 rying him came to a very rugged place, and the foremost 
 man had just stepped across a log when the pole accident- 
 ally broke, and Burrow was precipitated upon the log imme- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 226 
 
 diately upon his back." I believe the fall came very near 
 breaking his back, for he groaned loudly from the pain it 
 had occasioned him. Another pole was quickly cut and 
 run under the straps, and some of the men again shouldered 
 him and started slowly forward. In this way we carried 
 him the distance of four or five miles up the steepest mount- 
 ain that I have ever seen. At length, we reached the sum- 
 mit, where the wind now blew so hard and so cold that I 
 thought sometimes it would cut us in two. We were now 
 where, there once had been a fine mountain -farm, but the 
 buildings and fences had been all destroyed. In a pasture 
 near" by I observed .that there were two colts feeding. I 
 immiadiately went to them, caught hold of one of. them, and 
 "tied a string around its head. I then led it up to where 
 the men were waiting, and we then placed Burrow upon its 
 back and led the colt along by the string. Just as it was 
 getting dark we came to a cabin upon the mountain, where 
 we left Burrow and the colt, for by this time he could not 
 even ride. I do not believe that I ever saw a man who 
 was in a worse condition in my life. Bloody water was 
 running out of his eyes, and he exhibited every symptopi 
 of a man in the most excruciating misery. 
 
 We started forward again, and after traveling some dis- 
 tance we stopped for the night, made good fires, and rested 
 finely, forthe men were, so tired they went to sleep, almost 
 as soon as they touched the ground. So soon as daylight 
 came we started on without partaking of a very abundant 
 breakfast, for our stock of provisions had now run down to 
 a very low degree, and'the worst of the bargain was, we 
 yet had a long and tiresome road to travel before we 
 could arrive at our jiQurney's end. We traveled on all day 
 through the roughest sort of.mountains, not daring to .go 
 into a road or even a plain path, for at any time we would 
 
 K2 
 
226 THKILLING AD VENTURES OF 
 
 look we could see the rebels prowling about in the valleys 
 below us. In the evening we got to Paint Creek, in Madi- 
 son County, North Carolina, and continued to travel down 
 its meanderings until late in the night, when, coming to a 
 deep hollow, we stopped and made up fires, and passed the 
 balance of the night pretty well. 
 
 When moi-ning came we divided out the last of our pro- 
 visions, which aflforded a very small allowance to each man, 
 whose appetite was keen enough to have devoured a much 
 larger portion. But we thought of the old adage, that "a 
 half loaf is better than no bread," and finished our humble 
 meal and proceeded on our jouriiey. About twelve o'clock 
 we reached Paint-rock Mountain, and I went to the house 
 of Mrs. Kelley to procure something for the men to eat, and 
 before I had been in the house many minutes she com- 
 menced telling me how the infamous rebels had murdered 
 her husband. I listened to her melancholy tale of woe, 
 which excited the most profound sympathies of my heart. 
 She furnished me with some provisions for the men, and I 
 hastened to where I had left them. We now had the 
 Warm Springs Road to cross ; and as there were so many 
 rebels in this section of the country, carrying on their daily 
 business of stealing, robbing, and murdering, I concluded 
 that it would be the safest for us to stop until night came 
 on. When it got quite dark we started on, and, just as I 
 had anticipated, when we got to the road I found that it 
 was guarded, and, upon making some inquiry in the neigh- 
 borhood, I found that the rebels were guarding the whole 
 length of the road from Greenville to Paint Rock. I now 
 had to seek for a chance for my company of men to get 
 across the road irrespective of the vigilance of the rebels. 
 We now approached near the road, where we could see 
 their fires in difierent places along the road, and could hear 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 227 
 
 them singing and talking. I selected as dark a place as I 
 could find, and then telling the men to follow me, we all 
 crossed the road with perfect safety just between two of 
 their fires. The night was dark, and the wind was blowing 
 severely, which was quite favorable for us when passing so 
 near to the rebel camp-fires. Tl)e snow was falling very 
 fast, which to us was another favorable circumstance, for it 
 served most admirably to obliterate every vestige of the 
 trail which we had made when crossing the road. We 
 went rapidly on all nigh't, and when morning came we were 
 on the side of Meadow-creek Mountain, where we stopped 
 and built up fires, for some of the men were nearly frozen. 
 We had waded all the branches and creeks which came in 
 our way, and our pants were Stiff with ice up to our knees, 
 and cracked together like rocks whenevei- our legs would 
 strike against each other. Some of the men's feet were 
 badly frostbitten, and their shoes were frozen on them, 
 which occasioned them a great deal of suffering. I went to 
 a Union man's house, which was near, and made arrange- 
 ments to have something cooked for us to eat. The family 
 exhibited a good deal of kindness, and commenced cooking 
 directly after I told to what terrible extremities the men 
 had been reduced for the want of something to eat. I re- 
 turned to the men to wait until it was ready, and also to 
 tell them of the good luck which had crowned my efforts 
 to procure them something to eat. 
 
 We were all just about to start to the house to get our 
 provisions, when, oh ! horror of horrors ! we saw the infernal 
 rebels preceding us in our meditated journey to the house. 
 They were following our trail, and the mountain was so 
 rugged they bad dismounted from their horses, and were 
 now pursuing us on foot, while we could see the balance of 
 their company down in the valley below leading on their 
 
228 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 horses. The reader may be well assured that we were not 
 long in leaving that place behind us without even calling at 
 the house to obtain our provisions, which, doubtless, were 
 appropriated; by the rebels. Although we were all very 
 weak and hungry, we traveled on rapidly, and soon put 
 several n|jles between ourselves and the despised rebels. 
 We continued td travel upon the roughest parts of the 
 mountain until night, when we got to French Board River, 
 which we found to be entirely too fall to wade. We traveled 
 along its bank until we found a canoe, in which we crossed 
 over and struck for the mountain again. When we got up 
 to a high elevation on the mountain, we could see the rebel 
 camp-fires at various places above the point where we had 
 crossed over the river. The mountain was now^so steep 
 and rough, and so thickly overgrown with laurel bushes, that 
 we had great difficulty in getting, along upon it. We groped 
 our way through the bushes, which were bent down with 
 snow and ice, until about two o'clock, when some of the 
 poor tired men declared they could go no farther. We 
 therefore began to rake the snow away as well as we could 
 in order to make up fires. With a good deal of difficulty 
 we at length got our fires to burning, and then we all laid 
 down upon the cold ground to sleep, and remained here 
 until daylight. 
 
 The next morning we made an ^ early start, and imme- 
 diately after we had stai'ted some of the men happened to 
 look back, and saw the rebels coming in hot pursuit after 
 us. I at once concluded that they had found out by some 
 means or other where we had crossed the river, and had 
 thereby got upon our trail. It was a company of infantry 
 who were now in pursuit of us. I therefore led the men on 
 into the roughest parts of the mountain, and the rebels, just 
 as I expected, sopn got tired of following after us, and turned 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 229 
 
 back to retrace their steps. The snow was about six inches 
 deep upon the rugged mountain, and the weather was very 
 cold, which doubtless urged the rebels to give up the chase, 
 which, if they had continued, I have no doubt would have 
 proved to them altogether fruitless. We traveled on at a 
 slow rate until it got dark, when, perceiving that there was 
 a house near by, we. stopped, hoping that we might probably 
 be able to get something to eat. After stopping the men, 
 I went to the house'and hallooed, and a woman immediately 
 came out. I told her that I wished to get some provisions 
 for a company of Union men, who were endeavoring to get 
 through' the lines, who had been so closely pursued by the 
 rebels that they had had nd- opportunities of. getting any 
 thing to eat for several days and nights. To my speech she 
 replied as follows : 
 
 "Ob, you need not tell that sort of a tale to me, for T 
 know that it is impossible, for any person now to go through 
 the lines. The militia have come from North Carolinay and 
 are now guarding eveiy pathway, through the mountains, 
 and it is supposed that the rebels will take-Knoxville: in the 
 course of a few days." 
 
 I told her that I did not care about the rebels; but wished 
 to get something to eat for the men that were with me, for 
 they were in a starving condition. But she was inexorable, 
 and again replied as follows : 
 
 "I can Hot let you have any thing to eat. My husband 
 is in Kirk's regiment at Knoxville, and the rebels have taken 
 all that T had to live upon." 
 
 I went back to the company and told them about my ill 
 success in getting any thing for them to eat, when tworof 
 them declared that they would go and see if they could not 
 have better luck. They went on to the house, and soon re- 
 turned with a bushel of corn in the ears, for which they paid 
 
230 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 her two dollars in greenbacks. We divided the corn, and 
 then started on and traveled until two o'clock, when, coming 
 to a deep and lonely hollow, we stopped, and, after raking 
 off the snow in several places, made up fires, and laid down 
 upon the cold ground to try to sleep. The ground was so 
 cold and wet that many of the men could not rest upon it 
 at all, but were compelled to rise up and lean their backs 
 against trees and stumps, and in this position some of them 
 remained during the night, trying to sleep upon their feet, 
 which was a very disagreeable attitude in which to court 
 ' the sweet embrace of sleep. 
 
 The next morning we started very early, not having a 
 thing to eat. I began to fear that some of the men would 
 lay down in the snow and die from pure hunger. About 
 twelve o'clock we arrived at Don's Creek, where we stop- 
 ped to rest, and upon looking down into the valley below, 
 we saw the rebels moving about in every direction ; they 
 appeared to be foraging off of the farmers in the valley. 
 We were at once convinced that it would be entirely im- 
 practicable for us to endeavor to get any thing to eat in 
 that quarter of the country, and again took up the line of 
 march with depressed and desponding hearts, when, to our 
 very great surprise, we found two bushels of corn in the 
 pars, which doubtless some person had concealed in the 
 mountain for safe keeping. I thought that kind Provi- 
 dence had provided for us upon this occasion. We divided 
 the corn, and after eating a portion of it, we then traveled 
 on with renewed vigor. At night we stopped in a deep 
 hollow, built up fires, shelled our corn, and, after roasting 
 and eating heartily of it, we laid down upon the ground 
 .and slept soundly until morning. We made an early start, 
 and after traveling until twelve o'clock, we came in sio-ht 
 of a house. I again left the men, to go and see what the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 231 
 
 prospect would be of getting something to eat. When I 
 got up to the house I called out, and a woman came to the 
 door. I told her our situation, and asked her if I could get 
 something for the hungry men to eat. But she did not ap- 
 pear to believe a single word that I said to her, thinking, of 
 course, that we were rebels. She said that the rebels had 
 killed her son just three days before, and had taken every 
 thing she had to eat, excepting a few bushels of corn which 
 she had concealed. I at length prevailed upon her to let us 
 have two bushels and a half of her corn, and for which we 
 paid her four dollars. We put the corp into our haver- 
 sacks, and went into the mountain and^built up fires, and, 
 after roasting a portion of our corn, we ate a hearty dinner, 
 and then started on, and traveled the remainder of that day 
 and a portion of the following night, and then stopped and 
 rested until morning. 
 
 When daylight came we started on our journey, and dur- 
 ing the whole day, whenever we looked down into the val- 
 leys below, we could see the rebels engaged in their plun- 
 dering operations, and robbing the people of every thing 
 which man or beast could eat. They were visiting every 
 house, and packing off every thing that they could find to 
 eat in wagons, and also upon horseback. Even the most 
 humble cabin was visited and plundered by these rebel 
 thieves and murderers. 
 
 About twelve o'clock we came in sight of Wier's Cove. 
 We now sat down tb rest, and one of the men said that he 
 intended to go in search of something to eat, if he should be 
 captured in the attempt. He started on down the mount- 
 tain toward a house that stood out in an old field at least a- 
 quarter of a mile from the woods. We saw the young man 
 go into the house, where he remained for some time. At 
 length he came out of the house and started back toward 
 
232 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the woods, at which juncture we saw seven rebel soldiers 
 ride up to him and take him prisoner. This poor unfortunate 
 young man has never been heard of from that day to this. 
 He no doubt was immediately murdered by these inhuman 
 devils, who did not regard torturing and killing their fellow- 
 men any more than if they had been rattlesnakes. We con- 
 tinued to observe the movements of the rebels in the valley 
 for a short time, and at length we saw a company of at least 
 fifty of them coming directly toward the place where we 
 were stationed upon the mountain. "We at once suspected 
 that the young ipan who went down to the house and was 
 captured by them Jiad betrayed us ; and we therefore hasti- 
 ly fell back into the mountain gorges and went on our 
 journey, without seeing or hearing any more from our pur- 
 suers. We continued to travel until eleven o'clock, when 
 we stopped, kindled up fires, and rested until morning. 
 
 Just at early dawn we started on our journey again. 
 We made our way around the head of Wier's Cove, and 
 traveled over the roughest parts of the mountain until three 
 o'clock in the evening, when I again went to a house upon 
 the side of the mountain, to endeavor to procure something 
 for the men to eat. But, as usual, the woman of the house 
 commenced telling me a most doleful tale about the rebels, 
 how they had robbed her house and taken nearly all that 
 she had to eat. I told her we were starving, and she re- 
 plied that she could not help it. Seeing some corn in an 
 outhouse, we at once supplied ourselves with about two 
 bushels of it, and started on our journey, eating it raw. 
 During the night we came to a small river, which we trav- 
 eled down for some distance, and had to wade through it 
 some three or four times, which gave our clothes a thor- 
 ough wetting, and caused them to freeze upon our bodies. 
 
 At length we arrived at the Chilhowee Mountain, and, it 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 233 
 
 being now about midnight, we stopped in a dense pine thick- 
 et, built up our fires, and rested until daylight. The men 
 were so tired and weak from excessive hunger that they 
 quickly fell down around the fires and went to sleep. Hard 
 traveling, cold weather, and hungry stomachs, had been our 
 incessant companions during the whole of this long and 
 weary journey. When daylight came we went on across 
 the mountain in the direction of Maryville, Tennessee, 
 where we thought the Federal forces were stationed, and 
 at which place we arrived early in the night. When we 
 got there we heard that the Yankees and the rebels had 
 been fighting near that place, and that the Yankees had 
 removed their quarters to some other point which they 
 thought to be more congenial to them. We found that it 
 would not do for us to go toward Knoxville from this place, 
 and that we would have to go on to Lenoir's Station, which 
 is twenty-four miles below Knoxville. That night we got 
 some tough beef, and also some flour, which we had to 
 cook ourselves, and thought that we were faring, well, to 
 what we had been accustomed to for several days past. 
 
 Early the next morning we set out for Lenoir's Station. 
 We made it a point to ask for something to eat at every 
 house we passed during t"he day, and when night came on 
 some of the men were pretty well supplied with provisions. 
 That night we camped in a large thicket, where we had 
 good fires, and rested finely all night. We started early 
 the next morning on our last day's travel for Lenoir's Sta- 
 tion, and arrived there against dark. We stopped here two 
 days and nights, getting an abundance to eat, which we 
 very much needed in order to recuperate our exhausted en- 
 ergies. 
 
 It was now the 20th of February when we left Lenoir's 
 Station on the train to go to Nashville. We had very un- 
 
234 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 comfortable quarters upon the train, for we had to get in 
 the box-cars, where we could have no fire, and the weather 
 was very cold. We had no place to sleep; it was very 
 hard for us to get any thing to eat, and even if we could, 
 we had no place where we could cook any thing at all. 
 We therefore experienced upon the train, in our journey to 
 Nashville, some of the annoyances with which we had been 
 rather too familiar for our own personal welfare during onr 
 weary journey through the mountains. We were three 
 days in making the trip to Nashville, and the second day 
 after we started the train ran off the track, which came 
 very near killing several of our party. The poor fellows 
 had escaped the rebel bullets, and now, when they thought 
 that they were out of all danger, they came very near being 
 ushered into eternity by a sudden and unexpected calamity 
 upon the railroad, by which they were seriously crippled 
 and bruised. 
 
 We at last got to Nashville all alive ; but I thought that 
 some of the men would not long remain in that condition, 
 for they seemed as if they would become self-murderers by 
 indulging their appetites to an unlimited extent. I often 
 heard men say, when they were attempting to go through 
 the lines, that they would much rather perish in the mount- 
 ains than to fall into the hands of the rebels ; and I thought 
 that the men who composed this company, who had made 
 this avowal, had uttered nothing but the truth, for I believe 
 that they would have infinitely preferred to perish in the 
 cold snow upon the mountains rather than to have been 
 captured by the barbarous rebels. 
 
 When we arrived at Nashville we met with a great many 
 of our acquaintances, neighbors, and friends. The 13th Ten- 
 nessee Cavalry Regiment was stationed here, and I now 
 had the pleasure of meeting my old company, which I had 
 

236 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 made up in Carter County when I intended to go into the 
 army myself. All of the company were glad to see me, 
 as well as being very much surprised, for they said that 
 they could not imagine how I ever succeeded in conduct- 
 ing my company safely on, when such imminent danger 
 threatened us on every side. « And now came the anxious 
 questions about home and absent friends. To some of the 
 poor soldiers I could say, that when I left home their fam- 
 ilies had not yet been molested by the rebels, while to the 
 greater number of them I had the disagreeable duty of 
 having to tell them that the infamous rebels had robbed 
 their families of almost every thing which they had to 
 subsist upon, and had even taken their bedclothes and 
 wearing apparel, and had not left them the common com- 
 forts of life, and, in some instances, not even a house to 
 shelter them, and that they were living upon the bounty 
 of friends who had but very little to spare for their sup- 
 port. This was sad intelligence for the poor soldiers to 
 heai', but it was too true. 
 
 I designated the day that I should leave Nashville, for 
 all the soldiers from the upper portion of East Tennessee 
 wished to transmit money and letters by me to their fam- 
 ilies. I told all of those whose families lived near together 
 to inclose the money and letters which they desired to 
 send home all in one packet, and then direct this packet 
 to some prominent and trustworthy Union man in the 
 neighborhood where their families resided, and by this 
 means the packages I thought could be more easily distrib- 
 uted. 
 
 I remained four days at Nashville, and after getting all 
 the packages of letters which the soldiers wished to send 
 by me to their families, I started back upon my long and 
 tiresome journey to the mountains of Carter County. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 I LEFT Nashville on the train, and arrived safely at Knox- 
 ville, where I remained for two days waiting for the soldiers 
 who were stationed there to write letters to their families 
 in the eastern portion of the state. When I got the letters 
 all packed up, I • found . that the bundle containing them 
 weighed fifty pounds, which I thought would be quite an 
 inconvenient load for me to pack' upon rny back through the 
 rough mountains. When I left Knoxville, many of my friends 
 bade me a final farewell, and some of them said that " this 
 will be the last of Ellis ; this trip will end his career, for he 
 will never reach home with his load -of money and letters." 
 
 I came on the train as far as the Strawberry Plains. Here 
 I remained until dark, and then shouldering my sack of 
 letters and as much provision as I could carry, I struck out 
 for the ridges, and, against' daylight, I arrived some distance 
 above Mossy Creek, where I concealed myself among the 
 hills until night came on again. So soon as it got- dark I 
 started on toward the French Broad River, and when I 
 arrived there I luckily found a canoe, which I at once loosed 
 from its moorings and crossed the river in it; and then 
 pushing forward, by daylight I got into a range of lofty and 
 rugged ridges, where I am confident no rebel ever thought 
 about going in search of renegade Union men. I could now 
 travel in daylight where there were no roads or valleys to 
 cross. It took me seven days to perform the trip from 
 Knoxville to Carter County, as I had to travel in such a ter- 
 ribly rough pathway, and cai-ry such a heavy burden upon 
 
238 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 my shoulders. But when I was wending my way through 
 the rough mountains, and bending with fatigue beneath my 
 heavy load, I was constantly consoled with the reflection 
 that the burden which I was bearing had been intrusted to 
 ray care by the noble patriots of Carter County, who had left 
 their homes to risk their lives in defending their country 
 against the evil and wicked machinations of the rebels ; and 
 that the reception of its contents would at once carry joy 
 to the sad and sorrowful heart of many a poor and distressed 
 wife who was mourning the absence of an affectionate and 
 loved husband, whose presence they doubtless hoped would 
 again be permitted to illuminate and enliven the household 
 circle when the dreadful tocsin of war should be hushed, 
 and peace be once more proclaimed throughout the length 
 and breadth of the country. 
 
 After a very fatiguing journey, I arrived among the hills 
 of my native county, and immediately delivered all the 
 letters and money to the families of the soldiers who were 
 living in my neighborhood. But when they received their 
 letters with their valuable inclosures, that did not seem to 
 satisfy them ; for a great many of the fond wives, mothers, 
 and sisters of the absent soldiers could not rest until they 
 could see me in person and ask a multitude of questions 
 about the dear husband, son, or brother. Many of them 
 would come into my presence with the tears of joy sparkling 
 in their eyes, and would exclaim, " Oh ! your eyes have 
 looked upon my husband, my son, or brother ; tell me — oh, 
 tell me every word that you heard them utter." And it 
 afforded me the most delightful pleasure to talk with these 
 poor, disconsolate women, and to impart to them every item 
 of intelligence concerning the dear objects of their love. I 
 now felt fully remunerated for the toil and fatigue which I 
 had borne while conveying the messages of love and the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 239 
 
 memorials of fond regard to these poor, helpless women, 
 whose husbands^ brothers, and sons had fled from the 
 wretched tyranny which oppressed their dear homes, and 
 had cast their fortunes among the friends of the Union, w^o 
 were striving to subdue the wicked rebellion and re-establish 
 the proud standard of liberty in their beloved country. 
 
 When I came home on this occasion, by some means or 
 other the belief became very prevalent among the rebels 
 that I had brought with me a large amount of greenbacks, 
 which at that time was a scarce commodity in the land of 
 Dixie. A general search was now commenced by the rebel 
 soldiers, and I do not believe that one sjngle house in the 
 whole country escaped them whose previous occupant was 
 now absent as a soldier in the Union army. Every letter 
 that fell into their hands was carefully read, and woe to the 
 poor family where they found a letter whose contents dis- 
 closed the fact that it had contained money. For the money 
 which they found therein spoken of had at once to be de- 
 livered to them, or the helpless family was subjected to that 
 vengeance which was always the sure concomitant of their 
 disappointed hopes and expectations. Every dollar which I 
 brought to some families on this occasion fell into the hands 
 of these rebel demons, who were at this time prowling all 
 through the country like ravenous beasts of prey. 
 
 Oh, how it maddened me and vexed my very soul when 
 I reflected how I had labored and toiled through the rough 
 mountains to bring relief to the suffering families of my 
 friends and neighbors who had been chased away from their 
 homes by these rebel scoundrels, and then to learn that these 
 poor, destitute, and perishing families had been robbed and 
 deprived of that relief from want and starvation which I 
 had hoped that my exertions in their behalf would be per- 
 mitted to afford them ! And while indulging in this train of 
 
240 THBILLINa ADVENTURES OF 
 
 reflection, a desire for revenge crept into my heart, and I de- 
 termined to give to some of the thieving villains who were 
 plundering the houses of destitute women a taste of lead 
 from my trusty gun. I therefore proceeded to watch for 
 them as they were returning from their expeditions of rob- 
 bery, and at the sudden crack of my gun their loud and 
 sportive laughing was often changed into melancholy mourn- 
 ing. I did not much desire to become a bushwhacker, but 
 I thought that if the hated and despised rebels should ever 
 again take by force any of the money which I might bring 
 into the country for the benefit and relief of the famishing 
 wives of the absent Union soldiers, that of itself would be a 
 sufficient provocation for me to become one. 
 
 Nothing in the world caused me so much agony and per- 
 turbation of mind, than the reflection that a pernicious and 
 ruffian set of scoundrels, who had assisted in destroying the 
 peace of the country, and were now sporting over the miser- 
 ies of helpless women and children, should derive the small- 
 est benefit from any of my own exertions in behalf of the 
 wives and children of Union soldiers. Instead of bestow- 
 ing any benefits or favors upon the despicable miscreants 
 who were constantly engaged in perpetrating deeds of 
 crime sufficient in atrocity to excite the compassionate tears 
 of angels, I would greatly have preferred to have been able 
 to command some black and dismal storm-cloud to sweep 
 them from the face of the earth, and consign them to the 
 shades of everlasting forgetfulness, there to remain in the 
 dark oblivion of night, until the loud trump of the Arch- 
 angel should summon them to come forth to judgment! 
 
 I made immediate preparations to start upon my third 
 trip to Knoxville, the attending incidents of which the 
 reader will find in the following chapter. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 On the 28th of March, 1864, 1 started with my third com- 
 pany to Knoxville. This company consisted of one hund- 
 red and twenty-five men, nearly all of whom I had recruited 
 for the 13th Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, as the rebels 
 were still running their conscript law with a vengeance, 
 which had a very decided tendency to make soldiers for 
 "Old Abe." The starting-point was again near the Old 
 Forge, three miles south of. Elizabethton. The company 
 commenced assembling in the evening, and against dark we 
 were ready to " take up the line of march." This was a 
 fine company, composed of stout, healthy, and athletic 
 young men, who were anxious to go into the Union army, 
 as they had been for some time hunted like, wild beasts in 
 the mountains by the rebel soldiers, who were now using 
 every exertion to force the young men of the country to go 
 into the Southern army, whose ranks now at every point 
 were daily becoming " small by degrees, and beautifully 
 less," owing to the constant desertion of men who had en- 
 listed or been forced into the Southern army, and were now 
 seeking an asylum from the horrors of the Southern service. 
 I felt proud of this company, and thought that I was doing 
 good service in the cause of my country by making such 
 additions to its military prowess. I had three head of 
 ■horses, which were the first that I had attempted to take 
 through the lines. 
 
 We started on in the direction, of the Greasy Coye, in 
 "Washington County, which place we reached about day- 
 
 L 
 
242 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 light, and went up on the Unaker Mountain and built up 
 fires in order to dry our wet clothing, for we were all thor- 
 oughly drenched to the skin, as we had to wade through 
 every water-course which came in our way during the 
 night. We remained here until evening, at which time we 
 received the intelligence that the rebels had pursued us to 
 the cove. They had found our trail, which was not hard to 
 do, for the ground was wet and soft ; and wherever we trav- 
 eled the ground looked as if a large saw-log had been drag- 
 ged over it. The rebels came to the foot of the mountain 
 upon which we were camped, and then turned back, proba- 
 bly thinking that we were prepared to defend ourselves 
 much better than we really were, for a few pistols which 
 some of the men carried were all the weapons of defense 
 that we had. I had not started with the intention of 
 fighting my way through, for the men were not yet sol- 
 diers ; and I well knew that if I should lead this inexperi- 
 enced company of men into an engagement with the rebels, 
 that while some of them might fight like veteran soldiers, 
 the greater portion of them would run away and leave the 
 field of strife. I always found that raw recruits were more 
 ready to run at the least appearance of danger, than they 
 were to exhibit any sort of desire to engage in the conflict 
 of battle. Therefore, in my peregrinations through the 
 mountains, I was never willing to engage with the rebels, 
 knowing as I did that a large number of the men would 
 run away, and thereby become an easy prey for the rebels 
 to capture. I must confess that, in all my travels through 
 the mountains while I was acting in the capacity of a pilot, 
 I was a great admirer of the true philosophy of the old ax- 
 iom which says that " peace hath her victories no less than 
 war." 
 
 As soon as it got dark we pressed on to Chucky River, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 243 
 
 where we had the good luck to find a canoe, in which we 
 crossed, after a good many trips backward and forward 
 across the river. When we got across the river we had to 
 travel a short distance along a public road before we could 
 get to the point where I designed to ascend the mountain 
 again. The night was dark, and I was very intently en- 
 gaged in looking out for any danger which might threaten 
 our pathway, when I observed just ahead of me a dim light 
 shining through Ihe darkness. I at once halted the company, 
 and told the men not to follow on until they should hear ^fee 
 whistle, which they might consider as the signal for them to 
 advance. I now went forward, in order to acquaint myself 
 with the cause of the light which I had observed ; and after 
 advancing toward it for some distance, I found that it was 
 occasioned by a gap in the dark mountain through which 
 the feeble rays of light were gleaming from the western 
 horrizon. I then whistled for the men to advance, when 
 some of the company, -unfortunately mistaking my whistle 
 for a signal of danger, started up the mountain as if they 
 had seen a thousand armed rebels rise up before them. 
 And the remaining portion of the company soon becoming 
 frightened at the precipitate flight of those who had already 
 started up the mountain, also started after their flying com- 
 panions, and away they all went up the mountain like a hur- 
 ricane which had started upon its desolating march through 
 the forest. This I thought was a very unfortunate occur- 
 rence, happening as it did just at the time when I wished 
 the company to proceed quietly and with as much rapidity 
 as possible. In their flight they threw away their haver- 
 sacks, overcoats, hats, blankets, and eve*y thing which con- 
 stituted the least impediment to them in their rapid prog- 
 ress. At any other time I could have laughed heartily at 
 this sudden and unexpected movement; but at this junc- 
 
244 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ture I did not feel much in the humor of enjoying a laugh 
 at their expense, for the hour I thought was "big with 
 danger." 
 
 The whole company of men ran with such headlong fury 
 that I could plainly hear the dry branches of the trees and 
 the decayed saplings falling for several minutes after their 
 rapid passage. I waited some time for the noise to subside 
 which they had made, before I called on them to stop in 
 their wild career, for the report of a cannon could scarcely 
 have been heard immediately after they started. At length I , 
 commenced calling on theni to stop, not caring now for any 
 noise which I could make, as they had abeady raised such 
 a rumpus that it could have been heard for a mile. After a 
 short time they began to return, and, as I continued to call 
 for them, they would answer from aU the contiguous parts 
 of the mountain, while some one of them would exclaim, " I 
 should like to know who were so cowardly as first to start 
 to run when there was no danger." They came on back, 
 continuing loudly to attribute their discomfiture to the 
 cowardice of one another, when I felt sure that one was to 
 blame no more than another, for they had all ran away to- 
 gether, and all of them deserved to be equally rebuked for 
 becoming so unnecessarily alarmed and disconcerted. There 
 were three big negroes in the company; and one of them, 
 while he was crawling up the side of the mountain with all 
 possible speed and energy, ran his head between the legs 
 of a boy, who was just ahead of him, and raised him up 
 astride of his shoulders, where the boy continued to sit, 
 holding on to the woolly head. of the negro, who scrambled 
 on perfectly heedless of his load ; the boy got along finely 
 upon his black steed until he ran violently against a stump, 
 when his rider fell to the ground, and came very near break- 
 ing his neck. This circumstance caused the negro to halt 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 245 
 
 for ai<||aoment, when he happened to hear me endeavoring 
 to call the men together, and came back with them. 
 
 After I had succeeded in collecting the men all together, 
 a general search was instituted for coats, hats, and haver- 
 sacks, but they soon became convinced that it had been far 
 more easy to discard these articles when they were run- 
 ning than it was now to find them, for some of the men 
 never did find any of the articles which they threw away 
 upon this occasion. At length I got them all started once 
 more, and we went up Indian Creek until midnight, when 
 we stopped and rested for the balance of the night. Just 
 as daylight began to appear we started on our. journey, 
 and continued to travel up Indian Creek for ten miles, 
 when I turned off toward Shelton Laurel, which I knew 
 was the roughest, but much the safest route. After a hard 
 day's, travel we got to the house of William Shelton, and 
 went out into a dense thicket of Jaurel bushes, where we 
 built up fires and spent the night. Early the next morning 
 we started on our journey, and traveled aU day through a 
 rough and very lonely mountain, having all the creeks and 
 branches to wade which came in our way. Just at night 
 we arrived at a gap near the Warm-springs Hoad, where 
 we stopped to stay all night, and about ten o'clock the rain 
 began to fall in torrents, which put out all our fires, and ren- 
 dered our situation very disagreeable, as some of the men 
 had to creep into old logs, but the greater portion of them 
 had to sit and stand up under the trees until morning. 
 
 At the approach of morning the storm abated, and we 
 again kindled up some fires to dry our clothing, and after 
 warming, drying, and eating our breakfast, we advanced on 
 our journey along the |ide of the mountain, crossing the 
 Warm-springs Koad, and making our way on to Meadow- 
 creek Mountain. Here we were informed that the Yankees 
 
246 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 were at Russellville, and that the rebels had fallen l^k up 
 the road. We continued to travel in the mountain-paths 
 all day, and at night we crossed over Chuciky River at the 
 big bend near Warrensburg, and here we passed the night 
 in a thick settlement, where we all found an abundance to 
 eat. 
 
 When daylight made its appearance we started on again, 
 and on that day we reached Russellville, where we found 
 the Yankee troops stationed, and we here took the train for 
 Knoxville. The 13th Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry was 
 then at Nashville ; and as the most of the men in the com- 
 pany which I had just piloted through were recruits for 
 that regiment, they therefore continued their journey on 
 to that place, and I stopped at Knoxville. When I parted 
 with the men they were all in the most lively spirits, and 
 some of them remarked that they could already see " the 
 handwriting upon the wall," which plainly indicated in let- 
 ters of fire that the rebels had been " weighed in the bal- 
 ance, and found wanting." The men all seemed to have an 
 abiding hope that the war was drawing rapidly to a con- 
 clusion, and expressed the belief that the time was not far 
 distant when, if their lives should be spared, they could 
 again return to their loved families and homes, when the 
 infamous rebel domination should be numbered with the 
 things of the past. These poor men had endured a great 
 deal of suflFering, but hope, that sweet vigitant of human 
 wretchedness, had never .forsaken them in all their trials 
 and tribulations; and they believed that their manifold af- 
 flictions would yet secure for them a bright and glorious 
 diadem of future happiness, when the rebel hordes should 
 be scattered from the land like leaves before the autumnal 
 winds. And while I listened to the expressions of their 
 fond and cherished hopes, my inmost thoughts responded, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 247 
 
 Hasten, on, my God, hasten the time when the power of 
 the rebels shall be crushed, and when my country shall 
 again stand up as a proiid model for the nations .of the 
 earth, like a golden monument which has passed unscathed 
 through the fiery ordeal of the infamous rebellion, which 
 has only served to polish and brighten its magnificent pro- 
 portions. 
 
248 THEILLING ADVENTUBE3 OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXVm, 
 
 I EEMAiNED at KnoxviUe three days, -waiting for letters 
 which a number of the soldiers desired to send by me to 
 their families, and, so soon as I received them, I took the 
 train and came up to RusseUville. The Federal troops were 
 now falling back to Mossy Creek. It was nearly night when 
 I reached RussellvUle, which was as far as the train was now 
 running up the railroad. I therefore shouldered my knap- 
 sack of letters and started through the woods again, and 
 continued to travel on all night. Being now alone, I traveled 
 both day and night, sometimes stopping at the little cabins 
 which I came to in the mountains, in order to rest and to 
 obtain something to eat. After a good many vicissitudes 
 which I shall not here enumerate, I arrived among my native 
 hills on the 10th day of April, 1864, weary and very much 
 exhausted, where I found another company of men who de- 
 sired to go through the lines, and were anxiously awaiting 
 my return. 
 
 I had managed in my previous trip to succeed in getting 
 three horses through the lines, and now there were at least 
 a dozen individuals who wished to take horses with them. 
 I thought that I could not be justly censured for taking a 
 horse or two through the lines with me, for at this time they 
 could be easily purchased in any of the upper counties for 
 one fourth of their value, and when taken to Knoxville they 
 could be sold to the Federal government for their full value. 
 My expenses were pretty considerable, for the rebels kept 
 my family destitute of both food and clothing, and a great 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 249 
 
 many of the men who were now engaging me to conduct 
 them through the lines were not able to feed themselves 
 dm-ing the trip, much less to pay me any thing for my 
 services; neither did I charge the government any thing 
 for enlisting recruits for the Federal service, and never re- 
 ceived one farthing from that source. The soldiers who 
 were in the service sometimes paid me for carrying letters 
 to their families, which constituted my greatest source of 
 revenue which I had to rely upon to supply my immediate 
 necessities, and which I must confess afforded me consider- 
 able assistance. The men were compelled to go through 
 the lines or run the risk of being killed ; and there being no 
 other pilot, I was more than willing to conduct all away 
 from the terrible oppression which the rebels had imposed 
 upon those who dfesired to go. The Union men who were 
 detailed to work for the so-called Confederate government 
 were expecting every day to be placed in the Southern 
 army ; they were all good Union men, and had agreed to 
 work for the mushroom rebel government in order that 
 they might be permitted to stay at home, and they now 
 began to suspect that this privilege would shortly be denied 
 jthem, for the rebels were getting badly whipped whenever 
 they encountered the Federal forces, and therefore they 
 were in great need of soldiers. Consequently, I at once 
 determined to clear the mountains and the rebel govern- 
 ment-works in Carter County of all the Union men ; and 
 for the immediate accomplishment of that design I com- 
 menced making the necessary preparations, and in one week 
 I was ready to start. I was well aware that the rebels 
 were watching my movements with aU possible vigilance, 
 and were plotting in every conceivable manner to effect my 
 capture. They even went so far as to offer a large reward 
 for my head, which they threatened to hoist upon a pole, to 
 
 L2 
 
260 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 serve as a warning to all others who might engage in the 
 business of conducting Union men through the lines. But, 
 notwithstanding the awful threats of these blood-thirsty ty- 
 rants, I continued to pursue " the even tenor of my way," 
 not forgetting, however, to observe all proper caution to pre- 
 vent my head from being victimized upon the altar of rebel 
 hatred and malice. I must confess that I had no sort of desire 
 for my head to fall into the hands of the rebels, for I was 
 very well convinced that, if they should obtain this much- 
 coveted acquisition, they would have treated the palace of 
 my soul with the utmost indignity ; and if they could have 
 secured that impalpable principle which animates and con- 
 trols my earthly existence, they were fiendish enough to 
 have chained it to the stake and invoked the fiery flames 
 to destroy its immortal and indestructible essence. 
 
 The rebels were my inveterate enemies, and I must here 
 acknowledge that I was no friend of theirs ; they there- 
 fore used every exertion to procure my capture and conse- 
 quent death, and I exerted all my energies to convey the 
 Union men away from my native county, which was the 
 most available method that I could devise to render their 
 infamous conscript law inefiective. They planned and plot- 
 ted to secure my capture, and I used every exertion which 
 I thought would contribute to the defeat and annihilation 
 of their armies and the overthrow of the wicked rebellion. 
 The reader will doubtless conclude that between the rebels 
 and myself " honors were easy," and that there was not very 
 much love lost upon either side. 
 
 I will now desist from pursuing this train of thought any 
 farther, and proceed to gi,ve the reader an account of the 
 events which occurred in my next journey through the 
 lines. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX, 
 
 On the 27^ of April, 1864, the men who wished to bid 
 ferewell to the " land of Dixie" were engaged all day in as- 
 sembling themselves together at the old starting-point^near 
 Elizabethton, which I have mentioned in several of the pre- 
 ceding chapters ; and by the time it was dark a large com- 
 pany of men had collected together, and a great many of 
 them were mounted upon horses. I told them before start- 
 ing that we would be compelled to make a good night's 
 travel, as the trail which the company would make would 
 be so plain that the rebels would have no difficulty in pur- 
 suing us. in fact, I knew that the public road would be no 
 
 -"plainer than the track which we would leave behind us. 
 ■We started, and after traveling until some time after mid- 
 night, we came to a public road, at which time one of the 
 company bawled out at the top of his voice, " The rebels 
 are after us !" This, as it may well be expected,: furnished 
 the signal for another general stampede. I knew that it 
 would be pei-fect folly in me to attempt to stop the men in 
 their sudden flight by exclaiming that there was no danger 
 threatening them until they had finished their race. The 
 laurel bushes 'v^ere now parted at every point to admit the 
 passage of the frightened men ; men jumped ofi" of,their 
 
 •horses, and away they went through the woods, while in 
 many instances these faithful and sensible animals followed 
 in a brisk trot after their retreating masters. I at once knew 
 that this was another false alarm, for there was no sign of 
 the presence of rebels in any direction. After quiet was 
 
252 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 somewhat again restored, I called upon them to come back, 
 and told them that their alarm was altogether imaginary. 
 So soon as they heard my voice they came back, stumbling 
 through the brush, with bleeding noses, skinned shins, and 
 bruised legs, while some of them were imprecating the 
 most awful curses upon the man who gave the false alarm 
 about the rebels. Some of the men who became so dread- 
 fully terrified upon this occasion never did return to the 
 company any more, and it was at least two hours before I 
 got all who did return to start on their journey. I told 
 them that, if they were wicked men, they had certainly es- 
 tablished the truth of that line in Holy Writ which says, 
 " The wicked flee when no man pursueth !" 
 
 At length I succeeded in getting them started again, and, as 
 we traveled at a rapid rate of speed, we reaol^d the Greasy 
 Cove by daylight, where we concealed ourselves, in order 
 to rest in security during the day. I enjoyed a gbod many 
 hearty laughs and jokes on some of the men about their ter- 
 rible race through the woods on the previous night; while 
 some of them had no joke or laugh to exchange with any one, 
 for they were too deeply engaged in meditating about their 
 deserted homes and their helpless families, whom they had 
 been forced to leave to the unpitying sympathy of a vile and 
 altogether merciless foe. They well knew that their now 
 destitute wives and children would be stripped of every 
 thing that they had to eat, and would be even deprived of 
 their few articles of clothing by the rebel thieves ; for the reb- 
 el soldiers, who were at this time prowling through Carter 
 County like devils " seeking whom they might devour," were, 
 entirely oblivious to human woe or to himaan suffering, and 
 were destitute of all the fine sympathies of the heart which 
 are calculated to ennoble and dignify the human character. 
 The sorrowful grief and lamentation of the wjdow whose 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 253 
 
 earthly protector had been sayagely murdered, occasioned 
 no emotion of pity to-enter into their hardened and fiendish 
 hearts ; and the mournful wail of the orphan only afforded 
 to these wicked wretches food for merriment and laughter! 
 When the dark shades of night again covered the earth 
 with their black canopy we struck out on our journey, and 
 after traveling a short time, we arrived at Chucky River, 
 crossing it in a canoe, which was very slow work, and caused 
 us to delay a good deal of our precious time. After crossing 
 the river, we went far into the deep gorges of the roughest 
 mountains ; and when daylight began to make its appearance 
 we went up on a steep mountain spur, where we could rest 
 during the day in safety, and where we could obtain water for 
 our horses. Every man who had a horse was provided with 
 a sack of corn or oats, which served as a very good substi- 
 tute for a saddle. We rested here until evening, when we 
 started on, making our way through immense beds oflaui-el 
 and ivy bushes, through which we had very great difficulty to 
 get our horses along ; and very often we had to climb steep 
 spurs of the mountain, where we had to pack our sacks of 
 corn and oats upon our own shoulders, as the mountain was 
 so steep that a sack would not stay on a horse's back. 
 When I got to the top of a lofty spur on the mountain, I 
 stopped to . look back at the long company of men and 
 horses as they slowly toiled along up the side of the steep 
 mountain ; and when I saw the company stretch out its 
 long' length so far away down toward the foot of the 
 mountain, I was surprised at the extent of it, and thought 
 -that surely a good many more men had fallen into our 
 ranks . as we were passing along. As I gazed back upon 
 this large body of men, I became very deeply concerned 
 about their welfare, and seriously wondered whether I 
 should ever be able to get them all through the lines with- 
 
254 THEILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 out any of them being captured by the rebels, who were 
 now watching for the poor fugitive Union men with the 
 most perpetual vigilance. History informs us that upon 
 one occasion when Xerxes was prosecuting a most terrible 
 march of invasion, that he stood upon a lofty eminence from 
 which he could overlook his whole tremendous army ; and 
 while he was thus engaged in looking over the multiplied 
 thousands of men who were stretched out for miles before 
 his vision like a boundless sea of human beings, he was seen 
 to wipe away the unbidden tears from his eyes. And upon 
 being asked the reason for the tears, which were flowing 
 from his eyes, by one of his intimate attendants, he replied 
 that he coiild not refrain from shedding tears, when he 
 looked abroad over his vast army, to think that, one hund- 
 red years hence, all of that great host of living men would 
 be numbered with the pale nations of the dead. I can not 
 say that I shed any tears after the manner of the proud des^ 
 pot of Persia, but I must confess that I felt some emotions 
 of deep concern when I contemplated the dark problem of 
 doubt and uncertainty which presented itself to my mind 
 while reflecting whether or not I should be able to conduct 
 my large company of men and horses safely through the 
 rough mountains to the Federal lines. 
 
 I waited until the men reached the summit of the eleva- 
 tion upon which I had been for some time standing, observ- 
 ing them toiling along up the precipitous ascent of the steep 
 mountain's side, and then, after waiting for them to enjoy 
 a few hours of rest, we started on, and traveled steadily on- 
 ward until we arrived at Carter's Bridge, across the Chucky 
 River. I knew that we would now have to observe a good 
 deal of caution in the prosecution of our journey, as the 
 yhole country was full of rebels. " We reached the cleared 
 land just at dark, and advanced noiselessly on toward the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 255 
 
 bridge. • The men seemed to be very much frightened at 
 the idea of so suddenly descending oflf of the rough mount- 
 ains on to the level cultivated farms; Just before we got 
 to the bridge the road mg^e a very short turn, where some 
 of the foremost men, who were ready to become frightened 
 at a shadow, observed the rear of the company coming 
 around the turn in the road, and at once thought that the 
 rebels were close after them. Away they went, like a gang 
 of frightened deer. I was afraid to call loudly for them 
 to halt in their unnecessary flight, but by the immediate ex- 
 ercise of great exertions I succeeded in collecting them all 
 together again, and we then crossed the bridge without 
 meeting with any farther disturbance. I thought that the 
 rebels could not have been watching very closely on this 
 occasion, or else we would most certainly have been dis- 
 covered. But Providence surely favored us at this time 
 in escaping the observation of the rebels, and we pushed 
 on rapidly, and arrived at Russellville that night. 
 
 When we got to Russellville, to our infinite gratification, 
 we found the Federal troops stationed there, to whom the 
 men immediately sold their horses, after which we all took 
 the train and proceeded on to Nashville. The 13th Regi- 
 ment was then stationed at Gallatin, and we therefore con- 
 tinued' our journey to that place: I now had an entire 
 company to add to that regiment ; besides, there were many 
 others that had come through the lines with me, who were 
 now ready to engage in any other pccupation at which they 
 could make wages. I had a good' many letters for the sol- 
 diers in the 13th Regiment from taeir families in the upper 
 counties of East Tennessee. It was late in the night when 
 we reached Gallatin, and the soldiers were sleeping in their 
 camps ; but the news soon spread in the camps that we had 
 arrived, which immediately caused the soldiers to arouse 
 
256 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ELLIB EELATING BIB ADVENTDUBS. 
 
 and stake off their drowsiness, and, as they rushed to me, 
 I could not observe a sleepy eye among all the men whose 
 families and homes were in the upper portion of East Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 The constant inquiry which now saluted my ear was, 
 " Ellis, have you got a letter for me ?" And to this inquiry 
 I had the exceeding gratification of frequently answering 
 affii'matively, which answer always seemed to afford to the 
 anxious soldier the most rapturous sensations of delight. 
 But the most of them pad to wait until morning for their 
 letters, as I had place^^them in the hands of the captains 
 of the different companies, so that no mistake would be 
 made in distributing them. 
 
 The soldiers all had money, and all of them who were 
 from the upper part of East Tennessee wished to send some 
 presents and money to their friends and families, many of 
 whom were suffering greatly for the common necessaries 
 of life. Contrary to my wishes, I'was now compelled again 
 to agree to pack my knapsack with money, letters, and 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 257 
 
 presents for the soldiers' families. I did not like to pack 
 money and goods through the mountains, knowing as I did 
 that my pathway almost at every step was environed by 
 rebel bayonets ; and if I should be so unfortunate as to be 
 captured in my passage in transitu, the rebels would then 
 have the pleasure of enjoying the treasure which I was 
 bearing^ to the destitute wives of the soldiers and their 
 starving children. 
 
 The soldiers continued to insist on my carrying letters 
 and bundles for them, and I at length consented, as I knew 
 that the families of many were actually suffering; and I 
 thought that if I did not carry the money which they were 
 proposing to send home, that probably they would spend it 
 foolishly, and knowing as I did that the soldiers generally 
 made way with their money in the most negligent and reck- 
 less manner. 
 
 Captain Northington, of Johnson County, himself made 
 up a package worth five hundred dollars, consisting of mon- 
 ey and goods for his family. As I did on the former occa- 
 sion, I directed the soldiers to put all their letters, money, 
 etc., in packages, and then direct said packages to some 
 good and reliable Union man living in the neighborhood 
 where their families resided, and requesting him to attend 
 to the distribtltion of the various articles. This time my 
 load weighed sixty pounds, which I had to pack on my 
 back through the rough mountains. 
 
258 THEILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER ;XXX. 
 
 After enjoying myself remarkably well for several days 
 among the soldiers at Gallatin, I made all necessary ar- 
 rangements for my return trip. I came on to Nashville, 
 and there took the train and came on to the Strawberry 
 Plains, and upon my arrival at that place, I then started on 
 foot through the woods toward my old path through the 
 rugged mountains, there to endure again the same fatigue 
 and hunger which I had recently experienced in my former 
 trip back to Carter County, bending beneath my tiresome 
 load. The casual reader may pass lightly over the words 
 fatigue, exhaustion, and hunger; but to me these words 
 had the utmost significance and weight, for I was constant- 
 ly enduring all the bodily infirmities which each one of 
 these distressing sensations could impose. 
 
 I traveled on with my heavy burden, up the steep mount- 
 ains and then down their craggy sides, and at times, when 
 getting in sight of the humble cabins which frequently oc- 
 curred in my pathway, I would lay down my knapsack and 
 advance cautiously to them, and get a small portioa of pro- 
 vision, which was generally very coarse ; but I knew that 
 it was as good as the poor, disconsolate women could af- 
 ford, for there was not one of them whose humble cottage 
 had not been robbed by the rebels of nearly every thing it 
 contained, and frequently the husband or the father had 
 been killed by the heartless robbers. In spite of every ob- 
 stacle which occurred in my rdugh pathway, I made my 
 way across Rich Mountain to Indian Creek, where I left 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 259 
 
 one of the packages which I had brought from Gallatin at 
 the house of a stanch Union man who was one of my 
 warm personal friends, so that he might properly distribute 
 the letters and other articles which it contained to the sol- 
 diers' wives who resided in his neighborhood. I then came 
 on to the Greasy Cove, where I left another package, and 
 then hastened on toward my native hiUs ; and after a very 
 tiresome journey I arrived at home, and immediately sent 
 the letters and other articles which I had brought with me 
 to their proper destination. Oh, how many sad hearts 
 were now gladdened and cheered by the precious memen- 
 tos of love which had been sent by the absent husband to 
 his loved and affectionate wife ! Oh, how she would gaze 
 upon the photograph or the daguerreotype likeness which 
 she had received in that lettei* from her loved husband, who 
 had gone to defend his country against the wicked designs 
 of the rebel minions and desperadoes ! There was the dear, 
 absent face, betokening love in every lineage ; and there 
 were the little presents, which were cherished as dear me- 
 morials of the fond regard which still occupied an exalted 
 position in the bosom of the absent husband for the dear 
 partner whom he had chosen tg share with him the joys 
 and the sorrows which he might alternately meet while 
 traveling along the dreary pathway of life. Oh, how that 
 fond wife prized that little picture which presented the Aiear 
 image of her husband, who had gone foi-th as a patriotic sol- 
 dier in the service of his country, and, in all probability, 
 would never more return to listen to the sweet voices of his 
 prattling children, nor t(f enliven the heart of his melan- 
 choly wife in her now dark and desolate home .' I know of 
 many affectionate husbands and fathers who were compel- 
 led to leave their families and homes by the tyranny of the 
 fiendish rebels, who went forth to obtain relief from insult 
 
260 THEILLING ADVENTURES OF i 
 
 and oppression beneatb the old starry banner of their coun- 
 try in all the strength of vigorous manhood, who often ex- 
 pressed their hopes to me that the dismal storm-cloud 
 which then overshadowed the nation would soon pass 
 away, and that they would then return to their homes and 
 families, and unite again in the dear ties of friendship and 
 love which had been violently severed by the infamous re- 
 bellion. But, alas, many of these poor men never returned 
 any more ; for they met the enemy in the terrible conflict 
 of arms, and sacrificed their lives in the defense of their 
 country upon the gory battle-field, where the angel of 
 death often fiapped his dismal wings o'er scenes of carnage 
 and human butchery which were enough to excite the tears 
 of pitying angels. 
 
 ' ' The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 
 
 The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed. 
 The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, 
 No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. 
 
 "For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 
 Or busy housewife ply her evening care ; 
 No children run to lisp the sire's return. 
 Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.'' 
 
 I now went on to Johnson County with the remainder 
 of the letters and goods which I had brought with me, as I 
 did "not wish to trust the letters and other articles into the 
 hands of any person else, for fear that the persons to whom 
 they had been sent might fail to get them. "When I ar- 
 rived in Johnson County I found that the home guards 
 were prowling about in every mrection, which prevented 
 me from going to Taylorsville. I therefore concluded to 
 leave the package which had been intrusted to my care by 
 Captain Northington with Richard C. White, Esq., who 
 was a steadfast friend of Northington, and also a reliable 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 261 
 
 TTnion man. The balance of the letters and money which 
 I now had I sent to their rightful owners by persons in 
 whose integrity I had the most exalted confidence. 
 
 I must confess that I now felt very much relieved. I 
 knew that the rebels would not be apprised of any money 
 or letters having been sent into Johnson County, if the 
 people to whom the packages had been sent would only be 
 smart enough to keep every thing properly concealed. 
 But, alas, the secrecy which I had hoped would involve 
 my visit to Johnson County was doomed to have but a 
 short duration, which visit was elucidated and exposed im- 
 mediately after my return from that county in the follow- 
 ing manner: When White received the package which I 
 had consigned to his care to be forwarded to the wife of 
 Captain Northington, he unfortunately addressed a note to 
 Mrs. Northington, requesting her to come to his house, 
 where she would receive intelligence concerning her hus- 
 band. This note was dispatched to Mrs. Northington by 
 a small boy, who was stopped on the road by the rebel 
 guard, and an immediate search 'Being instituted, the note 
 was found and read. The rebels at once proceeded to 
 White's residence and commenced searching his house. 
 As may reasonably be expected, they soon found the 
 doomed package, and seized like hungry wolves all its valu- 
 able contents. White was forthwith arrested and hurried 
 off to prison. This affair was conducted by the leading 
 rebel citizens of Johnson County, who were urged on in 
 the perpetration of their reckless deeds of infamy and vil- 
 lainy by Bill Waugh and^am M'Queen, two of the wealth- 
 iest citizens of Johnson County, who were generally the 
 leaders or advisers in all the dreadful acts of crime which 
 were committed in that county during the memorable 
 reign of the miserable rebellion. 
 
262 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 The rebels having thus learned that I had been on a visit 
 to Johnson County, induced them at once to give the whole 
 county a general overhauling. The delightful thought of 
 finding greenback money sent them raging through the 
 county in search of it like a pack of famished wolves after a 
 flock of unprotected sheep. And, most unfortunately, I am 
 compelled to acknowledge that the infernal rebels succeeded 
 in obtaining nearly every dollar which I had carried into 
 Johnson County on this occasion. They would get ten, 
 twenty, and sometimes as much as fifty dollars at a house. 
 Wherever the poor women ofiered any resistance to the 
 wholesale robbery which these cormorants were perpetra- 
 ting they were wretchedly abused, and, in many instances, 
 their clothes were torn ofi" of them because they refused to 
 produce the money which their persecutors suspected them 
 of having. 
 
 I now became thoroughly aroused at the inhuman treat- 
 ment of these helpless women, and determined to have this 
 money back, or the worth of it. I considered that the poor 
 soldiers should not lose so much of their hard-earned wages 
 without an effort being made on my part to recover it back 
 again, or at least a portion of it. The mountains were at 
 this time full of men whose feelings had been so perfectly 
 outraged by the rebels, that they were willing and ready to 
 join in an expedition to inflict punishment upon them. Con- 
 sequently, I soon had a company of men ready to make a 
 raid upon the rebels of Johnson County, among whom was 
 Captain Lafayette Jones, who had been upon a previous 
 occasion captured by the same rebel home guard, and at 
 which time he bad been robbed of a large sum of gold by 
 this same Bill Waugh, whom I have already referred to, and 
 sent off to prison, from which he effected his escape by join- 
 ing the rebel army. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 263 
 
 At the time Jones was captured, Waugh promised him 
 faithfully that the money which had been taken from him 
 should be given to his parents, who were then living near 
 Waugh's residence in Johnson County. But this promise 
 was never fulfilled, as Waugh ktfpt the money, and ap- 
 propriated it to his own use. When Jones became acquaint- 
 ed with Waugh's duplicity in this^matter he vowed that he 
 would kill him the first opportunity that presented itself. 
 At the time I was meditating this trip to Johnson County 
 to recover the money which I had distributed among the 
 soldiers' wives in that county, and of which they had been 
 most villainously robbed by the rebels, I was altogether 
 ignorant of the treatment which Jones had received from 
 Waugh, and for which injury he had solemnly protested he 
 would have revenge by taking the life of Waugh. 
 
 After I collected my company together, we proceeded at 
 once to Waugh's house, which Jones boldly entered, and 
 shot him down, killing him instantly. This circumstance 
 threw the whole company into a panic for a mptnent, but, 
 after reflecting for a short time how their homes had' been 
 devastated, and how they had been robbed of every thing 
 valuable which they possessed, the current changed, and 
 they were ready for action again. The house was then 
 thoroughly searched, but no part of the missing goods or 
 money could be found. We then went to the residence of 
 Sam M'Queen, who was one of the most violent and out- 
 rageous rebels that belonged to that wicked and infamous 
 conclave known under the name and style of the Home 
 Guards of Johnson County. When he was taken prisoner, he 
 trembled like Belshazzar when he saw his. destiny defined 
 by the handwriting upon the wall. Doubtless he expected 
 to be killed without any mercy being shown to him ; and if 
 the monstrous crimes which he had committed against the 
 
264 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 laws of the country, and the total disregard which he had 
 paid to the dictates of common humanity itself, had been 
 placed in the balances and permitted to determine his fate, 
 his guilty soul would have been at once hurried into the 
 awful presence of the gveat Eternal. But he implored for 
 mercy — ^for that mercy which he had so totally disregarded 
 when he and his coadjutors in wickedness were hunting and 
 murdering the Union men of his county, and persecuting and 
 robbing their destitute families. When he was hunting up 
 Union men like the wild beasts of the forest he forgot that 
 mercy is an attribute of God himself, and he therefore ex- 
 tended it to his helpless and prostrate victims with a sparing 
 hand. But on this occasion mercy was extended to him, for 
 his life was spared when he solemnly swore that he would 
 never interrupt another Union man or his family. There 
 was no other man killed by any of the company during this 
 expedition into Johnson County, although every principle of 
 justice sternly demanded the life of Sam M'Queen, for he 
 had perpetrated a multitude of crimes sufficient in atrocity 
 to have shocked the sensibilities of any person that was not 
 perfectly hardened to human sympathy and destitute of 
 manly feeling, and for which his life should have been made 
 to atone. If M'Queen had been killed on this occasion, as 
 he richly deserved to be, the life of very many innocent 
 Union men would thereby have been saved ; for he did not 
 long observe the solemn protestations which he made in re- 
 gard to his future conduct toward the Union people when 
 he saw death staring him in the face. However, he at last 
 met with his reward; for when the Federal forces came 
 into the upper counties of East Tennessee in the spring of 
 1865, he was captured and shot by some of the very men 
 whom he had so foully wronged. 
 
 We searched M'Queen's house, together with several 
 
ril.NIEL ELLIS. 265 
 
 hers, some of which were garrisoned by rebel soldiers, who 
 imediately fled as if they were carried upon the wings of 
 e wind when they heard us approaching. But we failed 
 find any of the, lost treasure for which we were searching, 
 ith the exception of two pairs of ladies' shoes. As we had 
 lied to recover the money and property which had been 
 i-cibly taken from the wives of the soldiersiwe concluded to 
 pair the loss by taking the rebels' horses, the greater number 
 which bilonged to the rebel soldiers, and the remainder 
 the home guards. After taking enough of the said horses 
 pay the soldiers back the money which the rebels had 
 ken from their wives, the balance of them were left in the 
 inds of the capturers, and we then left Johnson County, 
 id made immediate arrangements to go through the lines. 
 I do not think that the oppression of the people in the 
 )per counties of East Tennessee would have, been any 
 eater than it had been for a long time, if it had not been 
 r Sam M'Queen, and an .outrageous rebel guerrilla by 
 e name of William Parker, who was generally known by 
 e cognomen of " Old Bill Parker," and was a bell-wether 
 dong the home guards. • This fiend in human shape had 
 ready driven many families from their homes, hauled off 
 eir property, and burned their houses to the ground. In 
 Bt, there was scarcely a dwelling-house in JoSnson Couri- 
 which belonged to a Union soldier but that was burned 
 ashes by this old scoundrel. It is said that Erostratus 
 irned the magnificent Temple of Ephesus in order to per- 
 ituate his memory, wishing that his name might occupy a 
 ace upon the page of his country's history, even if his de- 
 •e should be accomplished by the commission of a base 
 d sacrilegious crime which was entirely calculated to 
 ing upon him the deep and lasting curses of his fellow- 
 en and the everlasting frowns of the gods. And if « Old 
 M 
 
266 THRILLING ADVE2Sr'?trKES OF 
 
 Bill Parker" entertained a desire to be remembered by fu- 
 ture generations, the magnitude of his crimes and the enor- 
 mity of his flagitious villainies are eminently sufficient to 
 give him that unenviable notoriety upon the page of his 
 country's history which serves to distingimh the most bru- 
 tal murderers and black-hearted cut-throats which the world 
 in its prodigality has ever produced. 
 
 It is really astonishing to think how man, made in the im- 
 age of the great Omnipotent Architect of the universe, can 
 so suddenly change his human nature to that of an incar- 
 nate devil. But it is even so ; and " Old BUI Parker," during 
 the last year of his iniquitous life, furnished one of the most 
 indubitable illustrations of this remarkable transformation 
 that has ever come under my observation. It afforded him 
 the utmost delight to subject the wives and children of the 
 Union men (who left their homes to save their lives) to the 
 most terrible suffering which could possibly be inflicted 
 upon them. He would stand and laugh when the devour- 
 ing flames were wrapping their houses in their destructive 
 embrace. If he had been a devil, fresh from the infernal re- 
 gions, he could not surely have exhibited any less respect 
 for the sorrows and sufferings of helpless women and their 
 innocent children. When he would be engaged in holding 
 the fiery toifch to the houses of Union men with an un- 
 flinching hand, if a poor woman should approach him to 
 implore him to desist in his hellish work of destruction, be 
 would instantly knock her down with his gun, and bestow 
 upon her the most foul and terrible curses which his wicked 
 heart could originate. He burned a number of poor and 
 destitute women's houses with the utmost degree of reck- 
 lessness, when he was well aware that they had no other 
 protection to shield themselves and their poor little bare- 
 footed and starving children from the cold and stormy. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 267 
 
 blasts of winter. He would stand, with a devilish smile 
 playing upon his fiendish countenance, and look with de- 
 light upon the horrible scene which was presented, when 
 the poor women, with tears streaming from their eyes, 
 would turn away from the smouldering ruins of their hum- 
 ble habitations, followed by their little children, whose na- 
 ked feet would leave their impressions upon the cold, white 
 bosom of the snow, to wander forth amid the dreary mount- 
 ains, without a home and without a shelter to protect them 
 from the chilling winds of a dreary winter. 
 
 Many innocent Union men had already fallen victims to 
 this old scoundrel's devilish malice, and now, with Sam 
 M'Queen (regardless of the solemn oath which he had taken 
 to cease in his persecution of the Union men) to assist him 
 in his fiendish work, they progressed most admirably liTtlie 
 work of devastatipn and murder. Old Bill Parker had no 
 respect or sympathy for gray hairs, if they were found upon 
 the head of a Union man. Old age afforded no sort of pro- 
 tection from the assaults of this brutal miscreant, for he 
 shot down old and decrepit men, who were unable to leave 
 their fireside without leaning upon a staff to support them 
 in their faltering steps, just because they happened to have 
 a ^on in the Union army, or were friendly to the Union 
 cause themselves. 
 
 I will close this chapter with the short address which 
 Gratiano made to the relentless and implacable Shylock 
 when he saw him whetting his knife to cut the pound of 
 flesh off of Antonio's breast, as it fully and poetically illus- 
 trates my sentiments in regard to Old Bill Parker : 
 
 "O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog ! 
 And for thy life let justice be accus'd. 
 Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, 
 To hold opinion with Pythagoras, 
 
268 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 That souls of animals infuse themselves 
 
 Into the trunks of men : thy currish spirit 
 
 Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter, 
 
 Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, 
 
 And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam, 
 
 Infused itself in thee ; for thy desires 
 
 Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous." 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 On the 15th of June, 1864, we met on Gap Creek, in Carter 
 County, as the rebels were watching for us at the old start- 
 ing-point, and had been watching for us ever since we made 
 the raid into Johnson County, which occurred on the 10th 
 of June. 
 
 Some of the company were armed, but we did not think 
 about engaging in any conflict of arms, as many of the com- 
 pany were already frightened out of their wits at the mis- 
 chief we had accomplished during our raid, and declared that 
 if we should now be captured there was no telling what sort 
 of a death we would have to die. I determined to go 
 through the lines as secretly as possible, where the men 
 could learn to be soldiers before they were led into an en- 
 gagement with the I'ebels. Small squads of men and horses 
 continued to arrive all day, and some two or three men had, 
 brought their wives and children with them. While some 
 were leading.horses packed with blankets, food, and clothing 
 for the journey, others had nothing, not even decent clothes 
 to wear, for some of the men were recently-escaped prison- 
 ers, and some had beefi scouting so long they had become 
 perfectly destitute of every thing. 
 
 When night came on we were ready to start upon our 
 journey. I was quite apprehensive with regard to the trail 
 which I knew the company would now leave behind them, 
 for I was certain that the public road would be no plainer ; 
 but I consoled mySelf with the reflection that our pathway 
 would lead througji such a rough and uneven country, that 
 
270 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the rebels would not be likely to travel it in pursuit of us. 
 In fact, the trail which a large company of men and horses 
 would always leave behind them had a very strange appear- 
 ance, running as it did through such rough portions of the 
 mountains. The Union people living in the country through 
 which we passed always knew the road which we had made 
 when they saw it, and sometimes the rebel soldiers would 
 also observe it when it happened to pass along over a level 
 section of country ; and whenever they would see it, some of 
 them would be sure to exclaim, " There is Ellis's trail again. 
 Can't he be stopped from stealing our men and taking them 
 through the lines every month ?" And this question would 
 be answered by some one of the party as follows : " Not 
 while these everlasting hills and mountains stand to protect 
 him and his bands." 
 
 Indeed, I never knew until after the rebellion occurred 
 the real use of such rough mountains, which only appeared 
 to be a suitable abode for wild beasts. But now, how eager- 
 ly the Union men sought their protection from a merciless 
 and blood-thirsty enemy ! When safely lodged within their 
 silent and dismal recesses, we could laugh their threats to 
 scorn, and dream of the revenge we would yet live to have 
 for our days of dreadful suffering. 
 
 We continued to travel hard all night, and by daylight 
 we reached the spurs of Unaker Mountain, near the Greasy 
 Cove ; and after we traveled up the side of it until we arrived 
 at a position which we considered to be safe, we stopped 
 and spent the day there without any interruption from the 
 rebels. ' As soon as darkness came on, we started on along 
 the side of the mountain toward Chucky River. We now 
 had twelve miles to travel before we could get to a safe 
 place to cross, and I directed my course to a shoal in the 
 river where I knew the men who had noiihorses could easily 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 271 
 
 wade, as there was no time to be lost in waiting for them 
 to, cross in a canoe. When we got to the river we crossed 
 it in a hurry, and went on into a long range of rugged- 
 mouiitains, whose lofty elevations stretched out befor£.u8 to 
 a great distance, and, after a hard night's travel, wheVday- 
 light came we were in a secure place upon the mountain, 
 where we rested at ease without any fear, of being molested 
 by the rebels. I knew that they would be certain to dis- 
 cover our trail where we had crossed the river, but I had no 
 idea that they would presume to risk their precious lives in 
 a journey upon the rough mountain over which we were 
 then traveling. 
 
 We rested until twelve o'clock, and then started on across 
 Rich Mountain, through deep hollows and over jteep spurs, 
 where we had to pack our horse-feed upon our Dacks, and 
 had great difficulty in getting our horses along. Some of 
 the men were now greatly fatigued, and as soon as it got 
 dark we stopped for the night, as the whole company ex- 
 pressed a desire to rest until morning. The men washed 
 and rubbed their stiffened limbs, and, after a good night's 
 rest, all appeared to be very much refreshed the next morn- 
 ing. 
 
 We set out quite early for another hard day's travel. 
 Some of the men were very stiff and sore, which caused them 
 to go limping and stumbling" along at an awful rate ; but, 
 notwithstanding, we pushed on as rapidly gs we possibly 
 could, and at length got across the mountain, and ^topped 
 to spend the night on the head-waters of Horse Creek. 
 Some of the men rested and slept very well, while others 
 were groaning and complaining all night long with pains in 
 their limbs. There were some of the poor fellows who 
 seemed to be in great distress about their, homes and families 
 they had left behind, and this was by; far the greatest source 
 
272 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of trouble to them, for perhaps they had not a single dollar 
 in their pockets, and their poor, destitute families left withont 
 ■ any visible means of procuring the common necessities of 
 life. -This I thought was indeed a sufficient cause for sorrow 
 and wouble ; for, oh, what a terrible devil creeps into that 
 man's soul who sees poverty and starvation standing at his 
 door ! These merj had been waiting for a long time for the 
 Federal forces to take possession of the upper portion of 
 East Tennessee, and at last were compelled to go through 
 the lines, or be captured and forced to go into the rebel 
 army. 
 
 When morning came we started on our journey, over rough 
 ridges and through immense laurel thickets, which usually 
 occurred i^he deep hollows, and also through large patches 
 of green briers, which tore our clothes in a wretched manner. 
 At night we stopped near Shell's Cove, in the lower part of 
 Green County. That night I thought it best to push on 
 across Chuckj* River, and therefore, after eating supper and 
 feeding our horses, we started on, and reached Allen's Bridge 
 about ten o'clock, where we crossed the river without any 
 trouble, and then traveled on all night, and when daylight 
 appeared, we were about ten miles south of Bull's Gap, and 
 safely ensconced in a position high up on Bay's Mountain. 
 
 The men were all very tired, and some of them were so 
 completely exhausted that they would doubtless have fallen 
 out by the wsyside, had it not been for the horses which 
 were in the company, the owners of which rendered every 
 assistance to the worn-out men who were walking, in per- 
 mitting them to ride their horses ; and this sort of inter- 
 change greatly facilitated our progress. We had done some 
 very hard marching; but, as may well be supposed, men 
 whose lives were in constant jeopardy did not stop long 
 at any time to discuss the dreadful fatigue to which we were 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 273 
 
 subjected by our tiresome journey through the rough mount- 
 ains. I very well knew that, if this company should be- cap- 
 tured by the rebels, every single m^ of them would at once 
 be murdered in a most shocking manner ; for the raid which 
 we had so recently made into Johnson County had instilled 
 into the rebel soldiers a' desperate thirst for revenge, and; 
 therefore, I was convinced that the innocent portion, of the 
 company would have been made to suffer with the guilty, 
 and, consequently, I was determined to make use of all my 
 energies to avoid such a dreadful calamity. I was very 
 well acquainted with the country through which we would 
 have to pass, and I was also well aware of the severe fa- 
 tigues which we should be compelled to undergo, if we suc- 
 ceeded in making a safe migration through the mountains 
 to the Federal lines. I always experienced a good deal of 
 trouble in getting the men along who were badly tired 
 down, for they would generally think that they could hide 
 successfully from the rebels in any small patch of woods 
 they came to ; and this is the very reason why so many pi- 
 lots, together with their companies, were captured while 
 they were endeavoring to make their way through the lines ; 
 for they would unfortunately listen to the suggestions of the 
 tired and lame men in their companies, which were always 
 made to secur^ their own personal ease and comfort, irre- 
 spective of the welfare of the balance of the company, and 
 would thereby be induced to stop at places where every 
 principle of vigilant precaution ought to have urged them 
 not to tarry for a moment. 
 
 After another hard night's travel we reached Morris- 
 town, at which place we had the very agr^able pleasure 
 of finding a number of the Federal forces stationed, to 
 whom we disposed of our horses, and then took the train 
 for Knoxville. We remained at Knoxville one day, and 
 
 M2 
 
274 THEILLINa ADVENTURES OF 
 
 then started on the train for Nashville ; and upon our ar- 
 rival there we learned that the 13th Tennessee Cavalry- 
 Regiment was still statigned at Gallatin, and continued our 
 journey on to that place. On this occasion I had many re- 
 cruits to add to the 13th Regiment, and I also had a great 
 many letters for the soldiers who had families in East Ten- 
 nessee. Many of the soldiers commenced fixing up pack- 
 ages for me to carry to their families. I related to them 
 the misfortune which had attended the greater portion of 
 the goods and money which they had sent home by me be- 
 fore, and I then paid the principal losers for all they had 
 lost out of the proceeds which I had received for the horses 
 which I had taken from the rebels, and told them that I 
 would not again be responsible for any thing which might 
 be lost in future. But this avowal on my part did no good 
 whatever, for my knapsack was soon filled with packages 
 of letters and other articles, and weighed on this occasion 
 at least sixty pounds. All of the letters contained more or 
 less greenback money, together with penknives, needles, 
 pins, photographs, and a variety of other articles. The va- 
 rious articles which filled my knapsack at this time amount- 
 ed to at least three thousand dollars, which I thought was 
 entirely too rich a burden for me to carry upon my shoul- 
 ders while running the gauntlet among tl^p starved and 
 ragged rebels. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 I BADE the soldiers from East Tennessee farewell, and 
 shouldered my heavy knapsack. I came back to Nashville, 
 and there took the train for Knoxville. When I arrived,at 
 Knoxville, my friends ascertaining that I had such a heavy 
 burden to carry, procured a horse for me to lead ,through 
 the mountains, and upon which they said I could frequently 
 ride, and thereby get along more agreeably with my heavy 
 load. This I was afrajd would be a very difficult task, but I 
 agreed to undertake it, and thereupon I had eight thousand 
 dollars more added to the amount ,of money and other 
 property which I already had in my care. 
 
 I now set out upon my journey home again, but not 
 alone, as some of my neighbors, who had visited Knoxville, 
 concluded to return home with me. "We took the train at 
 Knoxville, and came on to the StrawbeVry Plains, where" we 
 had to begin our journey through the woods and mount- 
 ains, as iihe train was not at this time running any farther 
 up the road. 
 
 On the night we left Strawberry Plains we got on our 
 journey some distance above Mossy Creek, where we rested 
 during the day, and the next night we reached Russellville. 
 Here we concealed ourselves all day, and as soon as night 
 came on we made our way into the Chucky Mountains. 
 Now our toilsome journey had to be begun in earnest. 
 My horse was already overloaded, and, consequently, I had 
 . to shoulder my heavy knapsack, for I could not confine it 
 on the horse's back while he was tugging and climbing up 
 
276 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the sides of the steep mountains. And the worst of all 
 was, we found that there was a scout of rebel soldiers, 
 who were searching through the range of mountains where 
 we were now traveling, and we had not advanced very far 
 until we found that they were pursuing our track. I im- 
 mediately changed the direction we lipd been traveling in 
 order to give them the dodge. We crossed Chucky River, 
 which we had to wade, and at once made our way into the 
 roughest parts of the mountain just as daylight made its 
 appearance. I now considered that we were in a safe posi- 
 tion, but, unfortunately, we had nothing to eat, and I was 
 very hungry and weak, as I had packed my heavy load a 
 distance of twenty-three miles the previous night. I tried 
 to sleep, but I was so thoroughly exhausted that I made 
 but very poor progress in the land of dreams ; and, as a 
 crowning misfortune on that day, I had a severe attack of 
 bleeding at the lungs. I thought that I had undertaken on 
 this occasion more than I was about to get through with, 
 for sometimes I believed that I was about to end my 
 troubles upon this lonely mountain. But when night came 
 on I felt able to pursue my journey, and we started on, 
 while my companions assisted me in carrying my heavy 
 burden, which was a great inconvenience to them,, for they 
 all had about as much to carry as they were able to get 
 along with in our rough mountain pathway. 
 
 We traveled on without being able to procure any thing 
 to eat until about midnight, at which time we stopped at a 
 house, where we got some bread and bacon. The man who 
 lived at this house told us to get away from there with all 
 possible speed, for the rebels, he said, had been at his house 
 since dark. We went on two miles farther in the mount- 
 ains, where we stopped to rest, and to eat our bread and- 
 meat. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS.' 27.7 
 
 We were now on Rich Mountain, which we crossed dur- 
 ing the day, and oh, what a hard day's travel it was ! 
 When I suffer my meditations to dwell 'l^on that hard 
 day's travel now, Pwonder how I ever succeedeii in. getting 
 over that stupendous mountain in my frail and weakly con- 
 dition, for I had not yet recovered from the hemorrhage of 
 my lungs, which had weakened me very much, and I was 
 also weak from the excessive hunger which I had endured 
 for some time. I often thought, as I toiled along over that 
 rugged mountain, that this would most inevitably be the 
 last*trip that I would ever be able to make through the 
 mountains, and I frequently despaired of ever reaching my 
 home ; for as I traveled up the side of the mountain, I 
 could not walk a hundred yards at a time without stopping 
 to rest, and, when I started to descend the mountain, I 
 would very often sink down on my knees. 
 
 On that evening we got to a place where we obtained 
 something to eat, and remained all night with some men 
 who were staying out on the fnountain in a camp, and it 
 was twelve o'clock in the day before we left the camp. 
 We went on to Chiicky River, and crossed it in a canoe, 
 and about midnight we arrived at the house of John M'ln- 
 turff, in the Greasy Cove, in Washington County. We re- 
 mained in the woods until daylight, at which time I went 
 near the house, and seeing the old man going to his barn, I 
 called to him, and he came to me. I told him that we -were 
 very hungry, and he at once returned to the house, and 
 soon had a very plentiful breakfast brought to us. I gave 
 him the letters which his three sons had given me to take 
 tohim, who were in the 8th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, 
 %nd also the packages which had been sent by me to be 
 distributed among the soldiers' wives who were living in 
 that settlement. We rested until we got dinner, after 
 
278 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 which we started on our journey, and got as near to our 
 homes as it was safe for us to go that night. 
 
 My horse-l#d of goods all belonged to the sqldiers' 
 wives wha were living in Elizabethtoe, and I had them 
 conveyed secretly by night to the proper owners. Oh, 
 what a happy time it was now for these women ! Many of 
 them were now placed in possession of a nice new dress 
 and shoes. Calico, and all the finer qualities of ladies' dress 
 goods, were denominated as " Yankee clothing," in the re- 
 fined nomenclature of the land of Dixie at this period of 
 time. A piece of new calico, or, in fact, any other article 
 in the drygoods line, was a perfect curiosity to the rebels' 
 for some two years or more before the suppression of the 
 infamous rebellion. Indeed, if one of the fire-eating reb- 
 el women could have secured the possession of a pound of 
 coffee, a spool of thread, or a paper of pins about this time, 
 she would have thought herself remarkably well off, and 
 would doubtless have at once imagined that " a good time 
 was coming." A cup of 'genuine coffee during the last 
 years of the rebellion was about as scarce among the rebels 
 as good money ; and if they could have been permitted to 
 sip a good cup of Mocha, Java, or Eio, they would have 
 considered it equally as delightful as the nectar or the am- 
 brosia which was used at the splendid banquets of the 
 fabled gods ! 
 
 I soon succeeded in distributing the entire cargo which I 
 had brought with me into Carter County, but not without 
 an occurrence of bad luck happening somehow or other in 
 the said distribution, which, in a pecuniary point of view, 
 proved to be the most embarrassing circumstance that had 
 ever previously befallen me. Every person for -whom ft 
 had letters and money on this occasion could not come 
 and receive the letters from my own hand, for fear of be- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 279 
 
 ing known; and, consequently, I had to intrust several of 
 the packages of letters containing money to persons in 
 whom I confided to convey the said letters to their proper 
 owners ; and in doing this, a small package of letters, con- 
 taining seven hundred dollars in money, altogether failed to 
 arrive at its proper destination. And, strange to say, the in- 
 dividuals whom I had selected to distribute the said letters 
 could not give any account of them at all. This was an- 
 other source of trouhle and vexation for me, for I at once 
 determined to replace the amount of the missing sum of 
 money out of my own pocket* It is true, I told the sol- 
 diers very specifically before I received this money into my 
 care, that I would not be responsible for any money which 
 might be sent to East Tennessee by me, for I well knew 
 that some unforeseen accident, over which I could have no 
 control, might prevent the safe delivery of it. But, not- 
 withstanding this avowal which I made, and reiterated to. 
 the soldiers time and again, as I could not ascertain who 
 had lost or improperly appropriated this money, I was ap- 
 prehensive that some persons might entertain the very er- 
 roneous impression that I had made use of it myself. 
 Therefore, rather than to become liable to such suspicion, 
 I determined to pay the last dollar of the lost money out 
 of my own pocket. This left me penniless, with a broken 
 and shattered constitution. 
 
 I now again concluded in my own mind that I would 
 never carry any more letters ; but this I need not have 
 done, for my health was now in such a precarious condi- 
 tion that I could not do it, even if I had any desire to 
 continue it. I thought that it was quite enough for me 
 to have the disagreeable reflection that I had very nearly 
 sacrificed my life in packing heavy loads of letters, goods, 
 and money through the rough mountains, and then have to 
 
280 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 take the last dollar of my own money to render as an 
 equivalent for money which had been accidentally lost, 
 and of which I had no knowledge whatever. I was now 
 even with the world. Out of all the soldiers which I had 
 added to the Federal army, and all the men whom I had 
 conducted through the lines, I was now totally unable to 
 buy myself a suit of clothes ! This, I thought, was poor en- 
 couragement for all the dreadful fatigues to which I had 
 so long been subjected, both mentally and physically; but 
 I consoled myself with the reflection that I had done im- 
 portant services for my country, even if I had been so inad- 
 equately remunerated for them. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 It was now the 1st of August, 1864, and at this time there 
 was a company of rehel soldiers stationed on the Watauga 
 River, two miles from my home, under the command of a 
 one-armed rebel scoundrel by the name of Teener. This 
 company was composed of a most graceless se$ of vUIairis, 
 whose daily and nightly business it was to prowl about the 
 country, and rob and plunder the houses of Union men to a 
 degree that was perfectly heart-rendiug. They were cer- 
 tainly the worst and most unfeeling set of scoundrels that 
 had ever before been sent into Carter County, and the vile 
 infamy of their conduct toward the Union people will be 
 long remembered by those who had to endure the terrible 
 oppression, and suffer in silence the insults which were con- 
 stantly imposed upon them by these miserable thieves and 
 blackguards. 
 
 My health at this time was so extremely delicate that I 
 did not feel willing to undertake another journey through 
 the lines, and therefore I and two or three of my scouting 
 companions determined to unite ourselves together as a 
 band of brothers for the purpose of mutual protection, and 
 also for the purpose of defending our homes from being 
 plundered by these rebel vandals, whose monstrous enormi- 
 ties had become proverbial throughout the whole county. 
 We were well armed with eight-shooting Spencer rifles, and 
 we also had an abundant supply of ammunition, and we de- 
 termined to stay together as much as we possibly could. 
 
 It was not very long before our courage was put to the 
 
282 thrilijING adventures of 
 
 test; for on the vei'y next day after we had entered into 
 the agreement referred to, while myself and Elbert Tread- 
 away were sitting on a hill that overlooked, ajid not fifty 
 yards from my house, we observed three of these house 
 robbers approaching. I was engaged in conversation with 
 several females, who had come to hear from their friends, 
 and the Yankees in general ; and as I never went into my 
 own house, they of course had to come to me, and this is 
 the reason why we had left the forest and were in an open 
 field. Robert Treadaway was sitting in the porch in front 
 of my house, when his brother Elbert exclaimed, " Yonder 
 come three rebels, and Bob is -at the house." An effort was 
 at once made to let Bob know that they were coming, and 
 they discovered us. Instantly they leveled their pistols and 
 fired at us. This was the immediate signal for an attack 
 from us.j».and in a moment our rifles were belching forth 
 their leaden messengers of death, and the surrounding hills 
 were made to reverberate the echo of one explosion after 
 another until the last load was exhausted. The rebels were 
 riding, and, when we began to fire on them, they »t once 
 leaned down in a bending posture upon the necks of their 
 horses, and left the field like a flash of lightning. Our guns 
 worked like a charm. I had always thought before that 
 mine was too hard on trigger, but at this time I found 
 nothing wrong, and I thought that nothing had been want- 
 ing but the sight of rebels to make me* pull the trigger 
 hard enough, for upon this occasion I was unable to find 
 the least objection to its performance. The rebels succeeded 
 in getting away without receiving any serious injury ; how- 
 ever, they left a large lock of hair behind them, ^ich at 
 once testified that a ball from one of our guns had saluted 
 the head of one of them very abruptly. We received no 
 injury whatever, but the rapid firing which occurred on this 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 28i 
 
 occasion frightened the ladies very much with -whom I ha( 
 been conversing, and Bob was suddenly scared out of th 
 pensive reverie in which he had been indulging while sittin; 
 in the porch. 
 
 "We confidently expected that the whole company oJ 
 rebels would come in pursuit of us the next morning, anc 
 on that night myself, Elbert, and Bob Treadaway lay Bid( 
 by side in the forest near my house, with our rifles graspe< 
 in our hands. If we had remained together, we should hav( 
 been ready for action when the i^ebels made their appear 
 ance; but just as daylight began to dawn, having hearc 
 nothing of them as yet, I left my companions, and went t( 
 a spring which was some distance beyond the house; and 
 when I was returning, the rebels discovered me about th( 
 same moment that I observed them, and immediately opened 
 a heavy fire on me, and one of them seemed to be so intern 
 upon hitting me that he went to the corn-crib, and there 
 resting his gun upon the end of a log, he took as deliberate 
 aim at me as if he had been going to shoot at a panther oi 
 some other ravenous beast ; but, notwithstanding the desir* 
 which he manifested to make sure of hitting his mark, hii 
 ball whistled along past me without efiecting any injury. ] 
 had left my gun with my cdmpanions, and hastened on tc 
 take possession of it. "When I got back to our coverture 
 I found that Bob was missing. Myself and Elbert Tread 
 away being now alone, we immediately concealed ourselves 
 behind trees, and then for some time we made good use of 
 our guns. The rebels w"buld not come into the woods aftei 
 us, and the position that we occupied was a very bad place 
 for us to engage in an open-field. fight against such greal 
 odds ; we therefore watched them for about half an hour, 
 waiting for an opportunity to present itself when we could 
 attack them without incurring so much risk. 
 
284 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 The rebel force was composed of fourteen infantry, and 
 twenty cavalry or more ; and while part of the force were 
 engaged with myself and Treadaway, the balance of the 
 rebels were engaged in plundering and robbing my house. 
 They stripped my family of all their clothing, and also of all 
 their bed-clothing, and carried away all they possibly could ; 
 and what few articles' they could not carry away were so 
 perfectly destroyed that they were fit for no farther use 
 whatever. The cavalry now started from the house along 
 the main road, and the infantry started through the fields, 
 in order to rob some houses in the neighborhood. When 
 they started they seemed to be in fine spirits, as they made 
 several loud huzzas, and some of them exclaimed that "they 
 bad routed the bushwhackers, and had got all their goods." 
 We now thought a propitious time had arrived for us to 
 make an attack upon them. The fields through which they 
 were now going extended on to their encampment, which 
 was about two miles distant, and were flanked all the way 
 by woods ; and I can here assure the reader that we did 
 not give them time to rob another house. The cavalry had 
 moved on ahead, and we now had only the fourteen infantry 
 to fight. We fell behind trees, and began to fire on them 
 slowly. They returned our firsffire. We now opened a brisk 
 fire upon them, and the hills and valleys reverberated with 
 the turbulent intonations which emanated from our rifles. 
 The rebels, not fancying the Wjay that our balls were singing 
 around them, jumped behind some old saw-logs that lay in 
 their way. We now had the advantage of them, for, when 
 one of them would raise his head, one of us would imme- 
 diately fire at it ; our balls, however, failed to hit any of 
 them, but filled their eyes with particles of old wood and 
 dirt. 
 
 We continued to fire at them, and at length they arose 
 
.DANIEL ELLIS. 285 
 
 and started off as rapidly as they could, while we continued 
 firing on them at every step. Treadaway, who had a re- 
 markably strong voice, would sometimes mount upon a 
 fence and yell out at the top of his voice, "Head them, 
 boys ; flank them, boys ;" and I . do not doubt but that 
 the rapidly -retreating rebels imagined that there were at 
 •least forty or fifty men in pursuit o£them. In this way we 
 ran them at least a mile, when, upon getting to a cabin, 
 they stopped to get water, but we did not give them time 
 to drink, for we opened a heavy fire upon them. One of 
 them was just raising the cup to his lips when a Spencer 
 ball whistled past his ear ; he immediately dropped the cup, 
 and all of them started again on a run, and we after them, 
 shooting and yelling in a most terrible manner. In this 
 way we ran them to their camps. "We then returned to 
 get breakfast, which we ate in a small thicket of bushes 
 near my own door. And now Bob returned. He had not 
 been idle ; for when he observed the cavalry occupying a 
 position in the road, waiting for the infantry to run us out 
 of the woods, Hfe placed himself in a position of safety and 
 commenced firing upon them with his eight -shooter, and 
 wounded one of them in one of his thighs so badly that he 
 died soon afterward. We soon learned from reliable, au- 
 thority that we had inflicted severe wounds' upon several 
 of these brave rebels, and so completely, frightened the bal- 
 ance of the party tmit some of them returned to their 
 camps with their eyes bathed in tears. 
 
 They now reported that there was a bushwhacker behind 
 every tree and %l!Sti in the settlemept where I lived, md 
 they also reported that they had been engaged with at 
 least forty or fifty of them, and said that, while a portion of 
 the bushwhackers were fighting with their infantry, the 
 others were engaged with their cavalry. Owing to this 
 
286 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 terrible report about bushwhackers, which was loudly pro- 
 claimed by these cowardly thie-ses and robbers, a company 
 of one hundred men, belonging to John Morgan's command, 
 were immediately sent into Carter County to clear the 
 country of bushwhackers. But they never had the luck of 
 finding any of the great host of bushwhackers, which had 
 only been conceived iiuthe imaginations of the scoundrel • 
 Teener and his base and reckless myrmidons, for I, not hav- 
 ing yet recovered from my recent indisposition enough to 
 undertake a trip through the lines, had gone to assist Tread- 
 away in conducting through the jnost dangerous parts of 
 the mountains a company of men whom he had undertaken 
 to pilot through the lines. 
 
 The rebfel soldiers who were now sent into Carter Coun- 
 ty had orders to burn my house, and which orders they 
 would have doubtless executed, had it not been for the in- 
 terference of the rebel citizens of the county. They told 
 these soldiers that they would prefer having their own 
 houses burned, for, said they, " If you burn Ellis's house 
 you will kindle a flame that can not verj*soon be extin- 
 guished." The rebel citizens, with but few exceptions, were 
 my personal friends, and they would willingly have made 
 up the losses that I had sustained by the rebel soldiers, if 
 they could have done it without being detected. But I 
 concluded to make an attempt to recover back my proper- 
 ty which the rebels had recently takSi from me,- and which 
 attempt was shortly made, and successfully accomplished, in 
 th&foUowing manner : The rebels were now engaged every 
 day in hauling forage, such as hay, oali^lfend green corn, 
 which they were unceremoniously taking from the fields 
 and the farms of the citizens, and I concluded to relieve 
 them of one' of their teams at least. I made my intention 
 known to Elbert and Bob Treadaway, and also to two other 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 287- 
 
 friends, who at once agreed to assist me. We therefore 
 took a position on the side of a road, and it was not long 
 until we observed a wagon approaching, to which was at- 
 tached four very fine mules, and the forage-master, who ac- 
 companied the wagon, was riding a very fine horse just be- 
 hind the wagon. We stopped the team in the road and 
 took out the mules, and also Captured the forage-master,, 
 and told him to get down ofiF of his horse.' He and the 
 wagon-driver were frightened dreadfully at being so sud- 
 denly and unexpectedly surprised in the public road, and 
 began to haul out their Confederate money and their pock- 
 et-knives to offer us as a ransom. I told them that we had 
 no use for their Confederate money, without it was to kindle' 
 fires with, nor for them either. I told them that they could 
 go on ; that we only wanted the mules and the horse for the 
 Federal government. They left in a hurry, and so did we. 
 We hastened with the prize which we had thus captured 
 to a neighboring forest, where we stopped to await the pur- 
 suit of the rebels. We did not have to tarry very long un- 
 til we saw a large squad of rebels coming on the track of 
 the mule^^which was very easy to be seen, as the ground 
 was wet, and the tracks of the mules and the horse were 
 plainly exhibited. Each one of us had taken a position be- 
 hind a tree, having a well-loaded navy pistol and an eight- 
 shooting Spencer rifle apiece. We were very anxious for 
 the rebels to continue their pursuit on this occasion, for we 
 wished to pay them for the outrageous villainies which 
 they had been recently practicing upon the Union people ; 
 but when they got to the edge of the woods they very wise- 
 ly checked up and took the back track, doubtless feeling 
 unwilling |fcrisk the dangers which they thought might 
 suddenly environ them beneath the umbrageous foliage of 
 the forest trees. 
 
288 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 They now went on to Carter Station, and reported that 
 the Yankees had come in above them, and had captured a 
 portion of their men and horses ; and another report was 
 started that John Morgan's wagon-train had been captured 
 by the Yankees in the mountains of Carter County. But 
 the rebels made no more efforts to. recover their lost mules ; 
 and although a company of them were constantly searching 
 the country fof me, yet I ranged through my native hills 
 at pleasure, where my health soon returned, and I was 
 again making preparations to start with a company of men 
 through the lines, when the news came to me that the Yan- 
 kees were again marching up the country, and I determined 
 to wait a short time for them. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The month of September, 1864, had now arrived, and 
 the times were yet bad for the Union people in Carter 
 County, but were much worse in Johnson County, for the 
 rebel home guards in that county had assembled, and enter- 
 ed into the horrid agreement to'kill every Union man they 
 might find in the county, burn their houses, and drive their 
 families through the lines ! Sam M'Queen, Green Moor?, 
 B. O. Johnson, John K. Hughes, William Shown, Jacob 
 Wagner, and other influential citizens of Johnson County 
 had voluntarily entered into this miserable conspiracy. 
 They selected old Bill Parker as their leader in all their 
 hellish works of mischief, and a more suitable jperson to act 
 as the kader of this combination of blood-thirsty scoundrels 
 could not have been found. 
 
 The work of death and destruction now commenced 
 anew in all their horrible aspects, and three old gray-head- 
 ed men were murdered by Parker in one day. The first 
 of these old men who was murdered was John Hawkins, 
 who was eighty years old. He was taken from his own 
 house to Pleasant Grove Meeting-house, in Johnson Coun- 
 ty. Parker ordered some of his men to shoot him ; but 
 they could not summon the fortitude to quench the flicker- 
 ing flame of life which was now burning feebly in this in- 
 nocent old man, and which accumulated years were mo- 
 mentarily threatening to extinguish. When he found that 
 none of his men would agree to shoot him, he said that he 
 
 N 
 
290 THEILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 would shoot hira, and at once ordered the old man to turn 
 his'back toward him, which he did, aud at the same time 
 meekly folded his hands on the head of his staff, which he 
 leaned on for support. His head was uncovered, and his 
 gray locks fluttered in the passing breeze. There stood 
 old Bill Parker behind his back, aiming his pistol with as 
 steady a hand as if he had possessed no soul which would 
 be inevitably summoned before the bar of the infinite Eter- 
 nal to answer for the terrible crime of shedding innocent 
 blood ! The sight was too horrible for even rebel soldiers, 
 for they all left the place, and Parker proceeded to immo- 
 late his aged and innocent victim alone and unattended. 
 He burst two caps, and the third one accomplished the 
 work of death ! The ball went into the old man's back 
 and came out at the lower part of his breast, lodging itself 
 in his wrist. There was no charge preferred against him, 
 only that he was a Union man. ^He did not even have a 
 son in the Federal army. 
 
 The next victim who fell into the hands of these inhu- 
 man scoundrels was John H. Vaught. He was a g(5od citi- 
 zen of Johnson County, and was also a very pious man. 
 He did not take either side in the war. He said that he 
 was old and in feeble health, and was willing to abide by 
 the laws of which ever side might be in the ascendant. 
 But, alas, old Bill Parker happened to find him away from 
 his home on one occasion, which was a sufficient cause, in 
 his estimation, to murder him. Parker at once accused 
 hini of carrying news to scouters, and of knowing where 
 they were camped in the mountains, and told him if he did 
 not direct him and his men to their camps they would kill 
 him. This of course he could not do, as he did not know 
 where their camps were. Some of old Parker's gang of 
 demons then began to beat him over the head with the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 291 
 
 but-ends of their pistols, calling him an old liar and a trai- 
 tor ; and at length Parker stepped up and, with the utmost 
 coolness, shot him in the breast, holding his pistol so close 
 to his body that his clothes were considerably burned. He 
 lay a whole day and night at the place where he was shot, 
 as his friends were positively afraid to go and bury his 
 dead body. He was sixty-five years of age. 
 
 This company of inhuman murderers left their gray- 
 haired victim weltering in his blood, and started forward, 
 to bathe their hands in some other poor Union man's 
 blood. They had not proceeded far from the place where 
 they had exhibited their last tragedy, until they met with 
 an old man by the name of David Oaks, who they immedi- 
 ately shot down as if he had been a wild' beast, without ex- 
 changing a word with him. 
 
 A portion of the home guards of Johnson County, com- 
 manded by old Bill Parker, went to the house of Levi Guy. 
 He was seventy years old, aild scarcely knew what either 
 side of the contending parties was fighting about. The 
 only charge they had against him was that he had two 
 sons in the Federal army, and one scouting in the mount- 
 ains, his fourth son having died in prison at Richmond. 
 The old man was sitting at the table eating his breakfast, 
 Avhen these fiends rode up to his door and told him that 
 they had come to take him off. He arose from the table 
 and went out to them, when they tied Bis hands behind his 
 back and started him on in the road before them. His 
 daughter, being deeply concerned about the probable fate 
 of her aged father, started to follow them,"when some of 
 these reckless demons rode back and caught hold of her 
 very roughly, and whipped her until the blood ran from 
 her arms and back profusely, and then drove her back to 
 the house ! They drove this old man on before them, like 
 
■"■ BRAVE BII.L PAKKER/' 
 
DANIKL ELLIS. 293 
 
 a dumb animal doomed to the slaughter-pen, for a'distance 
 of half a mile, when they stopped and twisted a hickory- 
 withe, and hung him up to the limb of a tree, some of them 
 holding him up while others tied the withe. The withe 
 was too stiff to close tightly around his neck, and, conse- 
 quently, his toes touched the ground, and in this situation 
 he suffered all the indescribable agonies . of a horrible 
 death ! In the evening the daughter who had received 
 such a severe flagellation at- the hands of these ruffians 
 started again to see if she could discover any thing in re- 
 gard to her father. She followed the trail of the horses 
 until she arrived at tbe spot where her father was hanging 
 by the neck. The ground immediately under him was 
 worn perfectly smooth where he had moved his toes back- 
 ward and forward while he was struggling in the fearful 
 agonies of death. She let him down, and then returned 
 to the house, and got her sged mother and some children, 
 an^' went back and carried her dead father to the house, 
 and buriied him the next day. Oh, what a dreadful act of 
 cruelty to be' perpetrated by ■ civilized men in a Christian 
 laiid, where the light of the glorious gospel of the Son of 
 God brightly illuminates the pathway to Heaverij wherein 
 all may walk without stutnbling who desire to 'shun 'the 
 broad road that leads to hell ! 
 
 Enoch Guy, a son of Levi Guy, and who was a Federal 
 soldier, was captured and shot at this house of George 
 Gampbell. The first ball that was shot at him wounded him 
 in the side "of his head. He -was then taken off about, a quar- 
 ter of a mile, and shot with three more balls, one of them 
 striking him in his head, and the other two in his breast. 
 His murderers then stripped him of his clothing, and threw 
 his lifeless body off of a cliff, which was at least forty feet 
 in height, among the sharp rocks that covered the ground 
 
294 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 below, which mangled his body in a' horrible manner. He 
 belonged to the 8th Tennessee Cavalry, and was recruiting 
 for that regiment when he was captured. His recruiting- 
 papers were found in his pocket. Campbell's house was 
 immediately burned, because Guy had been found there. 
 
 The next man that was murdered by these brutal fiends 
 was David Guy, a son of Levi Guy, who was also a Federal 
 soldier. He had come home on a short visit to his family, 
 and was in his house when the home guard rode up to his 
 door. He walked out and surrendered, when one of these 
 inhuman murderers drew out his pistol and shot him in the 
 shoulder. He now begged them not to kilL him, telling 
 them that he was a Federal soldier, and was then their pris- 
 oner. His poor wife now came out, and stood like a statue 
 of distress between her husband and his murderers, and 
 begged them with tearful eyes to spare his life, and his lit- 
 tle children, who were weeping most piteously, implored 
 them, with all their childish eloquence, not to kill their fa- 
 ther. But the sorrowful wail of the wife and the mournful 
 cries of her children altogether failed to awaken any feeling 
 of human pity in these inhuman monsters, for one of them 
 proceeded to shoot him in the back, and then others of the- 
 party sprang oif of their horses and pushed his wife vio- 
 lently away, and kicked some of the children down. They 
 then robbed him of his money, and stripped him of his coat, 
 pants, and hat, and then mounted their horses and rode off, 
 while one of them proclaimed with a loud voice, " That is 
 the way to treat all the Yankee soldiers who left the South 
 to fight for Abe Lincoln." 
 
 These men were killed in August and September, 1864. 
 Another son of Levi Guy was killed in the month of Feb- 
 ruary, 1865. He was captured at his home, together with 
 a young man who had been scouting in the mountains with 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 295 
 
 him for- some time. They were taken off about fifteen 
 miles to an old house, where the rebels tied their hands be- 
 hind them and hung them up to a joist. The blood-thirsty 
 wretches then beat these men -vvith their guns, and broke 
 their arms and several of their ribs while they were strug- 
 gling in the agonies of death. These two men were hung 
 about dark, and the next morning some women who were 
 going to feed their cattle discovered their, dead bodies 
 hanging in the old house. They were hung on the edge of 
 North Carolina, on the main road leading from Jefferson to 
 Taylors ville. 
 
 A man by the name of John Tilly also fell a victim to 
 Bill Parker's vengeance, and was savagely murdered in the 
 following manner : Tilly had been scouting for some time, 
 and one of his twin children was taken violently ill, and 
 was not expected to live ; he had come to the house to see 
 his sick child, and was nursing it in his lap when Parker 
 and his gang of murderers rode up to his house. He laid 
 his child down, and went out in the yard and surrendered, 
 when Parker drew out his pistol and shot at him, giving 
 him a severe wound in the head. He was now convinced 
 that they intended to kill him, and asked them only to allow 
 him a few minutes to pray. But they returned him no an- 
 swer, and continued to shoot at him. The poor fellow, now 
 turned to run, but he soon fell to the ground, his body hav- 
 ing been pierced through with. ten balls. His wife now ran 
 toward her murdered husband, screaming and crying with 
 wild and frantic agony, when one of these incarnate devils 
 seized hold of his gun and knocked her down by the side 
 of her dead husband. His little children cried and begged 
 for their father all the time, but as well might they have 
 raised their tiny hands and feeble voices to calm the raging 
 storm in its m^d career, as to endeavor to stop this gang 
 
296 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of rebel demons in their bloody work of murder. After 
 waiting until their victim had breathed his last, these man- 
 slayers went on their way laughing at the terrible misery 
 they had left behind them, and looking forward in search 
 of more human blood. 
 
 They next met with three men, who were entire strangers 
 to them, on the Laurel Creek, some six miles from Taylors- 
 ville. They at once captured these men, and, after tying 
 their hands behind their backs, they then tied them all 
 three together. They then marched them on for a short 
 distance, and stopped and shot them down in the woods, 
 and rode carelessly on, leaving the bodies of their murdered 
 victims to be consumed by the buzzards and hogs. The 
 bodies of these men were found, several days after they 
 were killed, by some men who were scouting in the mount- 
 ains. When they approached the place where their bodies 
 were lying, a gang of hogs were devouring them, and they 
 did not know that the hogs were eating human flesh until 
 they went up to the place where they were fighting over 
 the remains of these poor murdered men. The men who 
 found their bodies proceeded to search in their pockets, 
 thinking that they might find something by which they 
 would be enabled to identify them ; but they found nothing 
 but a small Bible in one of their pockets, in which the name 
 of its former owner was written. The man's name that 
 was found written in the Bible was Lafter. He was a 
 Methodist preacher from North Carolina, and he and his 
 companions were endeavoring to get through the lines 
 when they were unfortunately captured by the rebels in 
 Johnson County. The men who accidentally found their 
 remains buried the parts of their bodies that had not 
 been devoured by the hogs. They will rest quietly, in the 
 profound stillness of their ■ lonely graves, until the loud 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 297 
 
 trump of the Archangel shall sound, when they will rise 
 to meet their infamous murderers at the bar of the great 
 Judge of the universe, "who seeth not as man seeth, and 
 who can not look upon sin with the least degree of' allow- 
 ance." 
 
 In the month of November, .1864, the home guards of 
 Johnson County captured a man by^the name of William 
 Church, who was a conscript, and was scouting in the 
 mountains at the time he was caught. They made him run 
 before their horses for "about a mile, through the creeks, 
 branches, and mud -holes, when they halted, and told him 
 they were going to kill him. He commenced begging them 
 to spare his life, and told them that he would immediately 
 go into the service of the Southern army if they would not 
 kill him. But as well might he have attempted tcS stay the 
 earthquake in its desolating march, as to have attempted, 
 by any sort of piteous importunity, to dissuade his murder- 
 ers from taking his life. . One of his merciful captors replied 
 to him, " I do not wish to "guard you, and, therefore, I think 
 it would be the best policy to kill you." Abother one of 
 them said to him, "You shall be killed, for I want your 
 clothes. I should consider myself at any time to be well 
 paid for killing a Lincolnite by getting his hat and boots." 
 This poor supplicating prisoner was now convinced of the 
 hardened and reckless character of the ruffians into whose 
 hands he had fallen ; he knew that they intended to kill 
 him, and he fell upon his knees and commenced praying. 
 One of the rebels then raised his gun and shot him while 
 he was on his knees. The gun was held so close to his 
 body that his clothes were badly burned where the bullet 
 struck him ; and when he was found, the' buttons that had 
 been on his shirt and vest were lying loose upon his breast 
 just where they had been burned oif of his clothes. The 
 
 X 2 
 
298 
 
 THRILLING AHVENTUKES OF 
 
 fiend who shot liiin took liis li.at, coat, and boots as a fee for 
 killing him. 
 
 The foregoing are but a few out of very many similar 
 oases of horrible murders which were perpetrated upon in- 
 nocent men by the rebel home guards of Johnson County. 
 I could extend this chaptor much farther by relating the 
 sickening details of a number of other foul and horrid mur- 
 ders, where men were unfortunately captured and shock- 
 ingly massacred by the base and vile rebel monsters who 
 styled themselves "the home guards of Johnson County." 
 But I presume the reader is already tired of perusing the 
 history of such monstrous human depravity as was dis- 
 played by the base and infamous rebels who participated 
 in the terrible murders which I have alluded to in the pres- 
 ent chapter. I will therefore refrain fi'om pursuing the dis- 
 agreeable subject any farther. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 DuEiNG the summer and fall of 1 864, not less than one 
 hmidred dwelling-houses were burned, belonging to the 
 Union people of Carter and Johnson Counties, and the 
 most of them were occupied by the families of men who 
 were serving as soldiers in the Federal army at the time 
 their houses were burned, who had not seen their homes for 
 a number of months. Old Bill Parker was at the head of 
 all this dreadful mischief. The lower part of Carter and 
 Johnson Counties were thronged with women and children 
 who had been driven away from their homes, and all their 
 property destroyed by this old miscreant. Many of these 
 poor women made their way through the lines, as they had 
 been rendered perfectly destitute by the destruction of 
 their houses and all their household property, while many 
 others wandered about the country, enduring all the priva- 
 tions and intense suffering which starvation and nakedness 
 eould impose, without a home to go to ; and, indeed, these 
 poor women were afraid to go near their old places of 
 abode, for they seemed to be in as great a dread of Parker 
 as if he had been a ravenous tiger that had been let loose 
 in the country foi- the purpose of destroying men, women, 
 and children. They had not a bed to lie down on, for ev- 
 ery thing which they could call their own had been de- 
 stroyed when they were driven away from their homes, 
 and their houses burned to ashes. - They would often say, 
 while the tears were streaming from their eyes, "If Bill 
 
300 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 Parker was away, we could go back to our friends." His 
 end was now drawing near ; in fact, it now amounted to an 
 absurdity for the TJnion men in the country to think about 
 permitting him to live any longer than could possibly be 
 avoided, for there was not a day passed but what some 
 poor TJnion man was killed by himself or some of his men. 
 He was now frequently heard to boast that he had killed 
 twelve old Union men himself, and said that be would kill 
 twelve more if he could find them ! He called himself 
 "Brave Bill Parker!" But no real and genuine bravery 
 ever took up its abode in the black heart of this despicable 
 wretch. He was nothing more than a base and cowardly 
 assassin, who at all times shrank back from danger when 
 he thought that his own personal safety was in jeopardy. 
 
 Old Parker was always well guarded by a set of vile, 
 mercenary scoundrels, who followed after him as the jack- 
 al follows the lion, for the purpose of participating with 
 him in his feasts of blood, for, he was now in constant ex- 
 pectation of being killed, on account of the many horrid 
 crimes of which he had been guilty. It was very hard to 
 get a chance to kill him, on account of the heavy guard 
 which he always kept about him, and the men who were 
 scouting in the mountains, being too weak to attack him 
 openly, resolved to bushwhack him, as the safest plan of. 
 ridding the country of such a terrible scoundrel; and a 
 number of men took their positions on several occasions for 
 the purpose of completing this design, but when an oppor- 
 tunity would offer for them to shoot him their ■ hearts 
 would fail them. At length, in their extremity, they came 
 to me, and requested me to aid them in seeking the de- 
 struction of their dreadful foe. How many Union citizens 
 I have heard exclaim, " I would freely give all I possess in 
 this world if this monster was killed I" And the women 
 
DANIEL ELXIS. 301 
 
 would also say, " Our husbands are fai- away, engaged in 
 the service of their country as soldiers in the Federal army, 
 and we are driven away from our homes, and our houses 
 burned down, and all our property destroyed. If Bill Par- 
 ker was killed, the balance of his adherents would not be 
 so bad!" 
 
 All the old and feeble men who entertained Union senti- 
 ments, and who had not already been murdered, had left 
 the section of country which was most constantly cursed 
 by his presence. I at once determined to assist the men 
 who were scouting in the mountains to get rid of this old 
 blood-thii^ty tyrant ; but, the worst of all, theua. were but 
 few guns and very little ammunition in the counWy. How- 
 ever, in spite of every difficulty, I concluded to take him 
 alive, aifd convey him through the lines and deliver him up 
 to the Federal authorities. This I knew would be hard to 
 do ; but I disliked the idea of killing him secretly, without 
 letting him know who it was that was assaulting him and 
 why it was done. There were ten men in the company 
 who formed the conspiracy to take old Parker's life. "We 
 armed ourselves as well as we could, and went forth upon 
 our mission to rid the world of one of the vilest and most 
 reckless scoundrels that ever walked upon the face of the 
 earth in the upright form of man. 
 
 When we arrived in the section of country -where he 
 lived, we proceeded to waylay the road along which he 
 usually traveled fpr five days and nights before we got to 
 see him. Two of the men who belonged to our party pre- 
 tended to know him well, while t knew nothing about him 
 only from description, and, in consequence of this, I thought 
 that I might be deceived; for I had frequently been in- 
 formed that he made it a point to change his clothes every 
 day, and also to ride a different horse, the reason of which 
 
302. THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 was, that he no doubt expected to be bushwhacked, and 
 wished to guard«against it as much as he possibly could. 
 
 Rebel soldiers and home guards passed the place every 
 day where we were concealed, but none of them answered 
 to the description of Parker. On the fourth day a buggy, 
 containing a lady and gentleman, passed along, and some of 
 the men declared that it was Parker who was in the buggy, 
 and wished very much to fire at the lump, and kill the man 
 and woman both. But this I would not allow to be done. 
 Directly after the ;buggy.passed on, a parcel of soldiers came 
 riding along the road, and a single man on horseback was 
 riding soraa distance behind them. Some of our farty now 
 declared tTat this man who was riding by himself behind 
 the soldiers was Parker without any doubf, and that the 
 soldiers who were riding before him were his men. This I 
 could not believe, for this man did not at all fill the descrip- 
 tion that had been given to me in regard to his personal 
 appearance. When this man rode up I would not allow 
 any of the men to interrupt him, and he passed on. Some 
 of. the men now became angry and discouraged, and saying 
 that I would not permit them to capture Parker if he should 
 come along, they took their guns, and forthwith left the 
 company. This caused our little company to be reduced 
 down considerably ; but I did not regard that, for I had 
 come to capture Parker, and therefore I did not want any 
 person else in his place. 
 
 At length, on the fifth day, just about twelve o'clock, a 
 small company of soldiers jpassed along, and some distance 
 behind them we observed a man riding along by himself. 
 As he approached a little nearer, I concluded at once that 
 this was Parker without any doubt whatever. I now sta- 
 tioned the men at several different stands along the side of 
 the road, and, taking one of the men with me, we advanced 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 303 
 
 very near the road where I designed waiting until he rode 
 up, when I intended to jump into the road just ahead of 
 him, and seize his horse by the bridle in true robber style 
 when he calls on the traveler to " stand and deliver." I felt 
 quite sure that he would at once surrender, for I never knew 
 a cruel man to be a brave man. Cruelty and cowardice are 
 insepai-able concomitants, for they always go hand in hand. 
 Parker came on, and passed by the first lot of men whom I 
 had stationed near the road, and was approaching the second 
 sentinels, when the first and second guards fired at him 
 simultaneously, hitting his horse, when, instead of coming 
 on towai .1 ._e, he wheeled about, and started on the back 
 track. Every gun was immediatelj^et loose after him, and 
 he was seen once to lean forward in his saddle, which we 
 viewed as a plain indication that some of our balls. had 
 struck him. The horse bore Parker on for several hundred 
 yards, when all at once the animal fell down in the road, 
 and, when we went up to him, he was lying dead in the 
 road, but Parker was gone. But when we started to- 
 ward a thicket near by, Ave found his coat, which had 
 several bullet-holes in it, but we could find no trace of 
 Parker. ' 
 
 We could not hunt for him long, for his men soon came 
 hurrying back, and at once commenced searching through 
 every thicket for their missing leader, but he was nowhere 
 to be found. His followers continued to search for.him for 
 several days, but their efforts to find him proved entirely 
 fruitless. As no trace of him could be found, the rebels came 
 to the conclusion that those, who had killed him must have 
 carried oflT his dead body, or that they had captured him 
 alive and had conducted him away. If they had known it, 
 we were just as ignorant in regard to his fate as they were, 
 Hisuiltimate fate being involved in such doubt and uncer- 
 
304 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tainty, I thought that some of his rebel friends had found 
 him and concealed him, to prevent any farther assault from 
 being made on him. 
 
 A period of two months had elapsed before his fate was 
 fully known, and then it was disclosed in the following man- 
 ner: The skeleton of a man was found about three miles 
 from the place where we made the attack upon him. When 
 he was found he was lying with his face on the ground, and 
 the most of his clothes were still entirely whole. The pockets 
 in his pants being searched, it was immediately found to be 
 Parker, without any farther doubt. A quantity of chewed 
 bark was found upon the ground where his stomach had 
 lain and rotted, and tne knees of his pants were entirely 
 worn through, plainly indicating that he had crawled upon 
 his knees for a considerable distance. From every appear- 
 ance, he must have lived some four or five days after he had 
 been shot. He was found about a mile from the house 
 of Jacob Wagner, who was a stanch old rebel. Some -of 
 Wagner's family said, after old Parker's skeleton was found, 
 that they remembered very distinctly of having heard the 
 voice of some person calling and hallooing on several occa- 
 sions in the direction where his skeleton was found just 
 about the time when he was first missing, which they were 
 unable to account for, but they now felt assured that it was 
 Parker whom they heard hallooing and calling at the time 
 referred to. It is quite probable that in his last agonies he 
 called for his old friend and fellow-rebel, Jake Wagner, to 
 his assistance, knowing that 
 
 " A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind." 
 
 That he died a most miserable death no person has ever 
 presumed to doubt, which was a just reward for his mon- 
 strous crimes. After old Parker was killed, the times were 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 305 
 
 not SO bad for the old men and the helpless women of John- 
 son County, for his followers in crime either must have 
 looked upon the fate of Parker as a warning to them, or else 
 they were not so thoroughly dead to the feelings of human- 
 ity as to perpetrate the awful deeds of crime which had ren- 
 dered their leader so notorious. 
 
306 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 It was in the month of September, 1864, when the loyal 
 people of East Tennessee, who had suffered long and pa- 
 tiently under the dreadful yoke of rebel tyranny, hailed 
 with delight the arrival of General Gillem's brigade of Ten- 
 nessee Cavalry, whose object was to rid the upp'er coun- 
 ties of rebel soldiers. But this was not effected as easily 
 as it had been expected it could be done, as the rebels did 
 not intend to abandon a section of country which yielded 
 such immense supplies to their resources without a strugr 
 gle. 
 
 Gillem's brigade, composed of the 8th, 9th, and 13th Reg- 
 iments of Tennessee Cavalry, in their advance through East 
 Tennessee, found a force opposed to them equal in number 
 and sometimes greatly superior to their own ; and many of 
 the brave sons of East Tennessee were destined to be offer- 
 ed as a sacrifice upon the altai; of their country before the 
 old starry banner could again be permitted to wave in tri- 
 umph over her mountains and valleys, and proclaim liberty 
 to her oppressed citizens. 
 
 Many scenes were enacted in East Tennessee, which, in 
 a less exciting and critical period of the war, would have 
 created more sensation; but they were now almost lost 
 sight of in the more dazzling and exciting engagements of 
 grand armies in different parts of the country. I hope, 
 however, that the reader will indulge me in noticing a few 
 of the movements of this little brigade of cavalry command- 
 ed by General Gilleni. 
 
1 1 1 ll llflll 
 
 
 
308 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 » 
 
 On the 30th of September, 1864, -we find the soldiers in 
 this brigade quietly in camp at Bull's (jrap, little suspecting 
 that the renowned General Morgan, with a force superior 
 to their own, was advancing toward them, confident of ob- 
 taining a certain and easy victory. A dark and rainy night 
 approaches. The vigilant commander of the Union forces 
 ascertained that Morgan's command had arrived at Green- 
 ville, eighteen miles distant from a portion of his force that 
 occupied a position in the direction of Bull's Gap, and had 
 gone into camp. The 13th Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, 
 commanded by Colonel Ingerton, received orders at eleven 
 o'clock on the night of the 3d of September to get in rear 
 of Morgan's advance, which order was successfully accom- 
 plished by daylight on the morning of the 4th of Septem- 
 ber. Ten companies were formed in ambush about one 
 mile from Greenville, to await the attack of the remaining 
 part of the brigade, which was moving up the main road. 
 The rebel dispatch-bearer was now captured, and it was 
 thereby ascertained that Morgan and his staff were in Green- 
 ville, at the house of Mrs. Williams, some distance from and 
 in the rear of his main force. Captain Wilcox (who was 
 afterward promoted to major) was at once directed to take 
 charge of the remaining two companies of the 13th Reg- 
 iment, and go into Greenville and endeavor to effect the 
 capture of Morgan and his staff. 
 
 A few random shots which were fired at the rebels in 
 the streets warned Morgan of approaching danger, and also 
 aroused his slumbering troops, but it was too late to save 
 their chieftain from his impending fate. Regardless of the 
 shot and shell which were thrown from the rebel batteries, 
 the daring Captain Wilcox surrounded the house and lot 
 of Mrs. Williams and captured Morgan's staff. Morgan, 
 perceiving the imminent peril -^^hich now threateiied Mm 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 809 
 
 in every feeotion, fled to the garden, and concealed him- 
 self among the thick clusters of vines which overspread the 
 Slimmer-house, but he was soon discovered and shot by pri- 
 vate Andtew Campbell (who was afterward promoted to 
 lieutenant), of Company G, 13th Tennessee Cavalry^ When 
 Morgan's staff officers were all captured, a man came in 
 who said that a man had been killed in the garden. One 
 of the staff officers desired to see who it was, and requested 
 the guard to go with him. When he approached the body 
 tears commenced flowing down his cheeks, and he exclaim- 
 ed, "That is John Morgan." 
 
 Being violently assailed by a superior force of Morgan's 
 command, Captain Wilcox withdrew in good order, carry- 
 ing with him the body of Morgan and forty prisoners, in- 
 cluding his staff officers. In the mean time the main rebel 
 forces were attacked some distance below Greenville by 
 Genei-al Gillem, who succeeded most admirably in routing 
 and di'iving them back in the utmost confusion, while their 
 advance, coming upon the part of the 13th Regiment in 
 ambush, received a most terrible and galling fire, which 
 killed and wounded quite a number of the rebels as they 
 ran. The main column now turned suddenly, and in great 
 confusion, into the woods on the left side of the main road, 
 the companies of the 13th Regiment who were in ambush 
 being on the right side of the road. Colonel Ingerlon, 
 hearing the firing in the direction of Greenville, and enter- 
 taining fears in regard to the safety of Wilcox, allowed the 
 rebels to escape while he hastened with the main part, of 
 the regiment to the assistance of the small force which had 
 been sent into Greenville under Wilcox. 
 
 The entire brigade had now moved up, and when General 
 Gillem saw the body of Moi'gan, he waved his hat around 
 and cheered the 13th Tennessee Cavalry with the great^est 
 
310 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 enthusiasm, while the soldiers,, as they passed along, seem- 
 ed to be perfectly wild with delight, as one after anoth- 
 er would exclaim, " Morgan is killed ;" and " Charge the 
 rebels," was the constant cry of the soldiers.- Morgan's 
 force now made a stand on College Hill, a short distance 
 east of Greenville. The Federal forces under General Gil- 
 lem moved on up the road, and a sharp fight occurred, 
 which resulted in the complete rout of the rebels and the 
 capture of their artillery-wagons, together with upward of 
 two hundred prisoners. This was the end of the romantic 
 career of John Morgan, who had, perhaps, done as much 
 real injury to the Union cause as any one man in the Con- 
 federate service. 
 
 The Federal troops now moved on up as far as Carter 
 Station, in Carter County, when it was ascertained that 
 General Vaughn had reorganized Morgan's old command, 
 to which had also been added the rebel force under the 
 command of Colonel Palmer, of North Carolina ; conse- 
 quently. General Gillem fell back to Bull's Gap, and then 
 to New Market, leaving Vaughn irw full possession of the 
 upper counties, and as far on down the country as Morris- 
 town, at which place he established his head - quarters. 
 Scouting parties of the rebels would now attack the Feder- 
 al pickets every night, and annoy them all they possibly 
 could. This operation was continued until the 27th day of 
 October, 1864. General Gillem, having learned the strength 
 and position of the enemy, and believing, moreover, not- 
 withstanding the superiority in numbers of the enemy, that, 
 by making the attack, he could succeed in vanquishing 
 them, he accordingly moved his forces in the direction of 
 Morristown, where the rebels were reported to be in posi- 
 tion. He soon met a small reconnoitering party of the reb- 
 els, who stubbornly opposed his advance. But steadily 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 311 
 
 deriving them back, he encamped on the night of the 27th 
 of October within a few miles of Morristown. 
 
 Early on the moi-ning of the 28th of October his column 
 was in motion; the enemy was now in considerable force 
 in front, but they could not stop the advance of Gillem's 
 brigade until they came in sight of Vaughn's entire- com- 
 mand, drawn»up in line of battle immediately on the oppo- 
 site side of the town. The 13th Regiment was drawn, up in 
 column of companies, and ordered to charge with drawn 
 sabres, which they' did. in splendid style, the 8th and 9th 
 Regiments being held in' reserve. The shook of the sabre- 
 charge of the 13th at once disconcerted the rebels and broke 
 their lines, and'the 8th and 9th being now ordered to move 
 forward, rushed onward with a loud yell and with drawn 
 sabres. The rebels^ now. confused and panic-stricken, broke 
 their ranks and fled jn- every direction. They were closely 
 pui-sued as far as Bull's Gap, when the brigade discontinued 
 the chase, and_returned to Morristown, having captured the 
 artillery and wagons belonging to the rebels, together with 
 some two hundred prisoners' 
 
 General Vaughn and his men had been for a long time 
 saying that they would take Knoxville, arid their prediction 
 was now accomplished, for Gillem sent their wagons and 
 teams, together With their, drivers, who were made to con- 
 tinue at .liheir posts, and the prisoners, all on to Knoxville 
 together. '. The Union soldiers would say to them, " You are 
 now goilJg to. take Knoxville sure enough." The rebels 
 would answer that they believed it, but they would take 
 Knoxville on this occasion in quite a different way to what 
 they had expected. 
 
 The brigade ' returned to Morristown, and went int(? 
 camp. The loss on the Federal side was very slight. The 
 ambulance was sent out to bring in the dead who had fallen 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 31B 
 
 pon the field of battle, and fifty r'eb'els wbp bad been killed 
 reve brought in on that day. The next day the search was 
 pntinued, and thirty more were brought in, besides many 
 ?bo were badly wounded. ■ 
 
 When the Federal troops fell back from Carter. Station 
 n the- 1st of November, 1864, 1 was with them ; and al- 
 hodgh I did not then belong to the service, I engaged' in 
 he Morristown fight as-thougb I had been a regular soldier, 
 ^fter the battle I again returned to the counties of Carter 
 nd Johnson, to enlist recruits for the 1 3th Regiment. I had 
 njoyed myself finely while I; was assisting. to defeat and 
 unthe rebels-'at Morristown, and now,- unfortunately, the 
 ext racewas tobe-o'ue in which I had to work in the lead, 
 nd which I can assure^the reader I did riot enjoy half so well. 
 
 After my arrivalamong my native hills, haying,'as usual,' 
 large number ofJetters to cirbnlate, I proceeded at once oii 
 ly mission to distribute the letters, and also to enlist recruits 
 or the 13th' Regiment. My. first place of destination was 
 he Doe River Cove, in Carter County, as I had a large pack- 
 ge for the widow Catopbellj who hadtwo sons in the 13th 
 legiment. • I &lt very much troubled in my! mind as I went 
 long, 'for which I was altogether un'able 'satisfactorily to 
 ccount. But: I have 'since often thought that it was an 
 istinctive melaticholy:fp'rebo'ding of my approaching trouble 
 irbferi mylife-was to be plac'ed.'in iniminent peril. At one 
 inre'Ialmo'st: concluded to turn back;:but having generally 
 ladeit-arule never to begin any thing without accomplish- 
 [ig^it,'and nothing urginglme to turn'back except my mel- 
 ncho'ly feelings, I went on, and soon "overtook two of my 
 couting 'friends, who were eri route for the same place that 
 
 was. My depressed spirits were now somewhat dispersed^, 
 nd; we soon aMv'ed near '.the house'^wJiere I designed 
 topping.*- 
 
 
 
314 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I told my companions that Fwould call Mrs. Campbell. up 
 on a ridge which was close to her house, and give her the 
 package that I had for her, where I could watch for any 
 rebel soldiers that might be prowling about. To this prop- 
 osition my friends .objected, saying that they were going 
 to the house, and that I must go along with them, as they 
 did not think there would be any danger in so doing, for 
 there had been no rebels in the cove for three weeks. But 
 I still protested against the proposition of going to the 
 house, and they started on, leaving me alone. I sat on the 
 hill for some time, looking up and down the road for rebels, 
 but I could not see any person stirring about. Having torn 
 a rent in my pants, I now concluded to go down to the 
 house and have it mended, and hasten away, as I had many 
 places yet i,o go to. After taking another observation up and 
 down the road for rebel soldiers, and seeing none, I pro- 
 ceeded to the house. There was a clump of spruce, pine, and 
 laurel bushes standing between the house and the road, and 
 not fifty yards from the house, which completely obscured 
 the part of the road running immediately behind it from my 
 view. This thicket was full of rebel soldiers, who bad doubt- 
 less therein concealed themselves for the purpose of watch- 
 ing my movements. But having failed to discover them, I 
 went into the house, where I found my companions. I at 
 once called for a needle and thread, and while one of the 
 family was getting it for me, I went to the door to look out 
 for danger, as I was altogether out . of my true element 
 whenever I was in a house, and I now felt restless and un- 
 easy. When I looked out at the door, oh, horror of horrors ! 
 I saw a number of rebel soldiers not forty yards from the 
 house coming as hard as their horses could carry them, with 
 their guns and pistols drawn. Some of the family said, " Get 
 in the cellar, and we can hide you." But on this occasion I 
 
DA'NIEL ELLIS. 315 
 
 did not approve of the suggestion, and jumped out at the 
 door in an instant, and started as rapidly as my legs cotild 
 carry me for the woods. The rebels now commenced firing 
 their guns and pistols in good earnest. When I sprang over 
 the fence surrounding the house, the bullets were singing 
 an awful dirge all around me. One ball struck the top rail 
 on the fence, and scattered the splinters in my face. By 
 this time my two companions were with me, running as 
 eagerly and as desperately as if there was to be a valuable 
 priz6 awarded at the end of the race to the.successful com- 
 petitor in the terrible contest. We had about three hundred 
 yards to run before we couid get to the woods, and the 
 worst of it was, there was no undergrowth in the woods 
 that we could hide in, even if we should succeed in getting 
 there. On came the rebels, hallooing, " Halt, halt, halt !" and 
 shooting at us all the time. We had not run very far until 
 both my companions were captured. One of them was cap- 
 tured immediately before me, and the other one just behind 
 me, and how I ever did escape will always be a source of 
 astonishment to me, for their horses were all around me. 
 
 When I started from the house I had dropped my pistols 
 and l)elt, but I held on to my sixteen-shboting- rifle. The 
 odds against me were so great that I immediately saw it 
 would be perfectly simple for me to endeavor to defend 
 myself by fighting, and thei-efore I determined, if possible, 
 to save myself by flight. I knew that they would murder 
 me in a most shameful and ignominious manner if they 
 should succeed in capturing me. I therefore resolved 1;hat 
 I would much rather be killed while endeavoring to make" 
 my escape, than to be taken alive by these infamous scoun- 
 drels, who, I had no doubt, would take the greatest delight 
 in putting me to the utmost torture^ I therefore strained 
 every, nerve to save myself, for I thought that, while I had , 
 
316 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 life, I had a hope of saving it. I could not entertain the 
 idea for a moment of being caught and shot in that mount- 
 ain by these brutal soldiers, who bad no more mercy for :i 
 IJnion man than they had for a sheep-killing dog, and 1 
 well knew that they would rather kill me than kill a rat- 
 tlesnake. Summoning all my strength, I sprang out of the 
 crowd which surrounded me on every side, and ran up 
 a steep bank, while they were firing at me continually. 
 One of them exclaimed, " Knock him down with your 
 gun!" and anoUier one hallooed, "Run your horses over 
 him!" But I got away from that crowd, and ran on up 
 the ridge, where I was met by another squad of soldiers 
 that I had not before seen. I was now almost exhausted. 
 They began to charge on me with their horses, and shoot- 
 ing at every jump. I still thought that my life was too 
 dear to be surrendered tp these ruffians, and I determined 
 to die rather than surrender! Making another desperate 
 eflEbrt, I suddenly turned from them, and ran on up the 
 ridge. But I saw that I would be taken if I continued on 
 in that direction, for they Avere now so close on me that 
 they frequently tried to knock me down with their guns, 
 and I could feel the air pass my back as it was driven 
 against rae by the motion of their guns when they would 
 strike at me so violently, but, as good luck would have it, 
 none of them hit me. A bullet now passed through my 
 clothes across my back, cutting the skin a little, but it did 
 not hurt me ; and now several other bullets passed through 
 ray clothes without touching my body. I now changed 
 ray course, and dodged past the raen' and horses^ and ran 
 down a steep declivity into a hollow, where their horses 
 could not follow me very well. The rebels immediately 
 dismounted and opened another fire on rae, and at the 
 same time some of them ran around to head me as I en- 
 deavored to got out of the hollow. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 317 
 
 They now made the third charge on me. I was now so 
 perfectly tired down that I could scarcely move one foot 
 after the 'other ; but I could not think of falling into the 
 hands of my blood-thirsty enemies while I had any breath 
 left in my body. I started on up the hollow, running with 
 all the strength that I had left, and the rebels after me, cry- 
 ing as loud as they could, " Shoot him ! shoot him ! Halt! 
 halt!" But I thought that they had already told me to 
 halt often enough to know that I had no idea of obeying 
 them while life continued to animate my body ;' and their 
 incessant shooting so far had availed them nothing, for a 
 kind and beneficent Providence had protected me from in- 
 jury by their bullets. And, while life shall last, I shall al- 
 ways thank and adore my heavenly Father for His protect- 
 ive care which, was thrown around me in that awful hour, 
 and shielded and saved my life. 
 
 As I struggled on up the hill,' I caught hold of every' 
 bush, log, .and stump that came in my way, to assist me in 
 getting along in ray devious pathway. The rebels were 
 now pursuing me on foot,and, by exerting all my remain- 
 ing energies, I soon outstripped them. They began to 
 think, I presume, that I would get away in spite- of them, 
 and all of them fired another volley at me. The bullets 
 fell around me like hail-stones, cutting the saplings, and 
 tearing- the dirt up at my feet, and making the leaves fly as 
 if a hurricane had been passing through the fore'st ; but I 
 hurried on as rapidly as I could get along upon my weiary 
 limbs, while the rebels were yelling and shooting' after me 
 like a wild and infuriate gang of Indians. They con- 
 tinued shooting and hallooing at me until I got about three 
 hundred yards up the mountain. I was now so completely 
 tired down that I did not believe that I could go much far- 
 ther. Thi» was the first opportunity that I had during the 
 
318 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 race to shoot at them, and I turned twice round to fire at 
 them. Throughout the whole fearful race I held on to my 
 sixteen-shooter, thinking that when I could run no farther, 
 if my enemies should continue to pursue me, that I would 
 then stop and sell my life out to them as dearly as possible. 
 But when I made the attempt to shoot, I found that I was 
 so nearly dead that I could not hold my gun up. I now- 
 got behind some rocks that I thought would serve me for a 
 defense, and just at this time the rebels fired their last vol- 
 ley at me, and one of their bullets struck and passed 
 through the leg of erne of my boots, and stopped when it 
 struck against the flesh on my leg. If this ball had not 
 been so far spent when it passed through the leg of my 
 boot, it would certainly have broken my leg. 
 
 I do not believe that I could now have run any farther if 
 the rebels had continued to pursue me. I now looked back, 
 and the glorious sight at once met my observation of see- 
 ing the rebels returning down the mountain, having finally 
 given up the chase in despair. I immediately laid down on 
 the ground, not able to breathe ; my heart was beating as 
 if it would burst out of my bosom, from the terrible ex- 
 citement and exertion which I endured while endeavoring 
 to make my escape, and my throat and lungs were entirely 
 dry. I still had my canteen .around my neck, in which I 
 generally carried water or brandy, and at this time there 
 was nearly a gill of brandy, which I happened to think 
 about. I had barely enough of strength left to raise the 
 canteen to my mouth. I swallowed enough of the brandy 
 to wet my throat, and I really believe that it saved my life. 
 I was yet unable to breathe, and with another effort I turn- 
 ed up the canteen again and swallowed a small portion of 
 brandy. I pulled off my vest and shirt, and fell down be- 
 hind the rock again. I thought that I would die upon that 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 319 
 
 mountain alouej where no kind friend could wipe the cold 
 Sweat from my brow in my last expiring moments, but I 
 thought that would be far better than to have been horri- 
 bly massacred by the vile desperadoes' who had been so 
 long and so anxiously thirstirig for my blood. 
 
 I laid my head upon a rock, being, almost entirely unable 
 to breathe, believing that the few remaining sands in my 
 hour-glass of life were rapidly running out. I waited for 
 some minutes, in constant expectation that the shaft of 
 death would soon put out the quivering light of ray earthly 
 existence, and precipitate my soul upon the great ocean of 
 eternity. But the summons did not come, and I still lived. 
 I did not think that a man could be so near the door of 
 death and recover his physical energies. It seemed that 
 my work was not yet done. It is true there were very 
 many poor Union men who were still scouting through 
 the mountains, anxiously waiting for me to conduct them 
 through the lines, and for this purpose I thought that my 
 life had been, miraculously spared. 
 
 After lying behind the rock for several hours, I got up 
 and put on my shirt and vest, and it being late in the even- 
 ing, I crawled into a large hollow log, where I endeavored 
 to compose myself to rest as well as I could. Late in the 
 night a hard storm of wind and rain came on, and the rain 
 leaked in upon nie so badly that I crawled out of the log 
 and sat down by the side of a tree until morning. I now 
 started down the mountain toward the house from which I 
 had been chased by the rebels on the previous day, and 
 when I got near the foot of the ridge I called out, and one 
 of the girls who lived there immediately came to me. I 
 told her. where I had dropped my pistols, and she at once 
 went to the place where I had thrown them down when I 
 was running, where she found them and brought them to me. 
 
320 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 together with my breakfast. Some one of the family had 
 also found my coat, and had taken care of it, and presented 
 it to me. I had lost nothing in the race that the rebels 
 succeeded in getting. I paid the girl seven dollars for her 
 trouble in bringing my breakfast to me, and returned home 
 through the woods, being very well satisfied with my ad- 
 ventures for one day and night. It was a long time before 
 I recovered from the terrible effects of the race which I 
 was forced to take on this occasion by the base and infa- 
 mous rebels who labored so ardently to take my life. If I 
 should live to be an old man, the terrible scene which I 
 passed through on this day can never be effaced from my 
 memory ; for my remarkable escape on this ever-memorable 
 occasion will always serve to afford to my own mind the 
 most incontestable evidence that "truth is stranger than 
 fiction." 
 
 The rebels who gave me this dreadful race were the 
 home guards, and some other soldiers from Johnson County. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 321 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 In the month of December, 1864, a most iofamous scoun- 
 drel by the name of B. H; Duvall, who took his iirst lessons 
 in rebellion in the" city of Louisville, Kentucky, was sent 
 into Carter and Johnson Counties with a. company of reck- 
 less soldiers, and it was the 1st of January, 1865, before I 
 could get my company ready to start through the lines. 
 The last of .November arid all of- the month of December 
 was very cold, and the mountains were full of snow and ice, 
 which made it an awful task for men to scout in the mount- 
 ains; for they could not come within three miles of their 
 homes, without running the risk of being captured and 
 killed by some of the villains who were controlled and 
 counseled by Duvall. This gang of thieves did nothing but 
 rob houses and search the coiintry for Union men, to kill 
 them in the most barbarous manner. So perfect had they 
 become in the business of house-robbing that nothing scarce- 
 ly could be concealed from them. The poor women in the 
 country had to take their few articles of wearing apparel, 
 and all other articles that they wished to hide from these 
 rebel thieves, out of their houses, and conceal them in stamps 
 and hollow logs. But these scoundrels soon became ac- 
 quainted with this mode of operation, and every stump, old 
 logy or bank of leaves which they found near a house was 
 thoroughly searched, and not always without success. They 
 would take women's dresses, and have shirts rhade out of 
 them fortheir own use. They would also go to the Union 
 men's, houses and haul off their household property to Ehz- 
 
 O 2 
 
322 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 abethton, and sell off tlie various articles to the highest bid- 
 der. 
 
 There is a place on Indian Creek, near the line between 
 Carter and Sullivan Counties, which, in the polite phraseol- 
 ogy of the rebels, was denominated " the bone-yard." This 
 was the place where the rebels carried many of their pris- 
 oners to murder them. It is a lonely spot, surrounded by 
 lofty hills, on the side of a ridge, where a small flat place 
 had been formed by the fall of a large tree. Here they 
 would conduct their prisoners and shoot them down, and 
 would then go on to the first house and tell the Union peo- 
 ple, " if they would take a wagon and go to the bone-yard, 
 they would find another dead dog ready to be hauled off." 
 The Union citizens would often see them conducting pris- 
 oners to this spot, without having the least power to render 
 them any assistance, hallooing and uttering rude jokes, as 
 if they had been going to one of their drunken frolics. 
 Their victim, with downcast head, and with his hands tied 
 behind him, would walk dejectedly on before them, while 
 his wife, and probably a few other female friends, would 
 follow on behind, exhibiting the greatest distress imagin- 
 able. 
 
 This, was exactly the manner in which they treated a 
 man by the name of Henry Ai-cher, who was an innocent 
 man, and all his neighbors united in giving him the charac- 
 ter of a " good man." He was afflicted with fits at times, 
 which prevented him from going through the lines, and, 
 consequently, he endeavored to save himself by hiding in a. 
 camp in the mountains. He was betrayed by some person, 
 and his camp was pointed out to Duvall's men, who at once 
 proceeded to capture him ; they said they had hard work 
 to get to his camp, having to crawl on their hands and 
 knees through a very dense laurel thicket, where his camp 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 323 
 
 ■was situated, and he not expecting that his camp would be 
 discovered, was captured without any difficulty. He was 
 then conveyed to Elizabeton, where he was confined in jail 
 for several days. His distressed wife, with a young child 
 in her arms, followed him on to Elizabethton to intercede 
 for his life ; but, alas, her interposition proved to be alto- 
 gether unavailing, for her tears and sorrowful entreaties 
 totally failed to excite any feeling of sympathy in the wick- 
 ed heart of Duvall. He was at length taken out of jail and 
 handcuffed, and the rebels drove him on before them to the 
 bone- yard as if he had been a dumb brute. Just before 
 starting he took leave of his wife and child, bidding them 
 farewell with the utmost tenTJerness, asking his wife at the 
 same time not to follow him. He kissed his little child, and 
 the company started with him, while his poor wife followed 
 on after them with suppressed cries and doleful lamenta- 
 tions. One of the brutal soldiers said to her, "That is beau- 
 tiful music for our march," and then they all commenced 
 cawing like buzzards, which intimated that the buzzards 
 would soon be picking the prisoner's bones. 
 
 When they got near the place of slaughter they ordered 
 his Avife not to advance any farther, and told her if she did 
 they would shoot her. She stopped, and directly afterward 
 she heard the report of the gun that was fired at her hus- 
 band, after which she got several other women to go with 
 her to the place where he had been niui'dered. 
 
 When "these ruffians got to the place where they designed 
 killing their victim he asked them to give him a little time 
 to pray, which request they allowed. He knelt down and 
 offered up a most fervent prayer. He first prayed to the 
 Lord to take care of his wife and helpless child, and assist 
 her in supporting the burden of grief to which she had been 
 subjected. He then prayed for his murderers, that Ihey 
 
DUTALL MDraJKBiMO DMION MEN. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 325 
 
 might be forgiven. for what they were about to do. His 
 prayer was so affecting that all of the rebel murderers, with 
 the exception of one, were melted to tears, and turned away, 
 saying they could not kill him after hearing him pray for 
 them as he did. They permitted him to pray as-loiig as he 
 desired, and when he arose, a hardened wretch by the name* 
 of Foster shot him twice, and then stripped his coat and 
 boots off of him. They all then left his body lying where 
 it had, fallen. .. His wife and two or three female friends now 
 went to the place where he was lying, and her demonstra- 
 tions of .grief, were perfectly heart-rending. She took off 
 her: skirt; and after tearing it open, wrapped him in it; that 
 night he was hauled to a barn, where he was left until the 
 next morning, the people being afraid to suffer his body to 
 lay ill their houses. The next day a few friends removed 
 his body, and consigned it to its last resting-place. 
 
 John Smith, of Carter. County, was captured by some of 
 Duvall's'men on the 1st of January, 1865. :He was captured in 
 the road, in what is called " the Lyon Settlement," in Carter 
 County, by Jacob Nave and a few: other rebel - soldiers. 
 Nave was a citizen of Carter County, and had lived a neigh- 
 bor to Smith all his life ; and although Smith had never done 
 him. any harm, he assisted in taking him to the jailin Elizan 
 bethton, and abused him shamefully on the road. After 
 detaining him in jail a short time, he was handcuffed and 
 taken to the bone-yard, guarded by four of the most out- 
 rageous villains' that belonged to Duvall's command'; they 
 were as destitiite of pity as if they had no souls to be saved 
 or a hell to -shun. In fact, they seenied -to rejoice at the 
 sight of human suffering, and one of the party, whose name 
 was Motte, said, that he would mubh rather shoot a Union- 
 man' than a ^squirrel, that he loved to see them jump when 
 the ball struck them. What mercy could Smith' have ex- 
 
326 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 pected at the hands of such men? In vain he implored 
 them to permit him to see his wife and children before they 
 murdered him. His request was abruptly denied, and he 
 was ordered at once to kneel and receive the ball if he did 
 not wish to be shot standing up. He then got down upon 
 •his knees, begging them not to shoot him but one time. 
 This request was granted, but they took particular care to 
 make one shot answer their purpose, for the ball passed 
 very near or through his heart, and he fell upon his face, and 
 died instantly. 
 
 They turned him over on his back, and seeing a small 
 gutta-percha ring on one of his fingers, attempted to take it 
 off; but his finger was so much swollen the ring could not 
 be gotten off, when Motte deliberately took his knife out of 
 liis pocket and cut off the finger, took the ring, and placed 
 it on his own finger, where he continued to wear it during 
 the time that he remained in Carter County. They now left 
 him, and the Union people removed his body at night and 
 buried it. Smith was a good citizen, and no charge had been 
 preferred against him, only that he Avas a Union man, and 
 had been scouting to keep out of the rebel army. At the 
 time he was captured he was engaged in getting up a small 
 company to go with him through the lines. 
 
 A short time before Smith was murdered by Duvall's 
 men, a company of rebels from Johnson County, under the 
 command of a notorious scoundrel by the name of Clifton 
 Blevins, made a trip into Carter County. They murdered 
 several men in a most brutal manner before they arrived at 
 Elizabethton, where they tarried all night, and started back 
 the next morning toward Johnson County by the way of 
 Stony Creek. Before starting, however, they secured the 
 services of old Ike Nave, a violent rebel who lived a short 
 distapce from Elizabethton, to go with them and point out 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 327 
 
 the Union men's houses, as he was well acquainted all 
 through the country where these rebel thieves and murder- 
 ers desired to go. When they got near the house of Wil- 
 liam Blevins, he happened to see them approaching, and im- 
 mediately ran and concealed himself in the bushes under the 
 steep bank of the oreek. When they arrived at the house 
 they searched it from garret to cellar. At length Blevins 
 was found by old Ike Nave, and dragged from his hiding- 
 place by his savage and vindictive enemies. Nave ordered 
 him to turn his back around to receive the deadly bullet, 
 and then placed his finger upon the spot where he wished 
 Blevius to be shot. One of the fiendish gang of desperadoes 
 ■ then raised his gun and fired, and another poor Union man's 
 soul suddenly winged its flight into the dim regions of the 
 eternal world. 
 
 These murderers then started on in their desolating march, 
 shooting at Union men as if they had been wild beasts, and 
 robbing their houses in a most shameful manner. When 
 they got a few hundred yards from Blevins's- house, several 
 men saw them, and plunged into a pond of water in order 
 to effect their escape. The rebels fired at them, and one of 
 their balls struck one of the men while he was swimming in 
 the water, giving him a severe wound, but he finally re- 
 covered from it. 
 
328 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 On the 19th of November, 1863, a most notorious and 
 miserable scoundrel by the name of Witcher landed in 
 Carter County from the State of Virginia, having iinder his 
 command four hundred men, who were as mean and reck- 
 less as the devil himself could have desired them to be. 
 I think that their leader's name was either James or Samuel 
 Witchei', but I do not know which was his correct name. 
 I wish his name to be correctly known, and justly exe- 
 crated, for a more blood-thirsty and desperate villaiii never 
 disgraced the world's history! They camped the first 
 night they came into Carter County near the Carter Sta- 
 tion, and the next day^they moved on up Buffalo Creek to 
 the ;Greasy Cove, and camped near the residence of Benja- 
 min Swingle the next night. ■"•Witcher said that he and his 
 men had come to give Carter and Johnson Counties a gen- 
 eral overhauling. They wei'e led on by a parcel of very 
 bad rebel citizens living on Buffalo Creek, and also in the 
 Greasy Cove, among whom I will mention Nathaniel Brown, 
 Alfi-ed Leslie, "William Peoples, and his son, Madison Tennes- 
 see Peoples, whose infamous conduct inflicted a foul stigma 
 upon the state whose name he bore. These men reported 
 the people in the country as being all Lincolnites. The 
 evening they reached the Greasy Cove, and the night fol- 
 lowing, several men were killed, and the next morning, still 
 • being conducted by these rebel citizens, this regiment of 
 murderers set out for the Limestone Cove. They arrived 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 329 
 
 ■first at the house of James and David Bell, who were 
 strong Union men ; and, to add fuel to the already furious 
 flame that was burning so violently in the hearts of these 
 rebels, a man by the name of John Bryant, from Wilkes 
 County, North Carolina, had just stopped at Bell's house 
 with fifty-seven men, whom he had enlisted as recruits, and 
 was endeavoring to pilot them into my neighborhood in or- 
 der to engage me to conduct them through the lines to the 
 Federal army. 
 
 These men had traveled all the night before, and had 
 stopped at Bell's house for the purpose of enjoying an 
 hour's rest, obtain something to eat, and also to get infor- 
 matioB how to proceed in their journey, as they were all 
 from North Carolina, and were strangers in East Tennes- 
 see. They were sitting under some trees in Bell's yard, 
 not dreaming of any danger, while the family were prepar- 
 ing breakfast for them. The rebels, commanded by the 
 aforesaid Witchei-, suddenly came in sight, and the alarm 
 was instantly given. The poor fellows tried to save them- 
 selves by flight, being closely pursued by the rebels, who 
 were shooting at them and charging on them with their 
 horses at a terrible rate. 
 
 There is a small valley leading from Bell's house to the 
 mountain, and the fugitives ran into this valley, and would 
 doubtless have succeeded in getting away in a piece of 
 woods near the valley, if the rebels had not cut them ofi" 
 from it. The chase lasted about three quarters of a mile, 
 and all of the men got away with the exception of eleven, 
 ten of whom were killed, and one wounded, as they ran up 
 the valley. 
 
 The first man who I shall mention as being killed was 
 Calvin Cartrel. He was shot in the breast • and as he lay 
 upon the ground, writhing in terrible agony of pain, he 
 
330 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 begged them not to kill him ; but seeing that they were de- 
 termined to take his life, he requested them to allow him a 
 little time to pray. They abruptly denied his request, and at 
 once commenced beating him with the butts of their guns 
 until they knocked his brains out, and then thrust their 
 bayonets through his lifeless body. 
 
 John Sparks was shot in the head with a musket ball, 
 which completely tore the top of his head off, leaving his 
 brains perfectly exposed. 
 
 Wiley Royal was shot in the shoulder and back, and 
 when he fell to the ground, one of the rebel demons took a 
 fence-stake and beat his head into the earth, breaking his 
 arms and bruising his body in a shocking manner, while he 
 continued to beg as long as he could speak for them to 
 spare his life. 
 
 Elijah Gentry was shot in the breast, which killed him 
 instantly. He had no time to implore for mercy at the 
 hands of his murderers, which, of course, they would not 
 have listened to, in their hot pursuit after his blood. 
 
 Jacob Lyons was shot in the breast, which immediately 
 extinguished the flaming light of life. He fell into a creek, 
 where he soon breathed his last, and his murderers left his 
 body lying in the water. 
 
 B. Blackburn was shot in the shoulder, and, being badly 
 wounded, he fell to the ground. The rebels then beat his 
 brains out with clubs, broke his arms, and bruised his body 
 iri a teri'ible manner. 
 
 Preston Pruett was shot through the breast, which 
 wounded him severely. He begged them to permit him to 
 pray, and requested them to send word to his wife and 
 children, and inform them in regard to his death. But he 
 might as well have talked to the winds, for while he was 
 speaking to them they knocked his brains out with the 
 butts of their guns. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 331 
 
 The rebel mui-derers now went back to the house, tak- 
 ing James Bell, who was an old bachelor, and considera- 
 bly over the conscript age, away from the house about one 
 hundred yards, where one of the rebels prepared to shoot 
 him. When the old man perceived that the villain was go- 
 ing to shoot him, he ran up to the monster and placed his 
 arm around his neck, which prevented him from shooting ; 
 but soon another rebel murderer ran up and shot him. 
 The old man fell npon the ground, and his murderers 
 caught hold of him and laid his head upon a rock. They 
 then took another rock and beat his brains out with it ; and 
 not being yet content, they got rocks and threw them upon 
 his body. 
 
 Mrs. Bell, the wife of David Bell, seeing they were 
 going to murder her brother-in-law, went out and com- 
 menced interceding for him. Two of the ruffians approach- 
 ed her, and began to punch her with their guns, drove her 
 back to the house, threatening to shoot her if she oflTered to 
 speak again in his behalf. 
 
 William Sparks also belonged to the company of stam- 
 peders ; but being sicli, he was in the house when the ex- 
 citement occurred in the yard, and asked Mrs. Bell to con- 
 ceal him. She immediately raised a plank from the kitch- 
 en floor, and he crept under the kitchen, where he remain- 
 ed until the rebels had finished their bloody work, and re- 
 turned to burn the house, which they first commenced by 
 piling up clothes in the centre of the floor, and setting 
 them on fir.e just over the cellar where the sick man had 
 been concealed. The clothes not burning well enough, 
 they procured a straw bed, and placing it on the floor, they 
 put a chunk of fire into it; the smoke began to ascend in 
 clouds, when they were compelled to go out into the front 
 yard to obtain fresh air. There were two doors to the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 333 
 
 kitchen, and the wind passing through, closed the doov next. 
 to the rebels,' which gave;Sparks an opportunity to make 
 his escape fi-om the house.' He, crept oiit from the cellar 
 through, the' smoke, and ;went through, the back yard about 
 ten steps from the house, and concealed himself under some 
 dry weeds and vines in the garden, where he remained un-' 
 til the buildings were consumed, suffering intensely from 
 the terrible heat of the.fire.' 
 
 The rebels now went up the valley amoiig their miirdered 
 victims for the purpose of stripping them of their clothing. 
 Miss Elizabeth Morrison, who lived in the neighborhood, arid 
 was at Bell's house during the whole. time of. the dreadful 
 excitement^ procured .a! lady's, dress, took it .to the garden 
 where :Spatks' was concealed, and. told; ihim to put it on. 
 She then gave him her own bonnet, which he put on,. and 
 thereby- most admirably disguised- his .sex. She then told 
 hira to walk along- slowly across the fields and go to her' 
 father's house, and she said to" him, " When .you get to the 
 house, my father will conduct you- to a place of safety. All 
 of the family will at once;kno'w my b^nct,and that will 
 furnish them: suificient evidence that you are not a traitor." 
 Sparks went on' as' the kind young lady directed hiin, and 
 was concealed and saved ; but he had been so terribly fright-- 
 ened that he did n^recoverhis proper faculties of mirid for 
 several days'. The horrid scenes he witnessed on that dread- 
 ful:^day s;arely can never be" erased from his memory until 
 death shall .have- dipsed his jearthly existence. 
 
 A man by the name' of Madison had been badly wounded 
 inthe beginning of ; the affray, arid the rebels, thinking he 
 was dead, left him lying' in 4he yard; and when the house 
 -was burning, some clothes .were thrown on hira,' aad saved 
 him -from any'farther notice. "When the rebels went off to 
 rob the dead bodies of the men whom they had slaughtered,' 
 
334 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 Miss Morrison, Mrs. Bell, and one of her little boys, and a 
 ■ small girl, can-ied the wounded man off about one hundred 
 and fifty yards. When they saw the rebels returning they laid 
 him down, and started back to the house, stopping on their 
 way back at a mill-branch to wash the blood off of their 
 hands, which had got on them while they were carrying the 
 wounded man. 
 
 The rebels came along, meeting them, and asked them 
 where they had taken that man. Miss Morrison told them, 
 and started on with Colonel Witcher toward the place 
 where they had laid Madison down, begging eloquently for 
 his life all the way. Witcher asked her if the wounded' man 
 wanted wa,ter. She told him he did. Witcher then told 
 hiaimen not to kill him, as he would soon be in hell any 
 how. 
 
 The rebels now left him, and when they left the neighbor- 
 hood Madison was carried to Thomas Green's house, which 
 was close by, where he remained for four months until he 
 recovered from his wound. He was then captui-ed by the 
 North Carolina Ilofiie Guards, his hat, boots, and coat were 
 taken from him, and he was then made to walk barefooted 
 through the snow to the town of Asheville, in North Caroli- 
 na, where he was detained for four months, wh^n he was re- 
 leased by the Yankees, and returned holre. 
 
 A man by the name of Harris was wounded in the thigh 
 of one of his legs, and in the knee of his other leg. fie 
 crawled to a log, and burrowed under the l6aves, gulling 
 some brush and a large "poke-bush" over him. Here he 
 remained until the neighbors collected in the evening to 
 look upon the scene of the dreadful slaughter and house- 
 burning, when he called to them. They immediately went 
 to him, assisted him in leaving his dreary abode, and kindly 
 took care of him. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 335 
 
 After the horrid massacre, the rebels returned to the smok- 
 ing ruins of Bell's house, and exhibited the butts of their 
 guns to the women, which were covered with the blood 
 and the brains of their slaughtered victims up to the gun- 
 locks. They also displayed their bloody bayonets, saying, 
 " We are the fellows to kill Lincolnites and Yankees." They 
 boasted amazingly, and seemed to be in the finest sort of 
 spirits at the idea of having murdered a parcel of innocent 
 and helpless men. After they had completed their work of 
 murder and house-burning, they held a council with the 
 rebel citizens, who told them that they were in a strong 
 Union country; and for fifteen miles to the Watauga River, 
 where the rebels were then, going, these citizens told them 
 they would pass through a section of country altogether in- 
 habited by Union people. 
 
 The rebels determined to take no prisoners, but to kill 
 all they captured,' and this determination they strenuously 
 adhered to ; for when they arrived at the house of a man 
 by the name of Commodore Slone, who was fifty-six years 
 of age, they shot him down in his own yard. They shot him 
 twice, and then run their bayonets through his body. Some 
 of these fiends then struck him on the head with the butts 
 of their guns until they mashed his head in a horrible man- 
 ner. They went on to the house of William M'Kinney, 
 where they found a man by the name of William Bird. 
 They took him out of the house into the yard, and shot him 
 twice in the breast. When Bird fell, they beat out his 
 brains, and then went on in their bloody march, killing ev«ry 
 man, old and young, that had the misfortune of falling into 
 their hands, just because they had been represented as Lin- 
 colnites by a parcel of vile rebel citizens. Many men were- 
 badly wounded, but succeeded in making their escape by 
 getting into the woods. When Witcher arrived at Eliza- 
 
386 THKILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 bethton, like an accomplished and brutal murderer as he 
 was, he boasted of the infamous exploit that he and his 
 ruffian followers had killed twenty-one Union men in the 
 course of one day and night. 
 
 Witcher and his gang of thieves and murderers left Carter 
 County shortly after they perpetrated the outrages to which 
 I have alluded, and I suppose they returned to their rebel 
 associates in Virginia, to charm them with their eloquent 
 details about the massacre of Union men in Carter County. 
 The rebels in the State of Virginia, throughout the whole 
 period of the rebellion, entertained the most malignant feel- 
 ings of animosity toward the people of East Tennessee ; and 
 these feelings were practically exemplified by the infamous 
 scoundrels who from time to time came into East Tennessee 
 from that famous hot-bed of rebellion for the purpose of 
 murdering Union men, burning their houses, and robbing 
 their families. Carter County was the theatre wherein these 
 vile and restless scoundrels enacted many of their bloody 
 tragedies, which should ever brand them with an indelible 
 mark of infamy. When Witcher left Carter County, he was 
 soon succeeded by a base and despicable villain by the name 
 of R. C. Bozen, who proved to be an exact counterpart 
 to his black-hearted predecessor in every species of iniquity 
 wherein the nature of man seems precisely to conform with 
 that of an infuriate demon, counseled and tutored by the 
 invisible monarch of the infernal regions. I will make a 
 cursory refei'ence in the following chapter to a few out of the 
 many enormities which were perpetrated by Bozen and his 
 band of murderers during their stay in Carter County. Let 
 it be remembered that this scoundrel and his associates in 
 crime were also from the State of Virginia. 
 
DANIEL' ELLIS. 337 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The pugnacious and redoubtable Captain R. C. Bozen be- 
 ing a citizen of Grayson County, Virginia, at the commence- 
 ment of the rebellion jumped headlong into it, and used all 
 his iBtiergies to promote its ultimate success. The company 
 he cdnimanded was composed of men whom he had collect- 
 ed together in Grayson County,- and who, as well as their 
 leader, seemed to be entirely destitute of human feeling. 
 When they came to Carter County, they said that they had 
 been sent to the counties of Sullivan, Carter, and Johnson 
 to catch conscripts ; but while they remained in Carter 
 jOounty they appeared to have no desire whatever to engage 
 in any other business but that of murdering Union men, 
 and plundering their houses and robbing :their families of 
 what little provision they' might have to keep them from 
 starving. The following verse of a song, which was com- 
 posed by a scouter in the mountains of Carter County, 
 serves pretty well to describe Bozen and his thieves : 
 
 " Bozen's rogiies prowl about in dark nights ; 
 Killing and stealing they call Southern rights : 
 They rob our houses, they plunder and press, 
 And frequently take a lady's fine dress, 
 • And it's hard times." 
 
 This gang of cut-throats and robbers came, into Carter 
 County about the Isfc of December, 1863, and about the first 
 thing they did after their arrivalin the county was to mur- 
 der a man named William Thompson. . After Witcher and 
 his followers left the county, there being no other soldiers 
 
 P 
 
338 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 about, some of the men, who had been scouting for some 
 time concluded to go to their homes and work a while. 
 Thompson was one of the men who concluded to leave the 
 mountains, for a short time at least. He was gathering 
 corn, and had already brought one load of it to his barn, 
 when he saw Bozen and his men approaching, and, before 
 he could make his escape, he was unfortunately captured'by 
 them and taken to Elizabethton, where he was confined in 
 jail for two or three days. He was at length taken out, 
 j)laced on a small mule, with his feet tied under it, and a 
 rope around his neck. One of the rebels led the mule, 
 while another held to the rope, and in this condition he was 
 conducted back to his home in the Greasy Cove, a distance 
 of seventeen miles, where he was closely guarded for three 
 days, with the rope still around his neck. During the time 
 these rebel fiends remained at his house on this occa^on, 
 they robbed liis family of all they possessed. 
 
 The idea of taking Thompson to his own house to punish 
 and torture him, proves at once the base and degraded 
 character of the villains who participated in murdering 
 liim. This was a refinement of cruelty which Bozen and 
 his mercenary scullions were quite capable of devising. Be- 
 fore they killed him, he was punished and abused in every 
 possible manner. They would make him sit down in a 
 chair, and then knock him out of it with their gnns. They 
 hung him two or three times until he was nearly dead, 
 and would then cut him down. This merciless and inhu- 
 man treatment was exhibited toward him in the presence 
 of his wife and children, who were begging these ruffians 
 all the time to have mercy, and to desist from inflicting 
 such intolerable punishment iipon him who was so near 
 and dear to them. But, alas, the petitions of his wife and 
 children failed to touch any cord of sympathy in the hearts 
 
DANIEL -ELLIS. ' 339 
 
 ©f these implacable demons, for they continued to tortm-e 
 him in every way which their wicked hearts could suggest, 
 until at last they got tired of inflicting punishment on him 
 in the presence of his family, and determined to take him 
 away from the house and murder him. 
 
 They mounted their horses, and, taking hold of the rope 
 which was around his neck, they drove him on before them, 
 thi-ough creeks and mud-holes, and over a very rough road, 
 until they arrived at the residence of old Thaun Brown, 
 who was one of the infamous scoundrels that directed 
 Witcher and his gang of murderers to Bell's house. He was 
 taken on a short distance farther toward the back part of 
 Brown's farm, where his murderers shot five holes through 
 him, and then left their victim weltering in his blood ; and 
 when his disconsolate wife, followed by her little fatherless 
 children, went to get his body to consign it to its last 
 abode, it surely must have been an awful spectacle for them 
 to see the inanimate form of him, who was dearer to them 
 than any one else in all the wide world besides, mangled 
 and torn with bullets, and to see that loved familiar face 
 covered over and disfigured with his own blood, which had 
 been so wickedly shed by the foul hand of rebel violence. , 
 
 I was now busily engaged in recruiting for the 13th Reg- 
 iment, and had to observe a good deal of caution in order 
 to avoid Bozen's men, who were ransacking the country 
 in every direction, while the Union men were endeavoring 
 to hide from them as well as they could. I had no sort of 
 diflSculty in obtaining recruits, as the men were very anx- 
 ious to get away, but my fear of being unable to conceal 
 them until I could get ready to start gave me great uneasi- 
 ness of mind. And, at this particular juncture, it appeared 
 as if the fates, were working against me, for I had enlisted 
 forty-five men to go into the Federal semce, and had them 
 
340 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 concealed in a camp far out in the mountains, where I knew 
 there would be no danger of the rebels discovering them 
 by any fair means. Just at this timei the rebels captured 
 two very imprudent men, who belonged to the 13th Regi- 
 ment, who were lurking about their homes when they 
 ought to have been at their posts' in the regiment. The 
 two men referred to were brothers, and were citizens of 
 Carter County ; their names were William and Alexander 
 Matherly. They both knew where the men were, for they 
 had been at the camp themselves, and both of them design- 
 ed going through the lines with me, and, therefore, I did 
 not feel afraid to trust them. After they were captured, 
 Bozen said to them, " If you know where there are any 
 camps in the mountains where the scouters are staying, 
 and will direct me to them, you shall be immediately re- 
 leased." This proposition at once met the decided appro- 
 bation of these two vile traitors, for they straightway con- 
 ducted Bozen and his men to the place where the men were 
 stationed in their remote and solitary encampment. 
 
 It was about midnight when Bozen and his men sur- 
 rounded the camp, and most of the poor men were wrap- 
 ped in profound slumber, not dreaming for a moment of the 
 fearful destiny which was now confronting them. The reb- 
 els commenced firing and charging on the camp, and suc- 
 ceeded in wounding several and capturing twenty-one of 
 the unsuspecting Union men. One of the men was so bad- 
 ly wounded that he died in a few days. He was a Federal 
 soldier, who had been captured by the rebels and imprison- 
 ed, but had made his escape into the mountains, and no 
 doubt was now indulging the fond hope of soon being per- 
 mitted to meet his friends again, from whom he had been 
 for some time separated by the fortunes of war. But, alas, 
 the evil machinations of two vile traitors unexpectedly 
 
DANIEL ELLIS.. 341 
 
 caused his bright hopes to be suddenly blasted, and doom- 
 ed him to meet with an early death. He died among 
 strangers, in a strange land, far away from home and. from 
 friends. His body was consigned to the grave, where it 
 will remain until the trump of the Archangel shall sound, to 
 summon the pale nations of the dead to arise and come 
 forth from the dark and dismal sleep of death, to appear 
 -at the bar of the great and all-wise Judge of the uni- 
 verse ! 
 
 The men who were captured by the rebels on this occa- 
 sion were taken to Elizabethton and put in jail, where they 
 were detained for several days. In the mean time, howev- 
 er, one of the prisoners was taken out of jail and shot. His 
 name was Thomas Heatherly, and was nothing but a boy, 
 being only seventeen years of age. And the worst of all 
 was, he was exceedingly stupid and simple; indeed, his 
 general ignorance at all times indicated that he was not far 
 removed from perfect idiocy. He had never fired a gun in 
 his life. 
 
 The reason why the rebels determined to kill him was 
 principally on account of the terrible malice they entertain- 
 ed toward two of his brothers, who had, from the begin- 
 ning of the rebellion, done eveiy thing which they possibly 
 could to obstruct and defeat the rebel cause, which, of 
 course, did. not fail to secure for them the extreme hatred 
 pf the rebels. Consequently, when the Indians were sent 
 into Carter County, and assigned to the control and man- 
 agement of Robert Tipton (who was' a son of Isaac P. Tip- 
 ton, a citizen of Carter County), Tipton, in the plenitude 
 of his "brief authority," conducted the Indians to the 
 house of Thomas Heatherly, the father of the young men at 
 whom the rebels were so enraged, and destroyed his prop- 
 erty in a shameful manner. Old Thomas Heatherly and his 
 
342 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 wife were then taken and hung for a short time, in order 
 to make them teir where their sons were; but this they 
 could not do, for doubtless they were as ignorant in regard ' 
 to the whereabouts of their sons as tfie rebels were them- 
 S(3lves. Two of Heatherly's daughters were then forced to 
 go with the company into the mountains to hunt for their 
 camps ; but they entirely failed to ascertain any thing in 
 regard to the young men for whose blood they were so ar- 
 dently thirsting. 
 
 When Heatherly's two oldest sons heard about the treat- 
 ment of their father and mother, and also about the mon- 
 strous abuse of their sisters, they declared they would kill 
 Tipton whenever they could get an opportunity; and in 
 this respect their design was shortly afterward accomplish- 
 ed. They collected together some of their scouting friends, 
 and went one night to his father's residence, where Robert 
 Tipton was staying while he was engaged in his military 
 operations in Carter County. When they arrived at the 
 house, one of the party called Bob Tipton to the window, 
 and by relating a very plausible story to him he induced 
 him to come out into the road immediately opposite to the 
 house; and just so soon as he got into the road he was 
 firmly seized by several men, and taken out on the back 
 part of his father's farm, where he was killed by being shot 
 with two balls, one of which passed through his breast, and 
 the other one struck him about the centre of his forehead, 
 killing him instantly. 
 
 When Bozen and his men got young Heatherly into their 
 clutches, they doubtless considered it a splendid opportnni- 
 - ty to avenge the death of Bob Tipton by taking the life of 
 an innocent boy, just because he happened to be a brother 
 of the two Heatherlys who were concerned in the killing 
 of Tipton. 
 
344 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 • The men who escaped from the camp had a very serious 
 time of it, for it was raining and sleeting, and the weather 
 was extremely cold. Many of them left their hats, shoes, 
 and pants, and went some six or seves miles before they 
 pretended to stop ; and quite a number of them were badly 
 frostbitten. 
 
 There were four Federal soldiers in jail when these men 
 were captured in their camp, and on the very night of the 
 capture we had been planning a scheme to release them 
 from their imprisonment, and we had fixed on the next 
 night to undertake our project for the release of these sol- 
 diers ; but Bozen and his men defeated our arrangements, 
 and spoiled our anticipated sport. 
 
 The men who were captured on this occasion by the rebels 
 were confined in jail for a few days. They were then taken 
 out, their hands tied together, and marched ofi" in a row of 
 two and two, the whole company being joined together 
 with one rope, which passed along between them. In this 
 way they were marched to Bristol, a distance of twenty- 
 five miles. Some of these men were thinly clothed, and the 
 weather being very cold, and they having to wade the 
 creeks and branches, they came very near freezing to death 
 while they were on their march. 
 
 But the whole number that the rebels started with did 
 not arrive at Bristol ; for when they got to the place which 
 they Called " the bone-yard," they untied one of the prison- 
 ers by the name of John H. Blevins, and conducted him up 
 the lonely hollow to murder him. He implored them not 
 to kill him, as he was guilty of no crime which should de- 
 serve such a fate. They then said, 
 
 " We are going to kill you because you are a bush- 
 whacker." 
 
 To which false accusation fie replied immediately, saying, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 345 
 
 " I have never shot at a man in all my life, and I have nev- 
 er knowingly -wronged any person ; therefore, if you kill 
 me, you will kill an innocent man." 
 
 One of his murderers then, very coolly said to him, 
 " Well, then, if you have told us the truth, you need not be 
 afraid to die!" They then shot him three times in the 
 breast. And after untying his hands, taking off his boots, 
 and placing his hat over his face, they started on after the 
 balance of the prisoners. Some citizens covered his body 
 over slightly, and after remaining where he had been killed 
 for ten days, his friends went and removed his body, and 
 gave it a more decent sepulture. He was said to be a good 
 man and a good citizen ; but he had been reported by some 
 rebel citizens who were prejudiced against him, and that 
 was entirely sufficient, in Bozen's estimation, to have him 
 put to death. 
 
 Bozen's murderers next captured a man by the name of 
 Pritchard. He was a young man, and had been scouting 
 for some time, endeavoring to keep out of the way of the 
 rebel soldiers. The two Naves, who lived on the Watauga' 
 River, both being violent rebels, used all thei# influence 
 against him, as they did against every Union man who had 
 the misfortune of being captured by these desperadoes. 
 Pritchard was confined in jail for several days, and was then 
 taken out and drove about a mile from Elizabethton before 
 three of Bozen's ruffians, who rode along behind him on 
 their horses. They took him into a small thicket of bushes 
 about one hundred yards off of the main road, and shot him 
 through the head, breast, and bowels. One of these fiends 
 then took up a lai'ge club and struck' him across the fore- 
 head, crushing his head perfectly flat. They then left him, 
 and rode on up the road, laughing and talking as if the 
 bloody tragedy in which they had just been participating 
 
 P2 
 
346 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 had afforded them the most pleasant and agreeable diversion. 
 He was killed about twelve o'clock in the day, and his 
 mangled body remained where he bad been killed until 
 about twelve o'clock on the next day, when his aged mother, 
 accompanied by a few friends, removed the body of her 
 murdered son, in order to bestow upon it the last sad rites 
 of parental affection. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 On the 2d day of January, 1864, Bozen and his men cap- 
 tured Isaac Tonce at his own house near the "Walnut 
 Mountain, in Carter County. He had been a citizen of 
 North Carolina, and had but very recently moved into Ten- 
 nessee, and had been residing af the place where he was 
 captured but a very short time. He and his little son, who 
 was about fourteen years of age, were forced by the rebels 
 to go along with them to the Walnut Mountain, for the 
 purpose of hunting for scouters. When they arrived at the 
 mountain, the rebels ordered their prisoner to show them 
 the camps of the scouters ; but this the old man could not 
 do, for he was as ignorant in that respect as the rebels were 
 themselves. They took a halter-strap and hung him up, 
 thinking that they could make him tell them in this way ; 
 but when' they let him down, he could tell them no more 
 than he did before they hung him. They hung him up three 
 times until he was nearly dead, and would then let him 
 down. They then procured hickory withes, and lashed his 
 back in a shocking manner, and then, to cap the climax of 
 their villainy, they shot him four times : once in the head, 
 twice in the breast, and once in the bowels. After stripping 
 him of his clothes, they commenced whipping the poor little 
 innocent boy; they whipped him until they thought he 
 was dead, and went away, leaving him on the side of the 
 mountain. The boy at length recovered from the unmerci- 
 ful whipping which he received at the hands of these un- 
 feeling monsters, and, when he got back home, he related, 
 
348 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 with tearful eyes, how his father had been punished and 
 murdered. This old man was altogether innocent, and per- 
 fectly harmless. The rebels thought that just because his 
 residence was contiguous to the mountain, therefore he must 
 have been acquainted with the movements of the men who 
 were scouting in it. 
 
 Bozen and his men would not have gone to the part of 
 the.Walnut Mountain where the scouters were in the habit 
 of staying, nor would they have gone to Yonce's house, had 
 it not been for the information they received in regard to 
 the country from two simple-minded Union men wbom they 
 urged to accompany them. And in regard to these two 
 men one of the scouters composed the following verse : 
 
 ' ' When Bozen and his men to the mountains did go, 
 For pilots they pressed Hams Whaley and Joe ; 
 They killed Isaac Yonce, and threatened his wife, 
 And whipped his little boy for carrying a knife, 
 And it's hard times." 
 
 In the month of March, 1864, Bozen and his men made 
 another trip to the Limestone Cove, on which occasion they 
 captured Robert Dowdel at his own house. He was then 
 taken to the residence of James Bell, where the rebels hung 
 him up three times to make him tell where James Bell and 
 Samuel Smith were concealed. Being altogether ignorant 
 in regard to these two men, he was of course entirely unable 
 to impart to his capturers the required information. They 
 retained him in custody all night, and before daylight on 
 the next morning three more men were captured and 
 brought in by a party of these murderers, who had been 
 prowling about the neighborhood, actively hunting for more 
 victims to sacrifice upon the altar of their unhallowed ambi- 
 tion. The names of the poor men who unluckily fell into 
 their hands on this occasion were John Campbell, John Frv, 
 and Eli Frv. 
 
-: DANIEL ELLIS. 349 
 
 This gang of murderers proceeded to tie their prisoners 
 together, and made them run before their horses, through 
 creeks and mud-holes, for a distance of two miles, and then, 
 halting them deliberately, shot three of them, who were tied 
 together at the time. And while they were engaged in 
 shooting these three men the fourth one broke loose, and 
 ran with all the energy which an inherent desire to save his 
 life from being crushed out by the hand of violence could 
 possibly urge him to exert. But the poor fellow was soon 
 overtaken by. the rebel messengers of death, who at once 
 commenced beating him as if he had been an inanimate 
 statue of wood, instead of a human being possessing im- 
 mortal faculties of mind, created and bestowed by the great 
 omnipotent Architect of the universe, and destined to exist 
 throughout the endless ages of eternity. His hands were 
 then tied behind his back, and he was placed in a standing 
 position against' a tree, when one of the infernal miscreants 
 stuck his bayonet through his neck and pinioned him to the 
 tree, and thus held him fast until one of the other wretches 
 shot, him. They then stabbed the dead bodies of all four 
 of their murdered victims full of holes with their bayonets, 
 and beat one of them on his head until his brains run out 
 on the ground. These men were murdered in the evening, 
 and remained where they had been killed during the whole 
 of the following night ; and when a few citizens of the neigh- 
 borhood assembled on the next day to consign their bodies 
 to the grave, they found that the hogs had mangled, torn, 
 and disfigured them to such an extent that it was a very 
 hard task to distinguish them apart. Their bodies had frozen 
 very hiard during the night, which probably prevented the 
 hogs from destroying them entirely. 
 
 This was the way that the Union men of East Tennessee 
 were slaughtered by the rebel murderers, who came from 
 
350 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the State of Virginia to take the lives of their fellow-men, 
 juat because they would not agree to aid arid assist them 
 in accomplishing their hellish design of destroying the best 
 fabric of national government that was ever established by 
 the profound ingenuity of man in the whole world, in order 
 to erect upon its mighty ruins a vile and miserable oli- 
 garchy, which was baptized with the euphonical soubriquet 
 of " the Southern Confederacy," to captivate the affections 
 and insure the allegiance of the unsuspecting people. 
 When these infamous murderers from the rebel State of 
 Virginia would come into East Tennessee vengeance was 
 depicted in their countenances; and when they came into 
 the county of Carter, where they knew that public senti- 
 ment for the success of the Union cause was in the ascend- 
 ant among a large majority of the people, they went forth 
 in the pursuit of blood with the same delibei'ation which so 
 eminently characterizes the ravenous wild beasts of the for- 
 est when they engage in the chase after their hapless vic- 
 tims. The deeds of crime which the rebel fiends from Vir- 
 ginia perpetrated upon the innocent Union men of Carter 
 County are eminently suflicient to fix upon them the curse 
 of the Almighty while they live upon the earth, and forever 
 blast their hopes of future happiness in the world to come. 
 If the black-hearted scoundrels,Witoher, Bozen, and Duvall, 
 ever suffer their mind's eye to gaze through the telescope of 
 fancy down through the dim vista of the future, they surely 
 can not fail to see a terrible death -bed awaiting them, 
 where, in all probability, their disordered imaginations will 
 cause the pale and ghastly ghosts of their murdered victims 
 to rise up before them and point them to the bar of retrib- 
 utive justice, where the foul and damning crime of mur- 
 dering their innocent fellow-men will rise in trumpet-tones 
 and plead for their guilty souls to be hurled into the fiery 
 
- DANIEL ELLISi 351 
 
 billows in that dark and dismal region " where their worm 
 dieth not, and where the fire is not quenched." A day of 
 reckoning is rapidly hastening on, and a terrible day it will 
 be to all the vindictive scoundrels who disregarded and so 
 totally disobeyed the holy mandate of God himself, which 
 expressly says, "Thou shalt not kill;" and although they 
 may have viewed this injunction as possessing very little 
 importance when they were bathing their hands in the 
 blood of their fellow -men,' they will doubtless appreciate 
 all of its weighty significance when they hear the awful 
 sentence pronounced against them, " Depart, ye cursed, into 
 everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
 
352 
 
 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 On the night of the 8th of January, 1865,1 started with 
 a company through the Hnes, which was composed of Fed- 
 eral soldiers returning to their posts, of Union men escap- 
 ing from the rebel tyranny by which they were surround- 
 ed, and also a number of prisoners who had escaped from 
 the rebel prison at Salisbury, in North Carolina, who had, 
 by cautious management, made their way through a rebel 
 country for a distance of nearly two hundred miles, and 
 came to me just as I was about starting with my company, 
 to engage me to conduct them through the lines. 
 
 Albert D. Richardson, who had been captured by the reb- 
 
 rOaXRAIT OP RICnARDSON. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. S&S 
 
 els while he was engaged in acting as an army correspond- 
 ent for the "New York Tribune" was also in the company. 
 Mr. Richardson had, by a "lucky freak of good -fortune," 
 made his escape from the miserable rebel prison at Salis- 
 bury, North Carolina, where he had been suffering in " dur- 
 ance vilp" for a long time the dreadful tortures which were 
 usually imposed upon the unfortunate Union prisoners who 
 had the wretched misfortune of being assigned to quarters 
 within the gloomy walls of any of the horrible Southern 
 prisons. When I first made the acquaintance of Richard- 
 son, I was at once convinced that he possessed the accom- 
 plishments of a gentleman, and my continued association 
 with him for several memorable days and nights, only 
 served to confirm me in the impression which I had at first 
 formed in regard to him. Although the " dust of travel" 
 had somewhat soiled the original, neatness of his apparel, 
 yet his refined manners and the strict propriety of his con- 
 .versation were peculiarly captivating, and, I must confess, 
 that he attracted my highest regard with a sort of magnetic 
 enchantment which was entirely ii-resistible. Whenever I 
 gazed into his intelligent face, the bright beam of intellect 
 which sparkled in his eyes seemed to say, " I once dwelt in 
 Arcadia." During the whole period of time in which I 
 acted in the capacity of a pilot, I never met with any man 
 for whom I entertained any greater concern, in regard to 
 his personal welfare, than I did for Richardson, owing to 
 the fact that 1 found him to be. an agreeable associate, as 
 well as a gentleman of fine intelligence ; and I was really 
 glad -when he succaeded in ; once more getting within the 
 Federal .lines, where,. beneath the prpud, folds of the old and 
 cherished banner of his country, he could again walk forth 
 and mingle with his fellow-men, and once more enjoy the 
 inestimable immunities of a freeman. 
 
354 THRILLING ADVENTUKES OF 
 
 Since the suppression of the Southerji rebellion, Richard- 
 son has published a very interesting volume, entitled " The 
 Field, the Dungeon, and the Escape," in which he gives a 
 very vivid account in regard to the inception and the prog- 
 ress of the great rebellion ; he also gives a full history of 
 his own capture by the rebels, and of his imprisonment in 
 the rebel prisons at Richmond and Salisbury. The book 
 which he has published eminently deserves, as I have no 
 doubt it has already received, a wide circulation ; for it is 
 written in a style which can not fail to please the taste of 
 the most fastidious reader. His descriptions of the great 
 battles which occurred during the war, and, in fact, all his 
 descriptive narratives, are elegantly portrayed, and will 
 doubtless receive the profound admiration of all who may 
 desire to read an eloquent and faithful detail of the terrible 
 scenes which transpired during the memorable Southern re- 
 bellion. 
 
 The escaped prisoners were all in a very bad condition 
 for traveling, but, having three horses of my own, I soon 
 had them moimted, a sack of corn on each horse serving 
 them for a saddle. We traveled all night, and at daylight 
 we reached the red banks of Chuoky River, which we 
 crossed in a canoe, or, at least, all who were walking did, 
 while those who were riding swam their horses over. We 
 traveled on four miles farther, when we went into camps 
 for the day. And now, for the first time, I missed Rich- 
 ardson out of the company. Elbert Treadaway and myself 
 immediately started back in search of him, and we had not 
 proceeded very far until I had the agreeable pleasure of 
 seeing him coming on toward us. We went on to the en- 
 campment, and passed the day and the night there. The 
 weather was extremely cold, and the snow on the ground 
 was at least six inches deep. The water-courses were all 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 355 
 
 up, and we had the most of them to wade. Some of the 
 men had started with old shoes and boots on their feet, 
 which by this time were nearly torn off, and, in fact, some 
 of them were entirely barefooted, with the exception of 
 their socks, which afforded very indifferent protection to 
 their feet against the inclemency ofthe bleak wintry weath- 
 er; while others had on old shoes which they had tied on 
 their feet with bark and strings. Their feet were as wet as 
 if they had been altogether destitute of covering. 
 
 When morning came, on the 10th of Januai-y we started 
 on our journey. To-day we had the big " butte" of Rich 
 Mountain to cross, and shortly after we started we com- 
 menced ^e ascent of its steep spurs. We were now com- 
 pelled very often to walk, and pack our sacks of horse-feed 
 on our backs, which was not a very agreeable task by any 
 means, especially for the weaker portion of the men, and, 
 consequently, our progress was very slow. When I got on 
 a lofty peak, I looked back and saw the men and horses on 
 the peak behind me slowly and tediously toiling onward ; 
 and when I looked back at the long row of men and horses, I 
 conld not refrain from saying to myself, " Shall I ever be able 
 to get them all thi-ough safely or not ?" And the thought 
 of having to leave any of them behind to fall into the hands 
 ofthe rebels made me redouble, my diligence in studying 
 out every plan which I could possibly think about, in order 
 to secure their safe deliverance from the power of their 
 blood-thirsty enemies. 
 
 After a long, hard ti-avel (for I do not think I ever cross- 
 ed this mountain -vChen the travel was harder), we reached 
 the top, and then commenced descending its steep declivity 
 on the opposite side. The road had been washed into a 
 deep gully by the heavy rains, which made it very diflScult 
 to travel in it without continually stumbling from one side 
 
366 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of it to the other. Night was hastening on," and I was aim- 
 ing to get to an old deserted, house, which was near the 
 foot -qf. the mountain, where I thought we could obtain 
 shelter'for the night, as the rain and snow were now falling 
 rapidly. But, alas, when we at length reached the covet- 
 ed .haven of repose we found that the house had been 
 blowa dt)wn. Some of the men propped up the roof, which 
 had ipartially held together, while others built up little camps 
 out of the boards and timbers, which served to keep the 
 rain and snow off of their heads, and that was about all the 
 protection which their rough shelters afforded them. We 
 passed a very disagreeable night at this place, for our little 
 shelters were constantly tumbling down during *he night, 
 and at one time a very boisterous wind blew down the old 
 roof under which some of the men were lying, which caused 
 them to cry out loudly for assistance. They were soon ex- 
 tricated from their uncomfortable quarters, and after eleva- 
 ting the roof again, they- crawled under it, and passed the 
 balance of the night. 
 
 During the night we received information that the rebels 
 were thick' in the valley below, and that we would have to 
 employ the utmost vigilance if we wished . to avoid being 
 captured. This intelligence greatly discouraged some of 
 our party, and they immediately concluded to turn back, 
 choosing, to risk themselves where they were better ac- 
 quainted; They also advised the balance of the company 
 to turn back with them, declaring that none who should 
 have the temerity to go forward would ever reach the Fed- 
 eral lines. But I thought that I could manage to escape 
 the enemy, and, consequently, I started on in a back path- 
 way which led on deeper into the recesses of the mountain. 
 
 We had not proceeded very far until we discovered 
 where the rebels had come-into the road, and had gone on 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 357 
 
 ahead of us. Having some armed Federal soldiers witli 
 me on this occasion, I selected the most active of them, and 
 started rapidly forward in pursuit of the rebels, leaving the 
 company under the care of Treadaway for the day. We 
 soon caught up with them, and came very near capturing a 
 portion of the party, who only saved themselves by a pre- 
 cipitate flight. We continued to chase them for about six 
 miles, when we returned to the company again. The men 
 kept up remarkably well during the whole day, for they 
 were all anxious to be in front for fear of being surprised 
 by the rebels. Just about dark, on the night of the 11th 
 of January, we arrived at Kelly's Gap, in the Chucky 
 Mountains, where I had intended to stay all night. Tread- 
 away and myself went to the house of Mr. Stephens, who 
 was a good Union man, to learn something in regard to the 
 whereabouts of the rebels. We found at once that we 
 were in great danger, for we were told that there were sev- 
 enty-five rebels stationed at an old furnace about two miles 
 below, and that the party which I and the Federal soldiers 
 had been pursuing belonged to that company, and that they 
 were making preparations to follow us the next morning. 
 I at once determined to divide the company, and start the 
 horsemen on in one direction and the footmen in another, 
 under the care and management of Treadaway, who had 
 frequently traveled the same route with me, and was a 
 good pilot. By separating the company in this mannerj I 
 hoped to lead the rebels on the trail of the horses, which I 
 knew they would be very likely to follow first. I determ- 
 ined to cross Chucky River at Carter's Bridge, which was 
 seven miles distant, an^ the fear of meeting with the rebel 
 pickets- at the bridge was all that occasioned me any unea-v 
 siness. But this difficulty was nicely obviated as follows : 
 Miss Melvina Stephens, a true heroine, volunteered to go 
 
358 THRILLING ADVENTUKES OF 
 
 with US to the bridge, cross over it, and then return and 
 inform us if there were any rebel pickets at the bridge. It 
 was midnight when she mounted a horse and proceeded 
 with us to the encampment, where the men were all wrap- 
 ped in the arms of sleep. I soon aroused them ; and im- 
 mediately after the horsemen were mounted we started 
 forward, leaving Treadaway to guide the footmen in a diff- 
 erent route, which he succeeded in doing without any diffi- 
 culty. We arrived at the bridge in a short time, and Miss 
 Stephens crossed over it, while we remained concealed 
 some distance behind. She returned directly, and told us 
 there was no impediment in our way, and then left us to 
 pursue her lonely journey back home, amid the dismal 
 gloom of a dark night, entirely alone and unattended. Oh, 
 that angels may watch over her pathway through life ; and 
 when her magnanimous soul shall have been released from 
 its earthly habitation, that she may forever find a peaceful 
 abode in the kingdom of everlasting happiness, is my hum- 
 ble and devout prayer ! 
 
 We pressed forward, and crossed over the bridge, and 1 
 now felt that we were out of dangei-. We now left the 
 public road, and turned off to pursiie our journey through 
 the woods and open fields. We traveled at a soyt of break- 
 neck speed during the balance of the night, and at length 
 we arrived at Lick Creek, some distance below Bull's Gap. 
 The creek was too full to cross, and, consequently, we had 
 to go several miles out of our way in order to cross it at a 
 bridge which is on the main road leading on to Bull's |Gap. 
 After crossing the bridge we again struck for the woods, 
 and ti-ayeling on about a mile farther, we stopped to rest 
 our tired horses and to warm our frozen limbs. 
 
 After we had warmed and fed our horses, we started on, 
 and, after another hard day's travel, we arrived near the 
 
rOBTBAIT OF MlbS BTEPHENS. 
 
360 THEILLING ADVENTDKES OF 
 
 town of Eussellville, where we stopped in a pine thicket 
 and built up a large fii-e out of fence-rails. The men and 
 horses were very much exhausted, and our provisions hav- 
 ing been consumed, we had to forage among the people. 
 Some of the men succeeded in getting something to eat, 
 while others were unable to get any thing. We passed the 
 night very disagreeably, and when morning came we start- 
 ed on along the back roads, that were not usually traveled, 
 being very particular to watch in every direction for rebels. 
 In the evening we procured some corn and fed our horses, 
 and then traveled on until dark, when we stopped for the 
 night. 
 
 The men went out among the people, and had the good 
 luck of obtaining an abundance to eat. We passed the 
 night very well, around our fires, some of the men sleeping 
 finely, while others were groaning and mourning most awful- 
 ly all night. When daylight made its appearance we arose 
 and fed our horses, and prepared for an early start. We 
 traveled on rapialy, and in the evening we arrived at the 
 Strawberry Plains. Oh, what a joyful time it was sow for 
 the escaped prisoners when they beheld the dear old flag 
 of their country floating aloft, in majestic grandeur, amid 
 the bright and lovely beams of the declining sun, cheered 
 with the proud reflection that they were now safe from 
 the r%bel tyranny ! They could now walk forth and mingle 
 with their fellow-men as free men, and lay down to enjoy 
 the sweet repose of sleep without their dreams being dis- 
 turbed with horrible visions of rebel murderers, with bloody 
 hands, claiming them for their victims. 
 
 I now went to the 13th Regiment, and at the earnest 
 request of my friends I joined the regiment. Company 
 A being then without a captain, I consented to act in 
 that position. As I have before stated, this company was 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 361 
 
 raised by my own exertions, and was composed almost en- 
 tirely of my old friends and neighbors from Carter Coun- 
 ty. I did not wish to be in the army, for I had lived all 
 the time free and independent since the war had been pro- 
 gressing, and did not fancy the idea of being subject to 
 orders, or in that confinement which I knew a position 
 'in the army would necessarily impose ; and, in fact, I well 
 knew that I was doing more for the government in act- 
 ing as a pilot for the Union men than I could possibly 
 accomplish in any other capacity in which I could act; 
 besides, the stirring and active life which I had followed 
 for a long time in the mountains now had a fascination 
 for me, and I did not care about discontinuing it ; and 
 my frequent encounters with the rebels had become to 
 be -more a source of enjoyment than any thing else. It 
 is true I suffered a great deal, but I had now become ac- 
 customed to suffering, and it did not go very hard with 
 me. 
 
 The principal officers in the regiment were very well 
 aware of the important services I had rendered to the 
 Federal army ever since I concluded to act as conductor 
 for the Union men who desired to go through the lines, 
 and were now unwilling for me to discontinue my opera- 
 tions in the mountains. Consequently, I received immedi- 
 ate orders to return to the counties of Carter and Johnson, 
 to Collect all the men I could for the 13th Regiment. 
 The mountains in the upper counties were full of soldiers 
 belonging to the Federal army, who had been left when 
 the Yankees had last advanced up the railroad. These 
 soldiers had gone home to see their friends and families 
 when they were in close proximity to them, and were now 
 almost considered as deserters ; bat a pardon was offered 
 them if they would at once return. 
 
 Q 
 
362 THEILUJSrG ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I Started on my return, trip, but not without being en- 
 cumbered with a considerable load of letters, although I 
 had determined never to carry another. My promise in 
 this particular was not adhered to, for the soldiers would 
 receive no denial. 
 
DAJSriEL ELLIS. 363 
 
 CHAPTER XLH. 
 
 I STARTED from the Strawberry Plains, on my return jour- 
 ney, on foot, and canie on to Vale Springs, where the 4th Ten- 
 nessee Infantry Regiment was then stationed, where I re- 
 mained aU night, and the next morning several young men 
 who desired to visit their homes started with me. We 
 started early, and traveled hard all day, and passed the 
 night at a small cabin in the knobs. The next day we 
 traveled twenty-five mUes, and at night we arrived at the 
 Meadow-creek Mountain. We laid out in the mountain all 
 night, and the next morning we started early ; but my feet 
 were so badly bruised from the effects of a new pair of 
 boots which I was wearing that riiy powers of easy locomo- 
 tion were greatly obstructed. We arrived at a good Union 
 man's house about eight o'clock, where we got breakfast. 
 He told us to look out for a gang of rebels who were some 
 distance ahead of us, watching for Union men who were 
 returning home from the Federal lines. He said that they 
 had already captured and killed several men who werg re- 
 turning loaded with goods. He thought they would con- 
 sider me an excellent prize, as I had a heavy load of goods 
 which the soldiers had sent to their families. We did not 
 tarry at this house long, but immediately went np higher - 
 on ]the mountain, and then traveled on without difficulty 
 until we came to Shell's Cove, which we had to cross, and 
 we had serious fears that the rebels would get after us be- 
 fore we could arrive at a place of security. But as the ma- 
 
364 THBILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 jority of us wefe armed, we pushed ahead, and had almost 
 succeeded in getting across the cove, when we saw five 
 horses hitched at the door of a little cabin at the foot of 
 the mountain. I was convinced, from every appearance of 
 the horses, that part of them, at least, belonged to rebel sol- 
 diers, and I told my companions that we would take pos- 
 session of them, as we needed them very badly. I thought 
 that our party could surely whip five rebels ; but when I 
 made the proposition to go and capture the horses, to my 
 very great surprise, I found but one man in the company 
 who could be prevailed on to go, and that man was Peter 
 Shelton. The balance were too fearful that mamma's dar- 
 ling boys would either get crippled or killed ; indeed, they 
 were very careful of their dear lives, and at once begged 
 leave to be excused from participating in the excursion. 
 
 Shelton and myself laid down our knapsacks, and made 
 all necessary preparations for our premeditated visit to the 
 cabin, while the balance of our comrades retired to a safe 
 position on the side of the mountain, where they could 
 watch the progress of events as they transpired, or perhaps 
 to see us killed. The snow was about four inches deep, 
 and the wind was blowing extremely cold ; consequently, 
 the occupants of the cabin, as well as their visitors, seemed 
 to be keeping very close doors, for there was no person to 
 be seen moving about the premises. We pursued our way 
 toward the cabin along a fence-row, to prevent the dogs 
 or any person in the cabin froni seeing us until we got to 
 the house, when Shelton immediately ran to one door and I 
 to the other ; but the door that I went to seemed not to be 
 in use, as it stubbornly resisted all my efiorts to burst it 
 open. I rushed around to the other door, where I found 
 Shelton standing, with the muzzle of his pistol presented' to- 
 ward a crack in the door. I pushed the door open instant- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 365 
 
 ly, and both of us rushed into the cabin together, when we 
 fdund ourselves in the presence of two rebel soldiers and 
 the family, which consisted of an old man, an old lady, and 
 some small children. 
 
 I had my sixteen-shooter Henry rifle in my hand, with 
 the hammer drawn ready for shooting if the rebel soldiers 
 pretended to offer any resistance ; but one of them surren- 
 dered to Shelton, and the other one to me, without a word 
 of disapprobation in regard to the sudden and unexpected 
 proceeding. I never saw men so badly frightened in all 
 my life, and the uproar which proceeded from the family 
 circle was somewhat amusing, for it was a good deal worse 
 than a " tempest in a tea-pot." 
 
 The old man fell down upon his knees and offered up a 
 very devout prayer, asking the Lord to have mercy on 
 them all, especially himself and family, and not suffer them 
 to be killed. And the old lady fell down upon the floor, 
 and commenced crying and praying at a terrible rate, while 
 the children, four or five in number, ran under the bed, and 
 commenced yelling equal to a gang of young panthers. 
 After a few minutes of turbulent excitemeiri; quiet was 
 again restored, and "order reigned in Warsaw." The old 
 man informed me that two of the horses belonged to him, 
 and that the other three belonged to the rebel soldiers. 
 We then took possession of the three horses, together with 
 the navy pistols belonging to the rebels, and, ordering our 
 prisoners to start before us, we decamped to the mountain. 
 
 When we got up on the side of the mountain, we saw a 
 company of sixty rebels in the valley below just about the 
 time they observed us; but when they saw the balance of 
 our party, who were on another spur of the mountain, they 
 immediately turned and started away, and so did we. They 
 could have captured us very easily if they had exerted 
 
366 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 themselves to do so, for the mountain we were on could 
 have been traveled over with horses at almost any portion 
 of it. I thought we had succeeded in playing them a bold 
 trick ; indeed, I thought it was far more bold than wise, for 
 I could not refrain from viewing our adventure as a hair- 
 breadth escape. Two more days' travel brought me to my 
 home, or, at least, to the hills which surrounded it. For 
 three long years I had not staid about my own house, and 
 but very little about any other. The trite old adage says, 
 that " a man can go home when he can go nowhere else ;" 
 but I must confess that this was not true in regard to my 
 own case, for my home was the very place of all others 
 that I could not go to. I had learned to build my fire in 
 some lonely hollow, and, wrapping myself in my blanket, 
 lay down to sleep, regardless of snow, rain, or sleet, and 
 very often, when I would awake, find myself buried in a 
 bank of snow, or my blanket a sheet of ice, and my fire to- 
 tally extinguished. This was my usual way of faring during 
 the winter months ; but I was not the only individual that 
 had to endure this hard fate, forit was precisely what every 
 poor Union man was compelled to suffer who was forced to 
 leave his home to seek an asylum from the rebel tyranny 
 amid the mountains of Carter and Johnson Counties. 
 
 I was now again where I 'had already experienced so 
 many adventures with the rebels, and I soon found that 
 they had been waiting with gf.e'at" anxiety for my return ; 
 for by this time they had become pretty well acquainted 
 with my coming and going, and it afforded them the utmost 
 pleasure to seize and appropriate 'the Yankee goods and the 
 greenbacks which I brought in]i6 'the county for the fam- 
 ilies of the Federal soldiers. I did not believe that they 
 expected to get any thing from nie, for I had always suc- 
 cessfully defeated all their arrangements, so far as I was 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 307 
 
 personally concerned. Their only hope of obtaining these 
 articles was by robbing the houses of absent Federal sol- 
 diers after their families had received the money and goods 
 which had- been sent to them by me, for the rebel scoun- 
 drels were always very particular about searching the 
 houses of the absent soldiers, and even the person of their 
 wives, whenever they were apprised of my return to- the 
 county. One lady living in Carter County, who was the 
 wife of a Federal soldier, had her clothes torn off of her en- 
 tirely, and the belt containing her money and jewels taken 
 from around her waistj But even this was not as bad as 
 the treatment which was received by Mrs. Elbert Treada- 
 way at the hands of two of the scoundrels who belonged to 
 the command of the infamous Duvall. They went to. her 
 house at the hour of midnight, where she was alone with 
 three small children, and the house of her nearest neighbor 
 being half a mile distant ; they called her up, and forced 
 their way into her house, and compelled her to remove her 
 clothing to an extent which was at once shocking to a lady 
 who entertained exalted notions in regard to decency, in 
 order to search her person -for money ; and she only escaped 
 farther outrage by tellihg these brutal villains where she 
 had concealed some of her clothing near the house, and, 
 while they were gone in search of it, she took her babe in • 
 her arms and went forth amid the dreary darkness of a 
 cold night, followed by her other two little children, to seek 
 for refuge in a cedar thicket which was close to her house. 
 It was a cold night in the month of January, and she and 
 her little children suffered greatly from the chiUing temper- 
 ature of the air, as they were all nearly naked ; for she had 
 been compelled to leave her house without taking time to 
 procure clothing for herself and children. 
 
 After she had concealed her children in the thicket, she 
 
368 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ran to the nearest house to obtain the assistance of a lone 
 woman, who was the wife of an absent soldier, in taking 
 care of her children. They returned to the thicket, and 
 conveyed the children to a place of security. The two 
 heroes continued to watch her house until daylight, returned 
 to their camps, carrying off 'with them all' of her property 
 which they thought would be of any service to them. Mrs. 
 Treadaway went to Elizabethtoh in order to report the base 
 conduct of these two robbers to Duvall, entertaining the 
 hope that he would at least have the magnanimity to urge 
 them to restore her property back to her. But Duvall, who 
 was totally destitute of all the attributes of a gentleman, 
 and equally as mean and despicable as any of his infamous 
 desperadoes, treated her supplication's with the most perfect 
 disregard, and very abruptly said to her, " My soldiers shall 
 not be punished for any thing they may do to the Lincoln- 
 ite women, and,lf they do not wish to be abused, they must 
 go through the lines to their Yankee friends." 
 
 This was the kind of consolation" which, this poor helpless 
 woman received from this Kentucky scoundrel, whose black 
 heart was entirely impervious to any feeling of human sym- 
 pathy for all, both male and female, who entertained a de- 
 sire for the success of the Union cause. And these were the 
 kind of men from whom the Union men had to flee and seek 
 for refuge amid the rough and dreary mountains in order to 
 save their lives ; and I came to the conclusion to submit no 
 longer to the insults of these thieving scoundrels without 
 making some efforts to requite them for their monstrous 
 villainies. 
 
 I disliked the idea of being called a bushwhacker ; and as 
 I was now busy in collecting the men together who desired 
 to go through the lines with me, I concluded to wait until 
 I should make another trip through to the Federal lines, 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 369 
 
 when I intended to lay the deplovahle cdndition of the Union 
 families in Carter County before the commanding general, 
 and ask him to furnish me with a small number of men and 
 some ammunition, to enable me to return and punish the in- 
 fernal villains who were robbing the houses of the absent Un- 
 ion soldiers, and tyrannizing over their helpless families ; and 
 I thought, if this request should be refused, I would procure 
 the requisite amount of arms and ammunition, and return to 
 my native county, and spend the remainder \)f my days, if 
 need be, in shooting at these reckless villains from behind 
 trees. I could not for a moment entertain^the idea of sitting 
 around the camps at Knoxville, or any where else, while the 
 rebels were perpetrating outrages upon the families of the 
 Union soldiers in my native county sufficient, in their enor- 
 mity, to shock the sensibilities of any person whose heart 
 was not as destitute of human sympathy as the flinty rock 
 itself. 
 
 The hills and mountains were now swarming with escaped 
 prisoners and rebel deserters, and also with a number of 
 Federal soldiers who had not yet returned to their regi- 
 ments, all of whom were now anxious to go through the 
 lines. Many of my friends were entirely unwilling for me 
 to take rebel deserters through with me, as they were afraid 
 that they were only expressing a desire to leave the rebel 
 service in order to mature some plan to secure my destruc- 
 tion. But I was very careful, and was never very hasty in 
 reposing confidence in a rebel deserter until I was thorough- 
 ly convinced in regard to his sincerity in wishing to lay 
 aside his rebel uniform. It was a great source of aggrava- 
 tion to the rebel leaders when they found that some of their 
 best soldiers were deserting and going to the Federal army; 
 and they generally attached the blame to me, for they 
 would say that, not being satisfied with taking off the con- 
 
 Q 2 
 
370 . Drilling adventure 
 
 scripts, I was now taking pflF many of their best soldiers. 
 This was true ; for their worst soldiers were afraid to risk 
 themselves in the hands of stampeders and scouters, and 
 many would have deserted who did not, had it not been for 
 this reason. 
 
PANIBL ELLIS. 371 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 On the night of the 14th of February, 1865, 1 started on 
 another journey to the Federal lines. My company on this 
 occasion consisted of one hundred and twenty-five men^ and 
 forty horses. The company presented rather a motley as- 
 semblage, for there were Federal officers occupying the rank 
 of both captain and lieutenant, with their marks upon their 
 shoulders ; and there were the Federal soldiers, with their 
 gayly-trimmed vests and shining blue pants ; and there were 
 the Union citizens, looking sad and dejected enough at the 
 thought of leaving their homes and families ; and there were 
 also the rebel soldiers who had deserted the Southern army, 
 some of whom were gentlemen, and were highly respected 
 by the Union men. But it was not so with a number of 
 the hated home -guards, who had become tired of the rebel 
 service, and had ventured to risk themselves into the com- 
 pany, hoping thereby to make a safe retreat from farther 
 oppression. They stood like condemned criminals, with 
 downcast eyes, and listened in mute silence to the ribaldry 
 and abuse which was heaped upon them by the Union citi- 
 zens and soldiers, who would most assuredly have inflicted 
 upon them severe corporal punishment, had it not been 
 for my interference in their behalf, which relieved them 
 from their threatening destiny; And last of all, in this 
 mixed retinue of stampeders, there were a number of ne- 
 groeSj who were going through the lines to join the Feder^ 
 al army. " 
 
 As soon as it was dark we started forward, and Duvall 
 
372 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and his gang of thieves, having heard that I had started 
 with a large, company, followed us as far as James Doug- 
 lass's house, which is situated on the turnpike road leading 
 on through the Doe River Cove. The rebels stopped at 
 this point, and made particular inquiry in regard to the 
 company, and, after being informed of its magnitude, they 
 very wisely concluded to turn back, and left us to pursue 
 our journey without interruption. The night was dark, the 
 whoje canopy of the sky being overcast with black and dis- 
 mal clouds, from which snow frequently descended, and 
 was whirled along upon the wings of a cold and chilling 
 wintry wind ; but, notwithstanding the dreary gloom of the 
 night and the severity of the cold temperature of the air, 
 we pressed on our journey, the footmen wading through 
 the creeks and branches, and stumbling along over logs, 
 stumps, and rocks. We hastened on, and by daylight we 
 were near the Greasy Cove, in Washington County ; we 
 did not stop at this place, but pushed on toward Chucky 
 River, where we had the good luck of finding a canoe, in 
 which the footmen crossed, while those who were riding 
 had to swim their horses through the river. We went on 
 five miles farther, when we stopped to eat something our- 
 selves, and also to feed our horses. I now considered that 
 we were beyond the reach of our enemies, and therefore I 
 felt entirely easy. -Some of my readers may wonder why 
 it was that I preferred to scout secretly through the mount- 
 ains, when my company was composed of a number of Fed- 
 eral officers and soldiers. The principal reason was, that 
 we did not have the proper arms to fight with, neither did 
 we have ammunition sufficient to authorize us to "engage in 
 a fight with the rebels. Besides, it was just about as much 
 as the men could do to carry enough of provisions on their 
 backs to last them until they got through the lines, for the 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 373 
 
 road was very rough, and provisions for so large a company 
 of men could not be obtained along the road. 
 
 While we were resting for a short time, we observed sev- 
 eral women, who lived in the mountains, going in the direc- 
 tion of Chucky River to hunt for provision for their fam- 
 ilies ; and some of them told us that they had walked four- 
 teen or fifteen miles, and would be compelled to carry upon 
 their shoulders whatever they might be able to procure all 
 the way back to their homes. Some of them said that their 
 children had not had a piece of bread for several days ; and 
 I thought, from every indication, they were telling the truth, 
 for they looked pale and haggard, their clothing was thin 
 and very indifferent, and their worn - out shoes were tied 
 upon their feet with-strings ; in fact, some of them, were en- 
 tirely destitute of shoes, and had rags wrapped around their 
 feet.' Some of them said their husbands were in .the Fed- 
 eral army, and that they were then living in camps, their 
 houses having been burned and all their property.destroyed 
 by the rebels, and that they were now compelled to carry 
 on their' backs whatever they could procure for their lit- 
 tle children to eat for a distance of fifteen miles through 
 snow, rain, and ice. I divided what money I had among 
 them,- which seemed to dry up their tears, and they went 
 on their way rejoicing at the unexpected and timely assist- 
 ance they had received. I thought it was very inadequate 
 assistance," considering their destitute condition. 
 
 It was now the 16th. of February, and we started' on our 
 journey at daylight, and traveled on steadily all day; cross- 
 ing kiiobs, and wading creeks and branches, which a num- 
 ber of the men found to be a serious impediment, for every 
 little sti-eam of water was full to overflowing. Late in the 
 evening we reached Shelton Laurel, and, as we were going 
 down a branch, we overtook a poor woman, who was catry- 
 
374 THRILLING ADVENTURES OP 
 
 ing two bushels of corn-meal on her shoulder, and a pretty- 
 well-grown child on her hip. This I thought was a tolera- 
 bly good load ; she was not far from her house when we 
 overtook her, but I got one of the men to take the child be^ 
 fore him on his horse and carry it to the house. She said 
 she had carried her heavy burden about two miles and a 
 half. 
 
 We arrived at an immense pine thicket, where we stopped 
 to spend the night. After eating -supper and feeding our 
 horses, we laid down to sleep, but it seemed to be altogeth- 
 er impossible for us to court its soothing influence to rest 
 upon our eyelids, for the ground was wet, and the air was 
 so extremely cold that we could not rest with any degree 
 of satisfaction. We all passed a very imcomfortable night, 
 and when daylight came we were ready to start on our 
 journey. We made our way toward the road that leads 
 on from Marshall, North Carolina, to Greenville, Tennessee ; 
 we had aJJ the water-courses to wade, which was a very se- 
 rious inconvenience, for the weather was very cold. It was 
 nearly night when we got to Shell's Cove, at which place 
 there was a company of rebels stationed ; consequently, we 
 waited until dark to cross the cove, which we did with per- 
 fect safety. It was a beautiful starlight night, and we trav- 
 eled on until midnight, when we stopped to rest until morn- 
 ing. 
 
 We started on early the next morning, and, after travel- 
 ing aboilt five miles, we came near a valley which we had 
 to cross, and stopped' until night came on again, when we 
 started on at a rapid pace, and traveled until three o'clock 
 the next morning, when we stopped. The men were suffer- 
 ing very much from cold and from their wet clothing, for 
 all of them who were walking had to wade the streams of 
 water which occurred in our road, and, consequently, they 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 375 
 
 had been thoroughly drenched with water. At daylight 
 we started on, and had it not been for the horses we had 
 with us, some of the men would have been left on the road, 
 for they were completely tired down, and some of their feet 
 were in a bad condition, for they were bleeding profusely ; 
 their worn-out shoes afforded very indifferent protection 
 from the extremely cold weather. About three o'clock in 
 the evening we arrived at Leaper's Mill, on Chucky River, 
 where we had the good-fortune to find two canoes, in which 
 the men who were walking crossed the river, and those 
 who were riding had to swim their horses. We then went 
 on to Spring Vale, where the Federal forces were stationed. 
 We stopped here long enough to procure something to eat 
 for ourselves, and also feed for our horses, and then pushed 
 on until we found a good situation to locate our encamp- 
 ment for the night ; we built up large fires, and passed the 
 night quite comfortably, for we had no fears now of being 
 surprised by the rebels. We started on very early the next 
 morning, and traveled steadily forward all day ; we now 
 got provisions from the people, as we passed along, without 
 any difficulty. 
 
 When night came on we camped out in the woo^s. So 
 soon as daylight appeared we started on, and, after a very 
 hard day's march, we arrived at the Strawberry Plains. 
 The men who had horses went on to the 13th Regiment, 
 which was stationed six miles below the Plains, and I went 
 on to KnoxvUle with the escaped prisoners and deserters. 
 
 Colonel Trowbridge, of the 10th Michigan Regiment, was 
 now occupying the position of provost -marshal at Knox- 
 ville. He had. issued an order that all citizens, escaped pris- 
 oners, and deserters from the rebel army who might come 
 through the lines should be arrested and brought before him, 
 so that he might dispose of them as he should think proper. 
 
376 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Therefore, when I arrived at Knoxville, I went with my 
 company to the marshal. All the rebel deserters took the 
 oath, and were sent north of the Ohio River. The escaped 
 prisoners were provided with food and clothing, and sent to 
 their respective posts, and the citizens were permitted to 
 do whatever they thought best for their own personal wel- 
 fare. Some of them immediately joined the army. 
 
 The troubles attendant on this trip were now over, and I 
 returned to my regiment. However, I did not intend to 
 remain vei'y long, for I had not forgotten the situation of 
 the Union people in Carter County, nor what I had suffered 
 from the gang of rebel scoundrels who were now infesting 
 ray native mountains. My determination still was, if assist- 
 ance was denied me to enable me to return and fight the 
 rebels openly, that I would return alone, and bushwhack 
 them on every occasion that I possibly could. 
 
 I proceeded to make application for the assistance which 
 I :de8ired, and the authorities at once detailed thirty-two 
 soldiers out of the 13th Regiment to return with me, nearly 
 all of them being originally citizens of Carter and Johnson 
 Counties. We were provided with an abundant supply of 
 arms and ammunition, and with four horses to carry our 
 supplies. The worst of all was, we were compelled to travel 
 on foot, which was a hard task for the soldiers, for they had 
 not been accustomied to traveling in that way. It was ex- 
 pected that we would soon provide ourselves with hoi-ses 
 and clothing from the rebels, and also provisions if we de- 
 sired to eat much, for the Union people had but little to 
 furnish us with, yet I know that what little they still had 
 would be freely given if it should be required. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 377 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 OiiT the 14th day of March, 1865, we left the regiment, the 
 company consisting of thirty-two regular soldiers, and a few 
 citizens who were returning to their homes. The weather 
 was clear and warm, which made traveling very agreeable, 
 and the men were in fine spirits. We spent the first night 
 six miles south of New Market, where the men made up 
 large fires, and passed off the night in telling "long yarns" 
 about the number of fights they had been engaged in, and 
 how narrowly they had frequently escaped from being killed. 
 They were now on their way home to fight for their families, 
 whom some of them had not seen for eighteen months ; they 
 now declared they would have vengeance for the insults and 
 abuse which their families had been subjected to, and they 
 said that no hardship or privation which could come upon 
 them would be too great for them to suffer if they could 
 only be permitted to accomplish their design. 
 
 As soon as daylight appeared we started on our journey ; 
 some were singing merrily, while otKers were talking with 
 the utmost cheerfulness. We traveled twenty miles on that 
 day, and staid all night at the residence of Captain Carter. 
 The men were very tired, and their feet were badly blistered. 
 They did not recount so many of their deeds of valor, nor 
 "fight' their battles o'er again" on that night, for they went 
 to bed at an early hour, and slept soundlyuntil morning. 
 
 We breakfasted early, and started again, and at night we 
 arrived at Leaper's Mill, on Chucky River. We crossed the 
 river in a canoe, and had to swim our horses. We had con- 
 
378 THRILLING ADVBNTTTRES OF 
 
 templated staying with the 4th Tennessee Regiment that 
 night, but on that evening it had been removed to Morris- 
 town. We now had to use some exertions to procure some- 
 thing to eat. The rain poured down all night, and early the 
 next morning we put on our gum blankets and started. 
 The mud and water was shoe-mouth deep along the road 
 and in the fields. After a disagreeable walk of about six 
 miles, we got into the woods. In the evening the rain ceased 
 falling, and the air turned very cold. At length we arrived 
 at a house in the ridges, where we stopped to obtain some- 
 thing to eat. When the occupants of the house saw us ap- 
 proaching they immediately commenced hiding their little 
 household affairs, and when we went into the house they 
 seemed to be very much frightened and confused. We told 
 them we were Yankees, and were on our way home, and had 
 stopped to see if we could get something to eat. The lady 
 of the house would not believe us for some time, and, after 
 we had remained for a while, she said, " Well, I really believe 
 you are Yankees, for if you were rebels you would have 
 searched throughout the whole house by this time." 
 
 When she became convinced that we were not rebels she 
 was remarkably kind to us ; she showed us where we could 
 get corn to feed our horses, and soon had a plentiful supper 
 ready for us. After a while she went into another room, 
 where she lifted up a plank, and her son came creeping out 
 from his hiding-place. He was a conscript, and the rebels 
 had been after him. ' The family were now in fine spirits, 
 and some of them told us how we had frightened them 
 when we were approaching the house. Part of the company 
 remained all night there, and the balance scattered about to 
 the nearest cabins. 
 
 It was now the 18th of March. We assembled early, and 
 started on our journey. The people among whom we had 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 379 
 
 staid did not charge us any thing for our night's lodging, 
 but they were very particular in charging us to whip the 
 rebels if we could; and this the men whom I had with me 
 had never doubted their ability to do whenever they could 
 have an opportunity to "break a lance" with their enemies. 
 We traveled all day without any thing of interest happen- 
 ing, and late in the evening we stopped to get supper and 
 to feed our horses. We then went on to Meadow-creek 
 Mountain, where we " took up camps?' in a deep hollow, and 
 passed the night there. We were now anxious to keep as 
 much concealed in our movements as possible until we ar- 
 rived at Shell's Cove, hoping to catch a scout of rebels there 
 who always ran when they saw Yankees approaching, but 
 were constantly watching for the men who were passing 
 through the mountains, in order to murder and rob them of 
 whatever they might have. 
 
 Early the next morning we set out along the side of the 
 mountain. After we had traveled some distance, we stop- 
 ped at a house to get something to eat ; but the lady of 
 theJiouse said she had nothing that she could give us to 
 eat, but she furnished us with corn to feed our horses. 
 We now went in search of the rebels, but, as usual, they 
 had just left. The people in that neighborhood would 
 have gladly assisted us in capturing them if they had 
 been there. We now changed our course, and made for 
 Shelton Laurel, which was the best place to procure provi- 
 sions. It was now ten o'clock, and we yet had thirteen 
 miles to travel. We traveled in a hurry, and just at dark 
 we reached Shelton Laurel. The old men, women, and 
 children had been engaged in log-rolling on that day, and 
 had now assembled to partake of an abundant feast, and 
 also to enjoy themselves for a while in the festive dance. 
 We enjoyed ourselves finily, for we had plenty to eat, and 
 
380 THBILLESTG ADVENTDEES OF 
 
 spent the night in dancing. The women were all about as 
 stout and robust as the one I had seen carrying the bag of 
 .meal on her shoulder and the child on her hip, to which I 
 have alluded in the previous chapter. I really do believe 
 that every woman who participated in the dance on that 
 night could have shouldered two bushels of corn and car- 
 ried it to mill. They could chop with an axe, roll logs, and 
 plow equal to men. But they were remarkably kind to 
 strangers, and would willingly have fed us for a week if we 
 had requested it. 
 
 . Early the next morning we set out for the red banks of 
 Chucky River. The men did not feel much like traveling 
 after their night's frojic. But we traveled on in a steady 
 gait all day, and reached the river just as it was getting 
 dark, and crossed it in a canoe. We had to travel on five 
 miles farther before we could get any thing to eat, and 
 when we got near to the Greasy Cove the men scattered 
 out among the people, and fared tolerably well. We were 
 now inside of the rebel lines, and I told the soldiers that 
 we should all have to be very careful, or, in spite of their 
 boasted valor and achievements, we might all fall into the 
 hands of the enemy. Next morning we traveled eight 
 miles farther, when we halted to wait for night to throw 
 her dark wings o'er the earth, as I thought it advisable to 
 make our entrance into Carter County as secretly, as we 
 possibly could, so that we might recruit our exhausted en- 
 ergies for a short time before the rebels could be apprised 
 of our arrival into the county. I thought that. I had but a 
 small company to operate against the enemy with, and I 
 therefore determined to make a good beginning. When 
 night came on we pushed forward ; and when we arrived at 
 the residence of Elijah Simerley, in Carter County, nine 
 miles south of Elizabethton, w^topped and rested for a 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 381. 
 
 day and night, and fared elegantly during the time. My 
 main object now was to find a party of rehel soldiers some- 
 where, so that I might get their horses and mount my com- 
 pany, as we could not get about fast enough on foot. 
 
 I now concluded that we would go and make an attack 
 on my old tormentors, whom I thought were still at Eliza- 
 bethton, or in its vicinity ; but, when we arrived near that 
 place, we learned that the rebels had 'all left and gone to 
 Bristol. This intelligence, I must confess, gave me no little 
 vexation, for now there was not a rebel soldier to be found. 
 We fared sumptuously among the Union people in the vi- 
 cinity of Elizabethton for a day and night, and then start- 
 ed for Johnson County up the Watauga River, and by the 
 way of Stony Creek, where some of the soldiers' families 
 resided. We staid one night on Stony Creek, and fared 
 very well ; for during the night the news was spread abroad 
 that a company of Yankees had come into the neighbor- 
 hood, and against morning the place where we were en- 
 camped was swarming with men and women, who had 
 brought with them an abundant supply of provisions for us. 
 
 When we started on our journey quite a number of peo- 
 ple had gathered all along the road to see us, and also to 
 furnish us with something to eat, and it would be impossi- 
 ble, for me to say how many pies and fowls we devoured 
 while we remained in this vicinity. The day we left Stony 
 Creek we reached Johnson County, and passed the night in 
 a laurel thicket. We did not fare so well as we did on the 
 previous night, for we were now in a rebel section of coun- 
 try, and, consequently, we remained pretty closely, conceal- 
 ed. We started next morning and traveled all day along 
 the side of Stone Mountain, through briefs, and through 
 laurel and ivy thickets. In the evening we arrived at a 
 place called " The Laurel," on the road leading on to Ab- 
 
382 THRILLING ADVBNTUBES OF 
 
 ingdon, Virginia. A party of rebels were hauling provi- 
 sions and forage along this road, and my intention was to 
 go to Providence Gap, which is a narrow pass through thp 
 mountain, where I thought we could blockade the road and 
 capture their teams. I knew that this might be easily ac- 
 complished by cutting trees across the road, and then wait 
 until they came to the proper place, when we could then 
 take them by surprise. 
 
 The men were in fine spirits at the prospect of an imme- 
 diate encounter with the rebels, and at the thought of get- 
 ting a good horse to ride, so that they might be enabled to 
 travel about briskly in spite of their bruised feet and tired 
 limbs. But, as before, we were again doomed to disap- 
 pointment, for the rebel wagon-train had passed on toward 
 Abingdon some three hours before our arrival, and we could 
 hear of no more rebels in that portion of the country. The 
 men were now completely disheartened, at least all of them 
 who yet remained with me, for ten of my men had deserted 
 and gone to their homes after they had sworn to stand to their 
 posts, no matter what misfortunes might betide them. The 
 balance of my company remained with me, and I must say 
 that their conduct throughout the whole of this expedition 
 is worthy of the highest commendation, ifor I do not think 
 that there was ever any better or braver men. My, oompa- 
 ny now numbered twenty-two soldji^rs and a small number 
 of citizens. 
 
 We went to the cabins in the mountains, and the people 
 gave us something to eat, and we again encamped for the 
 night. The soldiers in the company seemed to be greatly 
 disappointed, and I have no doubt they were as sorely 
 vexed because they could find no rebels to fight, as Alexan- 
 der was when he sat down and wept because there were 
 no more nations for him to conquer. I must confess that I 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 383 
 
 felt a desire to be actively engaged, for we were now de- 
 pendent on the Union people for our supplies, and I wisjpd 
 to do every thing in my power to relieve them from the 
 terrible rebel oppression under which they had suffered s» 
 long. 
 
 While we were discussing the dullness of our prospects, 
 and considering what was best to be done, an old man hap- 
 pened to pass our encampment ; he was scouting from the 
 rebels, and came upon us accidentally. I immediately call- 
 ed him, and told him to come into our encampment. He 
 started toward us, looking very distrustfully, indeed, for he 
 was terribly frightened until he found out who we were 
 and what our business was. When I convinced him thor- 
 oughly in regard to our political status and the object of 
 our visit to Johnson County, I never saw a man exhibit 
 greater demonstrations of enjoyment in all ray life. He 
 told us that a company of rebels was then stationed at 
 Wills's Barn, about five miles distant, and that they had 
 been there for some time, resting and feeding their horses. 
 
 We immediataly commenced making arrangements to go 
 in pursuit of the enemy, and taking the old man with us, 
 who I mus't say was entirely willing to go, we set out for 
 the barn. When we got within two miles of the place, we 
 stopped to wait until daylight before making an attack. 
 We got into a deep hollow, where we built up fires. The 
 men passed away the time in telling big tales until late in 
 the night, and then laid down to sleep, telling one another 
 to remember what they dreamed, for when morning came 
 they would have to fight. After a short time all was still. 
 I did not attempt to sleep, neither did I wish to do so, as I 
 preferred to act as sentinel until it was time to arouse the 
 men to prepare for action. How often I looked at my 
 watch to see how the night was passing away I do not 
 
384 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 know ; but I thought it was a long time before the chick- 
 engiooks at the neighboring barns began to announce that 
 daylight was approaching. I now proceeded to arouse the 
 men, and soon had them ready to march, as I wished to get 
 to the rebel encampment against daylight. The old man 
 acted as our guide, and, after following him about two 
 miles, we came in sight of the rebel camp-fires. There 
 were two large fires burning, one on the left, and one on 
 the right side of the barn. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 385 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 The next morning, March 31, 1865, the golden beams of 
 the sun were early visible in the eastern sky, and the men 
 were looking pretty anxious. We found that the rebels 
 -were in a log barn, which, of course, gave them the advan- 
 tage of us in regard to position ; and besides, we had no 
 means of ascertaining the number of the rebels, about which 
 there was a great contrariety of opinion, some saying 
 that there were sixty or seventy of them, and others said 
 there were at least a hundred. According to the tale of 
 the old man who had served as our guide, there were at 
 least twice as many rebels as there were men in my compa- 
 ny. I encouraged the men by'' reminding them that we 
 would take: them by surprise; besides, we were well pro- 
 vided with arms and ammunition. From the position we 
 occupied we-xould see some of the rebels busily engaged in 
 cooking around their fires, while others were feeding their 
 horses. We marched up four deep, and, when we got with- 
 in about sixty yards of them, we fell in a line to make a 
 charge ; and when the men were forming a line they made 
 a noise with their feet, and the rebels discovered us, for 
 some of them immediately exclaimed, " Look yonder at the 
 men !" I now gave orders to fire and charge on them at 
 the same time. We were armed with seven-shooters and 
 Colt's repeaters, and, when we commenced, we kept up an 
 incessant firing until we reached the rebel encampment. 
 I ran up on the left, where most of the rebels were, and hal- 
 
 R 
 
386 THKILLING ADVENTURES OP 
 
 looed to my men to charge them on the right and left, and 
 to keep up a brisk fire all the time. 
 
 The rebels now began to give way, and I must confess 
 I never saw men run before. At first they did not seem to 
 know what to think of us, and I have no doubt they 
 thought we were bushwhackers, as no Yankee soldiers had 
 ever before made their appearance in that region of coun- 
 try. But they soon found out that they had either to fight 
 or run, and they immediately commenced jumping over the 
 fence which surrounded the barn. There was a pet sheep 
 in the barn-lot, which started off at fall speed after the fly- 
 ing rebels, bleating most vehemently at every jump; and it 
 was hard to determine which would win the race, the pet 
 sheep or its rebel companions. 
 
 We now turned our attention to those who still remain- 
 ed in the barn, and my men climbed up and began to search 
 for the rebels. The bai-n was composed of one log pen, and 
 the threshing-floor was nearly four feet from the ground. 
 Some, of the rebels had taken refuge under the floor, and 
 some had concealed theTnselves in the barn; but we soon 
 made them come out and surrender. When we looked un- 
 der the floor, we could see the eyes of the rebels shining 
 like those of so many cats in the dark. We called upon 
 them to come out, but none of them made any answer. 
 Some of my men then commenced shooting under the floor, 
 which at once caused the whole party of rebels to come out 
 and surrender. 
 
 Fifteen of the rebels fought bravely during the whele en- 
 gagement ; and if the whole company had fought as gal- 
 lantly as they did, they would, most unquestionably, have 
 given us a severe fight, and probably would have defeated 
 us, for they outnumbered us two to one. We captured 
 thirty-six horses, together with saddles, bridles, and blank- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 387 
 
 ets, besides a large nlimber of guns, pistols, shoes, boots, 
 hats, and overcoats ; and I do not know how many satchels 
 fell into our hands which were filled with clothing, and 
 which, on examination, we found to be ladies' clothing of 
 every description, which they had taken from the Union 
 women in the country ; and last, though not the least of all, 
 we took possession of their breakfast, which was nearly 
 cooked. We also found in their deserted encampment a 
 lai"ge lot of bread, meat, and potatoes. 
 
 The rebels who were standing out on picket, when they 
 first heard the firing and hallooing, cut their horses loose 
 from where they had. tied them, and, mounting on them 
 barebacked, started off in the direction of Taylorsville as if 
 they expected some frightful calamity momentarily to over- 
 take them. Many of those who fled so precipitately from 
 the barn were seen; going through Taylorsville mounted on 
 old sore-backed horses that they had come across in their 
 flight, without shoes, hats, or pants, with their hair stand- 
 ing straight up, holding on with both of their hands to old 
 pieces of bridles or strings, telling the astonished people, as 
 they passed along, that all of their companions had been 
 killed or captured by the Yankees, and that they alone were 
 left to tell the tale. The aspect they exhibited, as they 
 passed through Taylorsville, was ludicrous in the highest 
 degree. ^ \ 
 
 We captured one sixteen-shooter and several Spencer ri- 
 fles, besides a large lot of navy pistols ; some of my men 
 had four and five apiece. Our prisoners were all Kentuck- . 
 ians. There were two officers among them — Captain Har^ 
 ris and Lieutenant Gentry— the balance of them were pri- 
 vates. They said they had been in the Southern army for 
 three years, and that they had never been in such a. se- 
 vere encounter on any previous occasion. I at once par 
 
388 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ,roled them and turned them loose, but they would not leave 
 until they persuaded some of the TJnioji citizens to accom- 
 pany them some distance on their journey. Union men 
 were tolerably hard to find, for we had frightened both the 
 Union men and the rebels away for at least three miles 
 around ; and it is no wonder that they were frighten'ed, for 
 the terrible shooting, together with our boisterous shouting 
 and screaming, was enough to make them think that a band 
 of wild Indians had been turned loose to desolate the coun- 
 try. 
 
 " The last intelligence we received of the fugitives who first 
 fled away from the barn was, that they were still moving 
 rapidly on toward Jefferson, North Carolina, not even stop- 
 ping to look behind them. 
 
 Several of the men in my company had their clothes cut 
 with the rebel bullets, and one of them was wounded in the 
 neck. None of the rebels were killed on the ground, but 
 several of them were wounded so badly that they died 
 shortly after the fight. 
 
 We now selected from the arms we had captured such 
 as we desired to retain, and broke the balance of them to 
 pieces; and when we left the rebel encampment we were 
 in a much better condition than when we came to it, for 
 every man now had in his possession a, good horse, saddle, 
 bridle, and blanket. The men j^l seemed to be very much 
 pleased ; we had walked one hundred and fifty miles, and I 
 thought when we started that we would.be able to mount 
 ourselves much' sooner than we did, but this was the first 
 company of rebels we had met with.- We removed, our 
 wounded man into the mountains among his friends. He 
 was a citizen of Johnson County, and was a brave and good 
 Union man. The poor fellow died from the wound he had 
 received in the fight with the rebels in ten days. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. &89 
 
 We went on down Little Doe River to the residence of 
 Andrew Wilson, where we got coi-n for our horses, and also 
 something to eat for ourselves, after which we fell back 
 among'the ridges and passed the night. When morning 
 came, we went on up Roan's Creek to the residence of Hog 
 Dave Wagner, who was a wealthy man, and was also one 
 of the leading rebels in Johnson County. He had left home, 
 but had left an abundance of, every thing behind him both 
 for man and brute to eat. We were the first Yankees who 
 had visited him; consequently, we and our horses fared 
 most sumptuously during the whole time of our stay on his 
 premises ; however, we did not tarry long, for we 'started 
 on early the next morning toward Taylorsville to hunt for 
 more rebels, but, when we arrived there, we found that all 
 the rebel soldiers had deserted the place. We went back, 
 and stopped at the residence of Samuel E. M'Queen, anoth- 
 er bad rebel, where we again ate. and fed our horses. Our 
 next stopping-place was at James Brown's, who was a no- 
 torious home guard. He was gone frota home, and some of 
 the rebel women said he had gone to get the home guards 
 and rebel soldiers to run us out of the county. But he was 
 too slow in his movements, for during his absence we visited 
 his house, where we found ample provisions for ourselves 
 and horses to subsist on for a day and night ; and for this 
 I felt no check of conscience, for most of the grain and pro- 
 visions which the rebels of Johnson County then had in their 
 possession had been taken from the Union people, and they 
 left to starve. 
 
 While we were in this section of country, a portion' of 
 Stoneman's men marched through the mountains of Carter 
 and Johnson Counties on their way to North Carolina. 
 This was the first Federal force that had ever passied 
 through the mountains of these two counties, and one of 
 
390 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ray men facetiously remarked, that they could not have 
 passed through on this occasion had it not been for our 
 company, who had run the rebels away before them. I re- 
 marked to the men, if that was the case, that we had better 
 go down the country to Elizabethton and Johnson's D6- 
 pot, in order to protect the dispatch-bearers and sti-agglers, 
 for I thought the rebels might be watching the roads to 
 capture them. We started, apd traveled on down the coun- 
 try "until we got within three miles of Elizabethton, where 
 we went into camp in a pine thicket, for we had been in- 
 formed that the rebels were very numerous in the country, 
 and I tberefore deemed it advisable to observe all necessary 
 caution to avoid the danges of being surprised. We kept 
 up good fires all night, and the men passed off the time in 
 telling long tales about their adventures in the army. I 
 now received information that a party of rebels were at 
 Elizabethton, in hot pursuit after us ; they had been hunting 
 for us all the day before, but had failed to hunt in the right 
 direction. They had captured a little boy, who, of course, 
 was the son of a Union man, had taken him some distance 
 away from his home, and had treated him most shamefully 
 by beating him, to make him tell wher^ we were; but this 
 the little boy was entirely unable to do, for he was alto- 
 gether ignorant in regard to our movements. These scoun- 
 drels then hung him up with a halter rein until he was near- 
 ly dead, and then let him down, and rode off and left him. 
 
 I at once determined that on the next morning we would 
 find them, although they had been unable to find us, and 
 told my men to prepare for another encounter with the 
 rebels. This intelligence stopped their fun, and they began 
 to inquire how many of the rebels were in pursuit of us, but 
 this I was unable to tell them. I told them that all I had 
 been able to learn in regard to the rebels was, that they 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 391 
 
 • 
 
 were in Elizabethton, and that we must give them a fight 
 at all hazards. The men now laid down to rest, so that 
 they might feel vigorous and active when they were called 
 on to engage in the anticipated conflict; they, remarked to 
 one another that they ought to be particular to engage in' 
 prayer, for they did not know how much longer they had 
 to live. 
 
 We started just at daylight on our road to Elizabethton, 
 which is situated between the Watauga and Doe Rivers. 
 We left the Watauga, and traveled along the Doe River 
 Road, as I thought that the rebel pickets would be most 
 likely to be on the Watauga River. I divided my com- 
 pany into three squads, as there were three streets leading 
 into town in. the direction we were going. I placed two of 
 the squads under competent leaders, and I led the other one 
 myself, and after I had designated a point for us all to meet 
 at, I started on up the main street. Not a single rebel 
 knew that we were any where near the town until I was 
 seen with a small body of men coming up the main street, 
 when a citizen suddenly hallooed out to some of the rebel 
 soldiers, " The Yankees ai"e coming," and the rebels, look- 
 ing down the street, saw us for the first time. They made 
 no attempt to fight, but some of them ran into the Court- 
 house, while others mounted their horses and started to- 
 ward Doe River ; we pursued them very closely, and be- 
 fore they crossed the river we got so near to them that one 
 of my men shot one of the rebels off of his horse while he 
 was in the water. My horse was uncommonly swift, and I 
 plunged through the river after the fugitives; and very soon 
 got a considerable distance away from my men. I now 
 halted for a moment, and by this time I saw the company 
 of men which I had placed under Treadaway crossing high- 
 er up the river. The rebels, who had gone on some dis- 
 
3.92- THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tance ahead, were nojv seen waving their hats and telling 
 us to come on, thinking that we could not again overtake 
 them. 
 
 We now started in pursuit of them, and, as before, my 
 horse soon carried me far ahead of the balance of my men, 
 and I found myself in the presence of the rebels entirely 
 alone, without a single load in my pistols, for I had shot 
 them out in the early part of the chaise, and consequently I 
 had no time to spare to reload them. I captured two of the 
 rebels with an empty pistol, while both of them had loaded 
 guns, which they thre\r down, and got down off of their 
 horses and surrendered. Some of the men now came up 
 and took charge of them, while I Started on after the others, 
 one of whom turned his course and ran by himself. I fol- 
 lowed him some distance, when, seeing his horse fall, I di- 
 rected two of my men to go forward and capture him, and 
 I started on after three others, who were going in a different 
 direction. Elbert Treadaway was with me, but his horse 
 choked down and fell to the earthy leaving me alone again, 
 for the men had not yet come up, and my swift-footed ani- 
 mal continually left them far behind. 
 
 I had not yet taken time to load my pistols ; but this the 
 rebels did not know, and when I overtook them I ordered 
 thirfm to surrender ; but they rushed onward, and continued 
 stioSotiiig at me whenever they had a chance, and also declar- 
 ifig that they would never surrender to one man. They 
 were still on their horses, and the ground was very wet and 
 slippel-y. "We were ascending a steep hill, and their horses 
 tiring ; down, they dismounted, and one of them presented 
 his gun and burst a cap at me, saying, " I will kill you, 
 you damned scoundrel!" I thought I could see halfway 
 down the barrel of his gun, for we were not more than five 
 steps apart, and one of my men getting the gun a minute 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 393 
 
 or SO afterward, found the ball smoking in it. I sprang off 
 of my horse and knocked him down with the butt-end of 
 my pistol, striking him in his face, and cutting it very badly. 
 I now turned toward the other two, and caught one of them 
 by the collar, telling him to surrender. The third one threw 
 down his gun, hat, and coat, and away he went. I looked 
 at the man I had knocked down, and saw that he was up 
 and busily engaged in putting a cap on his gun, and, when I 
 saw this, I immediately let the one go that I was holding 
 and knocked him down again, and then gi-asped hold of the 
 other man a second time. I ti'ied to beat him down to the 
 place where the other man was lying, but I could not do it. 
 Just at this time Treadaway and another one of my men, by 
 the name of William Williams, came up and shot the man 
 whom I had knocked down, and we retained the one which 
 I had caught as a prisoner. The one who threw down his 
 gun succeeded in getting away. 
 
 We now started back, and met with the balance of the 
 company. In this engagement we killed three of the rebels, 
 and captured eleven prisoners — Olford Smith, their leader, 
 and one other being all who made their escape out of the 
 whole company. We now set out with our prisoners to- 
 ward the hills, where we could rest in security ; for I knew 
 we were not strong enc^gh to stay where there was much 
 danger of being surprised. We guarded our prisoners for 
 four days in an old house in the mountain, and I then sent 
 them on to Greenville. They were sent on from there to 
 Knoxville, and finally they were sent to a Northern prison. 
 I ^as convinced that we had captured a very bad set of 
 rebels, and I wished them to suffer for the mischief they had 
 done. 
 
 After these prisoners had been sent away, the mother of 
 one of my best soldiers, Mrs. Henry Little, came to our en- 
 
 R2 
 
ELLIS ATTAOKINQ. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 395 
 
 campment to see her son, for he could not leave the company 
 to visit her, and she told me that she had been broken up by 
 this same gang of rebels that we had succeeded in captur- 
 ing. She was then with her family, living away from her 
 home. There was a frightful scar upon her head, which had 
 been caused by a rebel soldier striking her with his gun 
 because she presumed to get between him and her husband 
 when he was endeavoring to kill him, and by her timely in- 
 terference her husband managed to make his escape. She 
 said that the rebels were mad at her because her son was in 
 the Federal-army, and . they were also mad at her husband' 
 because he had concealed his horses so securely that they 
 had been entirely unable to discover them. The reader will 
 doubtless think that these were very slight oifehses to cause 
 them to be the recipients of such' brutal rebel malignity. 
 
396 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER- XLVI. 
 
 In the eavly part of the month of. April, 1865, General 
 Tillson was stationed at the mouth of Roan's Creek, near the 
 line between Carter and Johnson Counties, with four regi- 
 ments of Federal troops. He sent one regiment, under the 
 conlmand of Colonel Kirk, to the town of Boone, in North 
 Carolina, and leaving one regiment at the mouth of Roan's 
 Greek, he marched with the other two regiments to Taylors- 
 ville. I was in his service until the return of my men, which, 
 was four days, during which time I acted as a guide for him 
 in his movements through the mountains. When General 
 Tillson approached Taylorsville, the rebels all left withou% 
 making the least resistance. The little damage that was 
 done to the leading rebels of Johnson County by my com- 
 pany amounted comparatively to nothing, when it was com- 
 pared with the damage that was done by Tillson's army; 
 for the rebels had all left their houses, and had left their 
 property behind them to risk its chances amid the turbulent 
 tide of war which was now deluging the county. There 
 was not a thing left but the bare walls of their houses, and 
 many of the rebel families, who had always lived in affluence 
 and ease, were now compelled to draw their supplies from 
 the army. 
 
 On the 13th day of April my men returned, and being of 
 no more service to Tillson, who intended to remain station- 
 ary for some time, after a day or two, which my men spent 
 in resting, I started with my little company in search of 
 rebels, for I had heard that a company of them were making 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 397 
 
 regnlar trips to Carter Station. We went to this place first, 
 but failed to find any of them. After waiting for some time, 
 we went on toward Bristol, but we could not find any trace 
 of them. -We now returned to the mountains, and staid all 
 night, and on the morning of the 18th of April we started 
 for Sullivan County, where we knew there were some very 
 bad rebels, if we could find them, for all the leading rebel 
 citizens of Carter County, and many of the rebel soldiers, 
 had taken refuge in Sullivan County. The rebel soldiers 
 had been in the habit of robbing the Union citizens of Carter 
 and Johnson Counties, and conveying their ill-gotten plunder 
 to Sullivan County. A gang of them would frequently as- 
 semble together, headed by the mean rebel citizens, of whom 
 Isaac L. Nave, Henry C. Nave, and his son, Jacob Nave, were 
 ringleaders, who would never fail to kill, with the utmost 
 cruelty, every man whom they found scouting in the mount- 
 ains who had the misfortune of accidentally falling into their 
 hands. They would rob Union men's houses of every article, 
 from a yard of Dixie cotton cloth or an infant's clothing, up 
 to a feather bed or a horse. But so far as horses were con- 
 cerned, at this period of time there was scarcely a Union 
 family in Carter County that could boast of having one. 
 These were the men that we were now in pursuit of. 
 
 When we started to Sullivan County, we crossed Wa- 
 tauga River near Elizabethton, and went on to the head of 
 Indian Creek, traveling in an unfrequented road,, thinking 
 that we might meet with some renegade rebels. We went 
 on in this road for about ten miles toward Sullivan, when 
 we observed three men running from a house. We called 
 on them to surrender, and galloped on after them, but they 
 continued to run. Some of the men commenced shooting 
 at them, and one of them fell mortally wounded. The other 
 two. surrendered, and we immediately turned them loose, al- 
 
398 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 though they had been in company with the very man whom 
 we were so anxious to capture, taut they were not quite so 
 bad. After pursuing our journey a little farther, we saw 
 two men run out of a violent old rebel's house. Some of 
 the men commenced shooting, and calling on them to halt ; 
 but the more we called on them to stop the faster they run. 
 When I got up closer I heard one of my men say, "That is 
 Henry Nave." I instantly turned my horse, and rode off in 
 a different direction, for I did not wish to see him killed, and 
 I knew it would be perfect folly to endeavor to prevent the 
 men from killing a man who had been such a desperate 
 enemy to them and their families. As I rode up toward 
 the other man that some of my men were pursuing,! heard 
 the gun fire that killed him. When I got close to the other 
 man, to my very great surprise, I found that it was Isaac L. 
 Nave. He would not surrender, and, being well armed, he 
 continued to shoot as long as he could ; but he was soon 
 killed. Both these men were my inveterate enemies, and 
 liad often, in company with the rebel soldiers, searched the 
 hills around my home, hoping to effect my capture and con- 
 sequent death, although I had never harmed either one of 
 them in all my life. They always tnlked about me to the 
 rebel soldiers in the most disparaging manner, which caused 
 them to rob my house and abuse my family ; yet, notwith- 
 standing all this, I did not wish to participate in their de- 
 struction. 
 
 We went on, and in our onward march we captured many 
 rebel citizens who had fled from Carter County, but all of 
 them were released. When we arrived at Holston River 
 we met with the rebel soldiers, and, as I expected to have 
 an immediate engagement with them, I ordered my men to 
 take a position in a field where we could have a fair chance 
 with them. I divided my men, and sent a portion of them 
 
• DANIEL ELLIS. 399 
 
 on to flank the rebels on the left, while the river admirably 
 served to flank them on the right. I ordered the flanking- 
 party to charge the flank of the enemy whenever they saw 
 me charging in the centre. We began the charge, and away 
 went the rebels as hard as they could dash, while we started 
 in pursuit of them as rapidly as our hoi'ses could carry us 
 along. yVe should have continued the chase, had we not 
 met with several citizens in whom I put the utmost confi- 
 dence. They told me that there was a regiment of rebel 
 soldiers stationed at Union, which was but a short distance 
 from the place we were then at, and advised me not to go 
 any farther if I did not wish to have my company captured. 
 I now thought that the rebels were running in order to 
 draw us on to a position where we could be captured by re- 
 enforCements froin the regiment which the citizens had 
 spoken of, and I therefore concluded to discontinue any 
 farther pursuit. 
 
 We found shortly afterward that what the citizens had 
 told us was entirely false, and, if we had pushed forward, we 
 could have made a " clean sweep" of every rebel soldier 
 from Union to Bristol. We now returned to the mountains 
 of Carter County with the intention of returning to Sullivan 
 County the next day. But, when I arrived in Carter County, 
 I received a dispa;tch from General Tillson requestjpg me to 
 go to Jefierson, North Carolina, with a scout. I regretted 
 this considerably, for I was doing a flourishing business with 
 the rebels, and therefore -I did not wish to leave them for a 
 while. 
 
 On the 19th of April, 1865, 1 started with my company to 
 Eoan's Creek, where I was to meet with General Tillson, 
 and early the next morning I started with a scout for North 
 Carolina. We went to Irving Wilson's, two miles north of 
 Taylorsville, where we staid all night. Food was now very 
 
400 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 scarce for both man and beast. Here I fell in with Major 
 Lossing, who belonged to a Kentucky regiment ; but he was 
 now commanding a small cavalry force which had been de- 
 tached from the 8th, 9th, and 13th Regiments. When our 
 men were joined together, our whole force numbered two 
 hundred and fifty. We started for Jefferson, North Car- 
 olina, and when we arrived at Taylorsville I was detained for 
 a short time, and the major got on some distance ahead of 
 me. I started on, having fifteen men from Carter and John- 
 son Counties with me. After we had proceeded on our 
 journey about three miles, we met a detachment of colored' 
 troops, who were guarding as a prisoner Samuel E. M'Queen, 
 of murdering and house-burning notoriety — ^be who had 
 entered into an agreement to murder Union men, burn their 
 houses, and drive their helpless families through the lines. 
 The men who were along with me seemed to be greatly re- 
 joiced at his capture. He was taken to Taylorsville, and 
 shot by some of the men whose families he had wronged. 
 
 We traveled on for two days, and on the night of the 
 second day we overtook Major Lossing, and also found him 
 to be in a considerable agony of trouble ; for he had been 
 informed that there were about twelve hundred rebel sol- 
 diers some ten miles distant. Neither he nor his men had 
 slept a Tjiinute during the whole of the previous night, as 
 they, expected every moment that the rebels would pounce 
 upon them and " gobble them up." 
 
 Early on. the morning after my arrival at the encamp- 
 ment. Major Lossing came to me, and said, " Captain Ellis, I 
 wish you would go and see if there are any rebels on Little 
 Helton Creek, where rumor says they are stationed, and 
 you may have fifty men to accompany you." I told the 
 major I would go, and, after getting my men together, I 
 started on the expedition. Nearly every mile we traveled 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 401 
 
 we captured rebel soldiers, who were straggling about 
 through the country. I was very particular to keep my 
 men in readiness for an engagement, for every person we- 
 met with told ns that the rebels were just ahead of us. 
 We traveled oh until one o'clock in the day, when we came 
 vei-y near to the place where it had been reported there- 
 was such a large force of rebels stationed. Here the peo- 
 ple told us that we had better go back, for the rebels 
 would be certain to capture us if we continued to move for- 
 ward. But w,e moved on, capturing more or less rebel sol- 
 diers at every house we came to, and at length we arrived 
 at Little Helton Creek, north of Jefferson, North Carolina,^ 
 and there was not a rebel soldier to be found ; they had all 
 left on the day before our arrival. 
 
 There were several buildings at this place, which belong- 
 ed to a violent rebel by the name of Perkins, but he had 
 gone away with the rebel soldiers. The rebel enroUing-of- 
 ficerj who lived there, had also gone away. A number of 
 rebel deserters came to us, who said that " they were tired 
 of fighting for nothing ; that they knew they were already 
 whipped, and now wished to quit the rebel service." We 
 captured twenty rebel soldiers on that day, took their 
 horses from them, and I paroled them and turned them 
 loose, which afforded them quite an agreeable surprise, for 
 they doubtless expected to meet with a much hai'der fate.' 
 We met with a great many Union men, who eloquently re- 
 lated to us their many tales of severe suffering under the 
 terrible rebel oppression. 
 
 We started back, and arrived at the encampment a little 
 while after sunset. I at once reported to Major Lossing-all 
 that we had seen and done during, the day, which seemed to 
 afford him great satisfaction and relief, and that night all the 
 soldiers; slept soundly enough, and no terrible visions of 
 armed rebels disturbed their quiet and peaceful repose. 
 
402 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Early the next morning we were all on the alert, getting 
 something to eat and feeding our horses. "We started for- 
 ward, and, after marching about five miles, we observed in 
 the road what we considered to be an infallible sign of reb- 
 els, both footmen and cavalry. We now divided the men, 
 the major taking command of one portion of them, and my- 
 self of the other portion ; the major pursued the infantry, and 
 I started after the cavalry. I followed them on some four or 
 five miles before I overtook them. They had left the little 
 valley they had been traveling in, and had gope up the side 
 of the mountain, and had went on until they had come to 
 an indentation on the side of a ridge, where they had stop- 
 ped to eat their breakfast and feed their horses. I was in 
 the lead, and was the first one who observed them. I 
 spoke low to my men, who were near me, and directed 
 their attention to the rebels. Their horses were standing 
 between them and ourselves, which prevented them from 
 seeing us until we got within forty steps of them ; they 
 were busily engaged in dividing a ham for' their breakfast. 
 We went up to them in a gallop, and surrounded them so 
 suddenly that they had no time to scatter. We fired four 
 or five shots over their heads to frighten them ; they offer- 
 ed no resistance, and all of them' surrendered at once. 
 They were well-armed with sharpshooters and pistols, and 
 had good horses. They said they were from Lee's army at 
 Richmond, Virginia, and said that the rebel army at that 
 place were scattering in every direction. They said they 
 were endeavoring to get back to their homes in Georgia. 
 
 We took these prisoners on to our head-quarters at Jef- 
 ferson, North Carolina, and from there they were sent on to 
 the head-quarters of Major Reeve, at Taylorsville, Tennes- 
 see. Major Lossing returned to Jefferson that night, but 
 had accomplished nothing, not having captured a single 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 403 
 
 prisoner, and I and my men had a hearty laugh at his ex- 
 pense. 
 
 We passed the night at Jefferson, and the next morning 
 we started to the town of Boone, in Watauga County,' 
 North Carolina; and when we arrived at. that place we re- 
 ceived orders to repair immediately to, Greenville, Tennes- 
 see. Thereupon we started on toward Taylorsville, crossed 
 over Rich Mountain that evening, and camped for the night 
 on the: head-waters of StiDny Creek, which is in a southeast 
 direction from Taylorsville. We could scarcely procure 
 any' thing for ourselves or for our horses to eat at this 
 place. Some of the men succeeded in getting something to 
 eat, while others got nothing. 
 
 Early the next morning we started forward. We passed 
 through Taylorsville, and went on through Johnson Coun- 
 ty, and that night we again camped on Stony Creek, where 
 we fared tolerably well. When morning came we set out 
 on our journey, and on that evening we arrived at John- 
 son's D6p6t, in Washington County.' The next day we 
 went to the residence of Jacob Brown, in Washington 
 County, and on the following day we went on to Greenville, 
 where we arrived on the 30th day of April, 1865. General 
 Tillson was now at Greenville with his regiments, and we 
 were ordered to move on to North Carolina. 
 
 The day after our arrival at Greenville we set out for 
 Ashville, North Carolina. All of the men had taken par- 
 ticular care to fill their haversacks" with provisions, for they 
 well knew that they were going to march through a barren 
 country, abounding with lofty mountains, where nothing 
 was to be seen but thickets of laurel and ivy bushes; and 
 sharp hills and rocks. The first, day we marched to Allen's 
 Stand, on the road which leads on to Madison County, 
 North Carolina, where we remained all night. We started 
 
404 THRILLING ADVENTUEES OF 
 
 on early the next morning, but we, were delayed a good 
 deal by the wagon-train, for the road was so narrow, and 
 the mountains so steep, we could not pass the wagons. 
 The road ran sometimes for two and three miles where the 
 mountain sides m^de it so steep that there was just room 
 for a wagon to pass. 
 
 When night came on we were ten miles from Ashville. 
 We got a little hay for our horses. There was yet nothing 
 to be seen but steep mountains, with now and then a little 
 farm in some of the coves or along the creeks, where the 
 hills were so steep that nothing but an oxen could stand up 
 to plow. On the third day after we left Greenville we ar- 
 rived at Ashville. There had been some rebels there on 
 that morning, but a portion of the 10th Michigan Regiment 
 got there befwe us, and had run them away. We now 
 went into camps, and found an abundance to eat both for 
 ourselves and our horses. 
 
 My encampment was located on a sharp knob, where 
 there had been a rebel battery planted, and near the house 
 of an old Presbyterian minister. He was a violent rebel^ 
 He lived in a very fine house, and owned a considerable 
 number of negroes. He and his lady came to me on the 
 evening of my arrival, and gave me a cordialinvitation to 
 spend the night with them. I was very tired, and wished 
 to stay at my camp, but I could not resist their importuni- 
 ties, and went with them to their mansion ; they were afraid 
 that their property would be destroyed by the soldiers. I 
 was very sleepy and tired, and was quite anxious for the 
 hour to. arrive when I could retire for the night ; but it was 
 ten o'clock before supper was announced ; and, when I went 
 into the dining-room, I was no longer astonished at the de- 
 lay which had retarded its preparation, for the table exhib- 
 ited a most elegant and sumptuous appearance. I was kept 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 405 
 
 very busily employed in conversing about the Yankees, and 
 my opinion in regard to the confiscation of the lands of the 
 Southern people was particularly requested on several oc- 
 casions. I answered all their interrogatories as well as I 
 could, and I must confess I was greatly delighted when far- 
 ther inquiry was suspended in order to make preparations 
 for family prayer. The old gentleman read two or three 
 chapters in the Bible, and then kneeled down to pray. I 
 thought his supplications would extend to, the "crack of 
 doom," for he was certainly blessed with the " gift of con- 
 tinuance" in a higher, degree than any other divine I have 
 ever beard address a prayer to the " throne of grace." He 
 prayed for peace to reign once more throughout the land, 
 and for the soldiers to return to their homes ; " for," said he, 
 "I have lost twenty negroes by Jfce Yankees coming to 
 North Carolina, and the country will, in all probability, be 
 devastated and ruined ; all the corn, hay, oats, and every 
 thing else will be destroyed, for the Southern soldiers are 
 now whipped and scattered to the four winds of the earth !" 
 He at length concluded by reciting the Lord's Prayer, and 
 we all arose from our knees. The family now took an af- 
 fectionate leave of each other before retiring for the night, 
 just as though they never expected to meet again "beneath 
 the glimpses of the moon," and they proceeded to take each 
 other by the " parting hand" with as much solemnity as if 
 they anticipated that the Yankee soldiers would murder 
 them before morning. 
 
 I soon becapae convinced that all of the rebel citizens en- 
 tertained the same opinions in regard to the Yankees, and 
 I have no doubt but that it was owing to the fact of their 
 having invariably treated the Union people so badly. The 
 Union men who resided at Nashville told us how the jail 
 had been kept full of Union prisoners ; and when the poor 
 
TIIUMAS'S liBUKI. IKMAMs lIUmEEI^ 
 
 DKION MEN. 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 407 
 
 women would come to visit their husbands, they would also 
 be arrested by the rebel soldiers and put into the guard- 
 house, where they would be ke{)t for two and three weeks, 
 subjected to. the insults and ribaldry of the rebel soldiers, 
 who would tell them they were Lincolnites, and ought to 
 have negro husbands'; and, after. th,ey. had retained them in 
 confinement as long as they . desired," would turn them out 
 and. drive them away, witho.ut permitting them to see their 
 husbands . and friends, who were lahguishing within the dis- 
 mal walls; of a filthy prison. ^And, besides all this, they 
 WQuldmake raids into.Tennesseeforthe purpose of robbing 
 the i people of .their horses, cattle, and . goads, and would 
 never fail. to murder allthe .Union men they coiild find, and 
 appropriate, their, property to their own use. It was therer 
 fore not .much wonder that the i-.ebel citizens of North Car- 
 olina were now so greatly inarmed, for. many of the men 
 were. now with the Federal fprces.in that section; of coun- 
 try who had been robbed of all their property, their houses 
 burnedlto ashes, and their families driven forth to buffi^ 
 the. dark waves of adversity, '^ile they endeavored to sus-'. 
 tain a precarious existence upon the cold charities of an un- 
 feeling .world. These .vindictive rebels of Noi-th- Carolina, 
 while -they were sailing along upon the tide of the rebellion 
 toward the .proud citadel of aristocracy, which their hopes 
 had erected in the dim regions of the dark, uncertain fu- 
 ture, .entirely forgqt to remember, that : 
 
 " Man's inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn." 
 
408 THRILLING ADVENT DKES OF 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 The next thing I have to relate is the horrible massacre 
 at Shelton Laurel, North Carolina. The place where this 
 dreadful slaughter occurred is located in Madison County, 
 North Carolina, adjoining Washington and Greene Counties, 
 in Tennessee, and my road, when I was traveling backward 
 and forward to Knoxville, passed directly through it. This 
 settlement lies between two large mountains, one of which 
 is called Sugar-loaf, and the other one is called White- 
 rock Mountain, and it is twenty-five miles from any place 
 of trade; it is situated far out in the recesses of the mount- 
 ains, and a beautiful valley it was before the dark and dis- 
 mal cloud of rebellion arose up in our beloved and happy 
 country. It was first settle#by several old hunters, whose 
 names were Shelton, Heusley, and Tweede ; and in order to 
 enjoy their favorite amusement of hunting to the fullest ex- 
 tent, they sought an abode in this remote and desolate 
 mountainous region of country. The population in this "val- 
 ley had increased very rapidly; and before the rebellion 
 there were between eighty and one hundred voters in the 
 settlement, and all of them bemg sti'ong TJnion men, they 
 totally discountenanced the idea of enlisting in the rebel 
 service. 
 
 Shortly after the passage of the notorious conscript law 
 by the rebel government, a heartless and blood-thirsty 
 wretch, by the name of James E^th, came into this retired 
 settlement with a small number of rebel soldiers, and told 
 
DAJSriEL ELLIS. 409 
 
 the citizens iflhey -would submit to the authority of the 
 Southern Oonfe:deracy and give up their arms they should 
 never bO: troubled any more, and that they might go for- 
 ward in the pursuit of their usual avocations without any 
 farther molestation during the continuance of the war. 
 This scoundrel, at the time of his first visit to this settle- 
 ment, was occupying the position of a rebel colonel, and, 
 consequently, the doomed citizens of this valley were the 
 more easily circumvented by his lying tongue; doubtless 
 thinking that a man who occupied such an elevated posi- 
 tion in the rebel service could not possibly be so perfectly 
 destitute of ievery feeling of humanity as he afterward 
 proved himself to be. 
 
 On this occasion Keith succeeded, by his persuasive and 
 false promises, to induce forty of these hard mountaineers to 
 come to his encampment and deliver up their old rifles; 
 these unfortunate men were immediately put into an old 
 house,' and a strong -guard stationed around them, where 
 they remained until he had enticed all the unsuspectiijg 
 men to enter Tiis: trap that he possibly, could-, and then start- 
 ed with them to Ashville, North rCarolina, where they vera 
 confined in a gloomy prison-house until a number of them 
 were released from their miserable bondage by the hand 
 of death, and-the balance of them enlisted in the-rebel army, 
 from which they afterward deserted and made their way 
 to the Federal lines. - 
 
 On the 19th of January, 1863, Keith made another visit 
 to this section of country for the purpose of hunting con- 
 scripts, accompanied by some four or five hundred rebel 
 soldiers, and Samuel E. Irving, who lives in Washington 
 County, near the red banks of Chucky River, was one of 
 his officers. He now ordered his men to kill all the men 
 and boys they might capture, and his companion in wicked- 
 
 S •■ 
 
410 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ness and infamy, Samuel E. Irving, at once sanctioned the 
 terrible order, saying that "it was right to tiU all the boys, 
 in order to prevent them from growing up to be Federal 
 soldiers and bushwhackers for the Southern soldiers to have 
 to fight." These reckless fiends soon succeeded in captur- 
 ing seven men and six boys, and some of these men were 
 far beyond the age which the conscript law had designated 
 for the performance of military service, and, besides all this, 
 they were not captured while scouting in the mountains, but 
 they were arrested while they were engaged in their peace- 
 ful domestic employments. 
 
 ■ These prisoners were retained in custody for three days, 
 subjected to the insults and foul abuse of their rebel cap- 
 tors, and then Keith informed them that he was going to 
 send them to Knoxville. When they started with their 
 prisoners through the mountains, one of the little boys said 
 to his father, " They are taking us a near way to Knoxville, 
 are they not ?" His father replied, " My son, they are go- 
 ing to kill us." The little, trembling captive then said, 
 "Oh, father, surely they are not going to kill us; these 
 men have been raised in a Christian land, and I hope they 
 have better hearts than to murder us without any provoca- 
 tion !" This poor little innocent boy did not know that hu- 
 man feeling and human sympathy had been expelled from 
 the hearts of his oppressors. Ah !. little did he think that 
 the young flower of his existence was doomed to be so 
 early blighted by the cold and chilling frost of death ! 
 
 The rebels marched their prisoners along. the main road 
 for a distance of three miles, and then turned up a hollow 
 and went to a sink-hole about three hundred yards from 
 the main road, where they stopped. They now told their 
 prisoners that they might have ten minutes to pray, and, 
 when the time had expired, they at once, tied the poor men 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 411 
 
 two and two together, placed them in a line to shoot them, 
 and pulled their hats down over their eyes. They were 
 now ordered to kneel down, and all of them obeyed the or- 
 der, with the exception of David Shelton, who, when the 
 order was given for him to kneel, indignantly replied, " I 
 would kneel to my God, taut I shall not kneel to devils !" 
 The shooting now began, and thirteen men and boys were 
 recklessly and brutally murdered by this inhuman gang of 
 rebel desperadoes. 
 
 One of the little boys, when his turn came to be shot, 
 said to the rebel murderers, " Oh, do not shoot me in my 
 forehead, for I do not wish my blood to spoil these little 
 curls, which my dear mother has combed and kissed so 
 often, while she called me her darling boy." One of the 
 fiends now shot him in the breast, but the ball failed to kill 
 him; he crawled toward his murderers, begging them in 
 the most piteous and heart-rending manner to have mercy 
 on him, and to spare his life. Keith now ordered them to 
 fire again, and several of them shot at him, but none of 
 them hit him, for they declared that, when they presented 
 their guns, they became so blind they could not see the lit- 
 tle boy. Keith, with his black heart inflated to the utmost 
 extent, with devilish malignity drew out his pistol, stepped 
 toward him, and shot him in the head, holding the pistol 
 so close that the very curls were burned off, which the lit- 
 tle boy, in the simplicity of childish innocence, so earnestly 
 desired to save from desti'uction. Oh, how can the miser- 
 able wretch who ^Perpetrated this flagrant outrage expect 
 to escape the frowns of the Almighty in this world, and also 
 in the world to come ! If he has succeeded in escaping 
 from the measure of punishment which his monstrous 
 crimes in this world so richly merit, he may rest assured 
 that he will meet with his just reward when death shall 
 
412 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 have terminated his earthly existence, and ti'ansferred his 
 guilty soul into the awful presence of the great Eternal, 
 -whose infinite mind can alone comprehend the infinitude of 
 eternity. Truly has it been said by an eminent poet, that 
 
 ' ' Man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, 
 Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven's throne 
 That make the angels weep." 
 
 And the truth of this sentiment is most admirably verified 
 in the conduct of Keith on this occasion ; for, during the 
 period of his "brief authority," he perpetrated numerous 
 crimes, sufficient in atrocity not only to excite the tears of 
 pitying angels, but also to cause the whole angelic host to 
 plead with all their eloquence for his vile name to be erased 
 from the everlasting recoi-ds of heaven, and for his soul to 
 be cast into the dismal lake which burns with fire and brim- 
 stone, where there shall forever be " weeping, wailing, and 
 gnashing of teeth." 
 
 While several of the men and boys who were murdered 
 on this occasion were struggling in the last agonies of 
 death, one of the rebel demons in human shape, who was 
 armed with a hoe instead of a gun, would chop them on 
 their heads with it, saying, " I never saw men so hard to 
 kill." And, before they had ceased to struggle, the rebel 
 soldiers began to throw them into the sink-hole, where they 
 piled them up in a promiscuous heap, and covered them 
 over with leaves. Some of the poor men who had not yet 
 expired convulsively stretched out their feet from beneath 
 the covering of the leaves, at which time some of the mur- 
 derers would say, " Lay Btill, you old Lincolnite !" while 
 others would say, " Where is the man with the hoe?" At 
 this suggestion, the hardened wretch, true to the instincts 
 of his vile nature, coolly walked up and commenced chop- 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 413 
 
 ping with his hoe on the heads and the legs of the slaugh- 
 tered victims ; and my informant, who was an eye-witness, 
 and one of the party, told me that, when the unfeeling mon- 
 ster discontinued his bloody work, the hoe was completely 
 covered with the blood and brains of the murdered men 
 and boys ! 
 
 The dead bodies remained in the sink-hole for three weeks, 
 and they were then taken out for the purpose of being more 
 decently interred. The hogs had mangled them in a shock- 
 ing manner, and they would have devoured them entirely, 
 had not the people in the neighborhood put them up in 
 order to prevent such a dreadful result. The frightened 
 citizens were afraid to remove the bodies of the murdered 
 victims until the rebel Jupiter, in the person of the villain 
 Keith, gave his permission for them to have the rites of 
 burial. It was during.the season of winter, and the weather 
 was very Cold when this massacre occurred ; but notwith- 
 standing, when a few weeping mourners went to remove 
 the bodies of thejlr murdered relatives and friends, they 
 found that all their joints and limbs were as flexible and 
 pliant as if the warm blood of life was still coursing through 
 their veins. This occasioned a great deal of astonishment ; 
 and it was certainly a very remarkable phenomenon in 
 natural science to witness the life-like appearance of these 
 dead bodies after they had been reposing in the cold and 
 icy arms of death for a period of three weeks. 
 
 And now the terrible fate which was meted out to the 
 wives and mothers of these poor men and boys remains to 
 be related. They had followed on after the rebel murder- 
 ers to learn the fate of their, sons and husbands, and after 
 the massacre was accomplished, they were then caught by 
 the rebels. Some of these poor defenseless women were 
 then stripped of their clothing, they were tied up, and their 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 415 
 
 naked backs were lashed until the blood trickled down to 
 their feet, while the balance of them were hung up. by:the 
 neck until they were nearly dead. They were then taken 
 down, and their tormentors then left them tied, until their 
 feet and hands were frozen to such a degree that their nails 
 all came off. 
 
 When the wives and mothers of these murdered men and 
 boys approached the demon Keith to request him that they 
 might be permitted to remove the dead, bodies, so that they 
 might bestow upon them the last, sad rites of burial, he 
 spoke to them in a very angry manner, saying, " Tou may 
 go and reniove the bodies, but. you shall not put. them in' 
 coffins nor in boxes." They then asked him if they might 
 wrap them in blankets before they committed them to. the 
 cold embrace of the grave. He answered, them iri a very 
 peremptory manner, "No, you shall not .take a single blanket 
 to wrap one of theni in,for I want all the blankets I can get 
 for my soldiers." ." 
 
 The poor women, with their heads bowed down with sor- 
 row and grief, wient on ta engage in. their, melancholy task,' 
 followed by, two. .degraded and brutal rebel soldiers, one of 
 whom. called himself Doctor Roberts, and the other villain 
 passed under the name of Williams.' And while the women 
 were removing the mangled: bodies of the murdered men 
 and boys, these two rebel barbarians employed theinselves 
 in singing indecent and. unbecoming songs ; they: also told 
 the women that,if they pretended to shed a tear, they would 
 run -their Myonets . through , them. Some of the' women 
 fainted. while they were engaged in this dreadful task.^ 
 
 The'foUowing' are the. names .of the. men and boys^who 
 were murdered, on this occasion by the;black-hearted Keith 
 and his reckless . outlaws : James Shelton, David: Sheltbn, 
 Azariah.Sheltpn, William Chandler, WadeH.Mooi-e (fifty^ 
 
416 THBILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 four years of age), Roderick Shelton, David Shelton, Jr., 
 James Shelton, Jr., William Shelton, Joseph Woods, Alli- 
 son King, Halen Moore, and James Metcalfe, 
 
 The following are the names of the women who -were 
 hung up by their necks until they were nearly dead by these 
 merciless scoundrels : Mrs. Riddle, who was seventy years 
 of age ; Mrs. Moore, who was fifty-four years of age ; Nancy 
 Hall, ancfNanoy Shelton. 
 
 After Keith and his band of murderers had almost entire- 
 ly ruined the people of Shelton Laurel, he left the country ; 
 and I have been informed by a number of the citizens who 
 reside in that neighborhood that the next rebel destroyer 
 that visited that doomed section of countiy was the redoubt- 
 able General Alfred E.Jackson, or General "Mudwall" Jack- 
 son, which is the title under which he was generally known 
 during his military career in the rebellion. In his expedi- 
 tion to this section of country he was accompanied by his 
 son, who passed under the appellation of Captain- Jackson. 
 When Jackson arrived, he ordered eight or ten families to 
 be moved into one house, and in this way he had nearly all 
 the houses vacated, with the exception of a few which con- 
 tained the women and children, and these he had closely 
 guarded. He ordered all the vacant houses to be burned to 
 ashes, and he also gave orders for all the stock in the country 
 to be destroyed. ' He adopted this method, he said, in order 
 to starve the Union men but of the mountains, so that ithey 
 would be compelled to come in aqd' join the Confederate 
 army. It was now February, the snow was deep, and the 
 weather was extremely cold. ■ • ' 
 
 The rebel soldiers would build uplargefires out offence- 
 rails, and lay around them, while the shivering women and 
 children in the houses were not permitted to have any fire 
 at all. Sometimes the little children would go to the fires 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 417 
 
 where the rehel soldiers were, to warm their aching hands 
 and feet; the rebels would then compel them to stand so 
 close to the burning flames that the little innocent creatures 
 would scream out in severe agony of suffering ; and, when 
 their mothers would approach to rescue them, the rebels 
 would present their pistols, and tell them, if they attempted 
 to relieve their children, they would blow a ball, through 
 them. The poor women would therefore be compelled to 
 stand and witness the dreadful suffering arid the cruel torture 
 of their children without being able to afford them any re- 
 lief, while the rebel miscreants would laugh loudly, and ex- 
 hibit the utmost demonstrations of delight at the shocking 
 and savage spectacle which the suffering children presented 
 when the hot flames of fire were burning their tender flesh. 
 
 The women and children suffered greatly for something 
 to eat, for the rebels devoured all their provisions. At 
 times, while the rebel soldiers would be cooking and eat- 
 ing, the poor little famished children would softly approach 
 them and beg for a piece of bread ; but they would receive 
 an abrupt denial, and the rebel scoundrels would say to 
 them, " You must do without bread, or else you must go to 
 Old Abe for it; we want all that we have for ourselves!" 
 Very frequently it occurred that, for a whole day together, 
 these poor women and children could not obtain any thing 
 at all to eat. 
 
 This gang' of rebel soldiers remained in this neighbor- 
 hood for eighteen or twenty days, and then returned to 
 Greenville. After all their active operations, they only suc- 
 ceeded in murdering one man. But before leaving they 
 went to the house of a poor widow by the name of Lucinda 
 Carter, and killed fourteen hogs,, and laid them in a pile on 
 the floor of ber dwelling-house ; they then killed her house- 
 dog, and laid it on the top of the pile of hogs. They ar- 
 
 S2 
 
418 THRILLINGf ADVENTURES OF 
 
 rested several women, and took them on to Greenville with 
 them, where they were detained for several days, subjected 
 to gross abuse and indignity, while their little children re- 
 mained at their gloomy and desolate homes, suffering all the 
 terrible afflictions which cold and hunger could produce. 
 
 Shelton Laurel having now been thoroughly ravaged and 
 despoiled of all its internal resources, the people who re- 
 sided there were consequently in a dreadful extremity, for 
 nearly all of their humble habitations were burned to the 
 ground, the grain and stock were all destroyed, and many 
 poor families were left in a perfect state of starvation. 
 
 After Jackson left this sectioti of country in the winter 
 of 1863, the notorious Colonel James Keith, Captain Wil- 
 liam Keith, and Riley Keith, were detailed in the fall of the 
 same year to hunt for conscripts in the mountains of Iforth 
 Carolina, and also in the adjpining counties in the State 
 of Tennessee. These scoundrels visited Shelton Laurel 
 again in the month of September, and burned a number of 
 houses belonging to Union men. They murdered John 
 Metcalfe by shooting him in the head and running their bay- 
 onets through him six times. They also murdered Robert 
 Hare by shooting him three times. Their next victim was 
 Marion Franklin. He was plowing in the field, perfectly 
 unconscious of his dreadful doom, when one of the rebel 
 outlaws walked up to the fence and shot him in the hip. 
 When the ball struck him, he ran to a large stump which 
 was surrounded with bushes and laid down ; there he re- 
 mained for a short time, writhing and groaning with severe 
 agony of pain, until his murderers came up, and relieved 
 him from his misery by shooting himin the breast. 
 
 These infamous rnurderers went coolly and calmly along 
 in their horrible work of destruction and death. The next 
 victims who had the' misfoirtiine of falling into their hands 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 419 
 
 * 
 
 were Tiltnan Landers, Absalom Bracks, and a little boy, all 
 of whom they caught at Mrs. Ruth Shelton's stable, and 
 were unceremoniously murdered on the spot. They caught 
 David Shelton at his house, and hung him until he was 
 de^d, and then dragged him to a laurel thicket, where they 
 covered him, over with leaves. A few women afterward 
 removed his body, and gave it a more humane burial. In 
 the month of July, 1864, these reliel demons caught five 
 more men in Shelton Laurel, and murdered all of them in a 
 most shocking and barbarous manner. The five men whom 
 they murdered on this occasion were Isaac Shelton, Hamp- 
 ton Burget, old David Shelton, William Shelton, Jr., and 
 William Fillmore, making, in all, forty-seven men and boys 
 who were brutally murdered by Keith and his vile assassins 
 at different times during the progress of the iniquitous re- 
 bellion. The reader will doubtless think that this depraved 
 scoundrel run the conscript law with a vengeance. Oh, 
 what a terrible record this will be for him to meet with in 
 eternity, where he will have to appear before the great Om- 
 nipotent Judge of the universe, confronted by forty-seven 
 immortal souls, who by him, and through his instrumental- 
 ity, were deprived of their earthly existence, and suddenly 
 hurled into the eternal world! The awful groans of his 
 murdered victims will surely haunt him while he lives in 
 the world, plant thorns upon his death-bed, and, when he 
 sinks down into the dismal regions of everlasting despair, 
 they will forever afford a keen torture to his guilty ~and 
 never-dying soul. When' he was engaged in his abomina- 
 ble work of murdering his fellow-men, he doubtless forgot 
 to remember that 
 
 "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 Rough hew them as we may ;" 
 
 and when he shall have been summoned to appear before 
 
420 
 
 THKILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the inflexible bar of the infinite Jehovah, where he will 
 meet his murdered victims face to face, and when they shall 
 severally arise and reproach him with the awful crime of 
 murder, he will then stand, like a convicted criminal, trem- 
 bling beneath his oppressive load of guilt ; and the only re- 
 sponse which he will then be able to make to the dreadful 
 accusations of his accusers will be, guilty ! guilty ! ! guilty ! ! ! 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 421 
 
 CHAPTER XLVni, 
 
 I EEMAHSHD at Ashville four days after the events re- 
 lated in Chapter XL VI., and on the 5th of May I was. or- 
 dered to take a scoiit of forty men and go out toward 
 Waynesville, to see if there were any rebels. We traveled 
 the main road for three miles before we saw a single rebel, 
 but now we could see them on the hills before us, apparent- 
 ly watching our movements; and whenever we would get 
 close to them they would instantly leave, and go on to 
 another high point, where, they would remain until we 
 again approached them. I was not -very well pleased at 
 this mode of operation,* and determined at once to change 
 the order of our march. I therefore divided my men, and, 
 after directing a portion of them to travel along the road 
 in order to attract the notice of the rebels, I took the other 
 'part of my men and went around the ridge to head them. 
 We went at a double-quick speed through the woods and 
 along the little paths until we got ahead of them, and then 
 we returned to the road again ; we now had them between 
 us, and, making a sudden charge, we succeeded in capturing 
 several of the rebels, while many of them got away into the 
 woods, leaving us their horses and their equipage. 
 
 We Went on with our prisoners about eight miles far- 
 ther; they told us that there were a number of rebel sol- 
 diers stationed on Big Pigeon River, who intended to give 
 » us a fight ; but this was farther off than we could go, for 
 we had to report at Ashville on that night. We therefore 
 
422 THRILLING ADVENTUHES OF 
 
 turned our course, and arrived safely back at our camp in 
 the evening with our prisoners and ten head of good 
 horses. I reported to General Tillson, and he paroled the 
 prisoners, and I returned to my quarters. The soldiers 
 who had been with me passed the night in eating and talk- 
 ing about their adventures during the day, and laughing 
 about the terrible excitement of the rebels when they 
 sprang off of their horses and ran so violently through the 
 woods. 
 
 On the next morning I was ordered to go to Franklin, 
 North Carolina, which was about sixty or seventy miles 
 distant, to act as picket for the 2d North, Carolina Infantry, 
 commanded by Colonel Bartlett, and also to see where the 
 rebels were. We started in advance of the regiment, and, 
 after we had traveled about ten miles, the citizens told us 
 that the rebels would give us a fight at a place called the 
 Narrows, which was a narrow pass between two large 
 ridges. I reported this information to Colonel Bartlett, and 
 he proceeded to furnish me with some men who were well 
 acquainted with the country, and ordered me to leave the 
 main road and cross over the mountain, and come into the 
 main road on the opposite side of the Narrows, and then* 
 pass on through and return to the main force again. I told 
 him if he would push up about the time that I should ar- 
 rive at the opposite side of the Narrows, we would then be 
 sure to capture the rebels without much difficulty. But the 
 colonel would not consent to this proposition. He told me 
 that I and my men must go on over the mountain, and 
 then return to him through the Narrows, so. that we might 
 see if there, were any rebels there, and that he would re- 
 main Btationai'y until we returned. 
 
 Finding that it was altogether unnecessary to argue the 
 matter with the colonel any farther, I took my scout of men 
 
DANIEL ELMS. 423 
 
 and started. It was a severe task for our. horses to climb 
 the steep precipices on the side of the mountain, and when 
 we. got across to Big Pigeon River, some distance above 
 the point where the rebels had been reported to be sta- 
 tioned, it was quite dark, and the rain was falling rapidly. 
 We soon began to find scattering gangs of rebels, and 
 caught some of them at almost every house, where they 
 were waiting for the rain to cease falling, so that they 
 ■ might travel with greater comfort. We passed ourselves 
 off for rebels going to Waynesville ; and when we would 
 get to a house, I would ask if there were any of the boys 
 who had not gone on yet ? ■ They would at once answer in 
 the affirmative, and would then come walking out as calmly 
 as a " summer's morning," entirely unsuspecting of any de- 
 sign on our part to make them prisoners, when we would 
 at once take possession of them and their horses. We con- 
 tinued to capture them in this way at almost every house, 
 until we got all of them who were scattered along our road. 
 Our prisoners told us that there were rebel soldiers at the 
 ford of Big Pigeon River, but we could not go there on 
 that night. They said there were three or four hundred 
 rebel soldiers there, when they were all together, and that 
 they would be certain to give us a fight if we went there. 
 
 We went on through the. Narrows that night, and I re- 
 ported to Colonel Bartlett ; I turned over the rebel prison- 
 ers to him, and he proceeded to parole them. I also turned 
 over twenty-one head of horses and six mules, which I and 
 my men had captured from the rebels during that night. 
 It was still raining when we returned to the .regiment, and 
 we were all very wet and hungry, but we had. to sit un- 
 der trees until morning. As soon as daylight made its ap- 
 pearance the colonel ordered me to take another scout of 
 men, and go on back through the Narrows to the ford of 
 
424 THBILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Pigeon Kiver where it was reported the rebels were sta- 
 tioned. 
 
 I collected my men together, and started on toward the 
 ford of Pigeon River, which was ten miles distant. We 
 went on until we came in sight of the place of our destina- 
 tion ; we went up on a ridge, and when we looked toward 
 the ford of the river we saw that the rebels were leaving, 
 or, rather, it was their rear which we saw, for the last man 
 was just about getting out of our sight when we looked in 
 the direction which the rebel force had started to travel. 
 We went on to the ford of the river, where we waited for- 
 the regiment to come up. We foraged among the people, 
 and got something for ourselves and our horses to eat, and 
 then built up fires to dry our clothes. 
 
 When the regiment came up we moved six miles farther 
 down the river, to a place where a lot of corn had been 
 stored up for Thomas and his Indians. Our horses fared 
 well that night, and next morning I was ordered to take a 
 scout and go to Waynesville. I gathered all the horses, and 
 started early, for we expected to meet with Thomas and 
 his Indians, for we were now in Haywood County, North 
 Carolina, where they lived. When we got within a mile 
 of Waynesville, I placed my men four deep in the road, 
 and. I leading the way, we charged into the town, but, 
 as usual, the rebels were all gone. Some of the citizens told 
 us that they had just left, and we could not doubt what 
 they told us, for the fresh tracks of their horses were quite^ 
 visible in the road which they traveled when they left the 
 town. 
 
 Some of the citizens told us that the rebel force which 
 had just vacated their town never intended to surrender, 
 but were going to fight on to the bitter end for Haywood 
 and Jackson Counties. We did not tarry at this place ten 
 
DANIEL. ELLIS. 425 
 
 minutes, for we immediately mounted , our horses and start- 
 ed in pursuit of them. We had not proceeded more than 
 half a mile until I saw them returning to the town again ; 
 I was still leading my men, and. I saw that we would meet 
 the rebels at a turn in the road, which was some distance 
 ahead. We were riding in a slow gallop, and I perceived 
 that the rebels were meeting us at the same rate of speed. 
 I never spoke to my men, but I drew out one of my navy 
 pistols, and when we got within about fifty yards of the 
 rebels they saw us for the first time. As soon as I discov- 
 ered that they had seen us, I fired at the men who were in 
 front, and called loudly on my men to charge them. The 
 rebels quickly wheeled their horses round, and started on 
 the back track in the greatest confusion imaginable ; they 
 ran in every direction, and many of them sprang- off of their 
 horses and plunged into the dense thickets of laurel and 
 ivy bushes, which at once saved them from any farther pur- 
 suit. 
 
 We got their horses, guns, hats, blankets, overcoats, and 
 saddle^pockets, which they had scattered all along the road; 
 We captured one captain and one lieutenant. We also 
 charged on Major M'Dowell, and came so near capturing 
 him that he was compelled to leave his horse and take to 
 the bushes to save himself. I captured his horse, coat, and 
 saddle-pockets, and run him through a swamp, where he 
 made the mud and water fly higher than his head'as he 
 passed through it ; but I could not overtake him. We con- 
 tinued to pursue the flying rebels until we got within about 
 three hundred yards of their fortifications; we then fell 
 back about one mile; and I immediately sent word to Colonel 
 Bartlett to move on up or send me re-enforcements, so that 
 I might go on and disperse or capture the rebels who were 
 stationed in the gap of the mountain. They were now in 
 
426 THRILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Jackson County, having already been forced to evacuate 
 Haywood County. Our prisoners told us that their com- 
 panions intended to fight for Jackson County. They cursed 
 Haywood most vehemently, while they spoke in the highest 
 terms of Jackson County, saying that the bravest men came 
 from that county. 
 
 Colonel Bartlett ordered me back to the regiment, which 
 was now at Waynesville ; and when he heard that the rebels 
 were stationed in front of him, and that we had been fight- 
 ing them, he immediately ordered his men to cut down trees 
 across the road, and also to make intrenohments to fight in. 
 When he ordered me back I went to him, and tried to per- 
 suade him to march forward and give the rebels a fight ; for 
 he was commanding an infantry regiment, and therefore his 
 men could get through the bushes and brush in pursuit of 
 the enemy much better than we could on horses ; and I also 
 told him that my company was entirely too small for me to 
 presume to go into a regular engagement with them. 
 
 I must confess that I was exceedingly anxious to give this 
 force of rebels a fight ; for Thomas and his Indians were 
 among them, and I desired to kill some of them for the 
 mischief they had done in the upper counties of East Ten- 
 nessee when they were engaged in catching conscripts, 
 murdering white men, plundering houses, and frightening 
 women and children to death ; and, taking all these things 
 into consideration, I was in favor of kUling all the Indians 
 that might, fall into our hands. 
 
 But the colonel was inexorable, for he would not consent 
 to go himself, neither would he agree to furnish me with re- 
 enforcements. We remained thi-ee days at Waynesville, 
 and during this time Colonel Kirk came in at Franklin; 
 consequently, all the rebels who were now between the two 
 Federal forces at once surrendered, and were paroled. CoU 
 
DANIEL. ELLIS. 427 
 
 onel Bartlett was now ordered to meet Kirk at iFranklin,but 
 he disobeyed the order, and remained where he was for a 
 week. He then received orders to return to Ashville with 
 his regiment, and I was ordered to take my scout and. pro- 
 ceed to Franklin, to carry a dispatch to Colonel Kirk. 
 
 Early in the night we started to Franklin with the dis- 
 patch. We had to travel through Jackson County, and also 
 had to pa,ss through Webster, where it was reported there 
 were a parcel of rebel soldiers who declared they would 
 not surrender ; and it was also reported that the mountains 
 were full of bushwhackers. It was a fine country for such 
 business, the sides of the mountains being very steep and 
 rough, and covered all over with large rocks, where bush- 
 whackers could conceal themselves and shoot down at the 
 traveler with perfect safety. 
 
 After we had traveled about six miles, we came to the 
 trees which had recently been cut down across the road by 
 the rebels to prevent the onward progress of the Yankees ; 
 and at some places, in order to make the blockade of the 
 road more complete, they had rolled down large rocks from 
 the side of the mountain. We had a severe time in getting 
 through this place; and after we had traveled until two 
 o'clock in the night, we came to a stable which had a parcel 
 of fodder stored, away in it. Here we fetopped and fed our 
 horses for a short time, and then started on again. Just at 
 daylight we arrived at the town of Webster, which we im- 
 mediately surrounded, as we fully intended to give the reb- 
 els a fight if they still remained there. The morning was 
 very foggy, which rendered it impossible, for us to see but a 
 very short distance before us after daylight appeared. But 
 after a short time the fog cleared away, and we then 
 searched throughout the whole town, but there was not a 
 rebel soldier to be found. We now instituted a search for 
 
428 THEILLING ADVENTURES OF 
 
 something to eat, but we soon became convinced that pro- 
 visions were equally as hard to find as rebel soldiers, for we 
 entirely failed to procure anything at all for either ourselves 
 or our horses to eat. 
 
 We traveled on eight miles farther, when we obtained 
 enough of provision and forage to supply us until we arrived 
 at Franklin, which was late in the evening. We found Col- 
 onel Kirk and part of his regiment here. They had taken 
 the town without a fight, and had captured several rebel 
 officers, together with a good many privates, all of whom 
 the colonel had already paroled. The colonel was glad to 
 see us, for he was under the impression that the road had 
 been too thoroughly blockaded by the rebels to be traveled. 
 After reading the dispatch, he remarked that he was very 
 sorry that he had been ordered to return to Tennessee so 
 soon, as there were more rebels whom he desired to chastise 
 before he returned. 
 
 We now found something to eat for ourselves, and also 
 for our horses. We remained here two nights and one day, 
 and then started back toward Ashville. We started early, 
 and went on to Webster, where we again endeavored to get 
 provision ; but we were unable to find any thing, with the 
 exception of a small lot of forage for our horses, which we 
 put in our sacks, and went on 'some four or five miles farther, 
 where we stopped for the night. We found provision and 
 forage very scarce. We started early the next morning, 
 and on that evening we arrived at Waynesville, without 
 having had a single gun fired at us by the rebels. We re- 
 mained two days at this place, and then went on to Ash- 
 ville, where we again met with Colonel Bartlett ; and, after 
 resting for two days, we set out for Greenville, Tennessee — 
 our own old home. 
 
 We were unable to get any forage to take with us, and 
 
DANIEL ELLIS. 429 
 
 consequently we had to travel sixty miles before we suc- 
 ceeded in getting any thing for ourselves or for our horses 
 to eUt. There had been so many troops passing the road 
 from Greenville to North Carolina that nearly every thing 
 in the country which man and beast could eat had already 
 been consumed, and the truth is, there never had been any 
 great abundance of provision and forage in this whole section 
 of country ; for along the whole distance from Greenville to 
 Ashville the face of the country is exceedingly rough, which 
 at once forbids the idea of successful farming operations. 
 In fact, there is nothing to be seen but lofty mountains on 
 all sides, and at some places there are large rocks hang- 
 ing over the road at an altitude of from two to three hundred 
 feet. At some places along the road the traveler is unable 
 to see any thing but rocks for the distance of a mile, and the 
 bottoms on the little farms along the rivers are so narrow 
 that a stone could be thrown across them with ease. In 
 passing along the road, I frequently observed where founda- 
 tions had been dug out in the side of the mountain, for the 
 purpose of building cabins, shops, or still-houses. This is 
 the sort of country through which we now had to pass in 
 our mai'ch to Greenville. Surely, if an Attila or a Tamerls^ne 
 had marched along this road with their desolating armies, 
 they" could not have cleared the country more thoroughly 
 of provision and forage. 
 
 Even the men that we met in our march displayed the 
 very roughest specimens of the " human form divine," for 
 their faces looked as rough as a walnut, and as tough as a 
 whalebone, and their naked feet appeared to be so rough 
 and hard, that I have no doubt they could have tramped 
 chestnuts out bf the burns without feeling the least sensa- 
 tion of pain from the operation. They could run all over 
 these high mountains in pursuit of a bear or a deer ; and 
 
430 THEILLING ADVENTUEES, ETC. 
 
 whenevei' they succeeded in tilling a large buck, any one of 
 the party could take it on his shoulder and carry it for a 
 numher of miles to his mountain home. 
 
 We passed by the "Warm Springs which are located in 
 Buncombe County, North Carolina, immediately on the road 
 leading from Greenville, Tennessee, to Ashville, North Car- 
 olina. This place is quite a fashionable resort for many of 
 the wealthy Southern citizens, who prefer going to the 
 mountains to pass away the hot summer months. 
 
 We arrived at Greenville, Tennessee, on the 21st day of 
 May, 1865, and on the 23d of May I received orders from 
 General Gillem to proceed forthwith to the counties of 
 Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, and Washington, to arrest all 
 absentees belonging to his command. I accomplished t^s 
 task to the perfect satisfaction of the general, and returned 
 to his head-quarters at Lenoir's Station on the 8th day of 
 June. General Gillem remained at this place a short time, 
 and then removed his forces to Sweet Water; from thence 
 he moved back to Knoxville, where I received an honorable 
 discharge from the military service of the United States on 
 the 9th day of September, 1865. 
 
 THE END, 
 
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