GopyTightl)i^. 
 
 - v^y ^ 
 
 COPmiGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
HANNIBAL A. JOHNSON 
 
 •2d Lieut. Third :Maine Infaiiti y, and Ist Lieut, and Ad- 
 jutant Fii-.«t Battalion Maine Infantry. 
 
The Sword of Honor 
 
 A Story of the Civil War by Lieut. 
 
 H. A. Johnson, Third Maine 
 
 Regiment, N. V. M. 
 
 "I came not to send peace but a sword." 
 
 ' * And they shall beat their swords into plow- 
 shares, and their spears intopruning-hooks. " 
 
 Hallowell, Maine 
 
 Register Printing House 
 
 1906 
 
 ^ 
 
tIBRARY of CONGRESS I 
 
 Twt* coKtes Keceived 
 
 JUN 4 1906 
 
 
 t> 
 
THE SWORD OF HONOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AFTER two years of war commencing with the- 
 first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, my regi- 
 ment, the Third Maine Infantry, in June 1863,. 
 was on its way with the Army of the Potomac to the - 
 field of Gettysburg. 
 
 The preceding two years had net been uneventful^ 
 nor inactive on the part of our command, for we had* 
 been at Yorktown on the Peninsula under McClellan,- 
 facing rebel works much too long for the credit of 
 our army or its commander. The force of the Con- 
 federate army under Magruder was far too small to 
 have delayed the Army of the Potomac thirty days 
 before Yorktown. After the evacuation of the rebel 
 works by the Confederates (May 3), we fought the 
 battle of Williamsburg, closely followed by Seven 
 Pines and Fair Oaks, (May 31 and June 1), and after 
 remaining in front of Richmond until late in June,, 
 the Potomac army entered upon its series of engage- 
 ments called the Seven Days' Battles before Rich- 
 mond, commencing with Mechanicsville. 
 
 A month had passed since the battle of Fair Oaks, 
 with McCiellan lying inactive along the line of the 
 
e THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Chickahominy, and our army thinning out by malari- 
 ous fevers from the swamps, while the Confederate 
 army was being reinforced by Jackson's Corps from 
 the valley, and was reaping the full benefit of the 
 new conscription act. 
 
 This was the condition of the two armies when the 
 battle of Mecbanicsville was fought June 25, fol- 
 lowed by daily battles in rapid succession in this 
 order: Gaines' Mills, Savage Station, White Oak 
 Swamp, Glendale, Frazier's Farm, and Malvern Hill. 
 The order was fight all day and retreat at night, our 
 objective point being Harrison's Landing on the 
 James River, where we arrived July 3, a tired, 
 weary, but not whipped or discouraged army. 
 
 The object of this narrative is not to tell how 
 battles were fought or victories won; not to write a 
 history of the War of the Rebellion with which we are 
 all familar, but simply to mention the engagements 
 in which the Third Maine Regiment was actively 
 concerned; to relate personal experiences within 
 the enemy's lines and to give an idea of life in the 
 Confederate prisons. 
 
 The news of the bombardment of Fort Sumpter 
 (April 12, '61), sent a thrill of outraged patriotism 
 throughout the entire North, and roused to action 
 every loyal citizen. I was at that time at work in a 
 dry goods store in Hallowell, Maine, and decided to 
 enlist in the Union service, to do my part in trying to 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 7 
 
 suppress the Rebellion. I was 19 years of age and 
 weighed 112 pounds, certainly not a very promising 
 subject for Uncle Sam's Uniform. Nevertheless, I 
 determined to enlist. My brother, Captain Gorham 
 Johnson, was recruiting a company for the "Third^ 
 Maine Infantry." I applied to him for admission,.. 
 but was promptly rejected without examination. Cap- 
 tain Johnson giving as a reason that I was physically 
 unfit for the life of a soldier. 
 
 Nothing daunted, I next made application to Captr- 
 Henry G. Staples, Co. B., who was recruiting in 
 Augusta. He too turned me down, assuring me that 
 "he did not want me." Instead of being discouraged^ 
 by these repulses, I was all the more determined tc 
 enlist, and to enlist in the Third Maine Infantry, as 
 the regiment was to be formed of companies from 
 the Kennebec Valley. So I applied to the Adjutant 
 General of the state, and even he tried to discourage 
 me, but at last gave a written permit for Capt. 
 Staples to enroll me among his men. With this 
 document I did not apply in vain, and was at once^ 
 enlisted as a high private in Co. B. 
 
 Now comes the singular sequel of this hasty opinion^ 
 of what a person can do as judged by the looks of his 
 physical make-up ; for when our regiment arrived at 
 Harrison's Landing, July 3, after our 13 months* 
 service and three months in the swamps of the Chick- 
 ahominy, marching, fighting, retreating, and endur- 
 
8 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 ing everythiog that was rough and tough in a soldier's 
 life in the field, this brother of mine, Captain of Co. 
 E, was taken on a stretcher on board the hospital ship 
 lying in the James River. He was a physical wreck 
 from the exposure and hardships of a soldier's life; 
 while I, his rejected brother, had not up to that hour 
 seen a day of sickness, or answered a doctor's call, 
 or taken a blue pill, or had my tongue examined by 
 our regimental surgeon or his officious hospital 
 steward. In less than six months from this date, 1 
 saw leave the army my colonel, former captain of 
 my company, the same man who refused to accept 
 me as a soldier until I brought him the order 
 from Gen. Hodgson; he and my brother were both 
 obliged to resign their commissions on account of 
 severe and prolonged sickness. 
 
 August 23, the army of the Potomac commenced its 
 retrograde step down the Peninsula, and on August 
 29, we found ourselves facing the army of Northern 
 Virginia on the battle ground of 13 months before, 
 the 1st Bull Run, and under a new commander; for 
 McClellan had been removed and succeeded by Pope. 
 
 August 29 and 30, we fought the battle of Second 
 Manassas, and September 1, that of Chantilly, at 
 which engagement we lost the bravest of the brave, 
 our Division General, Phil Kearney. September 17, 
 the battle of Antietam was fought on Maryland soil, 
 the only engagement of any magnitude our command 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 9 
 
 ever escaped; we were doing guard duty on the 
 upper Potomac at the time. 
 
 Our next encounter with the enemy was at disas- 
 trous Fredericksburg, December 11, 12 and 13, 
 under Burnside; and again on January 20, under 
 the same general, we participated in the njovement 
 on Fredericksburg called the Mud March, abandon- 
 ing which we returned to camp, and remained until 
 May 1, when under fighting Joe Hooker who had 
 succeeded Burnside in the command of the army of 
 the Potomac, we fought the battle of Chancellors- 
 ville where our regiment lost heavily: among the 
 number my First Lieutenant, Warren Cox. As he 
 was the only commissioned officer present for duty, I 
 as First Sergeant of the company, took command 
 after his death and held it until the campaign was 
 over. 
 
 June 11, we broke camp and started on the Penn- 
 sjdvania campaign. On our way to Gettysburg, at 
 Gum Springs, we lost four lieutenants from Com- 
 panies H, I, F, who wliile breakfasting at a farm- 
 house about one mile from our marching column 
 were captured by the guerilla Mosby. I mention 
 these four lieutenants as I shall have much to do with 
 two of them before I leave the army. 
 
 July 1 finds the ord corps, of which our regiment 
 was a part, on the field of Gettysburg, arrived too late 
 to take part in the action of the first day, but early 
 
10 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 enough to find the situation anything but promising. 
 But a very small portion of the Union forces had been 
 engaged in this first day's encounter, as the main army 
 had not arrived ; the only forces engaged being por- 
 tions of the 1st and 11th army corps. The early 
 death of Gen. Reynolds, with the subsequent repulse 
 of the Federal Ai my and the abandonment of Semin- 
 ary Ridge and occupation of Cemetery Hill by the 
 Federals, also the occupation of Gettysburg town by 
 the Confederates after a battle of seven hours, were 
 events not at all encouraging, although our troops 
 were outnumbered more than four to one during the 
 entire day's conflict. 
 
 After the death of Reynolds, the command de- 
 volved on Major Gen. O. O. Howard, who by the 
 way was the First Colonel of our Third Maine and 
 fought with us at First Bull Run, but was soon after 
 rapidly promoted, and in 1890 was the second rank- 
 ing officer in the United States Army. These two 
 small corps of the Federal Army, numbering not more 
 than 10,000 men, were pitted against the divisions 
 of Heath, Rhodes, Early and Pender, full 40,000 
 men, and the remainder of the Confederate army in 
 supporting distance. 
 
 During the night both armies received heavy rein- 
 forcements, and as the Third Sickles corps was on the 
 extreme left of the Union lines and supposed to be 
 facing the right of the Confederate army, it was of 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 11 
 
 the utmost importance to locate the Confederate posi- 
 tion. Our regiment was posted in Peach Orchard, 
 then unknown to history, when on the early morn^ 
 ing of July 2, our command, numbering only 196 
 rifles with 100 United States sharp-shooters, was 
 ordered by Gen. Sickles to reconnoitre and find the 
 position of the enemy. 
 
 At the word "forward" we advanced, and for half 
 a mile outside our lines pierced the enemy's territory, 
 when a dense wood obstructed our front. We then 
 advanced one fourth of a mile through these woods, 
 when our skirmishers became hotly engaged, driv- 
 ing the enemy's skirmishers and pickets before 
 us. We soon engaged the enemy in force; they com- 
 men<;ed to take us on the flank as well as front, 
 attempting to cut us off from our line of retreat. We 
 engaged this body of Confederates for thirty minutes, 
 though the odds were thousands, and when the bugle 
 called the retreat we fought our way back foot by 
 toot. We had nearly reached the open ground, flght- 
 ing step by step, when Nathan Call, one of my men 
 who had fought by my side for two long years fell with 
 a musket ball through his hip, and as he dropped cried 
 out: "Sergeant, don't desert me. Help me out of 
 these woods." Another of our company, John W. 
 Jones, noble fellow that he was, came to my assist- 
 ance; we seated the wounded man across a musket, 
 and with his arms around our necks, the bullets flying 
 
12 THE SVVOKD OF HONOR 
 
 about US, and with the exultant rebs at our heels, 
 twenty to our one, we were making slow but sure 
 progress, when Jones dropped his end of the nriusket 
 and fell dead, shot through the head. Before T could 
 recover, get Call's arms from around me and escape, 
 for I could not think of trying to assist him farther 
 alone, the Johnnies were on top and around us and 
 we ail three were prisoners. But a dead man and a 
 wounded man were of no use to them, so I with a 
 few equally unfortunate was taken prisoner. 
 
 It is useless to attempt to describe a person's feel- 
 ings at time of capture and when actually in the 
 hands of the enemy; no one knows anything about it 
 except from dearly-bought experience ; it is needless 
 to say that I would have taken the chances with my 
 regiment a hundred times over, could the choice have 
 been given me. 
 
 I found my captors were Wilcox's Brigade, of Ala- 
 bama Regiments, a portion of A. P. Hill's corps. 
 How a single one of our little command had ever es- 
 caped is strange. As it was, we lost forty-eight men 
 in killed and wounded in this single half hour. 
 
 Like all prisoners of war, we were taken to the 
 rear far enough to be out of range of the guns of 
 either army, but near enough to hear hundreds of 
 cannon and thousands of rifles engaged in deadly 
 conflict throughout that day and the following, July 3. 
 
 We remained on or near the field until the night of 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 13 
 
 July 4, when with the beaten and retreating* army 
 of Gen. Lee, we took up our line of march to the 
 Potomac, which we crossed July 10. Could the 
 victorious army of Meade only have been informed 
 of the condition of the Confederate army, nothing 
 could have prevented their surrender or destruction, 
 for they were discouraged, weary and beaten, out of 
 anmunition. Quarter Masters' and commissary stores ; 
 and when we arrived at the banks of the swollen 
 Potomac at Point of Rocks, they found that the pon- 
 toons by which we were to cross the river had been 
 swept away by the sudden rise of water in the 
 upper Potomac, as it had rained every day since leav- 
 ing the battle field. 
 
 But no such good fortune was in store for us, and 
 after a little delay pontoons were collected and we, 
 with the heretofore victorious army of the Confeder- 
 ate leader, were soon over the river and once more 
 on Virginia soil. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Now for our long tramp down the Shenandoah 
 valley to Staunton, Virginia, more than a hundred 
 miles away. We had about 5,000 prisoners in our 
 column and were guarded by the remainder of Pick- 
 et's Division, the few that wer^left after their brave 
 but uc successful change on oiir center on July 3. 
 After being searched . at Staunton and having our 
 blankets and everything of value taken from us, we 
 were put in box cars, sixty to a car, and started for 
 the Confederate capital, entering the city of Rich- 
 mond, July 21, '63, just two years to a day from the 
 battle of First Bull Run. We prisoners, who were 
 made up of all grades of commissioned, non-com- 
 missioned officers and privates^were all at first put 
 in Libby prison, but soon the e^jlisted men, which of 
 course took all warrant officers, were taken from 
 Libby and put upon Belle Island, a small, sandy 
 tract of land in the James River, just above but in 
 close proximity and in sight of Richmond. Here we 
 soon began to feel all the horrors of prison life. The 
 water and food were poor and insufficient. We 
 had only a few condemned army tents to cover the 
 thousands that were crowded on this small sand bar ; 
 and new prisoners were daily received from dif- 
 ferent points throughout the Confederacy. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 15 
 
 Our rations were not enough to keep body and 
 soul together; and I think that many would have 
 died who did not but for the hope of home and our 
 lines, and trust in our future deliverance. 
 
 I remained but seven weeks upon the island, when 
 with 600 sick Yankees, was taken to City Point to 
 meet our flag of truce boat that had an equal number 
 of rebs, not sick however; for when Confederate 
 prisoners left our Federal prisons for the southern 
 lines, they were in condition to join their armies at 
 once, while Northern prisoners were subjects ready 
 for their graves or lingerino- sickness in hospitals. 
 
 When we came in sight of the flag of truce ship, 
 with the dear old Stars and Stripes floating over it, 
 we forgot all our past troubles and privations. Never 
 did Old Glory seem so dear to us as now, although as 
 soldiers it had meant very much more than a beauti- 
 ful piece of bunting; but now it meant protection 
 and, what was more than anything else to us, some- 
 thing to eat ! We had been apt to think our govern- 
 ment neglectful in not arranging some plan by which 
 the prisoners of either army could have been ex- 
 changed, and had talked very bitterly in consequence, 
 but now all was forgotten, and, instead, we felt like 
 praising God (and the government) from whom all 
 blessings flow, for we were to taste food once more 
 and in God's country, as we had from natural intui- 
 tion and instinct termed the Union Lines. 
 
16 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 We were taken on the flag ship as soon as the 600 
 well-dressed and fat Confederate prisoners came off ; 
 they were to be paroled man for man, for us sick and 
 weak soldiers. We were fed at once on soft bread 
 and coffee, and if ever food tasted sweet that first 
 meal on the boat did. 
 
 Arrived at Annapolis parole camp, Maryland, I 
 was at once taken to the hospital, and when I had re- 
 covered sufiiciently, was given a short furlough home. 
 I remained there some ten days when an order was 
 issued from the War Department declaring all paroled 
 prisoners of war legally exchanged, and for those 
 that were able to report for duty to their regiments 
 at once. Oct. 15, I joined my regiment in the field 
 at Brandy Station, Ya., glad to be with the old Third 
 again and fight for the flag I loved so well. 
 
 The army of the Potomac commenced its onward 
 march toward the rebel capital under General Grant 
 on May 4, and the night of this date found our di- 
 vision on the battlefield of Chancellorsville of twelve 
 months before. The next day we were hotly engaged 
 in the battle of the wilderness. During this engage- 
 ment and while our regiment was having a most des- 
 perate struggle with the enemy, a report came to our 
 Colonel, Moses B. Lakeman. that a rebel line was in 
 our rear, or in other words we were flanked; also 
 instructions that he should furnish an officer to accom- 
 pany Gen'l. Ward's Chief cf staff, Capt. Nasby, and 
 
«OL. M08ES n. LAKEMAX 
 
 orps 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 17 
 
 find out the truth of the report. Colonel Lakeman 
 selected me, (I had received a Lieutenant's com- 
 mission some time before,) to go with Capt. Nasby, 
 and we started for the rear on the run, as we did not 
 consider it necessary to use much caution in going in 
 that direction. We had gone but a short distance 
 when to our consternation we found ourselves in the 
 midst of a Confederate line ot infantry, who were lying 
 so close to the ground that, in the imperfect light of 
 the wood, we had failed to notice them. 
 
 I grasped the terrible situation and turned to run 
 for life and the front, but a hundred men were on their 
 feet in an instant. Capt. Nash, who had never been 
 a prisoner of war, surrendered as he saw resistance 
 was useless, worse than folly ; but, with my seven 
 weeks of horrible prison life just passed and all its 
 terrfble features still f)'esh in my mind, I thought that 
 life again in a Southern prison was not worth saving. 
 So I made a dash for liberty. A hundred muskets at 
 less than fifteen paces covered me with the order to 
 surrender, or I was a dead Yankee. I did surrender 
 then and there, and was at once disarmed. In their 
 haste they snatched my sword, and a Confederate 
 captain of infantry buckled it around his own body. 
 This otficer was Capt. J. C. B. Smith, 12th South 
 Carolina Infantry, as I learned thirteen years later. 
 This Confederate command entered our lines where 
 they did not connect, but being so small a body found 
 
18 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 it useless to make any demonstration, and took them- 
 selves out of their perilous position. If word could 
 have been taken to the front, so short a distance 
 away, every man could have been captured. This 
 break in our formation had been occasioned by the 
 severe losses of our line of battle, and connection had 
 not been maintained for want of troops. Through 
 one of these gaps this Confederate body of infantry 
 entered ; the only result of their trip bemg the capture 
 of a few prisoners. 
 
 The day after capture, May 6, we were taken with 
 ■300 prisoners gathered from the battle-field on the 
 day before, to Orange Court House, distant twenty- 
 seven miles, where we remained over night. The 
 following day we were put into box cars and taken to 
 Gordonsville, where we were searched by the Con- 
 federate authorities and everything of value taken 
 from us. May 8, we were put in cattle cars and taken 
 to Lynchburg where we were placed in the Military 
 Prison. June 1, we were removed to Macon, Ga., 
 where a large camp of Federal ofiicers, all prisoners 
 of war, had been established. When we arrived 
 there, I think the prisoners must have numbered 3,000 
 men, from Major Generals to 2nd Lieutenants. It 
 was the custom of the Confederate authorities to keep 
 the commissioned officers and enlisted men in dif- 
 ferent places of confinement, and at that time only 
 forty miles distant from our prison at Macon were 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 19 
 
 thousands of our men confined at Andersonville, 
 dying at tiie rate of from fifty to seventy-five a day, 
 from starvation or from its direct causes. The old 
 adage <<Misery loves company" was soon to be truth- 
 fully illustrated, for I knew if the four Lieutenants 
 who were captured by Mosby on their way to Gettys- 
 burg more than twelve months before were still alive, 
 they must be in this prison stockade at Macon. 
 Almost the first persons I saw as we passed inside the 
 inclosure were Lieuts. Anderson, Day, Oilman and 
 Blake ; and as soon as they got their mouths closed 
 from crying ''Fresh Fish", the usual salute to all new 
 arrivals, they rushed forward even more pleased to 
 see me than I them, as I was the only officer from the 
 regiment they had seen during their long term o^ 
 more than fifteen months' imprisonment. 
 
 Every prisoner after a time accumulates little 
 articles that help to make prison life endurable. 
 Lieut. Anderson was quartered under a sort of shed, 
 simply a roof of boards which, with some incon- 
 venience and crowding, he invited me to share ; he 
 also loaned me his cooking utensils, which were half 
 a canteen, used to cook his corn meal in, as at that 
 time the commissary was issuing to the prisoners 
 sorghum molasses and corn meal. For a bag for my 
 meal I used one of the legs of my Canton flannel 
 drawers, and the only fault I ever found with this 
 
20 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 improvised bag was that it was altogether too large 
 for the quantity of meal issued. 
 
 We remained at Macon until August 15, and just 
 before this date our camp was honored by the presence 
 of Gen. Stoneman of cavalry fame, who was captured 
 with a portion of his command outside the city, while 
 trying to liberate us from our captivity. About this 
 date, August 15, 800 officers, myself included, were 
 put on the cars, but for what purpose or destination 
 we knew not. We knew it was to be a free ride; as 
 to the direction we were not consulted : but our final 
 stopping place was Charleston, S. C, where we were 
 at once distributed among the difierent buildings pre- 
 pared for our reception, viz: Roper and Marine 
 Hospitals, Work House and City Jail, the latter being 
 my stopping place. I had learned, however, not to 
 be particular about my ''hotels," so said nothing 
 when I was put in a seven by nine cell. 
 
 At that time the city of Charleston was under a 
 state of siege from the water side, as Gen. Foster was 
 daily and oightly throwing the largest kind of shell 
 from the batteries on Morris Island, Battery Gregg 
 and the Swamp Angel, right into the heart of the city ; 
 we had been taken to this place and put in the most 
 exposed locations to prevent, if possible, the bom- 
 bardment of this rebel stronghold. 
 
 Our Government was notified of what the Con- 
 federate authorities had done — an inhuman and un- 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 21 
 
 warranted act; it was a violation of any previous 
 articles of honorable warfare to put prisoners under 
 the fire of their own guns. Gen. Foster paid not the 
 slightest attention to the demand to cease filing upon 
 the city on account of our exposed position, but, if 
 anything, increased the severity of the siege. As the 
 casualties among the prisoners from this artillery duel 
 were very small, (being so well sheltered in these 
 buildings,) we rather enjoyed this change in our 
 prison life. We liked to watch the effect of these 
 hundred pound shells from guns four miles away, to 
 hear them come tearing into the city, see them strike 
 buildings, watch them crumble and after a while be 
 destroyed by these terrible engines of war. One of 
 the strangest parts of this duel was, that my brother, 
 who resigned from the army and my regiment fifteen 
 months before on the Peninsula on account of severe 
 and prolonged sickness, had recovered, was com- 
 missioned m the United States navy, and was taking 
 a part in Charleston harbor at the siege of this South- 
 ern city. He not only s^howed his brotherly feeling 
 by this red-hot reception in the way of shell and solid 
 shot, but sent from the fleet while I was confined in 
 Charleston a box of everything that would have made 
 our hearts and stomachs glad, could it have been re- 
 ceived. I learned of my brother's location off Charles- 
 ton by the capture of one of his brother officers, Wra. 
 H. Kitchen, attached to the same ship, who was 
 
22 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 caught while doing picket duty under the walls of 
 Sumpter. 
 
 My diary commences at this date, Sept. 17, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Sept. 17. Shells from our guns caused a large fire 
 last night, destroying twenty-nine buildings, several 
 shells striking our prison, not doing much injury, 
 
 Sept. 20. Gave draft on Confederate broker for 
 $100.00 in gold, receiving $1000.00 in Confederate 
 money in exchange, but as this man has got to run 
 the blockade to present these drafts for payment in 
 the North, there is not much chance of their ever 
 being honored and paid. (Unfortunately they were, 
 and when the premium on gold was at 235, as I found 
 to my discomfiture when I finally got North) . 
 
 Sept. 25. Two hundred officers left our prison for 
 exchange. Happy few. Naval officers received 
 money and boxes from fleet, but most of the contents 
 of boxes had been taken. 
 
 Sept. 28. More shelling today than any twenty- 
 four hours since being in Charleston, Foster throwing 
 ninety very heavy shells right into the upper part of 
 the city. 
 
 Sept. 80. Naval officers left for Richmond and 
 exchange. 
 
 Oct. 1. Firing on the city continues very heavy. 
 Eighty-four shell thrown during the past twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 Oct. 2. Shelling of the city unusually severe, 170 
 heavy shells having left Foster's guns for Charleston 
 during the past twelve hours. 
 
 Oct. 5. Without an hour's notice we started on 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 23 
 
 the So. Ga. R. R.,for Columbia, arriving at that city 
 at twelve, midnight; distance from Charleston 120 
 miles. "We regret the last change for we were better 
 sheltered in this last city, Charleston, notwithstand- 
 ing the exposure to the guns of Foster, than in any 
 other point inside the Confederacy. Yellow Jack 
 was said to be the cause of our removal, as it was 
 taking off many of the guard that surrounded our 
 places of confinement. 
 
 Oct. 6. Placed in an open field and kept in the 
 burning sun all day without shelter of any kind; no 
 rations of any sort given us for the past twenty-four 
 hours. Toward night it commenced raining and 
 continued thoughout the night, and we prisoners, 
 without any protection, without blankets or coats, 
 passed a sleepless and most miserable night. 
 
 Oct. 7. Early this morning we were given a small 
 piece of bread, and then marched two miles from the 
 city and left in an open field, without a tent or even a 
 tree for protection from rain, sun or weather. This 
 is not Charleston by any means 
 
 Oct. 8. Last night I suffered more from the cold 
 than ever before in a single night, the frost being very 
 heavy and the ground, our only bed, very cold and 
 damp. Such inhumanity on the part of tne authori- 
 ties that have us in charge is uncalled for, for there 
 are plenty of vacant buildings in Columbia that could 
 shelter us until some arrangements could be made to 
 provide us with tents or axes, so we might provide 
 for ourselves, as a growth of pine trees is quite near 
 our present camp. 
 
 Oct. 9. Passed fearfully cold night without shelter. 
 Although in the early mouths of the fall, yet we have 
 
24 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 frost. Had axes given us toda)", four for each 100 
 men, and think we will have some kind of shelter 
 before another night. 
 
 Oct. 10. Passed a the night more comfortably, as 
 our tent of pine boughs keeps off the cold very well. 
 
 Oct. 17. We had an election in camp today for 
 President, and out of the 1,161 votes cast, Lincoln 
 received 889 ot those polled, McClellan stock being 
 very unpopular. This result was very much of a sur- 
 prise to the prison authorities who supposed the camp 
 was strong for McClellan, and said, before we had 
 balloted, they would print in the Columbia papers 
 the vote as it was taken ; but when they learned the 
 result, they refused to have anything to do with it. 
 
 Oct. 19. Camp alarmed; guards firing all along 
 the line on account of some of our men trying to es- 
 cape. Hounds put on their track and they were soon 
 recaptured and brought back to camp. 
 
 Oct. 21. Lieut. Young, 4th Penn. Cavalry, acci- 
 dentally shot by some of the new issue ; died at once. 
 
 Oct. 26. Some of our ofiicers in attempting to es- 
 cape last night were fired on by the guard, doing 
 them no injury, but they shot one of their own men 
 dead on his beat. Hope to take the chance of escap- 
 ing myself before long. Might as well be shot in 
 attempting an escape as to die from exposure and lack 
 of sufficient food. One of our officers shot fatally 
 last night while attempting to escape. 
 
 Nov. 7, Thirteen officers who had some days be- 
 fore succeeded in getting by the guard at night, were 
 recaptured ; every white man in the country is hunt- 
 ing rebel deserters or escaping Yankee prisoners. 
 
 Nov. 9. Twenty-one officers recaptured and 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 25 
 
 brought back to camp, but believe if I once get out- 
 side the rebel guard, will be successful in reaching 
 our lines either at the coast or at Knoxville, Tenn., 
 500 miles distant. 
 
 Nov. 12. Received box from home, but most of 
 its contents had been confiscated by the prison au- 
 thorities before it was delivered to me. 
 
 Nov. 20. Another one of our men shot last night 
 while trjing to run the guard. 
 
 Nov. 21. Last night three ofiicers, Lieuts. Ander- 
 son and Gilman of my regiment, and Lieut. Childs of 
 the 16th Maine, also myself, made a break for libeity 
 and God's Country by running down the guard. Had 
 him helpless and at our mercy; the balance of the 
 guard fired upon us, but in the darkness and con- 
 fusion of the moment did not do us any bodily harm ; 
 we ran for the woods as fast as possible. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 It was in the midst of a severe rain storm that we 
 broke camp. The night, of pitchy darkness, was all 
 the better for our project. We had no stars for guides, 
 no compasses, so had to go it blind. We only knew 
 that Knoxville lay in a northwesterly direction from 
 Columbia. Our aim was to travel as nearly in that 
 course as possible ; so we struck out for all we were 
 worth, wishing to put as much distance as possible 
 between us and prison camp before morning. We 
 traveled in the woods the entire night what seemed 
 to us twenty miles, and about daylight lay down in 
 the woods to rest and get some sleep. We had slept 
 perhaps an hour, when we were awakened by the 
 sound of drums beating ; we were upon our feet in an 
 instant, and as soon as we could get our scattered 
 ideas together, found to our surprise and horror that 
 we were listening to the rebel reveille at our prison 
 camp at Columbia, and instead of being miles away 
 from that hated spot, we were within one-half mile of 
 its grounds. In the darkness of the night, without 
 anything for a guide or landmark, we had been travel- 
 ing in a circle. We now knew it would only be good 
 luck and kind fortune that would prevent us sleeping 
 the next night in prison camp. We lay in the woods 
 all that day and at night started again, as we hoped 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 27 
 
 in the right direction. But it was still rainin^^, with 
 not a gtar to be seen. Toward morning we struck 
 the Saluda river, and determined to follow that stream 
 for a guide until we could find something better. We 
 traveled all that day and at dusk ran into a planta- 
 tion by accident, and before we could retreat, started 
 the hounds. Soon a pack of these man-hunters were 
 after us. "VVe ran as we never did before. It would 
 have been a short race for us if it had not been for the 
 river. We made for that, plunged into its icy waters 
 and were, for the time, safe so far as the dogs were 
 concerned. Slept in the woods for a few hours in 
 our wet clothes until the moon arose, for the weather 
 at last had cleared ; we then took the main road to 
 Lexington Court House. 
 
 Nov. 23. Struck the river again this morning. 
 We have not found the proper road as yet, or one 
 that leads in the right direction. Came very near 
 being captured by running on some white men, but 
 we saw them first, concealed ourselves, and escaped. 
 
 Have had nothing to eat for the past twenty-four 
 hour but dry corn which we tound in the fields. 
 Must find some trusty negro who will feed us and put 
 us on the right road. At night we approached a 
 negro cabin for the first time ; we did it with fear 
 and trembling, but we must have food and help. 
 Found a family of trusty negroes belonging to Colonel 
 Boozier, who gave us a good supper, such as we had 
 not had for many long months. We did full justice 
 to it, for we were almost famished. Here we re- 
 
28 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 mained till nearly morning, when we were taken to 
 the woods and hid there to wait for a guide these 
 negroes say they will furnish at dark. Distance made 
 the past twenty-four hours, twenty-five miles. 
 
 Nov. 24. Still in the woods. The women came 
 twice during the day to bring us food and inform us 
 that a guide will be ready at dark. God bless the 
 poor slaves. At dark one of the slaves, Frank, took 
 us seven miles, flanking Lexington Court House, 
 striking the Augusta road five miles above. Traveled 
 all night, making about twenty-two miles. 
 
 Nov. 25. Lay in the woods all day, and at night 
 went to Wm. Ford's plantation to get something to 
 eat. The negroes could not do enough for us, supply- 
 ing us generously with food. 
 
 Nov. 26. Remained in a corn house during the 
 day, the blacks bringing us plenty of food. At night 
 our guide informed us that he could not take the road 
 with us until the following night, so we are obliged 
 to wait one day longer; but it may be as well, for 
 the negroes report that Sherman is nearing Augusta. 
 If so we may attempt to strike his army rather than 
 continue our long tramp to Knoxvill, Tenn. 
 
 Nov. 27. Still at Ford's plantation, where we are 
 kept secreted during the day, but at night go to the 
 negro cabins where we are plentifully fed. 
 
 Eleven officers who escaped from Columbia the day 
 after we did, joined our party. We are to get horses 
 and arms if possible and make a bold push for Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 Nov. 28. Still at Ford's. The party that joined 
 us yesterday have given up the idea of attempting a 
 bold move on Tennessee. About midnight we got a 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 2» 
 
 guide by the name of Bob to take us seven miles on 
 the Edgfield road, as the Augusta State road is too 
 public to travel. 
 
 We were turned over by Bob to a guide by the 
 name of George, who hid us in the woods. 
 
 Nov. 29. George brought us food during the day, 
 and promised to get us a guide for the night. At 
 dark went to the negro quarters, where a nice chicken 
 supper was waiting us. This is on the Lee planta- 
 tion, the owner, (an officer in the Confiderate army), 
 now at home on sick leave. Could not get a guide,, 
 so were taken to the woods and hidden. 
 
 Nov. 30. George came to us in the morning with 
 a warm breakfast which was greatly appreciated, 
 after lying in the cold woods all night without any 
 protection and scantily clothed. At night went again 
 to the cabin where another chicken supper was wait- 
 ing us. This kind of living is in marked contrast 
 with our prison fare for the past seven months ; and 
 if we were not in constant dread of recapture, and 
 disheartened at making such slow progress toward 
 our lines, we should think we were not very badly 
 off. 
 
 Dec. 1. Just comfortable for a winter's day. At 
 night after eatmg the usual diet of chicken, Peter, our 
 guide, told us he was ready for the road. Went about 
 twelve miles, when Joe took us in charge and Peter 
 started for home again. Were then hidden in the 
 woods for the day. 
 
 Dec. 2. As soon as it was daylight the negroes on 
 this place commenced coming to where we were 
 hidden, all having something for us in the way of 
 food ; they also promise us a guide for the night. If 
 
30 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 such kindness will not make one an abolitionist, then 
 his heart must be of stone. This is on the Matthews 
 place. At dark we were taken to the widow Hardy^s 
 plantation, where chickens, etc., were served for our 
 supper. Here Jim took us eight miles, and then gave 
 us into the care of Arthur, who, after going with us 
 fifteen miles, gave us to Vance, who hid us in the 
 woods. At dark Vance brought us more chickens 
 for our evening meal, then started on the road with 
 us going eight miles, then Charles took us, going five 
 miles; then David took us four miles, giving us into 
 the care of Hanson, who took us a short distance and 
 lett us at the plantation of Preston Brooks (late U. S. 
 Senator from South Carolina.) Distance made during 
 the night about twenty miles. This plantation is 
 located at a place called 96, and is one of the best- 
 equipped and most extensive places we have yet come 
 across. Here one of Brooks' negroes who goes by 
 the name of Russel, took us in charge ; his first work 
 was to hide us in the woods, or rather a pine thicket 
 too near the widow's house for absolute safety. 
 
 Dec. 4. Early this morning the slaves brought us 
 a nice breakfast, for everything is m first-class con- 
 dition on this place, which does not seem to have felt 
 the effects of the war as much as the rest of the coun- 
 try we have passed through. We are now less than 
 one-eighth mile from the Brooks homestead, where 
 the widow and her children live : three daughters and 
 one son, who no doubt would like to hang us *'North- 
 ern Mud Sills," as their late father was wont to call 
 us, if they only knew how near we are to them. 
 
 We very well know their feelings toward us of 
 the North from the cowardly assault of the husband 
 
A STOKY OF THE CIVIL WAR 31 
 
 and father, Preston S. Brooks, upon the person of 
 Charles Sumner, in the halls of Congress just before 
 the war, a war which has not improved or sweetened 
 their disposition. The day being Sunday the family 
 are going to church and the Brooks house servant, 
 who has been in the woods to see us, has promised 
 to show us the identical cane that Brooks used upon 
 the uncovered and defenceless head of our senator. 
 After the family were out of the house this woman 
 brought a wash leather sack into the thicket for our 
 examination. The cane originally was a large rose- 
 wood stick with a massive gold head and on its face 
 was this inscription : <'Hon. P. S. Brooks from B. D, 
 Vick." Must have been a presentation cane from 
 some admirer of this Southerner. 
 
 The stick was broken in three pieces, used up on 
 the head of Sumner, from the effects of which he 
 never fully recovered. My great desire was to take 
 this cane away with me, and I so expressed myself, 
 but the servant protested with so much earnestness 
 that I gave up the idea. She said the house was left 
 in her charge, and if this cane were missed, which it 
 certainly would be, she would be called upon to 
 produce it or satisfactorily explain its absence. We 
 were entirely helpless without the assistance of these 
 poor ignorant negroes, for we were dependent upon 
 them for food, shelter and guides; and it was in^ 
 cumbent upon us not to make them any unnecessary 
 
32 THE SWORD OF HONOK 
 
 trouble when they were risking so much for us; for 
 that reason alone this cane is still at 96, South 
 Carolina, instead of in the hands of some of Sumner^s 
 personal friends in Massachusetts who would appre- 
 ciate it as a memento and relic of these troublesome 
 times which ended in the freedom of these same 
 slaves. 
 
 At this time it was quite cold, ice forming* every 
 night; and as we escaped from prison with only 
 what we stood in, and not much of that, we grate- 
 fully received from the negroes valuable additions to 
 our worldly possessions, each one of us a warm 
 comfortable, more precious than gold or all the canes 
 in the South, a pair of pants^ a pair of socks, a pair 
 of knit gloves, and food in abundance. I think a 
 good portion of the entire donation must have come 
 from the Brooks' house rather than the negro 
 quarters, but as beggars should not be choosers, and 
 as the end justifies the means, we asked no questions, 
 but willingly and thankfully received this Godsend 
 to us in our destitute and almost naked condition. 
 
 At night we bade goodbye to the Brooks plantation 
 and its most loyal servants. Every mile we ad- 
 vanced toward our journey's end, Tennessee, the 
 stronger was our regard for the poor blacks ; for the 
 feeding or assisting an escaping Federal Soldier was 
 the promise of 100 lashes, well laid on. And know- 
 ing this would certainly follow, they never failed to 
 
%^K-y-r7mrK'''^:WW 
 
 
 CALVIN 8. BKOWN 
 Lieut.-Coloiiel First Battalion ^Maiiie lufautiy 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 33 
 
 meet us with full tiands and willing hearts, and even 
 after their hard day's work, they were never too 
 weary to guide us on our journey to places of safety ; 
 (within eight months, I was able to return some of 
 the many favors given by these faithful negroes). 
 That night we made no progress; we were simply 
 taken three miles up the road and left in a better 
 place of security, as it was not possible to find a 
 guide. 
 
 Dec. 5. At dark we were taken four miles, by a 
 darkey named Dan, and soon found we were going 
 in the wrong direction. We retraced our steps, got 
 another guide who took us to Colonel Frazier's. 
 Distance in right direction about ten miles. During 
 the night crossed the railroad above 96, and here Ned 
 took us in charge. The boys on this place were 
 good foragers, for while with them we lived on the 
 fat of the land. 
 
 Dec. 6. At dark, two of the Frazier servants took 
 us eighteen miles, and then gave us into the hands of 
 Ben and Harrison, who took us to Henry Jones' 
 place. Just before we arrived at this plantation it 
 commenced raining, and we got as wet as if thrown 
 into the Saluda river. Here we were put in a negro 
 cabin with a fire and bed at our disposal, and we 
 took advantage of both. 
 
 Dec. 7. Our breakfast was bacon and eggs and 
 pea coffee, also a good dinner with negroes to watch 
 the cabin during the day to see that we were not sur- 
 prised and captured ; best place we have yet struck, 
 not excepting the Brooks plantation. At night 
 
34 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Honry took us to Elijah Waters', he in turn to Sam 
 Jones,' who went five miles, and gave us into the 
 keeping of Andrew who hid us in the woods for the 
 balance of the night. 
 
 Dec. 8. Nice breakfast of chicken, wheat bread 
 and preserves. At dark after taking a warm supper, 
 Ned took us six miles, giving us to John Wesley, 
 who after going eleven miles, turned us over to 
 Sandy Latimore, who went three miles; he gave us 
 to Balus, who went six miles, and finally left us with 
 Sam Matterson who hid us in the woods. During 
 that night, we traveled twenty-five miles with four 
 different guides. 
 
 Dec. 9. It soon began to ?now. Our guide came 
 for us and hid us for the day in a negro cabin. At 
 night some negroes came six miles through the storna 
 to bring us food. We are gaining in strength and 
 weight, for we are eating most of the time when we 
 are not on the road tramping. The snow being deep 
 it is not safe to travel tonight, so we are hidden in a 
 fodder barn. 
 
 Dec. 10. This morning two poor runaway slaves, 
 brother and sister, came to see us. They are living 
 in the woods to keep out of the way of their master, 
 and are suffering much from exposure this cold and 
 wet weather. They think because we are from the 
 North we can help them ; but we are in as bad if not 
 a worse condition than themselves, as the slightest 
 carelessness or accident may throw us into the hands 
 of the enemy, which is every white face in the South. 
 We sympathize with them in their terrible situation, 
 yet we can do nothing to relieve them. It has con- 
 tinued raining and snowing and we are very fortunate 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 35 
 
 to have even this fodder barn for shelter ; yet it is 
 fearfully cold as the corn stalks do not keep us warm. 
 
 Dec. 11. Emmanuel came to see us last night and 
 said it was not safe to travel as the snow would 
 prove an enemy, so we keep hidden and wait for the 
 weather to clear. 
 
 Dec. 12. Last night we almost froze, and had we 
 been on the tramp, think we should have perished 
 with the cold. Even in this fodder barn the drinking 
 water in our pail froze almost solid in twelve hours. 
 But we must start tonight, cold or not. Another 
 chicken supper, and at 10 o'clock we took the road, 
 making nineteen miles before daylight. Tough on 
 our poorly shod feet ; as it was snow, ice and water 
 every foot that we traveled; but each mile, although 
 marched in pain and discomfort, brings us nearer the 
 Union lines and God's Country. 
 
 Dec. 13. We lay in the woods all day. Last 
 night was the first time we have attempted to travel 
 without a guide. Passed through Pickensville and 
 at this point took the wrong road. Instead of taking 
 the Pumpkintown road, by mistake we took the 
 Pickens Court House road; distance made during 
 the night seventeen miles. 
 
 Dec. 14. At dark started by ourselves, struck a 
 cross road where four roads met, but the guide-board 
 being gone were at a loss which one to take. Took 
 the one we thought right and after travelling two 
 hours were at loss to know where we were, but made 
 up our minds to approach a house, find our location, 
 get further directions, also something to eat, for we 
 had been on short allowance for the past twenty-four 
 hours. Fortunatelv we struck the cabin of a Union 
 
36 THE SWOED OF HONOR 
 
 woman by the name of Prince and her three children. 
 She proved a princess indeed, who fed and warmed 
 lis, for we were wet, hungry and cold. After this 
 woman was convinced we were escaped Union 
 prisoners of war, she opened her heart to us ; told 
 us that her husband was a Union man but had been 
 obliged to go into the confederate army, where he 
 was killed. She also told us that ten miles from her 
 house, up in the mountains, there was a camp of 
 Outliers made up of rebel deserters and Union men 
 who had never been in the Confederate army, who 
 were living in caves m the mountains to avoid being^ 
 captured and shot or taken into the army by a com- 
 pany of Rangers m the Confederate service, employed 
 to capture or shoot these men. These Outliers had 
 told this Union woman, if she ever came across any 
 Yankee prisoners who were making for the Union 
 lines, to bring them to their camp and they would go 
 through the mountains with them and join the 
 Federal army. After hearing this welcome news, 
 and getting dry and rested, we started about mid- 
 night with this woman for a guide as the Outliers* 
 camp, which we reached just before daylight, after a 
 wearisome tramp of ten miles in a mountainous 
 country. 
 
 Dec. 15. The camp consisted of about fifteen men 
 all armed to the teeth with knives, revolvers, muskets, 
 rifles and axes. A rougher, more desperate looking- 
 set of men I never saw, and our first thought was 
 that we had been betrayed to a camp of bushwhackers. 
 Our fears were soon dispelled, however, and we 
 found these Outliers ready and anxious to go through 
 with us to Tennessee ; and as they were familiar with 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 37 
 
 the mountain passes which we were obliged to cross, 
 we were very glad of their company. 
 
 Dec. 16. This morning tlie Outliers began to come 
 into our camp, having heard we were there. Now 
 we have twenty men well armed, who will go through 
 to our lines with us, or die in the attempt. The 
 wives of these men came to see us today, and say 
 they are willing their husbands and sons should go 
 with us as they are certain to be caught and shot by 
 the rangers before long, if they remain here. Went 
 at night to the house of two Union women. It is a, 
 relief to talk with people who are loyal to the Union ;^ 
 for it has been all secesh for many months. 
 
 Dec. 17. The women came to our camp before^ 
 daylight this morning to see their husbands. They 
 are intelligent, these rough mountaineers, and true 
 as steel. Can fire a rifle and bring down a deer as 
 well as a man. At dark went with two Outliers to 
 their homes up the mountains ten miles away ; slept 
 in a feather bed for the first time for three years, but 
 with my clothing on all ready to jump and take to 
 the woods if we are surprised by the rangers. 
 
 Dec. 18. At daylight we three went into the 
 mountain to remain until dark, for the rangers are 
 out, and we must keep clear of them. At night went 
 back to the house once more, got a warm supper, 
 then went down the mountain to a good Union man 
 by the name of Alexander, where we remained all 
 night; during the night some twenty Union women 
 arrived at the house, for this is the spot agreed upon 
 to start for Tennessee. 
 
 Dec. 19. Tonight we start for Knoxville in 
 earnest, for our party now numbers forty-six men, 
 
38 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 quite a strong force for the rangers to strike. The 
 parting between these men and their wives and chil- 
 dren was very affecting, for thej^ love their kin with 
 a devotion and affection I never saw excelled. 
 Travelled in a mountainous country all night, making 
 about sixteen miles. 
 
 Dec. 20. Remained in the mountains all day, and 
 at dark it commenced raining very hard, so we are 
 obliged to remain where we are for the night. 
 
 Dec. 21. Went to the top of Chimney Top moun- 
 tain, and here remained until the morning of the 22d. 
 We are now within three-fourths mile of the North 
 Carolina line, which we shall soon cross, glad to get 
 out of the state of South Carolina. Crossed the first 
 range of the Blue Ridge. The mountains have been 
 covered with snow and ice, and as cold on their tops 
 as in Maine in winte)-. 
 
 Dec. 23. Yesterday we made 20 miles, and at 
 night encamped at the foot of Hog Back mountain. 
 
 Dec. 24. This morning fourteen of our party 
 started back to South Carolina. Got frightened at 
 the prospect of meeting Indians some thirty miles in 
 advance of us ; also afraid of the sncw and cold we 
 are encountering in these fearful mountains; men 
 say they had rather be shot at their own doors by the 
 rangers and be buried by their families, than die of 
 cold and starvation so far away from home. Do not 
 blame them any, but we have no choice left us ; must 
 press through although the prospect is a very gloomy 
 one. It was a mistake taking this fearful course in 
 mid-winter through these mountains, dressed in 
 summer clothing, no underclothes, stockings worn 
 out days since, shoes all to pieces and clothing in 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 39 
 
 rags from rough usage in the mountains. We slip 
 and fall every dozen steps, and thus add to the many 
 rents and rags on our bodies. Got a guide from this 
 section who says he will go through with us, as our 
 present South Carolina friends are no good to us ; 
 are so far away from home that they know no more 
 of the passes in the mountains ahead of us than do 
 we Yankees. Crossed Tennessee mountains today, 
 the highest range we have yet struck, being threa 
 miles to the top. Made fifteen miles. 
 
 Dec. 25. Early today crossed 9 very high peak 
 known as the Balsam Mountain, three and one-half 
 miles to the summit; being covered with snow it, 
 was very hard to climb. At noon crossed the Rich 
 Mountain, another high peak, whose top seemed to 
 be above the clouds. At night encamped at the foot 
 of Chestnut Mountain in a very severe snow storm 
 which continued all night. Distance made thirteen 
 miles. 
 
 Dec. 26. Had a hard day's journey and at night 
 encamped near the state road that leads to Georgia. 
 Have been on allowance since Saturday, only three 
 bites of bread and meat for twenty-four hours. 
 Distance made twelve miles. 
 
 Dec. 27. Crossed the state road at daylight. "We 
 are now four miles past Scott's Creek Balsam Moun- 
 tain, which took us all day to cross, encamping at 
 night m a rain storm at the foot of Catalouch Moun- 
 tain. Distance made only eight miles. 
 
 Dec. 28. It rained all last night and this morning 
 commenced snowing, and continued all day. God 
 only knows whether we shall be able to stand the ex- 
 posure and suffering we are hourly called upon to 
 
40 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 endure. Seems as if there must be a limit to our 
 strength and power to suffer. Are now living on 
 raw corn and wet chestnuts which we find in these 
 mountains, for our food gave out a number of days 
 ago. Teeth and gums are so sore from eating this 
 kind of food that it is painful to open and close our 
 mouths. Distance made today nine miles. 
 
 Dec. 29. Snowed again last night, continuing 
 until morning. No sleep for any of us. Went to a 
 house for food, also directions, for we are almost 
 starved. Found a good Union man who fed us and 
 gave us the information wanted. Distance ten miles. 
 
 Dec. 30. Slept in a house last night, and if ever I 
 enjoyed the protection of a roof it was on this 
 occasion, for we have had nothing but the heavens 
 for a covering for many days ; rain, snow and cold to 
 contend with, always with wet feet and frequently 
 thoroughly wet from head to foot for several days at 
 a time — hungry, tired and discouraged ; the protection 
 of this roof and a full stomach once more makes me 
 think life is worth struggling for a little while longer. 
 "We are now within one mile of the main road to 
 Knoxville, which I hope we can take, for we have 
 suffered so much in the mountains that I want to 
 leave them at once and forever. The party have 
 concluded to take to the mountains again, for we 
 hear there are guards on the road. Started over the 
 mountains once more, but after going four miles, 
 three of us vowed we could go no farther through the 
 mountains, but would take the road, guards or no 
 guards ; so we left the main party with one of our 
 Third Maine Lieutenants (S. L. Oilman), while 
 Anderson, Childs and myself started for the public 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 41 
 
 highway. As we were approaching the house of a 
 loyal Tennesseean we barely escaped capture. Un- 
 known to us four rebel cavalrymen were being fed 
 in the house, and as we jumped the fence to enter, the 
 wife chanced to come to the door just in the nick of 
 time; seeing us she motioned us to go back. We 
 hurriedly secreted ourselves and after the rebs had 
 tilled up, mounted their horses and drove off, we 
 took our turn, and got a square meal from the same 
 table the Johnnies had vacated. 
 
 Dec. 31. Remained at this house all night, for we 
 were too tired to continue our trip. 
 
 Jan. 1, 1864. Went six miles hist night with the 
 rebel cavalry just ahead of us, but as long as we keep 
 them there we are all right. Stopped at night at 
 Jimmy Caldwell's, a good Union man, who after 
 feeding us hid us in his barn, not thinking it safe for 
 us to remain in his house. 
 
 Jan. 2. Remained in the barn during the day, 
 were fed by loyal Union women ; took the road again 
 at dark, making twelve miles very comfortably during 
 the night, for we are now travelling on the public 
 highway. 
 
 Jan. 3. Hid during the day and night. Are near- 
 ing our lines. Must be cautious and not get captured 
 when so near God's country. 
 
 Jan. 4. Took the road at daylight and made 
 sixteen miles during the day. 
 
 Jan. 5. Came into the Union lines at noon today 
 meeting a squad of the Tenth Michigan cavalry, who 
 were out foraging or rather getting fodder for theii* 
 horses. Slept at night in the camp of First Ohio 
 heavy artillery. Distance made nineteen miles. 
 
42 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Made a portion of it on one of the army wagons out 
 with the Tenth Michigan, gathering forage. 
 
 Jan. 6. Pressed three horses of the farmers and 
 rode to Knoxville, some twenty-five miles distant, 
 entering that city Jan. 7, after being on the road 
 seven weeks. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 No human being can imagine our feelings as we 
 entered that city except he has been in the same 
 identical condition. We could hardly realize our 
 situation ; we were more like children than men ; 
 would first laugh at our good fortune and then 
 could not keep back the tears when we knew it was 
 all true — at last in God's country and our suffer- 
 ings at an end ! Wo were like a man condemned 
 and then at the last moment receiving a pardon, for 
 we were hoping against hope during our entire trip ; 
 we hoped to get through, yet there were so many 
 things to prevent it ; the slightest accident or care- 
 lessness in any unguarded moment would have 
 proved our ruin. We did not feel safe to speak 
 above a whisper until we were in the lines at Knox- 
 ville, and for days after our arrival, we would speak 
 to each other in low, unnatural voices. 
 
 After our long tedious trip through the mountains 
 of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee 
 we were fit subjects for the sick list, and, after re- 
 porting to the Commander of the post, we were 
 admitted to the Government Hospital for rest and 
 shelter, and to get eight months' dirt from our persons, 
 and a change of clothing. The day following our 
 arrival in Knoxville, Lieut. Gilman with his party of 
 
44 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 South Carolina Outliers came in: they too were 
 given quarters in the Government Hospital and all, 
 both Southerners and Yankees, were treated with 
 uniform kindness. 
 
 As our regiment had been out of service since the 
 l^revious June by reason of expiration of its three 
 years of honorable service, we of the Third Maine 
 were ordered to report to our State capital for final 
 muster out, while Lieut. Childs of the Sixteenth 
 Maine, whose command was still in the field, was 
 ordered to report to Washington for orders. 
 
 We were given transportation home. On our 
 papers or blanks was the notice that we were officers 
 who had successfully escaped from Southern prisons, 
 which secured us many acts of kindness and atten- 
 tion on our way north. We obtained two months' 
 pay at Louisville, Kentucky, so were in good condi- 
 tion to enjoy the trip home. Arrived at Augusta, 
 Maine, Jan. 28, 1865, where I was mustered out and 
 paid all due me from the U. S. Government. 
 
 The war at this time seemed nearly over. Yet no 
 one could tell how long it might last, and after I got 
 over my fatigue and had replaced some of the flesh 
 lost in my long captivity, I had a strong desire to get 
 back to the army again ; so after remaining at home 
 about six weeks I was commissioned by the Governor 
 as First Lieutenant of one of the four companies 
 forming at Augusta to recruit the Nineteenth Maine, 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 45 
 
 then in the field ; but when we joined them in the 
 Valley we found their ranks had been filled from 
 other sources. Our command of four companies was 
 then made into a battalion called the First Maine Un- 
 attached Battalion. Our senior Captain, Calvin S. 
 Brown, was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, and I 
 was made his Adjutant. Thus I served the last 
 twelve months of my army life. 
 
 The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia 
 and all troops under the Confederate fiag took place 
 when we had been at the front but a short time, and 
 after the grand review of the Potomac and Western 
 armies at Washington most of the troops were mus- 
 tered out. At this time some troops had to be retained 
 to garrison southern cities, do Freedman's work, and 
 also many other duties. With the last enlisted com- 
 mands our battalion was retained and served its en- 
 tire time, one year, being mustered out April 5, 1866, 
 twelve months after Lee^s surrender. 
 
 This last term of service as a soldier was one of 
 pleasant and light duties, in marked contrast to my 
 life and experience in the field with our ever hard- 
 worked and fighting Brigade, for as a Brigade or 
 Regiment we never knew what it was to have an 
 easy time. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 About July 1, the Battalion was sent to Charleston > 
 South Carolina, the city that had held me a prisoner 
 only the September before, while taking the shot and 
 shell from Foster's guns. I took much pleasure in 
 visiting my old prison quarters and rejoiced in the 
 change in my surroundings. About July 20, our 
 command was ordered to relieve a colored regiment 
 then on duty in upper South Georgia, stationed in 
 Greenville, Abbeeville, Laurens and Anderson ; dis- 
 tricts away up toward the mountains, with head- 
 quarters at Anderson Court House. When I found 
 we were going into this section of the state, I thought 
 it would be strange if we did not see many familiar 
 spots and come across some of the tried and true 
 negroes, now freedmen, who had been our friends 
 and guides; where we had traveled as helpless 
 refugees through the entire length of three of the dis- 
 tricts which our command was to garrison. 
 
 On our way up the country we stopped one day at 
 Columbia, and the condition of the city at this time 
 was in marked contrast to what it was when I was 
 there a Yankee prisioner. In the meantime Sherman 
 had made his memorable March to the Sea, and the 
 city of Columbia was half laid in ashes from the de- 
 vastations of both Union and Confederate armies. I 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 47 
 
 visited my old prison camp of the November before, 
 I found what was left of my miserable apology of a 
 brush tent that had served such good purpose in 
 sheltering me from the cold; visited the spring 
 where we got our water, the spot where we broke 
 through the lines on the twentieth of November. I 
 also found the hut of Captain Jack Adams, Nine- 
 teenth Massachusetts Infantry, where he used to hold 
 forth. (He was a leader of men, even in prison.) 
 
 While a prisoner at Columbia the guard under 
 command of an officer [Captain Martin] used to visit 
 our camp every morning, make us fall into line, 
 count us off, see how many Yankees they had lost 
 during the night, and report the number left to receive 
 rations. Captain Martin did us many little acts of 
 kindness which if known to the poet commander 
 would have cost him his commission. 
 
 After leaving Columbia our first stop was at An- 
 derson, and while the command were disembarking I 
 jumped on my horse and rode to a little cottage near 
 the depot. Seeing a man in the yard I asked him if 
 he would oblige me with a glass of water. His face 
 eeemed familiar, but at the moment I could not tell 
 when or where I had seen him. On his return from 
 the house it flashed into my mind that he was Martin, 
 our old prison Captain. When I addressed him by 
 name and told him who I was he seemed greatly 
 pleased to renew the acquaintance. He invited me 
 
48 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 to his house, and introduced me to his family. I 
 found him a man of culture and refinement, who had 
 lost all his property by the war, and was now teach- 
 ing school as a means of support. 
 
 Our command was divided into five different towns, 
 with headquarters at Anderson, it being the largest 
 town in our sub-district. I was appointed Assistant 
 Adjutant General by General Ames at Columbia to 
 make contracts with the planters and freedmen 
 throughout the region where our command was 
 located, and to do other duties of a similar nature. 
 This, of course, threw me into direct contact with 
 all the freedmen and planters for many miles around, 
 and with scores of negroes whom I had met only a 
 few months before when I was a refugee, trying to 
 hide my face from anything but a black man. Seven 
 months before I was avoiding the white man's house 
 and presence as a pestilence ; now I was invited to 
 share the best his house afforded, not out of respect 
 for me or for the Government I represented, but 
 rather to make a favorable impression, hoping by so 
 doing to influence me to make his contract with the 
 freedman favorable to him rather than to the blacks. 
 Some of the negroes did not remember me, while 
 very many did, and some of the latter were afraid 
 even at this late day, to have the fact that they had 
 ever met me before made known to their former 
 masters ; they thought these men might still do them 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 49 
 
 harm for their acts of hiunanity to us escaping Union 
 prisoners. It was, indeed, strange to be found sitting 
 at the table as a guest, partaking of the hospitality of 
 these Southerners on whose plantations I had skulked 
 and whose hen roosts had been robbed to feed me ; 
 with some of the very same negroes whose hands had 
 brought us food in the woods or thicket of some damp 
 and cold swamp — waiting on the table. 
 
 We held our tongues, not from fear of wounding 
 the feelings of the planter, but to save the negroes. 
 I think they were needlessly alarmed, as they were 
 receiving kind treatment from their former owners. 
 
 Before I forget it, let me say just here that all con- 
 tracts made by the planter and freedman, and they 
 were many in the season of 1865, were considered 
 very unjust by the planter; that they gave the negroes 
 too large a proportion of the crops, and stipulated too 
 many conditions for their benefit. The planter may 
 have been right in his complaints, but it was the only 
 means at my disposal by which I could reach the 
 entire number of negroes who had been my only 
 friends when friendship was most needed, and re- 
 turn a portion of the great debt due them. 
 
 We remained in this location until the following 
 April, some eight months. It was among our duties 
 to assist all destitute loyal Southern people in the 
 way of issuing Government rations, proof of their 
 loyalty being a necessary requisite. We had many 
 
m THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 applications, some worthy and others not. To one 
 of the former I wish to draw your attention. One 
 Bight in December when we were without a guide 
 and were much in want of information and food, we 
 were obliged to go to a house for these, and found a 
 poor widow by the name of Prince, who after feeding 
 us took us to the band of Outliers in the mountains. 
 The night before we started for the mountains she 
 disked if I would give her a paper showing what she 
 had done for us, as it might do her some good should 
 any Federal troops pass through that section. I was 
 only too glad to do this, trusting that at some future 
 time it might help her, although there was little 
 chance for Union troops to be so far up the country. 
 
 I made a simple statement of what she had done 
 for us and recommended her to the kindness of any 
 future Federal officer or soldier who might read the 
 document. 
 
 One day in August, nine months afterwai'ds, the 
 orderly came to my quarters and said there was a 
 woman outside who wanted to see the Yankee officer 
 who was giving food to the loyal whites. I told him 
 to admit her. A true type of a poor white woman 
 came in. She made known her wants, telling me she 
 was a widow with three children to support, and as 
 the Government was helping such she had applied, 
 assuring me she was and always had been loyal to 
 the Union. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 51 
 
 To ray iuquiry ''how can you prove all this?" she 
 took f i-om her bosom a neatly folded paper and handed 
 it to me. The writing seemed familiar, and looking 
 at the bottom of the sheet I saw my own signature 
 where I had placed it the December before. As soon 
 as I recovered from my surprise I asked her if she 
 had ever seen me? She said she reckoned not. 
 < 'Don't you remember feeding four Yankee oflficers 
 some time last winter and then taking them to the 
 Outliers' camp in the mountains?" She replied she 
 did. "Well, Mrs. Prince, I am one of those Yankees, 
 the one who wrote that letter." 
 
 "The little Lieutenant! Are you the little 
 Lieutenant?" she exclaimed, and when I answered in 
 the affirmative there was a scene. To tell the truth 
 I was "all broke up;" for I had a tender memory for 
 this poor white woman and her acts of unselfish kind- 
 ness. 
 
 It did not take us long to get down to business. 
 This time I was the host and she the guest. She in- 
 formed me she was still living in the old place, some 
 seventeen miles from the Court House in Pickens* 
 district. She said that the men who had started 
 with us through the mountains and had turned back 
 on account of snow and Indians, had been met by the 
 Guard, and many of them killed. Tnose that went 
 to Knoxville joined the Union army. Some had 
 been killed in late engagements of the war, and 
 
52 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 others had been murdered by the returning Con- 
 federate soldiers when they learned they had joined 
 the Union Army. 
 
 Mrs. Prince returned to her home in the mountains 
 with a mule load of rations, full more than the 
 Oovernment allowance for a family no larger than 
 hers, but it was a case that made unusual demands 
 upon my feelings, and I gratified my inclination to 
 return good in its kind, compound interest included. 
 
 We remained in this section for a year after the 
 close of the war, and were then mustered out at 
 Hart's Island, New York harbor, in April, 1866. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 As I laid aside my blue uniform, worn almost con- 
 tmuously for five years, I felt that my war experience, 
 though filled with tremendous sacrifices, and with 
 sorrowful recollections, had much in it to look back 
 upon with genuine satisfaction, much of it even with 
 pleasure. That there have been incidents in prison 
 life more eventful than were mine I do not doubt, 
 many perhaps far more thrilling, but I question if 
 there are many records, where a prisoner who has 
 made a successful escape from a rebel prison has, 
 through the chances of war, again visited the scenes 
 of his long and weary tramp, with the opportunity, 
 sanctioned by Government authority, to return some 
 of the many acts of kindness done to the Union 
 refugees by the black men, and a very few loyal 
 whites of the South. 
 
 After five years of service in Uncle Sam's army, I 
 went back to civil life with no regrets. I was 
 anxious to again take up the broken threads of a 
 business career, which had been interrupted by the 
 guns of Sumpter in April, 1861, and did so with the 
 consciousness of having served my country to the 
 best of my ability through the trying years of the 
 Civil War. 
 
 I deeply regretted the loss of the sword, presented 
 
54 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 to me by my company, and had many times asked 
 myself, who were my captors, and what the history 
 of the sword after its violent separation from me? 
 For eleven anxious years no answer came to my in- 
 
 quiiy. 
 
 In May, 1875, while a resident of the city of Lynn, 
 I was sm'prised by receiving the following" corre- 
 spondence from Augusta, Maine, and Columbia, S. 
 C, which will explain itself. 
 
 Augusta, Me., May 25, 1875, 
 H. A. Johnson, Esq., 
 
 Lynn, Mass. 
 Dear Sir: — 
 
 It is with pleasure that I have the privilege of for- 
 warding to you the enclosed letter from Maj. J. H. 
 Cochrane of Augusta, now in Columbia, S. C. The 
 letter explains itself. I would like to have it re- 
 turned to me, and if at any future time you may want 
 it, I shall be pleased to place it at your disposal. 
 
 In order to obtain your address, I visited your 
 friends in Halloweil, and at their request furnished a 
 copy of the letter for publication. As it contains 
 nothing but what is considered by those who knew 
 you a well deserved compliment, I think you can 
 have no objection. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 F. A. Chick» 
 
THE LATE CAPr. J. C. 13. SMITH 
 
 Twelfth South ("arolina riifantry. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 55 
 
 Columbia, S. C, May 19, 1875. 
 
 Mr. F. A. Chick, 
 My Dear Friend: — 
 
 I was visited this morning by Capt. J. C. B. Smith, 
 cashier of the Citizens Savings Bank of this city, who, 
 learning that my home is in Maine, desired to obtain 
 the address, if possible, of Lieut. H. A. Johnson, for- 
 merly of Company B, Third Maine Infantry. 
 
 Capt. Smith stated that Lieut. Johnson was 
 captured by his command (Company K, Twelfth S. 
 C. Infantry), at the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 
 1864, and that he has in his possession the sword and 
 sword belt of Lieut. Johnson which he is desirous of 
 returning to him, if living, or in the event of his 
 death to such of his family, as may appreciate its 
 value. The sword, a very elegant one, was presented 
 (as appears by an inscription plate on one side of its 
 metallic scabbard), to Lieut. Johnson by his com- 
 pany. On the opposite side is a similar plate on 
 which is inscribed the name of some twenty battles, 
 commencing with the First Bull Run and ending 
 with Chantilly. 
 
 Capt. Smith states that it has always been his 
 desire to restore this sword to Lieut. Johnson as an 
 evidence of admiration for his determined bravery 
 when captured, when although surrounded and en- 
 tirely cut off from support, he absolutely refused to 
 surrender, and, in the excitement of the moment, it 
 was with the greatest difficulty that Capt. Smith 
 prevented his men from firing upon Lieut. Johnson, 
 who appeared to regard the danger which menaced 
 him with fearless indifference. V/hen disarmed, an 
 excellent revolver was also taken from Lieut. John- 
 
56 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 son, which afterwards was lost or stolen, and Capt. 
 Smith regrets his inability to restore it with the 
 sword. 
 
 Being unable to answer the inquiry referred to, 
 but anxious to assist, so far as I can, in giving early 
 effect to the generous purpose of this gallant soldier 
 of the South, who I am assured is one of the most 
 estimable gentlemen in the State, I have to ask you 
 to use this letter in any way that you thmk will 
 secure the desired information in the least time. 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 James H. Cochrane. 
 
 I at once communicated with Capt. Smith and later 
 received ttie following letter: — 
 
 Columbia, S. C, May 27, 1875. 
 H. A. Johnson, Esq., 
 
 Lynn, Mass. 
 My dear Sir: — 
 
 Your telegram is just received at the hands of 
 Major J. H. Cochrane. I assure you it gives me 
 great pleasuie to be the medium by which your 
 beautiful sword, the merited emblem of respect and 
 honor, is now to be restored to you. 
 
 Scarcely had the clouds of war been dissipated ere 
 it became my earnest (tesire to return the weapon, 
 with an expression of my sincere admiration for the 
 gallantry with which you used it, but circumstances 
 have hitherto prevented the execution of my design. 
 I now forward the sword by express and accompany 
 it with a sentiment which is common, I trust, to all 
 sections of our great Country. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 57 
 
 ^^May all animosities he buried; and hereafter 
 may amity and an earnest cooperation prevail be- 
 ttveen the States of the Union for the general good.^' 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 John C. B. Smith. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The following June, at the Reunion of the Third 
 Maine Regiment, just fourteen years after we were 
 mustered into the United States service, the sword 
 was again presented to me by ray command in the 
 following words: 
 
 Comrades of the Old Third: 
 
 Tonight the sword, usually the emblem of war, is 
 the olive branch of peace ; the harbinger of the return 
 of true brotherly feeling between the North and the 
 South. It is the assurance that all animosity is ended, 
 all sectional feeling buried in oblivion, and that weg 
 the North and the South, are again brothers in 
 fraternal feeling and in loyalty to our gloriou,^ 
 national emblem, the stars and the stripes. 
 
 Lieut. Johnson, I have now the pleasure to place 
 in your hands this sword, which, through circum- 
 stances beyond your control, was taken from you 
 during the late war. But let me assure you that 
 even in the act of its surrender to the gallant Captain 
 Smith of South Carolina, you proved yourself true to 
 the trust which the Company put in you when it 
 first presented this sword to you. May you have the 
 pleasuie of keeping it for many years, to be drawn 
 only in defense of the rights of our beloved country^ 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR, 59 
 
 side by side, and shoulder to shoulder, South Caro- 
 lina and Maine against a common foe. 
 
 On receiving the sword I replied as follows : 
 Comrades : 
 
 It is with keenest pleasure and satisfaction that I 
 receive this sword a second time from your hands, 
 not for its mere intrinsic value, but for the associa- 
 tions that are connected with it. Most of you know 
 that it was given me in the field by members of my 
 company, and for this reason it was very dear to me. 
 On that memorable day in the Wilderness, when the 
 fortunes of war threw me into the hands of the enemy, 
 and this sword was taken from me, I felt as it I were 
 parting with a dear friend, and it was not without a 
 struggle, both physical and mental, that I gave it up. 
 
 The history of this sword since that hour is not 
 known to us, but that it fell into the hands of a brave 
 Southern soldier we do know, and the respect we 
 should feel for Capt. J. C. B. Smith of the Twelfth 
 South Carolina Infantry is such as one true soldier 
 bears another. This sword may have been worn by 
 my captor and used against our cause in the last 
 months of the rebellion ; such are the fickle chances 
 of war. 
 
 But, Comrades, the war is over, an event of the 
 past. Its scenes and incidents will always live fresh 
 in our memories, and it is well that they should, for 
 it was a struggle for principle, not glory, for justice 
 
60 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 DOt possession, and we have a sacred right to cherish 
 in our minds all the fruits and results of that contest, 
 
 We had a duty to perform then, and there is work 
 and duty to be done now, and in the future. It is 
 the work and duty of upholding and of making strong 
 and efficient the Government under which we live. 
 We know through dearly-bought experience that the 
 armies we faced in the field were made up of brave 
 and valiant soldiers; they were indeed <^foemen 
 worthy of our steel." 
 
 But, thanks be to God, the war clouds have 
 dispersed, the reverberation of the cannon, and the 
 echoes of the guns have long since died away, and 
 the grass is growing over the battle fields of the 
 South. Let us remember to be genei'ous to a fallen 
 foe ; let us not forget that we are once again a united 
 brotherhood, with one country and one flag for the 
 protection of us all. 
 
CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 At the Reunion, June 4, the following resolution 
 was passed : 
 
 Third Maine Veteran Association, Bath, 
 
 June 4, 1876. 
 
 Dear Sir: — At the first re-union of the former 
 members of the Third Maine regiment, holden this 
 day at Augusta, Maine, it was voted that the secre- 
 tary officially notify you of the proceedings. In ac- 
 cordance with that vote it gives me great pleasure to 
 inform you of the unanimous passage of the following 
 <<resolve" after which three hearty cheers were given 
 for Captain John C. B. Smith, of the Twelfth South 
 Carolina regiment, Company K. 
 
 RESOLVED, That we have a lively appreciation 
 of the soldierly and chivalric conduct of Captain J. C. 
 B. Smith, of Company K, Twelfth South Carolina 
 reg"iment, in returning to a member of our organiza- 
 tion his sword, taken from him under circumstances 
 reflecting nothing but honor on both parties. 
 
 C. H. GREENLEAF, Secretary. 
 
 To Captain John C. B. Smith, of Company K., 
 South Carolina regiment. 
 
 FRATERNAL CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 Columbia, S. C, June 5, 1875. 
 
 The public is already informed of the circumstances 
 
 under which our townsman, Captain J. C. B. Smith, 
 
 returned a sword captured during the war from an 
 
62 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 officer of the Third Maine regiment. The following- 
 letters have been received by him acknowledging his 
 graceful act: 
 
 The Letter of Transmittal. 
 
 Bath, Maine, June 7, 1875. 
 Dear Sir : — 
 
 Enclosed you will please find an official copy of the 
 *< resolve" passed at the Third Maine reunion. I 
 should be remiss in my duty as a citizen it I did not 
 inform you of the kindly feehng and warmth of sen- 
 timent expressed by all towards you for the signifi- 
 cant act of returning the sword to Lieutenant John- 
 son. He resides at present in Lynn, Mass., and was 
 present at the reunion. It came at a very opportune 
 moment, and furnished a striking part of the pro- 
 ceedings, calling forth kind sentiments for yourself 
 and for our Southern brothers. 
 
 That act of yours has completely wiped out any 
 unfriendly feeling toward the South which might 
 have been left in the bosoms of the soldiers of this 
 state. But the fact is, there was no such feeling left 
 towards the South among the soldiers. It was among 
 us as I suppose it was among you — the '<Stay at 
 homes" were longest to get up a brotherly feeling. 
 
 At our next reunion, August 4, 1876, at Bath, 
 Maine, you will undoubtedly be invited, and if you 
 can come, you will meet with a hearty welcome. 
 
 Enclosed you will find a copy of the addresses 
 made on the occasion of the presentation. 
 
 Please acknowledge receipt of these letters, and 
 oblige, 
 
 C. H. GREENLEAF. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 6a 
 
 Then follows Captain Smith's letter of June 16. 
 Columbia, S. C, June 16, 1875. 
 H. A. Johnson, Esq., 
 
 Lynn, Mass. 
 My dear Sir: — 
 
 I am in receipt of your highly appreciated letter of 
 May 30, and am gratified to know you have been 
 made the happy recipient of your sword at the hands 
 of your old comrades of the Third Maine. 
 
 That it passed out of your possession was no fault 
 of yours. It was one of the fickle chances of war. 
 I am greatly pleased to know that the return of your 
 sword was so opportune as to furnish an occasion for 
 calling forth for the second time from the comrades 
 who stood side by side with you in the war, an ex- 
 pression of their loyalty and their admiration for 
 your qualities as a man and a soldier. 
 
 I cordially concur in the sentiment so happily ex- 
 pressed by you that we must all, as Brothers of the 
 North and South, look upon the war as an event of 
 the past; we must forgive and forget and cement the 
 once broken links with restored confidence and give 
 to all, all the rights guaranteed under the Constitution 
 framed by our forefathers. 
 
 On May 5, 1864, more than eleven years ago, we 
 met on the memorable day, the beginning of the 
 Battle of the Wilderness, as opponents m war, when 
 its fortunes threw you into my hands, and I still 
 fancy that I have some idea of your appearance ; and 
 hope that some day it will be my great pleasure to 
 meet and know you better. In the meantime, I will 
 send you a Paste Board likeness of your humble 
 servant, and hope to receive yours in return. 
 
64 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 By the way, who was the officer captured with you 
 and is he still living? I have often thought of the 
 occasion and of you both, and it occurs to me he was 
 a Staff officer. His sword I gave to an officer in the 
 same regiment with myself, whom I seldom see, and 
 don't know whether he saved it or not. 
 
 In conclusion, we must congratulate ourselves that 
 we were both spared and hope that we may meet 
 more times as friends, than we met as opponents 
 during the late war. 
 
 I am, very truly yours, 
 
 J. C. B. SMITH. 
 
 In June 1890, 1 received the following communica- 
 tion from Captain Smith. 
 
 Columbia, S. C, June 8, 1890. 
 Dear Friend Johnson : — 
 
 Let me assure you that I appreciate your letter, 
 and was glad to hear from you, after fifteen years of 
 long silence ; in fact a letter from an absent relative 
 of fifteen years, could not have afforded me more 
 pleasure. It carried me back twenty-seven years to 
 days that tried mens souls, yet the occasion of our 
 first meeting, as opponents of war, on the field of 
 battle, is as fresh to my mind as if yesterday. 
 
 On the day of your capture, the brigade to which 
 my regiment was attached, occupied a position hold- 
 ing the left wing of that section of the confederate 
 army. Cook's brigade was engaged on the plank 
 road, and being hard pressed, my brigade was 
 ordered at a double quick, for a quarter of a mile or 
 more, to the scene of action where the fighting was 
 going on around Cook's ordnance wagons. 
 
LIEUT. JOHN-SON AND 8HA1>E THOMAS 
 
 Sharp-shooter of Twelfth South Caiolina Infautry. The 
 
 latter attempted to shoot Lieut. Johiisou at tune ot 
 
 capture. Photo taken forty-two years later. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 65 
 
 My regiment went into action by the flank, pro- 
 ceeding into line by company column when fire was 
 opened upon us by infantry and a section ot artillery 
 consisting of two pieces at short range. The colonel 
 of my regiment fell, mortally wounded, and the 
 Lieutenant Colonel severely. Once in line, the regi- 
 ment known as the "bloody twelfth," — not from thirst 
 for blood or cruelty, but tor its well known fighting 
 qualities, with the confederate yell swept everything 
 before it but the dead and wounded, capturing the 
 two pieces of artillery, before a second shot could be 
 fired upon it. Going a considerable distance beyond 
 the line, and finding no obstacles, and there being 
 heavy firing on the right of the regiment, the left 
 wing was swung around and moved on the rear of 
 your line, and I am of the opinion that but for a 
 ravine, difficult to cross, they would have captured 
 many more of your men. 
 
 It was here that I, a little insignificant Captain, 
 with no badge of rank save three small bars on the 
 collar of my gray jacket, with three good and well- 
 tried soldiers, came in contact with you and a fellow 
 officer, in rank a major, if my memory serves me. 
 Well do I remember your complete astonishment 
 when I ordered you to surrender. You hesitated 
 and calling to your fellow officer you exclaimed, 
 
 *<What shall we do?" I answered < ^Surrender by 
 all means." My command, all crack shots, was not 
 twenty paces away, and had their guns leveled on 
 you. I ordered them not to shoot for I had too much 
 respect for a brave soldier, even though an opponent 
 in war, to let him be shot under such circumstances. 
 
66 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 I took the beautiful sword presented by your com- 
 pany as a token of respect and honor. 
 
 From your fellow captive, I took a pistol and a 
 sword. The latter I gave to a Captain Bell, who, at 
 the close of the war, left South Carolina and went 
 west. The pistol I carried home, but had it stolen 
 from me. 
 
 I will mention a few circumstances, that will ever 
 keep the fifth of May, 1864, in my memory. After 
 your capture, the regiment fell back, and took a 
 position near the line first occupied by the Federal 
 troops, as the dead and wounded well marked the 
 spot. It must have then been about six p. m. I could 
 have told the time by taking the watch from the 
 pocket of a dead officer lying near by, but no soldier 
 was allowed to plunder the dead. I never did such a 
 thing during the whole war, though at times 1 was 
 hatless. 
 
 A short time after taking this position, I was much 
 moved by the action of a Federal soldier, who quietly 
 came up, raised to his shoulder a wounded brother, 
 and proceeded to cany him from the field. When 
 ordered to come in and surrender, he paid no atten- 
 tion, and it was not until I sent out one of my men 
 who spoke the German language to inform him that 
 under the rules ot war he must surrender, that he 
 gave up and came quietly in. 
 
 I could full well appreciate his feelings, for I had 
 two brothers in the army, and know how anxious I 
 was to hear of them, after an engagement. 
 
 I was glad to know that you enjoyed your trip to 
 Baltimore, and just here I will say that had it been 
 left to the old soldiers of our late unfortunate war. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAK 67 
 
 all part}^ and sectional differences would have been 
 buried sooner, and the peace and good will which 
 reigns today, would have existed years ago. 
 
 Just after the war, men living here, and others who 
 came from the north and west, imposed upon the 
 ignorance of the negro as a mass ind incited him 
 against his best interest, to do deeds that tended to 
 estrange the feeling that should have existed between 
 tiim and his former owner. Such men did not re- 
 ceive a friendly tolerance, or gain the favor and good 
 will of the intelligent white residents. 
 
 We people of the South are glad to have the good 
 people of the North come among us and live, and you 
 would be surprised to know the number of Northern- 
 ers who visit our city every year. 
 
 Quite a number have bought, remodeled, and built 
 new winter homes in the city, and are received bj'- 
 the people with a cordial welcome. Quite a number 
 of U. S. soldiers, remained with us after the war, and 
 have married and are successful business men. Our 
 chief of Police is Captain Higby, from the state of 
 Massachusetts, a member of the Eighteenth U. S. In- 
 fantry. He has proved himself a deserving and 
 honorable man. He was elected over two or more 
 opponents, who were old confederate soldiers. 
 
 Just here I will mention a Mr. William Greenough 
 of Westfield, Mass., who came to this place for his 
 health and I have been told when he first arrived, 
 doubted his safety on the streets. Later he was so 
 well pleased, with the people and place, that he de- 
 cided to take up the study of law here and entered 
 the State University, of this place. I hope he will 
 return to his old home with changed ideas of the 
 
68 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Southern people, and with fond recollections of the 
 days he spent among us. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 J. C. B. SMITH. 
 
CHAPTER IX, 
 
 In March, 1896, I saw in a Charleston, B.C., paper 
 a very complimentary article on the conduct of 
 Captain Smith of the Twelfth South Carolina Infantry 
 during his life as a soldier of the Southern Con- 
 federacy, which I read with very much interest. It 
 runs as follows: 
 
 AS GOOD AS THE VICTOHIA CROSls. 
 The Gallantry of Captain J. C. B. Smith at Peters- 
 burg excites the adihiration of General Rob- 
 ert E. Lee.— General Sam McGowan's 
 letter to his old comrade. 
 
 Columbia, March 7. 
 Special: There are some Confederate soldiers who 
 do not like to exploit their acts of courage and fidelity 
 during the late war. Such is the case with Captain 
 J. C. B. Smith. It was only by the request of the 
 Camp of Confederate Veterans that the following 
 correspondence has been given to The Sunday News : 
 
 July 6, 1895. 
 General Samuel McGowan, Abbeville, S. C. 
 My Dear General : 
 
 As the white heads and tottering footsteps of most 
 of the soldiers of the late war indicate very clearly 
 that they too, must soon cross over the 'driver" to 
 join those who fell thirty-five years ago, I write for 
 you to confirm by letter an incident in my career as a 
 
70 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Confederate soldier, of which only yourself and 
 Colonel Charles Venable of General Lee's staff, are 
 cognizant. I have never mentioned the incident to 
 my family and m.y desire is to file your letter away 
 that, when I am gone, my children ma)^ see that I 
 performed my whole duty as a Confederate soldier, 
 in a cause, which though lost is yet ever dear to us. 
 With a view of refreshing your memory I will go a 
 little into the event of the day of Gen. Lee's last 
 effort to hold the works around Petersburg, you 
 were in command of Wilcox's division, j^our brigade 
 holding the right of the main line, and the Twelfth 
 South Carolina regiment on right of brigade. 
 
 In the morning of the day you ordered the column 
 to advance, we soon struck the enemy in an old 
 field pine thicket, driving them rapidly for some dis- 
 tance behind their strongholds. At this point the 
 Confederate line halted, holding the ground gained 
 vintil the turn of day, when it was ordered to fall 
 back, caused, as I afterwards learned, b}'- General 
 Grant massing his troops and breaking the Con- 
 federate line to the left of your division. 
 
 When your line had fallen back to the point at 
 which it commenced the attack in the morning, it 
 was halted, and a line of battle formed to meet the 
 enemy. Just at this point you ordered me with 
 three small companies to proceed to an elevated ridge 
 between three or four hundred yards to the right and 
 rear of your main line, instructing me to hold it at 
 all hazards. 
 
 Before I had proceeded half way to the point 
 designated I discovered the enemy's line of battle 
 advancing through the growth of small pines, over- 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 71 
 
 lapping the right of your main line. I at once de- 
 ployed my little band and gave the order ro <<Give it 
 to them boys, and fall back slowly. '^ 
 
 As wc neared the little farm house I saw amounted 
 soldier, whom I did not know, m the country road 
 that ran along the top of the ridge. 
 
 My men fought like good fellows, passing around 
 the farm house and through the garden, where they 
 soon reached the ridge, and I proceeded down the 
 slope through a forest of heavy timber to gain my 
 regiment, which was done after some tramping. 
 
 On the way one of my men said to me there was; 
 an officer on a horse that had asked him who had 
 command of the detachment of troops, and that he- 
 told him Captain Smith of the Twelfth regiment,. 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Late that afternoon, when you returned from 
 General Lee's headquarters, you came in search of 
 me, and found me sitting on a pine log. As you 
 approached you said ''Smith, my dear fellow you 
 have covered yourself with glory; I have just re- 
 turned from General Lee's quarters to whom Colonel 
 Yenable, of his staff, had reported your conduct and 
 gallantry in the evening's engagement." You said 
 that General Lee paid me the high compliment of 
 being one of the best men m the army, and he had 
 requested you to bring me up, and introduce me to 
 him. Of course so high a compliment, coming from 
 so good and great a man as General Lee, was very 
 gratifying to me, and I must say that every man with 
 me, on that occasion, deserved mention of their brave 
 and soldierly conduct. The downfall of Petersburg 
 
72 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 and Richmond prevented the introduction as you 
 know. 
 
 Now, dear General, I fear by this long letter I 
 
 have imposed upon your patience, but I only want 
 
 your answefile awayr to with my valuable keepings. 
 
 Hoping to hear from you soon, and that you are in 
 
 the best of health, I beg to remain, 
 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 J. C. B. SMITH. 
 
 By way of endorsement there is the following : 
 
 Mr. J. C. B. Smith, 
 My Dear Friend : 
 
 One of my old wounds makes me write with diffi- 
 culty, and therefore 1 will not rewrite this letter, but 
 simply endorse it as true, absolutely true. 
 
 By the way, I must say that the old Twelfth regi- 
 ment was one of the best I ever saw, not excepting 
 my old Fourteenth. 
 
 As a rule they were the best men of the continent. 
 We must soon go to the <' Silent Bivouac." God 
 bless you and yours. 
 
 Affectionately, your friend, 
 
 S. McGOWAN. 
 
 My heart being very warm and grateful for my 
 Southern Soldier, I lost no time in writing the <'News 
 and Courier" the impressions and opinion of a 
 Federal soldier for their Condederate hero, in the 
 following language. 
 
 Worcester, Mass., April 2, 1896. 
 To the Editor of the News and Courier: 
 
 Seeing a complimentary article in your issue of 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 73 
 
 Sunday, March 8, on J. C. B. Smith, late captain 
 Twelfth South Carolina Infantry, and by the fortunes 
 of war having met this gallant soldier of the Palmetto 
 State during our late unpleasantness, I wish to add 
 my tribute of praise to this modest man and brave 
 soldier of the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 I had the privilege of being on the other side during 
 the rebellion as I wore the blue from Manassas First 
 to Appomattox. Although not present with my 
 command at the surrender, I served twelve months 
 later than- this date in the upper districts of your 
 State as adjutant First Maine battalion, with head- 
 quarters at Anderson Court House. 
 
 Being with the Army of the Potomac under General 
 Grant in 1864 as adjutant Third Maine Infantry, I 
 with a brother officer was taken prisoner at the battle 
 of the Wilderness. Although this was a severe mis- 
 fortune yet by happy chance I was captured by 
 Captain Smith and his command (Company K, 
 Twelfth Infantry) and to his humanity and generosity 
 I am indebted for my life. I was sent to the rear 
 under guard, and while with them was treated with 
 all the consideration proper under the restricted cir- 
 cumstances of war. 
 
 Twelve years after this exciting episode, the fickle 
 jade Fortune restored to me my sword and at the 
 time Captain Smith wrote me a tender and compli- 
 mentary letter, expressing regret that he had not 
 earlier known my whereabouts. 
 
 Brave men never do things by halves, but it takes 
 a generous heart indeed to return to a victorious foe 
 a weapon honorably won in conflict. His letter is 
 filed among my valued treasures, and is very dear to 
 
74 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 me. If a foe can speak in terms of praise of his 
 enemy, surely his comrades should be no less generous. 
 The war may have brought evil to some men, but 
 it developed in others those elements of which heroes 
 are made, and Captain Smith is of this latter class. 
 
 I rejoice that you have not waited until Captain 
 Smith had answered his last loU call before giving 
 public recognition of his worth as a soldier, as a 
 friend and as a citizen. That he may live long to 
 enjoy the love and respect of all good people is my 
 sincere wish. 
 
 Yours in gratitude, 
 
 HANNIBAL A. JOHNSON, 
 
 Late Lieutenant Third Maine Infantry. 
 
 In due time this communication of mine to the 
 ^'Courier" was brought to Captain Smith's attention 
 as the following letter from him to me will explain : 
 
 Columbia, S. C, April 4, 1896. 
 H. A. Johnson, Worcester, Mass. 
 My Dear Friend : 
 
 It has been some time since I have heard from you 
 and it was only yesterday, while in the city, I was 
 asked by friends, "Have you seen the News and 
 Courier of the second inst; if not you must get and 
 have read to you a very complimentary letter to that 
 paper from a Federal officer of Worcester, Mass., 
 whom you captured during the late war." I had it 
 read to me, yes, re-read, and it gave me much 
 pleasure, delight and satisfaction, the more so because 
 I know the words in that letter gave expression to 
 thoughts coming from a brave and manly heart. 
 
 Allow me to thank you for your kind and compli- 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 75 
 
 mentary letter which I shall file among my most 
 valued treasures. 
 
 My sight is gradually failing. 1 cannot see to read 
 what I have written, so will ask you to excuse this 
 short note. Can you give nie the address of Mr. 
 Benjamin Jaques? God bless you and yours. 
 Sincerely your friend, 
 
 J. C. B. SMITH. 
 
 Captain Smith's death in 1898 broke u]* our pleasant 
 correspondence of many years' duration. I had 
 learned to admire and to love him for those traits of 
 character which go to make a brave soldier and a true 
 man. 
 
 In October, 1903, I received a letter from Captain 
 Smith's youngest daughter, Mrs. Lila Mobley, ac- 
 knowledging a gift I had sent her infant son. 
 
 The allusions to her late father are so tender and so 
 human that I take the liberty to insert some of them 
 here, viz: 
 
 ^'The affection which my dear father bore his 
 ^'Friend Johnson" as he always called you, was very 
 great. Countless were the times he referred to your 
 first and only meeting. During the last years of his 
 life he seemed to live over again those memorable 
 days of the war, and often, brave as he was, tears 
 would fill his eyes in recalling some of the sad in- 
 cidents. * * * jvi'ot once did he seem to think 
 that he had shown any special humanity in his atti- 
 tude towards you. It was justice. I once heard him 
 say when speaking of you, "He was such a brave 
 
76 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 fellow he couldu't bear to surrender. He faced death 
 unflinchiDgly. Shade Thomas, the crack shot in my 
 company, had his gun leveled on him, when I called 
 out 'don't shoot.' He was too brave. I finally per- 
 suaded him to surrender." 
 
 The Loving Cup which you sent my baby boy, 
 Berry Hill Mobley, Jr., will always be cherished in 
 loving memory of the two true men who inspired the 
 
 gift. 
 
 Yours in love and gratitude, 
 
 LILA MOBLEY. 
 
 The State, a paper printed in Columbia, on March 
 28, present year, had the followiag: 
 
 THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 
 
 Taken from a Northerner in Memory of a 
 
 Southern Friend. 
 
 Berry Hi!l Mobley, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 B. H. Mobley of this city, has recently received a 
 
 beautiful loving cup from Mr. Hannibal A. Johnson 
 
 of Worcester Mass., a friend of Captain J. C. B. 
 
 Smith, the grandfather of the infant. 
 
 The cup bears this significant and appropriate in- 
 scription : 
 
 '^October 24, 1902, Berry Hill Mobley, Jr. 
 From his grandfather's friend, Lieutenant 
 H. A. Johnson, Worcester, Mass. Met as 
 enemies May 5, 1864, at Battle of the 
 "Wilderness; as friends May 27, 1875, and 
 ever after." 
 
 Lieutenant Hannibal A. Johnson, Company B, 
 Third Maine Infantry, was captured at the Battle of 
 the Wilderness, May 5, 18G4, by the late Captain J. 
 
HEKIJV HILL .MOBLEV, JK. 
 (iraudsoii of (apt. J. ('. B. Smith. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 77 
 
 C B. Smith of this city. On that occasion the 
 valiant Lieutenant Johnson refused to surrender to 
 Captain Smith. Whereupon the <<crack shot" of 
 Captain Smith's company leveled his gun on 
 Lieutenant Johnson to shoot him, but Captain Smith 
 interfered because of the northerner's unusual 
 bravery, and finally persuaded him to surrender. 
 
 Singularly, Lieutenant Johnson was imprisoned in 
 Columbia, Captain Smith's native town. He escaped 
 from the Confederate prison and after many thrilling 
 experiences rejoined the Union army. 
 
 In May, 1875, Captain Smith returned to Lieutenant 
 Johnson his sword, a very valuable one, on which 
 twenty-two battles were engraved. The loving cup 
 is an appropriate reminder of the tender regard in 
 which Lieutenant Johnson holds Captain Smith's 
 memory. 
 
 Possibly some of my readers may criticise my faith 
 in my Confederate frier ds. To them let me say that 
 when Robert E. Lee's veterans stacked their muskets 
 at Appomattox, and returned to their homes to be- 
 come again loyal citizens, my bitterness departed — 
 my hostility ceased; and I could take the hand of a 
 southern soldier and wish him well. It takes a 
 mighty big heart, and a magnanimous soul to do as 
 Captain Smith did. As long as life remains, I shall 
 honor his memorv. 
 
CHAPTFK X. 
 
 Worcester, Mass., Nov. 15, 1905. 
 
 It was my intention to close this stoiy of army life 
 with the events of the return of my sword by my 
 captor, J. C. B. Smith, and the incident of giving to his. 
 grandchild, Berry Hill Mobley, Jr., the loving-ciip; 
 but I wish to add to the book some incidents in 
 Captain Smith's life as a Confederate soldier, full of 
 credit to himself and of interest to any reader of 
 literature pertaining to the Civil War; also an inci- 
 dent connected with the men of the First Maine 
 Battalion, and a brief account of a most enjoyable 
 trip made recently to the homes of my good friends 
 in tlie South Land. 
 
 Most of my comrades who took part with me ii> 
 these events have answered their last roll-call; and I 
 can count, with no surety, the day and hour, life is- 
 so uncertain ; and as the true story of the Rebellion 
 IS only told by the paiticipants, not the historian, it 
 behooves me to do what little I expect to do imme- 
 diately. 
 
 I have mentioned, in a preceding chapter that 
 during the years of 1865 and '66, the command t^ 
 which I belonged. First Maine Unassigned Battalion, 
 Colonel C. S. Brown, Commanding, was stationed iD 
 the upper districts of western South Carolina, in the 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 79 
 
 towns of Cheraw,Pickens, Laurens, Abbeville, Green- 
 ville, and Anderson, with headquarters at the latter 
 place, doing a sort of Freedman's Bureau duty: 
 making contracts with the planters and former slaves, 
 keeping order in the towns we garrisoned, and look- 
 ing after any United States property that might be in 
 the district, as all property, such as arms, ammuni- 
 tion, quartermaster and commissary stores. Govern- 
 ment cotton, formerly owned by the Confederate 
 Government, after the surrender, was the property 
 of < 'Uncle Sam"; and we were instructed to take it 
 wherever and whenever we saw it. This would ex- 
 plain our duties and positions, and, as a rule, they 
 were not arduous nor unpleasant; there was very 
 little conflict with the people, as they accepted the 
 situation under the changed conditions. Yet, one 
 must realize that the presence of United States troops 
 in their homes, so short a time after the close of the 
 War, was not a comforting assurance. 
 
 The Confederate Government, the latter part of the 
 Rebellion, taxed the people in kind, in cotton and 
 other produce from their plantations, to help carry 
 on the war; and this tax was willingly paid; and at 
 the close of the war, there Avere thousands of bales 
 around the country that should have been in the 
 hands of the United States Government. 
 
 We were told by some loyal citizens, where there 
 was a certain amount of cotton stored on the bank 
 
80 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 of the Savannah river, waiting to be shipped by some 
 private parties to Augusta, Georgia. This cotton 
 was located at a place called <' Brown's Ferry" fifteen 
 miles from Anderson, and I detailed three men and 
 sent them at once to the Ferry, and told them to re- 
 main there until relieved, or the cotton had been 
 removed to Anderson. This was done, but on the 
 morning following the day when I sent the men to 
 the river, the ferryman stationed at the river where 
 the cotton was stored came to the Court-house with 
 the startling information that the three men who 
 were acting as guard over the cotton had all been 
 murdered the night before, and their bodies thrown 
 into the water. I at once ordered a squad of men to 
 saddle their horses, and we lost no time in getting 
 over this fifteen miles to the river-bank, and there, — 
 too true ! we found only pools of blood where three 
 good Union soldiers had been the night before. 
 
 I soon got their lifeless bodies from the bottom of 
 the river, and pressing wagons in the vicinity, took 
 their mangled remains back with me to the Court- 
 house. The town authorities gave us a place in their 
 cemetery, and we buried our innocent men with 
 proper military honors. 
 
 In time, we captured all of their murderers, who 
 were tried by a military Court Martial at Columbus, 
 South Carolina. Two were sentenced to be hanged 
 and four were imprisoned for life — a perfectly just 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 81 
 
 sentence; but within two years from that date, these 
 naen were all pardoned, and returned to their homes 
 by our then president, Andrew Johnson. This 
 happened on October 8, 1865. In the following^ 
 April, we left the South; our three Maine soldiers 
 remaining behind in the Anderson cemetery, where 
 they were buried, the October before. 
 
 Shortly after we left South Carolina, a true 
 Southern woman, fearless, loyal and Christian, took 
 it upon herself, against the wishes of her personal 
 friends, to decorate, each Memorial Day, the graves 
 of our dead, just the same as the dead of the Con- 
 federacy. And this Christian- like act she has per- 
 sonally continued up to the present time. 
 
 I had kept in touch with the people of Anderson 
 since I left there in 1866, having corresponded with 
 some of their leading citizens, and was known officially 
 to this angel of mercy, Miss Lenora Hubbard. When 
 this obscure village had grown into a thriving city, 
 residences and cemeteries were removed to make way 
 for the march of improvement, and the cemetery 
 where our boys were buried had to be moved 
 also. This good woman went to the city authorities, 
 and had assigned to her a spacious lot in the new 
 cemetery for the burial of our boys. Knowing my 
 address, she wrote to me, to see if some provision 
 could not be made by the State toward defraying the 
 expense of head-stones for their graves, as she did 
 
^2 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 not feel financially able to do it herself. Our corre- 
 spondence was made public throuo^h the press, and 
 coming to the ears of the officials at Washington, an 
 order was given by the Quartermaster General to 
 have these bodies taken up and removed to the 
 National Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia. 
 
 I knew this would be a disappointment to Miss 
 Hubbard as she had cared for our boys for many 
 years ; but the will of the Government was stronger 
 than the wish of this lone woman— so the bodies 
 were removed. Feeling that Miss Hubbard should 
 be recognized for her sacrifice and heroic act, I 
 wrote to the Governor of Maine, and asked his 
 assistance. Governor Cobb immediately entered in- 
 to ray plan of having the Legislature take hold of the 
 matter. When it convened in the tollowing January, 
 he brought the matter before his Council, and they 
 unanimously agreed to recommend an act publicly 
 thanking Miss Hubbard for her patriotic service; the 
 same, after its passage, was engrossed on parchment 
 and sent to Anderson, with the united thanks of the 
 Legislature. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF MAINE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 State of Maine. 
 
 In Council, Feb. 8, 1905. 
 
 The Standing Committee on Military Affairs to which 
 
 was referred certain correspondence relating to the 
 
MISS LENOKA C. HUBBARD 
 
 Tlie patriotic southern woiiinu who tor forty years deco- 
 rated and caied foi- the oiave* of soldiers 
 of First Maine Battalion. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 83 
 
 care of burial places of Maine soldiers at Anderson, 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Report, that an examination of the evidence at 
 hand discloses the fact that at Anderson, South 
 Carolina, the graves of certain Union soldiers, some 
 of whom were from this state, have, until recent 
 action by the federal authorities, through inadvert- 
 ence or mistake, been completely overlooked and 
 neglected, so that they might have suffered oblitera- 
 tion but for the generous and patriotic action of a 
 southern woman. Miss Lenora C. Hubbard, President 
 of the Anderson Memorial Association. 
 
 ^Ye find that Miss Hubbard has at her own. expense 
 and actuated only by motives of Christianity and 
 broad-minded patriotism, for many years kept the 
 mounds of these graves in a respectable condition, so 
 that they might be identified by their friends, and on 
 each succeeding Memorial Day, personally decorated 
 them with American flags. 
 
 It seems to us that Miss Hubbard's action is of 
 such a character as to deserve an appropriate recogni- 
 tion at the hands of this state, and in conformity with 
 that idea we herewith recommend the passage of the 
 following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, that the thanks of this body be extended to 
 
 MISS LENORA C. HUBBARD 
 
 OF ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 in grateful and appreciative recognition of her noble 
 and patriotic service to the people of this state, in 
 caring for and honoring the graves of certain soldiers, 
 formerly citizens of Maine, who died in defense of 
 the Union. 
 
84 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 Which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 W. B. CLARK, Chairman. 
 In Council, Feb. 8, 1905. 
 Read and accepted by the Council and by the 
 Governor approved. 
 
 Attest: BYRON BOYD, Secretary of State. 
 
 I am still in correspondence with this true-blue 
 Southern woman, whom it is an honor and credit to 
 know. She is generally loved and respected by all 
 who have the pleasure of her acquaintance; she has 
 more honorable titles from Confederate camps and 
 societies than any woman south of Mason and Dixon's 
 line— her love and charity being broad enough to 
 take in both Union and Confederate armies. It has 
 been said that the Southern women by their loyalty 
 and sacrifice kept the war going twelve months 
 longer than it otherwise would have been, for they 
 helped the struggling men in the field ; and although 
 the same men fought against me, I respect and honor 
 the part these Southern women took. 
 
 Our Northern women will never know what their 
 Southern sisters suffered and endured to give en- 
 couragement and help to their overtaxed and 
 starving veterans in the field. Some of them even 
 did men's work on the plantations, to allow their old 
 and young men to go to the front, others made cloth- 
 ing for their fathers, brothers and lovers — doing all 
 that was honorable and brave to perform their part 
 in the great struggle. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 85 
 
 What the war meant to the Southern women, will 
 be shown in the following extracts from a letter 
 written by Miss Hubbard to a Northern friend. 
 
 Extracts from Miss Hubbard's Letter 
 
 The good women in many parts of Maine have 
 sent me a number of post cards, many of them un- 
 usually interesting ones. Seeing these pictures of 
 your splendid buildings, especially your many fine 
 school buildings makes me feel keenly the poverty of 
 our South laud. While your soldiers returned to 
 find tlieir homes and educational institutions just as 
 they left them, our Southern men returned to ruined 
 homes and to the heavy task of rebuilding almost the 
 entire country. If the men found tliis a hard task 
 what can be said of our women who, by the fortunes 
 of war, were left widows and orphans to struggle 
 against such fearful odds? Hardest of all they had 
 to break away from so many old Southern traditions, 
 as to woman's sphere. With so many professions 
 and occupations closed to them theirs seemed ahiiost 
 a hopeless outlook. 
 
 My father died two years after the close of the war, 
 and left my mother with five little children, not one 
 of whom was old enough to be of any help to her. 
 I know what a struggle she had; for all her friends 
 and relatives were too poor to help her. My father, 
 a comparatively rich man, had such faith in the 
 triumph of the Confederacy that he converted all his 
 property into government bonds. Thus we were 
 left almost penniless. The South had few schools 
 then, no free ones. No one knows the task of my 
 
86 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 mother to care for us and give us some little educa- 
 tion. 
 
 At that time not one woman in Anderson had 
 dared venture out from the sheltered privacy of home 
 and enter store or office to earn a living. I well re- 
 member the first one who did so; and though the 
 position she filled was that of bookkeeper in her own 
 father's store, for a time she was almost ostracized 
 for so departing from ^'Woman's Sphere." I was 
 the second one to take this daring step, and at the 
 age of fifteen was given a position in the photographic 
 studio of an old friend of father's. My doing so 
 called forth a storm of protests from uncles and 
 aunts, not one of whom was financially able to make 
 it unne<;essary for me to do this. My hours at the 
 studio were from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. I got up at six 
 every morning, practiced my music until seven, then 
 helped cook breakfast, went to my work in the studio 
 and in my spare moments there prepared a lesson in 
 German which I recited to a private tutor after 
 supper. Then three times a week I had a Latin 
 lesson after studio hours. In this way I prepared 
 myself to teach. After I secured a diploma which 
 entitled me to teach, it took thirteen years of hard 
 work to save enough money to buy my little home. 
 
 I have seen the Old South, its chivalry and tradi- 
 tions disappear and watched the development of our 
 grand New South, with its spirit of progress, and 
 vast opportunities for botn women and men. Our 
 country is just beginning to be what God meant it to 
 be and with increasing financial prosperity, our 
 
HON. JOHN C. GKADY 
 
 Ex-8euator from Philadelphia, Pcnu.; formerly uou- 
 
 coiiimissioiied officer Co. A, First Maine Battalion, 
 
 whose life was saved by ehauue of detail 
 
 on the Brown's Ferry Kaid. 
 
A STOEY OF THE CIVIL WAR 87 
 
 people are striving to attain the position which our 
 great natural facilities entitle us to hold. 
 
 Sincerely your friend, 
 
 LENORA HUBBARD. 
 
 LETTER FROM HON. JOHN C. GRADY. 
 
 The following letter from Hon. John C. Grady, of 
 Philadelphia, formerly of the First Maine Battalion, 
 will add to the value of this Story of the War, as it 
 throws light upon the incident at Brown's Ferry, to 
 which I have already referred. 
 Mr. H. A. Johnson, Worcester, Ma&s. 
 Mr Dear Adjutant : 
 
 The narrative of your eventful experience in the 
 darkest days of the Civil War proves that there is an 
 indubitable power shaping the affairs of men. I re- 
 call your capture, almost a living death as a prisoner, 
 the heroic dash for liberty, the perils and privations 
 suffered for months within a hostile country. It 
 was a happy destiny that crowned it with success. 
 
 One event is deeply impress^ed on my mind, where 
 that power intervened. I refer to the First Maine 
 Battalion of which you were the Adjutant and prac- 
 tically its executive officer. When it occupied 
 Western South Carolina in the Fall of 1865 an order 
 came on the evening of October 6, from the General 
 commanding at Columbia to send a detachment to 
 «top the illicit removal of Government Cotton, from 
 Brown's Ferry twenty-three miles away on the 
 Savannah River. Immediately I was designated, as 
 the non-commissioned officer of the small detachment, 
 to go and execute the order. The night was dark and 
 
88 THE SWOED OF HONOR 
 
 rainy, the road rough and unfamiliar, the inhabitants 
 semi-hostile, the horses tired and sore, — unwelccme 
 prospects in store for an all night ride. While this 
 was transpiring you were making a call upon 
 Governor Orr, at his residence, in a remote part of 
 the town. Returning, your true course was diagonal- 
 ly across the open square, but for some reason j^ou 
 chose the sides of the triangle, perhaps attracted by 
 the horses under saddle, and seeing us preparing to 
 mount you asked <'What is up?" Thereupon you 
 ordered the Sergeant Major to select another Non- 
 Commissioned officer in my stead on the ground 
 that you had another duty for me at Headquarters 
 on the morrow, and but for this change 1 should have 
 been killed on the night of my eighteenth birthday 
 October 8, when these men were overpowered by supe- 
 rior numbei s, and all met death. This tragical event 
 was made notable by one of the greatest military 
 trials in the annals of the war and subsequently by 
 Congressional inquiry couceining its results. The 
 quick apprehension of the participants, the manner 
 in which it was done, witli so li^ht a force, convinced 
 the people of that section that you were a stranger 
 to all fear. 
 
 Proceeding — your revocation of my detail per- 
 mitted me to live longer — six years later to be ad- 
 mitted to the practice of the law in Philadelphia and 
 continue, so far, thirty-four years — to be twice offered 
 to be elevated to the Judiciary of the State and de- 
 clined; i^ermitted me to be a member of the State 
 Senate for twenty-eight years consecutively, being 
 seven years longer than anyone else in the history of 
 the State, and twice offered a seat in Congress — a 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 89 
 
 commissioner to represent Pennsylvania at every ex- 
 position since the Centennial also permitted me to 
 make an extensive impress on the Laws of the State. 
 Several that V7ere innovations at the time have at- 
 tracted the attention of other states and are found 
 engrafted in their laws, such as the Fugitive from 
 Justice Act, The Title Insurance Act ; and now trust 
 companies doing business under that act may be 
 found in every large city in the Union ; so reflecting 
 upon whatever good I have been permitted to do. 
 The thought flows back to the cheerless October night 
 in '65, when you in an instant, became my con- 
 servator, and further back to the perilous times 
 through which you passed that enabled you to be 
 present to exercise the power inherent in you as 
 Adjutant, when I was inapprehensive that the ride 
 we were about to take, was to the grave; and to 
 turther work out the theory of predestination, what 
 went before that date with you, must commingle 
 with all that has occurred with me since, by your 
 grace. 
 
 Pride in your military achievements will not be 
 conflned to your children nor your children's children ; 
 for the survivors of two Maine military organiza- 
 tions have spread it far and wide, and the narrative 
 should be preserved among the Archives of your 
 native State. 
 
 With best wishes. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 JOHN C. GRADY. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Anderson, S. C, March 20, 1906. 
 To My Readers : 
 
 It has been my fondest ambition to once more visit 
 the scenes of my last twelve months' service, and 
 Columbia, the home of my captor, Capt. Smith, al- 
 though he is not living. The readers of my book 
 will remember on preceding pages I have mentiond 
 correspondence with members of his family, also 
 citizens of Anderson. When I proposed to rewrite 
 the "Sword of Honor," I did not think any such joy 
 and pleasure was in store for me. From the heading 
 of this letter, however, you will see that I am at the 
 very spot where the last eight months of my service 
 in the Federal Army were passed, and at the delight- 
 ful home of my almost life-long friend, J. A. Brock, 
 Esq., of Anderson. 
 
 February 10, I left Massachusetts with Mrs. John- 
 son, to start on my proposed Southern trip, which I 
 had desired to take for forty years, and after passing 
 eight very pleasant days in New York with my sister, 
 Mrs. Alexander Doyle, Mrs. Johnson and I went to 
 Philadelphia to visit my friend of forty-one years, 
 the Hon. John C. Grady, whom I had not seen since 
 our muster-out of service at Charleston, S. C, on 
 April 5, 1866. To say our meeting was a joyous one 
 would but feebly express it. 
 
 Friend Grady gave us forty-eight hours of rare 
 pleasure, a portion of the time being passed at 
 Atlantic City, N. J. 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 91 
 
 From Philadelphia, I comriienced my Southern 
 trip alone, my first stoppint^ place beinof Richmond, 
 Ya. Having a warm place in iny heart for the boys 
 who wore the Gray, I knew the best way to get in 
 touch with them was to go to the head of their 
 veteran organization of Southern Soldiers, the 
 Robert E. Lee Camp, which fortunately for me, had 
 a most brilliant, courteous and accommodating 
 gentleman for commander. Gen. O. B. Morgan. 
 Through his kindness I was shown their camp head 
 quarters, filled with magnificent oil paintings of their 
 heroes of the Lost Cause, of both Army and Navy, of 
 their late president, Jefferson Davis, and wife, also of 
 their daughter. Miss Winnie Davis, the daughter of 
 the Southern confederacy. 
 
 From this camp so beautiful in its proportions and 
 rich in its portraits, I was taken to the Soldiers' Home 
 for Disabled Southern Veterans. 
 
 For two hours I was entertained by the officers in 
 charge of this well-kept home and was shown through 
 their fine museum of army relics, chief among them 
 being the horse, ''Old Sorrell," ridden by Gen. 
 Stonewall Jackson through all his campaigns, from 
 first Manassas to Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, 
 where he, the General, lost his life in wliat we, the 
 Union soldiers, call the "Midnight Charge." It was 
 here we sought to regain the position taken from us 
 by Jackson's corps the afternoon previous, the 
 Eleventh corps of the Union army breaking and losing 
 a very strong position, one necessary to retake, if 
 possible, for the reestablishing of our own line. 
 
 In the " Midnight Charge," Stonewall Jackson lost 
 his life, and for a long time it was thought by the 
 
92 THE SWORD OF HONOK 
 
 Uuion forces, but history tells us that it was by his 
 own men. If so, we are glad, for no one wishes the 
 credit at this hour and in this day of reconciliation 
 and peace, the credit or discredit of taking the life of 
 this good and just man. Although we know his^ 
 cause was wrong, we can but respect him for what 
 he was and for his honesty of purpose, and do not 
 wish to think that we shed his blood. 
 
 I left this well-cared for home with regret, for it 
 was indeed a pleasure to shake the hand of these 
 Boys in Gray. I have a heart full of respect for 
 them; for the Stars and Stripes floating over their 
 Soldiers' Home showed they were again united with 
 us, under but one flag and government. There was 
 room in my heart only for good fellowship and 
 respect. 
 
 I left the City of Richm'»nd, the scene of my first 
 captivity, with feelings of deep regard at the treatment 
 I had received at the hands of its late Confederate 
 soldiers, for no brother could have had kinder treat- 
 ment than these same late combatants showed me, 
 and with a request from Gen. Morgan that on my 
 return trip I should stop off and address the R. E. 
 Lee camp. As my train pulled out for Columbia, 
 the last expression from the hero of mauy battles was 
 "God-speed and a safe return." 
 
 I advanced towards Columbia with peculiar feel- 
 ings. I was going to the widow and daughters of 
 my late departed hero, Capt. Smith, who had not 
 only spared my life in fierce battle, but had, ten years 
 later, returned my captured sword with words of 
 praise that almost made me wild with joy — who had 
 corresponded with me for many years, and after his 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR 93 
 
 death the correspondence was continued by his faith- 
 ful daughter, Mrs. Lila Smith Mobley. Now, I was 
 to meet them face to face for the first time. I knew 
 I should be welcome from the tone of their many 
 letters, but I did not look for such tender, kind treat- 
 ment as I received for sixteen happy days. No dear 
 brother returning from a long absence of years could 
 have received a warmer welcome ; and while in their 
 hospitable home, there was no hour of the day or 
 night, while we were not sleeping, that their home 
 was not filled with company in my honor, — soldiers, 
 civilians, clergymen of all creeds, editors, merchants, 
 and last, but not least, God bless them, the Ladies — 
 all giving me a welcome only given to a chosen few 
 in this life. 
 
 I left Columbia and its most hospitable people with 
 many regrets, and with feelings of respect and affec- 
 tion for the press and people who had been so kind 
 to me, under obligations to them I never can cancel. 
 
 My trip to Anderson was one looked forward to 
 with happiness, for here I had done something worth 
 remembering and acknowledging perhaps; I had 
 been here for eight months in charge of United States 
 troops, from August 1865 to April 1866. "While in 
 Columbia I had been only a poor prisoner-of-war, 
 helpless and unfortunate, but who fortunately escaped 
 from their care. At this hour I am the guest of one 
 of their Lieutenants of the Guard, under whose care 
 I was supposed to be, Mr. J. A. Brock, who is giving 
 me the best his home affords, and that best is good 
 enougn for a king. He lias a palatial residence, and 
 a family that any man may be proud of, brilliant, 
 hospitable, musical, to a wonderful degree, and with 
 
94 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 very tender hearts. This rainy morning they have 
 made me very comfortable and happy by their care- 
 ful attention, while forty years ago this same gentle- 
 man, as a Confederate officer, was doing his best to 
 confine me within the limits of his stockade. 
 
 Truly, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I 
 have been here one week, renewing old acquaintances 
 made forty years ago. I find many familiar faces, 
 but the city has changed more than its people. In 
 1865 it numbered 1,000 people ; today, 15,000. Then 
 not a manufactory of any kind, the raising of cotton 
 its chief inda«try. Now, ten large and prosperous 
 cotton manufactories, twine, phos]»hate, cotton-seed 
 oil, yarn and hosiery mills and other ujinor industries. 
 
 I have been the guest of its best people who say I 
 have the respect of the whole community, and the 
 press has been very kind to me in very complimentary 
 notices. Have been called upon by scores of its 
 people, all extending the kindest hospitality to me, 
 inviting me to their homes, etc. 
 
 To the following I am under personal obligations 
 for courtesies given me in Columbia: 
 
 The Smiths, Mobleys, Browns, Gastons, Adams, 
 AVings, English, Editor Gonzales, Rev. Dr. Mies, 
 Rev. Drs. Smith and Whitsell, Capt. Netherly, Col. 
 Alex Haskell, Post-Master Ensar, Prof. Andrews, 
 Mrs. Doby, and many others. 
 
 In Anderson, Mr. J. A. Brock and family, Mr. C. 
 A. Reed, Mr. Frank Cunningham, Rev. R. C. Jeter, 
 Mr. Paine, Col. Brown, Gen. M. L. Bonham, Capt. 
 H. H. Watkins, Messrs. Carpenter, P. K. McCully, 
 Mr. Sloan, B. F. Crayton, Mr. Bolt, Mrs. E. E. 
 Moore, and last, but not least, Miss Lenora Hubbard. 
 
MRS. LI LA SMrril MOBr>KY 
 Daughter of (apt. J. (\ H. Smith 
 
A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR m. 
 
 Forty-one years' separation has not made this 
 grateful people forget the slightest thing I, in my offi- 
 cial capacity, found it possible to do for them. The 
 ancient and time-worn saying has become literally 
 true in my case, '^Cast thy bread upon the waters; 
 for thou Shalt find it after many days." 
 
 With this morning's work, I cannot, I believe, add 
 anything more to my '<Sword of Honor," — only to 
 say this in conclusion that I feel indeed fortunate to. 
 have lived to see this day, to once more come back 
 to this people whom I had fought honorably — their 
 sons and brothers in the field, while there was an 
 armed Confederate to engage. When peace came 
 over a united country, I tried just as hard to be their 
 brother as I did to be their foe, and I know in the 
 former I have succeeded without losing a particle of 
 my self-respect as a Union soldier ; for in all presence, 
 1 have ever been loyal to my government, constantly 
 contending I was on the right side, and insisting 
 that both could not be right, but giving my Brother 
 in Gray his right to think he was right. 
 
 I have been South since February 20th, having 
 passed Washington's birthday in Richmond, and al-. 
 though I have talked with 600 of Lee's veteran 
 soldiers, more or less, not one word has been said to 
 me that could wound the most sensitive heart; and in 
 closing I would say 
 
 << God bless our whole country," 
 and more particularly the brave Southern women 
 who performed their whole duty to the Lost Cause, 
 and have given me eight weeks of unalloyed happi- 
 ness by their whole-souled hospitality. 
 
 My last two weeks in the South, after leaving An-- 
 
96 THE SWORD OF HONOR 
 
 derson, were passed with the Smiths at Columbia, 
 with a continuance of the same courtesies extended 
 as in my first visit. I left them with deepest regrets, 
 also the city in which I had received such marked at- 
 tention. 
 
 With much to be grateful for, I am, 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 HANNIBAL A. JOHNSON. 
 Late Lieutenant Company B, 3d Maine Infantry. 
 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant 1st Maine Unassigned 
 
 Battalion. 
 
L'ENVOY. 
 
 As I look l)ack over the pag-es ot this liltle l)ook, 
 and bespeak tor it a cordial welcome with old cotn- 
 rades and dear friends, North and South, 1 thank 
 God that the Blue and the Gray have blended into 
 the perfect harmony of Love and Peace. The stripes 
 and the bars have faded from sight, and in their 
 place, over a united country, floats our Glorious 
 National Emblem, 
 
 THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 '<So with an equal splendor 
 
 The morning" sun-rays fall, 
 With a touch impartially tender 
 
 On the blossoms blooming- for all. 
 
 Under the sod and the dew 
 Waiting the judgment day; 
 'Broidered with gold the Blue; 
 Mellowed with gold the Gray. 
 
 No more shall the war-cry sever, 
 
 Or the winding rivers be red; 
 They banish our anger forever 
 
 When they laurel the graves of our dead! 
 
 Under the sod and the dew 
 Waiting the judgment day ; 
 Love and tears for the Blue 
 Tears and love for the Grav."