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 THE IRON FURNACE: 
 
 OR, 
 
 . SLAYERY AND SECESSION. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOHN H. AUGHEY, 
 
 A REFUGEE FROM MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I 
 commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land 
 of Egypt, from the Iron Furnace Jer. xi. 3, 4. See also, 1 Kings viii. 51. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN. 
 
 606 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 1863. 
 
Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1863, 
 
 By WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN, 
 
 In the office of the Clerk of the District Court for the 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 i:45S 
 
 . a. 
 
♦ 
 
 m 
 
 TO MY PERSON At FRIENDS 
 
 REV. CHARLES C. BEATTY, D. D., LL.D.,' 
 
 OF STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, 
 
 Moderator of the General Assembly of the (0. S.) Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, 
 and long Pastor of the Church in which 
 my parents were members, and 
 our family worshippers ; 
 
 REV. WILLIAM PRATT BREED, 
 
 Pastor of the West Spruce Street Presbyterian Church, of 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 
 
 GEORGE HAY STUART, Esq., 
 
 OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
 
 The Philanthropist, whose virtues are known and 
 appreciated in both hemispheres, 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 
 

PREFACE. 
 
 A celebrated author thus writes : " Posterity- 
 is under no obligations to a man who is not a 
 parent, who has never planted a tree, built a 
 house, nor written a book." Having fulfilled 
 all these requisites to insure the remembrance 
 of posterity, it remains to be seen whether the 
 author's name shall escape oblivion. 
 
 It may be that a few years will obliterate the 
 name affixed to this Preface from the memory 
 of man. This thought is the cause of no con- 
 cern. I shall have accomplished my purpose 
 if I can in some degree be humbly instrumen- 
 tal in serving my country and my generation, 
 by promoting the well-being of my fellow- 
 men, and advancing the declarative glory of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 This work was written while suffering in- 
 tensely from maladies induced by the rigours 
 of the Iron Purnace of Secession, whose seven- 
 fold heat is reserved for the loyal citizens of 
 1* (5) 
 
6 PKEFACE. 
 
 the South. Let this fact be a palliation for 
 whatever imperfections the reader may meet 
 with in its perusal. 
 
 There are many loyal men in the southern 
 States, who to avoid martyrdom, conceal their 
 opinions. They are to be pitied — not severely 
 censured. All those southern ministers and 
 professors of religion who were eminent for 
 piety, opposed secession till the States passed 
 the secession ordinance. They then advocated 
 reconstruction as long as it comported with 
 their safety. They then, in the face of danger 
 and death, became quiescent — not acquiescent, 
 by any means — and they now "bide their time," 
 in prayerful trust that God will, in his own 
 good time, subvert rebellion, and overthrow 
 anarchy, by a restoration of the supremacy of 
 constitutional law. By these, and their name 
 is legion, my book will be warmly approved. 
 My fellow-prisoners in the dungeon at Tupelo, 
 who may have survived its horrors, and my 
 fellow-sufferers in the Union cause throughout 
 the South, will read in my narrative a tran- 
 script of their own sufferings. The loyal citi- 
 zens of the whole country will be interested in 
 learning: the views of one who has been con- 
 versant with the rise and progress of secession, 
 from its incipiency to its culmination in rebel- 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 lion and treason. It will also doubtless be of 
 general interest to learn something of the 
 workings of the "peculiar institution/' and the 
 various phases which it assumes in different 
 sections of the slave States. 
 
 Compelled to leave Dixie in haste, I had no 
 time to collect materials for my work. I was 
 therefore under the necessity of writing with- 
 out those aids which would have secured greater 
 accuracy. I have done the best that I could 
 under the circumstances; and any errors that 
 may have crept into my statements of facts, or 
 reports of addresses, will be cheerfully rectified 
 as soon as ascertained. 
 
 That" I might not compromise the safety of 
 my Union friends who rendered me assistance, 
 and who are still within the rebel lines, I was 
 compelled to omit their names, and for the 
 same reason to describe rather indefinitely some 
 localities, especially the portions of Ittawamba, 
 Chickasaw, Pontotoc, Tippah, and Tishomingo 
 counties, through which I travelled while 
 escaping to the Federal lines. This I hope to 
 be able to correct in future editions. 
 
 Narratives require a liberal use of the first 
 personal pronoun, which I would have gladly 
 avoided, had it been possible without tedious 
 
8 PKEFACE. 
 
 circumlocution, as its frequent repetition lias 
 the appearance of egotism. 
 
 I return sincere thanks to my fellow-prisoners 
 who imperilled their own lives to save mine, 
 and also to those Mississippi Unionists who so 
 generously aided a panting fugitive on his way 
 from chains and death to life and liberty. My 
 thanks are also due to Rev. William P. Breed, 
 for assistance in preparing my work for the 
 press. 
 
 I am also under obligations to Rev. Francis 
 J. Collier, of Philadelphia ; to Rev. A. D. 
 Smith, D. D., and Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, of 
 New York, and to Rev. F. B. Wheeler, of 
 Poughkeepsie, New York. 
 
 May the Triune God bless our country, and 
 preserve its integrity ! 
 
 JOHN HILL AUGKHEY. 
 February 1, 1863. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 SECESSION. 
 
 Speech of Colonel Drane — Submission Denounced — North- 
 ern Aggression — No more Slave States — Northern isms — 
 Yankees' Servants — Yankee inferiority — Breckinridge, 
 or immediate, complete, and eternal Separation— A Day 
 of Rejoicing — Abraham Lincoln, President elect — A 
 Union Speech — A Southerner's Reasons for opposing 
 Secession — Address by a Radical Secessionist — Cursing 
 and Bitterness — A Prayer — Sermon against Secession — 
 List of Grievances — Causes which led to Secession, 13 — 49 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 VIGILANCE COMMITTEE AND COURT-MARTIAL. 
 
 The election of Delegates to determine the status of Missis- 
 sippi — The Vigilance Committee — Description of its mem- 
 bers — Charges — Phonography — No formal verdict — Dan- 
 ger of Assassination — Passports — Escape to Rienzi — • 
 Union sentiment — The Conscript Law — Summons to at- 
 tend Court-Martial — Evacuation of Corinth — Destruction 
 of Cotton — Suifering poor — Relieved by General Hal- 
 leck 50—69 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 ARREST, ESCAPE, AND RECAPTURE. 
 
 High price of Provisions — Holland Lindsay's Family — The 
 arrest — Captain Hill — Appearance before Colonel Brad- 
 fute at Fulton — Arrest of Ben]amin Clarke — Bradfnte's 
 
 (9) 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 Insolence — General Chalmers — The clerical Spy — Gene- 
 ral Pfeifer — Under guard — Priceville — General Gordon — 
 Bound for Tupelo — The Prisoners entering the Dungeon — 
 Captain Bruce — Lieutenant Richard Malone — Prison Fare 
 and Treatment — Menial Service — Resolve to escape — 
 Plan of escape — Federal Prisoners — Co-operation of the 
 Prisoners — Declaration of Independence — The Escape — 
 The Separation — Concealment — Travel on the Under- 
 ground Railroad — Pursuit by Cavalry and Bloodhounds — 
 The Arrest — Dan Barnes, the Mail-robber — Perfidy — 
 Heavily ironed — Return to Tupelo 70 — 112 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 LIFE IN A DUNGEON. 
 
 Parson Aughey as Chaplain — Description of the Prisoners — 
 Colonel Walter, the Judge Advocate — Charges and Speci- 
 fications against Parson Aughey, a Citizen of the Con- 
 federate States — Execution of two Tennesseeans — En- 
 listment of Union Prisoners — Colonel Walter's second 
 visit — Day of Execution specified — Farewell Letter to 
 my Wife — Parson Aughey's Obituary penned by him- 
 self — Address to his Soul — The Soul's Reply — Farewell 
 Letter to his Parents — The Union Prisoners' Petition to 
 Hon. W. H. Seward — The two Prisoners and the Oath of 
 Allegiance — Irish Stories 113 — 142 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 EXECUTION OF UNION PRISONERS. 
 
 Resolved to Escape — Mode of Executing Prisoners — Re- 
 moval of Chain — Addition to our Numbers — Two Prison- 
 ers become Insane — Plan of Escape — Proves a Failure — 
 Fetters Inspected — Additional Fetters — Handcuffs — A 
 Spy in the Disguise of a Prisoner — Special Police Guard 
 on Duty — A Prisoner's Discovery — Divine Services — The 
 General Judgment — The Judge — The Laws — The Wit- 
 nesses — The Concourse — The Sentence 143 — 107 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE. 
 
 The Second Plan of Escape — Under the Jail — Egress — 
 Among the Guards — In the Swamp — Travelling on the 
 Underground Railroad — The Fare — Green Corn eaten 
 Raw — Blackberries and Stagnant Water — The Blood- 
 hounds — Tantalizing Dreams — The Pickets — The Cows — 
 Become Sick — Fons Beatus — Find Friends — Union Friend 
 No. Two — The night in the Barn — Death of Newman by 
 Scalding — Union Friend No. Three — Bound for the Union 
 Lines — Rebel Soldiers — Black Ox — Pied Ox — Reach 
 Headquarters in Safety — Emotions on again beholding 
 the Old Flag — Kindness while Sick — Meeting with his 
 Family — Richard Malone again — The Serenade — Leave 
 Dixie — Northward bound 168 — 211 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOUTHERN CLASSES— CRUELTY TO SLAVES. 
 
 Sandhillers — Dirt-eating — Dipping — Their Mode of Living — 
 Patois — Rain-book — Wife- trade — Coming in to see the 
 Cars — Superstition — Marriage of Kinsfolks — Hardshell 
 Sermon — Causes which lead to the Degradation of this 
 Class — Efforts to Reconcile the Poor Whites to the Pecu- 
 liar Institution — The Slaveholding Class — The Middle 
 Class — Northeim isms — Incident at a Methodist Minister's 
 House — Question asked a Candidate for Licensure — Rea- 
 son of Southern Hatred toward the North — Letter to Mr. 
 Jackman — Barbarities and Cruelties of Slavery — Mulat- 
 toes — Old Cole — Child Born at Whipping-post — Advertise- 
 ment of a Keeper ©f Bloodhounds — Getting Rid of Free 
 Blacks — The Doom of Slavery — Methodist Church 
 'South 212—248 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 NOTORIOUS REBELS.— UNION OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonel Jefferson Davis — His Speech at Holly Springs, Mis- 
 sissippi — His Opposition to Yankee Teachers and Minis- 
 ters — A bid for the Presidency — His Ambition — Burr, 
 Arnold, Davis. — General Beauregard — Headquarters at 
 Rienzi — Colonel Elliott's Raid — Beauregard's Consterna- 
 tion — Personal description — His illness — Popularity wan- 
 ing. — Rev. Dr. Palmer of New Orleans — His influence — 
 The Cincinnati Letter — His Personal Appearance — His 
 Denunciations of General Butler — His Radicalism. — Rev. 
 Dr. Waddell of La Grange, Tennessee — His Prejudices 
 against the North — President of Memphis Synodical Col- 
 lege—His Talents prostituted. — Union Officers — General 
 Nelson — General Sherman 249 — 263 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. 
 
 Cause of the Rebellion — Prevalence of Union Sentiment in 
 the South — Why not Developed — Stevenson's Views — Why 
 Incorrect — Cavalry Raids upon Union Citizens — How the 
 Rebels employ Slaves — Slaves Whipped and sent out of 
 the Federal Lines — Resisting the Conscript Law — Kansas 
 Jayhawkers — Guarding Rebel Property — Perfidy of Seces- 
 sionists — Plea for Emancipation — The South Exhausted — 
 Failure of Crops — Southern Merchants Ruined — Bragg 
 Prohibits the Manufacture and Vending of Intoxicating 
 Liquors — Its Salutary Effect 204 — 281 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BATTLES OF LEESBURG, BELMONT, AND SHILOH. 
 
 Rebel Cruelty to Prisoners — The Fratricide — Grant De- 
 feated — Saved by Gunboats — Buell's Advance — Railroad 
 Disaster — The South Despondent — General Rosecrans — 
 Secession will become Odious even in the Smith — 
 Poem 2b2— 29ti 
 
THE IRON FURNACE; 
 
 OK 
 
 SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SECESSION. 
 
 Speech of Colonel Drane.— Submission Denounced.— North- 
 ern Aggression.— No more Slave States.— Northern isms. — 
 Yankees' Servants.— Yankee inferiority.— Breckinridge, 
 or immediate, complete, and eternal Separation. — A Day 
 of Rejoicing. — Abraham Lincoln President elect.— A 
 Union Speech.— A Southerner's Reasons for opposing 
 Secession. — Address by a Radical Secessionist.— Cursing 
 and Bitterness. — A Prayer. — Sermon against Secession. — 
 List of Grievances. — Causes which led to Secession. 
 
 At the breaking out of the present rebellion, I 
 was engaged in the work of an Evangelist in 
 the counties of Choctaw and Attala in Central 
 Mississippi. My congregations were large, and 
 my duties onerous. Being constantly employed 
 in ministerial labours, I had no time to inter- 
 meddle with politics, leaving all such questions 
 2 [13] 
 
14 THE IRON" FURNACE; OR 
 
 to statesmen, giving the complex issues of the 
 day only sufficient attention to enable me to 
 vote intelligently. Thus was I engaged when 
 the great political campaign of 1860 com- 
 menced — a campaign conducted with greater 
 virulence and asperity than any I have ever 
 witnessed. During my casual detention at a 
 store, Colonel Drane arrived, according to 
 appointment, to address the people of Choctaw. 
 He was a member of one of my congregations, 
 and as he had been long a leading statesman in 
 Mississippi, having for many years presided 
 over the State Senate, I expected to hear a 
 speech of marked ability, unfolding the true 
 issues before the people, with all the dignity, 
 suavity, and earnestness of a gentleman and 
 patriot; but I found his whole speech to be a 
 tirade of abuse against the North, commingled 
 with the bold avowal of treasonable sentiments. 
 The Colonel thus addressed the people : 
 
 My Fellow- Citizens — I appear before you 
 to urge anew resistance against the encroach- 
 ments and aggressions of the Yankees. If the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 15 
 
 Black Kepublicans carry their ticket, and Old 
 Abe is elected, our right to carry our slaves 
 into the territories will be denied us ; and who 
 dare say that he would be a base, craven submis- 
 sionist, when our God-given and constitutional 
 right to carry slavery into the common domain 
 is wickedly taken from the South. The Yan- 
 kees cheated us out of Kansas by their infernal 
 Emigrant Aid Societies. They cheated us out 
 of California, which our blood-treasure pur- 
 chased, for the South sent ten men to one that 
 was sent by the North to the Mexican war, and 
 thus we have no foothold on the Pacific coast ; 
 and even now we pay five dollars for the sup- 
 port of the general Government where the 
 North pays one. We help to pay bounties to 
 the Yankee fishermen in New England ; indeed 
 we are always paying, paying, paying, and yet 
 the North is always crying, Give, give, give. 
 The South has made the North rich, and what 
 thanks do we receive? Our rights are tram- 
 pled on, our slaves are spirited by thousands 
 over their underground railroad to Canada, our 
 citizens are insulted while travelling in the 
 
16 THE IROX FURNACE; OR 
 
 North ; and their servants are tampered with, 
 and by false representations, and often by mob 
 violence,, forced from them. Douglas, knowing 
 the power of the Emigrant Aid Societies, pro- 
 poses squatter sovereignty, with the positive 
 certainty that the scum of Europe and the 
 mudsills of Yankeedom can be shipped in in 
 numbers sufficient to control the destiny of the 
 embryo State. Since the admission of Texas 
 in 1845, there has not been a single foot of 
 slave territory secured to the South, while the 
 North has added to their list the extensive 
 States of California, Minnesota, and Oregon, 
 and Kansas is as good as theirs ; while, if Lin- 
 coln is elected, the Wilmot proviso will be 
 extended over all the common territories, 
 debarring the South for ever from her right to 
 share the public domain. 
 
 The hypocrites of the North tell us that 
 slaveholding is sinful. "Well, suppose it is. 
 Upon us and our children let the guilt of this 
 sin rest; we are willing to bear it, and it is 
 none of their business. "We are a more moral 
 people than they are. Who originated Mor- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 17 
 
 monism, Millerism, Spirit-rappings, Abolition- 
 ism, Free-loveisrn, and all the other abominable 
 isms which cnrse the world? The reply is, the 
 * North. Their puritanical fanaticism and hypo- 
 crisy is patent to all. Talk to us of the sin of 
 slavery, when the only difference between us is 
 that our slaves are black and theirs white. 
 They treat their white slaves, the Irish and 
 Dutch, in a cruel manner, giving them during 
 health just enough to purchase coarse clothing, 
 and when they become sick, they are turned 
 off to starve, as they do by hundreds every 
 year. A female servant in the North must 
 have a testimonial of good character before 
 she will be employed; those with whom she 
 is labouring will not give her this so long 
 as they desire her services; she therefore can- 
 not leave them, whatever may be her treat- 
 ment, so that she is as much compelled to 
 remain with her employer as the slave with 
 
 his master. 
 
 Their servants hate them; ours love us. My 
 
 niggers would fight for me and my family. 
 
 They have been treated well, and they know it. 
 
 o« 
 
18 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 And I don't treat my slaves any better than my 
 neighbours. If ever there comes a war between 
 the North and the South, let us do as Abraham 
 did — arm our trained servants, and go forth 
 with them to the battle. They hate the Yan- 
 kees as intensely as we do, and nothing could 
 please our slaves better than to fight them. 
 Ah, the perfidious Yankees! I cordially hate 
 a Yankee. We have all suffered much at their 
 hands ; they will not keep faith with us. Have 
 they complied with the provisions of the Fugi- 
 tive Slave Law? The thousands and tens of 
 thousands of slaves aided in their escape to 
 Canada, is a sufficient answer. We have lost 
 millions, and are losing millions every year, by 
 the operations of the underground railroad. 
 How deep the perfidy of a people, thus to vio- 
 late every article of compromise we have made 
 with them ! The Yankees are an inferior race, 
 descended from the old Puritan stock, who 
 enacted the Blue Laws. They are desirous of 
 compelling us to submit to laws more iniqui- 
 tous than ever were the Blue Laws. I have 
 travelled in the North, and have seen the depth 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 19 
 
 of their depravity. Now, my fellow-citizens, 
 what shall we do to resist Northern aggression ? 
 Why simply this: if Lincoln or Douglas are 
 elected, (as to the Bell-Everett ticket, it stands 
 no sort of chance,) let us secede. This remedy 
 will be effectual. I am in favour of no more 
 compromises. Let us have Breckinridge, or 
 immediate, complete/ and eternal separation. 
 
 The speaker then retired amid the cheers of 
 his audience. 
 
 Soon after this there came a day of rejoic- 
 ing to many in Mississippi. The booming of 
 cannon, the joyous greeting, the soul-stirring 
 music, indicated that no ordinary intelligence 
 had been received. The lightnings had brought 
 the tidings that Abraham Lincoln was Presi- 
 dent elect of the United States, and the South 
 was wild with excitement. Those who had 
 been long desirous of a pretext for secession, 
 now boldly advocated their sentiments, and 
 joyfully hailed the election of Mr. Lincoln as 
 affording that pretext. The conservative men 
 were filled with gloom. They regarded the 
 
20 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 election of Mr. Lincoln, by the majority of the 
 people of the United States, in a constitutional 
 way, as affording no cause for secession. 
 Secession they regarded as fraught with all the 
 evils of Pandora's box, and that war, famine, 
 pestilence, and moral and physical desolation 
 would follow in its train. A call was made by 
 Governor Pettus for a convention to assemble 
 early in January, at Jackson, to determine what 
 course Mississippi should pursue, whether her 
 policy should be submission or secession. 
 
 Candidates, Union and Secession, were nomi- 
 nated for the convention in every county. The 
 speeches of two, whom I heard, will serve as a 
 specimen of the arguments used pro and con. 
 Captain Love, of Choctaw, thus addressed the 
 people. 
 
 My Fellow-Citizens — I appear before you 
 to advocate the Union — the Union of the States 
 under whose favoring auspices we have long 
 prospered. No nation so great, so prosperous, 
 so happy, or so much respected by earth's 
 thousand kingdoms, as the Great Republic, by 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 21 
 
 which name- the United States is known from 
 the rivers to the ends of the earth. Our flao\ 
 the star-spangled banner, is respected on every 
 sea, and affords protection to the citizens of 
 every State, whether amid the pyramids of 
 Egypt, the jungles of Asia, or the mighty 
 cities of Europe. Our Republican Constitution, 
 framed by the wisdom of our Eevolutionary 
 fathers, is as free from imperfection as any 
 document drawn up by uninspired men. God 
 presided over the councils of that convention 
 which framed our glorious Constitution. They 
 asked wisdom from on high, and their prayers 
 were answered. Free speech, a free press, and 
 freedom to worship Grod as our conscience dic- 
 tates, under our own vine and fig-tree, none 
 daring to molest or make us afraid, are 
 some of the blessings which our Constitution 
 guarantees; and these prerogatives, which we 
 enjoy, are features which bless and distin- 
 guish us from the other nations of the earth. 
 Freedom of speech is unknown amongst them ; 
 among them a censorship of the press and a 
 national church are established. 
 
22 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Our country, by its physical features, seems 
 fitted for but one nation. What ceaseless trou- 
 ble would be caused by having the source of 
 our rivers in one country and the mouth in 
 another. There are no natural boundaries to 
 divide us into separate nations. We are all 
 descended from the same common parentage, 
 we all speak the same language, and we have 
 really no conflicting interests, the statements of 
 our opponents to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 Our opponents advocate separate State seces- 
 sion. Would not Mississippi cut a sorry figure 
 among the nations of the earth ? With no 
 harbour, she would be dependent on a foreign 
 nation for an outlet. Custom-house duties 
 would be ruinous, and the republic of Missis- 
 sippi would find herself compelled to return to 
 the Union. Mississippi, you remember, repu- 
 diated a large foreign debt some years ago; if 
 she became an independent nation, her credi- 
 tors would influence their government to 
 demand payment, which could not be refused 
 hj the weak, defenceless, navyless, armyless, 
 moneyless, repudiating republic of Mississippi. 
 
 V 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 23 
 
 To pay this debt, with the accumulated inter- 
 est, would ruin the new republic, and bank- 
 ruptcy would stare us in the face. 
 
 It is true, Abraham Lincoln is elected 
 President of the United States. My plan is to 
 wait till Mr. Lincoln does something unconsti- 
 tutional. Then let the South unanimously seek 
 redress in a constitutional manner. The con- 
 servatives of the North will join us. If no 
 redress is made, let us present our ultimatum. 
 If this, too, is rejected, I for one will not advo- 
 cate submission ; and by the cooperation of all 
 the slave States, we will, in the event of the 
 perpetration of wrong, and a refusal to redress 
 our grievances, be much abler to secure our 
 rights, or to defend them at the cannon's 
 mouth and the point of the bayonet. The 
 Supreme Court favours the South. In the 
 Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court decided 
 that the neorro was not a citizen, and that the 
 slave was a chattel, as we regard him. The 
 majority of Congress on joint ballot is still with 
 the South. Although we have something to 
 
24 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 fear from the views of the President elect and 
 the Chicago platform, let us wait till some 
 overt act, trespassing upon our rights, is com- 
 mitted, and all redress denied; then, and not 
 till then, will I advocate extreme measures. 
 
 Let our opponents remember that secession 
 and civil war are synonymous. "Who ever heard 
 of a government breaking to pieces without an 
 arduous struggle for its preservation? I admit 
 the right of revolution, when a people's rights 
 cannot otherwise be maintained, but deny the 
 right of secession. "We are told that it is a 
 reserved right. The constitution declares that 
 all rights not specified in it are reserved to the 
 people of the respective States; but who ever 
 heard of the right of total destruction of the 
 government being a reserved right in any con- 
 stitution? The fallacy is evident at a glance. 
 Nine millions of people can afford to wait for 
 some overt act. Let us not follow the precipi- 
 tate course which the ultra politicians indicate. 
 Let W. L. Yancey urge his treasonable policy 
 of firing the Southern heart and precipitating a 
 
SLAVERY AXD SECESSION. 25 
 
 revolution; but let us follow no such wicked 
 advice. Let us follow the things which make 
 for peace. 
 
 We are often told that the North will 
 not return fugitive slaves. Will secession 
 remedy this grievance? Will secession give 
 us any more slave territory ? No free govern- 
 ment ever makes a treaty for the rendition of 
 fugitive slaves — thus recognising the rights of 
 the citizens of a foreign nation to a species of 
 property which it denies to its own citizens. 
 Even little Mexico will not do it. Mexico and 
 Canada return no fugitives. In the event of 
 secession, the United States would return no 
 fugitives, and our peculiar institution would, 
 along our vast border, become very insecure; 
 we would hold our slaves by a very slight 
 tenure. Instead of extending the great South- 
 ern institution, it would be contracting daily. 
 Our slaves would be held to service at their 
 own option, throughout the whole border, and 
 our gulf States would soon become border 
 States; and the great insecurity of this species 
 of property would work, before twenty years, 
 3 
 
26 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 the extinction of slavery, and, in consequence, 
 the ruin of the South. Are we prepared for 
 such a result? Are we prepared for civil war? 
 Are we prepared for all the evils attendant 
 upon a fratricidal contest — for bloodshed, 
 famine, and political and moral desolation? 
 I reply, we are not; therefore let us look 
 before we leap, and avoiding the heresy of 
 secession — 
 
 " Rather bear the ills we have, 
 Than fly to others that we know not of." 
 
 A secession speaker was introduced, and 
 thus addressed the people : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — Fellow-Citizens 
 —I am a secessionist out and out; voted for 
 Jeff Davis for Governor in 1850, when the 
 same issue was before the people; and I have 
 always felt a grudge against the free state of 
 Tishomingo for giving H. S. Foote, the Union 
 candidate, a majority so great as to elect him, 
 and thus retain the State in this accursed 
 Union ten years longer. Who would be a 
 craven-hearted, cowardly, villanous submis- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 27 
 
 sionist? Lincoln, the abominable, white-liv- 
 ered abolitionist, is President elect of the 
 United States; shall he be permitted to take 
 his seat on Southern soil? No, never! I will 
 volunteer as one of thirty thousand, to butcher 
 the villain if ever he sets foot on slave terri- 
 tory. Secession or submission! What patriot 
 would hesitate for a moment which to choose? 
 No true son of Mississippi would brook the 
 idea of submission to the rule of the baboon 
 Abe Lincoln — a fifth-rate lawyer, a broken- 
 down hack of a politician, a fanatic, an aboli- 
 litionist. I, for one, would prefer an hour of 
 virtuous liberty to a whole eternity of bondage 
 under northern, Yankee, wooden-nutmeg rule. 
 The halter is the only argument that should be 
 used against the submissionists, and I predict 
 that it will soon, very soon, be in force. 
 
 We have glorious news from Tallahatchie. 
 Seven tory-submissionists were hanged there in 
 one day, and the so-called Union candidates, 
 having the wholesome dread of hemp before 
 their eyes, are not canvassing the county; 
 therefore the heretical dogma of submission, 
 
28 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 under any circumstances, disgraces not their 
 county. , Compromise! let us have no such 
 word in our vocabulary. Compromise with 
 the Yankees, after the election of Lincoln, is 
 treason against the South; and still its syren 
 voice is listened to by the demagogue submis- 
 sionists. We should never have made any 
 compromise, for in every case we surrendered 
 rights for the sake of peace. No concession of 
 the scared Yankees will now prevent secession. 
 They now understand that the South is in ear- 
 nest, and in their alarm they are proposing to 
 yield us much ; but the die is cast, the Eub'icon 
 is crossed, and our determination shall ever be, 
 No union with the flat-headed, nigger-stealing, 
 fanatical Yankees. 
 
 We are now threatened with internecine 
 war. The Yankees are an inferior race; they 
 are cowardly in the extreme. They are de- 
 scended from the Puritan stock, who never 
 bore rule in any nation. We, the descendants 
 of the Cavaliers, are the Patricians, they the 
 Plebeians. The Cavaliers have always been the 
 rulers, the Puritans the ruled. The dastardly 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 29 
 
 Yankees will never fight us; but if they, in 
 their presumption and audacity, venture to 
 attack us, let the war come — I repeat it — let it 
 come! The conflagration of their burning 
 cities, the desolation of their country, and the 
 slaughter of their inhabitants, will strike the 
 nations of the earth dumb with astonishment, 
 and serve as a warning to future a^es, that the 
 slaveholding Cavaliers of the sunny South are 
 terrible in their vengeance. I am in favour of 
 immediate, independent, and eternal separation 
 from the vile Union which has so long 
 oppressed us. After separation, I am in favour 
 of non-intercourse with the United States so 
 long as time endures. We will raise the tariff, 
 to the point of prohibition, on all Yankee man- 
 ufactures, including wooden-nutmegs, wooden 
 clocks, quack nostrums, &c. We will drive 
 back to their own inhospitable clime every 
 Yankee who dares to pollute our shores with 
 his cloven feet, (to he must, and if necessary, 
 with the bloodhounds on his track. The scum 
 of Europe and the mudsills of Yankeedom 
 shall ' never be permitted to advance a step 
 3* 
 
30 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 south of 36° 30'. South of that latitude is 
 ours — westward to the Pacific. With my heart 
 of hearts I hate a Yankee, and I will make my 
 children swear eternal hatred to the whole 
 Yankee race. A mongrel breed — Irish, Dutch, 
 Puritans, Jews, free niggers, &c. — they scarce 
 deserve the notice of the descendants of the 
 Huguenots, the old Castilians, and the Cava- 
 liers. Cursed be the day when the South con- 
 sented to this iniquitous league — the Federal 
 Union — which has loner dimmed her nascent 
 glory. 
 
 In battle, one southron is equivalent to ten 
 northern hirelings; but I regard it a waste of 
 time to speak of Yankees — they deserve not 
 our attention. It matters not to us what they 
 think of secession, and we would not trespass 
 upon your time and patience, were it not for 
 the tame, tory submissionists with which our 
 country is cursed. A fearful retribution is 
 in waiting for the whole crew, if the war 
 which they predict, should come. Were they 
 then to advocate the same views, I would not 
 give a fourpence for their lives. We would 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 31 
 
 hang them quicker than old Heath would hang 
 a tory. Our Revolutionary fathers set us a 
 good example in their dealings with the tories. 
 They sent them to the shades infernal from the 
 branches of the nearest tree. The North has 
 sent teachers and preachers amongst us, who 
 have insidiously infused the leaven of Abo- 
 litionism into the minds of their students and 
 parishioners ; and this submissionist policy is a 
 lower development of the doctrine of "Wendell 
 Philips, Gerritt Smith, Horace Greely, and 
 others of that ilk. "We have a genial clime, a 
 soil of uncommon fertility. "We have free 
 institutions, freedom for the white man, bond- 
 age for the black man, as nature and nature's 
 God designed. "We have fair women and brave 
 men. The lines have truly fallen to us in 
 pleasant places. W^e have indeed a goodly 
 heritage. The only evil we can complain of is 
 our bondage to the Yankees through the Fede- 
 ral Union. Let us burst these shackles from 
 our limbs, and we will be free indeed. 
 
 Let all who desire complete and eternal 
 emancipation from Yankee thraldom, come to 
 
32 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 the polls on the day of December, pre- 
 pared not to vote the cowardly submissionist 
 ticket, but to vote the secession ticket; and 
 their children, and their children's children, 
 will owe them a debt of gratitude which they 
 can never repay. The day of our separation 
 and vindication of States' rights, will be the 
 happiest day of our lives. Yankee domination 
 will have ceased for ever, and the haughty 
 southron will spurn them from all association, 
 both governmental and social. So mote it be! 
 
 This address was received with great eclat. 
 
 On the next Sabbath after this meeting, I 
 preached in the Poplar Creek Presbyterian 
 church, in Choctaw county, from Komans 
 xiii. 1: "Let every soul be subject unto the 
 higher powers. For there is no power but of 
 God: the powers that be, are ordained of God." 
 
 Previous to the sermon a prayer was offered, 
 of which the following is the conclusion: 
 
 Almighty God — We would present our 
 country, the United States of America, before 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 33 
 
 thee. When our political horizon is overcast 
 with clouds and darkness, when the strong- 
 hearted are becoming fearful for the perma- 
 nence of our free institutions, and the pros- 
 perity, yea, the very existence of our great 
 Kepublic, we pray thee, O God, when flesh and 
 heart fail, when no human arm is able to save 
 us from the fearful vortex of disunion and 
 revolution, that thou wouldst interpose and 
 save us. We confess our national sins, for we 
 have, as a nation, sinned grievously. We have 
 been highly favoured, we have been greatly 
 prospered, and have taken our place amongst 
 the leading powers of the earth. A gospel- 
 enlightened nation, our sins are therefore more 
 heinous in thy sight. They are sins of deep 
 ingratitude and presumption. We confess that 
 drunkenness has abounded amongst all classes 
 of our citizens. Kulers and ruled have been 
 alike guilty; and because of its wide-spreading 
 prevalence, and because our legislators have 
 enacted no sufficient laws for its suppression, it 
 is a national sin. Profanity abounds amongst 
 us ; Sabbath-breaking is rife ; and we have ele- 
 
 t 
 
34 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 vated unworthy men to nigh positions of # hoh- 
 our and trust. We are not, as a people, free 
 from the crime of tyranny and oppression. For 
 these great and aggravated offences, we pray 
 thee to give us repentance and godly sorrow, 
 and then, O God, avert the threatened and 
 imminent judgments which impend over our 
 beloved country. Teach our Senators wisdom. 
 Grant them that wisdom which is able to make 
 them wise unto salvation ; and grant also that 
 wisdom which is profitable to direct, so that 
 they may steer the ship of State safely through 
 the troubled waters which seem ready to engulf 
 it on every side. Lord, hear us, and answer in 
 mercy, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen and Amen! 
 
 The following is a synopsis of my sermon : 
 
 Israel had been greatly favoured as a nation. 
 No weapon formed against them prospered, so 
 long as they loved and served the Lord their 
 God. They were blessed in their basket and 
 their store. They were set on high above all 
 the nations of the earth. * * * * 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 85 
 
 When all Israel assembled, ostensibly to make 
 KeboJ)oam king, they were ripe for rebellion. 
 Jeroboam and other wicked men had fomented 
 and cherished, the sparks of treason, till, on this 
 occasion, it broke out into the flame of open 
 rebellion. The severity of Solomon's rule was 
 the pretext, but it was only a pretext, for dur- 
 ing his reign the nation prospered, grew rich 
 and powerful. Jeroboam wished a disruption 
 of the kingdom, that he might bear rule ; and 
 although God permitted it as a punishment for 
 Israel's idolatry, yet he frowned upon the 
 wicked men who were instrumental in brino-ino- 
 
 o o 
 
 this great evil upon his chosen people. 
 
 The loyal division took the name of Judah, 
 though composed of the two tribes, Judah and 
 Benjamin. The revolted ten tribes took the 
 name of their leading tribe, Ephraim. Eph- 
 raim continued to wax weaker and weaker. 
 Filled with -envy against Judah, they often 
 warred against that loyal kingdom, until they 
 themselves were greatly reduced. At last, after 
 various vicissitudes, the ten tribes were carried 
 away, and scattered and lost. We often hear 
 
36 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 of the lost ten tribes. What became of them 
 is a mystery. Their secession ended in their 
 being blotted out .of existence, or lost amidst 
 the heathen. God alone knows what did 
 become of them. They resisted the powers 
 that be — the ordinance of God — and received 
 to themselves damnation and annihilation. 
 
 As God dealt with Israel, so will he deal 
 with us. If we are exalted by righteousness, 
 we will prosper ; if we, as the ten tribes, resist 
 the ordinance of God, we will perish. At 
 this time, many are advocating the course of 
 the ten tribes. Secession is a word of frequent 
 occurrence. It is openly advocated by many. 
 Nullification and rebellion, secession and trea- 
 son, are convertible terms, and no good citizen 
 will mention them with approval. Secession 
 is resisting the powers that be, and therefore it 
 is a violation of God's command. Where do 
 we obtain the right of secession ? Clearly not 
 from the word of God, which enjoins obedience 
 to all that are in authority, to whom we must 
 be subject, not only for wrath, but also for 
 conscience' sake. The following scriptural 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 37 
 
 arsrument for secession is often used. 1 Tim. vi. 
 1 — 5. In these verses Paul was addressing 
 believing servants, and commanding them to 
 absent themselves from the teaching of those 
 who taught not the doctrine which is according 
 to godliness. In a former epistle he had 
 commanded Christians not to keep company 
 with the incestuous person who had his father's 
 wife. He directed that they should not keep 
 company with any man who was called a 
 brother, if he were a fornicator, or covetous, or 
 an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an 
 extortioner; with such a one no not to eat; 
 but he expressly declares that he does not 
 allude to those who belong to the above classes 
 that have made no profession of religion. He 
 does not judge them that are without, for them 
 that are without, God judgeth. He afterwards 
 exhorts that the church confirm their love 
 toward the incestuous person as he had repent- 
 ed of his wickedness. This direction of the 
 Apostle to believers to withdraw from a 
 brother who walked disorderly, till he had 
 manifested proper repentance ; and his exhorta- 
 '4 
 
38 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 tion to believing servants to absent themselves 
 from the teachings of errorists, cannot logically 
 be construed as a scriptural argument in favour 
 of secession. Were the President of the United 
 States an unbeliever, a profane swearer, a Sab- 
 bath-breaker, or a drunkard, this fact would 
 not, per se, give us the right to secede or rebel 
 against the government. 
 
 There is no provision made in the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States for secession. The 
 wisest statesmen, who made politics their study, 
 regarded secession as a political heresy, dan- 
 gerous in its tendencies, and destructive of all 
 government in its practical application. Mis- 
 sissippi, purchased from France with United 
 States gold, fostered by the nurturing care, and 
 made prosperous by the wise administration of 
 the general government, proposes to secede. 
 Her political status would then be anomalous. 
 Would her territory revert to France? Does 
 she propose to refund the purchase-money? 
 Would she become a territory under the juris- 
 diction of the United States Congress ? 
 
 Henry Clay, the great statesman, Daniel Web- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 39 
 
 ster, the expounder of the Constitution, Gene- 
 ral Jackson, George Washington, and a mighty 
 host, whose names would fill a volume, regarded 
 secession as treason. One of our smallest 
 States, which swarmed with tories in the Revo- 
 lution, whose descendants still live, invented 
 the doctrine of nullification, the first treason- 
 able step, which soon culminated in the advo- 
 cacy of secession. Why should we secede, and 
 thus destroy the best, the freest, and most pros- 
 perous government on the face of the earth? 
 the government which our patriot fathers 
 fought and bled to secure. What has Missis- 
 sippi lost by the Union? I have resided seven 
 years in this State, and have an extensive per- 
 sonal acquaintance, and yet I know not a single 
 individual who has lost a slave through north- 
 ern influence. I have, it is true, known of 
 some ten slaves who have run away, and have 
 not been found. They may have been aided 
 in their escape to Canada by northern and 
 southern citizens, for there are many in the 
 South who have given aid and comfort to the 
 fugitive; but the probability is that they 
 
40 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 perished in the swamps, or were destroyed by 
 the bloodhounds. 
 
 The complaint is made that the North 
 regards slavery as a moral, social, and political 
 evil, and that many of them denounce, in no 
 measured terms, both slavery and slaveholders. 
 To be thus denounced is regarded as a great 
 grievance. Secession would not remedy this 
 evil. In order to cure it effectually, we must 
 seize and gag all who thus denounce our pecu- 
 liar institution. We must also muzzle their 
 press. As this is impracticable, it would be 
 well to come to this conclusion: — If we are 
 verily guilty of the evils charged upon us, let 
 us set about rectifying those evils; if not, the 
 denunciations of slanderers should not affect us 
 so deeply. If our northern brethren are honest 
 in their convictions of the sin of slavery, as no 
 doubt many of them are, let us listen to their 
 arguments without the dire hostility so fre- 
 quently manifested. They take the position 
 that slavery is opposed to the inalienable rights 
 of the human race ; that it originated in piracy 
 and robbery; that manifold cruelties and bar- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 41 
 
 barities are inflicted upon the defenceless 
 slaves; that they are debarred from intellec- 
 tual culture by State laws, which send to 
 the penitentiary those who are guilty of in- 
 structing them; that they are put upon the 
 block and sold; parent and child, husband 
 and wife being separated, so that they never 
 again see each other's face in the flesh; that 
 the law of chastity cannot be observed, as 
 there are no laws punishing rape on the 
 person of a female slave; that when they 
 escape from the threatened cat-o' -nine -tails, 
 or overseer's whip, they are hunted down by 
 bloodhounds, a^id bloodier men; that often 
 they are half-starved and half-clad, and are 
 furnished with mere hovels to live in; that 
 they are often murdered by cruel overseers, 
 who whip them to death, or overtask them, 
 until disease is induced, which results in death ; 
 that masters practically ignore the marriage 
 relation among slaves, inasmuch as they fre- 
 quently separate husband and wife, by sale or 
 removal; that they discourage the formation 
 of that relation, preferring that the ofl'spring of 
 4* 
 
42 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 their female slaves should be illegitimate, from 
 the mistaken notion that it would be more 
 numerous. They charge, also, that slavery 
 induces in the masters, pride, arrogance, 
 tyranny, laziness, profligacy, and every form 
 of vice. 
 
 The South takes the position, that if slavery 
 is sinful, the North is not responsible for that 
 sin; that it is a State institution, and that to 
 interfere with slavery in the States in any 
 way, even by censure, is a violation of the 
 rights of the States. The language of our 
 politicians is, Upon us and our children rest 
 the evil ! We are willing to take the respon- 
 sibility, and to risk the penalty! You will 
 find evil and misery enough in the North 
 to excite your philanthropy, and employ 
 your beneficence. You have purchased our 
 cotton; you have used our sugar; you have 
 eaten our rice; you have smoked and chewed 
 our tobacco — all of which are the products of 
 slave-labour. You have grown rich by traffic 
 in these articles; you have monopolized the 
 carrying trade, and borne our slave-produced 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 43 
 
 products to your shores. Your northern ships, 
 manned by northern men, brought from Africa 
 the greater part of the slaves which came to 
 our continent, and they are still smuggling 
 them in. When, finding slavery unprofitable, 
 the northern States passed laws for gradual 
 emancipation, but few obtained their freedom, 
 the majority of them being shipped South and 
 sold, so that but few, comparatively, were 
 manumitted. If the slave trade and slavery 
 are great sins, the North is particeps criminis, 
 and has been from the beginning. 
 
 These bitter accusations are hurled back and 
 forth through the newspapers ; and in Congress, 
 crimination and recrimination occur every day 
 of the session. Instead of endeavouring to 
 calm the troubled waters, politicians are striv- 
 ing to render them turbid and boisterous. Sec- 
 tional bitterness and animosity prevail to a 
 fearful extent ; but secession is not the proper 
 remedy. To cure one evil by perpetrating a 
 greater, renders a double cure necessary. In 
 order to cure a disease, the cause should be 
 known, that we may treat it intelligently, and 
 
44 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 apply a proper remedy. Having observed, 
 during the last eleven years, that sectional 
 strife and bitterness were increasing with fear- 
 ful rapidity, I have endeavoured to stem the 
 torrent, so far as it was possible for individual 
 effort to do so. I deem it the imperative duty 
 of all patriots, of all Christians, to throw oil 
 upon the troubled waters, and thus save the 
 ship of State from wreck among the vertiginous 
 billows. 
 
 Most of our politicians are demagogues. 
 They care not for the people, so that they 
 accomplish their own selfish and ambitious 
 schemes. Give them power, give them money, 
 and they are satisfied. Deprive them of these, 
 and they are ready to sacrifice the best interests 
 of the nation to secure them. They excite 
 sectional animosity and party strife, and are 
 willing to kindle the flames of civil war to 
 accomplish their unhallowed purposes. They 
 tell ns that there is a conflict of interest 
 between the free and slave States, and endea- 
 vour to precipitate a revolution, that they may 
 be leaders, and obtain positions of trust and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 45 
 
 profit in the new government which they hope 
 to establish. The people would be dupes 
 indeed to abet these wicked demagogues in 
 their nefarious designs. Let us not break 
 God's command, by resisting the ordinance of 
 God — -the powers that be. I am not discussing 
 the right of revolution, which I deem a sacred 
 right. When human rights are invaded, when 
 life is endangered, when liberty is taken away, 
 when we are not left free to pursue our own 
 happiness in our own chosen way — so far as 
 we do not trespass upon the rights of others — 
 we have a right, and it becomes our imperative 
 duty to resist to the bitter end, the tyranny 
 which would deprive us and our children of 
 our inalienable rights. Our lives are secure; 
 we have freedom to worship God. Our liberty 
 is sacred; we may pursue happiness to our 
 hearts' content. We do not even charge upon 
 the general Government that it has infringed 
 these rights. Whose life has been endangered, 
 or who has lost his liberty by the action of the 
 Government ? If that man lives, in all this fair 
 domain of ours, he has the right to complain. 
 
46 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 But neither you nor I have ever heard of or 
 seen the individual who has thus suffered. We 
 have therefore clearly no right of revolution. 
 
 Treason is no light offence. God, who rules 
 the nations, and who has established govern- 
 ments, will punish severely those who attempt 
 to overthrow them. Damnation is stated to be 
 the punishment which those who resist the 
 powers that be, will suffer. Who wishes to 
 endure it? I hope none of my charge will 
 incur this penalty by the perpetration of trea- 
 son. You yourselves can bear me witness that 
 I have not heretofore introduced political issues 
 into the pulpit, but at this time I could not 
 acquit my conscience were I not to warn you 
 against the great sin some of you, I fear, are 
 ready to commit. 
 
 Were I to discuss the policy of a high or 
 low tariff, or descant upon the various merits 
 attached to one or another form of banking, 
 I should be justly obnoxious to censure. Poli- 
 tics and religion, however, are not always 
 separate. When the political issue is made, 
 shall we, or shall we not, grant license to sell 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 47 
 
 intoxicating liquors as a beverage? the min- 
 ister's duty is plain; he must urge his people 
 to use their influence against granting any 
 such license. The minister must enforce every 
 moral and religious obligation, and point out the 
 path of truth and duty, even though the princi- 
 ples he advocates are by statesmen introduced 
 into the arena of political strife, and made issues 
 by the great parties of the day. I see the 
 sword coming, and would be derelict in duty 
 not to give you faithful warning. I must 
 reveal the whole counsel of God. I have a 
 message from God unto you, which I must 
 deliver, whether you will hear, or whether you 
 will forbear. If the sword come, and you 
 perish, I shall then be guiltless of your blood. 
 As to the great question at issue, my honest 
 conviction is (and I think I have the Spirit of 
 God,) that you should with your whole heart, 
 and soul, and mind, and strength, oppose 
 secession. You should talk against it, you 
 should write against it, you should vote against 
 it, and, if need be, you should fight against it. 
 I have now declared what I believe to be your 
 
48 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 high duty in this emergency. Do not destroy 
 the government which has so long protected 
 you, and which has never in a single instance 
 oppressed you. Pull not down the fair fabric 
 which our patriot fathers reared at vast ex- 
 pense of blood and treasure. Do not, like the 
 blind Samson, pull down the pillars of our 
 glorious edifice, and cause death, desolation, 
 and ruin. Perish the hand that would thus 
 destroy the source of all our political pros- 
 perity and happiness. Let the parricide who 
 attempts it receive the just retribution which a 
 loyal people demand, even his execution on a 
 gallows high as Haman's. Let us also set 
 about rectifying the causes which threaten the 
 overthrow of our government. As we are 
 proud, let us pray for the grace of humility. 
 As a State, and as individuals, we too lightly 
 regard its most solemn obligations; let us, 
 therefore, pray for the grace of repentance and 
 godly sorrow, and hereafter in this respect sin 
 no more. As many transgressions have been 
 committed by us, let the time past of our lives 
 suffice us to have wrought the will of the flesh, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 49 
 
 and now let us break off our sins by righteous- 
 ness, and our transgressions by turning unto 
 the Lord, and be will avert bis threatened 
 judgments, and save us from dissolution, an- 
 archy, and desolation. 
 
 If our souls are filled with hatred against 
 the people of any section of our common coun- 
 try, let us ask from the Great Giver the grace 
 of charity, which suffereth long and is kind, 
 which envieth not, which vaunteth not itself, 
 is not puffed up, does not behave itself 
 unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily 
 provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in 
 iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all 
 things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things, and which never faileth; 
 then shall we be in a suitable frame for an ami- 
 cable adjustment of every difficulty; oil will 
 soon be thrown upon the troubled waters, and 
 peace, harmony, and prosperity would ever 
 attend us; and our children, and our children's 
 children will rejoice in the possession of a bene- 
 ficent and stable government, securing to them 
 all the natural and inalienable rights of man. 
 
50 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 VIGILANCE COMMITTEE AND COURT-MARTIAL. 
 
 The election of Delegates to determine the status of Missis- 
 sippi — The Vigilance Committee — Description of its mem- 
 bers — Charges — Phonography — No formal verdict — Dan- 
 ger of Assassination — Passports — Escape to Rienzi — 
 Union sentiment — The Conscript Law — Summons to at- 
 tend Court-Martial — Evacuation of Corinth — Destruction 
 of Cotton — Suffering poor — Relieved by General Halleck. 
 
 Soon after this sermon was preached, the 
 election was held. Approaching the polls, I 
 asked for a Union ticket, and was informed that 
 none had been printed, and that it would be 
 advisable to vote the secession ticket. I thought 
 otherwise, and going to a desk, wrote out a 
 Union ticket, and voted it amidst the frowns 
 and suppressed murmurs of the judges and by- 
 standers, and, as the result proved, I had the 
 honour of depositing the only vote in favour 
 of the Union which was polled in that precinct. 
 I knew of many who were in favour of the 
 Union, who were intimidated by threats, and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 51 
 
 by the odium attending it from voting at all. 
 A majority of secession candidates were elected. 
 The convention assembled, and on the 9th of 
 January, 1861, Mississippi had the unenviable 
 reputation of being the first to follow her twin 
 sister, South Carolina, into the maelstrom of 
 secession and treason. Being the only States 
 in which the slaves were more numerous than 
 the whites, it became them to lead the van in 
 the slave-holders' rebellion. Before the 4th of 
 March, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana 
 and Texas had followed in the wake, and were 
 engulfed in the whirlpool of secession. 
 . It was now dangerous to utter a word in 
 favour of the Union. Many suspected of Union 
 sentiments were lynched. An old gentleman 
 in Winston county was arrested for an act 
 committed twenty years before, which was 
 construed as a proof of his abolition proclivi- 
 ties. The old gentleman had several daughters, 
 and his mother-in-law had given him a negro 
 girl. Observing that his daughters were be- 
 coming lazy, and were imposing all the labour 
 upon the slave, he sent her* back to the donor, 
 
52 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 with a statement of the cause for returning 
 her. This was now the ground of his arrest, 
 but escaping from their clutches, a precipitate 
 flight alone saved his life. 
 
 Self-constituted vigilance committees sprang 
 up all over the country, . and a reign of terror 
 began; all who had been Union men, and who 
 had not given in their adhesion to the new 
 order of things by some public proclamation, 
 were supposed to be disaffected. The so-called 
 Confederate States, the new power, organized 
 for the avowed purpose of extending and per- 
 petuating African slavery, was now in full 
 blast. These soi-disant vigilance committees 
 professed to carry out the will of Jeff. Davis. 
 All who were considered disaffected were re- 
 garded as being tinctured with abolitionism. 
 My opposition to the disruption of the Union 
 being notorious, I was summoned to appear 
 before one of these august tribunals to answer 
 the charge of being an abolitionist. My wife was 
 very much alarmed, knowing that were I found 
 guilty of the charge, there was no hope for 
 mercy. Flight was impossible, and I deemed 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 53 
 
 it the safest plan to appear before the commit- 
 tee. I found it to consist of twelve persons, 
 five of whom I knew, viz., Parson Locke, 
 Armstrong, Cartledge, Simpson, and Wilbanks. 
 Parson Locke, the chief speaker, or rather the 
 inquisitor-general, was a Methodist minister, 
 though he had fallen into disrepute among 
 his brethren, and was engaged in a tedious 
 strife with the church which he left in Holmes 
 county. The parson was a real ISTimrod. He 
 boasted that in five months he had killed forty- 
 eight raccoons, two hundred squirrels, and ten 
 deer; he had followed the bloodhounds, and 
 assisted in the capture of twelve runaway 
 negroes. W. H. Simpson was a ruling elder 
 in my church. Wilbanks was a clever sort 
 of old gentleman, who had little to say in the 
 matter. Armstrong was a monocular Hard- 
 shell-Baptist. Cartledge was an illiterate, con- 
 ceited individual. The rest were a motley crew, 
 not one of whom, I feel confident, knew a letter 
 in the alphabet. The committee assembled in 
 an old carriage-shop. Parson Locke acted as 
 chairman, and conducted the trial, as follows. 
 5* 
 
5-i THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 " Parson Aughey, you have been reported to 
 us as holding abolition sentiments, and as being 
 disloyal to the Confederate States." 
 
 "Who reported me, and where are your 
 witnesses ?" 
 
 " Any one has a right to report; and it is 
 optional whether he confronts the accused or 
 not. The proceedings of vigilance committees 
 are somewhat informal." 
 
 " Proceed, then, with the trial, in your own 
 way." 
 
 "We propose to ask you a few questions, 
 and in your answers you may defend yourself, 
 or admit your guilt. In the first place, did you 
 ever say that you did not believe that God 
 ordained the institution of slavery?" 
 
 " I believe that God did not ordain the insti- 
 tution of slavery." 
 
 "Did not God command the Israelites to buy 
 slaves from the Canaanitish nations, and to 
 hold them as their property for ever?" 
 
 "The Canaanites had filled their cup of 
 iniquity to overflowing, and God commanded 
 the Israelites to exterminate them; this, in 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. " DO 
 
 violation of God's command, they failed to do. 
 God afterwards permitted the Hebrews to 
 reduce them to a state of servitude; but the 
 punishment visited upon those seven wicked 
 nations by the command of God, does not 
 justify war or the slave-trade." 
 
 "Did you say that you were opposed to the 
 slavery which existed in the time of Christ?" 
 
 "I did, because the system of slavery pre- 
 vailing in Christ's day was cruel in the 
 extreme; it conferred the power of life and 
 death upon the master, and was attended with 
 innumerable evils. The slave had the same 
 complexion as his master ; and by changing his 
 servile garb for the citizen dress, he could not 
 be recognised as a slave. You yourself pro- 
 fess to be opposed to white slavery." 
 
 "Did you state that you believed Paul, when 
 he sent Onesimus back to Philemon, had no 
 idea that he would be regarded as a slave, and 
 treated as such after his return?" 
 
 "I did. My proof is in Philemon, verses 15 
 and 16, where the apostle asks that Onesimus 
 
56 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 be received, not as a servant, but as a brother 
 beloved ?" 
 
 "Did you tell Mr. Creath that you knew 
 some negroes who were better, in every respect, 
 than some white men?" 
 
 "I said that I knew some negroes who were 
 better classical scholars than any white men I 
 had as yet met with in Choctaw county, and 
 that I had known some who were pre-eminent 
 for virtue and holiness. As to natural rights, 
 I made no comparison ; nor did I say anything 
 about superiority or inferiority of race. I also 
 stated my belief in the unity of the races." 
 
 "Have you any abolition works in your 
 library, and a poem in your scrap-book, en- 
 titled ' The Fugitive Slave,' with this couplet as 
 a refrain, 
 
 'The hounds are baying on my track; 
 Christian, will you send me back?' " 
 
 "I have not Mrs. Stowe's nor Helper's work; 
 they are contraband in this region, and I could 
 not get them if I wished. I have many works 
 in my library containing sentiments adverse to 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 57 
 
 tlie institution of slavery. All the works in 
 common use amongst us, on law, physic, and 
 divinity, all the text-books in our schools — in 
 a word, all the works on every subject read 
 and studied by us, were, almost without excep- 
 tion, written by men opposed to the peculiar 
 institution. I am not alone in this matter." 
 
 " Parson, I saw Cowper's works in your 
 library, and Cowper says: 
 
 1 1 would not have a slave to fan me when I sleep, 
 And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth 
 That sinews bought and sold have ever earned.'" 
 
 "You have Wesley's writings, and Wesley 
 says that 'Human slavery is the sum of all 
 villany.' You have a work which has this 
 couplet : 
 
 'Two deep, dark stains,. mar all our country's bliss: 
 Foul slavery one, and one, loathed drunkenness.' 
 
 You have the work of an English writer of 
 high repute, who says, 'Forty years ago, some 
 in England doubted whether slavery were a 
 sin, and regarded adultery as a venial offence; 
 but behold the progress of truth! Who now 
 
58 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 doubts that he who enslaves his fellow-man is 
 guilty of a fearful crime, and that he who 
 violates the seventh commandment is a great 
 sinner in the sight of God?'" 
 
 "You are known to be an adept in Phono- 
 graphy, and you are reported to be a corres- 
 pondent of an abolition Phonographic journal." 
 "I understand the science of Phonography, 
 and I am a correspondent of a Phonographic 
 journal, but the journal eschews politics." 
 
 Another member of the committee then in- 
 terrogated me. 
 
 " Parson Aughey, what is Funnyography ? 
 " Phonography, sir, is a system of writing by 
 means of a philosophic alphabet, composed of 
 the simplest geometrical signs, in which one 
 mark is used to represent one and invariably 
 the same sound." 
 
 "Kin you talk Funnyography? and where 
 does them folks live what talks it?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, I converse fluently in Phono- 
 graphy, and those who speak the language live 
 in Columbia." 
 
 "In theDestrict?" 
 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 59 
 
 " No, sir, in the poetical Columbia." 
 
 I was next interrogated by another member 
 of the committee. 
 
 "Parson Aughey, is Phonography a Aboli- 
 tion fixin?" 
 
 " No, sir ; Phonography, abstractly considered, 
 has no political complexion ; it may be used to 
 promote either side of any question, sacred or 
 profane, mental, moral, physical, or political." 
 
 "Well, you ought to mite and talk plain 
 English, what common folks can understand, 
 or we'll have to say of you, what Agrippa 
 said of Paul, 'Much learning hath made thee 
 mad.' Suppose you was to preach in Phono- 
 graphy, who'd understand it?— who'd know 
 what was piped or harped? I'll bet high 
 some Yankee invented it to spread his abolition 
 notions underhandedly. I, for one, would be 
 in favour of makin' the parson promise to write 
 and talk no more in Phonography. I'll bet 
 Phonography is agin slavery, tho' I never 
 hearn tell of it before. I'm asrin all secret 
 societies. I'm agin the Odd-fellers, Free-ma- 
 
60 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 sons, Sons of Temperance, Good Templars and 
 Phonography. I want to know what's writ 
 and what's talked. Yon can't throw dnst in 
 my eyes. Phonography, from what I've fonnd 
 ont abont it to-day, is agin the Confederate 
 States, and we onght to be agin it." 
 
 Parson Locke then resumed: 
 "I must stop this digression. Parson 
 Aughey, are yon in favonr of the South?" 
 
 "I am in favour of the South, and have 
 always endeavoured to promote the best inter- 
 ests of the South. However, I never deemed it 
 for the best interests of the South to secede. I 
 talked against secession, and voted against 
 secession, because I thought that the best inter- 
 ests of the South wo aid be put in jeopardy by 
 the secession of the Southern States. I was 
 honest in my convictions, and acted according- 
 ly. Could the sacrifice of* my life have stayed 
 the swelling tide of secession, it would gladly 
 have been made." 
 
 "It is said that you have never prayed for 
 the Southern Confederacy." 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 61 
 
 "I have prayed for the whole world, though 
 it is true that I have never named the Confede- 
 rate States in prayer." 
 
 " You may retire." 
 
 After I had retired, the committee held a 
 long consultation. My answers were not satis- 
 factory. I never learned all that transpired. 
 They brought in no formal verdict. The 
 majority considered me a dangerous man, but 
 feared to take my life, as they were, with one 
 exception, adherents of other denominations, 
 and they knew that my people were devotedly 
 attached to me before the secession movement. 
 Some of the secessionists swore that they would 
 go to my house and murder me, when they 
 learned that the committee had not hanged me. 
 My friends provided me secretly with arms, 
 and I determined to defend myself to the last. 
 I slept with a double-barrelled shot-gun at my 
 head, and was prepared to defend myself 
 against a dozen at least. 
 
 Learning that I was not acceptable to many 
 of the members of my church, whilst my life 
 6 
 
62 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 was in continual jeopardy, and my family in a 
 state of constant alarm, I abandoned my field of 
 labour, and sought for safety in a more con- 
 genial clime. I intended to go North. Jeff. 
 Davis and his Congress had granted permission 
 to all who so desired, to leave the South. Several 
 Union men of my acquaintance applied for pass- 
 ports, but were refused. The proclamation to 
 grant permits was an act of perfidy ; all those, 
 so far as I am informed, who made application 
 for them, were refused. The design in thus act- 
 ing was to get Union men to declare themselves 
 as such, and afterwards to punish them for their 
 sentiments by forcing them into the army, con- 
 fining them in prison, shooting them, or lynch- 
 ing them by mob violence. Finding that were 
 I to demand a passport to go north, I would 
 be placed on the proscribed list, and my life 
 endangered still more, I declared my intention 
 of going back to Tishomingo county, in which 
 I owned property, and which was the home of 
 many of my relatives. I knew that I would 
 be safer there, for this county had elected 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 63 
 
 Union delegates by a majority of over fourteen 
 hundred, and a strong Union sentiment had 
 always prevailed. 
 
 On my arrival in Tishomingo, I found that 
 the great heart of the county still beat true to 
 the music of the Union. Being thrown out of 
 employment I deemed it my duty, in every pos- 
 sible way, to sustain the Union cause and the 
 enforcement of the laws. It was impossible to 
 go north. Union sentiments could be expressed 
 with safety in many localities. Corinth, Iuka, 
 and Rienzi had, from the commencement of the 
 war, been camps of instruction for the training 
 of Confederate soldiers. These three towns in 
 the county being thus occupied, Union men 
 found it necessary to be more cautious, as the 
 cavalry frequently made raids through the coun- 
 ty, arresting and maltreating those suspected of 
 disaffection. After the reduction of Forts 
 Henry and Donelson, and the surrender of 
 Nashville, the Confederates made the Memphis 
 and Charleston railroad the base of their opera- 
 tions, their armies extending from Memphis to 
 Chattanooga. Soon, however, they were all 
 
64 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 concentrated at Corinth, a town in Tishomingo 
 county, at the junction of the Memphis and 
 Charleston railroad with the Mobile and Ohio. 
 After the battle of Shiloh, which was fought 
 on the 6th and 7th of April, the Federal troops 
 held their advance at Farmington, four miles 
 from Corinth, while the Confederates occupied 
 Corinth, their rear guard holding Bienzi, twelve 
 miles south, on the Mobile and Ohio railroad. 
 Thus there were two vast armies encamped 
 in Tishomingo county. Being within the Con- 
 federate lines, I, in common with many others, 
 found it difficult to evade the conscript law. 
 Knowing that in a multitude of counsellors 
 there is wisdom, we held secret meetings, in 
 order to devise the best method of resisting the 
 law. We met at night, and had our counter- 
 signs to prevent detection. Often our wives, 
 sisters, and daughters met with us. Our meet- 
 ing-place was some ravine, or secluded glen, as 
 far as possible from the haunts of the secession- 
 ists; all were armed; even the ladies had re- 
 volvers, and could use them too. The crime of 
 treason we were resolved not to commit. Our 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. t)^ 
 
 counsels were somewhat divided, some advo- 
 cating, as a matter of policy, the propriety of 
 attending the militia musters, others opposing 
 it for conscience 1 sake, and for the purpose of 
 avoiding every appearance of evil. Many who 
 would not muster as conscripts, resolved to 
 escape to the Federal lines; and making the 
 attempt two or three at a time, succeeded in 
 crossing the Tennessee river, and reaching the 
 Union army, enlisted under the old flag, and 
 have since done good service as patriot war- 
 riors. Some who were willing to muster as 
 conscripts, were impressed into the Confederate 
 service, and I know not whether they ever 
 found an opportunity to desert. Others, my- 
 self among the number, were saved by the 
 timely arrival of the Federal troops, and the 
 occupation of the county by them, after Beau- 
 regard's evacuation of Corinth. I had received 
 three citations to attend muster, but disregard- 
 ing them, I was summoned to attend a court- 
 martial on the first day of June, at the house of 
 Mr. Jim Mock. The following is a copy of the 
 citation. 
 6* 
 
6S THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Ma the 22d. 1862 
 
 Parson Awhay, You havent tended nun of 
 our mustters as a konskrip. Now you is her 
 bi sumenzd to attend a kort marshal on Jun 
 the fust at Jim Mock. 
 
 When I received the summons, I resolved to 
 attempt reaching the Union lines at Farming- 
 ton. Two of my friends, who had received a 
 similar summons, expected to accompany me. 
 On the 29th of May, I left for Kienzi, where 
 my two friends were to meet me. I had not 
 been many hours in Eienzi when it became 
 evident that the Confederates were evacuating 
 Corinth. On the 1st of June, (the day the 
 court-martial was to convene,) I had the plea- 
 sure of once more beholding the star-spangled 
 banner as it was borne in front of General 
 Granger's command, which led the van of the 
 pursuing army. Had I remained and attended 
 the court-martial, I would have been forced 
 into the army. Were I then to declare that I 
 would not take up arms against the United 
 States, I would have been shot, as many 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 67 
 
 have been, for their refusal thus to act. 
 General Rosecrans, on his arrival, made his 
 head-quarters at my brother's house, where I 
 had the pleasure of forming his acquaintance, 
 together with that of Generals Smith, Granger, 
 and Pope. As this county was now occupied 
 by the Federal army, I returned to my father- 
 in-law's, within five miles of which place the 
 court martial had been ordered to convene, 
 considering myself comparatively safe. I 
 learned that the court-martial never met, 
 as Colonel Elliott, in his successful raid upon 
 Boonville, had passed Jim Mock's, scaring him 
 to such a degree, that he did not venture to 
 sleep in his house for two weeks. The Union 
 cavalry scoured the country in all directions, 
 daily, and we were rejoicing at the prospect 
 of continuous safety, and freedom from out- 
 rage. 
 
 The Rebels, during their retreat, had burned 
 all the cotton which was accessible to their 
 cavalry, on their route. At night, the flames 
 of the burning cotton lighted up the horizon ' 
 for miles around. These baleful pyres, with 
 
68 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 their lurid glare, bore sad testimony to the 
 horrors of war. In this wanton destruction of 
 the great southern staple, many poor families 
 lost their whole staff of bread, and starvation 
 stared them in the face. Many would have 
 perished, had it not been for the liberal contri- 
 butions of the North; for, learning the suffer- 
 ings of the poor of the South, whose whole 
 labour had been destroyed by pretended friends, 
 they sent provisions and money, and thus 
 many who were left in utter destitution, were 
 saved by this timely succor. I have heard 
 the rejoicings of the poor, who, abandoned by 
 their supposed friends, were saved, with their 
 "children, from death, by the beneficence of 
 those whom they had been taught to regard as 
 enemies the most bitter, implacable, unmerciful, 
 and persistent. Their prayer may well be, 
 Save us from our friends, whose tender mercies 
 are cruel! I have never known a man to burn 
 his own cotton, but I have heard their bitter 
 anathemas hurled against those who thus 
 robbed them, and their denunciations were 
 loud and deep against the government which 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 69 
 
 authorized such cruelty. It is true that those 
 who thus lose their cotton, if secessionists, 
 receive a " promise to pay/' which all regard 
 as not worth the paper on which it is written. 
 Ere pay-day, those who are dependent on their 
 cotton for the necessaries of life, would have 
 passed the bourne whence no traveller returns, 
 "lis like the Confederate bonds — at , first they 
 were made payable two years after date, and 
 printed upon paper which would be worn out 
 entirely in six months, and would have become 
 illegible in half that time. The succeeding 
 issues were made payable six months after the 
 ratification of a treaty of peace between the 
 United States and the Confederate States. 
 Though not a prophet, nor a prophet's son, I 
 venture the prediction that those bonds will 
 never be due. The war of elements, the wreck 
 of matter, and the crush of worlds, announcing 
 the end of all things, will be heard sooner. 
 
70 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ARREST, ESCAPE, AND RECAPTURE. 
 
 High price of Provisions — Holland Lindsay's Family — The 
 arrest — Captain Hill — Appearance before Colonel Brad- 
 fute at Fulton — Arrest of Benjamin Clarke — Bradfute's 
 Insolence — General Chalmers — The clerical Spy — Gene- 
 ral Pfeifer — Under guard — Priceville — General Gordon — 
 Bound for Tupelo — The Prisoners entering the Dungeon — 
 Captain Bruce — Lieutenant Richard Malone — Prison Fare 
 and Treatment — Menial Service — Resolve to escape — 
 Plan of escape — Federal Prisoners — Co-operation of the 
 Prisoners — Declaration of Independence — The Escape — • 
 The Separation — Concealment — Travel on the Under- 
 ground Railroad — Pursuit by Cavalry and Bloodhounds — ■ 
 The Arrest — Dan Barnes, the Mail-robber — Perfidy — 
 Heavily ironed — Return to Tupelo. 
 
 At this time — May and June, 1862 — all mar- 
 ketable commodities were commanding fabu- 
 Ions prices ; as a lady declared, it wonld soon 
 be necessary, on going to a store, to carry two 
 baskets, one to hold the money, and the other 
 the goods purchased. Flour was thirty dollars 
 pur barrel, bacon forty cents per pound, and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 71 
 
 coffee one dollar per pound. Salt was nomi- 
 nally one hundred dollars per sack of one hun- 
 dred pounds, or one dollar per pound, but there 
 was none to be obtained even at that price. 
 Ladies were compelled to dispense with salt in 
 their culinary operations; even the butter was 
 unsalted. Cotton-cards, an article used in every 
 house at the South, the ordinary price of which 
 is fifty cents per pair, were selling at twenty- 
 five dollars per pair, and wool-cards at fifteen 
 dollars per pair, the usual price being thirty - 
 ei^ht cents. All the cotton used in the manu- 
 facture of home-made cloth, is carded into rolls 
 upon these cotton-cards, which are brought 
 from the North, there being not a single manu- 
 factory of them in the South. "When the sup- 
 ply on hand becomes exhausted, the southern 
 home manufacture of cloth must cease, no one 
 as yet having been able to suggest a substitute 
 for the cotton-card. There are only three facto- 
 ries in Mississippi, which must cease running as 
 soon as their machinery wears out, as the most 
 important parts of the machinery in those fac- 
 tories are supplied from the North. The people 
 
72 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 arc fully a Ware of these difficulties, but they 
 can devise no remedy, hence the high price of 
 all articles used in the manufacture of all kinds 
 of cloths. All manufactured goods were com- 
 manding fabulous prices. On the occupation 
 of the county by Federal troops, goods could 
 be obtained at reasonable prices, but our money 
 was all gone, except Confederate bonds, which 
 were worthless. Planters who were beyond the 
 lines of the retreating army had cotton, but 
 many of them feared to sell it, as the Rebels 
 professed to regard it treason to trade with the 
 invaders, and threatened to execute the penalty 
 in every case. As there was no penalty 
 attached to the selling of cotton by one citizen 
 of Mississippi to another, some of my friends 
 offered to sell me their cotton for a reasonable 
 price. 
 
 I was solicited also to act as their agent in 
 the purchase of commodities. I agreed to this 
 risk, because of the urgent need of my friends, 
 many of whom were suffering greatly for the 
 indispensable necessaries of life. I thought it 
 was better that one should suffer, than that the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 73 
 
 whole people should perish. By this arrange- 
 ment my Union friends would escape the punish- 
 ment meted out to those who were found guilty 
 of trading with the Yankees; if discovered, I 
 alone would be amenable to their unjust and 
 cruel law, and they would thus save their cotton, 
 which was liable to be destroyed at any mo- 
 ment by a dash of rebel cavalry. I now hired 
 a large number of wagons to haul cotton into 
 Eastport and Iuka, that I might ship it to the 
 loyal States. On the 2d of June the wagons 
 were to rendezvous at a certain point; there 
 were a sufficient number to haul one hundred 
 bales per trip. I hoped to keep them running 
 for some time. 
 
 On the first of June I rode to Mr. Holland 
 Lindsay's on business. I had learned that he 
 was a rabid secessionist, but supposed that no 
 rebel cavalry had come so far north as his 
 house since the evacuation of Corinth. Mr. 
 Lindsay had gone to a neighbour's. His wife was 
 weaving; she was a coarse, masculine woman, 
 and withal possessed of strong prejudice against 
 all whom she did not like, but especially the 
 7 
 
74 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Yankees. I sat down to await the arrival of 
 her hnsband, and it was not long before Mrs. 
 Lindsay broached the exciting topic of the clay, 
 the war. She thus vented her spleen against 
 the Yankees. 
 
 "There was some Yankee calvary passed 
 here last week — they asked me if there wos 
 ony rebels scoutin round here lately. I jest told 
 em it want none of ther bizness. Them nasty, 
 good for nothin scamps callen our men rebels. 
 Them nigger-stealin, triflin scoundrels. They 
 runs off our niggers, and wont let us take em to 
 Mexico and the other territories." 
 
 I ventured to remark, "The Yankees are 
 mean, indeed, not to let us take our negroes to 
 the Territories, and not to help catch them for 
 us when they run off." 
 
 The emphatic us and our nettled her, as none 
 of the Lindsays ever owned a negro, being 
 classed by the southern nabobs as among the 
 poor white trash; nor did I ever own a slave. 
 Her husband, however, had once been sent to 
 the Legislature, which led the family to ape the 
 manners, and studiously copy the ultraism of 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 75 
 
 the classes above them. Mrs. Lindsay became 
 morose. I concluded to ride over and see her 
 husband. 
 
 On my way I met a member of Hill's cavalry. 
 He halted me, inquired my name and business, 
 which I gave. He said that, years ago, he had 
 heard me preach, and that he was well ac- 
 quainted with my brothers-in-law, who were 
 officers in the Eebel armv. He informed me 
 that his uncle, Mr. Lindsay, had gone across 
 the field home, and that he himself was on his 
 way there. I returned with him, but fearing 
 arrest, my business was hastily attended to, and 
 I at once started for my horse. By this time 
 one or two other cavalry-men rode up. I 
 heard Mrs. Lindsay informing her nephew that 
 I was a Union man, and advising my arrest. 
 When I had reached mv horse, Mr. Davis, Lind- 
 say's nephew arrested me, and sent my horse to 
 the stable. After, supper my horse was brought, 
 and I was taken to camp. Four men were 
 detached to guard me during the night. They 
 ordered me to lie down on the ground and 
 sleep. As it had rained during the day, and I 
 
76 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 had no blanket, I insisted upon going to a Mr. 
 Spigener's, about fifty yards distant, to secure 
 a bed. After some discussion they consented, 
 the guards remaining in the room, and guard- 
 ing me by turns during the night. The next 
 morning I sought Captain Hill, and asked per- 
 mission to return home, when the following 
 colloquy ensued. 
 
 '•'Are you a Union man?" 
 
 "I voted the Union ticket, sir." 
 
 "That is not a fair answer. I voted the 
 Union ticket myself, and am now warring 
 against the Union." 
 
 "I have seen no good reason for changing 
 my sentiments." 
 
 "You confess, then, that you are a Union 
 man?" 
 
 "I do; I regard the union of these States as 
 of paramount importance to the welfare of 
 the people inhabiting them." 
 
 " You must go to head-quarters, where you 
 will be dealt with as we are accustomed to deal 
 with all the abettors of an Abolition govern- 
 ment." 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 77 
 
 A heavy guard was then detached to take 
 charge of me, and the company set off for 
 Fulton, the county seat of Ittawamba county, 
 Mississippi, distant thirty miles. After going 
 about ten miles, we halted, and two men were 
 detached to go forward with the prisoners, a 
 Mr. Benjamin Clarke and myself. Our guards 
 were Dr. Crossland, of Burnsville, Tishomingo 
 county, Mississippi, and Ferdinand Woodruff. 
 They were under the influence of liquor, and 
 talked incessantly, cursing and insulting us, on 
 every occasion, by abusive language. They 
 detailed to each other a history of their licen- 
 tious amours. We halted for dinner at one 
 o'clock, and being out of money, they asked 
 me to pay their bill, which I did, they pro- 
 mising to refund the amount when they reached 
 Fulton. This they forgot to do. 
 
 On our arrival at Fulton, we were taken into 
 the office of the commander of the post, 
 Colonel Bradfute. My fellow-prisoner was 
 examined first. Woodruff stated that they 
 had played off on Mr. Clarke — calling on 
 7* 
 
78 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 him, as lie was plowing in the field, stating 
 that they were Federal soldiers. They asked 
 Clarke what were his political views. He 
 replied that ' he always had been a Union 
 man — had voted the Union ticket, and would 
 do it again, if another election were held; that 
 he hated the secession principles, and would 
 enlist in the Federal army as soon as he got 
 his crop in such a condition that his family 
 could attend to it. On hearing this statement, 
 Bradfute became very angry, swearing that 
 Clarke ought to be taken out and shot then, 
 but that a few days' respite would make but 
 little difference. Said he, addressing the 
 guards, had you hung Clarke, you would 
 have saved us some trouble, and have done 
 your country good service. The Colonel, turn- 
 ing round, glared upon me with eyes inflamed 
 with passion and liquor, and thus addressed 
 me: 
 
 "Are you a Union man too?" 
 
 "I am, sir. I have never denied it." 
 
 "Where do you reside?" 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. 79 
 
 " I consider Eienzi my home, but have been 
 staying for some time at my father-in-law's, in 
 the south-eastern part of Tishomingo county." 
 
 "What is your father-in-law's name?" 
 
 "Mr. Alexander Paden." 
 
 "I know the old gentleman and his three 
 sons. They are all in the Confederate service. 
 They are brave men, and have done some hard 
 fighting in our cause. How happens it that 
 you look at matters in a different light from 
 your relatives ?" 
 
 "I am not guided in my ^opinions by the 
 views of my friends." 
 
 "What is your profession?" 
 
 " I am a minister of the gospel." 
 
 "I suppose, then, that you go to the Bible 
 for your politics, and that you are a sort of 
 higher-law man." 
 
 "My Bible teaches, 'Let every soul be sub- 
 ject to the higher powers, for there is no power 
 but of God ; the powers that be, are ordained 
 of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the 
 power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and 
 they that resist shall receive to themselves 
 
80 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 damnation.' I have seen no reason for resist- 
 ance to the government under which we have, 
 as a nation, so long prospered." 
 
 "I command you to hush, sir; you shan't 
 preach treason to me, and if you get your de- 
 serts you will be hung immediately. Have 
 you ever been within the Federal lines?" 
 
 " I have, sir." 
 
 " At what points?" 
 
 " At Rienzi and Iuka." 
 
 " When were you at Iuka ?" 
 
 " On last Saturday." 
 
 " Had the Federals a large force at that place, 
 and who was in command ?" 
 
 "They have a large force, and Generals 
 Thomas and Steadman are in command." 
 
 " That is contrary to the reports of our scouts, 
 who say that there are but two regiments in the 
 town. I fear you are purposely trying to mis- 
 lead us." 
 
 "General Steadman has but two regiments 
 in the town, but General Thomas is within 
 striking distance with a large force." 
 
 " What was your business in Iuka?" 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 81 
 
 " I went there to pay a debt of fifty dollars 
 which a widow owed, as she wished it to be 
 paid in Confederate money before it became 
 worthless." 
 
 " Have you a Federal pass ?" 
 
 "I * have none with me, but nave one at 
 home." 
 
 " How does it read ?" 
 
 " It was given by General Nelson, and reads 
 thus : ' The bearer, Rev. John H. Aughey, has 
 permission to pass backward and forward 
 through the lines of this division at will.' " 
 
 " Where were you born?" • 
 
 " I was born in New Hartford, Oneida coun- 
 ty, New York." 
 
 "Yankee born," said the Colonel, with a 
 sneer; "you deserve death at the rope's-end, 
 aud if I had the power I would hang all Yan- 
 kees who are among us, for they are all tories, 
 whatever may be their pretensions." 
 
 "My being born north of the nigger-line, 
 Colonel, if a crime worthy of death, was cer- 
 tainly not my fault, but the fault of my parents. 
 They did not so much as consult me in regard 
 
82 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 to any preference I might have concerning the 
 place of my nativity." 
 
 Woodruff, one of my guards, now informed 
 the Colonel that I was a spy, and, while the 
 Confederates were at Corinth, had, to his cer- 
 tain knowledge, been three times at Nashville, 
 carrying information. I told Woodruff that 
 his statement was false, and that he knew it ; 
 that I had never been at Nashville in my life. 
 General Chalmers, who was present, and Colonel 
 Bradfute, at the conclusion of the examination, 
 spent fifteen or twenty minutes in bitterly curs- 
 ing all Yankees, tories, and traitors, as they 
 termed us. All the conversation of the rebel 
 officers was interlarded with the most horrid 
 profanity. General Chalmers, in speaking, in- 
 variably called me the clerical spy. We were 
 placed under guard, and sent to Brooksville, 
 ten miles distant, the head-quarters of General 
 Pfeifer. Immediately after our arrival, we were 
 soundly berated by General Pfeifer, and then 
 sent out to the camp, half a mile from the town, 
 where we were placed under guard for the night, 
 in a small plot of ground surrounded by a chain. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 83 
 
 We had no supper, and no blankets to sleep 
 on. Our bed was the -cold ground, our cover- 
 ing the blue canopy of heaven. The next 
 morning we were started, without breakfast, 
 under a heavy guard, numbering fourteen 
 cavalry, to Price ville, six miles west of Brooks-' 
 ville. Priceville was named in honour of 
 General Sterling Price, or rather the little 
 village where he encamped had its name 
 changed in his honour. When we reached 
 Priceville we were taken to the head-quarters 
 of General Jordan, and immediately brought 
 into his presence. After reading the letter 
 handed to him by one of the guard, he said, 
 looking sternly at me, 
 
 "You are charged with sedition." 
 I asked him what sedition meant, to which 
 he replied : 
 
 " It means enough to hang you, you villan- 
 ous tory I" 
 
 He also asked me where I was born. My 
 reply was, in the State of £ew York, near 
 Utica, in Oneida county. 
 
 "Then you doubly deserve death," said he. 
 
84 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 " As to the guilt of my nativity/' said I, " it 
 is not my fault, for I could not have helped it 
 if I had tried. But I glory in my native State. 
 She has never done anything to disgrace her. 
 She never repudiated her just debts, nor com- 
 mitted any other disgraceful act." 
 
 "Well, you ought to have staid there, or 
 have gone back when Mississippi seceded." 
 
 "Give me an opportunity, and I will go 
 instanter." 
 
 " The first going you will do, will be to go to 
 hell, where, if the devil had his due, you would 
 have been long ago ; and before you leave us, 
 we will give you a free ticket to the shades 
 infernal." 
 
 " Thank you for your kind offer to give me 
 a free pass to the infernal regions. I did not 
 know before that you were the devil's ticket- 
 agent. You have me in your power, and may 
 destroy my life; but when you have done that, 
 there is no more that you can do." 
 
 Yery little was said to my fellow-prisoner, 
 Clarke. A few curses for a traitor, tory, &c, 
 was about all. We were now placed under 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 85 
 
 guard, arid conducted to Tupelo, and after 
 visiting the provost-marshal's office and the 
 office of the commander of the post, whose 
 names were Peden and Clare, we were com- 
 mitted to the Central Military Prison. As we 
 entered, Captain Bruce and Lieutenant Malone 
 (two gentlemen who had been elected to those 
 offices by their fellow-prisoners) received us 
 with a cordial greeting. Captain Bruce thus 
 addressed us : 
 
 "Welcome, gentlemen, thrice welcome. I 
 am rejoiced to see you at my hotel. We are 
 now doing a land-office business, as the large 
 number of my boarders, whom you see, will 
 testify. We have numerous arrivals daily, 
 whilst the departures are very few, giving 
 evidence that all are satisfied with their treat- 
 ment. The bill of fare is not very extensive. In 
 these war times we must not expect the luxu- 
 ries of life, but be content with the necessaries. 
 It is true, we cannot furnish you with coffee, or 
 molasses, or sugar, or salt, or beef, or vegeta- 
 bles ; but we have something more substantial 
 — we have flour, rather dark in colour, to be 
 8 
 
86 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 sure, but people must not be squeamish. The 
 boarders are required to do their own cooking, 
 as they could otherwise have but little exer- 
 cise; we consider it a sanitary measure, exer- 
 cise being indispensable to health. We fur- 
 nish the boarders, also, with meat — none of 
 your lean meat, either, but fat middling, with a 
 streak of lean in it. The Bible promises the 
 righteous that their bread shall be given, and 
 their water sure; but we go beyond the pro- 
 mise, and give not only bread (or rather the 
 flour to make it) and water, but also fat, strong 
 meat. What room will you be pleased to 
 have?" 
 
 I replied, that as they seemed to be crowded, 
 I would choose number 199. 
 
 "Well," said the Captain, "it shall be pre- 
 pared. Lieutenant Malone, have room num- 
 ber 199 fitted up for the reception of these gen- 
 tlemen." 
 
 Lieutenant Malone replied, that the room 
 designated would be fitted up in style for our 
 reception. He asked us if we had dined. 
 
 "No," replied Clarke; "we have not tasted 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 87 
 
 food since yesterday at noon, when the Parson 
 paid for his own dinner and the dinner of the 
 guards. We asked for something to eat, but 
 were as often refused, and now we are in a 
 starving condition." 
 
 "I pity you," said Malone, laying aside his 
 facetious style ; " you shall have something to 
 eat as soon as it can be cooked." 
 
 He then went to some of the prisoners, and 
 set them to cooking, and we were soon fur- 
 nished with the best repast the poor fellows 
 could supply. 
 
 We entered the prison July 3d, 1862, at two 
 o'clock, P. M. Our prison was a grocery- 
 house, its dimensions about twenty-five by fifty 
 feet. When we were incarcerated, there were 
 about seventy prisoners in the building, whites, 
 mulattoes and negroes. The prison was filthy 
 in the extreme, and filled with vermin; even 
 our food was infested with them. No brooms 
 were furnished us, and we could not sweep 
 the floor. No beds were furnished, and we 
 were compelled to lie upon the floor, with no 
 
88 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 covering, and nothing but the hard planks 
 beneath us. 
 
 Several times a day officers would come in 
 and order a specified number of men to go and 
 work, under a strong guard. "We were made 
 to clean the streets, roll barrels, and clean the 
 hospital ; but our own prison we were not per- 
 mitted to clean. Every kind of drudgery, and 
 the most menial services, were imposed upon 
 us. 
 
 The crimes charged upon the prisoners were 
 desertion, trading with the Yankees, adhesion 
 to the United States government or Unionism, 
 acting as spies, refusing Confederate bonds, 
 and piloting the Yankees. The crime of the 
 negroes and mulattoes was endeavouring to 
 escape on the underground railroad from Dixie 
 land and the Iron Furnace. These remained 
 till their masters were informed of their arrest, 
 and came for and released them. On the even- 
 ing preceding our imprisonment, two prisoners 
 had been led out and shot, and I soon learned 
 that this was no unusual occurrence. Nearly 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 89 
 
 every day witnessed the execution of one or 
 more of us. Those who were doomed to die 
 were heavily ironed. In some cases, however, 
 those who were not in fetters were taken out 
 and shot or hanged, often with no previous 
 warning; though sometimes a few hours warn- 
 ing was given. 
 
 Our privations were so great from a want of 
 proper food and water — for the scanty amount 
 of water furnished us was tepid and foul — and 
 from a lack of beds, cots, couches, or some- 
 thing better than a filthy floor whereon to sleep, 
 that I resolved to attempt an escape at the risk 
 of my life. I felt confident that I could not long 
 survive such cruel treatment. As soon as my 
 arrest was known to the thirty-second Missis- 
 sippi regiment, encamped in the suburbs of 
 Tupelo, the colonel, major, adjutant, and one of 
 the captains called upon me. This regiment was 
 raised in Tishomingo county, one of the com- 
 panies, the Zollicoffer Avengers, being from, 
 Eienzi, where I had been for years proprietor 
 and Principal of the Eienzi Female Seminary. 
 The daughters of many of the officers of this 
 8* 
 
90 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 regiment had been educated at this Seminary 
 during my superintendence. Some of these 
 officers had expressed themselves under great 
 obligations to me, for the thorough, moral, men- 
 tal, and physical training of their children 
 while under my care. As proof of this, I have 
 their own statements, as published in the public 
 journals of the day. Owing me a debt of grati- 
 tude, as they professed, could I expect less than 
 the manifestation of deep sympathy for me in 
 my sad condition — confined in a gloomy dun- 
 geon, deprived of the comforts, yea, even the 
 necessaries of life, menaced and insulted by the 
 officers in whose power I was ? Whatever may 
 have been my hopes, they were doomed to be 
 blasted. These summer friends, so obsequious 
 in my prosperity, conversed for a while on 
 indifferent topics, never alluding to my condi- 
 tion, and as I did not obtrude it upon their 
 attention, they left, promising to call again. I 
 said, "Do so, gentlemen; you will always find 
 me at horned Adjutant Irion, as he passed out, 
 asked Lieutenant Malone what the charge was 
 against me. Malone replied that I was charged 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 91 
 
 with being a Union man. The adjutant said, 
 in a bitter and sarcastic tone, that I should 
 never have been brought to Tupelo, but on my 
 arrest should have been sent to hell from the 
 lowest limb of the nearest tree. 
 
 Having determined to escape at all hazards, I 
 sought out an accomplice, a compagnon de voyage; 
 that person was Eichard Malone ; his piercing 
 eye, his intellectual physiognomy, led me to 
 believe that if he consented to make the at- 
 tempt with me, our chances for escape would be 
 good. I drew Malone to one side, and covertly 
 introduced the matter. He soon got my idea, 
 and drawing from his pocket a paper, showed 
 me the route mapped out which he intended to 
 pursue, as he had for some days determined to 
 escape, or die in the attempt. He was charged 
 with being a spy, and there was little doubt 
 that they would establish his guilt by false tes- 
 timony. "We went out now under every possi- 
 ble pretext. "We no longer shunned the guard 
 who came to obtain prisoners to do servile 
 labour. Our object being to reconnoitre, in 
 order to learn where guards were stationed, and 
 
92 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 to determine the best method of escape through 
 the town after leaving the prison. During the 
 day we made these observations: that there 
 were two guards stationed at the back door, who 
 were very verdant; that they would, after 
 relief, come on duty again at midnight; that 
 there was a building on the south side of the 
 prison, extending beyond the prison and beyond 
 the guards; that the moon would set about 
 eleven o'clock, P. M. ; that there were no 
 guards stationed on the south side of the prison 
 during the' day; that one of the planks in 
 the floor could be easily removed; and that 
 there were several holes, when we were once 
 under the floor, by which egress might be made 
 either on the north or south side; that the 
 coast was probably clearest in the direction of a 
 corn-field some two hundred yards distant in 
 a northwest direction. 
 
 At four o'clock P. M., our plan was fully 
 matured. At midnight, (the moon being down, 
 and the verdant guards on duty ) we would 
 raise the plank, get under the floor, and myself 
 in the advance, make our exit through one of 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 93 
 
 the holes on the south side of the jail, then 
 crawl to the building, some fifteen feet distant, 
 and continue crawling till we passed the guards ; 
 then rise and make our way as cautiously as 
 possible, to a point in the corn-field, a short 
 distance in the rear of a garment which was 
 hanging upon the fence. The one who first 
 arrived must await the other. A signal was 
 agreed upon, to prevent mistake. If the 
 guards ordered us to halt, we had resolved to 
 risk their fire, our watchword being, Liberty 
 or death! 
 
 About this time the prisoners chose me 
 their chaplain by acclamation. During the 
 day, we made known our intention of escap- 
 ing to several fellow-prisoners, who promised 
 us all the assistance in their power. All the 
 prisoners who knew of the matter, earnestly 
 desired our escape, and co-operated with us 
 in effecting it. Clarke and Eobinson begged 
 us to take them along, averring there was 
 no doubt that they would be shot. Malone 
 told them that no more than two could go 
 
94 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 together; that if they wished to escape, they 
 could make the attempt half an hour after us, 
 which they agreed to. Clarke, however, came 
 to me, and desired me to take him along, 
 as he would rather go with us than with 
 Eobinson. He had a wife and five small 
 children dependent on him for support, and if 
 he perished, they must perish too. I consulted 
 Malone, but he would not agree to have Clarke 
 go with us. Three would be too many for 
 safety, and he doubted whether Clarke had suf- 
 ficient nerve to face the glittering bayonet, or 
 tact enough to pass through the camps with- 
 out detection. He might commit some blunder 
 which would endanger our safety. I informed 
 Clarke that the arrangement made, in which 
 he and Eobinson were to go together, must be 
 adhered to. He begged me, by all that was 
 sacred, to take him along. But Malone was 
 inexorable, and I thought it best to acquiesce 
 in his judgment. 
 
 Night drew on apace. Thick darkness gath- 
 ered around us, and murky clouds covered the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 95 
 
 sky, as we sat down witli the Federal prisoners 
 to onr scanty allowance. While partaking of 
 onr rude fare, Malone thns spoke : 
 
 " This day is the 4th of July, 1862, the anni- 
 versary of onr patriot fathers' declaration of 
 independence of British tyranny and oppres- 
 sion. They had mnch to complain of. They 
 suffered grievous wrongs and cruel bondage. 
 But eighty-six years ago to-day they declared 
 themselves to be a free and independent peo- 
 ple, who would rather die than be again 
 enslaved. Of what worth was their declaration 
 if they had remained inactive? Supineness 
 would not have saved them. But trusting in 
 our God, who gives success to the righteous 
 cause, they imperilled their lives, they hazard- 
 ed their fortunes, and with untiring energy and 
 sleepless vigilance they contested to the bitter 
 end against all efforts to deprive them of their 
 inalienable rights. Success crowned their ef- 
 forts, and they rid themselves of tyrants' chains. 
 We (I allude to my friend, Parson Aughey, and 
 myself,) degenerate sons of these noble sires, 
 have suffered wrong, nay, gross outrage. Citi- 
 
96 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 zens of the sunny South, guilty of no offence 
 whatever, not even of constructive crime, we 
 are immured in a loathsome dungeon, deprived 
 of the comforts of life, separated from our 
 families, and suffered to have no communica- 
 tion with them; dragging out a miserable exist- 
 ence, which an ignominious death on the scaf- 
 fold must soon end. We, therefore, John H. 
 Aughey and Kichard Malone, in view of these 
 accumulated wrongs and outrages, solemnly 
 swear before High Heaven, and in presence of 
 these witnesses, that we will be free, or perish 
 in the attempt. Appealing to the God of liber- 
 ty, of truth, and of righteousness, for the recti- 
 tude of our motives and the justness of our 
 cause, we commit ourselves into his hands, 
 and implore his protection amid the dangers 
 through which we are about to pass, and hum- 
 bly pray that he will give us success, and 
 restore us speedily to our families and friends, 
 and to the enjoyment of our inalienable rights, 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 
 
 Grasping the Lieutenant by the hand, I con- 
 sented to this Declaration of Independence of 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 97 
 
 rebel thraldom. We gave our respective 
 addresses to our friends, who promised, that if 
 the j were ever liberated, and we were killed 
 by the guards, they would write to our fami- 
 lies, informing them of the manner of our 
 death. 
 
 About ten o'clock, Malone raised the plank, 
 and I went under to reconnoitre. I remained 
 under the floor about ten minutes, having 
 learned that there were no guards patroling the 
 south side of the house, as we feared might be 
 the case after night. We had learned, from 
 observation, that there were none during the 
 day. Just at the noon of night, we heard the 
 relief called. Malone and I endeavoured to 
 find the prisoners who were to raise the plank, 
 but not being able readily to do so, we raised 
 the plank ourselves, and both got under with- 
 out difficulty. Malone getting under first, was, 
 contrary to agreement, compelled to take the 
 lead. As he was passing out, he made con- 
 siderable noise. To warn him of the danger, 
 I patted him on the back. Reaching back, he 
 gave my hand a warm pressure, to assure me 
 9 
 
98 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 that all was right, and passed out. I followed, 
 and reached the designated point in the corn- 
 field in about half an hour, having to use the 
 utmost precaution, and in some cases to pass 
 the guards by crawling in a serpentine manner. 
 When I arrived, I gave the preconcerted sig- 
 nal, but Malone was nowhere to be seen. I 
 waited for him two hours at least, when I was 
 compelled to seek my safety alone. 
 
 Not being able to meet with my friend, I 
 regarded as a great misfortune, because, after 
 reaching a point ten miles north of Tupelo, he 
 would be familiar with the country. I had fre- 
 quently passed through the town on the rail- 
 road, but knew nothing of the country through 
 which I must travel. Somewhat depressed in 
 spirits at the loss of my comjiagnon de voyage, 
 I resolved to reach my family by the safest and 
 most practicable route. Still in the midst of 
 camps, I had* considerable difficulty in making 
 my way out of them. "When I thought that 
 this had been effected, I found that day was 
 brightening in the east. Looking around for 
 some place to hide, I soon found a dense, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 99 
 
 though small thicket, in which I secreted 
 myself as covertly as possible. Having slept 
 but little since my arrest, I endeavoured to 
 compose myself to slumber, and partially suc- 
 ceded; but soon the noise and confusion of 
 soldiers passing and re-passing near, awoke and 
 alarmed me. I soon learned that I was near a 
 camp, and that the soldiers had found a suit- 
 able place for bathing in a creek which ran 
 within thirty yards of my place of conceal- 
 ment. There were two paths by which they 
 reached the creek. On one, they passed within 
 fifteen feet of me ; on the other, within six or 
 seven. About nine o'clock, I heard the boom- 
 ing of cannon all around me, proceeding from 
 the different camps. The soldiers who passed 
 me stated, in their conversation, that the can- 
 non were firing in honour of a great victory 
 obtained over General McClellan, in Virginia. 
 According to their statement, his whole army, 
 after a succession of losses, during eight days' 
 fighting, had been completely annihilated, and 
 that Stonewall Jackson would be in Washing- 
 
 o 
 
 ton city before the close of the week. 
 
100 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 The day passed slowly away. At one time 
 two soldiers came within a few feet of me in 
 search of blackberries, bnt passed ont without 
 detecting me. At another time two soldiers sat 
 down to converse, so near that their lowest tones 
 were distinctly audible. One informed the other 
 that he had been in town in the morning, and 
 had learned that the Clerical Spy, Parson 
 Aughey, and a fellow by the name of Malone, 
 had broke jail, but that they would soon be 
 brought in, as a company of cavalry had been 
 put on their track, with a pack of bloodhounds. 
 Soon after this, one of them arose and struck a 
 bush several times, which seemed to be but a 
 very short distance above my head. I thought 
 that he had discovered me, and was about to 
 rise and run, when I heard him say to his com- 
 panion, that he had attempted to kill a very 
 large snake, which had escaped to the bushes. 
 I began to feel somewhat uncomfortably situ- 
 ated when I learned that I was in close prox- 
 imity to a large snake, though I would have 
 preferred meeting with an anaconda, boa-con- 
 strictor, rattlesnake, or even the deadly cobra 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 101 
 
 di capello, rather than with those vile secession- 
 ists thirsting for innocent blood. 
 
 I thought this 5th of July was the longest 
 day I had ever known. The sun was so long 
 in reaching the zenith, and so slow in passing 
 down the steep ecliptic way to the Occident. 
 The twilight, too, seemed of endless duration. 
 But as all long days have had an end, so had 
 this. The stars came glittering one by one. I 
 soon recognised that old staunch and immovable 
 friend of all travellers on the underground rail- 
 road, the polar-star. 
 
 Eising from my lair, I was soon homeward 
 bound, guided by the north-star and an oriental 
 constellation. Plunging into a dense wood I 
 found my rapid advance impeded by the un- 
 dergrowth, and great difficulty in following my 
 guiding stars, as the boughs of the great oaks 
 rendered them invisible, or dimly seen. Fa- 
 tigued, hungry, and sleepy, I at length lay 
 down at the foot of a large swamp -oak tree, 
 intending to take a nap, and then rise and pur- 
 sue my journey. When I awoke the sun was 
 just rising. I arose filled with regret for the 
 9* 
 
102 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 time I had lost. Though somewhat refreshed 
 by my sound sleep, yet I was very hungry 
 and almost famished with thirst. 
 
 After travelling about half a mile I came to 
 a small log-house on a road-side. Feeling sick 
 and faint, I resolved to go to the house to 
 obtain water, and, if I liked the appearance of 
 the inmates, to reveal my condition, and ask for 
 aid. Upon reaching the house I met the pro- 
 prietor, but did not like his physiognomy. He 
 looked the villain ; a sinister expression, a coun- 
 tenance revealing no intellectuality , except a sort 
 of low cunning, bore testimony that it would 
 be foolish to repose confidence in the possessor 
 of such villanous looks. I asked for water, in- 
 tending to drink and leave. He pointed to the 
 bucket ; I drank and bade him good morning, 
 and turned to leave. I had proceeded but 
 a few steps, when I was ordered, in a sten- 
 torian tone, to halt. On looking round, I 
 saw. a soldier within a few steps, presenting a 
 double-barrelled gun; another soldier was 
 standing near, heavily armed. I asked by 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 103 
 
 what authority he halted me. To which he 
 replied : 
 
 "I know you, sir; I have heard you preach 
 frequently. You are Parson Aughey, and you 
 were arrested and confined in prison at Tupelo. 
 I was in Lowrey's regiment yesterday, and 
 learned that you had broken jail; and now, sir, 
 you must return. My name is Dan Barnes. 
 You may have heard of me." 
 
 I had indeed heard of him. He had been 
 guilty of robbing the United States mail, had 
 fled to Napoleon or Helena, Arkansas, where 
 he was arrested, brought back, and incarcer- 
 ated in jail at Pontotoc, and confined there for 
 nearly a year. As the evidence against him 
 was positive, he would have been sent to the 
 penitentiary; but, fortunately for him, at this 
 juncture Mississippi seceded. There being then 
 no United States officers to execute the laws, 
 he was liberated, and soon after joined the 
 army. 
 
 After breakfast, which I paid for, Barnes 
 called me to one side, and told me that he felt 
 sorry for me, and would afford me an opportu- 
 
104 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 nity of escaping, if I would pay him a reason- 
 able sum. He had been in a tight place him- 
 self, and would have been glad had some friend 
 been near to aid him. He named two hundred 
 and forty dollars as the reasonable sum for 
 permitting me to escape. After getting my 
 money, their horses were saddled, and telling 
 me he was playing-off on me, said I must go to 
 General Jordan's head-quarters at Priceville, to 
 which place he and Huft^ the proprietor of the 
 log cabin, conducted me. 
 
 On my arrival, General Jordan ordered me 
 to be put in irons, and placed under guard. I 
 was taken to a blacksmith's shop in the town, 
 the General accompanying the guard, and heavy 
 iron bands were put around my ankles, and 
 connected by a chain. The bands were put on 
 hot, and my boots were burnt in the operation. 
 The blacksmith seemed averse to the order, and 
 only obeyed it upon compulsion. The General 
 stood by, and saw that it was well done. "Iron 
 him securely — securely, sir," was his oft re- 
 peated order. The ironing caused me much 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 105 
 
 pain. My ankles were long discoloured from 
 the effects of it. 
 
 After my manacles were put on, I was 
 taken back to Tupelo by Barnes and another 
 guard. On my arrival, the commander of the 
 post and the Provost Marshal were filled with 
 joy. Barnes gave them the history of the 
 arrest, stating that I had attempted to bribe 
 him ; that he listened to my proposition with 
 indignation, and when he had got the money, 
 performed what he regarded his duty. The 
 commander replied that all the property of 
 traitors was theirs, and that he did right in 
 deceiving me, after accepting the bribe. He 
 also recommended Barnes for promotion for his 
 heroic and patriotic act in arresting me. (Per- 
 haps it secured for him a captaincy.) The fol- 
 lowing colloquy now took place between the 
 commander of the post, the Provost Marshal, 
 and myself: 
 
 " Why did you attempt to leave us ?" 
 "Because, sir, your prison was so filthy, and 
 your fare so meagre and unwholesome, that I 
 could not endure it long, and live." 
 
106 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 "Parson, you know the Bible says, the 
 wicked flee when no man pnrsueth, but the 
 righteous are as bold as a lion. You must 
 have been guilty of crime, or you would not 
 have tried to escape." 
 
 "I may have been guilty of the offence 
 charged against me, and yet innocent of real 
 guilty 
 
 "You shall never be taken back to the 
 prison you left, rest assured of that. Did any 
 of the prisoners know of or aid you in your 
 escape ?" 
 
 "No, sir; none of them knew anything 
 about it." 
 
 "Are you telling the truth?" 
 
 " I am." 
 
 "Where is Malone?" 
 
 " I never saw him after I left the building." 
 
 " He cannot escape ; the cavalry are after 
 him, and he will be brought in soon, dead or 
 alive." 
 
 "Why did you attempt to bribe Barnes?" 
 
 "It was his own offer. I knew that his 
 cupidity was great, and thought it no harm to 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 107 
 
 accept his offer. If Barnes had his deserts, he 
 would now be hard at work in the peni- 
 tentiary." 
 
 "Did the jury that tried him, acquit him?" 
 "No. The secession of Mississippi saved 
 him. I refer you to Colonel Tison, who is in 
 Tupelo, for the particulars. He being marshal 
 of North Mississippi, arrested Barnes, and 
 knows all about it. He found on his j3erson 
 the evidence of his guilt, the money and checks 
 stolen when he robbed the mail." 
 
 " Parson, you will not be immediately exe- 
 cuted, but you will, without doubt, hang in a 
 week or two, so that, if you have any word to 
 send your family, you have permission to do 
 so." 
 
 "May I write a letter to my wife?" 
 "You may, and I will see that it is for- 
 warded to her." 
 
 I sat down and wrote a letter, a very 
 common-place letter, to my wife, inserting, 
 occasionally, a word in phonography, which, 
 taken in connection, read thus: "If possible, 
 inform General Kosecrans or Nelson of my 
 
108 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 arrest." While inspecting the letter, Lieu- 
 tenant Peden noticed the phonography, and 
 asked me to read it. I read it thus : " My 
 dear wife, I hope to be at home soon. Do not 
 grieve." This letter they never sent. It was 
 merely an act of duplicity on their part, to 
 obtain some concession, which might be used 
 against me. The guard, receiving orders, now 
 conducted me to a hotel, and placed me in a 
 small room, two guards remaining inside, and 
 two at the door outside, with orders to shoot me 
 if I made the least attempt at escape. I re- 
 mained in this room only a few hours, after 
 which I was taken to my old prison. As I 
 entered, my old friends, the prisoners, crowded 
 around me, and Captain Bruce addressed me 
 in his facetious manner. In prison, his wit had 
 beguiled many a tedious hour. His humour 
 was the pure Attic salt. 
 
 " Parson Aughey, you are welcome back to 
 my house, though you have played us rather a 
 scurvy trick in leaving without giving me the 
 least inkling of the matter, or settling your 
 bill." 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 109 
 
 I replied : " Captain, it was hardly right ; but 
 I did not like your fare, and your beds were 
 filled with vermin." 
 
 "Well, you do not seem to have fared better 
 since you left, for you have returned." 
 
 "Captain, my return is the result of coercion. 
 Some who oppose this principle when applied 
 to themselves, have no scruples in enforcing it 
 upon others. 
 
 "No rogue e'er felt the halter draw, 
 With good opinion of the law ;" 
 
 is an old saw, and the truth of proverbs is sel- 
 dom affected by time. I am your guest upon 
 compulsion; but remember, I will leave you 
 the first opportunity." 
 
 Upon hearing this, an officer present swore 
 that when I again left that building, it would be 
 to cross the railroad, (the place of execution.) 
 
 The prisoners gathered around me, and I 
 related to them my adventures. They then 
 informed me of what had transpired during my 
 absence. Clarke was taken out of prison to 
 guide a cavalry company in search of me. 
 10 
 
110 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Clarke informed me that they scoured the 
 country, and then went to my father-in-law's; 
 and after searching the premises, returned, 
 believing that I had gone due north towards 
 Eienzi, in which direction another company 
 had been despatched. On their return, Clarke 
 was remanded to jail. At roll-call — seven 
 o'clock, A. M., we were missed. The cavalry 
 were immediately sent in pursuit. All the 
 guards on duty during the night were put 
 under arrest. Our method of escape was soon 
 discovered, and the guards were released, as 
 they were not at fault. A large number of 
 spikes were hammered in the floor, the guards 
 were doubled, and greater vigilance enjoined. 
 The prisoners were questioned, strictly and 
 individually, to learn whether any of them 
 knew of our intention to escape, or had ren- 
 dered us any assistance. They all positively 
 denied any knowledge of the matter. They 
 asked me whether I had given the officers any 
 information about their knowledge of our 
 designs, and cooperation in effecting them. I 
 replied that I had positively denied that any 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. Ill 
 
 except Malone and myself were privy to our 
 plans. 
 
 I may state here that it is difficult to justify 
 a falsehood. We ought to utter truth always, 
 without exaggeration or prevarication, leaving 
 consequences with God. We should do right 
 without regard to results, for with consequences 
 we have no business; but in this case the 
 temptation to utter an untruth was great. 
 These wicked men, thirsting for my blood, had 
 no right to make me criminate myself or my 
 coadjutors. It would have been wrong for me 
 to give them the information they desired. 
 Truth is too precious for a secessionist, thirst- 
 ing for innocent blood. Had I refused to 
 answer, they would have suspected that some 
 of my fellow-prisoners aided us, and would 
 have either forced me to tell who they were, or 
 would have hanged me instantly for my refu- 
 sal. If I had given information, and crimi- 
 nated those who had befriended us, they would 
 have been severely punished, and I have been 
 guilty of the basest ingratitude; I would 
 have been shunned by the prisoners, and 
 
112 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 regarded as one of the meanest of men, one 
 of the veriest wretches in existence; I could 
 never again ask nor expect aid in a similar 
 attempt to save myself from a violent death. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 113 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 LIFE IN A DUNGEON. 
 
 Parson Aughey as Chaplain — Description of the Prisoners — 
 Colonel Walter, the Judge Advocate — Charges and Speci- 
 fications against Parson Aughey — A Citizen of the Con- 
 federate States — Execution of two Tennesseeans — En- 
 listment of Union Prisoners — Colonel Walter's second 
 visit — Day of Execution specified — Farewell Letter to 
 my Wife — Parson Aughey's Obituary penned by him- 
 self — Address to his Soul — The Soul's Reply — Farewell 
 Letter to his Parents — The Union Prisoners' Petition to 
 Hon. W. H. Seward — The two Prisoners and the Oath of 
 Allegiance — Irish Stories. 
 
 I WAS remanded to jail on Sabbath, the 6th 
 of July, 1862. On the day of my escape I had 
 been elected chaplain. Captain Bruce asked 
 permission for me to hold divine service, to 
 which no special objection was made. I con- 
 ducted the services as I would have done were 
 I in my own pulpit. The best order was main- 
 tained by the prisoners, and a deep serious- 
 ness prevailed. The songs of Zion resounded 
 through the prison-house, and a great con- 
 10* 
 
114 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 course of soldiers assembled outside the guards 
 in front of the door, causing considerable inter- 
 ruption by their noise and insulting language. 
 Several officers, also, saw fit to come in and 
 interrupt the services by conversing in a loud 
 tone, and asking me how I liked my jewelry, 
 referring to my fetters. The prisoners protest- 
 ed against their rude and ungentlemanly con- 
 duct, but with little effect. They sent a remon- 
 strance to the commander of the post, but he 
 treated it with silent contempt. 
 
 As the prisoners insisted upon it, I persisted 
 in preaching, notwithstanding the persecutions 
 endured, as long as I remained with them. "We 
 were a motley assemblage. Some were dressed 
 in cloth of finest texture; others were clad in 
 filthy rags. There were present the learned 
 and the illiterate, the rowdy and the minister 
 of the gospel, the holy and the profane, the 
 saint and the sinner. All the Southern States, 
 and every prominent religious denomination 
 were represented. The youth in his nonage, 
 and the gray -haired and very aged man were 
 there. The superior and the subordinate were 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 115 
 
 with us. The descendants of Shem, Ham, and 
 Japheth, were here on the same common level, 
 for in our prison were Afric's dark-browed 
 sons, the descendants of Pocahontas, and the 
 pure Circassian. Death is said to be the great 
 leveller; the dungeon at Tupelo was a great 
 leveller. A fellow-feeling made us wondrous 
 kind; none shared his morsel alone, and a deep 
 and abiding sympathy for each other's woes 
 pervaded every bosom. When our fellow-pri- 
 soners were called to die, and were led through 
 us with pallid brows, and agony depicted on 
 their countenances, our expressions of sorrow 
 and commiseration were not loud (through 
 fear) but deep. 
 
 On Monday morning an officer entered ; my 
 name was called, and I arose from the floor on 
 which I had been reclining. I recognised him 
 as my old friend, Colonel H. W. Walter, of 
 Holly Springs, Mississippi. After the ordinary 
 salutations, he informed me that he was Judge 
 Advocate, and that my trial would take place 
 in a few days, and inquired whether I wished 
 to summon any witnesses. I gave him the 
 
116 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 names and residences of several witnesses, bnt 
 he refused to send for them, upon the plea 
 that they were too near the Federal lines, and 
 their cavalry might be in danger of capture 
 were they to proceed thither. I told him that 
 the cavalry which went in pursuit of me had 
 visited that locality. He then wished to know 
 what I desired to prove by those witnesses. I 
 replied that I wished to prove that the specifi- 
 cations in the charge of being a spy were false. 
 "Your own admissions are sufficient to cause 
 you to lose your life." said the Colonel, "and I 
 will not send for those witnesses." 
 
 I replied : " I know that I must die, and you 
 need not go through the formality of a trial. 
 If condemned as a spy, I must be hanged. I 
 only wished the witnesses to prove that Wood- 
 ruff is a man of no moral worth, that his testi- 
 mony is false ; that Barnes is a mail-robber, 
 and that his testimony, therefore, should be 
 rejected. Proving these facts, the other charges 
 which I admit, will cause me to be shot. I 
 hope I am prepared to die, but do not wish to 
 die a dog's death. Promise me that I shall be 
 
SLAVERY" AND SECESSION. 117 
 
 shot, and not hanged, and I will cavil no 
 more." 
 
 "Parson Aughey, your chances for livingi 
 are very slender. The proof against you on 
 both charges will be established ; the testimony 
 as to your guilt is positive, and spies are 
 always hanged." 
 
 He then stated the charges and specifications 
 against me as follows : 
 First charge — Treason. 
 
 Specification 1st. That said Aughey stated to 
 a member of Hill's cavalry, that if McClellan 
 were defeated, the North could raise a much 
 larger army in a very short time; that the 
 North would eventually conquer the South, 
 and that he was a Union man — this for the 
 purpose of giving aid and comfort to the 
 enemy. 
 
 Specification 2d. That when said Aughey 
 was requested to take the oath of allegiance to 
 the Confederate States, he refused, giving as a 
 reason, that England, France, and himself, had 
 not yet recognised the Southern Confederacy, 
 stating, also, that he had voluntarily taken the 
 
118 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 oath of allegiance to the United States Govern- 
 ment, which he regarded as binding — this in 
 North Mississippi. 
 
 Specification 3d. That said Aughey was act- 
 ing as a Federal agent in the purchase of cot- 
 ton, and had received from the United States 
 Government a large amount of gold, to pay for 
 the cotton purchased. 
 
 Second charge — Acting as a spy. 
 
 Specification 1st. That said Aughey, while a 
 citizen of the Confederate States, repeatedly 
 came into our lines for the purpose of obtain- 
 ing information for the benefit of the enemy, 
 and that he passed through the lines of the 
 enemy at pleasure, holding an unlimited pass 
 from General Nelson, granting that privilege — 
 this in the vicinity of Corinth, Mississippi. 
 
 Witnesses, Wallace, Dan Barnes, Ferdi- 
 nand Woodruff Williams, David Huff. 
 
 I demanded a copy of the charges, which 
 Colonel Walter promised to furnish. 
 
 About three o'clock in the afternoon, I went 
 to a couple of prisoners who were heavily 
 ironed; they were handcuffed, had a chain on 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 119 
 
 their legs similar to mine, and were chained 
 together to a post, or to some fixture at the 
 side of the jail. I inquired for what offence 
 they were incarcerated. 
 
 The prisoner whom I addressed was a tall 
 gentleman, with a very intellectual counte- 
 nance, and of prepossessing manners. He was 
 somewhat pale, and wore a sad countenance. 
 He replied: 
 
 "We are charged with desertion." 
 
 "Did you desert?" 
 
 "I enlisted in the Confederate service for 
 twelve months. At the expiration of my term 
 of service, I asked permission to return home, 
 stating that my family were suffering for the 
 necessaries of life ; that they lived in Tennessee, 
 which is occupied by Federal troops. Confede- 
 rate bonds are there not worth the paper on 
 which they are printed ; provisions are scarce, 
 and my family have not the means of pur- 
 chasing. I wish to relieve their wants, and as 
 my term of service has expired, I wish a dis- 
 charge. This they refused, stating that the 
 Confederate Congress had passed a law requir- 
 
120 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 ing all troops who had enlisted for any term, 
 however short, to be held to service during 
 the war, and all who left before that time 
 would be considered guilty of desertion, and 
 if arrested, would be shot. I attempted to 
 return to my family, regarding the law a tyran- 
 nical enactment. I was arrested and commit- 
 ted to this prison." 
 
 "What will be your fate?" 
 
 " I know not, but fear the worst." 
 
 I learned that the other prisoner had about 
 the same statement to make, and was also in 
 dread of capital punishment. I left them and 
 walked to the opposite side of the prison, when 
 I observed a file of soldiers drawn up in front 
 of the building. Two officers entered, and 
 walking up to the two prisoners whom I had 
 just left, unfastened their chains, and ordered 
 them to follow. One of the prisoners asked 
 whether he should bring his blanket. "No," 
 replied the officer, in a jocular tone; "you have 
 no more need for a blanket in this world." 
 
 On reaching the door, the soldiers separated, 
 received the prisoners in their midst, closed up, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 121 
 
 and marching them across the railroad, shot 
 them. As the officers passed Captain Bruce, 
 he asked where the prisoners were going. 
 They replied, " Going to be shot P' and showed 
 him the warrant for their execution, having 
 written across it, in red letters, "Condemned to 
 death /" 
 
 Thus was perpetrated an act of cruel 
 tyranny, which cries loudly to Heaven for ven- 
 geance. Two families, helpless and destitute, 
 were thus each deprived of its head, on whom 
 they were dependent for support, and aban- 
 doned to the cold charitv of a selfish world. 
 The wages they earned by a year's faithful ser- 
 vice in behalf of the wicked, cruel, and vindic- 
 tive Confederate States, was an ignominious 
 death and a dishonoured grave. Will not God 
 visit for this? The widow and the fatherless 
 cry to Heaven for vengeance, and their cries 
 have entered into the ears of the Lord of 
 Sabaoth. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, six young men, who 
 had been arrested for their Union sentiments, 
 resolved to escape. Their plan was to enlist in 
 11 
 
122 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 the Confederate service, then to desert on the 
 first opportunity, and make their way to the 
 Federal lines. They consulted me as to the 
 propriety of taking the oath of allegiance 
 under these circumstances. Such a step would 
 give them another chance for life; but were 
 they to profess adherence to their Union princi- 
 ples, they had no hope of living many days. 
 If permitted to enlist, they thought there was 
 little doubt of their escape in a few days ; and 
 should a battle take place, no Federal soldiers 
 would be injured by them, and an opportunity 
 to desert might occur during the engagement. 
 I drew up a paper for them, requesting permis- 
 sion to enlist in a company which they speci- 
 fied. Their petition was granted by the autho- 
 rities, and they were removed from prison to 
 the camp. I feel confident that ere this, they 
 are safe in the Federal lines, for they knew the 
 whole country, so as to be able to travel by 
 night or by day, with little danger of detection. 
 They had all been arrested at their homes by 
 the Eebel cavalry. They were bitter in senti- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 123 
 
 ment against the military usurpation, self- 
 styled the Confederate States of America. 
 
 This (Tuesday) evening, Colonel Walter 
 called again, to give me a copy of the charges 
 against me. He informed me that my trial 
 had been deferred till Monday, the 15th inst. 
 He also informed me in advance, that I must 
 die, and that, doubtless, on the day after the 
 trial. I asked and obtained permission to send 
 for the Kev. Dr. Lyon, of Columbus, Missis- 
 sippi, to be present at my execution. Dr. Lyon 
 and I were co -presbyters, both being mem- 
 bers of the Tombeckbee Presbytery. Colonel 
 Walter was a renegade Yankee. Coming from 
 Michigan to Mississippi, he married the daugh- 
 ter of a wealthy slave-holder. Obtaining 
 through her the control of a large number of 
 slaves, he became a very ultra advocate of the 
 peculiar institution, and a rabid secessionist. 
 
 Soon after Colonel Walter left, Colonel Ware 
 came in, and asked me if I had been President 
 of a Female College in Eienzi. I replied in 
 the affirmative. 'Tis strange, said he, that one 
 who has been so favoured, and one who has 
 
124 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 accumulated property in the South, should 
 prove a traitor to the land of his adoption, and 
 side with his enemies. "I replied that I had 
 given a fair equivalent for every dollar I had 
 obtained from the citizens of the South; that 
 for eleven years I had laboured faithfully as a 
 teacher and minister of the gospel to promote 
 the educational and spiritual interests of the 
 Southern people ; and that now I was receiving 
 my reward in being chained, starved, and in- 
 sulted; and that they intended soon to pay the 
 last instalment by putting me to death igno- 
 miniously on the scaffold ; I also denied being 
 an enemy to the South. I regarded those who 
 imperilled all her best interests, and plunged 
 her into a protracted and desolating war, as the 
 real enemies of the South. If my^ advice had 
 been followed, the South and the whole coun- 
 try would now be enjoying its wonted peace 
 and prosperity. He only replied with cursing 
 and vituperation. 
 
 Believing my end to be near, I sat down 
 upon the floor of my dungeon, and j)enned the 
 following letter to my wife. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 125 
 
 Tupelo Military Dungeon, July 10th, 1862. 
 
 My Dear Mary — The Confederate authori- 
 ties announce to me that I have only a few more 
 days to live. When you receive this letter, the 
 hand that penned it will be cold in death. My 
 soul will have passed the solemn test before 
 the bar of God ; I have a good hope through 
 grace that I will be then rejoicing amid the 
 sacramental host of God's elect, singing the 
 new song of redeeming love in . the presence 
 of Him who is the Chief among ten thou- 
 sand, and the one altogether lovely. Mary, 
 meet me in heaven, where sorrow, and crying,, 
 and sin are not known, and where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at 
 rest. I will request your brother Ramsey, and 
 cousin, Captain Tankersley, to convey my body 
 to you. Bury me. in the graveyard at Beth- 
 any. Plant an evergreen — a cedar — at my 
 head, and one at my feet, and there let me 
 repose in peace, till the Archangel's trump 
 shall sound, calling the dead to the judgment 
 of the great day, and vouchsafing to saints the 
 long wished-for " redemption of the body." 
 11* 
 
126 THE IKON FURNACE; OE 
 
 As to my property, it has till been confis- 
 cated ; and after years of incessant toil, I leave 
 you penniless and dependent; but trust in God. 
 To his protecting care I commit you and our 
 dear little Kate, who has promised that he will 
 be the widow's husband, and the father of the 
 fatherless. Eest assured, the Lord will provide. 
 Only trust in him, and love him with your 
 whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. 
 " I know that it shall be well with those that 
 love God." Be not faithless, but believing, and 
 though clouds and thick darkness surround you 
 at present, a more auspicious day will dawn, 
 and God will bring you safely to your jour- 
 ney's end, and our reunion in heaven will be 
 sweet. 
 
 Our dear little daughter, Kate, bring up in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Teach 
 her to walk in wisdom's ways, for her ways are 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace. Her mind may be compared to wax, in 
 its susceptibility for receiving impressions, and 
 to marble, for its power of retaining those 
 impressions. O that she may be satisfied early 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 127 
 
 with the mercy of God, that she may rejoice 
 and be glad all her days ! Teach her to remem- 
 ber her Creator in the days of her youth, before 
 the evil days come, in which she shall say, I 
 have no pleasure in thee. Make the Bible her 
 constant study, and let its words be as house- 
 hold words to her. Inspire her mind with a 
 reverence for the Booh which is able to make 
 
 wise unto salvation. See to it that the words 
 
 w 
 
 of Christ dwell richly in her soul, that she may 
 be filled with wisdom, and knowledge, and 
 spiritual understanding. Pray for the Holy 
 Spirit to bless your labours and instructions, 
 without which all your efforts would be in 
 vain, and pray that the Third Person of the 
 adorable Trinity may take up his abode in 
 her heart, and dwell with her for ever. 
 
 As my duties in regard to instructing our 
 child, will devolve solely on you, take for your 
 guidance, in this respect, Deut. vi. 5 — 9. Let 
 your example be such as you would wish her 
 to follow. Children are much more inclined to 
 follow example than precept. Exercise care in 
 
128 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 this respect, for, "as is the mother, so is her 
 daughter." 
 
 I regret my family will, from the force of 
 circumstances, be compelled to remain in a land 
 where my death will be considered disgraceful, 
 but it cannot be avoided. The time may come 
 when, even in Mississippi, I may be regarded 
 as a patriot martyr. My conscience is void of 
 offence, as regards the guilt attached to the 
 charges made against me. I am charged with 
 treason against the Confederate States. The 
 charge and the specifications are true, except 
 that I was not a Federal agent in the purchase 
 of cotton. That was a private arrangement 
 altogether. I am also charged with acting as 
 a spy. The specifications under this charge are 
 false. I think that this accusation was made to 
 prevent retaliation by the Federal generals ; 
 and in the Kebel army they are not at a loss to 
 prove any charge, however false. Ferdinand 
 Woodruff is their tool to prove me a spy, 
 and he will do it, though he knows his testi- 
 mony to be as false as that of the suborned 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 129 
 
 witnesses who bore testimony against the 
 Saviour. 
 
 How long shall the wicked triumph? How 
 long will God forbear to execute that ven- 
 geance which is his, and which he will repay 
 sooner or later ! I feel confident that the right 
 cause will prevail, and though I will not live 
 to see it, for my days are numbered, yet I 
 firmly believe that the rebel power will be 
 destroyed utterly. 
 
 " Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again ; 
 The eternal years of God are hers ; 
 But error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
 And dies amid her worshippers." 
 
 I write this letter amid the din and confusion 
 incident to a large number of men crowded 
 into a narrow compass, and free from all 
 restraint. This letter will be transmitted to 
 you by friends. The names of those friends 
 you will know hereafter. They will present 
 your case to General Eosecrans or Nelson, 
 who may obtain a pension for you. My ser- 
 vices heretofore in the Union cause are known 
 to them, and I think they will soe that you 
 
130 THE IRON furnace; or 
 
 do not suffer; all my real estate will be res- 
 tored to you if the Union cause triumphs, and 
 I think there is no doubt as to its success. 
 Give my love to all my friends. Remember 
 that I have prayed for you unceasingly during 
 my imprisonment, and my last utterances on 
 earth will be prayers for your welfare. 
 
 Farewell. God bless you, and preserve you 
 and our dear little Kate. 
 
 Your affectionate husband, 
 
 John H. Aughey. 
 
 I next wrote my obituary, which I placed in 
 the hands of a Union soldier who expected 
 soon to be exchanged. By him it was to be 
 sent to the editors of The Presbyterian, pub- 
 lished in Philadelphia, with a request that it 
 should appear in their columns. 
 
 OBITUARY. 
 
 Died, in Tupelo, Ittawamba county, Missis- 
 sippi, July — , 1862, the Rev. John H. Aughey. 
 The subject of the above notice was executed 
 on the gallows, by authority of the Confederate 
 States, on the charges of treason and acting as 
 a spy. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. lol 
 
 John H. Aughey was born in New Hartford, 
 Oneida county, New York, May 8th, 1828; 
 removed with his parents to Steubenville, Ohio, 
 in 1837; is an alumnus of Franklin College, 
 New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio; studied 
 theology in Memphis, Tennessee, under the 
 Rev. John H. Gray, D. D., President of Mem- 
 phis Synodical College — also under the care of 
 the Rev. S. I. Reid of Holly Springs, Missis- 
 sippi ; was licensed to preach the gospel by the 
 Presbytery of Chickasaw, October 4th, 1856; 
 was ordained to the full work of the gospel 
 ministry by the Presbytery of Tombeckbee, at 
 its session in Winston county, Mississippi, in 
 April, 1861. God blessed his labours by giv- 
 ing him many seals to his ministry. After 
 labouring eleven years in the South as a 
 teacher and minister of the gospel, having 
 never injured a citizen of the South either in 
 person or property, he suffered a felon's death 
 for attachment to the Federal Union, because 
 he would not turn traitor to the government 
 which had never in a single instance oppressed, 
 but had always afforded him protection. He 
 
132 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 rests in peace, and in the hope of a blessed 
 
 immortality. 
 
 " Leaves have their time to fall, 
 And flowers to wither in the north wind's breath, 
 
 And stars to set ; but all — 
 Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death!" 
 
 ADDRESS TO MY SOUL. 
 
 O my soul ! thou art about to appear in the 
 presence of thy Creator, who is infinite, eternal, 
 unchangeable in his being, power, wisdom, 
 holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He can- 
 not look upon sin. He is a sin-avenging God, 
 and thou art stained with sin. Thy transgres- 
 sions are as numerous as the stars of heaven, 
 and the sand that is upon the sea-shore. Thou 
 art totally debased by sin, and thy iniquities 
 abound. Thou art guilty of sins of omission 
 and of commission. Justice would consign 
 thee to everlasting burnings, to dwell with 
 devouring fire, even to everlasting destruction 
 from the presence of the Lord and the glory of 
 his power. Guilty, helpless, wretched as thou 
 art, what is thy plea why sentence of eternal 
 death should not be pronounced against thee ? 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 133 
 
 THE SOUL'S REPLY. 
 
 I plead the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 whose blood cleanses from all sin, even from 
 sins of the deepest dye. I plead the sufferings 
 of Him who bore my sins in his own body, on 
 the tree, and wrought out a perfect righteous- 
 ness, which I may obtain by simple faith. No 
 money, no price is demanded. This I could 
 not pay, for all my righteousness is as filthy 
 rags, and I must perish, were any part of the 
 price demanded. Nothing in my hand I bring. 
 My salvation must be all of grace, or to me it 
 would be hopeless. I trust that Christ will 
 clothe me in the spotless robes of his own 
 righteousness, and present me faultless before 
 his Father. "With this trust, I go to the 
 judgment-seat, assured that the soul which 
 trusts in Christ shall never be put to shame. 
 God is faithful who has promised. 
 
 Military Dungeon, Tupelo, 
 Ittawamba Co., Miss., July 11th, 
 
 lo, ) 
 
 », 1862. \ 
 
 Dear Parents — "Life is sweet, and it is a 
 pleasant thing to behold the sun." " All that 
 12 
 
13-4 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 a man hath, will he give for his life." "Having 
 promise of the life that now is." "The life is 
 more than meat." "They hunt for the precious 
 life." The above quotations from the Word 
 of Life, show the high estimate that is placed 
 upon life. My life is not "precious" in the eyes 
 of the Secessionists, for their authorities declare 
 that "ray chances for living long are extremely 
 slender." " Yet a few days, and me the all- 
 beholding sun shall see no more in all his 
 course." Mourn not for me, my dear parents, 
 as those who have no hope. " For me to live, 
 is Christ ; but to die, is gain." I fear not those 
 who, when they have killed the body, have no 
 more that they can do. But I fear Him whose 
 fear casteth out every other fear. When these 
 lines are read by you, their author will be an 
 inhabitant of the Celestial City, the New Jeru- 
 salem, and will be reposing in Abraham's 
 bosom, in the midst of the Paradise of God. 
 Next to God, my thanks are due to you, for 
 guiding my infant feet in the paths of wisdom 
 and virtue. In riper years, by precept, I have 
 been warned and instructed. By example I 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 135 
 
 have been led, until my habits were fixed, and 
 then, accompanied by your parental blessing, I 
 sought a distant home, to engage in the ardu- 
 ous duties of life. Whatever success I have 
 met with, whatever influence for good I may 
 have exerted, are all due to your pious training. 
 I owe you a debt of gratitude which I can 
 never repay. Though I cannot, God will grant 
 you a reward lasting as eternity. It will add 
 to that exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 which will be conferred on you in that day 
 when the heavens shall be dissolved, and the 
 elements melt with fervent heat. I die for my 
 loyalty to the Federal Government. I know 
 that you would not have me turn traitor to 
 save my life. Life is precious, but death, even 
 death on the scaffold, is preferable to dishonour. 
 Kemember me kindly to all my friends. Tell 
 sisters Sallie, Mary, and Emma, to meet me in 
 heaven. I know that my Kedeemer liveth. 
 Dying is but going home. I have taught many 
 how to live, and now I am called to teach them 
 how to die. May God grant that as my day is, 
 so may my strength be, and that, in my last 
 
136 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 moments, I may not bring dishonour upon my 
 Master's cause, but may glorify him in the 
 fires ! 
 
 My dear parents, farewell till we meet 
 beyond the river. 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 John H. Aughey. 
 
 To David and Elizabeth Aughey, 
 Amsterdam, Jefferson Co., Ohio. 
 
 The following letter was written to the Hon. 
 William H. Seward in behalf of the Union men 
 in prison and within the rebel lines. 
 
 >lo, | 
 i, 1862. j 
 
 Central Military Prison, Tupelo, 
 Ittawamba Co., Mississippi, July 11th, 
 
 Hon. William H. Seward : 
 
 Dear Sir — A large number of citizens of 
 Mississippi, holding Union sentiments, and who 
 recognise no such military usurpation as the 
 so-called Confederate States of America, are 
 confined in a filthy prison, swarming with ver- 
 min, and are famishing from hunger — a suffi- 
 cient quantity of food not being furnished us. 
 We are separated from our families, and suf- 
 fered to hold no communication with them. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 137 
 
 We are compelled, under a * strong guard, to 
 perform the most menial services, and are 
 insulted on every occasion by the officers and 
 guards of the prison. The nights are very 
 cool; we are furnished with no bedding, 
 and are compelled to lie down on the floor of 
 our dungeon, where sleep seldom visits us, until 
 exhausted nature can hold out no longer; then 
 our slumbers are broken, restless, and of short 
 duration. Our property is confiscated, and our 
 families left destitute of the necessaries of life; 
 all that they have, yea, all their living, being 
 seized upon by the Confederates, and converted 
 to their own use. Heavy fetters are placed 
 upon our limbs, and daily some of us are led 
 to the scaffold, or to death by shooting. Many 
 of us are forced into the army, instant death 
 being the penalty in case of refusal ; thus con- 
 straining us to bear arms against our country, 
 to become the executioners of our friends and 
 brethren, or to fall ourselves by their hands. 
 
 These evils are intolerable, and we ask pro- 
 tection, through you, from the United States 
 Government. The Federal Government may 
 12* 
 
138 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 not be able to release us, but we ask the pro- 
 tection which the Federal prisoner receives. 
 Were his life taken, swift retribution would be 
 visited upon the rebels by a just retaliation — a 
 rebel prisoner would suffer death for every 
 Federal prisoner whom they destroyed. Let 
 this rule hold good in the case of Union men 
 who are citizens of the South. The loyal Mis- 
 sissippian deserves protection as much as the 
 loyal native of Massachusetts. We ask, also, 
 that our confiscated property be restored to us, 
 or, in case of our death, to our families. If it 
 be destroyed, let reparation be demanded from 
 the rebels, or the property of known and 
 avowed secessionists sequestered to that use. 
 
 Before this letter reaches its destination, the 
 majority of us will have ceased to be. The 
 writer has been informed by the officers that 
 "his chances for living long are very slender;" 
 that he has confessed enough to cause him to 
 lose his life, and the Judge Advocate has speci- 
 fied Tuesday, the 15th inst., as the day of his 
 execution. We have, therefore, little hope that 
 we, individually, can receive any benefit from 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 139 
 
 this petition, though you regard it favourably, 
 and consent to its suggestions; but our fami- 
 lies, who have been so cruelly robbed of all 
 their substance, may, in after time, receive 
 remuneration for their great losses. And if 
 citizens of avowed secession proclivities, who 
 are within the Federal lines, are arrested and 
 held as hostages for the safety of Union men 
 who are and may be hereafter incarcerated in 
 the prison in Tupelo and elsewhere, the rebels 
 will not dare put another Union man to death. 
 Hoping that you will deem it proper to take 
 the matters presented in our petition under 
 advisement, we remain, with high considera- 
 tions of respect and esteem, your oppressed and 
 imprisoned fellow-citizens, 
 
 John H. Aughey, 
 Benjamin Clarke, 
 John Kobinson, 
 and thirty-seven others. 
 Two young men informed me to-day that 
 they had been forced into the rebel service. 
 They had been taken prisoners at Corinth by 
 General Pope, and had taken the oath of alle- 
 
14:0 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 giance to the Federal Government, to which 
 their hearts had always been loyal. Recently 
 they had been arrested, and on refusing to re- 
 join their regiment, were immured in this dun- 
 geon. From the threats of the officers, they 
 expected to be shot at any moment. They had 
 used every means to banish the thoughts of 
 death — had forced themselves to engage in 
 pleasantry and mirth to drive away the sad- 
 ness and gloom which oppressed them when 
 alone, and recalled the pleasures of their happy 
 homes — homes which they would never see 
 again. I counselled them to prepare to meet 
 their God in peace ; to wisely improve the short; 
 time granted them to make their calling and 
 election sure. They replied that they hoped 
 all would be well. They had long since con- 
 fessed Christ before men, and hoped for sal- 
 vation through his merits. Still, they could 
 not help feeling sad in the near prospect of 
 death. They left me to mingle with a group 
 of prisoners, who were endeavouring to dissi- 
 pate the tedium, and vary the monotonous 
 routine of prison life, by " telling stories." Cap- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 1-il 
 
 tain Bruce led off by telling the following Irish 
 story : 
 
 "Once upon a time, an Irishman, who re- 
 joiced in the possession of a fine mare and a colt, 
 wished to cross the Mississippi river at Baton 
 Rouge with them. By some mishap, they were 
 all precipitated from the ferry-boat into the 
 water. The Irishman, being unable to swim, 
 grasped the colt's tail, hoping ti}.us to be car- 
 ried to the shore. Some of the passengers 
 called out to him: 'Halloo, Pat, why don't 
 you take hold of the mare's tail ; she is much 
 stronger, and much more able to carry you 
 safely to the shore.' '0, be jabers!' says Pat, 
 'this is no time for swapping horses.'" This 
 tale was received with applause. 
 
 Baltimore Bill, a real Plug-ugly, told his 
 story next, as follows: "Two Irishmen, imme- 
 diately after their arrival in America, found a 
 gun. After long inspection, they concluded 
 it was some kind of musical instrument, and 
 wishing to hear the music, it was agreed that 
 Jimmie should blow at the muzzle, while Pat 
 worked with the - fixins' at the breech. At it 
 
142 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 they went. Soon the gun went off, and Jim- 
 mie fell down, shot dead. ' Och !' says Pat, ' are 
 you charmed at the first note?'" This story 
 was received with loud bursts of laughter. An 
 officer then entered, and ordered us to be quiet, 
 forbidding us to narrate any more tales. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 143 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 EXECUTION OF UNION PRISONERS. 
 
 Resolved to Escape — Mode of Executing Prisoners — Re- 
 moval of Chain — Addition to our Numbers — Two Priso- 
 ners become Insane — Plan of Escape — Proves a Failure — 
 Fetters Inspected — Additional Fetters — Handcuffs — A 
 Spy in the Disguise of a Prisoner — Special Police Guard 
 on Duty — A Prisoner's Discovery — Divine Services — The 
 General Judgment — The Judge — The Laws — The Wit- 
 nesses — The Concourse — The Sentence. 
 
 On Friday morning, the twelfth of July, as 
 I lay restless and sore, endeavouring to find 
 some position which would be sufficiently easy 
 to permit me to enjoy, even for a few moments, 
 the benefit of " Tired nature's sweet restorer, 
 balmy sleep," the thought occurred that it 
 would be well to attempt an escape, though it 
 should result in death from the fire of the 
 guards, which would be far preferable to death 
 by strangling at the rope's end, and in the 
 presence of a large concourse of rebel enemies. 
 Their method of shooting was, to dig a hole, 
 
144 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 and make the victim sit with his legs hanging 
 in it. The soldiers would fire three balls 
 through the brain, and three through the heart; 
 then the mangled and bleeding body fell into 
 the grave, and was immediately, covered with 
 earth. At first, coffins were used, but of late, 
 these had been dispensed with, owing to the 
 increased expense, and the increasing number 
 of executions. 
 
 I had not long meditated upon this subject, 
 when I arose, fully resolved on death or 
 liberty. My intentions were communicated to 
 several prisoners, who promised me all the aid 
 in their power. My fetters were examined, 
 and it was concluded, that with proper instru- 
 ments my bands could be divested of the iron 
 which secured the chain-rings. A long-handled 
 iron spoon, a knife, and an old file, were 
 obtained, and two were detached at a time to 
 work on my fetters. We went to one side 
 of the building, and a -sufficient number of 
 prisoners stood in front of us, to prevent the 
 guard from noticing our proceedings. Our 
 locations were changed frequently, to prevent 
 
SLAVEEY AXD SECESSION. 145 
 
 detection ; and when an officer entered, labour 
 was suspended till his exit. 
 
 We called General Bragg, Eobespierre; 
 General Jordan, Marat; and General Hardee, 
 Danton. Several prisoners were led out and 
 shot to-day. The majority of them were Union 
 men. Six Union men were committed to jail 
 to-day. The horrors of our situation were suf- 
 ficient to render two of these victims insane. 
 A reign of terror had been inaugurated, only 
 equalled, in its appalling enormity, by the 
 memorable French Eevolution. Spies and 
 informers, in the pay of the Rebel govern- 
 ment, prowl through the country, using every 
 artifice and strategy to lead Union men to 
 criminate themselves, after which they are 
 dragged to prison and to death. The cavalry 
 dash through the country, burning cotton, car- 
 rying off the property of loyal citizens, and 
 committing depredations of every kind. 
 
 Several prisoners resolved to attempt an 
 
 escape with me. Our plan was, to bring in 
 
 the axe with which we split wood for cooking, 
 
 and raise a plank in the floor, a sufficient 
 
 13 
 
146 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 number to stand around those who lifted it, to 
 prevent observation, and then make our way 
 out among the guards, who were off duty on 
 the north side of the building. At this time 
 there were three guards in front of each door, 
 and two on the south side of the building. On 
 the north side of the building, there were no 
 guards on duty, for, if the other three sides 
 were securely guarded, the prisoners could not 
 escape on the north side. There were, how- 
 ever, several hundred guards, who, when off 
 duty, slept on this side of the prison. When 
 their turn came, they went on duty ; and those 
 who were relieved, came there to sleep. They 
 were coming and going all the time, and during 
 the whole night, they kept up an incessant 
 noise. 
 
 After the unremitting labour of my friends 
 during the day, I found that I could slip 
 my chain off and on at pleasure. The sun 
 was now setting, but the axe had not been 
 brought in. At this time a guard was sta- 
 tioned in each door; the favourable moment 
 had passed ; none dared to bring the axe past 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 147 
 
 the guard. While deliberating on the best 
 course to pursue — as raising a plank had 
 proved a failure for the present — General Jor- 
 dan and Colonel Clare entered. I was standing 
 with others in the middle of the floor. General 
 Jordan came directly to me ; either accidentally 
 or intentionally, he held up a light to my face. 
 "Ah! you are here yet," said he. I gave an 
 affirmative nod. "Well," said he to Colonel 
 Clare, "I must examine this fellow's irons." 
 Putting his hand down, and ascertaining that 
 they had been tampered with, he endeavoured, 
 ineffectually, to pull the bands off; he did not 
 notice that I could slip the chain-rings off. 
 "These irons," said he, "are very insecure; 
 who helped you to put them in this condition ?" 
 I made no reply. After waiting until he found 
 I intended none, he continued : " Colonel Clare, 
 have these irons secured in the morning; also 
 put handcuffs on him, and chain him, so as 
 to confine him to one locality ; the gallows ■ 
 shall not be cheated of their due." Having 
 given these orders, they passed out. As soon 
 as they were gone, the prisoners who had aided 
 
148 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 me crowded around, stating that they believed 
 there was a spy in the house, in the guise 
 of a prisoner, and declaring that I must escape 
 that night, or it would be too late. All real- 
 ized that on to-morrow there would be no 
 hope. 
 
 There were eleven guards on duty — three in 
 front of each door, one in each door, two on 
 the south side of the building, and at night 
 one passing back and forth through the centre 
 of the prison, which was lighted during the 
 whole night. There was also a special police 
 guard on duty that night, as five Federal pri- 
 soners, who remained in our prison until some 
 formalities were gone through with, would be 
 sent in the morning to the prison at Colum- 
 bus, Mississippi, and it was feared they might 
 attempt to escape ere they were sent further 
 south. 
 
 At this juncture, a young man ran up and 
 informed me that he had made a discovery 
 which might result in my escape ; I must go 
 alone, however, and though they would aid 
 me, they would run great risk in doing so. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 149 
 
 Only four could assist, and he would vol- 
 unteer to be one of them. Several others 
 immediately volunteered, of whom three were 
 selected by M , and the plan then commu- 
 nicated. At this moment, Captain Bruce an- 
 nounced that the hour for divine worship had 
 arrived. I asked my friends whether I should 
 plead indisposition, and dispense with the ser- 
 vices for that time. They replied that it might 
 lead to suspicion, and advised me to give them 
 a short sermon. I went to my usual place of 
 standing, clanking my chains as heretofore. I 
 give a synopsis of the sermon. 
 
 The text was 2 Cor. v. 10: "We must all 
 appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that 
 every one may receive the things done in his 
 body, according to that he hath done, whether 
 it be good or bad." 
 
 The doctrine of a general judgment was 
 revealed to mankind at a very early period of 
 the world's history. Enoch, the seventh from 
 Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold the Lord 
 cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to 
 execute judgment upon all, and to convince all 
 13* 
 
150 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 that are ungodly among them of all their 
 ungodly deeds which they have ungodly com- 
 mitted, and of all their hard speeches which 
 ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 
 Job declares : " I know that my Eedeemer liv- 
 eth, and that he shall stand at the latter day 
 upon the earth." Daniel also speaks of a gen- 
 eral judgment: "I beheld till the thrones were 
 cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, 
 whose garment was white as snow, and the hair 
 of his head like the pure wool: his throne was 
 like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning 
 fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
 from before him: thousand thousands minis- 
 tered unto him, and ten thousand times ten 
 thousand stood before him : the judgment was 
 set, and the books were opened." The New 
 Testament is also explicit in its declarations 
 that God hath appointed a day in which he 
 will judge the world in righteousness by that 
 man whom he hath ordained. The text 
 declares that we must all appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ. 
 
 The scenes which will usher in the judgment 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 151 
 
 of the great day will be of the most magnificent 
 character. u The heavens shall pass away with 
 a great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
 fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works that 
 are therein, shall be burned up." This does not 
 indicate annihilation. God will never annihi- 
 late any of his creatures, animate or inanimate. 
 The inquiry is often made, what becomes of 
 the soul after death, and where does it await 
 the general judgment ? A sect called the Soul- 
 sleepers, take the position that the soul, after 
 death, goes into a torpid state, like bears in 
 winter, and thus remains till the sounding of 
 the Archangel's trump. There is no Scripture 
 to sustain this view, and it is only assumed, to 
 avoid the objection that God would not judge 
 a soul, and send it to reward or punishment, 
 and then bring it back, to be again judged. 
 That the soul, at death, passes immediately 
 into glory or torment, is proved by many 
 scriptures. Paul "desired to depart, and be 
 with Christ, which was far better," than re- 
 maining on earth. He declares that to be 
 present with the body, is to be absent from 
 
152 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 the Lord. The dying Stephen calls upon 
 the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. These 
 holy men would not thus have spoken, if they 
 supposed that ages must elapse ere they entered 
 heaven. God is not the God of the dead or 
 torpid, but of the living. Moses and Elias 
 appeared on the mount of transfiguration in 
 a state far from torpidity. The dying thief 
 received the promise, " This day shalt thou be 
 with me in paradise." No mention is made of 
 Purgatory or torpidity. The objector urges 
 that paradise is not heaven. We are told that 
 the river of life flows from the throne of God, 
 that the tree of life grows on both sides of 
 the river, and that the tree of life grows in 
 the midst of the paradise of God. The para- 
 dise of God is where he is seated on his throne, 
 which is heaven. Paradise is where Christ is. 
 The thief would be with Christ in paradise. 
 He who regards the Lord Jesus as the Chief 
 among ten thousand, the One altogether lovely, 
 will deem his presence heaven indeed. As to 
 the wicked, it is said of the rich man, that in 
 hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. If, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 153 
 
 after being judged, the souls of believers, do 
 pass immediately into glory, and the wicked 
 into torment, what use is there of another or 
 general judgment. I reply, We are responsi- 
 ble not only for our acts, but for the influence 
 which those acts exert through all time. Gib- 
 bon, Hume, Kosseau, Paine, and other infidel 
 writers, wrote works which, during the life of 
 the authors, did great evil. If those wicked 
 men passed away from earth impenitent, they 
 are now suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 
 But the influence for evil, of those wicked 
 works, did not cease with the death of their 
 authors. Thousands of young men every year 
 are led into pernicious and hurtful errors by 
 their perusal. At the general judgment, the 
 accumulated guilt, for the baleful influence 
 exerted through their writings in all time, will 
 sink them deeper in the flames of perdition. 
 The sainted Alexander, and other pious men 
 who are now in heaven, wrote many works 
 whose influence for good was great while their 
 authors lived; and since their death they are, 
 and will continue to be, instrumental in the 
 
154 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 hand of God in turning many to righteous- 
 ness. All the good accomplished by their 
 writings, through all time, will, at the judg- 
 ment, add to their exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory. 
 
 In this life, we often see the righteous man 
 contending with life's unnumbered woes; all 
 the dealings of Providence seem to be adverse. 
 While the wicked are in great power, they 
 flourish in life, like the green bay-tree, and 
 have no bands in their death. These things are 
 strange and mysterious. We understand them 
 not now; but we shall learn, in that great day, 
 when all mysteries are made plain, that God's 
 dealings were just, both with the righteous and 
 the wicked. 
 
 The text declares that we must all appear 
 before the judgment-seat of Christ. This we 
 includes all who are now within the sound of 
 my voice, and not only us, but all who live 
 upon the face of the earth; and the Archan- 
 gel's trump will wake the pale nations of the 
 dead, and summon them to judgment. The 
 dark domain of hell will be vacated, and the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 155 
 
 angels that kept not their first estate, and are 
 now reserved in chains of darkness, will appear 
 in the presence of the Judge. Heaven's holy 
 inhabitants will be present. Thus heaven, 
 earth, and hell, will be represented in that 
 august assemblage. The scene will bear some 
 resemblance to that which takes place in our 
 earthly courts. The Lord Jesus Christ will be 
 the Judge, and the angels and saints will be 
 the jurors, who will consent to and approve of 
 the acts of the Judge. The angels will be the 
 officers who will summon, from the prison- 
 house of hell, the devils, to the trial, and also 
 those wicked men who will call upon the rocks 
 and mountains to fall upon them, and hide 
 them from the face of the Lamb. Nor, as is 
 so often the case with earthly officers, will any 
 be able to elude the vigilance of these. They 
 will be clothed with ample power to compel 
 the attendance of all; none will escape. We 
 must all appear before the judgment-seat. As 
 in earthly courts, law is the basis of judgment, 
 so we shall be judged according to law in that 
 day. The heathen will be judged by the law of 
 
156 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 nature — the law written in their hearts, and on 
 their consciences. The light of nature teaches 
 the being, wisdom, power, and goodness of 
 God. For a violation of this law, they will 
 be beaten with few stripes. The Jews will be 
 judged by both the law of nature, which they 
 have, in common with the heathen and the 
 Mosaic law. But we who live in the nineteenth 
 century, in the full blaze of gospel light, will 
 be judged not only by the light of nature 
 and the Mosaic law, which we possess in com- 
 mon with the heathen and the Jew, but also by 
 the glorious gospel of the Son of God, which 
 brought life and immortality to light ; and if 
 condemned, how fearful our doom, who are so 
 highly favoured ! In earthly courts, we are 
 judged for our overt acts alone; but in the 
 court of heaven, the commandment is exceed- 
 ing broad; it reaches every thought. Our 
 words, too, are taken into account. We must 
 give an account for every idle word. By our 
 words, we shall be justified, and by our words 
 we shall be condemned. Our thoughts, our 
 words, our deeds, will all be taken into 
 account. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 157 
 
 As in our courts there are witnesses, so 
 also there will be at the bar of God. Our 
 pious relatives and friends will bear this testi- 
 mony, that they have prayed with us and for 
 us ; that they had a deep concern for our souls, 
 and that we who are found on the left hand 
 of the Judge, refused all their counsel, and 
 despised their admonitions. Ministers of the 
 gospel will testify that they came as ambas- 
 sadors from the King of kings, and beseeching 
 you, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God, 
 pointing to the coming wrath, and warning 
 you from that wrath to flee; and yet their 
 labour of love ye despised, and scorned the 
 message from on high. The Bible will be 
 a witness against you. Its teachings are able 
 to make wise unto salvation. It is the chart 
 which is given to guide us through this wilder- 
 ness-world, to fairer worlds on high. It tells 
 of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin 
 of the world. It is truth without any mixture 
 of error, and yet you have despised this neces- 
 sary revelation, and chosen to perish, with the 
 Word of Life open before you. God, the 
 14 
 
158 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Father, will be a swift witness against you. In 
 the greatness of his love for you, in the coun- 
 sels of eternity, he devised the plan of salva- 
 tion, and sent his only begotten Son to suffer 
 and die, that you might live, and yet you have 
 despised that love, and rejected that Saviour. 
 God, the Son, will bear this testimony, that he 
 came from the shining abodes of glory, where 
 seraphim and cherubim fell prostrate at his feet, 
 in humble adoration, and emptying himself of 
 his glory, bore all the ills of life — the persecu- 
 tions of wicked men, and the accursed death of 
 the cross, that salvation might be yours, and 
 yet ye refused it, and trod the blood of the 
 Son of God under foot, and put him to an 
 open shame. The Holy Spirit, the Third Per- 
 son of the adorable Trinity, will bear witness 
 that he often knocked at the door of your 
 hearts for admittance; that he wooed you to 
 embrace his love, offering to abide with you 
 for ever, and yet you rejected the offer, and 
 did despite to the Spirit of grace, till, in sor- 
 row, he took his everlasting flight. 
 
 The devil is now going about as a roaring 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 159 
 
 lion, seeking whom he may devour, and some- 
 times transforming himself into an angel of 
 light. He is tempting you to sin, by present- 
 ing before your minds the superior charms of 
 the riches and pleasures of earth, to things that 
 are unseen and eternal. He has no power to 
 compel you to sin. His evil suggestions are 
 whispered in your oft too willing ears, and 
 then it remains with you to accept or reject. 
 He has no power of compulsion. Your sin 
 must be an act of your own will, or it is not 
 sin. When you consent to the wiles of this 
 arch enemy, and sin against God, remember 
 that with eager desire and base ingratitude he 
 will fiercely accuse in the great day of God 
 Almighty, and urge these very sins of his 
 suggestion as a reason why he should have 
 you to torment you for ever in the bottomless 
 pit. 
 
 That internal monitor, that light which en- 
 lightens every man that cometh into the world 
 ■ — the moral sense, or conscience — will be a 
 swift witness against you. By it you have been 
 enlightened and warned ; and in the case of 
 
160 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 many who have denied a future state of pun- 
 ishment, the goadings of remorse have con- 
 vinced them that there is a hell, the kindlings 
 of whose fires they have felt in their own 
 bosoms. Conscience will compel you to con- 
 fess that your doom is just, though for ever 
 debarred from the joys and happiness of hea- 
 ven. O ! my fellow-prisoners and travellers to 
 the bar of God, listen to her warning voice 
 to-day, before it be too late, and you are com- 
 pelled mournfully to exclaim, "The harvest is 
 past, the summer is ended, and I am not 
 saved!" The conscience of the sinner will be 
 compelled to admit the truth of the testimony. 
 In earthly courts, oftentimes witnesses are 
 suborned, and their testimony false. Not so 
 at the grand assize. Not a scrap of false testi- 
 mony will be admitted. The evidence will be 
 in truth, and the judgment in righteousness. 
 After all these scenes have occurred, the 
 Judge will render a verdict, and pronounce the 
 sentence, which will be irreversible and eternal. 
 With regard to the righteous, though they 
 have been guilty of many sins, both of omis- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 161 
 
 sion and commission, and have no merits of 
 their own to plead, and consider themselves 
 justly obnoxious to eternal banishment, their 
 Advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom, 
 while in the flesh, they exercised a true and 
 living faith, will now present them, clad in the 
 white robes of his perfect righteousness, fault- 
 less before his Father, and they will now hear 
 the welcome plaudit, " Come ye blessed, inherit 
 the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
 tion of the world." But those on the left hand, 
 who all their life rejected the mercy offered — 
 the great salvation proffered without money 
 and without price — will now hear the dread 
 sentence, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels !" 
 
 my dear, impenitent fellow-prisoners ! how 
 can ye take up your abode, your eternal abode, 
 in everlasting burnings? How can ye dwell 
 with devouring fire? How can ye endure 
 everlasting destruction from the presence of 
 the Lord and the glory of his power, shut up 
 for ever in the fearful pit out of which there is 
 no egress except for the vision of the damned, 
 14* 
 
162 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 and the smoke of its torment? Be wise to- 
 day, 'tis madness to defer. Procrastination is 
 the thief of time. Delay is fraught with awful 
 danger. Trust not in promises of future 
 amendment. The way to hell is paved with 
 good resolutions, which are never kept. The 
 future convenient season never arrives. Like 
 Felix, we may tremble when the minister rea- 
 sons of a judgment to come ; and like Agrippa, 
 we may be almost persuaded to be a Christian, 
 and yet come short of the glory of God through 
 procrastination. Procrastination has populated 
 hell. All the doomed and damned from Chris- 
 tian lands are victims of this pernicious and 
 destructive wile of the devil. It is foolish to 
 procrastinate. Though the Bible teems with 
 rich and glorious promises of a hundred-fold 
 blessings in this life, and eternal glory in the 
 world to come, to those who break off their 
 sins by righteousness, and their transgressions 
 by turning unto the Lord, yet all these pro- 
 mises are limited to the present tense. There is 
 not a single blessing promised the future peni- 
 tent. He procrastinates at the risk of losing 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. 163 
 
 all. Behold, now is the accepted time, and 
 now is the day of salvation. To-day if ye 
 will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 
 "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, 
 buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk with- 
 out money and without price." " Seek ye first 
 the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 
 "And the Spirit and the Bride say, come; let 
 him that heareth say, come; and let him that is 
 athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take 
 the water of life freely." 
 
 Choose ye this clay whom ye will serve. 
 There is no warrant for deferring till to-mor- 
 row the momentous and eternal interests of the 
 immortal soul. The shortness and uncertainty 
 of life furnish a strong reason why we should 
 not procrastinate. In the Bible, life is com- 
 pared to everything that is swift, transient, and 
 fleeting in its nature. It is compared to the 
 swoop of the eagle hasting to the prey ; to the 
 swift post, to the bubble on the river. Life is 
 compared in its duration to a year, a day, and 
 to nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity. 
 
164 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 All these comparisons indicate that it is very 
 brief and evanescent. We have no lease of 
 life; we hold it by a very slight temire; and 
 this is especially true of us in our present con- 
 dition. Confined in prison, some of us led to 
 death every day without a moment's warning, 
 every evening I address some who, before the 
 next evening, are in eternity. Myself in chains, 
 my life declared forfeited, ought we not all to 
 be deeply impressed with the necessity of imme- 
 diate preparation to meet oar God? I feel that 
 I am preaching as a dying man to dying men, 
 and I beseech you in Christ's stead, be ye 
 reconciled to God. Believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and ye shall be saved. Trust in him 
 for salvation, for he is faithful who has pro- 
 mised. God has never said to any, seek ye my 
 face in vain. By the love and mercy of God, 
 by the terrors of the judgment, by the sympa- 
 thy and compassion of Jesus, I entreat you, my 
 fellow-prisoners, to seek an interest, a present 
 interest, in the great salvation ! 
 
 I close for the present. We shall never all 
 engage in divine service together again on 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 165 
 
 earth. We separate — some to go to a distant 
 prison, and some to death. May God grant 
 that when we are done with earthly scenes, we 
 may all meet in the realms of bliss, where there 
 is in God's presence fulness of joy, and at his 
 right hand pleasures for evermore! And may 
 the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, 
 rest and abide with us, and all the Israel of 
 God, now, henceforth, and for ever, Amen ! 
 The following hymn was then sung : 
 
 In the sun, and moon, and stars, 
 Signs and wonders there shall be; 
 
 Earth shall quake with inward wars, 
 Nations with perplexity. 
 
 Soon shall ocean's hoary deep, 
 
 Tossed with stronger tempests, rise; 
 
 Wilder storms the mountains sweep, 
 Louder thunders rock the skies. 
 
 Dread alarms shall shake the proud, 
 
 Pale amazement, restless fear; 
 And, amid the thunder-cloud, 
 
 Shall the Judge of men appear. 
 
166 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 But though from his awful face, 
 
 Heaven shall fade, and earth shall fly, 
 
 Fear not ye, his chosen race, 
 Your redemption draweth nigh. 
 
 I preached longer than I had intended, hav- 
 ing become so fully engrossed with the subject 
 as to forget my chains and my frustrated plans. 
 My fellow-prisoners were listening apparently 
 with interest; great solemnity prevailed, and 
 penitential tears were flowing. It was evident 
 that the Spirit of the living God was in our 
 midst; and though danger and death were 
 before our eyes, the consolations of the glorious 
 gospel of the blessed God caused our peace 
 to flow like a river. The precious seed was 
 sown in tears. May we not entertain a good 
 hope that he who cast the seed into this soil, 
 prepared by affliction, shall come again with 
 rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. By 
 my side stood two in chains, who appeared 
 deeply moved. During the day I had con- 
 versed with them about their souls. They 
 expressed regret that they had not heretofore 
 given this matter the attention its importance 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. 167 
 
 demanded. Since their imprisonment, how- 
 ever, they had been led to feel that they were 
 great sinners, and had, as they hoped, put their 
 trust in Christ alone for salvation. I have 
 since learned that on the morrow they were 
 shot. 
 
168 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE. 
 
 The Second Plan of Escape — Under the Jail — Egress — 
 Among the Guards — In the Swamp — Travelling on the 
 Underground Railroad — The Fare — Green Corn eaten 
 Raw — Blackberries and Stagnant Water — The Blood- 
 hounds — Tantalizing Dreams — The Pickets — The Cows — 
 Become Sick — Fons Beatus — Find Friends — Union Friend 
 No. Two — The night in the Barn — Death of Newman by 
 Scalding — Union Friend No. Three — Bound for the Union 
 Lines — Rebel Soldiers — Black Ox — Pied Ox — Reach 
 Headquarters in Safety — Emotions on again beholding 
 the Old Flag — Kindness while Sick — Meeting with his 
 Family — Richard Malone again — The Serenade — Leave 
 Dixie — Northward bound. 
 
 After' the sermon was concluded, the prepara- 
 tions for my escape were commenced. The 
 building used for our prison was built with the 
 front toward the east. The doors were at the 
 eastern and western extremities, which were 
 the gable ends, one door being in each end. 
 There were also two windows at each end, the 
 door being between them. The doors and 
 window-sashes had been removed, to allow the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 169 
 
 guards stationed in front an unobstructed view 
 of the interior. At night the apartment was 
 lighted, and a guard patrolled the floor ; it was, 
 therefore, nearly impossible for a .person to 
 escape the observation of the guards, either 
 within or without the jail. In the North, the 
 houses are usually built with a cellar under- 
 neath; at the South, such a thing is very rare, 
 the houses being built upon the ground, or 
 upon piles. Our prison was built upon piles, 
 the floor being elevated about eighteen inches 
 above the ground. The boards were nailed 
 upon the building perpendicularly, and in some 
 cases did not quite reach to the ground. Small 
 openings were thus left between the floor and 
 the ground, through which a person could 
 crawl underneath the building. Around each 
 door was an enclosure, formed by stakes sur- 
 mounted with poles, in the shape of a parallelo- 
 gram, whose dimensions were about ten by 
 sixteen feet. In each of these enclosures four 
 guards were stationed, one of them being 
 seated in the doorway. The rear enclosure 
 was used for cooking purposes ; and into both 
 15 
 
170 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 enclosures we were permitted to go at pleasure 
 during all hours of the day, and as late at 
 night as ten o'clock. Only three prisoners 
 were allowed to be in an enclosure at one time. 
 
 M had discovered a hole by the side of 
 
 the steps within the front enclosure, by which 
 I could get under the building. I felt unwil- 
 ling to make such an attempt, as the aperture 
 was in the immediate vicinity of the guards. 
 
 M stated that four others would aid me, 
 
 though at considerable risk on their part. 
 "I'll take the risk," was the individual response 
 
 of all present. M selected three, who with 
 
 himself assumed the perilous task, in which 
 discovery would have cost them their lives. 
 
 M , who had devised the plan of escape, 
 
 now instructed us in the respective parts we 
 were to perform. All promised implicit obe- 
 dience. At half-past nine, three prisoners and 
 myself were to. go into the enclosure. They 
 would stand up and converse with the guards, 
 whilst I sat upon the ground by the hole, to 
 wait for an opportunity to crawl under the 
 building unobserved. This opportunity we 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 171 
 
 expected to occur at ten o'clock, when the 
 relief- guard came on duty. The duty of one 
 prisoner Avas to remain inside and engage the 
 attention of the guard who sat in the door- 
 way, while the other three would go into the 
 enclosure, and entertain the other guards, 
 according to the previously devised plan. At 
 half-past nine o'clock, we placed ourselves in 
 the designated positions. I readily removed 
 my chain, coiled it up, and laid it by the side 
 of a little stump. The moon shone with great 
 brilliancy, revealing the tents which surrounded 
 us on every side. Officers and soldiers passed 
 hurriedly to and fro. We were in the midst of 
 the noise and confusion of a great encampment, 
 as there were in and around Tupelo some 
 fifteen thousand soldiers. Mingled sounds of 
 mirth and contention proceeded from the sur- 
 rounding tents. My prisoner friends were 
 engaged in a fierce argument with the guards 
 as to the comparative merits of Tennessee and 
 Mississippi troops. This was done to divert 
 their attention, and I observed with pleasure 
 that they were meeting with success. I reflected 
 
172 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 that a few more moments would decide my 
 fate. If detected, jny life must end ignomini- 
 ously and on the gallows. In the morning, 
 my anklets would be securely welded. I would 
 also be handcuffed and chained to a post. Then 
 all hope must end, and soon my corpse would 
 be borne into the presence of her whose tears 
 were flowing, and who refused to be com- 
 forted because of my ominous absence. 
 
 The order for the relief-guard now came loud 
 and clear. I heard their hurried tramp, and 
 saw their glittering bayonets in the bright 
 moonlight. The set time, the appointed mo- 
 ment, big with my fate, had arrived. I offered 
 an ejaculatory prayer to Him who sits upon 
 the throne of heaven for protection at this 
 critical moment. The guard stood within ten 
 feet of me, with their eyes constantly upon 
 me. Just as they were turning to receive the 
 advancing relief-guard, I crawled backward 
 under the building, and disappeared from their 
 view. The relief-guard went on duty, and 
 those relieved retired. The prisoners were 
 ordered into the house, and as the new guards 
 
. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. l<o 
 
 did not know that four were in the enclosure, 
 I was not missed. 
 
 I was now under the prison, but there were 
 guards on every side, and the jail was in the 
 midst of a camp, so that I was still in great 
 danger of detection. I saw, through the 
 crevices in the floor, the guard who patrolled 
 the prison. I heard the murmurings and mut- 
 terings of the prisoners, as he occasionally trod 
 upon them in his carelessness. I could hear, 
 though not distinctly, the conversation of the 
 prisoners. One of my assistants was detailing 
 to his companions their success in getting me 
 off unnoticed. The prisoners slept but little 
 that night, owing to their anxiety for my 
 safety, and I frequently heard my name men- 
 tioned, and hopes for my safety expressed. I 
 occasionally fell into uneasy slumbers, but the 
 fleas and other vermin were so annoying, that 
 my sleep refreshed me but little. I could dis- 
 tinctly hear the new guard conversing, and 
 among other topics, one remarked that he had 
 forgotten the countersign ; the other replied that 
 it was Braxton. Well, said the former, I thought 
 15* 
 
17-1 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 it was Bragg, or Braxton, or something like that. 
 Knowing the countersign emboldened me, as I 
 could, if halted, give it, and pass on. I soon 
 crawled to the north side of the prison, and 
 found that there were three apertures sufficiently 
 large to admit of my egress. Upon reaching 
 the first one, I found a number of guards, some 
 sitting and some lying so close to it, that I 
 dared not make the attempt at that point. 
 
 Crawling to the second, I remained till there 
 was comparative quiet; but at the instant I 
 was about to pass out, a soldier, who was lying 
 with his face toward me, commenced to cough, 
 and continued to do so, at intervals, for more 
 than an hour. Finding it unadvisable to run 
 the risk of detection at this point, I made my 
 way, with considerable difficulty, to the third, 
 and last aperture, near the rear of the building, 
 and not very distant from the rear-guards. I 
 remained at this aperture till I heard one guard 
 say to another that it was three o'clock, and 
 that they must soon go on duty. I felt confi- 
 dent that then was my time, or never, as 
 morning would find me under the house, and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 175 
 
 I would be re-arrested in that situation. Com- 
 mitting myself into the hands of God, and 
 asking him to keep me from detection, and 
 grant me a safe escape, I arose from under the 
 building, passed by two sleeping guards, who 
 were lying within three or four feet of the 
 prison. As it was my first essay at walking 
 without chains, I reeled, as if under the influ- 
 ence of strong drink, striking my foot against 
 the head of one of those sleeping guards, who, 
 awaking, turned over, and uttering some excla- 
 mation of disapprobation, took no further notice 
 of me, doubtless mistaking me for one of his 
 companions. After proceeding a few steps, I 
 sat down upon the ground among some of the 
 guards. I took out my knife, and whistling, 
 to appear as unconcerned as possible, com- 
 menced whittling a stump, around which they 
 were collected — some sitting, some standing, 
 and others reclining. I readily passed for 
 one of them, as I was wearing a colored shirt, 
 which resembled that worn by the guards. I 
 soon, however, arose, and wound my way 
 among the various groups, endeavouring to 
 
176 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 reach, the corn-field, to which I had made my 
 first escape. After passing the guards off' duty, 
 a sentinel arose a short distance in front of me, 
 evidently with, the intention of halting me, if I 
 advanced farther. Stopping a few minutes, to 
 avoid suspicion, I changed my direction, bear- 
 ing southwest, and after a time, got into the 
 woods. Kneeling down, I returned God thanks 
 for thus crowning my efforts with success, and 
 prayed for his continuous protection, and that 
 he would choose out my path, that I might 
 escape detection, and rejoin my family and 
 friends in safety. 
 
 I now pursued my journey rapidly in a 
 southwest direction, choosing that which led 
 directly from my home, for two reasons. The 
 cavalry and bloodhounds would not be so 
 likely to follow in that direction, and after 
 listening, while in prison, to the drum-beat 
 morning and evening, in the various sur- 
 rounding camps, I noticed that it had ceased 
 in the southwest for several mornings ; hence I 
 supposed that the camp in that direction had 
 been broken up, and that, in taking that route, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 177 
 
 I could more readily get beyond the rebel 
 pickets, and then I could change my course, 
 and bear northward, and reach the Federal 
 lines at some point on the Memphis and 
 Charleston railroad. I hastened on till the sun 
 arose, having passed through woods and corn- 
 fields, studiously avoiding all roads, when, as 
 I was rapidly travelling along a narrow path, 
 I met a negro. The suddenness of our meeting 
 alarmed both. I, in a peremptory tone, ad- 
 dressed him, in quick succession, the following 
 interrogatories : 
 
 "Where are you going? To whom do you 
 belong ? "Where have you been ? Have you 
 a pass ?" 
 
 "I belong," said the boy, trembling, "to 
 
 Mr. . I have been to wife's house; am 
 
 gwine back home, but I haint got nary 
 
 pass." 
 
 "I suppose it is all right with you?" 
 "Oh, yes, master! it's all right wid me." 
 Concluding that it was not all right "wid" 
 myself, I hurried on, soon leaving the path, 
 and turning into a dense woods. Travelling 
 
178 TH.1 IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 on till about one P. M., I came to an open 
 country, so extensive that I could not go round 
 it, neither could I, in daylight, travel through 
 it with safety. I sought out a place to hide, 
 and finding a ditch which bisected a corn-field, 
 I concealed myself in that. During the day; 
 negroes and whites passed near, without dis- 
 covering me. Becoming hungry, I ate a small 
 piece of the bread which one of my fellow- 
 prisoners had given me, but it made me quite 
 sick. On my former escape, I had, just before 
 leaving the house, traded pants with a fellow- 
 prisoner, without his knowledge or consent. 
 On my return, he refused to trade back. My 
 reason for trading was, to get a dark pair, as 
 mine were so light-coloured, I feared the guards 
 would discover me more readily. Their owner 
 had been accustomed to use tobacco, and the 
 bread had become tinctured with it. Tobacco 
 being very offensive to me, its presence on my 
 bread caused me to lose it. 
 
 The day passed away, and the night came. 
 The stars came out in silent glory, one by one. 
 Fixing my eye upon the pole-star, the under- 
 
SLAVERY AXD SECESSION. 179 
 
 ground railroad travellers' guide, I set out, 
 bearing a little to the west of north. I soon 
 reached the thick woods, and found it very 
 difficult to make rapid progress, in consequence 
 of the dense under- growth and obscure light. 
 The bushes would strike me in the eyes, and 
 often the top of a fallen tree would cause me 
 to make quite a circuit. Soon, however, the 
 moon arose in her brightness — the old silver 
 moon. But her light I found to be far less 
 brilliant than that of the sun, and her rays 
 were much obscured by the dense foliage over- 
 head ; hence my progress was necessarily slow, 
 laboured, and toilsome. I slept but little during 
 the day, in consequence of the proximity of 
 those who might be bitter foes, and also 
 the unpleasant position I occupied, as the ditch 
 in which I had concealed myself was muddy, 
 and proved an uncomfortable bed. I therefore 
 became weary, my limbs stiff from travel and 
 from the pressure of the heavy iron bands. 
 Sleep overpowered me, and I laid down 
 in the leaves, and slept till the cold awoke 
 me, which, judging from the moon's descent, 
 
180 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 must have been an hour and a half. The 
 nights in Mississippi are invariably cool, how- 
 ever hot the days may be. Arising from my 
 uneasy slumber, I pressed on. My thirst, which 
 for some time had been increasing, now became 
 absolutely unendurable. I knew not where to 
 obtain water, not daring to go near a well, 
 through fear of being arrested. At length I 
 heard some suckling pigs and their dam, at a 
 short distance from me, in the woods. There 
 seemed to be no alternative. I must either 
 perish, or obtain some fluid to slake my raging 
 thirst; so I resolved to catch a little pig, cut 
 its throat, and drink the blood. I searched for 
 my knife, but I had lost it. I was, therefore, 
 reluctantly compelled to abandon my design 
 on the suckling's life. As I went forward, the 
 sow and her brood started up alarmed, and in 
 their flight, plunged into water. I immediately 
 followed, and found a mud-hole. Kemoving 
 the green scum, I drank deep of the stagnant 
 pool. My thirst was only partially quenched 
 by this draught, and soon returned. As day 
 dawned, I found some sassafras leaves, which. 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. 181 
 
 I chewed, to allay the pangs of hunger ; but 
 they formed a paste which I could not swallow. 
 I soon after came to an old field, where I 
 obtained an abundant supply of blackberries, 
 which not only served to check the gnawings 
 of hunger, but also to allay my intolerable 
 thirst. I reflected that this day was the holy 
 Sabbath, but it brought neither rest to my 
 weary frame, nor composure to my agitated and 
 excited mind. Like Salathiel, the Wandering 
 Jew, the word March! was ringing in my ears. 
 Onward ! was my motto ; Liberty or death ! my 
 watchword. About ten o'clock I came to an 
 open country, and sought out a ditch, in which 
 to conceal myself. Here I fell into a troubled 
 sleep. I saw, in dreams, tables groaning under 
 the weight of the most delicious viands, and 
 brooks of crystal waters, bubbling and spark- 
 ling as they rushed onward in their meandering 
 course; but when I attempted to grasp them, 
 they served me as they did Tantalus, of olden 
 time, by vanishing into thin air, or receding 
 beyond my reach. While lying here, I was 
 now and then aroused by the trampling of 
 16 
 
182 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 horses grazing in the field, which I feared 
 might be bringing on my pursuers. And once 
 the voices of men, mingled with the sounds of 
 horses' feet upon a little bridge, some twenty 
 feet distant, induced me to look out from my 
 hiding-place, and lo! two cavalry-men — per- 
 haps hunting for my life ! — rode along. 
 
 When the sun had reached the zenith, I 
 was again startled by voices, which approached 
 nearer and nearer my place of concealment, till 
 at length the cause was discovered. Several 
 children, both black and white, had come from 
 a farm-house, about a quarter, of a mile distant, 
 to gather blackberries along the margin of the 
 ditch. They soon discovered me, and seemed 
 somewhat startled and alarmed at my appear- 
 ance. I soon saw them gazing down upon me, 
 in my moist bed, with evident amazement and 
 alarm. Pallid, haggard, unshaven, and covered 
 with mud, I must have presented a frightful 
 picture. 
 
 As soon as the children passed me, fearing 
 the report they would carry home, I arose 
 from my lair, and hurried on, though I had to 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 183 
 
 pass in sight of several houses. After travel- 
 ling three or four miles through an open 
 champaign country, I came to a dense woods, 
 bordering a stream which had ceased running, 
 in consequence of the great drought that had, 
 for a long time, prevailed throughout this sec- 
 tion of Mississippi. The creek had been a 
 large one, and in the deep holes, some water 
 still remained, though warm, and covered with 
 a heavy scum, and mingled with the spawn 
 of frogs. I drank it, however, from sheer 
 necessity, tepid and unhealthy as it was. It 
 did not allay my thirst, but created a nausea, 
 which was very unpleasant. 
 
 About four o'clock P. M., I was startled by 
 the baying of bloodhounds behind me, and 
 apparently on my track. Before escaping from 
 jail, I had been advised by the prisoners to 
 obtain some onions, as these, rubbed on the 
 soles of my boots, would destroy the scent. 
 They could only be procured, however, by a 
 visit to some garden-patch, and I feared to go 
 so near a house. I had left no clothes in prison 
 from which the hounds could obtain the scent in 
 
184 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 order to find my track, and my starting in a 
 southwest direction was an additional precau- 
 tion against bloodhounds. Their baying soon 
 became alarmingly distinct. Having heard them 
 almost every night for years, as they hunted 
 down the fugitive slave, I could not mistake 
 the fearful import of their howling. I could 
 devise no plan for breaking the trail. Dan 
 Boone, when pursued by Indians, succeeded in 
 baffling the hounds by catching at some over- 
 hanging branches, and swinging himself for- 
 ward. Negroes often destroy the scent by 
 carrying matches, and setting the leaves on fire. 
 One negro of whom I heard, ran along the 
 brink of a precipice, and dug a recess back 
 from the narrow path. Crawling into it, he 
 remained till the hounds reached that point, 
 when he thrust them from the path. They fell 
 and were dashed to pieces on the jagged rocks 
 below. 
 
 None of these plans were practicable to me, 
 and I supposed death imminent, either from 
 being torn to pieces by the hounds, or by being 
 shot by the cavalry, who were following them. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 185 
 
 Climbing a tree, I resolved to await the arrival 
 of the cavalry, and having determined to die 
 rather than be taken back again to Tupelo, I 
 would refuse to obey any summons to descend. 
 0, how I wished for my navy repeater, that I 
 might sell my life as dearly as possible! that 
 I might make some secessionist bite the dust 
 ere I was slain ! I often thought of the couplet 
 in the old song — 
 
 " The hounds are baying on my track, 
 Christian, will you send me back?" 
 
 A feeling of strong sympathy arose in my 
 bosom for the poor African, who, in his endea- 
 vour to escape from the Iron Furnace of 
 Southern slavery, often encountered the blood- 
 hounds, and was torn to pieces by them. " A 
 fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind." 
 
 I had remained but a short time in the tree, 
 when I ascertained that the hounds were bear- 
 ing eastward, and they soon passed at a dis- 
 tance. They were on the track of some other 
 poor fugitive, and I rejoiced again in the hope 
 of safety. Coming to a corn-field, I plucked 
 16* 
 
186 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 two ears of corn, and ate them raw, having no 
 matches wherewith to kindle a fire, which, 
 indeed, would have increased my peril, as the 
 smoke might advertise my presence to bitter 
 and unrelenting foes. 
 
 Toward night I lay down in the woods, and 
 fell asleep. Visions of abundance, both to eat 
 and drink, haunted me, and every unusual 
 sound would startle me. A fly peculiar to the 
 South, whose buzz sounded like the voice of an 
 old man, often awoke me with the fear that 
 my enemies were near. As soon as Ursa 
 Minor appeared, I took up my line of march. 
 The night was very dark, and I became some- 
 what bewildered. At length I reached a cross- 
 roads, and as I was emerging from the wood, 
 I saw two pickets a few yards from me. 
 Stooping down, I crawled on my hands and 
 knees back into the woods. As I retired, I 
 heard one picket say to the other, "Who is 
 that?" 
 
 He replied, "It is the lieutenant of the 
 guard." 
 
 "What does he want?" said the first. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 187 
 
 "He is slipping round to see if we are 
 asleep." 
 
 After I got a safe distance in the bushes, I 
 lay down and slept till the moon arose. To 
 the surprise of my bewildered brain, it seemed 
 to rise in the west. Taking my course, I has- 
 tened on, sometimes through woods, sometimes 
 through cornfields, and sometimes through 
 swamps. Coming to a large pasture, in which 
 a number of cows were grazing, I tried to 
 obtain some milk, but none of them would 
 allow me to approach near enough to effect 
 my purpose. My face was not of the right 
 colour, and my costume belonged to a sex 
 that never milked them. I travelled until 
 day-break, when I concealed myself in a 
 thicket of cane, and had scarcely fallen asleep 
 when I heard the sound of the reveille, in a 
 camp close at hand. Arising, I hurriedly beat 
 a retreat, and travelled several hours before I 
 dared take any rest. I at length lay down 
 amid the branches of a fallen tree, and slept. 
 Visions of home and friends flitted before me. 
 Voices sweet and kind greeted me on all 
 
188 THE IKON furnace; or 
 
 sides. The bitter taunts of cruel officers no 
 longer assailed my ears. The loved ones at 
 home were present, and the joys of the past 
 were renewed. But, alas ! the falling of a limb 
 dissipated all my fancied pleasures. The real- 
 ity returned, and I was still a fugitive escaping 
 for life, and in the midst of a hostile country. 
 
 To-day my mock trial would have taken 
 place, and I fancied the disappointment of 
 Woodruff, who had stated that to his know- 
 ledge I was a spy, and to-day would have 
 sworn it. And Barnes, the mail-robber, recom- 
 mended for promotion because of his heroism 
 in re-arresting me, how sad he must feel, that 
 the bird had flown, and that he would not have 
 the pleasure of witnessing my execution. I 
 thanked God and took courage. Though faint 
 
 o o 
 
 and weary, I was still hopeful and trusting, 
 
 often repeating, 
 
 "'Tis God has led me safe thus far, 
 And he will bring me home." 
 
 On this (Monday) night, I travelled steadily, 
 crossing swamps, corn-fields, woods, and pas- 
 tures. I came to only one cotton-field dur- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 189 
 
 ing the night. I passed through several 
 wheat-fields, where the wheat had been har- 
 vested; I pulled a handful from a shock, and 
 rubbed out some of the grain, but it was so 
 bitter I could not eat it. I suspected every 
 bush a secessionist, though I felt much more 
 secure at night than in daylight. I avoided 
 roads as much as possible, travelling on none 
 except to cross them, which was done with 
 great rapidity. The rising sun still found me 
 pressing onward, and thirst and hunger were 
 now consuming me. To satisfy hunger, I had 
 recourse to the corn-field; but I could find no 
 water. I would gladly have drank any kind 
 of beverage, however filthy, so that my thirst 
 might be allayed. About nine o'clock, when I 
 had almost despaired of getting water at all, I 
 came to a copious fountain in a gorge of the 
 hills, and from its appearance, I seemed to be 
 the discoverer. Around it there was no trace of 
 human foot, nor hoof of cattle. On beholding 
 it, I wept with joy. I remained by it about four 
 hours, quaffing its cool and crystal waters, the 
 first running water I had tasted since leaving 
 
190 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 prison. I also bathed my body and washed 
 my clothes, drying them in the sun, and endea- 
 voured to rid them of vermin, in which I only 
 partially succeeded. I named this fountain 
 Fons Beatus, and left it with sincere sorrow. 
 
 Three o'clock, P. M., arrived, and I felt 
 bewildered. I knew not where I was. I might 
 be near friends, I might be near bloodthirsty 
 foes. I could scarcely walk. My iron bands 
 had become very irksome. I felt that I was 
 becoming childish. I could tell all my bones. 
 I tried to pray, but could only utter, "Lord, be 
 merciful to me, a sinner !" Still I felt thankful 
 that it was so well with me as it was. 
 
 At that very hour, had I not escaped, I 
 should have been either on the scaffold at 
 Tupelo, or suspended between heaven and 
 earth, surrounded by an insulting and jeer- 
 ing army. This reflection made me thank- 
 ful to God, even though I should die in the 
 swamps. The sky became overcast, and I 
 found it impossible to distinguish north from 
 south. I therefore concealed myself and slept. 
 It was night when I awoke, and the clouds still 
 
SLAVEKY AND SECESSION. 191 
 
 covered the sky threateningly, concealing my 
 guiding star, and rendering it impossible for 
 me to proceed. Thus, when I wished most to 
 go forward, my progress was arrested, and my 
 distressing suspense prolonged. During the 
 whole night I was asleep and awake alter- 
 nately, but could not at any time discern either 
 moon or stars. Once, while sleeping behind a 
 fallen tree by the roadside, a horseman passed 
 by. His dog, a large and ferocious-looking 
 animal, came running along by the side of the 
 tree where I was lying. When he reached me, 
 I raised up suddenly * and brandishing a club 
 menacingly, the alarmed and howling dog 
 incontinently and ingloriously fled, leaving me 
 master of the field. 
 
 On Wednesday morning the sun was still 
 obscured until nine o'clock. I was then sick. 
 There was a ringing in my ears, and I was 
 affected with vertigo, a dimness of vision and 
 faintness, which rendered me absolutely unfit 
 for travel. It required an hour to walk a 
 quarter of a mile. I found a good supply of 
 blackberries, which very much refreshed me. 
 
192 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Before me was a hill, the top of which I reached 
 after two hours' laborious ascent. I despaired 
 of getting much further. I thought I must 
 perish in the Iron Furnace of secession, which 
 was heated very hot for me. Feeling confident 
 that I must be near Tippah county, and know- 
 ing that there were many Union men in that 
 county, I resolved to call at the first house on 
 my route. If I remained where I was, I must 
 perish, as I could go no further, and if I met 
 with a Union family, I should be saved ; if with 
 " a secesh," I might possibly impose upon their 
 credulity, and get refreshment without being 
 arrested. They might, however, cause my arrest. 
 It was a dilemma such as I hope never to be 
 placed in again. About an hour before sunset 
 I came to a house, and remained near it for 
 some time. At length I saw a negro girl come 
 to the door. Knowing that where there were 
 negroes, in nine cases out of ten there were 
 secessionists near, I left the house as quickly 
 as my enfeebled condition would permit. Going 
 to another house, I remained near it till I was 
 satisfied there were no negroes held by that 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 193 
 
 family. I then went boldly up, knocked, 
 gained admittance, and asked for some water, 
 which, was given me. The lady of the house, 
 scrutinizing me closely, asked me if I were from 
 Tupelo. I replied in the affirmative. She then 
 inquired my name. I gave her my Christian 
 name, John Hill, suppressing the surname. Her 
 husband was sitting near, a man of Herculean 
 frame; and as the wife's inquisitiveness was 
 beginning to alarm me, I turned to him and 
 said: "My friend, you are a man of great 
 physical powers, and at this time you ought to 
 be in the army. The Yankees are overrunning 
 all our country, and the service of every man 
 is needed." His wife replied that he was not in 
 the army, nor would he go into it, unless he 
 was forced to go. They had been told that the 
 cavalry would be after him in a few days, to 
 take him as a conscript ; but she considered the 
 conscript law, base and tyrannical. Overjoyed 
 at the utterance of such sentiments as these, I 
 then revealed my true character. I told them 
 that I had recently made my escape from 
 Tupelo, where I was doomed to execution on 
 17 
 
194: THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 the gallows, and that I was now flying from 
 prison and from death. I then exhibited the 
 iron bands upon my ankles. Both promised all 
 the aid in their power. The lady at once pro- 
 posed to prepare supper, but I was too near the 
 point of starvation to await the slow process of 
 cooking. She therefore turned down the table- 
 cloth, which covered the fragments remaining 
 from dinner, and disclosed some corn bread 
 and Irish potatoes. Though I never liked corn 
 bread, I must confess I thought that was the 
 sweetest morsel J had ever tasted. 
 
 After eating a little, however, I became very 
 sick, and was compelled to desist. It was so 
 long since I had partaken of any substantial 
 food, that my stomach now could not bear it. 
 The lady soon prepared supper, consisting of 
 broiled chicken, and other delicacies. The 
 fowl was quite small, and I ate nearly the 
 whole of it, much to the chagrin of a little 
 daughter of mine host, whom I heard com- 
 plaining to her mother, afterward, in an adjoin- 
 ing room, saying, "Ma, all I got of that chicken 
 was a little piece of the wing," and "aint that 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 1 ( J5 
 
 gentleman a hoss to eat ?" with other remarks 
 by no means complimentary to my voracious 
 appetite. 
 
 After supper, mine host endeavoured to 
 remove the heavy iron bands by which my 
 ankles were clasped. This was accomplished 
 after considerable labour. I asked him to 
 retain the bands till called for, which he pro- 
 mised to do. The good lady furnished me with 
 water and a suit of her husband's clothes. After 
 performing a thorough ablution, I donned the 
 suit, and felt completely metamorphosed, and 
 was thoroughly disguised, as my new suit 
 had been made for" a man of vastly larger 
 physical proportions. I spent the night with 
 my new friends, during which a heavy 
 thunder-storm passed over. Had I been out 
 in the drenching rain in my wretched con- 
 dition, I must surely have perished. In the 
 morning my host informed me of a Union 
 man who knew the country in the direction of 
 llienzi, the point which I now determined to 
 reach. This gentleman lived half a mile dis- 
 tant, and my host accompanied me to a thicket 
 
196 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 near his house, where I concealed myself till he 
 
 brought Mr. to me. Said my friend No. 2, 
 
 "I am not familiar with the route to Rienzi, 
 but will go with you to friend No. 3, who I am 
 positive is well acquainted with the road. He 
 can take you through the woods, so as to avoid 
 the Confederate cavalry. As I undertake this 
 at the risk of my life, we must wait till night. 
 I would gladly have you come to my house, 
 but I fear that it might transpire through my 
 children that I had helped you to escape. I 
 have a large family, and most of 'em is gals, 
 and you know gals will talk. You can stay in 
 my barn till I come for you. I will carry you 
 provisions during the day, and to-night we will 
 go to my friend's." 
 
 About three o'clock in the morning, he came 
 with two horses, one of which he mounted, and 
 I the other. The horse I rode was a blooded 
 animal, and to use my friend's expression, could 
 run like a streak of lightning. I provided 
 myself with a good whip, resolving, in case of 
 danger, to put my horse to his utmost speed. 
 A short time after daylight, we reached friend 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 197 
 
 No. 3, who promised to conduct me to Eienzi. 
 While at his house, I learned that a Unionist, 
 
 Mr. N , had been killed under circumstances 
 
 of the greatest cruelty. His sentiments had 
 become known to the rebels. He was arrested 
 by their cavalry, and refusing to take the oath, 
 they resolved to put him to death on the spot. 
 He had a large family of small children, who, 
 together with his wife, begged that his life 
 might be spared. He himself had no favours 
 to ask of the secessionists. Among his foes, 
 the only point of dispute was, as to the mode 
 of his death. Some favoured shooting, some 
 hanging ; but the prevailing majority were in 
 favour of scalding him to death. And there, 
 in the presence of his weeping and helpless 
 family, these fiends in human form deliberately 
 heated water, with which they scalded to death 
 tlieir chained and defenceless victim. Thus 
 perished a patriot of whom the State was 
 not worthy. The corpse was then suspended 
 from a tree, with a label on the breast, stating 
 that whoever cut him down and buried him, 
 should suffer the same fate. My companions 
 17* 
 
198 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 cut down the corpse by night, and buried it 
 in the forest. May God reward them I 
 
 My friend No. 3 thought that it would be 
 best to travel in daylight. He could follow 
 by-paths, and avoid the rebel cavalry. We 
 started about eight o'clock on Friday morning, 
 and met with no incident worth narrating until 
 we reached a mill ; here we fell in with some 
 six or seven rebel soldiers, who had been out 
 on sick furlough, and were returning. They 
 scanned us closely, and inquired whence we 
 came, and whither bound. My friend specified 
 a neighbourhood from which he affirmed we 
 came, and stated that we were hunting stray 
 oxen, asking whether they had seen a black 
 ox and a pied ox in their travels. They 
 replied in the negative; and in turn asked 
 him who I was. He replied that I was his 
 wife's brother, who had come from Alabama 
 about three months ago. They said I looked 
 like "death on a pale hoss," and wished to 
 know what was the matter with me — if I were 
 consumptive. My friend replied that I had had 
 the chills for several months ; and as there was 
 
SLAVEEY AND SECESSION. 199 
 
 no quinine in the country, it was impossible to 
 stop them. 
 
 During this inquisition, I was ready at any 
 moment to put spur to my horse, and run a 
 race for life, had any attempt been made to 
 arrest me, or if I had been recognised by any 
 of the soldiers. We were, however, permitted 
 to pass on, not without some suspicious glances. 
 We at length reached a point ten miles from 
 Kienzi. My guide now insisted on return- 
 ing. It would be morning ere he reached 
 home, and if met by cavalry, he must invent 
 some plausible excuse for having a led horse. 
 Nor did he dare return by the same route. 
 Knowing the country, I permitted him to 
 return. I then set out on foot, and at length 
 reached the Federal pickets, three miles from 
 Rienzi, where a horse was furnished me; and 
 about ten o'clock I reached the head-quarters 
 of Colonel Misner in Rienzi. When I gazed 
 upon the star-spangled banner, beneath whose 
 ample folds there was safety and protection — • 
 when I saw around me the Union hosts — I 
 shed tears of joy, and from the depths of my 
 
200 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 heart returned thanks to Almighty God, who 
 had given me my life at my request, preserving 
 me, amid dangers seen and unseen, till I now 
 was safe amid hosts of friends. 
 
 Colonel Misner requested me to report all 
 that would be of service to General Bosecrans, 
 which I did, he copying my report as I gave it. 
 I reported, so far as I was informed, the proba- 
 ble number of troops in and around Tupelo, 
 the topography of the country, the probable 
 designs of the rebels, the number of troops 
 sent to Kichmond under Beauregard, &c. The 
 Colonel requested me to go with him to head- 
 quarters in the morning ; but at the hour speci- 
 fied I was sick, and my physician, Dr. Holley, 
 of the Thirty -sixth Illinois, thought it would 
 not be advisable for me to go, even in an 
 ambulance. My report, however, was carried 
 up to General Eosecrans. 
 
 Through proper treatment I recovered in a 
 few days, so as to be able to go into Jacinto, 
 the nearest point in the Federal lines to my 
 family. I called on General Jefferson C. Davis, 
 who was in command of that post. The General 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 201 
 
 had heard of my arrest, and expressed gratifica- 
 tion at my safe return. I informed him of my 
 desire to get my family within the lines. The 
 General immediately proffered me all the caval- 
 ry at his command, and ordered them to pre- 
 pare for the expedition. I thankfully accepted 
 his kind offer, but after reflection concluded to 
 send a messenger first, with a letter to my 
 wife; if he were not intercepted, I knew that 
 she would come in as soon as possible. The 
 order to the cavalry was countermanded until 
 this plan would be tried. The messenger was 
 not intercepted, and on the next day I had the 
 pleasure of beholding my wife and child, whose 
 faces, a short time before, I had given up all 
 hope of ever beholding on earth. 
 
 While here, I called on my friend, Lieuten- 
 ant Richard Malone, who resides in Jacinto. 
 On inquiring at his house for him, he heard 
 my voice, and ran out to the gate to meet me. 
 Grasping my hand, he could not for some time 
 control his emotions so as to speak. 
 
 Malone gave me his history since we had 
 parted at the outer wall of the prison. He 
 
202 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 reached the corn-field at the point designated, 
 and anxiously awaited my arrival until near 
 daylight, when he was compelled to seek safety 
 in flight. We had agreed to meet in the corn- 
 field at a place where there was a garment sus- 
 pended upon the fence. We think there must 
 have been two garments suspended at different 
 points, and hence our mistake. We could not 
 signal loud in consequence of the nearness of 
 the pickets, and therefore did not meet. Soon 
 after daylight, Malone found himself in the 
 midst of a cavalry company which had en- 
 camped there during the night; they were 
 making preparations for departure, and the 
 majority of them were gathering blackberries. 
 Joining them, he passed as a citizen, and when 
 he reached the rear of the company, he gath- 
 ered some sticks in his arms, and started 
 towards a small cabin at a short distance, as if 
 it were his residence. Before reaching it, he 
 made a detour to the right, and passed into the 
 dense woods. On the next day, about ten 
 o'clock, A. M., he reached an open champaign 
 country, through which it would have been 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 203 
 
 dangerous to travel. To the west, about three 
 hundred yards distant, was a dense woods, 
 which he hoped to reach without detection. 
 While travelling down a road for this purpose, 
 four cavalrymen who were in pursuit dashed 
 towards him, and ordered him to return with 
 them to Tupelo. Malone replied, that as it 
 was useless to resist, he must submit. He 
 asked for some water; they had none in their 
 Ganteens, but went to a house in the dis- 
 tance to obtain some. Malone was ordered 
 to march before them, which he was com- 
 pelled to do, though famishing from hunger 
 and thirst. On reaching the house, they all 
 went to the well and drew a bucket of water. 
 There being no dipper, Malone remarked that 
 he would go into the house and get one. 
 One of -the guards followed, and stationed 
 himself at the door with his gun. Malone 
 went into the house, and immediately passed 
 out at the back door. The garden gate being 
 open, he passed into the garden, when he 
 commenced running. Two women in the 
 house noticed his running, and clapping their 
 
204 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 hands exclaimed, " Your Yankee's gone ! Your 
 Yankee's gone!" The guards immediately 
 followed, ordering him to halt, and firing at 
 him with their revolvers. Malone quickly 
 reached a corn-field, and soon after a swamp, 
 whence he made good his escape, and after 
 various vicissitudes reached his family in 
 Jacinto, where I now found him. 
 
 I returned to Bienzi with my family, re- 
 solved to leave for the North. My wife, before 
 leaving her father's, learned, through a letter 
 sent by a rebel oificer to his wife, that all the 
 guards who were on duty during the night I 
 escaped from prison, were placed under close 
 arrest, and were still in the dungeon at the 
 time of his writing. There were eleven guards 
 on each relief, and three reliefs during the 
 night ; there were, therefore, thirty-three guards 
 placed under arrest because of my escape. 
 
 On the night previous to our departure from 
 Rienzi, we were honoured with a serenade, 
 through the politeness of General Granger, of 
 the cavalry, and Colonel Bryner, of the Forty- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 205 
 
 seventh Illinois Regiment. Being called on for 
 a speech, I thus responded : 
 
 Gentlemen — I return you sincere thanks for 
 the honour intended myself and family. In 
 the language of the last tune played by your 
 band, I truly feel at " home again," and it fills 
 my soul with joy to meet my friends once 
 more. What a vast difference a few miles 
 makes ! Tupelo is about forty miles south of 
 Rienzi, on an air-line. There I was regarded 
 as a base ingrate, as a despicable traitor, as an 
 enemy to the country, chained as a felon, 
 doomed to die, and before the execution of the 
 sentence, subjected to every species of insult 
 and contumely. Here I meet with the kindest 
 expressions of sympathy from officers of all 
 ranks, from the subaltern to the general, and 
 there is not a private soldier who has heard my 
 tale of woe, who does not manifest a kindly 
 sympathy. 
 
 I hope that you will soon pass south of 
 Tupelo ; but in your march to the Gulf, may 
 you fare better than I did in my journey to 
 18 
 
206 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 tins place. Green corn eaten raw, berries, 
 and stagnant water, would soon cause you to 
 present the emaciated appearance that I do. On 
 your route, call upon the secession sympathiz- 
 ers, and compel them to furnish you with better 
 and more substantial food. My horse I left at 
 Tupelo. He is a valuable animal. The rebel 
 General Hardee, in the true spirit of secession, 
 appropriated — that is, stole — him. However, I 
 did not call to demand him when I left. Being 
 in haste, I did not choose to spare the time, and 
 leaving in the night, I did not wish to disturb 
 the slumbers of the Tupelonians. He is a 
 bright bay. If you meet with him, you may 
 have him for nothing. I would much prefer 
 that he serve the Federal army. 
 
 If you take General Jordan prisoner, send 
 me word, and I will furnish you with the iron 
 bands that he put on me, by which you may 
 secure him till he meets the just award of his 
 crimes, which would be death, for destroying 
 the lives of so many Union men. 
 
 I hope that you may soon plant the stars and 
 stripes on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 207 
 
 play the "Star-spangled Banner" within hear- 
 ing of its vertiginous billows, after having con- 
 quered every foe to the permanence of the glo- 
 rious Union. I close with the sentiment of the 
 immortal Jackson, which I wish you to bear 
 constantly in mind, in your victorious pro- 
 gress — "The Federal Union — it must and shall 
 be preserved!" Eelying upon the God of 
 battles, rest assured that the right cause will 
 triumph, and that after having secured the great 
 object of your warfare, the preservation of the 
 Union, your children and your children's chil- 
 dren will rise up and call you blessed, rejoicing 
 in the enjoyment of a free, united, and happy 
 country. 
 
 Wishing you abundant success, I beg leave 
 to retire. 
 
 On Saturday, the 2d of August, 1862, we 
 left Eienzi, en route for the North, in company 
 with William H. Hubbard, Esq., and family, 
 who were also refugees. From the moment I 
 reached the Federal lines I experienced nothing 
 but kindness. I could not mention all who are 
 
208 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 deserving of thanks from myself and family. I 
 am under special obligations to Generals Nel- 
 son, Kosecrans, Granger, Davis, and Asboth; 
 also to Colonel Bryner and Lieutenant Colonel 
 Thrush, of the Forty -seventh Illinois, and Sur- 
 geon Lucas, of same regiment, and to Dr. Hol- 
 ley, of the Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteers ; to 
 Josiah King, Esq., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylva- 
 nia; and Dr. McCook, of Steuben ville, Ohio; 
 also Mrs. Ann Wheelwright, of Newburyport, 
 Massachusetts, whose kind letter will ever be 
 remembered, and whose " material aid" entitles 
 her to lasting gratitude; and to Eev. George 
 Potts, D.D., of New York; and Mr. William 
 E. Dubois, of Philadelphia; Eev. Dr. Sprole, 
 Newburgh, New York ; Eev. N. Hewitt, D. D., 
 Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Eev. F. N. Ewing, 
 Chicago, Illinois ; Eev. J. M. Krebs, D. D., New 
 York; Eev. A. D. Smith, D. D., New York; 
 and Eev. F. Eeck Harbaugh, Philadelphia, and 
 many others. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I would mention 
 the following incident : 
 
 On Wednesday evening, November 19th, I 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 209 
 
 addressed the citizens of Philadelphia at the 
 Sixth Presbyterian Church, (Rev. K Reck 
 Harbaugh's.) A report of this address found 
 its way into the city papers. Two days after- 
 wards, while in conversation with Mr. Martien, 
 at his book-store, two soldiers entered, one of 
 whom approached, and thus addressed me ; 
 
 " Do you know me, sir ?" 
 
 I replied : "■ Your face is familiar, but I do 
 not remember your name. It is my misfortune 
 not to be able to remember proper names." 
 
 "I read the report of your address in the 
 newspaper, and through the aid of my comrade, 
 I have succeeded in finding you. We have met 
 before, at Tupelo." 
 
 At the mention of Tupelo, I immediately 
 recognised in the speaker the man who, after 
 labouring with the others in sundering my 
 chain, engaged the guard, who sat in the door- 
 way, in conversation, while I watched an 
 opportunity to disappear under the prison. 
 Grasping him warmly by the hand, I said: "I 
 now recognise you. You are Mr. Howell Trog- 
 don, of Missouri, late my fellow-prisoner in 
 18* 
 
210 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 Tupelo. How and when did you succeed in 
 leaving that prison ?" 
 
 " Being a Federal prisoner, I was removed 
 from Tupelo to Mobile, and there parolled on 
 the 26th of August last." 
 
 "When was I missed after my escape, and 
 how did the officers act when they learned that 
 I was gone ?" 
 
 "You were missed at roll-call, the next 
 morning, and in a short time, many officers 
 came into the prison. They were greatly 
 enraged at this, your second flight. The 
 prisoners were closely questioned as to their 
 complicity in your escape, but they denied all 
 knowledge of the matter. Soon all the prison- 
 guards on duty during the night, thirty -three 
 in number, were brought into the prison in 
 chains. The cavalry was ordered out in search 
 of you, and directed to shoot you down where- 
 ever found. The mode of your escape was not 
 discovered, and the officers were of the opinion 
 that you had bribed the guards. From that 
 time, the officers became more cruel than ever, and 
 in two weeks, thirty-two of our fellow -prisoners 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 211 
 
 were taken out and shot/ We never learned 
 whether you had succeeded in escaping to the 
 Union lines. We feared that you were over- 
 taken and shot, or that you perished in the 
 swamps from hunger, thirst, and fatigue. I 
 hope soon to see McHatten, Speer, De Grum- 
 mond, and Soper, who are also parolled, and 
 they will rejoice to learn that you still live. 
 During the night of your escape, we slept but 
 little, through fear that our chaplain might be 
 shot by the guards, and I assure you many 
 fervent prayers ascended to Heaven for your 
 safety." 
 
212 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SOUTHERN CLASSES— CRUELTY TO SLAVES. 
 
 Sandhillers — Dirt-eating — Dipping — Their Mode of Living — 
 Patois — Rain-book — Wife- trade — Coming in to see the 
 Cars — Superstition — Marriage of Kinsfolks — Hardshell 
 Sermon — Causes which lead to the Degradation of this 
 Class — Efforts to Reconcile the Poor Whites to the Pecu- 
 liar Institution — The Slaveholding Class — The Middle 
 Class — Northern Isms — Incident at a Methodist Minister's 
 House — Question asked a Candidate for. Licensure — Rea- 
 son of Southern Hatred toward the North — Letter to Mr. 
 Jackman — Barbarities and Cruelties of Slavery — Mulat- 
 toes — Old Cole — Child Born at Whipping-post — Advertise- 
 ment of a Keeper of Bloodhounds — Getting Rid of Free 
 Blacks — The Doom of Slavery — Methodist Church South. 
 
 The sojourner in the Slave States is struck with 
 the wretched and degraded appearance of a 
 class of people called by the slaveholders, 
 "poor white folks," and "the tallow-faced gen- 
 try," from their pallid complexion. They live 
 in wretched hovels, dress slatternly, and are 
 exceedingly filthy in their habits. Many of 
 them are clay or dirt-eaters, which is said to 
 cause their peculiar complexion. Their chil- 
 
\ 
 
 SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 213 
 
 dren, at a very early age, form this filthy and 
 disgusting habit; and mere infants may be 
 found with their mouths filled with dirt. The 
 mud with which they daub the interstices 
 between the logs of their rude domicils, must 
 be frequently renewed, as the occupants pick it 
 all out in a very short time, and eat it. This 
 pernicious practice induces disease. The com- 
 plexion becomes pale, similar to that occasioned 
 by chronic ague and fever. 
 
 Akin to this is the practice of snuff- dipping, 
 which is not confined exclusively to females of 
 the poor white caste, though scarcely one in 
 fifty of this class is exempt from the disgusting 
 habit. The method is this : The female snuff- 
 dipper takes a short stick, and wetting it with 
 her saliva, dips it into her snuff-box, and then 
 rubs the gathered dust all about her mouth, 
 and into the interstices of her teeth, where she 
 allows it to remain until its strength has been 
 fully absorbed. Others hold the stick thus 
 loaded with snuff in the cheek, a la quid of 
 tobacco, and suck it with a decided relish, 
 while engaged in their ordinary avocations; 
 
214 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 while others simply fill the mouth with the 
 snuff, and imitate, to all intents and purposes, 
 the chewing propensities of the men. In the 
 absence of snuff, tobacco in the plug or leaf is 
 invariably resorted to as a substitute. Oriental 
 betel-chewing, and the Japanese fashion of 
 blacking the teeth of married ladies, are the 
 height of elegance compared with snuff-dipping. 
 The habit leads to a speedy decay of the teeth, 
 and to nervous disorders of every kind. Those 
 who indulge in it become haggard at a very 
 early age. 
 
 The Petersburg (Va.) Express estimates the 
 number of women in that State as one hundred 
 and twenty-five thousand, one hundred thou- 
 sand of whom are snuff-dippers. Every five 
 of these will use a two-ounce paper of snuff 
 per day ; that is, to the hundred thousand dip- 
 pers, two thousand five hundred pounds a day, 
 amounting, in one year, to the enormous quan- 
 tity of nine hundred and twelve thousand 
 pounds. This practice prevails generally, it 
 says, among the poor whites, though some 
 females of the higher classes are guilty of it. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 215 
 
 The poor whites obtain their subsistence, as 
 far as practicable, in the primitive aboriginal 
 mode, viz., by hunting and fishing. When these 
 methods fail to afford a supply, they cultivate a 
 truck-patch, and some of them raise a bale or 
 two of cotton, with the proceeds of the sale of 
 which they buy whiskey, tobacco, and a few 
 necessary articles. When all other methods 
 fail, they resort to stealing, to which many of 
 them are addicted from choice, as well as from 
 necessity. They are exceeding slovenly in 
 their habits, cleanliness being a rare virtue. 
 Indolence is a prevailing vice, and its lamenta- 
 ble effects are everywhere visible. They fully 
 obey the scriptural injunction, take no thought 
 for the morrow. A present supply, sufficient to 
 satisfy nature's most urgent demands, being 
 obtained, their care ceases, and they relapse 
 into listless inactivity. They herd together 
 upon the poor sand-hills, the refuse land of the 
 country, which the rich slaveholder will not 
 purchase, for which reason, they are sometimes 
 called sand-hillers, and here they live, and their 
 children, and their children's children, through 
 
216 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 successive generations, in the same deplorable 
 condition of wretchedness and degradation. 
 
 They are exceedingly ignorant; not one 
 adult in fifty can write ; not one in twenty can 
 read. They can scarcely be said to speak the 
 English language, using a patois which is 
 scarcely intelligible. An old lady thus related 
 an incident of which her daughter "Sal" was 
 the heroine. " My darter Sal yisterday sot the 
 lather to the damsel tree, and clim up, and 
 knocked some of the nicest saftest damsels I 
 ever seed in my born days." I once called to 
 make some inquiry about the road, at a small 
 log tenement, inhabited by a sand-hiller and 
 family. A sheet was hanging upon the wall, 
 containing the portraits of the Presidents of 
 the United States. I remarked to the lady of 
 the house that those were, I believed, the pic- 
 tures of the Presidents. 
 
 "Yes!" she replied; "they is, and I've hearn 
 tell of 'em a long time. They must be gittin' 
 mighty old, ef some of 'em aint dead. That 
 top one," she continued, " is Gineral Washing- 
 ton. I've hearn of him ever sence I was a gal. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 217 
 
 He must be gittin' up in years, ef he aint dead. 
 Him and G'meral Jackson fit the British and 
 Tories at New Orleans, and whipped 'em, too." 
 
 She seemed to pride herself greatly on her 
 . historical knowledge. 
 
 One of these geniuses once informed me of 
 a peculiar kind of book "he'd hearn tell on," 
 that the Yankees had. He had forgotten its 
 name, but thus described it : "It told the day 
 of the week the month come in on. It told 
 when we was a gwine to have rain, and what 
 kind of wether we was gwine to have in 
 gineral. May-be they call it a rain-book." 
 
 I replied that I had heard of the book, and I 
 believed that it was called an Almanac. 
 
 "You've said it now," remarked the man. 
 "It's a alminick, and I'd give half I's wuth to 
 have one. I'd no when to take a umberell, and 
 if I haddent nary one, I'd no when I could go 
 a huntin' without gittin' wet." 
 
 Two of these semi-savages had resolved to 
 
 remove to the West, in hope of bettering their 
 
 condition. One wished to remove to Arkansas, 
 
 the other to Texas. The wife of the former 
 
 19 
 
218 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 wished to go to Texas, the latter to Arkansas. 
 The husbands were desirous of gratifying their 
 spouses, but could devise no plan that seemed 
 likely to prove satisfactory, till one day when 
 hunting, finding game scarce, they sat down 
 upon a log, when the following dialogue took 
 place : 
 
 " Kit, I'm sort o' pestered about Dilsie. She 
 swars to Rackensack she'll go, and no whar 
 else. I allers had a hankerin' arter Texas. 
 Plague take Rackensack, I say ! Ef a man war 
 thar, the ager and the airthquakes ed shake him 
 out on it quicker en nothin'." 
 
 " When a woman's set on a gwine any whar, 
 they're a gwine. It's jest no use to talk. I've 
 coaxed Minnie more'n a little to go long with 
 me to Arkansas, and the more I coax, the more 
 she wont go." 
 
 "Well, Kit, 'sposen we swap women." 
 "Well, Sam, what trade'll ye gin?" 
 " Oh ! a gentleman's trade, of course !" 
 "Shucks, Sam! 'sposen I had a young filly, 
 and you a old mar, ye wouldn't ax an even 
 trade, would ye ?" 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 219 
 
 " No ; it 'ud be too hard. I tell you what 
 I'll do, Kit. Here's a shot-gun that's wuth ten 
 dollars, ef it's wuth a red. . I'll give it and that 
 ar b'ar-skin hangin' on the side of my shanty, 
 to boot, and say it's a trade." 
 
 "jMufY sed, ef the women's agreed." 
 Home they went, and stated the case to the 
 women, who, after due deliberation, acceded to 
 the proposition, having also made a satisfactory 
 arrangement about the children, and they all 
 soon went on their way rejoicing to their 
 respective destinations in that 
 
 "American's haven of eternal rest, 
 Found a little farther West." 
 
 On the Sabbath after the completion of the 
 Memphis and Charleston railroad, a large num- 
 ber of the sand-hillers came to Iuka Springs, 
 to witness the passing of the cars. Arriving 
 too early, they visited a church where divine 
 service was progressing. Whilst the minister 
 was in the midst of his sermon, the locomotive 
 whistle sounded, when a stampede took place 
 to the railroad. The exodus left the parson 
 
220 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 almost alone in his glory. The passing train 
 caused the most extravagant expressions and 
 gestures of wonder and astonishment by these 
 rude observers. It was an era in their life. 
 
 Once while standing on the railroad-track, I 
 observed a crowd of these people coming to see 
 the "elephant." They came so near, that I 
 overheard their conversation. One young lass, 
 of sweet sixteen, with slattern dress and 
 dishevelled hair, looking up the road, which 
 was visible for a great distance, thus expressed 
 her astonishment at what she saw : " 0, dad ! 
 what a long piece of iron !" Soon the whistle 
 sounded ; this they had never heard before, and 
 came to the conclusion that it was a dinner- 
 horn. As soon as the cars came in sight, 
 they scattered like frightened sheep, some on 
 one side of the road, and some on the other. 
 Nor did they halt till they had placed fifty 
 yards at least between them and the track. 
 
 Superstition prevails amongst them to a fear- 
 ful extent. Almost every hut has a horse-shoe 
 nailed above the door, or on the threshold, to 
 keep out witches. In sickness, charms and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 221 
 
 incantations are used to drive away disease. 
 Their physicians are chiefly what are termed 
 faith-doctors, who are said to work miraculous 
 cures. They are strong believers in luck. If 
 a rabbit cross their path, they will turn round 
 to change their luck. If, on setting out on a 
 journey, an owl hoot on the left hand, they 
 will return and set out anew. If the new moon 
 is seen through brush, or on the left hand, it is 
 a bad omen. They will have trouble during 
 the lunar month. When the whippoorwill is 
 first heard in the spring, they turn head over 
 heels thrice, to prevent back-ache during the 
 year. Dreams are harbingers of joy or wo. 
 To dream of snakes, is ominous. To dream of 
 seeing a coffin, or conversing with the dead, is 
 a sign of approaching dissolution, and many 
 have no doubt perished through terror, occa- 
 sioned by such dreams. Fortune-tellers are 
 rife amongst them — those sages whose compre- 
 hensive view knows the past, the present, and 
 the future. They seek unto familiar spirits, 
 that peep and mutter, for the living to the 
 dead. 
 
 19* 
 
222 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 They have many deformed, and blind, and 
 deaf among them, in consequence of the inter- 
 marriage of relatives. Cousins often marry, 
 and occasionally they marry within the degrees 
 of consanguinity prohibited by the law of God. 
 Perhaps this divine law forbids the marriage 
 of cousins when it declares, "Thou shalt not 
 marry any that is near . of kin." The sad 
 effects on posterity, both mentally and physi- 
 cally, lead to the conviction that if the law of 
 God does not condemn it, physiological law 
 does. 
 
 These sand-hillers do not (when no serious 
 preventive occurs) fail to attend the elections, 
 where the highest bidder obtains their vote. 
 Sometimes their vote will command cash, and 
 sometimes only whiskey. It is sad to witness 
 the elective franchise, that highest and most 
 glorious badge of a freeman, thus prostituted. 
 
 The proverb holds good — Like people, like 
 priest. Their ministers are ignorant, ranting 
 fanatics. They despise literature, and every 
 Sabbath fulminate censures upon an educated 
 ministry. The following is a specimen of their 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 223 
 
 preaching. Mr. Y is a Hard-shell Baptist, 
 
 or, as they term themselves, "Primitive Bap- 
 tists." Entering the pulpit on a warm morning 
 in July, he will take off his coat and vest, roll 
 up his sleeves, and then begin : 
 
 My Brethering and Sistern — I air a 
 ignorant man, follered the plough all my life, 
 and never rubbed agin nary college. As I 
 said afore, I'm ignorant, and I thank God for 
 it. (Brother Jones responds, "Passon, yer ort 
 to be very thankful, fur yer very ignorant.") 
 "Well, I'm agin all high larnt fellers what 
 preaches grammar and Greek far a thousand 
 dollars a year They preaches fur the money, 
 and they gits it, and that's all they'll git. 
 They've got so high larnt they contradicts 
 Scripter, what plainly tells us that the sun 
 rises and sets. They seys it don't, but that the 
 yerth whirls round, like clay to the seal. What 
 ud cum of the water in the wells ef it did. 
 vYodent it all spill out, and leave 'em dry, and 
 whar ed we be ? I may say to them, as the 
 
224 THE IRON FURNACE* OR 
 
 sarpent said unto David, much learning hath 
 made thee mad. 
 
 When I preaches, I never takes a tex till I 
 goes inter the pulpit ; then I preaches a plain 
 sarment, what even women can understand. I 
 never premedertates, but what is given to me 
 in that same hour, that I sez. Now I'm a 
 gwine ter open the Bible, and the first verse I 
 sees, I'm a gwine to take it for a tex. (Suiting 
 the action to the word, he opened the Bible, 
 and commenced reading and spelling together.) 
 Man is f-e-a-r-f-u-1-l-y — fearfully — and w-o-n- 
 d-e-r-f-u-1-l-y — wonderfully — m-a-d-e — mad. — 
 "Man is fearfully and wonderfully made." 
 (Pronounced mad) Well, it's a quar tex, but 
 I said I's a gwine to preach from it, and I'm 
 a gwine to do it. In the fust place, I'll divide 
 my sarment into three heads. Fust and fore- 
 most, I show you that a man will git mad. 
 2d. That sometimes he'll git fearfully mad ; and 
 thirdly and lastly, when thar's lots of things to 
 vex and pester him, he'll git fearfully and won- 
 derfully mad. And in the application I'll 
 show you that good men sometimes gits mad, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 225 
 
 for the Posle David hisself, who rote the tex, 
 got mad, and called all men liars, and cnssed 
 his enemies, wisheri* 'em to go down quick into 
 hell; and Noah, he got tite, and cnssed his 
 nigger boy Ham, just like some drunken mas- 
 ters now cusses their niggers. But Noah and 
 David repented; and all on us what gits mad 
 must repent, or the devil '11 git us. 
 
 Thus he ranted, to the great edification of 
 his hearers, who regard him as a perfect Boan- 
 erges, to which title his stentorian voice would 
 truly entitle him. This exordium will serve as 
 a specimen of the "sarment," as it continued in 
 the same strain to the end of the peroration. 
 
 Where there is no vision, the people perish. 
 Such blind leaders of the blind are liable, with 
 their infatuated followers, to fall into a ditch 
 worse than Bunyan's Slough of Despond. This 
 minister had undoubtedly run when he was 
 not sent, though he "had hearn a call; a audi- 
 ble voice had, while he was a shucken corn, 
 said unto him, Preach." Though God does not 
 need men's learning, yet he has as little use for 
 
226 THE IRON FURNACE; OB 
 
 their ignorance. Learning is the handmaid of 
 religion, but must not be substituted in its 
 stead. 
 
 The causes which induce this "wilderness of 
 mind" are patent to all who make even a cur- 
 sory examination. There is a tendency in the 
 poor to ape the manners of the rich. Those 
 having slaves to labour in their stead, toil not 
 physically; hence labour falls into disrepute, 
 and the poorer classes, having no slaves to 
 work for them, and not choosing to submit to 
 the degradation of labour, incur all the evils 
 resulting from idleness and poverty. Igno- 
 rance and vice of every kind soon ensue, and a 
 general apathy prevails, which destroys in a 
 great measure all mental and physical vigour. 
 
 The slaveholders buy up all the fertile lands 
 to be cultivated by their slaves ; hence the poor 
 are crowded out, and if they remain in the 
 vicinity of the place of their nativity, they 
 must occupy the poor tracts whose sterility does 
 not excite the cupidity of their rich neighbours. 
 The slaveholders' motto is, "Let us bay more 
 negroes to raise more cotton, to buy more 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 227 
 
 negroes, and so on ad infinitum. To raise more 
 cotton they must also buy more land. Small 
 farmers are induced to sell out to them, and 
 move further west. For this reason, the white 
 population of the fertile sections of the older 
 slave States is constantly on the decrease, while 
 the slave population is as constantly increasing. J 
 Thus the slaveholder often acquires many square 
 miles of land, and hundreds of human chattels. 
 He is, as it were, set alone in the earth. Prid- 
 ing himself upon his wealth, he will riot send 
 his princely sons to the same school with the 
 poor white trash ; he either sends them to some 
 distant college or seminary, or employs a pri- 
 vate teacher exclusively for his children. The 
 poor whites in the neighbourhood, even should 
 they desire to educate their children, have no 
 means to pay for their tuition. Compelled to 
 live on poor or worn-out lands, honest toil 
 considered degrading, and forced to submit to 
 many inconveniences and disabilities (all the 
 offices of honour and profit being monopolized 
 by the slaveholders,) through the workings of 
 the " peculiar institution," they find it utterly 
 
228 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 impossible to educate • their offspring, even in 
 the rudiments of their mother tongue. As 
 the power of slavery increases, their condition 
 waxes worse and worse. 
 
 The slaveocracy becomes more exacting. 
 Laws are passed by the legislature compelling 
 non-slaveholders to patrol the country nightly, 
 to prevent insurrections by the rfegroes. They 
 denounce the law, but coercion is resorted to, 
 and the poor whites are forced to obey. When 
 their masters call for them, they must leave 
 their labour, by day or by night, patrol the 
 country, follow the bloodhounds, arrest the 
 fugitive slave, and do all other dirty work 
 which their tyrants demand. If they refuse to 
 obey, they are denounced as abolitionists, and 
 are in dansrer of death at the hands of Jud<?e 
 Lynch, the mildest punishment they can hope 
 for being a coat of tar aud feathers. 
 
 The house-negroes feel themselves several 
 degrees above the poor whites, as they, from 
 their opportunities for observation amongst the 
 higher classes, are possessed of greater informa- 
 tion and less rusticity than this less favoured 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 229 
 
 class. The poor whites have no love for 
 the institution of slavery. They regard it as 
 the instrument of inflicting upon them many 
 wrongs, and depriving them of many rights. 
 They dare not express their sentiments to the 
 slaveholders, who hold them completely under 
 their power. A. Gr. Brown, United States 
 Senator from Mississippi, to reconcile the poor 
 whites to the peculiar institution, used the 
 following arguments in a speech at Iuka 
 Springs, Mississippi. He stated, that if the 
 slaves were liberated, and suffered to remain in 
 the country, the rich would have money to 
 enable them to go .to some other clime, and 
 that the poor whites would be compelled to 
 remain amongst the negroes, who would steal 
 their property, and destroy their lives ; and if 
 slavery were abolished, and the negroes removed 
 and colonized, the rich would take the poor 
 whites for slaves, in their stead, and reduce 
 them to the condition of the Irish and Dutch 
 in the North, whose condition he represented 
 to be one of cruel bondage. These statements 
 had some effect upon his auditors, who believed, 
 20 
 
230 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 from sad experience, that the rich could oppress 
 the poor as they chose, and might, in the con- 
 tingency specified, reduce them to slavery. 
 Labour is considered so degrading, that any 
 argument, based upon making labour compul- 
 sory on their part, has its weight. Even the 
 beggar despises work. A sturdy beggar asked 
 alms at a house at which I was lodging. As 
 he appeared to be a man of great physical 
 strength, he was advised to go to work, and 
 thus provide for his wants. " Work !" said he, 
 in disgust; "niggers do the work in this coun- 
 try" — and retired highly insulted. 
 
 This people form a distinct class, distin- 
 guished by as many characteristics from the 
 middle and higher classes of Southern society, 
 as the Jews are from the nations amongst whom 
 they sojourn. The causes which brought about 
 their reduction to their present state of semi- 
 barbarism, must be removed, ere they can rise 
 to the condition whence they have fallen. 
 They must rise upon the ruins of slavery. 
 When the peculiar institution is abolished, 
 then, and not till then, will their disabilities be 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 231 
 
 removed, and they be in reality what they are 
 nominally — freemen. 
 
 Slaveholders and their families form a dis- 
 tinet class, characterized by idleness, vanity, 
 licentionsness, profanity, dissipation, and tyran- 
 ny. There are glorious exceptions, it is true, 
 but those are the distinguishing traits of the 
 class. The middle class is the virtuous class 
 of the South. They are industrious, frugal, 
 hospitable, simple in their habits, plain and 
 unostentatious in their manners. Some of this 
 class are small slaveholders, but the great 
 majority own none. The gross vices of the 
 higher class are not found among them. They 
 labour regardless of the sneers of their aristo- 
 cratic neighbours. Senator Hammond, of South 
 Carolina, may call them mudsills ; they regard 
 it not, but pursue the even tenor of their way. 
 The slow, unmoving finger of scorn may be 
 pointed at them by the sons of pride, yet they 
 refuse to eat the bread of idleness, and labour 
 with their own hands, that they may provide 
 things honest in the sight of all men. Equi- 
 distant from poverty and riches, they enjoy the 
 
232 THE IKON FURNACE; OR 
 
 golden mean, and immunity from the tempta- 
 tions incident to the extremes of abject poverty 
 and great riches. 
 
 In the slave States all those born north of 
 the " nigger line," are denominated Yankees. 
 This is applied as a term of reproach. When 
 a southerner is angry with a man of northern 
 nativity, he does not fail to stigmatize him as a 
 Yankee. The slaveholders manifest considera- 
 ble antipathy against the Yankees, which has 
 been increasing during the last ten years. In 
 1858, the Legislature of Mississippi passed 
 resolutions recommending non-intercourse with 
 the "Abolition States," and requesting the 
 people not to patronize natives of those States 
 residing amongst them, and especially to dis- 
 countenance Yankee ministers and teachers. 
 In the educational notice of Memphis Synodical 
 College, at La Grange, Tennessee, it is expressly 
 stated that the Faculty are of southern birth 
 and education. The principals of the Female 
 Seminaries at Corinth and Iuka, Mississippi, 
 give notice that no Yankee teachers will be 
 employed in those institutions. While on a 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 2oo 
 
 visit at the house of a Methodist clergyman, 
 quite a number of ministers, returning from 
 Conference, called to tarry for the night. During 
 the evening, one of them, learning that I was 
 "Yankee born,' 1 '' thus interrogated me: "Why is 
 it, sir, that all kinds of delusions originate in 
 the North, such as Millerism, Mormonism, 
 Spirit-rappings, and Abolitionism?" To which 
 I replied: "The North originates everything. 
 All the text-books used in southern schools, 
 all the books on law, physic, and divinity, are 
 written and published north of Mason & Dix- 
 on's line. The South does not even print 
 Bibles. The magnetic telegraph, the locomo- 
 tive, Lucifer matches, and even the cotton-gin, 
 are all northern inventions. The . South, sir, 
 has not sense enough to invent a decent 
 humbug. These humbugs once originated, the 
 South is always well represented by believers 
 in them. I have known more men to go from 
 this county (Shelby county, Tennessee) to the 
 Mormons, than I have known to go from the 
 whole State of Ohio." 
 20* 
 
2oi THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 When I had thus spoken, my inquisitor was 
 nonplussed, and the laugh went against him. 
 
 "When a candidate before the Presbytery of 
 Chickasaw, in Mississippi, for licensure, one of 
 the members of Presbytery, learning that I was 
 a "Yankee," asked me the following questions, 
 and received the following answers : 
 
 " Mr. Aughey, when will the day of judg- 
 ment take place?" 
 
 ". The Millerites have stated that the 30th of 
 June next will be the judgment- day. As for 
 myself, I have had no revelation on the sub- 
 ject, and expect none." 
 
 " Do you believe that any one can call the 
 spirits?" 
 
 " I do, sir." 
 
 "What! believe that the spirits can be 
 called?" 
 
 "I do, sir." 
 
 "I will vote, then, against your licensure, if 
 you have fallen into this heresy of the land of 
 your nativity." 
 
 Another then said : 
 
 "Brother Aughey, please explain yourself. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 235 
 
 I know you do not believe in spirit-rap- 
 ping." 
 
 "I do not, sir, though I believe, as I stated, 
 that any one may call the spirits ; but I do not 
 believe that they will come in answer to the 
 call." 
 
 A lady once remarked to me that she did 
 not believe that a northern man would ever 
 become fully reconciled to the institution of 
 slavery, and that his influence and sentiments, 
 whatever might be his profession of attachment 
 to the peculiar institution, would be against it. 
 The cause of the general opposition to northern 
 men is their opposition to slavery. Their testi- 
 mony is against its abominations and barbari- 
 ties, and hence the wish to impair the credi- 
 bility of the witnesses. 
 
 An illustration of the working of the institu- 
 tion may be found in the following letter : 
 
 Kosciusko, Attala county, Mississippi, ) 
 December 25, 1861. ) 
 
 Mr. William Jackman: 
 
 Dear Sir — Your last kind and truly welcome 
 letter came to hand in due course of mail. I 
 
2o(5 THE IRON furnace; or 
 
 owe you an apology for delaying an answer so 
 long. My apparent neglect was occasioned by 
 no want of respect for you ; but in consequence 
 of the disturbed state of the country, and diffi- 
 culty of communication with the North, I 
 feared my reply would never reach you. Now, 
 however, by directing "via Norfolk and flag of 
 truce," letters are sent across the lines to the 
 North. In your letter you desired me, from this 
 stand-point, to give you my observations of the 
 workings of the peculiar institution, and an 
 expression of my views as to its consistency 
 with the eternal principles of rectitude and 
 justice. In reply, I will give you a plain nar- 
 rative of facts. 
 
 On my advent to the South, I was at 
 first struck with the fact that the busy 
 hum of labour had in some measure ceased. 
 "What labour I did observe progressing, was 
 done with little skill, and mainly by negroes. 
 I called upon the Rev. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge, 
 to whom I had a letter of introduction, who 
 treated me with the greatest kindness, inviting 
 me to make his house my home when I visited 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 237 
 
 that section of country. On leaving his house, 
 he gave me some directions as to the road I 
 must travel to reach a certain point. "You 
 will pass," said he, " a blacksmith's shop, where 
 a one-eyed man is at work — my property." 
 The phrase, " my property," I had never before 
 heard applied to a human being, and though I 
 had never been taught to regard the relation 
 of master and slave as a sinful relation, yet it 
 grated harshly upon my ears to hear a human 
 being, a tradesman, called a chattel; but it 
 grated much more harshly, a week after this, to 
 hear the groans of two such chattels, as they 
 underwent a severe flagellation, while chained 
 to the whipping-post, because they had, by half 
 an hour, overstayed their time with their fami- 
 lies on an adjoining plantation. 
 
 The next peculiar abomination of the pecu- 
 liar institution which I observed, was the licen- 
 tiousness engendered by it. Mr. D. T , of 
 
 Madison county, Kentucky, had a white family 
 of children, and a black, or rather mulatto fam- 
 ily. As his white daughters married, he gave 
 each a mulatto half-sister, as a waiting-girl, or 
 
238 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 body-servant. Mr. K , of Winchester, Ken- 
 tucky, had a mulatto daughter, and he was also 
 the father of her child, thus re-enacting Lot's sin. 
 
 Dr. C , of Tishomingo county, Mississippi, 
 
 has a negro concubine, and a white servant to 
 
 wait on her. Mr. B , of Marshall county, 
 
 Mississippi, lived with his white wife till he 
 had grandchildren, some of whom came to 
 school to me, when he repudiated his white 
 wife, and attached himself to a very homely old , 
 African, who superintends his household, and 
 
 rules his other slaves with rigour. Mr. S , 
 
 of Tishomingo county, Mississippi, has a negro 
 concubine, and a large family of mulatto chil- 
 dren. He once brousrht this woman to church 
 in Eienzi, to the great indignation of the white 
 ladies, who removed to a respectable distance 
 from her. 
 
 I preached recently to a large congregation 
 of slaves, the third of whom were as white as 
 myself. Some of them had red hair and blue 
 eyes. If there are any marked character- 
 istics of their masters' families, the mulatto 
 slaves are possessed of these characteristics. I 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 239 
 
 refer to physical peculiarities, such as large 
 mouths, humped shoulders, and peculiar expres- 
 sions of countenance. I asked a gentleman 
 how it happened that some of his slaves had 
 red hair. He replied that he had a red-headed 
 overseer for several years. - 
 
 I never -knew a pious overseer — never! 
 There may be many, but I never saw one. 
 Overseers, as a class, are worse than slave- 
 holders themselves. They are cruel, brutal, 
 licentious, dissipated, and profane. They 
 always carry a loaded whip, a revolver, and 
 a Bowie-knife. These men have the control 
 of women, whom they often whip to death. 
 
 Mr. P , who resided near Holly Springs, 
 
 had a negro woman whipped to death while I 
 was at his house during a session of Presbytery. 
 
 Mr. C , of Waterford, Mississippi, had a 
 
 woman whipped to death by his overseer. But 
 such cruel scourgings are of daily occurrence. 
 
 Colonel H , a member of my church, told 
 
 me yesterday that he ordered a boy, who he sup- 
 posed was feigning sickness, to the whipping- 
 post, but that he had not advanced ten steps 
 
240 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 toward it, when he fell dead! — and the servant 
 was free from his master. During onr conver- 
 sation, a girl passed. "There is a girl," said 
 he, " who does not look very white in the face, 
 owing to exposure; but when I strip her to 
 whip her, I find that she has a skin as fair as 
 
 my wife." Mrs. F recently whipped a boy 
 
 to death within half a mile of my residence. 
 A jury of inquest returned a verdict that he 
 came to his death by cruelty ; but nothing more 
 
 was done. Mrs. M and, her daughter, of 
 
 Holly Springs, abused a girl repeatedly. She 
 showed her bruises to some of my acquaint- 
 ances, and they believed them fatal. She soon 
 
 after died. Mr. S , a member of my church, 
 
 has several maimed negroes from abuse on the 
 part of the overseer. 
 
 I am residing on the banks of the Yock-a- 
 nookany, which means "meandering," when 
 translated from the Indian tongue. In this 
 vicinity there are large plantations, cultivated 
 by hundreds of negroes. The white population 
 is sparse. Every night the negroes are brought 
 to a judgment-seat. The overseer presides. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 241 
 
 If they have not laboured to suit him, or if 
 their task is unfulfilled, they are chained to a 
 post, and severely whipped. The victims are 
 invariably stripped; to what extent, is at the 
 option of the overseer. In Louisiana, women, 
 preparatory to whipping, are often stripped to 
 
 a state of perfect nudity. Old Mr. C , of 
 
 Waterford, Mississippi, punished his negroes 
 Ly slitting the soles of their feet with his Bowie- 
 knife! One man he put into a cotton-press, 
 and, turned the screw till life was extinct. 
 He stated that he only intended to alarm 
 the man, but carried the joke too far. I 
 have heard women thus plead, in piteous 
 i accents, when chained to the whipping-post, 
 and stripped: "0, my God, master! don't 
 whip me ! I was sick ! indeed I was sick ! I 
 had a chill, and the fever is on me now! I 
 haven't tasted a morsel to-day ! You know I 
 works when I is well ! for God's sake don't 
 whip a poor sick nigger ! My poor chile's sick 
 too ! Missis thinks it's a dyin' ! master, for 
 the love of God, don't cut a poor distressed 
 woman wid your whip! I'll try to do better, 
 21 
 
242 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 ef you'll only let mc off tliis once !" These 
 piteous plaints only rouse the ire of their cruel 
 task-masters, who sometimes knock them down 
 in the midst of their pleadings. I have known 
 an instance of a woman giving birth to a child 
 at the whipping-post. The fright and pain 
 brought on premature labour. 
 
 One beautiful Sabbath morning I stood on 
 the levee at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and 
 counted twenty-seven sugar-houses in full blast. 
 I found that the negroes were compelled to 
 labour eighteen hours per day, and were not 
 permitted to rest on the Sabbath during the 
 rolling season. The negroes on most planta- 
 tions have a truck-patch, which they cultivate 
 on the Sabbath. I have pointed out the sin of 
 thus labouring on the Sabbath, but they plead 
 necessity; their children, they state, must suffer 
 from hunger if they did not cultivate their 
 truck-patch, and their masters would not give 
 them time on any other day. 
 
 Negroes, by law, are prohibited from learn- 
 ing to read. This law was not strictly enforced 
 in Tennessee and some other States till within 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 243 
 
 a few years past. I had charge of a Sabbath- 
 school for the instruction of blacks in Mem- 
 phis, Tennessee, in 1853. This school was put 
 down by the strong arm of the law in a short 
 time after my connection with it ceased. In 
 Mississippi, a man who taught slaves to read 
 or write would be sent to the penitentiary 
 instanter. The popular plea for this wicked- 
 ness is, that if they were taught to read, they 
 would read abolition documents; and if they 
 were taught to write, they would write them- 
 selves passes, and pass northward to Canada. 
 
 Such advertisements as the following often 
 greet the eye. 
 
 "Kansas War. — The undersind taks this 
 method of makkin it noan that he has got a 
 paek of the best nigger hounds in the South. 
 My hounds is well trand, and I has had much 
 experience a huntin niggers, having follered it 
 for the last fiften year. I will go anywhar that 
 I'm sent for, and will ketch niggers at the fol- 
 lerin raits. 
 
 "My raits fur ketchin runaway niggers $10 
 per heel, ef they's found in the beat whar thar 
 
2±± THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 master lives ; $15 if they's found in the county, 
 and $50 if they's tuck out on the county. 
 
 "N. B. — Pay is due when the nigger is tuck. 
 Planters ort to send fur me as soon as thar 
 niggers runs away, while thar trak is fresh." 
 
 Every night the woods resound with the 
 deep-mouthed baying of the bloodhounds. The 
 slaves are said by some to love their masters ; 
 but it requires the terrors of bloodhounds and 
 the fugitive slave law to keep them in bond- 
 age. You in the North are compelled to act 
 the part of the bloodhounds here, and catch the 
 fugitives for the planters of the South. Free 
 negroes are sold into bondage for the most 
 trivial offences. Slaveholders declare that the 
 presence of free persons of colour exerts a per- 
 nicious influence upon their slaves, rendering 
 them discontented with their condition, and 
 inspiring a desire for freedom. They there- 
 fore are very desirous of getting rid of these 
 persons, either by banishing them from the 
 State or enslaving them. The legislature of 
 Mississippi has passed a law for their expul- 
 sion, and other States have followed in the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 24:5 
 
 wake. The Governor of Missouri has vetoed 
 the law for the expulsion of free persons of 
 colour, passed by the legislature of that State 
 because of its unconstitutionality. 
 
 Were I to recount all the abominations of 
 the peculiar institution, and the wrongs inflicted 
 upon the African race, that have come under 
 my observation, they would fill a large volume. 
 Slavery is guilty of six abominations; yea, 
 seven may justly be charged upon it. It is 
 said that the negro is lazy, and will not work 
 except by compulsion. I have known negroes 
 who have purchased their freedom by the pay- 
 ment of a large sum, and afterward made not 
 only a good living, but a fortune beside. It is 
 
 said Judge W of South Carolina gave his 
 
 servants the use of his plantation, upon con- 
 dition that they would support his family; and 
 that in three years he was compelled to take 
 the management himself, as they did not make 
 a comfortable living for themselves and the 
 Judge's family. In reply, it might be said that 
 the negroes had not a fair trial, as no one had 
 any property he could call his own, and they 
 21* 
 
246 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 were thrown into a sort of Fourierite society, 
 having all things in common. In this state of 
 things, while some would work, others would 
 be idle. White men do not succeed in such 
 communities, and for this reason it was no fair 
 
 test of the industrial energies of Judge W 's 
 
 slaves. 
 
 The question is often asked, is slavery sinful 
 in itself? My observation has been extensive, 
 embracing eight slave States, and I have never 
 yet seen any example of slavery that I did not 
 deem sinful. If slavery is not sinful in itself, 
 I must have always seen it out of itself. I 
 have observed its workings during eleven 
 years, amongst a professedly Christian people, 
 and cannot do otherwise than pronounce it 
 an unmitigated curse. It is a curse to the 
 white man, it is a curse to the black man. 
 That God will curse it, and blot it out of 
 existence ere long, is my firm conviction. The 
 elements of its abolition exist; God speed the 
 time when they will be fully developed, and 
 this mother of abominations driven from the 
 land of the free! The development of the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 247 
 
 eternal principles of justice and rectitude will 
 abolish this hoary monster of fraud and oppres- 
 sion. Slavery subverts all the rights of man. 
 It divests him of citizenship, of liberty, of the 
 pursuit of happiness, of his children, of his 
 wife, of his property, of intellectual culture, 
 reserving to him only the rights of the horse 
 and ass, and reducing him to the same chattel 
 condition with them. Not a single right does 
 the State law grant him above that of the mule 
 — no, not one. The chastity of the slave 
 has no legal protection. The Methodist Church 
 South is expunging from the discipline every- 
 thing inimical to the peculiar institution, 
 whilst I observe that the Church North 
 is adding to her testimony and deliverances 
 against the sin of slaveholding. The Church 
 South refused to abide by the rules of the 
 Church, and hence the guilt of the schism lies 
 with her, and you are henceforth free from any 
 guilt in conniving at the sin which the founder 
 of your church, the illustrious Wesley, regarded 
 as the "sum of all villany." 
 
 Kemember me kindly to Mrs. Jackman and 
 
248 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 family. Hoping to hear from you soon, I beg 
 leave to subscribe myself, 
 
 Yours fraternally, 
 
 John H. Aughey. 
 
 To Mr. William Jackman, 
 Amsterdam, Jefferson Co., Ohio. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 249 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 NOTORIOUS REBELS.— UNION OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonel Jefferson Davis — His Speech at Holly Springs, Mis- 
 sissippi — His Opposition to Yankee Teachers and Minis- 
 ters — A bid for the Presidency — His Ambition — Burr, 
 Arnold, Davis. — General Beauregard — Headquarters at 
 Rienzi — Colonel Elliott's Raid — Beauregard's Consterna- 
 tion — Personal description— His illness — Popularity wan- 
 ing. — Rev. Dr. Palmer of New Orleans — His influence — 
 The Cincinnati Letter — His Personal Appearance — His 
 Denunciations of General Butler — His Radicalism. — Rev. 
 Dr. Waddell of La Grange, Tennessee — His Prejudices 
 against the North — President of Memphis Synodical Col- 
 lege — His Talents prostituted. — Union Officers — General 
 Nelson — General Sherman. 
 
 COLONEL JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 In 1856 I heard Colonel Jefferson Davis deliver 
 an address at Holly Springs, Mississippi. The 
 Colonel is about a 'medium height, of slender 
 
 a 
 
 frame, his nose aquiline, his hair dark, his 
 manners polite. He is no orator. His speech 
 was principally a tirade of abuse against the 
 North, bitterly inveighing against the emi- 
 
250 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 grant aid societies which had well-nigh put 
 Kansas upon the list of free States. He advised 
 the people to employ no more Yankee teachers. 
 He had been educated in the North, and he 
 regarded it as the greatest misfortune of his 
 life. Soon after Colonel Davis visited New 
 England, where he eulogized that section in an 
 extravagant manner. He was pleased with 
 everything he saw; even "Noah Webster's 
 Yankee spelling-book" received a share of the 
 Colonel's fulsome flattery. On his return to 
 the South, H a change came o'er the spirit of his 
 dream," and his bile and bitterness against 
 Yankee-land returned in all its pristine vigour. 
 The Colonel was making a bid for the Presi- 
 dency; but New England was not so easily 
 gulled; his flimsy professions of friendship 
 were too transparent to hide the hate which lay 
 beneath, and his aspirations were doomed to 
 disappointment. 
 
 though Colonel Davis is often called Missis- 
 sippi's pet, yet he is not regarded as a truthful 
 man, and his reports and messages are received 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 251 
 
 with considerable abatement by "the chivalry." 
 His ambition knows no bounds. He would 
 rather " reign in hell than serve in heaven." 
 
 Had Jefferson Davis been elected President 
 of the United States, he would have been 
 among the last instead of the first to favour 
 secession. Had he been slain on the bloody 
 fields of Mexico, his memory would have been 
 cherished. History will assign him a place 
 among the infamous. Burr, Arnold, and 
 Davis will be names for ever execrated by 
 true patriots. The two former died a natural 
 death, though the united voice of their coun- 
 trymen would have approved of their execu- 
 tion on the gallows. The fate of the latter lies 
 still in the womb of futurity, though his loyal 
 countrymen, without a dissenting voice, declare 
 that he deserves a felon's doom. An announce- 
 ment of his death would suffuse no patriot's 
 eye with tears. What loyalist would weep 
 while he read the news-item — the arch traitor 
 Jeff. Davis is dead. 
 
252 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 GENERAL G. T. BEAUREGARD. 
 
 I met General Beauregard under very pecu- 
 liar circumstances. I had gone to Rienzi for 
 the purpose of escaping to the Federal lines for 
 protection from the rigorous and sweeping 
 conscript law. When I arrived, I found the 
 rebels evacuating Corinth, and their sick and 
 wounded passing- down the Mobile and Ohio 
 railroad to the hospitals below. General 
 Beauregard had just arrived in Rienzi, and 
 had his headquarters at the house of Mr. 
 Sutherland. A rumour had spread through 
 Rienzi that General Beauregard had ordered 
 the women and children to leave the town. 
 Many of them, believing that the order had 
 been issued, were hastening into the country. 
 In order to confirm or refute the statement, I 
 called upon General Beauregard, and asked 
 him whether he had issued such an order. He 
 replied, "I have issued no such order, sir." 
 Just at that moment a courier arrived with the 
 information that the Yankees had attacked the 
 advance of their retreating army at Boonville, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 253 
 
 that they had destroyed the depot, and taken 
 many prisoners. The General told the courier 
 that he must be mistaken; that it was impos- 
 sible for the Yankees to pass around his army. 
 While he was yet speaking a citizen arrived 
 from Boonville, confirming the statement of 
 the courier. Beauregard was still incredulous, 
 replying that they must have mistaken the 
 Confederates for the Yankees. In a few min- 
 utes the explosion of shells shook the building. 
 The General then thought that it might be true 
 that the Yankees had passed around the army ; 
 but on hearing the shells, he stated that Gene- 
 ral Green (of Missouri) was driving them away 
 with his cannon. The truth was soon ascer- 
 tained by the arrival of several couriers. Col. 
 Elliott, of the Federal army, had made a raid 
 upon Boonville, had fired the depot, and 
 destroyed a large train of cars filled with 
 ammunition. The explosions of the shells 
 which we heard was occasioned by the fire 
 reaching the cars in which these shells were 
 stored. The Colonel also destroyed the rail- 
 22 
 
251 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 road to such an extent that it required several 
 days to repair the track. 
 
 General Beauregard is below the medium 
 height, and has a decidedly French expression 
 of countenance. His hair is quite gray, though 
 a glance at his face will convince the observer 
 that it is prematurely so. The General is 
 regarded as taciturn. His countenance is care- 
 worn and haggard. During the winter of 
 1861-2, he was attacked with bronchitis and 
 typhoid pneumonia, and came near dying; 
 and had not, at my interview, by any means 
 recovered his pristine health and vigour. His 
 prestige as an able commander is rapidly wan- 
 ing. For some time his military talents were 
 considered of the first order; now a third-rate 
 position is assigned him. He is still regarded 
 as a first-class engineer. When General Ster- 
 ling Price arrived at Corinth, General Beaure- 
 gard conducted him around all the fortifica- 
 tions, explaining their nature and unfolding 
 their strength; but no word of approval could 
 he elicit from the Missouri General. At length 
 he ventured to ask what he thought of their 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 255 
 
 capacity for resisting an attack. General Price 
 replied, " They may prove effective in resisting 
 an attack. These are the second fortifications 
 I ever saw; the first I captured." He had 
 reference to Colonel Mulligans, at Lexington, 
 Missouri. Sumter and Manassas gave Beaure- 
 gard fame. Since the latter battle his star has 
 declined steadily ; and if the Federal generals 
 prove themselves competent, it will soon go out 
 in total darkness, and the world's verdict will 
 be, it was a misfortune that Beauregard lived. 
 
 REV. DR. B. M. PALMER. 
 
 Dr. Palmer has done more than any non- 
 combatant in the South to promote the rebel- 
 lion. He was accessory both before and after 
 the fact. His sermons are nearly all abusive 
 of the North. The mudsills of Yankeedom 
 and the scum of Europe are phrases of frequent 
 use in his public addresses, and they are meant 
 to include all living north of what is more 
 familiarly than elegantly termed in the South 
 the " nigger line," although the North is the 
 land of his parental nativity. 
 
256 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 A few years ago, Dr. Palmer wrote to a 
 friend in Cincinnati respecting a vacant church, 
 in which he gave as one reason, among others, 
 for desiring to come North, that he wished to 
 remove his family from the baleful influences 
 of slavery. That letter still exists, and ought 
 to be published. 
 
 Dr. Palmer's personal appearance is by no 
 means prepossessing. He is small of stature, 
 of very dark complexion, dish-faced. His nose 
 is said to have been broken when a child; at 
 all events, it is a deformity. He is fluent in 
 speech, has a vivid imagination, and has a 
 great influence over a promiscuous congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 After the reduction of Forts Jackson and St. 
 Philip, and the capture of New Orleans, Dr. 
 Palmer came to Corinth, where he preached to 
 the rebel army. His text was invariably Gene- 
 ral Butler's "women-of-tbe-town order," which 
 we fully believe he intentionally misconstrued. 
 The conservation and extension of slavery is a 
 •matter which lies near the Doctor's heart. He 
 urged secession for the purpose of extending 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 257 
 
 and perpetuating for ever the peculiar institu- 
 tion. His views, however, must have under- 
 gone a radical change since the writing of the 
 Cincinnati letter, as he then regarded slavery 
 with little favour. Love of public favour may 
 have much to do with his recently expressed 
 views, for no true Christian and patriot can 
 wish to perpetuate and extend an institution 
 founded on the total subversion of the rights 
 of man. 
 
 REV. DR. JOHN N. WADDELL. 
 
 Dr. "YVaddell is a man of considerable talent, 
 but his prejudices are very strong against the 
 North. He cordially hates a Yankee, and his 
 poor distressed wife, who was a native of New 
 England, was compelled to return to her home, 
 where she mourns in virtual widowhood her 
 unfortunate connection with a man who detests 
 her land and people. Dr. "Waddell's sermons 
 are very abusive. The North is the theme of 
 animadversion in all the published sermons 
 and addresses I have seen from his prolific 
 pen. He has prostituted his fine talents, and 
 22* 
 
258 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 his writings are full of cursing and bitterness. 
 As President of La Grange College, Tennessee, 
 lie might wield a great influence for good — an 
 influence which would tend to calm the storm 
 aroused by demagogues, rather than increase 
 its power. His memory will rot, for the evil 
 which he has done will live after him. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM NELSON. 
 
 I met General Nelson frequently at his head- 
 quarters at Iuka Springs, Mississippi. Though 
 the General was quite brusque in his manners, 
 yet he always treated me with kindness and 
 marked attention. Once while seated at the 
 table with him, several guests being present, 
 the following colloquy ensued. 
 
 "Parson Aughey, I suppose you are well 
 versed in the Scriptures, and in order to test 
 your knowledge, permit me to ask a question, 
 which doubtless you are able to answer." 
 
 " Certainly, General, you have permission to 
 ask the question you propose. I am not so 
 sure, however, about my ability to answer it." 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 259 
 
 " The question I desire to propose is this — 
 How many preceded Noah in leaving the ark?" 
 
 "I am unable to answer, sir." 
 
 " That is strange, as the Bible so plainly and 
 explicitly informs us. We are told that Noah 
 went forth out of the ark ; therefore three must 
 have preceded him." 
 
 The General's wit "set the table in a roar." 
 As soon as the mirth had subsided, I ad- 
 dressed the General : 
 
 " It is my turn to ask a question. Do you 
 know, sir, where the witch of Endor lived?" 
 
 " I did know, but really I have forgotten." 
 
 " Well, sir, she lived at Endor." 
 
 The laugh was now against him, but he 
 joined in it heartily himself. 
 
 Knowing that General Nelson had visited 
 every quarter of the globe, I asked him 
 whether he had ever seen any of the modern 
 Greeks. 
 
 "I never saw any of the ancient Greeks," 
 was his curt reply. 
 
 General Nelson was regarded as a brave and 
 skilful officer. He has done good service in 
 
260 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 his country's cause. At Shiloh his promptness 
 and efficiency contributed greatly to retrieve 
 the disaster which befell General Grant on the 
 first day of the battle. His rencontre with 
 General Davis, which resulted in his own 
 death, is greatly to be regretted, though his 
 own ungovernable temper and inexcusable 
 conduct caused his tragic end. 
 
 I once visited his headquarters late in the 
 afternoon. On my arrival, he informed me 
 that I would confer a great favour upon him 
 by guiding a company of cavalry on an expe- 
 dition to the south-eastern part of the county, 
 to which I consented. I rode in front with the 
 officer in command. When we had reached 
 a point beyond the pickets, my companion 
 informed me that we would meet no more 
 Federals; if we met any soldiers while out- 
 ward bound, we might take it for granted that 
 they were rebels. After riding about an hour 
 longer, we encountered a company of cavalry, 
 and were ordered to halt by the officer in com- 
 mand. My companion, stating that they must 
 be rebels, rode up and gave the countersign. I 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 261 
 
 felt somewhat uneasy at the head of that com- 
 pany at this time, not knowing the moment that 
 bullets would be whistling around us. They 
 proved however to be Federals, returning from 
 an extended scouting expedition. I conducted 
 our company to the house of a Union man, 
 whom we aroused from his bed ; and learning 
 that we were Federals, he took my place, and I 
 returned to General Nelson. The General now 
 desired me to go as a spy, to obtain informa- 
 tion as to the number of troops stationed at 
 Norman's Bridge, which spanned Big Bear 
 Creek. I replied that I had ridden sixty miles 
 without sleep, but that I would send two 
 Union men of my acquaintance in my stead. 
 This was satisfactory, and my Union friends 
 returned with accurate information as to the 
 number of rebel troops stationed at the bridge, 
 and the best points of attack. The attack was 
 made on the next day after receiving the infor- 
 mation, and the rebels were surprised and 
 totally defeated; but few escaped death or 
 capture. 
 
262 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
 On the day that General Sherman reaehed 
 Kienzi, I supped with him at the house of a 
 friend. At table the following dialogue took 
 place between us. 
 
 " Are you the person from whom Sherman's 
 battery took its name?" 
 
 "I am, sir." 
 
 "Many gentlemen in this county," said I, 
 "and among them my father-in-law, have pipes 
 made of the fragments of the gun-carriages of 
 Sherman's battery, which was captured at 
 Manassas by the Confederates." 
 
 "Sherman's battery was not captured at 
 Manassas," replied the General. 
 
 " The honour of capturing Sherman's battery 
 is generally accorded to the second regiment of 
 Mississippi volunteers, which went from this 
 county and the adjoining county of Tippah, 
 though several regiments claim it, and many of 
 my friends declare that they have seen Sher- 
 man's battery since its capture." 
 
 "I assure you, sir, Sherman's battery was not 
 
SLAVKRY AND SECESSION. 263 
 
 captured — so far from this, it came out of the 
 battle of Manassas Plains with two pieces cap- 
 tured from the enemy, having itself lost none." 
 
 At this moment Colonel Fr}^ ; who killed 
 ZollikofFer, rode up for orders. While receiv- 
 ing them, the horses attached to a battery halted 
 in front of us. "There," said the General, "is 
 every piece of Sherman's battery. I ought to 
 know that battery, and I assure you there is not 
 a gun missing." 
 
 The pipes, canes, and trinkets supposed to be 
 made of the wood of Sherman's battery, if 
 collected, would form a vast pile ; and were you 
 to inform the owners of those relics that they 
 were spurious, you would be politely informed 
 that you might "tell that tale to the marines," 
 as their sons and their neighbours' sons were 
 the honoured captors of that battery; a fact, 
 concerning the truth of which they entertained 
 not even the shadow of a doubt. 
 
264 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. 
 
 Cause of the Rebellion — Prevalence of Union Sentiment in 
 the South — Why not Developed — Stevenson's Views— Why- 
 Incorrect — Cavalry Raids upon Union Citizens — How the 
 Rebels employ Slaves — Slaves Whipped and sent out of 
 the Federal Lines — Resisting the Conscript Law — Kansas 
 Jayhawkers — Guarding Rebel Property — Perfidy of Seces- 
 sionists — Plea for Emancipation — The South Exhausted — 
 Failure of Crops — Southern Merchants Ruined — Bragg 
 Prohibits the Manufacture and Vending of Intoxicating 
 Liquors — Its Salutary Effect. 
 
 The following is the substance of addresses de- 
 livered by me on October 22d and 25th, 1862, 
 at Cooper's Institute, New York, and before the 
 Synod of New York and New Jersey, at its 
 session in Brooklyn. 
 
 I will confine myself to rendering answers to 
 various questions which have been asked me 
 since my escape to the North. I have viewed 
 the rebellion from a southern stand-point ; have 
 been conversant with its whole history; have 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 265 
 
 been behind the curtains, and have learned the 
 motives which impel its instigators in their 
 treasonable designs against the Government. 
 
 Slavery I believe to have been the sole cause 
 of the rebellion. It is true that the slave- 
 holders of the South were becoming strongly 
 anti-republican. Rule or ruin was their deter- 
 mination, and they would not have listened to 
 any compromise measure after the election of 
 Mr. Lincoln ; but this feeling, this opposition to 
 republicanism, and lust of power, is the off- 
 spring of slavery. In 1856 I heard Jeff. Davis 
 declare that the people of the North and the 
 South were not homogeneous, and that there- 
 fore he advocated secession. The reason he 
 assigned for this want of homogeneousness was 
 found in the fact that the South held slaves; 
 the North did not. 
 
 Men accustomed to exercise arbitrary power 
 over their fellow-men, will not cease their 
 encroachments upon the rights of all with 
 whom they are associated, politically or other- 
 wise, and a temporary suspension of the control 
 of the government is regarded by them as a 
 23 
 
266 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 casus belli Slavery may therefore be justly 
 regarded as the parent of secession. Whilst 
 this cause exists, the South will be the hot-bed 
 of treason. Slavery has produced its legitimate 
 fruit, and treason is its name. With slavery 
 intact, no compromise, if accepted by the South, 
 would prevent another outbreak in a few years. 
 The question has been asked, is there any 
 Union sentiment in the South ? I reply that 
 there is a strong Union sentiment, even in Mis- 
 sissippi. This sentiment is not found amongst 
 the slaveholders, for, as a class, they are firmly 
 united in their hostility to the Government. 
 The middle and lower classes are not only 
 opposed to secession, but also to slavery itself. 
 Eleven years' association with the southern 
 people has enabled me to form a correct 
 opinion, and to know whereof I affirm. I 
 make this statement without fear of successful 
 contradiction, that the majority of the white 
 inhabitants of the South are Union-loving men. 
 The slaveholders have long ruled both the 
 blacks and the whites in the South. When the 
 rebellion was determined upon, the slaveholders 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 267 
 
 had the organized force to compel acquiescence 
 upon the part of those who favoured the Union, 
 jet wished to remain neutral. Their drafts and 
 conscriptions swept them into the army, and 
 when once there, they must obey their officers 
 upon pain of death. To desert and join the 
 Union army, was to abandon their homes and 
 families, and all their youthful associations. 
 Yet many have done it, and are now doing 
 good service in their country's cause. 
 
 The rebels punished with death any who 
 declared himself in favour of the Union. In my 
 presence at Tupelo, they were taken out daily 
 and shot for the expression of sentiments adverse 
 to the rebellion. If the Union troops at any 
 time occupied a place, and the people expressed 
 any favourable sentiments to their cause, upon 
 the evacuation of that position, those who sided 
 with the Union troops were cruelly treated. 
 All these causes, and many others which I 
 might mention, have prevented the full develop- 
 ment of the true sentiments of the people. I 
 could name many localities within the rebel 
 lines where the great majority of the people 
 
268 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 bitterly denounce the Southern Confederacy 
 and all connected with it. I could name many 
 individuals who have declared to me that they 
 would prefer death to a dishonourable compli- 
 ance with the conscript law. I could name 
 localities within the rebel lines where armed 
 resistance to the conscript law has been made; 
 but the safety of those loyal citizens forbids it. 
 I know that there are some who assert that 
 there is no Union feeling in the South ; but they 
 are mistaken. The author of " Thirteen Months 
 in the Eebel Army" found but little. His situ- 
 ation was not favourable for its discovery. He 
 informs us in his work, that after he had been 
 compelled to volunteer, he regarded his oath (an 
 oath much more honoured in the breach than 
 in the observance,) of such force that he sought 
 to obtain information, rather than to desert. 
 He passed from one post of preferment to 
 another, till at length he was on duty under the 
 eye of Breckinridge himself, who complimented 
 him upon his alacrity in bearing dispatches; 
 and this was truly great, as he rode at one 
 time sixty miles in seven hours, and at another, 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 269 
 
 fourteen miles in less than fifty minutes. He 
 also exhibited a guarded zeal for the secession 
 cause. Who would have gone to an officer who 
 was apparently aiding and abetting the rebel- 
 lion, ably and assiduously, to communicate his 
 Union sentiments? Any who would thus 
 betray themselves could not be sure that they 
 would not be shot in twenty-four hours. Had 
 Mr. Stevenson been with me in Tupelo, and 
 looked upon those seventy or eighty prisoners 
 who were incarcerated for their adherence to 
 the Union — had he witnessed the dailv execu- 
 tion of some of them who preferred death to 
 volunteering to defend a cause which they did 
 not hesitate to denounce at the peril of their 
 lives — had he been with me while in the midst 
 of a host of Union citizens of Mississippi, who 
 at the noon of night had assembled in the deep 
 glens and on the high hills, for the purpose of 
 devising means to resist the hated conscript 
 law — he would have come to a far different 
 conclusion. I have seen the cavalry go out to 
 arrest Union men. I was at a Mr. William 
 Herron's, in South Carroll, Carrol county, Ten- 
 23* 
 
270 THE IRON FURNACE: OR 
 
 nessee, and while there, several companies of 
 cavalry came up from Jackson to destroy the 
 loyal citizens of .that vicinity, and they did 
 destroy some of them and much property. 
 They passed within two hundred yards of for- 
 tifications hastily thrown up to resist them, and 
 would have been fired on had they come within 
 range. Before completing their mission, a mes- 
 senger came to inform them that Fort Henry 
 was beleagured. They hastened to the fort just 
 in time to take part in the action. After the 
 surrender of the fort, they retreated to Fort 
 Donelson, and were all captured at the reduc- 
 tion of that fort, to the great joy of those 
 Union citizens whom they had driven from 
 their homes, and whose property they had 
 destroyed. 
 
 The slaves add greatly to the strength of the 
 rebellion. Slave labour is extensively employed 
 in the military department. They are the sap- 
 pers and miners, the cooks, the teamsters, the 
 artisans; and there are instances where they 
 are forced to shoulder the musket and go into 
 the ranks. I have seen and conversed with 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 271 
 
 slave soldiers who have fought in every battle 
 from Manassas to Shiloh. 
 
 Many strong secession counties send more 
 soldiers to the rebel army than there are voters 
 in those counties. The slaves who remain at 
 home, labour to raise provisions for the suste- 
 nance of the families of the soldiers, and a sur- 
 plus for the army; hence every white man is 
 available for service in the field. "Were this 
 slave labour diverted to some other channel, 
 the result would follow, that a great proportion 
 of the rebel soldiers would be forced to return 
 home to care for their families, or those families 
 must perish. In order to divert this labour, it 
 would be only necessary to encourage the 
 negroes to leave their masters. Wherever the 
 Federal army has advanced in the southwest, 
 the slaves have crowded into their lines by 
 hundreds, and only desisted upon learning, 
 much to their regret, that they would not be 
 received, many of them being tied up and 
 whipped, and then sent southward beyond the 
 limits of the Federal army. Some who had 
 travelled seventy miles upon the underground 
 
272 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 railroad, to reach the Union army, being asked 
 by their fellow-servants upon their return, 
 how they liked the Yankees, replied that 
 "General Nelson sort o' hinted that he didn't 
 want us." Upon being urged to be more 
 explicit, and to state more fully what was the 
 nature of the hint which led them to infer that 
 General Nelson did not want them, their spokes- 
 man replied: "Well, if we must tell, we must. 
 General Nelson tied us up and gave us fifty 
 apiece, and sent us off, sw'arin' he'd guv us 
 a hundred ef we didn't go right straight back 
 home to our masters. He said this wa'n't no 
 war got up to set the niggers free." 
 
 The Kansas Jay hawkers liberate all the slaves 
 with whom they come in contact. I passed four 
 regiments of their cavalry last August, on their 
 way to Kienzi, Mississippi. They had about 
 two thousand slaves with them, of every age 
 and sex. Those slaves groomed their horses, 
 drove their wagons, cooked their victuals, and 
 made themselves useful in a variety of ways, 
 leaving every white man free to go into the 
 battle when the hour of contest arrived. 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 273 
 
 Slavery is a strong prop to the rebellion. 
 Four millions of labourers are able to furnish 
 supplies for eight millions. Subtract that vast 
 resource from the rebellion, add it to the sup- 
 port of the Government, and its stunning effect 
 would be speedily demonstrated in the complete 
 paralysis of the Southern Confederacy. In order 
 to supply the loss of the slaves, half the soldiers 
 in the army must return, or famine would sweep 
 both the army and the families of the soldiers 
 from the face of the earth. One cause of the 
 long continuance of the war is, that the Union 
 army has endeavoured to conciliate the South, 
 rather than crush the rebellion. They have 
 guarded the property of the rebels ; they have 
 returned promptly their fugitive slaves; they 
 have put down servile insurrection with an iron 
 hand, and in every possible way have shown 
 clemency instead of severity. But their kind- 
 ness has been abused, their clemency regarded 
 as evidence of imbecility, and the humane 
 policy of the Government totally misconstrued. 
 Captain John Kainey, of Cambridge, Ohio, 
 while on duty at Corinth, Mississippi, received 
 
274 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 an application from a notorious secessionist for 
 a guard to protect his premises, which was 
 obtained for him from the colonel, three sol- 
 diers being detached for that purpose, who 
 proceeded to the station assigned them. About 
 four o'clock in the afternoon they saw the 
 owner of the premises they were guarding, 
 mount his horse and ride off. Supposing him 
 to be going on some ordinary errand, they took 
 no further notice of it. About nine o'clock, 
 one of the guard who had strayed into the 
 orchard, some three hundred yards from the 
 house, heard an unusual sound, as of cavalry 
 approaching. Concealing himself, he saw, by 
 the bright moonlight, this secessionist ride up 
 with seven or eight rebel cavalrymen, who, 
 seizing his two companions, rode off with them 
 as prisoners. The ingrate who committed this 
 base and perfidious act then went into his 
 house and retired to rest. As speedily as pos- 
 sible the third picket returned to his company, 
 and informed them of the occurrence. Fired 
 with indignation, twenty men volunteered to 
 visit summary punishment upon the perpe- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 275 
 
 trator of this villany. Hastening to his house, 
 they aroused him from his slumbers, and in 
 a few minutes suspended him by the neck 
 between the heavens and the earth. On their 
 return they reported to their companions what 
 they had done, and, through fear of punish- 
 ment, took every precaution to prevent the act 
 reaching the colonel's ears. It was reported 
 to the colonel, however, whose reply to his 
 informant was, " Served him right !" This policy 
 of guarding rebel property by Union troops 
 must be abandoned, or the war will never 
 terminate. The Union army has been attacked 
 by the rebels when large numbers of the sol- 
 diers were absent as guards to protect the plan- 
 tations and all the interests of secessionists. 
 Such gingerly warfare must end, or the days 
 of the Eepublic are numbered. Carrying the 
 war into the enemy's country has thus far 
 proved a mere farce. The retreating rebels 
 destroyed tenfold more property than the pur- 
 suing Federals. I would not counsel cruelty. 
 I would not advise the unnecessary destruction 
 of life or property, for all wanton destruction 
 
276 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 tends to weaken rather than to strengthen the 
 cause of those who perpetrate it. Vandalism is 
 everywhere reprehensible. The proper policy 
 I believe to be this: Let the Union army be 
 supplied with provisions, so fa»» as practicable, 
 from the territory occupied. Let the slaves find 
 protection and employment on their arrival 
 within the Union lines. Despise not their valu- 
 able services. Let it be proclaimed that for 
 every Union citizen of the South who is slain 
 for his adherence to the old flag, a rebel 
 prisoner shall be executed, and that the confis- 
 cated property of Union men shall be restored, 
 at the cost of rebel sympathizers in the vicinity. 
 Let these necessary measures be carried out, 
 and no well-informed person can doubt that the 
 war will cease before the end of six months. 
 "With slavery, the rebels are powerful ; without 
 it, they are powerless. "With slavery, every 
 white man between the ages of eighteen and 
 sixty is available as a soldier, and vast 
 supplies are procured by servile labour. Abo- 
 lish slavery, and the army would be immedi- 
 ately reduced one- half, and supplies would be 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 277 
 
 diminished to a destructive extent. Slaves 
 armed and drilled would make effective soldiers. 
 With a perfect knowledge of the country, with 
 an intense desire to liberate themselves and their 
 brethren from bondage, with an ardent hatred 
 of their cruel masters and overseers, (and the 
 majority of them are cruel,) they would render 
 a willing and powerful aid in crushing the 
 great rebellion. After the war is ended, give 
 them as much land as their necessities require, 
 either in New Mexico or Arizona, and they 
 will furnish more sugar, rice, and cotton, than 
 were extorted from them by compulsory labour 
 in the house of bondage. 
 
 The desire for freedom on the part of the 
 slaves is universal. It is, according to my 
 observation and full belief, a rule without 
 exception. These aspirations are constantly 
 increasing as the rigours of slavery are in- 
 creased, and the slaves are as well prepared 
 for freedom as they would be a hundred years 
 hence. The Iron Furnace of slavery does not 
 tend to the elevation of its victims. There are 
 better methods of elevating a race than by 
 24 
 
278 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 enslaving it. The moral elevation* of the slave 
 is no part of the reason why he is held in bond- 
 age; but the convenience and profit of the 
 master is the sole end and aim of the peculiar 
 institution. All attempts on the part of the 
 slaves to obtain their liberty are resisted by the 
 slaveholders, by the infliction of appalling and 
 barbarous cruelties. Thirty-two negroes were 
 executed at Natchez, Mississippi, recently, 
 because they expressed a determination "to 
 go to Lincoln." Six were hanged in Hoxubee 
 county, and one burned in the streets of Macon. 
 The southern papers state that Hon. Mr. Orr, of 
 South Carolina, attempted to drive his slaves 
 into the interior, to prevent their escaping to 
 the Yankees, and upon their refusal to go, he 
 ordered them to be driven at the point of the 
 bayonet, and in the execution of the order, fifty 
 of them were slain. There are instances in 
 which the slave is greatly attached to his mas- 
 ter's family, but his love of liberty is greater 
 than that attachment. It often transcends his 
 love for his own family, which he abandons for 
 its sake, risking his life on the underground rail- 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 279 
 
 road, and enduring the rigours of a Canadian 
 winter, that he may enjoy his inalienable rights. 
 
 The southwest is already nearly exhausted. 
 The troops which first went into the service 
 were well supplied with clothing, provisions, 
 and money ; but the conscripts were poorly clad, 
 and received their wages in Confederate bonds, 
 which have so depreciated, that ten dollars in 
 gold will purchase one hundred dollars of the 
 bonds. Great suffering is the consequence, and 
 desertions are of daily occurrence. While I 
 was in prison at Tupelo, eighty-seven of the 
 Arkansas infantry deserted in a body. One 
 hundred cavalry were sent to arrest them, but 
 they defeated the cavalry in a fair fight, and 
 went on their way rejoicing. Tennesseeans and 
 Kentuckians could not be trusted on picket 
 duty, their proclivity for desertion being noto- 
 rious. They suffered no opportunity to escape 
 them, and often went off in squads. Many of 
 them being forced into the service, did not con- 
 sider their involuntary oath binding. 
 
 The wheat crop of 1862, in the southwest, was 
 almost totally destroyed by the rust, and the 
 
280 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 corn crop by the drought. Salt could not be 
 obtained at any cost, and every marketable 
 commodity had reached a fabulous price. South- 
 ern merchants feel that they are ruined. At the 
 commencement of the war they had made large 
 purchases in the North, mainly on credit. The 
 rebel Congress passed a law that all who were 
 indebted to the North must pay two-thirds of the 
 amount of their indebtedness to the Southern 
 Confederacy. This the merchants did. They 
 then sold their goods, taking cotton and Con- 
 federate money in pay. The cotton was 
 destroyed by order of Beauregard, and the 
 Confederate scrip is worthless, and the Federal 
 generals are enforcing the payment of Northern 
 claims. This fourfold loss will beggar every 
 southern merchant subjected to it. 
 
 At the commencement of the war, strong 
 drink was abundant, and it was freely used by 
 the soldiers. Drunkenness was fearfully preva- 
 lent. This vice increased to such a degree that 
 the army was rapidly becoming demoralized. 
 A large amount of grain was wasted in the 
 manufacture of liquor. At this juncture the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 281 
 
 rebel government wisely prohibited the manu- 
 facture and sale of all that would intoxicate. 
 Soon the wisdom of this measure was appa- 
 rent. For a time this contraband article 
 was smuggled in, yet it was only in limited 
 quantities, and at the present time a drunken 
 soldier is a rara avis in the army. At the first 
 promulgation of the law, a cunning countryman 
 perforated a large number of eggs, withdrew 
 the contents, filled the shells with whiskey, 
 closed them up, and carrying them to the camp 
 at Eienzi, sold them at an exorbitant price. 
 Others resorted to filling coffee-pots with 
 whisky, stopping up the bottom of the spout, 
 filling it with buttermilk, and if asked by the 
 guards what they had for sale, would pour out 
 some of the milk in the spout, and by this 
 deception gain an entrance to the camp, and 
 supply the soldiers with liquor. But all these 
 tricks were discovered, and since the manufac- 
 ture, as well as the sale, was prohibited, the 
 supply on hand became exhausted, and drunk- 
 enness ceased. 
 24* 
 
282 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BATTLES OF LEESBURG, BELMONT, AND SHILOH. 
 
 Rebel Cruelty to Prisoners — The Fratricide — Grant De- 
 feated — Saved by Gunboats — Buell's Advance — Railroad 
 Disaster — The South Despondent — General Rosecrans— 
 Secession will become Odious even in the South — Poem. 
 
 BATTLE OF LEESBURG. 
 
 The battle of Leesburg was fought on the 21st 
 of October, 1861. The southern accounts of this 
 battle were so contradictory, that I will not 
 give the various versions. One statement, how- 
 ever, all concur in — that when the Federal troops 
 retreated to the river, after being overpowered 
 by superior numbers, and had thrown down 
 their arms, calling for quarter, no mercy was 
 shown them. Hundreds were bayoneted, or 
 forced into the river and drowned. The rebels 
 clubbed their guns, and dashed out the brains 
 of many while kneeling at their feet and 
 imploring mercy. I saw one ruffian who 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 283 
 
 boasted that lie had bayoneted seven Yankee 
 prisoners captured on that occasion. 
 
 BATTLE OF BELMONT. 
 
 The battle of Belmont was fought on the 7th 
 of November, 1861. I have heard repeatedly 
 from- southern officers their version of the events 
 which occurred on that occasion. General 
 McClernand, for the purpose of breaking up 
 the rebel camp at Belmont, attacked it in force 
 at an early hour, and completely routed the 
 enemy, pursuing them to a considerable dis- 
 tance. Returning, he destroyed completely the 
 camp, but delaying too long, large reinforce- 
 ments were thrown over the river from Colum- 
 bus, and the Federals were compelled to retreat 
 precipitately to their boats, not, however, till 
 they had fully accomplished the object of their 
 mission. A scene occurred on this field which 
 exhibits one of the saddest phases of this inter- 
 necine strife. The incident was related to me 
 by Mr. Tomlin, a lawyer of Jackson, Tennes- 
 see, not unknown even in the North, who was 
 personally acquainted with the actors. Colonel 
 
284 the iron furnace; or 
 
 Eogers, of an Illinois regiment, led his com- 
 mand into action early in the contest. A Ten- 
 nessee regiment opposed him with fierceness for 
 some time. At length they began to waver and 
 exhibit symptoms of disorder. 'At this moment 
 their colonel, who had been unhorsed, mounted 
 a stump, and by an energetic and fervid address, 
 rallied his men. Again they began to falter, 
 and again his burning words restored order^ 
 Colonel Eogers believing that the safety of him- 
 self and regiment depended upon the death of 
 the Tennessee colonel, drew a pistol from his 
 holsters, rode up and deliberately shot him 
 through the brain. The Tennesseeans seeing 
 their colonel fall, fled precipitately. On the 
 return of the Illinois troops, Colonel Eogers, 
 impelled by curiosity, dismounted, and scan- 
 ning the features of the colonel whom his own 
 hand had slain, recognised his own brother. 
 As the tide of battle had rolled past for the 
 moment, he ordered the corpse to be conveyed 
 to a transport, on which it was brought to 
 Cairo, and thence borne to the stricken parents, 
 who mourned over and buried the remains 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 285 
 
 of their brave but erring child, who had met 
 his fate at his brother's unconsciously fratricidal 
 hand. 
 
 BATTLE OF SHILOH. 
 
 On April 6th ; 1862, the sun rose clear; not a 
 cloud was discernible in the sky ; it was truly a 
 lovely Sabbath, even for a southern clime. Early 
 in the morning I took a walk with my little 
 daughter, a child four years of age, in whose 
 prattle I was taking great interest. We had 
 gone about one hundred yards when my child 
 exclaimed, "Pa, we must go back! it's going to 
 rain; don't you hear the thunder?" The sharp 
 and stunning reports I soon recognised to be 
 the sound of cannon on the field of battle. 
 The cannonading continued incessantly during 
 the day. The whole country became intensely 
 excited, and many citizens hastened to the 
 battlefield, the majority bent upon plunder. 
 On Monday the battle still raged with increas- 
 ing fury. On Sabbath, General Grant had been 
 completely surprised, and would have lost his 
 whole army but for the gunboats in the river. 
 
286 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 These gunboats shelled the pursuing rebels, 
 checking their advance, and saving the discom- 
 fitted Federals. Buell arrived with his division 
 on Sabbath night, and on Monday the rebels 
 were driven at every point during the whole 
 day. with great loss. When I heard the rebel 
 officers state that the gunboats lying in the 
 Tennessee river had checked their pursuit, 
 and had committed great havoc amongst their 
 troops, at the distance of nearly three miles, I 
 supposed that the rebel army had continued the 
 pursuit till they came in sight of the gunners 
 on the boats, who then threw their shells into 
 their advancing columns, and my mistake was 
 not corrected till I saw the scene of action. A 
 plateau extended from the river, where the 
 gunboats lay, to the hills, a distance of about 
 one-quarter of a mile. The hills rose to a con- 
 siderable height, and were covered with a large 
 growth, and on their frowning summits the 
 lofty trees seemed to intercept the passing 
 clouds. Grant's discomfitted and shattered 
 army had taken refuge on the plateau. Some 
 had even thrown themselves into the river, and 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION". 287 
 
 swam across. Such was the position of affairs 
 when the gunners threw their shells over those 
 lofty hills, and beyond them a distance of two 
 miles, into the midst of the rebels, checking 
 their advance, and destroying them by scores. 
 Couriers constantly passed to and fro to give 
 information of the position of the enemy. All 
 night long their shelling continued, causing 
 Beauregard to change his camp thrice. Thus, 
 
 "Bombs bursting in air, 
 Gave proof through the night 
 That our flag was still there." 
 
 On Monday morning Buell's division ad- 
 vanced, and the tide was turned. The rebels 
 were driven from every position, and their loss 
 was fearful; and had pursuit been continued to 
 Corinth, their whole army must have been 
 annihilated. General A. S. Johnson fell about 
 three o'clock on the Sabbath. The tibial artery 
 had been severed — a wound not necessarily 
 fatal; but he remained in the saddle till he 
 fainted from loss of blood, and when borne 
 from his horse by Governor Harris and others, 
 survived but twenty minutes. On Sabbath 
 
288 THE IKON furnace; or 
 
 night Beauregard occupied, for a time, an old 
 Presbyterian church — a rude log edifice. The 
 church was named Shiloh; hence both Beaure- 
 gard and General Grant, in their dispatches, 
 named the engagement the battle of Shiloh. I 
 was in Eienzi as the wounded passed down on 
 the cars to the various hospitals below. They 
 passed continually for a month. On the 18th 
 of April I went down to Macon, in Noxubee 
 county. A large number of wounded were on 
 the train. A lady from the Female Seminary 
 in Aberdeen had been placed under my care. 
 When we reached a point six miles from Craw- 
 fordsville, I noticed a young man looking out 
 in an excited manner, and immediately after 
 he jumped out and rolled down an embank- 
 ment. I was much surprised at his conduct, 
 but soon the crashing of the cars explained the 
 cause. The train had been thrown from the 
 track, and was rushing down an embankment. 
 Jumping from the cars now became general. 
 My lady friend arose, declaring that she also 
 would leap from the car. I caught and held 
 her till the danger was over, and thus pre- 
 
SLAVEEY AND SECESSION. 289 
 
 vented perhaps serious injury to her person, 
 as all who jumped from the train were more or 
 less injured. On extricating ourselves from the 
 debris of the cars, an appalling sight met our 
 view. The sick, wounded, dying, and dead, 
 were scattered promiscuously in every direc- 
 tion. Their groans and piercing shrieks were 
 heart-rending. The heavy fragments of the 
 broken cars were thrown upon their mangled 
 limbs, and in many instances this disaster com- 
 pleted what Shiloh had commenced. As we 
 came down, I passed through the train amongst 
 the wounded. Some had lost an arm, several 
 an upper lip, as many an under lip. Through 
 the body of one six balls had passed. They 
 were wounded in the feet, the hands, the head, 
 and the body; and some who had not been 
 touched by ball or bullet were paralyzed by 
 their proximity to the exploding shells. Truly 
 every battle is with confused noise and gar- 
 ments rolled in blood. I remained some time 
 at the destroyed train, aiding in extricating 
 those buried beneath the ruins. The extent of 
 the damage and destruction of life, I never 
 25 
 
290 THE I180N FURVACE; OR 
 
 accurately learned. It must, however, have 
 been great. The catastrophe was occasioned by 
 a stick of wood falling from the tender before 
 the wheels of the adjacent car, which, being 
 thrown from the track, precipitated the whole 
 train down the embankment. 
 
 For weeks after the battle of Shiloh, little 
 was done by Federals or Confederates. The 
 rebels firmly believed that Corinth could not be 
 taken. Its evacuation discouraged the people 
 exceedingly. Nothing but disasters had befallen 
 them since the year commenced. Zollikoffer 
 had been slain, and Crittenden defeated, at 
 Fishing Creek. Eoanoke Island had been 
 captured. Forts Henry, Donelson, Pulaski, St. 
 Philip, and Jackson had been reduced. Island 
 "No. 10" was taken, and New Orleans had 
 fallen. The bloody field of Shiloh had pro- 
 ved disastrous; and now, even Corinth, the 
 boasted Gibraltar of rebeldom, fortified by the 
 "best engineer on the continent," and defended 
 by the whole army of the southwest, had been 
 evacuated. What, under these circumstances, 
 could resist the progress of Halleck to the 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 291 
 
 Gulf? Many saw the cause of these disasters in 
 the fact that the rebel generals had made their 
 attacks upon the Union troops upon the Sab- 
 bath; and all history confirms the truth that 
 the army attacking on the Sabbath is almost 
 invariably defeated. Universal gloom and an 
 all-pervading spirit of despondency, brooded 
 over the whole southern people. Had the rebel 
 army been crushed at Corinth, or had Beaure- 
 gard been vigorously pursued, and forced to 
 fight or surrender, the war in the southwest 
 would have been terminated. General Rose- 
 crans informed me that they could have crushed 
 the rebels at Corinth, and on my asking him 
 why it was not done, he replied: "It would 
 have been done at the cost of many lives on 
 both sides, and it is not our desire to sacrifice 
 life unnecessarily. Let Beauregard go down to 
 the swamps of Mississippi; he can do us no 
 injury. It is not probable that he will ever 
 return to Corinth to attack us, and they must 
 starve out in a section which never produced 
 enough to sustain its own population." But 
 Beauregard did not remain lung in the swamps 
 
292 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 of Mississippi. He took the flower of his army 
 and hastened on to Richmond, to reinforce 
 General Lee, who immediately gave battle to 
 McClellan, and drove him from the Peninsula. 
 Halleck should never have suffered McClellan 
 to be compelled to fight both Lee's forces and 
 Beauregard's, whilst his own army was merely 
 protecting rebel property and consuming ra- 
 tions. I think General Rosecrans, had he been 
 in chief command, would not have thus acted ; 
 and his statement to me was a mere apology for 
 the conduct of his superior, for his policy has 
 ever been vigorous, and the rebels dread him 
 more than any living man. The lamented 
 Lyon also inspired a similar wholesome dread. 
 I saw much of General Rosecrans. He is a 
 genial, pleasant gentleman. He seems desirous 
 of accomplishing his end by the use of mild 
 means ; but if these will not effect the object, 
 the reverse policy is resorted to. The rebels 
 dread, yet respect him. He will do much to 
 oblige a friend. I desired at one time to go 
 with my family beyond the Federal lines. 
 General Rosecrans went in person to General 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 2 ( J3 
 
 Pope to obtain a pass ; but Pope's orders were 
 that no passes should be issued for a specified 
 time. General Eosecrans then asked and 
 obtained permission to send one of bis aids 
 with us, who conducted us beyond the pickets, 
 a distance of five miles. This act, the General 
 remarked, was in consideration of the kindness 
 I had shown himself and staff while in Kienzi. 
 The Federal generals committed a great mis- 
 take in desiring to overrun the country without 
 destroying the rebel armies. A physician who 
 drives a disease from one limb only to appear 
 in a more aggravated form in another, accom- 
 plishes nothing. And when a general permits 
 a hostile army to change its location as a stra- 
 tegic movement, he has accomplished nothing, 
 except giving aid and comfort to the enemy. 
 The rebels estimated their forces at the battle 
 of Shiloh at eighty thousand. Though con- 
 siderable accessions had been received, yet in 
 consequence of sickness and desertion, their 
 number was about the same at the evacuation 
 of Corinth. They lost about eleven thousand, 
 slain, wounded, and prisoners, in the battle. 
 2o* 
 
294 THE IRON FURNACE; OR 
 
 War has a tendency to engender great 
 bitterness of feeling between the belligerents. 
 The secessionists hate the northern people, 
 but not with the intensity of hatred which 
 they exercise toward the Union-loving citi- 
 zens of the South. In South Carolina, in 
 the days of nullification, the nullifiers and 
 Union men were very bitter in their hostility 
 against each other. After the suppression of 
 nullification by General Jackson, the cause 
 being removed, the enmity ceased, and in a 
 short time, the odium attached to nullification 
 became so great, that few would admit that 
 they had been nullifiers. Let the supremacy 
 of the law and the Constitution be enforced, 
 and a few years hence, few, even in the 
 South, will be found willing to admit that 
 they were secessionists. The descendants of 
 the Tories carefully conceal their genealogy; 
 the descendants of the secessionists will do the 
 the same. Slavery and secession will perish 
 together; and the classes of the South who 
 have been fearfully injured by both these 
 heresies, will be fully compensated for their 
 
SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 295 
 
 present distress by the vast blessings which will 
 accrue to themselves and posterity by the abo- 
 lition of an institution which has degraded 
 labour, oppressed the poor white man, opposed 
 progress, retarded the development of the coun- 
 try's resources, taken away the key of know- 
 ledge, caused every species of vice to flourish, 
 impoverished the people, enriched a favoured 
 class at the expense of the masses, caused woes 
 unnumbered to a whole race — in short, has 
 been the prolific parent of fraud, oppression, 
 lust, tyranny, murder, and every other crime 
 in the dark catalogue. 
 
 "We are living, we are dwelling 
 In a grand and awful time; 
 In an age, on ages telling, 
 To be living is sublime ! 
 
 Hark ! the waking up of nations, 
 Gog and Magog to the fray ; 
 
 Hark! what soundeth — is creation 
 Groaning for its latter day ? 
 
 Will ye play, then ? will ye dally 
 With your music and your wine ? 
 
 Up! it is Jehovah's rally ! 
 
 God's own arm hath need of thine. 
 
296 THE IRON FURNACE. 
 
 Hark! the onset! will ye fold your 
 Faith-clad arms in lazy lock; 
 
 Up ! oh, up ! thou drowsy soldier, 
 Worlds are charging to the shock! 
 
 Worlds are charging; heaven beholding j 
 Thou hast but an hour to fight; 
 
 Now the blazoned cross unfolding, 
 On! right onward for the right. 
 
 On! let all the soul within you, 
 For the truth's sake go abroad ; 
 
 Strike ! let every nerve and sinew 
 Tell on ages,— tell for God!" 
 
JUL -JL1334 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS