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YELASQUEZ IJV FEMALE 
 
THE WOMAN IN BATTLE: 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF THE 
 
 OF 
 
 MADAME LORETA JANETA V|LAZQUEZ, 
 
 OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 
 
 LIEUTENANT HARRY T. BUFORD, 
 
 CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY. 
 
 IN WHICH IS GIVEN 
 
 Full Descriptions of the numerous Battles in which she participated as a Confederate 
 
 Officer; of her Perilous Performances as a Spy, as a Bearer of Despatches, as 
 
 a Secret-Service Agent, and as a Blockade- Runner; of her Adventures 
 
 Behind the Scenes at Washington, including the Bond Swindle; 
 
 of her Career as a Bounty and Substitute Broker in New York ; 
 
 of herTravels in Europe and South America; her Mining 
 
 Adventures on the Pacific Slope ; her Residence 
 
 among the Mormons; her Love Affairs, 
 
 Courtships, Marriages, &.C., &.c. 
 
 , EDITED BY 
 
 C. J. WORTHINGTON, 
 
 LATE OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Command the trumpets of the war to sound ! 
 This stillness doth perplex and harass me ; 
 An inward impulse drives me from repose, 
 It still impels me to achieve my work. 
 
 SCHILLER The Maid of Orleans. 
 
 PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED 
 HARTFORD : 
 
 1876. 
 
V/t3 
 x 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, 
 
 BY LOKETA J. VELAZQUEZ, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED AT THE BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 No. 19 Spring L&ne. 
 
TO MY 
 
 WHO, ALTHOUGH THEY FOUGHT IN A LOSING CAUSE, 
 
 SUCCEEDED BY THEIR VALOR IN WINNING 
 
 THE ADMIRATION OF THE WORLD, 
 
 THIS NARRATIVE 
 
 OF MY ADVENTURES AS A SOLDIER, A SPY, 
 AND A SECRET- SERVICE AGENT, 
 
 g* i*4fart*4, 
 
 WITH ALL HONOR, RESPECT, AND GOOD WILL. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 IF I expected by this story of my adventures to achieve 
 any literary reputation, I might be disposed, on account of its 
 many faults of style, to ask the indulgence of those who will 
 do me the honor to undertake its perusal. As, however, 
 I only attempted authorship because I had, as others assured 
 me, and as I myself believed, something to tell that was worth 
 telling, I have been more concerned about the matter than 
 the manner of my book, and I hope that the narrative will prove 
 of sufficient interest to compensate for a lack of literary ele 
 gance in the setting forth. Mine has been a life too busily 
 occupied in other matters for me to cultivate the graces 
 of authorship ; and the best I can hope to do is to relate my 
 story with simplicity and truth, and then let it find its fate, 
 whether it be praise or condemnation. 
 
 The composition of this book has been a labor of love, and 
 yet one of no ordinary difficulties. The loss of my notes has 
 compelled me to rely entirely upon my memory ; and memory 
 is apt to be very treacherous, especially when, after a number 
 of years, one endeavors to relate in their proper sequence a 
 long series of complicated transactions. Besides, I have been 
 compelled to write hurriedly, and in the intervals of pressing 
 business, the necessities I have been under of earning my daily 
 bread being such as could not be disregarded, even for the 
 purpose of winning the laurels of authorship. To speak 
 plainly, however, I care little for laurels of any kind just now, 
 and am much more anxious for the money that I hope this 
 book will bring in to me than I am for the praises of either 
 
 5 
 
6 AUTHOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 critics or public. The money I want badly, while praise, 
 although it will not be ungratifying, I am sufficiently philo 
 sophical to get along very comfortably without. 
 
 I do not know what the good people who will read this 
 book will think of me. My career has differed materially 
 from that of most women ; and some things that I have done 
 have shocked persons for whom I have every respect, however 
 much my ideas of propriety may differ from theirs. I can only 
 say, however, that in my opinion there was nothing essentially 
 improper in my putting on the uniform of a Confederate officer 
 for the purpose of taking an active part in the war ; and, as 
 when on the field of battle, in camp, and during long and 
 toilsome marches, I endeavored, not without success, to display 
 a courage and fortitude not inferior to the most courageous of 
 the men around me, and as I never did aught to disgrace the 
 uniform I wore, but, on the contrary, won the hearty com 
 mendation of my comrades, I feel that I have nothing to be 
 ashamed of. Had I believed that my book needed any apolo 
 gies on this score, it would never have been written ; and, 
 having written it, I am willing to submit my conduct to the 
 judgment of the public, with a confidence that I will at least 
 receive due credit for the motives by which I was animated. 
 
 In the preparation of this book for the press, I have been 
 greatly aided by the gentleman who has consented to act as 
 my editor. Although during the war he was on the other side, 
 he has interested himself most heartily in assisting me to get 
 my narrative into the best shape for presentation to the 
 public, and has shown a remarkable skill in detecting and 
 correcting errors into which I had inadvertently fallen. I take 
 pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to him. 
 
 The book, such as it is, and I have tried to make it all 
 that such a book should be by telling my story in as plain, 
 straightforward, and unpretending a style as I could com 
 mand, is now, for good or ill, out of my hands, and my 
 adopted country people will have to decide for themselves 
 whether the writing of it was worth the while or not. 
 
EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 THE frank egotism of such a narrative as is contained in the 
 volume now in the hands of the reader needs no apology. 
 Self-reliance, self-esteem, and self-approbation, all were neces 
 sary for the consummation of such adventures as those herein 
 related ; and, in the opinion of the editor, a chief merit in the 
 book is the perfect unreserve with which its author gives to 
 the world, not only the full particulars of her numerous 
 daring exploits and adventures, but the motives by which she 
 was influenced in undertaking them, and her impressions of 
 men and events. Since the author has not seen fit to do so, 
 the editor does not feel called upon to argue the question of 
 propriety involved in the appearance of a woman disguised 
 in male attire on the battle-field ; but, with regard to some of 
 the transactions in which Madame Yelazquez was engaged 
 during the progress- of the great civil war, a few words of 
 comment, explanatory rather than apologetic, seem to be re 
 quired. 
 
 Some of these transactions were of a character that, under 
 ordinary circumstances, would admit of no extenuation ; but, in 
 making up a judgment concerning them, several important 
 facts must be constantly borne in mind. One of them is, that 
 Madame Yelazquez was acting as the agent of the only gov 
 ernment to which she acknowledged allegiance, and that she 
 considered herself as justified in aiding that government by 
 every means in her power, as well by fighting its enemies in 
 the field, as by embarrassing them by such attacks in the rear 
 as are related in her narrative. This plea will, of course, be 
 
 7 
 
8 EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 worth nothing to those who refuse to admit that. for any pur 
 poses the Confederacy had a right to exist. It is necessary, 
 however, to view matters of this kind from a different stand 
 point from this. The fact that the Federal Government was 
 compelled to recognize the Confederates as belligerents, and 
 was compelled to hold official intercourse with them, renders 
 argument on this head unnecessary. Admitting that they 
 were belligerents, they were justified, within certain limitations^ 
 in doing all in their power to defeat their enemies, not only by 
 opposing them with armies in the field, but by demoralizing 
 them by insidious attacks in the rear, and by hampering their 
 efforts to keep their ranks full, and to provide the ways and 
 means for maintaining the armies at the highest state of 
 efficiency. Whatever view non-combatants might have taken 
 of the war, the men who did the fighting were obliged to con 
 sider it, in a great measure, as a trial of skill and valor, and 
 practically to disregard sentimental or political considerations. 
 Prom a military point of view, therefore, what, was proper and 
 justifiable for one side, was proper and justifiable for the 
 other, and will so be considered by impartial critics. 
 
 These remarks have particular reference to the portions 
 of this narrative which relate the experiences of Madame 
 Yelazquez as a Confederate secret-service agent at the North 
 during the last eighteen or twenty months of the war. It will 
 be noticed that she speaks with undisguised contempt of some 
 of her associates within the Federal lines, associates without 
 whose aid she could never have accomplished the work she 
 undertook. The unprejudiced reader, will have no difficulty 
 in understanding that their position and hers were vastly 
 different. Some of these people were trusted officers of the 
 government, were sworn to loyalty and fidelity, and were in 
 the enjoyment of the full confidence of the public, as well as 
 of their immediate superiors. Others were men who were 
 loud in their protestations of loyalty, but who, while eager to 
 be recognized as stanch supporters of the Federal govern 
 ment, were, for the sake of gain, secretly engaged in aiding 
 
EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 9 
 
 the enemy by every means in their power. These people, 
 and the shrewd, sharp woman who made use of them for the 
 furtherance of the work she undertook to perform for the 
 purpose of aiding the government to which she had given her 
 allegiance in carrying on a gigantic contest, are surely not to 
 be judged by the same standard ] and that Madame Velazquez 
 does not hesitate to relate the details of her transactions as a 
 Confederate agent and spy, proves that she, at least, does not 
 consider that she has done anything to be ashamed of, and is 
 willing that her conduct shall be freely criticised. 
 
 To many readers, the story of Madame Velazquez's expe 
 riences in camp and on the battle-field while disguised as a 
 Confederate officer, will, from the peculiarities of her position, 
 have a particular interest. In the opinion of the editor, how 
 ever, the most important part of the book is that in which a 
 revelation is made, now for the first time, of the exact manner 
 in which the Confederate secret-service system at the North 
 was managed. There is no feature of the civil war that more 
 needs to have light thrown on it than this ; and, as the story 
 which the heroine of the adventures herein set down recites, 
 is an exceedingly curious one, it is deserving of the special 
 consideration of the public, both North and South. 
 
 The editor of this volume was in the United States naval 
 service from near the beginning to the end of the civil war ; 
 and as he gave his adhesion to the Union cause from princi 
 ple rather than passion, and as he has never, either during the 
 war or since its close, had other than the kindest feelings 
 towards those who took the other side, under a sincere con 
 viction that they were right, he not only had had no hesitation 
 in preparing the narrative of Madame Velazquez for the press, 
 but he feels that he can appreciate the motives which, from 
 first to last, seem to have actuated her. The Southern people 
 made a great mistake when they inaugurated the war ; but it 
 does not become those who fought in the Federal ranks to 
 doubt, at this late day, the sincerity or honesty of purpose of 
 the vast majority of them. 
 
10 EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 The great American civil war was an event that deserves 
 to be judged dispassionately ; and to judge it dispassionately, 
 it is necessary that the people of both sections should under 
 stand each other better than they did while the conflict was 
 being waged, or, indeed, than they do now. It is especially 
 important that the people of the North, being the victors, and 
 being in a great measure responsible for the present and 
 future good government of the South, and for a proper appre 
 ciation there of the advantages of a cordial and fraternal, as 
 well as a political union, should study the war from a South 
 ern point of view. The present volume, the editor believes, 
 is not only a most interesting narrative of adventure of a very 
 exceptional kind, but it is an important and valuable contribu 
 tion to the history of the war. 
 
 Madame Velazquez, whose enthusiasm for the cause of 
 Southern independence induced her to discard the garments 
 of her sex, and to assume male attire for the purpose of 
 appearing upon the battle-field, is a typical Southern woman 
 of the war period ; and there are thousands of officers and sol 
 diers who fought in the Confederate armies who can bear tes 
 timony, not only to the valor she displayed in battle, and under 
 many circumstances of difficulty and danger, but to her 
 integrity, her energy, her ability, and her unblemished repu 
 tation. Upon these points, however, it is not necessary to 
 dilate ; her story will speak for itself, and that it is a true 
 story in every particular, there are abundant witnesses whose 
 testimony will not be disputed. 
 
 As Madame Velazquez is a typical Southern woman of the 
 war period, so her story furnishes a curious inside view of the 
 Confederacy, and it throws much light on a great number of 
 obscure points in its history. For this reason, if no other, it 
 will deserve the attention of Northern readers, who will find 
 many things stated in it which it is well for them to know. No 
 commendation of any kind is needed to command for it the 
 consideration of the people of the South. From the breaking 
 out of the war to its close, the Confederate cause had no more 
 
EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 11 
 
 enthusiastic or zealous supporter than the woman who was 
 known as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. According to her 
 opportunities, she labored with unsurpassed zeal and efficiency, 
 and with a disinterestedness that cannot but be admired. 
 
 With regard to the part performed by the editor in pre 
 paring this work for the press, it may be proper to say a few 
 words. The manuscript, when it was placed in his hands, 
 was found to be very minute and particular in some places, 
 and rather meagre in others, where particularity seemed 
 desirable. Having undertaken to get this material into 
 proper shape, correspondence was opened with Madame Velaz 
 quez, and a number of interviews with her were had. A 
 general plan having been agreed upon, it was left entirely to 
 the judgment of the editor what to omit or what to insert, 
 Madame Yelazquez agreeing to supply such information as 
 was needed to make the story complete, in a style suitable 
 for publication. From her correspondence, and from notes of 
 her conversations, a variety of very interesting details, not in 
 the original manuscript, were obtained and incorporated in the 
 narrative. The editor, also, in several places has corrected 
 palpable errors of time and place, and has added a few facts 
 not supplied by the author. These corrections and additions 
 have been^ made after consultation with the author, and with 
 her entire approbation. In preparing her manuscript, Madame 
 Yelazquez seems to have endeavored to narrate the incidents 
 of her career in the fullest manner possible j and it conse 
 quently contains a large amount of matter which can be of but 
 very little, if any, interest to the general public. It has been 
 necessary, therefore, while expanding in some places, to make 
 large excisions in others ; but the story is such an extraor 
 dinary one, in many of its aspects, that it has been judged 
 better to give it in too great fulness, rather than to omit what 
 the purchasers of the book would have a right to find in it. 
 The excisions have, therefore, been carefully made, and it is 
 believed that nothing has been omitted that is of value or 
 importance. A few expressions that might needlessly give 
 
12 EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 
 
 offence, have either been stricken out or altered, while some, 
 which persons of severe taste may object to, have been permitted 
 to remain as they were originally written, they being in some 
 way characteristic of the writer, or of the circumstances under 
 which she was placed. While Madame Yelazquez does not 
 pretend to any literary accomplishments, her style has a cer 
 tain flavor which is far from unpleasant ; and the editor has 
 been careful, in making such changes and alterations as have 
 seemed necessary, to retain the author's own words wherever 
 practicable. 
 
 Owing to the loss of her diary, Madame Velazquez was com 
 pelled to write her narrative entirely from memory, which 
 will account for the errors to which allusion has been made. 
 Indeed, considering the multiplicity of events, it is very 
 remarkable that she has been able to relate her story with 
 any degree of accuracy. It is possible that, despite the pains 
 that have been taken to make the narrative exact in every 
 particular with regard to its facts, a few errors may have been 
 permitted to remain uncorrected. These errors, however, are 
 not material, and do not in any way impair the interest of 
 the story. 
 
 Madame Yelazquez is a very remarkable woman, and some 
 account of her personal appearance, other than can be obtained 
 from the portraits of her which are given in this book, will 
 doubtless be appreciated by the reader. She is rather slen 
 der, something above medium height, has more than the 
 average of good looks, is quick and energetic in her move 
 ments, and is very vivacious in conversation. Her frame is 
 firmly knit, and she is evidently endowed with great powers 
 of physical endurance. Those who have seen her in male 
 attire say that her skill in disguising herself was very great, 
 and that she readily passed for a man. At the same time she 
 is anything but masculine, either in appearance, manners, or 
 address. She is a shrewd, enterprising, and energetic busi 
 ness woman, and in society is a brilliant and most enter 
 taining conversationalist, abounding in a fund of racy anec- 
 
EDITOR'S PREFATORY NOTICE. 13 
 
 dotes, and endowed with a mimetic power that enables 
 her to relate her anecdotes in the most telling manner. 
 In New York, Philadelphia, and other Northern cities, as 
 well as throughout the South and West, she has a large num 
 ber of very warm friends, who hold her in the highest esteem 
 on account of her eminent talents, her fascinating social qual 
 ities, and her unblemished reputation. It is to be hoped that 
 the publication of the story of her checkered career will have 
 the effect of increasing, rather than of diminishing, the number 
 of these friends. Her story is a most remarkable one, in 
 nearly every respect. During the war a number of women, 
 on both sides, from time to time, performed spy duty, and 
 several of them are said to have occasionally assumed male 
 attire. Madame Velazquez, however, it is believed, is the only 
 one of her sex, who, for any length of time, wore a masculine 
 garb, or who participated as a combatant in a series of hard- 
 fought battles. Narratives of the adventures of several hero 
 ines on the Federal side have been published, but none of 
 them will at all compare in extent and variety of interest with 
 the volume now before the reader, which has an additional 
 claim on the regards of the public as being the only authentic 
 account of the career of a Confederate heroine that has issued 
 from the press. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 The Woman in Battle. Heroines of History. Joan of Arc. A Desire 
 to emulate Her. The Opportunity that was Offered. Breaking out of 
 the War between the North and the South. Determination to take 
 Part in the Contest. A noble Ancestry. The Velazquez Family. 
 My Birth at Havana. Removal of my Family to Mexico. The War 
 between the United States and Mexico. Loss of my Father's Estates. 
 Return of the Family to Cuba. My early Education. At School in 
 New Orleans. Castles in the Air. Romantic Aspirations. Trying 
 to be a Man. Midnight Promenades before the Mirror in Male At 
 tire 33 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 My Betrothal. Love Matches and Marriages of Convenience. Some 
 new Ideas picked up from my Schoolmates. A new Lover appears 
 upon the Field. I Figure as a Rival to a Friend. Love's Young 
 Dream. A new Way of Popping the Question. A Clandestine Mar 
 riage. Displeasure of my Family. Life as the Wife of an Army Offi 
 cer. The Mormon Expedition. Birth of my first Child, and Recon 
 ciliation with my Family. Commencement of the War between the 
 North and South. Death of my Children. Resignation of my Hus 
 band from the Army. My Determination to take Part in the coming 
 Conflict as a Soldier. Opposition of my Husband to my Schemes. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ASSUMING MALE ATTIRE. 
 
 A Wedding Anniversary. Preparing for my Husband's Departure for the 
 Seat of War. My Desire to accompany Him. His Arguments to dis 
 suade Me. My First Appearance in Public in Male Attire. A Bar 
 room Scene. Drinking Success to the Confederacy. My First Cigar. 
 
 A Tour of the Gambling-Houses and Drinking-Saloons. The un 
 pleasant Points of Camp Life set forth in strong Colors. Departure of 
 my Husband. Donning Male Attire. My First Suit of Male Clothing. 
 
 Description of my Disguise. The Practicability of a Woman dis 
 guising herself effectively. Some of the Features of Army Life. 
 What Men think of Women Soldiers 52 
 
 15 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DISGUISED AS A CONFEDERATE OFFICER. 
 
 Preparing a Military Outfit. Consultations with a Friend. Argument 
 against my proposed Plan of Action. Assuming the Uniform of a 
 Confederate Officer. A Scene in a Barber's Shop. How young Men 
 try to make their Beards Grow. Taking a social Drink. A Game of 
 Billiards. In a Faro Bank. Some War Talk. Drinks all Around. 
 The End of an exciting Day. Making up a Complexion. A false 
 Mustache. Final Preparations. Letters from Husband and Father. 
 Ready to start fo^the Seat of War 61 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RECRUITING. 
 
 My Plan of Action. On the War Path. In Search of Recruits in Ar 
 kansas. The Giles Homestead. Sensation caused by a Soldier's Uni 
 form. A prospective Recruit. Bashful Maidens. A nice little Flir 
 tation. Learning how to be agreeable to the Ladies. A Lesson in 
 Masculine Manners. A terrible Situation. Causeless Alarm.: The 
 young Lady becoming Sociable. A few Matrimonial Hints. The 
 successful Commencement of a Soldier's Career. Anticipations of 
 future Glory. Dreamless Slumbers. . . . . . i 70 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 A WIDOW. 
 
 Flirtation and Recruiting. My brilliant Success in enlisting a Company. 
 
 Embarkation for New Orleans. Letter from my Husband. Change 
 of Plans. Cheered while passing through Mobile. Arrival at Pensa- 
 cola. Astonishment of my Husband. Sudden Death of my Husband 
 by the Bursting of a Carbine. Determination to go to the Front. A 
 fascinating Widow. A Lesson in Courtship. Starting for the Seat 
 of War. Unpleasant Companions. A bit of Flirtation with a Colum 
 bia Belle. In Charge of a Party of Ladies and Children at Lynch- 
 burg. Arrival in Richmond. Another Lady in Love with me. The 
 Major wants to make a Night of it. A quiet Game of Cards. Off for 
 the Battle-field ' 82 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 Joining the Army in the Field. Trying to get a Commission. The 
 Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford. Burying the Dead. I attach myself to 
 General Bee's Command. The Night before the Battle of Bull Run. 
 A sound Sleep. The Morning of the Battle. A magnificent Scene. 
 The Approach of the Enemy. Commencement of the Fight. An 
 Exchange of Compliments between old Friends. Bee's Order to fall 
 back, and his Rally. " Stonewall "Jackson. The Battle at its Fiercest. 
 
 The Scene at Midday. Huge Clouds of Dust and Smoke. Some 
 
CONTENTS. 17 
 
 tough Fighting. How Beauregard and Johnston rallied their Men. 
 The Contest for the Possession of the Plateau. Bee and Bartow Killed. 
 
 Arrival of Kirby Smith with Re-enforcements. The Victory Won. 
 
 Application for Promotion. Return to Richmond, 95 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 Erroneous Ideas about the War. Some of the Effects of the Battle of 
 Bull Run. The Victory not in all Respects a Benefit to the Cause of 
 the Confederacy. Undue Elation of Soldiers and Civilians. Rich 
 mond Demoralized. A Quarrel with a drunken Officer. An Insult 
 Resented. I leave Richmond. Prospect of another Battle. Cutting 
 a Dash in Leesburg. A little Love Affair. Stern Parents. A clan 
 destine Meeting. Love's young Dream. Disappointed Affections. 
 In front of the Enemy once More. A Battle expected to come off. . 107 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 An Appetite for Fighting. The Sensations of the Battle-field. My sec 
 ond Battle. The Conflict at Ball's Bluff. My Arrival at General 
 Evans's Headquarters. Meeting an old Acquaintance. Hospitalities 
 of the Camp. The Morning of the Battle. Commencement of the 
 Fight. A fierce Struggle. In Charge of a Company. A suspicious 
 Story. Bob figures as a Combatant. Rout of the Enemy. The Fed 
 erals driven over the Bluff into the River. I capture some Prisoners. 
 
 A heart-rending Spectacle. Escape of Colonel Devens, of the Fif 
 teenth Massachusetts Regiment, by swimming across the River. Sink 
 ing of the Boats with the wounded Federals in Them. Night, and the 
 End of the Battle 115 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FIRST EXPERIENCES AS A SPY. 
 
 Reaction after the Excitements of a Battle. The Necessity for mental and 
 bodily Occupation. I form a new Project. War as we imagine it, and 
 as it Is. Fighting not the only Thing to be Done. The Dreams of 
 Youth, and the Realities of Experience. The Secret of Success. The 
 Difficulties which the Confederate Commanders experienced in obtain 
 ing Information of the Movements of the Enemy. What a Woman 
 can do that a Man Cannot. A Visit to Mrs. Tyree. The only Way of 
 keeping a Secret. I assume the Garments of my own Sex again as a 
 Disguise. Getting across the Potomac at Night. Asleep in a Wheat- 
 btack. A suspicious Farmer. A Friend in Need. Maryland Hospi 
 tality. Off for Washington 126 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 Inside the Enemy's Lines. Arrival at the Federal Capital. ReneAvino- 
 an Acquaintance with an old Friend. What I found out by a judicious 
 2 
 
18 CONTENTS. 
 
 System of Questioning. The Federal Plans with regard to the Missis 
 sippi. An Attack on New Orleans Surmised. A Tour around Wash 
 ington. Visit to the War Department, and Interview with Secretary 
 Cameron and General Wessells. An Introduction to the President. 
 Impressions of Mr. Lincoln. I succeed in finding out a Thing or two 
 at the Post-Office. Sudden Departure from Washington. Return to 
 Leesburg. Departure for Columbus, Kentucky 136 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ACTING AS MILITARY CONDUCTOR. 
 
 At Memphis Again. Ending my first Campaign. My Friend the Cap 
 tain and I exchange Notes. I reach Columbus, and report to General 
 Leonidas Polk. Assigned to Duty as Military Conductor. Unavail 
 ing Blandishments of the Women. A mean Piece of Malice. General 
 Lucius M. Polk tries to play a Trick on Me. The Path of Duty. The 
 General put under Arrest. An Explanation concerning a one-sided 
 Joke. I become dissatisfied, and tender my Resignation. A Request 
 to Return to Virginia and enter the Secret Service. Acceptance of my 
 Resignation. The Lull before the Storm 145 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A MERRY-MAKING. 
 
 In Search of active Employment. On the Road to Bowling Green, Ken 
 tucky. My travelling Companions. A Halt at Paris. A hog-killing 
 and corn-shucking Frolic. Dancing all Night in the School-house. 
 A Quilting- Party. My particular Attentions to a Lady. The other 
 Girls Unhappy. The Reward of Gallantry. What General Hardee 
 had to say to Me. The Woodsonville Fight. On the back Track for 
 Fort Donelson 154 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
 The Spirit of Partisanship. My^Opinions with regard to the Invincibil 
 ity of the Southern Soldiers. Unprepared to sustain the Humiliation 
 of Defeat. The Beginning of the End. At Fort Donelson. The 
 Federal Attack Expected. Preparations for the Defence. The Garri 
 son confident of their Ability to hold the Fort. The Difference between 
 Summer and Winter Campaigning. Enthusiasm supplanted by Hope 
 and Determination. My Boy Bob and I go to Work in the Trenches. 
 Too much of a Good Thing. Dirt-digging not exactly in my Line. 
 The Federals make their Appearance. The Opening of the Battle. 
 On Picket Duty in the Trenches at Night. Storm of Snow and Sleet. 
 
 The^bitter Cold. Cries and Groans of the Wounded. My Clothing 
 stiff with Ice. I find Myself giving Way, but manage to endure until 
 the Relief Comes. Terrible Suffering. Singular Ideas. A Four 
 Days' Battle. The Confederate Successes on the first and second Days. 
 
 The Gunboats driven Off. Desperate Fighting on the third Day. 
 A breathing Spell. The Confederates finally driven back into the Fort. 
 
 It is resolved to Surrender. Generals Floyd and Pillow make their 
 
CONTENTS. 19 
 
 Escape. - General Buckner surrenders to General Grant. Terrible 
 Scenes after the Battle is Over. The Ground strewn for Miles with 
 Dead and Dying. Wounded Men crushed by the Artillery Wagons. 
 The Houses of the Town of Dover filled with Wounded. My Depres 
 sion of Spirits on Account of the Terrible Scenes I had Witnessed. . 161 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DETECTION AND ARREST IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 Taking a Rest at Nashville. Again on the March. I join General A. S. 
 Johnston's Army. Wounded in a Skirmish. Am afraid of having my 
 Sex discovered, and leave suddenly for New Orleans. In New Orleans I 
 am suspected of being a Spy, and am Arrested. The Officer who makes 
 the Arrest in Doubt. The Provost Marshal orders my Release. I am 
 again arrested by the Civil Authorities on suspicion of being a Woman. 
 
 No Way out of the Scrape but to reveal my Identity. Private Inter 
 view with Mayor Monroe. The Mayor Fines and Imprisons Me. I 
 enlist as a Private Soldier. On arriving at Fort Pillow, obtain a Trans 
 fer to the Army of East Tennessee. . 174 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE LOVE AFFAIR. 
 
 Again at Memphis. Public and private Difficulties. Future Prospects. 
 
 Arrival of my Negro Boy and Baggage from Grand Junction. A 
 new uniform Suit. Prepared once more to face the World. I fall in 
 with an old Friend. An Exchange of Compliments. Late Hours. 
 Some of the Effects of Late Hours. Confidential Communications. 
 The Course of true Love runs not Smooth. I renew my Acquaintance 
 with General Lucius M. Polk. The General disposed to be Friendly. 
 My Friend and I call on his Lady-love and her Sister. Surprising Be 
 havior of the young Lady. A genuine Love-letter. A Secret Dis 
 closed. Incidents of a Buggy Ride. A Declaration of Love. Lieu 
 tenant H. T. Buford as a Lady-killer. Why should Women not pop 
 the Question as well as Men ? A melancholy Disclosure for my 
 Friend. I endeavor to encourage Him. A Visit to the Theatre and 
 an enjoyable Evening.: I meet a Friend from New Orleans, and en 
 deavor to remove any Suspicions with regard to my Identity from his 
 Mind. Progress of my Love-affair with Miss M. The young Lady 
 and I have our Pictures Taken. I proceed to Corinth for the Purpose 
 of taking Part in the expected Battle. The Confederate Army advances 
 from Corinth towards Pittsburg Landing 183 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 
 
 A Surprise upon the Federal Army at Pittsburg Landing Arranged. A 
 brilliant Victory Expected. I start for the Front, and encamp for the 
 Night at Monterey. My Slumbers disturbed by a Rain-storm. I find 
 General Hardee near Shiloh Church, and ask Permission to take a Hand 
 in the Fight. The Opening of the Battle. Complete Surprise of the 
 
20 CONTENTS. 
 
 Federals. I see my Arkansas Company, and join It. A Lieutenant 
 being killed, I take his Place, amid a hearty Cheer from the Men. A 
 Secret Revealed. I fight through the Battle under the Command of my 
 Lover. Furious Assaults on the Enemy's Lines. The Bullets fly 
 Thick and Fast. General Albert Sydney Johnston Killed. End of the 
 First Day's Battle, and Victory for the Confederates. Beauregard's 
 Error in not pursuing his Advantage. I slip through the Lines after 
 Dark, and watch what is going on at Pittsburg Landing. The Gun 
 boats open Fire. Unpleasant Effect of Shells from big Guns. Utter 
 Demoralization of the Federals. Arrival of Buell with Re-enforcements. 
 General Grant and another general Officer pass near Me in a Boat, 
 and I am tempted to take a Shot at Them. I return to Camp, and wish 
 to report what I had seen to General Beauregard, but am dissuaded from 
 doing so by my Captain. Uneasy Slumbers. Commencement of the 
 Second Day's Fight. The Confederates unable to contend with the 
 Odds against Them. A lost Opportunity. The Confederates de 
 feated, and compelled to retire from the Field. I remain in the Woods 
 near the Battle-field all Night 200 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 WOUNDED. 
 
 The Morning after the Battle of Shiloh. My Return to Camp. A Let 
 ter from my Memphis Lady-love. A sad Case. My Boy Bob Missing. 
 
 I start out to search for Him. A runaway Horse, and a long Tramp 
 through the Mud. Return to the Battle-field. Horrible Scenes along 
 the Road. Out on a Scouting Expedition. Burying the Dead. I 
 receive a severe Wound. Along and painful Ride back to Camp. 
 My Wound dressed by a Surgeon, and my Sex discovered. A Fugitive. 
 
 Arrival at Grand Junction. Crowd of anxious Inquirers. Off for 
 New Orleans. Stoppages at Grenada, Jackson, and Osyka on Account 
 of my Wound. The Kindness of Friends. Fresh Attempt to reach 
 New Orleans. Unsatisfactory Appearance of the Military Situation. 
 The Passage of the Forts by the Federal Fleet. A new Field of Em 
 ployment opened for Me. I resume the Garments of my Sex. . . 219 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS, AND BUTLER'S ADMIN 
 ISTRATION. 
 
 Capture of Island No. 10. The impending Attack on New Orleans. 
 The unsatisfactory Military Situation. Confidence of Everybody in 
 the River Defences. My Apprehensions of Defeat. The Fall of New 
 Orleans. Excitement in the City on the News of the Passage of the 
 Forts being Received. I resolve to abandon the Career of a Soldier, 
 and to resume the Garments of my own Sex. Appearance of the Fleet 
 opposite the City. Immense Destruction of Property. My Congrat 
 ulations to Captain Bailey of the Navy. Mayor Monroe's Refusal to 
 raise the Federal Flag. General Butler assumes Command of the City. 
 
 Butler's Brutality. I procure the foreign Papers of an English Lady, 
 and strike up an Acquaintance with the Provost Marshal. Am intro 
 duced to other Officers, and through them gain Access to Headquarters. 
 
 'Colonel Butler furnishes me with the necessary Passes to get through 
 
CONTENTS. 21 
 
 the Lines. I drive an active Trade in Drugs and Confederate Money 
 while carrying Information to and Fro. Preparations for a grand final 
 Speculation in Confederate Money. I am intrusted with a Despatch 
 for the " Alabama," and am started for Havana 232 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A VISIT TO HAVANA. 
 
 A Trip to Havana. My Purposes in making the Journey. The Results 
 of a Year of Warfare. Gloomy Prospects. A Gleam of Hope in Vir 
 ginia. The Delights of a Voyage on the Gulf of Mexico. The Island 
 of Cuba in Sight. The Approach to Havana. I communicate with 
 the Confederate Agents and deliver my Despatches. An Interchange 
 of valuable Information. The Business of Blockade-running and its 
 enormous Profits. The Injury to the Business caused by the Capture 
 of New Orleans. My Return to New Orleans and Preparation for 
 future Adventures 244 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 A DIFFICULTY WITH BUTLER. ESCAPE FROM NEW 
 ORLEANS. 
 
 Butler's Rule in New Orleans. A System of Terrorism. My Acquaint 
 ance with Federal Officers. I resume the Business of carrying Infor 
 mation through the Lines. A Trip to Robertson's Plantation for the 
 Purpose of carrying a Confederate Despatch. A long Tramp after 
 Night. Some of the Incidents of My Journey. The Alligators and 
 Mosquitoes. Arrival at my Destination, and Delivery of the Despatch 
 to a Confederate Officer. My hospitable Entertainment by Friends of 
 the Confederacy. My Return to New Orleans. Capture of the Bearer 
 of my Despatch, and my Arrest. I am taken before Butler, who en 
 deavors to extort a Confession from Me. Butler as a Bully. I refuse 
 to confess, and am ordered to be imprisoned in the Custom-House. 
 My Release, through the Intercession of the British Consul. I resolve 
 to leave New Orleans, for fear of getting into further Trouble. A Bar 
 gain with a Fisherman to take me across Lake Pontchartrain. My 
 Escape from Butler's Jurisdiction 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 CARRYING DESPATCHES. 
 
 Uncertainties of the Military Situation. I go to Jackson, Mississippi. 
 Burning of the Bowman House in that Place by Breckenridge's Soldiers. 
 The unpleasant Position in which Non-combatants were Placed. 
 A Visit to the Camp of General Dan. Adams, and Interview with that 
 Officer. I visit Hazlehurst, and carry a Message to General Gardner at 
 Port Hudson. Recovery of my Negro Boy Bob. General Van Dorn's 
 Raid on Holly Springs. I resolve to return to Virginia. The Results 
 of two Years of Warfare. Dark Days for the Confederacy. Fighting 
 against Hope 268 
 
22 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 UNDER ARREST AGAIN. 
 
 Commencement of a new Campaign. Return to Richmond, and Arrest 
 on Suspicion of being a Woman. Imprisonment in Castle Thunder. 
 Kindness to Me of Major J. W. Alexander and his Wife. I refuse to 
 resume the Garments of my Sex. I am released, and placed on Duty 
 in the Secret Service Corps. General Winder, the Chief of the Secret 
 Service Bureau. A remarkable Character. General Winder sends me 
 with blank Despatches to General Van Dorn to try Me. A Member of 
 the North Carolina Home Guards attempts to arrest Me at Charlotte. 
 I resist the Arrest, and am permitted to Proceed. The Despatches 
 delivered to Van Dorn in Safety. My Arrest in Lynchburg. The 
 Rumors that were in Circulation about Me. I am pestered with curious 
 Visitors. A Couple of Ladies deceived by a simple Trick. A comical 
 Interview with an old Lady. She declares herself insulted. An 
 insulting Letter from a general Officer. My indignant Reply, and Offer 
 to fight Him. I obtain my Release, and leave Lynchburg 276 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RUNNING THROUGH THE FEDERAL LINES. 
 
 At Charlotte, North Carolina. Arrival of Longstreet's Corps, on its 
 Way to re-enforce Bragg's Army. I obtain Permission for Myself and 
 other Officers to go on the Train Southward. I arrive in Atlanta, 
 Georgia, and receive Letters from several Members of my Family. I 
 learn for the first Time that my Brother is in the Confederate Army. 
 I receive Information of the Officer to whom I am engaged to be mar 
 ried, and whom I have not seen since the Battle of Shiloh. I make an 
 Attempt to reach Him, but am unable to do so. Failing in an En 
 deavor to become attached to General Armstrong's Command, I deter 
 mine to undertake an Expedition through the Lines. Finding a Sup 
 ply of female Garments in a deserted Farm-house, I attire Myself as a 
 Woman. My Uniform hid in an Ash-barrel. An Invasion of the 
 Dairy. I start for the Federal Lines 288 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE MILITARY SECRET SERVICE. RETURN FROM A 
 SPYING EXPEDITION. 
 
 The Duties of Spies. The Necessity for their Employment. The Status 
 of Spies, and the extraordinary Perils they Run. Some Remarks about 
 the Secret Service, and the Necessity for its Improvement. I reach the 
 Federal Lines, and obtain a Pass to go North from General Rosecrans. 
 
 On my Travels in search of Information. Arrival at Martinsburg, 
 and am put in the Room of a Federal Officer. A Disturbance in the 
 Night. " Who is that Woman ? " I make an advantageous Acquain 
 tance. A polite Quartermaster. All about a pretended dead Brother. 
 
 How Secret Service Agents go about their Work. A Visit to my 
 pretended Brother's Grave, and what I gained by It. I succeed in giv 
 ing one of Mosby's Pickets an important Bit of Information. The 
 polite Attention of Federal Officers. I return to Chatanooga, and 
 
CONTENTS. 23 
 
 resume my Confederate Uniform. A perilous Attempt to reach the 
 Confederate Lines. What a Drink of Whiskey can do. I become 
 lame in my wounded Foot, and am sent to Atlanta for medical Treat 
 ment 298 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 IN THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Kind of People an Army is made up Of. Gentlemen and Black 
 guards. The Demoralization of Warfare. How I managed to keep 
 out of Difficulties. The Value of a fighting Reputation. A Quarrel 
 with a drunken General. I threaten to shoot Him. My Illness, and 
 the kind Attentions received from Friends. I am admitted to the Em 
 pire Hospital. The Irksomeness of a Sick-bed. I learn that my 
 Lover is in the same Hospital, and resolve to see him as soon as I am 
 Convalescent 310 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 A STRANGE STORY OF TRUE LOVE. 
 
 Sick-bed Fancies. Reflections on my military Career. I almost resolve 
 to abandon the Garb of a Soldier. Difficulties in the Way of achieving 
 Greatness. Warfare as a laborious Business. The Favors of Fortune 
 sparingly Bestowed. Prospective Meeting with my Lover. Anxiety 
 to know what he would think of the Course I had been pursuing in fig 
 uring in the Army as a Man. A strange Courtship. More like a 
 Chapter of Romance than a grave Reality. My Recollections of an 
 old Spanish Story, read in my Childhood, that in some Respects reminds 
 me of my own Experiences The Story of Estela. How the Desires 
 of a Pair of Lovers were opposed by stern Parents. An Elopement 
 Planned. The Abduction of Estela through the Instrumentality of a 
 Rival. She is carried off by Moorish Pirates, and sold as a Slave. 
 Her Escape from Slavery, and how she entered the Army of the Em 
 peror disguised as a Man. Estela saves the Emperor's Life, and is pro 
 moted to a high Office Her Meeting with her Lover, and her Endeav 
 ors to make him confess his Faith in her Honor. The Appointment 
 of Estela as Governor of her native City. The Trial of her Lover on 
 the Charge of having murdered her. Happy Ending of the Story. I 
 am inspired, by my Recollections of the Story of Estela, to hear from 
 the Lips of my Lover his Opinion of me before I reveal myself to him. 
 Impatient Waiting for the Hour of Meeting 317 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 AGAIN A WIFE AND AGAIN A WIDOW. 
 
 Convalescence. I pay a Visit to my Lover. A friendly Feeling. A 
 Surprise in Store for him. I ask him about his Matrimonial Prospects, 
 and endeavor to ascertain the State of his Affections towards me. An 
 affecting Scene. The Captain receives a Letter from his Lady-love. 
 I' She has come ! She has come ! " The Captain prepares for a Meet 
 ing with his Sweetheart. A Question of Likeness. A puzzling Sit- 
 
24 CONTENTS. 
 
 uation. I reveal my Identity. Astonishment and Joy of my Lover. 
 
 Preparations for our Wedding. A very quiet Affair Proposed. 
 The Wedding. A short Honeymoon. Departure of my Husband for 
 the Front. My Apprehensions for his Health. My Apprehensions 
 justified in the News of his Death in a Federal Hospital in Chatanooga. 
 
 Once more a Widow 326 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 IN THE CONFEDERATE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Altered Circumstances. The Result of two Years and a half Experience 
 in Warfare. The Difference between the Emotions of a raw Recruit 
 and a Veteran. Difficulties in the Way of deciding what Course it was 
 best to pursue for the Future. I resolve to go to Richmond in Search 
 of active Employment of some Kind. The Military Situation in the 
 Autumn of 1863. Concentration of the Armies at Richmond and Chat 
 anooga. Richmond safe from Capture. The Results of the Battle of 
 Chickamauga. Rosecrans penned up in Chatanooga by Bragg. The 
 Pinch of the Fight Approaching. Hopes of foreign Intervention. 
 An apparently encouraging Condition of Affairs. I go to Richmond, 
 and have Interviews with President Davis and General Winder. I am 
 furnished by the Latter with a Letter of Recommendation, and start on a 
 grand Tour through the Confederacy. Arrival at Mobile, and Meeting 
 with old Army Friends 339 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 ON DUTY AS A SPY. 
 
 I receive a mysterious Note, requesting me to meet the Writer. I go to 
 the appointed Place, and find an Officer of the Secret Service Corps, 
 who wants me to go through the Lines with Despatches. I accept the 
 Commission, and the next Day go to Meridian for the Purpose of com 
 pleting my Arrangement and receiving my Instructions. A Visit to 
 General Ferguson's Headquarters. Final Instructions from the Gen 
 eral, who presents me with a Pistol. I start for the Federal Lines, and 
 ride all Night and all the next Day. A rough and toilsome Journey. 
 I spend the Night in a Negro's Cabin. Off again at three o'clock in 
 the Morning with an old Negro Man for a Guide. We reach the Neigh 
 borhood of the Federal Pickets, and I send my Guide back. I bury my 
 Pistol in a Church. I am halted by a Picket-guard, and am taken to 
 Moscow. A Cross-examination by the Colonel in Command. Satis 
 factory Result for Myself. On the Train for Memphis. Insulting 
 Remarks from the Soldiers. A Major interferes for my Protection. 
 Off for General Washburn's Headquarters 348 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SENDING INFORMATION TO THE CONFEDERATES FROM 
 
 MEMPHIS. 
 
 :My Friend, the Lieutenant, concludes that he will make himself better 
 acquainted with me. Indiscreet Confidences. Some of the Traits of 
 
CONTENTS. 25 
 
 Human Nature. The Kind of Secrets Women can Keep. Women 
 better than Men for certain Kinds of Secret Service Duty. The Lieu 
 tenant wants to know all about me. I suspect that he has Matrimonial 
 Inclinations. He is anxious to discover whether I have any wealthy 
 Relations. I am induced to think that I can make him useful in obtain 
 ing Information with regard to the Federal Movements. The Lieuten 
 ant expresses his Opinion attout the War. Arrival at Memphis. 
 Visit to the Provost Marshal's Office. General Washburn too ill to see 
 me. I enclose him the bogus Despatch I have for him, with an ex 
 planatory Note. The Lieutenant escorts me to the Hard wick House, 
 and I request him to call in the Morning. Procuring a Change of 
 Dress through One of the Servants, I slip out, and have an Interview 
 with my Confederate, and give him the Despatch for General Forrest. 
 
 On returning to the Hotel, I meet the Lieutenant on the Street, but 
 manage to pass him without being observed. Satisfactory Accom 
 plishment of my Errand 362 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 FORREST'S GREAT RAID. GOING NORTH ON A MISSION 
 
 OF MERCY. 
 
 A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed. The Lieutenant aids me in pro 
 curing a new Wardrobe. I succeed in rinding out all I want to know 
 about the Number and the Disposition of the Federal Troops on the 
 Line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. A Movement made in 
 accordance with the bogus Despatch which I had brought to General 
 Washburn. Forrest makes his Raid, and I pretend to be alarmed lest 
 the Rebels should capture me. The Lieutenant continues his Atten 
 tions, and Something occurs to induce me to change my Plans. I have 
 an Interview with an Officer of my Brother's Command, and learn that 
 he is a Prisoner. I resolve to go to him, and leave for the North on 
 a Pass furnished by General Washburn. At Louisville I have an In 
 terview with a mysterious secret Agent of the Confederacy, who supplies 
 me with Funds. On reaching Columbus, Ohio, I obtain a Permit to 
 see my Brother. Through the Agency of Governor Brough my Brother 
 is released, and we go East together, he to New York, I to Wash 
 ington 373 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 SECRET SERVICE DUTY AT THE NORTH. 
 
 New Scenes and new Associations. My first Visit to the North. The 
 Wealth and Prosperity of the North contrasted with the Poverty and 
 Desolation of the South. Much of the northern Prosperity fictitious. 
 
 The anti-war Party and its Strength. How some of the People of 
 the North made Money during the War. "Loyal" Blockade-runners 
 and Smugglers. Confederate Spies and Emissaries in the Government 
 Offices. The Opposition to the Draft. The bounty-jumping Frauds. 
 
 My Connection with them. Operations of the Confederate Secret 
 Service Agents. Other Ways of fighting the Enemy than by Battles in 
 the Field. I arrange a Plan of Operations, and place myself in com 
 munication with the Confederate Authorities at Richmond, and also 
 with Federal Officials at Washington and Elsewhere. I abandon Fight 
 ing for Strategy 383 
 
26 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 PLAYING A DOUBLE GAME. 
 
 Studying the Situation. I renew my Acquaintance with old Friends of 
 the Federal Army. Half-formed Plans. I obtain an Introduction to 
 Colonel Lafayette C. Baker, Chief of the United States Secret Service 
 Corps. Colonel Baker and General Winder of the Confederate Secret 
 Service compared. Baker a good Detective Officer, but far inferior to 
 Winder as the Head of a Secret Service Department. I solicit Employ 
 ment from Baker as a Detective, and am indorsed by my Friend General 
 A. Baker gives a rather indefinite Answer to my Application. I go 
 to New York, and fall in with Confederate Secret Service Agents, who 
 employ me to assist them in various Schemes. Learning the Ropes. 
 I send Intelligence of my Movements to Richmond, and am enrolled as 
 a Confederate Agent. I have several Interviews with Baker, and suc 
 ceed in gaining his Confidence. Baker's Surprise and Disgust at 
 various Times at his Plans leaking Out. The Secret of tjie Leakage 
 Revealed 39 2 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 VISIT TO RICHMOND AND CANADA. 
 
 An Attack on the Rear of the Enemy in Contemplation. The Difficulties 
 in the Way of its Execution. What it was expected to Accomplish/ 
 The Federals to be placed between two Fires. I have an Interview 
 with Colonel Baker, and propose a Trip to Richrnond. He assents, 
 and furnishes me with Passes and Means to make the Journey. I run 
 through the Lines, and reach Richmond in Safety. I return by a 
 roundabout Route, laden with Despatches, Letters, Commercial Orders, 
 Money Drafts, and other valuable Documents. I am delayed in Balti 
 more, and fall short of Money. The Difficulties I had in getting my 
 Purse filled. Sickness. I visit Lewes, Delaware, and deliver Instruc 
 tions to a Blockade-runner. On reaching New York I learn that a De 
 tective is after me. I start for Canada, and meeting the Detective in 
 the Cars, strike up an Acquaintance with him. He shows me a Pho 
 tograph, supposed to be of myself, and tells me what his Plans are 
 The Detective baffled, and my safe Arrival in Canada. Hearty Wel 
 come by the Confederates there. I transact my Business, and prepare 
 to return 403 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 ARRANGEMENTS FOR A WESTERN TRIP. 
 
 I return to Washington for the Purpose of reporting to Colonel Baker. 
 Apprehensions with regard to the Kind of Reception I am likely to have 
 from him. The -Colonel amiable, and apparently unsuspicious. I 
 give him an Account of my Richmond Trip, and receive his Congrat 
 ulations. General A. calls on me, and he, Baker, and I go to the The 
 atre. A Supper at the Grand Hotel. Baker calls on me the next 
 Morning, and proposes that I shall visit the Military Prisons at John 
 son's Island and elsewhere, for the Purpose of discovering whether the 
 Confederate Prisoners have any Intentions of Escaping. I accept the 
 Commission, and start for the West. Reflections on the Military and 
 Political Situations 420 
 
CONTENTS. 27 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 JOHNSON'S ISLAND. PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK ON 
 THE FEDERAL REAR. 
 
 On the Way to Sandusky. I am introduced to a Federal Lieutenant on 
 the Cars, who is conducting Confederate Prisoners to Johnson's Island. 
 He permits me to converse with the Prisoners, and I distribute some 
 Money among them. Arrival at Sandusky. First View of Johnson's 
 Island. I visit the Island, and, on the strength of Colonel Baker's Let 
 ter, am permitted to go into the Enclosure and converse with the Pris 
 oners. I have a Talk with a young Confederate Officer, and give him 
 Money and Despatches, and explain what is to be done for the Libera 
 tion of himself and his Companions. Returning to Sandusky, I send 
 Telegraphic Despatches to the Agents in Detroit, Buffalo, and Indianap 
 olis. How the grand Raid was to have been made. Its Failure 
 through the Treason or Cowardice of one Man 433 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 IN THE INDIANAPOLIS ARSENAL. FAILURE OF THE PRO 
 JECTED RAID. 
 
 I deliver Despatches to Agents in Indianapolis. Waiting for Orders. 
 I obtain Access- to the Prison Camp, and confer with a Confederate Offi 
 cer confined there. I apply to Governor Morton for Employment, and 
 am sent by him to the Arsenal. I obtain a Situation in the Arsenal, 
 and am set to work packing Cartridges. I form a Project for blowing 
 up the Arsenal. Reasons for its Abandonment. I receive a suspi 
 cious Number of Letters. How I obtained my Money Package from 
 the Express Office. I go to St. Louis, and endeavor to obtain Employ 
 ment at the Planters' House, for the Purpose of enabling me to gain 
 Information from the Federal Officers lodging there. Failing in this, 
 I strike up an Acquaintance with a Chambermaid, and by Means of her 
 Pass Key gain Access to several Rooms. I gain some Information 
 from Despatches which I find, and am very nearly detected by a Bell 
 Boy. I go to Hannibal to deliver a Despatch relating to the Indians. 
 Hearing of the Failure of the Johnson's Island Raid, I return East, and 
 send in my Resignation to Colonel Baker 444 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 BLOCKADE-RUNNING. 
 
 Making Preparations for going into Business as a Blockade-runner. The 
 Trade in Contraband Goods by Northern Manufacturers and Merchants. 
 Profits versus Patriotism. The secret History of the War yet to be 
 told. This Narrative a Contribution to it. Some dark Transactions 
 of which I was Cognizant. Purchasing Goods for the Southern Mar 
 ket, and shipping them on Board of a Schooner in the North River. 
 How such Transactions were managed. The Schooner having sailed, 
 I go to Havana by Steamer. On reaching Havana I meet some old 
 Friends. The Condition of the blockade-running Business during the 
 last Year of the War. My Acquaintances in Havana think that the 
 Prospects of the Confederacy are rather gloomy. I visit Barbadoes, 
 
28 CONTENTS. 
 
 and afterwards St. Thomas. While at St. Thomas the Confederate 
 Cruiser Florida comes in, coals, and gets to Sea again, despite the Fed 
 eral Fleet watching her 454 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 AN ATTACK ON THE FEDERAL TREASURY. 
 
 The Bounty-jumping and Substitute-brokerage Business. Rascalities in 
 high Life and low Life. Bounty-jumpers and Substitute-brokers not 
 the worst Rogues of the Period. High Officials of the Government 
 implicated in Swindles. Baker's Raid on the Treasury Ring, and the 
 Charges of Conspiracy brought against him by Members of Congress 
 and others. A Committee of Congress exonerates the guilty Parties, 
 and blames Baker for exposing them. What I know about these 
 Transactions. Money needed to carry on the Confederate Operations 
 at the North. Federal Officials countenancing the Issue of counterfeit 
 Confederate Bonds and Notes. I go to Washington for the Purpose of 
 getting in with the Treasury Ring. A rebel Clerk introduces me to a 
 high Official, who, on Condition of sharing in the Profits, introduces 
 me to the Printing Bureau of the Treasury. The Trade with England 
 in bogus Federal and Confederate Securities. Making Johnny Bull 
 pay some of the Expenses of the War 464 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 COUNTERFEITING AND 'BOGUS BOND SPECULATIONS. 
 
 Introduction to an Official of the Printing Bureau of the Treasury Depart 
 ment. The Chief of the Treasury, Ring. I am referred by him to 
 another Person in the Bureau, who arranges for a private Interview 
 with me under a Cedar Tree in the Smithsonian Grounds. The Influ 
 ence of certain Rascals in the Treasury Department with Secretary 
 Chase and other high Officials. The Scandals about the Women Em 
 ployees in the Department. Baker's Investigation baffled. The Case 
 of Dr. Gwynn. The Conference under the Cedar Tree. A grand 
 Scheme for speculating with Government Funds. I obtain Possession 
 of an Electrotype Fac-Simile of a One-Hundred Dollar Compound Interest 
 Plate. A Package of Money left for me under the Cedar Tree. Spec 
 ulation in bogus Confederate and Federal Notes and Bonds. How the 
 Thing was Managed . Increase of illicit Speculation as the War Pro 
 gressed. Bankers, Brokers, and other Men of high Reputation impli 
 cated in it. Counterfeiting, to a practically unlimited Extent, carried 
 on with the Aid of Electrotypes furnished from the Treasury Depart 
 ment. Advantages taken by the Confederate Agent of the general 
 Demoralization 476 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 BOUNTY-JUMPING. 
 
 The Bounty-jumping and Substitute-brokerage Frauds, and their Origin. 
 New York the Headquarters of the Bounty and Substitute-Brokers. 
 Prominent Military Officers and Civilians implicated in the Frauds. 
 How newly-enlisted Men managed to escape from Governor's Island. 
 
CONTENTS. 29 
 
 Castle Garden the great Resort of Substitute-brokers. How the poor 
 Foreigners were entrapped by lying Promises made to them. How 
 these Frauds could have been prevented by an impartial Conscrip 
 tion Law impartially administered. Colonel Baker arrives in New 
 York for the Purpose of commencing an Investigation. He asks me to 
 assist him, which I consent to do, after warning my Associates. How 
 Baker went to Work. Striking up an Acquaintance with Jim Fisk. 
 Fisk gives me Money for a Charitable Object, and Railroad Passes for 
 poor Soldiers. An Oil Stock Speculation 488 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 THE SURRENDER OF LEE. 
 
 Another Expedition to the West. Hiring out as a House Servant. A 
 Termagant Mistress. Obtaining a Situation in a Copperhead Family. 
 
 Introduction to Confederate Sympathizers. A Contribution to the 
 Fund for the Relief of Confederate Prisoners. I go to Canada, and 
 from there to New York, with Orders for various Confederate Agents. 
 Sherman's March through the Carolinas. I am induced to go to Lon 
 don on a financial Mission. Unsatisfactory News received, and I hasten 
 Home. The News of Lee's Surrender brought on board the Steamer 
 by the Pilot. Excitement in Wall Street. A Settlement with my Part 
 ner, and the last of my secret Banking 499 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AND END 
 OF THE WAR. 
 
 Another Western Trip. Delivering Despatches to Quantrell's Courier. 
 
 A Stoppage at Columbus, Ohio. News of the Assassination of 
 President Lincoln. Return to New York. Derangement of Plans 
 caused by the Assassination. I again go West. Mr. Lincoln's Body 
 lying in State at Columbus. Return to Washington, and Interview 
 with Baker. I meet a Confederate Officer, and get him to take a Mes 
 sage for me to the South. An aged Admirer. Colonel Baker pro- 
 
 Eoses that I shall start on an Expedition in Search of myself. A Letter 
 om my Brother, and a Request to meet him in New York. A Deter 
 mination to visit Europe. I accept Baker's Commission, and start for 
 New York 508 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 A TOUR THROUGH EUROPE. 
 
 Off for Europe. Seasickness. An over-attentive Doctor. Advantages 
 of knowing more Languages than one. A young Spaniard in Love. 
 
 Arrival in London. Paris and its Sights. Rheims and the Cham 
 pagne Country. Frankfort on the Main. A beautiful Country, and a 
 thriving People. A Visit to Poland. Return to Paris, and Meeting 
 with old Confederates. Friends who knew me, and who did not know 
 me. Finding out what my old Army Associates thought of Me. 
 Back to London. A Visit to Hyde Park, and a Sight of Queen Vic 
 toria. Manchester and its Mills. Homeward Bound. Return to 
 New York, and Separation from my Brother and his Family. ... 519 
 
30 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVL 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN EXPEDITION. 
 
 A Southern Tour. Visit to Baltimore and Washington. The Desola 
 tions of War as visible in Richmond, Columbia, and Charlotte. A 
 Race with a Federal Officer at Charleston. Meeting with old Friends 
 at Atlanta. A Surprise for one of them. Travelling over my old 
 Campaigning Ground. The Forlorn Appearance of Things in New 
 Orleans. Emigration Projects. I make some Investigation into them, 
 and decide to go to South America for the Purpose of looking at the 
 Country, and reporting to my Friends. The Venezuelan Expedition 
 and its Projector. I suspect that it is a mere Speculation, but conclude 
 to accompany it. My third Marriage. I endeavor to persuade my 
 Husband to seek a Home in the Far West, but on his Refusal, sail with 
 him for Venezuela. Forty-nine Persons packed in a small Schooner, 
 with no Conveniences, and with scanty Provisions. A horrible Voyage. 
 Sighting the Mouth of the River Orinoco 531 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 VENEZUELA. 
 
 Taking a Pilot on Board. A perplexing Predicament. Beautiful Scen 
 ery along the Orinoco. Negro Officials. Disgust of some of the 
 Emigrants. Frightened Natives. Arrival at the City of Bolivar. 
 The United States Consul ashamed of the Expedition. Death of my 
 Husband. Another Expedition makes its Appearance. Sufferings of 
 the Emigrants. I write a Letter to my Friends in New Orleans, warn 
 ing them not to come to Venezuela. Rival Lovers. I conclude that I 
 have had enough of Matrimony, and encourage neither of them. A 
 Trip by Sea to La Guyra and Caraccas. I prepare to leave. What I 
 learned in Venezuela. The Resources of the Country 542 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 DEMERARA, TRINIDAD, BARBADOES, AND ST. LUCIA. 
 
 From Venezuela to Demerara. The Hotels of Georgetown, Demerara. 
 The United States Consul at Georgetown. A Visit to a Coffee Planta 
 tion. A Cooly murders his Wife. Excitement in the Streets of 
 Georgetown. The Products of Demerara. Fort Spain, Trinidad. A 
 very dirty Town. Bridgetown, Barbadoes. Having a good Time 
 among old Friends. A Drive to Speightstown. St. Lucia. The old 
 Homestead. Reminiscences of Childhood. The Past, the Present, 
 and the Future. The Family Burying-ground 553 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 ST. THOMAS AND CUBA. 
 
 St. Thomas. A cordial Welcome. A Reception at the Hotel. Points 
 of Interest at St. Thomas. The Escape of the Florida. Santiago de 
 Cuba. Hospitalities. Havana. Visits from my Relatives. Cour 
 tesies from Spanish Officials and others. I take part in a Procession, 
 
CONTENTS. 31 
 
 attired as a Spanish Officer. General Mansana taken sick. A 
 Steamer in the Harbor, with Emigrants from the United States on board, 
 bound for Para. I endeavor to persuade them to Return. Death of 
 General Mansana. I start for New York 562 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 
 
 Across the Continent in search of a Fortune. Omaha. A Meeting with 
 the veteran General Harney. - Governor C. asks me to introduce him to 
 the General. The Backwoodsman and the veteran Soldier. The Gen 
 eral induces me to tell the Story of my Career, and gives me some good 
 Advice. Off for a long Stage-coach Ride. Rough Fellow-Travellers. 
 
 An unmannerly Army Officer taught Politeness. Julesburg. An 
 undesirable Place foV a permanent Residence. An atrocious Murder. 
 More unpleasant travelling Companions. Cheyenne. A Frontier 
 Hotel. Lack of even decent Accommodations. An undesirable Bed 
 fellow. A Visit to Laporte. Again on the Road. A Water-Spout in 
 Echo Canon. The Coach caught in a Quicksand. Mormon Hospi 
 talities. Salt Lake City. Arrival at the City of Austin, Nevada. . 570 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 MINING IN UTAH AND NEVADA. THE MORMONS AND 
 THEIR COUNTRY. 
 
 Noisy Neighbors. A Nevada Desperado. The Aristocracy of Austin. 
 
 My Marriage. Speculation in Mines and Mining Stock. Removal 
 to Sacramento Valley, California. Off for the Gold Regions again. A 
 characteristic Fraud. "Salting" a Mine. The Well-ington District. 
 
 A Description of the Country, and its Animal, Vegetable, and Min 
 eral Products. A Residence in Salt Lake City. Acquaintance with 
 prominent Mormons, and Inquiries into the Nature of their Belief. 
 Mormon Principles and Practices. Salt Lake City and its Surround 
 ings. The Mineral Wealth of Utah. Preparing to Return to the 
 East '. 584 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS. CONCLUSION. 
 
 Denver. Pueblo. Trinidad. Stockton's Ranche. A Headquarters 
 for Desperadoes. Cattle Stealing. A private Graveyard. Maxwell's 
 Ranche. Dry Cimmaron. Fort Union. Santa Fe. The oldest 
 City in New Mexico. A Wagon Journey down the Valley of the Rio 
 Grande. Evidences of Ancient Civilization. Fort McRae and the 
 Hot Spring. Mowry, City. The Gold Mining Region of New Mexico 
 and Arizona. El Paso. A thriving Town. A Stage Ride through 
 Western Texas. Fort Bliss. Fort Quitman and Eagle Spring. The 
 Leon Holes. Fort Stockton. The Rio Pecos. A fine Country. 
 Approaching Civilization. The End of the Story 597 
 
THE WOMAN IN BATTLE. 
 
 M 
 
 ??- A* 
 
 >^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 The Woman in Battle. Heroines of History. Joan of Arc. A Desire 
 to emulate Her. The Opportunity that was offered. Breaking out of 
 the War between the North and the South. Determination to take 
 part in the Contest. A noble Ancestry. The Velazquez Family. My 
 Birth at Havana. Removal of my Family to Mexico. The War be 
 tween the United States and Mexico. Loss of my Father's Estates. 
 Return of the Family to Cuba. My early Education. At School in New 
 Orleans. Castles in the Air. Romantic Aspirations. Trying to be 
 a Man. Midnight Promenades before the Mirror in Male Attire. 
 
 A 
 
 HE woman in battle is an infrequent 
 figure on the pages of history , and 
 yet, what 7 would not history lose 
 were the glorious records of the hero 
 ines, the great-souled women, who. 
 have stood in the front rank where 
 the battle was hottest and the fray 
 most deadly, to be obliterated?' 
 When women have rushed to the 
 battle-field they have invariably dis 
 tinguished themselves ; and their 
 courage, their enthusiasm, and their 
 devotion to the cause espoused, have 
 excited the brave among the men 
 around them to do and to dare to 
 the utmost, and have shamed the cowards into believing that it 
 was worth while to peril life itself in a noble cause, and that 
 3 33 
 
34 THE NUN-LIEUTENANT. 
 
 honor to a soldier ought to be more valuable than even life. 
 The records of the women who have taken up arms in the 
 cause of home and country ; who have braved the scandals of 
 the camp ; who have hazarded reputation, reputation dearer 
 than life, and who have stood in the imminent deadly 
 breach, defying the enemy, if not so imposing in numbers as 
 those in which the deeds of male warriors are recited, are 
 glorious nevertheless ; and if steadfast courage, true-hearted 
 loyalty, and fiery enthusiasm go for anything, women have 
 nothing to blush for in the martial deeds of those of their sex 
 who have stood upon the battle-field. 
 
 Far back in the early days of the Hebrew commonwealth 
 Deborah rallied the despairing warriors of Israel, and led them 
 to victory. Semiramis, the Queen of the Assyrians, com 
 manded her armies in person. Tomyris, the Scythian queen, 
 after the defeat of the' army under the command of her son, 
 Spargopises, took the field in person, and outgeneralling the 
 Persian king, Cyrus, routed his vastly outnumbering forces 
 with great slaughter, the king himself being among the slain. 
 Boadicea, the British queen, resisted the Roman legions to 
 the last, and fought the invaders with fury when not a man 
 could be found to lead the islanders to battle. Bona Lom 
 bard!, an Italian peasant girl, fought in male attire by the 
 side of her noble husband, Brunaro, on more than one hotly 
 contested field ; and on two occasions, when he had been taken 
 prisoner and placed in close confinement, she effected his re 
 lease by her skill and valor. 
 
 THE NUN- LIEUTENANT. 
 
 Catalina de Eranso, the Monja Alferez, or the nun-lieuten 
 ant, who was born in the city of Sebastian, Spain, in 1585, was 
 one of the most remarkable of the heroines who have distin 
 guished themselves by playing the masculine role, and ven 
 turing into positions of deadly peril. This woman, becoming 
 disgusted with the monotony of convent life, made her escape, 
 and in male garb joined one of the numerous expeditions then 
 fitting out for the New World. Her intelligence and undaunted 
 valor soon attracted the notice of her superior officers, and 
 she was rapidly promoted. Participating in a number of hard- 
 fought battles, she won the reputation of being an unusually 
 skilful and daring soldier, and would have achieved both fame 
 and fortune, were it not that her fiery temper embroiled her 
 
A HUNGARIAN HEROINE. 35 
 
 in frequent quarrels with her associates. One of her many 
 disagreements resulted in a duel, in which she had the misfor 
 tune to kill her antagonist, and, to escape the vengeance of 
 his friends, she was compelled to fly. After traversing a large 
 portion of the New World, and encountering innumerable perils, 
 she returned to Europe, where she found that the trumpet of 
 fame was already heralding her name, and that there was the 
 greatest curiosity to see her. Travelling through Spain and 
 Italy, she had numerous exceedingly romantic adventures; 
 and while in the last named country she managed to obtain an 
 interview with Pope Urban VIII., who was so pleased with 
 her appearance and her conversation that he granted her per 
 mission to wear male attire during the balance of her life. 
 
 Within the past hundred years more than one heroine has 
 stamped her name indelibly upon the role of fame. All Amer- 
 cans know how brave Molly Pitcher, at the battle of Mon- 
 mouth, busied herself in carrying water to the parched and 
 wearied soldiers, and how, when her husband was shot down 
 at his gun, instead of, woman fashion, sorrowing for him with 
 unavailing tears, she sprang to take his place, and through the 
 long, hot summer's day fought the foreign emissaries who were 
 seeking to overthrow the liberties of her country, until, with 
 decimated ranks they fled, defeated from the field. 
 
 At the seige of Saragossa, in 1808, when Palafbx, and the 
 men under his command, despaired of being able to resist the 
 French, Agostino, " the maid of Saragossa," appeared upon 
 the scene, and with guerra al cuchillo " war to the knife " 
 as her battle-cry, she inspired the general and his soldiers to 
 fight to the last in resisting the French invaders, and by her 
 words and deeds became the leading spirit in one of the most 
 heroic defences of history. * 
 
 APPOLONIA JAGIELLO. 
 
 Nearer our own time Appolonia Jagiello fought valiantly 
 for the liberation of Poland and Hungary. She had kingly 
 blood in her veins, and her heart burned within her at the 
 wrongs which her native country, Poland, suffered at the 
 hands of her oppressors. When the insurrection at Cracow 
 took place, in 1846, she assumed male attire, and went into the 
 thickest of the fight. The insurrection was a failure, although 
 it might not have been had the men who began it been as 
 stout-hearted and as enthusiastic in a great cause as Appolo- 
 
36 THE MAID OF ORLEANS. 
 
 nia Jagiello. In 1848 she participated in another outbreak at 
 Cracow, and distinguished herself as one of the most valorous 
 pf the combatants. After the failure of this attempt at re 
 bellion she went to Vienna, where she took part in an engage 
 ment in the faubourg Widen. Her object in visiting the 
 Austrian capital, however, was chiefly to ascertain the exact 
 character of the struggle which was in progress, in order to 
 carry information to the Hungarians. After numerous per 
 ilous adventures she joined the Hungarian forces, and fought 
 at the battle of Enerzey, in which the Austrians were de 
 feated, and on account of the valor she displayed was pro 
 moted to the rank of lieutenant. After this she joined an 
 expedition under General Klapka, which assaulted and took 
 the city of Raab. When the Hungarians were finally defeated 
 and there was no longer any hope that either Hungary or 
 Poland would gain their independence, Mademoiselle Jagiello 
 came to the United States, in 1848, with other refugees, and 
 for a number of years resided in the city of Washington, re 
 spected and beloved by all who knew her. No braver soldier 
 than this lady ever trod the field of battle, while the universal 
 testimony of all who were honored with her acquaintance is, 
 that she was a most womanly woman, and was lacking in 
 nothing that makes true womanhood esteemed by right-think 
 ing people. 
 
 JOAN OF ARC. 
 
 But, whenever I think of the women who have distin 
 guished themselves in battle, my affections turn to the 
 greatest and noblest of them all, and my imagination fires 
 with a desire to emulate the glorious deeds of Joan of Arc, the 
 Maid of Orleans. A religious enthusiast, as well as a born 
 leader of men, and a martial genius of the first order, this great 
 woman infused, by the power of her matchless eloquence, 
 courage and determination into the heart of a weak, cowardly, 
 and vacillating king, and then, seizing the banner of France, 
 she rallied the defeated and demoralized armies, and led them 
 with terrible effect against the British foe. At last, betrayed 
 into the hands of her enemies, she suffered with all the un 
 bending courage of her heroic nature, a martyrdom at the 
 stake, which, while it embalmed her memory in the hearts of 
 the French people, covered with shame the names of the 
 cowardly ruffians who decreed her death on a pretended 
 charge, because they were afraid to let her live for fear that 
 
LIEUTENANT BUFORD A WOMAN. 37 
 
 her existence, even as a prisoner, would be a perpetual men 
 ace to them, and a perpetual encouragement to the French 
 people to fight to the death. The statue of Joan of Arc. chis 
 elled by "the fair hands of a French princess, stands to-day in 
 the market-place at Rouen where she suffered, and the mem 
 ory of her glorious deeds as a great-hearted patriot remains 
 to all time as an example of what a woman may do if she only 
 dares, and dares to do greatly. 
 
 From my early childhood Joan of Arc was my favorite 
 heroine ; and many a time has my soul burned with an over 
 whelming desire to emulate her deeds of valor, and to make 
 for myself a name which, like hers, would be enrolled in letters 
 of gold among the women who had the courage to fight like 
 men ay, better than most men for a great cause, for 
 friends, and for father-land. 
 
 At length an opportunity oifered, in the breaking out of the 
 conflict between the North and the South in 1861, for me to 
 carry out my long-cherished ideas ; and it was embraced 
 with impetuous eagerness, combined with a calm determina 
 tion to see the thing through, and to shrink from nothing that 
 such a step would involve. 
 
 My opportunities and my circumstances were different from 
 those of my ideal woman, Joan of Arc, and consequently my 
 story has but little resemblance to hers. I did all that it was 
 possible for me to do, however, for the can^ I espoused, and 
 the great French heroine did no more. Happily I escaped 
 her dreadful fate, and live to relate the many adventures that 
 befell me while playing the part of a warrior. So many per 
 sons have assured me that my stor} r prosaic as much of it 
 seems to me is full of romance, and that it cannot fail to 
 interest readers both South and North, that I have been in 
 duced to narrate it for the benefit of those who wish to make 
 the acquaintance of a woman warrior, and to be entertained, 
 and perhaps instructed, by a recital of her adventures. If 
 there are any such, and I am sure there are, they will 
 find in these pages an unaffected and unpretending, but truth 
 ful, and I hope interesting narrative of what befell me while 
 attached to the army of the Confederate States of America, 
 arid while performing services other than those, of a strictly 
 military character under the pseudonyms of Lieutenant Harry 
 T. Buford. 
 
 Hundreds, nay thousands of officers and men in the Con 
 federate service, knew me well under this name, and although 
 
38 UNPLEASANT INCIDENTS OF CAMP LIFE. 
 
 my disguise was finally penetrated, and I was forced to resume 
 the garments of my sex, it is probable that a vast number 
 of my late associates will now for the first time learn that the 
 handsome young officer I was accounted an uncommonly 
 good-looking fellow, when dressed in my best uniform, in 
 those days was a woman, and a woman who was mentally 
 making some very uncomplimentary notes with regard to 
 much of their very naughty conversation. My experience 
 is, that the language used by the very best men in masculine 
 society is too often not such as pure-minded women would 
 like to listen to, while that of the worst is so utterly revolting, 
 that it is a. pity some men cannot always have decent women 
 at their elbows to keep their tongues from being fouled with 
 blasphemy and obscenity. I hope that some of my late 
 associates ; when they learn that the Lieutenant Harry T. 
 Buford, whose ears were so often greeted by their profanity 
 and ribaldry, will have enough self-respect to blush with 
 shame at having addressed the language they did to a woman, 
 and a modest woman at that. 
 
 What I have just said will give a hint of some of the most 
 unpleasant incidentals of the role which I undertook to play. 
 I was not to be deterred, however, from carrying out my 
 plans by the bad language I was compelled to listen to, nor by 
 any other of the disagreeable features of camp life. How 
 well I did play jay part, happily does not depend upon my 
 own testimony alone, for some of the most distinguished 
 officers of the Confederate army, and many equally dis 
 tinguished civilians, can and will testify to the truthfulness 
 of the story I am about to relate, and to the unblemished 
 character I bore while in the Confederate service^ I not 
 only assumed the garment of my sex once more with the 
 credit of having done the state some important services, and 
 of having labored with efficiency, courage, and energy to 
 secure the independence of the Confederacy, but, with my 
 womanly reputation unblemished by even a suspicion of 
 impropriety ; and I take this occasion to say, in a very 
 positive manner, that women, if they will, may pass through 
 the most trying scenes with unblemished reputations, and 
 that they have much more to dread in this particular matter 
 from the scandalous gossip of city, village, and country 
 neighborhoods, than they have from camp associations, with 
 all their license of language and conduct. 
 
FAMILY MATTERS. 39 
 
 THE VELAZQUEZ FAMILY. 
 
 I have every reason to be proud of the name I bear, and 
 of the ancestry from whom I inherited it. My father's 
 family is a very ancient one, and the blood which flows in my 
 veins is that of Castilian nobles, whose deeds are intimately 
 connected with some of the most impressive episodes of 
 Spanish history. Reckless as some portions of my own 
 career may seem to unthinking persons, I have the satisfac 
 tion of knowing, in my own soul, that by no act of mine has 
 the noble name of Velazquez been brought into discredit, 
 and that at all times, and under the most discouraging circum 
 stances, I have ever upheld my own honor and that of my 
 family. 
 
 Both in Spain and in the Spanish dominions on this side 
 of the Atlantic, is the name of Velazquez well known and 
 highly honored. Don Diego Velazquez, the conqueror and 
 the first governor of Cuba, under whose superintendence the 
 expedition which discovered Mexico was sent out, was one 
 of my ancestors, and Don Diego Rodriguez Velazquez, the 
 greatest artist that Spain ever produced, was a member of 
 my family. It will thus be seen that I came of excellent, 
 although somewhat fiery and headstrong stock, and, if in 
 assuming the garments of a man, and endeavoring to do a 
 man's work on the battle-field, I transgressed against the 
 conventionalities of modern society, the reader will, I am sure, 
 charitably attribute some of the blame to the adventuresome 
 blood of old Governor Don Diego, which I inherited, and, 
 which fired my brain and steeled my nerves when there was 
 a prospect held out that, despite the fact of my being a 
 woman, I might be able to enjoy the excitements of the battle 
 field, and win for myself a warrior's fame. 
 
 My father was a native of the city of Carthagena, and he 
 received a very thorough education at the universities of 
 Madrid and Paris. He was an accomplished Latin, French, 
 and German scholar, and spoke all these languages fluently. 
 English he paid but little attention to until alter his marriage 
 with my mother. Like all the members of his family, he was 
 a very strict Catholic. Two of his brothers being in the 
 Spanish army, and his tastes inclining him 'to the life of a 
 civilian, a diplomatic appointment was procured for him, and 
 he went to Paris as an attach^ of the Spanish embassy. 
 
 It was while residing in Paris that my father became 
 
40 COMING INTO THE WORLD. 
 
 acquainted with the lady whom he married, and made the 
 mother of his children. My mother was the daughter of a 
 French naval officer, by an American lady, the daughter of a 
 wealthy merchant. She, of course, spoke English fluently, 
 and tried to instruct my father in it. He managed, in time, 
 to understand it very well, but he never spoke it without 
 some accent. My father's marriage occurred a short time 
 before the expiration of his term of office, and after his 
 recall to Spain he took up his residence in the city of Madrid, 
 where three sons and two daughters were born. 
 
 MY BIRTH. 
 
 In 1840 my father was appointed to an official position in 
 Cuba, and two years later I, his sixth and last child, came 
 into the world in a house on the Calle Velaggas, near the walls 
 in the city of Havana, on the 26th of June, 1842. I was 
 christened Loreta Janets, 
 
 When I was almost one year old, my father fell heir to a 
 large estate in Texas, which was then a part of the republic 
 of Mexico. He accordingly resigned his position as an 
 employee of the Spanish government in Cuba, and in 1844 
 removed with his family to San Luis Potosi, in Central 
 Mexico. His property consisted of a very large tract of 
 land and immense herds of cattle, and as he was a careful 
 and accurate business man, the probabilities are, that in a 
 short time he would have become one of the wealthiest 
 landed proprietors of that region. Unfortunately we had 
 scarcely been settled in our new home a twelvemonth, when 
 the war between Mexico and the United States broke out. I 
 was too young at the time, of course, to recollect anything 
 of this memorable contest, although it had a potent influence 
 on my own destiny* 
 
 THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 My father, so soon as war was declared, decided to take 
 part in the conflict, and offered his services to the Mexican 
 government to assist in expelling the invaders. His offer 
 was accepted, and he received a commission as an officer in 
 the army. Sending his family to the Island of St. Lucia, one 
 of the British West Indian provinces, where my mother's 
 only brother resided, he took the field, and fought until the 
 
EDUCATION. 41 
 
 end of the war against the forces of the United States. 
 During the conflict his estates were devastated and his 
 property destroyed, and this, combined with the non-success 
 of the Mexican arms, greatly imbittered him against the 
 Americans, and this bitterness he retained till the day of 
 his death. 
 
 When the war was ended, and a large portion of the 
 northern part of Mexico ceded to the United States, my 
 father, whose estates were included in this territory, refused 
 to live under a government which he disliked so intensely, 
 and he consequently abandoned his property and we"nt to 
 Santiago de Cuba, where he was rejoined by his family. In 
 the mean time he had fallen heir to another valuable estate 
 at Puerto de Palmas, and settling upon it, he engaged 
 actively in the sugar, tobacco, and coffee trade. The profits 
 on these articles being very large, he speedily acquired 
 great wealth, and was able to surround his family with 
 every luxury. 
 
 While we were residing on the Puerto de Palmas plantation, 
 an English governess was employed to conduct my education. 
 I remained under this good lady's instruction until 1849, 
 learning the elementary branches, and acquiring a fair knowl 
 edge of the English language. In that year my father, at my 
 mother's urgent solicitation, determined to send me to New* 
 Orleans for the purpose of completing my education. I 
 accordingly took up my abode with Madame R., my mother's 
 only surviving sister, who resided in Rue Esplanade, New 
 Orleans. My aunt was rather strict with me, but she took 
 much pains with my education, and for two years I studied 
 under her supervision, mainly devoting myself to acquiring 
 an accurate knowledge of English, so as to be able to read, 
 write, and speak it with fluency. Having become reasonably 
 proficient in such studies as were assigned me by my aunt, 
 I was sent to the school conducted by the Sisters of Charity, 
 to learn the ornamental branches. Here I remained until the 
 romantic clandestine marriage, which did so much towards 
 shaping my future career, took place. 
 
 DREAMS OF GLORY. 
 
 From my earliest recollections my mind has been filled with 
 aspirations, of the most ardent possible kind, to fill some great 
 sphere. I expended all my pocket money, not in candies and 
 
42 MASCULINE ASPIRATIONS. 
 
 cakes, as most girls are in the habit of doing, but in the pur 
 chase of books which related the events of the lives of kings, 
 princes, and soldiers. The story of the siege of Orleans, in 
 particular, I remember, thrilled my young heart, fired my im 
 agination, and sent my blood bounding through my veins with 
 excitement. Joan of Arc became my heroine, and I longed for 
 an opportunity to become such another as she. I built air-cas 
 tles without number, and in my day-dreams I was fond of 
 imagining myself as the hero of most stupendous adventures. 
 I wished that I was a man, such a man as Columbus or Captain 
 Cook, and could discover new worlds, or explore unknown 
 regions of the earth. 1 could not even write a social letter 
 to my father to inform him of the state of my health, or my 
 educational progress, without putting in it some romantic pro 
 ject which I had on hand. This propensity of mine evidently 
 annoyed him greatly, for he frequently reprimanded me with 
 much severity, although he took no measures to remove me 
 from influences which were certainly not unattended with 
 danger to a girl of my impulsive and imaginative disposition ; 
 so that it is no wonder I was soon engaged in a romantic 
 escapade which gave my family great offence and anxiety. 
 
 I was especially haunted with the idea of being a man ; and 
 the more I thought upon the subject, the more I was disposed 
 to murmur at Providence for having created me a woman. 
 While residing with my aunt, it was frequently my habit, after 
 all in the house had retired to bed at night, to dress myself 
 in my cousin's clothes, and to promenade by the hour before 
 the mirror, practising the gait of a man, and admiring the 
 figure I made in masculine raiment. I wished that I could 
 only change places with my brother Josea. If I could have 
 done so I would never have been a doctor, but would have 
 marked out for myself a military career, and have disported 
 myself in the gay uniform of an officer. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 My Betrothal. Love Matches and Marriages of Convenience. Some 
 new Ideas picked up from my Schoolmates. A new Lover appears 
 upon the Field. I Figure as a Rival to a Friend. Love's Young 
 Dream. A new Way of popping the Question. A Clandestine 
 Marriage. Displeasure of my Family. Life as the Wife of an 
 Army Officer. The Mormon Expedition. Birth of my first Child, 
 and Reconciliation with my Family. Commencement of the War 
 between the North and South. Death of my Children. Resignation 
 of my Husband from the Army. My Determination to take Part in the 
 coming Conflict as a Soldier. Opposition of my Husband to my 
 Schemes. 
 
 OME time previous to my admission to the 
 Sisters' school, I was betrothed to a young 
 Spaniard, Raphael R., in accordance with plans 
 which my relatives had formed with regard 
 to me, and without any action on my part. 
 Indeed, my consent was not asked, my parents, 
 thinking that they were much better qualified to 
 arrange a suitable alliance than I was, and that, 
 provided other things were satisfactory, love was 
 something of minor importance, that could very well 
 be left to take care of itself. They were mistaken, 
 however, as other parents have been in similar cases, for, 
 like a good many girls, as soon as I was old enough to do 
 much thinking for myself, I had no difficulty in coming to 
 the conclusion that the choice of a husband was something 
 I ought to have a voice in. 
 
 I had been educated under very old-fashioned ideas with 
 regard to the duties which children owe to their parents, 
 for, among my father's country people, children, even when 
 they have arrived at years of discretion, are supposed to be 
 under the authority of their father and mother, and marriages 
 for love, having their origin in a spontaneous affection of young 
 people for each other, are very rare. It is the custom in Spain, 
 
 43 
 
44 BOARDING-SCHOOL ENLIGHTENMENT. 
 
 and among the Spanish people in America, for the parents to 
 make what they consider suitable matches for their children, 
 and the young peoplfe are expected to accept any arrange 
 ment that may be concluded in their behalf, without mur 
 muring. 
 
 This does not seem to be the proper way of conducting such 
 an important piece of business as marriage, and it is very 
 contrary to the notions which are common in the United 
 States. A good deal, however, could be said in favor of it, 
 and it is certain that quite as large a number of marriages 
 of convenience, such as are usual in Europe, turn out happily 
 as of the love matches which are usual in the United States. 
 The fact is, that the majority of young people really do not 
 know their own minds, and they often fancy themselves in 
 love when they are not. Marriage undeceives them, and 
 then they wish that they had exercised a little more discre 
 tion, and had not been in quite such a hurry. On the other 
 hand, in a marriage of convenience, if the parties are at all 
 suited to each other, and are at all disposed to make the best 
 of the situation, they soon become affectionate, and love after 
 marriage is, perhaps, in reality, the most likely to be enduring. 
 As a general principle, however, there can be no doubt that 
 a couple ought to be fond of each other before marriage, and 
 if a young man and young woman of proper age, and with 
 the means to start housekeeping, fall in love, and want to get 
 married, parents do wrong to oppose them unless there are 
 some very serious reasons for so doing. 
 
 A marriage by parental arrangement was the last thing in 
 the world to suit a scatter-brained, romantic girl like myself, 
 whose head was filled with all sorts of wild notions, and it is 
 not to be wondered at, therefore, that I rebelled. When I 
 was betrothed to Raphael, however, I had not the slightest 
 notion of objecting ; and although I did not feel a particle of 
 affection for him, I accepted him for my future husband, as a 
 matter of course, and received his visits with a proper degree 
 of complacency, if not with any great demonstrations of 
 regard. 
 
 I had not been long in the school, however, when, from my 
 association with American girls, I obtained considerable 
 enlightenment on a good many subjects about which I had 
 previously been profoundly ignorant ; and concerning this 
 matter of marriage, in particular, I learned that it was not 
 considered the correct thing at all for the parents of a young 
 
A TALE OP TRUE LOVE. . 45 
 
 lady to pick out a husband for her. The girls, when they 
 found that I was betrothed without my own consent, were at 
 a great deal of pains to inform me that this was a free 
 country, and that one of the chief blessings of living in a 
 free country was, that a girl could not be compelled to marry 
 any particular man if she did not choose to do so. 
 
 This kind of talk excited me very much, and I began to 
 wish to break my engagement with Raphael, even before a 
 rival stepped in to secure the affections which belonged to 
 him, according to the arrangement my parents had made. I 
 did not see my way very clear, however, and probably would 
 have married him eventually, had not a more acceptable lover 
 put in an appearance. Some of the girls professed to know 
 a good deal, about the law, and insisted that if my parents 
 wished to force me to ma-ny against my own consent, I could 
 defy their authority, and appeal to the courts to allow me to 
 choose a guardian. Such a course as this, however, I knew 
 would sever me from my family ; and as I had the fondest 
 regard for my dear father and mother, I dreaded to find 
 myself cut off, disinherited, and thrown upon the charity of 
 strangers. I consequently took no steps to get rid of 
 Raphael until I chanced to make the acquaintance of a young 
 American army officer who was paying particular attention to 
 one of my schoolmates, Nellie V. 
 
 
 A REAL LOVER. 
 
 Nellie was a beautiful girl, of about sixteen years of age, 
 and a very warm regard subsisted between us up to the time 
 of her discovery that I was endeavoring to capture her lover. 
 Her affection for me did not last long after that, and she said 
 a great many disagreeable things about me, for which I have 
 long since forgiven her, as I doubt not she has me for run 
 ning away with her handsome young officer. 
 
 He was indeed a handsome young officer, and his manly 
 and graceful appearance, especially when attired in his 
 brilliant uniform, made such an impression on my heart, that I 
 soon could think of nothing else. I found now that love was a 
 reality, and my thoughts by day and my dreams by night had 
 no other object than the gentleman who, while paying his 
 assiduous attentions to Nellie, never imagined what ravages 
 he was making in the heart of her schoolmate. I learned 
 to hate Raphael, and his attempts to make himself agreeable 
 
46 LOVE AND JEALOUSY. 
 
 to me only served to increase my dislike. Of Nellie I soon 
 became savagely jealous, and was ready to cry with rage and 
 vexation whenever I saw her lover paying her any delicate 
 attentions. We, however, to all appearances, continued fast 
 friends, and it was not for several months that she discovered 
 I was her rival. The object of my devotion was also pro 
 foundly ignorant of my feelings towards him, and I had not 
 the courage to tell him. At length I became desperate, and 
 determined at the earliest opportunity to acquaint the young 
 officer with the affection I entertained for him. 
 
 A DECLARATION OF LOVE. 
 
 The wished-for opportunity finally offered. One evening 
 Nellie and I agreed to exchange partners, for the purpose of 
 finding out how much they loved us. Raphael did not fancy 
 this manoeuvre a bit, but submitted to it with as good a grace 
 as possible. The officer and myself managed to get out of 
 ear- shot of the other couple, but, now that the opportunity I 
 had sighed for was mine, 1 was afraid to open my mouth on 
 the subject nearest my heart. I trembled all over, but was 
 determined before we separated to let him know the state of 
 my heart. Finding that I had not courage to speak, I wrote 
 a few words in his pocket diary, which told him everything. 
 
 He was intensely surprised ; but he declared, with much 
 warmth, that he had long wished to speak with me on this 
 very matter, and would have done so, were it not that he 
 thought I was betrothed, and that under any circumstances 
 there would be no chance for an American to win my affec 
 tions. My new lover behaved in the most honorable manner, 
 for, as soon as he obtained my consent for him to pay his 
 addresses, he went to my aunt, and asked permission to visit 
 at her house. She granted his request, with the condition 
 that he was to understand that I was betrothed, and would 
 demean himself towards me accordingly. This condition he 
 listened to, but with a determination to pay little heed to it, 
 his main object being accomplished in securing the right to 
 see me without fear of being interfered with. 
 
 When my lover began to appear at my aunt's as a pretty 
 constant visitor, Raphael was quick to suspect him as a rival, 
 who was more highly appreciated than himself, and became 
 furiously jealous. I cannot tell what torture I suffered in 
 endeavoring to be amiable to a man whom I hated, in order 
 
CLANDESTINE MEETINGS. 47 
 
 that I might prevent an explosion which would deprive me 
 of the society of the one I really loved with the most devoted 
 fondness. Finally Raphael, unable to endure the sight of 
 his rival constantly in attendance upon me, and evidently 
 finding extreme favor in my eyes, prevailed upon my aunt to 
 forbid him admittance to the house, on the plea that he was 
 becoming altogether too intimate with the betrothed of 
 another. This gratified Raphael's malignity, and it was a 
 severe blow to both of us. Although we could not meet on 
 the same pleasantly familiar terms as before, we were resolved 
 not to be separated, for we were now too much in love to be 
 willing to give each other up. In spite of my aunt's endeav 
 ors to keep us apart, and in spite of Raphael's jealous vigi 
 lance, William for that was my lover's name found means 
 to carry on a correspondence with me, to meet me at the 
 houses of mutual friends, and to speak to me on the street on 
 my way to and from school. Raphael, who took pains to have 
 us closely watched, informed my aunt of what was going 
 on, and I was accordingly threatened with being locked up in 
 a convent, or with being sent back to Cuba, if I did not 
 conduct myself with more propriety. I was horror-stricken 
 at the idea of either fate, but as I knew my aunt to be a 
 very determined woman, who would certainly carry out her 
 threat if I did not take measures to place it out of her 
 power to do so, I was not long in making up my mind 
 what course to follow, and having fixed upon a plan of action, 
 I only awaited a suitable opportunity to put it into execu 
 tion. 
 
 The opportunity I sighed for was not long in offering itself; 
 for one evening, as I was sitting at my window, in company 
 with a young French Creole girl, I saw William pass and look 
 up. I waved my handkerchief in salutation, and he recog 
 nized the signal by raising his cap. 1 then asked the young 
 lady if she would not do me the favor of taking a letter to 
 him, and of permitting us to have an interview at her home. 
 She readily consented ; and carrying a hastily written note to 
 William, soon returned with an answer, to the effect that he 
 would meet me in an hour's time. My aunt did not permit 
 me to go out alone in the evening; but as she suspected 
 nothing wrong in the proposed visit to my friend's house, she 
 consented, without hesitation, for me to go under the escort 
 of one of the servants. As my escort, of course, on our 
 arrival at the rendezvous, remained with the servants of the 
 
48 A WEDDING. 
 
 i 
 
 house, I was able to converse with William without fear of 
 espial, or of being interrupted. 
 
 A EUNAWAY MATCH. 
 
 My lover informed me that he expected soon to be ordered 
 to one of the frontier posts. He declared that he could not 
 exist without me, and proposed that we should elope, and get 
 married privately. As this was my own plan exactly, I gave 
 my consent, without any hesitation, the moment the proposition 
 was made. On a little reflection, however, my conscience 
 began to trouble me, for I knew that I should not be doing 
 right : so I told him I would prefer that he should make an 
 open and straightforward proposition for my hand to my 
 parents. I considered that it was a duty I owed them to ask 
 their consent first, but promised, if they opposed the marriage, 
 that I would not let their disapprobation interfere with the 
 consummation of our wishes. William himself thought that 
 this was the proper and honorable course to pursue, and he 
 accordingly wrote to my father, and asked his permission to 
 marry me. A reply to his request was not long forthcoming, 
 in which he was reprimanded in very harsh terms for daring 
 to make it, knowing me to be the betrothed of another. This 
 settled the matter ; and accordingly, on the 5th of April, 1856, 
 we were clandestinely married. 
 
 I told no one of the step I had taken, and remained at my 
 aunt's, on the same apparent footing as before, until the 
 following October, meeting William privately, when I could 
 do so without being observed, but taking more pains to 
 prevent our interviews from being noted than I had done 
 previous to our marriage. At length I had a furious quarrel 
 with my aunt on account of Eaphael. She reproached me in 
 severe terms for my conduct towards him ; and I replied by 
 discarding him, and refusing to have anything more to do with 
 him. My aunt was extremely indignant; and finding me. 
 obdurate, threatened to put me in the convent at Baton 
 Rouge. I was terribly frightened at this, and concluded that 
 it was time for me to act with decision. I accordingly 
 informed my husband of the situation, and he came immedi 
 ately and claimed me as his w r ife, presenting the certificate 
 of marriage to my horror-stricken relative. 
 
 This was a terrible blow to my aunt, but a greater one to 
 my parents, especially to my father, who idolized me. My 
 
RECONCILIATION. 49 
 
 father's indignation got the better of his affection, and he 
 promptly informed me that I might consider myself as repudia 
 ted and disinherited. The pangs this cruel message caused 
 me were intense, but I was consoled with the lavish affection 
 bestowed upon me by my handsome young husband, and with 
 the thought that, in course of time, my parents would relent, 
 and be willing to again receive me as their daughter. 
 
 With the exception of my estrangement from my family, 
 there was but one thing that interfered with my happiness. 
 My husband was a Protestant, and desired me to believe as he 
 did. It required a hard struggle for me to forsake the faith 
 in which I had been educated ; but eventually I learned to 
 think as my husband did about religious matters, and be 
 came a member of the Methodist church. 
 
 My separation from my family caused me much grief, but I 
 tried hard not to let my husband see how much I suffered. I 
 entered as far as possible into his thoughts and wishes, and 
 only gratified a natural taste by giving a large portion of my 
 time to the study of military tactics. I longed for a war to 
 break out, and resolved that if one did occur, I would follow 
 my husband to the battle-field, and minister to him, even if I 
 was not allowed to fight by his side. 
 
 THE MORMON EXPEDITION. 
 
 In 1857 there appeared to be a chance that my martial 
 aspiration would be gratified. The government organized an 
 expedition against the Mormons, and my husband was ordered 
 to accompany it. In the mean time, however, I had become a 
 mother ; and much as I desired to accompany the army to 
 Utah, I was forced to acknowledge the impracticability of a 
 journey across the plains with an infant in my arms, and was 
 compelled to submit to remaining behind. 
 
 When my baby came into the world I yearned more than 
 ever to be reconciled with my family, and, with my husband's 
 consent, wrote to my mother and to my favorite brother, who, 
 but a few months before, had graduated with distinction from 
 the College de France. This brother had long since forgiven 
 me, and, in confederation with my mother, had labored to 
 soften the heart of my father towards me. On the receipt 
 of the letter announcing the birth of my child, and my earnest 
 desire to be forgiven for my fault, they worked so successfully 
 on the feelings of my father, that, after a somewhat stubborn 
 4 
 
50 SECESSION TIMES. 
 
 resistance, he yielded, and consented to have my mother and 
 brother visit me in St. Louis. My brother, after becoming 
 acquainted with my husband, esteemed him highly, and finally 
 the bad feeling which had been caused by my clandestine 
 marriage wore away, my father alone treating* me with a 
 coolness which he ha*d never previously shown. When I met 
 him for the first time after my marriage, he turned his cheek 
 to me, saying, " You can never impress a kiss on my lips after 
 a union with my country's enemy," from which I concluded 
 that it was not so much my marriage without his consent, as 
 my alliance with an American soldier that imbittered him. 
 
 After the Mormon expedition had returned, my husband 
 met me at New Orleans, and from thence took me to Fort 
 Leavenworth, then a remote frontier town. The living 
 accommodations at this place were miserable, and the cooking, 
 especially, was atrociously bad. I bore every discomfort, 
 however, without a murmur, out of deference to my husband's 
 feelings, and in every way endeavored to make myself as 
 little of a burden to him as possible. In course of time I 
 became a good American in thought and manner, and despite 
 the inconveniences of life at a frontier post, was as happy as 
 I could wish to be. 
 
 In the spring of 1860 I returned to St. Louis, while my 
 husband went to Fort Arbuckle. During his separation from 
 me, our third babe was born and died. In October of the 
 same year he returned, having received a summons from his 
 father a resident of Texas to the effect that there was 
 reason to believe a war was about to break out between the 
 North and the South, and desiring him to resign. 
 
 About this time my two remaining children died of fever, 
 and my grief at their lo&s probably had a great influence in 
 reviving my old notions about military glory, and of excit 
 ing anew my desires to win fame on the battle-field. I 
 was dreadfully afraid that there would be no war, and my 
 spirits rose and sank as the prospects of a conflict brightened 
 or faded. When my husband's State determined to secede, I 
 brought all my influence to bear to induce him to resign his 
 commission in the United States army, and rny persuasions, 
 added to those of his father, finally, induced him, very 
 reluctantly, to yield. It was a great grief for him to forsake 
 the uniform he had worn so long with honor, and to sever the 
 bonds which existed between him and his comrades. He 
 much doubted, too, the wisdom of the Southern States in 
 
MARTIAL ASPIRATIONS. 51 
 
 taking the action they did, and wished most sincerely that 
 the political difficulties which caused their secession could be 
 settled in some other manner than by an armed conflict. 
 
 As for me, I was perfectly wild on the subject of war ; and 
 although I did not tell my husband so, I was resolved to 
 forsake him if he raised his sword against the South. I felt 
 that now the great opportunity of my life had arrived, and 
 my mind was busy night and day in planning schemes for 
 making my name famous above that of any of the great 
 heroines of history, not even excepting my favorite, Joan of 
 Arc. Having decided to enter the Confederate service as a 
 soldier, I desired, if possible, to obtain my husband's consent, 
 but he would not listen to anything I had to say on the 
 subject ; and all I could do was to wait his departure for the 
 seat of war, in order to put my plans into execution with 
 out his knowledge, as I felt that it would be useless to 
 argue with him, although I was obstinately bent upon realizing 
 the dream of my life, whether he approved of my course 
 or not. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ASSUMING MALE ATTIRE. 
 
 A Wedding Anniversary. Preparing for my Husband's Departure for 
 the Seat of War. My Desire to accompany him. His Arguments 
 to dissuade me. My First Appearance in Public in Male Attire. A 
 Bar-room Scene. Drinking Success to the Confederacy. My First 
 Cigar. A Tour of the Gambling-Houses and Drinking-Saloons. The 
 unpleasant Points of Camp Life set forth in strong Colors. Depar 
 ture of .my Husband. Donning Male Attire. My First Suit of Male 
 Clothing. Description of my Disguise. The Practicability of a Wo 
 man disguising herself effectively. Some of the Features of Army 
 Life. What Men think of Women Soldiers. 
 
 HE fifth anniversary of our wedding 
 was celebrated in a very quiet fash 
 ion at the old Commercial Hotel, 
 Memphis, Tennessee. We passed 
 the day pretty much in our own 
 room, packing trunks and preparing 
 for my husband's departure for 
 Richmond, where he expected to 
 meet some of his old army friends, 
 such as General Robert E. Lee, 
 General Reynolds, Captain Bernard 
 Bee, and Captain Cabell, who had 
 linked their fortunes with those of 
 the South. His hardest struggle 
 had been to throw off the uniform 
 he had so long worn ; but, that deed having once been con 
 summated, it was not difficult for me to persuade him to offer 
 his sword to the South, especially when so many of his old 
 friends of the United States army were arraying themselves in 
 antagonism to the flag under which they had once fought. 
 
 While preparing for his departure, on the anniversary of 
 our wedding, we talked over the whole situation ; and I can 
 not tell how proud and delighted I felt when he attired him 
 self in his elegant new gray uniform. He never looked hand- 
 
 52 
 
AN EXPERIMENT. 53 
 
 somer in his life, and I not only gave full vent to my admira 
 tion, but insisted upon broaching my favorite scheme again. 
 My husband desired me to go to Galveston, and to write 
 to my father to meet me there ; but niy heart was set 
 upon accompanying him to the seat of war, and I would listen 
 to no other arrangement. He used every possible argument 
 to dissuade me from my purpose, representing the difficulties 
 and dangers in the .darkest colors, and contending that it 
 would be impossible for him- to permit his wife to follow an 
 undisciplined army of volunteers. The situation, he told me, 
 was entirely different from anything I had ever been accus 
 tomed to, and that the hordes of rude, coarse men collected 
 together in a camp in an emergency like this, would have but 
 little resemblance to the regular troops in garrison with whom 
 I had been familiar ; and that a delicately nurtured and re 
 fined woman would find camp life, during such a war as that 
 just commencing, simply intolerable. He was not to be per 
 suaded, while I turned a deaf ear to all his remonstrances, 
 and persisted in arguing the point with him to the last. 
 
 FIRST ASSUMPTION OF MALE ATTIRE. 
 
 Finally, my husband, finding that his words made no im 
 pression, thought he would be able to cure me of my erratic 
 fancies by giving me an insight into some of the least pleasing 
 features of masculine life. The night before his departure, 
 therefore, he permitted rne to dress myself in one of his suits, 
 and said he would take me to the bar-rooms and other places 
 of male resort, and show me something of what I would be 
 compelled to go through with if I persisted in unsexing my 
 self. Braiding my hair very close, I put on a man's wig r and! 
 a false mustache, and by tucking my pantaloons in my boots,, 
 as I had seen men do frequently, and otherwise arranging the- 
 garments, which were somewhat large for me, I managed to- 
 transform myself into a very presentable man. As I surveyed! 
 myself in the mirror I was immensely pleased with the figure 
 I cut, and fancied that I made quite as good looking a man as 
 my husband. My toilet once completed, it was not long be 
 fore we were in the street, I doing my best to walk with a 
 masculine gait, and to behave as if I had been accustomed to 
 wear pantaloons all my life. I confess, that when it actually 
 came to the point of appearing in public in this sort of attire,, 
 my heart began to fail me a little ; but I was bent on going 
 
54 BAR-ROOM BELLIGERENCY. 
 
 through with the thing, and so, plucking up courage, I strode 
 along by the side of my husband with as unconcerned an air 
 as it was possible for me to put on. 
 
 Presently we crpssed over to a bar-room, which we found 
 nearly filled with men smoking and drinking, and doing some 
 pretty tali talking about the war, and the style in which the 
 Yankees were going to be wiped out. To judge by the con 
 versation, every man present was full of fight, and was burn 
 ing with a furious desire to meet the enemy. I was too 
 frightened and bewildered by the novelty of my situtation to 
 pay very close attention to all I saw and heard, but it flashed 
 upon me that some of these loud- talking, hard-drinking, and 
 blaspheming patriots were not so valiant, after all, as they 
 professed to be. My after experiences fully confirmed my 
 first impressions, that the biggest talkers are not always the 
 best fighters, and that a good many men will say things over 
 a glass of whiskey in a bar-room, who won't do a tenth part 
 of what they say if they are once placed within smelling dis 
 tance of gunpowder. 
 
 I had scarcely time to take a good look at the room and its 
 occupants, when my husband caught sight of a couple of men 
 who had belonged to his regiment, and who were very partic 
 ular friends of mine. I was dreadfully afraid they would 
 recognize me, but there was no escaping from them, as they 
 came up so soon as they saw us, and I was introduced as a 
 young fellow who was on a visit to Memphis to see the sights 
 and to pick up war news. 
 
 TREATING. 
 
 My husband treated, he and his two comrades taking some 
 thing strong, while I, in accordance with the* instructions 
 given me before starting out, called for a glass of cider, only 
 a part of which I imbibed. After a little conversation, my 
 husband whispered to me to call for the next treat. I was 
 getting to be somewhat disgusted with the whole business, 
 but was bound not to break down ; so, stepping up to the bar, 
 I invited the party, with as masculine a manner as I could put 
 on, to drink with me. This time I took a glass of sarsaparilla, 
 and when all had their drinks poured out, raising my tumbler, 
 -I cried out, " Gentlemen, here's to the success of our young 
 .Confederacy." 
 
 As I said this, my heart was almost ready to jump out of 
 
WHAT MEN ARE LIKE. 55 
 
 my throat. The men, however, gave a rousing cheer, and 
 one of them yelled out, " We drink that toast every time, 
 young fellow.'' . 
 
 He then put his hand into his pocket, as if about to get his 
 money to pay for the drinks, but I prevented him, saying, 
 " Excuse me, sir, this is my treat," and laid a twenty dollar 
 gold piece on the counter. Each of us then took a cigar, I 
 watching to see how they managed theirs before daring to 
 put mine in my mouth. After I had gotten a light, I was not 
 able to take more than three or four whiffs, for my head began 
 to swim, and I knew if I kept on I should soon be 'deathly 
 sick. As it was, I did not feel at all comfortable, but 
 thought I could bear up, and said nothing for fear of being 
 laughed at. 
 
 I was very glad to get out of the bar-room, and into the 
 fresh air again ; so, bidding our friends good night, Ave started 
 off, I throwing my cigar away at the first opportunity I had 
 of doing so without being observed. Eager to hear my hus 
 band's opinion, I asked him if he did not think I played my 
 part pretty well. He replied, " O, yes ; " but I could see that 
 he was very much dissatisfied with the whole performance. 
 Before returning to the hotel we made a general tour of the 
 city, visiting all the principal gambling-houses and saloons, 
 my husband evidently hoping I should be so shocked with 
 what I saw and heard that I should be ready to give up my 
 wild scheme without farther talk about it. 
 
 When we were once more in our room he locked the door, 
 and, throwing himself on the lounge, said, " Well, don't you 
 feel pretty much disgusted ? " 
 
 To please him I said, " Yes ; " adding, however, " but then I 
 can stand anything to be with you, and to serve the sunny 
 South." 
 
 " Now, Loreta," said he, " I have done this to-night for the 
 purpose of showing you what men are like, and how they be 
 have themselves when they are out of the sight and hearing 
 of decent women, whom they are forced to respect. What 
 you have seen and heard, however, is nothing to what you 
 will be compelled to see and hear in camp, where men are 
 entirely deprived of female society, and are under the most 
 demoralizing influences. The language that will constantly 
 greet your ears, and the sights that will meet your eye in 
 camp, where thousands of men are congregated, are simply 
 indescribable ; and it is out of all reason that you should even 
 
56 FAREWELL KISSES. 
 
 think of associating in the manner you propose with soldiers 
 engaged in warfare." 
 
 This, with a good deal of the same kind of talk, convinced 
 me that he would never give his consent to my project ; so I 
 pretended to be satisfied with his arguments, but was, never 
 theless, resolved more firmly than ever, so soon as he took 
 his departure, to put my plans into execution. I waited im 
 patiently for him to leave, intending to give him a genuine 
 surprise when next we met, and to show him that his wife 
 was as good a soldier as he, and was bent upon doing as much 
 or more for the cause which both had at heart. For the pres 
 ent, however, I said nothing concerning my intentions. 
 
 MY HUSBAND'S DEPARTURE. 
 
 On the 8th of April my husband started for Richmond, ap 
 parently under the impression that, as I had said nothing for 
 several days about accompanying him, I had abandoned all 
 notion of doing so. He ought to have known me better, and 
 to have been assured that a woman of my obstinate temper 
 was not to be prevented by mere argument from carrying out 
 a pet scheme which promised such glorious results as the one 
 we had been discussing. 
 
 My husband's farewell kisses were scarcely dry upon my 
 lips, when I made haste to attire myself in one of his suits, and 
 to otherwise disguise myself as a man, as well as was practi 
 cable with such material as I had at hand. The first thing to 
 be done before I made any attempt to play a masculine role 
 at all prominently in public was, of course, to get some 
 properly fitting clothing. Exactly how to accomplish this 
 without being discovered, or at least suspected, was the great 
 problem now before me. Everything depended, I well-knew, 
 upon starting right ; and the slightest suspicion at this time, 
 in the mind of any one who happened to see or speak to me, 
 might, and probably would, interfere materially with the suc 
 cess of my operations in the future. I had, however, some 
 time before taken notice of a small tailor's shop on a retired 
 street not very far from the hotel, the presiding genius of 
 which was a not very brilliant-looking German, and I thought 
 perhaps I might run the gantlet of his scrutiny without- 
 much fear of detection, especially as I proposed to leave 
 Memphis at as early a day as possible after obtaining my male 
 raiment. 
 

 A VISIT TO A TAILOR. 57 
 
 I accordingly went to this German tailor, and ordered two 
 uniform suits, for which I agreed to pay him eighty-five dollars 
 each. As he took my measure he eyed me pretty close, and 
 seemed to imagine that something was not quite right. I was 
 dreadfully afraid he would discover me to be a woman, but 
 resolved, if he did, that I would endeavor to silence him with 
 a handsome bribe for a few days, until he got my suits done 
 and I could leave the city, trusting to be able to disguise my 
 self thereafter so effectually that he would not recognize me 
 again, even if he saw me. 
 
 " Ah," said the tailor, looking at me rather sharply, " what 
 you want to go to war for ? You is too young for the fightin' j 
 isn't you ? What your mammy say to that, eh ? " 
 
 I replied, with as careless an air as I could possibly assume, 
 that I was twenty-two years of age, and was a graduate of 
 West Point, following up this information with other fictitious 
 statements which it somewhat staggered me to utter, and 
 which, if he had been a trifle sharper, he would have had some 
 difficulty in crediting. 
 
 He, however, was satisfied, or appeared to be, and promised 
 to have the clothing ready in two days. I was afraid to tell 
 him to pad the coat all around in such a manner as to conceal 
 my feminine shape ; this I was compelled to do myself after I 
 got possession of the clothing. With a little alteration, how 
 ever, the coats and pantaloons made by the German tailor at 
 Memphis answered my immediate purpose, and enabled me to 
 get under way with my grand scheme, but my disguise was 
 really not perfected until I reached New Orleans, and was able 
 to command facilities greater than Memphis afforded. 
 
 MY DISGUISE. 
 
 As this seems to be a very proper point in my narrative for 
 a description of the means adopted for the concealment of my 
 sex, while I was doing duty in the Confederate army as an 
 officer, I will gratify the curiosity of the reader in that matter 
 before proceeding any farther with the story of my adven 
 tures. 
 
 My coats were heavily padded in the back and under the 
 arms to the hips, until I reached New Orleans. This served 
 to disguise my shape ; but the padding was very uncomforta 
 ble, and I soon made up my mind that it would never do for a 
 permanent arrangement. So soon as I got to New Orleans, I 
 
58 HOW THE DISGUISE WAS ARRANGED. 
 
 went to an old French array tailor in Barrack Street, who I 
 knew was very skilful, and who understood how to mind his 
 own business by not bothering himself too much about other 
 people's affairs, and had him make for me half a dozen fine 
 wire net shields. These I wore next to my skin, and they 
 proved very satisfactory in concealing my true form, and in 
 giving me something of the shape of a man, while they were 
 by no means uncomfortable. Over the shields I w.ore an under 
 shirt of silk or lisle thread, which fitted close, and which was 
 held in place by straps across the chest and shoulders, similar to 
 the shoulder-braces sometimes worn by men. A great many 
 officers in the Confederate army have seen the impressions of 
 these straps through my shirt when I have had my coat off, 
 and have supposed them to be shoulder-braces. These under 
 shirts could be rolled up into the small compass of a collar- 
 box. Around the waist of each of the undershirts was a 
 band, with eyelet-holes arranged for the purpose of making 
 the waistbands of my pantaloons stand out to the proper num 
 ber of inches. A woman's waist, as a general thing, is ta 
 pering, and her hips very large in comparison with those of a 
 man, so that if I had undertaken to wear pantaloons without 
 some such contrivance, they would have drawn in at the waist 
 and revealed my true form. With such underwear as I used, 
 any woman who can disguise her features can readily pass for 
 a man, and deceive the closest observers. So many men have 
 weak and feminine voices that, provided the clothing is prop 
 erly constructed and put on right, and the disguise in other 
 respects is well arranged, a woman with even a very high- 
 pitched voice need have very little to fear on that score. One 
 of the princpal causes of my detection, after having success 
 fully passed myself off as a man to thousands of keen-eyed 
 observers, under circumstances where everything was against 
 the concealment of my sex, was, that my apparatus got out of 
 order, so that I was forced to dispense with it. I was to blame, 
 too, for permitting myself to grow careless, and not always 
 being on my guard. 
 
 There were several points about my disguise which were 
 strictly my own invention, and which, for certain good and 
 sufficient reasons, I do not care to give to the public. These 
 added greatly to its efficiency. Indeed, after I had once be 
 come accustomed to male attire, and to appearing before any 
 body and everybody in it, I lost all fear of being found out, 
 and learned to act, talk, and almost to think as a man. Many 
 
 fib 
 
A WARNING TO WEAK WOMEN. 59 
 
 a time, when in camp, I have gone to sleep when from fifty to 
 sixty officers have been lying close together wrapped in their 
 blankets, and have had no more fear of detection than I had 
 of drinking a glass of water. 
 
 CAMP LIFE. 
 
 The style of conversation that was common in camp, and the 
 kind of stories told around our fires at night, I will leave to 
 the reader's imagination, hoping, however, that he or she has 
 not imagination enough to compass anything so utterly vile. 
 My favorite amusement was a game of cards, and I preferred 
 this way of entertaining myself, and of beguiling the weary 
 hours, to listening to anecdotes which could only debase my 
 mind. Anything relating to military affairs, to social science, 
 to the deeds of great men or women, or whatever else I could 
 improve myself by listening to, I took great delight in. From 
 my earliest recollection, however, I have had a thorough dis 
 taste for vulgarity of language and profanity, and my camp 
 experiences only tended to increase my disgust at the black 
 guardism which many men are so fond of indulging in. The 
 manner in which too many men are in the habit of 'referring 
 to the other sex in .conversation among themselves is, in my 
 opinion, thoroughly despicable ; and I really think that it 
 would be morally and intellectually beneficial to many of my 
 sex, especially those who are the victims of masculine vicious- 
 ness, if they could only listen to some such conversations as I 
 have been compelled to listen to, and learn how little respect 
 or real regard of any kind men have for them. 
 
 I would that God would put it into my power to utter such 
 a warning as would be heeded, to the weak and erring of my 
 sex, and which would enable them to- fortify themselves against 
 the temptations constantly assailing them. But I suppose no 
 warning would prevent those who are disposed to sin from 
 doing so,'although I well know that women, and men too, can 
 resist temptation, and can avoid vileness in living and in lan 
 guage if they will only choose to do so. I do not pretend to 
 say that I am possessed of firmer nerves, or am less under the 
 influence of the natural emotions of my sex, than many others ; 
 but my strong constitution, and the perfect health I enjoyed, 
 enabled me to endure more fatigue and hardship than most 
 women, while my firm-mindedness, and resolute determination 
 to carry my point, enabled me to avoid anything like laxity 
 
60 A QUESTION OF PROPRIETY. 
 
 of conduct. I was compelled to sink my sex entirely, for the 
 least inadvertence would have thwarted my plans, and pre 
 vented the realization of all I aimed at. 
 
 Many end many a time has the subject of women serving in 
 the army \ soldiers been discussed at the mess-tables and 
 around the camp-fires ; and officers, who have been in my 
 company for days, and weeks, and months, have boasted, with 
 very masculine positiveness, that no woman could deceive 
 them, little suspecting that one was even then listening to 
 them. I have sometimes been asked my opinion on the sub 
 ject ; but have generally answered evasively, without express 
 ing, in very decided terms, my ideas one way or the other. 
 Some of the men with whom I have been associated have 
 spoken in respectful and even commendatory terms concerning 
 women serving as soldiers ; but too many have had nothing 
 but vileness to utter on the subject. I can never forget, al 
 though I may forgive, the disgraceful language which some 
 of these individuals have used with regard to this matter ; 
 and my experiences in the army will not have been in vain, 
 even if they have taught me nothing more .than the utter con- 
 temptibleness of some individuals, whom it would be a stretch 
 of courtesy to call gentlemen. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DISGUISED AS A CONFEDERATE OFFICER. 
 
 Preparing a military Outfit. Consultations with a Friend. Argument 
 against my proposed Plan of Action. Assuming the Uniform of a 
 Confederate Officer. A Scene in a Barber's Shop. How young Men 
 try to make their Beards grow. Taking a social Drink. A Game 
 of Billiards. In a Faro Bank. Some War Talk. Drinks all 
 around. The End of an exciting Day. Making up a Complexion. 
 A false Mustache. Final Preparations. Letters from Husband and 
 Father. Ready to start for the Seat of War. 
 
 ITHIN three days I managed to 
 provide myself with a very complete 
 military outfit; quite sufficient to 
 enable me to commence operations 
 without delay, which was the main 
 J 5 thing I was after, for I was exceed- 
 ~g ingly anxious to carry out a magnifi 
 cent idea I had in my mind, and to 
 present myself before my husband, 
 under such auspices that he could 
 no longer find an excuse for refusing 
 his consent to my joining the South 
 ern army as a soldier. My uniform 
 suit having been arranged for, it 
 was an easy matter for me to procure the rest of my outfit 
 without unduly attracting attention, and I soon had in my 
 room a trunk well packed with the wearing apparel of an 
 army officer, and neatly marked upon the outside with the 
 name I had concluded to adopt. 
 
 LIEUTENANT H. T. BUFORD, C. S. A. 
 
 When I saw the trunk with this name upon it as large as 
 life, my heart fairly jumped for joy, and I felt as if the dream 
 of my life were already more than half realized. There was 
 a good deal, however, to be done before I could move any 
 
 61 
 
62 MAKING A START. 
 
 farther in this momentous affair, and while waiting for the 
 tailor to send my uniform suit, I thought and planned until 
 my head fairly arched. At length I hit upon a method of 
 arranging my financial matters which I judged would prove 
 satisfactory, and concluded to call in a gentleman who was a 
 very old and intimate friend of both my husband and myself, 
 and demand his assistance. 
 
 A FEIEND IN NEED. 
 
 This friend, in whom I knew full reliance could be placed, 
 came to my room immediately upon my summons, and having 
 first sworn him to secrecy, I made a full revelation with regard 
 to what I proposed to do. He turned deadly pale when I 
 informed him of my intention to disguise myself as a man, and 
 to enter the army on exactly the same footing as other 
 combatants ; but, having recovered from his first astonishment 
 and dismay, he tried to treat the whole matter as a jest, and 
 evidently believed that I was either a little demented, or was 
 indulging in an absurd bit of pleasantry. He was convinced, 
 however, that I really meant business, when he saw the trunk 
 with my military pseudonyme upon it, the male garments which 
 the tailor had just sent home, and the accoutrements I had 
 purchased within the past two or three days. 
 
 As I had anticipated, he thought it his duty to endeavor to 
 persuade me to abandon my wild ideas, as he called them. 
 He went over all the arguments my husband had used, adding 
 a great many of his own, and painted military associations in 
 the blackest and most repulsive colors. He might as well 
 have talked to the wind, for my heart was fixed on achieving 
 fame, and of accomplishing even more than the great heroines 
 of history had been able to do. I turned a deaf ear to all 
 his remonstrances, and the only answer I gave to his pleadings 
 that I would abandon the thought of unsexing myself, was to 
 insist upon his aid. This he finally promised to give, although 
 most reluctantly, when he found that nothing he could say 
 would move me from my purpose. 
 
 My friend suggested that the first thing to be done was, 
 for me to leave the hotel ; so, sending for a man, he had my 
 trunk and military equipments carried to the house in which 
 he occupied apartments. My other baggage was prepared 
 for removal, and was taken away to be stored in a place of 
 safety until I should need it again, which I hoped would not 
 
A TRANSFORMATION. 63 
 
 be very soon. After paying my bill, and giving the proprietor 
 to understand that I was about to leave the city, my friend 
 managed to get me into my new quarters without my being 
 observed by any one. Telling me that he would take care 
 to prevent any interruption while I was making my toilet, he 
 retired and left me to myself. 
 
 I immediately proceeded to change my garments, and ere 
 a great many minutes had elapsed, I was transformed into a 
 man, so far as it was possible for clothing to transform me. 
 When I was ready I called my friend, and asked his opinion 
 of the figure I cut. He admitted that I was not a bad 
 looking specimen of a man, considering I had only been 
 about five minutes, and thought that in time I should be 
 able to do credit to the name I bore and the clothes I wore. 
 
 The only regret I had in making up my disguise, was the 
 necessity for parting with my long and luxuriant hair. This 
 gave me a real pang ; but there was no help for it, and I 
 submitted with as good a grace as I could muster, while my 
 friend played the part of tonsorial artist with a pair of shears. 
 He trimmed my hair tolerably close, and said that it would 
 answer until 1 could visit a barber's shop with him, and be 
 initiated into some of the mysteries of such a peculiarly 
 masculine place of resort. Before going to the barber r s, 
 however, he made me promenade the room, practising a 
 masculine gait, until I had acquired it tolerably well, and 
 gave me a great number of very minute instructions about 
 the proper manner of conducting myself so that my sex 
 would not be suspected. He particularly enjoined me to 
 watch his actions closely at the barber's, in the drinking 
 saloons, the billiard rooms, and the other places he intended 
 conducting me to, for the purpose of informing me with 
 regard to some masculine habits and ways of acting, talking, 
 and thinking. 
 
 AT THE BARBER'S. 
 
 A carriage having been sent for, we were driven to the 
 shop of an old Virginian negro barber, whom my friend was 
 accustomed to patronize. Entering first, he took off his 
 hat and coat, and hung them up, and throwing himself into 
 one of the barber's chairs, asked to have his hair trimmed and 
 his face shaved. I followed his movements as closely as I 
 was able, and was soon in my shirt sleeves and in possession 
 of another chair, with an obsequious colored individual stand- 
 
64 
 
 ing over me, vigorously mixing lather in a cup ; which he 
 evidently intended to apply to my face, notwithstanding that 
 I had not the least sign of a beard. I was very much amused, 
 but also a trifle frightened at this manoeuvre, for I really did 
 not want to have my face scraped with a razor, and yet 
 scarcely knew whether it would be the correct thing to decline 
 going through the performance. My friend saw the dilemma 
 I was in, and came to the rescue, by informing the barber that 
 his young friend only wanted to have his hair trimmed in" the 
 latest style. The negro took the hint, but grinned a little as 
 he put away the shaving apparatus, at which I was almost 
 inclined to believe that he had suspicions with regard to me. 
 
 I was somewhat reassured, however, and at the same time 
 gained a bit of information with regard to certain masculine 
 traits, when, as he commenced to trim my hair, he said, 
 " De young gemmen in de military always likes to be shaved, 
 sah, even if dey hasn't any beard. Dey tinks dat it helps to 
 make de beard grow, sah ; " and Jhen he laughed heartily, as 
 if he thought he was getting off a first-rate joke at the 
 expense of a large and important class of his customers. 
 For my own part I appreciated the joke immensely, in spite 
 of the embarrassment under which I labored, and assured my 
 colored friend that I had no disposition to force my beard, 
 but thought that it would come of itself in course of time 
 without assistance. The barber took this view of the case 
 himself, and intimated confidentially that in his opinion a good 
 many young fellows in their haste to get beards before nature 
 intended that they should have any, not only give themselves 
 considerable unnecessary pain by hacking their chins with 
 awkwardly handled razors, but interfered materially with the 
 proper and graceful growth of the hirsute adornment when it 
 did begin to make its appearance. 
 
 I was entertained, and not a little edified, by the talk with 
 which the barber regaled me while he was cutting my hair ; 
 and, as it was evident from his manner that he took me for a 
 young man, I was greatly reassured with regard to the 
 success of my disguise, and left the shop with an increased 
 confidence in my ability to play the part I had assumed. I 
 was the more encouraged as my friend, when we were once 
 more in the street, told me that I had conducted myself first 
 rate, although he warned me that he was about to take me to 
 a number of places with which I would not be so well pleased 
 as I had been with the barber's shop, and in which I would be 
 
MASCULINE AMUSEMENTS. 65 
 
 compelled to be constantly on my guard. He advised me to 
 watch closely what he did, to treat to drinks or cigars after 
 him, but not to take part in any games. 
 
 Strolling down the street, we soon came to the hotel, and 
 entered the bar-room, where my companion met a number of 
 friends, to whom he introduced me as a young officer on his 
 way to the seat of war. I was received with much cordiality, 
 and the whole party speedily engaged in an animated con 
 versation about the coming conflict. I said as little as possi 
 ble, but tried to take part in the discussion, when I was 
 compelled to speak, in as easy and natural a manner as I 
 could without unduly obtruding myself. Of course, as soon 
 as the first introductions were over, somebody suggested 
 drinks. The men all took whiskey straight ; but I did not 
 venture on anything stronger than cider. Soon my companion 
 managed to give me a quiet hint, and I treated the party to 
 drinks and cigars. We then adjourned to the billiard-room, 
 and my friend, taking off his coat, went at a game in good 
 earnest with another member of the party. I had never 
 seen the game of billiards played before, and I soon became 
 intensely interested in watching, from a chair in which I sat 
 in my shirt sleeves, pretending to smoke my cigar, the balls 
 rolling over the table. As the weather was warm, I very soon, 
 after entering the billiard-room, availed myself of what seemed 
 to be the custom of the place, to take off my heavily padded 
 coat, which began to be unbearable, and found myself much 
 more at my ease sitting in my shirt sleeves. 
 
 A VISIT TO A FARO BANK. 
 
 The players kept pushing the balls about, until nearly one 
 o'clock in the morning, I sitting all the time watching them 
 intently, and endeavoring to obtain some idea of the game. 
 When one o'clock struck, my friend proposed that we should 
 go to a faro bank j and although I was both sleepy and tired, 
 for it was long after my usual hour for retiring, and I 
 was pretty well used up with the excitement of the day, I 
 felt bound to do whatever my instructor in masculine manners 
 desired me. I knew what the game of faro was, for my 
 father's country people are all extravagantly fond of sports 
 of every kind, while in the army, especially upon lonely 
 frontier stations, a game of cards is frequently the only 
 diversion that officers have. Both before and after my 
 5 
 
66 THE GAME OF FARO. 
 
 marriage, therefore, I had been accustomed to card-playing, 
 and was familiar with all the principal games, although there 
 were some, like faro, used only for gambling purposes, which I 
 had never seen played in a regular manner. 
 
 Before entering the faro bank, my companion cautioned me 
 not, under any circumstances, at the present or any future 
 time, to take part in games like faro, or to drink any strong 
 liquor. Card-playing for money, he said, I could avoid with 
 tolerable ease, but I would frequently be so situated that I 
 would be compelled to drink, and that I had better at once 
 establish a reputation for temperance, and only take something 
 that could not possibly intoxicate. If it was once understood 
 that I never touched whiskey, brandy, or even wine, I could 
 manage to get along very well, even with hard drinkers, and 
 would very seldom be troubled by being forced to imbibe 
 when I did not wish to do so, while all sensible people would 
 respect me. My friend liked very well to take something 
 stronger than water himself, but he felt that what would do 
 for him would not do for me, and that even a very slight 
 indiscretion with regard to such a matter as this might get 
 me into serious trouble and thwart all my plans. His present 
 object was simply to show me some points of masculine life, 
 which it was important I should be acquainted with in order 
 that I might play my part with entire success ; for, having 
 failed to dissuade me from my grand scheme, he was 
 exceedingly solicitous that I should acquit myself with 
 credit, and get through without tarnishing my fair fame. 
 
 The faro bank was crowded with men, some deeply interest 
 ed in the play, others looking on, and others standing about 
 talking and drinking. The majority of the men in the room 
 were civilians ; but not a few officers, in their brilliant uniforms, 
 were present, and the war seemed to be the one topic of con 
 versation. My friend immediately recognized a number of 
 acquaintances, to whom he introduced me. Among others 
 was a major, who, I thought, eyed me pretty close, but who did 
 not address me particularly, except to exchange the ordinary 
 civilities. This officer, after we had been conversing a few 
 moments, proposed that we should take a drink, and the 
 whole party went up to the bar. All but myself called for 
 brandy ; I took cider. Whereupon the major said, with 
 a smile, " Lieutenant, you don't appear to be a heavy 
 drinker?" 
 
 " No," replied my friend for me, " he is quite temperate ; 
 
GREAT EXPECTATIONS. 67 
 
 and it's just as good for him. If he don't begin to drink 
 strong stuff, he'll never want to." 
 
 " That's so," said the major ; " hard drinking is a bad habit, 
 and I wish sometimes I hadn't acquired it ; but when a 
 fellow 's in camp, and cut off from civilization, he is apt to take 
 more than is good for him ; and when he once gets a start in 
 that way, it is hard to stop." Then turning to me, he said, 
 " What part of the country do you come from ? " 
 
 " He has just returned from the North," put in my friend. 
 
 " Ah, indeed ! " said the major. " To what command are 
 you attached, sir ? " 
 
 " To none, as yet," I replied. 
 
 Said my friend, " He is a West-Pointer, and has made up 
 his mind to do some fighting for the South." 
 
 " The devil he is ! " remarked the major, shaking me heartily 
 by the hand ; " I am glad to find him on the right side. This 
 is the kind of fellow we want, and, with a few more of 
 the same sort, we will whip the Yankees inside of ninety 
 days." 
 
 SOME WAR TALK. 
 
 In a few moments a dozen or more men were gathered 
 around, eagerly shaking my hand and plying me with all 
 kinds of questions. They made such a decided demonstra 
 tion, that I began to be a little frightened, but stood my 
 ground valiantly, and replied to their queries the best I was 
 able. 
 
 Said one, " What do the Yankees think of us people down 
 South ? " 
 
 " Why," replied I, '< most persons say that there will be no 
 fighting, and I do not think they want to fight if they can 
 help it." 
 
 " We'll show them about the fighting," said another. 
 
 " Yes, lieutenant," said a third, " one Southerner can whip 
 any ten they send down here, and will do it in thirty days at 
 the farthest." 
 
 The major now asked, " What do you think about foreign 
 
 tervention ? " 
 
 This was something I had never given even a thought to ; 
 but I answered very boldly, and in a style that I thought 
 would be appreciated by my auditors, " We don't want any 
 
68 A FALSE MUSTACHE. 
 
 foreign help in a war like this. I reckon we can manage to 
 do our own fighting." 
 
 " That's the kind of talk," cried the major. 
 
 There was considerable more conversation of this kind, 
 during which the drinking went on pretty freely, I treating 
 the same as the rest, but being careful not to take anything 
 that would upset me. I informed them that it was my inten 
 tion to recruit and equip a company at my own expense in 
 Rackensack, on the Mississippi, among the country people, 
 and that I had eighty-eight thousand dollars with which to 
 see myself through. This made a great impression, and the 
 major remarked, " You are going to just the right place. The 
 boys down there are first-rate marksmen, and you won't have 
 any trouble in getting as many of them as you want." 
 
 The major by this time was pretty full, and he proposed to 
 show me the sights, if I would make a night of it with him. 
 I thanked him, but said that as it was very late, and I was 
 tired from travelling, I would like to retire. My friend 
 seconded my efforts to get away ; which we did finally, after 
 some further argument with my new acquaintances, the major 
 especially showing a disposition to insist upon my going with 
 him to see what he called the sights. Finally we reached the 
 house, where my friend put me into his room, while he went 
 and took possession of another apartment occupied by a friend. 
 It was after four o'clock when I went to sleep, pretty well 
 used up with the excitement and unusual exertion which my 
 masculine debut had caused me. 
 
 The next day I completed my outfit by purchasing a pair 
 of field-glasses, a pair of blankets, a rubber overcoat, and a 
 rubber blanket. On returning to my room I made out a 
 form of attorney in my friend's name, and authorized him to 
 attend to all my business matters for me. I also prepared a 
 lot of recruiting papers on the model of some genuine ones 
 I succeeded in getting hold of, and some muster rolls, and 
 procured a manual of tactics, and before the day was over, 
 was pretty nearly ready to commence active operations. 
 
 My friend, thinking that my disguise could be somewhat 
 improved, and a more manly air given to my countenance, 
 obtained a false mustache, and a solution with which to stain 
 my face, in order to make it look tanned. I rubbed on the 
 solution until my skin was about the right tint, and then my 
 friend carefully fastened the mustache on my upper lip with 
 glue. This was a very great improvement, and I scarcely 
 
BEADY TO START. 69 
 
 knew myself when I looked in the glass, and laughed at the 
 thought of what my husband would say when he saw me in 
 this disguise. 
 
 During the day I received two letters ; one from my father, 
 informing me that he was about to return to Cuba, which 
 relieved my "anxiety lest he should come after me, and the 
 other dated Yicksburg, from my husband. In my reply to 
 the latter, I stated that I was going to Texas, for the purpose 
 of accompanying my father to Cuba. This I thought would 
 prevent my husband from being apprehensive with regard to 
 me, and enable me to get matters under good headway before 
 he could interfere, for I was extremely anxious to give him a 
 first-rate surprise. 
 
 Everything was now in proper trim for me to commence 
 operations in earnest; so, packing my trunk, rolling up my 
 blankets in army style, as I had often seen soldiers do, 
 preparing my papers, and getting ready a change of under 
 wear, and other matters for immediate use in a small satchel, 
 I was ready to start on my campaign with as stout a heart as 
 ever beat in the breast of a soldier. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 RECRUITING.- 
 
 My Plan of Action. On the War Path. In Search of Recruits in Ar 
 kansas. The Giles Homestead. Sensation caused by a Soldier's 
 Uniform. A prospective Recruit. Bashful Maidens. A nice little 
 Flirtation. Learning how to be agreeable to the Ladies. A Lesson 
 in masculine Manners. A terrible Situation. Causeless Alarm. 
 The young Lady becoming sociable. A few matrimonal Hints. The 
 successful Commencement of a Soldier's Career. Anticipations of fu 
 ture Glory. Dreamless Slumbers. 
 
 i 
 
 HE plan of action I had fixed upon, 
 after mature reflection, was to raise 
 and equip a battalion at my own ex 
 pense, taking care to select good 
 material for it, and then to appear at 
 the head of my little army before my 
 husband, and to offer him the com 
 mand. I pictured to myself again 
 and again the look of astonishment 
 he would put on when he recognized 
 his wife as the leader of a gallant 
 band who were pledged to fight to 
 the death for the cause of Southern 
 independence, and flattered myself 
 with the idea that, so far from being 
 inclined to censure me for my obstinate persistence in carrying 
 out my idea of becoming a soldier, he would be disposed to 
 praise without reservation, and so far from being ashamed of 
 my action, would be proud of it. Whatever view of the mat 
 ter he might take, however, he would be compelled to yield 
 to my wishes, whether he desired to do so or not, and I would 
 consequently be free to follow the bent of my inclinations 
 without fear of further opposition on his part. My desire 
 was to serve with him, if possible ; but if this could not be 
 done. I intended to play my part in the war in my own way, 
 
 70 
 
A GOOD PLACE TO COMMENCE RECRUITING. 71 
 
 without his assistance. I, however, did not contemplate any 
 further difficulty in obtaining his consent, and even his assist 
 ance, in the execution of my plans, and so started out on the 
 war-path with a light heart, and with brilliant anticipations 
 for the future. 
 
 With my satchel, containing a change of under- clothing and 
 a few other traps, in my hand, I crossed over to Hopefield, on 
 the Arkansas side of the river, and took the five o'clock train, 
 not knowing exactly where I proposed to bring up. For a 
 time I busied myself with the study of my Manual of Tac 
 tics, with the intention of becoming sufficiently posted on 
 certain points to get my recruits into something like military 
 training immediately. Having been the wife of an army of 
 ficer for a number of years, and having seen some hard ser 
 vice on the frontier, I was, in a measure, pretty well qualified 
 for the work I had now undertaken, especially as I had paid a 
 good deal of attention to the details of military organizations, 
 and had seen soldiers drilled hundreds of times. I had not been 
 in the train very long, before, finding the conductor at leisure, 
 I entered into conversation with him, with a view of obtaining 
 information that might be useful in the furtherance of my 
 designs. 
 
 Explaining to this individual, who appeared to take the live 
 liest interest in my affairs, that I was on a recruiting expedi 
 tion, I asked him if he could not suggest a good neighborhood 
 for me to commence operations in. He said that Hurlburt 
 Station was as likely a place as I could find to pick up a com 
 pany of strong, hearty fellows, who would do some good 
 fighting, and advised me to try my luck there. Hurlburt, he 
 told me, was not much of a place, a saw-mill, a country 
 store, in which the post office was located, a school-house, 
 which was also used as a church, being pretty much all there 
 was of it. The country around, however, was tolerably well 
 settled, and most of the young men thereabouts would, he 
 thought, be rather glad of a chance to have a crack at the 
 Yankees. 
 
 HURLBURT STATION. 
 
 The train speeded through the swamps, and it was not a 
 great while before we reached Hurlburt Station, where, in 
 accordance with the conductor's suggestion, I alighted. With 
 my satchel in my hand, I made for the nearest house, and in 
 quired of a negro, who was chopping wood, whether his mas- 
 
76 AT SUPPER. 
 
 Noticing that Miss Sadie was developing a marked par 
 tiality for me, but was much too bashful to give me any en 
 couragement, except some shy glances out of the corners of her 
 eyes, I commenced to ogle her, and, whenever I had an op 
 portunity, to pay her some delicate attentions, for the purpose 
 of making her think I was just a bit fascinated with her. It 
 soon became very evident that the heart which beat under 
 that yellow calico dress was in a great state of excitement, and 
 Miss Sadie, while not encouraging me by any direct advances, 
 made it very plainly understood that my little attentions were 
 appreciated. 
 
 While I was conversing with the old woman on the subject 
 of Frank's enlistment, and trying to convince her that it was 
 better for him to volunteer than to wait to be drafted, fol 
 lowing Miss Sadie with my eyes all the while, and letting her 
 see plainly that I was thinking more of her than of her mother, 
 I heard the youngest daughter, Fan, who had meanwhile 
 left the room, saying to her father that there was a soldier in 
 the house who had come to take Frank away to the war. The 
 old man made his appearance a moment later, and, shaking 
 me very cordially by the hand, gave me a hearty welcome, 
 and apologized for the meagreness of the accommodations he 
 was able to offer. I judged from his manner and from his 
 language that he had seen better days, and that his education 
 was much superior to that of his wife and children. 
 
 Supper was now announced, and we all sat down to a toler 
 ably plentiful repast, the principal features of which were 
 bacon, cabbage, and fried chickens the latter having been 
 prepared in my honor. Miss Sadie managed to place herself 
 by my side, by a dexterous little manoeuvre, which escaped the 
 attention of the family, but which I understood perfectly. I, 
 for my part, strove to play the gallant by helping her boun 
 tifully to the bacon, cabbage, and chicken, and by endeav 
 oring to induce her to join in the conversation. She undoubt 
 edly appreciated my attentions at their full value, but was not 
 sufficiently self-possessed to do much talking ; indeed, during 
 the supper I could scarcely get anything out of her except a 
 timid yes or no. 
 
 The old man, on the contrary, was very talkative, and plied 
 me with all kinds of questions about myself, my errand, the 
 war, and the prospect of a speedy accomplishment of Southern 
 independence. I told him that my name was Buford, that I 
 was a lieutenant in the army, and that I had been sent down 
 
A TERRIBLE FRIGHT. 77 
 
 to Arkansas for the purpose of recruiting a company for service 
 in Virginia. He said that I would have no difficulty in get 
 ting all the recruits I wanted, as the young fellows in those 
 parts were every one eager to have a dash at the Yankees, 
 and promised to aid me in every way possible. 
 
 The apartment in which the supper was served was about 
 ten by twelve feet, and was used as a kitchen as well as din 
 ing and sleeping-room. Everything about it was dreadfully 
 dirty, and the table at which we were eating, and the bench 
 upon which Miss Sadie and myself were seated, were both so 
 greasy that I was much afraid of seriously soiling my new 
 clothes ; and I do not doubt that my agitation on this subject 
 was attributed by the yellow-calico clad damsel beside me to 
 the close proximity in which I was placed to her. I ate heartily 
 of the viands that were set before me, paying more attention, 
 however, to the chicken than to the greasy bacon and cabbage, 
 which latter, however, were eaten with great gusto by my 
 entertainers. 
 
 MY MUSTACHE IN DANGER. 
 
 Before the supper was over I had a terrible fright, and for 
 a few moments fancied that I was on the brink of a discovery 
 that would upset all my plans, and nip my enterprise in the 
 bud. While drinking a glass of buttermilk, which I greatly 
 enjoyed, for it was the best thing on the table, and was most 
 refreshing, my mustache got full of the fluid, and when I at 
 tempted to wipe this ornament, which my Memphis friend had 
 so carefully glued upon my upper lip, and which added so 
 much to the manliness of my countenance., I fancied that it was 
 loose and was about to fall off. Here was a terrible situation, 
 and I cannot undertake to describe what I felt. To say that 
 I was frightened, scarcely gives an idea of the cold chills that 
 ran down my back. The ridicule of my entertainers, and 
 especially of Miss Sadie, was the least thing that I feared, and 
 I would rather brave any number of perils at the cannon's 
 mouth than to repeat the emotions of that dreadful moment. 
 Such a situation as this is ludicrous enough, but it was not a 
 bit funny for me at that time ; and I was on pins and needles 
 until I could get away, and take means to secure the mustache 
 firmly on again. I managed, however, to keep a straight 
 countenance, and to join in the conversation with a tolerable 
 degree of equanimity, keeping my hand up to my mouth all 
 the time though, and doing my best to hold the mustache 
 
 
74 MRS. GILES AND DAUGHTERS. 
 
 V 
 
 how I carried myself before the former, for she was clearly a 
 sharp one, and would be quick to take note of any peculiarly 
 feminine traits of manner I might display. I therefore deter 
 mined to play the man right manfully, whether I thought my 
 self observed or not ; and this I found to be a very good rule 
 to go by throughout the entire period during which I wore 
 my disguise. 
 
 While making my toilet, I noticed the old woman and a 
 couple of girls peeping at me through a crack in the wall, and 
 I accordingly, without appearing to notice them, took pains to 
 strut about in as mannish a manner as I could, and to imitate 
 a man's actions and gestures while washing my face and hands 
 and arranging my hair. 
 
 After a bit, Mrs. Giles and her daughters came into the room, 
 the girls blushing up to their eyes, and dreadfully abashed, at 
 being compelled to go through with the ceremony of an intro 
 duction to the handsome and gayly dressed young officer. 
 The eldest of the Jwo daughters was about sixteen, and was 
 attired in a bright, flaring yellow calico ; the youngest was 
 about twelve years of age, and was somewhat less unbecom 
 ingly dressed in pink. Both of the girls had put on the best 
 they had to do honor to the occasion, and the eldest, especially, 
 so soon as her first bashfulness wore off, seemed very much 
 disposed to attract the particular attention of the visitor by 
 various little feminine artifices, which I understood very well, 
 and which amused me immensely. 
 
 On entering the room, the old woman said, awkwardly 
 waving her hands towards her daughters, tf These is my gals, 
 sir." 
 
 I bowed in the politest manner, and said, with what I in 
 tended to be a particularly fascinating smile, " Good evening, 
 ladies/ 7 laying a particular emphasis on the word " ladies j " 
 which had the desired effect, for both of the girls blushed 
 deeper than ever, and the eldest simpered as if she heartily 
 enjoyed it. The daughters, however, were too much confused 
 just yet to do a great deal in the way of conversation ; so, for 
 the sake of sociability, and to put the entire party at their 
 ease, I started a talk with the old woman, by remarking that 
 it had been an exceedingly pleasant day. 
 
 " Yes/ 7 replied Mrs. Giles ; " but the craps need rain. 77 
 
 After a few commonplaces of this kind about the weather, 
 and other matters of no particular moment, I thought I might 
 as well proceed to business at once ; for I expected that I 
 
A FLOWER OF THE ARKANSAS FOREST. 75 
 
 would have some opposition from the old woman in my effort 
 to enlist Frank. So I said, " Madam, I am trying to enlist 
 your son for a soldier in my company ; don't you think you 
 can spare him ? " 
 
 She burst out crying, and exclaimed, " 0, sir, I can't let my 
 boy go for a soldier and get killed." 
 
 The youngest girl, seeing her mother in tears, began to 
 blubber a little also ; but the eldest not only did not cry, but 
 she looked at me in such a peculiar way, that I was convinced 
 she wished I would take her instead of Frank. 
 
 Ap ARKANSAS BELLE. 
 
 The idea of having a mild little flirtation with this fair 
 flower of the Arkansas forest rather grew upori me as I noticed 
 the impression I was making upon her susceptible imagina 
 tion. I had some curiosity to know how love-making went 
 from the masculine standpoint, and thought that the present 
 would be a good opportunity to gain some valuable experience 
 in that line j for it occurred to me that if I was to figure suc- 
 cesssfully in the role of a dashing young Confederate officer, it 
 would be necessary for me to learn how to make myself im- 
 mensly agreeable to the ladies. I knew how to make myself 
 agreeable to the men, or thought I did, and I could, if I chose, 
 be agreeable to women in a feminine sort of fashion ; but I 
 had never studied the masculine carriage towards my sex crit 
 ically, with a view of imitating it, and it was important, there 
 fore, that I should begin at once to do so, in order that when 
 compelled to associate with women, as I assuredly would be to 
 a greater or less extent, I might not belie my outward appear 
 ances by my conduct. I flatter myself that during the time I 
 passed for a man I was tolerably successful with the women ; 
 and I had not a few curious and most amusing adventures, 
 which gave me an insight into some of the peculiarities of 
 feminine human nature which had not impressed themselves 
 on my mind before, perhaps because I was a woman. 
 
 My flirtation with Miss Sadie Giles was not a very savage 
 one, and I hope that it did not inflict more damage on her 
 heart than it did on mine. It was immensely amusing to me 
 while it lasted, arid I presume, if not exactly amusing, it might 
 at least be deemed entertaining to her. At any rate, I suc 
 ceeded not only in having a little sly fun at her expense, but 
 I picked up an idea or two that I subsequently found useful. 
 
76 AT SUPPER. 
 
 Noticing that Miss Sadie was developing a marked par 
 tiality for me, but was much too bashful to give me any en 
 couragement, except some shy glances out of the corners of her 
 eyes, I commenced to ogle her, and, whenever I had an op 
 portunity, to pay her some delicate attentions, for the purpose 
 of making her think I was just a bit fascinated with her. It 
 soon became very evident that the heart which beat under 
 that yellow calico dress was in a great state of excitement, and 
 Miss Sadie, while not encouraging me by any direct advances, 
 made it very plainly understood that my little attentions were 
 appreciated. 
 
 While I was conversing with the old woman on the subject 
 of Frank's enlistment, and trying to convince her that it was 
 better for him to volunteer than to wait to be drafted, fol 
 lowing Miss Sadie with my eyes all the while, and letting her 
 see plainly that I was thinking more of her than of her mother, 
 I heard the youngest daughter, Fan, who had meanwhile 
 left the room, saying to her father that there was a soldier in 
 the house who had come to take Frank away to the war. The 
 old man made his appearance a moment later, and, shaking 
 me very cordially by the hand, gave me a hearty welcome, 
 and apologized for the meagreness of the accommodations he 
 was able to offer. I judged from his manner and from his 
 language that he had seen better days, and that his education 
 was much superior to that of his wife and children. 
 
 Supper was now announced, and we all sat down to a toler 
 ably plentiful repast, the principal features of which were 
 bacon, cabbage, and fried chickens the latter having been 
 prepared in my honor. Miss Sadie managed to place herself 
 by my side, by a dexterous little manoeuvre, which escaped the 
 attention of the family, but which I understood perfectly. I, 
 for my part, strove to play the gallant by helping her boun 
 tifully to the bacon, cabbage, and chicken, and by endeav 
 oring to induce her to join in the conversation. She undoubt 
 edly appreciated my attentions at their full value, but was not 
 sufficiently self-possessed to do much talking ; indeed, during 
 the supper I could scarcely get anything out of her except a 
 timid yes or no. 
 
 The old man, on the contrary, was very talkative, and plied 
 me with all kinds of questions about myself, my errand, the 
 war, and the prospect of a speedy accomplishment of Southern 
 independence. I told him that my name was Buford, that I 
 was a lieutenant in the army, and that I had been sent down 
 
A TERRIBLE FRIGHT. 77 
 
 to Arkansas for the purpose of recruiting a company for service 
 in Virginia. He said that I would have no difficulty in get 
 ting all the recruits I wanted, as the young fellows in those 
 parts were every one eager to have a dash at the Yankees, 
 and promised to aid me in every way possible. 
 
 The apartment in which the supper was served was about 
 ten by twelve feet, and was used as a kitchen as well as din 
 ing and sleeping-room. Everything about it was dreadfully 
 dirty, and the table at which we were eating, and the bench 
 upon which Miss Sadie and myself were seated, were both so 
 greasy that I was much afraid of seriously soiling my new 
 clothes ; and I do not doubt that my agitation on this subject 
 was attributed by the yellow-calico clad damsel beside me to 
 the close proximity in which I was placed to her. I ate heartily 
 of the viands that were set before me, paying more attention, 
 however, to the chicken than to the greasy bacon and cabbage, 
 which latter, however, were eaten with great gusto by my 
 entertainers. 
 
 MY MUSTACHE IN DANGER. 
 
 Before the supper was over I had a terrible fright, and for 
 a few moments fancied that I was on the brink of a discovery 
 that would upset all my plans, and nip my enterprise in the 
 bud. While drinking a glass of buttermilk, which I greatly 
 enjoyed, for it was the best thing on the table, and was most 
 refreshing, my mustache got full of the fluid, and when I at 
 tempted to wipe this ornament, which my Memphis friend had 
 so carefully glued upon my upper lip, and which added so 
 much to the manliness of my countenance., I fancied that it was 
 loose and was about to fall off. Here was a terrible situation, 
 and I cannot undertake to describe what I felt. To say that 
 I was frightened, scarcely gives an idea of the cold chills that 
 ran down my back. The ridicule of my entertainers, and 
 especially of Miss Sadie, was the least thing that I feared, and 
 I would rather brave any number of perils at the cannon's 
 mouth than to repeat the emotions of that dreadful moment. 
 Such a situation as this is ludicrous enough, but it was not a 
 bit funny for me at that time ; and I was on pins and needles 
 until I could get away, and take means to secure the mustache 
 firmly on again. I managed, however, to keep a straight 
 countenance, and to join in the conversation with a tolerable 
 degree of equanimity, keeping my hand up to my mouth all 
 the time though, and doing my best to hold the mustache 
 
 
78 PERSONALITIES. 
 
 on. My fright, after all, was causeless, for on examination I 
 found that the hair was too firmly glued to my lip to be easily 
 removed ; indeed, I subsequently discovered that it was prac 
 tically impossible to move it without the aid of alcohol. 
 
 After supper, the old man and Frank went off to finish up 
 their work before going to bed, and the women folks busied 
 themselves in clearing the dishes. I had thus a little time to 
 myself, and took advantage of it, first of all, to ascertain about 
 the security of my mustache. To my intense relief I found it 
 as fast as if it actually grew on my lip ; and so, with a light 
 heart, I returned to the house, and joined the old woman and 
 the girls. 
 
 During the supper, the elder Giles nearly monopolized the 
 conversation, and scarcely gave his wife and children a 
 chance to put a word in edgewise. I saw very plainly that 
 the old woman was worried at the prospect of losing Frank, and 
 consequently prepared to sustain a heavy siege of queries and 
 expostulations from her. Leaving the girls to finish putting 
 away the supper things, she seated herself in the corner, 
 and began pulling vigorously at a pipe filled with some very 
 strong-smelling tobacco, which was far from grateful to my 
 nostrils. 
 
 After a variety of inquiries about the war, the duties of a 
 soldier, the chances of being killed, the amount of pay a sol 
 dier received, and like matjters, she asked whether I had any 
 parents. 
 
 I replied that my father was living. 
 
 " Ain't he opposed to your going to the war ? " said she. 
 
 " 0, no," I answered ; " he knows that it is what a military 
 man must expect ; and he not only wants me to go, but he 
 will be disappointed if I do not see some hard fighting, and 
 have a chance to distinguish myself." 
 
 " Are you married ? " was the next query. 
 
 " No, madam," I replied, giving a sharp look at Sadie, who 
 made a pause in her rattling of the dishes to hear what I 
 would say ; " I am one of the unfortunate single men." 
 
 " You are much better off, young man," struck in the old 
 man Giles, who just then came in ; and throwing himself on the 
 bench, began to smoke a very strong pipe rather furiously. 
 
 Hearing the girls giggle at this, I glanced over my shoulder, 
 and seeing that Miss Sadie had finished her work, and was 
 apparently anxious to be better acquainted with me, I politely 
 arose and offered her my raw-hide chair. This she blushingly 
 
FOL-DE-ROL. 79 
 
 declined, but took a wooden stool, upon which she seated 
 herself quite close to me. I could think of nothing so likely 
 to loosen her tongue, and make her properly sociable, as a 
 reference to religious matters ; so I asked her if there were 
 any churches in the neighborhood. 
 
 She said that there was no regular church, but that on Sun 
 days a preacher held forth in the school-house ; and then, 
 without much difficulty, we got into quite a discussion about 
 religion, and from that to other matters of more immediate 
 interest, if not of so much permanent importance. The old 
 man, I presume, was rather tired, and so, taking advantage of 
 this change of subject in our conversation, he went to bed, 
 and soon was snoring lustily. Finally, Miss Sadie got back to 
 what was the subject uppermost in her thoughts, and began 
 questioning me about my own affairs, by asking if I had any 
 brothers. 
 
 " Yes," I replied ; " one, older than myself, who is more 
 fortunate, for he is married," giving a look at her out of the 
 corner of my eye, which I intended her to understand as an 
 intimation that, although not married, I had no objections to 
 being so if I could find a girl to suit me. , 
 
 " You ought to be married, too," said Miss Sadie, with a 
 simper, and apparently appreciating this kind of conversation 
 much better than the war talk the old man and I had been 
 indulging in. 
 
 " How can I get married when none of the girls will have 
 . me ? " I retorted. 
 
 " You git out," was the rather irrelevant remark Miss Sadie 
 made at this point, but giving me no reason to believe that 
 she meant her words to be construed literally. 
 
 The old woman thinking, I suppose, to flatter me, said, " A 
 handsome young fellow like you, with, I dare say, a pretty 
 fair education, needn't be afraid of the gals not having you." 
 
 At this point of the conversation the old man awoke, and 
 sang out, " Don't you women talk that man to death. Why 
 don't you git out and let him go to bed ? " and then, pointing 
 to a bed in the corner, he told me to turn in there when I felt 
 like it. 
 
 THE END OF A DAY'S ADVENTURE. 
 
 This was a broad enough hint that Mr. Giles did not want to 
 hear any more conversation that night ; so I excused myself to 
 the old woman and the girls, and stepped out on the porch to 
 
 
80 BED TIME. 
 
 think a little by myself as to what I had best do next. Here 
 I was at the end of my first day's experience in playing the 
 part of a soldier, with every reason to believe that I had thus 
 far played it most successfully, and that I had really made 
 quite a brilliant start. The prospects were all in favor of the 
 easy accomplishment of my immediate designs, and I saw 
 myself, in imagination, already at the head of a company of 
 stalwart young recruits, appearing in the presence of my as 
 tonished husband, and asking him to lead us to battle. That 
 I could successfully pass myself off for a man with both sexes 
 was an assured fact, for the elder Giles and Frank undoubt 
 edly took me for just what I professed to be, and the latter 
 was both willing and anxious to enter himself upon my muster- 
 roll, while the susceptible heart of Miss Sadie was apparently 
 touched in a way that it could never have been had the 
 faintest suspicion of my not being a man crossed her mind. 
 The old woman, too, who, in a matter of this kind, would be 
 quite certain to be a more critical observer than the rest of 
 the family, had no hesitation in believing me to be a gallant 
 young soldier ; so that, taking all things into consideration, I 
 had reason to congratulate myself upon a brilliant opening to 
 my campaign. 
 
 My hopes were high, and my heart beat quick at the 
 thoughts that crowded upon me of the future that seemed 
 opening out before me, as under the soft stars of that April 
 night I paced up and down before the house maturing my plans 
 for the morrow, and indulging in romantic imaginings of the 
 glory that awaited me, could I but follow up successfully the 
 career so auspiciously begun. The thought of possible failure 
 only crossed my mind to be banished from it, and I resolved to 
 dare everything to make success a certainty and not a mere 
 peradventure. At length, wearied in mind and body by the 
 fatigues and excitements of the day, I sought the couch which 
 the hospitality of the Giles family had provided me. 
 
 When I got back to the room the old woman and the girls 
 had disappeared, and the head of the house was snoring in 
 one corner of the room. I had a large sum of money on my 
 person, and a handsome gold watch ; quite enough portable 
 property, in fact, to tempt people so dead poor as my enter 
 tainers, and I was somewhat dubious at first about the best 
 manner of disposing of my valuables for the night. I finally, 
 however, concluded to merely take off my coat, vest, and boots, 
 and to put my money and watch under me in such a manner 
 
SLUMBER. 81 
 
 that they could not be touched without my being aroused. My 
 revolver was also examined, and found to be in good shooting 
 condition, and was placed beneath the pillow so that I could 
 easily grasp it in any emergency requiring its use. These 
 preparations completed, I threw myself upon the bed, and ere 
 many minutes, overcome with fatigue, I fell into a deep and 
 dreamless sleep. 
 
 6 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A WIDOW. 
 
 Flirtation and Recruiting. My brilliant Success in enlisting a Company. 
 Embarkation for New Orleans. Letter from my Husband. 
 Change of Plans. Cheered while passing through Mobile. Arrival 
 at Pensacola. Astonishment of my Husband. Sudden Death of my 
 Husband by the Bursting of a Carbine. Determination to go to the 
 Front. A fascinating Widow. A Lesson in Courtship. Starting 
 for the Seat of War. Unpleasant Companions. A bit of Flirtation 
 with a Columbia Belle. In Charge of a Party of Ladies and Children 
 at Lynchburg. Arrival in Richmond. Another Lady in Love with 
 me. The Major wants to make a Night of it. A great Game of 
 Cards. Off for the Battle-field. 
 
 HE noise of a coffee-mill, operated in a very 
 energetic manner by one of the daughters of 
 the house, and the yelling of half a dozen ill- 
 conditioned dogs, disturbed my slumbers in 
 the morning, at an hour when I fain would 
 have kept possession of my couch, in spite of its 
 unsavoriness. I knew that it was time to get up, but 
 the fingers of sleep pressed heavily upon my eyelids, 
 and I lay for some time half awake and half lost in 
 slumber, not quite certain as to exactly where I was, 
 wondering if camp-life was as rough as this, amused at myself 
 for thinking of such a thing, when I knew that many a soldier 
 would envy me my surroundings, and then dropping off amid 
 a cloud of fancies into a sound doze again. The rather pier 
 cing tones of Miss Sadie, calling to Frank, and a fresh outbreak 
 of yells from the dogs, awoke me again, and this time in good 
 earnest. I jumped out of bed, thinking that this kind of 
 laziness would never do if I intended to be a soldier, and 
 pulling on my boots, I stepped out on the porch. 
 
 The dawn was far advanced, but the sun was still below the 
 horizon, and the air was dull and heavy with dampness and 
 with the miasmatic vapors of the neighboring swamps. It 
 required some little exertion for me to shake off the lethargy 
 
 82 
 
RECRUITING A BATTALION. 83 
 
 that clung to my limbs, but after a wash in a wooden bowl 
 filled with water, that Frank brought me, I felt refreshed, and 
 ready to begin with proper energy the work of the day. I 
 was not very long in arranging my toilet, using my own soap 
 and towels, which I fortunately had brought with me, for they 
 were articles with which the Giles homestead did not appear 
 to be over plentifully supplied, and was in the midst of a 
 discussion with Frank as to the best method of proceeding in 
 order to enlist the number of men I desired, when the old 
 woman put her head out of the door and squeaked, " Come to 
 breakfast, Mister." 
 
 I was in a few moments seated by the side of Miss Sadie, 
 who was still attired in the brilliant yellow calico dress, 
 which was evidently the most esteemed bit of .costume her 
 wardrobe afforded. She blushed furiously as I greeted her, 
 but was so evidently partial to me, that the other members 
 of the family could not but take notice of it, and there was 
 not a little sport at her expense. I overheard Frank say to 
 her, in a loud whisper, " You need not stick yourself up for 
 that fellow; he don't want you." 
 
 At this I redoubled my attentions, and Miss Sadie showed 
 very plainly by her manner that she was highly flattered by 
 them, so much so, that when Frank, seeing how things were 
 going, whispered maliciously, " I'll tell Bob how you are going 
 on with that sbldier," she only turned up her nose, and gave 
 her head a toss in a manner that indicated as plain as words, 
 that Sadie's Arkansas sweetheart had been completely cut out 
 by the military individual seated beside her. It was not 
 altogether bad fun to indulge in a bit of a flirtation with Miss 
 Sadie, for she enjoyed the flattering attentions I paid her 
 immensely, but as I had matters of more importance upon 
 my hands, it was impossible for me to make myself as 
 agreeable to her as she would have liked me to. 
 
 RECRUITING. 
 
 When breakfast was over, I went out to see the girls milk 
 the cows, and then, after chatting a bit with Sadie, I crossed 
 over to the school-house, where I found half a dozen rather 
 rough fellows waiting to see me, all of whom expressed them 
 selves as extremely anxious to enlist. One very hard-looking 
 specimen, who could not even write his name, wanted very 
 badly to be captain ; indeed, they all were quite ambitious to 
 
84 OFF FOB THE SEAT OF WAR. 
 
 be officers, and I had some difficulty in explaining to them, 
 that in the army, in time of war, where actual fighting was 
 being done, it was a very different thing holding the posi 
 tion of an officer, from what it was in the militia. I, 
 however, encouraged them to believe that they all might be 
 lieutenants, captains, and even generals, some day, if they 
 fought bravely, and succeeded in creating such an enthusiasm 
 among them over the prospect of a brush with the Yankees, 
 to be followed by rapid promotion, that the whole party were 
 soon ready to enlist on any terms I chose to suggest. 
 
 After talking the matter over with these men for some time, 
 and explaining the situation in the best style I was able, I 
 wrote out some bills calling for volunteers, one of which I 
 posted on the school-house door, and the rest I gave to Frank, 
 who mounted a horse, and started off to distribute them 
 through the country. During the day I read the army regula 
 tions at least a dozen times, and tried to make the men 
 understand what they meant, This was not a very easy 
 matter, but I succeeded in enrolling thirty-six, whom I 
 ordered to report for roll call the next morning. This they 
 did not much fancy ; but on my stating that they were under 
 oath, and bound to obey, they yielded without making any 
 trouble about it, but apparently with no great admiration for 
 military discipline. 
 
 My quota was easily filled in four days, and I then proceeded 
 to get my battalion organization complete, and to make prepa 
 rations for departure. Two of the most intelligent of the 
 men I appointed subordinate officers, one sergeant and the 
 other corporal ; and gave them instructions about drilling the 
 battalion, and maintaining discipline in my absence. Every 
 thing now being in proper trim, I sent a messenger ahead 
 to the friend in Memphis who had so efficiently aided my 
 plans, with instructions for him to engage transportation, and 
 then getting my troops into marching order, off we started. 
 
 Having seen my little army under way, I lingered for a 
 moment to bid good-by to the Giles family. The old man 
 did not much fancy losing both his boys, for his youngest 
 son Ira had enlisted as well as Frank, but he stood it bravely : 
 the old woman, however, broke down entirely, while both the 
 girls cried, Miss Sadie, I thought, more at the idea of parting 
 with me than at losing her brothers. I, however, begged them 
 to keep their courage up, and to expect the boys home soon, 
 covered with glory, as the heroes of many well-fought fields. 
 
A HOLIDAY AFFAIR. 85 
 
 Miss Sadie's hand I squeezed a bit as I said farewell, and I 
 fancy that her lover, Bob, had some difficulty after that in 
 obliterating the impression the young officer had made upon 
 her heart. 
 
 ON THE MARCH. 
 
 i 
 
 I determined to march my men to the river, in order to 
 break them in ; but before we got to the landing, a good many 
 of them were decidedly of the opinion that soldiering was 
 much harder work than they had calculated upon. None of 
 them showed any disposition to back out, however, and the 
 majority, despite the fatigue of the march, were quite elated 
 at the prospect before them of being able to see something of 
 the world. 1 do not think any of them appreciated the real 
 importance of what they were doing, and looked upon the 
 whole affair much in the light of an excursion, which would be 
 rather jolly than otherwise. Indeed, to tell the truth, I rather 
 regarded the thing in that light myself, notwithstanding that I 
 had seen enough of military life for me to understand some 
 thing of its serious character. 
 
 At the landing I met my Memphis friend with my baggage 
 and equipments and a tent, and with blankets and camp 
 utensils for the use of the men. He also handed me a letter 
 from my husband. This I eagerly read, and much to my 
 disappointment, learned from it that he had gone to Pensacola. 
 I determined, however, to push on and meet him there, for I 
 was bent on carrying out my original idea of surprising him, 
 and of offering him the command of my battalion. I accord 
 ingly embarked my men two hundred and thirty-six in all 
 upon the steamer Ohio Belle, and issued to them blankets 
 and other articles necessary for their comfort. 
 
 My plan now was to go down to New Orleans, where I 
 should be able to procure such stores and equipments as were 
 immediately needed, and where I could perfect my disguise ; 
 for, not only did my padded coat not fit me as it ought, but it 
 was almost unbearably warm, and I was anxious to substitute 
 something more comfortable for the padding at the earliest 
 possible moment. My friend accompanied me as far as Vicks- 
 burg, where he bade me adieu, the tears springing to his eyes 
 as he did so, for he could not dispossess himself of the impres 
 sion that I was engaged in a foolhardy and dangerous enter 
 prise, out of which I could scarcely come with credit to myself 
 and friends. He, however, did not attempt to dissuade me, 
 
86 AN ASTONISHED HUSBAND. 
 
 for the time for argument had long since passed, and he knew 
 perfectly well that I was determined to follow my own 
 inclinations at whatever hazard. 
 
 On arriving at New Orleans, I landed my men a short 
 distance above the city, and then, with as little delay as 
 possible, purchased my quartermaster and commissary stores, 
 and perfected my private outfit in the manner stated in a 
 previous chapter. Among my other purchases was a fine 
 horse, which I obtained from Dr. Elliott, on Union Street. 
 No finer body of men ever went out of New Orleans than the 
 Arkansas Grays, as my battalion was called. As we passed 
 through Mobile we were heartily cheered, the men waving 
 their hats, and the women their handkerchiefs, and everybody 
 commenting in the most laudatory terms upon our martial 
 appearance. I cannot pretend to tell how proud I was, 
 when I noted how much attention we were attracting ; and if 
 the shadow of a doubt as to the propriety of the course I 
 was pursuing remained in any mind, it assuredly vanished as 
 the cheers of the citizens of Mobile greeted my ears. I felt 
 that, in spite of my being a woman, I was intended for a 
 military leader, and I resolved, more firmly than ever, to let 
 nothing stand in the way of my winning the fame I coveted. 
 
 A GENUINE SURPRISE. 
 
 At Pensacola we were received by my husband, who came 
 to meet us in response to a telegraphic despatch I had sent 
 him, signed by my nom de guerre. He had not the slightest 
 idea who I was, and would not have recognized me had I not 
 revealed myself. So soon as I was able, however, after land 
 ing my men from the train, I took him aside where I could 
 speak to him privately, and disclosed my identity. He was 
 intensely astonished, and greatly grieved, to see me come 
 marching into Pensacola at the head of a body of men in such 
 a guise, and said, that although I had done nobly, he would 
 not for the world have had me attempt such a thing. I told 
 him, however, that there was no use of discussing the matter, 
 for I was determined to be a soldier, and then placed in his 
 hands the muster-rolls of my company, to show him how well 
 I could do what I undertook. He was proud of the ability I 
 had displayed in carrying out my plans, and seeing the use- 
 lessness of further argument, took command of the men, and 
 commenced putting them in training. After they were 
 
WIDOWHOOD. 87 
 
 mustered in, and stationed in camp, Thomas C. De Caulp was 
 appointed first lieutenant, and Frank Murdock second lieuten 
 ant, while I was ordered back to New Orleans to purchase 
 more stores and equipments. 
 
 THE DEATH OF MY HUSBAND. 
 
 I had scarcely arrived at my destination when I received a 
 despatch announcing the death of my husband, and requesting 
 my immediate return. Terribly shocked, and nearly wild 
 with grief, I started for Pensacola again, and found, upon my 
 arrival there, that, while drilling his men, my husband under 
 took to explain the use of the carbine to one of the sergeants, 
 and the weapon exploded in his hands, killing him almost 
 instantly. I was now alone in the world, and more than ever 
 disposed to take an active part in the war, if only for the 
 purpose of revenging my husband's death. Smothering my 
 grief as much as possible, I turned over the command of my 
 battalion to Lieutenant De Caulp, for the double reason that 
 the men were only enlisted for three months, and were to be 
 stationed in Pensacola, or its vicinity, where there was not 
 much prospeet of very active service just then, and that I 
 had resolved to go to the front in the character of an inde 
 pendent, with a view of leading a life of more stirring 
 adventures than I probably should be able to do if permanently 
 attached to a particular command. 
 
 A PRETTY WIDOW. 
 
 During the brief time I had been in Pensacola I had formed 
 the acquaintance of a number of officers who were going to 
 the front, and, as they intended to leave for Richmond shortly, 
 I concluded that it would be better to go in their company, 
 especially as several of them were first-rate fellows, and one 
 or two particular friends of my late husband. I also became 
 acquainted with a good many ladies, one of whom, a dashing 
 young widow, paid my masculine charms the compliment of 
 falling desperately in love with them. This lady did not 
 require any encouragement from me ; but finding that, while 
 polite to her, I was rather shy and reserved, and apparently 
 insensible to her attractions, she made a dead set at me, and 
 took pains to let me know, in terms that could not be misunder 
 stood, the sentiments she felt for me. 
 
88 TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING. 
 
 I was really in no mood for nonsense of this kind, and, to 
 tell the truth, I was not particularly pleased with the 
 decidedly unfeminine advances that were made towards me. 
 The necessity of playing the character I had assumed, how 
 ever, in a successful manner, pressed upon me, and I felt that 
 diversion of some kind was requisite to divert my mind 
 from the sad and gloomy thoughts caused by my bereavement. 
 I accordingly determined to meet my fair one half way, and 
 paid her numerous attentions, such as taking her to the theatre, 
 and to drive upon the beach. I, however, resolutely refused 
 to accept any of the numerous very broad hints she threw 
 out, to the effect that a little more love-making would be more 
 than agreeable, at which she seemed considerably surprised. 
 Finding, at length, that I either could not or would not under 
 stand what she was driving at, she bluntly reproached me for 
 not being more tender in my demonstrations towards her. I 
 put on the innocent air of a green schoolboy, perfectly non 
 plussed with the advances of a pretty woman, and assured her 
 that I had never courted a Jlady in my life, and really did not 
 know how to begin. The eagerness with which the widow 
 undertook to instruct me, was decidedly comical, and I learned 
 more about some of the fine points of feminine human nature 
 from her in a week, than I had picked up for myself in twenty 
 years. The courting was pretty much all on her side, and I 
 really had not imagined before that it was possible for a lady 
 to take such an important matter so entirely out of the 
 gentleman's hands. For the fun of the thing I pretended to 
 soften to her, and by the time I was ready to start for Virginia, 
 we were the best possible friends ; and although I was careful 
 to make no definite promises, the widow parted from me with 
 the understanding that when the war was over we were to be 
 something more than friends to each other. If I were a man, 
 it would be absurd for me to tell all this, but being a woman, 
 this and other of my love adventures have a comical interest 
 for me, as I doubt not they will have for the reader. If they 
 dOv not show some of the members of my own sex in the best 
 possible light, it is their fault and not mine. 
 
 OFF FOR VIRGINIA. 
 
 On the 16th of June I started for Virginia, in company with 
 quite a jovial party of fellows, who were much disposed to 
 make a frolic of their journey. They had a good deal of 
 
ON THE ROAD TO VIRGINIA. 89 
 
 whiske} 7 with them, and I was constantly importuned to 
 drink, my declining to do so not having the best possible 
 effect on some of them. The conversation became more and 
 more profane and ribald, as the whiskey produced its natural 
 effect ; and being almost the only sober person in the party, I 
 was not only intensely disgusted, but the warnings I had 
 received from my husband came into my mind, and had a most 
 depressing influence upon me. Much of the talk was mere 
 meaningless blackguardism, and my ears were saluted for the 
 first time with nastiness in the shape of language, such as it 
 would have been impossible for me to have imagined the 
 tongues of human beings to utter. It was ah intense relief 
 to me when, about four o'clock, the train arrived at Mont 
 gomery, and I was able to get by myself for a little while. 
 
 At the Exchange Hotel I met Mr. Leroy P. Walker, the 
 secretary of war, with whom I had a very pleasant conversa 
 tion about the prospects of the contest with the North, the 
 political situation, and other matters of interest. The next 
 day I bought a smart and mannerly negro boy, named Bob, of 
 about eighteen years of age. I procured him a proper suit 
 of clothes and a military cap, and then gave him charge of 
 my baggage, with instructions to keep a sharp eye on my 
 effects, to behave himself properly, and to come to me when 
 he wanted spending money. Bob proved an excellent 
 servant, taking care of my clothing in good style, and when 
 we were in camp, attending to my two horses in a very 
 satisfactory manner. 
 
 From Montgomery I went to Columbia, South Carolina, 
 where I remained over for several days. During my stay in 
 this place I formed the acquaintance of a very pleasant 
 family, one of the young ladies of which, Miss Lou, seemed to 
 be quite taken with me. I was invited to the house, and 
 
 Ced a number of agreeable hours there, and on parting, Miss 
 gave me her address, requesting me to write to her, and 
 pinned a small C. S. flag on my coat. 
 
 On the train bound north, there was another quite jovial 
 party, but, very much to my gratification, not so much 
 addicted to whiskey-drinking, blasphemy, and obscenity, as 
 that with which I had started out. A good deal of the con 
 versation was about wives and sweethearts, and pictures of 
 the loved ones at home were freely handed about. I was 
 rallied rather severely because I could not show a photograph 
 of my sweetheart, and some of the men intimated that I must 
 
90 AN AWKWARD SITUATION. 
 
 be a poor kind of a man not to be able to find a girl to 
 exchange photographs with me. I took the sharp things they 
 thought fit to say of me in good part, and replied that I did 
 not doubt of my ability to get a sweetheart soon enough when 
 I wanted one. 
 
 A LADY'S MAN. 
 
 Before the journey was ended, I had an opportunity to prove 
 myself as good a lady's man as the best of them, for at 
 Lynchburg, where we were compelled to remain over all 
 night, on taking the train for Richmond, an elderly gentleman 
 stepped up, and after inquiring my destination, asked if I 
 could take charge of some ladies. I replied that I would do 
 so with pleasure ; but was rather taken aback when I found 
 myself placed in the position of escort to five women and two 
 children. I could not imagine what induced the old gentle 
 man to pick out a little fellow like me, when so many much 
 larger, older, and more experienced ofiicers were present, 
 some of whom were greatly my superiors in rank. I was 
 dreadfully embarrassed, but resolved to play the gallant to the 
 best of my ability, although my heart was in my throat, and I 
 could scarcely find voice to announce myself as Lieutenant 
 Buford, when he inquired my name for the purpose of intro 
 ducing me. 
 
 I was about to inquire whether the ladies had their tickets 
 and checks, when the old gentleman presented them, very 
 much to my satisfaction. Excusing myself for a few moments, 
 I went to attend to checking my own baggage. While I was 
 engaged in this occupation, an officer of my party, who was 
 tolerably full of liquor, approached, and slapping me on the 
 back, exclaimed, " You're a lucky fellow to fall in with such a 
 nice lot of feminines ; won't you introduce me ? " 
 
 " Not unless the ladies give their consent," I replied. " If 
 they are willing, and a good opportunity offers, I have no 
 objections." 
 
 Just then the bell rang, and I hastened to escort the ladies 
 to the car. My tipsy friend, who was determined to show 
 his gallantry at all hazards, whether his services were agreea 
 ble or not, stood ready to lend his assistance ; but as he could 
 not but make himself offensive in the condition he was in. I 
 determined to snub him so completely that he would not have 
 the temerity to intrude on us again. Drawing myself up to 
 my full height, and putting on as severe a manner as I could 
 
MORE EMBARASSMENTS. 91 
 
 command, I said, " Excuse me, sir, but these ladies are under 
 my charge, and I am able to take care of them without 
 assistance. 77 
 
 He gave me a rather defiant look, but otherwise took this 
 snub quietly enough, and went into another car, while I joined 
 the ladies feeling several inches taller, and with an increased 
 confidence in myself. 
 
 We were soon under way, and had a pleasant enough ride, 
 or at least it would have been pleasant enough had I not been 
 tormented with the fear that they would penetrate my dis 
 guise, and discover that I was not what I pretended to be. 
 No suspicions were excited, however, and we finally arrived 
 at Richmond without anything having happened to mar the 
 enjoyment of the journey. On alighting from the cars, I pro 
 cured carriages to convey the several members of the party 
 to their destination ; two of the ladies, however, accompanied 
 me to the Ballard House, where I obtained rooms for them. 
 The youngest of my newly-found female friends, a very 
 pretty girl, who seemed to have taken quite a fancy to me, 
 had the room adjoining mine, and I had scarcely established 
 myself in my new quarters, when a waiter knocked at the 
 door and handed me a card from her, asking me to escort her 
 to supper. I laughed to myself at this, and fancying that I 
 had succeeded in making another conquest, determined to get 
 myself up in the best style I could, and to do credit to the 
 uniform I wore by showing her that her appreciation was not 
 misapplied. I dressed myself in my best apparel, and, after 
 a visit to the barber's, I was ready to play the gallant in the 
 best possible manner. 
 
 AN EMBARRASSING POSITION. 
 
 It was all well enough while I was pacing the corridors 
 of the hotel with mademoiselle on my arm, but I confess 
 that my heart failed me when we entered the dining-room, 
 and I fancied that everybody was looking at us. When the 
 big steward, advancing towards us with his politest bow, 
 said, " Lieutenant, step this way with your lady, 7 ' and then 
 turning to one of the waiters, told him to attend to this 
 gentleman and lady, it seemed to me as if every eye in the 
 room was fixed on me. I was a rather conspicuous object, it 
 is true, for my uniform, made of the best cloth, and trimmed 
 with buttons and gold lace, was well calculated to attract atten- 
 
92 A RENEWAL OF ACQUAINTANCES. 
 
 tion, while the lady on my arm being rather taller than myself, 
 made me even more an object for the curious to gaze at than 
 if I had been alone. The probabilities, however, are, that I 
 imagined myself to be creating a much greater sensation 
 than I was, and it was not a great while before I became 
 accustomed to be stared at, and learned not to mind. My 
 feelings on entering the dining-room, however, were not the 
 less unpleasant for being imaginary, and I was in no mood to 
 develop my talents as a conversationalist for the delectation 
 of my companion. 
 
 The young lady was nothing daunted by my silence, and 
 chattered away at a great rate on all imaginable subjects, and 
 finally succeeded in putting me somewhat at my ease. I was 
 just beginning to feel a little comfortable, when in came 
 several persons, my friend, the major, among them, whom I 
 had met in Memphis. They sat down nearly opposite to us, 
 on the other side of the room. I could see by their glances 
 in our direction, and by the laughing manner in which they 
 conversed, that they were discussing my lady and me, and I 
 tried all I could to avoid noticing them. The major, however, 
 at length caught my eye and saluted me, and from a motion 
 he made, I was dreadfully afraid that he intended to come 
 over and join us. My lady at length finished her supper, 
 much to my relief, and I hurried her out of the room as fast 
 as I could, and repaired to the drawing-room, where I excused 
 myself on the plea that I had urgent business to at-tend to, 
 as I intended leaving the city on the first train. She seemed 
 extremely reluctant to part company with me, and would not 
 let me go until I promised to see her again before I left the city. 
 In bidding her good night, she extended her hand ; and when 
 I took it, she gave mine a squeeze, that indicated as plain as 
 words that a trifle more forwardness on my part would not 
 be disagreeable. I was a little bit disgusted with her very 
 evident desire to capture me, and was very glad to get her 
 off my hands, my determination on parting being not to see 
 her again if I could avoid doing so. 
 
 As I strode down the hall, I was overhauled by my Memphis 
 friends, who were very glad to see me, and asked me all kinds 
 of questions about myself, affairs in Memphis, the operations 
 of the Army of the West, and other matters of similar interest. 
 A good deal of the information I gave them was fictitious, 
 while the rest was made up from telegrams, the newspapers, 
 and conversations I had overheard; but it answered the 
 
AN ASTONISHMENT. 93 
 
 purposes of the moment, and was probably about as near the 
 truth as the greater part of the war talk that was going on 
 around us. I told them that I intended joining Johnston's 
 army, and that I was bound to have a hand in the fight that 
 was coming off, and was anxious to get to the front as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 After some further conversation of this kind, the major 
 proposed that we should take a carriage and see the city. 
 We accordingly drove around for a while, seeing the sights, 
 and visiting numerous bar-rooms and gambling-houses, and 
 before a great while the major, who took rather big drinks 
 every time, was very much inclined to be noisy, and to insist 
 upon our making a night of it with him. I had no desire for 
 his company any longer than I could help, and I especially did 
 not desire to go through with the particular kind of perform 
 ance which he called "making a night of it; " so, resisting his 
 his importunities, I invited another member of the party, a 
 captain, and a very gentlemanly, quiet sort of a fellow, to play 
 a game of cards with me. The major, finding that he could 
 not get us to join him, started off to hunt other companions, 
 while the captain and I returned to the hotel, where we 
 played " old sledge," until one o'clock in the morning. 
 
 On going to my room, I found a note from my lady friend, 
 requesting me to visit her in her chamber. This considerably 
 astonished me, and assuredly did not increase my good 
 opinion of her. I was almost tempted, however, to comply, 
 just for the sake of hearing what she had to say to me, but 
 wisely concluded that, situated as I was, it would be more 
 prudent to avoid any further acquaintance with such a forward 
 specimen of my sex. 
 
 I slept late the next morning, having forgotten to give 
 directions for being called, and found, much to my satisfaction, 
 on inquiring of the clerk, that my lady had left before I was 
 out of bed. After breakfast, I ordered Bob to have every 
 thing ready for our departure by the six o'clock train. While 
 strolling about the street, I was accosted by an officer, who 
 asked me to show my papers. I told him that I had none, but 
 that I was an independent, and had recruited, and put in the 
 field, at my own expense, a battalion of two hundred and 
 thirty-six men. This seemed to highly delight him, for he 
 shook me warmly by the hand, asked me to step over to 
 his office, where he could furnish me with transportation, 
 and otherwise showed a desire to be of service to me. I 
 
94 ON THE EOAD ONCE MORE. 
 
 thanked him, but declined the offer, on the plea that I pro 
 posed to pay my own way. 
 
 During the day I bought two horses and shipped them, 
 and provided myself with a number of articles necessary for 
 the campaign upon which I was about entering. Returning 
 to the hotel, I paid my bill, had a lunch put up, and my 
 baggage got ready, while Bob blacked my boots and brushed 
 my coat. As ill luck would have it, however, I missed the six 
 o'clock train, and was consequently compelled to remain 
 another night in Richmond. The next morning, however, 
 Bob and I were off in the five o'clock train, the darkey ap 
 parently as anxious as myself to see what fighting really 
 was. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. ^ 
 
 Joining the Army in the Field. Trying to get a Commission. The 
 Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford. Burying the Dead. I attach my 
 self to General Bee's Command. The Night before the Battle of Bull 
 Run. A sound Sleep. The Morning of the Battle. A magnificent 
 Scene. The Approach of the Enemy. Commencement of the Fight. 
 
 An Exchange of Compliments between old Friends. Bee's Order 
 to fall back, and his Rally. " Stonewall " Jackson. The Battle at 
 its fiercest. The Scene at Midday. Huge Clouds of Dust and 
 Smoke. Some tough Fighting. How Beauregard and Johnston 
 rallied their Men. The Contest for the Possession of the Plateau. 
 Bee and Bartow killed. Arrival of Kirby Smith with Re-enforcements. 
 
 The Victory Won. Application for Promotion. Return to Rich 
 mond. 
 
 WAS now about to enter upon the realization 
 of all my dreams, to see some real warfare, to 
 engage in real battles, to do some real fighting, 
 and, as I fondly hoped, to have some opportuni 
 ties of distinguishing myself in a signal manner. 
 I was never in better health and spirit than on 
 that bright summer morning, when I left Richmond 
 for the purpose of joining the forces of the Confed 
 eracy in the face of the enemy ; and the nearer we 
 approached our destination, the more elated did I be 
 come at the prospect before me of being able to prove 
 mysejf as good a fighter as any of the gallant men who had 
 taken up arms in behalf of the cause of Southern independence. 
 I had only one fear, and that was, that I should be stopped on 
 account of not having the proper papers ; but my motto was, 
 " Nothing venture, nothing have ; " and I was bent on facing the 
 thing through, and trusting to luck to bring me out all right. 
 Fortunately I had no trouble of any kind, and arrived safely 
 at Clifton, a supply -station about a dozen miles from the 
 headquarters of the army in the field. 
 
 At Clifton I bought a couple of fine horses, and on the 15th 
 of July set out for headquarters, with a view of being assigned 
 to a command where I should have a chance to see some fight 
 ing. I sought an interview with a prominent general, but he 
 
 9C 
 t^ 
 
96 THE AFFAIR AT BLACKBURN'S FORD. 
 
 was in rather a crusty humor ; and as he did not seem inclined 
 to talk with me, I concluded not to bother him, but to take my 
 chances as matters might shape themselves for the accomplish 
 ment of my designs. His adjutant was more polite, and de 
 sired to employ me as a courier ; but this did not suit my 
 notions, and I consequently declined. I told him that I was 
 an independent, paying my own expenses, and that the only 
 thing I wanted was an opportunity to take a hand in the 
 coming fight. I suppose he thought that I was entirely too 
 independent for him, for he said no more, but turned away, 
 and went about other affairs. 
 
 TRYING TO GET A COMMISSION. 
 
 General Beauregard was in command of the entire army ; 
 but I felt a hesitation in approaching him, especially after the 
 rebuff I had just received. Thinking that the shortest way to 
 get what I wanted was to obtain a regular commission, I 
 offered an officer, with whom I became acquainted, five hun 
 dred dollars for his. He would not sell, however ; and I then 
 went over to Brigadier General Bonham, who was holding 
 Mitchell's Ford, and introduced myself to him. General Bon- 
 ham looked at me sharply, and asked what company I be 
 longed to. 
 
 " To none," I replied. " I belong wherever there is work 
 to do." 
 
 " Well," said Bonham, " you are the right sort to have 
 around when a fight is going on. If you stay here a little 
 while, I reckon you will be able to find plenty of work." 
 
 I took this as a hint that I might make myself at home, 
 and, bowing myself out of the general's presence, went to 
 look after my boy Bob. The darkey was just beginning to 
 have some appreciation of what fighting was really like, and 
 was badly scared. I told him that if he ran off and left me, I 
 would kill him if I ever caught him again ; which threat had 
 its desired effect, for he stuck to me through thick and thin. 
 
 THE SKIRMISH AT BLACKBURN'S FORD. 
 
 ^ 
 
 At half past twelve o'clock, on the 18th, the- enemy made a 
 sharp attack, but did not do any great damage. Kemper's 
 battery, which occupied the ridge on the left of the Centre- 
 ville road, performed efficient service in holding the Yankees 
 
A PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 97 
 
 in check. Soon, however, the enemy advanced in strong 
 force, and attacked General Long-street's brigade at Black 
 burn's Ford. Our pickets fell slowly back across the Ford, 
 which was crossed by our skirmishers, and for some time a 
 rapid but irregular firing was kept up between the two contend 
 ing armies. Longstreet, however, soon was in a condition to 
 meet the attack squarely ; and bringing about three thousand 
 infantry into position, he succeeded in repulsing the enemy 
 after a sharp skirmish of nearly an hour's duration. Later, 
 Longstreet was re-enforced by Brigadier General Early's bri 
 gade, and the enemy finding us too strong for them, was forced 
 to retreat from the field. As they broke and ran, 1 fired a last 
 shot at them with a dead man's musket, which I picked up. 
 During the greater part of this fight; the men belonging to the 
 two armies who engaged in it were often not more than a few 
 feet from each other, and it seemed more like a series of duels 
 than anything such as I had imagined a battle would be. It 
 was during this affair that I had the pleasure of meeting with 
 a man I had heard a great deal about, Colonel J. B. Walton, 
 of the Washington artillery. He was a brave man, and a 
 very genial, pleasant fellow. 
 
 This skirmish was but the prelude to the great battles of 
 Manassas or Bull's Run, which was fought on the 21st of 
 July, 1861. It served, however, to initiate me, and to make 
 me impatient to see an engagement of real importance, in 
 which I should have an opportunity to make a first-rate display 
 of my fighting qualities. I was the more anxious for a big 
 fight soon, as I had been placed temporarily in command of a 
 company, the senior officer of which had been killed, and I was 
 afraid that if a fight was long delayed I should be superseded, 
 and should be compelled to lose my best chance of distinguish 
 ing myself. I had no occasion, however, to be afraid of a fight 
 not coming off, for we had ample information of all the move 
 ments of the enemy, and knew that he was about to advance 
 upon us in full force, so that the conflict was likely to begin 
 at almost any moment. I was able, therefore, to take part in 
 the first great battle of the war, under the best possible aus 
 pices, and to thus accomplish what had been one of the great 
 objects of my ambition from my earliest childhood. There 
 may have been men who did harder fighting at Bull Run than 
 myself, but no one went through the fight with a stouter 
 heart, or with a greater determination to behave valiantly, 
 and, if possible, to give the enemy a sound thrashing, if only 
 7 
 
98 PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE. 
 
 for the sake of affording him an idea of the magnitude of the 
 job he had undertaken in attempting to coerce the Southern 
 people. 
 
 BURYING THE' DEAD. 
 
 On the 18th I assisted, with the rest, to bury the dead, my 
 boy, Bob, rendering us efficient service in the performance of 
 this duty. When night came I was tired out, and, lying 
 down on the bare ground, slept soundly until four o'clock the 
 next morning. When I awoke, I was weary and sore in all 
 my limbs through the unusual exertions I had been compelled 
 to make, and the exposure to the hot sun in the day time, and 
 the damp air and cold ground at night. I was not sick, how 
 ever ; and as I had no doubt that I should soon get used to this 
 kind of rough life, I never thought of giving up, especially as 
 a great battle was impending, upon taking part in which my 
 heart was bent. 
 
 At daybreak, on the 19th, I was in my boots, and ready to 
 march. Passing through Ashby's Gap, we reached the little 
 town of Piedmont, on the Manassas Gap Railroad, where we 
 halted. On the 20th, General Johnston arrived at Manassas 
 about noon, and was followed by two Georgia regiments and 
 Jackson's brigade of gallant Virginians. Then came Bernard 
 E. Bee, with the fourth Alabama regiment and the second 
 regiment, and three companies of the eleventh regiment of 
 Mississippians. On account of some delay, or detention on the 
 railroad, it was now found necessary to hold a council of war, 
 and to make some changes in the plans already aranged. 
 
 When the troops were once more in motion, I followed 
 Bee's line through a dense wood, as far as Sudley's Road. 
 General Bee, at this place, appointed me a special messenger, 
 and sent me with an order to Colonel Wheat, of the Louisiana 
 battalion, and also to General Evans, whose command was 
 about six hundred yards distant. Evans was an officer whom 
 I had heard much talked of, and whom I greatly desired to 
 see. He was commonly designated, by the officers and men, 
 as " Shanks," and he looked very much as if the kind of liquor 
 he was in the habit of drinking did not agree with him. 
 
 It was well known that the Federals intended to attack us 
 in force on Sunday, the 21st, and preparations were made to 
 give them the right kind of a reception when they appeared. 
 Although full of excitement at the prospect of taking part in 
 a great battle, one that, perhaps, would enable us to secure 
 
EAGER FOR THE FRAY. 99 
 
 the independence of the South at a single blow, for the 
 skirmishes in which I had thus far been engaged only seemed 
 to whet my appetite for fighting, and to make me more than 
 ever desirous of seeing what a really desperate-fought battle 
 was like, I succumbed to the fatigues I had undergone, and 
 passed the greater part of the night, before the terrific conflict 
 at Bull Run, in a dreamless sleep. I had fancied that sleep 
 would be impossible to me under such circumstances; but a very 
 little experience as a soldier was sufficient for me to be able 
 to fall into a soldier's way of doing things, and I soon learned 
 to take my rest as naturally and composedly upon the bare 
 ground as if on the most downy couch, and not even the ex 
 citements and anxieties incident to an impending battle could 
 prevent my tired eyes from closing after a long and fatiguing 
 day passed under a broiling July sun. 
 
 THE MORNING OF THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 On the morning of the day of the battle I was awake at 
 dawn, and ready to play my part in the great drama which was 
 about to begin ; and although some of the men around me had 
 been disposed to laugh at the efforts of the little dandified inde 
 pendent to get a chance to display his valor, not one of them was 
 more eager for the fight than myself, or was more bent upon 
 doing deeds of heroism. If I had allowed myself to be irritated 
 by snubs from officers, who behaved as if they thought the re 
 sults of the war depended upon them alone, I should have gone 
 back to Richmond in disgust several days before the battle 
 came off, and should have resumed the garb of my sex, with a 
 determination never to figure as a man again. I was not to 
 be bluffed by anybody, however; and having come thus farj;o 
 see and to take a hand in a great battle, I had no thought of 
 turning back for any cause, or under any circumstances, no 
 matter what might be said or thought of me. 
 
 I labored under some disadvantages in not having a regular 
 commission, and not being attached to a regular command. 
 This exposed me to slights that would otherwise not have been 
 put upon me, and prevented officers, who would, under some 
 circumstances, have gladly taken advantage of my readiness 
 to attend faithfully to any task assigned me, to avail them 
 selves of my services. On the other hand, my being an in 
 dependent, enabled me, to a great extent, to choose my own 
 >osition in the battle, and I probably, therefore, had a better 
 
100 IN BATTLJB ARRAY. 
 
 opportunity of distinguishing myself than I should have had 
 otherwise. I was especially bent upon showing some of them, 
 who were disposed to smile at me on account of my petite figure 
 and jaunty air, that I was as good a man as any one of them, and 
 was able to face the enemy as valiantly. This I did show 
 them before the day was over, and I was highly elated at the 
 commendations which some of the best soldiers bestowed upon 
 the " plucky little devil," as they called me. 
 
 By the time it was fairly daylight, the preparations for 
 meeting the enemy were well advanced, and the sun rose in 
 all his majesty upon a host of men drawn up in battle array, 
 the brave among them anxious for the fray to begin, the 
 cowards and there were plenty of them in both armies, 
 trembling in their boots, and eager for a pretext to sneak' 
 away, .and hide themselves from the coming danger. The 
 morning was a beautiful one, although it gave promise of a 
 sweltering day ; and the scene presented to my eyes, as I sur 
 veyed the field, was one of marvellous beauty and grandeur. 
 I cannot pretend to express in words what I felt, as I found 
 myself one among thousands of combatants, who were about 
 to engage in a deadly and desperate struggle. The supreme 
 moment of my life had arrived, and all the glorious aspirations 
 of my romantic girlhood were on the point of realization. I 
 was elated beyond measure, although cool-headed enough, and 
 watched the preparations going on around me with eager in 
 terest. Fear was a word I did not know the meaning of; and 
 as I noted the ashy faces, and the trembling limbs of some of 
 the men about me, I almost wished that I could feel a little 
 fear, if only for the sake of sympathizing with the poor devils. 
 I do not say this for brag, for I despise braggarts as much as I 
 do cowards ; but, in a narrative like this, the reader has a 
 right to know what my feelings, as well as my impressions, 
 were, upon so important an occasion as my appearance as a 
 combatant upon the battle-field, where the Confederate troops 
 first gave the enemy a taste of their genuine quality, and 
 achieved their first great victory. 
 
 THE ADVANCE OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 As the hot July sun mounted upwards through the almost 
 cloudless sky, and the mists of the morning disappeared before 
 his ardent beams, the approach of the enemy could be dis 
 tinctly traced by the clouds of dust raised by the tramping of 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE BATTLE OF BULL KUN. 101 
 
 thousands of feet, and, once in a great while, the gleam of the 
 bayonets was discerned among the heavy clumps of timber 
 that covered the undulating plain which the commanders of 
 the armies of the South and the North had selected for their 
 first trial of strategy and of strength. The desultory firing 
 with which the battle opened soon was followed by rapid 
 volleys, and ere the morning was far advanced, the sharp 
 rattling of the musketry, the roar of the artillery, and the 
 yelling of the soldiers, developed into an incessant tumult; 
 while along the entire line, for miles, arose clouds of yellow- 
 dust and blue smoke, as the desperateness of the conflict in 
 creased, and the men on either side became excited with the 
 work they had in hand. 
 
 It soon became apparent that the position in which fortune 
 had placed me was to be the chief point of the Federal attack, 
 and that my immediate comrades would be compelled to bear 
 the brunt of the battle. The gallant Colonel Wheat was 
 severely wounded early in the day, but he succeeded in 
 checking the advance of the enemy, and in maintaining his 
 position, until General Bee, on being informed of the peril he 
 was in, advanced to the Henry House with the Alabama regi 
 ment and Imboden's artillery, and from thence crossed the 
 valley to the support of Evans's command. The Federals 
 were in strong force, there being, probably, fifteen thousand 
 immediately in front of us, and they followed up their first 
 sharp attack with some desperate fighting. The commands 
 of Bee, Evans, and Bartow were all soon actively engaged in 
 resisting the advance of vastly superior numbers, and had 
 quite as much as they could attend to to do it. I attached 
 myself to my favorite officer, Bee, and remained with his comr 
 mand during the entire day. 
 
 BEE OKDERS HIS MEN TO FALL BACK. 
 
 The Federal artillery, which sent its shell showering over" 
 us, and bursting in our ranks, creating terrible slaughter, was 
 commanded by an acquaintance of mine, Ricketts. I did the 
 ~>est I could to give him as good as he sent, for the sake of 
 old times when we were friends, and when we neither of us 
 imagined that we would some day be opposed to each other 
 >n the battle-field. The Confederates, although greatly out- 
 mmbered, succeeded for a long time in maintaining their 
 round, in spite of the odds against them, and again and again 
 
102 A BREATHING SPELL. 
 
 pierced through the enemy's lines. Our men suffered ter 
 ribly, however, the seventh Georgia and fourth Alabama regi 
 ments, especially, being very badly cut up. At length, despite 
 all our efforts, Bee was compelled to give the order for us to 
 fall back, the enemy having been heavily re-enforced by the 
 commands of Sherman and Keyes. 
 
 The Federals, doubtless, thought that the victory was theirs 
 when they saw us in retreat. It was a terrible moment, and 
 my heart failed me when I heard Bee's order. I was wrought 
 up to such a pitch of excitement, while the fight was going on, 
 that I had no comprehension whatever of the value of the 
 movements being made by the different commanders. I only 
 saw the enemy before me, and was inspired by an eager 
 desire to conquer him. I forgot that I was but a single 
 figure in a great military scheme ; and as, while we stood 
 face to face with the foe, every man on the other side be 
 came for the moment my personal enemy, whom I was furious 
 to overcome, so, when by the general's command, we were 
 compelled to fall back, I was overcome with rage and indig 
 nation, and felt all the shame and mortification of a personal 
 defeat. 
 
 "STONEWALL" JACKSON. 
 
 I soon, however, saw the object Bee had in view in his 
 momentary retreat, when he rallied his men in the rear of a 
 house, and gave them a breathing spell, until Wade Hamp 
 ton's legion and Jackson's brigade could come to their assist 
 ance. This movement on the part of Bee afforded me an 
 opportunity to cool off a little, and to observe the ebb and flow 
 of the tide of battle more critically. I ere long was able to 
 understand the general plan upon which the action was being 
 conducted, and to view the combatants as masses to be wielded 
 in a certain way for the accomplishment of definite objects, 
 and not as a mere howling mob, bent only on a momentary suc 
 cess. From this point, therefore, the battle became more in 
 teresting than ever, and while none the less exciting, simply 
 as a personal adventure, for my spirit rose and sank as vic 
 tory or defeat seemed likely to rest upon our banners, I Was 
 more under the dominion of my reason, and less of my pas 
 sions, than I had been when the fight commenced. 
 
 Bee rallied his men, with a voice of thunder, saying, " My 
 boys, at them again ! Victory or death ! See how Jackson 
 .stands there like a stone wall." This last expression seemed 
 
104 A SUBLIME SPECTACLE. 
 
 to please the men mightily, for they took it up immediately ; 
 and with a cheer for " Stonewall " Jackson, they made another 
 dash at the enemy. 
 
 At noon the battle was at its fiercest, and the scene was 
 grand beyond description. The simile that came into my 
 mind was the great Desert of Sahara, with a broiling sun 
 overhead, and immense whirlwinds of sand rolling along 
 over the plain between heaven and earth. The red dust from 
 the parched and sun-dried roads arose in clouds in every 
 direction, while the smoke from the artillery 'and musketry 
 slowly floated aloft in huge, fantastic columns, marking the 
 places where the battle was being fought with most bitterness. 
 The dry and motionless air was choking to the nostrils, from 
 the dust and smoke which filled it, while the pitiless July sun 
 poured its hottest rays upon the parched and weary comba 
 tants. It was a sight never to be forgotten, one of those 
 magnificent spectacles that cannot be imagined, and that no 
 description, no matter how eloquent, can do justice to. I 
 would not have missed it for the wealth of the world, and was 
 more than repaid for all that I had undergone, and all the 
 risks to my person and rny womanly reputation that I incurred, 
 in being not only a spectator, but an actor, in such a sublime, 
 living drama. 
 
 THE PINCH OF THE FIGHT. 
 
 At the moment when Bee rallied his men for another grap 
 ple with the enemy, I would have given anything could I but 
 have had the strength to make a clean sweep of our opponents, 
 and, by a single blow, end the great struggle. Looking towards 
 the hill which, in the morning, had been occupied by three of 
 our bravest and best generals Beauregard, Johnston, and 
 Bonham and their staffs, I saw it covered with men fighting 
 with desperation ; all along the valley were dense clouds of 
 dust and smoke, while the yells of the excited soldiery, and 
 the roar of the guns, were almost deafening. 
 
 Hard pressed by the greatly superior Federal force, our 
 men at several points wavered and fell back, and at one time 
 there was every prospect of a panic. This disgrace was 
 spared, however, largely by the personal exertions of Beaure 
 gard and Johnston, who darted along the line, and succeeded 
 in rallying the men, and in bringing them up to their work 
 again. General Johnston turned the fortunes of the day by 
 charging on the enemy, with the colors of the fourth Alabama 
 
THE VICTORY WON. 105 
 
 regiment at his side. This was the pinch of the fight ; for the 
 enemy were bearing down upon us with a large force of in 
 fantry, cavalry, and artillery, and the personal example of 
 Generals Beauregard, Johnston, and other prominent officers, 
 who plunged into the thickest of the melee, had an immense 
 effect in encouraging the men to resist to the last, no matter 
 what the odds against them might be. 
 
 The fiercer the conflict grew the more my courage rose. 
 The example of my commanders, the desire to avenge my 
 slaughtered comrades, the salvation of the cause which* I had 
 espoused, all inspired me to do my utmost ; and no man on the 
 field that day fought with more energy or determination than 
 the woman who figured as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. 
 
 At two o'clock the right of Beauregard's line was ordered 
 to advance with the exception of the reserves to recover 
 the plateau, for the possession of which both armies had been 
 fiercely contending. Stonewall Jackson succeeded in piercing 
 the enemy's centre, but his troops suffered 'terribly in doing 
 so. Bee, while leading his fourth Alabama regiment in a 
 charge, fell mortally wounded about a hundred yards from the 
 Henry House. Fifty yards farther north, Bartow was shot, and 
 was caught, as he fell from his horse, by General Gartrell,then 
 commanding the 7th Georgia, and by his order carried to the 
 rear. His last words were, " Boys, I am killed ; but don't 
 give up the field." Colonel Fisher, of the sixth North Caro 
 lina regiment, was also among the killed. He was a noble 
 fellow. The conflict now became more bitter than ever, and 
 at one time it seemed that we should be compelled to succumb 
 to the fierce attacks which the enemy were making against 
 us. At this crisis, a courier came up to me with a message 
 for General Johnston, to the effect that the Federals had 
 reached the line of the Manassas Gap Railroad, and were 
 marching on us with a heavy force. Had this information 
 been correct, it would have been all up with us. Fortunately, 
 however, the advancing troops were those of Kirby Smith, 
 and consisted of about two thousand infantry and Beekman's 
 artillery. The arrival of this force decided the fate of the 
 battle, and the Federals fled, defeated, from the field, while 
 our army fell back to Manassas Junction. 
 
 After the battle, I appealed to General Jackson for the pro 
 motion which I considered that I had fully earned, and he 
 gave me a recommendation to General Bragg for a recruiting 
 commission. This I did not care about, for I thought that I 
 
106 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 did not need his t permission or his aid to do recruiting duty, 
 and determined to wait and see if something better would not 
 offer. I accordingly remained for some time with my 'ac 
 quaintances of the fifth and eighth Louisiana regiment, hoping 
 that another battle would come off at an early day. Finding, 
 however, that there was no prospect of a fight very soon, and 
 becoming tired of inactivity, I determined to return to Rich 
 mond, for the purpose of seeing whether it was not possible for 
 me to find some work to do suited to my abilities. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 Erroneous Ideas about the War. Some of the Effects of the Battle of Bull 
 Run. The Victory not in all Respects a Benefit to the Cause of the 
 Confederacy. Undue Elation of Soldiers and Civilians. Richmond 
 demoralized. A Quarrel with a drunken Officer. An Insult resented. 
 I leave Richmond. Prospect of another Battle. Cutting a Dash in 
 Leesburg. A little love Affair. Stern Parents. A clandestine Meet 
 ing. Love's young Dream. Disappointed Affections. In Front of 
 the Enemy once more. A Battle expected to come off. 
 
 lHAVE remarked in a previous chap 
 ter with regard to the men be 
 longing to the battalion which I 
 recruited in Arkansas, that they 
 seemed to be under the idea that 
 they were going on a pleasant hol 
 iday excursion, rather than that they 
 were engaging in a very serious 
 business, which would demand all 
 their energies, if the object they had 
 in view was to be secured. I frank 
 ly confess that I was not altogether 
 free from the feeling which pre 
 vailed, not merely with the young 
 fellows like my Arkansas recruits, 
 who were glad of any pretext for getting away from their 
 rather dismal surroundings, ajid who thought that fighting the 
 Yankees would be good fun, but with all classes of society. 
 The expression constantly heard, that one Southerner could 
 whip five Yankees, was not mere bounce, but it really repre 
 sented what nearly everybody thought; and very few had 
 any doubt as to the speedy end of the conflict that had been 
 begun, or that it would end in the recognition of Southern 
 independence: It took time to convince our people that they 
 had no holiday task to perform ; but the difficulty of effectively 
 forcing the Federal lines, in spite of victories won by Con- 
 
 107 
 
108 DEMORALIZATION. 
 
 federate arms in the field, combined with the privations caused 
 by the constantly increasing efficiency of the blockade, at 
 length compelled all classes of people at the South to realize 
 the fact that they had a tough job on their hands, and that if 
 they expected to obtain their independence it would be neces 
 sary for them to work, and to work hard for it. 
 
 In many respects, the victory at Bull Run was anything but 
 a benefit to the South. The panic which overtook the Federal 
 soldiers, so far from communicating itself to the people of the 
 North, only inspired them with a determination to wipe out 
 the disgrace, and they hurried men to the front with such 
 rapidity and in such, numbers, that they soon had a force in 
 the field which compelled the Confederates to act upon the 
 defensive, and to think about the means of resisting invasion 
 instead of attempting to assume the aggressive. On the other 
 hand, not only the men who fought at Bull Run, but the whole 
 South, were greatly elated at having won the first great battle; 
 and, overestimating the importance of their victory, they 
 were more than ever impressed with the idea that whipping 
 the Yankees was a remarkable easy thing to do. 
 
 RELAXATION IN DISCIPLINE. 
 
 The result of all this was, that discipline in the army, in 
 stead of being kept up to the best standard, was relaxed, and 
 hundreds of good fighting men, who thought that the war was 
 virtually over, were permitted to go home, while many others 
 lounged round the camps, or went to Richmond, for the pur 
 pose of having a good time, when they ought to have been 
 following up their success by further blows at the enemy. 
 
 It is easy enough now to see the mistakes that were made, 
 and any narrative of the war would be incomplete were not 
 some note made of them. I do not pretend, however, that I 
 was any wiser at the time than other people, or that I had any 
 better appreciation of the magnitude of the task we had before 
 us. Experience is a bitter teacher ; and Experience in this 
 case was too late in giving her instructions for it to do any 
 good. 
 
 As for myself, I was just like hundreds of other young of 
 ficers, eager to fight as much for the excitement of the thing 
 as anything else ; but having little comprehension of the real 
 situation, or the gigantic obstacles which stood in the way of 
 the realization of our hopes, I chafed at the inactivity which 
 
MERRY DAYS IN RICHMOND. 109 
 
 followed the battle of Bull Run, hoping for another engage 
 ment which would enable me to display my valor, but was 
 disposed to have as good a tim% as was possible while the 
 thing lasted, whether any fighting was going on or not. 
 
 The victory at Bull Run, while it elated the whole Southern 
 people, and very greatly excited their hopes and expectations, 
 was most demoralizing to Richmond, to which city the capital 
 of the Confederacy had been removed a short time before the 
 battle came off. Crowds of soldiers, officers, and privates 
 thronged the streets, when they ought to have been on duty 
 in the field ; while innumerable adventurers, male and female, 
 were attracted to the seat of government in the hope of making 
 something out of the war, careless of what happened so long 
 as they were able to fill their pockets. Money was plenty, 
 entirely too plenty, and the drinking-saloons, gambling-houses, 
 and worse resorts, reaped a rich harvest. For a time all went 
 merrily ; but after a while, as month after month wore away, 
 and no substantial fruits of our brilliant victory were reaped, 
 and the prospect of a severe contest became every day more 
 decided, those who, like myself, had their hearts in the cause, 
 began to be impatient and disgusted at the inactivity that 
 
 Prevailed, and were disposed to do a good deal of growling, 
 confess that I enjoyed the excitement of life in Richmond at 
 this period hugely for a time, but I soon had enough of it, and 
 was glad to get away. 
 
 After the battle of Bull Run I did as much tall talking as 
 anybody, and swaggered about in fine style, sporting my 
 uniform for the admiration of the ladies, and making myself 
 agreeable to them in a manner that excited the envy of the 
 men, and raised me immensely in my own esteem ; for I began 
 to pride myself as much upon being a successful lady's man 
 as upon being a valiant soldier. 
 
 A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS. 
 
 The only adventure of any consequence that I had in 
 Richmond, however, was a difficulty with a lieutenant, who 
 started a quarrel with me without the slightest provocation 
 on my part, and who, finding me apparently indisposed to 
 have any words with him, seemed to think that he could insult 
 me with impunity. I stood a good bit of insolence from him 
 on account of his being in liquor, and endeavored to avoid 
 him. As I was much smaller than himself, and so evidently 
 
110 HAVING A GOOD TIME IN LEESBURG. 
 
 unwilling to quarrel, he probably thought that it was a good 
 opportunity to air the spirit of blackguardism, which is the 
 strongest characteristic of mime people, and persisted in fol 
 lowing me up. At length I could not stand his insolence any 
 longer, and to put a stop to it slapped his face. He evidently 
 had not expected anything of this kind, for he seemed stunned 
 for a moment, while I walked off,> determined to take no fur 
 ther notice of him, unless absolutely compelled to do so. When 
 he recovered himself he gave me a voile} 7 of abuse, and threat 
 ened to shoot me ; but, fortunately for himself, a friend who 
 had seen the encounter stepped up, and taking him in charge,' 
 prevented him from making a fool of himself any further. I 
 thought that perhaps he might attempt to revenge himself in 
 some way for the indignity I had put upon him, but he doubt 
 less came to the conclusion that this was a case where discre 
 tion was the better part of valor, and so prudently kept out of 
 my way. I never .saw his homely visage again, although I 
 every day appeared in the most public places, where he would 
 have had no difficulty in finding me if he had desired to. 
 
 ONE OF CUPID'S MISTAKES. 
 
 Not being successful in getting the kind of appointment I 
 desired at Richmond, I concluded to try my luck elsewhere. 
 I went to Danville, and remained a couple of days, and on my 
 return to Richmond obtained a pass and transportation for 
 the West. When I got as far as Lynchburg, however, I 
 changed my mind, owing to meeting some of the boys from 
 Leesburg, who persuaded me to go there with them, as there 
 was every prospect of another fight coming off soon. This 
 suited me exactly, and to Leesburg I accordingly went, with 
 a full determination to take a hand in a battle if one did come 
 off. The fight did occur, although not so soon as I expected 
 or wished, and I played my part in it as successfully as I had 
 done at Bull Run. In the mean time, however, I splurged 
 around Leesburg in fine style, and enjoyed myself immensely, 
 being quite as successful as I- had been in other places in 
 winning the regards of the members of my own sex, not one 
 of whom appeared to have the slightest suspicion that I was 
 other than I pretended to be. 
 
 One young lady in particular, Miss E., showed a marked 
 regard for me ; and as she was a very charming girl, our 
 acquaintance would probably have developed into a decided 
 
SAILING UNDER FALSE COLORS. Ill 
 
 attachment, had I not been sailing under false colors. I was 
 sorry that I could not reciprocate, in a proper manner, the very 
 evident partiality she displayed towards me ; and I more than 
 half regretted that I permitted matters to go as far as I did, 
 when I found what an impression I was making on her suscep 
 tible heart. It was necessary for me to sustain the character 
 I had assumed, of a dashing young officer ; and, situated as I 
 was, it was important that I should make myself as agreeable 
 as possible to the members of my own sex. Apart from this, 
 however, much of the male society into which I was thrown 
 was so very disagreeable to me, that I was glad to escape from 
 it by seeking that of lady friends. It afforded me some amuse 
 ment, too, to carry on a bit of a flirtation with a nice girl ; and 
 I was very much tempted to entertain myself in this manner, 
 without reflecting very deeply as to the consequences. I am 
 very willing to admit that I ought not to have acted as I did 
 in this, and some other similar cases ; and if anything should 
 occur to induce me to assume male attire again, I should care 
 fully avoid making love to young ladies, unless I had occasion 
 to do so for the immediate furtherance of my plans. My error 
 in allowing myself to indulge in flirtations with my own sex, 
 arose from thoughtlessness, and from a desire to play my part 
 to the best advantage ; and I am sure my readers will forgive 
 me, as I hope the youug ladies, whom I induced to indulge 
 false expectations, will, when the publication of this narrative 
 makes known to the world the whole truth about the identity 
 of Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, C. S. A. 
 
 A COOL RECEPTION. 
 
 I met Miss E., by accident, in a store, and she was intro 
 duced to me by a youug dry goods clerk, with whom I had 
 struck up an acquaintance. After a little conversation on indif 
 ferent subjects, she gave me a very pressing invitation to call 
 on her. I said that I would do myself the honor, and accord 
 ingly put in an appearance, dressed in my best, at her resi 
 dence. She received me with many smiles and with great 
 cordiality, and introduced me to her father and mother. As 
 I noticed that the old people were rather inclined to be a 
 little cool, and evidently did not regard me with overmuch 
 favor, I cut short my visit, and, politely bowing myself 
 out, determined, in my own mind, never to enter the house 
 again. 
 
112 BAGATELLE. 
 
 Had I been a man, the conduct of the parents would 
 probably have spurred me to court the favor of the daughter 
 with more pertinacity than ever. I have noticed that parental 
 opposition to a young man generally has this sort of stimu 
 lating effect upon him ; but, being a woman, I did not look at 
 the thing exactly from a masculine point of view, and, as the 
 French say, Lejeun'en valait pas la chandelle. 
 
 I was sufficiently piqued, however, to accept any advances 
 the young lady might make with some degree of favor, and 
 to revenge myself upon the old people, by making myself 
 intensely agreeable to the daughter, in spite of them. When 
 Miss E., therefore, showed a very marked disposition to 
 continue our acquaintance, I was quite ready to meet her 
 half way. 
 
 The next day I met her on the street, and she, with a 
 pleasant smile, said, " I hope that you were not offended last 
 night.' 7 
 
 " Certainly not," said I. " Why should I be ? Nothing 
 has happened to offend me ; " just as if I had not noticed the 
 behavior of her parents. 
 
 " 0, yes, there has," she answered. " Pa did not behave 
 at all polite to you ; but then he treats all the young men 
 who come to see me in the same way, so you must not mind 
 him." 
 
 She then informed me that, if I wished, I could see her at 
 her cousin's ; and as she seemed to be exceedingly anxious to 
 have me call upon her again, I consented to do so. As we 
 walked up the street together she pointed out her cousin's 
 house, and I made an appointment to meet her there the next 
 day, at five o'clock. I then went with her to within a short 
 distance of her home, but declined to go to the door ; not that 
 I cared for what the old folks might say or think, but because 
 I thought that perhaps she might get a scolding. 
 
 On parting with my little lady, I went immediately to a 
 livery stable, and, hiring a team, ordered my boy Bob to drive 
 past Miss E.'s home, for the sake of showing the old gentle 
 man what kind of style I could put on. Then going to the dry 
 goods store, I took my friend, the clerk, out with me for a turn 
 around the town, but did not inform him with regard to what 
 had occurred between the young lady and myself. 
 
 I was punctual in keeping my appointment with Miss E. ; 
 and whether it was that my stylish team had impressed her 
 imagination, or that it was really a case of love at first sight, 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 113 
 
 she was even more cordial in her manner towards me than 
 on the previous occasions when we had met. 
 
 She asked me innumerable questions about myself, where I 
 was from, who were my parents, and seemed to be particularly 
 anxious to find out all about me. 
 
 I made up a story that I thought was suited to the 
 occasion and the auditor; and, among other things, told her 
 that I was the son of a millionnaire, that 1 had joined the 
 army for the fun of the thing, and that I was paying my own 
 expenses. 
 
 This seemed to make a great impression, on her ; and, with 
 a very significant smile, she said she wished that the war 
 would" soon end, and that I would settle permanently in Lees- 
 burg. This was a rather broad hint, and 1 could scarcely re 
 frain from laughing at it ; but restraining myself, and keeping 
 my countenance straight, I asked, " Why do you take such 
 a fancy to me, Miss EL, when there are so many elegant, 
 accomplished, and wealthy young men in Leesburg, with whom 
 you have been acquainted for a long time ? You know nothing 
 whatever of me." 
 
 " It won't be hard for us to become better acquainted," she 
 replied. 
 
 " Well," said I, " I don't want to deceive you ; but the fact 
 is, I am as guod as married already ; " and producing a young 
 lady's photograph, which I had in my pocket, added, " I ex 
 pect to be married to this lady as soon as the war is over." 
 
 AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION. 
 
 She turned pale at this, and the tears sprang to her eyes, 
 while I could not but feel regret at having permitted the 
 matter to go thus far. For a time neither of us spoke ; and at 
 length, to put an end to a scene that was becoming embar 
 rassing to both of us, I arose, and, extending my hand, said 
 that I must bid her good evening. 
 
 She looked at me in a pitiable sort of way, and said, " Will 
 I never see you again ? " 
 
 I answered that she might, if I was not killed, but a battle 
 was expected shortly, and it was my intention to take part in 
 it. I then said adieu, and precipitately left her, not feeling 
 altogether comfortable about the affair ; but judging, as a 
 woman, that the young lady would, before a great while, find 
 herself heart-whole, and be none the worse for having per- 
 8 
 
114 AVOIDING A DIFFICULT SITUATION. 
 
 mitted herself to become unduly interested in Lieutenant 
 Harry T. Buford. 
 
 So ended my Leesburg flirtation; and a desire to avoid 
 meeting Miss E. again, at least until she had had time to 
 recover her equanimity, a*s well as my eager wish to see some 
 more fighting, induced me to leave the town as soon as 
 possible. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 An Appetite for Fighting. The Sensations of the Battle-Field. My 
 Second Battle. The Conflict at Ball's Bluff. My Arrival at Genera! 
 Evans's Headquarters. Meeting an old Acquaintance. Hospital 
 ities of the Camp. The Morning of the Battle. Commencement of 
 the Fight. A fierce Struggle. In Charge of a Company. A sus 
 picious Story. Bob figures as a Combatant. Rout of the Enemy. 
 
 The Federals driven over the Bluff into the River. I capture 
 some Prisoners. A heart-rending Spectacle. Escape of Colonel 
 Devens, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, by swimming across 
 the River. Sinking of the Boats with the wounded Federals in them. 
 
 Night, and the End of the Battle. 
 
 T might be supposed that one battle would have 
 been enough for me, and that after having seen, 
 as at Bull Run, the carnage incident to a desper 
 ate conflict between thousands of infuriated 
 combatants, I should have been glad to have 
 abandoned a soldier's career, and to have devoted 
 myself to the service of the Confederacy in some other 
 capacity than that of a fighter. Indeed, it so turned 
 out, that the most efficient services I did perform in 
 behalf of the cause which I espoused, were other than 
 those of a strictly military character, although quite as 
 important as any rendered by the bravest fighters when 
 standing face to face to the enemy. But it was, in a measure, 
 due to necessity rather than to original choice, that I under 
 took work of a different kind from that which I had in my 
 mind when first donning my uniform. We are all of us, more 
 or less, the creatures of circumstances ; and when I saw that 
 the fact of my being a woman would enable nsje to play an 
 other role from that which I had at first intended, I did not 
 hesitate, but readily accepted what Fate had to offer. 
 
 The battle of Bull Run, however, only quickened my ardor 
 to participate in another affair of a similar kind, and the 
 months of enforced inaction, which succeeded that battle, had 
 
 115 
 
116 A HORRIBLE REMINISCENCE. 
 
 the effect of making me long, with exceeding eagerness, to 
 experience again the excitement which thrilled me on the 
 sultry July day, when the army of the Confederacy won its 
 first great victory. The sensations which, on the battle-field, 
 overcome a soldier who knows nothing of fear, can only be 
 compared to those of a gambler who is playing for enormous 
 stakes. The more noble origin of the emotions experienced 
 in the one case over those excited by the other does not pre 
 vent them from being essentially similar, although the gam 
 bler, who is staking his all on the turn of a card, can know little 
 or nothing of the glorious excitement of the soldier engaged 
 in a deadly conflict with an enemy, arid feeling that its issue 
 depends upon his putting forth his utmost exertions, and that 
 determined valor can alone secure him the victory. 
 
 THE PLEASURES OF FIGHTING. 
 
 The sensations of a soldier in the thick of a fight baffle de 
 scription ; and, as his hopes rise or sink with the ebb and flow 
 of the battle, as he sees comrades falling about him dead and 
 wounded, hears the sharp hiss of the bullets, the shrieking of 
 the shells, the yells of the soldiers on each side as they smite 
 each other, there is a positive enjoyment in the deadly perils 
 of the occasion that nothing can equal. 
 
 At Bull Run, it so happened that I was placed where the 
 fight was hottest, where the enemy made his most determined 
 attacks, where the soldiers of the South made their most des 
 perate resistance, and where, for hours, the fate of the battle 
 trembled in the balance. When at length victory crowned 
 our banners, the enemy fled from the field, and we saw no 
 more of them, and desperate as was the fight, it was, notwith 
 standing the great number of killed and wounded, unattended 
 with the peculiar horrors, the mere thought of which is calcu 
 lated to send a shudder through the strongest nerves. 
 
 The second battle in which I. participated that at Ball's 
 Bluff was accompanied by every circumstance of horror; 
 and although in the excitement of the moment, when every 
 faculty of mind and body was at extreme tension, and I was 
 only .inspired with an intense eagerness to do my whole duty 
 for my cause, I did not fully realize the. enormities of such a 
 slaughter as was involved in the defeat of the Federals at that 
 place, 1 have never been able to think of it without a shud 
 der, notwithstanding that I have fought on more than one 
 
IN CAMP. 117 
 
 bloody field since. Such scenes, however., are inseparable 
 from warfare, and those who take up arms must steel them 
 selves against them. 
 
 IN THE FIELD ONCE MORE. 
 
 It was the 10th of October, 1861, when I left Leesburg and 
 went to the headquarters of General Evans, where I met quite 
 a number of acquaintances, and was received with great cor 
 diality by them. A young officer of the eighteenth Mississippi 
 regiment invited me to take up my quarters with him; but 
 as I had all my camp equipage with me, I preferred setting 
 up my own tent. Seeking General Evans, I showed him my 
 papers, and asked to be employed. He accordingly sent me 
 to Colonel Burt, of the eighth Virginia regiment, who, how 
 ever, told me that as he had no vacancy in his command, he 
 could do nothing for me. I had no other resource now but to 
 await events, and see what should turn up in my favor, feeling 
 a little disappointed at not being able to become attached 
 definitely to some command, but with ample confidence in my 
 own ability to take care of myself, and to find some means of 
 having a hand in thd expected battle, whenever it came off. 
 
 A FRIEND OF MY YOUTH. 
 
 At Hunton's headquarters, I had the pleasure of meeting 
 Colonel Featherstone, of the seventeenth Mississippi regi 
 ment. This fine officer I had known when I was quite a small 
 child, and I was decidedly amused at the idea of renewing my 
 acquaintance with him under existing circumstances. He 
 had not the shadow of an idea that the dashing little lieutenant 
 who stood before him was a woman whom he had known as a 
 child. He, however, took a very polite interest in me, and 
 asked where I was from, and a variety of other questions, 
 which I had to draw rather extensively upon my imagination to 
 answer in proper style. I told him that I belonged to Missis 
 sippi, and a good deal more of the same kind of fiction, which, 
 if not quite as interesting as the truth would have been, was 
 sufficiently satisfying for the moment. 
 
 After we had chatted a little while, Colonel Featherstone 
 invited me over to his tent, and handing out a bottle of whis 
 key, told me to help myself. 
 
 " No, thank you, colonel," I said ; " I never drink anything 
 
118 THE BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 strong ; it does not agree with me, and I accordingly make it 
 a rule not to touch it." 
 
 He did not urge me when he noticed that I was very positive 
 in declining ; but pouring out a sizable one for himself, said, 
 " Well, a drink of the right kind of liquor, now and then, is a 
 pretty good thing, I think. Here's my regards : " and, 
 nodding towards me, he swallowed it at a gulp, without wink 
 ing an eye. 
 
 He then said, "Lieutenant, you can turn in here if you 
 wish, if you have not been assigned to quarters. You are 
 welcome to all I have, and can make yourself at home." 
 
 I thanked him, and said that there was, fortunately, no neces 
 sity for trespassing on his hospitality. Whereupon he said, 
 " If you won't stop with me, come in and see me often. I will 
 be glad to talk to you." 
 
 Thanking him again for his kindness, I said good-night, and 
 went over to my own tent, where I found Bob sound asleep. 
 Arousing him, I ordered him to be up by three o'clock in the 
 morning, and to cook plenty of provisions, as we expected 
 something to happen. The darkey knew very well that I 
 meant a fight was probably coming off soon ; but by this time 
 he had tolerably well gotten over his first scare, and was be 
 ginning to find enjoyment in the excitements of warfare, as 
 well as myself. He grinned, and promised compliance with 
 my order, and I lay down to sleep, convinced from what I had 
 heard during the evening, that my desire to participate in an 
 other battle was likely to be gratified very soon. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF. 
 
 The next morning, October 22, I was up, and ready for 
 whatever might happen, at an early hour. Having learned 
 that a large force of the enemy, belonging to the command of 
 Colonel Baker, had succeeded in crossing at Edwards' Ferry, 
 and had gained the Bluffs, prompt preparations were made to 
 give them a warm reception. 
 
 The brigade under the command of General Evans consisted 
 of four regiments, the eighth Virginia, and the thirteenth, 
 seventeenth, and eighteenth Mississippi, which were respec 
 tively commanded by Colonels Hunton, Burt, Featherstone, 
 and Barksdale. The first brunt of the fight was borne by 
 Lieutenant Colonel Janifer, who, with five companies, was 
 covering the approach to Leesburg. 
 
120 A DESPERATE STRUGGLE. 
 
 About twelve o'clock, the eighth Virginia regiment ad 
 vanced to Janifei's assistance, and this, I saw, was my chance 
 if I wished to participate in the battle. My darkey had his 
 fighting blood up too, and Was, apparently, as anxious as I 
 was to have a crack at the enemy ; for, he said, " Give me a 
 gun, Mas' Harry. I want to shoot, too." 
 
 " You'll have a chance to do some fighting pretty soon, Bob, 
 if I am not mistaken," said I, as we pushed forward as fast as 
 we could in the direction of the firing, which became more 
 rapid every moment. 
 
 Immediately on top of the Bluff, where the enemy had suc 
 ceeded in effecting a landing, and for some distance back, 
 there was a tolerably open piece of ground, cut up somewhat 
 by ridges and hollows, and surrounded by a thick growth of 
 woods. This timber for a while concealed the combatants from 
 each other, and it was impossible for us to tell what force we 
 were contending with. The woods seemed to be alive with 
 combatants, and it was thought that the enemy was strongly 
 fortified. Notwithstanding the uncertainties with regard to 
 the number of our opponents, we attacked with spirit, and for 
 a time the fight was bravely carried on by both armies. The 
 enemy certainly fought exceedingly well, especially consider 
 ing the precariousness of their position, although, of course, we 
 did not know at the time the attack was made that our foes 
 were in such a desperate predicament. 
 
 Colonel Burt, with his eighteenth Mississippi regiment, ad 
 vanced to the attack on the left of our line, while Janifer and 
 the Virginians held the centre. Burt's Mississippians were 
 compelled to undergo a most terrific fire from the enemy, who 
 were concealed in the hollows, but they succeeded in holding 
 them in check, although they suffered severely, and Colonel 
 Burt himself was numbered among the slain before the victory 
 was won. 
 
 THE FIGHT AT ITS HOTTEST. 
 
 At three o'clock, Colonel Featherstone came up with his 
 regiment, and advanced at a double-quick to the assistance of 
 Burt. The firing now became general all along the line, and 
 the men on both sides seemed to be disposed to fight with the 
 utmost fury. I thought the struggle at Bull Run a desperate 
 one, but that battle at its fiercest did not begin to equal this ; 
 and when finally we did succeed in routing the enemy, I ex 
 perienced a sense of satisfaction and relief that was over- 
 
A SKULKER. 121 
 
 whelming. For three weary hours the fighting continued 
 without intermission ; and although for a long while the result 
 was dubious, at length, as the chilly October day was about 
 closing, the enemy having lost a great number of men and 
 officers, including Colonel Baker, and being hemmed in on 
 three sides, were driven in confusion into the river. 
 
 Shortly after the fight commenced, I took charge of a com 
 pany which had lost all its officers, and I do not think that 
 either my men or myself failed to do our full duty. Perhaps, 
 if I had been compelled to manoeuvre my command in the 
 open field, I might not have done it as skilfully as some 
 others would, although I believe that I could have played the 
 part of a captain quite as well as a good many of them who 
 held regular commissions as commanders of companies, and a 
 good deal better than some others who aspired to be officers 
 before learning the first rudiments of their business, and with 
 out having the pluck to conduct themselves before the enemy 
 in a manner at all correspondent to their braggart style of 
 behavior when not smelling gunpowder under compulsion. 
 In this battle, however, fighting as we were for the most part 
 in the woods, there was little or no manoeuvring to be done, 
 and my main duties were to keep the men together, and to set 
 them an example. This latter I certainly did. 
 
 After the battle was over, the first lieutenant of the com 
 pany which I was commanding came in and relieved me, 
 stating that he had been taken prisoner, but had succeeded in 
 making his escape in the confusion incident to the Federal 
 defeat. I did not say anything, but had my very serious 
 doubts as to the story which" he told being the exact truth. 
 He had a very sheepish look, as if he was ashamed of himself 
 for playing a sneaking, cowardly trick ; and I shall always be 
 lieve that when the firing commenced, he found an oppor 
 tunity to slink away to the rear for the purpose of getting out 
 of the reach of danger. 
 
 I have seen a good many officers like this one, who were 
 brave enough when strutting about in the streets of cities and 
 villages, showing themselves off in their uniforms to the 
 women, or when airing their authority in camp, by bullying the 
 soldiers under them, but who were the most arrant cowards 
 under fire, and who ought to have been court-marshalled and 
 shot, instead of being permitted to disgrace their uniforms, 
 and to demoralize their men, by their dastardly behavior when 
 in the face of the enemy. My colored boy Bob was a better 
 
122 DEFEAT OF THE FEDERALS. 
 
 soldier than some of the white men who thought themselves 
 immensely his superiors ; and having possessed himself of a 
 gun, he fought as well as he knew how, like the rest of us. 
 When the enemy gave way, I could hear Bob yelling vocifer 
 ously ; and I confess that I was proud of the darkey's pluck 
 and enthusiasm. 
 
 THE ENEMY PUT TO FLIGHT. 
 
 The daylight was beginning to fail, when, at length, the 
 enemy broke, and ran towards the river, a confused mob of 
 fugitives, instead of an organized and disciplined army. I 
 was so wearied that I could scarcely stand. But at this mo 
 ment I would rather have died than have faltered. All my 
 Southern blood was stirred in my veins, and however little my 
 help might be, I was resolved to give it to complete the 
 victory. 
 
 The yells of triumph that broke from our boys, as they saw 
 their foes flying before them, were terrific ; and they rushed 
 after them, pursuing them through the woods, and over the 
 open ground, to the very edge of the Bluff. General Evans 
 gave orders to drive them into the river, or to capture them ; 
 and every officer and man seemed animated by a determina 
 tion to make the defeat of the enemy as signal as possible. 
 I advanced my company, in compliance with Evans's orders, 
 until we neared the river, when I called a halt; saying, as I 
 did so, to the boys, " This is warm work, but they are badly 
 whipped, I think." 
 
 Looking under me into a little ravine, I espied a Yankee 
 sergeant reaching for a musket, evidently with the intention 
 of treating me to its contents. Levelling a pistol at him, I 
 cried out, " No, you don't ! Drop that, and come up here, you 
 scoundrel ! " 
 
 He obeyed in very short order ; and when he had reached 
 me, I said, " What do you mean by that ? If it wasn't for 
 having the name of murdering a prisoner, I would shoot 
 you." 
 
 He answered, sullenly, " I don't care a d n whether you 
 do or not ; " and I don't believe that he did care much, just 
 then, for he evidently felt badly at having been defeated. 
 
 While talking with this prisoner, a number of other fugitives 
 were discovered hid in the gulleys, whom I immediately cap 
 tured. 
 
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE VANQUISHED. 123 
 
 "To what command do you belong ?" I asked. 
 
 They told me that they belonged to the fifteenth Massachu 
 setts regiment, but that the army was under the command of 
 General Stone. 
 
 HORRIBLE INCIDENTS. 
 
 At the point where I stood the Potomac River was very 
 wide, and it presented a sight such as I prayed that I might 
 never behold again. The enemy were literally driven down 
 the Bluff, and into the river, and crowds of them were floun 
 dering in the water, and grappling v/ith death. This horrible 
 spectacle made me shudder ; for, although they were my foes, 
 they were human beings, and my heart must have been hard, 
 indeed, could it not have felt for their sufferings. I was 
 willing to fight them to death's door in the open field, and to 
 ask no favors, taking the same chances for life as they had ; 
 but I had no heart for their ruthless slaughter. All the 
 woman in me revolted at the fiendish delight which some of 
 our soldiers displayed at the sight of the terrible agony en 
 dured by those who had, but a short time before, been con 
 testing the field with them so valiantly, and I could scarcely 
 refrain from making some decisive effort to put a stop to the 
 carnage, and to relieve my suffering foes. For the first time 
 since putting on my uniform I was thrown off my guard, and 
 should certainly have done something to betray my secret had 
 I not fortunately restrained myself in time. Such scenes as 
 these, however, are inseparable from warfare, and they must 
 be endured by those who adopt a soldier's career. The piti 
 able spectacles which followed our brillant victory at Ball's 
 Bluff, however, had the effect of satisfying my appetite for 
 fighting for a time ; and after it was all over, I was by no means 
 as anxious for another battle, as I had been after the victory 
 at Bull Run. 
 
 I have not the ability to give a minute description of the 
 horrid incidents attending the rout of the Federals at Ball's 
 Bluff, even if I had the disposition. As this battle, however, 
 was an important event in my military career, and as it made a 
 very painful impression upon me, some account, even if a very 
 meagre one, of one of the most striking features of the affair, 
 seems to be necessary in order to make my narrative com 
 plete. 
 
 When the enemy broke before the galling fire which we 
 poured into them, they stampeded for the river, a disordered 
 
124 THE FEDERALS DRIVEN OVER THE BLUFF. 
 
 and panic-stricken crowd. Over the Bluff they went, pell- 
 mell, leaping, rolling, and tumbling, more like a herd of fright 
 ened buffalo fleeing from the savages of the plains, than hu 
 man beings, hundreds being shot down while attempting to 
 cross, and hundreds of others being captured before they could 
 gain the river. I was sick with horror ; and as the cold shiv 
 ers ran through me, and my heart stood still in my bosom, I 
 shut my eyes for a moment, wishing that it was all over, but 
 only to open them again to gaze on a spectacle that had a 
 terrible fascination for me, in spite of its horrors. 
 
 ESCAPE OF COLONEL DEVENS. 
 
 Directly, one of the prisoners whom I was guarding, shouted, 
 " There goes my colonel ! " 
 
 " What is his name ? " I inquired. 
 
 "Colonel Devens, of the fifteenth Massachusetts. regiment," 
 he replied, as he pointed to a figure striking out in an attempt 
 to swim across the river. 
 
 I said, "I hope the poor fellow will get safely to land, for 
 he has fought bravely, and deserves a better fate than a 
 watery grave." 
 
 Colonel Devens, it appears, in the confusion got separated 
 from his men, and seeing no chance of rallying them, or of 
 doing anything to turn the tide of defeat, had, when all hope 
 of ever effecting an orderly retreat was gone, sought to save 
 himself in the desperate manner I have indicated. Pie was, 
 apparently, a powerful swimmer, for he was soon out of mus 
 ket-shot, and I believe he managed to gain the other shore. 
 He had my best wishes in the attempt at any rate, for I have 
 not a cruel or vindictive nature, and at this time my womanly 
 sympathies were being awakened in the liveliest manner. 
 
 When the rout began, there was but one boat in the 
 river, and this was quickly filled with a struggling mass of 
 humanity, each man being intent only on making good his 
 own escape from the deadly fire of the Confederates. On 
 the bank, a dense crowd of fugitives were throwing away 
 their arms, and divesting themselves of their clothing, some 
 of them, apparently, resolved to save themselves, like Colonel 
 Devens, by swimming. A large number of those who plunged 
 into the river were drowned in the icy waters, and the 
 shrieks of these poor fellows fairly appalled me as I heard 
 them, and rang in my ears for days afterwards. 
 
NIGHT PUTS AN END TO THE CARNAGE. 125 
 
 Our men had orders to keep up a fire from the Bluff, and 
 only too many seemed to delight in the bloody work, as they 
 poured volley after volley into the fugitives. On my left, a 
 Federal captain came charging up the hill at the head of his 
 men, apparently not aware of the full extent of the disaster 
 which had befallen his comrades. As soon, however, as he 
 reached a place where he could survey the field, he saw plainly 
 that it was useless to attempt further resistance, and so he 
 raised a white flag, and surrendered himself and command. 
 
 I fired my revolver at another officer a major, I believe 
 who was in the act of jumping into the river. I saw him 
 spring into the air, and fall ; and then turned my head away, 
 shuddering at what I had done, although I believed that it 
 was only my duty. An officer near me exclaimed, " Lieuten 
 ant, your ball took him; " words that sent a thrill of horror 
 through me. 
 
 The most awful episode of the day was the sinking of the 
 boats containing the wounded and dying; and from this I 
 turned away, sick at heart, unable to endure the sight of it. 
 
 So ended the battle of Ball's Bluff; and the soldiers of the 
 Confederacy had won another great victory, although at a 
 terrible sacrifice ; for many of our bravest officers and men 
 were slain, and a great number severely wounded. I had the 
 satisfaction of knowing that I had done my duty, and had 
 fought as bravely as the bravest. It cost me a pang to think 
 of the noble fellows who fell in defence of the cause they 
 loved, and I particularly mourned the death of the gallant 
 Colonel Burt. I had regrets, too, for the foemen who were so 
 ruthlessly slaughtered, and would willingly have spared them 
 had it been in my power to do so. There were, I think, about 
 nineteen hundred men engaged at Ball's Bluff on the Con 
 federate side, and six pieces of artillery. Exactly how many 
 the Federals had I do not know, but their numbers were 
 certainly equal to ours, if not greater. 
 
 When night finally closed upon the battle-field, and put an 
 end to the carnage, I was completely used up by the fatigues 
 and excitements of the day, arid not even the terrible scenes 
 which haunted me in my mind's eye, long after I had ceased 
 to gaze upon them, could prevent me from dropping into a 
 sound and dreamless sleep. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 FIRST EXPERIENCES AS A SPY. 
 
 Reaction after the Excitements of a Battle. The Necessity for mental 
 and bodily Occupation. I form a^new Project. War as we imagine 
 it, and as it is. Fighting not the only Thing to be done. The Dreams 
 of Youth, and the Realities of Experience. The Secret of Success. 
 The Difficulties which the Confederate Commanders experienced in 
 obtaining Information of the Movements of the Enemy. What a 
 Woman can do that a Man cannot. A Visit to Mrs. Tyree. The 
 only Way of keeping a Secret. I assume the Garments of my own 
 Sex again as a Disguise. Getting across the Potomac at Night. 
 Asleep in a Wheat-Stack. A suspicious Farmer. A Friend in Need. 
 Maryland Hospitality. Off for Washington. 
 
 'F too restless and impulsive a disposition to 
 endure patiently the prolonged "inaction which 
 seemed inevitable after a battle, it fretted me 
 to be obliged to lounge about camp, or to par 
 ticipate in the too often most demoralizing 
 amusements of the city, as I had been com 
 pelled to do for many weeks after the fight at Bull Run. 
 I was disgusted, too, at the difficulties which presented 
 themselves at every step whenever I attempted to 
 get myself attached to a regular command, or to be 
 assigned for the kind of service which I felt best quali 
 fied to perform, and which was most in accordance with my 
 tastes. It was an absolute necessity for me to be in motion, 
 to be doing something, and the slow and inconclusive progress 
 of the military movements annoyed me beyond expression. 
 The inevitable reaction, after the intense excitements of the 
 battle of Ball's Bluff, caused a depression of spirits which I 
 felt I must do something to shake off. The terrible sights 
 and sounds of that battle haunted me night and day, for I 
 could not help thinking of them, and the more I thought of 
 them the more horrible they appeared. 
 
 I determined, therefore, very shortly after the battle, to put 
 
 126 
 
THE REALITIES OF WARFARE. 127 
 
 into execution a project I had for some time been meditating, 
 which would require the exercise of all my faculties, and 
 which would give me constant employment for mind and 
 body, such as the routine of camp life did not afford, and 
 which would compel me to concentrate my mind on the inven 
 tion and execution of plans for the achievement of definite 
 results for the cause of Southern independence. 
 
 Before entering upon the career of a soldier, I of course 
 knew a great deal about military life, having been the wife 
 of an army officer, and having resided at frontier stations, but 
 I had nevertheless very crude and superficial notions about 
 the exigencies of warfare. My ideas, however, were no 
 cruder than those of thousands of others, for it is very doubt 
 ful whether any but a few veterans understood what would 
 have to be gone through with by soldiers in the field, espe 
 cially when large armies were operating against each other 
 over an immense stretch of country. 
 
 The books I had read, in which the doings of heroes and 
 heroines were recorded, devoted a large space to the descrip 
 tion of battles, and these, as a matter of course, being more 
 interesting and exciting than the other portions, it was only 
 natural, perhaps, that the notion should become fixed in my 
 mind that fighting was a soldier's chief, if not only employ 
 ment. 
 
 ROMANCE AND REALITY. 
 
 I was soon disillusioned on these points, and, after a very 
 brief experience, discovered that actual warfare was far dif 
 ferent from what I had supposed it would be. Neither of the 
 battles in which I had thus far been engaged impressed me 
 at all as I had expected they would, although, in some partic 
 ulars, they were agreeable disappointments ; for there was an 
 exhilaration in an actual, hotly -contested fight that far sur 
 passed anything my imagination had pictured. Battles, how 
 ever, I found were likely to be few and far between, while 
 there were thousands of disagreeable incidents connected 
 with military life which I had never suspected, and of which 
 my husband's warnings had scarcely given me the slightest 
 hint. The inaction of the camp, when one is day after day 
 hoping and half expecting something startling will happen, 
 only to be subjected to perpetual disappointment, and the dull 
 round of camp duties, and the trivial devices adopted to kill 
 time, after a very brief period become most oppressive. 
 
128 THE SECRET OP SUCCESS. 
 
 Not only did I discover that fighting was not the only, or 
 the most frequent, employment of the soldier, but I soon 
 aAvakened to the fact that, in a great war, like the one in 
 which 1 was now taking part, it was not always the men who 
 wore the uniforms and handled the muskets who performed the 
 most efficient services. As there were other things besides 
 fighting to do, so there must be other than soldiers to perform 
 necessary portions of the work, and to aid in advancing the 
 interests of the cause. 
 
 DREAMS OF DELUSION. 
 
 Many of our hopes, anticipations, and aspirations are mere 
 dreams of delusion, which can have no practical fulfilment in 
 this working-day world, and it sometimes costs a pang to dis 
 miss forever a cherished but mistaken idea, and to weave our 
 own web of romance from the parti-colored threads of com 
 monplace reality ; it is like parting with a portion of our 
 own being. But, the illusion once dispelled, we are able to 
 step forward more firmly and more resolutely, to act the part 
 which the will of Providence assigns us to play in the great 
 drama of life. 
 
 We may regret that the dreams of our youth do not come 
 true, just as we once loved to hope that they would, almost 
 without endeavor on our part ; but who shall say that our 
 own life romances, woven out of the tissues of events from 
 day to day, with much labor, doubt, and pain, are not fairer 
 and brighter than any imagination could create ? It is good 
 to do one's duty quietly amid the rush of great events, even 
 when the path of duty lies in hidden places, where the gaze 
 of the crowd penetrates not, where applause cannot follow ; 
 and one's own satisfaction at duty well and nobly performed, 
 is, after all, the best recompense that can be had. 
 
 To be a second Joan of Arc was a mere girlish fancy, which 
 my very first experiences as a soldier dissipated forever ; and 
 it did not take me long to discover that I needed no model, 
 but that, to win success in the career I had chosen, I must be 
 simply myself, and not a copy, even in the remotest partic 
 ular, of anybody else ; and that the secret of success consisted 
 in watching the current of events, and in taking advantage 
 of circumstances as they arose. 
 
 In a life &o novel as that I was now leading, however, it 
 took me some time to become sufficiently informed to be able 
 
A NEW ENTERPRISE PROJECTED. 129 
 
 to do anything effective in the way of shaping my career; I was, 
 of necessity, obliged to go ahead somewhat at random, and to 
 wait and learn, not only what I could do with the best effect, 
 but what there was for me to do. In assuming the garb of a 
 soldier, I had no other idea than to do a soldier's duty: this 
 was my ambition, and I scarcely gave thought to anything 
 else. The experiences of actual warfare, however, soon had 
 the effect of convincing me that a woman like myself, who 
 had a talent for assuming disguises, and who, like me, was 
 possessed of courage, resolution, and energy, backed up by a 
 ready wit, a plausible address, and attractive manners, had it 
 in her power to perform many services of the most vital im 
 portance, which it would be impossible for a man to even 
 attempt. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES IN OBTAINING INFORMATION. 
 
 The difficulty which our commander experienced in gaining 
 accurate and thoroughly reliable information with regard to the 
 movements of the enemy, the rumors that prevailed of the enor 
 mous preparations being made by the Federal government to 
 crush the South, an insatiable desire to see and to hear for 
 myself what was going on within the enemy's lines, all stim 
 ulated me to make an attempt, the hazardous character of 
 which I well knew ; but, trusting to my woman's wit to see 
 me safely through, I resolved that the attempt should be 
 made. 
 
 My plans were tolerably well matured when the battle of 
 Ball's Bluff took place, and I should probably have put them 
 in execution before I did, had it not been for the insatiate 
 desire I had to take part in another fight. After that battle, 
 I more than ever felt the necessity for some constant, active 
 employment, for I chafed under the ennui of the camp, and 
 felt irresistibly impelled to be moving about and doing some 
 thing. I accordingly was not long in resolving that the time 
 had now arrived for me to attempt something more than I 
 had yet done, and for me to effect a coup that might either 
 make or mar my fortunes, but that, whatever its result might 
 be, would give me the excitement I craved, and demonstrate 
 my abilities, and my disposition to serve the Confederacy in 
 such a signal manner that it would be impossible for those in 
 authority any longer to ignore me. 
 9 
 
130 A TRUE DAUGHTER OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 A WOMAN'S ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. 
 
 A woman labors under some disadvantages in an attempt 
 to fight her own way in the world, and at the same time, from 
 the mere fact that she is a woman, she can often do things 
 that a man cannot. I have no hesitation in saying that I wish 
 I had been created a man instead of a woman. This is what 
 is the matter with nearly all the women who go about com 
 plaining of the wrongs of our sex. But, being a woman, I 
 was bent on making the best of it ; and having for some time 
 now figured successfully in the garments of the other sex, I 
 resolved upon resuming thos"e of my own for a season, for the 
 accomplishment of a purpose I had in my mind. This pur 
 pose I felt sure I could accomplish as a woman; and although 
 I had a tolerably good appreciation of the perils I should run, 
 I had confidence in my abilities to see myself through, and 
 the perils attending my enterprise were incentives, rather 
 than otherwise, for me to attempt it. 
 
 Having obtained a letter of introduction to General Leon- 
 idas Polk, and my transportation papers, for it was my 
 intention, after making the trip I had immediately in view, to 
 visit the part of the country in which his army was operating, 
 as it was more familiar to me, and I thought that I could per 
 form more efficient service there than in Virginia, I turned 
 in my camp equipage to the quartermaster, and bidding fare 
 well to my friends, started off in search of new adventures. 
 
 Stopping in Leesburg, I went, in company with a couple of 
 other officers, to pay a visit to Mrs. Tyree, a brave and true- 
 hearted Virginia lady, who, with her interesting family, had 
 suffered greatly through the devastation of her property by 
 the enemy. We tried, by every argument we could imagine, 
 to persuade her to remove to some safer locality, representing 
 that the Federals, though defeated at Ball's Bluff, were likely 
 to repeat the attack at any time, and to march on Leesburg 
 with a large force. Our appeals were in vain, however, and 
 she answered every argument, by saying, " This is my home, 
 and I will perish in it, if necessary." 1 heartily wished that 
 I had a force of soldiers under my command at the moment, 
 so that I could compel her to remove for her own sake and 
 that of her family ; and when I said adieu to her, it was with 
 the sincerest admiration for her inflexible courage and her 
 devotion to the cause of the South. 
 
A DOUBLE DISGUISE. 131 
 
 THE WAY TO KEEP A SECRET. 
 
 Leaving my boy where he would be taken care of, I stated 
 to my acquaintances that I intended to make a journey, and 
 that I expected to be gone about ten days, but did not tell 
 any one where I was going, or what my plans were. No one 
 but myself had the slightest notion as to what project I had 
 on foot, for I felt that success would very largely depend 
 upon my secret being kept to myself, at least until I had ac 
 complished, or had tried to accomplish, what I proposed. 
 What I dreaded more than any dangers I was likely to be 
 exposed to was the ridicule that would probably meet me in 
 case of failure, to say nothing of the probabilities in favor of 
 my sex being discovered, or at least suspected. But ridicule, 
 as well as danger, was what I resolved to brave when put 
 ting on male attire, and I really dreaded it less than I did my 
 own heart-burnings in the event of my not winning the des 
 perate game I was playing. The way to keep a secret, as I 
 had long since found out, is not to tell it to anybody ; and 
 acting upon this very excellent principle, I have generally 
 succeeded in keeping my secrets and I have, in my time, 
 had some important ones until the proper moment for re 
 vealing them came. Some people are never happy, when 
 possessed of a secret until they have told it to somebody 
 else, of course in the strictest confidence. My experience is 
 that this is a sure way to get the matter, whatever it may be, 
 put into circulation as a bit of general information. 
 
 ASSUMING A NEW DISGUISE. 
 
 It was necessary, however, for me to have some assistance 
 in getting my enterprise started, just as it had been for me to 
 select a confidant when I first assumed the uniform of an offi 
 cer ; and I would say here that, to the infinite honor of the 
 friend whose aid I sought on that occasion, the secret of my 
 transformation was as faithfully kept as if it were his own ; 
 but, as the circumstances were different, a different kind of 
 an agent was in this case selected. My appeal, this time, was 
 to the strongest sentiments of self-interest, and even then 
 my confidant was only intrusted with the knowledge of a 
 change of apparel. 
 
 Going to an old negro woman who had washed for me, and 
 who had shown considerable fondness for me, I told her that 
 
132 IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE. 
 
 I intended visiting the Yankees for the purpose of seeing 
 them about coming and freeing the colored folk, and asked 
 her to let me have a suit of woman's clothes, so that I could 
 get through the lines without being stopped. I made up 
 quite a long yarn about what I proposed to do, and the poor 
 old soul, believing all I told her without a moment's hesita 
 tion, consented to aid me in every way she could, her ardor 
 being materially quickened by a twenty dollar Confederate 
 note which I handed her. 
 
 She was not long in having me attired in the best she had, 
 a calico dress, a woollen shawl, a sun-bonnet, and a pair of 
 shoes much too large for me, and hiding away my uniform 
 where it would be safe during my absence, she started me off 
 with a full expectation that I would be back in a couple of 
 weeks, with the whole Yankee army at my back, for the pur 
 pose of liberating all the slaves. The old woman put such 
 implicit faith in me that I really felt sorry at deceiving her, 
 bat quieted my conscience with the thought that lying was as 
 necessary as fighting in warfare, and that the prospects were 
 that I would be compelled to do much more fibbing than this 
 before the errand upon which I was about starting would be 
 achieved. 
 
 CROSSING THE POTOMAC. 
 
 Managing to make my way to the river without attracting 
 any particular attention, I found an old negro who had a boat, 
 and making up a story that I fancied would answer the pur 
 pose, I struck a bargain with him to take me across to the 
 Maryland shore for twenty-five dollars. He was eager to get 
 the money, probably never having handled so much before in 
 his life at any one time, but warned me that it would be a risky 
 piece of business, for the weather was very cold, the river 
 broad and deep, and the current strong, and there was con 
 siderable danger of my being fired at by the pickets on either 
 bank. I told him that I was not afraid to take all the risks, 
 and that I thought 1 could stand the cold. I accordingly 
 concealed myself in his cabin until the time for commencing 
 the crossing arrived, neither of us deeming it prudent to start 
 before midnight. 
 
 It was after midnight before we were launched in our little 
 craft on the black, swift-running water of the Potomac, and 
 it was quite three hours before we reached the opposite 
 shore. My old ferryman pulled lustily, but it was hard work 
 
A ROUGH LODGING PLACE. 133 
 
 for him, although the handsome fee he was to receive when 
 his task was accomplished was a decided stimulant. He 
 really had the best of it, however, in having some work to do, 
 for the night air was bitter cold, and I was thinly clad. I 
 would have been glad to have taken a turn at the oars, just 
 for the sake of warming myself, had I believed myself pos 
 sessed of the physical strength to wield them with efficiency. 
 I was too eager to get over this unpleasant and hazardous 
 part of my journey, however, to incur any delay by attempt 
 ing to pull an oar, and bore the sharp winds that swept over 
 the water, and at times seemed to cut me to the bones, with 
 what equanimity I could command. 
 
 At length we reached the Maryland side of the river, to 
 my infinite satisfaction, for I was numb with the cold, and 
 stiff in all my limbs, from the cramped position in which I had 
 been obliged to sit in the boat, and was heartily glad of an 
 opportunity to tread dry land once more. Dismissing the 
 boatman, and enjoining him not to say anything, I made my 
 way to a farm-house which I espied a short distance from the 
 place of landing, and about four o'clock in the morning, find 
 ing no better place to rest my weary limbs, I crept into a 
 wheat-stack, and slept there until daylight. 
 
 I scarcely know whether to say that I enjoyed this sort of 
 thing or not. For a thinly clad woman to find no better place 
 for repose during a chilly night in the latter part of October, 
 after having endured the cutting blasts for three hours while 
 crossing the Potomac in an open boat, was certainly hard 
 lines. It is true that, for some months, I had accustomed my 
 self to tolerably rough living, but this was a trifle rougher 
 than anything I had as ye"t experienced. As there was no 
 one but myself to applaud my heroism, this particular episode 
 did not, and could not, have the same attraction that some 
 even more perilous ones had ; and yet, despite the discom 
 forts of the situation, I had a certain amount of satisfaction, 
 and even of pleasure, in going through with it. My enjoy 
 ment if I can designate my peculiar emotions by such a 
 word I can only attribute to my insatiable love for adven 
 ture ; to the same overmastering desire to do difficult, dan 
 gerous, and exciting things, and to accomplish hazardous 
 enterprises, that had induced me to assume the dress of the 
 other sex, and to figure as a soldier on the battle-field. 
 
 When I crept into that wheat- stack, however, I was not in 
 a mood to indulge in any philosophical reflections on the sit- 
 
134 ON DELICATE GROUND. 
 
 uation, or on my own motives or feelings ; I was simply in 
 search of a reasonably sheltered place where I could repose 
 until morning ; and having found one, I was not long in clos 
 ing my eyes, and lapsing into temporary oblivion of the cares 
 and trials of this wicked world. 
 
 I managed to get a nap of a couple of hours' duration, 
 when I was awakened by the increasing light, and by the 
 noises of the farm-yard. Adjusting my clothing as well as I 
 could, and shaking off the straw that clung to me, I approached 
 the house, a little dubious with regard to the kind of recep 
 tion I should get, but trusting to luck to be able to obtain 
 what I wanted. A man came out to meet me, and looked 
 rather sullenly at me, as if he thought me a suspicious char 
 acter, whom it would be well to have cautious dealings with. 
 My appearance was such that there was certainly good cause 
 for his distrust. The old colored woman's calico dress, 
 woollen shawl, sun-bonnet, and shoes did not come near fitting 
 me, while my slumbers in the wheat-stack had not tended to 
 make me a particularly attractive object. I had no difficulty 
 in believing that I was a perfect fright, and was amused, 
 rather than displeased, at the rather discourteous reception I 
 met with. 
 
 Plucking up courage, however, I advanced, and told him 
 that I had been driven out of Virginia, and was trying to get 
 back to my people in Tennessee. I did not give any hint of 
 my political predilections, thinking it more prudent to find 
 how he and his folk stood first. I then asked him if I could 
 not go into the house and warm myself, and get some break 
 fast, as I was both cold and hungry, and I suppose must have 
 looked so pitiable that he felt compelled to grant my request, 
 if only for charity's sake. He accordingly invited me into 
 the dining-room, and called his wife. 
 
 When the woman came, I told a long rigmarole, taking 
 pains to show that I had some money, with which I could, if 
 necessary, pay for what I ate and drank. My story, I saw 
 plainly, did not take very well, and the man was evidently 
 afraid to say much. The woman, however, soon let out on 
 the Yankees with such fiery energy that I understood at once 
 how matters stood, and consequently began to feel more at my 
 ease. 
 
 I now began to embellish my story with plenty of abuse of 
 the Yankees, and with such details of the sufferings I had 
 endured on account of my having sided with the South, that 
 
HOSPITALITIES. 135 
 
 their sympathies were at once aroused, and I felt certain that 
 I could easily get all the assistance from them that I wished. 
 Both of them but the man especially were eager to know 
 all about the battle. I had told them that I had just come 
 from the neighborhood of Leesburg, and I accordingly gave 
 them an account of the affair, dilating particularly upon the 
 magnificent manner in which the Confederates had whipped 
 the Yankees, and prophesying that, with a little more of this 
 kind of fighting, there would soon be an end of the war. 
 
 The woman now invited me to a nice, warm breakfast, 
 which I enjoyed immensely, for I was desperately hungry 
 after my night's adventure. During the meal I showed them 
 a letter, written by myself, for use in such an emergency as 
 this, which, of course, tended to confirm the story I told, and 
 treated them to the style of conversation they evidently liked 
 to hear. After breakfast was over, the woman, taking pity 
 upon my mean attire, insisted upon dressing me in some of 
 her own clothing. I was soon, therefore, in a somewhat more 
 presentable condition than I had been, and, having obtained 
 such information as they were able to give in regard to the 
 best method of proceeding in order speedily to reach my des 
 tination, I bade them good-by, sincerely grateful for their 
 kindness, and started for Washington, where I hoped to be 
 able to pick up some useful bits of information, in fact, to 
 make what the soldiers would call, a reconnoissance in force. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 Inside the Enemy's Lines. Arrival at the Federal Capital. Renewing 
 an Acquaintance with an old Friend. What I found out by a judi 
 cious System of Questioning. The Federal Plans with regard to the 
 Mississippi. An Attack on New Orleans surmised. A Tour around 
 Washington. Visit to the War Department, and Interview with 
 Secretary Cameron and General Wessells. An Introduction to the 
 President. Impressions of Mr. Lincoln. I succeed in finding out a 
 Thing or two at the Post-Office. Sudden Departure from Washington. 
 Return to Leesburg. Departure for Columbus, Kentucky. 
 
 CAVING once penetrated the lines of 
 the enemy, there was, I knew, little 
 to fear. As a Confederate soldier, I 
 was figuring in a disguise which was 
 likely, at any time, to get me into 
 trouble of some sort, and not the 
 least danger I saw was that of 
 being arrested as a spy. When I 
 first undertook to be a soldier, this 
 was an idea that never occurred to 
 me ; but a very short experience in 
 actual campaigning taught me that I 
 would have to be careful to prevent 
 the fact that I was disguised from 
 being found out, if for no other reason than that my loyalty to 
 the Southern cause might not be suspected. I relied, how 
 ever, upon the good fighting I had done, and the other services 
 I had rendered, which were proofs of the genuineness of my 
 devotion, as well as the influence of my friends to get me out 
 of any scrape into which I might fall through the discovery 
 that I was not a man. 
 
 Here, in the enemy's country, however, I passed for exactly 
 what I was, with nobody nearer than Memphis who knew me, 
 both as a man and as a woman, and I consequently felt 
 perfectly secure in moving about pretty much as I chose, 
 
 136 
 
WASHINGTON WELL DEFENDED. 137 
 
 having a plausible story on the end of my tongue to tell any 
 body who might question me. I concluded that, as it was 
 most likely I would meet in Washington people who knew me 
 as a woman, indeed, I relied greatly upon finding some 
 acquaintance through whom I could be able to obtain the 
 kind of information I desired, that it would be safer, and in 
 all respects better for me to attempt no disguise, but to figure 
 as myself, and as nobody else. 
 
 ON THE ROAD TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 The kindness of my friend, the farmer's wife, in furnishing 
 me with an outfit from her own wardrobe, enabled me to make 
 a presentable appearance, for, although I was by no means 
 elegantly attired, my clothing was quite good enough for me 
 to pass as a lady ; and when I left the farm-house and started 
 en route for Washington, it was with a light heart, and with 
 no apprehensions of difficulty, except, perhaps, in getting 
 back safely, and of being able to resume my disguise again 
 without being discovered. The prospect of having some 
 trouble in these respects, however, only gave a zest to the 
 adventure ; and as I had managed to get safely within the 
 Federal lines, I had little doubt that I would be able to elude 
 the Confederate pickets in returning, especially as I under 
 stood how matters were managed on the Virginia side, and 
 knew, or thought I knew, how to elude the vigilance of our 
 boys. 
 
 between my starting-point on the Maryland side and 
 Washington, I saw a good many soldiers, from which I judged 
 that the approaches to the Federal capital were strongly 
 guarded, and that very efficient means were being taken to 
 prevent anything like a surprise on the part of the Con 
 federates. This was the most important information I suc 
 ceeded in obtaining ; and except that I was enabled to form 
 some estimates of the force that was guarding the Maryland 
 side of the Potomac it was of no special value, as it was well 
 understood among the Confederates that the enemy were well 
 prepared to resist an attack upon Washington, and were con 
 centrating a large army in and about the city. 
 
 There were matters better worth knowing than this that I 
 hoped to discover ; and to discover them, it was necessary for 
 me to go to Washington, and when there, to obtain facilities 
 for conversing with people who knew what I wanted to know. 
 
138 
 
 THE FEDERAL PLANS. 
 
 I had a plan of procedure in my mind in which I had great 
 confidence, but I really trusted more to circumstances than 
 to any definite plan, having ample belief in my own ability to 
 take advantage of anything that might turn up. While on 
 the way to Washington, therefore, I judged it prudent to do as 
 little talking as possible, although I kept my eyes and ears 
 open for any scraps of useful knowledge that might present 
 themselves. 
 
 ARRIVAL IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 On arriving in Washington, I went to Brown's Hotel, and 
 having learned that an officer of the regular Federal army, 
 with whom I was well acquainted, and who had been a warm 
 personal friend of my late husband, was in the city, I sent him 
 a note, asking him to call on me. He came to see me very 
 promptly on receiving my message, and greeting me with a 
 good deal of cordiality, expressed a desire to aid me in any 
 manner that lay in his power. I told him that I was just 
 from New York, and making up a plausible story to account 
 for my being in Washington, began to question him about the 
 progress of the war. He evidently had not the slightest idea 
 that I was in Washington for any other purpose than what he 
 would have considered a perfectly legitimate one, and con 
 sequently spoke without any reserve concerning a number of 
 matters about which he would certainly have kept silent had 
 he suspected that I had just come from the other side of the 
 Potomac, and that my object was to pick up items of informa 
 tion that would be useful to the Confederacy. 
 
 He greatly lamented the defeat which the Federals had met 
 with at Ball's Bluff, and from what he said, I judged that the 
 affair was the great sensation of the hour, and that it had 
 caused much discouragement, not only in the army, but among 
 all classes of people at the North. Indeed, my friend was 
 decidedly blue when discussing the subject, and expressed 
 himself in very energetic terms with regard to the rebels, 
 little thinking that he was conversing with one who had 
 played a most active part in the very thickest of the battle. 
 He went on to say, however, that it was expected that the 
 deteat at Ball's Bluff would be more than compensated for 
 very shortly, and that in Kentucky, particularly, the Federals 
 were making great preparations for an active campaign, which, 
 it was hoped, would do material damage to the Confederacy. 
 
 I succeeded, by judicious questioning, in obtaining a few 
 
BROAD HINTS AND SHARP GUESSES. 139 
 
 points from him with regard to the operations of the Federal 
 forces in the West ; but ; although he was tolerably well posted 
 about the general movements, he was apparently not accurately 
 informed with regard to particulars. It is probable, too, that 
 he might have known a good deal that he did not choose to tell, 
 even to me, unsuspicious as he was about my real character. 
 
 SOMETHING WORTH KNOWING. 
 
 The information of most vital moment, however, that I 
 succeeded in obtaining from him was, that active preparations 
 were being made to secure possession of the upper Mississippi, 
 and that a very large fleet was being fitted out for the purpose 
 of blockading the mouth of the river. I instantly surmised 
 from this that an attack on New Orleans was in contemplation, 
 and resolved to bend my energies, during my stay in Wash 
 ington, to the task of finding out all I could with regard 
 to the actual intentions of the Federal government. I did 
 succeed in obtaining ample confirmation of all my friend told 
 me, and to a limited extent of my guesses. Those, however, 
 who really knew, were very close-mouthed about what 
 particular work was being cut out for the fleet to perform, 
 and the desire seemed to be to leave the impression that it 
 was to undertake blockade duty simply, and to close the mouths 
 of the river to the ingress and egress of vessels. There 
 were some things which I heard, however, that did not 
 exactly conform to this theory, and by the time I left Wash 
 ington, I was tolerably well convinced that a grand blow was 
 shortly to be struck, either at Mobile or New Orleans, but 
 most likely at the latter city. I pumped, in a quiet way, 
 everybody I met, who was at all likely to know anything ; but 
 I was really afraid to push my inquiries too far, or to seem 
 too inquisitive, as I did not care to be suspected as a spy and 
 put under surveillance, especially as I learned that the gov 
 ernment was greatly annoyed by the presence of numbers of 
 Confederate spies in Washington, and was disposed to deal 
 vigorously with them if they were caught. 
 
 This, it must be remembered, was simply a reconnoi 
 tring expedition, undertaken entirely on my own account, 
 without authority from anybody ; and while I, of course, 
 wanted to find out all I could, my real object was more to 
 make an experiment than anything else, and I did not wish 
 to spoil my chances for future operations for I fully 
 
140 AN INTERVIEW WITH SECEETARY CAMERON. 
 
 expected to visit Washington again on similar service to this 
 by getting into trouble just then, and consequently making 
 myself liable to suspicion in the future. 
 
 After a somewhat prolonged and very pleasant conversation 
 with my friend, he took his departure, promising, however, to 
 call the next day, and as I was a stranger in Washington, 
 having never visited the city before, to take me to the 
 different places of interest. This was exactly what I wanted, 
 for I was desirous of being informed, as soon as possible, 
 exactly where the public offices were situated, and the best 
 means of obtaining access to them, and I counted greatly 
 upon this obliging and very gallant gentleman unsuspectingly 
 starting me on the right road for the accomplishment of the 
 ends I had in view. 
 
 He made his appearance promptly at the appointed hour 
 the next morning, and took me to see the Patent Office, the 
 Treasury Department, and the War Department. With this 
 latter, especially, I was, as might be supposed, particularly 
 interested ; and skilfully hinting to my escort an intense desire 
 to know something with regard to how the operations of a 
 great conflict, like the one in progress, were directed from 
 headquarters, I led him up to making a proposal that he 
 should introduce me to the Secretary of War. In a demure 
 sort of way, I expressed myself as delighted at the honor of 
 being able to meet so great a man, and so, in a few moments 
 more, I was bowing, in my politest manner, to Secretary 
 Cameron. 
 
 AT THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The secretary seemed to be busy, and evidently did 
 not have much time to give to me, and my conversation with 
 him scarcely amounted to more than an exchange of the most 
 ordinary civilities. I made the most of my opportunities, 
 however, for studying his face, and forming some estimate 
 of his character. 
 
 I cannot say that the Secretary of War impressed me very 
 favorably. He was abundantly courteous in his manners, but 
 there was a crafty look in his eyes, and a peculiar expression 
 about his mouth, that I thought indicated a treacherous dis 
 position, and that I did not like. I concluded that Mr. 
 Cameron would be a hard man to deal with, unless dealing 
 were made well worth his while ; but in spite of his evident 
 knowingness, and his evident confidence in his own abilities, 
 
FAVORABLE IMPRESSIONS OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 141 
 
 I left him, feeling tolerably sure that I could prove myself a 
 fair match for him in case our wits were ever brought into 
 conflict. 
 
 I was much better pleased with General Wessells, the 
 'Commissary General of Prisoners, to whom I was also intro 
 duced, than I was with Secretary Cameron. He was very 
 polite, indeed, and I decided immediately that I was likely to 
 make more out of him than I was out of the secretary. On 
 the impulse of the moment, and just for the sake of feeling 
 my ground with him, I said, in a careless sort of way, during 
 our conversation, that I had a brother who was a prisoner, 
 and whom I would like to see, if it could be permitted, 
 notwithstanding that he was on the wrong side. General 
 Wessells very politely said that I could see him if I wished ; 
 whereupon I thanked him, and said that I would, perhaps, 
 shortly avail myself of his kindness. 
 
 The reader may be sure that while at the War Department 
 I saw and heard all I could, and that I took particular pains 
 to note the movements of everybody, and to observe exactly 
 how things were done, so that in case I should ever be obliged 
 to call there again on any special errand, I should feel 
 reasonably at home, and be able to go about whatever work 
 I had in hand with as little embarrassment as possible. 
 
 A VISIT TO MR. LINCOLN. 
 
 From the War Department we went to the White House, 
 where my friend said he would introduce me to the President. 
 I really had some dread of this interview, although I experi 
 enced a great curiosity to see Mr. Lincoln, and would not 
 have willingly missed such an opportunity as this of meeting 
 him. I had heard a great deal about him, of course, and 
 not much that was favorable, either as regards his charac 
 ter or his personal appearance, and I considered him more 
 than any one person responsible for the war. Mr. Lincoln, 
 however, was an agreeable disappointment to me, as I have 
 no doubt he was to many others. He was certainly a very 
 homely man, but he was not what I should call an ugly man, 
 for he had a pleasant, kindly face, and a pleasantly familiar 
 manner, that put one at ease with him immediately. 
 
 I did not have an opportunity to exchange a great many 
 words with Mr. Lincoln, but my interview, brief as it was, 
 induced me to believe, not only that he was not a bad man, 
 
142 LOUD SECRETS. 
 
 but that he was an honest and well-meaning one, who thought 
 that he was only doing his duty in attempting to conquer the 
 South. He impressed me in a very different way from the 
 Secretary of War ; and I left the White House, if not with a 
 genuine liking for him, at least with many of my preju 
 dices dispelled, and different feelings towards him than I 
 had when I entered. 
 
 My change of sentiment with regard to Mr. Lincoln, as may 
 be supposed, did not influence me in the least with regard to my 
 own opinions concerning the rights and wrongs of the contest 
 between the North and the South, nor did I allow it to inter 
 fere in any way with the carrying out of my plans. I was 
 simply trying to do my duty, just as I suppose he was trying 
 to do his, as he understood it ; and I was, equally with him, 
 determined to aid, by every means in my power, the particular 
 side I advocated. 
 
 After leaving the White House, we visited the Capitol, and 
 listened to the debates in Congress for a while ; but as the 
 subjects which the senators and representatives happened to 
 be discussing at the moment were of no particular interest to 
 me, I had more pleasure in looking about the really noble 
 building than I had in hearing them talk. 
 
 Our next visit was made to the Post Office, where my friend 
 had some business to transact. Here I succeeded in finding 
 out a number of things I wanted to know, and obtained some 
 really important information, simply by listening to the con 
 versation I heard going on around me, which is a demonstra 
 tion of the necessity for people who do not want their secrets 
 discovered by the very ones whom it is desirable should not 
 discover them, not to do too much loud talking before total 
 strangers. I was really annoyed at some of the conversation 
 I heard between government officials while at the Post 
 Office, and wondered how the Federal authorities ever 
 expected to prevent the Confederates from finding out their 
 plans if this kind of thing was going on all the time. 
 
 My tour around Washington, and especially my visit to the 
 War and Post Office Departments, convinced me, not only that 
 Washington would be a first-rate place for me to operate in, 
 if I could obtain a definite attachment to the detective corps, 
 but that I had the abilities to become a good detective, and 
 would, in a very short time, be able to put the Confederate 
 authorities in possession of information of the first value with 
 regard to the present and prospective movements of the enemy. 
 
UNREALIZED EXPECTATIONS. 143 
 
 Having fulfilled my errand, and accomplished all that I had 
 expected when starting out on this trip, I left Washington as 
 suddenly as I had entered it, giving my friend to understand 
 that I was going to New York. I had as little trouble in 
 getting back to Leesburg as I had in getting away from it, 
 and put in an appearance at the house of the old colored 
 woman, who had my uniform hid away for me, within thirteen 
 days from the time I left it. 
 
 IN UNIFORM AGAIN. 
 
 Attiring myself once more in the garb of a Confederate 
 officer, I returned the old woman her calico dress, shawl, sun- 
 bonnet, and shoes, and in response to her eager inquiries, told 
 her a good deal of nonsense about the Yankees being on their 
 way to free the colored people, and made her believe that 
 they would soon be along. My other suit of female clothing 
 I took up to the hotel with me, and told my boy Bob, who 
 seemed to be very curious about them, that I had bought 
 them for my girl. Bob seemed to be delighted to see me 
 again, as he had been apprehensive, from my long absence, 
 that something had happened, and that I might never return. 
 He was most anxious to know where I had been ; but I put a 
 short stop to his questionings on that topic, by giving him 
 orders to have everything ready for an early start on a long 
 journey in the morning. The next day we were en route 
 for Columbus, Tennessee, where I expected to find General 
 Polk, under whom I was now desirous of serving. 
 
 Like hundreds of others, I had gone to Virginia with the 
 opening of summer, inspired by high hopes and great expec 
 tations. These hopes and expectations were far from being 
 realized, although I had succeeded in gratifying some of the 
 most ardent desires that had animated me in setting out, for I 
 had gone through with a number of perilous adventures, such 
 as would have certainly satisfied the ambition of most women. 
 Notwithstanding, however, that the Confederates had won the 
 first great victory, it became apparent, at an early day, 
 that a single battle was not going to finish the war, and that 
 if the South was to achieve its independence, it must go 
 through a long and bloody conflict. My visit to Washington 
 more than confirmed the opinion I had formed, that the 
 Federals were in command of enormous resources in compari 
 son with ours, and that they were settling down to a deadly 
 
144 DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT DISCOURAGED. 
 
 determination to bring all their resources to bear for the 
 purpose of fighting the thing out to the bitter end. When I 
 took the back track, therefore, nearly six months from the 
 time of starting out, and when the chill winds of winter were 
 beginning to make their severity felt by the poor soldiers, I 
 was prepared for a long and desperate war, which would be a 
 very different thing from the holiday affair which my Arkan 
 sas recruits, in common with many others, had expected. I 
 was as resolute as ever in my determination to see the thing 
 out, however, and I experienced even a certain amount of 
 pleasure in the certainty that a prolonged struggle would 
 afford me abundant opportunities for exciting and perilous 
 adventures. There was not a man in the Confederacy who 
 was more willing to fight to the last than I was, or who was 
 willing to venture into greater peril for the sake of the cause ; 
 and, perhaps, if all the men had been as eager to find the last 
 ditch as myself, before giving up, the war might have had a 
 different termination. 
 
 This is something, however, about which it is scarcely 
 worth while to speculate now. It is enough to say, that I 
 left Virginia in a different mood from that in which I had 
 entered it. Experience had opened my e}'es to a good many 
 things I did not clearly understand before, but although in 
 some particulars I was disappointed, I was certainly not 
 discouraged ; and my head was as full of ideas, and of much 
 better arranged, and more practical plans, than it was when I 
 resolved to become a soldier. I now knew tolerably well 
 what I could do, and the particular kind of work I could do 
 best, and I was as enthusiastic as ever, although, perhaps, in 
 a more sober fashion, to give the cause the benefit of my best 
 exertions. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ACTING AS MILITARY CONDUCTOR. 
 
 At Memphis again. Ending my first Campaign. My Friend the Cap 
 tain and I exchange Notes. I reach Columbus and report to General 
 Leonidas Polk. Assigned to Duty as Military Conductor. Unavailing 
 Blandishments of the Women. A mean Piece of Malice. General 
 Lucius M. Polk tries to play a trick on me. The Path of Duty. The 
 General put under Arrest. An Explanation concerning a one-sided 
 Joke. I become dissatisfied, and tender my Resignation. A Request 
 to return to Virginia and enter the Secret Service. Acceptance of my 
 Resignation. The Lull before the Storm. 
 
 FEW days of hard travel, and I was back at 
 my starting-point, Memphis, having made the 
 circuit of the entire Confederacy east of the 
 Mississippi. I was wiser by a good deal of val 
 uable practical knowledge than I was when 
 I set out on my Arkansas recruiting expedition, and I 
 had passed through scenes that made it seem years, in 
 stead of a few short months, since I had made my first 
 important attempt at practising essentially character 
 istic masculine manners with the damsel in yellow calico 
 down there at Hurlburt Station. The mere school- girl ro 
 mance had been pretty well knocked out of me by the rough 
 experiences of actual warfare. I thought very little just 
 then about Joan of Arc, or indeed, about any of the dead and 
 gone heroes and heroines ; but my mind was considerably 
 occupied with my own fortunes, and with those of the cause 
 to which I had pledged myself. 
 
 My experiences I do not allude to the mere hardships of a 
 soldier's life had not all been of the most pleasurable kind. 
 I had learned much concerning some of the very weak points 
 of human nature ; that all men are not heroes who wish to be 
 considered as such ; that self-seeking was more common than 
 patriotism ; that mere courage sufficient to face the enemy in 
 battle is not a very rare quality, and is frequently associated 
 with meanness of spirit ; that it is easier to meet the enemy 
 10 145 
 
146 RETURN TO MEMPHIS. 
 
 bravely in battle, than it is to exercise one's brains so as to 
 meet him most effectively ; that great names are not always 
 worthily borne by great men, and that a spirit of petty jeal 
 ousy is even more prevalent in a camp than it is in a girl's 
 boarding-school. These and a good many other things worth 
 knowing, even if the knowledge was not of the most agreeable 
 kind, I had picked up, as well as much information of a dif 
 ferent sort, that qualified me to make a second start as some 
 thing better than an apprentice in the art of war. 
 
 Notwithstanding many unpleasant things connected with 
 this, my first campaign, however, I had certainly enjoyed 
 myself immensely, after a certain fashion ; for, to have taken 
 part in two such battles as that at Bull Run and that at Ball's 
 Bluff ; and to have satisfactorily attempted a trip to Washing 
 ton for the sake of finding out what they were doing in the 
 Federal capital, were experiences that more than counterbal 
 anced some which I could not reflect upon with equal com 
 placency. If I returned to Memphis a disappointed woman in 
 certain particulars, I also returned a hopeful one, for I knew 
 better now how to go about the work 1 had in hand ; and as 
 it was evident that some of the hardest fighting of the war 
 was to be done in this region, I confidently expected to have 
 abundant opportunity to distinguish myself, both as a soldier 
 and as a scout, and had scarcely a doubt of being employed in 
 such services as I was best qualified to perform. 
 
 READY TO MAKE ANOTHER START. 
 
 Behold me, then, back in Memphis, ready to commence 
 a second campaign, inspired by a different kind of enthusiasm 
 from that which moved me when I shocked my husband and 
 the friend whom 1 persuaded to assist me in my enterprise, 
 by my determination to be a soldier, but even more firmly 
 resolved to do my full share of the fighting, and to give the 
 Confederate cause the benefit of all my energy, wit, and 
 courage. 
 
 The friend of whom I have spoken I still found in Memphis. 
 He was now captain in the Confederate service, and on my 
 meeting with him he seemed both rejoiced and surprised to 
 see me again. We did not have much of an opportunity to 
 talk matters over, as I was anxious to get to Columbus as soon 
 as possible, but I contrived to find time to relate briefly some 
 of my adventures, and he appeared to be intensely interested 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT STRUGGLE. 147 
 
 in my recital. It astonished him somewhat to find that what 
 I had seen of warfare had not disgusted me with it, and that 
 I was bent upon being a soldier so long as there was any 
 fighting to do ; but this time, however, he made no attempt to 
 dissuade me from my purpose, being perfectly well convinced 
 of my ability to take care of myself. Wishing each other good 
 luck, we parted again, and I took the first boat for Columbus, 
 where I expected to find General Leonidas Polk. 
 
 On landing at Columbus, I gave my equipage and the tw 
 horses I had bought at Memphis, in charge of Bob, with direc 
 tions to keep a sharp eye on them, and went to Barnes' Hotel, 
 to see if I. could come across anybody I knew, and to make 
 the inquiries necessary for my next movement. 
 
 Columbus was one of the liveliest places I had ever visited, 
 or at least it seemed so that evening. There was an immense 
 amount of bustle and confusion, and everything seemed to 
 indicate that the campaign in this region was being pushed 
 with considerable energy ; although, as I had found out before, 
 noise and activity in and about headquarters do not always 
 mean remarkable energy in the field ; for an obstinate enemy, 
 bent on doing some hard fighting, takes a good deal of the 
 nonsense out of mere cabinet generalship. Soon after supper 
 I got my tent up, and the next morning I went in search of 
 the general for the purpose of presenting my letter. 
 
 I REPORT FOR DUTY TO GENERAL POLK.' 
 
 General Polk, who had been a bishop before the war broke 
 out, received me cordially enough, although he seemed to be 
 too busy to do much talking, and after reading my letter, 
 dismissed me with the rather indefinite observation that he 
 would see what he could do for me. This might mean any 
 thing or nothing ; but as I had no other resource than to wait 
 and see what conclusion he would come to with regard to me, 
 I made my bow and retired, determined to be as patient as 
 my impatient disposition would let me. 
 
 While waiting for the general to assign me to duty I visited 
 the different camps, made a number of acquaintances, and 
 picked up what information I could about the military situa 
 tion in the West. Everybody was expecting hard fighting, 
 and a desperate struggle with the Federals for the possession 
 of the Mississippi, as it seemed to be well understood that the 
 enemy were making great preparations for some heavy work 
 
148 ON DUTY AS MILITARY CONDUCTOR. 
 
 on this river. It was thought, however, that the defences 
 were sufficiently strong to resist any attacks, and the idea 
 that an attempt would ere a great while be made against New 
 Orleans by way of the Gulf of Mexico, was scarcely enter 
 tained seriously by any one. I thought differently ; but then 
 I had special reasons for my own opinions, which I did not 
 consider it necessary to communicate to all of my new-made 
 friends, deeming it prudent to keep quiet about my visit to 
 Washington, although ready enough to tell all I knew con 
 cerning the military situation in Virginia in exchange for 
 what I learned from them about the condition of things in the 
 West. 
 
 The third day after my arrival at Columbus, General Polk 
 sent for me, and told me that he had assigned me to the detec 
 tive corps. I was considerably elated at this, as I supposed 
 that he intended to employ me in running through the lines as 
 a spy. I had taken a great fancy to this kind of service, and 
 felt myself especially well qualified for it. I wanted some 
 thing to do that would keep me constantly employed, and 
 especially that would require me to give my whole mind to 
 whatever task I had in hand. There was an element of posi 
 tive peril in scout duty that had a wonderful fascination for 
 me, and that I felt would give me a keen enjoyment, such as 
 lounging around a camp, with only the disagreeable routine 
 of campaigning, broken by an occasional battle, could never 
 afford. 
 
 I AM MADE A MILITARY CONDUCTOR. 
 
 I was not particularly well pleased, therefore, when I found 
 that I was to run on the cars as military conductor. This, 
 however, was active duty of a specific kind, and I thought 
 that perhaps it might lead to something better, or might even 
 offer me opportunities for distinguishing myself that I did not 
 suspect. I took it, therefore, without complaining, resolved 
 to do my best while on duty, and to resign the position, and 
 go elsewhere for employment, so soon as I found the service 
 getting too uncongenial. I accordingly went, under orders 
 from General Polk, to Camp Beauregard, where I was directed 
 to relieve Captain Jannett, on the Nashville road. 
 
 It was while acting in the capacity of military conductor on 
 this road that some of the most amusing incidents of my 
 career occurred, or, at least, incidents that were amusing 
 enough to me at the time, although I presume that they would 
 
, FEMININE WILES. 149 
 
 seem stupid enough on repetition ; for many of the events of 
 our lives that cause the heartiest laughter, depend so much on 
 the surroundings arid accessories, that it is difficult to raise 
 even a smile at them when narrated. Nearly every day, 
 however, little controversies would occur between myself and 
 ladies who tried to beguile me with their smiles, little sus 
 pecting how well fortified I was against their fascinating arts ; 
 and I often laughed heartily to myself at noting the nice fem 
 inine wiles that were brought to bear to beguile me from the 
 strict line of my duty. I am afraid that, had I been a man, 
 some of these wiles would have been successful ; but as, in 
 spite of my garments, I was compelled to view the arts of my 
 feminine passengers, and would-be passengers, from a feminine 
 standpoint, I am scarcely able to doubt that the military con- 
 ductorship on this particular line was run on more rigidly 
 virtuous principles, during my term of service, than before or 
 afterwards. 
 
 My duty was to run on the trains and examine passes, fur 
 loughs, and leaves of absence ; and as I could place any one 
 under arrest who was not travelling with the right kind of 
 papers, or who was unprovided with papers of any kind, I was 
 a personage of considerable importance, not only to the officers 
 and soldiers who were going back and forth, but to the ladies, 
 who courted me with remarkable assiduity, with a view of 
 inducing me to grant them favors. The women folk tor 
 mented me a good deal more than the men did, for the average 
 masculine had a wholesome dread of the rigors of military 
 discipline, and was consequently manageable, while my own 
 sex relied on accomplishing, by means of their fascinations, 
 what was impossible to the men. They would make all kinds 
 of excuses, and tell all kinds of improbable stories, to induce 
 me to pass them ; but as I put a stop to all that kind of non 
 sense at the very start, and made up my mind to do business 
 on strictly military principles, I soon became anything but 
 popular. Occasionally some of my would-be charmers, finding 
 it impossible to make any impression on me, would abuse me 
 roundly for refusing to grant their request. This, of course, 
 did not have any other effect than to afford me much amuse 
 ment ; but it enabled me to understand why my predecessor 
 seemed so well pleased at being relieved, although I have 
 doubts as to whether he was as strict in enforcing the regu 
 lations as myself. Indeed, I have excellent reasons for be- 
 'lieving that he was not at all strict. 
 
150 A MALICIOUS ACCUSATION. 
 
 While the women, as a rule, gave me the most trouble, there 
 were a good many hard customers among the men, with whom 
 it was not easy to have pleasant dealings. Merely obstrep 
 erous fellows, however, I could generally manage by letting 
 them see that I was dead in earnest ; but there were plenty 
 of officers who were willing to violate orders, and then 
 put the blame, in case there should be any trouble, on my 
 shoulders, and who took it as a personal grievance that I 
 would not let them travel without the proper papers. One 
 malicious scoundrel, because I would not permit him to travel 
 without a pass, trumped up a most scandalous false charge 
 against me, to General Lucius M. Polk, who undertook to look 
 into the matter himself. 
 
 FOLLOWING THE PATH OP DUTY. 
 
 I did not know or suspect of anything being wrong ; and 
 had I been other than resolutely bent upon doing my whole 
 duty, at all hazards, I should probably have fallen into the trap 
 so cunningly laid for me on this occasion. I had seen enough 
 of military life, however, to know that the only safe course 
 for a soldier is to obey orders, no matter who suffers ; and, as 
 my orders were to pass no one unprovided with the right kind 
 of papers, I was resolved to carry them out to the letter, 
 under all circumstances, without regard to consequences.- 
 
 General Polk, bent upon knowing how I was making out as 
 military conductor, and whether I was entirely trustworthy, 
 it having been reported to him, by the scamp referred to, that 
 I was not, stepped aboard the train with a ten days' leave 
 of absence in his pocket. He probably thought that I was as 
 good as detected in neglecting my duty, but he found out his 
 mistake before he got through ; and if he had not taken the 
 precaution to provide himself with the proper official docu 
 ments before starting, the ending of the adventure would have 
 been anything but a merry one for him, for I should certainly 
 have arrested him. 
 
 A GAME OF BLUFF. 
 
 On entering the car, I sang out, as usual, " Show your 
 passes, gentlemen." 
 
 The general turned his head, and commenced looking out 
 of the window rather intently, as travellers not provided with 
 passes were very much in the habit of doing. When I reached* 
 
A JOKE THAT WAS NO JOKE. 151 
 
 him, in going through the car, 1 gently tapped his shoulder, 
 and said, ** Have you a pass ? " 
 
 " No," said he. " Won't you let me go through without 
 one?" , 
 
 " No sir," I replied ; " I cannot pass any one. My orders are 
 very strict, especially with regard to officers and soldiers." 
 
 " Well," said he, " don't you think you could go back on 
 your orders for once ? Did you never favor a friend in this 
 line ? " 
 
 " Sir," I answered, rather severely, " I know no friends in 
 connection with my duty, or general orders." 
 
 " Well, what are you going to do in my case ; for 1 haven't 
 got any pass," said the general. 
 
 I replied, " I will send you back to headquarters, under 
 guard." 
 
 " But," said he, " do you know, sir, that I am General 
 Polk ? " putting on all the magnificent style he could com 
 mand as he spoke. 
 
 I was considerably nettled, both by his conduct in endeav 
 oring to persuade me to pass him in violation of orders and 
 by his manner, and so said, rather sharply, " I don't care, sir, 
 who you are ; you can't travel on this line without a pass, 
 even if you are Jeff Davis himself." 
 
 I was, by this time, rather angry, and determined to have 
 no further controversy with him ; so I called a soldier to take 
 charge of him, while I finished going through the train. 
 
 The conductor, who had seen the whole performance, and 
 who was afraid that I was getting myself into serious trouble, 
 strongly advised me to release the general, and to pass him 
 through as he desired. I told him. however, that I under 
 stood my duty perfectly, and that I intended to perform it to 
 the letter, in this as in every other instance ; and that if Gen 
 eral Polk didn't know better than to undertake to travel with 
 out his papers, he would have to bear the consequences. . 
 
 When we were nearing the station. General Polk beckoned 
 to me, and said, " I have a leave of absence." 
 
 I held out my hand, and he produced it from his pocket, 
 laughing as he did so at what he evidently considered a good 
 joke on the military conductor. I looked at it, and returned 
 it, simply saying, " That is all right, sir." The general held 
 out his hand to me with a very cordial smile, and was evi 
 dently desirous of doing away with any ill feeling that the 
 incident might have occasioned on my side. I was very badly 
 
152 AN INVITATION TO ENTER THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 vexed, however, that he should have attempted to play such 
 a trick upon me, and to have doubted my honor j and I did 
 not receive his greeting with any great amount of cordiality, 
 being resolved, in my own mind, to be even with kirn some 
 day. 
 
 On his return, General Polk explained the whole affair, and 
 apologized very handsomely for having made such a test of 
 my fidelity. I told him very plainly, however, that I did not 
 like that sort of thing, and that I proposed to tender my res 
 ignation shortly, as I preferred service in the field to duty 
 like this, where I had to be acting the part of a spy on the 
 people all the time, while being myself subjected to the sur 
 veillance of my superiors in a manner that was far from agree 
 able. He attempted to discourage me from indulging in the 
 idea of resigning ; but although I did not care to argue the 
 matter with him, my mind was fully made up to try my luck 
 in some other line of duty. 
 
 I AM WANTED IN VIRGINIA. 
 
 I was the more anxious to get away, as I had received an 
 urgent letter from my friend, Captain Shankey, asking me to 
 return to Virginia and enter the secret service. This would 
 have suited me exactly, had I been certain of getting the 
 kind of employment I wanted by complying with Captain 
 Shankey's request. But having just come from Virginia, 
 where I had been for a number of months waiting in vain for 
 a fair chance to make myself useful in such a manner that I 
 could take a genuine pride and interest in my work, I was 
 disposed to wait a while and see something of military opera 
 tions in the West before returning. This call to go East was, 
 however, a good pretext for throwing up a position that was 
 becoming unpleasant, and that promised to be abundantly an 
 noying, without offering any corresponding advantages. It 
 was an additional string to my bow, and I could, at least, con 
 sider it while making another effort to tempt Fortune, before 
 putting in an appearance on my old campaign ground again. 
 
 It was really, however, my intention to go back to Virginia, 
 so soon as I could get relieved from the duty I was engaged 
 in, and had that object in my mind when I sent in my resig 
 nation, although circumstances occurred that induced me to 
 change my plans. My resignation was accepted without much 
 hesitation at headquarters, and once more, after three weeks, 
 
ABOUND RICHMOND. 
 
BRIGHT DAYS. 153 
 
 service as a military conductor, I was free to follow my own 
 inclinations. 
 
 These three weeks were very fruitful in experiences, and I 
 learned a good many things which I do not particularly care to 
 set down in black and white, but which were worth knowing. 
 Between what I saw and heard, both in the East and the 
 West, I was beginning to understand why things did not 
 move briskly, and why, in spite of successes in the field, the 
 Confederate cause, instead of making headway, was losing 
 ground ; and I was, in a measure, prepared for the disasters 
 which shortly after began to follow thick and fast. But, be 
 fore disasters did come, there were some bright days, which, 
 in my memory, seem brighter than, perhaps, they really were, 
 from the contrast between them and the dismal times by 
 which they were succeeded. These I enjoyed to the utmost, 
 and when the darkness of defeat and disaster did begin to 
 settle down upon the doomed Confederacy, I, for one, bore up 
 with undaunted spirit to the very last hour, and was willing 
 to fight the thing out even when every hope of success had 
 vanished. But these are matters that do not properly come 
 up for discussion in this place ; and what we are now con 
 cerned with are the pleasant hours of genuine fun and frolic 
 the last I saw for many a day that preceded the bursting 
 of the storm-cloud which was beginning to overshadow the 
 fortunes of the Confederacy. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A MERRY-MAKING. 
 
 In Search of active Employment. On the Road to Bowling Green, Ken 
 tucky. My travelling Companions. A Halt at Paris. A Hog- 
 killing and Corn-shucking Frolic. Dancing all Night in the School- 
 house. A Quilting-Party. My particular Attentions to a Lady. 
 The other Girls unhappy. The Reward of Gallantry. What General 
 Hardee had to say to me. The Woodsonville Fight. On the back 
 Track for Fort Donelson. 
 
 T would, perhaps, have been better for me, in 
 many respects, had I gone back to Virginia ; for 
 the probabilities were that I would, very shortly, 
 if not immediately, have obtained the gratifica 
 tion of my desire for active employment in the 
 . secret service corps, and I would, consequently, 
 not only have put in my time to much better advan 
 tage than I did, both for myself and for the Confed 
 eracy, but I would have been spared a number of 
 particularly unpleasant occurrences which were fruitful 
 of nothing but abundance of disgust on my part. If 
 everything happened to us, however, just as we desired in this 
 world, not only would we not properly appreciate heaven, when 
 we get there, if we ever do, but adventure would lose much 
 of its zest. So, the best way, after all, is, perhaps, to take 
 things about as they come, and keeping a sharp lookout for 
 the main chances, do what we can with them to advance the 
 ends we have in view. 
 
 My campaign in the West, before I trod Virginia ground 
 again, was certainly adventuresome enough to satisfy all my 
 cravings, were adventure alone what I wanted. While, how 
 ever, I plunged into adventures for the love of the thing, and 
 cared not what perils presented themselves when I had an 
 object to attain, I was neither reckless nor foolhardy, and 
 wanted to have something definite in view beyond the excite 
 ment of the hour. 
 
 It was because I thought that there would be a chance for 
 
 154 
 
THE SPIRIT OF RIVALRY. 155 
 
 me, ere a great while, in Kentucky, to demonstrate my value 
 either as a soldier or as a spy, for some heavy fighting was 
 undoubtedly about to begin, that I determined to defer 
 going East for the present, thinking that Fortune would favor 
 me where I was. So I remained, and began to look about for 
 a good place to commence operations in again. As there was 
 evidently nothing to be had at Columbus that I wanted, I de 
 cided to try what could be done at the other end of the Con 
 federate line of operations, at Bowling Green. 
 
 STARTING FOR BOWLING GREEN. 
 
 For Bowling Green I accordingly started, my travelling 
 companions being Colonel Bacon and Captain Billingsley. 
 They were both genial, pleasant gentlemen, gentlemen in 
 every sense of the word, and I enjoyed their society greatly 
 during the journey. 
 
 Soldiers are generally fond of taking a hand in anything in 
 the shape of a frolic that is going on, more especially as a uni 
 form-coat is tolerably sure to be a passport to the favor of the 
 ladies ; consequently, when on reaching the little town of 
 Paris, we found that there was some sport in progress in the 
 shape of a hog-killing and corn- shucking festival, we con 
 cluded that the best thing we could do- would be to stop and 
 have a bit of fun. Well, it was genuine fun, of a downright 
 hearty kind, and all three of us enjoyed ourselves immensely, 
 although, I am afraid that the captain and the colonel appre 
 ciated the thing more than I did ; for they were both great 
 ladies' men, and this was such a chance as did not present it 
 self every day for them to exert their powers of fascination 
 upon the fair sex. I considered that I had a manly reputation 
 to sustain, too, and I consequently resolved not to be beaten 
 by them in the matter of gallant attentions to the girls of 
 Paris. My previous experience in winning the regards of my 
 sex, induced me to believe that I could, with comparative 
 ease, become the hero of the occasion, "in spite of their supe 
 riority of official rank and superior dignity of manly carriage. 
 This was the first occasion since my assumption of male attire 
 that I had been offered a fair chance to attempt a bit of rivalry 
 of this kind, and I thought that it would be a first-rate notion 
 to improve the occasion. I determined, therefore, on an 
 active campaign for the smiles of the fair one with the cap 
 tain and the colonel. 
 
156 A DANCING-PARTY. 
 
 A FAVORITE WITH THE LADIES. 
 
 The welcome which was extended to us was all that could 
 be desired in the way of cordiality, the girls, especially, evi 
 dently being delighted to have three dashing officers take part 
 with them in the frolic. It was not a great while, therefore, 
 before each of us had a young lady in charge, and were doing 
 our best to be as agreeable as possible. I had, perhaps, rather 
 the advantage of the colonel and the captain at the start, for I 
 figured as one of those nice little fellows who, for some unac 
 countable reason, seem to be admired by many women in a 
 greater degree than are more manly-looking men ; and as I 
 exerted myself to be as fascinating as possible, my two com 
 panions were speedily thrown in the shade, and I found my 
 self the special object of the adoration of the Parisian damsels, 
 very much to my amusement. 
 
 The colonel and the captain, however, had the best of me in 
 the long run, for, as I was only playing a part, I was not able to 
 keep up the competition with as much animation as they did ; 
 and although the first successes were mine, I was tired out, 
 and ready to retire from the field some time before they 
 showed any disposition to give up. I think that both of my 
 friends perceived that I was trying to outshine them with the 
 Paris girls ; but as they did not understand the situation as I 
 did, they were, of course, unable to see exactly where the 
 laugh came in. Could they have but known who I really was, 
 they would, undoubtedly, have been intensely amused, and 
 would have enjoyed the whole performance immensely. 
 
 A VILLAGE BALL. 
 
 The serious business of hog-killing and corn-shucking was 
 supplemented by a feast, at which the viands were chiefly 
 winter apples and cider, and the frolic concluded with a dance 
 in the school-house, which lasted until morning. My two 
 friends and myself were in great demand as partners, and we 
 nearly danced the breath out of our bodies before the affair 
 wound up; which it finally did about daybreak, very much 
 to my satisfaction, for I was nearly used up, having found 
 waltzing all night much harder and more exhausting work 
 than campaigning. The affair, however, was a right merry 
 one, and I enjoyed myself immensely. 
 
 When day began to dawn, we took our girls home, and then 
 
A QUILTING- PARTY. 157 
 
 sought our beds. It was not long before I was sound asleep, 
 and so worn out with my exertions of the night, that I did not 
 wake up until nearly supper- time. 
 
 The next evening we went to a quilting- party, I acting as 
 escort to an old maid who had been compelled to play the part 
 of a wall-flower nearly all the night before, and to whom I de 
 termined to pay particular attention, just for the sake of a 
 joke, and to annoy the younger girls, who showed a marked 
 disposition to monopolize all the masculine attentions at her 
 expense. It was very funny to note the dismay which this 
 choice of mine caused in the breasts of those who thought 
 they had a better right to my courtesies. I had the satisfac 
 tion of seeing, however, that my politeness was keenly appre 
 ciated by the recipient of it, and I redoubled my exertions to 
 make myself agreeable when I noticed the chagrin my con 
 duct was exciting among the rivals of my lady. 
 
 As for the lady herself, she had evidently not received so 
 much marked attention from anybody in masculine garb for a 
 long time, and she plumed herself immensely on having made 
 a conquest of the dashing little lieutenant, and was, doubtless, 
 inspired by a higher appreciation of her own powers of fascina 
 tion than she had ever been before. Repeated attempts were 
 made to win me away from her side, but all in vain ; the sport 
 was too entertaining for me to give it up, and I steadfastly re 
 sisted all the allurements of the rival beauties, with not a little 
 enjoyment of their discomfiture. 
 
 I TAKE THE NEEDLE IN HAND. 
 
 The quilting-party was a very merry and very noisy one, 
 although the fun was not of quite so uproarious a character as 
 that of the previous night. I offered to take a hand at the 
 work that was going on, making a great boast of my skill with 
 the needle. The probabilities are that I could have manipu 
 lated that little feminine instrument quite as deftly as most of 
 those present, but did not think it expedient to show myself 
 too handy with it. Taking my place at the frame, therefore, 
 I set about making a figure with something of masculine 
 awkwardness, and succeeded in putting in quite as shocking 
 a bit of work as most men would have done under the circum 
 stances. 
 
 While I was doing this, the girls all looked on with great 
 eagerness, praising my work, and endeavoring to flatter me 
 
158 THE END OF THE FROLJC. 
 
 into the belief that I was doing magnificently. When I had 
 completed the figure. I pretended that I thought it much too 
 bad to remain, and offered to pick it out. At this, there was 
 a chorus of indignant remonstrance from all the feminines 
 present, and I was, consequently, compelled to let it stand, 
 the young ladies very prettily professing to be lost in admi 
 ration, and my old maid, in particular, smiling on my humble 
 effort with touching sweetness. 
 
 There was now an increased effort to win me from my first 
 love ; but with a firmness that would have done me infinite 
 credit, had my coat and trowsers rightly represented my sex, 
 I persisted in my preference, leaving it for the colonel and the 
 captain to sustain the credit of the army for gallantry with the 
 other feminine members of the party. 
 
 TOKENS OF ESTEEM. 
 
 My rather excessive politeness to the lady in question was 
 not without its ample reward ; for when the time for leaving 
 Paris came, she gave me a substantial token of her esteem and 
 of her keen appreciation of my attentions, by putting me up a 
 lunch, consisting of a fried chicken, biscuits, apples, and two 
 bottles of cider, which, if she is still living, and should have 
 the pleasure of reading this narrative, she will learn were 
 keenly enjoyed by my two friends and myself as we journeyed 
 towards Bowling Green. 
 
 v So ended the episode of the Paris frolic. It was good fun 
 while it lasted, and it becomes a particularly bright spot in 
 my memory in contrast with the dismal and harrowing scenes 
 by which it was so soon to be succeeded. The Paris girls 
 furnished the colonel, the captain, and myself topics of con 
 versation during a good part of the balance of our journey, 
 and my companions had considerable fun at my expense, on 
 account of my peculiar manner of conducting myself towards 
 the ladies of that village. I took their raillery in good part, 
 of course, smiling to myself at certain amusing incidents, the 
 full significance of which it was impossible for them to 
 understand. Soon, however, all three of us had enough of 
 other things to think of to induce us to dismiss Paris, and the 
 delights of hog-killing, corn-shucking, and quilting-frolics from 
 our minds, and to bend our thoughts to the consideration of 
 matters of more serious interest. 
 
 On arrival at General Hardee's headquarters, I w r ent to him, 
 
THE BATTLE OF WOODSONVILLE. 159 
 
 and showing him my commission, stated that I wanted to go 
 into active service as a scout. He said that he thought there 
 would soon be a chance for me ; which was so nearly like the 
 answers I had received from a number of other commanders, 
 that I did not feel especially encouraged by it. It really 
 meant about as much as similar remarks made by others, for 
 nothing came of it, and I was compelled to drift about, looking 
 out myself for something to do to kill time while waiting in 
 hope that the current of events would shape themselves in a 
 mariner favorable to my idea. 
 
 At this period of the war I could have been employed to 
 very great advantage as a spy, to go to and fro through the 
 lines ; and there is no doubt that I could, with comparative 
 ease, have obtained information of the first value to the Con 
 federate commanders. The Federals, as we all knew, were 
 making immense preparations for an important forward move 
 ment ; and had I been employed as I wanted to be, I could, 
 most likely, have succeeded in saving the Confederates from 
 waiting for defeat to teach them what they ought to have 
 known while making their preparations to meet the enemy. 
 
 Perhaps if General Hardee, and others, had known exactly 
 who and what I was, and what were my particular talents in 
 the line of duty I desired to follow, they would have shown a 
 greater disposition to afford me opportunities to signalize my 
 self. They did see, however, that I was ready, willing, and, 
 apparently, able to work ; and I scarcely think that they were 
 blameless in not, at least, giving me a fair trial. 
 
 THE FIGHT AT WOODSONVILLE. 
 
 I was bent, however, notwithstanding the disappointment 
 under which I labored, on showing my devotion to the cause 
 of Southern independence ; and, in accordance with my gen 
 eral plan of not letting slip an opportunity of being on hand 
 when there was any real, serious work to be done, I took 
 part in the fight at Woodsonville, on Green River, and faced 
 the enemy as valiantly as anybody. In this fight, Colonel 
 Terry, a brave Texan officer, whom I greatly admired, was 
 among the slain. 
 
 The affair at Woodsonville was something of a diversion 
 from the monotony of camp life, but it did not satisfy my am 
 bition or my intense desire for active service ; and coming to 
 the conclusion that lounging about Bowling Green and vicinity 
 
160 HARD FIGHTING. 
 
 was much too slim a business for me, I decided to shift m^ 
 quarters to where there was a somewhat better prospect of 
 hard fighting to be done. It was by this time evident that 
 the Federals intended making a determined attempt to cap 
 ture Forts Henry and Donelson, on the Tennessee and Cum 
 berland Rivers, and as I felt confident that our people would 
 make a brave and desperate resistance, I resolved to go and 
 take a hand in the approaching battle, in the hope that some 
 thing to my advantage would result from it. If a desire to 
 witness some hard fighting was my chief object in this move 
 ment, it was more than gratified, for the horrors of the siege 
 of Donelson far surpassed anything I had yet witnessed, and 
 by the time it was over, I certainly got enough of the excite 
 ment of battle to satisfy me for some time to come. Happily 
 for ourselves, we cannot foresee the future, and in blissful 
 ignorance of the agonizing scenes which I would soon be 
 called upon to witness, I started for Fort Donelson with a 
 comparatively light heart, bent only on so demonstrating my 
 devotion to the cause as would compel the recognition of my 
 superiors. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE FALL OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
 The Spirit of Partisanship. My Opinions with Regard to the Invincibility 
 of the Southern So.diers. Unprepared to sustain the Humiliation of 
 Defeat. The Beginning of the End. At Fort Donelson. The 
 Federal Attack expected. Preparations for the Defence.. The Gar 
 rison confident of their Ability to hold the Fort. The Difference be 
 tween Summer and Winter Campaigning. Enthusiasm supplanted by 
 Hope and Determination. My Boy Bob and I go to Work in the 
 Trenches. Too much of a good Thing. Dirt-Digging not exactly in 
 my Line The Federals make their Appearance. The Opening of the 
 Battle. On picket Duty in the Trenches at Night. Storm of Snow 
 and Sleet. The bitter Cold. Cries and Groans of the Wounded. 
 My Clothing stiff with Ice. I find myself giving Way, but manage to 
 endure until the Relief comes. Terrible Suffering. Singular Ideas. 
 A four Days' Battle. The Confederate Successes on the first and 
 second Days. The Gunboats driven off. Desperate Fighting on 
 the third Day. A breathing Spell. The Confederates finally driven 
 back into the Fort. It is resolved to surrender. Generals Floyd and 
 Pillow make their Escape. General Buckner surrenders to General 
 Grant. Terrible Scenes after the Battle is over. The Ground 
 strewn for Miles with Dead and Dying. Wounded Men crushed by 
 the artillery Wagons. The Houses of the Town of Dover filled with 
 Wounded. My Depression of Spirits on Account of the terrible 
 Scenes I had witnessed. 
 
 AM a partisan, by instinct and by education. 
 It is an impossibility for me to limit or divide my 
 affections and predilections ; and in choosing a 
 side in a great contest like that which was 
 waged between the South and the North, I must 
 do so with my whole heart and soul. Others, 
 abler than myself, may have done more to promote 
 the cause of Southern independence, and may have 
 labored with greater efficiency; but no man or wo 
 man in the whole Confederacy was inspired by a more 
 ardent devotion to the cause than myself, or had 
 greater faith in its ultimate success, no matter what odds 
 it might be compelled to contend against. I trusted to 
 iny impulses, perhaps, more than to my reason; but every 
 11 161 
 
162 PARTISANSHIP. 
 
 strong partisan must do this, in a greater or less degree, and 
 if I miscalculated, or was ignorant of the real power of the 
 North, and of the resources which the Federal government 
 was able to command, I had plenty of companions in my 
 error, for there were thousands who possessed far more per 
 fect means of information than myself, who were quite as 
 eager to enter upon a war without calculating the cost or esti 
 mating the consequences. 
 
 The fact was, however, that I did not think of calculating 
 with regard to the probable result of the contest. I had the 
 most exalted opinion of the invincibility of our Southern sol 
 diers, and of the skill of our .generals, and I was unable to 
 think of them otherwise than as about to enter upon a career 
 of victory. 
 
 Up to the time of which I am now writing, nearly every 
 thing had contributed to the encouragement of my original 
 notions. In both of the great battles in which I had partici 
 pated the Confederates had been brilliantly successful ; and 
 while the permanent results had scarcely been equal to my 
 hopes and expectations, my opinion with regard to Southern 
 invincibility had scarcely received a serious check. My na 
 ture and temperament are such, that just as when, amid the 
 excitement of a battle, each combatant in the opposing army 
 becomes for the moment a personal enemy, so in the hour of 
 defeat I am compelled to feel a humiliation as keen as if it 
 was my own alone. Such a humiliation I was very shortly to 
 endure ; but, in hurrying towards Fort Donelson, I little 
 knew that I was about to become the spectator of a defeat 
 so crushing and disastrous as for a time to annihilate in 
 my bosom all hope, and which gave a death-blow to the 
 impetuous but untutored enthusiasm with which I had 
 started out. 
 
 I had tasted the sweets of victory, and had felt all the ex* 
 ultation which fills the breast of the soldier after a hard- 
 fought battle in seeing the enemy flee before him, and now I 
 was called upon to taste the bitterness of defeat, and of de 
 feat attended with unspeakable horrors. The capture of Fort 
 Donelson was the beginning of the end, although I hardly so 
 understood it at the time : but soon it was followed by other 
 disasters scarcely less crushing, and the enthusiasm of de 
 spair, rather than of hope, was the inspiration not only of my 
 self, but of the whole Southern people during the last three 
 years of the contest. 
 
PLAN OF THE SIEGE OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
164 AT FORT DONELSON, 
 
 AN ESTIMATE OF THE POSITION. 
 
 When I reached Fort Donelson, General Pillow was in com 
 mand, and preparations for meeting the enemy were being 
 pushed forward with all possible energy. Fort Henry, on 
 the Tennessee River, about fifteen miles from Fort Donelson, 
 had been captured by the Federals, and Donelson, every one 
 knew, would be the next object of attack, both by land and 
 water. The fortifications were very strong, although, being 
 built for the purpose of commanding the river, they were 
 weaker on the land than on the water side, and the great duty 
 of the hour was the construction of earthworks for the pro 
 tection of the exposed side. The labor required for the ex 
 ecution of this task was immense, but every one went at it 
 with a good will, and with a feeling of confidence in our abil 
 ity to give the Federals the repulse that the garrison of Fort 
 Henry had failed to do, although we were certain that they 
 were about to assail us with a very large force, and that they 
 considered the capture of the position a matter of such vital 
 importance that they would spare no effort to accomplish it. 
 While, however, thrre was the greatest belief in the impreg 
 nability of the position, and in the ability of our garrison, 
 composed of Southern soldiers of tried courage and gallantry, 
 to hold it, even against heavy odds, all felt that a desperate 
 and bloody conflict was about to begin, and nerved themselves 
 for the dreadful task before them. 
 
 THE TEACHINGS OF EXPERIENCE. 
 
 I entered upon this conflict with for different emotions from 
 those which animated me when about to take part in the bat 
 tle of Bull Run. Then I was inspired by all the enthusiasm 
 of ignorance, and was, perhaps, animated as much by an in 
 tense desire to see what a great battle' was like, as by any 
 other feeling. I could not get rid of the idea that the rout 
 of the enemy would mean their annihilation, and the trium 
 phant accomplishment of all the ends for which we had taken 
 up arms. I might have known better than this, if I had 
 thought; but I did not think. I only felt, just like thou 
 sands of others. The battle of Bull Run, too, was fought 
 in the middle of summer, in beautiful, clear, July weather ; 
 and although fighting the enemy through that long, sultry 
 day, with the blazing sun overhead, was no holiday task, 
 
PECULIAR FEELINGS. 165 
 
 and it taxed the energies of officers and men to the 
 utmost to achieve the defeat of the enemy, it was a 
 very different thing from defending a series of earthworks 
 from a combined attack, by land and water, in the dead 
 of winter. 
 
 PREMONITIONS OP DEFEAT. 
 
 I had seen much of war and its horrors since the battle of 
 Bull Run, and better comprehended now what serious work 
 it was, and what enormous labor would have to be performed, 
 if the hopes and expectations of the summer were to be 
 realized. In fact, I appreciated the situation from the stand 
 point of a veteran, rather than from that of the raw recruit. 
 Of enthusiasm, or, at least, such enthusiasm as that by which 
 I was originally inspired, I had little or nothing ; but I had 
 hope and determination, and was as much bent upon doing 
 my very best as I was the day I was first under fire. There 
 was something most depressing, however, in the idea of 
 figuring in a desperate conflict in midwinter. The whole 
 proceeding seemed unseasonable, and this peculiar feeling, 
 combined with a singular sense of discomfort and constraint 
 at being shut in fortifications from which there was next to 
 no escape, except by driving off the enemy, or surrendering 
 to him, had a powerful effect in dampening my ardor. 
 
 At the first intimation of these unpleasant feelings coming 
 over me, however, I shook them off with all the resolution I 
 could command, and determined to show myself in every way 
 worthy of the garments I wore, by doing a full man's work, 
 in preparing for the expected attack. There was a great 
 deal that had to be done, and done quickly, in the way of 
 completing the intrenchinents, and I made up my mind to 
 lend a hand, as 1 felt sure that volunteers would be welcome 
 when hard labor like this was to be performed, even if 
 they were not regarded with the best favor by those in 
 authority at other times. 
 
 AT WORK IN THE TRENCHES. 
 
 My boy Bob and I, therefore, went into the trenches, and 
 commenced to shovel dirt with all possible energy and good 
 will. In the execution of such a task as this, Bob soon 
 proved himself to be a much better man than I was, and he 
 easily threw two shovelfuls to my one, and was apparently in 
 
166 
 
 a condition to keep on indefinitely; when I, finding that I had 
 miscalculated my strength, was compelled to desist. There 
 are some things which men can do better than women, and 
 digging intrenchments in the frozen ground is one of them. 
 I was not a very great while in discovering this most impor 
 tant fact, and concluding that I had better try and make my 
 self useful in some other manner, I repaired, with aching 
 back and blistered hands, to the headquarters of General 
 Floyd, who had just arrived with his Virginians, where I 
 lounged about, waiting for events so to shape 'themselves 
 that I would be able to show my fighting qualities to advan 
 tage, for nature had evidently intended me for a warrior 
 rather than for a dirt-digger. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIEGE. 
 
 The Federals made their appearance on the afternoon of 
 Wednesday the 12th, and they could be seen at various 
 points through the woods making preparations for com 
 mencing their attack by stationing themselves in advanta 
 geous positions for the environment of the fort on its land 
 side, while the gunboats were to give us the benefit of their 
 heavy ordnance from the river. These latter we felt very 
 sure of being able to manage with comparative ease, as, 
 indeed, we succeeded in doing ; for the fort, as I have before 
 stated, was constructed chiefly with a view to the resistance 
 of an attack upon this side, and our heaviest guns were 
 mounted so as to command the river. The navy, therefore, 
 would have to do some remarkably efficient service if it 
 expected to make any marked impression on us, and the chief 
 anxiety of our officers and men was on account of the com 
 parative weakness of the land defences. But even these, 
 such was the confidence all had in the proverbial Southern 
 valor, it was believed we would be able to hold successfully. 
 
 The battle opened on Thursday, February 13, 1862, and, as 
 if to increase the discomforts and sufferings of the com 
 batants, the weather, which had been quite moderate and 
 pleasant, suddenly became intensely cold. On Thursday 
 night, about eight o'clock, a tremendous storm of snow and 
 sleet came on, to the full fury of which I was exposed ; for a 
 young officer, who wanted to take French leave for the night, 
 had taken advantage of my eagerness for active service, and. 
 made an arrangement for me to go on picket duty for him in 
 
A NIGHT IN THE TRENCHES. 167 
 
 the trenches. I was less fitted to stand this kind of exposure 
 than many of my comrades, for, independently of my sex, I 
 was born and brought up in a semi-tropical climate, and 
 although inured to hardships during the months I had been 
 figuring as a soldier, I was but indifferently qualified to 
 endure the sufferings of this terrible night. 
 
 ON PICKET DUTY AT NIGHT. 
 
 When entering upon a soldier's career, however, I was ani 
 mated by a stern resolve not to shirk any duty I might be 
 called on to undertake, no matter how arduous or uncongenial 
 it might be ; and although I was, on this occasion, really in 
 truding myself where I did not belong, my pride would not 
 have permitted me to back down, even had I fully apprecia 
 ted, before starting for the trenches, what I would have to go 
 through with before I could return to shelter again. As for 
 the person whose duty I had undertaken to perform, he un 
 doubtedly thought himself particularly lucky in getting rid of 
 such an ugly job, and I fancy that he considered me a fool for 
 the eagerness I displayed to get into a scrape for his benefit. 
 I hope he managed to have a good time during the long hours 
 of that dreadful night, for in spite of what I suffered I bore 
 him no hard feelings. 
 
 If repentance for my rashness in resolving to play a soldier's 
 part in the war was ever to overcome me, however, now was 
 the time ; and I confess that, as the sleet stung my face, and 
 the biting winds cut me to the bones, I wished myself well 
 out of it, and longed for the siege to be over in some shape, 
 even if relief came only through defeat. The idea of defeat, 
 however, was too intolerable to be thought of, and I banished 
 it from my mind whenever it occurred to me, and argued with 
 myself that I was no better than the thousands of brave men 
 around, who were suffering from these wintry blasts as 
 much as I. 
 
 A NIGHT OF HORROR. 
 
 The agonized cries of the wounded, and their piteous calls 
 for water, really affected me more than my own discomfort ; 
 and had it not been for the heart-rending sounds that greeted 
 my ear every moment, I could, perhaps, have succeeded better 
 than I did in bearing up under the horrors of the night with 
 some degree of equanimity. Every now and then a shriek 
 
168 FANTASIES. 
 
 would be uttered that would strike terror to my soul, and 
 make my blood run cold, as the fiercest fighting I had ever 
 seen had not been able to do. I could face the cannon better 
 than I could this bitter weather, and I could suffer myself 
 better than I could bear to hear the cries and groans of these 
 wounded men, lying out on the frozen ground, exposed to the 
 beatings of this pitiless storm. Several times I felt as if I 
 could stand it no longer, and was tempted to give the whole 
 thing up, and lie down upon the ground and die ; but, although 
 my clothing was perfectly stiff with ice, and I ached in every 
 limb from the cold, I succeeded in rallying myself whenever 
 I found these fits of despondency coming over me, and stood 
 my ground to the last. 
 
 I understood, from this brief but sufficient experience, 
 what must have been the sufferings of the army of Napoleon, 
 on the retreat from Moscow ; and the story of that retreat, 
 which had hitherto seemed to me more like a romance than a 
 narrative of actual occurrences, was now presented to my 
 mind as a terrible reality. I even tried to find some consola 
 tion in thinking that, after all, it was only for a few hours that 
 I would be called upon to endure, while the soldiers in that 
 most disastrous retreat were for weeks exposed to all the 
 severities of an almost Arctic winter, in their long march over 
 desert plains, but was forced to the conclusion that reflect 
 ing on the woes of others is but an, indifferent alleviation of 
 our own. 
 
 FANTASTIC IDEAS. 
 
 In such a situation as the one I am describing, the most 
 singular ideas run through .one's mind. The minutes are 
 lengthened out into hours, and the hours into days, until the 
 reckoning of time is lost ; and as the past seems to fade away 
 into a remoteness that makes the painlessness of yesterday 
 appear like the fragment of a happy dream, so the future, 
 when it will all be over, and the commonplace routine of un 
 eventful every-day life will commence again, is as far off as a 
 child's imagination pictures heaven to be. We actually catch 
 ourselves wondering whether it has always been so, and 
 whether it will always be so until we die, and when we die, 
 whether eternity will have anything better to offer. Little 
 incidents in our past lives, of no possible moment, and which 
 had perhaps never been thought of from the date of their 
 occurrence, present themselves suddenly, with astonishing 
 
THE ATTACK BY THE GUNBOATS. 169 
 
 vividness, to the memory. The mental and the physical be 
 ings seem to be engaged in a contest for the mastery, and as 
 the numbness of the half-frozen limbs increases, the brain 
 shapes more and more fantastic ideas, and if the terrible con 
 test is too long protracted, and the strain upon the endurance 
 is not removed, fantasy develops into madness, and madness 
 swiftly results in death. 
 
 More than once I felt myself giving way ; more than once 
 I detected my mind wandering off strangely from the sur 
 roundings of the moment; but, by a resolute effort of will, and 
 by an indomitable determination not to succumb, I succeeded 
 in sustaining myself until my relief came, and I was able to 
 seek shelter and the repose I so sorely needed. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OP THE BATTLE. 
 
 The battle lasted four days and nights, and, although the 
 Confederates fought with desperate valor, they were at length 
 compelled to yield, and the humiliation of defeat was added 
 to the unspeakable sufferings which the conduct of a fierce 
 and prolonged contest like this, in the middle of a winter of 
 unparalleled severity, entailed upon them. Fortune, which 
 had favored the side of the Confederacy in the battles in 
 which I had heretofore been engaged, was against us now, 
 however, and in spite of the fierce resistance which the gar 
 rison made to the Federal attacks, the result was, that nothing 
 was left for us to do but surrender. 
 
 The results of the first day's fighting were favorable to us, 
 the Federals being repulsed at all points, and we all felt tol 
 erably sure that we would be able either to drive them off, or 
 to cut our way through their lines. 
 
 THE GUNBOATS BROUGHT INTO ACTION. 
 
 On Friday, the forces on the land side, evidently discour 
 aged by their ill luck of the day before, did not attempt any 
 very serious demonstrations. It was now the turn of the 
 gunboats to try what they could do towards driving us out 
 of the fort. The navy, however, did not have any better 
 success than the army. In the afternoon the boats advanced 
 up the river, and commenced to shell our works, but they 
 inflicted on us no particular damage, while our fire told on 
 them with terrible eifect. The contest between the batteries 
 
170 THE HOUR OF DEFEAT. 
 
 and the gunboats continued for about an hour and a half, at 
 the end of which time we had the satisfaction of seeing them 
 drift down the river, evidently very badly cut up. So the 
 end of the second day's battle was in favor of the Confed 
 erates. 
 
 In the mean time, however, the besieging army was re 
 ceiving large re-enforcements, and was apparently preparing 
 to renew the attack on the land side with increased vigor. 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE SORTIE. 
 
 With characteristic energy, the Confederate commanders 
 resolved not to wait to be attacked, but to sally from the fort, 
 and strike the enemy a deadly blow. The sortie was gal 
 lantly made, and our soldiers fell upon their antagonists with 
 a fury that made them recoil. The contest was conducted 
 with terrible vigor on both sides for some hours, and our 
 men succeeded in driving back the Federals, with great loss. 
 They, however, were unable to follow up their advantage, and 
 there came a lull in the storm of battle, during which both 
 armies seemed to be taking breath, preparatory to renewing 
 the fight with greater ferocity than ever. 
 
 At length the Federals rallied, and stormed the intrench- 
 ments with a much larger force than before, arid, after a 
 severe struggle, the Confederates were driven back into the 
 fort, leaving hundreds of the dead and wounded lying on the 
 frozen ground. By this time our ranks had been so thinned 
 out, that every one felt it would be madness to continue the 
 contest longer against the greatly superior force of the 
 enemy. We had fought, and fought gallantly, doing all that 
 soldiers could do to maintain ourselves ; but, in spite of the 
 desperate valor that the garrison had displayed, defeat stared 
 us in the face, and it .would have been useless bloodshed to 
 have attempted a prolongation of the battle. The Federals, 
 for .this once, at least, were masters of the field, and all we 
 cared longer to do was to get as many of our men as possible 
 away before the surrender took place, and to retrieve the dis 
 aster by meeting the enemy under more auspicious circum 
 stances another time. 
 
 DEPARTURE OF FLOYD AND PILLOW. 
 
 I felt the most profound pity for General Floyd, when he 
 found that further resistance was useless, and that the fort 
 
HOEBORS OF THE BATTLE-FIELD. 171 
 
 must be given up to the enemy. He actually shed tears, and 
 both he and General Pillow seemed borne down by the keen 
 est humiliation, when, after turning over the command to Gen 
 eral Buckner, they embarked their men hurriedly on the boats 
 at night, and effected their escape. Every one knew that 
 they could do no good by remaining, and that, by so doing, 
 they would only give so many more prisoners to the exultant 
 victors ; but many of those who were left behind seemed to 
 consider their departure as cowardly, and as an attempt to 
 shirk danger, and greeted them with hisses and groans as 
 they embarked. I was indignant at this, for I knew that they 
 had done all that could have been expected of them, and that 
 for them to participate in the surrender would only increase 
 the extent of the disaster, and add to the importance of the 
 Federal victory. 
 
 This was undoubtedly one of the most terrible battles of 
 the whole war, the fact of its having been fought in the midst 
 of an unusually severe winter serving to increase its horrors 
 tenfold. Towards the last, the contest between the besiegers 
 and besieged was hand to hand, both sides contending for the 
 mastery with a ferocity which I cannot pretend to command 
 words to describe. Again and again were the Federals re 
 pulsed from the works, and, at some points, they were so 
 much cut up that it seemed impossible for them to rally again. 
 Re-enforcements of fresh troops, however, came continually to 
 the relief of the defeated assailants, while each hour thinned 
 out the garrison terribly. After every repulse, the enemy 
 advanced to the attack with increased force, or made a furious 
 assault in a new place, and by the time General Buckner 
 surrendered the fort to General Grant, the vicinity of the 
 earthworks, for miles around, presented a sickening spectacle 
 of devastation and human suffering. 
 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 In every direction the ground was trampled by thousands 
 of feet, was cut up by the artillery carriages, and was strewn 
 with dead horses and men, and with all kinds of munitions of 
 war. In many of the trenches, especially where the fiercest 
 fighting had taken place, the bodies were heaped together, six 
 or seven feet high, and the faces of the corpses, distorted 
 with the agonies of their death struggles, were hideous to 
 look at. Those who fell, and died where they were shot, were 
 
172 DEPRESSION OP SPIRITS. 
 
 comparatively fortunate, for their sufferings were soon ended. 
 It was sickening, however, to think of the many poor fellows 
 who, after fighting bravely, and falling helpless from their 
 wounds, had their lives crushed out, and their forms mangled 
 beyond recognition, by the furiously driven artillery. 
 
 All the houses in the town of Dover were filled with the 
 wounded, and the air was fairly alive with the groans. Dr. 
 Moore, and other surgeons, did their best to alleviate the suf 
 ferings of the victims of cruel war ; but the best they could 
 do was but little. Some of the men, with their limbs fearfully 
 mangled, pleaded most piteously not to have them amputated, 
 many of them stating that they preferred death to this new 
 torture. Others could do no more than groan, or utter such 
 cries as " God help me *, " while not a few besought the sur- 
 
 Esons to kill them, and end their misery. It was no wonder 
 r. Moore said that it was no place for women, and that it 
 was as much as the strong nerves of a man could do to bear 
 up under such an accumulation of horrors. 
 
 More accustomed to such scenes than most women, and 
 better able to face the terrible sights by which I was sur 
 rounded, I endeavored, notwithstanding I was worn out, 
 bodily and mentally, and was overwhelmed in spirit by the 
 fearful disaster which had overtaken the Confederate arms, to 
 aid, as much as lay in my power, to make the wounded men 
 as comfortable as possible, until I saw that, if I intended to 
 escape, I must do so at once. 
 
 Although the horrors of a great battle like this affected me 
 greatly at the time of their occurrence, still the excitement 
 enabled me to bear up. and it was not until after a battle was 
 over, and I was compelled to reflect, that I fully realized what 
 a fearful thing this human slaughtering was. Immediately 
 after the defeat at Fort Donelson, especially, I was greatly 
 depressed in spirit, and it was long before I could shake off 
 the disposition to shudder, and the feeling of intense melan 
 choly, that overcame me to such an extent, that I almost re 
 solved to give up the whole business, and to never allow my 
 self to be put in the way of witnessing anything of the kind 
 again. 
 
 In course of time, however, this feeling wore off, and as, 
 with restored health, for I was quite sick from the expo 
 sures, fatigues, and horrors of the battle, my spirits regained 
 their elasticity, rny restless disposition would not let me re 
 main inactive while so many exciting scenes were being 
 
EFFECTS OF BEST AND REPOSE. 173 
 
 enacted around me, and while the fate of the Confederacy 
 was trembling in the balance. If I did not forget the hor 
 rors of Fort Donelson, they erelong ceased to oppress me, 
 and I was as ready as ever to do my share of any fighting 
 that was going on. It was never my disposition to brood 
 over misfortunes, and, although this one affected me deeply 
 for a season, I succeeded in overcoming its effects, and, after 
 a little rest and recuperation, was ready to resume my life of 
 adventure as a soldier of fortune. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DETECTION AND ARREST IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 Taking a Rest at Nashville. Again on the March. I join General A. 
 S. Johnston's Army. Wounded in a Skirmish. Am afraid of having 
 my Sex discovered, and leave suddenly for New Orleans. In New 
 Orleans I am suspected of being a Spy, and am arrested. The Of 
 ficer who makes the Arrest in Doubt. The Provost Marshal orders my 
 Release. I am again arrested by the Civil Authorities on Suspicion 
 of being a Woman. No Way out of the Scrape but to reveal my Iden 
 tity. Private Interview with Mayor Monroe. The Major fines and 
 imprisons me. I enlist as a private Soldier. On arriving at Fort 
 Pillow, obtain a Transfer to the Army of East Tennessee. 
 
 ROM Fort Donelson I went, with what speed I 
 could, to Nashville, and took rooms at the St. 
 Cloud Hotel. I was utterly used up from fa 
 tigue, exposure, anxiety, and bitter disap 
 pointment ; and both I and my negro boy Bob 
 who had been taken quite sick during the 
 battle needed an opportunity to thoroughly rest 
 ourselves. It was an immense relief to reach a good 
 hotel, where I could have a shelter over my head, a 
 comfortable bed, and wholesome food ; but such was 
 the restlessness of my disposition, and the agitation of my 
 mind, on account of the terrible scenes through which I had 
 just passed, that T could not keep quiet ; and scarcely had I 
 recovered a little from my fatigue, than I was eager to be in 
 motion again. 
 
 THE EXCITEMENT IN NASHVILLE. 
 
 Nashville was in an intense state of excitement over the 
 unexpected result of the attack upon Fort Donelson ; and, stim 
 ulated, perhaps, as much by the turmoil around me, and by the 
 apprehensions that were felt by every one, lest the Federals 
 should follow up their success by marching on the city, my old 
 eagerness to be an active participant in the contest which was 
 being waged, returned with all its former force, and I was 
 
 174 
 
WOUNDED IN A SKIRMISH. 175 
 
 soon as anxious as ever to do a soldier's full duty. If the 
 Federals were to be effectively resisted, and the defeat of Don- 
 elson retrieved, there was but one course for the friends of 
 the Confederacy, whether soldiers or citizens, to pursue, and 
 strenuous exertion was the duty which the exigencies of the 
 situation enforced upon every one. I felt that this was not 
 the time for me to shirk the responsibilities I had voluntarily 
 assumed, for if ever my services were needed, they were 
 needed now. After a very brief repose at the St. Cloud, 
 therefore, I was ready to brave the hardships and dangers of 
 the battle-field again. 
 
 Sending my negro boy to Grand Junction in charge of a 
 friend, I went to the headquarters of General Albert Sydney 
 Johnston, and upon asking for employment, was put in the de 
 tective corps. There was plenty of work for everybody to 
 do, for the fall of Fort Donelson had rendered it necessary 
 that the whole Southern army should fall back for the purpose 
 of taking up a new line, and I had no reason to complain of a 
 lack of activity, although the activity of a retreat was not 
 exactly what I most admired. I was not very long in getting 
 my fighting blood up again ; but, unfortunately, my com 
 bative propensities, this time, had a somewhat serious result, 
 which compelled me to abandon the line of duty I had chosen, 
 and to disappear from the sight of my new associates. 
 
 WOUNDED. 
 
 While participating in a skirmish with the enemy, who were 
 harassing us whenever an opportunity offered, I was wounded 
 in the foot. This lamed me, and compelled me to have the 
 hurt dressed by the surgeon, at which I was not a little 
 alarmed, for I knew that I was now in imminent danger of 
 having my sex discovered. The wound was not a very severe 
 one, and I probably magnified its importance ; but the circum 
 stances were such that it could scarcely have a fair chance to 
 heal speedily if I remained in the field, and dreading the 
 prospect of being for a long period under the care of the 
 surgeon, who would be much more likely to suspect me than 
 any one else, I resolved that the only course for me to pursue 
 was to abandon the army before I got into trouble. 
 
 I therefore availed myself of the earliest possible oppor 
 tunity to take French leave, and quietly slipped away to Grand 
 Junction, where I remained for three days, and then, in com- 
 
17G AN UNEASY FEELING IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 pany with ray boy Bob, repaired to Jackson, Mississippi. At 
 Jackson I hired Bob out, as I wanted to get rid of him for a 
 while, having in my mind certain plans, in the execution of 
 which it would have been an incumbrance for him to have 
 been with me. Bob being disposed of in a satisfactory man 
 ner, I hastened, without further delay, to New Orleans, and 
 took up my quarters at the Brooks House. 
 
 By abandoning the army, however, and going to New Or 
 leans at this particular juncture, I was, to use a homely 
 phrase, jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire. Rigid as 
 was army discipline, and strict as were the precautions taken 
 to prevent treachery and the surveillance of spies, I had 
 managed to sustain myself in the army as an independent 
 without difficulty, and was on the best possible terms with 
 everybody. In New Orleans, on the other hand, I found the 
 spirit of suspicion rampant. Confidence in the ability of the 
 city to defend itself against the impending Federal attack 
 was expressed on all sides, but the fact that an attempt was 
 undoubtedly to be made, before a great while, for its reduc 
 tion, and the uncertainty with regard to the exact nature of 
 the blow, or the exact direction from which it would fall, 
 caused an uneasiness that could not be disguised. The Fed 
 erals were known to be mustering an enormous fleet at the 
 mouth of the river, and a large army on the Sound, and my 
 surmises of months before, based upon what I had heard in 
 Washington, were, apparently, about to be realized. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS APPREHENSIVE OF AN ATTACK. 
 
 While the city was in this condition of suspense, each man 
 looked more or less askance at his neighbor, and the fear of 
 Federal spies was a feeling that preponderated over all others 
 in the hearts of many. People who, in war time, don't do any 
 fighting, are, according to my experience, as x bellicose in their 
 language as they are cowardly in the face of real danger, 
 making up in suspiciousness and vindictiveness what they 
 lack in valor. It was not to be wondered at, therefore, that I 
 speedily got myself into serious trouble, to escape the conse 
 quences of which I was compelled to resort to some desperate 
 shifts. 
 
 I did not at all appreciate the situation when I went to New 
 Orleans. When I entered Washington it was as a spy, and I 
 consequently had all my wits about me ; but in New Orleans 
 
ARRESTED. 177 
 
 I thought I was among my friends, and very imprudently 
 neglected ordinary precautions for-avoiding difficulties. 
 
 During the eight or nine months I had been wearing male 
 attire, I had, as the reader is aware, seen a great deal of very 
 hard service. My clothing was well worn, and my apparatus 
 for disguising my form was badly out of order ; and the result 
 was, that I scarcely presented as creditable a manly appear 
 ance as I did upon the occasion of my last visit to New 
 Orleans. I had, too, by this time become so much accus 
 tomed to male attire that I ceased to bear in my mind, 
 constantly, the absolute necessity for preserving certain ap 
 pearances, and had grown careless about a number of little 
 matters that, when attended to properly, aided materially in 
 maintaining my incognito. In addition to all this, I was in 
 very low spirits, if not absolutely sick, when I reached New 
 Orleans, and was not in a mood to play my part in the best 
 manner. 
 
 MY ARREST AS A SPY. 
 
 I had not been in the city very long before it was noted by 
 prying people that there was some mystery about me, and for 
 any one to have a mystery just then, was equivalent to falling 
 under the ban of both military and civic authorities. I, of 
 course, imagining no evil, was not prepared for a demonstra 
 tion against me, and was accordingly thunderstruck when I 
 was arrested on the charge of being a spy, and taken before 
 the provost marshal. 
 
 Terror, dismay, and indignation struggled for mastery with 
 me when this outrage, as 1 considered it, was perpetrated. 
 My great secret, I feared, was now^pn the point of being dis 
 covered ; and if it was discovered, the probabilities were that 
 I would be unable any longer to continue the career I had 
 marked out for myself. I was enraged at the idea of being 
 charged with acting as a spy, and of having my patriotism 
 doubted after all I had done to promote the cause of Southern 
 independence ; and at the same time I appreciated the diffi 
 culties and dangers of the situation, and puzzled my brain to 
 devise a plan for getting myself out of a very ugly scrape. 
 Reviewing the matter very rapidly in my own mind, I deter 
 mined that the best, if not the only plan, was to present a- 
 bold front, and to challenge my accusers to prove anything 
 against me, reserving a revelation of my identity as a last 
 alternative. 
 
 12 
 
178 IN A PREDICAMENT. 
 
 I entered a vigorous protest against the whole proceeding 
 to the officer who made the arrest, and I could see, from his 
 hesitating and indecisive manner, that he was in possession of 
 no definite charge against me, and was inclined to be dubious 
 about the propriety or legality of his action. This encour 
 aged me, and induced me to believe that I might be able to 
 brave the thing through ; but I resolved, if I did get clear, to 
 cut my visit to New Orleans as short as possible. My protest, 
 however, was of no avail, so far as procuring an instantaneous 
 release was concerned, for the officer insisted upon my accom 
 panying him to the office of the provost marshal. 
 
 A DELICATE SITUATION. 
 
 While on my way to the provost marshal's, my conductor 
 questioned me closely, but I gave him such answers as evi 
 dently increased his uneasy feelings, and I soon saw that he 
 was beginning to seriously doubt whether he was doing ex 
 actly the correct thing in making the arrest. Finally, he 
 proposed to release me ; but to this I objected in very decided 
 terms, and insisted on knowing exactly what accusations there 
 were against me. 
 
 To the office of the provost marshal we accordingly went, 
 and, after a very few questions, that official decided, with 
 gratifying promptness, that there was no justification for 
 holding me, and ordered my discharge from custody. 
 
 This appeared to astonish the individual who had made the 
 arrest very much, and it was evident that he was repenting 
 of his rashness, and was anxious to get out of an unpleasant 
 predicament the best way he could. 
 
 I enjoyed his discomfiture immensely, and, turning to him 
 with all the dignity I could command, I demanded his name. 
 This, with very evident reluctance, he at length gave me, and 
 making him a stiff bow, I said, in a quiet but threatening man 
 ner, " I will see you again about this matter, sir," as I walked 
 out of the office. 
 
 MY SEX SUSPECTED. 
 
 In spite of my bravado, however, this incident gave me a 
 great deal of uneasiness, for I saw that I was in a dangerous 
 predicament, and was liable at any moment to get into further 
 trouble. I was not much surprised, therefore, although greatly 
 disgusted, when the next evening I was again arrested, this 
 
IMPRISONMENT. 179 
 
 time on susjficion of being a woman. Now what I had so long 
 dreaded was come to pass, and there was nothing to do but 
 to get out of the difficulties which environed me the best way 
 I could. 
 
 Being taken before Mayor Monroe, I was interrogated by 
 that individual in a style that I did not at all admire. It seemed 
 to me that he was assuming a certain lordliness of manner 
 that did not sit gracefully upon him, and that was entirely 
 uncalled for by the exigencies of the occasion. 
 
 My replies to the queries of the mayor were not satisfactory 
 to him, for his very imperious and pompous bearing made me 
 angry, and rather put me on my mettle. He consequently 
 chose to assume that I was a woman, and ordered me to change 
 my apparel. 
 
 I, however, was resolved not to give up without a severe 
 contest, having made up my mind, on assuming male attire, 
 not to acknowledge my sex except in the last extremity, 
 and for the sake of securing ends that could not otherwise be 
 accomplished. So, turning to Mr. Monroe, I said, with a dig 
 nified severity quite equal to his own, " Sir, prove that I am a 
 woman ; it will be quite time, when you do that, for you .to 
 give me an order to change my dress. " 
 
 THE MAYOR PUZZLED. 
 
 This rather disconcerted the mayor and his satellites ; and, 
 watching their countenances closely, I saw that they were 
 nonplussed, and were doubtful how to proceed, being uncer 
 tain whether or not they had made a mistake. My hopes of a 
 prompt discharge, however, were doomed to disappointment, 
 for the mayor, after a brief consultation, decided to remand 
 me to the calaboose, until it should be settled to his satisfac 
 tion who I was, and whether I was a man or a woman. To 
 the calaboose I accordingly went, horrified at being subjected 
 to such an indignity, and with anything but pleasant or friendly 
 feelings towards the mayor, and the meddlesome, prying busy- 
 bodies who had been instrumental in getting me into this 
 trouble. 
 
 The circumstances of the case having, in the mean time, 
 become generally known, I was visited the next morning by a 
 local reporter, who showed a very eager desire to find out all 
 he could about me, for the purpose of writing a sensational 
 article for the paper with which he was connected. As may 
 
180 MAYOR MONROE'S SEVERITY. 
 
 be imagined, this sort of thing did not increase my amiability, 
 or tend to make me bear my misfortunes in a philosophical 
 spirit. I gave Mr. Reporter very little satisfaction, shaping 
 my conversation with him with a view of inducing him to 
 believe that a great mistake had been committed, and that I 
 was the victim of a very unjust persecution. 
 
 The reporter was troublesome, but I was not alarmed at 
 him, as I was at my next visitor, Dr. Root, of the Charity Hos 
 pital. This gentleman? I knew, would be much more difficult 
 to deal with ; and before he got through with questioning me, 
 I was convinced, from his manner, that his mind was made up 
 with regard to me. I felt sure that the easiest and best 
 method, indeed, the only method I could safely adopt, was 
 to confess frankly to the mayor that I was really a woman, 
 trusting that this fact being settled in a manner satisfying 
 to his magisterial dignity, he would have no further pretext 
 for keeping me in confinement, and would order my release. 
 
 I therefore wrote a note to his honor, requesting a private 
 interview. This request he granted, and without any more 
 equivocation I told him who I was, and gave him what I hoped 
 would be satisfactory reasons for assuming the garb I wore. 
 My confession having been made, I next endeavored to treat 
 with the mayor for an immediate release, promising to leave 
 the city so soon as liberated, my idea being to return to mili 
 tary life forthwith, as I had had quite enough of New Orleans 
 for the present. 
 
 A FINE AND IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 Mr. Monroe, however, having gotten me in his clutches, 
 was not disposed to let me go so easily, and he said that he 
 would be compelled to fine me ten dollars, and to sentence 
 me to ten days' imprisonment a decision that did not increase 
 my good opinion of him, for absolutely nothing had been 
 brought up against my character or my conduct, and I could 
 not, and do not now, see the justice or propriety of such a 
 proceeding. 
 
 I thought that this was pretty rough treatment, considering 
 all that I had done to serve the Confederacy. From the out 
 break of the war I had been on active duty in the face of the 
 enemy, and had taken part in some of the hardest fought bat 
 tles in the war, while my persecutor had remained at home 
 enjoying his ease, and taking good care to keep out of danger. 
 To prove this to him, as I could easily have done by procur- 
 
ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 181 
 
 ing testimonials from my numerous friends in the army, would 
 have ruined all my hopes and expectations for the future, 
 however, for, in spite of my present unpleasant situation, I 
 was resolved not to give the thing up. So I concluded that 
 the best plan was to suffer in silence, and to allow the mayor 
 to have what satisfaction he could get out of my ten dollars 
 I wonder if any of it went into the city treasury ? and out 
 of keeping me incarcerated for ten days. 
 
 Resolving to be as patient as I could, and to be even with 
 Mr. Monroe some day, if ever a good opportunity presented 
 itself, I consoled myself with the idea that my term of im 
 prisonment was a short one, and would soon be over. I was 
 dreadfully tired of it, however, before the hour of release 
 arrived ; and each day my indignation at such an unwarranted 
 outrage increased. The more I thought over the matter the 
 less was T able to see that there was any valid reason for my 
 beini>- subjected to such treatment.- At length, after long and 
 impatient waiting, I was free once more : and now the problem 
 was to get out of New Orleans as quickly as possible, before 
 I was recognized by too many people, and in such disguise 
 that I would be able to follow the bent of my inclinations 
 without hinderance. 
 
 Exactly how to manage this, I had some difficulty in deter 
 mining; but as the situation was a somewhat desperate one, I 
 was ready to resort to a desperate measure to accomplish my 
 ends. I felt sure that once more with the army I would be 
 safe ; but, with so many suspicious people watching me, it 
 would be, I knew, extremely difficult to get away as I had 
 come, and to enter upon my old career as an independent, 
 without questioning or hinderance. It was therefore necessary 
 for me to smuggle myself, so to speak, among the soldiers again, 
 and I hit upon an expedient for doing so, which, although I 
 felt that it was risky, 1 resolved to try, and to take rrry chances 
 for getting out of a new difficulty in case I should fall into one. 
 
 I ENLIST. 
 
 As soon as possible, therefore, after obtaining my release, I 
 proceeded to the recruiting office at the corner of Jefferson 
 and Chatham Streets, and enlisted in Captain B. Moses' com 
 pany, of the twenty-first Louisiana regiment. The next day 
 we started for Fort Pillow, to join the balance of the regiment. 
 
 In this manner 1 contrived to get clear of New Orleans, but, 
 
182 READY TO MAKE A FRESH START. 
 
 as I had no fancy for going on duty as a private soldier any 
 longer than was absolutely necessary, although the regiment 
 of which I was a member was as gallant a one as ever went 
 into battle, and my comrades were, most of them, pleasant, 
 agreeable fellows, my next thought was to resume my inde 
 pendent footing at the earliest moment. I therefore went 
 privately to General Yillipigue, and, showing my commis 
 sion, told a plausible story to account for my enlistment, and 
 asked him to give me employment as an officer. The officers 
 and men of the regiment, of course, knew nothing of my being 
 in possession of this document, or of my previous history. 
 General Villipigue was not able to do anything for me, as 
 there were no vacancies, and I therefore applied for a trans 
 fer to the army of East Tennessee, and was very cheerfully 
 granted it. 
 
 This was the first time I had ever been regularly mustered 
 into the service, and the step was taken, not from choice, but 
 for the purpose of escaping from the surveillance of Mayor 
 Monroe and the Provost Marshal, two individuals whom, after 
 a very brief acquaintance, I did not particularly care to know 
 more intimately. I had many regrets in parting from the 
 officers and men of the twenty -first regiment, whom I had 
 learned to like very much in the short time I had been with 
 them, but I felt that my interests demanded a removal to 
 another locality. Consequently, so soon as I received my pa 
 pers, I said adieu to my new friends, and was off with all pos 
 sible speed. 
 
 I was not in a very happy frame of mind, and my physical 
 condition was scarcely better than my mental. The occur 
 rences of the weeks that had just passed had not been of the 
 most pleasurable character, and my personal difficulties in New 
 Orleans, coming as they did when I had not recovered from 
 the mental and bodily suffering caused by the contest at Fort 
 Donelson, did not have the effect of making me view life from 
 its bright side. After the episode of a ten days' sojourn in 
 prison, however, it was a great relief for me to feel that I had 
 my destiny in my own hands once more ; and at the prospect 
 of again entering upon a life of adventure that would afford 
 me opportunities for winning distinction, my spirit rose, and I 
 was disposed to dismiss the past, with all its unpleasantnesses, 
 and to make a fresh start with all the energy I could command. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE LOVE AFFAIR. 
 
 Again at Memphis. Public and private Difficulties. Future Prospects. 
 
 Arrival of my Negro Boy and Baggage from Grand Junction. A 
 new uniform Suit. Prepared once more to face the World. I fall 
 in with an old Friend. An Exchange of Compliments. Late Hours. 
 
 Some of the Effects of Late Hours. Confidential Communications. 
 
 The Course of true Love runs not smooth. I renew my Acquaint 
 ance with General Lucius M. Polk. The General disposed to be 
 friendly. My Friend and I call on his Lady-love and her Sister. 
 Surprising Behavior of the young Lady. A genuine Love-letter. 
 A Secret disclosed. Incidents of a Buggy Ride. A Declaration of 
 Love. Lieutenant H. T. Buford as a Lady-killer. Why should 
 Women not pop the Question as well as Men?- -A melancholy Dis 
 closure for my Friend. I endeavor to encourage him. A Visit to 
 the Theatre and an enjoyable Evening. I meet a Friend from New 
 Orleans, and endeavor to remove any Suspicions with regard to my 
 Identity from his Mind. Progress of my Love-affair with Miss M. 
 The young Lady and I have our Pictures taken. I proceed to 
 Corinth for the Purpose of taking Part in the expected Battle. The 
 Confederate Army advances from Corinth towards Pittsburg Landing. 
 
 'AVING secured my transportation and trans 
 fer papers, I went to Memphis by the first 
 boat, and was erelong once again at my 
 original starting-point, but in a much less 
 enviable mood than when I had last visited 
 it. Then I was dissatisfied with the way 
 which things seemed to be going, and especially 
 with the - as it appeared to me very unnecessary 
 and vexatious difficulties that presented themselves 
 whenever I attempted to secure such a position as 
 would enable me to labor with the most efficiency. My con 
 fidence in the sacredness of the cause, in the ability of the 
 Southern armies to sustain it, and its ultimate triumph, were, 
 however, unbroken, notwithstanding that I believed precious 
 time was being wasted, and that, through a mistaken policy, 
 the Confederates were compelled to stand upon the defensive, 
 
 183 
 
184 UNDISMAYED. 
 
 when they ought to have assumed the aggressive, and attacked 
 the enemy on his own ground. 
 
 Now, however, things had changed. The terrible disaster at 
 Fort Donelson had been a rude blow to my ideas of Southern 
 invincibility in the field, and if it did not induce me to despair, 
 it certainly opened my eyes to the magnitude of the task we 
 had on hand, and compelled rne to recognize the fact, that we 
 were contending with a resolute and powerful enemy, whose 
 resources were enormously superior to ours, and who was 
 evidently bent upon crushing us to the earth, and compelling 
 us to submit to his dictation. All the fine dreams of the 
 previous summer were dissipated into thin air, but there 
 still remained the consolation, that during the bitter struggle 
 yet to come, there would doubtless be plenty of opportunities 
 for me to serve the cause with efficiency, and to win personal 
 glory by my performances. 
 
 I had a certain grim satisfaction, too, in thinking that, as 
 things were going, my ambition to do some genuine hard 
 work would scarcely be so lightly regarded in certain quar 
 ters as it had been, and that my zeal would consequently be 
 recognized and rewarded as I thought that it deserved 
 to be. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF MY POSITION. 
 
 Apart altogether from the disappointments incident to the 
 military situation, were my private difficulties. My sex had 
 been discovered ; and notwithstanding my motives for assum 
 ing male attire, and my exemplary conduct while doing a 
 soldier's duty, I had been subjected to gross indignities, 
 simply because I chose to peribrm a man's, rather than a 
 woman's work. This galled me, especially as my secret having 
 once been revealed, it would now be more than ever difficult 
 for me to figure successfully as a man, and I knew that I 
 would constantly be in danger of detection. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, however, I was undismayed, and was 
 resolved upon carrying out my original programme, so far as 
 was practicable, and only sought a field of operations where I 
 would be able to follow the bent of my inclinations with as 
 little probability as possible of being interfered with. 
 
 Having accomplished my object in leaving New Orleans, 
 and of maintaining a masculine appearance in doing so, I was 
 encouraged to believe that I would be able, by a little discreet 
 management, to get along without a repetition of the troubles 
 
THE TAILOR MAKES THE MAN. 185 
 
 I had encountered in that city, that in the sharp fighting 
 about to occur between the contending armies, I would be 
 able to show my qualities as a soldier to even greater 
 advantage than hitherto, and that amid the excitements of 
 the battle-field and the camp I would forget, or at least 
 cease to think about, the unpleasant things of the past. 
 
 So soon as I arrived at Memphis, I telegraphed to Grand 
 Junction for my baggage and my servant, and then went to 
 the tailor, and giving him an order for an officer's uniform suit, 
 with instructions to have it ready at the earliest possible 
 moment, borrowed from him a coat to wear until my new 
 clothing should be ready. I discarded my soldier's jacket 
 with quite as much satisfaction as had inspired me on assum 
 ing it, and prepared myself to -wait, with what equanimity I 
 could command, the moment when I might be able to figure 
 once more in the eyes of both sexes as the dashing young 
 independent, Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. Clothing, and 
 particular cuts of clothing, have a great deal to do towards 
 making us all, men or women, appear what we would like the 
 world to take us for ; and as, although my borrowed coat 
 answered a temporary purpose very well, it did not show me 
 off to the best advantage, I resolved to keep out of sight as 
 much as possible until the tailor had executed his task. I was 
 really not sorry for an opportunity to shut myself up for a 
 day or two, so that I could take a thorough rest, and think, 
 without being interrupted, what was the best plan of action 
 for the immediate future. 
 
 MY NEGRO BOY BOB. 
 
 The next night, about eleven o'clock, my faithful boy Bob 
 arrived with my baggage, and was delighted to see me again, 
 although my haggard appearance evidently surprised and 
 shocked him. Poor fellow ! He little knew what I had passed 
 through since I had parted with him. 
 
 " Why, Mas' Harry," he said, " you do look dreadful bad. 
 Has you been sick? " 
 
 " Yes, Bob," I replied. " I have been quite ill since I left 
 you, hut I am getting quite well now, and am ready to go for 
 the Yankees again." 
 
 Bob's eyes sparkled at this, for he was beginning to love 
 fighting almost as much as myself, although the experiences 
 of Fort Donelson had served to extinguish a good deal of the 
 
186 THOSE MUSTACHES. 
 
 martial ardor that was burning in bis heart. I told him 
 enough about my movements since I had seen him last to 
 gratify his curiosity, and to enable him to. make satisfactory 
 answers in case any one should question him ; and then, 
 giving him orders to call a hack, we drove to the Gegora 
 House, where I took rooms, and prepared to have as good a 
 time as circumstances would permit. 
 
 IN UNIFORM AGAIN. 
 
 My new uniform suit was ready at the appointed time, and 
 I hastened to array myself in it. Making my toilet with more 
 than usual care, and rearranging my mustache and imperial, 
 which had become somewhat demoralized of late, I took a 
 cane in hand, and strolled out to see what was to be seen, not 
 without a little trepidation, but feeling, on the whole, better 
 satisfied with myself and with things in general than I had 
 clone for a long time. 
 
 After stepping in and out of a number of the principal 
 saloons and drinking-places, I finally came across a friend 
 whom I was really very glad to meet. This was Lieutenant 
 Philip Hastings, a whole-souled fellow, for whom I had an 
 especial liking, and whom I accordingly greeted with great 
 cordiality. Hastings returned my greeting in an equally 
 cordial manner. Shaking me by the hand, he said, " I am glad 
 to see you, old fellow. What is the good news with you? 
 Where are you from ? " 
 
 " I am just from the Gulf City," I replied. 
 
 " Ah," said he ; " what is there new there ? Did you have 
 a good time ? I suppose you were on a leave of absence." 
 
 " 0, yes," said I ; " I always manage to have a pretty good 
 time wherever I go." 
 
 A DELICATE SUBJECT. 
 
 Said Hastings, looking at me sharply, " I see you have 
 been raising a new crop of mustaches." 
 
 I am afraid that I smiled in a rather sickly manner at this ; 
 but putting on as bold an air as I could command, I gave the 
 ornaments of my upper lip a twist, to let him see that they 
 were on tight, and said, " Yes, I have been letting them rush 
 a little ; the girls tell me they are an improvement." 
 
 Hastings then asked me where I was going ; and I replied, 
 
LIVELIER THAN THE LAW ALLOWS. 187 
 
 that I expected to join Beau-regard's army, but that my plans 
 were a little uncertain, as I was unfortunately an independent, 
 who belonged nowhere in particular ; and that, as the com 
 manding officers were getting so confoundedly strict with 
 regard to a good many things, while they were not half strict 
 enough about others of more consequence, I was not sure 
 where I would bring up. I added, that I was at present in 
 the detective corps, and offered to serve him in any way in 
 my power. He thanked me ; and then I asked him how he 
 was getting along, and what time he had been stationed in 
 Memphis. 
 
 He informed me that he had been on duty there about three 
 months, but that he expected to be ordered to the front very 
 soon. 
 
 After a little more conversation of this sort, Hastings said, 
 " I am trying to marry a mighty pretty girl here, but I don't 
 somehow get along with her as well as I could wish. She is 
 a good girl, just as good as they get to be, and she has a 
 deucedly pretty sister, about fifteen years of age, who I 
 think would suit you. They are not rich, but they are mighty 
 nice, and I would like to introduce you." 
 
 " Well, Phil," said I, " I arn willing anything to pass the 
 time pleasantly." 
 
 " Well, let's take a drink," said Hastings, " and we will go 
 and see them." 
 
 AFTER VISITING HOURS. 
 
 Hastings had been taking something before I met him, and 
 as I had treated just after we met, this additional drink had 
 the effect of making him rather livelier than the law allowed. 
 He took a brandy smash, and a full-sized one, while I, accord 
 ing to custom, drank cider. Then lighting our cigars, we 
 strolled down the street, my companion bent on making the 
 proposed call. I knew, however, that it must be past visiting 
 hours, and, stopping under a lamp-post, pulled out my watch, 
 and, glancing at it, asked him if he knew what time it was. 
 
 " 0, it's not late," said he ; " about eleven o'clock ; they 
 won't be gone to bed yet." 
 
 I showed him the dial of the watch, and he exclaimed, 
 " Thunder and lightning ! Why, it's one o'clock.'' 
 
 Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, however, he was 
 very much disposed to insist on going to see the ladies, but 
 
188 CONFIDENTIAL. 
 
 finally I succeeded in persuading him of the impropriety of 
 such a course, although he yielded very unwillingly. He 
 then wanted to go and make a night of it somewhere ; and on 
 my refusing, started off by himself, I being unable to induce 
 him to go home and get in bed. I did, however, talk him 
 into letting me take charge of his money, with the exception 
 of his small change, and on the plea that I had promised to 
 meet a friend at the hotel, contrived to get away from him. 
 I disliked very much to let Phil go off by himself in the con 
 dition he was in, but as he was just enough under the influence 
 of what he had imbibed to be troublesome, and was bent upon 
 having what he called, some fun, my own safety demanded 
 that I should leave him. My New Orleans experience had 
 been a severe one, and it was much too fresh in my memory 
 for me to be willing to run any unnecessary risks of being 
 arrested on similar charges in Memphis, especially as I felt 
 certain that it would not be so easy to get out of the clutches 
 of the authorities a second time, while my future prospects 
 would, in all probability, be irreparably damaged. So, cau 
 tioning my friend to take good care of himself, I went back 
 to the hotel as fast as I could, and was soon asleep. 
 
 MISPLACED AFFECTION. 
 
 The next morning Phil came around to the hotel to claim 
 his money, which amounted to over two thousand dollars in 
 Confederate bills. He did not look as fresh as he might have 
 done if he had followed the good advice I gave him the night 
 before, was in a somewhat repentent mood, and, as people 
 when feeling rather badly through their own indiscretion are 
 apt to feel, he was very confidential about a variety of private 
 affairs. During our conversation that morning, he told me 
 any number of his secrets, and especially gave me to under 
 stand that matters were not going as well as could be wished 
 between him and his lady-love. I had a fancy that the young 
 lady was, perhaps, offended at something he had said or done 
 while a little under the influence of liquor, and tried to con 
 sole him and to encourage him, by offering to aid him in any 
 way I could towards straightening matters out. I little sus 
 pected what the real difficulty was, or I, perhaps, would not 
 have been so ready in offering my assistance. Alas, poor 
 Phil ! his affections were bestowed in the wrong direction, 
 but he lived in hope that things would finally shape them- 
 
GENERAL LUCIUS M. POLK. 189 
 
 selves according to his wishes, and he confidently expected 
 that in time he would be able so to soften the lady's heart 
 towards him, that she would accept his hand. His dreams 
 of happiness, however, were cut short in an untimely manner, 
 for 1 saw him fall, while fighting bravely, about two weeks 
 subsequently, at the head of his company, at the battle of 
 Shiloh. 
 
 Phil took breakfast with me, and after our meal was de 
 spatched, we went to a livery stable, and, obtaining a couple 
 of horses, rode out to camp. I dined with him about four 
 o'clock, and then we rode leisurely back to town, and went up 
 to my room, where we smoked and chatted until supper- 
 time. 
 
 On going into the supper-room, I noticed that the e} T es of a 
 number of people whom I knew, and especially of several 
 ladies by whom I was in some little fear of being recognized, 
 were fixed upon me. I, however, gave my mustaches a 
 savage twist, and putting on as manly a swagger as I was 
 able to command, determined to brave all consequences. 
 
 I MEET GENERAL L. M. POLK AGAIN. 
 
 My old friend, General Lucius M. Polk, was seated at one 
 of the tables, and I took a seat which brought me nearly back 
 to back with him. He did not notice me when I came in, and 
 I did not care to intrude myself upon him, so did nothing to 
 attract his attention. Soon, however, I said to Hastings, 
 pointing to an old lady in another part of the room, " Lieu 
 tenant, there is one of the ladies who were in the habit of 
 visiting Camp Beauregard when I was doing provost duty 
 on the train." 
 
 When General Polk heard this, he evidently recogriized a 
 familiar voice, and turning round, shook hands with me very 
 cordially. 
 
 " Excuse me, general," said I, " but I did not see you when 
 I came in." 
 
 " When did you arrive ? " said the general. 
 
 " Last evening," I replied. 
 
 " Where are you from ? " 
 
 " From New Orleans." 
 
 " Is there anything new ? " 
 
 " No ; matters are pretty much as usual. Is there anything 
 new in camp ? " 
 
190 PHIL'S SWEETHEART AND HER SISTER. 
 
 " Well," said the general, " we are expecting to have anoth 
 er battle before long'." 
 
 " Then," said I, " I am just in time." 
 
 " Yes, if you want to have a hand in it," he said. " Are 
 you going out? " 
 
 " Probably day after to-morrow," I replied. 
 
 " I go at ten o'clock this evening," said the general ; 
 and then, turning to the lady with him, he said, " Permit me 
 to introduce you to Mrs. Polk." 
 
 I introduced Hastings to the general and his wife, and after 
 a little chat with them, they said good by, and left the room. 
 Hastings and I finished our supper, and then strolled into the 
 bar-room and lighted our cigars. 
 
 He was now impatient to have me go with him to call on 
 his girl ; so I took his arm, and we sauntered down the street 
 together in the direction of the house which contained the 
 object of his adoration. We stood on the corner for a little 
 while until we had finished our smoke, and then went up to 
 the front door, where Phil rang the bell. 
 
 A SOCIAL CALL. 
 
 I always felt a little timorous and unpleasant when com 
 pelled to play the role I had undertaken, in a social way, 
 among members of my own sex ; and whether because of my 
 recent adventure in New Orleans, or for some other cause, I 
 felt unusually reluctant to make the acquaintance of Phil's 
 lady friends. Had I then suspected all that I found out 
 afterwards, I would have been even more dubious about the 
 propriety of permitting myself to be introduced. 
 
 We took our seats in the parlor, and soon the two young 
 ladies made their appearance. I was introduced j and as I 
 could see that Hastings desired to converse with Miss M., I 
 undertook to make myself as agreeable as possible to Miss 
 E. We did not get along very well together, however, for 
 she was very shy and bashful, while I was far from feeling at 
 my ease, and was conscious of not distinguishing myself very 
 greatly as a lady's man. 
 
 After a little while, as our conversation was not very enliv 
 ening, Miss E., apparently as much to break the monotony of 
 the performance as anything else, went out, and returned 
 shortly with a servant girl bearing a waiter of applet. This 
 brought the other couple out of the corner where they had 
 
CUPID'S PRANKS. 191 
 
 been sitting and conversing in a low tone, and the four of us 
 amused ourselves by eating apples and telling fortunes with 
 the seeds. This appeared to afford some amusement to the 
 other three, but 1 found it rather dull entertainment, and 
 heartily wished that the evening was over. Phil, however, 
 was so wrapped up with his lady, that he was in no hurry to 
 go ; but somehow Miss M. did not appear to fancy him by any 
 means as much as he did her, and before a great while they 
 had quite a falling out, and she addressed her conversation 
 chiefly to me, and seemed to have taken quite a liking to me. 
 I was not a little surprised at the warmth of her manner, but 
 supposed that she was merely trying to provoke Phil by a 
 little coquetry, and never imagined for an instant that there was 
 anything serious in it all. 
 
 
 UNEXPECTED CORDIALITY. 
 
 When we arose to leave, Miss M. was scarcely polite to 
 Phil, but she looked at me in a very bewildering way ; and 
 squeezing my hand a little more than our brief acquaintance 
 warranted, gave me a most pressing invitation to call again. 
 
 As we walked up the street, Phil asked me how I was 
 pleased, and then told me all about his falling out with his 
 girl. She, it seems, had insisted, with considerable vehemence, 
 that she did not, could not, and would not, love him, and he 
 was very much disposed to think, from what she said, and 
 from the manner in which she behaved, that some other fellow 
 was cutting him out. He little imagined that his friend, 
 Harry T. Buford, was the innocent and unsuspecting cause 
 of his troubles. I tried to cheer him up as well as I could, 
 and then we parted, he to get his horse for a night ride to 
 camp, and I to go to bed at the hotel. 
 
 A SECRET REVEALED. 
 
 The next day I received two letters, one of which was from 
 my future husband ; for, gentle reader, all these months that, in 
 a guise of a man, I had been breaking young ladies' hearts by 
 my fascinating figure and manner, my own woman's heart 
 had an object upon which its affections were bestowed, and I 
 was engaged to be married to a truly noble officer of the 
 Confederate army, who knew me, both as a man and as a 
 woman, but who little suspected that Lieutenant Harry T. 
 
192 PHIL'S MISFORTUNE. 
 
 Buford, and his intended wife, were one and the same person. 
 By this letter, I learned that my lover was then at Corinth, 
 where I expected to meet him in a few days, and my heart 
 jumped for joy at the idea of being able to fight by his side in 
 the battle that was coming off. This I was determined to do, 
 if the thing could be managed. , 
 
 Under the influence of the pleasurable emotions excited by 
 this letter, and the prospect of again seeing the man 1 loved 
 after a separation of many months, I wrote a note to the two 
 young ladies I had visited the night before, inviting them to go 
 buggy-riding. I then went to the bank and drew some, money, 
 and on my return to the hotel, found an acceptance from my 
 lady friends. 
 
 I accordingly hired a couple of teams, one for Hastings, 
 and one for myself; but on arriving at the house, much to 
 PhiPs disgust, Miss M. would not go with him, and he took her 
 sister, while his lady, with great apparent satisfaction, seated 
 herself in my vehicle. I felt for him, for I knew that he was 
 terribly disappointed ; and with a just received love-lei ter of 
 my own in my pocket, I was more appreciative of his emotions 
 than I probably otherwise would have been, and made an at 
 tempt towards effecting another arrangement. Phil, however, 
 put on a careless air, as if it were all one to him which girl he 
 had, and tipping me a wink, said that he was satisfied as 
 things were. 
 
 When we got started, I said to Miss M., " I am afraid I am 
 interfering with my friend's pleasure." 
 
 " 0," said she, " it's all right. I don't belong to him. He 
 is mad with me, and I don't care if he never gets pleased 
 again." 
 
 " You must be mistaken," I said. " I know that he thinks 
 a great deal of you, and he would not offend you for the 
 world. You oughtn't to be hurt at his brusque manner 
 sometimes, for it's just a way he has, and he don't mean any 
 thing by it." 
 
 " I don't care what his manner is," she put in, rather tartly, 
 " for I don't love him, and wish that he wouldn't bother me." 
 
 A GOOD WORD FOR A FRIEND. 
 
 This induced me to think that I could put in a good word 
 for Hastings, and, perhaps, soften the heart of the lady towards 
 him. I accordingly began to set forth all his good qualities 
 
ANOTHER CONQUEST FOR LIEUTENANT BUFORD. 193 
 
 in the best light, and to try and persuade her that it was worth 
 while to win the affections of such a fine fellow. 
 
 So soon as she fairly comprehended what my meaning was, 
 she would not let me proceed ; saying, " It's no use of talking 
 to me about Lieutenant Hastings. I cannot love him, for I am 
 in love with another man, and would give anything in the 
 world if I could only possess his heart." 
 
 I thought that this was getting to be rather more confiden 
 tial than there was any necessity for, considering our short 
 acquaintance ; and had I been a man, I suppose it would have 
 been quite the proper thing for me to have become embar 
 rassed. As things were, however, I was rather amused at the 
 idea of the young lady undertaking to reveal the state of her 
 affections in such an explicit manner, but never suspected 
 what she was really driving at. I fancied that she was merely 
 trying to draw me out for the purpose of seeing what I would 
 say to her, and thought that her real object, after all, was to 
 stimulate Phil's affections *by making him a little jealous. 
 Women, as I have more means than one of knowing, are in the 
 habit of playing just such little tricks as these, and it is as 
 tonishing what luck they have in making them succeed. 
 
 After considering a moment what I had better say in reply 
 to Miss M.'s bit of confidential communication, I asked if I 
 knew the fortunate individual who had made the conquest of 
 her affections. 
 
 " Yes," she replied, looking at me out of the corners of her 
 eyes, and then bashfully dropping her eyelids, and doing her 
 best to blush. 
 
 " Well," said I, " if you will tell me his name, I will try and 
 find out for you what his feelings are. Perhaps if I give him 
 a hint that a nice girl is in love with him, he will try and make 
 himself agreeable." 
 
 A REVELATION. 
 
 She hesitated, sighed, bit her lips, made a desperate attempt 
 at blushing, and finally murmured, in what was evidently in 
 tended to be a sweet, low, and very touching tone of voice, 
 " I will tell you his initials ; " and then, after a moment's hesi 
 tation, " They are H. T. B." 
 
 Before this came out, I was beginning to understand from 
 
 what direction the wind was blowing; and when this very 
 
 broad hint was given, I could scarcely contain myself from 
 
 laughing outright, the situation was so supremely ridiculous. 
 
 13 
 
194 DECLARATION OF LOVE. 
 
 I managed, however, to keep a straight face, and feeling a 
 real sympathy for Phil, and an anxiety to make matters all 
 right for him if I could, I pretended not to understand who 
 the fortunate one could be, and said, " Where does he live ? 
 Is he an officer ? " 
 
 " 0, yes," she answered, " and one of the sweetest, hand 
 somest fellows that ever lived. He stops at one of the most 
 fashionable hotels." 
 
 I felt immensely flattered at this, as may be conceived, but 
 could not help thinking that, however entertaining it might be 
 to me, it was awful rough on Hastings. I still, however, pre 
 tended that I could not understand, the lady all the while 
 wondering, doubtless, what made me so confoundedly obtuse ; 
 and after pretending for a few moments to be guessing, I finally 
 said, " Well, I'll give it up ; I don't know who it can be." 
 And then, as if a bright idea had just struck me, added, " 0, 
 here, just write his name in my diary, if you. are too bashful 
 to tell me." 
 
 I accordingly handed her the book and a pencil, and she 
 wrote my name, and handed it back, blushing more furiously 
 than ever. 
 
 I read the name ; and pretending to be astonished, and 
 dreadfully shocked, exclaimed, " 0, this cannot be possible ! " 
 
 " Yes," said she, " you are the object of my affections, and 
 have been for a long time, and I am determined not to love 
 any one else." 
 
 This was rushing the thing rather stronger than I thought 
 there was any occasion for ; and wondering what on earth the 
 girl meant, I asked, " Since when have I been the object of 
 your affections? I have -only been acquainted with you since 
 last night." 
 
 " I have loved you. ever since last November, when I saw 
 you in the cars. We were strangers then, but I have been 
 longing ever since for an opportunity to make your acquaint 
 ance." 
 
 I began to wonder how many more susceptible feminine 
 hearts I had unwittingly conquered during my military con- 
 ductorship ; but thinking still of Phil's misfortune, I asked her 
 whether she had ever told him of all this. 
 
 She replied that she had, but that, not knowing my name, 
 she was unable to inform him who his rival was, although she 
 >had informed him that there was a rival. 
 
 -Here, thought I, was a nice mess ; and I scarcely knew 
 
A PERPLEXING PREDICAMENT. 195 
 
 whether to be amused or disgusted at the perversity of Fate, 
 which made me such an irresistible lady-killer. MissM. was evi 
 dently dead in earnest, and was a nice, attractive-looking, and 
 r.eal good girl, who would have made Phil a capital wife. As 
 for her forwardness in letting me know the state of her affec 
 tions for me, I could not blame her for that ; for I had adopted 
 a similar expedient in my own case, and considered that, al 
 though it is, as a rule, a man's place to make the first ad 
 vances, there is no good reason why a woman who is in love 
 with a man should not take measures to let him know the fact. 
 The conventionalities of society are not always based on rea 
 son and common sense, and even where they have a rationalistic 
 basis, people are very apt to quibble about very immaterial 
 points, to the neglect of really weighty, matters. 
 * 
 
 A QUESTION OF PROPRIETY. 
 
 In the relations of the sexes, there are many points which 
 society insists upon for the sake of the proprieties, which are 
 absolutely absurd when tested by any common-sense standard, 
 while permitting a laxity of manners in others that is far from 
 being conducive to good morals or to the general happiness. 
 Many a woman has lost a good husband through a false mod 
 esty, which would not permit her to even give him a hint with 
 regard to her real feelings ; for some of the best and most 
 whole-souled men are frequently as timid and bashful as the 
 most timid and- bashful women, and require some encourage 
 ment before they can be induced to speak ; while others are 
 strangely obtuse, and do not even think of being anything 
 more than commonly polite to particular ladies, unless some 
 thing is done to stimulate them. Such backward and thick- 
 witted men are often the most ardent lovers, and the fondest 
 and best of husbands when they are once aroused. Many a 
 woman, too, is fond of one man while she is being persistently 
 courted by another; and if, as is apt to be the case, the object 
 of her regards refuses to notice her in the manner she wishes, 
 perhaps simply because he does not like to interfere with 
 another man's love affair, she has no resource, if she hopes 
 for a happy future, but to declare herself. There was,, there 
 fore, no occasion for censuring Miss M. ; but the fact that Phil's 
 rival happened to be, of all people in the world, Lieutenant 
 Harry T. Buford, C. S. A., certainly complicated the situation. 
 
 I could not resist the temptation to have a little sport at the 
 
196 MAGNANIMITY. 
 
 expense of Miss M. ; but I was really desirous of trying so to 
 manage matters that Phil would be placed in a better position 
 with his lady than before. I knew that the worst thing I 
 could do would be to repel her advances, and concluded that 
 it was incumbent upon me to at least meet her half way. As 
 she still continued to address me with some degree of for 
 mality as Lieutenant, or Mr. Buford, I giving her an ogle that 
 was intended to be very sympathetic, and to indicate how 
 profoundly my feelings had been wrought upon suggested 
 that she should call me Harry. This was said in a very tender 
 tone, and evidently made a great impression. During the bal 
 ance of the ride we exchanged confidences in a very lover- 
 like manner, and by the time we reached home .again, Miss M. 
 was in a very happ} 7 state of mind, being convinced that she 
 had made a conquest of the man she had so long sighed for. 
 It was all very absurd, of course, and very melancholy from a 
 certain point of view ; but I could not help being amused, al 
 though I wished myself well out of the scrape, and resolved to 
 inform Phil how matters stood immediately. 
 
 A SURPRISE FOR MY FRIEND. 
 
 Having returned our teams to the .livery stable, I invited 
 him to my room, and having settled ourselves for a smoke, I 
 disclosed the whole situation to him. He was very much sur 
 prised, and a good deal cut up by what I told him, and said 
 Miss M. had often spoken to him of another officer for whom 
 she had an affection, but that he had never imagined that it 
 was I. 
 
 I told him that I was quite as much surprised as himself, 
 and that I certainly should not have called upon the lady had 
 I known what was going to happen. 
 
 Phil paced up and down the room a good deal agitated ; and 
 at length he burst out with, "Well, now, lieutenant, ain't 
 women d d deceitful things anyhow? but I shan't mind being 
 gone back on in this way very long. I will leave for the field 
 in a few days, and 1 will try and forget her, and, in the mean 
 time, I will not call without your consent." 
 
 " 0, pshaw," said I ; " I am not in love with the girl, Has 
 tings, and I don't expect to be. I have no intention of marry 
 ing, and I don't propose to interfere with you in the least. So 
 go ahead, and win the lady if you can, and I don't doubt but 
 that you can, if you only try hard enough." 
 
A PROPER PHILOSOPHICAL SPIRIT. 197 
 
 " No," said Hastings, " I don't want to marry any girl who 
 don't love me, or who has a fancy for another fellow." 
 
 " Well, any how," I replied, " it is kind of pleasant, though, 
 to have a nice place to pass one's leisure hours in, and you 
 might as well visit Miss M., even if you choose to give up 
 the idea of marrying her, as there is, certainly, no necessity 
 for your doing." 
 
 THE EXPENSIVENESS OF COURTSHIP. 
 
 "But," said Phil, and I could not help laughing at the 
 sorrowful energy with which he made this declaration, "a 
 fellow has to make a girl so many little presents, and show her 
 so many attentions, that the thing gets mighty expensive, un 
 less both parties mean business. It takes a sight of trouble to 
 fet into the good graces of some women, and then they are so 
 ckle and uncertain, that it is impossible to tell when you have 
 them safe. 
 
 " Why," said he, warming with his subject, " women have 
 cost me a small fortune, and I have had mighty little satisfac 
 tion with* them ; " and then, lapsing into a reflective mood, 
 added, " Why do men run after them, any how, when they so 
 often regret it afterwards ? " This was a conundrum, for 
 which he, apparently, found no satisfactory answer ; for, after 
 a moment's pause, he said, " Well, I guess, it must be ordained, 
 and we'll have to put up with it." 
 
 This, I thought, was showing a proper philosophical spirit, 
 even if it was not altogether complimentary to my sex ; so I 
 said " Well. Phil, we ought not to complain about women 
 being what they are ; we must always remember that our 
 mothers were women." 
 
 This appeared to touch Phil in a tender place ; for he said, 
 in a softer tone, " That's so ; and God Almighty never made 
 anything better than a real good woman. The- good ones are 
 better than the best of us men. If any man were to take ad 
 vantage of my sister I would kill him." 
 
 I then suggested that he should not give it up with Miss M. 
 yet, and promised to aid his cause with her as best I could. 
 The result was, that Hastings was feeling a good deal better 
 at the close of the conversation than at the beginning of it, 
 and his little disappointment in love did not in the least pre 
 vent him from eating, and evidently enjoying immensely, a 
 very hearty supper. 
 
198 A VISIT TO THE THEATRE. 
 
 While at supper, I proposed that we should go to the thea 
 tre, and take the girls. To this Phil readily assented, and 
 Bob was accordingly despatched with an invitation. He 
 soon returned, with an answer to the effect that the ladies 
 would be most happy to accompany us. 
 
 On our way to the theatre, Miss M. suggested that we should 
 have our pictures taken, and gallantry would not permit me to 
 refuse. So I made an engagement with her for the next day 
 to go to the photographers. I had not seen a play for a long 
 time, and consequently enjoyed the entertainment immensely ; 
 and being considerably more interested in it than in the young 
 lady, Phil had no reason to complain of the warmth of my 
 attentions to her. He tried to take advantage of the occasion 
 to reinstate himself in her good graces, but I am sorry to say 
 that he did not make much headway, and Miss M., much to his 
 chagrin, persisted in manifesting a decided partiality for Lieu 
 tenant Buford. 
 
 AN ALARM. 
 
 After the play was over we took the ladies home ; and I 
 said good night to Hastings, who started for camp, while I re 
 turned to the hotel, where I found a note from my friend, 
 Major Bacon, who was stopping at the Commercial Hotel. I 
 accordingly went to call on him, and found that he had just 
 arrived from New Orleans. This made me feel really uneasy, 
 and I was not a little alarmed when he told me that he had 
 heard of my arrest by the mayor. I was a trifle reassured, 
 however, when I was unable to notice anything in his speech 
 or manner to indicate that he believed me to be a woman 
 and to quiet any suspicions that might be lurking in his mind, 
 I said, as I twisted my mustache, and put on all the swagger 
 I was able, "I am a queer-looking female, ain't I, major?" 
 And then, to clinch the matter, I invited him to take a drink. 
 
 The major replied " Well, you might manage to pass for 
 one, if you were to put on petticoats ; " but, rather to my 
 astonishment, he did not seem to be particularly interested in 
 the matter ; and as I was not especially anxious to make it a 
 .subject for conversation, we soon began to talk about some 
 thing else. 
 
 The next day, in accordance with my promise, I went to the 
 photographers with Miss M., arid we had our pictures taken, 
 arid made an exchange. From that time, up to the date of my 
 departure from Memphis, I was an almost daily visitor at her 
 
AT CORINTH. 199 
 
 house, and was looked upon by her and her friends as an ac 
 cepted lover, although I certainly was not as explicit in my 
 language on the subject of matrimony as accepted lovers are 
 usually supposed to be under the necessity of being. On the 
 contrary, I tried to put in a good word for Phil as often as I 
 could, until I saw that it was no use pleading for him, as the 
 } 7 oung lady seemed to have taken an unconquerable aversion 
 to him. That she should have discarded such a really worthy 
 fellow for me was a source of serious annoyance to me ; and 
 one reason why I kept up my acquaintance .with her was, in 
 the hope of doing him a service. 
 
 At length, all the officers in Memphis were ordered to pro 
 ceed to Corinth without delay, and then every one knew that 
 a big battle was expected to come off shortly. As a conse 
 quence, the greatest excitement prevailed, and many of the 
 officers found it hard work parting from their friends. In order 
 to avoid a scene with Miss M., I wrote her a note, bidding her 
 farewell, which was not to be delivered until after I left the 
 city ; and, jumping aboard the train, was soon on my way to 
 Corinth 
 
 On arriving at Corinth, I found great preparations being 
 made, and everything nearly ready for a forward movement. 
 I met a considerable number of old friends, some of them old 
 Virginia comrades, whom I had riot seen for a very long time. 
 We exchanged very cordial greetings, but otherwise we had 
 not much time to give to each other, they having important 
 duties to perform, while I was eagerly endeavoring to obtain 
 some official position that would enable me to participate in 
 the coming fight in a manner advantageous to myself. All 
 the commanding officers, however, were too busy just then to 
 attend to me ; and so I resolved to follow the army to the 
 field in my independent capacity, and take my chances there. 
 
 The order to advance being given, the army moved out of 
 Corinth in the direction of Pittsburg Landing, animated by the 
 expectation of being able to fall upon the enemy, and deliver 
 a crushing blow at a moment when it was least expected. 
 
CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 
 
 A Surprise upon the Federal Army at Pittsburg Landing arranged. A 
 brilliant Victory expected. I start for the Front, and encamp for the 
 Night at Monterey. My Slumbers disturbed by a Rain-storm. I 
 find General Hardee near Shiloh Church, and ask Permission to take a 
 Hand in the Fight. The Opening of the Battle. Complete Surprise 
 of the Federals. I see my Arkansas Company, and join it. A Lieu 
 tenant being killed, I take his Place, amid a hearty Cheer from the Men. 
 A Secret revealed. I fight through the Battle under the Command 
 of my Lover. Furious Assaults on the Enemy's Lines. The Bullets 
 fly thick and fast. General Albert Sydney Johnston killed. End of 
 the first Day's Battle, and Victory for the Confederates. Beauregard's 
 Error in not pursuing his Advantage. I slip through the Lines after 
 Dark, and watch what is going on at Pittsburg % Landing. The Gun 
 boats open Fire. Unpleasant Effect of Shells from big Guns. Utter 
 Demoralization of the Federals. Arrival of Buell with Re-enforce 
 ments. General Grant and another general Officer pass near me in a 
 Boat, and I am tempted to take a Shot at them. I return to Camp, 
 and wish to report what I had seen to General Bureaugard, but am dis 
 suaded from doing so by my Captain. Uneasy Slumbers. Com 
 mencement of the second Day's Fight. The Confederates unable to 
 contend with the Odds against them. A lost Opportunity. The 
 Confederates defeated, and compelled to retire from the Field. I 
 remain in the Woods near the Battle-field all Night. 
 
 ORT DONELSON was to be avenged. 
 After the capture of that position, the 
 Federals had swept in triumph through 
 Tennessee, the Confederates having 
 been compelled to abandon theirlines in 
 that state and in Kentucky, and to seek 
 a new base of operations farther south. 
 The Federals were now concentrating 
 in great force at Pittsburg Landing, 
 on the Tennessee River, their imme 
 diate object of attack evidently being 
 Corinth, and General Albert Sydney 
 Johnston, who was in command of the 
 entire Confederate army, resolved 
 upon striking a vigorous blow at once, with a view of turning 
 the tide of victory in our favor before the enemy were as- 
 
 200 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK. 201 
 
 sembled in such strength as to make it imperative for us to 
 act upon the defensive, and to fight behind our intrench- 
 ments. The experiences of more than one well-fought field 
 had shown how well nigh irresistible the Confederate soldiers 
 were in making an attack, and the general knew that it would 
 be necessary for him to be the assailant, if he expected to get 
 all the work out of his men they were able to do. 
 
 The reports which we received from our scouts, and from 
 the country people, indicated either that the Federals were 
 unaware of the strength of the Confederates in their imme 
 diate neighborhood, or else that, flushed with victory, they 
 were over-confident, and were taking comparatively few pre 
 cautions against a surprise. These things were the common 
 talk of the Confederates for days before the battle took place ; 
 and while not a little astonishment was expressed at the 
 temerity of the enemy, considerable jubilation was felt at the 
 idea of our being able to gain a comparatively easy victory, 
 which would put an end to the invasion, or at least so stagger 
 the Federals, that subsequent operations against them would 
 be unattended with any great difficulties. 
 
 A SURPRISE IN PREPARATION. 
 
 We all knew that a surprise was to be attempted, and all 
 felt confident of its success, although some hard fighting was 
 expected before the rout of the Federals could be achieved. 
 Hard fighting, however, was something from which the Con 
 federate soldiers did not shrink at any time, and on this 
 occasion every one was anxious to repair the disaster of Fort 
 Donelson, and to teach the enemy a lesson they would not be 
 likely to forget in a hurry. 
 
 At the prospect of a battle, and especially of a battle in 
 which the chances of winning a brilliant victory would be on 
 the side of the Confederates, I was as eager to participate, 
 notwithstanding the severity of my recent experiences, as I 
 was the first time I faced the enemy. If I thought of Fort 
 Donelson, and the retreat of Johnston's army after the fall of 
 that position, it was only with a desire to be revenged for the 
 sufferings my brave comrades and myself had endured, and 
 my thoughts rather turned to Bull Run and Ball's Bluff, 
 where Southern valor had so signally displayed itself, and 
 where I had assisted in defeating the enemy, and in sending 
 them flying, a routed and panic-stricken mob, from the field. 
 
202 DISTUEBED SLUMBERS. 
 
 My love for such excitement as only a great battle can give, 
 too, overpowered all lesser emotions, and my mortification at 
 the indignities I had endured at the hands of Mayor Monroe 
 and his satellites in New Orleans, was overcome by the 
 thought that, notwithstanding the fact that I was a woman, I 
 was as good a soldier as any man around me, and as willing 
 as any to fight valiantly and to the bitter end before yielding. 
 The fighting blood of my ancestor, old Governor Don Diego, 
 was making itself felt in my veins as I prepared to follow 
 Hardee's corps to the scene of action with all possible expe 
 dition. 
 
 OFF FOR THE FIELD. 
 
 Obtaining a pass from the provost marshal, I put my tent 
 in an army wagon, and then Bob and I mounted our horses 
 and started for the field, on Saturday, April 5, 1862. The 
 roads were in a horrible condition from the heavy spring rains, 
 and we made rather slow progress, much too slow for my 
 impatient spirit, and I was very tired when, at nightfall, I 
 reached a village of half a dozen scattered houses called 
 Monterey, about half way between Corinth and Shilbh Church, 
 a little Methodist meeting-house, just outside the Federal 
 picket lines. 
 
 It was necessary for me to halt here until morning ; so, ob 
 taining sufficient forage for my horse from a Mississippi regi 
 ment, I prepared to camp for the night, and hoped to get a 
 sound sleep, to fit me for the hot work of the next day. 
 
 THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 
 
 My animals having been fed, I took off the saddles, and 
 raking up a quantity of leaves, arranged my bed by spreading 
 a saddle blanket to lie upon, and placing a saddle for a pillow. 
 Then throwing myself on this extemporized couch, I wrapped 
 myself in an army blanket, and was soon lost in slumber as 
 profound as would have visited me had my accommodations 
 been of the most luxurious description. 
 
 I was not destined, however, to have a quiet, uninterrupted 
 slumber, such as I needed, for ere long I was awakened by 
 the rain, which began to fall in torrents, and which compelled 
 me to seek some more sheltered spot in which to finish the 
 night. My first care was for my horse, and covering him well 
 with the blanket, I went as fast as I could to one of the de- 
 
THE FEDEKALS SURPRISED. 203 
 
 serted houses of the village, and stopped there until the rain 
 was over. 
 
 It was quite three o'clock before the shower ceased, and it 
 was high time for me to be moving if I expected to take part 
 in the opening of the battle, as 1 was exceedingly anxious to 
 do. I therefore ordered the horses to be saddled, and was in 
 a few moments ready to start. A soldier very generously 
 offered me a cup of army coffee, which, although perhaps it 
 was not quite equal in strength and flavor to some I had 
 tasted' in the best hotels, was swallowed with great relish, and 
 with many benedictions on the giver, whose courtesy I re 
 warded by a good-sized drink of brandy, from a flask I carried 
 for the benefit of my friends. His eyes fairly sparkled with 
 delight as he gulped it down, and he smacked his lips as if he 
 had not had such a treat for many a day. Then mounting my 
 horse, I set off at a smart pace for General Hardee's head 
 quarters. 
 
 I found the general stationed near Shiloh Church, and rode 
 up -and saluted him just as he was mounting his horse. Show 
 ing him my pass, I said that I wanted to have a hand in this 
 affair. Hardee looked at the pass, and replied, " All right ; 
 fall in, and well see what can be done for you." 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIGHT. 
 
 The fighting had already commenced between the skir 
 mish lines of the two armies while I was conversing with 
 the general, and the troops were hurrying forward to attack 
 the Federals before they could gain time to prepare them 
 selves for an effective resistance. 
 
 In obedience to Hardee's command, I fell in with his men, and 
 we advanced briskly upon the enemy's camp. It was a complete 
 surprise in every respect. Many of the enemy were only half 
 dressed, and were obliged to snatch up the first weapons that 
 came to hand as the Confederates rushed out of the woods 
 upon them. The contest was brief- and decisive, and in a few 
 moments such of the enemy as escaped the deadly volleys 
 which we poured into them were scampering away as fast as 
 their legs could carry them. We took possession of their 
 camp, with all its equipage, almost without resistance, and I 
 thought that this was an excellent good beginning of the 
 day's work, especially as I had the pleasure of eating a cap 
 ital hot breakfast, which had been prepared for some Federal 
 
204 MEETING OLD FRIENDS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. 
 
 officer. I enjoyed it immensely, for I was decidedly hungry 
 after my early morning march, the cup of coffee tendered by 
 my soldier friend not having proved as satisfactory as some 
 thing more substantial might have done. 
 
 I had scarcely finished eating when I came across General 
 Hardee again. He was in a high good humor at the course 
 events had taken thus far, and said to me, in a jocular sort of 
 way, " Well, lieutenant, what can I do for you ? " 
 
 I replied that I was anxious to do my share of the fighting, 
 and wanted to be stationed where there was plenty of 
 work to be done. 
 
 The general laughed a little at my enthusiasm, but just then 
 his attention was called away for a moment, and I, glancing 
 down the line, spied the Arkansas boys whom I had enlisted 
 at Hurlburt Station nearly a year before. I was immediately 
 seized with a desire to go into the fight with them ; so I said, 
 " Ah, there is my old company, general ; with your permis 
 sion, I will see the captain. Perhaps he can give me a 
 chance." 
 
 I REJOIN MY ARKANSAS BOYS. 
 
 Hardee nodded an assent, and, giving him a salute, I started 
 off at full speed to the rear, where I got my commission out 
 of my pocket, and then darted along the line, closely followed 
 by Bob, my idea being to avoid being stopped by giving the 
 impression that I was bearing an order from the general. 
 Dismounting from my horse, I forced my way through the 
 ranks until I reached Captain De Caulp, who shook me heartily 
 by the hand, and was evidently delighted to see me, as we 
 had not met since I parted from him in Pensacola the previous 
 June, when starting for Richmond. My pleasure at the inter 
 view, especially at meeting him again under such circum 
 stances as those I am describing, was of a very different and 
 much more intense kind than his, for reasons that will appear 
 hereafter. 
 
 It was no time then, however, to exchange compliments, for 
 there was hot work before us if the brilliant successes of the 
 first assaults upon the Federal position were to be followed 
 up to a satisfactory issue. I therefore told Captain De Caulp 
 that I was anxious to have a hand in the fight, and especially 
 to go into the thing with this .company, if it could be per 
 mitted, and asked him if he could not assign me to some duty. 
 I spoke in such a way, and in a sufficiently, loud tone for the 
 
THAT LITTLE DANDY. 205 
 
 other officers and the men to understand that I belonged to 
 the special corps, and was doing a share of the fighting just 
 for the love of the thing. Some of them evidently did not 
 know who I was, and were inclined to regard me as an in 
 truder ; for I heard a soldier behind me say, " What little 
 dandy is that?" Some one replied, "Why, don't you know? 
 That's the fellow that raised the company," a bit of infor 
 mation that undoubtedly raised me immensely in the estima 
 tion of the interrogator, as well as in that of others who had 
 joined the company since I had left it. 
 
 AMONG OLD FRIENDS. 
 
 Notwithstanding the number of strange faces that met my eyes 
 as I glanced along the ranks, I saw enough old acquaintances to 
 make me feel very much at home, and I was delighted beyond 
 measure in an opportunity to take part in a great battle along 
 with my own company that I had raised over in the Arkansas 
 swamp, that I had marched through New Orleans and Mobile 
 in such gallant style, and that I had so astonished my late 
 husband by appearing in Pensacola at the head of, and re 
 solved to prove myself worthy of them, and to show that, 
 even if I was a little dandy, I was as good a soldier as the 
 best of them when any hard fighting was to be done. In 
 deed, all the circumstances were such as to inspire me to dis 
 tinguish myself by some unusually gallant action, and I 
 resolved that, if it were possible to do so, the occasion should 
 be made a memorable one for us all. 
 
 Captain De Caulp told me to remain with him, and to wait 
 and see what would happen for my advantage ; for as some 
 desperate fighting was yet to be done, there would very 
 probably be some need of my services before the battle was 
 over. In the mean time, and until there was a special call 
 upon me, I could fight on my own hook, or act as a sort of aid 
 to him. He then sent his orderly to the rear with the boy 
 Bob and the horses, with directions to conduct them to the 
 camp. 
 
 Glancing over the field, I saw the eleventh Louisiana regi 
 ment, with a friend of mine, and a brave officer, Colonel 
 Sam. Marks, at its head, going for the enemy in gallant 
 style, and in a short time the order came for us to advance. 
 I was all oak, as the boys would say, and there was not upon 
 the whole field a prouder or more determined upholder of the 
 
206 REAL ROMANCE. 
 
 fortunes of the Confederacy, or one who was more bent upon 
 retrieving past disasters, and of inflicting upon the Federals a 
 blow from which they would not be able to recover, than 
 myself. I considered it a rare piece of good fortune that I 
 was able to take part in what all hoped and expected would 
 be a decisive battle with my own company, as fine a body 
 of men as were in the field, and there were special reasons 
 for feelings of jubilation at the idea of being permitted to 
 fight by the side of Captain De Caulp. 
 
 THE SECRET OUT. 
 
 The secret might as well be told now as at any other time, 
 I suppose ; so the reader will please know that Captain De 
 Caulp and I were under an engagement of marriage, having 
 been in correspondence with each other since my departure 
 from Pensacola. I had his letters in my breast pocket, and 
 his photograph in the lining of my coat, while, I doubt not, 
 that he had about him memorials of my unworthy self; and if 
 he cared as much for me as I was led to believe he did by the 
 fervency of his epistles, I was the especial object of his 
 thoughts when, in obedience to the command to advance, we 
 dashed at the enemy. He little suspected, however, that the 
 woman to whom his heart and hand were pledged was by his 
 side as he led his men into that bloody fray ; for, as I have 
 before explained, he had an acquaintance with me both as" a 
 woman and as a man, but did not know that the two were the 
 same. 
 
 AN INSPIRING SITUATION. 
 
 The situation was a singularly inspiring one for me, as may 
 readily be imagined; it was, in fact, such a situation as I 
 doubt whether any woman had ever been placed in before ; 
 and yet it seemed the most natural thing in the world that I 
 should be there, and that I should try to distinguish myself 
 by deeds of valor, for the sake of winning the approving 
 smile of the man who, of all others, I was anxious should give 
 me his approbation.. 
 
 It may be thought that, even if I felt no fear for myself, as 
 a woman I should have had some tremors when beholding my 
 lover advancing into the thick of a desperate fight, at the 
 head of his men. The idea of fear, either on his or on my 
 own account, however, never occurred to me at the time, 
 
208 A DESPERATE STRUGGLE. 
 
 although, on reflecting over the matter afterwards, it struck 
 me that some slight emotion of that kind would perhaps have 
 been proper under the circumstances. We cannot think of 
 everything at once, however; and just at that time I was 
 intent only on defeating the enemy before me, and proving 
 myself a good fighter in the eyes of Captain I)e Caulp and 
 his command. As for him, I desired for his sake, even more 
 ardently than on my own account, that the occasion should be 
 a glorious one, and I had a strange delight in following him 
 into the thickest of the melee, and in watching with what 
 undaunted spirit he bore himself throughout the long and 
 sternly-fought battle. 
 
 We had not been long engaged before the second lieutenant 
 of the company fell. I immediately stepped into his place, 
 and assumed the command of his men. This action was 
 greeted by a hearty cheer from the entire company, all the 
 veterans of which, of course, knew me, and I took the greet 
 ing as an evidence that they were glad to see their original 
 commander with them once more, and evidently anxious to do 
 a full share of the heavy job of work that was to be done 
 before the field could be ours. This cheer from the men was 
 an immense inspiration to me ; and the knowledge, that not my 
 lover only, but the company which I had myself recruited, 
 and thousands of others of the brave boys of our Southern 
 army were watching my actions approvingly, encouraged me 
 to dare everything, and to shrink from nothing to render 
 myself deserving of their praises. 
 
 , A FURIOUS ASSAULT. 
 
 Our assaults upon the enemy were made with irresistible 
 fury, and we rushed through their lines, literally mowing 
 them down like grain before the mowing machine. It was 
 grander fighting than I had ever witnessed before, surpassing 
 even the great sortie at Fort Donelson in desperateness and 
 inspirational qualities. The bullets whistled through the air 
 thick and fast, cutting the trees, and making the branches 
 snap and fly, splintering the fence rails, striking the wagons, 
 or sending some poor soldier suddenly to the earth. A cor 
 poral who was by my side was shot through the heart by a 
 Minie ball. He fell heavily against me, and all my clothing 
 was reddened by his blood. His only words were, " Damn 
 the Yankees ! they have killed me." He was a very hand- 
 
CONFEDERATE SUCCESS. 209 
 
 some young man, only about twenty-two years of age, and his 
 death perfectly infuriated me, as it did his other comrades. 
 
 The Federals never succeeded in recovering from the sur 
 prise of the morning ; and although they stood their ground 
 most stubbornly in some places, their entire line was grad 
 ually driven back towards the Landing, and each succeeding 
 hour of the fight made their total defeat more of a certainty 
 than ever. 
 
 * 
 
 GENERAL ALBERT SYDNEY JOHNSTON KILLED. 
 
 Shortly before three o'clock in the afternoon, our com- 
 mander-in-chief, General Albert Sydney Johnston, was num 
 bered among the slain. His death, however, was carefully 
 concealed from the army, and was known to but few until the 
 battle was over. He was a great soldier, arid his loss was an 
 irreparable one ; for had he lived to superintend the conduct 
 of the battle to the end, it is scarcely possible that he would 
 have failed to push his advantages to the utmost, or that he 
 would have committed the mistakes which turned a brilliant 
 and decisive victory into an overwhelming and most maddening 
 defeat. 
 
 CLOSE OF THE FIRST DAY'S BATTLE. 
 
 When the sun set that day the Confederates were success 
 ful at every point, and although they had suffered terribly, 
 they had forced the enemy's lines back almost to the Landing, 
 so that there was nothing now left them to do but to make a 
 final successful stand, or else be crowded over the bluffs into 
 the river, just as I had seen them crowded, six months before, 
 at Ball's Bluff. That they could have made a- final effective 
 resistance, had the Confederates finished the day's work in 
 the spirit they had begun it, was scarcely within the range 
 of possibility ; and I confidently expected, as the daylight 
 declined in the sky, to witness a repetition, on a larger scale, 
 of all the horrors of the Ball's Bluff battle. There was abso 
 lutely no escape for the Federals ; and their only hope was to 
 hold their last rallying ground, and to gain time until the 
 arrival of re-enforcements, which would enable them to re 
 cover their lost ground, and to assume the offensive against 
 our victorious, but worn and shattered army. Why the Con 
 federate advantages were not pushed that night, before 
 General Bueil could arrive with his fresh troops, and the 
 14 
 
210 A PERILOUS ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Federal army either captured or annihilated, as it assuredly 
 would have been, was a mystery to me then, and is now. 
 
 During the afternoon, I succeeded in gaining a good deal 
 of very important information from several prisoners, and par 
 ticularly from a sergeant belonging to the twenty-seventh 
 Illinois regiment. I did this by inducing him to believe that 
 I was only in the Confederate army under compulsion, and 
 that I intended to desert at the first opportunity. I got out 
 of him pretty much everything he knew about the Federal 
 situation, who the different commanders were, and even how 
 the forces were posted ; and, in full confidence that all I told 
 him was the literal truth, he took out his diary and wrote a 
 short note to his colonel, which he intrusted to me to deliver 
 for him. From this prisoner I learned how desperate were 
 the straits of the enemy, and how anxiously they were await 
 ing the arrival of Buell with re-enforcements, and I was, con 
 sequently, in despair, for I saw our brilliant victory already 
 slipping from us, when General Beauregard, who had suc 
 ceeded to the command after the death of Johnston, issued the 
 order from his headquarters at the little Shiloh church, for us 
 to halt in our advance, and to sleep on our arms all night, in 
 stead of pursuing the routed enemy, and compelling them 
 either to surrender or to take to the river, as we compelled 
 them to do at Ball's Bluff. 
 
 A FATAL MISTAKE. 
 
 When I heard Beauregard's order, I felt that a fatal mistake 
 was being committed j and, in utter desperation at the very 
 thought of losing on the morrow all that we had gained by the 
 most determined and desperate fighting through that long and 
 bloody day, I could not resist the temptation of making an 
 effort to find out for myself exactly what the situation within 
 the enemy's lines really was, and was willing to run all the 
 risks of being caught and shot as a spy, rather than to endure 
 the suspense of a long night of uncertainty. 
 
 My station was with the advanced picket line, I having per 
 suaded the captain to post me in a manner most favorable for 
 carrying out my designs. I did not dare to tell him all I pro 
 posed to do, for fear that he would consider it his duty to pre 
 vent me, but gave him to understand that I intended, under 
 cover of the darkness, to creep up as close as I could, with 
 safety, to the Federal lines, with a view of trying to find out 
 
FEDERALS DEMORALIZED. 211 
 
 something concerning their movements. He hesitated some 
 what at even permitting me to do this much without the 
 knowledge of the colonel, but finally gave a tacit consent. I 
 also refrained from telling my full design to my immediate 
 companion of the picket station, and made up a story about 
 my intentions, which I thought would keep him quiet, and 
 also promised to give him a drink of good whiskey when I got 
 back if he would mind his own business and not attempt to 
 interfere with me. 
 
 I MAKE A RECONNOISSANCE. 
 
 I accordingly stole away, and creeping as noiselessly as I 
 possibly could through the underbrush, approached the Land 
 ing. The command of General Wallace was stationed at this 
 end of the Federal line, and I had a good deal of trouble to 
 get past his pickets, being compelled to pause very frequently, 
 and to keep close to the ground, watching favorable oppor 
 tunities for advancing from one point to another. I finally, 
 however, did manage to get past them, and gained a tolerably 
 good point of observation near the river, where I could see 
 quite plainly what was going on at the Landing. 
 
 It was just as I had anticipated. The Federals were crowd 
 ing about the Landing in utter disorder, and were without any 
 means of crossing the river. They were completely in a trap, 
 and so evidently keenly appreciated the fact, that the capture 
 of the entire army ought to have been an easy matter. One 
 more grand charge along the entire line, in the same brilliant 
 fashion that we had opened the battle, and every officer and 
 man on this side of the river would either have been slain or 
 taken prisoner, while we would have gained possession of the 
 Landing, and have prevented any of the expected re-enforce 
 ments from crossing. 
 
 BEAUREGARD'S MISTAKE. 
 
 At this moment, I felt that if I could only command our army 
 for two good hours I would be willing to die the moment the 
 victory was won, while it maddened me to think that our com 
 mander should have permitted such an opportunity for inflict 
 ing a perfectly crushing defeat on the enemy to pass by unim 
 proved. Beauregard, certainly, could not have understood the 
 situation, or he would inevitably have pursued his advantage ; 
 
212 THE GUNBOATS OPEN FIRE. 
 
 and yet I could not understand how he could help knowing, 
 not only that the Federals were in desperate straits, but that 
 fresh troops were hurrying to their assistance, and that in the 
 morning the battle would, assuredly, be resumed with the 
 odds all in their favor. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF FEDERAL RE-ENFORCEMENTS. 
 
 While I was watching and chafing under the blunder that I 
 was sure had been committed, a steamboat with re-enforce 
 ments arrived at the Landing. These fresh troops were imme 
 diately formed, and despatched to the front. Another detach 
 ment came, before I withdrew, overwhelmed with grief and 
 disgust at the idea of our victory coming to nothing, simply 
 because there was not the requisite energy at headquarters 
 to strike the final blow that was needed, in order that our 
 hard fighting might have its proper reward. 
 
 There was, evidently, somebody on the Federal, side who 
 was bent on retrieving the disaster ; for the hurried movements 
 of the new troops, and the constant firing which the two gun 
 boats Tyler and Lexington kept up, indicated an aggres 
 siveness that augured unfavorably for our tired and badly cut-up 
 army when the fight should re-open in the morning. The two 
 gunboats had moved up to the mouth of Lick Creek, and about 
 dark commenced throwing shells into our lines in a manner 
 that was anything but agreeable, and that demoralized our men 
 more than any kind of attack they had been compelled to stand 
 up under. I had been under musketry and artillery fire a 
 number of times, and did not find the sharp hiss of the bullets, 
 or the scream of the shells, particularly pleasant. There was 
 something horrible, however, about the huge missiles hurled 
 by the gunboats, and they excited far more disagreeable sen 
 sations than either musket or rifle bullets, or the favors which 
 the field artillerists were in the habit of bestowing. These 
 shells could easily be seen in the air for some seconds, and 
 each individual that beheld them had an uncomfortable feeling 
 that they were aiming directly at him, with a strong prob 
 ability of striking. Sometimes they burst in the air, scatter 
 ing in every direction ; oftener they burst just as they struck, 
 and the pieces inflicted ugly wounds if they happened to hit 
 anybody, and occasionally they would bury themselves in the 
 ground, and then explode, tearing holes large enough to bury 
 a cart and horse in. 
 
DODGING THE SHELLS. 213 
 
 There was something almost comical in the* way the soldiers, 
 who had fought, without flinching, for hours in the face of a 
 terrific artillery and musketry fire, attempted to dodge these 
 shells. The hideous screams uttered by them, just before strik 
 ing, seeming to drive all the courage out of the hearts of those 
 against whom they were directed. Facing this kind of attack, 
 without being able in any way to reply to it, was much more 
 trying than the toughest fighting ; and the rapidity with which 
 the gunners on board the boats kept up their fire about dusk, 
 undoubtedly had a great effect 'in checking the Confederate's 
 advance, and in saving the badly-beaten Federal army from 
 utter rout. 
 
 During the whole of the night the Tyler and Lexington 
 threw their shells steadily, and at frequent intervals, in the 
 direction of our army ; but now that the fighting 'was over, 
 and our men were trying to rest for the work of the morrow, 
 it was comparatively easy to keep out of their way, and they 
 consequently did not do much damage. A heavy rain storm, 
 in the middle of the night, had much more to do with making 
 the situation an unpleasant one than the firing from the gun 
 boats, as it drenched every one to the skin, and seriously dis 
 turbed the slumbers of the wearied soldiers. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT'S PERIL. 
 
 While surveying, from my post of observation in the bushes, 
 the movements of the routed Federal troops at the Landing, 
 a small boat, with two officers in it, passed up the river. As 
 it drew near the place where I was concealed, I recognized 
 one of the officers as General Grant, and the other one I knew 
 by his uniform to be a general. Grant I had seen at Fort 
 Donelson, and I had met with pictures of him in some of the 
 illustrated papers, so that I had no trouble in knowing him in 
 spite of the darkness. The boat passed so close to me that I 
 could occasionally catch a word or two of the conversation that 
 was passing between the Federal commander and his associ 
 ate, although, owing to the splashing of the oars, and the 
 other noises, I could not detect what they were talking about. 
 
 My heart began to beat violently when I saw Grant, and 
 my hand instinctively grasped my revolver. Both he, and the 
 officer with him, were completely at my mercy, for they were 
 within easy pistol shot, and my first impulse was to kill them, 
 and run the risk of all possible consequences to myself. I did 
 
214 GRANT'S NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 even go so far as to take a good aim, and in a second more, 
 had I been a little firmer-nerved, the great Federal general, 
 and the future President of the United States, would have 
 finished his career. 
 
 It was too much like murder, however, and I could not 
 bring myself to do the deed, although it would have been as 
 justifiable as any killing that takes place in warfare. Any 
 soldier, however, will appreciate iny feelings ; for those who 
 are bravest, when standing face to face with the enemy, will 
 hesitate to take deliberate ami. at a single man from an am 
 bush. I therefore permitted Grant to escape, although I 
 knew it was better for my cause to slay him than would be the 
 loss of many hundreds less important soldiers. Indeed, had 
 Grant fallen before my pistol, the great battle of Shiloh might 
 have had a far different termination ; for his loss would have 
 so completed the demoralization of the Federals, that another 
 rally would, in all probability, have been an impossibility. To 
 have shot him, as I at first intended to do, would almost cer 
 tainly have insured my own destruction ; for large numbers of 
 the Federals were so near me that I could plainly hear them 
 talking, and escape would have been almost out of the ques 
 tion. I would, however, have been willing to have made a 
 sacrifice of myself, had I not been influenced in the course I 
 did by other considerations than those of prudence. At any 
 rate, I permitted my opportunity to slip by unimproved, and 
 ere a great many moments the boat and its occupants were 
 out of my reach, and I saw the two generals go on board one 
 of the gunboats. 
 
 After I got back to my camp I could not help thinking that 
 I had committed an error; but on reflecting over the matter 
 in cooler moments, I was not sorry that I had resisted the 
 temptation to pull the trigger when I had my finger on it. 
 If I had fired, what would have been the consequences, so far 
 as the results of the war were concerned? The Federals 
 would have lost their ablest general, almost at the beginning 
 of his career. Would they have found another man who would 
 have commanded their armies with the brilliant success that 
 Grant did? These are momentous questions, when we think 
 of the events that have occurred since the battle of Shiloh. 
 Much more than the life of a single man was probably de 
 pendent upon whether I concluded to fire or not, as I pointed 
 my pistol at the men in the boat that April night. 
 
 A 4-4. 4.1. - I^^J- 1~~ J 
 
PERPLEXITIES. 215 
 
 to the Federal camp and announce myself as a deserter, taking 
 my chances of being able to get back again, or, at least, to 
 give the slip before many hours, should my sincerity be sus 
 pected, and a close watch be put over me. This, however, I 
 thought rather too risky a proceeding, under all the circum 
 stances, and therefore concluded to get back to my post again. 
 I succeeded in doing this, although not without considerable 
 difficulty ; and not caring to let my comrade know all that I 
 had seen and thought, I told him that my errand had been an 
 unsuccessful one, as I had not -been able to get near enough 
 to the Federal lines to discover anything of importance. To 
 insure his keeping quiet, I said that I would go and get him 
 a drink of that whiskey I had promised him, which made his ^ 
 eyes sparkle with. delight, and started off to inform my captain 
 with regard to what I had found out, and to ask his advice 
 about what I had better do. 
 
 WHAT HAD BEST BE DONE? 
 
 Captain De Caulp was seriously perplexed at my report; 
 but he said that attempting to instruct the general of an army 
 was a risky business, and the probabilities were, that should I 
 go to headquarters with my story, I would get into serious 
 trouble. He further suggested that, perhaps, the general was 
 as well informed with regard to the movements of the enemy 
 as myself, if not better, and was making his arrangements ac 
 cordingly ; all of which did not relieve my mind of its pre 
 monitions of impending disaster, although it convinced me 
 that, for my own sake, I had better hold my tongue. In spite 
 of everything, however, it was as much as 1 could do to re 
 frain from attempting to let Beauregard know how matters 
 were, and of running all the risks of his displeasure. I finally 
 came to the conclusion that the responsibilities were his, and 
 not mine, and I had no fancy for being put under arrest, and 
 of ruining all my future prospects by going through with my 
 New Orleans experiences again, under circumstances that 
 would almost inevitably expose me to indignities worse even 
 than those I had suffered at the hands of his honor Mayor 
 Monroe. 
 
 I accordingly reluctantly concluded to wait and see what 
 the result of the next day's battle would be, declaring ener 
 getically to Captain De Caulp, that if we were defeated, I 
 would never raise my sword in the army of Tennessee again. 
 
216 THE SECOND DAY'S FIGHT. 
 
 I knew that there would be some hot work in the morning, 
 whatever the final result of the battle might be, and felt the 
 necessity of getting what rest I could, if I was to do a sol 
 dier's whole duty. Wrapping myself in my blanket, there 
 fore, I threw myself upon the ground, and tried to sleep ; but 
 I was so agitated and apprehensive for the morrow, that slum 
 ber was an impossibility. Again and again as I tossed about, 
 unable to close my eyes, I more than half repented of my res 
 olution not to report the result of my spying expedition at 
 headquarters ; but being convinced not only of the inutility, 
 but the danger to myself, of such a proceeding, refrained from 
 doing so. Several times I fell into an uneasy doze, but the 
 sound and refreshing slumbers that I so sorely needed would 
 not visit my weary eyelids, and daybreak found me as wide 
 awake as ever, but certainly not fit to endure the fatigues and 
 perils of a fierce battle in such a manner as to do myself any 
 credit. I resolved, however, although I felt that we were 
 rushing on defeat, to face every danger, and endure every 
 trial with the bravest and most enduring of my comrades, so 
 long as the slightest hope of success remained, and if finally 
 defeat seemed inevitable, to make off with what speed I could 
 for the purpose of trying my luck in some other quarter. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OP THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE. 
 
 At daylight the gunboats began to fire more rapidly than 
 they had been doing during the night, and with such admi 
 rable execution that a prompt attack upon the part of the Con 
 federates was rendered impossible. The second day of the 
 battle, therefore, opened favorably for the Federals, and we 
 lost the advantage we might have gained by assuming the 
 offensive, and hurling our forces on. the enemy, with that elan 
 for which our Southern soldiers were famous, and which had 
 served them so well on many important occasions. The 
 opportunity thus lost was never regained ; for although the 
 fortunes of the fight seemed to waver, it was easily to be seen 
 that victory was no longer with the Confederates, and that the 
 grievous mistake of the ni:ht before, in not promptly follow 
 ing up our success, and finishing our work then and there, 
 would have all the terrible consequences I had feared. 
 
 The Federal general, Nelson, formed his troops in line of 
 battle on our extreme left, and threw out his skirmishers for 
 
THE CONFEDERATES DEFEATED. 217 
 
 over a mile. Our whole force was soon engaged ; but the 
 Federals steadily advanced, and we were compelled to retire 
 before them, our worn and exhausted men fighting desperately 
 as they went. About ten o'clock we succeeded in making 
 the cover of a woods, which enabled us to rally with effect, 
 and our forces were hurled against the enemy with such fury, 
 that they began to retreat in disorder ; but, being supported 
 by re-enforcements, they were ultimately able to hold their 
 ground. 
 
 About this time a heavy cannonading commenced, and the 
 battle began to assume the phase of an artillery duel. On our 
 side, Terril's battery did excellent service, and succeeded in 
 holding the enemy at bay, giving the infantry a breathing 
 spell that they sorely needed. For more than two hours the 
 artillery and musketry fire continued at short range ; and the 
 Confederates kept up to their work in such gallant style, that 
 the enemy wavered again, and one grand charge might have 
 routed them. Before such a charge could be made, however, 
 heavy re-enforcements arrived, under the command of General 
 Buell, as 1 understood ; and these fresh troops, formed by 
 brigades, attacked us at double-quick, and drove us back half a 
 mile, breaking our lines, and throwing us into inextricable 
 confusion. 
 
 DEFEAT. 
 
 By two o'clock, the whole of this part of the field was 
 cleared, and the battle was practically lost to the Confeder 
 ates, although the fighting was obstinately continued else 
 where for an hour or two longer. 
 
 All my worst anticipations had come true ; and the Federal 
 army, which was almost annihilated the night before, had not 
 only saved itself, and recovered its lost ground, but it had in 
 flicted upon the Confederates a most disastrous defeat. This 
 was the only name for it, for we were worse beaten than the 
 Federals were at Bull Run; and the fact that we were not 
 pursued on our retreat, only proved that the Federal com 
 manders, like our own at Bull Run, were either incapable of 
 appreciating the importance of vigorous action under such 
 circumstances, or were unable to follow up their advantages. 
 
 When I saw clearly that the day was lost, I determined to 
 leave the field, and half resolved that if I succeeded in getting 
 well away from our beaten army, I would give the whole thing 
 
218 THE NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 up, and never strike another blow for the Confederacy as a 
 soldier. I was scarcely able to contain myself for rage, not at 
 the defeat, but at the inexcusable blunder that caused it ; and 
 was worked up to such a pitch, that I felt willing to die, as if 
 there was nothing now worth living for. The Fort Donelson 
 disaster, which I had hoped would be retrieved, had now been 
 followed by another even more terrible ; and the success of 
 the Confederate cause was more remote, and more uncertain, 
 than ever. It made me gnash my teeth with impotent fury 
 to think of these things, and to have all my high hopes so sud 
 denly dashed to the ground, just when the prospects for their 
 realization seemed so bright. 
 
 A VALUABLE PRIZE. 
 
 About five o'clock I found my boy near the hospital. He 
 had my horse, and another fine animal that he had picked up. 
 In reply to my query, Bob said that he had found him in the 
 woods without a rider. He was branded " U. S," and had an 
 officer's saddle on ; and as he seemed, from outside appear 
 ances, to be superior to my own steed, I concluded to take 
 possession of him. Mounting him, I tried him over a fence, 
 and a large log, which he cleared like an antelope ; so deem 
 ing him a prize worth securing, I turned over my own horse 
 to Bob, and started him off' on the road to Corinth. The boy, 
 however, mistook the road, and went plump into the Federal 
 camp at Purdy, thus depriving me of his valuable services. 
 
 As for me, I remained in the woods all night, the roads 
 being perfectly blocked up with the retreating army, trying to 
 shield myself as best I could from the furious storm of rain 
 and hail that came on, as if to add to the miseries which the 
 wretched soldiers of the Confederacy were compelled to en 
 dure on their weary march back to Corinth. Although I had 
 escaped from the two days' fighting unhurt, I was so utterly 
 worn out and wretched, that I really did not care a great deal 
 what became of me, and was almost as willing to be taken 
 prisoner by the Federals as to return to Corinth, with a view 
 of again undertaking to exert myself in what was now begin 
 ning to appear the hopeless cause of Southern independence. 
 I managed, however, after the worst of the storm was over, to 
 find a tolerably dry place, where, completely used up by the 
 fatigues I had undergone, I fell into a sound sleep. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 WO U ND E D. 
 
 The Morning after the Battle of Shiloh. My Return to Camp. A Letter 
 from my Memphis Lady-love. A sad Case. My Boy Bob missing. 
 I start out to Search for him. A runaway Horse, and a long Tramp 
 through the Mud. Return to the Battle-field. Horrible Scenes along 
 the road. Out on a scouting Expedition. Burying the Dead. I re 
 ceive a severe Wound. A long and painful Ride back to Camp. My 
 Wound dressed by a Surgeon, and mj Sex discovered. A Fugitive. 
 Arrival at Grand Junction. Crowd of anxious Inquirers. Off for New 
 Orleans. Stoppages at Grenada, Jackson, and Osyka on Account of 
 my Wound. The Kindness of Friends. Fresh Attempt to reach New 
 Orleans. Unsatisfactory Appearance of the military Situation.. The 
 Passage of the Forts by the Federal Fleet. A new Field of Employment 
 opened for me. I resume the Garments of my Sex. 
 
 >ESTED, but scarcely refreshed, by a brief slum 
 ber on the damp ground, and with thoughts of 
 the most gloomy description filling my mind, I 
 mounted my horse at daybreak and started to 
 ride back to Corinth. I was in rather different 
 spirits from what I was two days before, when, inspired 
 by brilliant hopes, and full of confidence that with this, 
 the first great battle of the spring campaign, the disas 
 ters of the winter would be more than repaired, and 
 that our Confederate army was about to enter upon a 
 career of victory which would, most likely, long before 
 the ending of the summer, establish our independence, I had 
 hastened to the field, eager only to be able to join in the fight 
 in time to have a chance of distinguishing myself before the 
 Federals should be completely wiped out. The attack was, 
 indeed, made as brilliantly and as successfully as I had antici 
 pated that it would be, and at the end of a hard day's fighting, 
 victory was fairly within our grasp. At the end of another 
 day, however, we were a broken and disorganized mass of fu 
 gitives, straggling back to our camps, and thinking ourselves 
 lucky that the Federals were not enterprising enough to pur 
 sue us before we could reach our mtrenchments. 
 
 219 
 
220 PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 There was a hope, indeed, that we would be able to hold 
 Corinth, and, by inducing the Federals to attack us in our 
 fortifications, regain something of the advantage we had lost. 
 The defeat, therefore, bad as it was, was not so desperate an 
 overthrow as the one at Fort Donelson ; but, although I felt 
 this, and felt that if we could but hold our ground a little 
 while all might be well, I was so despondent over the way things 
 seemed to be going, that I had little heart to continue in the 
 contest any longer. At the same time I was loath to give the 
 thing up, and could not help reflecting that the true spirit of 
 heroism required me to bear adversity with fortitude, and to 
 seek to advance the interests of my cause, no matter how un- 
 propitious the times might seem. 
 
 REFLECTIONS AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 I was more than ever anxious now, however, to enter upon 
 the line of duty for which I esteemed myself particularly 
 fitted ; for, now that the excitement of the battle-field was 
 over, and defeat once more compelled reflection, 1 could not 
 help thinking that I was doing no very material service by 
 plunging into the thick of a fight, as much for the enjoyment 
 of tho thing as anything else, whereas I could be worth many 
 soldiers to the Confederacy if intrusted with certain duties 
 of equal responsibility and danger, which I could perform 
 much better than any man. How to obtain an assignment to 
 this kind of duty, however, was what puzzled me, and it really 
 almost seemed that a first-rate opportunity of distinguishing 
 myself as a secret service emissary would never be offered. 
 
 Resolving in my own mind all manner of plans for the 
 future, but unable to determine what my next move had better 
 be, I made my way back to camp feeling, as I reflected on my 
 brilliant expectations of a few days before, as if I were re 
 turning from a fool's errand, although I cannot say that I was 
 sorry on account of having taken a hand in the fight, for 
 throughout the two days I had borne myself as gallantly as 
 the best, while simply as a personal adventure, the battle was 
 a memorable affair for more reasons than one. It was at least 
 something for me to have stood by the side of my expected 
 husband throughout the long and bloody contest, and to have 
 given him proofs of my valorous disposition, such as he could 
 scarcely help remembering, with pleasure, in the future, when 
 he learned that the little independent lieutenant, and the 
 
MISTAKEN AFFECTION. 221 
 
 woman who was engaged as his wife, were one and the game 
 person. So far, at least, my participation in the battle was a 
 source of satisfaction to me, although it did not diminish my 
 distress at so soon again being called upon to witness another 
 hard-fought field lost to the Confederacy. 
 
 A LOVE LETTER. 
 
 On arriving at camp I found a mail awaiting me. Among 
 my letters were some from my friends in the army of Virginia, 
 and one from my little Memphis lady, which read as fol 
 lows : 
 
 " MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, April 2. 1862. 
 
 " MY DEAR HARRY : Yours was handed to me the next 
 morning by our trusty and faithful old servant David, and I 
 hastily opened it, knowing it to be from you by the hand 
 writing. My dear, I am afraid that this will appear unintelli 
 gible, being wet with tears from beginning to end. When 
 your letter was handed to me we were at breakfast, and 
 grandpa was reading the " Appeal," wherein it was stated that 
 all officers and soldiers away from their commands should 
 report for duty. I was afraid that you would have to go, but 
 some hope remained until your fatal letter convinced me that 
 my suspicions were too well founded. Alas, how vain are 
 human expectations ! In the morning we dream of happiness, 
 and before evening are really miserable. I was promising to 
 myself that one month more would have joined our hands, and 
 now we are to be separated yes, perhaps for years, if not 
 forever ; for how do I know but that the next tidings may 
 bring intelligence of your being killed in battle, and then, 
 farewell to everything in this world; my prospects of a happy 
 future will vanish, and although unmarried, I will ever remain 
 the widow Buford until death. 
 
 " And is it possible my dear Harry can doubt for one mo 
 ment of my sincerity ; or do you think that these affections can 
 ever be placed on another, which were first fixed upon your 
 dear self, from a convincing sense of your accomplishments 
 and merit ? No, dear Harry, my fidelity to you shall remain 
 as unspotted as this paper was before it was blotted with ink 
 and bedewed with tears. I know not how others love, but 
 my engagements are for eternity. You desire me to remind 
 you of your duty. My dear, I know not of any faults, nor 
 
222 RELIGIOUS CONSOLATION. 
 
 am I disposed to look for any. I doubt not that the religious 
 education you have received in your youth will enable you to 
 resist the strongest temptations, and make that everlasting 
 honor to the army, Lieutenant Buford, although not afraid to 
 fight, yet afraid to sin. However terrifying it may be to meet 
 death in the field, yet it is far more awful to appear before a 
 just God, whom we have offended by our iniquities. There 
 are no persons in the world accused more of irreligion than 
 the military, while from the very nature of their employment 
 none are more obliged to practise every Christian duty. They 
 see thousands of their fellow-beings hurried into eternity 
 without a moment's warning, nor do they know but that the 
 next day they may themselves meet the same fate. My dear 
 Harry, never be ashamed of religion; a consciousness of your 
 own integrity will inspire you with courage in the day of 
 battle, and if you should at last die in defence of the right in 
 your country's cause, the Divine favor will be your comfort 
 through eternity. In the mean time my prayers shall be con 
 stantly for your safety and your preservation in the day of 
 battle, and my earnest hopes will be fixed upon your happy 
 return. 
 
 " I will visit my aunt this fall in Alabama ; she being your 
 friend, will be some consolation to me in your absence. Let 
 me hear from you as soon as possible, and as often, and never 
 doubt my fidelity: consider me yours already, and I arn satis 
 fied. I hung your handsome picture opposite to mine in the 
 drawing-room, over where we used to sit and chat together. 
 Grandpa says that it does not flatter you, as we were both 
 lovesick. What ideas the old folks do get into their heads, 
 just as if they had never loved in their time. I have not seen 
 the captain since ; I think that his command is ordered away. 
 
 " Farewell, dear Harry, and may the wisdom of God direct 
 you, and His all-wise providence be your guard. This is the 
 sincere prayer of one who prefers you before all the world. 
 Grandpa and auntie wish to be remembered to you kindly. I 
 wrote to brother that you would hand him a letter. 
 " Your loving intended till death, 
 
 M ." 
 
 I give this as a favorable specimen of the love-letters I was 
 in the habit of receiving during my military career, and I have 
 the less hesitation in doing so as it is one that no woman need 
 be ashamed of having written. I could not help laughing a 
 
A RUN OF BAD LUCK. 223 
 
 little as I read it, and yet I felt really sorry for the writer, and 
 reproached myself for having permitted my flirtation with her 
 to go to the length it did. The case was a particularly sad 
 one, for the reason that the man who loved her devotedly, and 
 who would doubtless in time have succeeded in curing her of 
 her misplaced affections for the fictitious Lieutenant Buford, 
 was among the slain at Shiloh. There was no braver soldier 
 belonging to the Confederate army engaged in that bloody 
 battle than Phil. Hastings, and his death was doubly a source 
 of regret to me, as by it I lost a warm-hearted and sincere 
 friend, and also an opportunity to undo the wrong I had un 
 wittingly done him through capturing the affections of the 
 girl he loved, by endeavoring to make matters right between 
 him and her. 
 
 At the time of the receipt of this letter, however, I had 
 .something of more pressing importance to think of than ex 
 planations with Miss M. My boy had not put in an appear 
 ance, and suspecting that he must have lost himself, I started 
 out to search for him ; but, although I made diligent inquiry, 
 I could not obtain any intelligence of him. This vexed me 
 extremely, for Bob had become an invaluable servant, being 
 very handy and entirely trustworthy, and I felt that he would 
 be indispensable to me in the movement I now had more than 
 half determined to make, with a view of trying to win the 
 favors of Fortune in a somewhat new field of action. 
 
 MY HORSE GETS AWAY. 
 
 To make matters worse, when about five miles from Corinth 
 my horse broke from me, and stampeding out of sight, left me 
 to get back the best way I could. I was now in a pretty fix, 
 with scarcely any money about me, and with miles of terribly 
 rough and muddy roads to traverse before I could regain my 
 quarters. There was nothing, however, to do but to bear up 
 under my misfortunes as bravely as possible, and so plunging 
 through the mud, I tried to make my way back to Corinth 
 with what rapidity I could. 
 
 The first camp I made was that of the eleventh Louisiana 
 regiment, in which I had a number of friends. The Louisiana 
 boys imagined that I had just come from Memphis, and they 
 gave me a very hearty welcome, although they were not feeling 
 particularly good over the result of the battle. Obtaining a 
 horse from the quartermaster, I started back to the battle- 
 
224 A BURIAL PARTY. 
 
 field in company with Captain G. Merrick Miller, who desired 
 to bury the dead of his company. 
 
 THE BATTLE-FIELD REVISITED. 
 
 The road was lined with stragglers, many of them suffering 
 from severe wounds, who were slowly making their way back 
 to their respective camps, and as we reached the scene of the 
 late action the most ghastly sight met our eyes. Tlie ground 
 was thickly strewn with dead men and horses, arms and accou 
 trements were scattered about in every direction, wagons 
 were stuck in the mud and abandoned, and other abundant 
 evidences of the sanguinary nature of the conflict were per 
 ceptible to our eyes. I could face the deadliest fire without 
 flinching, but I could not bear to look at these things, and so, 
 after having made a number of vain inquiries for Bob, I rode 
 back to camp, and said good-by to my Louisiana friends, 
 leaving them under the impression that 1 intended to take the 
 train. 
 
 This I probably might have done had I not fallen in with 
 some cavalry who were about starting out on scouting duty, 
 and been tempted to accompany them. This was the kind of 
 work that I had a particular liking for ; and as I had no definite 
 plan for the immediate future arranged, and was desirous of 
 finding Bob before leaving Corinth or its neighborhood, I 
 concluded to try whether a little cavalry service would not be 
 productive of some adventure worth participating in. An 
 adventure of importance in its influence on my future career, 
 sure enough, it did bring me, although it was not exactly what 
 I anticipated or desired. 
 
 BURYING THE DEAD. 
 
 It was about dark when we set out, and we spent the night 
 hovering about in the neighborhood of the enemy, but without 
 anything noteworthy occurring. The next day we had a 
 little brush with a party of Federals, and after the exchange 
 of a few shots were compelled to retreat. After this, we came 
 across some dead men belonging io the tenth Tennessee regi 
 ment in the woods. Carefully removing the bodies to a field 
 near by, we put them in a potato bin, and with a hoe, which 
 was the only implement we could find suited to our purpose, 
 we covered them, as well as we were able, with earth. 
 
WOUNDED. 225 
 
 While engaged in this melancholy duty, the enemy were 
 occasionally firing shells in different directions, apparently 
 feeling for us. We paid no special attention to them, as the 
 Federals seemed to be firing at random, and, so far as we 
 could judge, did not notice our party. Soon, however, a 
 shrapnel burst in our midst, killing a young fellow instantly, 
 and wounding me severely in the arm and shoulder. 
 
 I AM SEVERELY WOUNDED. 
 
 I was thrown to the ground, and stunned with the sudden 
 ness of the thing. One of the soldiers picked me up, and 
 stood me on my feet, saying, "Are you hurt?" 
 
 " No, not bad," I replied, in a vague sort of way, but my 
 whole system was terribly shocked, and I felt deathly sick. 
 Before a great many moments, however, I perfectly recovered 
 my consciousness, and by a resolute effort of will, endeavored 
 to bear up bravely. I found, however, that I was unable to 
 use my right arm, and soon the wound began to pain me 
 terribly. 
 
 The soldier who had picked me up, seeing that I was too 
 badly hurt to help myself, lifted me on my horse, and started 
 back to camp with me. It was a long ride, of nearly fifteen 
 miles, and I thought that it would never come to an end.. 
 Every moment the pain increased in intensity, and if my 
 horse jolted or stumbled a little, I experienced the most 
 excruciating agony. My fortitude began to give w r ay before 
 the terrible physical suffering I was compelled to endure ; all 
 my manliness oozed out long before I reached camp, and my 
 woman's nature asserted itself with irresistible force. I 
 could face deadly peril on the battle-field without flinching, 
 but this intolerable pain overcame me completely, and I longed 
 to be where there would be no necessity for continuing my 
 disguise, and where 1 could obtain shelter, rest, and attention 
 as a woman. My pride, however, and a fear of consequences, 
 prevented me from revealing my sex, and I determined to 
 preserve my secret as long as it was possible to do so, hoping 
 soon to reach some place where I could be myself again with 
 impunity. 
 
 By the time we reached camp my hand and arm were so 
 
 much swollen, that my conductor found it necessary to rip the 
 
 sleeve of my coat in order to get at the wound for the purpose 
 
 of bathing it in cold water. The application of the water 
 
 15 
 
226 THE SURGEON ASTONISHED. 
 
 was a slight relief, but the hurt was too serious a one for such 
 treatment to be of permanent service, so an ambulance was 
 procured, and I was taken to the railroad and put on the train 
 bound South. The cars stopped at Corinth for two hours, 
 and, feeling the necessity for some medical attendance as soon 
 as possible, I seut for a young surgeon whom I knew intimate 
 ly, and telling him that I was wounded severely, asked him to 
 try and do something to relieve my suffering. 
 
 MY SEX DISCOVERED. 
 
 He immediately examined my arm, and, as I perceived by 
 the puzzled expression that passed over his face, he was 
 beginning to suspect something, and guessing that further 
 concealment would be useless, I told him who I really was. 
 I never saw a more astonished man in my life. The idea of 
 a woman engaging in such an adventure, and receiving such 
 an ugly hurt, appeared to shock him extremely, and he de 
 clared that he would not take the responsibility of performing 
 an operation, but would send for Dr. S. This frightened me, 
 for I had witnessed some specimens of that surgeon's method 
 of dealing with wounded soldiers, and I insisted that he was 
 too barbarous, and that he should not touch me. He then 
 proposed to send for Dr. H., but I objected to this also, and 
 finally, at my urgent solicitation, he consented to make a 
 careful examination himself, and try what he could do. 
 
 My shoulder was found to be out of place, my arm cut, and 
 my little finger lacerated a disagreeable and exceedingly 
 painful, but not necessarily a very dangerous wound. The 
 surgeon applied a dressing, and put my arm in a sling, after 
 which I felt a great deal more comfortable, although the pain 
 was still intense ; and he then endeavored to induce me to 
 stop at Corinth until I was in better condition for travelling. 
 Now, however, that my sex was discovered, I was more than 
 ever anxious to get away from my old associates, in the hope 
 of finding some place where I could remain until I got well, 
 and able to commence operations again in a different locality, 
 without being annoyed by the attentions of impertinently 
 curious people. I therefore insisted upon pushing on to 
 Grenada, and he, finding that argument was useless, and, per 
 haps, appreciating my reasons for getting away as soon as 
 possible, very kindly went and procured transportation papers 
 for me ; and before the information that a woman, disguised as 
 
GRIEF-STRICKEN RELATIVES AXD FRIENDS. 227 
 
 an officer, was among the wounded on the train, we were, to 
 my infinite satisfaction, speeding out of sight, leaving behind 
 us the camp occupied by a defeated army. The thought that 
 our brave army should be resting under the cloud of a most 
 humiliating defeat was a mental torture, which even my intense 
 physical suffering could not pacify, arid I was heartily glad to 
 be able to take myself off from a locality which had so many 
 unpleasant associations. 
 
 While on the train I suffered a great deal, although I was as 
 well cared for as circumstances would permit, and it was an 
 immense relief when we reached Grand Junction, for the 
 hotel proprietor there was an old and true friend of mine, and 
 I felt sure of receiving from him all the attention it was in his 
 power to bestow. I found, however, that it was almost an 
 impossibility to get any accommodation whatever, on account 
 of the crowds of people who filled the place. The wives and 
 other relatives of officers and soldiers had come to await the 
 result of the battle ; and as the news that the Confederate 
 army had been defeated had preceded me, every thing was in 
 confusion, and everybody plunged in the deepest grief. 
 
 WAITING FOR THE LOVED ONES. 
 
 Some of the waiting ones had already received their 
 wounded friends, or the corpses of the slain, while others 
 were nearly wild with anxiety on account of husbands, or 
 brothers, or lovers who had not yet been heard from. Alas ! 
 many of them were lying stretched, stark and stiff, on the 
 bloody field at Shiloh, where they had bravely fought for the 
 cause they loved. 
 
 I was asked a thousand questions about the battle, and was 
 pressed with a thousand anxious interrogatories about particu 
 lar persons, and endeavored to answer as well as I could, 
 notwithstanding the pain which my wounded arm and shoulder 
 caused. Many of the women could not prevail upon them 
 selves to believe that the Confederate army had been again 
 defeated, and indulged in the fiercest invectives against the 
 invaders. The intense grief of these stricken people affected 
 me even more than the terrible scenes incident to the battle 
 and the retreat, and, as I was not in a fit condition to endure 
 anything more of anguish, and as it seemed to be impossible 
 to obtain a room where I could be quiet and free from intru 
 sion, I determined to push on to Grenada, without more delay, 
 
228 A PAINFUL JOURNEY. 
 
 although I was anything but able to endure the excitement 
 and discomfort of several hours' ride by rail. 
 
 Having reached Grenada, I took a good rest by remaining 
 there for two days, and was greatly benefited thereby, for 
 rest and an opportunity to cool off from the excitement 1 was 
 in, were what I particularly needed if I expected to make 
 satisfactory progress with the healing of my wound. I was 
 visited by a great many of the ladies of the place, who presented 
 me with bouquets, delicacies of various kinds, and bandages for 
 my wound, and who otherwise overwhelmed me with atten 
 tions, for which I hope I was duly grateful. Not only the 
 natural restlessness of my disposition, which my wound aggra 
 vated to such an extent that it was an impossibility for me to 
 keep quiet, but a desire to get as far away from the army of 
 Tennessee as possible, before the fact that Lieutenant Harry 
 T. Buford was a woman became generally known, induced 
 me to move on with all the speed I could make, and I con 
 sequently started for New Orleans before I was really fit to 
 travel. The result was, that when I reached Jackson, I found 
 myself too ill to proceed farther, and was compelled, much 
 against my will, to make another stop. 
 
 The hospitalities I received at Jackson, I will always 
 remember with the warmest feelings of gratitude. I was 
 really very sick, and my wounded shoulder and arm were 
 terribly inflamed, and I scarcely know what I should have 
 done had not a widow lady and her daughter taken a fancy 
 to me, and waited on me until I was able to be on the road 
 again. These ladies treated me like a young lord, arid I shall 
 ever think of them as having placed me under a debt that I 
 can never repay. 
 
 At Jackson, I made the acquaintance of General Price's 
 quartermaster, who was stationed there. This gentleman I 
 afterwards met in Wyoming Territory, but he did not recog 
 nize me, as, indeed, it was scarcely possible that he should. 
 
 ON THE MOVE AGAIN. 
 
 So soon as I thought myself able to endure the fatigues of 
 travel, I insisted upon being on the move in spite of the 
 remonstrances of my friends, and made another start for New 
 Orleans. I had, however, miscalculated my strength, and was 
 compelled to make another halt at Osyka, near the Louisiana 
 line. At this place resided one of the best friends I ever had 
 
AN UNPROMISING OUTLOOK. 229 
 
 in the world. He is, in truth, one of Nature's noblemen, and 
 I wish that our country had more like him. My fervent 
 prayer is, that he may have long life, health, and abundant 
 prosperity, and that every blessing may be showered upon 
 him and his family. With this kind friend I remained a couple 
 of days, and was treated with the greatest kindness, a kind 
 ness that would scarcely permit of my departure, when, feel 
 ing in better health and spirits than I had been since the 
 battle, I announced my intention of continuing my journey. 
 Resisting all importunities to make a longer stay, however, I 
 insisted upon going, and stepped on board the train bound 
 for New Orleans, determined to reach that city this time at 
 all hazards. 
 
 By this time my wound was healing quite nicely ; arid 
 although it pained me considerably still, the fcverishness 
 which had attended it was gone, and I began to feel myself 
 once more, and with restored health began to busy myself in 
 making plans for the future. Exactly what course next to 
 pursue I could not quite determine, but I felt very confident 
 that if I once reached New Orleans, and could prevent myself 
 from being interfered with by my old friends, the provost 
 marshal and Mayor Monroe I would very soon find some 
 congenial employment. 
 
 On the train there were a great many wounded men, some 
 of them old friends of mine whom I was glad to meet with 
 again. The trip, therefore, was a pleasant one in some 
 respects, notwithstanding its melancholy aspects, and we had 
 a tolerably lively time discussing the late battle, and the 
 chances of the Confederates being able to make headway in 
 the future against the force which the Federals were bring 
 ing against them in every direction. We were obliged to 
 acknowledge that the outlook was not a particularly promis 
 ing one, and more than one expressed the belief that New 
 Orleans would be the next object of attack. There was a 
 good deal of confidence felt, however, that a Federal advance 
 against the Gulf city, if it should be attempted, would be 
 repulsed in a manner, that would, in some degree, compensate 
 for the Confederate defeats at Fort Donelson and Shiloh. 
 This confidence, on the part of my companions, I was scarcely 
 able to share, for. not only had my late experiences shaken my 
 belief in the invincibility of the Confederate arm} 7 , but I 
 knew better than they did that the Federals intended to 
 assail New Orleans, and I felt very certain, that if the assault 
 
230 AN ATTACK ON NEW ORLEANS EXPECTED. 
 
 was made, it would be with a force that our people would 
 find well-nigh irresistible. I, however, kept my thoughts to 
 myself, but resolved that so soon as we arrived in the city, I 
 would exert myself with a \iew of obtaining a Ml under 
 standing of the situation, and decide according to circum 
 stances what course it would be best for me to pursue. 
 
 BACK IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 In New Orleans I met a number of old friends, James 
 Doolan, Frank Moore, Captain Daugherty, and others, all of 
 whom were first-rate fellows, and all quite certain that in case 
 the Federals should put in an appearance, they would be given 
 a warmer reception than they bargained for. I admired their 
 enthusiasm, although I was not as well able to share it as I 
 would perhaps have been some months before, and I resolved 
 to see for myself) as much as I was able, exactly what the 
 defences of the city amounted to. I accordingly went about 
 the camps as much as I could, in a quiet sort of way, making 
 mental notes of all I observed, nnd I very soon came to the 
 conclusion that the military situation was one that I did not 
 like a bit. I knew, however, that the river defences were 
 strong, and I hoped, rather than expected, that they would 
 be able to repel any attack that would be made. 
 
 I was not long, however, in concluding that New Orleans 
 would be a good place for me to go away from at as early a 
 day as possible, for I had no notion of witnessing another 
 triumph of the enemy if I could help it. I was, however, 
 far from being strong enough to go on active duty, and 
 thought that the best thing I could do was to remain where I 
 was until my health was entirely restored, and to employ this 
 enforced leisure in maturing a definite plan of action for the 
 future, for, with returning health, my desire for active 
 employment, either in the field or on detective duty, returned 
 with all its original force, and I could not induce myself to 
 entertain the idea of resuming permanently the garments of 
 my sex, and of abandoning the service of the Confederacy so 
 long as there was any work to be done. 
 
 When the news came that the Federal fleet had passed 
 Forts Jackson and St. Philip, I at first thought of leaving as 
 quickly as I could ; but a little reflection induced me to change 
 my mind, for I saw clearly that if the Federals took posses 
 sion of the city, I would, as a woman, have a grand field of 
 
A CHANGE OP DRESS. 231 
 
 operation. I therefore resolved to remain and see the thing 
 out, and the uniform of Lieutenant Harry T. Bufbrd was 
 carefully put away for future use if need be, and the wearer 
 thereof assumed the garments of a non-combatant feminine 
 for the purpose of witnessing the entry of the victors into 
 the captured city. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS, AND BUTLER'S 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Capture of Island No. 10. The impending Attack on New Orleans. 
 The unsatisfactory Military Situation. Confidence of Everybody in the 
 River Defences. My Apprehensions of Defeat. The Fall of New 
 Orleans. Excitement in the City on the News of the Passage of the 
 Forts being received. I resolve to abandon the Career of a Soldier,and 
 to resume the Garments of my own Sex. Appearance of the Fleet op 
 posite the City. Immense Destruction of Property. My Congratula 
 tions to Captain Bailey of the Navy. Mayor Monroe's Refusal to raise 
 the Federal Flag. General Butler assumes Command of the City. 
 Butler's Brutality. I procure the foreign Papers of an English Lady, 
 and strike up an Acquaintance with the Provost Marshal. Am intro 
 duced to other Officers, and through them gain Access to Headquarters. 
 Colonel Butler furnishes me with the necessary Passes to get through the 
 Lines. I drive an active Trade in Drugs and Confederate Money while 
 carrying Information to and fro. Preparations for a grand final Specu 
 lation in Confederate Money. I am intrusted with a Despatch for the 
 " Alabama," and am started for Havana. 
 
 OLLOWING close upon the defeat at Shiloh 
 came the fall of Island No. 10, a disaster of 
 great moment to the Confederacy, for the 
 strength of its fortifications had been much 
 relied upon to check the advance of the Fed 
 erals down the Mississippi River ; and the loss 
 of the position almost simultaneously with the Shiloh 
 affair was well calculated to inspire gloomy appre 
 hensions for the future. I heard the news that Island 
 No. 10 had been captured, after reaching New Or 
 leans, and the fact that the enemy had been successful in 
 forcing so strong a defence with comparative ease, taken in 
 connection with the radical inefficiency of many of the mili 
 tary preparations being made for the defence of the city, pre 
 vented me from sharing the extreme confidence so many 
 people expressed, and that so many undoubtedly felt, with 
 regard to the entire safety of New Orleans. If a strong fort 
 
 232 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE FLEET OFF NEW ORLEANS. 233 
 
 like Island No. 10 could be taken, why should not the Fed 
 erals, especially it they made the attack witli a proper vigor, 
 be able to overcome any resistance the defences of New 
 Orleans in many respects not by any means so strong 
 would be able to make ? 
 
 Exactly when or where the blow would be struck, however, 
 it was impossible to tell. The general impression was that 
 the attack would be made by the army under General Butler, 
 and Low really formidable the Federal fleet was, few, if any, 
 had any real notion. I suppose that scarcely any one im 
 agined the ships would make an unsupported effort to pass the 
 fortifications below the city, or that they would succeed in 
 doing so in case the attempt was made. I knew little or 
 nothing about the river defences, or the preparations that were 
 being made to receive a naval attack, from my own observa 
 tions, but from what I understood with regard to them, 1 felt 
 tolerably assured of their efficiency, and my chief concern was 
 about the inefficiency of the measures adopted to resist a land 
 attack. 
 
 THE FEDERAL FLEET PASSES THE FORT. 
 
 The Federal fleet, however, to the surprise of every one, suc 
 ceeded in overcoming the obstructions in the river, and in 
 passing the two principal forts, after a desperate battle, and 
 then New Orleans was at the mercy of the naval gunners, 
 specimens of whose methods of fighting had been exhibited to 
 me at Fort Donelson and Shiloh in such a manner as to inspire 
 me with a wholesome dislike for the kind of missiles they 
 were in the habit of throwing. The gunboats I had encoun 
 tered at Fort Donelson and Shiloh were, however, very differ 
 ent affairs from the ships which fought their way past Forts 
 Jackson and St. Philip, a broadside from a frigate like the 
 Hartford ought almost to have routed an entire army ; and 
 when I saw these splendid vessels appearing off the levee, 
 I began to have a greater respect for the power of the Federal 
 government than I had had before, and a greater appreciation 
 of the weakness of the Confederacy. 
 
 But while I was thus compelled to appreciate more forcibly 
 than I had done the enormous difficulties in the way of a suc 
 cessful termination of the contest, T was no more in a mood for 
 surrendering than I was at the beginning. Indeed, defeat and 
 disaster only nerved me to make greater exertions than ever, 
 and 1 held in utter contempt those weak-hearted people who, 
 
234 BECOMING ACCUSTOMED TO DEFEAT. 
 
 when the news that the fleet had passed the forts and was on 
 its wa}- up to the city reached us, were willing to regard the 
 game for which they were playing as lost, and the Confederate 
 cause as practically overthrown. I was for fighting the thing 
 out so long as we had a foot of ground to fight on, but I saw 
 very clearly that if anything was to be gained now, in the 
 face of the heavy disasters that were overtaking us, strata 
 gem as well as force would have to be called into play, and 
 that we would be compelled to combat the enemy's strength 
 with cunning. 
 
 I DETERMINE TO FIGURE AGAIN AS A WOMAN. 
 
 I felt particularly that the time was now come for me to 
 make a display of my talents in another character than that of 
 a warrior, and the arrival of the fleet in front of the city found 
 me in the anxious and angry crowd on the levee, not inele 
 gantly attired in the appropriate garments of my sex gar 
 ments that I had not worn for so long that they felt strangely 
 unfamiliar, although I was not altogether displeased at having 
 a fair opportunity to figure once more as a woman, if only for 
 variety sake. 
 
 Strange to say, the capture of New Orleans did not affect 
 me near so unpleasantly as the defeats at Fort Donelson and 
 Shiloh, and I felt nothing of the depression of spirit that over 
 came me after these battles. This may have been because I 
 was getting accustomed to defeat now, and was consequently 
 able to bear up under it more philosophically, although it is 
 more than probable that it was because I was not one of the 
 combatants, and consequently did not have that overpowering 
 individual interest that a combatant must feel if he cares 
 anything for his cause. I experienced less of that peculiarly 
 disagreeable feeling of personal chagrin and disappointment 
 that oppresses a soldier belonging to a beaten army. The 
 fact, however, that when the Federals obtained possession of 
 the city I would probably be able to do some detective duty 
 in a style that would not only be satisfying to my own ambi 
 tion, but damaging to the enemy, and of essential service to 
 the Confederacy, really enabled me to behold the approach of 
 the fleet with a considerable degree of what almost might be 
 called satisfaction. As a woman, and especially as a woman 
 who had facilities for appearing as a representative of either 
 sex, I knew that I would be able to observe the enemy's move- 
 
SEEKING DISTINCTION IN A NEW FIELD. 235 
 
 ments, and ferret out their plans in a signally advantageous 
 manner : and, confident that my cunning and skill would enable 
 me to perform an important work, I was really anxious to see 
 the enemy occupy the city, in order that I might try conclu 
 sions with them, having ample confidence that I would prove 
 myself a match for the smartest Yankee of them all. 
 
 .1 was the more willing to try and distinguish myself in a 
 new field, as I had amply demonstrated to my own satis 
 faction, and to that of thousands of the best fighting men of 
 the Confederate armies, that I lacked nothing of the valorous 
 disposition of a soldier, and that I could stand without flinching 
 before the hottest fire of the enemy, and I aspired to win 
 fresh laurels by performing services of a kind that would re 
 quire an exertion of all my intellectual faculties, and that would, 
 if I were to be even reasonably successful, bring me more real 
 credit, and more enduring fame, than almost any performances 
 in the field that I might undertake. After nearly a year of 
 service, I was just beginning to appreciate the fact that I 
 occupied a unique position, and that my efforts would be 
 almost profitless, alike to me and to the Confederate cause, if I 
 was content merely to figure as an additional combatant when 
 the actual clash of battle came ; and while I did not regret, 
 for a great variety of reasons, my experiences in the field, I 
 was very well satisfied to abandon, for a while at least, a 
 soldier's life for the purpose of undertaking work more natu 
 rally congenial than campaigning, and for which my sex, com 
 bined with my soldierly training, peculiarly fitted me. My 
 experimental trip to Washington satisfied me that it was as a 
 detective, rather than as a soldier, that my best successes were 
 to be won ; and now that one of my most important surmises, 
 based upon almost the barest hints obtained on that trip, was 
 proven to have been well founded, I was inspired by a special 
 zeal to carry out intentions which I had been revolving in my 
 mind ever since my visit to the Federal capital. These inten 
 tions I had intended to carry out long before, and had I ac 
 cepted the invitation to return to Virginia, which I received 
 some time before the battle of Fort Donelson, I doubtless 
 would, long ere this, have been actively employed in passing 
 through the Federal lines in search of information. The 
 acceptance of that invitation was, however, delayed, and finally 
 abandoned, and circumstances prevented my making a very 
 serious effort to become an active attache of the detective 
 corps up to the date of the fall of New Orleans. With the 
 
236 NEW ORLEANS TAKEN. 
 
 capture of that city, however, I concluded that my great op 
 portunity had come, and that now it depended upon myself, 
 rather than upon the favor or whim of some commanding 
 officer, whether I should give the cause the benefit of my best 
 talents or ndt. The opportunity I embraced with the utmost 
 eagerness, and with a resolve to make myself as troublesome 
 as possible to the conquerors of New Orleans. 
 
 General Lovell, who was in command, so soon as he saw 
 that the fleet had passed the forts, posted up to the city in hot 
 haste, and began to make preparations for leaving, and for 
 destroying all the cotton and other property that would be 
 likely to be particularly useful to the enemy. The wildest 
 excitement prevailed when it was understood that New Or 
 leans was about to fall into the hands of the Federals, and great 
 wrath and indignation were excited by what was believed 
 to be the inefficiency of the defence. Without waiting to argue 
 the matter, however, with the angry citizens, General Lovell 
 turned over the responsibility of making terms with the victors 
 to Mayor Monroe, and got away with the remnant of his army 
 as fast as he was able. 
 
 THE FLEET APPEARS OFF THE CITY. 
 
 Late in the morning of the 25th of April, 1862, the Federal 
 fleet could be seen coming up the river, but it must have 
 dampened the enthusiasm of the Yankee sailors somewhat to 
 find steamboats, cotton, and all kinds of combustible property 
 blazing for miles along the levee. It was a terribly magnifi 
 cent spectacle, bat one the like of which 1 earnestly hoped I 
 might never witness again, for it fairly made me shudder to 
 see millions of dollars worth of property being utterly de 
 stroyed in this reckless manner, and it impressed me more 
 stronaly with an idea of the horrors of warfare than all the 
 fighting and slaughter I had ever seen done. There seemed, 
 however, to be no help for it, and General Lovell was probably 
 justified in giving the order he did, and thereby diminishing 
 the value of the prize which the Federals had won. 
 
 It was about one o'clock when the fleet came in front of the 
 city, and the vessels, one by one, dropped their anchors. A 
 demand for a surrender was brought on shore by Captain 
 Bailey, who went up to the City Hall to have a conference with 
 the mayor. I was on the alert to commence operations as soon 
 as possible, and, desirous of being in favor with the captors, I 
 
BUTLER TAKES COMMAND. 237 
 
 sought an opportunity to speak to Captain Bailey, and to wel 
 come him to the city. He shook hands with me, and said that 
 he would see me again ; but he had no time for conversation 
 just then, and as my object was accomplished by introducing 
 myself to his notice as a pretended friend of his cause, I did 
 not make any endeavor to further attract his attention. 
 
 Mayor Monroe behaved nobly when he was asked to sur 
 render the city. He said that the city was without defence, 
 and at the mercy of the conquerors, but that it was not within 
 his province as a municipal officer to surrender. He declined 
 to raise the United States flag over the public buildings, or to 
 do anything that would seem a recognition of the right of the 
 Federals in any way to regulate affairs in New Orleans by any 
 thing else than the law of force. When I read his reply to 
 Farragut's demand for a surrender, I readily forgave my pri 
 vate grievance against him. The mayor having positively 
 refused to have anything to do with displaying the United 
 States flag, or with lowering the flag of Louisiana, the raising 
 of the stars and stripes on the public buildings was done by 
 the sailors from the Federal fleet. 
 
 MUMFORD PULLS DOWN THE FLAG FROM THE MlNT. 
 
 The United States flag which was raised upon the mint was 
 pulled down again by Mumford, who paid the penalty of his 
 life for the act after Butler took command of the city. The 
 execution of this young man was an outrage on civilization, 
 and a crime on the part of the man who ordered it which en 
 titles his memory to execration. Mumford told me himself 
 that he perpetrated the act through a mistaken idea that the 
 flag had been displayed by some traitor, and that he was not 
 aware at the time that the Federals had assumed control of the 
 city. The execution of Mumford was a fair specimen of the 
 many dastardly actions perpetrated by Butler during the reign 
 of terror that he inaugurated, and that will cause his name to 
 be remembered with hatred in New Orleans, and, indeed, 
 throughout the whole South, long after the ordinary passions 
 of the war have died out. 
 
 When Butler took command, which he did on May 1st, he 
 issued orders stopping the circulation of Confederate currency, 
 directing the people to resume their usual avocations, and 
 giving everybody to understand that he intended to have his 
 own way. 
 
238 STRATEGY. 
 
 It is not necessary, ^n a merely personal narrative like this, 
 to go into any details with regard to Butler's rule in New 
 Orleans. The execution of Mumford for what, according to 
 the worst construction that could be put upon it, was a very 
 venial offence, and what in reality was a mere act of indis 
 cretion, utterly unworthy of notice, after the Federals were 
 in full control of the city, and his infamous " woman order," 
 are specimens of the manner in which he conducted himself, 
 and they were acts that speak too loudly for themselves to 
 require comment. 
 
 PLANS FOB CIRCUMVENTING BUTLER. 
 
 I soon perceived that with such a brute as this man Butler 
 to deal with, it would be necessary for me to be extremely 
 circumspect, and to bring my best strategic talents to bear, if 
 I expected to accomplish anything. I was well acquainted 
 with the city and environs, and knew exactly how to go about 
 slipping in and out through the lines ; but to carry on such 
 operations as I proposed with a reasonable degree of safety 
 and assurance of success, it was necessary especially after 
 the deposition of Mayor Monroe, by Butler's order, and the 
 placing of the city under martial law for me to keep all my 
 wits about me, and to take care to be on good terms with 
 those in authority. 
 
 I therefore set to work with due diligence and persistency 
 to gain the confidence of the Federal officers. Some of them 
 I found to be very pleasant, gentlemanly fellows, who were 
 disposed to make themselves as agreeable as possible to every 
 body, and who were much gratified to hear any one espe 
 cially any woman express Union sentiments. Many of 
 them did not at all approve of the offensive manner in which 
 Butler conducted himself, and some of his orders were carried 
 out with a great deal of reluctance by those intrusted with 
 their execution. With some of these officers I soon managed 
 to get on very friendly terms, and they were always so polite 
 and considerate in their treatment of myself and others, that 
 I greatly regretted the necessity of deceiving them. 
 
 I, however, had objects in view with which my private 
 friendships and personal feelings could not be permitted to 
 interfere, and in all my conversations and communications 
 with the officers of Butler's command, I never lost sight of 
 opportunities to serve the Confederate cause. Following up 
 
A STROKE OF GOOD LUCK. 239 
 
 the line of policy I had determined upon when I introduced 
 myself to Captain Bailey, I professed strong Union sentiments, 
 and took occasion, whenever in the presence of officers or sol 
 diers, to denounce the cause I loved, and the welfare of which 
 I was so anxious to promote. This line of conduct had the de 
 sired effect, for I soon became known as one of the few stanch 
 advocates of the Federal government in New Orleans, and not 
 only secured myself from molestation, but gained the entire 
 confidence of our new rulers. My Southern friends, who could 
 not understand what I was driving at, were, of course, alien 
 ated from me, much to my regret and sorrow ; but this could 
 not be helped, for it was absolutely necessary, in a matter of 
 this kind, that I should have no confidants, and should depend 
 entirely upon myself. My secret, so long as I was the sole 
 possessor of it, was safe, which it assuredly would not have 
 been under such a system of espionage as that established by 
 Butler, had I intrusted it to any one, or had I failed in the 
 slightest particular to sustain the character of a devoted 
 Unionist, which I had assumed. It was better for me to risk 
 the temporary loss of my friends, in the hope and expectation 
 that the vindication of my conduct would come with time, 
 than to risk anything by an incautious word, or even look ; and 
 I accepted the consequences of a thorough performance of 
 the duties I had assigned myself without hesitation, and with 
 a resolute determination to give Butler as much annoyance as 
 was in my power. 
 
 I PROCURE SOME FOREIGN PAPERS. 
 
 I had a stroke of good luck in the very beginning. An 
 English lady, with whom I had become slightly acquainted, 
 was on the point of returning to her own country, having 
 come to the conclusion that Old England was a quieter, and 
 on the whole more agreeable place of residence, just at that 
 time, than America, for a person who, like herself, had no 
 interest in the contest that was being carried on, but who 
 was pretty certain, if she remained, to suffer numerous incon 
 veniences and hardships. This lady was decidedly friendly, 
 however, to the Confederate cause, as, indeed, were all the 
 foreign residents of New Orleans, and she would willingly 
 have aided it in any way that she could without getting her 
 self in trouble. As matters stood, however, she was anxious 
 to get away as soon as possible, the capture of the city by the 
 
240 A VALUABLE ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 Federals, with its attendant horrors, combined with a pros 
 pect that the Confederates would before long probably make a 
 desperate attempt to regain it, riot having the most soothing 
 effect upon her nerves. Hearing that she was about to leave, 
 I went to her, and expressed a desire to purchase her pass 
 port and other foreign papers, confident that, armed with such 
 documents as these, I would be able to make a fair start 
 against the Federal authorities, and gain some immediate ad 
 vantages that would probably be otherwise out of the ques 
 tion. The lady readily consented to part with the papers for 
 a fair price, being- glad to get the money I offered for them, 
 and she either believed, or affected to believe, the story which 
 I told to account for my eagerness to possess them. There 
 was, in fact, however, no particular necessity for romancing 
 to any great extent on such a subject as this ; for in the ter 
 ror and confusion incident to the abandonment of the city by 
 the Confederates and its occupation by the Federals, and in 
 the great uncertainty with regard to what the near future 
 would bring forth, it was the most natural thing in the world 
 that a lone and unprotected woman like myself should desire 
 to have the means at hand of escaping from any claims to 
 allegiance that either party might present, and of invoking 
 the protection of some foreign power. 
 
 A TALK WITH THE PROVOST MARSHAL. 
 
 Armed with my British papers, I went to the office of the 
 provost marshal for the purpose of striking up an acquaint 
 ance with that gentleman, he being the person it was most 
 immediately important for me to have dealings with, and to 
 gain the confidence of. On requesting an interview, I was 
 ushered into the provost marshal's presence, and introducing 
 myself to him under the name I had decided to assume, told 
 him that I was heartily glad to welcome the army of the 
 United States to New Orleans, and that I hoped this wretched 
 contest would soon be at an end, and the stars and stripes 
 acknowledged everywhere once more. 
 
 He seemed to be a little surprised, and even suspicious, at 
 my warmth of manner, and giving me a rather keen look, 
 which I bore without flinching, he asked me, with some 
 brusqueness, but at the same time not impolitely, if I had 
 taken the oath yet. 
 
 This was a rather delicate question, and as I had not, and 
 
AT THE PROVOST MARSHAL'S OFFICE. 241 
 
 did not intend to take the oath he alluded to, I concluded 
 to waive it, and avoid giving a direct answer. I therefore 
 replied that I was a Northern woman, and that my father 
 was a New Yorker, but that, being in New Orleans at the 
 time of the establishment of the blockade, I had been unable 
 to communicate with my friends at the North and in England, 
 or to get away. This was all plausible enough, and the 
 provost marshal accepted it as a genuine statement of my 
 case, apparently without hesitation, although he did not let 
 me off without some cross-questioning. 
 
 " Have you a family ? " said he. 
 
 " No, sir," I replied, with as sad and mournful an expression 
 as I could put on, "I am a widow ; my husband was an 
 Englishman, and on his death he left me in quite comfortable 
 circumstances. I have, however, lost everything by these 
 wretched rebels, who have destroyed my property, and robbed 
 me without mercy." While indulging in this recital of my 
 troubles I wiped my eyes with my pocket handkerchief, tried 
 my best to squeeze out a tear or two, and looked as sorrow- 
 stricken as I possibly could. 
 
 The provost marshal, if he did not exactly overflow with 
 sympathy, appeared desirous of doing what he could for me, 
 and asked where I lived. 
 
 I replied that, owing to my reduced circumstances I was 
 unable to keep house, as I had been doing up to the breaking 
 out of the war, and that I was occupying a rented room, 
 which, small as it was, I was doubtful about being able to 
 keep unless I heard from my friends soon, or was able to ob 
 tain some employment by which I could make a little money. 
 I then told him what my number was, and after some further 
 conversation, chiefly about my poverty, the wrongs I had suf 
 fered from the rebels, and the difficulty of making ends meet, 
 I informed him that I had come from England to New Orleans 
 with my late husband, some years before the war, and that I 
 proposed to return there so soon as I received a sufficient 
 remittance. The provost marshal expressed a willingness to 
 aid me in any way that lay in his power, and I bowed myself 
 out of his presence, feeling tolerably confident that I had pro 
 duced the impression I wished, and that, if I managed mat 
 ters discreetly, he and I would have no difficulty in getting 
 along with each other. 
 
 The next day I met the provost marshal again. He ap 
 peared to be quite pleased to see me, and introduced me to 
 16 
 
242 IN FAVOR AT HEADQUARTERS. 
 
 
 
 two officers of the thirty-first Massachusetts regiment. They 
 were both gentlemen, with whom it would have been a pleas 
 ure for me to have formed a real friendship under any other 
 circumstances; but, as my only object in making their ac 
 quaintance was that I might be able to use them as instru 
 ments for the accomplishment of my purposes as a Confed 
 erate agent, I of course did not permit my personal liking for 
 them to interfere with the grand objects I had in view. 
 They, on their side, appeared to be not a little gratified to 
 find at least one woman in New Orleans who professed a de 
 cided partiality for the stars and stripes, for such women 
 were rare in those days, and they showed a marked inclina 
 tion to continue the acquaintance. I accordingly invited 
 them to call upon me, and soon managed to establish such 
 friendly relations with them that, through their influence, I 
 gained access to headquarters. 
 
 General Butler I fought shy of, for I did not like his looks, 
 and concluded to have as little to do with him as possible. I 
 met his brother, Colonel Butler, however, who was the power 
 behind the throne, and who managed most of the transactions 
 which had any money in them, which the general could not 
 have openly touched without exciting comment, and probably 
 getting himself into trouble. Both the general and the 
 colonel were decidedly on the make, and were bent on im 
 proving the chances which the practically unlimited control 
 of one of the richest cities on the continent gave them for 
 bettering their fortunes. The colonel, however, could attend 
 to mere pocket-filling operations to better advantage than his 
 brother, and it soon became well understood that he was the 
 one to apply to, if any favors from headquarters were desired. 
 
 I OBTAIN PASSES TO GO THROUGH THE LlNES. 
 
 From Colonel Butler I obtained permits to go to Mandeville, 
 on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, and even to visit 
 Mobile, without being searched. With these papers in my 
 possession, I set about preparing for a career of some activity 
 in the way of running through the lines and communicating 
 with the Confederate authorities. Having the same desire as 
 the two Butlers to earn a dollar or so when I could, and, if 
 possible, without stealing, I engaged quite extensively in the 
 drug business, while performing the duties of a special mes- 
 .senger and bearer of Confederate despatches. Drugs of all 
 
RUNNING THROUGH THE LINES. 243 
 
 kinds were very scarce within the Confederate lines, and 
 consequently brought enormous prices ; so that any one who 
 could manage to smuggle them past the Federal outposts was 
 certain of reaping a handsome profit. I succeeded in obtain 
 ing a good quantity of this kind of merchandise from the dif 
 ferent hospitals, and, as I could carry many dollars' worth 
 about my person without attracting particular attention, I 
 much more than made my expenses on the several trips I 
 undertook to Mandeville and beyond. Confederate money 
 was also cheap, as well as plenty, in New Orleans, as every 
 body had some of it ; while, under Butler's orders, it could 
 not be used. It therefore offered fine opportunities for spec 
 ulation to any one who could carry it to where it was of more 
 value than it was in New Orleans just at that time. I there 
 fore invested quite heavily in Confederate promises to pay, 
 and, as with the drugs, contrived to make the speculation pay 
 handsomely. 
 
 Having made several trips fvith success and with much 
 profit, I began to think that I was, perhaps, making out with 
 my enterprises entirely too well ; and, apprehensive of getting 
 into some difficulty which I might not be able to get out of as 
 easily as I could wish, for I saw a number of indications of 
 trouble ahead, I resolved, while on one of my expeditions, 
 after a consultation with my Confederate friends, to return to 
 New Orleans, for the purpose of buying up a quantity of 
 the proscribed money, and then to leave for good, getting out 
 of Butler's power while I had a fair chance of doing so. 
 This arrangement fell through, however ; for I was persuaded 
 to make a trip to Havana, for the purpose of carrying a de 
 spatch to the Confederate cruiser, the " 290," or " Alabama," 
 as she was otherwise called, and of transacting some other 
 business of a secret character for advancing the interests of 
 the Confederacy. This commission I accepted with eager 
 ness, and returned to New Orleans with what haste I could, 
 with the despatch secreted on my person, for the purpose of 
 taking the first vessel for Havana. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A VISIT TO HAVANA. 
 
 A Trip to Havana. My Purposes in making the Journey. The Results 
 of a Year of Warfare. Gloomy Prospects. A Gleam of Hope in 
 Virginia. The Delights of a Voyage on the Gulf of Mexico. The 
 Island of Cuba in Sight. The Approach to Havana. I communicate 
 . with the Confederate Agents and deliver my Despatches. An Inter 
 change of valuable Information. The Business of Blockade-running 
 and its enormous Profits. The Injury to the Business caused by the 
 Capture of New Orleans. My Return to New Orleans and Prepara 
 tion for future Adventures. 
 
 HE idea of making a trip to Havana was very 
 agreeable to me for a number of reasons. My 
 health was not so robust as it had been, and 
 my wounded arm, although it had healed up, 
 was still very sore, and hurt me severely at 
 times. It was an impossibility for me to keep 
 quiet so long as I was in the midst of associations 
 calculated to excite me and to stimulate the combative- 
 ness of my nature, and I needed more than anything 
 else, for restoration to perfect health, such a rest as a 
 sea voyage alone could give. There was, it is true, some 
 risks in visiting Havana at this season, but I was acclimated, 
 and did not worry myself much with fears of yellow fever or 
 other diseases, my mind being too intently fixed on a variety 
 of other matters that I esteemed of more consequence. 
 
 The most important reason for my wishing to take a run 
 over there was, a desire to make the acquaintance of the 
 Confederate agents, and to learn something of their methods 
 of transacting business in the way of sending communications 
 through the lines, for, even when the blockade could not be 
 run with goods, it was often possible to smuggle important 
 information past the Federal cruisers, and, some of the post 
 lines were so complete, that, in spite of the vigilance of their 
 enemies, "the beleaguered Confederates managed to maintain 
 
 244 
 
GLOOMY PROSPECTS. 245 
 
 correspondence very regularly with their friends of the out 
 side world. 
 
 My brief experience had convinced me that I had peculiar 
 talents for the kind of work in which I had been engaged 
 since the advent of Butler and his forces in New Orleans, 
 and my only regret was, that I had not made a persistent 
 effort to take it up sooner. I determined now, however, to 
 qualify myself as quickly as possible for the business of a 
 spy and a bearer of despatches, for I felt assured that there 
 would be plenty of employment found for me before the war 
 was over, and that if I proved myself skilful and reliable, the 
 Confederate authorities would avail themselves of my services 
 with an alacrity they had not shown when I was skirmishing 
 around in the character of a little dandy independent lieuten 
 ant, seeking to have a hand in every fight. 
 
 A DISCOURAGING OUTLOOK. 
 
 The military situation in some of its aspects was gloomy 
 enough. In the West we had occasional successes, but their 
 permanent value was little or nothing, while the enemy was 
 steadily advancing and making the beleaguerment of the 
 Confederacy more complete every day. The loss of New 
 Orleans was a bewildering blow, from which there was no 
 recovery but by the retaking of the city, and the prospects 
 that we would be able to do this very soon were not particu 
 larly promising. In the mean time the Federals were evident 
 ly working resolutely to gain possession of the Mississippi 
 River throughout its entire length, and strong as were the for 
 tifications at Vicksburg and other points, I had not that faith 
 in their invincibility I once would have had. I had seen too 
 many positions proclaimed invincible and defended with valor, 
 fall before the Federal attacks, for me to have anything of 
 my old-time faith in the irresistible valor of Southern soldiers 
 or the masterly generalship of Southern commanders. The 
 old boast which I was accustomed to hear so often at the out 
 break of the war, that one Southerner could whip five Yan 
 kees, had turned out to be mere boasting, and nothing more. 
 The Federals, while they did not have all the dash and elan 
 of the Confederates, had proved their fighting qualities on 
 too many well-contested fields for the old-fashioned talk about 
 the superiority of Southern prowess to be in order ; and they 
 had a way, when they once captured an important position, of 
 
246 SUFFERINGS OF THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE. 
 
 staying there, in spite of all efforts to dislodge them, that did 
 not promise at all well for the future of the cause. 
 
 Were it not that the news from Virginia was in some degree 
 encouraging, I should have been almost willing to have con 
 cluded, that we were indeed nearing the fest ditch, which 
 some of our orators were so fond of alluding to. There, how 
 ever, the Confederate soldiers were indeed winning laurels, 
 and the capture of Richmond was as apparently as far off as 
 it was when I turned my back upon it to seek my fortune in 
 the West. If our brave boys under Lee, therefore, could 
 only improve the summer as the winter had been improved in 
 the West by the Federals, there would be some hope that, 
 after all, we might win the desperate game we were playing, 
 and accomplish substantially all for which we took up arms. 
 
 EFFECTS" OF THE BLOCKADE, 
 
 In the mean time, however, things were in a bad way in 
 many respects in the beleaguered Confederacy. The coast 
 blockade was now fully established, and the enemy's lines 
 were drawn so close along the principal avenues of communi 
 cation with the outside world and the interior, that our com 
 merce was completely killed, and our people were already 
 suffering for many of the necessities of life, while the require 
 ments of warfare with a powerful enemy, amply provided 
 with resources, were impoverishing them more and more 
 every day. Whole districts had been devastated by the 
 manceuvrings of the different armies, and the suffering 
 among the poorer classes throughout the entire South was 
 very great, while many persons, who were possessed of ample 
 wealth before the war, were now feeling the pinchings of 
 poverty, and were learning what it was not to know where the 
 next meal was coming from. 
 
 It was truly a pitiable condition of affairs ; and the worst 
 of it was, that there was no promise of speedy amendment. 
 If these were the results of one year of warfare, what would 
 be the condition of things, should the conflict be prolonged 
 for another twelvemonth ? Alas ! it was prolonged, not for 
 one more year merely, but for three ; and when the dreadful 
 day of total irremediable defeat to which some of us, at the 
 time which I am now referring to, were already uneasily 
 and unwillingly looking forward finally came, the South was 
 literally exhausted, as no other country ever had been before. 
 
THE GULF OF MEXICO. 247 
 
 While I could not help reflecting deeply on the discourage 
 ment of the situation, and feeling uneasy with regard to the 
 future, it was not my disposition to brood over possibly 
 imaginary misfortunes, or to allow myself to be unnerved by 
 disasters that might never happen. I believed in making the 
 most of the present, and I knew that the only way in which 
 success ever could be achieved, would be by those who really 
 had the interest of the cause at heart laboring incessantly, 
 and in the face of every discouragement, with all the energy 
 at their command. The difficulties of the situation, indeed, 
 inspired me with a sort of enthusiasm which I had not felt 
 before, and the particular sort of duty which I had now taken 
 up was so decidedly congenial, and promised to be so full of 
 exciting adventures, that there was a positive enjoyment to 
 be got from it, such as mere campaigning did not yield. 
 
 OFF FOB HAVANA. 
 
 I started off for Havana, therefore, in anticipation of a 
 particularly pleasant cruise, which would not only be ben 
 eficial to my health, but which would afford me an agree 
 able change of scene, and at the same time give me facil 
 ities for carrying on the line of operations I proposed to the 
 best advantage. 
 
 Leaving the turbulent current and the muddy banks of the 
 Mississippi behind me, the vessel upon which I embarked 
 was soon ploughing her way through the beautiful blue waters 
 of the Gulf of Mexico, pointed towards my native city a 
 city that I had not visited since I left it years ago, when a 
 child, to go to New Orleans for the purpose of completing my 
 education. It was upon these waters, and in their vicinity, 
 that my adventure-loving ancestors had achieved renown and 
 wealth in making explorations and conquests of the New World 
 discovered by Columbus. Not far from the track of the ship 
 in which I was now speeding towards Havana had sailed the 
 expedition fitted out by old Governor Don Diego Yalazquez, 
 which discovered Mexico, and prepared the way for the bril 
 liant exploits of Cortez and his followers, while the whole 
 Gulf and its surrounding shores were alive with memories 
 of the valiant deeds of the valiant people of my father's 
 race. 
 
 Nothing more delightful than a cruise on the Gulf of Mexico 
 during the summer season can be imagined. The water is 
 
248 BEAUTIFUL CUBA. 
 
 deeply, darkly, beautifully blue, a blue totally unlike that of 
 the Atlantic Ocean, and one of the loveliest of colors, and 
 to sail upon the broad bosom of this sea of sapphire, for three 
 or four days in fine weather, with just breeze enough to make 
 the spray fly from the tops of the waves, is one of the rarest 
 enjoyments that life affords. I certainly enjoyed it, and every 
 warm sea breeze that fanned my cheeks brought health, 
 strength, and exhilaration of spirits with it. This was just 
 what I wanted to revive me after the trials and sufferings 
 physical and mental of the past twelve months, and to pre 
 pare me for the trying duties yet to be performed. 
 
 APPROACHING CUBA. 
 
 At length, far in the distance, the lofty Cuban highlands 
 were seen, resting like a faint blue cloud on the horizon, but 
 taking shape as we approached, until, from the misty outlines, 
 the mountain forms began to disclose themselves, and finally 
 cities, villages, and even single houses and trees were revealed. 
 It seemed like going into another world ; for anything more 
 unlike the low, flat, and unpicturesque country which I had 
 just left, could scarcely be imagined, and I not only felt proud 
 of my beautiful native island, but I wondered not that Spain 
 should cling with such tenacity to this the fairest, and now the 
 only really important portion of the great dominion which 
 her valorous sons had centuries before conquered for her in 
 the New World. At the same time, I begrudged that this fair 
 island should be the dependency of a foreign power ; for I 
 was, despite my Spanish ancestry, an American, heart and 
 soul, and if there was anything that could have induced me to 
 abandon the cause of the Southern Confederacy, it would have 
 been an attempt on the part of the Cubans to have liberated 
 themselves from the Spanish yoke. 
 
 As we approached Cuba, and as the beautiful island seemed 
 to rise out of the sea before us, revealing more and more of 
 its surpassing loveliness, I wondered within myself whether 
 such an attempt would not some day and some day soon 
 be made, and more than half resolved that should the Cubans 
 strike a blow for independence, I would join my fortunes to 
 theirs, and serve their cause with the same assiduity that I 
 was now serving that of the Confederacy. 
 
 After a voyage which had been to me one of uninterrupted 
 pleasure, our ship dropped anchor before the city of Havana. 
 
AT HAVANA. 249 
 
 No city on the globe has been more fitly named ; for this har 
 bor is unsurpassed, and nestles beneath the shadow of the 
 vine-clad hills, a broad, land-locked basin, in which the navies 
 of the world might float. While not insensible to the beauties 
 of the spectacle which the place of my nativity and its sur 
 roundings presented to the eye, I was too full of other 
 thoughts just at that moment to give myself up to the enjoy 
 ment of it, as I might have done at another time, and was as 
 eager to get on shore and execute my commission, as if my 
 brief sojourn on shipboard had been a thraldom to me instead 
 of a source of real pleasure. 
 
 LANDING IN HAVANA. 
 
 I, therefore, landed at the earliest possible moment ; and 
 making my way through streets that seemed strangely famil 
 iar, and among people speaking my native tongue, which 
 sounded most oddly after the long years since I had been ac 
 customed to hear it habitually spoken, I succeeded in finding 
 the Confederate agent, into whose trusty hands I had been 
 directed to place my despatches for the " Alabama." This 
 important commission having been satisfactorily executed, my 
 chief responsibilities were at an end, and I was at liberty to 
 gratify my curiosity and my desire to learn all that could be 
 learned that was likely to be of service to me in any future 
 enterprises in which I might be engaged. 
 
 I confidently expected to visit Havana again, and, perhaps, 
 many times before the end of the war, and therefore was 
 anxious to make the most of the present opportunity for gain 
 ing all the information I was able that would in any way aid 
 me in the successful prosecution of such exploits as I might 
 hereafter think it expedient to undertake. 
 
 The friends of the Confederacy, with whom I was thrown in 
 contact, were eager to obtain all the news they could with re 
 gard to the progress of events, the present situation of affairs, 
 and the prospect for the immediate future. I was able to tell 
 them a great many things that surprised them, and to give 
 them much important information that would never have 
 reached them through the ordinary news channels. There 
 was much, of course, that I did not tell, for a great variety of 
 reasons, and they were evidently puzzled to understand how 
 I came to be possessed of such extensive and such accurate 
 information. I was, of course, particularly reticent about the 
 
250 THE BLOCKADE-RUNNING BUSINESS. 
 
 part I had been playing during a greater portion of the past 
 year, and represented myself to be just what I then appeared, 
 a woman, who was engaged in the perilous task of running 
 the lines for the purpose of carrying information. My evident 
 accomplishments, and my thorough knowledge upon many 
 points about which they were but meagrely informed, how 
 ever, greatly increased their respect for me, and enabled 
 me to gain confidences that otherwise might have been 
 withheld. 
 
 IN COMMUNICATION WITH CONFEDERATE AGENTS. 
 
 From Messrs. Infanta & Co., and other prominent persons, I 
 succeeded in learning much that was well worth knowing ; 
 and before the time came for me to say adieu to Havana, my 
 brain was teeming with plans which I was all eagerness to 
 execute. I found that the friends of the Confederacy were 
 completely in the ascendent in Havana, and that more than 
 one of its capitalists were deeply interested in the profit 
 able but hazardous business of blockade-running; although, 
 through a variety of circumstances, this city was not the 
 headquarters of the extensive trade which the misfortunes of 
 the South were building up, and which promised to yield 
 almost fabulous profits should the war continue for any length 
 of time, as these good money-loving people evidently desired 
 that it should. 
 
 I could not help thinking, however, when I heard of the 
 enormous sums of money which a single cargo yielded, in 
 event of its being able to elude the Federal cruisers and the 
 blockading fleet, and reach a Southern port, of the suffering 
 and impoverished people at whose expense the blockade- 
 runners were heaping up riches, and I wished heartily that I 
 had some way of making them devote a portion of their wealth 
 to the relief of the victims of cruel war, and to the advance 
 ment of the cause. I could not help acknowledging, how 
 ever, that their money was fairly earned, and that while 
 accumulating magnificent profits by their operations, they 
 were doing a great deal in a certain way towards sustaining 
 the Confederacy in the mighty struggles it was making for 
 independence. 
 
 The capture of New Orleans had been a great surprise to 
 every one in Havana, as it doubtless was to the friends of the 
 Confederacy everywhere ; and it was the cause of innumer- 
 
RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS. 251 
 
 able and bitter regrets, for it effectually put a stop to blockade- 
 running in that quarter, and, consequently cut off many oppor 
 tunities for tolerably easy money-making, which those in the 
 business had hitherto enjoyed. Every one agreed that it was 
 by far the most damaging blow that the Federals had yet 
 succeeded in striking at the Confederacy, and not a few be 
 lieved that it was but the prelude to greater disasters, and to 
 a final overthrow of the attempt which was being made to 
 secure a permanent severance of the South from the North. 
 All, however, were agreed that, so far as they were concerned, 
 obedience to the adage, to make hay while the sun shines, was 
 the only true policy ; and that, while the perils of blockade- 
 running would now be greatly increased, the profits were so 
 enormous as to warrant all the risks, and that the business would, 
 therefore, be prosecuted with more energy than ever, while it 
 would be necessary to adopt a more perfect and certain sys 
 tem of communication with the Confederate authorities. I 
 was able to give a great number of valuable hints with regard 
 to the best way of managing things ; and, in return, was sup 
 plied with many points which I would be likely to find useful, 
 both immediately and in the future. 
 
 My stay in Havana was of short duration ; and having ac 
 complished my errand, and learned all that I could, I proposed 
 to return to New Orleans. 
 
 BACK IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 The return trip was as agreeable as the one out, and it 
 greatly refreshed and benefited me, so that when I again set 
 foot on the levee at New Orleans, I felt in better condition 
 than I had been in for a long time, and was prepared for any 
 amount of hard work ; and of hard work there was likely to 
 be plenty to do, for Butler was tightening his grasp on the 
 people, and was disposed to make his rule over them as little 
 gratifying to their feelings as possible. That my old business 
 of smuggling drugs, and other matters needed by the Confed 
 erates, and of conveying information back and forth, would 
 have to be carried on if it were carried on at all under a 
 pressure of much greater difficulties than formerly, was soon 
 very apparent. I was not one, however, to be appalled by 
 difficulties, but was rather excited by them to exert myself 
 to the utmost ; and it afforded me an immense amount of 
 satisfaction that, in a quiet way, I would be able to accom- 
 
252 CIRCUMVENTING BUTLER. 
 
 plish many things for which Butler would have been highly 
 
 F leased to have strangled me, could he have discovered what 
 was about. And I did manage to do several tolerably good 
 strokes of work before New Orleans became too unpleasant 
 a place for me to abide in, and I was forced to the conclusion 
 that it was best for me to take up my quarters elsewhere, out 
 side of Butler's jurisdiction. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A DIFFICULTY WITH BUTLER. ESCAPE FROM NEW 
 
 ORLEANS. 
 
 Butler's Rule in New Orleans. A System of Terrorism. My Ac 
 quaintance with Federal Officers. I resume the Business of carrying 
 Information through the Lines. A Trip to Robertson's Plantation for 
 the Purpose of carrying a Confederate Despatch. A long Tramp after 
 Night. Some of the Incidents of my Journey. The Alligators and 
 Mosquitoes. Arrival at my Destination, and Delivery of the Despatch 
 to a Confederate Officer. My hospitable Entertainment by Friends of 
 the Confederacy. My Return to New Orleans. Capture of the 
 Bearer of my Despatch, and my Arrest. I am taken before Butler, 
 who endeavors to extort a Confession from me. Butler as a Bully. 
 I refuse to confess, and am ordered to be imprisoned in the Custom- 
 House. My Release, through the Intercession of the British Consul. 
 I resolve to leave New Orleans, for fear of getting into further 
 Trouble. A Bargain with a Fisherman to take me across Lake Pont- 
 chartrain. My Escape from Butler's Jurisdiction. 
 
 WAS astonished, sometimes, at my own good 
 luck in keeping clear of controversies with the 
 military authorities ; for Butler was bent on 
 crushing out every indication of sympathy with 
 the Confederacy, and he was most savage and 
 relentless in his punishment of those who defied 
 his mandates by attempting to hold communication 
 with the Southern soldiery, who were only waiting for 
 a proper opportunity to rescue New Orleans, and who 
 were therefore anxious, of course, to understand ex 
 actly how matters stood in the city, in order that they 
 might take advantage of a suitable moment, if any should 
 present, for relieving its unpopular ruler of his responsibili 
 ties. The peculiar situation of New Orleans, on a narrow 
 strip of land between the river and Lake Pontchartrain, and 
 with numerous bayous, lakes, and other water ways in close 
 proximity, was such as to make the passage back and forth of 
 Confederate agents a much easier matter than it would have 
 been under some circumstances. It was. however, a danger- 
 
 253 
 
254 DOING DAMAGE TO THE ENEMY. 
 
 ous business always, and a number of persons, of both sexes, 
 who undertook to defy Butler by communicating with their 
 friends in the interior, or who employed themselves in smug 
 gling goods or intelligence through the lines, were caught 
 and punished ; sentences calculated to inspire terror in those 
 who were capable of being terrified being imposed, without 
 regard to the sex or social standing of the offenders. 
 
 A favorite punishment, for those who managed to fall under 
 the displeasure of the commanding general, was a sojourn, 
 for periods of time varying according to Butler's notions of 
 the gravity of their offences, on Ship Island, a desolate strip 
 of sand on Mississippi Sound, which had been used by the 
 Federal forces as a rendezvous before the attack upon the 
 city. Butler was compelled to live on this sandbank for a 
 number of months, before Admiral Farragut made it possible 
 for him to take up his abode in one of the finest residences of 
 New Orleans, and he appeared to have contracted such an 
 intense dislike to the place, that he could imagine no worse 
 fate for those who were imprudent enough to defy his will, 
 than to send them there. I came very near being obliged to 
 make Ship Island my home for a time under orders from But 
 ler, and only escaped such a fate through my address and 
 courage, and the thoroughness of the preparations I had 
 made to meet such an emergency. 
 
 RUNNING THE LINES. 
 
 Unlike many others, I settled myself down resolutely to the 
 business of running the lines, and was not satisfied with 
 making a trip or two, and then either ceasing operations alto 
 gether, or else waiting until suspicion should die away before 
 making another attempt. I considered myself as much in the 
 Confederate service as I was when I wore the uniform of an 
 officer, and I felt it my duty to be, like a soldier, always vigi 
 lant, and always ready to do the enemy all the damage I pos 
 sibly could. I therefore went about the prosecution of my 
 plans systematically, taking all proper precautions, of course, 
 to avoid detection, but trusting a good deal to luck and to my 
 ready wit to get me out of any difficulty into which I might 
 happen to fall. 
 
 I had very few friends or acquaintances, for I did not care 
 to be extensively known, being well aware that the more 
 people there were whose attention was attracted to me, the 
 
PICKING UP INFORMATION. 255 
 
 more likelihood there would be of suspicion attaching to my 
 movements. At the same time I was anxious to avoid any 
 appearance of mystery, and took particular pains to let myself 
 be seen frequently, and to leave the impression that I was 
 what I pretended to be a widow, in reduced circumstances, 
 who was only waiting to receive money from England in 
 order to return to that country. I kept up a sort of acquaint 
 ance with a few officers of the Federal army, to whom I had 
 been introduced, which I was the more pleased to do as they 
 were very pleasant gentlemen, and contrived, by frequent 
 allusions to the subject, to fix in their minds the idea that I 
 had been robbed, and otherwise outrageously maltreated by 
 the Confederates, and that the arrival of the Federals was a 
 source of infinite satisfaction to me. 
 
 From these officers I sometimes succeeded in obtaining 
 information that was worth having by judiciously keeping 
 my ears open, or by asking an apparently innocent question 
 at the proper moment. I was, however, very careful not to 
 appear to question them, or to do anything that would ih the 
 slightest degree arouse their suspicions. My acquaintance 
 with them was kept up for the purpose of having it under 
 stood at headquarters, and among the officers generally, that 
 I was one of the few women in New Orleans who professed 
 Union sentiments. My means of gaining intelligence were 
 such as these gentlemen had little idea of, and were of such 
 a character that there was no necessity for me to risk any 
 thing by imprudent conversation with them. Indeed, it was 
 very evident sometimes, judging from their conversation, that 
 I was very fully informed about a great many things with 
 regard to which they knew little or nothing. 
 
 I do not know whether or not Butler and his satellites 
 ever suspected me, up to tke time they caught me. When 
 I was finally detected, and arraigned before the general, he 
 tried his best to play the bully, and to frighten me into mak 
 ing some admissions, and he intimated that I had been under 
 surveillance for a long time. This, however, was probably all 
 brag, or at least I chose to understand it as such ; and as I did 
 not frighten at all to his satisfaction, he did not succeed in 
 making a great deal out of me. 
 
 Not a great while after my return from Havana, I under 
 took to go to Robertson's Plantation, for the purpose of send 
 ing some despatches, as well as some verbal information, to 
 the Confederate forces stationed at Franklin. It was neces- 
 
256 A LONESOME WALK. 
 
 sary for me to make the trip after nightfall, and to walk the 
 entire distance of seventeen miles; and that such a tramp 
 could scarcely be a particularly pleasant exercise, those who 
 are acquainted with the country around New Orleans need 
 not be reminded. I was not to be deterred, however, any 
 more by the personal inconveniences involved in my under 
 taking the expedition, than I was by any perils I was likely 
 to encounter, and set off, therefore, resolved to accomplish my 
 errand, if its accomplishment were possible. 
 
 A LONG WALK AFTER NIGHT. 
 
 I had not much difficulty in getting past the outposts, and 
 once sure that I was out of sight and sound of the Federal 
 pickets, I started off at a steady pace, bent upon getting over 
 as much ground as I could before daylight came and rendered 
 it necessary for me to be more cautious in my movements. I 
 made pretty good time, but did not get along as fast as I 
 would have done had I been in male attire, and long before I 
 reached my destination I heartily wished that it had been 
 possible for me to have donned a masculine habit in safety ; 
 for a. woman's skirts are not adapted for fast travelling on a 
 Louisiana highway, on a sultry summer's night, with only the 
 stars and the fire-flies to lighten the pathway. 
 
 It was a terribly lonesome walk. After getting past the 
 pickets, I did not meet with a single human being throughout 
 the whole of my long and weary journey. The only sounds 
 to be heard were the barking of the alligators, or the splash 
 ing of one of these monsters as he plunged into the stream at 
 my approach. I was frequently startled by the sounds made 
 by these horrid animals close at hand after a considerable 
 interval of silence, but pushed on resolutely despite them, 
 and despite the swarms of mosquitoes, which seemed to in 
 crease in number as I proceeded, and which occasioned me 
 infinite annoyance. Whenever I sat down to rest, which I 
 was compelled to do a number of times before my journey 
 was completed, these venomous insects attacked me with the 
 greatest fury, and my face and hands were terribly bitten 
 before I was able to escape from them. These were some of 
 the delights of my long night walk for the purpose of fulfilling 
 my mission as a bearer of despatches, and it was an immense 
 relief to me when, just about daybreak, I reached my destina 
 tion, foot-sore and completely tired out, but satisfied with 
 
REST AND REFRESHMENT. 257 
 
 having accomplished my errand without having been inter 
 rupted. 
 
 THE DESPATCH DELIVERED. 
 
 I found some Confederate soldiers preparing to cross the 
 lake, and, going to one of them, who seemed to be in command 
 of the party, I told him a number of things which I had 
 thought it more prudent not to commit to writing, and desired 
 him to pass the word along. Then, waiting until the boat 
 was ready to set sail, I gave him an enclosure containing my 
 despatches, asking him, if possible, to deliver it at headquar 
 ters, or if he was unable to do this, to drop it at the earliest 
 moment in the post-office. 
 
 I cautioned him particularly, and with the greatest earnest 
 ness, to be exceedingly careful of the package, as it contained 
 matters of vital importance, upon which a great deal was 
 dependent. He promised a faithful compliance with my 
 instructions, and jumping into the boat, he and his compan 
 ions shoved off from the shore, and were soon lost in the heavy 
 mist that rested upon the surface of the lake. 
 
 My. responsibilities, so far as the custody of the despatches 
 was concerned, were now at an end, and with a light heart, 
 but tired limbs, I sought some place where I could obtain 
 refreshment, and the repose I so badly needed, before I at 
 tempted to return to the city. Going to a house near by, I 
 asked for something to eat, and an opportunity to rest myself. 
 Two gentlemen appeared and gave me a very cordial wel 
 come, for they understood, without questioning me, what my 
 errand was, and they were anxious to do all in their power to 
 make me comfortable. 
 
 FRIENDS IN NEED. 
 
 I was in a most dilapidated condition, and was anything but 
 a presentable object, or one calculated to figure with advan 
 tage at the breakfast-table of a respectable family. My 
 clothing was heavy with the night dews, and my skirts were 
 bedraggled with dirt ; my shoes were nearly worn through, 
 and were covered with mud; and, taking me altogether, I 
 was as forlorn a looking creature as could be imagined. 
 
 My entertainers, however, knew how to excuse appear 
 ances; and, understanding the situation thoroughly, they 
 would not permit me to make any excuses or apologies, but 
 17 
 
258 A SAFE RETURN. 
 
 insisted on my accepting such hospitalities as they had to 
 offer, and promised to procure me a change of clothing, so 
 that I might make a somewhat more presentable figure. 
 
 They accordingly gave me a room where I could make my 
 toilet, and sent a servant to wait on me, while they applied to 
 a lady of the neighborhood for some clothing that I might 
 wear while my own was being dried and cleansed. The lady 
 complied with their requests with the greatest alacrity, and 
 sent me the best her wardrobe afforded, being anxious to 
 serve me in any manner in her power. As she was in entire 
 sympathy with the cause for which I was laboring, she refused 
 to receive any compensation, or to take back the clothing, 
 when, at nightfall, I prepared to resume my own, which, by 
 diligent brushing and rubbing, had been gotten into tolerably 
 good condition again for the purpose of returning to the city. 
 
 A wash, a change of garments, and a substantial breakfast 
 refreshed me immensely, and made me feel like another per 
 son. As it was impossible for me to attempt to reach New 
 Orleans without running too many risks of discovery, or, at 
 least, of being suspected, except under cover of the night, 
 and as I was sorely in need of rest, my new-made friends 
 insisted that I should remain where I was until the proper 
 time came for me to return. 
 
 RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 I therefore went to bed, and slept a good part of the day, 
 and about eleven o'clock at night they provided me with a 
 horse, and escorted me to as near the outposts as I deemed it 
 safe for them to go. On our way, I gave them a number of 
 points about the situation of things in New Orleans, and in 
 formed them how they might, in various ways, be of service 
 to the Confederacy, if they were disposed to extend the active 
 workers all the aid that was in their power. When the time 
 came for bidding them farewell, I thanked them in the warm 
 est manner for their kindness to me ; but they assured me that 
 the obligations were all on their side, and that they were only 
 too glad to assist, in any manner possible, a brave woman, who 
 was willing to venture, as I had done, for the purpose of ad 
 vancing the welfare of a cause which was a common one 
 with us all. 
 
 After parting with the gentlemen, I made my way into the 
 city on foot, being as successful as on the night previous in 
 
UNDER ARREST. 259 
 
 eluding the pickets. Having once got within the Federal 
 lines again, I hastened to the French market, where I ob 
 tained some breakfast, and where I remained until the streets 
 began to be filled with people, before venturing to return to 
 my room. My idea was to have any one who might happen 
 to take particular notice of me think that I had been market 
 ing. So, soon as I concluded that it would be safe for me to 
 show myself, I passed up St. Peter Street to Rampart Street, 
 and from thence to my room. On reaching my apartment I 
 locked myself in, and went to bed to take a good rest. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day I wrote a note to one of 
 the officers of the thirty-first Massachusetts regiment, whose 
 acquaintance I had made shortly after the Federal occupation 
 of the city, and he very politely answered it by calling upon 
 me. It was my intention to let him know that I had been out 
 of the city, so that, in case any one should have been making 
 a note of my movements, with a view of reporting them at 
 headquarters, there would be somebody on hand who would 
 be able to give my version of the case, and thus probably 
 prevent any investigation, and stifle suspicion. I therefore, 
 after a little general conversation, gave my visitor to under 
 stand that I had been out of town ; and on his inquiring my 
 whereabouts during my trip, I told him that I had been to 
 Carrolton, on a visit to a friend. He believed every word I 
 told him, without the slightest hesitation ; and after some fur 
 ther talk about matters of no moment, he went away, leaving 
 me tolerably well satisfied with having successfully accom 
 plished my errand, and with having taken all proper precau 
 tion to avoid getting into any trouble about it. 
 
 BEFORE BUTLER. 
 
 Unluckily for me, however, the very thing upon which I 
 had not calculated, and which I had no power to prevent, 
 occurred. The officer to whom I had intrusted my despatch 
 was captured, and the document was found upon his person. 
 Through some means, which I could not surmise, the provost 
 marshal was informed that I was the writer of the despatch, 
 although the name signed to it was not the one he knew me by. 
 A negro was found, too, who swore that he had seen me walking 
 along the river, outside of the lines, and the result was that 
 I was placed under arrest, and taken before Butler himself. 
 
 Butler was not the handsomest man I ever saw in my life, 
 
260 BUTLER'S TRIBUNAL. 
 
 and he certainly looked the tyrant that he was. It was a 
 favorite amusement with him to browbeat people who were 
 brought before him, and he was remarkably skilful in terrify 
 ing those who were weak enough to submit to being bullied by 
 him into making just the admission he wanted them to make. 
 I had heard a good deal about his peculiar methods of dealing 
 with those who had incurred his displeasure in any way, and 
 particularly with those who were suspected of furnishing the 
 Confederates with information concerning the situation within 
 the Federal lines, and I was therefore prepared, in a measure, 
 for the ordeal which I was now compelled to undergo. 
 
 I was determined to admit nothing that could not be dis 
 tinctly proved against me, to sustain to the last the character 
 I had assumed, and to fall back upon the protection which I 
 felt sure my British papers would afford me as a last resort. 
 I promised myself that, so far as any attempt to bully me, or 
 to overcome me with threats were concerned, the general 
 would find me more than a match for him ; and the only trep 
 idation I suffered in going before him grew out of my un 
 certainty with regard to the extent of his information about 
 my proceedings. I felt, however, that it would be a safe 
 course to admit nothing, and to compel Butler to produce his 
 proof, if he had any, before making any acknowledgment 
 whatever. 
 
 A CONTEST OF WITS. 
 
 Sure enough, when I was brought into his presence, he pro 
 ceeded on the theory that I was the person he wanted, and 
 that I was guilty of the charge made against me. He evi 
 dently thought the case was a perfectly plain one, and that I 
 would not attempt a denial. I, however, kept cool, and refused 
 to look at the matter from his point of view ; and, as none of 
 the witnesses who appeared were able to swear positively to 
 my identity as the woman who had acted as the bearer of the 
 despatch found on the Confederate officer, I began to think that 
 I was going to get clear without a great deal of trouble. 
 
 Butler, however, was not one from whom it was easy to get 
 away when his suspicions were once aroused, and I saw plainly 
 that he was convinced of the fact that he had captured the 
 right person this time, and that his prisoner was a spy who 
 had been giving him serious annoyance. He was, therefore, 
 resolved not to let me slip through his fingers if he could help 
 it ; and finding that he could not absolutely prove anything 
 
A CROSS- EXAMINATION BY BUTLER. 261 
 
 against me, he concluded to try whether it would not be pos 
 sible to force me into committing myself. 
 
 When, therefore, instead of ordering my release, Butler 
 settled his podgy figure back in his chair, and, apparently, 
 making a vigorous attempt to look straight at me with both 
 eyes at once, an impossibility, by the way, said, with a 
 harsh, grating voice, and with what was intended to be an 
 intensely satirical manner, " Well, madam, you have shown 
 your hand nicely ; I have been wanting you for some time 
 past, and I propose to send you to Ship Island," I felt that 
 the real ordeal was but just commencing. 
 
 Without permitting myself to be disconcerted, either by his 
 manner or by his threat, I replied, " I guess not ; the law does 
 not permit you to sentence any one on mere hearsay or belief, 
 and no evidence has been produced against me." 
 
 " Are you not guilty ? " said Butler, blinking his eyes, and 
 trying to look as savage as possible. 
 
 " That is for you to prove, if you intend to punish me," I 
 replied. " It is very certain you have not succeeded in prov 
 ing it yet." 
 
 " Come, come, madam, I don't want any of this nonsense," 
 struck in Butler, sharply. " I know you, and your tricks ; and 
 as your little game is played out, you might as well confess, 
 and be done with it." 
 
 " There is no difficulty about your finding out who I am," I 
 retorted. " My name, and residence, and circumstances are 
 well known to your officers, and have been ever since the 
 capture of the city. You have no proof against me, and I 
 have nothing to confess." 
 
 " Do you mean to say," continued the general, " that you 
 are not the writer of that letter, or that you did not smuggle 
 it through the lines ? " 
 
 " I don't mean to say anything about it," I answered ; " and 
 I don't mean to confess what I didn't do." 
 
 By this time Butler, seeing that he was not making much 
 headway with me, began to get angry, and he roared out, 
 " Well, madam, if you won't confess without compulsion, I'll 
 see whether I can't compel you. I'm tired of this sort of 
 thing, and Fm going to make an example of you for the 
 benefit of the other female spies who are hanging about this 
 city." 
 
 I replied, as cool as possible, " You may get yourself into 
 trouble, sir, if you attempt to punish an innocent woman on a 
 
262 IMPRISONMENT IN THE CUSTOM HOUSE. 
 
 false and scandalous charge like this, when there is not a par 
 ticle of evidence to sustain it." 
 
 This appeared to infuriate Butler more than ever; and, 
 turning to one of his officers, he gave an order that I should be 
 locked up in a cell in the Custom House until my case was 
 investigated further. 
 
 When I heard this order I turned to him with all the dig 
 nity I could command, and said, " One word, sir ; you will 
 please to understand that I am a British subject, and that I 
 claim the protection of the British flag." 
 
 Butler, who displayed a particular antipathy to foreigners, 
 and especially to the English, on all occasions, blurted out, 
 " We will see about that ; I don't care for Johnny Bull j " and 
 then turning to the officer he said, " Take that woman to the 
 Custom House." 
 
 This ended the investigation, and I left the presence of the 
 general, feeling tolerably well satisfied with having got the 
 best of him thus far, but dubious about the ultimate issue of 
 the affair, for I was confident that he would make an endeavor 
 to fasten the charge on me in such a manner that there would 
 be no escape ; and I knew that if he once got possession of 
 the right clew, he could easily obtain plenty of evidence 
 against me ; for, notwithstanding all my precautions, there 
 were necessarily a number of persons in the city who were, to 
 a greater or less degree, informed with regard to my move 
 ments, and some of them, I feared, might tell what they knew 
 if they were put under cross-examination, backed up by a 
 liberal use of threats. 
 
 I, however, was not disposed to vex myself with troubles 
 before they came, and preserved my equanimity, trusting to 
 my usual good luck to bring my present difficulties to a satis 
 factory conclusion. The officer in whose charge I was placed 
 was a gentleman in every respect, and he treated me in the 
 most courteous manner while escorting me to the Custom 
 House, apologizing for being compelled to perform so unpleas 
 ant a duty ; and, on our arrival at the building which was to 
 serve as my prison, he procured a nice camp bed for my cell, 
 and in other ways tried to make me as comfortable as cir 
 cumstances would permit. He ordered that my meals should 
 be sent me regularly, and promised that an effort would be 
 made to prevent my incarceration from being any more un 
 pleasant than was absolutely necessary. 
 
 The behavior of this gentleman was in striking contrast to 
 
GETTING THE BEST OF BUTLER. 263 
 
 that of his chief, and I felt very grateful to him, as I did, also, 
 to several unknown ladies, who sent me a number of little 
 luxuries that aided materially in making my imprisonment 
 endurable. Before the officer left me, I asked him if I could 
 not be permitted to have the use of writing materials. He 
 said that he had no authority to grant such a request, but that 
 he would see what could be done for me, as it would give him 
 pleasure to oblige me by every means in his power. 
 
 A friend of mine, Sergeant B., hearing that I was impris 
 oned, came to see me, and on my expressing a great desire to 
 have some pens, ink, and paper, he promised to procure them 
 and slip them in to me. He also said that he would carry any 
 message I might desire to send to my friends outside. I 
 thanked him, and requested him to try and let me have some 
 writing materials as soon as possible. He therefore procured 
 them, and I immediately wrote a note to Mr. Coppell, the British 
 consul, in which I explained my situation briefly, and asked 
 his assistance. 
 
 Mr. Coppell called upon me at once, and I, claiming that I 
 was a British subject, and under imprisonment by General 
 Butler's personal order, although nothing whatever had been 
 proven against me, asked his protection and his influence for 
 a release without more delay. He promised to do what he 
 could for me, and asked for my proofs of British citizenship. I 
 therefore gave him my trunk key and the number of my room, 
 with a description of the papers I had purchased in view of 
 just such an emergency as this, and he having obtained them 
 went to Butler's headquarters to demand my liberation. 
 
 EELEASED FROM PRISON. 
 
 I do not know what passed between the consul and the 
 general, but the result of the interview was an order for my 
 release, and I accordingly walked out of the Custom House 
 under Mr. Coppell's escort, and with all the rebel in me ex 
 ultant at having got the better of Butler. 
 
 I understood plainly that my operations as a spy in New 
 Orleans were now at an end, and that the safest and best 
 thing I could do, if I did not want to get into further trouble, 
 would be to leave the city at the earliest possible moment. 
 There was, however, no longer any necessity for keeping my 
 rebel sympathies concealed, and I was really glad of an oppor 
 tunity to let them be seen. As we were going out of the 
 
264 PREPARING TO LEAVE. 
 
 Custom House I heard some 'one bragging how they were going 
 to thrash Johnny Bull, and I could not resist the temptation 
 of turning to Mr. Coppell, who must also have heard the remark, 
 and saying, " That fellow must be crazy. He and his friends 
 had better wipe out secession first, before they talk about 
 whipping Johnny Bull." I said this loud enough for everbody 
 to hear me, and it made the speaker and others around us 
 furious, and elicited several retorts, at which we only laughed. 
 This was a foolish proceeding on my part, but I could not help 
 taking a bit of womanly revenge on my enemies for what they 
 had done to me. 
 
 Having obtained my freedom again, I prepared to forsake 
 New Orleans, and applied for a pass. This, however, was re 
 fused me ; and I saw that if I intended to get out of Butler's 
 power so as to be able to resume operations either as a spy or 
 as a Confederate officer, it would be necessary for ,me to run 
 the blockade. Situated as I was, and under suspicion of being 
 a spy, this, I was well aware, would be a particularly risky 
 thing to attempt; but there was no alternative left me except 
 to either attempt it, or else remain in the city in idleness, and in 
 constant danger of having some of my many previous transac 
 tions, in the way of carrying information to the Confederates, 
 found out. I felt very certain that if Butler did succeed in 
 discovering who I was, and in fastening upon me, beyond a 
 doubt, any charge of a similar nature to the one I had just 
 eluded, I would not get off so easily as I had done in my first 
 controversy with him, and I therefore concluded that I ran a 
 greater risk in remaining in New Orleans than I did in at 
 tempting to leave it surreptitiously. 
 
 Having made up my mind to leave, and to leave as expedi- 
 tiousiy as I conveniently could, I proceeded to make the 
 necessary arrangements, taking care to attract as little atten 
 tion as possible. The provisioning of New Orleans was a 
 serious problem with the military rulers of the city ; and in 
 order to keep the markets supplied, even in a moderate de 
 gree, with the necessities of life, they were compelled to 
 permit some intercourse with the surrounding country, and 
 boats for the conveyance of food even ran between New Or 
 leans and Mobile, under certain stringent regulations, which, 
 however, were unable to prevent them from being used by 
 the agents of the Confederate States in a manner that Butler 
 did not approve. Communication, therefore, between the 
 city and country was always possible, although to attempt 
 
A BARGAIN WITH A FISHERMAN. 265 
 
 anything of the kind without a pass, subjected the wayfarer to 
 a liability of being suspected and punished as a spy. 
 
 I had made a goodly number of trips in different directions, 
 sometimes with passes and sometimes without, and conse 
 quently knew exactly how to proceed, and what were the 
 difficulties to be overcome. The chief danger to be appre 
 hended I knew would be from the Federal patrols, who were 
 becoming more and more vigilant every day, as resolute ef 
 forts were being made to break up the Confederate spy sys 
 tem, and the illicit traffic which many persons of both sexes 
 were engaged in carrying on, to the great discomfort of the 
 Federal occupants of the city. I had also something to fear 
 lest any agent whom I might employ to aid me in making my 
 escape should prove treacherous, either through hope of gain 
 or a desire to win the favor of Butler. On this last score, 
 however, I had comparatively few apprehensions, as I was 
 prepared to pay a good round sum to any one who would be 
 willing to perform for me the services I needed, and I knew 
 well that some of the stanchest adherents of the Confederacy 
 were to be found among the poor white population of New 
 Orleans and vicinity. I knew that if I could once make the 
 other side of Lake Pontchartrain I would be safe, and that 
 there would be fewer risks to run in attempting an escape in 
 that direction than in any other. I accordingly laid my plans 
 for a trip across the lake, with a view of striking a point near 
 the railroad, so that I could reach Jackson with the least in 
 convenience. 
 
 Going down to the lake, I found a fisherman who was pur 
 suing his avocation under a permit from Butler, and taking 
 advantage of an opportunity to speak to him when our conver 
 sation could not be overheard, I asked, " Do any rebels ever 
 cross the lake without papers ? " 
 
 " Yes," said he, " sometimes." 
 
 "Do you think that you could take me over if I were to 
 make it worth your while ? " said I. 
 
 " Are you a reb ? " he questioned, looking at me sharply. 
 
 " They say I am," I answered. 
 
 " Well, I might take you over if you will pay enough." 
 
 " I'll give you a good deal more than you can get for any 
 job you do for the Federals." 
 
 " All right, then," said he ; and without more argument we 
 struck a bargain, and arranged time and place of meeting, my 
 boatman giving me some directions how to proceed so as to 
 
266 ESCAPE FROM NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 avoid attracting attention, from which I inferred that this 
 was not the first time he had been engaged in running the 
 blockade. 
 
 Going home, I put on two complete suits of clothing, as it 
 would not have answered for me to have carried any baggage, 
 or even a small package, and secreted about my person all the 
 Confederate money I had purchased, about nine thousand dol 
 lars in greenbacks, and my jewelry. At the appointed time I 
 was at the rendezvous, and saw my boatman waiting. Fear 
 ful, however, of being apprehended just as I was about to 
 start, I did not show myself at first, but crept cautiously 
 through the bushes until I could see whether any one was 
 observing my movements. Finding the coast apparently 
 clear, I made a signal to the man, and he approached and took 
 me into the boat. 
 
 GETTING AWAY FROM NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 In a moment more the sail was hoisted, and we were speed 
 ing over the lake before a good breeze, which promised, ere a 
 great while, to waft me beyond Butler's jurisdiction, and 
 enable me once more to give the Confederacy the benefit of 
 my services. 
 
 I had a reasonable amount of confidence in the fidelity of 
 the boatman, but at the same time was determined to be pre 
 pared against any attempt at treachery on his part. I had, 
 accordingly, provided myself with a six-shooter, and had taken 
 pains to see that it was loaded, and all in condition for instant 
 use, before leaving my room. On taking my seat in the boat 
 I placed my hand on this weapon, and was resolved to put it 
 to the head of the man if he showed the slightest indication of 
 a desire to betray me. I had no fancy for a sojourn on Ship 
 Island, and would, without the slightest hesitation, have used 
 my revolver freely before submitting to a capture. The man, 
 however, was faithful enough, and with the prospect of a 
 liberal reward before him, he was only eager to reach the other 
 side of the lake as soon as he could, and to avoid the Federal 
 patrols in doing so. 
 
 Fortune favored us, and it was not long before we were 
 out of the reach of immediate danger, and in a fair way to 
 make the Mississippi shore without being interfered with. On 
 landing I paid the boatman his money, according to the bar 
 gain I had made with him, and started off for the nearest rail- 
 
OUT OF DANGER. 267 
 
 road station for the purpose of going to Jackson. Thus ended 
 my career in New Orleans as a Confederate spy. It was a 
 successful one, taking all things into consideration, but I was 
 not sorry to get away, and considered myself fortunate in 
 being able to make my escape with as much ease as I did. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 CARRYING DESPATCHES. 
 
 Uncertainties of the Military Situation. I go to Jackson, Mississippi. 
 Burning of the Bowman House in that place by Breckenridge's Sol 
 diers. The unpleasant Position in which Non-combatants were placed. 
 
 A Visit to the Camp of General Dan. Adams, and Interview with 
 that Officer. I visit Hazlehurst, and carry a Message to General 
 Gardner at Port Hudson. Recovery of my Negro Boy Bob. General 
 Van Dorn's Raid on Holly Springs. I resolve to Return to Virginia. 
 
 The Results of two Years of Warfare. Dark Days for the Con 
 federacy. Fighting against Hope. 
 
 N leaving New Orleans I had no very definite 
 plans for the immediate future, my hurried 
 departure, as well as my la'ck of knowledge 
 with regard to the exact details of the military 
 situation, having prevented me from forming 
 any. I was, therefore, rather at a loss exactly how to 
 proceed, but did not doubt of my ability to find a field 
 for the display of my talents ere a great while. I was 
 now more intent than ever upon being employed on 
 detective and scouting duty, for which my recent resi 
 dence in New Orleans had been an excellent school 
 ing ; so excellent, indeed, that I considered myself as well out 
 of my apprenticeship, and as quite competent to assume all 
 the responsibilities of the most difficult or dangerous jobs that 
 might be thrust upon me. 
 
 I did not doubt that there would be plenty of work for me 
 to do, for throughout the entire West military matters seemed 
 to be in a very mixed condition, and the different armies, both 
 Confederate and Federal, so broken up and scattered, that it 
 must have taxed the energies of the commanding officers on 
 both sides to have kept the run of each other's movements. 
 The Federals, by their victories at Fort Donelson and Shiloh, 
 and several other points, had succeeded in forcing both the 
 first and second Confederate lines of defence, and in penetrat 
 ing to the heart of the portion of the Confederacy west of 
 
 268 
 
BETWEEN TWO FIRES. 269 
 
 the mountains, but they had not been able to complete the 
 conquest they were aiming at ; and the possession of the 
 Mississippi that coveted prize for both parties was some 
 thing for which there was still to be done some hard fighting. 
 
 I judged that matters ought soon to be approaching a crisis 
 somewhere, although exactly what definite aims the belligerents 
 were driving at, if, indeed, they had any just then, I could 
 not comprehend. I resolved, if a grand movement of any 
 kind was coming off, that I must have a hand in it in some 
 shape ; but that if something of importance was not attempted 
 before a great while I would return to Virginia, and see what 
 fortune had in store for me there. I judged, however, that 
 I would not have much difficulty in finding work to do in the 
 west, if I went about looking for it in the right way ; and I 
 knew of no better locality in which to seek the information I 
 needed before commencing operations in the field again than 
 Jackson. 
 
 To Jackson, therefore, I went, with what haste I could, and 
 arrived just in time to witness an occurrence for which I was 
 sincerely sorry. This was the burning of the Bowman House 
 by Breckenridge's men, who were infuriated at being told that 
 the proprietor had permitted the Federals to occupy the hotel, 
 and that he had entertained them at one third less than he 
 had charged the Confederates who had claimed his hospitali 
 ties. The unfortunate man was in reality not to blame in the 
 matter, for the Federals had occupied his house without his 
 consent, and he had taken just what they chose to give 
 him, thinking it better to pocket less than his dues than noth 
 ing ; and fearing to make any complaint, either about their 
 presence in the hotel, or the money they offered him, lest 
 they should take it into their heads to play him some such 
 trick as the Confederates subsequently did. 
 
 THE SUFFERINGS OF NON-COMBATANTS. 
 
 This incident will serve to show the desperately unpleasant 
 position of the non-combatants throughout this whole region 
 at this and later periods of the war. They were literally 
 between two fires; and no matter how peaceably disposed they 
 might be, they could satisfy neither party, and were made to 
 suffer by both. The proprietor of the "Bowman House was 
 forced to witness a fine property destroyed before his eyes 
 through the reckless and unthinking anger of men who never 
 
270 A TALK WITH GENERAL ADAMS. 
 
 stopped to inquire whether he was guilty or not of any 
 offence against them or their cause before taking vengeance 
 upon him. He was reduced to poverty by the burning of his 
 hotel, and I could not help feeling the keenest regret for the 
 occurrence, although I recognized it as one of the inevitable 
 calamities of warfare. 
 
 I was, myself, in the hotel when it was fired, and barely 
 succeeded in escaping from the building with my life. Not 
 expecting any such occurrence, I had taken rooms, and was 
 proceeding to make myself comfortable, when, all of a sudden, 
 I found that it was in flames, and that it would be as much as 
 I could do to get out unscathed. The men who fired the 
 building did not give the proprietor an opportunity to make 
 explanations, or if they did, they refused to believe him. 
 Knowing what the passions of men engaged in warfare are, 
 and how little consideration they are disposed to give those 
 who are suspected of aiding the enemy, I was not altogether 
 surprised at this action, but I thought the officers in command 
 might have succeeded in restraining their soldiers until the 
 exact truth of the matter could have been ascertained. 
 
 The next day after this occurrence I visited the camp of 
 General Dan. Adams, from whom I gained a number of points 
 which were useful to me in making my arrangements for the 
 future. He gave me a tolerably definite idea of how things 
 stood, and advised me what course to take if I wanted to go 
 into active service again. Among other things, he said it was 
 understood that the Federal General Grierson was on a 
 raid in the direction of Natchez, but he thought he would 
 most likely have a speedy stop put to that kind of perform 
 ance. As for himself, he told me that he had been ordered to 
 re -enforce General Joe Johnston at Big Black, and that he 
 expected to start for that point shortly. Exactly what was 
 on foot he did not know, but thought it likely that the Federals 
 were about to make an attempt on Yicksburg, and that John 
 ston intended to be well prepared to receive them in his best 
 style. 
 
 Several times already had the Federals made attacks of 
 greater or less importance on Yicksburg, which city was now 
 the most important position held by the Confederacy, and 
 commanding the Mississippi River as it did, its possession was 
 considered a matter of the most vital importance. The fall 
 of Yicksburg, everybody knew, would practically give the 
 Federals possession of the river throughout its entire length ; 
 
BOB TURNS UP AGAIN. 271 
 
 and as such a calamity would, just at this particular junction, 
 be an even greater blow to the Confederate cause than the 
 fall of New Orleans had been, every exertion was being made 
 to render it impregnable. That sooner or later the Federals 
 would make a more determined effort than they had done 
 previously to take this post, appeared to be certain ; but the 
 natural advantages of the position were such, and the fortifi 
 cations in course of construction were so strong, and were 
 being rendered stronger with each succeeding day, that the 
 utmost confidence in the ability of the garrison to hold it was 
 felt by every one. 
 
 This confidence, unfortunately, was as ill-founded as had 
 been that felt with regard to other posts ; and although the 
 siege of Yicksburg was a heavy task for the Federals to 
 undertake, they did undertake it, and they succeeded in their 
 efforts after a protracted and desperate conflict, in which the 
 Confederates, although ultimately compelled to surrender, won 
 fresh laurels for their pertinacity in fighting, until all hope of 
 prolonging the contest was gone. 
 
 Having heard all that General Adams had to say, I took the 
 train for Hazlehurst, and from there I went to a portion of 
 Logan's command and took a look at things, stopping all 
 night with the family of Mayor Wallis. It was here that 
 Lieutenant Colonel Blackburn, of General Grierson's com 
 mand, was killed subsequently, when that Federal officer made 
 his great raid in April, 1863. 
 
 From Hazlehurst I pushed on towards Port Hudson with a 
 message for General Gardner, but was met at Clinton by the 
 special courier of that commander, and delivering the message 
 to him, I hastened back to Jackson. 
 
 On my arrival at Jackson I heard of my negro boy Bob, 
 for the first time since I had lost him, just after the battle of 
 Shiloh. I therefore proceeded to Grenada, where I found the 
 darkey, who appeared to be heartily glad to see me again 
 after such a long separation. Bob, it seems, had gone plump 
 into a Federal camp, having missed his road, after I had 
 started him off for Corinth ; but not liking the company he 
 found there, had slipped away at the earliest opportunity, and 
 had wandered about in a rather aimless manner for some time, 
 seeking for me. Not being able to hear anything of me, he 
 had made up his mind that I was dead, and was quite surprised 
 to see me turn up again alive and well. 
 
272 RETURNING TO VIRGINIA. 
 
 At Jackson I found General Lowering in command, and 
 heard that General Yan Dorn had surprised the Federals at 
 Holly Springs, and had captured the entire force there, and 
 an immense quantity of supplies of every description. This 
 event took place on the 20th of April, 1863, and was one of 
 the most brilliant affairs of the whole campaign. The Federals 
 had made Holly Springs a base of supplies, and had collected 
 there everything that was needed for the maintenance of the 
 army in the operations against Yicksburg ; but Van Dorn, by 
 one bold and skilfully executed movement, succeeded in giving 
 the impoverished Confederates provisions and munitions of 
 war which they sorely needed, and in damaging the Federals 
 more than a hard-fought battle would have done. 
 
 FACING EASTWARD AGAIN. 
 
 From Grenada, I returned once more to Jackson, and found 
 the place in considerable excitement over the prospective 
 army movements ; but as there did not seem to be much for 
 me to do in the particular line of business I desired to take 
 up, I now determined to put my old intention of returning to 
 Virginia into execution ; and as having once made up my mind 
 to a certain line of action, I was not in the habit of long 
 delaying over it, I was soon speeding eastward again on my 
 way to Richmond. 
 
 I should have mentioned, that after leaving New Orleans, I 
 resumed male attire at the earliest possible moment, and 
 figured once more as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. Perhaps 
 if I had gone to General Johnston, or some other commanding 
 officer of high rank, and frankly stated that I was a woman, 
 giving at the same time a narrative of my exploits, and fur 
 nishing references as guarantees of the truthfulness of my 
 story, I would have obtained the kind of employment I was 
 looking for, with permission to use the garments of either sex, 
 as I might deem expedient for the particular errand I had in 
 hand. I sometimes thought that this was what I should have 
 done ; but I could not overcome my repugnance to making 
 any one a confidant of my secret, even if by so doing I 
 would have advanced my own interests. In the then condi 
 tion of affairs, when the different commands were fully organ 
 ized and disciplined, my position as an independent was even 
 more anomalous than it was at the commencement of the war, 
 
UNFRUITFUL EXPERIENCES. 273 
 
 and as in the conduct of the peculiar operations then in 
 progress, the generals were necessarily obliged to be particu 
 lar in whom they confided, it was scarcely to be wondered at 
 that one who, like myself, was endeavoring to play the part 
 of a free-lance, should receive comparatively little counte 
 nance. 
 
 I appreciated the situation, and yet I could not help being 
 disappointed, that one who had done so well by the Con 
 federacy as myself, and who was so willing to undertake diffi 
 cult and hazardous tasks, should get such little encouragement, 
 and so I resolved to abandon the west, for the present at 
 least. In Virginia, I thought that I would be likely to have a 
 better chance for distinguishing myself, if only for the reason 
 that the operations of the contending forces were confined 
 to a more limited space than they were in the region I was 
 leaving. I had an idea, too, that in case my claims to con 
 sideration at the hands of the authorities were not admitted 
 with the promptness I desired, I would be able to do some 
 business in the way of running through the lines on my own 
 account, just for my own satisfaction, and for the sake of 
 showing what I was capable of. 
 
 Once past the Confederate pickets, I believed that I could 
 easily reach Washington ; and I felt certain that a skilful spy, 
 such as I esteemed myself now to be, could, without great 
 difficulty, find out plenty of things which the Richmond 
 authorities would be glad to know, and for the furnishing of 
 which they would be glad to extend me such recognition as 
 I desired. The military situation in Virginia, too, was more 
 satisfactory than it was in the west, and I had a hankering to 
 be where the Confederates were occasionally winning some 
 victories. Since I had been in the west, I had witnessed 
 little else than disaster, and I greatly desired to take a hand 
 in a fight when the victory would rest with the Confederates, 
 if only for the sake of variety. 
 
 My experiences since leaving New Orleans had not been 
 particularly fruitful, for although I performed several services 
 in satisfactory style for officers to whose notice I brought 
 myself, no opportunity had offered for me to do anything of 
 special moment, or to show the full extent of my capabilities, 
 and, as there did riot seem, from the condition things were in, 
 that anything was to be gained by remaining, I was not sorry 
 to leave for the scene of my first exploits as a Confederate 
 soldier. 
 
 18 
 
274 THE SITUATION AT THE END OF TWO YEARS. 
 
 The war had now been in progress nearly two years, and, 
 although the South had not been conquered, affairs were 
 beginning to look decidedly blue for us. All our fine expecta 
 tions of an easy achievement of our independence had long 
 since vanished, and the situation every day was getting more 
 and more desperate. The country was becoming exhausted, 
 and had not its natural resources been enormous, our people 
 must, ere this, have given up the contest. As it was, with a 
 large portion of the male population in the field, and with 
 heavy drafts being constantly made upon it to fill the ranks of 
 the armies, the cultivation of the ground was neglected, and 
 the necessities of life every day became scarcer and dearer. 
 We were shut out, too, owing to the stringency of the Federal 
 blockade, from anything like regular intercourse with Europe, 
 and all kinds of manufactured articles, and the food we had 
 been accustomed to import, were held at such enormous 
 figures, that they were utterly beyond the reach of any but 
 the most wealthy. The suffering among the poorer classes in 
 all parts of the South was very great, and in those portions 
 which had been devastated by the tramp of the different 
 armies, many of the people were very nearly on the verge 
 of starvation. 
 
 A SERIOUS QUESTION. 
 
 It was fast becoming a serious question, how long the con 
 test could be prolonged, unless some signal advantage could 
 speedily be achieved in the field by the Confederate forces. 
 It is impossible to express in words how eagerly all classes 
 looked for the achievement of some such advantage, and how 
 bitter was the disappointment, as month after month wore 
 away, and in spite of occasional victories, the people saw, 
 day by day, the Federals drawing their lines closer and 
 closer, and slowly, but surely, closing in upon them. 
 
 We were now entering upon the desperate stage of the 
 war, when the contest was conducted almost against hope, 
 and had the South been inhabited by a less determined race, 
 or one less animated by a fixed resolve to fight to the very 
 last, and until it was impossible to fight any- longer, the 
 Federal forces would have succeeded long ere they did in 
 compelling a surrender of the Confederate armies. The men 
 who commanded the armies, however, were not the sort to 
 give up until they were absolutely defeated, and it was starva 
 tion, rather than the Federal arms, that at length forced the 
 
THE SPLENDID COURAGE OF THE CONFEDERATES. 275 
 
 contest to the conclusion it reached, by the surrender of the 
 armies under the command of Lee and Johnston. 
 
 Bad as was the situation at the time of which I am writing, 
 and worse as it was shortly made by the surrender of Vicks- 
 burg, and other disasters in the west, and by the lamentable 
 conclusion of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, the Confeder 
 ates fought on for two years longer, with a heroic contempt 
 for defeat, that won for them the admiration of the world. 
 History does not record any such magnificent resistance as 
 the South made ; and however opinions may differ with regard 
 to the original merit of the quarrel, not even the bitterest 
 enemies of the Confederate cause can refuse to admit that it 
 was defended with splendid courage. 
 
 But it is no part of my purpose to produce a history of the 
 war. The story of the great contest has been written by abler 
 pens than mine. I only aim at giving in plain language an 
 unadorned narrative of the personal experiences of a single 
 adherent of the Confederacy experiences which gain their 
 chief interest from the fact that they were different in a 
 marked degree from those of any other participant in the war 
 on either side, and I can only hope that the story of my 
 adventures has proved sufficiently attractive to the reader to 
 induce a perusal of it to the end. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 UNDER ARREST AGAIN. 
 
 Commencement of a new Campaign. Return to Richmond, and Arrest 
 on Suspicion of being a Woman. Imprisonment in Castle Thunder. 
 Kindness to me of Major G. W. Alexander and his Wife. I refuse 
 to resume the Garments of my Sex. I am released, and placed on 
 Duty in the Secret Service Corps. General Winder, the Chief of the 
 Secret Service Bureau. A remarkable Character. General Winder 
 sends me with blank Despatches to General Van Dorn to try me. A 
 Member of the North Carolina Home Guards attempts to arrest me at 
 Charlotte. I resist the Arrest, and am permitted to proceed. The 
 Despatches delivered to Van Dorn in Safety. My Arrest in Lynch- 
 burg. The Rumors that were in Circulation about me. I am pes 
 tered with curious Visitors. A couple of Ladies deceived by a simple 
 trick. A comical Interview with an old Lady. She declares herself 
 insulted. An insulting Letter from a general Officer. My indignant 
 Reply, and offer to fight him. I obtain my Release, and leave 
 Lynchburg. 
 
 WAS now about to commence a new campaign, 
 and to enter upon experiences of another kind 
 from those through which I had just passed. 
 The condition of affairs was materially different 
 in an infinite number of ways from what it had 
 been when I first sought the Confederate capital 
 with rather vague dreams of glory floating through 
 my brain, but with considerable confidence that the 
 Federal forces, against whom the brave boys of the 
 South were marching, would melt away before them, 
 and that I and my comrades in arms would, ere many 
 days, have the flag of the Confederacy floating from the dome 
 of the Capitol at Washington, and, perhaps, indulge in a march 
 through a portion of the North, just for the sake of convincing 
 the Yankees that they had been rash in meddling with us. 
 
 Well, we met the forces sent out against us by the Federal 
 government, and long before the close of the day they were 
 running back as fast as their legs would take them to their in- 
 trenchments before Washington. The flag- raising on the Capi- 
 
 276 
 
MARTIAL LAW IN RICHMOND. 277 
 
 tol, and the march through the North, were deferred by those 
 who were managing affairs on our side to a more convenient 
 opportunity, and the grand chance for winning the great 
 stakes for which we were fighting was lost, never to be re 
 gained. Just as at Shiloh, the hesitation to follow up a bril 
 liant victory, and make it complete by the capture or annihi 
 lation of the enemy, lost us the field, and inflicted upon us a 
 most humiliating defeat, so at Bull Run, a similar hesitating 
 policy lost us not merely the substantial results of victory, but 
 inflicted upon us four years' of slaughter, during which the 
 Federals closed in upon us gradually, until at length they were 
 able to crush us. 
 
 I mean no disparagement to the brave soldiers and the skil 
 ful commanders on the Federal side, when I express the opin 
 ion that, as a rule, the Confederates were better fighters, and 
 were better officered, than their opponents. There was in 
 efficiency somewhere, however, in the management of military 
 affairs on our side. We never seemed to be able to follow up 
 our successes, or to gain permanent results from our victories, 
 no matter how brilliant they might be. The Federals, on the 
 other hand, had a way of staying, when they once got to a 
 place, that was most disheartening ; and one after another the 
 strongest and most important of the Confederate posts fell into 
 their hands, never to be regained, until finally they won the 
 grand prize for which, during four long, weary years, vast 
 armies had contended in vain, and, by the capture of Rich 
 mond, virtually ended the contest. 
 
 At the time of which I am writing, however, the capture of 
 Richmond, although constantly threatened, was a long way 
 off yet, and some trying days were to come before the aban 
 donment of the capital would give the signal to Southern hearts, 
 weary of strife, but hoping against hope, that even Hope it 
 self was dead. 
 
 Richmond, however, was a very different place from what 
 it was on my last visit to it, as I soon found to my cost. 
 Martial law was in force in its most rigorous aspect, and Gen 
 eral Winder, the chief of the secret service bureau, and his 
 emissaries, were objects of terror to everybody, rich and poor. 
 Beleaguered as Richmond was, every person was more or less 
 an object of suspicion, and strangers, especially, were watched 
 with a vigilance that left them few opportunities to do mis 
 chief, or were put under arrest, and placed in close confine 
 ment, without scruple, if Winder or his officers took it into 
 
278 IMPRISONED IN CASTLE THUNDER. 
 
 their heads that this would be the most expeditious way of 
 disposing of them. 
 
 UNDER ARREST IN RICHMOND. 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that almost immediately upon 
 my arrival in Richmond I fell under the surveillance of Winder 
 as a suspicious character, and was called upon to give an 
 account of myself. My story was not accepted in the same 
 spirit of credibility that some rather tough yarns I had manu 
 factured in the course of my career, for the purpose of satis 
 fying the curiosity of inquisitive people, had been. The fact 
 that my secret had already been several times discovered, 
 was against me to begin with ; then my disguise was not in 
 as good order as it had been when I first assumed it ; and my 
 papers were not of such a definite character as to inspire re 
 spect in the minds of the Richmond police authorities. There 
 was, evidently, something suspicious and mysterious about 
 me ; and, suspicion having once been excited, some lynx-eyed 
 detective was not long in noting certain feminine ways I 
 had, and which even my long practice in figuring as a man 
 had not enabled me to get rid of; and the result was, that I 
 was arrested on the charge of being a woman in disguise, and 
 supposably a Federal spy, and was conducted to Castle Thun 
 der, to reflect upon the mutabilities of fortune, until I could 
 give a satisfactory account of myself. 
 
 I thought that this was rather hard lines ; but as good luck 
 often comes to us in the guise of present tribulation, as matters 
 turned out it was the very best thing that could have hap 
 pened to me, for it compelled me to reveal myself and my 
 plans to persons who were willing and able to aid me, and to 
 tell my story to friendly and sympathetic ears. 
 
 The commander of Castle Thunder was Major G. W. Alex 
 ander, a gentleman who, ever since I made his acquaintance 
 through being committed to his custody as a prisoner, I have 
 always been proud to number among my best and most highly- 
 esteemed friends. Major Alexander, and his lovely wife, both 
 showed the greatest interest in me, ajrfl they treated me with 
 such kindness and consideration that I was induced to tell 
 them exactly who I was, what my purposes were in assuming 
 the male garb, what adventures I had passed through, and 
 what my aspirations were for the future. They not only be 
 lieved my story, but thinking that my services to the Confed- 
 

 
GENERAL J. H. WINDER. 279 
 
 eracy merited better treatment than I was then receiving at 
 the hands of the authorities, interested themselves greatly in 
 my behalf. 
 
 Both the major and his wife but the lady, especially 
 seemed to be shocked, however, at the idea of a woman dress 
 ing herself in the garb of the other sex, and attempting to 
 play the part of a soldier; and they eagerly urged me to 
 resume the proper costume of my sex again, assuring me that 
 there would be plenty of work for me to do, if I were disposed 
 still to devote myself to the service of the Confederacy. The 
 major, however, was evidently impressed with the narrative I 
 had given him of my exploits, and was convinced that if reg 
 ularly enlisted in the secret service corps I would be able to 
 render assistance of the first value. He, however, was urgent 
 that I should abandon my disguise, and represented, in forcible 
 terms, the dangers I ran in persisting in wearing it. 
 
 To these remonstrances I turned a deaf ear. I had passed 
 through too many real trials to be frightened by imaginary 
 ones, and I did not like to change my costume under compul 
 sion. I accordingly refused positively to put on the garments 
 of a woman, except as a means of gaining my liberty, and with 
 the full intention of resuming male attire at the earliest oppor 
 tunity. 
 
 Major Alexander, therefore, finding me fixed in my deter 
 mination to have my own way, undertook to have matters 
 arranged to my satisfaction without putting me to the neces 
 sity of discarding my disguise, in representing my case to 
 General Winder, and inducing him to give me a trial in his 
 corps. 
 
 IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 General Winder ordered my release, and, assigning me to a 
 position in the secret service corps, he proceeded to play a 
 very characteristic trick upon me, for the purpose of testing 
 my fidelity and my abilities. The trick was neatly played ; 
 but I got the best of the general to such an extent that he 
 was tolerably well convinced that I was both trustworthy, and 
 that I was quite wide awake enough to take good care of my 
 self even against such a sharp practitioner as himself. 
 
 General Winder was one of the most remarkable men I 
 became acquainted with during my whole career as an officer 
 and a spy in the Confederate service. He was a venerable, 
 pleasant-looking old gentleman, with white hair, and a rather 
 
280 A TRAP FOR AN INNOCENT. 
 
 agreeable expression of countenance that was well calculated 
 to deceive superficial observers with regard to his real char 
 acter. He had a most confiding, plausible way about him, and 
 an air of general benevolence, that completely masked the 
 hardness of his heart, and imposed so on his victims, that, 
 until they found themselves fairly caught in his cunningly-laid 
 traps, they were unwilling to believe him to be the desperate 
 old sinner he really was. Calculated as General Winder was 
 to leave a favorable impression at first glance, he would not 
 bear inspection. No man of strongly-marked character can 
 long conceal his real self from those who are accustomed to 
 study human nature ; and a very slight acquaintance with 
 Winder sufficed to convince me that he was a dangerous man 
 to trifle with, and that cruelty and rapacity were among his 
 predominant traits. His eyes were hard, cold, and piercing, 
 and there was a wicked twist about his mouth that was far 
 from being reassuring. I do not believe that man had such a 
 thing as a conscience ; that he was utterly unscrupulous with 
 regard to the means he took for the accomplishment of his 
 ends, I know. He was a most valuable officer, however, and 
 I doubt whether another individual in the whole Confederacy 
 could have been found who would have commanded the secret 
 service corps with the signal ability he did. 
 
 GENERAL WINDER PLAYS A TRICK ON ME. 
 
 Such was the new commander under whom I was now to go 
 on duty, and who, when he consented to release me from 
 prison, and give me employment, prepared as pretty a trap 
 as was ever devised for catching an innocent. The trap was 
 sprung in first-rate style, but the intended victim was agile 
 enough to slip through the wires, and the result was that Gen 
 eral Winder had nothing but his trouble for his pains. I 
 believe it would have delighted him to have caught me, much 
 more than it did to have it proved, by his ingeniously- arranged 
 device, that I was all that I pretended to be, and that the 
 probabilities were all in favor of my being able to become a 
 most efficient ally. 
 
 I was a little taken in by Winder's plausible manner at first, 
 and I really did not have *a fair chance of studying his char 
 acter before I was compelled to submit myself to the test 
 which he prepared for me. From what I saw and heard 
 of him, however, I easily arrived at the conclusion that he was 
 
THE TRAP SPRUNG. 281 
 
 a hard customer to deal with, and that I would have to be 
 unusually wary if I wanted to avoid getting into trouble with 
 him. I had, however, unlimited confidence in my own abili 
 ties, and accepted the commission he gave me as a secret 
 service agent with a determination to carry out my instruc 
 tions to the letter at all hazards. 
 
 Furnishing me with transportation. General Winder started 
 me off with despatches for General Earl Van Dorn. The de 
 spatches were simply a lot of blank papers, and a letter explain 
 ing the little game Winder was playing with me. 
 
 A NORTH CAROLINA MILITIA-MAN TRIES TO ARREST ME. 
 
 Unsuspicious of any evil intentions on the part of the white- 
 headed, benevolent-looking old gentleman, I hastened to exe 
 cute my orders, but suddenly found myself brought up at 
 Charlotte, N. C., with a round turn, as the sailors say. Winder 
 had telegraphed to the provost marshal at Charlotte to have 
 me arrested ; and accordingly, when the train stopped at that 
 place, a gawky member of the North Carolina home- guard put 
 in an appearance, took me into custody, and demanded the 
 papers 1 had in my pocket. It now flashed upon me that 
 Winder had put up a job on me, and 1 resolved that he should 
 not have the satisfaction of succeeding, if I could help it. 
 
 I accordingly measured my captor with my eye, and saw at 
 a glance that he was not the brightest-witted specimen ever 
 created, and concluded that if I only put on enough dignity I 
 would have no serious difficulty in getting the best of him. 
 It was evidently somewhat of a novelty for the tar-heeled 
 home-guarder to arrest an officer j and while he felt the impor 
 tance of the occasion immensely, he was in some degree of 
 trepidation, especially when he saw that I was not disposed to 
 acknowledge his authority. 
 
 I refused to give up the papers, and demanded, in the 
 severest manner I could command, what right he had to un 
 dertake to make the arrest of an officer of the Confederate 
 army travelling under orders. He showed me his orders, 
 which I was forced to acknowledge were correct, but still 
 declined either to give up the papers or to submit to an arrest. 
 
 I, however, promptly offered to return to Richmond with 
 them, and report at headquarters to General Winder. 
 
 This completely nonplussed him, and he was in a terrible 
 quandary. His orders to arrest me were positive, and he was 
 
282 VAN DORN AMUSED. 
 
 confident that there was something wrong about me. My 
 prompt offer to return and see Winder, however, convinced 
 him that there must be some mistake, and he was in an agony 
 to know what course he had better pursue. 
 
 I pitied the poor fellow's perplexity, but could scarcely help 
 from laughing in his face at his desperate stupidity. He 
 blinked his eyes at a terrible rate, and great drops of sweat 
 oozed from his forehead, which he wiped off with the sleeve 
 of his jacket, as he tried to argue the matter with me. I, 
 however, would not give in in the least, and seeing that he did 
 not have the slightest comprehension of the duties of his office, 
 and was puzzled to know what to do, I suggested that a tele 
 graphic despatch should be sent back to headquarters, asking 
 for further instructions. This settled the case effectually ; and 
 with a little further parley I was released, and was soon on my 
 way again. I don't know whether Winder ever took any 
 notice of this most admirable exhibition of inefficiency on the 
 part of the gallant defender of the homes of Charlotte, but I 
 thought that if I were in his place, I would take some pains to 
 discipline this particular tar-heel into some adequate apprecia 
 tion of the necessity for obeying orders, no matter who was 
 hurt. The adventure afforded me considerable amusement, 
 when I was well through with it, and I could not but laugh 
 whenever the comical expression of the puzzled North Caro 
 linian presented itself to my mind's eye. 
 
 Without more interruption or delay I proceeded on my jour 
 ney, and finally reached General Van Dorn, to whom I deliv 
 ered my package of supposed despatches. He read Winder's 
 letter, and looked through the lot of blanks which had accom 
 panied them ; then, glancing at me, he burst into a laugh, which 
 indicated that he saw something funny in the proceeding, and 
 after a few questions, he ordered me to return. This might 
 be good fun for Van Dorn and Winder ; but I did not particu 
 larly admire having been sent all this distance on such a fool's 
 errand, and was very much disposed to resent it. A little 
 reflection, however, told me that it was none of my business 
 what the pretended despatches were, and that as I had accom 
 plished my errand according to order, and without falling into 
 the snare that General Winder himself had evidently set for 
 me, I had every reason to be satisfied, and would probably 
 find, on getting back to Richmond, that he was satisfied also. 
 
 I was anxious to reach Richmond at as early a day as possi 
 ble, for I heard a number of rumors which induced me to 
 
MADAME RUMOR'S EXAGGERATIONS. 283 
 
 believe that another great battle was shortly to be fought, and 
 I was immediately seized with a furious desire to be on hand 
 for the purpose of taking part in it. Despite the terrible 
 scenes through which I had passed, despite the severe wound 
 I had received, and from which my arm was still stiff, the 
 prospect of joining in another fight had an irresistible fasci 
 nation for me. I found, however, on reaching Richmond, that 
 there was no present chance for a battle, and consequently 
 settled myself down as contentedly as possible to do whatever 
 work might be assigned me in the secret service department. 
 It seemed to be an impossibility for me now to avoid getting 
 into continual trouble about my disguise. Not only were a 
 number of people fully informed of all the particulars of my 
 career since the outbreak of the war, but it began to be whis 
 pered about among the soldiers and citizens that a woman 
 dressed as a man had been discovered, and some highly-exag 
 gerated rumors with regard to my exploits were diligently 
 circulated. My having received a wound, shortly after the 
 battle of Shiloh, appeared to be a particularly attractive epi 
 sode to the minds of many people ; and my performances at 
 that battle were believed, in some quarters, to have been of a 
 most extraordinary nature. Indeed, I do not know but that 
 some people thought me the commander-in-chief of the Con 
 federate forces on the occasion, while I was credited with 
 exploits of unparalleled heroism. 
 
 INCONVENIENCES OF CELEBRITY. 
 
 This sort of rather indefinite celebrity might have amused 
 me, and pleased my vanity, were it not the source of much 
 annoyance. Not only did the report that this woman-soldier 
 had come to Virginia have a tendency to attract attention to 
 me, and to excite suspicions that might never have occurred 
 to any one, but the extraordinary vigilance that was exercised 
 on all sides to prevent spies from pursuing their occupations 
 in safety, and to prevent deserters from escaping, was sure to 
 occasion me troubles of various kinds. I felt out of the 
 reach of serious danger, it is true, having been assigned to 
 duty in the secret service corps by General Winder ; but the 
 fact of my being in this corps would not prevent my arrest 
 and detention at any time if somebody should take a fancy to 
 believe that I was not all that my outward appearances repre 
 sented. 
 
284 UNDER ARREST IN LYNCHBURG. 
 
 I was vexed, therefore, but scarcely surprised, when, shortly 
 after my return from my trip to Van Dorn's headquarters, on 
 taking a run over to Lynchburg, I was again arrested on the 
 charge of being a woman in disguise. My sword was taken 
 from me, and I was otherwise treated with a good deal more 
 rudeness than I thought there was any occasion for ; and this 
 treatment had the effect of making me obstinate, and indis 
 posed to give my captors any satisfaction with regard to who 
 I was, and for a considerable time I stood out strongly for my 
 rights as an officer in the Confederate army. I was subjected 
 to a brief examination before his honor the mayor, but refused 
 to commit myself; and it very soon became apparent that my 
 captors were in somewhat of a quandary as to the best course 
 to pursue with regard to me. It was finally, however, decided 
 to hold me for the present, and I was assigned to tolerably 
 comfortable quarters, where I proceeded to make myself as 
 much at home as I could. 
 
 THE FUN COMMENCES. 
 
 Now the fun commenced. It having become rumored about 
 that a woman, disguised as a Confederate officer, had been 
 arrested, all the curiosity-seekers, of the town became im 
 mensely excited, especially as the most exaggerated reports 
 of my heroic deeds on the battle-field and elsewhere were in 
 circulation, and everybody the women in particular 
 evinced the most eager desire to see the heroine of innu 
 merable bloody conflicts. 
 
 I began to be pestered with visitors, who plied me with all 
 sorts of questions, some of them most insulting ones, but which 
 I was compelled to refrain from getting angry at for fear of 
 betraying myself. My position was a most unpleasant one, and 
 it required very skilful management for me to play the part of 
 a man to advantage. What gave piquancy to the situation 
 was, that, while it was generally believed I was a woman, and 
 the particular woman whose exploits had reached their ears, 
 my visitors were none of them quite sure which sex I belonged 
 to, and all their efforts were directed to solving the mystery. 
 
 While the attentions I received from the good citizens of 
 Lynchburg, and particularly from the women folk of that town, 
 were all in a greater or less degree annoying, some of my in 
 terviews with the visitors who persisted in calling upon me 
 were decidedly amusing, and paused me much hearty laughter. 
 
MAINTAINING AN INCOGNITO. 285 
 
 On one occasion I heard feminine voices and footsteps 
 approaching, and prepared myself for the ordeal which I 
 would be compelled to go through with. During the two 
 years and more I had been wearing male attire, 1 had not only 
 learned the general carriage of a man, but had picked up a 
 good many little masculine traits, which I had practised until I 
 was quite perfect in them. I relied greatly upon these to aid 
 me in maintaining my incognito, for they were eminently char- 
 aQteristic, and well calculated to throw a suspicious person off 
 guard. So, when I heard these visitors coming, I stuck my 
 feet up on the window-sill, and, just as they were opening the 
 door, I turned my head, and spit. 
 
 This action attracted the attention of the youngest of the 
 two ladies who were entering, immediately ; and I heard her 
 say in a whisper to the elder, " 0, ina, that can't be a woman ! 
 See how he spits ! " I saw that my little ruse was a success, 
 and laughed inwardly at the impression it made on the 
 ladies. 
 
 They were a mother and daughter, and had evidently come 
 to remonstrate with me, in good set terms, about the impro 
 priety of my costume. One little peculiarly mannish gesture, 
 however, so completely confounded them that they did not 
 venture to approach the subject they had in their minds 
 except in the most roundabout way. They were very nice 
 people, and were disposed to be as kind to me as they possibly 
 could ; but I did not think proper to give them any satisfaction 
 with regard to what they were most concerned about; and, 
 after a somewhat embarrassed conversation, during which 
 they offered to serve me in any way in their power, they took 
 their departure as wise as they came. 
 
 COMICAL INTERVIEW WITH AN OLD LADY. 
 
 Not long after, I had another visitor of a somewhat different 
 kind This was a motherly old lady, who seemed to consider 
 that her years and experience gave her a right to speak to me 
 in plain words, whether I was a man or a woman. She accord 
 ingly, without any ceremony, began to subject me to a very 
 rigid cross-examination ; but I replied to her questions in a 
 manner that was anything but to her satisfaction. The result 
 was, that both of us at length began to be somewhat vexed, 
 and, as I could not understand what right she had to under 
 take such a task as that she was then engaged in ; and consid- 
 
286 A RETORT COURTEOUS. 
 
 ered her behavior impertinent in the extreme, I resolved to 
 say a few words that I thought would settle her. 
 
 Finding that she could not obtain any definite answers to 
 her questions, she finally said, " Well, all I've got to say is, 
 that if you really are a young man, you deserve credit for 
 what you have done to advance the interests of the cause. 
 If you are a woman, however, you are disgracing your sex by 
 dressing yourself up in men's clothes, and attempting to be a 
 soldier. If you wanted to serve your country, you might 
 have found some other way of doing it, and you ought to be 
 ashamed of yourself." 
 
 This made me a little mad, but I kept cool, and, shrugging 
 my shoulders, said, in as deliberate a manner as possible, 
 looking the old lady straight in the eyes, " Well, madam, as 
 you seem to be in doubt about my sex, and are apparently ex 
 ceedingly anxious to find out whether I am a man or a woman, 
 allow me to suggest that the facts of the case can very read 
 ily be established to your satisfaction. Suppose you " 
 But it would be cruelty to the reader to give the rest of my 
 reply, so I will leave it unrecorded. 
 
 It had an astonishing effect, however, on my visitor. She 
 got red in the face, her eyes flashed, and, muttering something 
 that I did not hear, she bounced out of the room, leaving me 
 to enjoy a hearty laugh at the comical termination of the adven 
 ture. My irate visitor went down stairs in hot haste, and, in 
 a terrible state of excitement, informed the mayor that that 
 nasty little fellow had insulted her. The supposed insult I 
 explained in such a way that the laugh was fairly turned upon 
 the ancient dame. 
 
 If such occurrences as these had been the only annoyances 
 to which I was subjected, no particular harm would have been 
 done, but, rather, considerable amusement would have been 
 afforded me. To my surprise and indignation, however, I 
 received one day the following letter from a general officer, 
 with whom I was acquainted, and whom I had hitherto regarded 
 as something of a gentleman : 
 
 " LIEUTENANT HARRY T. BUFORD, C. S. A. 
 
 " Dear Sir : If you will accept a position on my staff" as one 
 of my aids, I can obtain for you your release from the civil 
 authorities. You will have a pleasant time. I will furnish 
 you with a fine horse, and you can share my quarters and my 
 mess." 
 
AN INSULT RESENTED. 287 
 
 The meaning of this did not require explanation. It stung 
 me to the heart, that a man who had fought with me on the 
 same field of battle should offer me such an indignity, situated 
 as I was ; and I was so overcome with rage at the insult that I 
 would have killed him, without thought of the consequences to 
 myself, could I have reached him. I replied instantly to his 
 note, stating that I would meet him at any time and place he 
 might designate, and that I would either kill him or he would 
 have to kill me, for I was resolved that no man should insult 
 me with impunity. I heard no more from him; and when I 
 gained my freedom once more, he was gone. At that time the 
 writer of this insulting note was single, but now he is married ; 
 and it is only for the sake of his noble little wife and his family 
 that I refrain from branding his name with infamy. I am 
 informed that he always speaks of me with the highest re 
 spect ; but, as I have no respect for him, I care not what his 
 opinion of me may be. 
 
 Finally, I obtained my release ; and having had quite enough 
 of Lynchburg, and being anxious to escape from the gaze of 
 the impertinently curious people, who watched my every 
 motion, I took my departure without any delay. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RUNNING THROUGH THE FEDERAL LINES. 
 
 At Charlotte, North Carolina. Arrival of Longstreet's Corps, on its Way 
 to re-enforce Bragg's Army. I obtain Permission for myself and other 
 Officers to go on the Train southward. I arrive in Atlanta, Georgia, 
 and receive Letters from several Members of my Family. I learn for 
 the first time that my Brother is in the Confederate Army. I receive 
 Information of the Officer to whom I am engaged to be married, and 
 whom I have not seen since the Battle of Shiloh. I make an Attempt 
 to reach him, but am unable to do so. Failing in an Endeavor to be 
 come attached to General Armstrong's Command, I determine to un 
 dertake an Expedition through the Lines. Finding a Supply of female 
 Garments in a deserted Farm-house, I attire Myself as a Woman. 
 My Uniform hid in an Ash-barrel. An Invasion of the Dairy. I 
 start for the Federal Lines. 
 
 ROM Lynchburg I went to Charlotte, North 
 Carolina, where the home- guard officer had 
 attempted to arrest me while carrying through 
 General Winder's blank despatches to Van 
 Dorn. I had some curiosity to meet this indi 
 vidual again, as I thought I would like to make 
 acquaintance. I did not have the pleasure of 
 seeing him, however ; but I did see quite a number 
 of officers and soldiers who had collected at this 
 point, under orders to return to their commands with 
 out delay, and who were waiting for transportation. 
 Many of these were old friends and acquaintances of mine, 
 and I proceeded to make myself at home among them, and 
 also among the good people of Charlotte, taking particular 
 pains, according to my usual custom, to be as agreeable as I 
 could to the ladies; for, notwithstanding my recent little 
 unpleasantness with the Richmond and Lynchburg authorities 
 with regard to my right to wear male attire, I still was in 
 spired by some ambition to achieve a reputation as a ladies' 
 man. . I succeeded as well as I usually did when attempting 
 to play this role, and managed to enjoy myself immensely, 
 
 288 
 
TROUBLE ABOUT TRANSPORTATION. 289 
 
 although I am not aware that I inflicted any irreparable dam 
 age upon the hearts of the fair ones of Charlotte. 
 
 This was in the summer of 1863. General Lee had invaded 
 Pennsylvania, had been defeated at Gettysburg, and had re 
 turned to Virginia, to resume again the defence of Richmond. 
 His army was shattered, but defiant still, and, as events 
 proved, was quite competent to do as hard fighting as it 
 ever did, and to ward off the always impending Federal 
 attack on the Confederate capital for a good while to come. 
 But, with the battle of Gettysburg, the important work of the 
 summer in that quarter had culminated, and the attention of 
 the entire Confederacy was now anxiously directed to Eastern 
 Tennessee, where the Federal General Rosecrans was pushing 
 forward, with the evident intention of striking a damaging 
 blow somewhere, and perhaps of forcing his way into Georgia. 
 It was in resisting the forces of Rosecrans, therefore, that 
 distinction was to be won, and not by remaining in the neigh 
 borhood of Richmond. As I always liked to be where the 
 heaviest fighting was going on, I concluded that I ought to set 
 my face southward if I hoped to win any laurels. 
 
 Hearing that Longstreet's corps had been detached from 
 Lee's army before Richmond, and ordered to re-enforce 
 Bragg, I concluded to wait in Charlotte until it made its ap 
 pearance on its way southward, and, if possible, travel with 
 it to its destination. A good many of the officers waiting in 
 Charlotte were anxious to take advantage of this opportunity 
 to obtain transportation back to their commands, but it was 
 reported that no one would be permitted to go on the train 
 except Longstreet's own men. It would have been a very 
 serious disappointment and some trouble to many who did not 
 know when they would have such another chance to reach 
 the scene of action, and there was a good deal of growling at 
 the prospect that a prolonged stay in Charlotte might be 
 necessary, when their services were so much needed else 
 where. 
 
 I, however, had made up my mind to make a determined 
 effort to go, at every hazard, despite the orders to the con 
 trary ; and I proposed to some of the officers, who were im 
 patient to get off, that we should have an interview with 
 General Longstreet, and endeavor to impress upon his mind 
 the imperative necessity we were under of rejoining our 
 regiments immediately. There was a difference of opinion,. 
 19 
 
290 FAMILY LETTERS. 
 
 however, about the expediency and propriety of this course, 
 and no one was willing to take the responsibility of doing the 
 necessary talking. As no one else would undertake the task 
 of interviewing Longstreet on the subject, I resolved to rep 
 resent the situation to him myself. 
 
 AN INTERVIEW WITH LONGSTREET. 
 
 After the arrival of his corps in Charlotte I watched for a 
 good opportunity, and at length espied him engaged in con 
 versation with General Jenkins. I therefore went up, and, 
 making a salute, stated to General Longstreet that a number 
 of officers who were ordered to join their regiments immedi 
 ately were unable to proceed for lack of transportation, and 
 asked if we might not go on with him ; for, if' we did not, 
 great inconvenience would be caused to ourselves and to the 
 army. The general hesitated somewhat, but after asking me 
 several questions about who we were, how many there were 
 of us, where we were going, <fcc., he acceded to my request. 
 I made known the success of my mission to the rest, and so, 
 jumping on board the train, we managed to get through. 
 
 I was determined, however, that in case Longstreet re 
 fused, I would wait until the very last minute, and then jump 
 on the engine or tender, believing that, in an emergency like 
 this, the best plan is to take the law into one's own hands. 
 It is true that, had I attempted this, I might have been put off; 
 but I did not think this very likely, but rather thought that I 
 would probably win the favor of the general, by showing him 
 that I was bent upon getting to the front at the earliest pos 
 sible moment. At all events, I was willing to have taken 
 the chances of getting through in proper style. 
 
 On reaching Atlanta, I had the gratification of receiving a 
 number of letters from relatives from whom I had not heard 
 for many months. There were two from my father, one from 
 my sister in Matanzas, and one from my brother, in the trans- 
 Mississippi department. This was the first time in nine 
 months I had heard from my brother, and it was the first inti 
 mation I had that he was in the army. It was a great delight 
 for me to receive these letters, as, though I had been long 
 separated from my relatives, they were often in my thoughts, 
 and I remembered them with the tenderest affection. I was, 
 .as may be supposed, particularly well pleased to learn that 
 
A STRANGE COURTSHIP. 291 
 
 my brother was in the Confederate service, but I was glad 
 that he was so far off that there was not much danger of my 
 meeting him; for I felt certain that he would object, in no 
 measured terms, to my course in assuming male attire for the 
 purpose of doing a share of the fighting, and feared that we 
 might quarrel about it. 
 
 SOME GOOD NEWS. 
 
 Shortly after my arrival in Atlanta, however, I heard some 
 thing that delighted me even more than the receipt of these 
 letters from my near and dear relatives. This was that Cap 
 tain De Caulp was near Spring Hill with Van Dorn. This 
 bit of particularly interesting information I obtained from a 
 soldier of the third Arkansas regiment. I had not seen the 
 captain since the battle of Shiloh, where I fought by his side, 
 or at least under his eye, during nearly the whole of the con 
 flict, succeeding in winning his commendation for my courage, 
 without exciting any suspicion in his mind that I was the 
 woman upon whom his affections were bestowed. So soon as 
 I heard that he was in my vicinity, I was seized with an in 
 tense desire to meet him again ; for I was greatly in love 
 with him, and it afforded me the keenest delight to hear 
 praises of myself from his lips, and he all the while thinking 
 that he was addressing them to a third party. 
 
 I don't suppose, since the commencement of the world, so 
 strange a courtship as ours was ever carried on. It is certain 
 that not many women have had the same opportunities as 
 myself to find out, from their own lips, exactly how fond of 
 them their expected husbands really are. The situation, I 
 confess, had a wonderful fascination for me, for there were 
 intensely romantic elements in it, that addressed themselves, 
 in the strongest manner, to my imagination. To have been 
 able to fight by the side of my lover in one of the greatest 
 battles of the war, and to be praised by him for my valor, 
 were of themselves matters for intense satisfaction ; and I 
 often imagined how it would be after the war was over, and 
 we would be able to compare notes and relate our adventures 
 to each other. But, alas ! before the war would be over there 
 was much that both of us would be compelled to endure of 
 toil and suffering; and the peaceful, happy home that my 
 fervid imagination pictured was but a dream, and nothing 
 more. 
 
292 THOUGHTS OF LOVE. 
 
 At the time of which I write, however, a desire to see 
 Captain De Caulp again was the uppermost thought in my 
 mind, and I was almost more than half resolved to give him a 
 surprise by revealing myself to him. Whether to do this or 
 not was a question that 1 debated with myself most seriously 
 while on my way to join him. The fact that I was a woman 
 had now been so often discovered, that it was probable he 
 might at any moment learn that his expected wife and Lieu 
 tenant Harry T. Buf'ord were one and the same ; and, not 
 knowing what he might think of the course I had pursued in 
 assuming male attire, I dreaded having any one but myself 
 discover my secret to him. In addition to this, I loved him 
 most fondly ; and, although inspired by a sense of the duties 
 I owed to the cause for which I had taken up arms, I endeav 
 ored to control my feelings, and to regard my marriage with 
 Captain De Caulp as not to be thought of until the time came 
 for both to forsake the battle-field, and to think no more of 
 warfare but as something we were done with forever. 
 
 CUPID'S TYRANNY. 
 
 I would have been less than human, however, if sometimes 
 I did not desire most ardently to be with him, and to hear 
 from my lover's lips the terms of endearment which are the 
 sweetest music a woman's ears can be greeted by, and to be 
 courted by him as other women were by the men who had 
 won their affections. I knew that, in many respects, it would 
 be better for me to remain at a distance from Captain De 
 Caulp; but I was moved by an inscrutable impulse at this 
 time to go to him, and I was almost willing, if he should say 
 so, to abandon the army, and to permanently resume the gar 
 ments of my sex. I did not propose, however, to do this if it 
 could be avoided, and the leading idea in my mind was, in the 
 event of my concluding to reveal myself to him, to go through 
 the rest of the war with him, and to fight constantly by his 
 side, as the Italian heroine, Bona Lombardi, did by the side 
 of her husband, Brunaro. The course which I would ulti 
 mately pursue, however, I finally determined should be gov 
 erned by circumstances, but that, at all events, I would make 
 an effort to see my lover again. 
 
 So soon as I found that Captain De Caulp was near at hand, 
 I took the train for the point nearest to where I learned that 
 Van Dorn's command was stationed. Getting off at Tyner's 
 
PERPLEXITIES. 293 
 
 Station, I obtained a horse, and started off in the direction of 
 Chickamauga. At this point I fell in with General Pegram's 
 cavalry, and had the great pleasure of seeing the handsome 
 General Frank Armstrong, an officer for whom I entertained 
 an intense admiration. 
 
 I remember once saying to Major Bacon, who at that time 
 had not the slightest idea who I really was, " I wonder how 
 any woman could help falling in love with Frank. If I was a 
 woman, I would be in love with him." Indeed, I fear that if 
 my affections had not already been engaged, General Arm 
 strong would have captured them. General Armstrong was 
 a tall, fine looking man, dark complexioned, with regular and 
 very handsome features, jet black hair and eyes, and with 
 mustache and side whiskers that became him immensely. 
 His uniform always fitted him exactly, and was exceedingly 
 becoming to him. He was not a gay or dashing sort of man, 
 but firm and decisive in his manners and appearance, and he 
 always seemed to be what he was, a true officer and gen 
 tleman. From General Pegram I learned that it would be 
 very difficult, and, indeed, almost impossible, for me to reach 
 Van Dorn, and I therefore concluded to remain where I was, 
 and to endeavor to become attached to General Armstrong's 
 command. After waiting for some time, however, and finding 
 that there was no chance for me to do this, I turned back as 
 far as Ririgold. At this place I met some of the officers and 
 men of the tenth Tennessee regiment, with whom I was ac 
 quainted, and from whom I obtained some ideas with regard 
 to the general situation of affairs, which induced me to make 
 rather different plans from those which I had been endeavor 
 ing to carry out. 
 
 IN A QUANDARY. 
 
 In fact, I was in somewhat of a quandary, and scarcely 
 knew exactly what to do with myself so as to dispose of my 
 time to the best advantage. I saw plainly, as matters were 
 then, that it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, 
 for me to join Van Dorn's command, whereas, if I waited 
 patiently for a little while, Captain De Caulp would most 
 likely come my way, and I would be able to meet him sooner 
 by waiting for him than by going after him. I was too im 
 patient, however, to pass my time in idleness, and felt as if I 
 must do something for the cause and my own credit as a 
 soldier. 
 
294 ALL FOR THE CAUSE. 
 
 It really appeared to be more trouble than it was worth to 
 endeavor to persuade any of the general officers to assign me 
 to the particular kind of duty I desired ; and, as I had been 
 decidedly successful in more than one expedition, planned 
 and executed by myself, and on my own responsibility, I re 
 solved to undertake another one, just for the sake of keeping 
 myself busy, and of seeing what would come of it. I felt 
 very confident that if I could make a big hit, my services as 
 a spy would be in heavy demand, for there was evidently 
 going to be some close fighting, and the movements of the 
 enemy would need watching at every point. 
 
 My Washington trip, just after the battle of Ball's Bluff, 
 suggested a general method of procedure ; but in a great 
 number of ways the present situation was a far more difficult 
 and dangerous one, and would require the exercise of all the 
 wits I had wits that had been tolerably well sharpened by 
 over two years of severe .experience, both as a soldier and as 
 a spy. I was even more reckless now than I was then, but 
 my recklessness was that of a veteran, who scorns danger 
 when there is a necessity for braving it, but who does not 
 expose himself any more than there is occasion for, or run 
 himself against rifle bullets just for the fun of the thing. 
 While well aware of the risks I incurred, however, I had an 
 unlimited faith in my own tact and skill, and did not doubt 
 my ability to accomplish my proposed adventure in safety, 
 and with satisfactory results. 
 
 PLANNING AN EXPEDITION. 
 
 My idea now was to run through the lines, and take a good 
 view of the situation from the Federal standpoint, and I 
 knew that the safest and best way of doing this if, indeed, 
 not the only one was to go as a woman ; for, in the proper 
 attire of my sex it would be easier for me to pass the pickets, 
 and avoid being suspected of having any end in view to 
 which objection could be taken. The only difficulty in the 
 way of accomplishing my object was in procuring suitable 
 clothing without attracting attention. As there were a num 
 ber of houses in the vicinity from which the people had fled, 
 some of them in great haste, when they found themselves 
 likely to be in the midst of contending armies, it occurred to 
 me that in all probability I would be able to find what I 
 wanted in some one of them. 
 
PREPARING TO RUN THROUGH THE LINES. 295 
 
 I, therefore, commenced a search, and soon came to a dwell 
 ing that promised to supply me with everything I needed : 
 for, from such views of the interior as I could get, the people 
 seemed to have gone off', and left nearly all their goods behind 
 them. I, accordingly, concluded to make an investigation, to 
 see if my surmises were correct, and forced my way in 
 through one of the back windows. Sure enough, I found an 
 abundance of female clothing to select from, and proceeded 
 forthwith to appropriate the best outfit the wardrobe of the 
 absent mistress of the establishment afforded, never doubting 
 but that, as she must be a good Confederate, she would highly 
 approve of my conduct, could she be informed of the use to 
 which her dresses and underwear were being put. 
 
 TRANSFORMATION. 
 
 Having completed my toilet, and transformed myself from 
 a gallant young Confederate officer into a reasonably good- 
 looking woman, I packed a carpet-bag with a change of 
 clothing, and other articles, such as I thought might be useful 
 on a journey. Before making a start, however, there were 
 several matters to be attended to. My uniform was to be 
 disposed of, and, as I was a trifle hungry, I thought that if 
 any provisions were obtainable, a good meal would aid me 
 materially in getting along comfortably. 
 
 My uniform I folded up carefully and put into a pillow-case, 
 and in looking about for a place to bestow it, where it would 
 be least likely to be discovered or disturbed, I concluded that 
 an ash-barrel which I found would answer my purpose ex 
 actly. I therefore put the pillow-case, containing the gar 
 ments, into the barrel, and, covering it with ashes, placed it, 
 with the mouth turned towards the smoke-house, in a corner 
 where it would not be apt to attract attention. 
 
 This arrangement being effected, I next went into the 
 dairy in search of food, and found enough to supply the de 
 mands of my hunger, although the bill of fare was, perhaps, 
 not all that I would have desired, had I been permitted any 
 choice in the matter. I succeeded, however, in making a tol 
 erably hearty meal, by eating some raw ham, and all the pre 
 serves I could find. Having despatched such eatables as I 
 was able to lay my hands upon, I picked up my carpet-bag, 
 and made directly for the enemy's lines. I knew that the 
 bold way was the best way, in the execution of such an en- 
 
296 BETWEEN TWO FIEES. 
 
 terprise as that upon which I was now starting, and that the 
 correct plan was to strike directly for headquarters, with a 
 plausible story to tell, rather than to attempt to slip past the 
 pickets and run the risk of being detected, and of being com 
 pelled to give an account of myself, under suspicion of being 
 upon some objectionable errand. Until actually within the 
 Federal lines, however, I would be, so to speak, between two 
 fires, and would stand a chance of being used quite as roughly 
 by my friends as by the enemy ; and it was important, there 
 fore, for me to make the distance I had to go as quickly as I 
 could, and yet to avoid appearing in too much of a hurry, in 
 case any one should happen to see me. I judged that I would 
 be able to pass the Confederate lines without any very great 
 trouble, as I was not able to note any picket posts in the 
 vicinity of the house which had so conveniently been left 
 standing by its owners, with everything in it that I wanted 
 for the particular errand I was on. But I knew that it would 
 not do to rely too much on appearances in such a situation as 
 this, and that I was liable to have an individual armed with 
 musket or sabre put in an appearance at any moment, and 
 demand to know who I was, and what I was prowling about 
 there for. 
 
 The dangers attending the enterprise, however, gave it a 
 certain pleasurable excitement, such as it otherwise would 
 not have had, and I enjoyed it, after a fashion, immensely 
 even more than I did the excitement of a battle. In a b.attle, 
 a single combatant, no matter how valorous he may be, is lost 
 in the crowd ; and as his individuality is, in a large measure, 
 merged in that of his regiment or brigade, so the dependence 
 of the issue upon single, personal effort is something that it is 
 difficult to appreciate. In attempting such a bit of work, 
 however, as I now had on hand, my own personality necessa 
 rily asserted itself in the strongest manner. The plan of ac 
 tion was mine ; its execution depended upon myself; mine 
 alone was the peril ; and should I succeed in accomplishing 
 my first point, in gaining the Federal lines in safety, the pros 
 ecution of my enterprise would be a contest of wits between 
 myself and those with whom I was brought in contact, and 
 from whom I expected to gain the information I was after. 
 For these reasons I found a keener enjoyment in the perform 
 ance of spy duty than I did in doing the work of a soldier ; 
 and, although I would not have missed, on any account, the 
 experience I underwent during the first two years of the 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A SPY. 297 
 
 war, especially those incident to being a participant in such 
 hard-fought battles as Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, Fort Donelson, 
 and Shiloh, my career during the latter part of the great con 
 test, when I was, for the most part, acting as a spy within the 
 enemy's lines, was in many ways much the most interesting 
 to myself. Whether the narrative of it will prove the most 
 interesting portion of this volume, I, of course, cannot tell. 
 I hope, however, that the reader, having followed the story 
 of my fortunes and misfortunes thus far, will have sufficient 
 curiosity to keep with ine to the end. 
 
CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 THE MILITARY SECRET SERVICE. RETURN FROM A 
 SPYING EXPEDITION. 
 
 The Duties of Spies. The Necessity for their Employment. The 
 Status of Spies, and the extraordinary Perils they run. Some Remarks 
 about the Secret Service, and the Necessity for its Improvement. I 
 reach the Federal Lines, and obtain a Pass to go North from General 
 Rosecrans. On my Travels in search of Information. Arrival at 
 Martinsburg, and am put in the Room of a Federal Officer. A Dis 
 turbance in the Night. " Who is that Woman ? " I make an advan 
 tageous Acquaintance. A polite Quartermaster. All about a pre 
 tended dead Brother. How Secret Service Agents go about their 
 Work. A Visit to my pretended Brother's Grave, and what I gained 
 by it. I succeed in giving one of Mosby's Pickets an important bit 
 of Information. The polite Attention of Federal Officers. I return 
 to Chatanooga, and resume my Confederate Uniform. A perilous At 
 tempt to reach the Confederate Lines. What a Drink of Whiskey can 
 do. I become Lame in my wounded Foot, and am sent to Atlanta for 
 medical Treatment. 
 
 HE position and duties of spies are little under 
 stood by persons who have had no actual expe 
 rience of warfare, and who, consequently, are 
 unable to understand the multitude of agencies 
 it is requisite for the commanders of armies 
 and the heads of governments, which may find it neces 
 sary to make an appeal to arms in order to settle their 
 differences, to resort to for the accomplishment of the 
 ends they have in view. Just as the quartermaster, 
 the commissary, the paymaster, and the surgeon are 
 as important as the generals, if any fighting worthy of the 
 name is to be done, and warfare is to be an affair of sci 
 ence and skill, instead of a mere trial of brute force) so the 
 spy, who will be able to obtain information of the movements 
 of the enemy ; who will discover the plans for campaigns and 
 battles that are being arranged ; who will intercept despatches ; 
 who will carry false intelligence to the enemy, and who, when 
 he does become possessed of any fact worth knowing, will 
 
 298 
 
CONCERNING SPIES. 299 
 
 prove himself prompt and reliable in taking it, or sending it to 
 headquarters, is indispensable to the success of any movement. 
 The spy, however, occupies a different position from that 
 held by any other attach^ of an army. According to all mil 
 itary law he is an outlaw, and is liable to be hung if detected 
 the death of a soldier even being denied him. Nothing has 
 been left undone to render the labors of the spy not only per 
 ilous in the extreme, but infamous ; and yet the spy is nothing 
 more nor less than a detective officer, and there cannot be any 
 good and sufficient reason assigned for the discredit which 
 attaches to his occupation. It is simply one of the prejudices 
 which, having no substantial foundation, have been carefully 
 fostered by military men for their own purposes, and it is high 
 time that it should be given up by sensible people. 
 
 SPIES AND THEIR LABORS. 
 
 During the war a vast deal of the most important kind of 
 work was performed by spies on both sides, and these secret em 
 issaries, men and women, labored with a diligence, a zeal, and 
 an intelligence in the execution of tasks of enormous peril, that 
 was rarely equalled, and never surpassed, by those who had 
 the actual work of fighting to do. The fate of more than one 
 battle was decided, not so much by the valor of the soldier, as 
 by the movements which the generals were able to make 
 through information furnished them by spies; and more than 
 one commanding officer has testified, in hearty terms of appro 
 bation, to the efficiency and fidelity of the secret service 
 agents who have aided him. 
 
 The spy must, of necessity, perform his work amid the most 
 perilous environments. Self-preservation is the first law of 
 nature and of armies ; and it is the duty of a general to make 
 it an exceedingly dangerous business for the secret emissaries 
 of the enemy to penetrate his lines for the purpose of picking 
 up useful bits of knowledge. There is no reason, however, 
 why, in this civilized age, when, as every one knows, spies are 
 freely employed by all commanders, and their services are 
 appreciated at the highest value, this class of agents should 
 not have their status fixed in a more satisfactory manner than 
 it is. The agent of a secret service bureau ought to have the 
 same immunity that any other combatant has. We shoot 
 guerrillas, or unauthorized combatants, and so, perhaps, we 
 might continue to hang unauthorized spies; but a regular 
 
300 THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 attach^ of a secret service bureau should have some recog 
 nized rights, which even the enemy would be bound to re 
 spect. 
 
 I admit that there are difficulties in the way of any such 
 arrangement as this ; for, from the peculiar manner in which 
 a spy carries on his operations, it is often necessary that he 
 should be known to be what he is to no one but his confiden 
 tial superior, and in the prosecution of some of the most im 
 portant enterprises it is impossible for him to carry about him, 
 in any shape, evidences of who or what he is ; still, something 
 might be done to improve the barbarous methods now in 
 vogue of dealing with military detectives ; for it is preposter 
 ous to attempt to regard them in the light of outlaws, when 
 they are acting as much under the orders of responsible su 
 periors as are the men who shoulder the muskets. 
 
 Having been for a long period a spy myself, and a very 
 successful one, arid having been engaged in many as hazardous 
 and responsible enterprises as usually fall to the lot of a secret 
 agent of a belligerent power, I naturally feel a, so to speak, pro 
 fessional interest in this matter. Otherwise, however, it does 
 not concern me personally what may be done, or left undone, 
 in the way of organizing the detective forces of the armies of 
 the future. I am well out of the business, with a conscious 
 ness of having served the cause I advocated with zeal and 
 efficiency ; and as 1 did not fear danger while engaged in 
 secret service duty, so I feel no compunctions in relating the 
 particulars of a number of transactions which, at first sight, 
 the reader may think were not to my credit. All I ask is, that 
 fair-minded persons, who will do me the honor to peruse this 
 portion of my narrative, will remember that the circumstances 
 were not ordinary ones. I was mixed up in a good deal of 
 most rascally business ; but it was my associates, and not 
 myself, who were deserving of condemnation. Their motive 
 was gain, and gain at the expense of a government and people 
 that trusted them, and to the detriment of a cause which they 
 professed to hold sacred. I, on the other hand, was the secret 
 agent of the enemy, who considered that pretty much anything 
 was fair in war, and that I was justified in inflicting all the 
 damage to the enemies of my cause that I was able, whether 
 by fighting them with arms in my hands in the open field, or 
 by encouraging treason within their own ranks. That I 
 associated with traitors, and strove to make men betray the 
 cause to which they were bound by every tie of honor and 
 
OBTAINING A PASS FROM ROSECRANS. 301 
 
 duty, did not render them less despicable to me ; and I even 
 now shudder to think of the depravities of human nature 
 which my career as a secret agent of the Confederate govern 
 ment revealed to me. 
 
 WITHIN THE FEDERAL LINES. 
 
 But it will be enough to speak of these things when the 
 proper time comes ; and my special task just now is to relate 
 the prosecution of my adventures after quitting the farm 
 house, where I had succeeded in obtaining the clothing I 
 needed for the accomplishment of the particular enterprise 
 I had on hand. 
 
 Luckily for me no one observed my movements, and I made 
 my way to the nearest Federal picket station without inter 
 ruption. I gave my name as Mrs. Williams, told as much as I 
 thought the officer in charge ought to know about me, and 
 asked to see General Rosecrans. I was accordingly ushered 
 into the general's presence, and gave him a somewhat more 
 detailed account of myself. 
 
 I represented that I was a widow woman, who was endeav 
 oring to escape from the Confederacy, and who desired to go 
 to her friends in the North ; and, judging from appearances, I 
 quite won upon the sympathies of the Federal commander. 
 He asked me a great number of questions, which I answered 
 to his satisfaction, and he then dismissed me, with a pass per 
 mitting me to go North. I could not help smiling at the 
 ease with which I deceived General Rosecrans, and said to 
 myself, as I retired from his presence, " My good old fellow, 
 I'll teach you what we Southern women are good for before 
 I am done with you." 
 
 Having got my pass, I started off, with a general notion of 
 seeing all I could see, and finding out all I could find out, 
 watching all the time for an opportunity for the execution of 
 a grand coup. Picking up information here and there, some 
 of which was of no little importance, I travelled as far as 
 Martinsburg, and had a considerable notion of proceeding to 
 Washington, to see whether a second visit to that city would 
 not be even more productive of results than my first. Cir 
 cumstances occurred, however, which detained me in Martins- 
 burg, and my trip to Washington was, therefore, deferred to 
 another opportunity, and when the opportunity arrived the 
 reader may be assured that I made good use of it. 
 
302 IN THE WRONG ROOM. 
 
 It was after night when I reached Martinsburg, and the 
 only unoccupied room in the hotel where I stopped was the 
 one belonging to a Federal quartermaster, that officer having 
 been called away to Washington. The landlord, accordingly, 
 put me in there, and I proceeded to make myself as much at 
 home as possible in the quartermaster's quarters. As luck 
 would have it, however, the officer returned during the night, 
 and after I had retired, and finding the door bolted, he com 
 menced a furious knocking. 
 
 A DISTURBANCE. 
 
 I was asleep when he began to make this noise, and it caused 
 me to wake with a start. I had no idea who it was, but 
 thought some drunken fellow was making a disturbance. I 
 therefore concluded not to take any notice, thinking that when 
 he found he could not get in he would go away. The quar 
 termaster, however, was angry at finding his room occupied, 
 and being unable to obtain a response, finally said, " Open 
 the door, inside there, or I will break it open ! " 
 
 I thought that it was high time for me to speak now, and 
 so said, in a half terrified tone of voice, " Who are you ? 
 What do you want?" 
 
 Finding that his apartment had a feminine occupant, he 
 lowered his voice somewhat, and said, " Excuse me, madam," 
 and walked to the office, where he gave the clerk some sharp 
 words for permitting any one to take his room. 
 
 I heard him say, " I would like thundering well to know 
 who she is ; " but the clerk was unable to give him any satis 
 factory information, and the upshot of the whole matter was, 
 that he was obliged to sleep in the parlor, the clerk apolo 
 gizing for the inconvenience caused him, by saying that he did 
 not know he was going to return so soon. 
 
 The next morning I overheard the quartermaster say to the 
 old negro porter, " Uncle George, do you know who that 
 woman is that they put into my room last night? " 
 
 " No, sah ; I doesn't know, sab," replied the darkey. 
 
 " What train did she come on ? " 
 
 " On the western train, I believe, sah." 
 
 " Was anybody with her ? " 
 
 " Not as I knows of. I didn't see anybody with her, sah." 
 
 " Is she good looking ? " 
 
APOLOGETIC. 303 
 
 " Yes, sah ; she's a pretty good looking lady, sah." 
 
 This was flattering ; and the compliment was the greater as 
 it was evidently not intended for my ears, and I resolved 
 to myself that Uncle George's good taste should be properly 
 rewarded. 
 
 This conversation served to give me a hint as to the kind 
 of man I had to deal with in the quartermaster, and I doubted 
 not that if my good looks made anything like as favorable an 
 impression on him as they apparently had done on Uncle 
 George, I would have but little difficulty in inducing him to 
 tell me a good many things that it would be highly advan 
 tageous for me to know, but which it would not be exactly 
 according to the regulations of the Federal army for him to 
 reveal to a Confederate spy. 
 
 Having made my morning toilet, and having, in anticipation 
 of striking up an acquaintance with the quartermaster, en 
 deavored to make myself as attractive as possible in outward 
 appearance, I left my room, and went and took a seat in the 
 parlor. It was not long before I saw my gentleman, or one 
 whom I supposed to be he, walking past the door, and looking 
 at me with a rather curious gaze. I, however, took no notice 
 of him, concluding that it would be more to the purpose to 
 let him make the first advances, something that he was evi 
 dently not indisposed to do. 
 
 Breakfast was announced as ready before a great while, and 
 with the announcement came the quartermaster's opportunity 
 to introduce himself to me. Advancing towards me, he 
 bowed very politely, and said, " Are you Mrs. Williams ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," I replied ; " that is my name." 
 
 Smiling as agreeably as he could, he said, " I owe you an 
 apology, madam, for the disturbance I made at your door last 
 night. I was not aware that there was a lady in possession 
 of the room." 
 
 " 0, sir," I said, " no apology is necessary, I assure you. 
 Indeed, I rather owe you one, for I fear I must have caused 
 you some inconvenience." 
 
 " 0, not at all, madam. On the contrary, when I learned 
 that a lady had possession of the apartment, I regretted ex 
 ceedingly that I had made so much noise. We officers of the 
 army, however, are inclined to become rather rough in our 
 ways, owing to the associations we are thrown in with, and to 
 our absence from female society. We forget, sometimes, that 
 we are civilized human beings, and don't know exactly how 
 
304 SECRET SERYICE METHODS. 
 
 to behave ourselves under circumstances where rudeness is 
 inexcusable. 
 
 " 0, pray, sir, don't apologize," I answered ; " I am sure 
 that an officer of our brave army would not be intentionally 
 rude under any circumstances." I thought that this would 
 do to start the idea in his mind that I was a stanch Federal. 
 
 Just then a colored woman appeared, and asked us whether 
 we would not walk into breakfast ; and my new-made friend 
 very politely said, " As you are a stranger here, will you 
 permit me to escort you to the breakfast-room?" 
 
 " Certainly, sir," I replied ; and taking his arm, we walked 
 into the room together, my escort finding a seat for me beside 
 himself at one of the pleasantest tables. 
 
 During the progress of the meal, my friend manifested the 
 greatest interest in me and my movements, and by a series 
 of questions, he elicited the information that I was from 
 Cincinnati, that I was uncertain how long I would remain, 
 and that I was in search of a brother, whom I greatly 
 feared was either killed or wounded, as he had not been heard 
 of for an unusually long time. 
 
 CONCERNING A BOGUS BROTHER. 
 
 The little game I was playing with the quartermaster will 
 serve as a very fair specimen of the methods which a secret 
 service agent is compelled to use for the purpose of gaining 
 such information as is desired. A spy, or a detective, must 
 have a quick eye, a sharp ear, a retentive memory, and a 
 talent for taking advantage of small, and apparently unimpor 
 tant points, as aids for the accomplishment of the object in 
 view. While making the journey which had brought me as 
 far as Martinsburg, I had, of course, kept my eyes and ears 
 open, and had consequently accumulated quite an extensive 
 stock of knowledge which I thought might be useful some time. 
 Among other things, I had learned the name of a Federal 
 soldier belonging to General Averill's command, and I made a 
 mental note of it for future reference. I cannot recollect, at 
 this distance of time from the incident, whether I accident 
 ally saw this name in a newspaper, or whether I overheard it 
 mentioned in conversation between people near me in the 
 cars. How I obtained it, however, is a matter of small conse 
 quence, for that I might have done in a thousand ways. At 
 all events I had the name, and my purpose now was to use it 
 
GETTING INFORMATION. 305 
 
 as a means of making the Federal officer by my side at the 
 hotel table useful to me. 
 
 My friend asked me what company my brother belonged 
 to, but I said that I could not tell him that. All I knew was, 
 that he was under Averill, and that, as the command had been 
 engaged in some sharp fighting lately, his family, as they had 
 not heard from him, were becoming exceedingly anxious. 
 
 I believe that I wiped 'the semblance of a tear from my 
 eye as I told all this, and looked as distressed as possible, in 
 the hope of working on the quartermaster's sympathies. He 
 proved as sympathetic as I could have desired ; and bidding 
 me not to distress myself unnecessarily, but to hope for the 
 best, he promised to undertake to find out for me where my 
 brother was, if still alive, or, if it should turn out that he had 
 been killed, where he was buried. 
 
 Accordingly, when we had finished breakfast, he escorted 
 me back to the parlor, and then, saying au revoir, he went 
 immediately to headquarters to inspect the roll of the com 
 mand. Before a great while he returned, and, with a very 
 sorrowful countenance, stated that it gave him pain to tell me 
 that my dear brother was dead. 
 
 " 0, that is awful ! " I cried, and began to go on at quite a 
 rate, actually, I believe, squeezing out a few real tears. 
 
 My friend tried to soothe me as well as he could, and finally, 
 becoming calm, in response to repeated requests to do so on 
 his part, I asked him where Dick was buried, and declared 
 that I must visit his grave. 
 
 That I should desire to see, and to weep over, the grave of 
 my dear departed brother, seemed to the quartermaster both 
 reasonable and natural, and he said that he would get an 
 ambulance and take me to the burial-place. 
 
 AT MY SUPPOSED BROTHER'S GRAVE. 
 
 Before many moments, therefore, the vehicle was in attend 
 ance, and my friend and I drove out to where my supposititious 
 brother was buried. It was now my turn to question ; and my 
 escort proved to be so exceedingly communicative, that before 
 we returned to the hotel, I was informed of the exact number 
 of troops in the neighborhood, their positions, their command 
 ers, where the enemy were supposed to be located, who they 
 were commanded by, the results of the recent conflicts, and a 
 variety of other matters of more or less importance. The 
 20 
 
306 RETURN TO CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 man was as innocent and as unsuspicious as a new-born babe, 
 and I could scarcely keep from laughing sometimes at the 
 eagerness he displayed in telling me all manner of things that, 
 had he been possessed of ordinary common sense, he would 
 never have revealed to any one, much less to a total stranger, 
 with regard to whose antecedents he knew absolutely nothing. 
 
 Some of the information thus obtained I knew would be of 
 vital importance to the Confederates, could it be conveyed to 
 them immediately. I therefore made my arrangement, and 
 that night slipped through the Federal lines, and told all that 
 I had to tell to one of Mosby's pickets. With that extraor 
 dinary good luck which so often attends bold adventures, I 
 succeeded in getting back without being observed or sus 
 pected, and my escort of the morning was never the wiser 
 by the knowledge that his silly talkativeness had produced 
 such good results for the Confederacy. 
 
 I remained about a week in Martinsburg, and enjoyed 
 myself immensely. Not only my friend, the quartermaster, 
 but a number of other officers paid me very marked atten 
 tions, and I was soon quite a rival to the belles of the place. 
 I did not have another opportunity to communicate with the 
 Confederate forces ; but this week was not an idle one, never 
 theless, and by the time it was ended, I was in possession of a 
 large number of facts that were well worth knowing. While 
 still undecided whether to push on farther or not, I received 
 some intelligence which induced me to think it better to 
 return. 
 
 When I announced that I was about to depart, my friends, 
 the officers, expressed the greatest regret. The quartermas 
 ter said, " We shall miss you greatly ; you have made your 
 self so agreeable since you have been here, that we shall 
 scarcely know what to do without you." 
 
 I said that I was sorry to go, but that my family was anxious 
 for my return ; and as I bade the quartermaster good-by, I 
 declared that I had half a mind to turn detective, for the 
 purpose of catching the rebel who killed Dick. The quarter 
 master insisted that I should write to him when I got home ; 
 and on his stating that he had a notion to come and see me 
 when the war was over, I gave him a pressing invitation to 
 do so, thinking that he would have a good time in finding me. 
 
 But when I got back to Chattanooga, I had some trouble in 
 making any farther progress ; but by representing myself as a 
 
A DANGEROUS NIGHT TRAMP. 307 
 
 soldier's wife, and expressing an extreme anxiety to see my 
 husband, I was permitted to remain within the Federal lines, 
 but was not afforded any particular facilities for finding out 
 anything worth knowing. My anxiety now was to regain the 
 Confederate lines at the earliest possible moment. As I knew 
 the country pretty well, I felt certain of being able to find 
 the farm-house where I had left my uniform, if I could only 
 get a chance to go to it. Fortune favors the brave in a 
 majority of cases, and ere long I was enabled to reach the 
 house, but only to find that it had been burned, and, with the 
 exception of the smoke-house and kitchen, was a mass of 
 charred ruins. 
 
 I confess that my heart sank within me when I saw that the 
 house had been destroyed, for I would have been in a nice 
 predicament, and without my masculine garments would have 
 been even more unwelcome among the Confederates than I 
 was among the Federals. To my great joy, however, I dis 
 covered the ash-barrel just where I had placed it and unharmed, 
 and in a few moments I had discarded my feminine raiment, 
 and was once more in the guise of a Confederate officer. The 
 costume I wore, however, was not one in which I could appear 
 with impunity in that neighborhood, and it was necessary, 
 therefore, that I should make haste to get where it would be 
 regarded with friendly feelings. 
 
 Ere many moments I was crawling through the underbrush 
 and under the fences, with my coat and cap tied up in a bundle, 
 so that I could drop them in case of necessity. In this way I 
 worked myself slowly and cautiously along for several hours 
 during the night : in the direction of the Confederate outposts. 
 When it was light enough for me to see with reasonable dis 
 tinctness, I made a reconnoisance, and concluded that I must 
 have been within the Confederate lines for more than an hour. 
 
 To my left I saw the railroad track tolerably close to the 
 road I was on, and the smoke of the camp was clearly visible* 
 I then crept back into the bush and made for the nearest 
 camp, not wishing to be stopped either by friend or foe at this 
 particular point. Before I reached the point I was aiming at, 
 however, I was compelled to take a rest, for the kind of 
 travelling I had been doing was the hardest kind of hard work, 
 and I was tolerably well used up. Drawing on my coat, 
 therefore, I sat down and began to think what story it would 
 be best for me to tell in order to obtain such a reception as I 
 
308 A USEFUL WHISKEY FLASK. 
 
 desired. After turning over the matter in my mind, I con 
 cluded to represent myself as an escaped prisoner belonging 
 to Morgan's command. 
 
 BACK IN THE CONFEDERATE LINES. 
 
 Having thoroughly arranged my plan of action in my mind, 
 I walked up boldly to a picket, whom I saw sitting on a horse 
 at some distance, and saluting him, and telling him that I was 
 unarmed, asked to see the officer of the guard. The officer 
 soon came riding out of the woods towards me, and asked who 
 I was. I told him that I was an escaped prisoner, and that I 
 belonged to Morgan's command, and produced my transporta 
 tion papers and the letter to General Polk, which had been 
 given to me in the early part of the war. The officer read 
 the papers, which he apparently did not find particularly 
 satisfactory, and scanned me very closely, as if he thought 
 that there was something not quite right about me. <r t 
 
 I was much afraid lest he should suspect something, for I 
 had no mustache, and having become somewhat bleached, was 
 not by any means so masculine in appearance as I had been 
 at one time. I, however, bore his scrutiny without flinching, 
 and he apparently did not know what to do but to receive me 
 for what I appeared to be. He accordingly told me that I 
 should have to wait where I was until the relief came, when 
 he would conduct me to camp. 
 
 I told him that I was terribly hungry and tired, having 
 walked from Chattanooga since early in the previous evening 
 without food or sleep, and that I would like to get where I 
 could obtain some breakfast. As a means of softening his 
 heart, I pulled out a little pocket flask of whiskey, and asked 
 him if he would not take a drink. His eye brightened at the 
 sight of the flask, and he accepted my invitation without a 
 moment's hesitation. Putting it to his lips, he took a good 
 pull, and when he handed it back there was mighty little left 
 in it. This little I gave to the sergeant, who appeared to 
 relish the liquor as highly as his superior did. The whiskey 
 had the desired effect ; for the officer told me he guessed I 
 had better not wait for the relief, and detailed a man to show 
 me the way to camp. 
 
 On our arrival at camp, the man took me to the officer's 
 tent, where I made myself as much at home as I could until 
 
LAMENESS. 309 
 
 the master appeared. It was not long, however, before he 
 followed me, and to my great satisfaction, an excellent break 
 fast was in a short time placed on the table. 
 
 After breakfast, the boys, having heard of the arrival of an 
 escaped prisoner, I was speedily surrounded by a crowd of 
 eager questioners, who were anxious to hear all the news 
 from the Federal army. I tried to satisfy their curiosity as 
 well as I could, and told them that the Yankees had received 
 heavy re-enforcements, and were preparing to make a grand 
 movement, and a variety of other matters, part fact and part 
 fiction. Having got rid of my questioners, I took a good 
 sleep until noon, and then, borrowing a horse, rode down to 
 Dalton, where I learned that Captain De Caulp was sick at 
 Atlanta, and resolved to make an effort to get there for the 
 purpose of seeing him. 
 
 I was spared the necessity, however, of being obliged to 
 make any special plans for the accomplishment of this end, 
 for I managed to severely hurt the foot which had been 
 wounded shortly after the battle of Fort Donelson, and became 
 so lame that it was decided to send me to Atlanta for medical 
 treatment. 
 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 IN THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Kind of People an Army is made up of. Gentlemen and Blackguards. 
 The Demoralization of Warfare. How I managed to keep out of Dif 
 ficulties. The Value of a Fighting Reputation. A Quarrel with a 
 drunken General. I threaten to shoot him. My Illness, and the kind 
 Attentions received from Friends. I am admitted to the Empire Hos 
 pital. The Irksomeness of a Sick-bed. I learn that my Lover is in 
 the same Hospital, and resolve to see him as soon as I am convalescent. 
 
 N army is made up of all kinds of people, 
 the rougher element of masculine human 
 nature, of necessity, predominating; and not 
 the least of the evil effect of a great war is, 
 that it tends to develop a spirit of ruffian 
 ism, which, when times of peace return, is of 
 no benefit to society. A man who is instinctively a 
 gentleman, will be one always, and in spite of the 
 demoralizing influences of warfare ; but one who is 
 only a gentleman by brevet, and whose native black 
 guardism is only concealed on ordinary occasions by a super 
 ficial polish of cultivation, will be apt to show himself a black 
 guard at the earliest opportunity amidst camp associations. 
 Such men are usually cringing sycophants before their supe 
 riors, bullies to those who are under them, shirks when fight 
 ing is going on, and plunderers when opportunities for plunder 
 are offered. It is creditable to the American people, as a 
 class, that the great armies which contended with each other 
 so earnestly during four long, weary years of warfare, were 
 disbanded and dismissed to their homes with so little injury 
 to society ; for, under the very best auspices, war is not cal 
 culated to make men good citizens, while it is pretty certain 
 to make those who are ruffians and blackguards already, worse 
 than they were before they took up arms. 
 
 During the time that I wore the uniform of a Confederate 
 officer, I was, of course, brought into contact with all sorts of 
 
 310 
 
ADVANTAGES OF A FIGHTING REPUTATION. 311 
 
 people, blackguards as well as gentlemen, and had some 
 pretty good opportunities for studying masculine character. 
 The warnings that had been given me with regard to the 
 most peculiarly unpleasant and disgusting features of camp 
 life, I very speedily discovered were only too well founded ; 
 and had 1 been possessed by a less fervid enthusiasm for 
 the cause, or a less resolute determination to carry out my pur 
 pose, I might at an early day have given the whole thing up 
 in disgust. I got accustomed, however, in time to rough, pro 
 fane, even dirty language, and did not mind it ; or, at least, did 
 not permit myself to be annoyed by it. The best and most 
 highly esteemed of my acquaintances in the army permitted 
 themselves a license of language and conduct that they would 
 not have ventured upon in the society of ladies ; but this, 
 while it shocked me somewhat at first, I finally came to regard 
 as a matter of course ; and when I heard things from the lips 
 of those whom I knew to be gentlemen at heart, which offended 
 my ears, I regarded the annoyance I felt as one of the penal 
 ties of the anomalous position I occupied, and very speedily 
 learned to bear with it. 
 
 It was different, however, with another class of men, who 
 seemed to take delight in showing, on every possible occasion, 
 what consummate blackguards they were. These I ever re 
 garded with loathing and contempt ; and I hope that some 
 of them will undertake the perusal of this narrative, in order 
 that they may know what I think of them. 
 
 KEEPING THE PEACE. 
 
 With the ruffianly elements of an army it was exceedingly 
 difficult for decent, peaceably-disposed people to get along on 
 any terms. An indisposition to quarrel was regarded as an 
 evidence of cowardice; and as your genuine bully delights in 
 nothing more than in tormenting one whom he imagines will 
 not fight, a reputation for being willing to fight, on the shortest 
 notice, is an excellent thing to have by one who desires to 
 avoid getting into difficulties. 
 
 Situated as I was, it was especially important that I should 
 not quarrel if I could help it ; but I was not long in finding 
 out that, as quarrelling was necessary sometimes, the bold 
 course was the best, both for the present and the future, and 
 that by promptly resenting anything approaching an insult, 
 I would be likely to avoid being insulted thereafter. I, there- 
 
312 A LITTLE UNPLEASANTNESS. 
 
 fore, very speedily let it be known that I was ready to fight 
 at a moment's notice, if there was any real occasion for fight 
 ing ; but, at the same time, that I desired to live peaceably 
 with everybody, and was not inclined to quarrel if I was let 
 alone. The result of this line of policy was, that, as a general 
 rule, I got along smoothly enough, but occasionally I could not 
 avoid an angry controversy with somebody ; and when I did 
 become involved in anything of the kind, I usually tried to give 
 my antagonist to understand, in plain terms, that I was not an 
 individual to be trifled with. 
 
 On my arrival at Atlanta, I unfortunately had a little un 
 pleasantness, which caused me very serious disquietude for a 
 time, owing to the peculiar situation in which I was placed, 
 and which might have had some ill results, either for the per 
 son who started the quarrel or for myself, had it not been for 
 the good judgment and consideration of one or two of my 
 friends, who persuaded me not to resort to any extreme 
 measures. 
 
 I was expecting to see Captain De Caulp, and was very 
 anxious with regard to him, as I did not know exactly what 
 his condition was, and feared that he might be seriously ill. 
 It was my intention to go to him, to devote myself to him if 
 he should need my services, and perhaps to reveal myself to 
 him. Indeed, I pretty much made up my mind that our mar 
 riage should take place as soon as he was convalescent ; and, 
 in view of such an event occurring shortly, I was in no humor 
 for a mere bar-room squabble with a drunken ruffian, and 
 would have avoided such a thing at almost any cost, could I 
 have had warning with regard to its probability. More than 
 this, in addition to the lameness of my foot, I was really quite 
 sick, and at the time of the occurrence ought to have been 
 in bed under the doctor's care, and was consequently less dis 
 posed than ever to engage in a brawl. 
 
 A DRUNK AND DISORDERLY GENERAL. 
 
 Unsuspecting any trouble, however, I went to the hotel, 
 and registered my name, and was almost immediately sur 
 rounded by a number of officers, who were eager to learn 
 what was going on at the front. Among them was General 
 P., I do not give his name in full for his own sake, an 
 individual who thought more of whiskey than he did of his 
 future existence, and who was employing his time in getting 
 
A DRUNKEN GENERAL. 313 
 
 drunk at Atlanta, instead of doing his duty at the front by lead 
 ing his men. 
 
 He saw that I was a little fellow, and probably thought, on 
 that account, he could bully me with impunity ; so, while I 
 was answering the thousand and one questions that were put 
 to me, he began making offensive and insulting remarks, and 
 asking me insolent questions, until I longed to give him a 
 lesson in good manners that he would not forget in a hurry, 
 and resolved that I would make an effort to chastise him 
 if he did not behave himself. 
 
 This w r as one of the class of men for which I had a hearty 
 contempt ; and, as I neither wished to be annoyed by his 
 drunken insolence, nor to quarrel with him if I could avoid it, 
 I left the office and went into the wash-room. The general evi 
 dently considered this a retreat due to his prowess, prowess 
 which he was careful not to make any great display of within 
 the smell of gunpowder, and he followed me, apparently 
 determined to provoke me to the utmost. I, however, took 
 no notice of him, but, after washing my hands, came out and 
 took a seat in the office beside my esteemed friend, Major 
 Bacon a thorough gentleman in every sense of the word. 
 
 My persecutor still following me, now came and seated him 
 self on the other side of me, and made some insolent remark 
 which I do not care to remember. This excited my wrath, and 
 I resolved to put a stop to the tipsy brute's annoyances. I 
 accordingly said to him, " See here, sir, I don't want to have 
 anything to do with you, so go away and let me be, or it will 
 be worse for you." 
 
 At this he sprang up, his eyes glaring with drunken fury, 
 and swinging his arms around in that irresponsible way incident 
 to inebriety, he began to swear in lively fashion, and said, 
 " What 11 be worse for me ? What do you mean ? Ill lick 
 you out of your boots ! I can lick you, or any dozen like 
 you/' 
 
 Nice talk, this, for a general, who was supposably a gen 
 tleman, wasn't it ? I merely said, in reply, " You are too 
 drunk, sir, to be responsible. I intend, however, when you 
 are sober, that you shall apologize to me for this, or else make 
 you settle it in a way that will, perhaps, not be agreeable to 
 you." 
 
 He glared at me as I uttered these words ; but my firm 
 manner evidently cowed him, and turning, with a coarse, 
 tipsy laugh, he said, to an officer who was standing near 
 
314 SICKNESS. 
 
 watching the performance, " Come ; colonel, let's take another 
 drink ; he won't fight ; " and they accordingly walked off 
 towards the bar-room together. 
 
 This last remark enraged me to such a degree, that I 
 declared I would shoot him if he came near me again. Major 
 Bacon tried to pacify me, and said that I had better let him 
 alone, as he was not worth noticing. After considerable per 
 suasion 1 concluded that there was very little credit to be got 
 by following up a quarrel with such a blackguard, and made 
 up my mind to have nothing to do with him, if it was possible 
 to avoid him. 
 
 The general did not come near me until after supper, when 
 I met him again at the bar. As I had not undertaken to pun 
 ish him for his behavior to me, he evidently thought that I 
 was afraid of him ; and, without addressing me directly, he 
 began to make insulting side remarks, aimed at me. I was on 
 the point of going up and slapping his face, when Major Bacon 
 and Lieutenant Chamberlain, thinking that it was not worth 
 while for me to get into trouble about such a fellow, induced 
 me to go to my room. 
 
 Already quite ill, and far from able to be about, the excite 
 ment of this unpleasant occurrence made me worse, and I 
 passed a night of great suffering from a high fever, and from 
 my sore foot, which pained me extremely. The major waited 
 on me in the kindest manner, bathing my foot with cold water, 
 and procuring some medicine for me from the hospital stew 
 ard, and towards morning I fell into a sound sleep, which 
 refreshed me greatly, although I was still very sick. 
 
 In the morning Major Bacon ordered me some breakfast, of 
 which, however, I was able to eat but little. While I was 
 breakfasting, he said, " How are you off for money, lieu 
 tenant?" 
 
 " I have only twenty-four dollars in my pocket just now," 
 I replied, " but I intend to send to Mobile for some to-day." 
 
 " Well," said he, "- you may need some before yours comes, 
 so here's one hundred and fifty dollars at your service. I will 
 have to leave at five o'clock, but before I go I will try arid 
 see that you are in good hands, and in a way to be well taken 
 care of." 
 
 The major then went out, and about two o'clock returned 
 with Dr. Hay, who prescribed for me. During the afternoon 
 I was visited by a number of my friends, who appeared to be 
 solicitous for my welfare, and who did their best to cheer me 
 
WEARY DAYS. 315 
 
 up. I was too sick, however, to enjoy their company much, 
 although I appreciated their kind intentions. I really felt sad 
 at the idea of being forsaken by Major Bacon, who would 
 gladly have staid by me had he not been under positive 
 orders to leave. When the time came for him to go, he shook 
 me by the hand, and said, " Lieutenant, my boy, I will have 
 to leave you now. Lieutenant Chamberlain and the doctor 
 will take good care of you, and I hope you will be up soon." 
 I asked the major to write to me, and he promised to do so, 
 and bidding me good-by, he took his departure. After Major 
 Bacon had gone, Lieutenant Chamberlain took charge of me, 
 and I shall ever be grateful for the unwearied kindness of his 
 attention. There was nothing I desired, that was procurable, 
 that he did not get for me, and had I been his own relative 
 he could not have done more to promote my comfort. 
 
 IN THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 As I got worse instead of better, however, it was concluded 
 that the hospital was the best place for me, and to the Empire 
 Hospital I accordingly was sent, by order of the chief 
 surgeon of the post. I was first admitted into Dr. Ham 
 mond's ward, and subsequently into that of Dr. Hay. Dr. 
 Hay, who was a whole-souled little fellow, is dead, but Dr. 
 Hammond is still living, and I am glad of such an oppor 
 tunity as this of testifying to his noble qualities. During the 
 entire period I was under his care in the hospital, he treated 
 me, as he did all his patients, with the greatest kindness. 
 
 0, but these were sad and weary days that I spent in the 
 hospital ! I cannot tell how I longed, once more, to be out in 
 the open air and the sunshine, and participating in the grand 
 scenes that were being enacted not many miles away. My 
 restless disposition made sickness especially irksome to me, 
 and I felt sometimes as if I could scarcely help leaving my bed, 
 and going as I was to the front, for the purpose of plunging 
 into the thickest of the fight ; while at other moments, when 
 the fever was strong upon me, I almost wished that I might 
 die, rather than to be compelled to toss about thus on a couch 
 of pain. 
 
 There was one consolation, however, in all my sufferings, 
 which sustained me, and made me measurably patient and con 
 tented to endure the irksomeness of the restraint which my 
 illness placed upon me, I was near the man I loved, and 
 
316 CONSOLATION. 
 
 hoped soon to ha.ve an opportunity to see and to converse with 
 him. I learned soon after my admission to the hospital that 
 Captain De Caulp was in Dr. Benton's ward, adjoining that 
 under the charge of Dr. Hay ; and to be under the same roof 
 with him, and the probability that ere long I would be able to 
 see him again, helped me to bear up under the suffering I was 
 called upon to endure. I resolved that if Captain De Caulp 
 was willing, our marriage should take place so soon as we 
 were able to leave the hospital ; and I busied myself in won 
 dering what he would say when he discovered what strange 
 pranks I had been playing since we had been corresponding 
 as lovers. I almost dreaded to reveal to him that the little 
 dandified lieutenant, who had volunteered to fight in his com 
 pany at Shiloh, and the woman to whom he was bound by an 
 engagement of marriage, were the same ; but I felt that the 
 time for the disclosure to be made had arrived, and was deter 
 mined to make it at the earliest opportunity. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A STRANGE STORY OF TRUE LOVE. 
 
 Sick-bed Fancies. Reflections on my military Career. I almost re 
 solve to abandon the Garb of a Soldier. Difficulties in 'the Way of 
 achieving Greatness. Warfare as a laborious Business. The Favors 
 of Fortune sparingly bestowed. Prospective Meeting with my Lover. 
 Anxiety to know what he would think of the Course I had been pur 
 suing in figuring in the Army as a Man. A strange Courtship. More 
 like a Chapter of Romance than a grave Reality. My Recollections 
 of an old Spanish Story, read in my Childhood, that in some respects 
 reminds me of my own Experiences. The Story of Estela. How 
 the Desires of a Pair of Lovers were opposed by stern Parents. An 
 Elopement planned. The Abduction of Estela through the Instru 
 mentality of a Rival. She is carried off by Moorish Pirates, and sold 
 as a Slave. Her Escape from Slavery, and how she entered the Army 
 of the Emperor disguised as a Man. Estela saves the Emperor's 
 Life, and is promoted to a high Office. Her Meeting with her Lover, 
 and her Endeavors to make him confess his Faith in her Honor. The 
 Appointment of Estela as Governor of her native City. The Trial of 
 her Lover on the Charge of having murdered her. Happy Ending of 
 the Story. I am inspired, by my Recollections of the Story of Estela, 
 to hear from the Lips of my Lover his Opinion of me before I reveal 
 myself to him. Impatient Waiting for the Hour of Meeting. 
 
 HILE tossing upon my sick-bed in the 
 hospital, I was compelled, for very lack 
 of other occupation, to think of many 
 things that, under ordinary circumstances, 
 busied as I habitually was with innumera 
 ble ambitious schemes, would never have pressed 
 themselves upon my mind with the force they now 
 did. This was a strange life I had been leading 
 now for more than two years, and yet it was the 
 kind of a life that, from my earliest childhood, I had 
 ardently longed to lead. I had some understanding 
 now of what the great discoverers, adventurers, and soldiers, 
 who were the idols of my childish imagination, had been com 
 pelled to go through with before they won the undying fame 
 
 317 
 
318 SICK FANCIES. 
 
 that was theirs, and I comprehended, to some degree, how 
 hard a thing it was to win fame. 
 
 For myself, I had played my part in the great drama of war 
 with what skill I could command ; and, although I had not 
 played it altogether unsuccessfully, the chances that fame 
 and the applause of future ages would be mine, seemed as 
 remote as ever. Warfare, despite all that was terrible and 
 horrible about it, was, to the majority of those who partici 
 pated in it, a most commonplace, practical, and far from ex 
 citing business, in which the chances for eminent distinction 
 seldom appeared, and in which Fortune showered her favors 
 only on a chosen few. And yet there was an almost irresisti 
 ble fascination in being an active participant in the great 
 events upon which the destinies of a continent were hanging, 
 and the possibility that, at any moment almost, something 
 might occur by which the humblest among the host of com 
 batants would be immortalized, gave a zest to the hard work, 
 and an inspiration to exertion. 
 
 Had I continued in health, the probabilities are that the 
 idea of abandoning the cause I had chosen before the close 
 of the war, would never have been permitted to take lodg 
 ment in my brain, and I would have gone on from one adven 
 ture to another, in spite of every discouragement and disap 
 pointment, hoping always that I would be able to achieve 
 something great. Now, however, lying upon my sick-bed, I 
 could not but confess to myself that I was disappointed, and 
 that I was following a will-o'-the-wisp in striving to gain for 
 myself a great name by heroic deeds. Although I had no 
 regrets for the course I had pursued, and as I reviewed in my 
 mind the momentous events in which I had been an active 
 participant during the two years I had been wearing a Con 
 federate officer's uniform, nry heart beat proudly at the recol 
 lection of them, I nevertheless almost concluded that I had 
 had enough of this, and that it was time for me to exchange 
 my uniform for the attire of my own sex once more, and 
 in good earnest, with the intention of never resuming it 
 again. 
 
 THOUGHTS OF LOVE. 
 
 These were sick fancies, and I felt ashamed of myself at 
 times for my weakening in the resolution I had formed to see 
 the thing through at all hazards, in some shape, and, if there" 
 was a possibility of doing it, of making for myself a great 
 
A ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE. 319 
 
 name as a soldier. But there were other influences at work 
 to make me doubtful of the propriety of my longer continuing 
 'the hazardous experiment of passing myself off as a man. In 
 an adjoining ward of the hospital was my lover, to a speedy 
 meeting with whom I was looking forward with many fond 
 anticipations. How would he regard my conduct? And 
 should he, as I hoped he would, be proud of my efforts to 
 advance the Confederate cause by doing a soldier's duty, 
 would he be willing that I should longer continue to wear 
 my uniform, especially if we should conclude to have our 
 marriage solemnized at an early day ? These were questions 
 that pressed themselves upon me, and that, even more than 
 the dispiriting influences of a sick-room, made me half 
 repent that I had ever assumed male attire, and made me 
 more than half resolve to permanently abandon it so soon as I 
 was out of the hospital. 
 
 I was curious, however, rather than apprehensive, with re 
 gard to the effect of the disclosures I would have to make 
 when I met Captain De Caulp. There was nothing that I had 
 done that I need blush for, while he had himself been the wit 
 ness, on one momentous occasion, of my prowess as a warrior, 
 and I longed to hear him repeat to me, as a woman, the praise 
 he had so freely bestowed upon me as a man when we fought 
 side by side at Shiloh. 
 
 What a strange courtship ours had been ! The only time 
 we had met since our engagement was on the field of battle, 
 and in the midst of scenes of carnage, and here we both were 
 now, sick in adjoining wards of the same hospital ; I, longing 
 to be with him, but unable to go to his side ; and he, all un 
 conscious that the woman he. loved was so near; sighing, 
 doubtless, for the time to come when our futures would be 
 united, but never dreaming that the future he sighed for was 
 so near at hand. It was like a romance, and it was in the 
 scenes of a romance, the memories of which floated through 
 my mind as I thought over the situation, that I alone could 
 find any similitude to it. 
 
 I recollected, as I reviewed the circumstances of my own 
 case, an old Spanish novela, which I had read when a girl, 
 and which had long since passed out of mind with other 
 childish memories, but the incidents of which now came back 
 to me with singular vividness, on account of a certain resem 
 blance they had to points in my own career. The author's 
 name I forgot, but I distinctly remembered the story, which 
 
320 A LOVE STORY. 
 
 was one of a collection in an old book I was fond of perusing 
 when at home under my father's roof at the Puerto de Palmas 
 plantation in Cuba. 
 
 THE STORY OF ESTELA. 
 
 The name of the heroine of this tale was Estela, and she 
 was beloved by a handsome, rich, and gallant young man, 
 all the heroes in these old Spanish novels are young, hand 
 some, rich, and of high birth, and all the heroines are mar 
 vels of beauty, and for a long time the course of true love 
 ran smoothly enough. At length ; however, a young grandee, 
 of enormous wealth, also became enamoured of Estela; and 
 although he failed to win the affection of the lady, he suc 
 ceeded, without any difficulty, in becoming the choice of her 
 parents ; not that they had any objections to Don Carlos, 
 which I believe was the name of Estela's lover, but that 
 his rival promised to be a more splendid match for their 
 daughter. Don Carlos was, therefore, forbidden to hold any 
 correspondence with the object of his adoration, but, as Es 
 tela continued true to him in spite of her parents' opposi 
 tion, they were accustomed -to meet surreptitiously, through 
 the agency of the lady's waiting-maid and the gentleman's 
 page, who arranged secret interviews for them. 
 
 Now, it so happened that while the pair were thus carrying 
 on their secret courtship, the page of Don Carlos took sick 
 and died. It was not many days, however, before a hand 
 some youth applied to be taken into his service, who proved 
 himself so zealous and faithful that he was soon intrusted 
 with all his master's secrets. This youth, however, was a 
 woman, who had fallen in love with Don Carlos, and who, 
 unable to attract his attention in any other way, had resorted 
 to this means of bringing herself to his notice, and of being 
 near him, in the hope that something would occur to enable 
 her to win his love. 
 
 The heroines of these old Spanish romances seem to have 
 had a decided fancy for masquerading in male attire, and it is 
 not unlikely that this propensity on their part had some effect 
 in encouraging in me a desire to assume the dress of the other 
 sex for the purpose of seeking adventures. I can call to 
 mind many more stories than the one I am endeavoring to 
 give a brief outline of, in which the women attempt, for the 
 accomplishment of different ends, to figure as men, and it is 
 
HAT}TANOOGA 
 
 RESACA 
 
 ADAIRSVILL I 
 
 ALHOUN} 
 
 ' / 
 
 xCASSVILLE 
 
 OASS STATION 
 
 CARTERS VI LLE 
 
 l/nU-ACKWORTH 
 
 SCALE OF MILES 
 
 ur'orS 
 
 VTLANTA 
 
 ROUGH READY 
 
 DALTON TO ATLANTA.. 
 
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ESTELA. 321 
 
 scarcely possible that I was uninfluenced by a perusal of the 
 narratives of their exploits. 
 
 The new page, as I have stated, easily gained the entire 
 confidence of Don Carlos, and was employed as the messen 
 ger between him and his lady-love. She, however, soon 
 found that he was so much absorbed in Estela, that it was 
 useless to hope to win him, unless her rival could be removed ; 
 and she accordingly set about devising a plan for the accom 
 plishment of this end. An opportunity soon offered ; for the 
 parents of Estela, despite her unwillingness, were determined 
 that she should accept the hand of the lover of their choice, 
 and made their arrangements for a speedy wedding. Estela, 
 of course, informed Don Carlos of this, and he, seeing that his 
 bride would be lost to him unless he acted with decision, per 
 suaded her to consent to an elopement with him to another 
 city, where their marriage could take place. 
 
 The fictitious page was, of course, informed of all that was 
 proposed by the lovers, and felt that the time had now come 
 for her to interfere. Don Carlos and Estela, having arranged 
 for the elopement to take place on a certain night, the lady 
 wrote a letter to her parents, stating that, unable to endure 
 the idea of marrying, at their dictation, a man whom she did 
 not love, she had ventured to incur their displeasure by unit 
 ing herself with Don Carlos, for whom, as they well knew, she 
 had long borne a tender regard. 
 
 The page, to whom had been intrusted the task of con 
 ducting the lady to a rendezvous, where her lover would be 
 waiting with horses to bear them away beyond the reach of 
 pursuit until the marriage should take place, basely betrayed 
 the trust confided to her, however, and, instead of delivering 
 Estela to her lover, took her to where some Moorish pirates 
 were in waiting, by whom she was seized, and carried off to 
 Algiers, to be sold as a slave. The pirates, as a precaution 
 against treachery, insisted upon the page going with them ; 
 and thus Estela became informed that her betrayer was a 
 woman, and also learned the reason for her conduct. 
 
 On the disappearance of Estela being discovered, the only 
 clew to the mystery was the letter she had written, announcing 
 her intention of eloping with Don Carlos ; and that gentleman^ 
 who had been waiting anxiously and impatiently for her, and 
 who was lost in wonder at her non-appearance at the ren^ 
 dezvous, was accused of having spirited her away, and per^ 
 haps of having murdered her. He was not only overwhelmed 
 21 
 
322 STRANGE MEETING OF THE LOVERS. 
 
 with anguish at such a charge being brought against him, but 
 was sorely perplexed to know what had become of the lady ; 
 and, as day after day passed by, and no tidings of her were 
 received, he at length forced himself to believe that she had 
 proved false to him, had accepted the page for a lover, and 
 had fled with him. In the mean time the indignation against 
 him increased, and the suspicions that he was the murderer 
 of his mistress grew into certainty in many minds. His trial, 
 on the charge of murder, was therefore ordered ; but, deter 
 mined not to be made the victim of a false woman's treachery 
 if he could avoid it, he made his escape from prison, and, 
 flying to Italy, entered the army of the emperor, Charles V., 
 as a common soldier. 
 
 In the mean while, Estela, after passing through many 
 strange adventures in the land of the Moors, at length suc 
 ceeded in making her escape, in male attire, and she, too, 
 joined the army of the emperor, which was then besieging 
 some Moorish town. In a skirmish which occurred soon after, 
 she had the good fortune to save the life of the emperor, who, 
 finding that she was a person of education and talents, ap 
 pointed her little suspecting her to be a woman to an 
 important position near his own person. Estela soon became 
 the emperor's favorite officer, and he delighted in heaping 
 honors upon her, she, all the while, longing only for an oppor 
 tunity to return to her own country, for the purpose of 
 seeking her lover. 
 
 One day, however, she was amazed to behold a soldier in 
 the ranks who reminded her greatly of Don Carlos, and, on 
 engaging in conversation, found that it was indeed he. She, 
 therefore, took him to her tent, and, by degrees, succeeded in 
 inducing him to tell his story. That he should have suffered 
 so much on her account, grieved her exceedingly ; but her 
 womanly pride was touched that he should suspect her honor, 
 and she resolved to try and induce him to have a better opin 
 ion of her than he professed, before revealing herself. Ap 
 pointing Don Carlos to the post of secretary, she engaged 
 him, almost daily, in conversation about his lost love, and 
 endeavored, by various means, to persuade him that Estela 
 might be guiltless. 
 
 The melancholy of Don Carlos, however, increased the 
 more the matter was talked about. He could not help con 
 fessing that he still loved Estela tenderly, despite her unwor- 
 thiness, but it was impossible to induce him to think that she 
 

 THE DAY OF TRIAL. 323 
 
 was not unworthy. That he still loved her, was some conso 
 lation to Estela, but it piqued her that he should be unwilling 
 to admit that there might be some explanation of her strange 
 disappearance that would relieve her of blame. While de 
 vising in her mind some plan for bringing Don Carlos to 
 reason, she learned that the governor of her native city had 
 suddenly died. This suggested a means of accomplishing 
 her purpose, and she accordingly applied to the emperor for 
 the vacant office. Her request was granted, and she set off 
 immediately to take possession of the governorship, Don 
 Carlos going with her, feeling sure that, as one of the new 
 governor's household, he would be free from molestation on 
 account of the old charge against him, or, at least, that he 
 would be able to receive a fair and impartial trial. 
 
 So soon as the new governor was installed, and it was found 
 that Don Carlos was in his suite, the parents of Estela, and 
 other prominent citizens, stated what the accusations against 
 him were, and demanded that he be brought to trial, and 
 punished according to law. The governor promised that 
 strict justice should be done, and appointed a day for the trial 
 to take place, refusing, however, to permit Don Carlos to be 
 sent to prison, and promising to be responsible for him. 
 
 Up to the time of the trial the conferences between the 
 governor and the secretary were frequent, and Estela re 
 doubled her efforts to make her lover acknowledge, not only 
 that he loved, but that he still had infinite faith in his lady. 
 
 This, as I recollect it, was the most intensely interesting 
 and exciting part of the story, and it made a strong impres 
 sion on my imagination. I thought the lady cruel in unneces 
 sarily prolonging the misery of her lover, and at the same 
 time, although I was but a child when I read the story, I 
 could not but appreciate the feelings which induced her to 
 desire that Don Carlos should confess that he had banished all 
 unworthy suspicion of her from his mind before she cleared 
 up the mystery of her disappearance. 
 
 At length the confession was forced from the unhappy 
 man, that, as Estela had never given him reason to think, by 
 any levity of conduct, that she was capable of loving another 
 than himself, much less that she was capable of basely for 
 saking him for one less worthy, he still, in his inmost soul, 
 had faith in her honor, and that the dream of his life was, 
 that he might be able to be reunited to her. 
 
 The day of trial came, and Estela, as the chief magistrate 
 
324 HAPPY ENDING OP THE STORY. 
 
 of the city, sat upon the bench, with the other judges, to hear 
 the case. The various witnesses who appeared related the 
 story of Estela's disappearance ; her letter, announcing her 
 proposed flight with Don Carlos, was produced ; the servants 
 who had been cognizant of the clandestine meetings of the 
 lovers related in detail all they knew about the frequent inter 
 views Don Carlos had had with Estela, without the knowledge 
 of her parents ; to all of which the accused could oppose 
 nothing but a simple denial of his guilt. 
 
 The disguised Estela, in her character of governor, said, 
 with a frown, and with pretended severity, that, had she 
 known there was such a weight of evidence against Don Car 
 los, she could never have given him her protection, or have 
 continued him in his office of secretary. The only way in 
 which his innocence could be proved, in the face of such tes 
 timony, was by the appearance of Estela, but that, if she 
 could not be produced, it would be necessary to pronounce 
 condemnation. 
 
 The miserable man now threw himself at the feet of the 
 governor, and besought him to remember how, long before 
 either of them had any reason to believe they would be called 
 upon to appear before each other in the character of accused 
 and judge, he had told his whole story, and had confessed his 
 love for Estela, despite the reason he had for believing that 
 she had acted basely to him, and how, but a brief time be 
 fore, he had not only acknowledged his unaltered affection, 
 but his faith in Estela's honor, and besought that true justice 
 might be done, despite what seemed to be an accumulation 
 of evidence against him. 
 
 Estela, moved by these entreaties, and overcome by the 
 confession of enduring love and of faith in her honor, made 
 in the presence of a great assembly, was unable longer to 
 restrain herself, and she therefore proclaimed that, notwith 
 standing the evidence, as she knew Don Carlos to be innocent, 
 she would order his release. This excited a loud murmur of 
 discontent; whereupon the governor, commanding silence, 
 revealed herself to the marvelling crowd as the lost Estela, 
 and, throwing herself in the arms of Don Carlos, asked his 
 pardon for the severe tests she had put him to for the purpose 
 of proving that his affection for her was the same as ever. 
 
 The lovers were married without delay, and, as the hero 
 and heroine of a novel ought to be, they were happy ever 
 afterwards, the emperor giving to Don Carlos the governor- 
 
WEARY WAITING. 325 
 
 ship of the city in place of Estela, who preferred to relin 
 quish masculine duties with masculine attire, and otherwise 
 making the reunited pair the recipients of favors which testi 
 fied, in a practical manner, his esteem for them. 
 
 This is but a feeble and incomplete recital of a very pretty 
 story, and is only entitled to a place in this narrative of iny 
 own adventures, because it was so much in my thoughts at 
 the particular period of which I am now writing, and because 
 it inspired me to imitate Estela's example so far as to seek to 
 obtain a confession of love from Captain De Canlp, before I 
 should reveal myself to him. I was filled with an eager de 
 sire to hear what he would say of me to his friend, the sup 
 posed Lieutenant Buford, and having arranged in my mind 
 what I should say to him when we met, I waited, with ill- 
 disguised impatience, for the time to come when I could put 
 my plan in execution, trying to imagine, all the while, what 
 would be the effect upon him when the whole truth was made 
 known. 
 
 It was a weary while waiting, though, for the hour of 
 meeting to come, and, had my physicians permitted it, I 
 would have left my sick-bed to go to Captain De Caulp long 
 before I was really able to be on my feet. Dr. Hammond, 
 however, knew better what was good for me than I knew 
 myself, and he constrained me to remain under his care until 
 he should be able to pronounce me able to care for myself 
 once more ; and, as there was no use in resisting his orders, 
 I obeyed them perforce, with what patience I could command. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 AGAIN A WIFE AND AGAIN A WIDOW. 
 
 Convalescence. I pay a Visit to my Lover. A friendly Feeling. A 
 Surprise in Store for him. I ask him about his matrimonial Prospects, 
 and endeavor to ascertain the State of his Affections Cowards me. An 
 affecting Scene. The Captain receives a Letter from his Lady-love. 
 " She has come ! She has come ! " The Captain prepares for a 
 Meeting with his Sweetheart. A Question of Likeness. A puzzling 
 Situation. I reveal my Identity. Astonishment and Joy of my Lover. 
 
 Preparations for our Wedding. A very quiet Affair proposed. 
 The Wedding. A short Honeymoon. Departure of my Husband for 
 the Front. My Apprehensions for his Health. My Apprehensions 
 justified in the News of his Death in a Federal Hospital in Chattanooga. 
 
 Once more a Widow. 
 
 FTER a weary waiting, which I thought would 
 never end, both Captain De Caulp and myself 
 were convalescent. At the earliest moment 
 that I could obtain permission to leave my 
 ward I went to see him, being naturally more 
 impatient for a meeting than he was ; for, although we 
 had exchanged greetings through our physicians, it was 
 simply as friends and officers of the Confederate army, 
 and not as lovers, and he had no suspicion whatever 
 that his sick neighbor of the hospital was other than the young 
 lieutenant whose acquaintance he had formed at Pensacola, 
 and who had fought beside him at Shiloh. 
 
 He was extremely glad to see me, however, much more so 
 than I expected he would be ; but the fact was, it had been so 
 long since he had had a chance to chat with any of his old 
 friends, that it was a genuine pleasure to him to have any one 
 call on him for the sake of a lively talk over old times. I 
 found him sadly reduced and worn by the severe illness 
 through which he had just passed ; but, although he was weak, 
 he was evidently improving, and in a fair way for a rapid 
 recovery. 
 
 326 
 
A MEETING OF LOVERS. 327 
 
 When I came in and stood by his bedside, he smiled, and 
 held out his hand, and said, " I am mighty glad to see you 
 again, lieutenant. It is like meeting a brother." 
 
 A DELICATE SUBJECT. 
 
 I said that I was rejoiced to meet him 'again, and would 
 have called on him much sooner had the doctors permitted it. 
 I then asked him how he was coming on, about the nature of 
 his sickness, and matters of that kind, and gradually drifted 
 into a conversation about things in general, the progress of 
 the war, the people we knew, matters at home, and so led 
 him up to the subject about which I particularly desired to 
 speak with him. After some little preliminary talk, which 
 would enable me to bring the question in naturally, without 
 exciting suspicion that I had any but a merely friendly interest 
 in the matter, I said, "Captain, are you married yet? You 
 know you told me some time ago you were engaged, and were 
 expecting very shortly to ask the lady to name the day." 
 
 " No," said he, " the wedding has not come off yet, but I 
 hope it will very shortly. I should have gone home for the 
 purpose of getting married if I had kept my health, but this 
 spell of sickness has knocked all my plans in the head." 
 
 " Does the lady know that you are sick?" I asked. " Have 
 you heard from her recently ? " 
 
 " I doubt whether she does," he replied. " I have been 
 expecting to hear from her for some time, and have been 
 greatly disappointed that I have not. The last letter I had 
 stated that she would meet me here ; but for several months I 
 have been unable to communicate with her, and am unable to 
 even guess where she is, or why she has not come to me." 
 
 He then raised up, and took the letter he referred to out of 
 a package, evidently made up of my epistles, and read it to 
 me. He also showed me a picture of myself, which he pro 
 duced from some hiding-place in his pocket, and handed it to 
 me, saying, " That is the woman I love ; what do you think 
 of her ? " 
 
 A PORTRAIT AND ITS ORIGINAL. 
 
 This was almost too much for me ; and all trembling with 
 emotion, I handed it back to him, saying, " She is a fine- 
 looking woman ; " and wondering he did not observe the 
 resemblance between the portrait and the original before him. 
 
328 A MEETING OF LOVERS. 
 
 " Yes," said he, " and she is just as good as she is good- 
 looking. I think the world of her, and want to see her again 
 0, so bad ! " 
 
 "Have you known her long, captain?" I asked, with a 
 trembling voice, and scarcely daring to trust myself to speak, 
 for these words, and the tender tone in which they were 
 spoken, made my heart leap with joy, and brought tears to 
 my eyes. I was afraid that he would notice my agitation, and 
 in some way surmise the cause of it ; and I did not want him 
 to do this, for I was not yet ready to reveal myself, but 
 desired further to hear what he would say about me before I 
 told him my secret. So I turned away, and pretended to be 
 attracted by some object in another part of the room while 
 I wiped the tears from my eyes, and attempted to recover my 
 composure before 1 confronted him again. 
 
 " Yes," he went on, " I have known her for a long time. 
 She is a widow, and her husband was an excellent friend of 
 mine." Then, apparently suddenly recollecting the circum 
 stances under which he first made my acquaintance in the 
 character of a Confederate officer, he said, glancing quickly 
 and eagerly at me, " Why, you ought to know her ; her hus 
 band was the first captain of our company ; you recollect him, 
 surely." 
 
 " O," said I, as if rather surprised at this revelation, " she is 
 his widow, is she ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Captain De Caulp j " you have met her, have 
 you not ? " 
 
 I could scarcely help smiling at the turn this conversation 
 was taking ; and still wondering whether my lover would be 
 shreAvd enough to detect the likeness between the picture he 
 was holding in his hand, and fondly gazing at, and the 
 original of it who was sitting by his bedside, I said, " Yes, I 
 have had a slight acquaintance with her, but you, probably, 
 have known her longer than I have. When did you see her 
 last?" 
 
 " I have not seen her for three years," he replied. 
 
 " Have you been engaged to her that long?" 
 
 " 0, no ; I did not become engaged to her until about six 
 months after the death of her husband. He was killed, as you 
 know, at Pensacola, just after the war commenced, by the 
 bursting of a carbine." 
 
 " Well, if you have not seen her all that time, how have 
 you managed to do your courting ? " 
 

 LOVE'S CONFESSIONS. 329 
 
 " 0, that was easy enough. After her husband's death, we 
 had some correspondence about the settlement' of his affairs, 
 and we kept on writing to each other after these were 
 arranged. I always had a great liking for her, as I thought 
 that she was a first-rate woman, of the kind that you don't 
 meet every day ; and, consequently, after about six months, I 
 asked her to marry me. She was a sound, sensible, patriotic 
 woman, who admired me for going to the front more than she 
 would have done had I remained at home to court her, and 
 she accepted me without hesitation." 
 
 THE PLEASURES OF COURTSHIP. 
 
 " I understand the situation now, and I hope you have 
 secured a prize. It seems to me, however, that it would be 
 pleasant for both parties if you could do a little courting in 
 person before you get married ; and if I were you, I would 
 try and go to her." 
 
 " 1 intend to go to her just as soon as I have health and 
 strength to travel, for I feel that I must see her." 
 
 " Yes," said I, " you ought to go for your own sake as well 
 as for that of the lady. You have done enough hard fighting 
 for the present, and you are entitled to take a rest." 
 
 " I don't intend to leave the army permanently unless I am 
 obliged to ; but, as you say, I need a rest, and I am deter 
 mined that I will go home and get married if it costs me my 
 commission. I am now improving rapidly, and I trust that 
 God will restore me to perfect health soon." 
 
 " What would you give," and my voice was so choked 
 with emotion that I could scarcely utter these words, 
 " What would you give if you could see your lady now ? " 
 
 "0," said he, and his eye sparkled, and the color flushed 
 into his cheeks as he spoke, " I would almost give my exist 
 ence in heaven." 
 
 I could not bear to hear any more ; but dreading lest he 
 should notice my agitation, and inquire the cause of it, I made 
 a hasty excuse for concluding the interview, and saying good- 
 by, left the room so abruptly that he must have seen there 
 was something the matter with me. 
 
 It would be foolish in me, in attempting to tell this story of 
 the culmination of my strange courtship, to make a secret 
 of the emotions that filled my breast at the results of this 
 interview with Captain De Caulp. I felt that I loved him 
 
330 A PAINFUL SITUATION. 
 
 more than ever, and that he was more than worthy of me. I 
 wept the first genuine womanly tears I had shed for many a 
 day, but they were tears of joy, of joy at the thought that 
 I had such a lover as this, and that the day of our union was 
 certainly not far distant. 
 
 The next morning I wrote him a note in my proper person, 
 stating that I had arrived, and was coming to see him. On 
 the receipt of this he was nearly wild with excitement, and it 
 was as much as Dr. Benton could do to keep him in his bed. 
 Burning with anxiety to see what the effect upon him of the 
 letter would be, I followed hard after the bearer, and waiting 
 until he would have a fair opportunity to master its contents, 
 I passed by the door in such a manner that he could not fail 
 to see me. So soon as he caught sight of me, he called out, in 
 an exultant tone, " Lieutenant, come in. I want to talk to 
 you; " and holding out the note, which I had written but a few 
 moments before, towards me, he said, with the happiest smile 
 I ever saw on a human face, " She has come, she has come, 
 and will be here soon ; congratulate me, my friend." 
 
 AN AGITATING OCCASION. 
 
 I was greatly agitated, not only at the sight of his extreme 
 happiness, but because I felt that the dreaded hour was now 
 come when I must reveal my secret to him. I loved him most 
 fondly ; and it was but yesterday that I had heard from his 
 own lips assurances of his affection for me, the verity of which 
 it was impossible for me to doubt ; and yet I dreaded whether 
 his feelings towards me might not change when he heard my 
 story. I felt that they ought not, and I did not believe that 
 they would ; but I had heard so many men, and good men too, 
 speak harshly with regard to women undertaking to play 
 the role that I had, that my very love gave encouragement to 
 my fears lest Captain De Caulp when he learned I had been 
 in the army ever since the outbreak of the war, and from 
 before the date of our engagement, disguised as a man 
 would regard my course with such disapproval that he would 
 refuse to consider the motives which induced me to adopt 
 the course I had taken. 
 
 The situation was, for me, painful beyond expression ; and 
 although I felt that the secret must now be told, I scarcely 
 knew how to tell it, or how to begin an even ordinary friendly 
 conversation with him. The disclosure which I was about to 
 
A MYSTERY. 331 
 
 make was, moreover, one that was meant for no other ears 
 than his, and was certainly not a proper one for the public 
 ward of the hospital. My first care, therefore, was to get him 
 to a place where we could converse without being overheard, 
 and so I said, " Captain, I congratulate you heartily, and I 
 hope to have the pleasure of meeting with your lady. As you 
 expect to have a visit from her soon, and as you will doubt 
 less want to talk over a great number of confidential matters, 
 don't you think that it would be better if the doctor were to 
 move you into a private room ? " 
 
 He said, " Yes ; thank you for the suggestion ; that is just 
 what I would like. I wish you would tell the doctor I want 
 to see him." 
 
 I accordingly conveyed his message with all possible de 
 spatch, and the doctor very cheerfully granted his request, and 
 had him taken to a private chamber. A barber was then sent 
 for, and he was shaved, and made to look as nicely as possible ; 
 and it touched me deeply to notice what pains he took to 
 make himself presentable, in view of the expected arrival of 
 his lady-love, whom, by the anxious manner in which he 
 glanced at the door, he was evidently looking for every 
 minute, and almost dreading her arrival before he was ready 
 to receive her. 
 
 A REVELATION TO BE MADE. 
 
 So soon as we were alone together, I said gravely, " Now, 
 captain, I have something of great importance to say to 
 you before your sweetheart comes." 
 
 He looked at me wonderingly, evidently, impressed by my 
 manner, and apparently half fearing that something had oc 
 curred to defeat his expectations. 
 
 I then knelt by the bedside, and taking from my pocket a 
 picture of himself that he had sent me, and his last letter, 
 said, "Did you ever see these before?" 
 
 He glanced at them, recognized them, and turned deadly 
 pale. His hand trembled so that he could scarcely hold the 
 picture and the letter, and looking at me with a scared expres 
 sion, he gasped, " Yes, they are mine ! Where did you get 
 them ? Has anything happened ? 
 
 " No, no, captain," I exclaimed. " You must not be 
 frightened ; nothing has happened that will be displeasing to 
 you." 
 
332 THE MYSTERY REVEALED. 
 
 " But I don't understand," he said ; " how did you get 
 these?" 
 
 " Ah ! " I said, " that is my secret just now. You know you 
 told me last night, when you showed me the portrait of your 
 lady, that you had not seen her for three years; are you so 
 very sure of that?" 
 
 He still failed to comprehend what I meant, and stared at 
 me in astonishment. 1, therefore, went to his pocket, and got 
 the picture, and, placing it in his hand, said, " Now take a good 
 look at that, and tell me if you have not seen somebody very 
 much like it inside of three years." 
 
 He looked at the picture, and then at me, with a most puz 
 zled expression, unable to say anything, until I, oppressed with 
 his silence, and unable to endure longer a scene that was be 
 coming most painful to both of us, said, " Well, captain, don't 
 you think that the picture of your lady-love looks the least 
 bit like your friend Harry Buford ? " 
 
 RECOGNITION. 
 
 'A light seemed to suddenly break upon him; he gasped for 
 breath, and sank back overcome on his pillow, the great drops 
 of perspiration standing out all over his forehead. Then, 
 raising himself, he looked me hard in the face, and, grasping 
 my hand tightly, exclaimed, u Can it be possible that you are 
 she?" 
 
 " Yes," said I, clasping his hand still tighter, " I am, indeed, 
 your own Loreta. It was your sweetheart who fought by your 
 side at the great battle of Shiloh ; and not only on that occa 
 sion, but ever since the outbreak of the war she has been 
 doing a soldier's work for the cause of the Confederacy. 
 Can you love her a little for that as well as for herself? or 
 will you despise her because she was not willing to stay at 
 home like other women, but undertook to appear on the bat- 
 tle-fiell in the guise of a man for the purpose of doing a man's 
 duty?" 
 
 " I love you ten times more than ever for this, Loreta ! " 
 he said, with a vehemence that brought tears of joy to my 
 eyes. 
 
 I then went into a long explanation of my reasons for acting 
 as I had done, and gave him an outline of my adventures, re 
 serving the details for a future time when he would be stronger 
 and less agitated. He suggested that I sjiould not reveal the 
 
OUT OP THE HOSPITAL. 333 
 
 secret to an} 7 one else just at present ; whereupon I proposed 
 that we should continue as we were until the war was over, 
 I to make such arrangements, however, as would .enable me to 
 be near him. He would not listen to anything of this kind, but 
 said, " No, my noble lady, I can never permit that; I cannot 
 consent to part from you again until I have called you by the 
 endearing name of wife." He then burst into tears, and, 
 leaning his face on my shoulder, said, between his sobs, " 0, 
 Loreta, can it be possible that you have been so far from me, 
 and yet so near to me, all this time ? " 
 
 This interview had agitated both of us greatly, and, as 
 Captain De Caulp was still very weak, I was somewhat fearful 
 of the consequences to him ; so I tore myself away, after prom 
 ising to see him again soon, and requesting him to compose 
 himself, and not let his excitement retard his recovery. 
 
 The crisis was past for me, and all was well. 1 had the 
 strongest assurances that a woman could have of the undivided 
 love of as noble a man as ever breathed ; and to say that I was 
 supremely happy, but faintly expresses what I felt as I left the 
 chamber of Captain De Caulp. It all seemed like a dream to 
 me, but it was a happy one, and I desired never to awaken 
 from it. I was of too practical and decided a disposition, how 
 ever, to give way to mere sentiment on such an occasion as 
 this ; and the fact that my lover was still confined to a sick 
 bed rendered it the more important that I should be about, 
 and making such preparations as were necessary for our ap 
 proaching marriage. 
 
 I felt quite strong enough to leave the hospital, and told 
 Dr. Hay so. He was a little dubious about it ; but finally con 
 sented that I should go out on condition that I would take 
 good care of myself, and not attempt to enjoy out-of-door life 
 too much of a sudden. As he was himself about going out 
 as I was prepared to leave the hospital, I walked down the 
 street with him, holding his arm. As we were sauntering 
 along, I asked him, " Doctor, how do you like Captain De 
 Caulp?" 
 
 " 0, very much, indeed ! " said he. " He is a perfect 
 gentleman in every respect, and a man of very polished 
 manners and superior talents. He is of foreign extraction, I 
 think." 
 
 " Yes," said I, " I believe he is. I have known him for five 
 years, and I think a great deal of him. I was with him at the 
 battle of Shiloh, and he behaved like a true hero." 
 
334 WEDDING PREPARATIONS. 
 
 " Ah, indeed ! " said the doctor ; " I knew that you were 
 acquainted, but I did not know that you had served together 
 during the war." 
 
 "Do you think he will soon be well?" I inquired. "He 
 seems to be getting along quite nicely." 
 
 " 0, yes, if he takes proper care of himself. He has had a 
 pretty hard time of it, but I don't see any reason why he 
 should not be in a fair way for recovery now, provided 
 nothing occurs to set him back. He will have to look out, 
 and not expose himself too much, however, for a while 
 yet." 
 
 At the corner of White Hall Street I left the doctor to go 
 to the depot. He said, as I parted from him, " You must be 
 careful, and not exercise too much, lieutenant, or you will 
 suffer for it. You are scarcely fairly on your feet as yet." 
 
 I promised to take care of myself, and went to the depot, 
 arriving there just as the down train was coming in. I met a 
 number of persons with whom I was acquainted, and after 
 some conversation with them, took a turn as far as General 
 Wash. Lee's office, where I had a chat about the way things 
 were going at the front. I then returned to the hospital, and 
 asked for my discharge. This was granted me, and I also 
 obtained a ticket to go to Montgomery, where I had some 
 business to attend to. 
 
 On my arrival at Montgomery, I found that the person I 
 wanted to see was at Camp Watts. I accordingly went 
 there ; and having seen him, arranged the business I had 
 made the trip for, and then returned to Montgomery, where 
 I remained all night. The next day I returned to Atlanta, 
 and went immediately to the hospital to visit Captain De 
 Caulp. To my great joy I found him out of bed, and so much 
 improved that he was confident of being well enough to 
 walk out. 
 
 We, therefore, went down to the Thompson House together, 
 and I engaged a room, and set about making preparations for 
 my marriage. 
 
 I was anxious that the affair should pass off as quietly as pos 
 sible, and particularly desired not to give any opportunity for 
 unseemly gossip or talk ; and on discussing the matter with 
 Captain De Caulp, we came to the conclusion that it would 
 be better to tell the whole story to Drs. Benton and Ham 
 mond, and to ask them to witness the ceremony, under a 
 promise to say nothing to any one about the fact of my hay- 
 
A QUIET WEDDING. 335 
 
 ing worn the uniform of a Confederate officer. We, how 
 ever, resolved to take no one else into our confidence, 
 although there were several good friends of both of us in 
 the town, whom we would have been glad to have had at our 
 wedding. 
 
 I procured a sufficiency of woman's apparel for my wedding 
 outfit, by purchasing at a variety of places, under the pleas 
 that I wanted the garments for some persons out of town, or 
 for presents to the girls at the hotel in fact, making up 
 whatever story I thought would answer my purpose. My 
 trousseau was, perhaps, not so complete or so elegant as it 
 might have been under some circumstances, or as I could have 
 desired ; but then, the particular circumstances under which 
 the wedding was to take place were peculiar, and neither the 
 bridegroom nor the bride was disposed to be over ceremo 
 nious, or to make much ado about trifles. So long as the 
 captain and myself were satisfied, it did not much matter 
 whether any one else was pleased or not ; and we both con 
 cluded that a very modest wardrobe would be all that I would 
 need, the main thing being that I should be dressed as a 
 woman when the ceremony took place, for fear of creating too 
 much of a sensation, and, perhaps, of making the clergyman 
 feel unpleasant should I appear before him, hanging on the 
 captain's arm, in my uniform. 
 
 My arrangements having all been made, we concluded to 
 inform the friends whom we had agreed to invite ; and ac 
 cordingly we walked to the hospital together, when the cap 
 tain called Dr. Benton into his private room, and astonished 
 him by telling him that he was going to be married, and by 
 asking him to attend the wedding. I broke the news as 
 gently as I could to Dr. Hammond, who scarcely knew what to 
 make of it at first, but who, when I made him clearly under 
 stand the situation, gave me his hearty congratulations, and 
 promised to be present when the happy event came off. 
 
 A WEDDING. 
 
 The next day Captain De Caulp and I were married in the 
 parlor of the hotel by the Rev. Mr. Pinkington, the post chap 
 lain, in as quiet and unpretentious a way as either of us could 
 desire. The clergyman and our kind friends wished us all 
 manner of happiness ; and we both looked forward to a bright 
 future, when, after the war was over, we could settle down in 
 
336 THE CALL OF DUTY. 
 
 our home, and enjoy the blessings of peace in each other's 
 society. Alas ! if wishes could only make us happy, there 
 would be but little misery in this world of ours. Neither 
 Captain De Caulp nor myself, as we stood up that day, and 
 pronounced the words that made us man and wife, had any but 
 pleasant anticipations for the future, and little imagined how 
 brief a time we would be permitted to be together. 
 
 I was very desirous of resuming my uniform, and of accom 
 panying my husband to the field. I wanted to go through the 
 war with him, and to fight by his side, just as I had done at 
 Shiloh. He, however, was bitterly opposed to this ; and, with 
 my ample knowledge of army life, I could not but admit the 
 full force of his objections. He contended, that, apart from 
 everything else, I had served my country long enough as a 
 soldier, and that I was under some obligation now to think of 
 him as well as of myself, and no longer to peril life, health, 
 and reputation by exposing myself, as I had been doing. 
 He said that he would fight twice as hard as before, and that 
 would answer for both of us, although he was not sure but 
 that what I had done ought to count in his favor, as man 
 and wife were one, and procure him a release from further 
 service. 
 
 I very reluctantly yielded an assent to his wishes, although, 
 if I could have looked a little into the future, I either would 
 have prevented his going to the front at all, or else would have 
 insisted upon going with him. Indeed, he ought not to have 
 gone when he did ; but he knew that the services of every 
 man were needed, and so soon as he was at all able to be 
 on duty, he felt as if he was shirking his share of the work 
 by remaining at the rear when so much hard fighting was 
 going on. 
 
 Our honeymoon was a very brief one. In about a week he 
 thought himself well enough to report for duty ; and he insisted 
 upon going, notwithstanding my entreaties for him to remain 
 until his health was more robust. Had he been really fit to 
 endure the exposure and toil of campaigning, I would never 
 have offered to stay him by a word ; for my patriotism, although 
 perhaps not of so fiery a nature, was as intense now as it was 
 when I besought my first husband to permit me to accompany 
 him to the field ; and I considered it the duty of every man, 
 who was at all able to take a hand in the great work of resist 
 ing the advance of the enemy, to do so. But Captain De 
 Caulp, I knew, was far from being the strong man he once was, 
 
ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSON. 
 
 W. J. HARDEE. 
 
 BRAXTON BRAGG. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. CHEATHAM. 
 
A TERRIBLE BLOW. 337 
 
 and I feared the consequences should he persist in carrying 
 out his resolve. 
 
 He did persist, however, in spite of all I could say ; and so, 
 when I found that further argument would be useless, I pre 
 pared his baggage, and bade him a sorrowful adieu. Alas ! 
 the adieu was a final one, for I never saw him afterwards ; and 
 within three short weeks of my marriage, I was a widow 
 again ! 
 
 . * DEATH OF MY HUSBAND. 
 
 Before reaching his command, Captain De Caulp was taken 
 sick again ; and before I obtained any information of his con 
 dition, he had died in a Federal hospital in Chattanooga. This 
 was a terrible blow to me, for I tenderly loved my husband, 
 and was greatly beloved by him. Our short married life was 
 a very happy one, and its sudden ending brought to nought 
 all the pleasant plans I had formed for the future, and left me 
 nothing to do but to launch once more on a life of adventure, 
 and to devote my energies to the advancement of the Confed 
 erate cause. 
 
 Captain De Caulp was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland. 
 His father was of French descent, and his mother was a Der 
 byshire woman. He was very highly educated, having studied 
 in England and France with the intention of becoming a phy 
 sician. His fondness for roaming, however, induced him to 
 abandon this design; and in 1857 he and his brother came to 
 this country, and travelled over the greater part of it until 1859. 
 In the last-named year he joined the United States army, but 
 on the breaking out of the war, he came South, and offered his 
 services to the Confederacy. From first to last he fought nobly 
 for the cause which he espoused, and he died in the firm be 
 lief that the Southern States would ultimately gain their inde 
 pendence. 
 
 Few more honorable, or truer, or braver, men than Cap 
 tain De Caulp have ever lived. He was tall in stature, with 
 a very imposing presence. His hair was auburn, and he had 
 a large, full, dark, hazel eye. He was a very powerful man, but 
 as gentle as a child, and exceedingly affable in his disposition, 
 and remarkably prepossessing in his manners. At the time 
 of his death he was about twenty-nine years of age. I made 
 an endeavor to procure his body for the purpose of sending it 
 to his relatives in Scotland, in accordance with his last request ; 
 but, owing to the exigencies of the military situation, the 
 22 
 
338 CAPTAIN DE CAULP'S BROTHER. 
 
 Federals being in possession of Chattanooga, I was unable 
 to do so. 
 
 Captain De Caulp's brother was also in the Southern army, 
 and also held the rank of captain. He died in Nashville just 
 after the close of the war, leaving a wife, who died in New 
 York. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 IN THE CONFEDERATE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Altered Circumstances. The Result of two Years and a half Experience 
 in Warfare. The Difference between the Emotions of a raw Recruit 
 and a Veteran. Difficulties in the Way of deciding what Course it was 
 best to pursue for the Future. I resolve to go to Richmond in Search 
 of active Employment of some Kind. The military Situation in the 
 Autumn of 1863. Concentration of the Armies at Richmond and Chat 
 tanooga. Richmond safe from Capture. The Results of the Battle 
 of Chickamauga. Rosecrans penned up in Chattanooga by Bragg. 
 The Pinch of the Fight approaching. Hopes of foreign Intervention. 
 
 An apparently encouraging Condition of Affairs I go to Richmond, 
 
 and have Interviews with President Davis and General Winder. I am 
 furnished by the latter with a Letter of Recommendation, and start on a 
 grand Tour through the Confederacy. Arrival at Mobile, and meeting 
 with old Army Friends. 
 
 | HEN, under the influence of the grief 
 caused by the sudden death of my second 
 husband, within so brief a period after 
 our marriage, I felt impelled to devote 
 anew to the task of advancing the cause of 
 the Confederacy by all the means in my power, the 
 circumstances were all materially different from what 
 they were when, the first time I was made a widow, I 
 started for Virginia, full of the idea of taking part in 
 whatever fighting was to be done. It was no longer 
 possible for me to figure as successfully in the character of 
 a soldier as I had done. My secret was now known to a 
 great many persons, and its discovery had already caused me 
 such annoyance that I hesitated about assuming my uniform 
 again, especially as I believed that, as a woman, I could per 
 form very efficient service if I were only afforded proper 
 opportunity. 
 
 At the time of my first husband's death, I was full of an idea 
 which had filled my brain ever since I could remember, and 
 
 339 
 
340 ANXIOUS FOR EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 was bent upon accomplishing it at all hazards. I had attired 
 myself in the uniform of an officer, had enlisted a large body 
 of men by my own unaided exertions, had marched them from 
 Arkansas to Pensacola, and was firmly resolved to see some 
 fighting, and to win some military glory, if any was to be 
 won. My desire was that my husband should command the 
 battalion I had raised, and should permit me to serve with 
 him. His death, however, frustrated my plans, and threw me 
 on my own resources. I was then inspired, not only with a 
 desire to win personal distinction, but to avenge him ; and I 
 started for the front with the vaguest possible idea concern 
 ing what warfare really was, or what I was to do. My main 
 thought, however, was to see a battle, and to take part in one. 
 I had been reading all my life about heroic deeds, and dream 
 ing day and night about the achievement of glory, and was, 
 perhaps, more impressed with the notion of becoming a second 
 Joan of Arc than anything else. 
 
 After nearly two years and a half experience of warfare, 
 these early ideas, when I reflected upon the hap-hazard man 
 ner in which I had started out, appeared ludicrous enough in 
 some of their aspects, and yet I would have given a great deal 
 could I have been impressed with some of my original en 
 thusiasm, when, a second time a widow, I made up my mind 
 again to take part, in some shape, in the great conflict which 
 was yet far from its close. 
 
 THE LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. 
 
 I had seen enough of fighting, enough of marching, enough 
 of camp life, enough of prisons and hospitals, and I had 
 passed through enough peril and suffering to satisy any rea 
 sonable human being. These experiences, however, while 
 they had made me weary of war, would also, I well knew, 
 especially qualify me to perform any work I might undertake 
 in a most satisfactory manner, and would render my services 
 much more valuable than they could have been in the early 
 days of the contest. It was a feverish desire to be in motion, 
 to be doing something, to have occupation for mind and body, 
 such as would prevent me from dwelling on my griefs, more 
 than any ambitious designs or aspirations for personal distinc 
 tions, that now impelled me to seek for employment in some 
 shape, under the Confederate government, which would enable 
 me to do something further to advance the interest of the 
 
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. 341 
 
 cause to which I had already given myself, heart and soul, 
 during more than two of the best years of my life. 
 
 That I did not feel exactly the same enthusiasm now that I 
 did in the spring of 1861, was due, not to any feeling of cold 
 ness towards the cause, nor to any lack of disposition to do 
 anything in my power to win the final victory, which I still 
 hoped, in spite of every discouragement, would crown our 
 efforts, but to circumstances which every veteran soldier will 
 appreciate. These circumstances were the more potent in 
 my case from the fact that I was a woman, and in endeavoring 
 to carry out my notions with regard to the best way of making 
 my services of the utmost value, was consequently hampered 
 in many ways that men were not. For having dared to 
 assume a man's garb, for the purpose of doing a man's work, I 
 had been treated with contumely, on more than one occasion, 
 by those who ought at least to have given me credit for my 
 intentions, and although my comrades of the camp and the 
 battle-field or at least all of them whose good opinion was 
 worth having esteemed me for what I had done, and for what 
 I tried to do, bestowing ample praise upon me for my valor and 
 efficiency as a soldier, I was getting out of the notion of sub 
 jecting myself to the liability of being locked up by every local 
 magistrate within whose jurisdiction I happened to find myself, 
 simply because I did not elect to dress according to his 
 notions of propriety. 
 
 A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 
 
 I was a little dubious, therefore, with regard to what course 
 it was best for me to pursue, especially as, apart from all other 
 considerations, my health was not so robust as it had been, 
 and my husband's fate was a warning to me not to expose 
 myself as I had been in the habit of 'doing, at least until I had 
 fully regained my strength. On reviewing the whole subject 
 in my mind, I became more than ever convinced that the 
 secret service rather than the army would afford me the best 
 field for the exercise of my talent, although I almost more 
 than half made up my mind to enter the army again, and try 
 my luck, as I had originally done, disguised as an officer, in 
 case I found it impossible to become attached to the secret 
 service department in the manner I wished. 
 
 I finally concluded that the best thing for me to do was to 
 go to Richmond, and if nothing else availed, to make a per- 
 
342 THE MILITARY SITUATION. 
 
 sonal appeal to President Davis, feeling assured that when he 
 heard my story he would appreciate the motives which ani 
 mated me, and would use his influence to have me assigned to 
 such duty as I was best qualified to perform in a satisfactory 
 manner. This resolve having once been made, I prepared, 
 without more delay, to visit the capital of the Confederacy, 
 leaving behind me Atlanta, with its mingled memories of 
 pleasure and pain. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OP THE WAR. 
 
 The military situation at this time the autumn of 1863 
 was of painful interest, and the fate of the Confederacy seemed 
 to hang trembling in the balance. In Virginia, General Lee 
 was defending Richmond with all his old success, and was 
 holding one immense army in check so effectively that the 
 prospect of ever entering the Confederate capital as conquerors 
 must have seemed to the enemy more remote than ever. In 
 the West and South, however, the Confederates had lost much, 
 and the question now with them was, whether they would be 
 able to hold what they had until the Federals were tired out 
 and exhausted, or until England and France, wearied of the 
 prolonged contest, consented 'to aid in terminating it by 
 recognizing the Confederacy, and perhaps by armed inter 
 vention. 
 
 It was known that there were dissensions at the North, and 
 that there was a strong anti-war party, which it was ex 
 pected would, ere long, make its power felt as it had never 
 done before ; and if the South could hold out for a season 
 longer, would insist upon a peace being concluded upon almost 
 any terms. Great expectations were also built upon foreign 
 intervention, which every one felt had been delayed longer 
 than there was any just reason for, but which it was thought 
 could not but take place shortly. Every little while exciting 
 rumors were set afloat, no one knew how or by whom, that 
 either France or England had recognized the Confederacy, 
 and many bitter disappointments were caused when their 
 falsity was proved. The people, however, hoped on, getting 
 poorer and poorer every day, and eagerly watching the prog 
 ress of the campaign around Chattanooga. 
 
 The Mississippi River was now entirely in the hands of the 
 Federals, and not only were the trans- Mississippi states, as far 
 as any effective military or political co-operation was con- 
 
THE CONFEDERATE CAUSE NOT HOPELESS. 343 
 
 cerned, lost to the Confederacy, but the question now was 
 whether the war was not to be transferred from the ground 
 west of the mountains to the rich fields of Georgia. Bragg 
 had been compelled to fall back with most of his forces to 
 Chattanooga, and had been expelled from that place, which was 
 now in the hands of the Federals. All efforts on the part of 
 the Federals to advance beyond Chattanooga, however, had 
 utterly failed, and the opinion, at the time of which I am 
 writing, was gaining ground that they had been caught in a 
 trap, and would, in a short time, be incapable of either ad 
 vancing or retreating. 
 
 While I was in the hospital, Bragg gained his great victory at 
 Chickamauga, and great hopes were excited that he would be 
 able to follow it up with effect, and succeed in destroying the 
 army of Rosecrans. Had he succeeded in doing this, the war 
 would have had a different ending, and the independence of 
 the South would have been secured. It was felt by every 
 body that the pinch of the fight was approaching, and that in 
 the neighborhood of Chattanooga, rather than in that of Rich 
 mond, would the decisive battle of the war be fought, and, it 
 was hoped, won for the Confederacy. 
 
 It was at Richmond and at Chattanooga that the contending 
 forces were massed, although there was plenty of fighting 
 going on elsewhere, and some of these minor campaigns were 
 of great importance in their influence on the fortunes of the 
 war, and did much to enable the Confederacy to prolong the 
 contest for nearly eighteen months. 
 
 Much as we had lost, the situation was not an altogether 
 discouraging one for the Confederacy. Richmond was appar 
 ently more secure than it had been two years and a half 
 before, and nearly all the honors of the war in that vicinity 
 had been carried off by the Confederates. Lee was making 
 himself a name as one of the greatest generals of the age, 
 while the Federals, although they changed the commanders 
 of their army continually, were making no headway against 
 him, and were in constant fear of an invasion of their own ter 
 ritory. In the South, Bragg had just achieved a great victory 
 over Rosecrans, and had him now penned up in Chattanooga, 
 from which it was next to impossible for him to escape in 
 either direction, and to keep him there, and either fight him: or 
 starve him into surrendering before sufficient re-enforcement 
 to enable him to assume the offensive, was the task the Con 
 federate army had before it. 
 
344 EXPECTATIONS NOT REALIZED. 
 
 Well, matters did not turn out as it was expected they 
 would. Bragg's victory at Chickamauga was a fruitless one, 
 except so far as it delayed the Federal advance from Chatta 
 nooga, and the army of Kosecrans was neither starved nor 
 beaten into subjection. On the contrary, Rosecrans was 
 superseded, and Grant was put in his place, to follow up the 
 victories he had won at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg ; 
 and the army was so greatly re-enforced that it was enabled 
 to press forward and menace Atlanta, and finally to capture 
 it. The results of that capture are well known. 
 
 OFF FOR RICHMOND AGAIN. 
 
 The capture of Atlanta, however, was a long way off when 
 I started for Richmond for the purpose of making a definite 
 offer of my services to the Confederate authorities there, and 
 was apparently as little likely to occur as was that of Rich 
 mond. Bad as the condition of things, in many particulars, 
 was, I was in a more hopeful frame of mind than I had been 
 for a long time, and I was anxious to labor, as I felt that I was 
 able to labor, in behalf of the cause. 
 
 Had I then known as much as I knew not a great while 
 after, I would not have put myself to the trouble of going to 
 Richmond for the purpose of asking for work, but would at 
 once have executed the project which I had frequently con 
 templated, and which I had more than once been on the point 
 of carrying into effect, and would have gone directly north, 
 and have put myself in communication with, the friends, sym 
 pathizers, and agents of the Confederacy there. This was the 
 true field for me to operate in, although I had no idea, at this 
 time, what opportunities a residence at the North would give 
 me for aiding the cause in a most efficient manner. It was 
 chance rather than design that finally took me within the 
 jurisdiction of the Federal government, and enabled me to do 
 more to baffle its efforts to crush the Confederacy by my opera 
 tions in the rear of its armies in one year, than I had been able 
 to do in three while endeavoring to fight them face to face. 
 
 INTERVIEWS WITH PRESIDENT DAVIS AND GENERAL WINDER. 
 
 With only the most indefinite plans for the future, and little 
 suspecting what exciting and perilous adventures fate yet had 
 in store for me, I proceeded, on my arrival in Richmond, to call 
 
SOMETHING BETTER THAN NOTHING. 345 
 
 on General Winder, and took measures to procure an interview 
 with President Davis. From General Winder I did not obtain 
 much satisfaction ; and Mr. Davis, while he was very kind to 
 me, did not give me a great deal of encouragement. I repre 
 sented to President Davis that I had been working hard for 
 the Confederacy, both as a soldier and a spy, and that I had 
 braved death on more than one desperately fought battle-field 
 while acting as an independent, and that now I thought I was 
 deserving of some official recognition. Moreover, I had lost 
 my husband through his devotion to the cause, and, both for 
 his sake and for my own, I desired that the government would 
 give me such a position in the secret service corps or else 
 where as would enable me to carry on with the best effect the 
 work that he and I had begun. 
 
 Mr. Davis was opposed to permitting me to serve in the 
 army as an officer, attired in male costume, while he had no 
 duties to which he could properly assign me as a woman. I 
 left his presence, not ungratified by the kindness of his man 
 ner towards me, and the sympathy which he expressed for my 
 bereavement, but none the less much disappointed at the non- 
 success of my interview with him. 
 
 Failing to obtain any satisfaction from Mr. Davis, I returned 
 to General Winder, but got comparatively little encourage 
 ment from him. He finally, however, consented to give me a 
 letter of recommendation to the commanding officer of the 
 forces in the South and West, and transportation. This was 
 not exactly what I wanted, but it was better than nothing ; 
 and I thought that, armed with such a letter, I could scarcely 
 fail to accomplish something that would be satisfactory to 
 myself, and of value to the cause. 
 
 ON ANOTHER GRAND TOUR. 
 
 Having obtained this important document I started off, and, 
 for the last time, made a grand tour of the entire Southern 
 Confederacy. Stopping from point to point, I gathered all the 
 information I could, and thoroughly posted myself with regard 
 to the situation, military, civil, and political, and endeav 
 ored to find a place where I could commence active operations 
 with the best chance of achieving something of importance. 
 
 I, however, during the course of a long journey, failed to 
 meet with the grand opportunity I sighed for, and met with 
 no adventure worthy of particular record, until finally I reached 
 
346 DISADVANTAGES OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT. 
 
 Mobile a city I had not visited since I marched through it in 
 1861 at the head of my gallant battalion of Arkansas Grays. 
 
 On arriving at Mobile, I took up my quarters at the Battle 
 House, with the intention of taking a good rest, for I was 
 weary with much travel, and, if possible, of arranging some 
 definite plan of action for the future. I was resolved now to 
 make a bold stroke of some kind, and on my own responsibility 
 if necessary, trusting that my usual good luck would accom 
 pany me in any enterprise I might undertake. 
 
 In Mobile I met quite a number of officers whom I had met 
 on the various battle-fields where I had figured, and received 
 the kindest and best attentions from them all. This was most 
 gratifying to me ; and the flattering commendations that were 
 bestowed upon me served to mitigate in a great degree the 
 disappointment I felt on account of the non-recognition of the 
 value of my services in other quarters. 
 
 I may as well say here, that in mentioning the disappoint 
 ments I have felt at different times at not being able to obtain 
 exactly the kind of official recognition I desired, I do not wish 
 to appear as complaining. That I did feel disappointed, is 
 true ; but reflection told me that if any one was to blame it 
 was myself. By entering the army as an independent, I 
 secured a freedom of action and opportunities for participa 
 ting in a great variety of adventures that I otherwise would not 
 have had, but I also cut myself off from opportunities of reg 
 ular promotion. When I resolved to start out as an indepen 
 dent, I was animated by a variety of motives, not the least of 
 .which was, that I believed I would be able to maintain my dis 
 guise to better advantage, and would have better opportunities 
 for escaping any unpleasant consequences in case of detection 
 than if I attached myself regularly to a command. I was right 
 in this, and am now convinced that, on the whole, the course I 
 pursued was the wisest one. 
 
 Not having been attached to a regular command, at least for 
 any great length of time, it was impossible for me, however, 
 to secure that standing with those who were best able to 
 reward my services that was necessary, while the full value 
 of my services could only be made known by my taking a 
 number of people into my confidence, and this I had great 
 objections to doing. As matters turned out, the peculiar 
 experiences through which I passed, during the first two 
 years of the war, were of the utmost value to me in a great 
 many ways in the prosecution of the very important work in 
 
AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. 347 
 
 which I subsequently engaged ; and I consequently had no cause 
 for regret at having followed the line of action I did. At the 
 time of which I am writing, however, I could not know what 
 the future would bring forth; and although, without being 
 aware of it, I was about to enter upon a series of enterprises 
 of great moment, all my plans seemed to have gone amiss, 
 and I certainly was not in the most pleasant state of mind 
 imaginable. 
 
 In writing this narrative, it has seemed to me that the only 
 proper method is to represent events as they actually occurred, 
 and to record the impressions they made upon me at the time 
 of occurrence, and not as they were colored by subsequent 
 developments. My ideas and feelings under particular cir 
 cumstances are as much a part of my story as the narrative 
 of actual events, for my proceedings were guided and influ 
 enced by them ; and this would scarcely be a fair record of 
 my career while in the Confederate service did I not make 
 some mention of them. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ON DUTY AS A SPY. 
 
 I receive a mysterious Note requesting me to meet the Writer. I go 
 to the appointed Place, and find an Officer of the Secret Service Corps 
 who wants me to go through the Lines with Despatches. I accept 
 the Commission, and the next Day go to Meridian for the Purpose of 
 completing my Arrangement and receiving my Instructions. A Visit 
 to General Ferguson's Headquarters. Final Instructions from the 
 General, who presents me with a Pistol. I start for the Federal 
 Lines, and ride all Night and all the next Day. A rough and toilsome 
 Journey. I spend the Night in a Negro's Cabin. Off again at three 
 o'clock in the Morning with an old Negro Man for a Guide. We 
 reach the Neighborhood of the Federal Pickets, and I send my Guide 
 back. I bury my Pistol in a Church. I am halted by a Picket- 
 guard and am taken to Moscow. A Cross-examination by the Colonel 
 in Command. Satisfactory Result for myself. On the Train for 
 Memphis. Insulting Remarks from the Soldiers. A Major inter 
 feres for my Protection. Off for General Washburn's Headquarters. 
 
 HORTLY after my arrival at Mobile, I received 
 a rather mysterious note in a masculine hand, 
 asking me to meet the writer that evening at 
 the corner of the square, but giving no hint 
 whatever of the purpose of the invitation. I 
 hesitated for some little time about taking any no 
 tice of the request, thinking that if the writer had 
 any real business "with me, he would seek me out and 
 communicate with me in a some less mysterious way. 
 On a little reflection, however, I concluded that it 
 would be best for me to meet the gentleman, whoever he 
 might be, according to the terms of his invitation, and to 
 find out who he was and what he wanted. I felt tol 
 erably well able to take care of myself, although I was 
 aware that the circumstances of my army career being rather 
 extensively known, I was especially liable to annoyances of a 
 peculiarly unpleasant kind from impertinent people. Any 
 thing of this sort I was resolved to resent in such a manner that 
 
 348 
 
A MATTER OF IMPORTANCE. 349 
 
 the offender would have occasion to beware of me in the 
 future. 
 
 The fact, however, that I was travelling under credentials 
 from General Winder, and was in a manner an attach^ of the 
 Secret Service Department, rendered it not improbable that 
 this was an application for me to undertake some such enter 
 prise as I for a long time had been ardently desirous of 
 engaging in. The more I considered the matter, the more I 
 was disposed to take this view of it, and accordingly, at the 
 hour named, I was promptly at the rendezvous, wondering 
 what the result of the adventure would be. 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CONFERENCE. 
 
 My surmise proved to be correct. I had scarcely arrived 
 at the corner of the square, when my correspondent, who I 
 discovered was Lieutenant Shorter, of Arkansas, advanced 
 towards me, and said, " Good evening. I am glad to see you. 
 How have you been ? " 
 
 " I am quite well," I replied ; and waited for him to intro 
 duce the subject concerning which he was evidently desirous 
 of conversing with me. 
 
 After a few inconsequential remarks on either side, he said, 
 " I see that you received my note." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, you must excuse me for asking for a secret interview 
 like this, but the matter I wanted to talk to you about is of 
 great importance, and, as in these times, we don't know whom 
 to trust, it was necessary that I should have an opportunity to 
 carry on our conversation without danger of being watched 
 or overheard. You have had considerable experience in run 
 ning through the lines, and in spy and secret service duty, have 
 you not?" 
 
 " Yes," I replied ; " I have done something in that line." 
 
 " You have usually been tolerably lucky, haven't you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have had reasonably good luck. I got caught once 
 in New Orleans, but that was because the parties to whom I 
 had delivered my despatches were captured. Butler tried his 
 hand at frightening me, but he did not succeed very well, and 
 I managed to slip away from him before he had any positive 
 evidence against me which would have justified him in treat 
 ing me as a spy." 
 
 " Well, you're just the kind I want, for I have a job on hand 
 
350 SECRET SERVICE BUSINESS. 
 
 that will require both skill and nerve, and I would like you to 
 undertake it, especially as you seem to have a talent for dis 
 guising yourself." 
 
 I concluded that I would find out exactly what he wanted 
 me to do, before I gave him any satisfaction ; so I said, 
 " What kind of a job is it ? I have risked my neck pretty 
 often , without getting very many thanks for it, and I don't 
 know that I care a great deal about running all kinds of risks 
 for little glory, and no more substantial reward. " 
 
 " 0, come, now," said he, " you must not talk that way. 
 Now is the very time that your services will be worth some 
 thing ; and this bit of business that I am anxious for you to 
 undertake, is of such a nature, that it would not do to give it 
 to any but a first-rate hand." 
 
 " Well, what is it ? When I know what you want me to do, 
 I will be better able to say whether it would be worth my 
 while to do it." 
 
 " Wouldn't you like to take a trip through the lines ? " 
 said the lieutenant. 
 
 " That depends," said I. " What do you want me to make 
 the trip for ? " 
 
 " I will tell you that, when you tell me whether you 
 will go." 
 
 I considered a moment, and then said, " Yes, I will go, if 
 it is for anything to serve the cause." 
 
 " That's the way to talk," said he. " I am in the secret 
 service, and I want you to take a despatch through the lines 
 and give it to a certain party. It will be a big thing if you 
 succeed, as I think you will, or I wouldn't have picked you 
 out for the business." 
 
 " Well," said I, " I will make an effort, and do my best to 
 succeed." 
 
 , " 0, you must succeed," said the lieutenant ; " for there will 
 be the devil to pay if the Feds discover what you are up to, 
 and you will have to do your prettiest to prevent them from 
 even suspecting that you are up to any unlawful tricks." 
 
 " I'll do my best, and I can't do any more than that ; but as 
 I have fooled them before, so I guess I can again." 
 
 " Well," said he, " that's all right. Now, what I want you 
 to do is, to meet me to-morrow evening at Meridian. I will 
 have everything ready for you, and will give you your instruc 
 tions, and you be prepared for a hard journey. In the mean 
 time, keep quiet, and don't whisper a word to anybody." 
 
ALTERED DESPATCHES. 351 
 
 We then said good night and parted, I going back to the 
 hotel to do a heap of thinking before I went to sleep. Lieu 
 tenant Shorter, beyond saying that I was to go through the 
 lines, and endeavoring to impress upon me the great importance 
 of the enterprise, had given me no hint of where I was to go, 
 or what the exact nature of my errand would be, and I con 
 sequently had to depend upon myself in making such prepara 
 tions as were necessary. Having considered the subject as 
 well as I was able, I concluded to procure a very plain suit 
 of woman's clothing, and to make up a small bundle of such 
 few extra articles besides those upon my back, as I thought I 
 would require. My arrangements having been all made, I 
 started for Meridian the next day, and on my arrival at that 
 place found Lieutenant Shorter waiting for me at the depot. 
 Under his escort I went to the hotel kept by a Mr. Jones, and 
 was received with great cordiality by him and by his wife. 
 The lady especially was most attentive to me, and did every 
 thing in her power to make me comfortable. 
 
 I appreciated her kind attentions the more highly as I was 
 far from being well, and felt that I was scarcely doing either 
 myself or the others interested justice in undertaking such 
 an enterprise, under a strong liability that I might be taken 
 seriously sick before concluding it. I had a great deal of 
 confidence, however, in my power of will, and having promised 
 Lieutenant Shorter that I would go, I was determined to do 
 so, especially as he represented the business as being most 
 urgent. 
 
 WHAT I WAS TO DO. 
 
 Having obtained a room where we could converse priVately, 
 the lieutenant proceeded to explain what he wanted me to do, 
 and to give me directions for proceeding. He said that he 
 had captured a spy belonging to the Federal General Hurl- 
 but's command, and had taken from him a paper containing 
 quite accurate accounts of the forces of Chalmers, Forrest, 
 Richardson, and Ferguson, and their movements. This he 
 had changed so that it would throw the enemy on the wrong 
 scent, and I was to take it to Memphis and deliver it to the 
 Federal General Washburn, telling him such a story as would 
 induce him to believe that I had obtained it from the spy. 
 He also had a despatch for Forrest, which he wanted me to 
 carry to the Confederate secret agent in Memphis, telling me 
 where to find him, describing him so that, I would know him, 
 
352 AT GENERAL FERGUSON'S HEADQUARTERS. 
 
 and giving me the password which would enable me to com 
 municate with him without difficulty. 
 
 " Now," said Shorter, when he had finished all his explana 
 tions, " you see that you will have to keep your wits about 
 you, for if you let the Feds get their fingers on these papers 
 it will be all up with you. When you reach Memphis, deliver 
 this bogus account of the movement of our troops to General 
 Washburn immediately, and get him and his people well 
 impressed with the idea that you are on their side ; then, at 
 the earliest possible moment, give this despatch for Forrest 
 to our agent. I will know by the success of the movement 
 that Forrest is to make whether you are successful or not." 
 
 After some further conversation about the best plan of 
 proceeding, and further explanations about what I should do, 
 Lieutenant Shorter suggested some changes in my dress, his 
 idea being, that I should personate a poor countrywoman, 
 who had lost her husband at the outbreak of the war, and who 
 was flying into the Federal lines for protection. He also gave 
 me letters to the different Confederate commanders whom I 
 would meet on my road, directing them to assist me, and put 
 in my hand the sum of one hundred and thirty-six dollars in 
 greenbacks which had been taken from the captured spy. 
 This, he thought, would see me through, but in case it should 
 not prove sufficient, he said, that if I made my wants known, 
 any commanding officer I met would supply me with funds, 
 and that after I reached Memphis I would find plenty of 
 friends of the Confederacy upon whom I could call for 
 assistance. 
 
 Everything being in readiness for my journey, the next 
 morning I took the train for Okolona, where, procuring a pass 
 from Captain Mariotta, the provost marshal, I hired a convey 
 ance, and drove to the headquarters of General Ferguson. 
 On showing my order for assistance to the general, he received 
 me with the greatest politeness, and invited me into his 
 quarters, where he gave me some information and additional 
 instructions, and reiterated Lieutenant Shorter's cautions to 
 be vigilant and careful, as I was on a mission of great 
 importance. 
 
 The general then handed me ninety dollars, and presented 
 me with a pistol, which he said was one of a pair he had 
 carried through the war. The money he was sure I would 
 need, and the pistol might be a handy thing to have in case I 
 should be compelled to defend myself, for my journey would 
 
A ROUGH SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT. 353 
 
 take me through a rough country, and I might chance to meet 
 with stragglers who would give me trouble. He advised me, 
 however, not to use the weapon except in case of absolute 
 necessity, and especially not to carry it with me into the 
 Federal lines, for if it was discovered that I had it about me, 
 it might excite suspicions that I was a spy, when such a thing 
 would not otherwise be thought of. 
 
 A fine horse having been provided for me, I said adieu to 
 General Ferguson, who wished me good luck, and started off 
 with an escort who was to conduct me to a point somewhere 
 to the north-east of Holly Springs, from whence I would have 
 to make my way alone, getting into the Federal lines as best 
 I could. 
 
 A ROUGH JOURNEY. 
 
 In spite of the fact that I was quite sick, and sometimes 
 felt that I could scarcely sit upon my horse, I rode all that 
 night and nearly all the next day, through lonesome woods, 
 past desolate clearings, occupied, if at all, by poor negroes, 
 or even poorer whites, all of whom had a half-terrified look, as 
 if they were expecting every moment to have a rapacious 
 soldiery come tramping through their little patches of ground, 
 and appropriating whatever was eatable or worth taking, 
 through gullies and ravines, and over the roughest kind of 
 roads, or sometimes no roads at all. At length we reached a 
 negro's cabin, which, although it was but a poor shelter, was 
 better than nothing at all, and feeling too ill to proceed any 
 farther without rest and refreshments, I resolved to stop there 
 all night. 
 
 The inhabitants of the cabin were not very much inclined 
 to be over communicative, and apparently did not want me for 
 a lodger, and their abode was not one that I would have 
 cared to make a prolonged sojourn in. I was too much of a 
 veteran campaigner, however, to be over fastidious about my 
 accommodations for a single night, and was too sick not to 
 find any shelter welcome. From what I could learn from 
 these people, I was not very many miles from the Federal 
 lines, and I secured their good will, to a reasonable degree, 
 by promising to pay well for my night's lodging, and what 
 was given me to eat, and finally succeeded in inducing them 
 to bestir themselves to make me as comfortable as circum 
 stances would permit. I also struck up a bargain with an old 
 man who appeared to be the head of the household, such as it 
 23 
 
354 AN EARLY MORNING RIDE. 
 
 was, to act as a guide for me in the morning, and to conduct 
 me to the neighborhood of the Federal pickets. 
 
 I wished my escort now to return to General Ferguson's 
 headquarters, but, as he suggested that the negroes might 
 prove treacherous, we both concluded that it would be best 
 for him to remain until I was fairly started in the morning on 
 my way to the Federal lines. A supper which, under some 
 circumstances I would scarcely have found eatable, was pre 
 pared for us, and I partook of it with a certain degree of 
 relish, despite the coarse quality of the food, being too tired 
 and hungry to be critical or squeamish. Then, completely 
 used up by my long and toilsome ride, I retired to the misera 
 ble bed that was assigned me, and ere long was in happy 
 obliviousness of the cares and trials of this world. 
 
 About three o'clock in the morning I was up and ready 
 to start, after having made a hasty toilet, and after a break 
 fast which served to satisfy my hunger, but which certainly 
 did not tempt my palate. My escort now bade me good -by, 
 and was soon out of sight, on his way back to camp, while 
 I, mounted on a little pony, and with the old negro to lead 
 the way, faced in the opposite direction. 
 
 Through woods, over fields, along rough country roads, 
 and often along mere pathways that could not be called roads 
 at all, making short cuts wherever we saw a chance to do 
 so, often dubious as to exactly where we were, and dreading 
 lest we should come suddenly upon some picket-station, and 
 thus lose a chance of making a proper diplomatic approach, 
 the negro and I pursued our way for several hours during the 
 damp and dismal gray morning twilight. 
 
 APPROACHING THE FEDERAL LINES. 
 
 Not having the most implicit confidence in my guide, I 
 took care to keep him in front of me all the time, and had my 
 hand constantly upon the pistol which General Ferguson had 
 given me, and which I was resolved to use upon my colored 
 companion in case he should be inclined to act treacherously. 
 Fortunately there was no occasion for any violence, and our 
 journey continued without interruption, except such as was 
 caused by the rough nature of the ground, until, at length, I 
 spied through the trees a little church. It was now broad 
 daylight, although the sun was not yet up, and the surround 
 ings of this building, as it was seen through the fog-laden 
 

 PREPARING TO MEET THE ENEMY. 355 
 
 atmosphere, were dismal enough. I surmised, from what my 
 guide had told me before we started out, that the Federal 
 pickets must be somewhere near, and I concluded that it was 
 time for me to get rid of the darkey ; so I said to him, " Isn't 
 that the church where you said you saw the Yankee 
 soldiers ? " 
 
 " Yes, miss, dat's de place ; dey's jes' beyond dat church a 
 bit, or dey was las' week." 
 
 " Well, I want to find them ; but I guess, if you don't want 
 them to catch you, you'd better get back as quick as you can." 
 
 " Lord, miss, I doesn't want dem to catch me, sure." 
 
 " Well, then, you will have to travel off as fast as you are 
 able ; if you don't, they will have you, and will run you off, 
 and give you to the abolitionists." 
 
 I said this in a very severe way, and it evidently made an 
 impression on the darkey, who probably thought the abolition 
 ists were cannibals, who would proceed to use him as a sub 
 stitute for beef. He opened his eyes as big as saucers, and 
 his teeth chattered so that he could scarcely say, " Good-by, 
 miss," as he darted off, clutching the ten-dollar Confederate 
 bill that I had handed him in payment for his services. 
 
 Watching the old negro until he was out of sight, I rode up 
 to the church, and dismounting, entered the building. My 
 first care now was to get rid of my pistol, as I thought it 
 would most probably be taken from me if the Federals found 
 that I had it ; and the discovery of it, secreted upon my per 
 son, would be not unlikely to cause me to be suspected of 
 being a spy, which, of course, was the very thing I was most 
 anxious to avoid. Raising a plank in the flooring, I put the 
 pistol under it, and covered it well with dirt. My intention 
 was to return this way, and I expected to get the weapon, 
 and give it back to General Ferguson. Circumstances, how 
 ever, induced me to change my plans j and as I have never 
 visited the spot since, if the church is still standing, the pistol 
 is probably where I placed it, for I buried it tolerably deep, 
 and smoothed the dirt well over it, so that it would not be 
 likely to be discovered except by accident. 
 
 As I stated before, my disguise, as I had arranged it with 
 Lieutenant Shorter, was that of a poor countrywoman, and 
 the story I was to tell was, that I was a widow, and was flying 
 for protection to the Federal lines. Having disposed of the 
 pistol, I sat down for a few minutes to think over the situa 
 tion, and to decide upon the best method of procedure with 
 
356 ARRIVAL AT A FEDERAL OUTPOST. 
 
 the first Federal soldier I met. Experience had taught me, 
 however, that no settled plan, in a matter of this kind, 
 amounts to much, so far as the details are concerned, and that 
 it is necessary to be governed by circumstances. I resolved, 
 therefore, to regulate my conduct and conversation according 
 to the character and behavior of those I chanced to meet j 
 and so, having first ascertained that my papers were all right, 
 I mounted my pony again, and started in the direction where 
 I supposed I would find the Federal camp. 
 
 MEETING A FEDERAL PICKET. 
 
 Letting my pony take his own gait and he was not in 
 clined to make his pace any more rapid than there was neces 
 sity for I travelled for a couple of miles before I saw any 
 one. At length a picket, who had evidently been watching 
 me for some time, stepped out of the woods into the road, 
 and when I came up to him, he halted me, and asked where 
 I was from, and where I was going. 
 
 " Good morning, sir/' I said, in an innocent, unsophisticated 
 sort of way. " Are you commanding this outpost ? " 
 
 " No," he replied ; " what do you want ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, I wish you would tell the captain I want to see 
 him." 
 
 " What do you want with the captain ? " 
 
 " I have got a message to give the captain, but I can't give 
 it to any one else." 
 
 " He is over there in the woods." 
 
 " Well, you just tell him that I want to see him quick, about 
 something very important." 
 
 The soldier then called to his officer, and in a few moments 
 up stepped a good-looking young lieutenant, whose blouse 
 was badly out at the elbows, and whose clothing generally 
 bore marks of very hard service. Although his attire was 
 not of the most elegant description, he was a gentleman, and, 
 as he approached me, he tipped his hat, and said, with a 
 pleasant smile. " Good morning, madam ; what is it you 
 wish?" 
 
 " Are you the captain ? " I queried. 
 
 " I am in command of this picket guard," he replied. 
 
 "Well, captain," said I, "I want to go to Memphis, to see 
 General Washburn. I have some papers here for him." 
 
 This made him start a little, and he began to suspect that 
 
JAMES LONGSTREET. 
 
 JUBAL EARLY. 
 
 TIIOMAS J. (STONEWALL) JACKSON. 
 
 ROBERT E. LEE. 
 
SUSPECTED OP BEING A SPY. 357 
 
 he had a matter of serious business on hand, and, evidently 
 with a different interest in me from what he had felt before, 
 he inquired, with a rather severe and serious air, " Where are 
 you from, madam ? " 
 
 " I am from Holly Springs. A man there gave me these 
 papers, and told me that if I would get them through he 
 would pay me a hundred dollars." 
 
 " What kind of looking man was he, and where did he go 
 after he left you ? " 
 
 " I mustn't tell you that, sir ; the man said not to tell any 
 thing about him, except to the one these papers are for, and 
 he would understand all about it." 
 
 " Well, madam, you will have to go with me to headquar 
 ters. When we get there I will see what can be done for 
 you." 
 
 His relief came, not a great while after, and off we started 
 for headquarters. As I had informed my new-made friend 
 that I was hungry, having ridden for a considerable distance 
 since very early in the morning, he stopped with me at a 
 white house near the road, and sending the guard on, went 
 in with me, and asked the woman, who appeared to be mis 
 tress of the establishment, to give me some breakfast. Quite 
 a comfortable meal was soon in readiness, and while I was 
 eating, the lieutenant busied himself in trying to ascertain 
 something about the number and position of the Confederate 
 troops. I told him that there seemed to be a large force of 
 them near Holly Springs, but beyond that statement, which 
 was, I believe, far from being the truth, I atn afraid he did 
 not find me a very satisfactory witness. I am sure that such 
 information as I did give him was not likely to be of very 
 great use. 
 
 UNPLEASANT ATTENTIONS FROM THE SOLDIERS. 
 
 After I had finished my breakfast, the lieutenant took me 
 to Moscow, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and 
 here, for the first time, I was subjected to very serious annoy 
 ance, and first began to appreciate the fact that I was en 
 gaged in a particularly risky undertaking. The soldiers, 
 seeing me coming into the town mounted on a ragged little 
 pony, and under the escort of an officer, jumped at the con 
 clusion that I was a spy, and commenced to gather round me 
 in crowds. 
 
358 A PLAUSIBLE STORY. 
 
 " Who is she ? " some one asked. 
 
 " O, she's a spy that the Illinois picket captured. " 
 
 " You're gone up ! " yelled some fellow in the crowd. 
 
 " Why don't they hang her ? " was the pleasant inquiry of 
 another. 
 
 These and other cheering comments greeted me on all 
 sides, and some of the brutal fellows pushed against me, and 
 struck my pony, and otherwise made my progress through the 
 streets exceedingly unpleasant, notwithstanding the efforts of 
 the lieutenant to protect me. 
 
 Finally we reached the building occupied by the colonel in 
 command, and I was ushered by that official into a private 
 room, in the rear of the one used as an office. The lieutenant 
 accompanied me, and related the manner of my coming to the 
 picket station, and the story which I had told him. 
 
 UNDER CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 The colonel then proceeded to cross-question me, being 
 apparently desirous of finding out whether I was possessed 
 of any information worth his knowing, as well as whether I 
 was exactly what I professed to be. I nattered myself that 
 I played my part tolerably well. I knew very little about the 
 movements of the Confederates, or their number, but) under 
 the process of rigid cross-questioning to which I was sub 
 jected, I said just enough to stimulate curiosity, pretending 
 that what I was telling was what I had picked up merely 
 incidentally, and that, as I took no interest in the fighting 
 that was going on, except to desire to get as far away from it 
 as possible, I really knew scarcely anything, except from 
 rumor. 
 
 As for myself, I stuck close to one simple story. I was a 
 poor widow woman, whose husband had died about the time 
 of the breaking out of the war ; I was for the Union, and had 
 been badly treated by the rebels, who had robbed me of 
 nearly everything, and I had been anxious to get away for 
 some time with a little money I had collected, and had finally 
 got tired of waiting for the Federal troops to come down my 
 way, and had resolved to try and get through the lines ; that 
 a man had promised I should be paid a hundred dollars if I 
 would carry a despatch to General Washburn, at Memphis, 
 and had assisted me to get off; that I was to deliver the 
 papers to General Washburn only, and was to tell him alone 
 
AN UNSUCCESSFUL CROSS-EXAMINATION. 359 
 
 certain things that the man had told me ; I had some friends 
 in Ohio, to whom I was anxious to go, and I hoped that Gen 
 eral Washburn, after I had given the despatch to him, would 
 pay me the hundred dollars, and furnish me with a pass to go 
 North. 
 
 The colonel tried to make me vary this story, and he sev 
 eral times pretended that I had contradicted myself. He was 
 tolerably smart at a cross-examination, but not by any means 
 smart enough for the subject he had to deal with on this 
 occasion. I had the most innocent air in the world about me, 
 and pretended, half the time, that I was so stupid that I 
 could not understand what his interrogatories meant, and, 
 instead of answering them, would go off into a long story 
 about my troubles, and the hardships I had suffered, and the 
 bad treatment I had received. The colonel then tried to 
 induce me to give him the despatch, saying that he would 
 pay me the hundred dollars, and would forward it to General 
 Washburn. This I refused to do, as I had promised not to 
 let anybody but the general have it, if I could help it. 
 Neither would I tell who it was that had intrusted me with 
 the despatch, or give any clew to the message for the general 
 he had intrusted me to deliver by word of mouth. 
 
 In fine, the colonel was practically no wiser when he had 
 finished than when he commenced, and so, finding that no 
 information worth talking about was to be obtained from me, 
 he said, " Where will you go, if I give you a pass ? " at the 
 same time winking at the lieutenant. 
 
 " I want to go to Memphis, sir, to give this paper to General 
 Washburn, and I hope that the general will be kind enough 
 to send me on to Ohio." 
 
 " Have you any money ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I have about one hundred and fifty dollars." 
 
 u Confederate money, isn't it?" 
 
 " No, sir ; it's greenbacks. I wouldn't have that rebel 
 trash ; it isn't worth anything." 
 
 " Well, madam," then said the colonel, " you will remain 
 here until the train is ready to start, and I will see, in the 
 mean time, what I can do for you." 
 
 The colonel then went out ; but the lieutenant remained, 
 and engaged in a general sort of a conversation with me for 
 some time. About noon, he suggested that perhaps I was 
 hungry, and went and procured me something to eat. The 
 train came in at one o'clock, and I proceeded to the depot 
 
360 IMPROVING AN ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 under the escort of the two officers ; the colonel, in response 
 to my request that the soldiers should not annoy me as they 
 had done in the morning, assuring me that he regretted any 
 thing of the kind had happened, and promising that he would 
 see that I was protected from insult. Whether the presence 
 of the colonel was the sole cause of the difference in their 
 behavior or not, I cannot say, but the soldiers kept their dis 
 tance as we were going to the depot, and only stared at me. 
 When we reached the depot, the colonel procured me a ticket, 
 and gave me five dollars, and I overheard him say, in an un 
 dertone, to the lieutenant, " You get in the rear car, and keep 
 an eye on her movements. I think that she is all right, but it 
 would be just as well to watch her." 
 
 The lieutenant said, " 0, there's no doubt in my mind but 
 she is all right." 
 
 Thfs little conversation made me smile to myself, and served 
 to convince me that I would have no trouble in getting along 
 nicely with my friend the lieutenant. 
 
 The colonel moved off, and the lieutenant and I stepped 
 aboard the train, a half dozen soldiers who were near making 
 such comments as, " She's gone up." " I guess she'll hang.' 7 
 " Hanging's too good for a spy." I took no notice of them, 
 however, but seated myself on the opposite side of the car 
 from where they were standing. The lieutenant was over 
 whelmingly polite, and after having got me fixed comfortably 
 in my seat, he said, in a low tone, " I may go up with you as 
 far as my camp, if I can get any one to hold my horse." 
 
 I thought that this would be a good chance to improve my 
 acquaintance with him, and perhaps do something for the fur 
 therance of my plans ; so I said, " 0, I would be so glad if 
 you would. I would so much like to have company." And I 
 smiled on him as sweetly as I was able, to impress him with 
 the idea that I profoundly appreciated his courtesy. The 
 young fellow was evidently more than half convinced that he 
 had made a conquest, while I was quite sure that I had. If 
 he had known what my real feelings were, and with what 
 entire willingness I would have made a prisoner of him, could 
 I have got him into the Confederate lines, perhaps he would 
 not have been quite so eager for my society. 
 
 When the lieutenant left, the soldiers began to crowd about 
 the windows of the car, for the purpose of staring at me, and 
 using towards me the same kind of abusive language as that 
 which I have already quoted. I came to the conclusion that 
 
INSULTS FROM THE SOLDIERS. 361 
 
 there must be rather lax discipline when a woman, ^jtuated as I 
 was, who was especially under the protection of the officers of 
 the command, and whom the colonel had given orders should 
 not be insulted in any way, could be subjected to such continued 
 ill usage as this. I was the more indignant, as there were 
 several officers standing by, who took no notice of the behavior 
 of the men, and made no effort whatever to prevent them 
 from indulging in what, under any circumstances, was a mean 
 and cowardly pastime. At length, provoked beyond measure, 
 I called to an officer near, who wore a major's uniform, and 
 said to him, "I would thank you, sir, to do something to stop 
 the men from insulting me. I am travelling under a pass 
 from the colonel, and he promised that I should not be an 
 noyed in this manner." 
 
 The major very promptly came forward, and pushing some 
 of the soldiers away from the windows, said, " Men, keep 
 quiet, and do not insult this lady. She is on our side ; she is 
 Union." And then, turning to me, he remarked, " 0, you 
 mustn't mind them. You see, they have got it into their 
 heads that you are a spy. They won't trouble you any 
 more." 
 
 It struck me, as the major was making this little speech, 
 that the soldiers were wiser than some of their officers, al 
 though I did not feel any more amiable towards them on 
 that account. I, however, thanked the major for his prompt 
 ness in coming to my protection, and we passed a few words, 
 the idea entering my head that if I could fall into a conversa 
 tion with him I might be able to beguile him into giving me 
 some points of information worth having. Before, however, 
 we had an opportunity to do more than exchange the ordinary 
 civilities of the day, the train began to move, and I was un 
 able to improve my acquaintance with him. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SENDING INFORMATION TO THE CONFEDERATES FROM 
 
 MEMPHIS. 
 
 My Friend, the Lieutenant, concludes that he will make himself better ac 
 quainted with me. Indiscreet Confidences. Some of the Traits of 
 human Nature. The Kind of Secrets Women can keep. Women 
 better than Men for certain Kinds of Secret Service Duty. The Lieu 
 tenant wants to know all about me. I suspect that he has matrimonial 
 Inclinations. He is anxious to discover whether I have any wealthy 
 Relations. I am induced to think that I can make him useful in obtain 
 ing Information with Regard to the Federal Movements. The Lieuten 
 ant expresses his Opinion about the War. Arrival at Memphis. 
 Visit to the Provost Marshal's Office. General Washburn too ill to see 
 me . I enclose him the bogus Despatch I have for him with an explan 
 atory Note. The Lieutenant escorts me to the Hardwick House, and 
 I request him to call in the Morning. Procuring a Change of Dress 
 through One of the Servants, I slip out, and have an Interview with my 
 Confederate, and give him the Despatch for General Forrest. On 
 returning to the Hotel, I meet the Lieutenant on the Street, but manage 
 to pass him without being observed. Satisfactory Accomplishment of 
 my Errand. 
 
 CONCLUDED that my friend, the lieutenant, had 
 deserted me, for which I was inclined to be sorry ; 
 for he was apparently an agreeable enough young 
 fellow, and I was rather anxious than otherwise to 
 have his company as far as Memphis. If any 
 doubts as to my being " all right," as the colonel 
 had expressed it, still lingered in his mind, I thought 
 that I would not only be able to remove them before 
 our journey's end, but that I might be able so to insin 
 uate myself into his confidence that I could learn 
 something from him. I also wished him to go to Mem 
 phis with me, for I felt that if I put in an appearance there, 
 under the escort of a Federal officer who would vouch for me, 
 my status with the people at headquarters would be more sat 
 isfactory than if I went alone. In performing spy duty, there 
 is nothing like having a friend at headquarters to introduce 
 
 362 
 
WOMEN AS SECRET-KEEPERS. 363 
 
 you, and to certify to your intentions being such as would meet 
 with approbation. 
 
 As matters turned out, the lieutenant not only did accom 
 pany me, but he let out many things that he ought to have 
 kept quiet about, knowing, as he did, the manner in which I 
 had come into the lines, and having no assurance whatever 
 beyond my bare word that I was not a spy. To be sure, the 
 information I obtained from him with regard to the main object 
 of my errand was not very momentous, for I was afraid to say 
 too much on points relating to my errand ; but I, without any 
 difficulty, learned enough to enable me to know exactly how 
 to go to work to find out a great deal more. Besides this, he 
 was really of much assistance to me in other ways, and saved 
 me considerable trouble at headquarters for all of which I 
 hope I was duly thankful. 
 
 ABOUT KEEPING SECRETS. 
 
 It may be thought that an officer of the experience of this 
 one he had been through the war from the beginning 
 would have understood his business sufficiently by this time 
 to have known how to hold his tongue concerning matters that 
 it was desirable the enemy should not become informed of, 
 when in the society of a person whom he well knew might be 
 a spy. If all the officers and men in an army, however, were 
 endowed with, not wisdom only, but plain common sense, the 
 business of the secret service agents would be a very much 
 more difficult and hazardous one than it really is. The young 
 fellow was only a lieutenant, with no great responsibilities, 
 while some of my most brilliant successes in the way of ob 
 taining information have been with generals, and even with 
 their superiors, as the reader will discover, if he feels suffi 
 cient interest in my story to follow it to the end. 
 
 The fact is, that human nature is greatly given to confi 
 dence ; so much so, that the most unconfiding and suspicious 
 people are usually the easiest to extract any desired informa 
 tion from, provided you go the right way about it. This may 
 seem to be a paradox ; but it is not : it is merely a statement 
 of a peculiar trait of .human nature. Women have the repu 
 tation of being bad secret-keepers. Well, that depends on 
 circumstances. I have always succeeded in keeping mine, 
 when I have had any worth keeping ; and I have always found 
 it more difficult to beguile women than men into telling me 
 
364 MAKING HIMSELF AGREEABLE. 
 
 what I have wanted to know, when they had the slightest 
 reason to suspect that I was not a suitable recipient of their 
 confidence. The truth seems to be, that while women find it 
 often troublesome, and well nigh impossible, to keep little 
 and inconsequential secrets, they are first-rate hands at keep 
 ing great ones. 
 
 For certain kinds of secret service work women are, out of 
 all comparison, superior to men. This, I believe, is acknowl 
 edged by all detectives and others who have been compelled 
 to employ secret agents. One reason for this is, that women, 
 when they undertake a secret service job, are really quicker 
 witted and more wide awake than men; they more easily 
 deceive other people, and are less easily imposed upon. Of 
 course there is a great deal of secret service work for which 
 women are not well fitted, and much that it is scarcely possi 
 ble for them to perform at all ; but, as a rule, for an enterprise 
 that requires real finesse, a woman will be likely to accomplish 
 far more than a man. 
 
 I was just thinking that my lieutenant had deserted me, or 
 that he was in another car for the purpose of keeping an eye 
 on me unobserved, when he appeared beside me, having 
 jumped on the rear end of the car as it was starting. 
 
 He said, " You have no objections to my occupying the same 
 seat with you, have you, madam ?" 
 
 " 0, no, sir ! " I replied ; " I shall be exceedingly glad to 
 have the pleasure of your society, so far as you are going." 
 
 " Well, I only intend going up to my camp now, but 1 have 
 half a mind to run on as far as Memphis that is, if my com 
 pany will not be disagreeable to you." 
 
 " I will be very greatly pleased if you will go through with 
 me. It has been a long time since I have met any agreeable 
 gentlemen, and I particularly admire officers." 
 
 As I said this I gave him a killing glance, and then dropped 
 my eyes as if Mdf ashamed of having made such a bold ad 
 vance to him. The bait took, however, as I expected it 
 would ; and the lieutenant, giving his mustache a twist, and 
 running his hand through his hair, settled himself down in the 
 seat with a most self-satisfied air, evidently supposing that the 
 conquest of my heart was more than half completed, and be 
 gan to make himself as agreeable as he knew how. Finesse 
 was certainly not this youth's most marked characteristic, and 
 he went about making himself agreeable, and endeavoring to 
 discover who I was, where I came from, and all about me, in 
 
MAKING AN IMPRESSION. 365 
 
 such an awkward, lubberly manner, that it was mere play for 
 me to impose upon him. 
 
 MATTERS MATRIMONIAL AND OTHERWISE. 
 
 He had not been seated more than a minute or two before 
 he blurted out, " I guess you're married ain't you?" 
 
 " No, sir ; I'm a widow." 
 
 " Is that so ? Well, now, about how long has the old man 
 been dead ? " 
 
 " My husband died shortly after the breaking out of the 
 war. I have been a widow nearly three years." 
 
 " Well, that's a pretty good while to be a widow ; but I 
 reckon men are scarce down your way. Got any children ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; unfortunately I have no children." 
 
 " Well, that's lucky, anyhow." 
 
 I did not exactly understand whether he meant that it was 
 lucky for me, or for him, in case he made up his mind to marry 
 me. I, however, thought it a good occasion for a little senti 
 ment, and so, giving a sigh, said, " Children are a great com 
 fort, sometimes." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so," said he ; " especially when they are 
 your own. I don't care much for other people's children, 
 though." 
 
 " Are you married, sir ? " I suggested, in a rather timid 
 tone, and giving him another killing glance. 
 
 " Not much," he replied, with considerable force ; " but I 
 wouldn't mind being, if I could find a real nice woman who 
 would have me." And with this he gave me a tender look 
 that was very touching. 
 
 " 0, there ought to be plenty of women who would gladly 
 have a fine, handsome officer like you." 
 
 "Do you think so, now, really? Well, I'll have to look 
 round. By the way, where do you come from ? Do you be 
 long down South ? " 
 
 " No, sir," I replied; " I am a foreigner by birth, but my 
 husband was an American, and lived in Ohio until shortly be 
 fore the war." 
 
 " Is that so, now ? You're English ain't you ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; my parents were French and Spanish." 
 
 "I guess you must speak those languages, then?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; much better than English." 
 
 "Well, said he, " I'm mighty glad I met you." 
 
366 - BECOMING INTERESTED. 
 
 " Thank you, sir. I may say the same to you." 
 
 He then remarked, " I don't believe you'll have any difficulty 
 in getting through to Memphis, or any trouble after you reach 
 there. I will be glad to assist you any way I can." 
 
 I thanked him for his kind intentions ; and he then, in a hes 
 itating sort of a way, said, " I hope you won't feel offended if I 
 inquire how your finances are." 
 
 " 0, no, sir ; no offence at all. I am sorry to say that my 
 funds are rather low." 
 
 " Well, I'll see you fixed all right until you can hear 
 from your friends. How long do you expect to remain in 
 Memphis ? " 
 
 " No longer than I can possibly help ; for I want to get back 
 to Europe, where I have friends who will take care of me, at 
 the earliest opportunity." 
 
 " I'm mighty sorry you are going to make such a short stay. 
 I was hoping that we might become better acquainted. It 
 isn't often that we meet with real ladies in these parts." 
 
 AN ANXIOUS INQUIRER. 
 
 He then proceeded to inquire who my relatives in Europe 
 were, where they lived, whether they were wealthy or not, 
 he seemed to be especially anxious on this point, how old I 
 was, whether I had ever thought much about getting married 
 again, and so forth. I answered his queries as promptly as he 
 could have wished, and perhaps more to his satisfaction than 
 if I had told him the exact truth in every instance. 
 
 At length the whistle blew, and the train stopped at his 
 camp. He jumped up, and rushed out, without even saying 
 good-by; and while I was wondering where he had left his 
 politeness, I saw him running as fast as he could go, and pres 
 ently dodge into a tent. In a moment or two more out he 
 came in his shirt sleeves, and ran for the train, with his coat 
 in his hand, and jumped on board just as we were starting. I 
 turned around, and watched him as he got into the car behind 
 me, and saw him put on a rather better looking uniform coat 
 than the out-at-the-elbows blouse he had been wearing, and a 
 paper collar and black necktie. These last I considered as 
 particularly delicate attentions to myself. 
 
 When he had completed his toilet, he came forward, and, 
 seating himself beside me, said, " I will allow myself the 
 pleasure of going through to Memphis with you." 
 
SOCIABILITY. 367 
 
 I assured him that I was pleased beyond measure, and came 
 to the conclusion that it would be my fault if long before we 
 reached Memphis I did not stand so well in his good graces 
 that I would be able to make a most useful ally of him in car 
 rying out my plans for the benefit of the Confederacy. 
 
 " Do you see that field over there ? " said he, pointing to a 
 good sized clearing. " That's where our boys had a fight 
 with Forrest." 
 
 " Did you run fast? " I asked, rather maliciously. 
 
 " We had to run," said he ; " they were too many for us." 
 
 " 0, what a pity," said I ; " you ought to have whipped 
 them;" and thought, at the same time, that there would be 
 some more hard running done if I ever succeeded in getting 
 to Forrest the despatch I had for him. 
 
 "We'll whip them yet," said the lieutenant. " We've had 
 some big successes lately in Virginia, Missouri, and Arkansas, 
 and we'd treat them worse than we do here if we only had a 
 few more men." 
 
 " Why," said I, " there seems to be a great many of you." 
 
 IMPORTANT INFORMATION. 
 
 " 0, there's not half enough to do anything. They've got 
 us scattered along this railroad in such a way that it's almost 
 as much as we can do to hold our own, when any kind of a 
 crowd of rebs puts in an appearance. 7 ' 
 
 This was interesting ; but I did not think it prudent just 
 then to question him any closer on such a delicate subject, 
 trusting that before we parted he would let out, of his own 
 accord, some other facts worth knowing; so 1 merely said, 
 " 0, this war is a terrible thing. It makes me sick to think of 
 so many being killed and wounded." 
 
 " That's so," he replied. " It is bad, but now we've begun 
 it, I guess we'll have to fight it out." 
 
 " What do you think they will do with that miserable fellow, 
 Davis, if they catch him ? " said I. 
 
 " Well, I'm for hanging Jeff, and all his cabinet. We'll just 
 string up the leaders, and let the little people go, if they will 
 promise to behave themselves." 
 
 This made my blood boil ; but I controlled my feelings, and 
 remarked, " 0, I don't believe they will hang him. They've 
 got to catch him first, you know ; and then the government at 
 Washington is disposed to be lenient, isn't it?" 
 
368 A VALUABLE FRIEND. 
 
 " Yes, that's just what's the matter. Between the milk-and- 
 water policy of the government, and the speculators who have 
 been allowed to do pretty much as they please, it has been 
 hard work carrying on the war at all. We western men have 
 done nearly all the hardest fighting, and we've got the least 
 credit for it. So far as I am concerned, if I had known that 
 it was the niggers we were going to fight for, I never would 
 have raised my sword." 
 
 " 0, you don't believe in slavery, do you ? " said I, with the 
 view of increasing his confidence in me. 
 
 " No," said he ; " but the niggers are better off where they 
 are, and are not worth fighting lor, anyhow." 
 
 I tried to draw him out on this subject, but for some reason 
 he did not seem inclined to talk about it any more ; and he 
 branched off into anecdotes of army life, the fights he had 
 been engaged in, and a variety of matters that were enter 
 taining enough, but do not merit being placed on record. This 
 conversation amused me, and gave me a good number of 
 points worth knowing in the particular business in which I 
 was engaged, until at length the train reached Memphis, and 
 my escort assisting me to alight, requested me to wait on the 
 platform for him while he engaged a carriage. 
 
 In a few moments he returned with a close-bodied carriage, 
 and when I was seated in it he ordered the driver to go to the 
 Hardwick House. 
 
 " 0, no," said I ; " I must go to General Washburn's head 
 quarters first, and deliver my despatch and message." 
 
 " Just as you like," said he ; "but I thought that you might 
 prefer to arrange your toilet before seeing the general." 
 
 " No," I replied ; " I must see him immediately, as I was 
 told that "this was a matter of great importance. The general 
 won't mind my looks." 
 
 A QUEER WAY OF DOING BUSINESS. 
 
 The driver was accordingly directed to take us to head 
 quarters, and before many more minutes I was ushered into 
 the presence of the provost marshal, to whom I stated my 
 errand. The fact of the lieutenant being with me undoubt 
 edly prevented a great many questions being asked, some of 
 which it might not have been agreeable, or even possible, for 
 me to answer, and I accordingly was more than ever impressed 
 with the value of having him for an acquaintance, especially 
 
THE DESPATCH DELIVERED. 369 
 
 as he put in a word now and then which had the effect of 
 establishing me on a satisfactory footing with the provost 
 marshal. That official, when he had heard my story, said, 
 " Madam, I am sorry, but the general is very much indisposed, 
 and cannot see you. I will be glad to receive anything you 
 may have for him, and to give him any message from you." 
 
 " 0, sir, I must see him. It is impossible for me to com 
 municate what I have to say to any one else." 
 
 " Did the person who confided the paper to you give you 
 any private instructions ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, and he was very particular in telling me to com 
 municate with the general in person, and with no one else." 
 
 " Well, madam, I am sorry for you ; but, as I said before, 
 the general is unable to see you, and you will either have to 
 leave the paper and your message with me, or else call again." 
 
 This struck me as being a decidedly odd way of doing 
 business. Here I was professing to be a despatch-bearer, 
 with a confidential message from a spy within the enemy's 
 lines, and the probabilities all in favor of my business being 
 of extreme importance ; and yet, the officer who assumed to 
 represent the general placidly requesting me to call again, 
 just as if I was some one who had stepped in to ask a favor 
 of him. I concluded that if matters were managed in this 
 kind of style at headquarters, Memphis would not be a very 
 difficult place for me to operate in, or for the Confederates to 
 operate against, if they thought it worth their while. I knit 
 my brows, looked vexed and perplexed, tapped the ground 
 with my foot, and pretended to be thinking deeply about what 
 course I had better pursue. After a few moments' considera 
 tion, I concluded that the best thing I could do was to get the 
 bogus despatch off my hands, and thus be free to attend to 
 other business of more importance ; so I said, " That is too 
 bad, for I promised to see the general himself, as the man was 
 so particular that I should ; but if he won't see me, I suppose 
 I will have to write to him." 
 
 The provost marshal accordingly furnished me with a sheet 
 of paper, and I sat down at his desk and scribbled off a brief 
 note to the general, telling him enough about the source from 
 which I had obtained the despatch to induce him to believe in 
 its genuineness, and intimated that if he wanted to know more 
 he could send for me. This note and the despatch I enclosed 
 in the same envelope, and handed it to the provost marshal, 
 with a request that it might be given to the general immedi- 
 24 
 
370 BOBROWED GARMENTS. 
 
 ately. I fully expected that when General Washburn received 
 these enclosures he would have me brought before him for the 
 purpose of interrogation, and was much surprised when he 
 did nothing of the kind. 
 
 The provost marshal took the envelope back into his private 
 office, and on his return he asked me where I was going to 
 stop. I replied that I did not know yet ; whereupon he sug 
 gested that there was a nice private boarding-house near the 
 Catholic church. I objected to going there, however, and 
 said that I would prefer to locate myself at the Hardwick House 
 for the present. To the hotel I accordingly went, under the 
 escort of my friend, the lieutenant, and registered myself as 
 Mrs. Fowler, not at all grieved at not having seen the general, 
 and quite satisfied not to see him in the future if he did not 
 wish to see me, for I considered the material part of my errand 
 now practically accomplished. . . 
 
 The lieutenant, when he saw me fairly established in com 
 fortable quarters, asked me to excuse him, saying that, as I 
 seemed * to be short of funds, he would see if he could not 
 obtain some for me. I thanked him very much, made all 
 manner of apologies for giving him so much trouble, and as a 
 broad hint that I did not want to see any more of him that 
 day, asked him to call in the morning, as I was feeling quite 
 sick, was tired out with my journey, and would retire to rest 
 after getting some supper. He was not a fool, and understood 
 that I did not desire his company ; so, taking his leave, he said 
 that he would give orders for something to eat to be brought 
 up to my room, and would come to see me again in the morn 
 ing if I would permit him. 
 
 He had not been gone a great while before a servant ap 
 peared with a very nice supper. This I ate with immense 
 relish, for I was desperately hungry, at the same time making 
 certain inquiries of the servant for the purpose of enabling me 
 to judge whether it would be safe or prudent to attempt to 
 communicate that night with the spy for whom I had the de 
 spatch which was to be forwarded to Forrest. It was now 
 nearly dark, and I decided that no better time for meeting the 
 spy could be found. I accordingly asked the servant to try 
 and borrow for me some rather more presentable articles 
 of attire than those I had on, as I desired to go out for the 
 purpose of making a few purchases, and was really ashamed to 
 go into the streets dressed as I was. My real reason was that 
 I was afraid the lieutenant, or the provost marshal, or some 
 
MEETING THE SPY. 371 
 
 one who had seen me, should happen to meet me while I was 
 out, and as, dressed in the rather outlandish fashion in which 
 I had appeared at the picket station, they would not fail to 
 recognize me, suspicions might be excited which would result 
 in spoiling all my plans. 
 
 The servant, whose zeal in my behalf was stimulated by a 
 five- dollar greenback, was not long in appearing with a rea 
 sonably decent-looking dress, bonnet, and shawl. I then attired 
 myself with as much speed as I could command, and after 
 having the dust and dirt brushed off my shoes, was ready to 
 start. 
 
 A CONFERENCE WITH THE SPY. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that I was well acquainted 
 with Memphis, and consequently knew exactly how to go and 
 where to go in search of my man. Fortunately for me, the place 
 was not a very great way from the hotel, and persuading the 
 accommodating servant to show me out the back door, under 
 the plea that, meanly attired as I was, I was ashamed to be 
 seen by the officers who were standing about the front of the 
 building, I was not long in reaching it. 
 
 I knocked at the door, and the very man I was looking for 
 came to let me in. I had never seen him before, but I knew 
 him immediately by the description I had of him. Giving him 
 the password I was admitted, and he eagerly inquired what I 
 had for him. I handed him the despatch which he was to 
 convey to Forrest, and gave him the verbal instructions which 
 Lieutenant Shorter had ordered me to convey to him, and 
 urged the necessity for his making haste in reaching Forrest 
 at the earliest practicable moment. He, however, said that he 
 thought that a movement of the Federal troops was in con 
 templation, and that he would like to find out exactly what it 
 was before starting, and as I seemed to be on good terms at 
 headquarters, he urged that I should endeavor to obtain the 
 information for him. I consented to try what I could do, 
 while he promised not to delay his departure longer than two 
 days, at the farthest. 
 
 Before parting, I represented the danger to both if we 
 should be seen in conference, and said that I would prefer not 
 meeting him again if some means of communicating with him ' 
 without a personal interview could be devised. He, therefore, 
 suggested that if I obtained the desired information I should 
 write him a note and deposit it in a certain place which he 
 
372 THE ERRAND ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 designated. I consented to this and took my departure, 
 wishing him good luck. On my way back to the hotel, the 
 prudence of my change of dress was sufficiently demonstrated, 
 for on turning a corner I nearly ran against my friend the 
 lieutenant and another officer, who were walking slowly along 
 the street. My heart leaped into my mouth when I saw who 
 it was, but as there was no retreat, I trusted to the darkness 
 and my change of costume, and glided by them as swiftly and 
 quietly as I could, and fortunately was able to gain my room 
 without discovery. 
 
 My errand was now accomplished, and in as satisfactory a 
 manner as could be desired, and the only apprehension I had 
 was lest the spy to whom I had given the despatch for For 
 rest might not succeed in getting off in safety. If he should 
 be arrested and the document found on him, the finger of sus 
 picion would not unlikely point to me as the original bearer 
 of it. I thought, however, that he was probably well able to 
 take care of himself, and being too much of a veteran to allow 
 myself to be worried about possibilities that might never 
 come to pass, I went to bed feeling that the responsibility of 
 the business was well off my shoulders, and was soon in happy 
 obliviousness of cares of every kind. 
 
- -J_ //-. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 FORREST'S GREAT RAID. GOING NORTH ON A MIS 
 SION OF MERCY. 
 
 A Friend in Need is a Friend indeed. The Lieutenant aids me in procur 
 ing a new Wardrobe. I succeed in finding out all I want to know 
 about the Number and the Disposition of the Federal Troops on the Line 
 of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. A Movement made in 
 Accordance with the bogus Despatch which I had brought to General 
 Washburn. Forrest makes his Raid, and I pretend to be alarmed lest 
 the Rebels should capture me. The Lieutenant continues his Atten 
 tions, and something occurs to induce me to change my Plans. I 
 have an Interview with an Officer of my. Brother's Command, and learn 
 that he is a Prisoner. I resolve to go to him, and leave for the North 
 on a Pass furnished by General Washburn. At Louisville I have an 
 Interview with a mysterious secret Agent of the Confederacy, who sup 
 plies me with Funds. On reaching Columbus, Ohio, I obtain a Permit 
 to see my Brother. Through the Agency of Governor Brough my 
 Brother is released, and we go East together, he to New York, I to 
 Washington. 
 
 .9* 
 
 HE next morning the lieutenant made his 
 appearance bright and early; and said that he 
 had raised a hundred dollars for me, by repre 
 senting me as a Union woman who was flying 
 from persecution in the Confederacy, and who 
 had brought important information into the lines. This 
 money I regarded as lawful spoils of war, and therefore 
 had no hesitation in accepting it. Expressing my grati 
 tude to my friend for his zeal in my behalf, I said that 
 he would place me under still further obligations if he 
 would aid me in obtaining some better clothing than that I 
 had on. He expressed the greatest desire to oblige me, and, 
 taking half of the money, he invested a good portion of it in a 
 stylish bonnet, a handsome piece of dress goods, and a pair of 
 shoes. He also presented me with a number of little articles, 
 which I was given to understand were meant for testimonials 
 of his individual regard. 
 
 373 
 
374 SUCCESS OF THE PLOT. 
 
 During the day I was called upon by several officers and 
 others, and one lady an officer's wife loaned me a dress to 
 wear until mine should be finished. Taking my piece of goods 
 to the dressmaker's, I stated that I was in a great hurry, and 
 she accordingly promised to have it finished by the next 
 evening. Thus I was in a short time fitted out in good style, 
 and was able to figure to as great an extent as I desired in 
 such society as Memphis afforded just at that time. 
 
 My new friends were extremely anxious to know exactly 
 what was going on within the rebel lines, and asked me all sorts 
 of questions. I endeavored to gratify their curiosity as well as 
 I could without committing myself too much, and in return 
 made an effort to find out what I was so desirous of knowing 
 about the contemplated movement of the Federal troops. 
 
 I did not have a great deal of trouble in learning very nearly 
 everything that was to be learned about the number and dis 
 position of the troops along the line of the Memphis and 
 Charleston Railroad, and also that the force at Colliersville was 
 being materially strengthened in apprehension of an attack in 
 that quarter. This information I promptly communicated to 
 my confidant, who started for Forrest's headquarters without 
 more delay. The concentration of the Federal force at Col 
 liersville, I had every reason to believe, was induced by the 
 despatch I delivered to General Washburn. At any rate, it 
 had the effect of leaving a gap in the Federal line beyond 
 Grand Junction for Forrest to step through ; and, when in a 
 day or two, intelligence was received that he was on a grand 
 raid through Western Tennessee, I knew that the plot in 
 which I had been engaged had succeeded in the best manner. 
 
 FORREST'S RAID. 
 
 I made a great to-do when the news of Forrest's raid was 
 received, and pretended to be frightened lest an attack should 
 be made on Memphis, and the rebels should capture me. 
 The fact is, that Forrest, before he got through, did come 
 very near the city, and some of my new acquaintances were 
 just as much frightened in reality as I pretended to be. He, 
 however, did not make any demonstration in the city, but 
 after a brilliant campaign of several weeks slipped by the 
 Federals again, carrying back with him into Mississippi 
 sufficient cattle and other booty to amply repay him for his 
 ; trouble. 
 
AFFAIRS TAKE A NEW TUEN. 375 
 
 I thought that I had reason to congratulate myself upon the 
 success of the enterprise in which I had been engaged. 
 Taking it altogether, it was as well planned and as well 
 executed a performance as any I ever attempted during the 
 whole of my career in the Confederate service. 
 
 My friend, the lieutenant, whose regard for me really 
 increased with each succeeding interview, was obliged to 
 return to his camp, after having assisted me in obtaining 
 a new outfit. In a day or two, however, he returned, 
 having obtained a ten days' leave of absence, and he began 
 to increase the zealousness of his attentions. On his return 
 to Memphis he brought with him a fine horse, which he 
 claimed to have captured, and said that it should be 
 reserved for my use, if I would accept of it, so long as I 
 remained in the city. I was not at all averse to having a 
 good time, although I was beginning to wonder how I was 
 ever to get back to my starting-place again, and I rode out 
 a number of times with the lieutenant, and accepted his 
 escort on all occasions that he offered it. 
 
 A CHANGE OF PLANS. 
 
 It was while attending church on the Sunday following the 
 arrival, on leave, of this rather over-attentive young gentle 
 man, that something occurred which caused a very material 
 alteration in my plans, which induced me to abandon my 
 design to return to Mobile, and which resulted in my entering 
 upon an entirely new field of operations. I, of course, at the 
 time, had no idea whatever how things were going to turn 
 out, but if all had been arranged beforehand they could not 
 have turned out more in accordance with my desires. 
 
 During the service I noticed in the congregation a Con 
 federate officer in citizen's clothes, whom I knew by sight, and 
 who belonged to my brother's command. He did not know 
 me, especially as a woman, although he had seen me a number 
 of times attired in the uniform of a Confederate officer. I was 
 most desirous of communicating with him, for the purpose of 
 inquiring about my brother, of whom I had received no intel 
 ligence whatever for a number of months ; so, after the service 
 was over, I watched him as he left the church, and seeing him 
 turn the corner, said to the lieutenant, " Let us take a walk 
 down this street." Keeping him in sight, I saw him turn down 
 towards the Hardwick House, and consequently suggested to 
 
376 A GAME OF CARDS. 
 
 the lieutenant that it would perhaps be as well to return to 
 the hotel instead of indulging in a promenade. My escort 
 thought that I was disposed to be whimsical ; but I did not 
 bother myself very greatly about his opinion of me one way 
 or the other, being now only intent upon devising some 
 means of obtaining an interview with the disguised Confed 
 erate. 
 
 On reaching the hotel I found that the man I was after had 
 disappeared, and I was considerably perplexed to know what 
 course to pursue. I was afraid to send him my card, for fear 
 of compromising him in some way, as I thought it highly prob 
 able that he was stopping at the hotel under an assumed 
 name. I was bent on securing an opportunity to converse 
 with him, however, and hoped to be able to meet him, #nd to 
 attract his attention before evening, but failing in this, I was 
 resolved to find out what I could about him from some of the 
 servants, and to send him a note requesting a private inter 
 view, giving him a sufficient hint as to who I was to induce 
 him to think that he would be in no danger. Fortunately, 
 however, I was not compelled to resort to any such expedient 
 as this, for, on going in to dinner at five o'clock with the 
 lieutenant, I saw him at one of the tables, having apparent 
 ly just sat down. 
 
 A STRICTLY PRIVATE COMMUNICATION. 
 
 The lieutenant was conducting me to the seat which we 
 usually occupied, but I said, as if seized with a sudden freak 
 for a change of locality, " Suppose we go over to this table 
 to-day. I think we will find it pleasanter ; " and, before my 
 Federal friend had time to object, I had walked him across 
 the room arid seated myself beside the Confederate, indicating 
 for the lieutenant to take the seat on the other side of me. 
 When the waiter came up to get our orders for dinner, I 
 asked him to bring me a couple of cards. 
 
 All this time I took not the slightest notice of the Confed 
 erate, but chatted with the lieutenant in the liveliest and most 
 animated manner possible ; my object being to so engage his 
 attention that he would not think of observing what I was 
 doing for the purpose of letting the gentleman on the other 
 side of me know that I was interested in him. 
 
 On one of the cards I wrote some nonsense, which I sent 
 by the waiter, after having shown it to the lieutenant, to 
 
A CAPITAL JOKE. 377 
 
 another officer whom I saw on the opposite side of the room. 
 On the other one I wrote, " Meet me at my room, at half past 
 ten o'clock this evening, unobserved. Important." This I 
 made a pretence of slipping in my pocket, but dropped it on 
 the floor instead, touching the Confederate officer as I did so, 
 and half turning towards him in such a manner that he could 
 readily understand that I was endeavoring to attract his 
 attention. While this was going on, the lieutenant was 
 watching to see what would be the effect of the jesting 
 remark I had written on the first card on the gentleman 
 across the room to whom I had sent it. He laughed and 
 nodded, and the lieutenant and I did the same, all of us, 
 apparently, being satisfied that there was a capital joke in 
 .progress ; which indeed there was, but not exactly the kind 
 of one they imagined. 
 
 The Confederate officer, when he looked down and saw the 
 card on the floor, quickly dropped his napkin on it, and 
 stooped to pick it up. He found an opportunity to read my 
 message before he left the table, but I took no further notice 
 of him whatever, until just as he was about to retire, when 1 
 turned slightly, and looking him full in the face, gave him a 
 meaning glance, so that he could understand that there was 
 no mistake about the matter. 
 
 At the hour named on the card the Confederate officer 
 came to my room, evidently very much perplexed, and uncer 
 tain what the end of the adventure would be. I hastened to 
 apologize for the liberty I had taken, and to place him at his 
 ease by explaining matters. 
 
 I said, " You will pardon me, sir ; but this is Lieutenant B., 
 of Arkansas, is it not ? " 
 
 " Yes, madam, that is my name," he replied. 
 
 " You need be under no apprehension, sir. I know you, 
 
 although you do not know me. I am the sister of Captain 
 
 , and I am exceedingly anxious to learn where he is 
 
 and how he is, for I have not been able to hear from him 
 
 for a very long time." 
 
 NEWS FROM MY BROTHER. 
 
 The announcement that I was the sister of Captain - , 
 was evidently an immense relief to Lieutenant B., whose face 
 brightened up immediately. He stated that he was very 
 much pleased to meet me, but that he was sorry to have to 
 
378 NORTHWARD BOUND. 
 
 tell me that my brother had been captured by the Federals 
 about four months before, and was now a prisoner at Camp 
 Chase. 
 
 This was unpleasant news, and it determined me to give 
 up the idea of returning to Mobile, but to go North and visit 
 my brother, for the purpose of assisting him in any way 
 possible. .From -what I had learned during my late stay in 
 Memphis, too, I was very well convinced that, as a secret 
 service agent, I would be able to operate with far more effect 
 at the North than I would if I remained in this region of 
 country; which was an additional inducement for me to travel 
 northward, rather than to essay the hazardous experiment of 
 regaining the Confederate lines without having some definite 
 object in view. 
 
 I had quite a lengthy conversation with Lieutenant B. 
 about my brother, and about affairs generally ; and having 
 announced to him my intention of visiting the North, and 
 perhaps of acting as a secret service agent if I saw opportu 
 nities for doing anything for the advancement of the Con 
 federate cause, I obtained from him quite a number of hints 
 about the best methods of proceeding, and he gave me the 
 names of persons in different places who were friends of the 
 Confederacy, and with whom I could communicate. He also 
 advised me to talk with certain parties, whom he named, in 
 Memphis, who could advise me, and give me much valuable 
 information. 
 
 The next day I conferred with some of the persons whom 
 he had mentioned, and having become thoroughly posted, I 
 began to prepare for my departure. My friend, the Federal 
 lieutenant, whose attentions had been getting more and more 
 ardent every day, was, or pretended to be, very much cut up 
 when he heard that I intended to leave. I promised, however, 
 to write to him so soon as I arrived in New York, having 
 given him to understand that that city was my immediate 
 destination, and intimated that I might possibly correspond 
 regularly. He, in return for the very slight encouragement 
 which I gave to his hopes that we might meet again when 
 the fighting was all over, procured for me a pass and trans 
 portation from General Washburn, and off I started, leaving 
 Memphis, where I was liable at any time to be recognized, 
 and consequently get into trouble, with but little regret. As 
 for the lieutenant, I certainly appreciated his attentions to me, 
 but I thought that any heart pangs he might feel at parting 
 
A CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATION. 379 
 
 would scarcely be so severe that he would not be able to 
 recover from them in course of time. 
 
 My first object was to see my brother, to give him such 
 assistance as I was able, and to discover whether I could not 
 do something towards having him released. I had not seen 
 him for a number of years, and, as the reader will remember, 
 had only learned of his being in the Confederate army some 
 little time before my second marriage. He was the only 
 relative I had in the country, and I felt very anxious about 
 him, fearing greatly that he might be sick, or suffering for 
 some of the necessities of life. I therefore pushed forward 
 as rapidly as I could, and made no stoppage of any moment 
 until I reached Louisville, Kentucky, where I took a room at 
 the Gait House, and communicated with a Mr. B., a gentle 
 man whose name had been given me as one in whom I could 
 confide, and to whom I could appeal in case I was in need 
 of assistance. 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS FRIEND OP THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 I told Mr. B. who I was, and what was my errand, and 
 informing him that I was short of funds, asked whether he 
 could not do something for me. He said he would make an 
 effort in my behalf, and accordingly a gentleman, who declined 
 to tell me his name, but who said that he was a Confederate, 
 called that evening to see me at my room. He was greatly 
 afraid of being seen with me ; and before he would leave, after 
 we had finished our conversation, I had to go out into the hall, 
 and down as far as the stairway, to see that all was quiet, and 
 no one looking, before he would venture out. 
 
 We had a long talk about, not only my immediate errand in 
 behalf of my brother, but about the political and military 
 situation generally. As Mr. B. had told me that I could trust 
 him implicitly, I had no hesitation in informing him, that 
 after having seen my brother, and made an effort to procure 
 his release, my intention was to operate as a secret service 
 agent, as I had had considerable experience in that line of 
 duty. I did not think it necessary or proper to entertain him 
 with a recital of the enterprises in which I had been engaged, 
 but told him just enough about myself to let him understand 
 that my pretensions were genuine, and that I really meant 
 business. He, for his part, posted me very thoroughly about 
 the best method of going to work, not only for procuring the 
 
380 A FRESH SUPPLY OF CASH. 
 
 release of my brother, but for picking up information of value 
 to the Confederate authorities, and gave me the names of a 
 number of persons in New York and Washington, as well as 
 in the West, with whom it would be well for me to become 
 acquainted as early as possible. He also gave me hints of 
 various enterprises, of more or less consequence, that were on 
 foot, and assured me that I could be of the greatest service 
 to the cause if I would co-operate with the Confederate agents 
 at the North. 
 
 Before taking his leave, he suggested that I should retire 
 early, and be ready to go by the first train in the morning, 
 and said that he would see that I was provided with funds. 
 The name of this gentleman I could never discover, although 
 I had considerable curiosity on the subject. He was very 
 much of an enthusiast on the subject of the Confederacy, and 
 was evidently an efficient secret worker for the cause ; but he 
 was either excessively timid, or else he believed that he could 
 do more to advance the interest of the cause by being, as far 
 as practicable, unknown even to those with whom he co 
 operated. 
 
 Early the next morning I was awakened by a knock on my 
 door, and some one outside asked if I was going on the early 
 train. I replied that I was, and hastened to dress myself for 
 the journey. As I was dressing, I was somewhat startled to 
 see a large envelope on the floor, which must either have been 
 pushed under the door or thrown in over the transom during 
 the night. On opening the envelope I found in it five hundred 
 dollars in greenbacks, and letters to a couple of persons in 
 Columbus, Ohio. This money was very acceptable, for I had 
 very little cash with me, and it enabled me to resume my 
 travels with a mind comparately free from care. 
 
 Before leaving Louisville, however, I managed to get rid 
 of some of my cash, for, as I was about starting for the 
 train, I met a Confederate army friend, Lieutenant H., with 
 whom I had a hurried conversation. He informed me that 
 he was an escaped prisoner, and was endeavoring to make his 
 way South, hoping to be able to get within the Confederate 
 lines before being discovered. I gave him some advice about 
 the best method of proceeding ; and as I knew that he was 
 short of funds, or most likely would be before he got among 
 his friends again, I pressed fifteen dollars upon him, for which 
 he was overwhelmingly grateful. 
 
 I got off on the early train, in accordance with the under- 
 
BROTHER AND SISTER. 381 
 
 standing with my unknown friend of the evening before, and 
 in due time arrived at Columbus, Ohio, and took a room at the 
 Neil House. Here I felt tolerably secure, a.s no one knew me, 
 and I was sufficiently far away from the seat of war to come 
 and go as I chose without rendering myself liable to suspi 
 cion. 
 
 I concluded, before delivering the letters I had received in 
 Louisville, that I would try and see what my own unaided 
 efforts would do for my brother. *I therefore, the next day, 
 called upon the general in command, I have forgotten his 
 name, and introducing myself, said, that if it was allowable, 
 I would like very much to visit that rebel brother of mine. 
 
 The general asked me if I had a brother in the prison; and 
 I told him that such was unfortunately the case, but that, 
 notwithstanding he was on the wrong side, I could not help 
 having an affection for him, and was desirous of assisting 
 him in case he should be in need. 
 
 The general asked me a number of questions about myself 
 and my brother, in answer to which I gave him to understand 
 that I was from New York, was a strong Unionist, and had only 
 recently heard that my brother was a prisoner, although I was 
 aware that he had entered the rebel army shortly after the 
 breaking out of the war. Having satisfied himself that I was 
 all right, the general, without hesitation, gave me the desired 
 permit, and, with a profusion of thanks, I bowed myself out 
 of his presence. 
 
 On reaching the Todd Barracks, where the prisoners were 
 confined, I found a one-armed major in command. He was 
 very polite indeed, and entered into quite a conversation with 
 me, during which he told me that he had lost his arm in the 
 Mexican war. When my brother came, the major gave us his 
 own private room, so that we might talk together without 
 fear of interruption. 
 
 MEETING WITH MY BROTHER. 
 
 My meeting with my brother was a most affectionate one. 
 It had been a very long time since we had seen each other, 
 and there was much that each of us had to say. I disclosed 
 to him part of my plans, and instructed him how to talk and 
 act towards me. He was to call me his Union sister, and was 
 to speak of me as a New Yorker. I expressed considerable 
 hope that I would be able to effect his release, and stated that 
 
382 THE PRISONER RELEASED. 
 
 I would go on to Washington for the purpose, if necessary, 
 and see the president and secretary of war. 
 
 This proceeding, however, I found to be unnecessary, for 
 Governor Brough, of Ohio, a hearty, pleasant-spoken, and good- 
 natured old gentleman, happened to be stopping at the same 
 hotel with me, and I contrived to obtain an introduction to 
 him. I cultivated the acquaintance of the governor with con 
 siderable assiduity, and he took quite a fancy to me, so much 
 so, that he promised to use his influence to obtain a parole for 
 my brother. This promise the governor kept, and in a short 
 time the prisoner was released and ordered to proceed East, 
 and to report first to General Cadwalader, at Philadelphia, 
 and then to General Dix, at New York, the idea being that he 
 was to remain with me in the last-named city. 
 
 In company with my brother, therefore, I proceeded East, 
 and went to New York, where I left him, while I went on to 
 Washington, for the purpose of seeing what could be done 
 in the way of aiding the Confederate cause by a series of 
 operations at the Federal capital. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 SECRET SERVICE DUTY AT THE NORTH. 
 
 New Scenes and new Associations. My first Visit to the North. The 
 Wealth and Prosperity of the North contrasted with the Poverty and 
 Desolation of the South. Much of the northern Prosperity fictitious. 
 
 The anti-war Party and its Strength. How some of the People of 
 the North made Money during the War. " Loyal " Blockade-runners 
 and Smugglers. Confederate Spies and Emissaries in the government 
 Offices. The Opposition to the Draft. The bounty-jumping Frauds. 
 
 My Connection with them. Operations of the Confederate Secret 
 Service Agents. Other Ways of fighting the Enemy than by Battles 
 in the Field. I arrange a Plan of Operations, and place myself in 
 communication with the Confederate Authorities at Richmond, and also 
 with Federal Officials at Washington and elsewhere. I abandon 
 Fighting for Strategy. 
 
 > 
 
 WAS now introduced to entirely new scenes, 
 new associations, and a new sphere of activity. 
 I had never before been farther north than Wash 
 ington, and my visit to the Federal capital was 
 the hasty and secret one made shortly after the 
 battle of Ball's Bluff, the particulars of which 
 are recorded in a previous chapter. It was almost 
 like going into another world to pass from the war 
 worn Confederacy to the rich and prosperous states 
 
 which adhered to the Federal government ; and, when 
 
 I saw the evidences of apparently inexhaustible wealth around 
 me, and contrasted them in my mind with what I was leaving 
 behind in the yet unconquered Confederacy, I confess that my 
 heart began to fail, and I despaired of the cause more than I 
 had ever done before. 
 
 In a great portion of the South the towns and villages 
 were few and far between, the forests large and dense, the 
 population thin and scattering, while the most imposing of the 
 Southern cities were far less splendid than New York and 
 
 383 
 
384 IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 
 
 Philadelphia, and such prosperity as they had at one time 
 enjoyed was now all but destroyed, through the rigidness of 
 the Federal blockade. Back of the Northern cities, too, was 
 a rich, highly cultivated, and thickly populated country, with 
 numerous large towns, abounding in wealth, and with appar 
 ently as many men at home, attending to the ordinary duties 
 of life, as if there was no war going on, and no huge armies 
 in the field. 
 
 Not only was there no blockade to put an end to commerce, 
 and to cause a deprivation of many of the necessaries of life, 
 but commerce, as well as all manner of home industries, had 
 been greatly stimulated ; so that the war while it was starv 
 ing the South, and forcing the male population into the field, 
 until there were scarcely left enough to carry on absolutely 
 needful trade and tillage actually appeared to be making the 
 North rich, and thousands of people were literally coining 
 money with government contracts} and by means of innu 
 merable industries brought into being by the great conflict. 
 
 THE STRENGTH OF THE FEDERALS. 
 
 The subjugation of the South was therefore simply a ques 
 tion of time, if matters continued as they were, and the Fed 
 erals would achieve the ends they had in view by sheer force 
 of numbers and practically inexhaustible resources, no matter 
 how valiantly the Confederate soldiers might fight, or how 
 skilfully they might be led. Was this subjugation of the 
 South inevitable, however? This was the question that ad 
 dressed itself to my mind, and upon the determination of 
 which the course it would be best for me to pursue in the 
 future would have to depend. 
 
 I was not very long in coming to the conclusion that a 
 triumph of the Confederate cause was not by any means an 
 impossibility, provided the right means were used to bring it 
 about. I also speedily satisfied myself that the interests of 
 the cause could be advanced just as much by diligent and 
 zealous workers at the North, as by the men who were fight 
 ing the battles of the Confederacy in Virginia, Georgia, Ten 
 nessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas ; and I was so well con 
 vinced that at last I had found the best field for the exercise 
 of my own peculiar talents, that I greatly regretted not hav 
 ing made my way into the midst of the enemy's country long 
 before. 
 
THE WAR FEELING NORTH AND SOUTH. 385 
 
 For very nearly a year now I had done very little that was 
 at all satisfactory to myself, or at all really helpful that is, 
 helpful in a large and positive way to the Confederate 
 cause ; whereas, all this time I might have been carrying on 
 a series of important operations at the North. It looked, 
 indeed, like a great waste of time ; but, if it was wasted, I 
 resolved to do my best to redeem it, by the activity of my 
 'performances in the future ; and I had great reason to hope 
 that these performances would be productive of not unimpor 
 tant results. 
 
 It required but a slight acquaintance with the condition of 
 affairs to discover that the surface indications of wealth, pros 
 perity, and overpowering strength at the North were delu 
 sive. The North certainly was wealthy and powerful ; but, 
 unfortunately for the Federal government's efforts to conquer 
 the South, and to put a speedy end to the war, the people 
 were very far from being united. 
 
 UNITED PUBLIC SENTIMENT AT THE SOUTH. 
 
 At the South there were few, if any, genuine adherents of 
 the Federal government, and public opinion was united on 
 the subject of achieving independence. At the period of 
 which I am writing the winter of 1863-64 there may 
 have been, and doubtless were, many persons who were 
 heartily tired of the war, and who would have been glad of 
 peace on almost any terms. The vast majority, however, 
 were still in favor of fighting the thing out, in spite of pov 
 erty, and in spite of the privations of every kind which they 
 were compelled to suffer. 
 
 At the North, on the other hand, the majority of the people 
 had entered upon the war with reluctance ; many who did go 
 into it with considerable enthusiasm, with the idea of pre 
 serving the Union, were disgusted when it became day by 
 day more apparent that the emancipation of the slaves was a 
 part of the policy of the government ; many who went into it 
 for the sake of seeing some fighting were heartily tired, and 
 wanted to stop ; and many more, who were eager enough to 
 begin a fight, simply out of animosity to the Southerners, 
 sickened of the thing when their pockets were touched by 
 the enormous advance in prices, and by the heavy taxes which 
 the prolongation of the contest necessitated, and were quite 
 willing for peace at almost any price. 
 25 
 
386 THE OPPONENTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 In addition to these elements of discord, there was a large, 
 influential, powerful, and wealthy anti-war party, composed of 
 people who were, and always had been, opposed to the war, 
 and who numbered among them many who were not only 
 opposed to the war, but who were warm and earnest friends 
 of the South. These latter believed that the government had 
 no right to coerce States which desired to leave the Union 
 to remain in it, and they were bitterly antagonistic to any and 
 all attempts to subjugate the South, and did everything in 
 their power to baffle the efforts of the government to carry 
 on the war efficiently. These people constantly aided, with 
 their money and their influence, the Confederate agents who 
 were working and scheming for the advancement of their 
 cause at the North, and did a great deal to embarrass the 
 Federal government. 
 
 Besides these, there were a great number of weak-kneed, 
 or indifferent people, who had no opinions of their own worth 
 speaking of, and whose chief anxiety was to be on the win 
 ning side. These were for the war or against it, as the tide 
 of battle turned in favor of the Federals or the Confederates. 
 The news of a tremendous defeat inflicted on the Confed 
 erates, or of the capture of an important position, would 
 excite their enthusiasm, and make them talk loudly of fighting 
 the thing out until the rebels were whipped ; while a season 
 of prolonged inactivity, or a succession of Confederate vic 
 tories, caused them to look gloomily on the situation, and to 
 suggest that there had been about enough fighting, that it was 
 about time prices were coming down a little, and that as the 
 war had been going on so long, without any practical results, 
 there was not much use in killing more men and spending 
 more money, when there was no more chance this year than 
 there was last of a speedy end to the contest. In this class 
 the Confederates found many allies. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. 
 
 At the time of my arrival at the North the anti-war party 
 was concentrating its strength for the approaching presiden 
 tial campaign, and many men who were prominent in it were 
 decidedly confident that the next election would place a 
 president in the White' House, whose views about the proper 
 policy to be pursued towards the South would be radically 
 different from those of Mr. Lincoln. If an anti-war president 
 
THE SPY SYSTEM AT THE NORTH. 387 
 
 could be elected, and there were many reasons to believe 
 that such a thing would be possible, a speedy wind-up of 
 the war, on terms satisfactory to the Confederates, would 
 almost certainly follow his inauguration. 
 
 This being the situation, it was as much for the interest of 
 the Richmond government that the political dissensions ex 
 isting within the Federal lines should be kept alive, and the 
 success of the anti-war party promoted by every possible 
 means, as it was to win victories on the battle-field. Indeed, 
 it was much more important ; for victories cost men and 
 treasure, which the Confederacy could not well spare, and 
 even more was to be gained by fighting the enemy on his 
 own ground with the ballot, than there was by shooting him 
 on Confederate soil with the bullet. 
 
 It was an important part of the duty of the Confederate 
 agents at the North to aid, by every possible means, the 
 success of the anti-war party, and to this end they labored 
 incessantly and effectively in various ways; but, outside 
 of the field of politics, there was an immense amount of 
 highly important work being done, the like of which my 
 brief experiences in New Orleans had barely given me a 
 hint of. 
 
 CONFEDERATE SPIES AND AGENTS IN GOVERNMENT EMPLOY. 
 
 Many officials in the government employ were either secret 
 service agents of the Confederacy, or were in the pay of 
 such. There was not a public building at Washington that 
 did not contain a person or persons who was not only will 
 ing, but eager to do much more than furnish information 
 to the commanders of the Confederate armies and to the 
 Richmond authorities, as far as it was possible to do so with 
 out placing themselves in peril. In all of the large cities 
 were men and women, many of them in government em 
 ploy, who were in constant communication with the Confed 
 erate agents, and in all of them were merchants who were 
 rapidly growing wealthy by sending goods of all kinds, 
 including arms and ammunition, to the South, either by 
 having them smuggled through the lines, or by shipping 
 them to some neutral port for the purpose of having them 
 transferred to blockade-runners. 
 
 Some of these merchants made no pretensions, but sold to 
 whoever would buy, having the avowed intention of making 
 
388 OPPOSITION TO THE DRAFT. 
 
 all the money they could by every safe means. They simply 
 asked no questions, but took their cash, and shipped according 
 to order. Others were blockade-runners, pure and simple, and 
 their only anxiety was to keep their operations concealed 
 from the government detectives. 
 
 Millions of dollars' worth of goods, however, were sold for 
 the Southern market by men who were loud in their protesta 
 tions of loyalty to the Federal government, who bitterly de 
 nounced the South, in public and in private, who contributed 
 largely to aid in carrying on the war, and who enjoyed, in the 
 fullest manner, the confidence of the government, and of those 
 of their fellow-citizens who honestly believed that the war 
 was a just one. 
 
 I will not say that all of these men were hypocrites and 
 traitors, for I am confident that very many of them were not. 
 Some, however, and those not the least influential and 
 wealthy, had different opinions about things in general, 
 and the war, in particular, in public and in the social circles 
 which they frequented, and in their counting-rooms, when 
 certain people called on them for the purpose of buying 
 goods. They were more than anxious to sell to any one who 
 would buy, but in case the buyer was known to be, or was 
 suspected of being, a Confederate agent, the question of the 
 moment was, to sell without being found out. Of course, 
 some of them were detected occasionally, but there was gen 
 erally a way to be found for dealing with these gentlemen 
 with tender consciences and highly loyal reputations, by 
 which their goods could be purchased for cash, and their rep 
 utations spared, at the same time. 
 
 THE CONSCRIPTION. 
 
 Another element in the situation was, the intense opposition 
 to the conscription which was going on for the purpose of 
 recruiting the armies the supply of volunteers having long 
 since failed. This opposition, before my arrival at the North, 
 had culminated in bloody riots in New York and several other 
 places, which caused the greatest alarm, because they indi 
 cated, in a very positive manner, that there was a very large 
 disaffected class in the population, which, if excited to take 
 up arms, might be able to start a new and formidable rebellion 
 within the Federal lines. Many of those, too, who professed 
 to favor the war were opposed to the conscription ; that is, 
 
RASCALITIES. 389 
 
 they were opposed to being conscripted themselves, although 
 they were willing enough that other people should go and do 
 their fighting for them. 
 
 The most obnoxious feature of the draft, however, had 
 been in a measure overcome by the different states, cities, 
 and towns offering liberal bounties for men to enlist. In 
 this manner most of the quotas were filled, but the pay 
 ment of bounties a demoralizing proceeding, under any 
 circumstances opened the way for the most shameless and 
 gigantic frauds. The story of the bounty jumping during 
 the last two years of the war, is not one that any patriotic 
 American citizen can read with complacency or satisfaction, 
 and for pure infamy I think that it surpasses anything that 
 the future historian of the war will be compelled to put 
 on record. 
 
 BOUNTY JUMPING AND OTHER FRAUDS. 
 
 I had a good deal to do with these bounty -jumping frauds, 
 and with a number of other matters very nearly as bad, 
 or, perhaps, in the opinion of the reader, worse, and it may 
 be thought that I was as culpable as those whom I now de 
 nounce. To those who are only willing to consider such a 
 subject as this from one point of view, I have simply nothing 
 to say ; but fair-minded persons, North and South, will, how 
 ever, freely admit that my actions as a secret agent of the 
 Confederate government are not to be put in comparison with 
 those of the dealers in human flesh and blood, the counterfeit 
 ers, and others who did what they did solely from motives of 
 gain. At any rate, acting as I was under orders from the 
 only government the authority of which I acknowledged, and 
 animated only by an ardent desire to advance the interests 
 of the cause which I had espoused, I felt that I was justified 
 in embarrassing the enemy by any means in my power, and 
 that the kind of warfare which I carried on in the rear of the 
 Federal armies was just as legitimate as that which was car 
 ried on face to face with them in the field. 
 
 It was not pleasant for me to be brought into the relations 
 I was with some of the most consummate scoundrels who ever 
 escaped the gallows or the penitentiary, and it is impossible 
 for me to reflect upon some of the features of my career as a 
 Confederate secret service agent at the North with anything 
 but regret that I should have been forced by circumstances 
 
390 ESTABLISHING CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONS. 
 
 to do what I did, or to associate with the men I did. There 
 is nothing, however, in this portion of my career that I am 
 ashamed of; and I have no hesitation whatever in giving to 
 the world a plain, unadorned statement of the enterprises in 
 which I was engaged during the last eighteen months of the 
 war. So far as my own performances are concerned, this 
 narrative shall be as full and as complete as I can make it ; 
 and if I fail to go into exact and minute details about certain 
 important transactions, it will be simply because I feel that I 
 am under obligations not to betray my confederates, no mat 
 ter how unworthy they may have been. To some of these 
 people I am under no obligations whatever, and shall conse 
 quently not hesitate to speak plainly concerning them ; but 
 with regard to others, I prefer to err on the honorable side by 
 saying too little, rather than to rest under the imputation of 
 betraying confidences. 
 
 ARRANGING A PLAN OF OPERATIONS. 
 
 It took me some little time, of course, to master the entire 
 situation ; but a very brief residence at the North enabled me 
 to see that there was a vast amount of most important and 
 valuable work to be done within the Federal lines, and that it 
 was exactly the kind of work that I could do with the very 
 best effect. I arranged my plans, therefore, for a series of 
 operations in behalf of the Confederate cause, and, at the 
 earliest practicable moment, placed myself in communication 
 with the Richmond authorities, and with the various secret 
 service agents in the Northern States and in Canada, and also 
 with Federal officials of various kinds, with whom I desired 
 to establish confidential relations, not only for the purpose of 
 preventing their suspecting me, but to gain through them 
 information otherwise unobtainable. 
 
 Having once established myself on a satisfactory footing 
 with those who were managing matters at the rival capitals, 
 it became a comparatively easy matter to go ahead with some 
 degree of boldness, and to follow up a systematic scheme of 
 action ; and I flatter myself that, having once gotten fairly 
 started, I performed the tasks I undertook with a praise 
 worthy degree of thoroughness, and with not altogether un 
 important results. 
 
 The story of this portion of my career will differ materially 
 from that which has preceded it. I have now to tell, not of 
 
STRATAGEMS AND WILES. 391 
 
 battles and sieges, but of stratagems and wiles ; and, as the 
 results of warfare are determined even more by strategy than 
 by actual hard fighting, I believe that the reader will find the 
 ensuing pages equally entertaining with those which have 
 preceded them, and probably more so. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 PLAYING A DOUBLE GAME. 
 
 Studying the Situation. I renew my Acquaintance with old Friends of 
 the Federal Army. Half-formed Plans. I obtain an Introduction to 
 Colonel Lafayette C. Baker, Chief of the United States Secret Service 
 Corps. Colonel Baker and General Winder of the Confederate Secret 
 Service compared. Baker a good Detective Officer, but far inferior to 
 Winder as the Head of a Secret Service Department. I solicit Employ 
 ment from Baker as a Detective, and am indorsed by my Friend General 
 A. Baker gives a rather indefinite Answer to my Application. I go 
 to New York, and fall in with Confederate Secret Service Agents, who 
 employ me to assist them in various Schemes. Learning the Ropes. 
 I send Intelligence of my Movements to Richmond, and am enrolled 
 as a Confederate Agent. I have several Interviews with Baker, and 
 succeed in gaining his Confidence. Baker's Surprise and Disgust at 
 various Times at his Plans leaking out. The Secret of the Leakage 
 revealed. 
 
 . o 
 
 'N going to Washington I had no very definite 
 idea of what I would do, or, indeed, what I 
 could do. I was now about to work under dif 
 ferent auspices from any under which I had 
 hitherto been placed, and it was necessary for 
 me to look around a bit and study the situation. In 
 a general sort of way I hoped to get access to the differ 
 ent departments, so that I would be able to find out 
 what was going on, and to place myself in communica 
 tion with persons who would be able to give me such 
 information as I desired. It was also important that I 
 should make the acquaintance of, and be on friendly terms 
 with, officers of the army and others who would have the 
 power to help me in case I wanted to run through the lines, 
 or in event of my getting into any trouble through meddling 
 with affairs that the government might not desire an irrespon 
 sible outsider like myself to know too much about. 
 
 The visit I had paid to the prison where my brother was 
 confined, made me think deeply about the privations and suf 
 ferings endured by the brave Southern boys captured on a 
 
 392 
 
USEFUL FRIENDS. 393 
 
 hundred battle-fields, and now in the hands of the Federal 
 authorities. The more I thought of them the more I was 
 moved by an intense desire to do something to secure their 
 release ; and more than one crude suggestion of a plan for the 
 accomplishment of so desirable an end floated through my 
 mind, without, however, my being able to decide upon any 
 definite method of procedure. 
 
 I hoped, on going to Washington, to find there some one 
 with whom I was acquainted, and through whom I might fall 
 in with those who could aid me in the execution of my de 
 signs. On my arrival in the Federal capital, therefore, I made 
 inquiries concerning the prominent officers of the army there, 
 thinking that, most probably, I would be able to meet some of 
 my military friends of the good old days before the war, and I 
 was not long in learning that General A. and Captain B. were 
 both on duty in or near Washington. 
 
 UNCONSCIOUS CONFEDERATES. 
 
 I will remark here, that I designate these gentlemen by the 
 two first letters of the alphabet, because I desire to avoid 
 giving any clew to their real names. They were both men of 
 unimpeachable honor, and, had they suspected in the least 
 what my designs really were, I believe that they would 
 immediately have procured my arrest, in spite of any private 
 friendship they might have had for me. I made use of them 
 for the furtherance of my plans in the interest of the Confed 
 eracy, but they neither of them, on any occasion, wittingly 
 gave me any information that they should not have given. On 
 the contrary, they declined to be of any assistance to me in 
 visiting the departments or in going to the front, on the plea 
 that the stringent rules in force would not permit them to do 
 so. I obtained points from them occasionally in conversa 
 tion, for it is impossible for any one, not even a detective or 
 a spy, to be as close-mouthed on all occasions as is desirable ; 
 but the chief aid which they extended was in introducing 
 me to people whom I could use, and in maintaining intimate 
 and friendly personal relations with me, by which I was en 
 abled to gain a standing in certain quarters without trouble. 
 
 The general, when I introduced myself to him, appeared to 
 be very glad to see me, and asked me innumerable questions 
 about myself, my friends, and my adventures since we last had 
 seen each other. I had a plausible story ready to tell him, in 
 
394 COLONEL LAFAYETTE C. BAKER. 
 
 which fact and fiction were mingled with some degree of skill, 
 and expressed myself with considerable bitterness concerning 
 the rebels, wishing that I could do something to aid in securing 
 a speedy termination of the war by their defeat. After a very 
 pleasant intercourse with the general, I parted from him, with 
 a request that he would do me the honor to call on me at the 
 hotel, which he promised to do. 
 
 The next day I met Captain B. in the street, and we ex 
 changed greetings. He, too, promised to call upon me. This 
 promise he kept, and I had quite a long talk with him on gen 
 eral topics, preferring to see more of him before attempting to 
 make him useful. 
 
 I saw both the general and the captain several times after 
 that, and in the course of conversation with one of them, I 
 forget which, he happened to say something about Colonel 
 Baker which excited my interest, and induced me to make 
 particular inquiry concerning him. I had never heard of this 
 individual before, but I now speedily learned that he was the 
 chief government detective officer, and that he was uncommonly 
 expert in hunting down rebel spies, and in putting a stop to 
 their performances. I immediately concluded that Colonel 
 Baker was a personage whom it was eminently desirable that 
 I should become acquainted with at the earliest possible mo 
 ment, and that it would be much more advantageous for me to 
 make his acquaintance through the introduction of one of my 
 military friends, than through finding him on my track just 
 when I had some enterprise for the benefit of the Confederacy 
 in process of consummation. 
 
 Whichever of the two it was that I had my original conver 
 sation with about Baker, it was the general who made me ac 
 quainted with him, and who spoke of me in such a manner as 
 to put me in the good graces of this terrible man at the start. 
 
 GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH DETECTIVE BAKER. 
 
 Colonel Lafayette C. Baker occupied at Washington a some 
 what similar position to that held by General Winder at Rich 
 mond, although he scarcely had the large powers and exten 
 sive authority of the chief of the Confederate secret service 
 department. In fact, Colonel Baker was a detective officer 
 more than anything else, and he had comparatively little to do 
 with military matters. The chief employment of himself and 
 his assistants was to hunt down offenders of all kinds ; and he 
 
BAKER AND WINDER. 395 
 
 was much more successful in this than he was in procuring 
 information for the use of the war department, although he 
 prided himself considerably on his own performances as a spy, 
 and upon several not unsuccessful secret service expeditions 
 into the Confederacy that had been made by his directions, 
 and in accordance with his plans. 
 
 I confess that I came into the presence of so formidable an 
 individual with some degree of trepidation ; but I very soon 
 learned to regard him as not half so ferocious as he looked, 
 and as very far from being as difficult and dangerous a per 
 sonage to deal with as he was made out to be. There is 
 nothing like having a reputation for ferocity, and other terri 
 ble qualities, if you want to make people afraid of you, and 
 Colonel Baker's reputation how gained it would be some 
 what difficult to tell did him good service in exciting terror 
 among those who were disposed to do things which it might 
 not be pleasant for a government detective to find out. 
 
 Colonel Baker differed as much from General Winder in 
 appearance as he did in other respects. Winder was a far 
 more highly educated man, and he had all that peculiar polish 
 of manners that can only be attained by education, and by 
 constant association with refined and educated people. He 
 was a rather imposing looking man, too, and a casual acquaint 
 ance with him was calculated to leave the impression that he 
 was a very pleasant and good-natured old gentleman. Under 
 his smooth exterior, however, was a deep scheming and far- 
 reaching mind, and a hard and cruel disposition, and he was a 
 much more dangerous individual to fall into the ill graces of 
 than Baker. Baker was a man who, under some circumstances, 
 I might have taken a genuine liking to ; but the more I saw 
 of Winder the less I liked him, and the more I was afraid of 
 him. 
 
 BAKER'S APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER. 
 
 Baker was a tolerably fair-looking man, after a certain 
 fashion. He was a returned Californian, having resided in San 
 Francisco for a number of years before the war, and having 
 been a member of the famous vigilance committee which made 
 such short work with the rogues of that city in 1856. He had 
 the bronzed face and the wiry frame of a western pioneer, and 
 his manners were marked by a good deal of far-western 
 brusqueness. His hair was dark and thick, and he wore a full 
 and rather heavy beard j but his eyes were the most expressive 
 
396 PLAYING DOUBLE. 
 
 feature of his face. These were a cold gray, and they had a 
 peculiarly sharp and piercing expression, especially when he 
 was talking on business. He also had a particularly sharp and 
 abrupt manner of speaking at times; and more than once, 
 when I have had reason to think that he might have knowledge 
 of some of my transactions as a Confederate secret service 
 agent, I have felt cold creeps all over me as he looked me 
 straight in the eyes and spoke in that cutting tone of voice he 
 was in the habit of using on occasions. 
 
 Colonel Baker was, in my opinion, a first-rate detective of 
 ficer, and nothing more ; for something more is necessary in 
 the chief of a secret service department in time of war than to 
 be a good hand at hunting down offenders. Give him a definite 
 object to go for, and a very slight clew, and he would, in the 
 majority of cases, accomplish a creditable piece of work. He 
 had, however, very little skill in starting enterprises for him 
 self. General Winder, in his place, would have made Wash 
 ington a much more uncomfortable residence for Confederate 
 spies and agents than it was during the war ; and the fact that 
 I was able to play double with the colonel, as I did for nearly a 
 year and a half, and to carry on, as I did, a number of impor 
 tant operations on behalf of the Confederacy, so to speak, 
 under his very nose, was not very creditable to him, all the 
 circumstances being taken into consideration. 
 
 Colonel Baker, however, was not without his good qualities, 
 even if he was far from being as great a personage as he 
 thought he was. He was stern and severe, but he was a 
 kinder man at heart than General Winder, although he lacked 
 the intellectual attainments of the Confederate officer. With 
 regard to the relative honesty of the two, it is perhaps as well 
 that I should express no opinion. 
 
 APPLICATION FOE A POSITION IN THE FEDERAL SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 On being introduced to Colonel Baker by General A., I 
 asked him if he could not give me a position in his detective 
 corps in some capacity, explaining as my reason for making 
 such a request that, having lost everything through the rebel 
 lion, I was in urgent need of obtaining some remunerative 
 employment by which I could support myself. In the course 
 of the conversation with him, I told pretty much, the same 
 story that I had to the Federal officers at Memphis. I was of 
 Spanish extraction, and all of my friends and relatives were 
 
BAKER'S CAUTION. 397 
 
 either in Spain or Cuba. My husband, who was a United 
 States army officer, this I put in for the sake of obtaining 
 the corroboration of rny friend, the general, who had been 
 acquainted with my first husband, but who apparently was 
 not aware of. the fact that he was in the Confederate service 
 at the time of his death, had died about the outbreak of the 
 war, and I had been plundered, and otherwise so badly treated 
 by the rebels, that I had been compelled to come North, where 
 I had resided for a considerable period, but without being able 
 to do much in the way of supporting myself. I was well 
 acquainted throughout the South, having travelled a great 
 deal, and having met a great many prominent people, and I 
 did not doubt but that I possessed much information that 
 would be of value to the government, and believed that I 
 could obtain more, as I thought that I had talents which would 
 enable me to do good service either as a spy or simply as a 
 detective. 
 
 In the course of a somewhat lengthy conversation with 
 Colonel Baker, I expressed myself with considerable bitter 
 ness with regard to the rebels, and the treatment I professed 
 to have received at their hands, and endeavored to impress 
 him with the idea that I was quite as anxious to engage in 
 spy duty for the purpose of being revenged on them, as for 
 the cash I expected to earn by the faithful performance of the 
 particular tasks which might be assigned me. 
 
 Baker asked me a good many questions not particularly 
 skilful ones it seemed to me about myself, my family, how 
 long I had been at the North, what induced me to take up 
 with the idea of joining the secret service corps, what 
 employment I had hitherto been engaged in, and a variety of 
 other matters. To his interrogatories I replied promptly, and 
 with seeming frankness, and I left his presence tolerably confi 
 dent that he believed all I had told him, and that I had made 
 a good impression. As for the general, he seemed to be 
 deeply impressed, and advocated my cause strongly, urging 
 Baker to give me an engagement without further delay. The 
 colonel, however, was cautious he would see about it ; he 
 would talk further with me on the subject ; he did not know 
 that he had anything he could give me to do just at present, 
 but he might have need of me shortly, and would let me know 
 when he wanted me, and all that sort of thing. 
 
 After we left, the general promised to speak to the colonel 
 
398 MAKING A START. 
 
 again, and said lie thought he could induce him to give me 
 an engagement, but that, at any rate, he would try. 
 
 This interview with Colonel Baker convinced me that he 
 was the man to begin with, if I wanted to get admission 
 behind the scenes at Washington, and if I wanted to execute 
 any really masterly coup at the North in behalf of the Con 
 federacy. As a member of his corps, I would not only be able 
 to do many things that would be impossible otherwise, but I 
 would have ample opportunities for finding out a good many 
 things that were going on, with regard to which the world at 
 large was happily ignorant. As for Baker himself, I made 
 up my mind that he was an individual wise in his own esteem, 
 but with no comprehensive ideas, whom it would not be 
 difficult to fool to the top of his bent. All that it would be 
 necessary for me to do, in case he employed me, would be the 
 performance of some real, or apparently real services for him, 
 to secure his fullest confidence, while at the same time I could 
 carry on my real work to the very best advantage. 
 
 Having waited about Washington for a week or two, without 
 hearing anything from Colonel Baker, and the general having 
 told me that there was no chance for me just at present, I 
 decided to return to New York, as I thought, from a hint 
 given me in a letter from my brother, that I might be able to 
 commence operations there. I resolved, however, to cultivate 
 Baker's acquaintance at the earliest opportunity, but thought 
 that perhaps it would be best not to trouble him again until I 
 had some definite scheme to propose. 
 
 CONFERENCES WITH CONFEDERATE AGENTS. 
 
 When I reached New York, and saw my brother, he was 
 expecting every day to be exchanged ; and he told me that he 
 had been visited by several Confederate agents, who wanted 
 him to try and carry some documents through when he went 
 South. He was afraid, however, to attempt anything of this 
 kind, and, besides, did not think that it would be honorable 
 under the circumstances. Without saying anything about my 
 plans to him, therefore, I went and saw the agents in question, 
 told them who I was, referred them to people who knew me in 
 the West, and in a general way disclosed to them my schemes 
 for aiding the Confederacy. I did not, however, tell them 
 about my interview with Colonel Baker, or that I had the 
 
RECOGNIZED AS A SECRET AGENT. 399 
 
 intention of becoming an employee of his. This, I thought, 
 was a matter I had best keep to myself for the present, for 
 fear of accident. 
 
 These agents were exceedingly glad to see me, and had 
 several jobs of work cut out which they were anxious that I 
 should attend to. They did not strike me as being very 
 important, but I thought that they would do to begin with, 
 and that they would aid me in becoming acquainted with the 
 Confederate working force in the North. I, therefore, promised 
 to give them my aid so soon as my brother should leave for 
 the South. 
 
 They then evinced a great eagerness to have me persuade 
 my brother to carry some despatches through ; but I said that 
 it would be useless to ask him, and that the most I could 
 expect of him was, that he would take a verbal message from 
 myself to the officials who knew me in Richmond, to the 
 effect that I was at the North, endeavoring to aid the Con 
 federate cause by every means in my power, and filled with 
 zeal to do whatever was to be done. It required considerable 
 persuasion to induce my brother to do even this much, but 
 finally, to my great satisfaction, he consented. 
 
 SECRET SERVICE OPERATIONS. 
 
 Shortly after this my brother went South on a cartel of 
 exchange, and in due time I received information that my 
 message had been delivered, and that I was recognized as a 
 Confederate secret service agent. 
 
 In the mean while I made a large number of acquaintances 
 among the adherents of both the Federal and Confederate 
 governments, and did a great deal of work of one kind or 
 another. None of my performances, however, for several 
 months were of sufficient importance to warrant special 
 mention in these pages, and their chief value to me was, that 
 they kept me employed, and taught me what kind of work 
 there was to do, and how to do it. During this time I visited 
 Washington frequently, and always made it a point to see 
 Colonel Baker, to whom I furnished a number of bits of infor 
 mation, the majority of which were of no particular value to 
 him, although several were of real importance, and aided him 
 materially in his effort to break up certain fraudulent practices, 
 and to bring the rogues to justice. 
 
400 HOW BAKER'S CONFIDENCE WAS GAINED. 
 
 By this means I retained his favor, and succeeded in 
 gaining his confidence to a degree that the reader will 
 probably think rather astonishing, considering my antecedents, 
 and the kind of work that I was engaged in sub rosa. It 
 should be borne in mind, however, that Baker did not know, 
 and could not know, anything of my previous history that I 
 had been highly recommended to him, and that I was con 
 stantly proving useful to him. Wherein he failed in astute 
 ness, was in permitting me to carry on the peculiar operations 
 I did, almost under his eyes, and to make use of him, and 
 of the machinery of his office, for the accomplishment of my 
 plans. 
 
 At each succeeding interview I could see that Baker was 
 becoming more and more favorably impressed with me, and I 
 did not doubt that I would finally succeed in securing him as 
 an unconcious ally of myself and my co-workers. 
 
 My grand opportunity at length did arrive, and the cunning 
 secret service chief fell into the trap laid for him as innocent 
 ly and unsuspectingly as if he had never heard of such a 
 thing as a spy in his life. The colonel, as I have before re 
 marked, was not a bad sort of a fellow in his way ; and as I 
 had a sincere regard for him, I am sorry he is not alive now, 
 that he might be able to read this ijarrative, and so learn how 
 completely he was taken in, and by a woman, too. He was a 
 smart man, but not smart enough for all occasions. 
 
 ONE OF BAKER'S GRIEVANCES. 
 
 I have heard Colonel Baker frequently complain bitterly 
 of the manner in which so many of his neatly laid plans were 
 revealed to the very persons whom he was most anxious 
 should know nothing about them, almost as soon as they were 
 arranged ; and I have endeavored to console him, and to sug 
 gest reasons for the phenomena, but was never able to quite 
 make him understand the mystery. The reader of this narra 
 tive will know, as Colonel Baker never was able to, why some 
 of his arrangements for capturing certain people who were 
 making themselves troublesome to the government which he 
 represented came to nothing; and it is to be hoped that 
 other detectives, who are wise in their own conceit, will be 
 edified by the revelations herein made. 
 
 In the chapters immediately following, I will relate the 
 particulars of a series of operations, which, in many respects, 
 
CURIOUS. 401 
 
 were the most important of my career. The grand scheme 
 which I labored to promote was a failure, but the work which 
 I was assigned to do, in connection with it, was thoroughly 
 well done, and, had the others performed their part as well as 
 I performed mine, the ending of the war would probably have 
 been very different from what it was. It would, however, 
 scarcely have been possible for me to have worked with the 
 signal efficiency I did, had I not secured the aid of Colonel 
 Baker ; and, that the chief detective officer of the Federal 
 government should have been induced, unconsciously and 
 unsuspectingly, to assist a rebel enterprise of the dangerous 
 character of this one, was one of the most curious of the 
 many curious things that happened during the war. 
 
 Before embarking in this enterprise, I succeeded in making 
 the acquaintance of a number of influential people in Wash 
 ington and elsewhere, and was engaged in operations of no 
 little importance, the recital of which will, I think, prove 
 both entertaining and edifying to the public, as it will show 
 what consummate scoundrels were filling high places under 
 the Federal government during the war, and how the people 
 who believed the war to be a just one, and were making every 
 sacrifice to carry it on, were betrayed by some of these most 
 trusted servants. 
 
 As these operations, however, were connected with others 
 of a much later date, I will, in order not to break the thread 
 of my story, defer narrating them at present, merely stating 
 here that the detection of the gigantic frauds that were being 
 perpetrated was one of the most creditable events of Colonel 
 Baker's career. I say this, notwithstanding that I was work 
 ing against him at the time, and was implicated in the trans 
 actions alluded to. My position with regard to these matters 
 was very different from that of the men with whom I co 
 operated. I did certain things, and would do them again 
 under similar circumstances, because I think that in time of 
 war ,it is right and proper to take every advantage of the 
 enemy ; but I had so little regard for my chief associates, that, 
 although I took good care to keep out of Baker's sight, and 
 had no desire to have him capture me, I could not help wish 
 ing, when I heard that he had his clutches on them, that he 
 would succeed in having them punished according to their 
 deserts. 
 
 It was most discreditable in certain of the principal officers 
 of the government, and in certain members of Congress, that 
 26 
 
402 WHOLESALE SWINDLING PROTECTED. 
 
 these people were permitted to have such opportunities for 
 wholesale swindling, and that after they were detected, they 
 were not only not brought to punishment, but some of them 
 were even continued in office. Colonel Baker was indignant, 
 and justly so, that his efforts were brought to nought through 
 the interference of politicians, who were more afraid of having 
 discredit brought on the party they represented, by the 
 exposures which he made of corruption and scoundrelism in 
 high places, than they were solicitous for honesty and effi 
 ciency in the administration of some of the most important 
 affairs of the government. Baker was not only interfered 
 with, and his plans balked, but his opponents even went so 
 far as to persecute him, by bringing a charge of conspiracy-, 
 and by compelling him to defend himself in the courts. 
 
 I have known Colonel Baker to do some things that were 
 scarcely defensible, but, with regard to this matter, I have the 
 best means of knowing that he was entirely in the right, and 
 that, had he been permitted to do as he wished, he would have 
 effectually stopped rascalities of the worst kind, and have 
 performed services that would have entitled him to the lasting 
 gratitude of his countrymen. It was utterly disgraceful that 
 he should have been subjected to persecutions for doing his 
 simple duty, especially as his investigations were commenced, 
 and for a considerable time carried on, at the instance of the 
 very men who turned upon him so soon as his labors threat 
 ened to create a public scandal that might be disadvantageous 
 to the political prospects of some of them. They were will 
 ing enough to hunt down, and to punish rascality, so long as 
 they and their friends were not injured in any way, but so 
 soon as Baker began to prove himself in earnest, and deter 
 mined to bring the rascals to justice, no matter who might be 
 hurt, the very men who had secured his services turned upon 
 him, took sides with the rogues, and did their best to destroy 
 him. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 VISIT TO RICHMOND AND CANADA. 
 
 An Attack on the Rearof the Enemy in Contemplation. The Difficulties 
 in the Way of its Execution. What it was expected to accomplish. 
 The Federals to be placed between two Fires. I have an Interview with 
 Colonel Baker, and propose a Trip to Richmond. He assents, and fur 
 nishes me with Passes and Means to make the Journey. I run through 
 the Lines, and reach Richmond in Safety. I return by a roundabout 
 Route, laden with Despatches, Letters, Commercial Orders, Money 
 Drafts, and other valuable Documents. I am delayed in Baltimore, and 
 fall short of Money. The Difficulties I had in getting my Purse filled. 
 Sickness. I visit Lewes, Delaware, and deliver Instructions to a 
 Blockade Runner. On reaching New York I learn that a Detective is 
 after me. I start for Canada, and meeting the Detective in the Cars, 
 strike up an Acquaintance with him. He shows me a Photograph sup 
 posed to be of myself, and tells me what his Plans are. The Detective 
 baffled, and my safe Arrival in Canada. Hearty Welcome by the Con 
 federates there. I transact my Business and prepare to return. 
 
 MAGNIFICENT scheme was on foot during 
 the summer and fall of 1864, for making an 
 attack upon the enemy in the rear, which, if it 
 had been carried out with skill and determina 
 tion might have given a very different ending 
 to the war. As it was, the very inefficient 
 attempt that was made created an excitement that 
 almost amounted to a panic, and seemed to show how 
 effective a really well-directed blow, such as was in 
 tended, would have been. Such schemes as this, how 
 ever, are always extremely difficult of execution, and this 
 one was particularly so, on .account of the necessity which 
 existed for the most profound secrecy in all the movements, 
 up to the very moment when the blow was to be struck. A 
 large extent of country was to be operated upon, several 
 distinct movements, of equal importance, were to be carried 
 on at the same time, the failure of any one of which would 
 imperil everything, and a neutral soil was to be the base of 
 operations. 
 
 403 
 
404 CONCERNING "COPPERHEADS." 
 
 That a considerable number of persons should be informed 
 of the essential points of the proposed campaign could not be 
 avoided, and, of course, each person admitted to the secret 
 diminished the chances of it being kept ; for, even were trai 
 tors less plenty than they usually are, the fact that we were 
 arranging our plans and making our preparations in the midst 
 of enemies, or of half-hearted friends, rendered it scarcely 
 within the range of possibility that some unlucky word or 
 indiscreet expression would not ,give some one a hint of what 
 was going on, and enable preparations to meet the attack to 
 be made. 
 
 Besides all this, two great difficulties in the way of success 
 existed. There was no thoroughness of organization, it 
 was impossible, under the circumstances, that there should 
 have been, and there was no recognized leader whose 
 authority was admitted by all, and who had the direction 
 of all the movements. 
 
 THE " COPPERHEADS." 
 
 The blow, therefore, was to be, to a very great extent, a 
 random one, struck in the dark, and with no assurances what 
 ever that the results expected from it would follow. We were 
 utterly unable to tell how much we could count on in the way 
 of active assistance from the Southern sj^mpathizers, or " Cop 
 perheads," as they were called. For my own part, I did not 
 rely greatly upon anything they could or would do, and am 
 now very well satisfied that it was a piece of supreme folly to 
 have expected anything from them. 
 
 These people were really traitors both to the South and the 
 North, and in the long run they did the cause of the Confed 
 eracy far more harm than they did it good. They professed 
 to believe that the South was right, and yet they were not 
 willing to take up arms for her, or, with very few excep 
 tions, to do anything practical for her that would render 
 themselves liable to get into the least trouble with the 
 Federal government. They annoyed the government by 
 their captious criticisms of all its actions, by opposing the 
 prosecution of the war in every way that they could with 
 safety to themselves, and by loud expressions of Southern 
 sympathy. All they accomplished, however, was a prolonga 
 tion of the war, and the disfranchisement of nearly the entire 
 white population of the South after the war was ended ; for 
 
BETWEEN TWO FIRES. 405 
 
 to them, more than to the Southerners themselves, was due 
 the imposition of the hard terms which were the price of 
 peace. To the " Copperheads," therefore, as a class, the 
 South owe little or nothing ; and, according to my view, they 
 were the kind of friends that people in difficulties had best 
 be without. 
 
 THE PROJECTED ATTACK BY WAY OP THE LAKES. 
 
 The great scheme to which I have alluded was no less than 
 an attack upon the country bordering upon the great lakes.; 
 the release of the Confederate prisoners confined at Johnson's 
 Island in Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio, and at other local 
 ities ; their organization into an army, which was to- engage 
 in the work of devastating the country, burning the cities and 
 towns, seizing upon forts, arsenals, depots, and manufactories 
 of munitions of war, for the purpose of holding them, if prac 
 ticable, or of destroying them ; and, in fine, of creating such a 
 diversion in their rear as would necessitate the withdrawal 
 of a large force from the front. 
 
 A DIVERSION IN THE REAR OP THE ENEMY. 
 
 It was expected, in event of the success of the plan, that 
 the Federal forces would be placed between two fires, and 
 that the commanders of the Confederate armies in the South 
 and in the North would be able between them to crush the 
 enemy, and dictate terms of peace, or at least give a new 
 phase to the war, by transferring it from the impoverished and 
 desolated South to the rich, prosperous, and fertile North. As 
 I have before stated, much reliance was felt by many on 
 obtaining something more than mere s} r mpathy from the 
 " Copperheads." I, for one, however, had no great expecta 
 tions that any considerable number of recruits would be 
 gained on Northern soil, and founded my hopes more on the 
 personal efforts of true and tried Southern men, than upon 
 assistance of any kind from those who were not closely 
 identified with Southern interests. 
 
 While the plans for the proposed grand attack in the rear 
 was maturing, I was asked to attempt a trip to Richmond, and 
 consented without hesitation. I was to consult with, and 
 receive final instructions from the Richmond authorities, with 
 regard to the proposed raid on the lake shores, and was also to 
 
406 MAKING USE OF COLONEL BAKER. 
 
 attend to a variety of commercial and other matters, and 
 especially to obtain letters and despatches for Canada. 
 
 Now was my time to make use of Colonel Baker; and I 
 accordingly resolved to see what I fcould do with him, with 
 out more delay. Having received my papers and instruc 
 tions, therefore, I went to Washington, and called on the 
 colonel, who received me as politely as he had been in the 
 habit of doing of late, and asked what he could do for me ; 
 for he saw, by my manner, that I had some definite project 
 on hand, and began to believe that I really meant serious 
 business. 
 
 In order to understand the situation from Colonel Baker's 
 point of view, it may be necessary to state, that more than 
 once rumors that attempts to liberate the Confederate prison 
 ers were to be made, had been in circulation, and that Baker, 
 as I knew, was exceedingly anxious to effect the arrest of 
 some of the more active of the Confederate agents engaged in 
 this and similar schemes. 
 
 A CONFIDENTIAL TALK WITH BAKER. 
 
 I told him, therefore, that I had obtained information to the 
 effect that a noted Confederate spy had been captured, and 
 was now in one of the prisons, from whence he could doubt 
 less find means to communicate with Confederates outside. 
 My proposition was that I should go to Richmond, where, by 
 passing myself off as a Confederate among people with whom 
 I was acquainted, I would not only, in all probability, suc 
 ceed in finding out exactly who this man was, and where he 
 was, but what he and his confederates were trying to do. I 
 suggested, also, that I could most likely pick up other informa 
 tion of sufficient value to pay for whatever the trip would cost 
 the government. 
 
 When I had explained what I proposed to do, Baker said, 
 " I am afraid if you attempt to run through the lines the rebs 
 will capture you ; if they do, they will use you rough. 77 
 
 I replied, " I am not afraid to take the risk if you will only 
 give me the means of making the trip, and attend to getting 
 me through the Federal lines." 
 
 " It will be a troublesome thing to get you through our 
 lines," said Baker, " for it don't do to let everybody know 
 what is going on when a bit of business like this is on hand ; 
 and, after you pass our lines you will have to get through 
 
BAKER ENTRAPPED. 407 
 
 those of the rebels, and that you will find no easy job, I can 
 tell you, for they are getting more and more suspicious and 
 particular every day." 
 
 " 0, as for that," said I, " I can, if it is necessary to do so, 
 go to Havana, where my relatives are living, and try and run 
 through from there. I believe, however, that I can get 
 through from here if I make the right kind of an effort; at any 
 rate, I would like to make the attempt, if only to show you 
 what I am capable of." 
 
 The colonel laughed at my enthusiasm, and said, " Well, 
 you are a plucky little woman; and as you seem to be so anx 
 ious to spy out what the rebs are doing, I have half a notion 
 to give you a chance. You must not blame me, however, if 
 you get caught, and they take a notion to hang you ; for, you 
 know, that is a way they have of dealing with people who 
 engage in this sort of business, and your sex won't save you." 
 
 " 0," said I, " I don't think that my neck was ever made to 
 be fitted in a noose, and I am willing to risk it." 
 
 The result of the conference was, that Colonel Baker finally 
 consented to let me try my luck, and he gave me a variety 
 of instructions about how to proceed, and about the par 
 ticular kind of information I was to endeavor to obtain. I 
 saw very plainly that he did not entirely trust me, or, rather, 
 that he was afraid to trust me too much ; but I attributed his 
 lack of confidence in me to the fact that I was as yet untried, 
 and consequently might be led by my enthusiasm into under 
 rating the difficulties of the task I was undertaking, rather 
 than to any doubt in his mind with regard to my fidelity. I 
 resolved, therefore, to give him such proofs of my abilities, as 
 well as of my fidelity, as would insure me his entire confi 
 dence in the future. 
 
 BAKER CONCLUDES TO SEND ME TO RICHMOND. 
 
 It having been determined that I should make the trip, 
 Baker told me to get ready for my journey immediately, and, 
 in the mean time, he could procure me the necessary passes to 
 enable me to get through the Federal lines, and money to meet 
 my expenses. 
 
 When we next met, he gave me five thousand dollars in 
 bogus Confederate bills, and one hundred and fifty dollars in 
 greenbacks, which he said ought to be enough to see me 
 through all right. I suggested that if the Confederates 
 
408 IN THE CONFEDERATE LINES. 
 
 caught me passing bogus currency, they would be apt to deal 
 harder with me than they would simply as a spy. Baker 
 laughed at this, and said that that was one of the risks I must 
 run, but that he did not think there was any danger, as 
 these bogus notes passed more readily in the Confederacy 
 than the genuine ones did, which he could only account for 
 on the supposition that the Confederacy was a bogus govern 
 ment. He seemed to think that this was rather a good joke, 
 although I was not able to see exactly where the laugh came 
 in, and am afraid that I must have struggled hard with the 
 faint smile that I attempted. 
 
 Everything being ready, off I started, and had but little 
 difficulty in getting through the Federal lines on the passes 
 furnished me by Baker. To get through those of the Confed 
 erate forces was a more troublesome operation; but, as when 
 I came to the outposts, I was able to declare my real errand, I 
 was not seriously impeded, and once in Richmond I was, of 
 course, perfectly at home. 
 
 IN RICHMOND. 
 
 On my arrival in that city, I immediately communicated 
 with the authorities, delivered the messages and despatches 
 submitted to me, sent letters to merchants in Wilmington and 
 Savannah, as I had been directed to do, and gave all the 
 information I could about the condition of things at the 
 North, the proposed raid, and other matters. 
 
 While waiting to hear from the men in Wilmington and 
 Savannah, and for the preparation of such instructions as I 
 was to carry back from the Richmond people, I found myself 
 falling short in funds, and accordingly tried to see what 
 could be done with Baker's bogus Confederate notes. I had 
 no difficulty in passing them, and consequently invested the 
 entire batch in greenbacks, but, as the United States promises 
 to pay were worth more, even in Richmond, than those of the 
 Confederacy, I did not make an even exchange, by a great deal. 
 Indeed, the greenbacks which I pocketed by this operation 
 amounted to a very moderate sum, all of which I knew would 
 be required for my return journey. 
 
 Within a few days I heard, by special messenger, from the 
 parties in Wilmington and Savannah. This man delivered to 
 me a package which was to be taken through to Canada, and 
 also orders and sailing directions for certain blockade-runners, 
 
CONTRABAND OF WAR. 409 
 
 and drafts which were to be cashed, and the money disposed 
 of in certain ways for the benefit of the Confederate cause. 
 I also received directions from parties in Richmond to confer 
 with the Confederate agents, and, if agreeable on all sides, to 
 visit the prisons ; it being thought that, as a woman, I would 
 be able to obtain admission, and be permitted to speak to the 
 prisoners, where a man would be denied. 
 
 Then, freighted with my small, but precious package, sev 
 eral important despatches, and other papers, and a number of 
 letters for Confederates in Canada, I started to return. I 
 would have been a rich prize for the Federals, if they should 
 capture me ; and, while on my way back, I wondered what 
 Colonel Baker would think and say, in case some of his em 
 issaries should chance to lay hands upon me, and conduct me 
 into his presence, laden with all this contraband of war. 
 
 EETURN NORTH BY WAY OF WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 In consideration of the value of the baggage I was carry 
 ing, it was thought to be too great a risk for me to attempt to 
 reach the North by any of the more direct routes, and I was 
 consequently compelled to make a long detour by way of 
 Parkersburg, in West Virginia. This involved a long and 
 very tiresome journey, but it was undoubtedly the best course 
 for me to pursue. 
 
 The wisdom in choosing this route was demonstrated by 
 the result, and I succeeded in reaching Parkersburg without 
 being suspected in the least by any one. At that place I 
 found General Kelley in command, and from him procured 
 transportation to Baltimore, on the strength of my being an 
 attache of Colonel Baker's corps, which was a very satisfac 
 tory stroke of business for me, as it saved both trouble and 
 expense. 
 
 The instructions under which I was moving required me to 
 go to Baltimore, and from there inform the different parties 
 interested of my arrival, and wait to hear from them as to 
 whether they were ready to meet me at the appointed places, 
 before proceeding farther. I was also to wait there for some 
 drafts for large sums, which were to be cashed in New York, 
 and the money taken to Canada. This involved considerable 
 delay, which was particularly unpleasant just then, as I was 
 getting very short of funds, and was, moreover, quite sick, 
 the excitement I had gone through with ; for this was a 
 
410 PECUNIARY ASSISTANCE. 
 
 more exciting life even than soldiering, and the fatigues of 
 a very long and tedious journey, having quite used me up. 
 
 . SHORT OF FUNDS. 
 
 On arriving in Baltimore, fearing that I would not have 
 enough money to see me through until I could obtain a remit 
 tance, I went to a store kept by a lady to whom I was told to 
 appeal in event of being detained on account of lack of funds, 
 and explaining who I was, and the business I was on, asked 
 her if she would not assist me. She looked very hard at me, 
 asked me a great many questions, and requested me to show 
 her my papers. I said that this was impossible, as not only 
 my honor and life were at stake, but that interests of great 
 moment were involved in the preservation of the secrets I 
 had in possession. 
 
 This, I thought, ought to have satisfied her; but it appar 
 ently did not, for she evidently regarded me with extreme 
 suspicion. Her indisposition to trust me might have been 
 caused by my rather dilapidated appearance, although my 
 soiled travelling dress ought to have been proof of the fact 
 that I had just been making a long, and very rough journey. 
 Finally, another lady coming in, she walked back in the store 
 with her, and I, supposing that she did not intend to take any 
 more notice of me, arose to go out. She, however, seeing 
 this movement, called for me to wait a moment. Shortly 
 after she returned, and, handing me a sum of money, said, 
 " I am a Union woman ; but as you seem to be in distress, I 
 will have to aid you. This is as much as I can afford to give.' 7 
 
 I, of course, understood that this speech was intended for 
 any other ears than mine that might be listening, and, merely 
 giving her a meaning glance, walked out of the store, without 
 saying anything further. 
 
 Having obtained this money, I went back to Barnum's 
 Hotel, where I was stopping, feeling considerably relieved, so 
 far as the exigencies of the moment were concerned, but not 
 knowing to what poverty I might yet be reduced before I 
 received my expected remittances. At first I was very 
 much vexed at the behavior of the lady in the store, as I 
 thought that the statement I made her, and the names of per 
 sons I mentioned as having referred me to her, ought to have 
 gained me her confidence at once. On reflection, however, I 
 came to the conclusion that she might not be so much to 
 
A BLOCKADE-RUNNER. 411 
 
 blame after all, as she was obliged to be careful, on the one 
 hand, not to be imposed upon, and, on the other, not to be 
 caught having secret dealings with the Confederates. 
 
 ILLNESS. 
 
 That night I was so sick that I had to send for a doctor. 
 I offered him my watch for his services, stating that I was out 
 of funds, and was detained in Baltimore through the non- 
 arrival of money which I was expecting. He, however, 
 refused to take it, and said that I might pay him if I ever was 
 able, but that it would not matter a great deal one way or 
 the other. The next day I was considerably better, and was 
 able to go about a little, and I continued to improve with rest 
 and quiet. 
 
 While stopping at Barnum's Hotel, I became acquainted 
 with a young captain in the Federal army, and, as I made a 
 practice of doing with all Federal officers, I did not know 
 when they might be useful to me, I courted his friendship, 
 and told him a story about myself similar to that I had told 
 on several other occasions with which the reader is familiar, 
 and was especially bitter in my denunciations of the rebels. 
 The captain was so affected by my pitiful narrative, that he 
 introduced me to General E. B. Tyler, who was very affable 
 and courteous, and who, learning that I was anxious to travel 
 northward, and was short of money, kindly procured for me a 
 pass to New York. 
 
 Finally, I received notice that one of the blockade-runners, 
 with whom I was to communicate, was at Lewes, Delaware, 
 and, on proceeding to that place, found an English brig, the 
 captain of which was anxiously waiting to receive instruc 
 tions as to what port he was to sail for. The cargo was prin 
 cipally powder, clothing, and drugs, and the captain was 
 exceedingly glad to see me, as he wanted to get away as fast 
 as he could, there being a liability that the Federal authorities 
 might pounce upon him at any moment. I accordingly gave 
 him his sailing papers, which contained directions for him to 
 proceed to Wadling's Island, on the north of Cuba, where he 
 was to transfer his cargo to another vessel, which was to run 
 for any port it could make in the Confederacy. The captain 
 handed me the cards of several houses in Liverpool and 
 Havre, which were extensively engaged in blockade-running, 
 and I bade him adieu, wishing him a safe and pleasant trip. 
 
412 IN DANGER. 
 
 This errand having been satisfactorily despatched, I went 
 to Philadelphia, where I took a room at the Continental Hotel, 
 and telegraphed for my papers, money package, &c., to be 
 forwarded to me from New York by express. The next 
 morning I received, in reply to this, my expected drafts, and 
 also the following characteristic letter : 
 
 " QUEBEC, CANADA. 
 
 " MRS. SUE BATTLE : You will find enclosed a card of your 
 
 government agent here, B . Any orders you have for 
 
 your government, if forwarded, we will execute and despatch 
 quickly, according to your instructions. Messrs. B. & T. 
 have several clippers, which they will put in the trade, if 
 desired. I will drink your ladyship's good health in a bottle 
 of good old Scotch ale. Let us hear from you at your earliest 
 convenience. I will await your answer to return to Europe. 
 With great respect, and with hopes of success, 
 
 " I am ; madam, yours truly, R. W. L." 
 
 BACK IN NEW YORK. 
 
 I now proceeded, without further delay, to New York, 
 where I was met, at the Desbrosses Street ferry, by my asso 
 ciate in that city, who conducted me to Taylor's Hotel, where 
 he had engaged a room for me. He said that he had been 
 getting somewhat anxious for my safety, the more especially 
 as he was informed that the detectives had received, some 
 information of my doings, and were on the watch for me. 
 This made me a trifle uneasy, as I did not know but my 
 friend, Colonel Baker, had discovered some facts about me 
 which had served to convince him that I was not likely to be 
 as valuable a member of his corps as he had supposed I would 
 when he started, me on my Richmond trip. Since my return 
 to the North I had been endeavoring to keep myself con 
 cealed from Baker and all his people, as I did not wish to 
 renew my acquaintance with the colonel until I had visited 
 Canada. That accomplished, I proposed to see him again, 
 and to make use of his good offices for the purpose of putting 
 into execution a still more daring scheme. 
 
 My New York accomplice said that he did not think I was 
 in any immediate danger, although I would have to take care 
 of myself. He himself had seen one of the detectives who 
 were on my track, and, while I was evidently the person he 
 
A DETECTIVE ON THE WATCH. 413 
 
 was after, the description he had of me was a very imperfect 
 one; so that, by the exercise of a little skill, I ought to 
 be able to evade him. To put him on the wrong track, my 
 accomplice had told this detective that he thought he knew 
 the person he was searching for, and had procured a photo 
 graph of a very different looking woman, and given it to 
 him. 
 
 Having cashed my drafts, and gotten everything ready, I 
 started for Canada, carrying, in addition to valuable letters, 
 orders, and packages, the large sum of eighty-two thousand 
 dollars in my satchel. Mr. L., the correspondent whose letter 
 has been quoted, was requested, by a telegraphic despatch, to 
 meet me on my arrival in Canada. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances, the great value of the bag 
 gage I was carrying would not have disturbed my peace of 
 mind ; but I knew that, in addition to the money I had with 
 me, my capture would involve the officers of the Federal 
 government obtaining possession of papers of the utmost 
 importance, from which they would scarcely fail to gain quite 
 sufficient information concerning the proposed raid to put 
 them on their guard, and enable them to adopt measures for 
 preventing the execution of the great scheme. It was not 
 comfortable, therefore, for me to feel that the detectives were 
 after me, and to be under the apprehension that one of them 
 might tap me on the shoulder at any moment, and say, in that 
 bland tone detectives use on such occasions, " Come, my good 
 woman, you are wanted." 
 
 A DETECTIVE AFTER ME. 
 
 I was absolutely startled when, on approaching the depot, 
 my companion, pointing to a man in the crowd, said, " There, 
 that is the fellow to whom I gave the photograph. He is 
 looking for you; so beware of him." Then, thinking it best 
 that we should not be seen together by Mr. Detective, he 
 wished me good luck, and said good-by, leaving me to pro 
 cure my ticket, and to carry my heavy satchel to the cars 
 myself. 
 
 I watched the detective as well as I could without looking 
 at him so hard as to attract his attention, and saw that he was 
 rather anxiously surveying the people as they passed into the 
 depot. I was really curious to know how he managed to get 
 on my track ; for, although he might not be sufficiently posted 
 
414 STRIKING UP AN ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 about me for purposes of identification, it was evident that he 
 was working on some tolerably accurate information with re- 
 
 fard to my movements. I also wondered whether Colonel 
 aker had any suspicion of me ; but made up my mind that he 
 scarcely could have, or else this officer would have been bet 
 ter posted. 
 
 After getting into the cars I lost sight of the detective until 
 the arrival of the train in Rochester, and was congratulating 
 myself that, not seeing the original of the photograph, he had 
 remained in New York. At Rochester, however, to my in 
 finite horror, he entered the car where I was, and took a seat 
 near me. 
 
 When the conductor came through, after the train had 
 started, the detective said something to him in a low tone, 
 and showed him a photograph. The conductor shook his head 
 on looking at it, and made a remark that I could not hear. I 
 did, however, hear the detective say, " I'll catch her yet," 
 to which I mentally replied, " Perhaps." 
 
 This whispered conference reassured me a little, as it 
 showed that the officer was keeping his eye open for the orig 
 inal of the photograph which he had in his pocket, while the 
 woman whom he was really after was sitting within but a few 
 feet of him. I concluded that I would try and strike up an 
 acquaintance with this gentleman, in order to find out what he 
 had to say for himself, and because I thought that perhaps I 
 could say or do something to make him even more bewildered 
 than he was already. 
 
 I, therefore, picked up my shawl and satchel and removed 
 to the seat immediately back of him. The window was up, 
 and I made a pretence of not being able to put it down, so 
 that after a bit the detective's attention was attracted, and he 
 very gallantly came to my assistance. When he had closed 
 the window, I thanked him, with a rather effusive politeness, 
 and he, probably feeling a trifle lonesome, and also, perhaps, 
 a trifle discouraged, seated himself beside me, and opened a 
 conversation. 
 
 He was a short, thick-set man, with a dull, heavy expres 
 sion of countenance, deep-set eyes, thick eyebrows, and a 
 coarse and rather scrubby mustache. He did not have the 
 appearance of being a very brilliant genius, but then, as I 
 well knew, it did not do to place too much reliance upon 
 mere outward appearances, especially with members of the 
 detective force. 
 
A FRIENDLY CHAT WITH THE DETECTIVE. 415 
 
 After passing the compliments of the day we launched into 
 a general conversation, I attempting to speak with a touch of 
 the Irish brogue, thinking that it would induce him to believe 
 me to be a foreigner. I would have addressed him with a 
 Spanish accent, but was fearful that it would help to betray 
 me, Baker as well as others having been told that I was of 
 Spanish extraction, while I did not know as yet how much 
 real information the secret-service chief might have with re 
 gard to me, or whether this fellow was one of his officers or 
 not. I was playing a rather desperate game, but I felt toler 
 ably sure of being able to deal with the gentleman. I confess, 
 however, to having felt considerable anxiety, although I strove 
 to conceal it from my companion. 
 
 " You are going to Canada, are you not ? " inquired my new- 
 made friend. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Do you live there ? " 
 
 " O, no, sir. I live in England. I am only going to Canada 
 to visit some friends." 
 
 " Have you been in America long? " 
 
 " Only about eight months." 
 
 " How do you like this country ? Don't you think it is a 
 finer country than England ? " 
 
 " 0, I like living in England much better than I do here, 
 and expect to go back so soon as I get through with my Can 
 ada visit. There is too much fighting going on here to suit 
 me." 
 
 " 0, you need not mind that ; besides, the war will soon be 
 over now." 
 
 " Do you think so ? " I queried. I am afraid just with the 
 least touch of sarcasm, and for fear he might have noticed 
 something unpleasant in my tone, added, " I will be glad when 
 the fighting is over. It is terrible to hear every day of so 
 many men being killed." 
 
 " 0, that is nothing ; we get used to it." 
 
 " Yes," I mentally said, " it may be nothing to such a shirk 
 as you, for you will take precious good care to keep your car 
 cass out of danger." 
 
 The detective now took out of his pocket the photograph 
 which my associate in New York had given him, and which I 
 was anxious to see, and handing it to me, said, " Did you ever 
 see anybody resembling this ? I am after the lady, and would 
 like very much to find her." 
 
416 EDIFYING AND ENTERTAINING. 
 
 " She is very handsome," I replied. " Is she your wife ? ". 
 looking him straight in the eyes as I said this. 
 
 " Wife ! no/ 7 said he, apparently disgusted at the sugges 
 tion that he was in pursuit of a faithless spouse. " She is a 
 rebel spy, and I am trying to catch her." 
 
 "Why, what has she been doing? She looks like a very 
 nice lady, and I hardly could think she would do anything 
 wrong." 
 
 " Well, she has been doing a good deal that our government 
 would like to pay her off for. She is one of the smartest of 
 the whole gang." This I thought was rather complimentary 
 than otherwise. " I am on her track now, however, sure,' 7 
 " Yes, the back track," I thought " and I am bound to catch 
 her." 
 
 " Well, if she has been doing anything against the law, I 
 suppose she ought to be punished ; but I hope you won't treat 
 her unkindly if you do succeed in catching her." 
 
 " She will have to look out for that. It don't do to show 
 any mercy to these she devils ; they give us more trouble than 
 all the men together." 
 
 " But perhaps this lady is not a spy, after all. She looks 
 too pretty and nice for anything of that kind. How do you 
 know about her?" 
 
 " 0, some of our force have been on the track of her for a 
 long time. She has been working for these Copperheads and 
 rebel agents here at the North, and has been running through 
 the lines with despatches and goods. She came through from 
 Richmond only a short time ago, and she is now on her way 
 to Canada, with a lot of despatches and a big sum of money, 
 which I would like to capture." 
 
 "Doubtless you would," I thought; and then said aloud, 
 " I wonder how you can find out so much, when there must be 
 a great many people coming and going all the time. Suppos 
 ing that this lady is a spy, as you say, how do you know that 
 she has not already reached Canada?" 
 
 " Maybe she has," he replied, " but I don't think so. I have 
 got her down pretty fine, and feel tolerably certain of taking 
 her before she gets over the line." 
 
 This was a highly edifying and entertaining conversation to 
 me, and I would willingly have prolonged it indefinitely, for the 
 purpose of trying to get some points from my companion which 
 might prove useful. As he, however, seemed inclined to change 
 the subject, I was afraid to seem too inquisitive, and we conse- 
 
A CAPITAL GOOD JOKE. 417 
 
 quently dropped into a general conversation, of no interest to 
 the reader. 
 
 The detective seemed determined to be as polite to me as 
 he could ; and on leaving the cars he carried my satchel, con 
 taining eighty-two thousand dollars belonging to the Confed 
 erate government, and a variety of other matters which he 
 would have taken possession of with the utmost pleasure, 
 could he have known what they were. When we passed on 
 board the boat I took the satchel from him, and thanking him 
 for his attention, proceeded to get out of his sight as expe- 
 ditiously as I could. 
 
 When the custom-house officer examined my luggage, I 
 
 gave him a wink, and whispered the password I had been 
 
 instructed to use, and he merely turned up the shawl which 
 
 was on my arm, and went through the form of looking into 
 
 my satchel. 
 
 THE DETECTIVE BAFFLED. 
 
 On reaching the Canada shore I was met by Mr. L., who 
 gave me a very hearty greeting ; but I cautioned him to say as 
 little as possible just then, as we might be watched. Glancing 
 back, I saw my friend the detective, anxiously surveying the 
 passing crowd ; and calling Mr. L.'s attention to him, I said, 
 " Do you see that heavy man with the black eyebrows and 
 scrubby mustache, who looks as though he had lost some 
 thing?" 
 
 "Yes. What of him?" 
 
 " He has been travelling on the train with me all day, and 
 has been exceedingly polite and attentive. He is a detective, 
 and I am the individual he is after, but he isn't half smart 
 enough to catch me." 
 
 I then, as we moved off, related my adventure with the de 
 tective to my Canadian friend. He thought it a capital good 
 joke, and said that I seemed. to be tolerably well able to take 
 care of myself. 
 
 On my arrival in Canada I was welcomed with great cordi 
 ality by the Confederates there, who were eager to know all 
 about my trip, how things were looking at Richmond, whether 
 I had letters for so and so, and anything else that I was able 
 to tell them. I distributed my letters and despatches accord 
 ing to instructions ; mailed packages for the commanders of 
 the cruisers Shenandoah and Florida, which I had received 
 with especial injunctions to be particularly careful of, as they 
 27 
 
418 A SPECIAL MISSION. 
 
 were very important ; and then proceeded to the transaction 
 of such other business, commercial as well as political, as I had 
 on hand. 
 
 As this was my first visit to Canada, there was much for me 
 to do, and much to learn. I therefore became acquainted with 
 as many people as I could, and found out all I could about the 
 methods of transacting commercial and financial business, 
 who the proper parties to deal with were, and everything 
 else worth knowing that I could think of. 
 
 PLANNING FOR THE GREAT RAID. 
 
 There were a good many matters of more importance than 
 trade and finance, however, which demanded my immediate 
 consideration, and many and long were the conferences held 
 with regard to the proposed grand movement on the enemy's 
 rear. There were a number of points about this grand 
 scheme that I would have liked to have been informed of; but 
 those who were making the arrangements for the raid were 
 so fearful of their plans in some way getting to the ears of 
 the Federal authorities, that they were unwilling to tell me, 
 and other special agents, more than was absolutely necessary 
 for the fulfilment of the duties intrusted to us. This exces 
 sive caution was, perhaps, demanded by the peculiarities of the 
 situation; but it is certain, in my opinion, that could there 
 have been a more definite understanding between the various 
 co-workers, the chances of success would have been very 
 largely increased. I, for one, could have performed my part 
 with far more efficiency although I did all that it was ar 
 ranged that I should do had I been trusted more largely 
 with the details of the proposed movement. 
 
 As it was, I was merely furnished with a general idea of 
 the contemplated attack, and was assigned to special duties 
 in connection with it. These duties were to visit Johnson's 
 Island, in Lake Erie, and, if possible, other military prisons, 
 for the purpose of informing the Confederates confined in 
 them of what was being done towards effecting their release, 
 and what was expected of them when they were released. I 
 was then to telegraph to certain agents that the prisoners 
 were warned, and such other information as I might deem it 
 important for them to be possessed of, in accordance with an 
 arranged system of signals. This being done, I was to pro 
 ceed to the execution of other tasks, the exact details of 
 
THE PROPOSED RAID. . 419 
 
 which, however, were made dependent upon circumstances, 
 and upon directions I might receive from the agents in the 
 States, under whose orders I was to act. 
 
 This plan for a grand raid by way of the lakes excited my 
 enthusiasm greatly, and I had very strong hopes of its suc 
 cess. I knew how desperate the situation at the South was 
 getting to be, and felt that a diversion of this kind, which 
 would excite terror in the hearts of the people of the North, 
 and which would probably cause a considerable force to be 
 withdrawn from the front, would help the Confederate cause 
 at this particular juncture more, even, than a series of bril 
 liant victories on the well-trodden battle-grounds of the South. 
 A large number of the people of the North were, I knew, get 
 ting heartily sick of the war, and I thought that it would only 
 need a brilliant movement for transferring some of the fight 
 ing and some of the desolation to Northern ground, to cause 
 the anti-war policy to demand that peace should be had at any 
 price. Whether the proposed raid would have accomplished 
 all that was expected of it, can, of course, never be deter 
 mined. It is probable, however, that I, as well as others in 
 terested, underrated the difficulties of executing such a com 
 plicated scheme. Be that as it may, something could have 
 been done, more than was done, had everybody been as enthu 
 siastic and as determined as myself, and had there been no 
 traitors with us. The scheme failed, when it should have 
 been, at least, partly successful ; but it need not have failed 
 so utterly as it did, had it been managed with wisdom, backed 
 up by true daring. 
 
CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 ARRANGEMENTS FOR A WESTERN TRIP. 
 
 I return to Washington for the Purpose of reporting to Colonel Baker. 
 Apprehensions with Regard to the Kind of Reception I am likely to 
 have from him. The Colonel amiable, and apparently unsuspicious. 
 I give him an Account of my Richmond Trip, and receive his Congrat 
 ulations. General A. calls on me, and he, Baker, and I go to the 
 Theatre. A Supper at the Grand Hotel. Baker calls on me the next 
 Morning, and proposes that I shall visit the Military Prisons at John 
 son's Island and elsewhere, for the Purpose of discovering whether the 
 Confederate Prisoners have any Intentions of escaping. I accept the 
 Commission, and start for the West. Reflections on the Military and 
 Political Situations. 
 
 'N my return from Canada, I went first to New 
 York, where I delivered such matters as had 
 been committed to my care for my associates 
 there, and after a conference with them, hur 
 ried on to Washington, for the purpose of 
 seeing Colonel Baker. 
 
 It was not without many apprehensions that I con 
 cluded to face the colonel again, for I did not know 
 how much information he might have about me by 
 this time, and it really seemed like walking into the 
 lion's den. That his officers were aware of some of 
 my movements, as they were following me up rather too 
 closely for comfort, was certain; but whether they had yet 
 succeeded in identifying the rebel spy and secret-service 
 agent with the woman whom Baker had employed to go on a 
 confidential mission to Richmond, was not so clear. Taking 
 all things into consideration, I concluded that Baker and his 
 men must be rather in a mist about me j for the detective, 
 whom I had met on the cars, was evidently working some 
 what in the dark, which could hardly have been the case had 
 his chief suspected me of playing a double game with him. 
 If Baker, however, had the least suspicion with regard to 
 
 420 
 
-I '/Anounu ' V^-v^dP^^ 
 
 t\ o ^-^^PLYMOUTH 
 
 A to WILLIAMSTON 
 
BAKER UNSUSPICIOUS. 421 
 
 me, the fact of my very prolonged absence would, I knew, be 
 liable to increase it, although under ordinary circumstances 
 there would have been no difficulty in explaining this to his 
 satisfaction ; for he well knew that the errand he had sent me 
 on was a difficult as well as a perilous one, and that it was not 
 to be accomplished quite as easily as a trip between Washing 
 ton and New York. 
 
 Making all allowances for the probabilities in my own favor, 
 however, I confess that I experienced some trepidation at the 
 idea of facing the colonel, and I wondered not a little what he 
 would do with me in case he did happen to know who I really 
 was. It was of such great importance, however, that I should 
 gain immediate admittance to the military prisons, and I knew 
 that such admittance could be gained by going there as one 
 of Baker's corps, whereas it might otherwise be impossible, 
 that I determined to take all the risks, so far as my own 
 safety was concerned, and to try and have the colonel my 
 ally in making the preparations for what, if properly carried 
 out, would be one of the most brilliant episodes of the war, so 
 far as the Confederates were concerned, and that would " 
 unlikely have the effect of bringing the contest to a sp^ 
 termination. 
 
 The idea of being able to use the chief of the Federal 
 detectives for the advancement of the Confederate cause was 
 one that gave me enormous satisfaction, and I more than 
 once fancied what a capital good joke it would be for me, 
 after I succeeded in getting beyond Colonel Baker's reach, to 
 inform him how badly he had been taken in, and to ask him 
 what he thought of me and of my performances from a profes 
 sional point of view. 
 
 REPORTING TO BAKER. 
 
 While on my way to Washington for the purpose of meet 
 ing him, and of making a report of my Richmond trip, my 
 prospective interview was anything but a joking matter. The 
 thing had to be done, though ; so, stifling my fears, I, on my 
 arrival in Washington, walked boldly into the colonel's pres 
 ence, and announced myself as having just got back from 
 Richmond. 
 
 Baker received me with proper cordiality, and congratu 
 lated me on my safe return. There was nothing whatever in 
 his manner to indicate that he had the slightest suspicion of 
 
422 BAKER BEGUILED. 
 
 me. This was reassuring; still I could not be quite certain 
 but that, having once got me into his power, he intended to 
 find out what I had to say for myself before beginning a less 
 agreeable conversation. 
 
 I, however, did not propose to commence saying disagree 
 able things if he did not ; and so, presuming that he imagined 
 me to have just returned from the Confederate capital, I pro 
 ceeded to make such a report of my doings as I thought would 
 suit him. 
 
 I told him that I had obtained the name of the spy whom 
 he was anxious to discover, and such a description of him as 
 would enable me to identify him without any difficulty, if I 
 could get to see him. The information I had obtained with 
 regard to him induced me to believe that he was at Johnson's 
 Island, but of this I could not be certain. 
 
 I then went on to say that it was understood in Richmond 
 that arrangements were being made for a grand stampede of 
 the rebel prisoners, and that this spy, in some way, found means 
 to communicate with the Copperheads and the rebel secret- 
 service agents. This was the story which it had been arranged 
 between my confederate and myself I should tell Baker, for 
 several reasons. There was the least bit of truth in it, and, 
 in endeavoring to throw a detective like Baker off the scent, 
 a little truth mingled with the fiction would be likely to 
 accomplish the object better than a story which was all 
 fiction. As there had been rumors more than once of 
 attempted stampedes of the prisoners, it was concluded that 
 Baker would not be likely to regard this one as of any very 
 great importance, especially if he had no inkling of the 
 grand raid which was to take place in connection with the 
 release of the prisoners, while at the same time he would be 
 anxious to find out whether a stampede was really to be 
 attempted, and if I managed right, would most likely employ 
 me to make the investigations for him. 
 
 This explanation is worth making, for its own sake, as it will 
 give the reader an idea of my method of working, and at the 
 same time will serve to show that I was not revealing to the 
 colonel any secrets which it was my duty to keep from him. 
 
 BAKER FALLS INTO THE TRAP. 
 
 Baker fell into the trap just as innocently as if he had been 
 a young man from the country, instead of the chief detective 
 
A PLUCKY LITTLE WOMAN. 423 
 
 officer of a great government which was engaged in a 
 gigantic contest. On my suggesting my willingness to follow 
 the thing up' by visiting the prisons for the purpose of finding 
 the spy, and if possible discovering the facts with regard to 
 any conspiracy that might be on foot, he did not give me any 
 definite answer at once, but said he would think about it ; but 
 I saw plainly that he considered the idea as rather a good 
 one, and did not doubt that he would speedily make up his 
 mind to send me. 
 
 When we had finished talking over this matter, I proceeded 
 to give him a detailed account of what I saw and heard in 
 Richmond. I said that the rebels were very strict and very 
 suspicious, and would not allow any one to go to the front, or 
 to visit the prisons or the public buildings. I was, how 
 ever, able to pick up quite a number of facts that might be 
 useful, and then went on to tell him a well-connected story, 
 partly true and partly false, about the, way things looked, and 
 the way people talked ; what the forces in the field, and their 
 locations were ; how the blockade-runners managed to get in 
 and out of port; what I had seen and heard on the road 
 as I was going to and fro, and so on. None of the real facts 
 that I gave the colonel were of any importance, although I 
 magnified them as much as I could, but they served to give 
 an air of plausibility to my narrative, and to convince him 
 that I was quite an expert spy, considering that I was a mere 
 beginner. 
 
 Baker asked me numerous questions, which I answered 
 to the best of my ability, so far as was consistent with the 
 good of the Confederate cause ; and when we had concluded 
 our conversation he praised me very warmly, said that I was 
 a plucky little woman, that he had thought I had vim enough 
 to go through if any one could, that I had done a good ser 
 vice to the country, and a variety of other nice things, which 
 had the effect of making me feel quite pleasant and quite at 
 my ease with him again ; being reasonably certain, although 
 not absolutely sure as yet, that he was harboring no malevo 
 lent intentions towards me. Baker also remarked, that not 
 hearing anything of me for such a long time, he had been 
 getting somewhat uneasy about me ; to which I replied, by 
 telling him how and why I had been detained; and the expla 
 nation appeared to be entirely satisfactory, for he said no more 
 on that point. 
 
 I was curious to know exactly how well he was informed 
 
424 CONGRATULATIONS. 
 
 with regard to my real movements, and had half a dozen 
 questions on the end of my tongue which I wanted to ask him. 
 I concluded, however, that this would be going rather too far, 
 and would do no good, while it might have the effect of excit 
 ing suspicions where none at present existed. I did, how 
 ever, venture to inquire whether he had told any one that I 
 was attached to the corps. 
 
 " No, no," he replied, " certainly not, and I don't want you 
 to tell any one either. If I employ you for anything, it will be 
 for strictly confidential business, which must be between our 
 selves. I would rather that even my own people should not 
 know anything about you as a secret-service agent." 
 
 Having finished our business talk, I asked for my friends 
 General A. and Captain B., and was informed that the captain 
 was in the field, but that the general was in the city, and 
 would doubtless be glad to see me. 
 
 On reaching the Kirkwood House, where I had taken a 
 room, I sent my card to the general at Willard's Hotel, and 
 he came immediately to see me. While we were chatting, in 
 came Baker, who, I judged by his manner, had something 
 which he wanted to say to me, and surmised that it was a 
 consent that I should visit the prisoners. 
 
 " Ah, general," said he, " I see that you are bound to con 
 tinue your attentions to our little friend here. She hasn't 
 been in Washington many hours, and you have found her out 
 already. I guess, however, that she likes me better than she 
 does you, for she came to see me as soon as she arrived." 
 
 The general looked a trifle surprised at this, and said, 
 " Why, Baker, you must be getting to be a lady's man ! I 
 didn't know that you were particularly inclined that way." 
 
 Baker laughed at this, and said, " She is a first-rate little 
 woman, and I wish there were more like her. She has just 
 made a very successful trip to Richmond, and has brought me 
 some important items." 
 
 "Is that so?" said the general. "Why, I did not know that 
 she belonged to your corps." 
 
 " Neither does she in a regular way ; but as she knew a 
 good deal about Richmond, and was acquainted with a number 
 of people there, I thought I would let her make a trip, espe 
 cially as she was extremely anxious to try her luck." 
 
 The general congratulated me on my success, and then pro 
 posed that we should all three go that evening to Ford's 
 Theatre. Baker assented, and I was quite willing, as I 
 
PLAYING A DESPERATE GAME. 425 
 
 thought an evening's entertainment in witnessing a good play 
 would brighten me up a little. Besides, I was anxious to 
 cultivate the acquaintance of these two men, and was especially 
 solicitous to have all possible opportunities of conversing with 
 the colonel, with a view of inducing him to accede to my 
 proposition for a visit to the military prisons. Baker and the 
 general then said good-by, for the present, and went away 
 together. 
 
 About seven o'clock in the evening the general returned 
 alone, and as he was escorting me to the carriage I asked 
 where Baker was. The general replied that he had been 
 compelled to go unexpectedly to the executive mansion, on 
 some business, but would probably join us in the theatre. 
 
 AN EVENING AT THE THEATRE. 
 
 This aroused all my apprehensions of danger again, and I 
 became fearfully uneasy lest all the colonel's fine words should 
 merely have been intended to draw me out and conceal some 
 sinister designs towards me. I stifled my fears, however, as 
 well as I could, and after we got to the theatre tried to con 
 verse with the general in an agreeable and natural manner. 
 I was startled by the least sound, however, and was unable to 
 avoid turning round to look every time any one came in, 
 almost expecting every moment that Baker, or one of his 
 officers, would appear for the purpose of arresting me. 
 
 My fears proved to be groundless. Baker did come in soon 
 after the play commenced, and taking a seat beside me, made 
 an apology for not joining the party sooner, but begging to be 
 excused, as he had been compelled to go up to the White 
 House, for the purpose of having a talk with the president 
 and the secretary of war. There was nothing in his manner 
 then or afterwards to indicate that he was suspicious of me, 
 and both he and the general, while the play was in progress, 
 were apparently greatly absorbed in what was occurring on 
 the stage. 
 
 As for myself, I found it impossible to get interested. I 
 was uneasy for my own safety, knowing that I was playing a 
 desperate game, and was even more anxious lest the grand 
 scheme which I was endeavoring to promote should fail 
 through any fault or misdirection of mine. My thoughts, too, 
 wandered to our brave men in the field, and to the sufferings 
 of the poor prisoners. I almost reproached myself for even 
 
426 THE COLONEL WILL CALL. 
 
 making an appearance of indulging in an evening's recreation 
 in company with two Federal officers, while so many thousand 
 Confederates were enduring so much, but consoled myself 
 with the reflection that I was not doing this for mere pleas 
 ure, but was engaged in the performance of an important task, 
 which might be greatly promoted through my acquaintance 
 with these men. Finally, to my great relief and satisfaction, 
 the play came to an end, and the curtain dropped for the last 
 time. 
 
 As we passed out, the general proposed that we should go 
 to the Grand Hotel and have some supper. I did not care to 
 do this, but thought it best to accept the invitation. 
 
 AT SUPPER. 
 
 We had a really superb repast one of the finest I had 
 ever sat down to ; and as I was hungry, I ate quite heartily. 
 In the way of drinkables, I confined myself to lemonade, but 
 the gentlemen took wine. The general, who was quite fond 
 of his toddy, drank rather more than was good for him, and 
 soon became very talkative and a trifle noisy. He was one 
 of those men, however, who never forget to be gentlemen, 
 and he neither said nor did anything offensive. Finally, he 
 began spinning some long yarn, during which Baker took an 
 opportunity to whisper to me that he would probably want to 
 see me in the morning. I nodded assent, although my fears 
 began to rise a little, but I hoped that instead of demanding 
 a different account of my doings from that which I had al 
 ready given him, the colonel would give me my commission 
 for a trip to the West. 
 
 After we had finished our supper, we returned to the 
 Kirkwood, where I bade them good night, at about a quarter 
 before twelve, at the drawing-room door ; and as soon as they 
 were gone, hastened to my own room to obtain the rest of 
 which I stood in so much need, for 1 was tired out with the 
 fatigues of travel and the excitement and anxieties of the 
 day. 
 
 The next morning, just as I was sitting down to breakfast, 
 the waiter brought me a note from Colonel Baker, in which he 
 stated that he would call to see me at the hotel about half 
 past ten o'clock, and requested me to await him at that hour. 
 Still being uncertain whether Baker's intentions towards me 
 were amicable or not, it was not without some trepidation 
 
PREPARED TO VENTURE EVERYTHING. 427 
 
 that I looked forward to this interview. I did not know him 
 then as well as I did subsequently, or I would scarcely have 
 been so much afraid of him. It did not take me a very great 
 while to discover that he was not a prodigy of astuteness, but 
 at this time, as the reader is aware, I had had comparatively 
 little to do with him. I knew that if he was not sharp he 
 ought to have been, holding the position that he did, and I 
 also knew that I had good cause to dread falling into his 
 hands, or even being suspected by him. Not only were some 
 of the members of his corps eagerly looking for me, but I was 
 about engaging in a particularly hazardous enterprise which 
 it would have made Baker's fortune to have gotten an inkling 
 of, and I did not know even presuming that Baker himself 
 was unaware of the fact that I was a Confederate spy how 
 soon he or some of his men might succeed in identifying me 
 with the troublesome woman they were searching for, or how 
 soon they might discover something about the plot which I 
 was aiding to carry out. The situation, therefore, was a deli 
 cate one for me, for much more than my own safety was de 
 pendent upon the chief of the United States secret service 
 continuing in the belief that I was exactly what I represented 
 myself to be, and retaining his confidence in me. 
 
 Thus far, to be sure, I had been able to detect nothing in 
 Colonel Baker's manner to indicate that his suspicions were 
 excited in the least, although I had watched him narrowly. 
 But, as I knew that, as a detective, it was a part of his busi 
 ness to mask his thoughts and feelings, and not to give even a 
 shadow of a hint that he had been preparing a trap until the 
 moment he was ready to spring it and secure his victim, I felt 
 that I could not place too much reliance on his friendly looks 
 and behavior. On the other hand, I had much confidence in 
 my own power of reading character and detecting motives, 
 and, in watching Colonel Baker, during my late interviews 
 with him, I was not working in the dark, as I might have been 
 doing under some circumstances. I knew that there was good 
 reason to believe not only that he might suspect me, but that 
 he might be possessed of accurate information about me, and 
 I accordingly studied his behavior towards me from this stand 
 point. The result was a reasonable conviction with regard to 
 my present safety, and yet nothing like a feeling of absolute 
 certainty. As for the future, I, of course, could know nothing 
 as to what that would bring forth, but was prepared to ven 
 ture everything. 
 
428 BAKER SENDS ME ON ANOTHER EXPEDITION. 
 
 At the appointed time, Colonel Baker made his appearance, 
 and said " Good morning " with a pleasant smile, in which 
 there was apparently not a shade of malice or unfriendliness. 
 After asking me how I had liked the play, and making a few 
 other unimportant remarks, he said, " Well, my little woman, 
 I have made up my miud to let you try your skill as a detec 
 tive once more, if you are in the same mind you were 
 yesterday." 
 
 " Yes," I replied, " I am just as anxious now as I was then, 
 and I think I can not only find that spy for you, but that I can 
 discover whether there really is any intention among the rebel 
 prisoners to make a break." 
 
 " That is just what I want you to do. I think that a woman 
 can manage a job of this kind better than a man anyhow, and 
 I believe that you are just the woman to manage it in first-rate 
 style." 
 
 " Thank you, colonel ; I can at least try." 
 
 ABOUT THAT SPY. 
 
 " Yes, that's it ; try and find out all you can. I want you to 
 pick out this man for me if he is at Johnson's Island, as you 
 seem to think he is, and if you succeed in finding him, telegraph 
 to me immediately. If he is not at Johnson's Island, you had 
 better try and find out if any of the prisoners know anything 
 about him ; it is possible, you know, that he may be in some 
 other prison, or, indeed, that he may have escaped. At all 
 events, make every effort to find him." 
 
 " You know, colonel, I am acquainted with a good many 
 people down South, and I may come across somebody I know, 
 or somebody that knows somebody I know, and by represent 
 ing myself as a disguised Confederate, I may be able to get 
 the prisoners to talk plainer than they would to a stranger or 
 a new visitor." 
 
 " Well, I will leave it to you to manage the thing the best 
 way you can think of. It would not be a bad idea, however, if 
 you were to pass yourself off as a Confederate secret-ser 
 vice agent, and if you were to intimate that something was 
 likely to be done soon to procure the release of the prisoners, 
 you might be able to induce them to say whether they have 
 any plans of their own, or whether they are in communication 
 with any one outside." 
 
 " That is about my idea of working ; but the only diffi- 
 
RATHER TOO PERSONAL. 429 
 
 culty will be in getting a chance to talk to any of the men 
 privately." 
 
 " 0, I'll arrange that for you by giving you a confidential 
 letter, which, however, you must be careful not to let any one 
 see except the commanding officer. If those fellows are up to 
 any tricks, I want to know all about it at once. There has 
 been a good deal of talk at different times about the prisoners 
 attempting to stampede, but it has been pretty much all news 
 paper sensation, with nothing in it." 
 
 " But, you know, colonel, something of the kind might be 
 attempted ; and if a stampede or an insurrection should take 
 place, it would create a good deal of excitement just now." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; that's so. If there is anything on foot I want 
 to discover it, and I want you to find out all you possibly can, 
 and let me know immediately." 
 
 " Well, you can rely upon me, and I think you will find me 
 as shrewd as most of your detectives are." 
 
 " If you will only keep your eyes and ears well open, and 
 open your mouth only when you have business to talk about, 
 I will most likely find you a good deal shrewder." 
 
 " Why, colonel, you don't appear to have the best opinion in 
 the world of some of your detectives." 
 
 " 0, yes, they do pretty well ; some of them are really first- 
 rate men ; but they are not as smart as they ought to be for 
 the kind of service they are in." 
 
 " I suppose some of those rebel spies give you a good of 
 trouble in keeping the run of them." 
 
 " 0, you haven't any idea of it. Half the people of Wash 
 ington and its immediate vicinity are rebel sympathizers, and 
 would be spies if they dared, and knew how. And then they 
 are at work all through the North and in Canada. Some of 
 my people are after a spy now who has been travelling be 
 tween Richmond and Canada, but they don't seem to be able 
 to lay their hands on her. If they don't catch her soon, I 
 have half a mind to let you try what you can do, if you suc 
 ceed well with your present trip." 
 
 The conversation at this point, I concluded, was getting to 
 be rather too personal, and I thought it best to change the 
 subject, although I could not help smiling at the idea of Baker 
 employing me to catch myself. That, I thought, would be en 
 tirely too arduous a task for me to undertake in my then 
 rather feeble state of health, although there might be both 
 amusement and profit in it. Forbearing, however, to enter 
 
430 ON THE WESTERN TRAIN. 
 
 upon this interesting theme, I asked the colonel when he 
 desired me to start. He said by the first train, if I could get 
 ready ; and handing me my confidential letter and two hun 
 dred dollars, he asked whether there was anything more he 
 could do for me. 
 
 I said that I could think of nothing, but would proceed to 
 get ready for my journey immediately. He then shook hands 
 and left, after wishing me a pleasant trip, and expressing a 
 hope that he would soon receive a good report from me. 
 
 When the colonel was gone, I went up to my room to pack 
 my travelling satchel ; and feeling perfectly satisfied from my 
 late conversation with him that I was safe for the present so 
 far as he was concerned, I laughed heartily at the absurdity 
 of the situation, and wondered with myself whether I would 
 have dared to attempt anything of this kind at Richmond 
 with old General Winder. I had no difficulty in concluding 
 that if fate had compelled me to play tricks with Winder, as I 
 was doing with Baker, I would have been forced to proceed 
 in a les open and free and easy style about it, and congratu 
 lated myself most heartily that I had so easy a customer to 
 deal with under existing circumstances. 
 
 Calling a carriage, I was soon at the Baltimore depot, and on 
 board the train. Having to stop at the Relay House for the 
 western bound train, I made an effort to see the Confederate 
 agent who was stationed there, as I had a number of things I 
 wanted to say to him. He was an old Southern acquaintance 
 of/ mine, and there were a variety of little matters that I could 
 have whispered in his ear that would have been useful, and, 
 at the same time, that I would not have cared to confide to 
 every agent with whom I happened to come in contact. There 
 is a good deal in knowing who one's friends really are in trans 
 acting such delicate business as that I was then engaged in. 
 Unfortunately, my friend was away ; and as I was in too much 
 of a hurry to wait for his return, I was forced to forego 
 the pleasure of seeing him. 
 
 WESTWARD Ho ! 
 
 Once on board the Western train, I had a long journey be 
 fore me, and had plenty of time to think over affairs generally. 
 I planned and schemed until my brain fairly whirled, and I 
 was glad to chat a little with some of my neighbors, or to 
 gaze through the car windows at the gorgeous scenery that 
 
THE POLITICAL SITUATION. 431 
 
 met my eyes at every turn in the road, and to try and think 
 for a while only of its beauties, as a rest from the wild thoughts 
 that filled my mind. 
 
 ^ Try as I might, however, I could not avoid thinking of the 
 situation, the prospects of the Confederacy, and the chances 
 of success for the grand scheme, the execution of which I was 
 endeavoring to assist. What if we failed ? or, if we succeeded 
 in our first effort, would we be able to accomplish all we intend 
 ed and expected ? These were questions I could not answer. 
 What I dreaded most was, the possible effect of a raid by way 
 of the lakes on the Confederate sympathizers and the anti-war 
 party. Would it stimulate them to make greater exertions 
 than ever to bring the conflict to a close, or would this, bring 
 ing the war to the doors of themselves and their neighbors, 
 turn them against us ? I confess that I had fears of the latter 
 result, for I had a not ill-founded distrust of these people, who 
 are neither one thing nor the other ; and I believed that had 
 the Copperheads wielded their influence, as they might have 
 done, they could either have prevented the war in the begin 
 ning, or could have forced a conclusion long ago. 
 
 What power the opponents of the war were able to exert 
 would, however, be determined very shortly. A presidential 
 election was coming off in a few weeks, and the greatest ex 
 citement with regard to the political battle that was being 
 waged prevailed. Nearly everybody admitted that the defeat 
 of Mr. Lincoln for a second term would mean that a majority 
 of the people of the North were ready and anxious to abandon 
 the contest, and to let the seceding Southern states go in peace. 
 The fact that the Democratic candidate was a Federal general, 
 who had been commander-in-chief of the armies, and who pro 
 fessed to be willing and anxious to carry on the Avar, did not 
 please me very well, for it indicated to my mind, very plainly, 
 that the anti-war people were afraid to oppose Mr. Lincoln 
 and the war party on a square issue. 
 
 I, however, was nothing of a politician, and did not profess 
 to understand the ways of politicians, they being a class of men 
 for whom I had no special admiration. But I could not help 
 thinking that the Confederate government and the people of 
 the South were basing too many hopes on what the Democrats 
 would be able to do at this election. I knew that they in 
 many ways were doing what they could to secure a Democratic 
 victory ; but, for my part, I relied far more on bullets than on 
 ballots to give the South the victory, and I expected more 
 
432 BARREN HOPES. 
 
 from the great raid, for which I was now working, than I did 
 from the election of General McClellan. 
 
 Neither the raid nor the election turned out as it was hoped 
 they would, but just about that time barren hopes were pretty 
 much all that Confederate patriotism and enthusiasm were fed 
 on, and they were rapidly getting starved for lack of more 
 solid meat. The failure of the contemplated raid in the rear, 
 and the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, put an end to all expecta 
 tions of such a division of sentiment at the North as would 
 be of any benefit to the Confederacy, and there was nothing to 
 be done but to fight the thing out to the bitter end. 
 
 The period which preceded the overthrow of the Confed 
 eracy was, however, one of brilliant campaigning and desper 
 ate fighting, and was the time when the Confederate agents 
 and spies at the North labored with the greatest assiduity. 
 The performances of these agents and spies have never yet 
 been related as they deserved to be, and this narrative of my 
 adventures, personal as it is in its nature, and limited as it 
 necessarily is in its scope, will, I trust, be regarded as a not 
 uninteresting or unimportant contribution to a history of some 
 of the least understood phases of the great conflict. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 JOHNSON'S ISLAND. PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK 
 ON THE FEDERAL REAR. 
 
 On the Way to Sandusky. I am introduced to a Federal Lieutenant on 
 the Cars, who is conducting Confederate Prisoners to Johnson's Island. 
 He permits me to converse with the Prisoners, and I distribute some 
 Money among them. Arrival at Sandusky. First View of Johnson's 
 Island. I visit the Island, and on the Strength of Colonel Baker's Let 
 ter am permitted to go into the Enclosure and converse with the Pris 
 oners. I have a Talk with a young Confederate Officer, and give him 
 Money and Despatches, and explain what is to be done for the Libera 
 tion of himself and his Companions. Returning to Sandusky, I send 
 Telegraphic Despatches to the Agents in Detroit, Buffalo, and Indian 
 apolis. How the grand Raid was to have been made. Its Failure 
 through the Treason or Cowardice of one Man. 
 
 ,T Parkersburg I met General Kelley again, 
 and had a talk with him, in which he laugh 
 ingly suggested that I seemed to be in as 
 much of a hurry to go West as I had been 
 to go East the last time he saw me. I re 
 marked, that in war times the enemy had a 
 way of putting in appearances at various points of the 
 compass, and that we had to go for him wherever he hap 
 pened to be, if we didn't want him to come to us. I also 
 ^^ hinted, with a little maliciousness, that perhaps the 
 reason why the war had lasted so long was because so many of 
 our generals instead of going after the rebels wherever they 
 were to be found, insisted on waiting for them to come to places 
 where it would be most convenient to fight them. The gen 
 eral said there was some truth in that ; and that if all the gen 
 erals were as smart about doing what they had to do as I 
 seemed to be, the rebels would have been whipped long ago. 
 It is pleasant to have commendation even from those we are 
 fighting against, and I felt flattered at the general's good 
 opinion of me, although I knew that he was really not aware 
 what good cause he had to commend my smartness. I won- 
 28 433 
 
434 AN ADVANTAGEOUS ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 dered what he would say about ine if he should suddenly dis 
 cover what kind of an 'errand I was then really on, and how, 
 as one of Colonel Baker's secret agents, I was aiding in the 
 execution of a plot, that, if successful, would cause a panic at 
 the North such as had never yet been dreamed of. But such 
 things at such a time were not even to be looked out of the 
 eyes, much less hinted at with the lips, and I parted from the 
 general, with Cincinnati as my next objective point, with a 
 full expectation that ere long he would hear of me, or at least 
 of my work, in a way that would astonish him. 
 
 MAKING THE ACQUAINTANCE OF AN OFFICER IN CHARGE OF 
 CONFEDERATE PRISONERS. 
 
 After leaving Cincinnati en route for Sandusky, I was intro 
 duced by the conductor to a lieutenant who had in charge 
 twenty-seven Confederate prisoners. These he was taking to 
 Sandusky to be placed on Johnson's Island, and I, conse 
 quently, thought that he might be an advantageous person to 
 know, and that if I could manage to get into his good graces 
 I might in some way advance the interests of the scheme I was 
 engaged in by means of him. 
 
 This officer was a rather flashy young man, who evidently 
 thought that he cut a very dashing figure 'in his uniform, and 
 whose mind was given rather to reflection on his own impor 
 tance than to the acquisition of useful knowledge. He was 
 not, however, without a certain amount of good sense, and he 
 made a far from disagreeable travelling companion, for we 
 speedily got tolerably well acquainted, and he not only was 
 very attentive, but he entertained me not a little by his 
 conversation. 
 
 Not knowing what use I might have for him, I tried to be 
 as cordial as possible, and long before we reached Sandusky 
 we were on the best of terms. I did not find out a great deal 
 from him that was' worth knowing, for the reason, perhaps, that 
 he did not know anything. He, however, permitted me to have 
 a talk with the prisoners, whom I questioned as to what com 
 mands they belonged to, when they were captured, and other 
 matters, and gave them each a dollar apiece out of Colonel 
 Baker's money. Beyond asking them questions, I did not say 
 a great deal to them, for I could not know how far they were 
 to be trusted ; but I looked much more than I said, and several 
 of the more intelligent among them exchanged significant 
 
THE JOHNSON'S ISLAND PRISON CAMP. 435 
 
 glances with me, which intimated that they understood that I 
 had a purpose in view in cultivating the acquaintance of the 
 lieutenant so assiduously, and was disposed to befriend them 
 by any means in my power. 
 
 As to the lieutenant, he took such a decided fancy to me, 
 and was so excessively gallant, that he insisted upon paying 
 all my incidental expenses along the road. To this I could 
 not, under the circumstances, permit myself to make any ob 
 jections, but I was unable to avoid wondering whether it was 
 his own cash or that of Uncle Sam's he was so very free with. 
 That, however, was no concern of mine, and it would have 
 been even more impolite for me to have asked him the ques 
 tion than to have declined to permit him to pay my bills. 
 
 It was midnight when we reached Sandusky. The lieuten 
 ant, attentive to the last, put me in the hotel coach, and re 
 questing me to keep an eye on his satchel, he excused himself 
 for a few minutes until he could dispose of his prisoners. I 
 do not know what he did with them ; but while I was waiting 
 for him, I was also wishing heartily that they would manage 
 to give him the slip and escape. Before a great while, how 
 ever, he made his appearance again, and jumped in the coach. 
 We then drove to the hotel, where he registered my name 
 and procured "me a room. After seeing me safely installed in 
 my quarters he said good-night, and expressed a hope that he 
 would have the pleasure of escorting me to breakfast in the 
 morning. 
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF JOHNSON'S ISLAND. 
 
 When I awoke the next morning I went to the window, and, 
 drawing the blinds, looked out upon the lake, seeing in the 
 distance what I supposed to be Johnson's Island. This little 
 piece of ground, rising off there so serenely and beautifully 
 from the bosom of the lake, was to be the scene of my next 
 great effort in behalf of the Confederacy, an effort that, if 
 crowned with success, would bring me more credit and 
 renown, and would do more to promote the success of the 
 cause, than all the fighting and campaigning I had done. On 
 it were thousands of brave Confederates, who were sighing 
 for their homes in the sunny South, sighing to be once more 
 on the battle-field fighting for Southern independence, and, all 
 unconscious that the moment was approaching when one good 
 blow rightly struck would not only put an end to their irksome 
 captivity, but would go far to secure all that they had taken 
 
436 PROGRESS OF THE PLOT. 
 
 up arms for, all that they had suffered for on the battle 
 field and in the prisons of the enemy. It was a great respon 
 sibility that rested upon me, this preparing the way for the 
 grand attack which was to transfer the seat of war to these 
 beautiful lake shores, that was to effect the release of these 
 prisoners, and that was, perhaps, to end the war ; and I trem 
 bled to think that, perchance by some trifling slip or mistake, 
 the whole scheme might miscarry and come to nothing. 
 
 "5/Vhen I was dressed, I rang the bell for the chamber-maid to 
 take my card to the lieutenant, to let him know that I was 
 ready for breakfast. When the woman came, I asked her if 
 that was Johnson's Island, where the rebel prisoners were 
 kept. She replied that it was, and that she "wished they were 
 away from there. I asked her why, and she said she was 
 afraid they would break loose some time and burn the town. I 
 told her I guessed there was no danger of anything of that 
 kind happening, as there ought to be soldiers enough to guard 
 them. She did not appear to be at all sure upon this point, 
 but seemed to think that a general stampede of the prisoners 
 was a very likely thing to happen. I was of about the same 
 opinion, although I did not tell her so, but followed her down 
 stairs to the drawing-room, where I found my lieutenant waiting 
 to take me in to breakfast. 
 
 During the progress of the meal the lieutenant said that he 
 would have to go over to the island with his prisoners, but 
 that he would be back about eleven o'clock, when, if I would 
 permit him, he would get a team and we would take a drive. 
 I thanked him, but declined, on the plea that my engagements 
 would not permit of my accepting his kind invitation, although 
 I might be able to do so at some future time. He said he was 
 sorry, but that he was afraid he would not be able to permit 
 himself the enjoyment of my company much longer, as it would 
 be necessary for him to return the next day, at the latest. I 
 professed to be sorry, but was not very much so, for I wanted 
 to get rid of him, having come to the conclusion that he was 
 not likely to be of much more use to me, while if he pursued 
 me with his attentions he might prove a serious impediment to 
 the proper execution of my plans. 
 
 So soon as he was well out of sight, I went to the telegraph 
 office, and sent despatches to the Confederate agents at De 
 troit and Buffalo, announcing my arrival, and received their 
 responses. This duty performed, I started for the boat that 
 was to carry me over to the island. 
 
ADMITTED TO THE PRISON CAMP. 437 
 
 While crossing to the prison camp, where so many of my 
 comrades were confined, my mind was filled with a thousand 
 suppositions as to what might happen. The least accident 
 might bring the whole great scheme to nothing, and I felt a 
 nervousness and a dread of consequences at the idea of under 
 taking the task before me that I had never experienced when 
 facing the enemy on the battle-field. So far as any personal 
 danger was concerned, I was no more sensible of fear than I 
 was when the bullets were flying thick and fast around me ; 
 but it was a terrible sensation, that of feeling that the fate, of 
 a magnificent campaign was in my hands, and that upon my 
 good management would depend whether it could ever be 
 inaugurated or not. The sensation was such as a general 
 might feel when making the first movement in a great battle 
 upon which the fate of a nation depended. I did not lose any 
 thing of my coolness or my resolution, but I could not help 
 being oppressed, in some degree, with the weight of my re 
 sponsibility, and could not help wondering whether I would 
 succeed in doing, in good style, what I had been assigned to 
 do, or if, after I had finished my part of the work, my associ 
 ates would have the skill and courage to do theirs. 
 
 IN THE JOHNSON'S ISLAND PRISON CAMP. 
 
 On arriving at the island, I showed my letter from Baker to 
 the commanding officer, and explained to him that I was 
 searching for a rebel spy, who was supposed to be engaged, or 
 to have been engaged, in some plots which the authorities at 
 Washington were desirous to learn the particulars of. My 
 credentials were recognised as correct, and I was accordingly 
 admitted, without hesitation, into the enclosure, and permitted 
 to speak freely to. the prisoners. 
 
 My greatest fear now was that some of the Confederates 
 would recognize me, and would say. or do something incau 
 tiously that would lead to my detection. I was known to a 
 good many in the Confederate service, both officers and men, 
 as a woman, and to a great many more as a man, and .there 
 was no telling but that some one among the prisoners might 
 be heedless enough to claim acquaintance with me, and thus 
 spoil everything. 
 
 Glancing around the enclosure, however, I could see no signs 
 of recognition on any of the faces of the prisoners, although 
 a number of them were gazing curiously at me, and after a bit 
 
438 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 
 
 I began to breathe a little freer, and to be able to inspect the 
 men rather more closely, with a view of picking out a suitable 
 one to communicate with. 
 
 At length I spied a young officer whom I had known slight 
 ly when I was figuring as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, and 
 who I knew to be a particularly bright, intelligent fellow. I 
 concluded, therefore, to speak to him, and calling him to me, 
 asked him a few immaterial questions, until we had walked 
 away out of ear-shot of the others. 
 
 CONFERENCE WITH A CONFEDERATE PRISONER. 
 
 When we were where no one could overhear us, I said, " I 
 am a Confederate, and have got in here under false colors ; I 
 have something important to say to you." 
 
 " I hope you have some good news for us." 
 
 " Yes, it is good news ; at least I hope you will think it is, 
 for it concerns your liberation." 
 
 " Well, that is good, if it can be done, for we are mighty 
 tired of this, I can tell you." 
 
 " It will depend a great deal on yourselves whether any 
 thing can be done ; but if the prisoners will only co-operate 
 in the right spirit, at the right moment, with our friends out 
 side, not only will they secure their release, but they will be 
 able to hit the Yankees a staggering blow." 
 
 His eyes sparkled at this, and I saw that he was willing and 
 eager to engage in almost any enterprise that promised to 
 secure his liberation, and I was only fearful that in his excite 
 ment he would do something incautious, that would interfere 
 with the successful prosecution of our scheme. 
 
 I therefore said, " You must be very careful, keep cool, and, 
 above all things, don't give a hint as to who I am. Say that 
 I am a Yankee, if anybody asks you, and pretend that this 
 conversation was only about how you are treated, and whether 
 you do not wish that the war was over, whether you expect 
 to be exchanged soon, and matters of that kind." 
 
 " I will fix that all right. What is it that the boys outside 
 are going to do for us ? " 
 
 " I have a despatch here which will tell you what are the 
 arrangements, what the signals outside will be, and what you 
 are to do when you see them. Give it to the party it is ad 
 dressed to, and consider yourselves under his orders until 
 your liberation is effected. When you are once outside of the 
 
PRISONER ON JOJfJVSOW S 
 
A PRECIOUS PACKAGE. 439 
 
 prison you will find plenty to help you, and will be able to 
 effect some kind of an organization." 
 
 " Well, don't you want to see the party that the despatch is 
 for?" 
 
 " No, it won't do for me to talk to too many ; and it is better 
 for a number of reasons, in order to avoid any suspicion, that I 
 should not be seen in conversation with him." 
 
 " Well, I'll give the despatch to him in any verbal message 
 you may send." 
 
 I then dropped on the ground a package containing eight 
 hundred dollars, and said, " There is some money ; conceal it 
 as quick as you can, and distribute it among the men as far as 
 it will go." 
 
 He thereupon sat down on a block of wood in front of me 
 and commenced whittling a stick, while I stood close to him 
 with my back to the guard, and with my skirts covering the 
 package. Watching a favorable opportunity, when the guard 
 was looking another way, he seized the package and slipped 
 it into his boot, and then went on whittling in as unconcerned 
 a manner as possible. 
 
 I then told him that I would leave Sandusky the next day 
 at the latest, and that with the delivery of the despatch I 
 held in my hand, which contained full and minute directions, 
 my part of the business would be finished, and that the con 
 summation of the scheme would depend upon himself and the 
 others. I cautioned him to be exceedingly wary, and to take 
 none of the prisoners into his confidence unless he was per 
 fectly sure of their thorough reliability. 
 
 He promised to be discreet, and then wishing him good by 
 and success, I shook hands with him, passing the despatch as 
 I did so. 
 
 The precious paper once in his possession, he started off, 
 whistling and whittling as he went, while I hurriedly returned 
 to the office, when I told the commander that I was unable to 
 find the man I was looking for, and thought that I would have 
 to visit some of the other prison camps. 
 
 He said he was sorry, and hoped that I would have better 
 luck next time. We then walked together towards the boat, 
 conversing in general terms about the prisoners and the war. 
 At the landing we met the lieutenant, who seemed to be rather 
 surprised to see me there. He exclaimed, " Why, have you been 
 visiting the prisoners ? If I had known that you wanted to 
 see them, I would have escorted you over to the Island." 
 
440 THE SEARCH CONTINUED. 
 
 I did not care to tell the young man that, under the cir 
 cumstances, I preferred to dispense with his escort, and so 
 only said, " 0, yes. I thought I would like to take a look at 
 them 5 and I can tell you, some of those rebels are sharp, if 
 they are backwoodsmen. If you don't look out, they will be 
 getting away from you some day." 
 
 The officers both laughed, and the lieutenant said, " I guess 
 not ; they are always talking about doing that, but they never 
 do it ; we have them too fast." 
 
 This was a point which I did not care to argue with him 
 just then, so saying adieu to the commander of the prison, the 
 lieutenant and I stepped aboard the boat, and were soon on 
 our way back to Sandusky. 
 
 As we were crossing to the town, the lieutenant again pro 
 posed that we should take a drive that afternoon. I, however, 
 excused myself, and gave him to understand that I had en- 
 
 fagements which would prevent me from meeting him again, 
 he young man, therefore, to my infinite relief, for his at 
 tentions were beginning to be troublesome, stated that he 
 would return to Cincinnati by the first train ; and, when I 
 parted from him in the hotel, I sincerely hoped that he would 
 do so, for I did not wish to have him watching my move 
 ments. 
 
 I now wrote a letter to Colonel Baker, in which I stated 
 that the man I was looking for was not at Johnson's Island, 
 and that I thought I would go on to Indianapolis, and visit the 
 prison camp there. After I had dined, not seeing the lieuten 
 ant, I inquired for him, and was told that he had gone. Being, 
 therefore, in no danger of meeting him again, I went to the 
 telegraph office, and sent despatches to the Detroit and Buifalo 
 agents, to notify them that I had visited the prison and ex 
 ecuted my commission there, and one to St. Louis, in accord 
 ance with the instructions under which I was acting, for the 
 agent there to send certain parties to meet me at Indian 
 apolis. 
 
 The next morning I was off for Indianapolis, to continue 
 the search I had begun in Sandusky, although I desired very 
 much to remain in the last named city for the purpose of 
 watching the progress of events, and, perhaps, of taking part 
 in any fighting that might occur. I very well knew that by 
 acting as a spy and as a bearer of despatches I was perform 
 ing much more valuable service than I would as a soldier, and 
 yet, at the prospect of a battle, all my fighting blood was up, 
 
THE DETAILS OF THE PLOT. 441 
 
 and I could scarcely restrain my desire to be an active par 
 ticipant in the great and exciting scenes I thought were about 
 to take place. 
 
 I afterwards wished that I had remained, for I felt confident 
 that had I been in Sandusky when the appointed time for 
 striking the blow came, and had been intrusted with the 
 direction of affairs, there would have been no such miserable 
 fizzle as actually did occur. 
 
 THE PROPOSED LAKE SHORE RAID, AND THE CAUSE OF ITS 
 
 FAILURE. 
 
 The general plan, as the reader has already been told, was 
 to organize a raid along the lake shores, to release the prison 
 ers, to gather about us all the Southern sympathizers who 
 could be induced to join us, and to make such a diversion in 
 the Federal rear as would compel the withdrawal of a large 
 force from the front. We also placed great reliance on the 
 effects of the panic which, it was hoped, would be created, 
 and also on British intervention, which it was expected would 
 be brought about by a border war, in which it would be im 
 possible to prevent trespass upon British territory. 
 
 In addition to this, the Indians were to be stirred up to acts 
 of hostility all along the frontier, from the lakes to the gulf. 
 
 The prisoners, as they effected their escape, were to act 
 according to circumstances. Those at Sandusky, and at places 
 nearest to that point, were to unite with the outsiders, and 
 form an army to operate along the lake shores, and as far into 
 the adjacent country as they could penetrate, while others 
 were to endeavor to effect a junction with Price and Quantrell 
 in Missouri, and to march under their orders. * 
 
 The execution of this scheme was to begin at a certain 
 time, after the prisoners had been made acquainted with such 
 details of the general plan as were necessary to be known by 
 them, by the capture of the Federal gunboat Michigan, and 
 of such other steamers as the Confederates could overpower 
 by stratagem or force. This being done, the prisoners on 
 Johnson's Island were to be notified by a pre-arranged signal, 
 and were to make a break and overpower their guards, with 
 the assistance of the boats. The prisoners once free, the 
 organization of both military and naval forces was to be pro 
 ceeded with as rapidly as possible, and all the damage done to 
 the enemy that could be done with the means at hand. 
 
442 THE FAILUEE OF THE PLOT. 
 
 In pursuance of this plan, the Confederates in Canada seized 
 the lake steamers Indian Queen and Parsons, and started for 
 Sandusky. On arriving off that place, however, their signals 
 were unanswered ; and after waiting as long as they dared, 
 they were forced to the conclusion that something unexpected 
 had occurred to interfere with the success of the plans, and 
 had no recourse but to make their escape as rapidly as they 
 could, well knowing that the Michigan, if she ever got her 
 guns to bear on them, would blow them out of the water in 
 very short order. 
 
 The scheme fell through, not because the party from Can 
 ada did not keep their engagement, or were not willing and 
 anxious to do all that they had the power to do, but because 
 one of the men who went to Sandusky for the purpose of seiz 
 ing the Michigan turned traitor. I may, perhaps, be doing 
 this person an injustice in applying this harsh name to him ; 
 but if he was not a wilful traitor, he was a fool, and too weak 
 and cowardly to have been intrusted with such responsible 
 and^ weighty duties as he was. 
 
 Arrangements had been made to secure the attendance of 
 all, or nearly all, the officers of the Michigan at an entertain 
 ment, and during their absence the vessel was to have been 
 seized. Before this entertainment could come off, however, 
 the man to whom I have alluded was either recognized as a 
 Confederate, or else he made some drunken utterances that 
 excited suspicion. At all events, he was arrested, and on a 
 search being made, papers were found in his possession which 
 gave the Federal government full information with regard to 
 the plot, and enabled them to take means to meet it. All this 
 mighi^have happened, and yet no one been seriously to blame ; 
 but this man, on the papers being found on him, confessed 
 everything, and revealed, not merely the particulars of the 
 scheme, but who his associates were. 
 
 He should have permitted himself to have been torn limb 
 from limb before doing this, as I would have done, had I been 
 captured, sooner than I would have revealed anything to the 
 enemy. 
 
 The failure of this raid caused much disappointment at the 
 South ; and the Confederates in Canada, by whom it had been 
 planned, and to whom its execution was intrusted, were greatly 
 censured, and were accused both of treachery and lack of 
 courage. These censures and accusations were unjust, for 
 they did all they could do ; and if they were to blame for any- 
 
DISGUST AND INDIGNATION. 443 
 
 thing, it was in confiding in a person or persons who were 
 unworthy of confidence. 
 
 The excitement which the capture of the Sundusky party, 
 and the discovery of what it was that they and the Confed 
 erates proposed to do, caused at the North, showed how great 
 would have been the panic that the successful execution of 
 the scheme would have caused. I cannot express the disgust 
 and indignation I felt when I heard that the plot had failed, 
 and how it failed ; and it was on this account, as much as any 
 thing else, that I left the country for a time, and refused to 
 have anything more to do with my late associates and their 
 schemes, although I was still intent upon doing all I could to 
 advance the interests of the Confederacy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 IN THE INDIANAPOLIS ARSENAL. FAILURE OF THE 
 PROJECTED RAID. 
 
 * I deliver Despatches to Agents in Indianapolis. Waiting for Orders. I 
 obtain Access to the Prison Camp, and confer with a Confederate Officer 
 confined there. I apply to Governor Morton for Employment, and am 
 sent by him to the Arsenal. I obtain a Situation in the Arsenal, and 
 am set to Work packing Cartridges. I form a Project for blowing up 
 the Arsenal. Reasons for its Abandonment. I receive a suspicious 
 Number of Letters. How I obtained my Money Package from the 
 Express Office. I go to St. Louis, and endeavor to obtain Employ 
 ment at the Planters' House, for the Purpose of enabling me to gain 
 Information from the Federal Officers lodging there. Failing in this, I 
 strike up an Acquaintance with a Chambermaid, and by Means of her 
 pass Key gain Access to several Rooms. I gain some Information from 
 Despatches which I find, and am very nearly detected by a Bell Boy. 
 I go to Hannibal to deliver a Despatch relating to the Indians. Hear 
 ing of the Failure of the Johnson's Island Raid, I return East, and 
 send in my Resignation to Colonel Baker. 
 
 N my arrival at Indianapolis, I found two men 
 from St. Louis awaiting me, they having been 
 sent there in compliance with my telegraphic 
 despatch from Sahdusky. I had a long talk 
 with them about the condition of affairs, and 
 delivered the despatches I had for them. One of 
 them a tall Missourian was to go to the borders, 
 to operate with the Indians, and the other was to 
 report to Quantrell, on some business of a secret 
 nature. I had no idea what the despatch which I 
 handed to this second man was about, and, as he did 
 not seem disposed to tell me, I did not ask him. 
 
 In compliance with my orders, I was now to wait in Indian 
 apolis until I should receive directions to proceed elsewhere, 
 and was to occupy my time in obtaining access to the prison 
 camp for the purpose of conversing with the prisoners, in 
 forming them of the movements that were in progress, and 
 encouraging them to make an effort to escape, as no rescue 
 could be attempted in their case. 
 
 444 
 
THE CAKE-WOMAN. 445 
 
 Exactly how to get into the prison enclosure was something 
 of a problem, as, for a number of good and sufficient reasons, 
 I was desirous of doing this without figuring as Colonel Ba 
 ker's agent, as I had done at Sandusky. Where there is a 
 will there is a way, nearly always, and I speedily found a 
 very easy way to accomplish my object. 
 
 OBTAINING ADMISSION TO THE INDIANAPOLIS PRISON CAMP. 
 
 Walking out towards the prison camp, the day after my 
 arrival, I determined to try and get in, on some plea or other, 
 and only to fall back on Baker's letter as a last resource, when 
 all other means failed. Not very far from the enclosure I met 
 a cake-woman, who, I surmised, was permitted to go among 
 the prisoners for the purpose of trading with them. It oc 
 curred to me that, with a little management, I could obtain 
 admission along with her ; so, going up to her, I purchased a 
 few cakes, and said, " Why, do you go into the prison, among 
 those dirty rebels ? " 
 
 " 0, yes," she replied ; " I go in there to sell them cakes." 
 
 " I did not know that they let any one in." 
 
 " Yes ; the officers all know me, and the sergeant always 
 looks through my basket, to see that I haven't anything con 
 traband." 
 
 " I would like mighty well to go in there, and see how the 
 rebels look. Do you think they would let me in with you ? " 
 
 " Yes ; you come along with me ; I'll get you in." 
 
 When we came to the gate, therefore, and while the ser 
 geant was examining her basket, the old woman said, " Ser 
 geant, this is my sister. She came with me to see how the 
 rebels look ; she never saw one." 
 
 The sergeant laughed, and passed us both in, without fur 
 ther parley. 
 
 The cake-woman went into the quarters, where, she soon 
 had a crowd of men round her, investing their cash and 
 precious little of it they had in the contents of her basket. 
 Looking around me, I spied a major belonging to Lee's army, 
 whom I had met in Richmond, but who had never seen me in 
 female attire, and, going up to him, I had a hurried conversa 
 tion with him, in a low voice. 
 
 I told him that now was the time for the prisoners to make 
 a break, if they wanted to gain their freedom, as there were 
 no troops at hand worth speaking of. 
 
446 A CALL ON GOVERNOR MORTON. 
 
 He wanted to know whether there was not danger of being 
 retaken. 
 
 I replied, that I did not think there was, if they made a 
 bold dash, and all worked together. I then told him what 
 was being done elsewhere, and explaining as well as I could 
 the general plan of operations that had been arranged, sug 
 gested that they should try and reach the southern part of 
 the state, and, after crossing the river, report either to Price 
 or Jeff Thompson. I then gave him some money, and hur 
 riedly left him, to rejoin the old cake-woman, whose basket 
 was by this time emptied, and who was prepared to leave. 
 
 This duty having been satisfactorily performed, I wrote a 
 letter to Colonel Baker, informing him that the man I was 
 looking for was not at the Indianapolis camp, but that I had 
 information which led me to think I would find him at Alton. 
 I, therefore, proposed to go to that place, and if he was not 
 there, I would give the whole thing up as a bad job, and return 
 East. 
 
 AN APPLICATION TO GOVERNOR MORTON FOR EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 I had no intention of going to Alton, but being under obli 
 gation to remain for some time how long I could not 
 know in Indianapolis, I was desirous of employing myself 
 to the best advantage. Exactly what to get at, however, was 
 not an easy thing to determine. After considering the sub 
 ject in all its aspects, I resolved to go to Governor Morton 
 for the purpose of asking him whether he could not give me 
 some employment. My idea was, that perhaps, through the 
 influence of the governor, I could obtain a clerkship, or some 
 position which would afford me facilities for gaining informa 
 tion. 
 
 I accordingly called on the governor, to whom I represented 
 myself as a poor widow, whose husband had been killed in 
 the war, and who had no means of support. Governor Mor 
 ton treated me kindly enough, although I speedily made up 
 my mind that he was by no means as amiable and good-natured 
 an individual as my rather jolly friend, Governor Brough, of 
 Ohio. 
 
 After hearing my story, he said that there was nothing he 
 could do for me, but that it was very possible I might be able 
 to obtain employment at the arsenal, as there were a good 
 many women working there. 
 
A GREAT TEMPTATION. 417 
 
 This, it struck me, was a most capital idea ; and, therefore, 
 asking the governor to give me some kind of a note or recom 
 mendation, which request he complied with by writing a 
 few lines, I left him, to see what I could do at the place 
 where they were manufacturing munitions of war to be used 
 against my Confederate friends. 
 
 I do not know whether it was the governor's note that aided 
 me, or whether they were really in want of hands, but I was 
 told that I could have work, if I desired it. The ordnance 
 officer a German, whose name I have forgotten said that 
 I was to commence work on Tuesday, the day I applied to 
 him being Saturday. 
 
 A PROJECT FOR BLOWING UP THE ARSENAL. 
 
 At the appointed time I appeared at the arsenal, and was 
 sent into the packing-room, where I was instructed in the 
 mystery of packing cartridges. There were about eighteen 
 girls working in the same room, most of whom were rather 
 lightheaded things, interested in very nearly everything 
 except the business they were paid for. A good part of their 
 time was employed in writing, reading, and discussing love- 
 letters, which they were interchanging with the soldiers in 
 the field, and a number of them had a good many more than 
 one correspondent. 
 
 The society of these girls was no pleasure to me whatever, 
 especially as I had things of much more importance to think 
 of than their love affairs. Immediately on Governor Morton 
 suggesting that, perhaps, I could obtain employment at the 
 arsenal, the idea of blowing up that establishment entered my 
 mind. After going to work, I looked about me to see how 
 this could be done, and very soon perceived that the thing 
 was possible, and without much risk to myself, provided I took 
 proper precautions. 
 
 I found, however, that I would not be able to blow up the 
 arsenal without destroying a number of lives, and I shrank 
 from doing this. It was a great temptation to me, however, 
 especially when I reflected that I was really in the Confed 
 erate service, and that it was a part of my duty to do every 
 thing in my power to injure the enemy. I could not, how 
 ever, get it out of my head that there was a wide difference 
 between killing people in a fair fight and slaughtering them 
 in this fashion j and so, to get myself out of the way of a 
 
448 FUNDS RUNNING LOW. 
 
 temptation that was constantly growing stronger and stronger, 
 I suddenly left, after having been at work about two weeks. 
 
 Had it been possible for me to have destroyed the arsenal 
 without loss of life, I would most assuredly have done it ; but 
 the circumstances being what they were, it has been a great 
 satisfaction to me ever since that I did not attempt anything 
 of the kind, just as it has been a satisfaction to me that I did 
 not kill General Grant when I had an opportunity to do so 
 on the night after the first day's fight at Shiloh. I doubt, 
 however, whether there would have been a great many men, 
 either Confederates or Federals, who would have been so con 
 siderate in similar situations, especially if the deed could have 
 been performed without risk to themselves. I am confident 
 that I could have fired the Indianapolis arsenal without serious 
 danger of being detected, but I do not suppose any one will 
 think the worse of me that I did not do it. 
 
 The great number of letters I received from nearly every 
 quarter, within a very brief period, excited curiosity and re 
 mark. After my first few visits to the post office the clerk 
 began to take notice of me, and he would say something nearly 
 every time I called for my mail about the extent of my cor 
 respondence. What he said was in a joking sort of a way, and 
 under some circumstances I should have thought nothing of 
 it ; but not knowing, from day to day, what might happen, it 
 caused me some uneasiness to attract this kind of attention, 
 both for my own sake and for the sake of my correspondents. 
 I very well knew that did the Federal authorities suspect me 
 the least of being a Confederate agent, there would be no 
 hesitation whatever about opening my letters ; and if some of 
 them had been opened, there would have been fine revelations ; 
 for, although many of them were obscurely worded, so as not 
 to be readily understood except by myself and the others in 
 terested, it would have been a comparatively easy matter to 
 have gained from them a knowledge of some of the most im 
 portant secret Confederate operations ; and this would not 
 have been pleasant for me and some of my associates. 
 
 For these, as well as other reasons, I was anxious to leave 
 Indianapolis at as early a day as I possibly could, but was 
 unable to move for lack of orders, and also for lack of cash. 
 My funds, in fact, were running very low, so low as to give 
 me considerable uneasiness lest I should be unable to meet my 
 expenses ; and I anxiously awaited a remittance, which, as is 
 apt to be the case with remittances that are anxiously awaited, 
 
A PERPLEXING PREDICAMENT. 449 
 
 was a long time in coming. Finally, I received information 
 that a money package had been forwarded to me by express ; 
 but on applying at the office for it, I was told that it could not 
 be delivered unless I was identified. 
 
 This was a perplexing predicament ; but I had gotten myself 
 out of worse ones, and thought that I would be able to find a 
 way to obtain possession of the precious package. Returning 
 to the hotel, therefore, I selected an envelope from one of my 
 letters, and writing a letter to myself, as if from my brother, 
 stating that such- and such a package had been forwarded to 
 me, I took it to the manager of the packing department at 
 the arsenal, and requested him to go with me to the express 
 office for the purpose of identifying me. He did this without 
 hesitation, but was considerably astonished to see me receive 
 such a large amount of money, and said, " Why, your brother 
 must be a very rich man ! " 
 
 " 0, no, he is not rich, but he has been thinking of investing 
 some of his spare cash in real estate for some time, and I told 
 him of a good thing in corner lots, which I urged him to try 
 and do something with." 
 
 As an explanation of my money package this was a trifle 
 thin, but it was sufficient for the purpose, especially as it was 
 no concern of his whether IJiad rich relations or not. 
 
 Within a day or two I received orders by telegraph to pro 
 ceed to Cairo, which I did forthwith, and found, on reaching 
 that place, letters of instruction which directed me to go to 
 St. Louis, and to stop at the Planters' House for the purpose 
 of seeing if I could not find out something about projected 
 Federal movements from the officers who were making it their 
 headquarters. 
 
 From the tenor of my instructions I judged that I would not 
 be able to do much by going to the table as a guest, which 
 would also have been inconvenient, as it would have neces 
 sitated my providing myself with a large amount of dif 
 ferent kind of clothing from that which I was then wearing. 
 I was figuring as a widow woman in greatly reduced circum 
 stances, and, so far as baggage was concerned, was, as the 
 soldiers would say, in light marching order. It occurred to me, 
 therefore, that the best plan to pursue was to try and obtain 
 a situation at the Planters' House as a chambermaid. On 
 reaching St. Louis, instead of going to the hotel, I took lodg 
 ings at a private house for a few days, until I could mature 
 my plans. 
 
 29 
 
450 IN SEARCH OF INFORMATION. 
 
 On applying for employment as a chambermaid, I was told 
 that there was no vacancy, and that there was not likely to be 
 any ; and I saw very plainly, from the manner of the individual 
 with whom I conversed on the subject, that he had no inten 
 tion whatever of giving me a situation. 
 
 NONPLUSSED. 
 
 This rather nonplussed me, and I was unable to determine 
 what device to adopt next. Some of the information which I 
 was requested to obtain was very important, and I had been 
 urged to use every effort to get it. I did not like to give the 
 thing up without having exhausted all my resources. I ac 
 cordingly tried in a number of ways to find out what I wanted 
 to know, but was entirely unsuccessful. All that I succeeded 
 in discovering of any consequence was some knowledge of the 
 personal habits of the officers who were lodged at the Plan 
 ters' House, and of the times when they were least likely to 
 be in their rooms. My only chance, therefore, seemed to be 
 to gain access to their quarters when they were out, and to 
 the accomplishment of this I put my wits to work. 
 
 When applying for employment in the hotel, I struck up a 
 sort of acquaintance with one of #ie chambermaids, of whom 
 I made a variety of inquiries as to the nature of the duties, 
 and of my chances of getting a situation. This woman had 
 seemed disposed to be quite friendly, and I, therefore, con 
 cluded to cultivate her acquaintance. I was not long in be 
 coming intimate with her ; and, as I made her a number of 
 little presents, and otherwise displayed a marked liking for 
 her, she speedily took a great fancy to me. 
 
 Having, as I thought, secured her friendship, I called upon 
 her one evening and invited her to go out with me. She 
 consented to do this, and we went up to her room together 
 for her to arrange her toilet. While she was dressing I slipped 
 her pass key in my pocket. This being secured, the next 
 thing was to find an opportunity to use it. 
 
 When we returned I had no great difficulty in inducing her 
 to extend an invitation for me to stop all night. We accord 
 ingly slept together. In the morning she got up, dressed 
 herself, and then, missing her key, began an industrious search 
 for it, I all the time pretending to be asleep. Unable to find 
 it, she went out, and I heard her ask one of the other girls to 
 lend her a key, saying that she had lost hers. 
 
AT HANNIBAL. 451 
 
 So soon as she was well out of the way, I got up and 
 dressed myself, and when I thought that the officers, whose 
 rooms I wished to visit, were likely to be away, and I knew 
 that if they had breakfasted and had left the hotel they would 
 scarcely be back until lunch time, I slipped down stairs to 
 execute my dangerous errand. 
 
 Luckily I met no one, and contrived to get into three 
 rooms, where I read a number of despatches and orders, one 
 or two of which were of some importance, but did not suc 
 ceed in discovering what I was chiefly in search of. I, how 
 ever, mastered the contents of such papers as I could lay my 
 hands on, for I was bound to have something to show for my 
 labor, even if I did not get all I wanted. 
 
 NEARLY CAUGHT. 
 
 On coming out of the third room, I came very near being 
 caught by a bell boy, who turned into the corridor just as I 
 had finished locking the ' door. Putting on a sort of bewil 
 dered look, as if I had lost myself, I said, in an innocent sort 
 of a way, " Which is the servant's staircase ; t think I must 
 have got into the wrong hall." 
 
 The boy was not particularly bright, and, giving the re 
 quired direction, I made off as fast as I could, not a little 
 satisfied at having escaped so easily. On the stairway I met 
 the chambermaid, who was bringing me up a cup of coffee. 
 This I drank, and then bade her good-by, glad of an opportunity 
 to get away without attracting more attention. 
 
 On reaching my lodgings I wrote out the substance of the 
 information I had obtained, and forwarded it to the proper 
 agent, with a statement to the effect that it seemed impossible 
 for me to learn anything more. In reply to this note I re 
 ceived a despatch by telegraph, directing me to go to Hanni 
 bal, where I would find a package awaiting me, which I was 
 to deliver according to directions which would be enclosed. 
 
 I took the boat for Hannibal, and on reaching that place 
 found Major T., of the Confederate army, rather anxiously 
 looking for me, as he had received information that orders 
 would be sent him from New York in an enclosure directed to 
 me. Obtaining my package from the express office, it was 
 found to contain a despatch from Richmond, with orders for 
 the major to treat with the Indians, and to aid in the endeav 
 ors that were being made to excite them to acts of hostility 
 
452 NIPPED IN THE BUD. 
 
 against the Federal government all along the frontier, from 
 the British Provinces to Mexico. 
 
 END OF WESTERN TRIP. 
 
 The delivery of this despatch to Major T. was the last 
 transaction of the western trip which I made under the au 
 spices of Colonel Baker. Not more than a day or two after 
 wards I learned of the failure of the attempt to release the 
 Johnson's Island prisoners, and consequently of the grand 
 scheme, the success of which I had been laboring so hard to 
 promote. 
 
 I did not know who was to blame for this failure, but I felt 
 that if all the rest had done their duty as efficiently as I 
 had done mine, success would have crowned our efforts. I, 
 therefore, resolved to return East, and to dissolve all connec 
 tion with my late co-workers, and with more than half a mind 
 to have nothing more to do with such schemes, or schemes of 
 any kind that would require confederates, in the future. I 
 was beyond measure indignant when I learned, as I did before 
 I reached Philadelphia, that the whole thing had fallen through, 
 owing to the blundering cowardice and treachery of one indi 
 vidual. I did not pretend to restrain my wrath, but the agent 
 whom I met at Philadelphia, after I had become cooled off a 
 little, persuaded me that there was no use in getting dis 
 couraged by this misadventure, bad as it was, and that there 
 was still plenty of important work for the Confederacy to be 
 done. 
 
 I, however, was so decidedly unwilling to engage in any 
 similar enterprise, at least just then, that it was proposed that 
 I should attempt something in the blockade-running line. By 
 doing this, it was represented, I could not only aid the cause, 
 but could make a handsome profit for myself if I managed 
 rightly, as my commissions alone would amount to consid 
 erable. The proposition made to me looked feasible ; and, 
 allowing myself to be persuaded, I wrote a letter to Colonel 
 Baker, resigning from the secret service, under the plea that 
 I had obtained other employment of a more remunerative and 
 more congenial character. 
 
 I really had not the courage to face Baker again after the 
 trick I had played upon him, having no idea what he might 
 know, or might not know, about my connection with the pro 
 jected raid which had been so effectually nipped in the bud 
 
BAKER STILL UNSUSPICIOUS. 453 
 
 by the arrest of the men in Sandusky who were endeavoring 
 to seize the gunboat Michigan. From the tenor of the letter 
 which he sent me in reply, however, I judged that he neither 
 knew nor suspected anything against me, and I concluded that 
 I would finally have occasion to make use of him again, as I 
 could not tell what work I might have to do before the war 
 was over. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 BLOCKADE-RUNNING. 
 
 Making Preparations for going into Business as a Blockade-runner. 
 The trade in Contraband Goods by Northern Manufacturers and Mer 
 chants. Profits versus Patriotism. The secret History of the War 
 yet to be told. This Narrative a Contribution to it. Some dark 
 Transactions of which I was cognizant. Purchasing Goods for the 
 Southern Market, and shipping them on Board of a Schooner in the 
 North River. How such Transactions were managed. The Schooner 
 having sailed, I go to Havana by Steamer. On reaching Havana I 
 meet some old Friends. The Condition of the Blockade-running Busi 
 ness during the last Year of the War. My Acquaintances in -Havana 
 think that the Prospects of the Confederacy are rather gloomy. I 
 visit Barbadoes, and afterwards St. Thomas. While at St. Thomas 
 the Confederate Cruiser Florida comes in, coals, and gets to Sea aga'in, 
 despite the Federal Fleet watching her. 
 
 HAD proven myself so efficient in managing 
 matters that required to be managed with skill, 
 boldness, and discretion, during the time I had 
 been co-operating with the Confederate agents 
 at the North, and especially daring my late 
 Western trip, that my associates were more than 
 ever anxious to avail themselves of my services. They 
 fully appreciated my feelings over the failure of the 
 Johnson's Island raid, after I had performed the part 
 assigned me so successfully, but they contended that 
 I would not be acting an heroic part to forsake the fortunes 
 of the Confederacy just at this juncture, when, although 
 things were looking exceedingly gloomy, there was a chance 
 that success might yet be achieved if all the friends of the 
 cause would stick together, and labor with even more than 
 their old energy to achieve success in the face of every 
 opposition. 
 
 It was a comparatively easy matter to persuade me to con 
 tinue to act as a Confederate secret service agent, although I 
 was too angry over the Johnson's Island matter to be willing 
 
 454 
 
TRIBULATIONS OF BLOCKADE-RUNNERS. 455 
 
 to place myself in peril very soon again by attempting to 
 play a double game, as I had been doing with Colonel Baker 
 and other Federal officials. I was willing to risk as much as 
 any one when there was a fair chance of accomplishing any 
 thing, but I was not willing to undertake enterprises of 
 extraordinary peril, and to run the chance of being betrayed 
 through either the stupidity or the treachery of those who 
 professed to be working with me. 
 
 I did not know how much information Baker might have 
 with regard to my recent doings, but thought that it would be 
 rather remarkable if he and other government detectives had 
 not discovered something which it was not especially advan 
 tageous to me that they should be informed of. I had no 
 very great opinion of their smartness, but, considering all 
 that I had been doing, the peculiar relations which I held to 
 Baker, "and the opportunities which the arrest of the Confeder 
 ate agents in Sundusky had given for them to obtain the 
 full particulars of the plot, and the names of those prominent 
 ly concerned in it, I did not care to cultivate the acquaint 
 ance of Baker and the members of his corps any further just 
 then, and was not sorry to have an opportunity to leave the 
 country for a time. 
 
 BUYING GOODS FOR THE SOUTH. 
 
 This opportunity was afforded in a proposition that I should 
 purchase a quantity of goods in Philadelphia and New York 
 to fill Southern orders, and should go to the West Indies with 
 them as a sort of supercargo, for the purpose of arranging for 
 their shipment to different Southern ports. I was also to 
 supervise the shipment of a variety of goods of various kinds 
 from Europe. 
 
 It was thought that, as in the cases of the proposed raid, a 
 woman would be able to do a great many things without 
 exciting suspicion, that it would be hazardous for a man to 
 attempt. It was daily getting to be more and more difficult 
 to smuggle goods, especially merchandise of a bulky nature, 
 through the blockading fleet. The tribulations of the block 
 ade-runners, however, did not begin when they approached 
 the beleaguered ports of the Confederacy. There were great 
 difficulties in the way of purchasing goods, especially at the 
 North, and of getting them shipped in safety, and then, in 
 the majority of cases, they had to be taken to some point in 
 
456 NO QUESTIONS ASKED. 
 
 the West Indies to be re-shipped, all of which involved 
 trouble, expense, and risk. 
 
 The purchase and shipment of goods at places like New 
 York and Philadelphia required particularly discreet manage 
 ment. There were, doubtless, some merchants and manu 
 facturers who would not knowingly have sold to Confederate 
 agents, or for Confederate uses in any shape. For such, I 
 had and have every respect, for they were entirely honest 
 and consistent in their opposition to the secession of the 
 Southern States. I am very much afraid, however, that these 
 were few in number, and I know that the prospect of cash 
 payments and handsome profits caused many men, who were 
 loud in their profession of loyalty to the Federal government, 
 and bitter in their denunciations of the South, to close their 
 eyes to numerous transactions of a doubtful character when 
 opportunities for making a good round sum, without danger 
 of detection, were presented. 
 
 CONTRABAND TRADING. 
 
 Some Northern merchants and manufacturers sold goods, 
 either immediately or at second hand, to Confederate agents 
 innocently enough, being deceived as to the nature of the 
 transactions. No dealers could be expected to maintain a 
 corps of detectives for the purpose of watching their custom 
 ers and of tracing out the destination of the goods purchased 
 from them, and thus the most ardent and enthusiastic sup 
 porters of the Federal government were liable to be imposed 
 upon. That some of these men were honest I know, for I 
 am aware of instances where the sale of goods has been 
 refused, on the plea that there was reason to believe that the 
 intention was to send them South. These refusals have been 
 made where the sales could have been effected with entire 
 safety and with perfect propriety, so far as outward appear 
 ances went. 
 
 These very fastidious people were not numerous, however, 
 and in the majority of business houses the practice was to 
 welcome all customers, and to ask no questions. In many 
 large establishments, the chiefs of which were noted for their 
 " loyalty," confidential clerks could be found with whom it 
 was possible to transact any amount of contraband business, 
 especially if the cash was promptly forthcoming. Some of 
 these people, I am sure, were well aware of what their 
 
VENIAL OFFENCES. 457 
 
 subordinates were doing ; with regard to others, I am in 
 doubt, but think that they could scarcely have been ignorant 
 of what was going on, and only wanted to be able to say, in 
 case of any difficulties occurring, that they, personally, were 
 not to blame. 
 
 There were, of course, numerous manufacturers, merchants, 
 jobbers, brokers, and others, who were eager to make money 
 wherever it could be made, and whose only object in conceal 
 ing their transactions, so far as the Southern market was con 
 cerned, was to avoid getting into trouble. Some of these 
 people were loyal to the Federal government after a fashion, 
 while others were as undisguised in their expressions of 
 sympathy for the South as they dared to be. Political 
 partisanship was, however, not a very strong point with either 
 set ; they considered it legitimate to make money by the 
 buying and selling of goods, without regard to what the 
 politicians at Washington and elsewhere might think or do j 
 and, so long as they bought and sold in a reasonably honest 
 manner, their consciences did not trouble them. With such 
 as these, I and my associates found it easy to deal. 
 
 If it was easy, it was not always satisfactory to deal with 
 people of this kind ; and during the last year of the war, 
 especially, some of the largest transactions were with houses 
 that had reputations to lose, and that were managed by men 
 who aimed to stand high in the regards of the government, 
 and with those of their fellow-citizens who supported the 
 government. To do business with such houses required 
 some finesse, but, except in rare instances, it could be done, 
 without a great deal of trouble, and, as I am convinced, in 
 a majority of cases, with the approbation of the heads of 
 the concerns. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. 
 
 Looking at this buying and selling from a Southern point 
 of view, it was not only legitimate and proper, but it was a 
 violation of every natural or political right for the Federal 
 government to interfere with it. From a Northern point of 
 view, however, it was giving aid and comfort to the enemy, 
 and it was discreditable, according to the extent which those 
 engaged in it professed to be in favor of coercing the South, 
 and of sustaining the government in the prosecution of the 
 war. 
 
458 THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 The sale of goods for the Southern market, and the active 
 or surreptitious encouragement of blockade-running, were, 
 however, very venial offences compared with some others that 
 were committed by people at the North, who professed to be 
 eager for the subjugation of the South. Now that the war is 
 over, a good many who made money by supplying the South 
 with contraband articles, other than munitions of war, can 
 afford tO'laugh at the perils they then ran, and to tell, without 
 fear, of the kind of business they were engaged in. As the 
 reader, however, will discover, there was an immense amount 
 of evil and rascality going on, and some of the most trusted 
 officers of the government were engaged in transactions con 
 cerning which there could not possibly be two opinions. 
 
 VILLANY. 
 
 With some of these transactions I had considerable to do, 
 and I was cognizant of undiluted villany that unveiled depths 
 of human depravity such as I never would have believed to 
 be possible, had I not been brought in such close contact 
 with it. 
 
 It may be thought by some who read this part of my 
 narrative that I was as much in fault as those with whom I 
 consented to associate for the purpose of accomplishing the 
 object I had in view. I do not despair, however, of finding 
 readers, even in the Northern States, who will be able to take 
 a liberal and charitable view of my course, and to consider 
 that I was acting as best I knew how to promote the success 
 of a cause which I felt to be a just one, and that I considered 
 myself as justified in doing the Federals all the injury I could, 
 and in promoting the interest of the Confederacy by every 
 means in my power. I am willing, therefore, to brave the 
 censure of some, and the only partial approval of others, for 
 the sake of making my narrative complete, and of putting 
 upon record some very curious features of the great contest 
 between the North and the South. 
 
 These things have, many of them, never been told before, 
 although dark hints with regard to them have been dropped 
 from time to time. They, however, are far from being unimpor 
 tant, as they exerted an influence, more or less potent, on the 
 progress of the war, and no history of the great contest will 
 be complete unless they are understood and a proper con 
 sideration given them. 
 
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WAR. 459 
 
 In fact, there is a secret history of the war, records of which 
 have never been committed to paper, and which exists only in 
 the memories of a limited number of people. That this secret 
 history will ever be written out with any degree of fulness is 
 scarcely possible, for reasons that will readily be understood ; 
 but some idea of what it will be like, should it ever be 
 written, may be gathered from these pages. When I con 
 cluded to give to the public a narrative of my adventures, 
 I determined to make it as complete as possible, so far as I 
 myself was concerned, for, during the whole four years I 
 neither said nor did anything that I am not willing the world 
 should know. With regard to my associates, Confederates 
 and others, who were mixed up with me in certain transac 
 tions, the case, however, is different. I deem it proper, in 
 certain cases, to refrain from mentioning their names, as many 
 of them are still living, and might yet get into trouble through 
 my utterances. I kept faith with them when we were acting 
 together, and will do so still, although some of them were 
 villains of the blackest dye, who richly deserve any punish 
 ment that the law against which they offended is capable of 
 inflicting upon them. 
 
 Having consented to make a trip to the West Indies, I com 
 menced my preparations immediately, and was soon as deeply 
 engaged in commercial matters as I had recently been in 
 some of not quite so peaceful a character. Having once got 
 started, I speedily found trade, and especially this kind of 
 trade, quite as exciting as warfare, while it had certain attrac 
 tions, in the way of prospective profits, that fighting certainly 
 did not possess. 
 
 I had some few transactions with Philadelphia houses, but 
 they were none of them very important, and most of my fit 
 ting out was done in New York, where I, and those with 
 whom I was connected, labored for a number of weeks, with 
 all possible zeal, being resolved to make the venture a profit 
 able one for ourselves, as well as of advantage to the Confed 
 eracy. 
 
 FITTING OUT A SCHOONER. 
 
 The first thing done was the chartering of a schooner and 
 the engaging of a warehouse. In this warehouse our goods 
 were stored until we were ready to load. The watchman was 
 perfectly aware that we were engaging in contraband traffic, 
 
460 THE LOVE OF GAIN. 
 
 but, as he was paid handsomely for holding his tongue, he 
 kept his own counsel and ours. When everything was ready, 
 the schooner was loaded at Pier No. 4, North River, and she 
 sailed for Havana with a regular clearance, one of my asso 
 ciates making matters all right at the custom-house, so that 
 the vessel had no difficulty in getting away. 
 
 The greatest trouble we had was not in getting our 
 schooner to sea, but in making our purchases without ex 
 citing suspicion that we intended to find our market in some 
 Confederate port. To do this required circumspect manage 
 ment ; but some of those with whom I was co-operating had 
 done this sort of thing before, and knew how to go about it ; 
 while I was not long in learning all the tricks of the trade, so 
 as to be able to perform the part assigned me with as much 
 shrewdness as any of them. 
 
 According to the plan which we arranged, I was to pretend 
 that I intended opening a store, and was to visit some of the 
 largest houses, and obtain their prices and terms of payment. 
 The terms varied from sixty to ninety days, or so much off for 
 cash. At one of the most extensive dry goods establishments 
 in New York, Messrs. C - & Co., I inquired for a Mr. 
 
 B , who, on being informed that I had been sent to him 
 
 by certain parties, whose names I mentioned, introduced me 
 to a confidential clerk, who undertook to fill my orders, and 
 deliver the goods in accordance with my instructions. He 
 understood the whole matter thoroughly, and, from various 
 expressions he let drop in conversation, I had no difficulty in 
 concluding that his firm was doing a big contraband trade, 
 although the principals, like many other prominent merchants, 
 were taking especial good care not to be known as having 
 anything to do with it. 
 
 The leading members of this firm were very prominent as 
 upholders of the Federal cause, and it would have been ruin 
 to them had it been found out that they were surreptitiously 
 shipping goods to the South. I never was^quite able to make 
 up my mind whether they really knew what was going on or 
 not. At any rate, all the arrangements for carrying on a con 
 traband traffic were very, complete in their establishment, and 
 any one going there with proper credentials was sure of re 
 ceiving every attention. If these gentlemen did not know 
 what their employees were doing, they were much less shrewd 
 than they had the credit of being ; and I am afraid that a love 
 of gain was a more powerful incentive in their bosoms than 
 
SEASICK. 461 
 
 loyalty to the cause for. which, in public, they professed so 
 much devotion, and for which they professed a willingness to 
 make almost any sacrifices. 
 
 With some houses we had less difficulty even than with the 
 one mentioned, and with others much more ; and in several 
 places we were compelled to make our purchases under more 
 or less plausible pretexts, and to arrange for having our goods 
 delivered so that those from whom we obtained them would 
 have no idea what their destination was. 
 
 It was a troublesome matter getting our cargo together, 
 but finally, after many anxious days and nights, during which 
 we expected every moment to be pounced upon by the Fed 
 eral authorities, our schooner was loaded with wines, drugs, 
 boots, shoes, buttons, and military goods. I also filled several 
 private orders, and, among other things, purchased a hand 
 some sword and belt and a fine pair of pistols. These I ob 
 tained through a sergeant stationed at Governor's Island, 
 whose acquaintance I made, and who proved useful to me 
 afterwards in a variety of transactions, which will be narrated 
 in their due order. 
 
 THE SCHOONER GETS SAFELY OFF. 
 
 Everything being ready, the schooner set sail, and suc 
 ceeded in reaching her port without being overhauled. So 
 soon as she was off, I prepared to start by the steamer for 
 Havana, having orders for coffee and other supplies to the 
 Confederate agent there. These goods had been shipped 
 from Antwerp, and other places in Europe, and from New 
 York, and they were to be sent from Nassau to Brownville, 
 Texas, under consignment to the Confederate quartermaster 
 or agent there, who, if I recollect rightly, was a Captain 
 Shankey. 
 
 This trip to Havana was scarcely as pleasant as the one I 
 had made to that city from New Orleans in the summer of 
 1862. The Atlantic Ocean I found to be a great deal rougher 
 than the Gulf of Mexico, and, for nearly half the voyage, the 
 weather was very stormy. The result was, that I was too 
 sick to have much enjoyment for a couple of days ; but, 
 having recovered from my attack of mal de mer, I began to 
 enjoy myself, and felt benefited by the sea air. I was not 
 sorry, however, when the shores of my beautiful native island 
 began to appear in the distance, and felt much satisfaction 
 
462 COLD-BLOODEDNESS. 
 
 when our vessel steamed in under the guns of the Moro 
 Castle, and anchored off the city of Havana. 
 
 A SECOND VISIT TO HAVANA. 
 
 In Havana I found a number of my old acquaintances of 
 1862, who were as busily engaged as ever in running the 
 blockade, although the difficulties and dangers of the business 
 gave them much discomfort. The profits of a successful trip, 
 however, were so great that they could afford to brave them, 
 and to submit to large losses through the vigilance of the 
 Federal cruisers. In fact, despite the annoyances experi 
 enced from the blockaders, who were becoming exceedingly 
 keen in their scent after prizes, blockade-running was yet a 
 very paying business, and the men engaged in it would have 
 been quite willing that the war should have continued indefi 
 nitely, so long as their ventures yielded as handsome results 
 as they did. 
 
 What gave these people the most uneasiness at the time 
 of which I write, was, not the stringency of the blockade, but 
 a prospect that the war would speedily come to an end. 
 They watched the course of events critically and anxiously, 
 but from a very different standpoint from that of myself and 
 my associates, North or South, and I was not a little startled 
 by the evident belief that the collapse of the Confederacy 
 was near at hand. The cold-blooded way in which they con 
 sidered such a calamity, and the purely pecuniary light in 
 which they regarded it, shocked me, and greatly excited my 
 indignation. I could not but acknowledge the force of much 
 of their reasoning, however, although their total indifference 
 to the fate of the Confederacy, except so far as it affected 
 their opportunities for money-making, had the effect of re 
 viving my enthusiasm, and of making me more than ever 
 resolved to labor for the success of the cause while a glimmer 
 of hope remained. 
 
 A TRIP TO BARBADOES. 
 
 Having transacted my business in Havana, I started for 
 Bridgetown, Barbadoes, to make arrangements there for the 
 shipment of goods. I went from Havana to St. Thomas in 
 the steamer Pelyo, and from St. Thomas to Bridgetown in a 
 British steamer. The purser of the last-mentioned vessel 
 
THE ESCAPE OF THE FLORIDA. 463 
 
 was particularly attentive to me ; indeed, I had not had so 
 persistent an admirer since the time I was escorted to Mem- 
 .phis by the. Federal lieutenant, whose fancy for me I turned 
 to such good purpose in carrying out my plans. The purser 
 gave me his photograph, and made me promise to write to 
 him. The photograph I kept, and have given it a proper 
 place in my collection of curiosities, but the promise to write 
 I am afraid I broke. I hope the purser, who was a very good 
 fellow in his way, did not break his heart in consequence. 
 
 At Bridgetown I was received very kindly by the friends 
 of the Confederacy there, but was disappointed at finding that 
 
 Mr. M , the gentleman whom I was to see, was absent. I, 
 
 however, left my orders with his secretary, and started to 
 return to New York by way of St. Thomas. 
 
 At St. Thomas I was compelled to wait some days for the 
 steamer, during which time the Confederate cruiser Florida 
 came in under the noses of the Federal fleet, coaled, and put 
 to sea again. One of the Federal men-of-war which was 
 watching her was deluded into giving chase to a mail steamer, 
 and the Florida succeeded in slipping off, and getting out of 
 harm's way before she discovered her mistake a perform 
 ance which afforded me exceeding great delight. 
 
 While in St. Thomas I succeeded in contracting a loan 
 
 with Messrs. V & Son, a Belgian firm, on account of the 
 
 Confederate agents in Canada, and, this being done, I was 
 ready to return to New York by the first steamer. 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 AN ATTACK ON THE FEDERAL TREASURY. 
 
 The Bounty-jumping and Substitute-brokerage Business. Rascalities in 
 high Life and low Life. Bounty-jumpers and Substitute-brokers not the 
 worst Rogues of the Period. High Officials of the Government impli 
 cated in Swindles. Baker's Raid on the treasury Ring, and the 
 Charges of Conspiracy brought against him by Members of Congress 
 and others. A Committee of Congress exonerates the guilty Parties, 
 and blames Baker for exposing them. What I know about these 
 Transactions. Money needed to carry on the Confederate Operations 
 at the North. Federal Officials countenancing the Issue of counterfeit 
 Confederate Bonds and Notes. I go to Washington for the Purpose 
 of getting in with the Treasury Ring. A rebel Clerk introduces me to a 
 high Official, who, on Condition of sharing in the Profits, introduces me 
 to the Printing Bureau of the Treasury. The Trade with England in 
 bogus Federal and Confederate Securities. Making Johnny Bull pay 
 some of the Expenses of the War. 
 
 N my return to New York, circumstances 
 occurred which called my special attention 
 to the operations of the bounty-jumpers and 
 substitute-brokers, and having no other 
 schemes on hand, I was induced to interest 
 myself in the business of reducing the strength of the 
 Federal armies in the field, by preventing the re-en 
 forcements demanded by the government from reach 
 ing the front. 
 
 The efficiency of the services rendered the Confed 
 eracy by these substitute-brokers and bounty-jumpers, 
 cannot be over-estimated. Large armies existed on paper ; 
 but while the generals in command kept constantly and unin 
 terruptedly calling for more men, they failed to receive them 
 in such numbers as were requisite for keeping their ranks 
 full, and many important movements were rendered ineffec 
 tual, and thousands of lives were needlessly sacrificed, simply 
 because the recruiting system adopted by the government 
 was far better calculated for giving abundant employment to 
 rogues of the worst class, than it was for keeping the strength 
 of the army up to the proper standard. 
 
 464 
 
RASCALITIES OF THE WAR PERIOD. 465 
 
 The majority of these rogues were Northern men, who, if 
 they had any political principles at all, were Federals. The 
 fact was, however, that they did not care the toss of a button 
 which side won, so long as they were able to make money out 
 of the contest. The war, to them, was a grand opportunity 
 for driving all manner of schemes for their individual profit, 
 and the longer it was likely to last, the better they were 
 pleased, giving no thought whatever to the enormous destruc 
 tion of life and property that was going on, or to the incalcu 
 lable misery that was caused to thousands of people, all over 
 the land, every day it was waged. 
 
 DEMORALIZATIONS OF WARFARE. 
 
 I presume that such villanies as it will now be my task to 
 relate are the inevitable accompaniment of every great armed 
 conflict ; and if it could be clearly understood that warfare, no 
 matter for what just causes it may be undertaken, inevitably 
 breeds corruption, in its most aggravating forms, and that the 
 longer it lasts, the more does demoralization spread among all 
 classes of society, right thinking people would be apt to hes- 
 itato more than they do about encouraging appeals to arms 
 for the settlement of national and international differences. 
 
 I doubt whether a good many of the people of the North 
 who supported the Federal government in its efforts to con 
 quer the South, under the belief that their cause was a just 
 one, and worth making sacrifices for, had any adequate idea 
 of the rascality, in high quarters and low quarters, that was 
 one of the results of the war. We read about certain scan 
 dalous doings in the newspapers ; but, apart from the fact 
 that many of the worst rascalities of the period never were 
 brought to light, it was impossible for the good, patriotic peo 
 ple who contributed their money and goods, and who prayed, 
 day and night, for the success of the Federal cause, to un 
 derstand the infamies that were being practised around them, 
 as I, who was in some sort the confederate of the villains, 
 and who consequently was able to study the situation from 
 the inside, could not help doing. 
 
 Had these infamies been confined to a comparatively few 
 obscure men in the large cities tliey would have been bad 
 enough, and would have been sufficiently demoralizing in 
 their influences to make it a subject for profound regret that 
 opportunities for their practice should have been afforded. . 
 30 
 
466 THE WORST ROGUES PROTECTED. 
 
 Bad as they were, however, the substitute-brokers and the 
 bounty-jumpers were not the worst villains of the period. 
 Men high in public station, and occupying offices of the great 
 est responsibility, were engaged in robbing the government 
 and in swindling the public, to an extent that was absolutely 
 startling to me when I obtained cognizance of their doings, 
 and, for the purpose of carrying out my plans, became an 
 accomplice in some of their transactions. 
 
 THIEVES AND COUNTERFEITERS IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The treasury department itself where the Federal cur 
 rency, and the interest-bearing bonds, upon which was raised 
 money to carry on the contest, were manufactured was the 
 headquarters of a gang of thieves and counterfeiters, who 
 carried on their operations for months, within my own knowl 
 edge, in a most barefaced manner, and who, when at length 
 detected and brought to bay, were able, not only to escape 
 punishment, but to retain their positions, and to find apologists 
 in their official superiors and in prominent members of Con 
 gress. 
 
 I really did not know what to make of it when I read the 
 report of the committee of Congress, which not only exoner 
 ated certain treasury officials, whose misdeeds were discovered 
 by Colonel Baker, but which actually insinuated that the de 
 tective was engaged in a conspiracy against them. I knew 
 only too well how guilty they were, and I knew that Baker 
 had ample evidence against them, although he was not in 
 formed of a tithe of the villanies they had committed. That 
 the secretary and the solicitor of the treasury should take 
 sides with them, and that a congressional committee, composed 
 of statesmen who claimed to be honest and patriotic, should, 
 in the face of the evidences of their guilt which were pro 
 duced, sustain them, and endeavor to punish Baker for having 
 detected them, are things that I have never yet been able to 
 understand. 
 
 That they were protected, and that attempts were made to 
 punish Baker, are, however, facts that cannot be denied ; and 
 certainly, of all the disgraceful things which occurred during 
 the war, this was one of the most disgraceful. 
 
 No person has a better right to speak plainly and emphat 
 ically on this subject than myself, and no person who reads 
 this narrative will suppose for a moment that I am influenced 
 
A REMARKABLE EPISODE. 467 
 
 by any partiality for Colonel Baker in making the statements 
 I do with regard to the matters at issue between him, the offi 
 cers of the treasury, and the congressional committee. I 
 know that' the men were guilty of the offences with which 
 they were charged by Baker, for I was one* of their associates, 
 although I claim that the peculiarity of my position entitled 
 my conduct to be judged by a very different standard from 
 theirs ; and during the whole time that the investigation was 
 going on, I was in mortal terror lest Baker should discover 
 that I was implicated. 
 
 WHO PROTECTED THE ROGUES. 
 
 My opinion of Colonel Baker's character, or of his qualifi 
 cations for .the position he held as chief of the United States 
 secret service corps, is not the most exalted ; and I have too 
 vivid a recollection of the fears I felt, and of the trouble I 
 had in keeping out of his way at the period to which I am 
 alluding, to have the most amiable feelings towards him. I 
 was pleased, for my own sake, but I was astonished beyond 
 measure, when I learned that his efforts to break up certain 
 practices in vogue in the treasury department resulted as 
 they did, and came to nothing, in the peculiar manner that 
 they did. It was almost incredible that Secretary Chase, 
 Solicitor Jordan, and Mr. Garfield, and the other members of 
 the congressional investigating committee, should have taken 
 the peculiar stand that they did ; and, even at this late day, I 
 am unable to imagine any sufficient reason for their conduct 
 that will be at all to their credit. 
 
 Baker's raid on the treasury department was a very re 
 markable episode, from whatever point of view it may be 
 regarded ; and the probabilities are that, had he been able to 
 continue his investigations, he would have found out some 
 things that would have startled the country. He, as it was, 
 found out quite enough to prove that an investigation was 
 sadly needed ; but it must have stung him to the quick to 
 find himself, instead of being rewarded for his skill and zeal, 
 placed in the position of a criminal, while the scamps whose 
 doings he exposed were protected by all the power of the 
 government. 
 
 I have stated that most of those engaged in the bounty- 
 jumping and substitute-brokerage business were conscience 
 less Northern men, who were only intent upon making money 
 
468 THE LICENSE OF WARFARE. 
 
 by every means, and at all hazards. A number of Confed 
 erates, myself included, were, however, associated with them 
 in many of their transactions, just as we were associated with 
 some other rogues, for the purpose of embarrassing the Fed 
 eral government, and for the prosecution of the various 
 schemes we had on hand, up to the very hour of the downfall 
 of the government to which our adherence was given. 
 
 MAKING THE FEDERAL TREASURY P.AY CONFEDERATE EXPENSES. 
 
 To carry on our operations, money, and a great deal of it, 
 was needed, and we had little or no hesitation in making the 
 Federal treasury pay our expenses, as far as we were able to. 
 A large portion of the funds used in purchasing substitutes, 
 and in carrying on the bounty -jumping frauds, was furnished 
 by Confederate agents, who obtained a good deal of their 
 cash, directly or indirectly, from the United States treasury. 
 How this was done, it is my purpose to explain. 
 
 I had little or nothkig to do with the bounty-jumpers until 
 after my return from the West Indies. My relations with the 
 officials of the treasury department, however, commenced not 
 a great while after my arrival at the North, and it was mainly 
 my transactions with them that made me so much afraid of 
 being discovered by Colonel Baker, and so extremely anxious 
 to stand well in his good graces. I am convinced that my 
 intimate relations with Baker, as one of his employees, and the 
 confidence in me which I succeeded in inspiring in his mind, 
 alone saved me from detection when he went to work to find 
 out what was worth finding out in the treasury department. 
 Whether, in case he had discovered the game I was playing, 
 and had attempted to bring me to punishment, the secretary, 
 the solicitor, and prominent members of Congress would have 
 rushed to my rescue with the same alacrity that they did in 
 the case of those whom Baker succeeded in laying his hands 
 on, is one of those interesting questions that must remain for 
 ever unanswered. I am very glad, however, that, as matters 
 turned out, there was no occasion for me to appeal to them 
 for aid. 
 
 When I first learned of the uses which some of my Confed 
 erate friends were making of the facilities of the Federal 
 treasury for obtaining cash, I was rather shocked ; and it took 
 some time ,to convince me that even the license of warfare, 
 and the right we had to injure our adversaries in every man- 
 
RETALIATION. 469 
 
 ner possible, made such things permissible. When I found 
 out, however, that not only were counterfeit Confederate 
 bonds and notes freely manufactured at the North, without 
 any interference on the part of the government, but that Fed 
 eral officials actually made use of this bogus Confederate 
 paper whenever they found it convenient to do so, I had no 
 hesitation in coming to the conclusion that we would be per 
 fectly justifiable in retaliating, and that we had the same right 
 to raid on the Federal treasury, and to injure the Federal 
 credit, that the Federals had to try and swamp our finances. 
 
 BOGUS CONFEDERATE SECURITIES. 
 
 It was Colonel Baker who decided me to go into this busi 
 ness. That individual always seemed to have a plentiful 
 amount of bogus Confederate bills on hand, to be used" on 
 occasion. On my Richmond trip, as the reader will recollect, 
 he gave me a considerable sum in this kind of money, to 
 assist in paying my expenses, all of which was just so much 
 saved to the Federal government, or, perhaps, to Baker 
 individually, for I was travelling in the capacity of a Fed 
 eral secret service agent. On numerous similar occasions 
 Baker found it convenient to meet the expenses of his spies 
 within the Confederate lines with promises to pay, supposed 
 to have been issued in Richmond, but in reality manufactured 
 and given to the world in New York and Philadelphia. He 
 seemed to regard it *as quite a proper way of fighting the 
 rebels, to put as many counterfeit Confederate notes as pos 
 sible into circulation ; and, when I discovered that he was of 
 this way of thinking, I was not long in deciding that we reb 
 els had a right to make the thing even by circulating as many 
 bogus United States notes and bonds as we could, especially 
 as we would serve the double purpose of aiding the Confed 
 erate and injuring the Federal government, and as, moreover, 
 we would be assisted by prominent Federal officials. 
 
 Having made my arrangements with parties in Philadelphia 
 and New York, and having obtained the information neces 
 sary for me to make my initial movements, I went to Wash 
 ington, and, first of all, had a talk with Colonel Baker, giving 
 him some information re^tl or .fictitious, as the case may 
 have been which I thought would amuse him, and assist in 
 convincing him that I was overflowing with zeal for the Fed 
 eral cause. This interview with Baker was in accordance 
 
470 A TREACHEROUS. TREASURY CLERK. 
 
 with a general plan I had laid out, for, especially when I had 
 any business of real importance on my hands when visiting 
 Washington, I thought it best to call on him and give an 
 account of myself, than to have him or his men getting sight 
 of me unexpectedly, and perhaps wondering what I was up to. 
 
 A CONFEDERATE SPY IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Baker's vigilance having thus been disarmed, I went to a 
 clerk in the Treasury Department, and telling him briefly 
 what I wanted, but without giving him the details of the 
 whole scheme, I asked him to assist me in gaining access to 
 the private rooms in the building where none but the officials 
 in charge, and the employees immediately under them, were 
 ever allowed to go, except by written permits signed by the 
 secretary. These rooms were chiefly those of the printing 
 bureau, where the Federal bonds and currency were manu 
 factured, although I also wanted opportunities for visiting 
 such other portions of the department as I might think 
 expedient. 
 
 This clerk was a Confederate sympathizer, like a number 
 of other Federal employees of various grades, and he carried 
 his sympathies so far as that he was willing and anxious to 
 aid the Confederacy by every means in his power, so long as 
 he could do so with safety to himself. He was not the sort 
 of a man I had much liking for; but in the kind of work I was 
 engaged in prosecuting, it did not do to be too fastidious 
 about the characters of one's associates. Moreover, he had 
 proved himself, during a long period, to be a very efficient 
 spy, and was constantly in communication with the Confeder 
 ate agents, giving them information which often was of ex 
 treme importance. 
 
 It was probably through him that my associates first 
 learned what was going on in the printing bureau, but of 
 this I am not certain. At any rate, they knew that he was 
 the best person to apply to for the sake of getting such an 
 introduction to the private rooms of the treasury building, 
 as it was necessary for me to have, as he was thoroughly 
 posted with regard to the villanies that were being practised 
 there. 
 
 In response to my application to this clerk for assistance, 
 he gave me a letter of introduction to a man occupying a very 
 high and very responsible position ; so high and so responsi- 
 
TOW HAH3&IIA 
 
 AND 
 
A HIGH OFFICIAL. 471 
 
 ble that I was astonished, beyond measure, on being referred 
 to him on such an errand, who, he said, would accomplish for 
 me what I wished. This letter was so worded that the party 
 to whom it was addressed would understand that I wanted to 
 talk with him about matters that it would not do for every 
 body to be cognizant of, and I was told that I might speak 
 with the most perfect freedom to him with regard to the busi 
 ness I had in hand. 
 
 ONE OP THE BIG VILLAINS. 
 
 I accordingly went to this official, and presented the letter 
 of introduction, wondering not a little what he would say and 
 do when he read it. His conduct satisfied me at once that 
 he was implicated in unlawful schemes, and that he was 
 exactly the man for my purposes. When he read the letter 
 he turned as pale as a sheet, and then red, while his hand 
 trembled so much that I was afraid some of the people in the 
 room would notice it. 
 
 He read the letter through two or three times before he 
 was able to obtain sufficient composure to trust himself to 
 speak. He finally, however, said a few commonplace things 
 to me, which meant nothing, and were intended for the ears 
 of those around us rather than for mine, and then requested 
 me to give him my address. 
 
 I did this, and then, in obedience to a hurried gesture, took 
 my departure, without attempting to have any further conver 
 sation just then, but feeling well assured that I could speedily 
 be afforded ample opportunity for an exchange of views with 
 him. 
 
 That evening my new acquaintance called on me at my 
 hotel, and, although we both for a time fought shy of the 
 main subject, I readily perceived, from the general tenor of 
 his conversation, that he had, since my visit to his office, been 
 making particular inquiries with regard to me. He remarked, 
 among other things, that he had heard Colonel Baker mention 
 my name several times, and -always in highly commendatory 
 terms. This was very satisfactory intelligence, for it con 
 vinced me that I really stood well with the secret-service chief, 
 as something I could only guess at from that individual's 
 manner. 
 
 At length he said he thought he understood my object in 
 making his acquaintance, and, although he was not quite cer- 
 
472 NO FRIEND OF BAKER'S. 
 
 tain what I wanted, he would endeavor to aid me by any 
 means in his power. 
 
 I then told him, plump and plain, that I and my associates 
 had full information with regard to what was being done in 
 certain of the treasury bureaux, and that we had it in our 
 power to set \he detectives to work in such a way that all 
 those engaged in swindling the government would be arrested 
 and brought to punishment. Instead of doing anything of 
 this kind, however, we proposed to share the profits of such 
 fraudulent transactions as were going on in the treasury 
 department. As the agent and receivers of the others 
 interested, I wanted to get possession of "one or more of the 
 electrotype impressions of the bond and note plates, such as 
 were used for fraudulent issues ; and I also desired to obtain 
 facilities for visiting the printing bureau, whenever I might 
 find it expedient to do so, for the sake of conferring with cer 
 tain parties there, and in order that I might have an eye gen 
 erally on what was going on. 
 
 My friend saw that I " had him," to use a slang phrase 
 that is very appropriate in such a connection as this, for it 
 expresses the situation exactly. 
 
 He hesitated, however, as well he might, before yielding to 
 my request ; and after some immaterial talk, which expressed 
 nothing but his fears, he said, " Well, if I oblige you in this, I 
 will place my honor and my reputation in your hands. I have 
 never yet stepped aside from the duties of my office since I 
 have been sworn in, and what assurances have I that you will 
 not betray me ?" 
 
 I knew exactly how much of this to believe, and so I said 
 to him, " I don't care, sir, what you may or may not have 
 done before this. I am satisfied, however, that you are the 
 proper person to assist me in the matter under discussion, and 
 if you do you shall have your share of the profits. You can 
 rely upon my secrecy, for I will be implicated as well as your 
 self; but, independently of that, I think that my character for 
 reliability is sufficiently^vell known for you to have no hesita 
 tion in trusting me." 
 
 " Yes, I know your reputation for skill and secrecy; you 
 seem to have played it finely with Baker. I am glad some 
 body has managed to get ahead of that fellow, for he has been 
 making himself an infernal nuisance about here." 
 
 This was said with considerable bitterness, and I could not 
 help smiling, both at the words and the manner ; for there was 
 
COMING TO AN UNDERSTANDING. 473 
 
 something absolutely comical in the. idea of my friend and 
 those in league with him considering Baker's negligence a 
 grievance. 1, however, said nothing on that point, but merely 
 remarked that Baker appeared to be a tolerably capable 
 officer. 
 
 My friend possibly did not care to argue about Baker, for he 
 went on, without noticing the remark, to say that he would 
 have to swear me to secrecy. 
 
 I laughed at this, and ridiculed the idea of my oath being 
 worth any more than my word under the circumstances. 
 
 He, therefore, abandoned all notion of attempting to bind 
 me, except by the responsibilities I would incur in connec 
 tion with himself and the others interested, and began to talk 
 business in a straightforward manner. 
 
 This suited me exactly, and it was not long before we had 
 matters arranged to our mutual satisfaction. 
 
 He agreed to furnish any capital that might be needed to 
 commence operations, or to do any preliminary bribing that 
 was necessary, and was to have a percentage of whatever 
 profits were made. As for getting possession of a fraudulent 
 plate or plates, I would have to talk about that to the people 
 to whom he would introduce me ; but he did not doubt, if I 
 managed right, I could get all that were necessary for our 
 purposes. 
 
 CERTAIN BUSINESS SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 There were other things to be done, however, besides print 
 ing bogus notes and bonds ; and he thought that a thriving 
 business could be carried on in the genuine articles, which 
 might be abstracted and returned, after being turned over a 
 few times in the market, so as to yield a sufficient profit to 
 pay for the risk and trouble. The bogus bonds, he thought, 
 could be printed in Washington, and seemed rather anxious 
 that they should be ; but I said that I doubted whether my 
 associates would consent to that ; at any rate, I could not 
 undertake to make definite arrangements without consulting 
 them. The idea was to float these bonds, as far as possible, 
 on the European market ; and it was thought that it could 
 readily be done, as they could be sold at rates that would defy 
 competition on the part of the government agents who were 
 working with the genuine articles. 
 
 Having c"ome to an understanding, and arranged a general 
 plan of action, my friend said that he would give me a note 
 
474 THE BRITISHER'S FAIR GAME. 
 
 which would obtain for me the freedom of the treasury build 
 ing, but that I would have to be exceedingly careful of it, and 
 take particular pains not to let any one but the person to 
 whom it was addressed see it. 
 
 I, of course, made all necessary promises, and he, accord 
 ingly, wrote a note, which he signed with a private mark 
 instead of with his name, and told me to call the next day at 
 the treasury, and give it to a certain prominent official con 
 nected with the printing bureau. He then took his leave, 
 and I had little or nothing to do with him afterwards, his 
 share of whatever profits was made being paid to him by some 
 one else. 
 
 My arrangement with the parties at whose instance I went 
 to Washington on this business was, that in event of my being 
 able to make a satisfactory bargain with the officials in 
 the treasury department, I was to be the receiver and bearer 
 of whatever they might confide to my care in the way of 
 bonds, notes, bogus plates, and other matters, and was to 
 travel to and fro between Washington, Philadelphia, and 
 New York as a confidential manager, while brokers in the 
 two last-named cities and elsewhere were to do the finan 
 ciering. 
 
 The scheme was an immense one, although it did not reach 
 its full proportions all at once ; and it included not only deal 
 ing in genuine borrowed for the purpose from the treasury 
 and bogus Federal securities, but Confederate bogus bonds 
 also. These bonds were to be, as far as practicable, put upon 
 the English market, at the best rates that could be gotten for 
 them, and our that is, the Confederate share of the pro 
 ceeds was to go into a general fund, to be used for advancing 
 the interests of the cause. As for the Britishers, we consid 
 ered them fair game, when selling them either kind of bogus 
 securities, for we regarded their conduct as- treacherous to 
 both parties in the great contest, and thought that they 
 might as well be made to pay some of the expenses of con 
 ducting it. 
 
 From first to last the British government had deluded the 
 people of the Confederacy with false hopes of recognition and 
 interference ; and, as at the time of which I am writing, it 
 was becoming daily more apparent that it did not propose to 
 interfere unless it could do so without risking anything, the 
 feeling against it, especially among the Confederates at the 
 North and in Canada, who were constantly in correspondence 
 
A LIVELY TRADE IN BOGUS SECURITIES. 475 
 
 with agents in England and on the continent, was getting to 
 be very bitter. 
 
 It was determined, therefore, to go for Johnny Bull's pocket, 
 and a lively trade in bogus Confederate and Federal securi 
 ties was started and kept up for a considerable time, which, 
 among other things, involved my making a trip to London, at 
 a very critical time, as the reader will learn anon. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 COUNTERFEITING AND BOGUS BOND SPECULATIONS. 
 
 Introduction to an Official of the Printing Bureau of the Treasury De 
 partment. The Chief of the Treasury Ring. I am referred by him 
 to another Person in the Bureau, who arranges for a private Interview 
 with me under a Cedar Tree in the Smithsonian Grounds. The Influ 
 ence of certain Rascals in the Treasury Department with Secretary 
 Chase and other high Officials. The Scandals about the Women Em 
 ployees in the Department. Baker's Investigation baffled. The Case 
 of Dr. Gwynn. The Conference under the Cedar Tree. A grand 
 Scheme for speculating with Government Funds. I obtain Possession 
 of an Electrotype Fac-Simile pf a One-Hundred Dollar Compound In 
 terest Plate. A Package of Money left Tor me under the Cedar Tree. 
 Speculation in bogus Confederate and Federal Notes and Bonds. 
 How the Thing was managed. Increase of illicit Speculation as the 
 War progressed. Bankers, Brokers, and other Men of high Reputa 
 tion implicated in it. Counterfeiting, to a practically unlimited Extent, 
 carried on with the Aid of Electrotypes furnished from the Treasury 
 Department. Advantages taken by the Confederate Agent of the gen 
 eral Demoralization. 
 
 HE day after receiving the note to 
 which reference has been made in 
 j ,, i L: the preceding chapter, I took it to 
 
 AlBf/W \1 ' *ke P erson in the printer's bureau, 
 
 to whom it was addressed. This in 
 dividual did not appear to be the 
 least surprised to see me, and it was 
 evident that he had been apprised 
 of the fact that I intended to make 
 him a visit, and what the visit would 
 be for. 
 
 He proceeded to business at once, 
 when he had read the note, by re 
 questing me to call the next day at 
 his office, when, he said, the matter 
 would be arranged to my satisfaction. He was not disposed 
 to be talkative about the situation ; and, as I found out shortly 
 
 476 
 
THE HEAD OF THE TREASURY RING. 477 
 
 afterwards, certain persons under him in the bureau were the 
 active agents in the swindling transactions that were going 
 on, his plan being to avoid, as far as practicable, any palpable 
 participation in them. 
 
 This man, however, was at the head of the ring, and was 
 responsible for all the rascalities that occurred in connection 
 with the important bureau with which he was connected. 
 Without his knowledge and consent, the things I am about to 
 relate could never have happened. What the nature of his 
 influence with the secretary of the treasury and with prom 
 inent members of Congress was, I cannot undertake to say. 
 It was, however, sufficient, not only to screen him from pun 
 ishment, but even to secure his retention in office after his 
 misdeeds had been exposed. 
 
 GROSS IMMORALITIES IN THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The abstraction of currency and bonds for speculative pur 
 poses, and the permitting electrotypes of the plates used for 
 printing bonds and currency, to be taken and disposed of to 
 outside parties, for the purpose of enabling them to print 
 bogus issues, were not his only offences. He and another 
 official, who occupied a very prominent and responsible posi 
 tion in the treasury department, had several abandoned wo 
 men employed under them, at large salaries, and with whom 
 they were in the habit of carousing in their offices at mid 
 night. Indeed, so shameless and abandoned were both the 
 men and the women, that their doings became a public scan 
 dal, and did much to bring about an exposure of their official 
 misdeeds. 
 
 Before I knew anything of these matters, Colonel Baker 
 pointed out these women to me as the pets of these two men, 
 and told me about their introducing them into the treasury 
 building, and taking them to the Canterbury saloon in male 
 attire. This was some time before Baker commenced the in 
 vestigations which created such a sensation by revealing to 
 the public the vice and corruption that ruled in the treasury 
 department. Baker then said he was certain that villanies 
 of no ordinary character were going on, and that he proposed 
 some day to try and find out what they were. 
 
 The fact that Baker had his eye on these officials, and others 
 whom I knew were guilty of transactions, that, if the laws 
 were properly administered, would consign them to the pen- 
 
478 THE ARREST OF DR. GWYNN. 
 
 itentiary, induced me to conclude that I had best have noth 
 ing to do with them ; and, accordingly, I severed my business 
 relations with the printing bureau, after giving those interested 
 a hint to beware of the colonel. 
 
 This hint was disregarded, for the reason that the scamps 
 knew that he could not commence an investigation into the 
 affairs of the treasury department without the consent of 
 Secretary Chase, and this consent, for reasons which to them 
 were good and sufficient, they did not believe would ever be 
 given. 
 
 BAKER REQUESTED BY MR. CHASE TO COMMENCE AN 
 INVESTIGATION. 
 
 It so happened, however, that Mr. Chase, of his own motion, 
 called Baker in to assist him in discovering some suspected 
 wrong-doing in the department, and that individual, having 
 then obtained the requisite authority, immediately went to 
 work with even more than his accustomed zeal to find out 
 what was wrong in the printing bureau. 
 
 Baker, however, was either somewhat obtuse, or else the 
 person to whom I have alluded as at the head of the ring, and 
 his confederates, were successful in getting him on the wrong 
 track, for the first man he laid his hands on was Dr. Stewart 
 Gwynn. This old gentleman was an eccentric inventor, who 
 had a lot of queer, original ideas about proper methods of 
 printing the currency and bonds. Mr. Chase believed that he 
 was a great genius, and it is possible he may have been. I 
 regarded him, however, as a mere catspaw for the others, and 
 have never thought that he was guilty of any intentional 
 wrong doing. 
 
 Dr. Gwynn was arrested by Baker, and was lodged for a 
 number of months in the old capitol prison. Nothing criminal, 
 however, was proved against him, although it was shown very 
 conclusively that some of his schemes were not very profit 
 able to the government. Much sympathy was felt for this old 
 man ; and I, among others, went to Mr. Chase to beg for his 
 release. 
 
 I had quite a long talk with Mr. Chase on this occasion, and 
 he was very emphatic in stating that the method in vogue in 
 the treasury department for printing notes and bonds was an 
 effectual check on counterfeiting. I, of course, knew very 
 well what a serious delusion he was laboring under, and it 
 
BAKER BLUFFED OFF. 479 
 
 would have given me great pleasure to have undeceived him, 
 could I have done so with safety to myself and those with 
 whom I was associated. 
 
 Having captured Dr. Gwynn, Baker next made an expose* 
 of the conduct of the other treasury official whom I have 
 mentioned, and certain female employees of the department, 
 but he did not get at the facts with regard to the bogus plates, 
 and other matters of equal importance, until a considerable 
 time after. Indeed, I am not sure that it was his investiga 
 tion that brought the worst practices of the printing bureau 
 to light, but think that some one else had a hand in making 
 that revelation. 
 
 BAKER DISGUSTED. 
 
 It is probable that the manner in which he was treated by 
 those who should have supported him, after proving how the 
 two men mentioned were conducting themselves with the 
 female employees, may have disgusted him with the whole 
 business, and discouraged him from prosecuting his investi 
 gations any further. The expos6 with regard to the women 
 created a great excitement when it got into the newspapers ; 
 but the implicated treasury officials had sufficient influence to 
 brave public opinion, and to retain their positions in spite of 
 the clamor for their removal that was raised. Indeed, so great 
 was the prejudice against Colonel Baker, in certain quarters, 
 that, I have no doubt, many very good people actually believed 
 the parties accused by him were innocent, and were the vic 
 tims of a conspiracy. 
 
 Besides this, the public attention at that period was tolera 
 bly well occupied with war matters ; and Baker, having been 
 bluffed off, the scandal was forgotten in a short time. Baker, 
 however, was very sore over the treatment he received from 
 Mr. Chase, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Garfield, and others; and was 
 especially indignant that the rogues -who were robbing the 
 people should not only be permitted to go unpunished, but 
 should be actually protected in their villanies by their official 
 superiors. 
 
 With these matters, however, I had nothing to do, having 
 discontinued my operations in connection with the treasury 
 before Colonel Baker commenced to examine into the gross 
 mismanagement of affairs in that important department. 
 
 In accordance with my agreement with the printing bureau 
 official, I called at his office at the appointed hour, and was 
 
480 PUNCTUALITY THE ROAD TO WEALTH. 
 
 referred by him to one of his subordinates. With this man I 
 made an arrangement for a conference under a certain cedar 
 tree in the eastern part of the Smithsonian Institution grounds, 
 at nine o'clock in the evening. 
 
 This man and his father were printers in the bureau, and 
 were confederates in the dishonest practices that were going 
 on, by which the government was defrauded of immense sums, 
 and by which immense quantities of bogus notes and bonds 
 were foisted on the public. One of these men had a mistress, 
 who was employed to do some work about the printing presses. 
 This woman conveyed the electrotype duplicates of the plates 
 to parties outside, and performed other services of a similar 
 character, for which she was paid handsomely. 
 
 A SECRET CONFERENCE UNDER A CEDAR TREE. 
 
 Some time before the appointed hour I strolled into the 
 grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, and after finding the 
 cedar tree, hid myself in some bushes near by, not being at 
 all certain that some trick would not be played upon me ; for 
 it occurred to me that perhaps these people might not fancy 
 my having anything to do with the matters we were negotiat 
 ing about, and would take a notion to have me put out of the 
 way in some manner. 
 
 My apprehensions, however, were groundless, for I had 
 approached them in such a manner that they were compelled 
 to trust me, whether they wanted to or not ; and their only 
 idea was, with the assistance of myself and associates, to make 
 the grandest haul on the treasury that had ever yet been at 
 tempted. 
 
 Ere a great while I heard footsteps approaching, and pres 
 ently some one coughed in a significant manner, which I inter 
 preted as a .signal for me. I accordingly looked out from my 
 hiding-place, and saw the man I was expecting. Having as 
 sured myself that he was alone, I went up to him, and said, 
 " Good evening." 
 
 " You are here, are you ? " said he. 
 
 " Yes, I am always punctual on business ; punctuality is the 
 road to wealth." 
 
 We then sat down together on the grass to arrange our 
 plans. 
 
 The scheme I had to propose was quite a modest one, all 
 things taken into consideration. It was, that I, as receiver 
 
THE BIGGEST THING YET. 481 
 
 and bearer for certain other parties, should be given electro 
 type duplicates of bond and currency plates, such as we had 
 information were manufactured by certain parties in the treas 
 ury department. For them we would either pay so much, or 
 would share the profits. 
 
 My new acquaintance, however, was in favor of going into 
 business on quite a grand scale. He suggested, in rather in 
 definite terms, that he had a scheme for bleeding the treasury, 
 which would, if proper management was used, be an even 
 more expeditious and safer method of making money than by 
 issuing bogus paper ; but he seemed to be a little hesitating 
 about confiding all the details to me. 
 
 I therefore said, after we had talked for some time without 
 coming to any conclusion, " Well, sir, what are your plans ? I 
 have no notion of rendering myself liable to imprisonment for 
 the plans of another person, unless I know all about them, and 
 understand exactly what risks I run, and what I am likely to 
 gain. If it were not for the sake of a great object I have in 
 view, I would not engage in this business on any terms, and 
 would not risk my life and reputation as I am and have been 
 doing." 
 
 "What is your object?" 
 
 " That is a personal secret, and it has nothing to do 
 with any one individual." 
 
 A WAY TO GET RICH. 
 
 " Well," said he, " this plan of mine is the biggest thing- 
 that has ever been tried on yet, and I am certain we can man 
 age it, if we only go to work in the right way. I have facil 
 ities for carrying on an affair of this kind such as are possessed 
 by no other man in Washington ; I know all the men in every 
 department, and know exactly who can and who cannot be 
 trusted. I am acquainted with every private entrance to the 
 public buildings in this city, and am familiar with a great part 
 of the rascality that is going 011 every day and every night." 
 
 " If that is so, you certainly have advantages, and if your 
 scheme is a practicable one, I will take it into consideration." 
 
 He then went on to tell me how he proposed using govern 
 ment money and bonds, which were to be taken from the 
 treasury for certain speculative purposes, and also- for float 
 ing bogus bonds, both Federal and Confederate, upon the 
 English market. He was to manage the matter in the 
 31 
 
482 A BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 treasury department, I was to act as go-between, and certain 
 brokers and others in Philadelphia and New York were to 
 attend to the outside business. 
 
 When he had fully explained himself, I said, " I am almost 
 afraid to undertake such an enterprise. It will be no small 
 matter to carry on such operations as you propose without de 
 tection. Don't you think you are trying to do too much ? " 
 
 " I know that we will be operating on a rather large scale, 
 but if we go about the matter in the right way there need be 
 no serious danger. We can begin on a moderate basis, and 
 extend our business as we go on, replacing the borrowed 
 money in the treasury as it comes back to us. I and my two 
 friends will be -responsible for procuring the capital, if you 
 will consent to be the bearer between here and Philadelphia 
 and New York." 
 
 " 0, sir, you must not let me be known to any third party 
 in an affair of this kind. If you will deliver to me the money 
 in person, or cause it to be placed where I can get it without 
 danger of being detected, I will undertake the job." 
 
 " Well, that is all right. I will arrange everything for you, 
 so that you will be in no danger. I want this to bring in some 
 thing handsome, for I am anxious to get out of Washington, 
 and so soon as I can make enough money I intend to go South. 
 My feelings have always been with the Southern people ; and 
 I consider that they have been the victims of unnumbered 
 outrages." 
 
 " Why, ain't you afraid to talk in that manner, you a gov 
 ernment employee ? Don't you know that I am for the 
 Union?" 
 
 " So am I," said he ; " but, for all I can make out, the Union 
 is a great big hobby-horse for speculations, and as other 
 people are making money out of it, I don't see why I might 
 not." 
 
 AN ELECTROTYPE PLATE BARGAINED FOR. 
 
 I then returned to what had been my chief object in meet 
 ing him, by telling him that I wanted one of those electro 
 type plates. He seemed to be rather disinclined to accom 
 modate me in this matter at first ; but as I was persistent, he 
 finally consented, and we parted, with the understanding that 
 we were not to meet again until I was ready to report the 
 result of our operations, and hand him his share of the 
 profits. 
 
FINANCIAL OPERATIONS. 483 
 
 The next day a plate was delivered to me at the Kirkwood 
 House, which I immediately put under lock and key in my 
 trunk. Subsequently I received a note, informing me that I 
 would find a package under the cedar tree in the Smithsonian 
 grounds, and that I had better go and get it as soon after dark 
 as possible, for fear some of the workmen might pick it up. 
 
 The package, which, on examination, was found to contain 
 fifty-five thousand dollars' worth of government paper, was 
 waiting for me, covered with loose leaves to screen it from 
 any casual passer-by, when 1 visited the designated spot. 
 
 Securing my booty, I returned to the hotel, rang the bell 
 for my bill, and started for Philadelphia with all possible 
 expedition. 
 
 The plate which I had in my trunk was for one hundred 
 dollars' compound interest notes. Not very long after, I and 
 my associates obtained another one for printing fractional 
 currency. 
 
 On reaching Philadelphia, I commenced operations imme 
 diately in connection with certain brokers and others, and 
 bought a large amount of bogus Confederate bonds. Having 
 obtained these, I went to New York, where I took rooms in a 
 private house on Greenwich Street, deeming a hotel rather 
 too conspicuous; and communicating with my associates there, 
 we went to work with energy to turn the money belonging to 
 Uncle Sam, in our possession, over and over as rapidly as we 
 could, making it pay us a handsome profit at each turn. 
 
 A LIVELY TRADE IN BOGUS SECURITIES. 
 
 Some of this cash was put into the bounty and substitute 
 brokerage business, but a large part of it was invested in 
 bogus Confederate and other securities, which were sold to 
 brokers for the English market. One private banker took 
 sixty-two thousand dollars' worth, and another twenty-one 
 thousand dollars' worth, while smaller amounts were scattered 
 about in various directions, we receiving English exchange 
 and gold at market rates, which we turned into greenbacks. 
 
 This business finally grew to such an extent, that it was 
 found to be convenient to communicate with London direct. 
 Correspondence was therefore established with a banking- 
 house on Regent Street, and until the close of the war a lively 
 traffic in real and bogus Federal and Confederate securities 
 was maintained. 
 
484 THE TREASURY INVESTIGATION. 
 
 After we had been operating six days with the money 
 obtained from the treasury, I telegraphed to my confederate 
 in Washington, stating how much had already been made, and 
 asking whether I should keep on. The reply was, to give 
 myself plenty of time, and to keep the thing going for ten 
 days longer, and then close out, and return to Washington 
 in time for the monthly reports to be made out. At the 
 end of the ten days there was but five thousand dollars' 
 worth of Confederate bonds remaining on our hands undis 
 posed of. 
 
 I posted to Washington, and having notified my confed 
 erate there when he might expect me, he met me in the Cap 
 itol grounds, and I gave him a statement of the account 
 between us as it then stood, turning over to him the borrowed 
 money, and half of the profits of the speculations that had been 
 carried on with it. He informed me that I was just in the 
 nick of time, as the reports had not yet been made out, but 
 they were about being, and he was beginning to get the least 
 bit uneasy concerning me. 
 
 I continued to take an active part in such transactions as 
 these for several months, travelling to and fro between Wash 
 ington, Philadelphia, and New York, and often having about 
 me immense sums of money. At length, however, I became 
 afraid to risk it any longer, as Colonel Baker had commenced 
 his investigations in the treasury department, and accordingly 
 went out of the business of money-making for the time being. 
 I did the fair thing by the treasury people in giving them a 
 hint with regard to Baker, and then made haste to get out of 
 the way until the storm should blow over. 
 
 As things turned out, it was not, by any means, as much of 
 a storm as I expected it to be. Baker failed to strike the 
 right trail, and the revelations which he made, while suffi 
 ciently scandalous, were with regard to matters of very sec 
 ondary importance, and he dallied so much with these that 
 the scamps were able to get ready for him. 
 
 This treasury investigation did not do very much credit to 
 anybody concerned in it. Baker blundered badly, and failed 
 to get the main facts, which he could and should have gotten. 
 He, however, succeeded in proving in a most positive manner 
 that the moral characters of certain prominent officials were 
 about as bad as they could be, and that they were in every 
 way improper persons to hold the important positions they 
 did. Despite the disgraceful disclosures that were made 
 
THE EOGUES PROTECTED. 485 
 
 with regard to them, however, these men were able to secure 
 the support of those whose duty it was to have brought 
 them to punishment, and they were retained in office in spite 
 of Baker, and in defiance of public opinion. 
 
 WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED. 
 
 Now, suppose that Mr. Chase, and Mr. Jordan, and Mr. 
 Garfield, and the others who shielded the guilty parties, and 
 who endeavored to represent Baker as a conspirator, had, by 
 any meaas, found out who I was, and what I had been doing 
 in connection with the treasury? What a perfect godsend 
 a discovery of my transactions would have been ! The whole 
 party would have turned upon the rebel secret-service agent 
 with a ferocity that would have been intensified by the fact of 
 her being a woman ; and any amount of patriotic indignation 
 would have been poured upon my head. Hanging, in the 
 opinion of these honorable gentlemen, would have been too 
 good for me ; and there is no knowing how many votes they 
 would have gained by denouncing me as a fiend in human 
 shape. The fact that I was a Confederate secret-service agent, 
 and was doing what I did to advance the interests of the 
 cause to which my allegiance was given, would only have 
 made matters ten times worse for me had my performances 
 been found out. 
 
 Luckily, however, I was smart enough to take proper pre 
 cautions before putting myself in danger, and when I clearly 
 saw trouble ahead quietly got out of the way. It was not 
 the woman who was working for the Confederacy, and who 
 was under obligations to do those whom she regarded as her 
 enemies and the enemies of her cause all the injury in her 
 power, who fell into Baker's hands, but certain high Federal 
 officials, who were under oath, and who were intrusted with 
 some of the most responsible duties that could possibly be 
 intrusted to any men. These people were under obligations 
 of fidelity to the trusts confided to them,which they could not 
 thrust aside without making themselves morally and legally 
 liable to the severest condemnation. In spite of this, how 
 ever, and in spite of the facts that they were guilty of trans 
 actions which deserved punishment, and that ample proofs 
 of their unfitness for the positions they held were produced, 
 they found ardent and efficient supporters in men of the high 
 est stations, who, day after day were denouncing the rebel- 
 
486 AS GOOD AS THE GENUINE. 
 
 lion as the sum of all villanies, and who aimed at making the 
 public believe that the) 7 were the most patriotic of citizens. 
 
 The why and wherefore of all this I do not pretend to 
 understand, and can only congratulate myself on the fact that 
 I was lucky enough to avoid being made a scapegoat of. I 
 well knew the risks I incurred when I consented to become 
 a party to the transactions I have recorded ; but, had I been 
 captured and made to suffer, while my confederates were 
 enjoying the protection of some of the chief officers of the 
 government, I would scarcely have thought that justice was 
 being administered with exactly an even hand. As, however, 
 I was not captured, I presume that I have no cause to com 
 plain because other people were not punished as they should 
 have been ; only, it seems to me to be a queer way of man 
 aging the treasury department of a great nation to permit 
 such men as those I have referred to to hold the positions 
 they did, in the face of such facts as were brought to light 
 concerning them, and -to treat the detective officers who 
 expose their misdeeds as the really guilty party. 
 
 COUNTERFEITING GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. 
 
 In the matter of notes and bonds printed from the duplicate 
 plates obtained from the treasury, an immense business was 
 done both in this country and in England. The person to 
 whom I gave the first plate delivered to me printed eighty- 
 five thousand dollars' worth of one hundred dollar compound 
 interest notes from it. These were, so far as appearances 
 were concerned, just as good as the genuine ones issued from 
 the treasury department. Of this batch, twenty-five thousand 
 dollars' worth were sent to England, and we received ex 
 change for them. The rest were disposed of to the banks, and 
 through various channels. 
 
 The bankers and brokers, both here and in England, took 
 these bogus notes and bonds without any hesitation whatever, 
 as indeed there was every reason they should for there was 
 nothing to distinguish them from the genuine ones that could 
 avail for their detection by ordinary purchasers. 
 
 It is impossible for me to give any idea of the enormous 
 amount of this kind of counterfeiting that was done without 
 apparently any serious effort being made on the part of the 
 Federal government to check it. I and my associates had the 
 handling of bogus paper representing immense sums, which 
 
GENERAL DEMORALIZATION. 487 
 
 we disposed of advantageously ; but the amounts that passed 
 through our hands only represented a very small propor 
 tion of what was issued during the war. 
 
 The headquarters of the dealers in bogus currency and secu 
 rities were chiefly in Wall and Fulton Streets, although a 
 number of these swindlers were located on Broadway. With 
 each succeeding month, during the continuance of the war, the 
 spirit of speculation seemed to increase, and men became more 
 and more eager to make money, and less particular how they 
 made it. It was not always obscure men and insignificant 
 banking concerns that were wittingly engaged in this traffic 
 in unlawful paper, but there were plenty who stood high in the 
 esteem of the public, and whose reputations for probity were 
 supposed to be unimpeachable. 
 
 As for myself and other Confederates, we took all the 
 advantage we could of the general demoralization, and not 
 only replenished our treasury, so as to be able to carry on 
 many operations that otherwise would have been impossible, 
 but worked in many ways to turn the criminal selfishness and 
 unpatriotic greed of people, with whom we were brought in 
 contact, to account, for the benefit of our cause. 
 
CHAPTER XLIL 
 BOUNTY- JUMPING. 
 
 The Bounty-jumping and Substitute-brokerage Frauds, and their Origin. 
 New York the Headquarters of the Bounty and Substitute-Brokers. 
 Prominent military Officers and Civilians implicated in the Frauds. 
 
 How newly-enlisted Men managed to escape from Governor's Island. 
 
 Castle Garden the great Resort of substitute Brokers. How the 
 poor Foreigners were entrapped by lying Promises made to them. How 
 these Frauds could have been prevented by an impartial Conscription 
 Law impartially administered. Colonel Baker arrives in New York for 
 the Purpose of commencing an Investigation. He asks me to assist 
 him, which I consent to do after warning my Associates. How Baker 
 went to work. Striking up an Acquaintance with Jim Fisk. Fisk 
 gives me Money for a charitable Object, and Railroad Passes for poor 
 Soldiers. An Oil Stock Speculation. 
 
 HE bounty -jumping and substitute -brokerage 
 frauds arose out of a contest between the ef 
 forts of the Federal government to maintain 
 the armies in the field at their maximum 
 strength, and the determination of nearly the 
 entire body of male citizens to escape military duty by 
 any means in their power. 
 
 Under the terms of the conscription law, persons 
 drafted were permitted to furnish substitutes, if they 
 could get them, and consequently the purchasing of sub 
 stitutes became an important branch of industry, in which 
 many thousands of dollars capital were invested, and in which 
 immense sums of money were made. This traffic in human 
 flesh and blood would have been bad enough had it been hon 
 estly conducted, but, from its very nature, it held out induce 
 ments for fraudulent practices which were irresistible to a 
 majority of those engaged in it. 
 
 Anything like volunteering, in a proper sense of the word, 
 had ceased long before my arrival at the North, but each lo 
 cality being anxious to avoid the conscription, made desperate 
 efforts to fill its quota of men by offering bounties, greater or 
 less in amount, to encourage enlistments. The payment of 
 
 488 
 
STUPENDOUS FRAUDS. 489 
 
 these bounties was a direct encouragement to desertion ; and, 
 as a very different class of men were tempted by them from 
 those who had enlisted, out of patriotic motives, at the out 
 break of the war, a vast number of those who pocketed these 
 premiums were very willing to go through with the same op 
 eration again, and as often as it was practicable to do so. 
 
 Bounty-jumping, or escaping from the recruiting officers, 
 and enlisting over again, was carried on, in a greater or less 
 degree, all over the country, but the headquarters of the 
 bounty -jumpers and substitute-brokers was in New York. 
 
 THE PURCHASE OF. ENLISTMENT PAPERS. 
 
 It was to New York that the agents of interior counties 
 came for the purpose of filling their quotas, and they always 
 found a horde of brokers ready to accommodate them with 
 real and bogus enlistment papers, each one of which was sup 
 posed to represent an able-bodied man, fit for military duty, 
 who had passed the mustering officers, been accepted, and was 
 then ready for service. Whether the papers were bogus or 
 genuine mattered very little to those who purchased, so long 
 as they could obtain credit on them from the authorities at 
 Washington. It would probably not be making too large an 
 estimate to put down one half of the enlistment papers sold 
 to country agents and others as forgeries, while not one 
 half of the genuine ones, no, not one fourth, represented men 
 actually ready for duty. 
 
 Of course such stupendous frauds as these could not have 
 been carried on without the criminal connivance of the officials 
 of various kinds, who were, in one way or another, connected 
 with the enlistments. There may have been some honest offi 
 cers, soldiers, and civilians connected with this service in New 
 York during the last year of the war, but I was never lucky 
 enough to meet any. So far as I could see, the whole of them, 
 commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, surgeons, 
 clerks, notaries public, and others, were intent only upon mak 
 ing all the money they could while the opportunity for making 
 it lasted. 
 
 The bounty-jumping and substituting-frauds were perpe 
 trated in such an open and barefaced manner that I could 
 not help wondering why some efforts were not made by the 
 authorities at Washington to check them. At length, however, 
 the services of Colonel Baker were called in, and he succeeded 
 
490 THE ESCAPE OF RECRUITS. 
 
 in creating quite a panic among the swindlers by the investi 
 gations which he instituted, and the large number of the arrests 
 he made. The war, however, came to an end before he suc 
 ceeded in discovering a hundredth part of the rascalities that 
 were going on, so that, practically, his investigations were of 
 very little benefit to the government. 
 
 The rates which were paid for substitutes varied from five 
 hundred to twenty-one hundred dollars. The parties with 
 whom I was associated enlisted chiefly for the army, and did 
 very little for the navy. The bulk of our profits, so fast as 
 they were made, went to Canada or England, and some of the 
 parties who received the money are to-day living in luxury 
 on it. 
 
 How THE RECRUITS ESCAPED. 
 
 The recruits, when they were enlisted, and when they 
 did not escape from the recruiting stations, as hundreds of 
 them did every day, were sent to Governor's Island. It 
 might be supposed that once there, they would have been 
 safe. They would have been, had the officers, commissioned 
 and non-commissioned, been honest. The temptations for 
 gain, however, were too great, and there was not a person 
 in authority on the island who was not pocketing hundreds of 
 dollars every week by conniving at the escape of recruits. I 
 have known some of the regular professionals jump as high as 
 sixteen bounties, walking away from Governor's Island every 
 time they were sent there with as much ease as if there was no 
 such thing as army regulations and martial law in existence. 
 
 The way this was managed was by the purchase of passes. 
 In going through the boat-house, a slip of paper, with the num 
 ber of passes on it, would be put in a book on the table, and on 
 returning, the passes would be found in the same book. The 
 money for these could either be folded in the slip, or an order 
 on the broker's office be given to the sergeant. 
 
 One application for a substitute that was made at the office 
 with which I was connected, was from a very prominent and 
 very wealthy gentleman of New York, who was willing to pay 
 as high as twenty-one hundred dollars for some one to take 
 the place of his son, who had been drafted. This old gentle 
 man was noted for his advocacy of the war, and for his bitter 
 ness in denouncing the South, and yet, when it came to letting 
 his son go and do some of the fighting, his patriotism tapered 
 down to a very fine point, and he was willing to send any 
 
IRISH AND GERMAN RECRUITS. 491 
 
 number of substitutes if necessary, but not his son ; if money 
 could purchase his exemption. He was a very fair sample of 
 the kind of patriots I was in the habit of meeting ; and I 
 could not help contrasting the whole-souled enthusiasm of the 
 Southern people with the disposition shown by so many prom 
 inent adherents of the Federal cause, to let anybody and 
 everybody who could be purchased or beguiled do their 
 fighting for them, rather than to venture within smelling dis 
 tance of gunpowder themselves. 
 
 As it was all in the way of business, however, I and my 
 partners endeavored to accommodate this old gentleman. 
 
 I knew of a couple of barbers in Brooklyn, well built, and 
 hearty young colored fellows, and I accordingly went to them, 
 and finally induced one of them to enlist as a substitute for 
 the old man's son. He came over to our office, and on being 
 enrolled, received five hundred dollars, with a promise that 
 the rest of his bounty would be handed to him by the officer 
 on the island. Privately, however, he was told how he might 
 make his escape by giving the sergeant at the gate fifty dol 
 lars, but was warned not to return to the city, or he would be 
 arrested and tried for desertion. He acted according to in 
 structions, and deserted so easily that he was tempted to try 
 it over again several times, and I believe he managed to 
 pocket several bounties without being caught. 
 
 ENLISTMENT OP EMIGRANTS. 
 
 The emigrant depot at Castle Garden, however, was the 
 great resort of the bounty and substitute brokers, some of 
 whom actually had agents in Europe, who deceived the poor 
 people there with all kinds of promises, and then shipped them, 
 to become the prey of scamps on this side of the Atlantic so 
 soon as they set foot on our shores. 
 
 All manner of inducements to enlist were held out to the 
 poor Irish and Germans at Castle Garden. They were sur 
 rounded by crowds of shouting and yelling brokers until they 
 were fairly bewildered, and found themselves enlisted before 
 they well knew what was the matter with them. To those 
 who hesitated, the most lavish promises were made ; their 
 wives and children were to be cared for ; they were to receive 
 one hundred and sixty acres of land ; money in larger sums 
 than they had ever beheld before was flaunted in their faces. 
 One fellow would shout, " Here you are, sir : come this 
 
492 FOOD FOR CONFEDERATE BULLETS. 
 
 way ; I'm your man ; I have five hundred dollars for you." 
 Another would say, " Here is five hundred dollars and a land 
 warrant ; " and another, " I have twenty-one hundred dollars 
 for you if you will come with me." 
 
 The poor devils, deafened by the clamor around them, 
 tempted by the magnificent inducements held out to them, and 
 believing that they really had at last reached the Eldorado of 
 which they had been dreaming, in the majority of cases sur 
 rendered at discretion, and were marched off to act as substi 
 tutes for able-bodied American citizens who had no fancy for 
 fighting the rebels. Every broker's office had its runners, just 
 the same as the hotels, who were posted at the emigrant sta 
 tion whenever a vessel load of human beings came into port j 
 and among them the poor foreigners, who came over here to 
 better their fortunes, had but little chance to become anything 
 but food for Confederate bullets. 
 
 On one occasion I saw a squad of Germans who had just 
 landed, and who seemed to be looking for some one. As a 
 runner approached them, their head man, who acted as inter 
 preter, drew from his pocket a letter, and asked, " Are you 
 Captain P. ? " 
 
 " I am here in his place," replied the runner. " What can 
 I do for you ? " 
 
 The German hesitated a moment, and before the runner 
 could fairly commence work with him, Captain P. made his 
 appearance from the purser's office, where he had, doubtless, 
 just been receiving intelligence of the arrival of his human 
 cargo. The runner seeing P., and knowing that his oppor 
 tunity was now gone, went off to seek for his prey elsewhere, 
 while the captain proceeded to take the party in charge with 
 small ceremony. 
 
 " Is your name P. ? " queried the leader. 
 
 " Yes, and you are ; " and without more ado, he hur 
 ried them off to a den in Greenwich Street, where they were 
 forthwith enlisted in the Federal service. 
 
 These people, like thousands of others, had been picked up 
 in Europe by agents, under all kinds of pretexts and promises, 
 and shipped for this side of the ocean just like so many cattle. 
 Captain P. considered himself as their owner, and he sold 
 them to the government exactly as he would have sold cattle, 
 if that sort of traffic had been as profitable as dealing in white 
 human beings. 
 
 On one occasion, when I was at the station, I heard a runner 
 
EVILS OF THE RECRUITING SYSTEM. 493 
 
 endeavoring to persuade a party of Irishmen to enlist, by rep 
 resenting that if they would do so, the Federal governmennt, 
 after it had got through with putting down the rebellion, 
 intended to declare war with England, and to undertake the 
 liberation of Ireland. He said that the conduct of England 
 in the Trent affair was an insult, for which redress would be 
 demanded ; but that the government, before declaring war, 
 was anxious to have as many Irishmen as possible in the 
 army, feeling assured that they would fight against their old 
 enemy with even greater ferocity than the Americans. 
 
 The Irishmen, all of whom seemed to have more or less 
 whiskey in them, became very much excited, and went off 
 with the runner to attend a meeting, which he told them was 
 being held for the purpose of taking measures for the libera 
 tion of Ireland. The place of meeting was a recruiting office, 
 and the liberation of Ireland, or any other good work, was the 
 last thing thought of by the people whom the unlucky for 
 eigners found there. 
 
 The wives of these men many of them poor, thinly-clad 
 creatures were eager for them to go, especially when they 
 heard that such large sums were being paid, cash down, for 
 bounties, and were beguiled by all sorts of promises with 
 regard to being taken care of by the government, and given 
 so many acres of land when the war was over. 
 
 The government was probably as little responsible for the 
 frauds perpetrated upon these poor, ignorant foreigners, as it 
 was for the many other rascalities that were going on. It is 
 a fact, however, that the Federal armies, during the last eigh 
 teen months of the war, and probably during a much longer 
 time, for I am referring only to matters that came under my 
 own observation, were mainly recruited from these foreign 
 ers, who had nothing to do with the quarrel between the 
 South and the North, and who were induced to become food 
 for powder under all manner of false and fraudulent pretexts. 
 
 AN INEFFICIENT SYSTEM OF RECRUITING. 
 
 The amount of money that was squandered, through the 
 system of recruiting adopted by the Federal government, 
 cannot be estimate o^ while evils far worse than the waste of 
 money were encouraged. Playing the part I was, I had 
 every reason to be satisfied with the way things were being 
 managed, but now that the war is over, 1 suppose I have the 
 
494 BAKER INTERFERES. 
 
 same right to express an opinion with regard to this as any 
 other matter of public policy. 
 
 I thought at the time, and think still, that a most unstates- 
 manlike blunder was committed in permitting conscripts to 
 furnish substitutes, and in paying bounties to encourage vol 
 untary enlistments. The results were, that the government 
 did not get the men it needed, while villanies, the demoraliz 
 ing influences of which penetrated to nearly every class of 
 society, were directly encouraged. 
 
 There should have been a rigid conscription law, under 
 which all citizens, whether rich or poor, would have been 
 treated exactly the same. The men- who were drafted, if fit 
 for service, should have been compelled to shoulder their 
 muskets and go to the front. 
 
 If there was any justice in the war at all, it was a rich 
 man's fight just as much as it was a poor man's; and when 
 the time came for deciding who should and who should not 
 take a turn on the battle-field, the chances ought to have been 
 equal, between the rich men and the poor men, of drawing 
 prizes or blanks in the lottery. 
 
 Had things been managed as I have suggested, not only 
 would impartial justice have been done, but the proportions 
 of the national debt would have been greatly curtailed, while 
 the generals in the field would have kept their ranks full, and 
 the downfall of the Confederacy would have occurred at a 
 very much earlier day than it did. 
 
 COLONEL BAKER UNDERTAKES TO INVESTIGATE THE FRAUDS. 
 
 During the whole time that I was interested in this bounty- 
 jumping and substitute-brokerage business, it was a matter 
 of constant surprise to me that some effort was not being 
 made by the government to put a stop to the outrageous 
 frauds that were being committed in the most open manner 
 every day. 
 
 The matter finally was taken in hand by Colonel Baker, 
 who came on to New York, and located himself at the Astor 
 House, for the purpose of instituting an investigation. He 
 kept himself very quiet, and endeavored to prevent those 
 against whom he was operating from knowing that he was in 
 the city until he was ready to deal with them. It was neces 
 sary that he should have some assistance, however, in order 
 to begin right ; and, by that peculiar good fortune by which I 
 
A FRIENDLY CHAT WITH. BAKER. 495 
 
 was attended, during most of my career as a soldier and secret- 
 service agent, something prompted him to send for me, to see 
 whether I would not undertake to find out certain things for 
 him which he was anxious to know, but which he was afraid 
 to trust either himself, or any of the male members of his 
 force to look into, lest they should be identified, and the alarm 
 be given. 
 
 When I received a " strictly private and confidential " note 
 from Colonel Baker, requesting me to call on him at seven 
 o'clock, on a certain evening, at the Astor House, I scarcely 
 knew what to make of it ; and, fearful that something against 
 me had been discovered, I was in considerable doubt as to 
 whether to respond or not. My previous experience with 
 Baker, however, had taught me that, in dealing with him, the 
 bold way was much the best way ; and so, after turning the 
 subject over in my mind, I concluded to see him at the hour 
 mentioned, for the purpose of finding out what it was he 
 wanted of me. 
 
 BAKER ASKS ME TO HELP HIM. 
 
 I accordingly went to the Astor House, and sent up my 
 name. The colonel met me in the parlor, and, as he seated 
 himself beside me, he said, with a smile, " Now tell me, my 
 good woman, what have you been doing with yourself?" 
 
 This might be a merely friendly greeting, and it might be 
 just the opposite ; but, although I almost feared that my time 
 was come, I was determined not to give him a chance to sus 
 pect me by my words or manner. So I said, " 0, 1 have been 
 visiting my relations." 
 
 " I received your letter," continued the colonel, " but I have 
 been a little surprised at not seeing you in Washington since 
 your return from the West." 
 
 " I didn't go to Washington, because I really didn't care to 
 see you. The fact is, I made such a bad failure in what I 
 undertook to do on that trip, that I was ashamed of myself." 
 
 Baker, however, took a good-natured view of what he was 
 pleased to call my bad luck, and went on to tell me what his 
 errand in New York was, and to ask me to aid him in certain 
 matters that he mentioned. 
 
 I professed to know little or nothing about the bounty and 
 substitute frauds, but, after discussing the subject pretty 
 thoroughly with him, consented to try and find out what he 
 
496 OTHER ENTERPRISES. 
 
 wanted, and to sound certain people for him, in order to ascer 
 tain whether they were willing to aid him in carrying on his 
 investigations. 
 
 The first thing I did after parting with Baker was to warn 
 my associates, so that they might close out before it was too 
 late to do so on advantageous terms. What became of the 
 others in the business I did not care, and was rather glad 
 than otherwise to have an opportunity of putting Baker on 
 their track. 
 
 In a couple of days I furnished the colonel with the infor 
 mation he wanted, and, before a great while, the whole 
 bounty-jumping fraternity were thrown into consternation by 
 his raid upon them. 
 
 Baker at first represented himself as the agent of an inte 
 rior county, and in that capacity he bought up a large num 
 ber of forged enlistment papers, and became acquainted with 
 the men who had them for sale, and with the manner of pre 
 paring them. He also disguised himself in various ways, and 
 jumped several bounties in the course of one day. One of 
 his men was enlisted, sent over to Governor's Island, bought 
 off, enlisted again, and bought off again, for the purpose of 
 demonstrating how the thing could be done. Finally, when he 
 understood the whole business, he laid his plans, and made an 
 immense number of arrests ; but before he had more than 
 fairly gotten under way with his work the assassination of 
 Mr. Lincoln occurred, and he was recalled to Washington, to 
 take a part in the search that was being made for Booth and 
 his companions.' 
 
 During the time I was engaged in the bounty and sub 
 stitute brokerage business, I was interested, in a greater or 
 less degree, in several other enterprises, and went on several 
 expeditions, the particulars of the most important of which 
 will be related in subsequent chapters. My circle of ac 
 quaintance among the better class of people was large, and I 
 took great pains to keep on the best terms with ladies and 
 gentlemen of influence who were known to be ardent sup 
 porters of the Federal cause. 
 
 In conjunction with some other ladies, I at one time started 
 on a begging expedition, and after canvassing a large part of 
 Brooklyn, I went up to Albany. I collected, in all, seventeen 
 hundred dollars, half of which I gave to the Soldiers' Aid 
 Society, and the other half to the Southern Relief Fund, in 
 which I had a more particular interest. 
 
JlM FISK. 497 
 
 Among the noted characters whose acquaintance I made at 
 this period was Jim Fisk. I had heard a great deal about 
 him, and had a strong desire to see him. Hearing that he 
 was to dine with certain parties at Delmonico's, I hired a 
 handsome turnout, and, dressing myself very elegantly, went 
 there with a couple of friends. 
 
 On entering the dining-hall, I inquired of the waiter whether 
 Mr. Fisk was in the room. He replied that he had just come 
 in, and pointed him out to me. I went, with my friends, to 
 the table next to his, for I was anxious to have a good look at 
 him, arid to hear him talk. 
 
 Fisk was one of the finest looking men I ever saw. He 
 had a very handsome head, and a large, noble eye, and he 
 was as pleasant and affable in his manners as he was attractive 
 in his personal appearance. I was greatly taken with him at 
 first sight, and became inspired with a very ardent desire to 
 make his acquaintance. 
 
 He glanced over at my little party with a smile, as much as 
 to say, " 1 wonder who you are ! " We were ready to leave 
 before he was, but I said to my friends, " Let us wait a little ; 
 I am expecting some one j " my object being to find an oppor 
 tunity to exchange words with Fisk. At length I saw that he 
 was through his dinner, and so said, " I do not believe my 
 friend is coming ; perhaps we had better not wait any longer." 
 We then walked slowly towards the door, and I lingered as 
 long as I could at the cashier's desk, paying for my dinner. 
 Fisk passed by me, and as I and my companions went out, he 
 was standing in the door-way, conversing with some one. 
 When stepping into the carriage, I purposely dropped my 
 handkerchief, and had the satisfaction of seeing him cume for 
 ward and pick it up. He handed it to me with a smile, and 
 made a very courteous bow in return for my rather profuse 
 expressions of thanks. 
 
 Fisk afterwards recognized me a number of times when I 
 met him driving in the Park, and twice, when I went to see 
 him on business, he complied with my requests without the 
 least hesitation. One of my interviews with him was when I 
 was on a begging expedition for the Soldiers' Aid Society. 
 He gave me three hundred dollars, of which I gave twenty- 
 five dollars to the society, and the balance to the Southern 
 Relief Fund. My second call was to ask for a pass for some 
 poor soldiers. He granted it immediately, without asking 
 any questions, and did not have any idea that the soldiers 
 32 
 
498 A PURCHASE OF OIL STOCK. 
 
 were escaped Confederate prisoners, who were trying to get 
 through to Canada. 
 
 Fisk may have been profligate in his life, and, from a cer 
 tain standpoint, may have been a bad man. He had some 
 truly noble qualities, however, and it is no wonder that he 
 had so many warm personal friends. . 
 
 Among the other incidents of this period, a little speculation 
 in oil stock is worthy of a brief mention. While on a visit to 
 Philadelphia I met an oil man, who, after a good deal of talk, 
 finally induced me to take a small interest in his company. I 
 learned, however, from one -of my Confederate friends, very 
 shortly after, that the thing was a fraud, and sold out, fortu 
 nately, at a profit. 
 
BUSHROD R. JOHNSTON. 
 
 GIDEON J. PILLOW, 
 
 THOMAS C. HINDMAN 
 

 CHAPTER XLIIL 
 
 THE SURRENDER OF LEE. 
 
 Another Expedition to the West. Hiring out as a House Servant. A 
 Termagant Mistress-. Obtaining a Situation in a Copperhead Family. 
 
 Introduction to Confederate Sympathizers. A Contribution to the 
 Fund for the Relief of Confederate Prisoners. I go to Canada, and 
 from there to New York, with Orders for various Confederate Agents. 
 
 Sherman's March through the Carolinas. I am induced to go to 
 London on a financial Mission. Unsatisfactory News received, and I 
 hasten Home. The News of Lee's Surrender brought on board the 
 Steamer by the Pilot. Excitement in Wall Street. A Settlement 
 with my Partner, and the Last of my secret Banking. 
 
 k 
 
 MAKE no pretence of relating in detail my 
 movements while acting as a Confederate secret- 
 service agent at the North, as such a course 
 would but increase the bulk of this volume with 
 out adding to its interest, and would be apt' to 
 weary, rather than entertain the reader. I was com 
 ing and going constantly, my principal line of travel 
 being between New York and Washington, although I 
 made a number of trips to Canada, and to various 
 points in the States. While conducting the operations 
 which have just been narrated, I was, also, as will readily be 
 understood, transacting business of a varied nature on account 
 of the Confederacy, and sometimes was kept very steadily on 
 the road. A narration of my movements just previous to the 
 close of the war will give a sufficient notion of the kind of 
 work I was engaged in, and will serve to complete the story 
 of this portion of my career. 
 
 Shortly after my interview with Colonel Baker at the Astor 
 House, and my consequent withdrawal from all connection 
 with the bounty and substitute brokerage business, I was 
 requested to make a journey to the West, for the purpose of 
 procuring some information which my associates deemed of 
 importance. 
 
 A number of the Confederate agents were maturing another 
 
 499 
 
500 A NEW LINE OF BUSINESS. 
 
 grand scheme for the release of the prisoners, and, I think, 
 had some idea of organizing them into an army;, for the pur 
 pose of an attack in the Federal rear. 
 
 The Johnson's Island failure had so completely discouraged 
 me, that I had no faith in any schemes of this kind, although 
 my profound sympathy for the poor prisoners induced me to 
 attempt anything in my power in their behalf. I thought 
 that, even if I could not procure their release, I at least 
 might do something to aid them, and to promote their comfort. 
 I therefore accepted the mission confided to me without 
 hesitation, and once more turned my face westward. 
 
 My first stopping- place was Dayton, Ohio. There, in accord 
 ance with my understanding with those who had sent me, I 
 dressed myself as a poor girl, and began to look for a situa 
 tion to do housework. I was rather a novice at this business, 
 but thought that I was not too old to learn, and had the 
 satisfaction of knowing that in case I and my employers did 
 not get on agreeably together, there was no particular 
 necessity for my remaining a moment longer than suited my 
 own convenience. 
 
 ONE WAY OF GETTING INFORMATION. 
 
 v 
 
 I was not very long in obtaining a situation in a family of 
 Union proclivities, and by a few well-directed inquiries, and 
 by listening to the conversation . that was going on, in the 
 family, I discovered that there were a number of " Copper 
 heads " in the city, and learned the names of some of the 
 most prominent of them. I also picked up much other useful 
 information that might otherwise have been unattainable. 
 
 Before I had been in the house three days, the bad temper 
 of its mistress got the better of me, and, concluding that it 
 would be impossible for me to endure her insolence any longer 
 without unpleasant consequences to both of us, I resolved 
 to leave. 
 
 This woman had a vile temper, and it seemed to me that 
 she did nothing but scold and find fault from morning till night. 
 As her treatment of me was undoubtedly exactly what she 
 accorded to every young woman she took into her employ, I 
 wondered how she ever managed to keep a servant. I am 
 sure that had I been under the necessity of earning my bread 
 and butter by doing housework I never could have endured 
 such a termagant, and I felt sentiments of sincerest pity for 
 
A QUARREL. 501 
 
 poor girls who are compelled to put up with the insolence 
 and bad tempers of people of this kind. 
 
 Having made up my mind to leave, I commenced looking 
 about me for another situation, arid very speedily found one 
 to my liking in a Copperhead family. 
 
 My arrangements *being made, the next time the madam 
 undertook to be saucy to me, I answered her in her own 
 fashion, and in a few moments we were engaged in a furious 
 quarrel, which I doubt not would have appeared amusing 
 enough, and ridiculous enough, to any impartial looker-on. 
 Finally I said, with all the dignity I could command, " Madam, 
 I will leave your house this instant, for you shall never have 
 the satisfaction of saying that you discharged a Cuban from 
 your employ." 
 
 " Why, are you a Cuban ? " she said, calming down some 
 what. 
 
 I then began to speak Spanish to her, and at this unexpect 
 ed development she put on the most puzzled expression im 
 aginable. 
 
 Without paying any more attention to her I went out, and 
 engaging a man to take my trunk, began to prepare for my 
 departure. When my trunk, with the Cuban express card on 
 it, came down stairs, I pointed it out to her, and she opened 
 her eyes considerably. She now began to be a trifle more 
 gracious in her manner, and making a rather awkward apology 
 for her behavior, saying, that she did not mean anything, and 
 that I must not mind her being a little hasty tempered, and 
 requested me to reconsider my determination to leave. , 
 
 I told her that there was no use saying anything on that 
 point, as I had already made an engagement elsewhere. She 
 inquired where ; and I said, with so and so, around the corner, 
 mentioning the names of the persons. 
 
 " Why," said she, opening her eyes, and throwing up her 
 hands in horror, " you are not surely going with them ! Don't 
 you know that they are rebels? " 
 
 " Well, suppose they are ; they are as good as other people, 
 if they behave themselves. We have plenty of rebels in 
 Cuba." 
 
 Seeing that it was impossible to restrain me from going, she 
 offered to pay me for the time I had been in her employ ; but, 
 with a rather contemptuous wave of my hand, I told her she 
 might keep it, or, if she wished, give it to some charitable 
 object, as I was not in need of it ; and without more words 
 
502 
 
 with her, walked out of the house, and betook myself to 
 my new quarters. 
 
 AMONG FRIENDS. 
 
 In the evening, as I was going out of the room where the 
 family were at supper, I heard the old gentleman, who sat at 
 the head of the table, say to his wife, " Where did you come 
 across that nice, tidy piece of furniture ? " 
 
 The lady replied, " 0, she was at Mrs. B.'s, and they were 
 too much down on the rebels to suit her." 
 
 When I came into the room again, the old" gentleman, 
 turning towards me, inquired, "Are you a Yankee girl?" 
 
 " No, sir," I replied ; " I am a Cuban, and am a true South 
 ern sympathizer." 
 
 " Well, if that is the case, you have got into the right place 
 at last. I am from old Virginia, and I would not have one 
 of those d d Yankee women about the house." 
 
 In the evening the lady of the house came to my room 
 just as I was unpacking my trunk. She seemed to be sur 
 prised at the extent and style of my wardrobe, and exclaimed, 
 " Dear me, what a lot of nice things you have there ! " 
 
 " Yes," I replied. " Where I came from we are accustomed 
 to having nice things." 
 
 As I thought that some curiosity with regard to me would 
 be excited, I resolved to try and overhear the conversation 
 between the old lady and her husband ; so, when she left 
 me, I hastily, slipped off my shoes, and, cautiously following 
 her down stairs, stood at the door of the parlor and listened. 
 She gave quite a glowing account of the elegant dresses and 
 other matters she had seen in my trunk, and said, " I wonder 
 who she is, for she has not always been a servant, that is 
 certain." 
 
 " No ; she don't look like a servant," said the old gentle 
 man. 
 
 " Suppose she should be a spy ? " 
 
 " Well, she may be, and we will have to be cautious what 
 we say before her. Is she in her room? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I will have a talk with her to-morrow, and try and get her 
 to say something with regard to who she is, and where she 
 comes from." 
 
 This was all very satisfactory, so far as it went, and I crept 
 back to my room as softly as I could, and went to bed. 
 
A PRIVILEGED GUEST. 503 
 
 The next morning the old gentleman came into the room 
 when I was arranging the breakfast-table, and said, without 
 any preliminaries, " Were you ever married? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I am a widow." 
 
 " And you were never married again ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Wouldn't you like to be ? " 
 
 " Well, I wouldn't mind if the right kind of a man offered 
 himself. I don't care to marry any of your Yankees, how 
 ever, and the Southern boys are all in the field." 
 
 " Look here ; ain't you from the South ? " 
 
 " I have been there." 
 
 " I thought so. Because you found yourself among stran 
 gers, and got out of money, is, I suppose, the reason why you 
 have hired out." 
 
 " Yes, sir. It is rather hard, after having had plenty, and 
 after being waited on by servants, to do this kind of work ; 
 but it is honorable." 
 
 " Put down those plates," said the old gentleman, with con 
 siderable emphasis ; " you can't do any work for me ; but my 
 house is open to you, and you are welcome to stay as long as 
 it suits you. 
 
 " Here, old woman," he cried to his wife, who just then came 
 into the room, " she is not going to be a ^servant in our house ; 
 she is a genuine Southerner, and we must treat her as well as 
 we know how." 
 
 OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRISONERS. 
 
 I was forthwith installed as a privileged guest, and in the 
 course of a few days I was introduced to a number of South 
 ern sympathizers. Among my new acquaintance was a Con 
 federate soldier who had escaped from one of the prison camps, 
 and who was endeavoring to make his way South. From him 
 I learned that Cleveland was a general rendezvous for escaped 
 prisoners, and I accordingly resolved to go there. 
 
 I had given my entertainers to understand that I was on 
 some secret errand, but did not tell them what ; while they 
 appreciated the importance of saying no more than was neces 
 sary about such matters, and asked me no impertinent ques 
 tions. When I made up my mind to leave, I went to the old 
 gentleman, and told him that I desired to go South where I had 
 friends, and where I could get money. 
 
504 ON PUBLIC BUSINESS. 
 
 He asked me how much money I would require for my 
 journey, and I told him that I thought about six hundred dol 
 lars would see me through. 
 
 " Well," said he, " I can get that for you ; " and going out, he 
 soon returned with the amount, remarking, as he gave it to 
 me, " We Copperheads can always raise some money for the 
 cause, even if we have no men." 
 
 The old gentleman took me to the depot in his buggy, and 
 bought me a ticket for Cincinnati. He also gave me a letter 
 to the head of the Copperhead ring there. This document I 
 had, however, no use for, although I accepted it, as I did the 
 six hundred dollars. I had at the time the sum of ninety-three 
 thousand dollars on my person, and had in deposit in several 
 banks over fifty thousand dollars. The six hundred dollars 
 I accepted as a contribution to the cause, and on the principle 
 that every little helps. 
 
 Bidding my aged friend farewell, I took my seat in the train, 
 and was soon on my way to Columbus for I had no inten 
 tion of going to Cincinnati. On reaching Columbus, I took 
 rooms at a new hotel near the depot, and made some inquiries 
 with regard to the prisoners ; but before I could make any 
 definite arrangement concerning them, I received a telegraphic 
 despatch, directing me to go to Canada immediately. 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE RELIEF OF THE PRISONERS. 
 
 I, therefore, contributed three thousand dollars of the money 
 which I had with me, and which I regarded as Southern prop 
 erty, for the relief of the prisoners, and for the purchase of 
 necessary clothing. A Mrs. R. had charge. of this prisoners' 
 relief fund, and I had every confidence that the money in her 
 hands would be properly bestowed. 
 
 Proceeding as rapidly as I could to Canada, I had a confer 
 ence with the agent there, and then hastened to New York. 
 In that city I found a host of Confederates who were anxiously 
 waiting to receive their instructions from me. One was to go 
 to Nassau, as supercargo ; another was to sail by the next 
 steamer for Paris, to receive opium and quinine ; a third was 
 to proceed to Missouri ; a fourth to the north-western part of 
 Texas, and so on. Giving each his proportion of cash for 
 expenses, and telling them whom to draw on in case they were 
 short, I bade them good by, and wished them success. 
 
 These matters being arranged, I went to see the broker 
 

 THE SURRENDER OF LEE. 505 
 
 with whom I was in partnership, and found him considerably 
 exercised. We had a long talk about the situation, and he 
 expressed himself as very uneasy about the march Sherman 
 was making through the Carolinas, and its effect upon the 
 Confederate bonds we had on hand. I was not as easily fright 
 ened as he was j but I could not help acknowledging that if 
 Sherman succeeded in accomplishing what he aimed at, it 
 would be bad for the cause of the Confederacy, and that it 
 would do much to kill the sale of the bonds. I therefore al 
 lowed myself to be persuaded into making a trip to London, 
 for the purpose of a personal interview with our agent there, 
 the idea being, without letting him or others ^ee that we were 
 uneasy, to persuade him to sell off the paper we held at almost 
 any price. 
 
 A VISIT TO LONDON AND PARIS. 
 
 I accordingly proceeded to London by the next steamer, 
 and on finding the agent, was soon plunged into business with 
 him. Confederate bonds were not selling very well just at 
 that time, but as ours cost us very little, we could afford to 
 dispose of them at very moderate figures and still make a 
 handsome profit. I put mine on the market as rapidly as I 
 was able, but before I had cleared out the lot, intelligence 
 was received that Sherman had established communication 
 with Grant, and many persons jumped at the conclusion that 
 this was a virtual end of the rebellion. When this news was 
 received, I was on a flying visit to Paris. I did not think that 
 the end was as near as many persons supposed, but saw very 
 clearly that there was no market in London just then for Con 
 federate bonds ; and, congratulating myself that I had made 
 out as well as I had, I posted to Liverpool, and arrived there 
 just in time to catch a steamer. 
 
 As we were going into New York harbor we heard the 
 news of Lee's surrender, which had taken place the day be 
 fore, from the pilot. He was unable to give us any particu 
 lars, and every one on the steamer was consequently in a fever 
 of anxiety to get ashore, and learn the full extent of the dis 
 aster to the Confederate arms. No one was more anxious 
 than myself, as no one had reason to be, and the idea that the 
 hitherto invincible army of Virginia the conquerors in so 
 many well-fought fields should at last be compelled to yield 
 to the enemy fairly stunned me> 
 
 Many of the passengers seemed to think that this was prac- 
 
506 THE EXCITEMENT IN WALL STREET. 
 
 tically the winding up of the war. I could not bring myself to 
 believe this, for I knew that the Confederacy had other armies 
 in the field who were both able and willing to fight, and who 
 were led by generals as skilful and as indomitable as Lee. My 
 heart burned hot within me to continue the fight, and I re 
 solved to stick by my colors to the last, and to labor with even 
 more than my accustomed zeal for the Confederacy so long 
 as a shadow of hope remained. 
 
 When the vessel reached the wharf I went ashore, and pro 
 ceeded to the Lafarge House, from whence, as soon as I could 
 get some of the sea rust from my person, I called a carriage, 
 and ordered the driver to take me, as fast as he could, to the 
 office of the broker in Wall Street with whom I was in part 
 nership. 
 
 WALL STREET, NEW YORK, AFTER THE NEWS OF LEE'S 
 SURRENDER. 
 
 Wall Street, especially in the vicinity of the Exchange, was 
 fairly packed with a furious, excited mass of human beings, 
 yelling, shouting, cursing, and not a few absolutely weeping. 
 It was a spectacle to be remembered ; nothing that I had ever 
 beheld and I had certainly participated in many exciting 
 scenes at all resembled it. Some of the thousands of faces 
 were surcharged with unspeakable horror ; despair, overpow 
 ering despair, was written on others ; curses and blasphemies 
 were heard on every side, and it might have been supposed 
 that all the lunatics in the country had been turned loose in 
 this narrow thoroughfare. 
 
 Any one familiar with this section of New York, however, 
 could see at a glance that some momentous event had occurred 
 which had seriously affected innumerable important financial 
 operations, and that in a moment great fortunes had been lost 
 and won. 
 
 At. length we reached the office I was seeking, and my 
 partner came out to meet me, and to assist me to alight from 
 the carriage. His face wore a very sickly smile as he said, 
 " I am glad to see you ; you have made a quick trip." 
 
 " Yes," I replied, as we hurried into the back office. " Re 
 gent Street has no charms for me in such times as these." 
 
 " Well," said he, as he turned the key in the lock of the 
 door, fairly gasping for breath as he asked the question, and 
 pale as a sheet, " have we lost?" 
 
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE. 507 
 
 " No, we have not exactly lost, but we have not made any 
 thing worth speaking of." 
 
 " Well, so long as we have not lost, we have done pretty 
 well." 
 
 " What is the news ? " 
 
 " Lee has surrendered, and the Confederacy has gone up ; 
 that is the whole sum and substance of it." 
 
 " But there are other armies in the field, and they will prob 
 ably be able to hold out. It does not follow that the Confed 
 eracy is gone up because Lee has surrendered." 
 
 " People about here think differently ; at any rate, the Con 
 federate bond business is killed." 
 
 I did not care to argue this point with him, as his only in 
 terest in the Confederacy was in what he could make out of 
 it. So I asked, " Have you got in all the money?" 
 
 " Yes," he replied ; " but the bonds have gone up higher 
 than a kite." 
 
 " Well, you bring your books and make out your statement ; 
 we will have a settlement at once, for I intend to get out of 
 the country as fast as I am able." 
 
 A SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. 
 
 The next day I met him in accordance with our agreement, 
 and presented my statement, with a proposition that he should 
 take half the bonds in my hands, and we stand equal losses. 
 
 This he refused point blank to do, and professed to be high 
 ly indignant that I should make such a proposition. 
 
 I then refused to settle ; at which he got very angry, and 
 threatened to have me arrested, indulging in some strong 
 language, which did not frighten me a bit ; for, apart from the 
 fact that I did not scare easily, I knew that I had the advan 
 tage of him, and that he would not dare, for his own sake, to 
 carry his threat into execution. I had about sixty thousand 
 dollars of his money, while he had only about eighteen thou 
 sand of mine, in consequence of which, although he indulged 
 in a good deal of bluster, he finally consented to settle on 
 equal terms share and share alike, both in the profits and 
 the losses. This matter being arranged, I bade him farewell, 
 glad enough to get rid of him, and glad to get out of such a 
 business. Such was the end of my secret banking and bro 
 kerage transactions. 
 
CHAPTER XLIY. 
 
 THE ASSASSINATION QF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AND 
 END OF THE WAR. 
 
 Another Western Trip. Delivering Despatches to 'Quantrell's Courier. 
 A Stoppage at Columbus, Ohio. News of the Assassination of 
 President Lincoln. Return to New York. Derangement of Plans 
 caused by the Assassination. I again go West. Mr. Lincoln's Body 
 lying in State at Columbus. Return to Washington, and Interview 
 with Baker. I meet a Confederate Officer, and get him to take a Mes 
 sage for me to the South. An aged Admirer. Colonel Baker pro 
 poses that I shall start on an Expedition in search of Myself. A Let 
 ter from my Brother, and a Request to meet him in New York. A 
 Determination to visit Europe. I accept Baker's Commission, and 
 start for New York. 
 
 S I did not know, and certainly did not appre 
 ciate the full extent, or full importance, of 
 the great disaster that had befallen the Con 
 federate cause, so soon as my business in 
 Wall Street was brought to a conclusion I 
 sought a conference with the agents with whom I 
 had been co-operating. They were inclined to take 
 the gloomiest possible view of the situation. With 
 the fall of Richmond, and the surrender of Lee's army, 
 the people of the North seemed to have concluded that the 
 long contest with the South was over, to all intents and pur 
 poses. It was but natural, perhaps, in view of the intense 
 excitement which prevailed, and the unanimity of public opin 
 ion, that the Confederate agents should have regarded the 
 future of the contest in a great degree from a Northern 
 standpoint, and should have been largely influenced by the 
 opinions which they heard expressed on every side. 
 
 I, however, was not disposed to give up while a Southern 
 soldier remained in the field, and, after a full discussion of the 
 condition of affairs, I persuaded my companions to view mat 
 ters as I did.. Richmond was our capital, but it was not the 
 whole South ; and Lee's army, important as it was, was far 
 from being the whole Confederate force. General Joe John- 
 
 508 
 
ANOTHER WESTERN MISSION. 509 
 
 ston had an army of veterans very nearly if not quite as 
 large as that of Lee's, and was capable of prolonging the 
 contest for an indefinite period ; while, throughout the West, 
 there were a number of detached commands, of more or less 
 strength. If these could be united, and a junction effected 
 with Johnston, or communication established with him, so that 
 they could act in concert, it would be- possible to keep the 
 Federals at bay for a good while yet. If the fight was con 
 tinued resolutely, there was no knowing what might happen 
 to our advantage ; for, as we all knew, the people of the North 
 were heartily sick of the war, while England and France 
 were impatient to have it come to an end, and would much 
 prefer to have it end with a victory for the Confederates. 
 
 Having professed an eager desire to workf for the cause so 
 long as there was a cause to work for, my associates sug 
 gested that I should proceed immediately to Missouri with 
 despatches for Quantrell, which it was important he should 
 get at the earliest possible moment, and also for the purpose 
 of consulting with the agents in the West with regard to the 
 best methods of proceeding in the present perplexing emer 
 gency. 
 
 I accepted the mission without hesitation, and, always 
 ready to attend to business of this kind at a moment's notice, 
 with scarcely more than a change of clothing in my travelling 
 satchel, I was soon speeding westward. 
 
 MEETING QUANTRELL'S COURIER. 
 
 I did not get as far as Quantrell's headquarters, as I was 
 lucky enough to meet with one of his couriers, to whom I 
 delivered the despatches. This man, to whom I was tolerably 
 well known, was very eager to have me go with him to the 
 general, saying that I could be of the greatest possible service 
 in the present juncture by acting as his spy, and as bearer of 
 despatches to the agents in the North. I, however, was com 
 pelled to decline, as I felt that I had more important work to 
 do in my present field, which it would not do for me to drop. 
 
 Having discharged this errand, I went to Columbus, Ohio, 
 where I found considerable confusion prevailing on account 
 of the escape of some prisoners. I took rooms at the Neil 
 House, and had conferences with several persons concerning 
 the affairs at the South. At an unusually early hour I retired, 
 being very weary on account of having travelled, almost 
 
510 TERRIBLE NEWS. 
 
 without interruption, for several days, and having lost my 
 sleep the night before, but feeling rather happy on account 
 of a Confederate victory of which I had heard. 
 
 THE BUZZING OF THE TELEGRAPH WIRES. 
 
 I was soon asleep, but could not have been so very long, 
 before I was awakened by the continual buzzing of the tel 
 egraph wires, which were attached to the corner of the hotel. 
 I paid but little attention to this singular noise, and dozed off 
 again. A second time I was awakened by it, and began to 
 conjecture what could be the matter. I knew that something 
 very important must have happened, and thought that the 
 Federals must either have achieved a great victory, or have 
 met with a great defeat. I was too tired, however, to attempt 
 any inquiry just then, and, with all sorts of fancies floating in 
 my mind, as the constant buzzing of the wires, which never 
 ceased for a moment, sounded in my ears, I dropped off into a 
 sound sleep, and did not awaken until morning. 
 
 I arose quite early, and going to the window, saw that the 
 whole front of the building was draped in mourning. Won 
 dering what this demonstration could mean, and thinking that 
 the death of some prominent general must have occurred, but 
 never for a moment suspecting the terrible truth, I made my 
 toilet, and descended to find out what was the matter. 
 
 THE ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 A great number of people, notwithstanding the early hour, 
 were moving about the hotel, and a considerable crowd was 
 already assembled in the hall. Still wondering what could 
 have happened, I asked a gentleman whom I met hurrying 
 down stairs what was the news, and he told me that President 
 Lincoln had been assassinated by one J. Wilkes Booth the 
 night before ! 
 
 This intelligence startled me greatly, both on account of 
 the terrible nature of the crime itself, and because I felt that 
 it could work nothing but harm to the South. I also felt for 
 Mr. Lincoln and his family ; for I liked him, and believed that 
 he was an honest and kind-hearted man, who tried to do his 
 duty, as he understood it, and who was in every way well 
 disposed towards the South. 
 
 Descending to the drawing-room, I found a large number 
 
PLANS DERANGED. 511 
 
 of ladies there, many of whom were weeping, while, in the 
 street, the crowd was increasing, and every one seemed to be 
 in the greatest excitement. Across the street the State House 
 was being draped in mourning, while a number of persons 
 already wore mourning emblems. Before the day was over 
 nearly every one had on some badge of mourning, and nearly 
 every house was draped, in a greater or less degree, in black. 
 I did not attempt to imitate my neighbors in this matter. I 
 was sincerely sorry, both for personal and political reasons, 
 that this dreadful event had occurred ; but, nevertheless, Mr. 
 Lincoln was the enemy of the cause I loved, and for which I 
 labored, and it would have been intensely repugnant to my 
 feelings to have made any outward manifestations of mourn 
 ing. At the same time it is possible I may have mourned in 
 my heart with more sincerity than some of those who were 
 making a greater show of their grief. 
 
 This sad event rendered it necessary that I should have an 
 immediate conference with my associates in the East, and I 
 therefore returned as fast as I could to New York, and from 
 thence went on to Washington. 
 
 The assassination of Mr. Lincoln had caused a derangement 
 of the plans, and no one knew exactly what had best be done 
 next. I was requested, however, to make a trip west again, 
 for the purpose of communicating with certain parties, and 
 accordingly departed on my last errand in behalf of the Con 
 federacy. 
 
 LINCOLN'S BODY LYING IN STATE. 
 
 My business being transacted, I started to return, and again 
 found it necessary to pass through Columbus. When I 
 arrived there the body of Mr. Lincoln was lying in state. 
 The town was crowded with people, and it was impossible to 
 get a room at any of the hotels. I went to the Neil House, 
 but was obliged to content myself with a bed on the drawing- 
 room floor, my accommodations being, however, quite as 
 sumptuous as those of hundreds of others. 
 
 I doubt if the little city ever had so many people in it be 
 fore, and all day long a stream of men and women poured in 
 at one door and out at the other of the apartment where the 
 casket containing the remains of the president was lying in 
 state. It was a sad sight, and it troubled me greatly so 
 greatly that I was scarcely able to eat or sleep ; for, in addi 
 tion to my natural grief, I could not prevent my mind from 
 
512 DISCUSSING THE TRAGEDY. 
 
 brooding on the possibly detrimental effects which the assas 
 sination would have on the fortunes of the South. 
 
 After an early breakfast the next morning, I took the east 
 ward-bound train, and returned to Washington, and on reach 
 ing that city, called to see Colonel Baker. We exchanged 
 but a few words, as Baker said that he had an engagement, 
 which he would be compelled to attend to immediately, but 
 he would see me at half past seven o'clock, at my hotel. 
 
 MEETING WITH A CONFEDERATE OFFICER IN THE CAPITOL. 
 
 Leaving him, I started off for the purpose of trying to find 
 out something about Mrs. Surratt and the other prisoners, and 
 their probable fate. In the Capitol I met a Confederate offi 
 cer, whom I knew. I was astonished to see him, and going 
 up, I said, 
 
 " 0, what could have induced you to come here at such a 
 critical time as this ? " 
 
 " To see and hear what is going on," he replied. 
 
 " This is an awful affair.". 
 
 " Yes ; and it is particularly unfortunate that it should have 
 happened at this particular time. 77 
 
 " When will you return ? 77 
 
 " To-night, if somebody less amiable than you are does not 
 recognize me and take me in charge. 77 
 
 I then asked him if he would carry a letter through for 
 me to my brother, and on his promising me that he would, I 
 made an engagement for him to go to my room in the hotel. 
 He would find the door unlocked, and the key inside, and I 
 would meet him at five o'clock, or shortly after. I then took 
 leave of him, bidding him be careful of himself, as the people 
 were excited and suspicious, and he might easily get himself 
 into serious trouble. 
 
 Returning to the hotel, I noticed quite a number of ladies 
 in the drawing-room as I passed by. I thought I would join 
 them, for the sake of listening to the different conversations 
 that were going on, thinking that perhaps I might hear some 
 thing that it would be advantageous for me to know. On 
 reaching my room, therefore, I dressed myself in a hand 
 some black gros-grain silk dress, and putting a gilt band in 
 my hair, descended, and took a seat at one of the drawing- 
 room windows, facing on Pennsylvania Avenue. 
 
 Those around me all appeared to be discussing the tragedy, 
 
AN ELDERLY GENTLEMAN. 513 
 
 and many absurd theories and speculations were indulged in 
 with regard to it. I was indignant, as I had been a number 
 of times before, to hear President Davis, and others of the 
 Confederate leaders, accused of being the instigators of the 
 crime. I well knew that they were incapable of anything of 
 the kind ; and Mr. Davis, in particular, I had reason to believe 
 entertained a high respect for Mr. Lincoln, and most sincerely 
 lamented his death, and especially the manner of it, feeling 
 that he, and the whole people of the South, would be, to a 
 greater or less degree, held censurable for something they had 
 nothing to do with, and which they were powerless to prevent. 
 
 A HOTEL ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 After I had been gazing out of the window some little time, 
 watching the crowds of people passing to and fro along the 
 street, an elderly gentleman came up, and after addressing a 
 few courteous words, asked if I was a resident of the city. 
 
 I replied that I had arrived only a few hours before from 
 Columbus, Ohio, but that I was a Cuban. 
 
 " Ah, indeed," said he ; and, taking a seat beside me, he 
 commenced a conversation, by asking, " What do your people 
 think of our war?" 
 
 " 0, they think it is very bad j but it is to be hoped that it is 
 about over now." 
 
 " What do you think of the assassination of the president?" 
 
 " That is much to be regretted j but you know we Spaniards 
 do not take such things quite so much to heart as some 
 people." 
 
 " It .will be a bad thing for the South, and especially for 
 some of the Southern leaders ; they will be sure to hang Jeff/ 
 Davis." 
 
 I thought that it was catching before hanging ; but, con 
 cluding that, perhaps, it would be best not to put all my 
 thoughts into words, I merely said, " I scarcely agree with 
 you, sir. Why should one man die for the deeds of another ? " 
 
 " 0, those Southern leaders are all corrupt, and they sent 
 Booth here with instructions to do this deed, for the purpose 
 of enabling them to carry out some of their schemes ; they 
 are a set of fiends, thieves, and cutthroats, from beginning to 
 end, and there is not an honest man among them." 
 
 This excited my anger greatly ; but, considering, that, under 
 the circumstances, discretion was the better part of valor, I 
 33 
 
514 UNAPPRECIATED ATTENTION. 
 
 stifled my feelings, and concluded to cultivate this old gentle 
 man's acquaintance further, with the idea that perhaps I mig % ht 
 be able to make use of him in the execution of any plans I 
 might have for the future. 
 
 Taking out my watch, I found that it was half past three 
 o'clock ; so, excusing myself, I went to my room, and put on 
 my hat to go out. On coming down stairs again, I found my 
 new acquaintance in the hall, near the ladies' entrance. He 
 asked me if I was going shopping ; and on my replying that 
 I merely proposed to go as far as the executive mansion, for 
 the sake of a little exercise, he suggested that I ought to 
 have an escort, and volunteered to accompany me. I thought 
 this rather an impudent proceeding, considering our very 
 brief acquaintance ; but not knowing what advantage he might 
 be to me, I accepted his attentions, with apparently the best 
 possible grace. 
 
 Getting into a street car, we rode as far as the Park, oppo 
 site to the War Department. Taking a seat together under 
 the trees, we entered into a conversation, which convinced me 
 that the old gentleman was a harmless eccentric, who had 
 become suddenly smitten with my charms. He had some 
 very odd notions about politics, finance, and the like, but 
 from such matters as these he ere long began to discourse 
 upon my personal attractions, and finally became quite tenderly 
 demonstrative towards me. I believe the old gentleman would 
 have asked me to marry him, had I given him the least en 
 couragement, but I was beginning to find him a nuisance, and 
 resolved to return to the hotel. 
 
 He persisted in going with me, and when, on reaching the 
 hotel, I hastily and somewhat impatiently excused myself) for, 
 looking at my watch, I saw that it was ten minutes past five 
 o'clock, he asked whether he might escort me to supper. I 
 said that he was very kind, and to get rid of him, promised 
 that he might have the pleasure of my company to the even 
 ing meal if he desired it. I then bounded up stairs, anxious 
 to keep my appointment. 
 
 When I reached my room door it was locked, but in a 
 moment more the key was turned, and, on going in, I found 
 my Confederate officer waiting for me. He said that some 
 one, after he had been there a short time, had tried to get in ; 
 he had put his foot against the door to prevent it from being 
 opened ; whereupon the person outside had worked at the 
 lock for a while with a key. I replied, that he need not be 
 
SERVING THE COUNTRY. 515 
 
 alarmed, as it was probably one of the chambermaids with 
 clean towels, and that being unable to obtain admission, she 
 had left them on the knob of the door. 
 
 He told me that he would be compelled to leave the city at 
 eleven o'clock, and, as he had several things to attend to, if I 
 wanted to send anything by him, it would be necessary for 
 me to get it ready at once. I therefore seated myself to write, 
 but, on a moment's reflection, came to the conclusion that the 
 risk was too great, as he was not unlikely to be captured, and 
 determined to give him a verbal message. 
 
 After discussing the situation with as much fulness as we 
 were able, with the brief time at our disposal, I went to my 
 trunk, and, getting an envelope, sealed twenty dollars in it, 
 and handed it to him, as I knew that he must be short of 
 money. He made some to do about taking it, but on my 
 insisting, he put it in his pocket, with an effusion of thanks, 
 and said farewell. I turned the gas in the hall down until I 
 saw him out of sight, and then prepared myself for my inter 
 view with Colonel Baker. 
 
 On reaching the drawing-room, I found there the old gentle 
 man who had been so attentive during the afternoon, and who 
 was apparently waiting for me rather impatiently. We .had 
 scarcely started a conversation, however, before Baker came 
 in, with a friend of his from Baltimore. I excused myself 
 with my aged admirer with very little ceremony, and retired 
 with Baker and his friend to the private parlor, where we 
 could talk without being disturbed. 
 
 BAKER HAS A PROPOSITION TO MAKE. 
 
 As we seated ourselves, Baker said to his friend, " This is 
 one of the best little detectives in the country, but, unfortu 
 nately, she does not like the business." 
 
 " 0, the business does well enough," I replied ; " but I don't 
 like having bad luck in it." 
 
 " We can't always have good luck, you know," said Baker ; 
 " but I have a job on hand now which I want you to under 
 take for me, and which I think you can manage if you will do 
 your best. If you succeed, you shall be paid handsomely." 
 
 " 0, colonel, you are not going to hold out the pay as an 
 inducement for me to serve the country, are you? " I could 
 not say " my country." 
 
 " 0, d n the country ; you don't suppose we are going to 
 
516 A SLIPPERY CUSTOMER. 
 
 work for it for nothing, do you ? I want you to find this 
 woman who is travelling and figuring as a Confederate agent. 
 Some of my people have been on her track for a long time, 
 but she is a slippery customer, and they have never been able 
 to lay hands on her." 
 
 I knew it was myself Baker meant, especially when he took 
 out of his pocket a picture similar to the one the detective 
 had shown me on the cars a number of months previous. 
 
 Baker continued. " Here is her picture ; you can take it, for 
 I am having some more struck off. I am going to capture her 
 ladyship this time, dead certain, if she is in the country, as I 
 believe she is." 
 
 My sensations on hearing Baker utter these words cannot 
 be described. What could make" him so eager to capture me 
 just at this particular moment? Could he possibly suspect 
 me of having anything to do with the assassination plot? The 
 very idea of such a thing made me sick, for I felt that, excited 
 as every one then was, an accusation of this kind was all but 
 equivalent to a condemnation. I managed, however, to main 
 tain my composure, but inwardly resolved that the best thing 
 I could do would be to leave the country at the earliest 
 possible moment. 
 
 After discussing the method of procedure with regard to 
 the search I was to institute for myself, I asked Baker what 
 he thought the result of the trial of the prisoners accused of 
 being implicated in the assassination plot would be. 
 
 " 0," said he, " they will all hang." 
 
 " Now, I think that will be too bad. Even if Mrs. Surratt 
 is proven to be guilty, they might commute her sentence. It 
 will be a terrible thing to hang a woman, especially as she 
 was not actually one of the assassins. Do you really think 
 she is guilty ? " 
 
 " No ; but the affair was planned in her house, and she is in 
 a good part responsible for it. I am very much in hope that 
 a full confession from her will be obtained by her priest." 
 
 " But, colonel, the evidence against her is all circumstantial, 
 and surely it is not right or lawful to sentence her to death, 
 unless it is absolutely proven that she is guilty." 
 
 " In times like .this, it would never do to acquit her, or to 
 send her to prison, for the mob would take the law into their 
 own hands. Besides, it is necessary to make an example." 
 
 Baker's friend here said, " I am glad that they got Booth." 
 
 At this remark I scanned Baker's countenance closely. He 
 
VANISHED DREAMS. 517 
 
 smiled, and said, " So am I. I intended to have his body, 
 dead or alive, or a mighty good substitute for it, for no com 
 mon criminal is worth the reward." 
 
 This was a very queer expression, and it set me to think 
 ing, and to studying certain phases of Baker's character more 
 closely than I had ever done before. 
 
 The colonel and his friend then left. I was to have until 
 nine o'clock the next morning to decide whether I would 
 undertake the business he desired me to or not. 
 
 MY BROTHER SUGGESTS A TRIP TO EUROPE. 
 
 The next morning, before Baker came, I received my mail, 
 and in it a letter from my brother, who expected to be in New 
 York in a few days with his wife and child. He proposed 
 that, as we were the sole remnants of our family, we should 
 continue with each other in the future, and intimating that, 
 considering the present distracted state of the country, it 
 would, perhaps, be best for us to go to Europe for a time, 
 until things quieted down somewhat. 
 
 This letter decided me upon what course to pursue, and I 
 determined to accept the commission from Baker, thinking by 
 so doing I would more effectually prevent any of his detectives 
 discovering my identity, while so soon as my brother and his 
 family arrived, we would proceed across the Atlantic without 
 further delay, and remain there until the time should come 
 when no one would have any object in troubling us. 
 
 The army of Joe Johnston, like that of Lee, had been sur 
 rendered, and it was evident to me that the war was practi 
 cally at an end, although I thought it not impossible that it 
 might be prolonged in a desultory manner for some time yet 
 in the West and South-west. I could plainly see, however, 
 that further fighting would do no good, and that the Con 
 federate cause being lost, my mission in connection with it 
 was at an end, and my sole duty now was to consider my own 
 welfare and that of my family. 
 
 All the bright dreams of four years ago had vanished into 
 nothingness, and yet I could not regret having played the part 
 I did. I loved the South and its people with a greater 
 intensity than ever, while at the same time many of my 
 prejudices against the North had been beaten down by my 
 intercourse with its people during the past eighteen months. 
 There were good and bad in both sections, and I believed that 
 
518 GETTING OUT OF DANGER. 
 
 if the good men and women, both North and South, would 
 now earnestly and patriotically unite in an endeavor to carry 
 out the ideas of the founders of the government, they would, 
 ere many years, be able to raise the nation to a pitch of great 
 ness such as had yet been scarcely imagined. 
 
 As for my own experiences, if not exactly what I had 
 expected them to be, they were sufficiently rich and varied 
 in incident to satisfy all my ambitions. I had participated in 
 bloody battles and sieges, and in the thickest of the danger 
 had borne myself so valorously as to win the commendation 
 of men who did not know what fear was, while, in addition to 
 the campaigning I had gone through, my adventures as a spy 
 and secret-service agent, were not only of advantage to the 
 cause I had espoused, but they had supplied me with exciting 
 and absorbing work which had demanded the best exercise of 
 all my faculties. I felt that I had reason to be proud of my 
 war record, and was the better satisfied with myself, as I 
 knew that I had won the approbation of noble-minded men 
 whose esteem was well worth winning. 
 
 When Colonel Baker called, therefore, to hear my decision, I 
 told him that I would undertake to do what he desired. He 
 accordingly gave me my instructions, and I was astonished to 
 find how much he knew of some of my movements. He and 
 his men must have been on the point of capturing me many 
 times, and they undoubtedly would have done so, had I not had 
 the wit to take the course I did in cultivating his acquaintance. 
 With many self- congratulations at having been successful in 
 escaping thus far, and resolved that, if possible, Baker should 
 not know me except as one of his own agents, I started for 
 New York on a search for myself ostensibly, but in reality to 
 wait anxiously for the coming of my brother, in whose 
 company I proposed to get beyond the reach of the detective 
 corps, with which I had been so long associated in such a 
 singular manner, with all the expedition I could manage. 
 
CHAPTER XLY. 
 
 A TOUR THROUGH EUROPE. 
 
 Off for Europe. Seasickness. An over-attentive Doctor. Advantages 
 of knowing more Languages than one. A young Spaniard in Love. 
 Arrival in London. Paris and its Sights. Rheims and the Cham 
 pagne Country. Frankfort on the Main. A beautiful Country, and a 
 thriving People. A Visit to Poland. Return to Paris, and meeting 
 with old Confederates. Friends who knew me, and who did not know 
 me. Finding out what my old Army Associates thought of me. 
 Back to London. A Visit to Hyde Park, and a sight of Queen Vic 
 toria. Manchester and its Mills. Homeward Bound. Return to 
 New York, and Separation from my Brother and his Family. 
 
 T was not many days before my brother arrived 
 with his wife, two children, and nurse. It was 
 a most joyful reunion, and I tried to be as affec 
 tionate as I knew how to my sister-in-law and 
 the pretty little babes, one of whom was a name 
 sake of my own. It was impossible for me, however, 
 to feel towards her as I did towards my brother, and I 
 fancied that she was not as well disposed towards me as 
 she might have been. 
 
 Once together, our arrangements were soon, made, and 
 we left New York on board of one of the Cunard steamers. I 
 wondered what my friend Colonel Baker would think of my 
 disappearance, and could not help laughing at the neat trick I 
 had played upon him. 
 
 Despite the reasons I had for being glad to find myself 
 speeding towards a foreign shore, it was not without a pang 
 of regret that I watched those of America fading in the dis 
 tance. This, after all, was my country, where dwelt my 
 friends ; here was the scene of the great events in which I 
 had taken a not altogether unimportant part ; and it was like 
 separating from a portion of myself to sail away from such a 
 land, and to feel that, probably, I might never return. 
 
 Before we had been long at sea, however, I had something 
 else to think of than sentimental regrets. Both my brother 
 
 519 
 
520 A RIVAL FOR THE DOCTOR. 
 
 and myself were compelled to succumb to seasickness, which, 
 although it did not affect us as violently as it did some of the 
 other passengers, was sufficiently unpleasant to absorb all our 
 thoughts. My sister-in-law, being a hardened traveller, es 
 caped, but the negro girl, who acted as nurse for the children, 
 was taken very badly, and between her agony and her fright 
 she was a most ludicrous object. 
 
 In a couple of days I was well enough to enjoy myself; and 
 my brother, who had made the acquaintance of the doctor, 
 introduced him to me. This gentleman was a fair-haired 
 Anglo Saxon, and he appeared to think it incumbent upon him 
 to pay me particular attention. I was quite willing to culti 
 vate his acquaintaince, and he was so much encouraged by 
 my amiable demeanor towards him, that he very speedily 
 began to be even unpleasantly polite, and I was anxious to 
 devise some means of getting rid of him. I did at length 
 succeed in finding a rival to him in a somewhat odd fashion. 
 
 A COUPLE OP HANDSOME SPANIARDS. 
 
 Among the passengers were two quite handsome young 
 Spaniards, who kept pretty much to themselves, apparently 
 for the reason that no one was able to talk to them. I no 
 ticed that one of them followed me a good deal with his eyes, 
 and resolved, if a favorable opportunity offered, to strike up 
 an acquaintance with him. 
 
 One morning, after breakfast, I and my friends came up on 
 deck, and the doctor, who bad been acting as my escort, ex 
 cused himself to go and make his sick calls. The two young 
 Spaniards stood leaning on the guards, and from the way they 
 looked at me I judged that I was the subject of their conver 
 sation. 
 
 Leaving my brother and his wife, I went and seated myself 
 near them, but gave no indication that I was noticing them 
 particularly. They had heard me speak English to my brother 
 and sister, and the others with whom I had engaged in con 
 versation, and had no reason to think that I understood any 
 other language. 
 
 I had scarcely taken my seat, when they commenced to talk 
 about me in Spanish, commenting upon my elegant dress, and 
 the sparkling diamonds which adorned my person, and express 
 ing a desire to know who I was. At length one of them 
 said, " 0, how I would like to speak the American language ! 
 
KEEPING THE DOCTOR AT A DISTANCE. 521 
 
 She is a handsome senorita, and evidently very rich ; if I 
 could converse with her I would soon have an introduction." 
 
 " Yes," said the other, " I should like to know who she is." 
 
 " 0, there is something the matter with me," said the first, 
 putting his hand to his breast. 
 
 " You are in love. You had better get somebody to act as 
 interpreter for you." 
 
 Just then the doctor came up and interfered with my amuse 
 ment. He said, as he seated himself beside me, " If it is not 
 impertinent, may I ask how long you have been a widow ? " 
 
 " About two years," I replied. 
 
 One of the young Spaniards, who could understand a little 
 English, said to his companion, " She is a young widow." 
 
 " That makes no difference," said the other. 
 
 I said to the doctor, "I wonder if we can see any fish?" 
 and walked to the side and looked overboard. 
 
 I stood quite close to Pablo, the young man whom I sup 
 posed to be falling in love with me, and as we turned away, 
 after looking into the water for a few moments, 1 dropped my 
 handkerchief on purpose. 
 
 The Spaniard picked it up, and, touching my arm, handed 
 it to me, raising his sombrero politely as he did so. 
 
 I smiled, and thanked him in his native tongue. It was 
 most amusing to see the expression of horror that overspread 
 his countenance as he heard me, and thus discovered that I 
 must have understood the conversation he had been holding 
 with his friend. 
 
 So soon as the doctor left me, he advanced, and, taking off 
 his hat, asked me if I was a Spaniard. I replied that I was 
 of Spanish descent ; whereupon he began the most profuse 
 apologies, and hoped that my ladyship was not offended at the 
 remarks that had passed between himself and friend. I said 
 that so far from being offended, I felt highly complimented by 
 the flattering opinions that had been expressed with regard 
 to me ; and thereupon the young gentleman and I started a 
 flirtation that lasted for the .balance of the voyage, and that, 
 in addition to being agreeable enough in itself, had the effect 
 of keeping the doctor somewhat at a distance. He was most 
 solicitous for us to visit Spain, and was not satisfied until he 
 extorted from my brother a promise to do so. 
 
 This young gentleman continued his attentions to myself 
 after we got to London ; and on account of some sight-seeing, 
 in which he had planned to have my company, he and his 
 
522 A CONTRAST. 
 
 friend missed the steamer in which they expected to have 
 sailed for Spain, and were obliged to remain for a number of 
 days beyond their appointed time. I do not think that either 
 of them regretted this very much. I am sure one of them 
 did not. My brother did not like my friend Pablo, thinking 
 him proud and haughty ; but this was merely a Castilian re 
 serve of manner, and I thought it rather an attractive charac 
 teristic than otherwise. 
 
 At length our young Spaniards left us, and we began to 
 plan our future movements. My brother was very anxious to 
 go to the Continent immediately. He did not like the English 
 climate or the English people, saying that they had always 
 been our enemies, and that during the late war they had acted 
 treacherously to both parties. The French, he contended, 
 were the true friends of America, while their beautiful country 
 was far better worth visiting than this damp, foggy England. 
 
 I had no great preference, being willing to go almost any 
 where, and consequently, although there was much in England 
 that I desired to see, acceded to my brother's wishes without 
 hesitation, and consented to try France first, and to keep 
 England in reserve, to, be explored after we had visited the 
 Continent. 
 
 THE NAVAL DEPOT AT CHERBOURG. 
 
 Crossing the Channel, we entered France at Cherbourg, the 
 
 freat naval depot. At this place were several vessels which 
 ad been negotiated for by the Confederates, and which, if 
 they could have been obtained, would greatly have strength 
 ened our little navy. Without stopping, however, to examine 
 these, or other objects of interest, we speeded on to Paris, 
 where we took rooms at the Grand Hotel. 
 
 We were more fortunate than Mark Twain represents him 
 self to have been, and were not bothered with guides. My 
 brother had been educated in Paris, while I had seen a little 
 of it, and we both could speak French. My brother was well 
 acquainted with the city, and he was anxious to show his wife 
 and myself all that was worth seeing in it. We accordingly 
 hired a handsome private livery, and prepared to enjoy our 
 selves in the best style. 
 
 The magnificence with which I was surrounded was in great 
 contrast to what I had been accustomed to in America, and it 
 was difficult for me to appreciate the fact that I, the elegantly 
 attired woman, who was enjoying, or endeavoring to enjoy, the 
 
THE PLEASURES OF PARIS. 523 
 
 manifold pleasures of Parisian life, had but a short time before 
 been wearing a uniform of gray, and living the roughest kind 
 of a life in camp and on the battle-field. I could not hon 
 estly say to myself, however, that I preferred the luxury and 
 splendors of the great French capital to the woods and fields 
 of my dear South ; and I have had as blissful sleep, wrapped in 
 my soldier's blanket, out under the stars, as I could get in the 
 most expensive apartments of the Grand Hotel. 
 
 Our days and nights in Paris were spent in sight-seeing, 
 theatre-going, and in endeavoring to find all the enjoyment 
 that money could buy. We did enjoy ourselves ; for there is 
 no city in the world that is better worth seeing, or that pre 
 sents greater attractions to the visitor, than Paris. 
 
 SIGHT-SEEING IN PARIS. 
 
 The Louvre, the Tuileries, the Arc de PEtoile, the ancient 
 Cathedral of Notre Dame, with its grand architecture and its 
 many associations, with a visit to the Jardin de Mabille in the 
 evening, employed our first day. It was all very interesting, 
 but I could have had greater satisfaction in investigating into 
 matters that represented more particularly the industries and 
 resources of the country. As for the famous Mabille, it is 
 nothing more than a beer-garden, while the doings that are 
 permitted there and at the Cloiserie de Lilas, are such that 
 they are not fit places for decent people to visit. I was heart 
 ily disgusted with both of these gardens disgusted with 
 what I saw, and more disgusted with people who looked like 
 ladies and gentlemen, gazing with approval and applause at 
 performances that had no attractions except their indecency. 
 
 A drive on the Bois de Boulogne, which was on our pro 
 gramme for the next day, I really enjoyed greatly, as I did also 
 a visit to the Lyrique Theatre, where I saw finished acting 
 and elegant stage setting, such as I had never been accus 
 tomed to in America. In the course of our stay in Paris we 
 visited nearly all the principal theatres ; and although I never 
 was much of a play- goer, everything was done in such fin 
 ished style that it was a real gratification to attend these per 
 formances. 
 
 The College de France, where my brother had been edu 
 cated, and the Medical School in which he had studied, 
 interested him greatly, but I was satisfied with looking at 
 them from the outside. I was not curious, either, to visit the 
 
524 AT RHEIMS. 
 
 Catacombs. My brother persuaded me to go to this city of the 
 dead ; but when about to descend into the dark caverns, rilled 
 with the mouldering remains of poor humanity, I shrunk back, 
 and refused to enter. I had too much reverence for the 
 sleepers to make their last resting-place a resort for the 
 curious. I feared not the dead; but to have gone among these 
 skeletons would have revived memories of the past that were 
 anything but pleasant ones. It made me shudder to think 
 how many poor souls I had seen launched into eternity with 
 out a moment's warning, some of them, perhaps, by my hand. 
 The idea of such a thing was horrible, although in the excite 
 ment of a great battle the slaughter that is going on is as little 
 thought of as are the dangers to one's self. 
 
 THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. 
 
 At the Invalides we saw the magnificent Tomb of Napoleon 
 I., the most imposing monument that has, perhaps, ever been 
 erected to any monarch. As we were leaving, we were grat 
 ified with a sight of the emperor and empress, who were 
 visiting the building. The empress was a very handsome 
 woman, and looked as if she was a very amiable one. She 
 was dressed in a silk robe, of a light lavender color, which 
 was very elaborately trimmed with lace. Her bonnet was 
 of the same lavender tint, and was trimmed with white. A 
 pair of white kid gloves, and a point-lace scarf fastened with 
 a brooch of emeralds and diamonds, completed the toilet. The 
 emperor was in uniform. He was a rather diminutive man, 
 with a keen eye, and he reminded me not a little of General 
 Beauregard. Any one who could have seen the two, would 
 have said, unhesitatingly, that they were relatives. v 
 
 Sight-seeing in Paris was an agreeable enough employment, 
 but I very soon had enough of it, and was not sorry to leave 
 for Rheims, the great wine mart. This city is distant between 
 three and four hours from Paris by the railroad, and is a very 
 interesting place, as well because of its historical associations, 
 as because it is a great industrial centre. 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS. 
 
 The great cathedral is a magnificent building, which I took 
 particular pleasure in visiting, for the reason that in it all the 
 old kings of France were crowned. It was here that Joan of 
 
AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY. 595 
 
 Arc clad in full armor, and with her consecrated banner in 
 hand witnessed the coronation of the king for whom she 
 fought so well, and whose dominion she was mainly instru 
 mental in securing. I almost imagined, as I stood in the 
 cathedral, that I could behold the splendid scene that was 
 presented on that occasion. 
 
 At the time of my visit to Rheims, however, I was of a 
 more practical turn of mind than I had been a few years 
 before. The romance had been pretty well knocked out of 
 me by the rough experience of real life ; and although I was 
 better able to appreciate the performances of Joan of Arc at 
 their true value, somehow they did not interest me to the 
 extent they once did. I took more pleasure in watching the 
 processes of manufacturing the famous champagne wines, and 
 in speculating as to whether such a profitable industry could 
 not be introduced into the United States. 
 
 WINE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 I have every reason to believe that wines, as fine in flavor 
 as- any of the European brands, can be, and in time will be, 
 made in America. They will not be the same, and will have 
 a peculiar flavor of their own ; for the flavors of wines depend 
 upon the soil where the grapes are grown to such an extent 
 that very different kinds are manufactured from grapes grow 
 ing but a short distance from each other. Our American 
 wines, even if of a somewhat different flavor, ought, however, 
 to be just as good, in their way, as are the European. The 
 fact is, that some of our wines will already compare very 
 favorably with those brought from abroad. We cannot as 
 yet, however, produce anything equal to the very finest 
 brands ; but we will do that in time, when we learn some 
 of the delicate points about cultivation and manufacture 
 which the Europeans have been for centuries acquiring. 
 Viniculture is a business that is particularly well suited for 
 many portions of our Southern States, and it is to be hoped 
 that the people may be induced to take it up much more 
 largely than they have ever yet done. 
 
 In this part of France it is possible to travel for miles 
 through a highly-cultivated country and not see the sign of a 
 building of any kind. The people congregate in small 
 lages, which is certainly more social than living in isolated 
 farm-houses. The houses in these villages are mostly small, 
 
526 AT FRANKFORT ON THE MAIN. 
 
 are built of stone, and reminded me not a little of some huts 
 in the Kaw Indian reservation. They are made very attrac 
 tive, however, by being surrounded by neat little gardens, 
 filled with flowers, which are tended with great care. 
 
 There was one thing I saw in Rheims which pleased me 
 very much. It was a troop of round, rosy -faced girls, who came 
 running, laughing, and singing, out of a factory, at evening, as 
 full of sport as if they had been playing all day, instead of 
 earning their bread and butter. They were so fresh and 
 wholesome-looking, and apparently enjoyed life so much, that 
 I could not but admire them. Such people as these are the 
 real wealth of a country, and it is no wonder -France is rich 
 and prosperous when she has such citizens. 
 
 FRANKFORT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
 
 From Rheims, we passed on, and made a flying visit to 
 Homburg, the famous watering-place, and from there went to 
 Frankfort on the Main. On one side of the city are to be 
 seen the mountains, while on the other extends a rich, fertile 
 plain. I almost wished that I was the wife of one of those 
 good-natured, honest, industrious German farmers we were 
 constantly meeting, so that I might live and die in a snug, 
 home-like little farm-house, half hidden by the grain, and sur 
 rounded by flowering shrubs and vines, such as were to be 
 seen on all sides. Nowhere have I beheld more evidences of 
 solid comfort and downright good living than in the vicinity 
 of Frankfort, and there are no people on the earth happier 
 than these hard-working but contented Germans, who know 
 how to enjoy life in right honest fashion. 
 
 The small villages in this section of Europe are quite 
 numerous, and the people are disposed to be most kind and 
 hospitable, particularly to Americans. We met several per 
 sons who had been in America, who were apparently rejoiced 
 to see us, and who overwhelmed us with invitations to visit 
 them. 
 
 The costumes of the working classes are very odd. The 
 women wear muslin caps, short blue or white skirts, and shoes 
 with wooden soles. The men are attired in blue frocks, and 
 sometimes in the queerest-looking swallow-tailed coats of 
 white and buff linen. 
 
 Some of the parks surrounding the mansions of the nobility 
 are very beautiful, being laid out with much taste, and filled 
 
I 
 
 RETURN TO PARIS. 527 
 
 with deer, swans, and other animals. The zoological garden 
 in Frankfort is much the finest in Europe, being greatly 
 superior in the number and variety of the animals to those 
 of Paris and London. 
 
 THE DESOLATION OF POLAND. 
 
 Having exhausted the sights of Frankfort, we prepared to 
 move on, and there was considerable debate as to whether 
 we should next go to Italy or to Russia. I was most anxious 
 to visit Poland ; and so it was finally determined that we 
 should go there. I was sorry for having taken this trip after 
 wards, for there was nothing in Cracow a city ruined and 
 desolated by war that could give me pleasure. Indeed, the 
 whole land looked as. if it was under a blight. I took advan 
 tage, however, of the occasion to renew my acquaintance 
 with M. Koskalosky, a young Pole, whom I had met in Paris 
 just before the close of the war. He was a very pleasant, cul 
 tivated gentleman, and a sincere friend of the South. I hope 
 that the time will come when the people of Poland will be 
 able to regain their independence. They are cruelly op 
 pressed now, and their beautiful country is a waste and 
 desolation. 
 
 Instead of going to Italy, we now returned to Paris, having 
 seen much to interest and delight us, but having, after all, 
 found no country that was the equal of America, tov/ards 
 which my heart turned with increasing fondness the longer I 
 was absent from it. 
 
 In Paris we met Mr. Dayton, the minister from the United 
 States, and were quite cordially received by him. I had 
 carefully avoided going near this gentleman on my former 
 visit, because I was aware that he knew me, and thought that, 
 perhaps, he might bear me some ill will. He was pleasant 
 enough, however, and I sincerely regretted not having met 
 him sooner. 
 
 At the Hotel de Louvre, where we stopped, there was quite 
 a list of old Confederates, some of whom had been my army 
 companions. I had the advantage of them, for they had only 
 known me as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, and they did not 
 recognize me in female attire. Being extremely anxiou; 
 know what they thought of me, I obtained introductions 
 most of them, and began to try and get them to commit 
 selves. 
 
528 THE REAL OPINIONS OF OLD FRIENDS. 
 
 Colonel M. was the first one I spoke to on this delicate 
 subject. After inquiring about the condition of affairs in 
 America, I asked him if he knew what had become of that 
 female officer who figured so extensively during the greater 
 part of the war. 
 
 " 0," said the colonel, " I knew her very well. She was 
 in my corps for a time, but afterwards she went West, and I 
 do not know how she finished her career." 
 
 " What do you think of her ? " 
 
 " She is a very fine woman, and made a good officer. She 
 was very popular indeed." ^ 
 
 " Do you think that it was proper for a woman to do as she 
 did?" 
 
 " Well, no, not exactly ; but she did so much good for the 
 cause, that she can well be excused. If the men had all been 
 as plucky, things would have turned out very different. She 
 always bore an excellent name, and I would fight for her in a 
 moment if I heard any one traducing her. I would like very 
 much to see her again, and would be willing to travel all 
 the way back to America to have that pleasure." 
 
 The reader may imagine the sensations of pleasure which 
 this enthusiastic opinion of myself caused me. I was aching 
 to tell him who I was, but there were others whom I desired 
 to question, and so concluded to preserve my secret a little 
 longer. 
 
 While I was talking with Colonel M., a servant in livery 
 appeared, with a card on a silver waiter, from Colonel D. and 
 Major C. I did not recognize the names, but said I would 
 receive them, and so shook hands with Colonel M. ? giving him 
 a hearty request to call on me again. 
 
 The two gentlemen appeared, and the colonel said, " You 
 do not appear to remember me." 
 
 " No, sir," I replied. " I think I recollect your face, but I 
 cannot recall where I have met you." 
 
 " Do you not recollect meeting me in Cuba, at So-and-so's 
 house?" 
 
 " 0, certainly, I do ; I must ask that you will excuse my 
 forgetfulness." 
 
 " I was looking over the list of arrivals, and seeing your 
 name, thought that I would take the liberty of calling to 
 inquire after your health." 
 
 I asked whether he had met my brother's family; and on his 
 saying that he had not, I conducted him and his friend to their 
 
LONDON AND MANCHESTER. 529 
 
 parlor. _ Leaving the major for my brother and his wife to 
 entertain, I took the colonel to a remote part of the room and 
 after some preliminary conversation, asked him the same ques 
 tions that I had Colonel M. , 
 
 He expressed admiration of my valor, but was BO bitter 
 m denouncing me for assuming male attire, that I was thor 
 oughly disgusted with him. 
 
 ^ A few days after this, I returned with my brother and 
 family to London, and immediately on my arrival in that city 
 wrote two letters, one to Colonel M. and the other to Colonel 
 D., telling them who I was. Colonel M. replied, expressing 
 
 freat gratification at having met me, and a wish that I had made 
 nown to him that I was the heroine of whom he had such a 
 decided admiration. Colonel D. did not reply ; but his friend 
 Major C. wrote me a letter in French, in which he endeavored 
 to apologize for him, and expressed a wish, for his own sake, 
 that I would return to Paris, as he was anxious to be better 
 acquainted with a lady who had performed so many valorous 
 exploits. 
 
 A BRIEF VISIT TO LONDON. 
 
 We remained about fifteen days in London, stopping at 
 the house of a friend, Mr. T., a right jolly fellow, who had 
 resided in England for many years. Shortly after our arrival 
 we visited Hyde Park, a very beautiful pleasure-ground, but 
 not to be compared with the Parisian parks. This event was 
 a source of much gratification to me, as it gave me an oppor 
 tunity to see her majesty Queen Victoria, who drove by in a 
 carriage with six horses. For this lady I always had a great 
 admiration, esteeming her a model queen and a model mother. 
 She was dressed with great neatness and simplicity, and there 
 was nothing showy or ostentatious about her. 
 
 From London we went to Manchester, and I was interested 
 in the great mills and factories, and in a grand cattle show 
 which was in progress. With the display of fine blooded 
 animals I was especially delighted. Notwithstanding, how 
 ever, that there was so much to see and to occupy my atten 
 tion, I was by this time getting homesick, and my eyes were 
 frequently cast longingly westward. I was impatient to 
 return to America, and my brother was equally so ; and con 
 sequently, ere long, we were once more standing on the deck 
 of a vessel homeward bound, for, after all, it was imposs; 
 ble for us to think* of America but as our home. 
 34 
 
530 HOME AGAIN. 
 
 Our decision to return, however, was far from pleasing to 
 my sister-in-law, who desired to reside in Spain. She blamed 
 me for influencing my brother contrary to her wishes, and was 
 jealous of my affection for him. The result was, that a cool 
 ness sprang up between us that made our intercourse with 
 each other anything but a pleasure to either. 
 
 On our arrival in New York, my brother was persuaded 
 by his wife 1^ go to Mexico, where her sister resided. I 
 was not willing to go with them ; and the result was, that 
 we parted company, with many regrets on my side, at the 
 prospect of a long separation from a brother whom I loved 
 dearer than myself, and with whom I had only recently been 
 reunited, after having scarcely seen each other during many 
 years. 
 
 It could not be helped, however, and I felt that it was best 
 he should go with his wife and children, leaving me to make 
 my own way in the world, as I had been doing for so long a 
 time. When they were once off, I turned my attention to my 
 own affairs, and began to make plans for the future. Before 
 determining, however, on any particular course, I concluded 
 that I would make a trip through the South, for the purpose 
 of observing the condition of the country, and of finding out 
 whether there was anything I could do to advance the interest 
 of the people among whom my lot had been cast for so many 
 years, and who were endeared to me by so many of the strong 
 est ties. 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN EXPEDITION. 
 
 A Southern Tour. Visit to Baltimore and Washington. - The Desola 
 tions of War as Visible in Richmond, Columbia, and Charlotte -A 
 Race with a Federal Officer at Charleston. - Meeting with old Friends 
 at Atlanta. A Surprise for one of them. Travelling over my old 
 Campaigning Ground. The forlorn Appearance of Things in New 
 Orleans. Emigration Projects. I make some Investigation into them 
 and decide to go to South America for the Purpose of lookin^ at the 
 Country, and reporting to my Friends. The Venezuelan Expedition 
 and its Projector. I suspect that it is a mere Speculation, but conclude 
 to accompany it. My third Marriage. I endeavor to persuade my 
 Husband to seek a Home in the Far- West, but on his Refusal, sail with 
 him for Venezuela. Forty-nine Persons packed in a small Schooner 
 with no Conveniences, and with scanty Provisions. A horrible Voyage. 
 Sighting the Mouth of the River Orinoco. 
 
 FTER the departure of my brother and his fam 
 ily, I started for the South. My first stopping- 
 place was Baltimore, where I met many old 
 friends, who expressed themselves as very glad 
 to see me again, but who represented the con 
 dition of things at the South as most deplorable. 
 What I learned from them made me more than ever 
 resolved to continue my journey; for, although the 
 war was over, I was still anxious to do something, so 
 far as my power extended, for the Southern people. I accor 
 dingly announced my intention of making a tour through 
 the late Confederacy, for the purpose of seeing for myself 
 exactly what the situation really was ; but preferred first to 
 go to Washington, with a view of consulting certain persons 
 there. 
 
 I was advised, in the strongest manner, not to visit Wash 
 ington at this time, and was assured that it would be a very 
 perilous thing to do. Naturally a little obstinate and self- 
 willed, the opposition of my friends only made me the more 
 desirous of carrying out my original intention, no matter what 
 
 531 
 
532 THE RAVAGES OF WAR. 
 
 the hazard might be. To Washington, accordingly, I proceeded, 
 and called on some acquaintances, who received me with the 
 utmost cordiality. 
 
 The person whom I particularly wished to see an official 
 in the war department had, however, gone South. My friend 
 Colonel Baker was also out of the city. I did not know 
 whether to congratulate myself or not at missing a meeting 
 with him. I was resolved, on going to Washington, not to 
 fight shy of him, and to give him an opportunity to pay off 
 old scores if he wished. Baker was certainly the person of 
 all others who had a right to have a grudge against me, and 
 yet I had an ardent desire to meet him again, just to hear 
 what he would have to say about the tricks I so successfully 
 played upon him. As the colonel was out of the city, how 
 ever, I did not have the pleasure of exchanging notes with 
 him, and I do not know to this day whether he ever discov 
 ered that I was a Confederate secret-service agent. 
 
 Finding that there was nothing to be done in Washington, 
 I went on to Richmond, where I took up my quarters at the 
 Exchange Hotel. The news of my arrival soon spread around, 
 and I received ample attentions from many old Confederate 
 friends, who seemed disposed to treat me with all possible 
 kindness. 
 
 RICHMOND AFTER THE WAR. 
 
 The Richmond I beheld, however, was a very different 
 place from the beautiful city I had visited for the first time in 
 the summer of 1861, just before the batte of Bull Run. A 
 four years' siege, ending in a fire which had consumed a large 
 portion of the city, had destroyed its beauty as well as its 
 prosperity, while the inhabitants wore such forlorn faces that 
 I felt sick at heart at beholding them. 
 
 I hastened away, therefore, and passed through Charlotte, 
 North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina, where the same 
 dismal changes were visible. Charleston was badly battered 
 and burned, but was not in quite as bad a plight as the other 
 places named. The finest portion of the city was destroyed, 
 however, and it looked very desolate. 
 
 I went to the Charleston Hotel, where I met an old friend 
 from Columbia, who invited me to accompany him and some 
 others on an excursion. His married daughter, and several 
 intimate acquaintances, who were of the party, were intro 
 duced to me, among them a Yankee captain, who had married 
 
AN INVITATION TO RIDE. 533 
 
 a fair daughter of South Carolina, who, with all her relates 
 were strong secessionists. 
 
 This officer attached himself particularly to me, and urged 
 me to give my views about the war, and the present condi 
 tion of affairs, in the way of an argument with him. We 
 accordingly had a very animated conversation for some time, 
 and he was obliged, finally, to retire from the contest, saying, 
 that he could not quarrel with me as I was a lady, and, more 
 over, had everybody on my side. I did not think him a very 
 brilliant genius, but he was quite a good fellow in his way, 
 and to show that there were no hard feelings between us, we 
 shook hands, and declared ourselves friends. 
 
 The next day one of the officers had the audacity to call 
 on me simply out of curiosity. He had heard about my serv 
 ing in the Confederate army in male attire, and he wished to 
 see what kind of a looking woman I was. I thought it a 
 rather impudent proceeding, but concluded to gratify him. I 
 accordingly walked into the drawing-room where he was, and 
 after some little conversation, which was conducted with, con 
 siderable coolness on my side, he invited me to take a ride 
 with .him. 
 
 I was astounded that he should make such a proposition, 
 knowing who I was, and I being where I was, surrounded by 
 the friends of the cause I had served, while he, of course, 
 expected to figure in his Federal uniform by my side. 
 
 I scarcely knew what to say ; but finally told him that I 
 could not go, as I had an engagement. ^ This, however, was a 
 mere pretence, and was intended to gain time for consultation 
 with my friends. Some of these, however, suggested that I 
 should accept the invitation, and give him a genuine specimen 
 of my abilities as a horsewoman. 
 
 A TRIAL OF EQUESTRIAN SKILL. 
 
 I accordingly went to every livery stable in the city, until 
 I at length found a very swift horse, that I thought would suit 
 my purpose. This being secured, I wrote a challenge for him 
 to ride a race with me. We were to ride down the mam 
 street. He, without being aware of what was on foot, ac 
 cepted ; and the next afternoon, therefore, we mounte 
 steeds and started. When we arrived at the appointed place, 
 I said, Let us show these people what good equestrians 
 are." 
 
534 A GOOD JOKE. 
 
 He gave his horse a lash, but I reined mine in, telling him 
 that I would give him twenty feet. When he had this dis 
 tance, I gave my steed a cut with the whip, and flew past my 
 cavalier like the wind, saying, loud enough for every one to 
 hear me, " This is the way we caught you at Blackburn's Ford 
 and Bull Run." 
 
 This was enough for him ; and turning his horse, he rode back 
 to the hotel, to find that a large party there were interested in 
 the race, and that there were some heavy bets on the result, 
 the odds being all against him. This gentleman, apparently, 
 did not desire to continue his acquaintance with me, for I saw 
 no more of him. 
 
 A few days after this occurrence I said farewell to my Charles 
 ton friends, and went to Atlanta, were I was very warmly 
 received. The surgeons who had been attached to the hospi 
 tal, and many others, called, and a disposition to show me every 
 attention was manifested on all sides. 
 
 The Federal General Wallace and his staff were stopping at 
 the same hotel as myself, as was also Captain B., one of the 
 officers whom I had met in Washington, and whom I had used 
 for the purpose of getting acquainted, and of furthering my 
 plans in that city. I met this gentleman in the hall, and passed 
 friendly greetings with him, and shortly after he came into the 
 parlor for the purpose of having a friendly chat. The captain, 
 up to this time, had never suspected in the least that I was 
 not, and had not been, an adherent of the Federal cause ; and 
 not supposing that I had any special interest in the war, our 
 conversation turned chiefly upon other topics. I knew that 
 he must shortly be undeceived, but I did not care to tell him 
 about the part I had taken in the contest, or the advantages I 
 had taken of his acquaintance with me. 
 
 UNDECEIVED. 
 
 While we were talking, Confederate General G. T. Ander 
 son came in, and called me " Lieutenant." The astonishment 
 of the captain was ludicrous. He could not understand what 
 the general meant at first, and thought it was a joke. The 
 truth, however, came out at last, and he learned not only that 
 I was a rebel, but that when I met him in Washington I was 
 endeavoring to gain information for the Confederates. 
 
 The captain, being somewhat bewildered, took his depart 
 ure soon after, and at the invitation of General Anderson, I 
 
A PITIABLE CONDITION OP AFFAIRS. 535 
 
 went out to visit the intrenchments. When we got back I 
 found that General Wallace had been informed as to who I 
 was, and that he was anxious to see me. I said that I would 
 be very glad to meet him ; and the general, and a number of 
 bis officers, accordingly came into the parlor to see me. Gen- 
 eral Wallace was very pleasant; and, as we shook hands, he 
 complimented me, with much heartiness, upon having played a 
 difficult part so long and so well, and with having distin 
 guished myself by my valor. I thanked him very sincerely 
 for his good opinion of me, and then fell into a lively conver 
 sation with him and his officers. 
 
 One of the officers asked me to ride with him ; but I begged 
 to be excused, as I did not think it would look well, especial 
 ly in Atlanta, where everybody knew me, to be seen riding 
 out with an escort wearing a Federal uniform. He under 
 stood and appreciated my feelings on the subject, and said no 
 more about it. 
 
 The next evening I started for New Orleans, and passed 
 over a good deal of my old campaigning . ground before I 
 reached my destination.. 
 
 My journey through the South had disclosed a pitiable state 
 of things. The men of intellect, and the true representatives 
 of Southern interests, were disfranchised and impoverished, 
 while the management of affairs was in the hands of ignorant 
 negroes, just relieved from slavery, and white " carpet-bag 
 gers," who had come to prey upon the desolation of the coun 
 try. On every side were ruin and poverty ; on every side dis 
 gust of the present,, and despair of .the future. The people, 
 many of them, absolutely did not know what to do ;^ and it is 
 no wonder, that at this dismal time, certain ill-advised emi 
 gration schemes found countenance with those who saw no 
 hope for themselves or their children but either to go out of 
 the country, or to remove so far away from their old homes that 
 they would be able to start life anew under better auspices 
 than were then possible within the limits of the late Confed 
 eracy. 
 
 THE DESOLATION OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 New Orleans, once a great, wealthy, and populous city, was 
 in a pitiful plight. The pedestal of Jackson's statue, in t 
 public square, was disfigured by inscriptions such as 1 
 who erected it never intended should go there which wei 
 cut during the occupancy of the Federal army, while t 
 
536 EMIGRATION SCHEMES. 
 
 pretty flower-beds were now nothing but masses of weeds 
 and dead stalks. / 
 
 Along the levee matters were even worse. Instead of for 
 ests of masts, or the innumerable chimneys of the steamboats, 
 belching forth volumes of smoke, or huge barricades of cot 
 ton, sugar, and other produce, or thousands of drays, carts, 
 and other vehicles, such as thronged the levee in olden times, 
 the wharves were now silent, and served merely as prom 
 enades for motley groups of poor men, women, and children, 
 who looked as if they did not know where the next meal was 
 to come from. 
 
 The desolation of the great city sickened me, and I was the 
 more indignant at what I saw, for I knew that this general 
 prostration of business, and impoverishment of all classes, 
 was not one of the legitimate results of warfare, but that am 
 bitious and unscrupulous politicians were making use of the 
 forlorn condition of the South for the furtherance of their own 
 bad ends. 
 
 I longed to quit the scene of so much misery, and fully 
 sympathized with those who preferred to fly from the country 
 of their birth, and to seek homes in other lands, rather than 
 to remain and be victimized, as they were being, by the 
 wretches who had usurped all control of the affairs of the late 
 rebel states. 
 
 FLYING FROM THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Taking advantage of the condition of mind and pocket 
 which a great many people were in, a number of emigration 
 schemes were started, most of them, I am confident, by swin 
 dlers. Many persons were so anxious to get away, that they 
 did not exercise even common prudence in investigating the 
 facilities that were offered them, and the result was, that they 
 'did much worse than if they had remained. The sufferings 
 endured by some of these emigrants cannot be estimated, and 
 the story of their attempts to find homes for themselves and 
 their children in some land where they could live in peace 
 and quietness, and enjoy the fruits of their labor without fear 
 of being plundered, is one of the saddest and dreariest pages 
 in the history of the country. 
 
 I was much interested in these emigration schemes when I 
 first heard of them, and was extremely anxious to investigate 
 them, for my own sake as well as for that of my suffering 
 -fellow-country people of the South. Venezuela was one of 
 
THE VENEZUELAN PROJECT. 537 
 
 the countries which it was proposed to colonize, and repre 
 sentations were made, to the effect that the Venezuelan gov 
 ernment would extend a cordial welcome to emigrants, and 
 would aid them in establishing themselves. 
 
 I consulted with a number of wise and prudent men with 
 regard to this Venezuelan project, but did not get much en 
 couragement from them. They said that they would prefer 
 to see the country for themselves, and to find out exactly 
 what the government was willing to do, before they would 
 care to invest any money. They thought that the country 
 was rich and fertile, but that many of the reports about it 
 were palpably exaggerations, having been gotten up in the 
 interests of speculators. It would consequently not be a pru 
 dent thing for any one to emigrate there, unless some trust 
 worthy person should undertake to go and see what was to be 
 seen, for the purpose of making a strictly truthful report. 
 
 I PROPOSE TO VISIT VENEZUELA. 
 
 I accordingly informed my friends that I would go and see 
 for myself, and would certainly bring back such an account as 
 could be relied upon. 
 
 It having been announced that I intended to go to Venezu 
 ela, I was called upon at the City Hotel, where I had my 
 quarters, by Captain Fred. A. Johnston, who was fitting out 
 an expedition. He gave me a most glowing account of the 
 country, describing it as a perfect paradise, although I speed 
 ily judged, from his conversation, that he knew nothing about 
 it, except from hearsay. 
 
 I had no difficulty in reading Captain Johnston's character, 
 and what I saw of him subsequently only confirmed my first 
 impressions. He was a nervous, excitable man, with more 
 bombast than true enterprise. He was anxious to make 
 money, and to make it very quick, and was consequently not 
 particularly scrupulous about the means. He had a tolerably 
 good education, but was not smart enough to put it to good 
 use, and he was always engaged in some wild speculation or 
 other, but never could accomplish anything. He was a plau 
 sible man, however, and a gqod talker, and, considering nov 
 many people felt at the time, it was no wonder a numbe 
 deceived by him. 
 
 After a long conversation with Johnston, I made 
 mind to go with him, and in the mean time secretly advis 
 
538 IN PEKPLEXITY. 
 
 my friends not to put any money in his or any other expedi 
 tion until they heard from me. I was visited by a number of 
 persons, who, on being informed that I proposed to go with 
 Johnston's expedition, said, in effect, " We will depend upon 
 the report you make as to the climate and the country, for 
 we have families to support, and we do not want to run the 
 risk of going to a foreign land, about which we know abso 
 lutely nothing." I promised to make a faithful report, and 
 took care to say nothing to Johnston, or others interested in 
 the manner he was, about what my intentions were, or about 
 my discouraging other people from emigrating. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE VOYAGE. 
 
 I commenced making my preparations, and Johnston, who 
 was apparently beginning to consider me a valuable ally, 
 came and invited me to go over to Algiers, across the river 
 from New Orleans, with him, for the purpose of meeting the 
 others who were going. I found a number of proposed emi 
 grants at Algiers, who were waiting for the vessel which was 
 to convey them to their new homes. They all seemed to 
 be in a cheerful mood, and well satisfied at the prospect of 
 speedily getting away from a land where there was so much 
 suffering. 
 
 A meeting was called for the purpose of consultation with 
 regard to chartering a vessel and arranging for supplies, and 
 Johnston greatly desired me to deliver an address. This I 
 declined to do ; but I took occasion to say, that while it might 
 be well enough for single men to engage in an enterprise of 
 this kind, it was, in my opinion, rather too risky a thing for 
 those who had families dependent upon them. 
 
 After my return to the city I reviewed the situation in my 
 mind more clearly than I had hitherto done. I was becoming 
 less and less satisfied with the way things looked, and could 
 not help asking myself, Why should I make any attempt to 
 leave the country I had fought for, and give it up to the car 
 pet-baggers and negroes? or why should I interest myself in 
 such an enterprise as this one of Johnston's, merely for the 
 purpose of gaining information for people whose duty it was 
 to look out for themselves ? I called, in my perplexity, on an 
 old gentleman who had been a good deal in California, and 
 asked his opinion of the Pacific slope, and of the advisability 
 of those who wished to emigrate from the South going there. 
 
A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. 539 
 
 He said that there was not a country in the world equal to 
 California, and it would be vastly better for those who wanted 
 to find new homes to find them there, or in some other portion 
 of the far west, rather than to go to South America. As for 
 Johnston, he said that he would not take his own family to 
 Venezuela until he had looked at the country himself, and it 
 was doubtful whether he would then. 
 
 The poor people whom Johnston had enlisted in his 
 scheme, however, had their hearts set upon going to Venezu 
 ela, and nowhere else; and though my heart ached at the 
 disappointment, and perhaps severe suffering that was in store 
 for them, I saw that it was useless to attempt to turn them 
 from their purpose. They had their new homes all pictured 
 in their imaginations, and Venezuela appeared to them like a 
 second Garden of Eden, where all was peace, happiness, and 
 prosperity, with no free negroes or carpet-baggers to intrude 
 upon them. 
 
 Many of this band of emigrants were most* estimable peo 
 ple ; but, as I speedily discovered, there were some worthless 
 ones among them, and I dreaded, more and more, the execu 
 tion of the task I had set myself to do. Having, however, 
 announced my intention of going, and having excited the 
 expectations of my friends, I concluded that it would not do 
 to back out, and so determined to go through with the thing, 
 no matter what the consequences might be. 
 
 Among the emigrants who had enlisted in Johnston's band 
 was a young Confederate officer, Major Wasson. He was a 
 remarkably fine-looking man, with long, wavy, flaxen hair, 
 which he wore brushed off his forehead, blue eyes, and fair 
 complexion. The day before going over to Algiers with 
 Johnston I had seen him on one of the street cars, and was 
 very much struck with him. At Algiers I had some conver 
 sation with him, and invited him to call on me at the hotel. 
 This he did ; and I discovered that he was a stranger to all the 
 rest of the band of emigrants, that he was anxious to get out 
 of the country, and that, attracted by Johnston's representa 
 tions, he had resolved to go to Venezuela with his expedition. 
 
 After that I saw a great deal of Major Wasson, and a strong 
 attachment sprang up between us. A few days before we 
 were to sail, he asked me to accept his hand, and I did so will 
 ingly ; for not only did I admire him greatly, but I 
 it would be better in every way that I should accompany the 
 expedition as a married woman. 
 
540 MARRIAGE. 
 
 We were accordingly married, and for some days kept the 
 matter secret, it being our original intention not to say any 
 thing about it until alter we were out at sea. As I was, how 
 ever, pursued by the attentions of several other gentlemen, 
 we finally concluded that the fact of our being husband and 
 wife had best be announced. 
 
 A small schooner was finally procured, and preparations for 
 our departure were pushed rapidly forward. Just as we 
 were on the point of sailing, however, the owners of the ves 
 sel, who had not received their money for her, attempted to 
 regain possession. We were all arrested, therefore, but after 
 a long investigation of the case, were released, and the 
 schooner delivered into our hands. This was a disagreeable 
 and discouraging commencement, but it would have been 
 well for the entire party had it been the worst misadventure 
 that befell us. 
 
 As the time, for departure drew near, I lost confidence in 
 Johnston more and more, and almost at the last moment en 
 deavored to persuade my husband to refrain from embarking, 
 suggesting that we should seek a home somewhere in the 
 West. He, however, was resolved to go, and I yielded my 
 better judgment to his wishes, and went aboard, very much 
 against my inclination. 
 
 SAILING OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 The expedition consisted of forty-nine persons, including 
 children, all of whom were stowed away in the hull of a small 
 schooner, without regard to decency, and without many of 
 the necessities of life. I did not find out how badly provided 
 we were for a voyage until after we were at sea ; but when 
 I did discover what treatment was in store for us, I was boil 
 ing with indignation. There were no conveniences of any 
 kind ; scarcely provisions enough to sustain life ; the water 
 was foul, from the impure barrels in which it had been placed ; 
 while the conduct of some of the persons on board was an 
 outrage on the very name of decency. Our diet was beans 
 and hard tack for breakfast, the same for dinner, with the 
 addition of duff for dessert ; and this bill of fare was repeated, 
 day after day, until we entered the River Orinoco. 
 
 It was a terrible voyage ; and, although I had passed 
 through some rather rough experiences in my time, and was 
 accustomed to hardships, it will always live in my memory as 
 
AT THE MOUTH OF THE ORINOCO. 541 
 
 one of my most painful experiences. My sufferings, however, 
 were nothing in comparison with those of some of the poor 
 women and children who were with us, and I was indignant, 
 beyond expression, at the idea of their being victimized in 
 the manner they were. 
 
 At length, after a cruise that, brief as it was, was fast be 
 coming intolerable, we entered the mouth of the Orinoco, and 
 the despairing band of emigrants began to pluck up their 
 spirits, for now they were fairly in sight of the paradise which 
 had been promised them. 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 VENEZUELA. 
 
 Taking a Pilot on Board. A perplexing Predicament. Beautiful Sce 
 nery along the Orinoco. Negro Officials. Disgust of some of the 
 Emigrants. Frightened Natives. Arrival at the City of Bolivar. 
 The United States Consul ashamed of the Expedition. Death of my 
 Husband. Another Expedition makes its Appearance. Sufferings of 
 the Emigrants. I write a Letter to my Friends in New Orleans warn 
 ing them not to come to Venezuela. Rival Lovers. I conclude that 
 I have had enough of Matrimony, and encourage neither of them. A 
 Trip by Sea to La Guayra and Caraccas. I prepare to leave. What 
 I learned in Venezuela. The Resources of the Country. 
 
 
 
 HE sight of the promised land, of which such 
 glowing accounts had been given them, filled 
 our company with extravagant joy. Alas, they 
 little knew what was yet in store for them ; but 
 the prospect of being able to leave the wretched 
 little schooner was such a pleasant one, that they scarce 
 ly thought of the future, and almost any fate seemed 
 preferable to remaining on board of her. 
 
 We had not been in the neighborhood of the mouth 
 of the river long before a small, light canoe put out 
 towards us, and its occupant, hailing us in Spanish, asked 
 whether we did not want a pilot. 
 
 I was the only person on board who understood him, and as 
 he came alongside the captain refused to let him come on 
 board. Some of the men, thinking that he had hostile in 
 tentions, produced their pistols, and for a time there was a 
 prospect of trouble. 
 
 I accordingly went to Johnston, and said, " Now, Captain 
 Johnston, you are in a nice fix. This man is a pilot, and you 
 cannot go up the river without his assistance. If you attempt 
 anything of the kind you will be considered a pirate." 
 
 This frightened Johnston, and I laughed in my sleeve to 
 see the perplexity he was in. After leaving him to his reflec 
 tions for a few moments, I said, in a whisper, " This man is a 
 
 542 
 
CREATING A SENSATION. 543 
 
 government pilot, and your vessel and crew are in imminent 
 danger. It won't do to trifle with these Spaniards, I can tell 
 you, for if you do, they will make short work of the whole 
 party." 
 
 Johnston saw the point, and telling the captain of the 
 schooner who the man was, he was permitted to come on 
 board. The arrival of the pilot created quite a commotion, 
 and no little surprise was expressed at the fact of his being a 
 negro. The man, however, understood his business, and man 
 aged the vessel very skilfully. Without his assistance we 
 would never have been able to have ascended the beautiful 
 Orinoco, or have steered the schooner among the numerous 
 islands. 
 
 GOING UP THE ORINOCO RIVER. 
 
 The scenery along the river was truly beautiful, and all ad 
 mitted that, whatever else the country might be, it was certain 
 ly fair to look upon. I had not much confidence, however, that, 
 on closer inspection, it would prove to be the earthly paradise 
 we were searching for, but kept my thoughts to myself, for I 
 knew that there would not be much use in expressing them. 
 
 The first village we came to was Coraeppa, where we took on 
 board another pilot, Antonio Silva by name. He was a bright 
 colored half-breed, and, like the negro, was skilful in his busi 
 ness. When he boarded us, the captain exclaimed in disgust, 
 " Good Lord, are all the officials in this country niggers ? " A 
 good many of the emigrants were quite as much disgusted as 
 the captain, and seemed to think that if the negroes were of 
 as much importance as they seemed to be in Venezuela, it 
 would have been just as well to have remained at home and 
 fought the battle for supremacy with the free negroes and 
 carpet-baggers on familiar ground. 
 
 That night we anchored at Baranco, with a great uncer 
 tainty before us as to whether we would be permitted to 
 proceed any farther or not. At this place I caught the first 
 fish, which was a grateful addition to our bill of fare. Some 
 of our people went in bathing, a performance which aston 
 ished the natives, who were afraid to venture into the water 
 on account of the alligators, which abounded in rather star 
 tling profusion. Others obtained permission to go on shore, 
 and created a sensation by doing so. The ignorant natives, 
 who had no idea who we were, promptly abandoned their 
 houses, and, leaving everything behind them, fled to the forests. 
 
544 THE CONSUL DISGUSTED. 
 
 They imagined that we were a band of pirates, who were 
 coming to take possession of the country. 
 
 A messenger was now despatched to the city of Bolivar to 
 notify the governor of our coming, and, with considerable 
 uncertainty as to the reception we were likely to meet with, 
 the next morning we resumed our slow progress up the river. 
 
 At Los Tablos we were commanded to stop, and a most 
 primitive piece of artillery was pointed at us, which excited 
 some derision in my breast, but which appeared to inspire 
 terror in that of Captain Johnston, for he was in much agita 
 tion lest the authorities on shore should take a notion to fire 
 on us. 
 
 WE EEACH THE ClTY OP BOLIVAB. 
 
 After some parley, however, we were permitted to pass on 
 to the city of Bolivar unmolested. On arriving off that place, 
 the order was given that nobody should go ashore, much to the 
 dissatisfaction of every one, for there was not a man, woman, 
 or child on the steamer but was anxious to leave her at the 
 earliest practicable moment. 
 
 After a time, the United States consul, Mr. Dalton, boarded 
 us. He denied being the consul when my husband spoke to 
 him, and said that he was heartily ashamed of such a shabby 
 expedition. In spite of his denial, however, I knew that he 
 was the consul, and determined to demand his assistance in 
 case it should be necessary. 
 
 I now resolved to land and look out for myself, and appealed 
 to my husband to come with me, saying that I had money 
 enough about me for all our present needs, although the other 
 members of the expedition were not aware of the fact, and 
 that I could draw more, if it should be wanted, through the 
 consul. 
 
 My husband, however, refused to go, and said that he would 
 stick by the expedition to the last. I suggested that they 
 would be far from sticking to him in case he was left destitute, 
 and, thoroughly disgusted with the whole business, I left the 
 schooner and went to the hotel. 
 
 At the hotel I met several very nice people, with whom I 
 was soon on friendly terms, and was rejoiced to find myself 
 once more in reasonably comfortable quarters, after what I 
 had gone through with. The hotel was kept by a German, 
 who had married a Venezuelan woman, and it was very well 
 managed. 
 
ANOTHER SHABBY EXPEDITION. 545 
 
 Once on shore, and free to do as I pleased, I proceeded to 
 carry out the purpose I had in view when I started. I called 
 on the consul, and explained matters to him, and through him 
 obtained an introduction to the governor and his family. By 
 all the persons I met I was well received, and a general 
 desire was shown to give me such information as I needed 
 with regard to the country, and the inducements which it 
 might hold out for emigrants from the United States. 
 
 While I was thus employing myself on shore my husband 
 stuck to the schooner. Finally, however, he too became so 
 much disgusted that he concluded to take my advice, and 
 abandon Johnston and his whole enterprise. In a day or two 
 he left, and started for the gold mines, to find that the black 
 fever was raging there to such an extent that it was danger 
 ous for him to remain. He therefore returned, and went to 
 Caraccas, where, shortly after his arrival, he was taken ill 
 with the black vomit and died. 
 
 INSPECTING THE COUNTRY. 
 
 I remained in the city of Bolivar for several months, making 
 occasional excursions into the country in the neighborhood, 
 and going up the River Orinoco as far as San Fernando. My 
 object was to find out all I could about the natural resources 
 and climate of Venezuela, for the purpose of advising my 
 friends in New Orleans ; and through the kind assistance of 
 my Venezuelan acquaintances, who interested themselves 
 greatly in my labors, and aided me by every means in their 
 power, I was, ere long, in possession of ample information to 
 enable me to form an opinion as to the desirability of people 
 from the United States seeking new homes in this part of the 
 world. 
 
 The expedition, of which I was a member, was followed, not 
 a great while after, by another one of equally shabby charac 
 ter, under the charge of a Dr. Price. This was made up 
 of poor families, who had scarcely anything with them which 
 would have enabled them to start farming, or business of any 
 kind, in a strange land. These people were sent on shore by 
 Price, who immediately slipped away, and left them to their 
 fate, not caring what became of them. 
 
 It was an outrage, which cannot be denounced in too strong 
 terms, to take these poor people out to Venezuela without 
 capital, and without any means of support ; and no punishment 
 35 
 
546 A WARNING. 
 
 I can think of would have been too severe for the men who 
 did the deed. 
 
 As for the emigrants, they were indignant at the treatment 
 they had received, and having nobody else at hand to vent their 
 grievances upon, fell to blaming the United States consul and 
 the Venezuelan authorities. They would not acknowledge 
 the consul, and some of them abused him in the grossest man 
 ner. This made him powerless to act for them. I interested 
 myself as much as I could in behalf of such as were disposed 
 to be tractable, and succeeded, through the consul's influence, 
 in procuring passage back to the United States for several of 
 the unfortunates. The rest scattered over the country ; some 
 of them died, some found precarious employment of one kind 
 or another, and some tried to make their way home again. 
 
 I ADVISE MY FRIENDS IN THE UNITED STATES TO REMAIN AT 
 
 HOME. 
 
 After the arrival of Price's expedition, I considered it my 
 duty to communicate with my friends in New Orleans, without 
 more delay, for the purpose of warning them, and all others who 
 were disposed to emigrate, not to think of doing anything of 
 the kind. I accordingly wrote a letter advising those who 
 thought of emigrating to Venezuela, to let it alone, and de 
 nouncing Johnston and Price for holding out inducements to 
 poor and ignorant people which they had no assurance what 
 ever would be realized. I said that it would be useless for 
 any persons from the States to come to Venezuela without 
 plenty of capital to carry on any such operations as they 
 might engage in, and that if they did come they would have 
 to submit to the laws of the country, and take their chances 
 with its citizens. One great objection to any emigration 
 schemes, however, was the instability of the government, and 
 the fact that Venezuela had no national credit. The Governor 
 of Bolivar said that Venezuela would be glad to have indus 
 trious people come to it from the United States, or any other 
 country, and that facilities would be afforded for them to take 
 up lands at low rates, but he had no supplies to give half- 
 starved men and women who might be landed within his juris 
 diction, and was anxious that no one should come under any 
 misapprehensions as to what reception they would be likely 
 to have on their arrival. 
 
 I stated the facts within my knowledge plainly, and reviewed 
 
LIFE IN BOLIVAR. 547 
 
 the situation in such terms that there could be no misunder 
 standing of my meaning, and before sending my letter, had it 
 countersigned by the governor, his brother, the consul, and a 
 number of Americans who were in the city. 
 
 SOCIAL PLEASURES OF BOLIVAR. 
 
 This duty having been performed, I felt free to enjoy myself, 
 and having by this time quite a large circle of acquaintances, 
 I found very little difficulty in the way of having a good time. 
 
 Two young gentlemen, Senor Sayal and Seiior Rodriguez, 
 both became very attentive to me, and very jealous of each 
 other, and very jealous also of Major G., a gentleman whom I 
 esteemed very highly. I was afraid at one time that Sayal 
 and Rodriguez would have a serious difficulty, and perhaps 
 kill each other ; the last named, especially, was very violent, 
 and declared that any man who stood in his way should die. 
 As for myself, the party chiefly interested, I cared nothing for 
 either of them, except in the way of friendship, and had no 
 intentions of marrying again. My matrimonial experiences 
 hitherto had been so unfortunate, that I came to the conclu 
 sion I had better live single, and travel about to see the world, 
 relying upon myself for protection. 
 
 While residing in Bolivar I conformed to all the customs 
 of the place, and endeavored to see all that was worth seeing. 
 A number of families welcomed me most cordially to their 
 homes, and in company with my friends of both sexes, I went 
 on several pleasant excursions. It was quite a popular custom 
 to go up the river, on a Sunday morning, to Marichal or San 
 Rafael, to bathe. At these places there were regular bathing 
 grounds, resorted to by the people of Bolivar, and the washer 
 women also went there to do their work. The method of 
 washing clothes was peculiar ; they would be thrown over 
 smooth stones, and beaten with sticks while drenched with 
 water. This process, it is scarcely necessary to say, is terribly 
 destructive to the clothing. 
 
 The city of Bolivar is a very beautiful place. It is built on 
 the brow of a hill, overlooking the River Orinoco, on one side, 
 and a lagoon on the other. Behind the city are the Marichal 
 Mountains, in which gold is to be found, but scarcely in pay 
 ing quantities. 
 
 The people of Bolivar are hospitable and agreeable in their 
 manners, and those with whom I became acquainted did all 
 
543 A TOO ATTENTIVE ADMIRER. 
 
 they could to make my time pass pleasantly, I attended 
 several fandangos with Senor Sayal and Senor Rodriguez, as 
 as well as other entertainments. 
 
 After having resided in Bolivar for several months, I con 
 cluded to visit other portions of the country, and accordingly 
 made a trip around by sea to La 'Guyra, and from thence to 
 Caraccas. To my great surprise Rodriguez came after me by 
 the next steamer, and began to be more attentive than ever. 
 He introduced me to his relatives who resided in the neigh 
 borhood of Caraccas, and appeared to be resolved to make 
 sure of me, now that he had his rivals at a distance. I, how 
 ever, gave him very little encouragement, although, had I felt 
 anxious to marry again, I perhaps would have done well to 
 have been more gracious to him. He was one of twelve sons, 
 and his parents were very wealthy, owning immense estates 
 and large herds of cattle, which must have yielded them 
 a great income. 
 
 FAREWELL TO VENEZUELA. 
 
 With this visit to Caraccas concluded my Venezuelan ex 
 periences, for, notwithstanding the assiduous attentions of 
 Senor Rodriguez, I could not be persuaded to remain, and 
 made my preparations to return to the United States. Taking 
 passage on a schooner bound for Demerara, in British Guiana, 
 I said adieu to my Venezuelan friends, having made up my 
 mind that my own country was the best to live in after all, 
 and that in it thereafter I would seek my fortune. My Vene 
 zuelan trip, however, was, notwithstanding the ungracious 
 auspicies under which it was commenced, a source of gratifi 
 cation to me. It made me acquainted with a portion of the 
 world that was well worth looking at, and it was the means 
 of bringing me in friendly relations with a number of excellent 
 people, for whom I shall always have a warm regard, and to 
 whom I shall always feel indebted for many unsolicited 
 kindnesses. 
 
 The personal gratifications which the trip afforded me am 
 ply repaid me for all the expense and trouble I was put to in 
 making it ; but, beyond this, I have the satisfaction of know 
 ing, that by accompanying Captain Johnston's expedition as I 
 did, and under the peculiar circumstances I did, I was the 
 means of preventing a great number of persons in the South 
 ern states from being swindled by speculators who, taking 
 
VENEZUELAN PRODUCTS. 549 
 
 advantage of the unsettled condition of the South after the 
 war, and the discontent of a large portion of the people, were 
 endeavoring, without proper means or facilities for carrying 
 out their proposed objects, to organize colonization parties to 
 go to various places in South America. 
 
 My experiences in Venezuela convinced me that it was no 
 place for poor Americans to go to. For people who had capi 
 tal, and the skill and energy to use it properly, it held out 
 many inducements, but no more and no greater than were held 
 out by the Western portions of our own country. 
 
 VENEZUELA AND ITS PRODUCTS. 
 
 Portions of Venezuela are very beautiful, and the scenery 
 along the banks of the Orinoco, especially, is lovely in the 
 extreme. The country is, much of it, fertile, and its mineral 
 wealth is very great, but it is undeveloped, and those who 
 attempt its development will be tolerably certain to have a 
 hard time of it, and to expend a great deal of money before 
 they get much return, either for their cash or labor. Apart 
 from everything else, the climate is very trying, especially to 
 strangers ; and this of itself is a good and sufficient reason 
 why residents of the United States would do well to tempt 
 fortune elsewhere. 
 
 Along the banks of the Orinoco and its tributaries the 
 vegetation is most luxuriant, and all kinds of tropical fruits 
 abound in the greatest profusion. The forests contain mahoga 
 ny, lignum-vitse, and the chinchona tree, from which quinine 
 is made. In the interior are to be found the Caoutchouc or 
 India-rubber tree, and half a dozen varieties of the cotton 
 tree. Some of the latter are, I think, especially worthy of 
 the attention of those who are interested in cotton- growing, 
 and with proper cultivation they might be made to yield far 
 more valuable results than they do. Tobacco grows wild, and 
 is cultivated to some extent, but the natives, although they 
 are inveterate consumers of the weed, do not understand how 
 to cure it properly 
 
 The diet of the Venezuelans is largely made up of fruits, 
 of which they have a great variety, such as the banana, of which 
 there are half a dozen different kinds, cocoanuts, figs, mangoes, 
 manzanas de oro, or golden apples, marma apples, guavas, 
 oranges, grapes, and pomegranates. The melons are very 
 plentiful, and, although small, are sweet and well flavored. 
 
550 THE BIRDS AND BEASTS OF VENEZUELA. 
 
 Sugar is made to some extent from the cane, which bears a 
 strong resemblance to the maple sugar of the United States. 
 Yams and sweet potatoes are very abundant, and there is a 
 hardy species of cabbage which grows on the edges of marshes, 
 and which sometimes attains a height of eighteen or twenty 
 feet. The calabashes grow to an enormous size, and are used 
 for carrying water. The onions are numerous, but small. 
 
 The flowers grow in great profusion, and are very beautiful. 
 The mariposa attains to the height of the oleander, and has 
 gorgeous white and scarlet blossoms. The zueco is a bright 
 little plant, and is very fragrant. The people of Venezuela are 
 exceedingly fond of flowers, and always have a great number 
 of them about their dwellings. 
 
 The birds of Venezuela, for the most part, are of very rich 
 plumage. There are several varieties of parrots, of which the 
 macaw, and the green and gray parrots, are the talkers. The 
 paroquets are very diminutive, and are beautiful little birds. 
 The cock of the rocks, which is the color of the redbird of 
 the United States, is easily domesticated ; it has a ruffle of 
 feathers about an inch in length, which encircles its neck from 
 the wings to the beak. The ayax is a bird that is heard last 
 in the evening and first in the morning ; it has a very peculiar 
 cry, and the natives are exceedingly superstitious about it, 
 thinking that should they kill it some misfortune is certain 
 to happen to them. 
 
 The lizards and other reptiles are too numerous for descrip 
 tion. In the huts of the poorer classes, lizards, scorpions, 
 roaches, and other live stock live on the most intimate terms 
 with the human inhabitants, and do not appear to interfere 
 very materially with their comfort. 
 
 The forests and jungles are filled with panthers, jaguars, 
 and South American tigers. The last named are very fero 
 cious, and the natives stand in great fear of them. 
 
 THE PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA. 
 
 The people of Venezuela are very superstitious, and are 
 exceedingly particular about their religious observances. In 
 their manners they are courteous and unaffected, and some of 
 their household ways are very primitive. Their meat is cured 
 in strips, and their corn is ground between two stones, the 
 under one of which is hollowed out to some extent. This 
 kind of work is chiefly done by the women. The men make 
 
THE MINERAL WEALTH OF VENEZUELA. 551 
 
 hammocks out of grass, bark, and cotton, and employ them 
 selves in the cultivation of the ground, and in the care of 
 live stock and the pursuit of game. In the summer time the 
 hammocks are swung out in the open air between two trees, 
 or in rude huts with no sides to them. The milk of the ass is 
 preferred to that of the cow or goat. Most of the cooking is 
 done in earthenware jars or pipkins. Earthenware jars, of a 
 peculiar make, are also used for keeping water for drinking 
 purposes in. 
 
 The principal exports of Venezuela are cattle, hides, tallow, 
 and coffee from the La Guayra and Maracaybo districts. The 
 United States consul at Bolivar, while I was there, was inter 
 ested to some extent in gold mining. The quartz was brought 
 from the Caratol mountains, nearly two hundred miles distant, 
 on the backs of donkeys, and was purchased by the consul 
 from* the natives with merchandise. Having obtained the 
 quartz, he crushed it, and extracted the metal, which was 
 forwarded to the mint in Philadelphia. The mineral wealth 
 of Venezuela is very great ; gold, silver, copper, and tin 
 abounding in large quantities. The mines, however, are, for 
 the most part, far distant from the commercial centres, and 
 are very inefficiently worked. It would pay capitalists to go 
 into the mining business in Venezuela if they could get some 
 railroads built, or even if they could get some good common 
 roads made. 
 
 The country away from the seaboard or the watercourses 
 is thinly settled, and there is not likely to be any great 
 increase in the population until the facilities for easy travel 
 ling are much greater than they are, or were at the time of 
 my visit. The roads to the mines are mere paths, not larger 
 than cattle trails. 
 
 The natives in the interior suffer many hardships and priva 
 tions, and any one going to Venezuela without ample capital, 
 must expect to do the same. One great source of annoyance to 
 the country people is the jigger, a species of worm which 
 buries itself in the feet, generally under the skin near the 
 toe-nails. It is very painful under any circumstances, and it 
 not infrequently causes the loss of the toes. 
 
 As in nearly all of the South American states, the govern 
 ment of Venezuela is very unsettled ; and the schemings of 
 ambitious politicians, who are ready at any moment to resort 
 to arms for the accomplishment of their ends, render both life 
 and property to some extent insecure. To be sure, the 
 
552 INSECURITY. 
 
 revolutions which occur there from time to time do not, as a 
 rule, cause any great amount of bloodshed, notwithstanding 
 the commotions they make, but they have the effect of leaving 
 a sense of insecurity on the public mind, and of preventing 
 improvement which otherwise might be made. The white 
 people are, for the most part, well educated and intelligent, 
 but they do not appear to understand the art of self-govern 
 ment ; while the negroes, Indians, and half-breeds seem to be 
 incapable of doing anything to advance their own condition, 
 or to promote the interests of the country. With such a 
 heterogeneous population as resides within its borders, and 
 with the educated whites so greatly in the minority as they 
 are, there is not much prospect of Venezuela speedily attain 
 ing the position her agricultural and mineral resources would 
 seem to entitle her to. 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 DEMERARA, TRINIDAD, BARBADOES, AND ST. LUCIA. 
 
 From Venezuela to Demerara. The Hotels of Georgetown, Demerara. 
 
 The United States Consul at Georgetown. A Visit to a Coffee 
 Plantation. A Cooly murders his Wife. Excitement in the Streets 
 of Georgetown. The Products of Demerara. Fort Spain, Trinidad. 
 
 A very dirty Town. Bridgetown, Barbadoes. Having a good Time 
 among old Friends. A Drive to Speightstown. St. Lucia. The 
 old Homestead. Reminiscences of Childhood. The Past, the Pres 
 ent, and the Future. The Family Burying-ground. 
 
 HE schooner Isabel, in which I sailed for Dem 
 erara, had a rather unsavory cargo in the 
 shape of cattle ; but being an experienced 
 traveller, and accustomed to roughing it, I 
 did not permit myself to be annoyed by my 
 surroundings ; and as the weather was fine, I greatly 
 enjoyed this brief cruise along the tropical South Amer 
 ican coast. 
 
 There were two lady passengers besides myself, 
 whose companionship I found very agreeable ; and I had 
 with me a number of pets, whose capers and gambols afforded 
 all on board much amusement. These pets were two monkeys, 
 a young South American tiger, two parrots, and a dozen paro 
 quets. One of the monkeys was named Bob Lee, while the 
 tiger was called Joe Johnston. One of our chief diversions 
 was to get up contests between these animals over their meals. 
 The monkey, being of more mature age and of superior cun 
 ning, almost invariably got the better of his antagonist, al 
 though the tiger would make a good fight. This tiger was 
 very tame and very gentle, and he liked nothing better than 
 to be taken in my lap and petted. 
 
 On landing at Georgetown, we were beset by negroes, 
 offering us sapadillos for sale ; but, disregarding them, I bade 
 adieu to my travelling companions, and went to the Prince of 
 Wales Hotel, and asked for accommodation. The sapadillo, I 
 may remark here, is a small fruit, shaped something like a pear ; 
 
 553 
 
554 A RELIEF FUND. 
 
 the skin is roughish, and the flesh inside is of a maroon color, 
 and rather tart to the taste. The Prince of Wales Hotel was 
 kept by a negro ; on discovering which, I was rather dubious 
 about stopping there. The captain of the schooner told me 
 that there was another hotel kept by white people ; but, on in 
 specting it, I concluded that it would be wise for me to take 
 up my quarters at the African establishment. 
 
 The hostess of the Prince of Wales' Hotel was a mulatto 
 woman, of about forty-five years of age. She was quite good- 
 looking, and had been the wife of an English sea captain, by 
 whom she had two daughters. Her husband was dead, and 
 one of her daughters was married to a white man, who was 
 extensively engaged in coffee- growing. This woman was very 
 intelligent herself, and she had taken pains to have her chil 
 dren carefully educated. As a hotel keeper, she was much 
 above the average ; and during my stay in her house, she did 
 every thing possible to make me comfortable. 
 
 The captain of the schooner introduced me to a number of 
 prominent people in Georgetown, and I went of my own ac 
 cord to call on the United States consul. This official was a 
 German by birth, and he was engaged in making a collection 
 of animals for the Zoological Garden of Frankfort-on-the- 
 Main. His wife, a very pleasant woman, took a great deal of 
 interest in his pursuits, and devoted a large portion of her time 
 to the care of the numerous pets, in the way of monkeys, 
 dogs, cats, and squirrels, with which the house abounded. 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION FOR MY RELIEF. 
 
 Among the persons with whom I became acquainted was 
 an officer belonging to a United States man-of-war which was 
 lying in the harbor. This gentleman, hearing that I was 
 one of a party of emigrants from the States, and was on 
 my way back, supposed that I must be in destitute circum 
 stances. He accordingly represented my case in such a way, 
 on board his ship, that a considerable sum of money was 
 raised for me, and the commander of the vessel called at the 
 hotel to give it to me, and to offer me such other aid as he 
 was able to bestow. The consul, when he heard of this 
 occurrence, was much annoyed that I had not informed him 
 that I was in want of money, in order that he might have as 
 sisted me. I had some trouble in making these good gentle 
 men understand my real position. They were very indignant 
 
EXCITING OCCUEKENCES. 555 
 
 over the story I told with regard to the manner in which peo 
 ple in the Southern States had been deluded 'into emigrating 
 to Venezuela, and other portions of South America, and prom 
 ised to use their influence to check the schemes of such men 
 as Johnston and Price. 
 
 Having expressed a desire to proceed on my journey north 
 ward, the consul introduced me to the captain of a vessel 
 which was shortly to sail for Barbadoes, and I arranged with 
 him for a passage. 
 
 While waiting for the vessel to sail, I made a trip into the 
 country, to visit the coffee plantation of Mr. Waite, the hus 
 band of my landlady's daughter. When we reached the plan 
 tation, we found everybody there in considerable excitement 
 over a murder that had just been committed. A cooly who 
 was jealous, had, it appeared, cut the throat of his wife, her 
 crime being that she had looked at another man. Mr. 
 Waite assured me that there was nothing strange about such 
 an occurrence a this, and that such outrages were happen 
 ing constantly. 
 
 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 
 
 On our return to Georgetown, we found that place in a 
 commotion. The people were rushing about the streets, yell 
 ing at the tops of their voices, and making a terrible to do. 
 I supposed, of course, that it was another murder, but was 
 informed that the excitement was caused by the pound-master 
 making a raid on the goats, which were permitted to roam 
 about the streets contrary to law. These goats being the 
 chief means of support of many of the poor people, their ar 
 rest by the pound-master was, from a South American point 
 of view, a very much more serious matter than the murder of 
 a cooly woman. 
 
 Another sensation was shortly after caused by a fellow from 
 New Jersey absconding with a large sum of money. He had 
 started some kind of speculation, and had induced a number 
 of people to invest their means. Having secured a good 
 round sum, he quietly slipped away, carrying the cash with 
 him. There was, of course, an immense amount of indigna 
 tion among the sufferers. One of the victims, an old Scotch 
 man, gave me a most pitiful recital of the manner in which he 
 had been swindled. I, however, gave him but little comfort, 
 and told him I thought he deserved to lose his money, for not 
 
556 PRODUCTS OP DEMERARA. 
 
 having more wit than to trust it in the hands of such a trans 
 parent rogue as this fellow appeared to be. 
 
 During my visit to Mr. Waite's coffee plantation, and during 
 other excursions I made to the interior, I had excellent oppor 
 tunities afforded me for seeing the country in the vicinity of 
 Georgetown, and of obtaining information concerning it. 
 
 THE VEGETABLES AND ANIMALS OP DEMERARA. 
 
 Like Venezuela, this portion of Demerara is very beautiful 
 to the eye, and is very rich in products of the soil. The palm 
 trees grow to a great size, and are useful in innumerable ways. 
 The adobe, or mud huts of the poorer classes, are invariably 
 thatched with palm leaves, interwoven with cane, and plas 
 tered with mud. This kind of a roof has merits, but it also 
 has some disadvantages, not the least of which is, that it 
 affords an admirable habitation for ants, lizards, snakes, 
 roaches, scorpions, and spiders, of all colors and sizes. The 
 people, however, do not appear to mind this vermin, and it 
 has seemed to me that they rather enjoyed sharing their hab 
 itations with the venomous reptiles arid insects. Of the fibres 
 of the palm are made various kinds of cordage, nets, ham 
 mocks, lassos, mats, and many household conveniences. 
 
 There are a number of different kinds of cactus, some of 
 which grow to a great height. The fruit of the scarlet variety 
 is made into a kind of preserve, which is pleasant eating, re 
 sembling in flavor that made from the crab-apple. From this 
 fruit, also, an agreeable drink is prepared, which is very re 
 freshing. 
 
 From the candle tree, the natives, at certain seasons, ex 
 tract the sap by making incisions in the bark. This sap, which 
 is oily in its nature, is caught in earthen bowls, and after it 
 solidifies, which it does very rapidly on being exposed to 
 the air, is made into candles. 
 
 The milk tree is treated in the same manner. The juice, 
 when it is first extracted, is thin and watery, like that of the 
 grape vine. After standing for a short time it thickens, and 
 becomes of the color of goat's milk. When it is in this con 
 dition the natives drink it, and are exceedingly fond of it. If 
 permitted to stand a sufficient time, the milk solidifies to the 
 consistency of thick jelly, and then twists of cotton are dipped 
 in it, and are used for candles. 
 
 The guaca is a powerful antidote for poisons, and is used 
 
THE BIRDS OF DEMERARA. 557 
 
 to cure the wounds caused by the bite of snakes and insects. 
 It is also said lo be an antidote for the virus of a mad dog. 
 The odor is very peculiar, but not unpleasant. 
 
 The tamarind trees grow to a large size ; their fruit greatly 
 resembles the bean of the honey locust of the United States. 
 The tamarind beans, when preserved, make a cooling bever 
 age, by being soaked in water, which is useful in the sick- 
 chamber, especially in fever cases. 
 
 The pili is used for the manufacture of ropes, cordage, and 
 sacks, and I think would make good paper. Of the divi, cart 
 wheels are made. The nutmeg trees grow luxuriantly with 
 out cultivation. These are only a few of the vegetable prod 
 ucts of Demerara, but they will suffice to give the reader a 
 general idea with regard to the products of the soil. 
 
 The snakes of Demerara are of all sizes, kinds, and colors. 
 One of the most curious is a small snake, which is spotted 
 with twelve different colors ; these are chiefly found lodged 
 in the branches of the bamboo. They are said to be harmless ; 
 other varieties, however, are exceedingly venomous. 
 
 There is a species of red ant, which builds its habitations up 
 in the forks of the trees, where they look almost like the 
 prairie dog villages of our western country. The houses are 
 made of mud, which is collected into a ball, and then pushed 
 up the tree by the insect, with infinite labor. 
 
 The birds of Demerara are as numerous and as gorgeous in 
 their plumage as those of Venezuela. The parrots of all kinds, 
 especially, abound in immense numbers. While I was at 
 Georgetown, my friend, Captain M., shot at some parrots who 
 were in a mango tree feeding on the fruit, and wounded one, 
 which fell and lodged in the fork of two limbs, making such 
 a pitiful cry that he had not the heart to shoot again. The 
 mate of this wounded bird attended to its wants with infinite 
 care, bringing it food and water for several days, until it died. 
 The last day water was brought every hour j and when at 
 length the sick bird died, the mate uttered a most human 
 like cry of sorrow and despair. The parrots of all kinds go in 
 couples, and like the pigeons, they migrate in the rainy season. 
 
 The humming-birds appear to be quite as numerous, while 
 there are even more varieties of them than there are of the 
 parrots. They are beautiful little creatures, and I never 
 became tired of watching their motions. Like the parrots, 
 these tiny birds seemed to be gifted with extraordinary intel 
 ligence. 
 
558 AT BARBADOES. 
 
 My vessel being at length ready, I sailed for Barbadoes, by 
 way of Trinidad. The weather was very rough for a couple 
 of days, and as a consequence I was terribly sea-sick. I how 
 ever recovered before we reached Port Spain, and having a 
 tremendous appetite, I made sad havoc between meals with 
 the captain's sweetmeats, sardines, and crackers. He was a 
 whole-souled, jolly sort of a man, who, in consideration of my 
 being his only lady passenger, paid me particular attention, 
 and placed his private larder at my disposal. 
 
 When we reached Port Spain, the chief town of the Island of 
 Trinidad, the captain said that we would have to remain there 
 about eight hours, and that I and the other passengers had 
 better step ashore and see the place. We accordingly strolled 
 about the town until it was time for the vessel to leave, but 
 were not impressed with its beauty. It was a very dingy- 
 looking settlement, with a very ragged and dirty native pop 
 ulation. There were a few Englishmen, but the majority of 
 the people were negroes or half-breeds, whose habitations 
 were disgustingly dirty and squalid. 
 
 I .was not sorry to get away from Port Spain, although if 
 there had been time I would have taken pleasure in exploring 
 the interior of Trinidad, and especially in visiting the famous 
 pitch lake, in the south-western portion of the island. 
 
 A quick run brought us to Bridgetown, Barbadoes, where I 
 felt at home, having visited the place on blockade-running 
 business during the war, and having a number of acquaint 
 ances residing there, who, I anticipated, would be glad to see 
 me for the sake of old times. I was not disappointed, for, on 
 taking up my quarters at the Prince Albert Hotel, I soon fell 
 in with friends, who welcomed me as heartily as I could have 
 desired, and who exerted themselves to make my visit in all 
 respects a most enjoyable one. 
 
 HOSPITALITIES OF BARBADOES. 
 
 The day after my arrival, Captain F., of Liverpool, came with 
 a handsome carriage and pair, and invited me to drive out with 
 him and some other friends, on a tour of inspection of the points 
 of interest on the island. We went first to the barracks, to 
 see a drill of the British troops stationed there, and afterwards 
 drove to Speightstown, over a broad road lined with cocoanut 
 trees, which presented a truly magnificent appearance. These 
 graceful trees are extensively used in Barbadoes for dividing 
 
OFF FOR ST. LUCIA. 559 
 
 the farms instead of fences or hedges, and the use which is 
 made of them a'dds greatly to the attractiveness of the land 
 scape. On our way, we stopped at two dairy farms, and I 
 obtained some good buttermilk, a beverage of which I am 
 very fond. My companions, however, did not take kindly to 
 it, and in true British fashion quenched their thirst with ale 
 and beer. This trip to the interior was a delightful one in 
 every respect, the country being very beautiful, and I enjoyed 
 it greatly ; more, perhaps, than I otherwise would, on account 
 of having just made a sea voyage. 
 
 On returning to Bridgetown, the whole party of us were 
 invited to dine with a wealthy American gentleman, who had 
 just arrived by the steamer, and who was on a visit to a num 
 ber of the West India Islands. He was very much inter 
 ested in my account of South America, and of my experience 
 there, and agreed most heartily with me that it was the worst 
 kind of folly for people to emigrate to Venezuela, or any other 
 of the South American states, unless they had ample capital ; 
 even with ample capital, he thought that they could do better 
 at home, despite the unsettled condition of affairs incident to 
 the late war. 
 
 Captain F., having been informed of my intention of sailing 
 by the next steamer, and of stopping at St. Lucia, for the pur 
 pose of visiting the home of my early childhood, regretted 
 that he would see so little of me, as his vessel was to leave 
 the next day. I was sorry too, for he was a very agreeable 
 man, and professed to have a very high opinion of me on 
 account of my services in behalf of the Confederacy. Being 
 unable to show me more attention himself, the captain brought 
 a number of his Barbadoes lady friends to see me, and kindly 
 commended me to their consideration. He then said that as 
 he would pass St. Lucia before the mail steamer in which I 
 intended to take passage would reach there, he would scarcely 
 be likely to see me again, and so wished me a safe journey 
 back to the States, and all manner of good luck in the future. 
 
 Three days after his departure my steamer was ready to 
 start, and I said good by to my Barbadoes friends with real 
 regret, for they had been most kind to me, and had fairly over 
 whelmed me with their attentions. Being bent upon visiting 
 my relatives and my early home, I purchased a ticket permit 
 ting me to stop at St. Lucia until the next steamer, and after 
 a short and pleasant cruise, which was not marked by any 
 incident of note, we reached the island which was endeared to 
 
560 THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 
 
 me as being my mother's birth-place, and on account of my 
 residence on it, being among the most fascinating recollections 
 of my childhood. 
 
 As I was preparing to leave the steamer, I was surprised 
 by the steward bringing me a beautiful basket filled with dif 
 ferent kinds of fruit. A card which accompanied it told me 
 that it was from Captain F., who had been obliged to stop at 
 St. Lucia for repairs, having broken a mast. On going on 
 shore, I sent the captain a note, requesting him to call on me 
 at the residence of my cousin, the old family homestead. 
 This he did, and I introduced him to my relatives. His visit 
 was a short one, however, as his vessel was almost ready for 
 sea, and so he said good by again, and for the last time. I 
 have never seen him since. 
 
 MY CHILDHOOD'S HOME. 
 
 It was not without a certain feeling of sadness and strange 
 ness that I found myself once more domiciled in the old- 
 fashioned stone house where I had lived with my father and 
 mother, and brothers, and sisters, when a little girl. The 
 house and its surroundings were much the same as they were 
 many years before, and yet there was something oddly unfa 
 miliar about them, and it took me some time to reconcile my 
 recollections with the realities. The stone house, built in the 
 English fashion, the marble floor, the ancient furniture of 
 Spanish make, the stone water-pool and stone filter, and the 
 banana and prune bushes which grew at my mother's window, 
 were, however, all as they had been, and as if I had left them 
 but yesterday. 
 
 In gazing on these familiar objects, I was forced, in spite of 
 myself, to think of the many years that had passed since I had 
 last seen them, and of the many things that had happened. 
 The happy family that had gathered under this roof had been 
 scattered, and most of its members were dead ; while I, the 
 darling of my father and of my gentle mother, what a strange 
 career I had gone through stranger far than that of many a 
 heroine of romance whose adventures had fascinated my girl 
 ish fancy ! I was yet, too, a young woman, and what strange 
 things might not the future have in store for me ? It was 
 enough, however, just then to think of the past and of the 
 present, without perplexing myself with speculations as to the 
 future ; and I gave myself up to such enjoyment as a visit of 
 
THE FAMILY BURYING-GBOUND. 561 
 
 this kind to a fondly remmembered home of childhood was 
 able to afford. 
 
 After viewing the old house and its immediate surround 
 ings, I went to the family bury ing-ground in search of the 
 weather-stained vault, which contained the earthly remains 
 of near and dear relatives, among others, of a sister and a 
 brother, whose faces I never beheld after I left Cuba to go to 
 New Orleans to school. The ivy and the myrtle grew so 
 thick about it as almost to hide the inscription ; and yet there 
 was something beautiful in the appearance of the spot, which 
 marked it as the fitting resting-place for the beloved dead. As 
 I stood by this vault, and thought how lonely I was in the world, 
 and how unpropitious the future seemed, I thought that if it 
 could be the will of God that my spirit should be taken to him 
 self, I would gladly have my body rest here beside those 
 of my brother and sister. I was reluctant to leave the place, 
 but felt impelled to go on and seek the destiny that awaited 
 me in another land, and resolved to be as courageous as ever 
 in meeting whatever fate or position the future might have 
 in store for me. Before leaving the tomb I knelt down to 
 pluck some ivy leaves, to carry away as remembrances, but 
 as I stretched out my hand to gather them, something re 
 strained me, and I went away empty-handed as I had come. 
 
 I remained in the old homestead, enjoying the hospitality 
 of my cousins, until the arrival of the steamer, and then said 
 farewell to St. Lucia my visit to it having been the happiest 
 episode of my journey. 
 36 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 
 ST. THOMAS AND CUBA. 
 
 St. Thomas. A cordial Welcome. A reception at the Hotel. Points 
 of Interest at St. Thomas. The Escape of the Florida. Santiago de 
 Cuba. Hospitalities. Havana. Visits from my Relatives. Courte 
 sies from Spanish Officials and Others. I take part in a Procession, 
 attired as a Spanish Officer. General Mansana taken sick. A 
 Steamer in the Harbor with Emigrants from the United States on 
 Board bound for Para. I endeavor to persuade them to return. 
 Death of General Mansana. I start for New York. 
 
 ROM St. Lucia I went to the Danish Island of 
 St. Thomas, where one of my friends of the 
 war time, to whom I had written announcing 
 my intention of revisiting the place, was ex 
 pecting my arrival. When we entered the 
 harbor, the passenger boat, which was to take 
 'us ashore, came off to the steamer, and as she neared, 
 I recognized my friend. I waved my handkerchief 
 to him, and he took off his hat, and when the boat 
 _ came alongside he sprang on board, and shook me most 
 cordially by the hand, expressing, as he did so, the greatest 
 gratification at seeing me again. 
 
 When we reached the wharf I met another of my old war 
 acquaintances, the Italian consul. He, also, was glad to see 
 me, and asked me all manner of questions about where I had 
 been, and what I had been doing since the blockade-running 
 business had come to a stand-still. I walked between my two 
 friends up to the hotel, where I found that a fine large room 
 had been engaged for me, and, once fairly installed in it, the 
 visitors came pouring in, one after the other ; first, the pro 
 prietor and his wife, then the Danish commandant's wife, then 
 half a dozen others, until I was obliged to go into the drawing- 
 room and hold a regular reception. 
 
 Nowhere during my trip had I been welcomed with a more 
 .hearty and sincere courtesy, or with a more evident disposi- 
 
 562 
 
AT ST. THOMAS. 563 
 
 tion to make a heroine of me. All through the evening people 
 were coming in, some of them acquaintances, who, having 
 heard of my arrival, were anxious to extend a welcome ; and 
 others, strangers, who had learned something of my adven 
 turous career, were desirous of being introduced to me. One 
 of the most agreeable of my visitors was Mr. English, the 
 correspondent of a newspaper in Manchester, England. He 
 was a fine, dashing young fellow, overflowing with wit and 
 humor, and his lively conversation created a great deal of en 
 tertainment. 
 
 During the evening some of the company amused them 
 selves with dominos, others with cards, while I was sur 
 rounded constantly by quite a little crowd of persons who 
 persisted in having me relate to them some of my adventures. 
 After a time wine, ale, and cakes were brought in, and the gen 
 tlemen, and some of the ladies, too, regaled themselves with 
 cigars and cigarettes. It was nearly twelve o'clock when the 
 Italian consul, a white haired old gentleman, arose, and asking 
 to be excused, wished us good night. As I was tired I fol 
 lowed him, asking my kind friends to excuse me, and so the 
 party broke up. 
 
 I slept late the next morning, and was awakened by a tap 
 at my door. It was Mrs. Captain B., who wished to know if 
 I was sick. I said that I was quite well ; whereat she smiled, 
 and said she would send me a cup of chocolate. The girl soon 
 came with the chocolate, and after drinking it, I dressed myself 
 and went down to the drawing-room. As I passed the con 
 sul's office, he came out and gave me a " good morning," and 
 offered me his arm to take me in to breakfast. 
 
 After breakfast, I was joined in the drawing-room by quite 
 a large party of ladies and gentlemen, who proposed that I 
 should go with them through the fort, and up to the top of the 
 hill to see the scenery. 
 
 THINGS TO BE SEEN AT ST. THOMAS. 
 
 The town of Charlotte is built on three hills, from the sum 
 mits of which beautiful views of the harbor and the island are 
 obtained. One of the features of the scene is a rock, called 
 Frenchman's Cap. It is almost perpendicular, and is, I believe, 
 considered dangerous to shipping. Scorpion Rock is inhabited 
 only by the horrid reptiles from which it takes its name. The}^ 
 are unusually abundant there, and for that reason it is gener- 
 
564 A HAUNT OF BLOCKADE- RUNNERS. 
 
 ally given a wide berth, as no one cares to make its intimate 
 acquaintance. 
 
 The principal fortifications of St. Thomas are Fort Chris 
 tiana, and Prince Federick's and Mohlenfel's batteries. These 
 are occupied by a small force of Danish soldiers, who are 
 clean and tidy looking, but otherwise are not remarkable in 
 appearance. 
 
 It was under the guns of Fort Christiana that the blockade- 
 runners were accustomed to receive their carg'oes ; and, not 
 withstanding the supposed vigilance of the United States 
 fleet, most of them managed to get off in safety. On my 
 former visit to St. Thomas, one of the Federal officers was 
 pointed out to me as being in the trade himself. On one oc 
 casion, at least, where the consul notified him, he permitted a 
 vessel, with a contraband cargo, to put to sea, and did not 
 pretend to give chase until she was so far away that there 
 was no hope of overtaking her. 
 
 As the reader will, perhaps, remember, on the occasion of 
 my previous visit to St. Thomas, I had the satisfaction of seeing 
 the Confederate cruiser Florida come in, and coal, and get away 
 again in safety, through a clever trick played upon the Fed 
 erals. The Florida took in her coal and supplies at the King's 
 wharf, and when she was ready for sea, one of the sailors, pre 
 tending to be an Englishman, went to the consul, Mr. Smith, 
 and told him, that as they were coming in they saw the Florida 
 off to the westward of the island. Mr. Smith, accordingly, 
 gave orders to the Federal man-of-war to go out and look for 
 her, and so soon as the Federal cruiser was out of the harbor, 
 and heading westward, Captain Maffitt, having steam up, put 
 on all speed and went out after her. Before the Federal 
 commander discovered that he had been duped, the Florida 
 was out of sight and out of danger. 
 
 The Danish commandant told me that he was heartily sorry 
 the war closed so soon, for the people of St. Thomas profited 
 greatly by it. He was of the opinion that could the South 
 have held out for another year, the great powers of Europe 
 would have interfered in her behalf, and she would have se 
 cured her independence. 
 
 Through the exertions of my friends to make my visit to 
 St. Thomas a pleasant one, the time passed rapidly, and when 
 the arrival of the steamer Pelyo gave me warning that I must 
 prepare for my departure, I would gladly have prolonged my 
 stay for a number of days more, had it been possible to do so. 
 
AT SANTIAGO DE CUBA. 565 
 
 The time of leave-taking was come, however, and I was es 
 corted on board the steamer by quite a large party, many of 
 whom, as I said good by, eagerly requested me to correspond 
 with them, and to keep them posted about my movements ; as 
 they expected that I would scarcely be satisfied unless I un 
 dertook some strange adventures. 
 
 The steamer stopped at Porto Rico, but I did not go on 
 shore, not liking the looks of the place. ' We only remained 
 for a few hours to take in some freight and passengers, and 
 then were off to sea again. Among the passengers was a 
 young Spanish officer, Captain F. Martinez, whom I had met 
 before, and who knew that I had served in the Confederate 
 army. He came up to me, and gave an officer's salute, at 
 which I laughed, and held out my hand to him, saying that 
 the time for that sort of thing had passed. We then fell into 
 an animated conversation about the war, and other matters ; 
 and during the rest of the trip he paid me every attention in 
 his power. 
 
 As we were promenading the deck together in the evening, 
 he informed me that he was engaged to a young lady in San 
 tiago de Cuba, and he was very solicitous that I should stop 
 there and see her. I was not unwilling, as I had relations 
 residing near the city whom I was anxious to visit ; and so I 
 made arrangements for a return to another of the homes of 
 my childhood. 
 
 A YISIT TO SANTIAGO DE CUBA. 
 
 When we reached Santiago, I called with Captain Martinez 
 upon his betrothed, and was much pleased to see that he had 
 made so excellent a choice. The young lady was very pretty 
 and amiable, and belonged to a wealthy family. 
 
 Having notified my cousin, who was married to a Prussian 
 gentleman, of my arrival, I went out to her home, about ten 
 miles in the country, and remained a day or two with her. 
 
 In the city I was waited upon by many distinguished peo 
 ple, and was invited to dine at the mansion of the general in 
 command of the Spanish forces. At this dinner my health 
 was proposed, with some complimentary remarks, at which 
 honor I was immensely flattered ; and after it was over, 
 the company adjourned to the grand plaza, to listen to the 
 military band, and to see the beauty and fashion of Santiago. 
 
 Santiago de Cuba is a very old town, and it has an exten 
 sive commerce. The chief exports are coffee, sugar, cigars, 
 
566 AT HAVANA. 
 
 and fruit. The harbor is a fine one, and during the war it 
 was a favorite resort for blockade-runners. 
 
 The day after the dinner at the general's mansion, I went 
 on board the steamer and started for Havana. That city was 
 reached in due time, and once more I found myself on familiar 
 ground, and among friends who were ready to extend me a 
 hearty welcome for the sake of old times. 
 
 My brother's family and other relatives resided outside of 
 the walls. I sent them word of my arrival, but did not go to 
 the house, on account of differences with my sister-in-law. 
 During my stay in Havana my brother visited me frequently, 
 as did also my niece, my sister's daughter, and my nephew, 
 who acted as my escort to the theatre and other places. 
 
 In addition to my relatives, I had many acquaintances in 
 Havana who were glad to extend the hospitalities of the place 
 to me. Among others, General Juaquin Mansana, and the 
 officers of his staff, were all warm friends of mine, and they 
 seemed never to tire of paying me attentions. I was also 
 acquainted with a great number of people with whom I had 
 had confidential business relations during the war ; and they, 
 too, did what they could to make the time pass pleasantly. 
 
 ONCE MORE IN MALE ATTIRE. 
 
 Shortly after I reached Havana, there was a grand religious 
 festival, and, at the suggestion of General Mansana, I con 
 sented to appear in the procession in uniform. The general, 
 enjoining me to keep the matter a secret, presented me with a 
 handsome Spanish military suit. I attired myself in this, and 
 arranging my disguise so that my most intimate friends would 
 not know me, I took my place in the procession in a carriage 
 beside Colonel Montero, which drove just behind that of the 
 general. 
 
 The colonel especially requested me not to let the other 
 officers and soldiers know who I was, as there might be some 
 excitement created if any one suspected that a woman, dis 
 guised as an officer, was in the procession. I accordingly kept 
 my secret, and was not recognized. During the day I several 
 times passed quite close to Mr. Savage, the United States con 
 sul, and the members of his staff, and it amused the general 
 greatly to see that they had not the slightest suspicion as to 
 who I was. I was also introduced to a number of ladies as a 
 young Spanish officer, who had been educated in England. 
 

 
 I 
 
 lTOIIIili. ___ l 
 
GENERAL MANS AN A TAKEN SICK. 567 
 
 This plea was put in on my behalf, because my Spanish accent 
 was none of the best, my long non-use of the language having 
 caused me to lose the faculty of speaking it in such a manner 
 as to do entire credit to my ancestry. 
 
 This procession took place on Friday, and General Mansana, 
 as we were about starting out, told me that there was a steamer 
 in the harbor with some emigrants on board, who were going to 
 South America. He asked me if I would not see them, and, 
 by relating my experiences, try and persuade them to return 
 home again. This I promised to do. 
 
 In the evening, after the ceremonies were over, we went to 
 the theatre, where we found quite a brilliant audience assem 
 bled. Before the performance was over, General Mansana 
 said that he was hungry, and retired. The rest of the party re 
 mained until the curtain fell, when we went to a restaurant and 
 had supper. After supper we drove to the Plaza de Armas, 
 where a room had been assigned me in the palace, and I 
 changed my costume as rapidly as I could, appearing once 
 more in female attire. 
 
 ILLNESS OF GENERAL MANSANA. 
 
 As I was coming out, Colonel Montero met me in the hall, 
 and said that the general had been taken quite sick. I asked 
 if I could see him ; and on a messenger being sent, word was 
 conveyed to the colonel that the general wished to speak with 
 him. He soon returned, and invited me to go into the sick 
 chamber. The general was in bed, and the doctor was in at 
 tendance on him. He complained of severe cramps, but did 
 not think that anything serious was the matter, and invited 
 me to call on him the next morning, when he expected to be 
 better. 
 
 After breakfast, the next morning, I went to the general's 
 quarters ; but the guard had orders not to admit any one. I 
 sent in my card, however, and in a few moments the chief of 
 staff came down and asked me to walk up to the reception- 
 room. The surgeon in attendance made his appearance, and 
 said that the general was worse instead- of better ; but that I 
 could see him if I would promise not to speak. I accordingly 
 went into the sick-room, and found the general looking very 
 bad indeed. He smiled at me, and seemed to be glad that I 
 had called. I then retired, as I found that I could be of no 
 assistance, and went to see the emigrants. 
 
568 ANOTHER PARTY OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 I gave them an account of my experiences and observations 
 in South America, and advised them, in the strongest possible 
 terms, not to pursue their journey any farther, but to return 
 home ; and, if they wanted to get away from the South, to 
 go West. Some of them were much impressed with what I 
 said, and came on shore to see me. I invited them to the ho 
 tel to take dinner, and went into the matter more particularly, 
 showing them the great risks they would run, and the small 
 chance they would have of establishing themselves in a satis 
 factory manner. 
 
 This interference on my part was bitterly resented by some 
 of the leaders of the expedition, who expressed a desire that 
 I should not come on board the steamer again. I had no 
 wish to do this, having performed my duty, and I was willing 
 now that they should take their own course and abide the con 
 sequences ; although I was sorry for some of the poor women, 
 who I knew would regret not having followed my advice. 
 
 My expostulations proved of no avail, and the steamer sailed 
 for South America, after her old, worn-out and worthless boiler 
 had been patched. The vessel itself, like the boiler, was worn 
 out, and they were obliged to put in at St. Thomas with her, 
 and charter another boat. Some of the people, I believe, re 
 turned to the United States from St. Thomas, while the rest 
 were glad to get back the best way they could, after a very 
 brief experience of Para, the port for which they were bound. 
 After reaching their destination, and' endeavoring to effect a 
 settlement, they very soon came to the conclusion that my 
 advice was good. 
 
 On Sunday morning I learned, to my infinite sorrow, that 
 General Mans'ana was dead ! The funeral took place the next 
 day, and the body, having been embalmed, was carried through 
 the streets, followed by his carriage, dressed in crape, and his 
 favorite horse. The funeral was an imposing but sorrowful 
 spectacle, for the general was a good man ; and although, like 
 other public men, he had his enemies, he deserved and en 
 joyed a great popularity. 
 
 With this visit to Havana concluded my trip to South 
 America and the West Indies. In some of its aspects it was 
 far from being enjoyable ; and yet, on the whole, I managed 
 to have a pretty good time, and I did not regret the journey. 
 I had learned a great deal about a part of the world that it 
 was worth while to know something about, and I had met a 
 great many good friends whom I was exceedingly glad to 
 
THE ENDING OF THE TRIP. 569 
 
 meet. Taking it all in all, the pleasures of the trip far more 
 than counterbalanced its disagreeable features, and the main 
 thing I had to complain of was, that I returned to the United 
 States with a much lighter pocket-book than when I set out. 
 
 Shortly after General Mansana's death I took the steamer 
 for the United States, and was soon in New York, making but 
 one brief stoppage at Matanzas on the way. 
 
CHAPTER L. 
 
 ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 
 
 Across the Continent in search of a Fortune. Omaha. A Meeting 
 with the veteran General Harney. Governor C. asks me to introduce 
 him to the General. The Backwoodsman and the veteran Soldier. 
 The General induces me to tell the Story of my Career, and gives me 
 some good Advice. Off for a long Stage-coach Ride. Rough Fellow- 
 Travellers. An unmannerly Army Officer taught Politeness. Jules- 
 burg. An undesirable Place for a permanent Residence. An atrocious 
 Murder. More unpleasant travelling Companions. Cheyenne. A 
 frontier Hotel. Lack of even decent Accommodations. An unde 
 sirable Bedfellow. A Visit to Laporte. Again on the Road. A 
 Water-Spout in Echo Canon. The Coach caught in a Quicksand. 
 Mormon Hospitalities. Salt Lake City. Arrival at the City of Austin, 
 Nevada. 
 
 .^ 
 
 N my return to the United States, I found the 
 financial and political situations, especially at 
 the South, more deplorable than ever. The 
 era of true reconstruction seemed to be even 
 farther off than it did when Lee surrendered, 
 and the freedmen and carpet-baggers were having things 
 completely their own way throughout the length and 
 breadth of the late Confederacy. The people were 
 oppressed and harried without mercy and without hope 
 of redress by the black and white adventurers whom 
 the fortunes of war had given the control of their affairs, 
 and it was very apparent that there could be no revival of 
 business worth speaking of while such a state of affairs ex 
 isted. I greatly desired to settle in the South, but my own 
 fortunes were at a low ebb, and I saw very plainly that if I 
 expected to improve them it would be necessary to go else 
 where. 
 
 After giving the matter mature consideration, and making 
 inquiries in a number of quarters, I determined to try my 
 luck in the mining regions of the Pacific slope, as they seemed 
 to hold out inducements that no other part of the country 
 did. Apart, however, from all questions of pecuniary profit, I 
 
 570 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 571 
 
 was animated by a strong desire to explore for myself a terri 
 tory concerning which I had heard so much. 
 
 Having once resolved to cross the continent in search of a 
 home, I did not stop to make many or very elaborate prepa 
 rations, being too old a traveller to encumber myself with an 
 excess of baggage. Purchasing a ticket for Omaha, I was 
 soon on my way to that place by the Niagara, Fort Wayne, 
 and Chicago route. 
 
 At Omaha I found snow on the ground, and the weather 
 quite cold, too cold for one who had just come from a tropical 
 climate to venture on a stage journey of many hundred miles, 
 through the wilderness with no thicker or warmer clothing 
 than that which I had with me. I was now in somewhat of a 
 predicament, and began to regret that I had trusted quite 
 so much to my travellers luck, and had not furnished myself 
 with a more comfortable outfit. 
 
 I went to a dry goods store to purchase some woollen un 
 derclothing, but was unable to procure any. Fortunately, at 
 the International Hotel, where I was stopping, there was a 
 lady who intended to remain at Omaha for some time, and 
 when she learned of my difficulties, offered to sell me hers. 
 This offer I accepted without hesitation, and thus, by the 
 merest chance, found myself equipped in proper style for my 
 long and tedious journey and its necessary exposures to the 
 weather. 
 
 RENEWING MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH GENERAL HARNEY. 
 
 At the International I had the good fortune to meet an old 
 friend whom I had not seen for a number of years, and with 
 whom it was a pleasure of the most genuine kind to renew 
 my acquaintance. This was the veteran soldier, General W. 
 S. Harney. He was, apparently, as glad to see me as I was 
 to see him, and insisted on escorting me in to dinner, rather, I 
 think, to the astonishment of some of the guests. 
 
 The general had a special table for himself and friends, and 
 as we took our seats the eyes of everybody in the room were 
 fixed on us. The dinner was a good one in its way, the bill 
 of fare being largely made up of buffalo and antelope meat, 
 and various kinds of game, and, as I was desperately hungry, 
 I enjoyed it greatly. While we were dining the general 
 chatted very freely, and narrated many curious incidents of 
 his career in the army, and expressed his views on the late 
 
572 A MODEL STATESMAN. 
 
 war with the utmost freedom. He said that he was a true 
 Southerner in his sympathies, and that his extreme age alone 
 had prevented him from offering his services to the Con 
 federacy. He, however, had helped the cause as much as 
 he could with his means and influence, and his only regret 
 was that he had not been able to take an active part in the 
 great conflict. 
 
 General Haruey, it appears, had heard some mention of my 
 adventures, and was very anxious to ask me about them. He 
 did not, however, think that the dinner-table of the Interna 
 tional Hotel of Omaha was exactly the suitable place to bring 
 up a subject about which 1 might have some hesitation in 
 speaking, and so deferred asking me any questions until a 
 better opportunity oifered. 
 
 When we returned to the drawing-room I met some St. Louis 
 people whom I knew, and, engaging in conversation with them, 
 the general politely asked to be excused, and said that he 
 would like very much" to have a conversation with me in his 
 private parlor after four o'clock. 
 
 When he was gone, Governor C., a tall, lank, shambling 
 backwoodsman, stalked up to me, and, in an awkward sort of a 
 way, introduced himself. He desired to make the acquaintance 
 of General Harney, and wished to know if I would not do the 
 " polite thing " for him, that is, give him an introduction to 
 the general. It struck me that, considering his official posi 
 tion, he might as well have introduced himself; but, as he 
 apparently did not know how to do this gracefully, I told him 
 that if the general was willing, he and the governor should 
 become acquainted after four o'clock, if he would meet me in 
 the drawing-room. 
 
 At the appointed hour I descended from my room, where I 
 had been arranging my toilet, and found this model specimen 
 of a statesman pacing uneasily backwards and forwards in 
 the hall, waiting for me. For a wonder, his hat was in his 
 hand instead of on his head, which I took to be an indication 
 that his mother had taught him one or two points of etiquette 
 in his youth, which he had managed to retain in his memory. 
 
 When he saw me, he came shambling up with that queer 
 gait of his, and said, with a grin, " I am on hand, you see ; we 
 western men are generally prompt when we have engage 
 ments with the fair sex." 
 
 " Yes, I see you are punctual ; it is a good habit. I once 
 knew a man who made a large fortune by punctuality." 
 
GENERAL BARNEY'S ADVICE. 573 
 
 "Haw, haw, haw!" Soared the governor, stretching his 
 mouth nearly from ear to ear. " That's pretty good. All of 
 us people out here are trying to make fortunes, and to make 
 7 em quick ; so I guess we'd better make a point of being punc 
 tual. Haw, haw, haw ! " 
 
 I then led him to the general's private parlor without more 
 ado, and gave the desired introduction. 
 
 This ceremony performed, the governor evidently did not 
 know what to say or do, but after a moment's hesitation 
 he extended his hand, and seizing that of the general, shook 
 it as if he were working a pump-handle. The general, who 
 understood what kind of a customer he had to deal with, 
 stood up and saluted his new friend with a characteristic 
 gesture, and passed a few formal words with him. After a 
 very brief conversation, the governor, impressed by the gen 
 eral's peculiar manner, and appreciating the force of the 
 maxim that " two are company and three a crowd," said that 
 he would give himself the pleasure of calling again, and 
 bowed himself out. 
 
 When we were alone, in compliance with the general's re 
 quest, I gave him an account of my adventures while "acting 
 as an officer in the Confederate army and as a secret-service 
 agent. He appeared to be intensely interested, and frequently 
 interrupted me to ask questions, or to express commendation. 
 We conversed for two hours, when the announcement was 
 made that supper was ready. 
 
 After supper we returned to the private parlor again, and 
 I explained my plans for the future, and asked his advice. 
 This lie gave in the kindest manner ; and, as his experience 
 of affairs in the West, and his knowledge of the western coun 
 try and people was most extensive, it was extremely valuable 
 to me. 
 
 He said that I was a young woman yet, and that I would, 
 undoubtedly, have offers of marriage ; but, for my own sake, 
 he hoped that if I did marry again, I would choose the right 
 kind of a man, and not permit myself to fall into the hands of 
 some adventurer. He thought that I was taking a great risk 
 in going out to the mining region, and believed that it would 
 be much better for me to settle in my native island, or else 
 somewhere in the South. After all that I had done for the 
 South, he said that I ought to be able to live there like a 
 princess. 
 
 I told him, however, that the idea of receiving any assist- 
 
574 OFF FOR A LONG RIDE. 
 
 ance from the Southern people, situated as they were, was 
 most abhorrent to me, and that, as I was young and in good 
 health, I preferred to seek my own fortune and in my own 
 way. 
 
 " Have you any arms ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Yes, two strong ones," I replied, holding them out. 
 
 The general laughed, and said, " Yes, those will be of ser 
 vice to you if you are going to seek your fortune, but out 
 among the mines you will need arms of another kind." 
 
 He then gave me a revolver, saying that I might have need 
 for it, and also a buffalo robe and a pair of blankets, which he 
 was certain I would find useful. 
 
 That night I slept but little, thinking of the general's ad 
 vice, and of the unknown future before me. Towards morning 
 I fell into something like a doze, but before I was fairly asleep 
 I was called, and told that it was time to get ready for the 
 stage. 
 
 I found General Harney up and waiting for me. We took 
 breakfast together ; and as I got up to go to the stage, he 
 said, " Remember the advice of your best friend. I only 
 wish that I was thirty-five years younger ; you should not 
 make this journey alone." 
 
 This was so flattering that I could not help permitting my 
 wishes to run in the same channel. 
 
 OFF FOR A RlDE ACROSS THE PLAINS. 
 
 After I was seated in the back of the coach, snugly wrapped 
 up in my blankets and buffalo robe, a basket of eatables was 
 handed in to me, and just as we were about to start the general 
 leaned in, and, kissing me on the forehead, said, " Farewell, 
 my child ; if we should never meet again, God will take care 
 of you ; " and then turning to the driver, he told him to take 
 good care of me, as I was a particular friend of his. 
 
 The driver said, " All right, sir ; 1 will look after her ; " and, 
 cracking his whip, off we went, with nearly half the continent 
 yet before me to be travelled before my journey should be 
 ended. 
 
 My travelling companions were a rather rough set. The 
 men on the front seat who proved to be, what I took them 
 for, mountaineers had some whiskey, of which they partook 
 rather more freely than was good for them, and they were a 
 little inclined to be boisterous. They did not make them- 
 
ARRIVAL AT JULESBURG. 575 
 
 selves disagreeable to me, however, and were evidently 
 inclined to be on their good behavior on account of a lady 
 being present. In spite of their rough manners they were 
 better gentlemen than the fellow who sat next to me, and who 
 wore more stylish clothes than they did. They used no black 
 guard language or profanity, and showed a disposition to be 
 attentive to me whenever they had an opportunity. 
 
 This other man, however, swore fearfully, and, in spite of 
 my being on the seat with him, made use of language such as 
 no true gentleman would degrade himself by using under any 
 circumstances. At length, noticing the expression of disgust 
 on my face, one of the mountaineers on the front seat, said, 
 " See here, old chap, just remember there is a female aboard 
 this stage-coach, will you ? " 
 
 The other replied, " I am a captain in the United States 
 army, sir, and I wish you to respect my commission." 
 
 SIMMERING DOWN. 
 
 " I don't care a d n who you are/' said one of them, called 
 Bill by his companions. " You simmer down mighty quick ; " 
 and with that he took him by the throat and choked him till 
 he was nearly black in the face. 
 
 This treatment was effectual, and he did simmer down ; and 
 I was annoyed no more by him during the balance of the 
 trip, while Bill and his friends earned my hearty respect de 
 spite their rough ways, and their over-fondness for whiskey- 
 drinking. 
 
 I shall not attempt to describe the rough and toilsome ride 
 over the plains. It was scarcely such a journey as one would 
 make for a mere pleasure trip, and yet it was one worth making, 
 if only for the reason that it afforded an opportunity to study, 
 with some minuteness, a country that ere many years will 
 probably be the seat of empire on this continent. Much of 
 this land between Omaha and the Rocky Mountains is, 
 undoubtedly, capable of great improvement under a proper 
 system of cultivation, and that it ultimately will be settled 
 and improved there can be no doubt. Just at present, how 
 ever, there are more inviting regions to which settlers may be 
 expected to flock in preference. 
 
 In course of time we arrived at one of the most remarkable 
 products of Western civilization, the town of tents, called 
 Julesburg. I had seen a great deal of life, and a great deal 
 
576 NOT A NICE PLACE TO LIVE IN. 
 
 of rough life ; but when I beheld this place, I thought that I 
 would prefer to be excused from choosing it as a permanent 
 residence. In fact, a very brief stay in Julesburg was emi 
 nently satisfying, and I was quite content to leave it, with a 
 hope in my heart that I would never be compelled to find 
 myself within sight of it again. 
 
 THE DELIGHTS OF JULESBURG. 
 
 Card-playing and whiskey-drinking, embellished with blas 
 phemy, seemed to be the chief occupations of the Julesburg 
 citizens, while murder was their commonest amusement. 
 Many of these men had been brought up and educated in 
 civilized communities, and knew what decent living was ; and 
 yet, so soon as they would get out here, they would throw 
 off all restraint, and develop into worse savages than the red 
 men. Such a collection, of fiends in human shape as Jules- 
 burg was at the time I visited the place, I hope never to 
 see again. The women were, if anything, worse than the 
 men, and I did not meet more than two of my own sex while 
 I was there who made the most distant claims to even common 
 decency or self-respect. 
 
 The reckless bloodthirstiness of most of the men baffles 
 description. Pistols and knives were produced on the slight 
 est provocation, and often on no provocation at all, and no ties 
 of friendship appeared to be strong enough to check the 
 murderous propensities of some of the ruffians. 
 
 While standing in the -board shanty, which was dignified 
 by the name of a station, waiting for the stage to come up, I 
 saw a fiend, in human shape, deliberately shoot down a young 
 man of about twenty years of age. While his victim was 
 writhing on the ground, he stepped up and fired two more 
 shots into his prostrate body, and then, pulling out a huge 
 knife, was about to cut his throat. Two of the murderer's 
 comrades, who seemed to have a little humanity in them, now 
 interfered, but only to have him turn upon them, with his eyes 
 flashing with fury and his mouth full of oaths. I expected to 
 see a general free fight, but the fellow, apparently satisfied 
 with his bloody work, permitted himself finally to be persuaded 
 to leave his victim and go away. I had witnessed many 
 shocking scenes, but nothing so atrocious as this, and I was 
 heartily glad when the stage shortly after drove up, and I was 
 able to say farewell to Julesburg. 
 
A DISGRACE TO HER SEX. 577 
 
 It is clue to these desperadoes, however, to say that they 
 are not entirely without some good qualities. When they 
 have any reason to think that a woman is really respectable 
 they will protect her, and they are always free with their 
 money, and ready to help any one who may be in distress. 
 Their vices, however, so far outnumber their virtues, that 
 their good deeds will scarcely count for much when they are 
 called upon to settle their final accounts. 
 
 A HARD SET OF TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. 
 
 My companions of the stas;e coach, as we rolled out of 
 Julesburg, were a rougher and more unpleasant set than the 
 first party, and one of the most disagreeable among them 
 was, I ain ashamed to say, a woman. The men were tolerably 
 full when we started, and we were scarcely off before they 
 produced a bottle, and, after taking some of the fearful smell 
 ing whiskey which it contained, passed it around. 1 begged 
 to be excused from partaking, but the other female passenger 
 was not so fastidious, and she took a good drink every time it 
 was handed to her. Her whiskey-drinking capacity was 
 great, equal to that of any of the men. 
 
 The language this woman used was frightful, and she seemed 
 to be unable to open her lips without uttering some blasphe 
 mous or obscene expression. Finally, having taken eight or 
 nine big drinks from the bottle, she became stupidly drunk ; 
 and then, to vary the monotony of her proceedings, she pro 
 duced a filthy pipe, which she filled with the blackest plug 
 tobacco, and commenced to smoke. The fumes from this pipe 
 were sickening to me, but I was willing to let her smoke in 
 peace, for it at least kept her quiet, and soothed her until she- 
 fell into a deep and drunken sleep. 
 
 In this fashion we rolled along until we came to Cheyenne,, 
 which appeared to be quite a town, and a decided improve 
 ment on Julesburg. A number of moderately good-looking 
 houses were already occupied, while others were in process 
 of erection, and everything seemed to indicate that this, in a 
 short time, was likely to be a really thriving place. The driver 
 pulled up his horses, shouting, " Cheyenne House ! " and out 
 the occupants of the stage coach tumbled, the drunken woman 
 and all, although she was so far gone that one of the men was 
 forced to almost lift her out, to prevent her from falling flat 
 on the ground. 
 
 37 
 
578 HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS AT CHEYENNE. 
 
 The Cheyenne House, in spite of its rather imposing name, 
 was, taking it all in all, the worst apology for a hotel I had 
 ever met with in the course of my rather extensive travels. 
 It was a frame building, of the rudest construction, while the 
 lodging rooms about eight by ten feet in size were merely 
 separated from each other by canvas partitions, which ren 
 dered any real privacy an absolute impossibility.' The beds, 
 or rather the bunks, in these rooms were large enough for two 
 persons, and it was expected that two persons would occupy 
 each of them, .the luxury of a single bed being something 
 unheard of in that locality. The mattresses and pillows were 
 made of flour bags, the miller's brands still on them, 
 stuffed with straw, and the coverlets were a pair of gray 
 army blankets, with " U. S. A." plainly marked undoubtedly 
 the plunder of some rascally quartermaster who was bent on 
 making his residence on the frontier pay him handsomely, 
 even if he had to cheat the government. 
 
 On entering the hotel ; we were ushered into a good-sized 
 room, the floor being made of the roughest pine boards, from 
 which the tar exuded in thick and sticky lumps. A large 
 railroad stove, heated red hot, was in the centre of the room, 
 and was surrounded by a motley crowd of men, who were 
 sitting in every describable posture, smoking, chewing, spit 
 ting, and blaspheming in a style that indicated a total ignorance 
 on their part of the fact that they had souls to be saved, It 
 was impossible to get near the stove, although it was quite 
 cold, for none of these men offered to move, and seemed to 
 consider a poor little woman, like myself, as something entirely 
 beneath their notice. 
 
 To my great satisfaction I did not have to remain long in 
 this choice company, for supper was announced as ready 
 within a few moments of our arrival. I requested to be 
 shown the wash-room, and, on reaching it, found there a few 
 old tin wash-basins, all of which were vilely dirty, a sardine 
 box with a lump of home-made soap in it, and a vile-looking 
 tow towel on a roller, which, in addition to being utterly filthy, 
 did not have a dry place on it as big as half a dollar. Fortu 
 nately I had my own soap and towels in my satchel, and 
 managed to perform my ablutions in a moderately satisfactory 
 fashion. As for the basins and towels belonging to the place, 
 I should not have hesitated to have used them, rough as they 
 were, 'had they been moderately clean, for, on the frontier, 
 we have no right to expect the accommodations of the Grand 
 
ROUGHING IT. 579 
 
 Central Hotel of New York, or the Hotel de Louvre of Pan':', 
 and must expect to rough it. Still, even on the frontier, soap 
 and water are cheap, and people who profess to keep hotels, 
 and who take the money of the public, ought to make some 
 effort to have things reasonably neat and tidy. 
 
 The dining-room was like the rest of the building, of the 
 roughest possible construction. The table was covered with 
 a dark colored oil-cloth, full of grease and dirt, and the sup 
 per, although it was such as a hungry traveller could have 
 relished had it been properly prepared, was so uninviting in 
 appearance that I could eat but little of it. 
 
 Being much fatigued, so soon as I had swallowed a few 
 mouthfuls I sought my room, but, on arriving there, found, to 
 my utter astonishment, that the woman who had come with 
 me in the stage was occupying the bed. When I remon 
 strated, I was told that it was impossible for me to have a 
 room to myself, and speedily found that I either had to submit 
 or else pass the night in the parlor among the roughs congre 
 gated there. The- alternative of sharing the bed with my fel 
 low-traveller was preferable, for there at least I should be safe, 
 as the room was over the landlord's private apartments, while 
 the parlor being over the bar-room, was liable to have a bullet 
 coming through the floor before morning. 
 
 1 accordingly submitted to circumstances, but did not 
 obtain much satisfaction from jny couch, for, independently of 
 its unpleasant human occupant, it was fairly alive with vermin. 
 My companion, however, snored away in happy unconscious 
 ness of any such disturbances, being stupefied with whiskey, 
 and overcome by the fatigues of travel. She was evidently 
 accustomed to this sort of thing, and was not disposed to be 
 fastidious. 
 
 The next morning she was called to go in the stage. T 
 having determined to remain for a day or two, was therefore 
 to part company with her. She got up, and I was surprised 
 to see that she had been in bed all night without removing 
 any of her clothing. From under her pillow she took a belt 
 containing a formidable-looking knife and a six-shooter, which 
 she buckled around her waist, and as she did so, seeing that I 
 was awake, asked, in a sarcastic sort of way, "How did you 
 sleep ? " 
 
 " Not much," I replied. " This kind of a bed don't suit 
 me." 
 
 " Well, I've slept too d d much," she said. " I am tired 
 
580 VISITING THE INDIANS. 
 
 yet ; I'd as lives ?leep on a board or a rock as on one of these 
 d d old straw beds ! " 
 
 This was nice language for a woman to utter, but it was 
 nothing in comparison to some that I had heard her use the 
 day before. Soon, to my infinite relief, this delectable crea 
 ture was gone, and I was left to myself. 
 
 After breakfast that morning, t inquired for the superin 
 tendent and road agent, Mr. Rube Thomas, but learned that 
 he was not in the town. I then asked for Mr. J. Stewart, 
 another road agent, and a very affable, obliging gentleman. 
 This gentleman was, fortunately for me, in Cheyenne, and he 
 waited on me very promptly when he received my message, 
 and expressed himself as willing to do anything in his power 
 to assist me. 
 
 I desired to go to Camp Davy Russell, and Mr. Stewart, in 
 the kindest manner, said that he would procure a conveyance, 
 and drive me there himself. He did so ; and during our drive 
 he took a great deal of pains to point out the features of 
 interest, and to explain a number of useful points about the 
 country, its people, and its prospects. On reaching the camp, 
 I presented to General Stephenson a letter of introduction 
 from General Harney, and was very kindly received by him. 
 After a conference with General Stephenson, I returned to 
 Cheyenne with Mr. Stewart, but found that, in consequence 
 of the crowded condition of the stage, I would have to remain 
 till the next day. 
 
 Mr. Stewart, knowing how uncomfortable I was at the 
 hotel, then offered to take me to Laporte, and place me in 
 rather better quarters. This kind offer I eagerly accepted, 
 and soon found myself under the excellent care of Mrs. Tay 
 lor, the station-keeper's wife, and her sister, who did all that 
 was in their power to make me comfortable, and to make the 
 time pass agreeably. I passed several pleasant days with 
 these hospitable ladies, employing my time in horseback 
 riding, rambling over the mountains, gathering moss- agates, 
 and visiting the wigwams of the Indians. 
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 
 
 The red men smiled on me in a rather disdainful sort of 
 way, and evidently regarded me as an enemy. I wished most 
 sincerely that I understood their language, if only for the pur 
 pose of explaining my friendly feelings towards them. I had 
 
ECHO CANON. 581 
 
 much more respect for these savages than I had for the ruf 
 fianly white men wh were dispossessing them of their coun 
 try. In one camp I did find an old woman who spoke English 
 quite well, and had a long conversation with her. She said 
 that vice was almost unknown among her people before the 
 white men came, but that the}' corrupted the young girls, and 
 supplied the men with whiskey, until now there was getting 
 to be fewer and fewer good Indians every day. 
 
 The coaches, at each trip, continued to be so crowded that 
 it was impossible- for me to get a place in one, and, as I was 
 anxious to proceed, the agent at length arranged to put on an 
 extra for the accommodation of myself and several other trav 
 ellers who also were waiting somewhat impatiently. When I 
 was about starting, Mr. Stewart gave me a letter of introduc 
 tion to the Mormon proprietor of the Kimble House, in Salt 
 Lake City. 
 
 After a few days' travel we came to Echo City, at the 
 entrance of Echo Canon, where we met with an accident, 
 which might have had unpleasant consequences, but, as no 
 lives were lost, we regarded it as rather an agreeable varia 
 tion of the monotony of our journey. 
 
 A water-spout in the mountains had flooded the road, and 
 the driver, in attempting to force his way through a rather 
 bad-looking place, managed to get the coach and the horses 
 stuck fast in a quicksand. The passengers were obliged to 
 swim out on the backs of the horses, and escaped with no 
 other damage than wet clothing. Fortunately, we were near 
 the house of a Mormon, who received us very hospitably, and 
 who, while his three wives were endeavoring to make, us as 
 comfortable as circumstances would permit, went and got two 
 yoke of oxen and pulled the coach out. 
 
 FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE MORMONS. 
 
 I had heard "so much against the Mormons that I was under 
 the impression they were all thieves and cutthroats. I confess 
 that I was most agreeably disappointed in them from .this, my 
 first acquaintance, to the time of my taking a final leave of 
 Utah. The homes, farms, dress, and behavior all indicated 
 that they were a hard-working, industrious people, while they 
 appeared to be entirely free from many of the worst vices of 
 the Gentiles. 
 
 While stopping at this house in Echo Canon, I ventured to 
 
582 ARRIVAL AT SALT LAKE CITY. 
 
 make a fe-w inquiries about their customs and belief, which 
 were very politely answered ; and I was in the midst of a very 
 interesting conversation with one of the wives, a woman of 
 about fifty-five, when 1 was interrupted by the driver calling 
 upon me to get into the coach. 
 
 The rain having freshened the air somewhat, I asked the 
 driver to permit me to sit with him outside as we went 
 through the canon, in order that I "might see the scenery. 
 He consented, and assisted me to a seat on the box, and 
 as we passed through the canon, he explained the points of 
 interest to me. He was quite a handsome young fellow, and 
 very intelligent. 
 
 On entering the. Bear River Valley, my eye met, on all 
 sides, little white cottages or neat log houses, surrounded by 
 well-cultivated and well- watered farms and orchards, where 
 not many years before was but a burning plain, covered with 
 sage bushes, and the home of the Ute Indian, the buffalo, 
 the elk, the antelope, the coyote, and the silver gray fox. 
 Through the untiring industry and good management of 
 people who had been driven from their homes in Ohio, Illi 
 nois, and Missouri, this desert had been transformed into 
 the paradise I beheld. The Mormons fled here to escape 
 persecution, desiring only to get as far away from their 
 enemies as possible, and after many years of toil and hardship 
 they achieved results of which they had a right to be proud, 
 and which entitled them to a more kindly consideration, than 
 had been accorded them when residing in the States. 
 
 Having passed the Bear River Valley, we were soon in the 
 great metropolis of Mormondorn, and driving through wide 
 streets and avenues, past houses that were evidently the 
 abodes of thrifty well-to-do people, the coach at length drew 
 up before the door of the Kimble House. 
 
 The proprietor came out, and ushered us up stairs to the 
 parlor, a large, airy room, plainly but comfortably furnished, 
 and soon a little girl came and said that she would show me 
 my room. The furniture in this was somewhat primitive in 
 its style, but everything was neat and clean, and the accom 
 modations, if not exactly such as the Fifth Avenue Hotel 
 offers, were all that any reasonable person had a right to 
 expect. 
 
 So soon as I was fairly settled in the hotel, I presented the 
 proprietor the letter of introduction from the road agent at 
 Cheyenne, and had quite a long conversation with him. He 
 
AT AUSTIN. 583 
 
 gave ,me much good advice about my future movements, and 
 seemed disposed, in every way, to be as kind and obliging 
 as lie could. From him I learned that there were a number 
 of old Confederate soldiers in the city and vicinity ; but as I 
 was anxious to get to the Eldorado, where I expected to 
 make my fortune, with as little delay as possible, I made no 
 attempt to find any of them. 
 
 After taking a rest for a day or two in Salt Lake City, I 
 again started on my journey westward. At Ruby Valley, in 
 Nevada, I met a gentleman who was engaged in mining opera 
 tions, and he advised me strongly to go to the Reese River 
 gold regions. I was not greatly prepossessed with him, and 
 yet he was certainly a man of intelligence and cultivation, and, 
 as what he told me only served to confirm what I had heard 
 from other persons, I concluded to take his advice. On 
 arriving at Austin, a new city in the mountains, near the 
 Reese River, I accordingly left the stage and took lodgings 
 at the Exchange Hotel, which was kept by a Slavonian by the 
 name of Mollinely. 
 
CHAPTER LI. 
 
 MINING IN UTAH AND NEVADA. THE MORMONS 
 AND THEIR COUNTRY. 
 
 Noisy Neighbors. A Nevada Desperado. The Aristocracy of Austin. 
 
 My Marriage. Speculation in Mines and Mining Stock. Removal 
 to Sacramento Valley, California. Off for the Gold Regions again. A 
 characteristic Fraud. " Salting " a Mine. The Wellington District. 
 
 A Description of the Country, and its Animal, Vegetable, and Min 
 eral Products. A Residence in Salt Lake City. Acquaintance with 
 prominent Mormons, and Inquiries into the Nature of their Belief. 
 Mormon Principles and Practices. Salt Lake City and its Surround 
 ings. The Mineral Wealth of Utah. Preparing to Return to the 
 East. 
 
 HE sleeping apartment assigned me at Austin 
 was not the most agreeable, being next to a 
 room occupied by some drunken fellows, who 
 kept up a terrible noise nearly all night j 
 and, as I thought that most likely I would 
 to put up with this sort of thing nearly all the 
 if I remained in the hotel, I determined to 
 look for lodgings elsewhere. A gentleman to whom I 
 spoke about the matter said, that he knew of a private 
 house where rooms were sometimes to be had, and of 
 fered to go and see if I could obtain accommodation there. 
 
 While he was gone, the chambermaid brought from the room 
 next to mine two pairs of pistols, two large knives, and a ra 
 zor, and informed me that their owner was a noted desperado, 
 called Irish Tom, and that he had killed two men. 
 
 I had some curiosity to see this individual, but did not care 
 particularly to make his acquaintance. My curiosity was soon 
 gratified, for he came to the parlor inquiring for his weapons. 
 Instead of being angry with the chambermaid for having 
 taken them from his room to show them to me, he seemed to 
 feel rather complimented that I should feel an interest in them 
 and him. He was a tall, good-looking Irishman, with a very 
 pleasant face, and had as little of the ruffian in his appearance 
 
 584 
 
THE ARISTOCRACY OF AUSTIN. 585 
 
 as any man I had met on the frontier. I was informed that he 
 never attempted to hurt well-behaved people, and that he 
 often submitted to the grossest kind of insults from some of 
 his intimates. Men of his acquaintance had been known to 
 slap him in the face, and he would take no notice, but walk 
 away as if nothing had happened. With others, however, he 
 would have no mercy, but would produce a pistol or knife at 
 the slightest provocation. Tom was rather noted for his polite 
 tearing towards the ladies, which I considered as an evidence 
 that he was not as bad, by any means, as he might have been. 
 My friend, who had gone to look for lodgings for me, re 
 turned, and said that he had secured me a very good room. 
 I accordingly left the hotel, and had reason to congratulate 
 myself in my change of quarters. My landlady was a Penn- 
 sylvanian, and was disposed to do all in her power to make 
 me comfortable, and to assist me in carrying out the object I 
 had in view in taking up my residence in Austin. She intro 
 duced me to a restaurant-keeper, who agreed to supply me 
 with my meals, and also to a number of the prominent people 
 of the place the judge, the doctor, the Methodist minister, 
 and others. 
 
 QUEER PEOPLE. 
 
 The aristocracy of Austin was made up of an odd lot of 
 people, who, however, had the best possible opinion of them 
 selves, even if they did use bad grammar, swear hard, and 
 drink unlimited quantities of whiskey. I, however, always had 
 a happy faculty of adapting myself to circumstances, and I 
 was soon on excellent terms with most of my new acquaint 
 ances. 
 
 Among my friends was an individual of about sixty years 
 of age, who, from his conversation, seemed to have been at 
 one time accustomed to mingle in really good society. He 
 was a widower, and was extensively engaged in mining oper 
 ations. I had not known him more than a couple of days be 
 fore he asked me to marry him, and offered to give me an 
 interest in his mines if I would accept him. I thought that 
 this was a rather abrupt style of courtship, and felt constrained 
 to decline. He took my refusal good-naturedly enough, and 
 was evidently not sufficiently in love with rne to break his 
 heart because he could not get me. 
 
 Subsequently I met a gentleman who paid me attention, and 
 to whom I became sincerely attached. We were married in a 
 
586 MINING FRAUDS. 
 
 very quiet manner ; for neither of us desired, any more than 
 we could help, to be made the subjects of the gossip of a 
 mining town. 
 
 Shortly after my marriage I made a flying trip to New Or 
 leans, for the purpose of seeing my brother, and some of my 
 relatives. Immediately a rumor was started that I had run 
 away ; and when I returned I found that all kinds of stories had 
 been set afloat about me. My re-appearance, however, set 
 them all at rest; and, as my husband and myself zealously- 
 attended to our own business, and let that of other people alone, 
 we were permitted to dwell together in peace. 
 
 When I got back from New Orleans, we purchased a snug 
 little stone house, and I devoted myself to advancing my hus 
 band's interests as much as possible, and to making our home 
 comfortable and attractive. 
 
 My husband, for a time, prospered in his mining operations ; 
 and, although there were some envious people who spoke ill 
 of him and of me, we succeeded in gaming the esteem of such 
 of our neighbors as were worth knowing, and did not disturb 
 ourselves about what might be said of us by those who were 
 disposed to speak evil. 
 
 The city of Austin, which is near the centre of Nevada, 
 at this time (1868) contained from fifteen hundred to two 
 thousand inhabitants, most of whom were in some way con 
 nected with the mines. There were about a dozen stores, one 
 hotel, four or five lodging-houses, half a dozen restaurants, 
 more drinking-saloons than I ever undertook to count, Catho 
 lic and Methodist churches, a Masonic hall, and five quartz 
 crushing-mills, only one, however, of which was in operation. 
 
 MINING SPECULATIONS AND SWINDLES. 
 
 There was any amount of speculation in mines and mining 
 stocks, and any amount of the worst kind of swindling going 
 on all the time. Some of the mines were good ones ; but 
 others were mere pretences, and were worth nothing at all. 
 Many of these bogus mines were sold to eastern capitalists by 
 experts, who made a specialty of working frauds of this de 
 scription. 
 
 It was while residing in Austin that I first heard the ex 
 pression " salting " .applied to mines, and learned what it 
 meant. Salting, however, was only one of a number of frauds 
 that were practised every day. 
 
SCENES AT EL DORADO. 
 
MINING OPERATIONS. 587 
 
 It grieved me greatly that my husband should be compelled 
 to associate, and to transact business with such scoundrels as 
 the men about him. His partner, especially, was as worthless 
 a scamp as there was in the district ; and, as I felt certain that 
 he would in time be held responsible for some of the doings 
 of this fellow, I persuaded him to give up mining, and to seek 
 a home in some locality that offered greater advantages for 
 living, as decent people ought to live, than Austin did. 
 
 My husband accordingly sold out his interest in the mines, 
 and we removed to California, where we purchased a lovely 
 place in the Sacramento valley. This was just such a home 
 as I had always sighed for, and I was perfectly happy in the 
 idea of settling down, and living a quiet contented life for the 
 rest pf my days. 
 
 It was not to be, however. My husband had the gold fever, 
 and he found it impossible to be satisfied with what would 
 have satisfied most reasonable people. He was restless and 
 irritable, and was all the time anxious to be off to the mines 
 again. 
 
 We had not been settled in our new home more than a few 
 months, when, to my infinite regret, he insisted on starting off 
 for the new Eldorado in Utah. He then passed a year pros 
 pecting in Bingham Canon, Camp Floyd, Eureka, and Tintic, 
 and expended all his money without achieving anything. He 
 was then compelled to accept the foremanship of a mine in the 
 Lucine district, and after he had been working in that capacity 
 for some time, was promoted to superintendent. 
 
 One of the members of the firm by whom my husband was 
 employed was a gentleman, and was honest, as honesty went 
 in that region. The other was a drunkard, and a fraud of the 
 worst kind. This man, some time before this, had started a 
 settlement, which he named after himself, and had built a 
 smelting furnace, all for the purpose of selling some bogus 
 mines. He also perpetrated an infamous swindle on some 
 English capitalists, in relation to a mine in Nevada. 
 
 A " SALTED " MINE. 
 
 The way the thing was done was this, and it will serve as 
 an illustration of the kind of swindles that were constantly 
 being perpetrated in connection with mines. 
 
 - He sent to Virginia and purchased some rich ore from the 
 Comstock mine, for the purpose of salting the mine which he 
 
588 SALTING. 
 
 wished to sell. This was a silver-bearing lead, but there was 
 not enough metal in the ore to pay for getting it out. It was 
 necessary, however, in order to effect a sale, to give the im 
 pression that it was very rich. The smelter, therefore, run out 
 about three thousand bars, which were supposed to be silver, 
 but which were in reality half lead. 
 
 These were hauled to the depot, where the persons who 
 proposed to purchase could see them ; but after dark they 
 were taken back to the mine, and the next day the teams 
 took them to the depot again. This was done for three suc 
 cessive days, and the Englishmen, seeing such enormous 
 amounts of metal, became greatly excited, and offered a mil 
 lion dollars for the mine. The speculator refused, and then 
 they offered a million and a half. This offer he closed with, 
 and a day was set for the inspection of the mine. 
 
 The " dumps " were thoroughly salted, and arrangements 
 were made for the assayer and mining expert to be in 
 attendance. The proposed purchasers had their expert 
 with them, a German professor from Freiburg. This profes 
 sor had a large sack with him in which to put samples of ore, 
 and when going down into the mine he gave it to one of the 
 men to carry for him. 
 
 The speculator had on a large blanket-coat, with immense 
 pockets in it, which were filled with rich ore. The man with 
 the sack was also provided with a small quantity, to be used 
 in case of emergency. Every time the professor put a piece 
 of ore in the sack, so soon as his back was turned the specula 
 tor or his man would drop in some of the rich ore. The result 
 was, that when the assays were made, they rose from three 
 thousand to fifteen thousand dollars to the ton. 
 
 The Englishmen were in ecstasies, and insisted on the con 
 tract beirfg drawn up immediately. Part of the purchase 
 money was then paid down, and the rest was to be forthcom 
 ing in thirty days. When the thirty days expired the pur 
 chasers took possession, only to find that they had been 
 duped in a most outrageous manner. By the time the dis 
 covery of the fraud was made, however, the swindlers had 
 fled, and the Englishmen had nothing to do but to return to 
 London with empty pockets. 
 
 One of them, however, tried his luck again in Little Cotton- 
 wood, in the Wellington district, but with no better success. 
 
 My husband was at this time superintendent of one of the 
 Wellington mines, and I consequently had ample opportu- 
 
f) O 
 
COTTOXWOOD CANON. 589 
 
 nities to study mining life, and to become acquainted with the 
 numerous frauds that were going* on. I was also thrown in a 
 good deal with the Mormons, and was able to study their 
 characters and manners. 
 
 Little Cottonwood canon is about twelve miles long, is 
 very narrow, and very deep. A stream runs down the mid 
 dle of it, which is very swift in the months of June and July, 
 when it is full, on account of the melting of immense quanti 
 ties of snow on the mountains. 
 
 THE GOLD REGION OP NEVADA. 
 
 Tannersville is a town, or settlement, named in honor of a 
 woman who kept a hotel or stage-station there. There was 
 a mill and smelter at that place at the time of which I am 
 writing. 
 
 Alta City, at the foot of the two canons, Big and Little 
 Cottonwood, is a town of rather more importance. When I 
 was there it had three stores, a hotel, a couple of lodging- 
 houses, a livery stable, and a large number of drinking- 
 saloons. The dwelling-houses were mostly very small, and 
 were entirely invisible in winter, being covered by the snow. 
 The snow usually commences to fall about the middle of Sep 
 tember, but I have seen it in August. During the winter 
 many parts of the canon are impassable, except by the use of 
 sledges and snow-shoes, and there is constant danger from 
 avalanches, which carry everything before them. 
 
 The Wellington mine lost its foreman and a miner through 
 an avalanche while I was there, and many men have lost their 
 lives in this canon, their bodies remaining buried beneath 
 the snow until spring. 
 
 I doubt whether many of the mines in this district will 
 ever be successfully worked. The Emma is one of the best, 
 and I think could be made to pay, if judiciously operated. 
 This mine is situated in the side of the monntain, and 'is 
 almost perpendicular. On looking at it, it is impossible not to 
 wonder how the owners ever reached it, or are able to work 
 it. I believe that there is an immense lead of silver here 
 which will yet be unearthed. 
 
 This part of the country offers a rich field for the botanist 
 and naturalist. The flowers are in the greatest profusion, and 
 are of every imaginable hue. They grow from the mouth of 
 the canon to some of the highest points on the mountains. 
 
590 ANOTHER MOVE. 
 
 The wild cherry, the whortleberry, the serviceberry, the thim- 
 bleberry, and the dewberry are very abundant. 
 
 On the very summits of this immense range will be found 
 clear blue lakes, filled with spotted trout. How they have 
 managed to get there is more than I can tell. 
 
 When the highest points are reached, if one looks aloft the 
 broad-winged eagle may be seen wheeling in the air ; while 
 upon the ground are the beautiful mountain squirrels, busily 
 engaged in gathering their winter stores. I have often sat 
 for hours and watched these nimble little animals. There are 
 as many as six different varieties of squirrels, some of which 
 are not larger than mice, while others, the size of the common 
 gray squirrels of the Eastern States, are beautifully striped, 
 and vary in color from light gray to dark brown. The great 
 est enemies of these harmless animals are the eagle and the 
 mink. 
 
 Large rats abound in the woods, as do also the brown 
 weasels. These last-named animals are about eighteen inches 
 in length from the nose to the tip of the tail. The head is 
 small, and the eyes, which are very prominent, are of a soft, 
 lustrous black. The weasels are very cunning, and are 
 especially destructive to the mice and squirrels. I have seen 
 two old ones kill as many as six or eight mice in a day, in my 
 home, and carry them, one at a time, across the ravine to their 
 young in the woods. While carrying a mouse, however, 
 should a squirrel appear, the weasel will throw down the 
 mouse, and go after this fresh game, and then come back and 
 get the mouse. 
 
 To my great satisfaction, my husband at length got tired 
 of working in this region, and under so many disadvantages, 
 and concluded to try his fortune elsewhere. He had quite a 
 notion of New Mexico, which he thought held out inducements 
 for fortune-seekers ; but I was beginning to be out of the 
 notion of the whole business, and was anxious to be among a 
 different class of people from those w r ho, for the most part, 
 make up the population of the mining districts. There was 
 so much outrageous swindling going on when we were there 
 residing, that I was disposed to regard almost any move 
 as a good one, and very willingly turned my face eastward 
 again. 
 
 We went first to Salt Lake City, where we remained for 
 some time, and I consequently had excellent opportunities 
 afforded me for becoming intimately acquainted with a num- 
 
THH MORMONS. 591 
 
 ber of Mormons, and of learning a great deal about their 
 religion, and their manners and customs. 
 
 AMONG THE MORMONS. 
 
 The lady with whom I boarded had been an early convert 
 to Mormonism, had resided at Nauvoo at the time the exodus 
 was determined upon, and had been one of the band of emi 
 grants, who, fleeing from persecution, had sought a home 
 among the mountains of Utah. She had been one of twelve 
 wives, and was a strong advocate of polygamy. When she 
 saw that I really desired to know something about Mormon- 
 .ism, not from mere curiosity, but from a genuine wish to gain 
 information that would enable me to form an impartial judg 
 ment, she took great pleasure in answering all my questions, 
 and in providing me with facilities for pursuing my inquiries. 
 
 She was a very intelligent woman, and her account of the 
 persecutions to which the Mormons were subjected at Nauvoo, 
 and the suffering and hardships they endured during the long 
 and toilsome journey to a place where they hoped to be for 
 ever undisturbed, was most interesting. She had quite an 
 extensive library, to which I had free access, and she took a 
 great deal of pains in directing my reading, and in explaining 
 points which I found to be obscurely stated in the books. 
 
 As I was the only boarder in the house, my husband boing 
 away in the canon most of the time, we were naturally 
 thrown much together, and after we became intimate she took 
 me into her confidence to an extent that she would not have 
 done had we been comparative strangers. 
 
 Among other things, she showed me her Endowment robes, 
 which she wore when she became a member of the Mormon 
 church. This dress consisted of a linen garment, something 
 like a pair of drawers. It was very full, and had a body and 
 sleeves attached. Over one side a heart-shaped piece was 
 cut out, and the edges worked with a button-hole stitch. 
 Curious figures were also worked on the sleeves and on the 
 left hip. The robe proper was something like a priest's sur 
 plice. The slippers, which, like the rest of the dress, were 
 of linen, resembled moccasons. A tall pointed cap, with holes 
 for the eyes, which is drawn down over the face during the 
 ceremonies, completed this singular attire. 
 
 The decorations worn by the men while taking the oath 
 were also shown to me. They consisted of a regalia of Maza- 
 
592 MORMON PREACHING. 
 
 rine blue silk, with a representation of the Temple of Solomon 
 in the centre, and a heart, surrounded by a number of em 
 blems similar to those in use by the Masons. She told me 
 that the oath was very similar to that which the Masons used, 
 and that it was administered to both men and women. 
 
 POLYGAMY. 
 
 During my residence in Salt Lake City, I became acquainted 
 with Brigham Young, and a number of the bishops, and other 
 prominent Mormons, and I formed a very high opinion of 
 them. There certainly has seldom or never been so well- 
 governed a people as the Mormons were before the Gentiles 
 found them out, and insisted on intruding on their domain. As 
 for polygamy, it is a part and parcel of their religion, and 
 has the sanction of the same Bible that the Christians, both 
 Catholic and Protestant, acknowledge ; and I cannot see why 
 the Mormons should not be permitted to hold their religious 
 beliefs the same as other sects. I do not believe in polygamy 
 myself, but if other people think it is right, and choose to 
 practise it, that is their business and not mine. 
 
 Whether polygamy, however, be right or wrong, there is 
 this to be said in favor of the Mormons. The men marry ac 
 cording to the custom of their church, and they acknowledge 
 and provide for the women who bear them children which 
 is a good deal more than a great many people who denounce 
 polygamy and Mormonism do. The Mormon religion professes 
 to be based upon the Bible, what they call " The Book of 
 Mormon" being merely a later revelation; and I have heard 
 as good, sound, practical sermons preached in Salt Lake City 
 by Mormons who worked hard all the week earning bread for 
 their families, as I ever heard anywhere. 
 
 I have listened to the preaching of nearly all the principal 
 bishops, and I never heard any of them utter a word that was 
 'not good doctrine, calculated to make men and women better 
 and more honorable in all their dealings with their neighbors. 
 Most of these sermons were in a much more practical vein 
 than some I have heard in fashionable churches a good many 
 hundred miles eastward of Salt Lake City ; but I liked them 
 none the less for that ; and I respected the preachers, for, so 
 far as I was able to see, they practised exactly what they 
 preached, and did not have one religion for the Sabbath and 
 another for working days. 
 
MORMON MORALITY. 593 
 
 I never saw or heard of a gambling den or a drinking sa 
 loon being kept by a Mormon ; and many of the degrading 
 vices which flourish in Gentile communities, were absolutely 
 unknown in Salt Lake City when the Mormons were its only 
 residents. Even now, the standard of morality is higher in 
 this and other Mormon towns than it is in any place that I 
 know anything about between Omaha and the Pacific coast ; 
 while in real thrift and industry the Mormons are out of all 
 comparison superior to their Gentile neighbors. 
 
 These people went to Utah, hoping and expecting to sep 
 arate themselves from the rest of the world, in order that they 
 might worship God in their own way without molestation, and 
 they ought to be permitted to do it. Through many years 
 of toil and indefatigable industry they transformed the barren 
 wilderness into a blooming Paradise. Conducting the water 
 down from the mountains, they succeeded in bringing the 
 sandy plains, covered with sage bushes, under cultivation, and 
 what was once a dreary desert, is now fertile fields, yielding 
 luxuriant harvests, or orchards bearing the most delicious 
 fruits. 
 
 A MORMON HOUSEHOLD. 
 
 During my stay in Salt Lake Valley, I boarded for several 
 months in the house of Bishop Nilo Andrews, at Sandy Sta- 
 tiori, and was on very intimate terms with five of his six wives. 
 They were all smart women, and their children were, without 
 exception, fine looking, strong, hearty, and intelligent. The 
 bishop was passionately fond of his children, and took the 
 greatest pains to have them well educated. His daughters he 
 escorted to all public gatherings and entertainments that it 
 was proper for them to attend, and did all in his power to 
 make life enjoyable for them. 
 
 The bishop was about sixty years of age, and was as hale 
 and hearty as a man of thirty. He was .not a bit afraid of 
 work, and could get through an amount of it that would have 
 shamed many a younger man. I never want to receive better 
 hospitality than I did from him ; and when he found that I 
 was desirous of obtaining correct information about the Mor 
 mons, he expressed himself as willing to tell me anything I 
 wished to know. 
 
 He was quite a learned man, and like all the Mormons I ever 
 met, was thoroughly posted in the Bible and in biblical his- 
 38 
 
594 SALT LAKE CITY. 
 
 tory, and was able to explain, in a satisfactory manner, the 
 points of coincidence and differences between Mormonism and 
 other religious systems. The bishop told me that the greatest 
 pains was taken in the matter of religious instruction, and 
 that men and women who could not read, and even quite 
 young children, often knew most of the Bible by heart. 
 
 THE MORMON SECTS. 
 
 There are a number of sects among the Mormons, between 
 which some jealousy seems to exist. Of these, the Brig- 
 hamites, the Gadites, and the Josephites are the principal. 
 What the differences between them are I never could exactly 
 make out. Another matter I never clearly understood, was 
 the status of sealed wives. I could not comprehend by what 
 theory a Mormon could marry a widow for her lifetime, while 
 all her children born of the second marriage would belong to 
 the first husband in the next world. 
 
 The City of Salt Lake is located on the banks of the River 
 Jordan, a stream which connects Great Salt Lake and Utah 
 Lake. It is about three miles distant from the mountains, 
 which lie to the eastward. The streets are very wide, and 
 are, many of them, very handsome in appearance, being lined 
 with cotton- wood and sycamore trees, and having streams of 
 water running through them. This last is a specially at 
 tractive feature. 
 
 Most of the houses are well built, and are very neat and 
 pretty, being supplied with all the conveniences and comforts 
 reasonable people can desire. Each house has a small garden 
 and orchard attached, which are invariably kept in the best 
 possible order. 
 
 Brigham Young's residence is of stone, and is surrounded 
 by a wall. Over the entrace is a bee-hive, emblematic of in 
 dustry, and over the large gate is a spread eagle. The house 
 is plain, and not at all pretentious, but it is neat and substan 
 tial looking. The walls of the office are ornamented with 
 some fine portraits of Joseph Smith and other Mormon celeb 
 rities. 
 
 Brigham Young is a light- complexioned man, rather inclined 
 to corpulency, but strong and hearty in spite of his years and 
 the labors he has undergone. He has a large, full head, a 
 keen blue eye, and an easy, affable manner that is very en 
 gaging. I found him to be a pleasant, genial gentleman, with 
 
FAREWELL TO SALT LAKE CITY. 595 
 
 an excellent fund of humor, and a captivating style of con 
 versation. 
 
 The great Tabernacle, which will be used for the purpose 
 of worship until the Temple is completed, is an immense 
 building, which will seat fifteen thousand people. The pews 
 are built in tiers, so that each person in the building can 
 have a view of the altar. The altar is a large and imposing 
 structure. In its rear is the organ and a space for the choir. 
 This organ is the second largest in the world. It was built 
 entire in Salt Lake City. The work on the Temple is going 
 on all the time, slowly but surely, and the expectation is to 
 have it finished by the time of Christ's second coming. He 
 will then dedicate it, and it will be the great religious centre 
 of the world, where all true Christians will come and worship. 
 
 Every ward of Salt Lake City has its public school, and 
 efforts are made to give every child a good practical educa 
 tion. There are four large hotels, three banks, three printing 
 offices, a large, well-regulated hospital, numerous manufacto 
 ries of various kinds, and several flouring and other mills. 
 
 There are several large towns in the neighborhood of the 
 city, and new settlements are continually springing up. 
 Springville, about fifty miles to the south-east, is a very beau 
 tiful place. At the time of which I am writing a railroad 
 down the centre of the valley was in operation, and two others 
 were in contemplation. 
 
 The mineral wealth of Utah is practically inexhaustible. 
 Iron, gold, silver, copper; lead, salt, alum, gypsum, soda, ar 
 senic, and slate abound in immense quantities. 
 
 Salt Lake is a very large body of water, of a much greater 
 specific gravity than that of the ocean. No living thing can 
 exist in it, and in its deepest parts no soundings have ever 
 been able to find a bottom. There are three islands near 
 the middle of the lake, which are said to be rich in metals. 
 
 In the southern part of Utah, called Dixie, cotton and cattle 
 are raised. On the banks of the Sevier River are very fine 
 grazing lands. The Mormons claim that there have been 
 some discoveries of gold and silver made in this section. 
 
 Taking it all in all, my residence in Salt Lake city was both 
 pleasant and profitable to me ; and when the time came for me 
 to say farewell to my Mormon friends, I did so with many re 
 grets, and with many wishes that they might escape persecu 
 tion from their enemies. I could not agree with all of their 
 religious doctrines, but I learned to regard them as an indus- 
 
596 FACING EASTWARD AGAIN. 
 
 trious, hard-working, and honest people, and as ; consequently, 
 deserving of respect and sympathy. 
 
 After a sojourn of a number of months in Utah, I prepared 
 to journey eastward again, having scarcely bettered my for 
 tunes, but having seen some varieties of life worth seeing, and 
 having gained some valuable experiences, not the least valua 
 ble of which was, that mining speculations are things that 
 people who have consciences should have as little as possible 
 to do with. 
 
CHAPTER LIL 
 
 COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS. CONCLUSION. 
 
 Denver. Pueblo. Trinidad. Stockton's Ranch e. A Headquarters 
 for Desperadoes. Cattle Stealing. A private Graveyard. Max 
 well's Ranche. Dry Cimmaron. Fort Union. Sante Fe. The 
 oldest City in New Mexico. A wagon Journey down the Valley of 
 the Rio Grande. Evidences of Ancient Civilization. Fort McRae 
 and the Hot Spring. Mowry City. The Gold Mining region of 
 New Mexico and Arizona. El Paso. A thriving Town. A stage 
 Ride through Western Texas. Fort Bliss. Fort Quitman and Eagle 
 Spring. The Leon Holes. Fort Stockton. The Rio Pecos. A 
 fine Country. Approaching Civilization. The End of the Story. 
 
 JITH my little baby boy born during my 
 sojourn in Salt Lake City in my arms, 
 I started on a long journey through 
 _ __ Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, hop 
 ing, perhaps, but scarcely expecting, to find the 
 opportunities, which I had failed to find in Utah^ 
 Nevada, and California, for advancing my pecuniary 
 interests. Apart, however, from profits that might 
 result from it, the journey would be worth making 
 for its own sake, for, from what I had heard of 
 this section of the Western country, great things were to be 
 ex'pected of it in the near future ; and the satisfaction of seeing 
 and judging of the nature and extent of its resources would 
 amply repay me for the trouble of making a trip through it. 
 
 After leaving Salt Lake City, the first place of importance 
 reached was Denver, Colorado, on the Platte River. This I 
 found to be a well built and very thriving town, of about 
 eight or ten thousand inhabitants. Among its public institu 
 tions were a branch of the United States Mint, and several 
 hotels, churches, and banks. Denver was, until the comple 
 tion of the Pacific Railroad, the chief trading centre in this- 
 region. Since the completion of the railroad, however, its 
 importance in comparison with other places has, in some degree 
 
 597 
 
598 A DESPERADO. 
 
 diminished ; but as the country becomes settled, it may be 
 expected to increase in wealth and population, and it will 
 probably, ere a great many years, be one of the finest cities 
 in the whole West. 
 
 Among the new towns which have recently sprung up in 
 Colorado is Pueblo, nearly two hundred miles south of Denver, 
 and the terminus of the narrow gauge railroad which taps 
 the Pacific Railroad at Cheyenne. This town takes its name 
 from the Pueblo Indians, who are much farther advanced in 
 civilization than* most of the aborigines, and who deserve much 
 credit for their industrious habits and their efforts to prosper. 
 
 Trinidad, still farther to the south, is an old Mexican town, 
 and is the centre of an extensive cattle and sheep raising 
 country. There is a constant war going on in this region on 
 the subject of stock between Americans, Mexicans, and 
 Indians. Cattle thieves, who steal stock from Texas and 
 Mexico, rendezvous near Trinidad, and, as they are not 
 particular whom they plunder, so long as they are able to do 
 it with impunity, their presence is anything but agreeable to 
 people who desire to live reasonably peaceable lives, and to 
 get along by minding their own business. 
 
 A COLOEADO RANCHE. 
 
 Some distance from Trinidad is Stockton's Ranche, in the 
 midst of a wild, unsettled country, and the only house within 
 a circuit of many miles' ride. This is a noted headquarters 
 of the desperadoes who infest New Mexico and Lower Colorado. 
 The building is two stories in height, is quite large, and con 
 tains a store and drinking-saloon. On a mound above the 
 house is a graveyard, in which twenty-one people have 
 been buried. Only three out of this number had died 
 natural deaths, the others having been shot down like dogs, 
 for some real or fancied offences. Stockton has killed several 
 .men himself, while many more have fallen by the hands of his 
 confederates. 
 
 Stockton was a small man, restless in his movements, and 
 with a fierce black eye. He had a wife and a ver}- interesting 
 family, for whom I felt much sympathy when I learned what 
 a desperate character he was. His wife, who seemed to be a 
 very nice, clever woman, was much troubled with regard to 
 him. She told me that she was always uneasy about him when 
 iie was away from home, and that, at times, even when he was 
 
FRONTIER LIFE. 599 
 
 sleeping in his bed, she was harassed with fears lest some 
 one should come arid take him for the purpose of shooting 
 
 him. Bancroft yjaSr^ 
 
 While I was at the RancrTe, Stockton sent'out some of his- 
 men to get some cattle at Maxwell's Ranche, which he claimed 
 as his. His instructions were to take the cattle at all hazards, 
 and to capture the men who were supposed to have stolen 
 them, dead or alive. The herders were generally selected for 
 their utter recklessness, and as a rule they cared neither for 
 God nor man, but would shoot down any one who ' offended 
 them, without pity or remorse. Most of these herders are 
 very young men, and are generally athletic and handsome. 
 Some of them, from their appearance and conversation, appear 
 to have been well reared ; and if asked why they have come 
 to the frontiers to lead such a wild life as this, they will 
 frankly say, that they are trying to make their fortunes, and 
 that they expect to do it in a couple of years. They are 
 usually disappointed in these expectations ; and those who do 
 not give up in disgust, and return to civilization, fall into the 
 habits of the country, and soon become as finished desperadoes 
 as those who have been born and brought up there. Some of 
 them, however, engaged in this kind of life because they 
 really like it, and because they feel a certain freedom and 
 unrestraint in roaming about in the open air. 
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 
 
 Whenever a freight train, either American or Mexican, 
 passed, Stockton would buckle on his belt of six-shooters, and, 
 with a big negro, armed in a similar manner, as his body 
 guard, step out into the road with a roll of brands in one 
 hand and a pistol in the other, and inspect the brands on each 
 head of cattle. Should the brands compare with his, he 
 would take them from the train, and let the freighters make 
 out the best way they could. He has many times stopped 
 and broken up freight trains bound for Sante Fe and the 
 interior, to the infinite injury of the merchants who depend 
 upon the freighters for their goods. The traders, however, 
 appear to be powerless before this and other desperadoes, and 
 the government which takes their taxes, under the plea of 
 affording them protection, ought certainly to do something to 
 prevent them from being at the mercy of men who recognize 
 no laws but their own fierce wills. 
 
600 JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER IN ONE. 
 
 On one occasion Stockton, through some of his employees, 
 duped two men from Maxwell's Ranche, who, he asserted, had 
 stolen cattle from 'him. When he had them in his power he 
 started off, leaving the impression on the minds of their friends 
 that he intended to take them to Trinidad, for the purpose of 
 delivering them up to the sheriff. Instead of doing this, 
 however, he carried them into a side road and there shot 
 them, leaving their, bodies to be devoured by the coyotes, or, 
 perhaps, buried by some casual passer-by. For this deed he 
 was arrested and lodged in jail. He was liberated, however, 
 almost immediately, without even the form of a trial, the 
 officers being too much afraid of him and of his confederates 
 to detain him. 
 
 The occurrences which I have related will illustrate the 
 kind of life that is led in the cattle raising country of Colorado, 
 New Mexico, South-western Kansas, and Texas. . I named 
 this place Bandit House, and the ford in the stream near by, 
 Dead Man's Crossing, which are expressive and appro 
 priate, if not poetical. 
 
 A WEALTHY RANCHERO. 
 
 Beyond Stockton's is General Maxwell's Ranche. Maxwell 
 is the wealthiest American in Southern Colorado. I believe 
 lie got his start in life by marrying a Mexican woman, who 
 inherited an extensive Spanish grant. Maxwell ha^ quite a 
 large family, and he bears a better, reputation than do most 
 of the old settlers. He is a great gambler, and is much 
 interested in horse-racing, but is disposed to be kind and 
 hospitable to strangers. 
 
 Crossing quite an extensive piece of country, the Dry 
 Cimmaron is reached. Here some enterprising Englishmen, 
 headed by a Mr. Read, have taken up a large tract of land, 
 and have established a colony. They have built a very neat 
 little town, and when I passed .through there, their affairs 
 seemed to be in a thriving condition. The town is located 
 on a rather high and dry elevation, which takes its name 
 from the scarcity of water in the branch of the Cimmaron 
 River, which runs by it. 
 
 Dry Cimmaron was for a time a stopping-place for the 
 stages from the Elizabethtown mines, which connected with 
 the Southern lines. It is on a more direct route for the cattle 
 men and freighters; but, although it has plenty of wood, it is 
 
SANTA FE. 601 
 
 open to objection as a cattle and freight station, on account 
 of the insufficiency of the water supply. 
 
 A FRONTIER FORT. 
 
 The next point of interest is Fort Union, in New Mexico, 
 about sixty miles south of Dry Cimmaron. This fort, which, 
 at a distance, looks like a small city, is built of adobe, or 
 white bricks, and is plastered inside and out with gypsum, 
 which gives it a rather dazzling-white appearance. The 
 garrison consists of five companies of infantry and one of 
 cavalry. Fort Union is the central supply depot for the 
 frontiers, and is a very important position. Some distance off, 
 in the mountain, is a steam saw-mill, which supplies all the 
 lumber used in and about the fort. This saw-mill is protected 
 by an armed guard of soldiers. There is also a blacksmith 
 shop, a wagon shop, a carpenter shop, and a post office. 
 Each company has a garden and several cows, and the men 
 seem to take a great deal of pride in keeping everything in 
 the best possible order. This fort and its surroundings do 
 much credit to the officers who planned them, and who have 
 succeeded in making such a nice-looking place out of a 
 frontier military post. 
 
 From Fort Union to Santa Fe the traveller passes over 
 some rough country. Santa Fe is the oldest city in New 
 Mexico, and one of the oldest in the country. It has been, 
 and undoubtedly for a long time will be, an important centre 
 of trade between the United States and Mexico. The ground 
 in and about the city is all owned by Mexicans, or people of 
 Mexican descent, who refuse to sell on any terms, but who 
 will lease to Americans. The houses are chiefly one and two 
 story structures, built of adobe, and covered with tile or 
 thatch. They are cool, pleasant, and comfortable in summer. 
 The hotel, which is kept by an American, but which is owned 
 by a Mexican, who has refused to permit any alterations or 
 improvements to be made, stands on the corner of the plaza, 
 or great public square, which was laid out by the founders of 
 the city. During the war, the Union soldiers insisted on 
 erecting a monument on the plaza to the memory of their 
 fallen comrades. This gave great offence to the old residents, 
 who regarded the structure as an injury to the appearance of 
 their public square ; but as they were powerless to prevent its 
 erection, they were compelled to submit with the best grace 
 
602 THE JOURNEY RESUMED. 
 
 they could. As the monument is not a very elegant-looking 
 affair, it is not surprising that those who were not interested 
 in it could not bring themselves to admire it. 
 
 So old a city as Santa Fe, of course, has an interesting his 
 tory, but a recital of the events which have made it famous is 
 scarcely called for in such a narrative as this. It is, in its 
 peculiar way, a handsome place, and has a venerable appear 
 ance, which is quite imposing. Santa Fe contains about 
 twenty thousand inhabitants. 
 
 It was in the month of November that our little party 
 started down the fertile valley of the Rio Grande from Santa 
 Fe, but the weather was warm and pleasant, the great eleva 
 tion giving this region a deliciously dry and healthful climate. 
 There were seven of us in all, and for the sake of companion 
 ship and mutual protection we engaged a large wagon drawn 
 by six mules. 
 
 CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. 
 
 It was about ten o'clock in the morning when we rolled out 
 of Santa Fe, and our first camping-place was an Indian vil 
 lage, where we found a neat little adobe house, of which we 
 took possession while resting ourselves and preparing our 
 supper. One of the gentlemen made the coffee, while the 
 others employed themselves in cooking the provisions, or in 
 roaming about, looking at, and trying to converse with the 
 Indians, or viewing the scenery. My travelling companions 
 were all pleasant people, and we enjoyed ourselves hugely. 
 Mr. McKnight, the owner of the wagon and mules, was an 
 exceedingly gentlemanly man, and I shall always bear him in 
 kindly remembrance for his attentions to me and to my little 
 boy during this journey. 
 
 Once on the road again, we followed the valley southward, 
 stopping the next day for our dinner at an Indian village, 
 which was situated at the foot of a lofty mountain, and which 
 overlooked the Rio Grande. After having dined, we struck 
 across a stretch of high, dry table land, covered with sage- 
 bushes, of which we gathered a quantity as we went along, to 
 be used as fuel in cooking our supper. We reached the Rio 
 Grande again about nightfall, and had a grand supper, some 
 of the gentlemen having succeeded in killing half a dozen 
 wild ducks and one rabbit, and in catching one fish. 
 
 From this point we pursued our way down the valley, pass 
 ing a number of old Mexican towns, and plantations of cotton 
 
THE VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE. 603 
 
 and sycamore, which indicated that the land had once been 
 thickly settled with people of no mean civilization, until we 
 reached Fort McRae. 
 
 This valley of the Rio Grande is a magnificent route for a 
 railroad, and I doubt not that in a few years it will be found 
 worth while to build one. There is plenty of water and tim 
 ber, and the country offers many inducements to industrious 
 settlers. The principal towns are Albuquerque, Valencia, 
 Socarro, Dona Ana, and Mesilla. The Pueblo Indians have 
 a number of settlements, and the portions of country inhab 
 ited by them are generally in a high state of cultivation. 
 These Indians own a great many cattle, sheep, and horses, 
 and they support a number of churches and schools. 
 
 Near Fort McRae is the famous hot spring. It is situated 
 on a high mound, and its depth has never been sounded. This 
 spring is in a state of constant ebullition, is very clear, very 
 hot, and is possessed of valuable medicinal properties. Con 
 sumptives are especially benefited by the use of its waters. 
 Around the edge is a rough crust of lime, which takes all 
 imaginable shapes. The water of the spring will cook eggs 
 quicker than ordinary boiling water, and when cool it is very 
 pleasant to the taste. A short distance off is a cold spring, 
 near which is a famous Indian camping-ground. 
 
 Striking south-westward from Fort McRae, we came to Rio 
 de los Mimtres, near the head of which is Mowry City, 
 founded by Lieutenant Mowry, who could not have had any 
 very clear ideas as to what he was about when he attempted 
 to make a settlement in such a place. Mowry City has a 
 hotel, one or two stores, and more drinking-saloons than 
 do it any good. That it win ever be much of a place I do 
 not believe. There is not %ater enough in the river the 
 greater part of the time to float two logs together, and in 
 very dry weather one can step across it without wetting the 
 feet. A sudden shower will, however, convert this puny 
 creek in a short time into a raging river, which carries every 
 thing before it, and then it will subside as suddenly as it 
 arose. 
 
 From Mowry City, which I regarded as a fraud of the worst 
 kind, we went to Pachalalo, where we found a very beautiful 
 ranche, owned by a Canadian, who bad taken a great .deal of 
 pains in improving and beautifying his place. He had made 
 a pretty artificial lake, which, like the rest of the ranche, was 
 supplied with water brought down from the mountains. 
 
604 A FINE COUNTRY. 
 
 A visit was now made to Silver City, a new settlement in 
 the mountains, containing, 'probably, about fifteen hundred 
 inhabitants. There were three quartz mills, but nothing worth 
 talking about appeared to be doing in the way of getting out 
 metal. None of the mines were paying expenses, chiefly, I 
 thought, through a lack of competent persons to treat the ore, 
 which seemed to be rich enough. Another and very great 
 difficulty in working these mines, however, was the absence 
 of transportation facilities, and the presence of hostile Indians. 
 A railroad will aid immensely in developing this country, 
 which is one of the richest in the world in minerals. On the 
 San Domingo, San Francisco, and Gila Rivers are admirable 
 grazing lands, which will be very valuable to somebody in the 
 course of time. The attractions of this country are very 
 great, and it will doubtless be rapidly settled in a few^years. 
 
 This country, however, did not hold out any great induce 
 ment for me at the time of my visit, and, after taking a look 
 at it, I turned back, and passing through Mesilla, went to 
 El Paso, in Texas, where I remained two days, preparatory to 
 taking the overland stage for a journey across the Lone Star 
 State. 
 
 J&. Paso is the terminus of the overland stage route, the 
 mails being conveyed from there to the interior on horseback. 
 This town is one of the prettiest on the Rio Grande, and there 
 is more business done there than in any place in that whole 
 region outside of Santa Fe. El Paso contains a number of 
 really fine buildings, which would do credit to some Eastern 
 cities. The country in the vicinity produces corn, wheat, and 
 all kinds of vegetables in great abundance. Excellent grapes 
 grow without cultivation, from which the best wine I ever 
 drank, outside of France, is made. The climate is very 
 healthy, the soil fertile, being capable of producing anything 
 that will grow in Louisiana, and the water abundant for all 
 purposes. 
 
 THE STAGE ROUTE ACROSS TEXAS. 
 
 The overland stage from El Paso passes through a number 
 of small villages, along the banks of the Rio Grande, until 
 Fort Bliss is reached. This country contains some of the 
 finest grazing lands for sheep in the world. The next place 
 is Fort Quitman, where a large garrison is stationed, and leav 
 ing this, the road passes through a well-timbered country, 
 abounding in live-oak, cedar, and taskata a species of pine, 
 
THROUGH TEXAS. 605 
 
 which makes a very intense heat when used for fuel. Eagle 
 Spring, a short distance from Fort Quitman, takes its name 
 from the immense number of eagles that build their nests and 
 rear their young in the rocky cliffs. The scenery here is 
 very beautiful, but it is considered one of the most dangerous 
 spots on the route, on account of the opportunities which it 
 offers to the Indians for an effective attack. 
 
 Leaving the river, and making the interior, we were not 
 long in arriving at about as rough and unpleasant a piece of 
 ground as I ever travelled over. In this strip of^ territory, of 
 about thirty miles in width, rattlesnakes and horned toads are 
 more abundant than the scorpions on Scorpion Rock, at St. 
 Thomas. 
 
 The Leon Holes, which our stage next reached, are three in 
 number, and the water is very brackish. No bottom has ever 
 been found to them. They say that a freighter, who wished 
 to tighten the tire of a wheel, threw it into one of these holes, 
 but when he was ready to start it was not to be seen, having 
 passed completely out of sight. 
 
 About seven miles from the Leon Holes is Fort Stockton, 
 and beyond that is a station-house, kept by a man who had 
 the reputation, of dishing up for his guest pretty near every 
 thing and anything that could be eaten. The place, however, 
 was neat and clean, and as the cooking looked inviting, I, 
 being too hungry to be over-fastidious, ate what was before 
 me, and asked no questions. 
 
 We next travelled through a number of beautiful valleys 
 and over rolling prairies, abounding in buffaloes, antelopes, 
 and deer, until the Rio Pecos was reached. This is a bold 
 and muddy stream, and when, as the stagemen say, it gets on a 
 rampage, it rushes on in a perfect torrent. The station-keeper 
 at this point was a small man, who blasphemed enough for six 
 large ones. In spite of his foul language, however, he was a 
 good housekeeper, and everything about his place looked nice 
 and in good order. 
 
 Our stage now rolled through one of the richest stock-rais 
 ing countries in America a country which, when the Texas 
 and Pacific Railroad is built, will certainly be rapidly settled. 
 
 The farther we now proceeded the more frequent became 
 the signs of civilization, and, as with this journey, through 
 a most interesting but little-known section of the country, was 
 the last of my adventures that is likely to be of interest to the 
 majority of readers, this seems to be a proper place to bring 
 
606 LAST WORDS. 
 
 this narrative to a close. Perhaps my story was worth the 
 telling, perhaps not the great public, to whom I have ven 
 tured to confide a plain and unpretentious account of my 
 adventuresome career, will be a better judge of that than 
 I am. All I claim is, that my conduct, under the many trying 
 and peculiar circumstances in which I have been placed, shall 
 be judged with impartiality and candor, and that due credit 
 shall be given me for integrity of purpose, and a desire to do 
 my whole duty as I understand it. For the part I took in the 
 great contest between the South and the North I have no apol 
 ogies to offer. I did what I thought to be right ; and, while 
 anxious for the good opinion of all honorable and right-think 
 ing people, a consciousness of the purity of my motives will 
 be an ample protection against the censure of those who may 
 be disposed to be censorious. 
 
 THE END.