Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 28.djvu/107

 Tin- linn, -linn, 101

ROSSER TO THE FRONT.

Swerving from our purpose, sweeping down from our wooded hilltop, straight over a road crossing our ridge, gobbling up a poor devil, who, unfortunately for him, happened to be crossing here; voices of men behind him; voices of men before him; on we fled up the companion peak, hustling our prisoner with us. This was near Trissel's church. Here a citizen, Tom Lambkin, recognized the prisoner as the man who just before had tried to burn his barn, but the women dissuaded him from it. We expect every moment to be discovered, as we are driven from pillow to post. We endeavored now to get to the mountain road. We are met by a volley and driven back. There is no way out the enemy are on all roads. A long time we lay crouching in Limekiln Hollow, a narrow, deep ra- vine, often almost discovered by straggling horsemen driving cattle through the cedars on the steep hillside above us. At last, ventur- ing southward, we rode, almost before we knew it, into Rosser's cavalry in full pursuit.

" Huzza for the Laurel Brigade!" we cried. " Huzza! Huzza!"

What did we do with our prisoner ? We turned him over to Ros- ser's provost-marshal. A stolen horse he rode, leading his own, was afterwards restored to its owner, A. Showalter. Taking his carbine from him I handed it to Lieutenant Bradshaw, of McNeil's Rangers, who was with us that day without other weapon than his sword. The prisoner was killed next morning while trying to es- cape, I learned. He told me he was from Vermont, and had a wife and two children there.

Rosser's men were tired and the horses jaded from long marching. Lieutenant E. R. NefT and myself, separating from our little band (which never rendezvoused again), pushed our fresh horses on, pass- ing the troops, passing our own Twelfth Cavalry, then halted in Horn's meadows, their horses biting the grass passing everything in full trot to reach Coote's store, where firing was heard, and where we had friends for whom we felt concerned that day.

It was almost sunset. There lay then in the middle of the wide mountain road a mammoth stone, perhaps ten feet high and long and wide, a little south of Coote's store. The road divided, and a track ran on each side of this rough boulder, as the road descends here rapidly to the river a half mile distant. Trotting by this place we were called to halt by a small group of horsemen, and not node-