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the boys of my company shot
dead, one of whom was in touching distance of me. The regiment
commenced to fall back, when the rebels poured out of the woods
as thick as blackbirds, and commenced making prisoners of the
wounded. Seeing the regiment receding, I gave orders to my company
to fall back with the balance of the regiment, and stepped back
a few paces to what had now become our rear, to look after some
of the boys who were but slightly wounded, and whom I had hoped
to extricate from the danger of being captured by the rebels,
by getting them to fall back with the company. Unfortunately,
however, I attracted the notice of the rebels, who rallied upon
me with furious oaths, the Captain of their gang giving orders
to "shoot the d—d Yankee rascal," the Captain himself
rushing upon me with a nine-inch navy revolver pointing to my
breast, and demanding my surrender. By this time some six muskets
were pointing toward me, the holders of them awaiting an answer
which I was a little slow in giving, for, to say I would not surrender,
I knew was instant death, and to acknowledge a surrender was one
of the most painful events of my life. On a little deliberation
I concluded my life might yet be of service to somebody, and thinking
it the "better part of valor," I surrendered with a
"mental reservation." My sword was then demanded by
the rebel Captain, who took hold of the belt. I stepped back
and commenced to quibble with him about his rank, as he had no
insignia of office, and remembering an admonition of my brother
the day of leaving Camp Gilbert, never to "dishonor my sword."
I refused to comply with his demand until I became further satisfied
that he was an officer of equal rank. By this time Colonel Wiles
had arranged our Brigade in a position to repel any further advance
of the rebels, and instantly a heavy volley of musketry and artillery
came from our line, which frightened my captors no little, and
taking advantage of their scare, I threw my sword as far as I
could send it in the direction of our own line, where it would
have been unhealthy for the rebels to undertake to get it. As
the rebel line was now falling back in great haste, they commenced
to hurry me, together with four of my men whom they had also captured,
off the field.
We were marched to General Hardee's headquarters,
where we were placed under a detachment of Wheeler's cavalry,
and together with about a hundred others of my own Division, were
marched into Atlanta by a circuitous route of about fifteen miles,
although the place of our capture was only two and a half miles
from the city.
In Atlanta many of the prisoners were robbed of their
watches, hats, haversacks and rubber blankets by the rebel officers.
But as my clothes were old and threadbare, and my appearance
rather shabby, they concluded I was not worth robbing, and did
not disturb me there. On the morning of the 21st we were taken
to East Point, a station on the railroad seven miles south of
the city, and ushered into a stockade, with about two thousand
other prisoners that had been captured on the 19th, 20th and 22d.
Of this number some three hundred were officers, among whom were
Colonel Shedd, of the Thirtieth Illinois, Colonel R. K. Scott,
of the Sixty-Eighth Ohio, (my Brigade commander,) Lieutenant-Colonel
C. W. Clancy, of the Fifty-Second Ohio, Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders,
of the Sixteenth Iowa, Captain Gillespie of my own regiment, and
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