Andersonville, vol 4 | Page 5

roll, while the answers of "Here!" were perfectly
distinct. We could not possibly have been more than a mile, or a
mile-and-a-half at the farthest, from the Stockade.
Our anxiety and mortification were doubled when at the usual hour--as
we supposed--we heard the well-known and long-familiar sound of the
hunter's horn, calling his hounds to their accustomed task of making the
circuit of the Stockade, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not
any "Yankee" had had the audacity to attempt an escape. The hounds,
anticipating, no doubt, this usual daily work, gave forth glad barks of
joy at being thus called forth to duty. We heard them start, as was usual,
from about the railroad depot (as we imagined), but the sounds growing
fainter and fainter gave us a little hope that our trail had been missed.
Only a short time, however, were we allowed this pleasant reflection,

for ere long--it could not have been more than an hour--we could
plainly see that they were drawing nearer and nearer. They finally
appeared so close that I advised the boys to climb a tree or sapling in
order to keep the dogs from biting them, and to be ready to surrender
when the hunters came up, hoping thus to experience as little misery as
possible, and not dreaming but that we were caught. On, on came the
hounds, nearer and nearer still, till we imagined that we could see the
undergrowth in the forest shaking by coming in contact with their
bodies. Plainer and plainer came the sound of the hunter's voice urging
them forward. Our hearts were in our throats, and in the terrible
excitement we wondered if it could be possible for Providence to so
arrange it that the dogs would pass us. This last thought, by some
strange fancy, had taken possession of me, and I here frankly
acknowledge that I believed it would happen. Why I believed it, God
only knows. My excitement was so great, indeed, that I almost lost
sight of our danger, and felt like shouting to the dogs myself, while I
came near losing my hold on the tree in which I was hidden. By chance
I happened to look around at my nearest neighbor in distress. His
expression was sufficient to quell any enthusiasm I might have had, and
I, too, became despondent. In a very few minutes our suspense was
over. The dogs came within not less than three hundred yards of us, and
we could even see one of them, God in Heaven can only imagine what
great joy was then, brought to our aching hearts, for almost instantly
upon coming into sight, the hounds struck off on a different trail, and
passed us. Their voices became fainter and fainter, until finally we
could hear them no longer. About noon, however, they were called
back and taken to camp, but until that time not one of us left our
position in the trees.
When we were satisfied that we were safe for the present, we
descended to the ground to get what rest we could, in order to be
prepared for the night's march, having previously agreed to travel at
night and sleep in the day time. "Our Father, who art in Heaven," etc.,
were the first words that escaped my lips, and the first thoughts that
came to my mind as I landed on terra firma. Never before, or since, had
I experienced such a profound reverence for Almighty God, for I firmly
believe that only through some mighty invisible power were we at that
time delivered from untold tortures. Had we been found, we might have

been torn and mutilated by the dogs, or, taken back to Andersonville,
have suffered for days or perhaps weeks in the stocks or chain gang, as
the humor of Wirz might have dictated at the time--either of which
would have been almost certain death.
It was very fortunate for us that before our escape from Andersonville
we were detailed at the cook-house, for by this means we were enabled
to bring away enough food to live for several days without the
necessity of theft. Each one of us had our haversacks full of such small
delicacies as it was possible for us to get when we started, these
consisting of corn bread and fat bacon--nothing less, nothing more. Yet
we managed to subsist comfortably until our fourth day out, when we
happened to come upon a sweet potato patch, the potatos in which had
not been dug. In a very short space of time we were all well supplied
with this article, and lived on them raw during that day and the next
night.
Just at evening, in going through a field, we suddenly came across three
negro men, who at first sight