The Iron Furnace, or Slavery and Secession Part 5

"I never saw him after I left the building."

"He cannot escape; the cavalry are after him, and he will be brought in soon, dead or alive."

"Why did you attempt to bribe Barnes?"

"It was his own offer. I knew that his cupidity was great, and thought it no harm to accept his offer. If Barnes had his deserts, he would now be hard at work in the penitentiary."

"Did the jury that tried him, acquit him?"

"No. The secession of Mississippi saved him. I refer you to Colonel Tison, who is in Tupelo, for the particulars. He being marshal of North Mississippi, arrested Barnes, and knows all about it. He found on his person the evidence of his guilt, the money and checks stolen when he robbed the mail."

"Parson, you will not be immediately executed, but you will, without doubt, hang in a week or two, so that, if you have any word to send your family, you have permission to do so."

"May I write a letter to my wife?"

"You may, and I will see that it is forwarded to her."

I sat down and wrote a letter, a very common-place letter, to my wife, inserting, occasionally, a word in phonography, which, taken in connection, read thus: "If possible, inform General Rosecrans or Nelson of my arrest." While inspecting the letter, Lieutenant Peden noticed the phonography, and asked me to read it. I read it thus: "My dear wife, I hope to be at home soon. Do not grieve." This letter they never sent. It was merely an act of duplicity on their part, to obtain some concession, which might be used against me. The guard, receiving orders, now conducted me to a hotel, and placed me in a small room, two guards remaining inside, and two at the door outside, with orders to shoot me if I made the least attempt at escape. I remained in this room only a few hours, after which I was taken to my old prison. As I entered, my old friends, the prisoners, crowded around me, and Captain Bruce addressed me in his facetious manner.

In prison, his wit had beguiled many a tedious hour. His humour was the pure Attic salt.

"Parson Aughey, you are welcome back to my house, though you have played us rather a scurvy trick in leaving without giving me the least inkling of the matter, or settling your bill."

I replied: "Captain, it was hardly right; but I did not like your fare, and your beds were filled with vermin."

"Well, you do not seem to have fared better since you left, for you have returned."

"Captain, my return is the result of coercion. Some who oppose this principle when applied to themselves, have no scruples in enforcing it upon others.

"No rogue e'er felt the halter draw, With good opinion of the law;"

is an old saw, and the truth of proverbs is seldom affected by time. I am your guest upon compulsion; but remember, I will leave you the first opportunity."

Upon hearing this, an officer present swore that when I again left that building, it would be to cross the railroad, (the place of execution.)

The prisoners gathered around me, and I related to them my adventures.

They then informed me of what had transpired during my absence. Clarke was taken out of prison to guide a cavalry company in search of me. Clarke informed me that they scoured the country, and then went to my father-in-law's; and after searching the premises, returned, believing that I had gone due north towards Rienzi, in which direction another company had been despatched. On their return, Clarke was remanded to jail.

At roll-call--seven o'clock, A. M., we were missed. The cavalry were immediately sent in pursuit. All the guards on duty during the night were put under arrest. Our method of escape was soon discovered, and the guards were released, as they were not at fault. A large number of spikes were hammered in the floor, the guards were doubled, and greater vigilance enjoined. The prisoners were questioned, strictly and individually, to learn whether any of them knew of our intention to escape, or had rendered us any a.s.sistance. They all positively denied any knowledge of the matter.

They asked me whether I had given the officers any information about their knowledge of our designs, and cooperation in effecting them. I replied that I had positively denied that any except Malone and myself were privy to our plans.

I may state here that it is difficult to justify a falsehood. We ought to utter truth always, without exaggeration or prevarication, leaving consequences with G.o.d. We should do right without regard to results, for with consequences we have no business; but in this case the temptation to utter an untruth was great. These wicked men, thirsting for my blood, had no right to make me criminate myself or my coadjutors. It would have been wrong for me to give them the information they desired. Truth is too precious for a secessionist, thirsting for innocent blood. Had I refused to answer, they would have suspected that some of my fellow-prisoners aided us, and would have either forced me to tell who they were, or would have hanged me instantly for my refusal. If I had given information, and criminated those who had befriended us, they would have been severely punished, and I have been guilty of the basest ingrat.i.tude; I would have been shunned by the prisoners, and regarded as one of the meanest of men, one of the veriest wretches in existence; I could never again ask nor expect aid in a similar attempt to save myself from a violent death.

CHAPTER IV.

LIFE IN A DUNGEON.

Parson Aughey as Chaplain--Description of the Prisoners--Colonel Walter, the Judge Advocate--Charges and Specifications against Parson Aughey--A Citizen of the Confederate States--Execution of two Tennesseeans--Enlistment of Union Prisoners--Colonel Walter's second visit--Day of Execution specified--Farewell Letter to my Wife--Parson Aughey's Obituary penned by himself--Address to his Soul--The Soul's Reply--Farewell Letter to his Parents--The Union Prisoners' Pet.i.tion to Hon. W. H. Seward--The two Prisoners and the Oath of Allegiance--Irish Stories.

I was remanded to jail on Sabbath, the 6th of July, 1862. On the day of my escape I had been elected chaplain. Captain Bruce asked permission for me to hold divine service, to which no special objection was made. I conducted the services as I would have done were I in my own pulpit. The best order was maintained by the prisoners, and a deep seriousness prevailed. The songs of Zion resounded through the prison-house, and a great concourse of soldiers a.s.sembled outside the guards in front of the door, causing considerable interruption by their noise and insulting language. Several officers, also, saw fit to come in and interrupt the services by conversing in a loud tone, and asking me how I liked my jewelry, referring to my fetters. The prisoners protested against their rude and ungentlemanly conduct, but with little effect. They sent a remonstrance to the commander of the post, but he treated it with silent contempt.

As the prisoners insisted upon it, I persisted in preaching, notwithstanding the persecutions endured, as long as I remained with them.

We were a motley a.s.semblage. Some were dressed in cloth of finest texture; others were clad in filthy rags. There were present the learned and the illiterate, the rowdy and the minister of the gospel, the holy and the profane, the saint and the sinner. All the Southern States, and every prominent religious denomination were represented. The youth in his nonage, and the gray-haired and very aged man were there. The superior and the subordinate were with us. The descendants of Shem, Ham, and j.a.pheth, were here on the same common level, for in our prison were Afric's dark-browed sons, the descendants of Pocahontas, and the pure Circa.s.sian.

Death is said to be THE great leveller; the dungeon at Tupelo was _a_ great leveller. A fellow-feeling made us wondrous kind; none shared his morsel alone, and a deep and abiding sympathy for each other's woes pervaded every bosom. When our fellow-prisoners were called to die, and were led through us with pallid brows, and agony depicted on their countenances, our expressions of sorrow and commiseration were not loud (through fear) but deep.

On Monday morning an officer entered; my name was called, and I arose from the floor on which I had been reclining. I recognised him as my old friend, Colonel H. W. Walter, of Holly Springs, Mississippi. After the ordinary salutations, he informed me that he was Judge Advocate, and that my trial would take place in a few days, and inquired whether I wished to summon any witnesses. I gave him the names and residences of several witnesses, but he refused to send for them, upon the plea that they were too near the Federal lines, and their cavalry might be in danger of capture were they to proceed thither. I told him that the cavalry which went in pursuit of me had visited that locality. He then wished to know what I desired to prove by those witnesses. I replied that I wished to prove that the specifications in the charge of being a spy were false.

"Your own admissions are sufficient to cause you to lose your life," said the Colonel, "and I will not send for those witnesses."

I replied: "I know that I must die, and you need not go through the formality of a trial. If condemned as a spy, I must be hanged. I only wished the witnesses to prove that Woodruff is a man of no moral worth, that his testimony is false; that Barnes is a mail-robber, and that his testimony, therefore, should be rejected. Proving these facts, the other charges which I admit, will cause me to be shot. I hope I am prepared to die, but do not wish to die a dog's death. Promise me that I shall be shot, and not hanged, and I will cavil no more."

"Parson Aughey, your chances for living are very slender. The proof against you on both charges will be established; the testimony as to your guilt is positive, and spies are always hanged."

He then stated the charges and specifications against me as follows:

First charge--_Treason_.

Specification 1st. That said Aughey stated to a member of Hill's cavalry, that if McClellan were defeated, the North could raise a much larger army in a very short time; that the North would eventually conquer the South, and that he was a Union man--this for the purpose of giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Specification 2d. That when said Aughey was requested to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States, he refused, giving as a reason, that England, France, and himself, had not yet recognised the Southern Confederacy, stating, also, that he had voluntarily taken the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, which he regarded as binding--this in North Mississippi.

Specification 3d. That said Aughey was acting as a Federal agent in the purchase of cotton, and had received from the United States Government a large amount of gold, to pay for the cotton purchased.

Second charge--_Acting as a spy_.

Specification 1st. That said Aughey, while a citizen of the Confederate States, repeatedly came into our lines for the purpose of obtaining information for the benefit of the enemy, and that he pa.s.sed through the lines of the enemy at pleasure, holding an unlimited pa.s.s from General Nelson, granting that privilege--this in the vicinity of Corinth, Mississippi.

Witnesses, ---- Wallace, Dan Barnes, Ferdinand Woodruff, ---- Williams, David Huff.

I demanded a copy of the charges, which Colonel Walter promised to furnish.

About three o'clock in the afternoon, I went to a couple of prisoners who were heavily ironed; they were handcuffed, had a chain on their legs similar to mine, and were chained together to a post, or to some fixture at the side of the jail. I inquired for what offence they were incarcerated.

The prisoner whom I addressed was a tall gentleman, with a very intellectual countenance, and of prepossessing manners. He was somewhat pale, and wore a sad countenance. He replied:

"We are charged with desertion."

"Did you desert?"

"I enlisted in the Confederate service for twelve months. At the expiration of my term of service, I asked permission to return home, stating that my family were suffering for the necessaries of life; that they lived in Tennessee, which is occupied by Federal troops. Confederate bonds are there not worth the paper on which they are printed; provisions are scarce, and my family have not the means of purchasing. I wish to relieve their wants, and as my term of service has expired, I wish a discharge. This they refused, stating that the Confederate Congress had pa.s.sed a law requiring all troops who had enlisted for any term, however short, to be held to service during the war, and all who left before that time would be considered guilty of desertion, and if arrested, would be shot. I attempted to return to my family, regarding the law a tyrannical enactment. I was arrested and committed to this prison."

"What will be your fate?"

"I know not, but fear the worst."

I learned that the other prisoner had about the same statement to make, and was also in dread of capital punishment. I left them and walked to the opposite side of the prison, when I observed a file of soldiers drawn up in front of the building. Two officers entered, and walking up to the two prisoners whom I had just left, unfastened their chains, and ordered them to follow. One of the prisoners asked whether he should bring his blanket.