is man crossed the Little Combination River near Painter's
Rock, and made a raid on Gen. Chas. Ward's corrals. Ward had been
notified of the intention of John Cotton by a Union man named Harris,
who resided near Huntersville. Gen. Ward had a company of infantry under
cover near the corral, and about midnight Cotton made his appearance.
The men who were watching for him remained quiet until he was near the
corral, and then fired a volley into his raiders, killing three and
wounding ten. They then rushed at Cotton, and he, with nine of his men,
were taken prisoners. The wounded were cared for and the dead buried.
The next day Gen. Ward organized a drumhead court-martial and tried
those captured who were not wounded. The nine men claimed to have been
forced into the service by Cotton, and were sent to Nashua and put to
work, under sentence. John Cotton was treated differently. He was not
troublesome again during the time that our troops remained at Painter's
Rock. The understanding South and North among the friends of the
rebellion was that raids were again to commence whenever they could be
made at all advantageous to our enemies.

"The Knights of the Golden Circle, or 'Sons of Liberty,' began to be
open and bold in their utterances and their villainous work. In New York
they aroused their friends and got up mobs of such magnitude that they
could only be suppressed by withdrawing troops from the field to operate
against them. The recruiting offices were mobbed, offices and papers
burned, and the officers brutally beaten; houses were set on fire in
great numbers and destroyed. Many large stores were broken open and
plundered by the mob. All helped themselves to dry goods, clothing,
jewelry, watches, and whatever they discovered. Innocent men were
brutally murdered in the streets. Women were driven from their houses
and insulted in every possible way. Hospitals and asylums for orphans
were plundered and burned, and the poor, helpless inmates driven into
the streets. Children were clubbed and brained by brutes for no other
reason than that they were colored. Wounded and sick soldiers were
thrown on the sidewalks and left without aid or assistance of any kind.
Poor negro men were taken from hacks and wagons and hanged to lampposts.
In one instance a poor man was cut into halves as if he were a
slaughtered beast. Men were sent from Canada, employed by Thomlinson
and his co-conspirators, to come to New York and aid in this inhum