into whose clutches we thought we had fallen.
The farmer on the gray mare was the guide of the expedition, and the two
men uniformed as rebel officers were Union scouts. The irregular
equipment of the animals, which had excited my suspicion most, as well
as the animals themselves, had been hastily impressed from the country
about the village of Loudon, where the 2d Ohio was stationed. On the
following evening, which was the 4th of March, the day of the second
inauguration of President Lincoln, we walked into Loudon and gladly
surrendered ourselves to the outposts of the Ohio Heavy Artillery.

ESCAPE OF GENERAL BRECKINRIDGE

BY JOHN TAYLOR WOOD

As one of the aides of President Jefferson Davis, I left Richmond with
him and his cabinet on April 2, 1865, the night of evacuation, and
accompanied him through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, until his
capture. Except Lieutenant Barnwell, I was the only one of the party who
escaped. After our surprise, I was guarded by a trooper, a German, who
had appropriated my horse and most of my belongings. I determined, if
possible, to escape; but after witnessing Mr. Davis's unsuccessful
attempt, I was doubtful of success. However, I consulted him, and he
advised me to try. Taking my guard aside, I asked him, by signs (for he
could speak little or no English), to accompany me outside the
picket-line to the swamp, showing him at the same time a twenty-dollar
gold piece. He took it, tried the weight of it in his hands, and put it
between his teeth. Fully satisfied that it was not spurious, he escorted
me with his carbine to the stream, the banks of which were lined with a
few straggling alder-bushes and thick saw-grass. I motioned him to
return to camp, only a few rods distant. He shook his head, saying,
"_Nein, nein_." I gave him another twenty-dollar gold piece; he chinked
them together, and held up two fingers. I turned my pockets inside out,
and then, satisfied that I had no more, he left me.

Creeping a little farther into the swamp, I lay concealed for about
three hours in the most painful position, sometimes moving a few yards
almost _ventre a terre_ to escape notice; for I was within hearing of
the camps on each side of the stream, and often when the soldiers came
down for water, or to water their horses, I was within a few yards of
them. Some two hours or more passed thus before the party moved. The
wagons left first, then the bugles sounded, and the president sta