de Fed'rals am
north of us. I hears de niggers talk 'bout it, and 'bout runnin' 'way to
freedom. I thinks and thinks 'bout gittin' freedom, and I's gwine run
off. Den I thinks of de patter rollers and what happen if dey cotches me
off de place without de pass. Den I thinks of some joyment sich as de
corn huskin' and de fights and de singin' and I don't know what to do. I
tells you one singin' but I can't sing it:

"'De moonlight, a shinin' star,
De big owl hootin' in de tree;
O, bye, my baby, ain't you gwineter sleep,
A-rockin' on my knee?

"'Bye, my honey baby,
A-rockin' on my knee,
Baby done gone to sleep,
Owl hush hootin' in de tree.

"'She gone to sleep, honey baby sleep,
A-rockin' on my, a-rockin' on my knee.'

"Now, back to de freedom. One night 'bout ten niggers run away. De next
day we'uns hears nothin', so I says to myself, 'De patters don't cotch
dem.' Den I makes up my mind to go and I leaves with de chunk of meat
and cornbread and am on my way, half skeert to death. I sho' has de eyes
open and de ears forward, watchin' for de patters. I steps off de road
in de night, at sight of anything, and in de day I takes to de woods. It
takes me two days to make dat trip and jus' once de patters pass me by.
I am in de thicket watchin' dem and I's sho' dey gwine search dat
thicket, 'cause dey stops and am a-talkin' and lookin' my way. Dey
stands dere for a li'l bit and den one comes my way. Lawd A-mighty! Dat
sho' look like de end, but dat man stop and den look and look. Den he
pick up somethin' and goes back. It am a bottle and dey all takes de
drink and rides on. I's sho' in de sweat and I don't tarry dere long.

"De Yanks am camped nere Bellfound and dere's where I gits to. 'Magine
my 'sprise when I finds all de ten runaway niggers am dere, too. Dat am
on a Sunday and on de Monday, de Yanks puts us on de freight train and
we goes to Stevenson, in Alabama. Dere, us put to work buildin'
breastworks. But after de few days, I gits sent to de headquarters at
Nashville, in Tennessee.

"I's water toter dere for de army and dere am no fightin' at first but
'fore long dey starts de battle. Dat battle am a 'sperience for me. De
noise am awful, jus' one steady roar of de guns and de cannons. De
window glass in Nashville am all shoke out from de shakement of de
cannons. Dere am dead mens all over de ground and lots of wounded and
some cussin' and some prayin'. Some am moanin' and dis and dat one cr