a trifling force in front to
impede its progress. But in the meantime, McClellan _had changed his
plans_, and without warning Fry, left him and his brave companions to
their fate. The struggle was a brief one; the secessionists, thus left
to themselves, concentrated an overwhelming force against him. Several
skirmishes were fought, and finally the Union force was compelled to
disperse. Some of them succeeded in reaching our lines in Kentucky.
Others were caught, and several of these were hung without a trial!
Such were some of the murders that first rendered General Leadbetter
notorious!

One of these cases is almost too horrible for belief. I would hesitate
to record it, were I not assured of its truth by the testimony of
eyewitnesses separated by hundreds of miles. It was of a man named
named Whan, who, on being arrested, acknowledged that he helped to
burn the bridges, but refused to describe his companions. For this, he
was put into a barrel driven full of small, sharp-pointed nails, and
rolled down a steep hill--then taken out, all bleeding, and hung! This
was on Saturday and he, with his companions, was allowed to hang till
Monday night, when some of his friends, at the risk of their own
lives, came and took them down! Should we compromise with such fiends
in human shape, and purchase their fellowship again, or give them the
puishment that injured humanity demands?

Fry passed the whole winter in the wild mountains with which Tennessee
abounds, and in the spring he again gathered his neighbors together, a
regiment strong, and tried to reach the Union lines. Near the border,
he was attacked by a superior rebel force, and after a severe contest,
his band was dispersed, himself wounded and taken prisoner. This was
on the 5th of March, and he remained in solitary confinement until he
joined us on the 13th of June. He was an uneducated man, but possessed
of great natural ability, and the most undaunted courage, with a heart
as tender and sympathetic as a child's.

We took no rations along, and were obliged to _starve through_, as we
now had no guerillas along to buy us pies. On the way, the populace
taunted us with Andrews' death, and charitably hoped that we might
soon meet the same fate. But some of the officers talked with us in a
friendly spirit, assuring us that we would not be hurt. This produced
some impression, and taken in connection with what had been told us by
members of the court-martial, and others at