. Anyhow I wus ten or
twelve when de Yankees come ter Marse Ransome Bridgers' place near
Clayton. Dat's whar I wus borned an' my pappy, my mammy an' we 'leben
chilluns 'longed ter Marse Ransome an' Mis' Adeline. Dar wus also young
Marse George an' young Miss Betsy who I 'longed to.

"Mis' Adeline wus little an' puny an' Marse Ransome wus big an' stout,
dat's why it am funny dat mammy won't let Mis' Adeline whup her but she
don't say nothin' when de marster gits de whup. Dere ain't nobody got
many whuppin's nohow an' a slave on marster's place had ter be mean ter
git a whuppin'. You see mammy would sass dem all.

"We ain't heard much 'bout de war, nothin' lak we heard 'bout de world
war. I knows dat nobody from our plantation ain't gone ter dat war case
Marse Ransome was too old an' Marse George wus a patteroller, or maybe
he wus just too young. Dar was a little bit of talk but most of it we
ain't heard. I tended to de slave babies, but my mammy what cooked in
de big house heard some of de war talk an' I heard her a-talkin' to
pappy about it. When she seed me a-listenin' she said dat she'd cut my
year off iffen I told it. I had seen some of de slaves wid clipped
years an' I wanted to keep mine, so I ain't said nothin'.

"One day Mis' Betsy come out ter de yard an' she sez ter we chilluns,
'You has got de habit of runnin' ter de gate to see who can say howdy
first to our company, well de Yankees will be here today or tomorrow
an' dey ain't our company. In fact iffen yo' runs ter de gate ter meet
dem dey will shoot you dead.'

"Ober late dat evenin' I heard music an' I runs ter de gate ter see
whar it am. Comin' down de road as fast as dey can I sees a bunch of
men wid gray suits on a-ridin' like de debil. Dey don't stop at our
house at all but later I heard dat dey wus Wheeler's cavalry, de very
meanest of de Rebs, though 'tis said dat dey wus brave in battle.

"About a hour atter Wheeler's men come by de Yankees hove into sight.
De drums wus beatin', de flags wavin' an' de hosses prancin' high. We
niggers has been teached dat de Yankees will kill us, men women an'
chilluns. De whole hundert or so of us runs an' hides.

"Yes mam, I 'members de blue uniforms an' de brass buttons, an' I
'members how dey said as dey come in de gate dat dey has as good as won
de war, an' dat dey ort ter hang de southern men what won't go ter war.

"I reckin dat dey talk purty rough ter Marse Ransome. Anyhow, mammy
tells de Yankee Capta