Some Texas Rangers

Tom Burney
Groesbeck Journal
Thursday, December 16, 1909

(By a Shannon Scout)

The first news we had of Gen. Sherman's march through Georgia, was the blaze he made around Atlanta. We were all lying around camps one night not long after they sent that four hundred men after us fifteen, and having a good time generally, some of us reading, some eating, some playing poker and doing just anything to pass the time away, when someone looked up toward Atlanta and it was nearly as light as day. Of course we all got up to see what it meant and our Captain said, "Boys, that means work and lots of it for us, for we must be off before the sun rises in the morning, so you had better lie down and sleep if you can." I suppose then it was about midnight, and all had got ready for a nap when we heard shells bursting. We supposed it to be ordinance they could not take with them on their march to the sea, all of which proved to be correct. The were burning it by the carload not only ammunition but everything else in sight. Two of the boys were visiting some friends up near Atlanta and they came in about two o'clock that night and gave us all the news they could hear. The were only 4 or 5 miles from the city and some old men whom Sherman had been keeping in the guard house were turned loose and came home. The had heard the Yankees talking of this march to the sea and they told all they heard, so it gave us a pretty good idea of their movements, and next morning at daylight we were mounted and ready to meet them. It was not our intention to have a general engagement but we wanted to put them to all the trouble we could without exposing ourselves too much. We rode pretty briskly and met them about eight miles below Atlanta. As soon as we saw their advance guard we turned out of the road through the woods and kept on until we were in their rear. We found that their guard was busy burning a little place named Lithonia a few miles below the city and were as busy as could be with torches burning houses and barns. They didn't pay any attention to us. I guess they thought we belonged to their army but we gathered a few, probable 10 or more and carried them out south of the place so that we could control them for they were getting pretty saucy. When we had gone far enough to be safe, we stopped and one fellow began to be very boisterous and just wouldn't be quiet at all and one of the boys told him if he didn't stop his racket he would kill him and he got worse that ever and cursed the fellow and dared him to shoot. Well he shot and Mr. Yank fell dead, shot in the eye and through the head. That was the first prisoner I ever saw killed, and the man who did the shooting killed himself in this country. He had a good many notches on the stock of his pistol, I guess about sixty that he was sure of. I never did anything of that kind. in the four years I served in the army, and if I should serve as long again I could not shoot a prisoner. When we went back up to town, there was no town there - all gone. We got two or three more Yankees and made a trade with some citizens to take our prisoners and carry them over to Athens and give them to a command over there. We gave them the guns and ammunition and one old horse or two, to carry about fifteen prisoners for us. We camped not a great way from Stone mountain that night about one and a half miles from the U.S. army and we were up early and had a good breakfast. We had captured some men the day before that had a nice lot of ground coffee and sugar and some pork, we ran some fellow away from but we had to eat corn bread which I think is the best now. We began to pick up men pretty fast so we had to make another trade with the farmers; sent 20 and killed some. We made more money than we did the day before; if we could have taken care of the stock, horses, mules and cows, we could have been rich when the war closed. We would sometimes sell a good horse or mule for $25.00 which would be worth $150.00 but we had no way of caring for them on the march, skirmishing and running all day. We could not load them so we would sell for a song. Cattle we gave to the citizens to butcher for the destitute who had been robbed of all they had to ear. We camped close to them again near a little place where there was a college, Oxford by name. Next morning we were out early and ran across six or eight men killing a couple of hogs and they wanted to fight bad from their actions. They fired into us as soon as they could pick up their guns but they did no damage. We killed four, one got away and we captured two. One was slightly wounded in the left side just above the hip bone but it was not more than an inch deep, didn't go to the hollow. He was badly scared and begged someone to shoot him and kill him out of his misery. One of the boys told him we were not in the habit of doing such things but if it would be of any accommodation to him, he would do it for him. The prisoner said it would be a great favor to him, so the fellow shot his brains out. We were all surprised, did not think of such a thing and the man who did the shooting died at Indianola last year and he had a few more notices on his pistol than the first. That was the first man I ever saw killed for accommodation. We did pretty well that day and passed through Covington. I had a gook many kinfolks here but didn't have time to visit them. My mother had a sister living here whom I had known but little about. We captured a few prisoners and killed a few and left some wounded. We camped that night on my grandfather's farm where my mother was raised and I think married in that house. It was near a place called Social Circle. Next morning as we passed through the camp where the Yankees slept, we saw a good deal of blood where they had slept in four or five places. One of the boys said we had paid our respects to those fellows yesterday. We made a big hole in their army that day; didn't do much until evening, but we were watching them pretty closely and saw their guard drive a two horse wagon, an ox cart, just two wheels, a good vehicle for the country so handy. They built fires and made preparations to cook a meal. We turned out into the woods and passed around them. This was not the main rear guard but was a smaller guard to act as a rear guard to the main guards. Any how we got between the two and sent in a man with a white flag and demanded a surrender; but the Captain said he would have to see what we had before he would hand in his checks. The fellow told him all right, we had enough men down the road to eat up his whole shebang if they were cooked to suit our taste, but the Captain said he must see them. The fellow told him it was O.K. and rode away as if he was not going to say any more on the subject and had gone but a short distance and the Captain called him back and surrendered unconditionally. He said all right Captain, have your men to stack their arms and we will send a posse down to take charge of them in a few minutes. So he came and got all of the men we had except for myself and that near-sighted man on picket, while the balance went to take charge of the company who had surrendered. We got fifty-six men, Captain and two Lieutenants, 5 head of horses, 27 head of cattle, cart load of potatoes and flour and bacon, a wagon load of beds and household goods of all kinds nearly. We gave 2 horses to two widows who had lost their husbands in the army, one near Atlanta, the other in Virginia; three we sold and left the cows to be butchered and issued to those who were in needy circumstances. The flour and potatoes went the same way. We had the pleasure of helping to eat the dinner they cooked. It was very late in the evening when we got our business fixed up so we pulled out in the woods about half a mile and camped. Next morning we made a trade with the citizens to carry the prisoners to Atlanta, gave them the guns and ammunition and a lot of bed clothes to pay them for their trouble for those army guns were better than no gun. Next morning we stood them in line to bid them good-bye and while the were in line we proceeded to go through their pockets. The Captain said, "Well, this is one thing I didn't know" and Haggarty, the man who was going through his pockets said "Captain, what you don't know would make a damned big book." Well, he got something over $200.00 in greenback, a kind we had never seen before; they were quite a foot long. In all, we got about fourteen hundred dollars and 12 watches, nearly a hundred dollars and a watch apiece. While this was going on, one of the prisoners went crazy and was trying to shoot one the boys. Our Captain said, "Boys, a couple of you take that fellow down in that thicket and kill him. He is liable to hurt some good man." The prisoner dropped down on his knees and I never heard a man beg so in my life. He was cured in a heap less time than it takes to tell it. After we got him cured they were started to Athens and we took the road but they found out we had their rear guard and were looking for us and had to be a little cautions but we ran up on a few anyhow. We caught a fellow in a little village called Rutlege. Haggarty shot him in the right eye, right against his nose and thinking him dead, he got down and took his shoes, real nice ones and just fit him, exactly. Next day that dutchman walked down to Madison, 9 miles barefooted. My father was raised here and I am well off in the way of kinfolks, but that Yankee was taken care of by an old friend of my father until he got well. Six weeks after he was shot we called on him and he knew the man who shot him. We have kept right along with General Sherman from Atlanta to Madison, one of the prettiest towns in middle Georgia and as good people as lived anywhere. We have seen a good many houses burned but they wanted to destroy all the barns, mills, gins and all kinds of machinery and eat all the chickens, turkeys and pigs, drink all the blackberry wine and cordial made at home by the good old mothers to save for their boys who were off in the army. Well, I will ring off at Madison. I may have more to say a little later. If I feel able I may give my experience further down the road toward Savannah.

Provided by , Tom Burney's great great grandson.