"At this place an accident occurred, and what Quantrell said was a presentiment of bad luck. Quantrell was always more or less a fatalist. Old Charley was his favorite war horse. This horse was noted for his bottom and endurance, his almost human intelligence, and his steadfastness under fire. He carried his master through many hard places and battles. His proud spirit had no need of lash or spur. While at this place Old Charley had to be shod, and while the blacksmith was trimming his foot, Old Charley struggled, and unusual thing for him. It was seen that the main tendon in the right hind leg was cut in two, thus ruining the horse forever. When told of it Quantrell said, "It is fate for me, the long lane of a successful career is about have a turn. So be it."
Later, on Quantrell's death bed....
"On the following night there was a sad, a very sad meeting of sorrowful and dejected men - Frank James, Allen Palmer, John Ross, John Hulse, and myself. We would tempt fate once more, dead or alive. We made our way to Wakefield's mansion. Frank James knocked on the door, and was admitted by a courtly lady of the house. Lying on a cot in the corner was our chief, watchful but very quiet. James and his comrades stood over the bed, but could not speak. If one could have looked into their eyes, they might have seen them full of blinding tears.
Quantrell held out his hand and smiled, saying a little reproachfully, "Why did you come back? The enemy are thick in this vicinity, passing every house." Their answer was, "To see you, dead or alive, and be the first to bring you away, or the last to leave you."
"I sincerely thank you, Frank; and you, my comrades; but why try to take me away? I am dead yet I am alive. I am cold below my hips. I am insensible here; can neither feel, walk, ride, nor crawl....."
He silenced his pleading men with an answer that was unalterable: "I cannot live. I have run a long time. My career is ended. I have come out unhurt from many desperate places. I have fought to kill, and have killed. I do not regret anything. The end is close at hand, and I am now resting easy here, and will die shortly. You do not know how your devotion has touched my heart, nor can you ever understand how grateful I am for this great love you have shown for me. Try to get back to your homes, and avoid the perils which beset you."
He talked freely of the early days of his career, sending sweet messages and farewells to friends, and greetings to comrades. Finally, the parting hour came. They bade him goodbye, looking upon his face the last time, forever.
Captain Terrell had broken his promise, as I knew he would, about leaving Quantrell at Wakefield's house.......
Thus, the great guerilla chief passed, after a fitful, singular, tempestuous life, passed like a summer cloud. He had been asleep. He called for water, but did not drink. A Sister of Charity placed the glass to his lips. A murmur escaped him, "Boys, get ready." A long pause, then a moan,"Steady," and then. When she drew back from the murmuring man, she fell upon her knees and prayed. Captain Quantrell was dead."
On capturing the man who killed his sister:
"We were about two miles from the Kentucky River. After consulting awhile, we determined that it was best to take all the prisoners nearer the river, to a deep gorge in the cliff. Reaching the spot we halted. Everything was quiet. Enloe came to me and said "Lieutenant, you have made the king strike of the day." "How so?" I asked. "You have caught the scoundrel that murdered your sister, he is the very one." All the blood in my body seemed to rush to my face. My hands clenched my pistol instantly. My brother, seeing this, placed his hand on my arm and said "wait a few minutes. This is too important a matter to be done hastily. Let's be sure of this before we act." "All right, my brother, as you will," said I. We then placed all the prisoners in line and brought my man before them. Sam asked them if they knew this man. They all answered that they did. Not one of them knew that we were other than Federal soldiers who were playing practical jokes on them. They were soon undeceived. They were tied together. We told them who we were and what we intended to do with them. They begged for their lives and said "You surely are not going to kill all of us for one man's crime? There is the man who killed the young woman; shoot him, not us." "Was he not in your company?" "Yes, he was in our company, but we are not responsible for his crimes." "Are you sure you tell the truth?" All said he was the guilty man. We then asked him what he had to say. He was sullen and defiant. He said "I did not mean to kill her, but meant to scare her." "You really did kill her then?" "I did not intend to do it." "Tell us, yes or no. Did you kill the young woman?" "I suppose I did - yes, I did. What are you going to do about it?" "We intend to shoot you like a dog and let the buzzards pick your bones." We were now satisfied that we indeed had the right man. Taking the entire party down under the bluff to the bottom of the ravine we shot them. Leaving their bodies, we departed from the scene."
On his feeling of secession:
"I am the grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier and was taught to believe that the states were free, independent, and sovereign, within themselves. That our forefathers fought to establish this, and did so establish this condition, and that all the early representative statesmen and commentators and writers so regarded this question, in this light...In the first place there was no Union until it was established by mutual consent and concession after the states had won their independence, as sovereign and independent states. There is no Union, nor can there be any, if it must be held together either by wrangling or fighting."
Methods of war:
"The practice of firing on pickets, attacking them in camp, was at this time much condemned by Federal officers, but they could give no good reason for this condemnation. It is true that at first sight it does not appear to affect the final result, but it does help in a general way to decide, by assisting to make a campaign successful. Every soldier killed or wounded or by any means weakened by constant attack, worries and discourages an adversary and thereby weakens his strength, and keeps him in doubt."
On Gen. Johnston at Shiloh:
"'Where now,' he said, tapping some of the men encouragingly on the shoulder,'Are the Arkansas boys who boasted that they would fight with their Bowie knives? You have a nobler weapon in your grasp; will you dare use it?' He spoke to men who could not hear such words spoken in vain-they rushed forward and won the position....His dress, his majestic presence, imposing gesture and large gray horse, made him a conspicuous mark. A ball pierced his leg, severing a large artery. He paid no attention to the wound, but continued to lead his troops, who incited by his heroic example had charged while their last charge was successful. Suddenly, he grew faint from loss of blood, and reeled in his saddle...."
On Morgan's force:
"It has often been said that there was a total lack of discipline in this command. This absolutely is unfounded, as the character of the services performed proves. We were constantly in the enemy's country and were of necessity compelled to have discipline. I do not pretend to say we were as carefully drilled as regulars, but when we met the carefully disciplined enemy we were well drilled enough to take them to camp with us."
Preparation for the first Kentucky raid:
"Arriving in the vicinity of Murfreesboro (TN), we drove in all the pickets on the roads. We captured some videttes, burned some cotton and cut the telegraph wires. We reached Lebanon late at night and picketed the roads. A heavy rain fell during the night. Companies A, B, and C were quartered at the college, and D, E, and F at a hotel. Colonel Morgan took with him on this raid a telegraph operator, named Ellsworth, who became famous afterwards for his ingenious deceptions of the Yankee operators on numerous occasions during the war. Early next morning we were aroused, and before we had completed saddling our horses, we heard the clatter of horses feet. Taking about 20 men, I rode forward to ascertain the cause. We were greeted with a volley of bullets. The enemy had passed our pickets unchallenged and were pouring into town at a rapid rate. I formed my men across the street to oppose them, and sent notice to Colonel Morgan and the command at the college. We opened a rapid fire on the advancing columns. It was still raining and still quite dark. Several of the Federal officers, in the confusion of the fight, rode into our lines, mistaking us for their own men. General Dumont, chief in command, was one of them; also, Colonel Woolford, who were made prisoner. A chaplain who was taken, on becoming aware of his mistake, asked that he might be permitted to return to his command 'to pray for his men.' 'The hell you say,' responded a member of Company A; 'Don't you think Morgan's men need praying for as well as Woolfords?' There was fighting now in various directions in the streets...."
At Perryville:
James Elliot, private soldier; and Captain Shaw had ridden to the top of the river bank, and saw three Yankee horsemen officers galloping across the woodland and intervening valley, on the left. Elliot said, "Captain, we shall fight them here; they are only three to our two. We can kill or capture them." As the Federal colonel with his two aides turned into the road, the two Confederates faced toward them. They spoke to each other and flashed significant glances and words of encouragement, and other tokens of determination, wherein daring deeds are done. Their pistols clicked in readiness for quick use. The advance stopped short, the retiring army halted to watch this hand-to-hand combat all breathless, expectant and excited, their horses champing bits and prancing beneath their riders.
On came the brave Federals like a whirlwind; at close range the colonel fired at Elliot who returned the fire at the same moment and spurred his horse to closer quarters with his antagonist. Again the pistols cracked, so closely that they were hardly distinguishable. The first shot clipped the colonel's epaulet from his shoulder, and the bullet had clipped the rim of Elliot's own hat. A third shot was aimed at a yard's length; the colonel saw the steady unquailing, deadly, glistening, liquid, brave eyes of Elliot flash along the barrel of his pistol. His time had come unless he surrendered. Throwing up his hand with his silver mounted pistol glistening over his head, he shouted, "I surrender, I'm your prisoner." Their horses bodies had touched. "Hand me your pistol," demanded Elliot slightly lowering his own; the colonel seemed to obey slowly. Elliot seized him by the collar. With his left hand the colonel thrust his pistol under his left arm, fired upward and burned Elliot's face. He now saw the gleam of contempt blaze from the maddened eye of his generous foe. When he had missed fire, the colonel's heart sank within him. The desperation of unfair advantage, foiled, seized his soul and with redoubled strength he tried to throw his antagonist to the ground, but the fates were against him. Elliot was a skilled Kentucky horseman, and was not easily unhorsed. His pistol at the head of his wily, treacherous foe, loud rang the shot. The colonel fell dead from his black stallion, which had borne him into his last fight.
As he fell from his horse his head caught in the reins of Elliot's bridle and his body was dragged to the bottom of the dry bed of the river.
In a pool there Captain Shaw stood knee deep in the water, with empty pistol, strangling into submission one of the aides who had been thrown from his horse into the water during the desperate struggle. Captain Shaw covered him with his empty revolver. Elliott shouted, "Surrender." The lieutenant almost brokenhearted, with tears in his eyes, submitted, not knowing their pistols were empty. He was disarmed. With faltering, broken voice he said, "You have have killed my Colonel."
Capturing an L&N Train:
We found Federal officers aboard. Major Coffee, Major Hilvite, Captain Long and two others whose names I have forgotten. We took charge of them. There were a great many women passengers. One young staff officer was accompanied by his wife. This lady approached Morgan and implored him not to kill her husband. She had been told that Morgan and his men were a bloodthirsty set of cutthroats. "My dear madam," he replied, bowing and with an arch smile, which none who saw can ever forget, "I did not know you had a husband." "I have; here he is," she said. "Don't kill him." "He is no longer my prisoner," said the colonel; "he is yours." He released this officer unconditionally, bidding him console his wife. This train was not burned; Colonel Morgan begging the ladies "accept it as a small token" etc. The sum of $8,000 in greenbacks-government funds-was captured. We now sat down to a sumptuous dinner, after which we burned the train of box cars, and also destroyed the fire engine."
