warm. Those nine souls that followed us walked the whole distance,
arriving shortly after we did. Thousands of others, in search of the
freedom of which they had so long dreamed, flocked into the city of
refuge, some having walked hundreds of miles.

It was appropriately the 4th of July when we arrived; and, aside from
the citizens of Memphis, hundreds of colored refugees thronged the
streets. Everywhere you looked you could see soldiers. Such a day I
don't believe Memphis will ever see again--when so large and so motley a
crowd will come together. Our two soldier rescuers looked us up after we
were in Memphis, and seemed truly glad that we had attained our freedom,
and that they had been instrumental in it. Only one thing we regret, and
that is that we did not learn their names; but we were in so much
trouble, and so absorbed in the business which we had in hand--so
excited by the perils of our undertaking, that we never thought to ask
them their names, or to what regiment they belonged. Then, after we got
to Memphis, though we were most grateful for the service which they had
rendered us, we were still so excited by our new condition and
surroundings that we thought of little else, and forgot that we had no
means of establishing, at a later time, the identity of those to whom
we owed so much. Freedom, that we had so long looked for, had come at
last; and we gave praise to God, blessing the day when we met those two
heroes. It is true that we should have been free, sooner or later;
still, but for their assistance, my wife and I might never have met
again. If I could not have gone back, which I could never have done
alone, until long after, such changes might have occurred as would have
separated us for years, if not forever. Thousands were separated in this
manner--men escaping to the Union lines, hoping to make a way to return
for their families; but, failing in this, and not daring to return
alone, never saw their wives or children more. Thanks to God, we were