The gentleman with whom I had stopped twenty miles from Memphis was a Mr. De Loche, a man loyal to the Union.  He had not pressed me to tarry longer with him because in the early part of my visit a neighbor, a Dr. Smith, had called and, on being presented to me, backed off the porch as if something had hit him.  Mr. De Loche knew that the rebel General Jackson was in that neighborhood with a detachment of cavalry.  His neighbor was as earnest in the southern cause as was Mr. De Loche in that of the Union.  The exact location of Jackson was entirely unknown to Mr. De Loche; but he was sure that his neighbor would know it and would give information of my presence, and this made my stay unpleasant to him after the call of Dr. Smith.

I have stated that a detachment of troops was engaged in guarding workmen who were repairing the railroad east of Memphis.  On the day I entered Memphis, Jackson captured a small herd of beef cattle which had been sent east for the troops so engaged.  The drovers were not enlisted men and he released them.  A day or two after one of these drovers came to my headquarters and, relating the circumstances of his capture, said Jackson was very much disappointed that he had not captured me; that he was six or seven miles south of the Memphis and Charleston railroad when he learned that I was stopping at the house of Mr. De Loche, and had ridden with his command to the junction of the road he was on with that from La Grange and Memphis, where he learned that I had passed three-quarters of an hour before.  He thought it would be useless to pursue with jaded horses a well-mounted party with so much of a start.  Had he gone three-quarters of a mile farther he would have found me with my party quietly resting under the shade of trees and without even arms in our hands with which to defend ourselves.

General Jackson of course did not communicate his disappointment at not capturing me to a prisoner, a young drover; but from the talk among the soldiers the facts related were learned.  A day or two later Mr. De Loche called on me in Memphis to apologize for his apparent incivility in not insisting on my staying for dinner.  He said that his wife accused him of marked discourtesy, but that, after the call of his neighbor, he had felt restless until I got away.  I never met General Jackson before the war, nor during it, but have met him since at his very comfortable summer home at Manitou Springs, Colorado.  I reminded him of the above incident, and this drew from him the response that he was thankful now he had not captured me.  I certainly was very thankful too.