THE ATTACK THE YANKEES MADE ON JOHNNIE REAVES PLACE GIVEN BY AUNT ELCIE BROWN

Aunt Elcie Brown (a negro girl age nine years old) was living in the clay hills of Arkansas close to Centerville, and Clinton in Amid County on Johnnie Reeves Place.  Johnnie Reeves was old and had a son named Henry L. Reeves who was married.  Young Reeves got the news that they were to be attacked by the Yankees at a certain time and he took his family and all the best stock such as horses, cattle, and sheep to a cave in a bluff which was hid from the spy-glasses of the Yankees, by woods all around it.  Johnnie Reeves was left to be attacked by the soldiers.  He was blind and almost paralyzed.  He had to eat dried beef shaved real fine and the negro children fed him.  They ate as much of it as he did.  Aunt Elcie and her brother fed him most of the time.  They would get on each side of him and lead him for a walk most every day.  The natives thought they would bluff the soldiers and cut the bridge into and thought that the soldiers would be unable to cross Beavers Creek, but the Yankees was prepared.  They had made a long bridge for the soldiers to come marching right over.  This bridge was just a mile from Reeves farm.  Then the soldiers came they were so many that they could not all come up the big road but part of them came over the hill by the sheeps spring and through the pasture.

All the negroes came out of their shacks and watched them march toward their houses.  Elcie and her brother got scared and ran in the house, crawled in bed and thought they were hid, as they had scrutched down in the middle of the bed with the door locked.  But the soldiers bursted in and moved the bed from the corner.  One stood over the bed and laughed, then asked the other man to look, then threw the covers off of them.  He first took her brother by one arm and one leg and stood him on his feet, patted his head and told him not to be afraid, that they would not hurt them.  Then took Elcie and stood her up.  He reached in a bag lined with fur which was strapped on them and gave them both a stick of candy.  Elcie says she thinks that is why she has always liked stick candy.  She also says that that day has stood out to her and she can see everything just like it was yesterday.  All the negro homes were close together and the soldiers raided them in small bunches.  They were kind to the negro children.  Wnen they started to the big house where Johnnie Reeves lived all the negro children followed them.  When they entered the house Mr. Reeves was sitting by the side of the fire-place and every one that passed him kicked him brutely.  They ransacked the place all over and when they got up stairs they kicked out all the window pains and tore off all the window-shutters.  They took all the things they wanted out of the house, such as silver-ware, and jewelry.  The smoke-house, milk-house and store-house was three separate buildings in a row.  The first one they entered was the milk-house.  It had seven shelves of milk, cream and butter in it.  There was eleven crocks of sweet milk larger than a waterbucket.  They had forty gallons of butter milk, and over three gallons of butter in a large flat crock.  They also had over five gallons of cream.  The Yankee soldiers ate all the butter and cream and set the milk in the yard and ask the negro kids to finish the milk.