Do you want to hear how I runned away and jined the Yankees?  You know Abraham Lincoln ’claired freedom in ’63, first day of January.  In October ’63, I runned away and went to Pine Bluff to get to the Yankees.  I was on the Blackwell plantation south of Pine Bluff in ’63.  They was building a new house; I wanted to feel some putty in my hand.  One early morning I clim a ladder to get a little chunk and the overseer man, he seed me.  Here he come, yelling me to get down; he gwine whip me ’cause I’se a thief, he say.  He call a slave boy and tell him cut ten willer whips; he gwine wear every one out on me.  When he’s gone to eat breakfas’, I runs to my cabin and tells my sister, “I’se leaving this here place for good.”  She cry and say, “Overseer man, he kill you.”  I says, “He kill me anyhow.”  The young boy what cut the whips—­he named Jerry—­he come along wif me, and we wade the stream for long piece.  Heerd the hounds a-howling, getting ready for to chase after us.  Then we hide in dark woods.  It was cold, frosty weather.  Two days and two nights we traveled.  That boy, he so cold and hungry, he want to fall out by the way, but I drug him on.  When we gets to the Yankee camp all our troubles was over.  We gets all the contraband we could eat.  Was they more run-aways there?  Oh, Lordy, yessum.  Hundreds, I reckon.  Yessum, the Yankees feeds all them refugees on contraband.  They made me a driver of a team in the quatamasters department.  I was always keerful to do everything they telled me.  They telled me I was free when I gets to the Yankee camp, but I couldn’t go outside much.  Yessum, iffen you could get to the Yankee’s camp you was free right now.

That old story ’bout 40 acres and a mule, it make me laugh.  Yessum, they sure did tell us that, but I never knowed any pusson which got it.  The officers telled us we would all get slave pension.  That just exactly what they tell.  They sure did tell me I would get a passel (parcel) of ground to farm.  Nothing ever hatched out of that, neither.

When I got to Pine Bluff I stayed contraband.  When the battle come, Captain Manly carried me down to the battle ground and I stay there till fighting was over.  I was a soldier that day.  No’um, I didn’t shoot no gun nor cannon.  I carried water from the river for to put out the fire in the cotton bales what made the breas’works.  Every time the ’Federates shoot, the cotton, it come on fire; so after the battle, they transfer me back to quartemaster for driver.  Captain Dodridge was his name.  I served in Little Rock under Captain Haskell.  I was swored in for during the war (Boston held up his right hand and repeated the words of allegiance).  It was on the corner of Main and Markham street in Little Rock I was swored in.  Year of ’64.  I was 5 feet, 8 inches high.  You says did I like living in the army?  Yes-sum, it was purty good.  Iffen you obeyed them Yankee officers they treated you purty good, but iffen you didn’t, they sure went rough on you.