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Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas

Thankk you Allen a great read !I was wondering if this “peach orchard scrap” from the following paragraph is in fact the same incident as the “peach tree massacre” and the “Harp” massacre? If so it is great to read this from another point of view.

These same men, sometime before this had dragged a young man named Byson from a sick bed, from which he was unable to move, out in the yard and killed him in the presence of his mother and other members of his family. The first of these incidents occured only a few days before my arrival home. The morning of the day on which I reached home, a party of Confederates, nine in number all well known to me, started afoot into the section of the country where these Federals lived. On their way they passed the homes of these Atchley men, and heard from the lips of the bereaved widows the pitiful story of the murder of their husbands, and looked into the mute strange look of the children. Can it be wondered that deep in their hearts was planted a desire for revenge. In this party of nine was a father and a brother, a boy in his teens, of the young man Tyson, who had been brutally murdered as related above. Leaving the home of the Atchleys, this party made their way through the woods, evading all roads to prevent any discovery to the neighborhood of these Federals. Late in the evening of the second day out, from a high point looking over the valley below, they discovered a party of nine Federals, killing and dressing a beef at a house in the valley. Keeping their presence concealed, they gradually drew nearer, keeping a close watch on every movement of the enemy. Observing that they turned their horses loose in a small pasture near the house, the Confederates rightly guessed that they intended to spend that night at the house. In the early dusk of the evening the Confedrates drew near not losing sight of the enemy for one moment. Shortly after dark they saw them take their blankets and make their beds about one hundred yards from the house, in a peach orchard, and near a fence on the bank of a creek. In the dim starlight they were not able to tell whether the entire party went to the orchard so they detailed two men to take position near the house and await results. Waiting a short time for all to get quiet, the remaining seven crept single file along the outside of the fence, till opposite their unsuspecting foes. Here they waited for a short time and could plainly hear the conversation carried on by Federals who were yet awake. They commented on the brightness of the stars and the great number of them. Finally all grew quiet, when the Confederates noiselessly crossed the fence and at a distance of only a few yards, delivered such a well directed volley that only one of the party succeeded in getting to his feet, and he was promptly felled by a clubed gun. Seven men lay in a heap, most of them just as they were lying when fired upon. To make sure in the darkness that none should escape pocket knives were brouqht into use and a juglar vein severed. Doubtly the memory of a sick boy dragged from his bed to be murdered in the presence of his mother, whose prayers for mercy were unheeded, coupled with the pitiful story of the two widows the day previous, kindled in the hearts of these men that desire vengeance that blood alone could appease. The two guards at the house, after the firing in the orchard, seeing no one attempting to escape hastened to the aid of their friends in the orchard, leaving the house unguarded from which two Federals made their escape. The next morning after their return, I saw these men with their horses, arms and bloody blankets of the slain, who confirmed in every detail, the story as related as above. Incidentally, I will state that one of the men who participated in this affair, which was called the peach orchard scrap was afterwards a member of congress, for several terms from that congressional district.

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confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas
Re: confederate bushwhackers in north Arkansas