"For eighteen months past the forests amid canebrakes have swarmed with men who have fled thither for concealment from conscript officers and squads of soldiers sent to arrest them. In many instances they have assembled in sufficient numbers to resist their persecutors and compel them to leave their neighborhoods."

Chief, the writer states his report is "brief and general." Could the above part account for Knight and others, without specifics? I hold no brief for Newt, nor do I have any concrete evidence of his activities. It's just that the absence of comment does not necessarily mean he did not act at least to some extent as advertised. Stan