Incident -- No. 2

In the battle of Cross Lanes (The first I ever participa-
ted in) very few of the officers were mounted. the Gen-
eral & staff with a few field officers were all that
entered the fight on horse-back: in consequence
of this, we were the especial marks for the enemy.
The excitement on the advance was intense. It
was the first time the General & our troops had
faced the fiery hail of war. The As the enemy's
pickets commenced firing, the men shouted for
joy-; The Old Floyd rode to the head of the column,
followed by Capt. Peters, Maj. Perry & myself.
The picket fire became more incessant, -- we were
drawing near the main body of the foe, when sud-
denly a man was seen in great trepidation
50 yards in advance, running across the
field towards a lot of cattle. The General
expressed a wish to catch him -- Capt. Peters
& myself immediately dashed ahead at full
gallup notwithstanding the constant fire of
the pickets. We found ourselves soon in a
few yards of the man, a fence separated
him from us. He immediately commenced
halloing at the cattle & driving them in
great haste. We were on the point of shooting
him, when he exclaimed "Don't shoot, I am
a citizen & driving my cows away from the
battlefield." We had no time to question him
further -- & spared him; We were fifty yards
in advance of the whole army. I never once
realized that danger threatened me, till while
at a halt near the fence the frequent taps on the
fence -- the new & peculiar whiz of minnies & The in-
structive uneasiness ^'of my horse' brought me to a sense of my
situation. A glance in front, & we beheld no less
'than Seven blue jacketed Yankees deliberately
firing at us. Swift as lighting, Falstaf's maxim
"Discretion is the better part of valor," sprang to
mind & the Capt. & myself discharged our
pistols & "fell back" in good order " to a safer
position at the head of the column -- for I was
stimulated by no desire to be the pioneer of
such an excursion. We gave full credence
to the Cow Driver's tale, & reported it ^'to' the General,
who complimented us highly for our daring.
Yankee Mentality & trickery never once occurred
to us, til the next day when inspecting the pris-
oners, to our astonishment the same smooth
tongued Driver made his appearance.
Smart Yankee! He was a picket, & to save his
life when surprised, adopted the above trick. to
He succeeded well & was too keen for the Capt.
& myself! We wondered at & admired the fellow's
sagacity, & vowed forever hereafter to shoot
all cow-drivers at the opening of battle!