f de year and dey had a big scrap in Helena wid 'em and
us could hear de cannons fifteen miles off and den dey would make dere
trips out foragin' for stuff, corn and sich, and dey would take all de
cotton dey could fin', but our mens, dey would hide de cotton in de
thickets an' canebrakes iffen dey had time or either dey would burn it
up 'fore de Yankees come if dey could. I 'member one day we had on han'
'bout hundred bales at de gin and a white man come wid orders to de
oberseer to git rid of it, so dey started to haulin' it off to de woods
and dey hauled off 'bout fifty bales and den dey see dey wasn't goin' to
hab time to git de res' to de woods and den dey commenced cuttin' de
ties on de bales so dey could set fire to dem dat dey hadn' hid yit and
'bout dat time here come one of Mr. Tom Casteel's niggers just a flyin'
on a mule wid a letter to de white man. Mr. Tom Casteel, he had he place
just up de ribber from us, on de island, and when he gived de letter to
de man an de man read it, he said de Yankees is comin' and he lit out
for de ribber where de boat was waitin' for him and got 'way and dere
was all dat loose cotton on de groun' and us was skeered to sit fire to
de cotton den and 'bout dat time de Yankees arive and say don' you burn
dat cotton and dey looked all ober de place and find de bales dat was
hid in de woods and de nex' day dey come and haul it off and dey say us
niggers can hab dat what de ties been cut on and my mammy, she set to
work and likewise de odder women what de Yankees say can had de loose
cotton and tie up all dey can in bags and atter dat us sold it to de
Yankees in Helena for a dollar a poun' and dat was all de money us had
for a long time.

"How-some-ever us all lived good 'cause dere was heap of wild hogs an'
'possums and sich and we had hid a heap of corn and us did fine.
Sometimes de war boats, dey would pass on de ribber--dat is de Yankee
boats--and us would hide 'hind de trees and bushes and see dem pass. We
wouldn't let dem see us though 'cause we thought dey would shoot. Heap
en heap er times sojers would come by us place. When de Yankees ud come
dey would ax my mammy, 'Aunt Mary, is you seen any Se-cesh today?' and
mammy, she ud say 'Naw suh' eben iffen she had seen some of us mens, but
when our sojers ud come and say, 'Aunt Mary, is you seen ary Yankee
'round here recent?' she ud allus tell dem de truf. Dey was a bunch of
us sojers, dat is de Confedrits, what used to stay 'roun