. The ground was not hard, yet it was quite firm, and on
the whole favorable for such operations. The work was progressing
finely, till the officers were suddenly removed from Salisbury in
consequence of the discovery of a great plot.

I had become a good deal interested in Manning and his tunnel plan, and
on the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, I introduced him to General
Hayes, our senior officer. He told us he had for several days been
considering the possibility of organizing the three or four hundred
officers, and the five to ten thousand soldiers. He believed that by a
simultaneous assault at many points we could seize the artillery, break
the fence, capture the three rebel camps, then arm and ration this
extemporized army, and march away. He showed us a good map of North
Carolina. He invited all of the field officers to meet that evening in
the garret of house number two. All of them accordingly, about thirty in
number, were present. Posting sentinels to keep out intruders, and
stopping the open windows so that the faint light of a tallow candle
might not betray us or create suspicion, we sat down in the gloom.

The general had modestly absented himself, in order that we might be
uninfluenced by him in reaching a decision; but our first step was to
send for him, and then insist on his taking the chair--_the_ chair, for
we had but one! As he had made a careful study of the subject, we
pressed him to give his views. He proceeded to state the grounds of his
belief that it was practicable to strike an effective blow for our
liberation. He told us that he had communicated with a Union man
outside, and had learned the number and location of the Confederate
troops we should be likely to encounter on our march to East Tennessee.
He explained at some length the details of his plan, the obstacles we
should encounter, and how to overcome them. I shall never forget the
conclusion of his speech. These were almost exactly his words:

We must organize; organize victory. The sooner we act the better,
provided we have a well-arranged plan. We can capture this town,
ration our men, provide them with shoes, clothing, and muskets, and
have a formidable army right here at once. It need not take more
than half a day. Certainly we can march off within twenty-four hours
after the first blow is struck, if we begin right. The enemy have a
few guns on the hill, but they are not "in battery". We can take