and his
Independent Scouts
Meets
Captain John "Emick"
"We had scarcely gotten underway after our short stop when nine fierce-looking guerillas, headed by two lieutenants, jumped out of the protecting trees and into the middle of the road, within four or five yards of our animal’s heads.
“Halt,” shouted the leader, sternly, and nine “Mississippi” rifles were leveled at (our) heads…..We had not a ghost of a chance of escape…..It was plainly death or surrender.
Early next morning, we were marched to a farm-house….Here we were presented to a smart-looking, active man, who was by all appearances chief of the band. He was heard to issue instructions to the others; and, I believe, he received all the booty for distribution among his men.
Captain Emick was, I learned, the commander of all the forces of this kind that were scattered around this wild and sparsely settled portion of the State. They called themselves “Independent Scouts.” ….
There were two good-looking young ladies, inmates of the house to which we were brought, who were apparently more rampant and hard-hearted than their male friends. They were very intimate with the young leader, who was, as I learned, an expert marksmen, and who carried a dangerous-looking long-range rifle. He told me he had drawn a bead on General Crook on the day previous, but the latter’s staff and a squad of men…caused the young man to forebear."
From the book, "The Flying Grey-Haired Yank," by Michael Egan.
Egans Capture
Paintings