responsible office to the charge of another; and at once accepted a position that promised more excitement and adventure in days of battle. He was appointed Assistant-Adjutant General on the Staff of General Buckland, which commission he held when he was wounded and captured at Shiloh. In these days of adventure and sacrifice, when the noblest men in the nation are made to suffer for country's sake, it is shameful to see how certain northern people and papers, professing to be loyal, are in sympathy with the arch treason of the Secessionists. However well-attested may be the statements of surviving sufferers, and no matter how fair the reputation of the man who dares to denounce the Slaveholders' Rebellion,—there are lurking copperheads with viper tongues to hiss their venomous abuses on all the brave soldiers who have bled under the Federal banner! From the liberty to talk treason, slander the Administration, and abuse the soldiers-O God, deliver us! The nation cries for liberty-not license-a liberty that is always loyal to God and this Government—a liberty to love and bless the poor, the outcast, the suffering, and the oppressed! It may not be amiss to append the following extracts from letters which will explain themselves: "SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, MAY 3, 1863. "To all whom it may concern:— "The undersigned, ministers of the Gospel in the Methodist Protestant Church, take pleasure in certifying that Captain John J. Geer is also a minister in the same church-that he is in good standing, and that he is a man of moral probity and Christian character. Some of us have known him for many years as a reputable, useful, pious man. We are all personally acquainted with him, and we have no hesitancy in recommending him to personal and public confidence. REV. GEORGE BROWN, D. D. Ag't M. P. Book Concern. REV. A. H. TRUMBO, Assistant Ag't M. P. Book Concern. REV. D. B. DORSEY, M. D., Editor Western Methodist Protestant." * * * * "OFFICE OF MILITARY COMMISSION, * Memphis, Tenn, May 11, 1863. } "The large number of men he recruited for my regiment, and the hardships which he endured, to uphold the Flag of the Free, point out Captain Geer to the historian as a brave and true man. * * * But two days before the memorable battle of Shiloh, he was captured while making a bold and vigorous dash at the enemy, within two miles of our encampment. * * * The tears are now filling my eyes as I look back upon that bloody battle-field, and remember the havoc and slaughter of my heroic boys of the Forty-Eighth! "The brave men who, upon that occasion, maintained the fortunes of our bleeding country, have ever since been the subjects of persecution and calumny by those base cowards who ran from the battle-field and hid themselves in ravines and gulches at Shiloh, and the contemptible traitors whose tongues are as the tongues of serpents at home. "Your sincere friend, PETER J. SULLIVAN, Colonel 48th Reg't Ohio Volunteers." Since his return from Dixie, Captain Geer and Lieutenant William Pittenger (one of the survivors of that heroic scouting party sent into the heart of Georgia by General Mitchell), have been doing good service for the Union cause in the North by public lectures. Both are well-tried soldiers and effective speakers. Both are temporarily disabled, but expect soon to re-enter the army. Lieutenant Pittenger has prepared a volume of his experience, as a prisoner in the South, which will be a desirable companion to the book whose thrilling pages are now opened to you, reader. Turn forward, and read. A. C. BEYOND THE LINES; OR A YANKEE PRISONER LOOSE IN DIXIE. CHAPTER I. Leave Camp Dennison-Under the Enemy's Fire-Attacked in Force-A Struggle for Liberty-Captured. On the 17th of February, 1862, the Forty-eighth Ohio regiment of volunteer infantry, under command of Colonel P. G. Sullivan, left Camp Dennison, landing at Paducah, Kentucky, and on the 4th of March, was ordered to Savannah, Tennessee. As our fleet made its way up the river, it was a sight at once grand and beautiful. It was composed of one hundred large steamers, laden to the guards with soldiers, cattle, and munitions of war. The river was at high water mark. Through its surging waters our noble vessels ploughed their way, sending forth vast volumes of smoke, which shadowed and sooted the atmosphere from hill to hill across (21) |