Page 164 - Arkansas Confederate Women

RAID OF CLAYTON'S REGIMENT.

By Mrs. S. D. Dickson, of Lockesbwrg.

I noticed a statement in the Lockesburg Enterprise where

the women of Arkansas were invited to write 'and tell how they

suffered in the war of '61-'6o. I could not write you all I did
suffer when Ool. Clayton, the Northern man, was at Pine Bluff,

He sent his men to make raids on the Southerners and destroy

all they could, besides taking everything of value for themselves.

The first thing they started out to do was to take everything
they could find. Twenty bales of cotton were taken out of the
smokehouse at one time, five horses were also taken. They
searched the house and got every article of any value they could
find. Sometimes it would take one and a half days for us to get
any food.

We had three large barns full of corn. Twenty wagons
were sent at a time and nearly all the corn taken. My husband

was in the Confederate army and I was left with two little

children to care for. Two thousand pounds of meat were taken
from us- and my life threatened if the key of my trunk was
not delivered to them. Clayton's men went down in our pas-

ture, and all the beeves were killed and taken away. I could

not rest at night for being uneasy about my husband, and for

fear they would kill us or burn our house down. Our slaves
made all they could on the farm with hoes for we had no horses.

1 worked in the field myself with my children following me.

One time the Federals overtook the slaves hauling cotton

from the gin, and it was taken from them. My husband died

in '81 and I was left penniless with five children. The Federals

broke us up and after the war my husband was only an invalid,
and I had harder times than during the war. I am now 64 years
old and am penniless as I was then. I cannot work much. Well,

I will stop at this point as I could not tell it all anyway.