Ironton Register 23 Feb. 1888 – Anderson Rutledge lives at Hanging Rock, but during the war was with the 7th West Virginia Cavalry. He tells us that in November 1864 while a portion of his regiment was stationed at Guyandotte he met with a personal adventure which he related substantially as follows:
“One day a scouting party was sent out on intelligence that the rebels were making themselves too thick in Logan County and the fate of the scout confirmed the intelligence for three of them didn’t return. They were taken by the rebs.
The next day another scouting party of 23 men was sent out to recapture our men or find out what the rebs were doing. I was at the party. Well, we were proceeding along right leisurely the next morning about daylight not having seen any signs of the proximity of the rebels when we suddenly ran into quite a force of them so large indeed that without offering fight we turned and galloped back as fast as we could.
This didn’t satisfy the rebs for they came after us with a whoop and a hurrah banging away at us as they chased us and thus the race was kept up for about three miles. One by one our boys were picked up, for the rebs pushed us very closely and really interesting was the chase as bullet after bullet whizzed past our ears.
Anderson Rutledge continues, “While thus on a gallop, hurrying, and excited and wondering if I would get out of there alive my horse stumbled and fell and I struck the ground the horse rolled right over me and held me fast. Some of our boys who came after I had to jump over me and I was more afraid at the moment of their horse’s hoofs than of the reb bullets.
But in a moment the rebs were on me. Just then my horse rolled off me and started to run but I was up and after him in a moment. I made a vigorous effort to get a hold of him but in vain. The fall had hurt me some and I couldn’t exert the best. While trying to catch the horse, the rebs shot at me but failed to hit me, though they perforated my trousers with two bullets. Then they dashed up and nabbed me and I felt the peculiar sensation of being a prisoner.
“We stayed near the scene of my capture for a day or two and then were taken to Logan Courthouse, there were seven prisoners all told. We stayed at Logan for a short time preparing to be taken to Richmond. This trip I didn’t like this and concluded to escape if possible.
We were kept in a house and closely guarded by it but Sunday night about bedtime I managed to slip past the guard and before he knew it I was far out in the cold dark night wandering towards the north. Then began a terrible experience I waded streams and crossed mountains and pushed my way back to the Ohio River a hundred miles distance, suffering in many ways: hungry, tired, and frozen.
Once or twice I was lost and wandered in the mountains away from my homeward course for hours. I managed to get enough to eat at the houses without experiencing any particular alarm. When I was captured the rebs took my cavalry jacket and gave me an old gray coat, so with my blue and gray uniform, I was at least an indefinite character, and probably that helped me to get back to my regiment.
“The comrades that were taken to Richmond fared very badly. Some died while others were so sorely stricken in prison treatment that they came home completely broken in health. So, it paid me to make my venturesome trip, since those days I have not met any of my old comrades and I should like if this meets the eye of any, they will write me,” said Anderson Rutledge.
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