Story Told by Elmer Swagerty, 1972
Elmer’s father Sampson told Elmer stories from his childhood. The subject of war had come up and Sampson had some very strong feelings against war because of an incident from his childhood. Sampson was an eleven year old boy living in Missouri with his parents and siblings. His father was a farmer and blacksmith.
One day a scout for the Confederate Army rode up to the farm. He told Sampson’s father, Isaac, that the Confederate army needed him to do blacksmith work for the army. He was instructed to gather what he needed and be ready to join the army when the army got to his farm which should be in a day or two. Isaac did not want to join the army and had to figure a way to get out his problem.
First he scattered his livestock. Then he supplied the hay stack with what he could so the family could hide there for a few days. Sure enough in a few days the army arrived and the family was hiding in the dugout haystack. The family heard the sounds of battle as, somehow the Confederate army had met up with some Union army troops. The battle sounds continued for several days.
When the shooting sounds stopped, Isaac had to get his family out of the haystack. His supplies were running low and that was not the place to be any longer than a few days. His dilemma was how to get his family out. If he went up to check on what was going on, either side could shoot at him thinking him to be from the other side. He couldn’t send his wife, Mary, because she would be in danger from either side for other reasons. His next choice was his nephew who was twenty. The next child was his daughter Mary who was fifteen. The next son was Pleasant and at 14 he must have still seemed at risk. Then there was eleven year old son, Sampson. Sampson was instructed to find a man on horse in a blue uniform and ask the, most likely officer, to come back with him to help get the family out of the cellar.
Sampson was sent out with his father’s instructions and was on his way. The casualties of the battle had not been buried or removed yet and the young boy saw much too much of war’s horror. There were wounded begging for help. He found two men in blue uniforms on horses and brought them back to help out the family.
Elmer said when Sampson retold this story it upset him to the point of shaking as he relived the nightmare. Elmer also remembers as a child playing with Confederate money. Because Isaac was an Union sympathizer, his family was escorted out of Arkansas into Kansas onto new land. The beautiful quarter section of 160 acres had to be abandoned and the family and hired help had to start over.
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