Report of the Joint select committee appointed to inquire into the condition of affairs in the late insurrectionary states, so far as regards the execution of laws, and the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of the United States and Testimony taken.

1526 CONDITION OF AFFAIRS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES.
Question. HIow large did you understand that this band of disguised men was?
Answer. Forty or fifty was the common impression.
Question. Where were they reputed to have come from?
Answer. I never heard; it was from a distance, but I never heard.
Question. Were they pursued?
Answer. There was no pursuit that I ever heard of; they passed my house in the
county; they were a body of men that people would not pursue.
Question. They stopped there to water their horses?
/Answer. We have a well, and one of my boys says they stopped there, but the well
is a public well, where almost everybody stops, and has for forty years.
Question. After they visited Greensborough, did they return by your house
Answer. I understood so.
Question. At what hour?
"Answer. About midnight, I suppose.
Question. Did you or any other citizens make an effort to follow the tracks of their
horses, and discover where they came from?
Answer. No, sir, it would be impossible in a public road to follow the tracks of horses.
I have lost several cows driven out in the yard, that I have never seen. Stock were
passing occasionally. Nothing was done really.
Question. Were people living on this highway whose houses they would have to
pass?
Answer. Yes, sir; it was thickly settled.
Questionl. Where would have been the practical difficulty ip following close after
those men, inquiring from house to house until their stopping-place was reached?
Answer. You mean by the town authorities, for we country people were asleep.
Question. Yes, sir.
Answer. Well, the practical difficulty, in my opinion, would have been that persons
attempting it would have been in danger.
Question. If this band consisted of twenty-five, or thirty, or forty, as the case may be,
the chances of discovering who they were would be greatly multiplied according to
their numbers, would they not?
Answer. Yes, sir; they would be multiplied according to numbers, but, believing
that they did not all, or perhaps any two, come from one place, it would have been impossible to have followed, it seems to me, and determine where they went. For
instance, one man leaves to the right; you follow the company; another man leaves
to the left; it is just a supposition. I think it would be a very difficult matter, because they, of course, would use every possible effort to escape.
Question. You are supposing a part belonged in Hale County?
4Answer. I make the supposition; I do not know.
Question. Suppose they all came from Sumter or Greene County, would they not all
return in a body?
Answer. Yes, sir; to a certain point. These roads diverge at every half mile, and all
perhaps would come around in the same direction.
Question. These men would stop to water and feed their horses?
Answer. They would not stop to feed, I do not suppose, or to water, except at a
branch.
Question. The men engaged in these midnight enterprises would have to procure
horses?
Answer. They were on horses, I understood.
Question. They would have to procure them if they did not own them?
Answer. I suppose so; I cannot answer these things. I suppose horses would be
furnished them —I cannot imagine how.
Question. They would have to procure arms, and disguises, and ammunition, would
they not?
Answer. I suppose they would all possess them-have them on hand, just as I would
if I was one of them. I have my ammunition for squirrel or deer hunting, and I have
a pistol now. I am already possessed of the means.
Question. Tie material for these disguises would be bought at some store?
Answer. I suppose the material for a disguise could be taken from something in the
house. Persons say to me, "' Why, Mr. Stickney, disguise could be taken out of anything; it could be made so fine and gauzy that it could be put under my coat." I have
asked this question.
Question. They are manufactured?
Answer. No, sir; I do not think they are manufactured at all-just cloth, or thin
stuff, put over them. These things have been convassed by ourselves. We have
asked, "' fow could men get disguises? how can a man take off his disguise without
being encumbered with it? " and they say, " Do you not know you could take a roll of
green gauze and conceal it under your coat, enough to disguise you, too?"
Question. These disguises about the face and head are said to be gotten up with a
good deal of artistic ornament, are they not?