176 WHIP AND SPUR. 



was pre-eminently a man of peace, and if lie 

 gave information to both sides, it was always 

 information in compliance with the injunctions 

 of his sacred calling. The Rebel forces several 

 times crossed into Tennessee, and came toward 

 us in numbers that indicated foul intentions, 

 but, from the time our pious friend first visited 

 us, they invariably withdrew without an engage- 

 ment. Frequently small expeditions of our own 

 forces went scouting to the southward, and were 

 checked and turned back by the reports of this 

 benevolent man. 



He may have kept us from the successful ful- 

 filment of some bloody intentions, but we had 

 occasion to know from other sources that he 

 sometimes kept small detachments of our troops 

 from falling in with overpowering numbers of 

 the enemy. Be the theory what it may, from 

 November until February there was no conflict 

 of arms in all the counties we traversed, and 

 neither side advanced to within deadly range of 

 the other. 



The processes of this emissary were hidden 



