288 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

was not until they had tied him to the limb of an apple tree
and began to flay him alive that he surrendered and led
them to his hidden treasure.

About this time Mr. W. ©. Green, of Alexander County,
who had been a Lieutenant in the Contederat: Army, re-
ceived news from a friend in Wilkes County that Wade had
planned to move into Alexander County and make a raid on
his father, Rev. J. B. Green, and to kill him (W. C. Green )
if found. Mr. Green epan to fortify his house, barring all
the doors with iron. They also took five negroes into their
confidence and these promised to assist in defending the house
against Wade. It was found out that they had in the house
fire-arms enough to shoot eighteen times without reloading.
Weapons were also provided for the negroes.

Wade started across the Brushy Mountains on Saturday,
13 May, and reached Mr. Green’s that evening about dark.
Mr. W. C. Green saw a number of men stop their horses in
the road above the house, and he concluded that they were
Wade’s men. He notified his father, and mustered the ne-
groes in the dining hall. All the lights were extinguished,
though the moon was shining brightly. Mr. J. B. Green
stationed himself at the front door, with a revolver in one
hand and a dirk in the other. Mr. W. C. Green took his posi-
tion at a window commanding a view of the front gate and
porch. The negroes were stationed in the rear part of the
house. Three men with guns approached the house in front,
one of them being Wade who had on a bright Confederate
uniform which he always wore on his raids, posing as a Con-
federate soldier when necessary to gain admission into the
houses he wished to plunder. The other members of the com-
pany took another route and surrounded the house from the
rear, though this was not known at the time. Wade pre
tended that they were Confederate soldiers; that they had
belonged to the cavalry and were now on their way home,
having been detained on account of sickness. Mr. J. B.
Green told him “he lied, that he knew who he was, what his
business was, and that he could not enter his house except
over his dead body.”

Some of the men had by this time come up from the rear

A Barrie AFTER THE WAR. 289

and were trying to force an entrance. When this fact was
made known to Mr. W. C. Green by one of the negroes, he
rushed to the rear, knocked out a pane of glass and opened
fire on them, wounding one of the men. This unexpected
turn of affairs seemed to frighten them and they all began to
retire. Mr. J.B. Green and Mr. W. C. Green rushed into the
yard and opened fire on them as they retreated, Wade and his
men at the same time returning the fire. They retreated so
rapidly that two of the men left their horses.

It was found out afterwards that five of Wade’s men had
passed on down the Cove Gap road to the store of W. C. Lin-
ney, where there was some powder and lead, and were watch-
ing the store. A number of old Confederate soldiers had
visited W. C. Linney that night, and remained in the store
with him, and though it was only about one mile to Rev. J. B.
Green’s, they had no knowledge of what was going on there,
nor of the action of the five desperadoes who were watching
them.

It was Sunday morning before the news was circulated.
Mr. W. C. Green went to York Collegiate Institute and in-
formed several men, and by 10 o’clock twenty-two men,
almost all of them Confederate soldiers, had gathered, ready
to pursue the robbers. In this party were several officers of
the Confederate army and they were dressed in their uni-
forms. ' Colonel Wash Sharpe was placed in command of the
squad and they started in pursuit. The first news from
Wade was when they reached “Law’s Gap.” Here it was
found that Wade had camped in the Brushy Mountains part
of the night after the attack on Mr, Green, and about sunrise
the next morning had made a raid on Mr. Laws and forced
him to give up his money. He informed the party that two
of Wade’s men were wounded. The pursuers followed the
trail and found that five miles from Wilkesboro Wade’s men
had left the public road and had taken a shorter route by way
of Hix’s Mill and Holman’s Ford to Fort Hamby. The ford
was reached in the evening of 14 May, and after crossing the
river, and traveling along the public road for about half a
mile, the pursuing party left the public road and followed

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