A week before I left there, I came to Alamuchee Creek, and found the water very high. I told the conductor that it was dangerous to undertake to cross the trestle, as I believed it was undermined. He said: “Very well, we will go back to Bennetts and notify the Road Master of its condition.” The Road Master arrived about four o’clock in the morning and ordered the engine fired up, saying we must get away from there, as nothing was the matter with the bridge. I told him that we would wait until daylight, as I felt sure the structure would fall as soon as an engine went on it. When we arrived at the bridge I asked him to go and examine it. He did so, and said for me to “come on” as it was all right. When the engine got about the middle of the bridge, it went down, and so suddenly , that I went down with it, but was not hurt. It took over a week to get the engine out; during which time, I was running an engine on ditching work. One day my conductor informed me that the Superintendent said he was going to have me conscripted for putting that engine in the creek. Upon receiving this information, I side-tracked to let a passenger train by, then had my fireman draw the wood out of the fire-box, and told him to let that engine stay there until somebody came for her. I boarded the passenger train for Meridian, and from there went to Lake, a station on the Vicksburg and Meridian railroad, where the company’s shops were located. I secured a job there and began hauling freight and soldiers. The work was heavy and the engines so small they couldn’t carry much (the largest having only a thirteen-inch cylinder), so a man was kept going all the time to accomplish anything. I well remember going for three days and nights without lying down, and a man was detailed to keep me awake. Finally, on one of my trips, I had a “head –on” collision. I then took another engine, that had been deserted by its engineer, and carried into Vicksburg the last train before the siege. I was held there for forty-four days, and had many experiences.