My name is Jim; I have been living on Bull run, with a man by the name of Pierce; they call him Cromwell Pierce. I run off from him nearly two months ago, because he treated me so mean: he half-starved and whipped me. I was whipped three or four times a week, sometimes with a cowhide, and sometimes with a hickory. He put so much work on me, I could not do it; chopping & hauling wood and lumber logs. I am about thirteen years old. I got pretty good meal at dinner, but he only gave us a half-pint for breakfast and supper, with cornbread. I ran away to town; I had a brother “Bob” living in Knoxville, and other boys I knew…
I hired myself to Capt. Smith as a servant, and went to work as a waiter in Quarter Master Winslow’s office as a waiter for the mess. After Capt. Winslow went home, I went to live with Bob, helping him.
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