Major Eli Lilly of the 9th Indiana Cavalry Regiment, was a POW being held at Enterprise. He claimed years later at a GAR meeting in 1893 that, in November of 1864, he was warned by a old black man that "de Republic ob Jones is a-comin up here and dey'l rob and kill ebery one ob you." This was corroborated by another of the Union prisoners, twenty years later, who had been held at Enterprise, Lt. W. A. Duckworth of the 110th Colored Infantry Regiment and mentioned the leader of this band from Jones county was Newton Knight. It seems the location so near them of a lot of unguarded prisoners supposed to have plenty of money, watches, and good clothing was a temptation they could not withstand. The problem with these stories is whatever group threatened to attack these prisoners in Enterprise it wasn't from the "Republic of Jones", a defunct idea by then. [Also there is no evidence that Newt Knight was part of this band at this time. Only that a renegade band of deserters calling themselves "The Republic of Jones" had desires to rob and murder Union POWs.]

Legend of the Free State of Jones, by Rudy H. Leverett.

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David Upton