 After the children were taken, a Union soldier visited Matterson and told him that the war would be over soon and that he could go back to Nashville a free man. But Jerry says Matterson refused to leave. He said, oh, Matterson sold my children. I've been in a cave all my life. The cave is in my blood. Matterson told the Union soldier that if he went back to Nashville, his children wouldn't know where to find him. So he stayed. This became our home, never to leave. This became our permanent home.