During the Civil War he was for a time one of General J. E. B. Stuart's couriers, and also a member of the Little Fork Rangers of Culpeper Co. Once he was captured, and is said to have "written his way out of prison.” The officer in command of the prison, being unexpectedly called on to make an immediate written report, was
observed by Mr. Payne to be in a quandary as to how to carry out the order in the allotted time. Said the latter - “If you will give me a bottle of whiskey and a box of cigars I will sit up all night and make the report for you." The offer was accepted and the report, in excellent form, was despatched the next morning, resulting in the writer's prompt liberation.