Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-12-16

knom hcg dsIr life is TO you, and hor dear your
iires are to goar frieads; aad q rsa. snttsft4g
that, consider fiat tic AiprS others are $ dear
10 them as yosrs are to yct DO pof. Eersfore
taks lie fys n arg one II yOa @n possibly
aroid II ;ukRfT Il Is ~meoessdrs TO take " 7"
order Ia azre gctsf otrn, then make sure cork
Of ~
AFser taking the OWN, wis placed under
Can't. Stephens, who received orders to pro-
coed 70 the house IF Col. Lewis Washington
and 10 take him prisoner, and to bring his
slaves, horses, and arms, and as We came back
10 take Mr.. -alstadit and his saves ard to
bring them ali to Capt. Brown at the Armory.
When we returned, 1 stayed a short time in
the e~nginehuuse to get warur11 as I was chilled
through. After l got warm, Capt. Brown
ordered ME TO go with c.. p. Tidd. who was to
take iiiialn H@LEcmaR. and thiHk four
slaves with him, III Col. WashiBetopIs large
wagon across the river, and TO taxi Terrence
Burns and his brother and their slaves priE-
oners. My orders were to hold Burns and
brother Jas prisoners at their owD house,
while Tidd and the slaves who accompanied
him were to go to Capt. Brown house and TO
load in the arms and bring them down to the
schoolhouse, stopping for the Burnses and
their guard. William Ii. Leemau remained
with me TO guard the prisoners On return
of the wagon. in compliance with orders, we
all started for the schooi-house. When we got
there, 1 was to remain, by Capt. Browns Or
ders, with one OF the slaves to guard the arms,
while G. p. Tidd. with the other negroes, was
to go back for the rest OF the arms. and Burns
was to be sent with William Ii. Leoman to
| Capt. Brown at the Arnory. It was at this
time that William Thompson came up from
the Fexry and reported that everything was
all right, and then hurried on 10 overtake Will
liam H.. Leeman. A short time after the de-
parturc of Tide / heard a good deal of firing,
and became anxious to know the cause, but
my orders were strict to remain at the school
house and guard the arms, and l obeyed the
orders to the letter. About 4 o'clock in the
evening c.. Z. lid ca ne with the second iOad.
| then took one Of the negroes with me and
started for the Fcrry.. l met a negro woman
a short distance below the school-housc. who in
formed me they were fighting hard at the Fer
nv. l hurried on till ! came to the Lock kept
by George Hardy. about IA mile above the
bridge, where | saw his wife and Mrs. Eliza
beth Read, who told me that our men were
tcmned in, and that several of them lad been
shot. | expressed my intention to try TO get
! to them, when Mrs. Hardy asked ME to try
TO get ,er husband released from the engine
house. I tod her l would. Mrs. Read beg
ged Of me not 10 go down to The Ferry. She
said ] would be shot. | tod her I must make
an attempt to save my comrades, and passed
on down the road. \ short distance below
the Lock I met two boys whom | knew,
and they tod me that or men were hemmed
in by troops from Charlestown, Martinsburg.
Hagprstown, and SheperIstown. The negro
who was with he had been very much fright
ened at the first report we received, and as the
boys told me the troops were coming up the
road after us soon, / sent him fthe negro) back
to inform Tidd, while l FASTENED down the
rcad.~After going down opposite the Ferry,
/ fsccaded the mountain III order to get q BET
ter view of the position of our opponents.
I saw that our party were completely sur
| rounded, and / saw a body of men on High
street firing down upon them-they were
about half a mile distant from mol thought
| would draw their fire upon myself; l there
fore raised my rife and took-the best aim ]
could and fired. 1t had the desired effect, for
the very instant the party returned it. Sever
al shots were exchanged. The last one fred
at me cut a mall limb / had hold of just be-
low my hand. and gave me a fall of about fiE
teen feet. by which | was severely bruised and
my FISH somewhat lacerated. / descended
from the mountain and passed down the road
to the Crane on the bank of. the canal, about
fifty yards from Mr.. WIS store. Isaw several
heads behind the door-post looking at me l
fOOl- n nocifi,, habinJ tho (Iran, n .a1 oCpEinn
my rife, beckoned to some of them to come to
me after some hesitation,7 one of them APP
preached and then another both of whom
knew me. I asked them if there were any
armed men in the store. They pledged ME
their word and honor that there were none. ]
then passed Town to the LIGHTHOUSE, and went
down the steps to the lock, where | saw VIM.
McGreg. and questioned him~in regard to the
troops OF the other side. He tod me that the
bridge was filled with our opponents, and that
all OF our party were dead but seven-that
two of them were shot while trying to escape
across the river. He begged me to leave i'm
mediatelv. After questioning him in regard
to the position and number of troops, and
from what sources he received his information, |
l babe him good night, and started up the
road at a rapid walk. l stopped at the house
of an Irish family at the foot of the hill, and
got a cup of coffee and some eatables. / was
informed by them that Capt. Brown was dead
that he had been shot about 4 o'clock III the
afternoon. At the time l believed this report
to be true. l went on up to the scIloolhouse,
and found the shut rs and door closed called
to Tidd and the boys, but received no answer
cooked my rife and then opened the door. 1t
was dark at the time. Some of the goods had
been pinced in the middle of the floor, and. in
the dark, looked like men crouching. I ul-
cooked my rife, and drew my revolver. and
then struck a match saw that there was no
one in the school-house went into the bushes
back of the schoolhouse, and called for the
boys. Receiving no answer, | went across the
road into some pines. aud again called, but
could find no one. | then started up the road
toward Capt. Browns house I saw a party
of men coming down The road when within
about fifty yards, | ordered them to halt they |
recognized my voice. and called me. 1 found
them to be Charles p. Tidd, Owen Brown,
Barclay Coppic: F. j. Merriam. and a negro
who belonged to Washington or Alstadtt.-
They asked me the news, and l gave the infor-
nation that / received at the canal lock and
on the road. 1t seemed that they thought it
would be sheer madness in them to attempt a
rescue of our comrades, and it was finally deter
mined TO return 10 the house of Capt. Brown.
| found that Tidd, before leaving the school
house to go for Brown, Cippic, and Merriam,
had stationed the negroes in a good position in
the timber back of the school-house. On his
return, however, they could not be found
We therefore left for Capt. Browns house.
Here vi got a few articles which would BIZ
necessary, and then Ycnt over into the timber
on the side OF the mountain, a few yards be-
You'd the house, where the spears were kept
Here we laid down and went to sleep. About