The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1862-12-19

expedition for dangerous service
! was organized and placed under tn,
orders of man supposed to be {
spy of the commander Of the divis
ion. Twenty two men, whose
names are given, were detailed Ioi
the service. The whole party wa,
disguised in citizens dress, and lei
Shelbyviile on the 7th OF April
They proceeded to Manchester, Ten
nessee, where they represented them
selves ss Kentuckians on their way
to Chattanooga, to join the rebel ar
: my. In this manner they made
their way across tho Cumberland
mountains to Chattanooga, obtain
/, ing subsistence from secessioaists
From that point they went to Mari
eta, Georgia, in the cars. The
next morning they returned on the
same road to splsce called Big
Shanty, where were uncamped 90.
900 rebel troops. At this point
their real service begun, and wc
. lHu'bC u Oiil biO
THE train contained q number o.
soldiers es well as citizens, together
with quantity OF provisions, and
An iron safe containing large
amount OF Confederate scrip to pay
tho troops ct Corinth, Mississippi;
and here it was that we knew the
duty we were expected TO do. viz
To destroy the track and bridges on
the line OF the road, and thus pre-.
vent reinlorcemeDts and commissa-
ry stores from reaching Virginia.
Tennessee and Georgia. General
Mitchell had already cut off com.
munication from Corinth by holding
Huntsville Alabama, and our duty
was to destroy the track and bridges
from Big Shanty to and beyond
Chattanooga, or Us far ss Bridgeport,
Tennessee. Ii must be rcc1llected
that this portion of the road is built
over innumerable creeks and rivers.
and crosses the Tennessee river a
Bridgeport, where a fine bridge is
erected.
"As before stated, our whole par
ty, consisting of twenty. lett the
cars and divided into squads OF three
and fonr, taking stations on each
side OF the train. Andrews station
ing himself at the coupling pin oI
the third car CT must here be
stated that a number of orr party
were engineers, and thoroughly un
derstood the business we had on
handy Ono OF our engineers was
at HE post, and found everything al
right. All hands now mounted the
cara, although the guard WIS within
three feet of them, the word was
given, Andrews drew the coupling
pin, and cried, "all right" The
train, now consisting of. three cara
and the engine, was started off with
as little noise as possible.
We soon lost eight OF the lights
at Big Shsnty, and at the first curve
the train was stopped, and one OF
the party, (John S,ott,) climbed the
telegraph pole and cut the wires;
we then started, and, at the next
point, at "a town, name unknown,
we tore mp the track and took q
rail with us on the car, and thus
we continued tearing up the track
and cutting tho wires on the other
side, after passing a towi. Unior-
tunately, however, Tor us. the train
was running in a very slow schei.
ule and we were compelled tC
switch off and let the down trair
pass rs.
"At the first station this occurred
the engineer Of the road made hi,
appearance, and was about to steI
on the engine, when Andrews iolC
) him he could not come on board, as
this WAS an extra train to rur
through TO Corinth. and the presen
party were engaged to carry it there
aud in support of the assertion tht
iron safe was shown. This appar
emily satisfied the engineer, and w
took in wood and water, and agair
started.
: ga second tiuie we were compel
} ed to switcl off, and in order to ge
the switch keys, Andrewa, whc
} knew the road well, went into thr
: station and took them from the OF
r iice. This caused considerable oX
! cltemcnt, but we quieted it in
{ measure by stating that our tail
s contained gunpowder for Behure
0 gard at Corinth, and soon a ter W
I again started. Abont twenty mile
9 South Of Dalton, Georgia, we cam
= to bridge, and here we set fire t.
3 one Of our cars, piled Oh wood ant
l., lett it on the bridge, designing to Sc
o it on fire also.
"At this time the engineer at tn
Rome Branch, suspecting that al
was not right, started up the track
and, we suppose, found the rAll
torn mp, and Immediately returner
). to the Junction and took on board
d quantity Of loose rails, and tollowe,
n after US. Where we had torn u
y the rails he Immediately laid one
I and without stopping to iasten
: started over slowly and gave chase
t. Soon he came TO the bridge with tn