Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-10-08
RUNNING An ENGINE IN THE REBEL
SERVICE.

SEhN"E.
from Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army II
The engineer Charles Little, refused 70 run
the train during the night, rs he was not we'll
acquainted with the road, and thought il dan
gerous. In addition, the headlight, OF the loco
motive being ont Of order, and the oil froZ"n,
he could not max. IL burn, and he could not
possibly run without IL. Col Williams grew
angry. probably suspecfing him Of Union sem
fnnents and Of wishing todrlay the train ours
cd him rather roundly, and n length told him
ne should run IL under a guard adding to the
guard already on the engine, :" II ANY accident
occurs, shoot the cursed Tankee.' Little was
a Northern man. Upon the threat thus enforc-
Ell, the engineer seemed To yield and prepared
10 start the train. As if having forgotten an i'm
portant matter, he said, hastily, "Oh, I must
have some OIL and, stepping down off the To-
cornotivP, walked toward the engine -housr
When he was about twenty yards from the
cars, the guard thought Of their duty, and one
OF them followed Little and called upon him
10 halt but in moment he W "a behind the
chIne-shop, and OFF i'm the dense woods, i'm the
deep darkness. The commotion soon brought
the colonel and a crowd, and while they Were
cursinG each other all around, the frclnrn and
most of the brakemen slipped of, and here we
Were with no means of getting ahead Allthis
time had stood OF the engine, rather enjoying
tho melee, but taking no part i'm il, W hen Col
Williams, turning 10 me. said
"Can not you run the engineer
! replied, "No, sir"
"Eou have been OIL il as we came down.
=" Yes, sir, as matter of curiosity
:" Don't you know how 10 start and stop her!'
should go wrong could not adjust it,"
mo difference, no difference, sir; must be
NJ Rowing Green tomorrow, and you must
put us through.
/ looked him in the eve, and said. calmly.
"Col. Williams, cannot voluntarily take the
responsibility OF managing a train with a thou
sand men oil board nor will be forced 10 do il
under guard who know nothing about an en-
glne, and who would br a. likely 10 shoot me
for doing my duty as failing To do il; hut if you
will find among the men Il fireman, send away
.lh IL ANN al,
tive. i will do the best i can"
And now commenced my apprenticeship 10
running Il secession railroad train, 18th a rebel
regiment on board. The engine behaved ad-
mirably. and began TO feel quite safe, for she
obPyed every command gave her, rs if ,he
acknowledg me her righrful lord.
| could not but lie startled At the position i'm
which was placed, holdir in my hand the
lives OF more than a thousand men, running a
tram OF twenty-five cars over a road had
never seen. running without a head light. and
the road SO dark that i could only see rod or
two ahead ana, 10 crown all, knowing almost
nothing of the business. OF course / ran
slowly. about ten miles an hour, and never
took nay hand of the throttle or nv eve from
the road. The colonel al length grew confident.
and almost confidential. and did most of the
talking. as i had no time for conversation.
When we had run about thirty miles: and every
Ahng " as going we'll. Col. Williams concluded
10 walh back, on the top of the box-csrrs. TO a
passenger car which was attached 10 the rear
OF the train and occupied by The Off ccrs
This somewhat hazardous move hp COM
meHced Just aS we struck a stretch of trestle-
work which carried the road ovcra gorge some
fifty feet deep. As the locomotive reached the
end OF the trestlcwork the grade rose little.
and l could see through, or in, a deep cut which
the road ran into. an obstruction What il was,
or how tar ahead, had almost no conception:
hut quick as thought-and thought il quick as
lightning iii such circumstances Il whistled for
The brakes. shut of the steam, and waited the
collision. L would have reversed the engine.
bur fear that reversal of is action would
a. Ir,- Ia " Or nd roG
th'm INTO the gorge below. forbade" nor was
there wisdom III jumping oft, rs the steep
Pmbankmcnts OH either side would prevent
escape from The wreck of tue when the
collision came. All this was decided in an
instant OF time, and calmly awaited the shock
which L saw was unavoidable. Though the
co.'s fdefabiy" "IiiniiiiAGSX inodIGra@ der before was
tween the obstacle and the head of fnd ffsnh.'I
saw that We would certainly run into the rear
of another train. which Wa> the obstruction /
had seen.
The first car struck was loaded with l;ly and
grain. My engine literally split il i'm TWO,
throwing the hay right and left and scattering
the grain like chaff. Til" next car, loaded with
horses was i'll like manner tern 10 pieces, and
the horses piled upon the sides of the road.
The third car. loaded with tents and camp
equipaGc. seemed 10 present grraI"r resistance,
"a the locomotive only reached IL, and came 10
a stand-still.
My emotions during these moments We're
most peculiar. j watched the rcmorsrlcss pres
sure of the Ell CINE with almost admiration II
appeared TO DE deliberate, and rcsolute, and m-
satabe. The shock was not great, the advance
seemed very slow; but il plOwed on through
after car with steady and determined
course. which suggested ri that critical
m"nt 4 vast and resisilcss living agent. When
motion ceased. / knew my time of trial was
near: for if Col Williams had not been thrown
from the top of the cars into the gorge below.
he would soon be forward TO execute his threat
to shoot me if any accident occurred. i
stepped ont Of the cab. on the railing running
along 10 the smOke-stack so ds TO be out OF view
10 one coming forward toward the engine. and
yet to have him in the full light Of the lantern
which hung in the cab.
Exactly as had surmised-for had seen
specimen OF his fierce temper and reckless
ness-he came stamping andtc urs ng g;lnd jump
ing from the car Oh 10 the tender, he drew n
pistol, and cried out, "Where is that cursed ell
gineer, that did this pretty iob2 I'll shoot
him the minute lay eyes on him. e'{
threw mp my six-shooter that the light
Of the lantern shone upon ii, while he could see
but indistinctly, if at all, and said with delibe-
ration, Colonel Williams, ii You raise your
pistol You are dead man; don't stir. but listen
TO me. have done inst what any man must
have done under the circums tance. Il stopped
the train as soon'a possible, and I'h convince
you of it, if you are a reasonable man. but not
another word of shooting or you 60 down"
Don't shoot, don't Shoot he cried.
"Put up your pistol and so will I" / replied.
He did SO, and came forward, and ex planned
the impossibility of seeing the train sooner, as
had no head light: and they had carelesSly ne
elected to leave a light on the rear Of the other
train. advised the choleric colonel to 90 for
Waru and eXpend his wrath and curses on the
conductor Ofthe for ard train, that had stopped
in such place, and sent out no signal man in
the rear, nor even lefta red light. He acknowl-
edged was right. / then informed him that
was an officer in the ordnance department., and
was in charge of a shipment of ammunition for
Bowling Green, and would have him court
martialed when we reached there, unless he
apologized for the threats he had made. This
information had a calming effect on the colonel,
who at heart was really a clever fellow.