Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1863-08-04

inquired how far il WAS to the river? salt
"about IL miles" He next said, "what il
the condition of the riyer2". I:said General
am not talking to Gen. Hobson; you ma!
make Capt. Collins believe you are Gen
Hobson, but you cant practice that on me, :
He smiled, and then in the most positive
manner assured me he WAS Gen. HobsOn
and thought il singular that would ques'
tion his word. In this every, one arOunt
him Joined and expressed surprise at my
disbelief. At glance, saw / had tbs
b. advantage by affecting to believe that
was now satisfied that it was Gen Hobson
and said. '.Oh, well thought it could moi
be Gen. Hobson," and in the next breath
i said, General where is MOrgan?" lie re-
piled he is making toward the river With
all haste aud 1 am only little way ahead
trying TO intercept him. then inquired,
chow much of force have you General2" 81
have 1000 men and 3 pieces of artillery"
said, s'did you not fight him this nornipR2'
He said he did, and he run as usual and
had taken the northern road TO this place.
said, "well declare" He then said show
high is the river2" IIreplied "when left
yesterday evening it was rising rapidly
not less than five feet of rise-in all
| about 8 feet int he channel" He said, ,sf'is
that sol" said it is nOt:far off the mark
He said, what forces have you there2 Forces,
said 1, there were 10000 when left yes
terday evening, and they were coming in
from Virginia by hundreds and thousands,
and could not therefore say how many
were there now, but great many more
than were necessary. said Gen. Brooks
came down with 5000 regulars, 500 caVal-
ry, and , batteriesIof artillery. He then
said, are there any gunboats there2 Gun
boats, said |, yes they are in sight of each
other nearly all the time, patroling the
river. He next inquired how far up the
the river were we prepared for defense2
answered as far up as Virginia extends.
He excused himself for few moments,
saying he would return in q short time, for
me to remain where was. On his return
he inquired if / knew the river to Pitts
burg, / replied l did. He then asked
"Where was the best crossing above the
Virginia line?" told him Beaver Shoals.
or Smiths Ferry, either were good cross
iugs. He asked ''if knew what principal
town, if any, was in that direction and near
to either of those places, some distance
back from the riVer2" l told him "New
Lisbon was the nearest town" He inquir-
ed "to what county it belonged aud how
fart" / answered ''it was the principal
town of Columbiana county, aud distant
about As miles" He said "do you know
the road to New Lisbon?" replied al
knew it very well by the river and only
part of the way across the country, but
knew the direction we'll" He then asked
'what course be should take to get there2"
answered 'tyou must first go to New
Alexandria, then north" he said "what
is the first town after lea1iUgR an
swered WinteTsyille." "Do you. know
The !. rosd 70 WinfeFsyiIIe21 be in.
quired. answered with very little as
sistanee L can describe the road. - Said
he you. IRill-greatly accommodate me by
showing me the way. said could do so.
The order was then given to forward, Capt.
Collins going in the advance through the
town, calling at the top of his voice that
it was Gen. Hobson's forces, all right
need have no fear, &c. The General then
interrogated me as to the road, and WILL
ages which would be on his way, and their
distance from the river. l gave him an
acurate description as far as knew which
he kept to the letter, for he consulted his
map and saw that gave him q correct de-
scriptiou of the route. Here his inquiries
ended touching localities, till we arrived
at New Alexandria. The ladies of Smith
field thought were the most generous and
kind hearted women l ever saw, for it
seemed to me when Capt. Collins would
call out :. this IS Gen. Hobson's forces, all
right &C." as be rode through town, the
ladies came out of their houses loaded
with loaves of bread, cakes, pies, cheese,
meat aud every thing uice-sayiug " here
soldiers-here soldiers, God bless you
God bless you, poor fellows, expect you
are hungry and tired Oh, but we are glad
to see you, SC. &."-while at the same
time some of the rebels were in their sta
bles stealing their horses, or in their eel.
lars or cupbosrds aud bureaus looking for
something nice to eat or money or other
valuable things Having taken Running
repast through the town, aud taking all
the horses they could find, we soon came
to the rural district, where the farmers,
unconsc cious of the raid, were quietly pur
suing the usual routine of moving and
reaping, hauling aud stacking-some at
oue thing and some at another; suddenly
a squad of rebels would dash or pounce
upon their unsuspecting victim, take every
horse he had, out of his own hands-or
90 to his stable or his field, or on the high.
way--no matter where or hsw employed,
aud seize them, bride them and take them
off if the farmer would remonstrate-say
it was all he had, or could not spare him,
a revolver would be presented to his breast,
and ordered at onceto be silent-his horses
was entered without ceremony, and every
thing eatabIe or of present use to the
thieves was ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS jar
red fruit, honey, maple sugar aud every
other delicacy laid up for family use
They entered store houses aud groceries
aud took therefrom whatever their fancy,
appetite, or necessities coveted, without
even a tender of compensation. They fed
their horses with the wheat and oats Of
the fields as they passed--in many instances
turning many horses loose In the grain
fields which were not harvested. Their
skirmishers, riding many rods 70 the right
and left of army, would throw down fences
and ride through farms and fields of grain.
In addition to this they had skirmishers
on the look out for horses some distance