, 1863-02-07
G|)ifaou Urlbnltr.
Il STARTLING EPISODE OE
THE "tAE$.

Ik4E " tAR.
Tho MyAferiou. Girl. who turus out
fst,ar,a to DC n raafter He maron, = aud sates hs1 n
Shot.
Correspondence Of the Chicago Tribune
HELENA, Ark, Jan. II, 1863.
Among the many scenes Of the war, which
have passed under my observation, my recol-
lection enables rue to give you an account Of
ono Of the most mysterious and strange ad-
ventures which have ever heard Of
During the month Of August, in 1861, while
our Iowa regiment was stationed at Rolla, III
Missouri, onr company Was detached from the
regiment aud scntt to guard the railroad bridge
at the Mozcille Mills, which, it was rumorcd,
the gncr;llas Of that ncishborhool were pre-
pairing to destroy.
Nc lad been upon the ground but few
days, when there appeared in camp carly one
morning, Il very old, dccrcpid mule, which
made direct for the door Of stable that ad.
Joined the Captains quarters, from which it
appeared 1t led recently been stolen By gu
eriila and carried away, as d pack animal
Upon approaching the mule, a letter was dis
covered, secured to the throat-latch Of the
bride, which, being addressed to tho Captain,
WAS Immediately handed into his quarters.
Upon opening the letter, its contents written
in tile delicate handwriting Of 4 fe1nalc) con-
sisted Of the following singular announce.
mert: "Thc Temple Of Jerusalem was dc.
s:roJed on the first Friday bcforc the full
nloou." Tic Captain protcssed to understand
it, and said, "Thc guerillas will attack the
bridge tonight" and Immediately ordered
tie company to Dc mustered, and informed
them Of The imminencc Of an attack, which
might be looked for at any moment. Ammu-
milton was ordered to be distributed, the
guards were doubled, pickets thrown out, and
erery precaution taken to guard against sur
prise. At The close Of the day drizzling rain
set in, Which continued until the next morn
ing, causing the night to be intensely dark.
Three picket stations had been thrown out
into the country about half mile from the
opposite end Of the bridge, where the main
guard vas posted behind pile Of railroad
tics. It WAS our lot to be one of the six that
composed the midnight guard at tllis station.
We had been upon our post about an hour
when ono of the men observed "1 hear foot
steps," We listened, and presently heard the
footsteps Of several persons approaching MS,
apparently with great CAUTION, through dense
uEdcrgroWth that skirted the opposite side Of
the road. The darkness Of the night was so
great that VIC could not see them even when
| they we're within forty feet of Us; but VIC
! could distintly hear oue Of them observe in Il
petulent but suppressed tone "Jim, hold up
| that gun Of yours, that's twice you've stuck
tlat bayonet in me-" At this moment VIC
opened upon them with all our guns. There
was 10 gun fired in return, but We could dis
tinctly hear them for some time rushing with
receding steps through the thickct, in the d.
rcction Of Il corn field, in which stood Il log
c:bin, occupied by woman and two children,
tLe husband and fat1er Of whom Was 4 Union
soldier, in one Of the Missouri regiments.
The firing Of our guns, which oyer=hot tl.c
enemy, lad aroused the entire command and
brought in the picket guard, when the log
cabin alluded TO was discovered to be on fire.
Believing it to be the inccudiary work of these
guerillas, the Captain Immediately ordered
command Of twenty men to double quick
through to Tue house, and cndeayor to res
cue tEc family il in DANCE. Upon rcacAiug
tie vicinity Of the opening that surrounded
| the cabin, we discovered that 4 quantity Of
lE'y Lad been placed against the door and
tired; anu near the building party Of eight
or nine gucrllls, armed with guns were
| grouped together apparently listening to some
| speaker. Our party, which had divided ut
| the edge Of the corn with the yicw Of surround
ing thc2 cabin, now rushed in upon them and
succeeded in capturing three Of their number.
| We had arrived too Late to render any is.
! sistance to the inmates Of the cabin, which
had already sunk down into 4 smoulderiug
heap, beneath Which tic mother and her
children had perished. After securing our
prisoners With portion ofa clothes liuc hang
Ing from Il branch Of 4 tree thcy were conduct
cd 10 camp, wllcre the Captain Immediately
summoned druin-head court-martial to try
item upon the charge Of murder, assuring
ILem llat If they were found guilty they
WUnld be shot 1T sunrisc,as a warning to their
guerilla comrades. One of tho party, Il short,
thick fellow, with bushy head OF red hair
aud bloatel expression Of countcnancc, when
asked by the court-martial If he had any
ing to make any answer. The second prisoner,
| i tall, slender person, Of dark com
plc2iou with one eye concealed be.
1lcath q handkerchief that was tied
disyonally around his head, while his face
! was scratched and scared with fresh wounds,
apparently tie result of son,e bachanalian
bElwl with his comrades, observed "This
! shooting Il IelIer, arter he's ! prisoner, for
lighting fur the freedom Of Missouri, and agin
The abolitioncrS, aint accorden to law" Here
Il member Of the court martial asked him - II
tlc Elurdcring Of u helpless woman and her
children, at the midnight hour, by burning
tlle freedom Of .lissouri!' 7rhc fellow tufued
away from this question with dejcctcd look,
ln,ttering that ''hcr husband was datn'd
a1nlitiontr." The third prreon 1ias Il young
man, or boy, apparently about sixteen years
old. Fro,u his dialect and the nationality ol
expression ON his roantcnanct, it was easy to
discern th:t lie WIS Of Irish descent. lIc w:ls
we'll dressed, and appeared to be greatly dis
treescd at his situation as 4 prisoner. lie oh
served, with much alarm expressed in llis
, conntcnance, that lie was al Irish boy, anc
that lie had been in the United States bit ter
weeks, aud had taken no part in the war: tta
the man who had burned the house had e -'ef
upon him that evening, and asked hin to JoI,
them in q coon hunt, and that it was not unit
they were fired upon at thu bridge that he Wal
, aware Of the characf er and object Of the party
He wonld have lcfl them then, but the nigh
WAS dark and he did moi know the way home
Here one Of the court arose and Informed
linn that his story parto0k Of the c!laractc
Of all guerilla pleas Of innocence, and thut /
l :,vaileI him nothing. He had been caugh
with Others in the very act Of committing tni
| cruel and nnfecling murder, and that il onl
l. remained for linn to say, that the court Eun
T. all three of them gnil1y Of murder, and sen
n fenced tlcm to be Shot Ut {: o'clock the mex
9 morning
!. The prisoners were then ordered to til
y ..,,ari-ln,use-al lng tNvlling-and placed /
the cellar beneath the building. The remain
der Of the nislt was devoted to the making c
the cofiins and the digging Of grave of sull
cient dimensions to hold them Side by sidt
When the morning returned the rain Ii,
, ceascd-tAc clouds had passed away, and suo
the sun arose with q war1a and genial glow
II Ali nature seemed rcfrrshcd with the murk
ID shower Of the night-wlilc all around, III
blades of grass. the Hack bushes and fore:
= lcaycs dropped under tho sparkling rain droF
that glittcred on their folds: and the birt
carolled wild and loud their morning matin
All felt that 1t WAS a day to live, aud not I
> die In. The drum was beat at early d2wI
mastering the company under arms, to wi
ness the punishment, and i detail Of twcl,
men was made. as c1ecut!oncrs, under Il
command Of Corporal As the time drc
near for the execution, It was discovered tn
. two of the prisoners had nlndc their escape .
- forcing passage through the partition Wa
Of the cellar, into the cellar Of an adjoini1
al house.
u The boy, however, was still prisoner, an
u all we're determined that he should be ma(
MI example of. Accordingly. about cigl
IT, O'Clock he WAS brought ont, to be conductt
sh 10 tho place Of execution. Upon seeing Il
Ia soldiers drawn up to receive him, he cor
:, mrnecd wringing his hands, crying, and cal
oe ineFto the CAPTAIN, saying, "Uh, Captain