The Camden confederate. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1861-1865, 1864-08-03
Incidents Of the Invasion Of Mary
land.

We reached the Gunpowder river all
safe, and Immediately after passing the
long trcstlc bridge speed was increased.
The train was in charge of Asher PanooSt,
engincer, and 7. Brson, CONDUCTOR
About two miles from the bridge, at
Magnolia station, two or three pistol shots
were heard, when the train suddenly
stopped, and Il cry was raised: "the rebels
are on u.s.
Bit few seconds elapsed before they
entered the cars, carrying pistols in their
hands. The first question asked was,
care there any ladies in this tar?' On
being answered in the affirmative, they
ordered every lady to sit down. This
was Immediately followed by another
order to "Clear out" 1t was while
leaving the cars that purses and watches
were taken from the passengers. The
request to hand them over was enforced
by cooked pistol held at the heads of
the victmized passengers. The prison
ers were then placed uudcra strong guard,
and the cars set on fire, after the baggage
aud express cars had been cmp;ied. -
Steam was then GO. up, the engine rerers-
ed, and the train of blazing cars run
down to Gunpowder bridge. A column
of dense black smoke was soon seen rls-
ing in the direction Of the bridge, and
when the rebels, who had been in charge
of the train, returned, they said the
bridge was burning finely, and ~ould be
totally consumed. The first train was
burning when We were stopped, and it is
a somewhat singular circumstance that
neither the engineer nar the conductor in
charge of the express train could sec the
smoke in time to stop and reverse the
train. 1t tappears to have been a piece OF
gross carelessness on their part, knowing,
as they must have done, that the rebels
were scattered all over tie country. -
Many of the passengers did not hesitate
to accuse them Of something even more
heinous than carelcssncsS.
- Maj. General franklin wasa ra>sen-
ger on board the trsin. S He was dressed
in citizens clothes, and when the rcbclcs
entered tbs cars and asked him who he
was? he replied: "Nobody ofany account y
The guard passed on few Yards, when
a Baltimore lady (of whom there were
quite number or bnarl) told him the
Generals fank and. name. The guard
returned aud demanded his papers, which
were of c5ursc, handed over, amd the
General vas taken from the car.
The rebel force consisted of.about two
hundred and fifty men. They were uudcr
the command Of Major Harry G;lmcf.
and consisted of twcnt, i've nci belonging
to the First Regiment Maryland cavalry,
and the balance belyng to the Second
Maryland, Major GiImcr's own regiment.
They were fuc, hearty looking men, and
tue majority had evidently been in thc
service considerable lcngth Of time
About a score of time we're dressed in
citizens clothing, and judging from their
fair complcxions, had but recently joined
the command. From their conversation
| learned that the majority were resi-
dents of Maryland Major GImer, |
was Informed, lived about five miles from
Magnolia. The men were all finely
mounted, and said they had had three
remounts within the last week. They
were armed with pistols, carhincs AND
sabers. They conversed very freely
about their prospect, saying they were
DIV tight place" and had but little hope
of getting Rdt but intended to make a
dash on Baltimore and Washington be.
fore many hours. They stated that Gea.
Bradley johnson had force of ten thou
sand men encampcd about seven miles
away, and pointed in uorthwcstcrly
direction.
The lady prisoners were remarkably
we'll treated by the rebels, and it was
somewhat amusing wien the train was
stopped to see the reblc horscmeu ride
up to the car windows, where they were
greeted simcwhat as "Why, Tom, is
that you p GLOW are you, Harry ~
"Oh, come inside" Small white hands
were graspel by the brown, hard ones of
the troopers and warmly shakcd. Many
Of them dismounted, and, on entering
the car, were very afccrionately kissed
by their lady friends. 1t appeared TO be
quite a joyful meeting.
The other prisoners were treated very
well, with the exception of being obliged
to give up whatever any Of their captors
tascied he wonld like to possess. One
gentleman, doctor, believe, was com.
pclIed to draw off his boots and exchange
them for pair Of dusty, cowhide riding
boots, Or rather leggings, as they were
minus the solcs. A rebel fancicd my
hat, and took it, with the remark ,"Here;
want that hat at the same time CIV
ing me his tobacco stained, and rusty
looking felt in nexchangc. My lGaversack
followed next. 1t contained, among 9TH
er things, a number of dispatches and a
long list of casualties, The blanket fol-
lowed shortly afterwards, and soon |,
together with tie majority of the prison
ers, had no article ni value left. The
man who appr, prIated the haversack
very kindly allowed me to retain two
photographs and a tooth brush. Like
ncsses were, in every instance, returned
to the owners, as were also any other
small articles of no value to the rebels.
As far as lay in their power, everything