Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-10-24
THE srrA1rnY ARRIVAL.

the most daring and brutal events in the
present war;
THE sTEALTHT ARRIVAL.
Mr.. Baldwin had been taking a vacation
for few days-stopping at the American
| Hotel. St. AIbans About a week ago,
some strangers came to board at this house
and the fremont. One Of them, calling
himself q colonel, appeared to be pro
minent one among them. He was man
Of medium size, about thirty-fve years OF
age, and appeared to have no other name
than that of colonel. Others of the party,
who subsequently proved to be thieves and
murderers, we're habited in the uniform OF
United States officers, and all wore 8 sort
of wrapper or cape, and each carried a
satchel slung by a shoulder strap at the left
| side, after the manner of English sports
men. There seemed 10 be no concert OF
action between any of these men-they
| said nothing to each other in public-no
conversations ensued that would attract
attention-to all appearances, they were
substitute brokers, contractors or sFeeula-
tors, such as are often seen in frontier towns
st. Albans being only sixteen miles from
the Canada line. On Tuesday night, the
strangers in the village we're reinforced by
| others, who arrived In the train from
Rouse's Point, and new faces appeared at
the breakfast tables of the hotels. On
Wednesday morning, a further batch Of
conspirators arrived, till about thirty raiders
had collected. And then the plot was ripe
| for execution.
HOW THE ATTACK CeliMEEoED.
AT 3 O'Clock. P. NJ, on Wednesday, Oct,
! I6, st. Albans was in state Of apparent
quiet. Our informant, conductor Baldwin,
| was standing on the steps of the Amerl-
can Hotel, Just as the town bell rang out
the hour of three o'clock, when he saw
| man coming out of the door of the First
| National Bank, and as he did so a citizen
| on the steps knocked him down. a second
was also foored, but the third raider had a
pistol in his hand, and the citizen retreat
! ed. The conductor thought the affair was
the freak of some drunken men, but ne
sooa saw symptoms of disturbance at
other points. Men appeared to be rushing
about with pistols, in parties of from i've
to ten.
| BANKS RoBBED-PEoPLE SHOT.
Meanwhile the attack had been stimuli
/ taneous on the three bsnks-the First
National franklin County and st. Albans.
| Parties entered each. When the teller
and cashier, suspecting no evil, asked what
they desired, the leader presented pistol,
with the exclamation: You are my prls-
oners. If you move an inch we'll blow
YOU through" Others of the gang then
went to the vault and drawers, and laid
I violent hands on all the specie, bills, and
other articles which they could find, and
filed the side satchels which each wore, as
we before described. OF course resistance
was useless, for the surprise was complete.
At the Franklin County Bank, the raid
ers pushed the cashier, Mr.. BearGsley, and
one of the clerks, into the vault and locked
them up, and the prisoners were not re-
leas ed until late in the night.
A REIGN OF TERROR.
| Then commenced a reign of terror in
the village. Plunder had been accom-
plished and violence followed. The raid
| was brief, but the scene must have been
| terrible while it lasted. The thirty or
more marauders rushed up and down the
streets, firing their pistols in every direc-
ton. Whenever they saw citizen or
! group of men, they would aim in that di-
Tectien. Bullets were flying around
among the buildings in the main street,
nearly all of which bear marks of lead.
Windows were broken, blinds Clipped,
and people wounded. It was a scene that
beggars all description.
THE @CHIvALRY" AS HORSE THIEVES.
The guerrillas, as they rushed through
the town, stopped all the citizens they met
and gathered them in squads under guard
of few men armed with pistols-retain-
! ing them as prisoners on the common.
| Meanwhile, the remainder of the banditti
/ started to secure horses. They took tw0
! from Fields livery stable, five from Fuf
I lers, several from the American and TreS
mont stables, and twelve hundred dollar
span from Mr.. Clark, of Rutland-securing
about thirty in all.
THREATS OF THE @CoEFEDERATEsD
Meanwhile, their threats were terrible
| "We will burn your id town they said
ave will treat you as the people of Allan
tn we're treated" They also said: awe
are coming back again, and will burn every
town in Vermont" Their imprecations
were of blasphemous character. They
claimed to be confederates Our informant
does not think any of the men were Cana,
dians. They all looked like American J
and southerners at that.
THE RETREAT.
All this was the work of twenty minutes
Conductor Baldwin says that he can scarce
" realize that it all happened, and that 81
much was done IN so short a time. The
guerrillas having all secured horses anC
saddles, commenced their retreat. They
abandoned the prisoners and rode off north
ward, firing their pistols as they proceeded
1t appeared to be their intention to maxi
an attack on the Missequoi bank at Shell
don.
FIRE.
At o'clock the out buildings of tn
American Hotel were discovered to be OF
fire. Whether the mRrauders had freC
} the town during their 3 o'clock visit an(
the flames smouldered, or whether sympa
thizers and accomplices in the town hal