Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1865-03-29
From the Irasburgh Standard.
THE FLOOD-THE WHITE FLAG.


Tuesday the 9th of August was very
rainy day and the creek was swollen so
that it washed away about fifteen feet of
the stockade both on the upper and lower
side. You should have been there and
seen the "Johnies' "Get up and get. y
They formed line of battle opposite
where the stockades were gone, in hurry.
The Artillery men were called. Every
man to his post" They seemed to think
we were going to leave them sure. We
could but smile to see the old gray head
ed men try to double quick.-Some were
lame and could not half keep up with
the blind oues Others were so excited
aud out of breath that everything before
them seemed their stumbling block.
These troops were State militia and had
never been in fight or they would have
been more cool. | guess it was cool
for them however for it rained like suds.
"Good for 'em" "Glad of it. 1t will do
them good to wash little dirt off, said
our men; and | reckon so too for they
were a dirty brigade, On seeing the
stockades float down. our nen would rush
into the water up to their necks sometimes
and seize them as though it was their
mother, drag it ashore and white them
up for wood. Old rctten logs and stumps
and roots were stopped as they foated
down and used for the same purpose. For
two or three days men could be seen in
the mud digging out wood that had wash
ed down and buried by the food The
rebs lay in line of battle several days
not having gumption enough to fix the
gap. But finally they set pack of me-
groes to work, and they soon erected new
stockades. While the negroes were at
work, crowd of our men were around
the dead line to get the chips and splin-
tiers that they would make. Sometimes
chip would fly from the choppers notch
over the line, then there would be gen.
eral grabbing for it. AT first the blacks
would throw them over but when the
rebels soon stopped it The sentinels
stood with their guns cooked, and their
fingers OH the trigger ready to kill the
first "Yank" that dared put head over
the dead line One fellow reached over
after a splinter and was shot dead. The
sentinel was Immediately relieved proba-
bly, to 60 home on furlough. Some days
after this three posts were raised through
the centre of the camp with white flag
on the top of each. "a flag of truce, a
flag of truce !" was the cry. Another
white flag was seen at Capt. Wurtzs quar-
ters Our commissioners of exchange
were there said somebody We shall all
be exchanged within twenty days; a reb-
ell sergeant said SO. The news spread
over the camp like wild fire. More than
hundred different stories were flying in
less than half an hour Somebody had
heard somebody say something. Rebel
papers said there was going to be gene
raj exchange Immediately. Rebel sergts.
offered to bet ten, fifteen, twenty dollars
that we should all be out of the pen in
less than month. The quartermastel
said that he should not issue rations TWEEN.
ty days more. The sutler was selling out
at half price and was not going to Gil uT
again. The Roman Catholic priests said
they thought we would be at home soon
The sick were being moved off Some
one had seen load 60 off with flag O
truce on the hind end of the cars. Thes,
stories created quite an excitement
throughout the camp. A majority o
the prisoners were quite confident that they
should get out alive and felt quite jubi
liant. The older prisoners could not b.
made to believe word. They said they
had been fooled too many times Afte
this they told us what the white flags
were for. If crowd was seen on tn
west side of this row of flags, they sal,
the artillery would be used to dispense it
Once they did send a solid shot over tn
camp as near our heads as they could ant
not hit us. Whether they intended to xii
somebody. or whether they done it OIL
purpose to scare us, they never said, bu
/ probably intended TO friphten us n LITTLE