Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1866-03-29
Romance Of the War.

OF the war none can exceed the !
adventures of Mrs. Loretta Del
Camp, the subject of this sketch.
Mrs. De Camp, whose maiden
name was Roach, was born in the |
West Indies, in 1888, and is now
about twenty-eight years Of age.
At an early period her parents
moved to the United States and
settled in. the parish of St. james,
Louisiana. The current Of her
life ran smoothly on, until the out
break of the war for Southern In
dependence, when fred by enthu-
siasm in, as she thought, the cause
of liberty, she donned the male at
tire and was among the first to
rush to arms. Raising a compa-
ny of cavalry and equipping it at
her own expense, she proceeded to-
| Virginia and there served for
eight months on the Peninsula,
under the command of the cele-
brated Colonel Droux, before her
sex was discovered. When this oc-
Cured she was at once mustered
out and ordered home. Instead
of obeying the ordershe proceeded
to Columbus, Kentucky. and wds
serving with General Polk at the
; evacuation of that place. She
proceeded to Island No. 10. Not
being satisfied with the manner in
which affairs were conducted there
she left and went to Fort Pillow,
, where she was elected lst Lieut.,
: in Captain Phillips Company of
Independent Tennessee Cavalry.
, With her company she proceeded
to Corinth and reported to General
Albert Sidney Johnson. At the
battle of Shiloh Captain Phillips
fell MORALLY wounded, and the
, command then devolved on her
5 While CALAMITY leading her COM
? psny in the charge, she was twice
wounded and carried from the field.
5 After the retreat to Corinth she
was taken to New Orleans for sur
gical treatment. When the city
t fell into the hands of the Federals
? she was amongst those taken pris-
oner. After a confinement of
several months she was paroled
t and soon after exchanged.
} Proceeding at once to Richmond,
the disguised female soldier was
commissioned 1st Lieutenant in
) the Adjutant Generals depart
ment, and ordered to report to
Gen. Marcus J. Wright, command
ling the district of Atlanta. Up
on reporting she was assigned to
: duty with the Provost Marshal, as
chief of detectives. and Military
: conductor. Serving for several
) months i'll this capacity, she met
) Major De Camp, of the Sd Arkan-
sas Cavalry, to whom she was en-
gagged to be. married previous to
the war. The ceremony was
then performed at Atlanta, and
from the dashing Lieut.. Roach she
was transformed to the sober Mrs.
J De Camp. From this time her
services ceased as an officer in the
$ field and she was engaged in Sc
t cret service-sometimes in the
Confederacy, again in England,
and then in Canada. In 1864 she
: spent several months travelling in
the United States, and even went
. as far as the Sioux country in
Minnesota. Her husband who
was taken prisoner in the fall of
1868, while serving with his regi-
: lment in Georgia, was carried to
New York. After long and ar
duons seige she at length succeed
ed in getting him paroled in Janu-
airy, 1865, but he lived only eight
, days after his release from prison.
Subsequent to the death Of her
: husband Tin January, 1861 she
J proceeded to Columbus Ohio, to
!, watch over the interest of the
Confederate prisoners confined at
Camp Chase. st3 Hal
: After the final collapse of the
Confederacy Mrs. De Camp re-
! manned in the North until Janua-
: ry, when she returned to her
home in Louisiana; but remaining
there only a few days she proceed
; ed to Memphis, and purchased a
3 stock Of goods which were shipped
on the ill-fated steamer. Miami,
which was blown up on the Arkan-
sas in February. She was one of
, the two ladies who were saved,
but with the sacrifice of all her