St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-12-04
NarrOW Escape OF General SHer-
man.

\ correspondent of the Augusta (ia.)
Ell army, and who, by some u-isadvcnturc,
had been left with four of his company
in the wilds while Gen. Sherman was
making his celebrated march to the
sea-" tells the following story, showing
that the famous General waS in very
dangerous position without knowing it.
Its romance Is not at all inconsistent
with truth:
''llungcr Is Il guest that uses very little
ceremony in his visits, AMI the little tcl-
low was hooking a: our breast very
rudely, an d clamorouelv asserting hi,
presence. lie was not TO Le put To- 81
lence, and so for peace -akc we deter
min ii to grant his request. AS il 10 try
US, no sooner had we agreed To- search
for food than we came 10 a hv-path which
branched of to the right of the road we
were travelling, 1t looked promising,
and looking down a leaty vista we dis
cerned, about 800 yards Oft, uumistakablc
signs of farmhouse. and. IL a thing OF
course, Il land flowing with milk and
honey. -, determined TO stand the
hazard of the die, we filed off down the
road to breakfast.
We found small farm house. imhab-
tied by n widow. whose two sons had
been killed i'll Virginia and who, with
four or five faithful slaves, still managed
to keep her little farm in good order.
W.l,A,,,;r,r t.,,.. L., Il ln
as she said, we were soon seated on the
grass plat, enjoying a GOOD though
homely meal, and under the influence OF
her excellent buitcrmilk. corn bread and
fried chicken, Were rapidly becoming re-
invigorated. Suddenly confusion of
voices sounded near Us, and | caught the
CLEAN Of sabres and bright uniforms, as
about a dozen cavalry in dark blue
Numbered down toward us. Evidently
they had not seen US. A word and a
touch, and all four of Us were i'll the ad
joining thicket, awaiting their approach
They gallopcd up, and ordering break
fast, sat down on Il bench TO await it. |
felt touch on my shoulder, and looking
up saw pale face near my own. with
eyes turned i'll constrained manner to
lips whispered, almost inaudibly, now is
the time to end the war Yonder sits
Sherman | was so utterly taken by
surprise that | did not at first compre-
bend him, but gradually, as | gazed me-
chanically on the officer pointed out to
me, | began to understand that the
south's greatest and most powerful enc
my, the one who was rapidly wiping her
out OF existence as nation, who held
her fate, as it were, in the hollow of his
hand, who had done her more evil in
four months than all his predecessors had
accomplished in as many years, was sit
there serene and unconscious, within
reach of my carbine. | at once COM
menced cautiously to unsling it. The
fate of the Contederacy perhaps hung on
that moment when, at this length OF
time, l think upon the awful interests
that were at stake, my brain reels and l
grow faint. The general arose uncon-
scious of his peril, and walked with
rapid military tread into the house, fol-
lowed by his staff, and very soon we
could see them through the open window
engaged in eating breakfast. L was
completely bafiled, and had no opportu-
nifty, nor had any of us, to renew our at
tempts, as body of cavalry soon arriv-
ed, before whom we thought it prudent
to retire, and accordingly made sud-
den retreat"