Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-06-23

/ Irishman, named Stanton, whose gen
( erOus services in behalf of the Sunny
/ South" on many an occasion, made
! him deservedly pet among the COnfed-
/ crates. A careful reconnaissance proved
/ the ford UngUaTded, so, crossing the riv-
! er, and concealing their horses under
/ the bank, the two scOnts were sOOu be-
/ fore the cheerful fire Of the friendly Celt.
/ After a consultation, in which the FEAST
/ biIity of the contemplated project was
/ discussed and determined, they partOOk
of a slight repast at the hands of the
/ kind hostess, and deputed their Irish
/ Confederate to obtain certain infOrma-
/ ton by a day specified. This he was
enabled to obtain through the assistance
of a yOnng man in the neighbOrhOOd.-
! This ACCOMPLISHED, the scouts mounted
their horses, and, recrOssing the river,
were, before daybreak, farpast immedi-
ate danger.
From a point below Romney, HaIler
was sent with the following dispatch to
! Lieut.. Mcneil.
! /" Dear Jesse I have been across the
/ Potomac, and find all %. X Meet me
here on Monday evening. Haller will
give you all other particulars. The at
! tempt, if carried out, will certainly prove
successful J. B. F.
Promptly at the appointed time and
| place Mcneil appeared with siXty-five
men, some of whom belonged to ROs-
/ ser's Cavalry Brigade, who happened to
| be at home on fuTlOugh, and seeing the
direction in which the Rangers were
marching, concluded that there "must
! be sOmethingi in the wind, and prompted
/ by that love of adventure which charac-
| teriZed them, fell into the ranks.
| After leaving this point, the band
! crossed the Middle Ridge, and marched,
swiftly and silently, through the fields
skirting PattersOn's Creek, until they
reached the road leading to the noun
| tain beyond. At midnight they were
sealing the steep sides of KnObley noun
! tain, being obliged to walk, leading their
| horses through snOwdTifts of unknown
| depth. Finally the mountain was pass
| ed, and the river gained and crossed
The faithful Stanton was on hand, and
| they were speedily posted in regard to
the situation. Some delay occurred at
this point, from which the party proceed
ed down the CTesaptwOn road to Cum
berland. Arriving at the outer picket,
stationed ct the water station, on the B.
& o. r. r., in answer 10 tRe demand for
| the cOunteTsign, Lieut.. McNeill spuTTed
forward, and, as he passed the picket,
who had halted the column, and who
was standing on the side Of the road, he,
very imprudently, fired his pistol i'll his
! face. It gave no alarm, however, and
| the advance charging forward secured
! the picket, which consisted of three pri-
Yates belonging to "CO. D. Sd Ohio Cav
airy" The cOUntersign-"B Bulls Gap y
was thus obtained, and the column
again moved forward. f, and X, q
| regular scout attached to ROsser's Rri-
gade, took the lead, and the next picket
post, composed of five men, belonging to
a West Virginia regiment, were captur-
ed without difficulty.
Here "instrUctiOns" were given to the
me1I and they were hastily assigned
their several duties: after which the
command quietly entered the city at a
quarter past three o'clock i'll the morn
ing. Riding down Greene street, they
crossed the Iron Bridge, and marched
slowly and caTelessly up Baltimore
street.-The main one of the city-the
men WhistIing such Yankee tunes as
| thew could think of, and jesting with
| the guards and patrols as they passed.
| Many of the men were partially dlsgulS-
led by Federal OvCrcOats; but in the dim
! twilight no perceptible difference could
/ be observed between the blue and grey.
! Part Of the command halted in front Of
| the st. Nicholas Hotel, where Gen. i ell
! " was. superseded to have rooms, while
I the rest proceed to the Revere House,
the headquarters Of Gen. Crook.
Sergeant l., who was of the party
~rdeEed to secure Kelly, captured the
Q >tFV on the street, and learned from
sen, Rat the General was not there, but
!lllii az NJ 4. ~arnUm House, near by. Thith-
Ill tIle. tIle D., by proceeded, and L, with
eE Ille pau = light dashed into a room
which proved to ~ I'm i,''I and m inn9irod 1 for
Gen, Thayer Me. I55I5 ~ NfioiI-i0 +IIo
Gen. Kelly Being VII - Wy II Nv I, osti sit0
General was in the neA H. Clann2.nI
Iy entered, and, telling 'n,a,,JoI. ID -
who he was, demanded his s., r.t1,,i+
With much tTepidatiOn, Kelly ST. -,
ted to his fate, and the rest Of the paru,,
entering with lights, both he and Mel
vinweTe' secured.
While these events were tTanspiFing
here, a similar one was being enacted at
the Revere House. The party under
Y. having captured the guard
whom they found on duty in front of the
hotel, entered the house and finding q
little cOlOred boy in the office, ordered
him to show them Gen. Crooks ROOM
the negro Obeyed, and the
squad entered, WhereupOn V, who
was a fine looking, dTessy man, demand
ed the surrender of the General, stating
that he had surprised and captured the
town and garrison, who were now pris-
Oners. Crook seemed much startled at
heannOuncement,b but, concluding from
the circumstances surrounding him, he !
could easily see that somehow, he GER
tainly was prisoner, and affecting q
careless gaiety, he hurriedIy dressed and !
gave himself up.
The wires in the Railroad Telegraph /
office were, in the meantime destroyed, |
and, after capturing headquarter and (
other flags, the party quietly retraced |
their way down Baltimore street to the |
Chain Bridge, where several fine horses,
"Phillippi," Gen. Kelly's war |
steed, were secured.
Daylight was fast appearing now; ten |
thousand men lay within pistol shot {; |
fifty miles through q broken country in |
terpOsed between the Rangers and safe
ty. No time was therefore, to be lost; so
turning down Water street, and gaining
the canal tOw-path, they rapidly pro-
ceeded until, at the locks, they found Il
dozen or more pickets; these were how
ever quietly surrounded and diyested of
their arms and ammunition, and the
party again resumed the march. At the
Canal Bridge, some two miles below the
Outmost guard Oft the Federal, the column
was halted. There was no time for par
ley now, and giving the cOUntersign,
the Rangers spuTred on stating that they
were General Cooks body guard, that
the Rebels We're advancing, and they
were going out to meet them, and would
soon clean them out.
A few moments later, and Mcneil had
re-crOssed the river ten miles below
where he had first entered Maryland,
and the Rangers were again in Dixie.
When the alarm was given and the
news of the capture generally known,
the confusion and excitement were i'm
mense The Provost Marshal, with Il
good force, started in pUrsuitOf the cap
tors, and followed them as far as Rom
ney, but in vain; and other bodies were
sent with like result.
On reaching the MOOTfiCld Valley,
McNeill came in sight of the RinggOId
Cavalry, $50 strong, who had started
from New Creek to intercept him. The
two parties, separated by the river, urg-
ed their wearied horses to their utmost
speed, the Federals hoping to reach
MOOTefieId in time to cut off the Rangers
retreat. The eXulting COnfederates,
waiving alOft their captured banners,
strained every nerve, anxious to pass
through the town and exhibit to their
friends the result of their prOWess. Sew