Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-26
A DIDDLER.


The Augusta Chronicle and Ser
tinel furnishes the following histor
of a fellow who gives his name $
Andrew J. Rogers, and who pro
fesses to have been a Colonel in til
Confederate service, who has bee
playing 3 pretty extensive con
fidence game in New York an
Providence, Rhode Island, a motto
OF whose exploits in this line W
copied the other day from the NeI
York Times:
The notorious individual allude,
to was never Colonel in the Con
federate service. He enlisted as
private in company G, third Georgi.
regiment, in this city, under tn,
name of Andrew j. Livingston, il
the spring of 1861, and went to Nor
folk, Virginia, in that regiment.
Shortly after reaching Virgins
he deserted, and in attempting to
make his way back to Georgia was
arrested by Gen. Chen COLI Dan.
lei, who;Swith his regiment, was al
the time stationed at Suffolk. He
was tried for desertion, convicted
and sentenced to be shot, but, by
some unaccountable accident, the
proceedings and decision of the
court was lost or mislaid in Rich
mond, and Rogers alias Livingston
was kept in close confinement until
the spring of 1862, when he was, by
direction of the Secretary of War,
drummed out of the service.
After the battles around Rich
mond, when Lees army had gone
on Its march into Maryland, Rog-
ers, by some sort of rascality, pro
CURED a Captains commission and
a small company of cavalry for
service on the York and lower
James rivers, and around Rich
mond. This command soon became
a terror to all good people on ac~
count of their robberies and other
lawless acts committed on the peo-
pie. Rogers kept his headquarters
and an office in Richmond, where
he also carried on the substitute
business. With a half dozen worth
less scouudrels in his employment
he was constantly furnishing sub
stitutes who would serve a day or
two, desert, return to Rogers, offer
themselves again, and again after
pocketing the money, desert This
business Rogers and his band of
thieves kept up until the fall of
Richmond, when he retired with an
escort Of thirty or forty mounted
men and a wagon train large enough
for an army corps. This train of
wagons, ambulances and teams was
taken from him by the writer of
this notice by direction of General
Breckinridge, then Secretary of
War, on the 18th of April, 1865, at
Greensboro, n. {.
Rogers then made his way back
to Georgia, aud on the way mans
aged TO steal a large number Of
mules and horses. He reached this
city about the time of the great
riot, and with his band of robbers
figured largely in that affair, pro-
viding himself, as it afterward was
discovered, with large amounts
of clothing, provisions, horses,
whisky, etc.
With these he travelled through
southern Georgia, selling out his
stock and provisions and often
stealing them again the day after
making his sales. Hundreds of the
people in Emanuel, Montgomery,
, relfair, Appling, and the tier of
counties below these will long re-
member the exploits of this most
inveterate scOundrel.
The next we hear of Rogers he
had gone TO New York in the latter
part of the summer of 1865, taking
with him forged railroad receipts
for a large number of bales of cot
ton along the line of the Gulf rail
road below Doctor Town. Arrived
with these bogus receipts be
plunged into Wall street, where he
soon sold large amount of the cot
ton, which he pretended to have re-
ceipts for, and transferred the latter
to the several purchasers. Getting
the money in his possession he re
turned TO Savannah, accompanied
by an agent of the parties TO whom
he had sold the cotton and to whom
he was TO make the deliveries.
A steamer was duly chartered in
Savannah to go round to Darien
and thence up to Doctor Town,
where the cotton was to be brought
up by rail and shipped to Savannah.
Everything was got ready for the
trip-the steamer fired up-a mum
Der Of invited guests were on board
to enjoy the eXcursion-the cham
payne and ice and cigars were duly
stored-the ships stores all on
board, when Rogers, just as the
boat WAS about TO cut loose from
the wharf, suddenly ascertained
that he had left some important pa
pers at the hotel. He would not de-
tain the boat, it could 80 on, and lac
with his 2.40 horse and fine buggy,
would cut across the neck and ia
tercept the boat at Thunderbolt, on
Nv four miles by land, while it was
distant by water some sixteen OF
eighteen miles.
The boat left and so did Rogers
When the steamer reached Thun
derbolt, Rogers was notthere. They
waited a couple of hours and ther
concluded that Rogers might have
been delayed longer that he antici-
pated, and that he would go OF
across the country and meet thu
party at Doctor Town. Thither tn,
boat started, but from that day t,
this, Rogers has not be found. L
is needless to say that no cotton wa
procured on that trip.