St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-06-14
ST. .Suhnsburn Galedunian.
st. .uohn.bury, VI. Friday, june II, 1872.

two or three hours after dinner Nv"
men on horseback. with thrd man
riding behind one of them. rour up I"
my gate on the main road. ne Hl"',
who was riding behind got down ana
came to my house. while the other NV"
rode on toward Port Royal. When
this man came to the house the man
who WAS here introduced him to my
son. John NJ. who was i'll the yard. as
Mr. Boyd. his cousin. They walked up
the road from my yard. and seemed t"
Ice in earnest conversation. Very soon
after this the two men " ho had passed
on horseback returned. riding very
rapidly tone of vhom WAS Lieut.. Rug
ulcs) and said to the two men who were
here. The Yankees are crossing at
Port Ruyal. and Nou must take care of
Yourselves the best way You can. and
rode of Immediately WAS Il short
distance from my house. where my
lahorerS were at work. and ON comm"
to the house saw these two men @"Ih"
of toward the woods. soon aitri @rt-
ting to the house one of these men, WI"
proved to bc Harold. returned I" my
yard. and my son said I" nm We
should not hc surprised II IhrS" forces
were in pursuit nt him amt his TREND.
He said. .'Oh. III" : We have done moth
ing to make them pursue us: but that
he had heard that some federal soldiers
that were stopping the night before. 1T
Il place called The Trap, between here
and Bowling Green. had had their
horses stolen. and he expected these
forces were sent down from Frcdcrick>-
bury to cudeavor to capture the thicl cS.
soon after this the federal forces passed
The, road bN my house, and went ON
toward the place. at which the horses
were said To have been stolen. After
th, forces uussrd. Harold went to the
woods and brought his friend back To
the house. They took supper with my
family. and after Supper. l. being UNI
well, went directly To- my room. and my
SONS and these two then went to my
front porch. Nv son said they seemed
To be very uneasy and that they said
they were anxious to get Il convey amc"
to Orange Court House. at which place
they heard there was Il good many
MarVlanders. who were cndcaNoIing to
get west of the Mississippi river. and
that they wished to go with them Ihci
asked my son if he knew of any con
kcNdllCt Tnt\ GDtlltl nt'I tlI1I tsNtIIllln
to 20 a part of The Nal. He told them
there was Il cnlorcd man living near h>
who had Il horse and Il carr\all that he
hired out at times. rhcN cndeaNoIrd
to get it. hut tn, man wa, from home.
They then offered my son so to carr,
them about 20 miles on the way. lie
told them he could not ." that night
but that if they wished to go next nom
ing he could take them They prn
posed sleeping in my hou,,. that uipht
but nv son Objected, a> h, thought
from their excited manner there. VA.
something wrong about them. They
then proposcd sIcepiuu under my front
porch: but he told them We had bad
dogs. and they uiuht he. ANNOYED II,
them. They then asked him if h,. had
not an out -huIl>t. in which they could
sleep. He told them there NaS fodder
aud HAY in the tul,accu-hnIls,. and they
could 90 III there if they liked.
They went in there. and after they
did 50 my two sunS. having heard Har-
old say. We should like to get the
horse We saw \ou Iidin" last evening. &c
aud fearing that they might get up in
the night and take their horse, and 90
OFT. my sons concluded tn take their
blankets and 20 into Il corn house. he
tween the tobacco house and stable.
and guard the horses and my Youngest
son. fearing. ~ these men were hc;l ill
armed. that il they attempted To take
the horses they might have great ditli
Guilty and might probably get shot.
concluded he would take the key 10 the
house and lock the door outside. >" ~
To prevent them comm" out if they
wished it. This is the reason why the
door was found locked hen the officers
went To the HOUSE. About :! o'clock Il.
M, WAS awakened 10y the violent
barking of my dogs. Il">c from my
he'd and wont ia th,. " inInM and |