The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1876-05-13
"REMINISCENCES OF ELKTON
IN THE BY-GONE.
LETTER NO. 3.

at the close of my last article reference
was made to two officers of Lees Legion
in the Revolutionary War, Major Jack and
Capt. Mike Rudolph. Although the SUBJ
iect may be trite with some, it will, no
doubt, be new to many of your readers,
and it may not be out of place in these
"reminiscences to indulge in further refer
ence to these officers. Those who may be
interested in their history will find them
frequently named in -" Lossing's Field Bool,
of the Revolution"
Major Jack was bachelor, and, although
a brave officer, was austere and unpopular
with children. He was not pleased with
his fathers second marriage, and remark
reported of him in reference to his two
half sisters, Martha and Elizabeth, when
young children, will not do to repeat.
Capt. Mike was a daring, desperate fell
low, brave and fearless in the extreme, and
a number of singulally daring exploits are
related of him, one of which was the cap
ture of a British vessel of war, at night,
while lying in the harbor of Charleston.
Selecting five men, equally brave and fear
less with himself, he procured quantity
of ducks and chickens and directing the
men with the poultry to lie down in the
with cedar bushes-he managed the boat
himself. AS he approached the vessel
being hailed by the guard on deck, he imi-
tated the .iargon of tory farmer, asking
them if they would not like to have some
chickens and ducks, the men in the boat
causing the chickens and ducks to make
glad to accept the luxury, allowed him to
approach, and the moment they touched
the side of the vessel the six men sprang
to the deck, seized and gagged the guards,
threw them down the hold, fastened down
the hatchway and cabin passage, and car
ried the vessel captive into the port.
Captain Nike belonged to that branch of
the family that early emigrated to Georgia,
and afterwards settled in Alabama His
brother, Zebulon Rudolph, of Alabama,
was the father of a large family. One of
the daughters married a Baptist minister,
Rev. Basil Manly, who was Chaplain to the
first Confederate Congress, which sat in
Montgomery, Ala. Captain Mike married
a lady of Savannah, but for some unknown
reason his married life was very unhappy,
and at the close of the war he left his
family and went out as supercargo in
vessel loaded with flour, destined to one of
the South American ports. Neither he
nor the vessel was ever heard of afterward,
until his identity with the celebrated Mar
shall Ney, of the French army, became, in
after years, the subject of interesting spec
ulation.
During the visit of Gen. LaLemand, one
of Napoleon's officers, to. this country, in
1922 or '23, he was passing from Baltimore
north in one of the steamers of the old
New Castle and Frenchtown line, and on
board of the steamer fell into company
with the late Gen. Thos. NJ. Foreman, of
this county AS they approached French
town, reference was made to the surround
ing country, and to Elkton as the county
town. "Elkton - said La Lemand, elk
ton? Is there family there by the name
OF Rudolph?' "There is" said Foreman,
" and l am well acquainted with them"
' Well,' said La Lemand, "among the
papers of Marshal Ney there were found,
after his execution, certain documents that
indicated that he Was an American, that
his name was Michael Rudolph, and that
he had relatives residing at Elkton, Mary
land"
This singular and rather surprising intel
ligence was soon after communicated by
Gen. Foreman to the late Gen. Sewall, who
had married daughter of the second
Tobias Rudolph and this, believe, was
the first intmation to the family here that
any such legend had an existence. Inves-
tigation was afterwards attempted, but
without any definite success. In the first
place, the family did not accept the legend
with any degree of cordially, because it
reflected upon the character of
their relative in the breach of his trust as
supercargo of the vessel and her freight, in
charge of which he left the country. The
theory was that he, with the captain and
crew of the vessel, had run her into one of
the ports of the West Indies, where they
sold the flour, purchased cargo of tobacco
and sailed for France, then the theatre of
great military operations, where they sold
out vessel and cargo, Rudolph Immediately
entering the army and fighting his way up
to distinction. Another difficulty was the
precaution with which he and his French
family-if he was Rudolph sought to con
ceal his American origin and history. A
French life of Ney, it is believed, was pre-
pared and published for this purpose or
with this view. There are, however, well
known facts which go very far to confirm
the legend In the first place, Ney's Chris
tian name was Michael, which it is well
known is not French name. In the sec
und place, although he could use the Eng
lish language with ease and tiuency, he
ence of an Englshman or an American.
Again, as his bravery and success in the
army gave rise to the envy and enmity of
some of his less fortunate fellow officers.
which eventually led to his overthrow and
execution. 1t is we'll known that he was
frequently contemptuously called, in the
French army, Tile -4nserican Tobacco .Nsr-
chank There are other circumstances of
the same tendency in proof, which cannot
now recall.
The subject has been made the founda-
ton Of rather poor novel. In series of
articles believed to have been the produc-
ton of Lieut.. Leigh, of the L. S. Navy,
son or nephew of the late Benz. Watkins
Leigh, of Virginia, in the Southern Literary
Messenger, published at Richmond, Va.
some twenty five or thirty years ago, the
theory of the identity of the two officers is
very ingenonsly sustained.
One Other fact | will name before closing.
1t is also we'll known, that after their faith
er's execution, two of Ney's sons by his
Erapcb w 70 visited Savannah Georria the