Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-02-13

did not know the south from th
north. They plunged into the wood,
however, and struck out for the Ten
nessee River. In an hour the Who'll
; country was alive with scouts an,
hunters. There was not by-path o
!. cross-road that was not thoroughly
explored. To add to the terrors o
the situation, we'll trained hound
: were put upon the track of the fugi
} tlves, and trailed them down with un
} erring certainty. The hunt. thougl
an exciting, was not long one. Ii
twenty-four hours from the time the,
left the engine every member Of tn,
band was captured. They were in
pitiable plight when taken. The,
were drenched to the skin-coverel
with dirt and filth-in the last stage
of exhaustion, and almost starved
The story of their adventures in tn,
Georgia forest that night is wilt
and thrilling one. It was o night o
horror.
At first the prisoners denied an,
completely with the train wrecking
They claimed to be citizens of Ken.
tucky, disgusted with Lincoln, md
trying to join the Confederate army
Being confronted with citizens of Ken.
lucky, however, they were not able
to carry out this fiction, and they then
told straight story-claiming that
they were soldiers of the United
States army, detailed for special ser.
vice, and entitled to be held as pris-
oners of war. The Confederate an.
thorities charged them with being
tspies, and ordered them to be tried
by court martial. They were given
able counsel, Judge Baxter, Of Ten
nessee, being in charge Of their case.
Before the trial opened, Andrews,
the leader, who was never put upon
the same footing with the others, was
carried before the court-martial, and
condemned to be hung as spy. The
witnesses against him were the men
from whom he had stolen the train,
though his own admissions were held
sufficient to convict him. A scaffold
was prepared for him at Chattanoo-
60, but the near approach of the Fed
eral troops caused his removal to At
lanta. just before his death he made
daring attempt to escape, and sue
ceeded in making his way nearly
through the lines. He was finally
discovered, naked and nearly starved,
in tree by some little children, who
were playing in the woods. They re-
ported his presence, and he was
speedily surrounded and captured.
He was then hanged almost immedi-
ately. His scaffold was erected a
short distance outside of Atlanta,
about the center of what is now a
cotton field. He died very bravely,
protesting against the manner of his
death, and claiming that he was exc
cuted in violation Of law. He was q
magnificent specimen Of manhood,
and was engaged to be married to q
beautiful young Kentucky girl with
in q few days Of the date of his hang
ing. There were no unusual circum-
stances attending his execution. He
died quickly, and apparently without
much suffering.
SEVEN MEN HANGED ON ONE scAFFoLD.
When the trial of the rest of the
band had begun, it was discovered
that the court-martial had determined
to make difference between the men
who had been promised q share of
the $4,000 to be given at the close of
the expedition, and those who were
simply detailed tor service without
knowing the precise nature Of the ex-
pedition. The prisoners relied upon
the fact that the whole twenty men
were detached for this service from
the same brigade, and that their raid
was hence military expedition, and
not the work Of spies. They defen-
ded their having adopted citizens
dress by citing instances where Nor
gan's raiders, having been captured
in squadrons in civilians clothes,
were treated by the Federals as pris-
oners of war. The trial was q
lengthy, tedious one, and the decision
was reserved for some days.
One day the men were in their pris-
on playing checkers on the floor, and
singing quite merrily, when some one
called attention to the fact that a
large body of horsemen had halted
in front Of the Jail door. 1t was no.
ticed that an immense mass of people
was collected in the street near the
prison. The door was thrown open,
and an officer standing in the door.
way called for William Campbell, of
Kentucky, George D. Wilson, Marion
A. Ross, Perry 6. Shadrack, Samuel
Slavens, Samuel Robinson, and John
Scott, of Ohio. The men arose as
they were called, except Robinson,
who was very ill with q fever, and
had to be raised to his feet and sup
ported while he stood. The officer
commanded the men to follow him,
and they left the room with him.
The prisoners who were left were in
o deplorable state of uncertainty.
They did not know whether their
comrades had been called out for ex-
change or parole or death. No init
nation of the decision of the court
had been given. At length they re-
turned, headed by George Wilson,
who, with q face as pale as death,
said, "Boys, we are to be hung imme-
diately !"
The guards came in with the men,
and tied them hand and foot. Dur
ing this preparation the condemned
men took q last farewell of their COM
rades. Wilson, who had been for
years an unbeliever, turned to Pitten-
ger, q comrade who was quite relig-
ious, and said: 80, Pittenger, 1 know
that you are right !" and then, turn
ing to his friends, he said: "Boys,
when you come to die, try to be bet
ter prepared than am now I" Shad-
rack, who had been the wit Of the
party, but q profane and reckless
person, said: "lf l were only prepar-
cd to meet my God I would be salts
fed" He was urged by Pittenger
to calm himself, and think of heaven,
but he replied, cit is too late now,
but Tll try, FL tryp Slavens, who
was man of immense stature, turn
ed toward his friends, and said: "Oh,
boys, tell my wife and children"
and then broke completely down and
could say no more. Young Scott,
who was married only three days be-
fore he left for the army, never said
q word from the time his sentence
was announced. His lips were drawn
tight across his mouth, and his hands
clasped in front of him. Ross is said
to have been the firmest Of them all.
He said: "Boys, if any of us escape,
tell them I died for my country; that
1 died like man and do not regret
it," Robinson, so i'll that he could
hardly speak, and could not stand
had to be carried from the room
Only about three minutes was con.
sumed in the preparations. The meu
we're then carried through the from,
door and placed in an open court
The cart was surrounded by a heavy
force Of cavalry, and an immense
throng of sight-seers accompanied it
4 THE GALLows SCENE.
| The place selected for the hanging
was within the city limits. An enor.
nous scaffold was erected, it being 4
notable low one. The scaffold wa
furnished with q trap door, which
sank beneath the feet of the men a
the springing ofa trigger. After the
men had assembled the plank and th'
nooscs had been adjusted, Georg,
Wilson asked to be allowed to max,
statement. Permission was grant
II IT., A. Al