The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1880-12-07
A Remarkable Soldier.

soldiers on either side in the late, wal
was young man named Tom Kelley,
a private in the Second Michigan Infant.
ry. The remarkable man began with
his build. He had arms a full hand lon.
ger than any mon who could be found
He had no more backbone than snake,
and could almost tie himself in knot,
He could tell the date on silver quar-.
ter held up twenty feet away, and he
could hear every word of conversar
ton in a common tone Of voice across
an ordinary street. He could run hall
a mile as fast as any horse could gallop
and there was standing offer of Slt
to any man who could hold him dom
On a bet Of box of sardines he opct
passed six sentinels within an hour, On
! an4.thc--eeoxsron ne entered the coloneE<
tent and brought away thxt officers
boots
When Toms remarkable qualified.
tions were discovered, he was detailed
as scout and spy, and was changed
from one department Ato another. In
the capacity Of spy ID entered Rich
mond three times. He entered Vicks-
burg and preached a sermon to the sol.
diers week before the surrender. he
was in New Orleans five days before
that city was taken. He was man who
firmly believed that he could not be
killed by an enemy, and he governed his
mOvomento acc0rdinolv
While under the orders of General
Hooker. Kelley proved on several occa.
sions that he could see further with the
naked eye than any officer could with o
field glass. II he could get a place oi
concealment within fifty feet of picket,
he could catch the countersign. He
visited Lookout Mountain, intending to
spike as many of the Confederate guns
as possible His disguise was that OF a
farmer who bad been driven from home
by the Union forces The enemy some
how got suspicious Of him. and he was
placed in the guard-house for the night.
There was sentinel at the door and
others near by standing guard over guns
and stores, but it was all the same to
Kelley. With an old tin plate for use
as shovel and scoop, he burrowed out
at the back end of the building, and
walked up to two pieces Of artillery and
spiked both before any alarm was rails
ed. When the sentinels began firing at
him he ran out of camp, but before he
was clear OF it he had heen fired on fifty
times
Kelley was once captured when asleep
by Missouri guerrillas. When he open
ed his eyes he was surrounded by FIVE
or six men on foot and others in the
saddle. 1t was under tree in an open
field, and he had been tracked by dog.
As he rose up as their command be re-
sorted TO his wonderful skill as a gym
mast. BY lodging and twisting and
jumping he got out Of the crowd, pulled
q man off his saddle, and would have
escaped had not the dog fastened to his
leg. He was then put under guard in
log house with only one room. Two
sentinels sat at the door with revoivers
IN their hands, and kept watch of his
every movement. After an hour or two
Kelley approached as if to offer them
tobacco, and. jumped clear over their
heads like deer. He had half mile
of open field to cross, and he crossed it
under the fire of score OF muskets and
revolvers without being hit
During his three years and half in
the service Kelley captured ffty-two
Confederates and turned them over as
prisoners. He himself was captured
and escaped FIVE times. As a spy he
entered more than thirty Confederate
camps and forts. He was fred upon al
least 1000 times, and yet was never
wounded. He had said that he would
never die by the hand of an enemy, and
his prophecy came true. In the last
year OF the war, while bringing cap
tured Confederate scout into camp; both.
were killed within forty rods of the
Union lines by a bolt Of lightning.