Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1881-05-07
A REMARKABLE SOLDIER.

q young man named Tom Kelley, a pri-
yate in the Second Michigan infantry.
The remarkable man began with his sin
gular build. He had arms full hand
longer than any living. He had no more
backbone than snake, and could almost
tie himself in knot. He could tell
the date on u silver quarter held up
twenty feet away, and he could hear
every word of conversation in q CON-
mon tone OF voice across an ordinary
street. He could run half mile as fast
as any horse could gallop, and there was
a standing offer of $40 to any man who
could hold him down. On bet Of o box
Of sardines he once passed six sentinels
within an hour. On another occasion he
entered the Colonies tent, and brought
away that officers boots.
When Toms remarkable qualifications
were discovered, he was detailed az q
scout and spy-was transferred from one
division to another. In the capacity of
spy he entered Richmond three times.
He entered Vieksburg and preached a
sermon to the Confederates week be-
fore the surrender. He was in New Or
leans five days before that city astaken.
He was man who firmly believed that
he could not be killed by an enemy,
and he governed his movements accord
ingly.
While under the orders of Gen. Hooker,
Kelley proved on several occasions that
he could see further with the naked eye
than any officer could with a feldglass.
IF he could get q place Of 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 posi-
bic. His disguise was that Of farmer
who had been driven from home by the
Union forces. The enemy:somehow got
suspicious of him, and he was placed in
the guard house for the night. There was
q 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
scop he burrowed out at the back end of
the building and walked up to two
pieces and spiked them before any
alarm was raised. When the sentinels
began firing at him, he ran out Of camp,
but before he was clear of it he had been
fired on fifty times.
Kelley was once captured when asleep
by Missouri guerillas.l When he opened
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 at their command, he resorted to
his wonderful skill as q gymnast. BY
lodging and twisting and jumping, he
got out Of the crowd pulled man off
his saddle, and would have escaped had
not the dog fastened to his leg. He was
then put under guard in loghouse with
only one room. Two sentinels sat at the
door with revolvers in their hands, and
kept watch of his every movement. AZ
ter an honr 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 fifty-two
COnfederates and turned them over as
prisoners. He himself was captured and
escaped five times. As spy he entered
more than thirty Confederate camps and
forts. He was fired upon at least one
Thousand times, and yet was never
wounded. He had said that he would
not die by the hand Of an enemy, and his
prophecy came true. In the last year of
the war, while bringing captured Con-
federate scout into camp both were kill
ed within forty rods Of the Union lines
by bolt of lightning.