The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-02-08
ANDERSON, s. G., THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY s 1883
THE SCOUTS STORY.
stirring Incidents In the Life OF "A Confc,.
crate Tr"opcr-A Narrow Escape-A Ia.
dy'a Successful Rua..

South Carolina Glruirp.
Having been urged by friends to con
trbute to your Tales of the War"
give the following "reminiscences of som,
OF my experiences as n scout, a tasl
which entails upon the writer ;ecv,;si
difhculties, as there was a strong preiu
dice against this branch Of service of tht
Confederate soldier, prejudice founded
| suppose, upon tho belief that the lir
OF scout WAS only sought as IA means OF
Sinking duty.
! also labor under the difficulty nj
having forgotten the names of most OF
tue citizens with whom we dealt, and
from whom We got information, and OF
the continual use Of tho ego, mci. mihi
me style of writing, which is absolutely
| necessary, rs there were 30 few actos in
the events which am about to describe
in all of which bore a part.
| During the winter of 1926 unmn.
tons brigade of cavalry was 10 camp In
Culpeper County, Va. Scouting parties
were continually sent out by the difercn,
brigade and regimental comnnpders. moi
so much for tho purpose of gaining i'm.
| formation Ms to harass the enemy by can.
turing stragg:ers inside :heir lines, break.
ing up their picket posts, and remouut.
ing our men with the captured horses.
In tho early part of June, 1868, Col.
NJ. g. Butler, Of the Second South Car.
olina Cavalry, detailed James Il. Dulin
native of Fauquier County. Vu.. and
myself, both Of the Boykin Rangers 10
carry three dismounted men Of our repi.
ment through the lines and capture horses
| for them.
|
was then encamped OH Stafford Heights.
opposite fredericksburg, with pickets
along the RappahannocE River to and
above the bridge of the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad. Crossing the riv-
or above them at Waterloo Mills, we
rode around Warrenton until we came
near the railroad between Catlett's and
brlstow Stations, where we usually left
our horses in thicket, about two miles
from the railroad, in the care of q strong
friend OF our cause. To cross the rail-
road required much caution, as besides
irregular parties the enemy had regular
patrols, which left each station every
hall hour and rode to the next, 40 that
they were passing every few minutes.
succeeding. after several attempts, we
commenced our tramp about dark to a
intersection of the main road from Fred
ericksburg to Bealton Station, on the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and
the the. road crossing the Rappahannock at
Ellis's Mills, where there Tas usually an
encampment OF the enemy, and being
far within their lines there was little dill.
hcuity IN picking up stragglers. To
AVOID their scouting parties aud any new
W fr,a Il al
rived at our point Of ambuscade only n
short time before daylight. Dulin and I
went to the road To reconnc;tre. but see.
ing nothing VIC sat down to wait for light.
lie, becoming tired, walked out into the
road, and | to keep the mosquitoes from
troubling me, tied my handkerchief
around my ears, aud trusting to his bciur
on the lookout soon fel! asleep. and WAS
only aroused by the splash of horses feet
in the branch near which l was living.
and without raising my head | discoy.
cred that l WIS within twenty feet Of
eighteen Of the enemy, who were water.
ing their horses. concluded not to
move, hoping they would pass without
seeing me, which they all did, except tho
last two, one Of whom cried out: Gap
tain, there is man yonder!" Before
they could unsling their carbines / was
well in the Intricate thicket of pine and
cedar on the edge of which 1 had been
lying, and was not pursued far, accord
ing TO the usual custom of the enemy,
who would not venture into tho woods
after our fugitive scouts.
soon met Dulin to be we'll laughed at
for the speed was making, and to be
told that he had been almost caught in
the same predicament, and did not have
time TO warn me. We made our vay 10
field Oil the road where ss could better
observe the movements of the enemy.
knowing that our plans were spoiled Mt
least for time. We had scarcely taken
our positions when we saw one Of them
galloping across the field on an old road
directly to where we were. We took to
the trees, and he soon found his fate, for
the first intimation he had Of our pres.
ence was Dulin's hand on his bride rein.
He proved to be an orderly sergeant of
the Second Pennsylvania cavalry, and he
told us he had been detailed to post pick.
cts during the passing Of his command,
our presence having been reported to the
brigade commander. Carrying him back
into the woods, we left him in charge of
our dismounted contingent and returned
to our posts. There WAS large force of
cavalry passing all duy, but the alarm OF
the morning prevented any struggling.
Late In the evening we returned 70 our
posts of the early morning, and had not
long to wait before we saw two stragglers
coming UP. We took them in without
trouble, and one of them proved to be
IN orderly Of Col. Sir Percy Wyndham,
of the - New jersey Regiment OF
Cavalry, with tho mail Of the Colonel.
Having now accomplished Col. Buffers
orders We concluded that it was best TO
notify Gen. j. f. B. Stuart of the move.
ments of the enemy, and making a forced
march to where we had left our horses, l
rode on and reported to Gen. Stuart,
giving him, l believe, the first intimation
of the massing of
THE EEEMY's CAVALRY
! at Rappahannock Bridge, which resulted
in the cavalry engagement at Brandy
Station a short time afterwards. After
making our report, and telling the Gen.
eral how we happened to have been
across the river, he astonished me by
asking how would like to have q regu.
lar detail TO scout for him, which resul.
ted in an order ITO all pickets and guards
of the cavalry Of the Army Of Northern
Virginia to allow w. A. Ancrum and J.
Z. Dulin TO pass, they being on special
duty for the general commanding" This
was contamination beyond my utmost
hopes, for the details of camp life were
| particularly irksome to me, as they were
to most of the Confederate soldiers, who,
though willing to fight, were very restive
| Rofnrninn fo tho Eo1.l @f i.