The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-05-08
AFTER GETTYSBURG.
a REPORTERS ADVENTURES IN
SEARCH OF WAR NEWS.
Telegraphing Under Difficulties - The
Strange Signal *. IA Hasty Dis
patch-What Lincoln Told Gen.
Meade Few Days Later.


I
/ The Norwalk, Conn, Gazette, who has been
/ an attache Of congress for the last thirty
! wears During three years of the war he
/ served The New York Tribune as Washing
/ ton and field correspondent, and l often left
/ the 0uartermasters' accounts to look out
/ for them, selves and lent him a hand.
Lincoln Is always in ORDER 1 suggested.
/ Il know what he thought about the battle
! of Gettysburg said Byington. "But it
/ wouldn't do to print it Though, having
/ newspaper Of my own that is always hungry
! for gossip have never ventured to air it.
/ As preliminary to what Lincoln said per-
! haps. I had better recall the beat 1 got on
/ the other newspapers in reporting the battle
! of Gettysburg"
| We agreed, and he sailed ahead. ut was
| the latter part of June, 1863 that got dis
! patch from Culpepper court house, to hurry
out there, for our army was on the move. L
| went at once, but the army had already
started north at rapid pace, trying to keep
| between the rebel army and Washington.
| Hooker was in command. l went to the
Headquarters of Meade, who was stationed
! at Goose creek. He told me there was going
to lie a battle, but my best way was to go
back to Washington and hurry up to
! Harper's Ferry, and there l would head of
the army and find the Seventeenth Con-
necticut, whose quartermaster had one of
| my horses
''When got to Harper's Ferry 1 found
| Hooker in a fume | soon learned that he
had demanded to have the 10000 inactive
| men on BOliver heights attached to his own
| army for the battle with Lee, and that Hal
/ leck had refused Hooker resigned that
afternoon, and Lincoln commissioned Meade
to command the army of the Potomac. The
Seventeenth Connecticut was still ahead of
| me- Gen. Bob Tyler of the Connecticut
/ brigade was there, and he took my map and
| marked a red ring around ON it on the Penn
| sylvania line, and said, Within few days
there would be within that circle one of the
biggest fights the world ever saw. Go
around to Baltimore and head it off at
| York, Pa
"Again 1 followed directions. l tried
| Baltimore, but news came there that the
! rebels had burnt the bridges and torn up
| the track. / finally went to Phila-
| delphia and got to York by way of
| Lancaster, determined to be the first re-
| porter on the ground. The track was torn
! up, but got a minister to carry me twelve
! miles in his wagon. J. T.. B. Stuarts rebel
cavalry had been to York, Quilted the
! provision stores and taken 900 from the
| bank. Occasionally l heard gun go off in
! the southwest l hired buggy, telling the
owner to charge it to The Tribune if l never
came back, and drove in the direction Of the
| cannonading.
81 drove away twelve miles, encountering
| some rebel cavalry on the way, and got to
Hanover. There had been a severe cavalry
| fight there The town had a disorderly
appearance; people stayed close in their
houses; and the debris of arms and accoutre-
! ments lay along the roads. The wounded
were gathered in the church. Telegraph
wires were broken and strewn around.
81 stopped at the hotel and asked the land
lord if there was no telegraph operator
| there yes. there he is said he, pointing
| out little hunchback named Tone l asked
him where his battery was AT home
under the bed, he said. The wires are all
| cut, and there is no use trying to telegraph
After considerable parleying got some men
! to 90 out on hand-car and fix the wires,
! paying the men and making myself re-
sponsible for the value of the car. Then the
battery was brought out and we got Balti-
more, the operator promising an absolute
monopoly of the wire for two days.
"Then hurried to the battle field, some
five miles off. Before reaching there l met
Gen Howard and he told me Of the first
davis fight Of Reynolds death, and many
other things; l found j. r. Sypher,
whom l had engaged at Lancaster
to follow me, and we sent off by our
private telegraph wire an account of the
fight of the first two days, 1t was magni-
fcent feat No other accounts got through
The Tribune sold $4,000 copies on the streets
of the city.
"Tone kept getting the strange signal XII,
! * L What the dickens does X. l. mean?
he asked. Pm afraid the rebs have tapped
our wire. Finally he found out that it was
! the war department at Washington. We
have got Byington's first DESPATCH said
Stanton, land it is our first news. Send along
more We are listening For two days ]
| oh IyiTa
giving all particulars of the great battle,
while The Herald was running relays Of
| horses | telegraphed that the railroad was
whole from Baltimore to Hanover, and the
government sent out trains for our wounded
The surgeon told me that that railroad saved
Gen. Sickles' life.
"After the battle / got a horse and
hurried on after the rebels, wondering that
Meade did not pursue. They we're all broken
up and demOralized, the roadside strewn
with sick men, with dead horses and aban-
doned weapons Next day came up with
Lees main army, 1t was huddled together
in a horseshoe=shaped bend of the Potomac
in a valley surrounded by hills on one side
and by the swollen and rushing river on the
other 1t would have been easy to bag them
ALL Their flight was fatally interrupted.
The pontoons they had crossed on were swept
away, and they had no means to recrosS.
a
back to President Lincoln and The Tribune
the somewhat too previous dispatch: We've
got Lees army tight 1t cannot escape
"After waiting there a while turned back
to meet Meade's army, which l supposed
must be rapidly approaching up the Dad.
In vain l looked and waited 1t did not
heave in sight. Well, you know the rest
81 was at Washington when Meade came
to report after the battle of Gettysburg.
asked Gid Welles, secretary of the navy,
about the interview. I was present in the
cabinet he said, when Gen. Meade came to
tell about the battle, and take counsel about
the situation. boy Ouknow, general, Mr., Lin
coin suddenly broke out, with laugh, what
your attitude toward Lee for week after
the battle of Gettysburg reminded me of2
No. MIR, / sident, what is it! asked Meade.
I'u be hanged if could think of anything
else said Lincoln, than an old woman try
ing to shoe her geese across the creekl
After that Meade never quite recovered con
fidence,"
Toccoa CAL News: Not long since g
lady advised her "better half to attend 8
dancing school in order to appear graceful