The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-11-11
FIGHTING THEM OVER
What Our Veterans Have 10 Say About
Their Old Campaigns.
yEFF THoMPsoNs CAPTURE
How He was Taken In by Men Of the LIST Mo. Cav.


How He was Taken In by Men Of the LIST No. Cav.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In your issue
OF Nav % read an account of how JEFF TbOmp-
son was captured, and think the credit was
given 90 the wrong man. have letter from
Capt. Valentine Prewtt, Of Go. M, LIST Mo. Cav,
in which he gives me an account OF the capture
of the swamp Fox" We left camp two miles
west of Cane Girardeau. Mo-. Aug. Is, 1863, with
a detail from the Sd battery LIST Mo Cav. $50
men and officers, Capt. Valentine Prewitt in COM
mand We marched TO jackson, where we were
Joined by a squad of the I'd M. ;. Nj. in COM
mand of Capt Gentry. On the 18th we camped
at Whitewater: 18th near Old Dallas. now
called Marble Hill; 10Th at Hogeye, and Dist
at Greenvile Countyseat Of Wayne Co. The
next morning, 22d. 1 reported TO Col IL. q.
Moodson 30 Nj. s. NJ, from lronton or Pilot
Knob Moodson also had about 80 men. de
assumed command aud ordered Capt Prewltt IN
the advance. The night of the 22d found us
In camp at Doniphan, Ripley Co., on the beau
tiful little Current River. Next day, at about
3 o'clock we halted at sawmill six miles from
pocihontas Ark. Capt. Prewitt says:
"The list Mo was in advance all the time.
We dismounted at the sawmill about half an
hour, waiting for the nj. 5. Nj. to come up The
weather was very hot some of the artillery
horses being well used up and the cavalry
horses past going. Col. MoOdsOn came up, dis
mounted and ordered me 20 advance with my
men 10 Pocahontas while his command would
come up TO my support. i took the advance,
Moodsou remaining behind about two miles.
] requested him TO send me bugler, which he
did, after giving me my orders and telling me
what TO do aud what in all probability i would
have 10 contend with IN case Thompson was AT
POcahontas as reported.
AT the sound of the bugle my men were in
their saddles We marched slowly for about
four miles, when we halted at a log cabin by
the roadside where i found an old lady. On
making inquiry of her she informed me that
JEFF Thompson WAS al Pocahontas with force
of 500 men. j suppose the old lady was over
estimating the force of the Swamp Fox for
did not think il possible for such force of
Johnuies TO be there at that time unless for
some raiding purpose, which proved to he the
case by papers found in Thompsons possession
when captured He and his Adjutant- General
were then planning raid into Missouri After
leaving the cabin Corp. Austin Jones and Tom
Dwyer were placed still in the advance Of the
advance-guard so as TO take in the outside
picket il any should be on the road, and by
that means Thompson would not have chance
TO escape.
Everything worked like charm. The
head of the column following me at distance
of 200 yards on dead run, with the advance
still i'm the advance of me, we came in sight OF
the hotel where Thompson was supposed to be.
leu Tie Nuiulhh DC NhiNhig 40 PooSa1AN W NhS
hotel. BY this time some of the advance were
dismounted i ordered them TO enter the west
room / could see men in the room moving
around, and j was confident that the man i
wanted more than anything else just then was
in the room ] ordered the men to surround
the hotel. ] think Serg't Joe Graf and Corp.
Austin Jones were the first TO enter the house
from the north side. At the same time j or
dered a squad of cavalry to pass around the
east end of the hotel, myself passing around
the west end, thus cutting of all avenues of
escape Waiting till j saw the hotel well filled
with soldiers lall of my own cOmmand),
turned and looked toward the river and saw
two men getting i'm a boat TO cross i turned
my horse down the bluff at the top Of his
speed-and that no snail's pace. for he was
a good one-with revolver drawn and shouting
at the top of my voice, Haiti which they
did. j returned with the men 60 the hotel and
put them in charge of guard.
"By this time Thompson and his Adjutant-
General had surrendered Go Serg't Joe Graf
and Corp. Austin Jones. Those are the men
to whom they surrendered, III my memory is
correct, and i think il is. i remember well
that Thompson made the remark a number of
times that he was glad a volunteer soldier
captured him. He did not want the name of
being captured by the nj. S. NJ. My command
guarded him and all the prisoners, IS or 40 in
number. The officers were Thompson, his Adj
lutant- General, one Captain Of Cavalry, two
Leutenanis and one artillery officer.
"C0niing back we left POcahontas about il
O'Clock that night Two days later Col. Wood
son took the prisoners with his command and
returned with them to his post at Ironton, Mo-,
j taking the road back 10 Cape Girardeau. The
M. S. NJ. claim 10 have captured Thompson, be-
cause Woodson was a Colonel and i'm command
of the raid at the time Thompson was cap
tured The first one of the NJ. 5. Nj. i saw on
no sFpau nd ktng : faaUfrV the huplpr
that was sent &c my request The NJ. s. NJ.
came up in good time but did not take any
part in the capture, simply because they were
not there at the time of the surrender.-GEo.
r. SUTTON, Co. NJ, LIST Mo. Cav, Dorsey, Madi-
son Co., H.