Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-09-21
SOLDIERS DEPARTMENT.
HoARp's "LlTTLE GIRL" >
She Was Fino Thoroughbred and Footed
the Greatest Race of tho War.


w. ID. Hoard, of Fort Atkinson, is on
OF tho brightest story tellers in tn
West. Before recent farmers insti
,tutc, held in this city, he gave vivi
description Of ride for life during tn
battle OF Cedar Creek, in the Shenan
doah valley.
at was five o'clock in the morning,
he began, "thnt Early's forces suddcnl.
swept down upon the Eighth Corps, dc
moralizing It. The right Of the Uniol
army and tho center maintained thei
integrity, but the left was badly
broken.
"Some months before, I, who was {
member of the Eighth Corps, had tho
good fortune TO capture thoroughbred
Virginia mare-a marc which bor(
within her veins right royalty the bluest
blood OF both continents. She was Q
thoroughbred racing mare, high tenn
pered, vicious, full of energy, power
and speed. The Captain found her SC
ugly he could do nothing with her, and
he said: Hoard, you can have her, il
you can take care OF her. And went
at it under the Rarey system, and fin
ally established an understanding be-
tween the little girl and myself.
used TO call her Little Girl The day
of the battle came. was ordered To
remove the second section of the bat
terry. l thought knew my ground;
thought il was easy for me TO jump u
fence and take short cut and do my
duty. But l got lost; the confusion was
OF such character that did not know
where / was, and finally | jumped n
fence into dirtroad about one hundred
rods from the pike, when was saluted
with tho remark: Surrender l be-
thought me as did young Lochinvar.
They will have fleet stceds who follow.
And | thought TO myself, 'Astride of
two thousand years of straight specific
breeding and surrendcrp Never
81 lay down upon the neck of that
little mare and says: Susan, get out
of here Immediately Susan respond
ed. Tho Lieutenant who commanded
the squad was nearly rs well mounted
ms myself. Down that pike we went
laundering, the thirteen men shooting
Mt me with carbines, and every moment
/ expected II bullet to go plowing up
my back, or my mare to be killed, but
the strange Providence that attends the
soldier, whereby it takes $50 rounds
to kill one OF them, attended me. After
me they rushed, yelling: Surrender,
darn you, surrender, And says, SUI
san, get out of here Oh, thought
to myself then; Thank God that
somebody had sense enough not to
make hash of breeding, somebody has
been wise for Hoards sake Down
that pike we went, they shooting and /
running. Finally became so excited
in seeing that wonderful stride, that
tremendous fire, that wonderful reach
ing for the ground in front, that trc-
mendous hurling away of it in the rear,
that condensation of the hcredity of two
thousand years laid into that little body,
| became so inspired with it that
reached back and motioned the Licutcn-
ant to come on. He responded with
shot from his revolver. Zip went the
bullets past my ear, but | paid no at
tention to them, SO intent was | in
watching the little mare do her duty.
BY and by / began to see the gap widen
between us, and then came this wonder
full quality called endurance. Suppose
her line of hercdity had failed in one
Particular She would have laid down
by the road and Hoard would have gone
to Libby prison, if his life had been
spared.
"One o'clock came, and with it
Sheridan from Winchester, twenty
miles away. Who knows to-day how
much tho Union cause is indebted to
the men who bred the thoroughbred
horse upon which he made the distance
in time to save his defeated troops.
He reorgnnized his forces, turned this
great current of men who were flowing
down the pike like stream, turned
them back, and yelled to them, About
face, boys: we'll sock it to 'em"
Sheridan stopped that mad tide of fear
and changed it into n consummate,
short hours had this tremendous army
again with It's lace TO the foe.
Then came the matchless power of
the men and the grand result, In
few hours we had Early flying into the
swamp and ten thousand prisoners.
This result was obtainable by reason of
that mans getting there on time be-
cause he had horse that could bring
him.
"a few days afterward l was placed
In charge, along with others, of the
prisoners. Among them was n Con-
federate Lieutenant belonging TO the
Twenty-fourth cavalry. / found him
very congenial, pleasant man. i liked
him, and l did what ] could to relieve
his captivity, and we got to talking
over the events of the battle, and final
ly he said, BY the way, had the con-
foundedest race ever had in my life
after battery sergeant When he
said that my heart was in my throat.
He continued: 4 would like to know
where he got his horse, for he was
mounted for Gods sake And | could
have added, And for Hoards sake,
too Then i said to him, Did he mo-
tion to you TO come onP and he said,
suddenly, Yes, he did, did you ever
hear any thing about itP' oh, no."
but exclaimed, 'Shake!' and he shook.
Why | remarked, Il am the huckle-
berry you were after that day. And
his eyes filled up, and as he gave me
grip of the hand, he said: We'll, / am
glad didn't hit youn
1.-The captain wore shoulder straps
and Hoard didn't, and the Captain got
the mare. ! saw her six years after
ward at Burlington, N. j. / never
struck her blow in my life, and
speak here in behalf of that kindly
sympathetic usage that ought to lie be-