Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-23
ADVENTURES OF A SPY.

war ] was constantly engaged in spying
and scouting, being attached to several
well-known commanders and some of the
adventures had may be considered worth
reading. After the conference Of Grant
and Sheridan in the latter's camp before
Winchester, which resulted in the famous
orders to go onw / was called to Sher-
idans headquarters. Maps of the front of
both armies were shown me. 1t was
strange country to me, and the map of the
rebel front could not be depended upon as
accurate.
p want you," said the General, to
scout from one wing of Earlys army to the
other between his pickets and his camps
| want the length of his lines and lay of
the ground. Take particular notice of
streams, highways, hills and natural de-
lenses. 1 shall expect you back in three
days"
l had nearly new uniform, $50 in gold,
and o couple of revolvers Also, Sheri-
dams pass to come and go at pleasure. 1t
was about o'clock in the morning when
received instruction, and twenty minutes
later was riding to the left of
our lines. Our left was at Berry
vile, confronting Early's right; our right
at Bunker Hill, in front of Winchester,
confronting his left. | was going in on
Early's right flank and to move down his
lines. The Opequan creek, a respectfully
sized stream, lay between the two armies,
and the lines ran through forests and
thickets and over hills and cleared farms
As nearly as could be known, Early had
the larger force, and it was thought that
Sheridan would do well to hold his own
against him, saying nothing of assuming
the offensive. | rode to the last picket
post on our left before dismounting. The
lines were half a mile apart, running
through thicket and wood, and the rebel
picket was about pistol shot away
There was no picket firing, and in the
course of half an hour | was beyond the
picket and ready to turn to the right
There was real danger now. | could hear
the hum and hustle of the camps on my
left, not much over a quarter of mile
away, and | felt that | must make my way
down this strip, not over half mile wide,
five or SIX miles, exposed every moment
to discovery.
The first mile was under cover, but !
advanced from tree to tree as cautiously
as an Indian fighter creeping upon his
victim. 1t was well that / took these pre-
cautions. l had reached the end of the
woods, and had field about forty rods
>.ri1e to cross, when | suddenly heard the
rnEr vi # III 40 n,,l,- e., -oJ. 7
was then creeping on my hands and knees,
and as the report came a man in rebel
uniform stepped out from behind a large
tree and picked up squirrel which he
had shot. He had evidently been in am
bush for some time, and had l been ad-
vancing carelessly he certainly would have
discovered me.
He had several other squirrels, and after
two or three minutes he flung them over
his shoulder and started for camp
waited for him to get well away, and then
crossed the open space by creeping along a
fence which was nearly covered by bushes
Then there was another stretch of woods,
broken by several ravines and | had
reached the middle of it before | saw any
one. When not creeping on my hands and
knees, l was advancing in a stopping posi-
ton, keeping the lay of the ground in my
mind, and directly | came upon a spring
in n ravine at which 4 rebel was filling a
string of canteens. | was on a ridge. and
was almost over the man before | discov-
cred him. He was so occupied with his
work that my movements had not at
tracted his attention, and | hanked him
and passed on. Forty rods away l had to
hide in a fallen tree-top to let the picket
relief pass me, and in making the next
half mile | encountered more than a
dozen persons. Some were after wood
others going to springs, and two sat on a
log playing cards, with a considerable pile
of money between them.
| had gone down the front for two miles
by mid-aiternoon, and could remember the
lay of every acre of land. Then, as
skirted the creek, had to climb over a
fallen tree, and as dropped lightly on the
other side hand seized my right ankle
and thick voice growled out
Sho you've come FIR me, eh ? wan 'er
take me back, do you? Well, you can't
do it."
A big strapping fellow lay beside the
log. He had been drinking too much, but
that he was hopelessly drunk l soon had
reason to know. As near as | could
gather from his disjointed sentences, he
had had trouble with a sergeant in his
company and came out to hide himself
In spite Of my blue uniform he took me
for the Sergeant, and, thinking | had fol-
lowed him refused to let 90 of nv ankle,
but meant fight, and in another minute
We were hard at it.
In those days / was something of an
atblafa o,,I Ecxbto- l,,k ell
the strongest and most obstinate | had
ever encountered. All his efforts were
aimed at getting a clutch on my throat,
and had nearly to kill him to get loose
There was danger that some one might
appear at any moment, and it was with
a thankful heart l got away from
that locality. l soon found, however,
that the woods beyond me were full of
soldiers, some gathering fuel, others
digging roots or gathering bark, and
three or four were after squirrels. | got
into the top of a fallen tree, pulled the
brush over and around me, and decided to
wait for darkness before making another
move. While lying here dog which be-
longed to one of the hunters came shifting
and snutfiing at my hiding place. and pre-
sently set up a furious barking. His
owner came sauntering up, pitched q cou-
pie of clubs at the brush, and then passed
on, saying
Come away, Bob, the burned thing has
gone into hole in there"
Nothing else occurred to alarm me dur
ing daylight, and as soon as twilight came
l resumed progress. moved rapidly now,
having no fear of encountering anyone ex-
cept when crossing road or one of the
fords. ! reached Early's extreme left by
10 o'clock, and was no sooner there than
detected the movement of troops. Ny
first thought was that they were moving
against the Union right, but a closer in
vestigation proved that they were being
marched to the rear. This was on the
night of September 18th. A large force
from this wing was attacked that night
and the next morning they were to make
a heavy reconnaissance in the direction OF
Martinsburg. | could not tell where they
were going, but got close enough to the
camp pickets TO learn from their converse
ton that it was move independent
Of Sheridan. Early's right was very weak
and the ground most favorable for rapid
offensive movement by Sheridan His
left, resting on the elevation known as
Bunker Hill, fronted by woods and backed