Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-07-15
cling Rssister
QUAKER HEROINE.
rss RkTs Girl We RSLPED SHERIDAN
AT CEDAR CREEK.
lss hes Of Danger Sending News Of the Eas.
avs Po~SOa-PealiN Way in Which .
I4iAial Negro Carried he Message


~. AANoCahNa /" AagOSSN- L.
>Wighs Sept 10, 1867, by General Phil
Il Sheridan. A memento of Sept. 10,
s. 1SA" The watch is atteched to q long
~ chain, fastened at the neck with q
dp representing q horseshoe, q military
fnues and stirrups. Hanging to q
fst end Is a sword, a key and a seal.
70 wearer OF this is lady Of so. but .be
fpsArs 10 or Is years younver Hsr
fSaps, Is qnleS and her face expresses
plao'nsy and tne gentler womanly Quail
1nere - notnlng stroDg-minded or
s2<sSsAOut her bearipv-noah;na a.
fshnest the wearing Of military bonors
Ye no soldier who followed Sheridan into
1WiGhsster, Sept -, 1854, did a greater
lssvee than did this little woman on that
~OceRion. 1t was due to her that Win
chetsr was captured, and Sheridan also
spole with pride Of bis ''little Quaker
girl' She was little more than q girl
whn he first met her.
When Sheridan was lying before Win
chester in 1864, q family Of Quakers lived
within the town, then held by the rebel
4 foees. They were one Of q very few Union
hnilies who remained in the place during
The sar, and by the teachings of their faith
tkey were LOYAL. Daring the heat of the
e~eatest, the father, an old man, was made
prisoner by the eonfederates, and died from
4 eoDhnement and hardsnips. The mother.
one daughter and little boy lived togeth-
er, and were much respected, notwith-
standing their want of sympathy with war
and rebellion.
The daughter was Rsbecca Wright, then
shout % years old, and she il was who
furnished General Sheridan with informa-
ton concerning General Efrly's forces,
which led to the successful battle Of Sept
She has been married since then, and Ia
now Ms. Bonsal. A Star reporter called
on her at the Treasury the other day, and
she told him her story and showed him the
watch, which she seems to prize mors as s
present from General Sheridan than as a
Tribute to her own service. She is arsfined
.and very intelligent woman, and must
Sk~~s bean q remarkably pretty girl when
I she risked her life to serve the Union. She
had never seen General Sheridan ut that
time, and knew nothing of him.
Il was engaged in some household du-
ties" she said, ~reeounting her story to
the Star q at was about noon on he
10th OF September, '6l. l was irter-
rupted by a knock at the door, snS, on
opening il, i found an intelligent looking
colored man, who asked to see Miss
Wright. There were two Misses Wright
living in Winchester, and / asks which
he wanted. Mics Rsbecca,' he sad: The
other is in sympathy with rebls.' He
would not say what he wanted but after
looking about carefully, asked b be allow
Cd 60 anal a. ~ Lana naa Nnnnralo0d
with his manner, and took him into
another room. He at Cnee closed
the door, and / became alarmed, as my
mother and / were alone in the house.
But he Immediately said he had q note
from General Sheridan who wanted me to
give him all the information I could con
corning the rebel forces. He took from
mrs SToy @pq 10 Sc E ! ai fssss Ma def q TN t0ll, which
dan. written on tissue paper. The colored
man said he had carried il all the way in
his month, and had been instructed to
swallow ID If molested by the Confederate
picksts. He was engaged in carrying pro-
visions through the lines for the use of toe
town. and General Sheridan had secured
hia services in this matter. l vas taken
nv surprise and did not know what to do.
/ did not Know how far 1 could trust the
man. fearing that there might be a trick to
pet me into trouble. and / told him that /
knew nothing about the rebels, but the
man spoke very ~intelligently and gave such
evidences of earnestness that / concluded
tearing the tinfoil.
'.Don't! don't % ne said. "You will
need that to wrap the reply in"
"He said be would return at 3 O'Clock"
"After his departure l read the note. 1t
was writtsn on very thin yellow tissue
paper. which was greatly wrinkled and
unused from being folded so tightly.
Mrs. Bonsal showed the Star man the
letter put in 3 small picture frame behind
a glass for protection. II wss written in
very fine hand, evidently by dictation,
and signed by the GAneral. The sheet
WAS only \ little Larger than ordinary note
-uper.
lE read simply this:
'tSEPTENBEHl5, 1864.
'T learn from Msjor-Gsnsrsl Cook that
you are q loyal lady and still love tie old
flag.
'iCan You inform me Of the position of
Early's forces, the number Of divisions in
his army and the strength of all or any Of
them, and his probable or reported inten-
tons. Have any more troops arrived from
Richmond, or are any more coming or re-
ported to be- coming? / am, very respect
fully, your obedient servant.
"P. II. SHERIDAN,
"Msjor-Genersl Commanding.
''You can trust the bearer"
safer reading the letter." continued
Mrs. Bonsal, II went at once to my mother
and told her what had occurred. We were
almost ~oyerpOwered by the thought OF the
great danger We were in, but We concluded
20 run the risk.
'.If il had not been an accident, that
seems to have been proyidential, i should
have known nothing 10 tell General Sheri-
dan that would have been of value to him.
As it happened, 1 did not know how
valuable the information / possessed might
be. MY mother and / were known to be
loyal, and the Confederstes had very
little to do with Us, 81 We
knew nothing Of them or of
what was going IN. But q Confederate
officer, who had been wounded and was
then eonvalescent, was boarding with one
of our ~neighb0rs. As 3 convalescent, he
wandered about at will, and knew all
about the strength and movements, the
dangers, the hopes and the fears of EArly's
forces. 1t chanced that just two evenings
before 1 got Gen. Sheridan's letter, or
before I had any thought Of serving him or
the Union cause, this young Confederate
asked permission to call on me. He had
often observed me from his window ar
ranging or gathering my flowers, and he
lonely and sought my company.
So il ehzneed that two evenings before /
got the note the officer vas at our house.
We were strangers, with nothing in COM
mon 10 talk about so the conversation
turued upon the war, and more especially
the state Of affairs directly about rs. He
described the situation from bis standpoint
many troops they had and what they
must rely on. / asked questions without
any purpose except to keep up the CONVEX
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