Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-08

hail or nof Mr. Bell got out his prayer
! book and held it rsyerently before him
| while marching. Every few minutes he
would run over Nstump or stone, then
he would d-n things right and left.
The Lanler Guards of Baltimore de-
| serve special mention George Lanier of
Lanier Bros. s. Cs,, wholesale dry goods
men in Baltimorey equipped and sent out
this company from Baftimore to join US Al
| Harper's Ferry. Times were excitingain
! Baltimore, and all n5Anner, of strategy
had to be resorted to get out of the city
in body The Lanier Guards eeoncocted
a scheme of having funeral end loaded
large coffin with guns, efoty and made
all preparations for a decenEburial. The
boys, with their friends took carriages
and followed the hearse to Mount OliYet
cemetery q few miles west of Bal timore
on the Gainesville road. When a safe
distance from the city the coffin was
| burst open and quickly each man was
| armed and on their way rejoicing.
The Lanier Guards were first COM
manded by Col. TaliaferrO, a thorough
soldier and gentleman, who came to
Harper S Ferry to join the CTlpepper min
ute men as private but instead was as
signed by Col. A. 2. Hill as captain of
the Baltimore boys. These BaltImor.,
cans were fortunate in securing such a
gallant cOmmandant. Col. Taliaferro
was a graduate of West Point and had
been colonel of Virginia state militia
for many years. At this time he was
quite sixty years old. .yo$5i
About June 81 we were ordered k55m
Harper S Ferry to Winchester, thEAce on
a march to Romney and thengsto New
creek bridge on the Baltimorssand Ohio
railroad, crossing the PotOHfac river,
where we smelt our first gunpa#der. A
small force of Federals held tHs bridge.
We surprised them, captured az swiy
ell, - a stand of cOlOrs and bufgsed the
bridge. A few of us, Col. +. w. GALES,
now a citizen of Fort Worth, who was 20
that time orderly sergeant of the Louisa
Blues, several others and myself, crossed
the bridge, followed the retreating picket
a short distance, soon returned to find
we had burned the bridge and were on
the wrong side of the river. Our only
means of crossing was to wade through a
swift, clear stream about five feet deep.
My misfortune was to fall, and l came
very near being carried down thsfs sIsEsSsfass
and drowned. q
made it rule to offer hrs horse to Sshe
several officers in turn. aWhen he spssae
to Capt. TaIiaferro he SAID: "Capt8zn
you may ride my horse il, you ssEFis
The captain replied: '%N0, i. ~;
when L cease to marchG 40
the head of my company ~
cease TO command. Capt. TGtiaferSfH
made 1t rule to accept no fav6rs thas'
were not extended to his men. Captain
Taliaferro was succeeded by Capt. Frank
Hill, a nephew of Col. A. P. Hill, and
son of Capt. Henry Hill, then paymaster
in the United Safes army.
Capt. Taliaferro was transferred to the
department of South Carolina at Charles
ton as brigadier-g general, where he re-
NAMED until the close of the war and
then returned to Culpeper, his old home,
where he died about ten years ago.
Col. A. P. Hill rode the famous "a ce
horse "Odd Socks bought of Col
the second year of the war, when odd
Socks bit the dust at Seven Pines, June
l, 1862.
On the night of April 81, 1861. Capt.
Farweu W. Patton, afterwards colonel,
of Thirteenth Virginia infantry, who was,
severely wounded and captured at Gettys-.4
burg, Pa, and subsequently died in
prison, detailed First Lieut.. CrittendeIkss
Brook Roberts and myself to meet th6''
eastbound Baltimore and Ohio train at the
depot in Harper's Ferry. Upon arrival
of the train we boarded it aud arrested
Gen. Harvey, U. S. A, in full regis
mentals, and carried him before Col.
NaIle, where he was parrolled and set at
liberty to continue his journey co Wash
ington, the maddest man in the land.
1t was intimated by some of our boys that
a "blue streak hung over the depot for
many months afterwards.
Gen. Patterson of the Federals occu-
pied Harper's Ferry when we evacu-
ated it.
When we returned from Romney to
Winchester we moved towards Bunker
Hill and intrenohed in a wheat field in
front OF Gen. Patterson, where we re-
manned until the night of July IS, when
we left for Piedmont Station, there TO
take the train for Manassas, Before
leaving our trenches we stuffed a number
of "Paddys, - put guns in their hands
and sat them on our breastworks, and
left them for Gen. Patterson.
They remained faithful to their posts
until the federaIs took them .6AKp
which was not until we had quite reachesN
Manassas Junction under cop1m8rS of
Gen, Joe e. Johnson, in timsto turhsShe
tidSSf battle in ouE favor AID, oompIatSt
.9@Y our re6rresponde6ts 'ootton tail''
chestnut won't begin to DO. Every
soldier familiar with Wilcox s brigade of
Alabamians knows that Maj. Williams of
the Ninth Alabama regiment perpetrated
that joke at the battle of Gaines Mill,
July 81, 1862. Respectfully,
T. NJ. BURROWS,
Company. B, Thirteenth Virginia In
: fanttE; 49,
! Vqbn1sses 4sRsr7,. -.