St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-04-04
A DEAF AND DUMB SPY.

ga for Atlanta without knowing all
about the route and its distractions.
His spies and scouts passed over al
most every mile of the distance, and
made full and accurate reports.
was one of the last sent out and the
last to return, and | had a close
shave of it Information was re-
quired which obliged me to enter the
Confederate camps and see with my
own eyes, and as two or three of our
spies had been captured and hung,
and the COnfederateS were on the qui
vive to prevent others from penetrat-
ing their lines, / needed something
more than a disguise. After canvass
ing the matter for a while, | adopted
the suggestion of a regimental sur
geon to play the role of dummy
l was to be deaf and dumb, and carry
pencil and paper, and do my talking
that way. He coached me for two
or three days before the start, and
when | was ready to go | had mas
tered the situation. The surgeon
had been assistant superintendent in
a deaf and dumb asylum for several
years, and he was peculiarly fitted to
teach me my steps.
You may reply that one can play
deaf and dumb and deceive people
Yes, any one can, up to a certain
point. | was to go beyond that
point If it was discovered that
was not what | claimed to be my life
would pay the forfeit. l was pro-
vided with bundle of stationery,
1r{ f,-,o
articles of cheap goods and few
specialties, and left the Federal out
posts one dark and rainy evening in
good spirits. Obstructing Sherman S
advance was the mountain barrier
called Rocky Face Ridge. The main
gap, through which the railroad and
highway ran and still run, is called
Buzzard's Roost Gap. Our scouts
and spies had reported this gap so
strongly fortified that Sherman felt
he could not force it. Further south
is Snake Greek Gap. One of my OBJ
jects was to ascertain how this gap
was defended.
was well within the Confederate
lines before midnight, and at about
that hour | found shelter in barn,
light. When | turned out no one
was in sight, and l had walked fully
two miles along the highway before
| met anyone. Then encountered a
party of about thirty cavalrymen
going to the front. was in citizen S
clothes, had pack on my back. and ,
of course, expected to be stopped.
The troop was commanded by a
lieutenant, and as he came up he or
dered q halt and queried of me:
"WhO are you, and where are you
going?"
Here was the first test The men
had gathered around me, and every
one had his eye upon me. 1t was q
compliment to me that one of the
men called out before | had made a
sign:
Dog gone him, he's a dummy !!
He's got a face like a dashboard ~
| wrote on my tablet: "What do
you want ?" and the lieutenant wrOre
in reply: Who are you, and where
are you going?"
gave my name as George Smith,
and stated that | was a Confederate
peddler. | opened my bundle, pre-
scented him with some tobacco, and
several of the men made purchases.
The officer asked for my pass, and |
told him that it was taken from me
three days before by some Yankee
raiders who had captured me and
turned me loose again.
well, they'll overhaul him back
there, anyhow" he said to his ser
geant, and, waving his hand to me,
he gave me the order to ride on. |
was in for it now, and must push
ahead. | could see an encanpment
down the road, and any attempt to
flank it would create suspicion. 1t
was well that | went ahead, for one
of the cavalrymen followed me clear
back to the sentinel on the outskirts
of the camp. He walked his horse
directly behind me, so close that the
animals nose almost touched my
back, but he did not catch me off my
guard. When the sentinel stopped
me handed him my name and Occu-
patton, and in a few minutes | was
in the presence of the officer of the
guard. While he asked for my pass,
he did not seem suspicious. | was
escorted to the quarters of the officer
of the day, and here came a test,
made SO carelessly that if | had not
had all my wits about me | should
have been lost AS we reached the
quarters the escort said:
Here is a deaf and dumb man who
has no pass. Capt. Harsher ordered
him here from the guard tent"
"All right" replied the officer, who
was not even looking at us; and
then, as the escort started off he half
turned to me and said:
Stand aside for a few minutes and
| will attend to your case"
His tone was so careless and his
order SO natural that | caught my
muscles moving to obey. Had |
picked up a foot l should have given
myself away. AS | did not move, he
presently turned to me, seemed sur
prised that l was there, and began
to inquire about me. gave him the
details, and while we were passing
the tablet back and forth a captain
came up. The officer of the day said
to him:
I'VE have captured a dummy.
Mighty queer that he should take to
peddling among the soldiers, but
they are queer lot. He says he had
pass from Polk, but that the Yanks
gobbled it when they captured him
the other day. Do you see that
blood spot on his left cuff ~
was looking the officer full in the
face as he spoke. felt that he would
try some trick, but he did it SO neatly
that he almost caught me. winked,
but | did not drop my eyes.
You must have taken him for an
impostor," laughed the captain.
I'VE can't be too cautious" was