News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-05-09
ODD PREMONITIONS.
THE NEWS OF DISASTER PRE-
CEDED THE EVENT.
n e Result of q Battle Known and
Told Week Before 1t Was Fought.
The Prophetic Blood-Spot.

concerning the destruction of an Amer
lean vessel by a German man-of-war at
Samoa, and which have not been traced
to their source, followed by authentic
news of disaster of fan greater magnitude,
although of different character. This
furnishes a peculiar illustration, al
though by no means so striking one
as other events have not infrequently
given rise to, of the manner in which
the rUImors of an important occurrence
precede the certain t:dings. No dlsas-
ter to the war vessels of this country
ad been reported for many years, and
none had occurred. 1t is not little
curious that the first catastrophe should
be preceded b. the first rumo1s of dis
asteY, and this fact is by many, who
! believe that means of communication
other than those generally recognized
by science exist, regarded as adding not
little strength to their their theory.
Similar instances are by no means
rare, and are held by those who have
faith that some sympathetic connection,
of whose character, nature and extent
! they do not pretend to be aware, exists
between persons situated so far apart MS
| to render impossible communication
/ through the ordinary channels. A re-
markable instance of this occurred i'll
| Paris, Ky, in the year 1862, which will
be remembered by all who were in that
town at that time. The fight for the
! possession of Kentucky and Tennessee
! had been carried ON i'll a desultory man
ner and with varying success during the
/ last half of 1861, and Paris had con-
/ tributed not a few of its citizens to both
| the Federal and Confederate forces. In
! December, 1861, IL Confederate force
commanded by Generals George B.
Crittenden, of Kentucky, and Felix
ZollicOffeT, of Tennessee, advanced across
the Tennessee line and occupied an in
trenched camp near Mill Spring, a small
town in the vicinity of Somerset, Ky.
A force of Federal troops, largely com
posed of Kentuckians and commanded
by General George III. Thomas, was
hastily gathered together and sent to
check the invasion. The Confederate
| army was about $1,000 strong, the Fed
eral about $1,000, but the former was
much better in hand than the latter, the
long marches at this season of the year
over miry roads and through compar-
atively unsettled country having led to
much struggling, and widely separated
the different regiments.
ment, the Fourth Kentucky, largely re-
cruited in Paris and its vicinity, com
manded by Colonel Speed S. Fry.
Thomas CroXton was the lieutenant
colonel, Robert Kelly, a captain, and
Charles Ray lieutenant, all from
Paris. About January IA, 1862, the in
trenchments of the Confederate troops
were approached by the Union forces,
but, in order to allow his struggling regi-
ments to come up, Thomas ordered Il
halt, and his troops went into camp. A
day or two afterwards the citizens of
Paris were thrown into great state of
excitement by the news that terrible
battle had been fought near Mill Springs.
No one knew Just how the news came,
but the reports were so detailed, and
the incidents of the reported combat so
closely conceded with what those who |
We're acquainted with the situation knew
to be by no means improbable that uni
versal credence was given to the rumor
The Federal forces, it was said, had
moved out of camp at an early houI of /!
the morning, shortly after daybreak, |
with the Fourth Kentucky in the lead, |
had fallen upon the enemy's camp, and |
a fierce and doubtful struggle had en-
sued. At first the Confederates, led by !
Zollicoffer in person, had gained the |
upper hand, and the Fourth had suf- !
fered severely. But while leading his
troops against Fry's regiment, pushing !
forward through the woods, Zollicoffer |
had received n shot, and fallen dead |!
from his horse. Discouraged by their
leaders death, the Confederates had
the Union forces had been gained.
xuhIn
with general credence, caused great ex-
element in Paris. However the battle !
had resulted, it was evident that many |
of the Fourth Kentucky must have fall |
len, and great anxiety must have pre-
vailed among those who had relatives |
and friends in this regiment. Within /
day or two letters were received, which .
relieved the strain, as it was learned .
from them that no engagement had T.
taken place. Scarcely, however, had /
the excitement subsidized when the town
was again thrown into a ferment by
news, this time official, of the battle of
Mill Springs, which was fought on Jan
uary 18th, 1862. When the dispatches
were read, the establishment was great,
as on comparison of the official reports
with the rumors circulated several DAYS
before the fight, it was found that, with
the exception that the Confederates had
been said to be the attacked instead of
the attacking force, the events of the
engagement had been accurately de-
scrlbed. Zolllcotfer, at the head of three
regiments, had fallen upon the Tenth
Indiana and Fourth Kentucky, and,
after severe engagement, had driven
them into the woods. But while leading
n Mississippi regiment against the scat
tered Kentuckians, ZOllicoffer found
himself face to face with Colonel Fry.
A shot from the pistol of the latter
officer stretched the Confederate General
dead upon the ground. His men soon
gave way and were driven in confusion
from the field. The report that Union
victory had been gained, that the brunt
of the fighting had fallen upon the
Fourth Kentucky, and that Zollicoffer
had been killed while heading an at
tack upon this regiment was thus proved
to have been accurate, although it was
in circulation several days before the
events took place. How the report was
started or by whom was never discov-
cred, although many INQUIRIES were
made. The accurate account of events
which had not yet taken place was and
still is a mystery to the citizens of
Paris.
Another incident of similar nature
occurred in the same town in the follow
ing year. When the famous John Nor
gan began his raid into Kentucky he
had under him as a major Of cavalry.
Thomas Brent, who was married to ,
daughter of Captain Moore, of Paris, !
When the order to advance was given, s
the Kentucky contingent were delighted /
with the prospect of again seeing their :
beloved Blue Grass country and again ,
visiting their families and friends. ,
None we're more eager than Major Brent, ,
who was with &. Howard Smiths Sixth
Kentucky. He had left his young wife
with great regret, and had just learned
that daughter had been born in his
absence. He was continually talking f
about the baby that he had never seen, !
and longing t. revisit his home
Morgan found that he had not little {
hard fighting to do, was repulsed at I
Lebanon, had q hot fight at Rolling
Fork, and finally found himself in front
Of strong Federal force at Green River
Bridge. The Union advance guard had
erected formidable abatis, and Morgan
deemed it too strong to attack at once. T
A halt was accordingly made and the t
troops went into camp. Brent was very 7
impatient at the check and longed to be !
allowed to try to force passage towards G
his home. The next morning there APP d