Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-09-20

tbo 90 was Fastening the passage of
s.'e prisoners down into the hold of ~
lean tleamer and stationiug nv guard oy y,ar
or,hl was much obstructed ,,v tha
enc si'ofts OF large number of ad;es wh Who
nae, come over from the c;tv to y h li1
them farewell, and who We've not ~ VI" n1i
backward in their dat or -; ail
wv, ,lun no' only to talk with the
tHh,1s s,1 ~, but also to give
t .hem !, little presents. Consiaelino
e ea.'0 oheSe men We're about to be SEMI
niteen hundred miles from home. II
seemed cruel to deny them the nr;v;.
leSe OF parting with their relatives and
trends; but Twas afraid that imnyon.
ef ana dangerous articles might he
smuuggled to them. [ was INTERFERING,
ana fastening the farewells, when one
OF the prisoners accosted me in n Vow
Pc pEllt ., manner mn begging me to allow
all the liberty of leave taking that I
could and assuring me that no advan-
11age would be taken of it; adding that
ne was Bailie Vincent. He was n
snort and strongly built young fellow.
not more than twenty-five, I Judged
with round face, black eyes. and
pleasing expression. had not heard
OF his capture, but believed his state
ment at the time, knowing of no reason
Why any Confederate should wish to
assume his personality. 1 should add
1hat the behavior of these prisoners
before we got clear of the ladies, and
afterward, during the long voyage, was
most excellent, and that no trouble
whatever was had with them.
Ii this man was the real Bailie Vim
cent, he was able to get his exchange
and return to Louisiana within three
Or four months, as will be seen by the
following interesting extract from one
OF the histories of the One Hundred
and Fourteenth New York Volunteers.
The time first referred to was upon the
march of our army toward the Red
River, in the spring of 1864.
March 24-We passed over rich
and beautiful country. Good news
reaches us: our cavalry has surprised
the camp of the Second Louisiana
Cavalry and made the whole battalion
prisoners, with three or four pieces of
artillery. Among the number is the
celebrated Captain Jumel. The high-
aCoyma,e, Bailie Vincent, belongs to
this regiment, but was away at the
time of the capture. An incident con
nected with these two men may be
worth relating:
In the fall of 1868 cartel for the
exchange Of prisoners was agreed on
between General Banks and General
Taylor, by which an equal number of
officers and men We're to be exchanged.
The cartel was carried out on the plains
some miles above Vermilionville. Our
officers, escort, and prisoners met those
from the Confederate army; the bust
ness was satisfactorily concluded, and
the officers and men Of both sides were
enjoying themselves together, when
Bailie Vincent, who was partially I'M
der the influence of liquor, mounted
his horse and began careering wildly
about, using highly offensive language,
in which id Yankees was the least
of his epithets. No one noticed his
conduct until he discharged his pistol
several times, wounding some of gu,
guard, and then riding rapidly away.
Upon this the commanding officer
of our party addressed Captain
Jumel, who commanded on the
other side, saying that the truce had
been violated and demanding redress.
Captain Jumel at once gave himself
up as prisoner and hostage for the
delivery Of the escaped offender. The
chivalrous officer accompanied our es-
cort back to camp, and was for months
kind Of pet prisoner at General
Franklin's headquarters. He messed
with the staff and was allowed much
liberty in camp, it being known from
his conduct that he would not disclose
to his friends anything that he might
learn under these circumstances.
"The Confederate authorities stated
that Vincent, by his lawless acts, had
put himself beyond their protection,
but that he was secreting himself in
the woods. and they could not find
him to deliver up. Jumel was finally
exchanged, and it was afterward
learned that Vincent was with the
Confederate forces, and that the story
of his outlawry was fiction. They
probably thought him too good bush
whacker to lose"
While this account does not state as
much, I think it highly probable that
at the time of this occurrence, in the
fall of 1868, Vincent was returning
from his captivity, and was one Of
the prisoners exchanged.-Chicag0
Ledger.
Why the Band Didn't Play.