The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-05-08
HOLDING MOSBY,
And Race for Life with the Guerrilla c.


of thousands of its individual soldiers, is by far
the most interesting and amusing portion of il
all As Judge TOurgeo well predicted the re-
bellion produced a vast field for fiction, SO too
its marches, battles and scgos are ntersper5ed
with fund of personal anecdotes which seem
almost ineXhaustible.
During three years service in the Union cav
airy, had many exciting experiences and mar
row escapes from capture. In fact while there
was not so much hard fighting connected with
cavalry service rs with infantry, yet often
times our raids, skirmishos aud charges were
| hazardous in the extreme. The incident that
j am about to relate was one long rcmom-
berea by my comrades, and often jokingly
referred TO as the time when / was holding
Mosby alone. ! was a member of Co. T., Sth
| n. Y. Cav, in Col. Chapman's Brigade of Gus
ter's Division, and the incident occurred in the
| Fall OF "a, during Sheridan's campaign in the
Shenandoah. 1t was on Sept. Is. the eve of
! tho battle of Winchester, when our brigade was
| dcployed to the north of Bcrryviic, Va on the
! turnpike road, to hold Moseby in check. The
| country was uneven aud partially wooded. All
| through the afternoon everything had been
! quiet and not n rebel had appeared; so ut night
| our picket-lnc, which protected our front IN
! the shape of a semicircle, was rather light.
! About two o'clock on the morning of the
! 10Th, was sent to relieve the outermOst post,
/ it buing in the farther part of the scmicircIc.
| 1t was a cloudy night aud so dark that could
| see but n little way in advance. Soon after
| took the post heard the rumble of the artIl-
! lery, ambulances and wagon-trains as they were
! hurried southwark on the turnpike through
| BcrTyyillc | felt extremely uneasy, for |
! knew that our troops were making some new
manuvcr, but what il was ! did not know At
about three o'clock rs / sat quietly on my horse
! in the thickct heard, rs | supposed, our relief
changing the pickets, yet wondered at the
same time that was not relieved. As the time
| rolled on aud no relief came, my suspicion was
aroused that something was wrong somewhere.
| j could hear not a sound save the rumble of the
artillery aud wagons over the turnpike some
! 80 rods distant; aud the density of the dark
| ness so increased that | could with difficulty
make out the outline of my horse who uneasiy
! champng his bit, seemed To share my own
! feelings; not breath of air stirred every leaf
was still, and / sat in my saddle, hard y moving
a muscle.
Gradually the rumble Of our wagons died
! away in the south, aud not sound was heard
1 to break the stiffness OF the night, The silence
| was oppressive, and oven the breaking of "A
/ twig under my chargers hoof seemed almost
! Ike the report of rife But | knew il must
j he near morning aud rs il began to get day
! light, | saw, TO my constellation, that every
! post on the picket line but mine was deserted.
/ Quickly | left my post and gallopcd To where
our reserve had been stationed the evening
! previous. and in place of the comfortable camp
/ and glowing campfres that / had left about
! midnight, | found nothing but smOlderng
! heaps of ashes. At once the terrible truth
flashed upon my mind was deserted.
/ The meaning Of the movement | had heard
/ on tho pike during the night was now plain
our troops bad changed their position aud gone
! southwark What bad supposed was the re-
/ lief changing tie pckets about 3 o'clock in
/ the morning, now realized was undoubtedly
/ the calling In Of the picket-line and that /,
/ being iarthest out aud surrounded by trees and
III fl
/ force, cavalry, artillery and infantry, had crupt
! away through Bcrryville under cover OF dark
ness. Thus / WAS left our outcrmost post,
/ while the body of our troops were miles away,
hurryiug toward Winchester; left of course
through mistake yet leit-in fact holding
MOsby alone"
/ now found myself in a precaTious situa-
ton. The country / knew was filled with
Mosby's guerrillas who would Immediately
follow up our troops To pick off stTaggeTs. /
knew. therefore that must move with extreme
caution; one thing, however was in my favor.
j was mounted upon a magnificent animal,
which was confident couid carry me through
10 our lines il were possible for horseaesh 10 do
So Looking uPthrough Berryvlle to the south
ward about two miles. ! could still sec our rear
guard, but dare not follow them through the
town, for knew that it was extremely prob.
able that some OF the Johunics were sccTeied
there ready to pOunce on any stragglors; and |
was right, as the sequel shows.
Tightening up my saddlcg rth aud exam
lining my carbine aud royoivers 10 sec If they
were ready for action, | resolved 20 reach our
lines, even If / had to leave some northern
lead behind me. Leaving tho road aud making
dctour 10 the east, gave Bcrryyile "a wide
berth, keeping out of sight as much as possible
by going through rayines aud behind thicketa.
Just as got abreast of the town and began 10
feel little Easier "A few rebel cayalrymen who
had been concealed in the village, caught sight
Of me.
Then came the race for lfe--a race which
Is as fresh in my memory to-day ~ the day on
which IL occurred. Ny horse was carrying
three days rations of grain, and ! felt little
uneasy lest his load should materially impede
his progress. Also the ground over which |
was fleeing was rough and broken, which made
IL more dangerous for me on account of the
animals liability 70 stumble.
could sec that gradually the rebs were
gaining on INC, do the best / could Nearer
aud nearer they came, and just AS / was begin
ming 10 think that they would surely overhaul
! me, they let forth those uncarthy yells so
| characteristic Of the Southern soldiers. They
shouted 10 me that If would stop they would
not shoot; but making up my mind that death
! by rifle ball was TO bc preferred 10 death by
starvation, bent over my horses neck and
! urged him 10 his utmost speed The yes
! which were now reinforced by tho report of
| the rifles, and the vndictive spit" of the
1 minie.balls in my immediate vicinity, seemed
| TO give uy horse new energy.
lie ran as had never seen him run before
/ Notwithstanding the uneven surface over which
/ we were passing and the weight OF his load
| have not the least doubt. judging from the ac-
/ ton Of the horse, that he appreciated the sit
/ uatiOn. But whether he did or not, / GER
! tainly did, aud when i saw that | was AT least
| holding my own with my pursuers, began TO
| breathe little easier.
had been a target for rebel bullets about
long enough and thought if could regain
the pike, where would have good footing, /
| could soon get out of range | therefore struck
| off IN II sOuthwestcfly direction toward the
road. No sooner had / done 80, however, than
! my pafsuers at once discovered my purpose
| and made strenuous efforts 10 increase the speed
| OF their animals, which for Il moment relieved
| he from the fear Of their bullets
| Directly ahead of me was raVine, on the
opposite side Of which was a small body of tim
Der, and just beyond this was the pike. AsI
! went down into the ravine / passed out Of sight
for an instant, and the speed Of my horse being
somewhat impeded by the underbrush the
Johnnies so gained on me that rs | was passing
into The timber on the opposite sidc they were
just descending into the ravine AS they
saw me passing out Of sight among the trees
they pulled their horses back on their ranches
aud let fly. The whiZ Of the balls around me
and the dull thud they struck In the trees
was very disagreeable music TO my unsophisti.
Gated ears.
However | was soon ont of ranpe and hay