St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-09-10

through the lines; to be at a certain
tavern outside of Alexandria at nine
O'Clock in the evening, and to stop
there to water the horse. Then in
formation was sent through Major
General Augur, commandant at
Washington and the surrounding
region, to Gen. Wells of New Hamp-
shire, the military governor OF Alex
andria, directing him to be at this
tavern at nine o'clock in the evening,
and to arrest a confederate dispatch
bearer concerning whom authentic
information had been received at the
war department, and whose descrlp-
ton was furnished for Wells
guidance. He was to do him no in
jury but to make sure of his person
and of all papers that he might have
upon him, and to bring him under a
sufficient guard directly to the war
department; and Gen. Augur was
directed to be present there, IN order
to assist in the examination OF the
prisoner and to verify any dispatch
that might be found.
Accordingly just before midnight a
carriage drove up to the door OF the
war department with a soldier on
the box and two soldiers on the
front seal within, while the back
seat was occupied by Gen. Wells and
the prisoner. Of course no one but
the two or three who had been in
the secret was aware that this
gentleman had walked quietly out
of the war department only a few
hours previously and the paper
which was the cause of the entire
ceremony had been sewed up in his
clothes just before his departure.
Gen. Wells reported that, while the
prisoner had offered no resistance, he
was very violent and outrageous IN
his language, and that he boosted
~iercely Of his devotion to the confed-
eracy and his detestation of the
Union. During the examination
which now followed he said nothing
but to answer a few questions, but
his bearing, patient, scorntul, I'M
daunted, was that of an incompara-
bic actor. If Mr.. Clay and Mr..
Benjamin had been present they
would have been more than ever
certain that he was one of their
noblest young men. His hat, boots,
and other articles of his clothing
were taken off one by one. The hat
and boots were first searched, and
finally the dispatch was found in his
trousers and taken out. Its nature
and the method of its capture were
stated in a memorandum which was
drawn up on the spot and signed by
Gen. Augur and Gen. Wells and one
or two other officers who were there
for the purpose; and then the dis
patch bearer himself was sent off to
the old capitol prison.
The dispatch, with the documents
of v~erification, was handed over to
Mr.. Seward for use in London, and
day or two after the warden of the
old capitol prison was directed to
give the dispatch bearer an oppor-
tunity of escaping, with a proper
show of attempted prevention. One
afternoon he walked into my office.
All" said l, you have run away!'
Yes, sir" he answered. Did they
shoot at you?' They did, and
didn't hit me; but 1 didn't think that
would answer the purpose. So 1
shot myself through the arm" He
showed me the wound. 1t was
through the feshy part of the fore
arm, and due car had been taken
o to break any bones. A more
deliberate and less dangerous wound
could not be; and vet it did not look
trivial.
He was ordered to get away for
Canada as promptly as possible, so
dispatch before it should become
known there by any other
An advertisement offering $4,000 for
his recaPture was at once inserted in
the New York Herald, the Pittsburg
Journal and the Chicago Tribune.
No one ever appeared to claim the
reward; but in about a week the
escaped prisoner returned from Can
ada with new dispatches that had
been intrusted to him. They contain
ed nothing of Importance, however.
The wound in his arm had borne
testimoney in his favor and the fact
that he had hurried through to St.
GATHERINGS without having it dress
ed was thought to afford conclusive
evidence of his fidelity to the confed-
crate cause.
The war ended soon after this adj
venture, and as his services had been
of very great value, a new place, with
the assurance Of lasting employment,
was found for the young man in one
of the bureaus of the war depart
ment. He did not remain there very
long, however, and l don't know
what has become of him. He was
one of the cleverest creatures l ever
saw. His style of patriotic lying
was sublime; it amounted to genius.