Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-03-24
MoseY.s "cLosE CALL"

How the Guerilla Chieftian Was Once
Captured. Shot and LEFT For Death.
at was one of tie closest calls ever
had, and ! was pronounced as good as
lead man by the federal surgeon who
made hasty examination of me after
the shooting.
The speaker was the noted southern
raider, Col John 5. Mosby, who now
resides in San Francisco, but has been
spending a few days in this city. He
and / sat together on a settee in the
corridor of a Broadway hotel and
talked about war times The colonel
he was never a general-pushed back
his SLOUGH hat. and his gray eyes gazed
at the ceiling as if it were a map of the
war. He forgot that he had ever been
politician and spent seven years of
his life in Hong Kong. His memory
went back twenty years to
period when he was known to the north
as guerilla raider. had been talking
to him of narrow escapes, and the con-
versation led to the following narrative
by the colonel
1T was in December. 1864, in Vir-
ginia, that thought ] had received a
fatal wound 1 was captured, but not
recognized, and left for dead by the
federals have seen an account some
where of this adventure of mine, but
it had no resemblance to the truth.
The verisimilitude of detail was lack
ing to rescue the story from pure fic-
ton.
ION that evening in December I was
eating supper at farm house and not
suspecting the approach of federal cav
airy. The farmer, his wife and daugh-
ter were friends of mine and son of
the family was under my command
was ravenously hungry, and by the aid
of a tallow candle-gas and oil were
not used in Virginia then-I was eat
ing sausages and pone bread. Such
luxuries as sugar and coffee were not
in the menu. Suddenly the door was
opened and several federal officers en-
tered. The house was entirely sur
rouRded by a regiment of cavalry.
had on a long gray overcoat and on
the collar was the insignia of my rank
as colonel. Jumping up 1 raised both
hands and carelessly grasped my collar,
hiding the insignia of my rank. They
did not know who / was, except that |
was a confederate.
Il looked down the barrels of severan
revolvers and surrendered. OF course
/ racked my brain to find out some
avenue of escape. 1t came in danger
Gus way. The soldiers on the outside
fred through an open window at me and
a ball struck me in the left side. The
firing created confusion and the officers
rushed out to avoid being shot by their
own men. In the haste of their de-
parture the table was overturned and
the candle went out, leaving the room
IN darkness This was my chance. |
ran into an adjoining room, pulled off
my coat and tucked it under bureau
BY that time was growing weak from
loss of blood and fell
THE federals came in and the sur
geon examined me hastily. l distinctly
remember that he said l was shot in
the heart, though how he managed to
locate the wound there is a mystery to
me- was stripped of what clothing
l had and left in almost nude condi-
ton. They asked me my name and /
gave fictitious one. The farmer was
Intercepted but he did not tell them
my name. As they did not suspect that
l was Mosby they soon departed.
"Although~~it rained in torrents and
the lightning was incessant was car
ried away in an ox-wagon. All the
mules and horses in the place had dis
appeared weeks before and only yoke
of oxen remained. Two negro boys,
the father and his daughter drove the
wagon and acted as my escort. Before
they started l was rolled in several
blankets and made as comfortable as
possible under the circumstances They
conveyed me three miles to my men,
and when they unrolled me and exam
ined my wound l said l was shot in the
identical spot that Gen. Jeb. Stuart
was, and l thought would die. The
ball went straight through Jeb Stuart
but fortunately in my case it DETECTED
and went upward. In six weeks l was
strong enough to be in the saddle
again. | have been wounded six
times"
well, colonel" 1 asked, what
caused that bullet to go upward when
it entered your side?'
II do not know unless it was the
sausages had eaten. After all l may
owe my life to sausages. l have the
lead in me yet When those fellows
heard that they had captured me and
permitted me to escape reckon they
uttered cuss words IN. Y. Herald.