The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1892-01-15
MOsBY, THE GUERRILLA
He Tells How He Was Captured, Shot and
Left for Dead.
New York Letter..

at was one of the closest calls ever
had, and was pronounced as good as a
dead man by the Federal surgeon who
made & hasty examination Of me after the
shooting"
The speaker was the noted Southern
raider, Col. John S. Mosby, who now re-
sides in San Francisco, but has bee9
spending few days in the city. he and
I sat together on scttee in the corridor.
of Broadway hotel and talked about war
times. :
The Colonel-he was never Gcncrai-
pushed back his SLOUGH hat and his gray
eyes gazed at the ceiling as It'll were n
map of The war. He forgot that he had
even been politician nd'~yspent
seven years of bis life as CONSUL to Hong
Kong. His memory went back; twenty
seven years to period when he was known
to the North as a guerrilla raider. had
been talking to him about narrow escapes,
and The conversation led to the following
narrative by the Colonel:
ut was in December, 1864, in Virginia,
that | thought had received q fatal
wound. was captured, but not rccog-
nized and left for dead by the Federals
have seen an account somewhere Of this
adventure of mine, but it had no rcsem-
blanco to the truth The yersmilitude
of detail was lacking to rescue the story
from pure fiction. On that evening in
| December | was eating supper ut a farm
house, and not suspecting the approach of
Federal cavalry. The farmer, his wife and
daughter, were friends Of mine, and. "a son
of the family was under my command.
was ravenously hungry, and by the aid of
u tallow candle-gas and oil we're not used
in Virginia them was eating .sausages
and pone bread. Such luxures MS sugar
and coffee wcre not in the menu. Sudden
ly the door was opened and several Fed
eral officers entered. The house was en-
tirely surrounded by regiment OF cavalry.
| / had OH long gray ovcrcoal, and On the
collar WIS the insignia of my ranks SIS
Colonel. Jumping up | raised both hands
and carelessly grasped my collar, hid
ing the insignia Of my rank. They did
not know who | was, except that was
Confederate. looked down the barrels
of several revolvers and surrendered.
"Of course | racked my brain TO find
some avanue of escape. 1t came in dan
gerous way. The soldiers on the outside
! fired through an open window at me, and
ball struck me in the left side. The fir
ing created confusion, and the Officers
rushed cut to avoid being shot, by their
own men In The haste Of tbeir depart
urc the table overturned and the candle
went out, leaving the room, in darkness.
This WAS my chance. [ ran into, al ad-
Joining room, pulled off my coat and tuck
ed it under q bureau. By that time was
growing wesk from loss Of blood and
lcll.
Tho Fcderals came in, and the surgeon
examined me hastily. l distinctly remem-
Der that he said was shot in the heart,
though how he managed to locate the
wound there was mystery to me. [ was
stripped Of what clothing l had and left
in almost a nude condition. They asked
me my name, and | gave fictitious one.
The farmer WAS interrogated, but he did
not tell them my name. AS they did not
suspect that WAS Mostly they soon de-
parted. 45.s
"Athough it raIned in torrents and the
| tightening was ince5sant, was carried
away in an OK wagon. All the. mui4s and
horses in the place had Disappeared weeks
before and only yoke of. oxen remained.
Two negro boys, the farmer and his
daughter drove the wagon and acted as
my escort Before they started was
rolled in several blankets and made as
comfortable as possible under the circum-
stances. They conveyed me three miles
to my men, and when they uIiroled me
and examined my wound said | WAS shot
in the identical spot that Con. Jeh Stuart
was, and | thought would die. The ball
went straight through Job Stuart, but
fortunately in my case it detected and
went upward. In six weeks was strong
enough to be in the saddle again. have
been wounded six times"
"Well Colonel" asked, what caused
that built to 20 upward when 1t entered
your side?"
81 do not know, unless it was the sau-
sages had eaten. After all [ may owe
my life to sausages. l have the lead in
me yet When those fellows heard that
they had captured me and had permitted
me to escape reckon they uttered cuss
words"