The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-05-09
CAN FICTION BEAT THIS?
COL MARSHALL had ORDERED
HIM TO BE HANGED,

| HIM TO B = HANGED,
But, After Twenty-seven Years, Re
Meets Him in Plttsburg Court
| House and Explains to Him Why His
Life Was Spared-A Dramatic Incl
dent of the War-How It All Came
| About.
From the Baltimore American.
During his recent visit to Pittsburg, Col.
Charles Marshall had an experience such as
comes to few men in lifetime. He wen,
to that city TO try case, and, after the ad-
| tournament of the court, many gentlemen
were presented to him. Among them was
a man who is well known in the politics
of Western Pennsylvania.
II am very glad to meet you, Col Mar
shall, !" he said, 'for believe It is to you
that owe my life." and he related some
facts in connection with the war
Col. Marshall looked at him intently for a
nome andwas about to deny the soft
| lmpea ohment, when an incident of twenty
seven years ago fitted across his memory.
| Were you one of the two men caught In
Gordon's lines" he asked.
Yes. l was one of them" replied the
| otheE with a smile, land l thank you at this
I
| You must not thank me" said the COL
onel. You owe it all to Gen. Lee. | tried
my best to have you hanged"
And then came the story. In December,
| 1854, Sheridan, after his victory over Early
| in the valley, had reached the James river
on his way to Petersburg. In order to COM
| munlcate with Grant, he sent two spies,
| dressed as confederates, TO make their way
| through the lines of the wing of Lees army
commanded by Gen. Gordon. The spies
got along very we'll until late at night. when
| they fell in with two of Gordon's men, who
| discovered their disguise. These confed-
crates had no arms, however, and the spies
quickly drew their revolvers and ordered
them to march in front They kept them
going until they got beyond the lines, and
then they allowed them to return. The inS
oident was promptly reported by Gen. Cor
don TO headquarters.
Five months passed. In the first part of
April came the abandonment of Peters
burg. Lee began his retreat toward Ap-
pomattox. He and Col. Marshall had
reached Amelia Springs almost exhausted
by fatigue and want OF sleep. The night
before Col. Marshall had ridden for nearly
six hours around the intrenchments at
Petersburg to order the men away, and had
found only one poor fellow, who was sound
asleep. That day he had been in the saddle,
and when he got to the temporary head
quarters late at night he was a great deal
more tired than he ever will be again. These
headquarters were a little hut with two
rooms. In one was bed, and on 1t Gen.
Lee was sleeping. In the other was a pile
Of oats, and Col. Marshall threw himself
upon it for rest
He had given orders that all papers should
De brought to him, so that Gen. Lee might
OF be disturbed. The orderly, with his
cots of when he entered the room, crept
long as noiselessly as possible, so as not to
hake the floor Several times between mid
night and o'clock In the morning he came
in and placed documents in Col. Marshalps
hands. The colonel attended to them, until
finally the fatigue was too great and he fell
asleep.
Shortly before o'clock he woke and
found in his hand an envelope marked
Omitted States Cavalry How it had
come there he did not for a momenU know,
but he quickly solved the mystery by open
ing it.
There were two Enclosures. The first was
an order from Gen. Sheridan, ordering
Gen. Mackenzie to cooperate with a certain
movement which had been planned. The
second was q communication to Gen Lee
from Gen. Gordon, detailing the arrest of
two spies and the discovery of the order,
and stating that drum-head oourt-martial
had been held, and the prisoners had been
found guilty and had been sentenced to be
hanged at day break.
Col. Marshall read the papers and in
dorsed on the report "Respectfully returned
| approved" and ordering the sentence to be
carried out, signed r. E. Lee, per Charles
| Marshall.
Col. Marshall was about to send the
papers back when he thought of the fact
that Gen. Lee had never countenanced the
execution of a spy, holding that when one
of them was captured his sting was re-
moved.
! just then Gen. Lee awoke, and Col. Mar .
| shall told him what he had done. The
| general took the papers, and, after looking
| them over, said:
II cannot indorse that We have the men
and the order in our possession, and they
| can do no further harm"
But. general" protested Col. Marshall,
| ''if we spare their lives our lines will soon
| be overrun with Spies"
II will not cause a drop of blood to be
| shed unnecessarily continued Gen. Lee,
and then, after pause, he added: These
men may have families"
The result was that the Endorsement was
scratched out and a second one was writ
ten: Unexpectedly returned. Hold the
men until further orders"
And the next day the fact was brought
out that the two spies were the same two
men who had gone through Gen. Gordon's
lines the previous December, and they were
confederates whom they had met unarmed
on that occasion.
After the proceedings at Appomattox,
Col. Marshall was telling Gen. Sheridan of
the circumstances, and Gen. Sheridan laugh
ed and remarked: You would have been
perfectly right in hanging them" Col.
Marshall still has the Intercepted order to
Gen. Mackenzie, but he had almost forgot
ten it until the meeting at the PiJtsburg
court house revived the story
The spy, who vas not executed, said that
in that early April morning, while they
were preparing for death, they heard some-
thing read, and caught the name of Mar
shall. A few minutes afterward they were
released from their irons and placed among
the other prisoners. This was why they
had always believed that Col. Marshall was
responsible for the preservation of their
lives.
Judges, lawyers and all who were in the
court room became deeply interested in the
story, and that evening at the Duquesne
Club, where Col Marshall was entertained,
little else was talked of.