The National tribune., 1892-03-24

tity of powder, that bis lurid fancy had in
creased to tons was the story that carried con-
viction to our minds; and thus in one lonesome
instance in the war the much -derided "lnteili-
gent contraband was vindicated.
As to the committees significant 1emark
that the prisoners were
"AwED AND KEPT DOW"
that night my comrades can believe or not, as
| their individual consciences dictate. AS for
| myself can solemnly corroborate tts COM
mittee; and now while / am at it l may as
well make clean breast of it, and so let the
| present peaceful generation of oar nclghbors
know just how man feels who lays nigh
| over powdeT-miue with more than thou
| sand fellow prisoners listening ior thes und oi
| rafting carbines outside; the signal that was
| to give glory to our would-be rescuers, but q
horrible death TO as!
/ can declare with unTeserved candor that as
| / lay on the hoor of Libby that night Of the 2d
| OF March, 1864, just over the mine, and with
the slaves fresh and CHASTITY message 4lixed up
with the Lords prayer, which l now remem-
| bered with uncommon clearness, | certainly
| experienced an "aue" which THE NATIONAL
TRIBUNE is authorized t. express in italics.
| A food of thoughts and an Irresistible long
| ing to be home, or ut least farther north, came
| over me as lay on the hard floor, looking up
My illumined Imagination pictured with
| power fearfully graphic the CHASTITY pyrotech-
mics in which was to take part-probaDly
| great number of parts.
As I now saw in my vivid fancy the mangled
remains OF myself and fellow Csptives ascend
ing skyward III a volcano of timber, brick, iron
! and mortar, and thought OF Dahlgren at that
| moment bu' 4 few miles away, and then
! thorght Of the man at the fuse only few
! yards away, i frankly own, now that am q
/ years older and somewhat cooler, that L was
/ "awad"
! AIy chief agony OF mind arose from the har-
rowing uncertainty as to how much longer ITO
use the c2nniltee's expression) / could be
kept dow
! would - listened with respect, if not
wish favor, t. any proposition by the Ccnfed-
crates for Comprom'c9; such one as would
not recessarily
nEPRIgL NE OF Ny HONOR OR NY LIMBS.
could not deny ih&t had taken part in a
adu Der of afairs in which some Confederates
ha- been hurt. i:gt there was no real proof
that el.y of nv Shots lit anybody. for / was
aly - - marks,lan, even when | was
cool. p IS, e the Con iedeTates were bent on
making q -htful example of their prisoners
wit ear Ily use was .here in blowing up the
ehoie1 90 Of us9 surely One-half OF my com
ade aid Sc - example sufficiently
ri. al fc- " ,tica purposes.
could Z SLY show = my emaciated person
at my ma.ntenap is not serious burden
upon the Coufederacy.
rhaps truce ,r =; . of 10 days, even
mt be eifecte1, as already been done a
IOrt "me be IRE in desperate cases of our
twr y 'mej .omra' ,Capts. Sawyerand Flynn,
I sp" throesh the ,otent influence of Bishop
inch, OF SOut,. Carolina. primarily, and the
bold stroke of Gen. Ben Butler afterward.
Now, had been baptised a Catholic. There
were, in fact many Catholics then in Libby.
Bishop Lynch would have been amazed at the
large percentage of Catholics had he called at
Libby that night.
/ wondered, in my agony, if the good Bishop
was in town. He had great influence with
President Davis and had secured that precious
respite of 10 days that had saved Sawyer and
Flynn; and Sawyer was only a Protestant!
/ was but human, and now thought bitterly
of that fatal hours delay in the tunnel passage
caused by that fat Dutchman, but three short
weeks ago, and but for which / would have
reached the Union cavalry posts for l was in
sight OF them when retakenl, and now that
FAVORED FAT FOREIGNER
was probably at this solemn moment slipping
wine with his friends in New York with new
uniform on his back and long furlough in his
pocket.
! hoped that the stray shots so frequently
heard about the Richmond streets at night
might not be mistaken for the carbines of
Dahlgren, and that they would at least
humanely wait for the proper signal and | did
ferventiy hope that Dick TGrner who had
charge Of the fuse, was sober. | was but l9
years DID, bat longed for daylight aud mir
ror, to see if my hair WAS still black.
But ell things have an end. The dreadful
term, which can never realize, was one night
passed, and with feelings of religious gratitude
and surprise, Iaro5e with the dawn; fully ex-
pected to rise earlier
The captiges at Libby arose that morning
ignorant of the fact that within the distance of
a gunshot the heroic young Pennsylvania,
who sought to be their delivercr, lay piercsd
by four bullets and mangied by ghouls, in the
hands of his relentless foes Oh, yes, gentle
reader, that was a night Of awe.
The statement repeatedly made at Richmond
that the " order" said to have been found on
Dahlgren'S body had been sent into the Union
lines and there pronounced genuine, is false
The only color Of truth in this is that photo
graphic copies Of the alleged order were shown
70 a few persons within our lines, not one of
whom was competent by familiarity with the
dead soldiers handwriting TO judge o: its gen.
uineness. But truly says the Scotch bard /:
"The best laid schcm cs o men and ice gang
aft aglec."
The forger buudered, fatally blundered
In signing the spurious order" he misspcled
Dahlgrens name. He wrote il u. Daihgren,
placing the letters "h" and "l'' wrong. the
proper spelling being Dahgren."
ITS BOGUS CHARACTER
is further shown By the use of the initial
&c" instead of the full name, Uric" which
it was Dahlgren's unvarying custom 10 use in
signing.
In most careful examination of scores Of
his letters written to his home from the field,
not one was found where this rule had been
| departed FROM even to the last letter written
| 10 his father from Stevensburg four days pre-
! vious to his death.
To suppose that order genuine, we must first
| believe that Uric Dahlgren, au intelligent and
! educated young man, but a short time out of
| school, did not know how TO spell his own
! name but wrote it wrong in the most supremely
! important document he was ever 10 pen. Again,
| If he wrote that order, where was it promul-
! gated and when Where arc its duplicates,
| aud where the officers and men Of his command
! who ever saw or heard Of IL? None were ever
! found. But on the contrary, Lieut.. BARLEY,
/ his signal officer and all other officers and men
| Of his command declared that no such order
was issued to them or heard OF by them. Gen.
| Fitzpatrick, the chief Of the expedition, denies
/ that such a paper was ever penned by Dahl
/ Eren, and pronounced the paper displayed by
the Confcderates a stupid forgery.
To apply the name of an assassin to this
young soldier, then in his 22d year, who had
already lost leg in battle. and who was obliged
10 mount his horse on crutches, and with his
| wound unhealed; who had been reared and
! beloved in an educated and Christian home