Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-07-20

battle. Stonewall jackson surrounded the
Union post at Harper's Ferry on Sept. 13,
1862 He had 10000 men. The garrison of
Harper's Ferry numbered over 1900. The
position is low ground on neck of land
formed by junction of the Shenandoah and
Potomac rivers and is surrounded at close
range by series of heights from 600 to / 900
feet above the water Jackson planted his
cannon on the heights ready to BON bard
the works, but delayed opening fire for
some time.
The officers of the garrison, as is usual in
such cases, were divided as to what ought to
be done to save the post, or at least the men
and their arms. The commandant, Colonel
Dixon S. Miles, urged that fighting would
be waste of life and that he had no au-
thority to abandon the place, having been
ordered to hold it. One of those who dis
sented from this view was Lieutenant Colo
mel B. f. Davis, leader of the Eighth New
York cavalry, regiment forming part Of
the cavalry force of / 300 horse included in
the garrison. Late on the 18th Colonel
Davis, known in the service as Grimes" Da-
Wis, with Colonel Hasbrouck Davis of the
Twelfth Illinois cavalry, devised scheme
to save their commands. Grimes Davis
was native of Alabama and may have had
a personal incentive in not wishing to be
taken prisoner He was an officer in the
regular army and had served in the south
west before the war with many of the Con
federate leaders arrayed against him at
Harper's Ferry, In the early days of the
war the southerner who stuck by the Union
flag was considered by the south traitor
to his people.
The idea of escaping from Harper's Ferry
as things stood was a bold one The Vir-
ginia shore was alive with Confederates,
and the Maryland region just north of Har-
per's Ferry was occupied by the main army
of Lee The details of the escape are told
in plain soldier language in a sketch of the
Eighth New York cavalry written by Henry
Norton. After brief account of the open
ing of the siege by Jacksons army the mar
rator says;
1.-THE colonel made preparations to 90 out
with his regiment and what cavalry re
manned there-two regiments and two
detachments, numbering 1900 in all. He
got one of the old settlers who knew the
country well to pilot him through Mary
land, which was then occupied by the Con-
federate General Longstreet's corps. He
had scout watching the enemy's move
ments for he knew the only way to get out
was through Longstreet's lines
ION the 18th of September everything
was ready for us to get out of the Ferry if
we could. In the evening about o'clock
we were drawn up in line, and our sutler,
knowing that he could not get out with his
goods, gave the boys what he had ON hand.
We crossed the Potomac to the Maryland
side on a pontoon bridge. Before we
crossed each captain gave orders that each
man of his company must follow his file
leader, and that no other orders would be
given. We crossed the river by twos, while
the colonel with his pilot went ahead to
clear the road. When the head of the
column got across the river, the men would
start off ut full speed, so by the time the
last man was across the head of the line
was 10 miles away, l was near the rear of
the line, and the way we went was eau
tion. Each horse went as fast as he could
go. BY the time all had crossed it was
dark. Dark was no name for it. 1t was
just the right kind of night for such an
undertaking. The only way one could tell
how far we were from our file leader was
by the horses shoes striking fire on the
stones. Sometimes we would be 20 yards
away from our file leader and then would
come up full drive. Then we would hear
some tall swearing. That was the way we
went for several miles. The advance drove
the enemy's pickets in soon after crossing
the river The Confederates were surprised
to see Yankees coming from that direction
They thought we were cooped up in the
Ferry and did not dare come out.