The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-19

and his daughter under the impression
that l was ready for the grave, | Law
perfectly still for some five or ten minutes
it seemed TO me that many hours At
last when feeling assured that the enemy
was gone, rose from the pool of blood in
which | was lying and walked into the
room where Mr.. Lake and his daughter
were sitting by the fire; they were as
much astonished to see Inc as if I had
risen from the tomb-they had thought
| was dead and were now sure the general
resurrection had come. There was big
log fire blazing and the room was warm
We examined the wound, but could not tell
whether the bullet had passed straight
into my body, or, after penetrating, had
passed around it. Very soon l became
sick and faintlng. My own belief was
that the wound was mortal-the bullet
was in me, and [ thought the lntestines
had been cut. Mrs. Skinner gave me
some coffee, but | was too sick to drink II.
My fear was that l had some documents
in my pockets that would disclose nv
name. Although Providence had not
protected me from the bullet, 1t had saved
me from getting caught. My wife was
Catholic and when L went to the wars she
mad hung around my neck an AgDus Del
to save me from danger. She always
thought it was the Agnus Del that did 1t.
That day l had been at Glen Welby, the
home of the Carriers, and for some unac-
cOuntable reason just as l was leaving to
go TO the wedding l TOOK from my pocket
several official documents and gave them
to one of the young ladies to keep for me.
II had not done this l would never have
lived 10 write an account of this adVen-
ture; for If | had been taken off that
night could not have survived it,
The force of cavalry that | had seen 90
into camp at RectOrtOwn were the Thir-
teenth and Sixteenth New York, under
command OF Major Frazar. They had
only built fires to warm themselves, and
after staying there a short time they
started on TO Middlehurg to join Colonel
Clendenin, with the Eighth Illinois Cav
airy, from whom they had separated a few
hours before. They CAM ped that night near
Mlddleburg. Several of my men. including
Love, were prisoners. They were shown
my hat, oVercoat, ETC., and asked if they
knew the person who wore them. All
denied any knowledge of him. The next
day they returned to camp, little
dreaming who it was that had been in
their hands prisoner. My own belief
is that l am more indebted to whisky
than the charm L wore for my escape.
Since then l have always thought there
was good deal of good in whisky AS
soon as Mr. Lake recovered from his
shock al seeing me alive he went out and
got couple of negro boys to yoke no a
pair of young. half-broken oxen to haul
me away to a place of safety, for we
feared the enemy would find out who
| was and return After a while the
OK cart was announced to be ready,
aud l was rolled up in quilts ana
blankets and put tnto it. 1t was an
awful night-a bowling storm of snow,
rain and seet. l was lying on my back
n the cart-we had to go two miles
10 the house of a neighbor, over a
frozen road cut into deep ruts;
when we reached there was almost per-
fectly stiff with cold, and my hair was a
clothed mass of ice. The family had not
gone to bed. One of my men, George Slater,
was at the house. a courier was sent to
the wedding party to carry the news tn
my brother and my other men who
were there. 1t spread rapidly, and
before daybreak a great many of
them and two surgeons were with
me. Slater had been present a few
months before when Stuart was shot.
After l had been laid by the fire called
hun TO me and said to him: George,
look at my wound, think am shot just
like General Stuart was" He pulled up
my shirt was bleeding prOfusely. He
told me be thought the bullet had run
around my body. 1t turned out to be so.
1t had lodged in my right side. Earlv in the
morning chlorotOrm was Administered and
the ball extracted.
Another of the good effects of the whisky
on Major FraZar'S party was that they
went off leaving my horse standing at the
front gate, with my pistols in the holsters.
If l had had them with me IN the house am
very confident l could have cleared the way
through the back yard and escaped IL the
dark. Neither Love nor had chance to
fire shot, and there is no truth in the report
that shots were fired from the house. had
nothing TO shoot with. AS l have before
said, a Northern officer was standing near
talking 10 me when l was shot. AL
though L was a prisoner at the time,
have never mplained of it, for 1t proved
to be lucky shot for me. 1t was the
means OF my escape from Imprisonment.
few DAYS afterward tidingS came 10 the
camp down in Fairfax that | was the per-
son who was wounded at Lakes. A force
Of cavalry was sent to search for me, and
although l was still in the neighborhood
they did not find me. At the same time
General Torbert. returning from an I'M
successful expedition to Gordonsvile,
passed within a few miles of where | was
lying; they tried to find me, but failed.
Some years ago l was in Boston and
Major FraZar called TO see me and read me
his report of the capture. 10 about week
after all this occurred l was taken ont 10
my fathers home, near Lynchburg. Rich
mond papers had already announced my
death. DR.. Monreiro had not reached my
command before was brought away. So
he came over TO my fathers to see me. He
was a great wit and humorst. and had
been only few minutes with me before
he got me TO laughing. This produced
another hemOrrhage from my wound, and
il took all his surgical skill to repair the
damage his talk had done. The following
is Major FraZar's report:
FAIRFAX C. H.. December 81, 1864.
Colonel WiLiidm Gamble, Commanding
CGvdLry Brigdde-COLONEL: In obedience 10
your command. i have the honor TO report CON
corning the wounding OF Colonel MOsby. He
was shot by man OF my advance guard under
Captain Brown. in MIR. Lakes house. near the
RectOr's Crossroads, on the evening of the 2Is
Instant, about p NJ, at which time was liz
command OF the 10Th and 18th New York regi-
ments. Several shots were fired and 7 was IN
formed that rebel lieutenant was wounded.
| Immediately dismounted aud entered the
house, and found man lying on the floor an
parently IN great agony. l asked him his
name-he answered, Lieutenant johnson
Sixteenth Virginia Cavalry" He was in his
ShirtsleeVeS-a light blue cotton shirf-po mar
no bO0ts-nO insignia of rank; nothing to
denote IN the slightest degree that he was NOT
what he pretended TO be. l told him must
see his wounds TO see whether 20 bring him or
not. L opened, myself, his pants ana found
tnat pistol bullet had entered the abdomen
about two inches below and TO the lett of the
navel; wound that 1 felt assured was NOR
tai. L therefore ordered all from the room,
IemarSlng, HE will die in twenty-four hoursn
Being Dehin0 time on account OF skirlnishne
all The afternoon with the enemy l hurried on
10 meet LleutenahtCOlonel Clendenin at Mid
dleDurR, according To orders received Nearly
every ofheer OF my command, IL not all. saw
TINS wounded man, and no one had the slightest
idea that it was MOsby. Captain Brown ana
Major Birdsai were both in the room wirh
me when This occurred. After arrival at Mid
dle0urg reported the fact of having wounded
rebel lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel
Glendenin. AS soon as the campfres were Iit en-