The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-23


 thought so-and diseoursed their plain
 tive melodies at all times and Tn all
 places. Now, it ehanced on one fhir evening while at Suffolk, they hied
 themselves to the com'nissary's lent
 near brigade headquarters and pro-
 ceeded 10 make merry. A small supply of hard tack" and a liberal portion of fire water were thoughtfully provided
 to ward off any charges of inhospital-
 ity. Licu.-not of the Fiftecnth-oificer of the guard, was called In, ana at
 their expense sat down to the feast
 He partook bountifully of the wine and the ,drlnkables and. after giving
 brilliant exhibition of "chin fire
 works" left them to their revelry. It
 was" truly a soulful occasion. AS
 their lungs expanded with music, and
 their stomachs swelled under the hre-
 water treatment, their energies were
 redoubled until 1t seemed as If the
 very angels must pause to listen: If
 the latter didn't General Harland did.
 and summoning the officer of the
 guard 0heir guesD unfeelingly ordered
 the chamber concert closed. Judge
 then the consternation when this min ion appeared at the door of the tent
 and in a sorrowful manner announced that, by order of General Harland. he placed them all under arrest. What a cruel, cruel edict, Some of them escaped or attempted to. but finally
 were rounded up" and taken to the officers quarters for the nights keep ing. Such an ignoble ending of con cret was never known before. At dress parade the next afternoon, their enter tainment was referred to very touch- ingly in general orders." and the non
 commissioned officers were deprived of their stripes butt owing to the
 good record of the men, the same gen
 eral orders restored them with the in Junction to be more careful in the fu- ture when they let themselves out. As for the Lieu, his scalp was anxi-
 ous!y sought for good many moons. | though it did not appear that the poor fellow was to blame. Occasion ally at reunion in these late days is
 heard the mysterious query. What band?" and the answer is solemnly returned "Gideons!'
 Q O'CONNER RAID ON THE RAILROAD RE- TWEEN NEW BERNE AND MoREHFAD CITY.
 Thename of O'Connor, who was the | most ficndish guerilla the Southern confederacy gave birth to, was rarely mentioned except with dread by the | union forces. His internal gang con tinually hovered about our lines, some- times mounted and sometimes net, shooting our nickets. capturing out posts, raiding weak defcnses and ter rorzing thing generally. In some | manner he learned that General
 Palmer, then in command of the de- partment of New Berne, was accustom- ed to go daily to Morehead City, where he lodged. and return by train next morning. O'Connor therefore planned | his capture. Thus it came about that one morning, about o'clock as tie | train was proceeding on it's way to- ward New Berne having just passed CrotOn station, the passenger car sud denly left the rails and plunged along the sleepers. At the same moment | fire was opened from the woods and the rebel yell was heard. Tie bump- | ing of the car broke it's coupling,
 and the engineer seeing the situation,
 put on steam for New Berne, leaving
 the car and it's occupants to their fate The trap had been laid with some cum ming. During the previous night the spikes had been drawn from one of the rails, and stout rope attached to it, leading into the dense woods at thei
 side where was concealed a party of O'Connor's force. It was the eXpecta- lion of the latter to draw the rail aside and ditch the entire train, but by some miscalculation the engine passed over the break and was saved. Luckily General Palmer was not on
 the train. but three men of the Eff teenth were, Corporals French and Morgan of Company D, and Thallman of Company I. These were quickly gobbled up and their captors, know- ing host would be at their heels when the alarm reached New Berne hur-; ried their prisoners across the Mouse river and back into the country They marched all day. The guerilla chief occasionally flourished his revolver about his victims heads, and as he frequently shot a bird at a surprising
 long range, confidently informed them
 that "the surest way to kill Tank
 was to hold the gun near enough to his
 head to singe his hair" While they expected certain death, they neverthe-
 less put on bold face, jeering and, good naturedly blackguarding him. in
 turn. This was undoubtedly the best
 policy. The day came to an end. and a bivouac was made in a dense forest
 of pines The prisoners were not
 bound. but they had no opportunity to confer with each other over any at-
 tempted escape. The night was one of the darkest North Carolina ever knew
 The fire had died away until it gave lit- tie or no light. Morgan thought he saw
 his chance. Turning he said, "Connor
 you - give me some tobacco" The guerilla, struck by the boldness of the request, was thrown partially off his guard, and as he was about to comply, Morgan stepped aside into the darkness and. was off in second. How soon he was missed he never knew. No attempt was made to follow him for none, knew the direction he took Fortunately he struck the road in a,feW moments and ran for his life. as he supposed, toward the Mouse river In this he was not disappointed. Daylight found him at that stream. and signalling Union tug with his shirt, he was taken on board and landed at New Berne. His comrades
 wore aftarward raro1ad and ro+,,.5