The morning call., 1894-02-11

! roads were Desirable, but the first of these
! was the only necessity Sergeant James
| Owens of the First Kentucky had. All the
! horses were reduced to SIX letons anG the
roads were frightful. In addition to these
drawbacks the scout must travel in dis
gnlSe for to venture out,ide the Union
lines. in the regular uniform would h ave
! been sort of suicide. Owens must go as
Confederate. He was as intelligent as
he was brave, and so knew that this wa
an undertaking on which even the COM
mander-n-chlef himself could not order
him, vet, for the good Of the cause, he vol
unteereG promptly, as soon as he learned
what was needed.
Wbeeler's, Wharton's and Morgan's
Confederate cavalry swarmed 10 the coun-
try over which Owens must ride alone and
after this was successfully done there
were the well-guarded lines of LOngstreet
which mus. be passed before his missio n
was ended.
Once outside the Union lines the ser
geant was a Confederate in appearance,
bur spy. with halter awaiting him il
detected.
He kept away from the direct roads,
representing 10 the casual bands he met w
win that he was on his way to join Long
street After travelling constantly for
hlrty hours his horse dropped under him
and he shot the poor creature to put il out
OF misery, then he resumed his journey Oh
foot.
just at daybreak on the morning of No
vember % l was in command of the
pickets along the Hulston River, when
was startled by hearing yells and shots or
the other side, where the enemy's pickets
had been very quiet. While was wonder
ing what the uproar meant, l rOuld see In
the lndlstlnct light a man running like a
deer Tor the river, with lot of other men
on foot and a few mounted speeding after
him and firing wildly as they ran.
My first i'm preston was that the fugitive
was one of the enemy who had been dis
covered in the acl of deserving 10 our
lines. But, be that as il might, the fact
that they we're trying o kill him was to US
sufhclent reason for trying 10 save him,
aud on the instant we opened fire on he
pursuers. Straight for the river the man
headed, the shouts and the shots increas S.
Ing. de reached the bank. but, unhetd-
ing the swollen, Recovered current, be
dove in without an instant's hesitation.
by this time our firing had called out the
nearest regiment, and over the head of the
daring swimmer cur rifles opened on the
enemy. who. instead of returning our fire.
sun directed their attention to the fugitive.
1he bullets cut, and splashed, and rich
ochetted about him, and ii seemed that he
must be Killed before he reached our side
he was about a hundred feet from the
bank when he suddenly stoI ped and threw
up one hand. On the instant two men
Leaned in and hurried to his aid,
They brought him to the shore, with his
left arm broken. He was carried out OF
fire. looking like dying man, but insri1ed
by his purpose. Owens. befure he tainted,
had the strength to reveal himself aud to
cheer the troops at Knoxville with the
thrilling news that Sherman was pressing
north to our relief.
Owens survived the struggle and came
out with commission, and l have always
regarded his exploit as the bravest act
that came under my notice during the war.
EDWARD DAWN