The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-07-16
MISTAKEN IDENTITIES
By CHAs. P. LEWIS.

ItIt IL Il sd ILiSs diuOI2 llIE y ~
ians that IF you travel far enough you
will find your twin brother" and every
man who has knocked around The
wcrld a bit viii agree that there is
more or less truth in the saying. That
a man whose Is Jones and who was
born IN California and was never east
Of the ROcfy mOnntians, can so close
ly resemble q man named Brown, who
was born IN Indiana and was never
west Of Chicago, as to deceive friends
ana even relatives is a strange thing
but not at all impossible. Three on
fDur sUch cases have occurred within
the last fifteen years. There Is hardly
4 week in any mans life that he is not
told he bears a resemblance to some
one else
In the winter Of 1862 3, while the
Army OF the Potomac, then under Gen
eral Hooker. lay at Falmouth heights,
opposite Fredericksburg, the cavalry
had Il busy time OF It, above and be
low Hooker was reof%aniZlng and
receiving re endorsements, and Con
federate scouts and spies We're trying
to keep Lee posted. One day in Jan
uary 4 cavalry picket brought III a
man who claimed TO have deserted
from i'itzhugh Lee'scayalry command.
He seemed to be honest and straight.
and yet it was the rule to put sucn
men under guard for awhile, until a
score OF more were collected. and then
send them north. | had charge Of all
the deserters coming III on Our brigade
front for three months and there were
q good many Of them. This particu
lar deserter speak of happened to be
the first one received for three or four
days and questioned him closely
and@ecrred WhatWas believed 10 be i'm
portant information. Hegave his name
as Nickham, and appeared TO talk
frankly and honestly. He was about
twenty four years of age. we'll educat-
ed. and the excuse lie gave for desert
ing his flag was that his captain was
down on him for some outside matter
and made his life miserable
| don't say that | suspected Wick
ham OF being spy, bat there was
something about him and his story
which made me feel uneasy. While
he claimed 10 he only a private soldier.
felt quite snre that he Ead worn
shoulder straps hose who deserted
the Confederate army were not men
Of his stamp, but quite the opposite.
At the time he came in | had seven
other desertcrs under guard, and after
hearing his story | put him among
them for half day He was then re
moved TO a tent by himself, and when
| went among the seven all Of them
agreed with me that his excuse was
rather tiimsy. and that his general de
meanor was that OF an officer This
determined me TO keep an eye on him
and also dropped in on him pretty
often for chat | tried my best to
trip him up, but he was too sharp foE
me ! had him in charge for about
ten days, and then one night he es
capped from the tent under the very
nose Of the guard and was not recap
tnred
About the time Wickham came to
rs a corporal in New York infantry
regiment named Hinsdale crossed the
Rappahaunock and penetrated Stone
wall Jackson's lines as a spy Through
some careless move on his part he
aroused suspicion and was placed un-
der arrest. He would have been tried
by court martial and probably con
victed and hung, but he likewise made
his escape Just before the army made
Itllt " tA,. 1 In NH, al, Il
IN the disaster at Charlottesville |
was one Of five cavalrymen captured
while Il force was making a reconnois-
sance on Confederate territory. We
bad been held one day and were on
the point of being shipped off to Rich
mond when L was separated from the
Others and conducted to d guardhOuse
within Jackson's lines. [ of course
asked explanations, but none was
youchsafed for several hours. | was
the sole occupant Of log hut which
would have held twenty men, and after
| had been there for "A couple Of hours
five OF six soldiers came In with a
lieutenant. 1T turned ont that they
We're the men who had charge of Hins
dale several weeks before. Each and
every man instantly and positively
identified me as Hinsdale When |
gave my name and command they
laughed at me- | was Hinsdale, the
spy, and as Hinsdale | wonld be put
on trial for my life.
Some Of the northern newspaper
correspondents had full account of
the adventure at the time. and You
may remember the salient points. |
OF course denied that | was Hinsdale.
Ii vas to General 4. L. Hill that |
owed my life. But for him | would
have been ''drumheaded' within twen-
ty -four hours. Those who had identi
fed me We're So positive that my own
statements found no believers. ask
eel that my four comrades be inter
viewed on the matter and General
Hllt sent courier to Overtake them.
Three OF them were old school mates.
and all could testify to name. date of
enlistment, etc. This gave me fight
ing chance for my life, though the
Confederate witnesses were lust as
positive as before. | asked that nv
commander be communicated with and
my descriptive list secured This
might have been granted had not
something else occurred to clear me
of the charge Hinsdale had been
identified as belonging to New York
regiment by a teamster who had de
serted This teameter also identified
me as Hinsdale.
While | was being conducted from
the guardhouse to General Hills tent
/ met Wickham face to face and call
ed out to him, and it was his story
which released me from the charge.
He had been under my charge for
several days, talked with me every
day and could not be mistaken. Gen
eral Hill privately questioned him as
to the subjects of our conversations
and the little Incidents of his deten-
ton, and then questioned me and