Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1897-03-11

identity. Inc cOmudHulnS ollcer re-
marked, "You played this very fine,
to which Col. Williams replied, eyes,
and it came very near being success
full" The commission Immediately
assembled, the verdict and sentence
was rendered at two clock a. m, and
the prisoners hanged before sunrise
from the limb of a cherry tree on the
roadside. Both met their fate with
out finching, Col. Williams expressing,
as his only regret, that he should have
led his young Adjutant, who was also
his cousin, to such a death. The lat
ter, however, exhonerated him from all
blame
The account in the Records of the
Rebellion differs from my recollection
of the affair in this: that We under
stood the entire day was spent in the
Federal lines, while the former states
it to have been for few hours in the
afternoon. The latter account Is no
doubt the correct one, being an official
report, nor in the latter was any men
ton made of alleged conversation be-
tween Col. Baird and Col Williams or
of the recognitions above referred TO,
This, however, would not probably APP
pear in such a paper. I ofnd, how
ever, the following dispatch, sent
through Col. Baird, after the sentence
had been communicated viz:
Franklin. June 8, 1868.
GEN. GARFIELD, Chief-of-Staf, MUIR
freesOOrO.
"Will YOU not have clcmency for the
! son of Capt. Williams, who fell at Monte
raw. Mexico? As my dying speech |
protest our innocence as spies. Save
also my friend.
Signed. Lawrence W. ORTON,
! L OfWtFIN w H. bIlOi W imam
Col. Baird added to this telegram
that Williams requested, if the death
sentence was carried out, that it should
be by shooting instead of hanging. 1t
was reported that at time this dispatch
was received Rosecrans was asleep and
that Garfield did not communicate it
to him until after the execution. |
have never seen any explanation as to
why Williams dropped his family name
and retained that Of Orion, but this
was undoubtedly the case, as there are
official reports from him signed as Col,
VIM. Orion. It noteworthy that the
part played in the evidence of Col
Williams sword is similar to that OF
Marshal Ney, who whilst hidden in
Paris, after Waterloo, was discovered
by having in his possession magnif-
cent sabre which had been presented
to him by the Emperor.
It is curious that when reading up
this matter in the Records of the Re
beIIion, in later volume, I, by chance
read a report of Col. J. J. Nicely, l4th
Tennessee Cavalry, dated year later
than this execution, saying that Re had
captured from the Federal troops
sword upon the blade of which was en-
graved "Wm. Orion Williams, Chief
of Artillery, C. S A, Shiloh, April 6,
1862"
This expedition, not authorized, or
dered or solicited, was a complete sur
prise at army headquarters, the first
knowledge of which was an account Of
their death
7 was recently told by an officer Of
the U. S. Army, familiar with this at
fair. that it was said it was undertaken
in consequence of wager by Col.
Williams, that he would ride through
the Federal lines, deliver letter and
bring a reply from lady in Nashville
This, if true, may be the reason that,
in his dispatch to Garfield, he denied
being a spy, as in no military view OF
the case could they be considered 9TH
erwise after being caught inside the
hostile line in Federal dress and with
forged credentials. It was regarded
by US at the time as unnecessary and
foolhardy. While it is difficult to see
what good could have been accom-
plished, even if entirely successful, still
one is bound to admire the courage
which instigated it and the nerve and
bravery exhibited in its terrible re-
suits Warren Register.
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