The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-22
LAST ACT OF LINCOLN.
AN HOUR BEFORE HIS ASSASSIN 4.
TION HE PARDONED VAUGHAN.
Vaughan Was in the Confederate
Army-Went Home on FurIouEh
and Was Arrested as a spy-Court-
MartiaIled and Found Guilty.

| Marysville, Mo-, Letter in the St Louis
| Globe-D Democrat.
The last official act of President abra-
ham Lincoln was to pardon George s. f.
Vaughan of this place, who was then nm.
der sentence of death charged with being
Confederate spy. The arrest. sentence
20 death three times, and final pardon
of Mr.. Vaughan by President Lincoln only
an hour before the latter was assassin
ated by J. Wilkes Booth is one of the most
interesting of the hitherto unwritten chan.
ters Of the civil war.
Before the war George s. Il. Vaughan
lived in Canton. Lewis county. Missouri
lie had wife and seven children and was
one of the prominent men of the village.
One Of his intimate friends was Mark r.
Green. who had already begun to attain
prominence as Democrat of the pro-
slavery type and who afterward became a
major general IN the Confederate Army.
On the outbreak of hostilities Green raised
a Confederate regiment and received a
commission as its colonel The Vaughan
family, like thousands of others. was d.
/ - II.
vaughan enlisted in Green's regiment.
While his brother, Allmon, who was a can.
tam IN the slate militia, stuck TO the I'M
ION. George Vaughan followed Col Green
through his campaign in Missouri and was
one of his most trusted friends and ad.
vlsers. The battle of Athens was one of
| the engagements In which he served under
| MIN. here John r. Musick's statement
that brother grappled brother was liter
| any true, for George S. e. Vaughan fol-
lowed the banner of the Confederaev
While his brother fought under the flag of
the union.
After a number of engagements In Mis-
| sour, among them the battle of Wilson's
| creek, Green and his men, who were In
| Price and Van Dorn's command wera
| transferred to Arkansas. After the battle
OF Shiloh, in which they participated fhey
! went South with the other shattered
forces Of the Ccnfederacy and camped
near Tupelo, Miss, where they remained
inactive for some time. Vaughan had by
this time been made forage master. with
| the rank of captain. Becoming tired of
| camp life. he induced Gen. Green to grant
| his furlough, with the understanding
! that while ne was home he would see the
| generals wife and deliver a message to
her from him. His narrative of what fol-
lowed is interesting.
Il was told by the general and the other
boys" he said, that I would never get
home; that / would be killed or fall into
the hands of the Yankees. But started
with man by the name of George Yates
who lived near st. Louis, as my only com
panion. We determined from the first that
we would go along like ordinary citizens
we would talk as little as possible without
/ exciting suspicion. and that we would
avoid meeting people as far as we could
Until We got to Missouri we were In
country that was held by our friends, and
we got along without being bothered until
we reached ST. Louis, after having walked
several hundred miles. At ST. Louis we
separated with the understanding that
whatever happened afterward we would
not know each other. on inquiry learned
there was boat on the wharf that would
leave for Keokuk in aashort time All the
boats were staked In by union soldiers
who were constantly on guard, and i did
not attempt to go up town, but went in at
once, purchased a ticket and asked the
clerk If he had any objections to my stay
ing on board until we started. He said,
No and stayed. To prevent my Identity
being discovered, had grown a mustache
and blackened il, and carried my head
down all the time. So perfect was my dts
guise that man who had been raised near
me, and who went up on the boat, did not
recognize me.
When we neared Canton, Mo, which
was my home. / learned they were going
to stop few moments to take on a small
cargo, and when we reached the wharf,
without saying word TO any one, / leap
ed off in the darkness and went home. In
a few days i got a horse and rode to Gen.
GREEN'S house. where 1 delivered his mes
sage to his wife, and received one to de-
liver to him in return.
After had been at home a few weeks
/ learned that a man named Carmen, a
captain in our command who also was
home on q furlough, was preparing to go
back to join his regiment. went to see
him, and we decided to try to get through
together. The first night after we started
we camped in a thicket about mile west
of LAGRANGE. We had been seen TO pass
through that place, in some way our pres
ence excited the suspicious of the union
people. As a result, Capt. Lewis, who
with small company of men. was then
in the town, set out after us late In the
evening. They followed us so closely that
they easily discovered our place Of hiding,
and Capt Lewis slipped up close to us and
listened 10 our conversation. which, natur
ally enough, was on the subject then up
permost in the minds of the people. After
satisfying himself as to who we were he
closed In around us with his soldiers and
made us prisoners. we were taken back to
LAGRANGE. Soldiers were sent from Palmy-
ra after us in a few days, and we were
taken to that place and put In Jail / was
put in an uDstairs cell / do not know
what they did with Cannon. l only know
that after being held about a year he was
exchanged ] learned just before being put
in my cell what l was suspected Of being
from a big Irish soldier, who called me /
spy.
II walked the floor of my cell all that
night, for / feared the worst. My fears
were accentuated by some prisoners be.
low, who told me through hole In the
floor that the cell occupied was the one
in which condemned prisoners were in-
generated, and that from II a few days
before ten men had been taken and shot
After a few days confinement In Pal
myra I was taken to st. Louis. There
/ was tried, charged with being spy
by a martial court. presided over by Col. |
Dix, the principal witness against me be.
ing Capt. Lewis was convicted and |
sentenced TO be shot.
MY brother Allmon, who was then |
captain In the Union army, had already |
heard of my trouble, and had written 10
John b. Henderson, who had a short time |
before been. elected United States senator |
from Missouri having nv case before him |