Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-04
SOUTHERN GIRLS AS HOSTAGES.
CAPTURE of Fifty Pretty C~Onfederates
by the Martinez of Fort Gibson.

Capture of Fifty Pretty Confederates
by the Marines of Fort Gibson.
Il was mixed UP in one little unrecorded
event Of the civil war" said General B,
that was interesting from its very I'M
usualness, and which as l look back upon
it seems strangely picturesque. We were
attached to what was known as the Marine
Brigades, a little fleet of twelve 'tin-clad'
river steamboats, that piled up and down
the Mississippi after the surrender of Vlcks-
burg. TIL term 'tin-clad, by the way, is
somewhat misleading, as 1t Is not remotely
connected with the white metal, but signi-
1es rather boats heavily planked with oak
for the purpose of protecting them some
what from the ravages of bullets.
"One day our little battalion of four COM
panies was ordered to steam down the river,
disembark at Rodney, march to Fort Glib
son, and there consult sealed orders in re-
gard to further proceedings. Imagine our
surprise upon reading the instructions TO
find that we were expected to capture and
carry back to Vicksburg as prisoners fifty
of the most aristocratic confederate young
women in the city. However, we had
served long enough to obey orders without
question, and provided with guides familiar
with the town, we set about our bizarre and
not too agreeable task. We first established
headquarters at the residence of a promi-
AiNAS JaaeN' AhN
squads were sent out to call at the homes
of the young women and escort them to the
place Of rendezvous. The instructions were
that they must report at headquarters
within two hours on penalty OF their family
residence being burned TO the ground. The
only Information we could give them (the
whole transaction was as much mystery to
us as to them) was that they were to be
taken to Vicksburg as prisoners of war,
but were on no account TO suffer any dis
comfort or indignity.
"Of course there was great weeping, wall
ing and crashing Of teeth from tender
mothers, loving sisters, and irate fathers
and brothers. But the Incident had to be
accepted as belonging to the fortunes or
war, and at the end of two hours forty
nine OF the fifty, attended by anxious friends
and relatives. were at the rendezvous.
Mercy was implored for the one delinquent.
An additional hour was granted, and at
their suggestion several OF the young
women were dispatched to her home to per-
suade her to follow their example in grace
, fully submitting to the inevitable. The re-
suit was that before the hour was up the
last fair prisoner put in an appearance,
though in a very defiant mood.
"Our troubles, however, were by no
means ended here. Indeed, they were hardly
fairly begun. The next question was how
/. transport our beautiful captives to Rod
uey, a distance OF some twenty miles, over
roads that were in frightful condition from
the devastations of war and consequent neg
lect. All the good horses, too, like all the
good men, were off to the war, and as for
carriages, they had most decidedly fallen
into a state of inocuous desuetude. There
was obviously nothing for us to do, there
fore, but to gather together all the broken
down old horses and dilapidated vehicles
in the vicinity, which we somehow managed
to hitch together with pillow harnesses, bits
Of rope, straps, etc. With these improvieed
coaches drawn up into line, we began the
process OF loading on our victims, and when
they were all slowed away 1t was a motley
looking procession, / can assure you. Even
the sound of farewells and the sight oi
weeping eyes could not blind us TO the
humorous aspect Of the scene. You must
remember that We were all pretty young
fellows in 1858. The civil war was fought
by men whose average age was only 2S
Well, we made our way slowly amidst tear
and laughter to Rodney, where We embarked
for Vickeburg. Upon arriving here the
young women were taken before the provost
marshal. who put them on parole combining
them TO the limits OF the city. Most OF
them had friends in town with whom they
chose to remain, and suitable quarters were
found for the rest.
THE reason for the whole TRANSACTION