Arizona republican., 1899-06-24
PRETTY GIRL PRISONERS
Iatere sling Story of inc Capture of
 Fifty Confederate Girls.


 recorded event of the civil war said
 General B.. that was interesting
 from it's very unusualness, and which
 as I look back upon it, seems strange | ly picturesque. We were attached to
 what was known as the marine bri-
 gades, a little fleet of twelve 'tinclad'
 river steamboats that piled up and down the Mississippi after the surren- | der of Vicksburg. The term 'tinclad, :
 by the way, is somewhat misleading.
 as it is not remotely connected with
 the white metal, but signifies rather boats hea vi,y planked with cak for the purpose Of protecting them somewhat from the ravages of bullets
 One day our little battalion Of four companies was ordered to steam down the river, disembark at Rodney, march to Gibson and there consult sealed or ders in regard to further proceedings Imagine our surprise upon reading the instructions to find tEat we were eX- pected 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 headquar- ters at the residence of a prominent confederate judge. Then different 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 re- port 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 a mys- tery to us as to them) was that they were to be taken to Vicksburg as pris- oners of war, but were on no account to suffer any discomfort or indignity.
 ''Of course, there was great weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth from tender mothers. loving sisters and irate fathers and brothers. But the in cident had to be accepted as belong ing to the fortunes of 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 implcre1 for the one de- linquent An additional hour was granted, and at their own suggestion several of the young women were dis patched to her home to persuade her to fo,lcx their example in gracefully submitting to the inevitable. The re- suit was that before the hour was up the last fair pI isoner put in an appear ance, though in very defiant mcod-
 Our trouble. however. iby no means ended here. Indeed, they were hardly fairly begun. The next question was how to transport our beautiful cap tives to Rodney a distance of some twenty miles, over reads that were in frightful condition from the devasta- tions of war and consequent neglect. All the good horses. too, like al the good men, were eff to the war. and as for carriages, they had most decidedly fallen into state of innocuous desue- tude. There was obviosly nothing for us to do. therefore. but to gather to- gether all the broken dClxn old horses and dilapidated vehicles in the vicin- ity, which we somehow managed to hitch together with plC,w harness, bits of rope StraCs. etc. With these inn provised coaches drawn up into line, began the process of loading up our victims. and when they were all slowed
  sion, can assure you. Even the sound | 2f farewells and the sight Of weeping 1 eyes could not blind us to the humor- JUS side of the scene. You must must i remember that we were all pretty | young fellows in '63. The civil war vas fought by men whose average age | vas only 23. Well, we made our way | slowly amidst tears and laughter to | Rodney where we embarked for VickS- | )urg Upon arriving here the young | women were taken before the provost | marshall who put them on parole, con- ming them to the limits of the city. Nest of them had friends in town with | whom they chose to remain and suit bic quarters were found fOr%he rest.
 The reason for the whole transac- ion then transpired It seemed that ome northern young women school eachers had been taken prisoners by he cOnfederates and were at thrat mo nent in their camps, where they were breed to wash and mend for the sol Hers, and perform other menial ser ices. These confederate young women yere. therefore. to be held as hostages lnti1 the northern women were re- eased. There was little delay in the xchange. and we had our fair visitors n Vicksburg only thirty days. Yankee fficers and confederate maidens inter mingled socially, and the acquaint- noes so rude,y forced upon the beau- iful southerners proved. in some in tances, 2 mutual pleasure. I could, indeed, point to more than one TO- lantic marriage that was the direct utcome of our raid upon Fort Gib- 0n. n.'-Philadelphia Enquirer.