The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-10-20
A CIVIL WAR EPISODE
THE RAID UPON PORT GIBSON AND
WHAT CAUSED IT.

and Were Carried to Vicksburg
and There Held nv Hostages.
II was mixed up in one little unre-
corded event Of the civil war;" said
General B., "that was interesting from
its very unusualness, and which, as l
look back upon it, seems strangely pic
turesque. We We're attached to what
was known as the marine brigade, Il lit
tie feet of II 'tinclad' river steamboats,
that piled up and down the Mississippi
river after the surrender Of Vicksburg.
The term 'tinclad,' by the way, is some
what misleading, as it is not remotely
connected with the white metal, but sig
nifes rather boats heavily planked with
oak for the purpose Of protecting them
somewhat from the ravages of bullets.
Zone day our little battalion Of four
companies was ordered to steam down
the river, disembark at Rodney, march
to Port Gibson and there consult seal
ed orders in regard to further proceed
ings. Imagine our surprise upon read
ing the instructions that we were eX-
. RCSIOu ~ uptAA NAu SAll DuSA w
Vicksburg as prisoners so 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 ia
miliar with the town, we set about our
bizarre and not too agreeable task. We
first established headquarters at the
residence Of a prominent Confederate
Judge.
"Then different squads were sent out
to call at the homes of the young won
en- and escort them to the place Of rem
devious. The instructions were that
they must report at headquarters with
in 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 q mystery to us as to them was
that they were to be taken to Vicks-
burg as prisoners 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
dLllCIS LIN DlobHCISs 1uL liz llCluCAL
had to be accepted as belonging to the
fortunes Of war, and at the end of two
hours 40 Of the so, attended by anx
ious friends and relatives, were at the
rendezvous. Mercy was implored for
one delinquent. 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 follow their example in gracefully
submitting to the inevitable. The result
was that before the hour was up the
last'fair prisoner had put in an appear
ance, though in a very defiant mood.
-"Our troubles, however, by no means
ended here. Indeed, they were hardly
fairly begun. The next question was
how to transport orr beautiful captives
to Rodney, q distance Of some 20 miles,
over roads that were in a frightful con-
dition from the devastation Of war and
consequent neglect. All the good
horses, too, like all the good men, We're
off to the war, and as for carriages,
they had most decidedly fallen into a
state of innocuous desuetude.
"There was obviously nothing for us
to do, therefore, but to gather together
all the broken down old horses and d.
lapidated vehicles in the vicinity,
which we somehow managed to hitch
together with plow harnesses, bits Of
rope, straps, etc. With these improvised
coaches, drawn up into line, began the
process of loading OF our victims, and
when they were all slowed away 1t
was a motley looking procession, l can
assure you. Even the sound Of fare
wells and the sight of weeping eyes
could not blind us to the humorous as
pect of the scene You must remember
that we were all pretty young fellows
in 1868. The civil war was fought by
men whose average age was only %.
swell, we made Il way slowly,
amid tears and laughter, to Rodney,
where we embarked for Vicksburg.
Upon arriving there tie 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 the town with
whom they chose to remain, and suit
able quarters we're found for the rest.
'The eas for the whole ,transac-
ton then transpired. It seemed that
some northern young women school
teachers had been taken prisoners by
the C~onfederates and were at that mo-
ment in their camps, where they were
forced to wash and mend for the SOL
diers and perform other mental serv-
ices. These Confederate young women
were, therefore, to be held as hostages
until the northern women were re-
leased.
"There was little delay In the ex-
change, and we had our visitors in
Vicksburg only 30 days. They We're,
however, very gay, delightful days.
Yankee officers and Confederate maid
ems intermingled socially, and the &C.
%nuaintance 50 rldelY forced upOn the