Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-01-02
A civil. WAR SCOUT.
A Quick Answer That Drove Away n
Quartet of Confederate Troopers.
Adventures of an Escape From Jnia
md Death.

Adventures of nm Escape From JniA
and Death.
Daniel Moss, one of General Phil Shcr-
idan's scouts in the civil war, was born
on Sept. 16. 1924, in Shenandoah coun
ty, Va. He was miller by trade and
worked in mill until the latter part of
1861. when he became scout in the I'm
ion army He was in no regular battle.
His work was to discover where the enc
my was and in what numbers. Some
times he varied this by leading parties to
capture small detached bodies of the enc
my. or course he was often in peril.
lie was on one occasion sitting by the
roadside when four Confederate soldiers
said: "IIcllo. What are you doing here q
He had the presence of mind to reply.
wanting for the balance of our men 10
come up There were no men to conc
up, but there was a man blowing IN a
field near by, and just Mt that moment
the heads of his horses appeared over the
hill. The Confcdcratcs thought the Tn
ion troops were coming, turned their
horses, and away they vents
He was taken prisoner twice. The first
time the Confcdcrates kept him about
four days, and then he protited by an ops
portunity to walk off He had i.@s gone
far when lie encountered 300 Conietler-
ate cavalry. He was dressed in n Con-
fcdcratc uniform: they did not know him,
and so hccscapcd. He lived Mt that time
about four miles from Winchester and
had been home but n few days when he
WAS captured the second time. He did
not know there were any Confederatc5
about as the Union forces held Winches-
ter n SQUAD of Confederates turned up
there about midnight and took him to
Harrisburg jail.
There he remained about seven weeks.
with six Confederate dcscrters. lie pro-
posed to them to get ont of there. lie
found they were willing, and one day he
slipped n knife into his pocket at meal
time One OF his schoolmates, hearing of
his being in JAIL came to see him. His
schoolnatc was u Confederate lieutenant.
| Moss asked this man to get him Il file.
The lieutenant replied that he would do
so on the condition that if the Yankees
ever got him into prison he Moss would
/ get him out Moss promised. and the
file was sent to him in plug OF tobacco.
\ Moss made j, saw out Of the knife he had
4 hidden by filing teeth in the back. With
this he sawed off the iron bars of the Jail
windows The prisoners danced and
| sang TO drown the noise Of saving and
filing This provoked tho jailcr. and 81
! they we're handcuffcd and hobblcd with
! ball and chain and at last were fastened
to staples in the floor. Meanwhile Moss
| had found an old wagon spoke. which he
| hid under a loose board in the floor. This
he used Ia draw the staples from the
floor He then replaced the staples in the
floor and the spoke under the board
This done, the prisoners resumed their
singing aud saving. keeping the jailer is
1. norant Of licw they got loose. At night
i they were secured to the floor again, only
to 80 through the same operation and
be loose again.
BY and By they got everything read!
for their escape and We're waiting fol
4 night to come. The jniler came in tina
evening and informed them that theil
sentence Of death had been confirmed ant
that they would be shot the next day n
4 3 O'clock Moss replied, THANK You
a SIR The jailer said. If you don't mind
4 Eli put a guard in with YOU Moss re
piled. "Pleasc. sir, you had better put IL
4 Two The iailer withdrew without an
swering. Night came on, and it wa
agreed that the largest man was to s,
ont first Therefore Moss. being thu
smallest, was the last one out.
Their escape Was effected successful.
and was not discovered till morning
Then troops went in pursuit OF them, sur
. rounded the wood they were in and set j
4 on FIRE Moss lay still until the fire wa
very close, when he and his companion
scratched the leaves from around them
: I ~.
made to pass over the woods without tn
Confederates finding them. They waitc
until dark and then started They trav
, eled mostly By night aud had nothing I
eat for the first two days The third da
they came to house where Moss got on
pie. They got nothing more to eat 10
four days They were then within te
miles of Winchester. There they 20
some bread and meat. Moss often sal
it was the best meal he ever ate The
reported the next day to General Mi
roy's in Winchester.
Moss was sent once from Martinsbur
after man who was Thought to be cal
rying valuable dispatch. He overtoo
!. him at Bunker hill. not far from VII
chester. and searched him closely. NAL
! ing him even take off his boots and socl,
: without finding the dispatch. Then b
, examined the saddle i'll vain. He wa
: about to let him go when the'man. bein
out of humor, said. Hang it. you la
J better search my horses tall" Mos
gave the knot in the horses tail a pul
and out came the dispatch.
: Moss sometimes played tricks on h
:. brother scouts. He and two other scout
: came into camp one night cold and hui
CRY. The other scouts had got some 81,
: sage. He offered them s. for enough +,
n his supper They said. no: go and STE
: it Ds we did" He watched his oppor.l
nifty, and when they got the sausage frie
u he took it.
Ie Moss had Il horse that could outtray
e anything he had eyer seen. 1t made !
W halt for fence or ditch. He lay ont
d doors many night. and his horse, turns
e loose. would not 60 away, but won
le come and lie down by his side, and
h was sometimes afraid it would roll oy
i on him. New Yorl, Sun.
lc
I Boer Apology.
- "Soine years ago said the Philad,