The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-13
A GHOST or WAR
By " QUAE

u SECURITY we u ere We'll away lEUIu y ~
and its alarms ard horrors. and the rank
and file were glad of the rest. SO. too,
were the officers, except the major Al
rare intervals in the army during the
civil war you found a soldier who delight
ed in killing. He was a man who would
have committed murder at home but for
his fear of the law. He enlisted that he
might satisfy his cravings for bloOdshed
and fear no punishment Such man
was always an outlaw in his own COM
pany and had neither chum nor tent
mate. 1t is soldiers duty to kill, but
in war killing may sometimes mean muir
der The major would have been out
lawed as a private soldier. He was a
man who thirsted for blood. II did not
take US long to find him out, and we hat
ed him as a man, a soldier and an OF
ficer. There came into our camp one day
half-witted young man, the son Of a
mOuntaineer living three or four miles
away. His only object was 10 satisfy his
curiosity, but the major wanted vic
tim. He had the boy arrested as a spy,
and after a drum-head court-martial,
there was a hanging. When the mother
and sister of the dead came down to cry
out against the mOnstrous injustice, they
escorted out of camp. A Union man who
had been in hiding for weeks in a cave
In the mountains came down TO offer his
services. We had him at one of the out
posts for three hours before taking him
into camp. and his honest face and frank
speech satisfied US that he was what he
claimed to be. As soon as he reached
camp, however, he was arrested as a spy.
and even before his trial he was warn
ed by the major to prepare for death.
There were Union women and children
within two or three miles of US who could
have testified for the prisoner, but they
We're not permitted to. His court-martial
was rushed through, and he was hung
as a spy.
As / said the enemy sent down a de-
tachment Of regular troops now and then
to feel us. There would be a sharp Skin
mish, perhaps, with half dozen killed
or wounded, and that would be the end OF
it. On one occasion, after one of these
attacks, the major led two companies of
US in pursuit Of the retreating force Not
being aware of the pursuit, the fifty men
comprising the force sent against us, had
halted after an hours march and most
OF them were bathing in a river when we
came up. We had them at our mercy and
could have shot every man down. Our
orders were to kill The major rode up
and down and ordered and stOrmed and
cursed, but not one of us would fire
upon the unarned and helpless men
With arms in their hands and opposing
US it would have been war; coming up
on them as we did it would have been
murder. Most of them. swan to the
other bank and escaped. and the few
we did capture had to he treated as
prisoners of war. In revenge, the ma
ior put every company officer under
arrest and smirched our good name
as far as he possibly could.
There were few guerrillas in our
Observation-Disclosures who shot a fOrager or
run off a horse row and then. As 4 mat
| ter of fact these men were outlaWed by
both sides and preyed on both alike. Al
any rate. the few scattered families in the
| mountain coves had no influence over
| them. but were continually harrassed and
| robbed. One day it occurred TO the major
| that the way to get rid of the guerri!las
was TO get rid of the inhabitants, and We
were ordered out to clear the country.
| Eleven families were driven out and their
| cabins burned and crops destroyed. In
| the last cabin we found a Confederate SOL
| der He was a young man under twenty
wears of age. who had been wounded in
! battle and given a furloUgh TO come home.
/ As he was regularly enlisted and in Con-
! federate uniform he was no more or no
! less than a prisoner of war, but the major
bounced upon him with the ardOr of a
hungry vulture. He was charged with
being a SPY, and 4 drum-head couTt-mar-
ttial sent him TO his death within twenty
| four hours There was disgust among the
officers and Indignation among the men,
but the major was all powerful. Not a
soldier in the command would place the
moose about the wounded mans neck and
the teamster who ola it for pay had 10
/ leave camp the same day. The mother
did not appear, but when the news of the
execution reached her the sister came into
/ camp. She was d girl of about seventeen
poorly dressed and without beauty, but
her face bore a look (which no man has
ever forgotten. The major tried to avoid
her but she forced her way past the SEN
tineI into his tent ard called upon God
to curse him. Those who were with him
and heard her said that she spoke without
excitement and her language was that Of
the poor and lowly, but the biOOdthirsty
major trembled under her words. She
no words in reply. Then she turned ana
passed out of the tent. As she did so the
major sprang up and ordered the sentinel
to detain her. What he intended doing
can not say, but he probably meant to
hold her prisoner for a few days AT least.
Tie sentinel grasped tire girl with one
hand and she grasped the musket at the
same time. There was a brief struggle,
the mUsket was accidentally discharged,
/ and the girl lay dead on the ground.
/ There was such excitement in camp over
/ the occurrence that Maj. Bell was alarm
ed He could not send her body home tp
be buried because her home had been
burned and her mother was a Wanderer
over the fields, but he was driven 10 give
/ il interment beside that Of the brother.
, and that in respectful manner.
/ For a week after the burial the major
+ was rather quiet. While not directly re-
I spOnsible for the girls death. he must
| have realized that there was a bitter feel
/ ing against him among officers and men,
and perhaps he feared 10 be reported.
After few days a scout brought the
/ news that he had discovered the hiding
I place Of number Of guerrillas, and the
major was alert again. So anxious was
I he 10 make good haul that he ordered
/ out a company and took command Of II
+ In person. We left camp at dark 10 make
march Of eight miles over a mountain
( road. We were 10 surprise the guerrillas
/ as they slept, ad the order was 70 give
| no quarter. II was II o'clock before We
! reached the vicinity OF the cave. and then
/ six Of US. accompanied by the major,
( went forward on a scout The moon rose
( as We were making our way along the
+ left bank of a'mOuntain creek. The path
! led US up on 10 a plateau a hundred feet
/ above the creek. and there We halted
while the major went forward d few
I PAGES alone He was standing in the fun
moonlight, peering into the darkness a
Z hundred feet beyond him, and there was
I the silence Of death upon the SPOT. when
/ We caught sight Of a white figure on the
| far side Of the open space. Almost as We
: got our first glimpse OF il the figure devel-
oped into the form Of a woman. / can't
say that she was Old or young The form
/ was clear enough, but the face was not
II did not come toward Us as a woman
/ walks. but drifted over the ground Ike a
shadow. There was no sound OF footsteps
{ no one cried Out-uo one moved That