Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-01-17

~ V83NMzf1SdW was born Oh Sept.
IzgSNM "a y 16, 1924, in Shen-
I.AE-N an d oah County,
60 Virginia. He was
miller by trade, and worked in mill
until the latter part of 1861. when he
became scout In the Union army.
He was in no regular battle. His work
was to discover where the enemy was,
and in what numbers. Sometimes he
varied this by leading parties to cap
ture small detached bodies of the enc
my. OF course, he was often In peril.
He was on one occasion sitting by the
road side, when four Confederate sol
diers suddenly rode up, recognized him,
and said: Hello! what are you doing
here?" He had the presence of mind
to reply, Waiting for the balance of
our men to come up" There were no
more men to come up, but there was
man blowing in field near By, and just
at that moment the heads of his horses
appeared over the hill. The Confeder-
ates thought the Union troops were
coming, turned their horses, and away
they went.
He was taken prisoner twice. The
first time the Confederates kept him
about four days, and then lie profited
by an opportunity to walk off. He had
not gone far when he encountered 300
Confederate cavalry. He was dressed
In Confederate uniform; they did not
know him, and so he escaped. He lived
at that time about four miles from
Winchester, and had been home but a
few days, when he was captured the
second time. He did not know there
were any Confederates about, as the
Union forces held Winchester. A squad
Of Confederates turned up there about
midnight and TOOK him to Harrisburg
jail.
There he remained about seven weeks,
with six rebel deserters. He proposed
to them to get out of there. He found
they were willing, and one day he
slipped knife into his pocket at meal
time. One of his schoolmates hearing
of his being ia Jail came to see him.
His schoolmate was a Confederate lieu
tenant. Moss asked this man to get
him 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 saw
out of the knife he had 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 the jailer, and so they
were handcuffed and hobbled with bail
and chain, and at last were fastened to
staples in the floor. Meanwhile Moss
had found an old wagon spoke, which
he hid under loose board 10 the floor.
This he used to draw the staples from
the floor. He then replaced the staples
in the floor and the spoke under the
board. This done, the prisoners re-
sumed their singing and saving, keep
ing the Jailer ignorant Of how they got
loose. At night they were secured to
the floor again, only to go through the
same operation and be loose again.
BY and by they got everything ready
for their escape, and were waiting for
night to come. The jailer came In that
evening and Informed them that their
sentence of death had been confirmed
and that they would be shot the next
day at O'Clock. Moss replied: Thank
you, sir" The jailer said: IF you
don't mind, I'll put a guard in with
you" Moss replied: please, sir, you
had better put in two" The TALLER
withdrew without answering. Night
came on, and 1t was agreed that the
largest man was to go out first. There
fore Moss, being the smallest, was the
last one out.
Their escape was effected success
fully, and was not discovered till morn
ing Then troops went In hot pursuit
of them, surrounded the wood they
were in, and set 1t on FIRE. Moss lay
still until the fire was very close, when
he and his companions scratched the
leaves from around them, set them on
fire, and thus the fire was made to pass
over the woods, without the Confeder-
ates finding them. They waited until
dark and then started. They Travelled
mostly by night and had nothing to eat
for the first two days. The third day
they came to house where Moss got
one pie. They got nothing more to eat
for four days. They were then within
ten miles of Winchester. There they
got some bread and meat. Moss often
= h.
They reported the next day t0Gen. Mil
roy In Winchester.
Moss was sent once from Martins
burg after a man who was thought to
be carrying a valuable dispatch. He
overlook him at Bunker Hill, not far
from Winchester, and searched him
closely. making him even take off his
boots and socks without finding the
dispatch. Then he examined the saddle
In vain. He was about to let him go
when the man, being OH of humor,
said: 'D-n 1t, you had better search
my horses tall" Moss gave the knot
In the horses tail pull, and out came
the dispatch.
Moss sometimes played tricks on his
brother scouts. He and two other scouts
came into camp one night cold and
hungry. The other scouts had got some
sausage. He offered them 81 for
enough for his supper. They said:
'No; go and steal it, as we did" He
watched his opportunity, and when
they got the sausage fried he took 1t.
He went TO party once where there
were four Confederate soldiers. He
surrounded the house and searched Il,
but did not find them. He noticed four
women that sat very close together and
never got up. He went and took hold
of one of them, saying; LET us have
reel" pulled her up, and there were
the soldiers under the bench the WON
EN- were sitting on,-Chieago Inter
Ocean.
A Wartime Duel.
II heah somebody talkin' bout folks
aghtin duels crost de water" said an
old Georgia darby "but N.Y. my, .dsx
dean fight no dueis now Ike dey use
terri
Ever witness one?' he was asked.
MANY one, sub. But dat wuz be-
70 de war, en- endurin' of IT,"
Well, tell us about EN-"
We'll, sub, des got time enough ter
tell you bout one. whar my old mars
ter wuz de leader You see, he wuz
cap'n in de war"