Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1901-11-21

Il got timely warning and turned
back.
Soon the Lexington Office called
Frankfort and sent into my ear the
military secrets of our then nearest
enemy, General Ward, whom Gener.
al Boyle was stirring up 10 drive
Morgan out. Ward was al Lexing.
ton, and wired his subordinate a,
Frankfort, General Finnell, at some
length. Said he:
I wish you to move the forces
at Frankfort on the line of the Lex
ington railroad immediately, and
.laave the-cars-f follow and take them
up as soon as possible. Further
orders will await them ut Midway.
l will, in three or four hours, move
forward on the Georgetown road.
Will have most of my men mounted.
Morgan left Versailles this morning
at 5 O'Clock with 800 men, on the
Midway road, moving in the direc-
tion of Georgetown.
Our position and intentions be-
ing known exactly in the enemy's
camp, Morgan directed me to send
a despatch that would throw Gener-
al Ward on another track. Dating
the message at Midway, and signing
the name of Woolums, the operator,
rushed this startling information
to General Ward of Lexington:
Morgan, with ! 200 men, came
within a mile of here and took the
old Frankfort road, as we suppose.
This is reliable.
In about ten minutes Lexington
again called Frankfort, and | an
swered the call. 1t was our old
friend, General Ward, talking to
General Finnell. He repeated to his
subordinate my bogus despatch
about Morgan and his 1000 men on
the way to Frankfort, and said it was
reliable; hence the regiment ordered
from Frankfort to Midway, in his
first despatch, had better be recall
ed. | receipted for this message in
the name of Frankfort, and manufac-
tured message to confirm the orig
lnai false news sent to General Ward.
| then waited till the circuit was oc-
cupied and broke in excitedly, tell
ing those at the keys that / must
have the wires, and called Lexing-
ton. Lexington answered with as
much spirit as | called, and / said:
Tell General Ward our pickets
Just driven in. Great excitement.
Pickets say force of enemy must be
1000. "'FRAxKpopr
Morgan had decided to be off at
once for Georgetown. | ran a secret
ground connection, and opened the
circuit on the Lexington end. This
was a hint to Lexington that the
Frankfort operator had skedaddled
or that Morgan had DESTROYED the
wires. We galloped on to George
town. l went at once to the tele-
graph Office, and found the operator
with his instrument removed. He
said that the wires were down and
that he had sent them to Lexington.
Immediately tested the line by ap-
plying my tongue to the wires and
found it o. K. Calling a guard, /
turned the operator over to their
mercy. Then | put in my instru-
ment, and, after listening to the Yam
KEGS talking their secrets for an
hour or two, | broke in on the con-
versation, signing myself Federal
operator, as | had done before, with
success. The game was becoming
fascinating. All the dispatches of
importance taken off by me or. sent
out were copied in duplicate for my
own and General Morgan S files, and
| can quote them in full. first op-
ened on Lexington, and said to the
operator
Keep mum. / am in the Office
reading by the sound of my magnet,
in the dark. | crawled in when no
one saw me. Morgan s men are here.
GEORGETOWN.
Then Georgetown and Lexington
talked, until Cincinnati broke in:
ITO Georgetown; Keep cool;
don't be discovered. About how
many Of Morgan's men are there?
LEXINGTON.
To Lexington ] don t know.
/ did not notice, as Morgan s opera
tor was asking me about my instru-
ments. / told him / had sent them
70 Lexington. He said, ''D-n the
luck, and went out
'GDoRGErowS.
To Georgetown Be on hand
and keep us posted. LEXINGTON.
To Lexington I will do so.
Tell General Ward / will stay up all
night If be wishes. 'GEoRGErowy.'
Cincinnati then took the circuit
and asked If there were any Confed-
crates at Georgetown. / answered:
Yes; Morgan is here.