The National tribune., 1901-02-07
CAPTURE OF MAYSYILLE.
An Episode in the History of the 7th Ohio
Cav.
Not shot was fired,
And the bugles were dead.
AS our feet to the rnmparts


Not shot was fired,
And the bugles were dead.
AS our feet to the rnmparts
We hurried.
We were organizing, equipping. mount
ing, rationing and drilling the 18th Clio
Cav. at Ripley, o.. in 1862. The CLINT
of saber and the sheen OF trappings when
on battalion drill made brilliant pageant
for the onlookers from the city. Keen
eyes from the Kentucky shore were watch
ing the progress of the manuvering Buck
eyes, and jealous Romeos made sighting
remarks and limited at dropping feathers
when we should meet the real thing. the
trained troopers of Dixie. Fully onc-hnlf
of our squadron were beardless boys;
hence. along with other war material, il
was highly important for us to mobilize
good stock of courage, for right soon
a test was coming.
One bright morning there was an alarm
from Maysville, q few miles up the river,
The shadow of the dial increased with
every hour of the day. Messengers from
the up-country ''water-holes" galoped
serially to our headquarters with such
drastic, Paul Revere, sink-Or-swim warn
ings that every young hero busily swal-
lowed his Adams apple and laid in an
enormous stock of suspense. All the in
coming messages were to the effect that
the country round about Maysyille was
ates.
Our first real, genuine, soul-tingling
"boOts and saddles shook the Ripley
ramparts and echoed off over the Ken
tucky battlements. The bugler had climbed
up in the old Fairgrounds amphitheater,
the better to shake everything loose on
''the kopje and the veldt,' and the shrill
notes sent every paladin for his traps and
fxings. Only about one-half of us had
a
reys, landuas, coupes, coaches and omni-
buses were Communicated" for the occa-
sion, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon
we were well on our way to the invest
ment of the Kentucky Gibraltar.
This was our first degree. No one as
yet had ridden the goat" Of actual SER
vice, but every pennon was now on the
road to glory, with our gonfalons lowering
about the majestic form of Maj. McIn-
tire, like so many birds of promise. Some
time in the night we arrived at Aberdeen,
martial hamlet directly opposite the
point of attack, where Cupid has knocked
the persimmon through all the ages, most
ly adroitly-and irrespective.
Right here was quickly sorted out the
''old guard" to take the initiative and
cross the Ohio. Those of US who were
selected for the first boat Tor scow) men
tally consulted Jeremiah, remembered Ma
aboard.
We poled our vessels into the jaws of
anticipation, and just as our forlorn hope
thudded against the bank the town-clock
of the doomed city was on the stroke OF
midnight. The greatest fnesse and Sc
crecy had prevailed, all the orders having
been given and repeated in whispers. Not
n shot was fired, and the bugies were
dead, as our feet ''to the ramparts we
hurried"
The stiffness was so profound that ones
own breathing interfered with the prevail
ing concert of stiffness. We were well up
into the beleaguered "dorgas'' of the
town-and had met with nothing worse
than loud, persistent and ever-recurring
heartbeLts. We bent our bodies, swal-
lowed our gorge, trailed arms, and contin-
ued the palpitating ascent of the limestone
butte on which the copper-distilled me-
tropolis commands the surrounding pri
maries.
But where was the enemy? At the
turn of every successive street corner we
fully expected to encounter his pickets.
We were beginning to hope we might not
find him-at least not before morning
when we distinctly heard not half a block
away that peculiar thud and rattle which
accompanies ''order arms and the fixing
of bayOnets. Ali then it was infantry we
were to meeti
One more twist at the adams apple"
and we plunged ahead, only to be halted
again with ominous alternating whispers.
The significant clicking was now so close
that surely it would not be long until
they either volleyed or charged, and for
a few seconds / took account of the mis-
demeanors and shortcomings in my 1S
years of checkered past, when-a light
fared out not 80 feet from us, and a citi-
zen came boldly to US, carrying a lantern
the slides of which when in process of
lighting had furnished the portentous
sounds we had been hearing.
We talked! Shades of Richard and all
the Richmonds, how we did interrogate
that citiZeni Had he seen the enemy? II
so, where and when? and how many?
What part Of the town were the Confed-
crates occupying? Had they any artil-
lery? etc, etc.
If that worthy member Of the board of
public welfare is yet living he will bear
the writer out in the assertion that the
rays of his lantern never Lit up such
of supreme happiness as illum-
med the faces of those amateur soldiers
when he informed them that there were
no COnfederates in the town, had been
none there and no likelihood Of there be- |
ng any, unless they should steal in one
,y one to see their sweethearts.
After patroling the streets sufficiently to |
rerify the truth of his words we marched |
back, and met the main army broke |
up the concert of silence, dispelIed the |
gloom and discharged the hearse.
Right soon we were ''trekking back"
n the direction of Ripley, at which point |
we arrived with the martial figure of our |
beloved Maj. Mcintyre in its entirety, and |
with the complete quota of pennons, guild |
,ns, gonfalons and battlefiags.
In the aftertime our regiment saw ser
vice from Kentucky to Florida, tilted in |
he tourney with Morgan and his ken |
lucky Cavaliers" and entered the lists |
With both Duke and Cluke; jousted with |
Pegram, and stood on the hearth of hell |
while confronting Forrest; encountered |
doughty Joe Wheeler, and exchanged COM |
1lments with Longstreet and his veterans |
n the VALLEY Forge" of East Tennessee; |
helped to form that pillar of fire which |
~ day and night forced its way South |
ward, circling Dalton, beaconing Buz-
ards RoOst and Illuminating Orchafd |
Knob, lighting up Lookout Mountain.
Mission Ridge, roasting Reseca,
Burnt Hickory, engulfing Ken
saw, and finally holocausting Atlanta.
on our own trail, we carried the |
faggots aloft once again, light
ng Forrest and his Rough Riders (the
genuine article, the original Jacob Town
end" with the name blown in the bottle).
'yer canyon and crag clear back to the
contested fords of Duck River. Here
md line of fire stretched through wood
f,z1.