Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-28

1 at fault; now ] do not, and I believe
/ that in his generous nature he shouldered
= the blame Of s,l oordinates, which was not
i Justly his own. IN this I may be mis-
1 taken. for I would not wrong a brother
l Confederate for my life, if I know my
self. But surviving Confederates are rap
4 idly passing over the river, and. soon all
1 those who participated at Spring Hill and
! Franklin win have gone. Many are still
4 wing. and lis matter should be settled
before ali are zone.
STEPHEN D. LEE.
i ---------..----a-
4 VETERANS "REMINISCENCES.
1 E:xpericnces of nm Expressmnn Dur-
ing the War.
/ IN. s. Woodward is one of the best
known expressmen in the South, and in
/ every sense a veteran OF the express ser
! vice He is at present route agent Of the
Southern Express Company at Knox
/ Vile, Tenn, which point has been his
/ headquarters TOR a great many years.
Entering the service Of the Adams ES-
press Company during the "troublous
times Of g. in the section where the
/. contending armies were most active, his
! experiences were very interesting and
/ ofton thrilling. Mr.. Woodwardss forty
! years Of service in the express business
7 III many capacities has Won for him the
| highest esteem Of expressmen wherever
/ he has been known.-Editor)
About S o'clock on the morning Of Mo-
| vember 18th, forty years ago QS6e), while
! at the breakfast table, I received a 'hur-
| nv calf to take out the run of a messen-
/ ger reported sick, to Dalton. Ga,
! While my brother was connected with
| the express service, had never been in
| side Of an express car, and did not know
what was meant by a run; however,
rushed to the city Office as directed, Sc
cured safe and money. packages, and was
| Off to the trai11 where found a car hea-
| Willy loaded with local matter.
was given way-billS and was recelv-
| ing hasty instructions about the work
on the road, when the train arrived with
run from Lynchburg, Va, making close
connection. Considerable matter was
| transferred, and signed the connect
| ing messengers book without the least
+! idea of what received.
| It had been impressed upon me that /
must not carry anything past an Office
! to which addressed, and was excited
| as went to work getting up the matter
| for Loudon, Tenn, the first office of inn
portance, and for which Office had
! about 1000 pounds Of tobacco In heavy
! boxes. was scared, fearing would
! carry some of it by, that I began to
| throw it out the door before the train
stopped.
When we had left Loudon some miles
! behind us, and I had recovered my
| wind I discovered that In getting out
| the Loudon goods I had uncovered a
somewhat peculiar looking box. It was
OF dove-tailed joints, and sealed with
wax impressions over screw heads sunk
en- below the surface. The marking on
| the box, read ".R- T. Wilson, Commits
sary Agent G. S. A., Loudon, Tenn"
! (now wealthy banker of New York
| city,. The box also bore certain mystic
rious characters that resembled capital
letters E and X, which 1 did not under
stand. was in deep trouble at once.
and, rapidly running over my way-bills,
found under them a slip memorandum
which called for half million dollars
! for Wilson, Loudon, Tenn
| It was cold day, and no fire in the
! car, but by this time large drops Of per-
| spiration were falling from my nose and
| chin My mind was so occupied with
| the oversight, and consequent RESPONSE
bility that I could think of nothing else,
and gave but little attention to other du-
! ties. Before arriving at Dalton 1 obtain
ed a large mail sack and put my valua-
said nothing to the agent at Dalton
about my mistake but slept that night
! on the half million dollars and my safe
| in the car. By the time we reached Lou
| don the next morning, where | put OF
| the trouble box, the failure of the money
| to arrive had been wired to Richmond.
| Va, and the wires were being freely
| used to trace it. The agent at Knox
| vile, who was responsible for the trou-
h Ia had roT -he NV
ceipt book duly signed.
In those days railroading in the South
was as dangerous as being a soldier at
| the front, and the express messenger Of
! the present day cannot possibly appre-
| ciate the hardships endured by messen-
gers In the South In the early sixties.
Now the messenger works in a splendid
car, well lighted and heated, running
over steel rails so smoothly that he sits
| in his chair to write with scarcely a JOS
| tie. Then we had miserable ramshackle
cars run on Streak Of rust and right
of way" and serious accidents were of
!. almost daily occurrence. My car in the
winter Of 18e2-63 had lost the doors on
one side, with cracks in the floor large
though to drop your pencil through, and
no heating stove They were colder than
modern refrigerator cars. II we made a
| round trip without running off the track
we were all in high spirits, and the off,
| Gals came out to congratulate US at ter
ninals At one time that winter I dou-
bled for a week without leaving my car.
The road was broken by the burning Of
! the bridges by the loyal Union men OF
East Tennessee, who did so to prevent
the carrying Of Confederate troops,
which was the principal business Of rail-
reads near the seat OF war. I was ex-
posed to almost every form Of railroad
accidents known, including collisions and
falling through bridges, but while some
what bruised UP, was never seriously
hurt A special Providence seemed to
preside over the destinies OF wartime
messengers.
Shortly after. began to run as mes
senger was startled one day by the en-
trance into my car Of a mag nidcent look
ing Confederate general, who bowed.
took his seat on a box, and coolIy sur
veyed the situation At sight knew him
! to be General John G. Breckinridge, COM
mander OF the department., then under
martial law. and former Vice-P President
Of the United States. 81 had been a clerk
! In the Office Of The chief quartermaster
| on his staff. MY instructions were not
to allow any but railroad people IN my
car had heard this General called the
prince OF ntlem on, and concluded to
test the matter by calling his attention
to the rule. He smiled very sweetly on
fl,a hnv Yy1psaeY 1gnr$ n nd said 5ha h0ned II