The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-09-27
General PaImer'S
Close Shave
n ENERAL WILLIAM J. PALMER.
II who recently gave to the people
OF Cnlnradn Snrf.1r.s :. heanfffI.I

n ENERAL WILLIAM J. PALMER,
u who recently gave to the people
OF Colorado Springs a beautiful
park, has had one Of the stormiest ca
Ieers Of any man living.
When the civil war broke out young
Palmer was the secretary Of J. Edg X
thompson. president of the Pennsyi-
vania railroad. This company was the
rival OF the Baltimore a. Ohio for east
and west traffic, and its spirit was -
intensely patriotic that its whole al
minlstrative staff, except Mr.. Th0mp-
son. who was a Quaker entered the
army. Thomas A. Scott first Vice
president, became assistant secretary
OF war in charge of railroad transpoF
tatfon, and young Palmer, who was
born on the border. became one Of the
most daring and efficient spies in the
service of the north The administra-
ton staff of the Baltimore & Ohio
railroad, on the other hand. was ac-
lively engaged on the Confederate side,
and so many OF the officers went south
that There Were not enough left to run
the road. That 0idn't matter very
much. because il was on debatable ter
ritory and was run first by one army
and then by The other, except the Bal
timore & Washington division, which
session OF the Union forces from the
time Of its recaptbre by General But
Ter.
General Palmer's experiences as a
spy were brought to an end by his
capture and sentence to death. He es-
capped before he could be executed, and
then raised a cavalry regiment at Ger
mantown and went into the field and
became a brigadier general.
After the war he became treasurer
Of the Kansas Pacific railroad, ana
later president and builder of the Den
yer & Rio Grande railroad, the great
three-foot gauge line that passed
through the Royal gorge. climbed Mar
shall pass and connected Denver with
Salt Lake City 1t has since been re-
constructed at standard gauge.
1t is With General Paimer's war ex-
periences that this sketch is concerned,
and this story of it is told by Colonel
A. X. Mcclure. the veteran journalist
and parliamentary of the supreme court
of Pennsylvania, who, as assistant
adjutant general, was in command Of
the military forces on the border.
Every night Captain Palmer, who
was on duty at the Potomac river, en-
tered the enemy's line and brought
back information of Lees movements
preliminary TO crossing the river to
meet Mcclellan at Antietam. He was
accompanied by William w. Breson,
an expert telegrapher. who carried his
instrument with him, and by attach
ing it TO the first wires they struck
after emerging from the rebel lines,
and sometimes within them, communi-
Gated their news. which L forwarded
at once to Mcclellan.
"AIl the news that Mcclellan re-
ceived from the front Of Lees army
came in this way from Palmer. The
/ bold young fellow kept in touch with
Lees army and followed it back TO
irginia after Antietam. Finally he
was missed at a time his usual report
was expected, and when ten days had
elapsed without word from him l hast
ened to Philadelphia to confer with
M. Thompson.
We were satisfied that Palmer had
been captured, and in order to prevent
his identification it was arranged that
I should Write up for the Philadelphia
Press and Inquirer for publication the
next morning, displayed dispatches an
nouncing the arrival in Washington OF
Captain William j. Palmer. who had
been scouting in Virginia and who
had brought most important informa-
/ tion of the purposes and movements Of
the enemy
Some details were given to make
the story plausible. to which was add
ed the statement that he had brought
momentous information that could not
be made public but which would lead
to important aggressive movements on
the part of the Federal troops.
These dispatches were readily ac-
cepted by the publishers, and they
doubtless saved Palmer from being glib
beted as a spy. He had indeed been
arrested by the enemy and convicted
as a spy, but he had managed to main-
tain doubt as to his identity and his
execution was delayed from time TO
time in the hope of ascertaining who
he really was.
''The dispatches published in the
Philadelphia papers. all of which
reached the Confederate lines within
forty-eight hours. if not sooner. en-
tirely misled the COnfederates as TO
Captain Palmer; and one day he ef-
fected his own exchange by quietly TAX
ing the place of dead prisoner in the
ranks and responding to his name when
the roll was called for the men who
were TO be sent north. New York
Press.