St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-02-10
THE OTHER MAN


and no sooner were the prisoners
brought in than one of them proved to
be the double of private in a New
York regiment.
The name of the Confederate was
Wakefield, while that Of the Federal
was Thomas. The former belonged to
a Louisiana regiment. When placed
side by side they seemed to be twin
brothers. Each was about twenty-five
years old; each was about five feet five
inches high; each weighed 40 pounds.
Their eyes and hair were of the same
color. and even their voices were the
same except, that the southerner had a
little more drawl. The pair were as
much astonished as the officers and
surgeons who were called to look them
over
You will not be surprised that advan-
tage was taken of this curious coincf-
dent to send Thomas into the Confeder-
ate lines. AS a preparatory step he
was given a week in which to pump
Wakefield. The prisoner did not know
the object, and being of garrulous
disposition, he was ready to talk on
any subject. Thomas got from him his
family history complete, then the name
of the town from which the man hail
ed, with incidents Of people and streets;
then the names of his officers and COM
rades, with incidents of campaigning.
The Federal had been an actor before
enlisting and had cultivated a wonder
full memory When he had stored up a
thousand different things in his mind
he bought the uniform worn by the
Confederate and was ready to set out
on his mission.
One night Thomas was taken down
to the front and made a bolt for it.
In other words, it was made to appear
that one of the Confederate prisoners
was making dash for liberty, and the
picket opened a sharp fire, but took
care not to aim at the running man.
On reaching the Confederate lines
Thomas was sent to the headquarters
of General Malone. The general seem
ed bit suspicious, and Thomas, play
ing the part of Wakefield, asked that
his captain be sent for. 1t was a cou-
pie of hours before the officer arrived,
and the general at once said to him:
Captain, this man who has come
into our lines tonight claims to be a
member of your company. Is he or is
he not?''
'He certainly is, SIR" was the prompt
reply.
"What's his name?''
"John Wakefield, SIR"
That settled it,
After three or four days and under
pretense of visiting a cousin in Vir-
ginia regiment Thomas covered the
front and had look at guns and forth
fications. When he returned to camp,
calculating to take the first opportunity
to escape, he was at once put under
arrest It appeared that Wakefield
and some Of his comrades had raided
a store Of a lot of eatables, and the
proprietor had ascertained their names
and now demanded their punishment
When the merchant and Thomas
were brought face to face the latter
declared that Thomas was not the man
he represented himself to be. Why he
should have made such a declaration
is a puzzle, but he seemed to be guided
| by intuition. He was ridiculed and
laughed at, but he stuck to his assertion
and even denounced Thomas to ~Gener-
al Malone. AS stated after the war,
the general had felt doubts of Thomas
from the first, which may again be set
down to the sense of intuition.
The name of the merchant who had
| been despoiled was Saunders, and he
| was of an implacable nature. Being
| put on his mettle by the sneers and
| ridicuIe he determined to prove his
| case at all costs. AS the accuser he
| had the general ask hundreds Of ques-
| lions. He knew the town and the peo-
| pie from which Thomas as Wakefield
| claimed to hail and in the course of the
| day had trapped him dozen times
| over. AS an offset all the officers and
| privates Of the company asserted that
| Thomas was Wakefield and that there
| was no room to doubt. He went at it
| and related every incident of camp life
| for year past and told of things which
! it seemed impossible for a stranger to
| know.
General Malone was clearly puzzled
| over the case and took two days to
| think it over. At the end of that time
| Thomas was escorted back to find
| soldier in Federal uniform in the gener-
| ais tent, and there were also two civil
! ians in waiting. 1t was little surprise
| for the spy. The man in Federal uni
dOfm clalneU 10 nave known InOInaS
as Federal soldier under the name of
! Brown, and the two civilians claimed
| that he had never been a resident of
| their town.
Thomas realized that the pinch had
come, and he braced himself to make q
| fight for his life General Malone
| treated him in the fairest manner, and,
acting as hisNown counsel, he went at it
| and soon had the supposed Federal sol
der all twisted up and out of the run
| ming. Then he tackled the civilians, and
they proved to be as easy game. In
stead of being cornered up he cornered
his accusers, and it was so well done
that he was complimented by the gen.
| eral. When the case had been conclud-
ed, Malone leaned back and looked at
the prisoner for long minute and then
| said: