The National tribune., 1906-09-06
IN MOSBY'S CLUTCHES.
One of the 5th n. Y. Cav. Who Fell Into
the Hands of the Guerrillas.

the prisoners of war that the record
shows were confined in any one of the
| various hellholes of the South, and a
confinement of one day should be suffi-
cient to bring a person in under the
scope of the bill. If he got out alive he
was in luck. Men who were captured
rs they were sometimes. by regiments
| and paroled at once in the field. only
| had a furlOugh home until exchanged
| and there are hundreds who would be
| found under that head who really suf-
| fered no Inconvenience and compare
| lively no loss. 1 was captured by Mos
| by.s guerriilas during Meade's retrea,
| from Culpeper. / was carrying dis
patches for Surg. L. p. Woods, on Kill
| patrick's staff. l was directed to try
and reach Gen. Capehart. whose guns
| that morning Off toward Thoroughfare
Gap told us he was having a scrap.
| was directed to go by way of Hopewen
Gap. following the old mountain dirt
| road. which was occupied by our cav
airy and see II he needed ambulances
and to notify him where our field hos
pital was established. l had hardly got
| out of sight of our division camp before
| ran into squad of several men. As
they were all wearing rubber coats and
coming leisurely directly toward camp,
l hardly noticed them until right on
them, when they separated and closed
In on both sides of me. and before
realized what was up 1 was looking into
the barrels of two of their revolverS.
l was hustled off of my horse and onto
crowbate and trotted off into the
woods. which was dense here on both
sides Of the road. 1 found here a party
who were guarding several others they
had gobbled in the same way The skin
ming process commenced at once, and
everything of value was appropriated.
They were inclined to give me a hard
deal al once, for they decided 1 was an
officer from my dress. The old Surgeon
had decked me out in a suit Of broad
cloth regulation blue and a fine pair Of
high morocco cavalry boots and a cap
well trimmed with gold braid 1 was
mounted upon one OF the finest horses
in our division, the private property Of
Gen. John Hammond. But after ex-
amining my dispatches and finding they
substantiated my claim as an orderly,
they gave me a little more latitude.
Shoulder strap fellows they took par
ticular pains to abuse. At night they
took one of their well-kncwn private
trails and started off towards the noun
tain, two Of them having one of us to
lock after. with private warning TO
each that II we made a squeak or un-
dertook to escape we were elected for
funeral at once. When we came near
to where they had to cross the old dirt
road at the base of the mountain we
were. halted while one fellow, who
seemed to be in charge Of the party, by
the name of Chapman, went ahead to re-
connoiter. He was not gone long be-
fore he came back with the informa-
ton that the road was picketed by the
- 5th N. Y. Cav, and we would have
IN r11aka a In hof tha OH =.
and run for 1T. They made 1t all right
in the dark, but the picket heard us
and fired his carbine. We saw the flash
of his gun, and we were obliged to
make tracks double-quick up the wind
ing trail, which led obliquely up the
mountain for a mile, l guess. We fol-
lowed this crooked footpath, and finally
came out on an open level near the
top, where we could look back for miles
and see the lights from our camps.
They advised us to take a good look at
them, as It might probably be the last
chance in many day to do SO again.
We soon started. winding around in
various ways, and began to descend the
west side of the mountain. About mid
night we fetched up at a log house. and
the inhabitants were routed out. They
| turned out to be an old man, his wife and
two girls. Our captors requested then,
to get something for the party to eat,
and some corn mush and milk was all
good as q show to them, and they were
very bitter in their expressions. But
the old lady remarked that her boy had
been prisoner by you-all and that he
said you had used him white, and she
reckoned she could afford to give us
something to eat. I don't think a Yank
ever found this place. except as prison
er, as II was completely shut in by hills
and mountains. When the moon came
up, so we could see, we started on, fol.
lowing snake roads for miles, and final
ly came out in a cleared country and
upon reaching an old school house We
prisoners were camped inside and John.
ny reb stayed outside around the build.
ing until sunup. Then each one wa.
put through a transformation. 1 wa.
completely stripped OF pants, Jacket
boots and cap and broad gold ring
which / wore. with my name and com.
pany engraved on 1t for the purpose o.
Identification. 1 had worn the ring two
years. and 1t was very tight. but II hat
to come off II 1t took a finger, and II die
start the hide well before they fetched
it. When they got through with US W,
} resembled Johnny rebs sure. as the.
gave US their old duds to replace ours
and in place of my jaunty gold lace cal
would have fitted Dan Rice in his palm
lest days as a clown: in fact we were {
bunch of the DEVILS rag-ba bies. W.
were now ready to be presented to tn,
F. F. VS. as a sample lot Of Yanks. w,
started on again, and soon reached Sa
lem. This seemed to be general rem
: devious at that time with these guer
3 rillas, for they kept coming in by small
, squads from different directions, eacl
party bringing in his quota of whateve
they had been able to gobble. This wa
7 the first time / ever had q chance I,
: view Mosby himself. We had often ha,
I scraps with him or his band. Some
times when we had caught him Jus
right we had been able to give him
good drubbing, and sometimes he pal
II back with interest. / doubt II w
= ever made a more intimate acquaint
:, ance with any regiment than with tn
r 5th N. Y. Cav. 1 was footed to Cul
= pepper. sent by railroad to Richmond
), confined a few days in Castle Thunder
S then a few weeks in Hotel De Libb,
d and finally taken to Belle Isle, wher
d we burrowed hke rats In the sand hole
n until Spring, when ! was exchanged,
d meager specimen of skin and bone
o hairless and nearly toothless by scurv.
g / don't suppose the Hamilton bill ha
n any better show for passing than th
|. dozens of others that have been starte
n and died within the last 40 years, a
d though no class Of men passed throug
: as terrible experiences or endured sue
y hardships as the ones who were cor
d fined in thse prisons OF the South, an
l. there were very few who did not met