Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1907-11-15

Il am not zen. HERBERT, said the
man in the bed.
"'Not Gen. Herbert? Who are you,
thenY said the old man, and pretty
sharply, too. Perhaps you can imag-
inc the tone in which Cap'n Cush-
ing said this. 1 never heard a voice
so full of disappointment in all my
life.
az am the chief of the engineer
forces here
"'Where is Gen. Herbert?'
"'He has gone to Wilmington said
the engineer.
leone to Wilmington!' echoed
Cap'n Cushing. Well, If we can't
find the principal we will have to
take one of his accessories. What Is
your name, sir?'
"'Capt. Reilly, at your service
livery well, captain. Get up, IL
you please, and dress, for you must
go with u.s.
"Just here there was rush of
some one down the stairs outside the
door. There was a dash at the win
dow and quiet scufrle began and
general set-to, and then l saw some
one jump off the end of the veranda
and run out into the garden. thought
it might be the general, and I sprang
out after the fleeing figure, but I
looked in vain. / could see no one,
the night was so dark. 1 heard only
rustling among the trees and shrubs
and then the person dashed away
into the woods near the house.
thought of pursuing him, but l now
heard the rest of my party passing
through the garden and out OF the
gate, and, thinking that anything else
that l could do would only annoy and
delay 'em, and that the person who
had dashed out of the window had
gone to give the alarm and turn out
the whole thousand soldiers upon us,
| decided to follow the old man and
the officers.
/ found out afterward that the per-
son who had run away was the adju-
tant general and he was so flabber-
gasted at being walked up with the
noise that he really took to the woods
and forgot to give the alarm.
"But, now, Just think of a young
ster like Cap'n Cushing starting on an
expedition with only two boats and
20 men, rowing in past the forts,
landing, capturing prisoners and 60
ing into the stronghold of the en-
emy with the purpose of capturing the
general commanding. I thought of 1t
as l walked down to the boats and
could hardly believe that had been
the cause Of our expedition. We went
back to the boats and got silently in.
The prisoner was, you may be sure,
we'll guarded, with a pistol at his
head. Had he cried out it might have
been bad for us, but worse for him,
for he would have dropped dead in
his tracks before we took to our
boats.
when it comes to deliberately sac
rificing your life for your country
where nothing much is to be gained,
a man hesitates. The prisoner hes.
itated and was saved. The sentry
on the wharf was not so yards away
from us, and we were about so yards
from the Smithville fort. They were
brave men, of course. No one ever
belittled our enemy of the confede-
rate army, and it was only that it
never occurred to them what dar-
ing and dash Cushing possessed that
the place was not better guarded. We
got silently into our boats and float
ed down the river.
The men all pulled quietly and
steadily. Not a word was spoken,
but suddenly light flashed out from
Fort Caswell. A signal light! All,
then they had discovered us? They
had at least discovered that strange
boats were in the harbor, and their
shots rang out, but wide of the mark.
We heard 'em splashing in the dis
tance, but not one came near us.
heard the cap'n say that the papers
he captured were not important, but
he had the engineer officer in safe
keeping enough, and he sent him on
the first opportunity to Acting Rear
Admiral Lee, at Hampton Roads, Vir-
ginia.
"Now, it happened that a short
time after this some prisoners were
to be exchanged. / was on deck,
snoopin' round as usual, as the boat
pushed off. / didn't ask to go in
that boat. Exchangin' prisoners was
dull work, for you are protected by
flag of truce all the way to the
shore and all the way back again
| noticed few volunteers there were
and just those men were sent whom
the first lieutenant picked out and
ordered to go. AS one of the officers
was going over the side with the last
instructions Cap'n Cushing called
out:
"'Oh, by the way, will you be
kind enough to hand Gen. Herbert my
card? The officer seemed surprised
but of course he turned round. sa
luted, and said: Yes. SIR waiting