The Washington herald., 1907-02-10
ARMY SPY IN The Chimney
Hanging to Rope, He Overheard
Important Military Secrets.
How Gen. Buckner Secured InfOrma-
gro Orderly Badly Scared.

The most noted and daring of the
military telegraph operators with whom
I was acquainted during the civil war
WAS George Z. Ellsworth, said w. f.
/ Bassett last week to a Kansas City Star
man. He was staff operator and scout
for Gen. John Morgan. Ellsworth was
ia daredevil and although he was Teck-
J less TO fault. he engaged in many peril
Gus adventures and emerged therefrom
without any serious disaster 10 himself.
/ When Gen. Buckner was once en-
/ campcd some fifty miles from Chatta-
/ HOoga, Tenn, he was very anxious 10 OBJ
/ tain some information about the i'm
mediate future intentions Of the FedeTdlS.
who were assembled in force az thar
place Gen. Morgan sent Ellsworth %
( Gen. Buckner as a man who could secure
/ the desired information If anybody was
capable Of doing So That night Els
worth departed upon his mission, and
about daylight next morning drew rein
at the house OF man one mile from
+ Chattanooga who was known TO be 81
f true and discreet friend Of the Confed-
crate cause The town was swarmins
with Federal soldiers. and il was no
trouble for Ellsworth. dressed in an
( ordinary Federal uniform, 10 reach there
and mingIe among them. He was fortu-
nate in some way Of discovering that
there was 10 be a conference among the
Z leading officers that very evening in an
| old residence that was used for such pur-
poses. and he resolved to be close on
/ hand and hear all that passed. If IL was
( possible for him to do so. In the after
noon he leisurely walked out 10 inspect
/ the place. He soon saw that il was going
10 be difficult for him to secure a position
near the room in which the conference
was 10 take place. but after inspecting
the rear OF the premises he formed a plan
and went away. il was in the summer
time, and the officers were 10 assemble
at o'clock.
As soon as darkness set in Ellsworth
( approached the house from tie rear with
an ordinary haversack swung over his
shoulder, in which were concealed a rope
swing. a Ratchet. and long linen ulster
+ lie cut of of a stout limb a piece about
three feet long. and had but little trouble
/ in reaching the low, slantlng roof, and
/ climbed cautiously TO the chimney Of the
+ conference room. Then he tied each end
/ Of his rope swing 10 the stick he had Sc
cured for the purpose. and laid it across
I the top Of the chimney and let the swing
+ fall inside so il would reach a few feet
Habove the large, old-fashioned fireplace.
f Letting himself down in the swing he pa
tiently awaited the coming Of the officers.
/ He had not been seated long before a
negro orderly entered the room 20 light
/ the lamps and make al preparations that
/ We're necessary for the meeting A short
! time before 9 O'Clock. they began 10 drop
T in. one or two at a time, and the business
| Of the conference was begun at the ap-
pointed hour.
/ 1t had not proceeded far before Els
| worth discovered 10 his delight that he
I was listening TO most important secrets.
I Il, in fact, proved 10 be a conference to
/ determine upon the future movements Of
/ the army, and Ellsworth was enabled 10
/ secure all Of the information that Gen.
BuCkner was 50 anxious 10 obtain. All OF
their future plans were discussed and laid
bare 10 the man in the chimney.
After L O'Clock. when the conference
broke up, the officers had gone and the
negro orderly was preparing TO extinguish
the lights and close the house, an Incl
/ dent occurred that was wholly unlocked
for by Ellsworth and which frightened
/ the negro orderly almost into commissions
Ellsworth made a slight movement in his
swing when the stick above slipped and
he fell into the big fireplace, completely
covered with SCOT. With his face much
blaCker than that of the orderly and
shrouded in the long linen buster. he
emerged from the fireplace and gave d
big warwhoop. The negro orderly veri-
tably believed that the devil was after
him. and giving a fearful Shrek went
head-first through the open window and
I fed terror-stricken from the place Els
worth helped himself to a full bottle of
whisky and some cigars that had been
left behind, and taking the swing from
the fireplace, so as to leave no evidence
of HIS visit behind him, he replaced the
screen and stole away in the darkness with
a full plan Of the coming Federal cam
paign in his possession. Ellsworth never
learned what took place after his depart
IRE. but as he left no evidence of his
visit behind him. no doubt the officers
passed the matter over with the belief
that the negro orderly had imbibed too
much Of the whisky they left behind
them"