The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-12

his head, = continued Mr.. Withers. He
had been strung up by Lieutenant Cole.
In the chase Puryear rode past a dozen
Federals, straight for Lieutenant Cole,
Cole, seeing himself about to be cap
tured, surrendered to me, and was
handing me his revolver when Puryear
rode up and killed him
There is a scar on the back of Mr..
Withers' head, a souvenir of a dance
at Foster S house. Mosby took a de-
tachment to a dance there to capture
a number of Federal officers. Wearing
Federal overeoats, the Mosby men got
through the lines all right, and into the
house where the dance was being given.
Being armed and prepared, they found
no trouble in making prisoners. On
coming out of the house they found a
division of Federal troops passing in
front of the house. They remounted,
put their prisoners on their own horses,
which had been picketed at a fence,
and rode through the lines between
two regiments without their identity
being discovered. One of the prison
ers proved to be on the staff of Gen
eral Meade. He had on him orders for
three days movements of the troops.
General Lee got these within two
hours.
CAPTURING FEDERAL OFFICERS.
''We knew every foot of road in the
country, and there were so many de-
tachments moving around that it was
not surprising for one regiment not to
know, nor to care much, about what a
company or a squad or a lone man
might be-" Mr.. Withers explained.
That accounts for General Mosby
taking lot of US right into the middle
of $4,000 Federals, right into hotel
where General Stouton was, and right
into his bedroom. Each of us picked
out an officer IS bedroom, went in, woke
him, told him that to utter a murmur
meant instant death, and marched him
out of his own lines to our own. Gen
eral Stouton could have touched his
own guns as he rode past them. We;
were saluted time and again on that
march. -
"Were you not afraid?' was a nat
ural question.
1t was too funny. Nobody could
be afraid in raid of that kind It
was all we could do to keep from
laughing as we would look at General
Stouton and realize where we were and
what we were doing. One day com
mander rode in front of his lines to
reconnoiter. Two Of our men, in blue,
rode up TO him. showed their revolvers
at their hips and told him and lis
aide to go on with them or be killed
on the spot. Then, pointing with their
own hands as though showing the com
mander new road, they compelled the
prisoners to accompany them to Mos
by camp.
eve travelled at night mostly. WEI
could do that, as we knew the roads.
We learned that a man in a strange
land, at night, surprised, is scared. So
we fought at night. Night would let
us get up to the enemy without harm,
brighten him and then get away with
out his being able TO follow us, for
while we knew where we were going,
he did not. Then, too, we left in
squads SO there was nobody to follow,
always knowing where to rendezvous. |
General Hunter came through there and
burned everything burnable. Mosby
sent a famous letter to him saying he
would hold Hunter personally RESPONSE |
BILE and kill every one of Hunters
command if he burned another house.
In two days Hunter left the district.
No more houses were burned. / re-
one of Blazer s men, a spy,
being caught and ordered shot. He
was turned over to a comrade of mine