Omaha daily bee., 1909-08-29
CHAMPION TRAIN HOLDUP
War Time Raid Makes Big Springs a
Seoond-Rater.
RECoLLECTIONs OF HUGE HAUL
How Colonel Mosby Secured the
Stores of Two Paymasters and
Divided the Loot Among
His Men.

The insignificant haul and speedy capture
Of the gang which held up the Overland
Limited near Omaha a few weeks ago en-
phasizes the decline of a business once
popular In the west and occasionally profit
Bile. Comparisons have been attempted Of
the value of the loot secured in various
noted hold-ups, but the figures are largely
guesswork. Values range from $780, 600 at
Big Springs, Neb., to a conductors watch
in Chicago. The record hitherto conceded
to the Big Springs hold-up, when SIG. 1000
was captured by the robbers, is lowered
several pegs by the historian Of the Vir-
ginia cavalry, Thomas w. Lake, who as
serts that the champion train hold-up in
this country netted s16S, 900. 1t was a war
time hold-up pulled off by Colonel Mosby's
raiders, and formed the basis of an address
by Mr.. Lake before the Washington ID. CO
History club, recently. Mr.. Lake was a
participant in what is known as the green
back raid" which began october Il, 1864,
and describes it in part as follows:
"A detachment of Mosby's men, Of which
I was a member, crossed the Shenandoah
river at Castlemans Ferry about dark and
moved off in the direction of Bunker Hill,
on the turnpike between Martinsburg and
Winchester. Occasionally one of our fell
lows would lose his hat by having 1t
hAAONhNu III ny a AOG AAlb Oul pei " VII
sisted Of between sixty and sixty-five men.
At sunup October 10 the command was
halted in a piece of woods close to the
pike. 1t was a splendid place from which
to view and command the road, there being
a considerable hill. Colonel Mosby and a
few Of the men were on the hill with a
field glass. We had not been there long
before a patrol of twelve or fifteen federal
cavalrymen was seen approaching.
Federal Cavalry Routed.
The colonel instructed me to order Lieu
tenant Grogan to take ten or twelve men
and go out on the pike below, and to order
Lieutenant Harry Hatcher to take an equal
number of men and come out behind the
federals after they had passed by. Hatcher
requested me to go along with his party,
and 1 did so. Just before we struck the
pike we heard Grogan's men firing, and
soon the federals came laundering back,
just in time for us to meet them.
80 the federal cavalry had nothing to
do but surrender or scatter over the fields,
which a few did, but they were soon cap
tured.
THAT night we rode off in the direction
of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad ana struck
1t at a point a mile or so west of Duffields
depot. There was a deep cut just west OF
Shenandoah Junction, which was an ideal
place to throw a train from the track with
the least injury to the passengers.
Plans to Wreck Train.
1T was a clear, starlit night and the air
was chilly. The command was halted in
a woods close by. Colonel Mosby and four
of us rode across a small field to the cut.
The colonel asked If there was any one
in the party who knew how to tear up the
track. There was no response. He com
49, -. - Ia. Lo-l - - 81
four men who knew how to take up the
rails. / secured some expert track de-
stroyers. The track was a double one and
Colonel Mosby ordered that both tracks
be torn up.
"Only a short time before the rangers
had destroyed only one track and a train
came laundering past on the track that
had not been touched. The astonished
rangers looked after it as II undeter-
mined to mount their horses and pursue
the flying train or sit down and say 'cuss'
words.
Under the direction of Colonel Mosby
the troopers pried up the rails of the west
bound track and pushed a lot of fence
rails under 1t, with the heavy ends rest
ing on the eastbound track. We raised
the track to an angle Of about forty-five
degrees. We then raised the other side and
placed a big rock under II.
THE work was soon accomplished and
the men were ordered to leave their horses
in the woods under a guard and AXE posi-
ton on foot along the railroad. While we
were lying In groups trying to keep warm,
for it was a cold, frosty, wet night, the
guard who had been left with the horses
came galloping toward US shouting:
The Yankees are coming!"
Every trooper of us made quickly for
our animals and when we got there ex
pected to receive a rain of BULLETS. We
listened but could not hear a sound. The
guard had been frightened by a SOW and
her pigs running through the dry autumn
leaves. Thoroughly disguised, we went
back to the railroad, after Colonel Mosby
had used some language toward the guard
! that cannot be found in Sunday school
4 books. AS punishment the colonel threat
ened to send the fellow back to the army;
which was dreaded by all the rangers.
or pistols.
Some nervous ranger fired his revolver
when the train reached his post. and there
sit down or stand stiIl when in expectancy
of a fight, being a wiry, nervous man,
walked up and down in front of his men
r cracking jokes with them. Suddenly there
came the sound OF a locomotive whistle
and the distant sound of an approaching
e train. The troopers sprang to their feet at
his command, and Lieutenant Hatcher was
a ordered to take one man and go down the
y track a hundred yards, with instructions
\ to fire II there was a guard on the train.
II there was no guard, he was not to fire.
The Train wrecked.
S Lieutenant Grogan was directed to form
the rest Of the troopers on the bank OPP
posite the distractions on the track. ]
e went with Hatcher down the track. W.
Q had just taken our positions when we saw
the headlight of the locomotive. Then the
train came laundering past us. This was
between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning,
Z october Il, 1864.
: 1T was a fast westbound train going at
full speed. We saw no guards on the cars
aud Consequently did not fire our carbines
VAS a return fire from the cars, but no
one was killed. When the engine struck
the distractions it tumbled over onto the
other track. The train was not badly
wrecked, and besides a general Jolting the
passengers were not seriously injured.
Hatcher and myself rushed down the
-embankment and were soon in the rear
coach. There were ten coaches In the