Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-03-11
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lie ulOSI impressive SIEuI L 0NSA
saw, / think, was at Harper's Ferry in
S." said Detective c. w. McElroy.
The sight of a man going to his
own funeral, with the band playing
dead march, is calculated to impress
one" he continued. That is the case,
you know, with a man condemned to
death by court-martial. The case of
which l spoke happened in January,
1865, and the wonderful escape Of the
condemned parties Is something shall
never forget. Two Irishmen, John
Shea and Michael Doane, had been SEN
fenced to be shot for desertion. There
was considerable feeling in favor Of
the men. 1t was in the time Of big
bounties, and the two young men had
enlisted for something like $1,000
apiece. In a few days they were both
missing and were not caught for three
or four weeks. They were drunk and
their money was about gone. The
truth of the matter was that it was no
case of wl--ful desertion. The men
had got on a drunk, and had never So
hered up enough to realize their posi-
ton. They were badly frightened, and
were attended by two priests. l can
remember the place we'll. They were
marched up on a little hill on a level
plateau, and the soldiers thrown into
three sides of hollow square. The
two men, accompanied by their priests,
and preceded by the band playing the
Dead March, were marched around the
inside of this square and stopped near
ly in the center, by the side of their
open collins. The priests were in ear
nest conversation with them, and the
minutes rolled by until they grew into
an hour Twelve o'clock came, and
General Stevenson gave orders for the
priests to leave the men. Very reIuct-
antly they did so, prolonging their
leave-taking upon one pretext and an
other as long as they could. Every
thing was at last made ready, and 1t
was only matter of seconds between
the men and eternity, when the Gen
erals orderly rode up, swinging his
hat and yelling at the top Of his voice.
1t was a reprieve from Lincoln.
1T seems that the priests had tele
graphed the President the night be-
fore asking for reprieve, and stating
that there were mitigating ciHum-
stances. Lincoln, who was always
looking for an excuse to save a mans
life, reprieved them. General Steven
sons headquarters were nearly mile
from where we were, and the tele-
NH Nx-aC Dt hic hnn Aca11o foy.c
He had left mounted orderly there
with instructions to rush through any
dispatch that came. Nothing came I'M
til few minutes before 10, and the
orderly dashed away He had to go
up steep hill, nearly half mile Long.
When he reached the top his horse was
badly winded and could hardly 60 He
Eaet citizen on a good horse, and
without any ceremony pulled the gen
tleman down and mounted the fresh
animal. Half minutes delay would
have been the last of Messrs Doane
and Shea.
"A strange part of the story Is yet
to come. Some three years afterWard
| met an old telegraph operator in Os-
wego. He was in Washington in the
winter of 1864-65. We got TO talking
over war matters, and I found that he
remembered the case 7 have told you
about. He was in charge of the wire
leading to Harpers Ferry. He had
heard Of the two men to be executed
there through the operator They had
discussed the matter over the wires,
consequently remembered the case we'll
Upon the morning of the execution, at
10 o'clock, the dispatch reprieving the
men was handed him TO send out. He
turned to his desk, and what was his
horror to find that he couldn't work
the wire. A storm was in progress, or
something else was the matter. At
any rate the wire would not work
There was no other way of reaching
Harper's Ferry. The dispatch he
didn't get off until just before II, but,
as it happened, in good time; but he
told me 1t was an experience he could
never forget. Altogether, it was
pretty close shave for the two Irish
men, and I don't believe they ever
forgot the incident, either Pitts
burg Dispatch