Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-08

oners separately. and in this way
learned all the interior arrangements or
their camps. was then meditating
boider enterprise than 1 had ever under
taken, put had communicated it to no
one This was to penetrate the outer
nnes: ana go right up to their mead
mandlng and Col. Wyndham. 1t looked
extremely hazardous to attempt it, but
as nothing Of the sort ever had been
done. L calculated there would be no
pIecauuon to prevent it. I was right.
While l was maturing my plan ! re-
ceived aid from an unexpected source
One day a deserter, named Ames, wearing
the stripes of sergeant. came to me
Wyndham's brigade. The emancipation
proclamation which had been put in ope-
ration was the reason he gave for desert
ing the cause of the Union. but l always
suspected that it was some personal
wrong he had suffered. He seemed to be
animated by the most vindictive hatred
Tor his former comrades l felt an IN
stinctive confidence in his sincerity which
he never betrayed. After l had thor
oughiy tested his fidelity 1 made him
lieutenant. He served with me until he
was killed in October 1864.
questioned Ames closely about the
location or the camps and outposts, ana
he confirmed the knowledge / had pre-
viously obtained. 1 determined first to
take him on trial trip down into Fair
fax county. There was a cavalry post
o. a ItdlI SCHOOluOuSe, anu l. Stdt leu
with Ames one afternoon to attack it.
A deep snow was on the ground, and it
was raining and sleeting About two
weeks before | had captured the same
post, but | thought they would not ex-
pect me back soon. To satisfy my
men I did not let Ames carry any arms.
for they all were certain that he had
been sent to decoy me into trap.
The soldiers in the Union camps slept
soundly that night, for t..ey felt sure
that nothing but wild animal would
be abroad in such weather l stopped
when / got near the place l intended to
attack, to make an inquiry of far
mer who lived near there as to the
number of men on the post. 1 called him
out of bed. He came to the door in his.
night dress, and the first thing he asked
was. How many men have your l said,
Seventeen" How many" ] asked, 'are
al the picket post?" One hundred" he
answered. Il have been down there this
evening. You are certainly not going to
attack them with so few mem? Yes,
I replied; lit is dark they can't see
us. and will think / have got a hundred
too.
Contrary to my usual practice, / went
stra ght along the road. We got close
on the vidette. who challenged us, fired
dashed on as close to his heels as the
witches We're on Tam Shanters The
men were asleep in the schoOlhouse and
their horses were tied with halterS to
the trees. If they had stayed inside they
could easily have driven off with
their carbines. But every man ran for
his horse. and we We're just in time to
scatter them. We got all the horses, but
most of the men escaped in the dark
ness. In the charge, Ames rode by my
side We got off safe with our booty and
prisoners.
After daybreak Col Wyndham followed
at full speed for twenty miles on our
track All that he did was to go back
to camp with lot of broken-down
horses. Ames. like the saints, had been
tried by fire; he was never doubted after
ward. The time had now come for me
to take a bolder flight and execute my
plan of making raid on headquarters.
*
1t was on the afternoon of March I,
1863 that l started with twenty-nne men
on this expedition. Ames was the only
one who knew it's object. 1t was pitch
dark before we got near the cavalry pick
cts at Chantilly. We passed in between
them and Centerville Here a good point
in the game was won for once inside the
Union lines We would be mistaken for
their own men. BY an accident onehalf
dark from the other. and it was nearly
an hour before 1 could find them. We
passed along close by the campfres, but
the sentnels took us for a scouting party
of their cavalry. ] had felt very cold in
the early part of the night, but my blood
grew warmer as l got farther in the lines,
and the chill passed away. ! had no rep
utation to lose by failure, but much to
gain by success. / remembered, too, the
motto that Ixion in heaven wrote in Min
ervas album-"AdventureS are to the ad-
venturous."
We struck the road leading from Fair
fax Court House to the railroad station
and then went on to the village. There
were a few guards about but they did
not suspect us until they saw pistol
pointed at them. OF course they sur
rendered. Some refused to believe we
were Confederates after we told them
who we were A few sentinels hailed us
with the formula, WHO comes there?"
and were answered, 18th New York Cav
airy"
1t was past midnight, and it was neces-
sary to do our work quickly if it was
to be done at all. The first thing | did
was to detail squads of men to gather
prisoners and Horses. / was more anxious
TO catch Wyndham than any one else, SO
/ sent Ames, with a detachment, after
him. But for once fortune had been
propitious to him. He had gone down
to Washington that evening. Ames got
two of his staff and his uniform and
brought them to me. One of these officers
was Capt. Barker of the 9Th New York
Cavalry, who had been Ames captain.
Ames brought him to me a trophy
and seemed to feel malicious pride in
introducing him.
I had sent another party to the house
where Lieut.. Col. Robert tombstone, COM
handing the cavalry brigade, was Sleep