The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1914-07-23

what can l do for you, my good
woman"
The visitor told her story, not in the
words it is given here, for she would
not have been able to give it as elabo-
rately, and the government clock could
not have been stopped long enough for
her thus to tell it. but her words, spo-
ken in d tremuious voice, interrupted
occasionally by the fretting of her
child, were doubtless far more effec-
tive than the following version:
In the spring of 1861. when the war
drum was calling from the Atlantic to
the Pacific for volunteers to fight for
the Union cause. a regiment was drawn
I'D in the state Of Pennsylvania in col
umn formation ready to march to the
railway station to entraln for WASH
ington. Just before the order For
wardr' was given a girl of twenty. car
rying q small bundle. came running up
to one of the companies looking eager
ly for some one. Private Jack VIII
Hams waved his hand to her. and. ap-
preaching him. she handed him the
bundle containing the last bit Of food
she could hope to prepare for him in
many month to come. There was
but time for an embrace when the
word March, rang out the band
struck up an inspiriting air, and the
, regiment moved away.
SIS that your sweetheart" asked
Williams file closer Of him as they
| marched to the tune of The Girl
Left Behind Me-"
! "Sweetheart and wife" was the Ia
comic reply.
Jack Williams, though he had been
| married but few months. heard the
call of President Lincoln for the $4,000
! volunteers that constituted the first
detachment OF the great army for the
Union and enlisted at the nearest re-
cruiting station. One night in Virginia
| he was on picket duty. standing peer
| ing into the darkness for an enemy
Suddenly he felt his arms grasped
from behind and hand clapped over
| his mouth His musket fell over in the
| long grass without sound. He was
| pushed forward until the picket line OF
which he had formed a part was left
behind Then a gruff voice said:
| Move on, Yank. if you don't want
any lead in your noddle."
| A very neat job Of picket capture
had been achieved by a single Confed
crate soldier
| The next morning, when the pickets
were relieved, the officer of the retiring
picket post where the capture had been
| made asked:
| "Where's Williams?"
There was no reply to the question.
| where's Williams|' the officer re
peated, and. still receiving ~ answer
asked where he had been posted.
Third man to the east of The pike,
replied the sergeant, between Rice
and Kimball."
Ibid either of you men hear any
thing of Williams during the night?'
asked the officer of the men mentioned
Both men replied that they had not
How far apart were the men post
edP' asked the officer Of the sergeant
non the west side of the pike I put
them a hundred feet apart; on the east
side l fell short Of men and made II
about two hundred. The ground was
bad for picket line; scrubby trees and
bushes scattered irregularly."
"Gone over to the enemy" said the
officer.
The name Of Private John Williams
was entered on the regimental rolls Of
his regiment as a deserter.
Meanwhile Williams was huddled II
with other prisoners of war in the real
of the Confederate lines, awaiting
TRANSPORTATION to Libby prison at Rich
mond He spent some mouths there
when. the prison becaming crowded.
detachment of prisoners was sent t
a stockade prison situated in Sout
| Carolina Williams, with others in tn
same car with him-a freight car
laid a plan to escape One of them ha
concealed a caseknife on his perso
and during the long hours of prison lif
had occupied his mind inventing way
to make saw of it by nicking tn
edge. He had made poor Roadway I'LL
til a fellow prisoner lent him file
After that the matter was easy.
Williams and his friends In tn
freight car by means of the improvise
tool managed to saw through boar
In the floor of the car. When the trai
stopped during the night they remove
the board and let themselves dow
through the aperture. OF three me
who made the attempt two succeede
in getting away; the third was shot b
the guard Williams was one Of tn
men who got away. but he and tn
other ran in different directions an
did not come together again.
An account of the wanderings of Pr