The Washington herald., 1914-03-02

short distance from their bivouack. On
the farther side OF the road was Z
field, through the center Of which ran
a canal. Beyond the field was the
river.
The ambush was completed about .
o'clock. The road ahead was barrf-
caded, and In silence the mixed com.
ing Of the Federal cavalrymen-
Death of Dahlgren.
After a halt Of about four hours the
column resumed the march. The ad-
vance guard Of six men rode back and
said that they had met with resistance
from mounted men.
companied by Lieut.. Henry A. d. Mer-
rItt, of the Fifth New York: Maj.
Edwin r. Cook, Of the Second New
York, and Lieut.. r. BARLEY, his signal
officer, rode forward. In a few min
utes they had ridden Into the ambush.
There was a challenge OF who goes
there7v to which Col. -Dahlgren, who
was riding at the head OF the group
of four oficers. replied with "Surren-
der. or ! win shoot you"
He then aimed his pistol In the d.
rection Of the voice that had challenged
him. The hammer snapped upon the
cap. but there was no report. In an
other instant there came yolley from
the woods on the left, and Col Dahl
gren, without a sound, pitched dead
from his saddle, pierced by five bull
lets.
At the voIley the other three officers,
not knowing their chief had fallen.
wheeled to the right. The main coll
umn was close behind. Another volley
halted II, and the whole party turned
to the side OF the road. A Confederate
oficer, who had been their prisoner
for two days, let down the rails of a
fence, and all passed through ii into
the held.
The Confederates knew nothing of the
result OF their yolleys until. all being
quiet, one of their number. a boy oil
thirteen, slipped into the road and found
the body of a man. Fumbling about II In
the dark, he discovered that the right
leg below the knee was missing-that
the man had a wooden, leg. This dis
covery convinced the men In ambush that
they had killed Col. Dahlgren.
Through the night Dahlgren lay where
he fell. The Confederate officers spent
the night In posting their forces In posi-
ton TO prevent the troopers from escap-
ing from the field. The Federals. after
voting that resistance was useless. broke
their carbines, and lettering their horses
to their sabers driven in the ground, all
who were strong enough to face further
hardships attempted escape by crawling
of through the underbrush on hands and
knees
Daylight showed about twenty dis
mounted troopers, about seventy horses,
and about fifty negroes in the field. The
Federals surrendered. A search was
started for the other cavalrymen. and all
but three were captured.
Col Dahlgren's body was buried be-
side the road where II fell. Certain pa
pers found in his pocket were sent 10
Richmond. They made a great stir, II be-
ing claimed b: the Confederate authori-
ties that they revealed a purpose to burn
the city and kill jefferson Davis and his
Cabinet.
A few days after Col DahIEren's death
his body was taken up. put in a rough
coffin at Stevensville and. by order Of
Jefferson Davis, shipped to Richmond.
where IL was given decent though secret
burial The subsequent removal Of the
body by Richmond Unionists to a grave
outside the city formed the closing chap
ter in the story of Uric Dahlgren.
CThe story of Col Dahlgren's papers
will be told March 50
Tomorrow-Grant Summoned to
W inEtop.
NnNa