The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-10-18
Robert Burns has wrltten:

Robert Burns has written:
'"rhe best laid schemes of mice and
men. gang aft agley.'' and found IL
SO IN my cacs. l took Il change Of venue
10 the army Of Northern Virginia with
the hope and expectation that the tide
OF war or some favorinS zephyr, would
watt me to the vicinity OF the "burly
Blue Ridge" but found myself. on this
''moisty, misty morning." piodding my
weary way" to a northern prison. But
the Scriptures teach that tho that lead
eth into captivity shall go into captiv-
ity," and assisted on two occasions at
least, to lead into captivity and never
allowed a prisoner TO be mistreatcd, by
word or action, whilst under my charge.
We were detained for short time
about mile from the scene OF our
capture, and after short march, de-
livered over to some mounted men.
They started us In fours. but hurried
us so. that we were IN string. And
here was tho golden moment for es-
cane, az the moro attcnuated the string,
the farther our guards were separated,
and as the heavens were weeping the
chances that their pistols could be dis
charged. was lcsscncd. Besides, we
were passing through Il forest where
tho trees were very large.
But the country was entirely un-
known to me and tho fear that ! would
fall into the hands OF negro troops,
Gctered mo from making the attempt
we were halted few miles above
fredericksburg, and here VIC reformed
TIC balance OF our regiment. who were
captured the first day OF tho fight
The ground was in sad plight, being
tramplcd by the prisoners moving
about. left my oilcIoth in tho
trenches. where 1 had knclt upon IL
during the battle. but was fortunate
enough to- bunk with Ioultz who Had
preserved" his. and. although there was
very heavy fall OF rnsn during the
night. we did not suffer great deal
OF Inconvenience from II. Early the
next morning we passed through dear
nid Fredericksburg. whose streets I
had often trod when pupil at Rap
pahannoclt Academy. Charles Dickens
wrote that II was finished town, ana
IT this was short of the truth, the
Yankees gave the finishing touch.
We crossed the river on "A pontoon
where erstwhilc. In better times, the
Mary Washington took on freight and
passengers. And now we were 10 cross
Kind OF Mcsapotamin. which thc In
habitants call the Northern Neck. NV
eye soon singled out among our guards
a very diminutlvc specimen of the
genius Yankee, and we'll stricken In
years withal. AS We were not ruled
down to any particular place in the
procession, | coon placed myself be-
side him, and entered into very,
Kood opportunity presented Itself to
snatch his gun from his hand, ovcrturn
MN ana escape. But. alas. tho whole
route was dcnudcd OF forest
Some have denounced me as n hypo.
critic for conceivinS or such a plan. hut
history INFORMS us that both George
Washington and Thomas j. jackson
wrote letters Of n misleading character
and caused .hem TO fall into the hands
OF the enemy. Wc met small bodies of
men at different times going to rein
force Grant Some OF them evidently
men who had never smclled gunpowder,
Ierred us. These we invited to go to
the front before they Dragged One
very black negro youth patted his gun
and said: dis is do medicine for you,
THREE PIECES OF CANNON
THREATEN ENCAMPMENT
We reached Belle Plains Landing on
the Potomac before night. Three pieces
OF cannon threatened our encampment
from bluff near the river, and guards
were stationed on all sides with very
narrow intervals between posts. Upon
inspection we found that the chance
for slipping out these was very slim.
They did not give us breakfast before
10 o'clock the next morning 1 was the
fortunate posscssor of some ground
coffee. and brewing some in a tin cup
and drinking from the same STAYED on
hunger little. That evening we
boarded the steamer New Jersey, bound
for Point Lookout. which ne reached
tho next morning about 8 O'Clock And
now behold US. like Longfellow.s
maiden,
Standing with very unwilling feet
Where the bay and river meet"
We were marched in the direction OF
the bay and halted IN front of barracks
with porch.
We were guarded by negroes and
placed in companies in front OF the bar
racks. One prisoner left the company
10 which he had been assigned A
guard followed him, saying: go back
dere whar you's put. or I'll sock dis
baynet clean fru you." a young negro
black as the pit OF Tartancs leyeled
his gun at the company in which I was
placed. hut was persuaded not to fire
by fellow darby, and there sat a
man with eagles on his shoulders. a
man I'm authority, as his dress indi-
Gated, who said never word or indi-
Gated by his manner his dissent to such
proceeding. We were detained here
IN the broiling sun without rations un-
til about o'clock p. NJ. without any
object as far as 1 could see. AS We
wendell our way TO the prison gate q
very tine-looking orderly sergeant from
another regiment. with chcyrons very
much in evidence, was accosted by a
negro with: "How are you. sergeant?"
OF course, he made no reply. when the
speak these times, you -- 80 -"
must confess ] was very glad to
get within the palisade. + have neg
ected to state that our officers had been
separated from us at Belle Plains Land
ing. Allow me to say we had In our
first lieutenant John w. Gilkeson, as
good an officer as the army contained
affable in camp and fearless and eff
cient on tho battlefield. Second Lieu,
tenant Harvey Marshall also was be-
yond ronroach.
Our company, on reaching pinson,
consisted of thirteen privates, the or.
derly sergeant and first corporal. we
hero assigned to a Sibley tent, which
held us and few from another com
pany. The camp was divided into
squares, the streets crossing at right,
angles. We were located on the main
street, not very far from large gate
which led out to the bay,
4 little after dark on tho evening of
our arrival, pandemonium broke loose a
Latrol of negroes were going the grand
rounds. or something very similar TO it.
,t,x1-F r