Evening Star Newspaper, July 2, 1922, Page 53

Part 4—8 Pages ONE FOR ONE HUNDRED unfortunate epi- in the town of Front Royal, Warren county. Va., by reason of which a con- siderable number of men in both the ARLY in 1864 an sode occurred Fedsral and Confederate armies lost their lives in a4 most ignoble way. Briefly, that episode was as follows: Several of Col. John S. Mosby's com- mand, the 43a Separate Battalion of Cavalry, were on furlough at Royal, and. having been informed that a Federal sutler's train was approaching the town. and having been joined by several young men of scant age for army service, they prepared am ambush for the purpose of throwins the train into confusion and being able thereby to acquire such stores as might be of value to the cause for which they were fightink. Unfortunately, however. and abso- lutely without the knowledge of those | composing the @ . therd were sev- eral ambulances filled with wounded men of Custer's cavalry command in- terspersed at different points in the wagon train. and these during the ac- tion which followed the ambush were more or less under fire, although it is not believed that any of the occupants of the ambulances were killed or wounded. The escort of the train, part of a regi- ment of Michigan cavalry, suffered to a greater extent, and although the at- tacking force was too smail to make a very serious impression on the train, geveral of the Federal soldiers were Kill- ed or wounded. * * % that the attacking party had been 2 part of “Mosby's Guer-| cry was ralsed and when, a | few days afterward, seven of this com- were captured by federal cavalr; as wers also a few of youth, the captives were either hanged or summarily disposed of in a less civ- flized manner. This action on the part of the Fed- erals brought a vow of vengeance by Col. Mosby and was shortly followed by the hanging of several federal prisoners stone hill, just west of Berry- . Va. One excess brought on an- . and for several months no quar- given by either Mosby's com- of Gen. Custer tc mem- command who were a mand and tha bers of the opix &0 unfortunate of their enem: This was the situation in the spring of 1564, when, through the success of certain movements, over 300 of the men of C taken prisoners by the 43d Separate Battalion and were concentrated at| a point near the top of the Blue Ridze at Ashby's gap and within aj few miles of the small town of Paris. | va Fvery effort having been made by | Mosby, hrough letters and mel!lzel! to Gen. Custer, to stop the wholesale | claughter without success, Col. Mos- by decided, in order to protect his men taken prisoners in future, and| to show the Federals that he would| exact an eye for an eve and a tooth e for a tooth, that he would hang one man in five of his prisoners as an{ example. This was followed by the | celebrated ecivil war incident. at which the whole 500 Federal prison- er were paraded in line and com- pelled to draw lots from a hat pre- sented to them by their captors—a scene which the writer does not be- lieve that he or any other writer has the ability to describe. Several heart-breaking incidents occured, in one of which a drummer bhoy of tender years was so unfor- tunate as to draw one of the fatal ballots. but through his fright, mis- ery and anguish so moved Mosby that he roughly ordered the poor chap he eliminated from the un- fortunate. There was another inci- dent of two brothers, standing side by side, one being successful in the Iottery of death and the other doom- ed to die. I\'O matter what the cause, the hang- ing of 100 Americans in cold blood was hardly & relishable job for other Americans, and there were many murmurs of disapproval by the assembled members of the 43d Sep- arate Battalion. Mosby, kind at heart In spite of his trade, was also impressed, especially when over a hundred letters were delivered to him from those condemned to die and written, as they supposed, in the presence of death, to' their loved ones * x K K Front | NDING out from sources unknown. | the militant | fall into the hands | ster’s command had been | MEN SURROUNDIN had to come to them, to die within their own lines, and that death could possibly pass them by, if in the hands of Custer's Michigan cavalry. was more fanciful than that it would snow in July. No, do as he pleased with them, but go through Custer to Sheridan, even with a flag of truce, they would not! Mosby was about to abandon the noble impulse which had prompted him when he suddenly thought of a young soldier of his command, Lieut. John S. Russell, who not only had stood by him in many close places, but who had himself brought into camp fifty-five of the very prisoners then under sentence of hanging. * Xk * AS a last resort he sent for John, and after explaining fully to him his desire that a letter he had writ- ten Gen. Sheridan begging that this inhuman sort of warfare stop, and offering that, in the event of his men at home. No human could stand such a tax on his ideas of vengeance, and Mos- by weakened. He therefore deter- miner that before carrying out the sentence imposed on the unfortunate prisoners he would make one last ef- fort to see it he could not so arrange matters with Gen. Sheridan that such barbarity on both sides could be elim- inated, and to this end sought some member of his command who had sufficient courage, in view of the known order of Gen. Custer that members of Mosby's command were to be treated as beyond the pale of civilized warfare. and were to he shot on sight, and without question, to attempt to get in touch with the Federal commander, then at Win- chester. 5 It was known that the command of Gen. Custer, which had been the prime cause of the “war to the knife, and without quarter,” lay in the val- ley of Virginia and in direct line with Wiachester, and any one attempting to reach the latter city and Gen. Sheridan must of necessity pass ghrough these enemies. Brave as were the men of the 43d $Battalion, and as willing to give bat- tle to @& superior number of the en- emy as any man ever living, Mosby, who could not order under the cir- pumstances, but had simply to re- Ruest, found the selection of a truce fiag bearer & difficult proposition. Four of the most courageous mem- bers of his command, men tried in hundreds of battles and skirmishes, frankly informed him that he could hang them . himself for refusal to ipbey bis orders, but attempt to get in fouoh with Sheridan through m‘d Custer at Millwood they o AL et being in future treated as any other Confederate belligerents, he would reéscind the sentence of death on the unfortunate one hundred and send them prisoners of war to Rich- mond, and after further telling him that already four of his comrades had stated that they preferred being hanged by Mosby rather than the cer- tainty of being hanged by Custer and had therefore flatly refused to un- dertake the mission, asked him if he felt that he could or would attempt to get through. Lieut. Russell had just witnessed the fatal drawing of lots and had witnessed also the heartrending hu- man feelings brought out in the un- fortunate one hundred, and his heart was touched. He recognized the peril of the trip. He fully knew that unless good luck, the very best sort of luck, attended him, he would soon find himself hanging high to an oak limb without having had a chance to ex- plain that his efforts were in the cause of saving the lives of one hun- dred miserable belngs who wore the same uniforms as did his execution- ers. No one knew the conditions better than Lieut. Russell, for had he not been in touch with all the sorry in- cidents of the vendetta, and had he not commanded at least one party whose sad duty it had been to execute justice and make reprisals through the medium of a rope and the bough of a tree? He was a young man, twen- ty-two years old, and life and the joy of lving, especially ag he saw it through the glasses bf excitement of ‘battle and raid, were keen in him. However, he lad also seen the pris- the | oners. - He could net forget them. It up | oreek. “I WAS BLINDFOLDED, PUT ON MY HORSE, AND WITH A NUMBER OF ME, WAS STARTED OUT INTO THE ROAD.” in an attempt to'save the lives of one hundred Americans it was very well worth the effort. With little hesitation and without the slightest sign of heroics, he in- formed his commander that he would go—that he would take the letter to Gen. Sheridan, deliver it into the gen- eral's hand—if he was able to get by Gen. Custer’s men without being hung or shot at sight. Now let us use Lieut. Russell’s own words as to what occurred: * ok ok X uTHE colonel looked at me for a minute or so and then said, | ‘John, you know what you are going up against, don't you? ‘Yes, colonel,’ I told him. ‘I know it is going to be hell to get through Custer's men at Millwood, but I can’t think of those boys and men up there in the g2p beink hung simply because I am afraid of making the attempt.’ “The colonel told m@ that he would Kkeep every man of his command’on - . MAGAZINE The Sunday Star. WASHINGTON, - D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 2, 1922. SECTION = Hitherto Unpublished Story of Thrilling Civil War Incident in Shenandoah Valley BY HENRY turnpike between the little city of Winchester, Va.. thi roadside on a gray horse. other than Lieut. John S. Russell, During the war between the Col. John Singleton Mosby's 43d sald that not one of them excelled and steadfast courage. The following and heretofore incident in the service of this sol self-sacrifice “as never been excee any time, 1n the history of this military commanders in any war, ONE FOR ONE HUNDRED. w. 3 S THE specding motor tourist passes over the smooth macadam by a kegn, soldierly cld gentleman. quietly ambling along the This sturdy old soldier of more than seventy-five years is none Confederate Cavalry, and, although both the Federal and Confederate armies were filled with brave and daring men, it must in truth be generosity and full-hearted kindness of one of America's greatest CARPENTER. town of Berryville and the historic s summer he may, possibly, be met now a farmer. states Lieut. Russell served with (regular) Separate Battalion of this little gray man in cool daring - ~ | unrecorded tale has to do with an | ldier which for sheer heroism and ded by any soldier, in any army, at world, as well as with the noble Gen. Philip H. Sheridan. “Greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friend,” and greater still his enemies. — by Millwood when tryipg to get in- formation for the colonel. “However, when 1 asked him as to what he thought my chances were of getting into Winchester under a flag of truce to carry a letter_to Gen. Sheridan from Col. Mosby he seemed scared to death. “He told me that I was a fool, and that Custer's men knew there were no Confederate cavalry anywhere near there except Mosby's men, and that they would shoot me on sight. the east side of the Shenandoah nver]H, advised me to g0 on back to till I got back. or until he got word lparis, as it was impossible for me that they had hanged or shot me. “There was nothing else to say, 8o he gave me a letter, sealed, to Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, commanding . the United States forces in the valley of Virginia, and about a hundred letters written by the condemned prisoners jto mothers, sisters, wives and other relatives at home. There were sev- eral letters written by officers among those condemned to Gen. Sheridan and to other officers of-the Yankees, who I supposed they believed might help them, and I wrapped all these: letters in 2 piece of paper and put them in my pocket. - “There was nothing more to say to the colonel, except I believe I told him I would start-at once." I think jt was then: about 2 o'cJock, and I had eight miles to go before I could ex- pect to see Yankes 'troops. s “I got on my horse and slipped out of Parls (Va.) with as little fuss as.I could, for I did not want any one ex- cept the colonel to know where I was going. I had no difficulty down the mountain, and I, crossed, the Shenan- doah river ‘at Berrys ferry without interference. “When I got to Millwood, .three miles west of the river, I went to old Mr. Clarke, who kept store at Mill- wood, to find out it the Yankee lines had beén changed, and he told me that they were about four miles to the west of Millwood, and that Gen. Custer, whose command was hold- ing.that part of the Yankge - lines, had his headquarters about hind the lines, which to get through. : “I studied a while, and I believe I ‘was a little ‘skeered.’ I asked him if Judge Page of Pagebrook was at home, and he told me that he was. I made up my mind to go on and have a talk with the judge, and it was not far from sundown when I got there. “I told the judge that I was going to try to get through to Winches- ter, and the old gentleman also told me ‘that he thought I was a fool. I kind of commenced to believe that I was myself, but I could not get the faces of those 100 prisoners out of my mind. * ¥ * X «THE judge told me the nearcst Yankeg picket was on the back road about @ mile and a half froni Pagebrook, and I bade him good-bye and rode on out of the back gate of Pagebrook into the, back road to Winchester. “After-I had gone about a mile and a half I came out of the woods and saw some Yankee troops on the hill to the right of the road, and I imme- diately commenced waving a white stick. The soldiers;-did not seem to see_thie handkerchief, for they came riding down. the hill in a trot, firing their carbines at mie as them came, I waved the handkerchief as high as 1 could and: fried to. dodge the balls that came zipping around me. They did not seem to pay any attention to 3 and -when "they—there ‘were 2 handkerchief which I had tied to & me. loped out of sight in the woods. It was then just about sundown. “They came only a little way and stopped shooting. I think they feared a trap. I went back: to Pagebrool saw the judge and told him just what bad happened. He again told me that I was a fool, and that I had bet- ter go on back to Mosby and tell him that the Yankees had fired on a flag of truce and that I could not make it to Winchester. I felt that he was right—that I was a fool—but stll I had promised the colonel to get that letter to Gen. Sheridan or be killed doing it, and I had not been killed. Besides, I could’ not forget those prisoners. 1 asked the judge it I could stay all' night at Page- brook and he said no. I then asked him if I could sleep In the barn, and he told me he would rather I went somewhere else. He was, naturally, afraid the Yankees would come, find me there and burn his house. I did not blame the old gentleman at all. “l told him trat maybe I would take a chance on the barn, but he need not know 1 was there. He then asked me to come on down and get supper, which I was very glad to do. I put up my horse, put the saddle and bridle ncar at hand and went to sleep In the feed room, after having made up my mind to try again in the morning. “I was up before sun-up, fed' my horge and when he was through eat- ing, saddled him and rode out in the back road again. After I had got to the clearing I saw a vidette up the road and commenced waving my white handkerchief again. He shout- ed to me to halt. He was about a hundred yards or more away from 1 halted and he commenced to call, ©Officer of the guard! Officer of the guard! “I kept on waving the handker- chief and presently an officer and |several men rode up to the videttd. *This officer shouted to me to advance, 2nd the men covered me with their car- Dihes as I did so. I ontinued to wave the white handkerchief and when I got, few yards from them the Courtn HAUEN o ' i { ! I him not to do it by to Gen. Sheridan and wanted to g0 through to Winchester to deliver it, but he said as I belonged to Mosby's com- mand he had orders to shoot on sight. “I told him that Moosby had 100 man prisoners who were going to be hanged unless I got through to Sheri- dan, or if he shot me, and advised I think I was a little upset for a while. He sent one of his men away, and after about fifteen minutes a colonel came gal- loping up with his staff and an escort. * % k% ((THIS colonel asked me what I wanted—came right up to me and seemed to be a very good sort of a man, by his conversation. I told him what I had told the other officer and he said that I had better give him the letter from Col. Mosby, as well as the other letters. I told him I had orders to deliver the let- ters to Gen. Philip H. Sheridan and that, while he could kill me and take them away from me, he would only get them in that way. I intended to obey my orders if I possibly could. “The colonel, after thinking a while, sald he would take a chance of taking me to Gen. Custer, and they fell in around me and we rode up the road toward the west. About a ile from that place we turned into a lawn where there were a large number of-horses tied to the fence and trees and some soldiers lounging around, and rode up to the porch, where I was told to dismount. “As I was getting off my horse a young man with long yellow hair banging down over his shoulders, came out of the door and, after saluting, the colonel told him what had happened. “When the colonel stated that 1 was one of Mosby's men, and- be- fore he said anything about the let- ters, this young man, whe I knew by description to be Custer, shouted: ‘1 will hang the —— to the first limd in the woods!' The colonel went on telling him about the one hundred prisoners about to be hanged and then he cooled down. aF “He told them to take me inside, which they did, and then said to me: Give me those letters. I told him that he had force enough to take them away from me, but I had orders to deliver the letters to Gen. Sheridan and I intended to do so unless he took them. “He then went across the hall and called several officers and shut the door. What they talked about. I don't know, but while they were away. the colonel and several other officers came up to me and asked me about the men who were to be hanged. I told them I did not know anything about it except that I thought the colonel intended hanging them in retaliation for our men that they had hanged at Front Royal and elsewhere. 2 ‘After a while Custer came out and told me he ought to have me hung. but he would send me to Winchester. I told him to suit himself, as I was in his power. I also suggested that it I did not get back to Paris he could depend on it that one h of his men would be swung up. He went officer told |away. swearing and mumbling &nd to/halt and asked me-what T wanted. [soon after thet I was blindfolded, put = > men surrounding me, was started out into the road again. “We evidently passed through a considerable camp of cavalry, for 1 could hear horses on all sides of me. and a number of men shouted. “The shouts and taunts continued for several miles, at intervals. “About midday we got to Winches- ter and halted at the house on the corner of Loudoun and Picadilly streets, where the Evans Hotel now stands, which was the headquarters of Maj. Parsons, Gen. Sheridan’s pro- vost marshal. “They told me to get down. I was led inside and the bandage taken off my eves. There was a small, nice- looking officer in the room and he asked the officer who came in with me, a captain or lieutenant, I think, who I was. On being informed he told me that he was the provost mar- shal and that I should give him the letters. I told him that I had orders to deliver them to Gen. Sheridan and that I would do 8o unless they were taken away from me by force. He thought for a moment, asked the officer wtih me as to his orders and then sald that 1 was right to obey my orders and that he would send me to Gen. Sheridan’s headquarters. The latter were in the house of Lloyd Logan, a citizen of Winchester, and thither 1 was taken by two sol- diers as guards. They had never offered to take my side arms from me, but the provost marshal had di- rected that my horse be taken away and cared for. *x x % AFTER arriving at Gen. Sheridan's ) headquarters I was taken into a long room like a parlor, with a number Of officers and men at the far end, and told to sit down. The two guards sat one on each side of me. I don't know how long I waited, but after a while a group of officers rode up in front of the house and dismounted. They came up on the porch, led by a handsome officer, who passed down to the end of the room and sat at a desk. “One of my guards told me that he was Adjt. Gen. Russell, a New Yorker. He had the same name as my own” After a while he beck- oned to one of my guards and talked to him for a while and I was then directed to come to his desk. He recelved me very courteously, stated that he understood that our names were the same, and after some fur- ther talk asked me to give him the lettefs to Gen. Sheridan, as he was adjdtant geéneral and empowered to undertake such business. “] told him that I would like to do as he suggested, but that I had or- ders to deliver the letters to Gen. Sheridan in person. “Gen. Russell laughed and said that I was perfectly right in obeying or- ders and that If 1 would wait for a few minutes, possibly about half an hour, Gen. Sheridan would be In. I told him that I was sent there to wait and would walt as long as it was necessary. “In about fifteen minutes Gen. Sheridan came ifi, or, at least, I knew [t was Gen. Sheridan, for he was a short, thick-set man in a general's uniform. He walked ilke a cavalry- He went back to the end of him into a room and the door was closed. In a few minutes Gen. Rus- sell cume out and told my guards to take me to the general. “1 gntered the room and found the general sitting at a table. He told the guards to go out and close the door. He then asked me what 1 wanted and 1 told him that | had a letter from Col. Mosby as well as about a hundred letters from some federal prisoners who were under sentence to be hanged. 1 handed him the letter and told him 1 had been ordered to put them in his hands, and 1 had done so. in spite of the effort of the officer near Pagebrook, Gen. Custer at his headquarters, the pro- vost marshal at Winchester. and fin- ally Gen. Russell, to get me to give them up to them “He smiled and said that no man {could fail in his duty if he obeved his orders. He asked me to sit down while he read the letter from Col. Mosby. “When he was through reading he 1ooked over the letters from the pris- oners and then asked me whether 1 fdid not think it was cruel and in- human to hang these men? 1 told him I certainly did. but that this exe- cution, as well as others that had taken place on our side, was in re- taliation for the same work on the part of his men and that the latter had started the whole wretched busi- ness by executing the man in Front Royal for ambushing the train “He asked me whether 1 did not think it a breach of civilized war- fare for our men to have fired on the train in the first place, and 1 told him that I did think =0 but for the |fact that it had been done under a misapprehension and that the men engaged in the ambush had no idea the train contained anything but sutlers and supply wagons; that these men were simply trying 4o get a chance to get some of the supplies {contained in the wagons by stamped- ing the wagon guard. > | “At this Gen. Sheridan laughed and |remarked, ‘Just like Mosby—always |looking for a chance to get at the eatables 1 laughed a little also, for there was some truth in what he said. He asked me as to how 1 was able to get 1o Winchester, and I told him fully: also about being fired on so briskly when 1 was waving a flag of truce. | * oo % « AT this he became very grave and 4} stated that there was no excuse for such conduct. the only explana- tion being the state of mind of Gen | Custer, always a hot head. and his men. Wwho were<of the self-same Michigan cavalry which had figured “However. he said that see that nothing like that happened again and complimented me on keep- ing on with my mission when I haa he would every excuse for going back. I totd him that I wanted to gn back, but could not get the faces of the pris- oners out of my mind. “He got up. stuck out his hand to {me and complimented me on doing |what T had done and the way I felt about it. He said I was to go to the Taylor House, where 1 would be given a room and fed. and to wait there till he sent for me. as he would hax to communicate with Gen. Grant bé fore he could answer the letter re ceived from Col. Mosby. He bid me good-bye. shook hands again, called In the guard as well as one of his alds, and told the latter that 1 was to be put up at the Taylor House and. turning to me. said. ‘Of course. with the understanding that vou will give me your word not to leave Win- chester without my permission’ I gave it. “I was fed. wined and dined. as well as visited and talked with by officers of all grades until the next day, when about 11 o'clock I was sent for to report at Gen. Sheridan's headquar- ters. “The general had a letter addressed to Col. Mosby and sealed. and he said he wanted me to deliver it. He said that he would send an escort of cav- alry with me as far as Millwood in order to protect me from annoyance by the federal troops. for feeling against Mosby and his men was run- ning high at that time. He asked me if I could guarantee that the escort would not be attacked when Millwood was reached. and although I had Col. Mosby’s word that none ot our men would be allowed on the west side of the Senandoah river until my mission was finished one way or another, I did not think it necessary to tell the general this fact, and therefore told him that 1. could not guarantee the escort against & sudden attack if the two parties met on the road and before 1 could stop our men. He said that was true enough. I told him that if he would send me with a small escort 1o Berryville I would guarantee that they would meet none of our men going around in that way and that we would miss any federal troops. as Gen. Chapman of the federal army was at Kennon's Shcp with his bri- gade and we would not run into them, for they were three miles north of Berryville. Gen. Sheridan smiled and asked me how I knew where Gen. Chapman was, but I also smiled and sald nothing. ' “After agreeing to m.> oroposal he bid me good-bye and it was not long before I was back at Paris with the answer to the colonel's letter. The escort treated me like a prince all the way and we had quite & time of’ it, for they had more than one bottle of champagne and put three in my saddle-pockets when I left them at Millwood. 1 had a chance to stay all night at my home in Berryville, which was really the reason why 1 suggested that route Instead of the one to Millwood direct. “] don’t know what the letter con- talned any more than I know the wording of the first one, but 1 do know that the one hundred prisonera were not, hanged and from that time hingings on account of the Front | ineident and incidents growiag of it were stopped.’ . .