The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 5, 1898, Page 24

THRILLING ADVENTURES OF A UNION SPY ON SPECIAL SECRET SERVICE await them twent were shot to run the lines. He was. I The s v ai Sher- n to inst Haine's 1 Pemberton's to face the in detail and £ y could unite He wished to know 2 the Confe: e fortifi- . gaps of th .d Rock ze of Johnston’s re- were e Ty little spy work In the ampaign, but this job in amp, Colonel Raymond was about the most dangerous - spy could ertake. The armies were almost ready to ston's ¢ two and all the ps ‘were : chful of un- known v lonel Raymond said he ty young men who go into the dy to die, if nec vithout whimpering or divulging of rets. He also infor d me that sev- eral Confederate s had been recent> ly hanged at inth, and that the enemy -would surely retaliate on Fed- eral -spi I was given two hours to think the proposition over. I was left in a room nd not’ allowed to speak to any of my- comrades. 1 confess, I almost perspired blocd as-1 sat there alone that lovely May mornirng, and thought over the horrible risk I was going to take. But I agreed to go. - Colonel ‘Raymond tcld me that Gen- eral Grant wished to talk with the men who were to go as spies. The colonel Jed us about half a mile away to a dilapidated house where Grant made. his temporary headquarters. General Grant left a table full of maps and drawings and came to speak with us in the vard. He explained that we had been chosen because ¢f our repu- tation for coolness, nerve and daring. He told us that if any of us had any hesitancy or doubt of our courage in engaging in the spy work in a region and at a time when we wouid be sum- marily hanged if caught, that e shculd decline the service then and therg. That afternoon each of us was in- structed in the particular information as to get, and the re ve part s to play as a civilian in the ¢ s camp. I was given the task of observing me topographical facts and seeing hat artiljery General Johnston's army a 1 i ructed be a deaf neral Grier- :on's staff had been the head of a deaf eland, and he 1l hours in drilling me as a fes. . s to go over to Jackson with a hel full of shoe blacking, shaving paper collars and netions, appar- rning my livelihood by selling res to Confederate soldiers. A neil and slate were my mode of com- nunication. I started out from the Grand Gulf ate on the night of May 5. I knew 1 would be suspected of being a and that the least indication that hearing was at all good would for- ‘eit my life. i was within the enemy’s lines by soon the nex: day. J at: under a cow- r all the valuable information possible. y men reported they would go. g the trying ordeals. shed while the rain drizzled down. In the afternoon I was going along ar 2 hamlet k Zgs- I heard a troop of cav. coming wn the road behind me. I put on a n and trudged along satchel over my shoul- rode up to me and Hel re, whe 1 had had time his test repeated his q tion. In a second I had my pocket slate out and handed sly to the office The others in the troop laughed and said: “Oh, he's a d ol dummy.” The lieutenant wrote on my slate, “Who are you and where are you go- ing?” I wrote that I was Daniel Freeman and that I was peddling for a living. Several of the troops remarked that it was foolish to waste time on such a dumb mutton-head as I, for I'd be caught anyhow and the troop galloped away I saw a camp of fully 1000 Confeder- ates down in a valley. I knew that my presence woula be reported at head- quarters by the cavalrymen and it would be folly to go past a camp if I were really seeking trade. I was stopped by a sentinel about the camp. 1 wrote for him my —~ame and business on my slate. He growled something about lunk-head dummies wandering about in war time and catching me by the coat sleeve led me to the officer of the guard. The sentinel explained that Iw deaf and dumb and went away. The officer had evidently known that the role of dummy was not uncommon with up-to-date spies. tand over there a second, till I finish this,” said to me in the most artful, off-hand, asy manner. My knees did move slightly and I al- most stepped a foot. But I caught myself while the cold chills chased up and down my spine at my almost forgetfulness, and I re- solved not to risk my neck so easily again. Your hand'is bloody,” said he, turn- ing carelessly to me. I stood like a post, looking vacantly at him. * Some of the cavalrymen I had seen on the road came in, and I knew from the ‘expression on the officer-of-th:.- guard’s face that I was to be tested for my deafness. I stood indifferent to my environment, looking at a picture on the wall, while I knew that some test of my hearing was being prepared at my rear. 23 Suddenly one of the cavalrymen drew his sword and shouted: “G—d d—-n this Yankee; I've a good mind to put him to the wall right here!” “Stab the —!" cried another. Fancy how you would feel to hLear such words shouted in your ears by a great, burly and armed cavairyman in an enemy’s camp. I can’t describe my feelings, but I never blinked. 1 stood scrutinizing the print picture on the wall. I knew that my every muscle and nerve was being watched by every ore in the apartment. The least twiich or, turn of the head would have be- trayed me. “He’s about as dumb as they make ‘em,” said the officer-of-the-guard, when it was seen how oblivious I was to all their tests of my hearing. “Isn’t it strange that such a peor cuss should go peddling around the lines of war- fare. He'll get over the Yank lines and it'll go hard with him some of hese days.” . & ! 1 was ydlsm!ssed. T went peddling about the camp, all the time keeping my eyes open for topographical and armament information. Two days later I was seven miles farther in the enemy’s country. I had met hundreds of Confederate soldiers on the way, but the fact that I had passed an outlying camp all right was an indication that I was a genuine fool dummy. I go! a mass of 'nformation and had es.7 . z . ag- hourly simple tests of my hearing, or rather my non-hearing faculty. | on the verge of nervous. m the strain of ceaseless ution I had to exercise lest I re- I was s shanty coo without 4 came abo: my I der nov to cuss in a camp, and, moment’s warning down gallons of cold water nd shoulders. I shud- 1 I think how near I came *derate soldiers who ut to watch me. g a word I gurgied a t of inharmonious sounds of fright, looked the more like a thing of n another camp T was squatting on the ground, mechanically showing my soaps and tobaccos, and playing deaf to the thousand and one questions art- fully put to me, when I saw by a sol- di eye that some test of my hearing w. to be made. That moment I heard the click of a pistol being brought to cock. The weapon was discharged within three inches ‘'of my ear. I never had to hold ‘myself together more than then. I slowly turned my head and looked inquiringly about at the smoke of the discharge. When I reached General Johnston's main camp about Jackson, I knew that crucial tests would be made. I had by that time gained nearly all the in- formation I wished for General Grant, and my plans were how to get back tg the Federal lines. ® I slept in a barn one night, remote from any camp, where I could have at least partial peace from the fear of soldiers watching to entrap me to my death. It is marvelous that I was not stark mad by that time. The next morning as 1 was getting out of the barn I saw several infantry soldiers out foraging. My actions had roused their suspicions. 1 wrote on my slate that I was a Confederate peddler named Freeman on my way to Jackson to get new goods for selling to the boys in gray. “Oh, that won’t do,” said one of the soldiers. “I'll bet he's another Yank spy.” Then I learned from the conversation of my captors that two of the spies sent out from Grand Gulf at the time I was had been caught and hanged two days previous. Try and imagine what my thoughts were as the soldiers marched me across a cotton field to the headquarters. In my four years of warfare that was the nearest 1 ever saw death before me. It seemed perfectly hopeless to brave out the ordeal I would have to undergo in the enemy’s lines, without a pass in_my pocket and npye to vouch for me, 7 1 was taken to Gefieral Kirby Smith's tent. The general was informed that 1 had been arrested without a pass, and that I was suspected of being a spy in the guise of a deaf and dumb peddler. General Smith said nothing. Two or three officers in his tent went and whispered to him. I knew they were devising schemes to catch me if T were a spy in disguise. I pulled myself together and looked absently about, as if I had never seen the interior of a tent tn time of war- fare. I‘knew that I was thoroughly suspected by all present. One of the officers wrote me a mes- sage on a bit of paper. While I was writing an answer, the man started and ejaculated, “Look eut!" I wonder now that my hand did not start involuntarily. The officers and others were looking at it closely. For some minutes there was a con- versation on my slate concerning why I had no pass in the Confederate lines, whence I came and where I was go- ing. I could see it was all done to dis- arm me of any fear I had. > An officer came forward and said: “This poor mute looks tired. It is a shame to keep him here.” Then turn- ing to me he smilingly eaid, “Are you hungry?” It was a pretty ruse, but I simply wstared dt hia emanlets. = DUMMY™ ) he Vicksburg campaign General Grant selected Sergeant William W. Jefforas and nineteen other men to go inside the Confed- The mission, just at that particular juncture, was fraught with such extraordinary e men were given two hours to think over the matter, and then withdraw from the expedition if they entertained the slightest at in his two hours of silent deliberation he almost sweat blood as his mind reviewed the dangers that were known to Four of them were caught by the Confederatc- Jeffords assumed the character of a deaf and dumb peddler and walked str: that moment until the time he left the lines he was kept under a constant series of tests, for every new party of soldiers ess and beldness displayed by the Confederates to throw him off his guard was only surpassed by “his wonder- For his success on this expedition Jeffords was made a first lieutenant. Below will be found the and hanged as spies and several of them bt up to the Confederate lines. Then they tried to make me pale, and it was a frightful test. 1 was given a seat while General Smith turned to other business, appar- ently forgetful of me. The other offi- cers sat near me and smoked and chat- ted. Presently they ~began talking about some new orders that had been issued to hang every Federal spy im- mediately upon conviction. They talked about how twe been hanged two days had acted as they squirmed in death, and how the officers were locking for more spies to hang on the same spot. My brain was in a whirl. Everything swam before my eyes, but I sat with my face turned up to the military diagrams and rules of camp on the tent wall be- fore me. More whispering followed. I wrote on my slate: “I am hungry and tired. Why do ycu keep me here?” A colonel wrote: “We think you are deceiving us. If you are, it will be death to you.” He watched my face as I read the lines. I wrote in reply: “I have a very hard time getting a living in this war. I am with the Confeds with all my soul. Please may 1 go.” In an hour I was taken to a shanty- like affair and locked in. A young man in Federal uniform was lying on the floor when I entered. He rose, and looking at me, said, “My goodness gra- cious, have they got you, too?” I looked vacantly at him. I wrote that I was mute. Then the stranger laughed and said: ““Oh, it won't do you any good to keep that trick up longer. We're going to die together as Union spies, and why not be resigned to it. I was caught day before yesterday, and I've been sentenced to be hanged. Now they’ll wait for you to go with me. Ha, ha, we'll show the Rebs how Yankee boys can die game, won't we?” It was a trying moment, and I did want to open my heart and mouth to such a jolly Federal man, while my case seemed pretty hopeless. I could not tell what opinion the men at Gen- eral Smith’s headquarters had formed of my acticns. I wrote on my slate that I was a mute, and that it was useless to try to communicate with me except by signs or writing. But the stranger talked right along, and tried to appeal to my love for the Union cause. He would suddenly fling a very natural question at me. Worn ocut and helpless as 1 was, I dared not doze even for a second that night. I knew my companion was feigning sleep also. Along in the middle of the night when I was purposely breathing ‘deep and regularly I heard some one enter. It was pitch dark. I was all attention but still breathing deep. I heard a pis- tol drawn from its holster. Crash, bang! The weapon was fired an inch above my face. It seemed as if lightning had struck me. 7 At the same moment a dark lantern was flashed in my face and my coun- tenance studied. I slowly opened my eyes at the light and rolled over as if to go to sleep. Th~ pseudo-Union soldier went out with the Confederates. 1 could hear them whispering about me and what reason there was to suspect me as a spy. At 7 o’clock next morniz~ I was led to the cook tent and given « meal. My satchel was restored to me. A colonel came and shook me by the hand. He looked over my few remaining soaps, etc., and bought a little. Then turning to me he asked: “How much are these?” I believe my lower jaw did move. I was caught off my guard for a trice. But I never s oke and the colonel was not looking at my face. He wrote me a pass in the lines about Jackson and just as he handed it to me he turned and said: ‘“‘Let me see that again.” My hand almost moved to obey such an agreeable gentleman. But instead I folded the paper and started on_my way out of camp, know- ing that I was watched covertly by scores of eves. 23 e A That day I replenished my satchel in on and started °k by a circuit- road toward the Federal lines. I no further bothy from the Con- s and my gi of tohacco to officers whom - met made me d Grand Guif at dawn on May thanked for the information I had got for my army and a month later I was first lieutenant in my com- pany. Of the twenty men who went as spies at that time four were captured and three were hanged. One man was shot I was in D e, Tenn., in 1888 and I called upon Colonel Jason Parker, who was on General Smith’s staff and who devised the attempts to catch me napping in my role as a dummy peddler. He recalled the circumstances clearly and we became fast friends. He id he was_cock-sure when I started away from General Smith's headquar- ters that I was a genuine deaf mute and he had felt sorry for me in my affliction. WILLIAM W. JEFFORDS, tain Company A, Thirty-third Regl« 5 nia Volunteers. CURIOSITY SATISFIED. Mr. McSwat groaned in his sleep, rolled over, and awake. He sat bolt upright in his bed. “What is the matter, Billiger?” asked Mrs. McSwat, whom his uneasy mo- tions had aroused from her slumbers. “Nothing much,” he answered. “I had something like a nightmare, I think.” “Were you rolling off the roof of a house, and did you wake up just before you hit the ground?” queried Mrs. Mc- Swat, becoming interested at once. “Do you know some people think that if you don't wake before you reach the ground you—" “I think I'd like to go to sleep again, Lobelia,” murmured Mr. McSwat, lying down and emitting a large and lugubri- ous vawn. “But what was your nightmare, Bil- liger?” persisted Lobelia. “I didn’t say it was a nightmare. I said it was something like a night- mare.” “Something terrible looking at you over the footboard of the bed, and you tried to scream and couldn’t? Was it like that?"” “No, and it wasn’t a big fish with horns and a contralto voice trying to swallow me. Suppose you quiet down now and go to sleep.” “I think that’s as mean as it can be. You woke me up, tell me you've had a nightmare—"' “Great Scott, Lobelia—" “Something like a nightmare—that’s what you said. It was enough to wake you up, and you woke me, and now you won’t tell me what it was. You must have some reason for it. How do you suppose I can go to sleep again when you act like that? Was it a note com- ing due? Have you been running into debt without saying anything to me about—" “If you'll not say anything more I'll tell you as nearly as I can—" “There’s no use in your saying that. You know exactly what it was. I want the whole story.” “Suffering Socrates! There isn’t any whole story. All there is to tell is that 1 seemed to be oppressed by some pre- monition of coming evil—a vague sort of feeling that something weird and unearthly was about to happen—do I make myself clear, Lobelia?"” “Yes, ves. Go on.” “There was an indefinable sensation of dread, an uncanny, creepy kind of impression that seemed to portend some mysterious calamity or untoward event of whose precise nature I was ignorant save that it was.inevitable and was swiftly impending—are you quite sure you follow me?"” “Yes, yes! What else?” “So strong was this impression upon me that I awoke. I awoke, Lobelia, to the immediate realization of the ca- lamity whose shadowy—or foreshad- owy—horror had yweighed upon me! It is present now, Lobelia! Does not your soul sink beneath its—" “Don’t talk that way, Billiger! You frighten me! What is it?"” “What is it? That everlasting, dog- goned smell from the stock yards! ‘Where is your nose? You're nearest the window. Oblige me by getting up and putting it down. Thanks. Now will you have the goodness, Lobelia, to consider this a closed incident and let me go to sleep again?"” Silence settled down once mor:s upon the McSwat household, and Billiger's deep bass snore was the only sound that disturbed the heavily laden atnios- phere.—Chicago Tribune,