Ohio Boys in Dixie
Author: Unknown
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Making of America Books Basic | Boolean | Proximity |

Bibliographic | Search History UMDL Texts home U of M login View bookbag your bookbag has 0 items

Home Search BrowseHelp

list of all pages | add to bookbag

Title:Ohio boys in Dixie: the adventures of twenty-two scouts sent by Gen. O. M. Mitchell to destroy a railroad; with a narrative of their barbarous treatment by the Rebels and Judge Holt’s report …

Availability:These pages may freely searched and displayed.

Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Please contact umdl-info@umich.edu for more information.

Print Source:Ohio boys in Dixie: the adventures of twenty-two scouts sent by Gen. O. M. Mitchell to destroy a railroad; with a narrative of their barbarous treatment by the Rebels and Judge Holt’s report …

47 p. 22 cm.

New York,

Miller & Mathews,

1863.

Page 1 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE: THE ADYENTURES OF TWENTY-TWO SCOUTS SENT BY GEN. O. M.

MITCHELL TO DESTROY A RAILROAD; WITH A NARRATIVE OF THEIR BARBAROUS

TREATMENT BY THE REBELS AND JUDGE HOLT’S REPORT. -Nothing on 80 grand a scale has been attempted, and nothing within the range of possibility could be conceived that would fall with such a tremendous crushing force upon us as the accomplishment of the plans which were concocted and dependent on the execution of the one whose history we now proceed to narrate.”-Sojourn Confederacy. April 15,1862. NEW YORK: MILLER & MATHEWS, 757 BROADWAY. 1863. E4TC Hi + O 5S .. A q6?o.A~* A , - w ,, 1 6..-.

– l

Page 2 view page image

THE ROLL OF HONOR. J. J. ANDREWS OF KENTUCKY, Leader of the Expedition.

WM. KNIGHT, Co. E, 21st Ohio Volunteers. WILSON H. BROWN, Co. F, 21st Ohio. MARK WOOD, Co. C, 21st Ohio. ALFRED WILSON, Co. C, 21st Ohio. _)HN

R. PORTER, Co. G, 21st Ohio. -tOBERT BUFFUM, Co. H, 21st Ohio. WM.

BENSINGER, Co. G, 21st Ohio. R-HN SCOTT, Co. F, 21st Ohio. S:geant E. A.

MASON, Co. K, 21st Ohio. DANIEL A. DORSEY, Co. H, 33d Ohio. MARTIN J.

HAWKINS, Co. A,-33d Ohio. JOHN WHOLLAN, Co. C, 33d Ohio. JACOB PARROT, Co.

K, 33d Ohio. Corporal WILLIAM REDDICK, Co. B, 33d Ohio. SAMUEL ROBERSON, Co. G, 33d Ohio. SAMUEL SLAVENS, Co. D, 33d Ohio. Corporal WM. PITTENGER, Co. G, 2d Ohio. GEORGE D. WILSON, Co. B, 2d Ohio. MARION ROSS, Co. A, 2d Ohio, Sergeant-Major of the Regiment. PERRY D. SHADRACK, Co. K, 2d Ohio.

WM. CAMPBELL of Kentucky.

Page 3 view page image

- 4 4 OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. ON the 10th of November, 1862, Mark Wood and Alfred Wilson arrived at Key West, Florida, on board the U. S. steamer Stars and Stripes, and reported themselves to Col. Morgan, commanding the post, as members of the 21st Ohio Volunteers: having been sent out by Gen.

Mitchell nearly eight months previously, together with twenty others, on special service, to capture a train of cars and destroy the railroad bridges on the Georgia and Atlanta State Road. At Key West they furnished the following remarkable narra tive of daring deed and suffering, for publication in the Key West New Era. On Monday, April 7th, 1862, we left our camp at Shelbyville’ Tenn., and made for Manchester, Tenn. We had the utmost difficulty in avoiding our own pickets, and several of the party were near being shot. At Manchester, we represented ourselves as Kentuckians on our way to Chattanooga, to join the rebel army. After leaving Manchester, we arrived at a farm owned by a Col. Harris, who, upon being told that we desired to join the Confederates, showed us every attention, gave us lodging, and in the morning harnessed his teams and conveyed four of us to the Cumberland Mountains, and furnished us with letters and passes to friends in Chattanooga. At this time, the party divided into squads of two and four, and started ahead of each other. All, however, told the same story, and had the same object in making their way to the Army lines. We crossed the mountains and followed the course of I\

I 14

Page 4 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Battle Creek. During this journey, we frequently stopped at houses in which we found Union men, who endeavored to persuade us to turn back and join the Federal Army. Occasionally, we were regaled at the farmn-house of a secessionist and received every attention and encouragement. After a journey of five days, with alternate meetings of secession friends and Union dissuaders, we arrived at Chattanooga, where we found eighteen of our party, the other two having previously arrived and gone on to Marietta, Ga. At Col. iHarris’s we met a man who had just run the blockade and offered one of our party forty dollars to pilot him across the Cumberland Mountains. We, however, all refused, and expressed a determination to join the Confederate Army. This lulled all suspicion, and without delay or hindrance we took the cars for Marietta. Before leaving, however, Andrews, the chief of the party, divided among us seven hundred dollars of Confederate Scrip and told us that we were soon to enter upon our dangerous duty, but the first man that got drunk, or flinched in the least, he would shoot him dead on the spot; that our object must be accomplished, or we must leave our bones in Dixie. He was a man of great determination and force of character, as subsequent events will show.

After a journey of about eighteen hours, we arrived at Marietta, Ga., and put up at a tavern. The next morning before daylight we again took the cars and went back the same road to a place called Big Shanty, a refreshment saloon on the line of the Georgia and Atlanta State Road, where were encamped about 10,000 Confederate troops. It was the general rendezvous for recruits and the organization of regiments. The train contained a number of soldiers as well as citizens, together with a quantity of provisions, and an iron safe containing a large amount of Confederate scrip to pay the troops at Corinth, Miss., and here it was that we knew the duty we were expected to do, viz.: destroy the track and bridges on the line of the road, and thus prevent reinforcements and commissary stores from reaching Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Gen.

Mitchell had already cut off communication from Corinth by holding Huntsville, Ala., and our duty was to destroy the track and bridges from Big Shanty to and beyond Chattanooga, or as far as Bridgeport, Tenn. It must be recollected that this portion 4 I 1.i i. IN I f-\

Page 5 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. of the road is built over innumerable creeks and rivers, and crosses the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, where a fine bridge is erected. As before stated, our whole party, consisting of twenty-two, left the cars, and divided into squads of three and four, taking sta tions on each side of the train-Andrews stationing himself at the coupling-pin of the third car. [It must here be stated that a number of our party were engineers, and thoroughly understood the business we had on hand.] One of our engineers was at his post, and found everything all right. All hands now mounted the cars, although the guard was within three feet of them, the word was given, Andrews drew the coupling-pin, and cried all right.

The train, now consisting of three cars and the engine, was started off with as little noise as possible. We soon lost sight of the lights at Big Shanty, and at the first curve the train was stopped, and one of the party (John Scott) climbed the telegraph pole and cut the wires, we then started, and the next point, at a town, name unknown, we tore up the track, and took a rail with us on the car, and thus we continued tearing up the track and cutting the wires, on the other side, after passing a town. Unfortunately, however, for us, the train was running in a very slow schedule, and we were compelled to switch off and let the down train pass us. At the first station this occurred, the engineer of the road made his appearance, and was about to step on the engine, when Andrews told him he could not come on board, as this was an extra train to run through to Corinth, and the present party were engaged to carry it there, and in support of the assertion the iron safe was shown. This apparently satisfied the engineer, and we took in wood and water, and again started.

A second time we were compelled to switch off, and in order to get the switch keys, Andrews, who knew the road well, went into the station, and took them from the office. This caused considerable excitement, but we quieted it in a measure by stating that our train contained gunpowder for Beauregard at Corinth, and soon after we again started. About twenty miles south of Dalton, Ga., we came to a bridge, and here we set fire to one of our cars, piled on wood, and left it on the bridge, designing to set it on fire also. At this time, the engineer at the Rome Branch, suspecting. that all was not right, started up the track, and we suppose, found the rails torn up, and 5 W

Page 6 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. immediately returned to the junction, and took on board a quantity of loose rails, and followed after us. Where we had torn up the rails he immediately laid one, and without stopping to fasten it, started over slowly and gave chase. Soon he came to the bridge with the burning car, which had not yet caught the bridge. In the meantime we had switched off to let an express pass, which train was duly informed of our character by discovering the track torn up, and stopped, but was soon joined by the Rome engineer who had succeeded in turn ing the burning car off the bridge; they then started for us, laying the track as they went along, which they could do in a much shorter time than we could tear it up. Thus it was they overtook us at work, and as soon as we found ourselves discovered, speed was our hope and at it we went, but unfortunately for us our fuel was nearly out, and it was then determined to leave the engine, and take to the woods. Accordingly, we stopped and reversed her, intending she should run back upon our pursuers; but in this we failed, as she had not sufficient steam to turn her over, and our object had failed from a combination of unfortunate circumstances.‘Ten minutes more would have set the bridge on fire, and the Rome engineer, with the rails, could not have followed us, and the down express was entirely useless. It was our intention to have destroyed all the bridges, run into Chattanooga, wait until the evening train passed, and then gone on to Bridgeport, destroyed the bridge over the Tennessee River, and then away for Huntsville, and join Gen. Mitchell. Our troubles now commenced, and the greatest of all our disasters was the division of our party;‘twas now every man for himself. We started for the Tennessee River, but, being entirely unacquainted with the country, mistook our way, and after being hunted through the woods and twice fired at, made our escape. Our travels from this time were a succession of hard. ships and difficulties. We crossed the mountains, made the Tennessee River, where we found a small boat with which we made our way down the river to Stephenson, Ala.; here we found the entire rebel force in a complete state of confusion, occasioned, as we learned, by a visit from our cavalry which had made a dash into the town, captured a few prisoners, and left that morning. We had succeeded in passing through the town safely, when we suddenly came upon a force of rebel cavalry, 6 I I I

Page 7 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. commanded by Col. Stephenson, who took us prisoners just fourteen days after leaving the balance of our party. We were immediately recognized as belonging to Andrews’s party, and after being confined one night in Stephenson, we were taken on the cars to Chattanooga-and confined in jail, where we found the whole party. It was endeavored to make us give the name of the engineer, as they had a terrible fate in wait for him, but not one of the party would divulge his name. A CourtMartial was ordered for the trial of Andrews, and Pettinger, of the Second Ohio, was taken out as a witness, and by alternate offers of pardon and persecution they endeavored to make him testify against Andrews, but he was true to his word and companions, and the Court could gain nothing from him. Andrews and Pettinger were then sent back to us in jail, and we expected nothing less than the whole party would be hung. At this time, about May 10, Chattanooga was threatened by our forces, and, for safe keeping, we were run off to Madison, Ga. At Marietta, the cars were stopped by a mob who threatened to drag us from the cars and hang us to a tree, but the officer in charge of the train prevented them from carrying it into execution by placing a strong guard around the car, and the mob, after a great effort, was dispersed. We arrived in safety at Madison, where, after being kept in confinement three days, we were informed, we were to be again taken to-Chattanooga, as the Yankees did not intend to try to take that place. Accordingly we were again taken back to that place, where the whole party-twenty-two in number-were chained with heavy irons, and confined in a dark dungeon, thirteen feet square, and for six weeks were fed on half fare, of the most miserable quality. We were stripped of all in our pockets, and left without a cent. Again the CourtMartial was ordered, but this time at Knoxvile, and twelve of our party were taken there, and confinedin largeiron cages. The Court foundseven of them guilty of being spies and lurkers around the camps. Our forces at this time advanced upon Cumberland Gap, and Knoxville was threatened, and in order that we might be safely kept, the whole party, including the ten at Chattanooga, were sent to Atoa a. Previous to leaving Chattanooga, Andrews’s sentence was read to him, which was that he was to be hung in six days. It was then determined to attempt an escape by cutting through the jail, which was accomplished in one night, and 7

Page 8 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. just at daybreak Andrews twisted his blanket into the form of a rope, and succeeded in reaching the fence. John Whollam next followed, but was discovered. Andrews, in attempting to climb the jail-yard fence, was also seen and fired upon by the guard, but succeeded in getting over. Whollam also made a dash, and cleared the fence; both then took to the river, and for the time escaped. Three days afterward Andrews was captured and brought back, and seven days elapsed before poor Whollam was found. Hie had travelled eighty miles down the river, and was twice within hail of the Union gunboats, but was afraid to make himself known. As soon as those two had been brought back, Andrews was chained, hands and feet, and the irons riveted on, the shackles being of immense weight and sufficient to have held an ox. The whole party were then run off to Atlanta, Ga. On the 7th of June, Andrews was taken from the jail and hung, or rather, strangled to death, for the tree on which they hung him was so low that when his head touched the limb his toes touched the ground, and it was necessary to dig the sand away in order that he could be choked; his irons and shackles were still on him. After remaining in jail about seven days, the Provost-Marshal came to our cell and took out the seven that were tried at Knoxville, viz.: Wilson, Ross, and P. G.

Shaderick, 2d Ohio; Slaven and Robinson, 33d Ohio; John Scott,; 21st Ohio; and William Campbell, citizen, Louisville, Ky. These were taken from the cell into an adjoining room, and then sentence of death was read to them, and permission refused them to return to their comrades before execution, which took place in half an hour after leaving us.* They were hung with cotton ropes, and two of the party broke down, and were allowed to live about an hour, and * A refugee from the State of Georgia, now in the city, who witnessed the execution, but from peculiar circumstances does not make his name public, corroborates this statement, and adds that these brave men were surrounded by some three or four hundred guerillas, and partisan rangers, as they called themselves, who disputed for the honor of being the executioners The matter was settled by the crowd taking a vote, when twelve of the party were selected as the favored ones. The rebel soldiers who perpetrated this outrageous murder, spent the remainder of the day in spreeing and jollification, many of them writing home to their friends an account of their pleasure in having assisted in the hanging of seven “blue bellies,” as they termed the Union soldiera NEW YORx, April 6, 1863. 8

Page 9 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. see them put their comrades in coffins, after which they were again hung up, and their lifeless bodies passed ourjail window in about half an hour. The balance qf the party, expecting from day to day to be taken out and hung, still lingered on a most miserable existence for the space of four months. In October last, we were told that a CourtMartial was about to be convened to try us, and expecting neither justice nor mercy at their hands, it was reaohle4t-am-Pan escape.

Accordingly, on the evening of the 15th of October, just as our jailer brought up our supper, we (together with a Capt. Fry, who was confined with us, known as the notorious Capt. Fry, spy and bridgeburner) rushed from our cell, took the keys and released four other prisoners, and in a body fell upon the guard and disarmed them. We then succeeded in scaling the fence, and took the shortest cut for the woods, distant about a mile.

By this time the guard and sentinels were after us, and as they began to fire upon us, our party scattered and ran, every man for himself. We two, however, kept together, and made good our escape. How many of the party were retaken or shot, it is impossible to say. Capt. Fry, after being repeatedly shot at, staggered and fell; it is therefore pretty certain that he was killed. We kept on, and after wandering in the woods for twen-. ty-two days, occasionally coming within hearing of cavalry, and several times being nearly caught, subsisting upon corn and such things as we could forage, we reached the borders of the Chattahoochee River, and there found a boat with which we came down the stream, an’d after alternate rowing and drifting, subsisting on raw catfish and berries, we reached Columbus, Ga., but did not venture in the city, as we discovered a great many soldiers there. Again we started off, determined to reach the Gulf coast, being told by negroes that our blockading fleet were stationed there. After a journey of eleven days, during which we suffered from hunger and thirst, with scarcely sufficient rags left of clothes to cover our bodies, our feet bruised and lacerated, we succeeded in reaching Apalachicola Bay, on the coast of Florida, and there, for the first time in eight months, beheld the Flag of the Free floating proudly from the peak of the United States steamer Somerset. We were taken on board, and treated with the utmost kindness. Our rags were exchanged for complete outfits of sailor clothes; our wounds’were dressed, and every attention paid us that could **: -.*:. . :.:. . * t 9

Page 10 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. be desired. We then realized that we were once more among Union men. From the Somerset we were transferred to the United States steamer Stars and Stripes, in which vessel we arrived at Key West, Florida, on Monday, Nov. 10, and reported to Col. Morgan, of the Ninetieth New York Volunteers, nearly eight months from the time we left our regiment. In this statement we have omitted many interesting details, which would fill a newspaper entire. It is our intention to proceed to Washingington, and from thence join our reiment.* We desire to express, publicly, our heartfelt thanks to the many kind friends we have met since coming within the jurisdiction of the American flag, for the liberal and humane manner in which they have treated us. May that God who has thus far spared our lives protect and watch over them. * By reference to the Judge Advocate’s report, it will be seen that these brave fellows’ statement, who underwent hardship and privation exceeding that of their comrades, has not been included in the depositions. They were probably prevented from getting to Washington But it is to be hoped they will present themselves, and receive the same attention and reward as their fellow soldiers. 10

‘:.:.1…. M * D X * - _A ee ~

Page 11 view page image

REPORT OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL SECRETARY OF WAR. JDGE ADvOcAtT

GEIcRAL’ O Vs March 2, 186 SIR  I have the honor to transmit for your consideration the accompanying depositions of: Corporal William Pettinger, Company G, Second Regiment Ohio Volunteers: Private Jacob Parrot, Company K, Thirtythird Regiment Ohio Volunteers: Private Robert Buffum, Company H, Twenty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteers: Corporal William Reddick, Company B, Thirtythird Regiment Ohio Volunteers; and Private William Bensinger, Company G, Twenty-first Regi ment Ohio Volunteers; Taken at this office on the 25th instant, in compliance with your written instructions, fom which the following facts will appear: These non-commissioned officers and privates belonged to an expedition set on foot in April, 1862, at the suggestion of Mr. J. J. Andrews, a citizen of Kentucky, who led it, and under the authority and direction of General O.

M. Mitchell, the object of which was to destroy the communications on the Georgia State Railroad, between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The mode of operation proposed was to reach a point on the road where they could seize a locomotive and train of cars, and then dash back in the direction of Chattanooga, cutting the telegraph wires and burning the bridges behind them as they advanced, until they reached their own lines. The expedition TO THE

Page 12 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. consisted of twenty-four men, who, with the exception of its leader, Mr. Andrews, and another citizen of Kentucky, who acted on the occasion as the substitute of a soldier, had been selected from the different companies for their known courage and discretion. They were informed that the movement was to be a secret one, and they doubtless comprehended something of its perils, but Mr. Andrews and Mr. Reddick alone seem to have known anything of its precise direction or -object.

They, however, voluntarily engaged in it, and made their way, in parties of two and three, in citizen’s dress, and carrying only their side arms, to Chattanooga, the point of rendezvous agreed upon, where twenty-two out of the twenty-four arrived safely. Here they took passage, without attracting observation, for Marietta, which they reached at 12 o’clock on the night of the 11th of April. The following morning they took the cars back again toward Chattanooga, and at a place called Big Shanty, while the engineer and passengers were breakfasting, they detached the locomotive and three box-cars from the train and started at full speed for Chattanooga. They were now upon the field of the perilous operations proposed by the expedition, but suddenly encountered unforeseen obstacles.

According to the schedule of the road, of which Mr. Andrews had possessed himself, they should have met but a single train -on that day, whereas they met three, two of them being engaged on extraordinary service. About an hour was lost in waiting to allow these trains to pass, which enabled their pursuers to press closely upon them. They removed rails, threw out obstructions on the road, and cut the wires from time to time, and attained, when in motion, a speed of sixty miles an hour; but the time lost could not be regained.  After having run about one hundred miles, they found their supply of wood, water, and oil exhausted, while the rebel locomotive which had been chasing them was in sight. Under these circumstances they had no-alternative but to abandon their cars and fly to the woods, which they did, under the orders of Mr. Andrews, each one endeavoring to save himself as best he might. The expedition thus failed from causes which reflected neither upon the genius by which it was planned, nor upon the intrepidity and discretion of those engaged in conducting it. But for 12 y .I i

Page 13 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. the accident of meeting the extra trains, which could not have been anticipated, the movement would have been a complete success, and the whole aspect of the war in the South and South west would have been at once changed. The expedition in itself, in the daring of its conception, had the wildness of a romance; while in the gigantic and overwhelming results, which it sought and was likely to accomplish, it was absolutely sublime. The estimate of its character entertained in the South will be found filly expressed in an editorial from the Southern Confedcracy, a prominent rebel journal, under date of the 15th of April, and which is appended to and adopted as a part of Mr. Pettinger’s deposition. The editor says: “The mind and heart shrink back appalled at the bare contemplation of the awful consequences which would have followed the success of this one act. We doubt if the victory of Manassas or Corinth were worth as much to us as the frustration of this grand coup d’etat. It is not by any means certain that the annihilation of Beauregard’s whole army at Corinth would be so fatal a blow to us as would have been the burning of the bridges at that time by these men.” So soon as those composing the expedition had left the cars, and dispersed themselves in the woods, the population of the country around turned out in their pursuit, employing for this purpose the dogs which are trained to hunt down the fugitive slaves of the South. The whole twenty-two were captured. Among them was private Jacob Parrot, of Company K, Thirtythird Regiment Ohio Volunteers. When arrested, he was, without any form of trial, taken possession of by a military officer and four soldiers, who stripped him, bent him over a stone, and while two pistols were held over his head, a lieutenant in rebel uniform inflicted, with a raw hide, upwards of a hundred lashes on his bare back. This was done in the presence of an infuriated crowd, who clamored for his blood, and actually brought a rope with which to hang him. The object of this prolonged scourging was to force this young man to confess to them the object of the expedition, and the names of his comrades, especially that of the engineer who had run the train. Their purpose was, no doubt, not only to take the life of the latter, if identified, but to do so with every circumstance of humiliation and torture which they could devise. Three times, in the progress of this horrible flogging, it was 13

Page 14 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. suspended, and Mr. Parrot was asked if he would not confess, but steadily and firmly, to the last, he refused all disclosures, and it-was not till his tormentors were weary of their brutal work that the task of subduing their victim was abandoned as hopeless. This youth is an orphan, without father or mother, and without any of the advantages of education. Soon after the rebellion broke out, though but eighteen years of age, he left his trade, and threw himself into the ranks of our armies, as a volunteer; and now, though still suffering from the outrages committed on his person in the South, he is on his way to rejoin his regiment, seeming to love his country only the more for all that he has endured in its defence. His subdued and modest manner, while narrating the part he had borne in this expedition, showed him to be wholly unconscious of having done anything more than perform his simple duty as a soldier.

Such Spartan fortitude, and such fidelity to the trusts of friendship and to the inspirations of patriotism, deserve an enduring record in the archives of the Government, and will find it, I am sure, in the hearts of a loyal people. The twenty-two captives, when secured, were thrust into the negro jail of Chattanooga. They occupied a single room, half under ground, and but thirteen feet square, so that there was not space enough for them all to ile-down together, and a part of them were, in consequence, obliged to sleep sitting and leaning against the walls. The only entrance was through a trapdoor in the ceiling, that was raised twice a day to let down their scanty meals, which were lowered in a bucket. They had no other light or ventilation than that which came through two small, triple-grated windows. They were covered with swarming vermin, and the heat was so oppressive that they were often obliged to strip themselves entirely of their clothes to bear it. Add to this, they were all handcuffed, and, with trace chains secured by padlocks around their ecks, were fastened to each other in companies of twos and threes.

Their food, which was doled out to them twice a day, consisted of a little flour, wet with water and baked in the form of bread, and spoiled pickled beef. They had no opportunity of procuring any supplies from the outside, nor had they any means of doing so; their pockets having been rifled of their last cent by the Confederate authori 14 I I I

Page 15 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. ties, prominent among whom was an officer wearing the rebel uniform of a major. No part of the money thus basely taken was ever returned. During this imprisonment at Chattanooga their leader, Mr.

Andrews, was tried and condemned as a spy, and was subsequently executed at Atlanta, the 7th of June. They were strong and in perfect health when they entered the negro jail, but at the end of something more than three weeks, when they were required to leave it, they were so exhausted from the treatment to which they had been subjected, as scarcely to be able to walk, and several staggered from weakness as they passed through the streets to the cars. Finally, twelve of the number, including the five who have deposed, and Mr. Mason, of Company K, 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteers, who was prevented by illness from giving his evidence-were transferred to the prison of Knoxville, Tennessee. On arriving there, seven of them were arraigned before a CourtMartial, charged with being spies. Their trial, of course, was summary. They were permitted to be present, but not to hear either the argument of their own counsel or that of the Judge Advocate.

Their counsel, however, afterwards visited the prison and read to them the written defence which he made before the court in their behalf. The substance of that paper is thus stated by one of the witnesses, Corporal Pettinger:-” IIe (the counsel) contended that our being dressed in citizen’s clothes was nothing more than what the Confederate Government itself had authorized, and was only what all the guerillas in the service of the Confederacy did on all occasions when it would be an advantage to them to do so; and he recited the instance of Gen. Morgan having dressed his men in the uniform of our soldiers, and passed them off as being from the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, and by that means succeeded in reaching a railroad and destroying it. This instance was mentioned to show that our being in citizen’s clothes did not take from us the protection awarded to prisoners of war. The plea went on further to state that we had told the object of our expedition; that it was a purely military one for the destruction of communications, and as such, lawful according to the rules of war.” This just and unanswerable presentation of the case appears to have produced its appropriate impression. Several members I 15 i I

Page 16 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. of the CourtMartial afterward called on the prisoners, and assured them that, from the evidence against them, they could not be condemned as spies; that they had come for a certain known object, and not having lingered about or visited any of their camps, obtaining or seeking information, they could not be convicted. Soon thereafter all the prisoners were removed to Atlanta, Ga., and they left Knoxville under a belief that their comrades, who had been tried, either had been or would be acquitted. In the meantime, however, the views entertained and expressed to them by the members of the court were overcome, it may be safely assumed, under the prompting of the remorseless despotism at Richmond. On the 18th of June, after their arrival at Atlanta, where they rejoined the comrades from whom they had been separated at Chattanooga, their prison door was opened, and the death sentences of the seven who had been tried at Knoxville were read to them.

No time for preparation was allowed them. They were told to bid their friends farewell, “and to be quick about it.” They were at once tied and carried out to execution. Among the seven was private Samuel Robinson, Co.

G, 33d Ohio Volunteers, who was too ill to walk. He was, however, pinioned like the rest, and in this condition was dragged from the floor on which he was lying, to the the scaffold. In an hour or more the cavalry escort, which had accompanied them, was seen returning with the cart, but the cart was empty -the tragedy had been consummated! On that evening and the following morning the prisoners learned from the Provost-Marshal and guard that their comrades had died, as all true soldiers of the Republic should die, in the presence of its enemies. Among the revolting incidents which they mentioned in connection with this cowardly butchery, was the fall of two of the victims from the breaking of the ropes, after they had beenfi for some time suspended. On their being restored to consciousness, they begged for an hour in which to pray and to prepare for death, but this was refused them. The ropes were readjusted, and the execution at once proceeded. Among those who thus perished was Private Geo. D. Wilson, Company C, 21st Ohio Volunteers. He was a mechanic from Cincinnati, who, in the exercise of his trade, had travelled much through the States North and South, and who had a greatness of soul which sympathized intensely with our struggle for t i I i I 16 i I

Page 17 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. national life, and was in that dark hour filled with joyous con victions of our final triumph. Though surrounded by a scowl ing crowd, impatient for his sacrifice, he did not hesitate, while standing under the gallows, to make them a brief address. He told them that, though they were all wrong, he had no hostile feelings toward the Southern people, believing that not they but their leaders were responsible for the Rebellion; that he was no spy, as charged, but a soldier regularly detailed for military duty; that he did not regret to die for his country, but only regretted the mannpr of his death; and he added, for their admonition, that they would yet see the time when the old Union would be restored, and when its flag would wave over them again. And with these words the brave man died. He, like his comrades, calmly met the ignominious doom of a felon-but, happily, ignominious for him and for them only so far as the martyrdom of the patriot and the hero can be degraded by the hands of ruffians and traitors. The remaining prisoners, now reduced to fourteen, were kept closely confined, under special guard, in the jail at Atlanta, until October, when, overhearing a conversation between the jailer and another officer, they became satisfied that it was the purpose of the authorities to hang therm, as they had done their companions. This led them to form a plan for their escape, which they carried into execution on the -evening of the next day, by seizing the jailer when he opened the door to carry away the bucket in which their.

supper had been brought. This was followe’d by the seizure also of seven guards on duty, and before the alarm was given eight of the fugitives were beyond the reach of pursuit. It has been since ascertained that six of theses after long and painful wanderings, succeeded in reaching our lines.

Of the fate of the other two, nothing is known. The remaining six of the fourteen, consisting of five’witnesses who have deposed, and Mr. Mason, were re-captured and confined in the barracks until December, when they were removed to Richmond. There they were shut up in a room in Castle Thunder, where they shivered through the winter, without fire, thinly clad, and with but two small blankets, which they had saved with their clothes, to cover the whole party. So they remained until a few days since, when they were exchanged; and thus, at the end of eleven months, terminated their pitiless persecutions in the prisons of 2 0 17

Page 18 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. the South-persecution begun and continued amid inictignities and sufferings on their part, and atrocities on the part of their traitorous foes, which illustrate far more faithfully than any human language could express it, the demoniac spirit of a revolt, every throb of whose life is a crime against the very race to which we belong. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. HOLT, Judge Advocate General IION.

EDWIN M. STrANTON, Secretary of War. TESTIMONY. Depositions of Corporal William Pittenger, Company G, 2d Regi ment Ohio Volunteers; Private Jacob Parrot, Company K 33d Regiment Ohio Volunteers; Private Robert Buffumr, Company H, 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteers; Corporal IVilliam Heddick, Company B, 33d Regiment Ohio Volunteers; and Private Wil liam Bensinger, Comvpany G, 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteers, taken at the office of the Judge’Advocate General of the Army, in the City of Washington, on the 24th of March, 1863, before X. Callan, Justice of the Peace, in compliance with the written instruc tions of the Secretary of War. Corporal William Pittenger was duly sworn and examined, as follows: BX the Judge Advocate General-Question. Will you state what position you hqld in the military service? Answer. 1.4 ra a,corporal in Company G, 2d Regiment Ohio Volunteers. QuestioQn. Will you state whether you belonged to the expedition ftted out in the Spring of 1862 by Gen. O. M. Mitchell, for operations in the State of Georgia? Answer. I did. Question. Please state the character of that expedition, the number of men engaged in it, its operations, and the final result. Answer. The expedition was planned between Gen. Mitchell and Mr. J. J. Andrews, a citizen qf Kentucky, then in the secret -18

Page 19 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. service of the Government, M3r. Andrews asked for a detail of 24 men from the three Ohio regiments of the brigade commanded by Col., afterward Gen. Sill. Of these 24 men only 22 succeeded in getting through the lines. The object of the expedition was to destroyv-e._eommunications on the Georgia State railroad, between Atlanta and Chattanooga, by burning-:’”&ieQ_ bridg”es. For this purpose we intended to seize an engine.and a train of cars, at a place where there could be no other engine and a train of cars to pursue us, and to run ahead, cutting the Telegraph wires, and burning the bridges behind us, if possible, until we should reach our own lines Gen. Mitchell at that time was moving on Huntsville, and it was supposed that he would be there as,soon as we could reach there. We started in citizen’s clothes; we were ordered to dress in citizen’s clothes,‘with side arms only, and we were to pass through the lines in squads of three or four, to meet at Chattanooga.

We met no pickets or opposition of any kind on our way, there being no large military force there -nothing but camps of instruction for new recruits in that section of the country. From Chattanooga we proceeded to Marietta, Georgia, by rail, and arrived there on the night of 11th of April, at midnight. On the morning of the 12th, we took passage back again for Marietta toward Chattanooga, and at a place called Big Shanty, while the passengers, the engineer and conductor were at breakfast, we detached the engine and three box-cars from the train and started. There was no engine there to pursue us, but we were pursued by a hand-car. Mr. Andrews, the leader of the’expedition, had a schedule of the road, and according to that schedule we had but one train to pass, at a station but a short distance from where we captured the train; and after that we intended to run the train through at full speed, and accomplish the object of the expedition. Unfortunately, however, that morning, for the first time, two other additional trains had been put on the road, making three that we had to meet and pass instead of one, and at considerable intervals. We were obliged to wait at one station for 25 minutes, and at the second we had to wait; and we were also delayed waiting for the third train; by this means we lost so muc(h time that those pursuing came nearly up with us from behind, and we had no time to accomplish the object of the expedition. We attempted to delay the pursuit by taking up the rails, but they had forethought enough to 19

Page 20 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. take a party of workmen with them to lay the rails again. We proceeded until we were within some fifteen or eighteen miles of Chattanooga, when we got out of wood and water, and the pursuing train was so close behind us that we had not time to take in any more, and we therefore abandoned the train. Our leader, Mr. Andrews, told us to take to the woods and disperse, and save ourselves if we could. We were immediately pursued by the whole population. There was great excitement, all the planters and people of the neighborhood turned out with the dogs that they employed to hunt their negroes, and pursued us. Some of our party were taken that day and some on the next day; two were not taken until three weeks afterward, but all were finally captured. The party consisted of twenty United States soldiers, one citizen of Kentucky, who was on a visit to our regiment and went in the place of another soldiers and Mr. Aidrews, our leader. Question. Who was Mr. Andrews? Answer. He was a citizen in the employ of tihe Government; he had been employed in the secret service of the Government; he told me about several of his expeditions; among others, he stated that he had visited Fort Donelson before it was captured; we were all, 22 of us, taken to the jail, or rather to the negro prison in Chattanooga, and confined there in a lower apartment, or dungeon of the building, only about thirteen feet square, and about the same height, and partly under ground, having only two windows on opposite sides not over eighteen inches in diameter with triple rows of bars. The ventilation there’was so imperfect that it reminded me more of the Black-Hole of Calcutta than anything else. When the first of our party were taken there to the jail there were others, Union men of Tennessee, who were confined there in this same room; as others of our party were taken and brought there, some of these Union men were taken out, until, finally, there were none there but the 22 of our party. We were placed in irons, were handcuffed, and chained twos and twos with chains; I think there were two parties of three coupled together, but the remainder were coupled in twos. The trapdoor of the building, the only entrance, was raised only to let down our meals, which was lowered to us in a bucket by a rope, twice a day. Our fare was very scanty, and we were reduced so as to be scarcely able to walk, although before we had all been 20

Page 21 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. well, hearty, strong men. We were confined there, I think, a little over three weeks, and when we came out, at the end of that time, we were scarcely able to walk; some actually staggered along as they marched to the cars. While we were there, Mr. Andrews was tried before a CourtMartial, under the orders, I believe, of Gen. Leadbetter, or those of Kirby Smith, his superior. His sentence was not announced until we had left there. After we had been confined there about three weeks, Gen.

Mitchell advanced to Bridgeport, producing a great panic in Chattanooga, and they transferred us south to Madison, in Georgia. We remained there until they found that Gen. Mitchell did not intend to advance on Chattanooga, when they brought us back. By this time we had been put under the charge of a captain, who interceded for us and procured us some little better quarters. We were allowed to occupy an upper story of the jail, a room of the same size but having larger windows, and three instead ,of two. We remained there a few days; I do not remember exactly how long, when twelve of us were taken to Knoxville, and the remainder were kept in Chattanooga I was one of those who were sent to Knoxville. Shortly after we had gone to Knoxville, Mr. Andrews’s sentence was read to him, and, in accordance with that, he was executed at Atlanta, Georgia, on the 7th of June. At Knoxville, some of our boys were put on trial as spies. Only seven were tried, and the trial occupied but a very short time Although we were allowed the privilege of employing counsel, yet we were not allowed to hear the pleas of counsel. When our men demanded the privilege of hearing the plea of our own counsel, and of the Judge Advocate against us, they refused it. The first one who was tried demanded that privilege, and they refused him, and said they would not allow it, which, of course, amounted to a refusal for all. Our lawyer, however, visited us, and read his plea to us I suppose that it was the same which he read in court, in which he contended that our being dressed in citizen’s clothes was nothing more than what the Confederate Government itself had authorized, and was only what all the guerillas in the service of the Confederacy did on all occasions when it would be of advantage to them to do so. And he cited the instance of Gieo. Morgan having dressed his men in the uniform of our soldiers, and passed them off as being from the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment/ 21

Page 22 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. and by that means succeeded in reaching a railroad and destroying it. This instance was mentioned to show that our being dressed in citizen’s clothes did not take from us the protection accorded to prisoners of war. The plea went on further to state that we had told the object of our expedition; that it was a purely military one for the destruction of communication, and, as such, lawful according to the rules of war.’ What reply the Judge Advocate made to this we never had any means of knowing, as we were not allowed to hear it. Members of the CourtMartial, however, visited us, and told us that from the evidences against us we could not be convicted as spies; that we came for a certain, known object, did not visit in their camps at any place, did not remain about them or seek to obtain any information of them, and therefore we could not be convicted as spies. Shortly afterward they transferred us twelve to Atlanta, Georgia, where those who had remained in Chattanooga had been previously taken. After remaining there for a short time, an order came for the execution of our seven comrades who had been tried. It was at that time entirely unexpected to us, although at first it would not have been. Sentence of death was read to them, and they were immediately tied, without any time for preparation being allowed them. They were told to bid us farewell, and “to be quick about it,” and then they were taken out of the prison, and we could see them from the window, in a wagon escorted by cavalry. In the course of something like an hour or so the cavalry returned without them. That evening Capt. Forakers, the Provost-Marshal, called upon us. We asked him how our companions had met their fate. HIe told us like brave men. The next day we conversed with the guard who was guarding us; with ow in particular, who described the scene of the execution where he was present. Hle told us of the speech that one of those men, named Wilson, from my regiment, had made on the scaffold; and also told us that two of the heaviest men, had broke the ropes when they were hanging and fell to the ground. The’ afterwards revived and asked for a drink of water, which was given to them; and they requested an hour to prepare for death, and to pray before they were again hung up.

That was refused them, and as soon as the ropes were adjusted they were compelled to ascend the scaffold again. The guard told me that Mr. Wilson had spoken very calmly; had told them 22

Page 23 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. that they were all in the wrong; that they would yet see the time when the old Union would be restored, and the flag of our country would wave over all of that country; that he had no bad feelings towards the Southern people; but considered that it, was only their leaders who were to blame for the course they had taken. He also said that although he was condemned as a spy, he was none; but was a regularly detailed soldier, and died perfectly innocent of the charge against him; that he did not regret to die for his country, but only regretted the manner of his death. That is the substance of it as far as I can recollect. We all expected to share the same fate as our companions. We remained there confined very closely in the City Jail. A special guard was placed over us from and before the time of the execution, on the 18th of June, until in October. We were all, fifteen of us, kept in the same room all the time-a room not much larger than this (the Judge Advocate General’s office). I said there were fifteen of us-the fourteen surviving members of the expedition, and a Capt. Fry, a Union officer of East Tennessee, who had been sent from Knoxville with us, and confined in the same room with us, as they considered it the securest part of the building. Question. What knowledge, if any, have you of one of your companions in this expedition-Mr. Parrot-having been seized and scourged by the Confederate authorities? State all you know on the subject, either from your own knowledge, or from his statements, or from the statements of Confederate officers. Answer. That occurred before I was myself captured, after leaving the train. Mr. Parrot himself gave me a complete narrative of the transaction as soon as we reached Chattanooga, where we were all taken after a time. In addition to his statement I heard the statement of his companion, the man taken with him, and one of those subsequently executed, who told me substantially the same story that Mr. Parrot did-that Mr. Parrot received over one.hundred lashes to make him confess the objects of the expedition, the names of his companions, and particularly the name of the engineer who ran the train, all of which he refused to do. It was said by the Confederates that this flogging was inflicted by a mob; that “they took him and whipped him” -that was the expression they used. Afterwards when we were going to Madison, at the time when we were taken away 23

Page 24 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. from Chattanooga, a Confederate officer called upon us at a station where the cars stopped, and spoke to Mr. Parrot in my hearing, and told him that he admired his courage and hardihood in refusing to confess under the flogging he had received, and also stated that he was sorry they had beaten him so severely. In October, Col. Lee, who was then Provost-Marshal, having taken the place of the former Provost-Marshal, came to us, and told us that he had received a letter from the Secretary of War of the Confederacy, inquiring why we had not all been executed. Col. Lee told us that he had replied that he was personally unacquainted with the affair, but he supposed it was probable that there were some mitigating circumstances in our cases, and had referred to-the CourtMartial which tried the others for those circumstances. One or two days after that the jailer was overheard talking with an officer of the guard, and telling him that the remainder of our party were to be executed also. From this we supposed that the Secretary of War had ordered it, and we determined to escape if possible. On the evening of the next day, after we had had our supper, when they opened the door to take out the buckets in which our supper was brought, we seized the jailer and held him, opened another room of the prison, in which others were confined, went down stairs and seized the guard-there were seven of the guard-and then attempted to make our escape, and eight of us succeeded in getting off before the alarm was given. The others were captured; four on the same evening, and two others the next day. I was one of those captured on the same evening. Shortly afterthat, they removed us to the barracks in town, where we were better treated, more kindly treated than we had ever been before that. We remained there until December, when we were sent to Richmond. We were first taken to the Libby Prison, and told that we were to be exchanged. They sent a very light guard along with us, trusting to our belief that we would be exchanged; and so believing, we went along quietly and mad! no attempt to escape, which we could easily have done. We were taken to the Libby Prison and kept there about an hour, and then transferred to the criminal prison, Castle Thunder. Here we were put into a little room up stairs, of which three sides were only weatherboarded, and there we remained during the months of December and January, without any fire, and with a very scanty 24

Page 25 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. supply of clothing, as they had taken all our blankets from us when we left Atlanta, with the exception of two small ones, which we had managed to secrete when we left the barracks. This was the only covering we had during those two months for all six of us there. We were very destitute of other clothing at that time-nearly out of it, in fat.

About the 1st of February, however, they wanted that room, with a number of other rooms on the same floor, for hospital purposes, and transferred us to a large room down stairs on the ground floor, which was assigned Union prisoners. Here we enjoyed more liberty than we had before, and remained until a special exchange was made. They attempted to exchange us as citizens, leaving our name on the citizens’ list from Castle Thunder, although we had our names marked as soldiers, and our companies and regiments were down on the prison books; and, in the charges and specifications given to the seven of our comrades who were tried and executed, it was admitted that they were soldiers, and their companies and regiments were named. Question. Were the men engaged in.that expedition detailed by the officers, or did they volunteer? Under what circumstances did they enter upon that expedition? Answer. Gen. Mitchell issued an order to the Colonels of the three Ohio regiments in Sill’s brigade to have a man detailed from each company-for the captain of each company to select a reliable man of his company for this purpose. They were then sent to the colonel’s quarters and told what they were wanted to do-that they were wanted to dress in citizen’s clothes and obey the orders of Mr. Andrews.

The expedition was not explained to us then, but we were told that we were to obey Mr. Andrews’s orders, and to go with him on a secret expedition.

The object of the expedition was explained to us that night by Mr.Andrews, who assembled us together about a mile from Shelbyville after it got dark, and there gave us the main outlines: that we were to go into Georgia to Marietta, to make our way there as well as we could, and tlhere to seize a train, and he would be with us all the time after reaching there to direct us how to proceed. Question. The leading object of the expedition was to cut the communications and destroy the bridges? Answer. Yes, Sir; the capture of the engine and train was merely a means to that end. 25

Page 26 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Question. Have you any evidence of the estimate which was placed by the Confederate authorities upon the importance of this expedition had it been successful? Answer. I have a paper here now, one of the most influential in the State of Georgia, at least, called The Southern Confederacy. The copy which I have is date[ April 15. 1862. We seized the train on the 12th of April, and this paper was printed three days after, and before they had learned the full particulars of the capture. I will read a portion of that article. (The witness then produced the paper, and read from the article referred to.) Question. How came you in possession of that paper? Answer. The officer of the guard in charge of us had it and laid it down, and I took it and have carried it secreted about my person ever since, which accounts for its soiled and worn condition. I would refer to the entire article as the best answer to your question, as to the importance attached to the expedition by the Confederate authorities. (A copy of the article referred to is hereto appended as a portion of this deposition.) Question. Were you personally acquainted with Mr. Wilson who made the address upon the scaffold before the execution Answer. Yes, Sir! Question. Will you state to what company and regiment he belonged, and from what part of the State of Ohio he came?

Answer. He was a member of Company B, of the 2d Ohio Regiment-my regiment.

He had resided in Cincinnati a long time, and came from there. He was a shoemaker by trade, a man between 30 and 35 years of age, and had travelled a great deal over the United States, working at his trade. He said he had a family of two children; his wife was not living. Question.

Will you please give, if you can, the names of all your comrades who were executed, with the companies and regiments to which they belonged? Answer.

There were George D. Wilson, Company B, 2d Ohio Infantry; Marion Ross, Company A, 2d Ohio Infantry, the Sergeant-Major of the Regiment; Perry G.

Shadrack, Company K, 2d Ohio; Samuel Roberson, Company G, 33d Ohio; Samue]

Slavens, Company D, 33d Ohio; John Scott, Company F, 21st Ohio; William Campbell, a citizen of Kentucky; and J. J. It 26

Page 27 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Andrews, a citizen of Kentucky also, and our leader.

William Campbell was on a visit to our regiment at the time this detail was made. The captain of one of our companies asked him if he would go in the place of one of the soldiers, and he agreed to do so. We always said, when questioned about him, that he was a soldier. Question. Will you state what you know, if anything, in regard to the origin of this secret expedition-by whom it was planned, and when? Answer. I do not know of my own knowledge; but Mr. Andrews told me that he himself, in his visits to the South, had noticed that this thing could be accomplished, and that it would be of great benefit to us. He had proposed it to Gen. Buell, who did not give him much encouragement. Afterward he proposed it to Gen.

Mitchell, who gave him more encouragement, and gave him permission to take eight men from the 2d Ohio regiment, which he had been with considerable, and attempted to execute the plan. The men were given him, and he proceeded in the same way that we did to Atlanta; but on arriving there, he found that the engineer whom Mr. Andrews had engaged to run the train for them was not there, on account of having been pressed to run reinforcements to Beauregard at Corinth. For this reason they were obliged to give upthe plan, and go quietly back as passengers to Chattanooga, and then return through the country to our camp. Mr. Andrews then told Gen.

Mitchell that from all he had seen in that expedition he still considered the thing easy of accomplishment, and asked for a larger detail of twenty-four men from the three regiments, which he obtained. Hie asked to have some engineers selected, so that there should be no possibility of a failure the second time like the first. There were consequently four men in our party who could run engines; only one, however, did so on that expedition. None of those on the first expedition went on the second: entirely new men were selected the second time. Question. Will you, if you can, give the names of the members of that expedition, in addition to those spoken of in this testimony-that is to say, the witnesses who are to depose here, together with a Mr. Mason, and the seven who were executed? Answer. They are as follows: William Knight, Company E, 21st Ohio; Wilson IH. Brown, Company F, 21st Ohio; Daniel 27

Page 28 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. A. Dorsey, Company H, 33d Ohio; Mark Wood, Company C, 21st Ohio; Alfred Wilson, of the same company and regiment. This was the only instance where two men were taken from the same company. Martin J.

Hawkins, Company A, 33d Ohio; John Wollan, Company C, 33d Ohio, and John R. Porter, Company G, 21st Ohio. These eight I have just named were those who succeeded in making their escape, and were not retaken at the time that we were. We saw in a Confederate paper an extract frong The Cincinnati Commercial, stating that the two last named, Wollan and Porter, had succeeded in reaching our lines, in a very destitute condition, at Corinth, which was then in our possession. We were told by Col. Lee, the Provost-Marshal at Atlanta, that three of those who had escaped had been shot and left in the woods; but we did not know how much dependence to place upon that. WTILLIAMi PITTENGER, Company G., 2d Ohio Regiment Volunteers. From The Southern Confederacy of April 19,1862. The Great Railroad Chase-The Jfost Extraordinary and Astound ing Adventure of the War-The Jfost Daring Undertaking that Yankees ever Planned or Attempted to Execute-Stealing an Engine-Tearing Up the Track-Pursued on foot, on Hand Cars and Engines-Overtaken-a Scattering-The Capture The Wonderful Energy ofessrs. Fuller, _rphy, and Cain Some Reflections, etc.-Full Particulars.

SINCE our last issue we have obtained full particulars of the most thrilling railroad adventure that ever occurred on the American continent, as well as the mightiest and most important in its results, if successful, that has been conceived by the Lincoln Government since the commencement of this war. Nothing on so grand a scale has been attempted, and nothing within the range of possibility could be conceived that would fall with such a tremendous crushing force upon us as the accomplishmenit of the plans which were concocted and dependent on the execution of the one whose history we now proceed to narrate. Its reality-what was actually done-excels all the extravagant 28

Page 29 view page image

conceptions of the Arrowsmith hoax, which fiction created such a profound sensation in Europe. To make the matter more complete and intelligible, we take our readers over the same history of’ the case which we related in our last, the main features of which are correct, but are lacking in details, which have since come to hand. WAVe will begin at the breakfast table, in the Big Shanty hotel at Camp McDonald, on the W. & A. Railroad, where several regiments of soldiers are now encamped. The morning mail and passenger train had left here at 4 A.M. on last Saturday morning as usual, and had stopped there for breakfast. The conductor, W. A. Fuller, the engineer, J. Caiin-both of this city-and the passengers, were at the table, when some eight men, having uncoupled the engine and three empty box-cars next to it from the passenger and baggage cars, mounted the engine, pulled upon the valve, put on all steam, and left conductor, engineer, passengers, spectators, and the soldiers in the camp hard by, all lost in amazement, and dumbfounded at the strange, startling, daring act. This unheard-of act was doubtless undertaken at that place and time upon the presumption that pursuit could not be made by an engine short of Kingston, some thirty miles above or from this place; and that, by cutting down the telegraph wires as they proceeded, the adventurers could calculate on at least three or four hours’ start of any pursuit it was reasonable to expect. This was a legitimate conclusion, and but for the will, energy, and quick and good judgment of Mr. Fuller and Mr. Cain, and Mr. Anthony Murphy, the intelligent and practical foreman of the wood department of the State-road shop, who accidentally went on the train from this place that morning, their calculations would have worked out as originally contemplated, and the results would have been obtained long ere this reaches the eyes of our readers-the most terrible to us of any that we can conceive as possible, and unequalled by anything attempted or conceived since this war was commenced. Now for the chase! These three determined men, without a moment’s delay, put out after the flying train on foot, amid shouts of laughter by the crowd, who, though lost in amazement at the unexpected and daring act, could not repress their risibility at seeing three men start after a train on foot, which they had just witnessed depart OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. 0 29

Page 30 view page image

OHIO, BOYS IN DIXIE. at lightning speed. They put on all their speed and ran along the track for three miles, when they came across some track raisers who had a small truck car, which is shoved along by men so employed on railroadsf on which to carry their tools. This truck and men were at once “impressed.” They took it by turns of two at a time to run behind this truck and push it along all up grades and level portions of the road, and let it drive at will on all the down grades. A little way further up the fugitive adventurers had stopped, cut the telegraph wires, and torn up the track. Here the pursuers were thrown oqt pell-mell, truck and men, upon the side of the road. Fortunately, “nobody was hurt on our side.” The truck was soon placed on the road again, enough hands were left to repair the track, and with all the power of determined will and muscle, they pushed on to Etowah Station, some twenty miles above. Here, most fortunately, Major Cooper’s old coal engine-the Yonah-one of the first engines on the State Road, was standing out fired up. This venerable locomotive was immediately turned round upon her old track, and, like an old racer at the tap of the drum, pricked up her ears, and made fine time to Kingston. The fugitives, not expecting such early pursuit, quietly took in wood and water at Cass Station, and borrowed a schedule from the tank-tender upon the plausible plea that they were running a pressed train loaded with powder for Beauregard. The attentive and patriotic tank-tender, Mr. Wm. Russell, said he gave them his schedule, and would have sent the shirt off his back to Beauregard if it had been asked for.

Here the adventure ous fugitives inquired which end of the switch they should go in on at Kingston. When they arrived at Kingston, they stop ped, went to the agent there, told the powder story, readily got the switch key, went on the upper turnout, and waited for the down way freight train to pass. To all inquiries they replied with the same powder story. When the freight train had passed they immediately proceeded to the next station, Adairsville, where they were to meet the regular down freight train. At some point on the way they had taken on some fifty cross-ties, and before reaching Adairsville they stopped on a curve, tore up the rails, and put seven cross-ties on the track, no doubt intending to wreck this down freight train; which would be along II I 80 0

Page 31 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. in a few minutes. They had out upon the engine a red hand kerchief as a kind of flag or signal, which, in railroading, means another train is behind, thereby indicating to all that the regular passenger train would be along presently. They stopped a mo ment at Adairsville, and said Fuller, with the regular passenger train, was behind, and would wait at Kingston for the freight train, and told the conductor thereon to push ahead and meet him at that point. They passed on to Calhoun, where they met the down passenger train due here at 4.20 P.M., and without making any stop, they proceeded on, on, and on. But we must return to Fuller and his party, whom we have unconsciously left on the old Yonah, making their way to Kingston. Arriving there, and learning the adventurers were but twenty minutes ahead, they left the “Yonah” to blow off while they mounted the engine of the Rome Branch road, which was ready fired up, and waiting for the arrival of the passenger train, nearly due, when it would have proceeded to Rome. A large party of gentlemen volunteered for the chase; some at Acworth, Alltoona, Kingston, and other points, taking such arms as they could lay their hands on at the moment, and with this fresh engine they set out with all speed, but with “great care and caution,” as they had scarcely time to makle Adairsville before the down freight train would leave that point. Sure enough they discovered this side of Adairsville three rails torn up, and other impediments in the way. They “took up 7 in time to prevent an accident, but could proceed with the train no further. This was most vexatious, and it may have been in some degree disheartening, but it did not cause the slightest relaxation of efforts, and as the result provec, was but little in the way of the dead game plu(ck and resolutions of Fuller and Murphy, who left the engine and again put out on foot alone. After running two miles they met the down freight train one mile out of Adairsville. They immediately reversed the train, and ran backwards to Adairsville, put the cars on the siding, and pressed forward, making the time to-Calhoun, where they -met the regular down passenger train. Here they halted a moment, took on board a telegraph operator and a number of men, who again volunteered taking their guns along, and continued the chase. Mr. Fuller also took in here a company of track hands to repair the track as they went along. A short distance 31

Page 32 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. above Calhoun they flu?hed their game on a curve, where they doubtless supposed themselves out of danger, and were quietly oiling the engine, taking up the track, &c. Discovering that they were pursued, they mounted and sped away, throwing out upon the track as they went along, the heavy cross-ties they had prepared themselves with. This was done by breaking out the end of the hindmost box-car, and pitching them out. Thus “nip and tuck” they passed with fearful speed Resaca, Tilton, and on through Dalton. The rails they had taken up last they took off with them, beside throwing out cross-ties upon the track occasionally, hoping thereby the more surely to impede the pursuit; but all this was like tow to the touch of fire to the now thoroughly aroused, excited, and eager pursuers. These men, though so much excited and influenced by so much determination, still retained their well known caution, were looking out for this danger, and discovered it, and, though it was seemingly an insuperable obstacle to their making any headway in pursuit, was quickly overcome by the genius of Fuller and Murphy. Coming to where the rails were torn up they stopped; tore up the rails behind them, and laid them down before till they had passed over that obstacle. When the cross-ties were reached they hauled to and threw them off, and then proceeded, and under these difficulties gained on the frightened fugitives. At Dalton they halted a moment. Fuller put off the telegraph operator, with instructions to telegraph to Chattanooga to have them stopped, in case he should fail to overhaul them. Fuller pressed on in hot chase, sometimes in sight, as much to prevent their cutting the wires before the message could be sent, as to catch them. The daring adventurers stopped just opposite, and very near to where Col. Glenn’s regiment is encamped, and cut the wires; but the operator at Dalton had put the message through about two minutes before. They also again tore up the track, cut down a telegraph pole, and placed the two ends of it under the cross-ties, and the middle over the rail on the track. The pursuers stopped again, and got over this impediment in the same manner they. did before-taking up rails behind, and laying them down before. Once over this, they shot on, and passed through the great tunnel at Tunnel Hill, being only five minutes behind. The fugitives, finding themselves closely pursued, uncoupled two of the box-cars from the engine, to impede the 32

Page 33 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE progress of the pursuers. Fuller hastily coupled them to the front of his engine, and pushed them ahead of him to the first turnout or siding, where they were left, thus preventing the collision the adventurers intended. Thus the engine thieves passed Ringgold, where they began to fag. They were out of wood, water, and oil. Their rapid running and inattention to the engine had melted all the brass from the journals. They had no time to repair and refit, for an iron horse of more bottom was close behind. Fuller and Murphy, and their men, soon came within four hundred yards of them, when the fugitives jumped from the engine and left it-three on the north side and five on the south, all fleeing precipitately, and scattering through the thicket. Fuller and his party also took to the woods after them. Some gentlemen, also well armed, took the engine and some cars of the down passenger train at Calhoun, and followed up Fuller and Murphy, and their party in the chase, but a short distance behind, and reached the place of the stampede but a very few minutes after the first pursuers did. A large number of men were soon mounted, armed, and scouring the entire country in search of them.

Fortunately, there was a militia muster at Ringgold. A great many countrymen were in town. Hearing of the chase, they put out on foot and on horseback in every direction in search of the daring but now thoroughly frightened and fugitive men. We learn that Fuller, soon after leaving his engine, in passing a cabin in the country, found a mule, having on a bridle but no saddle, and tied to a fence. ” Here’s your mule,” he shouted, as he leaped upon his back, and put out as fast as a good switch well applied, could impart vigor to the muscles and accelerate the speed of the patient donkey. The cry of “Here’s your mule,” and ” Where’s my mule?” have become national, and are generally heard when, on the one hand no mule is about, and on the other, when no one is hunting a mule. It seems not to be understood by any one, though it is a peculiar Confederate phrase, and is as popular as Dixie. from the Potomac to Rio Grande. It remained for Fuller, in the midst of this exciting chase, to solve the mysterious meaning of the national byword or phrase, and give it a practical application. All of the eight men were captured, and are now safely lodged in jail. The particulars of their capture we have not received. 3 I 83

Page 34 view page image

f( OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. ‘this we hope to obtain in time for a postscript to this, or for our second edition. They confessed that they belonged to Lincoln’s army, and had been sent down from Shelbyville to burn the bridges between here and Chattanooga, and that the whole party consisted of nineteen men, eleven of whom were dropped at several points on the road, as they came down to assist in the burning of the bridges as they went back. When the morning freight-train which left this city reached Big Shanty, Lieut.-Col. R. F. Maddox and C. P. Phillips took the engine and a few cars, with fifty picked men, well armed, and followed on as rapidly as possible. They passed over all difficulties, and got as far as Calhoun, where they learned the fugitives had taken to the woods, and were pursued by plenty of men with the means to catch them, if it were possible. One gentleman who went upon the train from Calhoun, who has furnished us with many of these particulars, and who, by the way, is one of the most experienced railroad men in Georgia, says too much praise cannot be bestowed on Fuller and Murphy, who showed a cool judgment and forethought in this extraordinary affair unsurpassed by anything he ever knew in a railroad emergency. This gentleman, we learn from another, offered on his own account, $100 reward on each man for the apprehension of the villains.

We do not know what Gov. Brown will do in this case, or what is his custom in such matters but if such a thing is admissible, we insist on Fuller and Murphy being promoted to the highest honors on the road, if not by actually giving them the highest position, at least let them be prnoted by brevet. Certainly their indomitable energy and quick, correct judgment and decision in the many difficult contingencies connected with this unheard-of emergency have saved all the railroad bridges above Ringgold from being burned. The most daring seheme that this revolution has developed has been thwarted, and the tremendous results which, if successful, can scarcely be imagined, much less described, have ben averted. Had they succeeded in burning the bridges, the enemy at Huntsville would have occupied Chattanooga before Sunday night. Yesterday they would have been in Knoxville, and thus had possession of all East Tennessee. Our forces at Knoxville, Greenville, and Cumberland Gap would sre this havebteen in the hands of the enemy. Lyuchburg, Vir 94

Page 35 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. ginia, would have been moved upon at once. This would have given them possession of the valley of Virginian and Stonewall Jackson could have been attacked in the rear. They would have possession of the railroad leading to Charlottesville and Orange Court-House, as well as the South. side Railroad leading to Petersburg and Richmond. They might have been able to unite with McClellan’s fores, and attack Joe Johnson’s army, front and flank. It is not by any means improbable that our army in Virginia would have been defeated, captured, or driven out of the State this week. Then reinforcements from all the eastern and south-east portions of the country would have been cut off from Beauregard. The enemy have Huntsville now, and, with all these designs accomplished, his army would have been effectually flanked. The mind and heart shrink back appalled at the bare contemplation of the awful consequences which would have followed the success of this one act. When Fuller, Murphy, and men started from Big Shanty on foot to catch that fugitive engine, they were involuntarily laughed at by the crowd, serious as the matter was, and to most observers it was indeed most ludicrous; but that foot-race saved us, and prevented the consummation of all these tremendous consequences. One fact we must not omit to mention is the valuable assistance rendered by Peter Bracken, the engineer on the down freight train which Fuller and Murphy turned back. He ran his engine fifty and a half miles (two of them backing the whole freight train up to Adairsville), made twelve stops, coupled to the two cars which the fugitives had dropped, and switched them off on sidings; all this in one hour and five minutes. We doubt if the victory of Manassas or Corinth were worth as much to us as the frustration of this grand coup d’etat. It is not by any means certain that the annihilation of Beauregard’s whole army at Corinth would be so fatal a blow to us as would have been the burning of the bridges at that-time by these men. When we learned, by a private telegraph dispatch a few days ago, that the Yankees had taken Huntsville, we attached no great importance to it. We regarded it merely as a dashing foray of a small party to destroy property, tear up the road, &c., 2 la Morgan. When an additional telegram announced the Federal force there to be from 17,000 to 20,000, we were inclined 85

Page 36 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. to doubt it, though coming from a perfectly honorable and up right gentleman, who would not be apt to seize upon a wild report to send here to his friends. The coming to that point with a large force, where they would be flanked on either side by our army, we regarded as a most stupid and unmilitary act. We now understand it all. They were to move upon Chatta nooga and Knoxville as soon as the bridges were burned, and press on into Virginia as far as possible, and take all our forces in that State in the rear. It was all the deepest laid scheme, and on the grandest scale that everemanated from the brains of any number of Yankees combined. It was one that was also entirely practicable on almost any day for the last year. There were but two miscalculations in the whole programme: They did not expect men to start out afoot to pursue them, and they did not expect these pursuers on foot to find Maj. Cooper’s old “

Yonah” standingthere all readyfiredup. Theircalculationsonevery other point were dead certainties, and would have succeeded perfectly. This would have eclipsed anything Captain Morgan ever attempted. To think of a parcel of Union soldiers, officers and privates, coming dclown into the heart of the Confederate States, for they were here in Atlanta and at Marietta (some of them got on the train at Marietta that morning, and others were at Big Shanty); of playing such a serious game on the State road, which is under the control of our prompt, energetic, and sagacious Governor, known as such all over America; to seize the passenger train on his road, right at Camp McDonald, where he has a number of Georgia regiments encamped, and run off with it; to burn the bridges on the same road, and go safely through to the Union lines; all this would have been a feather in the cap of the man or men who executed it. Let this be a warning to the railroad medn and everybody else in the Confederate States.

Let an engine never be left alone a moment. Let additional guards be placed at our bridges. This is a matter we especially urged in the Confederacy long ago: we hope it will now be heeded. Further, let a sufficient guard be placed to watch the Government stores in this city, and let increased vigilance and watchfulness be put forth by the watchmen.

We know one solitary man who is guarding a house, of nights, in this city, which contains a lot of bacon. Two or three men could throttle and gag him, and set fire to the house at any 36 I

Page 37 view page image

I’ i OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. time; and worse, he conceives that there is no necessity for a guard, as he is sometimes seen off duty for a few moments, fully long enough for an incendiary to burn the house he watches. Let Mr.

Shackelford, whom we know to be watchful and attentive to his duties, take the responsibility at once of placing a well-armed guard of sufficient force around every house containing Government stores. Let this be done without waiting for instructions from Richmond. One other thought: The press is requested, by the Government, to keep silent about the movements of the army, and a great many things of the greatest interest to our people. It has, in the main, patriotically complied. We have complied in most cases, but our judgment was against it all the while. The plea is that the enemy will get the news if it is published in our papers. Now, we again ask, what’s the use? The enemy get what information they want. They are with us and pass among us almost daily; they find out from us what they want to know by passing through our country unimpeded. It is nonsense, it is folly, to deprive our own people of knowledge they are entitled to and ought to know, for fear the enemy will find it out. We ought to have a regular system of passports over all roads, and refuse to let any man pass who could not give a good account of himself come well vouched for, and make it fully appear that he is not an enemy, and that he is on legitimate business This would keep information from the enemy far more effectually than any reticence of the press, which ought to lay before our people the full facts in everything of a public nature. Jacob Parrot was duly sworn and examined, as follows: By the Judge Advocate-Question. What is your position in the military service? Answer.

I am a private in Company K, 33d Ohio Regiment. Question. What is your age? Answer. I will be twenty years old next July. Question. In what part of Ohio did you reside? Answer. I lived in Hlardin county. Question. You have heard the testimony of Mr. Pettinger. Will you state whether, as far as the matters to which he has deposed have come to your knowledge, they are true, according to your best information and belief? 87 i I I ! i i I I

Page 38 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Answer. Yes, Sir; they are. Question. You were a member of the expedition of which he has testified? Answer. Yes, Sir.

Question. Will you state the circumstances of your capture and the treatment you received? Answer. There was a man named Robinson, of our party, who was captured with me. We took to the woods after we left the train, and after a time we came down out of the woods. When we came out on the railroad there were four citizens there, who saw us and took us. We were taken to Ringgold, where a company of Confederate soldiers were stationed. When we got into the hands of an officer, one of them took me out and questioned me, but I would not tell them anything. An officer and four soldiers took me out and stripped me, and bent me over a stone and whipped me. They stood by me with two pistols, and said if I resisted they would blow me through. I was whipped by an officer, a lieutenant, who was with the party, and who had on the uniform. He gave me over one hundred lashes with a raw hide. Hie stopped three different times during the whipping, let me up, and asked me if I would tell and when I refused to do so he would put me down and whip me again. Hie wanted me to tell who the engineer of the party was, and all about the expedition, but I would not do it. I did not tell him anything about it. The engineer was one of our soldiers, who was finally captured with the rest. Question. Were other persons present when you were flogged? Answer. Yes, Sir; there was a crowd there. It was right by the side of the railroad, and the people there wanted to hang me. They got a rope and would have hung me, but for a colonel who came up. Question. Did you have any trial of any sort? Answer.

No, Sir. Question. Your companion was with you at the time? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. Why was he not whipped? Answer. I do not know. He told the regiment that he and [ belonged to. I suppose, as I was the youngest, they thought that they could make me tell the most; but I would not tell them anything not even the regiment I belonged to. II 38 i I

Page 39 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Question. Will you state the circumstances under which you joined the expedition? Answer. My captain called me out of the tent and asked me to take a walk with him. We walked down toward the guard quarters, and he asked me if I would go on a secret expedition, and told me that, if I agreed to go, I should go up to his tent in about half an hour and report to him. I went up and told him I would go. Question. Did he know the precise object of the expedition? Answer. No, Sir; he only knew that it was a secret one, and so told me. Question. Will you state how long you felt the effects of the flogging you received? Answer. I was very sore for about two weeks afterward; my back was very weak, and I have not got over it yet. Question. Was any disposition manifested, upon the part of the Confederate authorities, to relieve you from the effects and sufferings produced by this flogging? Answer. No, Sir; except a short time before I came away from Richmond, when I got a doctor to look at my back, and he put some mustard plasters on it, which, I think, helped it some.

Question. Were you with Mr. Pettinger, and the others of your party present here, duririg-the confinement of which he has spoken? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. At what age did you enlist? Answer. I enlisted a year ago last Fall, when I was a little over eighteen years old. Question. iHave you a father and mother living? Answer. No, Sir. Question. Will you describe particularly the manner in which you and your fellow-prisoners were chained in the jail at Chattanooga? Answer. We were all handcuffed together. I and some others had trace-chains around our necks secured by padlocks; we were secured in that way, two by two. Question. Will you state the character of the food furnished you in your prisons? Answer. At Chattanooga we got some wheat flour mixed up with a little water and baked, and some spoiled pickled beef. 39

Page 40 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. That was all we got, and we had a very small supply at that. We had it only twice a day. Question. What was your condition in other respects, so far as ventilation and light were concerned, while you were in the prison at Chattanooga? Answer. We had scarcely any light at all. Frequently we could not see to pick up a pin off from the floor. The windows were very small, and the room was so close, and we were so warm, that we had to take our clothes off entirely. We were covered with vermin.

The room was so small that we could not all lie down, and we had to rest ourselves by leaning against the walls. We were not allowed to leave the room under any circumstances while we were confined in it. Question. Were you searched when you were taken? Answer. When I and my companion were taken we were searched, and our money all taken from us before we were taken to Chattanooga. It was taken from us by some of the officers, and never returned to us. his JACOB ~ PARROT, mark. Company K, 33d Ohio Volunteers. Robert Buffum was duly sworn and examined as follows: By the Judge Advocate. Question. What is your position in the service? Answer. I am a private in Company A, 21st Ohio Regiment. Question. Wereyou a memberofthe expeditionsent out by Gen. Mitchell, of which Mr. Pittenger and Mr. Parrot have testified? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. Have you heard the testimony of these two witnesses? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. Have you, or not, a personal knowledge of the matters spoken of by them?

Answer. Yes, Sir, I have. Question. Will you state whether, according to the best of your knowledge and belief, the statements which they have made are true? Answer. Yes, Sir, they are. 40

Page 41 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Question. Is there anything in addition, which you recollect, that you can state? Answer. I would say, that when the boys were taken out for execution, Mr. Robinson, the one who was taken with Mr.

Parrot, and was with him when he was whipped, was taken from a sick bed to be executed. He was unable to walk. Question. Was he tied like the rest?

Answer. Yes, Sir; his arms were tied behind him, and he was carried out in that condition. Mr. Ross, one of those who were executed, was a Freemason; he made himself known to three or four officers who were Masons, and they obtained for him the privilege of writing home to his friends. He was the only one in that party who had that privilege. Question. Have you any knowledge of money being taken from members of your party? Answer. We were captured in different parties. Money was taken from us by the officers-from some at the time we were taken, and from others when they were confined in prison. I was with Mr. Wilson, one of those who were executed, and Mr. Dorsey, one of those who escaped, and Mr. Bensinger, who is here. They took all our money away from us. Mr. Wilson and I had ninety-six dollars between us; I had fifty-two dollars myself. They took away all our money, and our revolvers, pocket-knives, and every thing that could be of any use. The money was never returned to us. It was a Major who took the money. We four were taken to Ringgold, and when we were taken into the jail we were stripped, our clothes turned inside out, and everything examined. Mr. Bensinger, who was with me when we were captured, was taken before a colonel, who took him into a room and questioned him.

That night they took us to Marietta,’ where we were confined in a dungeon under ground, similar to the one at Chattanooga. The rats were running over us in every direction; there were balls of wool all over the floor that the rats had rolled up. We could hardly get our breath. There were 150 guards around the jail to keep the mob from taking us out, as they would have done but for the guard. The next day we were taken to Chattanooga, where we met the rest of the party. Question. Will you state the circumstances under which you joined the expedition? ”’.*…** *

’”*:’: eel ee. 41

Page 42 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Answer. My captain came to me and called me from the tent, and asked me if I was willing to go on a secret expedition, and said that if I was I should report to him in twenty minutes, or as soon as I could. I asked him the nature of the business, and he said he could not tell me anything; but if I did not wish to go there would be nothing more said about it. I told him I would go. He then told me to report to the Colonel, which I did, and he gave me a pass to Shelbyville, where I was to meet Mr. Andrews at a tavern. Shortly after I arrived there Mr. Andrews appeared. There was a man with me by the name of Wilson, and another by the name of Wood, belonging to the 21st. Mr. Andrews gave me forty dollars to purchase citizen’s clothes with. It being all in gold I got our three suits for the forty dollars. That night, the 7th of April, we commenced our march. About a mile from town Mr. Andrews gathered us together, as we came along in twos and threes, and told us that our object was to destroy the bridges, cut off communications, etc., and he would meet us at Chattanooga. iHe gave me five men to take through. We met at Chattanooga, where we procured tickets for Marietta. When we got in Marietta we stopped over night, and at four o’clock in the morning took the down train, arrived at Big Shanty, from seven to nine miles from Marietta, where we seized the engine with three box cars, which we detached from the rest of the train, and started off. There were four or five regiments encamped within forty or fifty rods of the train as we started. We proceeded about a hundred miles before we left the train and took to the woods. We had no time to destroy the bridges, because we were followed so closely by the other trains that happened to be there that day; and we were delayed also by having to stop to allow other trains to pass us. That delayed us about an hour. We were at a station oiling our engine when the pursuing engine came in sight, and we started off again. We ran at the rate of about sixty miles an hour, and when we thought we had got far enough ahead of them we would stop, get off and cut the wires, so that they could not send information ahead of us, and take up the track so as to delay them, and then start again. Finally our wood and water gave out, and Mr. Andrews told us to shift for ourselves. Mr. Andrews retained his presence of mind until the last moment. Question. Who acted as the engineer? 4-9 “I” ~: etal

Page 43 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Answer. A man by the name of Brown, of the 21st Ohio Regiment. He was one of those who escaped after breaking out of the jail at Atlanta. ROBERT BUFFUM. Co. H, 21st Ohio Volunteers. Corporal William Reddick was duly sworn and examined as follows: By the Judge Advocate: Question. Will you state your position in the military service? Answer. I am corporal in Co. B, 33d Ohio Regiment. Question. When and for how long did you enlist? Answer. I enlisted on the 18th of August, 1861, for three years. Question. Were you a member of the secret expedition sent out by Gen. Mitchell, of which the other witnesses here have testified? Answer.

Yes, Sir. Question. Will you state the circumstances under which you were engaged in that expedition? Answer. I was sitting by the camp fire when the captain and second lieutenant called me up to them. The captain told me that there was a secret expedition on hand, and he wished I would go with it, stating that he preferred me before any other of his company, and that he had to furnish a man from his company. He said we were to enter into the enemy’s lines, capture a train, and destroy the bridges on the road; that it would be very easily accomplished; that we had a good leader, a man who understood the business, and who had been employed in the service of the United States. He told me that he would give me three-quarters of an hour to study upon it, whether I would go or not. I went to my tent, and, after a time, I went up and reported that I would go. He took me to the colonel, and the colonel told me to get all the citizen’s clothing that I could procure in camp. I only made out to get two checked shirts of one of our boys who had just returned to camp, and a pair of jean pants from the cook in the hospital. We were then taken to Shelbyville, where we procured clothes, and then we returned back to the camp for supper. After supper we were taken back I i 43

Page 44 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. to Shelbyville. We went out upon the railroad a mile and a half or two miles, and there we stopped and money was given to us.

We were unacquainted, at that time, with each other. We divided into squads. John Whollan and myself went up the railroad about five miles that night. We stopped at a house where there was a light, and represented ourselves as strangers who desired to stop for the night. There was a lady there, a Southern woman, who told us we could not stay in the house, as her children were sick. She told us to go to the negro quarters, if we wished to get out of the rain, for it was raining very hard at the time.

We told the negroes there that we were trying to make our way to our command, which we represented to be at Round Gap. This the negroes told to the lady of the house, who came down to see us, and desired us to go over to her uncle’s, where we could get better accommodation. We did not do so, but went to bed and slept until about four o’clock, when our breakfast was sent to us from the house, and we then started off on the right-hand road and went some seven miles, where we got conveyance to Manchester, and from Manchester we footed it, procuring conveyance along the road as we could get it. We left camp on the 7th of April and got to Chattanooga on 10th.

On the 11th we took passage in the cars to Marietta, and arrived there about midnight. Question. You have heard the narrative of the subsequent events, as given by the witnesses here; does it accord with your recollection of the facts? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. Is there anything in addition that occurs to you that you desire to state? Answer. I think of nothing else, except that when I was arrested and brought to Chattanooga Mr. Andrews was taken before Gen. Leadbetter, of whom he asked the privilege of sending a flag of truce to our lines, which was denied.

We were ironed and confined, and received the same treatment as our comrades. Question. You were with the witnesses who have deposed here and the other members of the expedition throughout all the time of your confinement in the prisons of the South? Answer. Yes, Sir; except that we were separated a little time; a portion were sent to Knoxville. After we were brought I I 44.

Page 45 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. together again we remained together until we were exchanged. WILLIAM REDDICK. Co. B, 88d Regt. Ohio Vol& William Bensinger was duly sworn and examined as follows: By the Judge Advocate: Question.

Will you state your position in the service? Answer. I am a private in Co.

G, 25th Ohio Infantry. Question. In what part of the State did you enlist, and when, and for how long a time? Answer. I enlisted in Hancock County, Ohio, on the 21st of August, 1861, for three years. Question. Were you a member of this secret expedition sent out by Gen. Mitchell? Answer. Yes, Sir. Question. Under what circumstances did you become a member of it?

Answer. The day before we started my captain called me one side and told me that he wanted me to report to the colonel the next morning. I asked him if he knew what the colonel wanted with me. He said he supposed it was for a secret expedition, but he could not tell me what. I told him I would go, and reported to the colonel as ordered. The colonel gave me a pass and directed me to report to Mr. Andrews at Shelbyville, at a hotel there. The colonel told me I was to obey the orders of Mr. Andrews, and also told me to procure citizen’s clothes, which I did. I went to Shelbyville and reported there, and on the evening of the 7th of April we left. Four of us arrived at Marietta about 4 o’clock in the afternoon on the 11th of April.

As I learned afterward, the rest got there some time in the night. The next morning we took the train back, paying our fare to Big Shanty; and while they were at breakfast there we seized the train. Question. You have heard the statements of the witnesses who have testified here in regard to the subsequent events ol the expedition, and the facts connected with their confinement in the prisons of the South until you were exchanged at Richmond? Answer. Yes, Sir. .45

Page 46 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Question. Do you consider these statements correct, and in accordance with your recollections of the facts? Answer. I do; for I have had personal knowledge of them, and have been with these witnesses throughout the period of their confinement. Question. Where was Gen.

Mitchell’s headquarters at the time this expedition set out? Answer. It was close by the town of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and just across the river-probably forty rods from the town. Question. Are you acquainted with Sergt. E. A. Mason of Company K, 21st Ohio regiment? Answer. Yes, Sir.

Question. Was he with you as a member of the expedition, and with you during your confinement in the South? Answer. ile was. Question. Where is he, and why is he not here with you to-day? Answer. Hle is in the city, but confined to his room, on account of sickness. WILLIAM BENSINGER, Company G, 21st Ohio volunteers. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Washington County: I certify that the foregoing depositions of William Pittenger, Jacob Parrot, Robert Buffum, William Reddick, and William Bensinger, were sworn to and subscribed before me this twenty-fifth day of March, in the year 1863. N. CALLAN, Justice of the Peace in and for the County of Washington, D.C. AWARD OF MEDALS AND PROMOTION OF THE SOLDIERS. The party of Ohio soldiers recently returned from the Southern barbarians, and whose depositions have been taken by Judge Advocate General Holt, were by appointment introduced to the Secretary of War by Gen. Hitchcock. After complimenting them upon their fortitude and devotion to the Union, the 46

Page 47 view page image

OHIO BOYS IN DIXIE. Secretary presented to private Jacob Parrot, the boy who received a hundred lashes on his bare back without flinching, the first medal given under the recent act of Congress authorizing the presentation of medals to soldiers for meritorious services. Sergt. E. I.

Mason, Corp. Wm. Pittenger, Corp. Reddick, and Privates Robert Buffum and W. Bensinger, were also made the recipients of similar medals. The Secretary then gave to each the brevet of First Lieutenant, and the sum of $100 in money, as a slight compensation for the losses they had sustained and the suffering they had borne. The party then visited President Lincoln, to whom they were presented by Gen. Hitchcock. They were received very cordially by the President, who expressed his gratification at the opportunity afforded him to thank them personally for their heroic conduct. The soldiers belong to the 2d, 21st, and 33d Ohio Volunteers. 47

Page 48 view page image

-1. 4””

Powered by DLXS

To comment or inquire about content, contact moa-feedback@umich.edu To report errors, contact umdl-help@umich.edu Reprint Information for this collection