Between the Lines Part 20

In addition to my report I wish to give you a brief outline of the state of affairs in the Provost Department in New York and Philadelphia. Wherever I went in search of my man I met "Bounty Jumpers," who openly avowed themselves such, and seemed to defy the authorities. d.i.c.k Callery, who keeps a groggery at No. 126 Callowhill street, Philadelphia, stated he was aware of Deegan's transactions. Most of Callery's customers were "jumpers."

In New York we could go but a short distance without meeting these characters. From what I could see I should think one thousand a low estimate of their numbers; they are very bold.

They pay this Department quite a compliment, i. e., they say if they can only get clear from Baltimore they are all right.

If about fifteen or twenty pigeons could be thrown into New York and Philadelphia to co-operate with a strong force of Detectives and Military, hundreds of these "jumpers" would be brought to justice.

These jumpers without an exception are the firm support and backbone of the Copperhead Clique, and the same parties that caused the riots in New York last year. The arrest and punishment of these parties would cause rejoicing among respectable people. From my observation I can see that this cla.s.s of men before the war were pickpockets, burglars, &c., but now resort to this last and easier means of stealing, i. e., "bounty jumping," at the same time they please the "Copperheads"

by filling successively, the quotas of different districts, and not furnishing the Army one soldier; thus defeating the object of the Draft.

I am, Colonel,

Very respy. your obdt. servt., H. B. SMITH, Lt. & Chief.

My report and recommendations were so highly esteemed by General Wallace that he had a copy sent to General N. L. Jeffries, the Provost Marshal General of the United States, and by him were my suggestions acted upon.

Colonel Lafayette C. Baker was sent to New York with a force of men and very ample money; a very vigorous and extended raid was made, partially successful, but I think my plan of putting fifteen or twenty men in with the jumpers, to actually "jump" with them, thus obtaining evidence to convict, would have been more successful. The current newspapers treated this matter as of great importance, using the findings of my report, saying: "Our quotas are being fraudulently filled, and furnishing no men for the army, etc."

FILE XXIV.

General Wallace's letter to secretary of war, Charles A. Dana (afterwards editor of the New York "Sun") asking for an extension of territory for my work, incidentally introducing Colonel John S. Mosby, giving a list of his men and their home addresses--A train robbery, paymasters robbed--I recapture part of the money--Commissions in promotion declined.

Coleman's Eutaw House, Baltimore, Nov. 19, 1864.

(Unofficial.) Hon. C. A. Dana, a.s.st. Sec. of War.

Dear Sir.--Lt. Smith, my Chief of Detectives, will hand you this note.

It is necessary to one of his schemes, based upon a late discovery, that he should have a pa.s.s from the Secretary of the Navy to go through the lines of the blockade on the Potomac. The pa.s.s should cover a vessel, a crew of six or seven men and two or three hundred dollars' worth of goods.

I have every confidence that Lt. Smith will uncover a good thing.

About his honesty there is no doubt.

Very truly, Your friend, LEW WALLACE, Major General Commanding.

The above letter is in General Wallace's own handwriting. I prize it more than any commission or brevet commission that I have.

I needed just such an extended privilege as General Wallace asked for, and in March following I obtained it.

Colonel John S. Mosby's Guerillas were the most annoying and expensive antagonists we had. He operated along the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad west of Washington, and also with a detachment between the Potomac and Rappahannock. My probings extended into the territory covered by him. I made a study of his tactics and was preparing to counteract him. His men were at home in the district; it was, in fact, their home. They were, or many of them were, farmers, who might be innocently tilling the soil as our scouting parties pa.s.sed, but who, at Colonel Mosby's whistle, if the chance was propitious, would jump on horse and surprise us before long. Small bodies of troops were taken unawares. They never offered a front to large bodies; they would swoop down on a defenceless train, or destroy railroad bridges.

Mosby was a valuable a.s.set to the Confederacy, worth many times Harry Gilmor's Raiders.

I think, without doubt, it took twenty or thirty thousand of our men to guard against his intermittent incursions.

Mosby was an educated man. An impression was abroad then that he was a barbarian; he was not. He was loyally doing for the South what I would have done for the North. I captured his foraging order, on one occasion and it opened my eyes for it was evidence of as civilized methods of war as was ever manifested. In this order he provided for payment for private property which he took.

I planned to organize a body of men to compete with Mosby, and I asked for a command to operate independently of district lines, or military commanders.

I had been locating Mosby's men (their homes), from all sorts of sources of information, preparing to capture them in detail. I was planning to take them at their disadvantage, when they were at the plough, and not when they were in the saddle. Here is part of my list so tabulated:

"Members of Mosby."

Wm. Robinson, Wend Robinson, John Robinson--Three miles above Front Royal, on the Culpepper Pike. Father is a farmer.

Geo. Reger--Black Rock below the Pike, with his brother, John Reger.

Jack Downing-- mile from Geo. Reger's on Black Rock, in a fine brick house.

William Wright--Four miles below Front Royal, on the Linden Road, with his Grandmother, Luanda Wright.

James Fold--Below Flint Hill, six or seven miles from Front Royal near the Pike. Father is a farmer.

James Hawes--On Culpepper Pike, seven miles from Front Royal, is a laborer, lives in Mr. Gibson's house.

Bresley Esom--Seven miles from Front Royal, one mile from Culpepper Pike.

George Esom--Same place as Bresley.

John Clark--Nine miles from Front Royal, to right of Culpepper Pike, on the mountain. Father is a farmer.

John Maddox--Four miles from Front Royal on Hominy Road, is a farmer.

George Leech--Three miles from Front Royal, on the Culpepper Pike. Shoemaker shop.

James Bolton--Eight or nine miles from Front Royal, on Culpepper Pike, left hand side. Father is a blacksmith.

James Anderson--Resides with Bolton.

William Blackwell--Formerly on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

You will see later on in Paine's statement that I quizzed him on the same subject. I presume my information was not always reliable, but was nearly so.

The following is quoted from an interrupted Confederate letter, in speaking of Mosby:

"He is well off for Greenbacks since he captured those paymasters on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line. When the plunder secured on that occasion came to be divided up every officer and man who a.s.sisted got $1,922.50. A good deal of this money you have already got back. I will tell you how. Old men and women residents in the neighborhood of Upperville, who have gone within your lines and taken the oath of allegiance, have been sent by Mosby and many of his men to Berlin, to purchase goods: such as hats, &c., and have paid for these in captured Greenbacks, and got the goods out to the Battalion."

This information was correct. I captured one man's part of the plunder entire, or nearly so. The money was yet in its original shape, as issued to these paymasters from the Treasury Department. I took it there and they were able to identify the packages.

The capture was made in this way: One of Mosby's men named Dr. John A.

Kline, of Loudoun County, Virginia, came to Baltimore. He was accompanied by his mother, Mrs. Mary A. Kline, and a niece, Nannie O.

Bannon. He became intoxicated, talked too much, and the whole party was arrested. They were searched, the women by one of my female officers, and the money, about two thousand dollars, was found on the mother, in a belt worn next to her skin. We confined the women in a hotel, but were finally forced to send them to jail, as the mother got intoxicated, and so disturbed the other guests.

Kline was sentenced to ten years hard labor. The mother was confined until the close of the war.

Appleton, for 1864, speaks of the train robbery, on page 156, as follows:

"All that district of country west of Washington and immediately south of the Potomac River, was infested with guerrillas throughout the year. Colonel Mosby was their leader. Many of their expeditions were conducted with great boldness. Sometimes they came within a few miles of Washington.

"On one occasion during the year they captured a pa.s.senger train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, between Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg. A rail was removed, and the train thus running off the track was brought to a stop. Their proceedings have been thus graphically described," etc.

"They then made a final search, and saw the work was complete; the train had been burned, a paymaster with sixty-three thousand dollars robbed, the pa.s.sengers plundered of their hats, coats, boots, watches and money, and locking and burning the mail, express, and baggage, they made us a boisterous farewell."

The matter of my suggestion for a party to compete with Mosby, went through all the channels, up to Major General Halleck, the President's military adviser. I was informed that General Halleck approved of it, to give me a commission as Captain and a.s.sistant Adjutant General, to report to the Adjutant General. This was suggested to overcome rank restrictions. The matter, however, was delayed (I will refer to it again in March, 1865). The war ended without this scheme being accomplished.

Meantime I declined to accept several tenders of commissions in promotion, expecting to realize this greater recognition.