Part 20 (2/2)

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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Was.h.i.+ngton.

”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.

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