It was sad to see the rapiddemoralizationof the people at this time and the various phases of corrupt human nature suddenly brought to light by the war. Not only were the government buildings ransacked for plunder, but the abandoned houses of the citizens shared the same fate. Even women and children could be encountered at all hours of the day and night loaded with booty or trundling wheelbarrows freighted with all imaginable kinds of portable goods and household furniture. In many instances their shamelessness was astounding and it appeared as if they considered that a state of war gave unlimited privilege for plunder. Citizens who recognized their property in the hands of those marauders and claimed it, were abused and sometimes beaten and, sadder yet to be related, women were in many instances, most prominent in those disgraceful scenes. Spies were constantly crossing and recrossing the Potomac to give information to their friends on either side, and it frequently happened that the same parties were or pretended to be working in the interests of both armies and, as the phrase goes, "carried water on both shoulders." In the country horse-stealing was prosecuted on a gigantic scale and quite a brisk business was carried on by certain parties pursuing thethievesand capturing runaway negroes, for slavery had not yet been abolished by law and many slaves were taking advantage of the unsettled state of affairs to make their escape to freedom.
On the 21st of July General Patterson, who had been operating with a large union army watching General Joe Johnston's motions around Winchester, fell back from Charlestown to Harper's Ferry. This was the day on which the first battle of Bull Run was fought in which Johnston took an important part, having given the slip to Patterson, who no doubt, was much surprised afterwards to learn that his antagonist was not still at Winchester on that fatal day. Patterson's army occupied Harper's Ferry for several days and helped themselves to most of what was left by the rebels. Whatever may be said of their exploits on the field of battle theirachievements in the foraging line are certainly worthy of mention in this and all other impartial histories of that period. The United States army at that time was composed of "three month's men" and certainly, it must be said that if they were not thieves before their enlistment their proficiency in the art of stealing was extraordinary, considering the short time they were learning this accomplishmentso necessary or at leastso becoming in a thorough campaigner, especially while in an enemy's country. Hen's teeth are articles the scarcity of which is proverbial in all countries, but it can be safely averred that, when this army left Harper's Ferry, the teeth of those useful fowls were as plentiful at that place as any other part of them, and Saint Columbkill himself could not desire more utter destruction to the race of cocks than was inflicted on them at Harper's Ferry by General Patterson's army. Indeed, every thing movable disappeared before them and, at the risk of not being believed, the author will declare that he learned of their carrying off a tombstone from the Methodist cemetery. What they wanted with it he will not venture to guess, but a regard for the truth of history compels him to relate the fact. It may have been that some company cook wanted it for a hearth-stone or it may have been that some pious warrior desired to set it up in his tent as an aid to his devotions, but certain it is that six or eight soldiers of this army were seen by many of the citizens conveying it between them from the cemetery to their bivouac in the armory yard.
When Patterson's men crossed into Maryland on their way home—their three month's term of service having expired—quiet again, and for a comparatively long time, reigned at Harper's Ferry. At Sandy Hook, however, there was a lively time during the month of August and a part of September. General Nathaniel Banks, of Massachusetts, at one time speaker of the House of Representatives, was sent with a large army to occupy that village and Pleasant Valley, and, for six or seven weeks, those places enjoyed the felicity that had fallen to the lot of Harper'sFerry during the spring and early summer. General Banks earned for himself the reputation of being a thorough gentleman and, although his after career in the war was not signalized by much success, no failure on his part has been sufficient to erase the respect which he earned from people of all shades of political opinion in that region. His army occupied the low grounds between the Blue Ridge and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, as, also, Pleasant Valley, while the General's headquarters were at the house of Mr. Jacob Miller, near Sandy Hook. The latter place, though a mere hamlet, at once acquired a national importance, but, for some reason, Harper's Ferry was entirely ignored for the time. Indeed it appeared to be an axiom with the officers of both armies that the latter place could not be defended successfully against any considerable force. The first battle of Bull Run or Manassas had been fought July 21st—the day on which General Patterson's army retreated from Charlestown to Harper's Ferry, instead of being engaged with General Joe Johnston's forces, who were that day aiding Beauregard atManassas, having stolen away from Patterson. General Bank's as well as other commanders of the union army were being re-organized and prepared for future operations, and Sandy Hook for some reason, was assigned as the temporary position of that General. Early in the Fall he moved to Darnestown, twenty miles farther down the river and after a short stay there he moved to Frederick City, where he spent the winter. After the departure of the main army for Darnestown the 13th regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers was left at Sandy Hook as a corps of observation and a guard for the ford at Harper's Ferry. These men were uncommonly zealous in shooting at rebels as long as they—the 13th—were on the Maryland side of the river with the broad Potomac between them and the enemy, or rather between them and Virginia for, now, it rarely happened that a Confederate soldier appeared anywhere within gun shot of them. Crouching under the buttresses of the ruined bridge on the Maryland side of the river in the now dry bed of the canal, oramong the thickets and rocks of the Maryland Heights, the gallant 13th kept up a constant fire on the few inhabitants of Harper's Ferry, suspecting or affecting to suspect them of being rebels. Everything that moved about the streets they shot at vindictively. The appearance of even a mullein leaf swaying in the wind elicited a volley from these ever vigilant guardians of the nation, and it was lucky for the place that they were indifferent marksmen, else it would have been wholly depopulated. They had field glasses through which they watched the motions of the inhabitants and there is no exaggeration in saying that they shot at weeds set in motion by the wind, for it frequently occurred that volleys were fired at bushes which in no way could hide an enemy and which were noteworthy only because they were set in motion by the breeze. Sometimes the 13th would send detachments in skiffs across the river and on one or two occasions they were encountered by parties of Confederates who would occasionally lurk in the cemetery and behind the fences on Camp Hill and keep up a scattering fire on the "Yankees" in the town. In one of these skirmishes a rebel soldier named Jones was killed near the graveyard, a bullet having penetrated through the palm of his hand and then into his stomach. In this affair an officer of the 13th, whose name need not be given, very much distinguished himself. At the first fire he jumped into the Shenandoah to hide behind a stone wall that protects the Winchester and Potomac railroad from the strong current of the river. Although he effectually shielded himself against fire, he was not equally successful against the river which at this place is both deep and rapid and he had much difficulty in saving himself from being drowned. As it was, his fine clothes were much damaged and a red sash, which he wore around him, left a stain on his uniform which could not be removed by any amount of washing. It would appear as if a soldier's uniform eternally blushed for the cowardice of the unworthy wearer. This officer was loaded down with medals and badges of merit which he said himself he had gained in the Crimean campaign, fighting against the RussianBear. After this skirmish he lost caste in his regiment and soon after he was sentenced by a court martial to a term in Sing-Sing for embezzlement. It is told that when he entered the prison and the principal keeper, with a view of assigning him to some suitable employment, inquired if he had learned a trade of any kind, he answered, that he never had labored any, but that he was a scholar and could talk in seven languages. The keeper on this told him that at Sing-Sing there was but one language spoken and d— little of that, and he immediately set the scholar to work in one of the shops. This was unkind in the keeper but, no doubt, it would be difficult to please all penitentiary prisoners in assigning them employment during their terms of servitude. An Irishman, under similar circumstances, was asked what trade he would have and answered that he always had a liking for the sea, and that he would choose to be a sailor. History does not record what success the Irishman met with in the assignment to work.
Our hero was certainly a poor specimen of the men who fought at Alma and Sebastopol, if, indeed, he ever saw the Crimea, which is very doubtful. In justice it ought to be noted that he was not a Massachusetts man by birth. His men, however, on this occasion showed a good deal of gallantry and, under Lieutenant Brown, of the same company—hisname needs no concealment—they stood their ground like good soldiers until the enemy retired. The writer is not prone to saying harsh things, but he cannot forget the many bullets shot at him by the above regiment and that a whole platoon of them once opened fire on him and a young lady in whose company he was at the time, actually cutting off with their balls portions of the lady's headgear. He also remembers a degrading proposition made to him by some of them—that he should inform them as to what rebels in the neighborhood were in good circumstances, with a view of plundering them, the rebels, and dividing the proceeds with the informer. The officer whose conduct in the skirmish was so discreditable would have been left to oblivion, had not his behavior to some ladies of the placebeen as disgraceful as his cowardice in battle. But, notwithstanding all this, his name is mercifully omitted.
Early in October Mr. A. H. Herr, proprietor of the Island of Virginius and the large flour mill on it, having a large quantity of wheat which he could not grind into flour—his mill having been partially destroyed by some federal troops under Lieutenant Colonel Andrews, brother of the governor of Massachusetts, in order to prevent the confederates from using it—and being a union man at heart, invited the government troops to remove the grain to Maryland. There being no bridge across the Potomac at the time, a large boat was procured and a company of the 3rd Wisconsin regiment impressed the few able-bodied men at the place into the service of the government to take the wheat from the mill to the boat and ferry it across with the aid of the soldiers. The citizens were promised a liberal per diem, but that, like many other good promises and intentions, forms a part of the pavement of a certain region where it never freezes. Even the sacred person of the future historian of the town was not spared, and many a heavy sack did he tote during several days, under the eye of a grim Wisconsin sergeant who appeared to enjoy immensely the author's indignation at his being put to this servile employment. Like the recreant soldier at Sing-Sing, the historian derived no benefit on this occasion from the smattering of different languages with which he is credited, while the sergeant was indifferent as to the tongue in which the writer chose to swear or to the number of anathemas he thought proper to vent against the world in general and soldiers in particular, he took care that the hapless author did his full complement of the work. Suddenly, on the 16th of October—the second anniversary of the Brown raid—while the citizens and soldiers were busy working at the wheat, a report reached them that Colonel Ashby, at the head of the Virginia militia, was approaching from Charlestown to put a stop to their work. The news turned out to be true and Colonel—afterwards General—Geary, at one time governor of the territory of Kansas, and, after the war, chief executive of the Stateof Pennsylvania, at the head of three companies of the 28th Pennsylvania, three companies of the 13th Massachusetts and the same of the 3rd Wisconsin regiments, crossed the river from Maryland and marched through Harper's Ferry to Bolivar Heights, where the enemy were posted. A very sharp skirmish took place, which is known in history as the battle of Bolivar Heights. Both sides claimed the victory, though both retreated—Geary to Maryland and Ashby up the valley towards Charlestown. Four or five federal soldiers lost their lives in this affair, but the loss of the Confederates is unknown to the writer. It is certain that many of them were wounded severely, but they acknowledged only one death. Many young men of the neighborhood of Harper's Ferry, who were serving in the confederate army, were wounded in this battle, among whom were J. W. Rider and John Yates Beall, the latter of whom was afterwards executed in New York for being engaged in hostile acts within the limits of that state. Colonel Geary succeeded in capturing and taking to Maryland a large cannon belonging to the confederates, but the latter claimed that they had abandoned it as being unserviceable and that there was no honor attached to the possession of it by the union troops.
The federal soldiers were very much excited on this occasion, in consequence of a malicious report spread among them that some citizens of Bolivar were harboring the enemy in their houses and giving them an opportunity to pick off the unionists from the windows. Mr. Patrick Hagan was arrested on this charge and hurried away to Maryland without his getting time to put on his coat of which he had divested himself for work around his house. This gentleman was one of the most peaceable men of the place, and no citizen of either party in Harper's Ferry or Bolivar believed that he was guilty. Notwithstanding his high character, however, he was taken away in the condition mentioned and kept in confinement for several months in a government fort. This is one of many instances where private malice got in those unhappy times an opportunity for venting its spiteunder the cloak of patriotism. In a few days after this skirmish a party of confederate cavalry entered the town and burned Mr. Herr's extensive mill, thereby inflicting an irreparable loss on the people of the place. As before noted, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew had partially destroyed it—that is—he broke up a part of the machinery—just enough to render the mill incapable of being worked. This damage could have been easily repaired and, if no further harm had been done to it, the mill could have been put into working order in a few days. The confederates, however, destroyed it completely and the shattered and toppling walls are still to be seen, a monument of vandalism and a reproach to civilized warriors.
From this time the town was visited nightly by scouts from both sides and the citizens were, as the Irishman says, "between the devil and the deep sea." As the nights grew longer and lights became necessary the people felt the inconveniences of their situation the more keenly. The sides of the houses fronting the Maryland Heights were, of necessity, kept in total darkness, else the fire of the unionists was sure to be attracted. The sides fronting the south stood in equal danger from the confederates and, families were obliged to manage so that no lights could be seen by either of the contending forces.
On the 11th of November a party of union men determined to cross the Potomac and throw themselves on the protection of the United States government, as they were threatened with conscription by the Virginians as well as exposed to insult for their opinions. They were, moreover, men in humble circumstances and they wanted employment somewhere. Their interest as well as their sympathies were with the north, or rather with the old government, and they resolved to make a break from the danger and humiliation of a residence in a debatable territory. Six of them, namely: Alexander Kelly, the same who had so narrow an escape from Brown's men; John Kelly, J. Miller Brown, G. S. Collis, Lafayette Davis, and the author of these annals, therefore procured a leaky skiff from "Old Tom Hunter," the Charon of the Potomac and Shenandoah since the destruction of thebridges. Hunter's son ferried them across, just in time to escape a party of confederates then entering the town, to impress them into their service. Joyfully, the refugees approached the Maryland shore after the dangers of their stay at Harper's Ferry and the no small risk they had run of being drowned, as the river was then very high and rapid and the skiff unsound and over-burdened with passengers and baggage. Their disappointment and astonishment were great, therefore, on their being informed that they would not be allowed to land; that their crossing was in violation of the rules established by the officer in command at the post and that they must return to Virginia. This was not to be thought of and, after a long parley, they received an ungracious permission to disembark, when they were immediately made prisoners by order of Major Hector Tyndale, of the 28th Pennsylvania regiment, in command at the place. This potentate was not to be cajoled by their protestations of loyalty to the United States government. In every one of them he saw a rebel spy. He took them separately into a private room, examined their clothes and took possession of every paper found on them. Their baggage was searched thoroughly and several poetical effusions of the author of these pages, addressed to various Dulcineas of Virginia and Maryland on the day of "Good Saint Valentine" some years before—copies of which he had unfortunately retained—excited the wrath of the puritanical Tyndale to a high pitch and brought down on the hapless poet the heaviest denunciations. Mr. Collis, also, fell in for a share of the Major's displeasure. Being a member in good standing of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Mr. Collis had obtained a traveling card from Virginia Lodge, No. 1, of that society at Harper's Ferry, to which he belonged. This card he had, or thought he had, put away safely in his vest pocket which he had pinned securely for the safety of its contents. Major Tyndale felt the pocket and demanded to know what was in it. Mr. Collis replied that it was his "traveling card." The major insisted on seeing it and, lo, when Mr. Collis showed the package and opened it, instead of an Odd Fellow's card,it turned out to be a daguerreotype likeness of one of that gentleman's lady friends which, through some inadvertence, Mr. Collis had substituted for what he had intended to guard with so much care. The Major taking this mistake for a wilful personal insult, stormed wildly and remanded the six prisoners for further trial, when they were confined with other captives in Eader's hotel at Sandy Hook. It will be believed that, under the circumstances, they were a gloomy party and, in view of the probability that things would grow worse as the night advanced, the author uttered a pious ejaculation, expressing a wish that he had the freedom of Sandy Hook for half an hour to improve the commissariat of the prisoners which was rather scant and entirely wanting in that article so indispensable to people in trouble and to many under any circumstances—whiskey. As luck would have it, the prayer reached the ear of the sentinel at the prison door, who was a six-foot representative of that beautiful island which is so touchingly described by one of its inspired sons as:
"Poor, dear, ould Ireland, that illigent placeWhere whiskey's for nothing and a beating for less."
"Poor, dear, ould Ireland, that illigent placeWhere whiskey's for nothing and a beating for less."
The word "whiskey" was the sesame to the sentinel's heart. He looked around cautiously to see if the officer of the guard was near and, the coast being clear, he opened the door and, in a confidential way, remarked that he supposed the speaker was adacentboy who would do theclanething and that he—the sentinel—would run the risk of letting him outonparole of honor for half an hour. The offer was accepted joyfully and, in an incredibly short time, the author, who in those days, "knew all the ropes," returned with a load of crackers, cheese and sausages, pipes and tobacco, and the main desideratum, a very corpulent bottle of "tangle foot," a very appropriate name for the particular brand of Sandy Hook whiskey. With these refreshments and a greasy pack of cards, the night wore away pleasantly and, before morning, the Irish sentinel was the jolliest man of the party for, on every passage of the bottle, his services were gratefully remembered and rewarded with a jorum. Whenthe time came for relieving the guard the sentinel was too drunk to stand upright and present arms and the sergeant who, too, was a good fellow or who was, perhaps, himself drunk, did not change the guard. Anyway, the jolly Irishman was left at the post 'till morning and he did not complain of the hardship of losing his sleep. The greater number of his prisoners were too top-heavy to make their escape, even if they were inclined to play false with their indulgent keeper. Next day they were examined again and subjected to various sentences according to their supposed delinquencies or their ability to do mischief. The hapless author was condemned to banishment to a distance of at least ten miles from the lines of the army for his unholy poetry and—as Major Tyndale actually expressed it—because the expression of his eye was unprepossessing. Mr. Collis was permitted to stay at Sandy Hook, but he was obliged to report every morning at 10 o'clock at the major's office. Many andvariouswere the adventures of this as well as of other parties of Harper's Ferry people who were scattered about by the chances of the times. A narrative of them would fill a very large volume, if not a fair-sized library, and it may be that some of them will appear in future biographical sketches.
On the 7th of February, 1862, two parties of hostile scouts encountered each other at Harper's Ferry. The federal spies had spent the most of the night of the 6th at the place and about dawn on the 7th had entered a skiff to return to Maryland, when they were fired on by some confederates who were watching for them, and one of them, named Rohr, was killed. Another, named Rice, threw himself into the river and, by his dexterity in swimming and by keeping under cover of the skiff, managed to save his life and escape to Maryland. The confederate scouts were of Captain Baylor's company, who kept Harper's Ferry in a state of terror all the winter, entering the town every few nights and doing many harsh things, without the order or approval of their captain, who, however, was held responsible for their acts and was treated with a great deal of unjustseverity when in the course of events he became a prisoner of war.
The killing of Rohr was the cause of another calamity to the hapless town. Colonel Geary, who was commanding the federal troops at the Point of Rocks, Sandy Hook, and the bank of the Potomac to Harper's Ferry and under whom Major Tyndale was acting at Sandy Hook, became highly incensed at the death of Rohr, who was a favorite scout, and he immediately sent a detachment to destroy the part of Harper's Ferry in which the confederates were accustomed to conceal themselves and watch and annoy the federal soldiers on the Maryland shore. This they accomplished, ruthlessly destroying with fire Fouke's hotel and all of the town between the armory and the railroad bridge. Certainly, this must be considered a wanton destruction of property as the trestlebuttressesor even the ruins of the burnt buildings furnished enough of shelter for spies or sharpshooters. The demolition of this property was accomplished under the immediate supervision of Major Tyndale, and here occur some curious coincidences such as often appear in history and in ordinary life. It will be remembered that John Brown, on the day of his capture, prophesied the destruction of Harper's Ferry, to take place in a short time. It will be recollected, too, that his wife came to Virginia to get possession of his body after his execution. This same Hector Tyndale accompanied her from Philadelphia as a protector and conducted the transportation of the remains from Virginia to New York. In a little more than two years the town, to all intents and purposes, was destroyed and the finishing stroke was given to it by this very Tyndale. Who will say that these were merely coincidences and who will not rather suspect that there were in these affairs something like a true spirit of prophecy and a divine retribution. Major Tyndale is now dead and peace to his soul! At the battle of Antietam he was shot through the head, but he recovered, at least partially, from his wound and in some years after he served as mayor of Philadelphia. He was no friend to the author of these pages, but truth compels a ratherfavorable summing up of his character. Like his great namesake of Troy, he was a sincere patriot and, although he often descended to the consideration of mere trifles and harassed innocent people with groundless suspicions, it isbelievedthat he was thoroughly honest and he certainly had courage enough to do no discredit to his Homeric name.
All that winter—'61-'62—Harper's Ferry presented a scene of the utmost desolation. All the inhabitants had fled, except a few old people, who ventured to remain and protect their homes, or who were unable or unwilling to leave the place and seek new associations. This ill-boding lull continued—excepting the occasional visits of the Confederates and the Rohr tragedy with its consequences—until the night of the 22nd of February, 1862, when General Banks made a forward move in conjunction with General Shields, who proceeded up the valley from the neighborhood of Paw Paw, on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, between Martinsburg and Cumberland. General Banks sent a detachment across the Potomac at Harper's Ferry in advance of the main body of his troops. They crossed in skiffs and their object was to lay a pontoon bridge. With them was a man named James Stedman, a native of the place, and another named Rice, who acted as guides. The night was stormy, blowing a gale down the river through the gorges of the Blue Ridge. Stedman, Rice and five soldiers of the 28th Pennsylvania regiment were in one skiff, when, through the severity of the gale or mismanagement, the boat was upset and all were cast into the icy waters. Rice escaped by swimming to one of the buttresses of the bridge, but Stedman and the five soldiers were drowned and their bodies were never recovered. This man—Rice—was the same who had so narrow an escape a few nights before at the same place, when Rohr was killed. He lived many years after these two close calls and served as a railroad engineer. One day he fell from his engine and was cut to pieces by it. It is supposed that his fall was caused by an apoplectic fit and that he was dead when his body reached the ground. From the time of this crossing untilthe retreat of Banks from Winchester, May 25th, 1862, the town was held by federal troops. Immediately after the battle of Kernstown, March 23rd, of that year, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company took possession of the Winchester and Potomac railroad and worked it for the government, thus relieving in some measure the strict blockade the place had endured all the winter. Perhaps, it would be more correct to say the government seized the road and employed the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company to run it for them. The place, of course, now became very important as a base of supplies for the union troops, and the great number of soldiers who were stationed there at this time and the many civilian strangers who daily arrived to visit friends in the army, threw a new life into the town. Besides, many of the old citizens returned to their homes, now comparatively safe, and accumulated snug fortunes in providing small luxuries for the wearied soldiers and their friends. When General Banks was pursued to the Potomac at Williamsport a portion of the confederate forces marched towards Harper's Ferry and the union garrison there, with all the citizens who held to the old government, crossed over to Maryland. The rebels, however, approached no nearer to the place than Halltown, about four miles west, on Charlestown road and, in a day or two, they returned up the valley. All through the spring and summer, except the few days noted, the town continued to be a base of supplies for the union forces in that region, and it was notably so while the armies of Shields, Banks and Freemont were operating against Jackson in the campaign of Cross-Keys and Port Republic. After the second battle of Manassas, General Lee decided to invade Maryland, and of course, the capture of Harper's Ferry became very desirable if not absolutely necessary to him. It was then under the command of General Miles, a veteran of the regular United States army. He had a force which, including a large number under Colonel Tom Ford, of Ohio, posted on the Maryland Heights, amounted to twelve thousand. While General Lee with the main body of the confederates crossed at the lower fords of thePotomac and marched on Frederick City, Generals Jackson and A. P. Hill attacked Harper's Ferry with their commands. The siege commenced on Friday, September 12th, 1862, by the confederates opening fire from the Loudoun Heights with several batteries. The federal guns on the Maryland Heights replied, but the position of the latter was soon attacked in the rear by a portion of the rebel army that had got a footing in Maryland and, of course, the rebels on the Virginia shore profited by the diversion. The extreme right of the confederates in Maryland and the left of the federals who were following them up from Washington under McClellan, approached very near to the northeastern slope of these heights and Colonel Ford was attacked by a strong body of troops detached for that purpose. Lee had marched through Frederick City and, thence, westward towards Hagerstown and Sharpsburg, where he faced about and made a stand against his pursuers. This placed the confederate right close to the Maryland Heights as above stated. A desultory though destructive musketry fire was kept up all through Friday and Saturday,September12th and 13th, and thus Colonel Ford was placed, as he thought, in a hopeless situation. The forces fighting him in the rear were probably of South Carolina, as many headboards long standing at graves on the ground they occupied bore the names of soldiers and regiments from that state. The bombardment from the Loudoun Heights continued in the meantime until Colonel Ford abandoned his position and shut himself up in Harper's Ferry. His conduct on this occasion has been severely criticised and, indeed, it is understood that he was cashiered for misconduct. His military judges, no doubt, knew more about the merits of the case than any civilian, but it is certain that many instances of what appeared to be greater mismanagement occurred during the war, when little or nothing was said in condemnation of any one and nobody was punished. The loss of Harper's Ferry was a severe one, and the popular sentiment demanded a scape-goat. The condemnation of Colonel Ford was some balm and the unreasoning multitude were appeased. The abandonment of the Maryland Heights was, of course, a virtual surrender of Harper's Ferry. On Monday, September 15th, therefore, the national flag was lowered and the garrison laid down their arms. The confederates, besides capturing some twelve thousand men, got possession of a large amount of arms and valuable stores. General Miles was killed by a shell immediately after his giving the order to surrender and, in all probability, his death saved him from a fate still worse to a soldier. Great indignation was felt through the loyal states and in army circles at what was called his treason or cowardice, and, had he lived, his conduct, no doubt, would have been the subject of a strict investigation, as in the case of Colonel Ford, if, indeed, the supposed misconduct of the latter was not forgotten when the principal was under indictment. If poor Miles had lived to givehisversion of the matter the public verdict might have been different in the course of time. Anyway, he died for his country and let no one belittle his memory.
Before the surrender a small body of federal cavalry made a gallant charge and succeeded in making their escape, capturing and destroying an ammunition train belonging to Longstreet's corps of confederates, which they overtook near the Antietam and effecting a junction with McClellan's army, then posted on that river. Full justice has never been done in history to this gallant little body of men—the 8th New York Cavalry—or to its heroic leader, Colonel B. F. Davis.
After the surrender, General Jackson marched towards Shepherdstown and arrived at General Lee's position in time to take a part in the great battle of the 17th of September. He left General A. P. Hill in command at Harper's Ferry, but he, too, departed next day and, like Jackson, effected a junction with Lee's main army in time to aid in the great conflict that was impending.
The direction in which Jackson marched from Harper's Ferry to Antietam—due north—disposes of a controversy that for years has exercised the pens of many people eminent in letters. The poet Whittier makes Jackson march through Frederick City on his way to join Lee,and the fame of Barbara Fritchie rests on her supposed defying of him and her shaking the national flag at him, as he passed her house at that place. Whittier's poem is certainly a spirited one and it is too good to be without foundation in fact, butisto be feared that so it is. In all probability General Jackson never set foot in Frederick City. Certainly, he did not do so in the Antietam campaign, and the flag-shaking that has immortalized Barbara—was done by the small children of a Mrs. Quantril, who lived near the Fritchies, and the rebels paid no heed to what was done by the little tots. How many of the heroes and heroines of history or song are mythical and how many real deeds of gallantry have been consigned to oblivion can anyone tell?
The siege and surrender of Harper's Ferry, though important events of the war were not as disastrous to its people as other occurrences of less national interest. There was no very hard fighting on the occasion, considering the numbers engaged and the magnitude of the stake and no loss of life or property to the citizens of the place. While the siege was in progress, the battle of South Mountain took place, September 14th, and on the same month was fought the murderous battle of Antietam. Both fields are near Harper's Ferry and the thunders of the artillery and the roll of the musketry could be heard distinctly at that place from those famous battle grounds. At the former engagement the lines were very long and the left wing of the Federals under General Franklin, and the right of the confederates under General Howell Cobb, of Georgia, extended to the very foot of the Maryland Heights. These wings met at "Crampton's Gap" about five miles from Harper's Ferry and a very fierce battle was the consequence. This engagement, though properly a part of that of South Mountain, has been considered a separate affair on account of the distance from the main armies at which it was fought, and its extreme severity and it is called the "battle of Crampton's Gap." The union troops were victorious and they drove the confederates through "the gap" and some other wild passes in the Blue Ridge near the place. The battlewas fought almost entirely with musketry at close range which accounts for the great loss of life on both sides. Had General Miles held out a little longer, the advantage gained at Crampton's Gap would have enabled General Franklin to come to his relief, and the loss and disgrace of the surrender might have been prevented.
Both sides claimed a victory at Antietam, but Lee retreated and his garrison at Harper's Ferry abandoned that place. McClellan did not pursue, but he concentrated his whole army around Harper's Ferry, where he remained apparently inactive for nearly two months. The whole peninsula formed by the Potomac and the Shenandoah from Smallwood's Ridge to the junction of the rivers, as well as the surrounding heights, soon became dotted with tents, and at night the two villages and the neighboring hills were aglow with hundreds of watchfires. From Camp Hill the ridge that separates the towns of Harper's Ferry and Bolivar the spectacle was magnificent, especially at night, and a spectator was forcibly reminded of a fine description of a similar scene in the eighth book of the Iliad. A hum of voices like that of an immense city or the hoarse murmur of the great deep arose from the valleys on either side and filled the air with a confusion of sounds, while to a person of sensibility it was sad to contemplate how many of this mighty host may have been fated never to leave the soil of Virginia, but sleep their long, last sleep far from home and kindred and in a hostile land. The bands of the various regiments frequently discoursed their martial strains, and nothing that sight or sound could do to stir the imagination was wanted. Of course, innumerable instances occurred of drunken rioting among the soldiers and of outrage on the citizens. A list of these would fill many volumes each much larger than this little book, and imagination can picture but faintly the sufferings of a people exposed helpless to the mercy of an undisciplined armed rabble, for candor obliges us to thus designate both the armies engaged in this war. Officers and men on both sides were brave as soldiers can be, but, except the West Pointers and the graduates of a few military academies,they knew nothing about the science of war, and it was impossible for an officer to check the excesses of his command, when many of the privates under him were, perhaps, his superiors socially in the civil life they had all left so lately and where all were volunteers fighting for a principle and not for a soldier's pay. General McClellan proceeded south in November, leaving a strong garrison at Harper's Ferry, and that place was occupied by the federals without interruption until the second invasion of the north by General Lee in June, 1863. All this time, as all through the war, the roads leading to Leesburg, Winchester, Martinsburg and other places were infested by guerillas in the service of the confederates and sometimes by deserters from and camp followers of the federals, the latter frequently committing outrages that were charged to the southern men. The most noted of the guerillas was a youth named John Mobley. He was a son of a woman named Polly Mobley, who lived on the Loudoun side of the Shenandoah, near Harper's Ferry, and his reputed father was a man named Sam. Fine, who at one time lived in the neighborhood, but who moved west long before the war. The son took his mother's name and it is one that will ever be famous in that region on account of his exploits. He and his mother were poor and, when a mere boy, he used to drive a team for a free negro butcher named Joe Hagan, who lived in Loudoun and used to attend the Harper's Ferry market with his meat wagon. Mobley was at this time a lubberly, simple-looking lad, and the pert youths of the town used to tease him. He gave no indication then of the desperate spirit which he afterwardsexhibited. On the contrary, he appeared to be rather cowardly. When the war broke out, however, he joined a company of confederate cavalry raised in Loudoun county, and, although not much above seventeen years of age, he was detailed by his captain as a scout to watch the federal army around his native place. Under the circumstances, this was an important and delicate duty. With this roving commission he, with a few others, ranged the neighborhood of Niersville and Hillsborough and sometimes he came to the bank of theShenandoah at Harper's Ferry. He is said to have kept, like Dugald Dalgetty, a sharp eye on his private interests, while obeying to the letter the commands of his superiors. He was agreatterror ofsutlersand wagonmasters and he is supposed to have captured many rich prizes, displaying the most reckless courage and committing some cold blooded murders. Like many other gentlemen of the road, however, he had his admirers, and many anecdotes are told of his forbearance and generosity. On the 5th of April, 1865—four days before Lee's surrender—his career ended by his being shot to death by a party of three soldiers of the union army, who had set a trap for him with the connivance, perhaps, of some neighbors and pretended friends. His body, with the head perforated in three places by bullets, was thrown, like a sack of grain, across a horse's back and conveyed in triumph to Harper's Ferry where it was exposed to public view in front of the headquarters. The body was almost denuded by relic hunters who, with their jack knives, cut pieces off his clothes as souvenirs of the war and of the most noted of the Virginia guerillas.
For some years before the war there resided in the neighborhood of Harper's Ferry a schoolmaster named Law. He claimed to be a brother of the famous George Law, of New York. He was an eccentric man, but he appeared to have a good deal of strength of character, for he always denounced slavery and advocated its abolition. For the expression of his sentiments on this subject he was driven out of Harper's Ferry, shortly after the Brown raid, and narrowly escaped a coat of tar and feathers. On the breaking out of the war he attached himself to the union army as a spy, and he was murdered, as it is supposed, by some of Mobley's gang. One of them related to a friend of the author the manner of Law's death and it was as follows, according to the confession: Having made him a prisoner, they took him to a lonely part of the Loudoun Mountain, laid him flat on his back and fastened him to the ground with withes twisted 'round his limbs and driven into the earth with mauls, and firmly secured. There he was left to perish of hunger, thirst,cold or any more speedy death from the fangs of wild animals that Heaven might mercifully vouchsafe to him. Whether all this is true or not, there is no doubt of his having been murdered, and considering all the circumstances, there is reason to believe that the poor fellow was treated as stated.
When General Lee a second time invaded the north on his disastrous Gettysburg campaign, again did Harper's Ferry change masters, and, when he again retreated, the re-occupation of the town by the union army was a matter of course, and the place then remained in the uninterrupted possession of the latter for a year.
On the 4th of July, 1864, the federal army was driven out again by a portion of General Early's forces, who penetrated into Maryland and were encountered on the 9th of the same month by General Lew Wallace at Monocacy Junction, about twenty-three miles east of Harper's Ferry. Here a very sharp engagement took place, when the unionists retreated towards Washington City and were followed cautiously by Early. On the 4th of July, while the federal troops were evacuating Harper's Ferry and some of them were yet at Sandy Hook preparing to retreat farther into Maryland, one of them, partially intoxicated, went into the store of Mr. Thomas Egan at the place and offered to buy some tobacco. The proprietor handed him a plug. The soldier took it but refused to pay for it and, on Mr. Egan's attempting to recover the tobacco, a scuffle ensued. Mr. Egan succeeded in ejecting the soldier and he shut the door to keep the intruder from re-entering. At this moment the proprietor's only child, a very interesting girl of about thirteen years, noticed that the soldier's cap was on the floor of the storeroom, it having fallen off the owner's head in the struggle. She raised a window, held out the cap and called the soldier to take it, when the ruffian shot her dead with his carbine, the bullet entering her mouth and coming out at the back of her head. The lamented Colonel Mulligan of the 23rd Illinois regiment happened to be passing the scene of the murder at the time and he ordered the brute to be arrested and confined for trial, but,in the confusion of the following night, he escaped and was never seen afterwards in that region. It is said that he deserted his regiment and joined the United States navy. The mother of the child—a most estimable lady—soon succumbed to her great sorrow and died broken-hearted. The father became dissipated and a wanderer until he lost his mind, and it is supposed that he ended his days in some asylum for the insane. On the same day a lady from North Mountain was killed, while standing on High street, Harper's Ferry, at a point exposed to the fire which was kept up from the Maryland Heights by the federal troops. A colored woman, also, was killed on Shenandoah street, of the place, and a child was mortally wounded in Bolivar, and a young lady—Miss Fitzsimmons—seriously injured at the same time and place. The child was a daughter of Mr. Thomas Jenkins and Miss Fitzsimmons was his step-daughter. A shell struck Mr. Jenkins' house, shattering it badly and injuring his family as noted. The author of this little volume was seated at the time under the gun that discharged the shell. The cannon was on the fortifications of the Maryland Heights and the writer could see Mr. Jenkins' house was struck. He remonstrated in strong language with the gunners for doing wanton mischief to inoffensive citizens. They took good-naturedly his indignant protests and ceased firing, which, no doubt, prevented much harm. The lady killed on High street and the colored woman received their death wounds from Minnie bullets. A shell from some other battery penetrated a government house on High street, Harper's Ferry, occupied by Mr. James McGraw, passed directly through it without injuring any one, andthenpenetrated the house of Mr. Alexander Kelly, where it fell on a bed without exploding. Miss Margaret Kelly, daughter of the proprietor of the house, was in the room when the unwelcome visitor intruded and settled down on the bed, but fortunately, she received no injury beyond a bad fright.
While this skirmish was progressing, a confederate officer of high rank sauntered into the armory yard, either to watch the enemy on the opposite side of theriver or to take shelter from the heat which was intense that day. He was alone and excited no particular attention. On the next day a young girl who was searching for a cow that had strayed, found his dead body and, as the rebels had retreated on the previous night, the task of burying him devolved on the citizens. The body was much swollen and decomposition had made great head-way. So nobody knows how he came to his death and, indeed, no examination for wounds was made. He was interred somewhere under the railroad trestling and it would be worth something handsome to discover the exact spot. After the war his family offered a large reward for the discovery of his resting place, but, in the campaign of Sheridan which followed shortly after this fight cavalry horses were picketed under this trestling and they tramped the ground so hard and obliterated so completely all traces of the grave that the search for it, which continued some time, was finally abandoned. Poor fellow, his fate was a sad one. No doubt, he left a happy home and loving friends and, now, he moulders in an unknown grave without even the companionship of the dead.