Four Years a Scout and Spy / "General Bunker", One of Lieut. General Grant's Most Daring and Successful Scouts, Being a Narrative of ... the Experience of Corporal Ruggles During Four Years' Service as a Scout and Spy for the Federal Army

by E. C. Downs

I reported to General Osterhaus, and explained to him where the rebel force was camped, and also its strength and what it was there for.

"Vare you stshay they are? On the Baldwin's Ferry road?" inquired the General.

"No; they are on the Fifteen-mile Creek road, near the crossing of the Edwards' Station and Baldwin's Ferry road."

"Vell, dat ish vot I stshay! On the Baldwin's Ferry road!"

I then marked out the position for him, and explained it, and still he insisted.

"Vell, dat ish vot I stshay! On the Baldwin's Ferry Road!"

He then telegraphed to General Grant as he understood it, and received, in reply, orders for me to return immediately.

I reported in person to General Grant, and told him the difficulty that I experienced in making General Osterhaus understand me. He replied, "I thought he did not understand you, so I ordered you back."

After explaining to the General the position, strength, and object of the enemy, he asked me if I was sure of that fact. I told him that I was, and that time would show whether I told him the truth or not. He then said that he would rest satisfied; so I returned to my quarters. The confidence he placed in my reports amply paid me for the danger that I had encountered. General Grant always paid his scouts well whenever they had done any thing deserving of special compensation. To pay me for this trip, soon after the Vicksburg campaign ended, General Grant gave me two hundred dollars and a furlough for thirty days.