They saw several squads and companies of the blue-coated troopers, but did not come in contact with any, although several times they had to hide themselves while the enemy passed by them, and finally about noon reached the handsome residence of Mr. Rhodes, near Lacy’s Spring, where they endeavored to make themselves known in their true character as Confederates. This, however, was not so easily done, for their dress about as closely resembled one uniform as the other, and the “Jessie Scouts,” of Fremont’s hatching, were plentiful in the Valley; and besides this, the Yankee camp was less than half a mile distant, from which they were almost constantly receiving visitors; consequently, under all the circumstances, argument was thrown away, until, as a last resort, Lieut. Myers prevailed on one of the ladies to examine the Virginia buttons on his coat. This, with Capt. White’s elaborate argument, that “nobody but a Virginia soldier ever did wear a Virginia button,” convinced the family, and their dangerous predicament outside of the house was exchanged for a place in the parlor, where, with closed blinds, they enjoyed a splendid dinner and heard Mr. Rhodes detail the valorous doings of the defenders of the “star spangled banner,” in the way of making bloody assaults upon the hen-roosts, and fearless dashes into spring-houses and stables in the Valley Department. Among other things he informed them of two cavalrymen who had spent the night at a house of rather doubtful repute, a short distance away, and whose horses had left them during the night, but as soon as morning came they had gone off to replace them from some citizen’s pasture, leaving their saddles and bridles at the house, and Mr. R. thought it probable they had returned with the stolen horses by that time. White and his comrades decided at once to attempt the capture of the gentlemen, and they set about it as soon as it was ascertained that they were still at Cook’s.
Approaching the house, two fine horses, with full cavalry rig, were seen tied to the fence in front of the door, and White made for them immediately, leaving Brown and Myers to attend to the Yankees, one of whom, coming to the door to see what was wrong with the horses, was suddenly pounced upon by Capt. Brown and captured without difficulty; but Myers had more trouble with his man, who staid in the house and made no answer to the order to surrender, although it was backed by the presentation of a big horse pistol, but commenced to draw his revolver, and Myers, feeling extremely doubtful about his horse pistol going the first time—a thing it had never done yet—stuck it hastily in his belt, and snatching the Yankee’s half drawn revolver, twisted it out of his hand, with the remark, "Guess you’ll surrender now, won’t you?" to which the blue jacket replied, he “guessed he would.”
The two Captains then mounted the horses, and leaving Myers to follow with the prisoners, with instructions to wait on top of the mountain until they found their horses and brought them up, started back to their last night’s camp, but were unable to find it, and after the party had got together again White proposed going on foot with the prisoners, to Dr. Hansberger’s, while Brown and Myers should hunt up the horses and bring them down, saying he would have supper ready by the time they got there.
The arrangement was agreed to, and all started to put it into execution, but as White was going down the mountain he passed a house where several citizens were standing and inquired of them the road. They answered him and he pushed on, but as soon as he had passed, the citizens decided that it was a party of Yankees on a scout, and hastily arming themselves, five of their number followed, intending to capture them, and White, on seeing that he was pursued, thought at once that they were Union bushwhackers going to rescue the prisoners, and turning towards them he demanded why they were following him, to which they replied by asking, “What are you doing with those men?” White then drew his pistol, and Sheetz, the leader of the citizens, raised his double-barrel gun. Both drew trigger at once and both weapons missed fire, but the Captain was ready first, and just as the citizen’s gun was raised again, White fired, his bullet breaking Sheetz’s arm above the elbow. He immediately caught his gun with the other hand, and was in the act of firing when White’s pistol exploded again and his remaining arm fell, shattered at the elbow precisely as the first one was. The other citizens all run but one who hid himself in the fence corner along the road, and White did the same, but after waiting some time, became impatient, and raising his head above the top rail to look for his assailants, the citizen fired at him with a small sporting rifle, the ball taking effect near the right eye.
This ended the fight, and when Brown and Myers rode up about half an hour later, they found the citizens in a terrible state of excitement over the result of their unfortunate attack, one of their number being stretched on the ground desperately wounded, while Capt. White sat in a fence corner almost dead, in fact all who saw him, supposed him to be dying. And the Yankee prisoners were expecting every moment to be immolated, for, said they, "If the rebels will treat each other in this manner, what won’t they do with us?" And no sooner did Lieut. Myers dismount from his horse than they ran to him for protection, and absolutely refused to leave him for a single moment, until he wanted one of them to bring some water from a spring near by, and the Lieutenant was compelled to actually drive him from him then. Capt. Brown rode immediately on to camp, to inform the company of the tragic winding up of the scout, and very shortly a considerable number of the boys, accompanied by their surgeon, Dr. William N. Lupton, with his ambulance, were on the march for the scene of conflict, and on their arrival, before learning the full particulars of the affair, it was all that Lieut. Myers could do to prevent them from killing all the citizens engaged in it.
Meantime the Captain had been making “his will,” and supposing he was soon to be in the land of spirits, gave to the Lieutenant quite a number of messages to be delivered to his wife and child in Maryland, but his mind dwelt upon his company too, and every few minutes he would exclaim, “Tell the boys to do as I did—never surrender!”
Dr. Lupton examined the wound and pronounced it a dangerous one, but not necessarily fatal by any means, and soon after he was placed in the ambulance, and in great misery, moved to the house of a kind citizen a few miles nearer to camp, where he remained for two or three days, when his men carried him on a litter to the hospitable home of Dr. Miller, on the river bank, where he remained until he had sufficiently recovered to ride over to his friends at Charlottesville.
CHAPTER IV.
The command of the company now devolved upon Lieut. Myers, and in a very few days Gen. Ewell marched his whole division to Columbian Bridge, about twenty-five miles lower down the river, where he halted for a time, and Myers and Barrett endeavored to put the business of the company into shape, as there had not been a payroll made off, and only one muster roll since the company had been in the service, but on the 21st of May, General Ewell sent for Lieut. Myers, and giving him a bundle of dispatches, told him to mount the best horse he could find and carry them to General Jackson.
Now be it known, nobody had heard from that officer for a long while, and the Lieutenant naturally desired to ask the question—“Where is Gen. Jackson?” but from former experience was afraid to venture it, and walked disconsolately from headquarters and the presence of the General, without any definite plan whatever in his mind, and sighing with the Psalmist for the “wings of a dove,” but Major Barbour had noticed his elongated visage, and divining his trouble, met him in the yard, where he proceeded to explain to him the road to Jackson, but while thus engaged, Gen. Ewell stepped out and exclaimed in his quick, spiteful tone, “Lieutenant Myers, go to New Market and take the turnpike road to Harrisonburg; be quick now, I want to see you again to-day.” The Lieutenant crossed the Massanutten and found some of Ashby’s cavalry at New Market, who told him Jackson was coming down the pike, and a nine mile ride up the Valley brought him to the marching army of “Stonewall,” and very soon he met a party of officers riding among the infantry, when selecting one whom, for the plainness of his dress, he took for a courier, he asked him to show him Gen. Jackson, supposing, of course, to have one of the finely dressed officers pointed out to him, but the courier simply replied, “I am Gen. Jackson; where are you from, sir?” After reading the dispatches, he wrote a few lines to Gen. Ewell, and cross-questioned the Lieutenant a short time, when he sent him back, saying, "I’ll see you at Luray to-morrow." On the way back to camp, the Lieutenant met Gen. Ewell on the mountain, and on reaching the river found everything moving towards New Market, but this was soon changed, and the troops took the road to Luray, where, on the following morning they met Gen. Jackson and some of his people, and the two Generals held a conference, after which Ewell pushed forward to Front Royal, reaching that place about 3 o’clock in the evening of the 23d of May. Here they found a force of the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued, at the beginning of which Gen. Ewell ordered Lieutenant Myers to remain near him with a party of his men, but after capturing Kenly’s 1st Maryland, and driving the rest of the Yankees from town, a force appeared on the river hills and opened a heavy artillery fire upon the Confederates, during which the shells howled savagely around the General and his escort, when, looking around, the old fellow broke out on Myers with “What do you mean, sir, by making a target of me with these men!” Upon which the Lieutenant replied, "Why, General, you told me to stay near you, and I’m trying to do it." “Clear out, sir, clear out,” roared the General, "I didn’t tell you to get all your men killed and me too," and that was the last time they troubled him that day, for the men deemed themselves discharged from further attendance upon him, and pitched in for plunder, every man doing his best to equip himself for service, they being as yet mostly armed with double-barreled guns only, and riding citizen saddles brought with them from home. Many of them succeeded in securing sabres and pistols, and nearly all possessed themselves of gum cloths, canteens and other articles of great value to soldiers.