"Oh, impossible!" I exclaimed. "Jubal never fails."
"Look out of the window," said the general.
There stood Jubal! A groom was removing his saddle. General Wilcox most kindly hastened to reassure me. "It will be all right," he declared. "A little rest for the General, and we will soon exchange him."
I was completely stunned. I had never expected this. My head reeled. My heart sickened within me.
As I sat thus, shivering beside the fire, I heard the clank of spurs, and looked up. An officer was at the door.
"Madam," he said, "General Lee sends you his affectionate sympathies."
Through the open window I saw the General on his horse, Traveller, standing at the well. He waited until his messenger returned, and then rode slowly toward the lines.
I had small hope of the speedy exchange promised me by General Wilcox. From day to day he reported the efforts made for my husband's release and their failure. General Lee authorized a letter to General Meade, detailing the circumstances of his capture and requesting his release. General Meade promptly refused to release him.
We naturally looked to the enemy for all information, and although my husband had written me a pencilled note at City Point on the inside of a Confederate envelope, and had implored his guard (a Federal officer) to have it inserted in a New York paper, I did not receive it until thirty-one years afterward. We soon had news, however, through a despatch from the North Army Corps to the New York Herald. The paper of November 30, 1864, contained the following:—
"Yesterday a rebel officer made his appearance in front of our lines, waving a paper for exchange. The officer in charge of the picket, suddenly remembering that Major Burrage, of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, was taken prisoner some time since by the enemy while on a similar errand, 'gobbled' the rebel, who proved to be the famous Roger A. Pryor, ex-member of Congress and ex-brigadier-general of Jeff Davis's army. He protested vehemently against what he styled a flagrant breach of faith on our part. He was assured he was taken in retaliation for like conduct on the part of his friends, and sent to General Meade's headquarters for further disposition."