June 18, 1863, The New York Herald
Correspondence of Mr. F. G. Chapman.
FREDERICK, Md., June 16, 1863.
After a hard ride of sixty miles I arrived here today, and found the most excited set of people that could possibly be conceived of inhabiting the town. I had been led to expect that the town was occupied by the Confederate troops, (you see I must speak of the gentlemen composing General Lee’s army respectfully under the circumstances), for all along the road from Baltimore I heard well authenticated stories of their presence here; nevertheless, I was determined not to turn back until I had obtained a view of their pickets at least, and the result was I came into the city as quietly and unharmed as if I had been the presiding elder entering a camp meeting. There were no troops here of any kind, save a few sick and wounded Unionists in the hospitals whom General Briggs had left in his movement back to the Relay House, below Baltimore. The most exaggerated reports were rife as to the movements of the enemy, many averring that the whole country between here and Harper’s Ferry was lousy with graybacks, and others asserting that Lee’s whole rebel (Confederate, I mean) army was crossing the Potomac at Point of Rocks, and that before night Frederick would be full of Southern troops. And it must be confessed that the female portion of the town seemed highly pleased with the prospect, while the sterner class, of all politics, looked upon the advent as anything but desirable. I found all communication with Harper’s Ferry cut off, except by telegraph, though I do not see why the cars do not run through, as it is said the railroad is unharmed east of the Ferry. The cars now run as far as Monocacy Junction.
Shortly after my arrival here I made the acquaintance of a gentleman from Washington (whose name he does not wish mentioned), who left Hagerstown at eight o’clock this morning, and was in that place on business during the entire time that it was occupied by the raiders. From him I get some facts which have never before reached the public. The rebel force was composed of two regiments of cavalry and three regiments of mounted infantry, with four small cavalry howitzers, under command of General Jenkins – the same who commanded at the destruction of the iron bridge at Fairmont, in West Virginia, in April last. The advance guard arrived in the town about three o’clock in the morning, but the main body did not come up until about nine o’clock.
The troops were hailed by the citizens with manifest joy, and the best the town afforded was set before them for their breakfasts. General Jenkins issued an order before coming into Maryland forbidding pillaging, and promising any who might be caught in such vandalism in the State a speedy and severe punishment. Hence the troops were orderly and well behaved, bought freely of boots, shoes, clothing, hams, bacon and eatables for immediate use, for which they paid in greenbacks. They seemed to be well supplied with the last named article, and one captain jocularly remarked to a lady, in the presence of my informant, that their paymaster made the last payment all in greenbacks. Mr. _____ avers that he counted the troops as they rode in fours out of town, and he is confident that in this column there were not over twenty-five hundred men, although he learned of one of much larger dimensions passing northward on the pike six miles to the westward, and still another on the Mercersburg road. General Jenkins borrowed a few horses of the citizens to mount some of his men whose animals had become unfit for service, for which he gave receipts with a religious promise to return them as soon as he got over the line into Pennsylvania. The only damage sustained by the town was the cutting of two telegraph poles on either side of the place. The rebels had with them quite a number of Union officers whom they had captured near Martinsburg, among whom was a paymaster; perhaps the one referred to by the rebel captain as having paid them off in “greenbacks.”
While General Jenkins was in Hagerstown he exhibited many traits which it is to be hoped are characteristic of the man. An incident will illustrate. About noon yesterday, a lieutenant and five men, wearing the uniform of Union soldiers, crept out of some of the houses of the town where they had been hidden, and delivered themselves up. When they made their appearance before General Jenkins the following conversation occurred: –
JENKINS – Halloa! who are you, and where did you come from?
LIEUTENANT – We belong to the Union army, or did belong to it, but we don’t wish to fight any longer against our Southern brethren; so when our forces left here, we stayed behind, and today we came out to be paroled.
JENKINS – What did you say about “Southern brethren?” By God, if I thought I had a twenty-fifth cousin who was as white livered as you are I would kill him and set him up in my barnyard to make sheep own their lambs. I’ll show you how I parole such pukes as you are. You are too damned miserable to be paroled in military style.”
So saying he ordered a detail of six men and a sergeant – lusty fellows, with thick […..] boots”– who paroled the recreant federals to the west border of the town, where the paroling process ceased, and the detail and crowd came back highly pleased with Jenkins’ mode of paroling cowards.
The whole rebel force left Hagerstown early last evening, and about ten o’clock a tremendous fire was discerned in the direction of Greencastle. Farmers from Pennsylvania who came into Hagerstown early this morning state that as soon as the rebels got into the State of Pennsylvania they took every horse, killed every other animal, and burned every house and barn and hayrick on their route.
Early this morning two cavalrymen came over from the Virginia side at the Point of Rocks, but soon returned. Our own forces had vacated the place the night before. There has been no fighting at Harper’s Ferry yet, though it is said that General Ewell is menacing the place on the Virginia side. I think the cars will be running through to the Ferry tomorrow.