Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First Time — John Shaqi
Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First TimeFreese, Jacob R.
History
Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First Time
Freese, Jacob R.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1861-1865
While he recognized the fact that both these gentlemen might sit in
their Wall Street banking-offices with all the dignity of a Sir
Josiah Child, or grace a lady's parlor with all the urbanity of a
Lord Chesterfield, yet he feared that when disguised as farmers or
day-laborers, when required to tug along on foot for several miles at a
time, and then ride, pell-mell, on horseback for a score of miles at a
time; when compelled to sleep in garrets or in the loft of a negro-hut;
when required to prevaricate, or even to lie, in order to get by a Union
sentinel, they might not be quite equal to the occasion. The Colonel
tried to persuade them to go by the way of Nassau, and from there run
the blockade into Charleston, as he himself had done when he first
entered the Confederate States; but the more he tried to persuade them
to this course, the more determined they were to go with him. Over the
difficulties and hardships mentioned by the Colonel, they only laughed,
said they could stand it all, that it would be as holiday-sport to
them, and that, in a day or two, both would meet the Colonel at Ben
Beveridge's, in Washington, and from thence make their way with him to
Richmond.
The third day after, Messrs. Lamb and Waddell were in Washington, and
that night, between eleven and twelve o'clock, left Beveridge's,
_en route_ for Richmond. Ben and Weightman accompanied them to a Mr.
Thecker's house, in Georgetown, where the disguises were to be put on.
Lamb first placed himself in the hands of the manipulators. He had been
wearing long chin whiskers; these Ben cut off at one fell swoop, leaving
his face as bare as a child's. Next, his hair was nicked and chopped
over, as if done with a pair of sheep-shears, in the hands of a country
bumpkin, instead of by a Broadway barber. Then he was stripped of his
latest-fashioned coat, vest, and pants, and in their place was supplied
with a suit which would have done credit to an ox-team driver. Waddell
came next. His magnificent beard, covering his entire face, was cut
clean off, and, in place thereof, two false "mutton-chop" side whiskers
and a false moustache, both butternut-color, were put on his face.
Next, Ben applied the shears to Waddell's head, and pretty soon his hair
presented the appearance of a country ox driver's. Then he, too, was
stripped of his Broadway suit, and in a few minutes transmogrified into
a fat, jolly farmer, or a Conestoga team-driver. The Colonel was already
in disguise, and had been ever since he left his uniform at Mr. Joseph
Mix's, about eleven miles within the Confederate lines, and now it only
required a little touching up, which the Colonel did for himself while
the others were laughing over their own outlandish appearance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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