The confederates exercised control over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and also the Winchester and Potomac railway, the latter being entirely within the territory of Virginia, and, whenever a passenger train stopped at the station, the travelers were scrutinized and, if a man of any prominence who was attached to the old government was recognized among them, he was greeted with groans, hisses and threats of lynching. On one occasion the Hon. Henry Hoffman, of Cumberland, who, even then, was regarded as an ultra-Republican, was a passenger and, when the train stopped at Harper's Ferry, the fact of his presence was made known to the crowds of soldiers on the platform of the depot by a fellow passenger who evidently entertained some private malice against Mr. Hoffman. The informer stood on the platform of one of the cars and, with wild gestures and foaming mouth, denounced Mr. Hoffman in the fiercest manner and, no doubt, the life of the latter would have been sacrificed had not some of the more cool-headed among the confederate officers present poured oil on the troubled waters until the starting of the train. One evening the mail train was detained and the mail bags were taken away from the government agent by an armed posse. The letters were sent to headquarters and many of the townspeople to whom friends in the north and west had written freely denouncing secession, were put under arrest and some were in imminent danger of being subjected to the utmost rigor of military law. Mr. William McCoy, of Bolivar, an aged, infirm man and one of irreproachable character, was handled very roughly on this occasion. He was arrested on some charge founded on evidence obtained from the plundered mail bags and he was kept for several days in close confinement. The military authorities in the meantime expressed their intention of making him a signal example of vengeance. Whether they really meant to go to extremes with him or not is uncertain; but there is no doubt that the ill usage he received from them hastened his death. With the utmost difficulty some powerful friends succeeded in obtaining for him a commutation of the proposed punishment, and he was allowed very grudgingly to move with his family to Ohio, on condition that he should never return. Hastily picking up a few necessities, he started on the first train going west for the place of his exile, glad enough to escape with his life, even at the sacrifice of his valuable property in Bolivar. The confederate soldiers immediately destroyed the neat fence around his residence and filled up the post holes, in order, as they said, to give him as much trouble as possible in case he was enabled at any time to return. The house itself being necessary to them as barracks, was spared unwillingly. The poor old man died in a short time after and, no doubt, he now enjoys all the happiness promised to those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. It is true that, even