- Joined
- Feb 27, 2017
- Location
- Ohio
I've been reading Robert J. Wynstra's The Rashness of That Hour. My question is based on the following passage (pp. 201-202):
"Once they reached Heidlersburg [June 30], Ewell took the special precaution of dispatching Capt. Frank Bond's cavalry company -- which had finally rejoined the main column -- to scout the area around Gettysburg for any signs of the enemy activity. "We marched about eight miles, to within full sight of Gettysburg, without encountering opposition," Captain Bond recalled years later. He added that "there was nothing to be seen, but a quiet city with a heavy backing of mountains behind, and a large area of fertile fields in front and on the right." Before making his return, however, the captain posted some pickets about three miles north of Gettysburg under the command of Sgt. Hammond Dorsey.
"Bonds foresight paid off later that night when the cavalry patrol captured three enlisted men from a Pennsylvania battery just outside Gettysburg. "It seems they found themselves within a few miles of home for the first time in a year or more, and asked for leave to see their folks," Bond explained. Although their captain refused permission, the men slipped out of camp under cover of darkness and were apprehended up by Bond's Southern troopers. Bond turned in the Federal prisoners and "furnished the first information of the whereabouts of Meade army."
I don't recall having heard of this incident before. Can anyone shed some light on it?
"Once they reached Heidlersburg [June 30], Ewell took the special precaution of dispatching Capt. Frank Bond's cavalry company -- which had finally rejoined the main column -- to scout the area around Gettysburg for any signs of the enemy activity. "We marched about eight miles, to within full sight of Gettysburg, without encountering opposition," Captain Bond recalled years later. He added that "there was nothing to be seen, but a quiet city with a heavy backing of mountains behind, and a large area of fertile fields in front and on the right." Before making his return, however, the captain posted some pickets about three miles north of Gettysburg under the command of Sgt. Hammond Dorsey.
"Bonds foresight paid off later that night when the cavalry patrol captured three enlisted men from a Pennsylvania battery just outside Gettysburg. "It seems they found themselves within a few miles of home for the first time in a year or more, and asked for leave to see their folks," Bond explained. Although their captain refused permission, the men slipped out of camp under cover of darkness and were apprehended up by Bond's Southern troopers. Bond turned in the Federal prisoners and "furnished the first information of the whereabouts of Meade army."
I don't recall having heard of this incident before. Can anyone shed some light on it?