History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
company, determined to capture Maj.-Gens. Crook and Kelley, then in command of the Federal forces at Cumberland.
S. S. Lynn, a native of the place, having previously penetrated into the very heart of the city on four different occasions, obtained thorough information as to the number of troops in Cumberland, the location of the various headquarters, pickets, etc., and reported to Maj. Harry Gilmor, stationed at Moorefield, W. Va. John B. Fay and C. Ritchie Hallar, a young Missourian, were sent by McNeill to procure similar information, which they obtained through George Stanton, in the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. With this fund of knowledge they returned and reported the facts to Lieut. McNeill. The command, then in camp ten miles north of Moorefield, was ordered about noon on the 21st of February, 1865, to march rapidly towards Cumberland, a distance of fifty miles. Crossing the South Branch of the Potomac near Romney, and feeding their horses at the house of Boss Herrod, a farmer, the command crossed Middle Ridge and struck the Nobley Mountain road at its base, and crossed the mountain to the North Branch of the Potomac at a point five miles from Cumberland. Here the command was halted almost within pistol-range of a cavalry picket. A portion of the command, composed of Lieut. McNeill, Fay, Lynn, Vandiver, Kuykendall, Dailey, and Nichols, went to the house of S. D. Brady, where a consultation was held. Here it is alleged McNeill's courage failed him, and he proposed to capture the pickets and return, and gave as a reason that he was afraid it was too late to do more than this before daylight.
Fay and Lynn vehemently opposed this, and the command was speedily pushed forward again. Lynn here took the advance alone, with the advance-guard in hailing distance in his rear. Just below the three-mile water-station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad the first cavalry picket post, composed of three men, was encountered. "Halt! Who comes there?" "Friend, without the countersign, bearing important dispatches to Gen. Kelley," was Lynn's response. " Dismount, advance, and give the countersign." The words hardly escaped the sentinel's lips before Lynn dashed by the astonished picket and reined up where the two in reserve were quietly sleeping, who were ordered to surrender, which they promptly did. Putting a pistol in each boot, the prisoners were halted in the road until the command came up. A pistol-shot fired by McNeill at the first sentinel passed had but one meaning, which was to retrace their steps; and again the proposition was made, and as promptly repelled by Fay and Lynn. With one voice the whole sixty-five men, composed of Marylanders and Virginians, whispered, "Go ahead; we will follow." At this juncture the command virtually devolved on Fay and Lynn, and the command was ordered forward. Lynn again placed himself in the advance, and at the junction of the river road and the old pike the second picket post was encountered. Again rang out on the frosty air, " Halt! Who comes there?" "Friend, with the countersign." "Dismount, advance, and give the countersign," demanded the sentinel on duty. The countersign having been obtained from the three first pickets, Lynn dismounted, and leading his horse walked to the sentinel and whispered "Bull's Gap" in his ear. " All right," replied the sentinel. Lynn then ordered the advance forward, and quickly the astonished infantry pickets, six in number, were ordered to surrender, which summons they promptly obeyed, and trying the ramrod in each barrel of the guns, it was discovered that every gun was empty, and that the hammer of the pistol of the first sentinel could not be raised. The guns were placed on the comfortable log fire burning in front of their quarters and destroyed, and the command again ordered forward.
Lynn here overheard a conversation between McNeill, Kuykendall, and Vandiver, placing the former in command of a party of ten men to secure Gen. Kelley, and the latter, with ten men,, to secure Gen. Crook, the previous arrangement being that Lynn was to capture Kelley, and Fay, Crook, a compensation for services rendered as scouts. Lynn communicated these facts to Fay, who was so incensed at the duplicity practiced that he simply remarked, " I can stand it if he can."
Passing down Green Street, a company of regulars were passed who were encamped in an old brick house on the Potomac, near the present water-works. As the command moved forward an interchange of words passed as to the state of the weather, their destination, etc. Reaching the iron bridge across Will's Creek, Lynn selected John Dailey, Charles Nichols, and Charlyle to accompany him on foot up Baltimore Street. Their horses were led by friends in the command, and hurrying ahead of the command, Lynn and his followers hastened to the St. Nicholas Hotel.
Leaving the men at the steps of Alpheus Beall's, he went alone to the hotel. Here he saw an orderly sergeant leaning against the railing at the entrance of the house. Across George's Street he also discovered the sentinel pacing his beat in front of Gen. Kelley's headquarters at the old Barnum House. How to capture the sergeant without being observed by the sentinel was the question to solve. The thought then flashed into his mind that the advance of the column would naturally attract the sergeant's attention, and he would advance to the curbstone to ask questions, etc. So Lynn walked to the curb and awaited results. Soon the tramp of horses was heard, and the sergeant took up his position alongside of Lynn, who, placing his left hand on his shoulder, covered him with his pistol and ordered him to surrender, which he did by saying, "I have no arms." Lynn told him to lead him to Kelley's room, and being joined by his companions, they proceeded across the street, walked up to the sentinel, disarmed him, and entered the hall leading to the general's room. Ascending the stairway and reaching the top, the sergeant said, " Through this door you will enter Adjutant Thayer Melvin's room, and through a door in his room you will enter the general's." Lynn opened the door, and to the left lay the sleeping form of the adjutant. Stepping to his bedside, Lynn caught him by the shoulder, raised him up, and ordered him to speedily dress, that he was a prisoner in the hands of the Confederates. A guard was left with him, and Lynn then entered the general's room, and found him sound asleep. Rousing him in like manner, the general indignantly demanded what he wanted. Lynn then introduced himself and taking in the situation the general made a hasty toilet, and the two were guarded to the pavement below, where both were mounted up behind some of the men.
Meantime a similar scene was being enacted at the Revere House, where General Crook was sleeping in fancied security. James Dailey sent word that he had secured Gen. Crook, soon joined the command, drawn up in line in front of the old Barnum Hotel, and the command was ordered to retrace their steps down Baltimore Street. Lynn mounted his horse, and rode rapidly down the street to the stables near the bridge, where the staff horses were quartered. Riding into the yard he secured the sentinel guarding the stables, and calling to the men, they secured eight of the finest horses, among them Gen. Kelley's horse " Philippi." Taking the tow-path, they encountered about twenty pickets stationed at the dam, whom they captured, throwing their arms into the river. Reaching Wiley's Ford, three miles below town, they were halted by another picket, who was stationed behind a stone wall leading to the bridge across the canal. The fourth time the sentinel called upon the retreating Confederates to halt he called to the sergeant of the guard, and said, " Sergeant, I have halted four times; they won't stop; I am going to shoot." The sergeant then stepped forward and said, "Who are you?" " Gen. Crook's bodyguard on a scout; in a hurry; ' rebs' near town." The sergeant replied, " All right; go ahead and give them hell." Passing quickly under the bridge and across the river, orders were given to keep Well closed up, and a guard placed in the rear to prevent straggling. Shortly after the departure the alarm was given and a company of mounted men went in pursuit. The fugitives were overtaken near Romney, and a skirmish followed, but the prisoners were beyond recapture. Taking the old Trough Hollow road, the command soon came in sight of Moorefield, where they had hoped to exhibit the prisoners to the people of that hospitable town and procure supplies. Their attention being attracted across the river, it was soon discovered that a force had been sent from New Creek to intercept them and, if possible, recapture the generals. Lynn was ordered to the ford at the river to hold them in check until the command, by a flank movement to the left, gained the mountain and left Moorefield far to the right. The Federals drove Lynn and his men, who kept the road, before them to Moorefield, and thus the recapture of the generals was frustrated. This event caused much excitement throughout the country, and was commented upon largely in every direction. The captured officers were sent to Richmond, and shortly afterwards exchanged.
The capture of Gens. Crook and Kelley was one of the last exploits of the war. On the 3rd of April, 1865, Gen. Lee's lines at Petersburg were broken, and on the 9th the remnant of the Confederate army was surrendered to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. Five days after the surrender of Lee the country was shocked by the intelligence of the assassination of President