[328]
a number wounded; several dangerously.
Captain Jones had one man slightly wounded.
The rebels, in their flight, threw away every thing that impeded them.
Guns, sabres, and haversacks were distributed all along the route.
The whole was a perfect success, and too much credit cannot be awarded to Captain Jones and his men for their gallantry in this affair, and our citizens will always remember with gratitude the brave boys of the First New-York.
In the evening, the rebels returned, expecting to capture our men and rescue the prisoners.
They surrounded the town and moved in on all sides, but the bird had flown.
So confident were they of their prey, that they supposed the Yankees were concealed in the houses, and ordered them all to be searched; but, finding themselves mistaken, they returned to their camp, feeling very little better than they had in the morning.
W.
General early's address.
I have abstained from burning the railroad buildings and car-shops in your town, because after examination I am satisfied that the safety of the town would be endangered, and, acting in the spirit of humanity which has ever characterized my government and its military authorities, I do not desire to involve the innocent with the same punishment of the guilty.
Had I applied the torch without regard to consequences, I would have pursued a course that would have been fully vindicated as an act of just retaliation for the unparalleled acts of brutality perpetrated by your own army on our soil.
But we do not war upon women and children, and I trust the treatment you have met with at the hands of my soldiers will open your eyes to the odious tyranny under which it is apparent to all you are groaning.
J. A. Early, Major-General C. S.
