Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents., Volume 1.
Frank Moore, Ed.

How the B'S stung the Chivalry.--An intelligent officer of the 28th Regiment, N. Y. S. M., writing from Arlington Heights, gives an interesting account of an interview he had with the five rebel prisoners brought into camp by Lieut. Tompkins and his dragoons, of Company B, on the morning of their capture. He says the “chivalry” behaved in a very unmanly manner, begging in the most abject style for their lives, and protesting that they only served in the rebel ranks upon compulsion. One of their officers declared, if he could only be liberated this time, he would swear fealty to the Union, and never set his foot in a slave State again.

We give an extract from the letter, from which it will be perceived that the charge of the dragoons left a lively impression upon the minds of the secessionists:--

Their account of the fight was amusing. I will give you one, from notes written secretly twenty minutes after I heard it. It is nearly verbatim:--

Talk about fighting! whew, my G-d! One company of them reg'lars, or you New York fellows, can whip a thousand of our men; by G-d, that's so; I'll swar it on a Bible. You ought to have seen 'em. Look heyar, reckon I wanted to get out of the way. Sure's you're born, they're just like devils — they don't mind shots. Lord, they went down the street, where they cut, an' slashed, an' shot. Our boys run like the devil — then, J---s, you ought to have seen 'em cut up the street again — like blue devils — it makes my blood cold to think of it. They shot every way — knocked us from our bosses, took our pistols and sabres away — my G-d, how they fit. Why, sir, I'll swar on a Bible, them South and North Carolina fellows that's with us ain't no account. They won't obey nobody — no discipline — you'll lick them every time.

There was much more of the same sort, and I send you this specimen, profanity and all included, so you may know what the rebel prisoners think, and how they talk. I asked him what the rebels thought of our volunteers.

“ Well,” said he in reply, “ they think you New York men are just as bad as the regulars, but they hain't much opinion of the rest.”

--N. Y. Tribune, June 8.