| From the Southern Confederacy (Atlanta,
Ga.) |
| |
| April 30, 1862 |
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| Our Special Correspondence from Rome |
| That Rail Road chase, and Other Matters |
| Rome, Ga., April 26, 1862 |
| In your graphic description of
"The Great Rail Road Chase," published in the
"Confederacy" of the 16th inst., you have doubtless
unintentionally omitted to mention the name of one of the most
important actors in the chase. I refer to our worthy, obliging and
gallant bachelor friend and townsman, Capt. Cicero Smith, the popular
conductor of the Rome Rail Road. Had he not promptly tendered his
services and that of his engine, to pursue the Lincoln emissaries,
this -- "the most daring undertaking that Yankees ever planned or
attempted to execute" -- would certainly have been executed
to the letter, as before Messrs. Fuller, Murphy and Cain (I hope the
latter is not related to the wicked man that killed his brother) could
have fired up another engine, the nefarious scamps would have cut off
the pursuit by burning several bridges before they could have been
overtaken. Capt. Smith accompanied his engine and did more than his
share of the hard work in removing obstructions and replacing rails
where they had been torn up. Thus you perceive, through the
indefatigable exertions of our Cicero, "this most
extraordinary and astounding" adventure was completely thwarted.
Although this is not exactly the "Ciceronian age," yet we,
as Romans, will always render unto "Cicero"
the meed of our praise for all his meritorious actions. Our Smith
is none of your J. Henlys or common Butter-milk Cheese Smiths,
but a genuine Smith, of the "Cicero"-nian
order! |
| In doing justice to Capt.
Smith, I would not detract one iota from the justly merited encomiums
you have lavished upon Messrs. Fuller, Murphy and Cain. All acted well
their part and deserve the plaudits and gratitude of their countrymen
and country women too. Our Cicero prefers the smiles of
the latter, I know. |
| ***** |
| Remarks -- We regret that no
more notice was taken of Mr. Smith, the Conductor, and Mr. Harbin, the
Engineer on the Rome Road, than was in our account of the matter. A
few days ago, we published a short note from our old correspondent
Brutus on this subject, and now publish the remarks of What Not above.
We have this to say, however: that however willingly they rendered
their services, and however valuable, the capture of the thieves did
not depend upon the engine of the Rome Road. The down way freight
train was there at the time, and would have been taken -- indeed, it
was prepared by Fuller and Murphy to start in pursuit, when Messrs.
Smith and Harbin tendered their engine and services -- a very
creditable thing on their part, for which they deserve great praise.
Every body, indeed, seemed anxious to do all they could. |
| It is not impossible that the
villains would have been overtaken while tearing up the track above
Kingston -- and certainly they would have been sooner overtaken any
way -- if pursuit from Kingston had been made on the down freight
engine, instead of the Rome engine; for it was a much larger and
faster one. |
| We have no wish to detract
from what is justly due Mr. Smith and Mr. Harbin for their services.
They did all they could, with a willing heart and hand, and this is
all any body did. We make these remarks simply because our
correspondents at Rome, in our judgment, claim that Smith and Harbin
accomplished more by their efforts than others did. Eds. Confed. |
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