A Union general, operating with his command in West Virginia, allowed
himself and his men to be trapped, and it was feared his force would be
captured by the Confederates. The President heard the report read by the
operator, as it came over the wire, and remarked:
“Once there was a man out West who was ‘heading’ a barrel, as they used
to call it. He worked like a good fellow in driving down the hoops, but
just about the time he thought he had the job done, the head would fall
in. Then he had to do the work all over again.
“All at once a bright idea entered his brain, and he wondered how it
was he hadn’t figured it out before. His boy, a bright, smart lad, was
standing by, very much interested in the business, and, lifting the young
one up, he put him inside the barrel, telling him to hold the head in
its proper place, while he pounded down the hoops on the sides. This
worked like a charm, and he soon had the ‘heading’ done.
“Then he realized that his boy was inside the barrel, and how to get him
out he couldn’t for his life figure out. General Blank is now inside the
barrel, ‘headed in,’ and the job now is to get him out.”