Confederate Colonel Harry Gilmor, the raider, telling how he did not
"come back" as a conquering hero; of the sword he never received; of his
capture, etc.--The arrest and conviction of the fair donor.
Colonel Harry Gilmor, who commanded a regiment of cavalry in the
Confederate service, was a Baltimorean. He was the beau ideal of its
"blue blood" ladies, or many of them; he was their hero who was to
ultimately capture the Monumental City, who was to march down Charles
Street Avenue as conquerors only return. He had earnestly tried to
produce the closing scene of his drama in July, but failed; when, to
cheer him to renew his efforts, they proposed to present him with a
magnificent sabre. They purchased the best to be found from Messrs.
Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, arms dealers, then in Maiden Lane, New York
(now on Broadway), paying for it one hundred and twenty-five dollars in
gold.
I was told the dainty creatures were so anxious for the safe custody of
their token of war, that they placed it under the British flag, pending
the opportunity to get it to the Colonel; that is, they left it with
Mrs. Frederick Bernal, wife of the British Consul at Baltimore. The
sympathies of many of the Britishers were decidedly with the South.
Gilmor was a born raider. He used to raid the hearts of these Blue
Belles "befo de wah," on Charles Street Avenue. His command was made up
largely of Marylanders, and Maryland was frequently the victim of his
incursions. Our desire to "possess" him was perhaps as great as that of
any of his lady admirers.
On November 1st, 1864, I intercepted the sword on its way to Harry. From
the person of the messenger I got a letter which was to make him "solid"
when he should arrive in the Confederate territory. Gilmor was
understood to have been wounded, and as being then laid up at the
Inglenby Mansion, three or four miles from Duffield Station, Virginia,
on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (the Inglenby family were descendants
of one of the original colonists).
The letter was somewhat blindly framed, it did not mention the bearer,
except to say that "he is perfectly reliable" or something to that
effect.
I proposed to General Wallace that I would be the messenger, using this
letter, and would thus locate Gilmor, so that he might be captured.
With one man, Mr. Kraft, I started for Harper's Ferry, reported to
General Stevenson, engaged one of his scouts, Corporal George R. Redman
(who at one time was of my corps) to go with me and equipped with the
below described pass, I started out on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
for Duffield Station.
Office Provost Marshal,
Military District of Harper's Ferry.
Nov. 5, 1864.
Guards and Pickets will pass bearer in and around this
Military District. Good for three days.