Texas Archives - Capt. B.S. White Ideas In Capturing Train ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Pattie Snowball July 20, 2007, 2:53 pm Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/statewide/photos/white3059nph.jpg Daily Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi 1940 CAPTAIN WHITE USED SMART IDEAS IN CAPTURING TRAIN Captain Sterling White came from Texas to Raymond, Mississippi, Hinds county, during the Civil War and married the Widow Sims, who owned a plantation about a mile from Raymond. He was a devout member of the church and his gentle manner belied his fearless sprit. He commanded a company of Scouts, who operated all around Vicksburg during and after the Siege. When I was about nine years old, after attending Sunday school at the Methodist church in Raymond, my cousin, Vasser Shearer and I with several other boys, were standing on the corner of the street opposite home of Dr. Dupree, later the home of Captain W.T. Ratliff. We saw a train of wagons coming up the road from Bolton and Edwards with one Confederate soldier riding up and down the line. Upon closer view I recognized Captain White. There were twenty-five wagons of the Union Army, two soldiers and two mules to each wagon with one man in the wagon and the other riding one of the mules. I later learned the tactics used by Captain White in capturing this Yankee wagon train. Vicksburg is about 28 miles from Raymond in a north westerly direction and from there the wagon train had been sent on a foraging expedition. Captain White, presumably, had slipped into Raymond to see his wife and when he heard of the Union foraging scouts being on one of the roads leading from Vicksburg to Raymond, realized his own men were too far away to assist in their capture. Being a very daring and fearless officer and knowing so well the surrounding country; he laid his plans to meet them at the pinnacle of a very steep hill. He waited on his side of the hill until the first wagon appeared, then ordering them to throw their guns and pistols on the ground, he called back as if to his company, “Come on boys, we’ve got them.” As he rode down the line with an army pistol in each hand, continued disarming the fifty Yankee soldiers who were manning the 25 wagons before they realized he was alone. I consider the above a companion story of the Civil War to the one of Alvin Your of the World War. William Baker Sivley, Sr. Memphis, Tenn., 1222 union Ave. Additional Comments: Hand written date on the article: April 27, 1940 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/statewide/newspapers/captainb6nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/txfiles/