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Robert
E., Ulysses, and Abe's New Home: Burke
Station Raid and J.E.B. Stuart: The story, as we were told by our new friend, Mary, is that a famous Confederate general named J.E.B. Stuart [photo right] rode into the Yankee camp that late December afternoon… Ulysses: You mean those Rebs snuck into our camp just as my boys were trying to cook their supper. John
Singleton Mosby: Ulysses: It scared the dickens out of all those poor Union soldiers. Robert E.: Hush up! Nobody was so much as scratched. General Stuart said, "Evening, boys" to the Yankees, then, polite as you please, he requisitioned their supply train to get food and blankets for the Confederate soldiers down near Fredericksburg, Virginia, who were freezing and starving in their miserable winter quarters. After all, the Yanks were always better supplied than the Confederates. Ulysses: That might be one of the reasons why the North won the War. Mosby's
Rangers: Ulysses: Stealing, you mean. We never saw hide nor hair of those mules again. Robert E.: Well, there was a war going on at the time, you know. General Stuart always said that mule train made a mighty fine Christmas present for his boys. Anyway, once he finished his message to Washington, he had the telegraph wires cut so the Federal Quartermaster General couldn't send back a persnickety reply. Then they rode away to the South, wishing all the Yankees a Happy New Year. History calls this engagement the Burke Station Raid. You can find out more about it in the history books. Ulysses: In the footnotes, you mean, because it certainly wasn't much of an engagement. Robert E.: Now 138 years later, we three are living in a nice house on the old Federal campground, sharing lots of good food like honey cakes and salmon treats -- just for us bears. Ulysses: And I know this story is true because Mary showed us the Civil War bullet she found in her backyard. Robert
E.'s First Book Signing: Even though Mary's special book,
PAPA
WAS A BOY IN GRAY, hasn't been released
yet, Ulysses: Humph! That's only because they haven't met Abe or me yet. Robert E.: Salisbury, Maryland, is thirty miles west of the Atlantic Ocean seacoast, and it is best known as the home of Purdue Chicken. And I do so love fried chicken! Sigh!
NEW: Buy the PAPA BOOK or GIFT SETS
FREE AUTOGRAPHED BOOK PLATE by Prize-Winning Author Mary W. Schaller with your order of PAPA WAS A BOY IN GRAY Book or Gift Set. More
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Education Pages: |
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Did
you know we are living literally on top of a real Civil
War site? I kid you not! Our new home is in the middle of a plot
of ground that was a Federal Campsite in December, 1862. 
Robert
E.: Hush! It's my story! Anyway, General Stuart was accompanied
by a regiment of Confederate cavalry that was led by his right-hand
man, Col. John Singleton Mosby, otherwise
known as the "Gray Ghost" [photo
left]. They fired their guns -- in the air, so as not to hurt anyone.
Robert E.: Never you mind, just let me finish. Once the cavalry
got the mule train started down the road toward Fredericksburg,
General Stuart ordered Mosby's Rangers
[photo right] to tear up the nearby railroad tracks, so they wouldn't
be followed any time soon thereafter. Then the general went into
the telegraph office here in Burke, and he sent a telegram to the
Federal Quartermaster General in nearby Washington, D.C., complaining
about the poor quality of the Federal mules he was borrowing…
Robert
E.: This is the first picture of me! It
was taken at a B. Dalton Bookstore at the Centre at Salisbury Mall,
Salisbury, Maryland. 
