The Nevada Democrat

Nevada
Democrat.
The Bushwhackers of Western Virginia
Letters from the army in Western Vir-
ginia, speak of the annoyances experienced
from the "bushwhackers," who make a busi-
ness of shooting pickets, teamsters and
others, who are separated from the main
bodies of our troops. They are a peculiar
class and are thus described by a corres-
pondent of the New York Herald :
Small parties of twenty to thirty organize under Confederate States authority for
scouting, spying and picket murdering duty. They are provided with ammunition
for their old flintlock squirrel rifles by orders from headquarters. Uniforming them-
themselves in dark gray homespun breeches,
speckled flannel shirts, with a brown ground
and slouch hats, distinguished by a cross of
white lines or canvas on the crown. they
provide themselves with rations and push
for the cliffs and jungles which command
unmilitary roads or picket stations, and begin their operations." Woe to the unlucky
horseman or footman in Union uniform
who passes within a hundred and fifty
yards of their unerring rifles. He falls as
sure as a trigger is pulled. It matters not
whether the victim is flying at courier
speed or at rest by the roadside. if a bush-
whacker draws bead on either, the swift
ball wings its flight fatally, and the soldier
dies.
Not unfrequently they let fly at a moving column, and all efforts to catch them
are futile. They aim from the top of a rock
and before our fastest footmen can clamber
to their height they disappear in the jungle.
Many a poor patriot thus ignobly falls.
When their rations begin to be exhausted
they send messages to their families and
friends, who forward other supplies to their
shifting rendezvous. And the very people,
many of us suspect, who secretly support
the rascals, are admitted into our camp to
demand pay for forage and subsistence taken for the use of our troops. Our own men
who are convicted of foraging upon them
are severely reprimanded or punished, and
the quartermaster pays the complainants
in Union gold.
The figure of a bushwhacker is as un-
gainly and forbidding as a toothless, freckled slattern. I have seen many, but never
a striking person among them. Their bodies are long, spare, bony, and sinewy, and
they are as fleet as antelopes, and capable
of great endurance. Their features are
thin, rugged, sunburned and bewhiskered,
and their hair is long, and tangled as the
thickets in which they prowl. And their
habits and movements are sly, suspicious
and cunning.