Another Lincoln Outrage in Jefferson county, Va.
December 3, 1861
From the Winchester Republican, of the 29th November, we gather the following particulars of a most infamous outrage practiced by Lincoln's demons upon the true and loyal citizens of Jefferson county, Va., among the number the wife of the Hon. A. R. Boteler:
Another outrage, exceeding, if possible, those heretofore chronicled, was perpetrated in Jefferson county, on Tuesday night, by the minions of Abe Lincoln. It appears that about two hundred of these jail-birds and cut-throats crossed the Potomac, from Maryland, opposite Shepherdstown, on Tuesdaynight, on a marauding excursion, and for the purpose of arresting prominent Southern men. Visiting Shepherdstown, they succeeded in capturing and taking from their comfortable beds a number of true and loyal Virginians--among them Messrs. Geo. D. McGlincy, Lorenzo Etchison, Geo. Johnson and A. Shepherd. Proceeding to the residence of the Hon. Alexander R. Boteler near town, the house was immediately, surrounded, the Federals feeling sure that they would bag "big game" that time : no less a person than our distinguished. Representative in the Provisional as well as the First Congress of the Southern Confederacy. The first apartment of the mansion entered was occupied by Mr. Bezin D. Shepherd, son in-law of Mr. BotelerMr. Shepherd was dispatched to the Maryland side of the river, under a strong guard, and the search for Mr. Boteler was continued.
The door of the chamber where Mrs. Boteler was calmly reposing, not even dreaming of the presence of the loathsome enemy, was rudely burst open, and she was aroused to find the sanctify of her chamber polluted by the presence of these midnight assassins.--Springing from her bed, she demanded to know the occasion of the unseasonable visit, but received no answer but assassin scowls. The bedclothes presenting a heaped appearance. Yankee imagination construed it into a snugly ensconced Congressman, and so effective measures were taken to secure the prize. The bed was bayoneted through and through, and one of the gang actually discharged a rifle ball into the bed! Comment on this outrage is unnecessary. Picture the invasion of the chamber of a refined and intelligent lady by a mob of Northern cut-throats : imagine the scowl of the demons, the gleam of the bayonet, the sound of the intended death-dealing weapon, and the sulphurous fume attending the discharge : and then answer, what greater outrage can be in store for any one.
The Congressman, however, we are happy to assure his numerous friends, is still alive, enjoying the freedom and inhaling the pure, untainted air of our glorious Southern Confederacy. Mr. Boteler left home a few hours before the Yankees called on him, and is now attending to his public duties in Richmond.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: November 1861