Civil War Illustrations

Bringing in the Misses Scott as Prisoners

Caption: Bringing in the Misses Scott as Prisoners to Falls Church, Va. Sketched by our special artist.

Source: Illustration from Harper's Weekly, August 3, 1861, page [482].

The same page of Harper's Weekly provided the following account of the capture of the Scotts:

Sometime since two young ladies of the name of Scott, residents of Fairfax County, Virginia, were the means of capturing the Captain of a volunteer regiment from Connecticut.  They have now been taken themselves, and we illustrate, on this page, their appearance as they drove into our lines at Fall's Church. The account of their capture is thus given by a Connecticut boy, one of the scouting party which took them:

After getting out of the woods we came to a corn-field, through which we crawled on our hands and knees, and we got completely "turned," but managed to get through the greatest danger and came to a house, where we went to see what we could make out. We found there an old man, when we asked if any of our troops were there. He wanted to know if we were on the Southern side. Lieut. Upton told him "Yes;" when he told us we were about a mile from their tents, but to look out or we would be captured. We of course appeared frightened, and posted a man outside to look out. Lieutenant Upton told him he was an officer of a South Carolina regiment.  The old man told him all about the United States camp, the names of all the secession neighbors, and finally said he had in his house the two Miss Scotts who took the Yankee Captain, so the old man took us into the room and introduced us to the Miss Scotts.  That moment was a proud one for us, for right in our hands were those whom the whole brigade had been hunting for.  But we continued to play our part, complimenting the ladies highly for their feat, and pumping the old man for further information. When, after learning the most direct route to our camp, Lieutenant Upton told them we must go, but he would like to see the whole family together to bid them good-by [sic]. Accordingly, they all came out in the front porch – the old man, his wife, three sons, and daughter, and the two Miss Scotts.  We just formed a circle about them, when Lieutenant Upton, drawing his sword, demanded their surrender to the United States.  You ought to have seen their faces! The two Miss Scotts and the young men were all we took with us. The excitement was very great when we went into camp, and we found they had given us up for lost, and sent a company after us. With the two Miss Scotts we marched to the General's quarters, and left the ladies there, and the men we took to the guard house. The General sent for us in the evening, and complimented us highly for our conduct on this occasion.