During the Wilderness campaign, reporter Henry E.
Wing of the New York Tribune was the only man from Union forces to reach a
telegraph line with vital reports. He got there on foot, having been forced to
abandon his horse when observed by Confederates. When he demanded the right to
send lengthy dispatches to New York, U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
ordered his arrest.
Abraham Lincoln countermanded Stanton’s order and
sent a train to bring Wing to Washington. After a dramatic 2:00 a.m. session in
the White House, the president detailed for the reporter an escort of cavalry
and artillery with which to return to the scene of his adventures. Wing
triumphantly led them to the spot where he had hidden his horse in a thicket
after Confederate Major John Mosby’s men spotted him.
Having recovered the animal, Wing resumed the
task of trying to please his publisher, Horace Greely, and Tribune readers
throughout the North.
