After the incriminating letter was discovered in the lining of Stringfellow’s coat, his guard– a sergeant, informed him that he would be taken to Washington the next day along with a group of deserters and blockade runners. Stringfellow persuaded the sergeant to take him down to the river that evening. There, in the darkness, the scout related how he had refused to kill the sergeant with an ax when he had the opportunity, and the internal struggle he had faced.
The sergeant was touched by the story and wished he had …