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Bounty jumper suits (and other interesting tidbits)

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  • Bounty jumper suits (and other interesting tidbits)

    I happened to download Between the Lines by Henry Bascomb Smith and am pleasantly surprised not only by the writing itself, but by bits like this one:
    "We were attired suitably for the occasion, velveteen caps, paper collars, colored shirts, etc., a good 'jumper's' toggery...
    When they enlisted they doffed their clothes and put on the uniform. As soon as they could evade or 'jump' the guards conducting them, they would shed the uniform and buy a cheap suit, such a one as I have described, and reappear at their old haunts, ready to 'jump' another bounty, under the skillful management of a bounty broker. An observing person could pick out a 'jumper' on sight."

    Interesting that paper collars and colored shirts would be part of a cheap suit.

    In other parts of the book there are lists of items the author confiscated from a Baltimore bookstore, the names and addresses (and in some cases regular civilian occupations) of Mosby's men, mostly along the Culpeper-Front Royal stretch of the pike, and some rather extensive descriptions of how spies, as opposed to legitimate deserters, made their way across the lines. It seems well worth the 3.2 meg download to me (provided you want the pictures, which I did.)
    Between the Lines
    Last edited by Becky Morgan; 01-05-2011, 09:29 PM. Reason: Can't spell with this bronchitis
    Becky Morgan
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