"Can"t, till I cook my coffee," retorted Jim, pointing to the black, greasy liquid in the cup, simmering slowly over the half-smothered fire.
Jim"s cup had evidently been upon duty but a short time previously as a soup-kettle. "But it is about done," said he, lifting it carefully off, "and I might as well tell it while it cools."
"About one week ago I happened to be detailed as a Head-Quarter guard, and about four o"clock in the afternoon was pacing up and down the beat in front of the General"s Head-Quarters. It was a pleasant sun-shiny spring day,--when gadflies like to try their wings, and the ground seems to smoke in all directions,--and the General sat back composedly in the corner of his tent on a camp stool, with his elbow on his knee and his head hanging rather heavily upon his hand. The flaps were tied aside to the fly-ropes. I had a fair view of him as I walked up and down, and I came to the conclusion from his looks that Pigey had either a good load on, or was in a brown study. While I was thinking about it up comes a fellow of the 2--th, that I used to meet often while we were upon picket. He is usually trim, tidy-looking, and is an intelligent fellow, but on that day everything about him appeared out of gear. His old grey slouch hat had only half a rim, and that hung over his eyes--hair uncombed, face unwashed, hands looking as if he had been scratching gravel with them, his blouse dirty and stuffed out above the belt, making him as full-breasted as a Hottentot woman, pantaloons greasy, torn, and unevenly suspended; and to foot up his appearance shoes innocent of blacking, and out at the toes. When I saw him, I laughed outright. He winked, and asked in an undertone if the General was in, stating at the same time that he was there in obedience to an order detailing one man for special duty at the General"s Head Quarters, "and you know," said he, "that the order always is for intelligent soldierly-looking men. Well, all our men that have been sent up of that stripe have been detained as orderlies, to keep his darkies in wood and water, and hold his horses, and we are getting tired of it. _I_ don"t intend running any risk."
""Don"t think you will," said I, laughing at his make-up.
"Just then I noticed a movement of the General"s head, and resumed the step. A moment after, the General"s eye caught sight of the Detail. He eyed him a moment in a doubtful way, and then rubbing his eyes, as if to confirm the sight, and straightening up, shouted--
""Sergeant of the guard! Sergeant of the guard!"
"The sergeant was forthcoming at something more than a double-quick; and with a salute, and "Here, sir," stood before the General.
"Old Pigey"s right hand extended slowly, pointing towards the Detail, who stood with his piece at a rest, wondering what was to come next.
""Take away that musket, sergeant! and that G--d d--n looking thing alongside of it. What is it, anyhow?" said the General, with a significant emphasis on the word "thing."
"And off the sergeant went, followed by the man, who gave a sly look as he left."
"Pretty well played," said one of the crowd; "but what has that to do with a whisky barrel?"
"Hold on, and you will see; I am not through yet.
"About half an hour afterward another man from the same regiment presented himself, and asked permission to cross my beat, saying that he had been detailed on special duty, and was to report to the General in person. This one looked trim enough to pa.s.s muster. He presented himself at the door of the tent and saluted; but the General had taken two or three plugs in the interim, and was slightly oblivious. Anxious to see some sport, I suggested that he should call the General.
""General," said he, lowly, then louder, all the while saluting, until the General awoke with a start.
""Who the h--l are you, sir?"
""I was ordered to report to you in person, sir, for special duty."
""Special duty, sir! Has it come to this? Must I a.s.sign the duty to be performed by each individual man, sir, in the Division, sir!"
"The disheveled hair, flashing eyes, and fierce look of the General, startled this new Detail, and he commenced explaining. The General broke in abruptly, however, as if suddenly recollecting; and rubbing his hands, while his countenance a.s.sumed a bland smile:
""Oh, yes; you are right, sir, right; special duty, sir; yes, sir; follow me, sir."
"And the General arose and with somewhat uncertain strides left his marquee, and, followed by the man, entered a Sibley partly in its rear.
""There, sir," said the General, pointing, with rather a pleased countenance; "do you see that barrel, sir?"
""Yes, sir," replied the Detail, saluting.
""That barrel holds whisky, sir--whisky;"--rising upon his toes and emphasizing the word; "and I want you to guard it G--d d----d well.
Don"t let a d--n man have a drop, sir. Do you understand, sir?"
""Yes, sir," rejoined the Detail, saluting, and commencing his beat around the barrel.
"The General was about leaving the Sibley, when he turned suddenly;
""Do you drink, sir?"
""Once and a while, sir," replied the Detail, saluting.
""Have you had any lately?"
""No, sir."
""By G--d, sir, I"ll give you some, sir;" and he strides into his marquee and returns with a tin cup full of liquor, which he placed upon the barrel, and told the man to help himself. After the General had gone, the Detail did help himself, until his musket lay on one side of the Sibley and himself on the other."
"The General knows how to sympathize with a big dry," said one, as the crowd laughed over the story.
Pen cannot do justice to the stories abounding in wit and humor wherewith soldiers relieve the tedium of the camp. To an old campaigner, their appearance in print must seem like a faded photograph, in the sight of one who has seen the living original. Characters sparkling with humor, such as was never attributed to any storied Joe Miller, abound in every camp. The brave Wolfe, previously to the victory which cost him his life, is reported to have sung, while floating down the St.
Lawrence:
"Why, soldiers, why, Should we be melancholy, Whose business "tis to die?"
Whether induced in his case by an effort to bolster up the courage of his comrades or not, the sentiment has at all times been largely practised upon in the army of the Potomac.
CHAPTER XVI.
_The Battle of Fredericksburg--s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g Courage up to the Sticking Point--Consolations of a Flask--Pigeon-hole Nervousness--Abandonment of Knapsacks--Incidents before, during, and after the Fight._
In this wintry weather, striking tents meant stripping the log huts of the bits of canvas that ordinarily served as the shelter-tents of the soldiers. The long rows of huts thus dismantled,--soldiers at rest in ranks, with full knapsacks and haversacks,--groups of horses saddled and bridled, ready for the rider,--on one of these clear, cold December mornings, indicated that the army was again upon the move. Civilians had been sent back freighted with letters from those soon to see the serious struggle of the field; the sick had been gathered to hospitals nearer home; the musicians had reported to the surgeons, and the men were left, to the sharp notes of sixty rounds of ball cartridge carried in their boxes and knapsacks,--in the plight of the Ma.s.sachusetts regiment that marched through the mobs of Baltimore, to the music of the cartridge-box, in the first April of the Rebellion.
The time intervening between the removal of McClellan and the battle of Fredericksburg, was a period of uneasy suspense to the nation at large and its representatives in the field. Dear as the devoted patriotism, the earnest conduct of the Rhode Island Colonel--the hero of the Carolinas and now the leader of the Grand Army of the Potomac--were to the patriotic ma.s.ses of the nation, the fact of his being an untried man, gave room for gloom and foreboding. With the army at large, the suspense was accompanied by no lack of confidence. The devotion of the Ninth Army Corps for its old commander appeared to have spread throughout the army; and his open, manly countenance, bald head, and unmistakable whiskers, were always greeted with rounds for "Burny." The jealousy of a few ambitious wearers of stars may have been ill concealed upon that morning, only to be disclosed shortly to his detriment; but the earnest citizen-soldiery were eager, under his guidance, to do battle for their country. Time has shown, how much of the misfortune of the subsequent week was attributable to imperfect weeding of McClellanism at Warrenton.
Like a lion at bay, restless in easy view of the hosts of the Rebellious, the army had remained in its camp upon the heights of Stafford until the arrival of the pontoons. For miles along the Rappahannock, the picket of blue had his counterpart in the picket of grey upon the opposite sh.o.r.e. Unremitting labor upon fortifications and earthworks, had greatly increased the natural strength of the amphitheatre of hills in the rear of Fredericksburg. Countless surmises spread in the ranks as to the character and direction of the attack; though the whims of those who uttered them were variant as the reflections of a kaleidoscope. But the sun, that through the pines that morning, shone upon burnished barrels, polished breast-plates, and countenances of brave men, radiant, as if reflecting their holy purpose, has never, since the shining hosts of Heaven were marshalled for the suppression of the great prototype of this Rebellion, seen more earnest ranks, or a holier cause.
The bugles call "Attention," then "Forward." Horses are rapidly mounted; and speedily coming to the shoulder, and facing to the right, the army is in motion by the flank towards the river. Far as the eye could see, in all directions, there were moving ma.s.ses of troops. Cowardly beneath contempt is the craven, who in such a cause, and at such a time, would not feel inspirited by the firm tread of the martial columns.
"Hear "em! Oh, Hear "em!" exclaimed an earnest-looking country boy, hastily closing a daguerreotype case, into which he had been intently gazing, and replacing it in his pocket, as the booming of a heavy siege gun upon the Washington Farm, followed instantly by the reports of several batteries to the right, broke upon the ear like volleyed thunder. A clap of thunder from a clear sky could not have startled him more, had he been at work upon his father"s farm. His earnest simplicity afforded great amus.e.m.e.nt to his comrades, and for a while made him the b.u.t.t of a New York Regiment that then chanced to be marching abreast.
Raw recruit as he was, cowardice was no part of his nature, and he indignantly repelled the taunts of his comrades. Gloom deep settled was visible upon his countenance, however, although firm his step and compressed his lip.
"Terence," said he, to the little Irish Corporal who marched by his side, as another suggestive artillery fire that appeared to move along the entire front, made itself heard, "may I ask a favor of you?"
"Indade ye may, John, and a thousand ov them if ye plaze, to the last dhrop in my canteen."
One of those jams so constant and annoying in the movements of large ma.s.ses of men, here gave the opportunity for John to unbosom himself, which he did, while both leaned upon the muzzles of their pieces.
"Terence, I do not believe that I will be alongside of you many days,"
said John, with an effort.
"Why, what"s the matter wid ye, boy? if I didn"t know ye iver since you thrashed that bully in the Zouaves, I wud think ye cowardly."