"General, the copy is a faithful one of the order issued from your Head-Quarters."
"From my Head-Quarters, sir? By G--d, Colonel, that can"t be. If I have been particular, and have prided myself upon any one thing, it has been upon having papers drawn strictly according to the Regulations. And I have tried to impress it upon my clerks. That infernal blunder made at my Head-Quarters! I"ll soon see how that is." And the General, Record in hand, took long strides, for a little man, towards the Adjutant"s tent.
"Captain," said he, addressing an officer who was best known in the Division as a relative of a leading commander, and whose only claim to merit--in fact, it had to counterbalance many habits positively bad--consisted of his reposing under the shadow of a mighty name, "where is the original order detailing this Court?" "Here, General," said a clerk, producing the paper. The General"s eye rested for a moment upon it, then throwing it upon the table, he burst out pa.s.sionately: "Captain, this is too G--d d--n bad after all my care and trouble in giving you full instructions. Is it possible that the simplest order can"t be made out without my supervision, as if, by G--d, it was my business to stand over your desks all day long, see every paper folded, endors.e.m.e.nt made, and the right pigeon-hole selected? This won"t do. I give full instructions, and expect them carried out. By G--d," continued the General, striding vehemently across to his marquee, "they must be carried out."
"Colonel, I see that you are not accountable for this. If the d----d fool had only made it "Detail of the Court," it might have pa.s.sed unnoticed."
"General," suggested the Colonel, "would not that have been improper?
Would it not have implied an already existing organization of the court?
whereas the phrase in the order is intended merely to indicate who shall compose the court."
"It would have looked better, sir," said the General, somewhat sharply.
"Colonel, you are not to blame for this; you can return to quarters, sir."
The Colonel bowed himself out, remounted his black horse, and while riding at a slow walk, could not but wonder if the Government would not have been the gainer if it had made it the business of the General to fold and endorse papers, and dust pigeon-holes. It was generally understood that this occupation had been, previous to his being placed in command of the Division, the sum-total of the General"s military experience. And how high above him did this red-tapism extend? The General had been on McClellan"s staff, and through his influence, doubtless, acquired his present position. Were its trifling details detaining the grand army of the Potomac from an onward movement in this most favorable weather, to the great detriment of national finances, the encouragement of the Rebellion, and the depression of patriots everywhere? Must the earnestness of the patriotic, self-sacrificing thousands in the field, be fettered by these cobwebs, constructed by men interested in pay and position? If so, then in its widest sense, is the utterance of an intelligent Sergeant, made a few days previous, true, that red-tape was a greater curse to the country than the rebellion. The loyal earnest ma.s.ses would soon, if unfettered, have found leaders equally loyal and earnest--Joshuas born in the crisis of a righteous cause, whose unceasing blows would not have allowed the rebels breathing spells. It is not too late; but how much time, blood, to say nothing of money, have been expended in ascertaining that a great Union military leader thought the war in its best phase a mere contest for boundaries.
The black halted at the tent door, was turned over to his attendant, and the Lieut.-Colonel joined his tent companion the Colonel.
His stay was brief. In the course of a few minutes an orderly in great haste handed him the following note:
"The General commanding Division desires to see Lieut.-Colonel ---- without delay."
The saddle, not yet off the black, was readjusted, and again the Judge-Advocate cantered over the gentle bluffs to Division Head-Quarters.
"Colonel," said the General, hardly waiting for his entrance, "these mistakes multiply so, as I proceed in my duty as Reviewing Officer, that I am utterly confounded as to what course to pursue."
"Will you please point them out, General?"
"Point out the Devil!--will you point to something that is strictly in accordance with the regulations? Here you have "Private John W. Holman, Co. I, 212th Regt. P. V.," and then not two lines below, it is, John W.
Holman, Private, Co. I, 212th Reg. P. V." Now, by G--Colonel, one is certainly wrong, and _that_ blunder did not come from Division Head-Quarters."
"Will the General please indicate which is correct?"
"Indicate! that"s the d----l of it, that is the perplexing question; my French authorities are silent on the subject, and yet, sir, you must see that one must be wrong."
"That does not follow, General; it would be considered a mere clerical error. Records that I have seen have t.i.tles preceding and following both."
"There is no such thing in military law as a mere clerical error. Every thing is squared here by the regulations and military law. The General or Colonel who is unfortunate in consequence of strictly following these, will not, by military men, regular officers at least, be held accountable. Do not understand me as combating your knowledge of the law, Colonel; you may have excused, in your practice, bad records successfully on the ground of "clerical errors," but it will not do in the army. There"s where volunteer officers make their mistakes; they don"t think and act concertedly as regulars do. Individual judgment steps in too often, and officers" judgments play the D--l in the army.
Now, in France, their rules in regard to this, are unusually strict."
"They order this matter better in France then," observed the Colonel, mechanically making use of the hackneyed opening sentence of "The Sentimental Journey." "And they manage them better, Sir;--Another thing, Colonel," quickly added the General, "t"s must be crossed and i"s carefully dotted. There are several omissions of this kind that might have sent the Record back. By the way, whose hand-writing is this copy in?" said the General, looking earnestly at the Colonel. "A clerk"s, sir." "A clerk! Another d----d pretty piece of business," continued the General, rising. "Colonel, that record is not worth a G--d d--n not a G--d d--n, Sir! Who ever heard of a clerk being employed? no clerk has a right to know any thing of the proceedings."
"I have been informed, General, and have observed from published reports of proceedings of courts-martial, that clerks are in general use."
"Can"t be! Colonel, can"t be! By G--d, there is another perplexing matter for my already over-taxed time, and yet the senseless people expect Generals to move large armies, and plan big battles, when their hands are full of these d----d business details that cannot be neglected or delayed."
The General resumed his seat, ran his fingers through his hair with frightful rapidity, as if gathering disconcerted and scattered ideas, for a moment or two, and then looking up dismissed the Colonel.
The black was again in requisition; and again the Colonel"s thoughts, with increased feelings of disgust, were directed to what he could not but think the trifling details that, as the General admitted, delay the movements of great armies, and the striking of heavy blows. T"s must be crossed when we ought to be crossing the Potomac; i"s dotted when we ought to be dotting Virginia fields with our tents. And war so proverbially, so historically uncertain, has its rules, which, if adhered to, will save commanders from censure--judgment not allowed to interfere. It would appear so from many movements in the history of the Army of the Potomac. What would that despiser of senseless details, defier of rules laid down by inferior men, and cutter of red tape, as well as master-genius in the art of war, the Great, the First Napoleon, have said to all this. Shades of Washington, Marion, Morgan, all the Revolutionary worthies, Jackson, all our Volunteer Officers, of whose military records we are justly proud--
"Of the mighty can it be That this is all remains of thee!"
Generals leading armies such as the world never before saw, fettering movements on the field by the movements of trifling office details at the desk, which viewed in the best light are the most contemptible of excuses for delay.
This time the old black was not unsaddled;--a fortunate thought, as another request for the immediate presence of the Judge Advocate compelled him to take his dinner of boiled beans hasty and hot.
Whatever the reader may think of the General"s condition of mind during the preceding interviews, it was to reach its fever heat in this. The Colonel saw, as he entered the marquee, that his forced calmness of demeanor portended a storm. Whether the Colonel thought that a half-emptied good-sized tumbler of what looked like clear brandy which stood on the table before him, had anything to do with it, the reader must judge for himself.
"Colonel, I had made up my mind to forward that Record with the mistakes I have already indicated to you, but after all I am pained to state that the total disregard of duty by the Court, and perhaps by yourself, in trifling--yes, by G--d--" here the General could keep in no longer, and rising with hand clinching the Record firmly, continued,--"trifling with a soldier"s duty, the regulations, and the safety of the army will not allow it. Colonel, you are a lawyer, and is it possible that you can"t see what that d----d Court has done?"
"I would be happy to be informed in what respect they have erred, General."
"Happy to be informed! how they have erred! By G--d, Colonel, you take this outrageous matter cool. That Record," said the General, holding it up, and waving it about his head,--the red tape with which the Judge Advocate had adorned it plentifully, if for no other purpose than to cover a mult.i.tude of mistakes, all the while streaming in the air,--"that Record is a disgrace to the Division. What does that Record show?" At this he threw it violently into a corner of the tent. "It shows, by G--d, that here was an enlisted soldier in the United States Army, found sleeping on his post in the dead hour of night, in the presence of the enemy, and yet--" said the General, lifting both hands clenched, "a pack of d----d volunteer officers detailed as a court let him off. Yes, I"ll be G--d d----d," and his arms came down slapping against his hips, "let him off, with what? why a reprimand at dress parade, that isn"t worth a d--n as a punishment. Here was a chance to benefit the Division; yes, sir, a military execution would do this Division good. It needs it; we"ll have a d----d sight now to be court-martialed. What will General McClellan say with that record before him? Think of that, Colonel."
"I would be much more interested in what Judge Advocate Holt would say, General, on account of his vastly superior ability in that department; and as to the death penalty, General, I conscientiously think it would be little short of, if not quite, murder." The General had resumed his seat, but now arose as if about to interrupt;--but the Colonel continued:--
"General, that boy is but seventeen, with a look that indicates unmistakably that he is half an idiot. He has an incurable disease that tends to increase his imbecility. His memory, if he ever had any, is completely gone. The Articles of War, or instructions of officers as to picket duty, would not be remembered by him a minute after utterance, and not understood when uttered. I have thought since that I should have entered a plea of insanity for him. He had not previously been upon duty for a month, and was that day placed on by mistake. The Court, if it had had the power, would have punished the officer that recruited him severely. He ought to be discharged; and the Court was informed that his application for discharge, based upon an all-sufficient surgeon"s certificate, was forwarded to your head-quarters a month ago, and has not since been heard from. Besides, this was not a picket station, but a mere inside regimental camp guard."
The Colonel spoke rapidly, but with coolness;--all the while the General"s eyes, fairly glowing, were gazing down intently upon him.
"Colonel, if your manner was not respectful, I would think that you intended insulting me by your d----d provoking coolness. Conscience!"
said the General, sneeringly, "conscience or no conscience, that man must be duly sentenced. By G--d, I order it. You must reconvene the Court without delay. It is well seen it is not a detail of Regulars.
Conscience wouldn"t trouble them when a d----d miscreant was upon trial.
A boy of seventeen! Seventeen or thirty-seven! By G--d! he is a soldier in the Army of the United States, and must be tried and punished as a soldier. An idiot! What need you care about the brains of a soldier? If he has the army cap on his head, that"s all you need require. Plea of insanity, indeed! We want no lawyer"s tricks here. And as to that discharge, if it is detained at my head-quarters, it is because it was not properly folded or endorsed--may be will not fit neatly in the pigeon-hole. Colonel," continued the General, moderating his tone somewhat, "I must animadvert--by G--d, I must animadvert severely upon that Record."
"General," quietly interrupted the Colonel, "you will publish your animadversion, I trust, so that it can be read at dress parades, and the Division have the benefit of it."
"There, Colonel," said the General, twitching his moustache violently, "there it is again. You appear perfectly courteous--but that remark is cool contempt. I want you to understand," his tones louder, and gesticulations violent, "that you must take my strictures, tell the court that they must impose the sentence I direct, and leave conscience to me, and no d----d plea of insanity about it."
"General," observed the Colonel, rising, "I am the counsel of the prisoner as well as of the United States. I cannot and will not injure my own conscience, wrong the prisoner, or humiliate the Government by insisting upon a death penalty."
"Read my strictures to the court, and do your duty, sir, or I"ll court-martial the whole d----d establishment. Go and re-a.s.semble your court forthwith."
As he said this he handed a couple of closely written sheets of large sized letter-paper, tied with the inevitable red-tape, to the Colonel.
The Colonel bowed himself out, and the chair in front of the pigeon-holes of the camp desk was again occupied by a living embodiment of red-tape.
The court was forthwith notified. It immediately met. The strictures were read, and in case of many sentences, especially towards the close, from necessity re-read by the Judge Advocate. After considerable laughter over the doc.u.ment, and some little indignation at the unwarranted dictation of "their commanding General," of which t.i.tle the General had taken especial pains to remind them at least every third sentence, the court decided not to change the sentence, and directed the Judge Advocate to embody their reasons for the character of the sentence in his report. The reasons, much the same as those stated to the General by the Judge Advocate, were reduced to writing, and duly forwarded, with the record signed and attested, to their "commanding General." That record, like some other court-martial records of the Division, has not since been heard of as far as the Judge Advocate or any member of the court is informed. The poor boy a few days afterwards entered a hospital, not again to rejoin his regiment. His application for discharge has not been heard of. With no prospect of being fit for active service--dying by inches in fact,--he is compelled at Government expense to follow the regiment in an ambulance from camp to camp, and on all its tedious marches.
The profanity in the foregoing chapter has doubtless disgusted the reader quite as much as its utterance did the Judge Advocate. And yet hundreds of the Division who have heard the General on hundreds of other occasions, the writer feels confident will certify that it is rather a mild mood of the General"s that has been described. The habit is disgusting at all times. Many able Generals are addicted to the habit; but they are able in spite of it. That their influence would be increased without it, cannot be denied. It has been well said to be "neither brave, polite, nor wise." But now when the hopes of the nation centre in the righteousness of their cause, and thousands of prayers continually ascend for its furtherance from Christians in and out of uniform, how utterly contemptible! how outrageously wicked! for an officer of elevated position, to profane the Name under which those prayers are uttered, and upon which the nation relies as its "bulwark,"
"its tower of strength," a very "present help in this its time of trouble."
CHAPTER VII.
_A Picket-Station on the Upper Potomac--Fitz John"s Rail Order--Rails for Corps Head-Quarters_ versus _Rails for Hospitals--The Western Virginia Captain--Old Rosy, and How to Silence Secesh Women--The Old Woman"s Fixin"s--The Captain"s Orderly._