""That was a dreadful affair at Falling Waters, General," said the lady, with a strange twinkle in her eyes.
""Yes, madam," replied the General, coloring up to his ears, "a blunder of some of our volunteer officers. Ordinary military prudence made us send forward some force to reconnoitre before crossing the main army.
These troops were to fall back if the enemy appeared in force. Not understanding their orders, or carried away by the excitement of the moment, they engaged the enemy with the unfortunate results to which you allude."
"Av it would have been proper for a corporal, I would have asked the Gineral what Johnny Reb would do while we were taching him all that.
Thim"s the Gineral"s exact words, for I paid particular attention. I put them thegither with what I had heard from a Wisconsin boy, and I got the whole history of that fight."
"Let"s have it," shouted the crowd, now considerably increased, "at once!"
"Well, you see, they were sent forward to reconnoitre, as the Gineral said, and there was a Wisconsin regiment of bear hunters and the like, and a Pennsylvania regiment of deer hunters and Susquehannah raftsmen pretty well forward. These Wisconsin chaps, in dead earnest, brought their rifles along all the way from Wisconsin, and, like the Susquehannah fellows, they couldn"t kape hands off the trigger if there was any game about.
"Well, they got to Falling Waters without stirring up anything; you recollect, Lieutenant, where that rebel officer"s house was burned down, and then the battery that was along with them, seeing some suspicious-looking Grey Backs dodging in and out of a wood, let them have a few round of sh.e.l.ls just to see whether they were in force or not, according to orders. The Rebs made tracks for a low piece of ground behind a ridge, and then formed line of battle. Our men, with a yell, went forward, and when they saw the Rebs in line, these two Colonels, thinking they had been sent out to fight, and that their men didn"t carry guns for nothing, ordered them to fire; and then they ordered them to load again, in order to relave their hips as much as possible from the load of ammunition; and then they fired again; and then, gittin"
excited, and thinkin" this work too slow, and that it wouldn"t do to take such bright bayonets home, they ordered a charge, and cheering, yelling, and howling, our boys went at the Rebs. The Rebs didn"t stand to meet them, but fell back behind a barn. The batteries burned that,--and then they tried to form line again, but no use. As soon as our fellows gave the yell, they were off like all possessed. They had prepared to run by tearing the fences down; and then it was trying to form line, and breaking as soon as our fellows howled a little, all the way for five long miles to Martinsburg; and the last our boys saw of the Rebs was their straight coat-tails at the south end of the town. And that was the whole battle of Falling Waters; and may be Ould Patterson wouldn"t have got to Martinsburg if them Colonels had reported the Rebs in force, and not got excited.
"But how did you hear all this? You forget that part of it."
"And couldn"t you let that go? I thought I could concale that.
"Well, you know, Lieutenant, our ould Colonel boarded at the Brick Hotel, along the Railroad, above where the long strings of locomotives were burned, as the Gineral says, by our "misguided southern friends;"
and I was about there considerably on duty. One afternoon, a jolly-looking little chap, one of the Wisconsin boys, and one after my own heart--and he proved it, too, by trating me to several drinks--came along with a Rebel Artillery officer"s coat under his arm. And we looked at the coat, and talked and drank, and drank and talked, until the Wisconsin chappy put it on, just to show me how the Rebel officer looked in it. It was a fine grey, trimmed with gold lace and scarlet, and the Wisconsin chappy looked gay in it, barring the sleeves were several inches too long, and the waist b.u.t.tons came down nearly a foot too far, and it was too big round the waist. And he showed me after every drink what he did and what the Officer did,--and, to tell the plain truth, we got a drop too much,--and the Wisconsin chappy got turning back-hand springs against the side of the hotel, and I tried to do the same, to the great sport of the crowd. But it didn"t last long. A corporal"s guard took--or rather carried--us to the guard-house, and towards morning, when we sobered up, he tould me the whole story."
"Pretty well put together, Terry."
"And the blissed truth, ivery word of it."
The night was wearing away--work before them in the morning--and the group dispersed for their blankets, from which we will not disturb them until the succeeding chapter.
CHAPTER IX.
_Reconnoissance concluded. What we Saw and What we didn"t See, and what the Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--The Preacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of Black Union Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon a Pigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the Western Virginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect active Army Movements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at Division Head-quarters._
In the misty morning arms were taken and the forward resumed. Occasional Rebel corpses pa.s.sed showed the work of our sharpshooters. In a short time the ground again prevented the movement in line of battle, and the troops marched by the flank over a road well wooded on each side, until they reached what proved to be the farthest point made by the reconnoissance--a large open plateau, bounded on the north and west by a wooded ridge to which it gradually rose, and which was said to border the Oppequan. On the south, at an average distance of five hundred yards from the road, was a strip of timber land. Slightly west by south, but upon the north side of the road, was a rise of ground, in the rear of which, but upon the south side of the road, were a farmer"s house and out-buildings. The troops pursued their march until the head of the column arrived opposite the house. Suspicious-looking hors.e.m.e.n were discovered on the edge of the woods that crowned the ridge. The order was given that the troops should leave the road and take cover on its south side, a position not commanded by the ridge. The order was not executed before a Rebel officer, on a white-tailed dun horse, the tail particularly conspicuous against the dark background of the wood, was observed signalling to the extreme right of what was now supposed to be the Rebel line. Almost instantly some half a dozen pieces of artillery were placed in position, at various points on the brow of the circular ridge, completely commanding, in fact flanking our position. Our troops, however, were not disturbed, although every instant expecting a salute from the batteries, as the range was easy and direct. While the troops were being placed in position behind the house the batteries were posted on the rise. A few hours pa.s.sed in this position. The Rebel batteries in plain view, hors.e.m.e.n continually emerging and disappearing in the wood.
Was it the force that we had driven before us? or were the Rebels in force upon that ridge, making the Oppequan their line of defence? Better ground upon which to be attacked could not be chosen. The long distance to be traversed under fire of any number of converging batteries, would have slaughtered men by the thousands. But again, if the Rebels were in force, why did they not attack us? Outflanking us was easy. With a superior force our retreat could easily be intercepted, and if we escaped at all, it would be with heavy loss. Their batteries threatened, but no firing. All was quiet, save the noise made by the men in stripping an orchard in their immediate front, and the commands of their officers in ordering them back to the ranks.
The quiet was provoking, and all manner of discussion as to the Rebel force, movements, etc., was indulged in. Many contended that they were but threatening--others, that they were in force, that was their line of defence, and the plateau in front their battle-ground. This decision the General in command seems to have arrived at, as the flaming telegrams in the Dailies, in the course of a day or two, announced that the Rebels were discovered in great force, strongly posted in a most defensible position. After the lapse of an hour or two, the order for the homeward march was given, and strange to say, that although marching by the flank the last man had disappeared from their view, behind the cover of the wood, before they opened fire. They then commenced sh.e.l.ling the woods vigorously, and continued firing at a respectful distance, doing no damage, until night set in. In the course of the afternoon it commenced raining, and continued steadily throughout the night. The troops encamped for the night in Egyptian darkness, and what was worse, in a meadow fairly deluged with water.
"Well, what does all this mean?" inquired one of a crowd, huddled together, hooded by blanket and oil-cloth, protecting themselves as best they could from the falling rain, for sleep was out of question to all but the fortunate few who can slumber in puddles.
"What does it all mean, Charlie? Why it means a blind upon Uncle Abraham and his good people. That"s what it means."
"Well, Lieutenant, I am surprised that a man of your usual reserve and correct conversation, should talk in that style about our commander."
"Sergeant, it is high time that not only individuals, whether reserved or not, but the people at large should denounce this delay that is wearing out the life of the nation. Weeks have pa.s.sed since the battle of Antietam, and after repeated urgings on the part of the President, and repeated promises on the part of our commander, we have this beggarly apology for a movement. Yes, sir, apology for a movement.
To-morrow"s Dailies will tell in flaming capitals, how the Rebels were posted in large force in a strong position, and in line of battle upon the Oppequan, intimating thereby that further delay will be unavoidable to make our army equal to a movement. Now this humbugging an earnest people is unfair, unworthy of a great commander, and if he be humbugged himself again as with the Quaker guns at Mana.s.sas, the sooner the country knows it the better for its credit and safety. How can any living man tell that the batteries we saw to-day upon the ridge, are not the batteries we drove before us yesterday? The probability is that they are."
The speaker, as intimated by the Sergeant, was a man of reserve, quiet, and to the last degree inoffensive in his manner. A professing Christian, consistent in, and not ashamed of his profession, he had the respect of his command, and a friend in every acquaintance in the regiment. Educated for the ministry, he threw aside his theological text books on the outbreak of the Rebellion, and bringing into requisition some earlier lessons learned at a Military Academy, he opened a recruiting list with the zeal of a Puritan. It was not circulated, as is customary, in bar-rooms, but taking it to a rural district, he called a meeting in the Township Church, and in the faith of a Christian and the earnestness of a patriot, he eloquently proclaimed his purpose and the righteousness of the war. Success on a smaller scale, but like that of Peter the Hermit, followed his endeavor, and his quota of the Company was soon made up by the enlistment of nearly every able-bodied young man in the Township. His recruits fairly idolized him, and in their rougher and more unlettered way, were equally earnest advocates of the suppression of the Rebellion by any and every means.
"Your Abolitionism will crop out from time to time, like the ledges of rock in the country we have just been pa.s.sing through," said a Junior Lieutenant.
"Call it Abolitionism, or what you will," replied his Senior. "I am for the suppression of the Rebellion by the speediest means possible. I am for the abolition of everything in the way of its suppression."
"You would abolish the Const.i.tution, I suppose, if you thought it in the way."
"I would certainly amend the Const.i.tution, had I the power, to suit the exigencies of the times. What is the Const.i.tution worth without a country for it to control?"
"There it comes. Anything to ease the n.i.g.g.e.r."
"Yes, sir, I thank G.o.d that this Rebellion strikes a death-blow at slavery. That wherever a Federal bayonet gleams in a slave State, we can see a gleam of eternal truth lighting up the gloom of slavery. The recent Proclamation of the President was all that was needed to place our cause wholly upon the rock of G.o.d"s justice, and on that base the gates of the h.e.l.l of slavery and treason combined, shall not prevail against it."
"Preaching again, Lieutenant," said our Western Virginia Captain, who was the Lieutenant"s Senior officer, as he strolled leisurely toward the crowd. "I tell you, Lieutenant, if Old Abe don"t make better preparations to carry out his Proclamation, he had better turn Chinese General at once."
"Give him time, Captain. January 1 may bring preparations that we little dream of. At any rate, it places us in a proper position before the world. What ground had we to expect sympathy from the anti-slavery people of Europe, when we made no effort to release the millions enslaved in the South from bondage?"
"As far as using the negroes as soldiers is concerned, it seems a day behind the fair. It should have been issued earlier. Why, we could have had them by thousands in Western Virginny, and officers in our regiment, who were with him, tell me that Patterson could have mustered an army of them. Instead of that they were driven from his lines, and when they brought him correct information as to the Rebels at Winchester, it was "don"t believe the d----d n.i.g.g.e.r," and all this while he dined and wined with the Rebel nabobs about Charlestown. Boys, we commenced this war wrong. I"m a Democrat, and always have been one; but I"m not afraid to say that we"ve all along been trying our best to make enemies of the only real friends we have inside of Rebel lines. Now, I don"t like the n.i.g.g.e.r better than some of my neighbors; but in my opinion, a black Union man is better than a white Rebel any day. To say nothing of their fighting, why don"t our Generals use them as servants, and why are they not our teamsters and laborers? Look at our able-bodied men detailed for servants about Pigeon-hole"s Head-quarters."
"Well, Captain," interrupted the Sergeant, "Pigey has a big establishment, and see if the papers don"t make him out a big General for this daring reconnoissance."
"This daring tomfoolery! If he"d come back to old Rosecrans with his story about a few pieces of artillery posted on a ridge, Rosy would want to know why the d----l he didn"t find out what was behind them."
"He showed great experience a few weeks ago," continued the Sergeant, "when the Western fellows let off one of their ground blasts. "Where did that sh.e.l.l explode?" inquired Pigey, galloping up with his staff and orderlies to our Regimental Head-quarters. "I heard no sh.e.l.l," says the Colonel. "Nor I," says the Lieut.-Colonel. "I did hear a ground blast,"
said the Lieut.-Colonel, "such as the boys in the Regiment below occasionally make from the rebel cartridges they find." "Ground blast!
h--l!" says the General, excitedly, his eyes flashing from under his crooked c.o.c.ked hat: "Don"t you think that an officer of my experience and observation would be able to distinguish the explosion of a sh.e.l.l from that of a ground blast?" "No sh.e.l.l exploded, General," said the Colonel, "within the limits of my regiment." "The d----l it didn"t--would you have me disbelieve my own ears? Now, I have issued orders enough about permitting these unexploded sh.e.l.ls to lie about, and I purpose holding the Colonels responsible for all damage. Suppose that explosion was heard at corps head-quarters, as it doubtless was, and the inquiry is made from what quarter the rebels threw the sh.e.l.l, what reply am I, as the commanding General of this division, to make?"
""Tell them that it was a ground blast," said a Second Lieutenant, politely saluting. "I have just been down and saw the hole it made."
""You saw the hole! and just below here! The d----l you did! D--n the ground blasts!" and the General turned his horse"s head and started towards division head-quarters at a full gallop, followed by his grinning staff."
"He"s not to blame so much, boys," remarked the Captain. "He was a quiet clerk in the Topographical Department when the war broke out, I"ve been told, and I"ve no doubt he dusted the pigeon-holes in his charge carefully, and folded the papers neatly. When McClellan looked about for material to fill up his big staff with, who was so well calculated to attend to the topography of his battle-fields, considering that he fought so few, and most of those he had to fight on the Peninsula, the rebels got next day, as our Division General. Now, as Little Mac is not particularly noted for close acquaintance with rebel sh.e.l.ls, the General has had small chance of knowing what kind of noise they do make when they burst. His great blunder, or rather, the Government"s, is his taking command of a division, if it has but two brigades. I heard a Major say he had greatness thrust upon him. He"s a small man in a big place. West Point has turned out some big men, like Rosecrans, Grant, Hooker, and many others that are a credit to the country--men of genuine talent, who have none of those foolish prejudices, that the regulars are the only soldiers, and that volunteers are a mere make-shift, that can"t be depended upon. And West Point, like all other inst.i.tutions, has had its share of small men, that come from it with just brains enough to carry a load of prejudice against volunteers and the volunteer service, and a very little knowledge of the ordinary run of military matters. An officer of real ability will never be a slave to prejudice. These small men are the Red-Tapists of the army--the Pigeon-Hole-Paper Generals, and being often elevated and privileged unduly, because they are from West Point, they play the very devil in their commands. Our corps commander, who was a teacher there, has brought a full share of the last kind into the corps.
"I wander about a good deal among other camps of this corps, pick up information and make myself acquainted without standing on ceremony. I never wait for that. I always had a habit of doing it, and I honestly believe, from what I see and hear, there has been a studied effort, from some high commander, to teach these young regular officers treason,--yes, boys, treason,--because when a man tells me that we can"t conquer the Rebels, and that after a while we"ll have to make peace, etc., I set him down for a traitor; he is aiding and abetting the enemies of his country. If that ain"t treason I"d like to know what is."
"The Captain headed off a lot of young regulars the other evening a little the prettiest," said the Sergeant.
"Let"s have it!" said a dozen in the crowd, now considerably increased.
"The Captain," continued the Sergeant, "had asked me to take a walk with him after dress-parade, and we strolled along the Sharpsburg road towards Corps Head-quarters. As we got just beyond the house and barn where the Rebel wounded are, we came upon a crowd of officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, and some privates. A quite young officer, with a milk-and-water face and a moustache like mildew on a damp Hardee, was talking very excitedly about the Administration not appreciating General McClellan; that there wasn"t intellect enough there to appreciate a really great military genius; that European officers praised him as our greatest General, and that even the Rebel officers said that they feared him more than any of our Commanders; and yet all the while the Abolition Administration tied his hands and fettered his movements, and all because Little Mac wasn"t crazy enough to say that the Rebels could be subjugated and their armies exterminated, as some fanatical Regulars and nearly all the Volunteer officers pretend to say.
"Now, I believe," said the officer, thrusting his thumbs between his armpits and his vest, and puffing out his breast pompously, "I believe, as Little Mac says, "we can drive them to the wall;" we can lessen the limits of their country; but, gentlemen, after all, there will have to be a peace."
"I thought," said the Sergeant, "the Captain was going to break in upon him here. He threw back his cap till the rim was on top of his head, rammed his hands into his pockets, and edged his way a little further into the crowd, towards the speaker; but he didn"t, and the speaker went on to say:
""There are the people, too, crazy about a forward movement. Why don"t they come down and shoulder muskets themselves?"
"The Captain could hold in no longer. He drew his hands out of his pockets, straightened them along his side, like a game rooster stretching his wings just before a fight, and sidling up to the officer, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he burst out--
""Why don"t they shoulder muskets themselves? I"ll tell you why,--because we are here to do it for them. They have sent us, they pay us, and they"ve a right to talk, and I hope they will talk. Anything like a decent forward movement of this Corps would have saved the disgrace of the second Bull Run battle. We all know how the Corps lagged along the road-side, and the Rebel cannon all the while thundering in the ears of its Commander."