"It"s certainly a Commissary wagon," said Shorty, after studying it a little.{102}
"Yes, I"m sure that it"s one o" them wagons we was guardin", and I recollect it was loaded with hard tack."
The mere mention of the much-abused crackers made both their mouths water.
"Seems to me I recognize the wagon, too," said Shorty.
"Shorty, it"d be a great thing if we could sneak along up the creek, behind them bushes, until we come opposite the wagon, then make, a rush acrost the field, s.n.a.t.c.h up a box o" hardtack apiece, and then run back.
We"d get enough to give each o" the boys a cracker apiece. The wagon"d shelter us comin" and goin", and we wouldn"t get a shot."
"It might be," said Shorty, with visions of distributing hardtack to the hungry boys warping his judgment. "The fellers right back o" the wagon couldn"t shoot to any advantage, and them to the right and left are too fur off. If you say so, it"s a go."
"If the boys could only have one hardtack apiece," said Si, as his last hesitation vanished, "they"d feel ever so much better, and be in so much better shape for a fight. Come on, let"s try it."
The rest overheard their plan, and began to watch them with eager interest. They made a circle to the right, got into the cover of the brush of the creek, and began making their way slowly and carefully up to a point opposite the wagon. They reached this without attracting notice, parted the bushes in front of them carefully, and took a good survey of the wagon and the hill beyond.
The wagon was a great deal nearer the hill than had appeared to be the case from where the{103} regiment lay, and even where they stood they were in easy range of the rebels on the hill. But the latter were utterly unsuspicious of them. They were crouching down around fires, with their guns stacked, and the cannoneers of a couple of guns were at some distance from their pieces, under a brush shelter, before which a fire smoldered in the rain.
"It"s awful short range," said Si dubiously. "If they were lookin"
they"d tear us and the wagon all to pieces. But our boys is a-watchin"
us, and I don"t want to go back without a shy at it. Them fellers seem so busy tryin" to keep warm that we may get there without their noticin"
us."
"I never wanted hardtack so much in my life as I do this minute," said Shorty. "I don"t care to live forever, anyway. Let"s chance it."
They pulled off their overcoats, carefully tied up their shoes, shifted around so as to be completely behind the wagon, and then started on a rush through the mud.
For several hundred steps nothing happened, and they began to believe that they would reach the wagon unnoticed. Then a few shots rang out over their heads, followed a minute later by a storm of bullets that struck in the mud and against the wagon. But they reached the wagon, and sat down, exhausted, on the tongue, sidling up close to the bed to protect them from the bullets.
Si recovered his breath first, caught hold of the front board and raised himself up, saw the boxes of coveted hardtack, and was just putting his hand on one of them when a sh.e.l.l struck the rear end and tore the canvas cover off. Si sank back again{104} beside Shorty, when another sh.e.l.l burst under the wagon, and filled the air with pieces of wheels, bed, cracker-boxes and hardtack.
"I don"t want no hardtack; I want to find the bank o" that crick,"
yelled Shorty, starting back on the jump, with Si just six inches behind.
The bullets spattered in the mud all around them as they ran, but they reached the creek bank with out being struck. They were in such a hurry that they did not stop to jump, but fell headlong into the water.
"Them hardtack wuz spiled, anyway," said Shorty, as they fished themselves out, found their overcoats, and made their way back to the regiment.
They received the congratulations of their comrades on their escape, and someone fished out all the consolation that the regiment could offer a couple of brierwood pipes filled with fragrant kinnikinnick. They sat down, smoked these, and tried to forget their troubles.
The cheerless night drew on. No fires were allowed, and the men huddled together on the wet ground, to get what comfort they could from the warmth of each other"s bodies.
The temper of the rebels became nastier as the day wore away, and under the cover of the dark ness they pushed out here and there and opened worrying fires on the Union line. Suddenly a battery opened up on the 200th Ind. from a bare knoll in front. The rebels had evidently calculated the range during daylight, and the sh.e.l.ls struck around them in the most annoying way. They threw up showers of mud, scattered the groups, and kept{105} everybody nervous and alarmed. The regiment stood this for some time, when an idea occurred to Si and Shorty. They went up to the Colonel and explained:
"Colonel, we"ve studied the ground out there purty carefully, and we know that the knoll where that battery is is in close range o" that crick where we went up this afternoon. If you"ll let a few of us go out there we kin stop them cannoneers mighty soon."
"Sure of that?" said the Colonel alertly.
"Dead sure."
"Very well, then," said the Colonel promptly. "I"ve been thinking of the same thing. I"ll take the whole regiment out. Put yourselves at the head, and lead the way."
The regiment was only too eager for the movement. It marched rapidly after Si and Shorty up the creek bed, and in a very few minutes found itself on the flank of the obnoxious battery, which was still banging away into the line which the 200th Ind. had occupied. It was scarcely 200 yards away, and the men"s hearts burned with a fierce joy at the prospect of vengeance. With whispered orders the Colonel lined up the regiment carefully on the bank, and waited until the battery should fire again, to make sure of the aim. Every man c.o.c.ked his gun, took good aim, and waited for the order. They could distinctly hear the orders of the battery officers directing the sh.e.l.ling. Three cannon were fired at once, and as their fierce lights flashed out the Colonel gave the order to fire. A terrible simoon of death from the rifles of the 200th Ind.
struck down everything in and around the battery.
"That dog"s cured o" suckin" aigs," said Shorty, as the Colonel ordered the regiment to about face and march back.
The 200th Ind. heard no more from that battery that night.
CHAPTER IX. VICTORY AT LAST
SI REAPPEARS AS FROM THE GRAVE, WITH AN APPEt.i.tE LIKE PRAIRIE FIRE.
ON THEIR way back from "settling the battery," Si and Shorty each broke off a big armful of cedar branches. These they spread down on the ground when the regiment resumed its place in the line-of-battle, and lay down on them to spend the rest of the night as comfortably as possible. The fire with which they had roasted the pig, and from which they had drawn much comfort during the day, had had to be extinguished when darkness came on. But it had dried out and warmed the ground for a considerable s.p.a.ce around, and on this they made their bed.
"We seem to play in fair luck right along, Shorty," said the hopeful Si, as they curled up on the boughs. "Most of the boys "ve got to lay down in a foot of mud."
"Don"t get to crowin" too loud," grumbled Shorty. "If they find out what a good thing we have, some Jigadier-Brindle"ll s.n.a.t.c.h it away for himself." But Si was fast asleep before Shorty finished speaking.
Sometime before midnight the Orderly-Sergeant came around, and after vigorous kicking and shaking, succeeded in waking them.
"Get up," he said, "and draw some rations. The wagons"ve got in from Nashville."{108}
"My gracious!" said Si, as soon as he was wide enough awake to understand the Orderly-Sergeant"s words, "is it possible that we"re going to have plenty of hardtack and pork and coffee again? Seems to me a hundred years since we drew a full ration."
He and Shorty jumped up and ran over to where the Quartermaster-Sergeant and his a.s.sistants were dealing out a handful of crackers and a piece of pork to each man as he came up.
"Mebbe I oughtn"t to say it," said Si, as he munched away, taking a bite first off the crackers in his right and then off the meat in his left, "but nothing that ever mother baked tasted quite as good as this."
"This does seem to be a specially good lot," a.s.sented Shorty. "Probably a wagon load that they intended for the officers and give us by mistake.
Better eat it all up before they find it out."
The morning of Jan. 2, 1863, dawned bleak and chill, but this at least brought the great comfort that the dreary rain was at last over. The sharp air was bracing, and put new life and hope into the hearts of the Union soldiers. Many wagons had been gotten up during the night, bringing food and ammunition for all. Soon after daylight cheerful fires were blazing everywhere, and the morning air was laden with the appetizing fragrance of boiling coffee and broiling meat. The sun began to rise over Murfreesboro" and the rebel camps, giving promise of a bright, invigorating day.
"I hope this thing"ll be brought to a focus to-day, and the question settled as to who shall occupy this piece of real estate," said Shorty, as he and Si{109} finished a generous breakfast, filled their boxes and pockets with cartridges, and began knocking the dried mud off their clothes and rubbing the rust from their guns. "I want them gents in brown clothes to clear out and leave. It frets me to see them hangin"
"round. They"re bad neighbors."
"I hope," said Si, carefully picking out the tube of his gun with a pin, "we won"t put in to-day as we did yesterday layin" "round making faces an" shakin" our fists at one another. Let"s have the thing out at once."
Evidently the rebels were of the same frame of mind. They saluted the dawn with a noisy fusillade that ran along the miles of winding line. It was spiteful, crashing and persistent, but as the Union lines lay beyond good musket range and the rebels showed no disposition to advance across the fields and come to close quarters, the noise was quite out of proportion to the harm done.
The two rebel batteries on the opposite side of the river opened up a terrific fire upon one of our batteries, and the air seemed torn to shreds by the storm of howling missiles.
The 200th Ind. was too far away to have more than a spectacular interest in this tempestuous episode. They stood around their gun-stacks and watched and listened while the hours pa.s.sed in ineffective noise, and wondered when the crisis of action was going to arrive.
"They seem to have lost their appet.i.te for close acquaintance with the 200th Ind.," remarked Shorty. "They found that Jordan was a hard road to travel whenever they came across the fields at us, and are{110} tryin"
to scare us by makin" a racket. I think we kin stand it as long as their powder kin. But I"m gittin" hungry agin. Let"s have somethin" to eat."