Langdon, who had been listening, whistled.
"It doesn"t look like a picnic for the Invincibles," he said. "When I volunteered for this war I didn"t volunteer to fight a pitched battle every day. What did you volunteer for, Harry?"
"I don"t know."
The three laughed. Jackson"s famous order certainly fitted well there.
"And you don"t know, either," said Happy Tom, "what all that thunder off there to the south and east means. It"s the big guns, but who are fighting and where?"
"There"s to be a general attack on McClellan along the line of the Chickahominy river," said Harry, "and our army is to be a part of the attacking force, but my knowledge goes no further."
"Then I"m reckoning that some part of our army has attacked already," said Happy Tom. "Maybe they"re ahead of time, or maybe the rest are behind time. But there they go! My eyes, how they"re whooping it up!"
The cannonade was growing in intensity and volume. Despite the sunset they saw an almost continuous flare of red on the horizon. The three boys felt some awe as they sat there and listened and looked. Well they might! Battle on a far greater scale than anything witnessed before in America had begun already. Two hundred thousand men were about to meet in desperate conflict in the thickets and swamps along the Chickahominy.
Richmond had already heard the crash of McClellan"s guns more than once, but apprehension was pa.s.sing away. Lee, whom they had learned so quickly to trust, stood with ninety thousand men between them and McClellan, and with him was the redoubtable Jackson and his veterans of the valley with their caps full of victories.
McClellan had the larger force, but Lee was on the defensive in his own country, a region which offered great difficulties to the invader.
Harry and his comrades wondered why Jackson did not move, but he remained in his place, and when Harry fell asleep he still heard the thudding of the guns across the vast reach of rivers and creeks, swamps and thickets. When he awoke in the morning they were already at work again, flaring at intervals down there on the eastern horizon. The whole wet, swampy country, so different from his own, seemed to be deserted by everything save the armies. No rabbits sprang up in the thickets and there were no birds. Everything had fled already in the presence of war.
But the army marched. After a brief breakfast the brigades moved down the road, and Harry saw clearly that these veterans of the valley were tremulous with excitement. Youthful, eager, and used to victory, they were anxious to be at the very center of affairs which were now on a gigantic scale. And the throbbing of the distant guns steadily drew them on.
"We"ll get all we want before this is through," said Dalton gravely to Harry.
"I think so, too. Listen to those big guns, George! And I think I can hear the crack of rifles, too. Our pickets and those of the enemy must be in contact in the forest there on our left."
"I haven"t a doubt of it, but if we rode that way like as not we"d strike first a swamp, or a creek twenty feet deep. I get all tangled up in this kind of a country."
"So do I, but it doesn"t make any difference. We just stick along with Old Jack."
The army marched on a long time, always to the accompaniment of that sinister mutter in the southeast. Then they heard the note of a bugle in front of them and Jackson with his staff rode forward near a little church called Walnut Grove, where Lee and his staff sat on their horses waiting. Harry noticed with pride how all the members of Lee"s staff crowded forward to see the renowned Jackson.
It was his general upon whom so many were looking, but there was curiosity among Stonewall"s men, too, about Lee. As Harry drew back a little while the two generals talked, he found himself again with the officers of the Invincibles.
"He has grown gray since we were with him in Mexico, Hector," he heard Colonel Leonidas Talbot say to Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire.
"Yes, Leonidas, grayer but stronger. What a brow and eye!"
St. Clair and Langdon, who had never seen Lee before, were eager.
"Is he the right man for Old Jack to follow, Harry?" asked Happy Tom.
"I don"t think there"s any doubt of it, Happy. I saw how they agreed the first time they met, and you can see it now. You"ll find them working together as smooth as silk. Ah, here we go again!"
"Then if it"s as you say I suppose it"s all up with McClellan, and I needn"t trouble my mind about the matter any more. Hereafter I"ll just go ahead and obey orders."
The words were light, but there was no frivolity in the minds of the three. Despite the many battles through which they had already gone their hearts were beating hard just then, while that roaring was going on on the horizon, and they knew that a great battle was at hand.
Lee and his staff rode toward the battle, and then, to the amazement of his men, Jackson led his army into the deep woods away from the sound of the thundering guns which had been calling to them so incessantly. Harry was mystified and the general vouchsafed no word, even to his own staff. They marched on through woods, across fields, along the edges of swamps, and that crash of battle grew fainter behind them, but never died out.
"What do you think it means?" Harry whispered to Dalton.
"Don"t know. I"m not thinking. I"m not here to think at such times. All the thinking we need is going on under the old slouch hat there. Harry, didn"t we go with him all through the valley? Can"t we still trust him?"
"I can and will."
"Same here."
The army curved about again. Harry, wholly unfamiliar with the country, did not notice it until the roar of the battle began to rise again, showing that they were coming nearer. Then he divined the plan. Jackson was making this circuit through the woods to fall on the Northern flank. It was the first of the great turning movements which Lee and Jackson were to carry through to brilliant success so often.
"Look at the red blaze beyond those bushes," said Dalton, "and listen how rapidly the sound of the battle is growing in volume. I don"t know where we are, but I do know now that Old Jack is leading us right into the thick of it."
The general rode forward and stopped his horse on the crest of a low hill. Then Harry and Dalton, looking over the bushes and swamps, saw a great blue army stationed behind a creek and some low works.
"It"s McClellan!" exclaimed Dalton.
"Or a part of him," said Harry.
It was a wing of the Northern army. McClellan himself was not there, but many brave generals were, Porter, Sloc.u.m and the others. The batteries of this army were engaged in a heavy duel with the Southern batteries in front, and the sharpshooters in the woods and bushes kept up a continuous combat that crackled like the flames of a forest fire.
Harry drew a long breath.
"This is the biggest yet," he said.
Dalton nodded.
The soldiers of Jackson were already marching off through the woods, floundering through deep mud, crossing little streams swollen by heavy rains, but eager to get into action.
It was very difficult for the mounted men, and Harry and Dalton at last dismounted and led their horses. The division made slow progress and as they struggled on the battle deepened. Now and then as they toiled through the muck they saw long ma.s.ses of blue infantry on a ridge, and with them the batteries of great guns which the gunners of the North knew so well how to use.
Their own proximity was discovered after a while, and sh.e.l.l and bullets began to fly among them, but they emerged at last on firm ground and on the Northern flank.
"It"s hot and growing hotter," said Dalton.
"And we"ll help increase the heat if we ever get through these mora.s.ses," said Harry.
He felt the bridle suddenly pulled out of his hand, and turned to catch his runaway horse, but the horse had been shot dead and his body had fallen into the swamp. Dalton"s horse also was killed presently by a piece of sh.e.l.l, but the two plunged along on foot, endeavoring to keep up with the general.
The fire upon them was increasing fast. Some of the great guns on the ridge were now searching their ranks with sh.e.l.l and shrapnel and many a man sank down in the mora.s.s, to be lost there forever. But Jackson never ceased to urge them on. They were bringing their batteries that way, too, and men and horses alike tugged at the cannon.
"If we ever get through," said Harry, "we"re bound to do big things."
"We"ll get through, never fear," said Dalton. "Isn"t Old Jack driving us?"
"Here we are!" Harry shouted suddenly as his feet felt firm ground.
"And here"s the whole division, too!" exclaimed Dalton.
The regiments and brigades of Jackson emerged from the forest, and with them came six batteries of cannon which they had almost carried over the swamp. The whole battlefield now came into sight, but the firing and the smoke were so great that it seemed to change continuously in color and even in shape. At one moment there was a ridge where none had been before, then where Harry had seen a creek there was only dry land. But he knew that they were illusions of the eyes, due to the excited brain behind them.
Harry saw the six batteries of Jackson planted in a long row on the hard ground, and then open with a terrific crash on the defenders of the ridge. The sound was so tremendous that he was deafened for a few moments. By the time his hearing was restored fully the batteries fired again and the Northern batteries on the hill replied. Then the ma.s.s of infantry charged and Harry and Dalton on foot, waving their swords and wild with excitement, charged with them.
The plans of Lee and Jackson, working together for the first time in a great battle, went through. When Lee heard the roar of Jackson"s guns on the flank he, too, sent word to his division commanders to charge with their full strength. In an instant the Northern army was a.s.sailed both in front and on the side, by a great force, rushing forward, sure of victory and sending the triumphant rebel yell echoing through the woods of the Chickahominy.
Harry felt the earth tremble beneath him as nearly a hundred thousand men closed in deadly conflict. He could hear nothing but the continued roar, and he saw only a vast, blurred ma.s.s of men and guns. But he was conscious that they were going forward, up the hill, straight toward the enemy"s works, and he felt sure of victory.
He had grounds for his faith. Lee with the smaller army, had nevertheless brought superior numbers upon the field at the point of action. Porter and Sloc.u.m were staunch defenders. The Northern army, though shattered by cannon and rifle fire, stood fast on the ridge until the charging lines were within ten feet of them. Then they gave way, but carried with them most of their cannon, reformed further back, and fought again.
Harry found himself shouting triumphantly over one of the captured guns, but the Southern troops were allowed no time to exult. The sun was already sinking over the swamps and the battlefield, but Lee and Jackson lifted up their legions and hurled them anew to the attack. McClellan was not there when he was needed most, but Porter did all that a man could do. Only two of his eighty guns had been taken, and he might yet have made a stand, but the last of Jackson"s force suddenly emerged from the forest and again he was struck with terrible impact on the flank.
The Northern army gave way again. The Southern brigades rushed forward in pursuit, capturing many prisoners, and giving impulse to the flight of their enemies. Their riflemen shot down the horses drawing the retreating cannon. Many of the guns were lost, twenty-two of them falling into Southern hands. Some of the newer regiments melted entirely away under an attack of such fierceness. Nothing stopped the advance of Lee and Jackson but the night, and the arrival of a heavy reinforcement sent by McClellan. The new force, six thousand strong, was stationed in a wood, the guns that had escaped were turned upon the enemy, Porter and Sloc.u.m rallied their yet numerous force, and when the dark came down the battle ceased with the Northern army in the east defeated again, but not destroyed.
As Harry rode over the scene of battle that night he shuddered. The fields, the forests and the swamps were filled with the dead and the wounded. Save Shiloh, no other such sanguinary battle had yet been fought on American soil. Nearly ten thousand of the Southern youths had fallen, killed or wounded. The North, standing on the defensive, had not lost so many, but the ghastly roll ran into many thousands.
That night, as had happened often in the valley, the hostile sentinels were within hearing of each other, but they fired no shots. Meanwhile, Lee and Jackson, after the victory, which was called Gaines" Mill, planned to strike anew.
Harry awoke in the morning to find that most of the Northern army was gone. The brigades had crossed the river in the night, breaking down the bridges behind them. He saw the officers watching great columns of dust moving away, and he knew that they marked the line of the Northern march. But the Southern scouts and skirmishers found many stragglers in the woods, most of them asleep or overpowered by weariness. Thus they found the brilliant General Reynolds, destined to a glorious death afterward at Gettysburg, sound asleep in the bushes, having been lost from his command in the darkness and confusion. The Southern army rested through the morning, but in the afternoon was on the march again. Harry found that both St. Clair and Langdon had escaped without harm this time, but Happy Tom had lost some of his happiness.
"This man Lee is worse than Jackson," he lamented. "We"ve just fought the biggest battle that ever was, and now we"re marching hot-foot after another."
Happy Tom was right. Lee and Jackson had resolved to give McClellan no rest. They were following him closely and Stuart with the cavalry hung in a cloud on his flanks. They pressed him hard the next day at White Oak Swamp, Jackson again making the circular movement and falling on his flank, while Longstreet attacked in front. There was a terrible battle in thick forest and among deep ravines, but the darkness again saved the Northern army, which escaped, leaving cannon and men in the hands of the enemy.
Harry lay that night in a daze rather than sleep. He was feverish and exhausted, yet he gathered some strength from the stupor in which he lay. All that day they marched along the edge of a vast swamp, and they heard continually the roar of a great battle on the horizon, which they were not able to reach. It was Glendale, where Longstreet and one of the Hills fought a sanguinary draw with McClellan. But the Northern commander, knowing that a drawn battle in the enemy"s country was equivalent to a defeat, continued his retreat and the Southern army followed, attacking at every step. The roar of artillery resounded continuously through the woods and the vanguard of one army and the rear guard of the other never ceased their rifle fire.
Neither Harry nor his young comrades could ever get a clear picture of the vast, confused battle amid the marshes of the Chickahominy, extending over so long a period and known as the Seven Days, but it was obvious to them now that Richmond was no longer in danger. The coming of Jackson had enabled Lee to attack McClellan with such vigor and fierceness that the young Northern general was forced not only to retreat, but to fight against destruction.
But the Union mastery of the water, always supreme, was to come once more to the relief of the Northern army. As McClellan made his retreat, sometimes losing and sometimes beating off the enemy, but always leaving Richmond further and further behind, he had in mind his fleet in the James, and then, if pushed to the last extremity, the sea by which they had come.
But there were many staunch fighters yet in his ranks, and the Southern leaders were soon to find that they could not trifle with the Northern army even in defeat. He turned at Malvern Hill, a position of great strength, posted well his numerous and powerful artillery, and beat off all the efforts of Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the two Hills, and Armistead and the others. More than five thousand of the Southern troops fell in the fruitless charges. Then McClellan retreated to the James River and his gunboats and the forces of the North were not to come as near Richmond again for nearly three years.
The armies of Lee and Jackson marched back toward the Southern capital, for the possession of which forty thousand men had fallen in the Seven Days. Harry rode with Dalton, St. Clair and Langdon. They had come through the inferno unhurt, and while they shared in the rejoicings of the Virginia people, they had seen war, continued war, in its most terrible aspects, and they felt graver and older.
By the side of them marched the thin ranks of the Invincibles, with the two colonels, erect and warlike, leading them. Just ahead was Stonewall Jackson, stooped slightly in the saddle, the thoughtful blue eyes looking over the heads of his soldiers into the future.
"If he hadn"t made that tremendous campaign in the valley," said Dalton, "McClellan allied with McDowell would have come here with two hundred thousand men and it would have been all over."
"But he made it and he saved us," said Harry, glancing at his hero.
"And I"m thinking," said Happy Tom Langdon, glancing toward the North, "that he"ll have to make more like it. The Yankees will come again, stronger than ever."