His smile was friendly and the grip of his big hand cordial.
"I am satisfied, sir, that you, your officers and men have done the best you could. All accounts say that better fighting was never done. Ten thousand thanks, in the name of the people for it."
The words were generous, but the commander put in a suggestion for more.
"Never, Mr. President," he said emphatically, "did such a change of base, involving a retrogressive movement under incessant attacks from a vastly more numerous foe partake of so little disaster. When all is known you will see that the movement just completed by this army is unparalleled in the annals of war. We have preserved our trains, our guns, our material, and, above all, our honor."
"Rest a.s.sured, General," the quiet voice responded, "the heroism and skill of yourself, officers and men, is and forever will be appreciated."
The President returned to Washington profoundly puzzled as to his duty.
He was alarmed at the display of self esteem which his defeated General had navely made, and his loyalty was boldly and opened questioned by his advisers, and yet he was loath to remove him from command. Down in his square, honest heart he felt that with all his faults, McClellan was a man of worth, that he had never been thoroughly whipped in a single battle and that he hadn"t had a fair trial.
Any other man in power than Abraham Lincoln would have removed him instantly on the receipt of his insolent and insulting dispatch.
Instead, the President had gone to see him with an open mind. He returned determined to strengthen his military council by the addition of an expert in Washington as his Commander-in-Chief.
He called to this post Henry W. Halleck. Although McClellan had waived the crown of such power aside with lofty words of unselfish patriotism, he received the announcement of Halleck"s promotion and his subordination with sullen rage.
"In this thing," he wrote his wife, "the President and those around him have acted so as to make the matter as offensive as possible to me."
And yet against every demand that McClellan should be removed from command the President was obdurate. Again and again his friends urged:
"McClellan is playing for the Presidency."
The tall man merely nodded:
"All right. Let him. I am perfectly willing that he shall have it if he will only put an end to this war."
But if the President refused to remove him from command, Halleck and Stanton managed quickly to strip him of half his army by detaching and sending it to join the new army of General Pope. McClellan, with the remainder of his men, had been sent by transport back to Alexandria.
General John Pope was summoned from the West to take command of the new "Army of Virginia," composed of the divisions of Fremont, Banks and McDowell, and the detached portion of McClellan"s men.
All eyes were now centred on the new Commander. The West had only seen success--Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Shiloh, and Island No.
10.
The new General on the day he began his advance against Lee and Jackson issued an address to his army which sent a chill to the heart of the President.
"I have come to you from the West," he proclaimed, "where we have always seen the backs of our enemies--from an army whose business has been to seek the adversary and beat him when found. I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry to find much in vogue among you. I hear constantly of "lines of retreat" and "bases of supplies."
Let us discard such ideas. Let us look before us, not behind. From to-day my headquarters will be in the saddle."
Every man in the Army of the Potomac which McClellan had created and fought with such fierce and terrible, if unsuccessful power, resented this address as an insult. McClellan himself was furious. For some reason only part of the forces from his army which were detached ever reached Pope, and those who did were not enthusiastic. It was expecting too much of human nature to believe that they could be.
The outlook for the coming battle was ominous.
CHAPTER XV
TANGLED THREADS
Betty Winter received a telegram from John Vaughan announcing his arrival at Alexandria with McClellan on the last day of August. Her heart gave a bound of joy. She could see him to-morrow. It had been five years instead of five months since she had stood on that little pier and watched him float away into the mists of the river! All life before the revelation which love had brought was now a shadowy memory. Only love was real. His letters had been her life. They hadn"t come as often as she had wished. She demanded his whole heart. There could be no compromise. It must be all, _all_ or nothing.
She tried to sleep and couldn"t. Her brain was on fire.
"I must sleep and look my best!" she laughed softly, buried her face in the pillow and laughed again for joy. How could she sleep with her lover standing there alive and strong with his arms clasping her to his heart!
She rose at daylight and threw open her window. The air was crisp with the breath of fall. She watched the sun rise in solemn glory. A division of cavalry dashed by, the horses" hoofs ringing sharply on the cobble stones, sabres clashing. Behind them came another and another, and in a distant street she heard the rumble of big guns, the crack of their drivers" whips and the sharp cries of the men urging the horses to a run.
Something unusual was on foot. The sun was barely up and the whole city seemed quivering with excitement.
She dressed hurriedly, s.n.a.t.c.hed a bite of toast and drank a cup of coffee. In twenty minutes she entered the White House to get her pa.s.s to the front. She wouldn"t go to the War Department. Stanton was rude and might refuse. The hour was absurd, but she knew that the President rose at daylight and that he would see her at any hour.
She found him seated at his desk alone pretending to eat an egg and drink his coffee from the tray that had been placed before him. His dishevelled hair, haggard look and the pallor of his sorrowful face showed only too plainly that he had not slept.
"You have bad news, Mr. President?" Betty gasped.
He rose, took her hand and led her to a seat.
"Not yet, dear, but I"m expecting it."
"We lost the battle yesterday?" she eagerly asked.
"Apparently not. You may read that. I trust you implicitly."
He handed her the dispatch he had received from General Pope after the first day"s fight at Mana.s.sas. Betty read it quickly:
"We fought a terrific battle here yesterday with the combined forces of the enemy, which lasted with continuous fury from daylight until dark, by which time the enemy was driven from the field which we now occupy.
The enemy is still in our front, but badly used up. We lost not less than eight thousand men killed and wounded, but from the appearance of the field the enemy lost two to one. The news has just reached me from the front that the enemy is retreating toward the mountains."
Betty looked up surprised:
"Isn"t that good news?"
"Nothing to brag about. It"s the last sentence that worries me----"
"But that seems the best!"
"It might be but for the fact that Jackson is leading that retreat toward the mountains! I"ve an idea that he will turn up to-day on Pope"s rear with Lee"s whole army on his heels. Jackson is in the habit of appearing where he"s least expected----"
He paused, paced the floor a moment in silence and threw his long arms suddenly upward in a hopeless gesture:
"If G.o.d would only give me such a man to lead our armies!"
"Is General McClellan at Alexandria to-day?" Betty suddenly asked.
"I"m wondering myself. He should be on that field with every soldier under his command."
"I"ve come to ask you for a pa.s.s to Alexandria----"