CHAPTER VIII. THE MOUNTAIN BATTLE
General Jackson and several of his senior officers were examining thevalley with glasses, but Harry, with eyes trained to the open air andlong distances, could see clearly nearly all that was going on below.He saw movement among the masses of men in blue, and he saw officers onhorseback, galloping along the banks of the river. Then he saw cannonin trenches with their muzzles elevated toward the heights, and he knewthat the Union troops must have had warning of Jackson's coming. And hesaw, too, that the officers below also had glasses through which theywere looking.
There was a sudden blaze from the mouth of one of the cannon. A shellshot upward, whistling and shrieking, and burst far above their heads.Harry heard pieces of falling metal striking on the rocks behind them.The mountains sent back the cannon's roar in a sinister echo.
A second gun flashed and again the shell curved over their heads.But Jackson paid no heed. He was still watching intently through hisglasses.
"The enemy is up and alert," whispered St. Clair to Harry. "I judge thatthese are Western men used to sleeping with their eyes open."
"Like as not a lot of them are mountain West Virginians," said Harry."They are strong for the North, and it's likely, too, that they're themen who have discovered Jackson's advance."
"And they mean to make it warm for us. Listen to those guns! It's hardshooting aiming at men on heights, but it shows what they could do onlevel ground."
Jackson presently retired with his officers, and Harry, parting from hisfriends of the Invincibles, went with him. Back among the ridges all thetroops were under arms, the weary ones having risen from their blanketswhich were now tied in rolls on their backs. They had not yet been ableto bring the artillery up the steeps. Harry saw that the faces of allwere eager as they heard the thunder of the guns in the valley below.Among the most eager was a regiment of Georgians arrived but recentlywith the reinforcements.
Many of the men, speaking from the obscurity of the crowded ranks, didnot scorn to hurl questions at their officers.
"Are we goin' to fight the Yankees at last?"
"I'd rather take my chances with the bullets than march any more."
"Lead us down an' give us a chance at 'em."
Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire wereamong the officers who had gone with Jackson to the verge of the cliff,and now when they heard the impertinent but eager questions from themassed ranks they looked at each other and smiled. It was not accordingto West Point, but these were recruits and here was enthusiasm which wasa pearl beyond price.
General Jackson beckoned to Harry and three other young staff officers.
"Take glasses," he said, "go back to the verge of the cliff, and watchfor movements on the part of the enemy. If any is made be sure that yousee it, and report it to me at once."
The words were abrupt, sharp, admitting of no question or delay, andthe four fairly ran. Harry and his comrades lay down at the edge of thecliff and swept the valley with their glasses. The great guns were stillfiring at intervals of about a minute. The gunners could not see theSouthern troops drawn back behind the ridges, but Harry believed thatthey might be guided by signals from men on opposite slopes. But ifsignalmen were there they were hidden by the forest even from hisglasses.
The smoke from the cannon was gathering heavily in the narrow valley, soheavily that it began to obscure what was passing there in the Northernarmy. But the four, remembering the injunction of Jackson, a man whomust be obeyed to the last and minutest detail, still sought to piercethrough the smoke both with the naked eye and with glasses. As a riftappeared Harry saw a moving mass of men in blue. It was a great body oftroops and the sun shining through the rift glittered over bayonets andrifle barrels. They were marching straight toward a slope which led at arather easy grade up the side of the mountain.
"They're not waiting to be attacked! They're attacking!" cried Harry,springing to his feet and running to the point where he knew Jacksonstood. Jackson received his news, looked for himself, and then began topush on the troops. A shout arose as the army pressed forward to meetthe enemy who were coming so boldly.
"We ought to beat 'em, as we have the advantage of the heights,"exclaimed Sherburne, who was now on foot.
But the advantage was the other way. Those were staunch troops who wereadvancing, men of Ohio and West Virginia, and while they were yet on thelower slopes their cannon, firing over their heads, swept the crest withshot and shell. The eager Southern youths, as invariably happens withthose firing downward, shot too high. The Northern regiments now openingwith their rifles and taking better aim came on in splendid order.
"What a magnificent charge!" Harry heard Sherburne exclaim.
The rifles by thousands were at work, and the unceasing crash sentechoes far through the mountains. The Southerners at the edge of thecliff were cut down by the fire of their enemy from below. Their losswas now far greater than that of the North, and their officers sought todraw them back from the verge, to a ridge where they could receive thecharge, just as it reached the crest and pour into them their full fire.The eager young regiment from Georgia refused to obey.
"Have we come all these hundreds of miles from Georgia to run beforeYankees?" they cried, and stood there pulling trigger at the enemy,while their own men fell fast before the bitter Northern hail.
Harry, too, was forced to admire the great resolution and courage withwhich the Northern troops came upward, but he turned away to be readyfor any command that Jackson might give him. The general stood by a rockattentively watching the fierce battle that was going on, but not yetgiving any order. But Harry fancied that he saw his eyes glisten as hebeheld the ardor of his troops.
A detachment of Virginians, posted in the rear, seeing a break in thefirst line, rushed forward without orders, filled the gap and cameface to face with the men in blue. Harry thought he saw Jackson's eyesglisten again, but he was not sure.
The crash of the battle increased fast. The Southern troops had noartillery, but as the Northern charge came nearer the crest theirbullets ceased to fly over the heads of their enemies, but struck now inthe ranks. The ridges were enveloped in fire and smoke. A fresh Southernregiment was thrown in and the valiant Northern charge broke. The bravemen of Ohio and West Virginia, although they fought desperately andencouraged one another to stand fast, were forced slowly back down theslope.
Harry and a half dozen others beside him heard Jackson say, apparentlyto himself, "The battle will soon be over." Harry knew instinctivelythat it was true. He had got into the habit of believing every thingJackson said. The end came in fifteen minutes more, and with it came thenight.
The soldiers in their ardor had not noticed that the long shadows werecreeping over the mountains. The sun had already sunk in a blood-redblur behind the ridges, and as the men in blue slowly yielded the lastslope darkness which was already heavy in the defiles and ravines sweptdown over the valley.
Jackson had won, but his men had suffered heavily and moreover he hadstood on the defense. He could not descend into the valley in the faceof the Northern resistance which was sure to be fierce and enduring.The Northern cannon were beginning to send curving shells again over thecliffs, sinister warnings of what the Virginians might expect if theycame down to attack. Harry and the other staff officers peering over thecrest saw many fires burning along the banks of the river. Milroy seemedto be still bidding Jackson defiance.
Harry saw no preparations for a return assault. Jackson was inspectingthe ground, but his men were going over the field gathering up thewounded and burying the dead. The Georgians had suffered terribly--mostof all--for their rash bravery, and the whole army was subdued. Therewas less of exuberant youth, and more of grim and silent resolve.
Harry worked far into the night carrying orders here and there. Themoon came out and clothed the strange and weird battlefield in a robe ofsilver. The heavens were sown with starshine, but it all seemed mysticand unreal to the excited nerves of the boy. The mo
untains rose to two,three times their real height, and the valley in which the Northernfires burned became a mighty chasm.
It was one o'clock in the morning before Jackson himself left the fieldand went to his headquarters at a little farmhouse on the plateau.His faithful colored servant was waiting for him with food. He had nottouched any the whole day, but he declined it saying that he needednothing but sleep. He flung himself booted and clothed upon a bed andwas sound asleep in five minutes.
There was a little porch on one side of the house, and here Harry, whohad received no instructions from his general, camped. He rolled himselfin his cavalry cloak, lay down on the hard floor which was not hard tohim, and slept like a little child.
He was awakened at dawn as one often is by a presence, even though thatpresence be noiseless. He felt a great unwillingness to get up. That wasa good floor on which he slept, and the cavalry cloak wrapped aroundhim was the finest and warmest that he had ever felt. He did not wishto abandon either. But will triumphed. He opened his eyes and sprangquickly to his feet.
Stonewall Jackson was standing beside him looking intently toward thevalley. The edge of a blazing sun barely showed in the east, and in thewest all the peaks and ridges were yet in the dusk. Morning was comingin silence. There was no sound of battle or of the voices of men.
"I beg your pardon. I fear that I have overslept myself!" exclaimedHarry.
"Not at all," said Jackson with a slight smile. "The others of the staffare yet asleep. You might have come inside. A little room was left onthe floor there."
"I never had a better bed and I never slept better." The general smiledagain and gave Harry an approving glance.
"Soldiers, especially boys, learn quickly to endure any kind ofhardship," he said. "Come, we'll see if the enemy is still there."
Harry fancied from his tone that he believed Milroy gone, but knowingbetter than to offer any opinion of his own he followed him toward theedge of the valley. The pickets saluted as the silent figures passed.The sun in the east was rising higher over the valley, and in the westthe peaks and ridges were coming out of the dusk.
The general carried his glasses slung over his shoulder, but he didnot need them. One glance into the valley and they saw that the army ofMilroy was gone. It had disappeared, horse, foot and guns, and Harry nowknew that the long row of camp fires in the night had been a show, butonly a brave show, after all.
The whole Southern army awoke and poured down the slopes. Yes, Milroy,not believing that he was strong enough for another battle, had gonedown the valley. He had fought one good battle, but he would reach Banksbefore he fought another.
The Southern troops felt that they had won the victory, and Jacksonsent a message to Richmond announcing it. Never had news come at a moreopportune time. The fortunes of the South seemed to be at the lowestebb. Richmond had heard of the great battle of Shiloh, the failure todestroy Grant and the death of Albert Sidney Johnston. New Orleans,the largest and richest city in the Confederacy, had been taken by theNorthern fleet--the North was always triumphant on the water--and themighty army of McClellan had landed on the Peninsula of Virginia for theadvance on Richmond.
It had seemed that the South was doomed, and the war yet scarcely ayear old. But in the mountains the strange professor of mathematics hadstruck a blow and he might strike another. Both North and South realizedanew that no one could ever tell where he was or what he might do. Thegreat force, advancing by land to co-operate with McClellan, hesitated,and drew back.
But Jackson's troops knew nothing then of what was passing in the mindsof men at Washington and Richmond. They were following Milroy and thatcommander, wily as well as brave, was pressing his men to the utmost inorder that he might escape the enemy who, he was sure, would pursue withall his power. He knew that he had fought with Stonewall Jackson and heknew the character of the Southern leader.
Sherburne brought his horses through a defile into the valley and hismen, now mounted, led the pursuit. Jackson in his eagerness rode withhim and Harry was there, too. Behind them came the famous foot cavalry.Thus pursuer and pursued rolled down the valley, and Harry exultedwhen he looked at the path of the fleeing army. The traces were growingfresher and fresher. Jackson was gaining.
But there were shrewd minds in Milroy's command. The Western men knewmany devices of battle and the trail, and Milroy was desperately bentupon saving his force, which he knew would be overwhelmed, if overtakenby Jackson's army. Now he had recourse to a singular device.
Harry, riding with Captain Sherburne, noticed that the trees were drydespite the recent rains. On the slopes of the mountains the water ranoff fast, and the thickets were dry also. Then he saw a red light in theforest in front of them. General Jackson saw it at the same time.
"What is that?" he exclaimed.
"It looks like a forest fire, general," replied Sherburne.
"You're right, captain, and it's growing."
As they galloped forward they saw the red light expand rapidly andspread directly across their path. The whole forest was on fire. Greatflames rose up the trunks of trees and leaped from bough to bough.Sparks flew in millions and vast clouds of smoke, picked up by the wind,were whirled in their faces.
The troop of cavalry was compelled to pause and General Jackson,brushing the smoke from his eyes, said:
"Clever! very clever! Milroy has put a fiery wall between us."
The device was a complete success. The pursuing men in gray could passaround the fire at points, and wait at other points for it to burn out,but they lost so much time that their cavalry were able only to skirmishwith the Northern rear guard. Then when night came on Milroy escapedunder cover of the thick and smoky darkness.
Harry slept on the ground that night, but the precious cloak was aroundhim. He slept beyond the dawn as the pursuit was now abandoned, butwhen he arose smoke was still floating over the valley and the burnedforests. He was stiff and sore, but the fierce hunger that assailedhim made him forget the aching of his bones. He had eaten nothing forthirty-six hours. He had forgotten until then that there was such athing as food. But the sight of Langdon holding a piece of frying baconon a stick afflicted him with a raging desire.
"Give me that bacon, Tom," he cried, "or I'll set the rest of the foreston fire!"
"No need, you old war-horse. I was just bringing it to you. There'splenty more where this came from. The foot cavalry took it at McDowell,and like the wise boys they are brought it on with them. Come and joinus. Your general is already riding a bit up the valley, and, as hedidn't call you, it follows that he doesn't want you."
Harry followed him gladly. The Invincibles had found a good place, andwere cooking a solid breakfast. They had bacon and ham and coffeeand bread in abundance, and for a while there was a great eating anddrinking.
To youth which had marched and fought without food it was not abreakfast. It was a banquet and a feast. Young frames which recoverquickly responded at once. Now and then, the musical clatter of ironspoons and knives on iron cups and plates was broken by deep sighs ofsatisfaction. But they did not speak for a while. There was lost timeto be made up, and they did not know when they would get another suchchance--the odds were always against it.
"Enough is enough," said Langdon at last. "It took a lot to make enough,but it's enough. You have to be a soldier, Harry, to appreciate whatit is to eat, sleep and rest. I'm willing to wager my uniform against alast winter's snowball that we don't get another such meal in a month.Old Jack won't let us."
"To my mind," said St. Clair, "we're going right into the middle of bigthings. We've chased the Yankees out of the mountains into the valley,and we'll follow hot on their heels. We've already learned enough ofGeneral Jackson to know that he doesn't linger."
"Linger!" exclaimed Langdon indignantly. "Even if there was no fightingto be done he'd march us from one end of the valley to the other justto keep us in practice. Hear that bugle! Off we go! Five minutes to getready! Or maybe it is only three!"
It was more than five
minutes, but not much more, when the whole armywas on the march again, but the foot cavalry forgot to grumble whenthey came again into their beloved valley, across which, and up and downwhich, they had marched so much.
They threw back their shoulders, their gait became more jaunty and theyburst into cheers, at the sight of the rich rolling country, now sobeautiful in spring's heavy green. Far off the mountains rose, darkand blue, but they were only the setting for the gem and made it moreprecious.
"It's ours," said Sherburne proudly to Harry. "We left it to the Yankeesfor a little while, but we've come back to claim it, and if the unbiddentenant doesn't get out at once we'll put him out. Harry, haven't you gotVirginia kinfolks? We want to adopt you and call you a Virginian."
"Lots of them. My great-grandfather, Governor Ware, was born inMaryland, but all the people on my mother's side were of Virginiaorigin."
"I might have known it. Kentucky is the daughter of Virginia though alarge part of Kentucky takes sides with the Yankees. But that's not yourfault. Remember, for the time being you're a Virginian, one of us byright of blood and deed."
"Count me among 'em at once," said Harry. He felt a certain pride inthis off-hand but none the less real adoption, because he knew that itwas a great army with which he marched, and it might immortalize itself.
"What's the news, Harry?" asked Sherburne. "You're always near Old Jack,and if he lets anything come from under that old hat of his, which isn'toften, it's because he's willing for it to be known."
"He's said this, and he doesn't mean it to be any secret. Banks isat Strasburg with a big army, but he's fortified himself there and hedoesn't know just what to do. He doesn't for the life of him know whichway Jackson is coming, nor do I. But I do know that Ewell with hisdivision is going to join us at last and we'll have a sizable army."
"And that means bigger things!" exclaimed Sherburne, joyously. "Betweenyou and me, Harry, Banks won't sleep soundly again for many a night!"
As they marched on the valley people came out joyously to meet them.Even women and girls on horseback, galloping, reined in their horses totell them where the Union forces lay. Always they had information forJackson, never any for the North. Here scouts and spies were scarcelyneeded by the Southern army. Before night Stonewall Jackson knew as muchof his enemy as any general needed to know.
They camped at dusk and Langdon, contrary to his prediction, enjoyedanother ample meal and plenty of rest. Jackson allowed no tent to beset for himself. The night was warm and beautiful and the songs of birdscame from the trees. The general had eaten sparingly, and now he sat ona log in deep thought. Presently he looked up and said:
"Lieutenant Kenton, do you and Lieutenant Dalton ride forward in thatdirection and meet General Ewell. He is coming, with his staff, to seeme. Escort him to the camp."
He pointed out the direction and in an instant Harry and Dalton, also ofthe staff, were in the camp, following the line of that pointing finger.They had the password and as they passed a little beyond the picketsthey saw a half dozen horsemen riding rapidly toward them in the dusk.
"General Ewell, is it not, sir?" said Harry, as he and Dalton gave thesalute.
"I'm General Ewell," replied the foremost horseman. "Do you come fromGeneral Jackson?"
"Yes, sir. His camp is just before you. You can see the lights now. Hehas directed us to meet you and escort you."
"Then lead the way."
The two young lieutenants, guiding General Ewell and his staff, weresoon inside Jackson's camp, but Harry had time to observe Ewell well. Hehad already heard of him as a man of great vigor and daring. He had madea name for judgment and dash in the Indian wars on the border. Menspoke of him as a soldier, prompt to obey his superior and ready to takeresponsibility if his superior were not there. Harry knew that Jacksonexpected much of him.
He saw a rather slender man with wonderfully bright eyes that smiledmuch, a prominent and pronounced nose and a strong chin. When he tookoff his hat at the meeting with Jackson he disclosed a round bald head,which he held on one side when he talked.
Jackson had risen from the log as Ewell rode up and leaped from hismagnificent horse--his horses were always of the best--and he advanced,stretching out his hand. Ewell clasped it and the two talked. The staffsof the two generals had withdrawn out of ear shot, but Harry noticedthat Ewell did much the greater part of the talking, his head cocked onone side in that queer, striking manner. But Harry knew, too, thatthe mind and will of Jackson were dominant, and that Ewell readilyacknowledged them as so.
The conference did not last long. Then the two generals shook handsagain and Ewell sprang upon his horse. Jackson beckoned to Harry.
"Lieutenant Kenton," he said, "ride with General Ewell to his camp.You will then know the way well, and he may wish to send me some quickdispatch."
Harry, nothing loath, was in the saddle in an instant, and at the wishof General Ewell rode by his side.
"You have been with him long?" said Ewell.
"From the beginning of the campaign here, sir."
"Then you were at both Kernstown and McDowell. A great general, youngman."
"Yes, sir. He will march anywhere and fight anything."
"That's my own impression. We've heard that his men are the greatestmarchers in the world. My own lads under him will acquire the samemerit."
"We know, sir, that your men are good marchers already."
General Ewell laughed with satisfaction.
"It's true," he said. "When I told my second in command that we weregoing to march to join General Jackson he wanted to bring tents. I toldhim that would load us up with a lot of tent poles and that he mustbring only a few, for the sick, perhaps. There must be no baggage, justfood and ammunition. I told 'em that when we joined General Jackson we'dhave nothing to do but eat and fight."
He seemed now to be speaking to himself rather than to Harry, and theboy said nothing. Ewell, relapsing into silence, urged his horse to agallop and the staff perforce galloped, too. Such a pace soon broughtthem to the camp of the second army, and as they rode past the picketsHarry heard the sound of stringed music.
"The Cajuns," said one of the staff, a captain named Morton. Harry didnot know what "Cajuns" meant, but he was soon to learn. Meanwhile thesound of the music was pleasant in his ear, and he saw that the camp,despite the lateness of the hour, was vivid with life.
General Ewell gave Harry into Captain Morton's care, and walked away toa small tent, where he was joined by several of his senior officers fora conference. But after they had tethered their horses for the night,Captain Morton took Harry through the camp.
Harry was full of eagerness and curiosity and he asked to see first thestrange "Cajuns," those who made the music.
"They are Louisiana French," said Morton, "not the descendants or theoriginal French settlers in that state, but the descendants of theFrench by the way of Nova Scotia."
"Oh, I see, the Acadians, the exiles."
"Yes, that's it. The name has been corrupted into Cajuns in Louisiana.They are not like the French of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and theother towns. They are rural and primitive. You'll like them. Few of themwere ever more than a dozen miles from home before. They love music, andthey've got a full regimental band with them. You ought to hear it play.Why, they'd play the heart right out of you."
"I like well enough the guitars and banjos that they're playing now.Seems to me that kind of music is always best at night."
They had now come within the rim of light thrown out by the fires ofthe Acadians, and Harry stood there looking for the first time at thesedark, short people, brought a thousand miles from their homes.
They were wholly unlike Virginians and Kentuckians. They had black eyesand hair, and their naturally dark faces were burned yet darker by thesun of the Gulf. Yet the dark eyes were bright and gay, sparkling withkindliness and the love of pleasure. The guitars and banjos were playingsome wailing tune, with a note of sadness in the core of it so keen andpenetrating that it made the water com
e to Harry's eyes. But it changedsuddenly to something that had all the sway and lilt of the rosy South.Men sprang to their feet and clasping arms about one another began tosway back and forth in the waltz and the polka.
Harry watched with mingled amazement and pleasure. Most of the Southwas religious and devout. The Virginians of the valley were nearly allstaunch Presbyterians, and Stonewall Jackson, staunchest of them all,never wanted to fight on Sunday. The boy himself had been reared in astern Methodist faith, and the lightness in this French blood of theSouth was new to him. But it pleased him to see them sing and dance, andhe found no wrong in it, although he could not have done it himself.
Captain Morton noticed Harry's close attention and he read his mind.
"They surprised me, too, at first," he said, "but they're fine soldiers,and they've put cheer into this army many a time when it needed itmost. Taylor, their commander, is a West Pointer and he's got them intowonderful trim. They're well clothed and well shod. They never straggleand they're just about the best marchers we have. They'll soon be ratedhigh among Jackson's foot cavalry."
Harry left the Acadians with reluctance, and when he made the round ofthe camp General Ewell, who had finished the conference, told him thathe would have no message to send that night to Jackson. He might go tosleep, but the whole division would march early in the morning. Harrywrapped himself again in his cloak, found a place soft with moss under atree, and slept with the soft May wind playing over his face and lullinghim to deeper slumber.
He rode the next morning with General Ewell and the whole division tojoin Jackson's army. It was a trim body of men, well clad, fresh andstrong, and they marched swiftly along the turnpike, on both sides ofwhich Jackson was encamped further on.
Harry felt a personal pride in being with Ewell when the junction wasto be made. He felt that, in a sense, he was leading in this greatreinforcement himself, and he looked back with intense satisfaction atthe powerful column marching so swiftly along the turnpike.
They came late in the day to Jackson's pickets, and then they saw hisarmy, scattered through the fields on either side of the road.
Harry rejoiced once more in the grand appearance of the new division.Every coat or tunic sat straight. Every shoe-lace was tied, and theymarched with the beautiful, even step of soldiers on parade. Theywere to encamp beyond Jackson's old army, and as they passed along theturnpike it was lined on either side by Jackson's own men, cheering withvigor.
The colonel who was in immediate charge of the encampment, a man who hadnever seen General Jackson, asked Harry where he might find him. Harrypointed to a man sitting on the top rail of a fence beside the road.
"But I asked for General Jackson," said the colonel.
"That's General Jackson."
The colonel approached and saluted. General Jackson's clothes weresoiled and dusty. His feet, encased in cavalry boots that reached beyondthe knees, rested upon a lower rail of the fence. A worn cap with adented visor almost covered his eyes. The rest of his face was concealedby a heavy, dark beard.
"General Jackson, I believe," said the officer, saluting.
"Yes. How far have those men marched?" The voice was kindly andapproving.
"We've come twenty-six miles, sir."
"Good. And I see no stragglers."
"We allow no stragglers."
"Better still. I haven't been able to keep my own men from straggling,and you'll have to teach them."
At that moment the Acadian band began to play, and it played themerriest waltz it knew. Jackson gazed at it, took a lemon from hispocket and began to suck the juice from it meditatively. The officerstood before him in some embarrassment.
"Aren't they rather thoughtless for such serious work as war?" asked thePresbyterian general.
"I am confident, sir, that their natural gayety will not impair theirvalue as soldiers."
Jackson put the end of the lemon back in his mouth and drew some juicefrom it. The colonel bowed and retired. Then Jackson beckoned to Harry,who stood by.
"Follow him and tell him," he said, "that the band can play as much asit likes. I noticed, too, that it plays well."
Jackson smiled and Harry hurried after the officer, who flushed withgratification, when the message was delivered to him.
"I'll tell it to the men," he said, "and they'll fight all the betterfor it."
That night it was a formidable army that slept in the fields on eitherside of the turnpike, and in the silence and the dark, Stonewall Jacksonwas preparing to launch the thunderbolt.