The Scouts of Stonewall: The Story of the Great Valley Campaign

  CHAPTER XIV. THE DOUBLE BATTLE

  The twenty-four hours were a rest, merely by comparison. There was nopursuit, at least, the enemy was not in sight, but the scouts broughtword that the bridge over the Shenandoah would be completed in a day andnight, and that Fremont would follow. Jackson's army triumphantly passedthe last defile of the Massanuttons and the army of Shields did notappear issuing from it. It was no longer possible for them to be struckin front and on the flank at the same time, and the army breathed amighty sigh of relief. At night of the next day Harry was sitting by thecamp of the Invincibles, having received a brief leave of absence fromthe staff, and he detailed the news to his eager friends.

  "General Jackson is stripping again for battle," he said to ColonelLeonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. "He's sentall the sick and wounded across a ferry to Staunton, and he's dispatchedhis prisoners and captured stores by another road. So he has nothingleft but men fit for battle."

  "Which includes me," said St. Clair proudly, showing his left shoulderfrom which the bandage had been taken, "I'm as well as ever."

  "Men get well fast with Stonewall Jackson," said Colonel Talbot. "I'llconfess to you lads that I thought it was all up with us there in thelower valley, when we were surrounded by the masses of the enemy, and Idon't see yet how we got here."

  "But we are here, Leonidas," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire,"and that's enough for us to know."

  "Right, Hector, old friend. It's enough for us to know. Do you by chancehappen to have left two of those delightful cigarettes?"

  "Just two, Leonidas, one for you and one for me, and now is a chance tosmoke 'em."

  The young lieutenants drew to one side while the two old friends smokedand compared notes. They did not smoke, but they compared notes also, asthey rested on the turf. The rain had ceased and the grass was dry. Theysaw through the twilight the dark mass of the Massanuttons, the extremesouthern end, and Happy Tom Langdon waved his hand toward the mountain,like one who salutes a friend.

  "Good old mountain," he said. "You've been a buffer between us and theenemy more than once, but it took a mind like Stonewall Jackson's tokeep moving you around so you would stand between the armies of theenemy and make the Yankees fight, only one army at a time."

  "You're right," said Harry, who was enjoying the deep luxury of rest. "Ididn't know before that mountains could be put to such good use. Look,you can see lights on the ridge now."

  They saw lights, evidently those of powerful lanterns swung to and fro,but they did not understand them, nor did they care much.

  "Signals are just trifles to me now," said Happy Tom. "What do I carefor lights moving on a mountain four or five miles away, when for amonth, day and night without stopping, a million Yankees have beenshooting rifle bullets at me, and a thousand of the biggest cannon evercast have been pouring round shot, long shot, shell, grape, canister anda hundred other kinds of missiles that I can't name upon this innocentand unoffending head of mine."

  "They'll be on us tomorrow, Happy," said St. Clair, more gravely. "Thispicnic of ours can't last more than a day."

  "I think so, too," said Harry. "So long, boys, I've got to join CaptainSherburne. The general has detached me for service with him under Ashby,and you know that when you are with them, something is going to happen."

  Harry slept well that night, partly in a camp and partly in a saddle,and he found himself the next day with Ashby and Sherburne near a littletown called Harrisonburg. They were on a long hill in thick forest, andthe scouts reported that the enemy was coming. The Northern armies wereuniting now and they were coming up the valley, expecting to crush allopposition.

  "Take your glasses, Harry," said Sherburne, "and you'll see a strongforce crossing the fields, but it's not strong enough. We've a splendidposition here in the forest and you just watch. Ah, here come yourfriends, the Invincibles. See, Ashby is forming them in the center,while we, of the horse, take the flanks."

  The men in blue, catching sight of the Confederate uniforms in the wood,charged with a shout, but they did not know the strength of the forcebefore them. The Invincibles poured in a deadly fire at close range, andthen Ashby's cavalry with a yell charged on either flank. The Northerntroops, taken by surprise, gave way, and the Southern force followed,firing continuously.

  They came within a half mile of Harrisonburg, and the main Northern armyof Fremont was at hand. The general who had pursued so long, saw hismen retreating, and, filled with chagrin and anger, he hurried forwardheavier forces of both cavalry and infantry. Other troops came to therelief of Ashby also, and Harry saw what he thought would be only aheavy skirmish grow into a hot battle of size.

  Fremont, resolved that the North should win a battle in the open field,and rejoiced that he had at last brought his enemy to bay, never ceasedto hurry his troops to the combat. Formidable lines of the westernriflemen rushed on either flank, and before their deadly rifles Ashby'scavalry wavered. Harry saw with consternation that they were about togive way, but Ashby galloped up to the unbroken lines of infantry andordered them to charge.

  The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when his horse, shot through,fell to the ground. Ashby fell with him, but he sprang instantly to hisfeet, and shouted in a loud voice:

  "Charge men, for God's sake! Charge! Charge!" With a rush and roar, theInvincibles and their comrades swept forward, but at the same instantHarry saw Ashby fall again. With a cry of horror he leaped from hishorse and ran to him, lifting him in his arms. But he quickly laid himback on the grass. Ashby had been shot through the heart and killedinstantly.

  Harry gazed around him, struck with grief and dismay, but he saw onlythe resistless rush of the infantry. The Invincibles and their comradeswere avenging the death of Turner Ashby. Tired of retreating and hotfor action they struck the Northern division with a mighty impact,shattering it and driving it back rapidly. The Southern cavalry,recovering also, struck it on the flank, and the defeat was complete.Fremont's wish was denied him. After so much hard marching and such agallant and tenacious pursuit, he had gone the way of the other Northerngenerals who opposed Jackson, and was beaten.

  Although they had driven back the vanguard, winning a smart littlevictory, and telling to Fremont and Shields that the pursuit of Jacksonhad now become dangerous, there was gloom in the Southern army. Thehorsemen did not know until they trotted back and saw Harry kneelingbeside his dead body, that the great Ashby was gone. For a while theycould not believe it. Their brilliant and daring leader, who had ledJackson's vanguard in victory, and who had hung like a covering curtainin retreat, could not have fallen. It seemed impossible that the man whohad led for days and days through continuous showers of bullets couldhave been slain at last by some stray shot.

  But they lifted him up finally and carried him away to a house in thelittle neighboring village of Port Republic, Sherburne and the othercaptains, hot from battle, riding with uncovered heads. He was put upona bed there, and Harry, a staff officer, was selected to ride to Jacksonwith the news. He would gladly have evaded the errand, but it wasobvious that he was the right messenger.

  He rode slowly and found Jackson coming up with the main force, Dr.McGuire, his physician, and Colonel Crutchfield, his chief of artillery,riding on either side of him. The general gave one glance at Harry'sdrooping figure.

  "Well," he said, "have we not won the victory? From a hilltop ourglasses showed the enemy in flight."

  "Yes, general," said Harry, taking off his hat, "we defeated the enemy,but General Ashby is dead."

  Jackson and his staff were silent for a moment, and Harry saw thegeneral shrink as if he had received a heavy blow.

  "Ashby killed! Impossible!" he exclaimed.

  "It's true, sir. I helped to carry his body to a house in Port Republic,where it is now lying."

  "Lead us to that house, Mr. Kenton," said Jackson.

  Harry rode forward in silence, and the others followed in the samesilence. At the house, after they had looked upon the bo
dy, Jacksonasked to be left alone awhile with all that was left of Turner Ashby.The others withdrew and Harry always believed that Jackson prayed withinthat room for the soul of his departed comrade.

  When he came forth his face had resumed its sternness, but was withoutother expression, as usual.

  "He will not show grief, now," said Sherburne, "but I think that hissoul is weeping."

  "And a bad time for Fremont and Shields is coming," said Harry.

  "It's a risk that we all take in war," said Dalton, who was more of afatalist than any of the others.

  The chief wrote a glowing official tribute to Ashby, saying that his"daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, hischaracter heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining thepurposes and movements of the enemy." Yet deeply as Harry had beenaffected by Ashby's death, it could not remain in his mind long, becausethey had passed the Massanuttons now, and Fremont and Shields followingup the valley must soon unite.

  Harry believed that Jackson intended to strike a blow. The situationof the Confederacy was again critical--it seemed to Harry that it wasalways critical--and somebody must wield the sword, quick and strong.McClellan with his great and well-trained army was before Richmond. Itwas only the rapid marches and lightning strokes of Jackson that hadkept McDowell with another great army from joining him, but to keep backthis force of McDowell until they dealt with McClellan, there must beyet other rapid marches and lightning strokes.

  Harry's sleep that night was the longest in two weeks, but he was upat dawn, and he was directed by Jackson to ride forward with Sherburnetoward the southern base of the Massanuttons, observe the approach ofboth Fremont and Shields and report to him.

  Harry was glad of his errand. He always liked to ride with Sherburne,who was a fount of cheerfulness, and he was still keyed up to thatextraordinary intensity and pitch of excitement that made all thingspossible. He now understood how the young soldiers of Napoleon inItaly had been able to accomplish so much. It was the man, a leader ofinspiration and genius, surcharging them all with electrical fire.

  Sherburne's troop was a portion of a strong cavalry force, which dividedas it reached the base of the Massanuttons, a half passing on eitherside. Sherburne and Harry rode to the right in order to see the armyof Shields. The day was beautiful, with a glorious June sun and gentlewinds, but Harry, feeling something strange about it, realized presentlythat it was the silence. For more than two weeks cannon had beenthundering and rifles crashing in the valley, almost without cessation.Neither night nor storm had caused any interruption.

  It seemed strange, almost incredible now, but they heard birds singingas they flew from tree to tree, and peaceful rabbits popped up in thebrush. Yet before they went much further they saw the dark masses of theNorthern army under Shields moving slowly up the valley, and anxious forthe junction with Fremont.

  But the Northern generals were again at a loss. Jackson had turnedsuddenly and defeated Fremont's vanguard with heavy loss, but whathad become of him afterward? Fremont and Shields were uncertain ofthe position of each other, and they were still more uncertain aboutJackson's. He might fall suddenly upon either, and they grew verycautious as they drew near to the end of the Massanuttons.

  Sherburne and Harry, after examining the Northern army throughtheir glasses, rode back with a dozen men to the south base ofthe Massanuttons. Most of them were signal officers, and Harry andSherburne, dismounting, climbed the foot of the mountain with them. Whenthey stood upon the crest and looked to right and left in the clear Juneair, they beheld a wonderful sight.

  To the south along Mill Creek lay Jackson's army. To the west massedin the wider valley was the army of Fremont, which had followed them sotenaciously, and to the east, but just separated from it by the base ofthe Massanuttons, were the masses of Shields advancing slowly.

  Harry through his powerful glasses could see the horsemen in frontscouting carefully in advance of either army, and once more heappreciated to the full Jackson's skill in utilizing the mountains andrivers to keep his enemies apart. But what would he do now that theywere passing the Massanuttons, and there was no longer anything toseparate Shields and Fremont. He dismissed the thought. There was anintellect under the old slouch hat of the man who rode Little Sorrelthat could rescue them from anything.

  "Quite a spectacle," said Sherburne. "A man can't often sit at ease ona mountaintop and look at three armies. Now, Barron, you are to signalfrom here to General Jackson every movement of our enemies, but justbefore either Shields or Fremont reaches the base of the mountain,you're to slip down and join us."

  "We'll do it, sir," said Barron, the chief signal officer. "We're notlikely to go to sleep up here with armies on three sides of us."

  Sherburne, Harry and two other men who were not to stay slowly descendedthe mountain. Harry enjoyed the breathing space. On the mountainside hewas lifted, for a while, above the fierce passions of war. He saw thingsfrom afar and they were softened by distance. He drew deep breaths ofthe air, crisp and cool, on the heights, and Sherburne, who saw the glowon his face, understood. The same glow was on his own face.

  "It's a grand panorama, Harry," he said, "and we'll take our fill of itfor a few moments." They stood on a great projection of rock and lookedonce more and for a little while into the valley and its divisions. Thetwo Northern armies were nearer now, and they were still moving. Harrysaw the sun flashing over thousands of bayonets. He almost fancied hecould hear the crack of the teamsters' whips as the long lines of wagonsin the rear creaked along.

  They descended rapidly, remounted their horses and galloped back toJackson.

  They buried Ashby that day, all the leading Southern officers followinghim to his grave, and throughout the afternoon the silence wascontinued. But the signals on the mountain worked and worked, and thesignalmen with Jackson replied. No movement of the two pursuing armieswas unknown to the Southern leader.

  Harry, with an hour's leave, visited once more his friends of theInvincibles. He had begged a package of fine West Indian cigarettesfrom Sherburne, and he literally laid them at the feet of the twocolonels--he found them sitting together on the grass, lean gray men whoseemed to be wholly reduced to bone and muscle.

  "This is a great gift, Harry, perhaps greater than you think," saidColonel Leonidas Talbot gravely. "I tried to purchase some from thecommissariat, but they had none--it seems that General Stonewall Jacksondoesn't consider cigarettes necessary for his troops. Anyhow, the wayour Confederate money is going, I fancy a package of cigarettes willsoon cost a hundred dollars. Here, Hector, light up. We divide this box,half and half. That's right, isn't it, Harry?"

  "Certainly, sir."

  Harry passed on to the junior officers and found St. Clair and Happy Tomlying on the grass. Happy pretended to rouse from sleep when Harry came.

  "Hello, old omen of war," he said. "What's Old Jack expecting of usnow?"

  "I told you never to ask me such a question as that again. The generalisn't what you'd call a garrulous man. How's your shoulder, Arthur?"

  "About well. The muscles were not torn. It was just loss of blood thattroubled me for the time."

  "I hear," said Langdon, "that the two Yankee armies are to join soon.The Massanuttons won't be between them much longer, and then they'llhave only one of the forks of the river to cross before they fall uponeach other's breasts and weep with joy. Harry, it seems to me that we'realways coming to a fork of the Shenandoah. How many forks does it haveanyhow?"

  "Only two, but the two forks have forks of their own. That's the reasonwe're always coming to deep water and by the same token the Yankees arealways coming to it, too, which is a good thing for us, as we get therefirst, when the bridges are there, and when the Yankees come they aregone."

  But not one of these boys understood the feeling in the Northernarmies. Late the day before a messenger from Shields had got through theMassanuttons to Fremont, and had informed him that an easy triumphwas at hand. Jackson and his army, he said, fearing the onset ofove
rwhelming numbers, was retreating in great disorder.

  The two generals were now convinced of speedy victory. They hadcommunicated at last, and they could have some concert of movement.Jackson was less than thirty miles away, and his army was now but aconfused mass of stragglers which would dissolve under slight impact.Both had defeats and disappointments to avenge, and they pushed forwardnow with increased speed, Shields in particular showing the greatestenergy in pursuit. But the roads were still deep in mud, and his armywas forced to toil on all that day and the next, while the signalmenon the top of the Massanuttons told every movement he made to StonewallJackson.

  The signals the second evening told Jackson that the two Northern armieswere advancing fast, and that he would soon have before him an enemyoutnumbering him anywhere from two to three to one. He had been talkingwith Ewell just before the definite news was brought, and Harry, Daltonand other officers of the staff stood near, as their duty bade them.

  Harry knew the nature of the information, as it was not a secret fromany member of the staff, and now they all stood silently on one sideand watched Jackson. Even Ewell offered no suggestion, but kept hiseyes fixed anxiously on his chief. Harry felt that another one of thosecritical moments, perhaps the most dangerous of all, had arrived. Theyhad fought army after army in detail, but now they must fight armiesunited, or fly. He did not know that the silent general was preparingthe most daring and brilliant of all his movements in the valley. In theface of both Shields and Fremont his courage flamed to the highest, andthe brain under the old slouch hat grew more powerful and penetratingthan ever. And flight never for a moment entered into his scheme.

  Jackson at length said a few words to Ewell, who sprang upon his horseand rode away to his division. Then, early in the morning, Jacksonled the rest of the army into a strange district, the Grottoes of theShenandoah. It was a dark region, filled beneath with great caves andcovered thickly with heavy forest, through the leaves of which thetroops caught views of the Massanuttons to the north or of the greatmasses of the Blue Ridge to the east, while far to the west lay othermountains, range on range. But all around them the country was woodedheavily.

  The army did not make a great amount of noise when it camped in theforest over the caves, and the fires were few. Perhaps some of the menwere daunted by the dangers which still surrounded them so thickly afterso many days of such fierce fighting. At any rate, they were silent. TheAcadians had played no music for a day now, and the band lay upon theground sunk in deep slumber.

  Harry had not been sent on any errand, and he was sitting on a stone,finishing his supper, when Dalton, who had been away with a message,returned.

  "What's happened, George?" asked Harry.

  "Nothing yet, but a lot will happen soon."

  "Where have you been?"

  "I've been on the other side of the Shenandoah. You needn't open youreyes. It's so. Moreover, Ewell's whole division is over there, and itwill meet the vanguard of Fremont as he advances. I think I begin to seethe general's scheme."

  "I do, too. Ewell will fight off Fremont, holding him there untilJackson can annihilate Shields. Then he will retreat over the river toJackson, burning the bridge behind him."

  Dalton nodded.

  "Looks that way to a man up a tree," he said.

  "It's like the general," said Harry. "He could bring his whole army onthis side, burn the bridge, and in full force attack Shields, but heprefers to defeat them both."

  "Yes; but I wish to Heaven we had more men."

  "Sh! Here comes the general," said Harry.

  The two were silent as General Jackson and an officer passed. Thegeneral spoke a word or two to the boys and went on. They were butordinary words, but both felt uplifted because he had spoken to them.

  Morning found them motionless in the forest, over the caves. They ate ahasty breakfast and waited. But the scouts were all out, and presentlyHarry and Dalton were sent toward the Shenandoah. Finding nothing there,they crossed over the bridge and came to Ewell's division, where theyhad plenty of acquaintances.

  The sun was now high, and while they were talking with their friends,they heard the faint report of rifle shots far in their front. Presentlythe scouts came running back, and said that the enemy was only two milesaway and was advancing to the attack.

  Ewell took off his hat and his bald head glistened in the sun's rays.But, like Jackson, he was always cool, and he calmly moved his troopsinto position along a low ridge, with heavy woods on either flank. Harryknew the ground, alas, too well. It was among the trees just behind theridge that Turner Ashby had been slain. Ewell had before him Fremontwith two to one, and the rest of the army under Jackson's immediatecommand was four miles away, facing Shields.

  "Do you hear anything behind you, Harry?" asked Dalton.

  "No, why do you ask?"

  "If we heard the booming of guns, and we'd hear 'em at four miles, we'dknow that General Jackson himself was engaged. But as there's no sound,Shields hasn't come up, and we'll wait here a while to see if we can'thave something important to report."

  "I don't think so," said Harry. "We know that the enemy is about toattack here in full force, and that's enough to know about this side ofthe river. We ought to gallop back to General Jackson and tell him."

  "You're right, Harry," said the Virginian, in whom the sense of duty wasstrong. "The general may be attacked by the time we get there, and he'llwant to know exactly how things are."

  They galloped back as fast as they could and found that General Jacksonhad moved his headquarters to the little village of Port Republic. Theyfound him and told him the news as he was mounting his horse, but atthe same time an excited and breathless messenger came galloping upfrom another direction. The vanguard of Shields had already routedhis pickets, and the second Northern army was pressing forward in fullforce.

  As he spoke, the Northern cavalry came in sight, and if those Northernhorsemen had known what a prize was almost within their hands, theywould have spared no exertion.

  "Make for the bridge! Make for the bridge, general!" cried Dalton.

  The horsemen in blue were not coming fast. They rode cautiously throughthe streets. Southern villages were not friendly to them, and thiscaution saved Stonewall Jackson. He was on his horse in an instant,galloping for the bridge, and Harry and Dalton were hot behind him. Theythundered over the bridge with the Northern cavalry just at their heels,and escaped by a hair's breadth. But the chief of artillery and Dr.McGuire and one of the captains, Willis, were captured, and the rest ofthe staff was dispersed.

  "My God!" exclaimed Harry, when the Northern cavalry stopped at thebridge. "What an escape!"

  He was thinking of Jackson's escape, not his own, and while he waswondering what the general would do, he saw him ride to the bank of theriver and watch the Northern cavalry on the other side. Then Harry andDalton uttered a shout as they saw a Southern battery push forward fromthe village and open on the cavalry. An infantry regiment, which hadbeen forming in the town, also came up at full speed, uttering the long,high-pitched rebel yell.

  The Northern vanguard, which had come so near to such a highachievement, was driven back with a rush, and a Southern batteryappearing on its flank, swept it with shell as it retreated. So heavywas the Southern attack, that the infantry also were driven back andtheir guns taken. The entire vanguard was routed, and as it received nosupport, even Harry and Dalton knew that the main army under Shields hadnot yet come up.

  "That was the closest shave I ever saw," said Dalton. "So it was," saidHarry. "But just listen to that noise behind you!"

  A tremendous roar and crash told them that the battle between Ewell andFremont had opened. Jackson beckoned to Harry, Dalton and the membersof his staff who had reassembled. The three, who were captured,subsequently escaped in the confusion and turmoil and rejoined theirgeneral. Setting a powerful force to guard the bridge, Jackson said tohis staff:

  "While we are waiting for Shields to come up with his army, we'll rideover and see how the affair be
tween Ewell and Fremont is coming on."

  The roar and crash told them it was coming on with great violence, butFremont, so strong in pursuit was not so strong in action. Now that hewas face to face with the enemy, he did not attack with all his might.He hesitated, not from personal fear, but from fear on account of hisarmy. The whole force of Jackson might be in front of him, and theapprehensions that he did not feel in pursuit assailed him when helooked at the ridge covered with the enemy.

  Harry and Dalton watched with breathless interest. A portion ofFremont's army, but not all of it, just when it was needed most, wassent to the charge. Led by the pickets and skirmishers they came forwardgallantly, a long line of glittering bayonets. In the thick woods ontheir flank lay three Southern regiments, ambushed and not yet stirring.No sunlight penetrated there to show their danger to the soldiers whowere breasting the slope.

  Harry foresaw all, and he drew a long breath for brave men who weremarching to a certain fate.

  "Why don't they look! Why don't they look!" he found himself exclaiming.

  The next instant the entire wood burst into flame. Picking their aim andfiring at short range, the Southern riflemen sent sheet after sheet ofbullets into the charging ranks. It was more than human blood and fleshcould stand, and the Northern regiments gave way. But it was not a rout.They retreated on their reserves, and stood there recovering themselves,while the Southern riflemen reloaded, but did not pursue. The regimentswhich had done the deadly work sank back in the woods, and seemingly thebattle was over.

  Harry had not been under fire. He and Dalton, the rest of Jackson'sstaff and the general himself merely watched. Nor did Jackson give anyfurther orders to his able lieutenant, Ewell. He allowed him to make thebattle his own, and in Harry's opinion he was making it right.

  There came a silence that seemed interminably long to Harry. Thesunlight blazed down, and the two armies stood looking at each otheracross a field that was strewn with the fallen. It would have been follyfor the men in blue to charge again, and it was the chief business ofthe Southern troops to hold them back. Therefore they stood in theirpositions and watched. Harry judged that the bulk of Fremont's army wasnot yet up. It was this failure to bring superior numbers to bear atthe right time that was always the ruin of the Northern generals in thevalley, because the genius on the other side invariably saw the mistakeand profited by it.

  Harry and Dalton still waited, wondering. Jackson himself sat quietly onhis horse, and issued no order. The Northern troops were motionless, andHarry, who knew how precious time was, with the rest of Fremont's armycoming up, wondered again. But Trimble, the commander of the Southernriflemen hidden in the wood, saw a chance. He would send his men undercover of the forest and hurl them suddenly upon the Northern flank.Ewell gave his consent, and said that he would charge, too, if themovement were successful.

  Harry, watching, saw the Southern regiments in the wood steal from theforest, pass swiftly up a ravine, and then, delivering a shattering fireat short range, charge with the bayonet upon the Northern flank. The menin blue, surprised by so fierce an onset, gave way. Uttering the rebelyell, the Southerners followed and pushed them further and further.Ewell's quick eye, noting the success, sent forward his own center in aheavy charge.

  Fremont, from the rear, hurried forward new troops, but they were beatenas fast as they arrived. The batteries were compelled to unlimber andtake to flight, the fresh brigade dispatched by Fremont was routed,and the whole Southern line pressed forward, driving the Northern armybefore it.

  "General Jackson was wise in trusting to General Ewell," said Dalton toHarry. "He's won a notable victory. I wonder how far he'll push it."

  "Not far, I think. All Ewell's got to do is to hold Fremont, and he hassurely held him. There's Shields on the other side of the river withwhom we have to deal. Do you know, George, that all the time we've beensitting here, watching that battle in front of us, I've been afraid we'dhear the booming of the guns on the other side of the river, tellingthat Shields was up."

  "We scorched their faces so badly there in Cross Keys that they must behesitating. Lord, Harry, how old Stonewall plays with fire. To attackand defeat one army with the other only a few miles away must takenerves all of steel."

  "But if Ewell keeps on following Fremont he'll be too far away when weturn to deal with Shields."

  "But he won't go too far. There are the trumpets now recalling hisarmy."

  The mellow notes were calling in the eager riflemen, who wished tocontinue the pursuit, but the army was not to retire. It held thebattlefield, and now that the twilight was coming the men began to buildtheir fires, which blazed through the night within sight of those of theenemy. The sentinels of the two armies were within speaking distanceof one another, and often in the dark, as happened after many anotherbattle in this war, Yank and Reb passed a friendly word or two. Theymet, too, on the field, where they carried away their dead and wounded,but on such errands there was always peace.

  Those hours of the night were precious, but Fremont did not use them.Defeated, he held back, magnifying the numbers of his enemy, fearingthat Jackson was in front of him with his whole army, and once more outof touch with his ally, Shields.

  But Stonewall Jackson was all activity. The great war-like intellect wasworking with the utmost precision and speed. Having beaten back Fremont,he was making ready for Shields. The first part of the drama, as hehad planned it, had been carried through with brilliant success, and hemeant that the next should be its equal.

  Harry was not off his horse that night. He carried message after messageto generals and colonels and captains. He saw the main portion ofEwell's army withdrawn from Fremont's front, leaving only a singlebrigade to hold him, in case he should advance at dawn. But he saw thefires increased, and he carried orders that the men should build themhigh, and see that they did not go down.

  When he came back from one of these errands about midnight, just afterthe rise of the moon, he found General Jackson standing upon the bankof the river, giving minute directions to a swarm of officers. His mindmissed nothing. He directed not only the movements of the troops, but hesaw also that the trains of ammunition and food were sent to the properpoints. About half way between midnight and morning he lay down andslept in a small house near the river bank. Shortly before dawn thecommander of a battery, looking for one of his officers, entered thehouse and saw Jackson, dressed for the saddle, sword, boots, spurs andall, lying on his face upon the bed, asleep. On a small table near himstood a short piece of tallow candle, sputtering dimly. But the officersaw that it was Jackson, and he turned on tiptoe to withdraw.

  The general awoke instantly, sat up and demanded who was there. When theofficer explained, he said he was glad that he had been awakened, askedabout the disposition of the troops, and gave further commands. He didnot go to sleep again.

  But Harry's orders carried him far beyond midnight, and he had nothought of sleep. Once more repressed but intense excitement hadcomplete hold of him. He could not have slept had the chance beengiven to him. The bulk of the army was now in front of Shields, andthe pickets were not only in touch, but were skirmishing actively. Allthrough the late hours after midnight Harry heard the flash of theirfiring in front of him.

  The cavalry under Sherburne and other daring leaders were exchangingshots with the equally daring cavalry of the enemy.

  As the dawn approached the firing was heavier. Harry knew that the daywould witness a great battle, and his heart was filled with anxiety.The army led by Shields showed signs of greater energy and tenacity thanthat led by Fremont. The Northern troops that had fought so fiercely atKernstown were there, and they also had leaders who would not be dauntedby doubts and numbers. Harry wondered if they had heard of the defeat ofFremont at Cross Keys.

  He looked at the flashing of the rifles in the dusk, and before dawnrode back to the house where his commander slept. He was ready andwaiting when Jackson came forth, and Dalton appearing from somewhere inthe dusk, sat silently on his horse by his s
ide.

  The general with his staff at once rode toward the front, and the massesof the Southern army also swung forward. Harry saw that, according toJackson's custom, they would attack, not wait for it. It was yet dusky,but the firing in their front was increasing in intensity. There was asteady crash and a blaze of light from the rifle muzzles ran through theforest.

  He took an order to the Acadians to move forward behind two batteries,and as he came back he passed the Invincibles, now a mere skeletonregiment, but advancing in perfect order, the two colonels on theirflanks near their head. He also saw St. Clair and Langdon, but hehad time only to wave his hand to them, and then he galloped back toJackson.

  The dusk rapidly grew thinner. Then the burnished sun rose over thehills, and Harry saw the Northern army before them, spread across alevel between the river and a spur of the Blue Ridge, and also on theslopes and in the woods. A heavy battery crowned one of the hills,another was posted in a forest, and there were more guns between. Harrysaw that the position was strong, and he noted with amazement that theNorthern forces did not seem to outnumber Jackson's. It was evident thatShields, with the majority of his force was not yet up. He glanced atJackson. He knew that the fact could not have escaped the general, buthe saw no trace of exultation on his face.

  There was another fact that Harry did not then know. Nearly all the menwho had fought successfully against Jackson at Kernstown were in thatvanguard, and Tyler, who had deemed himself a victor there, commandedthem. Everybody else had been beaten by Stonewall Jackson, but not they.Confident of victory, they asked to be led against the Southern army,and they felt only joy when the rising sunlight disclosed their foe.There were the men of Ohio and West Virginia again, staunch and sturdy.

  Harry knew instinctively that the battle would be fierce, pushed to theutmost. Jackson had no other choice, and as the sunlight spread overthe valley, although the mountains were yet in mist, the cannon onthe flanks opened with a tremendous discharge, followed by crash aftercrash, North and South replying to each other. A Southern column alsomarched along the slope of the hills, in order to take Tyler's men inflank. Harry looked eagerly to see the Northern troops give way, butthey held fast. The veterans of Ohio and West Virginia refused to giveground, and Winder, who led the Southern column, could make no progress.

  Harry watched with bated breath and a feeling of alarm. Were they tolose after such splendid plans and such unparalleled exertions? The sun,rising higher, poured down a flood of golden beams, driving the mistsfrom the mountains and disclosing the plain and slopes below wrapped infire, shot through with the gleam of steel from the bayonets.

  Tyler, who commanded the Northern vanguard, proved himself here, as atKernstown, a brave and worthy foe. He, too, had eyes to see and a brainto think. Seeing that his Ohio and West Virginia men were standing fastagainst every attack made by Winder, he hurried fresh troops to theiraid that they might attack in return.

  The battle thickened fast. At the point of contact along the slopes andin the woods, there was a continued roar of cannon and rifles. Enemiescame face to face, and the men of Jackson, victorious on so many fields,were slowly pressed back. A shout of triumph rose from the Union lines,and the eager Tyler brought yet more troops into action. Two of Ewell'sbattalions heard the thunder of the battle and rushed of their ownaccord to the relief of their commander. But they were unable to stemthe fury of Ohio and West Virginia, and they were borne back with theothers, hearing as it roared in their ears that cry of victory fromtheir foe, which they had so often compelled that foe himself to hear.

  But it was more bitter to none than to Harry. Sitting on his horse inthe rear he saw in the blazing sunlight everything that passed. He sawfor the first time in many days the men in gray yielding. The incrediblewas happening. After beating Fremont, after all their superb tactics,they were now losing to Shields.

  He looked at Jackson, hoping to receive some order that would take himinto action, but the general said nothing. He was watching the battleand his face was inscrutable. Harry wondered how he could preservehis calm, while his troops were being beaten in front, and the armyof Fremont might thunder at any moment on his flank or rear. Truly thenerves that could remain steady in such moments must be made of steeltriply wrought.

  The Northern army, stronger and more resolute than ever, was comingon, a long blue line crested with bayonets. The Northern cannon, postedwell, and served with coolness and precision, swept the Southern ranks.The men in gray retreated faster and some of their guns were taken.The Union troops charged upon them more fiercely than ever, and theregiments threatened to fall into a panic.

  Then Jackson, shouting to his staff to follow, spurred forward into themob and begged them to stand. He rode among them striking some with theflat of his sword and encouraging others. His officers showed the sameenergy and courage, but the columns, losing cohesion seemed on the pointof dissolving, in the face of an enemy who pressed them so hard. Harryuttered a groan which nobody heard in all the crash and tumult. Hisheart sank like lead. Hope was gone clean away.

  But at the very moment that hope departed he heard a great cheer,followed a moment later by a terrific crash of rifles and cannon. Thenhe saw those blessed Acadians charging in the smoke along the slope.They had come through the woods, and they rushed directly upon the greatNorthern battery posted there. But so well were those guns handledand so fierce was their fire that the Acadians were driven back. Theyreturned to the charge, were driven back again, but coming on a thirdtime took all the battery except one gun. Then with triumphant shoutsthey turned them on their late owners.

  The whole Southern line seemed to recover itself at once. The remainderof Ewell's troops reached the field and enabled their comrades to turnand attack. The Stonewall Brigade in the center, where Jackson was,returned to the charge. In a few minutes fickle fortune had faced aboutcompletely. The Union men saw victory once more snatched from theirhands. Their columns in the plain were being raked by powerful batterieson the flank, many of the guns having recently been theirs. They mustretreat or be destroyed.

  The brave and skillful Tyler reluctantly gave the order to retreat, andwhen Harry saw the blue line go back he shouted with joy. Then the rebelyell, thrilling, vast and triumphant, swelled along the whole line,which lifted up itself and rushed at the enemy, the cavalry chargingfiercely on the flanks.

  Shields got up fresh troops, but it was too late. The men in gray werepouring forward, victorious at every point, and sweeping everythingbefore them, while the army of Fremont, arriving at the river at noon,saw burned bridges, the terrible battlefield on the other side strewnwith the fallen, and the Southern legions thundering northward inpursuit of the second army, superior in numbers to their own, that theyhad defeated in two days.

  Every pulse in Harry beat with excitement. His soul sprang up at oncefrom the depths to the stars. This, when hope seemed wholly gone, wasthe crowning and culminating victory. The achievement of Jackson equaledanything of which he had ever heard. While the army of Fremont was heldfast on the other side of the river, the second army under Shields,beaten in its turn, was retreating at a headlong rate down the valley.The veterans of Kernstown had fought magnificently, but they had beenoutgeneralled, and, like all others, had gone down in defeat beforeJackson.

  Jackson, merciless alike in battle and pursuit, pushed hard after themen in blue for nine or ten miles down the river, capturing cannon andprisoners. The Ohio and West Virginia men began at last to reform again,and night coming on, Jackson stopped the pursuit. He still could notafford to go too far down the valley, lest the remains of Fremont's armyappear in his rear.

  As they went back in the night, Harry and Dalton talked together in lowtones. Jackson was just ahead of them, riding Little Sorrel, silent, hisshoulders stooped a little, his mind apparently having passed on fromthe problems of the day, which were solved, to those of the morrow,which were to be solved. He replied only with a smile to the members ofhis staff who congratulated him now upon his extraordinary achievement,su
rpassing everything that he had done hitherto in the valley. ForHarry and Dalton, young hero-worshippers, he had assumed a stature yetgreater. In their boyish eyes he was the man who did the impossible overand over again.

  The great martial brain was still at work. Having won two freshvictories in two days and having paralyzed the operations of hisenemies, Jackson was preparing for other bewildering movements. Harryand Dalton and all the other members of the staff were riding forthpresently in the dusk with the orders for the different brigades andregiments to concentrate at Brown's Gap in the mountains, from whichpoint Jackson could march to the attack of McClellan before Richmond, orreturn to deal blows at his opponents in the valley, as he pleased. Butwhichever he chose, McDowell and sixty thousand men would not be presentat the fight for Richmond. Jackson with his little army had hurled backthe Union right, and the two Union armies could not be united in time.

  The whole Southern army was gathered at midnight in Brown's Gap, and themen who had eaten but little and slept but little in forty-eight hoursand who had fought two fierce and victorious battles in that time,throwing themselves upon the ground slept like dead men.

  While they slept consternation was spreading in the North. Lincoln, everhopeful and never yielding, had believed that Jackson was in disorderlyflight up the valley, and so had his Secretary of War, Stanton. The factthat this fleeing force had turned suddenly and beaten both Fremont andShields, each of whom had superior forces, was unbelievable, but it wastrue.

  But Lincoln and the North recalled their courage and turned hopeful eyestoward McClellan.

  CHAPTER XV. THE SEVEN DAYS

  Harry did not awaken until late the next morning. Jackson, for once,allowed his soldiers a long rest, and they were entitled to it. When herose from his blankets, he found fires burning, and the pleasant odorof coffee, bacon and other food came to his nostrils. Many wounded werestretched on blankets, but, as usual, they were stoics, and made nocomplaint.

  The army, in truth, was joyous, even more, it was exultant. Every onehad the feeling that he had shared in mighty triumphs, unparalleledexploits, but they gave the chief credit to their leader, and they spokeadmiringly and affectionately of Old Jack. The whole day was passedin luxury long unknown to them. They had an abundance of food, mostlycaptured, and their rations were not limited.

  The Acadian band reappeared and played with as much spirit as ever, andonce more the dark, strong men of Louisiana, clasped in one another'sarms, danced on the grass. Harry sat with St. Clair, Happy Tom andDalton and watched them.

  "I was taught that dancing was wicked," said Dalton, "but it doesn'tlook wicked to me, and I notice that the general doesn't forbid it."

  "Wicked!" said St. Clair, "why, after we take Washington, you oughtto come down to Charleston and see us dance then. It's good instead ofwicked. It's more than that. It's a thing of beauty, a grace, a joy,almost a rite."

  "All that Arthur says is true," said Happy Tom. "I'm a Sea Islandermyself, but we go over to Charleston in the winter. Still, I thinkyou'll have to do without me at those dances, Arthur. I shall probablybe kept for some time in the North, acting as proconsul for Pennsylvaniaor Massachusetts."

  "Which way do you think we are going from here, Harry?" asked St. Clair."I don't think it's possible for General Jackson to stay longer thantwenty-four hours in one place, and I know that he always goes to youfor instructions before he makes any movement."

  "That's so. He spoke to me this morning asking what he ought to do, butI told him the troops needed a rest of one day, but that he mustn't makeit more than one day or he'd spoil 'em."

  Happy Tom, who was lying on the ground, sat up abruptly.

  "If ever you hear of Old Stonewall spoiling anybody or anything," hesaid, "just you report it to me and I'll tell you that it's not so."

  "I believe," said Dalton, "that we're going to leave the valley. BothShields and Fremont are still retreating. Our cavalry scouts broughtin that word this morning. We've heard also that Johnston and McClellanfought a big battle at a place called Seven Pines, and that after itMcClellan hung back, waiting for McDowell, whom Old Jack has kept busy.General Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines and General Robert EdwardLee is now in command of our main army."

  "That's news! It's more! It's history!" exclaimed St. Clair. "I thinkyou're right, Harry. Two to one that we go to Richmond. And for one I'llbe glad. Then we'll be right in the middle of the biggest doings!"

  "I'm feeling that way, too," said Happy Tom. "But I know one thing."

  "What's that?"

  "Not a soul in all this army, except Old Jack himself, will know a thingabout it, until it's done, and maybe we won't know very much then. Ipassed Old Jack about an hour ago and he saw me as clearly and plainlyas I see you, but he did not tell me a thing about his plans. He did noteven say a word. Did not speak. Just cut me dead."

  Not one of the four was destined for some days to learn what Jacksonintended. His highest officers even were kept in the same ignorance.While the bulk of the army did little, the cavalry under Munford, whohad succeeded Ashby, were exceedingly active. The horsemen were like aswarm of hornets in front of Jackson, and so great was their activitythat the Northern leaders were unable to gauge their numbers. Fremont,exposed to these raids, retreated farther down the valley, leaving twohundred of his wounded and many stores in the hands of Munford.

  Then Jackson crossed South River and marched into extensive woods bythe Shenandoah, where his army lay for five full days. It was almostincredible to Harry and his friends that they should have so long arest, but they had it. They luxuriated there among the trees in thebeautiful June weather, listening to the music of the Acadians, eatingand drinking and sleeping as men have seldom slept before.

  But while the infantry was resting the activity of the cavalry neverceased. These men, riding over the country in which most of them wereborn, missed no movement of the enemy, and maintained the illusion thattheir numbers were four or five times the fact. Harry, trying to fathomJackson's purpose, gave it up after that comparatively long stay besidethe Shenandoah. He did not know that it was a part of a complicatedplan, that Lee and Jackson, although yet apart, were now beginning theircelebrated work together. Near Richmond, Northern prisoners saw longlines of trains moving north and apparently crowded with soldiers.For Jackson, of course! And intended to help him in his great march onWashington! But Jackson hung a complete veil about his own movements.His highest officers told one another in confidence things that theybelieved to be true, but which were not. It was the general opinionamong them that Jackson would soon leave in pursuit of Fremont.

  The pleasant camp by the Shenandoah was broken up suddenly, and the menbegan to march--they knew not where. Officers rode among them with sternorders, carried out sternly. In front, and on either flank, rode linesof cavalry who allowed not a soul to pass either in or out. An equallystrong line of cavalry in the rear drove in front of it every straggleror camp follower. There was not a single person inside the whole army ofJackson who could get outside it except Jackson himself.

  An extraordinary ban of ignorance was also placed upon them, and it wasenforced to the letter. No soldier should give the name of a village ora farm through which he passed, although the farm might be his father's,or the village might be the one in which he was born. If a man wereasked a question, no matter what, he must answer, "I don't know."

  The young Southern soldiers, indignant at first, enjoyed it as theirnatural humor rose to the surface.

  "Young fellow," said Happy Tom to St. Clair, "what's your name?"

  "I don't know."

  "Don't know your own name. Why, you must be feeble minded! Are you?"

  "I don't know."

  "Well, you may not know, but you look it. Do you think Old Jack is agood general?"

  "I don't know."

  "Do you think he's feeble-minded like yourself?"

  "I don't know."

  "What! You dare to intimate that Stonewall Jackson, the greatest generalthe world has ever kno
wn, is feeble-minded! You have insulted him, andin his name I challenge you to fight me, sir. Do you accept?"

  "I don't know."

  The two looked at each other and grinned. The ignorance of the army grewdense beyond all computation. Long afterward, "I don't know," became afavorite and convenient reply, even when the knowledge was present.

  It was nearly two weeks after Port Republic before the troops had anyidea where they were going. They came to a little place called HanoverJunction and they thought they were going to turn there and meetMcDowell, but they passed on, and one evening they encamped in a wood.As they were eating supper they heard the muttering thunder of gunstoward the south, and throughout the brigades the conviction spread thatthey were on the way to Richmond.

  The next night, Harry, who was asleep, was touched by a light hand. Heawoke instantly, and when he saw General Jackson standing over him, hesprang up.

  "I am going on a long ride," said the general briefly, "and I want onlyone man to go with me. I've chosen you. Get your horse. We start in fiveminutes."

  Harry, a little dazed yet from sleep and the great honor that had beenthrust upon him, ran, nevertheless, for his horse, and was ready with aminute to spare.

  "Keep by my side," said Jackson curtly, and the two rode in silence fromthe camp, watched in wonder by the sentinels, who saw their general andhis lone attendant disappear in the forest to the south.

  It was then one o'clock in the morning of a moonlight night, and theerrand of Jackson was an absolute secret. Three or four miles from thecamp a sentinel slipped from the woods and stopped them. He was oneof their own pickets, on a far out-lying post, but to the amazement ofHarry, Jackson did not tell who he was.

  "I'm an officer on Stonewall Jackson's staff, carrying dispatches," hesaid. "You must let me pass."

  "It's not enough. Show me an order from him."

  "I have no order," replied the equable voice, "but my dispatches are ofthe greatest importance. Kindly let me pass immediately."

  The sentinel shook his head.

  "Draw back your horses," he said. "Without an order from the general youdon't go a step further."

  Harry had not spoken a word. He had ceased to wonder why Jacksonrefused to reveal his identity. If he did not do so it must be for someexcellent reason, and, meanwhile, the boy waited placidly.

  "So you won't let us pass," said Jackson. "Is the commander of thepicket near by?"

  "I can whistle so he'll hear me."

  "Then will you kindly whistle?"

  The sentinel looked again at the quiet man on the horse, put his fingersto his lips and blew loudly. An officer emerged from the woods and said:

  "What is it, Felton?"

  Then he glanced at the man on the horse and started violently.

  "General Jackson!" he exclaimed.

  The sentinel turned pale, but said nothing.

  "Yes, I'm General Jackson," said the general, "and I ride with thislieutenant of my staff on an errand. But both of you must swear to methat you have not seen me."

  Then he turned to the sentinel.

  "You did right to stop us," he said. "I wish that all our sentinels wereas faithful as you."

  Then while the man glowed with gratitude, he and Harry rode on. Jacksonwas in deep thought and did not speak. Harry, a little awed by thisstrange ride, looked up at the trees and the dusky heavens. He heardthe far hoot of an owl, and he shivered a little. What if a troop ofNorthern cavalry should suddenly burst upon them. But no troop of theNorthern horse, nor horse of any kind, appeared. Instead, Jackson's ownhorse began to pant and stumble. Soon he gave out entirely.

  It was not yet day, but dimly to the right they saw the roof of a houseamong some trees. It was a poor Virginia farm that did not have horseson it, and Jackson suggested to Harry that they wake up the people andsecure two fresh mounts.

  The commander of an army and his young aide walked a little distancedown a road, entered a lawn, drove off two barking dogs, and knockedloud on the front door of the house with the butts of their ridingwhips. A head was at last thrust out of an upper window, and a sleepyand indignant voice demanded what they wanted.

  "We're two officers from General Jackson's army riding on importantduty," replied the general, in his usual mild tones. "Our horses havebroken down and we want to obtain new ones."

  "What's your names? What's your rank?" demanded the gruff voice.

  "We cannot give our names."

  "Then clear out! You're frauds! If I find you hanging about here I'llshoot at you, and I tell you for your good that I'm no bad shot."

  The shutter of the window closed with a bang, but the two dogs that hadbeen driven off began to bark again at a safe distance. Harry glanced athis general.

  "Isn't that a stable among the trees?" asked Jackson.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Then we'll find our horses there. Get the other two and bring themhere."

  Harry obeyed promptly, and they opened the stable, finding good horses,of which they selected the two best to which they changed their saddlesand bridles.

  "We'll leave our own horses for our inhospitable friends," said GeneralJackson, "and he'll not suffer by the exchange."

  Mounting the fresh horses they rode rapidly, and, after the coming ofthe dawn, Harry saw that they were approaching Richmond, and he guessednow what was coming.

  General Jackson had in his pocket a pass sent to him by General Lee,and they swiftly went through the lines of pickets, and then on throughRichmond. People were astir in the streets of the Southern capital, andmany of them saw the bearded man in an old uniform and a black slouchhat riding by, accompanied by only a boy, but not one of them knew thatthis was Stonewall Jackson, whose fame had been filling their ears for amonth past. Nor, if they had known him would they have divined how muchill his passage boded to the great army of McClellan.

  They went through Richmond and on toward the front. Midday passed, andat three o'clock they reached the house in which Lee had established hisheadquarters.

  "Who is it?" asked a sentinel at the door.

  "Tell General Lee that General Jackson is waiting."

  The sentinel hurried inside, General Jackson and his aide dismounted,and a moment later General Lee came out, extending his hand, whichJackson clasped. The two stood a moment looking at each other. It wasthe first time that they had met in the war, but Harry saw by the glancethat passed that each knew the other a man, not an ordinary man, noreven a man of ten thousand, but a genius of the kind that appears butseldom. It was all the more extraordinary that the two should appear atthe same time, serving together in perfect harmony, and sustaining forso long by their united power and intellect a cause that seemed lostfrom the first.

  It was not any wonder that Harry gazed with all his eyes at thememorable meeting. He knew Jackson, and he was already learning much ofLee.

  He saw in the Confederate commander-in-chief a man past fifty, ruddy ofcountenance, hair and beard short, gray and thick, his figure talland powerful, and his expression at once penetrating and kind. He wasdressed in a fine gray uniform, precise and neat.

  Such was Robert Edward Lee, and Harry thought him the most impressivehuman being upon whom he had ever looked.

  "General Jackson," said General Lee, "this is a fortunate meeting. Youhave saved the Confederacy."

  General Jackson made a gesture of dissent, but General Lee took him bythe arm and they went into the house. General Jackson turned a momentat the door and motioned to Harry to follow. The boy went in, and foundhimself in a large room. Three men had risen from cane chairs to meetthe visitor. One, broad of shoulders, middle-aged and sturdy, wasLongstreet. The others more slender of figure were the two Hills.

  The major generals came forward eagerly to meet Jackson, and they alsohad friendly greetings for his young aide. Lee handed them glasses ofmilk which they drank thirstily.

  "You'll find an aide of mine in the next room," said General Lee toHarry. "He's a little older than you are but you should get alongtogethe
r."

  Harry bowed and withdrew, and the aide, Charlie Gordon, gave him ahearty welcome. He was three or four years Harry's senior, somethingof a scholar, but frank and open. When they had exchanged names, Gordonsaid:

  "Stretch out a bit on this old sofa. You look tired. You've been ridinga long distance. How many miles have you come?"

  "I don't know," replied Harry, as he lay luxuriously on the sofa, "butwe started at one o'clock this morning and it is now three o'clock inthe afternoon."

  "Fourteen hours. It's like what we've been hearing of Stonewall Jackson.I took a peep at him from the window as you rode up."

  "I suppose you didn't see much but dust."

  "They certainly tell extraordinary things of General Jackson. It can'tbe possible that all are true!"

  "It is possible. They're all true--and more. I tell you, Gordon, whenyou hear anything wonderful about Stonewall Jackson just you believe it.Don't ask any questions, or reasons but believe it."

  "I think I shall," said Gordon, convinced, "but don't forget, Kenton,that we've got a mighty man here, too. You can't be with General Leelong without feeling that you're in the presence of genius."

  "And they're friends, not jealous of each other. You could see that at aglance."

  "The coming of Jackson is like dawn bursting from the dark. I feel,Kenton, that McClellan's time is at hand."

  Harry slept a little after a while, but when he awoke the generals werestill in council in the great room.

  "I let you sleep because I saw you needed it," said Gordon with a smile,"but I think they're about through in there now. I hear them movingabout."

  General Jackson presently called Harry and they rode away. The youngaide was sent back to the valley army with a message for it to advanceas fast as possible in order that it might be hurled on McClellan'sflank. Others carried the same message, lest there be any default ofchance.

  While the army of Jackson swept down by Richmond to join Lee it was lostagain to the North. At Washington they still believed it in the valley,advancing on Fremont or Shields. Banks and McDowell had the same belief.McClellan was also at a loss. Two or three scouts had brought in reportsthat it was marching toward Richmond, but he could not believe them.

  The Secretary of War at Washington telegraphed to McClellan that theUnion armies under McDowell, Banks, Fremont and Shields were to beconsolidated in one great army under McDowell which would crush Jacksonutterly in the valley. At the very moment McClellan was reading thistelegram the army of Jackson, far to the south of McDowell, was drivingin the pickets on his own flank.

  Jackson's men had come into a region quite different from the valley.There they marched and fought over firm ground, and crossed riverswith hard rocky banks. Now they were in a land of many deep rivers thatflowed in a slow yellow flood with vast swamps between. Most of it washeavy with forest and bushes, and the heat was great. At night vastquantities of mosquitoes and flies and other insects fed bounteouslyupon them.

  The Invincibles lifted up their voices and wept.

  "Can't you persuade Old Jack to take us back to the valley, Harry?" saidHappy Tom. "If I'm to die I'd rather be shot by an honest Yankee soldierthan be stung to death by these clouds of bloodsuckers. Oh, for ourhappy valley, where we shot at our enemy and he shot at us, bothstanding on firm ground!"

  "You won't be thinking much about mosquitoes and rivers soon," saidHarry. "Listen to that, will you! You know the sound, don't you?"

  "Know it! Well, I ought to know it. It's the booming of cannon, but itdoesn't frighten these mosquitoes and flies a particle. A cannon ballwhistling by my head would scare me half to death, but it wouldn'tdisturb them a bit. They'd look with an evil eye at that cannon ball asit flew by and say to it in threatening tones: 'What are you doing here?Let this fellow alone. He belongs to us.'"

  "Which way is McClellan coming, Harry?" asked St. Clair.

  "Off there to the east, where you hear the guns."

  "How many men has he?"

  "Anywhere from a hundred thousand to a hundred and thirty thousand.There are various reports."

  Langdon, who had been listening, whistled.

  "It doesn't look like a picnic for the Invincibles," he said. "When Ivolunteered for this war I didn't volunteer to fight a pitched battleevery 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 thunderoff there to the south and east means. It's the big guns, but who arefighting and where?"

  "There's to be a general attack on McClellan along the line of theChickahominy river," said Harry, "and our army is to be a part of theattacking 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 arebehind time. But there they go! My eyes, how they're whooping it up!"

  The cannonade was growing in intensity and volume. Despite the sunsetthey saw an almost continuous flare of red on the horizon. The threeboys felt some awe as they sat there and listened and looked. Well theymight! Battle on a far greater scale than anything witnessed before inAmerica had begun already. Two hundred thousand men were about to meetin 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 passing away. Lee, whom they had learned so quicklyto trust, stood with ninety thousand men between them and McClellan, andwith him was the redoubtable Jackson and his veterans of the valley withtheir caps full of victories.

  McClellan had the larger force, but Lee was on the defensive in his owncountry, a region which offered great difficulties to the invader.

  Harry and his comrades wondered why Jackson did not move, but heremained in his place, and when Harry fell asleep he still heard thethudding of the guns across the vast reach of rivers and creeks, swampsand thickets. When he awoke in the morning they were already at workagain, flaring at intervals down there on the eastern horizon. The wholewet, swampy country, so different from his own, seemed to be desertedby everything save the armies. No rabbits sprang up in the thickets andthere were no birds. Everything had fled already in the presence of war.

  But the army marched. After a brief breakfast the brigades moved downthe road, and Harry saw clearly that these veterans of the valley weretremulous with excitement. Youthful, eager, and used to victory, theywere anxious to be at the very center of affairs which were now on agigantic scale. And the throbbing of the distant guns steadily drew themon.

  "We'll get all we want before this is through," said Dalton gravely toHarry.

  "I think so, too. Listen to those big guns, George! And I think I canhear the crack of rifles, too. Our pickets and those of the enemy mustbe 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'dstrike first a swamp, or a creek twenty feet deep. I get all tangled upin this kind of a country."

  "So do I, but it doesn't make any difference. We just stick along withOld Jack."

  The army marched on a long time, always to the accompaniment of thatsinister mutter in the southeast. Then they heard the note of a buglein front of them and Jackson with his staff rode forward near a littlechurch called Walnut Grove, where Lee and his staff sat on their horseswaiting. Harry noticed with pride how all the members of Lee's staffcrowded forward to see the renowned Jackson.

  It was his general upon whom so many were looking, but there wascuriosity among Stonewall's men, too, about Lee. As Harry drew back alittle while the two generals talked, he found himself again with theofficers of the Invincibles.

  "He has grown gray since we were with him in Mexico, Hector," he heardColonel 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 n
ever 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 thefirst time they met, and you can see it now. You'll find them workingtogether 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 Ineedn't trouble my mind about the matter any more. Hereafter I'll justgo ahead and obey orders."

  The words were light, but there was no frivolity in the minds of thethree. Despite the many battles through which they had already gonetheir hearts were beating hard just then, while that roaring was goingon 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 ofhis men, Jackson led his army into the deep woods away from the sound ofthe thundering guns which had been calling to them so incessantly. Harrywas 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. Allthe 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. Jacksonwas making this circuit through the woods to fall on the Northern flank.It was the first of the great turning movements which Lee and Jacksonwere to carry through to brilliant success so often.

  "Look at the red blaze beyond those bushes," said Dalton, "and listenhow rapidly the sound of the battle is growing in volume. I don't knowwhere we are, but I do know now that Old Jack is leading us right intothe thick of it."

  The general rode forward and stopped his horse on the crest of a lowhill. Then Harry and Dalton, looking over the bushes and swamps, saw agreat 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, butmany brave generals were, Porter, Slocum and the others. The batteriesof this army were engaged in a heavy duel with the Southern batteriesin front, and the sharpshooters in the woods and bushes kept up acontinuous 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 heavyrains, but eager to get into action.

  It was very difficult for the mounted men, and Harry and Dalton at lastdismounted and led their horses. The division made slow progress andas they struggled on the battle deepened. Now and then as they toiledthrough the muck they saw long masses of blue infantry on a ridge, andwith them the batteries of great guns which the gunners of the Northknew so well how to use.

  Their own proximity was discovered after a while, and shell and bulletsbegan to fly among them, but they emerged at last on firm ground and onthe Northern flank.

  "It's hot and growing hotter," said Dalton.

  "And we'll help increase the heat if we ever get through thesemorasses," said Harry.

  He felt the bridle suddenly pulled out of his hand, and turned to catchhis runaway horse, but the horse had been shot dead and his body hadfallen into the swamp. Dalton's horse also was killed presently by apiece of shell, but the two plunged along on foot, endeavoring to keepup with the general.

  The fire upon them was increasing fast. Some of the great guns on theridge were now searching their ranks with shell and shrapnel and many aman sank down in the morass, to be lost there forever. But Jackson neverceased 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 drivingus?"

  "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 withthem came six batteries of cannon which they had almost carried over theswamp. The whole battlefield now came into sight, but the firing and thesmoke were so great that it seemed to change continuously in colorand even in shape. At one moment there was a ridge where none had beenbefore, then where Harry had seen a creek there was only dry land. Buthe knew that they were illusions of the eyes, due to the excited brainbehind them.

  Harry saw the six batteries of Jackson planted in a long row on thehard ground, and then open with a terrific crash on the defenders ofthe ridge. The sound was so tremendous that he was deafened for a fewmoments. By the time his hearing was restored fully the batteries firedagain and the Northern batteries on the hill replied. Then the mass ofinfantry charged and Harry and Dalton on foot, waving their swords andwild with excitement, charged with them.

  The plans of Lee and Jackson, working together for the first time in agreat battle, went through. When Lee heard the roar of Jackson's guns onthe flank he, too, sent word to his division commanders to charge withtheir full strength. In an instant the Northern army was assailed bothin front and on the side, by a great force, rushing forward, sure ofvictory and sending the triumphant rebel yell echoing through the woodsof the Chickahominy.

  Harry felt the earth tremble beneath him as nearly a hundred thousandmen closed in deadly conflict. He could hear nothing but the continuedroar, and he saw only a vast, blurred mass of men and guns. But he wasconscious that they were going forward, up the hill, straight toward theenemy's works, and he felt sure of victory.

  He had grounds for his faith. Lee with the smaller army, hadnevertheless brought superior numbers upon the field at the point ofaction. Porter and Slocum were staunch defenders. The Northern army,though shattered by cannon and rifle fire, stood fast on the ridge untilthe charging lines were within ten feet of them. Then they gave way,but carried with them most of their cannon, reformed further back, andfought again.

  Harry found himself shouting triumphantly over one of the capturedguns, but the Southern troops were allowed no time to exult. The sun wasalready sinking over the swamps and the battlefield, but Lee and Jacksonlifted up their legions and hurled them anew to the attack. McClellanwas not there when he was needed most, but Porter did all that a mancould do. Only two of his eighty guns had been taken, and he might yethave made a stand, but the last of Jackson's force suddenly emerged fromthe forest and again he was struck with terrible impact on the flank.

  The Northern army gave way again. The Southern brigades rushed forwardin pursuit, capturing many prisoners, and giving impulse to the flightof their enemies. Their riflemen shot down the horses drawing theretreating cannon. Many of the guns were lost, twenty-two of themfalling into Southern hands. Some of the newer regiments melted entirelyaway under an attack of such fierceness. Nothing stopped the advance ofLee and Jackson but the night, and the arrival of a heavy reinforcementsent by McClellan. The new force, six thousand strong, was stationed ina wood, the guns that had escaped were turned upon the enemy, Porter andSlocum rallied their yet numerous force, and when the dark came down thebattle ceased with the Northern army in the east defeated again, but notdestroyed.

  As Harry rode over the scene of battle that night he shuddered. Thefields, the forests and the swamps were filled with the dead and thewounded. Save Shiloh, no other such sanguinary battle had yet beenfought on American soil. Nearly ten thousand of the Southern youths hadfallen, killed or wou
nded. The North, standing on the defensive, had notlost so many, but the ghastly roll ran into many thousands.

  That night, as had happened often in the valley, the hostile sentinelswere 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 wasgone. The brigades had crossed the river in the night, breaking down thebridges behind them. He saw the officers watching great columns ofdust moving away, and he knew that they marked the line of the Northernmarch. But the Southern scouts and skirmishers found many stragglers inthe woods, most of them asleep or overpowered by weariness. Thus theyfound the brilliant General Reynolds, destined to a glorious deathafterward at Gettysburg, sound asleep in the bushes, having been lostfrom his command in the darkness and confusion. The Southern army restedthrough the morning, but in the afternoon was on the march again. Harryfound that both St. Clair and Langdon had escaped without harm thistime, but Happy Tom had lost some of his happiness.

  "This man Lee is worse than Jackson," he lamented. "We've just foughtthe biggest battle that ever was, and now we're marching hot-foot afteranother."

  Happy Tom was right. Lee and Jackson had resolved to give McClellan norest. They were following him closely and Stuart with the cavalry hungin a cloud on his flanks. They pressed him hard the next day at WhiteOak Swamp, Jackson again making the circular movement and falling on hisflank, while Longstreet attacked in front. There was a terrible battlein thick forest and among deep ravines, but the darkness again saved theNorthern army, which escaped, leaving cannon and men in the hands of theenemy.

  Harry lay that night in a daze rather than sleep. He was feverish andexhausted, yet he gathered some strength from the stupor in which helay. All that day they marched along the edge of a vast swamp, and theyheard continually the roar of a great battle on the horizon, which theywere not able to reach. It was Glendale, where Longstreet and one ofthe Hills fought a sanguinary draw with McClellan. But the Northerncommander, knowing that a drawn battle in the enemy's country wasequivalent to a defeat, continued his retreat and the Southern armyfollowed, attacking at every step. The roar of artillery resoundedcontinuously through the woods and the vanguard of one army and the rearguard of the other never ceased their rifle fire.

  Neither Harry nor his young comrades could ever get a clear pictureof the vast, confused battle amid the marshes of the Chickahominy,extending over so long a period and known as the Seven Days, but it wasobvious to them now that Richmond was no longer in danger. The comingof Jackson had enabled Lee to attack McClellan with such vigor andfierceness that the young Northern general was forced not only toretreat, but to fight against destruction.

  But the Union mastery of the water, always supreme, was to come oncemore to the relief of the Northern army. As McClellan made his retreat,sometimes losing and sometimes beating off the enemy, but always leavingRichmond further and further behind, he had in mind his fleet in theJames, and then, if pushed to the last extremity, the sea by which theyhad come.

  But there were many staunch fighters yet in his ranks, and the Southernleaders were soon to find that they could not trifle with the Northernarmy even in defeat. He turned at Malvern Hill, a position of greatstrength, posted well his numerous and powerful artillery, and beat offall the efforts of Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the two Hills, andArmistead and the others. More than five thousand of the Southern troopsfell in the fruitless charges. Then McClellan retreated to the JamesRiver and his gunboats and the forces of the North were not to come asnear 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 SevenDays. Harry rode with Dalton, St. Clair and Langdon. They had comethrough the inferno unhurt, and while they shared in the rejoicingsof the Virginia people, they had seen war, continued war, in its mostterrible aspects, and they felt graver and older.

  By the side of them marched the thin ranks of the Invincibles, with thetwo colonels, erect and warlike, leading them. Just ahead was StonewallJackson, stooped slightly in the saddle, the thoughtful blue eyeslooking 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 hundredthousand 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."

  Appendix: Transcription notes:

  This etext was transcribed from a volume of the 21st printing

  The following modifications were applied while transcribing the printedbook to e-text:

  While the other books in this series are consistently printed with a hyphen in "lieutenant-colonel", some chapters in this book were printed with and some without. I added the hyphen where missing in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 14.

  chapter 1 - Page 20, para 10, changed "its" to "it's"

  chapter 2 - Page 45, para 6, removed extraneous quotation mark

  chapter 6 - Page 132, para 3, moved a comma - my general policy is not to add/remove/move commas, even though I often find commas which seem to me out of place, but this one was just too bad to ignore

  chapter 8 - Page 159, para 2, fixed typo ("enmy") - Page 167, para 5, missing quotation mark

  chapter 10 - Page 211, para 4, missing quotation mark - Page 216, para 6, changed "his section" to "this section"

  chapter 11 - Page 225, para 4, fixed typo ("Generel")

  chapter 12 - Page 249, para 4, fixed typo ("exerienced") - Page 261, para 4, fixed typo ("woud") - Page 262, para 1, removed excess quotation mark

  chapter 13 - Page 277, para 3, missing quotation mark - Page 292, para 3, apostrophe printed instead of quotation mark

  chapter 14 - Page 298, para 4, changed "Its" to "It's" - Page 312, para 6, missing quotation mark - Page 314, para 4, changed "." to ":" - Page 315, para 5, removed excess period

  chapter 15 - Page 329, para 5, fixed typo ("painly") - Page 331, para 1, fixed typo ("caried") - Page 331, para 11, changed apostrophe to quotation mark

  Limitations imposed by converting to plain ASCII: 8-bit characters were converted to their 7-bit equivalents: - chapter 9, page 186, "melee" - chapter 11, page 241, "Themopylae" ("ae" ligature)

  I did not modify:

  - As with all the books in this series, commas often seem to me to be missing or misplaced. Often one comma is printed where either no comma or two commas would seem more appropriate, for example:

  A pleasant month for Harry, and all the young staff officers passed at Winchester.

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