CHAPTER XXXV
THE SIEGE OF CHATTANOOGA AND A HUNT FOR DRUGS
"This is the worst situation I ever heard of, Deck. What in the worldare we to do?"
"I fancy General Rosecrans is asking himself the same question, Tom,"answered the major of the first battalion, gravely. "For myself, I mustsay I can't answer."
"We'll be eating horse-meat next," put in Life Knox, who stood by. "Andthe horses are dying right along, too."
"Poor Ceph! He hasn't had enough to eat for a week," said Deck, with ashake of his head. "But let all that go. What I am thinking of is themedicine my father and Artie require. If that can't be had, SurgeonFarnwright says he won't be responsible for consequences."
"I'd rather fight than starve like this," concluded Tom Belthorpe, andhe walked away.
The Army of the Cumberland had retired to Chattanooga several weeksbefore, and Bragg had followed Rosecrans closely, taking possession ofLookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and several other important points.The Confederate leader had failed to defeat his Northern foe, and nowcalculated to cut off all the Unionist's lines of communication andstarve him out. He had already cut off travel on the river and on therailroad, and the only supplies to come into Chattanooga had to bebrought through the mountains.
The state of affairs in Chattanooga during this siege had grown rapidlyfrom bad to worse. The first thing to give out was fresh meats, for theConfederate cavalry leader, Wheeler, raided the country for miles aroundChattanooga and gathered in all of the animals in sight. Next, thefodder ran short, and horses and mules dropped in the streets, and wholedetachments of regiments were kept busy burying the beasts, to preventthe spread of disease. And now rations were scarce, and not a man of thewhole Army of the Cumberland had had a square meal for a week or over.
And yet, to Major Deck Lyon, this was not the worst feature of thelong-to-be-remembered siege. On the day following the retreat to thecity proper an ambulance had been procured and Captain Artie had beenbrought in, as carefully as possible, and taken to the house formerlyoccupied by the Greenes. Rosebel Greene and Miss Pomeroy had come inwith the wounded captain, the former feeling it her duty to nurse theyoung man, because of what Deck had done for her, and the aunt sayingshe would not remain at the farmhouse alone, and because she was curiousto see if Rosebel would really find the money hidden in the cellar, asthe dead brother had mentioned.
The money had been found intact, and then hidden again, for there was notelling what might happen in those troublesome times. Artie had stoodthe journey fairly well, and was put in the best room the houseafforded.
During these days the Riverlawns had been kept busy in the vicinity ofCamp Thomas, some twenty-eight miles out of the city. Here one day theyhad had a fierce brush with Forrest, and when it was over it wasdiscovered that Colonel Lyon was missing.
The discovery had caused a shock to Deck, and without delay he hadorganized a searching party, to learn if his father was killed, wounded,or a prisoner of the enemy. The search had lasted until nearly midnightand the gallant colonel had been found, lying partly under his horse,the latter dead, and the colonel shot through the head and unconscious.
As Artie was at Rosebel Greene's house, it was but natural that Deckshould take his father to the same place, since the regular hospitals inChattanooga were crowded far beyond their capacity. The colonel wasplaced in a chamber adjoining that of his foster-son, and Rosebel andMiss Pomeroy became his nurses, Deck promising to pay them handsomelyfor whatever was done. Rosebel said she wanted no pay. "You were afriend to my brother," were her words; "that is sufficient."
For two days the colonel had lain unconscious, and Surgeon Farnwrightand the doctor called into consultation with him had given Deck butsmall hope. "Poor Artie's case was bad enough, Major," said the surgeon."Your father--" and he finished with a shake of his head.
"The trouble is," said the doctor, later on, "the colonel is sufferingfor some medicine we cannot obtain in Chattanooga. We have a goodgeneral supply here, but there are certain things which I know would doyour father a great deal of good. And they would do your brother good,too."
The announcement that certain drugs which were so sorely needed were notprocurable in Chattanooga made Major Lyon feel very bad. He got thedoctor to write down a list of the missing articles for him, and startedout on a personal hunt, visiting every druggist he could find, andoffering large sums of money, even for small quantities.
"Can't be had," said one druggist. "You will have to wait until thissiege comes to an end and we get in some new supplies."
"I can't wait. My father and my cousin may die in the meantime,"answered Deck, and continued his search on foot. For several days he hadnot ridden Ceph, deeming the poor beast too weak from lack of food tobear such a burden.
General Rosecrans had been considering the advisability of making adetermined effort against the enemy, but in the midst of this he wasrelieved of his command. The Army of the Cumberland was placed in a newmilitary division, to be known as that of the Mississippi, under GeneralGrant, and General Thomas was ordered to fill General Rosecrans's place.General Grant at once ordered Thomas to "hold Chattanooga at any cost,"and added that he would come on as soon as possible and see what couldbe done.
General Grant, the leader of all leaders, the man of iron will, arrivedon October 23. The plans made by Rosecrans and slightly changed byThomas were approved, and movements were made to put them into immediateexecution.
In the meantime, General Sherman had been engaged in opening up theMemphis and Charleston railroad eastward, hoping by this means to effecta communication with Chattanooga through Huntsville. But Grant hadordered him to cross the Tennessee at Eastport, and this was done, andSherman then united with the right wing of what was now Thomas'scommand. Hooker had before been ordered to move to Bridgeport, belowChattanooga, and march thence by the wagon road to Wauhatchie, whilePalmer was ordered to a point on the river opposite Whitesides.
The plan now put into operation was one looking to the seizing of a spurof mountains overlooking Lookout Valley. If this was successfullyaccomplished, Hooker and Palmer would be materially aided in theirmovements, and the river would be opened for steamboats as far asBrown's Ferry.
It was six miles to Brown's Ferry, and on the night of the 26th of themonth, eighteen hundred men under General Hazen floated down the streamin sixty pontoon boats, around the sharp bend, and past nearly threemiles of Confederate pickets. The darkness aided their movements, and assilently as ghosts, they landed at two points, overcame the pickets, andmarched to the spurs to be taken. While this was going on, anotherforce, under General Smith, marched by the north bank of the river, andwere ferried over before daylight. A large crowd of men were set towork, and by early morning a pontoon bridge nine hundred feet long wasswung across the river, and all points seized were protected byartillery and intrenched troops.
The Union forces now commanded the highway from Lookout Valley toChattanooga Valley, and began a vigorous attack on the Confederateslocated between Shell Mound and Lookout Mountain. At the same timeHooker advanced, and Bragg awoke to the realization of the fact that agenuine effort was being made to raise the siege. Half a dozen small butsharp conflicts followed, and then the Confederates fell back; and theway was opened to Brown's Ferry, Bridgeport, and Stevenson, both by theriver and the excellent wagon roads on either bank.
Many a commander would have paused here, but not so Grant. Without delaythe whole army was put on an active footing and supplied with necessaryfood, clothing, and ammunition. Forage was brought in in largequantities, and the horses and mules put in the best possible condition,and heavy artillery was rushed forward. In the meantime, the arrival ofGeneral Sherman with reenforcements was eagerly awaited.
The Riverlawns, as a body, had not been active in the taking of Brown'sFerry and the spurs of mountains beyond, but a detachment under MajorLyon had gone on with Turchin's brigade, to clear out and hold a gorgethrough which the Bridgeport road ran to the crossing. The work wa
shazardous in the extreme, and the first two companies of the firstbattalion and Life Knox's company with them received a severe firelasting for upward of two hours.
At this engagement Deck took more than an ordinary interest in his work.As a true soldier, he wanted to see the siege raised. More than this, hewanted to obtain the drugs so much needed by his father and Artie. Hewent in with a vigor almost born of desperation, and falling against abody of Confederates which were little better than guerillas, hiscommand drove them, seven hundred strong, a distance of two miles intothe mountain fastnesses.
As mentioned, the way was now open to Bridgeport, Stevenson, and otherpoints, and Deck obtained permission to visit half a dozen towns andvillages in quest of the drugs desired.
He took Life Knox with him, and the pair were gone the best part of theforty-eight hours. Nothing that was wanted could be found at the placesnamed; but at another spot, where there was a cross-roads, the majordiscovered a large general store, with a medicine department attached.
Entering the place, the two Union officers were confronted by a burlyConfederate over six feet high, and weighing over two hundred and fiftypounds. He scowled at them, but did not dare to abuse them openly.
"Yes, I've got drugs, but I ain't sellin' 'em to-day," he said shortly."You'll have to find another drug shop, I reckon."
Deck gazed at the man in silence for a moment. Then he pulled out hispistol and pointed it at the fellow's head.
"Sit down in that chair, sir," he ordered, and the burly Confederatealmost collapsed.
"Would you shoot an unarmed man?" he gasped.
"Not if he behaved himself."
"I haven't got to sell my drugs if I don't want to."
"In this case I think you have. Life, will you keep him covered?"
"Certainly, Deck."
"I want certain drugs and will have them if they are in your stock. Iwill pay for what I take. But there must be no disturbance," went on themajor.
He spoke thus for the benefit of two clerks who were present and whoseemed inclined to be ugly. They heard him and allowed him to movearound the establishment unmolested. With his list in one hand and hispistol in the other, he looked over all the bottles and packages thestore contained.
It was a wearisome search, but it was gratifying, for out of fourarticles wanted, Deck found three. He then interviewed the shopkeeper,who declared by all he held sacred that he had never had the fourtharticle and doubted if any of the local doctors used it.
"Well, I will have to take your word for it," replied Deck. "Now I wantthese. What are you going to ask me for them?"
The storekeeper hemmed and hawed and finally said five dollars in gold.As this was not so unreasonable, Deck paid over the amount, and a momentlater he and Life left the store. Before they could be molested, theywere off at full speed for Chattanooga. Here they took the drugs to thedoctor who had been attending Colonel Lyon and Artie.
"It was a clever haul," said the physician, after listening to Deck'sstory. "The drugs will do much good, I think. I am sorry, however, youcould not obtain that fourth article, since it is the most important ofthe lot. These will help your brother, but the poor colonel will stillhave a hard time of it."
"But he will live--and so will Artie?" pleaded the major.
"While there is life there is hope," answered the doctor, and that wasthe only consolation Deck could get. As a matter of fact, both the livesof the colonel and the youthful captain hung upon a thread.
General Sherman having come up, and Bragg having weakened his forces byletting Longstreet's command leave him, to do battle elsewhere, Grantlost no time in moving forward. Hooker, holding Lookout Valley, facedthe enemy occupying the heights, while Thomas was stationed beforeMissionary Ridge. Sherman was now commanded to take position on theright bank of the river above the city, with the idea that he couldafterward cross and seize another portion of the ridge beyond, as yetunfortified. A portion of the cavalry, under Long, was assigned to aidhim, and the Riverlawns went with this body, all of the other horsemenremaining in camp.
The advance of the cavalry was made in a violent thunderstorm, such ashad not struck the command for many a day, and this delayed operationsfor twenty-four hours or more. When the pontoon bridge over the riverwas reached, it was found that the wind and the rush of the current hadparted it, and no troops could cross until repairs were made. TheRiverlawns went into temporary camp under the shelter of a long hill,but everybody was wet to the skin.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon was now in command, and he and Deck went offin the rain to take a survey of the situation. On the return, theystumbled across a camp of a dozen or more Confederate guerillas. Shotswere exchanged and the guerillas withdrew. In doing this, several rodeclose to Deck, and the major was amazed to hear one of them mentioned byhis companion as Totterly. He glanced at the fellow and saw that he wastall, with a marked stoop to his left shoulder, and that his nose didnot point straight ahead. The description fitted perfectly to that givenof the guerilla who had rifled the safe at Riverlawn and made off withfive hundred dollars, some jewellery, and the paper intrusted to NoahLyon, which was not to be opened until five years after Duncan Lyon'sdeath. This man's name had been Totterly, and Deck instantly concludedthat the man in front of him and the raider of Riverlawn were one andthe same person.
"I want to catch that man!" he cried to Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, anddashed off, firing several shots at the retreating form. Away they wentthrough the brush and along an ill-defined trail, but Totterly, for itwas really he, had a fair lead, and had recognized his pursuer, and nowhe did his best to get away. Coming to a curve in the road, he cut intosome timber, and by this means threw Deck completely off the scent inthe darkness of the storm.
The major returned to the encampment in a thoughtful frame of mind. Onechance to recover the money, jewels, and precious paper had slipped fromhim. Would another such chance ever present itself? He earnestly hopedso, and resolved that, in the future, he would keep his eyes wide openfor the guerilla.