Rodney The Partisan

  CHAPTER XVI.

  THE CONSCRIPTION ACT.

  Price's men had not been long on the march before Dick Graham, whoseemed to have a way of finding out things that were hidden from almosteverybody else, told Rodney, confidentially, that their objective pointwas Warrensburg, and that Price's motive in going there was to capturemoney to the amount of a hundred thousand dollars, which was beingconveyed by a detachment of Federal troops to Lexington. The prospect ofsecuring so valuable a prize was an incentive, and men who were so wearythat the near approach of an enemy would not have kept them from fallingout of the ranks, marched night and day without a murmur of complaint.Some of the way they moved at double-quick; but they might as well havespared themselves the pains, for when they reached Warrensburg theyfound the place deserted.

  "This shows how impossible it is to trust anybody these times," saidRodney, in deep disgust.

  Their regiment having gone into camp, the two friends were strollingabout the town to see what they could find, and the first thing theydiscovered was not at all calculated to allay the indignation they feltat being outwitted by the vigilant Federals. It was a rough charcoalsketch on the wall of a building they passed during their walk. Itrepresented a lean, long-haired, ragged rebel dancing in an ecstacy ofrage over an empty money-box. The soldier who drew the sketch was anartist of no mean order, and the picture told its story as plainly aswords.

  "It proves that the Yankees knew we were coming and what we were comingfor," continued Rodney. "It's an insult, and I hope we will not go backuntil we have thrashed them for it most soundly."

  The army rested for two days at Warrensburg, and then moved uponLexington, whither the money had been conveyed; but Rodney and Dick hadno hopes of wearing the new uniforms and wrapping themselves in the warmblankets that their share of the hundred thousand would purchase forthem, if they had it. They were afraid they wouldn't get any of it, andthis fear was confirmed when their advance guard was severely repulsedby less than half a regiment of Home Guards who were found stronglyentrenched at Lexington. The attack, which was renewed on the 12th ofSeptember, after Colonel Mulligan arrived with his Irish brigade,bringing the strength of the garrison up to twenty-five hundred men, waseven more disastrous than the first, and Price retired to wait until hissupplies of ammunition could be brought up. He waited six days, andduring that time not a soldier was thrown into the garrison, while Pricesaw his own army growing daily. Every man in the country for milesaround, and every boy, too, who was strong enough to handle a gun,"rushed to Lexington to take part in the victory to which Price invitedthem." The few Union men there were left in that part of the State camewith the rest, because it was the only thing they could do to savethemselves and their property from the vengeance of the rebels. The realbattle began on the 18th, and on the afternoon of the 20th, afterfifty-two hours of constant fighting, when his ammunition and provisionswere almost exhausted and his supply of water entirely cut off, thebrave colonel, who afterward died on the field of Winchester

  "And dying--'Lay me down And save the flag!' he cried,"

  gave up the struggle, and surrendered a worn-out garrison of twothousand five hundred men to an army of more than twenty thousand. Itwas a grand victory--almost as grand as the one Beauregard won overAnderson at Fort Sumter. By it Price secured "a great number of standsof arms, a considerable quantity of ammunition, a vast amount ofcommissary stores, and nine hundred thousand dollars in hard cash." Hedid not abuse his power but paid tribute to the courage of the men whohad so long resisted him by releasing the soldiers on parole, andkeeping the officers only as prisoners.

  Having accomplished his object and rallied to his standard all thescattered bands of partisans in Northern Missouri, and hearing thatFremont was advancing upon him, while Hardee, who was to support him bymoving up the river from New Madrid, had been driven back, Price turnedand ran, sending his mounted troopers to threaten several points atonce, misleading the Federals who had hastily assembled to harass hisrear, and thus securing an almost unobstructed road for his retreat.These advance troopers had a few engagements, and Rodney and Dick tookpart in the most of them, but Price could neither be overtaken norstopped. The two friends were among the first to ride into Neosho, alittle town in the southwestern part of the State, toward which themarch had been directed, and the first man they met gave them someinformation that struck them dumb with surprise and indignation. He wasa farmer who had just sold a load of provisions to the soldiers, and hedrove his empty wagon out of the road to let the regiment pass.

  "We're into the mud now as deep as the rest of 'em," said he, asRodney's company rode by. "If Caroliny gets stretched up by the neck,we-uns will have to be stretched, too."

  "What do you mean by that?" inquired Captain Jones.

  "The Legislator is over there in that house," replied the farmer, "andthey've just give out some kind of a paper saying that this State ofMissoury don't belong to the old Union no more, but is one of theConfedrit States of Ameriky."

  "Do you mean that the State has seceded?" cried the captain, while hismen looked at him and at one another as if they could not understandwhat the farmer was trying to tell them. "There's cheek for you. Why,the whole of the State, except this part of it right around here, isover-run with Yankees."

  "I don't know nothing about that," replied the farmer; and he wasobliged to turn around on his seat and shout the words, for Rodney'scompany had been riding straight ahead all the time. "It's only what Iheard. Mebbe you'll find somebody up the street that can tell you allabout it."

  The story was so improbable that the boys could not make up their mindsto believe it. The Legislature, which had run almost as far as it couldget without going over the line into Arkansas, had no authority over theState, three-fourths of whose territory was under the control of theUnion forces, and level-headed Dick Graham did not hesitate to say, inthe presence and hearing of his captain, that if the Legislature hadpassed an Act of Secession, they were idiots, the last one of them. Butthe Confederate authorities Were given to doing foolish things. Read theproclamation Jefferson Davis issued from Danville while he was runningfor his life!

  "If that is true we are in a pretty fix," said Rodney, as soon as hecould speak. "I came up here to keep out of the Confederate army, andnow I am made a Confederate in spite of myself. And so are you. You areunder control of the government at Richmond now, and next week you maybe ordered to Virginia."

  "But I'll not go," exclaimed Dick. "I'll serve right where I am until mytime is out, and then I'll go home. But look here. The Richmondgovernment can't order me out of Missouri without violating the veryprinciple we are fighting for--State Rights. They can _ask_ me to go,but just see how utterly inconsistent they will be if they try to compelme to go."

  "I hope you are right, but I wouldn't be afraid to bet anything I've gotthat you are wrong," answered Rodney; and his friend's words did not inthe least encourage him. "That would be the right way to do things, butyou ought to see that it wouldn't be sensible. What's the use of havingConfederate soldiers if they are not to obey the orders of theConfederate government? If it suits them to do it, those fellows inRichmond will ride rough-shod over State Rights."

  "Oh, they won't do that," exclaimed Dick, waving his hands up and downin the air. "They can't do it. Their government will fall to pieces likea rope of sand if they try it."

  The boys wondered what their general would think of the situation, andwhen the artillery came into town they found out. A few sections of itwheeled into line at a gallop, and celebrated the secession of the Stateby firing one hundred guns. Rodney and Dick were intensely disgusted.They listened in a half mutinous way when the adjutant read the act thenext day on dress parade, and tossed up their caps and shouted with therest; but they did these things for the same reasons that impelledhundreds of others in camp to do them--because they knew it would not besafe to show any lack of enthusiasm.

  T
he fact that they were no longer State troops but full-fledgedConfederates was not fully impressed upon Rodney and his fellow soldiersuntil some months later, when the Richmond government was all ready toput its despotic plans into execution. Probably the general commandingsaw that there was much dissatisfaction among his men, and did not thinkit prudent to draw the reins too tight. He drilled his troops a littleoftener and a little harder, and was rather more particular aboutgranting furloughs, and this gave the boys no ground for complaint; butthey were constantly harassed by the fear that the future had somethingominous in store for them.

  Price retreated as Fremont advanced, and a second battle was fought atWilson's Creek, during which the commander of the Union forces made acavalry charge that is still spoken of as one of the most brilliantepisodes of the war. But when Fremont was displaced by Hunter, thelatter fell back toward Rolla, thus allowing Price to recover the groundfrom which he had just been driven. He was prompt to take advantage ofthe opportunity, this time directing his columns toward Kansas, with theintention of getting supplies for his troops, and cutting the State offfrom all communication with St. Louis. But Halleck succeeded Hunter onthe 18th of November, and before a month had passed away Price in turnwas compelled to retreat, his men being captured by the thousand,together with large quantities of arms and supplies of ammunition andprovisions. It began to look now, to quote from Dick Graham, as thoughthe boot was on the other foot. Instead of running the Yankees out ofMissouri, the Yankees had run them out, fairly and squarely, for whenPrice went into camp it was over the line in the State of Arkansas.Every one of the plans that the Confederates had made for keeping theState in their possession and capturing St. Louis, had been broken up bythe strategy of the Union generals. The battle of Belmont, which tookplace in the month of November, has been called a Confederate victory,but it was not so in reality. General Grant didn't fight that engagementbecause he cared a cent for Belmont, for he knew he could not hold it ifhe got it. All he wanted was to keep the Confederates from sendingtroops from Columbus, Kentucky, to co-operate with Price in Missouri. Heaccomplished his object by keeping Polk busy at home, and Price wasdriven into Arkansas.

  "And we are here with him," said Dick to his friend Rodney, as the twolay beside their camp-fire at Cove Creek, talking over the situation."We said we never would go out of Missouri."

  "That is what you said," replied Rodney. "After the farce those oldwomen went through up there at Neosho, taking the State out of the Unionwhen they had no authority over it, I knew we were going to see trouble.And mark my words: we have only seen the beginning of it."

  Either General Halleck's army was not as strong as he would like to havehad it, or else he over-estimated the strength of the enemy, for he fellback and the Confederates went into winter quarters, Price atSpringfield and McCulloch just over the line into Arkansas. Now the twofriends had time and opportunity for visiting, but there was no one forthem to visit. Dick showed Rodney where his father's house and Mr.Percival's had once stood, but there was nothing left of them butblackened ruins. The rebels had "done the business" for one, and Unionmen had "cleaned out" the other. Dick fully expected to find it so, forhe had often seen such evidence of vandalism and hatred during his longmarches through the State. The boys afterward learned that Dick's fatherand mother had taken refuge with friends in Little Rock, while Mr.Percival's family had, in some mysterious way, succeeded in reaching St.Louis. Rodney was depressed by the sight of the ruins, and thanked hislucky stars that his father and mother lived in a State in which suchthings never could be done. The few Union men there were in and aroundMooreville would never dare trouble his folks, and the Yankees would notbe able to penetrate so far into the Confederacy.

  Garrison duty, as the boys called their life in winter quarters, wasmost distasteful to them, and it was with great delight that theylistened to the rumors which early in February came up from McCulloch'scamp, to the effect that the two armies were to take the field again atonce, but that their campaign was to be in a different direction. Theserumors did not say that the Richmond government had decided to give upthe struggle in Missouri and turn its attention to more importantpoints, but the men, who talked freely in the presence of theirofficers, declared that that was what the new move would amount to. Theywere to proceed to New Madrid to operate with the Army of the Center inchecking the advance of the Federals, who were threatening Island No.10.

  For once rumor told the truth and the move was made, though not in theway Rodney and Dick thought it would be. One Sunday morning there was aterrible uproar made by a scouting party which came tearing into campwith the information that General Curtis's army, forty thousand strong,was close upon Springfield and more coming. This rumor was also true;and "Old Pap Price," as his men had learned to call him, who was notmuch of a fighter but a "master hand at running," made haste to get hiswagon-train out of the way. To quote once more from Dick Graham, it washardly worth the trouble, for the oxen were so lean and weak that theycould scarcely walk, and the wagons, which were fit for nothing butfire-wood, were loaded with a lot of rubbish that was of little value.But "Old Pap" was bent on saving everything he had, and could not haveworked harder to take this train to a place of security if it had beenfreighted with the money he captured at Lexington. The retreat soonbecame a rout. The whole country was thrown into a state of alarm, andpeople came flocking from all directions, bringing with them the fewhousehold effects that the different raiding parties had left them.Price kept up a running fight until some of McCulloch's troops came up,and then the Federal advance was checked.

  If General Curtis intended this sudden movement for a surprise he couldnot have selected a better time for it, and if he had kept his twocolumns together, instead of sending Siegel off with thirteen thousandmen to operate in another quarter, Price's army would have "beeneliminated from the problem of war," and the battle of Pea Ridge wouldnot have been fought. McCulloch's army was divided, and McCullochhimself was away in another direction surveying a route for the march toNew Madrid; and Price, relying upon the inhabitants to keep him postedin regard to the movements of our forces, as well as upon the supposedimpassable condition of the roads in his front, was whipped before heknew there was an enemy anywhere within reach of him. Then followed adisastrous retreat of an army without provisions or tents, along a muddyroad, through a snow storm so blinding that one could scarcely see tenfeet ahead of him, and it went on until it was stopped by a telegramfrom General Van Dorn, who had been appointed to command the ConfederateArmy of the West because Price and McCulloch could not agree. The newgeneral, who declared that "all retrograde movements must be stopped atonce," and that "henceforth the army must press on to victory," arrivedon the 2d of March, drove Siegel out of Bentonville on the 5th, and onFriday and Saturday fought the battle of Pea Ridge--a thing that hemight as well have let alone, for he did not do what he set out to do.He retreated one way, while General Curtis went another and settled downto await reinforcements. Van Dorn gave his men to understand that he wasnot beaten, but he couldn't stop to pursue Curtis, because his orderscompelled him to at once proceed with all his available force to jointhe Army of the Center on the Mississippi.

  Then came that dreary march to Van Buren of which we have spoken, andwhich was a little ahead of anything Rodney had ever dreamed of. Theweary and hungry soldiers had long since ceased to expect anything fromthe commissary department, which had disappeared as completely as thoughit had never existed, and provisions of every sort were so scarce thatthe different regiments and companies were obliged to break into littlesquads and forage on their own account, the only instructions theyreceived being to the effect that they were to get to Van Buren as soonas they could. As Dick and Rodney had the reputation of being excellentforagers, and were known to be well supplied with gold, they had nodifficulty in keeping the members of their mess together. The goldbrought them corn bread, chickens and milk when Confederate scrip wouldhave failed, and when they came to compare notes with the rest of theregiment at Van Buren
, they found that they had fared very well. Thebulk of Price's army had passed on ahead of them, going down intocellars and up into garrets, and poking about in hay-mows and stacks insearch of provender that had been hastily concealed by the anxiouscitizens, and Rodney often wondered how McCulloch's men, who brought upthe rear, managed to keep body and soul together.

  It was a dreary time taken all around, but their troubles did not endwhen they arrived at Van Buren, as they hoped they would. It is truethey again came within sight of a commissary department with anabundance of provisions, a quartermaster's department with a lot ofmixed-up baggage and camp equipage, blankets and overcoats that had beenthrown off and left at different places along the route, and here theywere allowed to rest until the stragglers came up and reported; buttheir march was not ended. Their destination was Pocahontas, which wasnearly two hundred miles farther on.

  It was while they were enjoying a much needed rest in camp at Van Burenthat they heard one piece of news that raised them to the highest pitchof excitement, and two others that brought their spirits down to zero.The first was brought to camp by a member of Dick's mess who had somehowmanaged to get hold of a paper containing a greatly exaggerated accountof the first day's fight at Pittsburg Landing.

  "Listen to this, boys," he shouted, as the mess gathered around him andthe soldiers came running from all directions to see what the excitementwas about. "'If we've been worsted here in the West, our friends in theEast have made up for it by sweeping everything before them. Grant, theYankee general, has been surprised at Shiloh, his army driven pell-mellthrough their camp and down under the bank of the river, where theirgunboats saved them. Johnston lived long enough to see the Yankees infull flight and then he was killed; but Beauregard, who took his place,telegraphs that "certain destruction awaits the enemy on the morrow."'That would be--let me see. Why, this paper is two weeks old," he added,in a disappointed tone, glancing at the date.

  "No matter; we whipped them," exclaimed Rodney; and when some oneproposed three cheers for the Army of the Center, he pulled off his capand joined in with a will.

  Captain Jones, who brought with him a longer face than any of hiscompany had ever seen him wear before, sauntered up while the cheeringwas going on, and asked what it was all about. When he learned that theywere happy over the glorious news from Shiloh, he said, as he drew acouple of papers from his pocket:

  "You fellows are away behind the times. That news is old, and Beauregardhollered before he was out of the woods. Read this later account," hecontinued, handing one of the papers to Dick, and placing a finger uponthe column to which he wished to draw attention. "And after you haveread that, take the other paper and see what it says aboutconscription."

  The captain turned on his heel and walked away, but looked back with anexpression of astonishment on his face when he heard one of his menexclaim:

  "Has the Richmond government really passed a Conscription Act? Then Isay bully for the Richmond government. There are lots of sneaks in ourtown who shouted 'sick 'em,' to us, but who were too cowardly to put ona uniform themselves. If they have got to come in whether they want toor not, I am a Confederate from this minute. Read about the battlefirst, sergeant, and then we'll hear about the conscription law."

  Dick complied, and before he got through there were some angry andastonished men standing around him.