by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXIII
WITHIN THE CONFEDERATE LINES
The fall of the gigantic Tennessee lieutenant had created somethinglike a panic among his cavalrymen who were pressing forward to flankthe Kentuckians; and Sergeant Fronklyn, his face still covered withblood, seized the opportunity of their retirement to the rear to dragthe form of Lieutenant Lyon out of the melee, and place him on the bankof the creek which bounded the camp on the west.
His first care was to wet his handkerchief from his canteen, and washthe blood from his face, so that he could see better. Then he felt ofhis wound which was somewhat swollen, and found the scalpskin was tornaway from his head just above the temple. The bullet from the pistol ofthe trooper had glanced across his head with force enough to stun himwithout making a very bad wound. He washed it with the handkerchief,and then tied it over the top of his head, and under his chin.
He realized that he had had a very narrow escape from death; for if theball had hit him an inch lower, it would certainly have killed him. Hetook a long draught of water from his canteen, and felt better. He wasvery thankful for his escape, and believed he should recover from thewound in a week. He knew that he was a prisoner; but it was probablethat the Union army would open fire upon the intrenchments the nextmorning, and would capture it in the end, be it sooner or later.
He had seated himself by the side of the motionless form of hisofficer, not doubting that he was dead, though he immediately proceededto satisfy himself on this question. He placed his hand on his heart.He had been a student in a medical institution at the time of hisenlistment, and had made considerable progress in his studies, and hadassisted Dr. Farnwright in the hospital when the occasion would permit.
The organ of life was still beating, and he uttered an exclamation ofsatisfaction. Thus encouraged, he continued to investigate thecondition of the lieutenant. He could find no open wound, but there wasa considerable swelling on the top of the head. He was convinced thatthe case would not be fatal. Taking the patient's handkerchief from theinside of his coat, he wet it thoroughly from his canteen. Then heunloosed the belt, and opened wide his coat.
He sprinkled the face from the wet handkerchief, and then bathed itvery patiently for half an hour. At the end of this time the patientopened his eyes, slowly at first, and soon had them wide open. Herecovered his consciousness later, and complained of a nausea at hisstomach, and he continued to have an increase of the symptom till hehad discharged the contents of that member.
"I feel better," said he very faintly, as he looked about him, andseemed to be bewildered. "Who are you?" he inquired; for it was toodark by this time for him to see anything distinctly.
"I am Sergeant Fronklyn," replied his attentive nurse. "Don't you knowme, Lieutenant Lyon?"
"I should know you if I could see your face," replied Deck with astronger voice.
"It is becoming rather dark about here. Have you any pain, Lieutenant?"inquired the sergeant.
"None of any consequence, Fronklyn; but my head aches," answered Deck."Where do I happen to be just now?"
"Don't you remember what took place an hour ago, or more?"
"I have an idea that I was in a fight; but it all came to an end verysuddenly," replied Deck, raising his head, and then sitting up on theground.
"You were in a sharp fight, and you have lain here like a log for halfan hour or more. I was afraid that you had been killed; but I thank Godwith all my heart and soul that you are still living," said Fronklynvery devoutly.
"Some of it comes back to me now," said the patient, as he looked abouthim as if to ascertain where he was; for his companion had not informedhim on this point. "I had just struck down a trooper with my sabre whenI heard the tramp of a horse behind me. I was about to wheel so as toface him, when I felt a blow on my head, and I can remember nothingmore."
"You fell on the field, as I had before you."
"Are you wounded, Fronklyn?"
"I am slightly; and my case seems to be something like yours, though itwas a pistol-ball that brought me down. I saw the trooper aim a greathorse-pistol that might have been a hundred years old, and I have nodoubt that the bullet was as big as they fire in those ancientflint-lock muskets. It stunned me for the moment; but I was on my feetat once, and saw you fall," the sergeant explained.
"Are you much hurt, Fronklyn?" asked Deck.
"Only a flesh-wound that will heal up in a week, or less. When I canget at my knapsack I will put a plaster on it."
"But you have not told me where we are, Fronklyn, and I cannot tell forthe life of me," continued the lieutenant, looking around him again.
"Don't you remember that we were in the enemy's fortification when thefight went on?"
"I remember that. We had been crowded into the enemy's intrenchments bythe crazy mob. A Southern captain claimed our platoon as the prisonersof his company; and that made me so mad that I ordered our men tocharge upon them, and fight their way out of the fort," returned thewounded officer, whose mind seemed to be clear enough by this time.
"And that was just what we were doing when both of us went down; thoughI was on my feet soon enough to drag you out of the fight," replied thesergeant.
"What has become of the platoon?"
"You were on the flank, and Life Knox got in at the head of the men,dropping every Confederate that came in front of him; and the rest ofour fellows were not far behind him. None of them were captured; buttwo were killed, and probably some of them were slightly wounded."
"The men are not prisoners, then?"
"They are not."
"How is it with us?"
"I suppose we are prisoners, for we are within the enemy's lines; butno person has been near us as we lay here. I think the Southerners haveall they can attend to at present, and doubtless they are getting readyfor a fight to-morrow morning; for General Thomas will certainly cleanthem out before he has done with them."
"What is to be done with us?" suggested Deck.
"That is a question, Lieutenant."
"Well, the next business in order is to get away, for I have no fancyfor being taken to the South, since the Confederates have no provisionsfor their own men, and as prisoners we would starve with them," saidDeck. "I haven't had my supper yet, and I feel a little faint. I haveenough to eat in my haversack."
"So have I; for we were so busy at noon, that I did not have time toeat much dinner, though it was served as usual. I think we had bettergo to supper now, and then we will look about us."
Both of them began to eat from their haversacks, and they made a heartymeal of it. The lieutenant declared that he felt all right then, andhis head did not ache half so bad as it had when he first came tohimself. In the excitement of the day Deck had eaten very little. Hehad been careful that his soldiers had their dinner, but he had beentoo busy to attend to the matter himself. He had become somewhat faintwhile within the breastworks before the charge. At any rate, he felt agreat deal better after he had eaten his supper.
"I wonder what they are doing in here," said he, looking to the middleof the camp, though it was now so dark that he could not make outanything.
"Of course there is going to be another battle in the morning, and theenemy here are getting ready for it," replied Fronklyn. "General Thomaswas sent down here to capture these works, and drive the enemy awayfrom this region, and he is going to do it. He is a regular armyofficer, and he understands his business."
"What do you suppose has become of your horse and mine, Fronklyn?"asked Deck, as he looked about him again. "I wouldn't lose Ceph foreverything else I have in the world."
"I saw him pressing forward with the men after you had fallen, and itseemed as though he meant to do some fighting on his own account,"replied the sergeant. "I fancy that both our horses went with the menout of the fort, and that they will be cared for, even if they arewandering about in the fields."
"The question just now is how we are to get out of this scrape," saidDeck, as he rose from his seat on the wet ground. "I don't like the
idea of going South as a prisoner, and not much better being paroled,and tied up in idleness for I don't know how long. We must get out ofthis place, Fronklyn."
"I am entirely of your opinion, Lieutenant; but I don't see any chanceto do so now," replied the sergeant. "They have closed up the entranceby which we were forced in; for it is as dark there as all along thebreastworks."
"No men appear to be stirring in this part of the camp, though thereare plenty of them not ten rods from us," added Deck.
"But there is a line of sentinels all along the inside of thebreastworks. I made out the men before it was as dark as it is now. Ifit wasn't for them we could climb over it, and go back to our camp,"said Fronklyn. "Our men have two or three batteries on the field, andthey are firing at intervals. The artillerists inside the fort arestanding by their guns, and they fire them once in a while to show thatthey are awake."
"I think we had better reconnoitre the situation, and we may find somehole we can crawl through," suggested Deck, as he walked towards thecreek which bounded the intrenchments on the west.
"Do you expect to get out this way?" inquired the sergeant.
"Perhaps we may possibly do so," replied the lieutenant.
"Impossible; I have looked into that creek before. It is wide near theriver, and after the freshet of the last three days it is a rushingtorrent, and the great river is not much better out in the middle,"protested Fronklyn.
"Well, we must do something," Deck insisted earnestly. "I am going tomove over where there is something going on. We can't afford to wasteour time while we have any of it on our hands."
"All right, Lieutenant; I will follow you wherever you go," returnedthe sergeant.
Deck led the way towards the centre of the camp; but he had not gonetwo rods before he stumbled over the form of a dead trooper, one of thenumber who had been unhorsed in the charge of the platoon. Half a dozenmore of them lay near the spot where the heaviest of the fighting hadbeen done. Probably the wounded had been picked up and borne to thehospital.
"Lie down, Sergeant!" said Deck, as he did so himself.
A mounted officer rode along the line of sentinels as far as the creek,evidently assuring himself that all was safe in this part of the camp.He paused a moment at each of the guards, and finally turned his horseand rode back the way he had come.
"We must get over by the river, and see how it looks there," said Deckwhen the officer had passed out of hearing.
"Then we had better snake it; for if we stand up it may attract theattention of the sentinel nearest to us," suggested the sergeant, as hebegan to crawl after the manner of the reptile he had mentioned.
The lieutenant followed his example; for he realized that a movingobject could be made out in the darkness. By this slow process oflocomotion they reached the bank of the river, and heard the dull flowof the water from the middle of the great stream. The bank was high andsteep; and it was soft and wet. From this point they could see asteamboat,--a small affair. It was headed up the river; but the lightof the fires in the forward part of the craft enabled them to see her,and to make out her position.
On the shore above her there was a considerable crowd of men; but theobservers were too far off to be seen distinctly. They could make outby the light of the steamer's fires two large flatboats, and a muchsmaller craft was made fast to the stern of the steamer. Deck had anidea, but he did not mention it. Stepping over the bank of the river,he began to descend the steep and slippery declivity; and Fronklyn,with a mental protest, followed him.