"Where--when!--what force!"
"One hundred and forty thousand of all arms. I answer the last questionfirst."
"And--"
"The army will advance in two columns. The right--of Sedgwick's andWarren's corps--will cross at Germanna Ford. The left, consisting ofHancock's corps, at Ely's ford below. They have pontoon and bridgetrains--and the movement will commence at midnight on the third--twodays from now."
Stuart knit his brows, and buried his hand in his beard. Suddenly hecalled out to the orderly:--
"Have two horses saddled in five minutes!" And seizing his hat, hesaid:--
"Get ready to ride to General Lee's head-quarters with me, Nighthawk!"
The clerical looking emissary put on his respectable black hat.
"You are certain of this intelligence?" Stuart said, turning with apiercing glance to him.
"Quite certain, general," said Mr. Nighthawk, serenely.
"You were in the camps?"
"In all, I believe, and at army head-quarters."
"You overheard your intelligence?"
"No, I captured it, general."
"How?"
"A courier was sent in haste--I saw the commander-in-chief speakingto him. I followed--came up with him in a hollow of the woods--and wascompelled to blow his brains out, as he would not surrender. I thensearched his body, and found what I wanted. There it is general."
And Nighthawk drew forth a paper.
"What is it?" exclaimed Stuart.
"Grant's confidential order to his corps commanders, general, directingthe movements of his army."
Stuart seized it, read it hastily, and uttered an exclamation ofsatisfaction. Ten minutes afterward he was going at full speed,accompanied by Nighthawk, toward General Lee's head-quarters.
XXI.
"VIRGINIA EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY!"
Soon after daylight, on the next morning, Stuart was up, and writingbusily at his desk.
He was perfectly cool, as always, and his manner when I went inexhibited no sort of flurry. But the couriers going and coming withdispatches indicated clearly that "something was in the wind."
I was seated by the fireplace when Stuart finished a dispatch and cametoward me. The next moment he threw himself upon a chair, leaned hishead upon my shoulder, and began to caress one of his dogs, who leapedinto his lap.
"Well, Surry, old fellow, we are going to get into the saddle. Look outfor your head!"
"Excellent advice," I replied. "I recommend you to follow it."
"You think I expose myself, do you?"
"In the most reckless manner."
"For instance--come, an instance!" he laughed.
I saw Stuart was talking to rest himself.
"Well, at Mine Run, when you rode up to that fence lined withsharpshooters--and they fired on us at ten paces, nearly."
"In fact, you might have shot a marble at them--but I am not afraid ofany ball _aimed_ at me."[1]
[Footnote 1: His words.]
"Then you believe in _chance_, general?"
"There is no chance, Surry," he said, gravely. "God rules over allthings, and not a sparrow, we are told, can fall without his permission.How can I, or you, then?"
"You are right, general, and I have always been convinced of yourreligious faith."
"I believe in God and our Saviour, with all my heart," said Stuart,solemnly. "I may not show it, but I feel deeply."
"On the contrary, you show it--to me at least--even in trifles," Isaid, moved by his earnestness. "Do you remember the other day, when anofficer uttered a sneer at the expense of a friend of his who had turned_preacher_? You replied that the calling of a minister was the noblestin which any human being could engage[1]--and I regretted at thatmoment, that the people who laugh at you, and charge you with viciousthings, could not hear you."
[Footnote 1: His words.]
Stuart shook his head, smiling with a sadness on his lips which I hadnever seen before.
"They would not believe me, my dear Surry; not one would give me creditfor a good sentiment or a pure principle! Am I not a drunkard, becausemy face is burned red by the sun and the wind? And yet I never touchedspirit in all my life! I do not know the taste of it![1] Am I not givento women? And yet, God knows I am innocent,--that I recoil in disgustfrom the very thought! Am I not frivolous, trifling,--laughing at allthings, reverencing nothing? And yet my laughter is only from highhealth and animal spirits. I am young and robust; it is natural to me tolaugh, as it is to be pleased with bright faces and happy voices, withcolors, and music, and approbation. I am not as religious as I ought tobe, and wish, with all my heart, I had the deep and devout piety of thatgood man and great military genius,[2] Stonewall Jackson. I can lay noclaim to it, you see, Surry; I am only a rough soldier, at my hard work.I am terribly busy, and my command takes every energy I possess; butI find time to read my Bible and to pray. I pray for pardon andforgiveness, and try to do my duty, and leave the rest to God. If Godcalls me--and He may call me very soon--I hope I will be ready, andbe able to say, 'Thy will be done.' I expect to be killed in thiswar;[3]--Heaven knows, I would have my right hand chopped off at thewrist to stop it![4]--but I do not shrink from the ordeal before me, andI am ready to lay down my life for my country."[5]
[Footnote 1: His words.]
[Footnote 2: His words.]
[Footnote 3: His words.]
[Footnote 4: His words.]
[Footnote 5: His words.]
Stuart paused, and leaned his arm upon the rude shelf above thefireplace, passing his hand over his forehead, as was habitual with him.
"A hard campaign is coming, Surry," he said, at length, more cheerfully;"I intend to do my duty in it, and deserve the good opinion of theworld, if I do not secure it. I have perilled my life many times, andshall not shrink from it in future. I am a Virginian, and I intend tolive or die for Old Virginia! The tug is coming; the enemy are about tocome over and 'try again!' But we will meet them, and fight them likemen, Surry! Our army is small, but with strong hands and brave heartsmuch can be done. We must be up and doing, and do our duty to thehandle.[1] For myself, I am going to fight whatever is before me,--towin victory, with God's blessing, or die trying! Once more, Surry,remember that we are fighting for our old mother, and that Virginiaexpects every man to do his duty!"
[Footnote 1: His words.]
His face glowed as he spoke; in his dazzling blue eyes burned the fireof an unconquerable resolution, a courage that nothing seemed able tocrush.
Years have passed since then, a thousand scenes have swept before me;but still I see the stalwart cavalier, with his proud forehead raised,and hear his sonorous voice exclaim:--
"Virginia expects every man to do his duty!"[1]
[Footnote 1: His words.]
XXII.
WHAT OCCURRED AT WARRENTON.
This conversation took place at an early hour of the morning. Two hoursafterward, I was in the saddle and riding toward Chancellorsville,with the double object of inspecting the pickets and taking Mohun hiscommission.
I have described in my former _Memoirs_ that melancholy country of theWilderness; its unending thickets; its roads, narrow and deserted, whichseem to wind on forever; the desolate fields, here and there coveredwith stunted bushes; the owls flapping their dusky wings; thewhip-poor-will, crying in the jungle; and the moccasin glidingstealthily amid the ooze, covered with its green scum.
Strange and sombre country! lugubrious shades where death lurked!Already two great armies had clutched there in May, 1863. Now, in May,'64, the tangled thicket was again to thunder; men were going to grapplehere in a mad wrestle even more desperate than the former!
Two roads stretch from Orange Court-House to Chancellorsville--the oldturnpike, and the plank road--running through Verdiersville.
I took the latter, followed the interminable wooden pathway through thethicket, and toward evening came to the point where the Ely's Ford roadcomes in near Chancellorsville. Here, surrounded by the rotting weapon
s,bones and skulls of the great battle already fought, I found Mohun readyfor the battle that was coming.
He commanded the regiment on picket opposite Ely's Ford; and was pointedout to me at three hundred yards from an old torn down house which stillremains there, I fancy.
Mohun had dismounted, and, leaning against the trunk of a tree, wassmoking a cigar. He was much thinner and paler than when I had lastseen him; but his eye was brilliant and piercing, his carriage erect andproud. In his fine new uniform, replacing that left at Fort Delaware,and his brown hat, decorated with a black feather, he was the model of acavalier, ready at a moment's warning to meet the enemy.
We exchanged a close grasp of the hand. Something in this man hadattracted me, and from acquaintances we had become friends, though Mohunhad never given me his confidence.
I informed him of Nighthawk's visit and narrative, congratulated him onhis escape, and then presented him with his appointment to the grade ofbrigadier-general.
"Hurrah for Stuart! He is a man to count on!" exclaimed Mohun, "and hereinclosed is the order for me to take command of four regiments!"
"I congratulate you, Mohun."
"I hope to do good work with them, my dear Surry--and I think they arejust in time."
With which words Mohun put the paper in his pocket.
"You know the latest intelligence?" he said.
"Yes; but do not let us talk of it. Tell me something aboutyourself--but first listen to a little narrative from me."
And I described the visit which I had made with Tom Herbert to the housenear Buckland; the scene between Darke and his companion; and, to keepback nothing, repeated the substance of their conversation.
Mohun knit his brows; then burst into a laugh.
"Well!" he said, "so those two amiable characters are still bent onmaking mince-meat of me, are they? Did you ever hear any thing like it?They are perfect tigers, thirsting for blood!"
"Nothing more nor less," I said; "the whole thing is like a romance."
"Is it not?"
"A perfect labyrinth."
"The very word!"
"And I have not a trace of a key."
Mohun looked at me for some moments in silence. He was evidentlyhesitating; and letting his eyes fall, played with the hilt of hissword.
Then he suddenly looked up.
"I have a confidence to make you, Surry," he said, "and would like tomake it this very day. But I cannot. You have no doubt divined thatColonel Darke is my bitter enemy--that his companion is no less, evenmore, bitter--and some day I will tell you what all that means. Mylife has been a strange one. As was said of Randolph of Roanoke's, 'thefictions of romance cannot surpass it.' These two persons alluded toit--I understand more than you possibly can--but I do _not_ understandthe allusions made to General Davenant. I am _not_ the suitor of hisdaughter--or of any one. I am not in love--I do not intend to be--to befrank with you, friend, I have little confidence in women--and you nodoubt comprehend that this strange one whom you have thrice met, on theRappahannock, in Pennsylvania, and near Buckland, is the cause."
"She seems to be a perfect viper."
"Is she not? You would say so, more than ever, if I told you what tookplace at Warrenton."
And again Mohun's brows were knit together. Then his bitter expressionchanged to laughter.
"What took place at Warrenton!" I said, looking at him intently.
"Exactly, my dear friend--it was a real comedy. Only a poignard played aprominent part in the affair, and you know poignards belong exclusivelyto tragedy."
Mohun uttered these words with his old reckless satire. A sort of grimand biting humor was plain in his accents.
"A poniard--a tragedy--tell me about it, Mohun," I said.
He hesitated a moment. "Well, I will do so," he said, at length. "Itwill amuse you, my guest, while dinner is getting ready."
"I am listening."
"Well, to go back. You remember my fight with Colonel Darke nearBuckland?"
"Certainly; and I was sure that you had killed each other."
"You were mistaken. He is not dead, and you see I am not. He was woundedin the throat, but my sabre missed the artery, and he was taken to ahouse near at hand, and thence to hospital, where he recovered. My ownwound was a bullet through the chest; and this gave me so much agonythat I could not be carried in my ambulance farther than Warrenton,where I was left with some friends who took good care of me. Meanwhile,General Meade had again advanced and occupied the place--I wasdiscovered, and removed as soon as possible to the Federal hospital,where they could have me under guard. Faith! they are smart people--ourfriends the Yankees! They are convinced that 'every little helps,' andthey had no idea of allowing that tremendous Southern paladin, ColonelMohun, to escape! So I was sent to hospital. The removal caused a returnof fever--I was within an inch of the grave--and this brings me to thecircumstance that I wish to relate for your amusement.
"For some days after my removal to the Federal hospital, I wasdelirious, but am now convinced that much which I then took for thewanderings of a fevered brain, was real.
"I used to lie awake a great deal, and one gloomy night I saw, ordreamed I saw, as I then supposed, _that woman_ enter my ward, incompany with the surgeon. She bent over me, glared upon me with thosedark eyes, which you no doubt remember, and then drawing back said tothe surgeon:--
"'Will he live?'
"'Impossible to say, madam,' was the reply. 'The ball passed through hisbreast, and although these wounds are almost always mortal, men do nowand then recover from them.'
"'Will this one?'
"'I cannot tell you, madam, his constitution seems powerful.'
"I saw her turn as he spoke, and fix those glaring eyes on me again.They were enough to burn a hole in you, Surry, and made me feel for someweapon. But there was none--and the scene here terminated--both retired.The next night, however, it was renewed. This time the surgeon felt mypulse, touched my forehead, placed his ear to my breast to listen tothe action of the heart, and rising up said, in reply to madam's earnestglance of inquiry:--
"'Yes, I am sure he will live. You can give yourself no further anxietyabout your cousin, madam.'
"_Her cousin_! That was not bad, you see. She had gained access, asI ascertained from some words of their conversation, by representingherself as my cousin. I was a member of her family who had 'gone astray'and embraced the cause of the rebellion, but was still dear to her!Womanly heart! clinging affection! not even the sin of the prodigalcousin could sever the tender chord of her love! I had wandered fromthe right path--fed on husks with the Confederate swine; but I waswounded--had come back; should the fatted calf remain unbutchered, andthe loving welcome be withheld?
"'_You can give yourself no further uneasiness about your cousin,madam_!'
"Such was the assurance of the surgeon, and he turned away to otherpatients, of whom there were, however, very few in the hospital, andnone near me. As he turned his back, madam looked at me. Her facewas really diabolical, and I thought at the moment that she was anightmare--that I _dreamed her_! Closing my eyes to shut out the vision,I kept them thus shut for some moments. When I reopened them she wasgone.
"Well, the surgeon's predictions did not seem likely to be verified. Myfever returned. Throughout the succeeding day I turned and tossed onmy couch; as night came, I had some hideous dreams. A storm was ragingwithout, and the rain falling in torrents. The building trembled, thewindows rattled--it was a night of nights for some devil's work; andI remember laughing in my fever, and muttering, 'Now is the time fordelirium, bad dreams, and ugly shapes, to flock around me!'
"I fell into a doze at last, and had, as I thought, a decidedly baddream--for I felt certain that I was dreaming, and that what I witnessedwas the sport of my fancy. What I saw, or seemed to see, was this: thedoor opened slowly--a head was thrust in, and remained motionless foran instant; then the head moved, a body followed; madam, the lady of thedark eyes, glided stealthily toward my cot. It was enough to make oneshudder, S
urry, to have seen the stealthy movement of that phantom.I gazed at it through my half-closed eyelids--saw the midnight eyesburning in the white face half covered by a shawl thrown over thehead--and, under that covering, the right hand of the phantom graspedsomething which I could not make out.
"In three quick steps _it_ was beside me. I say _it_, for the figureresembled that of a ghost, or some horrible _thing_. From the eyes twoflames seemed to dart, the lips opened, and I heard, in a low mutter:--
"'Ah! he is going to recover, then!'
"As the words left the phantom's lips, it reached my cot at a bound;something gleamed aloft, and I started back only in time to avoid thesharp point of a poniard, which grazed my head and nearly buried itselfin the pillow on which I lay.
"Well, I started up and endeavored to seize my assailant; but shesuddenly broke away from me, still clutching her weapon. Her clothingwas torn from her person--she recoiled toward the door--and I leapedfrom my couch to rush after and arrest her. I had not the strength to doso, however. I had scarcely taken three steps when I began to stagger.
"'Murderess!' I exclaimed, extending my arms to arrest her flight.
"It was useless. A few feet further I reeled--my head seemed turninground--and again shouting 'Murderess!' I fell at full length on thefloor, at the moment when the woman disappeared.
"That was curious, was it not? It would have been a tragical dream--itwas more tragical in being no dream at all, but a reality. What hadtaken place was simple, and easy to understand. That woman had comethither, on this stormy night, to murder me; and she had very nearlysucceeded. Had she found me asleep, I should never have waked.Fortunately, I was awake. Some noise frightened her, and shedisappeared. A moment afterward one of the nurses came, and finally thesurgeon.
Mohun; Or, the Last Days of Lee and His Paladins. Page 16