Raiding with Morgan

by Byron A. Dunn

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  CHIEF OF THE SECRET SERVICE.

  "Is this General Shackelford?" asked Calhoun of a distinguished-lookingConfederate officer.

  "It is; what can I do for you, my boy? You look as if you had been seeinghard times."

  "I have," answered Calhoun; "I have just escaped from the North. I am oneof Morgan's men."

  "Are you one of the officers who escaped with Morgan?" asked the General,with much interest.

  "Yes and no. I was not in prison with Morgan, but I escaped South withhim."

  "I had a nephew with Morgan," continued the General. "We have not heardfrom him since Morgan was captured. The report is that he was killed inthe last fight that Morgan had before he was captured. Poor Cal!" and theGeneral sighed.

  "Uncle Dick, do you not know me?" asked Calhoun, in a broken voice.

  General Shackelford stared at Calhoun in astonishment. "It cannot be, yes,it is Cal!" he exclaimed, and the next moment he had Calhoun by the hand,and was nearly shaking it off.

  "And you have been in a Northern prison, have you?" asked the General.

  "No, but I was wounded near unto death. Fortunately I fell into kindhands."

  "But your looks, Cal; you are nothing but skin and bones."

  "No wonder. I have not had enough to eat in the last seven days to keep abird alive. Then I was none too strong when I started on my journeysouth."

  "Tell me about it some other time," said the General. "What you want nowis rest and something to eat."

  And rest and food Calhoun got.

  When he came to tell his story it was listened to with wonder. He wastaken to General Joseph E. Johnston, then in command of the Confederateforces around Dalton, and the story was repeated.

  "You know, I presume," said Johnston, "that Morgan escaped, and is now inRichmond."

  "Yes, I long to be with him," answered Calhoun. "I feel as strong as evernow."

  "Do not be in a hurry to report," said Johnston. "Wait until you hear fromme."

  In a few days Calhoun received a message from General Johnston saying hewould like to see him. Calhoun lost no time in obeying the summons. He wasreceived most cordially.

  "In the first place, Captain," said the General, "allow me to present youthis," and he handed him his commission as captain in the Confederatearmy.

  Calhoun choked, he could only stammer his thanks. But what came nextastonished him still more. "I now offer you the position of Chief of theSecret Service of my army," said the General. "After listening to yourstory, although you are young, I believe there is no officer in the armymore capable of filling it."

  Calhoun knew not what to say; it was a place of the greatest honor, but hehated to leave Morgan. "Will you let me consult my uncle before I give ananswer?" asked Calhoun.

  "Most certainly," replied the General.

  "Accept it, by all means, Cal," said General Shackelford when Calhounappealed to him. "In the first place, it is your duty to serve yourcountry in the place where you can do the most good. There is no questionbut that at the head of the Secret Service you can render the countryvastly better service than you can riding with Morgan. In the next place,I fancy it will not be exactly with Morgan as it was before hisunfortunate raid. His famous raiders are prisoners, or scattered. It willbe impossible for him to gather another such force. They understood him,he understood them. This will not be the case with a new command. Then,this is for your ear alone, Calhoun, the authorities at Richmond are notsatisfied with Morgan. In invading the North he disobeyed orders; andthis, those high in authority cannot overlook."

  So, with many regrets, Calhoun decided to accept the offer of GeneralJohnston; but for many days his heart was with his old chieftain. The timecame when he saw the wisdom of his uncle's remarks. General Morgan neverregained his old prestige. It is true the Confederate government gave himthe department of Western Virginia, but they so hampered him with ordersthat any great success was impossible.

  In June, 1864, Morgan made his last raid into Kentucky. At first he wassuccessful, sweeping everything before him. He had the pleasure of takingprisoner General Hobson, the man who had tracked him all through hisNorthern raid. But at Cynthiana he met with overwhelming defeat, hisprisoners being recaptured, and he escaping with only a small remnant ofhis command.

  On the morning of the 4th of September, 1864, the end came. General Morganwas slain in battle at Greenville, East Tennessee. Calhoun mourned him asa father, when he heard of his death. It was long months afterwards beforehe heard the full particulars, and then they were told him by an officerwho was with the General on that fatal morning.

  "We marched into Greenville," said the officer, "and took possession ofthe place on the afternoon of the 3d. There was a small company of Yankeeswithin four miles of us, but there was no considerable body of Yankeesnearer than Bull's Gap, sixteen miles away. The General established hisheadquarters at the house of a Mrs. Williams, the finest house in thelittle city.

  "In the evening a furious storm arose and continued most all night. Therain fell in torrents. The lightning flashed incessantly, and there was acontinual crash of thunder. It seemed impossible that troops could move insuch a storm, and we felt perfectly safe.

  "But there were traitors in Greenville, and they carried the news to thelittle company of Yankees four miles away that Morgan was in the city, andtold at what house he lodged. Two daring young cavalrymen volunteered tocarry the news to General Gillem at Bull's Gap. Talk about the ride ofPaul Revere, compared to the ride of those two Yankees! Buffeted by windand rain, one moment in a glaring light and the next in pitch darkness,with the thunder crashing overhead, in spite of wind and rain, those twocavalrymen rode the sixteen miles by midnight.

  "The command was aroused. What if the rain did pour and the elementswarred with each other? Morgan was the prize, and by daylight Gillem'ssoldiers had reached Greenville. So complete was the surprise that thehouse in which the General slept was surrounded before the alarm wasgiven. Then thinking only of joining his men, the General leaped out ofbed, and without waiting to dress, seized his sword and dashed out of thehouse, seeking to escape by the way of the garden. But he was seen by asoldier and shot dead. The news that Morgan was killed seemed to gothrough the air. It was known in an incredibly short time by both sides.

  "Now," said the officer, "occurred one of the most singular circumstancesI know of during the war. There was no flag of truce, no orders to ceasefiring, yet the firing ceased. The Confederates gathered together, andmarched out of the city; the Federals marched in; the two were closetogether, within easy musket range, but not a shot was fired. It seemed asif both sides were conscious that a great man had fallen, a gallant soulfled, and that even grim war should stay his hand."

  It is not within the scope of this book to follow Calhoun through the lastyear of the war. Suffice it to say, that in the enlarged sphere of his newposition, his genius found full scope. He was all through the Atlanticcampaign, where for four months the thunder of cannon never ceased, andwhere seventy-five thousand men were offered as a sacrifice to the god ofwar. He followed Hood in his raid to the rear of Sherman's army, and theninto Tennessee. He was in that hell of fire at Franklin, where fell somany of the bravest sons of the South. At Nashville he was among those whotried to stem the tide of defeat, and was among the last to leave thatfatal field. When the remnants of Hood's army were gathered and marchedacross the states of Alabama and Georgia into North Carolina, hoping tostay the victorious progress of Sherman, Calhoun was with them.

  Not until the surrender of Lee and Johnston did Calhoun give up every hopeof the independence of the South. But the end came, and in bitter anguishhe laid down his arms. He had given his young life to his country whenonly seventeen years of age. For four years he had fought and hoped. Whenthe end came it seemed to him the sky was darkened, that every hope hadperished, that everything worth living for was gone. Oh, the bitterness ofdefeat! Strong men wept like children.r />
  Even the victors stood in silence over the grief of those whom they hadmet so many times in battle. They were brothers now, and they took them bythe hand and bade them be of good cheer, and divided their rations withthem. The soldiers who had fought each other on so many bloody fields werethe first to fraternize, the first to forget.

  When Calhoun gave his parole, he met his cousin Fred, who was on GeneralSherman's staff. The meeting was a happy one for Calhoun, for it served todispel the gloom which depressed his spirits. It seemed to be like oldtimes to be with Fred again. Nothing would satisfy Fred, but that Calhounshould return home by the way of Washington. He consented, and was inWashington at the time of the Grand Review. All day long he watched themighty armies of Grant and Sherman, as with steady tread they marchedthrough the streets, showered with flowers, greeted with proud huzzahs.And then he thought of the home-coming of the ragged Confederates, and thetears ran down his cheeks. But as he looked upon the thousands andthousands as they marched along, and remembered the depleted ranks of theSouthern army, his only wonder was that the South had held out so long asit did. Defeated they were, but their deeds are carved deep in the templeof fame, never to be erased.