by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XV.
FREDERICKSBURG.
As soon as breakfast was over Vincent mounted Wildfire, which had beensent back after he had been taken prisoner, and rode into Richmond.There he reported himself at headquarters as having returned afterescaping from a Federal prison and making his way through the lines ofthe enemy.
"I had my shoulder-bone smashed in a fight with some Yankees," he said,"and was laid up in hiding for six weeks; but have now fairly recovered.My shoulder, at times, gives me considerable pain, and although I amdesirous of returning to duty and rejoining my regiment until the battleat Fredericksburg has taken place, I must request that three months'leave be granted to me after that to return home and complete my cure,promising, of course, to rejoin my regiment at once should hostilitiesbreak out before the spring."
"We saw the news that you had escaped," the general said, "but feared,as so long a time elapsed without hearing from you, that you had beenshot in attempting to cross the lines. Your request for leave isgranted, and a note will be made of your zeal in thus rejoining on thevery day after your return. The vacancy in the regiment has been filledup, but I will appoint you temporarily to General Stuart's staff, and Ishall have great pleasure in to-day filling up your commission ascaptain. Now let me hear how you made your escape. By the accountspublished in the Northern papers it seemed that you must have had aconfederate outside the walls."
Vincent gave a full account of his escape from prison and a brief sketchof his subsequent proceedings, saying only that he was in the house ofsome loyal people in Tennessee when it was attacked by a party of Yankeebushwhackers; that these were beaten off in the fight, but that hehimself had a pistol bullet in his shoulder. He then made his way onuntil compelled by his wound to lay up for six weeks in a lonelyfarmhouse near Mount Pleasant; that afterward, in the disguise of ayoung farmer, he had made a long detour across the Tennessee River andreached Georgia.
"When do you leave for the front, Captain Wingfield?"
"I shall be ready to start to-night, sir."
"In that case I will trouble you to come here again this evening. Therewill be a fast train going through with ammunition for Lee at teno'clock, and I shall have a bag of dispatches for him, which I willtrouble you to deliver. You will find me here up to the last moment. Iwill give orders that a horse-box be attached to the train."
After expressing his thanks Vincent took his leave. As he left thegeneral's quarters, a young man, just alighting from his horse, gave ashout of greeting.
"Why, Wingfield, it is good to see you! I thought you were pining againin a Yankee dungeon, or had got knocked on the head crossing the lines.Where have you sprung from, and when did you arrive?"
"I only got in yesterday after sundry adventures which I will tell youabout presently. When did you arrive from the front?"
"I came down a few days ago on a week's leave on urgent familybusiness," the young man laughed, "and I am going back again thisafternoon by the four o'clock train."
"Stay till ten," Vincent said, "and we will go back together. There is aspecial train going through with ammunition, and as everything willmake way for that it will not be long behind the four o'clock, andlikely enough may pass it on the way. There is a horse-box attached toit, and as I only take one horse there will be room for yours."
"I haven't brought my horse down," Harry Furniss said; "but I willcertainly go with you by the ten o'clock. Then we can have a long talk.I don't think I have seen you since the day you asked me to lend you myboat, two years ago."
"Can you spare me two hours now?" Vincent asked. "You will do me a verygreat favor if you will."
Harry Furniss looked at his watch. "It is eleven o'clock now; we have alot of people to lunch at half-past one, and I must be back by then."
"You can manage that easy enough," Vincent replied; "in two hours fromthe time we leave here you can be at home."
"I am your man, then, Vincent. Just wait five minutes--I have to seesomeone in here."
A few minutes later Harry Furniss came out again and mounted.
"Now which way, Vincent? and what is it you want me for?"
"The way is to Jackson's place at the Cedars; the why I will tell youabout as we ride."
Vincent then recounted his feud with the Jacksons, of which, up to thedate of the purchase of Dinah Moore, his friend was aware, having beenpresent at the sale. He now heard of the attack upon young Jackson byTony, and of the disappearance of Dinah Moore.
"I should not be at all surprised, Wingfield, if your surmises arecorrect, and that the old scoundrel has carried off the girl to avengehimself upon Tony. Of course, if you could prove it, it would be a veryserious offense; for the stealing of a slave, and by force too, is acrime with a very heavy penalty, and has cost men their lives beforenow. But I don't see that you have anything like a positive proof,however strong a case of suspicion it may be.
"I don't see what you are going to say when you get there."
"I am going to tell him that, if he does not say what he has done withthe girl, I will have his son arrested for treachery as soon as he setsfoot in the Confederacy again."
"Treachery?" Furniss said in surprise. "What treachery has he beenguilty of? I saw that he was one of those who escaped with you, and Irather wondered at the time at you two being mixed up together inanything. I heard that he had been recaptured through some black fellowthat had been his slave, but I did not read the account. Have you gotproof of what you say?"
"Perhaps no proof that would hold in a court of law," Vincent replied,"but proof enough to make it an absolute certainty to my mind."
Vincent then gave an account of their escape, and of the anonymousdenunciation of himself and Dan.
"Now," he said, "no one but Dan knew of the intended escape, no one knewwhat clothes he had purchased, no one could possibly have known that Iwas to be disguised as a preacher and Dan as my servant. Therefore theinformation must have been given by Jackson."
"I have not the least doubt but that the blackguard did give it,Wingfield; but there is no proof."
"I consider that there is a proof--an absolute and positive proof,"Vincent asserted, "because no one else could have known it."
"Well, you see that, as a matter of fact, the other officer did know it,and might possibly have given the information."
"But why should he? The idea is absurd. He had never had a quarrel withme, and he owed his liberty to me."
"Just so, Wingfield. I am as certain that it was Jackson as you are,because I know the circumstances; but you see there is no more absoluteproof against one man than against the other. It is true that you hadhad a quarrel with Jackson some two years before, but you see you hadmade it up and had become friends in prison--so much so that youselected him from among a score of others in the same room to be thecompanion of your flight. You and I, who know Jackson, can well believehim guilty of an act of gross ingratitude--of ingratitude and treachery;but people who do not know would hardly credit it as possible that a mancould be such a villain. The defense he would set up would be that inthe first place there is no shadow of evidence that he more than theother turned traitor. In the second place he would be sure to say thatsuch an accusation against a Confederate officer is too monstrous andpreposterous to be entertained for a moment; and that doubtless yournegro, although he denies the fact, really chattered about his doings tothe negroes he was lodging with, and that it was through them thatsomeone got to know of the disguise you would wear. We know that itwasn't so, Wingfield; but ninety-nine out of every hundred white men inthe South would rather believe that a negro had chattered than that aConfederate officer had been guilty of a gross act of treachery andingratitude."
Vincent was silent. He felt that what his companion said was the truth;and that a weapon by which he had hoped to force the elder Jackson intosaying what he had done with Dinah would probably fail in its purpose.The old man was too astute not to perceive that there was no real proofagainst his son, and would therefore be unlikely at onc
e to admit thathe had committed a serious crime and to forego his revenge.
"I will try, at any rate," he said at last; "and if he refuses I willpublish the story in the papers. When the fellow gets back fromYankee-land he may either call me out or demand a court of inquiry. Imay not succeed in getting a verdict from twelve white men, but I thinkI can convince everyone of our own class that the fellow did it; andwhen this battle that is expected is over I have got three months'leave, and I will move heaven and earth to find the woman; and if I do,Jackson will either have to bolt or to stand a trial, with the prospectof ten years' imprisonment if he is convicted. In either case we are notlikely to have his son about here again; and if he did venture back andbrought an action against me, his chance of getting damages would be asmall one."
Another half-hour's ride brought them to the Cedars. They dismounted atthe house, and fastening their horses to the portico knocked at thedoor. It was opened by a negro.
"Tell your master," Vincent said, "that Mr. Wingfield wishes to speak tohim."
Andrew Jackson himself came to the door.
"To what do I owe the very great pleasure of this visit, Mr. Wingfield?"he said grimly.
"I have come to ask you what you have done with Dinah Moore, whom, Ihave every ground for believing, you have caused to be kidnaped from mymother's house."
"This is a serious charge, young gentleman," Andrew Jackson said, "andone that I shall call upon you to justify in the law courts. Men are notto be charged with criminal actions even by young gentlemen of goodVirginian families."
"I shall be quite ready to meet you there, Mr. Jackson, whenever youchoose; but my visit here is rather to give you an opportunity ofescaping the consequences that will follow your detection as the authorof the crime; for I warn you that I will bring the crime home to you,whatever it costs me in time and money. My offer is this: produce thewoman and her child, and not only shall no prosecution take place, but Iwill remain silent concerning a fact which affects the honor of yourson."
Andrew Jackson's face had been perfectly unmoved during thisconversation until he heard the allusion to his son. Then his facechanged visibly.
"I know nothing concerning which you can attack the honor of my son, Mr.Wingfield," he said with an effort to speak as unconcernedly as before.
"My charge is as follows," Vincent said quietly: "I was imprisoned atElmira with a number of other officers, among them your son. Thinkingthat it was time for the unpleasantness that had been existing betweenus to come to an end, I offered him my hand. This he accepted and webecame friends. A short time afterward a mode of escape offered itselfto me, and I proved the sincerity of my feelings toward him by offeringto him and another officer the means of sharing my escape. This theyaccepted. Once outside the walls, I furnished them with disguises thathad been prepared for them, assuming myself that of a minister. We thenseparated, going in different directions, I myself being accompanied bymy negro servant, to whose fidelity I owed our escape. Two daysafterward an anonymous writer communicated to the police the fact that Ihad escaped in the disguise of a minister, and was accompanied by myblack servant. This fact was only known to the negro, myself, and thetwo officers. My negro, who had released me, was certainly not mybetrayer; the other officer could certainly have had no possible motivefor betraying me. There remains, therefore, only your son, whosehostility to me was notorious, and who had expressed himself withbitterness against me on many occasions, and among others in the hearingof my friend Mr. Furniss here. Such being the case, it is my intentionto charge him before the military authorities with this act oftreachery. But, as I have said, I am willing to forego this and to keepsilence as to your conduct with reference to my slave Dinah Moore, ifyou will restore her and her child uninjured to the house from which youcaused her to be taken."
The sallow cheeks of the old planter had grown a shade paler as helistened to Vincent's narrative, but he now burst out in angry tones:
"How dare you, sir, bring such an infamous accusation against my son--anaccusation, like that against myself, wholly unsupported by a shred ofevidence? Doubtless your negro had confided to some of his associateshis plans for assisting you to escape from prison, and it is from one ofthese that the denunciation has come. Go, sir, report where you willwhat lies and fables you have invented; but be assured that I and my sonwill seek our compensation for such gross libels in the courts."
"Very well, sir," Vincent said, as he prepared to mount his horse; "ifyou will take the trouble to look in the papers to-morrow, you will seethat your threats of action for libel have no effect whatever upon me."
"The man is as hard as a rock, Wingfield," Furniss said, as they rodeoff together. "He wilted a little when you were telling your story, butthe moment he saw you had no definite proofs he was, as I expected hewould be, ready to defy you. What shall you do now?"
"I shall ride back into Richmond again and give a full account of myescape from the jail, and state that I firmly believe that theinformation as to my disguise was given by Jackson, and that it was theresult of a personal hostility which, as many young men in Richmond arewell aware, has existed for some time between us."
"Well, you must do as you like, Wingfield, but I think it will be arisky business."
"It may be so," Vincent said; "but I have little doubt that long beforeJackson is exchanged I shall have discovered Dinah, and shall prosecuteJackson for theft and kidnaping, in which case the young man will hardlyventure to prosecute me or indeed to show his face in this part of thecountry."
That evening the two young officers started for the front, and the nextmorning the Richmond papers came out with a sensational heading,"Alleged Gross Act of Treachery and Ingratitude by a ConfederateOfficer."
It was the 10th of December when Vincent joined the army atFredericksburg. He reported himself to General Stuart, who received himwith great cordiality.
"You are just in time, Wingfield," he said. "I believe that in anothertwenty-four hours the battle will be fought. They have for the last twodays been moving about in front, and apparently want us to believe thatthey intend to cross somewhere below the town; but all the news we getfrom our spies is to the effect that these are only feints and that theyintend to throw a bridge across here. We know, anyhow, they have got twotrains concealed opposite, near the river. Burnside is likely to find ita hard nut to crack. Of course they are superior in number to us, asthey always are; but as we have always beat them well on level ground Ido not think their chances of getting up these heights are by any meanshopeful. Then, too, their change of commanders is against them.McClellan fought a drawn battle against us at Antietam and showedhimself a really able general in the operations in front of Richmond.The army have confidence in him, and he is by far the best man they havegot so far, but the fools at Washington have now for the second timedisplaced him because they are jealous of him. Burnside has shownhimself a good man in minor commands, but I don't think he is equal tocommand such a vast army as this; and besides, we know from our friendsat Washington that he has protested against this advance across theriver, but has been overruled. You will see Fredericksburg will addanother to the long list of our victories."
Vincent shared a tent with another officer of the same rank in GeneralStuart's staff. They sat chatting till late, and it was still dark whenthey were suddenly aroused by an outbreak of musketry down at the river.
"The general was right," Captain Longmore, Vincent's companionexclaimed. "They are evidently throwing a bridge across the river, andthe fire we hear comes from two regiments of Mississippians who areposted down in the town under Barksdale."
It was but the work of a minute to throw on their clothes and hurry out.The night was dark and a heavy fog hung over the river. A roar ofmusketry came up from the valley. Drums and bugles were sounding allalong the crest. At the same moment they issued out General Stuart cameout from his tent, which was close by.
"Is that you, Longmore? Jump on your horse and ride down to the town.Bring back news of what is going o
n."
A few minutes later an officer rode up. Some wood had been thrown on thefire, and by its light Vincent recognized Stonewall Jackson.
"Have you any news for us?" he asked.
"Not yet; I have sent an officer down to inquire. The enemy have beentrying to bridge the river."
"I suppose so," Jackson replied. "I have ordered one of my brigades tocome to the head of the bank as soon as they can be formed up, to helpBarksdale if need be, but I don't want to take them down into the town.It is commanded by all the hills on the opposite side, and we know theyhave brought up also all their artillery there."
In a few minutes Captain Longmore returned.
"The enemy have thrown two pontoon bridges across, one above and onebelow the old railway bridge. The Mississippians have driven them backonce, but they are pushing on the work and will soon get it finished;but General Barksdale bids me report that with the force at his commandhe can repulse any attempt to cross."
The light was now breaking in the east, but the roar of musketrycontinued under the canopy of fog. Generals Lee, Longstreet, and othershad now arrived upon the spot, and Vincent was surprised that no orderswere issued for troops to re-enforce those under General Barksdale.Presently the sun rose, and as it gained in power the fog slowly lifted,and it was seen that the two pontoon bridges were complete; but the fireof the Mississippians was so heavy that although the enemy several timesattempted to cross they recoiled before it. Suddenly a gun was firedfrom the opposite height, and at the signal more than a hundred piecesof artillery opened fire upon the town. Many of the inhabitants had leftas soon as the musketry fire began, but the slopes behind it soonpresented a sad spectacle. Men, women, and children poured out from thetown, bewildered with the din and terrified by the storm of shot andshell that crashed into it. Higher and higher the crowd of fugitivesmade their way until they reached the crest; among them were weepingwomen and crying children, many of them in the scantiest attire andcarrying such articles of dress and valuables as they had caught up whenstartled by the terrible rain of missiles. In a very few minutes smokebegan to rise over the town, followed by tongues of flame, and in halfan hour the place was on fire in a score of places.
All day the bombardment went on without cessation and Fredericksburgcrumbled into ruins. Still, in spite of this terrible fire, theMississippians clung to the burning town amid crashing walls, fallingchimneys, and shells exploding in every direction. As night fell theenemy poured across the bridges, and Barksdale, contesting every foot ofground, fell back through the burning city and took up a position behinda stone wall in its rear.
Throughout the day not a single shot had been fired by the Confederateartillery, which was very inferior in power to that of the enemy, asGeneral Lee had no wish finally to hinder the passage of the Federals;the stubborn resistance of Barksdale's force being only intended to givehim time to concentrate all his army as soon as he knew for certain thepoint at which the enemy was going to cross; and he did not wish,therefore, to risk the destruction of any of his batteries by callingdown the Federal fire upon them.
During the day the troops were all brought up into position. Longstreetwas on the left and Jackson on the right, while the guns, forty-seven innumber, were in readiness to take up their post in the morning on theslopes in front of them. On the extreme right General Stuart was postedwith his cavalry and horse artillery. The night passed quietly and bydaybreak the troops were all drawn up in their positions.
As soon as the sun rose it was seen that during the night the enemy hadthrown more bridges across and that the greater portion of the army wasalready over. They were, indeed, already in movement against theConfederate position, their attack being directed toward the portion ofthe line held by Jackson's division. General Stuart gave orders to MajorPelham, who commanded his horse artillery, and who immediately broughtup the guns and began the battle by opening fire on the flank of theenemy. The guns of the Northern batteries at once replied, and for somehours the artillery duel continued, the Federal guns doing heavyexecution. For a time attacks were threatened from various points, butabout ten o'clock, when the fog lifted, a mass of some 55,000 troopsadvanced against Jackson. They were suffered to come within eighthundred yards before a gun was fired, and then fourteen guns opened uponthem with such effect that they fell back in confusion.
At one o'clock another attempt was made, covered by a tremendous fire ofartillery. For a time the columns of attack were kept at bay by the fireof the Confederate batteries, but they advanced with great resolution,pushed their way through Jackson's first line, and forced them to fallback. Jackson brought up his second line and drove the enemy back withgreat slaughter until his advance was checked by the fire of theNorthern artillery.
All day the fight went on, the Federals attempting to crush theConfederate artillery by the weight of their fire in order that theirinfantry columns might again advance. But although outnumbered by morethan two to one, the Confederate guns were worked with great resolution,and the day passed and darkness began to fall without their retiringfrom the positions they had taken up. Just at sunset General Stuartordered all the batteries on the right to advance. This they did, andopened their fire on the Northern infantry with such effect that thesefell back to the position near the town that they had occupied in themorning.
On the left an equally terrible battle had raged all day, but here theNorthern troops were compelled to cross open ground between the townand the base of the hill and suffered so terribly from the fire thatthey never succeeded in reaching the Confederate front. Throughout theday the Confederates held their position with such ease that General Leeconsidered the affair as nothing more than a demonstration in force tofeel his position and expected an even sterner battle on the followingday. Jackson's first and second lines, composed of less than 15,000 men,had repulsed without difficulty the divisions of Franklin and Hooker,55,000 strong; while Longstreet, with about the same force, had neverbeen really pressed by the enemy, although on that side they had a forceof over 50,000 men.
In the morning the Northern army was seen drawn up in battle array as ifto advance for fresh assault, but no movement was made. General Burnsidewas in favor of a fresh attack, but the generals commanding the variousdivisions felt that their troops, after the repulse the day before, werenot equal to the work, and were unanimously of opinion that a secondassault should not be attempted. After remaining for some hours in orderof battle they fell back into the town and two days later the whole armyrecrossed the Rappahannock River. The loss of the Confederates was 1800men, who were for the most part killed or wounded by the enemy'sartillery, while the Federal loss was no less than 13,771. GeneralBurnside soon afterward resigned his command, and General Hooker, anofficer of the same politics as the President and his advisers, wasappointed to succeed him.
The cavalry had not been called upon to act during the day, andVincent's duties were confined to carrying orders to the commanders ofthe various batteries of artillery posted in that part of the field, asthese had all been placed under General Stuart's orders. He had manynarrow escapes by shot and fragments of shells, but passed through theday uninjured.
General Lee has been blamed for not taking advantage of his victory andfalling upon the Federals on the morning after the battle; but althoughsuch an assault might possibly have been successful he was conscious ofhis immense inferiority in force, and his troops would have beencompelled to have advanced to the attack across ground completely sweptby the fire of the magnificently served Northern artillery posted upontheir commanding heights. He was, moreover, ignorant of the full extentof the loss he had inflicted upon the enemy, and expected renewed attackby them. He was therefore, doubtless, unwilling to risk the results ofthe victory he had gained and of the victory he expected to gain shouldthe enemy renew their attack, by a movement which might not besuccessful, and which would at any rate have cost him a tremendous lossof men, and men were already becoming scarce in the Confederacy.
As soon as the enemy had fallen b
ack across the river and it was certainthat there was little chance of another forward movement on their partfor a considerable time, Vincent showed to General Stuart the permit hehad received to return home until the spring on leave, and at oncereceived the general's permission to retire from the staff for a time.
He had not been accompanied by Dan on his railway journey to the front,having left him behind with instructions to endeavor by every means tofind some clew as to the direction in which Dinah had been carried off.He telegraphed on his way home the news of his coming, and found Dan atthe station waiting for him.
"Well, Dan, have you obtained any news?" he asked as soon as his horsehad been moved from its box, and he had mounted and at a foot-pace leftthe station, with Dan walking beside him.
"No, sah; I hab done my best, but I cannot find out anything. Theniggers at Jackson's all say dat no strangers hab been dere wid de oldman for a long time before de day dat Dinah was carried off. I have beenover dar, massa, and hab talked wid the hands at de house. Dey all saydat no one been dere for a month. Me sure dat dey no tell a lie aboutit, because dey all hate Massa Jackson like pison. Den de lawyer, he amput de advertisement you told him in the papers: Five hundred dollarsto whoever would give information about de carrying off of a femaleslave from Missy Wingfield, or dat would lead to de discovery of herhiding-place. But no answer come. Me heard Missy Wingfield say so lastnight."
"That's bad, Dan; but I hardly expected anything better. I felt sure theold fox would have taken every precaution, knowing what a seriousbusiness it would be for him if it were found out. Now I am back I willtake the matter up myself, and we will see what we can do. I wish Icould have set about it the day after she was carried away. It is morethan a fortnight ago now, and that will make it much more difficult thanit would have been had it been begun at once."
"Well, Vincent, so you have come back to us undamaged this time," hismother said after the first greeting. "We were very anxious when thenews came that a great battle had been fought last Friday; but when weheard the next morning the enemy had been repulsed so easily we were notso anxious, although it was not until this morning that the list ofkilled and wounded was published, and our minds set at rest."
"No, mother; it was a tremendous artillery battle, but it was littlemore than that--at least on our side. But I have never heard anything atall like it from sunrise to sunset. But, after all, an artillery fire ismore frightening than dangerous, except at comparatively close quarters.The enemy must have fired at least fifty shots for every man that washit. I counted several times, and there were fully a hundred shots aminute, and I don't think it lessened much the whole day. I should thinkthey must have fired two or three hundred rounds at least from each gun.The roar was incessant, and what with the din they made, and the repliesof our own artillery, and the bursting of shells, and the rattle ofmusketry, the din at times was almost bewildering. Wildfire was hit witha piece of shell, but fortunately it was not a very large one, and he isnot much the worse for it, but the shock knocked him off his legs; ofcourse I went down with him, and thought for a moment I had been hitmyself. No; it was by far the most hollow affair we have had. The enemyfought obstinately enough, but without the slightest spirit or dash, andonly once did they get up anywhere near our line, and then they wentback a good deal quicker than they came."
"And now you are going to be with us for three months, Vincent?"
"I hope so, mother; at least if they do not advance again. I shall behere off and on. I mean to find Dinah Moore if it is possible, and if Ican obtain the slightest clew I shall follow it up and go wherever itmay lead me."
"Well, we will spare you for that, Vincent. As you know, I did not likeyour mixing yourself up in that business two years ago, but it isaltogether different now. The woman was very willing and well conducted,and I had got to be really fond of her. But putting that aside, it isintolerable that such a piece of insolence as the stealing of one of ourslaves should go unpunished. Therefore, if you do find any clew to theaffair, we will not grumble at your following it up, even if it doestake you away from home for a short time. By the bye, we had lettersthis morning from a certain young lady in Georgia, inclosing herphotograph, and I rather fancy there is one for you somewhere."
"Where is it, mother?" Vincent asked, jumping from his seat.
"Let me think," Mrs. Wingfield replied. "Did either of you girls put itaway, or where can it have been stowed?"
The girls both laughed.
"Now, Vincent, what offer do you make for the letter? Well, we won'ttease you," Annie went on as Vincent gave an impatient exclamation."Another time we might do so, but as you have just come safely back tous I don't think it would be fair, especially as this is the very firstletter. Here it is!" and she took out of the workbox before her themissive Vincent was so eager to receive.