General Howard, who had lost an arm at the Battle of Seven Pines, was holding a flag under his stump, waving his sword in the air with his good arm, and trying to gather the fleeing men – but they ran past him and all the way to Chancellor Mansion.
When word of Jackson’s flanking attack reached Hooker, he ordered Sedgwick to cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg and then march on Chancellorsville: “You will attack and destroy any force you may fall in with on the road.”
Finally, at sunset, the guns of the XII Corps artillery brought Jackson’s charge to a halt. As darkness fell, Jackson Corps camped near Chancellorsville for the night.
Now, only Sickles stood between Jackson’s forces and the forces in Lee’s command. Sickles attempted an attack from Hazel Grove toward the Plank Road by the light of the full moon, but retreated quickly when he began taking friendly fire from XII Corps.
As Sickles pulled back, Stonewall Jackson and his staff rode out onto the Plank Road to decide if a counter attack was feasible. Convinced that no real force opposed him, Jackson turned back toward his own lines and was cut down by friendly fire from the 18th North Carolina Infantry. Jackson was struck by three bullets, one of which shattered his left arm.
Reynolds’s I Corps arrived after midnight and took up position.
May 3, 1863
Vicksburg, Virginia
The Confederate sergeant shoved Ginger and Chrissy ahead of him into General John Pemberton’s headquarters office and closed the door. “We captured these two women at Snyder’s Bluff, sir. They was takin’ care of the Yankee wounded. They tell me they’re nurses. I never seen a female nurse before.”
Pemberton looked the women over. “Why are their clothes torn, Sergeant?”
“A couple o’ good ol’ boys decided to have some fun with ‘em and drug ‘em into the bushes, sir. The redhead busted one of the men’s noses and the other one busted the other ol’ boy’s jewels. I heard the commotion and broke it up before the women kilt ‘em.”
“Have the men been punished?”
“Yes, sir. They’re in the stockade. Neither of ‘em had no fun. What should I do with these two, sir?”
“Just put them with the other Yankee prisoners, Sergeant,” Pemberton said wearily.
“Yes, sir. Let’s go, Ladies.” The sergeant took Ginger’s arm.
“Sending us to a prison camp with male soldiers is a death sentence, General,” Ginger said, pulling free from the sergeant.
“You were captured on a battlefield giving aid and comfort to enemies of the Confederacy,” Pemberton replied.
“We’re noncombatant nurses,” Ginger argued. “We don’t take lives, we save them – if we can.”
Pemberton sighed wearily. “The lives you save are Yankees.”
“We’ve never hesitated to help Confederate soldiers,” Ginger replied.
Pemberton considered that for a moment. “Maybe that’s true and maybe it’s not. Since Grant refuses to exchange prisoners, there’s no way to verify your claim. I’ll send you to Raymond and let General Johnston decide.” He turned to a new page in his order book. “I need your names.”
“I’m Georgia Van Buskirk, this is Christina Davenport.”
Pemberton looked up quickly from the order. “Van Buskirk? I knew some Van Buskirks in the Mexican War.”
“Yank, Jack, Thomas and Robert,” Ginger replied.
He nodded. “Yes. Brave and honorable men, all.”
“They’re my family,” Ginger said. “One of Yank Van Buskirk’s grandsons is with Lee in Virginia and another is here with Sherman. Christina and I chose the middle. We’re not on either side.”
The General thought another moment, then closed the order pad. “That will be all, thank you, Sergeant.”
“Yes, sir.” The sergeant went out and closed the door.
Pemberton began looking through the clutter on his desk. “I may be court-martialed for this, but instead of imprisoning you, I’ll parole you to the town limits of Vicksburg – if you’ll swear an oath that you won’t take up arms against the Confederacy or try to escape.”
Chrissy shot a quick smile at Ginger; Ginger was watching Pemberton and didn’t notice, but Pemberton did.
“You may wish I’d sent you to a prison camp before this siege is over,” he said, as he began completing a form. “I have no funds or means to take care of you, so you’re on your own.” He glanced up to see the women’s reaction, then continued writing. “When we finish here, I’ll introduce you to the lady that lives next door. Her name is Emma Balfour. She’s married to Dr. William Balfour. He may be able to employ you and pay you a stipend that’s sufficient to sustain you. If not, there’s nothing I can do.”
“The gold and diamonds in my earrings are genuine,” Ginger said. “They should fetch enough to keep us alive for a while.”
May 3, 1863
Chancellorsville, Virginia
Robert E. Lee was now facing the formidable task of moving Union General Sickles off the well-fortified high ground at Hazel Grove so that he could combine the two halves of his army. However, providence, in the form of General Joseph Hooker, provided Lee an easy solution when Hooker ordered Sickles to a new position on the Plank Road. To hurry Sickles along, Lee sent the brigade of General James J. Archer to attack Sickles’s rear while Colonel Porter Alexander moved the thirty-four guns in his command up to Hazel Grove and turned it into a powerful artillery platform.
Jackson’s most senior commander, A.P. Hill, who had also been wounded during the previous night, recommended Jeb Stuart as Jackson’s replacement and Henry Heth to replace Hill as division commander. Both were approved by Lee. Stuart asked for, and was granted, the service of General John Van Buskirk to help him with planning.
Johnny drew an inverted U in the dirt. “We open with Alexander’s guns from Hazel Grove on the Yankee center, then follow with the infantry.” He drew a line splitting the U. “Heth in front, Rodes at the back and Colston between them. Nothing fancy.”
Stuart nodded agreement. “Once we break through at the center we’ll have distanced ourselves from the Yankee left and right.”
“And we’ll have reunited the two halves of the army.” Johnny poked a spot at the top of the U. “Once we control Chancellor Crossroads, Hooker will have to retreat or fall back, resupply and start all over again.”
~
At Fredericksburg, John Gibbons’s II Corps crossed the Rappahannock north of town, and three divisions of Sedgwick’s VI Corps crossed to take up positions from there to Deep Run. Two morning attacks by the Union troops against the infamous stone wall on Marye’s Heights were repulsed, but a third was successful and overran the Confederate position. Sedgwick’s road to Chancellorsville was open, but he took up defensive positions instead.
~
Alexander’s guns, and twenty others along the Plank Road, first engaged the Union guns on Fairview Hill, then when the Federals withdraw they turned their attention to the Union position at the Chancellorsville Crossroads.
During the Confederate cannonade, a cannonball had struck a pillar in Hooker’s headquarters and knocked him unconscious for over an hour. When he regained consciousness, he refused to turn over command.
The initial infantry attacks against the Union center by Heth and Colston were repelled, but Rodes was able to carry the lines and at midmorning, Lee arrived at Chancellor Mansion on Traveller amid triumphant cheers from his soldiers.
During the celebration, Lee received a message stating General John Sedgwick’s force had carried the Confederate lines at Fredericksburg. In response, Lee sent Early and McLaws orders to attack at dawn tomorrow and decided to lead Anderson’s division to join them.
May 4, 1863
Chancellorsville, Virginia
Sedgwick’s divisions were in strong defensive position with both flanks anchored on the Rappahannock and their front just south of the Plank Road.
Early’s orders from Lee were to drive Sedgwick off Marye’s Heights while McLaws was t
o engage from the west. Early succeeded in reoccupying Marye’s Heights, but McLaws did nothing.
When Lee arrived with Anderson’s division, McLaws was still not engaged, Anderson was slow getting into position and the attack wasn’t launched until near sunset.
Seeing that he was now outnumbered, Sedgwick withdrew across the Rappahannock at Banks’s Ford under cover of darkness.
May 5, 1863
Chancellorsville, Virginia
When General Hooker learned of Sedgwick’s retreat, he convened a council of war to ask for the opinions of his corps commanders as to whether to fight or withdraw. In spite of the facts that a majority voted to fight, Hooker decided to withdraw across the river at U.S. Ford.
Horace Greeley’s editorial in the New York Tribune said: “My God! It is horrible - horrible; and to think of it, 130,000 magnificent soldiers cut to pieces by less than 60,000 half-starved ragamuffins!”
Rather than being insulted, Robert E. Lee’s soldiers were proud of the title ragamuffins, and Robert E. Lee began to believe that these men that followed him could do anything that he asked of them.
May 10, 1863
Orange County, Virginia
After having his arm amputated on May 2nd, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson died from complications of pneumonia on May 10th, 1863.
When he was informed of Jackson’s death, Robert E. Lee said, “I have lost my right arm and I’m bleeding at the heart.”
May 17, 1863
Vicksburg, Mississippi
At noon a stream of Confederate soldiers, horses, mules, cannons, wagons and livestock began to move into the entrenchment at Vicksburg, clogging the roads and spreading fear through the population.
“General Pemberton has ordered a train out to Edwards Station to bring in our supplies which are in danger of being captured,” Emma Balfour said breathlessly. “And he’s urging civilians to evacuate.”
Ginger was watching the column of men. “Are you going to evacuate, Mrs. Balfour?”
“No,” Emma shook her head. “I still have hope.”
“We can’t evacuate,” Chrissy said. “So I guess we’ll be here with you, like it or not.”
“Would you object if Chrissy and I took some water to the road, Mrs. Balfour?” Ginger asked. “They all look thirsty.”
“Not at all,” Emma replied. “I’ll have the servants help you.”
~
Chrissy gave a dipper full of water to an exhausted soldier. “What are those fires?” She pointed toward the red glow that was lighting the evening sky.
“General Pemberton’s burnin’ down all the houses that block our artillery’s field of fire,” the soldier replied. “God bless you, Ma’am.” He gave her back the dipper.
“And you,” Chrissy replied.
The man started away, then stopped. “You ought to move from here down to the caves, Ma’am. The Yankees‘ll soon have the town surrounded with cannons and mortars. When they do they’ll blow all these here houses to kindlin’.”
“Thank you.” Chrissy refilled the dipper and gave it to the next man, then turned to Ginger. “Maybe we should go down to the caves.”
“You heard Mrs. Balfour, she refuses to go,” Ginger replied.
“What does that have to do with us?” Chrissy asked. “This is her home and she wants to protect her property.”
Ginger gave a cup of water to the next man. “I wouldn’t know how to dig a cave.”
“Major Loughborough’s wife, Mary, said that her little girl’s bedroom was hit with a shell last night. Her husband’s moving them into a cave. She mentioned that there are several men down there that will dig caves for a thirty-dollar fee.”
“Was the child hurt?”
“What child?”
“Mary Loughborough’s daughter.”
“Oh. No. Fortunately, she wasn’t in the room at the time.”
“I suppose we could go down there and look tomorrow,” Ginger said. “But thirty dollars is a lot of money.”
“Money isn’t very useful when you’re dead.”
“I prefer being instantly blown to bits over slowly starving to death.”
“Maybe we could do some of the digging.”
“We’ll go down there and look tomorrow.”
~
Quincy Van Buskirk saluted. “You wanted to see me, General?”
“Yeah,” Sherman said. “Sit down, Pug. I’ve got some good news for you.”
“They’re alive?” Quincy sat on the edge of the chair across from Sherman.
“Alive, well and paroled by Pemberton. He’s treated them as if they were field grade officers. They’re working for a local doctor and have a room in a respectable home.”
“Are they available for exchange?”
Sherman gave him a cautionary look. “You know Grant’s position on prisoner exchange: We can afford to lose people and the Rebs can’t.”
Quincy started to argue but changed his mind. “Thank you for finding out for me, sir.”
“It didn’t require anything special. The woman that’s been giving us information already knew about Ginger and Chrissy.”
“It’s going to be hard watching our artillery pound Vicksburg, knowing that they’re in there.”
Sherman nodded. “Maybe a long siege won’t be necessary. Grant wants to overwhelm Pemberton before he can organize his defenses and he’s ordered an assault against Stockade Redan for May 19th. If we could gain control of Redan and move our guns in there, it’d be all over.”
“Who’s leading the assault?”
“Blair.”
“I want to lead it.”
Sherman stared at him. “Why?”
“I’m more motivated to succeed than anyone else.”
“I’ll talk it over with Grant.”
“Will you give me your word that you won’t try to influence him?”
“No, I will not. I’ll talk it over with Grant and if Grant and I decide that you’re the best choice, you’ll go.”
Quincy nodded. “If I gave you some money could you get it to Ginger and Chrissy through your spy?”
Sherman shook his head. “Too risky. But I could send it by messenger to Pemberton.”
“Will he give it to them?”
“He’s been rude in all his official communications, but I’m told that he’s an honorable man.”
May 19, 1863
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Stockade Redan was a triangular fortress built to protect the northeast quadrant of Vicksburg. Outside the eighteen-foot walls, a ditch and abatis thwarted two storming attempts by Union General Francis P. Blair who lost a thousand men to Confederate guns and rifles.
After meeting with Sherman and Blair, Grant decided to attack again on the 22nd behind a forlorn hope that would fill in the ditches and mount scaling ladders.
Grant and Robert were seated side-by-side at a camp desk writing when Sherman came into the tent. “You need to have a serious talk with your nephew, Professor,” Sherman said.
“Why?” Robert asked, without looking up.
Sherman sat down in a camp chair. “He’s suicidal. Now he wants to lead the forlorn hope on Redan.”
Robert put his pen down. “He’s not suicidal, Cump. He must be planning to be captured and paroled so he can help Ginger and Chrissy.”
“If that’s true, I should court-martial him,” Sherman said angrily.
Robert chuckled. “Judging by his record alone, and without considering that he’s my sister’s son, I’d wager that he’d be very sure that whatever he did wasn’t a threat to the mission.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Grant said, before Sherman could respond.
The other two looked at him expectantly.
“If the attack on Redan fails, I’m going to besiege Vicksburg,” Grant said. “It would be good to have one of our senior officers inside the city when Pemberton surrenders.”
“If he surrenders,” Sherman said.
Grant shook his head. “W
e’ll take Vicksburg. Let’s talk to Quincy and see what his plan is.”
May 22, 1863
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Sherman opened the attack on Stockade Redan with a four-hour bombardment. Quincy led a detail of a hundred fifty men, carrying scaling ladders, as far as the fort’s ditch where they were pinned down. As the 30th Ohio moved forward behind him, Quincy heaved a ladder over the abatis, picked up another and crossed the ladder to the base of the wall. Defenders on the wall tried to push his scaling ladder away but they were subjected to heavy fire from the Union troops on the opposite ditch bank. When Quincy reached the top of the wall, he was shot in the face at pointblank range. The bullet went in through his open mouth and exited through his cheek, breaking off a tooth. The impact sent him reeling into the mass of angry Confederates inside the fort.
~
“How badly are you hurt?” Pemberton asked.
“Not bad.” The right side of Quincy’s jaw was the size of his fist, one eye was swollen shut, and his face was a mass of cuts and bruises.
“What’s your name, rank and unit.”
“I’m Colonel Quincy Van Buskirk.”
Pemberton looked at him for several seconds before returning his attention to the form. “Your unit?
Quincy shook his head. “You know I won’t tell you that, General.”
Pemberton waved his hand in dismissal. “I already know you’re in Sherman’s command.”
Quincy resisted the urge to ask how Pemberton knew.
“I also know that you’re General Yank Van Buskirk’s grandson,” Pemberton continued, “but I don’t know which of Yank’s sons is your father.”
“None of them,” Quincy said. “His daughter is my mother. She wasn’t married when I was born.”
Pemberton nodded. “I know of your mother, but have never had the pleasure of meeting her.”
Quincy decided not to respond.
“We have another family member of yours here,” Pemberton said.
The Way of All Soldiers (Gone For Soldiers) Page 35