by Unknown
We walked from the bar and Dago and Cecil backed out, still covering the crowd. An elderly marshal walked up to us. “Was there some trouble, captain?”
“There was. The landlord tried to shoot me. He is wounded.”
“It’s about time someone stood up to Billy Bragg.”
I looked at the marshal coldly. “And why didn’t you?”
“There are only a couple of us and…”
I gestured at Cecil and Dago. “My friends and I are living south of the town. You ever need help to get rid of scum like this then you come and find us.”
I will captain…?”
“Hogan, Jack Hogan.”
Mary and Ritchie were sitting on the wagon as we walked up to the house. She saw Caitlin and jumped down. “Don’t tell me. This is your sister.”
I nodded and Caitlin smiled, Mary continued, “And I am Mary. Jack and I are to be wed. We have a wedding to plan!”
The smile on Caitlin’s face was in contrast to the tears which flowed from both women’s faces. Dago looked bemused while Cecil also looked emotional.
“Come on let’s get home.” I had wanted to say that for years, ever since the home I had shared with Caitlin had been burned down. I mounted Copper and we headed south.
We had not left the city when Mary said, “I think I have the name for our home now.”
“And what is that?”
“The Sanctuary; you have brought hope to all of us and that name shows what it means to us. Does it not sister?”
Caitlin nodded. “I have dreamed of this for all those years since you sailed west and I never dreamed that it would arrive. I feel lucky to have you as a brother.”
Dago laughed, “And that is appropriate for he is Lucky Jack Hogan!”
The End
Maps
Courtesy of Wikipaedia
Attribution: Chancellorsville Maps by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW
Attribution: Map by Hal Jespersen
Historical background
My heartfelt thanks to the re-enactors at Gettysburg in July 2013 for all their help and advice. Any historical errors in the book are mine and not theirs. I realise that there were few Springfield carbines in the war but the nature of the business of James Booth Boswell meant that he would be rich and, like the chaps in Silicon Valley, would have ensured that he used the most up to date technology. The irregulars I described are loosely based on Mosby’s Rangers and I used William S. Connery’s excellent “Mosby’s Raids in Civil War Northern Virginia”, extensively. Mosby was called the Grey Ghost and I used that appellation as the inspiration for my title. Boswell is not Mosby and this is a work of fiction; however the incidents such as the charges using pistols, the wrecking of the trains, being mistaken for Union horsemen are all true. Mosby and his men carried three or four revolvers and I have used that idea for Boswell and his men. They used captured guns and that explains why they were formidably armed. I also used “The American Civil War Source Book” by Philip Katcher and that proved a godsend for finding who fought where, when and with what. I also used the Osprey Men at Arms book, “The Army of Northern Virginia” by Philip Katcher.
The Confederate cavalry preferred raiding to charging infantry and rarely used their sabres. They preferred to use pistols or carbines. This proved useful most of the time but, as Gettysburg showed, Stuart and his cavalry could let down his general at crucial times. It was said that the biggest supplier for the Confederate Army, and especially the cavalry, was the U.S. as they captured so many of the Union supplies.
The battle of Chancellorsville was one of the pivotal moments in the war. Hooker’s original plan had been foiled by the weather. There were heavy rains in April 1863 and the rivers could not be forded until the very end of the month. Lee was not to know this but it could have affected the outcome if the weather had been better. Lee was outnumbered and Hooker had many more resources. Lee took the bold, Napoleonic move, to split his forces and he gave the majority of his smaller army to Stonewall Jackson who marched around the flank of the Union army. He was screened by Jeb Stuart’s cavalry which prevented the Union from being aware of this threat. The down side was that a day or two after the battle Jackson was wounded by his own troops who mistook them for Union soldiers. Although the wound was not life threatening Jackson had to have an arm amputated and he died of pneumonia. Who knows what the outcome of Gettysburg would have been had Jackson not died prematurely?
The Battle of Brandy Station took place almost exactly as I described it. Stuart ordered a mock battle on June 5th with 9,000 troopers. General Lee was not able to be there and so it was repeated again on June 8th so that he could see it himself. Both horses and men were exhausted. General Lee ordered the cavalry to move north of the Rappahannock on June 9th and clear the area of Union soldiers but General Pleasonton had ordered 11,000 Union horsemen to attack the camp at Culpeper. Although the Union lost more men and the Confederacy held the field at the end of the day it was considered that Stuart had lost the battle and from this moment on the rebel cavalry lost their invincible status.
General Lee’s forward elements crossed the Potomac in the middle of June. The Federal army, now under Meade’s command followed some days later. Meade was attempting to stop Lee from heading for Washington which left the Confederate general with the whole of Pennsylvania at his mercy. It was Brigadier General Pettigrew who first ventured into Gettysburg. His commander, Hethe, said in his memoirs, that he had ordered him there to get supplies, notably shoes. The south was desperately short of all manufactured goods. The battle followed that incursion. Buford and his cavalry occupied the town when Pettigrew withdrew.
General Sickles did disobey orders and move his Corps down to the wheat field where they were slaughtered and he did lose his leg.
As far as I know there were no skirmishers preceding Pickett’s charge but I suspect that there were. There were many small units who had lost large numbers and this would have been a perfect place to use them. The Union Irish Brigade had lost so many men in the battles that there were only at regimental strength. The Union artillery did conserve their ammunition whilst the Confederate was short of ammunition. This was about resources and the Union had far more.
General Imboden did sweep the Union cavalry from Williamsport and the pontoon bridge was damaged by Union cavalry and Lee had to wait for it to be rebuilt before he and the army could cross. General Meade was heavily censured by both the other generals and Lincoln for not pursuing Lee more vigorously. Despite what history may say about General Lee the Union generals always feared facing him. Gettysburg was the high water mark of the war. Lee came within a whisker of victory.
The similarities between Gettysburg and the Battle of Waterloo deserve a book to themselves. In both cases they were very close run battles and could have gone either way at any time. The misuse of cavalry was also dramatic. A.P Hill, like Napoleon Bonaparte, fell ill on the day of the battle and subordinates took some poor decisions in their absence; Ney in the case of Napoleon and Longstreet in the case of Hill. It is interesting to note that the defensive side in both battles ultimately won. In addition the skirmishes leading up to the battle in both cases also had a major impact on the outcome. Had Stuart’s cavalry been on the battlefield then who knows what may have happened?
The Dixie Line did exist. The ships were built in Liverpool and plied their trade between Britain and Spain but the profits went to the investors who had funded the line. Many of them also operated as blockade runners. Thanks to the online History Today for that information. http://www.historytoday.com/john-d-pelzer/liverpool-and-american-civil-war
Thanks to Wikipedia for these public domain maps made by
Hal Jespersen. I used “Civil War: The Maps of Jedediah Hotchkiss” by Chester G. Hearn and Mike Marino for the detailed maps of the valley. (Thanks to Rich for loaning me his copy!)
Griff Hosker, January 2014
Glossary
Name- Explanation
Aaron- Housekeeper in Charleston for Jack
A.P.Hill- Confederate general
Barton-Boswell’s Horse
blackbirders-Slave ships
Caitlin Hogan-Jack’s sister
Carlton James-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Carver Ritchie- Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Cecil (Irish) Mulrooney-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Colonel Cartwright-1st Virginia Scouts
craich-Good conversation/banter (Gaelic)
Dago Spinelli-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Danny Murphy-Boswell’s lieutenant/1st VA Scouts
David Dinsdale-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Gee jaws-Cheap barter goods
Harry Grimes-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Jack Hogan-Farmer’s son/1st VA Scouts
Jacob Hines-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
James Booth Boswell-Colonel/1st VA Scouts
J.E.B. Stuart- Confederate Cavalry Commander
Jedediah Hotchkiss-Jackson’s map maker
Jedediah(Jed) Smith-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Jem Cartwright-Boswell’s Horse/the plantation
Jimmy Stewart-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
Matty-Boswell’s Horse
Mary Malone- a Virginia Servant
Poteen-Home made spirit
Sandie Pendleton-Jackson’s aide
Sergeant Major Vaughan-1st Virginia Scouts
Small beer-Watered down beer
Vedettes-Mounted cavalry sentries
Wilkie Collins-Boswell’s Horse/1st VA Scouts
The Road to Gettysburg
Book 3 in the
Lucky Jack Series
By
Griff Hosker
Published by Sword Books Ltd 2014
Copyright © Griff Hosker First Edition
The author has asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Table of contents
Chapter 1 Page 4
Chapter 2 Page 21
Chapter 3 Page 41
Chapter 4 Page 61
Chapter 5 Page 83
Chapter 6 Page 103
Chapter 7 Page 124
Chapter 8 Page 145
Chapter 9 Page 167
Chapter 10Page 186
Chapter 11Page 207
Chapter 12 Page 230
Chapter 13 Page 244
Chapter 14 Page 266
Chapter 15 Page 293
Chapter 16 Page 322
Chapter 17 Page 343
Chapter 18 Page 362
Chapter 19 Page 382
Maps Page 405
Historical note Page 415
Glossary Page 420
Other books Page 423
Part 1
The Road to Chancellorsville
Chapter 1
April 1863
We had spotted the Yankee patrol just after dawn. One of the advantages of having been a Partisan Ranger for so long was that you never forgot the lessons you learned. We had discovered that if you did without a little sleep you might have the edge over the enemy. We need all the help we could get. Despite Antietam and Kelly’s Ford the Army of Northern Virginia was still on the back foot. The coming of spring accelerated our need for victory. We were running out of resources but the Yankees were increasing theirs. It was not a fair world.
“Sir?”
“Sorry Sergeant Major Mulrooney. I was daydreaming.” Cecil or Irish as he was known had come a long way since the belligerent and pugnacious Irishman who had tried to take on the whole regiment. He had matured and had been the obvious choice as Sergeant Major now that old Sergeant Major Vaughan had retired. He was right to quietly remind me that I had a job to do. I was now Captain Jack Hogan and that meant that I commanded a troop. It was, admittedly, a small troop. Our numbers were always being whittled down and we had to work and perform like a full troop.
I liked the dawn. It suited both me and my men. We were used to going without sleep and the blue coated Union soldiers were not. We used the land and the time to aid us in our attacks and ambushes. We were not afraid of the soldiers we faced. Our equipment might be scratched together but we were not. I would trust my troop with my life. I knew I could rely on them to work and act as one. They had been moulded by be.
The Yankee patrol outnumbered us. There were a hundred of them and only sixty of us. However from the colour of their uniforms they were new to the front. They were a dark blue. Veterans soon acquired a faded look to their uniforms. New regiments meant easy pickings. They would have to learn as we had done, through the blood of our friends. The deep blue uniforms were reassuring. As for our uniforms… we wore whatever we could lay our hands on. If we found any Yankees whose blousons had faded to grey we took them. In the CSA, beggars could not be choosers. The majority of us had Yankee weapons. They were more reliable and better than ours. I had three US Army Colts and they had saved my life on more than one occasion.
None of this helped me to reach a decision. How best to knock the Yankees about a little bit without losing too many men? The Connecticut cavalry obviously felt safe; they were north of their own front line. They were just showing that they owned this land. We felt as comfortable north of that invisible barrier as south and we knew every crossing both large and small. I made my decision. “Sergeant Major. We will make two columns of fours, you lead one and I will lead the other. We charge through with pistols blazing. You turn and take the rear of the column and I will take the front.”
He nodded seriously, “And then sir?”
I almost smiled but Sergeant Major Mulrooney took everything seriously. “Then we high tail it back to the Potomac and tell Jeb Stuart of the new regiment they have sent.”
Cecil nodded just as seriously. “Yes Captain Hogan.”
The Union cavalry trotted along the pike heading for General Lee at Fredericksburg. They had not seen us secreted in the woods above the road. Our grey uniforms blended in well with most backgrounds. As Irish rode off to tell his company I turned to the men behind me. “We charge down yellin’ as though we are a brigade. Nobody fires until I do. When we turn we will be heading for the head of the column and then back up here. Clear?” They knew well enough not to make a sound and they nodded but they were grinning. This was what they enjoyed; catching Yankee cavalry with their pants down. “We won’t be able to stop for wounded. Nobody is to get wounded without my permission. Check your weapons and then we ride.”
I gave them a second or two to check their guns and, after nodding to the Sergeant Major who had just returned, I waved the troop forwards. We were uphill and about four hundred yards from the strung out column of twos. When we were two hundred paces away I waved the charge and the troop let out a collective, “Yee haw!”
The smartly dressed cavalrymen froze. I had seen it before with green troops. The officers were either at the front or the back with their sergeants. The ones in the middle were troopers and they waited for an order which never came. At fifty yards I blazed away with both pistols. Copper knew me well and I had dropped the reins to guide my horse with my knees. The Army Colt is like a large shotgun or small cannon and two troopers were thrown from their horses immediately.
The smoke from the guns meant aiming was impossible and I just pointed both of them down the column as I passed through. I holstered one pistol and wheeled Copper to the left. I took out another Colt and I fired at the column of soldiers as they tried to fend off an attack on both sides. They outnumbered us but the column of twos meant that we had a greater firepower. Most of my men had acquired two pistols and they used them both with great efficacy. When I saw the officers draw their swords I knew that they were lost. I headed for the cluster of gold at the front and fired, almost blindly at the huddle of gold braided officers who were trying to regroup and organise their men.
“Ride you Wildcats!” We had not been Wildcats for some time but they always responded to that battle cry and they followed me as I headed obliquely through the head of the column. A captain’s face loomed up and I fired my Colt. He disappeared. I felt the swish of a sabre as I emptied my first Colt but I kept firing with my second and then I was in the open.
I slowed Copper and shouted, “Sergeant James, regroup the men up the hill.”
I had not seen the trusty troop sergeant but I knew that he would still be behind me. He was as reliable as the sun in the morning; he was always there.
“Sir! You be careful now sir.”
He was also like an old woman who always worried about me. I smiled; I had no intention of getting wounded again. I turned Copper and took out the Colt I had holstered. It still had three balls left. I saw a corporal detach himself from the column and charge me with his sabre held forward; he must have thought he was a knight in armour. He was wrong, he was brave but it was the wrong thing to do. I aimed my Colt and fired. He was thrown backwards from his horse which continued to hurtle up the hill. I saw the last of the troop pass me and I followed. The column of blue coated soldiers was now a shambles. The officers were either wounded or dead and the ones who weren’t were desperately trying to reorganise their men.