The Return of the Freedom Thief

by Mikki Sadil

  Before he could try to get on his feet, an explosion split the quiet of the night, and flames lit up the sky. It had happened just as Finn had said: the loaded flatbeds had piled into one another, and exploded the ammunition and weapons.

  Ben said a short prayer for the lawmen aboard the passenger car. He prayed that all of them had made it out the windows to safety. But now it was time for him to move, sore limbs or not. He stood up carefully, shook each arm and leg, and decided he was okay. No broken bones, no wounds from the bullets flying around him on the train, so he needed to get going. The only problem was, he didn’t know in which direction he was supposed to go. How was he going to meet up with the other three men, and get to a horse?

  Joe’s voice came from out of the woods. “Hey, boy, ye be anywhere ‘round here? Ben, where ye be?”

  “I’m over here, Joe.”

  “Yeah, over here, huh. Where be ‘over here’? I ain’t got enough dang time to look ever’wheres for ye. Ye just…oh, there ye be.”

  Joe pushed back some bushes, and came face to face with Ben. “Huh, ye didn’t jump soon enough, did’ja? I be lookin’ way up there for ye, where ye’s spose to be.” He pointed back up the hill a short ways.

  “I guess I didn’t jump as fast as I should have. But I’m here, and so are you. Did those lawmen get out of the car, do you think?”

  “Yeh, they got out. Runnin’ round like a bunch o’chickens with their heads cut off, they was. Didn’t know what to do, where to go. Betcha they’s still in that same spot, wonderin’ what they gonna do now.”

  “Well, I’m glad they got out. But where do we go now? I guess we shouldn’t be standing around here much longer.”

  “Nope, that’s fer sure. Come on, just follow me. We be goin’ back up the track a ways. Good thing the moon is out, sure helps in where we puts our feet.”

  The moon was out, and the flames from the burning ammunition turned it a weird orange. Still, it did light the ground as they walked up along the tracks, now twisted and broken by the wild plunge of the train. After about a quarter of a mile of following Joe they met up with Finn and Sam. No one spoke. Finn gestured with his head for them to follow him, and the four conspirators headed into the woods towards the meeting place where their horses were being held for them.

  * * *

  Due to the successful intervention of the espionage ring in blowing up the Confederate supply train, there was no raid on Sharpsburg that summer. However, during the early fall of 1862, Maryland was invaded by the Confederates under the command of General Robert E. Lee. On September 14, 1862, fierce battles were fought for possession of the South Mountain passes of Crampton’s, Turner’s, and Fox’s Gap, all of which ended up with the Union Army of the Potomac, under Major General George B. McClellan, driving off the Confederates. Two days later, on September 16, Major General McClellan confronted General Robert E. Lee’s army at Sharpsburg. The next day, September 17, 1862, began the single bloodiest day in American military history, with the Battle of Antietam. Despite being outnumbered two-to-one, General Lee sent in his entire force to this battle, while Major General McClellan only committed less than three-quarters of his Federal troops. When at last the Confederate forces were ordered to withdraw across the Potomac River into the Shenandoah Valley, the Battle of Antietam is considered a ‘draw’ from a military point of view, but the Union Army and President Abraham Lincoln claimed the victory.

  When Ben returned to Fort Henry, he was once again told to see the General. As he walked up to General MacPhee’s office, he sincerely hoped the man was over his cold and in a better humor than he had been the last time Ben was here. At least this time Captain Boyd was in the outer office, and at his desk. However, as he looked up at Ben, it became obvious the General had succeeded in giving his cold away. The young Captain’s eyes were blurry, and his nose quite red.

  “Uh, hello, go right in. The General’s fine now, since he gave his sickness to me.” The Captain’s voice was congested, and before Ben could respond, he sneezed as heartily as the General had on Ben’s first visit. He grabbed a handkerchief, and waved Ben inside.

  “I’m sorry you’re sick. Uh, I don’t think I’ll be staying long.” Ben hurried over to the General’s door, and knocked, noticing that the sign was still up that proclaimed the visitor entered at his own risk.

  “Come!”

  Ben opened the door and walked in, closing it carefully behind him. “General MacPhee, sir, I’m Ben, if you remember. I’m back from Sharpsburg.”

  “Yes, I remember. I sent you there to do a job, and from what I hear, you and the others were successful. Well done. Come and sit down. I’ll have Boyd bring us some coffee. I…”

  “Oh, none for me, thank you kindly, sir, but I really don’t care for anything now. I mainly want to know what I’m supposed to do now? Shall I go on back to Mistress Henshaw’s?”

  The General frowned. “You always seem to be in a hurry, young man. Well, lad, I have more work for you. Ah, that’s right, I do have a letter for you around here some place…” He pushed a myriad of papers around on his desk, and finally brought up an envelope. “Yes, here it is. It came from the Mistress herself, and I believe it tells you all you need to know.”

  He handed the envelope to Ben, who couldn’t help but see that it had been opened. Right, General, I’m sure you know every word in this letter since you opened it. Soldiers may not have any right to privacy, but I’m not a soldier, and I do expect my private mail to stay private. Ben fumed silently, as he knew it would not do to offend the General. He turned his back to him, however, and began to read.

  Dear Ben,

  I have Heard from Mistress Lucy Fenaway, and your Grandmother is fine. She misses You very Much, but Wants you to Stay safe. So far, She says that Everything is fine on the Plantation, everyone is Well. She wants You to Not Worry about her or your Parents. No one Knows anything About your Brothers.

  Puck and Socks and Bandit are all Here with Me, and are Doing Well. Puck misses You, she is Becoming a Beautiful young Lady.

  I want You to keep Fort Nelson as your Home base, and Obey General MacPhee’s orders. You can Do more for the Cause there Than you can Here.

  Stay Safe.

  Your Friend,

  Elizabeth Henshaw.

  Ben folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, which he slid inside his shirt. “So now, I’m supposed to do what you tell me to do? I’m not in the Army, General MacPhee, and I don’t intend to be. Where do you come into this espionage ring that Mistress Henshaw runs?”

  The General frowned. “Do you always ask so many questions, young man? Do you ever just follow orders?”

  Ben shrugged. “I reckon it depends on who’s giving the orders. I’m not a, what do they call it, a blind follower, Sir, as soldiers are supposed to be. I can see the need for that, but like I said, I’m not a soldier.”

  The General stared at him. After a long silence, he nodded. “I see your point. It’s this way, Ben. I personally hate that this political time is upon us, but I firmly believe there is a need for all states to be unified under one Constitution, one flag, and one President. In the past, I have worked with Elizabeth…uh, Mistress Henshaw…on quite a few of her spy projects. I have a fairly good knowledge of what works, what needs to be done, and how it can be done successfully. So, when I tell you I’m sending you somewhere to do something, I expect you to respect me enough to not ask questions about my authority. Questions relating to the project are all right, however.”

  Ben didn’t respond for a long minute. “All right. I won’t question your authority, but if I have doubts or questions about the project, I’m going to jump all over it. I don’t cotton to being in the middle of getting people all riled up because I don’t know enough. That happened once, but it won’t again.”

  “Good enough. We understand one another. Now, let’s get Boyd in here, and he’ll see you to your quarters. I want you to rest up, eat some good vittles, and just sit around like a frog on a log for
a couple of days. Then I’ll have a new job for you.” The General let loose a “Boyd! Get your ass in here” like he was bellowing in a hog-calling contest. The door flew open, and an obviously miserable Captain Boyd saluted weakly.

  “Sir?”

  “Boyd, take Ben here down to the barracks and put him one of the empty rooms. Get him whatever he needs in bedding and towels, soap…you know what to do. Then refresh his memory on where the mess is, and the stables.”

  He turned to Ben. “I’m sure you’ll want to bed down your horse, maybe even give him a cold wash. Plenty of hay in the stable, so help yourself.”

  While he was speaking to Ben, the Captain was trying unsuccessfully to gain the General’s attention. Finally, he turned to Boyd and said, “What? What do you want, Boyd? You having trouble understanding orders with that cold?”

  “N…no, sir, but you said a room. Aren’t those rooms reserved for, uh, you know, the other officers that come here? Sir?”

  “Ordinarily, yes, but this is not ordinary. Any more questions, Captain?”

  The young officer gulped. “N…no, sir. Sir.”

  He saluted smartly, or as best he could, turned and said to Ben, “Follow me.”

  * * *

  Ben stood looking around the room. It was not much bigger than the space allotted for the bunks in the barracks, but at least it had four walls and a door. It was at the end of the barracks building, so it even had a window. The bed was nothing but a lower bunk, but the room had a chair, small round table, and a wash basin sitting on a small chest. All the comforts of home. I hope I am not stuck here long enough to really use this room. But for now, this bed beats anything I’ve had to sleep on for a while.

  With that thought in mind, Ben pulled off his boots, threw his jacket over the chair, and sank down into the comforts of a real bed, and oblivion.

  It was good for him to get some real sleep, for he had no idea of what the future held for him.

  Chapter Twenty

  Bridges and More Bridges

  Late October, 1862

  The next few months were busy ones for Ben. At first, because of his knowledge of code and Cryptology, his job was to decode the many messages sent by the Confederates along the newly laid telegraph lines. While the telegraph was an immense help during the Civil war, coded messages from both armies were often easily decoded, and privileged information damaging to one army or another was discovered. The General gave Ben the responsibility of getting the decoded messages to the right people, so that many of the planned attacks by the Confederates ended up as nothing more than skirmishes. He was very tired of being a courier, but at least it gave him a chance to tack up Mack, and get away from the fort for a few days.

  Along the way, Ben saw firsthand what the war was doing to the Southern states where most of the fighting was going on. Food shortage was a big problem with the troops on both sides, and small towns, homes and individual farms were being raided by both the North and South. Illness and diseases were becoming rampant due to the lack of adequate medical services, clothing was becoming scarce due to the interruption of rail services between the clothing factories in the North, and the fact that the South faced cotton shortages, which made it difficult to make new uniforms and get them to the Confederates. As Ben passed by destroyed fields lined with the dead bodies of both North and South, he would see soldiers stealing clothing from the dead, sometimes not even paying attention to the color of the uniform, if boots and coats or jackets were in better condition than their own.

  * * *

  Ben had just finished getting dressed when Captain Boyd walked into the room without so much as a knock on his door.

  “Hey, Ben, the General wants to see you. As he said, Pronto. I guess that means immediately, because he sent me to get you. So come on, now.” Boyd had long since cleared up his cold, but his mood remained grouchy.

  “Okay, I’m coming. What’s gotten you by the tail this morning, anyhow? You’re as friendly as a bear cub stuck up a tree.”

  “Sorry. I’m sick of this war. I’m sick of being the General’s gofer. I’m sick of this fort, and all the men coming in and out while I’m stuck in a gol-durned office. If I have to be in the Army, I’d rather be out on the front someplace.”

  Ben stopped. “You mean, you’d rather be out there shooting at people, killing people, than be here at the fort?”

  The Captain hesitated. “No, I don’t mean I’d rather be killing people. Lord knows I never ever held a gun, much less shot one, until I got in the Army. I just thought there’d be more, uh, more action, more excitement in joining up. I didn’t know I’d get stuck behind a desk forever.” He shrugged. “Hell’s bells, I was just a kid like you when I joined up. I didn’t want to go into business with my father like my brothers did, so I joined the Army. I was looking for fun, for excitement, and for some stupid reason I thought I’d get it here. Shows you how dumb I am.”

  They stopped in front of Boyd’s office. “Uh, you’ll keep this to yourself, won’t you, Ben? No telling what the General would do to me if he knew what I just said.”

  Ben grinned at him. “Don’t worry, I don’t tell the General anything more about anything that I have to. I do my job, tell him the results, and that’s it. Wish me luck in there, now.” He nodded to Boyd, knocked on the General’s door, and went in at the usual yell of “Come!”

  “Good morning, sir. You wanted to see me?”

  General MacPhee was standing at his bulletin board with his back to the room. He was silent for a moment, took several pulls at his pipe, and with a pleasant scent of the smoke swirling about his head, he turned to Ben.

  “Come over here, I want to show you something.”

  He pointed to a red X on a map. “See this? This is Fredericksburg. It’s almost exactly between Washington and the Rebel’s capital of Richmond, Virginia. President Lincoln wants the Rebs out of Richmond, and the only way to get that done is to go through Fredericksburg. At least, that’s the thinking now. The Rappahannock River is probably going to be the way our Army approaches Fredericksburg, so I’m thinking it’s time to get rid of the bridges. So…”

  “Excuse me, General, but if there is no specific plan right now to attack Fredericksburg, why would you want to get rid of the bridges? Wouldn’t the Confederates just rebuild them anyway?”

  “It takes a long time to build bridges. It’s almost November, and if Lincoln carries out his plan, our Army has to go on the attack no later than December and bridges can’t be built in such a short time. Especially not when the railroads are being ambushed, and supplies blown up. What will have to happen is our Army will use pontoons to build a temporary bridge closer down to Fredericksburg, and ferry men and supplies across. So, what I want you to do is to meet Finn and his men, and get the two bridges up on the Rappahannock destroyed. I’ve got orders and directions for you, so you can get started now.”

  The General handed some papers to Ben, who took them but continued to stand still. The General looked him up and down, and said crossly, “Well, did I not make myself clear? What did you not understand?”

  “I understood you just fine, Sir. I just wanted to know what’s going to happen to the people at Fredericksburg with the bridges blown up. Don’t they get supplies and stuff for the town from the railroads and brought across the bridges?”

  General MacPhee stared at Ben as if he’d lost his mind. “Son, you need to make up your mind definitely just whose side of this war you are on. I understand from Finn that you were hesitant about blowing up the train on that other assignment you were on, because of the people who might be traveling. Who cares? Who cares who is on a train, and who cares about the townspeople in Fredericksburg? They are Confederates, and you are a Union spy. Now, young man, you either do this job without another question, or you go running home to your mama in Kentucky, and become the Confederate you evidently were born as. This is WAR, and if you can’t take it, then get the hell out of my office, and don’t ever come back. You want those papers or
not?”

  Ben folded the papers neatly and slipped them into a back pocket. “I’ll do this job, sir, without any more questions.” He turned and left the office, but not without shutting the General’s door a little more loudly than necessary.

  * * *

  Ben arrived at the small town of Smith’s Springs three days later. The sun was getting low in the sky, and Ben was hungry. He hoped this Smith’s Hotel and Inn, where he was to meet up with Finn and his men, was also a good eatery. The first thing he saw as he rode into town was a large sign which said: All Peoples Welcome Except Damn Rebels. Below that was an arrow pointing to another sign: All Horses Welcome at Smith’s Stables Rebel Horses Will Be Confiscated. Ben shook his head, but continued down the street until he came to Smith’s Stable. He dismounted, and walked up to a man he saw cleaning out a stall.

  “Good day, sir. Are you Mister Smith?”

  The man laughed, and put down his rake. “No, I’m not Mister Smith. I’m Jonas, and I run this place. You looking to put your horse up for a time?”

  “Yes, I am. I’m looking for Smith’s Hotel, I’m supposed to meet some friends there.”

  Jonas nodded his head. “The hotel is just down the street. I’ll stable your horse for as long as you need. The fee is forty cents a day, hay included. If you want alfalfa hay, that’ll be ten cents more.”

  “Okay, that’s fine. I have some business to take care of, and then I’m on my way again. I’m going over to the hotel, get a room for tonight, and hopefully I’ll be gone tomorrow. Thanks for taking care of my horse. I’ll drop by tomorrow and pay up.”

  Jonas nodded at him, and went back to mucking out the stall.