by Unknown
When Jed returned he did have news. It just wasn’t the news we had expected. “Well there was no one waiting to ambush me but I did see four regiments of cavalry heading south east. There were plenty of cannons on the road too. This Burnside is moving.”
Captain Boswell thought so too. “Jack, you go with Jed and find Stuart and tell him what we have learned. We will meet you in Manassas. We’ll camp close to the railroad, south of the town.”
I hesitated as I was leaving. I looked at Danny and then the captain, “Sir. Don’t forget, don’t tell the boys until we are on the road and…”
Danny laughed, “If you could tell me again how to suck eggs! I know what you are going to say. Keep Dago at the back of the patrol to watch for our spy leaving his trail of breadcrumbs.”
“Sorry Danny! You must be getting better eh?”
This was the first time Jed and I had been on a solo patrol for a while. It was different from one with Dago. With Dago I almost knew what he was thinking. Jed was good but he was deeper than his friend. We had been riding for an hour when he asked. “Who do you think it is?”
“The traitor?” He nodded. “I think it must be one of the last batches of men we got. There are seven of them. The others I can’t prove are loyal but something,” I patted my heart, “here, tells me it isn’t one of those. As I think we have eliminated Wilkie and Jacob then there are just five new boys. I would have mentioned it to the captain but it seems to go against what I outlined to you all.”
“For what it is worth I agree with you. There’s nothing I can put my finger on but the other guys, well we have been through too much with them. But you are right. We need to be fair and let the innocent ones prove their innocence.”
We headed for the Rappahannock River. We knew that the army would not be north of it and it shortened our ride. At the end of a long day we saw the mass of men which told us it was Stonewall Jackson and his foot cavalry. They were filling the road heading east and we took to the fields to get ahead of them and find General Stuart. We were close to Chancellorsville when we found the corps of cavalry. We never received a warm greeting from the officers or the regular cavalry. They thought that we had too much freedom. However they all knew that Stuart liked us. That overcame their antipathy and we were pointed in the right direction. When we reached the town we headed for the biggest hotel we could find. Stuart liked his comfort and he liked his drink. We found him straight away.
I was lucky in more ways than one. Stuart liked me. I had rescued his nephew and been involved in the capture of an intelligence officer and I received a warm welcome. “Sir, the corporal has news of the Union cavalry.”
All of the officers became alert as Jed recounted what he had seen. “Well done boys. That confirms what we thought. The Yankees are planning something around here.” He leaned forwards to speak conspiratorially, “My money is on Fredericksburg so if you boys could cause a little mayhem up north I sure would appreciate it.” He grabbed my arm after I had saluted and turned to leaved. “Sergeant Hogan, should you ever leave the Wildcats I can give you a commission in a good cavalry regiment you know.”
“Thank you for the offer sir but I am still Captain Boswell’s man. We all are.”
“And he is damned lucky to have such loyalty.”
As we headed to the street I wondered about that. I would have agreed with him before I had found the bandana. Not all of the Wildcats were loyal; that much was obvious. “Well Jack, what say we find a room? These Yankee dollars are burning a hole in my saddlebags and I have a hankering for a bath and some good food.”
It suddenly seemed like a good idea to me too. “Why not?” We turned around, much to the surprise of the sentry on the door and headed for the desk. “We need rooms.”
The clerk looked at us both with disdain written all over his face. We looked dirty and dishevelled. We were not officers and we looked too young to have enough money for this expensive hotel. We looked as though we didn’t have ten cents between us. “I am sorry gentlemen but I think our prices are too high for you. There is a boarding house down the road a ways.” He tried to make it less offensive by smiling effusively.
I looked at Jed who winked. He said, “You tell me the price of your most expensive room and I will tell you if we can afford it.”
The clerk was taken aback. “We have the Presidential suite.”
I shook my head, “And I bet you five dollars that no President has ever come within fifty miles of it.”
The clerk had the good grace to blush. “That is ten dollars a night.” He said it as though we had never even seen ten dollars, let alone posses it.
Jed had already seen the price list on the desk and he slapped down ten dollars. “We’ll take it and I assume that for that kind of money we get a bath thrown in.”
“Well a bath is normally fifty cents…” he saw Jed’s hand slide down to his holster, “but it is free with the Presidential. I’ll have one of the boys run you gentleman a bath each.”
“Good and then we’ll try your dining room too! Have the horses taken to the stables and make sure they get a rub down and some grain.”
The bath was hot. The towels were soft and they even put the bubbly stuff in that made you smell like a French whore. It didn’t make us smell any sweeter but we were a little less gamey when we went to dinner. The dining room was almost full. General Stuart waved at us as we sat down. The menu was vast and both of us looked forwards to a wonderful meal. The waiter who served us looked at us a little askance at first. Jed slipped him five Yankee dollar bills. My eyes opened in surprise, I had thought that we had burned them all. Jed winked at me. “Now my friend and I would like some really good service. There are ten of these,” he snapped one open, “if we are really satisfied.”
“Yes sir. If I might suggest some things from the menu?”
“Go ahead.” I had not heard of half of them and I don’t think Jed had but we were paying with stolen money so it didn’t really matter.
When he had gone I leaned over the table. “I thought we had burned them all?”
“Well I just kept a handful. I thought they might come in handy if we had to start a fire… or get some good service. Just enjoy it sergeant. You can be damned sure that nights like this will be few and far between.”
He was right and we did both enjoy the service, the food and the drink. General Stuart finished before we did and he called at our table on his way out. He held out two cigars for us. “Seeing as you boys are pushing the boat out I thought you might enjoy these. They came courtesy of Colonel Black.”
“Thank you General Stuart.”
“Say boys where did you get the money for this place? It is a little pricey. You intending on washing the dishes?”
Jed leaned back, “Well you see General Stuart. Some of these Yankee boys we capture have more than cigars in their pockets and as we don’t get paid we take our money wherever we can get it. This dinner is courtesy of some Michigan boys!”
The general laughed, “Then enjoy it.” He turned to his aide. “I tell you Melville, this free enterprise in war does work. Look at these two boys, living it up like Old Jeff Davis himself.”
We left a healthy tip and wandered back to that rare luxury, a bed with clean sheets. Inevitably we both woke up early. Apart from nature’s demands both of us were used to rising at dawn’s early light. We were the first in the dining room and as we had tipped so well the night before the waiters were all over us. I had so much ham and so many eggs that I could only manage a dozen pancakes.
The horses looked as pleased as we did when we finally left the hotel. “I suppose it is back to the war for us now Jed.”
“Yes but it was worth it.”
I looked at the map we had been given. “It seems to me that the quick way to Manassas Junction is through Falmouth or Fredericksburg.”
“I heard them talking at the general’s table last night and it is highly likely that Fredericksburg is where Stuart and Jackson are heading. “
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“I can see a ford at Falmouth. Let’s take it steady until nightfall and slip over during darkness. We night be able to get some intelligence for the captain.” It was just about fourteen miles to the ford and we found ourselves amongst the cavalry scouts of Stuart’s Corps. As night drew closer they thinned out to return to their camp. We reached the river bank just after dusk. As far as we could see we were totally alone. We could see the lights of Falmouth and, down the river in the distance, Fredericksburg. We halted at the bank and checked for any Union vedettes but there were none. The water was icy as we slipped into it and we had to swim our horses for part of the way but, the island in the middle was quite large and the last swim didn’t seem as bad.
“I don’t know about you Jed but I am happy to push on through the dark and rest up in the morning.”
“Me too. I can still taste that breakfast.”
It was flatter land than we were used to and the hills were little more than rises. The roads were not pikes and we made good progress. I hoped that two men travelling alone would not attract too much attention. I had my deer hide jacket over my grey jacket so that any curious eyes might take us for travellers. We found a copse just after dawn and we were both ready for a rest. It was on a slight rise which gave a good view for a mile or so around and we could see the main road. While Jed found water I fed the horses and laid some trip wires around the perimeter. When Jed returned we hobbled the horses and fell asleep.
I was suddenly awake. Something had disturbed me. A moment later and Jed jerked upright. I took my Henry and cocked it. We didn’t need words. Firstly we listened. Hearing nothing close by, we both stood and walked to the edge of the copse. Then we saw what had disturbed us. It was Union troops; a large number of Union soldiers with both cavalry and artillery as well as the inevitable infantry. We lay down to examine them. There was no chance they would head in our direction. I took out my paper and pencil and wrote down what we could see. “It looks like a whole Grand Division. It’s mainly infantry and artillery. Can you see any horses?”
Jed clambered up to the lower branches of one of the trees. “It looks like just one regiment, that’s all.”
“In that case we can sit tight until they have passed. Put on a pot of coffee and I will get some ham going. We might as well wait until dark.”
By the time we left our hiding place the Grand Division was long gone and we had the road to ourselves. We had to push on as the captain would be worrying about us. We were both known for our punctuality. I began to regret our overnight stop in the hotel. We had, however, discovered valuable intelligence so it balanced out. We were aided in finding our comrades by the sound of the train hurtling along the railroad. It showed me that we were close to the line and that meant close to the company. We both drew our Colts. We knew we were deep in Yankee territory and they would be sure to guard their railroads well.
We found the track and crossed over. Dawn was breaking and we were both warily watching for a sign that our men were close by. I spied a track box similar to the one on the Baltimore and Ohio. “Hold up Jed. This may be useful.”
I dismounted to examine the lock in case it was not well used. Suddenly I froze. Jed saw my reaction. “What’s up Jack? Seen a snake?”
“Something like that. Come and take a look.” When he came around the box he whistled his reaction. There was a bandana. Suddenly everything clicked into place and I knew who the traitors were. I had no proof yet but I knew. Until I had the proof then I would keep the information to myself.
Jed picked it up and, as he did so, something fell from it. It was a piece of paper. I unfolded it. Scrawled in capitals it said, “TOMORROW NOON **”
“Well if don’t that beat all?”
I folded the paper up and balled the bandana. “We’ll show this to the captain. At least this shows us the camp must be close by here. Have a look around and see if you can see any tracks.”
Disappointingly there were too many tracks. The company had been here and our traitor had managed to return and leave his message. Two stars was obviously his code name.
“We keep this to ourselves. I’ll see the captain when we get back. I have a little trap in mind. I’ll tell you about it this afternoon when I have spoken with the captain.”
We used the tracks of the company to reach the camp. Jacob was the sentry and I heard his whistle to warn the rest of visitors. When he saw it was me he grinned. “We thought you was lost. Harry said you had found a whorehouse.”
Jed laughed, “We’re real men we don’t need whores. The women just throw themselves at us.”
The captain and Danny were sat in his tent along with Harry and they were poring over the map. There was a slight look of irritation on the captain’s face which he managed to mask. “What kept you?”
“General Stuart. They are attacking in the south. Harry, watch the tent flap.”
“What’s up Jack?” I could see that Danny was back to his old self and didn’t miss a trick.
In answer I took out the bandana and placed it on the map. Harry said, “So the spy is still with us then.”
“And in it was this.” I dropped the note on the table.
“Dammit. We were going to destroy the tracks today at noon. We were just waiting for you.”
“Well we can go ahead with it can’t we? The note wasn’t delivered.”
The captain looked at Danny who ruefully shook his head. “The captain hoped you were wrong Jackie boy.”
“I wish I was sir but I’m not. I do have an idea who they might be.”
“Well out with it! Tell us!”
“I have no proof yet sir and it is unfair to accuse someone unjustly. I think I can prove it but that will have to wait until after we have wrecked the train tracks.”
“I don’t like it but I can understand and respect your reasons. Come on let’s get this over with and then we might find out just who this canker is.”
“If you don’t mind sir. I’ll hang around at the back and that way I can keep an eye on the men I suspect.”
“It’s your play Jack. I just hope you know what you are doing.”
So did I; if the two men did as I expected they would hang back so as not to be caught in the first shots of the ambush. We rode in single file which made it easier for me to watch them. I noticed that they allowed a gap to open up between them and Cecil who was just in front. Jed had pulled to one side and was waiting for me. We dropped further back from the spies and spoke quietly.
“Someone must have been coming for that message this morning. But what I can’t understand is how someone would know to come for it.”
“So did I, until we were at the locker box. It will be one of the track workers. When we were ambushed the first time the only place they could have left a message was by the railroad. The rest of the time we were off the beaten track and someone would have had to trail us. That’s how I worked out who one of the spies was and then it was easy to deduce the second.”
We halted half a mile from the tracks. “Jacob and Wilkie, you watch the horses.” Our two traitors hid their disappointment well; they had hoped that by hanging at the rear they would have been chosen as horse holders. I chose Aaron and Wilkie because they had been eliminated as suspects. As I followed them to the track I realised that they were probably not traitors. The two of them were probably patriots it was just that they were fighting for the other side. To their folks at home they would be heroes whilst we despised them as traitors. Such are the vagaries of war.
The river was too far away to be of any use in getting rid of the rails. Harry came up with a solution. “If we carry them to the other tracks and lay them next to the existing tracks they might not be seen but they would probably still derail the train anyway.”
“Good. Throw the bolts away as well. We might not have the same effect as on the Baltimore and Ohio but all we need to do is to disrupt their supplies.” He threw me a look. I could see that he wanted to tell the men that the Union was rushing men down
this very line to fight Jackson but he couldn’t. It was eating him up. If the spies heard that and escaped they could tell their generals and we would lose the forthcoming battle.
It took an hour of sweaty labour to shift enough rails to cause some damage and then Davy rushed down from the west. “Sir, a train is heading from the west.”
“Right take the tools with us and get back to the horses.”
I had been watching my spies and seen the looks exchanged. They wondered why there had been no ambush. I knew that they would be wondering if their message had got through or if the ambush would come later. We had planted the seeds of doubt in their mind. Once we reached the horses we mounted and rode back a little way into the woods to see the results of the crash. We were well hidden in the trees and saw the engine lumbering around the bend. We knew when the engineer had seen the damaged track because the brakes squealed noisily. He had good reactions and might have stopped before the missing track but Harry’s extra rails were not seen. Even though the engine was slowing when it hit the two extra rails it lurched to one side and crashed into the forest on the right. The tender turned over and the first carriage half twisted and ended up pointing to the skies. Suddenly hundreds of blue uniforms poured out of the carriages. It was a troop train. These troops would not get to the battle on time. What we did not know at the time was that there were pontoon bridges on the train as well and they delayed Burnside’s crossing of the Rappahannock River. It was an event which had a dramatic effect on the forthcoming battle. The crash was less spectacular than the one on the Potomac but, ultimately, more useful.
Danny could see the indecision on the captain’s face. We might be able to score a few hits on the disorganised troops but we could afford no further losses. He took the decision for our leader. “Wildcats, let’s get the hell out of here!”
We galloped back to the camp. Although we were less than four miles from the crash scene we were far enough away to avoid anyone stumbling upon us. When we had seen to our horses Danny shouted, “See to your weapons and get some food going. We will have an officer’s meeting and decide where we are going to hit the Yankees next time.” There was a huge cheer from the men.