by Unknown
In the captain’s tent none of us felt like cheering. We were demoralised. We knew we had just avoided either death or capture by a whisker. “So Jack, this traitor…”
I held up my hand. I walked to the tent flap. “Cecil!”
The eager young man ran over. “Yes Sarge?”
“I want no-one closer than ten feet of this tent. There are to be no exceptions,” I grinned, “not even you!”
He smiled, “Consider it done.” I watched him run to his tent and bring back his Henry.
They all looked at me with questions on their faces. “We eliminated him the other day and Danny said that Cecil was not with you when you went to the railroad locker which also gives him credibility.”
“Your call. What do you want us to do?”
“Tonight, when we are eating I want Dago and Jed watching the horse lines. When we are around the fire we can get out the whisky bottle to celebrate our victory. I will then tell you what General Stuart has planned. If I am correct then one or both of our men will try to slip away and tell the Yankees of Stuart’s plans.”
Harry gave me his most laconic look. “And if they don’t take the bait?”
“I have thought of that. They might volunteer to deliver a message or ask to be on point. If anyone wants to be away from the company they are the traitor. Remember sir, there are Yanks just six miles east of us and a rider could be there and back in an hour. I reckon the plan will work.”
Chapter 5
We had a fine meal, having had all afternoon to prepare it. Harry had ridden to the crash scene and returned with a grin on his face. He would play his part just as we all would. We were like actors on a stage. “The foot sloggers have to march down the track. There’s going to be some weary boys in their camp tonight.”
“Anybody searching for us?”
“I didn’t see any horses and the boys made the tracks confusing anyway. They won’t know which direction we have headed in. I put some trips and traps on the main trails.”
Jed and Dago had given a surreptitious nod as they slipped away to their duty point. I had filled a whisky bottle with watered down coffee. I made a lot of noise as I brought it to the middle of the camp. The fire was just a glow but I noted that everyone was around the fire. The trap was ready to be baited. “Here is a present from General Stuart. He said it was just for the officers and sergeants!”
There were good natured boos and groans but most of the men had their own bottles anyway. I poured the four of us a generous slug and we toasted each other, “The Wildcats!”
There had been enough whisky in the bottle to give off the smell but the taste was… cold coffee; cold watery coffee. We all drank it off and then poured another. Harry had already been primed. “So the general was in a good mood then? I mean he gave you this fine whisky and all.”
I leaned forward and tapped my nose, “Top secret stuff! We stayed in the same fine hotel and he gave us cigars; expensive cigars.” I intertwined two fingers. “We are like that!”
Harry poured me another drink. “Come on Jack. We are all friends here.” We all swallowed the drink and I shook my head as though it had been stronger than the first and I needed to clear my thoughts.
“Don’t worry you’ll all find out soon enough but,“ Harry poured me some more whisky which I drank, “the Yankees will find out sooner.”
Danny joined in. “How’s that Jackie Boy?”
“That train was taking Yanks to Fredericksburg. The general reckons there are five Grand Divisions going there ready to fight Lee but…” I turned and looked over my shoulder as though I might be overheard and said in a loud whisper, “Stonewall and Stuart have a Corps and they are marching towards us now. They are going to attack north as well as east. Lee will make an attack on Fredericksburg but only a feint. Jackson is going to attack the rear of the Union army while Stuart and his cavalry are going to Washington. Abe Lincoln is going to get a real shock. Stuart reckons this could end the war. They will have to sue for peace.”
“And what do we do?”
“Ah that’s the good bit. We get to go to Washington first. Stuart thinks that they will think two cavalry corps will be attacking if we do our normal wild charges. He thinks a lot of us sir!” I hiccupped.
The captain slapped me on the back. “That’s great news.” He stood. “Looks like an early night tonight boys and tomorrow we head for Washington!”
They all cheered and went back to their tents backslapping each other as though we had won the war already. I staggered and lurched as I went to my tent. Cecil and Wilkie came over to me. “Here sarge let’s help you to your tent.”
I mumbled, “Thanks boys!”
They laid me on my blanket and then closed the flap. I heard Cecil say, “The trouble is with Lucky Jack, he might be the best soldier in the whole company but he can’t hold his liquor worth a damn. Strange because like me he is Irish and we can normally hold our drink.”
“Well if that is the only flaw in his character, I will live with it!”
I quickly strapped on my holster and lay in the dark. Harry, Danny and the captain could watch the tents but I had to continue to play act the drunk. I wondered if the plan had failed as the night dragged on. Suddenly there was the crack of an Army Colt followed by two pops from two Navy Colts and then another two cracks. I jumped from my bed. There was no reason for deception any longer. The rest of the company were also out of their beds but, unlike me, they had no idea in which direction to turn. I headed for the horse lines.
I found Jed and Dago standing over the body of Colm while Geraghty lay holding his right arm. When he saw me approach he gave a sardonic grimace. “I might have known; feckin Lucky Jack had to have a hand in this. I told Colm we should have shot you when we had the chance.”
Captain Boswell had heard the end of his diatribe. “You!” He glanced at me. “How did you know?”
“It was the first train wreck. There was no reason for Colm to have left his revolver there. He had a holster. When you said that these two began shouting during the ambush, it made sense. They were telling their comrades that you were there and they were Yankees. Then today I watched them as they hung back. If I hadn’t been behind them they might not have even made the track.”
Danny was white with anger. He was clenching and unclenching his fists. He had taken their side and asked for them in his section. I knew that he felt betrayed. It was the main reason I hadn’t told the captain of their identity. He would not have believed it and might have even warned them. The rest of the company had arrived and they looked, with disbelieving eyes at the scene.
“David, see to this traitor’s arm and then Harry, you tie him up and put a guard on him. We’ll decide what to do with him in the morning.”
Geraghty spat in my direction. It missed but Danny hit him so hard in the mouth that he fell unconscious. I remembered the last time he had done when so Black Bill had insulted the captain. “That’ll keep the bastard quiet for you David!”
Dago, Jed and I went to examine the tent and belongings of the two men. The saddlebags had a hidden pocket. It would have been overlooked had Dago not slipped his hand inside the, apparently empty, leather. “What have we here?” He pulled out some folded papers. He gave them to me. “I’ll check the other saddlebag.”
While he found the other secret pocket I went outside to read in the glow of the firelight. “It seems they work for that Pinkerton fella; the Secret Service man. There is a letter here from him and countersigned by someone called Lafayette Baker. It says that they are to be afforded as much help as they need from Union troops. It looks like they are both called O’Callaghan.” I looked at Danny. “They didn’t appear to be brothers.”
“They might be cousins. You’re from Ireland Jack. You know how clannish the families are.”
I proffered the letters to the captain. Dago handed him the second set. “It looks like the evidence we needed.”
The captain did not look happy. “But it has been an expensiv
e exercise to get it. All those good men killed because of these traitors.”
“What now?”
“We hold a trial. A court martial.”
“Can we do that sir? We aren’t regulars.”
“I hold a commission in the militia. It will have to do.”
It was too late for bed and dawn was breaking as we convened the trial. David had fixed the wounded arm but the prisoner now had a broken nose too. He glared in Danny’s direction. The men formed a small square around him. He stared defiantly at his former comrades. “This ain’t legal you know that?”
The captain was quiet and he was calm. “Are you wearing the uniform of a Union soldier?”
“That don’t make no never mind! I am a loyal American!”
“Did you swear an oath to the Confederacy and to the Wildcats?”
“I didn’t mean it!”
“I will take that as a yes. Then we can proceed. Geraghty O’Callaghan. You swore an oath to this company and the Confederate States of America and you have betrayed all of the men here. You have caused the deaths of many of our comrades. Were this ancient Rome we would put you in a bag with a snake, a monkey and a dog and throw you into the river.”
Danny gave a sour look at the man who had betrayed him, “I can easily find a snake sir!”
The captain held up his hand. “What we can do is hang you like a dog. I will not waste lead on you. Has the prisoner anything to say?”
“You can never be sure now, captain, if the volunteers you get are genuine volunteers or spies.” He flung his arm at the others. “There could be another Colm and Geraghty amongst this lot and you wouldn’t have the first clue. Your days are numbered, captain, and Mr Pinkerton and others are coming for you. We nearly beat you! You damned traitor. You are all traitors!” He glared in my direction. “And you Irish boys should be ashamed of yourselves! These are no better than the English bastards who make slaves of us in Ireland!”
“Bring him with us.”
Harry already had a rope and we mounted the horses, leading Geraghty by the rope which would hang him. We headed due south and headed for the railroad track. Jed had noticed a tree with a branch which overhung the lines. It was a mile or two from the place we had derailed the train and we went there. I stood on the back of my horse and looped the rope over the limb. I could see that a train would just miss him. With his hands tied behind his back the prisoner was helpless. Danny put the rope around his neck and then said to the four men on the rope. “Right boys. Pull. But pull slowly. I wouldn’t want a quick death for this traitor.” When he was twelve feet from the ground they tied the rope off and we watched him squirm and twist, his face becoming bluer until suddenly he went limp. We turned and rode back to our camp. The first train through would get a real shock when they struck the swinging corpse.
Back at the camp we quickly packed away the tents. The other body was buried and we stood awaiting orders. There were now just twenty one of us in total. We had lost half our number in a short time. I wondered if the captain’s confidence was gone. Perhaps he would order us home. His face creased into a smile. “Well boys, things haven’t gone so good for us lately and I know some of you are wondering if this is worthwhile. I, for one, think that it is. We may be just a handful of men but we have kept regiments busy looking for us. Every horseman chasing us is one less soldier fighting General Lee and that means we have more chance of winning. I have a mind to head on towards Washington and see what mischief we can cause. We can always swing back south and join the army if things don’t go right for us. What do you say?”
They all looked at each other and then Cecil scratched his head. “I’m sorry captain. Maybe I’m just a dumb Irishman but I thought that derailing a whole trainload of Yankee soldiers was a success. And I don’t know about these other guys but this is the first time in my life I have had more than twenty dollars in my pockets. As far as I am concerned we have had success and I for one don’t want it to stop.”
When all the other men, Dago included slapped him on the back then I knew that Irish had been accepted. He was one of the Wildcats now.
“Well there you go captain and, boys, I have another twenty dollars for each of you courtesy of Pinkerton’s men here.”
“Thank you Danny, and thank you men. I am touched by your loyalty. Let’s head north.”
We had extra horses this time and we made good time. We bypassed Manassas to the east. We could see from the roads that there had been many soldiers through the area but we saw none. Danny had the map on his saddle. “Sir, the next places are Centreville, Vienna and Falls Church. We can make any of them tonight and scout them out. The boys aren’t tired and there’s still daylight.”
“Then let’s try Centreville. Dago and Jack, take Irish and scout it out. We’ll meet you north of the town. We’ll be half a mile north of the last house in the town.”
Mosby was known to raid west of the town and that was likely to have an armed presence. We headed to the east and then we could sweep around and meet the captain. We could see the town to the west. The turnpike led to Washington and we halted close by that major road. We left our horses in a sunken lane which meandered towards the south east. We went on foot to spy out this road leading from the capital. We had gone barely three hundred yards when we struck gold. There was a wagon train on the other side of the turnpike close to a gate. The threat of Mosby had meant they had put the wagons in a defensive box formation. It looked as though they were coming from Washington. We crept as close as we could get to eavesdrop on their conversation and to count the guards.
They were relatively relaxed and there were just two sentries on the perimeter of the ten wagons. The drivers and the other guards were squatting around the fire cooking their meal. One rather overweight teamster stood and noisily farted, much to the amusement of some of his friends. “Well I don’t know why we couldn’t go down to the Newgate tavern. It’s not like we won’t need it. After this we’ll be with the army and the prices in all the inns close to the front will be doubled.”
“The boss doesn’t want us all drunk and we would be if we went to the tavern.”
“Where is he anyway? I bet he is drinking there.”
“Nah he went to arrange the escort. He wants the two companies of cavalry who have been trying to catch Mosby. He thinks we need their protection.”
“Well that’s another reason. As soon as we take the road south his ghosts and the Grey Ghost himself will be over us thicker’n fleas on a dog.”
“Stop whingeing Sullivan. We are being paid double just to carry this black powder and it’s gonna help beat the damned Rebs. Are you a southern supporter now?”
“Now I never said that, Billy. I am as patriotic as the next man.”
“Yeah we know. You’d join up if they could get a tent to fit you as a uniform.”
“Listen you twig, I could get into a uniform but I am the best mule skinner you know. It would be a crying shame if it was wasted in the army.”
We had seen and heard enough. We headed back to the horses and made a detour around the town. It was almost dark when we found the last house and we rode north. I had an idea where they would be for I saw the woods. When I heard Jed’s whistle I knew we had found them.
“We found a wagon train full of powder. It’s heading to the front tomorrow with a bunch of cavalry. We either strike tonight or find another target.”
“How many men and guards are there in total?”
“They had two sentries and there were about twenty men in all.”
“Don’t forget the boss.”
“Irish is right, there was a boss. He was the one talking to the cavalry.”
“And I bet he would have someone with him. Say twenty four all told.”
“T’wou’d be nice captain; a lovely explosion. Let them know that the Wildcats are in the area.”
I shook my head. “They will just think it is Mosby. They are wetting themselves worrying about him.”
“Then we wil
l have to leave our own message eh?”
We had no tents to dismantle and Dago and I knew the way. As we headed purposefully towards the wagons I realised that, for the first time since the ambush, I was not looking over my shoulder for the knife in the back. It felt good. We had had to purge the company but we were all the stronger for the experience. Dago and I led and we halted close enough to see the men around the fires. We were hidden by the brush. We tied up the horses and left David and Cecil watching them. We all hated the duty but the men knew it was an important, if unglamorous task.
“There are civilians so no shooting. Jed and Dago, you two take care of the sentries. The rest of you spread out. Jack, take your men to the other side of the wagons, the side closest to the road. If any run it will be that way. I will walk into the middle with Dago and Jed.”
We trotted through the dark and I spread the men out. I made sure that Davy and Jimmy were at each end of my line. They were my most experienced men. We had to wait now until the captain appeared. We watched as the men gathered around the food. The cook snapped irritably, at yet another question, “It won’t be ready for five more minutes! Now skedaddle!”
Suddenly the huge fat teamster we had seen before began to walk towards us. I gestured for the men to hide. He was coming directly for me. I pressed myself into the side of the wagon and he stepped in front of me and began to undo his trousers. We were both out of sight of the camp and his comrades. I pulled my Colt and pressed the barrel into the back of his head. The sound of the hammer being cocked must have sounded like an explosion to the civilian. “Now what you can feel, my friend, is the business end of an Army Colt. Don’t even think about moving.”
His voice sounded full of terror. “Do you mind if I pee Mr Mosby?”
I heard a giggle from Wilkie and I shook my head. “Just don’t splash me!”
By the time he had finished I saw that the captain was stepping, unseen, into the light. The men were so intent on their food that they did not even notice their arrival. Dago and Jed pushed the two sentries. I nodded to the boys and then said to my prisoner, “Let’s go and rejoin your friends.”