Just then a police whistle was heard.
“Let’s just take the women and get,” Ben said.
Sarah and Jenny remained quiet during the confrontation and were frozen in place. Isaac motioned to the women to get back in the wagon, but they couldn’t move. Isaac had to take them to the paddy wagon. He locked the door and got back up front with Ben. Ben slapped the horses and they trotted quickly away, headed north. Anxious to get far away from Port Tobacco, Ben drove all night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Sunday, June 28, 1863
At three in the morning, 47-year-old, Major General George Gordon Meade, commander of the Union V Corps, headquartered in Frederick, was awakened by Colonel James Hardee of the war office.
“Excuse the interruption, General, but I have an urgent message for you.” Hardee said.
Meade sat on the edge of his cot and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Am I under arrest?”
“Heavens no, General.” Hardee handed him a note. Meade put on his wire-rimmed glasses and read the dispatch that placed him in command of the entire Union Army, relieving Major General Hooker.
“I don’t want this. John Reynolds is senior and better qualified.”
“This was an executive action. The decision has already been made. President Lincoln and General Halleck both agreed it should be you. The orders have been signed and now delivered.”
Meade, was normally quiet with a bookish nature. But he also had a hair-trigger temper. He straightened and rubbed his head. “Well,” he said. “I’ve been tried and condemned without a hearing, and I suppose I shall have to go to execution.”
“I should hope not, General.”
Concerned about the responsibility now placed on him, Meade looked at Hardee. “Let me get dressed, than take me to General Hooker.”
Colonel Hardee escorted General Meade to General Hooker’s headquarters to effect the change in command. General Hooker accepted the news gracefully. Meade and Hardee could see that he was relieved. He looked as if he had enough of it.
“Any reports on the where-a-bouts of Lee’s army?” Meade asked.
“I have no intelligence of the exact location of Lee’s army,” Hooker said.
“What’s your situation?”
“My orders are to protect the Capital.”
Since Hooker did not know the exact location of Lee’s army, Meade immediately did two things. He wired General Halleck in Washington. “I am a soldier. I obey, and to the utmost of my ability will execute my duty.”
Then he sent out orders to his army commanders to use every road that would take them in a northeasterly direction toward Pennsylvania. They were to interpose themselves between the Army of Northern Virginia and Washington and Baltimore, keeping those cities covered.
***
Before dawn, Mike awoke to a whistle. The light before sunrise allowed him to see that Ray was sleeping like he was dead. Mike got up and looked around. The skies were overcast and there was a slight drizzle. Then he kicked Ray to wake him up.
“Leave me alone, Mom. It’s Saturday and I don’t have to get up for school.”
“Get up. I ain’t your mother.”
Ray jumped up with a surprised look on his face.
“Oh! Hi, Mike.”
Ray crawled out from under the cover and stretched. When he was ready, they both walked down to the river.
“Over here,” a voice hollered.
Mike looked in the direction of the voice. They walked around an outcropping to where Emmit was waiting with a small wooden boat. With caution, Mike walked toward Emmit.
“Over here,” Emmit said again.
“We see ya,” Mike said.
“Good news. You two check out.”
“How’d that happen?” Ray asked.
“I knew we would,” Mike lied like he knew.
“Get in the boat and stay low.”
“That boat?” Ray asked.
Ray was looking at a dingy, white, 14-foot row boat with two wood planks, port to starboard, for structural support as well as seats. Two oars lay at the stern, along with two buckets.
“You see any other boat?”
“Is it safe?” Ray asked.
“Do you want to cross or not?”
Ray got in the boat first and sat on the floor of the boat, which already had cold water in the bottom. Ray gave out a little yep when his ass hit the water. Mike eased his butt in the cold water slowly.
Emmit pushed the boat into the river and jumped aboard. The water sloshed around and splashed their bottoms. The rain came down hard. Mike grabbed an oar and helped Emmit row. The river current was rough, with two-foot swells. Water flooded the small craft. They were soaking wet and cold.
“Give me your oar and start bailing,” Emmit yelled.
Mike handed him the oar then grabbed two buckets, giving one to Ray. With fear in their hearts and rain in their faces, they bailed, while Emmit rowed. About halfway across the river, Emmit spotted a boat.
“Shit, this may be trouble,” Emmit yelled over the noise of the rain.
“What?” Mike yelled back.
“Look!” Emmit yelled.
Mike and Ray looked out across the water and saw a large black boat coming toward them.
“Fishing boat?” Ray yelled over the noise.
“That ain’t no fishing boat,” Emmit yelled. “Help me row.”
Mike looked again through the pouring rain and saw that the large black boat was steaming straight for them.
“It’s a Union gunboat!” Mike yelled.
“And it’s not stopping!” Emmit yelled, as he desperately tried to get clear of it.
“Jump!” Mike screamed.
The Union gunboat slammed into the small craft, splitting it in two. Emmit was still rowing when it hit. Mike and Ray jumped out from each side and into the water. The gunboat didn’t stop. It must not have seen them. It continued on its way down the river.
Mike’s head came up from the raging water and somehow found Emmit floating face down in the water. The swells were thrashing them up and down. Ray slammed into Mike and held on.
“Ray, help me with Emmit.”
Mike and Ray turned him over and through the hard rain saw that he was dead. Mike and Ray were now at the mercy of the Potomac.
“What do we do now?” Ray groaned, catching his breath.
“We swim,” Mike said. He grabbed the first big board from the wreck that floated by.
Ray grabbed it too, and threw his arms over it and held on beside Mike.
“Come on, Ray. We need to get across. We have to save Sarah and Jenny,” Mike said.
For two hours they kicked their feet while hanging onto the board which acted as a floatation device. They fought two-foot swells and the current. Mike swallowed more water than he thought possible. The swift current carried them downriver farther than they had intended, but somehow they made it to the river’s edge.
Mike and Ray maneuvered until they could stand and walk to shore. They had crossed the mighty Potomac and were on the Maryland side. Then, through the rain, Mike saw a man in a black slouch hat walking down to the beach toward them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sunday, June 28, 1863
General Meade received information that whole day. With the intelligence he had now accumulated, he wired General Halleck:
I must move toward the Susquehanna. Keeping Washington and Baltimore well covered. If the enemy is checked in his attempt to cross the Susquehanna, or if he turns toward Baltimore, I will give him battle.
After sending that message, he put pen to paper and issued orders to his troop commanders.
Be ready to march at daylight tomorrow.
His Big Pipe Creek Circular was ready to be implemented in the morning.
***
An ominous-looking man walked up to Mike and Ray. Along with his menacing physical presence, he had a revolver strapped on his right hip and a Bowie knife on his left. He looked into the distance.
“You’re a little farther downstream than expected. Where’s Emmit?” The brim of his hat covered his eyes.
“Dead,” Mike told him, shivering.
“Now that’s a damn shame,” the man said, in a slight German accent. Then he lifted the brim of his hat to better see who he was talking to.
The man had dark stringy hair coming out from under the hat. He had hazel eyes and a pale complexion.
“I’ve been watching you with binoculars. Following you down the shoreline.”
“We need to get to Baltimore,” Mike said.
“I was told you’re on a mission for us?”
“That’s right.”
“You Mike Hill?”
“Yeah. How-”
“This must be Ray Hensley,” the man said.
“How do you know us?” Mike asked.
“Not important. What’s important is that I get you to Baltimore. That’s about a three-day ride from here.”
“Three days... this is Monday?” Mike asked.
“All day,” he said, with his German accent.
“That means we’ll get to Baltimore on Thursday, the Second,” Mike said.
“More like, the third.”
“What?”
“We won’t get to Baltimore until the third. We need to get you to the safe house for tonight. Get you some dry clothes, and something to eat. Can’t get started until Tuesday morning, anyway.”
“Why?” Mike argued.
“Horses won’t be here until then.”
***
They got to the safe house and donned dry clothes and got some food in their stomachs. Plus, they spent the night in a warm bed for the first time in days. They woke before dawn and were getting ready. Mike felt much better. Then came a knock at the door.
The German got up and went to the door and opened it. Mike watched carefully. There stood a man in a white duster and brown hat.
“The horses are just over yonder,” the man told the German.
The German handed the man some paper money and the man walked away. “Horses are ready,” the German said.
He then went to his bunk and gathered his belongings. Uncomfortable, Mike watched him closely.
“You boys ready? Let’s go.” The German walked out the little house and up the path.
“He looks like a vampire,” Mike whispered to Ray as they followed.
Ray laughed uncomfortably.
Mike realized that they didn’t know his name. And he also thought the man looked familiar.
“By the way, what’s your name?” Mike asked.
“George Atzerodt.”
“Good to meet ya, George,” Ray said.
“Call me PT.”
“What’s PT stand for?” Mike asked.
“Port Tobacco, my hometown.”
Mike slowed his pace, grabbing Ray and allowing PT to put distance between them so he couldn’t hear.
“Do you know who we’re with?”
“No. Should I?”
“George Atzerodt, the man who will later take part in the assignation of President Lincoln. He was supposed to kill Andrew Johnson, but instead got drunk.”
“Oh, hell. What are we going to do?”
“Since that doesn’t take place for another two years, nothing.”
“Now I’m scared. Tell me why are we going with him.”
“He thinks we’re here to help the Confederacy. Plus, he knows the smuggling routes and safe houses along the way,” Mike said.
“Here we are,” PT Said. “Pick your horse.”
The horses were all saddled and ready to go. Mike showed Ray how to mount the horse on the left side, using your left foot placed in the stirrup.
Ray watched as Mike swung his right leg over the saddle and got mounted.
“I can do that,” Ray said, and gave it a whirl. On his first attempt, his left leg gave him trouble. He tried again, pushing off the ground harder with his right leg and then found himself, with much pleasure, upright in the saddle.
PT broke off a plug of tobacco between his teeth, kicked the horse’s flank and muttered the words, “Come on,” to his horse and started up the road. Mike and Ray followed.
“Why do I feel so vulnerable?” Ray said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Monday, June 29, 1863
In Carroll County, the Union Army was moving into position along a row of hills on the south side of a stream called Big Pipe Creek, 16 miles south of Gettysburg.
General Meade liked the terrain and the protection it provided. Some of the hills were 200 feet above the creek. From the easternmost end in Manchester to the westernmost end just north of Middleburg, the Pipe Creek Line was approximately 20 miles long.
And with Westminster 8 miles to the south, the Army of the Potomac could provide protection for the railroad. Here his army would have a supply depot as well as a staging area. Another advantage would be the ability to follow up a victory of the impending battle. From there the Union army could intercept the retreating Confederates by blocking all the primary routes back to Virginia. As a result, it would force a second major battle in which, again, the Union army would have the advantage of good roads and terrain and destroy the Confederate army and bring the war to a close.
***
All day Tuesday was spent in the saddle. It had rained most of the day and into the night as PT led Mike and Ray along a muddy road toward Baltimore. They followed the smuggling route until it became just a trail and late Wednesday night, PT led them deep into a dark, dank swamp.
They rode past spooky-looking trees that hung over them. The branches seemed to reach out for them. The undergrowth was so thick they couldn’t see into it. Unnerving noises were heard deep in the swamp.
When the sun came up on Wednesday, PT stopped.
“What’s up?” Mike asked.
“Flooded,” PT said.
“What do you mean? We needed to be in Baltimore today,” Mike told PT.
“The rain washed us out. We’ll need to take a detour. Looks like we’ll have to take the long way around.” PT recognized the severity of the situation. “What’s the mission you’re supposed to do for us, anyway?”
“We are to stop some kind of secret weapon,” Mike said.
“What kind of weapon?” PT asked.
“Don’t know,” Mike lied.
“Hmm,” PT muttered.
Mike deflected the questioning. “What is this place?”
“Zekiah Swamp,” PT said.
They moved on deeper and deeper into the swamp, avoiding deep water. Mike was covered in Mud from head to toe. He slept in his saddle as Ray had done. Between nodding off and waking up periods, there were strange noises heard in the distance. By the end of the night, Mike knew they were lost.
Another morning came and they were still in the swamp. Mike spit mud from his mouth and asked, “How much farther?”
“Don’t know for sure. Because of the detour, another day, maybe,” PT explained.
“Damn, we’ll never get there at this rate,” Mike said. “What day you think it is?”
“Thursday.”
“You’re lost aren’t you?” Mike said.
“Hell, no. I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am.”
“We were supposed to be in Baltimore July First!” Mike argued.
“I can’t help it if the swamp’s full of water. That slowed us down.”
“Well let’s find the main road and get out of here,” Mike suggested.
PT turned to Mike and replied, “We stay off the main roads as long as we can. Don’t need to get stopped by Union cavalry.”
“We have no choice now. We have to take that chance,” Mike argued. “If you want to win this war, we got to stop the union army from using that gun.”
“What gun?” PT asked.
“None of your business. But that is our mission.” Mike said. Mike also needed to find Sarah and Jenny, but he didn’t tell PT that.
“Well then, let’s get m
oving.”
PT found a bridle path and led them down it.
Ray leaned over to Mike. “Don’t make him mad,” he whispered.
“He better get his shit in gear. Because if we don’t stop that gun by July Fifth, the war will be over. Gordy will stay dead, and you’ll remain a cripple.”
“Come on PT, let’s move it,” Ray said.
PT became good natured as the bridle path led them on the outer edge of the swamp. That evening, they came to some railroad tracks.
“Where do they go?” Mike asked.
“North,” PT said, and followed them.
They followed the trail beside the tracks. In the afternoon it had finally stopped raining. The sunset was extra beautiful that evening. Orange and red streaks glowed all across the sky. Then the sun set and it slowly got dark. PT rode until midnight.
“We need to stop,” PT announced.
“Can’t we get out of this Godforsaken swamp first?” Mike asked.
“We’re not in the swamp. We’re on the edge. We’ll stop here in this clearing. The grass is matted down nicely. Makes for a comfortable night’s sleep.”
“It’s already July Second! We need to keep moving,” Mike argued.
PT pulled his horse up and dismounted. “Horses need to rest,” he said, as he tied his horse off at a tree.
“I said we need to keep moving,” Mike told PT.
“If the horses don’t rest, they’ll die,” PT said.
“Damn it.” Mike knew PT was right, even though he wanted to continue. PT took the reins from Ray and Mike and tied their horses on the branch next to his horse.
Mike saw PT take his bedroll off the back of his saddle. Reluctantly, Mike unstrapped the bedroll, reminding Ray what to do. Then they laid out their bedrolls and got in them. PT placed his Bowie knife under his blanket. Just when they started to relax, the strange noises started again. Only this time, there were animal howls to go along with it.
“What’s that?” Ray asked startled.
“Sounded like a mountain lion,” PT said.
“Screw this. Let’s get out of here,” Ray cried.
“Relax, Ray. Even if it is a lion, he’s far away.”
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