The Texican Way

by Bernard Veale

  He was up there for a few moments and returned looking somewhat sheepish.

  “The orderly officer says that the document is genuine, Beauregard, but I shall still show it to the general to be certain. I have the appointment immediately after you so enjoy your freedom while you can.”

  Daniel smiled sweetly at the Major and said: “Is there any work I can do for you today, sir, or shall I assume that my duties are suspended until you have checked my status with the general?”

  “Of course they are suspended! Get out of here! You will be in detention barracks tomorrow!”

  Daniel strolled unconcerned back to his tent where he found that Jack had everything in order and was already preparing a delicious smelling Chinese meal for dinner.

  The Chinese puzzle box was laid on his bed.

  “Why is the box here, Jack?” Daniel called to him.

  “I do not know what is in it Captain so I do not know where to put it.”

  Daniel picked up the box and admired its beautiful wood and exquisite carvings. It was truly a lovely object. So lovely that no one had been prepared to break it open to see what it contained. Of course it could contain nothing and in that case it would be a terrible shame to ruin the piece out of idle curiosity.

  He laid the box to one side as an orderly slapped at the tent entrance.

  “Come!” Daniel cried.

  “Sir, the general has sent me to suggest that you attend him at eight tomorrow morning instead of nine.” The orderly recited.

  “I shall be there, sergeant!” Daniel responded returning the orderly’s salute and as Daniel dropped his hand from the salutation; his hand struck the box and sent it spinning to the ground. As soon as the box hit the ground a section of the smooth underside offset a small but observable fraction.

  Daniel lifted up the box and peered at the slight distortion. What appeared to be the smooth end of a dowel was actually a pivot point that could be swung out of the box thereby exposing a small wooden lever. When the lever was pushed forward the lid of the box sprang up at a point where no seam was visible and exposed a series of miniature sliding trays. Each tray was lined with velvet and contained depressions which allowed for large perfectly-round pearls to be set in each of the thirty-six depressions. When the tray was slid home, every pearl was held tightly between the tray and the ceiling which formed the base of the tray above it.

  Daniel realized that these three hundred and sixty pearls had to be worth a great deal of money. He closed the box and returned it to his travel bag.

  On the following morning after a breakfast of fried rice laced with egg, Daniel presented himself before General Lee.

  “Nice to have you back, Captain; did you resolve that Absalom matter?”

  Daniel recited the whole sad story to Lee who nodded his head and said: “I think that it was the best possible ending to Thaddeus Davidson’s saga. I must say that I have already noticed an improvement in our results against the Union. They are no longer anticipating our movements as they once were. But I fear that I have made a blunder in my strike northward. My council of war warned me against it. They wanted me to remain on the defensive and to protect Vicksburg while I held that attack was the best form of defense. Well, now I have lost control of the Western regions of the Confederacy. I need to get back the initiative. Agents in Washington tell me that Ulysses Grant will be taking over as Union Commander and I need to get word from inside his council of war. I would like you to return to the Union forces as Archibald Daniels. Colonel Bridges regiment is certain to be absorbed into Grant’s army. We should be able to fake records to show that you have been held in a Confederate prison camp from which you can claim to have escaped. Once back in the Union army you will have to discover what Grant plans to do and get that information to me. Do you have any questions or requests?”

  “Yes sir I do. First of all, sir, I would like to engineer an actual escape from prison camp and I would like to take some Union prisoners with me. Those escaped prisoners will be far more convincing than any faked documents we could concoct. I would suggest a major, a couple of lieutenants and four or five men. Secondly, I need a prison camp not too far from Colonel Bridges’s station. It would seem suspicious if we get away with traveling over too much Confederate territory.”

  “As Archibald Daniels is a captain, you would not be able to escape with a Major because as senior officer he would be in charge of the escape not you.”

  “That is correct, sir, I was thinking of taking a wounded major. I did not want to bring in an able bodied man that could re-join the fight against the Confederacy.”

  “Even in that case I recommend that you take no-one that outranks you.”

  “Thank you sir, I shall take your advice. When do you want me to leave?”

  “I want to cable some messages to Colonel Armitage in charge of Fort Briscoe and get his replies, after that you may go to him as Daniel Beauregard and escape from him as Archibald Daniels. In the meantime you are relieved of all duties so that you can spend your time planning your escape.”

  As Daniel left the General, he almost collided with Major Anson who had arrived for his appointment with the General.

  Anson marched in smartly and saluted his general.

  “Sir, I have come into possession of a document that I know to be a forgery perpetrated by Captain Beauregard. Being a fair man, I bring it to you for absolute confirmation that it is a forgery before I order the arrest of the Captain, sir.”

  Lee glanced down at the document that had been placed before him.

  “This document is absolutely authentic, Major. How did it come into your possession?”

  “Captain Beauregard gave it to me, sir.”

  “And Major, did you not read the document?”

  “Of course, sir, I did.”

  “Then why did you not comply with it?”

  “I, er, sir, I believed it to be a forgery.”

  “Why, Major, what persuaded you that it was unauthentic?”

  “Well, sir, Captain Beauregard is junior to me and I knew nothing about it.”

  “So, Major you believe that I must clear everything I do with you before I do it?”

  “Er, no sir, certainly not sir.....” Anson was at a loss for words.

  “Captain Beauregard is a most valuable officer and is marked for greater things in the Confederate army. I recommend that you come to terms with that for soon you may well be serving under him.”

  Anson’s face was a study in mixed emotions. He swallowed twice and said miserably,

  “Yes sir!” before being dismissed.

  Daniel called Jack into his tent.

  “Jack we are about to do something dangerous and perhaps even difficult. I am going into prison for a week or two. You will have to camp nearby the prison with your cart and four or five horses. When I leave the prison I will have four men with me. After that you will still call me Captain but then I shall be Captain Daniels instead of Captain Beauregard and we shall be with the Union Army instead of the Confederate Army. You must never admit to anyone that we were in the Confederate Army. You must say that you were camped outside the prison and that when I escaped from it, I bought your horses from you and that you have been working for me ever since. Do you think that you can do that?”

  “Captain, I can do anything you ask me to. I have found that it is easy not to have to answer questions among white people because they all assume that I cannot speak or understand English and I never do anything to make them believe otherwise.”

  “That is an excellent concept. Let us maintain that permanently. I will make signs to you and speak to you in over-simple English whenever we are in public. Perhaps you can pick up some valuable intelligence from people speaking in front of you while thinking that you do not understand what they are saying.”

  Daniel
then explained in detail what was going to happen and why it had to be done.

  Some time previously Daniel had modified his cavalry boots to carry four gold sovereigns in the heel of each boot and he also carried two more in his pistol belt. He carefully repacked his Confederate uniform and donned civilian clothing. Then he rode into the nearby town and purchased five horses and saddles. The animals were of poor quality with irregular colorations which was understandable since all sound bays, chestnuts and blacks were requisitioned by the two armies. He also purchased used saddlery for each animal and two very expensive bags of oats and more rice.

  Jack loaded the saddlery and grain onto his cart while the surrounding soldiery wondered where the captain was going in civilian clothing and with a string of scrawny horses and, of all things, a Chinaman.”

  “Cap’n,” one called out cheekily. “C’n ah resign from th’ Army tew?”

  Daniel had no sooner made these preparations when the General sent down his written orders in token of the fact that all had been arranged with Colonel Armitage.

  Daniel rode out that day riding Star ahead of a pony cart and a string of five crowbait horses.

  Chapter Twenty

  It took them five days to reach Fort Briscoe. Daniel took his time about choosing a spot for Jack’s campsite. He eventually found a canyon with a water spring and adequate grass for the six horses and the pony. The canyon could be easily fenced off to retain the horses.

  Daniel and Jack spent a few days cutting the poles and building the fences before Daniel changed into Union uniform and covered it with a cotton dust-coat, then leaving all his weapons in Jack’s cart rode Star with Jack clinging to his back until just outside the fort. Here he left Jack to walk Star back to the campsite and approached the fort on foot.

  The guard at the gate saw nothing strange about a dustcoated man asking to see the Colonel and he was conducted up to the Colonel’s office by an armed guard.

  Colonel Armitage had received his orders from his former commander. He had been wounded at Chancellorsville and was posted to command Fort Briscoe because he could no longer ride for extended periods. He revered Lee and would never question his orders.

  “Captain, I understand that I am to take you in as one of my prisoners and to facilitate your escape with a few of the existing inmates once you are ready.”

  “That is correct, Colonel. I should be obliged if you would make it a habit to call me in to see you at least once a week so that I may apprise you of progress and plans. Apart from that I would prefer that no-one apart from you should know my status.”

  “That goes without saying, Captain. I have men in my unit that I know do favors for the prisoners in exchange for money, rings and other valuables. I cannot trust anyone to keep your secret from them. I understand that I must put out that you were taken last year by Quantrill’s raiders and have been held captive by General Lee until now.”

  Daniel removed his dustcoat and the sergeant in charge of the prisoners was summoned to collect him.

  “Sergeant Harland this officer is Captain Daniels. General Robert E Lee has sent him to me and requires that he be treated as a gentleman should be. Kindly take him into the general population and see that he gets a good cell in the officer’s quarters.”

  “Sir!” Said the sergeant smartly and he escorted Daniel from the office.

  The sergeant walked easily alongside Daniel.

  “Now see heah Yankee, Ah ain’t much taken with all th’ Cunnel’s talk about treatin’ Yankee enemies like gennelmen. You-all wanna get along wi’ me theah is onny one way: cash! You-all wanna good cell: ten dollars. You-all want terbacka you-all pay fer it with a dollar fer my trouble. You-all git the message?”

  “Sure thing, sergeant. Let’s start off good right away. Here is fifty dollars that says you treat me really special and there’s more where that came from.”

  “Hah! At last a Yankee that unnerstands how th’ world works! Right on, Captain sir! You-all jes’ call fer Harland and ah c’n git you-all any-damn-thing you-all want: liquor, wimmen or fancy grub.”

  “Good idea, sergeant, let’s start with a really good cell.”

  “Ah got me a spare room inna guards quarters. Gonna costs you-all ten dollars a month but it gonna take a day er two tew git rid o’ th’ Yankee cunnel as cain’t afford it no moah.”

  “That’ll do, Sergeant, just give me the cell that the colonel will get when he is ejected from your prime real estate.”

  The Sergeant led him to a cell built to house two but containing only one bunk.

  “We ain’t inclined ter lock the cells at night; only the gate to the block. So you-alls free ter play poker er talk as long as you-alls wanna. Onny things is, lamps gotta be bought and kerosene gotta be bought. Longer you-all use yer lamps the more money fer me, unnerstand? In yer case captain the lamp’s paid fer but kerosene is a dollar ev’ytime lamp needs fillin’”

  “Fine with me sergeant here’s my first dollar.”

  Before Daniel was taken out to the yard where the prisoners were idling in the sunshine, he was issued with a good civilian blanket and towel in exchange for another dollar.

  The prisoners divided into groups. The officers sat together with backs to the wall in the sunshine and for the main part the men sat grouped according to their units since most were taken prisoner in battle. There were some scattered small groups which Daniel was to discover were comprised of individuals arrested after their units were lost or destroyed.

  The senior officer present was an artillery lieutenant colonel from Boston by the name of Flaherty. He had been wounded in the leg and now walked with a cane. He welcomed Daniel and asked when he had been listed as a captain. Daniel gave the date of his promotion as Captain Daniels and discovered to his surprise that made him the senior officer after Flaherty.

  “I see that you are surprised Captain but many of the officers brought in are wounded and medical facilities are light here at Fort Briscoe. We lost two officers this last month, both of them majors. How did you come to be captured?”

  “Quite by surprise, sir, I assure you. I was returning from dining with a lady, having had a good few glasses of wine and I found myself confronted by some of Quantrill’s raiders. I was very lucky that they did not gun me down but they wanted details of Colonel Bridges forces so they tied me up and left me without food or water for a few days. I doubled up all the figures and gave them over while begging for water. I think they would have shot me except they bumped into Robert E Lee’s army and so they handed me over. Quantrill’s men do not normally take prisoners.”

  “I heard.” Flaherty said drily. “The man is a butcher. You seem to be endowed with good luck captain. I hope you can bring some of it to us here.”

  “I hardly think that being captured consists of good luck sir although I guess it beats being killed. What are the chances of escaping from here, sir?”

  “Security is not too tight but the place is properly guarded. Some of the men have paid for a visit to the local whorehouse and although a guard goes with them, I guess that would be the best opportunity to escape, if you have the money since the mercenary Sergeant Harland insists on payment in advance.”

  It occurred to Daniel that this escape might be easier than he thought especially since he knew that Colonel Armitage would not be sending out a search party for him.

  There was one other captain among the prisoners, a young man by the name of Brad Younger who was listed three months later than Captain Daniels had been. He was a friendly person and an engineer not a fighting soldier. He immediately showed his willingness to work under Daniel and offered to take him around and introduce him to the men.

  “Have any of you men served under Colonel Bridges?”

  Three men claimed to have done so, two of them were corporals that had been captured as individuals when bringing in supplies for
the regiment.

  Daniel told these men that he wanted them to be part of his personal ‘unit’. They were delighted to be chosen since they felt excluded by the other units in the prison.

  There was another man that Daniel decided to take in. He was a Sergeant Major that had been found alive after a particularly heavy barrage followed by a cavalry charge that wiped out his entire unit. Sergeant Major Macpherson had been wounded four times but despite the lack of proper care he had survived and was now the third most senior non-commissioned officer in the prison.

  That evening the officers gathered in Lieutenant Colonel Flaherty’s quarters. Daniel noted that they were comfortable quarters with a wide bed and a closet for clothing. It appeared that this gathering was permitted because it generally ended with a poker game which even some of the guards would sometimes join in.

  Sergeant Harland made a point of joining the game that first evening because he knew that Daniel had money and he hoped to get more of it for himself.

  The cards were well used and Daniel soon began to identify cards by the dirt spots on the back of each. It did not take him long to get into the game because he did not have to rely on remembering only those cards that were exposed.

  Sergeant Harland was by far the most aggressive player around the bed which served as the table in the scantily furnished room and he often won the hand by pushing up the bidding beyond the ability of the prisoners to respond. Daniel played very conservatively until his turn to deal came around. He quickly dealt a royal straight to Flaherty and the three remaining aces and two kings to Harland. He folded early and sat back to watch Harland’s greed undo him. Flaherty was a competent player and he had been reserving his funds for the one big one so he rode the bidding to the top as Harland, who had convinced himself that he could not lose, tried to maximize the pot.

  When the ax fell, Harland was stunned as Flaherty gathered all the money to himself.