“Conceit and malice? He used those words?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“But Rosecrans still hasn’t moved?”
“He’s moving, but slowly.”
“In his defense, Rosecrans has to cross the Cumberland Plateau. If Bragg catches him there, Rosecrans will have his back to the mountains and no dependable lines of supply. Maybe he really needs Quincy to organize his logistics.”
“I don’t know why Rosecrans would want Quincy, but I’m betting that Halleck agreed to transfer Quincy so that he’ll have someone in Rosecrans’s camp who’ll tell him the truth.”
“There’s a rumor that Rosecrans’s chief of staff has become a real problem for him.”
“Who? James Garfield?”
“Yes.”
“James Garfield’s an up-and-coming politician with very good connections. Some say he’ll be president, after the war. Rosecrans doesn’t have the political power to replace him.”
Grant scratched under his beard. “Do you want me to try to stop Quincy’s transfer?”
Robert shrugged. “I don’t know, Sam. What do you think?”
“I think Quincy will do whatever he wants to do. He’s not intimidated by Rosecrans or Halleck and he can always use Anna to get his orders changed by Lincoln.”
“You’re probably right. Let’s leave it alone and see what happens.”
Grant nodded. “You tell Cump.”
“Not me. I don’t enjoy his temper tantrums.”
“Yeah, but you handle him better than I do. It’ll be kinder coming from you.”
“Oh hell.”
August 29, 1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Major General Gordon Granger walked around his desk and offered his hand to Brigadier General Quincy Van Buskirk. “Hello, Pug. I’m delighted to see you.”
Quincy chuckled and enthusiastically shook Granger’s hand. “It’s been a long time since anyone called me Pug.”
Granger released Quincy’s hand and gestured toward a chair. “I probably would have forgotten your West Point nickname if I hadn’t seen John Buford recently.” He sat down across from Quincy.
“Did you see Pea? My cousin Paul, I mean?”
Granger nodded. “I did indeed. He’s well.”
“That’s a relief,” Quincy said. “I’ve been traveling so much that I’ve lost all contact with…” He took a gasping breath then dropped his eyes. “Sorry.”
“I know about your recent losses and I’m sorry, Pug. Your uncles were both great men.”
Quincy nodded. “Thank you.”
“I don’t know what to say about your wife.”
Quincy looked up at him quickly. “How in the world do you know about Chrissy?”
“Your cousin Johnny’s wife is here. She told Phil Sheridan.”
“Urilla’s here?”
Granger nodded. “We’re stopping all rail traffic into Chattanooga. She was a passenger on one of the trains. She gave her name to Sheridan’s people and when someone recognized the name Van Buskirk she was brought here.”
“Is she a prisoner?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
Granger took a moment. “She knows that this is a deception by Rosecrans to make Bragg think that we’re attacking Chattanooga from the north.”
“That’s more than I know.”
“We plan to cross the Tennessee River well south of Chattanooga, but we have a mounted infantry brigade from Fourteen Corps positioned north of the city to convince Bragg that we’ll be crossing there.”
“I see.” Quincy nodded.
“Our people are making construction noises and floating cut-off boards and logs down the river to convince Bragg that they’re building rafts. We also have an artillery battery on Stringer’s Ridge bombarding the city.”
“Is it working? Has Bragg bought the deception?”
“It looks like it. He’s sent for reinforcements and their line of march indicates that they’re moving to defend Chattanooga.”
“What about Burnside’s Army of the Ohio? Won’t his line of march from Knoxville tip off Bragg to the deception?”
“No. He’s marching straight at Chattanooga.”
“And Urilla knows all this?”
“Maybe not all, but she definitely knows too much. We absolutely cannot let her talk to Johnny or to anyone else in the Confederate command.”
“It doesn’t seem likely that she’d have contact with anyone that matters before she gets home. By that time, what she knows won’t matter.”
“Lee’s sent Longstreet to reinforce Bragg. Johnny’s in Longstreet’s command. If Urilla made contact with the Confederate army she’d surely be taken to Johnny immediately.”
Quincy groaned. “How can you be sure she really knows about the deception?”
“A young major told her. After thinking about what he’d said, the major became concerned that she might be a Rebel spy and he confessed to me.”
“Why in God’s name did he tell her?”
“She’s very beautiful. Mesmerizingly beautiful. And he wanted to impress her.”
“Okay. But how would the subject of our war plans even come up?”
“She was frightened about the safety of her family in Chattanooga so the young major told her that Chattanooga wouldn’t be attacked to reassure her that her family was in no danger.”
“Damn.” Quincy sat back in the chair and closed his eyes for a moment. “Where is she now?”
“In a private home. Mrs. Johansen’s. A war widow. Why?”
“Is she under guard?”
“No. Of course not. Why?”
“Because Urilla has no family in Chattanooga.”
It took Granger a moment to make the connection. “Oh hell. Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. She told my mother that she had no family and knew no one in Chattanooga.”
“Shit.”
Both men stood up.
“Where is she, exactly?” Quincy asked.
“I’ll have one of my aides take you.”
“I want some men to surround the house before I go in.”
“There’s a security detail on standby to handle civil unrest. I’ll give you a sergeant and a rifle squad. Hold on a second. I need to give you this first.” Granger retrieved an envelope from his desk. “These are your orders from Halleck. Congratulations. You’ve been promoted to major general. I’ll talk to you later – after you’ve spoken to Urilla.”
“Thank you.”
~
Elmira Johansen burst into the room. “The Yankees are comin’ for you, Urilla. We gotta get outa here fast.”
Urilla ran to the window and looked out. “I don’t see anyone coming.”
“They’re puttin’ together a detail right now.” Elmira was stuffing Urilla and Jefferson’s clothes into a carpet bag. “We don’t have much time.”
“They don’t know anything.”
“They wouldn’t be comin’ with armed men if they didn’t know somethin’. Willard must of got caught before he delivered your message to General Bragg.”
“I thought you said that Willard could be trusted.”
“There’s no tellin’ what they might of done to him to make him talk. The Yankees got torture machines, y’ know.”
Urilla looked out the window again.
“Unless you wanna get left behind and hung as a spy you better stop lollygaggin’ and get a move on,” Elmira said.
Urilla took over the packing. “What do we do?”
“There’s a way into the woods through the fence. It’s covered up with kudzu. We’ll crawl through it and put the vines back. They’ll think we’re on the road. Once we’re in the woods we’ll go east to Woodbury. My sister can hide us there until we can find a way to cross to the Confederate lines.”
“The Yankees will have all the river crossings blocked.”
“We’ll cross by boat at night. General Forrest’s cavalry’s sprea
d out all along the east side of the river. Once we get there, we’ll be safe. My husband and Willard served together under Forrest.” She started for the door. “I need to gather my stuff.”
“No,” Urilla said. “I wrote the note to General Bragg so I’m the one they’re after. You don’t need to go.”
“It don’t matter who wrote the note. If they’ve caught Willard, they’ll know it was me that brung him to you. Him and my husband was best friends.”
~
General Granger looked up expectantly as Quincy came into his office. “I already heard that she escaped.”
Quincy sat down. “I’m not sure if escaped is the right word, but she was gone when we got to Mrs. Johansen’s house.”
“Escaped is more than likely to be the right word.” Granger handed him a folded page. “We caught a man trying to slip across the river. He was carrying this. Is it Urilla’s handwriting?”
Quincy glanced at the message. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her handwriting.”
“Well, it was obviously written by an educated woman who was well-schooled in penmanship. There can’t be many of those around here.”
Quincy read the note carefully. “If this information gets to the Rebs, all of your deceptive maneuvering is going to work against us.”
“I know.”
“So?” Quincy gave him back the message. “What do we do now?”
“We have to assume that Urilla and Mrs. Johansen are trying to deliver this information to the Confederates and we have to stop them.”
“Why is Mrs. Johansen helping Urilla?”
“The man we caught with that note lost a leg at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads. He was a squadron commander in Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry. As it turns out, Mrs. Johansen’s late husband also served with Forrest. She knows Forrest well. My bet is that she’s headed toward him right now.”
“Do we know where Forrest is?”
“Patrolling the east side of the Tennessee River, north of Chattanooga.”
“Then we’ll need to cover every river crossing.”
“Yes.” Granger scribbled an order. “I’ll have Colonel Minty’s cavalry patrol alerted.”
Quincy got up to look at the map on Granger’s wall. “When does the actual crossing take place?”
“Twenty Corps should be crossing at Caperton’s Ferry about now.”
“That soon?”
“Yes. But he has to assemble a twelve-hundred-foot-long Cincinnati pontoon bridge. Fourteen Corps and Twenty-One Corps will cross tomorrow.”
“How long until everyone’s across?”
“Four or five days.”
“Then we don’t need to worry about Urilla. The Rebs will know our battle plan well before she can cover sixty miles to reach their lines.”
Granger looked away for a moment, then met Quincy’s eyes. “She’s a spy, Pug. Regardless of whether she’s damaged our cause or not, we simply must arrest her.” He raised his hand to stop any argument. “In the meantime we have a war to win and General Rosecrans is expecting you.”
“But…”
“You are now a division commander. You will report to General Thomas at General Rosecrans’s headquarters immediately and then you will take charge of your troops. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
September 1, 1863
Van Buskirk Point, New Jersey
The sun was just setting when Jack Van Buskirk stumbled out of the woods and fell to his knees behind the Van Buskirk Home Place. The long walk from Pennsylvania was just a blurred memory of pain and misery now that he was home.
He craned his neck to look up at the house. It hadn’t been that long since he’d last been here, but somehow the place was smaller now, and more dilapidated. The “children’s bedrooms” were all up there on the second floor along the back. His was on the left corner; Tom’s was just to the right, then Anna’s, William’s and then Robert’s. The room on the right corner was furnished but unused. Jack wondered why and then wondered why he’d never asked his mother or his father. Now there was no one left who would know the answer.
The doors and cellar were locked tight, but Jack knew that the lock on Anna’s bedroom window was broken. She’d defeated it intentionally when she was a teen so that she and Nancy could sneak back in, late at night. Now all Jack had to do to gain access to clean clothes, a bath, and a bed was to climb the oak tree and walk across a limb to Anna’s bedroom window. No more sleeping in ditches or chicken coops – if he could just climb that old tree.
He flexed his left hand. The scarred tissue across his knuckles felt as if it might split, but the skin on his palm was better – still tender to the touch, but the elasticity seemed almost normal. Jack took a deep breath and peered up into the huge oak tree. The leaves were beginning to turn. A squirrel, suddenly aware of the human below, abandoned acorn gathering and leaped from one branch to the tree’s main trunk in order to hide.
Just a simple little climb. He’d done it thousands of times. There used to be a tree house up there. A few of the boards were still nailed to the limbs. The crosspieces nailed to the trunk to make the ladder that they’d used as children looked rotten. The climb was going to hurt, but in the last month, pain had become a way of life to Jack. Pain was the only enemy left worth fighting. Everything else was gone. Dead father, dead mother, dead wives, dead children, no face – but Jack was alive. The pain told him so.
He steeled himself for the agony, then reached up to grab what appeared to be the soundest of the ladder-like boards.
September 3, 1863
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Confederate General Braxton Bragg turned away from his assembled subordinates and pointed to a large map. “The Union Twenty Corps is here at Caperton’s Ferry, four miles from Stevenson, where they’ve constructed a Cincinnati pontoon bridge. Part of their Fourteen and Twenty-One Corps are here at Shellmound. The balance of Fourteen Corps is at Battle Creek. Sheridan’s division is here at Bridgeport where another bridge has been constructed. Other than their Reserve Corps under the command of Gordon Granger at Murfreesboro, Rosecrans’s entire Union Army of the Cumberland is now on this side of the river.”
He waited for the whispers to subside. “The enemy thinks that he’s outmaneuvered us and we’ll let him go on believing that. His troops are spread over fifty miles of mountainous terrain, so it’ll take him days to consolidate for an attack on Chattanooga. While he’s doing that, we’ll withdraw twenty miles to Lafayette.” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the protests. “As we withdraw we’ll plant mock deserters behind. These men will tell the Federals that we’re retreating to Atlanta. Rosecrans will then take Chattanooga unopposed and when he does, we’ll have him in a box and we’ll attack. Questions? Comments?”
“Sir.” General James Longstreet, who had rushed here from Virginia under orders from Robert E. Lee, raised his hand.
Bragg pointed. “General Longstreet?”
“Perhaps it would be better to give the deserters different destinations. That way the Yankees will have to check more than just the roads to Atlanta.”
“Good idea,” Bragg said. “Anyone else?”
The discussion went on for some time and when the other officers were filing out, Bragg caught Johnny Van Buskirk before he could leave. “A moment, please, General.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Your wife and son are here in Chattanooga.” He handed Johnny a folded piece of paper. “This is the address.”
Johnny gave him a baffled look. “I don’t understand, sir. How did they get here? Why…”
“Your wife will explain everything. Go now. She’s expecting you and you won’t have much time together before we have to move out.”
~
“You don’t understand, Urilla,” Johnny said heatedly. “If the Yankees catch you, they’ll hang you as a spy.”
“Pish-posh.” She got off the bed and began gathering her scattered clothes. “It turns out that I didn’t
even carry any Yankee secrets. General Bragg already knew everything that I told him.”
“That’s not the point.”
“We’ll talk about it later. I asked Mrs. O’Leary to watch Jefferson for a few minutes and it’s been over an hour.”
“Mrs. O’Leary will understand. She’s a married woman too.” He got up and walked toward her.
“Oh no.” Urilla backed away and held out her hands to stop him. “Don’t you dare.”
He continued toward her until her hands were against his chest. “I just want one little kiss before you get dressed.”
“No,” she giggled. “Get away from me, you beast.”
He touched her face. “Just one kiss?”
“That’s what you said the last time.”
“One. Please.”
She moved into his arms. “Just one kiss and then I really have to get dressed.”
September 6, 1863
Chattanooga, Tennessee
“I don’t want to go to Texas,” Urilla complained. “Why is everyone always trying to make me go to Texas?”
“Because you and the baby will be safe there with my mother,” Johnny replied.
She folded her arms and raised her chin. “Well, I’m not going.”
“Yes you are,” Johnny said. “If you don’t cooperate I’ll send you with an armed escort.” He raised his hand to stop her from replying. “No more discussion. You’re going and that’s that.”
“If you try to force me I’ll tell everyone that you’re sending me because you think that the Confederacy is doomed,” she said defiantly. “How will that affect the morale of your precious soldiers?”
Johnny looked stunned. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Oh yes I would.”
He looked away from her.
Urilla saw the depth of his emotion and reconsidered her tactics. “Okay, okay. I wouldn’t do that to you. But I really wouldn’t have to. People aren’t stupid, you know. If general officers start sending their wives away and the wives are not going willingly…”
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