“Well, if Geary’s a political general this may be an easy fight.”
“If we ever get started.”
“Yeah. There’s that. I wonder why Jenkins hasn’t attacked.”
~
As Generals Longstreet and Van Buskirk rode into the assembly area, General Jenkins rode out to meet them.
“What’s the delay?” Longstreet asked.
“General McLaws hasn’t arrived,” Jenkins replied.
“Should I go find him, sir?” Johnny asked.
Longstreet thought a moment. “No. It’s too late now. General Bragg’s orders were to conclude the operation before daylight.”
“Should I at least go ask him why the hell he isn’t here?” Johnny persisted.
“No,” Longstreet said. “I’ll talk to him myself in the morning.” He reached across his horse to shake hands with Jenkins. “Good night to you, General.”
“And to you, sir,” Jenkins replied.
Longstreet turned his horse and, with Johnny at his side, started back across the valley.
They had just started up the steeper grade when the sound of small arms fire reached them. Both men reined in their horses and dismounted.
“You don’t suppose that Jenkins decided to try it alone, do you, sir?” Johnny asked.
Longstreet was quiet for a moment. “Maybe what I said wasn’t clear. He might not have realized that I thought that the attack was off without McLaws.”
“He’s going to get crushed,” Johnny muttered.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now except wait,” Longstreet replied.
“This is Bragg, again.”
“What do you mean?”
“He promised us Jenkins and McLaws but only sent Jenkins.”
“We don’t know that.”
“We know Lafayette McLaws,” Johnny argued. “He may not be the most aggressive commander in the army, but if he couldn’t obey an order he’d move heaven and earth to send word that he wasn’t coming.”
October 29, 1863
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
“I decided to withhold McLaws’s division,” General Bragg replied in a challenging tone.
“It would have been useful to have known that last night, sir,” Longstreet grumbled.
“It hardly matters since the attack was successfully carried out without him.”
“I’m not certain that I’d call it successful,” Longstreet said coolly. “Colonel Bratton’s retreat was so urgent that he was forced to leave his dead and wounded on the field.”
“We don’t seem to agree on anything, do we General?” Bragg asked.
Longstreet chose not to reply.
“Well,” Bragg said, “that won’t matter very much longer in any event. You will soon be receiving orders from President Davis instructing you to move against Burnside in East Tennessee.”
“I’d need a substantial force to reach Burnside and defeat him in time to get back here before Sherman’s in place.”
“I’m not prepared to discuss the details now. I’ll send for you when I’m ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Longstreet said. “But our people in Chattanooga report that now, since food and medical supplies are flowing, the morale of the Union soldiers and the citizens of Chattanooga has improved dramatically.”
Bragg glared at him. “Do you have a military reason for telling me that, or are you simply trying to rub salt into my wounds?”
“I’m only trying to point out to you that as soon as he’s stockpiled enough food, Grant’s going to start bringing in munitions.” Longstreet waited a moment for a reply, then continued. “You’re going to need me here when Grant’s army’s up to strength and Sherman arrives with his, General.”
“Thank you, General. That’ll be all.”
Struggling to keep his temper, Longstreet walked out to where Johnny Van Buskirk and two aides were waiting with the horses. “We’re to be sent after Burnside in East Tennessee,” he said as he mounted his horse.
“When?” Johnny asked.
“My guess is at almost any moment.” Longstreet gave his horse a kick.
“It’s lunacy to split the army when it’s about to face a superior force,” Johnny grumbled.
“All we can do is look out for our own,” Longstreet replied. “Let’s go find some maps of East Tennessee and try to get ahead of this.”
November 1, 1863
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ulysses Grant was waiting on the shore to shake Robert Van Buskirk’s hand. “What do you think of Baldy’s Cracker Line?”
“I’m impressed,” Robert said. “How’s the leg?”
“I could probably get by without the crutches but the pain tires me out.”
“It’s your own fault for trying to walk without them against the doctors’ advice.”
“Don’t nag me. I get enough of that from my family.”
“Speaking of family, I just heard about little Willie Sherman. What a tragedy.”
Grant nodded. “Cump’s taking it hard, but he keeps on doing his job, like always.”
“I also heard that my nephew Johnny’s here with Longstreet.”
“Yeah. He’s apparently been here for some time.”
“I’d like to see him.”
“That might be tough. Our spies tell us that Longstreet’s about to be sent after Burnside.”
“What’s being done about that?”
“Nothing. Halleck doesn’t believe that Bragg would divide his army at a time like this.”
“What do you think?”
Grant shrugged. “There’s no telling what Bragg might do. If Longstreet marches toward Knoxville, I’ll send somebody to reinforce Burnside. Otherwise I’ll keep everyone here.” Grant made eye contact with Robert. “It’d sure be nice to know in advance if Longstreet was really going or not.”
“No.” Robert shook his head. “If I can arrange to see Johnny I’m not going to try to pump him for information.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to. But if he let something slip…”
“I’d bawl him out for being so stupid and tell you what he said. But I won’t pump him.”
“Okay, okay. It was just an idle thought.”
~
Except for the small campfire on the riverbank, it was very dark. Johnny Van Buskirk reined in his horse and led the animal into the firelight. “Uncle Robert?”
“Here.” Robert stepped out of the darkness and embraced the younger man, then stepped back to look at him. “You’ve grown into a fine man, Johnny. Your father will be proud of you.”
Johnny tied his horse to a tree. “You say he will be proud of me as if you think he’s alive.”
“I know he’s alive. Anna and I broke him out of a Union prisoner of war camp.”
“Broke him out?”
“It wasn’t like it sounds. We used finesse, not violence. Obviously you can’t tell anyone, unless you want to see Anna and me hanged.”
Johnny chuckled. “Where is he?”
“Home, or on the way.”
“He’s deserted?”
“No. He’s resigned. He just hasn’t told the Confederacy yet. I’m going to help him with that as soon as I can.”
“Does Pea know?”
“I haven’t seen him. I think he’s still with Buford, harassing Lee. But if I do see him, I’ll tell him.”
“I wouldn’t advise telling anyone else about your and Aunt Anna’s involvement in Dad’s escape. The more people who know the higher the risk. And I definitely wouldn’t tell Quincy. He’s a black or white kind of thinker. He just might turn you in.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve misjudged Quincy, but let me think about it.”
“I heard about Aunt Nancy. I’m so very sorry.”
“Yeah.” Robert bobbed his head. “I’m about sick of this war.”
“Me too. Some days I wish…” he shrugged. “Oh well.”
Robert nodded.
“Thank you for – Dad.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Johnny. Tom’s my brother.”
“Well.”
“Just remember that, for now, both the United States and the Confederacy think he’s dead.”
“I won’t forget.”
“Of course you won’t.”
After a long, awkward silence, Johnny looked up at the stars. “I suppose that I’d better get back to my unit.”
“Yes. Me too.” Robert gave him his hand. “Keep your head down.”
“You too.”
November 14, 1863
Loudon, Tennessee
Longstreet, with his army of 10,000 men, had planned to leave for Sweetwater, Tennessee, by rail on the 4th of November. However, the trains scheduled to move his troops didn’t arrive on the 4th so instead, the army set out on foot.
Word of Longstreet’s movement reached Washington on the morning of the 5th and Halleck, who hadn’t believed that Longstreet would leave Chattanooga, responded with a flurry of telegrams to Burnside and Grant. Burnside was ordered to hold Knoxville at all cost and Grant was ordered to reinforce Burnside.
Grant immediately contacted Burnside to inform him that he would organize a relief expedition from Chattanooga. Burnside replied to both Halleck and Grant by saying that he had extensive earthworks in Knoxville and needed no reinforcements at the moment. He also suggested that he might take a small force southwest toward Longstreet, and after a brief demonstration, delay back to Knoxville, drawing Longstreet toward his redoubt to ensure that Longstreet could not quickly return to Chattanooga to reinforce Bragg. Grant and Halleck agreed.
On the 5th the expected trains reached Longstreet’s position and were loaded. At the first steep grade, however, the locomotives proved to be underpowered and the men were unloaded to walk beside the cars. Later in the journey, the engineers ran out of fuel, so the soldiers had to dismantle fences and chop trees.
At last, on the 12th, Longstreet’s army finally arrived at Sweetwater only to discover that the ordered rations and other supplies had not arrived.
Burnside, who had been waiting in position for days, sent forward a small harassing force of cavalry that struck Longstreet and immediately withdrew across the Tennessee River.
The next day Longstreet moved his army to Loudon and instructed his engineers to build a bridge across the river while he and his staff planned the pursuit of Burnside.
“Burnside has to go through here.” Longstreet punched the map with his finger near the hamlet of Campbell’s Station where Concord Road from the south intersected with Kingston Road to Knoxville. “If we can get here first, we can force him to pull the balance of his troops from the earthworks in Knoxville and fight us in the open.”
“We’ll be outnumbered if he can get his whole force into the fight,” McLaws said.
“Yes, but we’ll have him outnumbered until he can get his people up from Knoxville,” Longstreet replied. “If we do enough damage while we have the advantage, we can keep the advantage.”
“To get to Campbell’s Station first, we need that bridge completed,” Johnny said. “We have several officers in the command who were trained as engineers and many men who have experience in bridge building.”
Longstreet nodded. “Press everyone into service. If Burnside can get back to his earthworks in Knoxville, we’ll have no choice but to besiege him. I have no confidence that we can avoid our own starvation long enough to wait him out.”
November 16, 1863
Campbell’s Station, Tennessee
Burnside marched his army all night through a driving rain to arrive at the crossroads about noon. His baggage train arrived close behind and he immediately deployed his troops in a line across Kingston Road.
When Longstreet arrived a short time later, he sent McLaws’s division at Burnside’s right and Jenkins at his left. McLaws struck hard enough to cause Burnside’s right to reform their line, but they repelled the attack. Jenkins’s assault on the left was easily thwarted.
Longstreet redeployed in a line, but Burnside began a well-organized delay toward Knoxville, blunting the Confederate attack.
By midnight, the bulk of Burnside’s troops were inside the earthen perimeter and Longstreet was out in the cold.
November 17, 1863
Chattanooga, Tennessee
At his headquarters, General Ulysses S. Grant had convened a council of war. “Those of us who’ve been here for a while want to welcome General William T. Sherman and his senior officers,” he said.
There was a smattering of applause and a few of Sherman’s people raised their hands in acknowledgement.
“Our purpose here today,” Grant continued, “is to begin planning our breakout from the siege of Chattanooga. In the process, we’re also going to brief our new arrivals on the situation here, so to those who’ve been here, please bear with me.” He walked to a very large hand-drawn map that was pinned to the wall. “The enemy, commanded by General Braxton Bragg, has established himself on this high ground which is known locally as Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.” He pointed to the terrain features on the map. “Both positions have excellent views of the city, the river and our supply lines. And, I might add, they provide equally excellent fields of fire for our enemy’s artillery.”
There was a murmur of polite chuckles.
“Lookout Mountain,” Grant continued, “is actually an eighty-five-mile long ridge that rises to a sharp point here, eighteen hundred feet above the city. Starting here, about two-thirds of the way up to the summit, there’s a ledge that runs for several miles around both sides of the mountain. The locals call the ledge the ‘bench’.” He pointed to a raised hand. “Question?”
“Yes, sir. How wide’s the ‘bench’?”
“Good question,” Grant said. “Anybody know?”
“From a hundred to three hundred feet wide,” a voice from the back replied.
“Thank you.” Grant turned again to the map. “Above the bench, the grade steepens to a sheer five-hundred-foot rock formation known as the palisades. A few days ago, Bragg put General Carter L. Stevenson in command of the mountain’s defenses. Stevenson’s division is on the summit; the brigades of Generals John K. Jackson, Edward C. Walthall, and John C. Moore are on the bench.”
Grant looked around the room. “Our basic plan will be a double envelopment with the main thrust against the northern end of Missionary Ridge commanded by General Sherman and General Thomas. General Hooker will take Lookout Mountain and then cross the Chattanooga Valley to Rossville, Georgia, cutting off any potential southern route of retreat.”
Grant listened to some murmured conversations for a moment. “Yes, okay. I understand your concern, but Lookout Mountain isn’t as tough to crack as it looks.” He pointed to the bench. “The guns on the crest can’t depress far enough to provide cover for dozens of paths on the west side of the mountain and the three Confederate brigades up there are spread thinly on all sides. We can do this.”
November 18, 1863
Between Washington and Gettysburg
The Presidential Special had only six railcars. The first car behind the baggage car was reserved for the press with seats on both side of an aisle. The next car was a sleeper for members of the House and Senate. The car behind had drawing rooms for the President’s staff with an aisle on the off-platform side. The Presidential car, with a parlor, sitting room and sleeping apartment, was coupled in front of the caboose.
“Come in,” Anna said in answer to the knock on her drawing room door.
John Hay came in and closed the door behind him. “Will you go talk to the Tycoon, please?”
Anna shook her head. “No, John. He wants to write this speech himself.”
“It’s not about the speech, Anna. The speech is written. I think he’s ill.”
“Ill?” Anna put down the book she’d been reading and leaned forward. “What makes you think so?”
“He told me yesterday that he was feeling weak and today he told Nicolay that he was dizzy.”
“Yes,” Hay said. “And I know that it’s weighing on his mind, but he really does look ill himself.”
“What does the doctor say?”
“I’ve been forbidden to fetch him.”
“So what do you want me to do about it?” Anna asked in frustration.
“I want you to feel his forehead.”
“You want me to what?”
“Feel his forehead to see if he has a fever. If he does he’ll surely give in and let me fetch the doctor.”
“Why me?” Anna asked.
“Because you’re the only one that he might allow to touch him.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Please,” Hay begged. “He really looks sick.”
Anna got up. “If he breaks my arm, you and John Nicolay will pay dearly.”
“Thank you, Anna.” He opened the door and followed her back along the pitching and rolling aisle toward the Presidential railcar.
Lincoln looked up as Anna came into the small sitting room. “I finished the speech. Do you want to read it?”
“No, sir. I’d rather hear it for the first time at the memorial.”
“I think I have it memorized. It’s not very long.”
She walked closer to him. “You look positively gray. Do you have a fever?” She reached tentatively toward his forehead and when he didn’t recoil, pressed her palm against his head. “Yes. You need to see the doctor, Mr. President.”
“I’m fine.”
“It could be smallpox.”
“I’ve got no rash.”
“The rash is a later symptom.” She turned to Hay who was standing in the vestibule door. “Go fetch Doctor Henry, John.”
Hay hurried away before Lincoln could counter Anna’s order.
~
Dr. Anson G. Henry walked through the vestibule from the Presidential railcar and stopped where John Nicolay, John Hay and Anna were waiting. “I’m ninety percent sure that it’s smallpox. I can’t be a hundred percent sure until he presents with a rash.”
Freedom (Gone For Soldiers) Page 18