Books: With Lee in Virginia; A Story Of The American Civil War

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The firing had hardly ceased before Harrison's Landing, when
General Jackson, with a force of about 15,000 men, composed of
his own division, now commanded by General Winder, General
Ewell's division, and a portion of that of General Hill, started for
the Rapidan to check General Pope, who, plundering and wasting
the country as he advanced, was marching south, his object being
to reach Gordonsville, where he would cut the line of railway
connecting Richmond with Western Virginia. Vincent was glad
that the regiment to which he had been appointed would he under
Jackson's command, and that he would be campaigning again with
his old division, which consisted largely of Virginian troops and
contained so many of his old friends.

With Jackson, too, he was certain to be engaged in stirring service,
for that general ever kept his troops upon the march, striking blows
where least expected, and traversing such an extent of country by
rapid marches that he and his division seemed to the enemy to be
almost ubiquitous.

It was but a few hours after he received his appointment that
Vincent took train from Richmond to Gordonsville, Dan being in
the horse-box with Wildfire in the rear of the train. His regiment
was encamped a mile or two away, and he at once rode on and
reported himself to Colonel Jones, who commanded it.

"I am glad to have you with me, sir," the colonel said. "I had the
pleasure of knowing your father, and am an old friend of your
mother's family. As you were in Ashley's horse and have been
serving on Magruder's staff, you are well up in your duties; and it
is a comfort to me that the vacancy has been filled up by one who
knows his work instead of a raw hand. We have had a brush or
two already with the enemy; but at present we are watching each
other, waiting on both sides till the generals have got their infantry
to the front in readiness for an advance Jackson is waiting for
Hill's division to come up, and I believe Pope is expecting great
reinforcements from McClellan."

A few days later Colonel Jones was ordered to take charge of the
pickets posted on the Rapidan, but before reaching Orange a
gentleman rode up at full speed and informed them that the enemy
were in possession of that town. Colonel Jones divided his
regiment into two parts, and with one charged the Federal cavalry
in the main street of Orange, while the other portion of the
regiment, under Major Marshall, attacked them on the flank. After
a sharp fight the enemy were driven from the place; but they
brought up large reinforcements, and, pouring in a heavy fire,
attacked the town on both sides, and the Confederates had to fall
hack. But they made another stand a little way out of the town,
and drove back the Federal cavalry who were pressing them.

Although the fight had been but a short one the losses in the
cavalry ranks had been serious. Colonel Jones, while charging at
the head of his men, had received a saber-wound, and Major
Marshall was taken prisoner.

Five days later, on the 7th of August, Jackson received certain
intelligence that General Burnside, with a considerable portion of
McClellan's force, had embarked, and was on the way to join Pope.
He determined to strike a blow at once, and marched with his
entire force from Gordonsville for Barnett Ford on the Rapidan.

At daybreak next morning the cavalry crossed the river and
attacked and routed a body of Federal cavalry on the road to
Culpepper Courthouse. On the following day Jackson came up
with his infantry to a point about eight miles from Culpepper,
where Pope's army, 32,000 strong, were stationed upon the crest of
a hill. General Ewell's division, which was the only one then up, at
once advanced, and, after a severe artillery fight, gained a point on
a hill where his guns could command the enemy's position.

Jackson's division now came up, and as it was moving into
position General Winder was killed by a shell. For some hours
Jackson did not attempt to advance, as Hill's division had not
come up. Encouraged by this delay, the enemy at five o'clock in
the afternoon took the offensive and advanced through some
cornfields lying between the two armies and attacked Ewell's
division on the Confederate right; while shortly afterward they fell
with overwhelming strength on Jackson's left, and, attacking it in
front, flank, and rear, drove it back, and pressed upon it with such
force that the day appeared lost.

At this moment Jackson himself rode down among the confused
and wavering troops, and by his voice and example rallied them.
At the same moment the old Stonewall Brigade came up at a run
and poured their fire into the advancing enemy. Jackson led the
troops he had rallied forward. The Stonewall Brigade fell upon the
enemy's flank and drove them back with terrible slaughter. Other
brigades came up, and there was a general charge along the whole
Confederate line, and the Federals were driven back a mile beyond
the position they had occupied at the commencement of the fight
to the shelter of some thick woods. Four hundred prisoners were
taken and over 5,000 small -arms.

The battle was known as Cedar Run, and it completely checked
Pope's advance upon Richmond. The troops were too much
exhausted to follow up their victory, but Jackson urged them to
press forward. They moved a mile and a half in advance, and then
found themselves so strongly opposed that Jackson, believing that
the enemy must have received reinforcements, halted his men.
Colonel Jones was sent forward to reconnoiter, and discovered that
a large force had joined the enemy.

For two days Jackson remained on the field he had won; his troops
had been busy in burying the dead, in collecting the wounded and
sending them to the rear, and in gathering the arms thrown away
by the enemy in their flight. Being assured that the enemy were
now too strong to be attacked by the force under his command,
Jackson fell back to Orange Courthouse. There was now a few
days' delay, while masses of troops were on both sides moving
toward the new field of action. McClellan marched his troops
across the James Peninsula from Harrison's Landing to Yorktown,
and there the greater portion were embarked in transports and
taken up the Rappahannock to Aquia Creek, landed there, and
marched to Fredericksburg.

Lee, instead of attacking McClellan on his march across the
peninsula, determined to take his army north at once to join
Jackson and attack Pope before he was joined by McClellan's
army. But Pope, although already largely reinforced, retired
hastily and took up a new position so strongly fortified that ho
could not he attacked. General Stuart had come up with Lee, and
was in command of all the cavalry.

"We shall see some work now," was the remark round the fires of
the 7th Virginian Cavalry. Hitherto, although they had been
several times engaged with the Federals, they had been forced to
remain for the most part inactive owing to the vast superiority in
force of the enemy's cavalry; but now that Stuart had come up they
felt certain that, whatever the disparity of numbers, there would
soon he some dashing work to be done.

Except when upon actual duty the strict lines of military discipline
were much relaxed among the cavalry, the troopers being almost
all the sons of farmers and planters and of equal social rank with
their officers, many of whom were their personal friends or
relatives. Several of Vincent's schoolfellows were in the ranks,
two or three of them were fellow officers, and these often gathered
together round a camp fire and chatted over old schooldays and
mutual friends.

Many of these had already fallen, for the Virginian regiments of
Stonewall Jackson's brigade had been terribly thinned; but the loss
of so many friends and the knowledge that their own turn might
come next did not suffice to lessen the high spirits of the young
fellows. The hard work, the rough life, the exposure and hardship,
had braced and invigorated them all, and they were attaining a far
more vigorous manhood than they would ever have possessed had
they grown lip in the somewhat sluggish and enervating life led by
young planters.

Many of these young men had, until the campaign began, never
done half an hour's hard work in their lives. They had been waited
upon by slaves, and their only exercise had been riding. For
months now they had almost lived in the saddle, had slept in the
open air, and had thought themselves lucky if they could obtain a
sufficient meal of the roughest food to satisfy their hunger once a
day. In this respect, however, the cavalry were better off than their
comrades of the infantry, for scouting as they did in small parties
over a wide extent of country, they were sure of a meal and a
hearty welcome whenever they could spare time to stop for half an
hour at the house of a farmer.

"It's a glorious life, Wingfield! When we chatted over the future at
school we never dreamed of such a life as this, though some of us
did talk of entering the army; but even then an occasional skirmish
with Indians was the limit of our ideas."

"Yes, it is a glorious life!" Vincent agreed. "I cannot imagine
anything more exciting. Of course, there is the risk of being shot,
but somehow one never seems to think of that. There is always
something to do and to think about, from the time one starts on a
scout at daybreak to that when one lies down at night one's senses
are on the stretch. Besides, we are fighting in defense of our
country and not merely as a profession, though I don't suppose,
after all, that makes much difference when one is once in for it.
As far as I have read all soldiers enjoy campaigning, and it does
not seem to make any difference to them who are the foe or what
they are fighting about. But I should like to feel a little more sure
that we shall win in the long run."

There was a chorus of indignant protests against there being any
possible doubts as to the issue.

"Why, we have thrashed them every time we have met them,
Wingfield."

"That is all very well," Vincent said. "Here in Virginia we have
held our own, and more than held it. We have beat back Scott and
McClellan, and now we have thrashed Pope; and Stonewall
Jackson has won a dozen battles in Western Virginia. But you
must remember that in other parts they are gradually closing in; all
the ports not already taken are closely blockaded; they are pushing
all along the lines of the great rivers; and worst of all, they can fill
up their vacancies with Irishmen and Germans, and as fast as one
army disappears another takes its place. I believe we shall heat
them again and again, and shall prove, as we have proved before,
that one Southerner fighting for home and liberty is more than a
match for two hired Germans or Irishmen, even with a good large
sprinkling of Yankees among them. But in the long run I am not
sure that we shall win, for they can go on putting big armies into
the field, while some day we must get used up.

"Of course it is possible that we may some day capture
Washington, and that the North may get weary of the tremendous
drain of money and men caused by their attempt to conquer us. I
hope it may be so, for I should like to think that we should win in
the long run. I never feel any doubt about our winning a battle
when we begin. My only fear is that we may get used up before the
North are tired of it.

"I did not expect to hear you talk so, Wingfield, for you always
seem to he in capital spirits."

"I am in capital spirits," Vincent replied, "and ready to fight again
and again, and always confident we shall lick the Yankees; the fact
that I have a doubt whether in the long run we shall outlast them
does not interfere in the slightest degree with my comfort at
present. I am very sorry though that this fellow Pope is carrying on
the war so brutally instead of in the manner in which General
McClellan and the other commanders have waged it. His
proclamation that the army must subsist upon the country it passes
through gives a direct invitation to the soldiers to pillage, and his
order that all farmers who refuse to take the oath to the Union are
to be driven from their homes and sent down south means ruin to
all the peaceful inhabitants, for there is scarcely a man in this part
of Virginia who is not heartily with us."

"I hear," one of the other officers said, "that a prisoner who was
captured this morning says that Pope already sees that he has made
a mistake, and that he yesterday issued a fresh order saying that the
proclamation was not meant to authorize pillage. He finds that the
inhabitants who before, whatever their private sentiments were,
maintained a sort of neutrality, are now hostile, that they drive off
their cattle into the woods, and even set fire to their stacks, to
prevent anything from being carried off by the Yanks; and his
troops find the roads broken up and bridges destroyed and all sorts
of difficulties thrown in their way."

"It does not always pay-even in war-to be brutal. I am glad to see
he has found out his mistake so soon," another officer said.
"McClellan waged war like a gentleman; and if blackguards are to
be allowed to carry fire and sword through the land they will soon
find it is a game that two can play at, and matters will become
horribly embittered"

"We shall never do that," Vincent said. "Our generals are all
gentlemen, and Lee and Jackson and many others are true
Christians as well as true soldiers, and I am sure they will never
countenance that on our side whatever the Northerners may do.
We are ready to fight the hordes of Yankees and Germans and
Irishmen as often as they advance against us, but I am sure that
none of us would fire a homestead or ill-treat defenseless men and
women. It is a scandal that such brutalities are committed by the
ruffians who call themselves Southerners. The guerrillas in
Missouri and Tennessee are equally bad whether on our side or the
other, and if I were the president I would send down a couple of
regiments, and hunt down the fellows who bring dishonor on our
cause. If the South cannot free herself without the aid of ruffians
of this kind she had better lay down her arms at once."

"Bravo, Wingfield! spoken like a knight of chivalry!" one of the
others laughed. "But many of these bands have done good
nevertheless. They have kept the enemy busy there, and occupied
the attention of a very large force who might otherwise have been
in the woods yonder with Pope. I agree with you, it would be
better if the whole thing were fought out with large armies, but
there is a good deal to be said for these hands you are so severe
upon. They are composed of men who have been made desperate
by seeing their farms harried and their buildings burned by the
enemy. They have been denounced as traitors by their neighbors
on the other side, and if they retaliate I don't know that they are to
be altogether blamed. I know that if my place at home were
burned down and my people insulted and ill-treated I should be
inclined to set off to avenge it.,'

"So would I," Vincent agreed, "but it should be upon those who did
the wrong, not upon innocent people."

"That is all very well, but if the other side destroy your people's
farms, it is only by showing them that two can play at the game
that you can make them observe the laws of war. I grant it would
be very much better that no such thing should take place; but if the
Northerners begin this sort of work they may be sure that there will
be retaliation Anyhow, I am glad that I am an officer in the 7th
Virginians and not a guerrilla leader in Missouri. Well, all this
talking is dry work. Has no one got a full canteen?"

"I have," Vincent said. "Dan managed to buy a gallon of rum at a
farmhouse yesterday. I think the farmer was afraid that the enemy
might be paying him a visit before many days, and thought it best
to get rid of his spirits. Anyhow, Dan got the keg at ordinary city
prices, as well as that couple of fine turkeys he is just bringing
along for our supper. So you had better each get your ration of
bread and fall to."

There was a cheer as Dan placed the turkeys down in the center of
the group, and soon the whole party, using their bread as plates,
fell to upon them, and afterward joined in many a merry song,
while Dan handed round the jar of spirits.

CHAPTER IX. A PRISONER.

THE PARTY round the fire were just about to disperse when the
captain of Vincent's troop approached. He took the horn of spirits
and water that Vincent held up to him and tossed it off.

"That is a stirrup-cup, Wingfield."

"What! are we for duty, captain?" Vincent asked as he rose to his
feet.

"Yes; our troop and Harper's are to muster. Get the men together
quietly. I think it is a serious business; each of the regiments
furnish other troops, and I believe Stuart himself takes the
command."

"That sounds like work, indeed," Vincent said. "I will get the
troop together, sir."

"There are to be no trumpet calls, Wingfleld; we are to get off as
quietly as possible."

Most of the men were already fast asleep, but as soon as they
learned that there was a prospect of active work all were full of
life and animation. The girths of the saddles were tightened,
swords buckled on, and revolvers carefully examined before being
placed in the holsters. Many of the men carried repeating rifles,
and the magazines were filled before these were slung across the
riders' shoulders.

In a few minutes the three troops were mounted and in readiness
for a start, and almost directly afterward Colonel Jones himself
rode up and took the command. A thrill of satisfaction ran through
the men as he did so, for it was certain that he would not himself
be going in command of the detachment unless the occasion was
an important one. For a few minutes no move was made.

"I suppose the others are going to join us here," Vin cent said to
the officer next him.

"I suppose so," he replied. "We lie in tbe middle of the cavalry
brigade with two regiments each side of us, so it is likely enough
this is the gathering place. Yes, I can hear the tramping of horses."

"And I felt a spot of rain," Vincent said. "It has been lightning for
some time. I fear we are in for a wet ride."

The contingent from the other regiments soon arrived, and just as
the last came up General Stuart himself appeared and took his
place at the head of the party, now some 500 strong. Short as the
time had been since Vincent felt the first drop, the rain was now
coming down in torrents. One by one the bright flames of the fires
died down, and the darkness became so intense that Vincent could
scarcely see the officer on his right hand.

"I hope the man who rode up with the general, and is no doubt to
be our guide, knows the country well. It is no joke finding our way
through a forest on such a night as this."

"I believe Stuart's got eyes like a cat," the officer said. "Sometimes
on a dark night he has come galloping up to a post where I was in
command, when one could scarcely see one's hand before one. It
never seems to make any difference to him, day or night he rides
about at a gallop."

"He trusts his horse," Vincent said. "That's the only way in the
dark. They can see a lot better than we can, and if men would but
let them go their own way instead of trying to guide them they
would seldom run against anything. The only thing is to lie well
down on the horse's neck, otherwise one might get swept out of the
saddle by a bough. It's a question of nerve, I think not many of us
would do as Stuart does, and trust himself entirely to his horse's
instinct."

The word was now passed down the line that perfect silence was to
be observed, and that they were to move forward in column, the
ranks closing up as much as possible so as not to lose touch of
each other. With heads bent down, and blankets wrapped round
them as cloaks, the cavalry rode off through the pouring rain. The
thunder was clashing overhead, and the flashes of the lightning
enabled them to keep their places in close column. They went at a
rapid trot, and even those who were ready to charge a body of the
enemy, however numerous, without a moment's hesitation,
experienced a feeling of nervousness as they rode on in the
darkness through the thick forest on their unknown errand. That
they were going northward they knew, and knew also, after a short
time, that they must be entering the lines of the enemy. They saw
no signs of watch-fires, for these would long since have been
quenched by the downpour. After half an hour's brisk riding all
knew by the sharp sound of the beat of the horses' hoofs that they
had left the soft track through the forest and were now upon a
regular road.

"Thank goodness for that!" Vincent said in a low tone to his next
neighbor. "I don't mind a brush with the enemy, but I own I don't
like the idea that at any moment my brains may be knocked out by
the branch of a tree."

"I quite agree with you," the other replied; "and I fancy every man
felt the same."

There was no doubt as to this. Hitherto no sound had been heard
save the jingling of accouterments and the dull heavy sound of the
horses' tread; but now there could be heard mingled with these the
buzz of voices, and occasionally a low laugh. They were so
accustomed to wet that the soaking scarce inconvenienced them.
They were out of the forest now, and felt sure of their guide; and
as to the enemy, they only longed to discover them.

For another hour the rapid advance continued, and all felt sure that
they must now have penetrated through the enemy's lines and be
well in his rear. At last they heard a challenge of sentry. Then
Stuart's voice shouted, "Charge!" and at full gallop they rode into
the village at Catlet's Station on the Orange and Alexandria
railroad, where General Pope had his headquarters. Another
minute and they were in the midst of the enemy's camp, where the
wildest confusion reigned. The Federal officers rushed from their
teats and made off in the darkness; but the soldiers, who were
lying on the line of railroad, leaped to their feet and opened a
heavy fire upon their invisible foes. Against this the cavalry,
broken up in the camp, with its tents, its animals, and its piles of
baggage, could do little, for it was impossible to form them up in
the broken and unknown ground.

The quarters of Pope were soon discovered; he himself had
escaped, leaving his coat and hat behind. Many of his officers
were captured, and in his quarters were found a box of official
papers which were invaluable, as among them were copies of his
letters asking for reinforcements, lists giving the strength and
position of his troops, and other particulars of the greatest value to
the Confederates. No time was lost, as the firing would set the
whole Federal army on the alert, and they might find their retreat
cut off. Therefore placing their prisoners in the center, and taking
the box of papers with them, the cavalry were called off from the
camp, and without delay started on their return ride.

They did not take the road by which they had come, but made a
long detour, and just as daylight was breaking re-entered the
Confederate lines without having encountered a foe from the time
of their leaving Catlet's Station. Short as their stay in the camp had
been, few of the men bad returned empty handed. The Northern
army was supplied with an abundance of excellent food of all
descriptions, forming the strongest possible contrast to the
insufficient ratious upon which the Confederate troops existed, and
the troopers had helped themselves to whatever they could lay
hands upon in the darkness and confusion.

Some rode in with a ham slung on each side of their saddle, others
had secured a bottle or two of wine or spirits. Some had been
fortunate enough to lay hands on sonic tins of coffee or a canister
of tea, luxuries which for months had been unknown to them save
when they were captured from the enemy. The only article
captured of no possible utility was General Pope's coat, which was
sent to Richmond, where it was hung up for public inspection; a
wag sticking up a paper beside it, "This is the coat in which
General Pope was going to ride in triumph into Richmond. The
coat is here, but the general has not yet arrived."

Tile Confederates had lost but two or three men from the fire of
the Federal infantry, and they were in high spirits at the success of
their raid. No sooner had General Lee informed himself of the
contents of the papers and the position of the enemy's forces than
he determined to strike a heavy blow at him; and General Jackson,
who had been sharply engaged with the enemy near Warrenton,
was ordered to make a long detour, to cross the Blue Ridge
mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, to fall upon Pope's rear and
cut his communications with Washington, and if possible to
destroy the vast depot of stores collected at Manassas.

The cavalry, under Stuart, were to accompany him. The march
would he a tremendous one, the danger of thus venturing into the
heart of the enemy's country immense, but the results of such an
expedition would, if successful, be great; for Lee himself was to
advance with his army on Pope's flank, and there was therefore a
possibility of the utter defeat of that general before he could be
joined by the army marching to reinforce him from
Fredericksburg.

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