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

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"Well, you must do as you like, Wingfield, but I think it will be a
risky business."

"It may be so," Vincent said; "but I have little doubt that long
before Jackson is exchanged I, shall have discovered Dinah, and
shall prosecute Jackson for theft and kidnaping, in which case the
young man will hardly venture to prosecute me or indeed to show
his face in this part of the country."

That evening the two young officers started for the front, and the
next morning the Richmond papers came oat with a sensational
heading, "Alleged Gross Act of Treachery and Ingratitude by a
Confederate Officer."

It was the 10th of December when Vincent joined the army at
Fredericksburg. He reported himself to General Stuart, who
received him with great cordiality.

"You are just in time, Wingfield," he said. "I believe that in
another twenty-four hours the battle will be fought. They have for
the last two days been moving about in front, and apparently want
us to believe that they intend to cross somewhere below the town;
but all the news we get from our spies is to the effect that these are
only feints and that they intend to throw a bridge across here. We
know, anyhow, they have got two trains concealed opposite, near
the river. Burnside is likely to find it a hard nut to crack. Of
course they are superior in number to us, as they always are; but as
we have always beat them well on level ground I do not think their
chances of getting up these heights are by any means hopeful.
Then, too, their change of commanders is against them.
McClellan fought a drawn battle against us at Antietam and
showed himself a really able general in the operations in front of
Richmond. The army have confidence in him, and he is by far the
best man they have got so far, but the fools at Washington have
now for the second time displaced him because they are jealous of
him. Burnside has shown himself a good man in minor
commands, but I don't think he is equal to command such a vast
army as this; and besides, we know from our friends at
Washington that he has protested against this advance across the
river, but has been overruled. You will see Fredericksburg will
add another to the long list of our victories."

Vincent shared a tent with another officer of the same rank in
General Stuart's staff. They sat chatting till late, and it was still
dark when they were suddenly aroused by an outbreak of musketry
down at the river.

"The general was right," Captain Longmore, Vincent's companion,
exclaimed. "They are evidently throwing a bridge across the river,
and the fire we hear comes from two regiments of Mississippians
who are posted down in the town under Barksdale."

It was but the work of a minute to throw on their clothes and hurry
out. The night was dark and a heavy fog hung over the river. A
perfect roar of musketry came up from the valley. Drums and
bugles were sounding all along the crest. At the same moment
they issued out General Stuart came out from his tent, which was
close by.

"Is that you, Longmore? Jump on your horse and ride down to the
town. Bring back news of what is going on."

A few minutes later an officer rode up. Some wood had been
thrown on the fire, and by its light Vincent recognized Stonewall
Jackson.

"Have you any news for us?" he asked.

"Not yet, I have sent an officer down to inquire. The enemy have
been trying to bridge the river.

"I suppose so," Jackson replied. "I have ordered one of my
brigades to come to the head of the bank as soon as they can be
formed up, to help Barksdale if need be, but I don't want to take
them down into the town. It is commanded by all the hills on the
opposite side, and we know they have brought up also all their
artillery there."

In a few minutes Captain Lougmore returned.

"The enemy have thrown two pontoon bridges across, one above
and one below the old railway bridge. The Mississippians have
driven them back once, but they are pushing on the work and will
soon get it finished; but General Barksdale bids me report that
with the force at his command he can repulse any attempt to
cross."

The light was now breaking in the east, but the roar of musketry
continued under the canopy of fog. General Lee, Longstreet, and
others had now arrived upon the spot, and Vincent was surprised
that no orders were issued for troops to reinforce those under
General Barksdale. Presently the sun rose, and as it gained in
power the fog slowly lifted, and it was seen that the two pontoon
bridges were complete; but the fire of the Mississippians was so
heavy that although the enemy several times attempted to cross
they recoiled before it. Suddenly a gun was fired from the
opposite height, and at the signal more than a hundred pieces of
artillery opened fire upon the town. Many of the inhabitants had
left as soon as the musketry fire began, but the slopes behind it
soon presented a sad spectacle. Men, women, and chihlren poured
out from the town, bewildered with the din and terrified by the
storm of shot and shell that crashed into it. Higher and higher the
crowd of fugitives made their way until they reached the crest;
among them were weeping women and crying children, many of
them in the scantiest attire and carrying such articles of dress and
valuables as they had caught up when startled by the terrible rain
of missiles. In a very few minutes smoke began to rise over the
town, followed by tongues of flame, and in half an hour the place
was on fire in a score of places.

All day the bombardment went on without cessation and
Fredericksburg crumbled into ruins. Still, in spite of this terrible
fire the Mississippians clung to the burning town amid crashing
walls, falling chimneys, and shells exploding in every direction.
As night fell the enemy poured across the bridges, and Barksdale,
contesting every foot of ground, fell back through the burning city
and took up a position behind a stone wall in its rear.

Throughout the day not a single shot had been fired by the
Confederate artillery, which was very inferior in power to that of
the enemy. As General Lee had no wish finally to hinder the
passage of the Federals, the stubborn resistance of Barksdale's
force being only intended to give him time to concentrate all his
army as soon as he knew for certain the point at which the enemy
was going to cross; and he did not wish, therefore, to risk the
destruction of any of his batteries by calling down the Federal fire
upon them.

During the day the troops were all brought up into position.
Longstreet was on the left and Jackson on the right, while the guns,
forty-seven in number, were in readiness to take up their post in
the morning on the slopes in front of them. On the extreme right
General Stuart was posted with his cavalry and horse artillery. The
night passed quietly and by daybreak the troops were all drawn up
in their positions.

As soon as the sun rose it was seen that during the night the enemy
had thrown more bridges across and that the greater portion of the
army was already over. They were, indeed, already in movement
against the Confederate position, their attack being directed
toward the portion of the line held by Jackson's division. General
Stuart gave orders to Major Pelham, who commanded his horse
artillery, and who immediately brought up the guns and began the
battle by opening fire on the flank of the enemy. The guns of the
Northern batteries at once replied, and for some hours the artillery
duel continued, the Federal guns doing heavy execution. For a
time attacks were threatened from various points, but about ten
o'clock, when the fog lifted, a mass of some 55,000 troops
advanced against Jack son. They were suffered to come within
800 yards before a gun was fired, and then fourteen guns opened
upon then with such effect that they fell back in confusion.

At one o'clock another attempt was made, covered by a
tremendous fire of artillery. For a time the columns of attack were
kept at bay by the fire of the Confederate batteries, but they
advanced with great resolution, pushed their way through Jackson's
first line, and forced them to fall back. Jackson brought up his
second line and drove the enemy back with great slaughter until
his advance was checked by the fire of the Northern artillery.

All day the fight went on, the Federals attempting to crush the
Confederate artillery by the weight of their fire in order that their
infantry columns might again advance. But although outnumbered
by more than two to one the Confederate guns were worked with
great resolution, and the day passed and darkness begun to fall
without their retiring from the positions they had taken up.' Just at
sunset General Stuart ordered all the batteries on the right to
advance. This they did and opened their fire on the Northern
infantry with such effect that these fell back to the position near
the town that they had occupied in the morning.

On the left an equally terrible battle had raged all day, but here the
Northern troops were compelled to cross open ground between the
town and the base of the hill, and suffered so terribly from the fire
that they never succeeded in reaching the Confederate front.
Throughout the day the Confederates held their position with such
ease that General Lee considered the affair as nothing more than a
demonstration of force to feel his position, and expected an even
sterner battle on the following day. Jackson's first and second
lines, composed of less than 15,000 men, had repulsed without
difficulty the divisions of Franklin and Hooker, 55,000 strong;
while Longstreet with about the same force had never been really
pressed by the enemy, although on that side they had a force of
over 50,000 men.

In the morning the Northern army was seen drawn up in battle
array as if to advance for fresh assault, but no movement was
made. General Burnside was in favor of a fresh attack, but the
generals commanding the various divisions felt that their troops,
after the repulse the day before, were not equal to the work, and
were unanimously of opinion that a second assault should not be
attempted. After remaining for some hours in order of battle they
fell back into the town and two days later the whole army
recrossed the Rappahannook River. The loss of the Confederates
was 1,800 men, who were for the most part killed or wounded by
the enemy's artillery, while the Federal loss was no less than
13,771. General Burnside soon afterward resigned his command,
and General Hooker, an officer of the same politics as the
president and his advisers, was appointed to succeed him.

The cavalry had not been called upon to act during the day, and
Vincent's duties were confined to carrying orders to the
commanders of the various batteries of artillery posted in that part
of the field, as these had all been placed under General Stuart's
orders. He had many narrow escapes by shot and fragments of
shells, but passed through the day uninjured.

General Lee has been blamed for not taking advantage of his
victory and falling upon the Federals on the morning after the
battle; but although such an assault might possibly have been
successful he was conscious of his immense inferiority in force,
and his troops would have been compelled to have advanced to the
attack across ground completely swept by the fire of the
magnificently served Northern artillery posted upon their
commanding heights. He was moreover ignorant of the full extent
of the loss he had inflicted upon the enemy, and expected a
renewed attack by them. He was therefore, doubtless, unwilling to
risk the results of the victory he had gained and of the victory he
expected to gain should the enemy renew their attack, by a
movement which might not be successful, and which would at any
rate have cost him a tremendous loss of men, and men were
already becoming scarce in the Confederacy.

As soon as the enemy had fon back across the river and it was
certain that there was little chance of another forward movement
on their part for a considerable time, Vincent showed to General
Stuart the permit he had received to return home until the spring
on leave, and at once received the general's permission to retire
from the staff for a time.

He had not been accompanied by Dan on his railway journey to the
front, having left him behind with instructions to endeavor by
every means to find some clew as to the direction in which Dinah
had been carried off. He telegraphed on his way home the news of
his coming, and found Dan at the station waiting for him.

"Well, Dan, have you obtained any news?" he asked as soon as his
horse had been removed from its box, and he had mounted and at a
foot-pace left the station, with Dan walking beside him.

"No, sah; I hab done my best, but I cannot find out anyting. The
niggers at Jackson's all say dat no strangers hab been there wid do
old man for a long time before de day dat Dinah was carried off. I
have been over dar, massa, and hab talked wid the hands at do
house. Dey all say dat no one been dere for a month. Me sure dat
doy no tell a lie about it, because doy all hate Massa Jackson like
pison. Den de lawyer, he am put do advertisement you told him in
the papers: Five hundred dollars to whoever would give
information about do carrying off of a female slave from Missy
Wingfiold, or dat would lead to de discovery of her hiding-place.
But no answer come. Me heard Missy Wingfield say so last
night."

"That's bad, Dan; but I hardly expected anything better. I felt sure
the old fox would have taken every precaution, knowing what a
serious business it would be for him if it were found out. Now I
am back I will take the matter up myself, and we will see what we
can do. I wish I could have set about it the day after she was
carried away. It is more than a fortnight ago now, and that will
make it much more difficult than it would have been bad it been
begun at once."

"Well, Vincent, so you have come back to us undamaged this
time," his mother said after the first greeting. "We wore very
anxious when the news came that a great battle had been fought
last Friday; but when we heard the next morning the enemy had
been repulsed so easily we wore not so anxious, although it was
not until this morning that the list of killed and wounded was
published, and our minds set at rest"

"No, mother; it was a tremendous artillery battle, but it was a little
more than that-at least on our side. But I have never heard
anything at all like it from sunrise to sunset. But, after all, an
artillery fire is more frightening than dangerous, except at
comparatively close quarters. The enemy must have fired at least
fifty shots for every man that was hit. I counted several times, and
there wore fully a hundred shots a minute, and I don't think it
lessened much the whole day. I should think they must have fired
two or three hundred rounds at least from each gun. The roar was
incessant, and what with the din they made, and the replies of our
own artillery, and the bursting of shells, and the rattle of musketry,
the din at times was almost bewildering. Wildfire was hit with a
piece of shell, but fortunately it was not a very large one, and he is
not much the worse for it, but the shock knocked him off his legs;
of course I went down with him, and thought for a moment I had
been hit myself No; it was by far the most hollow affair we have
had. The enemy fought obstinately enough, but without the
slightest spirit or dash, and only once did they get up anywhere
near our line, and then they wont back a good deal quicker than
they came."

"And now you are going to be with us for three months, Vincent?"

I hope so, mother; at least if they do not advance again. I shall be
here off and on. I mean to find Dinah Morris if it is possible, and
if I can obtain the slightest clew I shall follow it up and go
wherever it may lead me."

"Well, we will spare you for that, Vincent. As you know, I did
not like your mixing yourself up in that business two years ago, but
it is altogether different now. The woman was very willing and
well conducted, and I had got to be really fond of her. But putting
that aside, it is intolerable that such a piece of insolence as the
stealing of one of our slaves should go unpunished. Therefore if
you do find any clew to the affair we will not grumble at your
following it up, even if it does take you away from home for a
short time. By the by, we had letters this morning from a certain
young lady in Georgia inclosing her photograph, and I rather
fancy there is one for you somewhere."

"Where is it, mother?" Vincent asked, jumping from his seat.

"Let me think," Mrs. Wingfield replied. "Did either of you girls
put it away, or where can it have been stowed?" The girls both
laughed.

"Now, Vincent, what offer do you make for the letter? Well, we
won't tease you," Annie went on as Vincent gave an impatient
exclamation. "Another time we might do so, but as you have just
come safely back to us I don't think it will be fair, especially as
this is the very first letter. Here it is it" and she took out of the
workbox before her the missive Vincent was so eager to receive.

CHAPTER XVI. THE SEARCH FOR DINAH.

"BY THE BY, Vincent," Mrs. Wingfield remarked next morning at
breakfast, "I have parted with Pearson."

"I am glad to hear it, mother. What! did you discover at last that
he was a scamp?"

"Several things that occurred shook my confidence in him,
Vincent. The accounts were not at all satisfactory, and it happened
quite accidentally that when I was talking one day with Mr.
Robertson, who, as you know, is a great speculator in tobacco, I
said that I should grow no more tobacco, as it really fetched
nothing. He replied that it would be a pity to give it up, for so
little was now cultivated that the price was rising, and the
Orangery tobacco always fetched top prices. 'I think the price I
paid for your crop this year must at any rate have paid for the labor
that is to say, paid for the keep of the slaves and something over.'
He then mentioned the price he had given, which was certainly a
good deal higher than I had imagined. I looked to my accounts
next morning, and found that Pearson had only credited me with
one-third of the amount he must have received, so I at once
dismissed him. Indeed, I had been thinking of doing so some little
time before, for money is so scarce and the price of produce so low
that I felt I could not afford to pay as much as I have been giving
him."

"I am afraid I have been drawing rather heavily, mother," Vincent
put in.

"I have plenty of money, Vincent. Since your father's death we
have had much less company than before, and I have not spent my
income. Besides, I have a considerable sum invested in house
property and other securities. But I have, of course, since the war
began been subscribing toward the expenses of the war - for the
support of hospitals and so on. I thought at a time like this I ought
to keep my expenses down at the lowest point, and to give the
balance of my income to the State."

"How did Jonas take his dismissal, mother?"

"Not very pleasantly," Mrs. Wingfield replied; "especially when I
told him that I had discovered he was robbing me. However, he
knew better than to say much, for he has not been in good odor
about here for some time. After the fighting near here there were
reports that he had been in communication with the Yankees. He
spoke to me about it at the time, but as it was a mere matter of
rumor, originating, no doubt, from the fact that he was a Northern
man by birth, I paid no attention to them."

"It is likely enough to be true," Vincent said. "I always distrusted
the vehemence with which he took the Confederate side. How
long ago did this happen?"

"It is about a month since I dismissed him."

"So lately as that! Then I should not be at all surprised if he had
some hand in carrying off Dinah. I know he was in
communication with Jackson, for I once saw them together in the
street, and I fancied at the time that it was through him that
Jackson learned that Dinah was here. It is an additional clew to
inquire into, anyhow. Do you know what has become of him since
he left you?"

"No; I have heard nothing at all about him, Vincent, from the day I
gave him a check for his pay in this room. Farrell, who was under
him, is now in charge of the Orangery. He may possibly know
something of his movements."

"I think Farrell is an honest fellow," Vincent said "He was always
about doing his work quietly never bullying or shouting at the
hands, and yet seeing that they did their work properly. I will ride
out and see him at once."

As soon as breakfast was over Vincent started, and found Farrell in
the fields with the hands.

"I am glad to see you back, sir," the man said heartily.

"Thank you, Farrell. I am glad to be back, and I am glad to find
you in Pearson's place. I never liked the fellow, and never trusted
him."

"I did not like him myself, sir, though we always got on well
enough together. He knew his work, and got as much out of the
hands as any one could do; but I did not like his way with them.
They hated him."

"Have you any idea where he went when he left here?"

"No, sir; he did not come back after he got his dismissal. He sent a
man in a buggy with a note to me, asking me to send all his things
over to Richmond. I expect he was afraid the news might get here
as soon as he did, and that the hands would give him an unpleasant
reception, as indeed I expect they would have done."

"You don't know whether he has any friends anywhere in the
Confederacy to whom he would be likely to go?"

"I don't know about friends, sir; but I know he has told me he was
overseer, or partner, or something of that sort, in a small station
down in the swamps of South Carolina. I should think, from
things he has let drop, that the slaves must have had a bad time of
it. I rather fancy he made the place too hot for him, and had to
leave; but that was only my impression."

"In that case he may possibly have made his way back there,"
Vincent said. "I have particular reasons for wishing to find out.
You don't know anything about the name of the place?" The man
shook his head.

"He never mentioned the name in my hearing."

"Well, I must try to find out, but I don't quite see how to set about
it," Vincent said. "By the way, do you know where his clothes
were sent to?"

"Yes; the man said that he was to take them to Harker's Hotel. It's
a second-rate hotel not far from the railway station."

"Thank you. That will help me. I know the house. It was formerly
used by Northern drummers and people of that sort."

After riding back to Richmond and putting up his horse, Vincent
went to the hotel there. Although but a secondary hotel it was well
filled, for people from all parts of the Confederacy resorted to
Richmond, aud however much trade suffered, the hotels of the
town did a good business. He first went up to the clerk in a little
office at the entrance.

"You had a man named Pearson," he said, "staying here about a
month ago. Will you be good enough to tell me on what day he
left?"

The clerk turned to the register, and said after a minute 's
examination:

"He came on the 14th of November, and he left on the 20th."

This was two days after the date on which Dinah had been carried
off.

In American hotels the halls are large and provided with seats, and
are generally used as smoking and reading-rooms by the male
visitors to the hotel. At Harker's Hotel there was a small bar at the
end of the hall, and a black waiter supplied the wants of the guests
seated at the various little tables. Vincent seated himself at one of
these and ordered something to drink. As the negro placed it on
the table he said:

"I will give you a dollar if you will answer a few questions."

"Very good, sah. Dat am a mighty easy way to earn a dollar."

"Do you remember, about a month ago, a man named Pearson
being here?"

The negro shook his head.

"Me not know de names of de gentlemen, sah. What was de man
like?"

"He was tall and thin, with short hair and a gray goatee -a regular
Yankee."

"Me remember him, sah. Dar used to he plenty ob dat sort here.
Don't see dem much now. Me remember de man, sah, quite well.
Used to pass most of de day here. Didn't seem to have nuffin to
do."

"Was he always alone, or did he have many people here to see
him?"

"Once dar war two men here wid him, sab, sitting at dat table ober
in do corner. Rough-looking fellows dey war. In old times people
like dat wouldn't come to a 'spectable hotel, but now most ebery
one got rough clothes, can't get no others, so one don't tink nuffin
about it; but dose fellows was rough-looking besides dar clothes.
Didn't like dar looks nohow. Dey only came here once. Dey was
do only strangers that came to see him. But once Massa
Jackson-me know him by sight he came here and talk wid him for
a long time. Earnest sort of talk dat seemed to be. Dey talk in low
voice, and I noticed dey stopped talking when any one sat down
near dem."

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