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

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"But how we find do York River, massa? Will de compass tell you
dat?"

"No, Dan. I don't know whether we have drifted north or south of
it. At ordinary times the current runs up the coast, but the wind
this morning was blowing from the north of west, and may have
been doing so all through the night for anything I know. Well, the
great thing is to make land. We are almost sure to come across
some fishing-boats, but, if not, we must run ashore and find a
house."

They continued sailing until Vincent's watch told him it was
twelve o'clock, by which time the coast was quite close. The wind
now almost dropped, and, lowering their sail, they rowed in until,
on lowering the anchor, they found that it touched the ground.
Then they lay down and slept; till morning. Dan was the first to
waken.

"Dar are some houses dere close down by the shore, sah, and some
men getting out a boat;."

"That's all right, Dan," Vincent said as he roused himself and
looked over. "We shall learn soon where we are."

In a quarter of an hour the fishing-boat put off, and the lads at once
rowed to it.

"How far are we from the mouth of the York River?" Vincent
asked the two negroes on board.

"About twenty miles, sah. Where you come from?"

"We were off the month of the river, and were blown off in the
gale."

"You tink yourself berry lucky you get back," one of them said.
"Berry foolish to go out like dat when not know how to get back."

"Well, we have managed to get back now, you see, and none the
worse for it. Now, Dan, up with the sail again."

There was a light wind off shore, and all the reefs being shaken out
the boat ran along fast.

"I should think we are going about five miles an hour, Dan. We
ought to be off the mouth of the river in four hours. We must look
out sharp or else we shall pass it, for many of these islets look just
like the mouth of the river. However, we are pretty sure to pass
several fishing-boats on our way, and we shall be able to inquire
from them."

There was no need, however, to do this. It was just the four hours
from the time of starting when they saw some eight or ten
fishing-boats ahead of them.

"I expect that that is the entrance to the river. When we get half a
mile further we shall see it open."

On approaching the fishing-boats they recognized at once the
appearance of the shore, as they had noticed it when fishing there
before, and were soon in the entrance to the river.

It will be high tide in about two hours," Vincent said, "according to
the time it was the other day. I am afraid when it turns we shall
have to get down our sails; there will he no beating against both
wind and tide. Then we must get out oars and row. There is very
little tide close in by the bank, and every little gain will be a help.
We have been out; four days. It is Thursday now, and they will be
beginning to get very anxious at home, so we must do our best to
get back."

Keeping close under the bank, they rowed steadily, making on an
average about two miles an hour. After five hours' rowing they
tied up to the bank, had a meal, and rested until tide turned; then
they again hoisted their sail and proceeded on their way. Tide
carried them just up to the junction of the two rivers, and landing
at Cumberland they procured beds and slept till morning.

Another long day's work took them up to the plantation of Mr.
Furniss, and fastening up the boat, and carrying the sails and oars
on shore, they started on their walk home.

"Why, Vincent, where on earth have you been all this time?" Mrs.
Wingfield said as her son entered. "You said you might be away a
couple of nights; and we expected you back on Wednesday at the
latest, and now it is Friday evening."

"Well, mother, we have had great fun. We went sailing about right
down to the mouth of the York River. I did not calculate that it
would take me more than twice as long to get back as to get
down; but as the wind blew' right down the river it was precious
slow work, and we had to row all the way. However, it has been a
jolly trip, and I feel a lot better for it."

"You don't look any bettor for it," Annie said. "The skin is all off
your face, and you are as red as fire. Your clothes look shrunk as
well as horribly dirty. You are quite an object, Vincent."

"We got caught in a heavy gale," Vincent said, "and got a thorough
ducking. As to my face, a day or two will set it all to rights again;
and so they will my hands, I hope, for I have got nicely blistered
tugging at those oars. And now, mother, I want some supper, for I
am as hungry as a hunter. I told Dan to go into the kitchen and get
a good square meal."

The next morning, just after breakfast, there was the sound of
horses' hoofs outside the house, and, looking out;, Vincent saw Mr.
Jackson, with a man he knew to be the sheriff, and four or five
others. A minute later one of the servants came in, and said that
the sheriff wished to speak to Mrs. Wingfield.

"I will go out to him," Mrs. Wingfield replied. Vincent followed
her to the door.

"Mrs. Wingfield," the sheriff said, "I am the holder of a warrant; to
search your slave-huts and grounds for a run-away negro named
Anthony Moore, the property of Mr. Jackson here."

"Do you suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfield asked angrily, "that I am the
sort of person to give shelter to runaway slaves?"

No, madam, certainly not," the sheriff replied; "no one would
suppose for a moment that Mrs. Wingfield of the Orangery would
have anything to do with a runaway, but Mr. Jackson here learned
only yesterday that the wife of this slave was here, and every one
knows that where the wife is the husband is not likely to be far
off."

"I suppose, sir," Mrs. Wingfleld said coldly, "that there was no
necessity for me to acquaint Mr. Jackson formerly with the fact
that I had purchased through my agent the woman he sold to
separate her from her husband."

.'By no means, madam, by no means; though, had we known it;
before, it might have been some aid to us in our search. Have we
your permission to see this woman and to question her?"

"Certainly not," Mrs. Wingfield said; "but if you have any question
to ask I will ask her and give you her answer."

"We want to know whether she has seen her husband since the day
of his flight; from the plantation?"

"I shall certainly not ask her that question, Mr. Sheriff. I have no
doubt that, as the place from which he has escaped is only a few
miles from here, he did come to see his wife. It would have been
very strange if he did not. I hope that by this time the man is
hundreds of miles away. He was brutally treated by a brutal
master, who, I believe, deliberately set to work to make him run
away, so that he could hunt him down and punish him. I presume,
sir, you do not wish to search this house, and you do not suppose
that the man is hidden here. As to the slave-huts and the
plantation, you can, of course, search them thoroughly; but as it is
now more than a fortnight since the man escaped, it is not likely
you will find him hiding within a few miles of his master's
plantation."

So saying she went into the house and shut the door behind her.

Mr. Jackson ground his teeth with rage, but the sheriff rode off
toward the slave-huts without a word. The position of Mrs.
Wingfield of the Orangery, connected as she was with half the old
families of Virginia, and herself a large slave-owner, was beyond
suspicion, and no one would venture to suggest that such a lady
could have the smallest sympathy for a runaway slave.

"She was down upon you pretty hot, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said
as they rode off. "You don't seem to be in her good books."
Jackson muttered an imprecation.

"It is certainly odd," the sheriff went on, "after what you were
telling me about her son pitching into Andrew over flogging this
very slave, that she should go and buy his wife. Still, that's a very
different thing from hiding a runaway. I dare say that, as she says,
the fellow came here to see his wife when he first ran away; but I
don't; think you will find him anywhere about here now. It's pretty
certain from what we hear that he hasn't made for the North, and
where the fellow can be hiding I can't think. Still the woods about
this country are mighty big, and the fellow can go out on to the
farms and pick corn and keep himself going for a long time. Still,
he's sure to be brought; up sooner or later."

A thorough search was made of the slave-huts, and the slaves were
closely questioned, but all denied any knowledge of the runaway.
Dan escaped questioning, as he had taken up Vincent's horse to the
house in readiness for him to start as soon as he had finished
breakfast.

All day the searchers rode about the plantation examining every
clump of bushes, and assuring themselves that none of them had
been used as a place of refuge for the runaway.
,
"It's no good, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff said at last. "The man may
have been here; he ain't here now. The only place we haven't;
searched is the house, and you may be quite sure the slaves dare
not conceal him there. Too many would get to know it. No, sir,
he's made a bolt of it, and you will have to wait now till he is
caught by chance, or shot; by some farmer or other in the act of
stealing."

"I would lay a thousand dollars," Andrew Jackson exclaimed
passionately, "that young Wingfield knows something about; his
whereabouts, and has lent him a hand!"

"Well, I should advise you to keep your mouth shut about; it; till
you get some positive proof," the sheriff said dryly. "I tell you it's
no joke to accuse a member of a family like the Wingfields of
helping runaway slaves to escape."

"I will bide my time," the planter said. "You said that some day
you would lay hands on Tony dead or alive. You see if some day I
don't lay hands on young Wingfield."

Well, it seems, Mr. Jackson," the sheriff remarked with a sneer, for
he was out of temper at the ill success of the day's work, "that; he
has already laid hands on your son. It seems to me quite as likely
that he will lay hands on you as you on him."

Two days afterward as Vincent was riding through the streets of
Richmond he saw to his surprise Andrew Jackson in close
conversation with Jonas Pearson.

"I wonder what those two fellows are talking about?" he said to
himself. "I expect; Jackson is trying to pump Pearson as to the
doings at the Orangery. I don't like that; fellow, and never shall,
and he is just the sort of man to do one a bad turn if he had the
chance. However, as I have never spoken to him about; that affair
from beginning to end, I don't see that he can do any mischief if he
wants to."

Andrew Jackson, however, had obtained information which he
considered valuable. He learned that Vincent had been away in a
boat for five days, and that his mother had been very uneasy about
him. He also learned that the boat was one belonging to Mr.
Furniss, and that it was only quite lately that Vincent had taken to
going out sailing.

After considerable trouble he succeeded in getting at one of the
slaves upon Mr. Furniss' plantation. But he could only learn from
him that Vincent had been unaccompanied when he went out in
the boat either by young Furniss or by any of the plantation hands;
that he had taken with him only his own slave, and had come and
gone as he chose, taking out and fastening up the boat himself, so
that no one could say when he had gone out;, except; that his horse
was put up at the stables. The slave said that certainly the horse
bad only stood there on two or three occasions, and then only for a
few hours, and that unless Mr. Wingfield had walked over he
could never have had the boat out all night, as the horse certainly
had not stood all night in the stables.

Andrew Jackson talked the matter over with his son, and both
agreed that Vincent's conduct; was suspicious His own people said
he had been away for five days in the boat. The people at Furniss'
knew nothing about this, and therefore there must be some mystery
about it, and they doubted not that; that mystery was connected
with the runaway slave, and they guessed that he had either taken
Tony and landed him near the mouth of the York River on the
northern shore, or that he had put him on beard a ship. They
agreed, however, that whatever their suspicious, they had not
sufficient grounds for openly accusing Vincent of aiding their
runaway.

CHAPTER V. SECESSION..

WHILE Vincent had been occupied with the affairs of Tony and
his wife, public events had moved forward rapidly. The South
Carolina Convention met in the third week in December, and on
the 20th of that month the Ordinance of Secession was passed. On
the 10th of Jan-nary, three days after Vincent returned home from
his expedition, Florida followed the example of South Carolina
and seceded. Alabama and Mississippi passed the Ordinance of
Secession on the following day; Georgia on the 18th, Louisiana on
the 23d, and Texas on the 1st of February.

In all these States the Ordinance of Session was received with
great; rejoicing: bonfires were lit, the towns illuminated, and the
militia paraded the streets, and in many cases the Federal arsenals
were seized and the Federal forts occupied by the State troops. In
the meantime the Northern Slave States, Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, remained irresolute. The
general feeling was strongly in favor of their Southern brethren;
but they were anxious for peace, and for a compromise being
arrived at. Whether the North would agree to admit; the
constitutional rights of secession, or whether it would use force to
compel the Seceding States to remain in the Union, was still
uncertain; but the idea of a civil war was so terrible a one that the
general belief was that some arrangement to allow the States to go
their own way would probably be arrived at.

For the time the idea of Vincent going to West Point was
abandoned. Among his acquaintances were several young men
who were already at West Point, and very few of these returned to
the academy. The feeling there was very strongly on the side of
secession. A great majority of the students came from the
Southern States, as while the sons of the Northern men went
principally into trade and commerce, the Southern planters sent
their sons into the army, and a great proportion of the officers of
the army and navy were Southerners.

As the professors at West; Point were all military men, the feeling
among them, as well as among the students, was in favor of State
rights; they considering that, according to the constitution, their
allegiance was due first to the States of which they were natives,
and in the second place to the Union. Thus, then, many of the
professors who were natives of the seven States which had seceded
resigned their appointments, and returned home to occupy
themselves in drilling the militia and the levies, who were at once
called to arms.

Still all hoped that; peace would be preserved, until on the 11th of
April General Beauregard, who commanded the troops of South
Carolina, summoned Major Anderson, who was in command of
the Federal troops in Fort Sumter, to surrender, and on his refusal
opened fire upon the fort on the following day.

On the 13th, the barracks of the fort; being set on fire, and Major
Anderson seeing the hopelessness of a prolonged resistance,
surrendered. The effect of the news throughout the United States
was tremendous, and Mr. Lincoln at once called out 75,000 men of
the militia of the various States to put down the rebellion-the
border States being ordered to send their proportion. This brought
matters to a climax. Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Missouri all refused to furnish contingents to act
against the Southern States; and Virginia, North Carolina, and
Kansas a few days later passed Ordinances of Secession and joined
the Southern States. Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware were
divided in their counsels.

The struggle that was about; to commence was an uneven one.
The white population of the Seceding States was about 8,000,000;
while that the Northern States were 19,614,885. The North
possessed an immense advantage, inasmuch as they retained the
whole of the Federal navy, and were thereby enabled at once to cut
off all communication between the Southern States and Europe,
while they themselves could draw unlimited supplies of munitions
of war of all kinds from across the Atlantic.

Although the people of Virginia had hoped to the last that some
peaceful arrangement might be effected, the Act of Secession was
received with enthusiasm. The demand of Mr. Lincoln that they
should furnish troops to crush their Southern brethren excited the
liveliest indignation, and Virginia felt that there was no course
open to her now but to throw in her lot with the other Slaves
States. Her militia was at once called out, and volunteers called
for to form a provisional army to protect the State from invasion
by the North.

The appeal was answered with enthusiasm; men of all ages took
up arms; the wealthy raised regiments at their own expense,
generally handing over the commands to experienced army
officers, and themselves taking their places in the ranks; thousand
of lads of from fifteen to sixteen years of age enrolled themselves,
and men who had never done a day's work in their life prepared to
suffer all the hardships of the campaign as private soldiers.

Mrs. Wingfield was an enthusiastic supporter of State rights; and
when Vincent told her that numbers of his friends were going to
enroll themselves as soon as the lists were opened, she offered no
objection to his doing the same.

"Of course you are very young, Vincent; but no one thinks there
will be any serious fighting. Now that Virginia and the other four
States have cast in their lot with the seven that have seceded, the
North can never hope to force the solid South back into the Union.
Still it is right you should join. I certainly should not; like an old
Virginian family like ours to be unrepresented; but I should prefer
your joining one of the mounted corps.

"In the first; place it will be much less fatiguing than carrying a
heavy rifle and knapsack; and in the second place, the cavalry will
for the most; part be gentlemen. I was speaking only yesterday
when I went into Richmond to Mr. Ashley, who is raising a corps.
He is one of the best riders in the country, and a splendid specimen
of a Virginian gentleman. lie tells me that he has already received
a large number of applications from young volunteers, and that he
thinks he shall be able without any difficulty to get as many as he
wants. I said that I had a son who would probably enroll himself,
and that I should like to have him in his corps.

"He said that he would be glad to put down your name, and that he
had had many applications from lads no older than yourself. He
considered that for cavalry work, scouting, and that sort; of thing
age mattered little, and that; a lad who was at once a light weight,
a good rider, and a good shot was of as much good as a man."

"Thank you, mother. I will ride into Richmond to-morrow
morning and see Ashley. I have often met him at one house or
another, and should like to serve under him very much. I should
certainly prefer being in the cavalry to the infantry."

Rosie and Annie, who were of course enthusiastic for the South,
were almost as pleased as was Vincent when they heard that their
mother had consented to his enrolling himself. So many of the
girls of their acquaintance had brothers or cousins who were
joining the army, that they would have felt it; as something like a
slur upon the family name had Vincent remained behind.

On the following morning Vincent rode over and saw Mr. Ashley,
who had just; received his commission as major. He was cordially
received.

Mrs. Wingfield was speaking to me about you, and I shall be glad
to have you with me-the more so as you are a capital rider and a
good shot. I shall have a good many in my ranks no older than you
are. Did I not hear a few mouths since that you bought; Wildfire? I
thought when I heard it; that you would be lucky if you did not get
your neck broken in the course of a week. Peters, who owns the
next estate to mine, had the horse for about three weeks, and was
glad enough to get; rid of it for half what he had given for it. He
told me the horse was the most savage brute he ever saw. I
suppose you did not keep it many days?"

"I have got it still, and mean to ride it with you. The horse was not
really savage. It was hot-tempered, and had, I think, been badly
treated by its first owner. Who-ever it had belonged to, I found no
difficulty with it;. It only wanted kindness and a little patience;
and as soon as it found that it could not get rid of me, and that I
had no intention of ill-treating it;, it settled down quietly, after
running away a few times and giving me some little trouble at
starting. And now 1 would not change it for any horse in the
State."

"You must he a first-rate rider," Major Ashley said, "to be able to
tame Wildfire. I never saw the horse, for I was away when Peters
had her; but; from his description it was a perfect savage."

"Are we allowed to bring a servant with us" Vincent asked.

"Yes, if you like. I know that a good many are going to do so, but
you must not make up your mind that you will get much benefit
from one. We shall move rapidly, and each man must; shift for
himself, but at the same time we shall of course often be
stationary; and then servants will be useful. At any rate I can see
no objection to men having them. We must be prepared to rough it
to any extent when it is necessary, but I see no reason why at other
times a man should not; make himself comfortable. I expect the
order to-morrow or next; day to begin formally to enroll
volunteers. As I have now put down your name there will be no
occasion for you to come in then. You will receive a
communication telling you when to report yourself.

"I shall not trouble much about uniform at first. High boots and
breeches, a thick felt hat that will turn the edge of a sword, and a
loose coat-jacket of dark-gray cloth. That is the name of the tailor
who has got the pattern, and will make them. So I should advise
you to go to him at once, for lie will be so busy soon that; there is
no saying when the whole troop will get their uniforms."

Upon his return home Vincent related to his mother and sisters the
conversation that he had had with Major Ashley.

"Certainly you had better take a servant with you," his mother said.
"I suppose when you are riding about; you will have to clean your
horse, and cook your dinner, and do everything for yourself; but
when you are in a town you should have these things done for you.
Who would you like to take?

"I should like to take Dan, mother, if you have no objection. He is
very strong and active, and I think would generally be able to keep
up with us; besides, I know he would always stick to me."

"You shall have hun certainly, Vincent; I will make him over
formally to you."

WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA.
85

"Thank you, mother," Vincent said joyfully; for ho had often
wished that Dan belonged to him, as he would then be able to
prevent any interference with him by the overseer or any one else,
and could, if he liked, give him his freedom-although this would,
he knew, be of very doubtful advantage to the lad as long as he
remained in the South.

The next morning the necessary papers were drawn up, and the
ownership of Dan was formally transferred to Vincent. Dan was
wild with delight when he heard that Vincent was now his master,
and that he was to accompany him to the war. It had been known
two days before that Vincent was going, and it seemed quite
shocking to the negroes that the young master should go as a
private soldier, and have to do everything for himself-"just," as
they said, "like de poor white trash;" for the slaves were proud to
belong to an old family, and looked down with almost contempt
upon the poorer class of whites, regarding their own position as
infinitely superior.

Four days later Vincent received an official letter saying that the
corps would be mustered in two days' time. The next day was
spent in a long round of farewell visits, and then Vincent mounted
Wildfire, and, with Dan trotting behind, rode off from the
Orangery amid a chorus of blessings and good wishes from all the
slaves who could op any pretext get away from their duties, and
who had assembled in front of the house to see him start.

The place of meeting for the regiment was at Hanover
Courthouse-a station on the Richmond and Fredericksburg
Railway, close to the Pamunky River, about eighteen miles from
the city.

The Orangery was a mile from the village of Gaines, which lay to
the northeast of Richmond, and was some twelve miles from
Hanover Courthouse.

A month was spent in drill, and at the end of that time the corps
wore able to execute any simple maneuver. More than this Major
Ashley did not care about their learning. The work in which they
were about to engage was that of scouts rather than that of regular
cavalry, and the requirements were vigilance and attention to
orders, good shooting and a quick eye. Off duty there was but
little discipline. Almost the whole of the men were in a good
position in life, and many of them very wealthy; and while strict
discipline and obedience were expected while on duty, at all other
times something like equality existed between officers and men,
and all were free to live as they chose.

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