Books: The Man in Gray
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Thomas Dixon >> The Man in Gray
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The new Commander was granted full authority over all the armies of the
Union. He placed Sherman at Chattanooga in command of a hundred thousand
men and ordered him to invade Georgia. He sent Butler with an army
of fifty thousand up the Peninsula against Richmond on the line of
McClellan's old march. He raised the army of the Potomac to a hundred
and forty thousand effective fighting soldiers, placed Phil Sheridan in
command of his cavalry, put himself at the head of this magnificent army
and faced Lee on the banks of the Rapidan. He was but a few miles from
Chancellorsville where Hooker's men had baptized the earth in blood the
year before.
A new draft of five hundred thousand had given Grant unlimited men for
the coming whirlwind. His army was the flower of Northern manhood. He
commanded the best-equipped body of soldiers ever assembled under the
flag of the Union. His baggage train was sixty miles long and would
have stretched the entire distance from his crossing at the Rapidan to
Richmond.
Lee's army had been recruited to its normal strength of sixty-two
thousand. Again the wily Southerner anticipated the march of his foe
and crept into the tangled wilderness to meet him where his superiority
would be of no avail.
Confident of his resistless power Grant threw his army across the
Rapidan and plunged into the wilderness. From the dawn of the first day
until far into the night the conflict raged. As darkness fell Lee had
pushed the blue lines back a hundred yards, captured four guns and
a number of prisoners. At daylight they were at it again. As the
Confederate right wing crumpled and rolled back, Long-street arrived on
the scene and threw his corps into the breach.
Lee himself rode forward to lead the charge and restore his line. At
sight of him, from thousands of parched throats rose the cries:
"Lee to the rear!"
"Go back, General Lee!"
"We'll settle this!"
They refused to move until their leader had withdrawn. And then with a
savage yell they charged and took the field.
Lee sent Longstreet to turn Grant's left as Jackson had done at
Chancellorsville. The movement was executed with brilliant success.
Hancock's line was smashed and driven back on his second defenses.
Wardsworth at the head of his division was mortally wounded and fell
into Longstreet's hands. At the height of his triumph in a movement that
must crumple Grant's army back on the banks of the river, Longstreet
fell, shot by his own men. In the change of commanders the stratagem
failed in its big purpose.
In two days Grant lost sixteen thousand six hundred men, a greater toll
than Hooker paid when he retreated in despair.
Grant merely chewed the end of his big cigar, turned to his lieutenant
and said:
"It's all right, Wilson. We'll fight again."
The two armies lay in their trenches watching each other in grim
silence.
CHAPTER XLII
In Lee's simple tent on the battlefield amid the ghostly trees of the
wilderness his Adjutant-General, Walter Taylor, sat writing rapidly.
Sam, his ebony face shining, stood behind trying to look over his
shoulder. He couldn't make it out and his curiosity got the better of
him.
"What dat yer writin' so hard, Gin'l Taylor?"
Without lifting his head the Adjutant continued to write.
"Orders of promotion for gallantry in battle, Sam."
"Is yer gwine ter write one fer my young Marse Robbie?"
Taylor paused and looked up. The light of admiration overspread his
face.
"General Lee never promotes his sons or allows them on his staff, Sam.
General Custis Lee, General Rooney Lee, and Captain Robbie won their
spurs without a word from him. They won by fighting."
"Yassah! Dey sho's been some fightin' in dis here wilderness. Hopes ter
God we git outen here pretty quick. Gitten too close tergedder ter suit
me."
The clatter of a horse's hoofs rang out in the little clearing in front
of the tent.
Taylor looked up again.
"See if that's Stuart. General Lee's expecting him."
Sam peered out the door of the tent.
"Dey ain't no plume in his hat an' dey ain't no banjo man wid him.
Nasah. Tain't Gin'l Stuart."
"All right. Pull up a stool."
"Yassah!"
Sam unfolded a camp stool and placed it at the table. A sentinel
approached and called:
"Senator William C. Rives of the Confederate Congress to see General
Lee."
Taylor rose.
"Show him in."
The Senator entered with a quick, nervous excitement he could not
conceal.
"Colonel Taylor--"
"Senator."
The men clasped hands and Taylor continued to watch the nervous manner
of his caller.
"My coming from Richmond is no doubt a surprise?"
"Naturally. We're in pretty close quarters with Grant here to-night--"
Rives raised his hand in a gesture of despair.
"No closer than our Government in Richmond is with the end at this
moment, in my judgment. I couldn't wait. I had to come to-night. You
have called an informal council as I requested?"
"The moment I got your message an hour ago."
Taylor caught his excitement and bent close.
"What is it, Senator?"
Rives hesitated, glanced at the doors of the tent and answered rapidly.
"The Confederate Congress has just held a secret session without the
knowledge of President Davis--"
He drew from his pocket a letter and handed it to the Adjutant.
"You will see from this letter of the presiding officer my credentials.
They have sent me as their agent on an important mission to General
Lee."
He paused as Taylor carefully read the letter.
"How soon can I see him?"
"I'm expecting him in a few minutes," Taylor answered. "He's riding on
the front lines trying to feel out Grant's next move. He is very anxious
over it."
"This battle was desperate?" Rives asked nervously.
"Terrific."
"Our losses in the two days?"
"More than ten thousand."
"Merciful God--"
"Grant's losses were far greater," Taylor added briskly.
"No matter, Taylor, no matter!" he cried in anguish, springing to his
feet. He fought for control of his emotions and hurried on.
"The maws of those cannon now are insatiate! We can't afford to lose ten
thousand men from our thin ranks in two days. If your army suspected
for one moment the real situation in Richmond, they'd quit and we'd be
lost."
"They only ask for General Lee's orders, Senator. Their faith in our
leader is sublime."
"And that's our only hope," Rives hastened to add. "General Lee may save
us. And he is the only man who can do it."
He stopped and studied Taylor closely. He spoke with some diffidence.
"The faith of his officers in him remains absolutely unshaken?"
"They worship him."
"My appeal will be solely to him. But I may need help."
"I've asked Alexander and Gordon to come. General Gordon did great
work to-day. It was his command that broke Hancock's lines and took
prisoners. I've just slated him for further promotion. Stuart is already
on the way here to report the situation on the right where his cavalry
is operating."
The ring of two horses' hoofs echoed.
"If Stuart will only back me!" Rives breathed.
Outside the Cavalry Commander was having trouble with Sweeney, his
minstrel follower, an expert banjo player.
Stuart laughed heartily at his fears.
"Come on, Sweeney. Don't be a fool."
The minstrel man still held back and Stuart continued to urge.
"Come on in, Sweeney. Don't be bashful. I promised you shall see General
Lee and you shall. Come on!"
Taylor and Rives stood in the door of the tent watching the conflict.
"Never be afraid of a great man, Sweeney!" Stuart went on. "The greater
the man the easier it is to get along with him. General Lee wears no
scarlet in his coat, no plume in his hat, no gold braid on his uniform.
He's as plain as a gray mouse--"
Stuart laughed and whispered:
"He's too great to need anything to mark his rank. But he never frowns
on my gay colors."
"He knows," Taylor rejoined, "that it's your way of telling the glory of
the cause."
"Sure! He just laughs at my foolishness and gives me an order to lick a
crowd that outnumbers me, three to one."
He took hold of Sweeney's arm.
"Don't be afraid, old boy. Marse Robert won't frown on your banjo.
He'll just smile as he recalls what the cavalry did in our last battle.
Minstrel man, make yourself at home."
Sweeney timidly touched the strings, and Stuart wheeled toward Rives.
"Well, Senator, how goes it in Richmond?"
Rives answered with eager anxiety. His words were not spoken in despair
but with an undertone of desperate appeal.
"Dark days have come, General Stuart. And great events are pending.
Events of the utmost importance to the army, to the country, to General
Lee."
"Just say General Lee and let it go at that," Stuart laughed. "He _is_
the army _and_ the country."
He turned to Taylor.
"Where's Marse Robert?"
"Inspecting the lines. He fears a movement to turn our flank at
Spottsylvania Court House."
"My men are right there, watching like owls. They'll catch the first
rustle of a leaf by Sheridan's cavalry."
"I hope so."
"Never fear. Well, Sweeney, while we wait for General Lee, Senator Rives
needs a little cheer. We've medicine in that box for every ill that man
is heir to. Things look black in Richmond, he tells us. All right. Give
us the old familiar tune--_Hard Times and Wuss Er Comin'!_--Go it!"
Sweeney touched his strings sharply.
"You don't mind, sir?" he asked Taylor.
"Certainly not. I like it."
Sentinels, orderlies, aides and scouts gathered around the door as
Sweeney played and sang with Stuart. The Cavalryman's spirit was
contagious. Before the song had died away, they were all singing the
chorus in subdued tones. Sweeney ended with Stuart's favorite--_Rock of
Ages_.
General John B. Gordon joined the group, followed by General E.P.
Alexander.
Taylor called the generals together.
"Senator Rives, gentlemen, is the bearer of an important message from
the Confederate Congress to General Lee. I have asked you informally to
join him in this meeting."
Rives entered his appeal.
"I am going to ask you to help me to-night in paying the highest tribute
to General Lee in our power."
Gordon responded promptly.
"We shall honor ourselves in honoring him, sir."
"Always," Alexander agreed.
Rives plunged into the heart of his mission.
"Gentlemen, so desperate is the situation of the South that our only
hope lies in our great Commander. The Confederate Congress has sent me
to offer him the Dictatorship--"
"You don't mean it?" Stuart exploded.
"Will you back me?"
The Cavalry leader grasped his hand.
"Yours to count on, sir!"
"Yes," Gordon joined.
"We'll back you!" Alexander cried.
Rives' face brightened.
"If he will only accept. The question is how to approach him?"
"It must be done with the utmost care," Alexander warned.
"Exactly." Rives nodded. "Shall I announce to him it once the vote of
Congress conferring on him the supreme power?"
"Not if you can approach him more carefully," Alexander cautioned.
"I can first propose that as Commanding General he might accept
the peace proposals which Francis Preston Blair has brought from
Washington--"
"What kind of peace proposals?" Gorden asked sharply.
"He proposes to end the war immediately by an armistice, and arrange for
the joint invasion of Mexico by the combined armies of the North and
South under the command of General Lee."
Alexander snapped at the suggestion.
"By all means suggest the armistice first. General Lee won his spurs in
Mexico. The plan might fire his imagination--as it would have fired the
soul of Caesar or Napoleon. If he refuses to go over the head of Davis,
you can then announce the vote of Congress giving him supreme power."
The general suddenly paused at the familiar sound of Traveler's
hoofbeat.
The officers stood and saluted as Lee entered. He was dressed in his
full field gray uniform of immaculate cut and without spot. He wore his
sword, high boots and spurs and his field glasses were thrown across his
broad shoulders.
He glanced at the group in slight surprise and drew Stuart aside.
"I sent for you, General Stuart, to say that I am expecting a courier at
any moment who may report that General Grant will move on Spottsylvania
Court House."
He paused in deep thought.
"If so, Sheridan will throw the full force of his cavalry on your lines,
to turn our right and circle Richmond."
Stuart's body stiffened.
"I'm ready, sir. He may reach Yellow Tavern. He'll never go past it."
In low, tense words Lee said:
"I'm depending on you, sir."
Stuart saluted in silence.
Lee turned back into the group and Taylor explained:
"I have called an informal meeting at the request of Senator Rives."
Lee smiled.
"Oh, I see. A council of both War and State."
Rives came forward and the Commander grasped his hand.
"Always glad to see _you_, Senator. What can we do for you?"
"Everything, sir. Can we enter at once into our conference?"
"The quicker the better. General Grant may drop in on us at any moment
without an invitation."
Rives smiled wanly.
"General Lee, we face the gravest crisis of the war."
"No argument is needed to convince me of that, sir. Grant's men have
gripped us with a ferocity never known before."
"And our boys," Alexander added, "in all the struggle have never been
such stark fighters as to-day."
"I agree with you," Lee nodded. "But Grant is getting ready to fight
again to-morrow morning--not next month. His policy is new, and it's
clear. He plans to pound us to death in a series of quick, successive
blows. His man power is exhaustless. We can't afford to lose many men.
He can. An endless blue line is streaming to the front."
"And that's why I'm here to-night, General," Rives said gravely.
"Grant is now in supreme command of all the Armies of the Union. While
he moves on Richmond, Butler is sweeping up the James and Sherman is
pressing on Atlanta. We have lost ten thousand men in two-days' battle.
In the next we'll lose ten thousand more. In the next ten thousand
more--"
"We must fight, sir. I have invaded the North twice. But I stand on the
defense now. I have no choice."
"That remains to be seen, General Lee," Rives said with a piercing look.
"What do you mean?"
"A few days ago, your old friend, Francis Preston Blair, entered our
lines and came to Richmond on a mission of peace. He has now before Mr.
Davis and his Cabinet a plan to end the war. He proposes that we stop
fighting, unite and invade Mexico to defend the Monroe Doctrine.
Maximilian of Austria has just been proclaimed Emperor in a conspiracy
backed by Napoleon. The suggestion is that we join armies under your
command, dethrone Maximilian, push the soldiers of Napoleon into the
sea, and restore the rule of the people on the American Continent."
Lee looked at him steadily.
"Mr. Davis refuses to listen to this proposal?"
"Only on the basis of the continued division of our country. Lincoln
naturally demands that we come back into the Union first, and march on
Mexico afterwards. Mr. Davis refuses to come back into the Union first.
And so we end where we began--unless we can get help from you, General
Lee--"
"Well?"
"The Confederate Congress has sent me as their spokesman to make a
proposition to you."
He handed Lee the letter from the Congress.
"Will you issue as Commanding General an order for an armistice to
arrange the joint invasion of Mexico?"
"You mean take it on myself to go over the head of Mr. Davis, and issue
this order without his knowledge?"
"Exactly. We could not take him into our confidence."
"But Mr. Davis is my superior officer and he is faithfully executing the
laws."
"You will not proclaim an armistice, then?"
Lee spoke with irritation.
"How can you ask me to go over the head of my Chief with such an order?"
Alexander pressed forward.
"But you might consider a proclamation looking to peace under this
plan--if you were in a position of supreme power?"
"I have no such power. I advised our people to make peace before I
invaded Pennsylvania. I have urged it more than once, but they cannot
see it. And I must do the work given me from day to day."
"We now propose to give to you the sole decision as to what that work
shall be."
"How, sir?"
"I am here to-night, General, as the agent of our Government, to confer
on you this power. The Congress has unanimously chosen you as Dictator
of the Confederacy with supreme power over both the civil and military
branches of the Government."
"And well done!" cried Gordon.
"We back them!" echoed Alexander.
"Hurrah for the Confederate Congress," shouted Stuart--"the first signs
of brains they've shown in many a day--"
He caught himself at a glance from Rives.
"Excuse me, Senator--I didn't mean quite that."
Lee fixed Rives with his brilliant eyes.
"The Confederate Congress has no authority to declare & Dictatorship."
"We have."
"By what law?"
"By the law of necessity, sir. The civil government in Richmond has
become a farce. I acknowledge it sorrowfully. Your soldiers are ill
clothed, half starved, and the power to recruit your ranks is gone. The
people have lost faith in their civil leaders. Disloyalty is rampant. In
the name of ultra State Sovereignty, treason is everywhere threatening.
Soldiers are taken from your army by State authorities on the eve of
battle. Men are deserting in droves and defy arrest. You have justly
demanded the death penalty for desertion. It has been denied. Bands of
deserters now plunder, burn and rob as they please. You are our only
hope. You are the idol of our people. At your call they will rally. Men
will pour into your ranks, and we can yet crush our enemies, or invade
Mexico as you may decide."
"He's right, General," Gordon agreed. "The South will stand by you to a
man."
Alexander added with deep reverence:
"The people believe in you, General Lee, as they believe in God."
A dreamy look overspread Lee's face.
"Their faith is misplaced, sir! God alone decides the fate of nations.
And God, not your commanding General, will decide the fate of the South.
The thing that appalls me is that we have no luck. For in spite of
numbers, resources, generalship--the unknown factor in war is luck. The
North has had it all. At Shiloh at the moment of a victory that would
have ended Grant's career, Albert Sydney Johnson, our ablest general,
was shot and Grant escaped. At the battle of Chancellorsville in these
very woods, Jackson at the moment of his triumph-Jackson my right
arm--was shot by his own men. To-day Longstreet falls in the same way
when he is about to repeat his immortal deed--"
He paused.
"The South has had no luck!"
Alexander eagerly protested.
"I don't agree with you, sir. God has given the South Lee as her
Commander. Your genius is equal to a hundred thousand men. And in all
our terrible battles, at the head of your men, again and again, as you
were to-day, with bullets whistling around you, you've lived a charmed
life. You're here to-night strong in body and mind, without a scratch.
Don't tell me, sir, that we haven't had luck!"
Stuart broke in.
"You're the biggest piece of luck that ever befell an army."
Lee rose.
"I appreciate your confidence and your love, gentlemen. But I've made
many tragic mistakes, and tried to find an abler man to take my place."
"There's no such man!" Stuart boomed. "Give the word to-night and every
soldier in this army would follow you into the jaws of hell!"
Lee's eyes were lifted dreamily.
"And you ask me to blot out the liberties of our people by a single act
of usurpation?"
Alexander lifted his hand.
"Only for a moment, General, that we may restore them in greater glory.
The truth is the Confederate Government is not fitted for revolution.
Let's win this war and fix it afterwards."
"I do not believe either in military statesmen or political generals.
The military should be subordinate always to the civil power--"
"But Congress," Rives broke in, "speaking for the people, offers you
supreme power. Mr. Davis has not proven himself strong enough for the
great office he holds."
Lee flared at this assertion.
"And if he has not, sir, who gave _me_ the right to sit in judgment upon
my superior officer and condemn him without trial? Mr. Davis is the
victim of this unhappy war. I say this, though, that he differs with me
on vital issues. I urged the abolition of Slavery. He opposed it. So did
your Congress. I urged the uncovering of Richmond and the concentration
of our forces into one great army for an offensive--"
Rives interrupted.
"We ask you to take the supreme power and decide these questions."
Lee replied with a touch of anger.
"But I may be wrong in my policies. Mr. Davis is a man of the highest
character, devoted soul and body to the principles to which he has
pledged his life. He is a statesman of the foremost rank. He is
a trained soldier, a West Point graduate. He is a man of noble
spirit--courageous, frank, positive. A great soul throbs within his
breast. He has done as well in his high office as any other man could
have done--"
He looked straight at Rives.
"We left the Union, sir, because our rights had been invaded. Our
revolution is justified by this fact alone. You ask me to do the thing
that caused us to revolt. To brush aside the laws which our people have
ordained and set up a Dictatorship with the power of life and death over
every man, woman and child. For three years we have poured out our blood
in a sacred cause. We are fighting for our liberties under law, or we
are traitors, not revolutionists. We are fighting for order, justice,
principles, or we are fighting for nothing--"
A courier dashed to the door of the tent and handed Lee a message which
he read with a frown.
"This discussion is closed, gentlemen. General Grant is moving on
Spottsylvania Court House. My business is to get there first. My work is
not to jockey for place or power. It is to fight. Move your forces at
once!"
CHAPTER XLIII
Lee hurried to Spottsylvania Court House and was entrenched before Grant
arrived. The two armies again flew at each other's throat. True to Lee's
prediction the Union Commander hurled Sheridan's full force of ten
thousand cavalry in a desperate effort to turn the right and strike
Richmond while the Confederate infantry were held in a grip of death.
From a hilltop Stuart saw the coming blue legions of Sheridan. They rode
four abreast and made a column of flashing sabers and fluttering guidons
thirteen miles long.
The young Cavalier waved his plumed hat and gave a shout. It was
magnificent. He envied them the endless line of fine horses. He had but
three small brigades to oppose them. But his spirits rose.
He ordered his generals to harass the advancing host at every point of
vantage, delay them as long as possible and draw up their forces at
Yellow Tavern for the battle.
He took time to dash across the country from Beaver Dam Station to see
his wife and babies. He had left them at the house of Edmund Fontaine.
He feared that the Federal Cavalry might have raided the section.
To his joy he found them well and happy, unconscious of the impending
fight.
For the first time in his joyous life of song and play and war he was
worried.
His wife was in high spirits. She cheered him.
"Don't worry about us, my soldier man! We're all right. No harm has
ever befallen us. We've had three glorious years playing lovers'
hide-and-seek. I've ceased to worry about you. Your life is charmed. God
has heard my prayers. You're coming home soon to play with me and the
babies always!"
She was too happy for Stuart to describe the host of ten thousand riders
which he had just seen. Their lives were in God's hands. It was enough.
He held her in his arms longer than was his wont at parting. And then
with a laugh and a shout to the children he was gone.
At Jerrold's Mill, Wickham's brigade suddenly fell on Sheridan's rear
guard and captured a company. Sheridan refused to stop to fight.
At Mitchell's Shop, Wickham again dashed on the rear guard and was
forced back by a counter charge. As he retreated, fighting a desperate
hand-to-hand saber engagement, Fitzhugh Lee and Stuart rushed to his aid
and the blue river rolled on again toward Richmond.
At Hanover Junction Stuart allowed his men to sleep until one o'clock
and then rode with desperate speed to Yellow Tavern. He reached his
chosen battle ground at ten o'clock the following morning. He had won
the race and at once deployed his forces to meet the coming avalanche.
Wickham he stationed on the right of the road, Lomax on the left. He
placed two guns in the road, one on the left to rake it at an angle.
He dismounted his men and ordered them to fight as infantry. A reserve
of mounted men were held in his rear.
He sent his aide into Richmond to inquire of its defenses and warn
General Bragg of the sweeping legions. The Commandant at the Confederate
Capital replied that he could hold his trenches. He would call on
Petersburg for reinforcements. He asked Stuart to hold Sheridan back as
long as possible.
On the morning of the eleventh of May, at 6:30, he wrote his dispatch to
Lee:
"Fighting against immense odds of Sheridan. My men and horses are tired,
hungry and jaded, _but all right!_"
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