CHAPTER VI. MILL SPRING
Garfield's camp was on a little group of hills in a very strongposition, and his men, flushed with victory, were eager for anotherencounter with the enemy. They had plenty of good tents to fend themfrom the winter weather which had often been bitter. Throughout the campburned large fires for which they had an almost unbroken wilderness tofurnish fuel. The whole aspect of the place was pleasing to the men whohad marched far and hard.
Major Hertford and his aides, Richard Mason and George Warner,were received in Colonel Garfield's tent. A slim young man, writingdispatches at a rude little pine table, rose to receive them. He did notseem to Dick to be more than thirty, and he had the thin, scholarly faceof a student. His manner was attractive, he shook hands warmly with allthree of them and said:
"Reinforcements are most welcome indeed. My own work here seems to belargely done, but you will reach General Thomas in another day, and heneeds you. Take my chair, Major Hertford. To you two lads I can offeronly stumps."
The tent had been pitched over a spot where three stumps had beensmoothed off carefully until they made acceptable seats. One end ofthe tent was entirely open, facing a glowing fire of oak logs. Dick andWarner sat down on the stumps and spread out their hands to the blaze.Beyond the flames they saw the wintry forest and mountains, seemingly aswild as they were when the first white man came.
The usual coffee and food were brought, and while they ate and drankMajor Hertford answered the numerous and pertinent questions of ColonelGarfield. He listened attentively to the account of the fight in themountains, and to all the news that they could tell him of Washington.
"We have been cut off in these mountains," he said. "I know very littleof what is going on, but what you say only confirms my own opinion. Thewar is rapidly spreading over a much greater area, and I believe thatits scope will far exceed any of our earlier calculations."
A grave and rather sad expression occupied for a moment the mobile face.He interested Dick greatly. He seemed to him scholar and thinker as wellas soldier. He and Warner long afterward attended the inauguration ofthis man as President of the United States.
After a brief rest, and good wishes from Garfield, Major Hertford andhis command soon reached the main camp under Thomas. Here they werereceived by a man very different in appearance and manner from Garfield.
General George H. Thomas, who was to receive the famous title, "The Rockof Chickamauga," was then in middle years. Heavily built and bearded, hewas chary of words. He merely nodded approval when Major Hertford toldof their march.
"I will assign your troops to a brigade," he said, "and I don't thinkyou'll have long to wait. We're expecting a battle in a few days withCrittenden and Zollicoffer."
"Not much to say," remarked Dick to Warner, as they went away.
"That's true," said Warner, thoughtfully, "but didn't you get animpression of strength from his very silence? I should say that in hismake-up he is five per cent talk, twenty-five per cent patience andseventy per cent action; total, one hundred per cent."
The region in which they lay was west of the higher mountains, whichthey had now crossed, but it was very rough and hilly. Not far from themwas a little town called Somerset, which Dick had visited once, and nearby, too, was the deep and swift Cumberland River, with much floating iceat its edges. When the two lads lay by a campfire that night SergeantWhitley came to them with the news of the situation, which he had pickedup in his usual deft and quiet way.
"The Southern army is on the banks of the Cumberland," he said. "Ithas not been able to get its provisions by land through Cumberland Gap.Instead they have been brought by boats on the river. As I hear it,Crittenden and Zollicoffer are afraid that our general will advance tothe river an' cut off these supplies. So they mean to attack us as soonas they can. If I may venture to say so, Mr. Mason, I'd advise that youand Lieutenant Warner get as good a rest as you can, and as soon as youcan."
They ate a hearty supper and being told by Major Hertford that theywould not be wanted until the next day, they rolled themselves in heavyblankets, and, pointing their feet toward a good fire, slept on theground. The night was very cold, because it was now the middle ofJanuary, but the blankets and fire kept them warm.
Dick did not fall to sleep for some time, because he knew that he wasgoing into battle again in a few days. He was on the soil of his nativestate now. He had already seen many Kentuckians in the army of Thomasand he knew that they would be numerous, too, in that of Crittendenand Zollicoffer. To some extent it would be a battle of brother againstbrother. He was glad that Harry Kenton was in the east. He did not wishin the height of battle to see his own cousin again on the oppositeside.
But when he did fall asleep his slumber was sound and restful, and hewas ready and eager the next morning, when the sergeant, Warner, and hewere detached for duty in a scouting party.
"The general has asked that you be sent owing to your experience in themountains," said Major Hertford, "and I have agreed gladly. I hope thatyou're as glad as I am."
"We are, sir," said the two boys together. The sergeant stood quietly byand smiled.
The detachment numbered a hundred men, all young, strong, and wellmounted. They were commanded by a young captain, John Markham, in whomDick recognized a distant relative. In those days nearly all Kentuckianswere more or less akin. The kinship was sufficient for Markham to keepthe two boys on either side of him with Sergeant Whitley just behind.Markham lived in Frankfort and he had marched with Thomas from thecantonments at Lebanon to their present camp.
"John," said Dick, addressing him familiarly and in right of kinship,"you've been for months in our own county. You've surely heard somethingfrom Pendleton?"
He could not disguise the anxiety in his voice, and the young captainregarded him with sympathy.
"I had news from there about a month ago, Dick," he replied. "Yourmother was well then, as I have no doubt she is now. The place was nottroubled by guerillas who are hanging on the fringe of the armies herein Eastern, or in Southern and Western Kentucky. The war for the presentat least has passed around Pendleton. Colonel Kenton was at BowlingGreen with Albert Sidney Johnston, and his son, Harry, your cousin, isstill in the East."
It was a rapid and condensed statement, but it was very satisfying toDick who now rode on for a long time in silence. The road was as bad asa road could be. Snow and ice were mixed with the deep mud which pulledhard at the hoofs of their horses. The country was rough, sterile, andinhabited but thinly. They rode many miles without meeting a singlehuman being. About the third hour they saw a man and a boy on a hillsideseveral hundred yards away, but when Captain Markham and a chosen fewgalloped towards them they disappeared so deftly among the woods thatnot a trace of them could be found.
"People in this region are certainly bashful," said Captain Markham witha vexed laugh. "We meant them no harm, but they wouldn't stay to seeus."
"But they don't know that," said Dick with the familiarity of kinship,even though distant. "I fancy that the people hereabouts wish bothNortherners and Southerners would go away."
Two miles further on they came to a large, double cabin standing backa little distance from the road. Smoke was rising from the chimney, andCaptain Markham felt sure that they could obtain information from itsinmates. Dick, at his direction, beat on the door with the butt of asmall riding whip. There was no response. He beat again rapidly andheavily, and no answer coming he pushed in the door.
A fire was burning on the hearth, but the house was abandoned. Nor hadthe owners been gone long. Besides the fire to prove it, clothingwas hanging on hooks in the wall, and there was food in the cupboard.Captain Markham sighed.
"Again they're afraid of us," he said. "I've no doubt the signal hasbeen passed ahead of us, and that we'll not get within speaking distanceof a single native. Curious, too, because this region in the main is forthe North."
"Perhaps somebody has been robbing and plundering in our name," saidDick. "Skelly and his raiders have been through
these parts."
"That's so," said Markham, thoughtfully. "I'm afraid those guerillas whoclaim to be our allies are going to do us a great deal of harm. Well,we'll turn back into the road, if you can call this stream of icy mud aroad, and go on."
Another mile and they caught the gleam of water among the wintry boughs.Dick knew that it was the Cumberland which was now a Southern artery,bringing stores and arms for the army of Crittenden and Zollicoffer.Even here, hundreds of miles from its mouth, it was a stream of greatdepth, easily navigable, and far down its current they saw faintly thesmoke of two steamers.
"They bear supplies for the Southern army," said Captain Markham. "Wecan cut off the passage of boats on this river and for that reason, soGeneral Thomas concludes, the Southern army is going to attack us. Whatdo you think of his reasoning, sergeant?"
"Beggin' your pardon, sir, for passin' an opinion upon my general,"replied Sergeant Whitley, "but I think his reasons are good. Here it isthe dead of winter, with more mud in the roads than I ever saw beforeanywhere, but there's bound to be a battle right away. Men will fight,sir, to keep from losin' their grub."
A man rode forward from the ranks, saluted and asked leave to speak.He was a native of the next county and knew that region well. Two mileseast of them and running parallel with the road over which they had comewas another and much wider road, the one that they called the big road.
"Which means, I suppose, that it contains more mud than this one," saidCaptain Markham.
"True, sir," replied the man, "but if the rebel army is advancing it islikely to be on that road."
"That is certainly sound logic. At least we'll go there and see. Can youlead us through these woods to it?"
"I can take you straight across," replied the man whose name wasCarpenter. "But on the way we'll have to ford a creek which is likely tobe pretty deep at this time of the year."
"Show the way," said Captain Markham briskly.
They plunged into the deep woods, and Carpenter guided them well. Thecreek, of which he had told, was running bankful of icy water, but theirhorses swam it and they kept straight ahead until Carpenter, who was alittle in advance, held up a warning hand.
Captain Markham ordered his whole troop to stop and keep as quiet aspossible. Then he, Dick, Warner, Sergeant Whitley and Carpenter rodeslowly forward. Before they had gone many yards Dick heard the heavyclank of metal, the cracking of whips, the swearing of men, and thesound of horses' feet splashing in the mud. He knew by the amount andvariety of the noises that a great force was passing.
They advanced a little further and reined into a clump of bushes whichdespite their lack of leaves were dense enough to shelter them fromobservation. As the bushes grew on a hillock they had a downward andgood look into the road, which was fairly packed with men in the gray ofthe Confederate army, some on horseback, but mostly afoot, their cannon,ammunition and supply wagons sinking almost to the hub in the mud. Asfar as Dick could see the gray columns extended.
"There must be six or seven thousand men here," he said to CaptainMarkham.
"Undoubtedly," replied Markham, "this is the main Confederate armyadvancing to attack ours, but the badness of the roads operates againstthe offense. We shall reach General Thomas with the word that they arecoming long before they are there."
They watched the marching army for a half hour longer in order to besure of everything, and then turning they rode as fast as they couldtoward Thomas, elated at their success. They swam the creek again, butat another point. Carpenter told them that the Southern army would crossit on a bridge, and Markham lamented that he could not turn and destroythis bridge, but such an attempt would have been folly.
They finally turned into the main road along which the Southern army wascoming, although they were now miles ahead of it, and, covered from headto foot with the red mud of the hills, they urged on their worn horsestoward the camp of Thomas.
"I haven't had much experience in fighting, but I should imagine thatcomplete preparation had a great deal to do with success," said CaptainMarkham.
"I'd put it at sixty per cent," said Warner.
"I should say," added Dick, "that the road makes at least eighty percent of our difficulty in getting back to Thomas."
In fact, the road was so bad that they were compelled after a while toride into the woods and let their ponies rest. Here they were fired uponby Confederate skirmishers from a hill two or three hundred yards away.Their numbers were small, however, and Captain Markham's force chargingthem drove them off without loss.
Then they resumed their weary journey, but the rest had not fullyrestored the horses and they were compelled at times to walk by the sideof the road, leading their mounts. Sergeant Whitley, with his age andexperience, was most useful now in restraining the impatient youngmen. Although of but humble rank he kept them from exhausting eitherthemselves or their horses.
"It will be long after dark before we can reach camp," said CaptainMarkham, sighing deeply. "Confound such roads. Why not call themmorasses and have done with it!"
"No, we can't make it much before midnight," said Dick, "but, after all,that will be early enough. If I judge him right, even midnight won'tcatch General Thomas asleep."
"You've judged him right," said Markham. "I've been with 'Pap' Thomassome time--we call him 'Pap' because he takes such good care of us--andI think he is going to be one of the biggest generals in this war.Always silent, and sometimes slow about making up his mind he strikeslike a sledge-hammer when he does strike."
"He'll certainly have the opportunity to give blow for blow," said Dick,as he remembered that marching army behind them. "How far do you thinkit is yet to the general's camp?"
"Not more than a half dozen miles, but it will be dark in a few minutes,and at the rate we're going it will take us two full hours more to getthere."
The wintry days were short and the sun slid down the gray, cold sky,leaving forest and hills in darkness. But the little band toiledpatiently on, while the night deepened and darkened, and a chill windwhistled down from the ridges. The officers were silent now, but theylooked eagerly for the first glimpse of the campfires of Thomas. Atlast they saw the little pink dots in the darkness, and then they pushedforward with new zeal, urging their weary horses into a run.
When Captain Markham, Dick and Warner galloped into camp, ahead ofthe others, a thickset strong figure walked forward to meet them. Theyleaped from their horses and saluted.
"Well?" said General Thomas.
"The enemy is advancing upon us in full force, sir," replied CaptainMarkham.
"You scouted thoroughly?"
"We saw their whole army upon the road."
"When do you think they could reach us?"
"About dawn, sir."
"Very good. We shall be ready. You and your men have done well. Now,find food and rest. You will be awakened in time for the battle."
Dick walked away with his friends. Troopers took their horses andcared for them. The boy glanced back at the thickset, powerful figure,standing by one of the fires and looking gravely into the coals. Morethan ever the man with the strong, patient look inspired confidencein him. He was sure now that they would win on the morrow. Markham andWarner felt the same confidence.
"There's a lot in having a good general," said Warner, who had alsoglanced back at the strong figure. "Do you remember, Dick, what it wasthat Napoleon said about generals?"
"A general is everything, an army nothing or something like that."
"Yes, that was it. Of course, he didn't mean it just exactly as he saidit. A general can't be one hundred per cent and an army none. It was afigure of speech so to say, but I imagine that a general is about fortyper cent. If we had had such leadership at Bull Run we'd have won."
Dick and Warner, worn out by their long ride, soon slept but there wasmovement all around them during the late hours of the night. Thomaswith his cautious, measuring mind was rectifying his lines in the wintrydarkness. He occupied a crossing of the roads, and he posted a str
ongbattery of artillery to cover the Southern approach. Around him were menfrom Kentucky, the mountains of Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Minnesota.The Minnesota troops were sun-tanned men who had come more than athousand miles from an Indian-infested border to defend the Union.
All through the night Thomas worked. He directed men with spades tothrow up more intrenchments. He saw that the guns of the battery wereplaced exactly right. He ordered that food should be ready for all veryearly in the morning, and then, when nothing more remained to be done,save to wait for the decree of battle, he sat before his tent wrappedin a heavy military overcoat, silent and watchful. Scouts had brought inadditional news that the Southern army was still marching steadily alongthe muddy roads, and that Captain Markham's calculation of its arrivalabout dawn would undoubtedly prove correct.
Dick awoke while it was yet dark, and throwing off the heavy blanketsstood up.
Although the dawn had not come, the night was now fairly light and Dickcould see a long distance over the camp which stretched to left andright along a great front. Near him was the battery with most of the mensleeping beside their guns, and not far away was the tent. Although hecould not see the general, he knew instinctively that he was not asleep.
It was cold and singularly still, considering the presence of so manythousands of men. He did not hear the sound of human voices and therewas no stamp of horses' feet. They, too, were weary and resting.Then Dick was conscious of a tall, thin figure beside him. Warner hadawakened, too.
"Dick," he said, "it can't be more than an hour till dawn."
"Just about that I should say."
"And the scene, that is as far as we can see it, is most peaceful."
Dick made no answer, but stood a long time listening. Then he said:
"My ears are pretty good, George, and sound will carry very far in thissilence just before the dawn. I thought I heard a faint sound like theclank of a cannon."
"I think I hear it, too," said Warner, "and here is the dawn closer athand than we thought. Look at those cold rays over there, behind thathill in the east. They are the vanguard of the sun."
"So they are. And this is the vanguard of the Southern army!"
He spoke the last words quickly and with excitement.
In front of them down the road they heard the crackle of a dozen rifleshots. The Southern advance undoubtedly had come into contact withthe Union sentinels and skirmishers. After the first shots there was amoment's breathless silence, and then came a scattered and rapid fire,as if at least a hundred rifles were at work.
Dick's pulse began to beat hard, and he strained his eyes through thedarkness, but he could not yet see the enemy. He saw instead little jetsof fire like red dots appearing on the horizon, and then the sound ofthe rifles came again. Warner was with him and both stood by the side ofMajor Hertford, ready to receive and deliver his orders. Dick now heardbesides the firing in front the confused murmur and moving of the Unionarmy.
Few of these troops had been in battle before--the same could be saidof the soldiers on the other side--and this attack in the half-lighttroubled them. They wished to see the men who were going to shoot atthem, in order that they might have a fair target in return. Fighting inthe night was scarcely fair. One never knew what to do. But Thomas, thefuture "Rock of Chickamauga," was already showing himself a tower ofstrength. He reassured his nervous troops, he borrowed Dick and Warnerand sent them along the line with messages from himself that they hadnothing to do but stand firm and the victory was theirs.
Meanwhile the line of red dots in front was lengthening. It stretchedfarther to left and right than Dick could see, and was rapidly comingnearer. Already the sentinels and skirmishers were waging a sharpconflict, and the shouts of the combatants increased in volume. Then thecold sun swung clear of the earth, and its wintry beams lighted up bothforest and open. The whole Southern army appeared, advancing in masses,and Dick, who was now with Major Hertford again, saw the pale raysfalling on rifles and bayonets, and the faces of his own countrymen asthey marched upon the Union camp.
"There's danger for our army! Lots of it!" said Warner, as he watchedthe steady advance of the Southern brigades.
Dick remembered Bull Run, but his thoughts ran back to the iron generalwho commanded now.
"Thomas will save us," he said.
The skirmishers on both sides were driven in. Their scattered fireceased, but a moment later the whole front of the Southern army burstinto flame. It seemed to Dick that one vast sheet of light like a swordblade suddenly shot forward, and then a storm of lead, bearing manymessengers of death, beat upon the Northern army, shattering its frontlines and carrying confusion among its young troops. But the officersand a few old regulars like Sergeant Whitley steadied them and theyreturned the fire.
Major Hertford, Dick and Warner were all on foot, and their own littleband, already tried in battle, yielded not an inch. They formed a coreof resistance around which others rallied and Thomas himself was passingalong the line, giving heart to the lads fresh from the farms.
But the Southern army fired again, and shouting the long fierce rebelyell, charged with all its strength. Dick saw before him a vast cloudof smoke, through which fire flashed and bullets whistled. He heard menaround him uttering short cries of pain, and he saw others fall, mostlysinking forward on their faces. But those who stood, held fast andloaded and fired until the barrels of their rifles burned to the touch.
Dick felt many tremors at first, but soon the passion of battle seizedhim. He carried no rifle, but holding his officer's small sword in hishand he ran up and down the line crying to the men to stand firm, thatthey would surely beat back the enemy. That film of fire and smoke wasyet before his eyes, but he saw through it the faces of his countrymenstill coming on. He heard to his right the thudding of the great gunsthat Thomas had planted on a low hill, but the rifle fire was like thebeat of hail, a crackling and hissing that never ceased.
The farm lads, their rifles loaded afresh, fired anew at the enemy,almost in their faces, and the Southern line here reeled back against sofirm and deadly a front.
But an alarming report ran down the line that their left was drivenback, and it was true. The valiant Zollicoffer leading his brigade inperson, had rushed upon this portion of the Northern army which wasstanding upon another low hill and struck it with great violence. It waswavering and would give way soon. But Thomas, showing the singular calmthat always marked him in battle, noticed the weak spot. The general wasthen near Major Hertford. He quickly wrote a dispatch and beckoned toDick:
"Here," he said, "jump on the horse that the sergeant is holding for me,and bring up our reserve, the brigade under General Carter. They are tomeet the attack there on the hill, where our troops are wavering!"
Dick, aflame with excitement, leaped into the saddle, and while the roarof battle was still in his ears reached the brigade of Carter, alreadymarching toward the thick of the conflict. One entire regiment, composedwholly of Kentuckians, was detached to help the Indiana troops who werebeing driven fiercely by Zollicoffer.
Dick rode at the head of the Kentuckians, but a bullet struck his horsein the chest. The boy felt the animal shiver beneath him, and he leapedclear just in time, the horse falling heavily and lying quite still. ButDick alighted on his feet, and still brandishing his sword, and shoutingat the top of his voice, ran on.
In an instant they reached the Indiana troops, who turned with them, andthe combined forces hurled themselves upon the enemy. The Southerners,refusing to yield the ground they had gained, received them, and therebegan a confused and terrible combat, shoulder to shoulder and hand tohand. Elsewhere the battle continued, but here it raged the fiercest.Both commanders knew that they were to win or lose upon this hill,and they poured in fresh troops who swelled the area of conflict anddeepened its intensity.
Dick saw Warner by his side, but he did not know how he had come there,and just beyond him the thick and powerful figure of Sergeant Whitleyshowed through the hot haze of smoke. The back of W
arner's hand had beengrazed by a bullet. He had not noticed it himself, but the slowdrip, drip of the blood held Dick for a moment with a sort of hideousfascination. Then he broke his gaze violently away and turned it uponthe enemy, who were pouring upon them in all their massed strength.
Thomas had sent the Kentuckians to the aid of the Indiana men just intime. The hill was a vast bank of smoke and fire, filled with whistlingbullets and shouts of men fighting face to face. Some one reeled andfell against Dick, and for a moment, he was in horror lest it should beWarner, but a glance showed him that it was a stranger. Then he rushedon again, filled with a mad excitement, waving his small sword, andshouting to the men to charge.
From right to left the roar of battle came to his ears, but on the hillwhere he stood the struggle was at its height. The lines of Federals andConfederates, face to face at first, now became mixed, but neither sidegained. In the fiery struggle a Union officer, Fry, saw Zollicofferonly a few feet away. Snatching out his pistol he shot him dead. TheSoutherners seeing the fall of the general who was so popular among themhesitated and then gave back. Thomas, watching everything with keenand steady gaze, hurled an Ohio regiment from the right flank upon theSouthern center, causing it to give way yet further under the shock.
"We win! We win!" shouted Dick in his ardor, as he saw the Southernline yielding. But the victory was not yet achieved. Crittenden, who wasreally Zollicoffer's superior in the command, displayed the most heroiccourage throughout the battle. He brought up fresh troops to help hisweakened center. He reformed his lines and was about to restore thebattle, but Thomas, silent and ever watchful, now rushed in a brigadeof Tennessee mountaineers, and as they struck with all their weight, thenew line of the South was compelled to give way. Success seen and feltfilled the veins of the soldiers with fresh fire. Dick and the men abouthim saw the whole Southern line crumble up before them. The triumphantUnion army rushed forward shouting, and the Confederates were forced togive way at all points.
Dick and Warner, with the watchful sergeant near, were in the very frontof the advance. The two young aides carried away by success and thefire of battle, waved their swords continually and rushed at the enemy'slines.
Dick's face was covered with smoke, his lips were burnt, and his throatwas raw from so much shouting. But he was conscious only of greatelation. "This is not another Bull Run!" he cried to Warner, and Warnercried back: "Not by a long shot!"
Thomas, still cool, watchful, and able to judge of results amid all thethunder and confusion of battle, hurried every man into the attack.He was showing upon this, his first independent field, all the greatqualities he was destined later to manifest so brilliantly in some ofthe greatest battles of modern times.
The Southern lines were smashed completely by those heavy and continuousblows. Driven hard on every side they now retreated rapidly, and theirtriumphant enemies seized prisoners and cannon.
The whole Confederate army continued its swift retreat until it reachedits intrenchments, where the officers rallied the men and turned to facetheir enemy. But the cautious Thomas stopped. He had no intention oflosing his victory by an attack upon an intrenched foe, and drew off forthe present. His army encamped out of range and began to attend to thewounded and bury the dead.
Dick, feeling the reaction after so much exertion and excitement, satdown on a fallen tree trunk and drew long, panting breaths. He sawWarner near and remembered the blood that had been dripping from hishand.
"Do you know that you are wounded, George?" he said. "Look at the backof your hand."
Warner glanced at it and noticed the red stripe. It had ceased to bleed.
"Now, that's curious," he said. "I never felt it. My blood and brainwere both so hot that the flick of a bullet created no sensation. I havefigured it out, Dick, and I have concluded that seventy per cent of ourbravery in battle is excitement, leaving twenty per cent to will and tenper cent to chance."
"I suppose your calculation is close enough."
"It's not close merely. It's exact."
Both sprang to their feet and saluted as Major Hertford approached. Hehad escaped without harm and he saw with pleasure that the lads werealive and well, except for Warner's slight wound.
"You can rest now, boys," he said, "I won't need you for some time. ButI can tell you that I don't think General Thomas means to quit. He willfollow up his victory."
But Dick and Warner had been sure of that already. The army, flushedwith triumph, was eager to be led on, even to make a night attack on theintrenchments of the enemy, but Thomas held them, knowing that anotherbrigade of Northern troops was marching to his aid. The brigade came,but it was now dark and he would not risk a night attack. But some ofthe guns were brought up and they sent a dozen heavy cannon shot intothe intrenchments of the enemy. There was no reply and neither of theboys, although they strained ears, could hear anything in the defeatedcamp.
"I shouldn't be surprised if we found them gone in the morning," saidMajor Hertford to Dick. "But I think our general is right in not makingany attack upon their works. What do you say to that, Sergeant Whitley?You've had a lot of experience."
Sergeant Whitley was standing beside them, also trying to pierce thedarkness with trained eyes, although he could not see the Confederateintrenchments.
"If a sergeant may offer an opinion I agree with you fully, sir," hesaid. "A night attack is always risky, an' most of all, sir, when troopsare new like ours, although they're as brave as anybody. More'n likelyif we was to rush on 'em our troops would be shootin' into one anotherin the darkness."
"Good logic," said Major Hertford, "and as it is quite certain that theyare not in any condition to come out and attack us we'll stand by andwait till morning. So the general orders."
They walked back toward the place where the victorious troops werelighting the fires, out of the range of the cannon in the Confederateintrenchments. They were exultant, but they were not boasting unduly.Night, cold and dark, had shut down upon them and was taking the heatout of their blood. Hundreds of men were at work building fires, andDick and Warner, with the permission of Major Hertford, joined them.
Both boys felt that the work would be a relief. Wood was to be had inabundance. The forest stretched on all sides of them in almost unbrokenmiles, and the earth was littered with dead wood fallen a year or yearsbefore. They merely kept away from the side on which the Confederateintrenchments lay, and brought in the wood in great quantities. A rowof lights a half mile long sprang up, giving forth heat and warmth.Then arose the cheerful sound of tin and iron dishes and cups rattlingagainst one another. A quarter of an hour later they were eating avictorious supper, and a little later most of them slept.
But in the night the Confederate troops abandoned their camp, leaving init ten cannon and fifteen hundred wagons and crossed the river in boats,which they destroyed when they reached the other side. Then, theirdefeat being so severe, and they but volunteers, they scattered in themountains to seek food and shelter for the remainder of the winter.
This army of the South ceased to exist.
The Guns of Shiloh: A Story of the Great Western Campaign Page 8
