A Lieutenant at Eighteen
Page 17
CHAPTER XIV
THE AIDE-DE-CAMP OF THE GENERAL
When Life Knox left his bed at an early hour on the morning of the18th, Deck was still sleeping, for no bugle had sounded to wake him.The rain was still pouring in torrents when the sergeant looked out ofthe window; and it was not probable that any military movements wouldbe made that day. Breakfast was served as usual, the cooks having takenpossession of an old tobacco dry-house the night before.
About nine o'clock, after Deck had gone to the hotel where the officerswere quartered, Butters, Lieutenant Ripley, and about twenty more,marched into the jail. The keeper had been riding nearly all night, andhad secured this number of riflemen, though he had been obliged to seekthem, in part, miles distant from the town. They came with rifles andbelts, with powder and ball in horns and pouches, as those fromMillersville had appeared. They were ready for duty, and Buttersdeclared that every one of them could shoot very well with the riflesthey had used in their practice.
They were introduced by Lieutenant Ripley to the members of his commandlodged in the building, and they fraternized like brothers; for theability to use the rifle with skill and precision seemed to be the bondwhich united them. The lieutenant of the sharpshooters now hadfifty-six men in his company. When Captain Gordon called at the prison,he promoted Ripley to the rank of captain, and made Butters, who wasthe second-best shot in the corps, lieutenant, though he could not givethem commissions. They were then marched to the tobacco dry-house, onlya small portion of which the cooks used, and drilled by the newcaptain.
At the hotel, Major Lyon and Captain Woodbine, an aide-de-camp of thecommanding general, who had been sent to Harrison on account of hisintimate knowledge of this locality, and was a man of influence in aneighboring county, were discussing the situation. Deck had found him,after no little difficulty, at the house of one of his friends, andreported to him the arrival of the Riverlawn Cavalry, re-enforced by acompany of volunteer sharpshooters from Adair County, under the commandof Captain Ripley.
"Ripley is an old man, isn't he?" asked Captain Woodbine.
"Sixty, I heard some one say, Captain; but I can assure you he is avery able officer," replied Deck.
"I dare say he is, for I know him well. Now will you introduceyourself, Lieutenant?" said the aide-de-camp with a smile, as he lookedover the wet form of the visitor.
"My name is Dexter Lyon, Captain."
"Any relation to the commander of your squadron?"
"His son; but I was promoted from the ranks on the petition of everymember of the first company, and all the officers of the squadronexcept my father," replied Deck; and there was a blush on his wetcheeks, for he feared that the military official would conclude that hehad been raised to his present rank by the influence of his father.
"A very commendable delicacy on the part of Major Lyon, but not alwaysmanifested in such cases," added the captain. "I heard that one companyof Major Lyon's squadron had arrived at Harrison, and that the otherwas coming by the way of Jamestown. Your company was late, and themajor went in search of it."
"We had several skirmishes with guerillas and foraging parties of theenemy, which delayed us."
"Tell me about them," added Captain Woodbine, whose curiosity wasaroused; and he kept his eyes very steadily on the young lieutenant.
As modestly as he could, he related the events on the march of thefirst company, taking care to call his command the "second platoon."The affair at the house of Mr. Halliburn was mentioned; and the mannerin which the guerillas had been bagged excited the attention of theofficer, and he asked then who commanded the second platoon.
"I did, Captain," replied Deck, looking on the floor of the parlor.
"It was very adroitly done, and you exhibited very good strategy." Deckbowed, and went on with his narrative. The fight in the road was thenmentioned, with its result only.
"This was the same force that captured the brigands, and brought themas prisoners down to the road, was it?"
"The same, Captain."
"And you commanded it in the action that followed?"
"I did, Captain," replied Deck, looking at the ceiling of the room.
The battle of that day on the hill was then described; but in thisnarration he contrived to keep himself in the shade. He gave the mostof the credit for the victory to the riflemen in the woods, though hedid not omit to credit Captain Gordon for his plan of battle.
"Where are these sharpshooters now? They appear to have been a veryuseful body of men," inquired the aide-de-camp.
"Part of them returned to Millersville, where they belong, thoughthirty-six of them have volunteered to go with us for the presentcampaign, under the command of Captain Ripley."
"I must see Ripley," mused the official.
"He is at the jail with his men, or he went there with them," addedDeck.
"Our carriage is ready," said Captain Woodbine; "and there is roomenough in it for you."
It was a covered road-wagon, and Deck judged that the captain hadtalked with him to pass away the time while he was waiting for theconveyance. They were driven first to the hotel.
"I have heard a great deal about the Riverlawn Cavalry, as you callthem, though its two companies belong to the first cavalry regiment,"said the captain when they were seated in the vehicle.
"Our men like the name," added the young lieutenant.
"They have rendered most excellent service under that name; and thereis nothing to prevent them from retaining it, especially while they areon detached service."
Captain Woodbine was conducted by Major Lyon to the parlor occupied bythe officers, where he was presented to them, after which the major,who was disposed to keep his affairs to himself, invited theaide-de-camp to go with him to his room, where he had ordered a fire.
"Lieutenant Lyon, you must excuse me for questioning you so much thisevening; but I wanted to know more about you, for I think we shall haveuse for you," said the captain, as he took the hand of Deck, and drewhim aside.
"I was very glad to give you the information you desired," repliedDeck, as the visitor followed his father.
"I have to report the arrival of my command, and it is my purpose tomove on to Harrison to-morrow," said the major as they entered theroom.
"You need not do that, for your command is nearer now where you will bewanted than you would be at Harrison," added the captain as he and themajor seated themselves at a table before the fire. "I waited for youtill the time you were expected to arrive."
"I was ordered to look out for foragers and guerillas on my way; and Iwas detained some time near Liberty, in driving off a party ofmarauders, and I was a few hours late. My first company, which had theshorter route, had not arrived, and I marched in search of it," MajorLyon explained. "I found it about five miles from this town, delayed byseveral skirmishes with the enemy."
"Your son told me all about them while we were waiting for the vehicle;and he certainly distinguished himself, both by his management of theaffair with the guerillas, and by his bravery in the action with theenemy's cavalry," said Captain Woodbine.
"He did very well," replied the major, proud of the good conduct ofDeck, though he was not inclined to praise him, preferring to leavethat to others. "I suppose the army which is to operate under GeneralThomas is somewhere in this vicinity."
"A portion of it is at Logan's Cross Roads, as it is called;" and hepointed out the locality on the major's map, which was spread out onthe table.
He indicated several other places where bodies of Union troops were, orwere supposed to be, located. They had been detained by the almostimpassable condition of the roads.
"But the general will attack the enemy in his intrenchments as soon ashe can concentrate a sufficient force for the purpose. This heavy rain,I fear, will delay the advance of the troops in the rear; for it willrender the streams, especially Fishing Creek, impassable for thebaggage-trains."
"It does not usually rain as it does now for any great length of time?"suggested Major Lyon.
"I have known such a rain to continue for several days; for I live overin Whitley County, in the mountains, about thirty-five miles east ofMill Springs."
"The mountains catch the clouds, and empty them, as they move from theeast or the west," added the major.
"We have plenty of rain at this season of the year. I have heard allabout the Riverlawn Cavalry, as your son says you prefer to call it. Imet Colonel Cosgrove at Louisville, and he gave me a full account ofwhat he called the Battle of Riverlawn. Of your fights with the TexanRangers at the railroad bridge, Munfordsville, and at Greeltop andPlain Hill, I have read your reports. Without mentioning the nature ofthe service that will be required of you, I will say that, at mysuggestion, the general has important duty for you, Major."
"Of course I am ready to obey the orders that come to me," replied thecommander.
For several hours longer Captain Woodbine described the topography ofthe region in three counties, which he thought it very necessary forhim to understand.
"In our engagement with a full company of Tennessee cavalry, our firstcompany was aided by the Home Guard of Millersville; and the riflemenof this body rendered very essential service as sharpshooters stationedin the woods. These men volunteered to serve in this campaign, and wehave them with us. I hope I shall be permitted to make use of them.They are well mounted, and every one of them is a dead shot. CaptainGordon, commanding our first company, suggested the idea of organizinga force of mounted riflemen, and a considerable number of themvolunteered, and came to Jamestown with us."
"They are simply volunteers under your command; and no application needbe made at headquarters to use them, and you can do so, Major," repliedthe captain, who was understood as speaking for the commanding general;and it was evident that he had influence with him.
At the stroke of midnight both of the gentlemen retired. When theylooked out of the window in the morning it was still raining; and itwas plain to them that no great progress could be made in militarymovements while the country was inundated, as it appeared to be fromthe hotel.
In the forenoon Captain Woodbine visited the companies, and looked overthe men; for he plainly depended upon the squadron for particularservice. He went to the jail and to the dry-house to see the riflemenwho were drilling there under the eye of Captain Ripley and severalsergeants from the companies.
Military movements on the eve of battle are not ordinarily impeded byrain, for the soldiers march and fight in spite of the weather; butwhen the flow of water is sufficient to inundate the country, thesituation sometimes compels a suspension of activity, owing to thedifficulty or impossibility of moving wagons and artillery. But at thistime General Thomas was awaiting the arrival of the regiments frompoints farther north of his camp at Logan's Cross Roads, and nothingcould be done for this reason. But on the 18th the rain ceased; and onthe next day, which was Saturday, General Schoepf's brigade, a portionof which had been sent forward before, arrived towards night, and wasplaced in position.
That evening Captain Woodbine, who had been with the general in commandall day, called upon Major Lyon, and directed him to have his squadron,with its volunteer riflemen, in column on the Millersville Road atdaylight in the morning of Sunday, for a reconnaissance in thedirection of the enemy's intrenched camp at Beech Grove. The majorreported that the rifle volunteers had been re-enforced to fifty-sixmen by the efforts of Butters the jailer.
The commander of the squadron promptly issued his orders to hisofficers to have his men ready to move at four o'clock Sunday morning.