The Sword of Antietam: A Story of the Nation's Crisis

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  "John Watson, Washington, D. C.

  "My dear sir: I have never met you, but certain circumstances have mademe acquainted with your name. Believing therefore that you are a manof judgment and fairness I feel justified in making to you a complaintwhich I am sure you will agree with me is well-founded. At a littleplace called Bristoe Station I recently obtained a fine, blue uniform,the tint of which wind and rain will soon turn to our own excellentConfederate gray. I found your own name as maker stamped upon the neckband of both coat and vest.

  "I ought to say however that after I had worn the coat only twice theseams ripped across both shoulders, I admit that the fit was a littletight, but work well done would not yield so quickly. I also pickedout a pair of beautiful shoes, bearing your name stamped upon them. Theleather cracked after the first day's use, and good leather will nevercrack so soon.

  "Now, my dear Mr. Watson, I feel that you have treated me unfairly. Iwill not use any harsher word. We do not expect you to supply us withgoods of this quality, and we certainly look for something better fromyou next time.

  "Your obedient servant, ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, Lieutenant 'The Invincibles,' C. S. A."

  "Now, did you ever hear of another piece of impudence like that?" saidWatson. "It has its humorous side, I admit, and you're justified inlaughing, but it's impudence all the same."

  "Yes, it is impudence, and do you know, Mr. Watson, I've met the writerof that letter. He is a South Carolinian, and from his standpoint hehas a real grievance. I never knew anybody else as particular about hisclothes, and it seems that the uniform and shoes you furnished him arenot all right. He's a gentleman and he wouldn't lie. I met him atCedar Run, when the burying parties were going over the field. He wasintroduced to me by my cousin, Harry Kenton, who is on the other side.Harry wouldn't associate with any fellow who isn't all right."

  "All the same, if I ever catch that young jackanapes of a St.Clair--it's an easy name to remember--I'll strip my uniform off him andturn him loose for his own comrades to laugh at."

  "But we won't catch either him or his comrades for a long time."

  "That's so, but in the end we'll catch 'em. Now, Mr. Mason, you don'tagree with me about many things, but you're only a boy and you'll knowbetter later on. Anyway, I like you, and if you need help at any timeand can reach me, come."

  "I'll do so, and I thank you now," said Dick, who saw that thecontractor's tone was sincere.

  "That's right, good-bye. I see a senator whom I need."

  They shook hands and Watson hurried away with great lightness andagility for so large a man.

  Dick stayed two days longer in Washington, visiting Warner twice a dayand seeing with gladness his rapid improvement. When he was with him thelast time, and told him he was going to join the Army of the Potomac,Warner said:

  "Dick, old man, I haven't spoken before of the way you brought me infrom that last battlefield. Pennington has told me about it--but if Ididn't it was not because I wasn't grateful. Up in Vermont we're notmuch on words--our training I suppose, though I don't say it is the besttraining. It's quite sure that I'd have died if you hadn't found me."

  "Why, George, I looked for you as a matter of course. You'd have doneexactly the same for me."

  "That's just it, but I didn't get the chance. Now, Dick, there's goingto be another big battle before long, and I shall be up in time forit. You'll be there, too. Couldn't you get yourself shot late in theafternoon, lie on the ground, feverish and delirious until far in thenight, when I'd come for you. Then I could pay you back."

  Dick laughed. He knew that at the bottom of Warner's jest lay a resolveto match the score, whenever the chance should come.

  "Good-bye, George," he said. "I'll look for you in two weeks."

  "Make it only ten days. McClellan will need me by that time."

  But it seemed to Dick that McClellan would need him and every other manat once. Lee was marching. Passing by the capital he had advancedinto Maryland, a Southern state, but one that had never seceded. TheSoutherners expected to find many reinforcements here among theirkindred. The regiments in gray, flushed with victory, advanced singing:

  "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland! Avenge the patriotic gore That flecked the streets of Baltimore And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland, my Maryland!"

  Dick knew that the South expected much of Maryland. Her people wereSoutherners. Their valor in the Revolution was unsurpassed. People stilltalked of the Maryland line and its great deeds. Many of the Marylandershad already come to Lee and Jackson, and now that the Southern army, ledby its famous leaders and crowned with victories, was on their soil, itwas expected that they would pour forward in thousands, relieved fromthe fear of Northern armies.

  Alarm, deep and intense, spread all through the North. McClellan, asusual, doubled Lee's numbers but he organized with all speed to meethim. Dick heard that Lee was already at Frederick, giving his troopsa few days' repose before meeting any enemy who might come. The utmostconfidence reigned in the South.

  McClellan marched, but he advanced slowly. The old mystery anduncertainty about the Southern army returned. It suddenly disappearedfrom Frederick, and McClellan became extremely cautious. He had nearlya hundred thousand men, veterans now, but he believed that Lee had twohundred thousand.

  Colonel Winchester again complained bitterly to Dick, who was a comradeas well as an aide.

  "What we need," he said, "is a general who doesn't see double, and wehaven't got him yet. We must spend less time counting the rebels andmore hammering them."

  "A civilian in Washington told me that," said Dick. "I believed thenthat he was right, and I believe it yet. If General Grant were here he'dattack instead of waiting to be attacked."

  But the Army of the Potomac continued to march forward in a slow andhesitating fashion. Dick, despite his impatience, appreciated theposition of General McClellan. No one in the Union army or in theNorth knew the plans of Lee and Jackson. Lee had not even consulted thePresident of the Confederacy but had merely notified him that he wasgoing into Maryland.

  Now Lee and Jackson had melted away again in the mist that so oftenoverhung their movements. McClellan could not be absolutely sure theyintended an important invasion of Maryland. They might be planning tofall upon the capital from another direction. The Union commander mustprotect Washington and at the same time look for his enemy.

  The army marched near the Potomac, and Dick, as he rode with hisregiment, saw McClellan several times. It had not been many months sincehe took his great army by sea for what seemed to be the certain captureof Richmond, but McClellan, although a very young man for so high aposition, had already changed much. His face was thinner, and it seemedto Dick that he had lost something of his confident look. The awfulSeven Days and his bitter disappointment had left their imprint.Nevertheless he was trim, neat and upright, and always wore a splendiduniform. An unfailing favorite with the soldiers, they cheered him as hepassed, and he would raise his hat, a flush of pride showing through thetan of his cheeks.

  "If a general, after being defeated, can still retain the confidenceof his army he must have great qualities of some kind," said Dick toColonel Winchester.

  "That's true, Dick. McClellan lost at the Seven Days, and he has justtaken over an army that was trapped and beaten under Pope, but beholdthe spirits of the men, although the Second Manassas is only a few daysaway. McClellan looks after the private soldier, and if he could onlylook after an army in the way that he organizes it this war would soonbe over."

  Dick noticed that the colonel put emphasis on the "if" and his heartsank a little. But it soon rose again. The Army of the Potomac was nowa veteran body. It had been tested in the fire of defeat, and it hademerged stronger and braver than ever.

  But Dick did not like the myst
ery about Lee and Jackson. They had anextraordinary ability to drop out of sight, to draw a veil before themso completely that no Union scout or skirmisher could penetrate it. Andthese disappearances were always full of sinister omens, portending aterrible attack from an unknown quarter. But when Dick looked upon thegreat and brave Army of the Potomac, nearly a hundred thousand strong,his apprehensions disappeared. The Army of the Potomac could not bebeaten, and since Lee and Jackson were venturing so far from their base,they might be destroyed. He confided his faith to Pennington who rodebeside him.

  "I tell you, Frank, old man," he said, "the Southern army may never getback into Virginia."

  "Not if we light a prairie fire behind it and set another in front. Thenwe'll have 'em trapped same as they trapped us at Manassas. Wouldn'tit be funny if we'd turn their own trick on 'em, and end the war rightaway?"

  "It would be more than funny. It would be grand, superb, splendid,magnificent. But I wish old George was here. Why did he want to get inthe way of that bullet? I hate to think of ending the war without him."

  "Maybe he'll get up in time yet, Dick. I saw him a few hours beforewe started. The doctors said that youth, clean blood and clean livingcounted for a lot--I guess George would put it at ninety per cent, andthat his wound, the bullet having gone through, would heal at a recordrate."

  "Then we'll see him soon. When he's strong enough to ride a horse,nothing can hold him back."

  "That's so. I see houses ahead. What place is it, Dick?"

  "It must be Frederick. We had reports that the Johnnies were about here,but they must have vanished, since no bullets meet us. The colonel islooking through his glasses, and, as he does not check his horse, it isevident that the enemy is not there."

  "But maybe he has been there, and if he has we'll just take his place.I like the looks of these Maryland towns, Frank, and they're not sohostile to us."

  Colonel Winchester's skeleton regiment, now not amounting to more thanthree hundred men, was in the vanguard and it rode forward rapidly. Thepeople received them without either enthusiasm or marked hostility. Yetthe Union vanguard obtained news. Lee had been there with his army, buthe had gone away! Where! They could not say. The Southern officershad been silent and the soldiers had not known. None of the people ofFrederick had been allowed to follow. A cloud of cavalry covered theSouthern movements.

  "Not so definite after all," said Dick. "We know that the Southern armyhas been here, but we don't know where it has gone."

  "At any rate," said Pennington, "we're on the trail, and we're boundto find it sooner or later. I learned from the hunters in Nebraska thatwhen you strike the trail of a buffalo herd, all you had to do was tokeep on and you'd strike the herd itself."

  It was not yet noon and McClellan's army began to go into camp atFrederick. Dick and Pennington got a chance to stroll about a little,and they picked up much gossip. Young women, with strong Southernproclivities, looked with frowning eyes upon their blue uniforms, butthe frank and pleasant smiles of the two lads disarmed them. Older womenof the same proclivities did not melt so easily, but continued to regardthem with a hard and burning gaze.

  But there were men strongly for the Union, and the two friendly ladspicked up many details from them. They showed them a grove in which Lee,Jackson, Longstreet and D. H. Hill had all been camped at once. Peoplehad gone there daily for a glimpse of these famous men.

  They also showed the boys the very spot where Stonewall Jackson hadcome near to making an ignominious end of his great career. His faithfulhorse, Little Sorrel, had been worn out by incessant marchings and mustrest for a while. The people gave him a splendid horse, but one that hadnot been broken well. The first time he mounted it a band happenedto begin playing, the horse sprang wildly, the saddle girth broke andJackson was thrown heavily to the ground.

  "You'd better believe there was excitement then," said the narrator,a clerk in one of the stores. "Everybody ran forward to pick up thegeneral. He had been thrown so hard that he was stunned and had bigbruises. That horse did him more damage than all the armies of theNorth have done. I can tell you there was alarm for a while among theJohnnies, but they say he was all over it before he left."

  They wandered back toward their own command and the obliging guidepointed out to them a house which the Confederate generals had madetheir headquarters. They saw Colonel Winchester entering it, andthanking the clerk, followed him.

  Union officers were already in the house looking with curiosity at thechairs and tables that Jackson and Lee and Longstreet had occupied. Dickcaught sight of a small package lying on one of the tables, but anotherman picked it up first. As he did so he looked at Dick and said intriumph:

  "Three good cigars that the rebels have left behind. Have one, Mason?"

  "Thanks, but I don't smoke."

  "All right, I'll find someone else who does."

  He pulled off a piece of paper wrapped around them, threw it on thefloor and put the cigars in his pocket. Dick was about to turn away whenhe happened to glance at the wrapping lying on the floor.

  His eyes were caught by the words written in large letters:

  HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTH--

  Something seemed to shoot through his brain. It was like a flash ofwarning or command and he obeyed at once. He picked up the paper andsmoothed it out in his hand. The full line read like the headline in anewspaper:

  HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. September 9, 1862.

  Then with eyes bulging in his head he read:

  HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. September 9, 1862.Special Orders, No. 191.

  The army will resume its march tomorrow, taking the Hagerstown road.General Jackson's command will form the advance, and after passingMiddletown with such portions as he may select, take their route towardSharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point and by Fridaymorning take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, capture suchof them as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt toescape from Harper's Ferry.

  General Longstreet's command will pursue the main road as far asBoonsborough, where it will halt with the reserve supply and baggagetrain of the army.

  General McLaws with his own division and that of General R. H. Andersonwill follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middletown will take theroute to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of theMaryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at Harper's Ferry andvicinity.

  Dick stopped a moment and gasped.

  "Come on," called the man with the cigars, "there is nothing more to beseen here."

  "Wait a moment," said Dick.

  Perhaps it was his duty to rush at once with it to a superior officer,but the spell was too strong. He read on:

  General Walker with his division, after accomplishing the object onwhich he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's Ford, ascendits right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Sundown Heights, ifpracticable, by Friday morning, Key's Grove on his left, and the roadbetween the end of the mountains and the Potomac on his right. Hewill, as far as practicable, co-operate with General McLaws and GeneralJackson, and intercept the retreat of the enemy.

  General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear-guard of the army,pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery,ordinance and supply trains, etc., will precede General Hill.

  Dick gasped and he heard someone calling again to him to come, but heread on:

  General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany thecommands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson and McLaws, and with the mainbody of the cavalry will cover the route of the army, bringing up allthe stragglers that may have been left behind.

  The commands of General Jackson, McLaws and Walker, after accomplishingthe objects for which they have been detached, will join the main bodyof the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown.

  Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in theregimenta
l ordnance wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, toprocure wood, etc. R. H. CHILTON, Assistant Adjutant General.

  Dick clutched the paper in his hands and for the moment his throatseemed to contract so tightly that he could not breathe. Then he felt aburst of wild joy.

  One of the most extraordinary incidents in the whole history of war hadoccurred. He knew in an instant that this was Lee's general ordersto his army, and that at such a time nothing could be more important.Evidently copies of it had been sent to all his division commanders, andthis one by some singular chance either had not reached its destination,or had been tossed carelessly aside after reading. Found by those whoneeded it most wrapped around three cigars! It was a miracle! Nothingshort of it! How could the Union army be defeated after such an omen?

  It was the copy intended for the Southern general, D. H. Hill--he deniedthat he ever received it--but it did not matter to Dick then for whom itwas intended. He saw at once all the possibilities. Lee and Jackson haddivided their army again. Emboldened by the splendid success of theirdaring maneuver at Manassas they were going to repeat it.

  He looked again at the date on the order. September 9th! And this wasthe 13th! Jackson was to march on the 10th. He had been gone three dayswith the half, perhaps, of Lee's army, and Lee himself must be somewherenear at hand. The Union scouts could quickly find him and the ninetythousand veterans of the Army of the Potomac could crush him to powderin a day. What a chance! No, it was not a chance. It was a miracle. Thekey had been put in McClellan's hand and it would take but one turn ofhis wrist to unlock the door upon dazzling success.

  Dick saw the war finished in a month. Lee could not have more thantwenty or twenty-five thousand men with him, and Jackson was three orfour days' march away. He clutched the order in his hand and ran towardColonel Winchester.

  "Here, take it, sir! Take it!" he exclaimed.

  "Take what?"

  "Look! Look! See what it is!"

  Colonel Winchester took one glance at it, and then he, too, becameexcited. He hurried with it to General McClellan, and that day thecommander-in-chief telegraphed to the anxious President at Washington:

  "I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in my own trap,if my men are equal to the emergency."

  The shrewd Lincoln took notice of the qualifying clause, "if my men areequal to the emergency," and sighed a little. Already this general,so bold in design and so great in preparation was making excuses forpossible failure in action--if he failed his men and not he would be toblame.