Doctor Jones' Picnic

by S. E. Chapman

  CHAPTER XX.

  Battle of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain.

  Will had not neglected to take numerous photographs of Summit Island,the flag and staff; and with his kodak he had stepped outside the circleand taken a "shot" at them as they circled about the mast, protectedfrom cruel Jack Frost by a wall of fire, as they awakened the echoes inthese hyperborean regions in the lively strains of North Pole March.

  He exhibited this photograph to them on the following day, and all weredelighted with it.

  "Oh, I wish you would give me several of these, Mr. Marsh!" criedMattie. "I wish to give them to my friends."

  "You shall have all you want of them, Mattie, upon just one condition,"he answered.

  "And what is that?"

  "Don't call me Mr. Marsh again on this trip. No formalities should beallowed among the Children of the Skies."

  "Agreed, Mist--Will," replied Mattie, gaily. "You may put me down forone dozen on those terms."

  "Well, won't they be a sensation, when we show them in Washington?" saidWill, viewing the picture critically. "I really think I will make it thesubject of an oil painting."

  "And I want that painting at any price, if you will ever sell it," criedthe Doctor.

  "I will paint one for each of the company--except Sing. That apatheticheathen would not care half so much for it as he would for a highlycolored chromo."

  "Don't be so hard upon poor Sing. I am sure that he would be justdelighted with one of those paintings," said Mattie.

  "Call him in and let's see. If there is a particle of the aestheticabout him, I have failed thus far to see it," declared Will.

  So Mattie called Sing from the kitchen. He looked so neat in his whiteapron and cap that Will began to fear that he had slandered the poorfellow. He was shown the photograph, and Mattie said:

  "You sabe that picture, Sing?"

  "Yes, me sabe."

  "What is it?"

  Sing grinned a moment as he looked slyly around upon, the company, andanswered:

  "Allee samee makee foolee lound flagpole."

  All roared with laughter.

  "That is about what we did, and no mistake," said the Doctor, wiping hiseyes.

  "Well, Sing," said Mattie, looking her very pleasantest at the wilyMongolian, "I have called you in to prove that you heap likee prettythings. Now, you would likee a pretty oil painting, big picture, alleesamee that?" pointing to the photograph.

  Sing's face was a picture of indifference, and he said,

  "Me no care."

  "What! not care for beautiful oil painting?" cried Mattie, desperately,seeing Will's eyes twinkling with fun and triumph. "Well, there issomething in the world that you think pretty, isn't there Sing?"

  "O, yes!" promptly replied Sing, his face breaking out in smiles, "metinkee Miss Mattie heap pletty. Me heap likee Miss Mattie."

  This open avowal of admiration was more than Mattie had bargained for,and she blushed furiously. The whole party clapped their hands andlaughed, while Will fell upon the floor and rolled about in an ecstacyof fun and laughter.

  "Didn't I tell you, Mattie, that he was an incorrigible case?" criedWill, as he assumed a sitting posture on the floor.

  "And do you mean to say that Sing has no taste at all, simply because headmires me?" said Mattie very severely.

  "O, no! Mattie. I really admire Sing's taste, and acknowledge that Ihave shamefully abused the poor fellow," said Will, rising to his feet."But the way he turned the tables on you and made you blush is the bestfun I have seen on the trip."

  And so they indulged in light hearted conversation, music, reading,painting, chess, etc., as they sped over the frozen seas, homewardbound. Toward evening a strong north wind set in and the Professordeclared that they were heading straight for the mouth of the MackenzieRiver.

  "In two or three days we shall be in the United States if this galecontinues," said the Professor. "We are traveling at tremendousspeed--nearly sixty miles an hour."

  "I only hope that it continues, for I do not doubt that the friends havelong since given us up as dead," replied Dr. Jones. "We have been gonenow nearly four months, and have had no opportunity to communicate withthem since we left. What a glorious time it will be when we get back andtell them how easily and comfortably we accomplished our object."

  And so they enjoyed many an hour in anticipation of their reception byfriends who were mourning them as lost forever. And they were assured ofhearty expressions of admiration from a generous public. And theGovernment would make proper acknowledgments.

  "Doctor," said Fred in the evening after dinner, "I wish you would tellus about the siege of Chattanooga, and Battle of Missionary Ridge andLookout Mountain."

  "All right," returned the Doctor. "If agreeable to all, I don't mindspinning a war yarn. Let me see; I left off at our entrance intoChattanooga. Well, Bragg's army was sitting upon the surrounding hillsand mountains, watching us with eagle eyes. They cut off our lines ofcommunication and supplies, and we soon began to feel the pangs ofhunger. I saw stalwart men upon their hands and knees in the mud huntingfor grains of corn that had rattled from the army wagons into the road.I saw horses in a battery adjoining my regiment gnaw nearly throughgreat oak trees in the torments of hunger. And when they were fed theirmiserable pittance of corn, guards were necessary to keep the gaunt,hungry men from stealing it from the perishing brutes.

  "Desertions became exceedingly frequent; so much so that nearly everyroll-call noted one or more missing from each regiment. What withsickness, deaths, and desertions, our ranks were becoming rapidlydecimated. A council of war was held. General Sheridan, commanding atthat time the 2nd division, 4th army corps, volunteered to make anexample of two captured deserters in one of his regiments. His offer wasaccepted, and a morning or two later the whole army was notified towitness the execution of these deserters. Such extremities had not beenresorted to for simply running away home (for they had not attempted todesert to the enemy), and we could not believe that they would be shot.But we did not know Phil Sheridan.

  "Who could have dreamed on that morning that this trim little man, whosat his horse like a centaur as he watched with critical eye thecarrying out of the horrible details of this double execution, was soonto take rank among the greatest generals in the world's history?

  "At the appointed time we gathered informally in a great mass in an openplain south of the town. The brigade to which the doomed men belongedwas formed into the three sides of a hollow square, two ranks, openorder. Two graves were dug in the fourth side of the square, and therethe execution was to occur. Soon were heard the unearthly wailings ofDead March in Saul, played by a brass band. Behind the band were twocoffins in a hearse, draped in black. Following these walked thecondemned men, surrounded by guards with fixed bayonets. The firingparty brought up the rear of the procession. They marched slowly aroundthe three sides of the square between the silent ranks, finally reachingthe graves and upon the edge of each was set its respective coffin. Thetwo men were marched up beside the coffins, and who can imagine theirfeelings as they thus looked down into their deep, cold graves, wherethey were to lie a few moments later, until the trump of God shouldresurrect their dishonored dust to stand before his dread tribunal! Onewould have thought that under these awful circumstances they surelywould have cried to God for mercy! One of them did; and kneeling nearhis coffin the poor wretch received the last rites of the church ofRome. But the other scornfully refused the consolations of religion inany form, and cried out a few moments later, as he sat blindfolded uponhis coffin and heard the ominous clicking of the cocking of the musketsthat he knew were aimed at him, 'Boys, take me there!' Accompanyingthese words he tore open the bosom of his shirt, exposed his barebreast, and a moment later each fell upon his face to the ground--acorpse! Thus ended the most tragical event I ever witnessed.

  "And so the weary siege dragged on. We made a night descent upon theenemy in boats. They were encamped upon the river a few miles belowChattanooga, where they effectual
ly cut off our communications withBridgeport. We attacked them in the blackness of a very dark night, andcompletely routed them. This opened up communications with our base ofsupplies, and our rations were greatly increased from that time on.

  "On the morning of November 23d, a little before noon, the 3d divisionof the 4th Army corps, the one to which I belonged, was ordered into theopen plain that lay between us and Missionary Ridge. Here we deployedinto line of battle. Sheridan's division followed and formed on ourright. The eleventh corps, commanded by General O.O. Howard, massed inthe rear. Then followed the 3d division of the 14th corps, General Bairdin command, while the 1st division of the same corps, under GeneralJohnston, stood at arms in the rear of the center in the intrenchments.

  "From their aerie upon the surrounding hills the Confederatescomplacently viewed the magnificent pageant, mistaking it for a grandreview. So secure were they in their apparently impregnable positionsthat we carried Orchard Knob and captured nearly the whole picket linebefore they realized that we were not dress parading. And so, under theimmediate eye of General Grant, who stood upon Fort Wood, a verycommanding position, from which he could see every man of us, we carriedtwo miles of the enemy's first line of defense. Probably a moreinspiring sight was never seen by mortal eye. Upon us were the eyes of awhole city, many of our own comrades, and tens of thousands of brave andvigilant enemies.

  "So we rested upon Orchard Knob that night, having taken thus theinitiative in the great battle of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain.That night was a busy one all along the lines of both armies. Mysticsigns were written upon the skies all night by the signal corps of eacharmy. Hooker upon the right was preparing to assault Lookout Mt. We ofthe center spent the night strengthening our line of breastworks uponOrchard Knob. Sherman, on the left, succeeded in crossing the TennesseeRiver before morning in small boats with two divisions of his army, theremaining two divisions crossing early in the day upon a hastilyconstructed bridge.

  "And the Confederates were equally active. All night long their signaltorches were working upon the mountain and hilltops. The Southerncommander, General Bragg, evidently considered Lookout Mountainimpregnable, and withdrew many troops from that point, concentratingthem upon his extreme right, in anticipation of Sherman's attack.

  "Lookout was enveloped in dense fog the first part of the following day,which enabled Hooker to dispose of his troops from that point as hedesired, preparatory for attack, with little or no opposition. At eleveno'clock the fog began to lift, the attack commenced, and to us below wasunveiled one of the grandest, most soul-stirring exhibition of courageand love of country ever witnessed! Thousands of blue-coated boyspressed their way up the steep slopes of this mighty mountain, in spiteof the desperate resistance of a foe well worthy of their steel. Wellmight we below raise a great shout of exultation and sympathy. The gunsof Wood and adjacent forts thundered out salvos of praise andencouragement. On they went, step by step, until far into the night, andachieved that victory that immortalized every man of them. The followingmorning we beheld 'Old Glory' proudly waving from the great barren rock,Point Lookout, and it seemed as if we should burst the very skies withthe shout that went up from thousands of loyal throats.

  "While Hooker and his boys were thus making one of the most gloriouspages of history, Sherman had completed preparations for an assault uponBragg's right wing. Nearly all day on the 25th, the third day of thebattle, Sherman vainly endeavored to turn the enemy's right flank. Theywere strongly entrenched, and hurled the Union forces down the slopes ofMissionary Ridge time after time, though the assaults were made with theutmost courage and determination. Grant, Thomas, and Sheridan, fromOrchard Knob, watched these desperate efforts upon the part of Sherman.He was sent all the reenforcements that could operate, and Baird'sdivision was returned because there was not room for them toparticipate.

  "All day long we of the center of this great battle line had stood atarms, watching the grand spectacular movements of the two wings,expecting momentarily to be ordered forward. The sun was getting welldown the western slope when we received the signal from Fort Wood tocharge the lower line of works at the foot of Missionary Ridge. This wedid easily, but the cross-fire from the second line midway up the Ridgewas so galling that the position was untenable. One of two things mustbe done: retreat or carry the Ridge. The first alternative I do notthink occurred to anyone, for they leaped the breastworks, and in spiteof the enemy's utmost endeavors and natural obstructions, the secondline in a few moments was ours. But not a moment did they stop, and inan incredibly short time the Ridge was carried, the captured artillerywheeled about and was pouring shot and shell into the fleeing ranks ofthe enemy!

  "As the visitor now stands and contemplates the acclivities, andconsiders what it meant to charge such a foe so well fortified, if he bea Bible student, he will be reminded of the case of the Edomites. Theywere the direct descendants of Esau, and inhabited Mount Seir. Thismount is an immense pile of rock in the southern part of Palestine. Herethe Edomites dug out their homes in the solid rock, and so fortifiedthemselves that they were the Gibraltar of ancient times. From thesemountain fastnesses they made predatory incursions upon their neighbors,and for ages easily repelled all efforts at reprisal. And so they cameintolerably insolent, and feared neither God nor man. But one dayJeremiah prophesied of them: 'Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, andthe pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the cleft of the rock,and holdest the height of the hill! Though thou shouldst make thy nestas high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith theLord.'

  "He is but an indifferent reader of history who does not see the hand ofAlmighty God displayed upon the side of Liberty and Union throughout allthis tremendous war. Even so great a man as W.E. Gladstone, the 'GrandOld Man' of England, said that the eighteen millions of the North couldnot subdue the eleven millions of the South. But he did not know thatthe edict had gone forth from the court of Heaven that these whoarrogantly held the height of the hill must come down from thence. Andso we fought and won this grandest battle of the war--and perhaps of theworld."

  Here the Doctor paused and looked around upon his audience. He hadworked himself into a fine glow as these splendid reminiscences passedbefore his mind. To his horror he found his hearers fast asleep, exceptthe Professor, and his eyes were winking and blinking suspiciously.

  "Well, if you are not an interested lot of fellows!" cried Dr. Jones.

  Fred roused at this juncture and said:

  "Go on, Doctor. That is the most thrilling story I ever heard."

  "Do you really think so?" asked the Doctor very sarcastically.

  "O yes! Doctor, I assure you that I heard every word of it."

  "And what was I just talking about?"

  "Um--ah--O yes, I remember. It was where the two deserters were sittingon their coffins and were just about to be shot. I want to hear thatout," and Fred looked the picture of anxiety and interestedness.

  "Do you, though!" snorted Dr. Jones. "If I served you right, I woulddrop you through the manhole, just to wake you up."