Cruel Rider
Page 23
He found Owen perched upon a log, drinking a cup of coffee. His brother’s eyes brightened when he spotted Matt striding toward him. When Matt approached, he got up to greet him, extending his coffee cup. “This is the last of the coffee beans,” he said.
Matt accepted the cup and took a quick swallow of the fiery hot liquid, then handed it back. “Thanks. I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“We didn’t expect to be here,” Owen replied. “General Gordon ordered everybody out for a night march. We got here at about four o’clock this morning and waited around for about an hour before the attack.”
Matt smiled, grateful that his brother had survived another skirmish. Although Owen was the eldest, Matt felt a sense of responsibility to make sure his brother returned home safely to Abby and the boys. He had always felt responsible for Owen, ever since their parents had perished in a cabin fire. He sat down on the log. “Yeah, if I’d have lingered a few minutes longer this mornin’, one of you boys mighta shot me. I’d just left that creekbank when I heard all hell break loose behind me.”
“We heard two rifle shots not more than ten or fifteen minutes before we got the signal to advance,” Owen said, nodding his head as he recalled. “Was that you? It sounded like that Whitworth, come to think of it.”
“I was wishin’ I had my carbine with me when I heard all the shootin’. I thought it was the Union Army coming down on me.” He gave Owen a wide grin, happy with the knowledge that both he and his brother had survived yet another battle.
The men of General Early’s Confederate forces were not to celebrate their victory long, for General Sheridan returned to take command of his demoralized troops. He mounted a counterattack at around three o’clock that afternoon, driving the men in gray back up the valley in an all-out retreat. There were several more battles fought in November, but the Confederate forces were so badly outmatched that the Shenandoah Valley was virtually lost before spring of 1865. Through it all, Matt and Owen Slaughter managed to stay alive. In a final crushing blow by Union forces near Waynesboro, backed up to the South River, their company put up a fight for as long as they had ammunition. Finally, it was every man for himself as General Early fled with some of his aides, leaving the Shenandoah in the hands of the Union Army. Seeing what was developing, Matt grabbed Owen by the arm. “The officers have cut and run,” he exclaimed. “Come on, we ain’t stayin’ here to get captured!” Along with droves of others, the two brothers escaped up the mountainside. The war was over for the Slaughter boys.