B00HSFFI1Q EBOK

by Unknown

“Ready boys. Choose your target- there are enough of them!”

  The men laughed at my weak joke. They were not intimidated by numbers. It was the quality of the mettle which would determine this battle. Danny roared, “Fire!” We began to pick off the visible targets.

  “Watch your ammunition. Don’t waste any!” This was going to be a long day and I was grateful that all of my men had full ammunition pouches as well as a spare. There were advantages to being given the dirty jobs.

  Suddenly we heard the charge sounded. A line of Union cavalry galloped at us. I later heard it was the 6th Pennsylvania. They were brave boys, but they were doomed from the start. The two cannons blasted out a wall of death and we fired into the smoke. Once the cannons had fired we could see nothing but we knew that there was a brigade of cavalry coming at us. The artillery men were firing as rapidly as they could. Each time they fired they had to realign the gun. The 1st Virginia Scouts stopped the Yankees from closing with them as they reloaded and fied. Had they dismounted and made it a fire fight then they might have succeeded but horse and man was scythed down by the murderous hail of lead, ball and grapeshot. None even came close and I was glad when the bugle sounded retreat. Those brave boys had suffered enough.

  I stood and went around my troopers. One or two had slight wounds, which David had tended to but there was nothing serious. I had time to look at the scene. This was the major attack I had feared. I looked behind me to Fleetwood Hill. General Stuart had had his camp there the previous night. Of him there was no sign. Oddly there was just one howitzer and its crew occupying the top. The thought flitted across my mind that they would have a good view.

  A courier rode up. He saluted the major in charge of the guns. “General Stuart’s compliments major. Would you pull your guns back and have them face south.”

  The major and Colonel Boswell, who had wandered over, both looked perplexed. “The south?”

  “Yes sir. Another division has crossed Kelly’s Ford. We are about to be flanked. “

  As the artillery limbered up the colonel said, “Sergeant Major, get the horses.” He turned to us, “We need to see what is going on here.”

  I pointed up the hill. “Sir, what about going up the hill. We can see the whole field from there and the slope will help us to attack quicker.”

  He smiled at me, “Good idea. To your troops, gentlemen.”

  “Sergeant James, take ten men and get to the hill as quickly as you can.”

  As I mounted Copper and turned to look at my men I heard the pop of pistols from the hill. I looked up and saw that Sergeant James and my men were under fire. “Follow me!”

  There was no time to wait for support and we galloped up the slope. I saw that the howitzer crew were firing at the approaching cavalry and my men had dismounted to form a skirmish line. We hurtled over the crest of the ridge and saw horsemen streaming up the other side. This was no time for caution. I drew my sabre and yelled, “Charge!”

  We thundered down and struck the leading troopers of the enemy brigade. Our horses were still relatively fresh and we had the hill on our side. The enemy were bowled over and they crashed into the ranks behind. I slashed left and right with my sabre. There was no finesse and no subtlety; I could have been using an axe to chop down trees but it was an effective technique in such a pell-mell battle. The blade seemed to whirl in my hand. It was when I found that there was no one before me that I halted. I had outrun my men. Copper was lathered and the blue coated cavalrymen suddenly saw that I was alone. I drew my Colt and fired at the nearest men before turning Copper to gallop up the slope to the security of the howitzer.

  The gun was still firing and its vertical trajectory meant that I was safe from its balls but not so the cavalry pursuing me. Major McClellan, General Stuart’s adjutant shook my hand as I reined in. “Well done captain. I have sent word to the general but you gave us time to organise. Dismount your men please and form a skirmish line.”

  As my horse was led away I saw Cecil shaking his head. Trooper Ritchie joined me. “We tried to get to you sir but you flew down that hill.”

  “I think Copper was keen to get into this war.”

  “Sergeant James has been wounded sir.”

  “Badly?”

  “Hard to say. The lieutenant is with him.”

  He was in good hands then, David Dinsdale was a good doctor. I drew my carbine and crouched behind the wall. We had a good view of the battle from our lofty elevation. We were like a rock surrounded by the sea; the sea in this case was the Union Cavalry Corps and I had never seen so many cavalry in one place before. The respite was brief as they charged up the hill to get at us. Some were on horses and some were afoot. The one advantage we had was that we all had similar weapons with a similar range and our howitzer was slaughtering the men in the rear of their lines.

  “Aim for the leaders if you can. Fire!”

  I carefully aimed at an officer, sabre held aloft, who was rallying his men. He fell clutching his shoulder. I saw Cecil hit the trooper with the guidon and the regimental flag fell. It was only one man but the effect on the others was dramatic. They slowed as the dismay spread through their ranks. “Keep firing! Push them back!”

  We fired even faster at the stationary men who began to stream down the hill. We had beaten off another attack. “Corporal Jones, go and check the dead Yankees for ammunition.” There were dead soldiers less than twenty yards away and they had full pouches. He had just returned with the black gold when they charged for a third time. This time they had dismounted and used the dead horses and men on the slope for cover. The howitzer crew reacted by cutting their fuses shorter so that they exploded in the air over their heads. The effect was devastating; it indiscriminately cut a swathe through the whole brigade and they fell back once more.

  There was a short lull. “Make sure you all drink something.”

  Danny appeared at my shoulder. “You have done well Jack. That was a mad charge before. Even ‘himself’ was impressed.”

  Just then we saw a battery of guns appear at the foot of the hill. They were going to neutralise the effect of our howitzer. “Well Danny, it looks like we are going to have to take some of this medicine.”

  “You take charge of this side. I’ll go and see the colonel.”

  The howitzer tried to fire at the artillery but it was hard to hit such spread out targets. Trooper Ritchie appeared at my shoulder. “Sir if I take a couple of lads closer then we can pick off the gunners.”

  “Not a bad idea. Pick the best ten.” As he ran off I shouted, “Lieutenant Spinelli!”

  Dago appeared next to me. “Sir?”

  I grinned, “Well this is fun eh Dago?”

  “I am just thinking about all the pockets we can pick after this is over.”

  I laughed, he was incorrigible. “I am going to take ten men to pick off the gunners. You take charge here.”

  “Yes sir,but Jack… be careful!”

  “I always am. Come on Ritchie.”

  We ran in pairs down the hill. The Yankee cavalry tried to hit us but we were moving down and towards them. We were hard to hit. When we were a hundred and fifty yards away I shouted, “Down!” I looked and saw that we had lost two troopers.

  “Aim for the gunners.” My first shot pinged off a wheel and the ricochet spun off to strike a sergeant on the arm. I saw a gunner with a linstock fall and the man with the swab drop. One of the guns began to slow its rate of fire. We now had the range and soon we had hit enough of the gunners to make the rest take cover.

  The cavalry commander had had enough and he ordered his own men up the slope to dislodge us. I was about to order a retreat when I saw them begin to fall from shots emanating from our rear. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Dago leading the rest of my troop.

  I shook my head, “I thought I ordered you to stay there on the ridge.”

  “Jed came over so Irish and me thought we would give you a hand sir.”

  I saw the Union cavalry mounting. “Well we had better
get back up the hill or we will be staying here permanently. Withdraw in pairs!”

  We turned and ran. One man fired while the other raced up the hill a few yards and then covered the other. In this way we made the safety of our own lines but I could see that we had left comrades behind.

  Major McClellan came over. “Well done boys. We have steadied the line.” He pointed at the gunners and the cavalry at the bottom of the hill. “Those boys down there are Irish. They aren’t the Irish Brigade but they are tough fighters. You boys did well.”

  The Union cavalry charged up the hill again. They were tired but there were plenty of them. We barely had time to aim our carbines before they were upon us. I soon eschewed my carbine in favour of my Colts. Suddenly a trooper threw himself from his horse and he landed upon me, knocking the wind from me. He raised his hand to punch me and I put my empty Colt up to catch the blow. He shouted as his hand hit the metal. I brought my knee up between his legs and he rolled off screaming. I whipped my knife from my boot and stabbed him in the throat.

  The Sergeant Major looked at me with concern written all over his face. “You all right sir?”

  I grinned. “I am now. Aim for the horses!” It went against the grain to shoot horses but it would stop them closing and provide an obstacle to any more charges. I took in the scene as, with shaking hands, I reloaded my gun. The tide inexorably slowed as they took more and more casualties.

  Colonel Boswell came over. “How are we for ammunition?”

  I looked at the Sergeant Major who said, “The boys have about ten more volleys sir.”

  “It’s as I thought. Right get your horses. We’ll clear the hill the old fashioned way.”

  We mounted and formed up behind the howitzer. Its short fuses were still causing havoc on the lower slopes. I could see little beyond the hill as the musket and cannon fire had created a pungent cloud of smoke. I had no idea if we were winning or losing. When we were formed up, the colonel ordered the charge sounded. Our horses were rested and we hurtled down the slope with sabres held before us. I knew that we had to save our supply of ammunition in case the charge failed. It didn’t. The gunners had had enough and they jumped on their horses to flee the field. The cavalry horses were blown but they gallantly turned to face us. The only way to counter a charge is by charging yourself and they lacked the horses to do that. We hit a static line and horses and men were knocked aside as the wall of horseflesh and steel hit them.

  I was not aware of even raising or lowering my arm. The blue coats just seemed to disappear as we swept down. Colonel Boswell had learned discretion and, as the cavalry fled he sounded the recall. One or two of the younger troopers failed to heed the call but the rest halted. I sheathed my sword and drew my Colt.

  “Corporal Jones, check for casualties.”

  I saw that Harry, Dago, Jed and Irish had survived. I looked at the sun and saw that it was beginning to set. We had fought for almost ten hours. Danny’s voice boomed out, “Check for prisoners and ammunition. Lieutenant Spinelli, form a skirmish line.”

  I dismounted and handed the reins of Copper to the horse holder. I holstered my gun. I could hear the Yankee bugles sounding retreat. They were leaving. We had won. It had been a near run thing. My troopers were taking the boots and guns from the dead while the prisoners were being lined up.

  I heard my name being called from further up the slope and saw Danny and the colonel waving to me. I ran over to them. They were standing over the bodies of four of our troopers who had fallen in my attack. They had had their throats cut and a crude M burned into their chests. Around the neck of Trooper Lowe was a crudely written message. ‘This is what we will do to Boswell, Murphy, Hogan and any other of the murdering bastards from Boswell’s Horse who killed our brothers. Mick O’Callaghan.’

  I looked at Danny whose face was white with anger, “Who the hell is Mick O’Callaghan and what is this about?”

  He looked blankly at the colonel who looked dumbly at the bodies of his men. Then Danny slapped his head, “I know what this is. This is revenge and a feud. Remember those Irish spies who infiltrated us and we hung one of them? I think one was called Callaghan.”

  “But that was war sir.”

  “It makes no difference to an Irishman Jack, you should know that. Out there,” he pointed to the north, “are Irishmen who won’t rest until either we or they are dead.”

  My war had just changed. I now had a hidden enemy who knew my name. I knew that there were many Irish who fought for the Union; any one of them could hunt for me. Part of me was grateful that they did not know the names of the other troopers. Although, as I looked at the mutilated bodies of my troopers I reflected that it had not done those men much good. We were a marked regiment. General Stuart was saddened by the whole thing. I think he had an old fashioned view of the cavalryman. To him we were like the knights of old. We weren’t; this was a hard cruel war with brother fighting brother. Our Irish brothers would discover that. We would fight fire with fire.

  We had little time to reflect on the battle itself. General Lee had decided that, having routed the Union cavalry it was time to take advantage and strike at the heart of the Union. We were heading for Pennsylvania.

  Part 2

  The Road to Gettysburg

  Chapter 10

  The whole of the regiment shared our anger. The fact that we had been named was bad enough but to do what they had done to dead and dying men went beyond the pale. The feud was on and no Irishman was going to be safe from our vengeance.

  We found that our role had now changed .We did not serve with General Stuart. The bulk of the cavalry were sent with him while the five depleted regiments were to accompany General Lee. We headed back to the Shenandoah Valley and there would be no more death or glory charges for us. The General’s nephew, General Fitzhugh-Lee came to brief us on our role. We knew the general from the Fredericksburg campaign and we all liked him; he was a good leader.

  “Gentleman we are going to cross the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry. You have two tasks; firstly you have to make sure we aren’t surprised but your second task is even more important. We want you to tell us where the Yankees have their supplies. We need to hit them and hit them hard. This will be more like the job you did as Boswell’s Rangers. The General does not want the northern civilians to suffer. You will buy food when you can.”

  Jed put his hand up, “Sir, does the general have any objection to us taking from the blue coats?”

  The general laughed, “I think that would be just perfect lieutenant.” He pointed to the map. “The Army will have to eliminate the garrisons at Winchester and Martinsburg. That will take a few days. It means you can slip over the Potomac and be there well ahead of us. I need to be kept informed about what you find. I will regard no news as good news, so don’t let me down.” He leaned back in his chair. “Any questions?

  Colonel Boswell looked at us. We all shook our heads. He smiled, “I think my boys will do just fine sir.”

  After he had gone the colonel handed out some cigars and opened a bottle of French brandy. “I have been saving this for a special occasion. I think this is one such.” As we lit up and held our mugs he said, “Here’s to Boswell’s Wildcats. I think our orders and the Irishmen’s message have just caused it to be reformed!”

  “Boswell’s Wildcats!” We were like children again and we all cheered wildly.

  He stood and went to the map. “I want four columns. I will lead one, Danny, Harry and Jack the others. We will spread out like a fan and we will screen the army. I am not worried about the garrisons in the towns so we will get straight across the Potomac. Our first task is to disrupt the railroad. We are good at that. Then we resupply ourselves. I want that done early and not late. Find yourself a base. I will be in the hills north of the Potomac close to Brunswick.” He smiled, “We did well there last time. The rest of you will be to the west of me. You heard the general; keep sending reports back when you find something. We are the eyes and ears of the army. There may
be less than two hundred of us but we are going to make the Yankees remember Boswell’s Wildcats and the 1st Virginia Scouts.”

  We left the next morning. I was sad not to have Irish riding alongside me but he was Sergeant Major and his place was next to the colonel. Sergeant James had to remain with the wounded. I was just as unhappy to be without him; he was always reliable. Corporal Jones was promoted to First Sergeant and Trooper Ritchie to sergeant. I liked to reward my men when I could. I only had forty men but I knew them all well. I left Brandy Station tinged with sadness that I had left so many of my comrades there; it almost felt like desertion.

  We left the army as General Lee prepared to assault Winchester. We headed up the valley and the Potomac. I intended to cross the river west of the ferry. If this had been spring then the river would have been impassable but in summer, by using the islands, it was possible to get across without too much difficulty. We crossed under the noses of the Union troops at Harper’s Ferry. They might have seen us but there as little they could do about it. Once we reached the northern shore I made the men strip and clean their guns. We were now in enemy territory and I wanted us to be able to fight as soon as we saw a blue uniform.

  The troop mounted and looked expectantly at me. I had been making my plan as we had ridden north.” We are going to ride around the bluffs over the river and see if we can destroy a railroad track.” Their grins told me what they thought of that plan. As we rode through the hills I explained to my two sergeants what my thinking was. They needed to understand what we would be doing.

  “Colonel Boswell will be destroying the railroad closer to Brunswick. By destroying it here as well we make it much harder for them to repair the damage we will inflict upon them. Then we will swing up past Boonsboro and then to Hagerstown. The hills to the west of South Mountain are perfect for a base. Even if the Yankees know we are there it will be the devil’s own job to winkle us out.”

  We kept a close eye on the sentries at the ferry. It was unlikely that they would risk crossing the river to chase down a bunch of Rebs but it paid to be careful. The railroad was a single track running close to the river. It has been the scene of our first successful raid in the north. I felt someone walking over my grave as we passed the place we had hanged the spy. It was strange the way things came back to haunt you. I had forgotten those two infiltrators. I didn’t regret what we did to them; they had been responsible for good men dying and they had nearly cost the colonel and the major their lives. I just wished that the colonel had handled it more discreetly but he had been angry and keen for vengeance. It was not a good combination.