by Unknown
“I’ll check the alley at the back of the inn.” I ran down the alley, aware that I only had a knife. Did he have a loaded gun? I would soon find out. When I reached the place he had leapt to I saw some blood. He could be wounded. As he hadn’t passed us he must have gone the other way. I ran down the alley. I reached another street. This one was less busy than the main street and I saw him limping away. He was heading for the railroad. The livery stable was in the opposite direction and so I was on my own. Harry would not be able to be of assistance. I began to run and people moved out of my way. I think they were more worried by the sight of the blood on my uniform rather than the knife in my hand.
I was gaining on him and I saw his face as he kept glancing around. He knew who it was chasing him and he must have known that I was not in the business of taking prisoners. His desertion meant that he was fair game. He suddenly jinked down another alley in an attempt to throw me off the scent but he was less than twenty yards ahead of me. I raced down the alley and my eagerness for revenge was nearly my undoing. He tripped me as I ran by him, hiding in the dark, and then he leapt on my back. I jerked my elbow back and had the satisfaction of feeling it connect with something, I think it was his face. As his weight shifted, I twisted and threw him off. He slashed at me with his knife and I barely had time to parry it with my own, the sparks flying off out jarring blades. I could see the fear in his face. He was a strong man but I was stronger. I was younger. I was not wounded. This would only end one way. I pushed hard with my knife against his blade and slowly but surely I pushed his arm and knife back. At first it was hard but the picture of this man murdering my mother gave impetus to my arm and his blade went further and further backwards. Suddenly there came a point where he could no longer hold me away and his arm almost flew back. As much as I tried to slow my knife down I could not and the razor sharp edge sliced across his throat. He died almost instantly. I was now completely covered in blood. As I hefted his body over my shoulder and headed for the hotel I wondered if the good citizens of Winchester thought that I was a butcher with a carcass on my shoulder.
Harry was waiting for me at the hotel and he had a worried look on his face. It turned to a look of relief when he saw the body of the deserter. The town marshal had arrived having been summoned by the innkeeper. I dropped the body to the ground as Harry explained who we were and what we were about. When we reached the room, Ritchie was there and was tending to Davy’s arm. The six men were all dead. Cecil stood as we entered. “The last one died a few minutes ago. They were Beauregard’s thugs. They had been sent for and were heading for the camp to kill you, the captain and the major.”
“Get rid of anyone who could testify against him eh?”
“It looks like it sir. When they heard Davy they were suspicious and Neil fired those shots. We were lucky sir. They had poor firearms.” He smiled. “They obviously don’t have an armourer.”
We rode into camp the next afternoon with Neil’s body draped over the back of a horse. We had covered it with his greatcoat. As we rode through the camp we attracted many stares for we purposefully headed for Major Beauregard’s tent. Sergeant Major Vaughan strolled over to us. I think he was worried I might take the law into my own hands. Major Beauregard stepped from his tent with a supercilious and arrogant expression on his face.
“Come visiting your betters, peasant?”
“No, I have come to bring you a present.” Cecil threw the body at the major’s feet. The ugly wound that had been his throat made it look as though he was grinning. The major stepped back and held his hand to his mouth as though to stop himself from vomiting. “We didn’t have enough horses to bring back the other six murderers you had sent for. The major, the captain and I will still be there in two days time to testify at your court martial.”
He threw his half smoked cigar at me with a look of pure hate and then retreated back into his tent. The Sergeant Major nodded as I stepped down from Copper. “Well done lieutenant. You have avenged the honour of the regiment and brought back a deserter.” He saluted, “Smart uniform sir. It suits you.”
Chapter 16
Harry and I went over to the colonel to report. We took Cecil with us as he had heard the dying man’s confession. As we started he held up his hand, “As this appears to concern the major and the captain we had better have them present. It will save Sergeant Mulrooney having to repeat himself?”
When they arrived Danny was grinning from ear to ear. “I hear you got a second deserter? You are becoming their scourge Jackie boy.” The colonel gave him a baleful stare and he murmured, “Sorry sir.”
“Right sergeant, then please make your report.”
“When the lieutenant and the captain took off after the deserter I tried to staunch the bleeding on the wounded man but he had been gut shot. He was a catholic sir, and he saw the crucifix around my neck and he said he didn’t want to meet his maker without confessing his sins.” The colonel cocked his head to one side. “I know sir, I’m not a priest but he wanted it off his chest so to speak. Anyway he said that the major, Major Beauregard, had sent a message to his men telling them to get to Winchester and meet Trooper Neil, except that he called him Mr Neil. When they met him he told them they had to kill Major Boswell, Captain Murphy and Lieutenant Hogan. He said they had tried a grenade but the lucky bastard, sorry sir but that was what he said, had escaped. Then he died. I made the sign of the cross after he passed away.” He shrugged, “It was all I could think of to do sir.”
The colonel smiled. “You did well sergeant and you are a credit to the regiment. Anyone have any more questions for him?” We all shook our heads, “Then you are dismissed sergeant. Well done.”
After he had left the colonel reached into the desk and took out two letters. “In light of what the sergeant said these letters are most interesting. The general brought them over last night.” He held the first one up and it had the seal of the Secretary of War. “This is from Mr Seddon. He was most concerned about the treatment of Major Beauregard. In the letter he stresses that we must have irrefutable evidence of the major’s guilt.”
Major Boswell frowned. “Is he telling us to drop the case then sir?”
“No, he is quite clear on that. Let us say it is a warning that we must do things correctly. I think he wants evidence that the major is guilty.”
“And the other letter sir?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Hogan. This too is most interesting. It is from a well respected citizen of Atlanta, A Mr Ebenezer Winfield. It seems his daughter has recently agreed to marry the major and Mr Winfield wants to know why these charges have been brought. I suspect that the Secretary of War and Mr Winfield are friends. Like Mr Seddon he makes it quite clear that he wants the truth to emerge but it we are trumping up charges then we will suffer.”
“But we aren’t sir!”
“I know lieutenant, but I think that the version they have had has come from the major who has made him sound like the innocent party. Major Boswell, you must have everything written in detail, get Sergeant Mulrooney to write his statement and sign it. That is damning evidence.” He pushed his chair back. “In light of the intelligence recently gathered we could do without this distraction. I want to make the ford as defensible as possible.” He smacked the desk with both palms as though he had made a decision. “Major Boswell, you keep working on the court martial material.” The major sighed, “I know, I know. Sergeant Major Vaughan will aid you. Captain Murphy, take D Troop and make a new camp at the ford close to Wheatley Post office. Make a defence there in case the enemy tries to force the crossing. Lieutenant Hogan, ask Captain Grimes to do the same with A Troop at Kelly’s Mill. We can leave the horses here, B and C Troop can guard them. This will keep at least two of the major’s targets out of harm’s way.”
Major Boswell shook his head, “Keeping them safe by placing them closer to the enemy?”
“It is a sad fact that they are in more danger from a Confederate source than a Union one. Still I am sure that both men w
ould prefer that eh?”
Danny and I grinned, snapped a salute and said, “Yes sir!”
As we left I heard the colonel say, “It is just two days until the court martial James, and after that this will all be just a bad dream and we can go back to making this regiment the best in the corps.”
Harry was in the officer’s mess telling Dago what had transpired. They both looked at me expectantly when I walked in. “Well?”
“It seems our major has friends in high places and Major Boswell has to be scrupulous about his facts. By the way what did we do with the body?”
“Sergeant Major Vaughn had some men from D Troop bury it. Well we can get back to the normal duties of a cavalry troop now.”
“Not quite Harry. The colonel wants us to fortify the ford. We are going to be sharpshooters and defend the crossing.”
“All of us?” I knew that Dago preferred to be scouting than digging.
“I think we need to leave those with other responsibilities like David, Carlton and Cecil up here but the rest can be given work.”
“How many men will we have Harry?”
“I reckon about sixty. There are some still in sick bay and others recovering from their wounds. We don’t want any down there who are not fully fit. I take it we build a camp there?”
“It makes sense and it looks like it is my fault. The colonel wants me safe. If it is ay consolation Danny is doing the same at the northern ford.”
Harry suddenly looked happy and he rubbed his hands together. “Well let’s get on with it. I hate being idle and the good news is that we make these decisions not anyone else. Let’s make it too hard for them to cross eh?”
The first thing we did was to move the tents. Luckily it was spring and the mosquitoes and bugs had yet to infest the river bank. However the ground was hard and made digging difficult. While the men erected the tents the four of us walked the area. On our northern flank we had the building that was Kelly’s Mill. It was a solid end to our line and could be easily defended. The river went along a low bank and curved back on itself. We decided to use the natural features to our advantage. We collected as much discarded lumber from the mill and made breastworks along the ridge. Behind them we dug trenches to give us even more shelter. Jed and I paced out the distances from the water so that we could sight our rifles as accurately as possible.
When we reported to Harry he said, “We could do with a couple of guns you know.”
I shrugged, “I think that the colonel has asked for some.” I pointed to the hill behind us. “If he gets them then up there is the best place for them. They can fire over us at anyone attacking.”
Dago shook his head, “I am not sure I want our artillery firing over my head.”
Jed laughed, “Just put yourself next to Lucky Jack and you’ll be safe.”
The men toiled away all afternoon. By nightfall we were not finished but it looked better than it had done. We found plenty of lumber to build breastworks behind which we could hide and take shelter. We dug pits by the river and used them to cook fish we caught in the river. As we ate by the bubbling Rappahannock I pointed to the men. “When this is over we ought to promote a couple of these boys to sergeant. David, Cecil and Carlton have specialist jobs. I think Davy and Jimmy have earned the extra stripe.”
“I agree, Jack. When we report to the major tomorrow I will ask him.” A thought seemed to suddenly strike him, “Have we enough ammunition? We are a good way from the camp here.”
Dago stood, “Come on Jed, let’s check and we can get some more tonight if we have not.”
When they had gone we both walked the river. Our men would be thinly spread out and I could see that Harry was as worried as I was. “Look Harry, if we put those with repeaters by the ford itself then they can slow the enemy down. The single shots can be down here.” I pointed to the river which was still quite shallow but moved swiftly and had many rocks. “Anyone coming here would have to come much slower and the single shots could cope.”
“When they get close enough, their pistols will be just as effective as carbines anyway.”
“You are right. I am just glad we still have fourteen Wildcats. They are all good shots and as reliable as sharpshooters.”
We walked back along the breastworks. We had a good field of fire. The range was about a hundred and fifty yards which meant we would hold the advantage. The nagging fear I had was concerning the sheer numbers of men who might come this way. Harry and I had counted the numbers from our own intelligence reports and there could be three thousand cavalrymen coming towards our eight hundred and odd men. That was a lot of men for one under strength troop to deal with.
I managed to get the first duty with ten of the men as sentries. With four of us for watch keeping duties it just meant losing two hours sleep. I walked amongst the troopers who peered across the black waters of the Rappahannock River. Some of them were only young boys but I sensed that they had learned much from Wildcats like Wilbur and Ritchie. As we had walked the trenches we had heard our old comrades telling the others some of the stories of our raids behind enemy lines. They had heard of them as legends and now they knew them as fact. Every one of them wanted to emulate the Rangers who were now just ordinary cavalrymen.
The next day we completed our defences. We left Jed and Dago while Harry and I sought out the major and the colonel. “How are the defences looking Captain Grimes?”
“Sound enough sir but we need some artillery or they will walk right over us. We have enough ammunition and we have logs for defence but there are only sixty of us.”
“Well we now have two guns which have been sent by the general. I am going to place them on the heights above your position with B Troop there. C Troop will be our reserve.” The colonel gave a disarming smile, “It may be that we are wrong and they do not come. In that case the only interest this week will be the two court-martials tomorrow. I believe General Stuart is coming over to see that it is well done.”
“Well he will find no holes in my argument.” Major Boswell looked red eyed. He had been burning the midnight oil, quite literally.
“James, you have done sterling work and tomorrow you will be vindicated and then when the Union arrive the day after we will trounce them and celebrate a good week of work!”
The colonel had a way of making you feel better just by his tone and his peaceful demeanour. He could and did fight like a hell cat when necessary but he could also be a calming influence and we all felt better.
I though this the best chance to make my request.“One more thing Major Boswell, I would like to promote Corporal Jones and Corporal Stewart to sergeant. With the armourer, the medical sergeant and the horse sergeant we are a little short of leaders on the ground.”
The major looked at the colonel who nodded, “Very well. Tell them today and I will get it confirmed in the morning.”
The two corporals were delighted with the promotion and, to be fair to the other corporals, there was acceptance that these two were the besting the troop and well deserved their promotion. It made our dispositions easier. Harry was in the middle of the defensive position and he had First Sergeant Smith with him. From there they could see both wings. Dago took the right flank with Davy as his sergeant. I had Jimmy with me on the left flank, next to the mill and the ford itself. We were spread out so that each man had to cover about ten yards of the river bank. As I took my first watch, just before midnight, I prayed that the general was right and no one would be coming to test our flimsy defences. I spent the two hours working what I would say the following day at the court martial. It prayed more on my mind because within hours of the decision I would avenge my mother and father.
Awoke before dawn, as was my practice and I went to the horse lines to see to Copper. The horses were all getting a much needed rest while we were defending the camp. C Troop was taking all the patrols and scouting missions north of the river. After I had checked Copper’s leg I went to the officer’s mess. I found Major Boswell up already. He po
ured me a cup of coffee. “Well I will be glad when today is over Jack. This trial has been a most unwelcome distraction. We can all get back to the proper work of this regiment.”
“Yes sir but it is just one day isn’t it? I mean the regiment has come on a great deal since the day we rode in with the colonel.” I pointed at my collar. “We have all been promoted and we have better trained men than we ever did before.”
He laughed, “You are right, Jack. You are definitely a half full man.”
“What time do we need to be at Culpeper sir?”
“Not until noon. We are the second trial and they don’t expect we will be needed until after one.”
“Good. Then I can help Harry improve the defences a little although some of the men don’t think the enemy will try anything at all.”
“The colonel seems confident and don’t forget you gathered the intelligence and it seems complete.”
“But they could attack anywhere sir. We know that cavalry can cover huge distances.”
“Yes Jack, and that is why they have to get rid of us first or we could find wherever they went and our cavalry is definitely better than theirs. Anyway it won’t be today so you will have time to tinker with your defences.”
“I’ll see you later then sir.” The major’s arguments had made sense and I felt happier as I returned o the men.
I felt even better with a cup of coffee inside me and I headed back to the river. Harry had the men at their breakfast even though it was still dark. Suddenly Wilbur shouted, “Yank cavalry!”
I peered across the river and saw that there were half a dozen scouts approaching the ford. Harry turned to me. “Get your men to their positions. Bill, go and tell the colonel that there are scouts at the river. Keep your men hidden and we will give them a surprise.”
I ran to the mill where Jimmy was waiting with the rest of the men. “Keep hidden men and don’t fire until you get the order. We don’t want to give away our position.”
