With Lee in Virginia: A Story of the American Civil War Read online

  CHAPTER V.

  SECESSION.

  While Vincent had been occupied with the affairs of Tony and his wife,public events had moved forward rapidly. The South Carolina Conventionmet in the third week in December, and on the 20th of that month theOrdinance of Secession was passed. On the 10th of January, three daysafter Vincent returned home from his expedition, Florida followed theexample of South Carolina and seceded. Alabama and Mississippi passedthe Ordinance of Secession on the following day; Georgia on the 18th,Louisiana on the 23d, and Texas on the 1st of February.

  In all these States the Ordinance of Secession was received with greatrejoicings: bonfires were lit, the towns illuminated, and the militiaparaded the streets, and in many cases the Federal arsenals were seizedand the Federal forts occupied by the State troops. In the meantime theNorthern slave States--Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,and Missouri--remained irresolute. The general feeling was strongly infavor of their Southern brethren; but they were anxious for peace, andfor a compromise being arrived at. Whether the North would agree toadmit the constitutional right of secession, or whether it would useforce to compel the seceding States to remain in the Union, was stilluncertain; but the idea of a civil war was so terrible a one that thegeneral belief was that some arrangement to allow the States to go theirown way would probably be arrived at.

  For the time the idea of Vincent going to West Point was abandoned.Among his acquaintances were several young men who were already at WestPoint, and very few of these returned to the academy. The feeling therewas very strongly on the side of secession. A great majority of thestudents came from the Southern States, as, while the sons of theNorthern men went principally into trade and commerce, the Southernplanters sent their sons into the army, and a great proportion of theofficers of the army and navy were Southerners.

  As the professors at West Point were all military men, the feeling amongthem, as well as among the students, was in favor of State rights; theyconsidering that, according to the Constitution, their allegiance wasdue first to the States of which they were natives, and in the secondplace to the Union. Thus, then, many of the professors who were nativesof the seven States which had seceded resigned their appointments, andreturned home to occupy themselves in drilling the militia and thelevies, who were at once called to arms.

  Still all hoped that peace would be preserved, until on the 11th ofApril General Beauregard, who commanded the troops of South Carolina,summoned Major Anderson, who was in command of the Federal troops inFort Sumter, to surrender, and on his refusal opened fire upon the forton the following day.

  On the 13th the barracks of the fort being set on fire, Major Anderson,seeing the hopelessness of a prolonged resistance, surrendered. Theeffect of the news throughout the United States was tremendous, and Mr.Lincoln at once called out 75,000 men of the militia of the variousStates to put down the rebellion--the border States being ordered tosend their proportion. This brought matters to a climax. Virginia, NorthCarolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri all refused to furnishcontingents to act against the Southern States; and Virginia and NorthCarolina a few days later passed Ordinances of Secession and joined theSouthern States. Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware were divided in theircounsels.

  The struggle that was about to commence was an uneven one. The whitepopulation of the Seceding States was about 8,000,000; while that of theNorthern States was 19,614,885. The North possessed an immenseadvantage, inasmuch as they retained the whole of the Federal navy, andwere thereby enabled at once to cut off all communication between theSouthern States and Europe, while they themselves could draw unlimitedsupplies of munitions of war of all kinds from across the Atlantic.

  Although the people of Virginia had hoped to the last that some peacefularrangement might be effected, the Act of Secession was received withenthusiasm. The demand of Mr. Lincoln that they should furnish troops tocrush their Southern brethren excited the livliest indignation, andVirginia felt that there was no course open to her now but to throw inher lot with the other slave States. Her militia was at once called out,and volunteers called for to form a provisional army to protect theState from invasion by the North.

  The appeal was answered with enthusiasm; men of all ages took up arms;the wealthy raised regiments at their own expense, generally handingover the commands to experienced army officers, and themselves takingtheir places in the ranks; thousands of lads of from fifteen to sixteenyears of age enrolled themselves, and men who had never done a day'swork in their lives prepared to suffer all the hardships of the campaignas private soldiers.

  Mrs. Wingfield was an enthusiastic supporter of State rights; and whenVincent told her that numbers of his friends were going to enrollthemselves as soon as the lists were opened, she offered no objection tohis doing the same.

  "Of course you are very young, Vincent; but no one thinks there will beany serious fighting. Now that Virginia and the other four States havecast in their lot with the seven that have seceded, the North can neverhope to force the solid South back into the Union. Still it is right youshould join. I certainly should not like an old Virginian family likeours to be unrepresented; but I should prefer your joining one of themounted corps.

  "In the first place, it will be much less fatiguing than carrying aheavy rifle and knapsack; and in the second place, the cavalry will forthe most part be gentlemen. I was speaking only yesterday, when I wentinto Richmond, to Mr. Ashley, who is raising a corps. He is one of thebest riders in the country, and a splendid specimen of a Virginiangentleman. He tells me that he has already received a large number ofapplications from young volunteers, and that he thinks he shall be ablewithout any difficulty to get as many as he wants. I said that I had ason who would probably enroll himself, and that I should like to havehim in his corps.

  "He said that he would be glad to put down your name, and that he hadhad many applications from lads no older than yourself. He consideredthat for cavalry work, scouting, and that sort of thing age matteredlittle, and that a lad who was at once a light weight, a good rider,and a good shot was of as much good as a man."

  "Thank you, mother. I will ride into Richmond to-morrow morning and seeAshley. I have often met him and should like to serve under him verymuch. I should certainly prefer being in the cavalry to the infantry."

  Rosie and Annie, who were of course enthusiastic for the South, werealmost as pleased as was Vincent when they heard that their mother hadconsented to his enrolling himself. So many of the girls of theiracquaintance had brothers or cousins who were joining the army, thatthey would have felt it as something of a slur upon the family name hadVincent remained behind.

  On the following morning Vincent rode over and saw Mr. Ashley, who hadjust received his commission as major. He was cordially received.

  "Mrs. Wingfield was speaking to me about you, and I shall be glad tohave you with me--the more so as you are a capital rider and a goodshot. I shall have a good many in my ranks no older than you are. Did Inot hear a few months since that you bought Wildfire? I thought, when Iheard it, that you would be lucky if you did not get your neck broken inthe course of a week. Peters, who owns the next estate to mine, had thehorse for about three weeks, and was glad enough to get rid of it forhalf what he had given for it. He told me that the horse was the mostsavage brute he ever saw. I suppose you didn't keep it many days?"

  "I have got it still, and mean to ride it with you. The horse is notreally savage. It was hot-tempered, and had, I think, been badly treatedby its first owner. It only wanted kindness and a little patience; andas soon as it found that it could not get rid of me, and that I had nointention of ill-treating it, it settled down quietly, after runningaway a few times and giving me some little trouble at starting. And nowI would not change it for any horse in the State."

  "You must be a first-rate rider," Major Ashley said, "to be able to tameWildfire. I never saw the horse, for I was away when Peters had her;but from his description it was a perfect savage."

  "Are we allowed to bring
a servant with us?" Vincent asked.

  "Yes, if you like. I know that a good many are going to do so, but youmust not make up your mind that you will get much benefit from one. Weshall move rapidly, and each man must shift for himself, but at the sametime we shall of course often be stationary; and then servants will beuseful. At any rate I can see no objection to men having them. We mustbe prepared to rough it to any extent when it is necessary, but I see noreason why at other times a man should not make himself comfortable. Iexpect the order to-morrow or next day to begin formally to enrollvolunteers. As I have now put down your name there will be no occasionfor you to come in then. You will receive a communication telling youwhen to report yourself.

  "I shall not trouble much about uniform at first. High boots andbreeches, a thick felt hat that will turn the edge of a sword, and aloose coat-jacket of dark-gray cloth. Here is the name of the tailor whohas got the pattern, and will make them. So I should advise you to go tohim at once, for he will be so busy soon that there is no saying whenthe whole troop will get their uniforms."

  Upon his return home Vincent related to his mother and sisters theconversation that he had had with Major Ashley.

  "Certainly you had better take a servant with you," his mother said. "Isuppose, when you are riding about you will have to cook your dinner anddo everything for yourself; but when you are in a town you should havethese things done for you. Who would you like to take?"

  "I should like to take Dan, mother, if you have no objection. He is verystrong and active, and I think would generally be able to keep up withus; besides, I know he would always stick to me."

  "You shall have him certainly, Vincent; I will make him over formally toyou."

  "Thank you, mother," Vincent said joyfully; for he had often wished thatDan belonged to him, as he would then be able to prevent anyinterference with him by the overseer or anyone else, and could, if heliked, give him his freedom--although this would, he knew, be of verydoubtful advantage to the lad as long as he remained in the South.

  The next morning the necessary papers were drawn up, and the ownershipof Dan was formally transferred to Vincent. Dan was wild with delightwhen he heard that Vincent was now his master, and that he was toaccompany him to the war. It had been known two days before that Vincentwas going, and it seemed quite shocking to the negroes that the youngmaster should go as a private soldier, and have to do everything forhimself--"just," as they said, "like de poor white trash"; for theslaves were proud to belong to an old family, and looked down withalmost contempt upon the poorer class of whites, regarding their ownposition as infinitely superior.

  Four days later Vincent received an official letter saying that thecorps would be mustered in two days' time. The next day was spent in along round of farewell visits, and then Vincent mounted Wildfire, and,with Dan trotting behind, rode off from the Orangery amidst a chorus ofblessings and good wishes from all the slaves who could on any pretextget away from their duties, and who had assembled in front of the houseto see him start.

  The place of meeting for the regiment was at Hanover Courthouse--astation on the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railway, close to the PamunkyRiver, about eighteen miles from the city.

  The Orangery was a mile from the village of Gaines, which lay to thenortheast of Richmond, and was some twelve miles from HanoverCourthouse.

  A month was spent in drill, and at the end of that time the corps wereable to execute any simple maneuver. More than this Major Ashley didnot care about their learning. The work in which they were about toengage was that of scouts rather than that of regular cavalry, and therequirements were vigilance and attention to orders, good shooting, anda quick eye. Off duty there was but little discipline. Almost the wholeof the men were in a good position in life, and many of them verywealthy; and while strict discipline and obedience were expected whileon duty, at all other times something like equality existed betweenofficers and men, and all were free to live as they chose.

  The rations served out were simple and often scanty, for at present thevarious departments were not properly organized, and such numbers of menwere flocking to the standards that the authorities were at their wits'end to provide them with even the simplest food. This mattered butlittle, however, to the regiment, whose members were all ready andwilling to pay for everything they wanted, and the country people roundfound a ready market for all their chickens, eggs, fruit, and vegetablesat Hanover Courthouse, for here there were also several infantryregiments, and the normally quiet little village was a scene of bustleand confusion.

  The arms of the cavalry were of a very varied description. Not more thana dozen had swords; the rest were armed with rifles or shot-guns, withthe barrels cut short to enable them to be carried as carbines. Many ofthem were armed with revolvers and some carried pistols so antiquatedthat they might have been used in the Revolutionary War. A certainnumber of tents had been issued for the use of the corps. These,however, were altogether insufficient for the numbers, and most of themen preferred to sleep in shelters composed of canvas, carpets,blankets, or any other material that came to hand, or in arborsconstructed of the boughs of trees, for it was now April and warm enoughto sleep in the open air.

  In the third week in May the order came that the corps was to march atonce for Harper's Ferry--an important position at the point where theShenandoah River runs into the Potomac, at the mouth of the ShenandoahValley. The order was received with the greatest satisfaction. TheFederal forces were gathering rapidly upon the northern banks of thePotomac, and it was believed that, while the main army would march downfrom Washington through Manassas Junction direct upon Richmond, anotherwould enter by the Shenandoah Valley, and, crossing the Blue RidgeMountains, come down on the rear of the Confederate army, facing themain force at Manassas. The cavalry marched by road, while the infantrywere dispatched by rail as far as Manassas Junction, whence they marchedto Harper's Ferry. The black servants accompanied the infantry.

  The cavalry march was a pleasant one. At every village through whichthey passed the people flocked out with offerings of milk and fruit. Thedays were hot, but the mornings and evenings delightful; and as thetroops always halted in the shade of a wood for three or four hours inthe middle of the day, the marches, although long, were not fatiguing.At Harper's Ferry General Johnston had just superseded Colonel Jacksonin command. The force there consisted of eleven battalions of infantry,sixteen guns, and after Ashley's force arrived, three hundred cavalry.Among the regiments there Vincent found many friends, and learned whatwas going on.

  He learned that Colonel Jackson had been keeping them hard at work. Someof Vincent's friends had been at the Virginia Military Institute atLexington, where Jackson was professor of natural philosophy andinstructor of artillery.

  "He was the greatest fun," one of the young men said; "the stiffest andmost awkward-looking fellow in the Institute. He used to walk about asif he never saw anything or anybody. He was always known as Old Tom, andnobody ever saw him laugh. He was awfully earnest in all he did, andstrict, I can tell you, about everything. There was no humbugging him.The fellows liked him because he was really so earnest abouteverything, and always just and fair. But he didn't look a bit like asoldier except as to his stiffness, and when the fellows who had been atLexington heard that he was in command here they did not think he wouldhave made much hand at it; but I tell you, he did. You never saw such afellow to work.

  "Everything had to be done, you know. There were the guns, but no horsesand no harness. The horses had to be got somehow, and the harnessmanufactured out of ropes; and you can imagine the confusion of ninebattalions of infantry, all recruits, with no one to teach them except ascore or two of old army and militia officers. Old Tom has done wonders,I can tell you. You see, he is so fearfully earnest himself everyoneelse has got to be earnest. There has been no playing about anything,but just fifteen hours' hard work a day. Fellows grumbled and growledand said it was absurd, and threatened to do all sorts of things. Yousee, they had all come out to fight, if nece
ssary, but hadn't bargainedfor such hard work as this.

  "However, Jackson had his way, and I don't suppose anyone ever told himthe men thought they were too hard worked. He is not the sort of man onewould care about remonstrating with. I don't know yet whether he is asgood at fighting as he is at working and organizing; but I rather expecta fellow who is so earnest about everything else is sure to be earnestabout fighting, and I fancy that, when he once gets into the thick ofit, he will go through with it. He had such a reputation as an oddity atLexington that there were a lot of remarks when he was made colonel andsent here; but there is no doubt that he has proved himself the rightman so far, and although his men may grumble they believe in him.

  "My regiment is in his brigade, and I will bet any money that we haveour share of fighting. What sort of man is Johnston? He is a finefellow--a soldier, heart and soul. You could tell him anywhere, and wehave a first-rate fellow in command of the cavalry--Colonel Stuart--asplendid, dashing fellow, full of life and go. His fellows swear by him.I quite envy you, for I expect you will astonish the Yankee horsemen.They are no great riders up there, you know, and I reckon the first timeyou meet them you will astonish them."

  Map--GENL. LEE'S CAMPAIGNS IN VIRGINIA.]

  Here he suddenly stopped, stood at attention, and saluted.

  Vincent at once did the same, although, had he not been set the exampleby his friend, he would never have thought of doing so to the figure whohad passed.

  "Who is it?" he asked, as his companion resumed his easy attitude.

  "Why, that's Old Tom."

  "What! Colonel Jackson!" Vincent said in surprise, "Well, he is anodd-looking fellow!"

  The figure that had passed was that of a tall, gaunt man, leaningawkwardly forward in his saddle. He wore an old gray coat, and there wasno sign of rank, nor particle of gold lace upon the uniform. He wore onhis head a faded cadet cap, with the rim coming down so far upon hisnose that he could only look sideways from under it. He seemed to paybut little attention to what was going on around him, and did not enterinto conversation with any of the officers he met.

  The brigade commanded by Jackson was the 1st of the Army of theShenandoah, and consisted of the 2d, 4th, 5th, and 27th Virginians, towhich was shortly added the 33d. They were composed of men of all ranksand ages, among them being a great number of lads from fifteen andupward; for every school had been deserted. Every boy capable ofcarrying a musket had insisted upon joining, and among them were a wholecompany of cadets from Lexington. The regiments selected their ownofficers, and among these were many who were still lads. Many of theregiments had no accouterments, and were without uniforms, and numberscarried no better arms than a double-barreled shot-gun; but all wereanimated with the same spirit of enthusiasm in their cause, and adetermination to die rather than to allow the invaders to pass onthrough the fertile valleys of their native land.

  Of all these valleys that of the Shenandoah was the richest and mostbeautiful. It was called the Garden of Virginia; and all writers agreedin their praises of the beauties of its fields and forests, mountainsand rivers, its delicious climate, and the general prosperity whichprevailed among its population.

  It was a pleasant evening that Ashley's horse spent at Harper's Ferry onthe day they marched in. All had many friends among the other Virginiaregiments, and their campfires were the center toward which men troopedby scores. The rest was pleasant after their hard marches; and, althoughready to do their own work when necessary, they appreciated theadvantage of having their servants again with them to groom their horsesand cook their food.

  The negroes were not less glad at being again with their masters. Almostall were men who had, like Dan, been brought up with their young owners,and felt for them a strong personal attachment, and, if it had beenallowed, would gladly have followed them in the field of battle, andfought by their side against the "Yankees." Their stay at Harper's Ferrywas to be a short one. Colonel Stuart, with his 200 horse, was scoutingalong the whole bank of the Potomac, watching every movement of theenemy, and Ashley's horse was to join them at once.

  It was not difficult for even young soldiers to form an idea of thegeneral nature of the operations. They had to protect the ShenandoahValley, to guard the five great roads by which the enemy would advanceagainst Winchester, and not only save the loyal inhabitants and richresources of the valley from falling into the hands of the Federals, butwhat was of even greater importance, to prevent the latter from marchingacross the Blue Ridge Mountains, and falling upon the flank of the mainConfederate army at Manassas.

  The position was a difficult one, for while "the grand army" wasassembling at Alexandria to advance against Manassas Junction, McClellanwas advancing from the northwest with 20,000 men, and Patterson fromPennsylvania with 18,000.

  In the morning, before parading his troop, 100 strong, Ashley calledthem together and told them that, as they would now be constantly on themove and scattered over a long line, it was impossible that they couldtake their servants with them.

  "I should never have allowed them to be brought," he said, "had I knownthat we should be scouting over such an extensive country; at the sametime, if we can manage to take a few on it would certainly add to ourcomfort. I propose that we choose ten by lot to go on with us. They mustbe servants of the troop and not of individuals. We can scatter them inpairs at five points, with instructions to forage as well as they can,and to have things in readiness to cook for whoever may come in off dutyor may for the time be posted there. Henceforth every man must groom andsee to his own horse, but I see no reason, military or otherwise, why weshouldn't get our food cooked for us; and it will be just as well, aslong as we can, to have a few bundles of straw for us to lie on insteadof sleeping on the ground.

  "Another ten men we can also choose by lot to go to Winchester; whichis, I imagine, the point we shall move to if the enemy advance, as Ifancy they will, from the other side of the Shenandoah Valley. The restmust be sent home."

  Each man accordingly wrote his name on a piece of paper, and placed itin a haversack. Ten were then drawn out; and their servants were toaccompany the troop at once. The servants of the next ten were toproceed by train to Winchester, while the slaves of all whose namesremained in the bag were to be sent home at once, provided with passespermitting them to travel. To Vincent's satisfaction his name was one ofthe first ten drawn, and Dan was therefore to go forward. The greaterpart of the men evaded the obligation to send their servants back toRichmond by dispatching them to friends who had estates in theShenandoah Valley, with letters asking them to keep the men for themuntil the troop happened to come into their neighborhood.

  At six o'clock in the morning the troop mounted and rode to Bath, thirtymiles away. It was here that Stuart had his headquarters, whence he sentout his patrols up and down the Potomac, between Harper's Ferry on theeast and Cumberland on the west. Stuart was away when they arrived, buthe rode in a few hours afterward.

  "Ah, Ashley! I am glad you have arrived," he said as he rode up to thetroop, who had hastily mounted as he was seen approaching. "There isplenty for you to do, I can tell you; and I only wish you had brought athousand men instead of a hundred. I am heartily glad to see you all,gentlemen," he said to the troop. "I am afraid just at first that thebrightness of your gray jackets will put my men rather to shame; but weshall soon get rid of that. But dismount your men, Ashley; there isplenty for them and their horses to do without wasting time in paradework. There is very little of that here, I can tell you. I have not seena score of my men together for the last month."

  Vincent gazed with admiration at the young leader, whose name was soonto be celebrated throughout America and Europe. The young Virginian--forhe was not yet twenty-eight years old--was the _beau ideal_ of a cavalryofficer. He was singularly handsome, and possessed great personalstrength and a constitution which enabled him to bear all hardships. Hepossessed unfailing good spirits, and had a joke and laugh for all hemet; and while on the march, at the head of his regiment, he was alwaysready to li
ft up his voice and lead the songs with which the men madethe woods resound.

  He seemed to live in his saddle, and was present at all hours of thenight and day along the line he guarded, seeing that the men werewatchful and on the alert, instructing the outposts in their duty, andinfusing his own spirit and vigilance among them. He had been educatedat West Point, and had seen much service with the cavalry against theIndians in the West. Such was the man who was to become the most famouscavalry leader of his time. So far he had not come in contact with theenemy, and his duties were confined to obtaining information regardingtheir strength and intentions, to watching every road by which theycould advance, and to seeing that none passed North to carry informationto the enemy as to the Confederate strength and positions, for even inthe Shenandoah Valley there were some whose sympathies were with theFederals.

  These were principally Northern men settled as traders in the towns, andit was important to prevent them from sending any news to the enemy. Sowell did Stuart's cavalry perform this service, and so general was thehostility of the population against the North, that throughout the wholeof the war in Virginia it was very seldom that the Northern generalscould obtain any trustworthy information as to the movements andstrength of the Confederates, while the latter were perfectly informedof every detail connected with the intentions of the invaders.

  The next morning Ashley's troop took up their share of the work at thefront. They were broken up into parties of ten, each of which wasstationed at a village near the river, five men being on duty night andday. As it happened that none of the other men in his squad had aservant at the front, Vincent was able without difficulty to have Danassigned to his party. A house in the village was placed at theirdisposal, and here the five off duty slept and took their meals whilethe others were in the saddle. Dan was quite in his element, and turnedout an excellent cook, and was soon a general favorite among the mess.